if i was a flower growin wild and free all i'd want is you to be my sweet honey bee

i feel like such a hipster today, but i'm really content and happy about it. i've been dying to try coconut milk ice cream and since i rarely get ice cream cravings, i decided to splurge and get the chocolate. i was going to go to market district and whole foods, but that seemed out of the way... and then i remembered that the east end food co-op is on the way home, so i decided to stop and take my hippy whole foods reusable tote with me.



i L-O-V-E the co-op soooooo much!!! i decided to try their cashew butter (i got a bunch of it for $3! {@ $9.99/lb}), got some wholesale oat bran to try, some cajun sesame sticks for car-snacks, some whole nutmeg to put in milk, some milk (one downside to the co-op is the lack of 1% milk... and i just didn't want the skim), frozen sweet potato fries (yum!), some spicy thai kettle chips that were on sale, MAPLE yogurt (!!), my chocolate coconut-milk ice cream, and the infamous annie's woodstock dressing. :)

as i was leaving, i decided to catch up on all the pittsburgh publications i've been missing since moving to the burbs... so i stocked up on a city paper, the co-op newsletter, the venture outdoors newsletter (YAY!!), and the bike pittsburgh bike map (for the slim chance that i'll get my bike down from the beams in my garage when it gets warm :)). i'm totally looking forward to all my reading. :)




and congratulations are in order! i've successfully completed my january goals : i made it to the gym more than 10 days this month and i took 3 new classes (thus making me a superhero since i had only planned on taking 2). i took latin impact class (detailed in a previous post), and then monday night i took yoga and last night i took body works plus abs. i was very pleasantly surprised by the yoga class… i had taken a couple classes in paris and i just didn’t really like it that much. but this class was great and i can’t wait to take another one! i wish i were going to be home both saturday and sunday so i could go to those yoga classes, but i have to go to my parents’ house for at least part of the weekend (it’s my mommy’s birthday weekend!). i don’t feel i got a really good upper-body and core workout from yoga (surprisingly), but i do feel like i got in a good leg workout. my legs had that wonderful jell-o feeling when i left.

body works plus abs was an entirely different story. the instructor was new and i really liked her, but i just wasn’t feeling the class. it was done using free weights (which i generally avoid) and it was the opposite of yoga – i got a great upper body workout, but my legs didn’t get much attention. my arms were soooo tired when i left, but i did some treadmill work before leaving to even it out a bit. i was also just really bored in this class – i was literally yawning the entire time because we kept doing the same exercises over and over but in different positions until our arms were ready to fall off. i don’t think it was the instructor, though, i think it was just the class itself. still, i’m glad i went.

so what prize do i get for completing my january goals? drunken noodles with chicken from the green mango. however, i’m changing up the goal a little bit. since i've managed to meet the first goal in so little time, i’m changing the minimum gym visits to 15. i’ve gone 11 times so far and i plan on going probably sunday morning and probably monday, tuesday, friday and saturday of next week, so i should definitely be able to do this (::fingers crossed::).

on a side note, does anyone know how to prevent and get rid of foot cramps? this has been going on for a really long time and no matter what i do or what i eat, they keep coming back. any suggestions would be very helpful.

I’ll leave you with “things I don’t roll with”:

I don’t roll with…
Taylor Swift. Please stop making music with that nasally, whiny voice of yours. If you must continue “singing,” please do it on country-only stations.
Kelly Clarkson.
American Idol (in general).
Old-man gym pervs.
Paying $11.47 for fruit salad at whole paycheck foods (though I DO roll with their cute reusable lunch totes for 79¢. and I’m fond of their lavender blend conditioner for $2.59…)
Leaving my favorite project at work. :(
Tan lines from peepers.
Breaking in new running shoes.
Slippery, dirty, salty volleyball gym floors. Bring spare shoes, people.

ps: apologies if the font/colors/sizes are all messed up. i don't know what's going on, but they won't stay uniform for me. blech.

