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Happy Veterans’ Day!

I realize I’m a day early but I’ve been meaning to take a picture of this particular fence line for months now. The homeowners have the flags up every day (barring inclement weather of course) and I think it is so picturesque. This morning I decided to take a walk over there and finally do it.

I’m trying to incorporate a little exercise into my life. It just does not come naturally or easily to me. I’m a slug, what can I say. Actually there have been periods in my life when I have been fit and exercised regularly. And I looked great during those times. I get into a nice routine of running every dawn and then something happens to my schedule and the next thing I know my fat clothes don’t even fit me any more.

Other programs I’ve started haven’t been successful. Oh there is the Gold’s membership that I faithfully pay for each month and I’ve gone to exactly once in the past 11 months. That’s $439.89 for 40 minutes on the elliptical trainer.

After my oldest son was born and the doctor said I could start exercising I decided to embark on a swimming program. The community pool was right by my parent’s house so my Mom could watch after the baby while I swam laps. I thought this was a splendid plan. The night before I was going to start I decided to try on my bathing suit and see how bad things were. I had a standard issue black Speedo. My fat little thighs bulged out of the leg holes. My squishy belly wouldn’t be smoothed down by all the lycra and I still looked like I was about four months pregnant. Even my underarms looked fat. Not good.

I tried on the bathing cap and goggles just to get the entire picture and had a fit of giggles. It was so awful it was funny. This was too rich not to share so I thought I would sneak down the stairs of our townhouse and just poke my head around the landing into the living room so Rick could have a laugh too. He wasn’t going to see all of me, mind you – Good lord no. Just a peek at my head so he could see how funny I looked in a bathing cap and swim goggles. So I quietly started down the stairs. I rounded the first landing and because I had goggles on I miscalculated the next step and slipped. And I slipped spectacularly, flailing and screaming the entire way down.

I ended in a heap at the very bottom of the stairs, on my back, head first with the rest of my body twisting up around the bottom landing. Rick, hearing my death cry, came flying out of his chair and over to the stairs. I peered up at him through my goggles and looked up at his very dumbfounded face. "What on EARTH are you doing??" he asked. Mustering as much dignity as I could I popped up, straightened my goggles and marched up the stairs and into our bedroom. I can still hear him laughing. I removed my bathing suit, the goggles and the bathing cap and that was that. So much for swimming.

If this nice weather holds out I hope to get a walk in just about every day. It’s a start and there is less chance for public humiliation.

Girly things

www.fresh.com

Something most people don’t know about me is that I love beauty products. Especially to look at me on an average day when I can’t be bothered to attend to my toilette more than to brush my teeth and hair. But it’s true – Makeup, perfume, lotions, you name it I like it and know a lot about it. I especially love makeup. I think I almost love it for the packaging as much as the hope it will transform me into a gorgeous, luminous creature. Of course I haven’t found that particular product just yet so the hunt continues.

The Fresh perfume quartet actually caught my eye because I really like the box it comes in. I’m not actually sure I want to smell like Sake ("Truly officer – that’s my perfume."). The pattern on the box is just so delicate. Fresh also has a fairly new scent out called Cannabis – again – not sure I want to smell like that (okay – actually the reviews I’ve read for it says it is more of a patchouli type scent and it’s marketed as a unisex fragrance).

I also like smaller sizes of things – that way I haven’t made a full on commitment to anything and can try a variety at the same time. In that regard I want this, this and this.

I think it’s the fact having facials, getting manicures, wearing cosmetics is such a feminine endeavor is what really appeals to me. I have this mental picture of a glamorous woman sitting at her vanity in her satin dressing gown applying powder and lipstick. Before she dons her evening gown and pearls for dinner and dancing.

I actually bought a beautiful mirrored vanity just for that purpose (well except for the evening gown, pearls and dancing part. And the glamorous bit too, I suppose). I thought I had a picture of it but all I have this this little tidbit – the entire thing is mirrored. Very sparkly and pretty. And chairless because I can’t find a chair that I like to go with it. I didn’t care for the little mirrored stool that is supposed to go with it (too much sparkle and mirror, even for me). And I don’t really care for the standard, ruffly stool that one generally pairs with vanities. I’ll know the chair when I see it. In the meantime it doesn’t get used. Look closely in the picture – you can see my beauty mascot – Beatrix Potter’s Lady Mouse, holding a hand mirror and admiring her reflection.

