#232 Matt Frazier stopped in Lincoln!

On my List of 1,001 Awesome Things To Do Before....list, #232 is to attend a book tour/signing by an author that I love.  I did that!  I intend to do it any time I get the chance, but I think this is the first.  No, not true.  I met Isa Moskowitz at a bake sale in Omaha and she signed my Vegan Cookies cookbook, but that was a few years back, way before I had The List.  Plus, its on the list to meet her again (maybe when she gets her vegan restaurant open?!?)

Matt Frazier writes a blog that I read regularly called The No Meat Athlete and his book, Run on Plants and Discover Your Fittest, Fastest, Happiest Self just came out a few weeks ago.  On his book tour, he made a stop at the Lincoln Running Company and Willa and I made sure we could make it!  Matt is an ultramarathon runner who just happens also to be vegan.  He spoke about his training, what he eats, what he wears, goal setting, strength training...all kinds of good stuff!  He was very informative.  I haven't read the whole book yet, but I did just try out one of his recipes (for buffalo hummus) and it was so good.  I don't know why I hadn't thought to put buffalo sauce in hummus before but it was genius.  I am very excited to try the rest of the recipes.  Aside from recipes, there are also training plans for various distances in the book.  A great read for anyone who is thinking of getting into distance running or anyone looking to replace some meat with some healthier options in their diets.  He doesn't get in your face at all about the ethics of a vegan diet, as some vegan writers do.  He makes some good points, for sure, but he also acknowledges that even just a reduction in red meat consumption can make huge positive impacts on your health and your training.  If you're curious, you should check it out!  I'll loan my copy out after I try a few more recipes:)

#280 and #93 Progress, people.

My box:)

I realize that my original list of Awesome Things To Do In Life didn't go as far as #280, but I have a little notebook that I carry around with me that I add to pretty frequently and it has a #280 which is: Find a line of grown-up skin care that I like.  In other words, stop just using whatever happens to be on sale at Target and do something really good for my skin!  And #93 involved pinning down a good shade of lipstick for myself.  I am happy to report that I am working on both of these things.  I recently purchased the anti-aging line of skin care from a good friend who is a representative for Rodan and Fields, and have also tried a few of their other products and am really liking them.  If you are in the market for any type of skin care, I would definitely recommend them and put you in touch with Tiffany.  She knows her stuff.  I can't wait to be able to purchase the machine that sucks the dead skin off your face.  (Really do talk to Tiff.  She doesn't say things like "suck the dead skin off your face."  She knows words like "exfoliate" and "peptides")

As for the lipstick situation, I've not actually found IT yet.  But, I have found a really super fun little service that sends samples of high end skin care/cosmetics/hair care/etc to your home every month for $10.  I'm in love with it and I've only gotten one!  Its called Birchbox and I think they should be paying me to say nice things about them, as I've managed to work them into 98% of my conversations since I received my first box.  If you're curious, my first box contained, I believe, 5 different items (a mineral foundation, organic sunscreen, self tanning towelettes, lip cream, and leave-in conditioner for sun damaged hair.)  All of these things were great!  I can't wait till I get a box with lipstick.  Or perfume.  Or really anything.  I just love getting stuff in the mail.  If you want to make my day, put all your old bread sack twisty ties in a tiny box and mail them to me.  That's how easy I am to please.  But in all seriousness, if you are in the market for anything for your skin or just to treat yourself to something fun, check out Rodan and Fields and Birchbox.  You won't be sorry:)

Bored, bored, bored

No real point to the picture, except that I freaking love it.  That's right. I said it.  I like something that I created, even if its just a photograph.  And any part of it that appears creative actually comes from Afterlight.  But whatever.  I'm in a mood.

