It's Me...Hi...I'm the Problem, It's Me

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I don't consider myself a Swiftie, but Taylor's lyric rings true for this blog. 

I'm the problem. It's Me. 

I wrote ONE stinking post last year. ONE. Was I so busy that I had absolutely zero time to write more? No. The answer is no.

I was "busy" being nosy on Instagram, getting a look into "celebrities" lives. Well, that problem is solved. I deleted my IG account. Buh bye.

I was "busy" scrolling Facebook- reading restaurant reviews, monitoring my small town's FB page for drama over trash & recycling, and so, yeah. Really "busy." 

I was "busy" watching cult/real-life drama documentaries- from The Program to The Vow. Extremely uplifting topics (NOT).

Will I do better this year? I hope so. I seem to have run out of depressing documentaries to watch. My IG account is disabled. It's Facebook that's the main time suck, although based on the crap they're surfacing in my feed, they might be pushing me out the door.

In the words of Aerosmith, "Same old story, same old song & dance"...

Now that we have that out of the way... 

• We're expecting a "big" snowstorm here in New England- 6-10". I hope everyone has their bread, milk, and eggs! I've agreed to get a lesson on the snowblower, so at the ripe old age of (almost) 53, I could run it if I had to. (But only if I really had to.)

• I cleaned out the spare bedroom closet. I may have a blanket/duvet/quilt addiction. I'd completely forgotten about some of the bed linens that were in there. I'm satisfied with blanket and cover on my bed, so I'm hoping I can put a stop to any near-term purchases in that realm.

• We did make some good recipes over the past year or so (I say "we" but really, I was the idea person and John executed). Here are a few:
• Goat Cheese Prosciutto Quiche
  
• Pepper Jelly Chicken Wings
  
• Easy Cherry Crisp
  
• Fancy Nancy Chicken Salad (Chicken Salad Chick Copycat)

• I went on a fabulous trip with my Mom- a river cruise on the Danube! Loved Budapest. Loved the people we met on the cruise. Had good food, good drink, and got to see parts of the world that I might not have otherwise had the opportunity to.

• We (again with the "we" 😉) re-did our main bathroom! It was a HUGE project and John orchestrated it all- doing some himself, working with contractors, and then dealing with my obsessing over which of the three shower curtains I bought would work. We make a good team! That deserves its own post- stay tuned!

Have a great long weekend!

Week 3 of 2021: A Picture-a-Day

Monday: It was MLK Day (no work), so John & I went for a walk in the afternoon. We walk by this each time we take a walk and each time, what do I think those grassy mops in the water look like?

Cousin Itt from the Addams Family!

Tuesday: Progress, progress, progress on the built in bookcases in our living room. I married a talented man!

Wednesday: While working on the built ins, John was watching the inauguration on his phone. There were a lot of great moments in the ceremony, but the poetry reading by Amanda Gorman, was amazing. It gave me great hope for the future.

Thursday: For the Boston Bruins home opener, the team honored a 40+ year season ticket holder who passed away from COVID-19 two weeks prior. The anthem was sung outside of his house with his family packed on his porch. A nice tribute.

Friday: Friday was a sing along kind of day. I went from Foreigner to Fleetwood Mac and then to the Pointer Sisters. Listening to this I was thrown back to junior high. We had a talent show and my friends & I did a routine to "I'm So Excited." The big controversy was that we wanted to throw glitter at the end and our principal was against it. Yeah, we went to Catholic school. Apparently glitter is sacrilegious. 😎

Saturday: Woke up to this. Even though it was only an inch or so, it was not welcome.

Sunday: The puzzle is DONE! This was one was tougher than it looks, but it was enjoyable.

BOOK REVIEWS 2021

Book #5: We Came Here to Shine by Susie Orman Schnall

Summary: Set at the iconic 1939 New York World’s Fair, Susie Orman Schnall's We Came Here to Shine is historical fiction featuring two bold and ambitious women who navigate a world of possibility and find out what they're truly made of during a glorious summer of spectacle and potential.

Rating: B+. I specifically gave a short summary to entice you. This is a fast/simple read but the backdrop of the 1939 World's Fair was fascinating- slighty more fascinating to me than the actual characters. It's a fun read.

Book #6: Dare to Lead by Brene Brown

Summary: The ultimate playbook for developing brave leaders and courageous cultures. Daring leadership is a collection of four skill sets that are 100% teachable. It’s learning and practice that requires brave work, tough conversations, and showing up with our whole hearts.

