Friday Favorites 7/25

A few of my favorite things from this week:

Dear Mother Nature, I don't know what's gotten into you, but right now our weather is fabulous! (You could spread the wealth to other areas, too. I won't mind.)


Aaron left for the Pan Ohio Hope Ride, in which he'll bicycle 328 miles over four days from Cleveland to Cincinnati. More on that next week, but I can tell you that he completed the first day and he sounded great when I talked to him (that was before he spent the night in a tent, so we'll see...).

Just before putting his bike on the truck to Cleveland. Rider #382!

Representin' with his Scrabble Chick tiles.

So You Think You Can Dance is back in full force! Read about my obsession with this show, mainly because I'm jealous. This week's show featured a group performance to one of my favorite songs this summer.




My post today is all about favorite things, so it's pretty positive, but check out Steph's post about the Cult of Positivity and the importance of balance. It's OK to feel down or be pissed off sometimes, and it's OK to be happy, but I know that I need both sides of that coin.



My cats are always part of my favorite things every day. No pictures of them this week, but this meme cracked me up:

Happy Friday! Enjoy the weekend!

The "I got out of the house" Weekend

I actually ventured out this weekend. I learned that I currently have about a 2 hour limit on public appearances, but it was wonderful to be out and to see a lot of friends.

It was Pride Weekend in Columbus. George Takei was the Grand Marshal of the parade, which I think is super cool. We were invited to two brunches on Saturday; I made it to one, which also involved walking about a half mile (that was a little rough so we took a Car2Go home). I did not go to the parade.

Our flags; a necklace that I wore as a bracelet

Saturday night a bunch of us went to see Ben Folds play with the Columbus Symphony as part of the Picnic with the Pops series. I wasn't sure how this would go for me, but I really wanted to see/hear Ben. It worked out well for me that I didn't have to walk far at all and I was hooked up with a sweet reclining chair so I was as comfortable as possible. I did make it for the whole show, but I was more than ready to get out of there by the end. (The concert itself was fabulous!)

Photo on left courtesy of Columbus Symphony Orchestra.
Top right was my view - thank God for the screens on the side.
Bottom right - my peeps gathered around me.

Also on Saturday I was busy following Steph's photos of Relay for Life. I got some texts from her as well to show me these luminaries in my honor:

So cool to have this support from Philly!

And speaking of cancer fundraisers... In late July Aaron is going to ride in the Pan Ohio Hope Ride, sponsored by the American Cancer Association. It's a four day bike ride beginning in Cleveland and ending in Cincinnati (328 total miles). Please don't feel obligated to donate, but if you're looking for somewhere to send your charitable contribution dollars, his page is here.

My dad's still watching over me

If you're a morning reader of blogs, as you read this I'm at the plastic surgeon's office getting drains removed and whatnot. Look for that update tomorrow.

Yesterday a lot of bloggers wrote about their dads, but I was too busy feeling sorry for myself because I missed out on a blogger gathering (and a birthday party for one of my favorite little guys - Happy 3rd Birthday, George!). My dad died 2 1/2 years ago and to be honest, my family just doesn't do much for Mother's or Father's Day. But I do have a little story to share.

Obligatory pic of my dad and me, 1991.

Two weeks ago today, my mom was driving me to the hospital for surgery (Aaron drove separately). She said that she could smell tobacco in her car. Now, my dad was a smoker, mostly a pipe, but there's absolutely no reason that her car should have smelled like tobacco. She bought the car after he died.

So thanks Dad, for looking out for me.

And now......I got this in the mail yesterday:

One of my BFFs in blogging and in life, Steph, had this tumbler made for me. You guys, I love it so much I can't even tell you. Steph's friend has a business called Elderberry Designs where you can order all kinds of personalized stuff. You can find Elderberry Designs on Facebook and there's an Etsy shop as well.

When Aaron saw it he said "you have some pretty great friends."

Yes. Yes, I do.