I've been at work all night.  This isn't weird.  I work 2 nights a week.  Normally I either have a coworker who is TOO enjoyable that I can chat with all night, or enough with me to read to keep me busy.  Or there's always Pinterest.  I exhausted Pinterest.  I finished my book. (The Great Gatsby.  Somehow, I missed reading this book all through high school and college.  It was fine.  I dunno.  I was much more excited about the previous 3 books I read: Let the Great World Spin, Help Thanks Wow, and A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.)  And the lady I'm working with is perfectly lovely, but we just haven't clicked.  I mean, we've never drawn one another pictures of butt holes in bags, or slow danced, or watched Miley Cyrus videos together.  Maybe we'll get there someday, but someday isn't tonight and I'm bored.  Plus its my birthday weekend, so I'm feeling extra reflective.  Not like you would want to wear me on a night bike ride, but just maybe thoughtful.  Its been a rough couple of weeks.  I've said it before and I won't quit saying it, even to newly married/engaged friends.  Marriage is hard.  Its another full time job.  Honestly, I think its the hardest thing.  For me, anyway.  But we're still pluggin' away and I'm going to try to stop being a lazy, easily irritated spouse.  Either that or just start drinking more.

I wonder what my 33rd year will have in store for me...I can't stop looking at profiles of pit bulls on the Humane Society website.  And mastiffs.  And labs.  Maybe a new dog?!?  We still haven't paid our taxes, so maybe a visit from the IRS?  Just kidding, I don't think they would waste their time with us, but it does raise my blood pressure a bit.  For real, I went in to donate blood on Wednesday and they told me my blood pressure was too low and they gave me a few minutes before they retook it, all I had to do was think about the damn taxes and whaddaya know.  Up it went!  Hoping for maybe a long weekend vacation, even if its just to Johnson's Lake or Mahoney.  I need a few days of nature and fresh air and minimal technology/interactions with other humans.  I need a girls' trip, as well.  One that is a little less nature-oriented maybe.  (Maaaayyybe one that involves a city with an IKEA.  Hint hint.  Wink wink.  Coughamynebesniakimhintingthatireallywantyoutoplanatripcough.) Who knows what will happen!  I'll get a little older, there will be surprises.  That's what is both great and horrible about life, right?!?  For now, I DO know that I have a birthday weekend to look forward to and it starts in just a few hours.  And it starts with a bachelorette party for one of my favorite people.  So, cheers to being 32 for one more day:)

Pics from my mom's bday a few weeks ago:)

Congrats to dear brookie!

First of all, I love this picture.  It was taken a few months ago on a nice girl's night out.  Second of all, the lady on the left, my most favorite brooke, won a very cool blogging contest and I want every single person I know to hear about it!  brooke's blog is called grace and light, and she won Typepad's 10th Birthday Blogging Contest..  Do read about the contest, and then read every single one of brooke's blog posts, because they are all worth your time.  She is so very thoughtful with what she writes, and her words are so elegant.  I suppose you could read the other 2 winners' blogs as well, if you work night shifts like me and dink around on the internets for, like, hours.  Or, you could google yourself, then shop on Amazon for nut milk bags and donut pans, then pay a tiny portion of your taxes online, then look at tons of pictures of cute baby animals on the Huffington Post, then try to refocus yourself by looking at your own blog post about your goals, and then spend the rest of the night looking at lipstick shades.  Yeah.  Do that.

Because, wine.

I'm not exactly sure what the theme was for Summer, 2012 but I have decided that 2013 is all about the vineyards.  Wine is gluten free.  Vineyards are beautiful.  Yes, I realize we live in Nebraska but I'll take what I can get.  And the place we visited on Friday evening was the bee's knees.  Glacial Till is near Bennett, Ne which is a decent drive from our house, but totally worth it.  The Chambourcin was red and dry and I had the whole bottle to myself.  The music was fun.  I danced with Willa.  They had a visiting brewery, which made the gentleman happy.  You know where to find me every other Friday night from now until the end of summer.

And...if you don't get the title of this post then you have not been following my directions all along.  Shame on you.

Need a great ebook?

