Diary of a Deviant Housewife

otherside

2012-02-02T13:58:00.004-06:00

I know this isn't a new song, but I've been singing it a lot lately, and somehow it's turned into the refrain in my head at night when I'm drifting off to sleep, something to keep thoughts from turning around and keeping me alert, when counting breaths doesn't work. The words are pretty beautiful, haunting, and sad.

[fyeahtattoos.com]

friends with benefits

2012-01-31T08:47:00.004-06:00

I really didn't expect to love this movie, but it is my new favorite romantic comedy. So much so that after I rented it I actually bought it too, and I haven't purchased a movie for myself since Netflix was born. It's a cute, funny, lighthearted - but not stupid, New York movie to put on when you are feeling blah or just need some familiar background noise. I've already watched it three times.

Probably doesn't hurt that I love Mila Kunis and JTL. This photo shoot they did for ELLE is one of my favorites:

rome 2010

2012-01-30T10:13:00.003-06:00

kirsten

2012-01-29T10:16:00.000-06:00

love her, and her short dark nails here. [found via]

Pismo Beach

2012-01-29T09:36:00.001-06:00

Wild pelicans covering the hills on our road trip a few years ago:

elizabeth

2012-01-26T08:27:00.004-06:00

I finally finished reading Elizabeth I, and the end was actually pretty gripping - I couldn't put it down until I finished! In honor, I watched (for the first time) Elizabeth and Elizabeth: The Golden Age as part of my epic movie weekend. I enjoyed both, although the second one was more historically inaccurate, and actually pretty unbelievable. (If you watch these, at lease read the movies' wikipedia sections on dramatic license for a brief rundown of what is and isn't true in each film.)

Cate Blanchett is genius as the queen. The casting for her favorites, Dudley and Raleigh, was great - I liked them much more in the movies than when reading the books. But I hated the way Mary, Queen of Scotts, was cast and portrayed.

Joseph Fiennes as Robert Dudley

Clive Owen as Walter Raleigh

english monarchy

2012-01-13T11:19:00.002-06:00

Right now, I am quite obsessed with the British monarchy and I do not mean Wills and Kate.

I had to get this book after watching The Young Victoria:

Then I moved onto The Tudors, what a fascinating family. The first two-thirds of the book were great, but it got a little sloppy with Elizabeth I:

So, now I'm in the middle of a big book about Elizabeth I. It's possible that I just don't care for her as a historical figure, because while I couldn't put down the first two books, this one I'm stalled at about 30% through.

I never dreamed I would enjoy reading historical non-fiction, but I really love it.

kate

2012-01-08T11:16:00.000-06:00

How weird it must be to see pictures of your young self everywhere.

laura mercier

2012-01-06T11:15:00.002-06:00

I am a plain soap kind of girl, Dove Sensitive Skin Beauty Bar to be exact. I've used it for years, and always carry it with me when we travel. But, this pistachio body scrub from Laura Mercier could change all that. I got a little tube of it as a free gift with makeup purchase, tried it and am hooked.

It smells nutty and sugary, exfoliates wonderfully, and doesn't clash scent-wise with my cocoa butter body lotion.

pioneer building

2012-01-05T11:16:00.005-06:00

Countdown to moving! I'm excited about starting over in a new city, but this is the longest I've lived anywhere except my hometown. Things I will miss, dearly, about our lovely little apartment include our view of the pioneer building.

Day:

and night:

butternut squash, carrots and oysters

2012-01-04T10:33:00.000-06:00

I love butternut squash. Unfortunately, I am the only one here that does. So when I cooked up a big pot of this Butternut Squash Couscous, I ate it all. It was really, really good, and I only changed up the recipe a tiny bit by using dried cranberries because I really hate raisins, and vegetable broth instead of chicken. I also put a cup or so of shredded carrots into my bowl when I was reheating it - which was good, but that was only because I got a food processor for Christmas and went a bit crazy with a bag of carrots. I'd already made carrot bread*, and eaten several bowls of shredded carrots, and still had a ton left.

I want to cook a lot more in this new year, and more healthier foods too. I'm particularly excited about using another of my Christmas presents, this new cookbook:

For the record, I am not a vegetarian anymore. I ate two dozen raw oysters when we were in New Orleans for Christmas, and, shrimp and okra at my aunt's house on Christmas eve. Back in September, my initial reasoning for stopping eating meat, was that I didn't want to contribute to the animal suffering and cruelty of the meat industry. I thought a bunch about oysters, trying to decide whether they are sentient beings and capable of suffering, and I don't believe that they are. Same with clams and mussels. I didn't feel bad at all about eating oysters - I honestly feel much worse about eating dairy, which is something I need to work on cutting out - and I'm not willing to keep them out of my diet in order to keep the vegetarian label, because I don't care much about that. What I care about is that I feel ethically ok with my diet choices. It's a work in progress. (The shrimp though, I keep going back and forth about. They do have tiny brains. I'm not going to eat them again unless I find something to really persuade me.)

*Here's the carrot bread recipe that I used. I substituted applesauce for eggs and blackstrap molasses for honey. It was a decent way to use up shredded carrots, but I can't imagine it tasting good with zucchini.

2012 Resolutions

2012-01-03T10:12:00.003-06:00

For New Year's Eve, we watched the downtown fireworks from our balcony. The air was covered in smoke.

This year, I'm a bit at a loss on resolutions. Last year, I had a hard time enforcing them, or even caring about them, so they weren't very effective to say the least. I think overall, this year I want to focus more on the big picture, rather than obsessing over all the little things that happen. I want to keep enjoying life day-to-day, but also figure out what my life's journey is supposed to be.

Here's the bulleted list, pretty much the same as always:

Read: at least one book a month, and, read In Search of Lost Time for my 2012 long classic.
Be healthy: eat better (more fruits and veggies), exercise, cut out (err, cut back on) bad habits.
Like the way I look: exercise, regular hair cuts, spa visits, put on makeup, paint nails, get out of pjs.
Do things I enjoy: cook, listen to music, take photographs.
Learn something new: take a class, learn guitar, learn a language?
Keep my environment clean and organized, includes de-cluttering and not accumulating.
Do something good: recycle, volunteer?
Explore this city before we leave.

2012

2012-01-01T16:15:00.000-06:00

merry christmas!

2011-12-25T16:29:00.000-06:00

new orleans

2011-12-24T16:18:00.002-06:00

awesome

2011-12-20T16:31:00.001-06:00

packing + presents

2011-12-15T16:30:00.000-06:00

dec six

2011-12-06T16:27:00.000-06:00

The Bowery Hotel

2011-11-29T16:14:00.001-06:00

spotcat

2011-11-27T16:26:00.001-06:00

yay!

2011-11-26T14:28:00.002-06:00

Every year, I add a few holiday albums to the mix and listen to them from now to New Years! This years are really exciting:

A Very She & Him Christmas

and We Wish You a Metal X-Mas and a Headbanging New Year

Previous favorites: 1, 2, and 3

Thanksgiving!

2011-11-25T13:13:00.016-06:00

This was my second time ever cooking the Thanksgiving meal, and the first time since the no eating meat clause. I was a bit worried about planning traditional dishes - which is what makes it Thanksgiving for me - but without hurting the animals. It turned out great and was completely vegetarian, and would have been vegan except for a bit of butter and cheese which, in hindsight, I think could have been substituted pretty easily.

I was resolved not to have a turkey, but a little worried about how the husband and kids felt about missing out on that tradition. when I saw this post on The Kind Life about Adopt-a-Turkey, I was thrilled: A great annual turkey tradition, but helping instead of eating one! So, next time they asked if we were going to have a turkey for Thanksgiving, I said, sure, pick one out!

For dinner, we did a Tofurky instead. It totally started out as a joke when people asked what I was going to cook, and then I decided to really cook one. A tofu-turkey? It was - is - hilarious to me. Every time I opened the fridge and saw it thawing there, I totally cracked up. Come on, you know this is funny:

The Tofurky, surprisingly, was a big hit with the kids. They went back for seconds and thirds, and even said that it tasted like a real turkey, but juicier. I made it according the the box, with potatos, carrots, onion, and a baste of Italian seasoning, soy sauce, and olive oil:

Here is hubby slicing it as thinly as possible, since the box said thin slices are really, really important:

We had our Tofurky Roast with mushroom gravy, cranberry sauce, southern cornbread stuffing, green bean and artichoke casserole, sweet potato bake with pecan topping, sauteed spinach and mushrooms, and (store-bought) pumpkin and pecan pie with chocolate and vanilla (coconut milk) ice cream...

Canned cranberry sauce is traditional in my family, last time I home-made it from fresh cranberries and it just wasn't the same:

The southern-style cornbread stuffing was the hardest thing to veg-ify. I used this recipe for cornbread, doubled it and used applesauce for the egg. Then I followed this recipe for savory cornbread dressing, using half the soy sausage since I had a smaller package, Italian seasoning and dried parsley, and a cup of mixed dried berries. I used two cups of veggie broth, and would add a cup or so more next time.

One of my favorite Thanksgiving dishes is a sweet potato casserole (although it's really yams), and my mom's calls for mini-marshmellows mixed into the dish and topping it. Since I couldn't find vegan marshmellows, I left them out and made a pecan topping instead. This was the best surprise ever, it was so good with the pecans!

Here's the simple recipe, minus marshmellows:

2 32 oz. cans yams, drained

1/2 c. plain soy milk

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. brown sugar

Mash yams.

