Mixed Emotions

I've been on a little bit of a forced spring break, but with less fruity drinks and sand in annoying places, and more working late hours, major spring cleaning, and, yesterday, sitting glued to the TV with my head shaking sadly. While I don't really have the words (or, sadly, the time right now) to express what's been running through my head since yesterday, I can say that I'm sad but hopeful, confused, inspired, and comforted. For every terrible act of unkindness, it seems there are a hundred more wonderful, helpful acts that tilt the balance of the world for the better. Runners are a resilient community, and their spectators are just as amazing. My thoughts are with Boston and all the people who are healing today, as well as with the police and firemen, doctors and nurses, and the brave bystanders who saved lives yesterday.
On a happier note, today I am feeling so incredibly lucky to celebrate two whole years of marriage to my very best friend. It is hard to believe that it's been two years, but as Kermit reminds us, "time flies when you're having fun" (or was that something about eating flies? hmmm...) I love him even more than the day we got married (though I would have sworn that day that such a thing was not possible) and I can't wait to spend so many more years together!

   Love,

    Meg

Friday Notes

This week has been exhausting, and I am even more grateful than normal that Friday has finally rolled around with a little reprieve. I have so much to get done this weekend, but I'm determined to squeeze in some time to relax a little too. Since I haven't found much time to blog this week, here's a little recap of what we've been up to:

 -- We saw Admission last Friday night and loved it! Tina Fey is adorable and fantastic (as always) and the storyline was just the right balance of sweet and hysterical. Definitely recommended!  
-- I'm hanging in there on the "lift heavy things" addition to my workouts. My soreness is finally gone, and I'm starting to find that some of the  are getting easier. Surprisingly, my biggest challenge in the past few weeks has been running -- I'm not sure if it's the strength training or just a typical wane in my endurance, but for a while there I was clocking only a mile or two a day, and even that required a serious self-pep talk. Last weekend I headed out for a run on a beautiful day and it turned out to be one of the most pathetic few miles I think I have ever covered. But yesterday and today I got through a 5k without too much mental anguish, so hopefully I'm getting back into the swing of things.
 -- We had a quiet but lovely Easter last weekend (last weekend? seems like forever ago!) My sweet hubby filled my Easter basket with a few of my favorite things -- pretty colors and lots of chocolate:

(with only the slightest of hints when it came to the nail polish). I've been wearing the mint this week, and while it's definitely a change from my typical pick-a-shade-of-pink, I think it's perfect for spring.
 -- The weather was overcast but relatively warm on Easter, so we took the pup for a long walk and stopped at a nearby creek to play a bit. We brought Dan's nice DSLR along and snapped some adorable pictures of Teddy splashing around and following his daring dad across fallen trees. He had a blast and we did too -- it's so much fun to watch him play and explore. Once I get the pictures loaded, I'll share a few.

we've been letting him sleep in bed about one night a week -- he loves it, and I usually wake a up with a paw or three invading my space

 -- Speaking of the pup, he has made it halfway through his first session of puppy classes and is impressing both us and his trainer with how quickly he picks up on things. He's got sit down (although he has known that for months) and he's a pro at "loose-leash walking" (essentially heel). This week we are working on down and "leave it," and he's catching on so fast. I joke with people that he's smarter than Dan and I, but sometimes I wonder if it really might be true. The best part, though, is how much he loves going to class each week. He gets so excited when we get in the car and he can barely contain himself when he sees the trainer. He plays with the other pups really well (thankfully he hasn't dragged any of them around lately) and loves to get attention from the other owners. We are seeing a difference at home too: he has always been well-behaved but his hyperactive energy seems to be settling down a bit, thank goodness.

a rare quiet moment

 -- Our other poor furball has been sick this week. He's been sneezing like crazy for a few days, and this morning his congestion seemed better but one of his eyes was running. He hasn't been too lethargic and his appetite is normal, so we've just been keeping an eye on him for now. Hopefully he starts feeling better this weekend, because his poor little sneezes are breaking his mother's heart!

