1. I was able to snag a “virtual ticket” to the Thirty Seconds to Mars live streaming concert from Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC via VyRT last Wednesday.
For a mere $15.00, us ticket holders were able to watch behind-the-scenes preparations + casual interviews with (from left to right) Tomo Miličević, Jared Leto, & Shannon Leto…
… as well as the full concert, which of course was awesome! I’ve been a big fan of this band for a while now, and jumped at the chance to see them perform live.
Although I would have loved to have been there in person, watching the concert live from my living room was the next best option.
Here’s a clip from one of my favorite 30STM songs, Alibi. In the short video I recorded, you can see the setup – my computer hooked up to our T.V. and stereo. The sound was great! More bands should broadcast concerts like this.
A few other favorite 30STM songs of mine:
- Hurricane
- 100 Suns
- Closer To The Edge
- The Kill
2. For the life of me, I cannot get my Silpat clean. Warm soapy water helps a little bit, but the silicone baking mat always feels a little sticky after drying. Help!
3. Two of my brown rice pudding recipes are on SHAPE.com:

Included in the slideshow of ”Surprisingly Healthy Holiday Puddings” are recipes by fellow bloggers. Go check them out!
4. There are a few holiday commercials that make me want to bang my head against the wall whenever they come on T.V. (which is approximately once every 10 minutes during the 7:00-8:00 a.m. news hour on channel 7):
- the crazy Walmart lady
- the even crazier Target lady
- the obnoxious T.J. Maxx & Marshalls carolers perusing the mall for over-spenders
You know what I’m talking about. Right?
5. This, my friends, is an addiction in a jar:

If you haven’t yet tried it for yourself, I’m sure you’ve seen it on other blogs… so you’ve probably already been warned about how impossible it is to keep a spoon your fingers out of it.
Dangerous, I tell you.
6. I am d-o-n-e DONE with my holiday shopping. Hallelujah!
7. That cookie butter would be a tasty compliment to the Super Healthy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies I posted on The Back Burner blog today.
These chewy and hearty cookies are from a family recipe, and I can’t eat one without a flood of memories from my childhood washing over me. They’re incredibly healthy, but also delicious… I think I’ll go nibble on one now ;).