#30daysofawesome

i'm totally copying my friend tracy's idea to make this month awesome, like she did for the month of july.  there is an actual website for this "movement" - http://30daysofawesome.com/ - started by a group of awesome-seeking ladies who post their adventures and experiences.  the key is to do or recognize something awesome every day.  while i wish i had the time/money/courage to do crazy things every day this month like jumping out of an airplane, i want to use this idea to motivate myself to try new stuff and appreciate the little awesome things that happen on their own.  so, here we go.  30 (actually 31 because it's august but i want to stay with the theme) of awesome.

day 1 - august 1:  this may seem a little silly to some, but i recently paid off my car and on the first day of this month i received my car title in the mail.  i'm officially a car-owner.  it feels SO good to have that thing paid off.  now let's hope i can continue to drive it for many years. 

day 2 - august 2:  yesterday i was invited to attend a cubs rooftop game with a company that supports the organization i work for.  it was a great time and my first rooftop, which amazes me since i've lived in chicago for 9 years and have attended many cubs games.  great weather, food, drinks, good people.  cubs lost but it was still awesome!

pizza! pizza! (sorta, sorta)

well hello any of you who are reading this after one of my long absences from blogging!  lots has been going on in the last few months.  i've moved in with the bf, been accepted to grad school (starting 8/27!  eek!), and have started going to a personal trainer.  i'm sure there will be future blogs on all of these topics, but what inspired me to blog tonight was - yup, you guessed it - food.  i've been back on weight watchers (yes, again) for about 2 months now, have started working out with a trainer once a week and am happy to report that as of yesterday i am down 10.6 lbs!  i haven't felt too deprived because i still allow myself certain treats (read: wine) and have found a great resource in gina from skinnytaste.  her blog has given me so many great recipes and options for healthy cooking that i've been able to change up what i make without getting sick of things or feeling like i'm eating "diet" food.  

unfortunately, there has been one craving that simply refuses to go away.  pizza.  yummy, sinful, point-laden pizza has been on my mind for weeks now.  i did allow myself some pizza during the weekend the bf and i moved but that was an exception because frankly we were too tired and annoyed to bother cooking.  since then i've been wanting to have it again but self has vetoed me.  for once, i'm glad her bossy ass was able to overrule me.  i was perusing pinterest, aka biggest time suck known to modern woman, and ran across a few pins of cauliflower pizza crusts.  because i'm dying for pizza, i figured i'd give it a go tonight and see exactly how this cauliflower crust measures up.  the result - omg.  i made it tonight and it was SO good.  i'll tell you up front that it doesn't taste like a regular pizza crust but it is pretty tasty and gives you a great base for all of those yummy toppings without all the guilt.  

i adapted a recipe found on eat.drink.smile to be a little more ww point-friendly.  here is my version:


1 cup cooked, riced cauliflower
2/3 cup shredded fat-free mozzarella cheese
2 egg whites
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp crushed garlic
1/2 tsp garlic salt (next time i might replace this with sea salt since i used more crushed garlic than the original recipe called for, but we'll see)
1 T chopped fresh basil
fresh ground pepper to taste



rice the raw cauliflower (i used a hand grater because i don't have the right blade for my food processor), cook in microwave for 8 minutes, stirring halfway through.  let cauliflower cool and squeeze water from it.  mix cauliflower with mozzarella and egg whites.  add garlic, spices and basil.  pat evenly on baking sheet, bake at 450 for 15 minutes.  top with your choice of toppings, return to oven and broil a few minutes until cheese melts.  note:  i would line the sheet with foil and spray some cooking spray on it before spreading the dough.  i sprayed the pan and the crust stuck quite a bit when it was baked directly on it.  next time i will go straight for the foil. easier clean-up, too!

