Keurig® Vue® House Party: MISSION COMPLETE!

So the party was a big success! Everyone enjoyed themselves, and I couldn't be happier! I love my new Keurig® Vue®, and it was definitely a hit with my guests. What they seemed to love the most about it was its versatility.

For example, some of my guests were not big coffee or
sweet tea fans, so when I showed them that you could use the Vue® to get hot water to use for tea bags or hot cocoa packets, they were impressed! I also put travel mugs out so guests could see how well they fit under the Vue® spout. Everyone liked the cold brew options as well. I can't wait to try some iced coffee for myself... | didn't get a chance during the party because l was too busy being a good hostess, haha.

Keurig® sent me a free Vue® for hosting the party (thanks Keurig!), and House Party supplied me with a variety of Vue® coffee/tea packs to offer at the party, as well as some neat party supplies and a Keurig® Vue® apron! And since I was out of printer ink and couldn't print out the neat decorations from House Party's website, I recycled my Keurig® Vue® box and made my own!

We had a LOT of different snacks to munch on as well. We had some yummy Dancing Deer cookies that came in my party pack, as well as some Chips Ahoy and Newman's Own cookies. I made a bunch of loaded potato skins, pizza bites, and some ramen salad. My friend Heather made gluten-free cupcakes and gluten free/vegan muffins (both were DELICIOUS), and my mom made spinach artichoke dip (NOM!). We ate all of this great stuff during our viewing of The Hunger Games!

And the end of the party, everyone got to bring a goodie bag home with them, containing some "after coffee" mints, a pamphlet about Vue®, and a 50% off voucher for a new Vue® from Keurig® all supplied by House Party, as well as some chocolate-dipped spoons and green tea I supplied myself. Everyone like their goodie bags and went home happy and well fed. I would say this was all-in-all a very successful party!

Here are some photos from before and during the party!

The arrival of my Keurig® Vue®!

Such an exciting morning, haha!

Brand new out of the box. Even got a nifty sampler pack!

Making my first coffee in my Vue®...

... looks good!

The arrival of the party pack from House Party!

Look at all of the goodies!

Pretty sweet haul for my Vue® Party!

Party Day!

The coffee/tea bar.

Some of the goodie bags!

Eat ALL the noms! haha. ;-)

The aftermath of the first group of coffee/snack consumers, lol.

Everyone snacking and watching The Hunger Games.

Thanks Keurig® and House Party!

Thanks to everyone who made this an AWESOME house party! Can't wait to get the opportunity to host another one someday!

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My Keurig® Vue® Party Is Happening Tomorrow!

That's right, the big day is tomorrow!  

So remember, if you follow me on Twitter (@shantellevye), I will be popping on to tweet randomly during the party on September 23rd with party updates and photos, so be sure to check it out! 

The official House Party hashtag is #VueParty , but you can also use my personal party tag, #ShantellesVueParty!

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Questions and comments are always welcome, read, and replied to...

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And as always...

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Who's On This Geek's Playlist? - September 2012

Look at my dad's striped shirt... very 80s. lol! :-)

You may find this a bit amusing actually...

Last week I posted a two hour video on YouTube of the very first live show ever played by the band my father used to be a part of, Illusion (he was the bassist). Since the day I posted it, I've been going to my YouTube Video Manager randomly and listening to songs from the video. And now I'm trying to find a way to convert the songs to MP3 to give my dad for his birthday next month, which means I've been listening to the music even more, haha.

It helps that they played music from bands I enjoy, like Rush, Huey Lewis and the News, Bon Jovi, Styx, and a bunch of others... and that they played the songs well! 

So without further ado, here is the video!: 

Hope you enjoyed the music!

- By the way, if you happen to have seen one of Illusion's show live at one time, I would love to hear about it, so please leave me a comment! I know my father would appreciate the comments as well, so don't be afraid to leave something. Thanks! (^_^)

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Questions and comments are always welcome, read, and replied to... 

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And as always...

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This Geek Will Be Hosting a Keurig® Vue® Party This Month!

You heard me right! Thanks to the wonderful folks at Keurig® and House Party, I am one of 2000 lucky people given the opportunity of hosting a party in my home promoting the new Keurig® Vue® single cup brewing system! Which is perfect for me, because this geek NEEDS her caffeine regularly, haha! So a heads up to my readers: be on the lookout for a special blog post all about the party, along with photos of the events. It should be up sometime after September 23, so be ready for it!

Also, if you follow me on Twitter (@shantellevye), I will most likely be popping on there randomly during the party on September 23rd posting party updates and photos, so be sure to check it out! (The party hashtag is #VueParty.)

It should be a very exciting month, so stay tuned!

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Questions and comments are always welcome, read, and replied to...

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And as always...