 -- I've been dying to try Starbucks' new hazelnut macchiato to see if it lives up to all the recent hype, but I'm always a little nervous ordering something different there... I know that even if it's terrible I'll still have to drink it, because who throws away $5 coffee? I've been getting tired of chai, though, so I braved it this morning on my weekly Starbucks run and I'm so glad I did. Definitely worthy of all the hype and more. It was wet and chilly this morning so I opted for the hot version, but I can't wait to try it iced this summer!
Just a few highlights from an exceptionally busy week -- I'll be kind and won't bore you with work, laundry, cold rain, and similarly exciting occurrences. Thankfully, this weekend is supposed to be warm and beautiful. Hope that you have a wonderful one!

   Love,

    Meg

And Now for a Little Excitement...

Now that my fingers have thawed out a bit, I can recount our crazy, wonderful, chilly, ridiculous weekend.
It started out quietly enough (too quietly??) with a cozy Friday evening on the couch. In a sleepy haze that morning I had managed to put short ribs instead of pot roast in the fridge to defrost, so we had an odd but tasty dinner of slow-cooked short ribs over leftover mashed potatoes. It was actually so good that I might make that mistake again next time...
I got sleepy early and the hubby kindly shooed me up to bed so that he could play a video game without my constant requests to turn the machine guns down a little bit. I fell sound asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, only to be shaken awake what felt like minutes later by Dan.
"Do you smell burning?" he asked.
"I don't smell anything. What the hell are you doing? It's still dark outside."
[I am not a very kind person in the middle of the night.] 
But something about Dan's dashing around made me sit up and sniff a little more... and then I definitely smelled it. Over the next few minutes, the smell got much stronger, but we couldn't figure out where it was coming from -- there was no smoke, no noise, and definitely no fire. Dan even poked his head up into the attic, where our resident squirrel (another story for another time...) got the fright of his life, but luckily didn't seem to have started a campfire. We hemmed and hawwed a bit, but eventually decided that Dan should call the non-emergency line for our county. I went to the bathroom quickly while he dialed, but as soon as I heard him start to recite our address, I started to get a little concerned. Dan mouthed to me "They're coming," and I'm not proud to say that my first reaction was a rather dramatic groan (safety first, all). I yanked on sweatpants and two coats, took a claw in the face while wedging one animal into a carrier, and we dragged one sleepy puppy, one furious cat, and our own bewildered selves outside.
In minutes we heard the sirens piercing through the frigid darkness, and I started to cringe. "The neighbors are going to hate us," I moaned, "Are you sure they really needed to come?"
Sure enough, we ended up with two large trucks, huge spotlights, and lots of flashing lights parked in front of our house while at least a dozen firefighters trooped in and out for an hour. Despite the fact that it felt like the middle of the night, this whole debacle actually started around 5:30 AM, so we stood in our driveway from about 6-7 (pre-sunrise), freezing and waiting for any sign of flames. Luckily there were never any of those, and the firemen eventually decided that the smell (which they smelled too, thank goodness... I was a little worried that our phone number might be destined for some kind of "boy-who-cried-wolf" list) was from a malfunctioning heat pump/air handler. Truly, I can't say enough about how kind and thorough these guys were -- they examined every inch of our house (I'm still recovering from the mortification I felt upon discovering the door to our "junk" closet wide open) and didn't complain a bit about the terrible hour or the awful cold.
In the end, we were left with a very cold house, no heat for a few days, and a lingering smell. Thank goodness for wonderful neighbors, friends, and family who checked in on us throughout the day, and one friend in particular who went way above and beyond, delivering a truckload of firewood and our two favorite little girls to play for a little while. We spent much of the day by the fire, napping off our early morning. Luckily the weather warmed up nicely, and that evening while Dan headed out to pick up dinner, I took the pup for a gorgeous long walk and dreamed of spring.
That evening, we set up camp in the living room:

(not the best picture, but you get the general idea)

