An Out-of-this World birthday party February 7, 2023

Longtime readers may recall, I had my first kid 7 years ago. Plenty more big things have happened since then. We bought a house. We had our second kid. A pandemic raced all over the world.

So, with a combination of the kids still being a bit young, then avoiding most social gatherings due to the pandemic, we hadn’t hosted a birthday party where our kids’ classmates were invited. The most we did for celebrating with friends was at daycare, where we sent in popsicles for everyone to share. But that was the extent of it.

So here we are, in 2023, and my daughter is old enough and the covid numbers are low enough that we feel like we’re ready to host a kid birthday party.

Many parties these days seem to be held at special party locations where kids are able to run around and bounce off of things. Play gyms, bouncy houses and slides, etc. We’ve gone to a few at local farms, which was pretty low key and had the added bonus of being low risk for covid by being outdoors. January isn’t the ideal time for an outdoor party, and I wasn’t really keen on one of those indoor play parks. Plus I didn’t start planning the party until a few weeks before her birthday, so the timeline on most of those options meant I was too late to even try to get a spot. So we went with a party at home!

Growing up, my mom always threw the most amazing birthday parties! There was usually a theme (based on our favorite movie/book/topic), with decorations, games, and a homemade cake all matching the theme. So I had a lot to live up to!

Discussing the party with my daughter, we settled on a theme: Outer Space! She’s big on science topics, especially space, so it seemed like a perfect idea. We started talking ideas for activities. Immediately, she suggested Pin-the-flames-on-the-rocket!

I felt a bit at a loss for other ideas, so I checked out Pinterest, a site I hadn’t really looked at much since saving recipes for our CSA fruits and vegetables, and then planning our wedding years ago.

So, what space-related activities and items did we end up with?

My daughter wore one of her outer space Svaha dresses (she has both the Constellations glow-in-the-dark dress and the Webb’s First Deep Field dress)

We got space-themed cups/plates/etc. from Oriental Trading company, and I totally lucked out at the grocery store where I found little 3oz paper cups with stars, astronauts, and rocket ships on them that were perfect for holding the various ingredients needed throughout the party!

First activity: Edible Constellations

I set out pretzel sticks and marshmallows (and M&Ms, because, why not?) and let the kids create edible constellations! Some kids used the reference materials to inspire them, but also encouraged them to just make whatever they wanted. Some kids did more eating than designing!

If the kids had been a bit older, I may have tried having them try to guess each other’s constellations (especially if they were one of the actual constellations). But they had fun and enjoyed the chance to be creative and eat snacks!

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Next activity: Rocket Ship Bookmarks!

I came across a blog post showing how to make origami bookmarks decorated with little rocket ships. I made some stencils for kids to cut out all the pieces based on the drawings included at that blog post. I think the kids did a really awesome job!

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Moon pizza time!

After that, we had make-your-own moon pizzas! The moon is made of cheese, right? Or maybe the pepperoni look like craters?
Really, they were just English Muffin Pizzas, but I gave each kid their own plate with english muffins pre-toasted and sauced for them. I used more of those little cups to give everyone their own cup of cheese, and also set out a few pre-cut toppings. The kids got add the cheese and their favorite toppings. I noted where on the baking sheet where I put everyone’s pizzas so everyone would get their own pizzas back after baking, then popped them in the oven. Then ~7 minutes later the little pizzas were out of the oven and ready to cool.

Pin the Flames on the Rocket

While we were waiting for the pizzas to cool, we played Pin the Flames on the Rocket! I drew and colored in a cartoony looking rockeship, and cut out some bright orange flames for each of the kids to use.

Then it was time to eat the pizza!

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A solar system cake

I baked and frosted a two-layer chocolate cake with dark chocolate fudge frosting (mixed with a little blue food coloring…not sure that actually made a difference), and did my best at representing the sun and the planets in our solar system. I served up the cake to the kids along with ice cream.

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I also made some half-moon cookies that both the kids and grownups got to enjoy!

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By that point, it was pretty much time for everyone to go. If we ended up with extra time, I had a back up activity where the kids could decorate rocks, creating their own “space rocks”. But that seemed unnecessary, as the kids were having plenty of fun!

Now to start planning for my son’s 5th birthday…

My tiny rebellions June 13, 2021

I’ve always been a rule follower. Some may have called me a goody two shoes growing up. I never want someone to have a bad opinion of me. Which is honestly an exhausting way to live. I care way too much about what other people think.

But I’ve recently started caring a little less about what people think about me, at least in certain contexts.

