January 2012 – anywhere is….

Month: January 2012

Linky Party Reveal!

31 January 2012 / pictures, site, yay

I was paired up with Lesley from My Lively Mind.

This was such a great idea! I had fun shopping for Lesley, and I’m REALLY hoping she gets her package today. If you remember, the first day I went to mail it, I had to leave the post office due to an emergency there. I mailed it early Friday, though. Let’s hope Chicago mail DOESN’T live up to its reputation and actually gets something to someone on time for once.

Anyway.

I got my package from Lesley last week. Here’s what was in it:

shower cap, notecards, lavender sachets, tea, pens, and jelly beans! 🙂

The lavender smells so good, you guys, and you all know about my obsession with pens and stationery, right? If not, then now you do. It’s perfect.

Thanks so much Casey, Danielle, and Alycia for hosting this! 🙂 It was a lot of fun.

15 Comments

Let’s Talk About Food

30 January 2012 / food, life, marriage, miscellany monday, pictures, ronni

Note: Check out my site’s new look. What do you think? I’m pretty happy with it. It took a lot work and research to finally find a theme that I was able to customize without paying an arm and a leg, and without too much trouble. So, YAY.

Tonight, Adam and I went to Eleven City Diner for dinner. This is what I had:

Mmm, so good.

In 2008, Adam and I ate there for our post-elopement celebration. They brought us their special Eleven City French Toast: fresh baked challah with strawberries, bananas, and toasted coconut. Good times. (Even though I don’t like bananas or coconut–but it really was nice of them to do that for us.) Chicago has no shortage of good diners, and Adam and I love a good diner run.

If you’ve been following my twitter feed, you’ll know that I’ve been having the most random cravings. Cake. Cupcakes. Sushi. BBQ beef. Beef & noodles. Turkey & cheese sandwiches with mustard (and tortilla chips). Hmm, maybe they aren’t so random. They’re actually pretty predictable, because food wise? I’m pretty predictable.

I’ve gotten intense cravings for as long as I can remember. My first serious boyfriend never craved anything, which bode well when choosing a place to go eat. I ate anywhere I wanted because he never got a taste for anything particular. He’d just eat whatever was there. When he and I parted ways and I got with my second serious boyfriend, it was a shock for me to suggest a restaurant and for him to say he wasn’t in the mood for it.

My intense cravings can really make dinner challenging. Adam and I tend to be on our own for the other meals and snacks, but when it comes to dinner, he likes to make a nice, hearty meal and he likes for me to enjoy them. But not only do I have intense cravings, I also have a finicky appetite. I will get hooked on something and eat it every day for two weeks straight. Some foods I’ll never get tired of, like spaghetti, or turkey & cheese sandwiches with mustard, Whatchamacallit bars, spinach. Or I will unexplicably go off a food and not want anything to do with it for several months. (Ask Adam about the time I went off chicken. He hated life.)

We also have different ideas of dinner. I can eat a plate of rice and spinach and be perfectly happy, or a turkey sandwich will satisfy me. Adam says “that’s not a dinner” and says that we need meat, starch, and veggies. I’m talking beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, and green beans or something like that. It doesn’t matter if it’s the dead of summer and it’s 95F out, and if I say it’s too “heavy” or something, he goes “What does that even mean?” He tells me to never become a vegetarian or a vegan because feeding me is already hard enough, that I don’t like enough veggies. But I don’t think that’s the hard part. I think the hard part is us not having compatible tastes all the time.

this is what Adam considers a true dinner

I know that he’s had to adapt a lot of his eating habits because mine are so weird. For example, he never buys onions because he knows I don’t like them, but on the rare occasion I do cook (it happens, it really does), I show him how I can make stuff taste yummy without using the vile things. [1. To be fair, I like what onions do to food. I just don’t like THEM.] He knows that texture is a HUGE part of my eating experience, and the wrong texture will ruin a meal for me. [2. It’s why I don’t like oatmeal. I hate the way it feels in my mouth. It’s also why I can’t eat mushrooms, and one of the number one reasons onions turn me off so.] Toss in other weird food issues, and I don’t see how he puts up with it. I’ve told him he shouldn’t feel responsible for making sure I eat because I do have these hang-ups, but he said he LIKES to make sure I’m well fed and enjoying my meals.

A few months ago, I went to an Intro to Ayurveda workshop at Moksha, given by John Joseph Immel. Ayurveda is when you can manage your health by eating based on your dosha. There are three doshas–Vata, Pitta, and Kapha–and you’re to favor certain foods based on these doshas. It was interesting. A lot of it is stuff that’s inherent, but we kind of tamp it down in the name of convenience. But hear me out. If you’re feeling hot, don’t go eating peppers. Eat something cooling, like fruit. If you’re sick, get some rest, which not only means overall, but also, by giving your digestive system a rest. Eat foods that are nourishing, comforting, and easy-to-digest. See, makes perfect sense, right? Ayurveda isn’t some woo woo crazy thing. It’s listening to your body and eating accordingly. I wonder what Adam’s dosha is, now that I think about it?

anyone else got the wiggles fruit
salad song stuck in their head now?
just me? ok then.

Going into our fourth year of marriage, I know Adam is still trying to figure out how to keep me nourished and happy. God bless him for his patience.

Hey, be sure to stop by tomorrow for the Twitter linky hop thingy that I host with Krista from Army Wife Style and Annie from Letters To Mo. I will also be revealing what I received in the 2012 gift exchange and link party!

Linking up with:

8 Comments

My Blog Is Cute! :)

29 January 2012 / site, yay

I have a cute blog. At least, Shahorah thinks so, and I trust her taste completely. I mean, she gave me an award for it, and that’s a pretty big deal. 🙂

So accept to this award, I have to jump through the following hoops:

1. Link back to the person who gave you this award.
2. Answer award questions.
3. Award as many blogs you think deserve this award.
4. Make sure you let those you give this award know that you awarded them.
5. Tell something you have never told before in your blog.

