New Blog: HappyCozyLife

Long overdue and still working out a few kinks, but I'm moving this blog on over to HappyCozyLife starting now!



Besides layout and a web address that doesn't include my maiden name, not much has changed. All of the posts from It's All Happening have been moved over, plus I updated my links. Bear with me though, because there are unresolved font issues as well as the header you see above not showing yet.

So change your favorites, your feeds, etc. Come on over to HappyCozyLife!

New Years In Colorado

Whew. See you later 2009, cheers to you 2010. I'm starting the year off feeling ultra, super relaxed. I'm sure it won't last long, but I'm going to try to parlay my peaceful easy vacation feeling into this first week of the year with pictures from our New Years trip to Colorado.

There was skiing.

At Keystone.

There was snow.

There was ice skating, followed by beer and macro photography.

There was snowmobiling above the Green Mountain Reservoir.




And the guide was a good friend of one of our good friends. Totally random.

I didn't list it on my 2010 intentions, but trips to high altitudes always remind me who important it is to just be. Just breathe. Just take it in. Just relax your shoulders, snuggle in and just be.

Here's to a great year. Outstanding!

2010 Intentions

Well, I'm off for a few days to do something I haven't done in years: ski! In the meantime, I'm leaving you with my 2010 intentions. Ready?

• Cook one new recipe each week and bake something new each week
• Take a picture everyday (will have to find a new subject other than Mr. Micky Mick)
• Paint upstairs rooms
• Start thinking about, planning and ruminate in general about redoing our bathroom (it needs it all: painting, new plumbing, ventilation, storage added, rotten wainscoting removed, floor redone and last but not least, tile around the bathtub)
• Landscaping! Must to tame the jungle that is our yard
• Container gardening, composting and adding a rain barrel
• Sewing class
• Holdover from 2009, eat more veggies
• Be the bigger person. I think I'm pretty good about not showing my frustration with people, but I know I can find new ways to go about it

The 00s Have Been Good to Me, Baby

I love end of the year recaps. But end of decade recaps are even better. The 00s (or aughts?) have been good to me, this I know. Let's see, I:

Finished/graduated from college, took off to Minneapolis (where I didn't know anyone besides family) to intern for 3M. Two days after 9/11 I interviewed for a job that I didn't apply for and got it.

Without a friend to call my own, I moved into a great house in Kenwood with three complete strangers who became fantastic friends. Some moved out, others moved in and many nights were spent drinking wine, etc.


One job turned into another, friends started marrying and multiplying (in the frozen tundra and other places near and far).


And one such union led me back to Iowa, where I met the Mr. Mr.

Long distance love=new job in Des Moines, marriage, house, puppy, new friends plus loads of nieces and nephews. A whole new family to add to my own. I turned 30.




There was much travel, but upon review it looks like swaths of the middle of the US need to be visited by yours truly.

• Ireland, England, Italy, Switzerland.
• New England + New York, many times for many reasons
• Washington D.C and Maryland for Jana's bachelorette and once with Anthony.
• Hilton Head, Atlanta, New Orleans were all new and some were visited a few times.
• Florida, many times of course.
• Missouri and Chicago, lots and lots, Omaha once
• Denver was a new place, Montana not so much
• Las Vegas, San Francisco, Napa, LA, Seattle were new adventures, visited Portland again

I wish there were more pictures, but I've only had a camera since 2007.

What else? Lots of books and Entertainment Weeklys read. It became easier to just be me and separate myself from notions of who I "should" be. Hawkeye football, tailgating, lots of wine, good times with family and a patented method of packing just what I need and not feeling like I don't have something important on vacation. It's all been happening, and baby, it's been good.

2009 Intentions in Review

Done

Heal thy back
More purposeful reading
More frequent blogging Take a look at the archives baby!
Take more pictures See above
Take a class or three I took a cake decorating class, Pilates class and Italian cooking class. I’d intended to do a sewing class, but it didn’t work with my schedule.

