Happy Friday!

It always amazes me when I wake up one day and suddenly the whole work week is gone. Remember when we were kids and it seemed like it took forEVER to get to the weekend, or Spring Break or your birthday, or whatever other day you were looking forward to? Now shit passes by without any effort at-the-fuck-all.

I finally busted through my procrastinatory streak Wednesday by putting together a folder of favorite photos I've taken on my portable hard drive and then starting a portfolio on my Facebook page, two things I've been meaning to do for a few weeks now. Of course, I'm still not doing a ton of things. But, first things first, people! Small progress is still...drum roll please...PROGRESS!

Now, for a bit of good Happy Friday vibes, enjoy the above clip from Jessie J. I just heard this song yesterday and can best describe her as a cross between Lily Allen and Katy Perry. I like what she's throwin' down. Yes sir.

Go, my people. Have an awesome weekend!

Recent Obsessions: Pinterest

Websites start up all the time, and I usually roundly ignore them. I mean really, how many faux-social sites do I need in my life? Facebook, flickr, You Tube, Blogger, MySpace, Friendster (Does anyone pay attention to that one anymore?), Kaboodle...

I generally believe enough is enough when it comes to this stuff. But...last week I was reading one of my blog faves and she wrote about Pinterest. It works much the way I suspect tumblr does; you put a thingie (I know, real technical) in your Internet favorites bar, and then every time you come across a pic of something you like online you can Pin It, save it to a Pin Board you create and keep it forever and always.

I joined up a couple days ago because I frequently save web pages to my favorites when all I want is one image. Really? I'm quite enjoying having all my web faves in one spot. Give it a shot, you might find you like it.

Valentine's Day Is For Shopping

Well, I hope everyone had a good (much warmer) weekend and a great Valentine's Day. HUBS and I spent Saturday with our parents to celebrate his 40th birthday. By the middle of last week HUBS was fine with the big day, but before that it was pretty clear he was having a time with the idea of turning 40.

HUBS and I both have that thing where we were good kids who did well in school, and it seemed like a given that we'd do amazing things with our careers. Instead, we've both had a lot of missteps and setbacks and neither of us is completely where we thought/hoped we'd be. I was worried that HUBS wouldn't be able to get beyond those feelings, and I'm really, really glad that he finally did.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HUBS! I LOVE YOU!!


Valentine's Day was nice in what can only be described as the least romantic ways possible. HUBS and I ate lunch at a Mexican chain we love, Qdoba, because they were offering BOGO entrees when you kiss at the register. We had our good, cheap meal on an unseasonably warm day and then ran around to Walmart and various grocery stores to fully supply ourselves for the coming lean times.

Having full cabinets and a full fridge gives me (and most people, I'm sure) a sense of peace you cannot believe. It's more important than V Day gifts, but I did get HUBS a combo birthday/Valentine's gift of a new video game. Last night he brought me a large size of my favorite coffee and a pink rose. Good stuff.



Yeah, my rose is in a beer bottle. Deal with my non-traditionalism!

There's Nothing Like...

Photo

...A visit from the in-laws to get you cleaning stuff you've been neglecting for months!

But more importantly? HAPPY BIRTHDAY HUBS!!



40 looks good on you :)

Humanity Gets Dumber: Example # 4,583

Have you heard about this? What the hell is the world coming to? I sincerely hope that no one who reads this blog is stupid and reckless enough to even consider this crap.



There, I'm off my high horse. Have a great weekend everybody! And no pouring booze into your eyes! REALLY!! Maybe just listen to some music and skip the drinking all together.

Citygirl Bites! Lotawata Creek

These are dinner rolls, not boulders in the wilderness.

I know we haven't done one of these in a while, so I figured it was time to let you in on our dining exploits again. HUBS and I visited Lotawata Creek during my birthday week extravaganza back in November. I'd been there once about eight years ago and remembered the portions being positively huge, but reasonably priced.

The rolls are amazing. They're larger than the average lady-hand, a bit crispy on the outside and warm, doughy goodness on the inside. That butter they serve with them must be combined with honey or something, 'cause it's major good, too.



