Christmas Cookies

About 100 sugar cookies that I'm taking to the Alfieri party tomorrow. The checkerboards don't look quite checkered, more umm mottled. But I'm sure they'll still taste good!

Early Christmas

Ozzie got his Christmas present early this year. (The box was way too big to keep around. I barely got it up the stairs!) He loves his new bed/couch because it's way softer than his old bed and he can sink into it. He's a spoiled little dog!

Christmas Time!

Stockings look way better when they're hung over a fireplace!

Hot Chocolate 5k Race

On Saturday, we ran the Hot Chocolate 5K. It's a 3.1 mile race in downtown Chicago, running through Grant Park down around Soldier Field, around Shedd Aquarium, and back to the park. Chris, John, and I jogged it (the parents walked it and did great!) and then headed to the tents where they gave away chocolate fondue and cups of Ghirardelli Hot Chocolate. It was a fun race, but the course was a little crowded at times. And it was super cold before and after the race. Still, I had a really good time.
I'm certainly not the fastest runner in the world, but I was proud to jog almost all of it. And I guess now I have a time to beat in my next race. (Which is already planned - Chris and I are going to do the Santa Hustle 5k on Dec 4. It'll be another cold one, I'm sure!)

My Love Affair With Chicago

My favorite view of the city, from the purple line. Can't have a bad day if I get to see this.

Punk Dog Strikes Again

After stealing a slice of pizza and trying to chew the fireplace, Ozzie is now releasing his puppy-crazy-random-energy by getting out every toy he has, rearranging my shoes, and pushing his bowls around the living room. This is on the second lap around the coffee table, right before he lost it under the couch. And yes, we went on a long walk today. Clearly not long enough. Punk.

Buckingham Fountain

Just a quick 5 mile bike ride from our place to the fountain. This is such a pretty city.

Ozzie is making himself right at home

Apparently the ottomans are perfect for Oz to watch the firetrucks go by.

Happy Birthday Ozzie!

Ozzie turned one yesterday. He got a doggie cupcake (made from dog-friendly ingredients) and a new globe toy.

Aren't you so proud of him for posing with the cupcake? He wanted to eat it so badly, he kept sniffing at the counter and trying to steal it. But he was a good boy and took a proper birthday picture first.

The cupcake looks like a people cupcake, but it tastes horrible. He liked it though; he ate all the icing-like stuff first and then scarfed it down. So apparently it tastes really good to dogs.

It looks like it'd be good, doesn't it? Happy Birthday little doggie!

T.Rex Will Kick Your Ass

No, I'm Not Panicking, Why Do You Ask?

Whenever I get panicked, like I am SO NOT DOING right now about moving, I like to remember this handy saying.

It makes me feel all better. For now.

Niagara Falls

The view from the hotel room balcony.

The Bechdel Test

I'm not a feminist by any stretch of the imagination (although apparently I should be) but saw this video and had to share.



Kinda ridiculous that so few movies pass the test. And when I think of ones that do, they're mainly HORRIBLE chick flicks. I wonder why it is that so few movies have women as the kickass leads. You know, Transformers would have been just as cool if Shia Lebeouf would have been played by a girl - no arguments about whether he IS a girl.

Bechdel Test for Movies
1) Two or more women (with a name)
2) They talk to each other
3) About something other than men

Hope that the future will actually arrive

As beautifully written by Wil Wheaton (who played Wesley Crusher in TNG):

some of us are looking at the stars

On January 28, 1986, I was home from school with the flu. I remember that, no matter what I did, I couldn't get warm, so I was sitting in a hot bath when my mom knocked on the bathroom door.
"There was an accident with the space shuttle," she said, in the same voice she used when she told me that my grandmother had died.

For the next few hours, I sat on the couch, wrapped up in as many blankets as we had, and watched one of the local news networks - probably ABC - cover the unfolding disaster. Because of the fever and the years between now and then, I can't recall a single detail other than how impossible the whole thing felt. How could something like that even happen? And did it mean that we'd never put people into space again?

This morning, I sat in my office and watched the shuttle Atlantis launch into space via a NASA TV stream through VLC on a monitor that is bigger than my family's 1986 television. When mission control gave the order to go with throttle up, I held my breath like I have every single time since the shuttle program was reinstated in 1988, and when the shuttle separated from the boosters and glided into orbit, I got something in my eye. Just take a moment, if you don't mind, and think about what it means that we can leave our planet, even if we've "only" gotten as far as the dark side of the moon. Think about what it means that something as incredible as putting humans into space and bringing them back safely to Earth today earns less media attention and public excitement than the typical celebrity breakup.

