Tried to stay awake for the fireworks on NYE

 

I made it not only until the fireworks at 8pm, but also until after the new year arrived.  I'm paying for it a bit today.

Sent from my iPhone

Making snowmen

Last night, with warm adult beverages in hand, Zach and I decided to take advantage of all the new snow we received over the past two days.  We each made a snowman with the dogs' help, of course.  I decided to put a scarf and hat on mine, but Zach left his unclothed.  It's kind of reflective of each of our relative hardiness against the cold.  Personally, I'm always cold and Zach never seems to get that way.  Anyway, enjoy the pictures.

Two new things last night

We started with a Jack Rose cocktail.  Zach went to the liquor store yesterday and purchased brandy and sherry for Thanksgiving.  We found a recipe for a Jack Rose, which uses apple jack brandy, simple syrup, grenadine, maraschino cherry, lemon juice and an apple slice.  After getting past the brandy smell, the drink was quite tasty.  Here's a recipe, but you'll want to add about three quarters of an ounce simple syrup: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/drink/views/Jack-Rose-236103.  The resulting cocktail is pretty too.

The Hold Steady - "Stuck Between Stations"

Three new bars

That being the case, I'll keep this short for tonight and perhaps elaborate more tomorrow.  =)

The new bars: the Pioneer Bar, the Anchor Bar, and the Gaslight Lounge.

All part of the mardi gras Red Cross fundraiser we went to downtown this evening. 

Well, it's time for bed for me.  Starting the party early, 6pmish, always results in one of two possibilities: (1) calling it an earlier night, which is the smart choice; or (2) keep going, which results in a hell of a hangover the next day.  I'm going smart tonight.

Going to the Alaska State Fair

We've been in Alaska for over 4 years and this was our first trip to the fair.  It was okay.  I guess we're fair snobs and used to the huge production the Iowa State Fair happens to be.  We were sorely disappointed there wasn't much food on a stick.

 

Watching a Jean-Claude Van Damme Movie

JCVD was my first JCVD movie.  It was pretty good, especially since I probably missed lots of inside jokes or subtleties that others who are either fans or more familiar with JCVD films were able to understand.