I recently purchased this e-cookbook, written by a girl that I follow on Instagram, and I am loving it!  I have already made the Pad Thai a few times, the chocolate chocolate chip muffins, chipotle tilapia, spicy tuna salad and the super seed loaf.  The recipes are all very clean, all gluten-free, and the author gives suggestions on how to make most of the recipes vegetarian/vegan as well.  I highly recommend it, if you are looking for some easy, healthy ways to perk up your food-life.  Her blog has a lot of really great recipes on it, as well.  Take a peek!

A night with friends

We've been having book club at some places other than our houses the last few months.  Two months ago we went to the Blue Orchid, which is one of my all-time favorite places to eat.  This month, we visited Deer Springs Winery.  This is now one of my all-time favorite places to be.  It was so pretty and peaceful there.  We went on a Friday evening, and they had some musicians and people making very tasty coal-fired pizzas.  There were small groups of people in lawn chairs, on blankets, having picnics, with their dogs.  It was great.  I am excited to go back.  If anyone needs a good place for a date night, or if anyone wants to date me for an evening, its the perfect place.

PS:  The book we read for the evening, Looking for Alaska, was very good.  I would recommend.  It reminded me of the Catcher in the Rye.

42 inches of heaven (#80. For now)

I really didn't know, until very recently, that I cared about tvs.  At all.  The tv that Brad and I had in our living room, as our main tv (really our only tv, aside from the one in the basement that I use if I'm going to be on the treadmill for more than half an hour), was purchased at the Conestoga Mall, at Sears, back when I worked at Vanity.  We're talkin, 1999.  I got a mall Friends and Family discount.  I think it still cost like $800 or something crazy like that, but when you are selling $39 jeans at 2% commission, you are living large.  It was a beast of a tv and nearly threw out the backs of anyone who ever helped me move.  But it was something of a family member by the time it gave out on us a few months ago.  I was sad.  I also didn't think I cared enough about tv watching to spend much money to replace it.  So, we brought up the treadmill tv, which is the one you see pictured above. It might by 13 inches.  Maybe 18.  I'm not sure because I was too embarrassed to measure it. Watching it sucked and strained our eyes.  As the days wore on, we all became more and more eager to get something new.  So, we made a plan to purchase a new tv sometime during the week before Father's Day, hoping maybe there would be some good sales.  As soon as Sunday rolled around and the sale fliers were distributed, we found ourselves back at Sears.  The circle of life.  This probably won't be the very nicest tv we ever own, but OH MY GOD, we are enjoying it.  And, 42 inches doesn't seem all that big in the store, when it is displayed next to the 70 inchers, but in our living room it seems gigantor.   Love it.

There she is, in all her Bob's Burgers glory.

And here is a chair that I found at Cool and Collected this weekend, that I think I would enjoy watching the new tv from.  Someone buy it for me?!?

#217 Have an outdoor meditation area

Kind of a weird thing to choose as my first to complete, but I have an outdoor meditation area!! Brad (and of course Willa, with all her disposable income) gave me this hanging chair for Mother's Day.  Now, before you start thinking, "Whoa, Brad has amazing taste and really understands what his wife was looking for in #217 Outdoor Meditation Area", this chair was heavily hinted at.  As in, I handed him the cb2 catalogue and said "Buy this chair."  He does get some mad points for the gift he had in mind, which was a spa day, which is also on the list, but that just wasn't the thing I wanted to cross off the list yet.  That felt a little too self-indulgent for a lady who still owes some major 2012 taxes.  I think I would have sat there during my pedicure or massage and stressed myself out even more about that fact.  Apparently, I felt the money would be better applied to my new favorite chair, where I have gone about half of the mornings that I've had it, to sit and drink my warm lemon water and listen to bird sounds and think happy thoughts.  And then I let myself sit and think the stressful thoughts if I need to.  In addition to the chair, I also have some fun plants and my herb pot nearby and a really nice view.  I couldn't ask for a nicer outdoor meditation area.  And this wasn't on the list, but maybe should have been...when I tweeted the instagrammed picture of my chair and hash tagged it with the designers name, she favorited my tweet!  And, that may have been the most ridiculous sentence I have ever typed.