Where's Flat Gila when you need her?

Y'all have heard about Flat Stanley, right? You take a drawing of a person and send it to friends and family and they take pictures of it on various adventures. Well, on Saturday there was an Ohio Bloggers meetup here in Columbus. It was literally (and I do mean literally) 2 miles from my house, but it was too soon for me to make a social appearance. Way too late, I thought I should have sent a Flat Gila!

I was super happy to see all the pictures on Instagram, but sad too, because I couldn't be there. The event was hosted by Shane and Holly. I've been fortunate to have met Holly once before. Some of my other favorite bloggers were also there, including Erin, Kayla, Margaret, Vanessa and Whitney. If I were proficient at all in photo-shopping I'd insert my face in some of their pictures. Ah well, there will be another chance, I'm sure.

More gorgeous flowers!

My weekend was full of a combo of rest and visitors. I got to spend some time out on the porch, and I've watched a lot of TV and movies (that's enough for its own blog post).

Steph sent me some new pleasures!

Tomorrow I see the plastic surgeon again and should get these last drains removed. Keep your fingers crossed!

Trying to snap out of a bad mood

Fair warning: I am in a mood today. This has been an excruciatingly long week, it's raining for the third straight day, I feel like crap with a sore throat/cold, and I'm dealing with hot flashes. Why, you ask? Because one of the "bonuses" of breast cancer is that I had to stop taking hormones. I should probably back up for those of you who don't know me that well.

A couple years ago I had a total hysterectomy. I was only 44 at the time (I love to be able to say "only" 44) and my doctor put me on hormones so I wouldn't be plunged into menopause. Everything went swimmingly; I didn't have to adjust the meds at all. It was fab. But now I can't take them anymore. I stopped about two weeks ago and it would seem that the hot flashes have arrived. Cripes.

I have a much more lighthearted post going on today over at Life According to Steph, plus Steph and I have a giveaway right now so check it out! Unless you're Aaron... My post is about five ways I'm the "man" in our relationship but now I fear that it looks like I'm making fun of him. I mean, I am, but I was also trying to make fun of me. Oh well, I need to stop second-guessing myself. Told ya I was in a mood.

In looking for things to turn that frown upside down (ew, gross) I took a peek at my blog stats. I get a good laugh sometimes over the search terms people use that lead them to my blog. Observe:

I have no clue about the "bad period ecard" - I'm pretty sure I've never posted anything like that. The "flashback Easter dress" probably led to this post, in which I shared lots of old pictures of me, and some are even kinda cute.

But "gin swigging sister in law e cards?" I have three sisters-in-law and while they're not teetotalers, I don't know that any of them are "gin swigging," nor do I even want to think about why anyone typed in that search term. How bizarre!

And then... a couple friends shared this on Facebook and I absolutely love it. I hadn't heard about this, but apparently a few weeks ago Honey Maid (you know, the graham cracker folks) released an ad called "This Is Wholesome," celebrating families of all kinds, including multi-racial and gay parents. Naturally they received both positive and negative responses. Look at what they did with those responses:

This Thursday's Whatnot

First, thanks again for all the well wishes! I'm healing nicely from last week's boob tissue removal. I have a follow up appointment with my surgeon in a couple weeks so we'll know more at that point. Luckily, next week I have a trip to Denver which will hopefully keep me distracted. Also, the mystery gifter of pralines has revealed herself - it was my friend and former co-worker Kendra! Phew, now I can enjoy that buttery, sugary goodness while knowing from whence it came. You know, not that I didn't enjoy them before...

As my friend Jimmy Fallon says, "here's what people are talking about." And by people, I mean the voices in my head.

I'm guessing by now you've heard about the Road Rage Karma video, in which a woman in Florida used her phone to video a dude who was tailgating her. After the guy flipped her off, he lost control of his car and spun across the road and hit a light pole. Look, I hate road rage as much as the next guy but lady, what the HELL are you thinking, taking videos on your phone while driving?! Turns out, she didn't even get cited for it. Um OK, lucky her, but seriously kids, don't try this at home.