I felt like a little kid in a fort, but a lot less comfortable... turns out, no matter how many blankets you put down, you'll still find at least one bone directly on the hard floor at all times.
Sunday was slightly less exciting, thank goodness (although it was my mother's birthday, and that's exciting! Happy birthday, Mom!) We slept in a bit, knocked out a workout, met up with some friends from out of town for a drink, drove around for a bit in the snow, and then headed home (with a hot cup of coffee) to get a fire going and settle into our makeshift sleeping quarters again. 
If Saturday night had been merely a little rough, Sunday night was pretty miserable. There was a lot of tossing and turning and poking my poor husband, hissing "The fire is dying! The fire is dying!" Thank goodness for him, because he got up several times each night to throw another log on and ensure my toes stayed warm.
Thankfully, after a (ahem) brisk few days (understatement), our heat was restored yesterday and I can feel my extremities again. There is still the matter of the "fixed" air handler that is now causing our kitchen floor to vibrate like a train might be passing through the house at any moment, but I am able to handle that minor hiccup much better now that the icicle at the end of my nose has melted.
Despite the annoyance, I do have to admit -- it was kind of fun to camp out with Dan and our furballs for a few days. Even though I certainly can't sleep on the floor like I used to (the days of birthday sleepovers are long gone, and you won't hear me protest), I enjoyed changing things up and hunkering down in front of the warm fire with my boys. I'd say my sore back was worth the extra puppy snuggles, laughter, and the billion or so episodes of NCIS. And now, I'm just enjoying the warmth and crossing my fingers that it will be a very long time before a fireman has to dig through my closets again.

   Love,

    Meg

Friday Favorites

Didn't I mention last week that my picks were a little all over the place? Well... you ain't seen nothin' yet. Today, we make last week's choices look positively coherent.

 -- First, a Friday Favorites dream-come-true: look what arrived on my doorstep yesterday...

Even cuter in real life!

 

decked out for St. Patrick's day

 -- The hubs and I are on a working-out-together kick -- he has come with me to the gym every day except one this week, and we've been doing stuff together while we're there. This means that for the first time in forever (forever) I've been doing strength training, core work, and all those other things you're supposed to add to the cardio for a well-balanced workout... yuck. I'm lucky to have my very own personal personal trainer to make me feel like a wimp encourage me to keep pushing, but I'm going to be very ungrateful here for a minute: this strength stuff is for the birds. I have been so incredibly sore all week, words truly can't describe it. Sitting down hurts. Standing up hurts. Breathing hurts. I can't even begin to get comfortable at night, so I've been sleeping horribly. And let. me. tell. you. I sneezed on Wednesday, and I swear my life flashed before my eyes. I was absolutely positive that my head was going to pop off in that instant. Dan keeps telling me that it will get better, and today I am finally slightly less achy (until I try to move, at least). All I can say is that this had better be worth it.
The "favorite" part of this little topic (I bet you didn't think there was one!) was that I've been able to spend lots of quality time with Dan. Because of his funky work schedule, sometimes I feel like we barely see each other during the week. But even when I was yelling at him to get out of bed already and we were glaring at each other as we got dressed for the gym before the crack of dawn, it was nice to get to see his face a little more this week. He hits just the right balance of encouragement and making me laugh like crazy... which would be wonderful if it didn't hurt so damn much.


 -- After our gym date last night, we headed to check out a new local grocery store and grab a few last minute ingredients for dinner. This place has a ton of bulk nuts, snack mixes, and candy (dangerous), and as we browsed I spotted these beauties.

I have not eaten or even thought about mustard pretzels in YEARS, but I used to love these things when I was little. I bought a little container, and oh my goodness, they took me right back to childhood. They are super salty but incredibly good.

