I mean, c’mon. That little elephant is out of this world cute. If this doesn’t put a little pep in your step, I don’t know what will!

Moss Mantis is not a band of many words. If you check out its website or Facebook page you’ll only find one sentence in the About section. It goes a little something like this: “Moss Mantis is a four-piece rock and roll band from Seattle.” It’s simple, to the point. The band members* just aren’t really into talking about themselves. Refreshing, right? What they are into is playing music, and good music at that. The kind of music you can rock out to — shake your hips, nod your head, jump around, sing along. Shit, you could even throw in a head bang if you were feeling especially inspired, and it wouldn’t be that weird. Have I piqued your interest? (The answer is, “Of course!”) Well, lucky for you Moss Mantis is playing this Friday at the High Dive in Fremont. And as the concert poster states, it promises to be a night of “absolutely insane rock and roll music.” You’d be silly to pass that up. So don’t be silly. Go to the show. Rock out. Thank me later.

*Moss Mantis band members

Ray Benson – Drums

Cameron McCracken – Vocals, Bass, Guitar

Charlie Tribe – Vocals, Guitar, Bass

Sean Walsh – Guitar, Vocals

The fourth annual Retro Fools Day is this Saturday, April 6th at Stevens Pass. For those unfamiliar with the event, it’s a day of retro aka old school ski outfits (which is my favorite part), stunt and race competitions, raffle prizes and style awards. In summary, it’s a great day of spring skiing in goofy outfits. Fun, right?! Awards include Best Dressed,  Fastest Time, Best Trick, and the ever ambiguous Most Radical.

Not sure what to wear? Let the gentleman below serve as an example. Bonus points from me if you can score a neon onesie.

Photo via wastelandnw.com

Look at all the beanie-clad kids. Photo via theskichannel.

Do you ski or snowboard? If so, boy oh boy, do I have the deal for you. The World Ski and Snowboard Festival is April 12 – April 21 in Whistler, and Whistler is offering some killer stay-and-ski packages. Usually, a standard one-day lift ticket will cost you roughly $100. But during the festival you can score (like my friends and I did)  a suite for three nights, and a two-day lift ticket for every person in the room for approximately $250. That’s right, the room AND tickets cost $250 total.* Such an amazing deal considering two standard tickets alone would normally cost you $200.

The prices aren’t the only thing that is awesome about this event. Besides sunny Spring skiing, the World Ski and Snowboard Festival also offers concerts, competitions and the shopping/eating/drinking treats Whistler is known for. My friends and I have attended before and it’s such a blast. If you’ve been wanting to go to Whistler, now is the time to do it.

*Price based on six person suite

It’s that time of year again! Time to get your drink on in support of the fight against multiple sclerosis. The 8th Annual MS Pub Crawl is from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. (or later depending on your booze endurance) this Saturday, March 9th in Ballard. This event, organized by my good friend and fundraising guru, Molly Johnston, has raised over $55,000 in support of research and programs working to find a cure for M.S. and help families currently dealing with the disease.

This crawl is no joke. All the money raised goes directly to the National MS Society, and all the participants know how to party. For realz, yo. We be drinking. Not sure where the thug life grammar came from, but it felt good.

Thirty dollars gets you in, with a t-shirt and drink specials at every bar on the crawl list. Below is the list of participating bars, and a link to register. Come join me and the approximately 300 other awesome people who will be in attendance. You can think of it as training for St. Patrick’s Day drinking with the added bonus of doing good for the community. Who can say no to that? Bad people, that’s who. (Just kidding, you’re all wonderful, no matter if you attend or not. Xoxo… but you should probably come.)

BAR LOCATIONS, Drink Specials valid from 3-10pm
Kings Hardware @ 3pm to get your t-shirt
The Loft
Hattie’s Hat
BalMar – 6:30pm for RAFFLE TIME!
Azteca (nachos anyone?)
Market Arms
*reminder – as soon as you check in, you can head to any bar on the list!

Instructions to register:

Click link below

Select “Other amount meaningful to you” and write in $30 (or if you’d like to donate more that the minimum, select any other option)

Include t-shirt size in personal note section

Fill out rest of form and submit

Click here to register for the MS Pub Crawl >>

It’s that time of year again! This Saturday, March 2nd, Stevens Pass is hosting its annual Hope on the Slopes event, a 24-hour ski and snowboard extravaganza. Stevens Pass stays open for 24-hours for the HOTS participants, and the day is filled with games, races, music, etc. I attended last year with a team of friends, and we had such a blast. The money raised from the event benefits the American Cancer Society in its mission to help cancer patients and their families with information and support, to fund research that leads to improved treatments, to educate the public about cancer prevention and early detection, and ensure everyone has access to life saving cancer screenings. Very important stuff. So if you were planning on heading up to Stevens on Saturday, I can’t recommend enough that you spend the extra dough to participate. Not only is riding the mountain at 11 p.m. pretty nifty, it’s for a great cause. I will be riding for Michelle, Nana, Grammy, Uncle Tom and my friend recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Who will you ski for?