I seriously shit the bed on my Lenten challenges. I mean, I have a pretty good reason but I really need to rethink these in the future. It seems like something always happens to screw me up. I'm not making excuses, I just need to not commit to such things publicly. That way when I fail, no one needs to know about it. I do still want to try to get rid of a bag a day ... someday.

Yesterday I managed to venture outside to walk to the post office. On my way a cat ran across the road and ran under a big ole SUV (which was in motion at the time). I managed to see the cat walking safely between two houses so I was relieved that it was OK. And then, the driver of said SUV drove around the block and stopped to ask me what it was that he may have hit and was the animal OK. Hooray for humanity!


Raise your hand if as a child you were obsessed with the Little House on the Prairie books. Please picture my hand firmly raised in the air. I owned the box set of books and read them over and over. (I know that those books moved with us to this house but I'm not sure if they survived Aaron's purging.) Anyway, Jana at The Townhouse Pioneer is hosting a Little House Book Club. It's super low-pressure; basically we're just reading one of the books per month. AND if you go here in the next three days, you can enter to win a complete set of books!

Speaking of giveaways, I'm participating in one with my sister-from-another-mister Steph. It's a stress relief package from Bath & Body Works, and includes hand soap, smoothing scrub, body wash, body cream, and a three-wick candle all in eucalyptus spearmint from the Aromatherapy line. As a recovering tax accountant, this time of year used to be super stressful for me, but who can't use some stress relief? I'm not savvy enough to include the giveaway entries myself, but if you go here, you can enter! And speaking of Steph, tomorrow I'm guest posting on her blog and you won't want to miss that.

They Say It's Your Birthday

No, it's not already time for MY birthday but quite a few friends of mine are celebrating birthdays this weekend, three of them today.

Our friend Ken turns 50 today. His wife Robin organized a different kind of surprise party for him. She asked all his friends to perform a random act of kindness in his honor and then post it on his Facebook page or Twitter or Instagram. She was hoping for 50 random acts and that number was surpassed!

My college friend Michelle a/k/a Mickey was not only my grand-big in our sorority (Gamma Phi Beta) but we were also in choir together and worked in the English department together. She lives clear across the country so we haven't seen each other in years, but we were reunited through the magic of Facebook. Here we are on choir tour during spring break, 1987.

I met my friend Mandy because I sing with her mom. Their whole family is like my second family and I love them all. Mandy is a therapist for kids, which I admire so much. In 2004, Mandy and her now-husband Keith and Aaron and I went to New Orleans for a long weekend, which is when this picture was taken. (Mandy, don't worry, this was on Day One!)

On Monday our niece Julia turns nine! Yes, she's a St. Patrick's baby. She has become such a sweet, caring, smart, creative girl. This is one of my favorite pictures when she was just 3 1/2.

Tomorrow is Steph's birthday. Many of you know her from Life According to Steph (and if you haven't already, go over there and check out her surprise of blogger birthday sentiments, including mine). Last year I devoted a post to her, you can read that here and see lots of pictures of us in various bars and on the beach at her wedding.



That's right, Steph and aren't just showbiz bloggy friends, we're for real friends. Steph's the kind of friend you want on your side through thick and thin. She also pays attention. One year for my birthday she made a mix CD that included my favorite songs as well as some of her favorite songs. That CD introduced me to this version of the song "One."




And here we are last November when I went to Philly to visit her.

Happy Birthday weekend to all these fabulous people!

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I Can't Believe I'm Doing This

I've mentioned before that I've become a regular at the corner bar (Little Rock), particularly on Tuesdays when they have karaoke. My partner in crime Kat and I had decided on Sunday that we weren't going to go this week due to the way-below-zero wind chill that was on the way. Then last night she sent a text saying she'd changed her mind so off we went. There weren't a lot of people there, but it was a fun group.