I had this blurry side salad along with my entree. It was so big that as I tried to mix the sweet, tangy, tomato-y dressing around it started to fly out of the bowl. This, combined with a roll, almost filled me to capacity. I had to stop eating so I could fit some of my main dish in my body.



HUBS ordered chili as a precursor to his meal, and wouldn't you know it? It was served in one of the largest bowls I've ever seen, though you can't really tell that from the photo. It was plenty savory and meaty, but I have issues with foods that seem larger than they should be. The beans just looked too big. Too big for what, you ask? I don't know...The Earth? Where did they get these things, Venus? Some secret planet in the Andromeda system? God...



I got baked beans as a side, and man, were they ever good. Because of my humongoid sized sweet tooth I prefer a sweet baked bean as opposed to a savory one, and these had sweet in spades. I ended up finishing my roll so I could sop up all that sauce. Yummy.



This is what HUBS ordered: a tenderloin sandwich that came with fries. But this wasn't any ol' tenderloin sammy, oh no! This was approximately half the size of his head. Look at the bread! It's like a whole loaf! Plus the meat was covered with massive quantities of cheese!

HUBS is a pretty good eater, but even he had to cut the thing into three parts, and only finished one. And, look at those fries. When they serve fries with a meal at Lotawata, you get an entire giant plate of French fries, not a little portion on the side. I have to say, the fries were a bit gritty, but I didn't notice it until the next day when we had reheated some of them for leftovers. It was odd, but this explained why everyone who left the restaurant before us left their fries behind.



Look, I know you can't tell what's under all that sauce, so I'll let you in on the secret: Cajun chicken. It was, like most other things, really good, but I do wish they hadn't drowned it in the rather salty cream sauce.

HUBS and I ended up walking away with four take-home boxes and had leftovers for days. We spent less than 60 bucks, but got about six total meals out of all the food. Not bad, wouldn't you say?

Music Monday! Unexpected Genre Combos

Welcome to a brand new week, everyone! Did you all have a good weekend? HUBS and I did quite a bit of snow-walking, tire fixing and car-digging-out after Saturday morning's two to four inch snow. Cabin fever had finally struck, and I needed to get out and do something, so do we did.

What did you think of the Superbowl? We took a nap after our outing on Sunday and missed the first half, but I have to say, when you're not invested in either team (and not a huge football fan) the whole thing can seem rather...meh. Do you know what I'm saying? Even watching Green Bay enjoy their victory didn't manage to move me much. Maybe if we'd been around a bunch of fans and feeding off their energy it would have felt more exciting.



I missed all the commercials during the first half, but I was also mostly unimpressed by them, as well. The one where the beaver saves the guy from driving on a washed out bridge was cute and I really liked the Darth Vader Volkswagen ad (I'd seen it on the Today Show on Friday), but other than that...meh.



What Superbowl commercials did you enjoy?

Now, a Music Monday first. I'm having a hard time getting this song outta my head, mostly because it's got to be the only R&B song in the history of the universe that features...yodeling. You read that right, Internet denizens! Go ahead, play the video and marvel at the end of that song. Marvel, I said!!

Happy Friday!

I hope everyone has made it through Snowpocalypse 2011, especially since we're due for three more (blissfully much lighter) rounds of snow over the next few days.

It was nice having HUBS home for a couple of days this week. He went back to work yesterday and I actually tagged along to get out of the house. I have to say, though, I think it may be time-out for that for a while. Why? Well, I'm starting to feel kinda pitiful hanging out at my husband's job.

I tend not to get much done while I'm there, even though I always have my laptop. Actually, it might be that watching him work at something he loves just rams home how badly I need the same thing. (Not that I begrudge him that. I'm really glad he feels like he's found his thing.)

On a positive note, I got an email from one of my old editors Wednesday and he wants me to do some weekly work for them. I'll be making $100 a week, which will save our shit once the dough starts rolling in. Not to mention, save my sanity a little by giving me some much needed confidence. So, yay!

In honor of Happy Friday times, I'm going to pass along the Said the Gramophone best music of 2010 list. You can even download the complete 100 song list, so go ahead and get the party started this weekend!

Tuesday Tipday: Surviving Snowpocalypse 2011!