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Warehouse 13 Season 4 Premiere Almost Live-Blog (SPOILERS)

Happy Warehouse 13 Season 4 Premiere Day!!!

So I am writing this as the episode airs... or trying to. Maybe more during commercial breaks... or may just end up getting distracted. We'll see, haha.

And holy crap it's starting! Let the feels begin!!

The reactions to the loss of the Warehouse are just heartbreaking. They've already lost so much. Random note though, SOOOO glad Trailer wasn't in the Warehouse when it was destroyed. That dog is just too adorable, haha!

The fact that the Warehouse's destruction pretty much caused world chaos is both expected and unexpected... I mean, we knew that the artifacts could have significant catastrophic effects on their surroundings, so you would expect there to be some crazy stuff happening in the event that so many were destroyed at once. But for some reason the world being in chaos took me by surprise. Extremely scary and sad!

We are only in the first 14 minutes have already presented so many surprises.

Not so surprising, Pete is getting himself into trouble and Artie is being... not strong, haha.

...

Ok, got distracted by the episode (as I thought would happen), so here are my afterthoughts:

After all is said and done, Artie ends up carrying the burden of being the only one to know what could have happened had the Magellen artifact not been found and activated... and knowing that he is the creater of a possible evil in Claudia.

It's wonderful that the Warehouse, Mrs. Fredrick, and H. G. are all back. But it's just horrible that Artie is going to be haunted by the memories of what almost came to pass... and what the future may now hold for poor Claudia, who seems to have finally been pushed off the edge. And who could blame here, after the loss of Jinks. She's already dealt with a lot of loss in her life... grief can do some bad things to people.

I look forward to where this season's events will lead us, and sincerely hope that where we are being led to includes a return to sanity and happiness for Claudia and Artie.

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Questions and comments are always welcome, read, and replied to...

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Who's On This Geek's Playlist? - June 2012

Photo taken during my first trip to Boston
with friends this past month. (Proof of my
life outside of the internet.)

Ok, so I have been SUPER lazy about making any entries for this blog. Seems I actually have a life offline (Who knew? haha), so other than filling my Tumblr blog's queue once or twice a week, I haven't contributed much online lately.

During my time away from my computer, I managed to finish the book I have been reading for the past 4 or so months (R. A. Salvatore's The Ghost King), went to Boston for the first time ever (where I defeated my fear of escalators!), and started playing bass guitar again (just a bit... but yay!).

I also started going though and listening to my collection of CDs, which is part of the reason I am FINALLY back to writing for this blog.

So who's on my playlist right now?

Answer: Ben Folds!


Ok, anyone that knows me is probably saying, "Shantelle, he is ALWAYS on your playlists!"

And yes, that is very true. I don't think I have had a playlist that hasn't included at least one Ben Folds song (with or without the Five).

However, the sole reason I am mentioning him now is that I made the random decision last week to listen to his CD Rockin the Suburbs (2001), and I've been listening to random songs from it every day since.

Here are a couple songs from the album. Enjoy!

Hope you enjoyed the music!

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Questions and comments are always welcome, read, and replied to...

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And as always...

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Just a Random Thought

I haven't posted in a while... mostly because I was having an intense case of blog-writers block. So here is my random thought for the day:

The way I see it, I have two brains.


One brain is a complete idiot, and is responsible for things like:

• Making me almost pull food out of the oven with no oven mitts.
• Forcing me to walk into a room 5-6 times before I remember why I was in there in the first place.
• Erasing a person’s name from my memory 5 seconds after they introduce themselves.

The other brain is highly intelligent. Its contents vary from person to person, but it’s there.

Sadly, the idiot brain is a control freak and is ALWAYS fighting for command of my thoughts and actions.

My goal in life?

Stamp out the idiot brain.

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Thanks for reading my random thought of the day, haha! (^_^)"Cross-section Human B...$16.98 Wayfair

The Last Fringe Friday of the Season; Are You Ready?

That's right Fringe fans. The Season 4 Finale episode, Brave New World, Pt. 2, will be airing this Friday (May 11th) on FOX, 9/8c.

Part 1 was so amazing/squee-worthy/heartbreaking that you can't even imagine how excited I am for Part 2. And while I'm sad that this is the final episode of the season, I am psyched that we will indeed be getting a Season 5 (mostly thanks to the efforts of Fringe's VERY loyal fans).

I'm curious to see which characters will be definitely be staying with us... or even leaving us in the season finale. I'm also VERY excited to see where the whole return of William Bell is going to lead us... I love that he is back, but it's scary that he is having anything to do with David Robert Jones. And OMFG I can't wait to see what more Olivia does with her abilities, if anything! It was crazy seeing her use her telekinesis in the way that she did. But no matter how this season ends, it will be nice being able to look forward to the next season. And we all know when it comes to Fringe, anything can happen in Season 5, haha!