it started out great.  i decided to separate the "dough" into two portions because i wanted to make two different single serving pizzas.  here are the ingredients i prepared for my pizza feast:

because of the problem i had with the crust sticking to the baking sheet, it looked like this when i scraped it off the pan:

i almost tossed it in the garbage and chalked it up to a pinterest failure, but then i tasted a bit of the crust and decided i had to salvage it.  this crust is good enough to just eat on its own!  so i tried to press it back together on the baking sheet (lined with foil this time) and it actually wasn't too bad.  here are the pizzas bc (before cheese):

and after:

i brushed both crusts with a little garlic and basil infused olive oil (only 1/2 T total) and then topped each differently.  on the left is a version of my absolute favorite pizza from pizza express in london - the padana.  it consists of caramelized onions, spinach, red onion and goat cheese. yum. yum. yum.  the pizza on the right has spinach, sliced garlic, tomatoes, chicken and fat free mozzarella.  that's right - i decided to eat 2 kinds of onions and a ton of garlic tonight.  my poor bf.  each pizza was about 5 inches in diameter.  i had to eat this with a fork because the crust was a little soft.  i think if i do a better job of squeezing the water out of the cauliflower before baking next time it will be a little crisper. i also noticed that the leftover pieces were solid enough to pick up and eat by hand so letting the pizza sit for a few minutes before serving could help, as well.

because i'm such a piglet, i forgot to take pics of the finished pies and only have the leftovers to show:

since goat cheese and fat-free mozzarella don't really melt like other cheese, they don't look that different from the pre-broiled pics above.  one or more of those leftover pieces may have also disappeared between the photo and the time this blog was written 2 hours later.  don't judge me.  

a nice arugula salad with cherry tomatoes and shaved parmesan cheese completed the meal:

ok, i'm lying.  the salad was great but a glass of wine would have really completed the meal!  alas, i did not imbibe tonight but will pair this with some vino next time.  i will definitely be making this again.  it's so nice to know i have a healthy pizza alternative now!  

we don't need no stinkin' hashbrowns!

i ran across this recipe via pinterest and HAD to try it.  i found one of the best substitutes for a delicious, carb-loaded, cheesy dish that i feel guilty even thinking about, much less eating.  my friends, i have discovered a comparable substitute for hasbrown casserole thanks to dandy dishes and pinterest.  here's the lowdown - the hashbrown casserole recipe i have calls for hashbrowns (duh), sour cream, lots of cheese, butter, cream of mushroom soup, etc.  put it all together and you have a solid 6 hours on the treadmill to work off a serving.  it's been ages since i've had hashbrown casserole and had filed it away under "recipes i should never eat again but probably will if given the chance".  when i ran across the sub recipe on pinterest i was a little skeptical.  it calls for using spaghetti squash, which i love, love, love, but i wasn't sold on it 100%.  tonight i decided to experiment.  the original recipe from dandy dishes is as follows:

Spaghetti Squash Au GratinServes 6
1 medium spaghetti squash
2 tablespoons butter
1 small yellow onion, cut in half and very thinly sliced
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, or more if you like it spicy
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
½ cup sour cream
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese

Cut the spaghetti squash in half and remove the seeds. Place in a covered dish with a ¼ inch of water and microwave for 10 -12 minutes. In a medium sized skillet over medium heat, add the butter, onions, red pepper and thyme and cook until the onions are slightly brown in color. Salt and pepper to taste.
Using a fork, scrape the insides of the squash and transfer to a small bowl. Combine the squash, onions, sour cream and half the cheese together and mix well. Transfer the mixture to a buttered baking dish and top with remaining cheese.

Place into a 375º for 15 – 20 minutes until golden brown on top.

 

here's a pic of my version:

 

 

 

as it is, each serving equals 4 weight watchers plus points.  when i made it tonight, i revised the recipe a little and found that substituting low fat cheddar, fat free sour cream and cooking spray (instead of butter) made this tasty side come out to 1 little WW+ point per serving!  it's so good and really satisfies any craving for something cheesy and rich.  i'm excited to try variations of this, perhaps with less cheddar and a little blue cheese, or add mushrooms and other veg to make it more of a casserole... the possibilities are endless. 