Rating: B-. Admittedly this was not a "for pleasure" read. My supervisor recommended it and I decided to give it a shot. Brown is hilarious and her wit and humor helped me to get through the book. Admittedly, I did take a lot of notes (stickies galore) and want to document them here:

• (page xviii): "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better." WOW- right off the bat this book was speaking to me & my personal experiences.
• (page 8): "Rather than spending a reasonable amount of time proactively acknowledging and addressing the fears and feelings that show up during change & upheaval, we spend an unreasonable amount of time managing problematic behaviors." This is cited as one of the 10 reasons that get in our way of leading bravely. Agree!
• (page 20): In relation to the first bullet above, Brown refers to critics as "cheap-seats feedback." She constantly reminds the reader to avoid the cheap-seats feedback. (I need to work on this!)
• (page 21): "Cruelty is cheap, easy, and chickenshit." Hilarious, but oh so true..
• (page 38): "What does support from me look like?" I really like the way this is framed and will try to use this going forward.
• (page 63): "I am a traveler, not a mapmaker. I am going down this path same as and with you." This is brillliant.
• (page 214): Brown talk a lot about assuming positive intent. I have some work to do this in this area, but I am glad Brown continued to hammer this principle.
• (page 256): Box breathing/tactical breathing- strategies for reckoning with emotion.
• Inhale deeply through your nose; expanding your stomach, for a count of four.
• Hold in that breath for a count of four
• Slowly exhale all the air through your mouth, contracting your stomach, for a count of four.
• Hold the empty break for a count of four
• (page 258): I am going to write these out and put them on my computer monitors:
1. Do I have enough information to freak out about this situation?
2. If I do have enough data, will freaking out help?

If a Stitch In Time Saves Nine, Does that Mean 20 Stitches Saves 180?

"A Stitch In Time Saves Nine" has always seemed like an odd saying to me. (I actually had to Google it before I started writing this post to make sure I knew what I was talking about.)

Its actually a proverb (who knew?) that means if you sort out a problem immediately it will save extra work later on. 

So...if I did 20 stitches, I'm thinking I'm going to save a TON of time later on for things that could've been problems. (Meh...it doesn't really translate. Not all of my blog ideas can be gems.)

The whole point of this post was to share that I did 20 stitches in a cross-stitch kit that I bought for a quarantine hobby and let's just say it's highly likely that there will be no more stitches.

Yup- those are 20 stitches.

At the beginning of COVID/quarantine, I was doing jigsaw puzzles like a maniac- that was my go-to "hobby." Then, I got burnt out on puzzles so I took a break.

Instead of picking up calligraphy/lettering, which I have the supplies for (and I've done before and enjoyed), I decided to forge a new path. 

Cross-stitch.

I did cross-stitch maybe once before. Maybe 35ish years ago. 

I thought, "Oh, yeah- I can pick it up again, no problem."

Pfft.

I perused eBay for cheap "beginner" kits and thought that this looked pretty "straightforward" and ordered it.

Notice the "Learn a Craft" written in a child-like font. Maybe that was what drew me to it? (False advertising!)

Once I got brave enough to open the package and start reading the instructions, I knew I was in trouble. "Find the center and count 6 fabric squares down and 7 squares to the right." 

DO YOU KNOW HOW SMALL THE FREAKING SQUARES ARE IN THIS THING? 

I have pretty good vision- exceptional for things up close. I took one look at the fabric and knew it wasn't going to happen. So, what did I do? I sunk more money into this fledgling hobby.

I bought a standing magnifying glass with light. (As if the cross-stitch hobby doesn't make me seem 98 already, add a magnifying glass to the mix.)

I break out the magnifying glass, turn on the light, put the fabric under it and VOILA- I am nauseous and dizzy as all get out. It was ridiculous. 

So, essentially I quickly put it under the magnifying glass and counted the squares as fast as I could, stuck a needle in, and pulled it out from under the glass.

And then I did 20 stitches. 

And then? I said, "Yeah, I don't think so." 😂

I'll be picking up the calligraphy, which is much more of a "sure thing."

Book #36- Haben by Haben Girma

Summary: The incredible life story of Haben Girma, the first deaf-blind graduate of Harvard Law School, and her amazing journey from isolation to the world stage.

Rating: A-. This was an amazing story and one that I read at just the right time. Girma is an amazing human being. Her perseverance is a lesson to everyone, especially with all that is going on in the world right now. Thinking you can't do something doesn't seem like a valid excuse after reading her story. I was uplifted by it.

Book #37- The Family Next Door by John Glatt

Summary: This is the story of the imprisonment and abuse of the thirteen Turpin siblings and their dramatic rescue.