Done-ish/Hmmmmmm, not so much

Scale down the intensity of my procrastination skills House-wise yes, I feel pretty good. I got the D@MN kitchen done and found the right couch. See here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here. Downstairs feels pretty good. Upstairs, here’s looking at you kid. Work-wise, saw improvement for sure.
New vegetables Definitely ate more veggies this year, but didn’t really branch out. Like, at all.

Ongoing, basically forever
Remembering to have grace

Holiday Gift Idea #14

This gift idea doesn't cost any money, but you could choose to express it in gift form. All I am saying is give peace a chance. Give peace as a gift. Give it to yourself or someone else.

On Sunday I saw the best bumper sticker. As annoyed and frustrated as I was with people (my fault for going holiday shopping on a Sunday and having to deal with no parking spots, men standing around clogging up the walking areas while waiting for their wives and 10 foot deep groups of teenagers who didn't care that I had SHOPPING to do!), it reminded me that we are all busy, human and in need of love. Even the guy who drove half on the median and within 2 inches of my car to get past me into the blocked turning lane into the mall.

The bumper sticker said:

image from CafePress

So true, right? All I'm saying is the hate is such a strong and wasted emotion. What the heck does hating get you? Nothing but emptiness inside and a lost friend, family member or opportunity. Hate and anger make it easy to focus on the person or act, instead of the emotion and what you need to do to rectify it.

So give peace a chance. Forgive someone (you don't have to forget it, but you can't hold it over their head). Forgive yourself and be free from that awful niggling feeling you get in the pit of your stomach. Apologize, even if its hard to do. Don't blame yourself for other people's bad doings unto you, it isn't about you, its about them. Listen and give peace to someone who is struggling with a problem. Make peace with your past, because you can't change it and regret will only keep you from moving forward. Do what feels right in your heart and you will find peace in making yourself happy.

Okay, it got kind of deep in here real quick. But, the holidays are time to love. If you don't want to go all existential and what not, you can give peace this way:

Peace pillow

Peace mugs

Eco-friendly ornaments

Peace bracelet

Peace word magnets

Peace onesie

Peace letterpress cards

The best way I know to give peace, to myself and others, is just to let me be me and them be them. Recognize differences, and when the going gets tough, I look to understand why the person is acting that way. I don't drink no haterade.

(How to) Heal Lower Back Pain

Okay, well I can't heal everyone's back pain, but I can share how I healed mine.

One of my 2009 intentions was to heal thy back. This time a year ago I was in such unbelievable, multiple cuss words when I got out of bed or a chair pain that I was fairly depressed about the whole thing. When you are in the throes of serious pain, it seems like you will never feel good again. And, most medical issues I'd had before had fairly simple treatment.

Sore muscle? Rub and stretch it out.
Wisdom tooth extraction? Eat soft foods.
Sprained ankle? Rest, then strengthen.
Cold or sinus infection? Hydrate, medicate, rest.

When you have a protruding disc in your back causing white hot shocks of pain down your leg and persistent dull ache in your low back, the treatment is rest, take it easy and try to figure out what will work for your body. You know, fairly vague and not at all targeted to fixing your individual problem. I needed a better plan for 2009.

But first, let me take you back a bit. No pun intended.

Sometime mid way through 2007 I started having some slight pain in my lower back on the left side. Nothing too major, more of a dull pain that came and went infrequently enough that I didn't even remember to tell my doctor about it. Near the end of the year I started taking two really intense gym classes. They were high energy, fast paced and made me push myself harder than I had before. They were great--especially for someone who sits at a computer for 8+ hours each day.

Right around the time I had trimmed my waistline, sculpted my booty, strengthened my arms and was in all around good shape, my back problems flared up. BIG TIME. I waited awhile to go to the doctor, but a trip to New Orleans in April 2008 had me dialing the office first thing Monday morning. I was in so much pain, the only thing that took my mind off of it was a hurricane at Pat O'Brien's.

In August, the problem was identified through an MRI. A bulging/protruding disc at the L5 S1.

