Happy Birthday to ME!

Now that I've adjusted to the new job and working out of the house again I'm making a sincere effort to get back into this blogging thing. It all sort of comes down to my birthday resolution. I don't actually make New Year's resolutions with the rest of the world but prefer to do them on my birthday. It's a fresh start for me and a chance to try to make some positive moves forward. While the rest of the world rejoices the coming of spring and new growth I instead use the dark, cold days of winter to reflect on the changes that I've already put in place through the fall and use the thoughts of all the new shoots to energize existing plans for a motivational boost. It's been a season of change around here and I've enjoyed the last month of reflecting on the past year and getting ready to start all over.

So, without further ado, I'm posting my Birthday Resolutions and the steps already in place for the world (or the 4 readers I currently have) to see

1. Start writing again. It's tough to get started, and tougher to keep going, but it's what I love. So I signed up for a class this fall on freelancing for magazines. By the end of the five sessions we're to have a finished article ready for submission and/or publication. I'm looking forward to getting some ideas and guidance and finally pursuing this after thinking about it for so many years.
2. Begin a regular yoga home practice. For years it seemed that a daily home practice was out of reach, something to be relished by those with endless hours and not bound by the time-space continuum. Recently though the lightbulb went on and I realized that a twenty minute practice could be just as valid as an hour and a half or more. This realization leads me to my third (and more nebulous) resolution:
3. Remember that it's all just practice. Like many others I have a tendency to forget that it (whatever IT is) doesn't have to be perfect the first time. It's ok to have a cooking disaster because plenty of opportunities for simple successes exist. It's ok for my heels to fly up stubbornly during adho mukha svanasana as long as I keep practicing. Maybe they'll get there. Maybe they won't. But either way, I will, and that's the bigger point of it all anyway.

Enough of the serious stuff, right? The past couple of weekends have been some of the best on record in the past year because the workaholic Beanpole was able to escape the doom of consultancy to GASP - spend time with his wife and reclaim a bit of a normal lifestyle. We celebrated last weekend with none other than a Chicago-style deep dish pizza at Pequod's (for him) and a movie date (for me) to see Julie and Julia. Many critics have expressed disappointment with the Julie segments but having read the book (a couple weeks after 30, being laid off from a job I didn't really like anyway, and loving food but not really knowing how to cook, and living in 600sf while being a frustrated wanna-be writer) I have to say that it was spot-on. I can't even count the number of times that the Beanpole turned to me and said "Yup. That's you."

That just about catches us up to this week! This is probably one of the better birthday weekends on record. Yesterday started out with an adorable puppy card and a box of Oreos on my desk from my cube-mate. How sweet was that of her? We'd talked the day before about "trigger foods" and of course, Oreos were mentioned. While I try not to place extremely strict guidelines on what I can or can't eat Oreos will send me over the edge every time so they are a once a year treat. And after breaking open the package I can say that they have yet to disappoint! The day got even better when my second paycheck hit. The thrill of seeing money in our bank account again is a fantastic high. What could make the day better still? The Beanpole getting home from Philly! And better than that? A lovely French dinner (in honor Julia, of course!) on Bistro Campagne's charming patio with a bottle of rich red wine. He enjoyed the special tenderloin while I feasted on halibut. We had a slight mixup and the runner served me a plate of rabbit instead and not paying attention I bit right in. Ohhhhhhh, it was amazing to have meat again. I sneaked in two bites before they snatched it away from me to replace it with my order but feared becoming sick. When I was still kicking half an hour later I knew I'd found a meat option! Will I eat rabbit on a regular basis? Not likely, as I'm loathe to prepare it and the Bistro is just a little pricey to visit regularly, but it's comforting to know that I'm not destined to remain solely pescatarian. It was a little too dark to get any photos, but I did snap the wine so we can pick up a couple bottles.


We slept in this morning after going to bed so late last night and are getting ready to run some errands and drop by some friends' house to enjoy their balcony for the annual Air and Water show. The Thunderbirds' maneuvers never cease to thrill me and a dream of mine is to ride through a show some day. I'd settle for the Blue Angels though if I had to and had a Blue bowl of breakfast in their honor.


Blueberry Oikos topped with blueberries and a bit of peach maple granola. I'm not crazy about Oikos but it was on sale for considerably cheaper than my favorite Fage so Oikos it was! And a big cup of water which was not, as the cup indicates, a killer margarita. Saving that for tonight perhaps!


We'll probably grab lunch out since the fridge is pretty bare. I'm hoping to find a tasty and filling salad somewhere since we'll be having cocktails tonight with some more friends to celebrate my birthday some more. After spending my 30th in the GI doctor's office doubled over in pain and misery I'm milking this one!