Sometimes I wonder where I go

And then I'm like, look!  Here I am!  A few months ago, Tosha and I took our better halves (cough, cough, choke. Hahahaha) out for a night on the town.  To include sushi, drinks and intelligent conversation.  When I was checking on the blogs tonight at work and realized how long it had been since I myself had updated my blog, I decided to share this picture and blame Tosha entirely for my lack of blogging.  Not Tosha so much as Purely Maid.  I love my business.  I love cleaning.  I love (nearly) all of our clients and (nearly) all of their kids and pets.  But seriously!  When we get extra, super-duper busy, it seems to come in spurts and right now...we are massively...um, spurting?  To the point that we have very little time for things like sushi, drinks, our other job, sleep, cleaning our own houses...I think you get it.  It will start slowing down now a little.  I think.  After this next week maybe.  At least enough to get in one last, good long run I hope!  (The marathon is less than a month away now.)

As for a marathon update, I did a little work on what I'm going to wear.  Isn't it nuts that I would stress about that?  But I do, and I wanted to be able to wear everything a few times before that day, to make sure I knew how it was going to perform.  I got some new shoes and shorts.  Kinda surprised myself on the shoes, as I've been loyal to the New Balance Minimus for a few years now, but these are waaaay comfortable.  And my choice of shorts was largely determined by cuteness, brand loyalty, and number/size of pockets.

The holiday of L-O-V-E

I feel like we kind of made Valentine's Day a big deal this year.  I think it was because Willa got to celebrate at preschool and that got her kind of revved up for it.  Usually, aside from my love of the colors red and pink together, I'm not a huge fan.  (If any of you reading ever lived in Babcock Hall from the years 1998-2000, do you always on Valentine's Day picture those cut-outs in the bathroom that were from "the magazines"?  With the strategically positioned construction paper flaps?  I do.)  

Anyhooters...this year was fun!  On the Monday before Valentine's Day, we had a family date downtown.  First, we got coffee at Indigo Bridge, then we made stuff at Paint Yourself Silly, then we had ice cream at Ivanna Cone, and then we had dinner at Bison Witch's.  All fun stuff.  Lots of good food.  I swear Willie was having more fun than it looks like she was having.  She painted herself a little duck and also helped with Brad's pencil cup.  I think she has figured out how OCD I am about certain things, as she didn't even ask if she could help with my spoon rest.  She knows I would freak out if she painted out of my lines.  And today, she wouldn't let me play Monopoly with her, as she said I would make her play it "the right way."  Damn straight, child.  

Wednesday night, we made brownies.  And we ate a lot of frosting.

Thursday night, Brad brought home Noodles and had flowers and wine awaiting us:)  Note that he has learned that I do not think that roses are pretty flowers.  No picture, but I bought him some spicy garlic sauce from BW3s.  And some pink sea salt.  A tasty gift, but I did feel a little lame when another gift arrived for me the next day and it was this little guy that I have been wanting and wanting and he cost much more than wing sauce...

See?  Cute little guy.  Ready for a cute little plant, when I find the one that I am imagining.

All in all, it was a very nice holiday.  But Easter is my favorite and it is next.  And again, I have sworn off excess/refined sugar from Valentine's Day through Easter.  So Friday morning, I gave away the leftover brownies and have been saying no to all my favorite things ever since.  No, that was pretty dramatic but I did order black coffee at Scooters while Willa ate red velvet cupcake ice cream with M & M's on top the other day.  And today while we were snowed in all day, I may have mixed a lot of unsweetened cocoa powder with peanut butter, honey and banana and eaten it like yogurt.  I'm really blurring the lines of what is acceptable, natural sugar and what isn't.  Honey?  Really?!?  I was desperate.  Brad is giving up soda.  I am so proud of how well he is doing.  We stocked up on many flavors of green tea to get us through.  Tosha gave up meat again.  She is discovering the joys of Trader Joe's Meatless Meatballs.  We are all suffering together:)  Except Willa.  She is getting a really sick kind of pleasure out of my inability to eat candy.  She went so far as to rub my back with a little bag of Valentine M & M's the other day, singing to me about how they are made of sugar.  Mean, mean little creature.  Its fine.  I'll get her back on Easter Day.  The Easter bunny might bring her a basket with only candy wrappers.  Wrappers from reece's eggs, starburst jelly beans, and sweet tart bunnies and chicks.  I really like Easter.