I’ve started doing small things that make me happy, even if it may not be seen as the most professional thing to do. I just want to have fun while pushing against what people think should be considered “professional”.

I’ve been big on wearing silly/festive socks for awhile. I have socks for pretty much every holiday! And then quite a few just “fun” socks. I used to only wear them mostly hidden from view (in boots, or with long enough pants to reach the top of my shoe), so that it was kind of “my secret”. But at some point recently, I started wearing them with flats, so you could see a lot more of the socks. And it felt even more fun to have the socks visible.

My husband even signed me up for the Awesome Socks Club for Christmas, so I now get a new pair of, well, awesome socks every month! And the company sounds pretty great. The socks are designed by individual artists, and 100% of their profits go to charity!

My other, more obvious little rebellion, was coloring my hair blue. I’d heard about oVertone from Stephonee from Poorer Than You (here’s a tweet thread she shared about doing the whole process).

I’ve been using the Blue for Brown Hair on and off since November 2020, and every time I re-apply it, I love it even more!

This isn’t a sponsored post, but if you want to try out some fun colors for yourself, I do have a referral link.

I do want to say something about these “acts of rebellion”. I acknowledge the privilege I have in being able to do this. I’m a white, cis, hetero woman in a steady career. For many people, just living their lives may feel like an act of rebellion against the crueler parts of society. And my heart hurts thinking about people who are not allowed to be themselves at work, because employers or customers can’t handle that not everyone conforms to their narrow ideas of what a person should behave or look like.

So, hopefully my little acts of rebellion, in addition to making everything more fun, will also remind others that it’s okay to be themselves!

Why the Barenaked Ladies holiday album is the best December 24, 2019

(Disclosure:  The Amazon links in this post are Amazon affiliate links.  You can read more about this on my Disclosures page)

Every once in a while, it’s time for a silly post. Ten years ago I wrote what is my most viewed post, where I discussed how different people learned different “echoes” for Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Somehow it got on the front page of Google results when you search for lyrics with echoes. Go figure.

Anyway, this year my silly post is about the Barenaked Ladies holiday album, Barenaked for the Holidays. Why? I’ve loved the band for decades (wow I feel old) and I get so much joy from listening to this album every holiday season. So many fun songs to listen to!

You can listen to the whole album on YouTube; I’ll include the individual songs with each discussion.

So, without further ado, here’s why I love so many of the songs on this album.

Track 1: Jingle Bells:

It starts out with a beautiful, melancholic version with minimal accompaniment (piano and bass), then abruptly transitions to a loud, goofy version of the song including the “Batman smells” lyrics.

Track 2: Green Christmas:

Originally written for the live action version of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” starring Jim Carrey, this song still makes me laugh, with the lines “Carolers are at my door; Don’t want to hear them anymore”. They have carolers singing for the first line, then you hear a door slam you can hear muted carolers sing the next line.

Track 6: Elf’s Lament:

Super cute song exploring the idea of how Santa’s elves are overworked and under appreciated. Plus Michael Bublé adds his lovely crooning voice to this song.

Track 10: God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen / We Three Kings

Quite possibly the best song on the album. This was recorded long before the rest of the album and features Sarah McLachlan. I remember loving this song decades ago. I love the harmonies in this one.

Track 12: Carol of the Bells

This is such a unique version of this classic Christmas song. The style reminds me a lot of Laurie Anderson’s O Superman (thanks to the modern music class I took in college for introducing me to Laurie Anderson music!). Very cool sounds.

I also like that they included a few Hanukkah songs so that it’s not all Christmas music.  This includes the standard Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah,  as well as Hanukkah Blessings, which incorporates the traditional Hanukkah candle blessings into a new song describing the holiday.

I fully acknowledge this was a very silly post.  I just think it’s been a super fun album to listen to over the years, and thought I’d share why I enjoy so many of the songs.

Happy Holidays!

That time something cool happened on the internet April 11, 2015

So, this really has nothing to do with personal finance or fitness or any of my usual topics. It just is a fun story I wanted to share.

I now have a theme song.  For the details behind how I gained a theme song, read the rest of the story below.

 

You may or may not know I love listening to podcasts. I especially like listening to them on car rides, on my jogs, or even during tedious tasks like doing the dishes.

Well, one of the podcasts I really enjoy is How to Do Everything, which is made by Mike Danforth and Ian Chillag, producers of Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me.  It’s a super fun podcast where people submit questions on, well, how to do everything, and they get experts to answer the questions.

Another podcast I’ve been enjoying is Reply All, the first podcast to come out of Gimlet Media (not including the podcast exploring the starting of Gimlet Media, Startup).  I also like TLDR,which is a podcast that came out of On the Media.  The guys who started TLDR are now the guys who do Reply All.  Both podcasts explore strange and interesting things related to the internet.

