Friday Favorites: Book Worm
I’m a book worm and all this cold weather has made me want to curl up and read even more. (If that’s possible). I generally read books 2-3 at a time and try to find a good balance between fiction and informative reads. I have even discovered that the two surrounding library systems around me have quite a selection and for FREE! (Even better, I’ve been known to drop some serious green at Barnes & Noble and Malaprops)
Without further adieu, the three books on my nightstand or in my tote back right now:
1. Mr. Maybe by Jane Green. I love Jane Green and one of the local libraries has quite collection. I own a few but it’s been great to discover new (to me) selections. I just finished The Beach House which I loved.
2. The Curse of the Good Girl by Rachel Simmons. Simmons explores that while raising polite, nice and respectful girls is okay (she’s not knocking it!) we (as a society) need to remember to include self confidence and courage so our girls can make it in this chaotic world. Due to my Middle School education background and as someone who was bullied in grade school, I do a lot of self study on children, adolescents and why they behave the way they sometimes do. Children of all ages are often misunderstood, and I want to become more well versed in relating to them.
3. 8 Steps to a Pain Free Back by Esther Gokhale, L.Ac. Ever since my too straight of spine diagnosis a few weeks back, I’ve also been self studying in everyday methods to have better posture and stretch more.
What’s on your reading list?
Happy Friday Readers!
Friday Favorites: What’s in my bag?
If you know me well, you know the story my mother tells me of being “her little bag lady” when I was a toddler. She will tell you that I could not go anywhere without my bag of things. I’ve been told that these ranged from my favorite book of the week to a ratty beloved stuffed animal. It was very important that I had my bag with me at all times; my mother never discounted my early sense of the knowing the power that certain things belonged to me. So here I am in my late 20s and I never leave the house without a bag and sometimes several. I enjoy tote bags and my J.Crew Madras small tote bag has gotten a lot of ware as of late.
Photo from J.Crew
Favorite Bag Items:
1. Blackberry Curve (I love this phone, love it even more since I am using the phone part more with my hiatus from Facebook)
2. MyAgenda from MomAgenda (I have a calender on the BB but there is some thing amazing about being able to write everything down)
3. Smith’s Rosebud Salve (best lip balm EVER)
4. Oliver People’s Sunglasses (these cost a pretty penny but I will keep them forever)
5. Change (for meters, helping out a stranger who’s short on a nickle, dime, etc)
What’s in your bag?
Happy Friday Readers!
Tantalizing Thursday: Fabulous Breakfast
Who says Sunday breakfast has to be boring? Especially the weekend of Valentine’s Day and preceding Mardi Gras?! Meet two of my favorites:
Casa Vinicola Canella Blood Orange Mimosa
Chocolate Croissants from Williams Sonoma
When paired together, it is amazing! But very indulgent, and a great and special treat!
Happy Thursday!
Wednesday Wisdom: Happiness…it Happens
“Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort.” ~Franklin D. Roosevelt
What makes your happy? A few years ago as I pounded the political pavement in Washington DC, I thought that made me happy. The overeating, 3 plus trips to Starbucks on a daily basis and happy hour nearly everyday seemed normal for a young professional trying to make her way in the world of politics. After all, I WAS using that BA Degree in Political Science right? I mean I was president of the UNCC College Democrats for two years, I could do anything…WRONG!
After a year, I had enough. I wasn’t happy, I was in a state of pure misery. I was a young woman working for a powerful woman’s organization and I was getting my butt kicked and confidence blown by coworkers who were supposed to be “inspiring me”. Call it the political version of “The Devil Wears Prada” except this devil wasn’t nearly as well dressed as Meryl Streep’s character. In fact I am pretty sure I dressed better. At one point she even suggested I accompany a box of t-shirts to NYC that wasn’t shipped on time for an event via the US Airways shuttle from DCA to LGA. She realized very quickly that would be a huge waste of money. Granted the job provided some great street smarts and skills that I still use today. For instance, I can find ANYTHING. I am a gopher. Why? Because when I worked for said organization, not finding whatever I was asked to find wasn’t an option. I had to find it…
I digress…as I sat enjoying my friend’s Nashville wedding I realized South was where I needed to be. The next weekend my brothers appeared with a Uhaul and my plane ticket back South. I haven’t looked back since…
The South makes me happy:)
This blog makes me happy, YOU (READER) make me happy!
Happy Wednesday!
Mardi Gras and Lent Commitments
Happy Mardi Gras other wise known as Fat Tuesday. The deifiton courtesy of Wikipedia: The terms “Mardi Gras” (pronounced /ˈmɑrdi grɑː/), “Mardi Gras season“, and “Carnival season“, in English, refer to events of the Carnival celebrations, beginning on or after the Epiphany and ending on the day before Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras is French for “Fat Tuesday” (in ethnic English tradition, Shrove Tuesday), referring to the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which started on Ash Wednesday.
Now, I am not Catholic but I do tend to indulge in certain things a lot that prevent me from doing more healthier activities which led me to actually commit to giving something up for Lent. I went back and fourth and narrowed it down to cocktails and sweets (cake, candy, cookies, etc.,). My mother told me because she will probably still be living under the same roof as me that I could not give up both or she would have to move out;) I easily can stop drinking at any given moment so I chose sweets.
This is going to be very very hard…in fact in honor of this commitment, I bought a bag of M&Ms on Saturday…they are gone…
Wish me luck readers…What are you giving up? Or what would you give up if you absolutely had to for 40 days and nights?
Happy Tuesday!
