A Happy Reader, A Healthy Eater

Happy Memorial Day!

2009-05-24T23:12:00.002-04:00

Hello good fine people of the world wide web... how is your Memorial Day going? Mine started off crazy busy, and has slowly segued into nice and relaxing... everything a Memorial Day weekend should be! And the weather is G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S. Warm, sunny, clear skies... perfect Memorial Day weekend weather!

Well, we got our new carpet installed on Friday, and let me tell you, it was an ORDEAL. We had to essentially pack up our entire apartment and move everything either onto the balcony or our bathrooms. It was not easy, and it was not fun. I slept very little on Thursday and Friday night, because I was so busy frantically packing and unpacking my entire room and all of my stuff in the other rooms in the apartment. The carpeting guys were kind of jerks and seemed agitated that we had not moved everything out of the way before they got there, but there was just some stuff that we could not physically lift ourselves, and they copped a bit of an attitude about that. Most guys would be honored to help two fine ladies move furniture and heavy boxes, but not these guys. It took a lot longer than we expected- they didn't leave until about 2:30- and the rest of Friday and Saturday was devoted to piecing our apartment back together, unpacking everything, multiple trips to storage and trash bins, etc. On a really hot day at that. It wasn't fun!!! I was more than happy for it to be over! And I will say this- it is a very nice carpet. It's very soft and comfy! I don't know if it was quite worth all the hassle my poor roommate and I had to go through, but it is nice.

We took advantage of the fact that all of our stuff was in disarray and rearranged the apartment a little- we moved furniture around to make the apartment look more spacious, and we set up a "Reading Corner"! We took an armchair and angled it at a corner of our apartment, and it's right next to all of our bookcases, but still in view of the TV. It's not finished yet because we haven't organized our books yet- my roommate and I are both out of shelf space, and need new bookshelves- but once we have it all set up and organized, I'll post a pic! Needless to say, I am very excited for Reading Corner. :-D

I also cleaned out and reorganized my room, threw away a ton of old stuff that I'd been hanging onto for years, organized stuff like photos and cards, etc. My room looks amazing! I can't remember the last time I had such a clean and well-organized bedroom. Want to take bets on how long it lasts? ;-) Nah, kidding. I'm really going to try to keep it this way.

While I was going through a bunch of old stuff, I came across a birthday card that my dad had given me about five years ago. It's beautiful. It's black and white with a flower on it (not sure what kind- an orchid maybe? I'm florally deficient), and on the front it says, "Savor each day for the gift that it is." I read it and immediately started to cry. It made me thank God that I'm a pack rat who holds on to everything. And in light of everything that's happened this year, that sentence couldn't be more true.

I had my room all finished up by Saturday night, and I've spent the rest of the weekend thoroughly exhausted!!! I did manage to make it to the gym today- first time since Wednesday, and I'm glad I went, I was itching to get there!- but my legs were definitely sore after my workout, and the rest of the afternoon consisted of sitting on the couch and watching the Phillies beat the Yankees (in a nail-biter game.... they won by one run in extra innings!!!). It felt so glorious just to park my ass on the couch and be completely lazy. :-) Okay, not completely lazy... I did do laundry and change the cat's litter. But it took effort!!!! I had no idea how physically exhausting and mentally taxing the whole carpet ordeal would be. It was basically like moving, only I didn't go anywhere- I moved into the same damn apartment! I hadn't thought there would be so much involved, honestly. I definitely underestimated the work that would need to go into this- the apartment complex had given us a checklist of things to do before the carpeting company got there, but it was extremely vague, like "clear off bookshelves", "unplug stuff from walls", etc. Nowhere did it say, "Put everything you own into boxes and move them into bathrooms or the balcony." It did say we had to get our stuff off the floor, but where are you supposed to put an entire apartments' worth of boxes if you cannot use your floor? Should I have waved my magic wand and had all the boxes suspended in the air, a la Harry Potter? Seriously! I'm either seriously lazy or a serious baby, because I feel like at this point, I should be recovered from it all by now. What's wrong with me??? :-D

I've really gotten into The Feminine Mystique, as much as I could this weekend, anyway. Last night I climbed into bed with every full intention of reading, opened my book, and realized that I was too mentally and physically exhausted to concentrate on processing words. :-D Oh. My. God. This book is SOOOO good! I'm still a little too worn out to get into the details right now, so look for a more thorough and competent review tomorrow. Right now, I'm still feeling tuckered out from the weekend, and am just ready to park my booty in bed! ;-D

Crazy busy week= slacker blog

2009-05-19T19:37:00.001-04:00

Hello, friends! Just wanted to let you know that posting will be even MORE sporadic than usual, because it's a bust week at work, and I'm in the midst of organizing/clearing stuff off shelves and floors to get ready for our carpet installation on Friday. But here's a quick update on my week so far:

*I finished up A Deadly Game, which was really good. I started a new book, The Feminine Mystique. So far, it's flipping awesome. This should be required reading for all women. More details to follow. Here's the book:

I got this baby for thirty-three cents at a paperback book sale... BOO-YA!!! :-D

*I'm working hard at maintaining a positive attitude/looking on the bright side of life, and I think it's really working- I'm feeling much better these days, about work and life in general! :-)

*I found a piece of glass in my applesauce today!!!! NOT cool.

*I'm still eating awesome sweet potato combos. I do have pics, but it's all stuff you've seen before. Use your imagination! Like tonight's will be a Gardenburger Savory Portabella Mushroom veggie burger, organic ketchup, broccoli, and the main star, the sweet potato. Ya'll know what this looks like! This isn't even a new one. Busy week= less time to get creative. Don't worry... I'm not running out of ideas! ;-)

*We're having BEAUTIFUL weather here in PA! Finally!!!!! I can't believe it's Memorial Day weekend already... believe me, I'm not complaining at all! Summer is my absolute most favorite time of year. What's yours?

I hope you're all having a great week! I'll try to post before Friday, but no promises! :-)

18 books for 18 bucks

2009-05-17T13:54:00.001-04:00

Can't get THAT at a bookstore or amazon, now can you? :-P

I went to an awesome book sale today at a nearby library. And, in case you missed my post title, I got 18 books for $18!!! All books- hardcover, paperbacks, whatever- were $1 each. How sweet is that??? Everything I got is in fairly decent condition, but for a buck a book, I can only expect so much. :-D

I KNOW you want to know what I got, and you KNOW I'm gonna tell you!!! :-) I ended up with eleven hardbacks and seven paperbacks (I'm including an amazon link for each book, so you can get a better plot synopsis of each book- I wouldn't be able to do the same justice, lol!):

HARDBACK BOOKS:

*Brightness Falls, by Jay McInerney: A fiction novel about a very successful married couple living in Manhattan in the 1980s (I love anything and everything 1980s-related), and how the 1987 stock market crash turns their lives and their marriage upside down.

*The Chocolate Lovers Club, by Carole Matthews: A fiction novel about a group of four girlfriends who bond over life, love, and chocolate. Think Sex and the City with a lot more calories. ;-D

*Never Too Thin: Why Women are at War With Their Bodies, by Roberta Pollack Seid: I think it's pretty self-explanatory what this one's about!

*Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany, by Bill Buford: An autobiography/memoir of a man's rise to the culinary top while working for Mario Batali.

*You're Wearing That? Understanding Mothers and Daughters in Conversation, by Deborah Tannen: A sociology book about how to improve communication and the relationship between mothers and daughters. Not that I expect to really do this anytime soon, but it can't hurt to be informed. Plus, I LOVE Deborah Tannen. I think she's an excellent observer of interpersonal communication and a fantastic writer. I love her books. She uses lots of real-life examples, which I always love to read about.

*Echoes in the Darkness, by Joseph Wambaugh: A true-crime book about a murder that actually took place in my area in the late 1970s of a woman and her two children, and it's recently been in the news again because the accused killer (who was convicted but later released due to a legal or trial technicality, I'm not really sure of the details, but I know he was released), recently died of old age. This happened before I was born, but I vaguely remember hearing about it in the news here and there, and it was a Lifetime movie in the '80s.

*Not Much Just Chillin: The Hidden Lives of Middle Schoolers, by Linda Perlstein: A sociological look into the behavior and psyche of middle schoolers. The author spends a year with a group of middle school students in suburban Baltimore and observes their mannerisms, attitudes, thoughts, feelings, etc. I love all things sociological, so this interested me. Although I don't think anyone will EVER be able to understand ANY middle school... God, middle school was ROUGH! :-D

*Wolves in Chic Clothing, by Carrie Karasyov and Jill Kargman: A typical NYC chick-lit book about a jewelry store assistant who is befriended by a gaggle of rich Upper East Side socialistas, and she gets all caught up in their world and their lifestyle, and then a misunderstanding causes them to drop her like a hot potato. I've been watching a lot of Real Housewives of New York City lately, and it reminded me of that! :-)

*Asking for Love, by Roxana Robinson: A collection of short stories about the lives of East Coast WASPs. Most of them are focused on family dynamics, from marriages to divorce to blended families and adolescence. I have another book by this author, This is My Daughter, and I liked it a lot, so I figured I'd give this a go.

*Rise and Shine, by Anna Quindlen: A fiction novel about two sisters trying to mend fences after one sister inadvertently wrongs the other.

*Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea, by Chelsea Handler: Chelsea's autobiography. I love Chelsea Handler, so I figured, for $1, why not? ;-P

PAPERBACKS:

*Luncheon of the Boating Party, by Susan Vreeland: A historical fiction novel about the people who are captured in the infamous Renoir painting.

*Summer of '49, by David Halberstam: A nonfiction chronicle of the Yankees (particularly Joe DiMaggio) and the Red Sox (focusing on Ted Williams) in the summer of 1949. I'm guessing that was a big year for those two. :-)

*Paris to the Moon, by Adam Gopnik: A memoir/autobiography about a writer from The New Yorker who moves to Paris for a year with his wife and infant son, and chronicles his experiences as life as an American in Paris.

*Among Schoolchildren, by Tracy Kidder: Similar to the middle school book by Linda Perlstein, the author spends a year observing a fourth grade classroom in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

*Thinking of You, by Jill Mansell: An Irish chick-lit author that is new to me! This is a book about how a woman's daughter going off to college (or as they say abroad, "university"), and how she copes with Empty Nest Syndrome (oh, and she happens to be single, so insert complicated love triangle here).

*Last Chance Saloon, by Marian Keyes: A novel about three friends in their twenties in Dublin. Marian Keyes is one of my faves- this is actually the first book of hers I've ever read, but I didn't have my own copy. And now I do! :-)

*We'll Always Have Paris: Sex and Love in the City of Light, by John Baxter: Memoir/autobiography of a man who falls in love with a French woman in the early 1990s, marries her, and moves to Paris to begin a new life with her, and the story is about his acclimation to Paris, focusing on some particularly, um, interesting historical facts and themes, as the subtitle of the book suggests. Apparently the book gets a little tawdry here and there. I hope my innocent eyes can handle it. :-D Apparently I was on some sort of Parisian kick subconsciously yesterday! I'd love to visit Paris at one point in my life. And I wouldn't mind learning more about French culture in general. I've always thought French was such a pretty language. I've taken a little bit here and there in middle school and college, but I barely remember a word of it.

So yeah... I think I done good yesterday!!! :-) How are your weekends going? I had a crazy-busy day yesterday- besides the book sale, I ran a bunch of errands, hit up the gym, washed and changed my bedsheets, watched American Dreams on Netflix, etc. I was like Wonder Woman yesterday! I have some stuff I need to get done today too- we're getting new carpeting in our apartment on Friday, so we need to have all of our books cleared off shelves, all knickknacks, DVDs, anything on a shelf, needs to be removed. The carpeting company with move the furniture for us, we just have to empty the shelves. Suffice it to say, my roommate and I have a LOT of books. To the point where we no longer have shelf room, and I have taken to stacking them along the wall (although I do want to get a new bookcase and plan on looking for one soon). While it's exciting and fun to get a new carpet (it's a totally different color and everything), it's going to be such a pain in the ass to pack all that stuff up, and then put everything back! Ugh! My roommate and I both took Friday off, and we have off Monday b/c of Memorial Day, so at least we have a four-day weekend to get everything back in order. Plus, this gives me a good excuse to get my spring cleaning on! But I want to get a good start on it today so I won't be stressing out about it all week.

But first I need to share my latest potato combo off, because I'm proud of it, and it brought me immense joy and happiness last night for dinner:

There was just so much love going on on this plate: grilled chicken, reduced-fat melted Provolone cheese, chopped spinach, sweet potato, oregano, Italian seasoning, pepper, crushed red pepper, organic ketchup on the side. Yum! :-) Can you believe that's only three chicken breast tenderloins (which is the serving size, per the nutrition facts on Trader Joe's Frozen Chicken Breast tenderloins, which is what I buy)??? I shredded it to put it on the top, but still- it was LOT of chicken!!!! I enjoyed every bite. I love that these potato concoctions always look like they should be, like, a million calories, because they look so massive, but they're really not... this whole thing comes out to 300 calories! (Okay, 315 with the ketchup, but really!) More importantly, it was absolutely delicious and healthy and satisfying.

Speaking of food, I'm off to make myself lunch and watch the ball game... GO PHILS!!!! Have a great rest of your weekend! :-)

Stressball

2009-05-14T21:59:00.005-04:00

I have no excuse for not blogging other than the fact that I have been a massive ball of stress all week. All due to work. And I was already dwelling on it so much (TOO much) in real life, I didn't want to dwell on it on my blog too and feel even worse, and bring y'all down with me. While the situation itself is not improving, I've decided simply to rise above it and try to keep a positive attitude. One of my biggest flaws (one of many, LOL!!!) is that I am a very hypersensitive person (I have been since I was a child- even in elementary school, teachers would tell my parents I seemed a lot more sensitive than other kids- neither of my parents are like that, so I don't know where I got it from!), and I definitely tend to overreact and overstress and make something out of nothing. It's something that I definitely don't like about myself and desperately want to change, but WANTING to change it and ACTUALLY changing it are two very different things! I'm really trying to work on it though, in small little easy steps- yoga, writing, deep breathing, trying to think positively, etc. I'm more than open to any suggestions and advice!!!

Let's move on to more positive things about the week. I'm digging the Scott Peterson investigation book that I'm reading right now. It's extremely detailed! I followed this case pretty closely when it was big in the news, and there's lots of info in there that not even I knew about. If you like well-written true crime, this one's for you. I'm about halfway through it right now, so I'll keep you posted (no pun intended!)

Yesterday was my sister's 17th birthday. I can't believe she's 17 already!!! It seems like she was just a teeny tiny baby (and, might I add, a tad bratty- sorry, Nicole, but you were, and you know it!!! ;-P) and now here she is, about to end her junior year of high school. It seems like she grew up so fast! Or maybe it just feels that way to me- since we're eleven years apart, I left for college when she was only seven years old. So she did most of her growing up when I was entering adulthood, and since my mother and I have never been close, I stayed away as much as possible. Unfortunately, in doing that, I didn't get to be as much a part of my sister's life as I would have liked to have been. I'm glad that we're making up for that now. Once she's out of the house herself, and after college (college!!!!), hopefully we'll live near each other and I'll get to see her a lot. I've really grown to value and appreciate and treasure her over the years. Of course, her outgoing her brattiness definitely helped. :-D She had a great birthday- her friends decorated her locker (something that I never got to have, since I have a June birthday- although I'd rather have the day off!), and she had some Cake Batter ice cream at Coldstone Creamery, and she told me it was worth every calorie. :-) I can't wait to see her in a few weeks! Our favorite book sale is in just two weeks, so I'll be seeing her for that. This is seriously our Christmas morning. We LOVE this book sale!!! :-D

My roommate and I are hitting a pretty good used book sale at a local library this weekend. I'm excited- after the week I had, I feel that I deserve to treat myself to some cheap, gently worn and used books!!! I went to this sale once before, and I remember that it was pretty good, so I'm optimistic. I'll let you know what I got! ;-D

In tater news, I managed to come up with a new one for dinner tonight:

I hereby dub thee Pizza Burger Potato: sweet potato, reduced-fat Provolone, chopped spinach, oregano, crushed red pepper, crumbled Boca Tomato Bruschetta veggie burger with organic ketchup (which I didn't really need b/c there was so much flava-flav going on in the potato). Crazy good.

I hope you're all having a wonderful week. Friday will be here before we know it! I've been trying to catch up on blogs like crazy, but I've fallen way behind, so I hope to catch up on your lives either tonight or tomorrow! Right now, my bed and my journal and my book look awfully tempting... I got to bed later than usual (stress + anxiety= difficulty sleeping), so I'm hoping to sleep like a baby tonight!

WHO WATCHED THE OFFICE SEASON FINALE JUST NOW??? OMG!!!!! IT WAS SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Race for the Cure

2009-05-11T16:55:00.003-04:00

We couldn't have asked for better weather for the Race for the Cure yesterday.

The turnout for the race was amazingly overwhelming, as usual. I got a bit choked up and emotional a few times- like when I saw survivors, and women currently going through the disease who'd lost their hair to chemo, and all the names and pictures and faces of those who lost their lives... one girl couldn't have been more than seven or eight years old, and she had a sign on the back of her shirt that read she was walking in memory of her mother. That one hit me the hardest, I think. Seeing those names and those faces are what brings me back to the race every year and what will keep me going every year until WE FIND A CURE. It's too late for so many women, but we can keep looking and keep fighting and NEVER give up hope that one day, we will find a cure.

I hope you all had great weekends and a wonderful Mother's Day, no matter how you spent it. This is something that I have never mentioned on my blog, but I want to be honest with anyone who reads this. I don't know if people have noticed that I don't mention my mother on my blog. There is a reason for that. My mother and I have been estranged for the past three years- we have not spoken, and the only time we have seen each other is when my father passed away recently, and we had to really put all of our differences aside for the sake of tragedy. I would have to start a whole new blog to explain all the reasons we don't have a relationship, but simply put, my mother has been extremely verbally and emotionally abusive to me (as well as my sister and my father, when they were married) for most of my life. On a few but rare occasions, physically abusive, but for the most part, all verbal and emotional. She has said things to and about me and my sister that no mother should ever say to her child... she once told me that she wished she'd had an abortion instead of having me. She is the also the type of person who not only says these things, but refuses to apologize, acknowledge, or take responsibility for how her words and actions affect her children. If you try to talk to her about a certain incident, she simply changes the subject as if it never happened. And I can't have a relationship with someone who denies saying and doing things that have brought me such immense pain and partially shaped me into the person that I am today. I can't have a "real" relationship with someone like that, whether it's my mother, a significant other, a friend, etc. It's a damaging, toxic, and unhealthy relationship. It's obviously more complicated than that, but it would be impossible to get into on the blog. But I can honestly tell you that I am a happier person not having this person in my life at all than to have her in my life, maintaining an unhealthy, toxic relationship that brings me emotional pain. I feel like that's a half-assed explanation, but just wanted to be honest. I don't get upset or sad about it often, and I do wish things were different sometimes- that I was close with my mom like so many other girls are fortunate enough to be- but honestly, my mother and I were never close, our relationship has been like this for almost my whole life, and so I can't really miss something that I never had and never will, you know? It's impossible to fix a broken relationship if someone will not admit their role in it. Will she change one day? Anything's possible, but I'm not holding my breath or wishing on a star. Even if we tried to start over today, I don't think I'd ever to fully be able to trust her. When I was younger, I'd talk to her and confide in her on occasion, and every time I did, I'd have it thrown back at me or hurled as an insult during a fight or an attack. She has also read my diary, as well as my sister's. There is no trust or respect in the relationship, and as sad as it is, it also it what it is, and I think I still managed to turn out okay, and so did my sister. ;-) But to all you peeps out there with awesome mamas, I hope you were good to her yesterday. I'm sure you were. If you're blessed enough to have a great mother, I hope you take the time to show her how much you appreciate it. Not everyone gets that kind of mother. But I think it's awesome if you do. I don't hate. ;-)

Anyway, sorry for that weird tangent/sob story. That wasn't the intent. I just figured with Mother's Day being yesterday, and reading all the posts from everyone else's blogs about what they did with their moms, I figured I needed to give at least some sort of explanation. And I've wanted to. This is my blog and I want to be able to talk about anything I want. The power of freedom of speech!!!! Gotta love those First Amendments!!!! :-)

Whew, I'm tired. I ran around all weekend on about five hours of sleep each night- my biological alarm clock is getting earlier and earlier as I get older, haha. As a teenager, I'd sleep until ten or eleven no problem. Now I wake up around 8 on the weekends... sometimes even earlier! Which I actually prefer- I like getting up early in the morning, sleeping that late would make me feel like I've wasted my morning- but my problem is that I'm totally nocturnal and can stay up until 2 AM easily- even 3 AM on occasion! And I'm not even doing anything cool- it's normally just watching TV or reading! I'm working on it though. And I've noticed that sometimes on the weekends, I'll find myself getting tired earlier, like around 11 or midnight, but rather than call it a night and go to bed, I push myself to stay up a little later, not even because I want to, but simply because I feel like, well, it's the weekend, so I CAN. I realize that's stupid, I'm not sure why I do it, and it's something I'm trying to work on. We'll try it out next weekend and see how it flies. :-D

I'm glad I took today off of work. I needed a day just to be a lazy cat. :-D I did go to the gym though, but hey, I wanted to! I'm one of those weird people who like the gym. That's right... I'm a total gym bunny! :-D But I could see how people could hate it. My theory is, hey, exercise should be fun, so go do it in a way that makes you happy- the gym, yoga, running, dancing, walking with friends, tennis, whateva. If you force yourself to work out, you'll hate it and never do it. Not that these are really deep thoughts here... they're pretty obvious! But most of my thoughts aren't deep, but very bright and shiny. :-)

Plus, getting in a good workout at the gym makes me feel like I've earned the right to park my booty on the couch and read, which is what I'm off to do now. The season finales of The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother are on tonight- yay! And then it's back to the daily grind tomorrow... smaller yay (want to start off the week on a bright note- it's already pretty good since it's a shorter week for me!).

Happy Monday!!!! :-)

Super Saturday

2009-05-09T18:09:00.001-04:00

Hey hey party people! How is your weekend going thus far? I've had quite a productive day myself. I have to get up bright and early for the Breast Cancer Walk tomorrow (and I mean EARLY... earlier than I get up even for work!), so I wanted to get all my errands done today and out of the way, so I'm tuckered out, which is a good thing, because I need to try to go to bed early! I'm a night owl by nature- especially on weekends- so it won't be easy. I did not get much sleep last night, and so I'm hoping that will help ease me into slumber easier tonight, although I doubt it. I'm so glad I took Monday off, not because I thought I'd be worn out or anything like that (I mean, it's just a 5K WALK, for crying out loud!), but that way I can catch up on my sleep and just have a lazy day like I like to have on the weekend. I hate weekends where I'm just rushing, rushing, rushing around doing a million different things. Weekends are supposed to be relaxation time, you know? ;-) At least on ONE of those days!

Sorry I've been MIA for a few days... Thursday turned into an emotional evening (I was fine all day long at work, and came home and did yoga, and then at some point in the evening, I just felt sad and started crying and letting it all go), and then yesterday I was just sheer lazy. :-) I came home from the gym and made myself dinner and watched a Mystery Science Theater 3000 DVD. Did anyone else watch that show? It was on the Comedy Channel and Sci-Fi for a while, a very low-budget TV show from the '90s. The premise was that a guy and three "robots" that were stuck in outer space were forced to watch really, REALLY bad B-movies from the '50s and '60s (stuff like Attack of the Killer Leeches, Teenagers from Outer Space, etc.) and they'd make fun of them. It's hysterical. My dad got me into them when I was younger, and we'd watch them together. Anyway, some of my coworkers were talking about it at work yesterday, and I realized that I hadn't watched one in forever, so that's what I did last night. It reminded me of my dad, and made me feel close to him, which didn't make me feel sad, but rather, it made me happy. :-)

And honestly, I just don't think I really need to blog every day. I'm not cool like other bloggers, haha. I live a really quiet, low-key life, and unlike a lot of the foodie bloggers, I tend to eat the same things over and over (although with a spin on them, like my awesome sweet potato combos). I just feel like on some days, nothing really happens to me that's worth mentioning on my blog- work, gym, dinner, whatever- so I'll probably just blog when I feel like it, which will probably still be often, just not EVERY day. Hope you all don't mind. ;-) Plus, I love so many other blogs out there, and sometimes I just want to come home and read all of yours! :-)

But I DO have something new and exciting to share with the class... I picked a new book on Thursday night! I finished Falcon Crest before I went to bed. It was trashy good, LOL. Like a really stupid beach read from the disco era. I probably overpaid for it- I paid $2 and probably should have paid more, like, fifty cents for it- and I doubt I'll ever read it again, but I did like it. Not bad for a book based off a cheesy soap opera... although not superbly well-written either. Although you can't expect much from these kinds of books!

Anyway, my next random book pick was, I felt, extremely appropriate:

A Deadly Game: The Untold Story of the Scott Peterson Investigation, by Catherine Crier. Here's what this book is such an appropriate pick:

*I picked this book on my Dad's birthday, and my Dad liked true crime books. He's the one that got me into true crime. We'd read some true crime books and follow some cases on TV. We actually discussed the Laci and Scott Peterson case a lot.

*This is book #57 on my list of unread books that I've started to read (yes, I keep track of them numerically.... I never claimed to be cool!). My dad's birthday was May 7, which is the date I picked this book.

I'm actually already like 100 pages into it, and it's really good! It's very well-written, and it's jam-packed with information about the case, the people, the investigation, etc. This was such a tragic story in the news- I remember it so vividly like it was just yesterday, so it's hard to believe it happened seven years ago. Even now, when I see a picture of Laci Peterson, my heart just breaks. She was so young and so beautiful and she looked so happy and excited to be expecting her first baby... to murder your pregnant wife on Christmas Eve... that takes some kind of evil monster. Her poor family... I cannot even imagine the heartbreak and heartache that they must continue to feel on a daily basis. It's sheer evil. But this is an excellent, excellent book. Not extraordinarily well- EDITED, though- I've definitely seen a few mistakes. Grrrr! Is it THAT hard to remember a hyphen or see an extra space between words? LOL.

I'm off to go make myself a snack of STRAWBERRIES!!!!! I picked some up at Wegmans today. I have not bought strawberries all year because they've been overpriced and out of season, but they were FINALLY 2 for $3 today, and they're beautiful. I can't wait to tear into those babies. I could seriously eat a pint in one sitting... it's going to be really hard not to!

I'll probably pop in at some point tomorrow with a recap of the Breast Cancer Walk. I can't believe it's here already!

Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend! :-)

Happy birthday, Dad

2009-05-07T19:14:00.001-04:00

Today is my dad's birthday. He would have been 54 years old today.

He was always trying to look so badass, but he was really a softie. :-) I love you, Dad.

Normal blogging will resume tomorrow or possibly Saturday- tonight I want to just take the time to write in my journal and let all my thoughts and emotions flow and get everything out. There'll be tears (there already have been), but that's okay. And there will be some laughter too- new eps of Parks and Recreation, The Office, and 30 Rock tonight- all of which are guaranteed to bring me a little laughter... trust me, my dad would have wanted that. One of the best things about my dad was that he had a great sense of humor. :-)

I hope you all had a great day and a wonderful night. And if you are reading this and if you can, do me a favor- call your dad and tell him that you love him. It was the last thing I got to say to my dad, and I thank God I had that moment.

Health Fair fun

2009-05-06T22:10:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was my company's annual Health Fair. I LOVE the Health Fair, and I go every year. I really like that my company does this for us- I feel that they do a really good job of promoting health, fitness, and nutrition to employees- they offer healthy choices in all of our cafeterias- low-fat and low-sodium meals, whole grains, low-fat cheeses for sandwiches, soy milk, a nice salad bar, baked chips, sushi, etc.; we get discounts at a variety of gyms and Weight Watchers, and get reimbursed $150 at the end of the year if we go to a gym/fitness center a certain amount of times per year (I take advantage of that every year!), a gym on main campus; intramural sports teams, etc. I feel that they do a really great job of health promotion where I work, even if not everyone uses it to their benefit.

This year's fair did not disappoint! There were tons of booths with great information... and more importantly, lots and lots of free goodies! :-) I collected a ton of great info/pamphlets about a variety of topics, including:

*Yoga (where I scored two free issues of Yoga Living)

*Ways to squeeze in exercise/toning at your desk

*How to stress less/decompress/relieve stress/deep breathing techniques (I noticed this was a very prevalent topic at many different booths... I wonder if my company thinks we're a little stressed out??? Haha)

*How to get a more and restful sleep at night

*Coping with anger/anxiety

*Tips for a better posture/healthy back

And all sorts of fun goodies... recipes, travel first-aid kits, computer mousepads, pedometers, magnets, pens, highlighters, etc. They also gave away snacks- Snackwell's Cookies and Fig Newton Fruit Crisps- which I took, and then took a closer look ingredients, and lo and behold, what did I see on each and every one of these? High fructose corn syrup, as well as a bunch of other scary-sounding ingredients. Yuck. I don't want to just throw them out, because that's wasteful, but I don't necessarily want to eat them, either, so maybe my sister might want them. Or another coworker.

What does your company do in terms of health promotion for its employees, if anything? Do you wish they would do more? Less? (Is it possible to do less, LOL?)

That's about the most exciting thing that's happened to me this week. Still reading Falcon Crest. It's so bad that it's good, you know what I mean? The plot is over-the-top, the characters and the dialogue are flat-out ridiculous.... but not in that "God-this-is-the-worst-book-I've-ever-read" way, but rather the "guilty-pleasure-twenty-five-cent-drugstore-paperback-romance-novel" way... get the difference there? :-D I really don't know if it was even worth $2. Fifty cents, maybe. But it's amusing me wildly. I wonder what the TV show was like! :-D

In food news, I've tried some new food products this week that brought newfound joy into my life:

*Gardenburger Savory Portobello Mushroom Burger- I'm not sure if these are new on the market or new to me, but yeah, I totally dig them! I've already had two and decided that I like it better with salsa than I do with horseradish hummus (although both were delightful). But the salsa really complimented the cheesy mushroomy goodness of the burger. Tonight's sweet potato dinner was a happy party in my tummy indeed:

*I also tried an interesting new combo for dessert last night, busting open my new Kozy Shack No-Sugar Added Rice Pudding that I bought last week:

Please excuse the not-so-pretty picture... I never claimed to have photography skills. Anyhow, this was a container of rice pudding, mixed with some Kashi Honey Sunshine, cinnamon, and a teeny tiny sprinkle of vanilla whey protein powder for satiety love. This was a winner!!!! I'm so glad I have three more containers of this! Although I'm not feeling it tonight... no, I'm feeling chocolate tonight... might be time to break into that Chocolate Vitatop stash in the freezer.... mmmm... chocolate....

*Last but not least- nor is this a new product, but it's new to my life- I have been introduced to the pleasure that is no-sugar-added natural chunky applesauce. Laugh all you want at how simple this discovery is. I don't care. :-D I've been buying the smooth/non-chunky kind my whole adult life, because that's what I grew up on, but then I saw this at Wegmans and figured, what the hell. Live a little. And I LOVE it! It's soooo much better than the smooth kind. Chunks of apple right there to chew and enjoy? Yes, please! This reminds me of when I tried chunky natural peanut butter for the first time (I grew up on smooth), and after one bite, I knew I could never, ever go back to the smooth operator side, nor did I want to. See a pattern here? Although in my defense, I didn't even know they made chunky no-sugar natural applesauce. How about you? Have you ever tried a really simple/well-known product that you had never tried before and realized, where has this been all my life???

Hope you all had a nice Hump Day! We're halfway there.... (cue "Livin' on a Prayer Here")

Time to go catch up on blogs... later, gators! :-D

I <3 lazy Sundays

2009-05-03T19:17:00.001-04:00

Hello fabulous people! I hope you're enjoying the last few hours of the weekend before it's back to the daily grind. It was a cold, rainy day here- still is! I got my workout in right after breakfast so I could be a lazy bum all afternoon. :-D The Phillies got rained out, but luckily there's been a marathon of The Golden Girls on all day long to amuse me. :-D

I wasn't totally lazy. I took out the trash (in the rain= bonus points for me), and did a load of laundry. I lost a sock! One of my really cute Happy Bunny ankle socks... normally I can track down a missing sock, but I checked the washer and dryer and the floor and everywhere I could think it would have traveled, and I can't find the little bastard anywhere. :-D Ah well!