So for now I stand at my sink to beautify. I have a celery glass filled with dozens of makeup brushes that sits on the counter and a magnifying mirror that extends from the wall (sadly necessary item). Belle thinks the brushes are her playthings. She loves nothing more than to nuzzle her face up to them and pull the occasional one out and bat it about. Silly, pretty little Belle. She must just want dinner and dancing too.

Christmas Inspiration

I’ve officially started my Christmas shopping. And a true harbinger of the festivities is that I’ve started my annual XMAS_200n.xls spreadsheet (with n being the current year)(In case you didn’t know that)(In case you even cared). Once a dork, always a dork.

I can’t really talk about what I’m buying because a good contigent of my readers are related to me and are on said spreadsheet. I will say that this year I’m determined to scale back a bit so my budget doesn’t go into a tail spin and I’m also determined to enjoy the gift giving process and not stress overly about it. So things will be simpler and sweeter this year.

I’ve been looking for the Martha Stewart Homemade Holiday Gift magazine for a week now and finally found it, along with the December Home Companion issue on Saturday afternoon. The cover of Home Companion is gorgeous with it’s frosty cream colored Santa and white bottle brush trees. After seeing it I’ve definitely made my decision about the auxillary tree. It’s going to be a white Christmas around our house. I was also inspired to go online and buy some Bethany Lowe Christmas decorations from Bayberry Cove. And while I was at it I ordered some of the white bottle brush trees. Now I just have to find just the right white Santa to round out my idea for the library table in the entry way.

This year I’m going to do more holiday baking and candy making. My sister Kate is the all time champion of the Christmas Cookie so there is no point in even going down that road. I could only pale in comparison. So I think I’m going to make candy for each family as a little extra (sorry to ruin the surprise, guys). Last year I hit the after Christmas sales with the sole intent of getting good holiday wrap. I scored 20 of these great pop up gift boxes at a bath and beauty shop that will be perfect containers for little cellophane bags of fudge or toffee.

I’m on the lookout for a good toffee recipe so if anyone has one they would like to share please email me. One of Rick’s coworkers always gives him his wife’s toffee during the holidays. It is the best toffee I have ever eaten anywhere, anytime. And she will not share the recipe. This type of behavior flat out drives me crazy. First of all we do not run in the same social circles so it’s highly unlikely I would steal her thunder in any way shape or form but whatever. I’m sure there are other toffee recipes out there from kind, generous people that are willing to share.

If I ever utter the words ‘family recipe’ or ‘secret ingredient’ just smack me upside the head with a cookbook.

Ooh look how quickly I get stressed about the holidays. This is not good. I need to find my happy, holiday place. I think I need to go update my spreadsheet.

Both magazines are worth taking a look at. Martha’s has a lot of doable homemade gifts. And a marmalade recipe that I know someone is looking for. The Home Companion is pretty to look at but what I really like about it is it gives all kinds of online sources for a lot of the content in the magazine. I love when magazines do that. If I can manage not to step into a store during the holidays I will be in my happy, holiday place.

Decorating Inspirations

Tablescape in progress

I love a lazy Saturday. One blissfully unencumbered by plans or deadlines. I did have rather a restless night last night. I woke up around 2:00am because it was about 97 degrees in our bedroom. I kicked off all the covers and in doing so woke up Rick who pulled them back up to his chin, shivering. Then as we are laying there we hear the most inhuman sound coming from the field below the house. "What the hell was that?" Rick just shakes his head, no idea at all. Whatever it is it sounds again. "Do we have howler monkeys around here?" Then the phone rings and both of us jump. Seems the howler monkey is calling us at 2:00am. Well whoever it was they didn’t say anything on the other end of the line. Yep. Nice restful night.

So I’m a bit sleepy this morning and so far I’ve just managed to eat some toast and peruse the Amazon decorating book section. As I’m tossing books into my shopping cart (for further inspection – I find it easier to put things in there and then go back and decide which books I really want) I notice a definite trend in my decorating style. I have no trend. I like it all. Our house would be chaotic if I had all the different styles represented.

I like cottage, I like craftsman, romantic, shabby, traditional, Japanese, Tuscan Villa, French countryside, French cityside – you name it I can find something about it I like.