 

you're welcome.  :)

yum.

in the seemingly never-ending effort to eat healthy, i've been scouring pinterest for yummy recipe ideas.  i ran across a great food blog called skinny taste a while ago but have just recently cooked a couple of things from it.  spurred on by adam's love of this blog i made a chicken dish last weekend and a shrimp dish last night.  the chicken dish turned out ok and i would probably make it again with a few minor changes.  the shrimp dish, on the other hand, was great!  the original recipe (and much prettier picture of the food)  can be found here.  mine looked like this:

i modified the recipe slightly, using smaller shrimp and adding mushrooms.  i also like to substitute spaghetti squash for pasta, which helps tremendously with the carbs and weight watchers points, and it worked great with this dish. 

i calculated the points in weight watchers and it comes out to 5 WW+ points instead of 9 when you use the spaghetti squash.  not knowing how much this recipe would yield, i assumed 4 servings, but i think this was more like 6 or 7 - it makes a ton! - so the points may be even lower.  regardless, a huge serving of 5 point yumminess makes me happy!  the bf loved it, too, and hoovered down two big bowls.  lucky for me i have leftovers!

this recipe is definitely a keeper.  it does give a little kick with the amount of red pepper it calls for, so if you don't like spicy you may want to cut it down or omit it all together.  i think next time i will also saute the shrimp in garlic instead of just olive oil. 

looking forward to more skinny taste recipes!

my new obsession

on saturday, the bf and i joined a few of his friends at a great little place called bottle and bottega.  i had actually bought my mom a gift certificate to use here the next time she and my dad make a trip to chicago, so i was very excited to try it out.  the concept of bottle and bottega is to provide a fun, non-threatening atmosphere for people to try out their painting skills.  you can register for a public event (which is what we did), but they also offer private parties.  it's byob, so you bring your bottle and they provide the space, paint, canvasses, etc. as well as an instructor to walk you through the process of recreating whatever work of art has been chosen for that day.  painters of all levels are welcome and it's great for beginners.

so we showed up with our bottles, donned our aprons and settled in for an evening of painting and drinking.  i admit, i was a little nervous at first.  i have never considered myself artistic in the least, so the idea of me recreating a painting done by a real artist seemed on par with hell freezing over.  but, i was willing to give it a shot and figured between the bf and i, we would at least have two lovely paintings resembling what we would see on the walls of the local elementary school.

for three hours, we filled our glasses and painted along with our instructor's direction while we chatted and listened to fun music.  here is how my painting progressed:

the sketch.....

painting the background....

there were a lot more steps between step 2 and this, but here is my finished painting....

i have to admit, i was very pleasantly surprised with how my painting turned out.  having never picked up a paintbrush before - except for maybe paint by number projects when i was a kid - i didn't really expect much so i was pleased with my results.  it was really fun and i left b&b wanting to paint more. 

yesterday i was at michael's looking for a few things and happened to wander down the paint aisle.  you know where this is going.  i came home with a table top easel, a beginner set of acrylics and brushes, 2 canvasses and a painter's pallet.  i'm dying to set up and try my hand at another painting.  i have a ton to learn but i think i may have found a hobby that i'm really going to enjoy, regardless of whether my skill level every improves.  so in keeping with my theme for 2012, i am going to enjoy painting and am looking forward to taking my mom to b&b this spring/summer!





enjoy.

it's taken me a while but i've decided on my word for 2012 - enjoy.  so often i think to myself, "if i can just get through this week" or "next month will be better", etc.  i feel like i tend to wish away my days, - working to meet a deadline at work, hoping to get through a difficult meeting, looking forward to the next payday - and fail to enjoy each day as it happens, even if nothing major or particularly joyful occurs. 

i remember when i was a kid thinking my parents were crazy when they used to comment about how quickly time goes by.  i just wanted to be older, have more freedom and be an adult.  now that i'm an adult, i'm already looking back and wondering where the last several years have gone and pondering how time will most likely seem to speed up as i get older.  of course, with age comes responsibility and all of the things that make our days slip by unnoticed because we're so busy, stressed and worn out.  i guess i can only speak for myself, but i know i'm guilty of that, anyway.

so 2012 is my year to enjoy.  i want to be sure to enjoy things about each day - snuggling with my kitty, spending time with friends and the bf, pausing to be proud of myself when a project at work goes well, appreciating this great city i live in, etc.  here's to a year of enjoyment!

one little word - 2011 in review

last year about this time i posted about choosing one word to focus on as my theme for the upcoming year.  the word for 2011 was commit, as in "commit to getting healthy, commit to furthering my career path, commit to trying new things and commit to strengthening important relationships, etc."  so how did my year of committing work out?  let's see....

i do feel that i did better with my overall health (though i can't seem to lose any weight!).  i eat pretty healthy in general and feel i've done a better job over the past 12 months than any other year in working out consistently.  i completed my first 5k last spring and have been working out 3-6 times a week.  the bf ended up getting a membership to the indoor tennis center, so i've been fortunate to have the option to play tennis 1-2 times a week even though the lovely chicago weather doesn't typically allow for outside play after september. 