So I'm about sixty pages into Falcon Crest, and it's exactly what I expected it to be and hoped it would be- cheesy, over-the-top fluff. Like Danielle Steel. And not very well-written, although I'm not expecting Hemingway here- it IS a book based off a campy soap opera! But it'll entertain me and help me remember the 1980's fondly for a few days, and that's the important thing. :-D

Speaking of the 80's, guess what? I was driving to the gym this morning, and you will never guess the song I heard on the radio- "I Think We're Alone Now," by Tiffany!!!! OMG!!! Do you remember Tiffany???? Not somewhere you hear on the radio too much these days!!!! :-D The sad thing is, I still remembered most of the words... and sang along. :-D There's no room for pride on this blog!

Enjoy the rest of the evening and the weekend! I'm off to recreate the fabulous dinner from last night. In fact, all of my meals so far today have been exact replications of the ones from yesterday. Wait, that's not true. I had some chipotle salsa with my tuna melt. Delicioso!

New goodies!!!

2009-05-02T23:04:00.001-04:00

I hope everyone's having a great weekend so far! I had a pretty great Saturday myself! I got some new and exciting fun stuff I simply have to share with you!

Right after breakfast I was out and about. First I went to Trader Joe's to get some staples: bread, flaxseed, BBQ sauce. But I picked up a new hummus to try- Horseradish Hummus! Not new to them, new to me. Needless to say, I bust that baby open with my lunch, and I thought it was great! The horseradish flavor was very subtle- I was worried it would be really strong or overpowering. But it was delish! Definitely a repeat purchase! And it's nice to have a different flavor to mix it up a little... I've been eating the red roasted pepper flavor for a while now, it was time to try something else. Success!

From there, it was on to Kohl's! I didn't have as much money on my gift card as I thought I did, but only went about $10 over. I got three supercute new shirts (please forgive the messy room/less than stellar background and crappy picture- I need to upgrade to a better camera!):

I figured I could wear this to work, as a light sweater in the summer.

This was only $4!!!! I LOVE buying clothes off-season because they are so ridiculously cheap.

I totally didn't need this- I already have a Penn State sweatshirt, and technically, I didn't go here (although I wanted to! Long story...), but whatev, it's supersoft and cozy and I looked adorable in it . :-D

Not bad for $10!

Then it was on to ~~my holy grail~~ Wegmans. I mostly got the usual stuff- sweet potatoes, bananas, peanut buttah, toothpaste, veggie burgers, frozen veggies, all that fun stuff- but I also treated myself to some Kozy Shack No-Sugar Added Rice Pudding. I had found a coupon in Health magazine, and I had tried rice pudding for the first time a while back, and I really liked it, but it's never something I think to pick up, you know? Anyone ever had it? I'm not sure I've ever had any of Kozy Shack's products, although I see them around town on some of your blogs. I can't wait to try 'em out! I'll let you know what I think.

Speaking of food, I chowed down on some yummy eats today. Behold:

Lunch was a tuna melt- low-sodium tuna mixed with spicy mustard and other random spices, reduced-fat Provolone, whole-wheat bread, all grilled up. Steamed veggies and new hummus on the side for dipping delight. Check out that cheese dripping down the sandwich. This was uber-yum.

Dinner was a sweet potato experiment that had been building up in the back of my head for a while now, and I figured tonight was no better night to try it out:

This was just as much a success as I had imagined it to be... a SLOPPY JOE SWEET POTATO! What's that, you ask? Why, it's a serving of Boca ground crumbles warmed up in a skillet with 2 tbsp Trader Joe's All-Natural BBQ sauce and 1/2 tsp chopped onion, warmed up and slapped on top of a tater. More carrots and broccoli, and more hummus (which I actually didn't end up eating, there was so much flavor going on in the potato, I didn't need it!)

Don't worry, I ate other things throughout the day... just no pics. These are by far the most picworthy, don't worry!

Ooooh, Dirty Dancing is on TV!!! I <3 this movie!!!! I'm off to make sure nobody puts Baby in a corner- hope you all had a kickass Saturday! :-)

Major letdown

2009-05-01T22:08:00.004-04:00

Happy Friday, everyone! We made it through another work week, and are now rewarded with two days of blissful freedom!!!! :-)

So, I finished Sickened. And by finished, I mean, skimmed. This book started off really good and completely tapered off and got weird.

The book started off interesting enough- the first third of the book was really focused on the subject at hand, Munchausen by Proxy syndrome. The author endures numerous trips to the hospital, doctors, and specialists, while her mother fabricates and embellishes medical symptoms that her daughter supposedly has. Whether she gave her medicine or made her sick on purpose, I'm not sure. The author did mention that she was malnourished and either fed sugary junk food or just not fed at all. She was not given a lunch or money from lunch, and would barely get any dinner. At one point, her mother gets angry with a doctor who refuses to do open heart surgery on Julie, just to see if there "could" be a problem with her heart. Why that didn't signal a red flag within the doctor, I don't quite understand- what kind of mother suggests open heart surgery like it's a simple CAT-scan or MRI, and then gets angry when she is told that the surgery isn't needed, and that her daughter's tests come back fine? Most parents are beyond relieved to hear that news. Yet no one picks up on it. At this point, I was really intrigued, and wanted to keep reading, to find out what would happen to Julie as she got older, and how it would all be revealed eventually.

And then the book kind of completely fell apart. The last two-thirds of it are an absolute mess. I hope I don't give too much away here, in case anyone is interested in reading this- so I'll try not to give any spoilers here. But I felt like the book completely went off the topic of MBP syndrome and instead focused on the other disturbing parts of this poor girl's horrific childhood. If her childhood portrayal is accurate, then it sounds like MBP was, quite honestly, the least of her problems. In general, she suffered immense emotional and physical abuse from both parents on a daily basis. It sounds like both of her parents were seriously mentally ill. They lived in a secluded trailer in rural Ohio, kept loaded guns all throughout the house and constantly pulled them on each other, the mother was constantly threatening suicide, would lie to her husband and make up stories about the kids misbehaving just so he would beat them, the parents burned down their trailer for the insurance money, and once they got it, they actually abandoned their two children and went their separate ways, leaving them in a log cabin that didn't even have a toilet, etc. There are dozens of more examples I could list. I felt like every page, the abuse got worse and there would be a more terrifying story worse than the page before. I had a really hard time getting through it, as it's not really a book for the faint-hearted, which I definitely am. I had to skim through a lot of the medical procedures, and then once the book got away from all that, I had to skim the descriptions of the physical abuse. It got very graphic at times. And the writing had started out strong, but then it got jumpy and rambled all over the place. And the ending is just really abrupt and weird, with no closure. I don't want to give too much away, but I will say at least that.

I was really disappointed with this book. It was beyond depressing and beyond disturbing. My heart just breaks for this poor woman, all she had to endure- I didn't exactly grow up in the Brady household, but my parents might as well been Mike and Carol B. compared to the two monsters this author had for parents. She went through things that I couldn't even bring myself to imagine- couldn't even bring myself to read. But I bought this book hoping to get some real insight into MBP syndrome- something I really know almost nothing about- and I feel that the book hardly addressed it at all. It is really more of a memoir of graphic child abuse- while a very serious topic, not exactly what I wanted to read about or why I picked up this book. I don't feel that I learned much about MBP at all.

I'll certainly never read this again. I'll just redonate it to the library. Well, at least the $2 I spent on it went to a good cause! :-) And I hope that in writing it, it helped to heal the author's wounds a little. I don't even know how someone even attempts to recover from a childhood like that. I doubt you can. But hopefully in writing this book, she got a little closure.

I needed a really, really fun book after that. A light topic and a fun read. No way I could deal with anything heavy or intense after that! And I certainly got my wish!

Can you believe, this is the second book I've picked from the Media Book Sale that was just two weeks ago??? I've got books that have been sitting on my shelves for, like, five years unread, and my last two picks are some of my most recent purchases! I assure you, I give that box of titles a crazy good shakeup for a minute or two and then pick with my eyes closed- so this is just a big coincidence! Why can't I coincidentally pick the winning Powerball numbers??? :-D

Anyway, I wound up with Falcon Crest, by Patrick Mann. As most of us were 80s' babies, you probably either have maybe heard of this show, or it's possible your mom was watching it while she was giving you baby food. :-D Falcon Crest was a primetime soap opera that was on TV from 1981-1990. It focused on a wealthy family that owned a Napa Valley winery, and a rival family that also owns a winery. If your parents watched Dynasty, Dallas, or Knots Landing, then chances are they watched this too. Ask them- I'll bet they've at least heard of it. My parents didn't watch this, but my mother was a huge Knots Landing fan. As a result, I grew up watching it, and I loved it as a kid, even though I didn't know what the hell was going on. All I knew is that no one worked and everyone had beautiful houses near the beach- my dream life!!! (It still is!!!!) :-) Anyway, the usual soap opera antics ensue here, I'm sure- the backstabbing, the cheating, the dying, the evil twins, it's probably all in here! I could definitely use some mega-over-the-top cheesiness right now after my last read, and we all know that anything from the 1980s has at least a little bit of a cheese factor in there somewhere, so I'm hoping that this will be a light, stupid, and silly read (I mean, check out the cover of the book alone! Hello, 1984!!!). And I'm still working my way through the second season of Knots Landing that I just got a few weeks ago, so this is the perfect accompaniment! :-D

Has anyone ever gotten hooked on a soap opera? Which ones? I watched all my mom's as a kid- she liked Guiding Light, All My Children, and of course, Knots Landing- and I kept watching All My Children throughout college, and some of my college girlfriends were hooked on this now-defunct soap on NBC called Passions- OMG, it was SO bad, but we LOVED it- we used to not schedule any classes at 1 PM so we could make sure we could watch it! We did that all four years! (Why we didn't think to tape it is beyond me, LOL!). Anyway, it was awful- ridiculous supernatural plots, and really terrible acting- worse than regular soap operas!-, and it's not even on the air anymore. Here's some info about it here. Come on, 'fess up! I did, so it's your turn!

All right, I'm off to go make my grocery lists- I'm getting up bright and early tomorrow morning to get my grocery shopping done- I like to get all my errands all out of the way on Saturday morning, so I have the rest of the weekend to relax and not worry about it- tomorrow we're taking a trip to Trader Joe's (yay!) and Wegmans (YAY!!!!). Also I'm hoping to get in a trip to Kohls to pick up some new clothes. I have some gift cards, and I'm in desperate need of some new work clothes! I'm totally worn out from this crazy busy week, so the rest of my night involves making my lists and checkin' them twice (like Santa!), and curling up in bed with my remote (Food Network! Say Yes to the Dress! Golden Girls! Friday night TV isn't all that bad!!!), and maybe my newest read (we'll see; I'm pretty beat, so my mental span might not stretch much further than a magazine). And I might or might not cap off my evening with some microwave popcorn. What can I say... I really know how to live it up on Friday nights, don't I? ;-D Hey, leave me alone. I'm getting old and I had a rough work week. The Golden Girls understand! :-D

Happy Friday!

Short but sweet

2009-04-30T19:06:00.000-04:00

Hey hey! Happy Thursday! I'm keeping my post brief tonight, since yours truly has had a headache off and on all day (and trying Power Yoga for the first time didn't make matters much better... I kept looking up to try to follow the instructor, and I got a bit dizzy! LOL), and have just been in kind of a blah mood all day... no real reason, nothing happened to put me in that state, it was just one of those days, you know? Oh well- it's nothing that a l'il Parks and Recreation, The Office, and 30 Rock can't fix! :-P Luckily, the Phillies were kind enough to take the night off so I could watch my shows uninterrupted... because, you know, their playing schedule is all about me. :-D

Plus I'm behind in reading all of your blogs, and trust me, you all have way more exciting lives than mine. :-D

I will say this, though- I'm actually a little more than halfway through Sickened already! And I only started it yesterday! Even I'm impressed with myself, LOL! Nah, not really- it's not a long book (256 pages), the font size is pretty big, and I'm skimming over some of the icky medical procedures and medical records/letters from doctors that have a bunch of medical abbreviations and jargon that my simple little mind doesn't understand. :-D I wouldn't be surprised if I had this finished up by tomorrow or Saturday, so I'll give my review and thoughts then.

I'm off to go bond with my Motrin and make myself a nice tasty dinner before my shows... have a good night, and happy almost-Friday!!! :-)

Busy little bee

2009-04-29T21:54:00.002-04:00

Man oh man... is anyone else having a seriously crazy busy week??? I need more hours in the day, I tell you! (for fun, though, not work- they get enough of my time as it is, haha!) Anyway, here's what I've been up to for the past few days in a nutshell:

*Watching a lot of amazing baseball- the Phillies are kicking ASS so far this year! Although, what do you expect from the 2008 World Series Champs??? :-P Seriously though, they've just been unstoppable lately... the other night, they had TWO grand slams in ONE game! I've never seen that before! I <3 my Phils. Although sometimes I get a little sad, because it reminds me of my dad... I grew up watching baseball with him, we'd play wiffle ball and softball, and he's the one who taught me to love the game... his birthday is coming up next week, May 7, so I've had that on my mind as well.

*Work's been superbusy this week... which I'm not minding, as it makes the day fly by (as much fun as downtime is, too much of it can be a bad thing, because it makes the day drag by soooo s-l-o-w-l-y).

*I picked up mt t-shirt and registration number for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure taking place in Philly on May 10- does anyone else do this race, in Philly or other places? I do it every year. It's a cause that I feel really passionate about as a woman, and it has affected me personally as well- I lost a grandmother to breast cancer (I'm named after her). She died from the disease back in the 1960s, before there was much really known about it in terms of symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment. Had she been been a few decades later, she might have lived because it's become such an commonly known disease. Unfortunately, because of the time period, she was diagnosed in a late stage, and there was not much they could do for her when she was finally diagnosed. I also lost a former neighbor/family friend to the disease- Rosemary- she fought it so, so bravely, and wasn't able to overcome it in the end, and she left behind a loving, devoted husband, and two precious, sweet little boys (both, I believe, were under the age of ten at the time, but don't quote me- this was a long time ago, like mid/late 90s'). So it's a disease that I'm passionate about for many reasons. I do the walk every single year. I walk and don't run. I'm not a runner. I admire and applaud all the runners out there- I really wish I could be one- but it's never been my thing. Believe me, I've tried. The Philly Race for the Cure takes place every single year on Mother's Day. I've been doing it for about three years now, and plan on doing it every single year until there is a cure. I'm lucky in the sense that I live near a train station that takes me right into Philly- I made the mistake of driving once, and it was a disaster. Not only were major roads blocked off for the walk, but two colleges were having Graduation Day that same day. Major fiasco. Thousands and thousands of people, and, like, five parking spots for those thousands people. You do the math. :-D Never again! And the cool thing is that the company that I work for not only pays my registration fee and pay for my T-shirt, but they also sell discounted bus and train passes for the event. My company takes a vast interest in community events and health care for employees- we have our annual Health Fair coming up next week, which I love and go to every year. They really make an effort, and I really like that!

*Played around with a few new sweet potato combos (at least, I think they're new, it's getting hard to keep track!!!):

Sweet potato + broccoli + Boca Tomato Bruschetta Parmesan Patty + roasted red pepper hummus= fabulousity.

*Last but not least, I finished Sense and Sensibility... I LOVED IT!!! I was having a hard time getting into it at first- the language was dense and it was definitely a book that required my undivided attention- but the more I read it, the more I loved it! Ah! So good! Now I get why women worship Jane Austen! I can't wait to read more of her books! I think the next book of hers I want to read is Emma. I know that the movie Clueless is based on Emma, and I love the movie Clueless (come on, who doesn't???), so I think it would be a really fun read! I'll be on the lookout for Jane Austen books at used book sales from now on!

*And I'll conclude my recap with my latest read:

I thought it was funny that I randomly picked this book, because I just bought it two weeks ago! Sickened, by Julie Gregory. The memoir of a girl whose mother purposefully sickened her because she had Munchausen disease and was psychologically ill- she made Julie sick on purpose and made up false symptoms, because she craved the attention she received from nurses and doctors. I'm actually already about sixty pages into it, and man, did this poor girl have it rough! Not just from her mother, but it sounds like her father was definitely troubled as well, he came from a broken home, the parents had a miserable marriage, the mother was (obvi) psychologically troubled, they lived in a secluded cabin in rural Ohio because her parents were suspicious of other people (and, incidentally, racist= NOT cool). They hurt Julie both psychologically and physically, and clearly seemed to favor her younger brother. And she's only ten years old at this point. My heart is just breaking for this poor kid!

Well, the blog isn't the only writing I've been neglecting lately- my journal has been ignored as well, so I'm off to go take care of that right now! Happy Hump Day!!!! :-)

Sunshiny days

2009-04-26T19:47:00.001-04:00

Wow... if this weekend's weather is any indication of the upcoming weather in the months ahead, then I think it's pretty safe to say sayonara to winter... which means I can finally put away my space heater!!!! Good riddance, winter!!!! :-D

What a beautiful weekend we had here!!!! Clear skies, warm but not humid, and an abundance of sunshine!!! It was perfect weather.... all I wanted to do was play outside. :-) But I settled for sitting on my balcony and reading Sense and Sensibility, which I am still LOVING!!!! I can't believe it took me so long to jump on the Jane Austen bandwagon... now I get why she's a classic and a favorite and why women sing her praises. Though the writing is a lot denser than I'm used to (keep in mind I read a lot of books about shopaholics and momzillas, haha!), I find it absolutely beautiful, and prolific, and some of what she writes still rings true in society today- all the shenanigans that those a-holes Edward and Willoughby pull on the poor wonderful Dashwood sisters? Yeah, guys are still pulling crap like that today- maybe not the exact same things for the same reasons (land, money), but they've managed to accumulate plenty of other games and moves along the years! And when Elinor tells Marianne that it is impossible for anyone to expect to rely on one sole person for their unfulfilled happiness, I was like, amen, sister!!!! :-D I only have about sixty pages or so left... and I can't wait to finish it!

BTW, my sister had a great time at her junior prom! She called me and told me about it on Saturday. The boy kissed her... twice. :-D (I hope she doesn't kill me for putting that on my blog... but I think it's safe to say that not too many sixteen-year-old boys out there are reading this blog!!!) So yeah, she's on cloud nine right now. I can't wait to see pics!!! I'm so glad she had such a wonderful time... after all she's been through lately, and the fact that she's pretty awesome in general, she just deserved a really awesome prom, and a really nice guy, and I'm so glad she did. :-)

My weekend's been pretty quiet and low-key, not much to blog home about... watched the Phillies kick some Marlins' boo-tay, went to Target and Wegmans and Trader Joe's, ate a lot of sweet potatoes... you know, the usual. ;-) I wish I were a more interesting blogger! What can I say... I dig routine! :-)

Speaking of routine, my tummy is letting me know that it could use some dinner right about now!

Happy birthday wishes to Caitlin and Yasmin, two fine and fabulous ladies! :-)

And on a sadder note, I want to take the time to again express my deepest sympathy and condolences to Jenna and her family for the devastating loss they endured over the weekend. There are no words to even express the heartbreak and tragedy, as there are no words in the English language that will ever suffice. Jenna, we love you and are here for you and your family. God bless.

It's that time of year again...

2009-04-24T21:16:00.001-04:00

... I'm talking about prom season, kids. That's where my little sister is tonight- at her junior prom! And she's going with the boy she likes- he asked her- so it's especially exciting (cause that certainly never happened to me! I never snagged my crushes, LOL!) I can't wait to hear all about it and see pictures! She was so excited, and I'm so excited for her. Did you go to your prom/proms? Did you have fun? I went to my junior and senior proms. I went to my junior prom with a friend and I had a blast. I went to my senior prom with my boyfriend at the time (whom I remember not even liking all that much at the time), AND my wisdom teeth were coming in, so yeah, that was not as much fun for me!

So while my sixteen-year-old sister is shakin' her booty at her prom, I'm spending my Friday evening chilling at home after a tiring work week, watching some baseball, and making my grocery list for tomorrow morning, and unloading the dishwasher when it stops running- ah, adulthood. :-)

Happy Friday to all!!! It's going to be absolutely beautiful here all weekend- almost ninety degrees!- and I'm damn sure going to make the most of it!!!! I've been waiting for this weather all year- THIS IS MY WEATHER!!! Seriously, I think I might have Seasonal Affective Disorder. I am just inconsolably miserable in the winter months from always being so cold, and happy as a little clam in the hot and humid months. People complain about July and August being so hot, but I love it!!!! Last year I didn't use my car's air conditioner all summer, not once. I'm a windows-down kind of girl. :-)

Whatever you're doing tonight and this weekend, and whatever the weather is like where you are, I hope you're having fun! :-)

Recapping the week (so far)

2009-04-23T21:38:00.002-04:00

I haven't really been blogging much this week, because, well, I've been lazy and just haven't had a whole lot going on, and I didn't want to bore you all! ;-) But so far this week, I've:

*Been productive at work (this gal earned her paycheck this week, let me tell you!)

*Not gotten too far in Sense and Sensibility, not because I'm not enjoying it; quite the opposite, actually- the more I read, the more I'm liking it! But fact-checking data all day long in a teeny tiny font makes for very tired eyes at night! So magazines are about all I can handle at night this week, LOL. I've been catching up on back issues of Rachael Ray's magazine, though (my boss gives me her back issues). But it's great and I can't wait to read more of it this week? Why did you all let me go so long without reading Jane Austen??? ;-D

*Had my annual routine exam at the OB/GYN (does anyone else still get a little uncomfortable and feel sorta awkward at their yearly exams, or do I just need to get over it already???)

*Started to slowly get sucked into The Real Housewives of New York City (because I don't watch ENOUGH crap TV shows, right? LOL! But ever since I read Naturally Thin, I've been very curious about this show, and I've slowly starting watching it... and kind of liking it... but also kind of hating it. It's weird).

*Did Sara Ivanhoe's Candlelight Yoga on Instant Netflix (LOVE her!!!)

*Started watching (and loving!!!) my new DVD, the second season of Knots Landing... cheesy 80s' drama at its finest, folks. :-)

*Enjoyed a new sweet potato combination of joy and excitement:

(sauteed shrimp, peppers, and onions, on top of a sweet potato, with a little side cup of roasted red pepper hummus... this just rocked my world)

*Watched the Phillies lose. A lot.

*Wrote in my journal. A lot.

*Missed my dad extra-much this week. :-(

*Read all of your lovely blogs. :-) Looks like lots of bloggers are busy little bees this week!

It's almost the weekend!!! We made it!!! What are you doing this weekend? They're calling for BEAUTIFUL weather this weekend- in the eighties!!!- so whatever I do, I assure you, it'll be outdoors!!! :-D

I'm off to watch some 30 Rock and hopefully do a little reading!!!! I'm at such a good part in the book- the Dashwood sisters have just met the Steele sisters, and talk about some personality clashing!- have a good rest of the night!!! Friday's just a few hours away!!! :-)

Wear Your Sneakers to Work Day

2009-04-21T22:58:00.001-04:00

So it was "Wear Your Sneakers to Work Day" at my company today, and, like, four people participated. LOL. I was really surprised! Our dress code policy is business professional, so I thought this was a big deal and was looking forward to it, so I donned my Sketchers proudly all day long. I guess other people don't care as much, haha. Well, whatever. We never get the opportunity to do it, and it was nice to not have to wear heels or boots for a change.

My vacation day yesterday was nice! Not in terms of the weather, though. It was rainy and cold all day long... luckily, I only ventured to the gym and to get gas, and that was it. The rest of the day was spent writing in my journal and watching my new fun DVD, Knots Landing. Cheesy 80s' drama= perfect way to spend a rainy afternoon. :-D Here's my problem with vacation days, though- as nice as they are, they make me wish that I never had to work, LOL. I want to be a housewife- only without the husband or the kids. Now, how do I make that work??? Haha.

Although coming back to work today was not so bad. I'm working on a project that comes in once a quarter, and it keeps me pretty busy for a few days, and I'm a fan of anything that makes time go by quickly at work! And the project itself isn't hard- it's mostly fact-checking data... and sad is it sounds, I like it! I don't mind fact-checking because it's so black-and-white. It's either right or it's wrong. A nice break from grammatical rules and verb tenses, haha. :-) How was your Tuesday? I hope it was pleasant!

So in honor of the new episode of The Real Housewives of New York City that is on tonight (I'm slowly getting into this show), I figured now is the time to share my thoughts on Naturally Thin. I'm not much of a book critic- I either like something or I don't, LOL- but I had mixed emotions on this book that I wanted to share and see what other people thought of this book too. I know a lot of bloggeristas have read it recently, and we all seem to have a similar consensus.

At first, I was a little turned off by the title. I'm not really into "dieting" books because I don't believe in dieting. I believe in healthy eating as a lifestyle. I think that diets are deprivation, both physically and mentally. But the more I heard about this book and how it was more of a book about "lifestyle" changes and choices, I was intrigued and reserved a copy at my library (yes, I broke my "no-checking-books-out-of-the-library-until-I've-read-all-of-mine" rule, but I didn't want to spend money on this book, since I didn't know if I'd really like it or not; plus, based on reviews and excerpts I'd read, a lot of it sounded like stuff that I already know and incorporate into my own eating lifestyle, or common sense, or stuff you can easily find for free on the internet.

So the book was divided into two sections- the first section was about the ten "rules" that are actually more like "mindframes" than rules, that encourage you to practice certain habits to engage in healthy eating and healthy living. I like that right off the bat, Bethenny lays it right on the table. She shuns dieting, for the same reasons I do, she says that these rules work for her and she's not saying that they will work exactly the same for everyone else, says she is NOT a doctor, NOT a nutritionist, NOT a professionally trained chef, this is just what works for her and she just wants to share that info with other people. She admits that she doesn't even follow her own rules sometimes, that she's not perfect and doesn't expect anyone else to be, either. Take what you want, and leave the rest, and I pretty much did that for the most part. There were some rules that I really liked, and some I knew wouldn't really apply to me or how I like to eat. Section two was more of a "guideline" of Bethenny walking you through a week's worth of her food choices, along with suggestions for your own. This is the part I wasn't completely on board with, but more on that later. For now, let's start with the "rules". I'll lay out each one, and what I thought of it and how I will/will not apply it to me.

Rule 1: Your diet is a bank account. So this is basically what it sounds like- balance everything out. Moderation is our friend. Make "smart investments" with your eating choices, just as you would with your money. She makes the comparison that you wouldn't buy a sweater that didn't fit or didn't look good on you, so why waste calories on something that you don't really want or enjoy all that much? She also compares food noise to food voice- food noise is negative inner dialogue, and food voice is basically the good voice, the angel on your shoulder telling you what your body wants or needs in terms of food. She also explains the term differential, which is the difference between two choices, and whether or not that difference is worthwhile to you (the example she gives is beef chili vs. turkey chili vs. vegetarian chili, and how to make that choice based on your personal differential, if you don't mind giving up the beef chili for a leaner choice, or if it matters to you more and you do want the beef chili, than to choose that, but to remember to balance the rest of your food choices for the day in terms of fat, sodium, whatever). I thought that this was a great rule. If you balance your choices accordingly, you should be able to enjoy all the food that you want to eat. This makes sense. If you have a piece of cake at work for dessert, don't have cookies after dinner later. You haven't deprived yourself, you just made your choice. I liked this rule, and feel I already use it.

Rule 2: You Can Have It All, Just Not All At Once. This rule focused on listening to your "food voice" and making the choices that you really want. If you really want something decadent, don't deprive yourself- you're just setting yourself up for a binge later, and you'll feel bad mentally, and most likely overeat whatever you were craving in the first place. Ah, that demon food noise strikes again! Instead, go ahead and give in to your craving. Pick what you want, make sure it's what you really want, then have it, enjoy it, and make it count. Savor and enjoy it! Just balance out your other choices accordingly. This is actually a lot like Rule #1. They kind of go hand-in-hand.

Rule #3: Taste Everything, Eat Nothing. I thought this was a pretty interesting chapter. This rule encourages really "tasting" your food in terms of eating to feel "satisfied", not "full". To eat little bits of really great food that you enjoy. Also, the chapter talks about "switching lanes"- meaning to take a few bites of something you love, and then switch to a different taste so that your taste buds don't get bored. I confess, this is something I could work on. I notice that when I eat dinner, which usually consists of a sweet potato, a protein source like chicken or salmon, and a veggie, I notice that I tend to eat the veggie first, then the protein and a little of the sweet potato, but I leave most of the sweet potato for the end. I'm not sure why I do this- there's no reason or anything, although I think I like to leave most of the sweet potato until the end because it's my favorite part of the meal, haha. But it's something I could work on. I can see how my taste buds would want a little more excitement after ten bites of broccoli, LOL!

Rule #4: Pay Attention. Out of all the rules in this book, I loved this one the most, and it's the one I feel is the most important. This one focused on eating consciously, taking the time to chew and appreciate every bite, taking your time to eat and appreciate what you're putting into your body, etc. If you don't pay attention while you're eating, then your mind hasn't registered that you've eaten, and you won't feel mentally satisfied even if you're physically satiated. Make your food an "experience", take the time to appreciate your food, and don't multitask while eating (watching TV, reading, driving, using the computer, etc). And eat slowly! People eat way too quickly. I used to date a guy who would have his food downed before I even sat down to the table to eat, not even kidding. It was appalling on many levels. Now, I've always been a slow eater. Seriously, I'd miss recess a lot as a kid because it took me so long to eat. It takes me about an hour to eat my lunch, and about 30-45 minutes to eat dinner usually. I've always been like this. Not that I've never eaten fast, obviously, but whenever I have, I've felt uncomfortably sick. I remember in high school, my Chemistry teacher told me that one day I'd consider that a "blessing", because I'd have really good metabolism as an adult. But also, I enjoy eating slowly, because I truly believe that eating is just as much an emotional experience as it is a physical one, and I enjoy eating foods that I take the time to prepare for myself, so I like to take the time to savor and appreciate it! But I do confess that I am guilty of multitasking while I eat. I like to read while I'm eating. I like to watch TV when I'm eating dinner. I usually eat up eating my preworkout snack in the car. I can certainly understand how multitasking takes away from the point of savoring and enjoying your food, but I LIKE to read and watch TV while I'm eating, and I figure, if I can do both at the same time, and I enjoy eating that way, I'll keep doing what makes me happy until it's not making me happy anymore, LOL. But if multitasking isn't your thing, and you are someone who really needs to focus just on the food and can't appreciate your meal while doing other things, this could be a helpful tool.

Rule #5: Downsize Now. This is pretty much what it sounds like- small portions of delicious food that you enjoy. And don't ever eat out of the bag- always put everything on a plate or a bowl. Truthfully, I feel this didn't really apply to me. I don't really go out to eat often, and when I do, it's places that are pretty portion-controlled, like sushi, or sandwiches, etc. I make all my meals at home for the most part- and I'm the one who's in control of the portion size and all that, so I didn't find this rule particularly applicable to me. But if you eat out a lot or are often in situations where you're not really able to figure out portions, this could be a good rule for you. Oh, and I never eat out of a bag- I put everything on a plate or a bowl, which I'm sure my roommate just loves since it means we have to run the dishwasher every other night, LOL- but I'm a big believer in that rule. Eating out of a bag isn't fun! I like to put everything on a pretty plate or blog. Why not? It's more fun that way. And food should be fun, always! ;-D

Rule #6: Cancel Your Membership to the Clean Plate Club. Again, exactly what it sounds like- don't feel obligated to eat everything on your plate. Eat until you're satisfied. If there's anything left over, save it for later. This is a good tip if you eat at restaurants a lot, because their portions are crazy ridiculous. But, again, I rarely eat out, and when I do, it's stuff that's pretty portion-controlled. But I will confess that I am a member of the Clean Plate Club. Even at restaurants, I always tend to want to eat the whole thing, no matter what. And I usually do! I guess I figure, I'm paying for it, and I am not big on leftovers in general- they never taste the same to me- so I feel compelled to finish it. I've always been guilty of this one. It's something I could work on the next time I'm in this situation. But, again, since I eat at home most of the time, I'm in charge of the portions, and I portion stuff out, so I will finish off my whole meal and not care. I'm not going to leave, like, five bites of chicken on my plate- I figure, I might as well finish it off! Haha. A good rule, but probably not one I'll practice unless I'm served some crazy-ass portion of something the next time I'm at a restaurant.

Rule #7: Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself. This rule encourages you to eat "real food", and not fake, processed foods. Your body and your mind will not be satisfied. We weren't built to eat fat-free cheese, kids. We just weren't. Eat a small portion of the real thing and you will feel much more satisfied on many levels. I like this rule and already follow it. This rule also talks about emotional eating and bingeing. I'm also really lucky in the sense that I have honestly never binged. You might not believe me, but it's true. I've never been a binge-eater. I'm someone who goes the other way- when I'm sad, upset, mad, stressed, I have no appetite at all. I've never been an emotional eater- my negative emotions tend to suppress my appetite. But I know that's really uncommon, and a lot of women struggle with emotional eating and bingeing, and so if you are one of them, this is a good chapter.

