Don't Call it a Comeback

Remember when your mother told you if you can't say anything nice you shouldn't say anything at all? Well that has been my feelings the past month or so. It was like I was living in a place that for every positive thing that happened, two crappy items appeared. I starting noticing it in my writing and and realized that perhaps some time off was in order. So I did it and while things may still not be peachy keen with sugar on top, they are drastically better. Plus I really missed rambling about all the crazy stuff I come across. So hopefully you missed me a little too and we can get back on track with the rambles. So here is what you missed during the intermission:

Pants are roomy, but I have fat feet
Went to New Orleans for about two weeks and just got back yesterday. I ate like it was going out of style, but walked so much of the convention center I actually lost weight. I also would like to say my feet HURT. I got a massage yesterday and have a pedicure scheduled today so hopefully my feet will get back to normal ASAP. Here I am at Hustler:

Obsessed with
Nuance Salma Hayek products have sprung up all over my house! Creamy cleanser, shampoo & conditioner, texturizing sea salt spray and make up remover are all fantastic items. I keep buying more just to see if they are as fantastic as the last. The price point is great and it's at CVS, so convenient! I have yet to find something I don't like. Salma has a heavy hand in the creation of the products as it is all based on her grandmothers recipes. You can read some information about it here. Totally worth a try.

Wish I was here
You may have read about the kickstarter campaign that Zach Braff started. I am actually a really big fan of his work and decided to become a backer and am really looking forward to behind the scenes updates. I since then have become a total kickstarter addict and have had to stop myself from backing every food idea on the site. So far that has only worked 50% of the time.

Discovered the Beautiful Creatures Series
I didn't leave the house for a few days. It was cheesy, fun and an easy read when I needed to get my mind off of things. Apparently there is a movie, but I don't remember hearing anything about it. It has Jeremy Irons and Emma Thompson in it. I might need to check it out.

I bought this
I thought it was cute.

Glad to be hitting the interwebs again!!

Routine

When I lived in Seattle and went to work everyday I had a routine that I followed on most days. Of course nights and weekends could include any number of things, but for the most part it was the same type of thing, lather, rinse, repeat. Then 1 1/2 years ago the BF and I decided to shake thing up and now my routine consists of knowing that I will go to sleep at some point and hopefully wake up at another. Where, when or how long depends on what is going on. While this took some time to get used to, I now think I am fully immersed in the crazy routine of random with some bits of normal. The side effect of this though is that I tend to want to never leave my house if I happen to be there for more than two weeks at a time.

I have never been a house hermit. I liked to go out, explore, do things, find things and try things. Now I tend to just want 60 minutes of uninterrupted TV time to catch up on the Walking Dead and Revenge. I am trying to shake myself out of this self imposed hermit like state, but I am having a heck of a time. It probably doesn't help that I am still working on getting to know my neighbors, so my local friends are few (but totally awesome). I think maybe I just need to drag myself out and do things. Any suggestions on what will get me excited to leave the house for? And no, good wine and food won't do it, I have plenty of that at home!

Break

I have been gone. Things have been busy and well my creativity has been at an all time low, not to mention that I have been more social slug than social butterfly. So I just took a little break to see how it felt and it was nice, but frankly I am ready to start talking to people I have never met before again. So, hello and here is what you missed the month of January.

• On a flight we were standing in line to check our baggage and saw a gentleman who looked a little out of sorts for international travel, I had nothing else to do so I checked out the situation. Turns out he was being escorted on the plane by police officers. Sane people would leave it at that. I had scenarios of Lost like island survival, except that it would most likely happen over Greenland since that was our route and we would have to eat each other like in the movie Alive. Conclusion - I need to stop watching TV.

• Then there was the time when the BF was in NL and I was in Cali and his internet went out, then two hours later mine went down as well. I figured the apocalypse was just coming a little late and that I only had a few minutes left. Cable went down too so I couldn't disprove my theory. That is until I remembered to use my phone and saw that Cox was just having issues. Conclusion - it was not the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine (even good) about it.

• The BF showed up from his travels, got out of the shower and took out a can of Axe body spray from his toilet kit. After I stopped laughing I explained to his very confused self that only pre-teens and those in South America use body spray (at least I think, this is pure speculation). He didn't see the problem, so I had to go purchase Tom Ford (Pick any of them. They are all divine) to show him the error of his ways. Conclusion - He is not allowed to shop alone.

• I was stupid busy at work and wore my sheep pajamas (The ones where the sheep are wearing leg warmers, scarfs and hats on it. My favorite ones ever.) until around 4pm each day, because that was when I then remembered to shower. Conclusion - Not showering until the afternoon is sooo not ok. 