Stir in other ingredients.

Spoon evenly into a greased baking dish.

For the topping, I used the topping only from this recipe, doubling it, but using 2 tablespoons of blackstrap molasses instead of 4 tablespoons of maple syrup. Baked at 350 until the topping browned, and it was so delicious!

The green bean and artichoke casserole had Parmesan and mozzarella cheese, making it the least animal-friendly dish we had. We made sure to buy vegetarian cheese, but next time I will try it with soy cheese instead. I have to say it's also one of my favorite Thanksgiving dishes, and I think that I got the recipe from my mom:

1 can French-style green beans, lightly drained

2 cans artichoke hearts, lightly drained

1 c. Italian-seasoned bread crumbs

4 oz. grated Parmesan

4 oz. shredded mozzerrella

1 Tbsp. garlic powder

salt and pepper

1/4 c. olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix green beans, artichokes, bread crumbs, and cheeses together with your hands in large bowl.

Add garlic powder and salt and pepper to taste.

Distribute evenly in baking dish, and drizzle olive oil on top.

Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 15 minutes or until top is slightly browned.

For the mushroom gravy, I used this recipe, using about 2 1/2 cups of baby portabella mushrooms instead of what the recipe called for, and Italian seasoning instead of poultry. I followed the user recommendations and mixed the flour vigorously with the veggie broth before adding to the mushrooms, and no lumps. It was so much tastier than normal giblet gravy!

And I served it in our gurgling cod from my mother-in-law for a tiny bit of New England tradition:

Everyone served themselves, and while we ate, we played UNO, our fun little dinnertime card game.

The house was quiet all morning except for Christmas music. My mom always played holiday music on Thanksgiving, and although I hated it then, I love it now. And for family movie night last night, we watched Elf, my favorite holiday movie in the world.

loving

2011-11-21T13:20:00.004-06:00

star jewelry in ads and editorials...

(I have a smaller version of these earrings!)

Bonus if worn with anything from Dolce & Gabbana's Fall 2011 collection!

young guns

2011-11-16T08:34:00.001-06:00

We watched Young Guns 1 and 2 recently, because I loved them when they came out and wanted the kids to see them too. Still good and, I never thought I'd say this, but I am totally intrigued with Billy the Kid! After a ton of wikipedia and www-reading, I started on Pat Garret's book The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid.

So interesting! For some reason I never realized these wild west stories are (partly, at least) true. Although in real life the outlaws don't look quite as cool as in Young Guns:

jasmin noir l'essence

2011-11-15T10:29:00.005-06:00

I'm still loving my new perfume, and I was so excited to see it featured in InStyle for November 2011.

I picked it up because of the spread on Gwen Stefani, which was beautiful and interesting. I especially love these peacock blue and purple Jimmy Choos:

Spot the Cat

2011-11-13T08:00:00.000-06:00

taco bell

2011-11-12T13:17:00.003-06:00

i heart my kindle

2011-11-11T12:41:00.000-06:00

So, I finally decided to get an e-reader. I bought a kindle, because I wanted it to be exclusively for reading books. I've been putting this off for a long time, since it seemed wrong to give up paper books when I love them so much.

I adjusted really quickly to reading electronically, like, in one day. The very most awesome shocking thing about this kindle is that I can read it in the car for hours, where I'd normally get carsick after reading a book or magazine for just a few minutes. Since we travel so much, this has greatly increased the time I spend reading, especially when new books are just so easy to get now. I love the fact that you can get a free sample, and if at the end of it I don't wish there was more, I know not to buy that book.

The free classics put me over the edge, after spending about $30 for Candide and Crime and Punishment. If you are a lover of classic literature, the kindle can quickly pay for itself. I have about 55 books on it already, and only paid for 6 of them.

There were also a few books that I wanted to read, but knew wouldn't be keepers (Committed, for example). I've read some complaints about the kindle versions of books being the same as paperbacks on amazon, and much more expensive than a used hardback in some cases. This didn't really affect me too much, since I usually wind up picking up books expensively in airport bookstores rather than amazon.com, and I also factor in the book's cost as far as space and clutter.

I opted not to get the 3G version, which has been totally fine. I also didn't get the keyboard, and since I generally search the books on laptop, order the free sample, and click to buy from the kindle if I want it, the lack of keyboard hasn't been an issue at all. I also decided to buy the one with ads, but at the last minute changed my mind because I thought it would bother me too much to have paid for something with ads. What I didn't know is that even after purchasing, you still have the option to pay the difference and have the special offers removed. If I had know that, I don't think I would have been so bothered by the thought of ads.

I did have to go through 3 kindles before I got one that was perfect (first one had a misaligned screen, second severe ghosting), which was a bummer, but amazon customer service was generally pretty helpful.

Here are the 8 kindle books I've read so far, pretty cool considering I got it only 3 weeks ago!

The Ultimate Vegan Guide

The Gospel According to Coco Chanel

It's So Easy

The Princess and Curdie

The Princess and the Goblin

Hurry Down Sunshine

Not Dead and Not for Sale

Committed

Out of these I would really only recommend It's So Easy: and other lies by Duff McKagan - fantastic read! - and The Ultimate Vegan Guide: compassionate living without sacrifice by Erik Marcus - quick, informative, and only 99 cents!

penne primavera

2011-10-19T13:16:00.004-05:00

After our California dinner at Pasta Q, I went looking for a pasta primavera recipe and found this. (You must browse the Meatless section at Ezra Pound Cake, there are so many recipes that I want to make!)

My plan was to make the roasted vegetables, mix with the sauce, and just serve over pasta, but hubby really liked the recipe's idea of baking it, so we did. It was easy, and satisfying, and made a huge amount: two dinners plus a large container of leftover veggie sauce for the freezer.

I made a few changes from the "original" recipe, which was already an adaptation of Giada's Everyday Italian recipe, namely leaving out the peppers and adding matchstick carrots. I also had the frozen peas thawed, but forgot to add them. But, I really don't like peas much anyway.

Baked Vegetable Penne

2 zucchini, quartered and cubed

2 yellow squash, quartered and cubed

4 oz sliced baby bella mushrooms

1 yellow onion, cut in big slices

2 Tbsp minced garlic

olive oil

salt and pepper

Italian herb mix

1 lb. penne pasta

chunky tomato sauce

2 c. (or so) mozzarella

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Toss veggies on baking sheet with salt, pepper, spices, garlic, and drizzle with olive oil. I divided mine into squash/zucchini/onions and mushroom/carrots, which was good because the mushrooms needed a few minutes less than the squash.

Roast veggies for 20-25 minutes, checking them and mixing once or twice with a spatula.

Meanwhile, cook pasta (according to directions for al dente - in large pot, boiling water, drain, you know this) and, in a medium pot, make chunky tomato sauce. I used a recipe from Sandra Lee, and I this will definitely be my go-to tomato sauce from now on.

Once veggies are cooked, lower oven to 375 degrees, then add them into the pot of tomato sauce and mix together.

At this point, I could have totally stopped and just eaten it with a spoon out of the pot:

But I managed to continue on:

Pour veggie sauce into greased pan and mix in equal part pasta. Top with shredded cheese. Bake for 20 minutes.

Would it have been even better with the extra cheese, Parmesan, and butter called for in the recipe? Maybe, but it so good this way that I wouldn't bother.

And here's the perfect simple chunky sauce recipe:

Chunky Tomato Sauce

olive oil

1/2 c. chopped onion

1 Tbsp. minced garlic

28 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 Tbsp. Italian herb mix

Coat pot with olive oil, saute onion and garlic for a few minutes over medium heat.

Add diced tomatoes and Italian herbs.

Lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring often.

new makeup!

2011-10-17T16:16:00.000-05:00

New makeup for the fall!

A new eyeshadow palette, and blush. I also bought an eyeshadow primer, which works alone too for a really natural look. I'm usually a beige shadow kind of girl, but this looked really pretty when the sales-guy applied it, and easy enough that I'm even able to recreate his look at home.

Here's my old stuff, basically the same idea but lighter and more subtle:

I have a rule about buying makeup (which, oddly enough, was taught to me a while back by my husband): No buying makeup at the drug or grocery store. It actually makes a lot of economic sense, because instead of picking up a cheap eye shadow, or lipstick, for a few bucks every week or so, I buy a more expensive and high quality eye shadow, or lipstick, a few times a year at a store visited specifically to buy makeup, either the beauty counter at a nice department store or Sephora. Not that there aren't some good makeup products at the drugstore, but this rule ensures no impulse buys, and no waste, because I've tried on everything that I buy.

I also tried a new fragrance, wore it for the day and had to go back and buy it:

It wasn't on my fall to-smell list (which I checked off: Chanel No. 19 Poudre, Tom Ford Violet Blonde and Balenciaga L'Essense!), but it was better than any of them. It smells very sexy. Smells similar to a florally Dior Addict, and doesn't give me a headache.

black bean and quinoa stuffed bell peppers

2011-10-16T14:46:00.000-05:00

I read somewhere that the average person who cooks dinner often usually only uses about nine different recipes. This seems about right to me for your tried and true go-to meals, then add in the special occasion recipes and the one-offs that you experiment with but wouldn't make again. Anyway, since the vegetarian thing happened, I've been having to rebuild and adapt my collection of basic recipes. One of my favorite comfort food recipes, that I spent quite a while perfecting, was the classic southern stuffed bell peppers. Enter this Quinoa (and black bean) Stuffed Bell Pepper recipe from Good Life Eats.