 -- Speaking of childhood food, I whipped up another kid favorite for dessert last night. When we were grocery shopping last week, I pointed out the pre-made Jello version of the "dirt" dessert, and Dan's eyes got all wide. I sent him back for chocolate pudding mix, grabbed a container of cool whip, and even tracked down a bag of gummi worms. Last night, we indulged:

  -- On Wednesday, we took Teddy for his first real puppy class. We signed him up a month ago, but our class didn't fill up and eventually got canceled, so we're starting again now. Our new class includes a sweet Doberman, an adorable German Shepherd, and a teeny-tiny terrier mix. Teddy did pretty well and made it clear that he's going to be a teacher's pet: while the other puppies played after class, Teddy stuck close to the trainer and did his best to look cute. The trainer even picked him up (not exactly an easy feat, since he's grown so much) to give him some love, and Teddy was clearly in heaven. We definitely have a mooch on our hands. 

The best part, though? During a "puppy recess," Teddy meandered over to the other pups, picked up the leash of the little bitty terrier in his mouth, and dragged both it and the attached dog halfway across the room to us. He sat down right in front of Dan, leash still in his mouth and terrier still struggling to get back on his feet, and looked at us like "I brought you something, can we keep it??" Everyone (including the terrier's mama, thank goodness) got a good laugh.

 -- And in the interest of equal air-time for all furballs (no one likes a furry mutiny), we'll end with this little graphic that I whipped up the other day:

Truer than you can imagine... he is not a morning cat.
Happy weekend, everyone!

   Love,

    Meg

Speed Blogging

Time to play a little catch-up, since my vacation from work turned into a vacation from all-things-internet last week. It's always nice to take a break from social media, but nice to get back to it, too! In the interest of time and your attention span, here's the past 10 days, each in 100 words or less (kind of like speed dating, but less creepy): 

Friday:

Made it to the gym early for the first time in forever, had a crazy day at work, then met Dan at the mall (my very least favorite place in the whole wide world) to do fun things like purchase a new suit and look at ties (yawn). Can’t really complain, since I was rewarded with Taco Bell for dinner. I call that a win. 

Saturday:

Worked out super early, then hit the road (in the snow!) for my college town. Met up with wonderful friends, had lunch, and checked into our suite. Freaked out upon discovering that the wedding ceremony was to take place outside in 30º temps, was incredibly relieved to find that a last-minute change had been made and I would not lose a limb to frostbite. Enjoyed a beautiful ceremony, catching up with friends, yummy cupcakes, and dancing with my hubby. Headed back to the suite to celebrate our friend’s birthday. Just as I was getting into bed, the terrible sickness began. 

love this picture!

Sunday:

The terrible sickness continued. The morning was rough. Dan, who left at the crack of dawn for a day of military training, was also sick and was sent home, I was still 2.5 hours away. My wonderful friend kept me company while I considered dying and helped me finally prepare for the drive home. Drove an hour without pulling over to be sick (miracle), stopped at Wawa for a slushie that made me feel a billion times better, finally got home. Hubby and I crawled into bed and slept for 15 hours straight. 

Monday:

Dragged myself into work, still feeling horrible. Didn’t get much work done. Struggled mightily to stay awake, not get sick, not hack off my aching head with a letter opener (that’s gruesome, sorry). Felt the best I had all day at 4:55, when I crawled into my car and headed home for another 15-ish hours of sleep. 

Tuesday:

Felt a bit better. Went to the gym after work for a slooooow recovery workout, then grocery shopped for “snowstorm essentials” (ice cream, wine, wheat thins). Made amazing pasta for dinner. Stayed up way too late, much like a kid bargaining for a snow day -- I was absolutely sure that I’d wake up to 2 feet of the white stuff and a day off. 

lemon chicken, capers, and chives over angel hair

Wednesday:

Woke up to 2 feet of snow, jumped for joy, promptly stopped when I discovered that my office was still open. Cursed under my breath while husband drove me to work over increasingly dangerous roads. Sat at my desk sad and alone, as everyone else was snowed in. Finally left around 1:00, fit in a quick workout, and finally plopped down in front of a beautiful fire to read and eat for the afternoon/evening. Snow day: salvaged. 

snow!

Thursday:

Slept late. Read in bed amidst husband/cat/puppy snores (heaven). Took Teddy for a long, snowy walk. Ventured out to pick up our favorite sandwiches for lunch. Spent another evening on the couch with a fire, a good book, and a glass of wine. Ate delicious breakfast for dinner, despite a sadly failed attempt at hollandaise sauce. 

