Phoning in the weekend... on Wednesday

Hello everybody! It was a big weekend, mostly full of food. So that's a pretty good thing, huh?

First my sisters and I got mani/pedis with our mom as a belated mother's day present. When I asked for a glass of water the kind receptionist brought me this goblet of water. I'm going to start drinking water out of wine glasses all the time; it's much more fancy.

After mani/pedis it was time to prepare for my youngest sister's bachelorette party! I made some cupcakes that called for beating six eggs whites until they formed stiff peaks. It never fails to amaze me how much egg whites expand! Look at that! It's kind of gross but so impressive! It's as magical to me as instant mashed potatoes. And if you are thinking that a woman who is amazed by egg whites and instant mashed potatoes must be constantly in awe of the world around her...you are correct.

I ended up not making guacamole for the bahelorette party, so I had a left over avocado! I baked an egg in it and topped it with goat cheese and salsa. And I was so happy I died and then came back to life. But that's just a normal reaction to goat cheese.

This didn't happen over the weekend, but if I deprive even one person of this picture, I could never forgive myself. This is me knitting with my niece Evelyn who at that moment was embodying Cinderella and "knitting" (stabbing a blanket repeatedly with knitting needles). It was the cutest thing ever.

Pinterest Wednesday: the day your breath started smelling like onions forever

You guys, seriously. Seriously. You will smell like red onions for the rest of your natural life and you will not care even a little.

I made this for dinner Monday night to top a lentils and rice dish I made and I haven't stopped eating it since. It is summer in a bowl and I long for the day i can make it with produce fresh from the farmer's market. It's cold, crisp, refreshing and just delicious. I'm used to making this type of salad with an olive oil, lemon, garlic dressing but the red wine vinegar, olive oil, oregano is a new winner.

Click the picture to get to the pin, then to the recipe, then to heaven in salad form.

Happy New Habit Thursday

Source

Happy Thursday one and all!


True confession time: I can sleep through basically any alarm all the time and the snooze button is my absolute #1 best friend. I am THE WORST at getting up on time and it always starts my day off on the wrong foot. I'm rushing around, running late, scolding myself mentally for sleeping in too late. I've tried the obvious things like making sure I'm getting enough sleep but still I hit snooze. I have seriously considered getting this alarm clock but it sounds like a nightmare and not that much better of a way to wake up.

For a while now I've been slowly building a meditation practice in the morning. It's nothing fancy at all, up until this morning it's just been sitting in bed and setting an intention for the day. Usually my intentions are something like, "Take today as it comes," or "Let yourself feel joy today," or "Allow the script to change," because I have problems with over planning and getting bogged down in to-do lists. So last night I decided to expand on it to try to help with my snooze-button problem. As I lay down in bed last night I visualized myself turning off my alarm clock and getting out of bed. I pictured myself stepping onto the rug at the foot of the bed and assuming Sukhasana, setting my intention, breathing three deep breathes, then walking into the living room, turning on a jazz record and enjoying my shower without all the rushing and negative self-talk.

You guys, it worked so well.

The alarm went off and I did not want to get up. I wanted to hit snooze. But I had clearly laid out a plan for my morning and I liked the plan. SO I DID IT! I know this might be a bit of overcelebration for a 30 year old woman to get out of bed on time, but whatever, it made my morning so much better.

I highly, highly recommend visualization and morning meditation. Don't be put off by the word meditation, in my opinion you can make of it what you will. Mine probably takes 3 minutes and involved the intention setting and listening to my breath. That is all. It will probably change in the future and I may not always do it, but right now I find it very soothing. I can return to my intention, breathing, and meditative state throughout the day if my thoughts start to get frantic.

If you're looking for a more spiritual bent, or some inspirational thoughts to meditate on, allow me to recommend my friend Heather's blog. She has offered my friends and me wonderful advice and guidance and I'm so pleased she's decide to expand on that with this blog!
 
In musical news, I just discovered My Brightest Diamond and I CAN'T STOP LISTENING TO IT.