I had just halved and made my Black Bean Enchilada recipe, so I already had a half can of black beans that had been drained and sauteed with olive oil, onion, garlic, cumin and chili powder. So, I halved this recipe too, and it still made enough for two meals for us since one (half) pepper was so filling.

This was my first time cooking (or eating) quinoa, and it was easy and good! I made a few changes from the linked recipe, including making all of the stuffing mixture in one pot because the directions were a bit vague there, and using cheddar cheese because we had it, and they turned out fantastic.

Quinoa and Black Bean Stuffed Bell Peppers

olive oil

1/2 c. onion, chopped

1/2 c. celery, chopped

cumin

garlic

15 oz. can diced tomatos, drained, liquid reserved

8 oz. baby bella mushrooms, chopped

1/4 c. + 1/8 c. quinoa

3/4 c. carrots, grated

15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed

salt and pepper

2 bell peppers, halved

cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat some olive oil in bottom of medium pot over medium heat. Add chopped onion and celery (I throw mine in frozen, because whenever I have leftover onion of celery, I chop them up and put in freezer bags to keep on hand. They defrost very quickly.) and cook for 5 minutes or so.

Add cumin, garlic, mushrooms, about half of the drained diced tomatoes (which I chopped up because I don't like big pieces of tomatoes) and saute for until liquid is evaporated.

Add quinoa, grated carrots and 1 cup of water, cover, bring to boil, reduce heat to medium low, and simmer for 15 minutes. I had to keep adding water, and stirring a little bit, to keep it simmering, and worried about this having never cooked quinoa before, but it was fine. (My bag of quinoa also said cooks in 10 minutes, but the recipe said 20, so I went with 15 minutes which was perfect.)

Remove from heat, add black beans (I used half a can, but I'd do a whole can next time), season with salt and pepper (and Cajun spices if, like me, you use them in everything).

Pour liquid from tomatoes in baking dish, add pepper halves (I used red and green and I'm not sure which was better... mmm), fill with quinoa mixture, cover with foil and bake 40 minutes. Uncover, top each pepper with sliced cheddar cheese, and bake 15 more minutes.

omnivore's dilemma

2011-10-15T17:21:00.000-05:00

I picked up this book to read on the plane ride home, because I like Michael Pollan, and because it's recommended everywhere. It's a bit boring, but so interesting. I'm only done with the first (of four) sections, but, like In Defense of Food, it's already changed the way I think about food. If I hadn't already decided to adopt a vegetarian lifestyle, this book would have made me. It's definitely made me want to try to avoid eating processed foods.

About 5 years ago, I had a brief stint as a vegetarian after watching a PETA dvd. It was very effective initially due to the shock value of disturbing images, but a few months later that had worn off and I went right back to eating meat. Even though I know it's the reality, I don't want to carry those images inside of me.

I think books like The Omnivore's Dilemma are more effective for the long run, because instead of just shocking you, they inform you and completely change the way you think. Here are a few other, gentle, resources for people who are considering changing their diet:

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan

The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverston

Forks Over Knives (documentary)

Supersize Me (documentary)

loving hut

2011-10-13T14:23:00.000-05:00

I think it's great that more and more vegan and vegetarian-only restaurants are popping up (there's even one in San Antonio). The problem I have with most of them is that they simply replace all the normal meat protein of a meal with fake meat or texturized soy. That was certainly the case with Loving Hut in Palo Alto.

I had the an avocado BLT with tempeh in the place of bacon. It was ok, but the tempeh was kind of meh and the bread was super hard.

Hubby had the spring rolls and hummus, which you can't really go wrong with, although again, instead of just your normal vegetable spring roll, they stuck in some texturized soy protein.

I hadn't had bubble tea in many, many years, so I tried it again.

Either this stuff was particularly bad, or, I don't what I used to see in it. Yuk.

the kind diet update

2011-10-11T12:20:00.008-05:00

I've now been a vegetarian for over a month. I love vegetables, I love a huge salad for dinner, a bowl of matchstick carrots and peas for lunch, and I really love a big bowl of beans. So, for me, it was a surprisingly easy transition. Even though we are often traveling, and have many long road trips, there is almost always a vegetarian meal to be found, even at fast food joints. (Although one night, my vegetarian dinner was a large order of onion rings... I'll remember never go to a Dairy Queen again.) McDonalds, Taco Bell, and Subway, are all over, and all have good options for vegetarian fast food, even though there is generally only one thing available (salad minus the chicken breast, bean burritos or potato tacos with rice, and veggie delight sandwich with side of apples, respectively). I've had grilled vegetables in a sushi restaurant (Salmon sashimi, you are the only meat I miss), had two appetizer salads as my entree in a rather fine restaurant, and had double sides of beans and rice in a mexican restaurant. I've stuck to this new, kinder, diet and I'm pretty proud of myself for that.

We're traveling now and if it's easy in Texas, it's absolutely no-brainer to be vegetarian here in Palo Alto, CA. Almost every restaurant has an entire vegetarian entree section. Penne pasta with fresh vegetables in a chunky tomato sauce and portobellas sauteed in balsamic vinegar served over grilled bread .... yes, please! There's even an all-organic, all-vegan cafe down the street, which we hit up for lunch today.

Veganism is my looser goal, and that is a different story. That has been really easy to do at home (except once a week when I cook my husbands' favorite meal of black bean enchiladas covered in sharp cheddar cheese), but much harder to do on the road. I was shocked that even a tofu salad that I ordered at a cafe in San Francisco came with an unlisted half of boiled egg on the plate. Hello... Otherwise, it seems like a lot of places just replace the meat on entrees with cheese to make them vegetarian. I can do without cheese, but will eat it if it's there. I was a huge dairy eater, and started every day with a bowl of yogurt and berries. Now, I actually prefer soymilk to regular milk in my coffe, and just eat the berries with ground flaxseed instead of yogurt. I only ever bought eggs before anyway when I wanted to bake, and I was initially sad about no more baking, something that I love to do. I've since baked a few things - pumpkin bread and chocolate chip cookies - using applesauce instead of eggs, soymilk instead of milk, and vegan margarine instead of butter, and they turned out fine. (Although I did learn not to go crazy by in addition to the above, also switching up sugar, flour, and adding flaxseed and stuff. It just alters to much from the original and becomes not satisfying, especially to your non-veg hubby.) So, my casual plan is that I will eat vegan as much as possible without being a drag to be around, stressing myself out, or not enjoying going out to eat.

Although I initially refused to buy any animal products at the grocery, I gave in and now buy whole milk and cheese for my husband. It's a compromise. He's been really supportive of not eating meat, but after a week of soymilk, he insisted on milk and cheese for himself. We researched the brands and picked the seemingly ethically best milk and cheese available, although I'm not convinced. Also, I am continuing to buy non-vegetarian cat food. I just can't justify potentially hurting an animal that I am directly responsible for and love (my cat), to save the other animals (tuna). I've read different things about vegan or vegetarian diets for cats, and I'm not convinced it's healthy for them.

So, that's the journey. It's only been a month, but I didn't expect it to be so easy (especially if I stay out of sushi restaurants). I haven't lost any weight (but luckily I don't need to), which I think is mostly because before I rarely ate any whole grains or pasta or rice in my diet, and now I eat them much more often. I feel like I'm living more true to myself, which is satisfying. I also think I've been eating a much greater variety of more healthy foods than before going veg, since this diet made me hyper-conscious of getting the required nutrients, which can only be good for my body in the long run.

I did it!

2011-10-09T11:57:00.000-05:00

I finally finished reading Les Miserables! My goal was to get it done before the end of the year, but the last few hundred pages were so good (except for a chapter or two about the Paris sewer system) that I couldn't put it down. I have a total love/hate relationship with this book. Parts were so boring I could only make myself read a page a day, parts were so good I could read many chapters without even realizing it. The greatest book of the 19th century? Well, I actually think there's two books in one here, a boring, stuffy one and an interesting, exciting one. My question is whether it would be as good if you cut out the 600 or so boring pages? Maybe not. Anyway, it was for sure worth reading, if only for the sense of accomplishment for having finished it. And after hating the characters for a long time (I've been reading this actively since May, the longest I've ever taken to read a book), somehow, by the end, I felt myself loving them.

Now, my reward, I'm going to make my husband take me to see the Broadway musical of it as soon as possible.

too early to be awake...

2011-09-29T08:00:00.000-05:00

It's no secret that I love Christmas music. But it's still (barely) September! It's way too early, even for me, to think about Christmas. Although I know that, I may or may not not have pre-ordered A Very She & Him Christmas album. I'm so excited! Thankfully, it won't be released until October 24, because starting to play holiday music in September is just wrong.

straight out of the pantry...

2011-09-28T08:00:00.000-05:00

I bought a can of cut beets a while ago and they've been sitting in the pantry looking at me. I'm not sure why I picked them up, I've not ever bought beets of any kind my whole adult life and this was before I went meat-free. Anyway, today, I drained them, cut them up even more, mixed them with a small can of mandarin oranges (also drained), and about half a cup of walnuts. I splashed on a bit of balsamic vinegar and sprinkled on some salt and pepper. Delicious, and so pretty!

I suspect it would have been even better if I let it chill in the fridge for a bit, but I was too hungry. You gotta love a quick recipe that can be made entirely from the pantry. By leaving off the salt and pepper, maybe adding some cut up strawberries, I could definitely see this as a quick, healthy dessert option too.