Monday Musings: Letting go can be hard…
Letting go is hard but in terms of snow, I am ready to let go. Seriously, I have a massage booked tomorrow with Zach Comer (a once a month indulgence that I allow myself even in this recession) and if the snow ruins that, I am going to be mad. But I digress…
I mentioned in my last Friday Favorites that I am thankful for feelings. I am pretty instinctive when it comes to my life and I am getting better about listening to those inklings. I won’t go into full details here but I am going to have to quietly let some things and people go from my life. I am a good person. I give my whole heart to a lot of things and people and I expect the same things in return. I am sick of hearing that my expectations are too high and I get disappointed because of it. I am allowed to have high expectations, I have been through too much not too! Plus, I am a Virgo. Virgos are highly critical and have high expectations! I understand that people sometimes don’t have time to keep in touch or call or e-mail or whatever. That is fine; I have very close friends who operate like that and because I know that about them, I accept that about them. But I have way too many people in my life that I fight to keep there and they offer nothing in return. I am better than that. I deserve a little better than nothing…
Seriously…save your BS for someone else…
It’s time to cut you loose…as hard as it is.
Why is it so hard?
Friday Favorites:
In honor of a tough two weeks I have had, I wanted to list 5 great things I am grateful for this week:
1) Feeling better. I battled a tough stomach bug/food poisoning deal and I would not wish that stuff on my worst enemy. Pure misery:(
2) Followers: I sometimes loose faith that no one visits my lovely place on the web since I am still new to all this. This week saw an increase not only in Twitter friends but subscribers as well. And I got to follow/subscribe to some awesome new bloggers as well! Thank you all!!
3) Feelings: The downtime I have had this week has really allowed me to pay attention to some gut feelings I have been having lately. I am going to have make some decisions but I feel good about them:)
4) Friends: My friends are awesome. Enough said:)
5) Faith: I have always had faith and I believe that is grounds me. I’ve been reminded about the power it holds this week and I am grateful:)
I hope you had a great week and have an even better weekend!
Best,
Tantalizing Thursday: Chili for surviving the BIG CHILL
It’s cold; I mean really cold. I hope everyone who is reading this is safe, warm and surrounded by loved ones (whether furry or human or both). I’m from Ohio but after living in the South for 5 years, my blood has gotten way thinner. With these hard economic times, my mom and I look for ways to make healthy, home cooked comfort foods that can last several meals. She’s always been a master of throwing things in a large saucepan and making some magic. I didn’t really appreciate it until I had to move back in with her. I almost feel like I am getting a second chance at learning all her tricks so when this boomerang child can be thrown out into the world again, I can fend for myself. Anyhow in honor of all this chill in the air, I bring you Momma’s Chili Recipe. It’s no big secret and variations are easily accommodated. Please keep in mind according to my mother, this recipe is very “loose” meaning you have a lot of room to do your own thing and the outcome depends on your personal taste. Enjoy!
Basic Ingredients:
3-4 cloves of fresh garlic minced
butter (enough to cook garlic and ground meat in)
Ground Chuck (Beef, Turkey, whatever)-3 lbs will make a big ole pot to last for a bit.
Tomato Sauce (amount depends on amount of meat used)
Spices (amount and type depends on your taste/liking)
Salt + Pepper
Chili Powder
Red Pepper
Nutmeg
Cinnamon
Instructions:
Melt butter and garlic together in sauce pain on low to medium heat.
Add ground meat (or no meat/meat substitute)
Add meat to tomato sauce and cook/simmer until desired temperature is reached.
Add additional spices (listed above) to taste.
Unused chili can be frozen and re-simmered when desired.
Stay Warm!
Monday Musings: I’m a believer
“It was all meant to be. It was all destiny,” said Drew Brees
I am not a big football fan and when faced with having to choose a team, I generally choose based more on where my heart leads me. The city of New Orleans has been through the ringer, it was pretty big deal that the Saints made it to the Superbowl for their first time. I know most of you agree with me that they deserved this win and they worked for it. Despite football not being my favorite sport, I have never seen such a game. When Porter ran for that touchdown, I was on my feet. And when that last 30 seconds crept along with the Saint’s victory already secured, I was a believer. And nothing warmed my heart more then seeing a teary eyed Drew Brees holding his son.
Photo: Barton Silverman/The New York Times
BTW, Carrie Underwood’s outfit? The jury is still out on that for me. But at least the girl actually sang the song and well! What do you think?
Photo from Gather.com
At any rate, between the movie The Blindside and yesterday’s amazing performance by The Saints, I may in my late 20s finally starting to understand the magic of football. If only I could understand the scoring a bit better…is there a Book for Dummies on that?
Have a great Monday and thanks so much for reading!
Friday Favorites: Old standbys with new favorites
Happy Friday! I hope you are safe, warm, dry, etc. This is the 3rd snow/ice storm for WNC and it’s getting old real quick. Since I was called off from substituting this morning, I took some time to explore J.Jill, Land’s End, L.L. Bean, Talbots and Anne Taylor LOFT. And I am IMPRESSED! Clearly, I did not get the memo that these already fantastic companies got some new flair for the new year! Check it out below:
(they are having awesome sales right now…GO GO!!!)
Land’s End FeelGood V-neck Stripe Cardigan Sweater
(One of the most user friendly clothing websites I’ve seen)
L.L. Bean Snowflake Accessory Set
(classy, casual, cute=enough said)
Talbots Check Print Silk Blouse
(Um I heart Talbots now?!)
LOFT (Anne Taylor) Stripe Ruffle Tunic
(LOVE)
Have a safe and warm weekend!
