It's all about the story

Each month I share a new recipe I've tried, something I've read and want to recommend, and something I am craving, want really need.

Eat it: Cinnamon Blueberry Breakfast Quinoa - I first saw this recipe on twitter via Megan and Ashley, and considering how much I love quinoa, I couldn't wait to make it. It is good, people! I used regular milk instead of soy, and I divided one batch into half cup portions so it made three cups (or six half cups). Plenty of breakfast for a few days, it's quick to make, and it's so many different flavors and textures. In a word? Yum.

Read it: The Chesapeake Bay Saga by Nora Roberts. When I first mentioned reading romance novels, this series was what I had in mind. I love these stories. It takes place not too far from here (Inner Harbor, Maryland), and the characters are so real I find myself sometimes thinking about them. Our romance novel book club recently read the first one in the series, and I couldn't stop there. I read the whole series again - more of a review to come, but trust me, you should read these books.

Need it: This Hoop Art from The Phantom Moon. I recently watched all the Harry Potter movies from start to finish (and finally saw the last one for the first time!), and it reminded me how much I love the stories. Don't you think this would be such a fun conversation piece?

(Photo courtesy of The Phantom Moon)

Are you a fan of quinoa? Have you ever read that Nora Roberts series? What do you want to share today - something to eat, read, or need?

The best intentions

So...tomorrow's February. How did that happen?

I have a lot of energy coming into this year, and I want to stay motivated in all different ways, so I'm participating in 12 Changes for 2012. My challenge for January was to create more time for reading.

I rocked it.

According to goodreads, I read eight books in the month of January. EIGHT! I can't remember the last time I read eight books in three months, much less one! I set a goal for myself to read 40 books this year and I'm almost a quarter of the way finished. In one month!

So what did this look like for me? I tried to fit in time for reading when I could, but it also meant sometimes choosing reading over other activities, like watching shows on hulu. I made conscious decisions, and remembered how the more I read the more I want to read, so after awhile it once again became second nature.

I want to build upon each of these months, which brings me to my intention for February: Going to bed at a decent hour.

I'm here to tell you - this is not going to be easy. I have become somewhat of a morning person, but a lot of the times you'd never know that because I got a second wind at 10:30 the night before and stayed up past midnight. Getting more sleep is going improve my mood, help with my health, and I think make me an all-around more cheerful person.

Because I know I struggle with this, I'm setting some limitations for myself. I'm going to give myself a little wiggle room on the weekends (with the thought of at least trying to get eight hours of sleep), but on nights when I have to go to work the next day, my goal is to be in bed by 10 o'clock and lights out by 10:30 PM.

Again, I'll be building on my January intention because when I get in bed at 10 I'll read for half an hour before going to sleep - that way I'm not on the computer, or on my phone right before bed.

This also means I have to be careful with my time in the evenings. If I don't get home until 6 PM I only have four hours until I have to be in bed. That sounds like a lot, but between dinner, doing stuff around the apartment, spending time with Ben, blogging, etc that time can fly by. I think I'll also see an improvement in not wasting so much time on the internet. I'll admit, I feel a little like a 12-year old with a bedtime, but I know in the long run this is going to help a lot!

Does getting a good night's sleep make a difference for you? Have you ever given yourself a bedtime? Are you creating intentions for yourself each month, or do you prefer to set them for a longer period of time?


(Photo: Taken by me while at Magnolia Bakery in Chicago!)

More fancy Fridays

My plan was to show you all the progress I made this weekend purging our walk-in closet. I was on a roll after taking care of our linen closet last week, but yesterday afternoon found me laid up on the couch feeling crappy, so the closet isn't quite finished. 

Instead, I thought I'd show you the most fabulous Friday night ever. (It's okay to be excited).

Let me just start by saying my book club is awesome. We visit houses, masonic temples, and have fancy meals. Last Friday evening upped the bar even more. We read The Bungalow by Sarah Jio as our book, and not only did we have a great time catching up and talking about it, but we actually spoke to Sarah herself!