Black and white

2011-09-27T13:04:00.005-05:00

Seems like I'm not the only one loving on black and white (and Chanel) right now. It's just so crisp and classic, especially with some nice red lips. Here's some of my fall+winter inspiration clips:

And here's some of my favorite recent b&w-styled editorials.

Isabeli Fontana by Marcin Tyszka in Vogue Mexico (new one for me...), September 2011:

Magdalena Frackowiak by Katja Rahlwes in Vogue Paris, October 2011:

And, lastly, Hanna Herzsprun by Axl Jansen for QVEST, September 2011:

fall nudes

2011-09-26T10:56:00.003-05:00

For the first time, ever I think, I find myself drawn to style inspiration in soft pinks and nudes for the fall:

I think it started after seeing this Neiman Marcus advertisement with Karlie Kloss. Her dress is similar to one I just bought, and the nudes work so well with it:

Most of my closet is black, white, or purple, and these soft pinks and nudes would go with all of that. I also want to add some red pieces to my wardrobe, and red and nude will be a nice change from my normal red and black and white.

So excited for fall shopping, especially now that the air conditioner in my apartment is fixed and it's no longer 89 degrees inside here!

Creamy corn chowder

2011-09-25T16:23:00.004-05:00

I followed this all-recipe for Creamy Vegan Corn Chowder, but un-veganized it by using whole milk instead of soy milk to please the hubby. Still a lot healthier than my normal similar soups - like Cajun Crab and Corn Bisque - since it uses a little bit of olive oil instead of the normal sticks of butter, and milk rather than heavy cream. And, of course, meatless.

Creamy Corn Chowder

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 c. sweet onion, chopped

1 c. celery, chopped

1 c. carrots, chopped

1 ½ clove garlic, minced

2 ½ c. vegetable broth, low sodium

2 medium baking potatoes, diced (5 c.)

1 can cream-style corn

½ can golden corn kernels, drained

2 c. whole milk

2 Tbsp. flour

1 ½ tsp. salt

1 tsp. black pepper

¼ tsp. liquid crab boil

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in onions and celery; cook until just slightly golden (10-15 min.). Stir in carrots and garlic; cook until garlic is slightly golden (10-15 min.).

Add 2 c. vegetable broth and potatoes. Simmer 20 minutes, or until potatoes are fork tender, adding more broth to cover as needed.

Add corn and spices, simmer for 20 minutes or so, stirring often. Add more broth, if necessary.

Reduce heat to low, and pour in 1 cup milk. Stir soup well, wisk in flour, then stir in remaining 1 cup milk.

Cook, stirring constantly for 15 minutes. Do not boil.

This was really good, and surprisingly thick and creamy. I followed one of the comments, adding potatoes and also added a tiny bit of my secret ingredient - liquid crab boil! I was worried about the thickness from some of the comments, so added 2 tablespoons of flour and was sparingly used the extra broth. Next time I won't worry so much, and when I reheat for lunch tomorrow, I'll probably need to add some more veggie broth to thin.

vintage dress pattern

2011-09-23T10:57:00.000-05:00

One of my to do items is sewing a dress. After too many hours browsing, I decided on this simple 60s a-line mini with rolled collar (middle):

I'm thinking of making one in a thick red fabric for fall, to wear with my precious leopard pumps, and if that works out maybe a gray wool to wear with my black knee-high boots...

A Conversation on Cool.

2011-09-22T08:45:00.002-05:00

Stole my current desktop photo (love Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg) from this recently found blog - I wish I had paid attention to where the link came from. It's filled with interesting photos and quotes, and completely timeless style. Doesn't everything look cooler in black and white?

Modern Art

2011-09-21T09:50:00.002-05:00

I was really looking forward to going to the SFMOMA again. Until I got there. Wandering through the Face of Our Time photography exhibit, I came into a room of framed photos of "New Orleans" and Hurricane Katrina. I've seen these photos a million times, I've seen the real things, but something about the way they were hung and framed in the art museum really broke me down. This is not talent, this is not art. This is definitely not original, I've seen these exact photos taken by multiple others, and there was nothing high-quality or original about the way they were photographed. This is not speaking for people that have no voice, this is not showing the world injustices to incite change. This is capitalization off of personal tragedy, tragedy experienced by people with digital cameras and flickr accounts who could have shared these exact images if they wanted to. This is not even New Orleans in most of the photos, it's St. Bernard Parish, but I guess that doesn't conjure the same effect.

(Here's my dad, the actual face of that time. He is typical of the majority of homeowners in St. Bernard Parish. Not what you were expecting? Let's focus on the graffiti instead, that's more New Orleans-y.)

I remember my brother telling me a story about when he was helping my dad clean out his house after the storm. They worked on it for hours after work every day, in a mostly deserted town. He told me about how people would drive down the street and get so excited when they saw him and my dad working, wheelbarrowing piles of ruined possessions and dumping them on the front lawn. They would pull up the car and roll down the windows and take pictures and talk to each other about how great it was to find something so great to photograph - that something being my family's destroyed lives.

(Photography taken from the car on the way home. Think I should donate it to SFMOMA? Oh, wait, they already have one...)

I thought a lot about why these photographs bothered me so much. I didn't have the same reaction to Jim Goldberg's photographs of the refugees in the Democratic Repulic of Congo, considerably more tragic. Was it just personal? But I came to the conclusion that the major difference is that even if other people were covering the exact same subject at the exact same time, they could not have taken the same photograph as he did. And that is the difference.

Books Inc

2011-09-20T09:07:00.000-05:00

When we were in California a few weeks ago, I walked to the bookshop to get some reads for the trip. It's so lovely being in an actual real bookshop, and not Borders (especially with their 80-90% off - crazy inside) or Barnes & Noble, or a big discount shop.

Books Inc. is not too tiny, but not so large as to be too overwhelming and had a really decent selection. I only found about half of the 10 books on my list, but I found many more treasures that I wouldn't have picked up otherwise.

(Can't resist tiny notebooks, especially when you add candy.)

(Beautifully written, but very sad.)

(A one-hour read, but I just love me some Rand.)

(You can read it free online, but I still love an actual book.)

(I used to buy Italian or French Vogue instead, and couldn't read them at all.)

In other book-reading news, I am now officially 68% done reading Les Miserables and so excited. If I read 30 more pages this month, then 110 more pages for October, November and December, I'll be finished.

W San Francisco

2011-09-18T09:31:00.005-05:00

New Glasses!

2011-09-10T08:56:00.000-05:00

(First thing in the morning, hence the overprocessing.)

My optometrist thought I was lying when I told him I would bring my husband back later to help me pick out frames. I think we found in these Robert Marc frames the perfect compromise between what I love when looking at other people, and what will actually work with my face. When trying them on at the store, I thought they were kind of bold, but once I started wearing them I didn't experience any mirror shock at all.

Split pea soup

2011-09-06T12:49:00.005-05:00

For some reason, I love cooking anything for a long time in a big pot. And, while I didn't think I liked split pea soup, I've found it can be really delicious. This time I cooked it with a bag of baby bella mushrooms instead of ham. Mmmm...

Split Pea Soup with Mushrooms

2 cartons chicken (or vegetable) broth (48 oz. each)

2 lbs split peas, sorted and rinsed

1 bag baby bella mushrooms, lightly chopped

1 c. matchstick carrots, chopped

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

1 c. celery, chopped

olive oil

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning (love this on everything!)

Heat olive oil (to coat large pot) on medium heat.

Add onions, celery, and carrots and cook 10 minutes.

Add baby bellas and cook 10 minutes.

Add peas and bring to boil over high heat.

Scrape the foam off the top and discard (new tip I learned), reduce heat to low.

Cook 45 minutes or until peas are tender.

Add spices and cook for 15 more minutes.

My little pink pig timer always cracks me up...

our idiot brother

2011-09-05T10:54:00.000-05:00

Our Idiot Brother was good, but probably more of a netflix movie than theater. It was a sadder than I expected, and not as funny as it looked from the trailer.

I mostly don't care much for Paul Rudd, but sometimes I love him, like in Clueless and now in this.

Also the first time I remember really liking Elizabeth Banks. And I always love both of these ladies individually, but not so much together:

Another plus, I was totally inspired to get some new glasses. In fact, my eye doctor is right next to the theater, so we went right over and bought a pair.

Also totally inspired to get a British accent, but that's not working out as well...

Veggie week one!

2011-09-04T08:00:00.003-05:00

Week one of the kind diet in effect, and a complete success, until we went out for sushi yesterday.... I feel more full more often, but I guess that's because I've been eating more than usual to try to get enough of everything. I probably will start just eating when I'm hungry, but this week I've been getting at least 3 meals in every day.

My new diet goals:

Stop buying meat/dairy/eggs (except for a bit of leftover cream cheese, and defrosted lentil soup made long ago with chicken broth, I've not eaten any. Oh, and the sushi.).
Drink lots of water. (I love my new insulated cup. Actually kept a glass of ice water cool for 2 hours in my parked car in over 100 degree heat.)
Make mindful choices (I've been good here, except for that bag of chocolate chips... this is much easier when hubby is here, and not out of town!).
Listen to body (eat when I'm hungry, and aim for variety).
Move (haven't exercised since 2010! I gotta get on this one, but I keep procrastinating...).

My favorite meal of the week was my Portobello Fajitas. For maybe the first time, I didn't even use a base recipe.