Kat singing "Landslide"

This is Kevin, who runs karaoke. We love him.

When Kevin arrived, the only people there were Jessica the bartender and Greg, also a regular who happens to live even closer to the bar than I do. They weren't sure if anyone would show up so they created Karaoke Bingo. By the end of the night, we helped him get a Bingo.

...and a couple of these got circled after I took this picture...

Here's a sampling of some of what we sang. Kat and I sang together on "Baby It's Cold Outside" (hilarious), "Linger" and "Hold On." Kat sang "Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps," which has become her signature song. "I'm on a Boat" was sung by a girl we just met last night, and she was awesome. I did "Breathe" and "Feeling Good," among others.





Last week, Steph's friend Laura celebrated her birthday and also gave some life lessons on Steph's blog, one of which was "Costumes make everything better. So does dancing and Air Supply." So I said that I'd sing some Air Supply in Laura's honor. And I did. And I have video. You'll also catch a glimpse of Kevin. This is my first video upload so take pity on me for the quality because it took me way too long just to figure out how to even get it in this post.

Laura (and Steph), here's your long distance dedication:

Fleece From Head to Toe

That's how I'm staying warm during this cold snap. OK, "cold snap" is a major understatement. I know it's beyond cliché to talk about the weather since I'm pretty sure anyone reading this is also dealing with ridiculous temperatures and/or ridiculous snowfall. Yesterday afternoon there was a major water main break in downtown Columbus. Such a mess!

Last night Mike and Amy came over for dinner and football-watching. I hope y'all are sitting down because I cooked AGAIN. I made Gwendaloo, which is my bastardized version of the Indian dish vindaloo.

Amy made rice pudding with pomegranate, which was a delightful, not-too-sweet dessert. We sat in front of the gas fireplace (which is currently on during all waking hours) and watched the SEC lose the national championship. (Kidding, SEC friends, sorta.) Honestly, I didn't care that much who won; I just hoped for a good close game, and that's what we got. I even stayed awake till the end.

Today I'm joining my friend Steph for Haikuesday:

Kitties keep me warm
Laying on my legs all day
Fleece from head to toe


Stay warm and bring in those outdoor pets!

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

In case you missed the news, today I'm flying to Philadelphia for a weekend with my real-life friend Stephanie (from Life According to Steph, and she has a giveaway going on right now). I haven't seen her in 3 years and that was at her wedding so I'm really excited to have some time to spend together. AND on Saturday we get to hang out with Marla from Luck Fupus (she also has a giveaway now) and her sister Brie from A Breezy Life! I can't wait to meet them!

I've been thinking all week about how to pack. It's sweater and boots weather, which I love, but packing can be annoying. I'm not opposed to checking my bag but I'd rather not for this trip. I should also mention that packing is not one of my strong suits. I started with the boots and built my wardrobe around those:

I have some lightweight sweaters that shouldn't take up too much space and I'll pack one pair of jeans and one pair of pants. Of course I'll need biscuits and pleasures because there's bound to be some time spent watching movies like Bridget Jones' Diary, Legally Blonde, Dirty Dancing ... Biscuits take up some space so I probably won't pack those, even though they are super cute:

I'll take fuzzy socks instead.

Hairdryer. This gets tricky. Yes, my hair is naturally curly but you'd never know that when it's wet. I need to use a hairdryer with a diffuser attachment to get the curls to come out. Now, I can probably make it the weekend without washing my hair but given that there will be four bloggers all together... there will be pictures and they will be posted and yes I know I'm vain. And while Steph might have a hairdryer, I don't know if the diffuser will fit on it so I might have to make room for my own.

I definitely don't want to take a big bulky coat so I'm taking a faux leather jacket. I have a comfy yet presentable travel outfit, my iPad, magazines and a bathing suit for hot tubbing at Marla's.

I managed to pack everything with room to spare, which makes me think I forgot something. Or it just means I can shop!

Bon voyage!