Friday:

Got up at a reasonable hour, hit the gym for a nice laid-back workout. Stopped at Whole Foods for gorgeous tulips (on sale!) and Dunkin for a humongous coffee. Got some work done, took the pup for a walk, cleaned up the house a bit, watched some Netflix. Headed out to see wonderful friends for the evening. Enjoyed great food and even better company.

looks like spring!

Saturday:

Gorgeous day, took full advantage with a run outside. Ran into this guy also out enjoying the weather:

Cleaned like crazy all day. Happy to report that our bedroom carpet does still exist. Completed five loads of laundry, scrubbed the bathroom floor, and spent at least three hours doing dishes, I’m pretty sure. Ate takeout since I couldn’t look at my kitchen for one more minute, watched How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days for the billionth time, and collapsed into bed.

Oh Andie Anderson, you get me every time.

Sunday:

Got up in time to sweat a little before kicking off my mom’s day of (early) birthday fun. Headed out to a vineyard for tastings and a glass of wine in the sun, then stopped at a great lunch spot. Saw a local production of Into the Woods (one of our favorites) that was extremely impressive. Finished off the evening at our new favorite Italian restaurant. Happy (early) birthday, Mom!

 

   Love,

    Meg

Wordless Wednesday... on Thursday

Because that's the way the week has been going so far. Humor me, won't you?

[furballs enjoying a fire]

[a suddenly quite dog-sized former puppy looking handsome]

[two friends who would love to share that popcorn with you]

[a pair of good-looking guys]

[Toby the explorer gets a little boost by stepping on his brother's head. We're lucky I managed to capture this moment, what with the laughing-so-hard-I-almost-died.]

Love,

Meg

Friday Favorites

After two whole days of airing my worst traits for all the internet to hear, I think it's time for a little positive energy around here. Contrary to what the past few posts might have you thinking, I'm not (always) a terrible person and I am lucky to have a lot of happiness in my life.
Today is a crazy day (a fitting end to a crazy week) at work, so this is going to be short, sweet, and a little random. Here we go:


Even though Valentine's day was last week, I thought this article (from the guy behind "Shit My Dad Says") was still worth sharing. It's funny, a little depressing, and probably not for the easily-offended, but the true message can't be beat. I'm so lucky to have found a love like this.

I got started on my February book (see: resolution to read one book every month) super late, but it only took me a few days to race through this one (not because I was in a hurry, just because it was too good to put down for very long). It's a fantastic glimpse into the mind of Asperger's, heartbreaking and heartwarming all at once. Marcelo is one of the most endearing characters I've met in a long time.

In my long history of posting terrible pictures of my food, I think this may be my worst offense. That one on the left is spectacularly bad. Please trust me that both of these taste a billion times better than they photograph... or than I photograph. Sincere apologies if these hurt your eyes (or your stomach).

I've been making a mess in the kitchen a lot lately, with a few noteworthy results: pesto chicken and whipped feta. They both fulfill the trifecta of requirements for a fantastic recipe -- a short list of ingredients (4 for the chicken, 2 for the feta), impossible-to-screw-up preparation, and an absolutely delicious finished product. Worth the mess.

This was the appetizer we ordered on our Valentine's date last week: bread, cheese, lemon-butter sauce, and caper overload (just kidding, you can never have too many capers). Holy heart-attack-on-a-plate, it was incredible.

I bought tickets yesterday for my fourth Peter Bradley Adams concert in March. Dan is taking off work so that we can go and I can't wait!

Speaking of music, I'm a little behind (as usual) but I'm loving this song. They are playing in our hometown soon and now I'm a little bummed that I didn't try for tickets to that, too.


And we'll close with a few funnies collected this week:

Happy weekend, everyone!

   Love,

    Meg

How to Make Valentine's Dinner for a Man Without Losing Your Mind (Almost)

There's a recipe in here somewhere, I promise.