i think i've also been able to strengthen some of the relationships in my life.  i already had a great group of friends and very close ties with my family, but i think the one relationship that really grew was the one with the bf.  not to get sappy or cheesy, but we're in a great place and i've been really happy with him this past year. 

as for the career path, well....  that's an area that i would still like to focus on for 2012.  i'm sure there are things i could/should be doing to improve my skills and expertise, so i need to put a little more attention toward that this year. 

trying new things.... hmmm....  i did travel to a new country (spain), did the 5k (yes, i mentioned it already but it was new for me!), and have tried to experiment with new foods and healthy recipes.  i got a facial for the first time (what a treat!) and learned how to be a responsible pet owner.  none of the new things are earth shattering, but they were new to me.

all in all, i'd say 2011 was a pretty good year and i'm looking forward to 2012.  i'm still deciding what my word will be, but i'll post it soon!

willy the what?

i spent a little time online today looking for christmas gifts (yes, i know christmas is looming and most of you have already finished your shopping.  shutup.) and found a variety of things, as you tend to do on the internet.  looking through a random selection of kids books on amazon, i ran across this and had to do a double take....



that's right, this is the big story of a little sperm.  apparently it's gotten great reviews and is a really sweet story.  whatever. i just sat here and laughed hysterically at the cover for about 5 minutes once i realized that it wasn't a whale or some sea creature, it was in fact a sperm.  my maturity level is obviously less than the age of those this book is intended for, but i thought i would share and give you a giggle today. 

happy shopping!

thankful thursday

i know i probably should have posted this last week on thanksgiving, but quite honestly i was just so busy visiting family, eating good food and enjoying the spirit of the holiday that i couldn't be bothered to log on here and make a list of things for which i'm thankful.  however, a week later here i am contemplating my life and how i really should be more appreciative of the things and people in it.  i've heard so many stories lately that have made me realize the things i complain about - occassional problems finding a parking space on my street, my commute, various work-related issues, not being able to go to london for christmas for the first time in 4 years, having to spend money on dental work, etc. - really aren't that big of a deal in the grand scheme.  i choose to live in chicago therefore i basically choose to live with parking problems and ridiculous commutes.  i may not always be happy at work but at the end of the day i know i've contributed something positive toward helping people affected by a terrible health issue.  i'll have to see my niece and nephew open presents via skype this year but i'll get to see my sis and fam in the spring and will probably go to london next summer.  in turn i get to spend christmas with my parents, bf, and other family.  though it's a big hit to the bank account, i can manage to pay for dental work so that i can have pretty, healthy teeth.  a lot of people can barely afford food, much less porcelain veneers.

recently i've heard the following stories:

- woman, in her mid 30s with a husband and young child, diagnosed with breast cancer that metastasized after several rounds of chemo and radiation.  her prognosis is not good.

- friend who changed jobs 6 months ago and is now being layed off at the end of december

- another friend who has been with her company for 10 years and her position is being eliminated, again by the end of december.  corporate america is awesome at the holidays, isn't it?

- acquaintance of a friend who has worked at her company for 30+ years, has had to take a 33% pay cut and now will most likely have little to no retirement because of the company's financial status.  to top it off, her dad passed away a few days ago.  wonder how much the executives at her large, fortune 500 company are going to have to forfeit in this mess?  i'm guessing it'll be a drop in the bucket compared to her situation.

- woman who lost her husband to alzheimer's disease the week of thanksgiving after several years of acting as his primary caregiver and watching his health and memory painfully deteriorate

- friend of a friend who lost his 23 year old brother to an undetected heart condition that caused a sudden, fatal heart attack.  his funeral was the day after thanksgiving.  luckily his dad's bone marrow transplant a few days prior was successful so he was able to grieve with his family over the loss of his son before returning to the hospital for further cancer treatment.

