LydMc

This is the second venue we explored in our escape room journey, where we brought two other puzzle-loving members of our family for their first escape room experience ever. Once again, we were not disappointed and already look forward to coming back to try all the remaining rooms.  Beat the Room  - Rocklin Rooms:  All the rooms we've tried so far have been fun, immersive and engaging. Some are single room (did not feel cramped) and some are multi-room. Captain’s Quarters:  2–8 players, Intermediate-Beginner (as rated by venue) Pirate-themed single room with great, immersive setting, fun props and plenty of puzzles to occupy four people, though it also would have been doable with two. We finished surprisingly fast, not because the puzzles were overly easy, just because we had a lot of clever people working on them. Solved with 4 people in 25.12 minutes, 0 hints! (Top of the leaderboard!) Bitten: (90 minutes)   4–10 players, Expert Vampire-themed multi-r...

As of February 2024, my husband and I have officially finished all the escape rooms at Red Door Sacramento! This was the first venue we went to when starting our escape room quest, and needless to say, it got us hooked.  Below is the comprehensive breakdown of our experience (sans spoilers!) so you can get a feel for what they have to offer.  Red Door Escape Room  - Sacramento  Technically located in Rancho Cordova, this escape room is in the same building as the Old Spaghetti Factory right next to Highway 50. It's part of a franchise so they have other locations across the country, some with different episodes! For now, this review is just about the Sacramento location. Rooms:  Every single room was awesome. The settings were unique and well-tailored to the themes, and every room was technically a multi-room with multiple spaces to explore/escape . Listed in the order we visited... The Gift:  2–8 players, 8/10 difficulty (as rated by the venue) B...

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild  Guardian Cake & Classic Nutcake The Legend of Zelda is hands down my favorite game series and nerdy cakes are one of my favorite things to make, so w hen I heard there was a Zelda food contest being hosted by Binging with Babish (#eatwhatyouwatch), I simply could not resist! After considering the many delicious Zelda dishes I could make, I eventually decided to try my hand at the humble Nutcake a la Breath of the Wild. ...But since I also wanted to max out the nerdiness, I decided to make a Guardian (Nut)Cake, as well.  The elusive Goat Butter!  According to the official Zelda recipe, Nutcake only has four ingredients: Any Nut, Goat Butter, Cane Sugar and Tabantha Wheat. The goat butter (a.k.a. #GOAT butter) was by far the hardest thing to track down, but I managed to find some and I'm glad I did. It was fun to work with and had a unique flavor that carried into the final product without being too overbearing. F...

Happy Halloween! Halloween is almost here again, and you know what that means... costume pARTy! In case you missed the original  Halloween Costume Art , I like to commemorate the holiday by drawing various (often hilarious) costumes pulled from the latest costume catalogs.   Random Costume Assignment This year I enlisted my brother to help randomly assign costumes for my usual cast of characters.   Even though the costumes were completely random, a lot of them worked out quite well for the people who received them. 1st time is not the charm Once I knew who was who, I took some time to sketch out a possible plan. Ten people is quite a lot to fit into one picture, especially since I wanted them to interact in some fashion.  Getting ink A few preliminary sketches later, and I was ready to start inking. This is one of my favorite parts of the process, as it refines all the hazy spots and makes it look so official! Gibdo attack! (Bonus...

Bird's Eye View Have you ever wanted to draw, but had no idea where to begin? This sort of creative block seems fairly universal to most any creative avenue (writing, painting, cooking, you name it), and one of my favorite ways out of this rut is to step back and do a little R&D.  When it comes to art, for me that means working from a reference. This not only gives your creative brain a break while still flexing the muscles, but also gives you a chance to study up, refine your skills and experiment with new styles.  Where can one find references like this, you ask? Pinterest, of course! Hey, fancy ladies! These fancy ladies were inspired by this  Fashion Photo  which struck me as soon as I saw it . I referenced the clothes, hair and postures of the ladies, but gave them to a few of my own characters instead. (If I really wanted to maximize the learning experience, I should have gone after that background, too, but... maybe next time!) Women's Fa...