Portobello Fajitas (for 2)

1/2 red bell pepper

1/2 yellow bell pepper

1/2 green bell pepper

1/2 yellow onion

1 package sliced portobella mushrooms

olive oil

1 Tbsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

soy sauce (I used one small packet from takeout, maybe 1 Tbsp?)

Tortillas (I used small flour ones originally, then whole wheat wraps for the leftovers. The flour ones worked much better.)

Slice up the bell peppers and onion. (I put the other half of everything in a ziplock in the freezer for next time...) Heat olive oil over medium heat in skillet, add peppers, onion, garlic, spices, and soy sauce. Cook for 5-10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add mushrooms, cook until soft. Heat tortillas (I nuked them for 1 minute, but I'm sure there are better ways). Serve with avcacado and salsa.

Simple and really so good!

categorical imperative

2011-09-03T09:40:00.000-05:00

One of E. Jean's secrets of adulthood that resonated with me when I read it months ago:

If you don’t question what you believe in, you end up making the same mistakes over and over. When we find ourselves in a romantic quagmire or struggling for an eternally denied promotion at work and our old ideas aren’t working, we must, must, must ask ourselves two questions: (A) Is this idea I’m acting on even effing true? (e.g., Am I so irresistible that this time he really is going to leave his wife?) And (B) What would happen if everyone in the world believed this idea and behaved as I’m behaving now? (This is our old friend Immanuel Kant’s categorical imperative—view every action you take as a universal law. Meaning, if you’re considering lying to your boss to save your job, imagine a universal law that says everyone must lie to his or her boss.)

I love her!

i love you, phillip morris

2011-09-02T10:45:00.005-05:00

I liked this movie much better after I watched it than during. It's a good, but sad, love story, with lots of life lessons. Ewan McGregor was great in it, but I'm partial.

I'm really shocked to find out that it was based on real life. Crazy.

Happy Birthday!

2011-09-01T10:37:00.003-05:00

Nine years ago today:

cowgirl

2011-08-31T08:00:00.000-05:00

If only I had started working out sooner - like, 10 years ago - I would totally copy this for a cowgirl Halloween costume this year:

Maybe with some modifications?

the kind diet

2011-08-30T08:00:00.000-05:00

Still one of my favorite pick-me-up movies. But this post is about eating, not shopping.

I've been feeling the need to really get healthy - mind, body and soul - and feel good. On that note, I've been considering vegetarianism a bit, and picked up Alicia Silverstone's The Kind Diet to give me the little push that I knew I needed to commit to it. I like that in her book the focus is on kindness to your body, and also to animals. Because if I'm being honest, I've been in denial about the animal cruelty going on in our meat processing. I've been carefully avoiding seeing it or thinking about it too much (of course, sometimes it was unavoidable).

I don't care whether humans are meant to eat meat. I don't care (too much) whether the act of ingesting meat is cruel. I don't even need to begin to figure all that out yet, because I know that I do care that (part of) my dollars have been directly supporting animal cruelty. The state of most chickens, cows, pigs, raised for food, even if the worst of what you see and hear isn't true, is heinous. I would without a doubt not support it if it were happening to dogs or cats at an animal shelter. It would be a no-brainer. I was avoiding making the leap, and that's where reading this book, or watching a documentary, or visiting PETA's website is handy.

I have some stuff left in the house that I will not waste: a few hamburger patties and chicken breasts in the freezer, butter and sour cream in the fridge, and chicken broth in my pantry. But once it's gone, I'm will not be buying any more.

I love Alicia Silverstone, always have, so I was really biased towards The Kind Diet. I appreciated her tone, and it was informative on some counts, but mainly encouraging. The one huge point I took from the book: buying eggs and dairy is no different than buying meat. It also has a great section with descriptions of vegan foods, and recipes. (Although as a first food/diet book, my money is still on In Defense of Food.)

That's my big change, and along with it comes eating more healthily - more veggies and fruit, taking vitamins (watched Food Matters on netflix...), committing to going organic at least always for "the dirty dozen" and next comes exercise, cutting back on alcohol (and other vices), and whatever else needed to feel truly thrilled inside and out.

Cat and mouse

2011-08-29T16:27:00.000-05:00

Spot has been rediscovering his old toys, like this little gray mouse with pink ears.

oriental salad

2011-08-28T16:10:00.000-05:00

Another great spinach salad that I made before we went to Cali... that was already being eaten when I thought to take a picture. The traditional meal-time Skip-bo game was well underway (I lost).

This one was oriental-themed with Cardini's Asian Sesame Salad Dressing, matchstick carrots, sliced blanched almonds, mandarin orange segments, dried cranberries, crispy noodles (only for the boys, not for my salad, above), and the secret ingredient - a tip from my sister - wasabi peas! I also threw in some cherry tomatoes, but only because I had to use them up. Quick, fresh, and delicious.

Park Inn

2011-08-24T12:50:00.006-05:00

I like motels for several reasons:

Your door opens straight outside, making it more like a tiny one-room apartment than a hotel room.

Free wireless. I don't understand how the charge for normal amenities such as internet and coffee increases with the price of the hotel. Shouldn't it be the opposite?

Usually comes with a mini-fridge so that you can keep the necessities - which for us is beer, milk, and berries! - on hand and not have to order room service if you feel like a bowl of cereal.

I think I say this every time I fly

2011-08-23T12:42:00.000-05:00

I woke up at 4:00 am, ya'll!

An airplane is like a tiny capsule of the spectrum of human personalities. You see, and are trapped in a small space with, many people, all with different lives, and different reasons for being there, from business to pleasure. Everyone's a little stressed, probably tired, and in a hurry, and a little out of their normal routine, surrounded by strangers. I think it must be like being drunk, flying distills your true personality and allows it to become really obvious. It's always sad to me that the people who are just completely rude and selfish completely outnumber the people with normal social consciousness.

Hubs and I watched season 7 of Entourage on my laptop, which greatly helped to pass the time. (I love our headphone splitter!)

Anyway, Menlo Park is a bit different than LA, or even the rest of San Francisco. It's sort of a place to work, I guess, rather than a place to live or visit. There is a Tesla dealership:

(I saw a Tesla on the road once, in Palo Alto. I only noticed because people were taking pictures of it.)

There is also a place where I ate the biggest breakfast sandwich I've ever seen in my life:

It had bacon, ham (you need both!), avocado, tomato, cheese, and three eggs, on an English Muffin, served open-faced, also sour cream (which I scraped off, yuk.) and chives. I wondered briefly when reading the description how three scrambled eggs would fit on an English Muffin. Now I know. If I were to recreate this at home, I would choose either the ham or bacon (probably the bacon, let's be real), half the eggs, and leave out the cheese, sour cream and chives.

I did not take a photo, but since you can find anything on the internet, apparently, including the breakfast sandwich you forgot to take a photo of, here it is:

Photo by/from Less of Mimi blog, somehow she made it look much smaller than it actually was.

Also, I love the weather here! If I lived here, I would spend all my time riding around with the windows down. Or standing in the shade and marveling at how cool it is compared to in the sun.

fashion

2011-08-22T08:00:00.001-05:00

Unlikely inspiration in black and white, from the September 2011 US Glamour magazine:

Rihanna is not someone I ever thought I'd look to for style inspiration, but she looks totally glamourous and sophisticated in the spread. This is my favorite photo:

And although Selena Gomez is always adorable, I am particularly loving her sweet, but modern, '60s look with the white cat eye glasses, messy hair, and hot pink lips:

I hadn't looked at Glamour in a while, but I flipped through this issue at the hair salon and loved it so much that I may have to buy it.

southwest salad

2011-08-22T08:00:00.000-05:00

So, the summer's officially gone, although not at all in practice:

and it's time to start a new routine, including for us getting back into eating reasonably and healthily. Enter salads, specifically this delicious southwestern spinach salad that I made the other day, complete with homemade dressing and tortilla strips.

Baby spinach with southwest dressing (sour cream and white wine vinegar watered down and mixed with a touch of olive oil, cumin, chili powder, and salt and pepper), roasted corn and black beans (not really roasted since I just opened cans of each and sauted them in olive oil for a few minutes, sprinked with cumin and chili powder), shrimp (sauted in olive oil, seasoned with garlic, cumin, chili powder, and salt and pepper), sliced avocado, cherry tomatos, and grated cheddar cheese, and whole wheat tortilla strips (cut up whole wheat tortillas baked at 350 for 10-15 minutes)... this was so simple to make, but looking at the finished plate totally made me feel like a professional chef.

last week

2011-08-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

I finally got down to visit my family.

There was book-reading:

(I really wanted to like this, because it was highly recommended by my sister, but I just didn't.)

and cat-petting:

(how do they have less cat hair in a house with five, than I do with only one?)

and snow-ball-eating:

(mine was Irish cream with condensed milk, and my niece had half cotton-candy, half chocolate with gummy bears. I spent a long time trying to decide on a flavor, but honestly, I hardly matters as there is no bad snow-balls.)

and sushi-picking-up:

(I could eat a seaweed salad every day and be happy.)

and birthday-partying:

(which included filling a bunch of water balloons. Seriously, my sister bought 500 balloons!)

and magazine-reading:

(I really want - need! - this dress if I ever have a ball to attend or red carpet to walk...)

and finally, home-returning:

(my own sweet cat was very happy to see me.)

accessorize

2011-08-20T12:18:00.007-05:00

I've been trying my best to accessorize more, now that I've gotten pretty used to wearing bracelets, it's time to move on to rings! Megan Fox has a way with simple jewelry that I love. Most recently, I've been inspired to hunt for a black onyx prism cut ring similar to, but smaller than, the one she's wearing here:

I even tried on this David Yurman version, but did not like it enough to justify:

So, yesterday when we stopped by Erica Jewelry, I was thrilled to find this awesome, handcrafted version:

It's perfect! We try to stop by that little shop every time we are in Houston, because she always has some good finds. I picked up this purple one too just for fun, and I love it too:

My jewelry hook man needed a hat:

Now, I have the fun cheap stuff out of the way, and the investment pieces left on the list, like this Chanel Camilia ring as worn by Leigh Lezark:

I love that on here, although truthfully, I have my eye on Kristen Stewart's version with the tiny flower and diamond leaf:

And then Mila Kunis' Cartier LOVE bracelet, in platinum of course:

I want!