unfortunately, i could continue with other heartbreaking stories but i'm really not writing this to bring anyone down.  i'm writing this to call attention to the things we take for granted; the things we cherish and love sometimes without realizing it until they are gone.  good health, enough money to pay the bills, family, supportive friends, employment.... all of these are factors of my life that i take for granted more than i care to admit.  so today i'm celebrating thanksgiving and taking a moment to be thankful for every person in my life who i care for, for a crazy cat that makes me laugh every day, for a great bf, for the food i'm able to put on the table, the wine i'm able to drink (duh, of course i'm thankful for wine!), and for self, who - even though she can be an annoying cow - keeps me in check and reminds me to appreciate all that i have.

wonder woman's got nothing on me

the other day, i was perusing online and ran across one of those little formulas for figuring out your super hero name.  i've always said if i could have a super power it would be the ability to turn water into wine, so i was interested to see how this would turn out.  the game called for you to take the color of your shirt and the object sitting to your right and put those two words together.  once i thought about it i could see how this would form names in the same vein as many well-know super heroes such as green lantern, black cat, silver surfer, red skull, green arrow, black canary, black orchid, blue beetle, red ghost, and yellow claw. granted, i didn't expect mine to turn out very cool since the odds of me having a ghost, arrow, skull or claw to my immediate right were slim.

so, here's how it went.  look down at shirt, register color red (i was watching IU basketball, after all, and had to be wearing a hoosier shirt!).  look to immediate right and see glass of wine (of course).  put it together and my super hero name is (most appropriately):  red wine.  that's right, i've always wanted a super power to turn water into wine and now i find out my super hero name is, in fact, red wine.  i'm not sure what supernatural event would have to occur to activate my dormant powers, but i'd say if it ever happens i'll be the hit of every party i attend for the rest of my life. 

yup.

hee hee

my dad, talking to my niece:  "i see you're wearing a watch.  can you tell me what time it is?

my niece, age 5:  "it looks like it's time for mummy to have a glass of wine!"

brilliant child. 

weekend getaway

since i got back from spain in august (i know, poor me, right?), life has been crazy.  fall is the busiest season for me at work for many reasons - walk events, health fairs, workplace giving kickoffs, etc. - and often requires me to work a lot of weekends, extremely early mornings and sometimes evenings.  in addition to work, it's just seemed busy this fall with trying to make time to see family, visit friends and stay caught up on the daily grind like cleaning, errands, and all of those other necessary things.  the bf and i had been talking about going somewhere for a weekend just to get away, so when we saw that groupon had a deal for two nights at the lake lawn resort in wisconsin, we decided to get it and make a weekend of it. 

last friday after lunch and an hour of indoor tennis we got on the road and made the short 2-hour drive up to lake delavan.  our room was huge - a loft with a king bed and two bunks upstairs (way more space than we needed!) and a great little balcony with two rocking chairs.  we had a great view of lake delavan, too.

that night we got dressed up and went to dinner at the resort's upscale restaurant.  after a delicious seafood dinner, we headed to the more low-key pub at the resort for a few after dinner drinks.  the lookout proved to be very entertaining as it was karaoke night and there were some serious singers hitting the stage.  we had a great time singing along and, let's be honest - making fun of some of the crazy singers and songs. 

saturday morning was sunny and clear and we were happy to find that it was unseasonably warm outside.  when we arrived on friday night it was pretty cold and we started thinking we were crazy for going to wisconsin in november!  the bf went on a coffee mission while i was getting ready and came back with a large cup of joe for me.  bless his heart.  we went for a walk around the grounds of the resort and along the lake before leaving to check out the nearby towns of delavan and geneva.  our walk was really pretty and i can imagine how the resort is in the summer with the boat docks out and people everywhere.  it was nice being there in the off-season though, very peaceful and serene.

we drove through delavan and as our server at dinner the night before had warned us, there wasn't much there.  so we headed to geneva, a little town right on lake geneva that is a favorite summer spot for chicagoans.  the town center is a really cute little area with a lot of local shops, the obligatory starbucks, a few watering holes, art galleries and restaurants.  after walking around for a bit we popped into "hogs and kisses", a fun little bar and restaurant that seemed to be a local favorite.  my crab cakes even arrived on a pig-shaped plate! 

after lunch we walked around a little more, stopped for coffee and then headed back to the resort to relax before dinner.  while the bf visited the fitness room and indoor pool, i took a nap.  deciding we wanted to experience more of the local flavor, we set out to find a place to have dinner later that evening.  we didn't make it far before stumbling upon waterfront pub and eatery just down the road from the resort.  waterfront had a band that night and after dinner we relocated to the pub side to enjoy some live music. 

