It's Christmas time, and so I'd like to give you a gift. Cuz Christmas isn't all about receiving, you know. So, here goes, my favorite things of 2009:
10. Hunt for the Worst Movie of all time. Every Monday, Gabe posts a new review of a movie that has been suggested to be the worst ever. His reviews are witty, hysterical and brutally honest. Even better? I think I've seen most of the movies he reviews...
9. My favorite San Diego bar/restaurant. It's funky and different, and I have yet to be disappointed by a dish or drink.
8. Etsy. This site is fantastic if you like one-of-a-kind pieces. I love the jewelry and bags, but they also have great men's items like cufflinks, ties, etc.
7. My very own tomato sauce recipe. I use this for Chicken Parmesan, Sausage Pasta, etc. It's the perfect blend of tomato and spices.
(Ingredients:
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 shallot
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp. Italian herbs
1 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 tsp. bay leaves
Chop garlic and shallot. Saute in olive oil. Add crushed tomatoes and spices, keep on low heat until served.)
6. This song, by Wakey!Wakey! Click on and listen to the track titled "Brooklyn." It's gorgeous.
5. My favorite Chocolate Cake recipe. I get asked for this recipe every time I make it. Even my mother-in-law was impressed by it and asked me for it!
(Ingredients:
1 box devil’s food cake mix
1 small box Jello instant chocolate pudding mix—not the sugar or fat free kind
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a VERY large bowl (4 qt), mix together everything except chocolate chips. Batter will be thick. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour batter into cake pan of choice. For cooking time, I use the cooking times on the back of the devil’s food cake box as a guide and usually add 10 minutes to whatever it says. Then I do the toothpick check, and if it’s not done, I check on it every 5 minutes after that. :) It usually takes around 45 minutes for two, 9-inch pie pans.
I use the frosting recipe on the powdered sugar box to top off this baby. You can't go wrong.)
4. Owl City's "Ocean Eyes" CD. Every song on this album is good. I think I've listed to it 50 times already.
3. My favorite bottle of wine. If you're a red wine fan, you should try this. Ramey Wine Cellars produces an amazing claret, and it so happens to be my favorite wine. The 2005 is all gone, but the 2006 is supposed to be excellent as well.
2. The Pioneer Woman. She is my blogging and culinary inspiration. I wish I had her dedication and photo talents, so instead I follow her blog, and you should too.
1. Mylifeisaverage.com. You will thank me for this one. It's like FML, but for people with a sense of humor. It updates frequently and always gives me a good laugh.
So that's it. Ten of my favorite things that I've discovered this year. Merry Christmas to all!
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Friday, December 18, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Wear Sunscreen
My parting gift to you, over the Thanksgiving holiday.
This piece was presented as Kurt Vonnegut's commencement address at MIT in 1997. It's great stuff, but apparently it wasn't written or delivered by Vonnegut. It's still a beautiful piece...
Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '97:
Wear sunscreen.
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.
Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 pm on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing every day that scares you.
Sing.
Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Floss.
Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.
Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch.
Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.
Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.
Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary.
Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.
Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.
Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.
Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.
Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.
Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen.
This piece was presented as Kurt Vonnegut's commencement address at MIT in 1997. It's great stuff, but apparently it wasn't written or delivered by Vonnegut. It's still a beautiful piece...
Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '97:
Wear sunscreen.
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.
Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 pm on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing every day that scares you.
Sing.
Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Floss.
Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.
Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch.
Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.
Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.
Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary.
Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.
Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.
Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.
Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.
Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.
Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Fragility
I started a post on our wonderful trip to Vegas that I was going to post today, but I'll have to post tomorrow.
Last night, the Lumberjack and I found out that his dad has prostate cancer, for the second time. The first time, the Lumberjack and I had been together for about a year. I remember finding out, crying with my man and praying his father's recovery would come smoothly and quickly. And it did. After a prostate removal surgery, his cancer was gone.
This time around, cancer treatment means radiation. There is no prostate to be removed, but somehow he has prostate cancer? We are praying for a speedy recovery and healing and that the radiation banishes all forms of cancer from his body.