you think i ain't worth a dollar but i feel like a millionaire

maybe it's the fact that i've reached one of my goals, or maybe it's the freezing weather, but i've actually felt skinny-ish for the first time since probably before high school. i don't know why, but it seems like the colder it gets, the thinner i feel... maybe it's because i'm not all hot and uncomfortable, but i wonder if other people get the same way? or maybe it's just because this recent cold spell has coincided with the fact that i now weigh about what i did when i started college. yay! this means that in the year and a half since i got "sick", i've lost about 35-40 pounds!

in an effort to "forcefully" curb my appetite (by ensuring that i don't have enough money to buy food, haha), i took advantage to circuit city's bankruptcy and stocked up on some necessities: dance dance revolution hottest party 2 for the wii, mario kart for the wii, a huge bundle of 100 cd-rs and a package of 50 dvd-rs. i realize that the sales will get better and better since they plan to close their doors in march, but i figured that the really good stuff like wii games will be gone asap. i spent about $120 on all that stuff, which was a savings of about $70 from regular-price.

after wasting february's food allowance on video games, i headed over to the gym for 65 minutes of cardio, lots of stretching, and some ab work. i was going to lift weights, but wasn't really feeling it. however, i did learn that saturday afternoon is a great time to go to the gym - lots of eye-candy. :)
friday night was not such a great gym time - it was a misogynistic sausage-fest. there's a belly-dancing class friday evenings, and though i was considering going to it, i'm glad i didn't - there were old and old-er men literally surrounding the studio room talking about the different girls. i'm not usually easily offended, but there was something about the openness with which they were talking about these girls that really got to me. it was really really disgusting. i don't mind if the gym is full of guys as long as they're doing their own thing and not being pigs. i don't know if i'll go back on a friday night. :(

at volleyball thursday night, it was evident that i need new shoes BADLY. there's zero tread on my shoes and i was all over the court - and not in a good way. i couldn't stop slipping no matter how hard i tried to plant myself in one spot. so, in the spirit of eliminating march's food allowance, i enjoyed a clearance sale at dsw and got a pair of asics running shoes for $47. i know some people say that you should have sport-specific shoes, but i can't afford both volleyball shoes AND running shoes... and let's face it, i run about 4-5 days a week while i play volleyball only 1 day a week (probably 2 days a week starting next season). i'm pretty excited about them... i was literally running through the store, testing them. :)
oh, and we won our volleyball game... but we lost 1 out of the 3 games in the match. so i'm wondering now - since we're 2-0 for matches, but 5-1 for games, can we say we're undefeated? i feel like losing that one game makes us defeated, but match-wise we're undefeated. it's confusing. it shouldn't matter, but i liked saying we were undefeated all last season...

i'm gonna head in to bed. 11 pm on a saturday and all i can think about is sleeping... sigh. i'm so 70 years old.

nucking futs

Statement as of 10:55 AM EST on January 15, 2009
... Wind Chill Advisory remains in effect from 4 PM this afternoon to 7 am EST Saturday... A Wind Chill Advisory remains in effect from 4 PM this afternoon to 7 am EST Saturday. Bitter cold Arctic air will move over the region today and remain through Friday night. The combination of cold and wind will bring wind chill readings from 10 to 25 degrees below zero starting late this afternoon. A Wind Chill Advisory means that very cold air and strong winds will combine to generate low wind chills. This will result in frost bite and lead to hypothermia if precautions are not taken. If you must venture outdoors... make sure you wear a hat and gloves.


And this is what I’ll be wearing to our volleyball game tonight:

with

Only the shorts will be blue and the cutoff t-shirt is yellow with PSL on the front.