after several songs and a couple more drinks, we headed back to lake lawn resort, hoping to hear another round of karaoke at the lookout.  unfortunately there was no karaoke and the band that was playing was pretty bad so we called it a fairly early night.

sunday we checked out around 11 and made a stop at the outlet mall in pleasant prairie on our way home.  after a couple of hours of shopping we finally finished our journey back to chicago. we both took off on monday, as well, so we had an extra day to relax and enjoy the long weekend.  all in all, we had a great time and i really needed a stress-free weekend away, though i was happy to get back home to my cute kitty. 

happy friday

this morning i am sitting on the couch, sipping coffee with my kitty on my lap while i catch up on last night's tv shows.  later i'm going with the bf to play tennis at the indoor tennis center and then we're off to wisconsin until sunday.  i'm also off on monday and am really happy to have a four-day weekend.  it will be nice to get away, even if it is wisconsin in november!  i just wish i could take this little girl with me....

home for the holidays

normally this would be the time of year that i'd be posting with excitement and announcing that i had purchased my ticket to london for christmas.  the last few years i have spent two weeks over the christmas festivities with my sister and her family in jolly old england.  unfortunately due to financial circumstances this year, i am not going to be able to make my annual trip.  (insert huge sigh of disappointment)

upon learning that i was most likely not going to be able to visit this year, my niece and nephew jumped on skype and offered me the sweetest solutions.  the conversation went like this:

evan (age 3):  "tia, no christmas?!" (with big shrug and sad face)
me:  "no, evs, i'm sorry but this year i don't think i'm going to be able to make it."
evan: "oh tia..." (big sigh of disappointment and he vanishes from the screen)
cue amelia:
amelia (age 5 going on 37):  (with very serious face) "tell me tia, is it the expense?"
me: (trying not to laugh at her sounding like my personal financial advisor) "yes, actually.  it's very expensive to buy plane tickets"
amelia:  (with a sigh of relief as if i had told her to solve a simple problem like closing the door or turning off the tv) "tia, i have LOADS of money.  and i will give it all to you!"
me:  (trying not to start sobbing) "that's so sweet but i just don't know if you have enough and i don't want to take all of your money"
cue evan running back into the room:
evan: "tia!" (shoving his piggy bank into the picture)
amelia:  "now you have money from BOTH of us.  you can come now, right tia? i mean, it's tradition!"

and so it went until my sister had to finally tell them that while it was very nice to offer me their money it just wouldn't be enough.  we finally came to terms with the fact that i'll be getting up in the middle of the night with nana and boppy in indiana and we'll be opening christmas presents via skype this year. 

i'm going to feel odd not heading to o'hare and jumping on a plane this december.  it's going to be strange to wake up on christmas morning and not see those little faces so eager to burst into the living room and see if santa brought them presents in the night.  i won't be wearing paper crowns, fighting my sister's tree to get the lights on, doing last-minute shopping, or spending christmas eve eating chinese and drinking mulled wine while wrapping gifts and watching "love actually".  but i will get to spend christmas with my parents this year, which will be nice.  and i'll be in town for my friend jill's birthday on the 27th, which i always miss.  i'll get to bring the bf home and introduce him to the rest of the fam he hasn't yet met.  i won't have to worry about jet lag or flight delays.  it'll still be a nice holiday, even if i'm not in london.  and i know my sis and fam are coming to visit in early april, so that helps.  we'll be able to celebrate my niece's birthday in chicago this year - something i've never been able to do with her before! 

so all in all, the holidays will be great, just different.  hopefully i'll be able to resume the tradition next year!

bless his cotton socks

about a year ago i was in the first few months of a relationship and had started to notice some of the bf's quirks that amused/annoyed/baffled me and wrote about them here.  fast forward to now and the relationship is still great, but he still manages to do things that completely confuse me.  here is a prime example:

that, my friends, is what my toothpaste looked like when i opened my cabinet the other day.  i've started using sensodyne since my recent dental debacles, leaving the crest for the bf when he feels the need to brush his teeth at my place.  it seriously looks like he wadded it up and threw it back onto the shelf.  why would one need to crumple up the toothpaste like this?!  we all know that squeezing it from the bottom flattens it out nicely and pushes the paste to the top.  all i can say - bless his cottons.  i'll never understand these things but at least he amuses me.

