peanut butter bites

I made some peanut butter bites this week. Recipe was courtesy of my trainer. I believe he got it from vshred.com.

I changed the recipe a little bit, but only because I thought coconut would be a good addition. Also, I didn't have unsalted natural peanut butter. I bought some previously, but it was incredibly difficult to stir so I ditched it.

This recipe is based on the one he sent to me, which I doubled. This makes 24 peanut butter bites. If you want only 12 bites, just cut this in half.

My calorie count came out to about 150 calories each, which I feel it quite high; however, they're very satisfying and fairly filling. These are great to have when you have a junk food craving and they keep very well in the fridge. Protein is 4 grams and sugar is 6 grams per bite.

4 TB honey
1 1/3 cup unsalted peanut butter (I used regular creamy peanut butter)
2 cups rolled oats (not instant or steel-cut oats)
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
1/4 cup coconut
1 cup ground flax seeds (flax meal)

Combine all the ingredients and then put in the fridge for 15 to 30 minutes. This makes it easier to roll them.

Roll them into 24 bites and then store in the fridge or freeze.

Catsbury Park's Second Annual Cat Convention

Two crazy cat ladies. It runs in the family!

I recently went to the second annual Catsbury Park Cat Convention, which was held in Asbury Park, NJ and run by Catsbury Park Cat Cafe.

When I saw the advertisement last year I wasn't all that sure I wanted to go again.  I went to the first one they held last year and while I enjoyed it, it was absolutely packed and I think some things could have been done better. But it was their first convention and I don't think they expected the huge turnout they got. Ultimately I decided to go since it's was only $40.00 for both days and the proceeds go to charity.

The weather was warmer this time; however, it was very windy out by the water (the Asbury Park Convention Hall is on the boardwalk).  Unfortunately there was a fire at the Dunes Boardwalk Cafe while we were there. It started right before we arrived at the convention hall and burned all day. It was extinguished for a short time, but the high winds caused it to reignite. It was actually still smoldering the next morning. The Dunes is about a half mile or so away, but the air was pretty smokey both days. Luckily we didn't have to evacuate.

When we arrived on Friday we visited the Catsbury Park Cat Cafe on Friday afternoon. It's a vegan cafe. One side is the cafe and the other is the cat lounge where you can hang out with the cats, play with them, feed them treats, or eat your own vegan treats.  All the kitties are up for adoption. Last year I went on Saturday night after the convention and it was SO, so busy and the cats were either sleeping, hiding or cranky. This time they were mostly all awake, happy and ready to play. The added bonus was that my cousin and I were practically the only ones there so we got to hog the kitties.

Here's one of the Cafe residents. This was a playful Tuxedo kitty.
Actually, several of the cats were Tuxedos, some with white whiskers!

We then headed over to the convention hall for early wrist-banding and then off to dinner at the Americana Diner (great diner!). I’m so glad they did early wrist-banding this year. Last year was the first convention they held and I think the huge turnout was really unexpected and the lines were very long (it was actually at legal capacity a half hour after opening last year), so they wanted to streamline this year.

We decided to use Uber for the convention Saturday morning so we wouldn’t have to get there super early in order to get good parking. Knowing that it’s not a huge convention, and that there isn’t much on the boardwalk to do this time of year, I didn’t want to be hanging around for over two hours before the presentation at noon I wanted to attend. It worked out well. We got there around 11:30 am, the Uber was half price so it only cost about $5.00 (cheaper than parking!), and we didn't have to deal with parking. It was awesome being able to walk right in and not have to wait in line. We walked around the convention floor for a bit, then headed over to the Paramount Theater to see “From Stray to Space: How Klaus became an Astrocat,” which was presented by Klaus’s dad, Mick. I was hoping Klaus would be there like he was last year, but he was hanging out at the hotel; he’s now 19 and Mick didn’t want to stress him out. (If you want to check out their Facebook page, click here:  https://www.facebook.com/TheKlausCat/. There are also some super cute videos here: You tube) I really enjoyed the presentation. Mick talked a lot about Oskar (now deceased) and Klaus's lives, as well as their efforts in helping bring books and resources to blind children. I teared up when he talked about Oskar's passing, which happened last year two months before the last convention.