 -- Get home from work/running errands and immediately collapse into bed turn on laptop to get some work done, only to discover that 1. the internet is out for the third time this week and 2. the laptop is acting suspiciously like it still has that virus that you spent four hours trying to vanquish last week. Give up, collapse into bed.

 -- Take blissful hour hour and ten minute hour and twenty minute nap. Struggle mightily to wake up. Jump for joy that the day's headache is, in fact, still with you. Pop a few Advil.

 -- Sleepily stumble downstairs in sweatpants and slippers. Grumble at the cat, who has a thing for scurrying under feet that are sleepily stumbling downstairs.

 -- Move piles of dirty dishes around the kitchen and stack precariously until you have a small workspace.

 -- Take one block of sharp cheddar cheese, 1 bag of pepperoni, and two cans of buttermilk biscuits from the fridge. Try not to look last night's dinner in the eye.

 -- Spread out a silicone mat.

 -- Go back to the fridge with a spoon, eat a few bites of last night's mashed potatoes directly from the tupperware. 

 -- Cut/hew/chisel surprisingly solid cheese into roughly pepperoni-sized squares. Complain to a napping puppy about your new blisters. Feel a little bad for yourself that not even the puppy cares.

 -- Freak out a little when you realize that you've never actually opened a can of biscuits by yourself. Follow instructions carefully while wincing and  holding can as far away as humanly possible. Chuckle a bit when can opens easily with a anticlimactic "pfffft."

 -- Remove one biscuit of dough. Cut in half. Roll one half into a ball, then flatten in a circular shape with heel of hand. Spread until the diameter is 5 or 6 inches.

 -- Stack a pepperoni and a square of cheese in the center. Gather edges of dough and bring towards center, pinch together to seal.

 -- Place ball (sealed side down) in a greased 9"x13" pan (or 8"x14" pan or 12"x12" pan or 26"x50" pan, whatever floats your boat... and fits in your oven.)

 -- Repeat approximately a billion times.

 -- Suffer a minor heart attack when the second can of biscuits pops open in your hands with a sound like several thousand fireworks exploding at once. Worry about puppy's hearing, as he barely batted an eyelash.

 -- Continue cutting, rolling, flattening, stacking, and pinching.

 -- Bid adieu to the cat, who has decided that even he is bored with the process and wanders off to stare at a wall somewhere.

 -- When the pan is finally full, stretch your arms and pour yourself a glass of wine in celebration. Pull out a second pan. Keep trucking.

 -- Frantically remember that the oven isn't even on yet. Set it for 450. Extricate the shredded biscuit can from the trash. Turn oven down to 350.

 -- Fill second pan. Raise white flag, place two remaining biscuits on a cookie sheet for tomorrow's breakfast.


 -- Brush biscuits with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic powder.
 
 -- Put pans in oven. Check every 30 seconds to ensure that crazy, tempermental oven is not a. on fire or b. set to “Easy Bake.”


 -- Remove one pan after 14 minutes, the other after 22 (from the same oven rack). Ponder the fact that the first pan is significantly more cooked.

 -- Put cookie sheet with two extra biscuits in the oven. Heat up leftover spaghetti sauce (from a jar, who are we kidding?) for dipping. Serve dinner. Sigh as you pretend that each bite of pepperoni roll is actually lobster, and that you're really in a fancy restaurant with candles, expensive wine, and an extensive dessert menu. Come crashing back to reality with every blaring car commercial. Remove cat from lap at least three times. Remove cat from table twice.

 -- Freeze. Remember biscuits in oven. Jump up from couch and race through thickening smoke to open oven door. Sprint to smoke detector and start frantically waving your arms. Make a face at the puppy, who is looking at you like you've finally lost it. Wonder if perhaps he's right. Extricate two rather hard, rather blackened biscuits from oven. Mourn for a moment over the passing of tomorrow's breakfast. Turn off oven. Pop another pepperoni roll. And maybe another Advil.