So, here goes:

1. What is your go to make up product?
Cover Girl CG Smoothers pressed powder in translucent medium.
2. What’s your favourite fashion trend of 2011?
So, I’m not a real fashionable person, but I did love all the boots. Oh and the long maxi dresses.
3. What is your favorite dessert?
Don’t think I can go wrong with cupcakes from Molly’s Cupcakes.
4. Favorite color?
I like purple and I like pink.
5. What is your middle name?
Lanean
6. What was the last song you listened to?
Theme song to the West Wing.
7. Cats or Dogs?
Both.

And finally, one thing I have never mentioned in my blog.
And this I have no idea. Have I mentioned that my fingernails grow REALLY fast? I mean, I have to cut them every other week. And I don’t like long nails, ’cause they feel awkward when I’m typing.

Passing It On!
I’m going to give this award to Jamie from I Am Not The Babysitter and Courtney from Baxtron Life. ‘Cause their blogs are cute, and I know for sure that Courtney spent several weeks making her blog look awesome. And they both have adorable kiddos who they post tons of pictures of! So YAY.

6 Comments

A Potluck Entry

26 January 2012 / pictures, ronni, Uncategorized, videos

Just a list of randomness.

one.
I popped into the post office today to mail a package to Lesley for the 2012 gift exchange and link up.

this thing!
One of the workers fell seriously ill, and they had to call 911. I hope the worker is OK. Needless to say, I didn’t get to mail the package. I also realized that I walked out without paying for the ReadyPost box. But I’ll pay for it when I go back tomorrow. I hope Lesley gets her package in time for the link up! In the meantime, you should visit her blog. Because girlfriend has some SERIOUSLY delish recipes and you will be mad you missed out.

two.
Instead of buying new books, I’ve been rereading a lot of my favorites. In preparation for the movie, I reread The Hunger Games and its sequels again. I have read Mockingjay twice, but I literally have no idea how many times I’ve read The Hunger Games or Catching Fire. I’ve also decided to go through all my Sarah Dessen books because clearly, I am obsessed.

three.
I finally picked up my glasses that had been chipped back in December. Turns out they were calling the number I had at my old job to tell me they were in. Obviously, that didn’t work out so well. But the glasses are back with me. I like having two pairs of glasses to choose from.

four.
Disney World is coming up! Adam got the word that our travel documents are on their way. You know what that means! It’s only a matter of time ’til I’m walking down Main Street USA, heading toward Cinderella Castle. I’m started to get really excited, you guys! I’m eager for warmer weather (Short sleeves? Yes, please!), all the yummy food, soaking in the hot tub, getting a 2012 ornament, pin, and magnet, hugging Mickey Mouse, seeing my favorite shows, riding my favorite rides, taking lots of pictures, exploring new things, and MARSHMALLOWS COVERED IN CHOCOLATE AND CANDY.

five.
Sometimes when I sing, Crookshanks stops whatever he’s doing and immediately climbs into my lap. I guess that means he likes me singing voice. 🙂 I’m glad someone does.

six.
Yesterday, I went downtown to use up my Old Navy Groupon and pick up my glasses. I did well in Old Navy. It was one of those $10 for $20, and honestly, there was no way I could pass that up! I got a really cute sweater, a headband, and a tee-shirt to wear at Disney World. After that, I went to Nordstrom Rack, where I understood why some woman go absolutely bonkers over shows. Apparently, they were having some sort of SHOE EVENT because the entire second floor was shoes, except for a few key parts! I saw some beautiful heels that had me drooling. I DON’T EVEN WEAR HEELS. I also saw some flats that made my jaw drop. But I resisted, and came home with a nice, sensible pair of Keens. Because I am boring like that.

seven.
I just have to share this picture of little Helena sleeping on my lap a few days ago.

eight.
I also have to share this picture of all three cats close together at a time they’re not eating. This rarely happens! Don’t they all look sweet?

nine.
The apartment inexplicably smells like coffee. I’m not complaining, mind you. I’d rather smell this than cat poop. Thank God they’re all sleeping instead of having a poop-a-thon. They’ll wait for Adam to get home for that.

ten.
Even though my medication says to take it before bed, I rarely do. I have to take it in the morning. Why, you ask? Because my BRAIN ACTS LIKE THIS whenever I take it at night! (fyi, this is not kid-friendly!)

So guess who was up until 6AM?
Guess who wants to play The Sims?
Guess who is craving cake?
And sushi?

‘Til next time.

Linking up with:

4 Comments

Broadway Baby

23 January 2012 / dork, living in chicago, pictures, ronni

It takes a lot to get me into a musical, but once I’m into it, it becomes an obsession. (Ask me anything about RENT and I’ll more than likely have the answer for you.) I was lucky enough to see RENT twice–once when it was still on Broadway in New York City, and once when it was here in Chicago with the original Mark and Roger.

rent in nyc

rent in chicago

There are pictures of me pretending to be Mimi on the fire escape singing Out Tonight, and pretending to film a movie using Mark’s camera. Don’t believe me? Check this out:

RENT is my absolute favorite, I especially love LES MISERABLES, but around 2004-2005, my obsession was with WICKED. I didn’t get to see that one until late 2006, but oh man, IT WAS SO WORTH THE WAIT. The theatre did this lottery thing, and Adam and I both won front row center seats (Or was it second? Doesn’t matter, we were freakin’ close!) AND got to meet some of the cast backstage. But I was even more thrilled when I got the opportunity, a few years later, to actually PLAY on set!