And yes, my arms ARE that buff.

i'm way too cool for myself.

your friends are only make believe

i'm writing this as i sit on my freezing ceramic-tiled kitchen floor. no good reason why i'm sitting here except that the light was on in the kitchen and i didn't feel like turning a light on somewhere else. i'm energy-efficient like that. also, for the first time ever, i'm able to write this post from my kitchen floor because (drumroll please!) i pimped my house and now i'm rollin wireless-style. but wait! that's not the biggest news! the day i decided to be a big girl and go wireless was also the same day that i bought my wii!!

that's right, folks. i have a wii. and it changes EVERYTHING.

lindsay, you ask, have you become a nerdy gamer chick in just a few short days? (no offense to anyone who reads this who is a gamer - i mean it in the most stereotypical way.) negator, i have not become a nerdy gamer chick. ok, maybe a teensy bit. but what the wii really changes is my schedule, and on at least 2 levels so far. first off, i feel like i HAVE to play with my wii for at least a little while each day (hehe) to get my money's worth, so my already-packed schedule has taken a dramatic hit. i'm still forcing myself to hit up the gym at least 4 days a week, so as a result i'm going to bed a little later... and making my way into work a little later as well. it's not a pretty cycle.
on the other hand, my wii is changing my schedule because people want to hang out with me now. :) natalie's coming over tomorrow after work to play and my parents are expecting to play sometime soon. i feel like it would benefit me to impose a "wii tax" - you can play with my wii all night long if you feed me. i think that sounds reasonable. i'll begin implementing with my parents.
another benefit of the wii is that now i have more conversation points... i think i spent about an hour over the past 2 days talking to my boss about the wii and she let me borrow one of their games for a few days (raving rabbids). everyone seems to have a wii story. it's like its own little underground community. :)

anyways, while i was taking a break last night from my new hobby, i pushed myself a bit too far at the gym. it was the busiest i've ever seen it monday night, all the treadmills were taken, and all that was left was one elliptical and the recumbent bikes. being adventurous, i opted for the elliptical. i think the most i had ever done on the elliptical was 13 minutes the previous saturday. in full disclosure, i didn't plan on staying on it long - i planned to warm up for maybe 10 minutes and then hopefully a treadmill would open up... but i'm a little ocd with mileage and times and calories, so i ended up staying on for 35 minutes, 3.05 miles. you'd think this would have been enough... my legs were burning and i was wonderfully sweaty. but i'm a little bull-headed, so i decided that since my intention that night was to run, gosh darn it i was going to run. i was on the treadmill for 40 minutes... but i only ran 1/2 mile and walked the rest of the time because i felt like i had torn something in my legs. it was weird (and painful, obviously), but it was almost as though i could feel the muscle tear away from the bone. 520 calories burned off, i decided it was time to head home and then i took a hot bath. i had planned on going to the gym tonight, but decided i needed a rest day instead. since natalie's coming over tomorrow night, i might try to go to the gym in the morning, but it'll be iffy. maybe i can convince myself by allowing myself a starbucks on the way to work if i go to the gym in the am... hmm...

that's about all i have to report... oh, and i forgot to mention it in my last post, but we won our volleyball game thursday night and we are now 3-0. it was a cake walk, and hopefully this week will be similarly easy. however, this week's team is also 3-0... but the season's early and we're a solid team, so it's anyone's game.

wish me luck for getting up in the morning to work out!

my goodies

first off, clinton kelly is so freakin adorable that i just want to eat him. i just had to get that off my chest. i watched WNTW last night and he tried to bite a contributor... and he looked fabulous doing it. he can bite me any day.



in other opinion-related news, i just don't understand why the first lady insists on wearing really dark red lipstick. i channel-surfed through a commercial break while watching sam brown today and the first lady was on cspan going on and on about the china used in the white house. a.) not to be disrespectful, but who cares? b.) ok, so the rest of the country is going through the worst financial crisis in years, but the white house has to get new china every so often... yeah, that seems like a necessity. c.) that red lipstick is just way too dark. i think she'd look better with more of a neutral, with a slight hint of gloss. the shade she was wearing looked too cakey and dry... and it made her look old. i'm assuming she's been botox-ing; if not, heredity has dealt her a great hand because the skin on her face is tighter than my new seven-brand jeans.

speaking of sam brown, i've been kicking this around for a while now: i think i want to get my hair cut like hers.

it looks way cute on her, and although i'm not as thin as her, and my hair isn't nearly as light, i think it might look cute on me too. but i'm not sure, and i always hate cutting my hair really short since it's such a pain to grow back in... i'm still thinking, but if i get bored tomorrow, who know's what i might end up doing.