• My step mom retired and her whole demeanor seems to have changed overnight. It's amazing and I hope it's everything she wants it to be. She deserves it. Conclusion - Find out more about this retirement thing.

• I have lost some weight and not because I am busy, but because I am watching what I am putting in my body and not being crazy about it. I have no idea if it will work forever, but so far I don't deny myself anything, as long as I have worked for it, and it seems to be working for me. Conclusion - I still have drinks of the adult nature and eat chocolate. Life is pretty good. 

So how was your first month of the year? Did you get yourself sheep pajamas?

Lazy Days

We had just about the laziest of lazy weekends. We went to the movies to see Lincoln and to dinner at a friends house. Other than that we did nothing. Well I guess I did make some eggs in toast. That was pretty delicious. All in all a pretty satisfying weekend if you ask me.

I do recommend seeing Lincoln. It reminds me a bit of the movie 1776, in the sense that you know how it ends, but you are still anxious about how it gets there. It centers around the end of his first term as president and the end of the war and how it effects the passing of the 13th amendment. Excellent actors. I was even able to tolerate Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln, but just barely. Definitely not a movie that has to be seen in the theaters so you can wait a few catch it DVD or stream it on release.

Now it's just time to focus on getting through the next few days and then Thanksgiving. My favorite meal is almost here!!

A Little Bit of Nothing

Ever think about buying something for a long time and then after the long consideration making the decision to spend the money only to find a Groupon/Living Social/Fab thing a day later for a significant discount? No? Well good for you. This happens to me more than I want to admit and I can't even return it since it's a perishable item. Yeah. Sucks. Oh well at least I will feel better as a result of the product. Allegedly. We will find out this week.

Anyway, hi there. Long time no post. It's been a holiday kind of week last week and this weekend was just catching up on mail, writing and watching Don't Trust the B*&^% in Apt 23 (Totally funny show and James Van Der Beek is hilarious in it as JVDB. Really it's funny). So anything fun happen while I have been absent other than Kristen Stewart cheating on Edward or whatever his name is? Oh yeah, the Olympics. Totally my favorite time for me to curse my parents for not forcing me to continue my gymnastics career even though I am obviously too tall and way to into carbs (and wine) to be a gymnast, but that doesn't mean I can't do it anyway.

Speaking of carbs I really wanted to share this no knead, easy as can be Rosemary Lemon Bread that involves only a few ingredients and your Dutch/French oven. Nothing beats fresh bread from your oven. I can't wait to try it once the BF is back in town. Share the love and the carbs!

There are tons of variations that you could do with this!

Have a great week everyone!

You Make a Better Door Than Window

This past weekend I attended both a grade school play and a swimming diploma for the BF's kids. It was good fun to attend and both kids did awesome, so on that front everything went fine. Then there is the other side of things. The parents. The thing is we are all attending these things because we have kids that are performing or participating in said events, if it wasn't for the children we would not be here (and if you would, you have some serious issues). So why in the world would you come and stand right in front of me so that I can't see or take pictures? To add insult to injury, at the play I moved to another location and it happened again by different person. WTF parents? I get it, you want a picture of little Johnny (or Jan because this was in the Netherlands) pretending to be a goat, but take the picture and move out of the way of other people trying to get their goat picture. Got it? Good.

Speaking of goat's I had a dream about goat cheese sandwich's last night, so this morning I went to my Pinterest to decide what delicious sandwich I was going to make for lunch. It's this one. So yummy looking. Someday I will have a goat, but hopefully a miniaturized version, think Chihuahua sized.

His name is Jasper

The Magic Suitcase

You know the scene in Mary Poppins when she keeps pulling items out of her travel bag that shouldn't fit in it, but do? I want need that bag. I am a seasoned traveler and if you read this blog at all you know that I 'live' between the US and the Netherlands which means I have stuff in both places. So why is it so hard to pack when heading to one or the other? The weather in SoCal is pretty predictable and the standard for me is a dress or jeans and a t-shirt and when it's cold a cardigan or sweater. Really you don't need more layers than that and you definitely do not need Uggs (ever). The Netherlands is a bit more unpredictable and has highs and lows all over the place so you should be prepared for everything. Seems simple to pack right? Well the issue is I have my favorite things (sweaters, jeans and shoes) that I don't want to be without, even if I don't wear them to that location. Stupid? Yes. Going to change? Nope. This time though I am going to do it in one suitcase for three weeks. Except I won't. No matter how hard I try I am a two suitcase per trip kind of girl, prepared for everything and if not there is always American Express.

They may be beat up and I had to super glue a
part of one for this trip, but you can always
spot it when it shows up on the belt.