Rule #8: Know Thyself. This chapter focused on surrounding yourself with positive energy and influences, getting to know who you really are and what you really want out of life. That, in turn, will help you know your hunger. I liked this rule. Be friends with yourself!

Rule #9: Get Real. Eat real food, avoid packaged and processed foods whenever possible, care about what you eat, and eat high-volume "real" food- fruit, veggies, whole-grain pastas and cereals, beans, etc. Again, a rule I already follow. I'm real! :-D

Rule #10: Be Good To Yourself. I think I liked this rule the best. None of the other rules will ever work if you are not kind to yourself. Love yourself and treat yourself. I really try to be good to myself, but like most people, I know I could do a better job. I'm working on it. :-)

So I really liked the rules. And I really liked the weekly "guidelines" that helped walk you through the different choices you could make based on your wants and needs and tastes. But then I got to Bethenny's food diary... and I was confused. For example, dinner one night was one glass of wine, a small crabcake, and the cheese and sauce off a soggy piece of pizza (she says the crust was "not worth eating"). Um, WHAT? Okay, this dinner would leave me completely unsatisfied physically and mentally. Where's the food??? Where are those fruits and veggies and whole grains she mentioned earlier? Personally, I'd rather have a real meal than four bites of fried food and liquor! But if that's what she wanted, then hey, great. She also says it's okay to skip a meal if you're not hungry for one- while she doesn't encourage it, she says if you're not hungry, don't eat. I do not endorse this idea. I strongly oppose meal-skipping. It's bad for your body, bad for your metabolism, and could potentially set you up to overeat later. I eat three meals and two snacks a day, whether I'm hungry or not. I know my body well enough to know it needs to eat at least that often. While I would never tell anyone else how to live their life, I would never, ever encourage anyone to skip a meal. If you are not a breakfast person- the most skipped-over meal of the day, and ironically, the most important- make yourself a smoothie, have some yogurt, sip one of those Carnation Instant Breakfasts, something, anything. I couldn't believe she skipped meals sometimes! And some of her choices were just bizarre... but I guess that was the point. She made the choices she wanted and balanced her choices accordingly.

I don't know... my take on it is, I liked the rules, but I didn't think she really practiced what she preached in the end. She should have picked a different week to journal, haha. Her meals seemed really low in calories, vitamins/nutrients, fruits and veggies (but plentiful in alcohol... guess she wanted to save her calories for drinks, haha!). I'm glad I read this book, I definitely learned some things I want to incorporate into my own eating lifestyle and food choices, but let's just say I'm glad I borrowed this book from the library and that I didn't buy it.

So there's the review. I hope it was worth the wait. If you felt it wasn't, then I'm sorry I wasted your precious time. :-P

Speaking of time, it's time for me to call it a night. Until we meet again, friends!

Fabulous weekend

2009-04-20T00:45:00.004-04:00

Sorry I've been MIA... I've been too busy having a glorious, kick-ass weekend. :-) This has honestly been the best weekend I've had all year, really. In so many ways. I've been dealing with so much personal stress lately, and it was really getting to me... so this is just what I needed to feel better! Here's why the weekend's been so awesome so far (and it's only halfway done for me, because I have a three-day weekend!!!) :-)

So let's start with yesterday morning. My sister and I went to one of our favorite semiannual used book sales at a local community center. And as usual, we both cleaned up! I got 16 books and 4 new workout tapes, for a total of $35! Trying doing THAT at Borders or Barnes and Noble! Haha. :-)

Here's what I got!

HARDBACKS:

*The Good Life, by Jay McInerney (about two upper-class Manhattan couples and how the aftermath of 9/11 affects them)

*How We Got Here: The 70s- The Decade That Brought You Modern Life, For Better or Worse, by David Frum (about the social convulsions of the 70s and how that impacts us as a society today... I love the '70s, seriously, so I was excited for this find!)

*Irish America: Coming into Clover, by Maureen Dezell (a book about the history of Irish Americans... I'm mostly Irish and would love to know more about the culture!)

*For Laci: A Mother's Story of Love, Loss, and Justice, by Sharon Rocha (the story of Laci Peterson's life and murder, written by her mom)

*The Secret Language of Eating Disorders, by Peggy Claude-Pierre (I think the title of the book is pretty self-explanatory)

*Hurry Down Sunshine, by Michael Greenberg (a memoir in which the author writes about his fifteen-year-old daughter's psychotic breakdown and how the family copes with the aftermath)

*Waistland, by Deidre Barrett (a Harvard psychologist takes an in-depth look at the obesity and fitness crisis in America from an evolutional/biological standpoint... according to her, we are "basically hunter-gatherers lost in a jungle of burgers, lounge chairs, and TV remotes"... I'm very interested in reading her theories on this subject!)

PAPERBACKS:

*Bad Behaviour, by Sheila O'Flanagan (AUTOGRAPHED!!!- yes, I know how to spell "behavior" here in the USA, but this is an Irish chick lit novel... anyway, this is about the typical single-with-a-great-career-and-fabulous-apartment-and-great-friends-and-no-boyfriend-but-that's-okay gal who receives a wedding invitation to the wedding of her former best friend, who just happens to be marrying said gal's ex, whom he left for former BFF. Oh, the drama! I loves me some Irish chick lit, and I've never read this author, so I'm excited!!!)

*Free Food For Millionaires, by Min Jin Lee (a novel about the daughter of Korean immigrants who own a laundromat in Queens, is a Princeton grad with a degree in Economics, but doesn't have a job, yet is addicted to the expensive world of Manhattan, and the story is about her, her parents and their traditional values, and her friends of both Caucasian and Korean decent, and how the cultures intertwine and collide, while everyone's just trying to live... I'm not really doing the synopsis justice here, but it definitely sounds like an interesting book!)

*Picture Perfect, by Jodi Picoult (ya'll know how much I love my girl Jodi... this one's about is a seemingly "picture perfect" marriage, and something happens to make that fairy tale unravel. Jodi Picoult drama!!!! LOVE it!!!)

*Sickened, by Julie Gregory (a memoir of a girl whose mother had Munchausen by Proxy syndrome, the psychological disease where you make your child purposely sick in order for you to receive attention)

*What We Keep, by Elizabeth Berg (a novel about a woman who is flying home to see her mother, whom she has not spoken to in 35 years, and while on the plane, she recalls her childhood with her sister, and the series of events that divided their family)

*I Love Everybody (and Other Atrocious Lies): True Tales of a Loudmouth Girl, by Laurie Notaro (Laurie Notaro writes short essays/stories... think a female David Sedaris... anyway, this is a follow-up/sequel collection of essays to her other book, "Autobiography of a Fat Bride", which I read a while back and thoroughly enjoyed!)

*Among Other Things, I've Taken Up Smoking, by Aiobheann Sweeney (a coming-of-age novel about a young girl who grows up in a very small town in Maine- her mother disappeared mysteriously when she was small, and she grew up with her father, who was mostly dedicated to his work- and after graduating from high school, she decides to embark on a journey to stay in Manhattan with some of her father's old friends, and learns a lot about her father, and about herself)

*Girls Night In, by various chick lit authors (exactly what it sounds like- a collection of short stories written by some of the best chick lit writers out there- Jennifer Weiner, Sophie Kinsella, Meg Cabot, Marian Keyes, Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez, etc.... I know I'll love this!)

*Falcon Crest, by Patrick Mann (this is a novel based off the 1980s' cheesy primetime soap that ran on CBS from 1981-1990. I've never seen it, but I love those cheesy nighttime soap operas from the '80s, as we well know, so I figured, what the hell, why not? It'll be like a Danielle Steel novel with lots of wealthy people and over-the-top drama)

I also bought four new workout videos! I usually can find one or two at book sales, believe it or not, and it never hurts to add new workouts into the regime! :-D I got:

*Abs Yoga

*Back Care Yoga (I have lower back problems)

*Power Yoga for Flexibility

*Pilates: Target Specifics

All in all, I'd call the book sale a great success! My sister was happy with everything that she got too. We were two very happy bookworms. :-)

After the sale, we dropped off all our goodies in my car and walked around... it was such a beautiful day outside, it had to have been around 75 degrees. We stopped by a really cute cafe called Seven Stones for a while, and we swore that we saw Wanda Sykes- I mean, this woman not only looked just like her, but she sounded just like her too. We knew how ridiculous that would seriously be, but I'm telling you, the resemblance was really uncanny! :-D Still, unlikely. Then we walked to Trader Joe's and stocked up on some goodies- chipotle salsa, salmon burgers, chicken, Clif Kids Z-bars, etc., and I found a new item!

Papaya chunks! Exciting! You know, I don't think I've ever had papaya before. I bought two bags and have already given them a try, and it's yummy, but I have to say, I like mango better... ah well... live and learn! I'll finish off the bags and then go back to my trusty mango and pineapple. :-D

We were pretty exhausted from getting up early and running around for most of the day, so we went back to my apartment and just took it easy the rest of the day/evening. We made grilled chicken wraps for dinner, and watched Zack and Miri Make a Porno... it was really funny! Very raunchy. Don't see this with your grandmother. And the storyline was cute... like a very obscene version of When Harry Met Sally, haha. But funny! Then again, any movie with Seth Rogen in it is guaranteed to have quite a few inappropriate laughs, LOL... I love him! :-)

We ended up not doing the Book Festival today. It didn't start until 11 a.m., my sister had a lot of homework and wanted to be back early, the trains would only be running once an hour on Sundays, and it would take an hour just to go one-way... we just realized that the timetable wasn't really going to work. Oh well... maybe next time!

I took my sister home after breakfast, and then decided to run all of my errands today so that I didn't have to do anything on my vacation day tomorrow except sit on my butt. :-) I'm so glad I decided to do that and get everything over with... there's nothing worse than taking a vacation day where you're so busy doing a ton of stuff, that it doesn't even feel like a day off! I went all out- vacuumed my room, did laundry, changed my sheets, changed the cat litter, ran and unloaded the dishwasher... and now it's all done and I don't have to do squat tomorrow! :-) The most productive thing I'll do is go to the gym. That's it! :-)

I haven't gotten very far in Sense and Sensibility yet. I'm discovering that it's really the kind of book that you have to sit down and give your undivided attention to, and I just haven't been able to do that lately, being busy all weekend, being too stressed out and tired from work to really concentrate, etc. But I really want to get more into it! So hopefully I can read a little more tomorrow.

I know I keep promising you reviews of Love the One You're With and Naturally Thin. I feel like a liar, LOL. I don't mean to be!!! I'll just sum up Love the One You're With like this- while I do enjoy Emily Giffin, I have to say that this was my least favorite of her books that I've read (and I'm pretty sure I've read them all). I just didn't care for the main character, Ellen, and when you don't care for the main character of a book, it's hard to feel for him/her throughout the story, you know? That being said, it was still an entertaining enough read, and if you like traditional chick lit, you'd like this- but I just didn't care for the main character, and I thought the ending was a little far-fetched.

Naturally Thin, on the other hand, I have a lot more to say about. Just give me a little more time to get all my thoughts together- I promise to try and make it worthwhile! But for now, it's late, the day has gotten away from me (multitasking will do that to you!), and right now, my bed and my new Knots Landing DVD are calling me name... soon, kids... bear with me!

Hope you all had super-fabulous weekends!!!!

I've been tagged!!!!

2009-04-15T22:02:00.004-04:00

Sorry I've been MIA the past two days... this has been a severely stressful week on many, many levels, both personally and professionally. And on top of it all, I had the worst sleep last night... I tossed and turned until 2 am, and barely slept at all. I feel like a zombie right now. I probably won't even do the full post that I intended to, just because I'm so exhausted and I want to try to get to bed a little early. Because of this, book reviews will have to wait for another post... I'm sorry! I did finish Love the One You're With, and I picked a new book (I'll at least unveil that tonight... I won't be a total tease, LOL!), and I only have a few pages left of Naturally Thin. I have a lot of thoughts on both books, so that's why I really want to wait so I can post something more in-depth... if not tonight, before the weekend, I promise!!! :-)

But first things first... I've been tagged by the lovely Yasmin over at It's a Wrap! So here I go with some fun little tidbits about li'l old me! :)

8 Things I'm Looking Forward To:

1. One of my favorite used book sales is this Saturday- I'm so jazzed!!! :-) I'm picking my sister up early so we can get there right when it opens and get the pick of the litter, so to speak! :-D

2. Going to the Philadelphia Book Festival this weekend with my sister, grandmom, and maybe my roommate... I've never been to this before, so I'm excited!

3. I have a vacation day coming up this Monday... I desperately need it!!!!

4. Getting my new Netflix movie (I ordered Zack and Miri Make a Porno, haha! Has anyone seen this? I've heard it's really funny!)

5. My sister's spending the night on Saturday... girls' slumber party!!!! :-)

6. Friday is Payday for me! :-)

7. Reading my new book (more to come on that)

8. Nice weather... it's been chilly and rainy here all week... blah!

8 Things I Did Yesterday:

1. Went to work

2. Went to the gym

3. Watched The Biggest Loser

4. Finished reading Love the One You're With

5. Picked a new book

6. Wrote in my journal

7. Finished the rest of a box of Peanut Butter Puffins for my bedtime snack (there was only one serving left; and don't worry, I still have another unopened box, courtesy of a 2/$5 my grocery store had a few weeks ago!)

8. Ran and unloaded the dishwasher

8 Things I Wish I Could Do:

1. Make more money (don't we all???)

2. Speak French

3. Knit (I've always wanted to learn!)

4. Go back to school and get my degree in Health/Nutrition (which brings me back to #1...)

5. Be more artistic/crafty

6. Overreact/stress less

7. Visit Europe

8. Live somewhere warmer (I'm not a fan of PA weather!)

8 Shows I Watch:

1. The Office

2. 30 Rock

3. Mad Men

4. The Big Bang Theory

5. The Golden Girls

6. Cold Case

7. The Amazing Race

8. Brothers and Sisters

8 People I Tag:

1. For the Love of Oats

2. Trying to Heal

3. Meals From the Girl in the Little Black Dress

4. Kristin's Nibbles

5. Chandra's Shenanigans

6. Eating Bender

7. Care's Online Book Club

8. Live Laugh Liss

I tried out yet another new sweet potato combo for dinner tonight, that I simply had to share with the group:

Sweet potato, spinach, Trader Joe's turkey meatballs all cut up, chipotle salsa and chili pepper sauce on the side- winning combination right here! I figured the turkey meat would help me sleep tonight... let's hear it for tryptophan!

Also, check out what I got in the mail yesterday from my friends at amazon:

Please tell me you've heard of this show! Most people my age or younger have not, LOL. Knots Landing was a primetime soap opera in the '80s and '90s- it was on for fourteen years!!! It was a spinoff of the even-older show Dallas (you know, "Who Shot J.R.?" LOL!). I grew up watching this show, and desperately wanting to live in the fictional Knots Landing, which was supposedly in a picturesque beach town in Southern California where everyone has beautiful homes and never have to work, haha! I wanted to grow up and live just like that... needless to say, that plan has yet to happen, for many reasons! But, I still love this show. I preordered Season 2 back in December as a little Christmas present to myself, and it arrived yesterday! Yay! I can't wait to tear into this baby... I have a feeling that my vacation day is going to involve my pajamas and this DVD!!!

And before I sign off for the night, I did promise to show you my new read:

So, I have a confession to make... I've never read Jane Austen. I can practically hear my female bloggers gasping in horror. Yes, it's true. I've always wanted to, I just never got around to it! Anyway, this was my next pick. I admit, I was a little weary at first, because I wasn't sure if I was feeling a dense Victorian-historical British novel, especially after the massive letdown I felt from Atonement, but my roommate is a HUGE Jane Austen fan, and she assures me that I'll love it. And she is, after all, the original "chick lit" author, so I'm giving it a shot! I've tried to read a few pages here and there, and so far, I do like it, but I've just had such a stressful, horrible week, that I haven't really gotten too much into it so far. Right now, finishing up Naturally Thin is about all I can handle for the time being! Although I did try reading it a little bit at the gym... note to self: Sense and Sensibility is NOT a good pick for reading material on the elliptical machine. LOL. I could only read, like, ten pages, and I got a headache trying to read it while I was bouncing around. LOL. Oh well. The copy I have was a gift from my grandmother, who was an English professor and has given me a ton of awesome classic literature throughout the years for various holidays and occasions- on my 23rd birthday (she always writes something in the books she gives me, and when she gave them to me, which I love). And since I'll probably be seeing her this weekend at the Book Festival, this seems like a fitting pick!

Okay, I'm off to try and get some extra and much-needed rest (after I eat a Triple Chocolate Vitatop for dessert first, though, because after the week I've been having- and it's only WEDNESDAY- I need chocolate!!!), but I'll try to post tomorrow, if not Friday! Goodnight! ;-)

Philly lost a great one today...

2009-04-13T19:46:00.001-04:00

Harry Kalas, the one of the Phillies game broadcasters for almost forty years, died today at the age of 73, very unexpectedly, one hour before the Phils were scheduled to play the Washington Nationals. They found him unconscious in the press box, tried to perform CPR, and rushed him to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. The cause of death is not known at this time. The Phillies went on to play their scheduled game (which really surprised me... I just assumed they would cancel it, given the circumstances, but the game went on as planned with a brief moment of silence beforehand), and beat the Nationals 9-8... I caught the last few innings at the gym. It was a really good game, but I kind of kept listening for Harry's voice... as any Phillies fan will tell you, "Harry the K" had quite a distinct broadcasting voice, particularly, "Struck him out!" and "This ball is OUTTA here!" He also did the broadcasting for The Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet. Everybody loved him... he will always be remembered as a great Philadelphia legend.

I'm really saddened and shook up about his passing, for many reasons. It was very sudden, first of all, and very unexpected. I mean, the day after Easter, collapsing in the press box just a few hours before the game (and it was the Nationals' home opening game at that)... but I don't know, in a way, at least he had his final moments in a place he loved.

Another reason I feel so saddened by this loss is because I feel like it's adding salt to an already-gaping wound. For any new or sporadic blog readers out there, my dad passed away in February, and I'm still trying to cope with that on pretty much a day-to-day basis. It's going to be like that for a while, I know, before this feeling passes. But baseball was something that my dad and I had in common. In fact, he's the one who instilled the love of the game in me. I grew up watching baseball games with my dad, he would play wiffle ball and softball with me in the backyard, he took me to my first Phillies game, he encouraged me to play little league (even though I flat-out sucked and it was very obvious, LOL, it didn't change my love for the game). While we certainly had our troubles and differences as I got older, baseball was one thing we always, always shared. And I've grown up watching these games with my dad, and listening to Harry Kalas broadcast them, and in the last two months, I've lost them both. Two great voices that meant so much to me, that I'll never hear again. It's rough... it's very rough. Hearing of Harry's death just makes me miss my dad more, and I didn't even know that was possible.

I'm off to go console myself with new episodes of The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Yo' Mama. Laughter always helps, ya know? :-) I'll be back tomorrow with some happier thoughts. I'm very close to finishing both of my books, so I'll give reviews, and also my review of a new bar I tried today (well, it's new to me, but I'm sure a lot of you have already had it).

Until we meet again, my dears!

Happy Easter, peeps! :-)

2009-04-12T18:44:00.001-04:00

Just popping in to wish everyone a happy Easter- hopefully the Easter Bunny was good to all of you! To the non-Easter-celebrating peeps, I hope you had a fun and fabulous weekend! I'll be back tomorrow with a more lengthy post! :-)

Greetings on Good Friday

2009-04-10T20:15:00.003-04:00

Hello, friends! Happy Good Friday! Did you have a nice day? If you had the day off, I hope you did something relaxing and fun. If you had to work, I hope it went by relatively quickly and painlessly.

I was one of the lucky souls who had today off. I woke up around 8:30 (for someone who gets up at 7 a.m. most days of the week, that's sleeping in!), had a fabulous bowl of oatmeal w/flaxseed, vanilla protein powder, cinnamon, and banana for breakfast, and then hit up the gym for some cardio while I caught up with one of my favorite daytime divas, Rachael Ray. She had Miley Cyrus on her show today. Maybe it's because I'm not fourteen years old, but I just don't get the Miley/Hannah Montana thing at all. Billy Ray Cyrus was on the show too. Not only were they on Rachael Ray, but a few TVs over, I noticed that they were on The Tyra Banks Show this morning as well. I've never seen the same guest on two talk shows at once (yes, I understand these shows are pre-taped in advance, I'm not an idiot, LOL... I've just never seen that!). Definitely Miley Mania on daytime TV this morning.

I was also productive around my apartment as well. I ran and unloaded the dishwasher, wiped down/straightened up the kitchen, did a load of laundry, took out the trash and recyclables, and vacuumed my room. I got my Donna Reed on a bit today. :-) I also watched the Phillies lose to the Rockies hard this afternoon- the final score was 10-2. Ouch. Ah well... we're only a few games into the season, and I've seen them come back from last place to World Series Champs. If there's one thing that can be said about Philadelphia sports teams, they tend to be the underdogs/the comeback kids... I call it the Rocky Balboa Syndrome. :-D

I started reading Naturally Thin last night. I'm actually really liking it so far! I'll give it a more in-depth review when I finish up with it, but I'm definitely enjoying it. A lot of it is common sense, really, but the thing is that it's common sense a lot of us need to be reminded of, or else why would we be reading this book? :-D I picked it up to address some of my own specific concerns/struggles with eating and my relationship with food, and so far, I'm finding that they're being addressed. What I especially like about this book so far is that it's reinforced repeatedly throughout the book that it is not a dieting book, and that there is no such thing as dieting, and as I've mentioned before, I am a firm believer of this attitude and philosophy. But aside from that, what I like about Bethenny's book so far is that she flat-out says in the introduction that she is NOT a doctor, NOT a nutritionist, NOT a professional chef, and NOT perfect- this is a lifestyle that works for her, and it will not necessarily work for everyone, and she is not telling anyone what to do, or what or how to eat, or how to live- she is simply sharing the tools and techniques she uses while living her life. In fact, she comes right out and admits in the intro section, "In fact, sometimes I set a really bad example!" She's not perfect, never claims to be, she admits she makes mistakes with food and eating like everyone else. I dig that kind of humble honesty. I think that's why I like Rachael Ray so much too- she admits she's not a professional chef, she has no training, and never claimed to have any, and she makes tons of cooking mistakes like everyone else. Anyway, those are my thoughts so far. Oh, and I'm also liking my other book, Love the One You're With. It's cute and mindless fluff that I can identify with. Anyone who's ever had that one "ex" that haunts you emotionally will want to read this book. In fact, I sympathize with the main character, Ellen, a lot, because she is reminiscing about her breakup with that "haunting ex", and how it all came down to a fight on New Year's Eve, which brings back some painful ex-boyfriend memories in my playbook, as I was dumped once on New Year's Eve by a boyfriend in college. As if that wasn't bad enough, I had stopped by to pick him up for a party we were supposed to go to, and if THAT wasn't bad enough, I had brought him soup because he had been sick. And then he dumped me. Yeah... that sucked. Needless to say, I'm not a huge fan of New Year's Eve. Not because of that one singular disastrous event, but because, literally, every single New Year's Eve after that has been absolutely horrible for one reason or another. That jackass put some sort of curse on that holiday for me, LOL. And that was a bad breakup. One of those breakups were you just wallow your pretty little head off in misery for a little more time than you should, you know? But that was a long, long time ago. I got over him, and successfully managed to date many more jackasses after that, LOL! In fact, out of all the relationships I've had in my ten years of dating, I really have only had one good one. A long time ago. And you wonder why I've chosen to voluntarily remain single for the past year! :-D But that's another post for another day.

Check out the yummy lunch I made myself! This lunch made me really happy:

My roommate's been eating a lot of tuna lately, so it sparked a craving in my tummy for tuna. So I made myself a little tuna melt! I mixed low-sodium chunk tuna with spicy brown mustard and some spices, and grilled it up on TJ's sodium-free whole wheat bread with some reduced-fat Provolone, with carrots and chipotle salsa on the side. This was delish! I haven't had a grilled cheese in forever, so this satisfied two cravings at once, while getting in some veggies and healthy fat and protein. Good times all around!

Hope you're all having a wonderful day! I'm off to make some dinner and spend the rest of the evening vegging out! Have a good one! ;-)

And now, it's time for a brief vocabulary lesson...

2009-04-09T23:05:00.013-04:00

Tonight, I will be educating readers on the difference between the words subconscious and unconscious.

Subconscious means that part of your mind is not fully aware of something it is doing, yet it still influences your behavior (He subconsciously repressed a painful childhood memory; Mary subconsciously purchased the brand name of a cereal over the usual generic cereal she usually bought, even though it was more expensive, because she kept seeing the brand name cereal in a specific TV commercial all last week).

Unconscious means that you are not awake (The impact from the accident rendered him unconscious).

I see these two confused in text often and as a professional grammar and punctuation cop, I find this highly annoying. I stumbled across it today in my new read, Love the One You're With. The author used the word "unconscious" when she meant "subconscious." Grrrr. On the bright side, that's the worst complaint I have about the book so far! Well, that and a typo. But so far it's a cute little read, and just what I need to help me come down from the massive letdown that was Atonement. :-D

Also, I stopped by the library today and picked up a book that I had on reserve that had come in- Naturally Thin by Bethenny Frankel. I read an excerpt of the book on the TODAY show website, and it's been popping up a lot in Blogland, and it's definitely piqued my interest. I'm a little turned off by the title, and I don't want to read it to pick up any "dieting" tips. I don't believe in dieting. I personally don't think diets work. I think most diets are a form of deprivation in some way or another (with the exception of Weight Watchers) and helps lead to damaging and negative psychological and emotional relationship with food and eating, and worst of all, yourself. Not to say I don't have my own issues or hangups in these areas, I definitely have a checkered past, present, and most likely future with food and eating and self-esteem- but I don't believe in dieting and denying myself. I believe in making choices to fit your needs and your lifestyle, whatever they may be. I believe in balance and moderation, whatever that definition may be for you. I try hard to know and understand my body, and what works for MY life and MY body. I don't cut carbs. I choose carbs that I enjoy eating and that make me feel good. I don't believe in not eating after a certain hour. I'm going to eat when I'm hungry, regardless of what time of day or night it is. For example, I know that I need to have a snack every night before I go to bed. Some people have their snack or dessert right after dinner, or an hour after dinner, or if they're not hungry by the time they're ready for bed, they don't have anything at all. That works for them and that's cool. Me, I know my body at least well enough to know that if I don't put a little somethin'-somethin' in it before I go to sleep, then I'll either wake up hungry in the middle of the night, or ravenous in the morning, and I typically don't get to eat breakfast right away when I wake up during the week, because I wait to eat breakfast at work (weekends are another story, obvi!), and to me, waking up hungry in the middle of the night is the worst, because I can't get back to sleep, and am far too lazy to get out of bed and make something. By eating at least something before I go to sleep, even if it's something small like a cookie or a small serving of cereal, I go to bed happy and satisfied, and I wake up happy and satisfied enough to get me to work when I can have breakfast. I don't believe in taking a few bites of something and that will mentally satisfy whatever I'm craving. That works for some people, but I know myself well enough to know that if I want a cookie, two bites of that cookie won't cut it. That won't satisfy me mentally. It's enough for some people and I truly commend that, but I know that won't do it for me. I'll eat the whole cookie and enjoy and savor every bite. I believe in giving in to my craving in a way that satisfies me physically and emotionally. If I want a tasty treat, I'm not going to deprive myself. I'm going to give myself a tasty treat. Something I want. I'm not going to crave a piece of chocolate cake and force myself to eat carrot sticks instead. What I would do is eat a chocolate Vitamuffin. I'm giving in to my craving in a way that makes my body and my mind happy and healthy. That is not the solution for everyone. That is the solution for me. Some people would prefer to give in to that craving with a small piece of good-quality dark chocolate, or a piece of homemade cake, or a slice of cake from their favorite bakery, and that's great too. That's what works for them and their lives. You know? Everyone has their own definition of balance, lifestyles, moderation, etc. I know a lot of mine, but I'd love to be even more in touch with my body's wants and needs on a physical and emotional level. I find all of that very fascinating. I don't know if I'll get all the answers from a Real Housewife of New York City (and I'll admit, I tried to watch this show once, and just didn't get it; in fact, I got a little bitter over how rich and spoiled they were! If they saw the size of my work cubicle, they'd sob right into their Prada purses!), but I still want to give this book a go and see what Mademoiselle Bethenny has to say about all this. I'll probably start reading this later on tonight.

So woo-hoo for the three-day weekend!!!! I needed a day off in the WORST WAY. I was even debating taking a vacation day in the upcoming week or two, but we have a busy few weeks ahead at work, and so I'm going to wait until all that dies down and then I'm going to take a day off. I'll definitely appreciate it more after the crunch time, that's for sure! Anyway, I'm just going to focus on the day off tomorrow for now. I'm going to sleep in, hit up the gym, watch my daytime shows, and R-E-L-A-X!!!! The Phillies are playing tomorrow, but I'm not sure if they're playing an afternoon game or a nighttime game. Either way, my fine booty will be parked on my couch, rooting for my boys!!!!

Hope you all have fun and fabulous Fridays tomorrow!!!! To those of you who don't have off, I hope your work day is as pain-free as possible!!! :-)

Sidebar: How FUNNY was the NBC lineup tonight??? TWO new episodes of The Office, both hysterical, the new show Parks & Recreation was pretty funny too (Amy Poehler's character is like a female version of Michael Scott!), and funny NEW ep of 30 Rock! Such a great night for TV!!!!

It's official...

2009-04-08T20:09:00.008-04:00

... I'm emotionally dead inside. :-D Okay, that's a little extreme. But I finished Atonement today (although, I should use the word "finish" loosely here, as I basically skimmed the second part of the book). Honestly? I didn't like it at ALL!!! While I do think that Ian McEwan is, indeed, a beautiful writer, this book moved slower than a turtle. The first part was semi-interesting, but I just got so bored with it!!! It was a lot of vivid description, a beautifully or thoughtful sentence here and there, but to be honest, a lot of it almost felt like "filler" text (you know, where you need to write a 1,000-word essay for school, but you've only got 750 or so words, so you just draw out your thoughts as much as you can to meet the word count quota? Come on, we all did it in school at one time or another, LOL!) and hardly any dialogue or plot. I basically just kept turning pages and getting through it so I could get to the ending, as I was told by many people that McEwan is well-known for very surprising and emotional endings- and while the ending was, indeed, interesting and somewhat surprising (I had kind of guessed early on who attacked Lola- I actually had thought that was pretty obvious- but there were other parts of the ending that I didn't see coming), it just was an extraordinarily slow book that didn't seem to make a lot of sense to me. Eh. I will certainly give the author another try- I have another one of his books that I have yet to read, Saturday- but yeah, I was sorely disappointed with this! But almost everyone I know loved it! I must be a defective model! :-)

Ah, well, different strokes for different folks, I suppose. I wasn't into this at all. I'll probably give it away- I don't see myself ever re-reading it again. It was just too painful the first time around.

Okay, so I know I'm all about picking my new next-to-read book at random, but I have a confession to make here- I totally cherry-picked my new book. :-D Don't judge me. I HAD to. I was so disappointed and frustrated with Atonement, that I knew I needed something that would guarantee me a light, simple, fun read, from an author I know and trust. I picked a few self-help books and business books, and I was like, no, no, no, no, NO. Picking at random is fun and all, but sometimes, I know exactly what I'm in the mood to read next, and if I know what I want, picking something you don't want is a huge letdown. It's like giving in to a food craving. If you're craving something and deny yourself, you're just going to get angry, frustrated, sad, mad, depressed, not feel satisfied, whatever. Just give in and enjoy in moderation! I am a huge believer of this philosophy, not just in eating, but in life in general. And that includes books!

So yes, I kept picking books until I picked one that I knew would not let me down:

Feast your eyes on this: Love the One You're With, by Emily Giffin. I really enjoy this author. She's written fabulous chick-lit books such as Baby Proof (this is my favorite of hers), Something Borrowed, and Something Blue (I preferred Something Borrowed to Something Blue, but both were fun reads). Anyhow, this book's about a woman who's been happily married for about a year (or so she thinks... hello, foreshadowing!), and then she runs into a former luvah that she hasn't seen in over eight years, which has her all reminiscing and wondering if she truly made the right choice (and haven't we all done that at some point with a relationship? I know I have!) and begins questioning her choices in life in general. This is exactly what I need to read right now. Unlike some chick lit (Outtakes from a Marriage.... boo-hiss), I KNOW that this is going to be a delightful read. I'm going in with low expectations- it's chick lit here; you really can't expect too much from it! It is what it is. I look forward to starting this!