Register today!

Shred for Stevens Day

I’m a little late to the posting party, but if you’re up for some Tuesday night skiing I highly recommend heading up to Stevens Pass for the Shred for Stevens Day event taking place today. Half of the lift ticket proceeds will benefit the Ski Hill Memorial Project, a fundraising program commemorating avalanche victims Johnny Brennan, Jim Jack, Chris Rudolph and Daniel Zimmerman. The 24-month campaign aims to raise $500,000, which will be used to enhance The Leavenworth Ski Hill and forever immortalize the lost Leavenworth locals. A pretty neat project, if you ask me.

Photo via Plain Chicken

Technically Crack Bread can be made any time of year, but it is so awesomely unhealthy and delicious that I think it’s best to relegate it to special occasions. The Super Bowl is one such occasion given its traditional menu of cheesy, meaty, carby, generally bad for you, but oh so tasty treats. I have to warn you though. Once you’ve tasted Crack Bread, you will crave it. Hence the word “crack” in the name. It’s addictive on so many levels. Cheddar. Bacon. Ranch. Warm. Crunchy. Sourdough. Bread. I mean, c’moooon. My friend Marianne got me hooked a couple years ago when she made it for a boating trip, and I haven’t trusted myself to make it since. I honestly think I could eat a whole loaf to myself, and not regret it… Anyhoo, I could go on and on, but I suggest you whip up some Crack Bread for the Super Bowl (did I mention it’s also super easy to make?). You will be the star of the party, and probably develop a cult Crack Bread following. Give it a go, and let me know what you think!

Ingredients:

1 unsliced loaf of (round is preferable) sourdough bread

8-12 oz. cheddar cheese, thinly sliced

3 oz bacon bits

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 Tbsp Ranch dressing mix

Steps:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degress

2. Using a sharp bread knife cut the bread going both directions. DO NOT cut through the bottom crust

3. Please slices of cheese between the cuts

4. Sprinkle bacon bits on bread, make sure some gets in the cuts

5.Mix butter and Ranch dressing mix. Pour over bread.

6. Wrap whole loaf in foil and bake on baking sheet for 15 minutes.

7. Unwrap. Bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Have you ever noticed that your vehicle-less friends also tend to be completely averse to the idea of  catching a cab? I have, and I find it to be the funniest and oddest thing. They’re perfectly happy to take the bus, walk short distances or accept a lift from friends, but cabs are a deal breaker. No way, no how, they would rather sit at home alone than fork over 10 dollars to Yellow Cab. Why is this? Can anyone explain it to me? I know you’re not broke cause you just consumed a cab ride worth of beer. You’re obviously okay riding with strangers because you regularly take the bus. And we both know you only walk weather permitting (which is totally understandable, btw). Give the cab a chance! Sigh. Or don’t. Because there is a new solution in town, and it’s awesome! Sorry, Yellow Cab.

Introducing car2go: the perfect transportation option for vehicle-less Seattleites. I’m telling you, if I worked in Seattle I would seriously consider selling my car in favor of car2go. It’s like ZipCar, but better. Here’s how it works:

You download the app, register for $35 and receive your member card. When you need a car, you pull up a map showing you all the available cars in your area. My friend is a regular car2go user, and she’s never had to walk more than a few blocks to find a car. When you get to the car, swipe your member card, climb inside and drive away! You can leave the car parked in any legal parking space within the Home Area. Super convenient! Each car comes with a gas card you can use to fill up when necessary, and car2go handles all the parking fees with city so you park for free. That’s right, FO’ FREE! It’s seriously the best way to car share. One important thing to note is the cars are small. Like, itty bitty small. So, they’re not the best choice for big shopping trips. But really, that’s the only downside I can come up with. Like I said, it’s awesome.

Have you ever used car2go? What were your thoughts?

Who knew pot pies were their own industry?

My very serious Monday afternoon conversation with a co-worker about the career opportunities for members of the pot pie industry has been cracking me up for almost a full day now. And since I didn’t come up with anything better to share with you, here it is, in all it’s glory:

Me: Did you know pot pies are their own category at ConAgra Foods? As in, they have their own marketing manager, buy planner, etc.

Coworker: Pot pies are disgusting.

Me: Agreed, too many carrots. But I think it’s funny that someone could be the marketing manager for pot pies. Like, that’s your title. ‘Hi, my name is Shannon, and I represent pot pies.’

Coworker: Where does the pot pie guy go next in his career? Hot Pockets would be a step down. Or would they…?

Me: I say the pot pie guy next moves on into Lean Cuisine. Much hipper frozen food group.

Coworker: Good call.

What about you? What frozen food industry do you think the pot pie guy moves into next and why? Should Lean Cuisine really beat out Hot Pockets? Is there another frozen food contender you’d root for? Winner of the most creative comment gets a shout out on next week’s blog post!