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Questions and comments are always welcome, read, and replied to.

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Who's On This Geek's Playlist? - May 2012

So I'm surprised I've never mentioned this, but I am a HUGE fan of the Beatles. This has been the case since I was little, but amplified tenfold when I was about 13. So no matter what format I was using to listen to music, whether it was albums, tapes, CDs, or MP3, there has always been a multitude of The Beatles songs on my playlists. This includes their projects after the band broke up.

Recently, I finally acquired a nice collection of Beatles albums, so I have been making lots of use of my turntable. So which of my new-found treasures are getting the most listening to?

1. The White Album
   This is one of my favorites; there are just too many good songs in this album set! Back in the U.S.S.R, Martha My Dear, Blackbird, Glass Onion, Sexy Sadie... just awesome. On the weird side, there is Wild Honey Pie, and the one song that I still haven't gotten too into, Revolution 9. Otherwise, just a terrific album.
   
   
2. Rubber Soul
   This was actually the second Beatles album I ever purchase in CD format. Now that I have the album, it's songs have made a comeback onto my playlists again. Some of my favorites on this one include: I've Just Seen A Face, I'm Looking Through You, Run For Your Life, and Think For Yourself. (Doesn't mean I like the rest of the songs any less though, haha!)
   
   
3. Abbey Road
   In my opinion, this one is usually a given for ant Beatles fan. I mean, first there is Side 1, with Come Together, Something, Maxwell's Silver Hammer (a surprisingly dark one for Paul), Oh! Darling, I want You... even Octopus's Garden is pretty good, and was actually one of the first Beatles songs I became familiar with as a kid. And the Side 2... Here Comes The Sun... and of course the whole Abbey Road Medley! I've listened to this album so many times and I really don't think I'll ever grow tired of it.
   
   
4. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
   Yet another awesome collection of songs. Some of my favorites: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band/With A Little Help From My Friends, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, Fixing A Hole, She's Leaving Home, and probably #1 for me on this album, A Day In The Life. Just hearing the contrast between Paul and John's songwriting styles and how they made it so prevalent in one single song is just intriguing to me.

I love the rest of the Beatles' albums of course, but these are the ones I've been listening to the most as of late. Now here are some music videos for you! (...well, "videos" with music in them, lol.)

A Day In The Life

Abbey Road - The Medley (full)

Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

Hope you enjoyed the music!

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Video Game Adventures - Diablo III Beta Weekend

So, Blizzard allowed us Diablo fans to have a sneak peek of Diablo 3 this past weekend, which was pretty neat. The only downside? My computer sucks. I mean, it's only 3 years old, and it's a pretty nice laptop, but it's specs just are not up to par with what is needed to have a proper Diablo 3 gaming experience... which totally blows. But besides that, I'm pretty please with the game itself.

I chose to play a barbarian on single player, and because of my laptop's issues, I only played until he reached level 3. But in that short time, I did develop some likes/dislikes about the game.


LIKES: 

1. The amount of options there are for game view modes, especially that there is an option for windowed mode. So much easier that having to create that option manually, like we had to with D2.
2. The music in-game is pretty good, at least in New Tristram. I've always like the Tristram music in Diablo 1 and 2, so it's nice seeing that Blizzard kept it around.
3. The fact that you can choose a male or female version of each character class. It's a little detail, but still a neat one.
    
4. The character classes themselves. I actually can't wait to play as a monk!... but I will have to wait until we buy the game.
5. The inventory is better organized. I also like that when you mouse over an item in your inventory, like weapons or armor, it automatically opens up another little box showing what stats your equipped weapon/armor has. Very convenient!

There are a bunch of other aspects I liked too, but I'm not sure you want to be here forever reading this, lol.

DISLIKES:

Well, there is really only one. The game's start menu music could have been a little better... it's not horrible or anything, but it's just not really grabbing my attention that much. Any other issues have been caused by my own computer's inadequacies.

So in addition to all of the screencaps I threw into this post, I am also giving you a little gameplay video I recorded on my very own computer! Sorry it's a bit laggy... it's not the video, or the game, it's my slow processor. But enjoy anyway! :-)

D3 GAMEPLAY VIDEO:

So yeah, like I said, the game was VERY laggy on my computer. More so here because I was recording my desktop. But it's still pretty cool. Hopefully I have time to save up for a new PC before Blizzard releases the game!

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So leave me something! (Please?)

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Geek NOMs: Homemade Mocha Coolatta!

So like any good geek, I love (and NEED) my caffeine, which for me is usually coffee. And when I want coffee, I would rather not have to run to a coffee shop and leave my computering/gaming behind just to get my fix. My solution? Make my my own!