New (old) shoes!

2011-08-07T15:11:00.001-05:00

I bought these shoes ages ago, very much on sale and very much too small. While they technically fit on my feet, the high heel and narrow toes combined with too small made them pretty impossible to wear for more than a few minutes at a time.

Hubby saved the day by taking them to get stretched. After a couple days with the stretcher in, the toes are loose enough to actually wear. They won't ever be that comfortable, but they are definitely cute enough for a little bit of pain!

i want

2011-08-04T10:45:00.003-05:00

I want this dress to wear now:

And this one to wear in the fall with short boots:

and in the winter with tights and high boots:

(Photos of photos in the Neiman Marcus catalog from a month or so ago.)

fall vs. summer

2011-08-02T16:05:00.005-05:00

It's 104 degrees here and I cooked chili and pumpkin bread for dinner last night. And our air conditioning is broken. Don't ask me. It was good, though.

I had exactly 4 eggs about to expire, so I searched for a recipe for pumpkin bread using 4 eggs and whole wheat flour, and omitting honey and juice. This is what I found. It turned out dry (no big surprise from looking at the ingredients, and reading the reviews) but really good! I followed the recipe, but added a bunch of junk which no doubt made it better: 1 tsp. vanilla, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice, 1/2 c. dark chocolate chips, 1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips, and 1 c. walnuts. Next time, I would use two cans of pumpkin puree to help reduce the dryness. I didn't have loaf pans, so I used 2 silicon round cake pans instead, and it still took 45 minutes to cook thoroughly.

Also, don't slice your bread/cake in a silicon pan because you'll cut right through the pan. And, yes, I know I shouldn't have had to learn that from experience.

This chili is maybe my favorite thing to cook and is the first thing I really learned how to cook, even though it's really just opening a bunch of cans and stirring for a few hours. But you do have to chop an onion so I totally count it. I found it by searching google for "Wendy's chili recipe", and if you like Wendy's chili, you'll love it.

Encino Man

2011-08-01T10:49:00.009-05:00

One of the best things about kids is that you can make them watch movies that you watched when you were young. (Even though they say, This movie was made in 1992? It's so old!)

We watched Encino Man last night and I have three things to say: 1) it is by far Brendan Fraser's best movie, 2) I still miss the '90s, 3) is high school in real life ever like the movies? Is high school in California like in the movies?

I never though I would find Pauly Shore endearing. Life is unpredictable, isn't it?

This summer has been an old movie fest, but since the kids are boys we had to stick to mainly manly ones. Kindergarten Cop and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines were the biggest hits with the kids, and Rain Man and Howard the Duck were the biggest misses.

Howard the Duck

Robin Hood: Men in Tights

The Stand

Harry and the Hendersons (Again. This one is a big hit.)

Kindegarten Cop (another big hit!)

Twins

Blast from the Past (I love this one!)

Rain Man

Terminators 1-4 (fast-forwarding over the rated R scenes, of course)

little men

2011-07-27T12:17:00.003-05:00

We bought these little men hooks a long time ago. They are a bit too delicate to actually be hooks, so they've just been decoration, until now:

This is the third apartment they've hung in, and the first time they've actually been of some use! Unfortunately, this poor guy didn't survive the last move:

Red beans & rice

2011-07-26T11:41:00.000-05:00

I grew up in south Louisiana and would not touch red beans and rice. My mom made it at least once a week and I refused to even try it my whole life. My stepson recently started asking me to make it, and I did, and seriously, that is the first time I can remember ever eating it. And I liked it! I totally made it from a box mix too, but incorporated my mom's trick (I swear, she was the original Sandra Lee). All that to say that I have no idea how this recipe compares to others, but it's really good and quick and so, so easy:

2 boxes of Tony Chachere's Creole Red Beans & Rice Dinner mix

12 ounces (or so) Cajun Style Andouille Smoked Sausage, thinly sliced

7 cups chicken broth

2 cans small red beans

Ok, so, all you do it follow the directions on the box, with a tiny bit of change:

Add mix and chicken broth (instead of water) to a large pot and bring to boiling.

I start this then slice up the sausage. (Make sure you pick a spicy sausage, it really does make it better!) Add to the pot.

Once boiling, reduce heat, cover and cook for 20 minutes, stirring to keep from sticking.

Rinse and drain red beans, add to the pot and cook for 10 more minutes. (Once I had only kidney beans and used cans of that instead. It worked fine, but I still prefer the smaller red beans to match the beans that are in the mix.)

Remove from heat, and let sit 5-10 minutes to thicken. Serve with corn bread.

Speaking of corn bread: I found my favorite corn bread recipe on accident, searching for a whole-wheat corn bread recipe. I like it better than any of the others I've tried, and, oddly, my family likes it best too. And it's easy, no weird ingredients like honey or buttermilk or even cream.

les mis

2011-07-07T10:15:00.005-05:00

The year is officially half way over, and I am on pae 493 of Les Miserables which means I am officially 40.3% done. This also means I can read just 5 pages a day and still be finished with this book by my goal of the end of 2011. Les Mis is really good - great even, but only sometimes. Other times, it is so boring I have to make myself not skip ahead. So I alternate between reading 30 or 40 pages without even realizing it, and struggling to make myself read 5 or 10 pages in one sitting. I also have times when I just get so caught up in his language and words chosen, which is really beautiful at times, without paying attention to what is actually happening. I don't know how a person would even go about writing something like this and making it work, and in that regards, I do think Hugo is a genius.

When I'm finally finished reading this, I am going to see the musical and the movie, and the movie musical! I can't wait.

Girls with Guitars

2011-06-30T10:00:00.003-05:00

(Erin Wasson by Fred Meylan for Elle France June 2011)

Lately, surprisingly, I've been coming across girls with electric guitars in fashion media. I guess it's the ultimate rocker chic accessory? Although, I've yet to see anyone styled actually playing one, or even pretending to...

(Sarah Frances Kuhn by Olivia Jade Horner for Refinery 29)

(Caroline Polachek by Kava Gorna for Refinery 29)

(Chrissy Miller photo by theselby.com via Refinery 29)

bad teacher

2011-06-29T12:49:00.004-05:00

Not since Iron Man have I left a theater wanting to go shoe shopping so badly. Cammy's character wears an endless parade of red-heeled beauties, a perfect Christian Louboutin shoe wardrobe was real the star of the show. She has the classic pumps, and then lots of booties - and boots - in black and gray. She makes those cage booties look practical, even conservative, by pairing with pencil skirts. And let's not forget the Victorian-looking side buttons from the movie poster.

Not too many good screenshots of her shoes yet, I'm going to have to watch this again to get another look at the shoes. This is the kind of product placement I'm all for.

perfect wedding

2011-06-09T12:43:00.000-05:00

At the end of April, I flew up to Vermont to witness my sister's wedding to her long-time partner. She had a very intimate wedding, did it on a very small budget, and perfectly. She had all of the small, and mostly inexpensive, touches that make a wedding a wedding, instead of just a trip to the court house. It's pretty astounding how little you need to make it really special: flowers, a cake to cut, the right attire, and a photographer. That's pretty much it.

She ordered a small strawberry-filled cream cake (not technically a wedding cake, which saved a bunch) from a local bakery to pick up the day of, and topped it off with a personalized ceramic cake top from etsy.

She bought an actual wedding dress - short, but satin, beaded and flouncy, and killer sparkly blue heels.

The bouquet was really important to her, and where I think she spent the bulk of money. She ordered a custom brooch bouquet with personalized details, also from etsy. And then picked up fresh hydrangea stems for the girls from a local supermarket the morning of.

Tiny touches.

French Acadian Cook Book

2011-06-08T13:18:00.004-05:00

One of my 1/2 price book treasures ($5!), this spiral bound cook book published in 1955 by The Louisiana Acadian Handicraft Museum in Jennings, La.

Since the cookbook has no index, I snapped quick shots of any recipe I may want to try one day. It was weird to see so many people's home recipes, before microwaves and when lard and oleo were common staples... mmmm...

Also hilarious, the tips and antidotes sprinkled in:

(Still good advice almost 60 years later!)

These cookbooks make me feel so nostalgic. One of the things I miss most about Louisiana life is the food!

the young victoria

2011-06-07T15:30:00.004-05:00

I watched this movie last night and loved it. I loved them! It was a perfect movie to watch when hubby is out of town, since Prince Albert was such a good guy (I can't watch movies about lying cheating men when he's out of sight).

Of course, afterwards I had to read up on wikipedia about Queen Victoria. I love non-fiction accounts of historical monarchs, and must read theirs since it seems less tragic than some (Marie Antoinette and Mary Queen of Scotts, I'm looking at you...)

