I don't normally blog for the DLN on my days off. I try to give myself some separation from work. But it's been a rainy Sunday and all I did for most of the day is watch TV. And I kept seeing this commercial for Paula Dean. Now, I'll admit, I'm a dork and I watch all the cooking shows. A lot of the recipes are delicious. I don't have a favorite chef or anything, but Paula Dean is at the top of my list. The commercials I've seen all day are for bacon wrapped breadsticks. Anyone that knows me knows that I think bacon makes everything better. Broccoli? Add cheese sauce and bacon. Shrimp? Wrap 'em in bacon? Cheesesteak? Anything on it? Yes, onions and bacon. Oh, a healthy lunch? A salad with bacon bits. I could go on but i think you get it. But bacon wrapped breadsticks is amazing. I love bread and bacon. So, thank you Paula. And if anyone reads the rants and raves on the Philadelphia Craigslist, bacon taped to a cat is pretty funny too.

I decided I wanted to do a story on a farmer in Chester County and ended up meeting a man that raises pigs -- more than 2,000. I had no idea the bacon, pork chops, sausage that I enjoy came from so close to home. The pigs were surprisingly lean animals and large. For lunch I had sausage pizza, right after. So good.

Hello, Hello.

Last week I heard the oddest story involving a pros/cons list that I'm not going to go in to. But being a bit of a smartass, I put together this one and shared it with some friends and got a laugh so here it is. But it's not the point to the post, so keep reading after.
A List of Pros and Cons For a Pros and Cons List
Pros
-- It's an organized list.
Cons
-- It's a list of pros and cons.
--This is stupid.
Cons win. There won't be a pros and cons list.

Now, last night, I found myself putting a list together in my head on whether I should make the move to Pheonixville. I'm mulling it over and if anyone has any insights, let me know.

I've been quiet here for a couple of days. It's been a weirdly busy week. I found good hot chocolate, wrote some stuff and now I'm disappointed the forecasters are predicting rain and not snow. I was really hoping to head up to the Pocono's to take my first turns of the season, but now I'm unsure. We'll see.

If anyone ventures north or south, I've learned there is some great skiing and riding in West Virginia while doing some sidework for onthesnow.com and would love to hear about anyone's trips, feel free to e-mail me pictures and I'll see what I can do about getting them up. Send them to justinm@dailylocal.com.

That's all, my weeks is almost over and I'm sure there's something somewhere I can do.

A few months ago, I did my top 5 driving albums at the moment. One of them was The Sky Drops, a great band from Wilmington Del., that I caught at the Fire a couple of months ago.

They've recently released a video on youtube, and it's actually for my favorite song on their EP "Clouds of People." Be sure to end your year right check them out at the Khyber -- 2nd & Chestnut St., Old City, Philadelphia on Sunday December 16.

Here's to happy listening and watching.

Over the weekend, I chose to embrace my Christmas spirit (before it went away) and went and got a tree.

My memories of getting a tree are of a Christmas tree farm in Maryland (I grew up in Oxford) where Santa sat in a barn that was full of Christmas knickknacks and other stuff you could decorate the house with. Outside you could pick your tree, pet goats and sip hot chocolate.

The place had rows and rows of trees that you could walk through, looking for that perfect one.

I've had quite a few of my own places around Philadelphia and one in Vermont and never bothered getting a tree. The year in Vermont, the closest I have come, was a branch I snapped off a tree and stuck in an empty PBR can. Not to festive, I know, but I was a 23-year-old guy.

In Philadelphia, I've never had a tree. Until this year. I wanted to go down to Broad and Washington, where a guy has sold them for years. But I read he wasn't there this year and being impatient I didn't bother calling around.

My memories of buying my first tree now involve driving down Columbus Blvd. in the rain to Home Depot. The store had a lot of trees, but they're wrapped in twine so picking one out is a bit of a gamble. I chose mine on height.

Now, as you can see, it's not a bad looking tree and it smells alright. It has a citrusie smell and fits fine in my apartment. So, I'm happy with my first tree. Now we'll see if I remember to water it. Who knows, in two weeks this post could be followed up by a post on the first year I killed a tree.

So, I'm doing a story on good places in Chester County to get some hot chocolate. And I don't mean going to someone's house and having their mom pull out the box of Swiss Miss. Nothing against Swiss Miss, it's just not what I'm looking for.

I've gotten some recommendations, but I'm throwing it out here to everyone that reads this blog looking for information on Cheers Elephant (whom I still haven't seen by the way).

Come on Chester Countians ... when you want hot chocolate, where do you go? And do you marshmellow?