Photo from here.

A few weeks later I had a pain shot (sweet, sweet relief), sort of tried to take it easy working out and paid mind to my back when picking things up, getting out of cars, etc. By December I was back at the doctors office crying for relief, prompting another another visit to the pain management clinic (after a super uncomfortable holiday break).

The second pain shot helped tremendously, and I've since taken lots of steps to tackle my pain, but the thing that really did it was the hardest: I stopped working out in May. Mind you, I still walked four times a week but I stopped doing one of the things I loved the most. And it was totally worth it. As I sit here thinking about December 2008, I feel like a whole new person. Eleventy-billion times better.

So, here are my steps for healing my back.

• No more bouncing, hopping, jumping, high impact work outs. I've started going to classes again, but I modify the exercises to work for me. Did I mention no bouncing?
• Pilates. Oh, sweet pilates. I started a class in late August and my back feels great. Pilates strengthened my core in a way other exercises didn't. It took me two and a half months to do a roll up, but that's when I knew things were looking good.
• Strengthened my core muscles to better support my lower back
• Sleep on my side with a pillow between my knees and with a side sleeper, neck aligning pillow
• Use my knees to lift things, not my back. There was a good eight to ten months where picking up a bag of groceries was hard to do. I still have twinges of pain if I pick up something too heavy, but I'm pretty good at managing it now.
• Sit up straight, shoulders back, don't hunch
• Walking
• You can't massage out an injury like this, but a massage to help increase bloodflow, helping to heal the the damage to the disc and reduce swelling. So, I've had two massages. Maybe I need another, no?

One intention down, seven more to recap.

The Disappearing Dude Ranch

In the next few months we are likely making a westward bound trip, undoubtedly by car. For whatever reason (weddings, gatherings, etc.), most of our trips in the 5 1/2 years we've been together have been east of the Mississippi. Don't get me wrong, we both like going west of the Mississippi, but save a trip to Las Vegas, we haven't gone west young couple together.

So I've been researching cabins in Colorado (ski trip) and accommodations in SoCal (Hawk fans, I think you know where I'm going with this). And while I'm crazy excited about both opportunities, nothing can compare to my adolescent and teenage trips to Montana. I need to get out from under the idea that I will ever feel as relaxed, free, exhilarated, open and carefree as I did back then. No trip today will recapture the feeling on being nestled between the Beartooth and Absorka mountains, where a river runs through it, life smells sweeter and the stars shine brighter.

I can't recapture it because a) I can't turn back time to be that person and b) dude ranches (yes, like Hey Dude) are going by the wayside. See this article for a much more cohesive take on the matter.

The experience of going to the Boulder River Ranch belongs first and foremost to my maternal grandparents, Miles and Nancy. Back when my mother and uncle were young, their family started driving from the Twin Cities to Big Timber for summer vacations full of fly fishing, horseback riding, family style meals, happy hour with new and old friends, as well as cool nights and warm days.

For many, many years, this was their happy place.






My family was able to visit over the years, but it wasn't until I was in the 7th grade that I began spending a week there with my grandparents. It too became my happy place.

When presented with an opportunity to step outside your life (growing up in a small town in central Massachusetts) and experience something completely different (a ranch, horses, no TV, bears, a comforting sort of aloneness), you can't help but grow. Your worldview becomes automatically bigger. The possibilities of who you may become someday are increased a thousand-fold by virtue of who you meet and what you see.

Having that opportunity helped me see who I wanted to be and how to set my path to be that person. Going there helped me channel being an angsty, neurotic, always thinking about the future, stressed out adolescent/teenager (I'm sure there are other choice words my parents might have) into an introspective and aware adult (I'm sure there are some other choice words my friends may have).

Anyways, I get sad when I think about the disappearing dude ranch.

The Boulder River Ranch hasn't been operating for several years (my grandparents stopped going before it closed). I'm old enough to know that I could never recapture how I felt going there during those important formative years. But I still get sad that other people won't have the option to find their happy place at a dude ranch.

