30 for 30: day 4

Whoa, it's Friday and I'm posting! This feels weird. Yes, at 9:15 on a Friday night I am blogging. In my pajamas. I am a nana. But that is fine with me. Boyfriend is here all snuggled up and as soon as I am done I get to join him and pick what I want to watch on the computer. Because he will be asleep. Muahaha.

So today I was looking at old pictures of me when I was at my largest. I am at the 15 pounds lost checkpoint right now, so I thought it would be interesting to look back. I use my Wii fit as my official scale and it was easy to scroll back through the data and find my heaviest point. Then I went to Facebook and looked at pictures of me during that time. Heh, technology. Not only was I large looking, but it was during the time I was wearing glasses in preparation for my eye surgery. Not quite as bad as My Awkward Years, but bad. I just feel so much more comfortable in my skin and so much more like myself since I've started working out and eating better. I wish I hadn't been such a baby and had focused on being healthy a lot sooner.

 [30 items: plaid shirt, navy thermal, Gap skinnies, JC boots/belt - Old Navy]

Boyfriend is asleep and I'm sitting next to his phone and he's getting really weird texts. Including one that said "Aww grab his ass for me" from one of his guy friends. Oh god, now they're getting weirder. His friends can be so strange.  ANYWAY, this is the sidewalk in front of my house. Our little snow alley. The schools around here have been closed all week due to unsafe amounts of snow on the roofs. These kids are going to be going to school in July at this rate. There will probably still be snow on the ground in July too. We're getting another couple inches tomorrow supposedly, no big deal, and then they are keeping an eye on another storm for Thursday. I mean really now. Punxsutawney Phil said spring was coming early!

I feel like all I write about on here is my diet and snow. They are consuming my life. I am sorry. I think of other things to write about during the day, but when I sit down my brain goes dumb.

Oh, hey. I have a question for you guys: Do you upload the photos to your blog directly through Blogger, or do you use a site like Flickr first? I was thinking using Flickr but I don't know how good I'd be about that extra step of uploading them there. Does doing it that way retain more of the photo quality? Sometimes I feel like the picture quality gets lost when I upload through Blogger. Just looking for some opinions/advice on the matter!

Okay, now time for some Skins Volume 4!

30 for 30: day 3

I am just trucking right along with this challenge. I'm sure that's only because I am in the beginning. By the end of the month I'm sure I'll be dying.

I got my hair cut today! Can you tell? Probably not other than it is super shiny. And my bangs are shorter. We decided to keep my hair blunt on the ends and let the layers grow in in an attempt to get my hair to look fuller. My hair used to be so much thicker when I was younger and now it's pretty thin. It's sad. My plan for the summer is to grow out the bangs and let my hair go au naturale. I think if I avoid drying it for awhile it will get healthier. And bangs and humidity are not friends.

[30 items: maroon cardigan, striped t-shirt, black skinnies, black flat boots/necklace - H&M/watch - Guess/rings - mood ring from Disney World, Latin ring by Marc Jacobs]

I think I'm looking pretty good in these pictures, not to be all full of myself or anything. I was just feelin' good in this outfit. I was also feeling skinny, which is always good. I'll totally be at my goal by summer. My hairdresser said I looked cute today too. So this outfit was definitely a win. I've been keeping it pretty simple for the beginning of the challenge, getting all the obvious outfits out of the way. Then my brain will be free to come up with more interesting combos. I once had a teacher who suggested when you were brain storming things for papers or projects to write down anything that came into your mind, even if it was a dumb idea. That way it would be out of your brain and you'd have more room for the good ideas. That is my 30 for 30 approach.

Tomorrow is Friday! Woo! Family dinner with my lover, can't beat that. Until tomorrow lovelies!

the tsar dust incident

I like to cook. I wouldn't say I'm very good at it, but every so often I get an urge to cook something and make it really spectacular. When Boyfriend and I lived together, I was really excited to be able to cook dinner for him. He eats pretty much everything, my mom and brother, who I live with now, eat pretty much nothing. My brother accidentally ate a mushroom once and thought he might die.