last night and all day today my mom kept calling and telling me about the huge storm that was coming my way... so i stayed in last night and when i only saw little bursts of flurries and the occasional rain shower today, i decided to brave mother nature's wrath. good thing i did, because the roads were completely clear and just wet. so i went tanning for the second time and then went to the gym. lemme just advertise the fact that i'm a freakin beast. so i ran for a little while today (note to self: don't gulp water seconds before working out!!), then did some elliptical, and then lifted some weights... my legs were super-strong today and i ended up doing leg presses with my body weight + 10% and it was pretty easy. i was a little afraid to go higher since i don't think i've ever lifted with that much weight before, but it really wasn't bad at all!

post-gym i introduced myself to my newest addiction: mcginnis sisters. for anyone who reads this who lives around pittsburgh, GO THERE. NOW. or, i guess, go there tomorrow since they closed at 7 pm. oh my goodness, it's like trader joe's on crack!! now, i love me some TJ's. there will always be a very special place in my heart for it. however, in the event that i'm nowhere near 'sliberty, mcginnis sisters is a more than humdrum substitute. i seriously could have bought the entire store. i limited myself, however, to just a few items: fresh blackberries (only $2!), half and half, AND... m.s. is the only place in the pgh area where i've been able to find these two lovelies:

texas pete hot sauce, previously brought back to the burgh from myrtle beach. my hunt for pete has been unsuccessful until today.

AND



i'm super excited to try the chobani since i've read such good reviews. :)

i also motored over to shop n save, where i made the mistake of buying really spicy giardiniera. i haven't had giardiniera since i worked at a restaurant in butler that served it as an app, but i loved it and i was really excited when i saw it on sale today. i had my choice of mild or hot... since i live dangerously, i opted for hot. that was bad news bears, lemme tell ya. i ate it about 3 hours ago and my mouth still hurts. but it sure was tasty... :)

tomorrow i am making another attempt at wii-hunting. mark has instructed me to be at toys r us as soon as they open, so i will be waking up and heading out (provided the "huge storm" doesn't make its way to monroeville over night...). wish me luck cause the battle's on. RAAAR!

i won at wii tennis... wait, where are my pants?!

i am still in mourning over not having a wii. but i'm trying to accept it. i want the wii to come to ME. not literally, since it doesn't have legs or wheels and it can't really transport itself in any way, but i want to just walk into target or walmart or wherever and just see a wii in a case, waiting to go home with me. i don't want to deal with the hassle of calling every place within a 30 mile radius just to have disgruntled salespeople tell me "NO!" and hang up on me. i'm sick of that already and i've wasted too much time on it. so now, i will play it by ear. i may show up at toys r us at 10 am sunday morning, but if they don't have them, i refuse to get upset. instead, i will merely continue on my way to the gym. deal? deal.

the past few days have been largely uneventful, yet they've passed in a blur. the good news is that i've started sleeping again. i've slept 2 nights in a row. like a frickin baby. in fact, there was pee in my toilet this morning, but i have no recollection of getting up in the middle of the night to go. THAT'S how good i've slept the past 2 nights. hopefully tonight's a repeat.

for more good news, i'm on my way to accomplishing my january fitness goal - i went to the gym both yesterday and today (that makes 3 visits so far for january) AND i took the latin impact class tonight. the class was fun, but since i have zero coordination my face was redder from laughing than from actually working out. it was a workout, though... not quite as tough as my running and weights, but i was a little sweaty and we were definitely moving the entire hour. the instructor, paul, was really flamboyant, so that made it more fun. i don't think group fitness classes are my thing, though. this is the 3rd one i've tried, and although all 3 have been fun, i think i just prefer my own solo workouts. nevertheless, i'm going to continue on my journey to try all the classes at least once. who knows, maybe i'll find something that i love?