Photos from the Montana Film Office.

The Value of a Bargain

Yesterday I was looking at a little set-up in our bathroom.

As I began nearing 3-0 this year, I realized I should probably start taking additional steps to keep my face looking young and fresh-including washing and using night cream on my face. I went so far as to place said night creams and face wash right near the sink, where I'd be sure to remember. Sadly, I was good for a week or two, and then it trailed off to Tuesdays and Thursdays after I worked out.

Thing is, I really love the nightcream, the way it smells and makes my skin feel. But it isn't cheap. Would I use it more if I had gotten a deal on it? Searched out the lowest cost? Don't know, but that got me thinking about the value of a deal/bargain. The equation of your time + the bargain + the amount of satisfaction and joy the bargain gives you.

I love a bargain. But not all bargains make me feel the same. Let's explore, rated on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being a sense of happiness, elation and excitement about the product or purchase.

• Spending under $10 on an item of clothing you didn't know you wanted or would look good, but you find yourself wearing all the time = 9, 10 if found at an unexpected source or in less than 10 minutes
• Finding an item online at the lowest price, preferably with less than 3 minutes spent searching = 8
• Buying something you think will have one or two uses, but ends up becoming one of your favorite things = 8
• Anything bought with online coupons and free shipping = 8
• Stalking an item until it goes on sale and you end up using it all the time = 7 (I think the amount of time spent looking diminishes the return on happiness)
• Buying something off-season and loving it = 7
• Cheap doo-dads, fabric remnants or odds and ends that add a finishing touch = 8
• Good bargain, but you spend weeks and months searching for it = 6, lower because of the amount of personal time spent
• Sale at the grocery store on something you like and use = 5, because groceries just aren't sexy
• Stalking an item until it goes on sale or clearance and you don't end up loving it as much as you hoped =2, plus that sinking feeling in your stomach
• Anything bought full price at Gap, Banana Republic or J Crew = 1, everything always goes on sale

What else, what am I missing?

Feeling Sickly Ickly

Feeling sickly and ickly today, think I'm going to spend the rest of the day sleeping. My sickly ickly essentials:

• Soup-this butternut squash and pumpkin recipe sounds divine
• Peppermint tea-this is my go-to comfort food/drink
• Juice-I don't drink juice normally, but I love Dole Orange Peach Mango when I'm feeling yucky
• Non-mentholated cough drops-I once had a Dr. tell me mentholated cough drops made colds even worse. I've been using Halls Breezers since. Cool Berry is cough drop deliciousness, which really seems counter intuitive

The Birdmen

Big game vs. Michigan: won.
Home network internet connection: lost.

Busy weekend! After the game in Iowa City and seeing Wicked last night, we caught up on The Amazing Race before hitting the hay (boo, sad for Zev and Justin!). Before that, we happened to catch the segment on 60 minutes about the Birdmen.

Jaws dropped, all we could say was AMAZING. These guys, who literally fly down mountains in wing suits, take extreme adventure further than anyone. If you have 13 minutes, watch it. You won't be sorry. You'll be amazed. 140 miles per hour!

Soccer Games and Birthday Cake

Sunday was our nephew Andrew's birthday. Here's the birthday boy and Micky.

We enjoyed soccer games, a Hawkeye football cake and good times with our in-town niece and nephews.

Hello Fall, Watcha Doin?

Though I realize the first official day of fall was last week, I just started feeling it for real when I woke up to cold temps this morning. Perfect for snuggling under the covers until you really have to get up.

We had a perfectly delicious fall weekend. Friday night's concert was fantastic, though my dogs were barking by the end of the night.

This was the creepiest part for me. A mid 30s-ish guy and a middle school age kid wearing the EXACT same outfit from head to toe. Same boots, same pants, same hoodie tied around their waist, same Joker t-shirt (sorry, didn't get a shot from the front).

Trying to get your picture taken by comprised individuals, priceless.