It is amazing that we can do this, and even though I've come to believe the shuttle program isn't the best way to spend NASA's tiny budget (which is a pitiful fraction of what it should be), I hope that there was a child watching the launch today who will feel inspired to reach out to the stars and see what's out there.

We humans are a flawed species, to put it mildly, and I think we could do a much better job taking care of our planet and each other ... but when I see what we're capable of doing, it gives me hope that the future I pretended to live in twenty years ago will actually arrive some day.

FSMspeed, Atlantis.

Dog Days

It's not quite summer but Oz enjoys his time at the dog park.

Beyonce's SINGLE LADIES with THE DAN BAND

It's no secret that I L-O-V-E the song Single Ladies by Beyonce. It makes me smile no matter what's going on. I hope no one ever plays it at a funeral cause I'll be grinning from ear to ear. Actually, here is my formal request to play it at MY funeral.

Anyway. The Dan Band got all famous when they sang Total Eclipse of the Heart (I f-ing need you more than ev-ah) in Old School, but they're actually even funnier than that scene. I sorta forgot about them until I happened on this video tonight. And now I'd like to amend my request - I want this version of the song to play at my funeral. Too f-ing funny.

(If you're in a hurry, just watch from 1:25 to 1:45. Best part, in my opinion.)

Whoa!

I couldn't figure out what Ozzie was barking at just now. Turns out we had a baby snapping turtle on our back porch.

His shell is about the size of a half dollar. I had to kick him into the grass so Oz wouldn't try to eat him. We're a long way away from the pond for such a small guy, I hope he makes it!
 
Edit: In the time it took me to type this on my phone, which wasn't long, Ozzie grabbed my bluetooth out of the charger and put big chew marks in it. Just thought you'd like to know.

Who Can Tolerate More Pain?

We watched an episode of Mythbusters where they tested "women are more tolerant to pain." They used an old torture method where a hand is stuck in a bucket full of ice water, with the fingers splayed open, and then held there for as long as possible.

We recreated it at home too, because we've often argued whether cramps hurt more than being kicked in the balls. The show used a three minute cut off for safety (the pain is there to keep you from being damaged like frostbite), so we did too.

Chris went first. He felt pain after five seconds, and lasted about 16 sec.
John went next. He felt pain right away, but lasted 17 sec.
Then I went. I felt pain at around 30 sec and lasted until the safety cutoff at 3 minutes.

Woohoo for me! My hand really really hurt at the end, around the 2:30 mark, and it took a good 5 minutes to feel normal again. Chris and John tried again several times, but neither could get to 20 seconds. All in all, a very successful (and not so messy!) experiment.

As the show concluded, and as our home experiment confirmed, girls can tolerate WAY more pain than boys. So there!

Beautiful Day

Ozzie has a rough life. Really.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Pilates

I've been getting really into Pilates. Pilates is a strength training method that helps improve your core (stomach and related "middle" muscles) and other things too. I've only done mat classes because I'm a little too intimidated by the Reformer machine, but I'm in love. It takes an amazing amount of control - the picture above looks easy, but it's tough to ensure your hips are stacked on top of each other, your abs are pulled in tight, your butt is tucked in, your rib cage is lifted off the mat, and THEN doing the motion where you raise your top leg (don't move your hips!) and use your obliques to curl up.

Anyway I enjoy it. Apparently the founder Joseph Pilates said "You will feel better in 10 sessions, look better in 20 sessions, and have a completely new body in 30 sessions." I'm at 11 sessions right now, and it's true that I feel a lot better. Can't wait to get to that magic #30 and have a new body! Well, with my body, it's going to take longer than 30, but hopefully I'm well on my way.

I think for every 30 sessions I attend, I'll treat myself to a Reformer package. That's my motivation to keep going, and maybe it'll be a little extra boost to keep my form and try more advanced variations of the moves.

Spring!

Ozzie really enjoys being outside now that the weather is nice. So do we. But he celebrates by finding sticks and chewing them up. I hope our neighbors don't mind the random piles of stick debris.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Downtown

I've missed traveling to new cities, figuring out how to get around, discovering new things. That may be why this mini-vacation is doing a world of good.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Happy Anniversary Babe

Unintentional Funnies

I'm sort of a hypocrite. Although I hate that people clearly disrespect the office of the President, I can't help but laugh at some of the jokes. Bush really did say funny things, and Obama really does make funny faces. This one made me laugh.

