Thanks and Giving

Belated Happy Thanksgiving all! Hope the holiday was turkey and more. Our "more" was a 6lb brisket I made. Courtesy of Shop Rite in Oakland. Which, if I hadn't mentioned before, has the best supermarket butcher around. There are actually people in there when you need them, have questions, or need a cut of something that isn't out. I rarely see this in other markets. Maybe it happens but I've been in a lot of markets and never have seen such a helpful butcher area. Anyway, they're also the only ones to readily have a 5-6.5lb brisket around. I don't know why, but 2-3lb seems to be the norm. Well, after cooking that would amount to maybe enough for two people? Certainly not 12-14 people. So, they had a 6lb and that's what I took. By the way, for some reason I had a bug up my ass to cut the fat off PRIOR to cooking it. I don't know what I was thinking except that I HATE having to trim it when I'm cutting it 3/4 of the way through. It's so gross. So, I just grabbed a big knife and started cutting it off, as much as I could. Then, I got all nervous that I messed it up and wondered if I needed the fat. Too late. But, it came out awesome. So, I'll be doing that again.

I also made a sweet potato casserole- http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/sweet-potato-casserole-ii-2/detail.aspx. I did add a few things like an egg and a dash of heavy cream. I also didn't use regular sweet potatoes. I used yams in a can. I just drained all the syrup. Then I put all the ingredients into the Kitchen Aid (stand) Mixer I got a few years ago because of a craze on the NJ board theNest.com. Trust me it was a frenzy and this non-cooker/baker NEEDED this thing I've used like five times. BUT, for this casserole it was perfect. I hate lumpy sweet potato and this made it perfect. It looked awesome and tasted even better. Yeah, it was really sweet but in my opinion that's how it's supposed to be. Other than that, it was just a regular, nice meal. No complaints, no drama, good company and good food.

Before we could even say good-bye to our Thanksgiving meal, I was already in deep conflict with myself as to whether or not to go out for the pre-Black Friday sales that were starting Thursday night. I normally love the frenzy of Black Friday shopping and pre-E, I used to go to the mall at 7a in Paramus to catch some deals. I'm not a great morning person though and B has to work on Black Friday, alone in the store, so I really can't go out with E to do that kind of thing. Last year Toys R Us was opening at 11p so I decided to go. B hates even the thought of the whole Black Friday blitz thing and doesn't get it. So, he'd never go. But, he was fine with me going. I had waited in a ginormous line for an hour to get into TRU, met some cool people and only spent $40 getting a few things for E and his friends.

THIS year, stores were opening even earlier and it sort of grossed me out. I couldn't put my finger exactly what bothered me about it but it did. I just kind of have a whole bah-humbug spirit on purchasing. Look, I LOVE shopping. I do. And I don't need a reason. But, something about this years crazy consumerism has me not able to partake in the whole thing. So, I didn't go out on Thanksgiving. I did go out on Black Friday to Ridgewood because I needed to let E walk off some energy. It was CRAZY there because I guess people didn't want to go to the mall. Gymboree had a ridiculous sale so I got E two coats for next winter and a pair of boots for this one. But, that's it.

Cyber Monday didn't do it for me either. I was able to get E some good deals on kid movies for his Hanukkah gifts. Last year, I felt like Amazon had crazy good deals but I didn't see anything. Same with Toys R Us. Now, maybe had I gone to the store I would've seen something in person that I would've been excited about but that didn't happen.

None of this is "negative" though. It all means that I saved my money!

B said he was cool with some holiday decoration so the year before last we got blue and white stockings for the mantle. I put our names on them with silver glitter. Last year we couldn't find them so we just didn't put any up. This year, on Saturday night, we took a trip to the Christmas Tree Shop and found cooler ones! These are a navy blue with gold and silver Jewish stars on them. They look so much better in our house. The other ones were more of a Smurf blue. They were fine but didn't go as well as the navy with the gold and silver accents. I'd run to the Christmas Tree Shop if you're looking for any Hanukkah stuff. I'm sure it won't be there for long. They had a really decent selection considering most places have none. Since it was the weekend most people would be buying holiday decorations, I thought it would be nuts parking and inside. It actually wasn't a zoo in there and we were in and out pretty quick. We also made a pit stop at Garden State Plaza around 8p (for my jelly beans) since we were in the same parking lot pretty much. I expected not to be able to even find a spot. I did, by Neimans. I got in and out in like ten minutes. It was weird because on a normal Saturday you can barely get in there but I guess it was a good thing for me!