But first...we had chocolate-covered strawberries.

It was so cool to be able to talk to the author of the book we had read! She simply called us, and I put it on speaker phone while we asked Sarah about inspiration, process, and so many aspects of the story. I felt like we were talking to a celebrity, only a really grounded, super sweet, I-want-to-be-friends-with-her celebrity.

(I might have been a little excited).

We even got some information about Sarah's next novel coming out in September. I can't wait! All in all it was a wonderful way to spend a Friday night!

Are you part of a book club? Do you try to do activities that relate to the books you read? Have you ever gotten to speak to or meet an author or a book you've read?

It's time we had a chat

Dear Mother Nature,

I've always been a fan of yours - the way you create seasons blows me away. (No pun intended). While I'm not that into spring or summer (allergies, sunburns, etc), I understand there needs to be a little bit of something for everyone. Besides, I love fall, and winter isn't far behind. There's something about the cool air that's rejuvenating. You can be truly amazing.

But you're also pissing me off.

I live in Northern Virginia. Vir-gin-ia. Not California, or Florida, or any other state that is periodically warm throughout the typical "winter" months. So could you please tell me why we've been experiencing temperatures close to 60 degrees lately? Sixty degrees. It's January! I'm not requesting blizzards or sub-zero temperatures, but an average around 30 wouldn't kill you, would it?

So here's my request, woman-to-woman. Get your act together.

Everyone has been tiptoeing around you, but I think it's time you hear some tough love. I'm telling you this for your own good because right now you're acting like a stereotypical woman who constantly changes her mind. You're better than that.

Or are you? You've been doing this for awhile now. I can understand growing tired, but maybe you just don't have it anymore.

That's right. The gauntlet has been thrown. You gonna show me what you've got or are you going to keep hiding behind random "chilly" days?

And don't think you can keep it cold through April and skip right to summer, either.

Sincerely,
Someone who'd like to use her winter coat

P.S. Global warming? You're next. Consider yourself warned.

Cleaning the Closet Clutter

Happy hump day! I've been inspired by Ashley's Cleaning The Closet Clutter posts, so today I'm linking up. I took on the linen closet and the cabinet under the bathroom sink and showing you the good, the bad, and definitely the ugly!

When we moved into this apartment I was overjoyed that we had a linen closet! We didn't have one in our first apartment together, and it was one of those things that made all the difference - it even allowed us to get rid of a bulky piece of furniture. However, it's a bit of an odd shape (more long than deep), so over the months we've ended up shoving things in there haphazardly.

I'm not sure you're ready for that before photo yet though, so I'm going to ease you in with our under the sink bathroom cabinet first.

Again - kind of a place where things just get shoved.

Before.

And after. (Look at all that space! And the basket actually closes now!)

Next up was the linen closet. Again, because of the shape (tall and long) I couldn't fit it all in one picture, so just imagine this all the way down.

Before.

(All the contents from the linen closet. You can't really see it in this picture, but the towels pretty much take up the whole couch).

This is all we're keeping. Looks better, right?

After. (I even folded the towels so they actually fit on the shelves. Genius, I know).

Speaking of shelves...do you see the empty one? Yeah. It's awesome.

This whole process took me less than half an hour, and it was amazing the amount of things I was able to throw away. (I'm looking at you expired Tylenol from 2007). Also, we had a ridiculous amount of towels. We are only two people! We kept enough in case some start to wear down and so we'll always have something on hand for guests, but really, I don't know where they all came from. (Maybe they multiplied in the linen closet?)

A friend of mine stopped by last night, saw all the towels I was going to donate and offered to take them by our local humane society. Purged and out of the house in one evening? Please and thank you.

I've been slowly purging through things this year (I have a whole post brewing about books - stay tuned), and knowing I wanted to link up with Ashley today was the small kick in the pants I needed to make sure it got done.

Have you gotten rid of or donated things lately? What does your linen closet look like?

(Banner: Our Little Apartment)

The best for last

The best part of this trip were the women I was with.