Girls Are Evil

I was going through old files at work and found this hilarious proof that someone in IT gave me a long time ago.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Fingers Crossed?

I don't usually care about my horoscope, because it normally says stuff like "You are weird - avoid crying on the 3rd." But it's still fun to read and make fun of. I was googling horoscopes tonight and I found a good one on AstrologyZone.

It's fairly long, but I liked this part:
With Uranus so prominent this month, I would be remiss if I didn't warn you that at times your finances will be volatile. I cannot see all your planets in your natal chart, so we have to proceed carefully. This would certainly not be the month to take a big financial risk - follow a conservative course. You will see breakthroughs, but it will be up to you to follow them up and make them work for you. The universe will be behind you all the way, which is a very new and different condition. Until now, the planets have been little gremlins, setting up an obstacle course, hoping you'd trip over your shoe laces. You fell over a few times, but by George, if you watch your step, you won't fall again. You've learned a lot and far better days lie ahead! 

Man, it feels like I've been in an obstacle course lately. Anything that suggests the universe will be behind me sounds like a welcome change. Apparently April is going to suck again and it won't get better til July, but I'm going to have lots of money and sex until then, so I guess there are tradeoffs to everything. 


Now I have a mental picture of evil little gremlin-planets, grinning diabolically while they arrange themselves into tires and monkey bars, with a rope hanging over a giant sun wall. No wonder it's been crazy lately.

Dilbert

Sometimes, Dilbert and "The Office" are funny. Sometimes they resemble my day too much to be funny.

Cartoon via Yahoo News

 

One of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite people.

Manly Cupcakes

 

In the category of "Things That Never Would Have Occurred to Me," NYC now has Butch Bakery. Apparently, "manly men" don't like sprinkles on their cupcakes, so they need their own version. The motto on their site is "Butch up, Buttercup" and includes a Butch MAN-ifesto, so I can't decide if this is a joke or not. But if it's real, apparently REAL men need cupcakes with camo and woodgrain "decorative chocolate disks" that are designed according to a blueprint.

 

That doesn't stop me from wanting to try the Beer Run flavored cupcake, though. Check out the description:  

Chocolate and beer-infused cake with a beer buttercream, topped with crushed pretzels. 

That's either going to be very good or very very bad. Either way, sign me up.

Tim Tam Slam

Chris and I did our first Tim Tam Slams tonight. I had heard about it a long time ago, and then about a month ago this Australian-turned-NewYorker blogger that I like posted a video of how to do one. So, when I saw a package of Tim Tams at Target the other day, I knew the time had come. I made tea for me, hot chocolate for Chris, and opened the package and....

It was amazing.

Truly, truly amazing.

I highly suggest you go try it now. In fact, excuse me while I go have another.

Ahem. Anyway. If you have no clue what I'm talking about, here's the video from the above-mentioned blogger, GeorgieGirlNYC. Your life will change, I promise.

I love my nook

 

I am in love with my nook. As an avid booklover (who dreams of turning a guest room into a library someday) I didn't think I'd like an eReader,  but I love it. I like the ability to read almost any book any where. I feel like I read faster on my nook, and I can't wait to read all the book on my wish list. 

But I wish there was a way to link my B&N wish list and my Goodreads. Goodreads lets you track the books you've read - you can assign a rating, write a review, and keep them on virtual shelves (like my "read in 2009" or "read in 2010" shelves) - and then share those with your friends. With B&N, not so much. 

I can't wait til technology evolves to the point where I finish a book on my eReader, it asks me for my rating and review, posts it to my online book review list, recommends it to friends if I liked it, and updates my blog if I want it to. And then when I download and start a new book, it moves that one to my "currently reading" list. 

Hey, in college I dreamt about having one device that combined my phone, Palm, and camera - and now you're welcome for the Blackberry (or the much better NexusOne, I've heard). Apparently technology exists to combine more and more things that I like into one device. Soon everything will be on my iLife and everyone will instantly know where I am, what I'm doing, and what I plan to do next, without me having to do a single thing. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Bad Dog

Ozzie is very upset that Chris left this week. Last night I started watching the Olympics with Oz next to me, chewing his bone. Next thing I knew, I woke up 20 min later and Ozzie was hiding behind the couch, chewing.

He completely destroyed one of the PS3 controllers. The system was turned on, and when I turned the channel to turn it off, it was in the playstation store and said are you sure you want to purchase this.