Speaking of giving in to cravings, I'd like to throw out a question. To all the healthy eaters that might stumble across my blog (please comment! I feel lonely!), do people at work give you a hard time about what you eat/don't eat? I'm a healthy eater by choice, I generally enjoy eating fresh, whole healthy foods, because I LIKE them, not because I'm watching my weight, on a diet, etc. I don't believe in dieting. But I don't eat junk food or fast food, avoid processed/packaged foods, don't use products with HCFS and trans fats in them, etc. That's how I like to eat. If I want a brownie or a cookie, I have one. But an Oreo, a Chips Ahoy, they don't appeal to me. I prefer the taste of a Vitamuffin, or a Newman's Organic cookie, or Annie's bunnies, etc. Because I eat treats and stuff I enjoy, I never feel "deprived", because, well, I'm not depriving myself. I love the food I eat. I eat the food I want to eat. If I wanted an Oreo, I'd have one. If I wanted a donut, I'd have one. There's nothing wrong with that, as far as I'm concerned. But people at work get on my case about how healthy I eat ALL THE TIME. To be honest, I think it's rude. Commenting on what I eat or don't eat is offensive. For example, every time my boss brings in donuts or cupcakes, she always says, "Oh, I know Anita won't have any." Well, she's right. If I'm going to have a dessert, I want a real dessert. Luckily, Dunkin' Donuts don't appeal to me all that much- I'll reach for a muffin or a piece of bread before a donut- so I don't consider it denying myself. If I wanted one, I'd take one. But why announce it? Especially each and every time. It's only funny once. So then she offers me one, knowing I'll say, "No, thank you," and then she makes a little tsk-tsk sound and says in this placating tone, "Gee, that's too bad." , or something along those lines. And it's like, why is that too bad? Because I'm politely declining a food that I don't want? I honestly prefer donuts from supermarkets and bakeries to DD, to be honest! They have way better ones! But to do this each and every time in front of a group of people? It's offensive. Why is it okay to comment on healthy eating habits, but if I turned around and asked someone if they really needed that donut or if they knew how many grams of fat and sugar they just put in their mouth, I'd be sent to HR in a heartbeat? Hello, double standard. I let people eat whatever and however they want to eat without any comments or criticism, because I feel it is not my place to judge others. So why is it for others to do it to me and assume I'm denying myself? Oy. I also get constant comments on my oatmeal in the morning- about how healthy I eat, how good my food looks, etc. At least those comments are polite, but still, it's like, leave me alone and let me eat! Anyway, rant over. LOL. Normally the positive comments don't bother me at all, but it's the times when there are cupcakes/brownies/donuts/cake that I always very politely turn down- it's not like I roll my eyes or say "ew" or make a gagging noise or anything- and then the comments come. I just think it's ridiculous and unnecessary. And then people wonder why I like to keep to myself at work. LOL.

Happy Hump Day! Who else has off this Friday? I do... Good Friday, indeed! Although, I tell ya, for a shorter work week, it sure is dragging by at the same speed Atonement did!!! :-D Oh well... just one day left!

Phillies beat the Braves tonight!!!! It was awesome!!!! They were losing badly, and they turned it all around and scored EIGHT runs in the 7th!!!! I watched it while I was at the gym getting my elliptical on. It was awesome! It's their first win of the season... I was WONDERING where my World Series champs were hiding!!!! :-) And Lindsay got to be there... I'm jealous!!!! :-)

Losing my virginity

2009-04-07T21:13:00.003-04:00

Ha, I knew that post title would grab your attention. :-D

I'm talking about my Barney Butter virginity, of course!!!!

I got my free samples of Barney Butter in the mail yesterday! I literally squealed with excitement when I opened this. It amused my roommate very much. :-D

Now here's the real question- how should I lose my Barney Butter virginity? What's your favorite way to eat Barney Butter? Oatmeal? A sandwich? On a vitamuffin/vitatop? Plain? Anyone? Bueller? Let me know!!!!

Disaster ball game... but successful dinner!!!!

2009-04-05T21:35:00.006-04:00

The Phils are losing HARD right now. It's the bottom of the 6th inning and they're losing 4-0. Not a good way for the 2008 World Series Champions to be starting off their Home Opener Game!

Well, at least my dinner turned out awesome:

This is kind of a "healthified" version of one of Philly's favorite sandwiches- the meatball sub, a la potato. I microwaved a sweet potato, and added steamed broccoli, reduced-fat Provolone cheese, and two cut-up Trader Joe's Turkey Meatballs (LOVE these bad boys!), with a few dashes of oregano, pepper, crushed red pepper, and chopped onion pieces, along with some organic ketchup. This was super-delish!!!! I made a similar creation last night, only instead of ketchup, I had it with salsa and some peppers and onions. It was okay, but just a little too much. So I toned it down a little, and this combo was MUCH better! At least I could comfort myself from this sad first baseball game with an awesome dinner! I can't wait to make this again!

I'm off to watch the rest of the game- it's now the 7th and they have yet to score, but who knows, there's still two innings left! They could turn it around! Then it'll be time to get ready for bed. Where did the weekend go????????

My first-ever blog award!

2009-04-05T18:09:00.005-04:00

My sweetheart friend Yasmin over at It's a Wrap gave me my first blog award today!!!

She gave me the FRIENDS award:

"FRIENDS... comes with the following description to be added & passed along: "These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated.” It also says : "Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

I felt really honored to be given this award. I know people give and get these awards on blogs all the time, but this is my first one ever. Even though I've had a blog for a few months and I've been able to meet a lot of sweet, nice, cool people as a result, sometimes I wish I were more involved and engaged in the blogging community. Now I feel one step closer to that. :-)

And I get to share this with eight awesome blogs. How on earth do I narrow it down??? I want to extend and share this award to eight blogs that constantly impress me with their creativity, honesty, and commitment to good emotional, physical, and spiritual health, along with the awesome great food finds and meals I've ~~stolen~~ picked up from them:

1. Yasmin from It's a Wrap

2. Chandra from Chandra's Shenanigans

3. Lindsay from For the Love of Oats (who is on her way to the Phillies Opening Day game as we speak... I am uber-jealous!!!)

4. Meghan from The Inner Workings of a College Graduate

5. Jenna from Eat, Live, Run

6. Jaime from Fearless, Fabulous, Full of Life

7. Rose from On a Lobster Placemat

8. Erin and Andrea from Care to Eat

But I seriously want to give this award to everyone on my blogroll, and then some, so if you weren't on the list, you can still have the award! :-)

So how has everyone's weekend been? Mine has been nice and relaxing... the exact OPPOSITE of what last weekend was, thank God! I got a lot of stuff done and errands accomplished, did some reading of Atonement (although I haven't gotten as far as I wanted to in it, unfortunately), watched my Netflix DVD, got in some great workouts, had a marathon phone sesh with my sister on Friday, chilled and bonded with my roommate, etc. All in all, a great weekend!

So yesterday I made my first foray into the protein powder world!

I picked up a canister of Trader Joe's Vanilla Whey Protein Powder yesterday while picking up some other treats and grub. I tried it out for the first time this morning in my oatmeal. I didn't use a lot- not even a full scoop- just in case I didn't like it, and that way I didn't ruin my breakfast. I had a feeling that I would like it fine- it smelled really yummy, like vanilla-flavored Carnation Instant Breakfast- but better safe than sorry. Anyway, it doesn't matter, because I really liked it!!!! Maybe it was just because I didn't use a lot of it, or maybe protein powder just blends into the taste of whatever it's mixed with, but I didn't notice a huge taste difference, but my oats definitely tasted sweeter and extra-yummy! I was a happy, satisfied gal. And maybe it's a bit premature to notice this, but I thought I had a lot more energy- I kicked some great booty at the gym this morning, and I think the protein/carb combination is really what did it. Normally I just eat carbs at breakfast and feel a little sluggish and sleepy afterwards, which makes sense. And hello, can we talk about filling power for a moment here? I ate breakfast around 9:30 and wasn't hungry for lunch for 2:30, and didn't sit down to eat until almost 3 and wasn't hungry even then, but figured that I should just go ahead and eat lunch before it turned into dinnertime! Haha. Anyway, I really liked it. I already have some all packed up and ready to go to work tomorrow. Maybe it'll help me kick ass at work and I'll get a promotion. Well, that might be asking too much of the protein powder. At the very least, it'll help keep me from falling asleep at my desk in the morning! :-)

So today is the Opening Day game of The Philadelphia Phillies!!!!! The pregame show is getting underway in about an hour, and the actual game will get going at 8. I am so excited. I've been wearing my Phillies jersey all day. I still can't believe they won the World Series last year!!! Earlier today, though, I did get a little sad thinking about Opening Day, because I started thinking about my dad. My dad was the one who got me into baseball. He would pitch wiffle balls to me when I was little, and encouraged me to play Little League (I loved to play, but I totally sucked, haha- coordination was never my thing), and he took me to my first Phillies game. And I thought about how he at least got to see the Phillies win the World Series last year, which I know he loved (Philly's waited a L-O-N-G time for that), but it made me wish I could call him and remind him about Opening Day so that he would remember to watch the game. I broke down in tears and just let it all out for a few minutes, and then I was able to calm down. I've learned that when this happens, I need to just ride it out. Don't fight it or suppress it. That only makes it worse, and there's nothing wrong with feeling an emotion. It's how you handle it that can make or break it. So I'm feeling a little better, albeit still a little sad. But I'm just going to keep working through it, because what else can you do?

On a lighter note, today's lunch was excellent... or should I say, eggcellent (wow... I'm a little embarrassed for myself right now):

I microwaved egg whites, frozen spinach, curry powder, and turmeric, and slapped it all together on my TJ's Sodium-Free Whole Wheat Bread slathered with Laughing Cow Light Garlic and Herb cheese. Along with some carrots and chipotle salsa on the side. Very, very tasty, and perfect for a nice light lunch on a beautiful day (65 degrees!)

I have an exciting dinner planned in honor of the Phillies. I tried a similar version last night, and it came out very well, but I want to make a few modifications to the dish for tonight in the hopes of making it even more kickass than it was last night. I'll post tonight with pics and a description. Hint: Obviously, it will involve a sweet potato. LOL.

Catch ya later!!!! :-)

"Rainbow Brite" Friday

2009-04-03T19:43:00.003-04:00

Hey belles of the blogworld... happy TGIF!!! We made it through another work week, and now we will be rewarded with two days of R&R!!! What are your weekend plans??? I don't have anything set in stone, vut I desperately need to knock out a few errands- Trader Joe's, possibly K-Mart and Target, and, of course, my Holy Grail... Wegmans. :-)

I started off my weekend with a really awesome moment. It was gloomy and thunderstormy here all morning, but the sun decided to come out and play in the afternoon. I went to the gym after work, and I was sitting in my parked car, eating my preworkout snack bar, and what did I see... a rainbow!!!! It was so beautiful. I just sat there, smiling and looking at it. Who else remembers this cutie-patootie from their childhood days...

I loved Rainbow Brite!!! Hell, I still do!!! I remember that I had the Rainbow Brite colorforms, and one year I gave out little stuffed Sprites that my mom made as birthday party favors. And I am not at all ashamed to admit that sitting in my closet right now is a Rainbow Brite t-shirt, and in my sock drawer sits a pair of Rainbow Brite socks. I swear, the '80s were the BEST decade for toys!!!I really lucked out being a kid during that time!!!

What made the rainbow even better was that I was enjoying one of my favorite bars while I was sitting and admiring it... a Pure Protein Chocolate Deluxe Bar. Kids, if you haven't tried this flavor yet, you need to try it ASAP. It's simply delightful. It's sheer chocolate with tiny little chunks of chocolatey pieces in it. It is heaven.

I don't know about you, but I think looking at a rainbow while eating chocolate is a seriously good moment. :-)

So I'm a few chapters into Atonement, and it's still simply wonderful. Not too much into the story just yet- I'm hoping to read a little more of it tonight. But I am a little concerned. So far, everyone I've talked to has absolutely raved about Ian McEwen's writing, but at the same time, they've also said that his books are heart-wrenchingly devastating. One of my friends described his books as "haunting". Another friend told me that Ian McEwen is the only writer that makes her husband actually cry when he reads his books. My roommate told me that she read one book and thought it was fantastic, but was so emotionally gut-wrenching that she cannot bring herself to read another one of his books again, that she just can't do that to herself. This has me worried for two reasons. One, I'm a little, well, scared. Those are some very strong descriptions!!!! The only author that has ever truly moved me like that with her books is Jodi Picoult, and I have a feeling that she doesn't hold a candle compared to McEwen. But now, at the same time, I'm a little worried that if I don't have some sort of severe emotional reaction to this book, that there's something wrong with me and that I might be emotionally dead inside. Either way, I feel emotionally screwed. :-D To all the people out there who've read Mr. McEwen- did you have similar reactions to his novels? Or are my friends just really hypersensitive? LOL. The four people that expressed the same opinion are actually very, very different in terms of personality and character and emotions, and so I have a feeling that this is more of a universal opinion. Please let me know if I need to stock up on Kleenex while I'm out and about this weekend. :-)

All right, I'm off to do some laundry. Yes, I do laundry on Friday nights. Hey, you read blogs on Friday nights, so who are you to judge???? :-P

Have an awesome Friday night!!!! :-)

Fourth time's the charm

2009-04-02T19:57:00.003-04:00

So the mechanic finally secured a rim that wasn't all jacked up- yay! I left work a little early to go get that taken care of (double yay!), and so I'm glad to have all that taken care of so I can put all this behind me!

Happy almost-weekend! Is anyone else's week kind of dragging along, or is it just me??? Oh well, who cares... tomorrow's Friday! And my payday! Smiles all around! :-)

Ooh, and even more reasons to smile today: I got my coupon for a free Kashi entree in the mail! Free food is the best! Now, what should I get??? I can get any entree I want, excluding their pizzas. I don't eat frozen dinners- I find them kind of high in sodium, and I'd much rather just make my own grub- but I'm not letting a coupon like this go to waste! I have had a few Kashi meals here and there, and they're quite tasty and enjoyable- not to mention healthy and filling- especially for a frozen meal-in-a-box. The coupon doesn't expire until June 30, so I've got plenty of time to think about it. And who knows- they might come out with some new entrees between now and then!

I also got my latest Netflix DVD in the mail! I got the first disc of season one of American Dreams. Did anyone else watch that show? It was a show that ran on Sunday nights on NBC a few years ago. It only lasted two, maybe three seasons, but it was pretty damn good (sigh... why do they always cancel good shows???). It was about a family in Philadelphia in the 1960s, and one of the daughters was on the TV show American Bandstand, and one of the sons was in the Vietnam war, and the other had polio, and there was also an African-American family profiled in the show, so you got to see all the social ramifications this family had to endure during that time period. It was a really good show. I loved it. So I'll be watching that at some point this weekend!

So I'm about 40 pages into Atonement, and all I have to say so far is why have I not read any Ian McEwen before???? This man is a beautiful writer. The way he writes is completely captivating. I mean, check out some of the excerpts below, just from the pages I've read:

"A second thought always followed the first, one mystery bred another: Was everyone else really as alive as she was? For example, did her sister really matter to herself, was she as valuable to herself as Briony was? Was being Cecelia just as vivid an affair as being Briony? Did her sister also have a real sense of self concealed behind a breaking wave, and did she spend time thinking about it, with a finger held up to her face? Did everybody, including her father, Betty, Hardman? If the answer was yes, then the world, the social world, was unbearably complicated, with two billion voices, and everyone's thoughts striving in equal importance and everyone's claim on life as intense, and everyone thinking they were unique, when no one was. One could drown in irrelevance. But if the answer was no, then Briony was surrounded by machines, intelligent and pleasant enough on the outisde, but lacking the bright and private inside feeling she had. This was sinister and lonely, as well as unlikely. For, thought it offended her sense of order, she knew it was overwhelmingly probable that everyone else had thoughts like hers. She knew this, but only in a rather arid way; she didn't really feel it."

"...a story was a form of telepathy. By means of inking symbols onto a page, she was able to send thoughts and feelings from her mind to her reader's. It was a magical process, so commonplace that no one stopped to wonder at it. Reading a sentence and understanding it were the same thing; as with the crooking of a finger, nothing lay between them. There was no gap during which the symbols were unraveled. You saw the word castle, and it was there, seen from some distance, with woods in high summer spread before it, the air bluish and soft with smoke rising from the blacksmith's forge, and a cobbled road twisting away into the green shade..."

This is truly mesmerizing and captivating writing. I could pull even more excerpts just from the few pages I've read, but to be honest, my roommate's yummy-smelling dinner is making me hungry for my own. So it's off to make a sweet potato concoction (on tonight's menu: Gardenburger Black Bean Chipotle Burger- BTW, Yasmin, these burgers are absolutely INCREDIBLE... get your hands on them if you can!!!- carrots, salsa, and the star of the show- the sweet potato!)

We're just hours away from the weekend!!!!

P.S. It's not too late to enter Anna's Quaker Oats Giveaway... you have until tomorrow night to enter! I'd love to win, but I'm not holding my breath... this is about the fourth or fifth time I've entered one of the Quaker giveaways and I haven't won yet! :-(

Virtual insanity

2009-04-01T22:07:00.003-04:00

You won't believe this... I called the auto shop this morning, and the third rim they ordered arrived bent too!!!!! WTF????? There must be a defective batch of rims over at the Nissan factory or wherever the hell they're coming from! The mechanic said this has never happened to them before... yeah, me neither! Crazy! They couldn't get another one today, so they put in an order for yet another one tomorrow. Oy ye vey! I hope that one's okay, because I really want to put this debacle behind me and move on!

But I came home from work and did some Crunch: Candlelight Yoga via my Instant Netflix account, and it immediately mellowed me out. You know what? The rim will get here when it gets here... it's all good! The car's drivable, it's all paid for, the damage (both to my car and my bank account) could have been a LOT worse, and there's really bigger things in life to worry- or not worry- about! :-) I swear, yoga= best chill pill eva. Nature's little Xanax. :-)

Hey, so on a completely unrelated topic, I'm thinking of trying protein powder. I think I get a substantial amount of protein in my everyday diet through chicken, fish, eggs, peanut butter, and soy-based products, but I was thinking of picking some up this weekend, maybe trying it out in a smoothie, mixing it in my oatmeal or adding it to cereal or yogurt to get a little more protein in my breakfast (my breakfasts tend to lack protein, I've noticed). Any suggestions on brands/flavors/favorite ways to use it? Any feedback is much appreciated! :-)

I finished up Outtakes From a Marriage tonight. I did a LOT of skimming. Here was my problem with this book. About a third of the way into it, I realized that I wasn't really liking it too much, yet I didn't dislike it enough to give up on it. I was curious about the plot and how it would play out in the end, if the husband was really cheating or the wife was just a bored neurotic housewife who watched one bad reality TV show too many and made it all up in her head, etc. Well, I just finished it up about a half hour ago. My thoughts on the book? This book sucked! None of the main characters were remotely likeable, the minor characters were significantly underdeveloped, there were small subplots that were never wrapped up, the story was completely unbelievable, the ending is abrupt and strange. The whole book is a complete disaster. Also, a BLATANT typo- I'm pretty sure the awards show is called The Golden Globes, NOT The Golden Gobes. I'm so glad that I only paid a dollar for this. Even that seems a little too much. Off to Goodwill it goes!

And into the random box of titles went my hand! And I drew this:

Atonement, by Ian McEwan. Has anyone read this? I never read it, so I purposely stayed away from the movie. I was kind of hoping for something a little lighter, but I thumbed through it and skimmed a few paragraphs, and it looks good! Plus, look what happened the last time I wished for a fluffy book... I got the crapfest that was Outtakes From a Marriage. I might not start this tonight- my eyes are a little tired from speed-reading, and I have some fabulous blogs to catch up on! :-)

Um... it's April, right? And April is a month in spring, right? The reason I ask is because I'm currently sitting in my room in a fleece, with my space heater on and our apartment heat on, and I'm STILL chilly. What is that? WHERE IS SPRING?????

The price I pay for being an idiot

2009-03-31T19:20:00.006-04:00

So not only did I have to cough up $253 in car repairs today, I have to bring my car back tomorrow. The dealership sent over not one, but two bent rims (nice), and the mechanics didn't have time to get a third one before the end of the day. It's coming tomorrow, so I've got to bring it back. Luckily, it will only take 20 minutes, and they won't charge me for time and labor (as well they shouldn't!). Oh, and my rent is due today. Life was a little on the expensive side today.

Upon leaving the auto body shop en route to the gym, I noticed I had not one, but two spots of bird crap on my car that weren't there this morning. How appropriate.

Thank God for my abundance of chocolate Vitalove in the freezer. I'm rationing them to make them last as long as possible, but I am so busting into the stash tonight. I'm thinking it's a Triple Chocolate Chunk VitaTop day today, wouldn't you agree? I need all the chocolate I can get tonight after the day I had today... as every gal knows, chocolate makes everything a little better!

I'm off to go whine to my cat and start getting ready for dinner and the new episode of The Biggest Loser.

Feeling sorry for yourself is still free, right? Just checking!

Please think happy thoughts for my checking account...

2009-03-30T21:10:00.006-04:00

... because it's a little nervous about how much money it's gonna fork over tomorrow at the mechanic's!!!! My checkbook is sweating. :-X

Oh well. Not much I can do about it, so I guess I should try not to worry about it.

In happy news, tonight's potato du jour was absolutely fantastico:

It's a "Chicken Cheesesteak" stuffed potato... microwaved SP, leftover grilled chicken, reduced-fat Provolone cheese, peppers, onions, some broccoli for extra veggie enjoyment, pepper, red pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and organic ketchup on the side. This is the best potato yet (I tend to have this thought whenever I come up with a new combination, however! In fact, I have a new combo all planned out for tonight, so chances are I'll be saying the same thing tomorrow too, LOL).

I had a pretty typical Monday. Kinda mundane, but believe me, I'm hardly complaining!!!! I did read a few chapters of Outtakes From a Marriage on my lunch break. I was right... this is some fluffball fiction! But it's nice and light and fun, although the main character's a little neurotic and annoying. And her TV star hubby's kind of a self-absorbed prick! Even if he turns out he wasn't cheating, she should kick his pompous @ss to the curb anyway. :-D

One work day down and four to go... is it sad that I'm already counting down for the weekend????

I hate crappy weekends

2009-03-29T22:52:00.002-04:00

Although, in theory, I guess not too many people do tend to enjoy them, now do they?

Actually, today wasn't a bad day at all- it was quiet and very low-key. I slept in, went to the gym, chatted with my roommate for a while, did some yoga in the afternoon, and finished up my book. But yesterday... yesterday was honestly one of the worst days I can remember having since my dad died. First, I screwed up my driver's side tire pretty badly from hitting a median strip (I so do not want to talk about and rehash it... let's just say it was a ridiculously stupid error in judgment, and leave it at that), and I didn't blow it out completely or get a flat or anything like that, and I was able to drive to my mechanic's and they noticed a leak and were able to patch it enough to make it driveable until I can bring it back on Tuesday, but my front tire will definitely have to be replaced, and my back tire might as well, but they're going to try to save it (they actually said "save it", and it made me realize yet again how much mechanics are quite similar to surgeons!), and I might need a realignment as well. I have no idea how much this will all cost me, and I spent the day so mad at myself for doing something so incredibly stupid. And little things just went wrong all day, and I started thinking about my dad and how I missed him and wished I could call him, and it all just kept spiraling downward into a pretty bad "mental health day", if you know what I mean. My emotions were just all over the place, and my hypersensitivity was just raging. So every little minor thing, those little everyday annoying nuisances that happen to everyone on a daily basis, were just elevated and exaggerated because of my heightened emotional state, you know? Ugh... I was just a mess yesterday. I just had one of those days where you want to crawl into bed and pull up the covers and wish the day had never happened. Oy.

But, we all have bad days, and rather than dwell on them and beat ourselves up over it, the best thing we can do is move on. We suck it up and take it for what it was and just hope for a better tomorrow.

Anyway, so I finished the Natalie Wood biography. I did enjoy it, but I was also looking forward to finishing it, because it was a very long, intense, and kind of depressing read. Natalie Wood led quite a sad life for the most part, and the cruel irony of it all is that she was finally at a place where she was at her happiest in her life that she had ever been, when it was tragically cut short. It just makes it all the more heartbreaking. The book also goes into depth about the circumstances surrounding what happened to Natalie on those last few hours on the night of her death, and while we'll never completely know, the details that were provided were quite interesting, and what made them so interesting is that there were three other people on the boat with her on the night of her death- one of which was her husband- and they all gave very different, contradictory statements as to what happened on that night. Makes you wonder what they're trying to hide... but it's been almost thirty years since Natalie Wood died, and we'll never know what happened. Everyone probably has their own opinions and theories and speculations. Mine? That her husband's statements are sketchy and inaccurate, and I can't help but wonder why. I wonder if his daughters ever thought the same thing.

So yes, a good read, but I'm glad to have it done with. It's not a must-read, but if you're a fan of biographies, and the whole old-glamour Hollywood world, it might be a book you're interested in.

My next book is the exact opposite of the Natalie Wood biography... it looks like a really fast read with a really silly plot. Just what I need! Plus, the font is big (the font size of the biography was kinda small!):

Outtakes from a Marriage, by Ann Leary. I must confess that I picked a few others before I stumbled across this one. One was a fiction book about politics called Primary Colors, and the other was The Fountainhead. Coming off the Natalie Wood biography, I knew I was not feeling either of those picks. I needed something fluffy and stupid. This looks like it might fit the bill. It's about a woman married to a successful TV soap star who overhears a voicemail from another woman, suspects him of cheating, and starts freaking out, compulsively checking his voicemails and e-mails, showing up on his sets, getting Botox and hair extensions in an attempt to "resexify" herself for him, etc. All the while, she's battling against the ever-popular "Mommy clique" that seems to dominate every Manhattan elementary/private school (it's always Manhattan... you never, ever hear about these preschool "mean-girls" Mommy cliques in, like, Salt Lake City or Chattanooga, Tennessee). The cool thing about this book is that it shows glimpses and flashbacks to the duration of their relationship, from when they first met and onward. So we'll get some history and back story of their romance. Excellent.

I don't have any really exciting food pics as of late, but I will give a shout-out to tonight's potato concoction, which was all BBQ-ed up:

Healthy BBQ! A sweet potato topped with carrots, broccoli, cubed grilled chicken breast, and all-natural BBQ sauce on the side. Tasty fun! This was enjoyed while watching a new episode of The Amazing Race. Any fans of that show out there?

All right, I'm off to bed! I hope every single one of you had a much better weekend than I did!!!!

Inside-Out Day

2009-03-26T19:23:00.004-04:00

This post is appropriately titled so for a few reasons.

First, let's backtrack to some of yesterday. I know that you're all dying of curiosity to know which flavor I picked to have first from my VitaChocolate goodies... well, wait no further! I went with Chocolate Fig! This decision was primarily based off the sole suggestion that I got from Yasmin over at It's a Wrap. Great suggestion, Yasmin! I feel like I'm coming down with a cold anyway, so I figured some extra antioxidants in the form of fig love couldn't hurt, right? ;-)

At first, I wanted to try it on its own:

It was delish! Like if a Fig Newton and a brownie got together and had a love child. YUM.

After a few bites, I decided something was missing:

Whipped cream, of course! After a few bites, I couldn't really taste the whipped cream... it just kind of blended into the chocolate cake. I've noticed this before. I actually think I prefer a fruity topping, like sugar-free strawberry jam. Chocolate + any flavor berry= love.

I also tried a new potato concoction for dinner:

This was tres magnifique. It was a sweet potato, a Laughing Cow Light Garlic and Herb wedge, a Boca Mushroom Mozzarella burger all cut up, and broccoli. Happy, happy times.

Another reason today was inside-out was that I spent the beginning of the morning thinking it was Wednesday. I'm not sure why. But imagine how delighted I was when I realized that it was Thursday! Better than than the other way around! Of course, the best is when you wake up thinking you're late for work and then you realize that it's Saturday. :-D

Another reason it's a bit of an inside-out day? When I got to the gym and changed into my workout gear, I realized that not only had I been wearing one of my socks inside out all day long, but my bra as well. Classy. :-)

There's some good TV on tonight! There's a new show on at 8 on ABC that I wanna check out called Tales from the Motherhood. It's starring Megan Mullally (Karen from Will and Grace) and Cheryl Hines (the wife from Curb Your Enthusiasm). Those are two funny broads, so I think it will be a really funny show! AND NEW EPISODES OF THE OFFICE AND #) ROCK TONIGHT! YAY!!!!!

We're almost to the weekend... the end is near! :-D

VITALOVE!!!!!!!

2009-03-25T19:31:00.005-04:00

Look what came in the mail for me today!

Lots and lots of chocolatey Vitalove!!!!!!!!! My Hungry Girl Chocolate Multi-Madness Pack arrived today, as you can see here. I'm so happy!

Here they are, lounging in their new habitat. You KNOW I'm having one of these babies for dessert tonight. Which flavor should I try first? My options are: Fudgy Peanut Butter Chip, Chocolate Fig, Triple Chocolate Chunk, Deep Chocolate VitaTop, Deep Chocolate VitaBrownie, and Deep Chocolate VitaMuffin. I've had the Deep Chocolate flavor before, and so I want to try one of the new-to-me flavors: Peanut Butter Chip, Chocolate Fig, or Triple Chocolate Chunk. Right now, I'm kind of feeling the Triple Chocolate Chunk, but we'll see!

I also got my new Netflix DVD today. Two things in the mail for me in one day, and neither one was a bill or junk mail. One of which was a big-ass box of healthy, delicious, chocolate baked goods. This is seriously one of the best days ever.

Don't laugh (okay, laugh a little, who am I to try and control someone's emotions), but my latest Netflix acquisition is the first disc in season one of the old WB (back when it was the WB, so the pre-CW days) show Popular. Please tell me that other people watched this show so I don't feel like a total loser, LOL. I really liked this show and was bummed that it only lasted a few seasons. Then again, I lived for My So-Called Life (I still <3 that show!!!) and that only lasted ONE season. And yet crap shows like Two and a Half Men go on for like fifteen years. Isn't the little kid, like, seventeen now or something? Ha. Anyway, with all the Jonas Brothers/Hannah Montana/Zac Efron/Twilight brouhaha saturating the media these days, I was in the mood for some cheesy teen drama goodness. I was browsing Netflix, stumbled across Popular, and was like, "Jackpot!" I might even watch an episode tonight, because now that Top Chef isn't on anymore, and I'm not really into this season of America's Next Top Model (either that show is going downhill or I'm just over it... I haven't decided yet), Wednesday night TV blows!

Hey, guess what I did today at work? Well, I worked, but also, I went to an on-campus karate seminar! My company apparently offers karate lessons to employees... five years in this company, and I never knew that! It's a traditional Korean karate called Tang Soo Do. It was pretty cool! I got to punch and kick things at work! One of my colleagues (who takes lessons there and has her orange belt) broke a board!!! It was awesome!!! I don't see myself signing up and taking lessons, but it was a lot of fun! Plus it's important to know a few quick self-defense moves... especially for women. The world can be a dangerous place and you can never be too prepared or too safe!

And on the way out of the seminar, I saw my roommate! We work at the same company but in totally different departments and buildings... we don't even work on the same campus. So I never see her at work, ever, so that was a nice surprise!

I'm off to make some grub for dinner! ;-) I'll post later (or maybe tomorrow morning, depending on how the evening plays out) and let you know which VitaTreat I ran with!!! Let me know if you have a suggestion! :-)

Raise your hand if you want free Barney Butter!!!

2009-03-24T21:41:00.001-04:00

****RAISES BOTH HANDS IN THE AIR ENTHUSIASTICALLY LIKE AN OVEREAGER SCHOOLGIRL****

Courtney over at The Hungry Yogini is giving away free Barney Butter. You can enter the contest at her blog or by clicking here.

As always, I wish you all luck, but as always, I wish myself a little more. ;-D I'm sorry, but I've never tried Barney Butter- I have no idea where to find it around here and I can't bring myself to justify the cost of buying it online- and I really wanna get on the Barney Butter bus with all the other cool kids. :-( But it all comes down to the luck of the draw!!!!

"Party... Pizza Party!"

2009-03-24T18:52:00.005-04:00

Do you remember that jingle for this board game:

There was a pizza party for a different department in my building today (and so I wasn't invited... sniff), and for some random reason, that board game popped into my mind. Along with the jingle. Man, I LOVED this game! I haven't thought about it in years... gotta love those random thoughts!

