tuesday truths...(the culinary edition)

► I ate roasted broccoli for the first time tonight and IT WAS SO GOOD.
How did I not know about this?  I tossed it with some olive oil, lemon juice,
smattering of salt and pepper and a heaping (yes, heaping...I can't help it)
spoonful of garlic.  And, even though I suspect I cooked just a tiny bit too long,
it was still SO GOOD.

►  I am not sure that I will ever remember how to spell broccoli. 
I get so confused on how many c's and how many l's.  Sigh.

► If you know me at all...you will know that I tend to order chicken fingers
when I go out to eat.  I love chicken fingers.  Or a chicken burger.  Fries.  No vegetables...
unless the vegetables are corn...I like corn.  Never any sauce for my chicken fingers.  Just salt please. 

I tried sweet and sour sauce tonight though...and I liked it.

My taste buds must be growing up!

►  In the past month, I have eaten pretty much a full family size box of chicken fingers
BY MYSELF.  Mostly with 5 minute fries.  Always with a can of diet coke.  That's healthy, right?  I mean, sometimes there's corn.

► OH!  & totally not related to food....but AJ  Finn liked my tweet about his book!  :)

whatcha readin'? {2018::books 1, 2 and 3 - goal 24}

First week of February and already
I have gotten 3 books under my belt.
Maybe I will actually hit 24 this year!

I read the last two Harry Potter books in January...
and I know I said this already,
but I was surprised at how much I loved them.
And also surprised when I caught myself
crying
at one point.
I won't say what point...but there were definite tears
and maybe a few loud sniffles.

I read "the woman in the window" in pretty much
one sitting.
It's one of those fast paced what-is-going-on
who-did-that-what-will-happen-next kind of books.
It reminded me a little of Gone Girl...
dark and riveting and fast.
I would definitely recommend.

5 out of 5 ♥♥♥♥♥'s (for all three!  that's a good way to start the year!)

NEXT UP:  HOW READING CHANGED MY LIFE - ANNA QUINDLEN

what about you?  what's keep you up reading at night?

tuesday truths {the "winter makes me bitter" edition}

☼☼☼
i hate being cheated
out of the promise of a good storm day.
i love a good storm day.
what is the point of living in a place
with bitter cold winters
if you can't get a good storm day once in a while.

and today...i felt cheated.
i'm still bitter.

☼☼☼
i am failing spectacularly
at almost
all
of my new years resolutions...
ALREADY.
it's been so long since i have been to the gym,
i think i forget where it is.
i am existing on diet coke and mike and ikes.
no sauna.
no board games.
no eating healthier.
sigh.
winter does this to me.
i just want to wrap myself in
layers of fuzzy blankets
and sleep
until the sun comes out...

☼☼☼
i may have created a new playlist
consisting of mainly power ballads
and one country song
at 3 am the other night
when i couldn't sleep...
 

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tuesday truths....(it is tuesday, right?)

*
i got to work today
and realized
i had my shirt on
inside out.

**
i
seriously
am not able to ever
cook the
right amount of
potatoes.
i always always always cook too many.
tonight i thought
"i'll fix you" (um...to myself)
and i used a smaller pot
AND THEN COULD BARELY FIT
all the potatoes into it
and now it just completely
boiled over
and i had to move it to a bigger pot.

***
i went to a writer's group on saturday.
i hadn't planned on reading
the short story i had written for battle tales there
but a good friend
coaxed me into it...
i was totally nervous.
the table was silent as i read...
and i was reading it off my phone
(tiny print)
so couldn't really look around to gauge reactions
or to see if people were still awake
so
when i got to one pivotal part in the story
and the librarian
literally
cheered
YES!
with her hands in the air
it was both shocking and
so frigging fantastic....
it is such a satisfying perplexing incredible feeling
to think that you evoked
enough emotion in
someone
to make them
cheer
in a
library.
(and honestly...it makes you want to do it again and again.)

****
and yeah.
i'm still editing photos from the fall.

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friday i'm in love...

♥  with the Pocket feature.  It's an easy way to bookmark/save things that interest you and it recommends other items for you based on your activity which I know creeps some people out but I kinda like.  Plus I have the Pocket app on my phone so I can easily save things for my blog when I am out and about.  :)

♥  this article on journalling...which I was totally going to do more of this year.  And started off strong!  But have faltered a little.  I blame winter.  And dark mornings.  And cold that sucks the ever loving energy out of me.  (Please see this same reason in relation to why I have not been going to the gym).

♥  i have been rewatching friends from the beginning.  And I have been loving it.  I will never get tired of that show.  And it was exciting to realize that I might have been watching an episode that I HAD NEVER SEEN BEFORE.

♥  and speaking of high quality tv shows...have you seen this???  oh my little 80's heart.

♥  did you ever read an article and wonder how the author wrote about your life...the title alone says it all in this case... A Case for Trying (Really) Hard to Make Friends as an Adult ...

♥  life goals...what i want to be when i grow up

♥  oh my heart.  Can i grow this in my backyard this year?  I did manage to make sunflowers last year.

♥  and since i am gushing about beautiful things that i wish that i had created....

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and not really part of friday i'm in love
but i did something today that i was
pretty proud of
and in all honesty
terrified the everloving hell out of me
as well.

i wrote a short story
and submitted it to an annual contest
that our local writer's guild holds
called Battle Tales.

they give you 3 prompts and an allowance
of 2500 words or less
and a week to write a short story and submit
and
for once in my life
i said i was going to do something
AND I DID IT.

i submitted the story tonight
and promptly felt like vomiting as soon as i hit
submit.

but i did it.  no matter what happens, i followed through
and finished something for once
when it comes to writing...

i sent it to a friend whose opinion i take very seriously.
we tend to like the same writers and although she is my best friend
she is also brutally honest....

she sent me a message the next morning that said
"this is fucking dynamite.  submit it."
:) :) :) :) :)

i literally wanted to print that out & wear it on a tshirt, it made me so happy.

so...keep your fingers crossed for me...
but no matter what happens, i'm happy that i made it
as far as the submit button...
it's good to put yourself out there sometimes
and see what happens,
even if it does make you feel like vomiting momentarily.
(that actually might be a sign that you are
moving in the right direction).