Guys, here's how to please a (vegetarian) lady.

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The title of this post is indeed a shameless attempt to get to the 10,000 views mark.  I admit it.  I bet that gets googled a lot, don't you?!?  Especially around Valentine's Day.  But don't be scared, I am not about to share any faux-fur lined handcuffs

Yes, this is what (soft core) porn looks like to me:)

Just this recipe for vegan chocolate avocado pudding.  This might be even scarier than the handcuffs.  You're thinking that I have lost my mind, putting the words "avocado" and "pudding" in the same sentence.  My mind is still just as together as it was before I found the pudding recipe, whatever that means to you.  This stuff is so good.  If you have an aversion to coconut, as about half of the world does, you can leave it out.  And you can use any type of milk.  Also, I used honey in place of syrup, and really not very much of it.  Tastes so much better than any pudding you can buy in the store and its pretty darn good for you!  Please try it.  Even if you think you don't like avocados.  Which if you don't, you should not be reading my blog.  Its like saying you don't like Willa.  That's how close avocados and I are.  We may be closer, as an avocado would have hurt A LOT LESS coming out of the birthing canal.  I've also never had an avocado yell in the library that she "can't find the damn dog" in the Where's Waldo book.  But at the same time an avocado never tells me I'm pretty or snuggles with me at night.  Its a toss up.

I can't quit Pinterest

Its been awhile since I've shared my most recent favorite pins...

Dude, this soup rocks

Fell in love with this bedding, still haven't committed though...

Made this advent calendar for Willa this year

Gift ideas for anyone on your list who wears things, runs, eats vegetables, likes to laugh, or loves scarves:)

My last few posts have been kind of heavy.  My heart has been kind of heavy.  So, please allow me now to indulge myself in all of my night-time web browsing and make a post about beautiful things I would buy myself for Christmas if I had unlimited funds.  And time.  And space for things.

This shower curtain/hamper

Or kind of a different feel...

Such a pretty, pretty scarf

And how about this bracelet?!?  It might be my favorite thing ever.

A necklace for prosperity and good fortune.

A pretty calendar to tell me when to plant things.  Or just to look pretty in my kitchen.

A variation on the planting calendar.

A variety of succulants (which I hear are hard to kill)

A book by my favorite bloggers:)

A veggie lover's cookbook

I think I could have a lot of fun with this

And for my new running habit...you could pretty much open up the Lululemon website and throw a dart at the screen and I probably want whatever you hit.  And I would want to wear it ALL THE TIME.  And never take it off.  Ever.

There you have it.  My most superficial and greedy post of the year.  Every year.  I get a kick out of making a list of things I can't afford.  I think that might be kind of weird.  We are also in desperate need of new bedding but I haven't taken the time to look deeply into the bedding sections of my favorite websites yet.  Soon.

Join me in a good read

I used to be such a reader.  I'm gonna say that changed when Willa was born.  There just isn't as much time for sitting and reading.  Its getting a little bit better as she gets a little older, there are more times that she is content playing while I sit and read.  I had thought that working nights would provide me with ample reading time, which I guess technically it does, but if I start reading too early, I get even drowsier than I do if I find other ways to pass the time.  I am very excited about a book club that a friend recently formed and wanted to share it with any of my blog readers who love books!  We are "discussing" the books through a blog that Tiffany set up, so anyone anywhere can participate.  And, we are discussing one chapter per week so if you are slow like me, you can keep up.  And if you aren't slow, you can still be reading other things as well.  The first book we are reading is called The Hole in our Gospel and we are just now on chapter 1 so feel free to join in!