since my mom and i are going on another cruise in february, i've decided that maybe i should get a little bit of a base tan since my skin isn't such a huge fan of direct sunlight... so i tweedled over to hollywood tans tonight before latin impact and signed up for a one-month package. honestly, it felt good to be in the booth again, but i'm determined to not do it past the cruise. i made my mom stop going a year or two ago, so i have no right to be going... especially with my health issues. so anyone who reads this has to hold me to it - i have to stop tanning after the cruise. punch me, kick me, slash my tires, whatever (ok, no, don't slash my tires... i just got new tires), but don't let me go after the cruise.

now for the itsy bit of bad news: you know how in my previous post i said i wanted to go into the military, maybe the navy or coast guard? yeah, well, that's not gonna happen. seems that, like everything else i've wanted to do with my life, my health will be holding me back from yet another job. you see, the military (all branches) have requirements. if you don't meet certain requirements, you are disqualified from active military service. guess who's disqualified? so even though i feel totally fine, i'm DQ... bite. me. can someone PLEASE find me a job where i feel like i'd be doing something worthwhile? if it's not too much to ask for, can it involve french? if not, that's cool... but really, i'm tired of doing meaningless stuff all day and basically doing nothing with my life. so if anyone has any ideas, i'd greatly appreciate them. :)

in other news, there's nothing quite like facebook to make you feel like a loser. it sucks when a person everyone thought was kind of dim and probably gay (no, i'm not insinuating that the 2 things have anything to do with one another) now has a spouse (hetero) and kids and a WAY better job than you (ahem, government). just goes to show that who we were in high school is rarely who we are today. it's scary and disorienting. and it makes me want to just give up.

but i can't give up because... the winter volleyball season starts tomorrow!!! (unless it's cancelled due to snow) we play our first game at 6.45 tomorrow night and i'm psyched!! my teammates are all about winning, and to an extent i am too, but for the first game, i'm just excited to play again and i don't care if we win or lose. i'm stoked. :)

off to bed i go! peace out jeezies.

in the navy... you can sail the seven seas!

let me just say that people are real jerks. i was in a relatively good mood and feeling pretty good, and then i left the house. it all went downhill from there.

picture it: you just got off the phone with a walmart about 30 minutes away. yes, they DO have a wii in stock. sorry, they can't hold it for you. that's ok, you think, and scramble to put a coat and shoes on. you drive as fast as possible in the limited-visibility haze and you make it to walmart (ahem, trashmart) unscathed. you all but get yourself killed in the pedestrian crosswalk and haul it back to the electronics. you search frantically for the video game consoles and you think all hope is lost... and then you see it, the sole white box in a dark display, bright and shiny as though a gift from the heavens. you patiently get in line behind 2 people who look like they've never even heard of a wii and await your turn with the saleswoman. but wait!! here comes a mother and 2 spoiled brat children, eyeing up YOUR WII! "they have it!!" the brat boy screams. you turn to see what all the fuss is about, but you don't even need to look. you know they want your wii. and so you gently, patiently, oh-so-nicely inform them that you are waiting your turn in line for the wii. after all, you were there first. the mother, looking exasperated now, says "but theirs isn't working and they have all these games!" you keep your mouth shut and smile apologetically. no way you're letting this jag deprive you of the wonderful world of wii. she appears to give up and disappears for a moment. you relax slightly and it's almost your turn. the anticipation mounts. you're picturing yourself standing on one foot, testing your balance. you're intrigued by this concept of your "wii fit age." you're giddy thinking about doing wii fit yoga on your non-gym days. saliva builds in your mouth, a precursor to the sweet taste of mario kart victory. it will be mine, you think. it will. be. mine. but suddenly another trashmart employee shows up behind the register. he's talking to the saleswoman and pointing at a man... but where is this man? oh, he's right in front of YOUR WII. this man obviously does not work in the electronics department since he's asking the saleswoman to help the wii-man and he's wearing non-grunt-wear (i.e., khakis and a button-down with only a nametag and no trashmart smock). you're stunned, absolutely floored as this man, presumably a manager, takes the display keys from the saleswoman you've been waiting in line nearly 10 minutes to see and gives the wii to the jagoff who had the gall to poach a higher authority. but what's more awe-inspiring is that as the jag is heading towards the closed register with the manager, the wii-ogling woman and children from a few minutes ago have reappeared and are smiling. that's right, they're buying a wii. their husband/father is buying YOUR WII. because one wasn't enough for them. they can't let anyone else have fun, not even someone who was planning on blowing half of their paycheck, not eating for a few weeks to recoup the cash and arrived first. no, these are people who can afford to buy multiple wiis and who probably drove it home in their benz or their new audi and hooked it up in their several-thousand-dollar surround-sound living room nestled all snug and cozy in their million-dollar house. these people are scum of the earth in my opinion, and for some reason, i let these same kinds of people continually steal my faith in humanity.