What are some of your favorite board games from childhood? I was also a fan of this:

And this:

Kind of hard to see, but it's The Babysitters Club board game. I was so into The Babysitters Club, you don't even know. Or maybe you do... since every girl who grew up in the late 80s/early 90s loved them!!! I had most of the books, a nightgown, I remember they even had a TV show on HBO. I'm not ashamed to admit this, but I'd sit down and read them right now if I ever stumbled across one. Oh, come on... some of you would too, and I know it. ;-D It's fun to go back and relive a happy childhood memory every now and then! It keeps us young at heart. :-D

For my daily workout, I let this guy kick my ass today:

I did the Total Crunch: Total Resculpt workout on my Instant Netflix. Boy, will my arms hate me in the morning. They're kind of hating on me a little right now, as a matter of fact. But he was a hottie, so it was totally worth it. Why do I always fall for the ones who bring me such pain? Haha. I don't think I'm the only one crushing on Kendall here, seeing as the cast behind him was composed entirely of females.

You all watching Obama's news conference tonight? Should be interesting!!!

What Yoga and a relaxing weekend can do for a Monday...

2009-03-23T21:51:00.005-04:00

...it can kick its ass, that's what it can do!!! :-)

I had a great day at work today. It was busy, sure, but not overwhelmingly chaotic like it has been the past few days, and what rush projects did come in were at least manageable and not completely unreasonable (i.e., a request to turn around a 40-slide Powerpoint presentation in an hour), and so I took it in stride. I remained calm, cool, collected, and happy... I tell you, keeping a positive attitude and not letting little things or other people get to you really does wonders for your soul! I'm really going to try to maintain this positive energy and feeling of calm/tranquility as often daily as I can, and not let negativity/toxicity impact me so much. I know I won't achieve this goal every day. I am WAY too Irish for that. I'll be lucky if I achieve it tomorrow. Haha. But I really am going to try. I think that trying to stay calm and not overstress and overreact over everything is really a healthier and happier way to live your life, and after all, I do strive for that (as the name of my blog suggests). And you know what? Life really IS too short to get worked up over the little things. This is such an obvi statement, but by God, if I've learned anything over the past few weeks, it's that life truly is short. And I don't want to spend mine getting all worked up over things like work deadlines and working with difficult people.

Oh, and I slept like a rock last night. God bless Suzanne Deason and her P.M. Yoga, and the EO Essentials Company that produces the Stress Less Calming Room Spray. :-)

Now, onto book news! So I'm about halfway through the Natalie Wood autobiography so far. This is a very interesting read. And as I mentioned earlier, extraordinarily detailed. I'm having a hard time keeping track of all the people, because there's a bajillion Hollywood people- execs, actors, friends, acquaintances, etc. It's a little hard to keep up with who everyone is and who's saying what! But I'm liking it. Poor Natalie Wood... so far in the book, she's only eighteen years old, and she had a pretty tough life. Her mother was a narcisstic, pushy, relentless stage mother, who cared more about her child's career than her actual child or her well-being. In one part of the book, when she is a teenager, Natalie is brutally raped by another actor (the book declines to name the actor; I get the impression that Natalie never publicly named her attacker), and that her mother was actually happy about this, as the actor was apparently a well-known, established actor with important connections. What a sick and cruel monster, to express any emotion other than murderous hatred towards the person who brutally rapes your teenager daughter. This woman is beyond mentally ill. This is just one of the many sad, sad stories behind Natalie Wood's personal life, all while she had to act like a sunny, carefree teenager to keep up with her "public" persona. Although she does rebel quite a bit in her teenage years, gets a little reckless with the boys and the booze, etc. Who can blame her, really? Such a sad story... I certainly hope the second half of her life gets better. I'd hate to get to the end of this book and find out that she led a miserable, tortured life only to meet an early, unfortunate demise.

Let's move on to a more cheerful topic. Check out my dinner... look, ma, no sweet potato!

This was lovely. I opened up a can of black beans this weekend and wanted to use them up, so I put the rest of 'em in a pretty bowl, and added frozen precooked shrimp, Asian stir-fry veggies, extra broccoli for extra veggie love, chili pepper sauce, and some spices. Yum! Definitely will be a repeat dish! Speaking of black beans and veggies and other tasty morsels, did anyone watch Cristin's news segment on her blog today? She was on TV! She was great!

Oh, and speaking of awesome gals named Cristin (although this one's Kristin-with-a-K!), don't forget to hit up Kristin's blog for the chance to win a Quaker Simple Harvest gift bag. Good luck to you all, but I won't lie... I WANT THIS!!!! This is the third time I'll be entering this giveaway from someone's blog for this particular gift, and I never win. :-( Hopefully the third time's the charm! Pick me, Kristin! Pick me!!!!!!!!!!!

So is anyone reading Naturally Thin, by Bethenny Frankel? This is generating a lot of buzz, and I'm seeing it pop up on a few blogs. I've read a few excerpts and it doesn't sound there's anything groundbreaking in there that I don't already know, but I liked the excerpts and thought they were interesting and well-written, and wanted to know what people's thoughts on it were.

All right, time for this little clock to unwind and recharge her battery... have a good night! :-)

Mission accomplished!

2009-03-22T19:11:00.002-04:00

I had a fabulous weekend! So relaxing! It's just what I needed. I played it as low-key as possible... which I normally tend to do on the weekends (long story short- I used to be one of those people always hitting bars and parties, not really because I wanted to, but because other people wanted to and I wanted to please them... now that I'm out of that phase in my life, I'm finding that I'm actually a serious homebody who loves downtime... and as Cher from Clueless would say, "the clothes are a lot more comfortable!"), but it was just so emotionally relaxing/rejuvenating as well. I relaxed my mind, my body, my spirit, and (just a little bit!) my wallet. :-)

Saturday morning I was up and about getting my errands on. I started off with Kohls. I had two gift cards to Kohls and I had decided to use at least some of it towards something I've desperately needed for a long time now- new sneakers!!!! Mine were a total wreck! It took a while to find something, because everything that I liked and thought was reasonably priced was not in my size. Of course! But then I stumbled across these cuties!

Aren't they cute... they have little aqua jewels on them! That was pretty much the selling point for me. It is important to me to be cute at the gym. Haha! I haven't had a pair of Sketchers in forever, so I'm excited! I also browsed around for other shoes (I really need new shoes for work), but couldn't find anything I really liked, and didn't want to just buy for the sake of buying, you know? So I just got the sneakers. The gift cards aren't going anywhere, so I can always come back. I love gift cards. It's like free money!

I also went to TJ Maxx because I had a gift card there and I wanted to buy some coffee. They have really interesting, fun flavored coffees, so I pick up a few for work whenever we're running low. I bought two- Bavarian Chocolate and Vanilla Macadamia. Yum! I also found something kinda cool- it's called a "Stress Less Room Spray"- it's a spray bottle of pure essential oils of lavender and sweet orange, and it claims to "soothe your senses and your environment". We'll see, I guess! I'm always looking for ways to reduce my stress in any way I can. And it was only $4, but really nada, since I had a gift card! Exciting.

I also did my grocery shopping for the week, which excites me more than it probably should. Haha. I managed to not spend a lot and get some fun stuff! Here are some highlights:

*Gardenburger Black Bean Chipotle burgers (I've never seen this flavor in my supermarket before, so I was jazzed for this find)*

*Celestial Seasonings Almond Sunset Dessert Tea*

*Genisoy Cinnamon Streusel Soy Chips*

Has anyone tried any of these? These are all "new" to me!

Last night, I had a date with this hottie:

Ha. I ordered this off Netflix and watched it last night. It was funny, and entertaining. I'm glad I waited for it to come to DVD though, because it's not one I needed to rush out and see in theaters, you know? But definitely good for some laughs! Rainn Wilson always knows how to crack me up. :-) He's funny in everything I see him in, even just interviews!

Today has been a wonderfully relaxing day... I didn't really do too much of anything- I hit the gym for a light cardio workout on the stationary bike in the A.M., and then later this afternoon after lunch, I did a half hour yoga tape I have that is specifically geared towards helping you unwind, relax, and sleep better (not the fast-paced, get-your-heart-rate-going kind). It felt downright fabulous... I feel completely refreshed, rejuvenated, and relaxed. And sleepy! :-) Hopefully I can carry this feeling of calmness and inner peace into my work day tomorrow, and try not to get completely overwhelmed or stressed out, no matter what happens tomorrow. Hey, for all I know, the termites nibbled the building to the ground and I won't have to go to work at all tomorrow now! (Nah, they'd just make us move to a different building.)

And now I'm off to get stuff ready for work, make myself some dindin (on the menu tonight: whole wheat fusilli w/no-salt tomato sauce, TJ's turkey meatballs, and spinach... yum!), maybe do a little reading if I'm not too sleepy, and get my couch potato on. What do you all watch on Sunday night, if anything? I watch The Amazing Race, Cold Case, and Brothers and Sisters. Except it looks like tonight The Amazing Race and Cold Case will be on a little later than usual (thanks, college basketball!!!), which means now that Cold Case and Brothers and Sisters will overlap a little, so I'll have to do a little bit of channel-hopping... I tell ya, it's tough to be me sometimes!!! ;-)

Have a good rest-of-the-weekend.... make the most of what's left of it!!!

Drama-filled day

2009-03-20T21:58:00.003-04:00

Boy, am I glad this week is over!!!! If today wasn't Friday and I had to go to work tomorrow, I think I might possibly lose my mind. I needed a weekend so badly! This has been one of the most stressful weeks at work ever, for so many reasons- we're getting bombarded with work, certain people in the office are setting ridiculous deadlines for projects, and on top of everything else, both my boss's mother and an editor's mother passed away this week... in the past five weeks, ever since my dad died, FOUR of my colleagues have lost a parent. I'm not exaggerating. Two this week, one last week, and one the week before that (my dad was the first). It's really emotionally taxing and overwhelming... I'm still trying to cope with my dad's death, and I feel like every time I come to work, I'm finding out that someone's had a loved one pass away... so it's been a very emotionally and professionally trying time in the office. Plus, we're totally short-staffed due to all of the concurrent bereavement leaves. It's just been a really rough few weeks at work, and it doesn't look like there's much of an end in sight.

And if things weren't bad enough, guess what we had in the office today? TERMITES!!! Ewww!!! I'm not sure how, exactly, since we don't have wooden furniture, and I don't know too much about termites in general, but they were all over a manager's cubicle, all over the place! She was so freaked out. I certainly can't blame her... I would have gone home and taken ten showers if I were her! We were all icked out, and there were rumors going around that we'd get to leave early so they could bring in an exterminator to fumigate, we'd need to take all of our stuff home, the building would be shut down for two days... none of those turned out to be true, of course. You KNOW you're having a rough time at work when the idea of getting to leave early due to the possibility of termites infesting your building actually EXCITES you and it's something you actually HOPE for. But, alas, these were just rumors. I don't even think they're bringing in an exterminator. I don't know, but the manager is PISSED. Rightfully so! She had to work at another desk all day long and is not satisfied with how it was handled/resolved. Again, I can't say I blame her!!!! That is so icky!!!!

So today had a lotta drama. Termites, rush projects... it was crazy. Oh, and then I found out- at 2:30 P.M. on a Friday- that I'm going to be the only proofreader in the office on Monday... both of the other proofreaders have vacation days! We're getting slammed to capacity when they are here, and now, I'm going to be the only one there on Monday to handle everything. I actually heard one of the proofreaders- who is known for um, not exactly doing her fair share of the work, shall we say- tell another person, "Yeah, I really need a vacation day right about now!" I was floored. I'm thinking, "YOU need a vacation day!!! My dad just died, I do TWICE the work that you do every single day, I bust my ass while you take extra-long lunches and make personal phone calls and leave early and come in late and surf the Internet- and YOU need a vacation day? Where's MY effing VACATION DAY??????????"

ARGH!!!!!!!! That's it... I refuse to let this take up any more of my energy... it's MY weekend and MY free time and I'm going to make the most of it! I don't want to spend the whole weekend worrying about work, because that's a waste of downtime! I'm exhausted tonight because of everything that's been going on this week- I'm just mentally and physically drained. I definitely foresee an earlier-than-usual bedtime in my future tonight! I'll probably collapse into bed with my book and a fave comfort food of mine- popcorn (I've just discovered the Smart Balance Light Butter microwave popcorn, and I'm totally in love with it right now. Normally I buy the Smart n' Healthy brand, but I bought this by accident because the packages are nearly identical, and it's a thousand times better!), and relax. I need to relax and unwind in the worst way, and I can't think of a better way to do it.

HURRAY FOR THE WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)

Can we skip Thursday and just go straight to Friday??? :-(

2009-03-18T19:29:00.001-04:00

Can you tell by my post title that I might have had a bad day? LOL.

I had a really uber-stressful day at work today. We're getting super-slammed with tons of "rush" projects, and short-staffed at the moment because my boss is out of town for a few weeks due to an unexpected death in the family (it's her mother, who hasn't actually passed away as of yet, but she's pretty much on the verge of it, and it's just a matter of time at this point... so sad). And to make everything even more complicated, we've just switched our workflow over into a new system and there is a huge learning curve while we all try and figure out how to use it, and everyone's confused, and it's all just a crazy, complicated mess. Argh! Anyway, I'm trying to breathe and relax and take it for what it is and let it go and move on. Just because I had a bad day doesn't mean I have to have a bad evening! Wednesday can still be salvaged somewhat!

Plus, not EVERYTHING about today was totally miserable... there were a few happy moments throughout the day!

*It was absolutely gorgeous outside!!! 65 degrees! It was fabulous. I have been so jealous of the Floridian bloggers out there... you don't even know. I'd kill for some of that humidity they were talking about! I don't care what it does to my hair, haha. I needed to get away from my desk for a while, so I took a walk around the building, and didn't need my jacket!!! (Although I did wear my sweater and felt a little chilly... I get cold extremely easily!). The temp's supposed to drop a bit throughout the rest of the week, so it only made me appreciate today even more!

*I channeled my frustration into a nice little workout. Poor stationary bike doesn't know what hit it. :-D

*I'm planning on comfort food dinner tonight- salmon, sweet potato, broccoli. My original plan was to grill up some chicken, but eff that. I some omega-3 love to lower my blood pressure and calm me down!

*Speaking of comfort food, um, what's a girl's BFF (other than diamonds and shoes and Prada bags)??? CHOCOLATE!!! Check out what I treated myself to today!!!

In my mind, this is absolutely worth the price and the splurge. I mean, FREE SHIPPING??? On all of that???? ALL OF THAT YUMMY, DELICIOUS CHOCOLATE??? I can never find these around here. The only chocolate Vitaproduct I've seen and been able to buy are the Chocolate Vitamuffins. I've never had the joy and the excitement of enjoying any of the other flavors- the PB Chip, the Triple Chocolate, the Chocolate Fig... I seriously consider a purchase like this a "splurge" (hey, what can I say, I'm a tightwad with my moola). But honestly, I think it's worth it. I've debated buying these online through either the Vitalicious website or through amazon.com, and actually had been debating lately whether to treat myself to them via amazon (the Vitapeople charge too much for shipping in my humble opinion). I preordered a DVD scheduled to release and ship in mid-April (Season 2 of Knots Landing, an 80s' nighttime soap opera, shut up, I LOVE this show and have been waiting for the second season to come out for about two years now!), and since that qualifies me for the free super-saver shipping, I'd been debating adding some Vitamuffins to the deal, but when I saw this on Hungry Girl's website, combined with the day I had today, and the intense craving for chocolate and love and respect for Vitamuffins, I caved! This offer is still good until midnight tonight, so if you're a Vitalicious luvah and needing to restock, you should get on this! And don't worry, I didn't use my debit card to pay for this. :-)

So the day wasn't a total waste... and look what I have to look forward to now! An abundance of chocolate Vitalove, delivered right to my door. I am so excited for this! The only thing I ever get in the mail, other than bills, is Netflix DVDs. Now I have not one, but TWO fun packages to look forward to in the upcoming weeks!

See? So today could be salvaged after all! Just thinking about the chocolate Vitalove that's going to arrive my way has totally erased the suckfest that was today. Well, almost. ;-)

Okay, I'm off to make my dinner. I'm hungry. Stress certainly does work up an appetite, no?

Have a great night! Can't wait to catch up on your blogs! :-)

Luck of the Irish (or lack thereof)

2009-03-17T21:44:00.013-04:00

I've had quite a frustrating day today. Since I'm Irish (my dad was born in Dublin and everything!), and it's St. Patrick's Day, I should automatically be guaranteed a great day. Well, my day kind of sucked!

First, I had to get on the phone with my bank bright and early this morning when I got to work. The reason? Because I received a new debit card in the mail yesterday, with no explanation why, and the one I have now isn't set to expire for two more years. So I was a bit confused and gave them a call this morning. It turns out that they sent me a new one because Visa sent out a list of possible card numbers that might have been "compromised", and my account was one of them! THIS IS THE THIRD TIME THIS HAS HAPPENED TO ME IN LESS THAN TWO YEARS. I've received THREE new cards because of this. The first two times were because I made the tragic mistake (twice, 'cause I'm a slow learner, apparently) at TJ Maxx, and they went through that whole credit card fiasco. I've gone there since then, but have ALWAYS paid in cash, as I certainly have learned my lesson there. So I have absolutely no idea where this might have been an issue, since I tend to shop at the same stores, get gas at the same place, and NEVER pay with debit- I always do the "credit" transaction, because I'm paranoid about using my PIN in front of other people. Even when I withdraw money from the ATM, I stand extra-close to the machine so that no one can look. I'm very careful with my money; plus, I've seen The Michelle Brown Story one too many times on Lifetime. The only thing that I can possibly think of is that I had to use it as a debit card at a coffee shop last weekend because I had no cash on me and wasn't paying enough to qualify for the "credit" option, only "debit", and I had to give my PIN number, and I was really anxious about that and even said so to the person behind the register, who assured me that their credit machine was through PNC Bank and they'd never had an issue before. And then coincidentally, I get a brand-new debit card in the mail because my account number "might" have been compromised? That's a very big coincidence. And the bank told me that Visa doesn't give them a list of the stores due to privacy laws, and I was like, um, PRIVACY LAWS? Yes, let's protect the criminals! What about my rights? It's MY card, MY money! I should have the right to know!

I'm seriously concerned that this is the third time this has happened to me in two years!!! I even said so to the bank customer service rep, and she assured me that it's quite common these days, it happens to some people more often than that even, and it's happened to some of their own employees. So I guess I really can't fault the bank here- plus, they're being extra-cautious by giving me a new card. But STILL! I pay some of my bills automatically through my card, and so now I have to go through the hassle of activating this card, notifying/changing my bills so that they charge the new card. Still, I guess I shouldn't complain, because it's better to be safe than sorry, right? Still... grrr.

It was a busy day at work, but not overwhelming, and I had to leave early for a doctor's appointment. This turned into quite an event. So I was going to the OB-GYN for my yearly routine exam (don't worry, any guy readers... this as detailed as I get about this story. No need to shield your eyes or anything, LOL). So first I get there, and the receptionist informs me that they've switched to brand-new computers or a new computer system or something, and she needs my insurance card to manually enter all of my info again (why it didn't just transfer over to their new system, I don't know, but whatevs). Okay, no problem. So I go to get my card from my wallet... and it's not there. See, while they were busy switching computers, I was busy switching wallets a few weeks ago, because my old one broke and I happened to find a spare wallet in a random purse (don't you just love random purse finds? I do!!!), so I switched over my stuff, but I guess I forgot to put my insurance cards in there. D'oh! Luckily they still had their old computer system up and running for a few more days, so they were able to pull my info. So I thought, yay, crisis over. Well, no. I was about to sit down and read one of their magazines, when one of the nurse's assistants took a quick look at my chart, and saw that it hasn't been a full year since my last exam- I'm two weeks short of a full year- and my insurance won't cover my yearly exam unless it's been EXACTLY 365 days or more since my last exam. Mind you, my insurance company is the ONLY one that requires this... all other insurance companies just go per calendar year. No, not Aetna! Naturally, I have the company that is the exception to this rule. But I'm so glad she checked, because she told me that if I were to do self-pay, just one test alone would have cost $800! Good God! So we rescheduled me for a few weeks from now. Grrrr. Oh, well. At least I got out of work early, and it was a nice day out, and I got home in time to catch an episode of The Golden Girls... so I guess it could have been worse! Except now I have to go back, and I kind of have to psych myself up for the yearly exam, because as all the ladies know, it's not the most comfortable examination! (Okay, possible guy readers, the story ends here... promise!)

Okay, enough ranting and raving. How was everybody's St. Patty's Day? Did everyone show their Irish love and wear the green? I rocked a green shirt and shamrock toe socks, and I'm happy to say that I got to wear my Irish pin all day long, because while I thought it said, Kiss Me, I'm Irish, what it actually said was Luck of the Irish. So I got to wear it to my staff meeting. Everyone was wearing green and tacky Irish stuff. It was wonderful.

I have no plans to go out drinking tonight. It's a Tuesday, and I'm too old to even contemplate going out on a Tuesday night, let alone get drunk on one when I have to work the next day. I am a very responsible grown-up. Plus- and please don't tell anyone or they'll kick me out of the club- I hate beer. Yes, I'm Irish, and I hate beer. I've always hated beer. I've always been a hard-liquor lady myself. Rum and vodka are totally more up my alley. Beer... ick! Ironically, I used to date a guy who was obsessed with beer and microbreweries, and would drag me to them all the time (not fun for a non-beer drinker), and even tried to brew his own beer a few times... one of oh-so-many reasons why that relationship was not the greatest.

And now on to food talk! I have fun and exciting food news, and pics, as promised!

First, a new baked potato combo from last week that never quite made it to the blog: This tasted better than it looked, I swear! I combined fat-free ricotta cheese and spinach and put it on top of a sweet potato. I'd never thought to pair ricotta cheese with a sweet potato, but I read about it on Mark and Heather's blog, and I was intrigued. I thought it was tasty, but I think I need to tweak the ricotta/spinach ratio and play with some spices some more before I can call it a true success. It certainly was tasty, though, and packed a lot of protein! :-)

There were some other potato dinners as well (what can I say, they're easy and my favorite!), but mostly involving a veggie burger and a vegetable and a salsa or hummus for dipping love. Nothing too exciting!

I did reunite with a former lover this past weekend:

Hello, luvah. My beloved and adored Peanut Butter Puffins are back in my life! And did you know, combined with Kashi Honey Sunshine cereal and a yummy ripe banana, they are even tastier? I never even thought to combine different cereals in the same bowl until I started reading food blogs, and now that I've tried it, I can't imagine going back to just eating one cereal at a time! I did try to eat a bowl of PB Puffins on their own one day just to see, and sure enough, it just wasn't the same. I'm a multicereal girl going forward! :-)

I embraced my Irish roots for dinner tonight with a healthy traditional Irish feast:

Salmon, sweet potato, carrots, broccoli with Smart Balance buttah spray... and horseradish mustard for dipping pleasure and fun. This was perfect, and just what I needed after a rough St. Patty's Day. I LOVE this dinner. This is my perfect comfort food dinner.

I have nothing minty in my apartment, so no fun chocolate mint dessert for me tonight. But I think I can make do with a Deep Chocolate Vitamuffin with fat-free whipped topping... yeah, that'll suffice. :-) And then I'll brush my teeth afterwards to get that minty taste. That'll work.

Part of the reason that today is a little rough on me is because of my dad, who was a true-blue Irishman, and damn proud of it. I was fine all day, a little sad but not broken up or anything, and then I got to watching The Biggest Loser, and when Aubrey confronted her dad about his health and his weight, she said, "I want my dad back," and I just burst into tears when I thought, Yeah, I want my dad back too. And I started crying pretty hard for a good ten minutes... I've gotten it out of my system, and am feeling much better- I'm still sad and feeling down, but not crying anymore. I do miss my dad. Very much. I remember that at my middle school, every St. Patrick's Day, my school would have class parties with lots of treats like cupcakes and cookies (this was before we all really got on the health bandwagon, the mid-'90s), and they would bring in those Shamrock Shakes from McDonalds (they still have those, right? They're so popular, I can't imagine they'd take them away), and one year, I was home sick on St. Patty's Day with strep- the one sickness where you'd desperately want a milkshake to soothe your throat, right?- and couldn't get my shake. I was upset about missing the class party, and feeling pretty miserable from the strep and antibiotics in general, so I was not a happy camper. My dad went out to the nearest McDonalds and tried to get me a Shamrock Shake to make me feel better. They were all sold out, but he came back with one anyway- vanilla (which definitely would have been my next choice- ah, he knew me well!). I was just thinking about that, and how I'll probably remember lots of little things that he did for me throughout the years that probably have slipped my mind as time goes by. I hope that in my adolescent brattiness and crankiness from being sick that I remembered to thank him. And just in case I forgot: Thank you, Dad. Thank you for that and for all the little things you did throughout the years. I might not have told you each and every time, and if I didn't, I'm sorry, but I appreciated it, and I appreciate everything that you did for me, and I miss you, and I love you. Not just today, but every day.

I hope you all had fun and safe St. Patty's Day, however you chose to celebrate. I leave you with a picture of my "Irish" corner, which is currently kind of a tribute to my dad (my dad and I went to visit Seattle a few years ago for my uncle's wedding and had a wonderful father-daughter bonding experience, hence the Seattle pic):

The life and times of a Hollywood icon

2009-03-16T23:03:00.006-04:00

Hello people! How goes it? Did everyone have a fun weekend and a decent Monday? I hope so! It was a cloudy one here in my neck of the woods today, but I don't mind because it was very mild and comfortable, temperature-wise... dare I venture to say it, but I think that we've seen the worst of the cold weather here and are getting ready for some springtime love! Of course, now that I've said that, I'm sure we'll get hit with a random, unexpected snowstorm, LOL.

So guess what? I finished Angels last night! I thought it was great- light and fun, the way a chick lit book should be, but also dove into real stuff too- troubled relationships, abortions, self-actualization and self-realization, etc. It wasn't all just breezy chick fluff all the time. Which is good, because too much of that can be annoying because it's too far-fetched, you know? Real life isn't all sunshine and kittens and rainbows and Manolos and lifestyles of the rich and famous, like some over-the-top chick lit can be. This was light enough to be chick lit, but dark enough for a little bit of reflection. A good solid combo!

My favorite parts of the book:

*I learned a fun new vocabulary word- meretricious. It has two meanings- being falsely attractive, and of or relating to a prostitute. In either instance, how fun is that word? Try using it in a sentence tomorrow (just kidding, just kidding, unless you're looking to throw an insult someone's way- then totally use it, haha!)

*I loved the main character's, Maggie's, synopsis of the reality of going to get your hair cut- "Bloody hairdressers. It always looks great when you leave the salon. (Well, it doesn't, but let's not get into the times when we've been fighting back tears even while we've been shoving them a tip. I'm talking about the rare occasions when we're actually happy with what they've done.) Everything is dandy until the first time we wash it, and for love or money we cannot recreate that just-out-of-the-salon look. Despite all the hype, there is one way and one way only to create that just-out-of-a-salon look, and that's when you're just out of a salon." I think every woman has felt this way at one point or another, wouldn't you agree, ladies? ;-)

*I also loved Maggie's philosophy about shopping: "But, as we all know, the first law of shopping says that when you're urgently looking for something specific, you've no hope of finding it." Too true!!!! As is her personal view on the beauty of generic department stores (JCPenney, Kohl's, Boscov's, take your pick): "I know it's bourgeois, but I love department stores- so much better than those funky little boutiques where you've got to ring a bell to get in. The type where they have only eleven items of stock, which you can survey and dismiss in 2.7 seconds but have to spend fifteen minutes going, 'Mmmm, lovely' in order not to seem rude in front of the assistant who is never less than ten inches from you- and explaining how the silk was handspun in Nepal, cold-dyed in natural plant colors, etc. What I love about department stores is that it's operation free flow. Apart from an occasional woman jumping out and offering to spray you with perfume, no one bothers you." I totally laughed out loud at this... I laughed out loud while reading this several times, actually!

*The family matriarch is referred to, sarcastically yet appropriately, as the "mickriarch". Irish pride right here!!!! As a certified Irish Eyes myself, I loved this phrase. Happy almost St. Patrick's Day!!!! Don't forget to sport your green tomorrow!!!! I plan on wearing fun Irish shamrock socks to work, and, if I can get away with it, my "Kiss Me I'm Irish" button, although I'll have to remember to take it off before my staff meeting, or that might be slightly awkward.

Overall, I found this book really cute and endearing, with just the right balance of reality and silliness. Two very happy thumbs up from this chick. :-)

Which brings me to my next book... we're staying in L.A., but on a more serious note... now we're plunging into the sad "E!True Hollywood story" of a movie star legend...

**(Like my "I Love to Read" bookmark? Brought to you by the exciting land known as Dollar Tree)**

Natasha: The Biography of Natalie Wood, by Suzanne Finstad. I bought this a few years ago for $1. I really don't know much about Natalie Wood, only that she was in West Side Story and that she drowned mysteriously in a boating accident in 1981 (and, ironically, had a phobia of water... her mother instilled this fear in her, apparently, because when her mother was young, a psychic told her that she would drown, and she passed that fear on to her daughter). I know that she is considered a Hollywood icon and one of the most beautiful and talented film actresses of all-time, but that's about it. Oh, and that she was married to Robert Wagner. And I've been reading a lot of fiction lately, so I could get on board with a nice biography right about now.

I started this on my lunch break today. My thoughts so far? This will not be a light, fast read. This is a very detailed, factual history. How I know this? Because I read fifteen pages in the duration of an hour. Normally I can read a lot more pages than that over the course of an hour! But it's a GOOD read. It's a slower read because it's very heavily chronicled, not because it's bad or boring, you know? On the contrary, actually... those fifteen pages had a LOT of info packed into them! I think I'm going to really like it, and by God if I don't have a very astute knowledge of the life and times of Natalie Wood after reading this- but I just don't think it's one of those books I'm going to fly through in a few days. Hey, but that's okay! A good book is a good book, whether it takes you two days or two months to finish! One of my favorite books of all-time is an extremely detailed, vivid biography of the family that founded The New York Times- it's almost a thousand pages long and took me a few months to get through, but it was totally worth it!!! :-)

Oooh, I also have fun and exciting food updates to share with the group... but I'll have to keep you waiting until tomorrow. It's almost 11 PM, and I'm off to unload the dishwasher and get my pretty little self ready for a trip to Slumbertown... have a good night and a terrific Tuesday! :-)

Pizza + chocolate= happy

2009-03-14T23:21:00.001-04:00

Good evening, fine people! How goes it? Are you all having lovely weekends? Mine's okay. Could be better, could be worse. But I guess you have to take the good with the bad. And nothing really "bad" happened, exactly, just having one of those "blah" days... know what I mean, jellybeans? ;-) Plus, I'm exhausted. I hope I sleep like a baby tonight! I might even try to go to bed a little earlier than usual. I have this weird habit of staying up really late on the weekends sometimes, not really because I want to or because I'm not that tired, but it's more like, well, it's the weekend, so I have to stay up late, because I don't have to work tomorrow, so I can. That's a pretty stupid philosophy, don't you think? LOL. I'm trying to break myself of that. If I'm tired, I should go to bed- whether it's at 10 p.m. or 1 a.m.!

Besides, how could my day be all THAT terrible when I came across those fabulous finds throughout the day:

I treated myself to some fun treats! The new Kashi Sicilian Veggie Pizza, and Deep Chocolate Vitamuffins! Yay! I had to take a special trip to a different supermarket that I usually don't frequent, but my usual supermarket doesn't carry these, so a special trip was required. Ah, but so worth it! :-)

I also stopped at TJs to grab a few items and came home with another new chocolatey treat:

I've seen these before, but never tried them. I had a massive chocolate craving earlier in the week and had no chocolate in the apartment... not good. Well, between the cookies and the muffins, I'm set for awhile! :-)

I tried out the pizza for dinner tonight!

That's one serving (1/3 of the pizza). I also had steamed broccoli and carrots alongside it, but I guess I forgot to take a pic! You all know what broccoli and carrots look like, though, haha. This was pretty good! I don't know if I'd go out of my way to get it again- it was tasty, but not super-filling- but a nice treat! I ate this while watching a movie I got from Netflix, The House Bunny, which I thought was cute. It reminded me of Legally Blonde, with a little more T&A though, haha.

All right, time to grab a snack and cozy up in bed with my book, which I'm totally loving!!! I'll post a more thorough review/opinion tomorrow.

Just checking in!

2009-03-12T23:06:00.001-04:00

Just popping in to say hello, and hope you all had a good Thursday! Mine was pretty typical... hence the lack of a post... I really don't have much to say! I've spent my evening doing yoga, watching The Office and 30 Rock, and catching up on my favorite blogs (still trying to do that, actually!). Now it's time to try and get some shuteye! I swear, the evenings just go by way too quickly. If only the work day would fly by and the evenings would go slowly... that just seems more fair and balanced.

Friday's almost here!!!!! Hurray! :-)

Calling all angels...