Rating: B-. When this story broke in 2018, I was drawn in. I couldn't believe that for years, this family flew under the radar and the parents were able to inflict the unimaginable abuse upon their children without being caught. The book didn't share that much new information that I hadn't already seen in the news, so I felt like it was somewhat of  a repeat. Also, it was a serious downer after the uplifting book I had just finished.

Book #38- American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

Summary: Lydia Quixano Pérez lives a comfortable life in Acapulco, Mexico, with her journalist husband, Sebastián, and her eight-year-old son, Luca. Lydia runs a bookstore and one day befriends a charming customer, Javier, who appears to have similar interests in books. However, Javier is revealed to be the kingpin of a drug cartel. Sebastián publishes a profile exposing Javier's crimes, who then orders the slaughter of Sebastián and his family. Lydia and Luca escape the massacre, but are forced to flee Mexico, becoming two of the countless undocumented immigrants from Latin America who undertake the dangerous journey to the United States, taking a treacherous trip on La Bestia north of Mexico City.

Rating: A+. This was an AMAZING book. Fascinating. Honestly, I've read little about undocumented immigrants and their journey to "freedom"/the US. La Bestia, which is part of a train network that immigrants use to make their way north is dangerous and difficult to navigate socially. The lengths that Lydia went to for her son on this journey to keep him safe and alive were heroic. I was rooting for them to make it.

Still Here

Ugh...it's been four months since my last post. I think that's the longest hiatus I've had.

Same ole' story- when I have an idea for a blog post, the thought of sitting down and writing it seems onerous. I want it to be grammatically correct. I want my thoughts to be well formed. I want it to be perfect. (In case I haven't revealed that prior, I am a perfectionist.)

So, here I am writing a "catch up" post where I can touch on a number of subjects and not necessarily form one perfect narrative.

Let's see...

It's May 29th and it's not even 50 degrees here in Massachusetts. Awesome. Not. I think the weather has seriously been affecting my mood. I need sun!

One of my new fave drinks over the past few months has been bringing me a little sunshine, however:

It's ah-mazing! I've been looking for a flavored iced decaf tea and I found it! I found it at my local Target. I'm hoping it will help to draw me away from soda completely (a goal far off into the future).

I've been back & forth to Florida twice since I last blogged. The first was a planned visit to my parents and the second was a visit to help take care of my Mom after she had a leg/ankle fracture. It was nice & sunny there. On my last day of my second visit, I headed to the pool for some relaxation.

Oh, and side note? The book in the picture above- The Japanese Lover- was REALLY good!

I turned 45.

OK- moving right along.

I undertook a DIY project and it actually came out decently! I wanted a bulletin board for above my desk in my corner of the newly renovated basement and I wanted something prettier than a typical bulletin board. So, I found a pattern, I went to Jo-Ann Fabric (I must've looked like a deer in headlights in there), I used a glue gun for the first time and I made something. Something I actually liked enough to hang up. I'll try to do a post dedicated to the project. Here's the finished product:

John & I took a trip to Foxwoods & Mohegan Sun (casinos in Connecticut.) We won ZERO.

Moving on...

I watched Sweet Home Alabama (probably more than once since I last blogged!)

(Oh, and is it obvious yet that I'm scrolling through the camera roll on my phone to remind me of what's happened over the past four months? Sad. (See "turning 45" above.)

On April 12th, John & I celebrated our 20 year date anniversary! We had a tiramisu for two:

Going on that date was the best thing I've ever done!

My Mom came into town a few weeks ago and we had a nice visit. Part of that nice visit is having her make me a Cosmo!

My Dad came into town, as well, which was neat (they're usually not here at the same time) and we were all together on Mother's Day. We had lobsters! I also received many beautiful cards and gifts and these flowers.

They're still beautiful today.

Lastly- we JUST (a few hours ago) finished watching The Keepers on Netflix. This seven part series about abuse, corruption, and murder related to the Catholic church in Baltimore is horrifying. Disgusting. I'm still reeling from it. If you get a chance- watch it.

I'll try to write a new post...before October. o_O

The 411 Around Here

Life's been busy. Really busy.

I won't bore you with the details.

OK, I will (that's the point of this blog, right?)



Food, Food, Food!

I've been doing a lot of cooking (a lot for ME) lately.

I made a REALLY good (REALLY rich) dessert -- Butter Brickle Frozen Dessert. (If you haven't tried any recipes from the blog From Valerie's Kitchen, you REALLY should!

For this recipe, I even purchased a new pan to add to my repertoire.

Behold the springform pan!

Behold the springform pan that's from T.J. Maxx for $9.99 AND it's a Calphalon. Woo hoo!

And as crazy as this is, it NEVER occurred to me that you can make a rolling pin out of anything -- even a can of broth! (Thanks to Valerie for that little tip!)

