something like that

you know the feeling when you’re standing outside and your toes are nearly frozen and then you head indoors and your toes start to tingle and come back t life?  you know the feeling when you slurp some hot cocoa and you feel the liquid warm the path directly to your belly?  you know the feeling when you get into a hot shower and you stand under the scalding water and you never want to get out?

that’s how it feels when i’m reunited with my college bff’s.

lindsay is the warmth to my piggies.  ok, no, this analogy absolutely will not work.  but.  lindsay is the best.  and i only hope that you all know the warmth of a friendship that can endure crazy college days and the tumult of your twenties.  and keep going.  just like a bottomless mug of hot cocoa.

or some other analogy like that.

perfectly not normal

how can a woman be expected to be happy with a man who insists on treating her as if she were a perfectly normal human being?

-oscar wilde, have you even read the picture of dorian gray?!

thanks a lot

and today i’m thankful for…

• drugs.  good ones.  thanks to those aleve liquid gels i can hardly feel the throbbing in my right bum.  the hazards of distance running and a desk job.
• working from home.  i just had a full on dance party (it’s the drugs).
• country music.  i’m diggin’ it.  download jason aldean’s “flyover states” and/or eric church’s “springsteen” for a taste.
• the sun.  on dreary days like today i almost forget what it looks like.  but, as they say, it’ll come out again.  tomorrow?
• friends feeling restless.  i have three friends coming through town this weekend.  makes me happy like a big, old, snuggly bear hug.

image via 

sweet birthday wishes

this morning was all about grandma.  and me.  and my love of chanel.  but this afternoon is all about another special lady in my life.  because today is not just grandma’s birthday.  today is also aunt mary lee’s birthday.

i am convinced she’s the reason i love sparkly things (she is a jewelry designer in her spare time) and sweet potato casserole (hers is heavenly).  and though i don’t get to see aunt ml nearly enough, i hope she knows i’m thinking of her…and her sweet potato casserole…today.

happy birthday aunt ml!

on the edge

i’m a law & order: svu fan.  it really gets my blood pumping.  but this morning i was literally on the edge of my seat watching another thriller: the chanel couture 2012 fashion show.  it’s action packed.  and no one dies.  so that’s a good thing.

a part of it all

this post is about grandma r.  but first, let me talk about myself for a moment…

i have been single for over a year now.  one year, 1 week, and 2 days if you’re keeping track at home.  i have settled into my own little life.  with my own little routine.  my own little quirks and needs and habits.  i do what i want, when i want, how i want.  i can pick up and leave the city.  i can hunker down and watch back to back to back episodes of say yes to the dress while reading harper’s bazaar and eating raw cookie dough.  i can wake up at 5:06 a.m. and hit the snooze button 12 times before going to early morning track practice.  i can eat tofu.  i can spend every last cent i have on frivolous and fancy footwear.

but before you think i’m going to die alone, peanut butter jar in hand, know that i love my single life but i also constantly feel the need to nurture others.  sometimes i suffocate sarah with my maternal tendencies.  i mother my own mom on occasion.  i think i know what’s best for everyone- and what’s best is usually fresh from the oven and full of oozing, goozing chocolate chips.  that or a good swig of bubbly.  i own more aprons than julia childs and i  feel most valuable when i’m helping someone fix a problem.  i know one day i’ll be one heck of a super mom.  because i kind of already am (except without the children).

and here’s how i know that.  because this is exactly how i’d describe my grandma r.

the story goes that when grandma was a young school girl she was confused by the other kiddos sharing their families’ backgrounds.  irish, italian, german, english.  grandma didn’t know her heritage.  so she asked her mom.  ”you’re a yankee!” she proclaimed.  she’s tough as nails, a little stubborn, and independent as the 4th of july.  she’s certifiably old but has the spirit of a whipper snapper half her age- sometimes she even tires me out.  she’s opinionated and steadfast but emails sarah and me every week with gossip of our hometown.  she’s a yankee.

and yet she’s probably one of the most nurturing people i know (save for that time i was a kiddo and uncle jim dislocated my shoulder and grandma refused to take me to the hospital until i’d finished my ice cream).  as kids we spent nearly every sunday at grandma’s house.  she nursed us through the chicken pox while my parents were sunning themselves on a beach in mexico.  slumber parties included fresh from the microwave “pupcorn” and beauty pageants wherein grandma would bang away on the piano and sing the miss america theme song while sarah and i paraded down the stairs in our nightgowns evening gowns.  she’s not a hugger but we force them on her anyway, and she forces all-we-can-eat christmas cookies and peanut m&m’s on us.