So let's hope we don't get surprises on the credit card bill this month. And also I need to stay way more alert.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

 

Bacon Cheese Turtleburgers
Ground beef pattie topped with sharp cheddar cheese, wrapped in a bacon weave shell with hot dog head, legs and tail.

via This Is Why You're Fat

There is a limit to how much meat one person should consume, and I think this is more than a month's allowance.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I made pink heart cookies for my valentine this year. They're just sugar cookies with messages on them (thanks to a cool bday present). Chris has already eaten several - I think he likes them.

 

I had some leftover dough, so Chris made me a valentine's present in return. I love it!!!

 

 

Ozzie was sad that he wasn't anyone's valentine, so he tried to steal the "reject" cookies. Chris felt bad and gave Oz a little corner of a cookie. I think he likes the cookies too!

All in all, a pretty good Valentine's Day.

Tavi's All Grown Up!

I was procrastinating because I hate showering, so decided to catch up on my Reader. I get to Go Fug Yourself, and suddenly I see... Tavi!

She's 14 or 15 now and has this hilarious style blog. I used to read it, oh, maybe two years ago. She puts these ridiculous outfits together but pulls them off because she (was) twelve and studies fashion like it's her major. Apparently now she's into dying her hair grey and wearing turbans, but that's okay. Tomorrow she'll have green hair and dress like a rainbow.

I had to stop following her blog, because although it was inspiring to see her try everything even when her classmates thought she was crazy, it made me feel really bad that a twelve year old had more style and more guts than I do. But man, I sorta miss her craziness. I laughed for days when she wrote and performed a rap about getting her fave designer's clothes at H&M or Target or Kohls or something.

I'm not sure what I would have blogged about in jr high, but I would never have been as funny or as good at it as she already is.

Vancouver Olympics

I love watching the Olympics. My favorite part is watching each opening ceremony and comparing them, although I think that's ruined after China's $300B drumming extravaganza. My second favorite part is the mascot. Especially lately, they've been super cute. I think the best so far are the ones for Vancouver.

 

How cute are they?? I wish this was the 80s so I could watch the associated Saturday morning cartoon and beg my parents for the action figures. I don't have any clue what kind of animal Sumi is, but I think he's my favorite. Although they have this cute little sidekick, who would have been awesome in the cartoon, named Mukmuk. 

I love that he's carrying one of those tacky foam fingers. It's like he's one second away from yelling insulting crap at the hockey goalie. Anyway, there's a whole website where you can learn more about these little buggers. You can even take a quiz to find out which one you're more like - and I got Sumi, my favorite!!

And this concludes the 8-year-old-inner-child portion of today. :-)

Hello!

Yay, you made it!


Don't forget to change your bookmarks and feeds. Commenting should be easier for you too, but let me know if you have any problems. Hope you like the new place!

Io?Ion! Watch-Bracelet

 

I’m in love with these watch-bracelet things. They’re Io?Ion! from Italy, and apparently just launched in the US in January. I saw them in this little vintage store in the Chicago suburbs and bought one in blue. But now I want one in every color.

If only they weren’t so freakin’ expensive.

Icy waves on Lake Michigan

 

Abstract Whiteboard Art, or What Happens When Rosey is Bored on a Conference Call

Chris is Gone

 

Ozzie waiting for Chris to get out of the shower. I think he knows C’s back to work today.

 

How Ozzie spent the majority of my work-from-home snow day.

(He was sleeping, but he always wakes up and gives me The Eye if I make so much as a whisper.)

Back to Work

 

I’m back to work after two weeks off…

2010 Resolutions

Well, I’ve recorded my resolutions for the year.

I’m not very good at sticking to them, so this year I’m trying to aim for just 6 of the 8, in case some prove very hard to do. Although, I might cry if Wii Fit tells me I’m obese at the end of the year, so I better accomplish that one.

I also tried to keep them vague. I think 2010 will be full of changes and challenges, so although I’d love to put “Visit Paris and Venice and the Grand Canyon” on my list, who knows what our finances will be like. Maybe it’ll just have to be visiting a new local bar or actually going to a doctor’s office.

I’m kind of excited for #8. I was trying to think of a way to make the community better, but then I realized I’m not good at keeping in touch with people I know. And since I’m not about to pick up the phone, a handwritten card will be fun. At least, it’ll be fun until I forget to do it.

Wish me luck, and good luck on your resolutions too!

wordboner:
It's A Good Day To Turn Your Life Around