Aaaaand...there went nearly my entire night shift.

A million thank you's to the lovely and talented Nicole at Making It Lovely for sharing this link.  I only made it about a third of the way through the essays tonight, but I will read the rest.  And soon.  I adore election time.  And I have no problem with telling anyone who will listen that I am a left, left, leftie, liberal, hippie, vegetarian, gun-hating, social-contract loving, my-uterus-my-choice, wind energy worshiping, help-the-least-of-those-among-us, health-care/marriage/civil rights/equal pay-for-all, CRAZY PERSON.  Its just how my brain works.  I've tried to make my brain be at least a little bit more moderate, so as not to seem so crazy, but it just can't.  I try not to be too in your face about it out in the real world.  But this is my blog, darn it, so I can be as De-de-de-democratic as I want.  If you have even the slightest inclination, you should check out some of these essays.  Of the ones I read, a few were vulgar, mostly the ones written by comedians.  But most were very intelligent, well written, some very personal explanations as to why the individuals are voting for Barack Obama for a second term.  One of my favorites was #25, written by Colin Meloy of The Decemberists, on the changes that have been made under this presidency that have assisted his family in receiving the therapies needed for their autistic son.  He makes a great point here " regardless of your tax bracket, if you’re parenting a kid with special needs, you need help."  So very, very true.  
Another of my favorites was #34 by author Elizabeth Gilbert on the nature of Barack Obama's character.  Every word of her essay rang true with me.  Sure, there have been other political figures that I have felt confident in voting for.  For pete sake, I may start a Bill Clinton fan club some day.  But, President Obama is the first politician I have felt admiration for, as far as character goes.  His calm, poised demeanor is a breath of fresh air.  His commitment to all classes of people is admirable.  And for me, bottom line, there is a very strong gut feeling about our two candidates.  I have a Facebook friend who worded her feelings about Mitt Romney in a way that made me laugh, but also kind of sums up my feelings toward him..."You know how dogs seem to have a 6th sense about people, well I would bet money that if you put a dog on the presidential debate stage that Romney would be eaten alive..."  Now of course, I don't wish for Mitt to be eaten by anything, but I personally agree with the sentiment:)  May the best candidate win, and in the words of Andrew Sean Greer (essay #5) "Supreme court, supreme court, supreme court!" 

School update

Now that we are more than a month into preschool, we can officially say that we love it!  If you or anyone you know is looking for a place to send their little ones, I would HIGHLY recommend Dimensions.  Worth every penny.  Everyone there is so nice and they have done a great job with Willa and she is learning more than I would have thought possible!  We had parent/teacher conferences the other day and I just couldn't stop smiling the whole time Mrs. Katt was talking about Willa!  Such a nice lady...(Mrs. Katt.  And Willa)  We are so proud of our little stink-bomb.  The 2 teachers, Mrs. Katt and Ms. Miller, often email/text us pictures of what Willa is up to during the day, so here are a few...

One thing that we have heard from Willa's teachers is how focused she is on her tasks.  For example, this dot picture which utilized a gajillion dot stickers.  And that she worked on for most of the day.

This is from a mini-field trip the kids took to the Sunken Gardens, just down the street from school.  The kids were matching paint strips with holes punched in them to the plants.  What a cool idea for learning all kinds of colors!

Then they drew pictures of the plants in their journals.

Watering one of the school gardens.

Pinewood Bowl

Monday night, my mom treated Brad, Chris and I to a concert at Pinewood Bowl.  I had never been to a show there.  Haven't been to any shows lately at all.  Mumford and Sons was a good one.  They have a really powerful sound, live.  Thanks a million, mom!