2009-03-11T19:39:00.004-04:00

I've had that song in my mind off and on throughout the day... you'll see why in a minute! :-)

Hey everybody! How's it going? Happy Hump Day! I went a little MIA last night for two reasons: 1) I was thisclose to finishing Autobiography of a Fat Bride (which is super-easy to get through quickly, because it's not a "book" so much as it is a collection of short little essays, that are only about three-four pages long each); and 2) Honestly, I was just having a BAD "mental health" day... you know what I mean? Just one of those days that starts out horribly wrong and continues on downward from there. It all started because I had a really vivid, scary nightmare on Tuesday night. The kind that wakes you up sweating and crying. I seriously don't remember the last time I had such a terrifying nightmare... we're talking years here. I'll have weird/odd/random dreams, but not bad ones, you know (For example, a few nights ago I dreamt that Howie Mandel- of all people!-was hitting on me and invited me back to this place, and I went, but then I found out that he was married, and said forget it and left!!! How random is that???? LOL!!!)? Plus, the nightmare was about my dad. It's the first bad dream that I've had about Dad since he died. I've dreamt about him, but they weren't bad dreams at all... they were nice, comforting ones, because he was alive. My sister said that she was having some nightmares for the first few nights after he died, but I found the exact opposite to be true for me- I slept pretty well and pretty soundly, and I'm normally a very light, not-so-peaceful sleeper. I think I was welcoming sleep at that point, because, like I said, the dreams I was having were pleasant ones. It was waking up from them and coming to the realization that Dad had died that was upsetting. I still remember the dream very vividly, but would rather not get into the details. I have no idea what was going on in my subconscious state to invoke a dream like that... maybe because the one-month anniversary of my dad's death is this week (tomorrow, in fact)? I don't know. And even though I was exhausted all day yesterday and was happy to collapse into bed, I tossed and turned for an hour before I actually got to sleep. So the lack of sleep has caught up with me, and I spent most of today with a severe headache. I even briefly debated calling out of work so I could try and get some rest, but didn't want to use up a sick day for a headache, so I went in. I'm really glad I did, actually- not only was it quiet in the office today, but a coworker introduced me to the happy pill known as Excedrin Migraine. I have a feeling we are going to be friends. :-)

But enough depressing chatter. The day is over, I'm freshly showered and looking forward to a nice dinner and some Top Model love (although I'm not feeling this season so far), and hopefully a good night's sleep.

So yes, I did finish the book! And yes, I liked it very much! You know a book is good when you find yourself laughing out loud (or if it's a well-written sad book, crying). Laurie Notaro's writing style reminds me exactly of David and Amy Sedaris- the short-essay style writing, the dripping of sarcasm, finding humor in the most random things, like Christmas lights, toy stores, taxes, grocery shopping with your grandmother, etc. It was a very fast, very entertaining, and very good read! I'm looking forward to reading more of her stuff in the future! I love when I find a new author to worship! :-)

Which brings me to my next book, which is also a gem:

So now you get the song reference in the post title, LOL. Angels, by Marian Keyes. For those unfamiliar, Marian Keyes writes Irish chick lit. Everything of hers I've read so far, I've loved (although admittedly, I've only read two of her books- Last Chance Saloon and Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married, which is one of my all-time faves! If you like girly chick lit and haven't read the latter, you must go to the library and get it now!). Angels is about a woman who finds out that her husband had an affair, and she gets fired from her job shortly thereafter, so to blow off steam and decompress, she goes to visit her BFF Emily in Los Angeles. Oh, the adventures she will have in Plastic Land! :-) I'm actually already about 90 pages into it, and I just started it today! Hey, what can I say, chick lit isn't heavy reading, so it's pretty easy to fly through! Plus, it's a mass market paperback, so the pages are smaller! :-) So far, it's some good chick lit! I'm at the part where she just got to L.A. and has only been there a day or so. The cool thing about this book is that the main character, Maggie Walsh, comes from a family of five sisters (I think she is the middle one), and Marian Keyes has actually written a book for each of the five sisters. Well, at least four of them- Angels, Watermelon, Rachel's Holiday, and Anybody Out There? I don't know if she's working on a fifth novel for the fifth sister, or she's just not going to get one, LOL. But she's a spitfire character (she still lives at home and drifts aimlessly from career to career, never finding one that fits her, um, temperament, so she's a little bit of a flake, haha), and it would be pretty cruel to write about each sister separately but not give her her own book, so I'd imagine she just hasn't written it yet. Maybe she was her parents' least favorite. :-)

Other than reading and not sleeping well, I haven't been up to much! Now it's time to get dinner started (sweet potatoes, Boca mushroom veggie burgers, and steamed broccoli don't microwave themselves yet, sadly), and get my TV fix (crappy TV shows don't watch themselves!). And I'm a bit behind on the lives and times of my blog buddies, so I'll be up to a bit of that as well!

Au revoir for now!

Not-so-manic Monday

2009-03-09T19:28:00.011-04:00

Well, I'm happy to say that it was all quiet on the western front at work today. I worked on a presentation and a biography. And that was it! No frantic rush projects, crises or emergencies or drama, etc. It was lovely. :-) I hope yours was lovely as well!

I got started on Autobiography of a Fat Bride today on my work lunch break- I was way too tired and there was way too much good TV on last night to give my new book any real attention. I'm really liking it! I was definitely chuckling out loud at some parts. Laurie Notaro totally reminds me of David Sedaris, only I find her more relatable personally, since we're both women, and she's brought up some nice female perspective on the murkiness that is known as men. Here are some of her thoughts on the male species and boyfriends in general:

"Bad boyfriends don't disguise themselves; their girlfriends do it for them. I was guilty of that. A bad boyfriend will stay as such, and rarely, rarely, will a good boyfriend wake up one day and defect to the evil forces. By the same token, a bad boyfriend will never, ever wake up one day and become a good one. You've got a better chance of finding a dead rat in a soda can and becoming a millionaire in the settlement afterward. A bad boyfriend will not change, because, simply, there's no shame in it for him."

She and I must have been dating the same guys. :-)

On the flip side, I did take a bit of offense when she referred to being left-handed as being a "social cripple"- I'm a lefty and damn proud of it! I feel sorry for right-handed people. They're so ordinary. They're conformists. LOL, just kidding- I got nothin' but love for the right-handed folk. And okay, fine, I'm a bit socially awkward (I prefer to call it "quirky" or "eccentric", but whatevs), but I don't attribute that to the hand that I write with. But she's going for humor. I'm sure she really doesn't think that. :-) Any lefties out there? How 'bout righties?

ALSO, I have found grammatical errors. As a professional bounty hunter of misplaced commas and bad breaks in sentences, I get so annoyed by this. I understand the average person making really common grammatical mistakes- we can't all be grammatical goddesses. And the English language and all of its rules is extremely difficult to master, whether it's your native language or not, it's all the little grammatical tidbits that get us all. That's why we have eagle-eye people like proofreaders policing the written word to help us out (which thrills me to no end, as it keeps me happily and steadily employed!). But in my opinion, there's simply no excuse for a book to go through a professional publishing house and walk out with some errors. I can understand missing one or two. God knows I've missed stuff in proofreading and editing. Some blatantly obvious and some not so much. But publishing editors and proofreaders are at the top level- like an honors student or a renowned brain surgeon- and they should know which version of "who" to use in a sentence!!! (who's vs. whose, in the particular instance I stumbled across today). I also saw some big-ass spacing errors, but those don't bother me as much. Those are annoying, but there could be a few reasons for that- trouble at the printers, whatever. There's no excuse for missing blatantly incorrect grammatical errors! How would you like it if your doctor got confused on if it was his left or your left, and amputated the wrong foot? Okay, that's a tad overdramatic. But I think you get what I'm saying here. Obviously I need to go school some proofreaders and editors over at Villard Press!

But uppity grievances from a type-A personality sarcastic proofreader doesn't take away from the fact that this is a great, light read. I'm glad I've been introduced to this author, finally! My friend Karen enjoys her, and my sister actually read this same book recently, and she really loved it. I have another book of Laurie Notaro's on my to-read shelf- We Thought You Would Be Prettier. Hey, maybe it'll be my next pick! You never know with the luck of the draw!

Oooh, time to get dinner up and running (sweet potato combo tonight- if you're surprised by this, then you clearly don't read my blog on a daily basis, haha- tonight's SP is being paired with a Boca Mushroom Mozzarella patty and steamed carrots and broccoli, red pepper hummus on the side), and then get my Monday night shows up and running. What do you all watch on Monday nights, if anything? I'm a fan of The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother. Sometimes HIMYM annoys me a little- Ted's character kind of gets on my nerves- but I LOVE Barney. Neil Patrick Harris is so funny, and grew up to be such a cutie! (Note to self: Add Doogie Howser, M.D. to Netflix queue!)

I'm out like a light- goodnight! :-)

Weekends go too fast!!!

2009-03-08T19:25:00.005-04:00

No fair!!!! :-(

Hi! Long time no chat! :-) How were all of your weekends? Mine was great! It's nice to have a fun, relaxing weekend, especially coming off a hellish work week like I did! (FYI: Friday sucked only slightly less than Thursday did at work.) And the weather was gorgeous on Saturday- almost seventy degrees!!! So you know I was a happy girl. I did not have to wear a jacket outside (and I've been bundling up since mid-October), and I sat on my balcony and read for a little while!!!! That's one of my favorite things to do in the summer- just chill on my balcony with a good book. It was bliss. :-) It was a little cooler and cloudy today, but it's all good. Hopefully winter is on its way out the door, because I'm ready to move on. I've been ready since it got here!

I tore through Perfect Match. If you've ever read one of Jodi Picoult's books, you know that they're impossible to put down once you get going. Seriously. Start one of her books, put it down, and try to walk away from it. I guarantee you'll be drawn back to it like a magnet to the refrigerator door. :-) I thought it was awesome. I wouldn't move it to my all-time favorite of hers (which so far is My Sister's Keeper), but I thoroughly enjoyed it. And yes, in typical Picoult fashion, there were unexpected turns and twists along the road. Excellent book! :-)

I also did my usual weekend grocery outing today, and treated myself to some goodies. First of all, Barbara's Puffins cereal was on sale, 2/$5. Peanut Butter Puffins on sale is like Jodi Picoult's books- not something you walk away from. So I hopped all over that. I haven't had PB Puffins in forever and it's about time we got reacquainted. I also bought some Annie's Organic Shells and Cheese, because I've been seeing all over blogtown lately, and I'm jealous. As a kid, my all-time favorite food was Velveeta Shells and Cheese, and while I didn't care for Annie's Shells and White Cheddar, I'm attributing that more towards the facts that I: a) don't really care for white cheddar sauces- in fact, I don't know why I bought it, I guess I was feeling adventurous that day; and b) I used skim milk for the cheese sauce as opposed to lowfat milk or nonfat yogurt, which made the sauce runny and not as tasteful. I'm guessing if I use a thicker base, I will get a thicker sauce. Not exactly rocket science there. :-)

So guess what I watched this weekend, courtesy of Netflix... the first disc of Season One of My Two Dads! LOL! Does anyone remember that show??? This might jog your memory:

Haha. I had SUCH a crush on Joey (Greg Evigan). Even now, even in that shirt, I still think he's kinda cute!

I loved this show as a kid and when I read it was coming out on DVD, it piqued my interest. So I got the first disc of season one earlier this week and watched it over the weekend. You know how I was talking about how some TV shows from the 70s and 80s withstand the test of time, in terms of laughs, enjoyment, etc.? This one- not so much. Oh well. It'll save me from watching the rest of the season!

The only truly exciting meal I've had this weekend was this fun combination of things I had sitting in the freezer:

I defrosted some of my yummy Kashi 7-Grain Pilaf and threw it together with steamed broccoli and two TJ's turkey meatballs cut into pieces. Yum, yum, yum. I also had some chili pepper and horseradish mustard hanging out on the side, because I wasn't sure which one I wanted, so to err on the side of caution, I decided to have the best of both worlds. This was really tasty!

Now, onto the books. I haven't started my new book yet, but I did randomly pick a new one before I set out for the gym. I present you with my latest read:

Autobiography of a Fat Bride: True Tales of a Pretend Adulthood, by Laurie Notaro. I have a few of her books, but this is the first one I'm reading. It's not so much a novel as it is a compilation of short personal essays/musings, kind of like David Sedaris does. According to the back of the book, some of the topics she delves into include overpreparing for a mandatory drug-screening urine test for her job, auditioning to be a Playboy centerfold as research for a newspaper story, panicking the night before her wedding because she can't remember if her religion is the one that steps on the glass (which, BTW, is Judaism, if you weren't sure), etc. Sounds like it'll be a good laugh! I'm all about dry and witty sarcasm, so I'm looking forward to starting this tonight!

And check out the cute book I picked up at the library this weekend for only fifty cents!!!!

Retail Therapy: Lessons Learned While Shopping, by Amanda Ford. Admittedly, I'm not a big shopper (shopping actually stresses me out!), but this looked so cute and funny that I couldn't not slap down two quarters for it. Plus, I just loved the Shopaholic series, so while I'm not a shopaholic, I enjoy reading about the addiction, haha. It's about a woman who's a self-confessed shopaholic, because she likes to buy stuff (duh), but she also shows how shopping allows people to uncover deeper truths about their lives and who they really are- life lessons, quotes, discovering passions and decisions, etc. It's like an inspirational book about shopping, haha.

Okay, I'm calling it a night. It's time for dinner and some quality bonding time with the television (The Amazing Race, Cold Case, and Brothers and Sisters... any other fans of these shows out there? All three are new eps tonight! Hip, hip, hooray!)

Hope you all had wonderful weekends and that you have relatively smooth Mondays. I'm a little apprehensive to go to work tomorrow, because last week was a very unpleasant week... oh well, it happens to all of us, and tomorrow's a new day to a new week! :-)

Hasta la vista, babies! :-)

Ending a bad day on a good note

2009-03-05T21:37:00.001-05:00

As promised, here's my new book pick, which I'm way excited for!

Jodi Picoult is one of my favorite authors in the world, so I was really happy to pick this from the box! This particular novel is called Perfect Match- a hardcover in beautiful condition that I picked up years ago, I don't even remember from where, but I'm guessing a used book sale, as that's where most of my book purchases are from!!! Any Jodi Picoult fans out there? Has anyone read this particular book? For those who aren't familiar with this author, Jodi Picoult writes some serious fiction. Usually not light reading. Some of the topics she's delved into include a high school shooting, a teenage suicide pact, an Amish teen accused of killing her newborn baby but she has no recollection of it, a teen suing her family for emancipation because she no longer wants to be a bone marrow donor for her sister, etc. And there is always a fabulous twist at the end that you never see coming- that's what makes her books absolutely out of this world!

So Perfect Match is about an assistant district attorney whose five-year-old son is sexually abused, and as a result of the incident, has not spoken a single word since it occurred, yet eventually someone is accused of the crime, and the mother (the DA) shoots him in the courtroom, and I'm assuming kills him, and so I'm assuming will go on trial for that. So it won't be a breezy fun read, but I know it's going to most likely be an excellent read. And after coming off the crap book that was Sweet and Low, I could desperately use a great book, sad as the subject might be! Looking forward to diving into this later on tonight and over the weekend! :-)

So tonight's dinner rocked my world:

This is a sweet potato chopped into cubes, leftover grilled chicken, and spinach! With roasted red pepper on the side for dipping (I took pics but none of them came out very well). I always pair a sweet potato with carrots or broccoli, but I never thought to try it with spinach. But I saw my roommate add spinach to her baked potato last night and I was flat-out intrigued. And it was awesome!!!! My roommate has this great ability to throw together the most random foods, and they always look (and smell) so great! Those are the best meals- the ones that are just thrown together randomly! Recipes... pshah! :-D

Off to watch some TV and curl up in bed with my new fun book now!!! I'm so glad that today's almost over! I hope tomorrow is much better! :-) Goodnight to all, and to all a good night!!! :-)

Day from H-E-L-L

2009-03-05T19:38:00.001-05:00

Wow... my day could not have sucked anymore if it tried. I had a horrible work day. We were already short-staffed- (my boss got called away out of town for an indefinite period of time, due to an unexpected family emergency, everybody keep her and her family in your thoughts, please!), both of our editors were out today because one only works part-time and the other was out sick today- so of course everyone and their mother sent "rush requests" to us today. I did NINE rush jobs today, worked through lunch (I HATE when I have to do that!!!), and here's the kicker- the last "rush" job I worked on today (the one I worked on through lunch, actually) was submitted by a woman who tends to submit lots of "rush" requests, only to cancel them later or tell us to hold off- like the boy who cried wolf, you know? So she rushes a 47-page presentation to our copy desk, and we're already short-staffed and filled to capacity, but still, we dropped everything we had, all of us, to split it up and work on it- and I had just finished my section when she e-mails us and tells us to hold off, because it hadn't been through design/layout yet (the process is for something to go through design before proofreading... proofreading is the final stage of the project process, and seeing as this woman has been at her job for several years now, she is well-aware of this). Our Copy Desk was L-I-V-I-D. THEN, she has the audacity to call me- ME, of all the proofreaders, since I had been the only one who had submitted my section to her- and tried to LAUGH it off! Believe me, between the four people at the Copy Desk today- one is a sweet Southern woman, one is a very patient and kind woman, and one is the mother of young children so she's good at keeping her cool- calling the feisty, childless, very sarcastic, and VERY Irish-tempered proofreader was a bad decision on her part. Luckily my sarcasm won the better of me, and I was overly sweet, so sacchariny to the point where she KNEW we were pissed off. Since my supervisor is out, we clued in her boss, a line manager, who is PISSED, and intends to let this woman's supervisor in on all this.

At least it fueled a very intense cardio workout at the gym today. I got a lot of aggression out. Not all of it though, clearly, as I am still annoyed! BUT, I'm trying to let it go because it's already consumed WAY too much of my energy today, and I have new episodes of The Office and 30 Rock to look forward to tonight! Hurray!!!

Speaking of saccharin, I skimmed the rest of Sweet and Low at the gym tonight. Yeah, it never got better. And that "family drama"? Well, I never did figure out what it really was other than some iffy business and medical decisions and a contested will. Puh-lease. You want REAL family drama? Come hang with my dysfunctional fam for a week! This book was awful! It's totally getting donated to Goodwill. I paid a dollar for it, and I feel like I paid too much!

On a much lighter note, I'm EXTREMELY happy with my new book pick, which I will post later tonight, along with a pic of the dinner that I'm about to make and excited to try! It's another baked potato concoction, natch, but a NEW concoction that I'm really looking forward to! So stay tuned because that's comin' later on tonight! :-)

Neither sweet nor low

2009-03-04T21:38:00.001-05:00

So I'm about halfway through Sweet and Low already. So quickly, you ask? Well, that's because I'm doing some serious skimming. Yeah... this book is boring. I'm about halfway into it, and I have yet to read about any significant drama. Hell, I had more drama at work today than this family's had so far in this book.

And the author certainly likes to give history lessons, that's for sure. He's providing a lot of detail about the history of Brooklyn, the Navy Yard, sugar, saccharin, Jewish-European history, the history of dieting, etc. It's interesting for, like, a paragraph or two. But dedicating six or seven pages of a 272-page book to the history of sugar and its origin? I don't think that's necessary. I believe some book critics refer to this as "book filler". In this case, I certainly agree.

At this point, I'm really only skimming through the book to see if I get any of this much-promised family drama. I expect to have it finished by tomorrow, really. Good thing I only paid a buck for this book, huh? ;-D

Other than that, not much is going on in my world. Work's been busy because we're short-staffed this week, and everyone's still scrambling to catch up from Monday (there were, like, four people in the office). So I've been a busy bee. And yet, the week seems to be going slowly.

Right now I'm flipping back and forth between the Top Chef reunion special (I'm still bitter about how everything went down last week... I really hope Carla wins Fan Fave to make up for it!) and America's Next Top Model. Every season, I vow to stop watching ANTM, and almost every season, I usually cave and watch it. But I thought last season sucked. And I'm not really feeling this season either so far. I'll probably end up watching for no other reason than there's nothing else really on on Wednesday nights, and even then, The New Adventures of Old Christine will probably win out over this. I feel like this show is getting old. Or maybe I'm growing out of it. No, that can't be it- I still watch a lot of crappy TV. :-D

In food-related news, I'm totally singing Mademoiselle Jaime's praises this week:

I watched her video on how to roll a wrap, and I'm proud to report that I made two wraps for dinner this week using her method, and was a success both times! (The one you are looking at is a tuna wrap- low-sodium tuna mixed with deli-horseradish mustard... I was too afraid to add anything else because I was scared it would break, haha!) I'm a disaster at wrapping wraps, but even I could do this! Jaime, you rock!!!! :-)

Tonight I made a fave for din-din:

Tired of seeing these yet? Too bad! :-P This sweet potato's got: chopped grilled chicken tenderloin pieces, reduced-fat Swiss cheese, and steamed broccoli. On the side is what I affectionately refer to as "Salsamus": 1 tablespoon Kitchen Kettle Village Zesty Salsa and 1 tablespoon Tribe Sweet Red Pepper hummus mixed together. Hence the clever name salsamus. :-D It's delicious! :-)

Hope you're all having a good week! I'm off to catch up on blogs and chillax! I'll be back tomorrow night with a new book pick, because at the rate I'm going, I'll be done with this book by tomorrow. It's too boring to keep going! :-D

March madness

2009-03-02T22:28:00.001-05:00

Well, so far March has gotten off to a rather unpleasant start in terms of the weather. In my mind, February 28 is the day that winter officially ends, and March 1 means the very first day of spring. Not this year. I woke up to inches of snow galore. Lovely. Because, you know, I've loved this miserable weather so much this winter. And all winters, really. :-(

Why, oh why, did I not become a teacher??? Snow days... summer vacations... *sighs*. There's no such thing as a snow day in the world of finance, kids. In case you were wondering about that.

Sorry I didn't post yesterday. I didn't really have much to post about. I woke up, went to the gym, straightened up my room, read, and got completely sucked into a Golden Girls marathon on, of all channels, the Hallmark channel. I don't think I've ever watched the Hallmark Channel ever, but upon learning that they air The Golden Girls every day in the afternoon and at night, I think I might have to start. I love those four feisty cheesecake-devourin' broads!

So I just finished Swapping Lives, literally, about ten minutes ago. I had to finish it. It refused to be put down. I really, really liked it! I'd forgotten how much I love Jane Green, it's been so long since I've read one of her books, but now that I've revisited her, I remember how much I adore her. I have yet to be disappointed in a book of hers. There are some I liked better than others, sure, but by and far, they've all been fun, amusing, and delightful reads. This one was a little predictable, sure, but I loved it. If you like witty chick lit, please go read this.

The one thing that annoyed me about it, however, was a few minor errors that escaped the eyes of the editor/proofreader. In several instances, the wrong character was referenced- i.e., referring to "Vicky" as "Amber", when she meant to say "Vicky". Boo-hiss to whoever edited the book.

Although I'm supah-tired and probably won't start it tonight, I did choose my new book pick- here's a pic of the pick (aren't I clever?):

Sweet and Low: A Family's Story, by Rich Cohen. It's about the family that invented the scary little Sweet and Low packets. The book is actually written by the founder's disinherited grandson. Disinherited? Sounds like a book packed full of gossip to me! I don't know how much you can gossip about a family that invented pink packets of saccarin, but hopefully, there's something scandalous. Family members don't get disinherited for nothing, you know? ;-D I'll start it tomorrow and supply you with my two cents.

All right, I'm beat. Time to catch up with everyone else's blogs and call it a night. Ciao for now!

Today I did two things I've never done before

2009-02-28T23:34:00.002-05:00

1. I tried overnight oats for the first time.

2. I hit a car in a parking lot backing out of a spot.

I wasn't too happy with either event.

I've been seeing overnight oats all over the place in blogland, and decided that I wanted to give them a try, so I mixed up a batch on Friday night and let them sit in the fridge overnight- 1/2 cup oats and 1 cup water, with cinnamon. Then I zapped them in the microwave this morning and added flaxseed and a banana:

I liked the texture factor- definitely creamier than regular oats- but other than that, they didn't wow me. I actually thought they lacked flavor rather than combined the flavors overnight. I had to add more cinnamon and sugar-free maple syrup and it was still just eh. Maybe I should have used milk, and not water? Would that have made a difference? Oh well. I didn't have any milk and I always make my oats with H20 anyway. Well, whatevs. I also didn't notice much of a difference in time factor since I had to microwave them longer than usual since they were ice-cold, so I'll just stick to mixing it up in the morning. Different strokes for different folks! I'd give it another try, but wouldn't incorporate it into my everyday breakfast routine.

So the fender bender. After breakfast I ran to Trader Joe's quickly- I only had to get, like, four things. Ordinarily I pull through parking spots, so that way I don't have to back out of spots, I can just pull through, because I hate parking lots. But I figured, what the hell, I'm only going to be five or ten minutes, it's early, and it's not crowded. I'll be fine. Well, that backfired (no pun intended). Because while I was backing out of my spot, my little Nissan well-hidden between two SUVs/minivans, another SUV that didn't see me pulling out drove by and I totally smacked it. I didn't see it at ALL. I've never, ever, EVER hit a car. I didn't do any damage because I was backing out of the spot really slowly, plus she had an SUV and I have a little car (so if anyone would have damage, it's me, and my car looks totally fine), and the woman was super-nice about it- I was shaking a little bit and extraordinarily apologetic. She didn't see any damage either, but took my insurance info just in case and said she'd take her car to get washed, take another look, and give me a call. Not trying to cover it up or anything, but I seriously didn't see even a ding on her car, and she even admitted that she didn't see anything either. But with my shit luck, she'll call on Monday and claim she's got whiplash. I really hope that nothing comes of this and she only took my info as a precaution... I really just need someone to give me a break, you know? Like I don't have enough to deal with as it is right now, now I get to stress about whether she's going to file a claim or not. My roommate thinks it'll be fine- she didn't want to call a cop, didn't ask anyone in the parking lot if they witnessed anything, admitted she didn't see any damage and it was probably fine, not to worry, and was supernice about it. But I don't know... I just feel like the way my life has been going lately, that it's just one thing after another, so I wouldn't be surprised if this became an issue. Still... keep your fingers crossed for me. I need something good to happen to me for a change!!!!

On a brighter and less self-pitying note, my sister and I saw He's Just Not That Into You today. I LOVED it. This is SO going to be added to my DVD collection once it's available. I love the book, and I'm thrilled that the movie adaptation was so awesome (unlike the majority of movies that are based on books... cough cough, Confessions of a Shopaholic, cough cough). If you have never read the book, girls, you seriously need to right this minute. Even if you're in a relationship or are married or whatever, it's just a great book. I also have Greg Behrendt's other book, It's Called a Breakup Because it's Broken, also very awesomely insightful. Greg is the man.

All right, I'm physically and emotionally drained (I didn't get much sleep last night, thanks to a combination of staying up too late and my cat whining at my door last night because he's a brat and a night owl and often wants to play and receive attention at 5 a.m.). It's time for me to call it a night, get my clothes out of the dryer (yes, it's Saturday night and I'm doing laundry, I'm not ashamed to admit it), get my PJs up and running, and curl up in bed with Swapping Lives- which I'm about one-fourth of the way into, and am loving it! Another Jane Green jewel... I need me some good chick lit right now, especially after seeing He's Just Not That Into You. I wish I had my copy of that right now to re-read, but I lent it to a girlfriend of mine, literally, about two years ago, and not only does she still have it, but she's also in a relationship right now, so I think it's time for her to give it back! It obviously worked for her and she doesn't need it anymore! :-D

Have a good rest of the evening!

Almost there!

2009-02-26T21:26:00.001-05:00

We're almost to Friday!!!! Hurray!!!

So who else was bummed out about last night's finale of Top Chef? At first, I was okay with Hosea winning if Carla didn't win, because I think Stefan is a bit of a pompous ass. But I got to thinking about it today, and as much of a jerk Stefan was, he did make better dishes, and was a lot more consistent than Hosea. I can't think of one dish that Hosea made this entire season. But I really wanted Carla to win the most... if only she hadn't listened to Casey and gone with her gut instinct and hadn't made those souffles. I was disappointed all around. Oh, and did anyone else get skeeved out watching Stefan cut up the alligator? Ewwww! Has anyone out there ever tried alligator??? I have... I'm actually quite a fan of it!!! I think it's delicious! A lot of people think it tastes like chicken, but I actually think it tastes like sausage. In any event, it's quite a tasty delicacy!

I finished up A Wedding in December at the gym today. My thoughts? Eh. Not the worst book I've ever read, but it didn't rock my world either. The plot was a little slow, and dry, and many of the characters were underdeveloped in my opinion. On the other hand, it would make an excellent Lifetime movie.

My next book pick was exactly what I need right now-

Swapping Lives, by Jane Green! Hurray- a bona fide chick lit book, complete with a glittery pink cover and everything... this is just what I need at the moment!!! It's about two women- one an editor at a high-fashion magazine in London, but hopelessly single and longing for the husband/kids/country house, and the other a suburban stay-at-home Connecticut mama who feels completely unfulfilled with her life- and they swap lives for a month courtesy of the editor posting a contest in her magazine and the suburbanista entering and winning. I'm only on page 7 and I can already see where this is all going to go in the end... but that's okay! I love, love, LOVE Jane Green and I am totally in the mood for some fun and breezy chick lit, so I am all sorts of excited to be reading this baby.

For dinner tonight, I did one of my baked potato concoctions: kind of like a twist on a vegetarian cheesesteak.

My camera is acting kinda quirky so this is the only pic I could get, I apologize. In any event, it's a sweet potato, melted reduced-fat Swiss cheese, Boca crumbles, and pepper/onion stir fry mix. On the side I made some "spicy ketchup"- organic ketchup and TJ's chili pepper sauce. This was scrumptious. :-) I never get sick of these. I really don't. Maybe because sweet potatoes are so versatile and you can dress 'em up about a thousand different ways. :-)

All right, as much as I love blogging and updating my life, the new episode of 30 Rock needs my undivided attention now.

Happy Almost-TGIF, friends!!! :-)

Slow as molasses

2009-02-25T19:27:00.003-05:00

Is it just me, or is this week going by r-e-a-l-l-y slowly? I totally woke up thinking it was Thursday!

I'll make this short and sweet, mostly because I don't really have much new to share and I want to make sure to catch the second half of The Biggest Loser and the season finale of Top Chef (GO CARLA!!!! Hootie-hoo!) . :-D

1. I'm okay. Yesterday was a little rough emotionally, but I ran with it and just let myself feel it and get it out- I know that's going to happen here and there- I'm going to have rough days, and I'm okay with that.

2. I'm about halfway through A Wedding in December. It's gettin' good. Tension and drama's a-brewin'. :-) Well, as much drama as can be expected from a group of middle-aged well-educated New Englanders, anyway.

3. I tried a very fun new workout on my Netflix via Instant Play- the Crunch: Pick Your Spot Pilates workout. I am a huge fan of this series. This workout was awesome- it was a half-hour long and targeted three specific areas- tummy, booty, and thighs. And believe me, my tummy, booty, and thighs were feeling it afterwards. And I've been doing Pilates for years now. I highly recommend it.

4. I also tried two new fun food products this week (okay, one food and one beverage): The Celestial Seasonings English Toffee Dessert Tea and the ThinkGreen Chocolate Chip Bar (not at the same time, though). Two very enthusiastic thumbs up to both products. If you can find 'em in your neck of the woods, give them a try. I can't find the Chocolate Chip bar on the ThinkGreen website, which makes me wonder if it's being discontinued. I'll need to go stock up and hoard them just to be safe, I guess. :-) And I promise, it tastes better than it looks!!!!!

Okay, that's all I've got right now. Off to watch my shows and read some blogs! Ciao! :-)

Better than expected

2009-02-23T19:24:00.001-05:00

Today went so much better than I anticipated! My coworkers were so incredibly kind and thoughtful and all chipped in to buy me a beautiful bouquet of flowers, gave me lovely cards with really touching and meaningful words, and two bags of Wegmans flavored coffees- White Chocolate Truffle and Raspberry Hazelnut (do these people know me or what?). And all day long, people stopped by to express their condolences, which was really sweet. It really meant a lot to me. I'm lucky to work with such nice people! And it was nice to get back into my routine somewhat. I'm still a little off... like I completely forgot to take my multivitamin this morning, didn't end up eating breakfast until almost 10:30 because I was trying to catch up with everything and everyone, little things like that... but I'm sure within a day or two I'll be back on track! :-)

And work was actually a great distraction. I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to concentrate or focus or do my job, but I found it was just the opposite. I banged out three projects today. Then I went to the gym and had a kickass workout. And I had a fabulous bowl of oatmeal for breakfast (I've missed oatmeal!) I'm feeling pretty good today. :-)

I read a chapter of A Wedding in December on my lunch break today. So far so good. Right now the book is just introducing all of the characters individually, and so there's not much dialogue or plot going on just yet... but the character intros are in-depth enough that it's setting the stage for all of that quite nicely. I noticed that the author is very into description, particularly of scenery. I've noticed that I tend to get bored with longish descriptions of scenery. Yes, trees are beautiful and the coast of Maine is very picturesque. Now where's my drama? I'm ready to learn all about these scandalous secrets each character is hiding! :-D Kidding. With each character introduction, you're getting a little glimpse of what their secret is. plus, I know it's coming. And I'm enjoying getting to know everyone. :-)

I hope that all of your Mondays were as stress-free as possible!