So I went out and bought a kitchen's worth of utensils and pots and pans and gathered all my cookbooks. Then I went to the spice store. I get a little crazed about spices. I don't know why. Maybe it's because I like all the neatly labeled bottles. Maybe it's because I need to know what they all taste like. Maybe it's some strange belief that this spice right here will make everything I cook taste a million times better. Whatever it may be, the spice store is like my special little cooking heaven.

I pranced around with my little shopping basket, loading it up with the basics - red pepper flakes, garlic and onion powder, dried shallots (who doesn't love a shallot?!). Then I got to the interesting section. The spices that were a bit more specialized. Fajita seasoning - in the basket. Something called "Sandwich Sprinkle"? In it went (which, side note, is honestly good on everything). That's when I saw it - the bottle with the cutest label and most clever little name - Tsardust Memories. You all know how I feel about Russia. And I love goofy plays on words. Plus the label on the bottle was so pretty. So I picked up the bottle and tossed it into my basket. It was an unassuming looking brown spice. Seemed pretty harmless. If only I knew.

I've never eaten Russian food before. I have no idea what flavors are common in Russia. I took it home and read the back of the jar, where it gives you a description of the spice and tells you what it will be good in. Sometimes they even give you recipes. Penzey's seriously is the best.

"Warm and spicy-sweet, this blend is awesome with ground beef - burgers, meatloaf, meatballs, casseroles... Excellent in hearty soups and stews, and one of the best things ever on pork chops - try it on the grill. Whatever you make, serve it with crusty bread. It's all good."

Well, that sounded promising and easy enough. It happened to be winter at the time. I'd just make a stew and sprinkle some in. So that's what I did. I woke up extra early one morning to brown meat and cut veggies and throw it all in the Crock Pot. I sprinkled on some Tsardust and went to work. When I came home, the apartment smelled delicious. Boyfriend was salivating and couldn't wait to eat. We dug into the stew.

"...what did you put in here?" Boyfriend asked after a few bites.
"Oh, this new spice I got, it has the cutest name - Tsardust Memories!"
"Doesn't this taste kind of...sweet? I can't put my finger on it. It's kind of weird."
"Yeah, now that you mention it, it isn't a very 'stew-y' flavor. I guess it's not that great in stew."


I was bummed my stew wasn't perfect, but I was determined to make this Tsardust work. A few weeks later, I decided to make some onion soup, one of my specialties. It was coming out perfectly, Boyfriend had done a taste test and said it was my best ever. For reasons I can't explain, at the last possible minute I decided to sprinkle on the Tsardust. 


"You put the Tsardust in here, didn't you!?" Boyfriend exclaimed, outraged, when he finally sat down to eat.
"...Maybe. It says on the bottle it is good in hearty soups and stews!" I said, defensively. I felt like I had to stick up for the poor, innocent Tsardust. 
"This soup was so good! Why would you do that? No more Tsardust, it's just not good and you need to let it go."
"But I want to like it!" I whined.
"What's in it anyway? Is this cinnamon?"
"I don't know, I've never checked." I admitted. I went to get the bottle and read the ingredients. Hand-mixed from: salt, garlic, cinnamon, pepper, nutmeg, marjoram. 
"Um, yes. It has cinnamon and nutmeg in it. As well as garlic."
"Cinnamon, nutmeg and garlic?! That is like putting garlic in apple pie, practically! What about that sounded good to you!?" Boyfriend was extremely perplexed.
"Um...the label was cute? And the name was clever?"
"No more. No more of this in my food. It's just not going to happen." Boyfriend said firmly. I pouted and ate my ruined soup. 

I wasn't about to give up though. A few weeks later, I went to find my Tsardust to give it another go. I opened my spice cabinet and rooted around inside, but the Tsardust was no where to be found.
"Boyfriend!" I shouted, "Where's my Tsardust!" Boyfriend quickly woke up from his stupor on the couch.
"No! No way! I hid it. I am not eating that ever again!" He said, shuddering.
"What! Where is it, give it back! That wasn't cheap!" But he wouldn't budge. I had to admit defeat.


This past fall, when we were moving out, I finally found it. In the cabinet above the fridge, tucked in a corner. Up way too high for me to have ever gone looking for it. But now I have it back - my Tsardust is no longer just a memory. And my determination to find something this spice is good in is now renewed. Watch out Boyfriend, I'm making dinner tonight. ;)