Sure, a pot of coffee is easy enough to make on your own. But when the weather gets warmer, I lean more towards coffee Coolattas from Dunkin Donuts... but that is inconvenient and can get expensive. So when I got my new blender for Christmas, I decided that I needed to solve this problem!
And after much trial and error, I think I finally have this recipe down. So go ahead and try it out, and see if I'm right!

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Homemade Mocha Coolatta

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 Cups of crushed ice

• 1/2 water

• 3/4 milk (I used soy milk for mine)

• Sugar, however much you would usually put in your coffee

• 1 tablespoon instant coffee

• 1-2 tablespoons cocoa powder (optional… for awesome mocha!)

Directions:

Put all ingredients in a blender, and… blend, lmao.

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Yes, it sounds simple... but that is because it is, haha. Not to mention convenient, because it's made from stuff I always have in my kitchen. And this recipe makes enough to fill my ginormous mug! Awesome, right? Now off to drink my coffee...

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Did you try the recipe? Let me know how it came out! Found some ways to make it better? Then send those ideas my way! (Please?)

And as always...

Thanks for reading!! (^_^)

Light It Up Blue for Autism Awareness!

As part of Autism Speaks "Light It Up Blue" campaign, we will be changing out our regular front porch bulb for a blue one to promote Autism Awareness. I am hoping that some of my readers, new and old, will do the same. Want to learn more? Visit the Light It Up Blue website at http://www.lightitupblue.org !

I am also hoping to help raise at least $100 by the end of the month for Autism Speaks. Visit my campaign page (http://www.lightitupblue.org/Markslist/campaign/display/profile.do?campaignId=24003) or go to the link below if you would like to help out:

Donate $10 or more to Autism Speaks.

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Has Autism touched your life? I would love to see your stories in the comments!


Thanks for reading, and please don't forget to Light It Up Blue!

Mad Men Season 5 Premiere House Party!

So I have to say, the party was a LOT of fun! I spent a lot of my time making food and taking photos, but for me, that is part of the fun with my parties. My Dad had fun playing with the masks, and insisted on my taking photos of him with each of the male character masks, lol.

I had seen that AMC was supposed to be playing a Season 4 marathon of Mad Men in the hours before the party... and was kind of disappointed to find that it didn't happen. Luckily, Netflix saved the day with that part of the festivities.

I think one of my favorite parts of the whole party was dressing up in 60s garb... although my hair was being a pain in the you-know-what and didn't want to curl (FAIL). But I still ended up looking presentable, lol. As for everyone else, if there had been a contest, I'm pretty sure my friend Heather would have won it. She look awesome!

As for food, I was able to make the chicken a la king and the virgin pina coladas without a hitch, and everyone seemed to enjoy everything. I wish I had gotten the chance to make the Butter Cake a la Mode... it sounded fraking delicious! I'm just going to have to create another event just to make it for everyone, haha,

Everyone loved the neat stuff in the the "House Party" Party Pack that I received from HouseParty.com, the mask being the biggest hit. A couple guests even took door hangers home with them! So glad I got the opportunity to receive such a neat party pack. (^_^)


The best part of the party? The premiere of course! The highlights for me:

• Pete running into the wall and giving himself a bloody nose. It was hilarious, and I'm not a fan of Pete... so it was somewhat satisfying, lol.
• Lane's dancing reenactment for Joan of the events at Don's birthday party. Both because it was highly amusing to see his character like that, and because of the slight creepiness of this moment when thinking of this actor's character on Fringe. (Watch Fringe and you will understand... or just go watch Fringe because I tell you so...)
• Megan singing Zou Bisou Bisou to Don at his "surprise" birthday party. Mostly because the song had everyone at my party laughing and saying, "WTF is happening right now?", haha.

I probably missed a whole bunch more because I was having fun chatting with everyone and tweeting about the party and show on Twitter, but the episode is already online, so I definitely plan on re-watching it!

Anywho, here are some photos from the party, along with a video tour of the Ad Room we set up!

 The Decor

The bar top in the living room :-)

The music!

The Ad Room bar.

The entertainment center.

The Ad Room

The party favors.

More of the Ad Room

The living room bar.

 The Food

Chicken a la King, rice, and Utz chips & dip.

Deviled eggs.

Utz potato chips and pina coladas.

The Guests Having Fun, lol.

Me, as Joan

Heather :-)

Me!

My Dad as Roger

My Dad as Pete

Dan and I <3

My Dad as Don Draper!

Heather!

Everyone watching the premiere! Yay!

  

Draping!

Me!

Heather

Heather photo-bombing my Dad's #draping photo, lol.

My Dad

My Mom

Dan

Even the cat got in on it, haha!

 A Video Tour of the Ad Room! :-)

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