Brave birds invade our icy deck this morning.

Many of us are currently in the thick of snowy/sleety/icy times right now, possibly with a good couple of days to spend at home with no work or school to break up the monotony. Yesterday I started to wonder, amidst all the talk of oh-my-God-this-will-be-the-worst-snow-storm-in-DECADES!!!, what might most people need to really enjoy multiple snow days in a row?

Any crazed student or overworked cubicle dweller could spend one day sleeping, catching up on magazines or playing their favorite video games. What happens when we get two, three or even more straight days of not needing or being able to go anywhere. Now, I happen to be an oddball who doesn't get that cabin-fever itch until around day five of not leaving my neighborhood, but I know some people start to get the stir-crazies much sooner.

For this week's Tuesday Tipday, I'd like to give you some suggestions for blasting through that trapped-at-home feeling. All of these assume that you still have your basics taken care of: you are safe, dry, warm, can contact the outside world if necessary, your pipes haven't frozen, and you have plenty of food available and ways to cook it. So, on we go...

Snowpocalypse Survival 101

Music:
God, I love music. Specifically finding new music and listening to non-Top 40 stuff. As someone who grew up in a house where music was the thing, and played several instruments (piano, flute, drums, guitar)growing up, I can tell you that music is where it's at.

I believe it frees us in ways that watching TV or movies just can't. The sounds tell a story, and if you sit back and relax you can imagine it any way you like. So whether you spend some time with your favorite station, blow two hours watching videos on COOL TV or set your 16GB mp3 player to shuffle, be sure to engage in a little aural enjoyment. I'm confident it'll help soothe your weary soul.

Reading Materials:
PT loves to read. When I was growing up she would frequently stay up all night to finish the latest 400 page Stephen King scare-fest, meaning she would complete the thing in one 24 hour period. I've never done that much reading in one day, but I did inherit my mom's love of stories and the words we use to tell them.

I always have a plentiful supply of magazines on hand, because I'm an addict, and the house is full of books we own or have on loan from the library. Snowpocalypse is not the time to avoid what we erroneously label guilty pleasures; if you're 82 and what you really want is to lose yourself in a stack of comic books, make sure you have a stack of comics! Enjoy what you read, and peace will follow.

Visual Media:
Television gives me orgasms. There, I said it. A good TV show (or movie, for that matter) thrills me right down to my naughty lady bits. If you've never had a movie or exceptional episode of TV give you chills, you're not watching enough. Looks like nature just handed you the opportunity for quality time with that DVD box set you invested in but hadn't gotten to watch yet. Dig in.

Brain Food:
Much in the same way we can't live on blueberry scones alone and expect to have healthy lives, we also need to engage in some activities that expand our brains. So, do a crossword puzzle, read up on a topic that you've never read about before or spend some time playing games on Lumosity. A little bit of enlightenment goes a long way.

Favorite Things:
Maybe there's a pen you love to write with or a coffee mug you need to drink out of. Perhaps you feel most alive when you play your violin or meditate every day. Whatever your favorite things to do or use are, make sure to incorporate as many of them as possible into your snow days. I know a cuppa vanilla coffee mixed with cappuccino always makes my days brighter. And HUBS loves his sports drinks.

Connection:
For the love of God, talk to somebody. Sending emails or chatting over Yahoo is just not the same as hearing an actual, real, human voice. If you don't live with anyone just pick up the phone.

Comfort:
This category overlaps with many of the previous ones, and the idea is pretty simple: if it feels good, do it. Lay in bed with a stack of magazines. Make the richest hot chocolate you can and drink two cups in lieu of breakfast. Envelop yourself in the best blanket you've got, crash on the couch and watch soap operas all day. You've finally got some time off, enjoy it!

How are you spending your snow days?

Music Monday! Snowpocalypse 2011!

Our icy deck by 5:30 tonight.

I don't know if you've heard, but much of the Midwest (and then East Coast, I suppose) is due to get some major ice/sleet/snow through Wednesday. Things started getting hairy here around 10 a.m., when a 'wintery mix' of slick crap started falling. My poor Lila has been covered in ice for about six hours now!