surprise!

the past month has been a whirlwind.  getting ready for vacation, spending nearly two weeks in beautiful espana (separate vacation blog with pics to come), then back to the grind and trying to catch up on work, grocery shopping, cleaning, catching up with the bf and friends, etc.  it's been crazy town around here. 

knowing my dad's birthday was coming up less than two weeks after i got back from vacation, i assumed i wouldn't really want to travel out of town again that soon and was just planning to send a card and make a happy birthday phone call.  however, early last week as i was addressing the card and affixing the stamp, i thought to self, "maybe i could just drive down for the weekend..."  surprisingly self agreed (she doesn't usually) and added, "well, we are off work friday afternoon and could be down there by dinner time."  i texted my mom and told her i was thinking of coming down to surprise my dad on his birthday and she said that would be great.  the bf also happened to have friday off and wanted to come along and just like that, the plan was made.

luckily for me, my two dear friends work for an airline and happened to have extra buddy passes, so the bf and i were able to fly to and from SDF instead of making the 5 hour drive each way.  that was such a nice change to the trip and really, really made it more enjoyable.  thanks a&g! 

my dad had no idea we were coming, though he finally figured it out when they had to park at the airport and come in to wait for us since our flight was running just a little behind schedule.  but up until that point, he had no clue.  it was so fun to surprise him and then go out for a nice dinner in louisville with my parents.  we had some great food at the makers mark lounge and then some post-dinner drinks at ri-ra, which was a favorite watering hole of mine when i lived in charlotte so i had to check out the new one in the ville!  saturday some of my parents' crazy (in a good way) friends met up with us and we all went to a local art fair.  that night we grilled out and had lots of cocktails out on the porch.  sunday we got to hang out with my parents more and finally left for the airport around 4pm. i think we helped make my dad's birthday a great time! 

jim and lyn at ri-ra: (the pic is a little grainy because it was dark in the pub)

snaggletooth

on saturday i was innocently eating a popcorn chip, which adam described in delicious detail here, when i felt an unusually hard crunch against my teeth.  i immediately spit out what was in my mouth (gross, i know) to find that half of a porcelain veneer had broken off of one of my top teeth.  luckily, half of the veneer stayed in tact and was protecting my tooth from being sensitive to heat or cold, so i made it through the weekend being very careful not to chew or bite down on the right side of my mouth. 

on monday i called around to six different dentist offices attempting to get in with someone asap.  luckily for me, i was able to get in tuesday morning as a new patient with dr. lee, who is my new favorite person.  i spent 3 1/2 hours with dr. lee and staff and walked out of there with a brand new shiny veneer, a process i had assumed would take 1-2 weeks from start to finish.  given the fact that i'm leaving the country next week, i was very, very relieved to have the veneer replaced in a single day. 

finding out the price, however, was not a happy moment for me.  i was given an estimate as soon as we decided on a course of treatment and found out that my lovely dental insurance does not cover any amount toward cosmetic procedures.  awesome.  dr. lee's office manager was great, though, going through payment options with me and helping me find a workable solution.  so, without further ado, here is what a $1000 tooth looks like:

planes, trains and automobiles

i've been planning a vacation to the spanish coast since february.  there are 8 adults and 3 kids going, so the planning has been pretty extensive trying to coordinate dates, flights, other transportation, accommodations, side trip to madrid, etc.  after a lot of research and money, we're booked and ready to go.  aside from a few final details that we need to confirm, we are spain-bound in 10 days! 

getting to the house where we're staying just outside of torrevieja is going to be an adventure.  fly to philly from chicago, 3 1/2 hour layover.  8 hour flight to madrid, 3 hour wait for train.  3 hour train ride to alicante.  get to alicante airport to meet up with my sister and her family, travel by bus and then taxi or just by private shuttle (we're still in the process of planning that part) to the house.  all in all, we're looking at over 24 hours of traveling by the time we arrive from the US to our destination in spain.  whew!  i need a glass of sangria just thinking about it! 