(Adapted from this recipe and this recipe. I made these super simple this time around, since it was my first try and I was hoping to thrill my pizza-loving husband (he wasn't disappointed). I will definitely branch out next time with different pizza toppings, and I'm envisioning a yummy barbeque version of these, too.)

*For those of you who worry, rest assured: I consumed only a half glass of wine and just one Advil over the course of the evening. I do know that these two things don't mix well in regular-sized doses. Also, know that I didn't actually set anything on fire and had not left the biscuits in the oven for an unreasonably long time... I just have a particularly crabby oven.

Happy (almost) weekend, everyone!

   Love,

    Meg

Be Mine?

Valentine's Day gets a bad rap. Cynics everywhere whine, "But you should show people you love them every day of the year!" Well, I do (or at least I try really hard to). But give me an excuse for a nice date with the guy I love, a reason to get dressed up (or not, some years we don't), a reason to wrap up something small (or not, some years we don't do this either), a reason to hold hands and sneak in a few extra kisses? I'm all in.
I miss Valentine's Days gone by: making homemade Valentines (for everyone in my class) with my mom, gifts from the very first guy in my life (my dad, of course), overdosing on lollipops and candy hearts (yick) and chocolates from a Whitman's sampler box. Cards from grandparents (thankfully, one tradition that continues today: my sweet grandmother never misses a holiday and this year's V-day card arrived in the mail on Monday). Homemade mailboxes in elementary school. Carnation deliveries in middle school. Singing telegrams in high school. Red jello shots in college (uhhh... how did that last one sneak in there?) Valentine's Day as a kid was always so fun and wholesome (except for those college years).
Not that this year going to be any less fun or wholesome (no jello shots here). Sadly, my sweetheart has to work until late tonight, but I've planned a cozy evening at home with a few surprises for when he gets off (hi sweetheart, hurry home!). We'll make it up tomorrow on our first date night of the year... we haven't been out to dinner together since New Year's Eve. I got us reservations at a (relatively) new restaurant that we haven't tried yet, and I'm looking forward to a fun evening.
So if Hallmark really did invent Valentine's Day, then hats off to them. It's fun (and important) to celebrate those you love every day, but a little excuse for a date night never hurt anyone, either. And if you don't have a valentine this year, look on the bright side: you don't have to share the Whitman's sampler!

PS: If you haven't already, mosey over to Google today... too cute! My favorite has to be the squid & bear. 

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

   Love,

    Meg

The Longer The Better

Long weekends are the best. Somehow that extra 24 hours is all I need to feel like I have time to catch up on sleep and get a few things done, and I feel so much better heading back to work on a Tuesday morning. The tradeoff is that four day weeks are always crazier, but I'd gladly endure more of those if it meant sleeping until 8 every Monday.
This weekend was quiet and just a tiny bit productive, too. I made an impressive effort to break my motivational slump, pushing myself through a couple hard workouts and a short but windy run outside. Apparently the gym could tell I needed an extra spark, because I also picked up a nice little gift card as a reward for hitting 56 visits in the first two months of membership. I am already anticipating the massage that these sore muscles have officially earned! I spent most of yesterday cleaning, pushing bookcases around, and doing some heavy (box) lifting. By the end of the day, I had finally unearthed our office (mostly). I'm so excited to have a nice little spot to study!
Here are a few more highlights from the weekend:

a splurge on Friday after work

surprise Friday night dinner thanks to my handsome live-in chef... delicious!

we saw this trio of movies:

21 Hours at Munich -- I knew precious little about the Munich Olympic massacre before this film, and now I know entirely more than I wanted to. It was hard to believe that this horrifying drama was actually real.

Pitch Perfect -- It took me forever to finally rent this one, but Dan and I both really liked it. The singing was great, even when the plot left a little bit to be desired.

Zero Dark Thirty -- definitely did not disappoint. Without getting into the debate on truth vs. fiction, this was a jarring and disturbing but incredible film. I held my breath for at least half the movie and felt both exhausted and inspired when we left the theater. 