The next presentation I wanted to see–Hannah Shaw, the Kitten Lady–wasn’t until 5:00 pm so we had quite a bit of time to kill. We shopped the convention hall, went up to the adoption lounge to look at the kitties (no, I didn’t adopt one!!), had appetizers at the Robinson Ale House, and shopped around the little mall that houses the convention hall. I ALMOST got a tattoo (Neptune Tattoo was there), but I chickened out at the last minute. I’ve never wanted a tattoo or even cared for them, but they had some really minimalist designs and I was thinking I’d be OK with one on my ankle or maybe my shoulder. (Plus I’m a crazy cat lady so why not advertise it and be proud of it?) I was thinking of this one below, but just a black outline with no coloring. Maybe next time!

I really enjoyed Hannah Shaw’s presentation, "All Things Kitten and Community Cats."  She showed some really cute videos of her neonatal kittens, a TNR (trap-neuter-return) project she worked on, as well as some other videos. She talked a lot about neonatal kittens and community cats (ferals) and how they’re the most at-risk cat population and how people can help. Lots of useful information. (Here's a link to her website, which has links to her different social media pages: http://www.kittenlady.org/follow.)

Sunday we did two celebrity cat meet and greets: Lil Bub, and Stache and Teddy (yes, I’m a geek and a crazy cat lady!). Most of the meet and greets were held at the Asbury Hotel. We made sure to get there at least 30-45 minutes before the meet and greets started since lines form early. I also wanted to try and get towards the front of the line so the cats wouldn't be cranky or tired. We got right into see Stache and Teddy due to the way they divided up the waiting area. We just happened to be on the side where people weren’t waiting and they told the Stache and Teddy attendees to wait there. Lil Bub, on the other hand, we waited about an hour, maybe a little more, since it started at the same time as Stache and Teddy, which meant we were nearly at the end of the line. But it was worth it. She’s adorable! Tiny and so mellow. (There was a young woman in front of us and she was saying that she was so excited to meet Lil Bub that she felt like she was going to faint! Mike, Lil Bub's owner, told her to calm herself since Bub was starting to pick up on her excitement. The woman ahead of her was talking about how she balled her eyes out last year when she met Bub for the first time, and that they had to tell her to calm down and get hold of herself before approaching Bub. I mean, I love cats and wanted to meet Bub, but I don’t put it quite on the same level as meeting Def Leppard. Although it was close!)

Me and Lil Bub.

Me with Bub and her "dude", Mike, as he's called. LOL

Me with Teddy (left) and Stache (right). Unfortunately I didn't get to sit with them this year.

Teddy and Stache. They're so cute, soft and well-behaved!

Before heading home I made my obligatory trip to Wegman’s to get some goodies (there’s no Wegman’s in my state so I go when I’m near one) and then we were on the road.

It was a good convention. I was so happy it wasn’t jam-packed like last year; however, there was the fire at the Dunes Boardwalk Cafe a half mile away, so perhaps the combo of the smokey air and the fact that the huge turnout last year soured some people (and that people didn’t actually read the website last year to know that it’s not a cat SHOW, it’s a CONVENTION) is what kept attendance down a bit. There were lots of great vendors. I got some artwork, cat toys, a door stop, and Lil Bub leggings and a mug (courtesy of my cousin). Got some yummy vegan treats, too. My only complaint this time around is that they seemed to go the opposite direction in terms of the presentations they had this year. Last year they had lots of them on both days, with generally two or three running concurrently. This year it seemed there weren’t many at all on Saturday, which is when most people attend the convention. Most were on Sunday when people would typically head home, as well as all the meet and greets being on Sunday, too. Although they added I think one or two on Saturday because Sunday sold out. And since the convention hall isn’t huge, and neither is the mall outside, it was hard to fill four hours in between the two presentations.

Here are some of the goodies I grabbed. I forgot to take pics of the cat toys and they're already scattered around the house. I got two catnip kickers and four wool mice. They didn't seem to have the free tote bags this time around; however, we didn't get there at opening time so they may have had them and run out by the time we got there.

Artwork is by Leeza Hernandez, http://www.leezaworks.com/

Artwork is by Leeza Hernandez, http://www.leezaworks.com/

My handmade door stop. Purple, of course!

I haven't decided if I'll put this on my desk at work or keep it at home.

My cousin got these for me. Crazy, aren't they?? This isn't me! It's from Lil Bub's online store. I actually had to send them back and get a bigger size since they run small. The store rep was very friendly and accommodating. I didn't even have to send the leggings or receipt back before they sent out a replacement pair! They just took my word for it! I also got a Lil Bub tea mug, but it's at work already.

road trip!

