My mom is the best for many reasons, but today we’re going to talk about her dedication when I make ridiculous statements such as “I want to be Bjork in her swan dress for Halloween.” I like to pretend that I create these projects to keep her off the streets, but as the sole beneficiary of them I can’t front like I’m being altruistic.
In this case she turned a pile of my (let’s-pretend-they’re-not-a-decade-old) college t-shirts into a beautiful homage to my four years in College Park.
My contribution to the project was about as minimal as possible while still counting as contributing (doing some calculus to figure out how big the squares needed to be and measuring the shirts, which, lets be real, I only got around to because the power went out while I was taking refuge at her house during Hurricane Irene). Still, I deem that it counts for #28
Food & Wine's Best Grilled Cheeses in the U.S.
Abandoning all of my current goals and aspirations so I can focus on pursuing the consumption of every single one of these. (I’ve only had one of them so far.)
Suit up, kids, we’re headed to Cleveland.
PS - Grilled Cheese #21 is located in Big Sur and is thus MY POST-MARATHON DESTINY.
Posted January 10, 2012 at 2:47pm in always the ugliest handwriting on semi-permanent things
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The Way It Is - Bruce Hornsby & the Range
Your Monday needs a little Bruce Hornsby, no?
the perfect knitting project for winter hibernation
for someone who knows how to knit (in straight lines, and only in straight lines) but already owns entirely too many scarves
courtesy of this lovely Norwegian knitting website
Posted January 6, 2012 at 10:00am in start hoarding AC Moore coupons will end up costing twice as much as just buying one
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the only times when I wear pants to work
- the temperature “feels like” something under 15 degrees
- I have some sort of running (or, formerly, roller derby) injury that involves my leg being wrapped up and I don’t feel like explaining myself (though me not showing up in a skirt elicits enough inquiries to basically defeat the purpose)
- I am the victim of a self-tanning incident
a non-comprehensive list of items for 2012
- try some trail running (and not just because it means running slower)
- do a triathlon and see if it’s really as fun as they say
- though I am a huge fan of breathing at a calm and normal pace, get more comfortable with running uncomfortably fast on occasion (not just races)
- conquer Big Sur (where the breathing will be neither calm nor normal thanks to the hills and not at all the speed), and be okay with myself if I opt for no fall marathon this year
- be more conscientious about where my food comes from/what I’m consuming (which essentially will probably mean: spend all of my money at Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods)
- dress more ridiculously (partly in pursuit of the ultimate goal, becoming an eccentric aunt)
- become a Kiva lender
- go on another international adventure, but be a little less naive about wandering around with critical possessions/in the shadiest neighborhood possible
- if he tours, go see Usher, because I have had an epiphany about how many of his songs bring me great joy, so I would like them to bring me joy live in concert
- be the Pippa to my sister’s Kate Middleton (although I’m pretty sure my bridal shower execution will be superior)
- work to make green tea a staple of my world (antioxidants!)
- weekend jaunts as frequently as possible
- be a better mentor
- avoid adding more stuff to my life unless is it quality or I have a super valid reason for purchasing it
- aim to read 45 books, acknowledging I could be more ambitious but accepting that I’m erring on the side of more-likely-to-be-accomplished since reading is not something that should create stress
2011’s aspirations: actual vs. real
Let’s check in on the things I thought I should be able to get around to doing this year and how I fared:
- have Q104.3 play a Workforce Block of Fleetwood Mac in my honor - they did and I missed it
- qualify for the Boston Marathon, ideally before the NYC Marathon, so I can actually enjoy that experience (insanity to even consider for a moment, and if they touch the 3:40 I currently need, this may get abandoned pretty quickly) - I realized that training to BQ threatened to make me resent running and for me that was too big of a risk. A cop out? Perhaps. I ran three marathons this year, though, so I’m not going to get all down on myself for that one.
- get myself a Milly dress and some investment shoes As someone who owns quite a few Liz Lange for Target maternity dresses purchased on clearance for less than $10, I have been trying to work through allowing myself to purchase a single dress whose price involves 3 figures. I’m not there there yet. But! Some internet sale + coupon magic happened and I took care of the latter.
- go on some sort of an international adventure - Oh, I think we covered that.
- play a non-serious sport, e.g. work softball, volleyball - I may have been the least-dedicated member of my company’s softball team, but I still did it, and I have the pink-stitched glove and uniform shirt still hanging in a bag in my cubicle to prove it.
- finally get myself a bicycle so I can indulge all of my getting-to-the-PATH-faster, riverside-biking and adorably-quaint-errand-running fantasies I haven’t technically done this, but word on the street is that my uncle has a bike he does not use taking up residence in his garage, which means this is as good as complete. If I get a bike rack. And go get it. And he was serious about being okay with me stealing it.
- try to become more of a grown-up with regards to planning meals and actually cooking items (ETERNAL GOAL), and be more conscientious about what I’m eating, what’s in it, and where it comes from - No. Not even close. I had nachos for dinner last night (not really, but had this been written many other days that could have been true). I’ve realized that the second part matters more to me and I’m going to focus on that one moving forward.
- do stand-up in public and partake in more comedy-watching - I did do stand-up in public (once) and I have the DVD to prove it. Perhaps some day I will get drunk enough to feel comfortable watching it. I’ve been watching a decent amount of non-Melissa stand-up too, so I consider this item accomplished, though part of me wishes I put a little more effort into trying stand-up again outside the warm fuzzy environment of my class graduation show.
- potential classes: graphic design, training, meditation, tennis, surfing, vegetable chopping, Bob Ross-style painting In lieu of grad school (trademarked phrase), I took graphic design at SVA, improv at UCB, and single-serving sessions on meditation and gin-cocktail making. I made several attempts to make vegetable-chopping happen too, but the stars would not align to allow for that one before the end of the year.
- institute New Food Tuesdays -I want to say I did this one single time. Sadly, I do not believe that counts as “instituting” anything. It’s a solid idea though, so perhaps it will make the cut for 2012.
- identify and partake in a side hustle Not so much.
- stop pretending it’s acceptable to use my sister’s boyfriend’s old Blackberry with a cracked screen and no data plan and get myself one of them smartphones Y’all, I have a phone with apps and a touchscreen and I love it so much. As someone who feeds off instant-access to information it has made me positively joyous.
