An evening for me

I had the greatest of intentions to edit and post some of the (sadly few) photos I took up in Cody, but instead I opted to put that on hold and had a much-needed Erin evening. It was lovely!

I took advantage of having a free evening and did some of my favorite things: I wandered through Sunflower Market, admiring the pretty produce and sampling the fresh sushi. I swung by the Library to pick up a book on hold and ended up walking out with 2 others. I finally got around to doing a couple loads of laundry...I'll be sleeping on freshly-washed sheets tonight! I enjoyed steel cut oatmeal with brown sugar and strawberries for dinner. I spent an hour at the gym, where it was surprisingly quiet. And, now, I'm sipping on a glass of Chianti and watching Downtown Abbey...I'm nearly done with Season 1 on Netflix and I'm desperate for more! Reading a couple of chapters before switching off my light will perfectly complete this evening.

Forgive the anger...forgive yourself

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Meg Fee has a way with words. Anyone who's ever read her lovely blog the wild and wily ways of a brunette bombshell can attest to this.

Yesterday, Meg wrote a lovely post about forgiveness, and a few of her lines struck a chord with me:

"forgive the anger you feel. feel it and then look again with kinder eyes. forgive yourself for not handling it all better, for feeling like you let others down. the path is not done, the road is not finished, why are you trying so hard to rush the whole thing? celebrate the fact that your story has some major departures."

I'm angry about some things in my life. The anger has been there for a while, and will probably remain for a while yet. The process of analyzing, coping, coming to terms, and moving on is slow. That's ok. The anger doesn't rear its ugly head as often as it used to, but it's certainly still close enough to the surface that it cannot be denied. I truly feel that the anger itself is valid. I have a right to be angry, and I'm not ashamed of that. But, how I've handled it all has been sub par at times, and that has made the whole thing worse than it is. Not being able to handle the anger how I know I should, or how I wish I could, or how others think I should has been awful. I'm ok with this being a slow process, but I don't like it being an internally ugly one; it's too painful. So, acknowledgement can be my first step towards forgiveness. I'm human. Shit happens. Life changes in an instant, but that doesn't mean acceptance and forgiveness are also instantaneous.

Happy Lately List



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Today, I find myself rather frustrated with things that are completely out of my control. Some of it is a spill over from some massive venting last night, and some of it is a new challenge for a new day. Regardless, you all know how much I love dealing with things that I have no control over...it's not pretty as you can imagine.

So, I thought I would work on changing my mental focus a bit with a Happy Lately List!

Here's what's making me smile these days:

1. Chocolate chip, pecan cookies

2. Treating my cheetah print flats as a neutral

(read: wearing them daily)

3. The rowing machine at the gym

4. A fro-yo date with my roomie

5. "Good morning, beautiful girlfriend" texts from Tony

6. A dog that gets so excited to see me she wedges herself between my legs the minute I walk in the door so I can't get away until she's had her fill

7. Celestial Seasoning's Morning Thunder tea + vanilla almond milk

8. Re-reading Valentine's Day cards

9. Thursday dinner dates with Chelsae

10. Fun new earrings from my Mama

What's making you all happy lately?

On Valentine's Day

Just popping in to wish everyone a

Happy Valentine's Day!

Tony and I were up in Cody, Wyoming this past weekend, which was our Valentine's Day (big) celebration.  Tonight we're planning on staying in, cozying up in front of the fire (snow flurries have started here), eating copious amounts of cheese and fruit, drinking wine and just enjoying each other's company.

Perfect!

For the love of mussels

I have always been a texture eater, meaning if the texture was odd, I probably wasn't going to eat it. This used to severely limit some of the things that I would and would not eat.

Mushrooms? Nope, too slimy.

Sushi? Nope, not a normal texture.

Mussels, clams, scallops? Nope, nope and nope...slimy, chewy, strange.

Well, I am happy to say my taste buds have slowly started to mature. I'm definitely still a texture eater, but now I have a better appreciation (and love) for foods I used to avoid.



Happy Hour Mussels with Chelsae

Mussels have become my latest obsession. Those little slimy, alien-looking things from the ocean terrified me until last April when Jamie talked me into giving them a try. I am so glad I was feeling adventurous and listened to my bestie! Mussels are phenomenal...seriously. And, everytime I enjoy them I remember eating them for the first time with my bestie in Sydney, Australia...and enjoying them by candlelight with Tony and good friends on New Year's Eve 2011 when a windstorm cut-off power. 
Good times.

Mussels at Manly Beach, AUS




Happy Gal!



Safe and Sound

I may be a little late to the game on this one, but I just listened to Taylor Swift's single Safe and Sound, which was written for The Hunger Games movie and features The Civil Wars, whom I love!

Not only does it give me little chills when I listen to it, but it fits the story so well. The lyrics are kind of eerie, with a sad and dark undertone, and yet there is hope in them, too. In my opinion, this combination perfectly encompasses the essence of the story and the characters' relationships.

Apparently all I did after Christmas was read

In fact, just last night Tony told me I was bound to hurt myself if I continued to read so voraciously. I'm not sure how reading is detrimental to my health, but he's cute, so I just went with it...and continued reading.

Thank goodness for Goodreads or I'd never be able to remember what I'd read and what I wanted to read.