By the way, I found this hysterical: The British Monarchy has a facebook page and official website! Times have changed.

the xx

2011-06-06T19:53:00.000-05:00

My hub found this band on satellite radio and they have a really good sound. Their voices remind me a little bit of that one album by Pete Yorn and Scarlett Johansson. Worth youtubing.

Spot's condos

2011-06-05T14:00:00.003-05:00

This is our second carpeted cat tree:

Seriously, these things are so ugly and they are taking over the apartment. I really wish we didn't have them, but our cat loves them so! He spends at least 75% of his time sleeping or playing in his tree houses.

books

2011-06-04T14:42:00.005-05:00

I finally unpacked books. I hadn't read anything since the move, except the few books I picked up when traveling: The Happiness Project (inspiring), Neon Angel (sad, but so good), and Mini Shopaholic (so fun!).

I also bought a 99 cent app of Les Miserables for my iPhone, since I hadn't read it at all because the hardback novel is just too big to lug around. I am now officially 16% done and well on the way to accomplish my goal which is to finish it (finally) by the end of the year.

lovely

2011-06-02T15:01:00.001-05:00

I love this picture of Erin Fetherston in her New York apartment. It's totally not my style, but she looks so airy and lovely and she matches her apartment very well.

nail polish wardrobe

2011-06-01T11:48:00.000-05:00

I love to analyze nail polish, much in the same way I do perfume. Since once of my tiny resolutions is to keep my nails looking nice, I've been thinking about it again. After a serious de-cluttering ages ago, I narrowed down the perfect nail polish wardrobe for me. It's changed only a bit since 2007, and whenever I go through stages where I veer off a bit (sparkles?), I always regret it and wind up tossing those barely used bottles in the trash.

Here's what you need, and my current bottle of choice:

Sheer pink-y white for a no-polish-but-better look: Essie Ballet Slippers.

Red - I like to have a deep blue-red and a bright really red: OPI Got the Blues for Red and Chick Flick Cherry, respectively.

Bright, hot pink - Revlon Cherries in the Snow, or OPI Cancun Fiesta (although I'm on the hunt for an awesome OPI hot pink from my last manicure, I thought the girl said Pink Flamingo, but think maybe she said Pink Flamenco?)

Dark and sexy, formerly gothic - I alternate between OPI Lincoln Park After Dark (of course.), Maybelline Denim Dash, and Revlon Black Star.

And lastly, the granite shade: OPI You Don't Know Jaques! (This is my least favorite of the color categories, and the one I wear least. I'm not even sure why I keep it around, but I always wind up going back to it.)

(And of course, a clear top and base coat. That's a must-have.)

I actually googled "nail polish wardrobe" and found this post that completely validates my own beliefs, but with a lot more insight added to the categories and generalized to work for everyone. I highly recommend!

Spot the cat

2011-05-31T12:44:00.001-05:00

Would rather lie down in a beer box than a cat bed.

5 things

2011-05-29T10:34:00.001-05:00

I love about our new apartment:

All the light.
A bedroom. With a door.
The fancy-pants stove.
As much hot water as I need.
No more bugs.

Taste the rainbow!

2011-05-28T10:44:00.001-05:00

I want a dress made from candy!

(Via Fashion Gone Rouge, from editorial All You Can Get, photographed by Ryan Yoon for Virgine #1)

my favorite candles

2011-05-27T10:24:00.004-05:00

Organic Living Birthday Cake scent candles (from Bed, Bath & Beyond).

I love vanilla-y, sweet foody scents, and this is by far my favorite I have found so far. (Bonus: hubby like them too.) When I light these, the whole house smells like cookies are baking! I always peel the labels off after I buy them, and they look much classier.

dinner tradition

2011-05-26T11:33:00.001-05:00

Just about every single night, hubby and I sit down to dinner with a glass of wine and a game of Skip-bo. We keep the cards in a lovely sparkly bowl in the center of the table, and he usually shuffles and deals while I serve the food. It's pretty hilarious, and one of my favorite parts of the day.

my favorite model

2011-05-26T10:19:00.003-05:00

I particularly enjoy seeing the different ways she is styled depending on the country the magazine is published in. This photograph is by Peter Lindbergh, from an editorial for Vogue China, June 2011 [via dustjacket attic].

My happiness project

2011-05-25T11:19:00.007-05:00

I picked up this book the best way, randomly, in an airport. It seemed funny, quirky, and like a quick, light read. The author reminded me of myself, happy generally, with a great husband and a nice life, but puzzled as to why she's often in a bad mood or how to minimized the stress, snapping, and aggrivation to savor and appreciate everyday life. Something I need. I go to sleep so thankful and peaceful an happy, and sometimes wake up and just want to bury my head back under the covers.

days are short, years are short

And so are months. After reading the book (in just a few hours, it was a very quick read), I related a lot to the author's personality type, particularly for her love of analysis, spreadsheets, charts, and checklists. Want to be happy? Let's start with a spreadsheet! I love it! But seriously, I did realize one reason why I've been sucking so badly on my resolutions - checking in once a month, at the end of the month no less, is not gonna. Especially since my resolutions are so tiny this year, nothing really big or life-changing, and, at the same time, nothing with dramatic results to encourage progress.

My resolutions basically revolve around what makes me feel bad, and on the flip side, what makes me feel good. Basically feeling well (healthy eating, exercise), looking decent (skin care, hair cuts), having a clean/orderly apartment, and feeling productive. So, I sat down to make my resolutions list, or happiness project spreadsheet. I also tried to think of tiny things that give a little lift to the day and the first things that came to mind were lighting candles and playing music. 15 second mood boosters for sure.

And I came up this daily checklist (it's pretty much the same as my new year's resolutions, which I realized had the same goal: improve everyday life):

Read a book (for 15 minutes or 15 pages).

Keep house clean:
Clean cat litter every day (yep.).
Vacuum (1x/week).
Change sheets.
Buy the little things we need without hesitation.

Health:
Eat fruits and veggies.
Drink 8 glassed water.
Limit alcohol intake.
Exercise.

Little things:
Light candles.
Play music.
Wake up by 9:30.

Like the way I look:
Wash face right away.
Wear nice clothes.
Wear makeup.
Fix hair.
Maintain manicure.

Did you notice play guitar is gone. When it came down to it, that just isn't something I want to do, not everyday at least, and not on demand. So, it's only been two weeks of this happiness project, and it hasn't been perfect at all, but I think it's been a lot better than the previous months of the year, and will continue to get better. I open my chart every morning, which acts as a prompt to do the little things: get a glass or water and light a candle for instance. And then, I really get a thrill from checking the things off my little lists.

I would definitely recommend checking out the book, and also The Happiness Project blog.

cookbooks

2011-05-24T11:14:00.003-05:00

I cleared a good amount of clutter for the move a few months ago, among it were a box or two of books, including my only two cookbooks that I though I would use and never ever did. I brought them all to Half-Price Books for trade-in, but while I was waiting I discovered a little trove of old rotary club-type cookbooks, they are the type I remember my mom having around when I was a little girl, and I just couldn't pass them up.

This is one, a 1972 version by Tony Chachere:

I love these old recipes, the kind you just can't find on the internet, even though most are supremely unlikely to ever get made by me:

(Side note: I wouldn't use Half-Price Books again, for the value they give for books, I would prefer to give them to a thrift store instead.)

my new favorite pink

2011-05-23T11:00:00.002-05:00

(Pink Flamenco by OPI)

best ever bean enchiladas...

2011-05-18T13:17:00.002-05:00

Seriously, these were so good hubby asked to put them in the weekly dinner rotation. We have some really great mexican restaurants around, and I actually prefer these. I never made anything like this before, and I was surprised by how quick and easy they were.

Disclaimer: I think mine were actually burritos, 'cause they were supposed to use 12 tortillas and mine only used 4. But I did leave out the 12 ounces of soy crumbles, (and the oregano) so who knows. We also used South Beach Diet whole wheat tortillas, which tasted really good with recipe and are kinda healthy? 9 grams of fiber each!)

Black Bean Enchilada/Burritos (recipe found here!)

Olive oil

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. chili powder

2 tsp. minced garlic

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

Salsa (medium heat), small bottle

1/2 c. cream cheese

2 1/2 c. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

4 tortillas*

Enchilada Sauce (medium heat), small can

Preheat oven to 350.

Heat olive oil over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic until tender.

Stir in beans and spices, cook a few minutes.

Stir in salsa, cook a few more minutes.

Remove from heat, stir in cream cheese until in melts.

Add handful or so of cheddar, stir lightly.

(Ok, here the recipe said to warm tortillas, I did this by putting them in a stack in the oven for a few minutes while it was pre-heating. I'm not sure if it's a must, but since mine were refrigerated anyway, I figured it couldn't hurt.)

Coat bottom of glass pan with olive oil, then 1/2 enchilada sauce. Spread 1/4 bean mixture on each tortilla - top with a handful more cheddar on each - and roll up. Put each seam side down in glass pan. Spoon more enchilada sauce over them, them top with lots more cheese!

Cook for 20 minutes.

chicken

2011-05-10T13:20:00.003-05:00

Oh, man.

Reading some of the press about the chicken industry after the crazy tornados in Atlanta a few weeks ago, I was reminded again how gross and awful the conditions are for chickens raised for consumption. I'm not completely against eating meat, but the gruesome living conditions make me sick. I looked into the labeling and guidelines to see if there was an easy way to buy ethically-raised chicken, but it seems that almost all of the terms are misleading and not really enforced, and that even the best conditions aren't that great.

