Sunday, January 29, 2012

Drifting out to Sea...

I'm being ice-berged.

Which, yea, is a bummer.  And has naturally, led to a self-doubt shame spiral full of when, how, why, and what did I do, or not do that wasn't good enough?

It's amazing how quickly romance can go from something to nothing. Especially when just ignored. I would have thought that at this point in the game I'd have deserved something more than being ignored to let me know that it's over.

The answers though, don't really matter.  It doesn't matter why, or how, or what, or what not. It just is.

Despite all of that, it was a really nice foray back into the complicated and exciting world of dating.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

One of my Favorite Snacks

A couple of years ago, in the midst of preparing for Love of Friends 4, we were holding a meeting/sew night at my house, and it was Regina's turn to bring a snack.

She showed up, opened her back and said, "Ok, I know you said you have cheese and crackers, so I brought some sweet potatoes and avocados."

I blinked at her.

"Um....ok?" was all I could come up with, not really sure what I was supposed to do with this information/ingredients.

She proceeded to boil the sweet potato, slice up the avocado, and once the potato was cooked through sliced it up as well.

Then she piled a slice of sweet potato, avocado, and cheese onto a cracker and handed it to me.

It was absolutely delicious.

The best thing about this snack, besides how easy it is to create, is that its quite satisfying, while being somewhat healthy.  I mean, I'm pretty sure I've read that both sweet potatoes and avocados are "super foods", and most of the time when I make it now, I don't even use crackers, just pile the avocado and cheese onto the sweet potato and enjoy.

It's the perfect comfort food for a cold and rainy winter afternoon like today.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Easy, Genius, Sustainability

There are some things I am bad about.  For instance, buying new toothbrushes.  Precisely will actually go ahead and throw mine out because, as he says, "there's no way those bristles are even doing anything anymore."  And then I feel like a child, albeit being grateful for the forcible reminder to get a new damn toothbrush.

Yesterday, I had lunch with a friend, and we were talking recycling (because this is what I do now) and she told me about one of the most awesome products ever.

There is a company called Preserve Products, that make goods from recyclable materials which is awesome in and of itself.

Even more awesome, is that one of these products are toothbrushes.

But wait.  It gets better. Not only are the toothbrushes made from recyclable materials, BUT when you buy them, the packaging they come in also doubles as a shipping envelope so you can send it back to Preserve when you're done, and they turn your old toothbrush into a park bench!!

I have never recycled my toothbrushes before. Never even thought about it.

AND THE MOST AMAZING, AWESOME, INCREDIBLE PART OF IT ALL, is that they have a toothbrush subscription service.  Meaning, that for the price of approximately 4 lattes, I will have a new toothbrush delivered to me every 3 months, and I will send the old toothbrush back, so that it can become part of a park bench.

Every single thing about this makes me so happy.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Resolved 2012

Since the world might end on 12-21-12, this year's resolutions is also kind of a bucket list.

1. Read more fiction.
2. Plan, prepare, and cook a fancy multi-course dinner party for 10 of my friends, complete with paired wine.
3. Finish the Pittsburgh marathon with my best time ever. (4:30 would be awesome, but I'll settle for under 5 hours.)
4. Once a week, pick up the phone and call someone who isn't my Mom just to say hi and talk.
5. Visit my sister in Rome.
6. Buy a mega-bus ticket to a city I've never been to before, and go for a weekend.
7. Wear only the clothes I own that I love, and give away those I don't.
8. Increase philanthropic giving.
9. Get back to yoga.
10. Keep my houseplants alive.



2012 is going to be a good year.  Though really, I could use a little more time, so if we could get an extension on the apocalypse, that would be great.

Monday, January 2, 2012

We Went Through a LOT of Bramble... and a LOT of Champagne!



Happy New Year! I ushered in the new year at a cabin in West Virginia with friends, flannel, fires, several bottles of champagne, and little cell phone service.  It was lovely.

Notable Quotes from New Years 2011-2012

"We might starve. STARVE!"

"It's been a long time since I've shot a gun."

"Ok, so we make a right on this road, and then we'll pass... and I quote... 'the old barn' on our right."

"This trip just turned into the Oregon Trail. We are now traveling at a GRUELING pace."

"I thought I saw a deer. Turns our it was a mailbox."

"We brought our composting!"

"I can't wait to buy bullets!"



While lost in the woods on a hike. 
"Alright guys. I've seen enough horror movies to know that this is the point in which we should absolutely split up."

- "Are we gonna watch the ball drop?"
- "I think that's some kind of rule."
- "I've never seen it before."
- ::the whole group:: "EVER?!?!"
- "I've always been somewhere partying."

- "What's the verdict on the Hunstman daughters?"
- "The brunette is hot."
- "The brunette is really hot, she looks like her Dad."

When the caviar was served.
"We are seriously the fanciest cabin-folk around."