i realize that yeah, it's just a wii. and really, right now, it's not even about the wii. i'd feel just as indignant, outraged and disgusted if it was a bottle of shampoo or the last sunday paper. it was the way in which these people went about doing it. the fact that the woman looked smug as she was waiting for her husband and wii #2.  just the shadiness of the entire situation. 

so i do not have a wii and i don't know if i'll ever get one. to be honest, there's another, bigger issue on my plate. one that involves selling the house and moving far, far away and doing something completely different. something that i've been thinking about for a long while, ever since i was in high school, but have never had the guts to do: i'm strongly considering joining the service. 

no joke. i've kicked around the thought for years, but i've always been either lazy or scared (boot camp!), or it was just not the right time. but i have a 20-something (21? 22? 19?) uncle (ryan) who's in the navy and while i was entertaining people and marveling at mark's wii, my family was meeting my ryan and his mother at a cracker barrel to catch up. you see, for the short version of a long story, my mom's dad left them and married someone else and strangely enough, it took my grandfather's death a few years ago to bring my mom & our local family back into contact with my grandfather's family (ryan and his mom). anyways, there's been communication over the past year or so, but i don't think my family has seen him or his mom in years (like, 15 years or so). 

to get back to the point, ryan's currently in the navy. while they were at dinner, ryan told everyone all about ship-life... and from what they relayed back to me, it sounds really nice. not like 4 seasons hotel-nice, but something i could totally do. (ha, and they have wiis and playstations and xboxes on the ship for the down-time!) even my mom said i should look into it (i don't think anyone knows how long i've been considering it). i think everyone would be ok as long as i were in the coast guard or the navy - as long as i wouldn't be deployed to iraq or afghanistan. 

still wary of boot camp, but intrigued about a different career path (and TRAVEL!!!), i did some research today. turns out, to pass the physical fitness exam, you only need to be able to run 1.5 miles (and do sit-ups and push-ups, of course). holy poo, i was afraid of that?! i do that and more every time i go to the gym!! so now this possibility is closer. and i tried to reason with myself, trying to make myself fess up that this is just another whim and that nothing will ever come of it... but the strangest thing happened - as i was trying to face the realization of staying where i am, in this house, in this job, with these feelings of hopelessness and failure, i actually felt sick and started crying. i'm no psychologist, but i'm pretty sure that that's a sign that something's not right. something needs to change. and as comfortable (job-wise) as i am now, i know i can't handle much more of this. and then of course my mind turned to more practical matters, such as selling the house and having enough money from the government to pay off my pitt and nyu loans. the idea of doing those things felt like such a huge weight lifting off of me. it's like going to boot camp is so much easier than owning this house and paying these ridiculous, useless student loans. that sounds weird, i know, but i've felt so bogged down by everything since about last april or so. and at this rate, there's no end in sight. i'm confused and anxious and once again, i just want someone to tell me what to do.

so i'm done rambling and ranting. apparently i've been writing this for an hour (whoa!) and it's way longer than i intended it to be. so if you hung (hanged?) in there, thanks. if not, i don't blame you. i guess this is what a blog's for...

hey hey hey! come out and PLAY!

of all the whacked out things to happen at my party last night, i fell in love. with a video game console.

it was not love at first sight, as some have experienced. instead, it was the kind of love where you have a good time all night and then the object of your affection leaves you hanging high and dry at 3 am and you think nothing of it. just, "that was a fun night, we should do it again sometime." but no. because when you wake up, all you can think about is this thing, this lust for something that so completely encompasses your being until you cannot take it any longer. you just have to have it. you cannot go on living without it. it will be yours.