I suppose that if I was pressed I could get it down to two distinct styles; cottage with it’s creamy tones and faded florally charm and Parisian apartment. You know – watery blue silk curtains, old crystal chandeliers, ornate moldings.

I don’t know why I’m surprised by my decorating indecisiveness; back in my early 20’s my dream was to own a ten bedroom bed and breakfast and decorate each room differently. That was until I figured out how back breakingly hard running a B & B is. How always ‘on’ you have to be. I suppose I could change my fantasy to just being the decorator for said B & B.

For now I’ll just be content to pile books into my cart. Here are a few that I found interesting.

The Paris Apartment by Claudia Strasser. Most of the complaints in the reader reviews are that most landlords wouldn’t allow their tenants to put up fancy moldings and painted murals. But since I don’t actually live in a apartment and the only buy in I have to get is from Rick I think this book will actually make it from my shopping cart into my hands.

Romantic Style by Better Homes and Garden. This is out of print but there are used copies available. I actually bought this book from a used book seller. It is FULL of beautiful photographs. This book appeals to me because you can pretty much take any style of decorating and make it romantic and the book shows you that.

Celebrating Home by Seasons of Cannon Falls. I admit to being a bit put off by a book by the purveyors of seasonal decoration and home accents but after reading the reviews this looks like an interesting book. They show the same rooms in a gorgeous home decorated for different seasons.

Now you’ll have to excuse me while I finish up my tablescape. I am so over the Halloween theme I had and wanted something not quite Christmasy but still a little sparkly. So far I’ve got candles, sparkly pears and a pretty faux bird in a gilded cage. It needs greenery me thinks. Maybe a howler monkey.

Comfort Food

Description of comfort food from Wikipedia:

The term comfort food refers to any food or drink to which one habitually turns for temporary respite, security, or special reward. The reasons that something becomes a comfort food are diverse but include the food’s familiarity, simplicity, and/or pleasant associations. Small children often seem to latch on to a specific food or drink (in a way similar to a security blanket) and will repeatedly request it in high stress situations. Adults, however, are certainly not exempt.

A substantial majority of comfort foods are composed largely of simple or complex carbohydrate, such as sugar, rice, refined wheat, and so on. It has been postulated that such foods induce an opiate-like effect in the brain, which may account for their soothing nature.

Hmmm. Refined wheat and sugar. They forgot butter. Cinnamon toast is my comfort food of choice. It will cure just about any foul mood and reduce stressful situations to trivial annoyances.

My mother used to make it for us as a late night treat. I can remember attending my first sleepover at the next door neighbor’s house and feeling a little homesick. My mother passed a plate of cinnamon toast over the fence and all was well. I think there needs to be love associated with the food too, for it to attain comfort status.

I think if you polled 25 random people on what their comfort food is the combined list would be rather short. And I bet macaroni and cheese would top the list. I have found a fabulous recipe on allrecipes.com. It’s called Cafeteria Macaroni and Cheese but I think it is a little more sophisticated than your average cafeteria fare. Well as sophisticated as mac and cheese can be. Teenage boys, in particular, love this version. In fact I recieved one of the highest accolades after serving this to a group of my sons’ friends, "This is slammin’ mac and cheese, Mrs. P." I assume slammin’ is a positive term.

Okay on to tea. The second component to my comfort snack. While it certainly stands on its own it’s not what I would consider in the comfort food category. It’s just comforting to drink it.

Half the comfort is the ritual of preparing it. I like a nice, loose English Breakfast brewed in a pot and then served with a little bit of milk. My favorite is Winey Keemun from Grace Tea but plain old Red Rose makes a decent cup too. I also found a really good decaffeinated black tea by Taylors of Harrogate. Most decaf teas are rather insipid but this one actually has some body to the flavor.

My second favorite comfort food is Bread Pudding but isn’t that just cinnamon toast in a custard base? The cafeteria where I work used to serve it every third full moon or some such indecipherable schedule but you could always tell when they had it – what sounded like thundering elephants was actually hoardes of my coworkers flying down the corridor following the scent. Shoving and pushing to get to the front of the line; man’s inhumanity towards man was painfully evident on bread pudding day. I think that is why they eventually took it off the menu. Or maybe it fell out of favor during that whole low-carb phase.

Today is the perfect day for comfort food here in California. It’s rainy, gloomy and cold. Just right for a cup of tea and a slice of toast.

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