Sunday was E's last Teddy Tennis class. E liked it so I guess it's sad, in a way, that it's over. But, I'm not that bothered. First of all, the class started with like eight kids in it. As time went on, it seemed it was less and less. I don't know what happened. Considering the owner didn't want to give me the $20 discount to re-sign him up, I highly doubt she was refunding money to people. So, what that would mean is that some people paid around $400+ to just not show up. That would seem weird if I hadn't spent 10 weeks in a waiting area/lobby listening to people talk about how much money they have, name-drop, and rudely talk extremely loud for long periods of time on their cell phones. Maybe $400 isn't a big deal for some of these people to waste on a kid not going to class. Of course I'm just being judgy, but hey- I call it like I see it. At any rate, my issue with the actual class was that I guess they follow some kind of timed curriculum. So, when it got down to 3-4 kids in the class, the class was ending early. Or much earlier than it did with more kids. If it was a timed curriculum and there were less kids, why not just let the kids there have extra time then? I don't know. I don't know WHAT was going on. But, it's over and I can do without being out of the house by 8:55 every Sunday mornings because that's for the birds.

We've been going to Van Saun for the past three weeks after class. One reason is, we found out by driving there that Abma's Farm is CLOSED on Sunday. I did not know this information because I didn't look it up. E loves Abma's and he loves to feed the animals there. It's a no-go for Sundays FYI. Van Saun was fine because the carousel and train were still running. Till this past weekend. We went and the sign was up- the train and carousel are closed for the season. Another good FYI to note.

My last FYI is about Barns & Noble. And it's a good one. B bought me a Nook two birthdays ago- so a year and a half ago. Normally he doesn't go for those insurance/protection plans that come with appliances or gadgets. They usually ARE kind of BS. They end up not covering anything you need it to, etc. But, he got the one with the Nook thinking I might get "something sticky" on it or who knows what. I don't use the Nook THAT often because the iphone has me completely backed up on my magazines. Yes, physical magazines, of which I have many subscriptions. As a side note, I get into phases. Sometimes I'm reading a new book every few days and then I don't read one for months. Right now I'm in that whole months phase. So, I was neatening up and prioritizing my magazines and picked up my Nook. I opened the cover and the Edgar Allen Poe face was on. That means it was "on" but not on. Resting? I don't know. But I distinctly remembered it being blank, as in totally off. I tried turning it off. Nothing. Face still there. I tried plugging it in and the face still was there, no recognition of being plugged in. I knew I had to bring it in. I didn't know about the protection plan, or at least I didn't remember. So I was geared up to be annoyed.

I went in to B&N and didn't have a lot of confidence. They sent me up to "Rory", one of their "Nook Experts" in the music section. He tried some stuff for about 10 minutes. He was baffled. He said he never saw the EAP face still on with no battery in it. He called tech support and in two minutes he put me on the phone with them. They told me they were sending me a new Nook and all I had to do was send the old one back when I get the new one. That's it. Easy. If I don't send it back within the 14 days, they'll charge me for the new one. Easiest customer service situation I think I've ever had. Go B&N!

By the way, I have a 1st generation Nook which is now going for $89. It reads books. That's all I need it to do. My next gadget want is an Ipad. I don't need a special book reading tablet than can do a few other cool things. However, I did take a little look-see at the newer Nooks, including the $249 tablet and it looked cool as hell. Same with the $199 color one. I'm sure the Kindle is great too. I just know nothing about them. To be honest, I don't know much about my Nook beyond it reading books. And as time goes on, I'm sure the newest of Kindle and Nook will just continue neck and neck competition. I'm sure either one is fine.

That about wraps up the last week or so with my reviews and whatever. I just have a few other little tidbits to take note of-

Of course I have to mention cupcakes. One, A la Cupcakes in Glen Rock is now open on Sundays through the holiday season. Yay! I mean, not really yay for me because B and I are going back on Jenny Craig. But yay for anyone else in need of a great cupcake fix. Two, I tried their chocolate chip cookie cupcake and let's just say it's a good thing I'm going on Jenny. It's indescribably delicious.

There are some deals going on right now that are worth checking out-

One month membership at Gymboree on Living Social- http://www.livingsocial.com/cities/531/deals/177914-one-month-gymboree-membership
E and I are just finishing this deal and it's been good. We've been going on Saturdays and he's been enjoying it. The Waldwick location only has classes up to Level 5 which is a little too young for E but he was fine with it. For the four classes (1x a week) it was totally worth it for us.

US Weekly for $40 instead of $67- http://www.livingsocial.com/cities/531/deals/192806-one-year-subscription-to-us-weekly-magazine. No explanation necessary. This is one of my subscriptions.

Lastly, check out the WGirls to see what they're doing for people this holiday season. http://wgirlsnyc.org/. Here is the link to buy tickets to Hope for the Holidays in NYC- http://wgirlsnyc_hope.charityhappenings.org/. If you're looking for worthy causes to donate to this season, none are more deserving than what my girls have going on!!