Back to work

2009-02-22T18:28:00.001-05:00

So I'm going back to work tomorrow for the first time since my dad died. I'm definitely anxious and nervous about it, but I know I have to do it, and for the most part, I feel ready to go back. I know I wouldn't have been able to handle it last week, but I definitely feel ready to go tomorrow. My sister went back to school already and she said it was definitely weird, but at the same time, getting back into her routine helped her a lot. I am the exact same way- I love routine (sad but true, you could set a clock by me!), so I am looking forward to that. It's just going to be a little weird to see everyone, I'm not sure what they're going to say, and it'll be a little weird to come back to my desk, which has been untouched since the moment I got that phone call, and ran out of the office. I'll be going back to my desk for the first time since my whole world changed. The date February 12 will still be on my dry-erase board (unless someone erased it), my day planner's untouched, no days crossed off on the calendar since my dad died... I don't know if that will trigger any emotions or not.

I'm feeling a lot better- still sad, obviously, and sometimes still a little in shock about everything that's transpired over the past weekend- like, once in a while, I'll just stop and think, I can't believe that Dad is dead. For the most part, my emotions a lot more in check. I'm not having random outbursts anymore. I'm just trying to let myself feel the hurt and the loss and the pain, but not let it consume me... you know? Writing in my journal helps. And exercising. And reading.

Reading books has been a total lifesaver for me these past couple of days. I finished Blind Faith on Friday (very good, though I felt there were some parts of the murder and investigation that were a little confusing/not resolved or clarified completely, but if you like true crime, you'll like this book) and read an entire book over the weekend. At random I picked More Tales of the City, by Armistead Maupin (from that series that my friend Rick is always making me buy at book sales, haha). I just read the first book a few weeks ago- what are the odds, huh? Anyhow, it was such a quick read, that I started it on Friday night and finished it up today while I was eating lunch. I actually think I enjoyed it more than the first one! It definitely clarified a lot of stuff from the first book that had left me hanging. I'm looking forward to reading the third one.

So I picked a new book. And the new book I picked was The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, which I actually was never forced to read in high school and saw it at a book sale for, like, 25 cents, and I'd always wondered what the fuss was about with this book, so I bought it. So I thumbed through it, and it looks like it's a good, extraordinarily depressing, and tough read.

Now, when I started the No Book Left Behind project, I know I made this self-imposed rule that I had to read the book I picked no matter what it was, I had to at least give it a try, and could always quit it if I didn't like it. But you know what? I decided, screw that. That's a stupid rule. I should read whatever book I feel like reading! But I also like picking them at random. I find that fun. But at the same time, given everything that's going on in my life right now, I feel the need for light, fun, fluffy, silly reads, and something told me that I was not gonna be getting that from The Grapes of Wrath. Call it a hunch. :-D So I amended the rule- I'm still going to pick at random, because I like that, but if I pick a title and I'm just not feeling it, I'll just drop it back in and pick again until I find something that I really do want to read. They're my books and it's my prerogative. :-)

So I decided to put it back and pick again. The Grapes of Wrath isn't going anywhere.

I came up with A Wedding in December, by Anita Shreve:

It's about a group of seven former schoolmates who are getting together to celebrate a wedding, and they find out all these things about each other at the reunion, secrets are revealed, and they all remember the death of a friend and how it impacted each of their lives. Well, okay, it's not fluffy silly chick lit, it sounds a little sad and depressing (oh, did I mention that the bride has breast cancer and is very sick?), but I read the first chapter and I do like it, so I'll give it a go. I haven't read much Anita Shreve- I read The Pilot's Wife a million years ago, and remember liking it very much. And how could I turn away someone with such a fabulous first name? :-)

And I did manage to have some yummy meals despite of all that's been going on. My stomach has definitely been off since Dad died- which I'm attributing to the obvious stress of everything, and my nerves. But I've been eating, I know I need to keep my strength up, and I don't believe in skipping meals or going too long without food- I'll have a small snack even if I'm not hungry, simply because I know it's not good to go for the body a long time without eating. Especially when you work out as much as I do (almost every day). For the most part, it's been the same eats, but I have had some new tasty treats, and took a new spin on an old favorite which totally changed the dish!

I tried both of my new Kashi cereals- the Mighty Bites and the Honey Sunshine. The Mighty Bites were pretty good, but the Honey Sunshine are fabulous! They taste just like a combination of Captain Crunch/Golden Grahams. I'm totally loving them! I don't know if I'd buy Mighty Bites again, but I definitely would buy the Honey Sunshine again. Of course, no cereal can ever take the place of my Barbara's Shredded Spoonfuls- Barbara's my girl, let's not forget she brings us the magical Peanut Butter Puffins!- but the Honey Sunshine are definitely a nice runner-up.

More shoutouts to Kashi here- I tried their original 7-Grain Pilaf for dinner last night. Um, this was so easy to make that it was borderline ridiculous. Even I couldn't figure out how to screw it up. You just boil water, throw in the pilaf, and that's it. You don't even need to stir. Just let it cook until the water absorbs. That's wonderful. And it makes 4 servings per packet! That's a lot of pilaf, my friends. I'm having some tonight and then freezing the rest. I'm actually not a big fan of leftovers as it is- I think I'm the only person on the planet who feels this way- so I can't imagine eating pilaf for 4 days in a row, you know? Yet I'll eat a sweet potato with dinner every night for month with no complaints. LOL. Anyway, along with my pilaf, I added cubed grilled chicken and grilled pepper/onion stir fry mix, and voila:

Verdict? Yum! I can't wait to try pairing the pilaf with seafood, like shrimp or salmon. But tonight we're all about leftovers, which means more chicken. I'm going to have broccoli with it instead of pepper/onion mix. I'm feeling broccoli. I like that the pilaf is so versatile and I could eat it a thousand different ways. I find that exciting. :-)

And speaking of sweet potatoes, I put a new twist on my usual sweet potato meal that rocked my world. Ordinarily I just poke some holes in the potato and throw it in the microwave for a few minutes and cut it open. I'd have my protein and veggies on the side. Done. But Friday night I got all creative and cubed the sweet potato before I microwaved it. I threw them in the microwave for a few minutes, and added cubed grilled chicken, steamed broccoli and carrots, and some spices- curry powder, cayenne pepper, maybe a few other things- and also put some all-natural BBQ sauce on the side.

The hell with Lucky Charms- this was magically delicious. :-D I loved it. New twists on old favorites are fun!

I hope you've all had a great weekend. I've been trying to catch up on everyone's blogs, so hopefully I'll get to do a little more of that tonight. But I want to write in my journal and try to get some stuff ready for work tomorrow (I hate rushing around in the morning... prepping the night before= getting a few extra minutes of sleep), so we shall see!

Okay, so who's watching the Academy Awards tonight? I'll be going back and forth. I'm not as excited about them this year because I haven't seen any of the movies, but I'm curious as to who's going to win and what all the ladies will be wearing (the men all look the same! Black tuxes! Boring. Although I wonder what Mickey Rourke will wear). But there's a new episode of The Amazing Race on that I really want to watch, and one of my faves is on tonight (Cold Case- it's a rerun but one I haven't seen yet), so I'll be channel-switching.

Have a good night! I'll check back in tomorrow and let you all know how my first day back was!

Coping

2009-02-19T00:25:00.001-05:00

Hey, everyone. How are you all doing? Needless to say, this has pretty much been the worst week of my life. I'm trying to cope the best I can, but it's definitely been a struggle. I assumed I'd need to take everything day by day for a while, but it actually feels more like hour by hour at the moment. The emotions I feel are overwhelming and confusing and seem to almost have a mind of their own. I can see something that reminds me of my dad, and not feel the urge to cry or get upset; yet I started sobbing uncontrollably after leaving the post office. Everything feels so weird, so surreal. One minute I feel a moment of normality and then the next minute I'm crying. I feel like I'm in some sort of weird third dimension or parallel universe or something. Does that make sense? Trying to process everything, and cope with the loss of my dad, it's more difficult than I ever could have imagined or anticipated. I know it will get easier in time, but right now, not knowing how long I'm going to feel this way is scary and frustrating. I'm always going to miss my dad. That's a given. It's just trying to figure out how to deal with the loss of it and how to go on. I know that things will never get back to normal... I need to come up with a new definition of what "normal" is going to be for me from now on. Things will never be the same. I understand that. I just need to find a way how to live with it. I'm welcome to suggestions, since I am at a loss here. The only other family member I've ever lost- or anyone, for that matter- was my grandfather when I was fourteen. So I don't have much experience with this.

I'm not going back to work until Monday. I just don't feel ready. I've been exhausted all week- emotionally, physically, mentally. I've had bouts of energy where I've gone to the gym and gotten stuff done around my apartment, coupled with moments of sheer exhaustion where I fall asleep watching TV and even small tasks like going to the bank and returning phone calls seem daunting. I just don't feel ready to face work and my coworkers yet, not until I can try and get my emotions more in check. I'm scared that I'll just burst into tears in a meeting or getting Post-Its out of the supply closet or something, because it's those random moments where I keep losing it. Not the moments you think I would. Although I did hear one of my dad's favorite songs on the radio today- "Take the Long Way Home" by Supertramp, a song that has special meaning to the both of us- and froze, and had a full-fledged breakdown when I got home- I was on my way to get a cup of coffee; I at least managed to keep it together enough to get the coffee and managed to wait until I got home to fall apart. Still. Aside from that, I'm a little anxious about how people are going to treat me. I am the youngest in the department by a lot, everyone is pretty much in their 40s and older, and no one knew that my dad was sick (I'm a very private person and I'm very quiet at work- I have that whole "shy-but-nice bookworm" persona going on at work), and they know I have a sixteen-year-old sister... I don't know. It's definitely going to be weird.

We had the memorial service on Sunday. It was nice. Very low-key, which is just what my dad would have wanted. I mean, this is the man who wore jeans to my college graduation, and had not one, but TWO Members Only jackets. LOL. It was just family and a few of his friends. The actual service was really emotional. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. There were collages of photos of my dad throughout the years, and a beautiful program, and my cousin (who was my dad's godson) played a song on his guitar. Each of his siblings spoke about Dad, and so did I. I'm so glad I did. But afterwards, everyone just sat around eating, and chatting, and reminiscing about Dad, and catching up with each other (we don't see each other all that often)... towards the end there was a lot of laughter, which was nice after so many tears. Honestly, if you'd walked into the tail end of the service, you would have thought you'd just walked in to a Sunday afternoon family get-together. Hardly anyone wore black. A few people even wore jeans. Some of you out there might view this kind of memorial service as really tacky or inappropriate, but please believe me when I say that it's exactly what my father would have wanted. I wore a black Pink Floyd hoodie and black pants. My father loved Pink Floyd. He loved all classic rock- Boston, The Doobie Brothers, Supertramp, Jethro Tull, Steely Dan, etc. He passed that love on to me and my sister. My poor little sister... she was a wreck throughout the entire memorial service. Just kept her head down and sobbed the entire time. I had to take her out to my car for a while before the service actually began. She calmed down enough to go in for the service, and felt much better as the afternoon went on and the atmosphere became a little lighter. We exchanged little stuffed animals for each other- just something to hug and think of the other when we're not around (obviously, since she's only sixteen, she lives with her mother). I gave her a long pink-and-black stuffed puppy that's supersoft, perfect for hugging in times of comfort or punching in times of anger or hurt, LOL. And she gave me a little Beanie Baby- he's white with green M&Ms all over him, and he's hugging a big green M&M. According to his nametag, his name is "Green" (clever). Dad's favorite candy was M&Ms, although he certainly didn't discriminate- he was an equal opportunity employer of all candies, snack cakes, Tastykakes, etc. He never met a sugary junk food he didn't like. Haha.

I'm trying to focus on the good things here. There are some. I'm trying to remember that I had "that moment" with my dad. That moment where I got a chance to not only say goodbye, but to say everything you'd want to say to someone you love in that final moment. I had the chance to say it all. Not everyone gets that moment. Like those poor people who lost loved ones in that plane crash last week in New York? They never got the chance to say goodbye. Their loved one was just snatched from them abruptly, no warning. There's no closure there. That happens to so many people out there who lose loved ones so abruptly- in car accidents, murders, natural disasters, whatever- that would do anything to get that moment. Or what about people who regret the last moment they had with their loved one- they had a fight, or they weren't speaking, or they said something like, "I hate you", "I wish you were dead", etc. That happens. That happens to people all the time. And if I feel this kind of heartache over the loss of my dad, whom I knew was dying and had what essentially was a "perfect goodbye" with him, I can't even imagine the pain and the anguish that people in those situations must feel. It must be downright unbearable. So I'm trying to find a bit of comfort and solace in that- when you put things into that perspective, I truly am grateful to have had that moment. In a way, it helps a little.

I wanted to thank the people who left such touching comments on my blog and offered me words of support and condolences. I truly appreciate it. I admit that in the blogging community, I kind of feel like I'm on the peripheral/more on the outside than a lot of other bloggers, so it was really sweet and nice to know that other people were thinking of me. Hugs to you all. You all are such sweeties. :-)

Believe it or not, I've actually been reading a little this week. I'm trying to seek comfort where I can, and reading has always brought me such joy and happiness and comfort. There are times where I've actually been able to read and times when I haven't been able to concentrate on a single syllable. But I am reading when I can. I'm actually ironically reading a book that my dad would have loved- Blind Faith, by Joe McGinniss. It's a true crime book about a man who arranged to have his wife murdered for her insurance money but tried to cover it up to look like a robbery. This took place in Toms River, NJ, in 1984. The couple had three sons, and the oldest is actually the husband of actress Tracey Gold (Roby Marshall). My dad really liked true crime books and got me into them too. I picked this book the night before he died. I picked it at random, like I do with all my books (no pic, sorry). Talk about a weird coincidence, huh? How's this for an even bigger one- there's a specific part in the book that references the song "Take the Long Way Home" and has the lyrics and everything. Cue the Twilight Zone music here. This is exactly the kind of book my dad would have loved. It was written in 1989, so it's entirely possible he did read it. I don't know. But I am enjoying it- not just because it's a good book, but because it reminds me of my dad, in a way that doesn't upset me or make me want to cry. Reading a book that I think he really would have liked is bringing me a bit of comfort, even if it is on a macabre subject like a man murdering his wife. LOL. I think you know what I mean though. :-)

All right, I'm off to try and get some sleep. I've actually slept decently the past two nights, believe it or not. I've stayed up pretty late, but I've slept pretty soundly and haven't had any bad dreams or strange dreams- if I had, I'm not remembering them. That's probably a good thing. God bless Melatonin tablets.

Hope you're all having a good week. Take care and have a great Thursday!

Sad news

2009-02-12T19:30:00.001-05:00

My father passed away this afternoon. He took a turn for the worse last night and they advised the family to get down there as soon as possible. His organs were starting to shut down and basically just the ventilator was keeping him alive at that point, and the medicine/antibiotics they were using to try and treat the pneumonia weren't working. I was just leaving the ICU and heading home after being with him for several hours, when my aunt, who was still there, called me and told me he was coding. And by the time I got back, he was gone.

I'm heartbroken, of course, but at the same time, I'm glad he's not suffering and in pain anymore. He was in so much pain the past few years, and his body was just shutting down from exhaustion. He fought the good fight until the very end, but his body just wore out. It was just time. And I think I kind of knew that, even though it's still extremely painful.

I was not there when he passed away. My aunt and my grandmother were. They said it was very peaceful. I'm just so happy that I got to see him one more time, and say what I needed to say, and tell him how much I loved him, and to say goodbye. I thanked him for being such a good dad to me and told him how much I appreciated everything he ever did for me. He took me to my first Phillies game. He taught me to tie my shoes. He passed down his love of classic rock to me. He took me for my learner's permit. He gave me his crazy thick hair and a good sense of humor. I thanked him for all that and everything else. I said what I needed to say, and even though he was unconscious/heavily sedated the entire time, I know he could hear me. And I'm so glad I got the opportunity to do that, to say goodbye. I would not have been able to live with myself if I had missed that opportunity.

We're having a small memorial service on Sunday, just the family, at my uncle's house. In the meantime, I'm coping the best way I know how. In a way, since I know this has been coming for a long time, it's not a shock, but it still feels surreal. I knew that this day was coming, but now that it's here, it just feels like it's still not really here. I know it's going to take time and it's going to hurt. But I am glad that he's not suffering, and I hope that he is finally finding the peace he struggled to find here on Earth. The last few years were so hard on him, physically, mentally, and emotionally... I'd like to believe that he's at peace now, at last.

A very short post

2009-02-11T23:00:00.001-05:00

I had every intention of posting a great post tonight, because up until a few hours ago, I was actually having a really great day. Now... not so much.

Please keep my father in your thoughts. He is currently in the hospital for pneumonia due to complications from COPD, and was stable, but has taken a turn for the worse. He is on a ventilator, currently sedated, and being given antibiotics to try and treat the pneumonia. My father has been sick for a very, very long time, and we all kind of knew that he wasn't going to get better, and while I have accepted it and I feel that I've made peace with it, it doesn't make the reality of it any less painful. He is scheduled for a tracheotomy on Monday to help him breathe. He's currently unconscious and I haven't been able to visit him, but my sister and I are going on Sunday unless his diagnosis changes, and in that case we will obviously go sooner. My dad's been sick for a long time, and I've known for a while that he is not going to recover, but I don't know how much longer he can hold out because he has been so sick for so long, so please keep him in your thoughts. I haven't really spoken about it on the blog, but not because I didn't want to. This is my blog and I want to be as personal and honest about it as possible, but I just worry about posting certain things because I work for an extremely conservative company, and you never know who's reading your blog really, so I've always kind of kept that in the back of my mind when I'm posting. For all I know, my cubicle neighbor or my department manager's kid or my boss's sister could be reading it... you just never know. So I just always kind of keep that in the back of my mind. But I don't think that applies to this situation.

Anyway, I'll keep everyone informed of what's going on. Thank you for your support and understanding. I'll be back tomorrow. But this is about all I can do for right now.

This week's a-flyin'!!!!

2009-02-10T21:08:00.004-05:00

Not that I'm complaining about that!

I didn't post last night because I had one of those nights where time totally gets away from you... I left the gym later than usual, got home later than usual, ate dinner later than usual... everything was later than usual... including bedtime! I was definitely feeling a little extra-sleepy today.

I didn't have much news to report on anyway. Although something pretty exciting did happen to me at work yesterday... I received two peer recognition awards! I won them for my contributions toward a really big proposal project that was up against a pretty tight deadline. And two awards, at that! I don't mean to toot my own horn too much here, but I've only gotten one at a time before... never two at once! That definitely made my day and boosted my confidence a point or two! :-)

Ooh... another exciting tidbit from yesterday was that my roommate saw an ad on craigslist for some free stuff someone was trying to unload b/c he was moving, so she decided to check it out... and she came home with a plethora of plates! We never turn away free kitchen stuff, especially of the microwaveable kind! (I tend to buy the kitschy cutesy plates that aren't microwave-friendly). And what a small world- a lot of them match some plates she already has- they look like they're from the same set! What are the odds? :-D

This is my favorite of the bunch:

I can learn about my state's history while eating! How exciting! :-)

I used it for tonight's dinner:

Grilled chicken breast, sweet potato, steamed veggies. TJs All-Natural BBQ Sauce not pictured but was along for the ride. :-)

I have a microwaving question for the bloggies... how long do you microwave your sweet potatoes? I was microwaving them for two increments of three minutes each- three minutes, turn over, three minutes (covered in a paper towel), and thought that was too much, so I decreased the time a little to five minutes, and I've noticed that the past two sweet potatoes have come out kind of... wet, almost. They seem done, just a little... I don't know... soggy isn't quite the word to describe it, but kinda moist? I'm not sure if I just bought a couple of weird ones or maybe my nuking method needs a little fine-tuning.... I recommend any and all suggestions!!!

I tried a new Larabar yesterday- well, a new flavor to me, anyway- the Lemon Bar flavor. Eh. I didn't dislike it, I thought it was fine, but I probably wouldn't go out of my way to get that flavor again. I went through a hardcore lemon square phase in college (my college cafeteria had the best damn lemon squares; I'd stock up and keep them in my dorm!), but I didn't think this bar tasted like a lemon square really- just some almonds and dates with a kick of lemon. Ah well. My faves are still the Apple Pie and the Coconut Cream Pie. But I still have many more to try!

So I'm about 130 pages into my book, Toxin. It's a fast read, and I'm kind of... skimming some of the icky medical stuff. Especially since I do most of my reading on my lunch break and sometimes at dinner if there's nothing good on TV (yes, I eat dinner like the quintessential single gal, LOL), and I don't need to read about the nitty-gritty details of the E.coli virus running through a little girl's body while I'm nibbling on my peanut butter and jelly sandwich, you know? It's not really an ideal meal topic. But it really doesn't go into all that much detail about it that often. But I'm just at the part where the poor little girl is in the hospital and taking a turn for the worse. I still don't know if she lives or dies. I hope she lives... she's just a little girl! But not every book has a charmed ending. If everything turned out perfectly and always worked out in every single story- whether a book or a TV show- we wouldn't have the element of drama, and we'd have some pretty unrealistic expectations about life in general= we'd expect everything to always work out for the best. Still, I'm rooting for her to pull through!

Speaking of unrealistic TV, I watched a show on VH1 yesterday while I was working out at the gym. I forget the name of it, but it was about six-year-old girls competing in beauty pageants. It was flat-out disturbing. Those little girls scared the hell out of me. The pageant workers and the pushy stage parents scared me even more.

I'm getting a biometric screening done at work tomorrow. My company is big on healthcare, does a lot of cool health seminars and fairs and things like that, and I love that, and participate in as many as I can. Plus there's a little incentive involved- you get entered in a raffle for the opportunity to have your medical insurance out-of-paycheck costs waived for the entire year. How cool is that? So I'm getting that done tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it. The screening tests your sugar level, cholesterol level, etc. All the important stuff! We also have the opportunity to fill out health questionnaire, and just for completing the questionnaire, we get a $100 AMEX gift card. Free money! Needless to say, I filled it out the first day... I'm a huge fan of free stuff, especially in gift-card format!

All right, time to go watch some Biggest Loser and other educational programming (The Office), and dessert and bed. I'm thinking it might be time to bust out those Newman's Own Hermit cookies that I bought on Sunday. They feel unloved unopened, like they're not serving their purpose, and far be it from me to make a cookie feel bad. I'll do a product review in my next post, which should be tomorrow! I like posting on a regular basis, even if I don't really have anything of significant importance to say. :-)

Hope everyone had a tremendous Tuesday! :-)

Simple math equations

2009-02-08T19:00:00.007-05:00

Shorter work weeks + longer weekends= happy Anita

One Powerball ticket + seven matching numbers= happy Anita

Ah, the power of ~~delusional~~ positive/wishful thinking...

What's cookin', good lookins'? :-) How were your weekends? Mine's been pretty decent! The weather today was amazing- it might have reached 60 degrees! It was wonderful!!! I have fun new food finds, product reviews, and book updates to bring you up to speed on, so get comfy... this is a long post!!! :-)

FRIDAY:

I had a pretty good day at work on Friday. No drama, no stress, just the way every Friday should be! And it's our pay Friday, so everyone was in an extra-happy mood. It was a nice way to start the weekend.

On the way to the gym, I tried out one of the new Luna White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Bars that are all the rage. I liked it... it kind of reminded me a little bit of a supersweet Rice Krispy treat. My two complaints are that I wish it had had a few more macadamia nuts (although that could have just been that particular bar), and I didn't really find it all that filling. I have found that to be the case with Luna bars in general- I like them in terms of flavor, but I don't think they're a very filling snack. I think it's because they have a lot of sugar and not a lot of protein. In any event, I did think it was tasty and enjoyable!

Dinner was a standby favorite- salmon burger, sweet potato, and broccoli/carrots. No pic because I eat this constantly. But I DID enjoy it while watching the first disc of Season 1 of Gimme a Break. I gotta tell you, for a sitcom that's almost 30 years old, I still found it pretty damn funny! Maybe even more so now, because I get more of the jokes now that I'm older, haha. That Nell Carter was one sassy housekeeper... and she sure did like her men! Haha. Some of it's pretty cheesy, and the clothes are hysterical, but still pretty entertaining! I already added the other discs into my Netflix queue and should be getting the next one sometime this week. LOL!

SATURDAY:

I tried out one of my new Kashi cereals for breakfast- Kashi Honey Crunch Mighty Bites. I thought it was delicious! Very light taste, with a hint of honey that made it sweet but not overly sweet. They weren't that filling on their own, but for breakfast today I added in 1/2 cup of Fiber One, and boy, did that do the trick! I didn't get hungry for lunch until about five hours later!

After breakfast I went to get the oil changed in my car. I was there for longer than I expected because they had discovered the one of my taillights was out, so they replaced that. Good thing I brought my book, because I was there for an hour! Afterwards I swung by Trader Joe's to grab some bread for lunches for work. I also grabbed some frozen mango for kicks and giggles. :-) I love mango and hadn't had it in a while, so I thought it would be a nice treat.

Lunch was a microwaved Egg McMuffin with a Laughing Cow wedge and broccoli:

With more broccoli on the side, and salsa and ketchup for dipping excitement. The rest of the afternoon was low-key and uneventful.

I tried a new product for dinner that's been in my cupboard for a while now:

Kashi's Original Pilaf. I'm dying to try the Fiery Fiesta and Moroccan Curry flavors but can't find them anywhere.... I had struggles just finding this one! I couldn't find it at any supermarket. I finally stumbled across it at Target. I opted to cook it in the microwave, because I am lazy. I stir-fried some shrimp and peppers and onions to go along with it and added a bit of curry powder and chili pepper sauce:

I really liked it a lot! I'll definitely be picking up another one on my next Target run! :-)

SUNDAY:

I spent the morning running errands! First stop was Wal-Mart. On the way to Wal-Mart, I heard one of my absolute favorite rock-out-in-the-car songs, "Jukebox Hero", by Foreigner. That's how I knew it was going to be a good day. I most definitely channeled my inner Pat Benatar and rocked out. I'm sure that the other drivers were amused. :-D I picked up my usual Wal-Mart items- sugar-free instant oatmeal (my new favorite nighttime snack), sugar-free lemonade mix, sparking water, etc. And I also got a little lavender calming spray for only $2. I have a really hard time going to bed at a decent hour, and while Melatonin helps me sleep soundly, it doesn't always make me feel tired. I've heard that lavender scents are really calming and relaxing, so I figured I'd spray this on my bed about an hour or so before I went to bed. Hey, worst case scenario, my bed will smell pretty, right? :-)

And then I went grocery shopping... one of my favorite things to do! I restocked on my usual faves and staples- bananas, sweet potatoes, frozen veggies, veggie burgers, Boca crumbles, soy chips, etc. My favorite brand of popcorn was on sale, so I had to get on that, of course. And I treated myself to a pint of raspberries. I miss fresh berries!

And here was the shopping trip "splurge":

Has anyone tried these? I was craving a soft cookie that I could have as a dessert (and I only like soft cookies- I'm not that big on crunchy/crispy cookies... I'd rather have a nice soft chewy cookie any day of the week!), and I'd been craving a kind of fig-like cookie, like Fig Newtons... and then I came across these, and they were on sale! I don't buy Newman's products often- they're kind of expensive- but I like that all the proceeds go to charity. And these are soft, with figs, raisins, and molasses. It sounded just like the kind of cookie I've been craving lately! I'm excited to try them. :-) I'll bet they'd be extra-tasty after being zapped in the microwave for 10 seconds... I guess I'll have to find out!

I came home and unloaded and organized all my new goodies, had another Egg McMuffin for lunch (same ingredients, same everything, so no pic), and went to the gym for a quick little workout- I rode the stationary bike. Then I tried to get my haircut, and I went to the SuperCuts down the street, and they wouldn't take me! They said that they weren't taking any new customers because they closed at 5. But it was only 4, and I just wanted a trim... I didn't even want a blowdry because I live 30 seconds away from the place, and was going to come home and do it myself! Boo-hiss. By then I was tired and grumpy and had to pee, so I just went home. I'll go next weekend. I HAVE to go though. I feel like my split ends are mocking me. :-)

While at the gym, I finished Tender at the Bone. Yes, FINISHED! I tell ya, I'm just a little reading machine these days! Okay, so my thoughts:

Overall, I liked it. I did. The author really portrayed vivid descriptions of the people in her life, scenery (she does a lot of traveling in the book), etc. The author has definitely led an interesting life. That's for sure. She went to college in the 60s and experienced segregation and political rallies with her friends, lived in a commune in Berkeley in the 70s, etc. And she's got a good sense of humor. And I thought it was cool that there were little recipes scattered throughout the book, one per chapter, although admittedly, every single one of them was a recipe that I know I will never, ever make, like fried oysters, Bouef la Bourguigonne, Apple Dumplings made with lard, etc. Stuff I don't even think I'd enjoy eating, let alone cooking, haha. But nice of her to share.

My complaints about the book? Typing/grammatical errors. That drives me insane. Also, I thought it ended rather abruptly. Not in that cliffhanger, what-happens-next way either. The book was just... over. Like she didn't feel like writing anymore.

Also, I have this thing with memoirs- all memoirs in general. Authors bring in so many people into their memoirs, and some stay throughout the book and you know what happens to them, and others just disappear because their time in that person's life is over or come to a close, and I always wonder in the back of my mind what happened to them, those "minor" players in a person's life that shows up for a chapter or two and then is gone, like the best friend from high school, first college boyfriend, first boss, etc. But again, that's something I do with every memoir or biography. Does anyone else do that too, or can I just go ahead and add that to my list of silly little quirks? :-)

Bottom line? Pretty good, but glad I only paid $1 for it! I do look forward to reading the other two books of hers that I have.

And with that, I bestow to you what was my next pick:

The Don't Sweat Guide for Graduates, by Richard Carlson. He writes a whole little series about not sweating everything- life, relationships, work, family, getting married, kids, etc. This is for college graduates, which I clearly bought at that time. In fact, I remember buying it in my college bookstore.

I might thumb through it, but I'm not really considering this my "next new read". I think the timeframe might have passed on me for this one and I might be a little too old for it at this point. I've been in the working world for five years, and so I'm not really "sweating" what to do after college anymore. But I'll probably thumb through it and then put it aside for my sister for when she graduates college.

That being said, I picked another random title:

Toxin, by Robin Cook. I've had this book for so long that I have absolutely no idea where it came from or when I got it. Has anyone ever read anything by this author? I never have, but I hear good things about him, so I'm optimistic. Anyway, so Robin Cook apparently writes medical thrillers/mysteries, a genre that is new to me. This particular novel is about a doctor's daughter becoming affected with E.Coli, and the doctor goes undercover and investigates the meat-packing industry trying to target where the virus came from, and is exposed to the world of the meat industry, what really goes on behind the scenes at slaughterhouses, etc. I rarely eat red meat, but I have a feeling that after I read this book, I'll probably never want to eat it again. It's also a little ironic to be reading this particular book after coming off a food memoir, no? :-)

So that's my new read. I'll keep you posted on what I thought. No pun intended. :-P

All right, that'll do it for me tonight... I'm off to get stuff organized for the upcoming work week, make some dinner (Kashi Pilaf leftovers), do some journal writing, and put my new lavender spray to the test and go to bed! Have a good final few weekend hours... make them count!!! :-)

Just in time for the weekend!

2009-02-05T19:31:00.002-05:00

Greetings and salutations!!! So would you believe that I'm already finished with Tales of the City... I started it on Monday afternoon and finished it up on my lunch break today!!! I'm not kidding when I tell you that it was a crazy-fast read! I definitely attribute that to the fact that each chapter was about 2-3 pages long. So it was easy to fly through 50 pages at a time, you know?

My thoughts on the book? I liked it. I didn't love it nearly as much as my friend Rick did, but I liked it. It was a little confusing here and there- as much of a 70s' aficionado as I claim to be, I didn't get a lot of the references/lingo, but that wasn't really an issue, I kind of picked up on what they were talking about for the most part. And I liked how the characters intertwined with each other- all connected to the main character, Mary Ann, somehow, yet they would manage to cross paths and meet each other, and not even be aware of the connection because they'd be meeting in a bar, or on the beach, etc. So they both had this person in common somehow, and for the most part, didn't even realize it. It was like a hippie granola version of "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon"- Mary Ann obviously being Kevin, LOL. But I thought the ending was kind of confusing and seemed to end rather abruptly. I'm assuming that's because it is the first book in a series of six, so I'm guessing the second book picks up where the first one left off.