Here's the bottom layer/crust ready to be baked.

Here's the brickle portion of our lovely dessert ready to be baked:

And in my humble opinion, here's the best part (anything that involved Cool Whip is the best part, right?)

Here are some pics of the finished product!

(And it even came out of the springform pan relatively easily!)

I know I didn't really describe what the dessert is made of, but it's just a whole lot of yum. Graham crackers. Nuts. Cool Whip. Butterscotch caramel topping. Wipe the drool off the screen and check out the link to the recipe above!

I don't have any photos, but I tried out a new pork chop recipe -- Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops from the Contented Wife blog. They were really good - a nice departure from plain old pan fried pork chops. (Here's a picture from her blog):

I tried out meal planning. I've seen posts about it before on various blogs and on Pinterest, but after reading a post from one of my fave bloggers, Kristan, at Confessions of a Cookbook Queen, I decided to take the plunge. She had a handy dandy meal planner/grocery list printout, which I found helpful.

Here was the first attempt:

For just a little extra work on a Sunday (when we do grocery shopping), it saved a lot of headaches/running around during the week. Regrettably, I haven't done it since (yesterday was nuts), but I will definitely do again the following week.

I've also created an old fashioned recipe binder. While it's good to pin recipes on Pinterest and good to snap a pic of one from a magazine with your phone, I need to have one that I can read without having to reload/take the phone out of sleep mode, etc... So, I took myself to Walmart, got a pretty binder and voila.

Speaking of food, let's talk about Weight Watchers and my status. I personally think this picture sums it up:

Moving right along...


Crafty McCrafterson

I wanted to put something above John's & my bed since we moved in (which was seven-ish years ago? My memory stinks.)

I've bought several things and had several Pinterest/non-Pinterest inspired ideas and they've all gone by the wayside. After reading The Nesting Place (whose subtitle is more important than the main title, in my opinion -- "It Doesn't Have to Be Perfect to Be Beautiful), I decided to get off my butt and just go with the latest idea that I found and loved. It's in the works, but here are some clues:

New Glasses

I got new glasses a few weeks ago and I LOVE them. (Probably because I hated my previous pair so.much.) I find picking out glasses akin to buying a new car...sort of. First, glasses are ridiculously expensive (not as expensive as a car, but not far behind....) Second, I feel like the optician/car salesperson is waiting with baited breath to see how much I'll spend. When I was at my appointment a few weeks ago and I told the optician I would be buying my contacts online, her lack of interest in my choosing glasses greatly diminished.

In the end, I choose the pair of frames that I liked (not the ones that were necessarily at the height of current optical fashion) and I'm happy with them. (They're purple. Again. Of course.)

Anniversary

John and I celebrated our 11th anniversary on September 13th. Eleven years of wedded bliss! (I am one lucky lady. :) We went to a new/local Mexican restaurant, En Fuego, in Ipswich, MA. It was good (not great, but good.)

We had some lovely cocktails:

John presented me with these beautiful stacking rings:

(Please no criticism of my cuticles...lol.) They're a bit too small and that's why they're not all the way on my finger, so we're exchanging them for a larger size. I love them! He definitely had me beat with the gifts. His words: "Just admit defeat." (He's a much better gift giver than I am!)

As it was our 11th anniversary and steel is the gift for 11 years (as in, "you need nerves of steel to be married to me for 11 years :), I gave him an ice bucket (we don't have one -- imagine that!) with a bottle of sangria and a bottle of rose.

This past Saturday we went out for our "real" anniversary dinner to another local restaurant (one that's been around a lot longer), The Beverly Depot. It's pretty cool as it's actually the old depot/train station and the commuter rail goes by. I had ginger scallion swordfish (which was awesome) and John had prime rib.

We took this selfie before we left:

TV

I've been watching a few shows feverishly (or as feverishly as I can with the busy schedule):

The Great Food Truck Race

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I binge watched the first four episodes of this season On Demand (which I missed live) and have been watching on Sunday nights live. Eh. I'm not that wedded to any of the teams this go around, but I still think it's fun to see what locations they go to and what the local food specialties are.

Call the Midwife

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I'm currently watching Season 3 (the newest season) and will be sad when I'm done because I'll have to wait until next year for Season 4!

The Paradise

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This is the latest addition to my TV watching repertoire. I needed something I could watch on my Kindle via Netflix and I found this BBC series. I'm only a few episodes in and it's only two seasons, so this should be a quick one. It's about the rise of the department store in the late 1800's in London. It's not nearly as good as Call the Midwife, but it makes 30 minutes go by on the treadmill!