They're also predicting blasts of freezing rain tomorrow that will turn into massive amounts of snow (up to two freakin' feet in some areas) that then turns into sub-zero temperatures and winds of up to 50 miles an hour. So, you know, this week's gonna be all kinds of adventurous!

I'm trying not to over-react, but it's difficult when the National Weather Service actually holds a press conference about the bad weather that's coming and the governor institutes a preemptive state of emergency. HUBS and I have a few candles and plenty of flashlights and batteries if the power goes out. We also stocked up on some grocery items yesterday, along with 99.9% of St. Louis city and county. I have never seen so many people at the grocery store!


The icy little tree in the front yard.

On top of all this Snowpocalypse 2011 (Snowmageddon? Which do you think is better?) stuff, we still don't have our gutters fixed. It's going to take at least another week for the company we picked to get a crew out to us, since lots of folks are having the same problem and got to them before us. With all the ice and snow coming, let's hope they continue to hold on and we don't get any water damage to the house.

Well, I'm saying several prayers that: the homeless all get into decent shelters, no one loses their power or at least not for very long, all the stray animals have good, non-snowed-in-able hiding places and we all come out of this with nary a hair out of place.

Now, as far as Music Monday goes, I figure you can go one of two ways for your music choices during Snowpocalypse 2011. Either you want to get all snuggly with your honey:



Or, you're feeling cabin-fevery and want to rock the fuck out:



Either way? Stay warm, safe and happy, y'all!

Tuesday Tipday Wednesday: For Your Kitchen, Or, Home Ownership Can Drive You Batty

Monday's exhausting night led into an even more exhausting Tuesday. A two and a half hour nap was brought on by what can only be described as Home Repair Despair.

As I was feeding the stray cats that morning, a neighbor pointed out to me that (wait for it...) our gutters were falling down! Looks like last week's snow has melted and refrozen just enough to clog our gutters and then drag them down from the heft. The panicked anger that followed really cannot be described.

After I found someone to come out and do an estimate, I called PT to vent and broke down like the champ I am: crying hysterically, yelling, pacing the floor and barely speaking coherently from all the not-being-able-to-quite-catch-my-breath. Why so freaked out, you wonder? Well, last weekend I was setting about fulfilling 2011 goal #5, when I did the math and realized that after paying off all those credit card bills last fall, HUBS and I will still be behind (by $32.20) when the 401k money runs out.

This means that we will, once again, have negative cash left after paying all our bills. No money for groceries, toothpaste, cat food or entertainment. None. So, once the 401k train has left the station, we'll be fucked yet again. And now we have a home repair to attend to. I was hoping it would cost no more than $120, but I can deal with the $385 first estimate to replace all the gutters with stronger ones.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, on to today's tippy goodness. I told you last week how much I've come to lovelovelove Mad Hungry? Well, there's been one negative side effect: I think I'm addicted to cookbooks, because now I want every cookbook ever written. EVER.

I have spent countless hours since buying MH trolling Amazon for other cookbooks. I'm reading reviews and excerpts, comparing prices at other sellers and getting giddy from the thought of buying them. Now, since I haven't actually finished MH, I have been able to restrain myself and haven't bought a single thing. But, if chopping, peeling and measuring is your idea of a good time, today's tip comes courtesy of my current cookbook wish lists above and below.



So, what cookbooks do you love?

Music Monday On Tuesday! Music For Expansion

My apologies for not posting yesterday. I joined HUBS at his job for the day and forgot that their internet security settings block blogger. We didn't leave there until around 7:30 p.m., and then we headed out to St. Peters for dollar bowling and hot dogs at the Brunswick Zone XL.

I hope everyone had a great weekend that wasn't too cold or snowy or cabin-fevery. We got about eight inches of snow last Wednesday and then another two yesterday. Luckily, it didn't stick to the streets where I live, so it didn't really effect travel...though, we ended up not doing any of that anyway. We spent the day eating leftovers and watching the last three episodes of The Walking Dead, which (surprisingly) didn't stop me from going to sleep that night at all. Yay!