Another thing Reply All and TLDR have in common besides their co-hosts Alex and PJ is the creator of their theme song.  In the credits for both shows, they’ve told the audience that their theme song was written by “the mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder“. (in case you’re curious, here’s the TLDR theme and the Reply All theme).  A lot of music heard on Reply All is made by Breakmaster Cylinder.

Well, one day, I suggested on twitter that the HTDE and the Reply All guys should interview each other.  The Reply All folks said they love HTDE, but claim they don’t know how to do anything.  So I suggested that they could tell them how to get Breakmaster Cylinder to write a theme song for you.  And that’s when Breakmaster Cylinder chimed in, initially by typing out what my theme song could sound like.  Then, a day later, he sent me a link to MY THEME SONG!

Like I said, it’s just a silly fun story about how interacting with people on the internet sometimes results in something fun and awesome.  Now that I have a theme song, I feel like I should have a podcast of my own.  Would you listen to a personal finance podcast from me?

Holiday Spending March 12, 2012

I know.  When you think of holiday spending, you think of the ridiculous amount of money people plunk down for Christmas (and Hannukah) presents.  Followed closely by Valentine’s.  Debt Ninja had a guest post from Jenna at Adaptu about it.

And I’m not immune from holiday spending.  Heck, I splurged on the Xbox holiday bundle for my boyfriend (which is a bit of a boomerang gift…I wanted it, too!)  I’m a big fan of giving gifts, as long as I have a good idea of what to give!

But the other thing that stands out for me is holiday apparel.

What?  Is that a thing?  Yes.

Take, for example, a holiday party I attended last year.  Festive apparel and costumes were encouraged.  So, I wore things like this:

Holly socks in bright red shoes

A jingle-bell ring I picked up at Davis Squared

And the obligatory green on red (green short-sleeve sweater over a red long-sleeve sweater)

There’s something about dressing for the holiday that makes me feel extra festive!

 

I’ve got Halloween pajama pants and two different pairs of socks (don’t worry, I don’t wear the pajamas in public!)

Red heart earrings for Valentine’s Day

And most recently, on a trip to A.C. Moore for sewing supplies, I caved and bought myself some St. Patrick’s Day socks for $1.  Big spender!

Whether  it’s obvious (like the earrings or ring) or more secret (like the socks), I really love dressing up in holiday colors and designs.  Since it’s usually frowned upon to wear Halloween costumes to the office, wearing fun socks is my own way of secret celebration.  So every once in a while, I’ll pick up a new pair of holiday socks.

How do you celebrate holidays?  Do you buy lots of stuff at the party store every year?  Or have a collection of holiday decorations and swag you pull out every year?

Do you have a stash of holiday socks like I do?  Wear all green on St. Patrick’s Day, orange and black on Halloween, and red on Valentine’s Day?  Because I do! 😀

11 things + 11 things March 4, 2012

I’ve been tagged.  Twice.  By Eric at Postgrad Agenda and by Make Love, Not Debt.  So it’s about time I answer these questions!  The rules are that you answer the questions, then make up new questions and tag people to answer those questions.  I’m going to answer all 11 of each of their questions (22 total) then come up  with 11 new questions.

Questions from Eric at Postgrad Agenda:

1. If you worked in your current job until retirement, would you be happy?

I’m assuming the question is if I’d be happy to stay at the same company until retirement.  I’d be happy as long as I continue to be challenged and learn new things.  My happiness in my career is contingent on gaining additional responsibilities and expertise.  I love working with my colleagues and learning a lot from them, and hope I can continue to grow.

2. What are three things you do that you wish you could change?

I wish I could change my procrastinating habits:  case in point, this post is LONG overdue!
I also wish I could stop putting myself down.  I think I tend to look at myself and find all the flaws (physically, intellectually) instead of embracing all the good in myself!
I wish I could change my addictive behavior when it comes to computers/video games.  I will stay on my computer way too late or play a video game for hours.  It’s bad news.  Go to bed!

3. What do you enjoy doing more than anything?

I love spending time with my family and friends.  Especially if there’s delicious food around 🙂

4. Do you think everyone is born with the potential to change the world, or just a few?

I think everyone has the potential, but not everyone gets the opportunity.

5. How would you like to change the world?

I’d like to change the world by increasing access to education and knowledge.  I don’t know how to achieve it, but I think education is a good way to start.