so here i am today, on grandma’s birthday, plowing my own way, making my own rules, while showering those i care about with the warm, fuzzies.  i hope i have the yankee fight inside.  but i hope i can soften those rough edges and care for others.  one part bull, one part teddy bear.  one part yankee, one part mother hen.

and that’s all grandma.

happy birthday to my biggest fan, from yours.  happy birthday, grandma r!  enjoy this snippet from glee that (i think) was written just for you.

in a jif-fy

i almost don’t know myself anymore.  i didn’t know until just now, 2:05 p.m., that today is national peanut butter day!  holy moly.  i did not even know.  until just now.  thanks to my clicking on to the huffington post.  here’s what i learned about peanut butter and why i will be jiffing something up this evening:

it’s heart healthy

according to some doctor one serving of p.b. contains 12.3 grams of unsaturated fat (along with 3.3 grams of saturated fat, but that’s neither here nor there).  unsaturated fat is the good fat, and this ratio makes peanut butter’s fat akin to that of olive oil, which is known to be heart healthy because unsaturated fat lowers the nasty ldl cholesterol and the risk of heart disease.  unsaturated fatten me up!

potassium

potassium also reduces the risk of heart disease.  yay!  the huffington post claims that a 2010 study found consuming 4.7 grams of potassium had the same effect as cutting 4 grams of sodium.  though potassium is also salt, it’s good salt and helps combat arthritis, cancer, digestive problems and infertility.  looks like i’m going to live forever.

fill me up

peanut butter keeps you full.  and i don’t need a study to know that much for sure.

i’m cheap

though i constantly stagger from the price of a jar of the nutty stuff, it’s only about 30 cents per serving, making it a pretty pocket-friendly protein/fiber/folate/magnesium/vitamin e source.  i’ll take two.

this is your brain on butter…

the butter has nearly 4.3 milligrams of niacin, which helps in preventing cognitive decline.  a study of men in chicago proved that men who consumed 22 milligrams of niacin per day were 70% less likely to develop alzheimer’s.  and i’ll remember that!

and while i’m thinking about it.  i think i’ll bake a batch of buddy bars tonight in honor of national peanut butter day.  now who’s the buddy that’s going to help me eat them?

cooler and cooler

share this around the water cooler:

it’s couture week.  which may or may not explain why i’m a little sluggish at work and/or dreaming of crinoline and hoop skirts.  the brain just can’t handle all the excitement.

via the business of fashion

vintage dior couture (2007)

case of the monday’s: meat free’s the way to be!

one of the fantastical beauties of working from home is i can indulge in any variety of entertainment while i work.  i can whistle.  i can talk to myself.  i can listen to music louder than the screaming police sirens outside.  or i can tune in to daytime talk shows.

i’m not sure why i didn’t realize this earlier.  it probably had something to do with the fact that i traveled for about the first 3 months of my life in d.c. and wasn’t near a television.  but now that my bottom has settled into my desk chair and i’m hibernating in my “office” for 8 hours every day, reading until my eye balls bleed, it’s great to have a little human interaction.  even if it’s just me talking to elizabeth hasselbeck on the view.

today i caught an episode of the chew, a new afternoon talk show focused on food and entertaining and hosted by mario batali, clinton kelly (from what not to wear) and carla kelly of top chef fame.  in theory, it’s a great idea for a talk show.  in execution, not so much.  there’s not enough personality and there’s too much going on.  also, it’s kind of a disgusting name for a television talk show.  regardless.

today the chew crew was talking about the merits of having “meatless mondays,” an idea that i first heard about from my spiritual leader, gwyneth paltrow.  it’s a relatively simple idea: you have meatless mondays.  got it?  i do.  and that’s why i’ve also got a block of extra firm tofu marinating in my fridge.  it’s also why i’ve got “how to cook tofu” sitting in my google search bar.  i’ve no idea what to do with the stuff.

i was a vegetarian for about a year back when i still shopped at limited, too and thought that eating french fries for dinner was my little way of saving animals from slaughter.  the thought of black beans was terrifying and tofu made me tremble.  i was not a very good vegetarian.  but i’ve become a better eater as the years go by.  and by better i mean that i have black beans in my pantry…next to oreo’s.  i’m not ready to ditch the bad, but i am ready to weave some more good into my lifestyle.

now let’s just hope this tofu marinating in my fridge is good.  but if not, there are always the oreo’s.

crazy

getty images

does no one stay together any more?