We were pretty close, but there were still enough tall dudes I had to bob and weave at certain points. We stood next to three old hippie peeps who were total nazis about people going to the bathroom etc. Maybe if you can't handle the flow of traffic at an outdoor concert where there are bathrooms and beer tents on the field, you should get a seat. I'm just sayin.


Other than that we enjoyed a crazy stressful win over Penn State on Saturday night and hung around the house catching up on shows and reading. A perfect fall weekend.

The only thing that would have made it better is if I'd gotten around to cooking with the MacIntosh apples I found last week. Hands down, they are the best apple around, but since they don't grow in the Midwest, they are usually pretty mealy by the time they make to these parts. Oh well, if I can't eat them, I'll bake with them. This apple cake is the bomb and it actually calls for MacIntosh. Yum! Picture from here.

Knitted Shawls and Wraps + Preggo Lady Style

We are getting ever so much closer to seeing if our fried hard drive is retrievable. Yippy.

Check out these supa-amazing knitted shawls, capelets, etc. Found via Jillian Frances. She lives in Des Moines and while I don't know her, I like to comment on her blog. Her jewelry is quite lovely!

Also check a new blog for hip preggo ladies, Stylish Mommy Goes to Work. Written by our friend Jenny, who is perhaps the most stylish and able to work it women I know, her blog is sure to have lots of good ideas and tips for the challenge of growing a baby in your belly with style.

Pictures Soon?

Hopefully I'll be able to post pictures soon. Until then, just revel in the knowledge that I had a great weekend. The weather was amazing + good times with good friends (and good bloody Marys).

In the past three days, I've had two pumpkin coffees from Brueggers. Delicious! I'm all about the Pumpkin Spice latte at Starbucks, but I try to keep my fancy dancy brewed drink consumption in check. I looked online to buy it, but I'm not sure I want to spend the $$ for shipping. I also found a recipe for making it yourself. I may try that this weekend before I order anything.

In other food tidbits, I shared one of my favorite recipes with my coworker Lisa last week. Pastor Ryan's Mexican Lasagna. So good for entertaining. Sharing and getting recipes makes me deliriously happy.

Last but not least, the sweater I linked to is now on sale for $47.60 (hello random price). You won't regret it. I've had mine for two years and its in great shape.

Tonight we are off to see Bruce Springsteen AND the E Street Band. We've been so busy, I haven't thought to much about the show. Waking up to know we are going tonight is a little like Christmas morning. I'd be hard pressed to name my favorite Bruce song, but I'll give it a whirl.

I'm Going Down
Glory Days
Darlington County
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
The Wrestler
Anything from the Seeger Session, but especially Pay Me Money Down

Can you tell which album was my first?

Friday! Yay!

Still no picture saving going on round here. But let me tell you friends, I am excited about the weekend.

We are off to Iowa City for the Iowa/Arizona game. This is going to be a nutty one. Its non-conference, but still a big deal. Even bigger deal is the 2:30 game time. Gives everyone more time to get into a festive mood. Its also one of the last game guaranteed you can be safe wearing shorts and/or short-sleeves. I myself purchased these Lady Gaga/Max Hedroom inspired shades. I would have preferred these, but they didn't have any yellow ones in store.

Want some food related links? Tailgating means making sure your sweet and salty needs are satiated.

I don't like tuna normally, but this baguette sounds awesome
Eat this, not that
Easy chocolate croissants

Happy weekend!

I Hate Twitter

I am pro-social media. Pro-sharing ideas, thoughts and unfettered/unapologetic viewpoints. Many a deal, super great recipe, decorating idea or outfit inspiration has been found through social media. But I have to tell you. I really hate Twitter.

The thing I hate is how disjointed a page looks with re-tweets and one-sided conversations that make no sense. Some people are terrible spellers and/or haven’t thought through what they are trying to say. I’m annoyed by Twitter scrolls on news networks (that goes for you too, E!).