Now, about my EXPANSION project for the year. I had a breakthrough moment last Tuesday when I was shopping at PetCo. I always take a brief look at the cats they have up for adoption, and this time there was a woman and her toddler looking around also. She mentioned something to me about how all the cats seemed huge to her and we started chatting. We ended up talking for about 20 minutes as we wandered around the store to keep up with her roaming daughter. It was so much fun! And? She's also a photographer!

We're around the same age and seem to have plenty of things in common, and she even cursed while we were talking so I won't have to watch my sometime horrible potty mouth around her. We exchanged info and she friended me on Facebook Thursday. I cannot tell you how awesome it feels to connect with another photo chick. The big thing now will be staying in touch with her and actually having some face time now and then. We could go on photo walks, maybe, and stop for lunch or coffee. Yes! I am EXPANDING my life!

Tuesday Tipday: To Serve Man

For years now I've been against buying cookbooks. When you subscribe to as many magazines as I have (ok, do) you get plenty of recipes in your mailbox every month, not to mention the scores of cooking ideas you can find online, on TV, or from the library.

One of my favorite cooking shows is Everyday Food, and I also get the magazine from the library and scan the recipes I'd like to try. I was looking through an issue and saw that one of the hosts of the show, Lucinda Scala Quinn had written a cookbook that helps you deal with feeding men. Feeding men, y'all!

I cannot tell you how much she read my mind! After several months of low-level poverty where figuring out what to cook and eat was a daily trial, I needed this book. By the time I found out about it HUBS and I had recovered some financial stability, but I was still feeling like I didn't really know how to cook for us.

HUBS can only cook pasta with jar sauce, burgers and fries; if I want anything besides that I have to cook, and that's fine (usually), I like cooking. But, back when I was living alone, if I didn't feel like cooking or didn't have anything much in the house and didn't have much cash to shop, do you know what I did? I ate cereal, or a salad, or a sandwich and I was fine.



That won't work with HUBS. He needs massive quantities of meat to feel like he's eaten anything other than a snack. I believe I could feed him an entire box of cereal and a half gallon of milk for dinner and within two hours he'd go "Yeah, that didn't really feel like a meal."

I. Love. This. Book! It's not just the tips and the recipes but the book-iness of the book: the design of the cover and pages, the photography, the heft of it and the textured, cloth-like cover. In the intro she acknowledges that "men eat differently from women." Yes! I thought I was going crazy over here, watching HUBS eat five Arby's roast beef sandwiches with a large order of fries and a giant soda in one freakin' sitting! It's not just me, apparently. Men just do that.

For Tuesday Tipday I'm going to share one of her suggestions with you: serve the man you cook for. I know, I know. He's a grown-ass man, he can walk, you did all the cooking and the least he can do is fix his own plate, but guess what? If he's what I like to call a Hungry Jack, he'll literally eat everything if you let him.

Once I started putting reasonable portions on HUBS' plate, he ate it and was generally satisfied. He rarely even goes back for seconds now. This means that when I cook enough for six people, I will actually have four servings of leftovers instead of one! Amazing!

The long and short of it? If you like to cook, you can't go wrong with this book. If you like to eat, you can't go wrong with this book. And if you're still getting used to feeding a man, you cannot go wrong with this book!

Music Monday! Three Day Weekend Edition

I hope everyone got a chance to enjoy their holiday weekend. Ours was a bit less relaxing than we'd hoped.

HUBS had two huge projects at work on Friday and I went in to help him. Everything went smoothly until about 10 p.m., when some software issues prevented him from finishing either project that was so close to being done. My poor guy did everything he could think of to solve the problems, but we ended up leaving at 2 a.m. Saturday morning with neither completed. Naturally, HUBS was infuriated.

As is always the case when one of us is angry beyond belief and the other is cool as cucumber, I tried to calm him down, but this was just one of those times when he had to come down on his own. Since there's no overtime budget left for this school year, HUBS had spent 16 hours at work that day, but only been paid for half that.



Saturday was nice; his parents came by and took us to dinner, and we did some furniture shopping (but no buying) afterwards and on Sunday.

Can I just mention that I've also spent the past four days trying to poo? I did everything right: drinking water, eating live-active-culture yogurt, having veggies in my scrambled eggs (spinach, onion and tomato), feasting on oatmeal for breakfast, having coffee... And yet, nothing worked until Sunday night when I stuffed my face with dulce de leche, pound cake and half a bag of kettle corn. I followed all the rules and what my body really needed was junk food? Travesty...