and i'm not just saying that because the controllers vibrate. (though that's an interesting plus)

so today's mission, should my bank account choose to accept it, is to hunt down a wii. this is why we have credit cards.

as you can probably tell, the party went well. i still have massive amounts of booze and beer and food in my fridge, so perhaps i will be having another party in the somewhat near future. maybe i'll make it a monthly thing, like the rising of the moon or whatever. and if i buy a wii, i can have people play with my wii. i'm sure i'd like it if people played with my wii. :)

i was especially excited to see amie! although we live in the same city (though she's in bellevue and i'm near monroeville), we only see each other a few times a year. it used to be more frequent, but she goes to school and works and i have a million things going on, so it's tough to coordinate schedules. but it was awesome to see her and to have her hang out.

plans for today include going to the gym, getting gas, and maybe wii-hunting. oh how i ache for a wii. :)

have a drink on me

i'm getting way excited for tomorrow's fiesta chez moi! this is going to be the first party i've ever hosted on my own - when i was in the pi i planned a few parties, but that wasn't a solo venture. this is my first just-me party, and my first one in my house! i left work early today to start prepping for it - i bought a bunch of booze, made room in my fridge for a case of beer, and my first attempt at homemade baguettes is currently proofing. no promises for the baguettes, though. they got off to a rocky start, but they're looking decent now.

i got a screamin deal on "almost flourless chocolate cake" at TJ's today, so rock on. i think i'm going to cut it into smallish pieces tomorrow. also chillin in the fridge is some spinach choke dip, creamy salsa dip, a bunch of cheeses, some salami stuff, french truffles, bruschetta topping, shrimp cocktail, booze, beer, and more booze (and mixers). i was worried about having enough food and booze, but i think i'm set since i only know of 6 or 7 people who are coming for sure. lori & jeremey are up in the air, as is keith as far as i know. and timmy will be coming late. i told everyone they could bring a friend, but i don't know if anyone will be taking me up on that or not. coincidentally, anyone who reads this who wants to come over, shoot me an email and i'll give you the address. :)

no gym tonight - my body still kind of hurts from wednesday night's tv yoga (haha) and 4 consecutive nights of running. plus, i need to babysit my baguettes. :)

have a stupendous eve, kids!

UPDATE: Check out the purdy baguettes! Here's hoping they taste as awesome as they look!

float on

every new year makes me want to change everything for the better. i know i'm not alone in that, but it seems so corny when i say it. it seems like the world is filled with so much hope on the first day of the year, like changing calendars will make all the worlds' problems go away. personally, i find that this hope lasts until i leave my house, and then it quickly dissipates. but for a few brief hours, all is right with the world.

last night i made the executive decision to stay home. i'm a loser and a life-ruiner, but i'm used to it now and if you've known me for a while, you should be used to it too. instead of going to mark & kim's, i went for a snow run around the neighborhood (running is WAY harder in snow than on a treadmill!) and debated making bagels for the first breakfast of the year. the bagels didn't happen, but i enjoyed my evening anyways. i had a surprisingly prosperous evening at home - while searching for my passport for our february cruise, i found a $10 target gift card from the pharmacy and a sock that had been missing for a few weeks. that's a darn good night for me.

as for some resolutions, i haven't really thought too much about them but i've come up with a couple:
1. rock out at la fitness at least 10 days a month (excludes volleyball nights and february since i'll be in the caribbean for a full week... suckas)
2. try all of the group fitness classes at least once - i've already tried cardio kickboxing and aquafit, so there's only 10 more classes to try...
3. be in the best shape possible before the cruise (and maintain throughout the year)
4. be more open to making new friends (and potential boyfriends)
5. attempt to figure out what i want to do "when i grow up"
6. plan a trip back to paris (to go next year)
7. take at least one random road trip (bring someone?)

resolutions for the day include making my bagels (they're almost ready to boil!) and heading to the gym. pretty low-key for just another day.