Twitter-speak is very insider-y and isolating with Tweeps and Tweet-ups. It is personal and impersonal at the same time. People are literally having a conversation in front of you, but it is totally two-sided. No way to join the debate or throw your in two cents worth.

But sometimes, depending on the person, it can be clever. I am loath to admit this.

I have mad respect for people who can be clever, enlightening, funny and/or succinct with 140 characters. And then I start to think about it like a Facebook status. We all like when people comment on our statuses, right? But not all Facebook statuses are equal. Some just elicit a mental head nod or a cursory quick read. But the good ones, man, the good ones!

And then I start to think about brevity. The need to get to the point. Not bore people and to make it clear what you are trying to get them to do or need. But still make it accessible and interesting. Which is a good life lesson. How often are we truly able to get out what we really want to say?

And that's all I have to say about Twitter.

P.S. Jezebel's Tweet Beat is a riot. P.P.S Tweet, tweet.

This Week in Yays and Boos

Yay!

• Fall TV coverage from Entertainment Weekly
• I don’t care what anyone says, this song makes me SO happy. If I was in college, this is the song I would get ready to before going out
• Shepherd’s Pie the best thing is that this recipe makes two pies. One for now, one for later
• This sweater, in deep rose. Delicious
• Iowa vs. Arizona with some of our bestest buds

Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

• Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters review
• This whole business from the VMAs + this

Why I Blog

Ena changed her blog layout, which was something I’ve been thinking about doing. So I did. Anyway, changing the layout made me evaluate what I’m doing with my blog. Is it doing what I intend?

This is the place where I share ideas, anecdotes, stuff to admire, pose questions and my ideas.

There is a pretty liberal amount of mooning over clothes, jewelry and other things I likely won’t buy. Home decorating ideas. Some personal stuff re: travel, husband and DOG. Sometimes I post pictures of my outfits, sometimes I don’t.

I’m torn over the idea of twittering just so I can have more frequent musings posted here, without taking time to grab photos, etc. for a proper post. But I kind of hate twitter. In fact, I created and deleted an account within the span of 24 hours. But I might reopen it. I don’t know.

While I’m not embarrassed about my blog, I don’t talk about it too much in real life. It does post into Facebook – is that how you are reading this? I like when people tell me they liked something they saw on my blog, but I do realize it is all a bit silly. Wish I hadn’t used my (maiden) name as the web address, its something I would probably change that if I had thought harder about it when I created this.

Never talk about work (I write, for a living, for a big company) because that is just stupid. Also, not interesting. I am not crafty, rather an admirer and purchaser of other people's craftiness.

Love, love, love to share and get information. I like to know things. Inquisitive=me. I like social networking, blogging, etc. because of how it connects people and our experiences, but I realize a LARGE portion of my family and friends don’t feel the same way. While I am a social media content generator, most people in my life are spectators and joiners.

That seems like a sufficient explanation about why I blog, no?

Grrr! Busted Stuff

What happens when you buy a brand-new, fancy schmancy computer? The hard drive dies 9 months later of course!

After all kinds of research, as well as personal input from family and friends, we decided to go with a Dell because we'd heard so much good stuff about their service and products. This is no Dooce washing machine issue, but still frustrating that a brand new computer just up and died plus it took Anthony four hours, as well as countless hangups and redirects to get someone to help him. Keep your fingers crossed that all of our important stuff is still out there somewhere.

So until we are up and running again, my posts will be sans images to illustrate my thoughts and observations. Got a topic you think I should cover? Elastic pants? People who dress like circus performers? Glee? Salad Bars? Let me know.

Meanwhile, how cute are these cropped cords from Gap? I'm really liking the gelded gold ones. Did you know cords are up to 15% off right now? Loving this black wrap dress and all the jewelry in Crystal B.'s shop.

Hmmm...what else? I enjoyed this article yesterday about a local tomato grower. I just listened to The Cruelty of Children podcast, which reminded me how much I love to hear David Sedaris read his stories. Getting read to settle into The Help for September's book club.