I made chocolate pudding for the first time in forever and topped it with homemade whipped cream

Teddy had another fun romp at the dog park on a beautiful day and did some snuggling at home...

... and Toby gave me a little hint of what my studying hours are going to look like.

Clearly the long weekend was a good excuse for extra chocolate, extra time cuddling with our furballs, and extra laughs with my sweet hubby. Not bad!

   Love,

    Meg

Friday-ish

A few favorites, a few un-favorites, and a few things that are just worth noting on this (finally) sunny Friday. And.... go.

1. I'm a little worried that just two and a half weeks into the new year, I am finding myself severely lacking in the motivation department. Maybe it's all the dark, rainy weather or maybe I'm still recovering from last week's marathon cold, but all week it has been a serious struggle to do much more than just sit and collect dust. It's much harder than normal to get to the gym in the mornings, and once I'm there even just talking myself onto the treadmill is a chore. The elliptical is like a little magnet: it's boring, but I can zone out for a while, break a little sweat, burn a few calories, and call it a workout. I'm not sure if my body is trying to tell me it's tired, or if I'm just being lazy. 
2. The forecast called for 2-10 inches of snow yesterday. Instead, it snowed for an hour and then turned back into rain. Now there's plenty of ice but not even a lingering dusting of white. Bummer.
3. I did muster up the energy to make dinner last night, and I was so glad I did. If you're in need of a simple and relatively quick meal, check out this recipe. I used ribeye instead of chicken and left out the peppers, but the real key is the cooking method (you cook the meat, then wrap the sandwiches and stick them in the oven for a while). It certainly didn't hurt that I also had some leftover cheese sauce that went quite nicely with a few chips...
4. I made another odd little recipe this week that, despite several moments of doubt, turned out pretty well. It was odd because the result wasn't really a biscuit, but it wasn't exactly a cake either. Next time I try it I'm thinking of treating them a bit more like scones. They have a great flavor, though, and were perfect for both breakfast and dessert. So perfect, in fact, that the cat helped himself to the leftovers last night, meaning that I am without breakfast today. Hope that was worth it, little guy.
5. I took my first weekly quiz for my class last night and scored a 19.5 out of 20. It was tough but not ridiculous, definitely on par with most of the classes I took in college. I'd say a 97.5% is a good way to start out the semester!
6. This little game is addicting.
7. Every year I say that I want to watch all the Oscar Best Picture nominees before the awards. Every year I fail miserably. This time around I do have a slight advantage, since we saw (and loved) Lincoln a little while ago. I really want to see Silver Linings Playbook, Argo, Zero Dark Thirty, and Django Unchained, but after all the lukewarm reviews, I'm not all that excited about Les Mis anymore. I also really want to catch The Master (nominated in several other categories), after hearing a great interview with Philip Seymour Hoffman. I'm still dying to see This is 40, too. Our brand new movie theater is wonderful but expensive, so I have a feeling most of these will be Redboxed in a few months. So much for having an informed rant all prepared for the academy on Oscar night.
8. Last night I dreamed that Toby ran away (a recurring nightmare, especially strange since typically he is curled up right next to me during these dreams) and that our bathtub/shower had been relocated to the front yard. So strange.
9. Amazon's sample system for Kindle books is wonderful and terrible all at once. I downloaded a bunch at the beginning of the year and have been making my way through them and loving each one, but they always end just as I start to get invested (clearly their marketing strategy is a success, or I'm a sucker, or both). Now I've got a huge list of books I'm just dying to buy. Meanwhile, I'm still slogging my way through All the King's Men, that dense selection that I started on the honeymoon. I'm enjoying it, but boy is it long and exhausting.
10. It's always nice to end with a puppy:

Dan took Teddy to work with him a few nights ago and he did great. Everyone loved him, and he was quiet and calm. His office is very dog-friendly, so this was a trial run and Dan is hoping to take him in more often. I'm wondering if they might find a job for him and send him home with a check? He's clearly quite good at sitting at a desk and looking cute.

Happy weekend, everyone!

   Love,

    Meg