I don't know much else at the moment, other than life is fragile and precious. Please keep my father-in-law and our family in your prayers.
Last night, the Lumberjack and I found out that his dad has prostate cancer, for the second time. The first time, the Lumberjack and I had been together for about a year. I remember finding out, crying with my man and praying his father's recovery would come smoothly and quickly. And it did. After a prostate removal surgery, his cancer was gone.
This time around, cancer treatment means radiation. There is no prostate to be removed, but somehow he has prostate cancer? We are praying for a speedy recovery and healing and that the radiation banishes all forms of cancer from his body.
I don't know much else at the moment, other than life is fragile and precious. Please keep my father-in-law and our family in your prayers.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
My Goal: To Be a Stay-at-Home Mom
I have a confession to make.
And it might not make everyone happy.
In fact, it may upset people who believe it's a waste of time and a step backwards in the feminist movement.
But here it goes:
As much as I enjoy working and being a career woman, my goal in the long run is to be a stay-at-home mom (SAHM).
There, I said it.
I know, I know: I have a Bachelor's degree and a career. Don't get me wrong, I love both. But when it comes down to it, putting my baby in daycare everyday so I can continue with my career is simply not an option. Like my own mother, I want to be there when my baby says his/her first word or takes his/her first step.
And for that reason, the Lumberjack and I have discussed not starting our family until we can financially afford for me to comfortably stay at home and raise our kids. That point of financial stability may not come for 10 or even 15 years, but it's worth waiting for so that I can accomplish my goal of always being there. (With what I know about my Lumberjack's work ethic, I'd be shocked if it was longer than five years.)
But right now, I feel kind of lost. Being a stay-at-home mom isn't reality now, and until it becomes now, I'm at a standstill. Unlike other goals, there isn't anything I can do to make this goal become a reality any sooner.
Reading Whitney's blog, My Journey Toward the Glamorous Life of a Housewife, inspires me.
I know it will all be worth it one day when I can look into that little face and have the confidence that I will not miss a moment. But until then, all I have is the hope and dream that it will all be worth it.
And it might not make everyone happy.
In fact, it may upset people who believe it's a waste of time and a step backwards in the feminist movement.
But here it goes:
As much as I enjoy working and being a career woman, my goal in the long run is to be a stay-at-home mom (SAHM).
There, I said it.
I know, I know: I have a Bachelor's degree and a career. Don't get me wrong, I love both. But when it comes down to it, putting my baby in daycare everyday so I can continue with my career is simply not an option. Like my own mother, I want to be there when my baby says his/her first word or takes his/her first step.
And for that reason, the Lumberjack and I have discussed not starting our family until we can financially afford for me to comfortably stay at home and raise our kids. That point of financial stability may not come for 10 or even 15 years, but it's worth waiting for so that I can accomplish my goal of always being there. (With what I know about my Lumberjack's work ethic, I'd be shocked if it was longer than five years.)
But right now, I feel kind of lost. Being a stay-at-home mom isn't reality now, and until it becomes now, I'm at a standstill. Unlike other goals, there isn't anything I can do to make this goal become a reality any sooner.
Reading Whitney's blog, My Journey Toward the Glamorous Life of a Housewife, inspires me.
I know it will all be worth it one day when I can look into that little face and have the confidence that I will not miss a moment. But until then, all I have is the hope and dream that it will all be worth it.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
A Reflection: The Engagement
It was May 21, 2006. The Lumberjack and I had talked about getting married, we had shopped for a ring, we had even read one of those "101 questions before you get engaged" books. We were spending a wonderful weekend at my parents' home since he was living in San Diego, and I just knew he was going to propose to me that weekend.
And when I looked back at him, he was down on one knee. 
I started freaking out. (He later admitted to me he was so excited, he was shaking.)
And then he said, "Oh, by the way, my friends Tori and Dave have been over there taking pictures of the whole thing."
But he didn't.
Oh, he asked a question, all right. He asked, "Wanna go out on a date next weekend?"