6. What have you done so far to make that change?

Not much.  Though I try to teach people about personal finance 😛

7. Fiction or non-fiction?

I’m always hooked on personal finance books!  And books about interesting science discoveries.  So sign me up for Non-Fiction. Though I would read a good fiction book, if anyone has some suggestions!

8. Have you succumbed to the Apple influence? Why or why not?

I had the same iPod (or a repair/replacement) since college, until it finally kicked the bucket late last year.  And since then I’ve been using my new iPod Nano.  And I have iTunes.  And I’m always tempted to take my parents up on their offer to get me an iPhone.  But I never do take them up on that offer.  I think the stuff Apple makes is really cool, but I fear having it would make me less productive (too many distractions).  Not sure if that means I’ve succumbed or not!

9. What would you consider yourself an expert in?

Well, I’m not an expert in personal finance, but among friends, I’m definitely a resource.  And I think I’m pretty good at the Materials Science stuff that I’m working on.  And I’d probably consider myself an expert at making puns.  Or at least an expert at making people groan at the puns I try to tell 🙂

10. What accomplishment are you most proud of?

I’d like to think getting into MIT and then graduating in four years from MIT are two things I’m pretty proud of.

11. Ideally, what’s next in life for you?

I have no idea.  I’d love some big happy changes, but I’m content with small happy life 🙂

And from Make Love, Not Debt:

1.  Have you ever been ripped off and for how much?

Last year I was parked in a lot with signage that I assumed meant I could park there.  Apparently the tow trucks in Allston had a different interpretation of the sign, and they stole my car away and held it for ransom (that’s at least how I see it).  So having to pay this sketchy place, IN CASH, for my own car seemed like a bit of a rip off.  Especially since I thought I was in the right.

2.  Do you have pets? Are they awesome?

I don’t have any pets.  I hope to get a dog when I have a house and yard more suited for one.  I’m ridiculously allergic to cats, so that’s not going to happen.  So, my future dog is awesome.  That’s already a given.

3.  What is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?

African or European?  Apparently someone actually tried to calculate it.

4.  Why are most children’s musicians terrible?

I think you’re just listening to the wrong children’s music.  Go with artists like Raffi, Fred Penner, and albums like Snacktime from the Barenaked Ladies and a lot of stuff from They Might Be Giants.

5.  What’s the most offensive thing about the $5 bill?

That it’s not a $50 bill?

6.  Prior to Jeremy Lin’s current basketball greatness, he was staying on his brother’s couch because he didn’t have a definitive contract with the New York Knicks. Was the couch long enough to fit an out-stretched Jeremy Lin?

I have no idea.  My guess is regardless of if he fit, he probably wasn’t very comfortable.  I’ve fallen asleep on the couch with plenty of room to stretch out, and I’ve woken up as quite a mess.

7.  What’s the least you’ve purchased with $100?

I’m not sure.  I know that the next thing I’m planning on purchasing with ~$100 is a FitBit Ultra 😛

8.  What’s a reasonable amount of money to spend at a strip club?

Zero dollars.  Ew.

9.  How much do you tip the bartender? Really? That’s it?

I rarely go to bars.  I’ll usually give them a dollar or so per drink.  I’ve even given a tip when I asked for ice water because I felt like I’d be a jerk not to.

10.  How much would you pay for the perfect hamburger?

Maybe $15 max?  But I’d be okay with a $7 hamburger.

11.  Is an iPad worth it?

I only ever really want an iPad when I’m on travel and everyone else has their Kindles, Nooks, and iPads.  It’s gadget envy.

And now, here are the questions I want answers for:

1.  What would you do if you won $10,000?  How would your answer change if it was $1 million?

2.  Is your current job anything like what you thought it would be when you were younger?

3.  What store/brand are you unable to resist?

4.  What’s the last book you read?

5.  Who do you most admire among your friends and family?

6.  What’s your go-to recipe for dinner?  Dessert?

7.  What’s your least favorite food?

8.  Which Disney character do you think you are most like?

9.  What board game do you love to play?  Do you dominate at it?  Or do you always lose?

10.  What’s the longest distance you’ve ever walked/jogged/run?

11.  What clichéd phrase drives you the craziest?

Who to tag?  I’ve already seen Elizabeth, Serendipity, Big City…Beer Budget, Fabulously Fru-girl, eemusings (the Abstract Aucklander, Annabelle (twice!), Nicole, Bridget, and Andrea participate in these.  I’m not going to make any of them make a new answer list (unless they want to!).

So, I’ll tag some new people who (to the best of my knowledge) haven’t been tagged yet.  Hello Below Her Means, Deena Dollars, Stacking Pennies, Paranoid Asteroid, My Pretty Pennies, Money Maus, Penny Pinching Pro, Fig, ShtinkyKat, Julia, Mariel, and Katie.  You’ve been tagged!