Today has been fairly quiet. I updated my resumes and applied for a writing job I found online, finished going through my emails and catching up on some financial articles I'd saved. HUBS has been continuing his unwinding process with liberal doses of video gaming. I really don't understand the video game thing, but I'm glad he's got a hobby.

How did you spend your long weekend?

This Year I Will: 2011 Edition

Shakes relaxes with his body threaded through our TV antenna. Cats have such simple goals, don't they?

Yesterday you saw what I got done in 2010, now let's take a look at what I want to do in 2011. I tried to narrow the list down to things I could actually fully accomplish this year.

For instance, at first I put down 'publish a book', but that's not something that's really totally dependent on me (if I were trying to get it published through traditional means, anyway). So, I amended it to 'writing book proposals and sending them out', which is a goal I can complete this year, even if said books don't get published until 2013.

Well, then, off we go...

This Year I Will: 2011

1) Write another screenplay and enter it into at least one contest
2) Promote my blogs
3) Sell photos through at least one online agency
4) Write proposals for my book ideas and send them out
5) Create a workable budget
6) Travel more
7) Network
8) Grow my freelance career
9) Add 1,000 steps to my daily walking, to equal 6,000/day
10) Use pen tablet weekly
11) Try more new things
12) Watch less TV and do less meaningless internet roaming
13) Call PT more
14) Make the money to buy a car within two years
15) Promote past freelance work online
16) Figure out a way to organize our home library area and get more storage in this house
17) Keep track of family birthdays better and connect with family more
18) Work on becoming more sexual

There! I think that's it for me.

What do you plan to do in 2011?

Last Year I Did: 2010 Edition

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I was talking about how I wanted to EXPAND my life this year? I started off by making a list of all the things I'd accomplished last year, to inspire me to get even more done in 2011.

Well, here's my list of big things done in 2010. It's not half bad at all.

Last Year I...

1) Came up with three book ideas
2) Got out of debt
3) Found a really good pedometer and started walking more
4) Began dressing better
5) Updated citygirl
6) Started weekly savings account
7) Fed us creatively when we had no money
8) Went back to reading self-help books for inspiration
9) Took up reading more books in general
10) Kept off 10 pounds
11) Realized I was getting older and started sleeping more and taking more extensive care of my teeth
12) Engaged in much creative brain-storming while working
13) "Finished" my first screenplay and entered it into a contest
14) Tried eating dessert only every other day. Succeeded.
15) Got a bra fitting and returned to the world of underwire over-the-shoulder-bolder-holders

Tomorrow I'll let you know what I plan to get done this year.

What did you get done in 2010? Have you christened 2011 yet?

Music Monday! Teenybopper All Grown Up

I hope everyone had a good weekend! Saturday was good and sad and also a bit fun. We went to my cousin's funeral that morning, which, of course, was sad. But then we went to the repast, and as in the past this was basically a family reunion-style party with good food and lots of family I'd either never seen before or see rarely. That was fun and good.

What wasn't fun was my cry-headache. I always get brain pain after crying, but this turned into a serious threat level RED brain beater that almost made me vomit from discomfort. I needed an Advil and four full hours of sleep to tamp it down.

I was so pleased to feel like a normal person after my nap that I made HUBS go shopping for office supplies/household essentials when I woke up. We took a break in the middle for dinner at IHOP. We did a lot of talking and good eating - two more things that are always fun.

So, now that I'm getting back to Music Monday thanks to Youtube, I hope you like this song from one of my favorite still-active late '90s teen sensations, Robyn. You probably remember her '98 hit Show Me Love:



It's always good when young stars don't implode, isn't it?

Eat This Sandwich

Holy crap, it's like a god.

Everyone loves a grilled cheese sandwich. Well, everyone who loves cheese loves a grilled cheese sandwich. And if you don't love cheese you can't be American...Or human, so I've got no interest in what you eat, anyway.