Well, sure.
He wouldn't tell me where we were going and, after my disappointment from the previous weekend, I didn't want to get my hopes up. (I mean, who I am kidding? I made sure my nails were freshly manicured for two months before he popped the question, just so I'd be ready to show of my new ring the second it was on my perfectly-polished finger.)
I didn't want to get my hopes up but, being the silly girl I am, I pulled a silky white dress out of my closet and borrowed some pearl earrings from my mom. I even bought some cute heels to go with the dress, you know, just in case.
He drove me downtown and took me to Blue Ginger, a swanky Chinese restaurant I had been dying to go to. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was incredibly romantic. The meal ended, and I suggested we go to the beach and watch the sunset. He suggested Shelter Island, a place we'd go to watch the boats on the harbor and be alone.
I agreed. When we arrived, he took me over to the Bali Hai and I had a good feeling it was finally coming. I knew his dad had asked his mom to marry him in the gardens behind the Bali Hai. But he kept walking. Again, I was disappointed but tried not to get my hopes up.
We walked over to a gazebo shaped like a shell that had been built in the grass near the water. We stood in the middle and looked up at the middle of the shell.
And when I looked back at him, he was down on one knee. I started freaking out. (He later admitted to me he was so excited, he was shaking.)He told me how he brought me to this spot because we had shared to much time there. He then asked me if I would do him the honor of becoming his wife. "YES, YES, YES!"
We hugged; we kissed; we laughed.
And then he said, "Oh, by the way, my friends Tori and Dave have been over there taking pictures of the whole thing."WOW.
He knows me well. Not only did he pick out the ring of my dreams, he knew I'd want photos to commemorate the best day of my life, up until that point at least. 
It was the most romantic day of my life, and everything was absolutely perfect. I didn't even cry until the photographers left.
It was the most romantic day of my life, and everything was absolutely perfect. I didn't even cry until the photographers left. Looking back at the photos from that day makes me smiles. We were so young, so in love. The great thing about it is, we're still young, and even more in love.
So many people had told me that marriage would change our relationship, and not necessarily in a good way.
I loved the Lumberjack when he proposed to me, but it was a fraction compared to my love for him now.
Everything about that moment was perfect, but it was just one of many more perfect moments together.
Marriage was the best thing that has ever happened to me--to us--but I'll blog about that later.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Weddings, Fourth of July, etc.
I know, it's been almost a month since my last post. But, I can explain.
It's an awful lot of excitement for a corgi puppy, though you can't tell from the picture above. In fact, he looks like he's hating it, but he actually had a pretty good time. 
See, there he is swimming along. He kind of looks terrified there, too, but he figured out the whole swimming thing pretty quickly.
See, first I had about a trillion (that's not an exaggeration) wedding-related events. Being in weddings take up a lot of time, even when they're not your own.
On June 26, the Lumberjack was the best man when our dear friends Drew and Christine got married.
And then, one week later on July 3, I was the matron of honor when our dear friends Lisa and Josh got married. 
Then, the day after Lisa and Josh's wedding, the Lumberjack and I spent the weekend in Orange County with our parents for the Fourth of July.
The most exciting part of that was: Dutch learned how to swim!
The most exciting part of that was: Dutch learned how to swim!
It's an awful lot of excitement for a corgi puppy, though you can't tell from the picture above. In fact, he looks like he's hating it, but he actually had a pretty good time. See, there he is swimming along. He kind of looks terrified there, too, but he figured out the whole swimming thing pretty quickly.And, as long as one of us was holding him, he seemed to relax and enjoy the cool water on such a hot day. 
He did occasionally look to my mom, who was taking pictures, for help. But, each time he'd swim to the steps and get out of the pool, he walk around and try to get back in. The thing is, he's a baby, so he wasn't brave enough so jump in. Plus, when he does jump/fall in, he sinks. Silly dog.
But he definitely had a fun time swimming. In the photo above, he's swimming to me. Such a good boy!
And his daddy was so proud not to have a wussy dog!
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