I think my plan is to just stop eating chicken all-together. We already eat very few eggs, I use them rarely for baking, so it's no big deal to buy the more expensive organic and cage-free ones. Supposedly, this website here will tell you the most humane choices at your grocery store. I'm not sure how accurate it is or what it all means, but I guess it's better than nothing?

pretty hair

2011-05-09T14:04:00.005-05:00

I'm so tired of super long hair right now, but not at all ready for short... I've been collecting photographs of long, but above the boob hair that I like:

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T10:36:00.001-05:00

Vaseline glass

2011-05-06T13:35:00.002-05:00

We were fascinated a display of pretty vaseline glass jewelry at a little gift shop... It was mostly green transparent but glows bright green to yellow under black light! I bought a bracelet and then did some research and found out the glow is due to trace levels of uranium!

Easter!

2011-05-03T08:59:00.005-05:00

When was Easter? I can't even remember! Anyway, I did a really good job on the baskets this year, I can tell because much more candy then usual got eaten, which is awesome ('cause that's less around the house for me to finish!). My mom had a tradition of using the same Easter baskets for us year after year, but since we don't have any special baskets, and I hate the thought of storing them except for one day of the year, I just use things from around the house. This year, it was two large clear chip bowls:

Perfect! And green too, right? Can plastic be green?

too many remotes!

2011-05-02T09:08:00.001-05:00

crazy trip

2011-05-01T19:02:00.006-05:00

So, I had a hell of a trip last week with the most airline delays/cancellations/problems of my life. It all worked out though.

For the first night, I was stuck overnight in Newark and hubby was at a meeting in Manhattan. Yay! for an unexpected lovely night together, in a crazy Park Ave suite. Seriously, he booked a cheap room (for NYC, which is different.) and was upgraded to someplace we could easily live: Massive bedroom, 2 bathrooms, 2 living rooms, dining room and kitchen, plus the best wraparound balcony I've ever seen, with 2 table/chairs sets and great views from the 18th floor.

New York was gorgeous: flowers blooming, beautiful weather, people out and about everywhere. I really felt like this was our little Park Ave. apartment.

I feel so alive

2011-04-26T09:47:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, the little things were so stressful that I didn't even worry about the big things.

Last night, I was so tired and sad and worried, and then I spent the night in a beautiful hotel room with my husband in NYC, which was not at all where I was planning to be, but was still very very nice.

And I guess it's all going to just work out one way anyway, but if you focus on what's wrong you miss out on the right moments in between.

Today, I'm sitting in the airport alone, reading a novel. Tired, but happy. And, corny though it is, these lyrics are stuck in my head:

Everyday is a new day
I'm thankful for every breath I take
I won't take it for granted
So I learn from my mistakes
It's beyond my control sometimes it's best to let go,
whatever happens in this lifetime
So I trust in love
You have given me peace of mind

(Alive, P.O.D.)

eeeek!

2011-04-25T17:48:00.003-05:00

Wow, April, are you almost over already? April has been life-changing. Thrilling and stressful. And definitely the beginning of something new. So many things to blog about, so little posts.

Today, I just want to take a moment to post this beautiful image of Reese Witherspoon from U.S. Vogue May 2011's A Day at the Circus. (Side note: I will most certainly not see Water for Elephants; they describe it as a movie in which terrible things happen to everyone and go on to say A feel-good movie this is not. Not my cup of tea.)

Anyway, I really admire Reese after reading the article. I especially like Nora Ephron's description of her living her life in a dignified way. I read it and thought, that's what I want people to say that about me. And then I looked up what exactly it meant to live life in a dignified way (you can google anything) and this was my favorite answer:

To be loving, to reach out to others, to be kind and compassionate - these are the things which create a life of dignity.

Basically, facing your reality, particularly hardships, with love and positivity, instead of bitterness and negativity. And being open and honest, but also private.

Kissing

2011-04-07T09:45:00.003-05:00

I love this picture!

(Charlotte Kemp Muhl and Sean Lennon by Jason Hetherington for Marie Claire UK March 2011)

I really like her look. The whole editorial is fabulous. Check it out.

End of March Update

2011-04-06T13:22:00.014-05:00

So, since I've been pretty much sucking at resolutions this year, I decided to make some teeny tiny mini-goals for each resolution for March. To be honest, it didn't help too much, I'm just somewhat off of my game this year. Partly, because the time is just going by so fast - I feel overwhelmed day-to-day by how it's rushing by! Partly, I just don't feel like putting in the effort for some reason. It's easy to eat healthy and exercise when you are trying to lose a few pounds, or pick up the guitar when you are paying for lessons, but if not, not so much. That being said, there is one resolution that I absolutely rocked at this month:

Like the way I look: I went in for a much-needed hair cut (it'd been six months again!) and immediately felt much more put together. On top of that, I went with a friend for a facial and did a major overhaul to my skincare routine. The clean slate, new products, and diligence in using them, all added up to great improvement (I think) to the state of my face (I was very close to ordering ProActive...) which is so exciting! So exciting that I also went shopping for new makeup. I actually went and sat at a department store counter (something that has always intimidated me) and had them do my face. I am so happy with the new products, and feel so grown-up. I can do this. Secondly, I went shopping for basics. I usually go shopping and end up with a fabulous dress, or purse, or pair of heels. This time I came home with fabulous solid t-shirts and tank tops, and a two basic but cute print tops. Now, I have nice clothes to wear everyday, and instead of nice dressy clothes but no basics. All this together has added up to being really happy about my appearance, and, well, liking the way I look.

(This is the after, so, can you imagine how bad the before was?)

Read: So, I read one book in March. This technically fulfills the resolution goal, but not the mini-goal. I read The Mystery of Grace, by one of my all-time absolute favorite authors, Charles de Lint. I've been reading every book of his for years, but hadn't in quite a long time. I picked it because I knew it would be interesting and well-written and wouldn't make me heartbroken. It was a really good choice. As for the others that I vowed to read this month, I AM OZZY and Jude the Obscure went straight in the donate bin along with a great many others that I've been not reading for a long time now (Sylvia Plath and On the Road, both gone!) OZZY was too annoying and Jude too sad, so I just abandoned them both with no regrets. I still have a nice little stack of un-reads though, and haven't restarted on Les Mis yet. Maybe that can be April's mini-goal?

(De Lint is great at happy endings.)

Eat healthier: Nope, especially not this first week of April. Even with the fridge full of good food. We've cut out the frequent pasta dishes though, and you know what Chicken with Artichoke and Mushroom Pasta tastes even better without the pasta... For the rest of April, I'm going to try again with the one piece of fruit a day, guess I need to go get an apple out of the fridge. Also, some of the most common fruits and veggies that we eat are high up on the list of the best things to buy organic, meaning that they rated highest in pesticide and chemical residue, and I just decided to start making sure to buy them organic: apples, strawberries, grapes, and spinach.

Cook more: My one new recipe was actually two new recipes and turned out so fabulous! I made a chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream frosting for a friend's birthday. The cake was moist and delicious and chocolate-y, and the frosting was very sweet but perfect consistency. This is definitely my go-to chocolate cake recipe from now on, and this month I'm going to make it again for my step-son's birthday! I decided desserts totally count for this goal. I have some many easy weekly dinner ideas that I'll save the cooking brand new dinner recipes resolution for another year.

(Yep, I baked the cookie cake too. And, yep, I know how to spell Happy Birthday, the candle pack was missing the "D")

Play guitar better: Did not play at all. This month, same mini-goal: Pick up the guitar one time and play it.

Exercise: Failed the big goal of 30 minutes 3 times a week, I think it was. But made the little goal of exercising just one teeny time. I did it. I put on my sports bra and tennis shoes and walk/jogged one tiny little mile. It took 12 minutes. It was fun. I felt good afterwards. Why am I failing this goal?

Keep keeping the house clean: I sprayed half-way around the house for bugs. But guess what, we are moving! Next week, maybe. Another very quick decision, and we are gone. I looked up a moving checklist because I’m all about that kind of stuff, and it was all “two months before” and “six weeks before” and according to Martha we should only have left to defrost the freezer and get cash to tip the moving co. Ha! My husband would so give Martha a heart attack, and, unfortunately, I have a bit of her in me.

(Gonna need a bigger box to move the kit-cat.)

Wake up early: Yep. Set my alarm clock and have been waking up almost every (week)day about 10 minutes before it goes off! Except for Saturdays and a few flukes where I slept until almost noon, I’ve been rocking this goal.

Diary/Blog and photos: Not so good at this, seriously, four blogs for March is the worst by far in years! Although we did take lots of lovely pictures on our vacation (that I still need to blog) and some blurry shots of our anniversary. Let's try for 15 and, although I swore not to make cat posts, he's so cute that I'm going to start a weekly round-up. Don't hate.

(Dramatic, no?)

Improve day-to-day apartment living: I got my vacuum and I never knew I could love a vacuum so much. The goal for this month is purging everything that I possibly can while packing and moving. I’ve already got a ton of stuff for good-will, books and clothes and kitchen stuff and can’t wait to add more.

All in all, I guess March wasn’t that bad in terms of resolutions. For April, I’m really going to concentrate on continuing to like the way I look, to start eating healthy all the time, exercising, and taking lots of photos. And of course, moving.