I recently went to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, which was in Brooklyn on March 29. And why did I go? To see my favorite band, Def Leppard, inducted in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame! It was a once-in-a-lifetime event and there was no way I wasn't going to go. We got the cheap seats months ahead of time, my sister got a big discount on the hotel room (she works for the chain), and breakfast was complimentary. All we had to pay for was gas for the car and our food at the venue, so it was a pretty cheap trip overall.

My sister decided to drive to my house in the night before and then we drove to Brooklyn the next morning. I have to say, driving in Brooklyn was really tough. It's just so much more congested than any city in my area. I managed, though. When we pulled up to the hotel there was nowhere to park at all so I circled the block. When we came back around, there was a spot on the corner. I have no idea if it was really a parking spot, but I didn't care. I was just glad there was *somewhere* to pull over. My sister went into the hotel to find the valet while I sat in the car with the flashers on, hoping and praying no one would hit me as they came around the corner. We finally got the valet to come out so we grabbed our stuff and went inside. Check-in took forever! It turned out the person at the desk was new, so I couldn't get too upset, but those helping her were pretty slow, too. Very nice, but so slow. We finally got up to the room and just hung out until it was time to change clothes and leave.

We took an Uber to Barclay’s Center, which cost about $30 (it was peak time for an event); he was very friendly and a good driver thankfully! It was our first time taking Uber and even though it was more than I would have liked to spend, it was so, SO worth it to not have to drive in that traffic and then find parking. Getting to the hotel and figuring out where the valet was was enough for me! We were going to try taking the subway to Barclay’s; however, neither of us had been on one in about 20 years and we just didn’t want to deal with figuring out how it works, or risk getting lost and being late. (Yup, we chickened out.)

When we got to the venue we hung out outside for a few minutes in hopes of finding somewhere we wanted to eat. We ended up going inside and splitting an order of chicken tenders and fries. We each got a bottle of water at $7.00 a pop! Of course, they took the caps off so we had to be super careful we didn't spill it once we got to our seats. Guess who spilled 2/3 of hers?? Me. That sucked because I knew I'd be thirsty and I wasn't about to pay another $7.00 for another bottle. I sipped slowly!

The event itself was fun, but very long–over five hours! (I'll be interested to see how long it is when it airs on HBO in late April.) Our seats were on the second tier, which was very high and very steep and we both had a feeling of vertigo while trying to get to our seats. Stevie Nicks opened the show and she really was fantastic. She did a duet–Leather and Lace–with Don Henley, and Stop Dragging My Heart Around with Harry Styles. She also sang Edge of Seventeen and Stand Back. Radiohead and Janet Jackson didn’t perform. The Cure, The Zombies, and Roxy Music all performed. I didn't know any of their songs, so that made it seem much longer. It was enjoyable, but not my taste.

And then it was time for Def Leppard! They were inducted by Brian May of Queen. The acceptance speech was touching, as Rick Allen got really choked up when Joe Elliot talked about their tragedies and how Rick was able to come back from his accident, and had he not, there may not have been a Def Leppard. They performed their set, which was Hysteria, Photograph, Rock of Ages and Pour Some Sugar on Me. The all-star jam ended the night. Def Leppard brought out Brian May, Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone of The Zombies, Stevie Van Zandt of The E Street Band, Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera and Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles. And.....the surprise of the night was Ian Hunter of Mott the Hoople. They sang Mott the Hoople's All the Young Dudes, which is Joe's favorite song I believe. It was a great performance. 

Here are some of the pictures.  Almost all of the pictures I took were of the video screen because our seats were so high up.

Part of the video montage. Look how young they were!!

Brian May giving the induction speech.

Def Leppard on stage.

The all-star jam.

Joe Elliot with Ian Hunter singing All the Young Dudes.

And then it was all over! Time to head back to the hotel. This time we braved the subway since we didn't want to have to try and find the Uber driver in all the traffic. We had to really pay attention to the signage, but we made it to the right train and got back to the hotel in one piece.

I’m so happy to see Def Leppard get into the Hall of Fame finally, and I’m thrilled I was able to go. I got to see history in the making. It’s amazing that they’ve been making music for 42 years and they’re still going. It's going to be a sad, sad day when they finally stop touring. Hopefully that will be a long way off!

So what's my only regret?  I didn't have any pizza while I was in NY--NY style is my favorite! I did, however, have an authentic NY bagel so I can't be all that upset.