But, cheese loving people all over the world need to find a way to make and eat this sandwich. Now, I've made grilled cheese all kinds of ways over the years. I think, though, that I've finally made the best one ever. You will need about four thinly sliced pieces of apple (I used a Pink Lady), three different types of cheese (for me it was fontina, Borden pepper jack and a shredded Italian blend), honey ham, good wheat bread, cracked pepper, Italian seasoning and cooking spray.

Now, lay out your first piece of bread and cover it with a cheese slice, top it with the apple slices, more cheese, cracked pepper, ham, Italian seasoning, cheese, and last piece of bread. Spray both sides with cooking spray and, here's what I think really makes a difference, put the sandwich in a hot panini press or Foreman grill. After a few minutes you can turn the sandwich 45 degrees to get cross-hatched grill marks, but as you can see from the photo it's not a requirement.

Take it off the grill and dig in. Oh. My. Gawwwwwwwd. The best part, the thing I found so amazing, is that it stayed hot the entire time I ate it. I've never made a grilled cheese that didn't get cold two seconds after I took it off the stove. Never.

Ok, finish your sandwich, wipe your mouth and hands and thank me. Aren't you glad you read this blog? I knew you would be...

Tuesday Tipday: Christen Your Year!

The TV through my new year's champagne glass. I had 10 sips instead of my usual two, and I'm all the better for it.

Well, happy 2011, all you internet denizens! We're four full days into the new year and I bet a lot of you have made resolutions or set goals for the months ahead. I haven't made a resolution for years now. For me, the idea of New Year's Resolutions had come to mean some activity I'd promised myself I'd do, only to inevitably give up the effort weeks later. And then the next year I'd make the same promises to myself all over again, with the same pitiful results.

I've decided to look at things differently this year. Not writing down concrete goals has gotten me almost nowhere, so last Thursday I took a quiet moment to do two things: list the accomplishments from 2010 and list what I wanted to do in 2011.

If you're like me, and have the tendency to get procrastinatory (New Word Alert) on your dreams out of fear (of change, new things, the unknown, success, failure...I could so totally go on), then I can tell you that starting with my successes really helped. It made me look back over the year thoughtfully, so that I was able to notice even the smallest victories.

Why do the small victories matter? Because the small ones get you to the big ones. I was able to see that I really did get some stuff done last year and that it's completely possible, if I keep going, to get even more done in 2011.

Then, earlier today I was reminded of an idea I'd come across around this time last year. Individual goals are great, but a good way to plan for the completion of those goals is to think about what you want your life ahead to be like in general. You can do this, as I've decided to, by christening your year.

Now, depending on what you've been going through and what you want for 2011, this might be easy or require more pondering. But the basic process is simple, just consider what you need more of to be happier in the coming year. Do you want to be more connected to the world around you? Then connectivity is your word for 2011. Maybe you'd feel better if you slowed down. In that case a word like quiet or relaxation could be for you.

This just helps you crystallize what all your smaller goals should ultimately do for you. Here is what I've decided: I want 2011 to be a year of Expansion. I need to cultivate more of basically everything in my life: connection to others, freelance work, money, fun, adventure, travel, passion, good health, doing for others, love and on and on.

What I realized by looking at the past year (and years before) is that my world, my life, has gotten mighty small. While I'm very, very glad to have HUBS, our cats, this house and a fine collection of photographs taken since I was a little girl, I need a bigger life. Bigger experiences, more adventure and definitely more hard work.

So, today's tip? Christen your year! Sit down and figure out what bullseye you want to hit this year by aiming at those smaller targets. It just might help everything come into view.

I'd love to know: what's your word for 2011?

Where Them Lights At?

Thank You Wild Lights at the St. Louis Zoo. Thank you. I hear The Baby Jesus loved him some twinkle...

I don't know if this is because we live in a still slightly ghetto neighborhood, or what, but I'm gonna need to see more Christmas lights next year.

Has anyone else noticed either a dearth of lights this season, or (more disturbingly) people not plugging their stuff in past the actual day of Christmas? Hey, people! It's holiday time up in here! If the lights are already up and the tree is still hanging out in the corner, how hard is it to plug that shit in? At least through New Year's Eve! I mean, really! Do you hate The Baby Jesus, or what?