Anyone else who wants to answer these questions, either in a comment below or on their own blogs is welcome to.  I can’t wait to learn more about you!

Barenaked Ladies: As awesome as ever! August 8, 2010

Growing up in the Buffalo area, I ended up hearing a lot of “Canadian Content”.  I listened to a lot of Barenaked Ladies and Moxy Fruvous.  Even now, a 20-something in Boston, I’ve added more Canadian artists to the mix, like Great Big Sea, The Arrogant Worms, and The (Radio Free) Vestibules.  There’s just something about the style and comedy of these artists that really draws me in.

So, when my boyfriend told me that the Barenaked Ladies were coming to Boston, I was psyched.  I was even more psyched when he said that there were tickets for only $10!  “What?!  WE ARE GOING!”  And that was that.

So, last night was the concert.  I haven’t been to a BNL concert since I was in high school, so I was pretty darn excited.  This was also my first time seeing them after Steven Page left, so I was curious to see what they’d be like.  We got there with plenty of time to spare (I was concerned about parking…more on that later) and headed into the Bank of America Pavilion.  The first performer of the night was Angel Taylor.  I’ll admit, I hadn’t heard of her before last night.  Her set was relatively short, but I liked what I heard.  She has a very pretty voice, with a lot of emotion.  She reminded me of artists like Missy Higgins and other powerful female singers.

Waited through the stagehands setting up, then some general waiting, then Ben Kweller was up.  I’ve listened to some of his music (mostly from Sha Sha), so it was fun to hear songs I knew, as well as a lot of songs that were new to me.  I liked his style, a little bit of old-fashioned country music mixed with pop.  Pretty good stuff!

So, then, we were waiting for the Barenaked Ladies to take the stage.  You could tell the audience was starting to get a little impatient waiting for them…but then….THERE THEY WERE!!!

They played some of their classics.  They played songs from their newest album.  And they were AMAZING.  I was so excited.  I don’t think I’ve jumped around, danced, screamed, or smiled that much in a really long time.  I just kept looking to my boyfriend and smiling to him.  Because I was so happy to see and hear BNL live, and experience their music with the bf, BNL, and thousands of other screaming fans.  Yep, I was one happy camper 🙂

Oh, and I’m a bit excited to tie this into personal finance (or at least entertainment on the cheap).  Tickets were $20 total ($10 each).  They also gave away a free download of their latest album, All in Good Time (plus 5 live tracks, including the Big Bang Theory theme song).  Retail value for the album:  $16.98 (though on sale for $9.97 on Amazon, or $9.99 on iTunes).  Oh, and this might be my proudest savings:  $1.50 for parking!  We were going to park in a lot (which was at a minimum of $11, some were closer to $30), but happened to drive by a spot on the street that someone had just pulled out of.  So, with meters ending at 8pm, and an extra quarter thrown in to make sure they wouldn’t give us a ticket at 7:59pm or something silly like that, we managed to spend a total of $21.50 for an amazing night of music and entertainment (and the whole album to listen to, too!)!

Variations on a Theme: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer December 24, 2009

Well, it’s Christmas eve.  And like many others today, we’ve been listening to quite a few Christmas songs.

One of the songs I’ve heard a few times on the radio this year is “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”.  It’s a classic, especially among children.  And something I think many children learned with this song was the “echo” that came after each line.

Growing up in Buffalo, my sisters and I learned one version of it.  When we moved to NJ, we discovered that my new friends had learned different echos back in the day.

I’m curious what lyrics you use(or used to use).  I’m including what I know (in parenthesis), and you can comment with your differences.  The ones I usually hear differently I’ll bold:

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (reindeer)
Had a very shiny nose (like a light bulb)
And if you ever saw it (saw it)
You would even say it glows (like a light bulb)

All of the other reindeer (reindeer)
Used to laugh and call him names (like Pinocchio)
They never let poor Rudolph (Rudolph)
Join in any reindeer-games (like Monopoly)

Then one foggy Christmas Eve
Santa came to say,
“Rudolph with your nose so bright
Won’t you guide my sleigh tonight?”

Then how the reindeer loved him (loved him)
As they shouted out with glee, (with glee!)
“Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, (reindeer)
“You’ll go down in history!” (like George Washington!)

How different are your lyrics, and what are they?  And where did you grow up?  I’m pretty sure it varies by region, though it could vary by elementary school or music teacher, for all I know.

Anyway, just thought this would be fun.  Merry Christmas!