Happy Magical Thursday

Hello everybody!

I don't know about you, but Thursdays are magical for me. Not just because the weekend is fast approaching but because I finally start to feel like I'm catching up on my week's to-do list! Thursday is the first day of the week that I work less than three hours at the Reference Desk. I absolutely LOVE working at the Reference Desk because helping people is my favorite part of my job and hearing their questions helps inform how I conceive of our library and how I do all the other parts of my job.

But.

As anyone who works at a Reference Desk will tell you, you do not get a lot done while you're there. Because of that, every week I panic Monday through Wednesday and convince myself I'll never get it all done! But then Thursday comes with its magical one hour of Reference and suddenly I'm cutting through my to-do list and feeling pretty proud of myself. While never ever remembering this basic pattern of my week causes panic (and some concern over my short-term memory) it also makes Thursdays magical!

As I get back to my magical Thursday of Happy Working, I wish you the same and give you the gift of the soundtrack of my morning

Pinterest Wednesday: Treat yo cuticles!

Please click through to the pin for recipe

Because this winter has been so harsh and because he often works outside, I made some cuticle cream for my boyfriend for Valentine's day. I used the recipe linked above because it looked pretty simple and ordered my supplies from Mountain Rose Herbs with the exception of the essential oils which I bought from my lovely and amazing friend Heather (if you're in the Mount Pleasant area and would like to buy from her, email me!).

In the days leading up to the time I planned to make this, I kept tracking my package from Mountain Rose Herbs and watching it get closer and closer until a major snow storm slowed it down, so it was late and I didn't get to make it in time for Valentines day. Hoist by winter's petard again! When my package finally arrived, I kept checking the pin all day to make sure I hadn't forgotten something. I tend to be the queen of getting ready to make a "simple" new recipe that I have read a thousand times only to discover that I missed the fact that it requires unicorn tears and some complicated piece of kitchen machinery that I do not own. But everything looked to be in order and you know what? It totally was. The beeswax takes FOREVER to melt but other than that, this was no problem whatsoever! I don't have a double boiler so I just melted everything over low heat (FOREVER) and did homework at the counter while I stirred.

Because the recipe makes so little, I doubled it and kept one tin for myself. I love it! I've been using it every night before bed and I've definitely noticed a difference in my cuticles but most importantly my fingers aren't cracking by the corners of my nails anymore, which was happening a lot and is very painful. As the website mentions, it's not so much a cream as a balm: the ingredients are very solid at room temp so you don't scoop this in your hands as much as you rub it with your finger tips until it warms and then spread it over your cuticles.

This is a complete pinterest win and I HIGHLY recommend it. Also, I HIGHLY recommend Mountain Rose Herbs for all your herbal product needs. Their prices are fair and I love their values and mission. I used one of their 4oz tins for each of the batches of cuticle cream and it was perfect.

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday, everyone! Who has big plans for the weekend? If you're in Michigan (and many other places) I'm sure you're one big goal is the same as mine: stay warm. Here's something I used to get my blood pumping this Friday morning:

If you're looking for more of a chill vibe this Friday, might I recommend this interview with Neil DeGrasse Tyson. This man is amazing.

Happy Friday!

Phoning in the weekend

I started off the weekend with some wine and good friends. We all had rough(ish) weeks and needed a good time! We took this picture to send to one of our other friends who was cheersing us from a distance on vacation.

On Saturday, I did some car knitting (dishcloths are the perfect travel project) on our way up to Houghton Lake to visit some friends. I snow shoed for the first time and it's my new favorite thing! It's so good to get out on a winter's day when the weather allows it.

On Sunday, we celebrated my nephew's first birthday. He won't officially be one until Thursday, but he got to smash his cupcake (verdict: smashing is fun, eating is alright, but less fun) and got TONS of presents. His favorite thing to do was grab a box and scootch across the floor with it.

I have had these cats for 10 years and they still manage to find ways to be cuter than I ever thought possible.

How was your weekend? I hope you got to spend it with animals, activities, and children you love!