but it will be well worth it.  i'm so excited to be traveling with adam, gary, and our good friend melissa.  the four of us could have fun in a paper bag, so i'm sure we'll have a great time.  i'm a little sad that the bf can't go, but it works out well for me because he'll be here in chicago to watch my kitty.  i'm going to owe him some good souvenirs for this one. 

we will be 1/3  mile from punta prima beach, which looks a little something like this....

the house we are renting also has a rooftop terrace with a hot tub (not sure we'll be using that a whole lot since it gets pretty hot in spain in august, but who knows!), a private tiled garden area, a shared pool and enough space for all of us to have beds, which is actually a more difficult thing to find than you'd imagine.  as of now there is zero rain in the forecast for the time we're there so i can definitely foresee a lot of beach and pool time.  good thing i just stocked up on sunscreen yesterday! 

i'm really looking forward to some yummy sangria, tapas and paella, as well as some home-cooked meals prepared by those in our group who actually like to cook (adam, paul - hint, hint).  we are also taking tennis racquets, so hopefully we can get in a few tennis games during the trip.  i'm sure there will be lots of euchre games in the evenings as well as some nights out on the town.  a day trip to alicante is most likely in the cards and the US crew will finish our trip with a quick whirlwind tour of madrid. 

the driving force behind all of this was discussion with my sister and her hubby about this summer and my plans to visit them when i was in london with them for christmas.  we figured since i have to travel quite a long distance anyway, why not just make it a new destination?  that way they can have a vacation and i can see them while still visiting a new place and getting in some beach time.  add in some additional friends, sunshine and ocean and voila!  vacation is born.  in addition to hanging out with friends and seeing my sister and brother-in-law, i'm super excited to spend time with these two little mokeys:

i just want to enjoy the trip, come back feeling relaxed and refreshed and ready for any new adventures that may come my way (as long as they don't cost me any money)!

hurry up and wait

have you ever thought about how much of our lives we spend waiting?  wait for the bus, train, cab.  wait for the light to change.  wait in traffic.  wait in lines everywhere.  wait for a table at a restaurant and then wait for your food and the check.  wait for other people to arrive at a meet-up point.  wait to see the doctor and dentist.  wait for your diagnosis of a clean bill of health or life-changing news.  wait for the stick to show + or -.  wait to give birth.  wait for your car while it's being repaired.  wait to hear back from a job interview (or 4).  wait for your laundry.  wait for feedback on a project or report.  wait on hold for the cable company.  wait for the coffee to brew.  wait for commercials to finish to get back to your show.  wait to get out of the parking garage.  wait for a package to be delivered.  wait for the store to sell alcohol at a designated time on sunday. 

i could go on and on and on, but the point is - we spend a ridiculous amount of time waiting for things.  of course, certain things like giving birth give you a 9 month wait to get ready for the new baby and waiting for your laundry or the coffee isn't a big deal because you can just keep yourself busy with other things in the meantime.  we're used to waiting for appointments and in traffic, though those things grate on the nerves. 

i've been wondering lately how i can reduce and/or maximize the time i spend waiting.  should i take up a hobby to kill the time?  or will i just have to wait in line at michael's and then wait in traffic to get home to start said hobby?  i usually keep myself entertained waiting at the doctor's office or auto shop by reading or playing games on my phone, but what about the other types of waiting - the ones that take days, weeks, sometimes months and drive you close to crazy?  for example - the job search.  you interview, then wait.  they call for a second interview, you wait for that day to come, interview, then wait.  they call for a third interview, you wait for that day, interview, then wait.  that process can be excruciating!  same thing, though with much more serious implications, as you wait for a diagnosis from your doctor.  go to first appointment, find out something is off.  get scheduled for tests, wait for date of testing, get tests, wait.  receive call with test results, need additional tests and specialist, make those appointments, wait for appointments, go to appointments, wait for results.  get results, which hopefully are good, but may find out you need additional appointments, ongoing health checks, etc. waiting to find out how your diagnosis will progress over the course of time is a particularly evil form of waiting and never fully leaves the back of your mind.

so again, i ask - how do you minimize/maximize waiting??  i can do things to temporarily take my mind off of certain things, try a different route to work with - hopefully - less traffic, occupy myself with books, tv, phone calls, tennis, etc. during waiting time, but i want to know how i can clear my mind and not let the waiting for the big things get to me.  any suggestions?  i'd love to hear them.  and yes, a lobotomy is out of the question.