You'd think blogging friends are different than "real life" friends. You get to know someone through their words, and you don't get to see facial expressions, or know when they laugh at something. But this also means by the time you meet them you've literally known them for years, and it's not awkward or difficult - it's just like you haven't seen them in awhile. (And as Lisa pointed out, we don't have the luxury of grabbing a cup of coffee. It's either make weekends like this work, or unfortunately we don't get to see each other at all).

So without further ado, some shots of the incredible women I spent the weekend with!

(Amber is nothing if not helpful).

I'm not so good at the mirror shots...

Chicago was a fabulous weekend trip - I find myself daydreaming about being back there all the time. Thanks for putting up with all my excessive picture-taking!

Have you had online or blogging friends become simply friends?

Taking in the sights

Ready for more Chicago? (I told you I took a lot of photos!) I've shown you details, food, signage, and even a quick video from the trip. Today I thought I'd talk a little bit about some of the activities we did while visiting.

Saturday afternoon we trekked to Oak Park, where we toured the home and studio of Frank Lloyd Wright (FLW). My book club took a tour of a home in this area of a house Frank Lloyd Wright created that I really enjoyed, but it was even more amazing to see the house and studio he designed for himself. Our tour guide was wonderful - I learned a lot and while I think FLW was kind of an ass, he absolutely knew what he was doing when it came to design.

I would recommend doing this tour after reading Loving Frank, only because I think you'll have a lot more to talk about! I wish we could have taken pictures inside, but even if we could I'm not sure I would have been able to capture the beauty of it. There was just so much space - or if there wasn't, there was the allusion of it.

Sunday morning found us strolling toward the bean. It was cold and windy, but so fun to visit! I have a picture of me in it during the summer time, so I of course needed one in the winter!

I love how you can see the reflection in the back too!

Do you try to see the well-known sights when you're visiting a city? Have you been to the same city in different seasons?

I've got one more post of Chicago pictures - tomorrow will be the last. (I can't believe it's already been a week since I've been back!)

Happy Monday!

Saturday Signage

Details, food...how about some signs? I'm a sucker for big attractions.

This makes my former English-major heart so happy! 

This tour was awesome - definitely a must-do if you find yourself in Oak Park!

We didn't go in, but how could I not get a picture of this?

Do you like fun signs? I'll admit it does expose you as a tourist - someone started to ask us where something was our first night and then said, "oh nevermind, you're not from around here." (What, like I had a huge camera around my neck or something?)

Happy weekend!

Good Eats

Yesterday was about details from Chicago, today it's all about the food. We had some amazing food last weekend. I could tell you about it...or I could just show you.

Two words: veggie skillet.

I'm not a fan of cheesecakes, but these minis looked so good I almost wanted to try one!

I can however, attest to the delicious-ness of these cupcakes!

We wrapped it up by ordering Pad Thai Sunday night, but we inhaled ate it too quickly to be able to take pictures!

Are you a fan of finding good food on trips, or is it more important for you to see the sights? What are you up to this weekend? (It's crazy to think a week ago I was leaving for Chicago!)

Happy Friday!

Delight in the details

I thought about doing a video picture montage of my Chicago trip, but there were just too many pictures! I wasn't kidding when I told you I took a lot of photos...I managed to whittle it down from 200 to 126. (Don't worry, I won't be putting them all on here!)

While I'm still sorting through them, I thought I'd do a quick post with a few of my favorites...and they all happen to be detail pictures. (Surprise, surprise, right? I mean, it's not like I live for details or the small stuff, in any way - what's the name of this blog called again?) Everything from theater lights to nail polish, to coffee creamer, and tweeting.

Yes, this was actually a tree - there were several like it - and no, we weren't the ones that did it!

I think one of the reasons I love blogging so much is detail pictures like this suit it so well. Don't worry, more substantial Chicago pictures coming soon!

Do you tend to take detail pictures or are you more of a landmark type of person? Happy almost Friday!

(Psst - did you see the video I took at the bean? We witnessed a proposal!)