I'm going to have to wait in suspense to find out if that's the case, though, because I reached into my trusty box of book titles, picked one at random, and voila:

Behold, my latest read- and a recent find, at that! Tender at the Bone, by Ruth Reichl. I just bought this baby a few months ago for $1 at my last used-booksale-binge! Ruth Reichl is a restaurant critic for The New York Times, and she's written a bunch of memoir books, including this one, Comfort Me with Apples, and Garlic and Sapphires. I have them all, and I haven't read any of them yet, so I'm uber-excited! This is her first memoir, and she writes about her childhood mostly- how her mother was a terrible cook, apparently, and how she got into the food/restaurant sensualist arena. I've never read a food memoir before, but I have quite a few of them, and I like food, and I like memoirs, so I can't imagine why I wouldn't like food memoirs!!! :-D

I hope you're all having lovely weeks! This week has seemed to go by slowly, no? Not in a bad way, just in a "shouldn't-today-be-Friday" way... ya know? Thank God tomorrow is ACTUALLY Friday! Who's got fun and lively weekend plans for the first weekend of February??? It's going to warm up to almost 60 degrees here over the weekend.... I can't WAIT!!!! It was bitterly cold today. I mean, BITTER. Which will just make this weekend weather extra-pleasant!

Time to go make some dinner and watch TV! I'll be reading blogs tonight and hope to get to comment on a few! There are so many I love, it's hard enough to get through them all, let alone leave comments! Too many good bloggers! :-)

Free almond butter!!! What could be better???

2009-02-03T21:00:00.001-05:00

I completely meant to put this in my post earlier, but totally forgot... if you go to Mark and Heather's blog, they're giving away a free jar of natural almond butter! Sign up by Saturday to get your name into the raffle!

Good luck to you, but no offense, I hope I win. I have NEVER tried almond butter before, and I really want to... I just can't bring myself to buy it because it's so expensive!!!! But I totally want to try it, so I'm hoping to win! :-)

Winter wonderland

2009-02-03T19:13:00.001-05:00

A vast majority of my afternoon went into an internal debate of whether to go to the gym or not. :-) It's nice to know that I'm putting my brain and mental energy to good use, huh? ;-D It's been lightly snowing steadily all day long, and the area has been under a winter weather storm advisory warning all day and all evening. I really wanted to go to the gym, but certainly didn't want to risk my safety trying to get there! In the end, I opted to play it safe and workout from home. The gym will be there tomorrow... and the day after that... and the day after that... LOL. I think it was a good judgment call on my part. The roads were fine on the drive home, but my apartment parking lot was really slippery, and I slid significantly twice trying to get up the little hill to my parking lot! And it's seriously a tiny hill, barely a baby-sized one. So I definitely think I made the right decision!

So instead of the gym, I hopped on my Netflix account and did the Crunch: Super SlimDown Pilates and Yoga combo workout instead. I have the Crunch: Fat-Burning Yoga workout, which I love but wasn't in the mood for, and I've done the Crunch: Candlelight Yoga workout on Netflix too. I really like the Crunch series a lot. And while I do Pilates and Yoga separately on a regular basis, I've never combined them in the same workout. I was intrigued and thought it would be interesting and fun, so I gave it a try. I LOVED it!!!! Definitely more of a challenge to do together... I could feel my breath pacing and my heartrate get faster, and I was definitely feeling it, but in that good way you feel a tough workout, not the oh-my-God-I-think-I'm-going-to-die way, LOL. It was fast-paced and the instructor was easy to follow. I felt like the workout took two great core workouts and put them together into a nice, flowing routine that really got my blood flowing and my energy going!I'll definitely be doing "Yogalates" again!

LOL, speaking of Netflix, guess what I got in the mail today? Okay, time for an 80s flashback... who remembers this show?

Oh yes, kids, I ordered the first disc of Season 1 of Gimme a Break. I LOVED this show as a kid!!!! Nell Carter was just such a smartass, and she cracked me up! I wanted her to come live at my house and take care of me! Haha. Anyway, I saw that Season 1 was out on DVD and I just had to get it and revisit my childhood. I'm sure it won't be nearly as funny or entertaining as I remember it being when I was seven years old- as was the case when I bought Jem and the Holograms when it first came out on DVD a few years ago... I watched it and was like, hmmmm.....- but that's okay. That's the beauty of Netflix... I'll just send it on back! I probably won't start watching it until the weekend, so I'll let you know what my thoughts are on it then.

Other than my exciting Netflix finds, nothing else is really going on! I'm really barreling through Tales of the City.... I read about 50 pages on my lunch break today, so I'm already about one-third of the way into the book! It's a really fast read, because each chapter is only about two or three pages long. It's good so far. Lotta drugs, lotta free lovin' going on left and right, but those were the times, you know? I can't help but think of classic 70s sitcoms while I'm reading it... I keep thinking of The Mary Tyler Moore Show (probably because the main character's name is Mary Ann, and she's this really naive girl from Cleveland, and Mary Richards from TMTMS was a naive girl from Minneapolis), and Three's Company. I really have a lot of TV on the brain lately, it seems! Haha.

And on that note, it seems fitting to say that I'm off to make dinner and watch my Tuesday night TV shows (The Biggest Loser and The Office), and try to go to bed early tonight... I have a bit of a busy day at work tomorrow! I'll be catching up on blogs tonight too... so mant great blogs, so little time!!! :-D

Zero energy

2009-02-02T21:55:00.010-05:00

Whew... I have just been dragging all day today... physically AND mentally! Luckily it was pretty quiet at work today!

And now, as promised, here is my delayed post.

First of all, did anyone else (besides Heather over at Heather Bakes) think that last night's episode of The Office that came on after the Super Bowl was weird, and to be honest, kinda sucked? I am a huge fan and I was definitely disappointed. Maybe the writers thought that everyone would be too drunk from the Super Bowl parties to care? LOL. Definitely not their finest work!

I hope you all had great weekends, however you spent them. Mine was pretty great- low-key, relaxing, and as usual, too short. Why do the weekends fly by so quickly, and then weekdays drag on for an eternity? Where's the justice in that???????????

First and foremost, I finished- yes, finished!- Chasing Harry Winston. It's a very fast read. I enjoyed it for what it was- a light, breezy, completely unrealistic chick lit book. I read some reviews on goodreads and people were just slamming it for its completely unbelievable plot and shallow, one-dimensional characters, and, to be honest, I could certainly see where they were coming from. The premise and the characters' lives were totally unrealistic, and not very believable (as was the ending). The characters were a little shallow and unlikable at times. But it is a chick lit novel, not Great Expectations. If you want heavy reading or something substantial, this is probably not the book for you. Take it for what it is... silly and fun! That's the attitude that I went into with the book, and maybe that's why I wasn't as sorely disappointed as some other readers seemed to be, because I had no intention of taking it seriously. Although I will say, that out of all of Lauren Weisberger's books, that I liked this one the least. I LOVED The Devil Wears Prada, and I liked Everyone Worth Knowing more than this book. But I liked this one too. Anyway. Just my two cents. :-)

And without further adieu... here is my latest book!

It's called Tales of the City, by Armistead Maupin. This is actually a book within a series of six books, and this is the first one. I actually own the first three in the series- acquired all from book sales, naturally- and haven't read any of them, so it's a good thing I picked the first one! I bought this a few years ago at my favorite book sale. My friend Rick actually made me buy it... he insisted on it! He said it was such a great series, so I trusted his judgment (plus he was pretty insistent on it!). So the series is about a group of residents in a house-turned-apartment complex in San Francisco in the mid 1970s- the time of free love, free drugs, free spirits, disco dancing, all that good clean squeaky fun. :-) The first book is mostly focused on the story of Mary Ann Singleton, a 25-year-old girl who visits San Francisco from Cleveland on a whim, by herself, and immediately falls in love with the city and decides to stay. She gets an apartment in this house (the landlady tapes a joint to her door that she personally grew in her own marijuana garden as a "housewarming" present... she kind of reminds me of a Mrs. Roper from Three's Company, only with pot), takes a job as a secretary at an ad agency, etc. I started it on my lunch break today and am about 50 pages into it so far. It's fun! I feel like I'm back in 1975, LOL. I am a big fan of the '70s- NOT the drugs and free love part, haha, I mean the music, the clothes, the TV shows, I think it's all so funky and fun- so I think this will be another successful read! Good call, Rick, good call. ;-D Ah, he knows me so well.

So that was the reading portion of the weekend. Now onto my yummy food and snacks and fun food finds!

SATURDAY:

Ah, how I missed my beloved Barbara's Shredded Spoonfuls so.

With skim milk, a sliced banana, and oodles of cinnamon. I like to mix everything up like crazy after I pour the milk so that the milk gets all frothy and cinnamony. :-)

After breakfast I did a quick trip to Trader Joe's for my staple items (sodium-free whole wheat bread, chicken, salmon burgers... I consider all these things "staple items"), and saw that they did not have the Clif and Luna White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Bars. Sigh. But I knew that one place would have them... and so, I went to Whole Foods, and there they were!

Yay! I haven't tried one yet, but I plan on it this week! I was so happy to find them. I get sad when I see cool products and finds on other blogs and I can't find them anywhere. :-( Not the case here!

I hadn't had an Egg McMuffin in a while, so that was lunch:

3 egg whites prepared a la microwave, with steamed spinach and chopped onion flakes on an Arnold's Whole Wheat Sandwich Thin (they are the perfect size for Microwaved Egg McMuffins!). And some red pepper hummus on the side. Happiness.

Dinner was a shrimp stir-fry:

Frozen shrimp, instant brown rice, chili pepper sauce, pepper and onion stir-fry mix. Simple and tasty. And later on that night before bed I snacked on a bag of Smart Balance Heart Healthy Popcorn. I love to eat popcorn on the weekends because it takes me forever to eat, and I can curl up in bed with my book, the remote, a blanket, and a big bowl of popcorn. I'm getting really, really old... just a few years ago, I was out all night! No more for this Grandma! I'm too old and tired for all that now!!!

SUNDAY:

Breakfast was the same thing on Sunday as it was on Saturday. The exact same thing, just in a different color bowl. So I didn't feel the need to photograph it again. Just scroll on up if you forgot what it looks like. :-) Alas, I only have a little left of my beloved Barbie's Spoonfuls. Maybe 1/4 cup, and the cereal dust. I won't be buying more for a while though- I got a little Kashi-crazy a few weeks ago and ended up buying two new cereals (new to me, anyway)- the Mighty Bites and the Honey Sunshine. And they've patiently been waiting to be tried out. So I figured I'd use up the rest of the Shredded Spoonfuls mixed with one of my new Kashi cereals over the weekend. Which should I try first- the Mighty Bites or the Honey Sunshine? I only want to open one box right now because I'm only eating cold cereal on the weekends now, and I don't want them to go stale.

I ran some typical-yet-enjoyable errands: Target and Wegmans. No fun new finds or splurges at Target. Oh, wait, that's not true... I picked up some new coffee for our little coffee club at work... Archer Farms Macadamia Praline. It was only $3! The club was happy with this selection. We brewed a pot this morning. Pretty tasty! Same thing at Wegmans- I spent, like, $50, and almost none of it went to food! It was all stuff like toilet paper, cat litter, cat food, melatonin tablets (I take this stuff to help me sleep sometimes... it's like $6 for a pack of 20, but I don't use them often, and they work really well, so whatevs), aluminum foil, etc. I did get a little bit of actual edible items- Ranch soy chips (LOVE these things), natural pb, sugar-free jelly, French Vanilla tea (because I either drank all that damn Sugar Cookie tea or I put them away somewhere and can't remember where... knowing me, it's probably the latter!), sweet potatoes (OBVI), frozen veggies, and a Pure Protein Bar. Still... I much prefer the grocery shopping trips where I get a lot of fun stuff for not a lot of money. Ah, it all balances out.

Lunch was a new product- and very appropriate for Super Bowl Sunday!

I present you with: Tabatchnick's Vegetarian Chili. I impulsively bought this at Wegmans a few weeks ago, and it was my first time trying it out. The box comes with two frozen servings- all you do is break one off, cut it open, put it in a microwave-safe bowl, and run with it until it's hot. The ingredient list was all ingredients that I could read and pronounce and identify, which is always good, and the nutritional stats weren't too shabby either: one serving has 180 calories, 3.5 g fat, 360 mg sodium (very impressive for chili!), 28 g carbs, 8 g fiber, 12 g protein. Anyway, be forewarned that it makes a small bowl of chili- you might want to bulk it up with veggies, cheese, a sandwich or salad, etc. I added crinkle cut carrots and pepper and onion mix to mine and paired it with a piece of whole wheat toast. Anyhow, all that said, it was delicious!!!!! Very tasty and flavorful and filling... I loved it! I'd definitely buy it again! The only thing I didn't like too much about it was that I had a definite slight aftertaste, even after I brushed my teeth, used Listerine, and chewed gum throughout the afternoon... I couldn't get rid of a slight lingering taste no matter what! Ah well. It was worth it! If you can find this at the grocery store, give it a try! I'll definitely be trying their other products too! I was looking at their website and I'd love to try their Smoked Salmon Chowder, but I don't remember seeing that at Wegmans.

I had a leisurely Sunday afternoon- riding the stationary bike at the gym while reading, coming home, taking a shower, surfing the web, watching the World News Tonight (again, channeling my inner old person... a few years I would have never watched the world news or any of those evening anchor news shows; now, not only do I watch them from time to time, but I catch myself shaking my head when I see something upsetting or disappointing or sad... next week I'll probably be complaining about the "damn kids and their rock and roll music", haha), and then eventually started making dinner.

I saw this combo on the lovely Alyssa's blog and simply had to try it out for myself:

I ripped off her dinner completely, LOL. I had a Boca burger (with crushed red pepper flakes on top- I also had some horseradish mustard on the side to dip it on, not pictured), steamed broccoli instead of spinach, and the intriguing Laughing Cow/sweet potato combo... I never thought to put these two things together, but she swore up and down it was amazing... and was she ever right! I thought it was GREAT!!!! This is one of many reasons why I love the food blogging community... because I find all these wonderful, amazing, healthy food ideas! I'm not sure I ever would have thought these two things together! This is just one of many reasons why Alyssa is so awesome! (If you don't read her blog, do yourself a favor and do so... she's a sweetheart, and she loves Wegmans too... a friend of Wegmans is a friend of mine!) Thank you, Alyssa, for this great idea! I might try it with chicken next time instead of a Boca Burger for my protein part of the meal... they were very tasty altogether, but my tummy made some weird noises/reactions for a while after dinner, but that could have been for any reason, or maybe I was just digesting, LOL! I grilled up some chicken for dinner tonight and made extra for dinner tomorrow, so I'm thinking of trying it out then!

So they're calling for 2 to 4 inches of snow tomorrow, and of course, most of it is expected to start falling in the afternoon, just in time for the drive home. Glorious. I was planning on hitting the gym tomorrow, but if it comes down as badly as they're predicting (fingers crossed it won't), I'll have to skip it and work out at home instead. I am a gym bunny and love going, but I'm not going to risk my safety and my car's safety trying to get a workout in! I'll just do yoga or Pilates or something. I did a lot of heavy lifting tonight with weights, so a nice yoga or Pilates workout would probably do my body good. But I'll pack my gym gear tonight just in case.... it wouldn't be the first time they were wrong about a storm prediction! I think they do it just for scare tactics and ratings!

Well, I've bored you enough for one night, don't you think? ;-) I'm off to get stuff ready for work tomorrow and watch some of the new TNT series, Trust Me. Is anyone else watching that? Thoughts? I wasn't sold on it at first, but then I watched the episode again (in typical cable TV fashion, they showed it over and over throughout the week and weekend), and it grew on me! So I'll tune in tonight. Then I'll make myself a yummy bedtime snack of sugar-free vanilla pudding (trying to use up the last of my milk from the weekend- I'm frugal- more grandma-esque behaviors!!!) with cinnamon and some Annie's chocolate bunnies and ff whipped cream- this is a great little combo that you have to try out the next time the urge for pudding hits you, or you need to use up the last of your milk, haha. :-)

Goodnight bloggies!!!!

Short but sweet post

2009-02-01T22:19:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone! Hope you are all winding down fun and exciting weekends! I wanted to get in a weekend recap post tonight- I have lots of pics and fun weekend finds to share with you!-, but I just finished Chasing Harry Winston (Michelle, I LOVED it! It was so cute! I couldn't put it down!), and now I'm getting ready to change into my pjs and watch The Office (there's a new one-hour episode after the Super Bowl post-game show- yay! Not that I have any interest in watching the post-game show, which I'm sure will run late, but a NEW ONE-HOUR episode of The Office is definitely worth staying up late for!!!) , write in my journal, and hit the hay! I'll be back with a real post tomorrow night... and I'll also reveal my new book pick... so you'll just have to be in suspense until tomorrow!

Goodnight!

A good excuse

2009-01-30T19:24:00.006-05:00

Hi all! TGIF!!!!!!!!!! So I didn't post last night, but I swear, I have a really good reason. I was THISCLOSE to finishing Just Between Us, and I just couldn't put the book down! I just had to finish it! Anyone who's ever been really into a book... you totally understand! :-) I had to stay up late to finish it0 like 12:15 (I would have finished earlier, but got sidetracked with The Office, 30 Rock, and a phone call from my sister), but I DID finish it! And I'm so glad I did, because it was SO good!!!! It pretty much wrapped up how I expected it would, give or take a little surprise twist here and there, but it didn't matter... it was oh so very good. I LOVED it. I have yet to come across a Cathy Kelly book I didn't like! :-) I strongly recommend it! Two very enthusiastic thumbs up.

Not only did I stay up late to finish it, but THEN I woke up at 5 a.m. and never really got back into a sound sleep... I tossed and turned and definitely dozed here and there, but never a full, sound sleep, or at least that's how it felt... so I spent the day totally sleep-deprived. And then I got to work and drank an abundance of coffee to overcompensate for my tiredness. Not the best idea, although it certainly seemed like a good idea at the time. But the good news is that it was an extremely quiet, non-busy day today (thank God, because things have been so chaotic and stressful at work lately, and have finally started to calm down and resume a little normalcy). So it was a good day to be sleep-deprived, because I didn't have to use my brain much today.

I am so jazzed for my new book pick! I picked this baby from the box of titles (random pick, as usual, it's so much more fun that way!), and I'm so glad I ended up picking it!

Chasing Harry Winston, by Lauren Weisberger! Yay! Any Lauren Weisberger fans out there? She wrote The Devil Wears Prada (one of my all-time favorite books), and Everyone Worth Knowing (also a very good book). This is her latest novel. It's about three friends who are about to turn 30 and they make a pact to do something drastic that will change their lives in the upcoming year- the serial monogamist who just ended a relationship will casually play the field, the serial dater will get into a real relationship for the first time in her life, and the third friend hasn't decided yet, LOL. I acquired this baby for $1 at my local library a few months ago- they sell used books too. I read the first chapter on my lunch break, and it's great so far! I can't imagine I'm not going to like it. I've really been on a roll with the good books lately!

So I haven't been taking any food pics lately. Mostly because I've pretty much been eating the same things all week, and I don't want to bore the serious food bloggers out there. :-) But here's a rundown of what I've been eating- while it might be monotonous, all of my eats have certainly made me happy:

*Oatmeal*: Can we just stop and discuss for a minute just how much I love oatmeal? I mean, this is not anything that should surprise food bloggers, as oatmeal is one of the most popular eats I read about on all of your fabulous blogs. But I need to say it anyway. Oatmeal might be my best friend these days, and I don't care how sad that sounds. :-) I am always reluctant to eat oatmeal, not because I don't love it, but because I can only do oatmeal in the winter/colder weather (my tummy likes cold breakfasts, like cereal and milk, in warmer weather), and I despise winter and cold weather, and so I psychologically equate oatmeal with cold weather. Isn't it funny how food can be so psychological? LOL. Then when I can't deny the fact that it's winter any longer, I bust out the oatmeal, and remember just how much I love it. Lately I've been waking up in the morning and getting really, really excited for my oatmeal breakfasts. At first, I wondered if that was strange, but my sister admitted that she does the same thing, and all of you seem to love oatmeal so much too, so it's nice to know that other people share the strong oatmeal love! I love reading about all the different oatmeal combos you all are eating. Me, I keep it the same every day, because I never get tired of it- 1/2 cup quick oats, 1 cup+ water (I don't like my oats thick- I like a BIG bowl of oatmeal! So I add more water), oodles of cinnamon, ground flaxseed, and a banana. I've put PB in it before, but since I eat PB&J every day for lunch, I usually don't put it in the oats. So I've been eating this combination for weeks now, and I can't get enough of it! Hurray for oatmeal, one of the best foods ever. I must admit, I do miss my fave cereal- Barbara's Shredded Spoonfuls- and I'm thinking that's tomorrow's breakfast. Cold weather be damned! :-)

*Sweet potatoes*: I've had one with dinner almost every night this week. Another food that I SERIOUSLY never tire of. Actually, now that I think about it, I don't really tire of foods in general, even if I eat them every day. Does that make me strange? What can I say... I like what I like! Plus I've been so worn out from work lately that I just haven't had the energy to get creative with dinners. Still, I'm eating my last SP for dinner tonight, and mixing it up over the weekend. The shelf-stable carbs are feeling ignored. And I'm feeling some brown rice love this weekend, and have some ideas for dishes. I'll post pics!

*Tribe Sweet Red Pepper Hummus*: Another reason I've been eating lots of sweet potatoes is because I have very recently and joyously discovered that sweet potatoes + hummus= love and happiness. I'll be using up the rest of my hummus tonight with my last SP... I have it all planned down to a science. Haha. I'll also be dining on salmon (salmon burger from TJs), and steamed broccoli while watching my latest Netflix DVD- disc 2 of season 1 of The Practice. Did anyone else like this show?

*All of my preworkout snack bars this week have been chocolate-based. Chocolate is always a good thing.*

What's everyone up to this weekend? Who'll be watching the Super Bowl on Sunday? I was invited to a party, but I have less than zero interest in football, and the party is like 45 minutes away, so I think I'll take a pass on it!

I'm off to make some dinner and watch me some Dylan McDermott! I'll definitely be reading more of my book tonight too! Reading and watching TV... I know what you're going to say. I am a total party animal. ;-D

Ghost town

2009-01-28T19:26:00.001-05:00

That's the best way I can describe my office today... virtually deserted! We had quite the snowfall overnight, which turned into a combination of sleet and ice in the morning. You know, the really fun stuff. The roads were actually fine, but cleaning off my car was another story. I swear, all the snow fell directly on my car. :-) And my parking lot was virtually an ice skating rink. I had the closest spot possible to my apartment, and getting to it was quite an adventure!

The nice thing about almost no one being in the office is that it's quiet and there's not a lot of work. I had a few projects on my desk to keep me occupied though. And everything turned to slushy rain by afternoon anyway, so the roads were actually fine! I'm terrified of driving in this weather- I can do rain, I can deal with snow, but the ice... that's another story!!! Luckily, that wasn't an issue. Hopefully we can repeat that pattern tomorrow morning. And dare I venture to say- me, of all people- that it wasn't even that cold when I left the gym tonight around 5:45. I know saying that will come back to bite me in the ass tomorrow, and it's going to be frigid cold. I have that kind of luck- I think it comes with being Irish. ;-)

Speaking of Irish, I'm so into my book right now! I hate whenever I have to put it down and focus on other aspects of my life, like working, sleeping, driving, etc. It's that good. Cathy Kelly has this amazing way of drawing you so into the lives of their characters, you definitely feel like you really get to know them, and you find yourself experiencing the emotions they do, going through the good and the bad right there with them. And she's funny. I find myself laughing out loud from something on every other page. I'm so, so glad that I picked this book. I have four Cathy Kelly books- her books are kind of hard to find because she's an international author. Every book of hers I own, I acquired from a used book sale. I've read one so far, and I'm working my way through this one, and the other two are patiently waiting to be read. I'll get to them, don't worry about that!!!! Hence the whole point of "No Book Left Behind", right? ;-D Anyway. If you can get your hands on a Cathy Kelly book and you love chick lit, I strongly suggest you give her a try. You won't be disappointed! Especially if you like British chick lit, like Jane Green and Sophie Kinsella... it's definitely along the same lines of humor... that sly and witty humor, and everyone drinks one too many "pints" at the "pub", and eats "biscuits" and "Indian curry takeaway" and goes on " grand holidays". :-)

Sorry I don't have a more exciting post, other than griping about the weather, LOL. It was just a rather uneventful day. My plans tonight include reading, relaxing, writing in my journal, and getting my Top Chef on. My dinner tonight is simplistic- a sandwich and steamed broccoli and a salad- I have some tuna I want to use up, and salad mix I want to use up, and hummus that I want to use up, and well, just eat in general, because hummus is fabulous. I never ate tuna as a kid, because I despise mayonnaise and anything that has mayo in it, and I always have, so I've always steered clear of tuna and egg salad sandwiches, since they're always based with mayo. But I do like tuna sushi and just in general. And then as an adult who makes her own meals, I've just learned to use substitutes for mayo to make those things, like mustard, sour cream, etc. Kind of sad it took me so long to realize that, huh? I just never really gave it much thought, LOL. So that's dinner. And something fabulous for a bedtime snack. I just haven't decided what yet. We'll see what craving strikes before bed. :-)

Why I love used books so much

2009-01-27T21:42:00.001-05:00

People are always asking me what it is about used books that I love so much. Well, first and foremost, the obvious is that they're a fraction of the cost of brand new books. I watch people drop $25 on a new hardcover book, or $15 for a trade paperback, etc., and that baffles me. I've gotten books that look brand-new, like they've never even been opened, for just a few dollars. But, to each their own. I don't judge. That's just not how I choose to roll, haha.

I don't think I've paid full price for a book in well over ten years. I started in college, going to the local used bookstore in town, where I found a copy of She's Come Undone for maybe $1, and I took it back to my dorm room and just devoured the book. I read it at a really pivotal time in my life, because I was a freshman in college, and struggling a bit to find my way- I was having difficulty making friends because I've always been on the shy/quiet side, classes were harder than I thought they would be, my time management skills weren't quite the greatest just yet, my roommate and I didn't really vibe well together, I was breaking up with a guy from back home, etc. This book... well, it just came along at just the right time, because I was starting to feel like I was coming undone too. To this day, it's still one of my all-time favorite books and will always hold a special place in my heart. :-)

But it's not just about the price or the bargain aspect of a used book. The cool thing about used books, is that each book has a story within themselves. You know? Used books have a history, a personality. They've taken journeys, been places, visited other people. They have a past. And that's before you even open the book. It makes a book special and unique. It gives them character.

I've bought used books with bookmarks already in them. With personalized inscriptions, to people I don't know, from people I don't know, but now I feel like I know them a little bit. I bought a copy of Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister last year (which I still haven't gotten a chance to read- it's on the list!), and you know what was in it? Letters to a girl from her family. I don't know if she'd been away at college, or camp, or what. One was from her younger sister, who wrote to say that she missed her sister, and their parents missed her, and the dog missed her, and that she'd just started school, and was happy to report that the lockers are "too small to be shoved into", and that she's made a lot of new friends. And she put stickers all over the letter, and reminded her sister to wear sunscreen and wanted to know how the lunches were wherever she was. How adorable is that? And there was also a letter from their father, talking about how everyone missed her, and they're still looking for a house, and did she get the pictures that her mother had e-mailed her? I read those letters and could honestly picture the young girl and the father who wrote them, could actually visualize them in my head. I kept those letters. They're still in the book. I plan on keeping them too. It doesn't seem right to throw them away.

And take the book I'm reading now- Just Between Us, by Cathy Kelly. Yeah, I could have bought it on amazon or ebay or a local bookstore. But my copy? For starters, it's from Ireland. There's a price sticker from a bookstore called "Dubray Books", which I googled and it's a bookstore in Dublin. But I could tell it was from abroad because of the price sticker. Instead of a dollar sign, there's a pound sign (the currency, not the #, LOL). This book is autographed by the author. And it has a personal inscription in it, and it says, "Judy- Lots of Love, Jo XOXO. Enjoy! I am reading it too!" I got all that- and a great book to boot- for $1.

And that, my friends, is why I love used books so much.

And now, I'm going to unload the dishwasher and then read all of your lovely blogs. :-)

No fair... I wanna hop on the white chocolate macadamia nut love train too!

2009-01-26T22:00:00.001-05:00

Every blog I visit these days have beautiful pictures of the brand new Clif and Luna White Chocolate Macadamia Nut bars, and everyone's raving about how delicious they are and how they're the best things in the world and they're so sweet and tasty and wonderful, and it's seriously channeling the inner four-year-old brat in me who wants to scream, "No fair!" (Not, um, that I ever did that... I was an extraordinarily well-behaved child with perfect manners all the time who never once threw a temper tantrum. Okay, fine, I wasn't that either. I was somewhere in the middle.)

Where on earth are you all finding these bars???? I've checked their website and don't even see this flavor on there! I haven't seen them in supermarkets either. I haven't been to TJs recently, but I need to take a trip there this weekend so I'll definitely be on the lookout. Hell, I'll even venture to Whole Foods if need be. I ordinarily don't shop there- the one by me is always so crowded- plus I think they're a little on the pricey side- although I admit, some stuff isn't, and is actually even cheaper in some cases. But I digress. Please clue me in!!! I want to get in on the WCM love too!

Enough whining. I am happy to report that I got through Monday relatively unscathed. I was tired and cold most of the day, but that's nothing new. I hope you all had decent Mondays as well!

So I've had to resort to wearing stretch gloves indoors now. My hands have been chapped, cracked, bleeding, and hurting pretty much all throughout winter because of all the dry air. And I'm sick of seeing little tiny spots of blood on my books and paper. I have all sorts of creams and lotions that I've been trying, plus hydrocortisone cream, and some of them don't work at all, and the ones that do work (Aquaphor has been helping the most) are very thick and greasy, so I can't really touch, well, anything when I put it on. So I have resorted to wearing stretch gloves inside, and putting them on after I put on the Aquaphor. I look completely ridiculous- I look like I'm about to go pull a bank heist and I don't want my fingerprints at the scene of the crime- but it's actually working. The gloves are preventing the lotion from being exposed to air, and I think it helps to work it into my hands more because of the same reasons. Plus, it's alleviating the pain- I feel fine- and I can read and write and type and not have to be in pain and stress about bleeding on anything. I'm wearing them as I type right now. This is just one of oh-so-many reasons why I abhor winter immensely. Well, hopefully there's just a few weeks of misery left. In my mind, March 1= spring. I know that's not entirely true, but let me be. :-)

Hey, is anyone else going to watch that new TNT show Trust Me, with Eric McCormack (Will from Will & Grace)? I'm going to go check it out. It's starting, well, now, so on that note, goodnight! :-)

MIA blogger

2009-01-25T18:39:00.001-05:00

Wow... the weekend got away from me! Sorry for the lack of posts; I was too busy having a kick-ass weekend! :-) I spent most of it with my sister... she came up to visit and we saw Bride Wars, which was seriously cute! We went to a matinee- the earliest show that they had, 1:50... and it occurred to both of us that neither one of us had ever been to a movie that early in the day! And I can't remember the last time I went to a movie in the late afternoon/early evening in general... maybe high school? Haha. It's just become more of an evening event for me, I guess! But it was pretty cool to go in the middle of the day. It felt almost a little indulgent. ;-) Plus, it was kinda cool to leave the theater and it was still broad daylight and only 3:30! After the movie we headed to the mall and puttered around there a little bit, then took a quick trip to Wegmans, came back to my place, and chilled for the rest of the night, making grilled chicken wraps for dinner and watching Undeclared. And then today was a bunch of errands, dropping her off, having some bonding time with the elliptical machine at the gym, etc. Oh, and of course reading. My sister is as much as a book fiend as I am, and whenever she comes over we always read. Yes, we read at our slumber parties. No wild games of "truth-or-dare" over at this pajama party! :-D

I still have a bunch of stuff to do tonight to get ready for the upcoming work week- which I pray to God is not nearly as brutal as it was last week... I have some projects lined up, but nothing too stressful or horrible, they're actually projects that I really like working on; plus, they're time-consuming and so they make the day fly by- so this is all I've got for tonight. I barely got to look at anyone else's blogs this weekend and have some serious catching up to do! I hope you all had fun-filled weekends- the emotional high of a great weekend makes it a little bit easier to get up for work on Monday! (At least until you get to your desk, that is!) :-)