Eagles Concert

I bought John tickets to the Eagles concert for Father's Day and we went last Monday night. It was GREAT! It was the "History of the Eagles," so they actually played songs that I knew (vs. a band going on tour to play songs from their new album that no one's ever heard.)

I took the commuter rail from work to Boston.

The concert was at the TD Garden, where the Celtics and Bruins play, so it was cool to see the banners.

Here's a pre-concert selfie. Great of John, fakey smile/double chin on me.

Aloha!

I took this little gem out of the library a few weeks ago:

I've been doing a lot of vacation daydreaming lately and John and I had mentioned that we wanted Hawaii to be one of our next vacations, so I consulted the ever-reliable Fodor. (In case you're not aware, I'm somewhat of a travel guide geek. I LOVE to soak in as much information as I can ahead of time prior to arriving at the destination.)

A few people I'd asked about Hawaii had said we would definitely not want to go to Oahu (too crowded, too much traffic, commercialized, etc...), however, we both want to see Pearl Harbor and Waikiki. So, in a perfect world, we'd go to Oahu first and do these things and then based on my reading, we'd be best suited to the Big Island, Maui, or Kauai. (This will be a LONG vacation!). I just happened to glance at the index and noticed an entry for "bodysurfing!" John LOVES to bodysurf. These three islands have great bodysurfing. Kauai, of the three, seems to be the most unspoiled and I think the one I'd enjoy the most. But...Maui sounds great, too. Decisions, decisions! Any readers have any opinions to share?


That'll do it for now. Thanks for reading (if you lasted this long!)

Lagging Behind

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That tiny little bird on the far right? That's me.

I need to catch up on posts!!!!

I thought for sure I'd write more than one with this being a long weekend (and even longer for me, as I took Friday off), but no can do.

Oh well, if this is the worst problem I have at this moment, I'll take it.

As I said, I took Friday off, as did John. For a few months, I'd been saying that I wanted to see a special exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston -- John Singer Sargent's watercolors.

I LOVE Singer Sargent's portraits (which he's known for). I can't remember if I first saw them in D.C. at the National Gallery or at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.

This is my fave:

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This is entitled, "The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit." It's a rather dark picture, but I love the youthfulness of it.

When I heard that Singer Sargent had done watercolors, I was pretty surprised. His portraits tend to be dark, like the one above, while as watercolors are generally much lighter.

I bought tickets online and on Friday morning, John and I drove into Boston to check out the exhibit.

We had to wait in line for maybe 20 minutes and it was VERY crowded.

This is the design that was on the elevator bank:

We made it to the lower level!

Once we finally got into the exhibit, the crowd didn't thin out at all. At first we stood "in line" and followed the crowd around the walls. At some point, I couldn't take it anymore and broke free. I realized that I didn't need to be front and center, but could admire the paintings from afar.

Here are some of my favorites (excuse the not so good pics, but not being front & center does have its drawbacks):

All in all, it was a real nice exhibit. I wasn't fond of the quarry series he did, I otherwise like the rest. Interestingly, there weren't as many watercolors as I thought there'd be and there were oils mixed in AND there were paintings from Edward Darley Boit mixed in. Huh.

What else has been going on?

My Mom was here for about five days. I had some time off with her before I got sick (ugh) and we had a nice visit. We shopped, we ate, we shopped, we watched HGTV, we shopped. OK...like mother, like daughter.

I've been engrossed in cookbooks that I've gotten from the library. I bookmark the recipes I like and try to find them online and Pin them. If I can't, I go the old fashioned route and photocopy. Here are the latest I've been plowing through:

Let's talk British TV, shall we?

As you probably know, Season 4 of Downton Abbey has started.

This is me and my reaction so far:

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It's sad, really. The first episode had promise, but since then it's all gone to crap. Grrr. (Of course, I'll still watch in case it makes a miraculous turnaround.)

On the other side of the spectrum, I started watching another British TV series (from the very beginning) and wasn't so sure about it, but by the end of the first episode of the first season, I'm sold!

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It's on Netflix, so check it out!

I have to do my 2013 "Year in Books" post -- I read some good ones. (The one I started 2014 with was a dud and I stopped reading it, which I almost NEVER do.)

Got about 100 pages in and couldn't take the arduous details anymore (it's close to 600 pages in total). My Mom loved it, but I just couldn't see wasting my time on it. If you read it and like it, let me know.

I was looking into taking a beginning sewing class, but....

you have to bring your own machine.

WTF? Some people I've told that to thought it made sense and others, not so much.

Needless to say, I won't be buying a sewing machine to take one class to find out I suck at it or hate it.

Phew.

I think that catches us up.

I'd promise that I'll write another post soon, but it might be a lie.