Winter is demanding respect...

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Daily Inspiration

Sometimes I reflect back on this poem when I need a little inspiration and motivation to remind myself to keep reaching for the stars...

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” - Marrian Williamson

Easter Trip to DC (Recap)

I spent my Easter weekend in DC with my cousin Cheryl this year. She's the amazing food genius behind The Neurotic Baker blog. I have the pleasure of helping her with a few of her creations and being the live-in taste tester for a weekend. I swear I almost moved in with her after she made the vanilla whoopie pies below. Enjoy the recap...

Brunch at DGS Delicatessen... The Potato Latkes and Crispy Pastrami were TO DIE FOR. The bottom pic is the DGS Reuben, which was good, but I wished I had ordered the pastrami sandwich because I just couldn't get enough of it!

Then we took a trip to Horace and Dickies... after seeing a line down the street everytime we passed by this Man vs Food approved spot, we couldn't take it anymore. The fish was AWESOME and the "atmosphere" was as memorable as they come. We took our "sandwich" - four filets and 2 pieces of white bread - and camped out next door at the Hookah lounge's outdoor seating area.

H & Pizza was my first DC meal, and the pizza I chose was the Farmer's Daughter. The egg yolk was a great touch!

FARMER'S DAUGHTER -

Spicy Tomato, Housemade Mozzarella, Hot Sausage,

Farm Eggs, Spinach, Parmesan Reggiano, Red Pepper Chili Oil

Breakfast at The Diner was prety good... except the "grits". They called it grits on the menu but it was weird, thick grains, and super creamy. The creamy part was fine but the big grains was a little awkward. Either way, the food was overall pretty good. We tried to get mimosas, but the waiter reminded us that it was only 8:30 AM and drinks don't start until 10. Hey. I was on vacation! No judgement.

A couple of scenic shots from the city and the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial that I finally got to visit at the National Mall!

My cousin Cheryl is also the MASTERMIND behind Edith and Ethel - home of the most AWESOME oatmeal raisin cookies in the world!! Her blog http://neuroticbaker.com/ is where I now go for most of my "impress your man" recipes... so far its working too! LOL! We spent most of the day on Sunday baking - whoopie pies, cupcakes, a cake, oatmeal raisin cookies... it was a post-Lent dream!! Everything was tasty but my favorite, hands down, were the Vanilla Whoopie Pies with rhubard filling or lemon-ginger filling.

Home Goods Randomness

We were in Home Goods yesterday and I came across this old leather briefcase in the "vintage decor" section... Pretty cool, if I might say so myself. Do you carry it? Use it for decoration? I have no idea! Either way, it looked pretty cool.

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Chicago C2E2 Comic Book Expo (Recap)

My new man is a nerd. And so am I. Which makes for some very mentally stimulating dates... such as last weekend's outing to the Comic Book Expo. My first, but he's a regular. The artists were amazing, the costumes were aboslutely awesome and overall it was a great time! Totally inspired, I'm even considering dressing up next year... *wink*

...all badged up and ready to go...

 ...crazy costumes...

 ... talented artists...

... the man picking up a few items....

... playing around with some masks...

 ... and we grabbed this Chicago themed print from @carlationsart



Oh, and I absolutely adored this print from Sarah Satrun! Its on my list of things to order!

Last week we had Chicago Blackhawks day at work... but being the Detroiter I am...

I represented MY team. Go Detroit Red Wings!!!

Waiting for Spring...

The weather is warming up!!! I'm so excited to break out my Spring investment piece - this adorable City Nylon Rain Coat from Cole Haan! I was lucky enough to find it during the huge sale this month so I saved a lot of money on it!!

http://www.colehaan.com/colehaan/catalog/product.jsp?catId=100&productId=741574&productGroup=741573

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A drop of Irish...

Having a drop of Irish blood that I can trace is reason enough to celebrate St Patrick's Day to the fullest!! Got this awesome "Kiss Me I'm Detroitish" tee from www.inkdetroit.com... Still recovering on Monday...

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Birthdays Through the Years

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"See a common theme??? LOL!! #teamMcD"

Its My Birthday!!!

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"Recreating my birthday experience 30 years later at my employer @mcdonalds #imlovinit"

Bye Bye Comcast - Hello Wii+Netflix+HuluPlus+Antenna

I recently moved to a new apartment and despite the new amenities featured in my new place there was one major loss in the transition - ATT U-verse. The new spot is wired for Comcast, not for U-verse, which really sucks. U-verse is 2xs a better deal than Comcast when it comes to cable TV and all the nickle-and-dime things Comcast requires just to have a halfway decent experience. After 3 weeks of giving Comcast another try I packed everything up, returned it to the service center and decided to revamp my "entertainment center" (I use the term "center" term very loosely).

I decided to go with a combination of Wii-Hulu-Netflix (which I already subscribed to and love)-Redbox-Antenna. Here's what i have learned so far...

Wii - My Wii is getting more use in the first week of January than it did in 2012 as a while. This was the best (and probably the only) gift my brother got me as an adult!

HuluPlus - Hulu is nice. I used to watch the free shows online a lot years ago and hadn't been doing so as much. Now, without cable, this is a great way to watch some of my favorite TV shows on the larger screen - Scandal, Tonight Show, etc...
Pros: Watching shows and series on TV and on computer
Cons: Selections are limited; Movie selections are questionable at best; Did not work well with Wii via wifi (skipped a lot)

Netflix - The current love of my life!! I watched all four seasons of both Mad Men and Breaking Bad and a host of great B-list movies, documentaries and even some more current films via Netflix. Works seamless on the Wii and I also use the app on my laptop, iPad and Windows phone.
Pros: Watching shows and series on TV and computer; App works seamless across my technology
Cons: Movies and shows are not the most current - have to wait for Season 5 to come out

Redbox - There is a Redbox kiosk in my office building, my grocery store, my neighborhood gas station.... they are everywhere. Very convenient for that moment when you're leaving work and decide a movie would be a great way to end the evening.
Pros: Inexpensive, especially if you forget to return for a day; Lots of options, including new movies
Cons: Can't forget to return or it racks up

Antenna - I purchased an antenna from best Buy only to realize that my TV was pre-digital transition, so I also ordered a digital converter from Amazon... waiting for that to ship and arrive. In the meantime, I can pick up about 5 channels on the antenna - weather, two Christian channels and only one that comes in clear with old TV shows like Knight Rider.
No Pros and Cons until I get the digital converter I ordered.

Upfront costs - buying a new TV wasn't an option, so I worked with what I had and bought the following accessories to enhance my experience (should have been more patient and checked for price matches or just used Amazon because clearly I overpaid for each one in Best Buy):

• Rocketfish Component Cable for Wii for $29.99 (couldn't have found cheaper online for sure)
• Rocketfish LAN adapter for Wii for $14.99 (even lower now; Hulu Plus was horrible without this)
• RCA Amplified Indoor Antenna for $40.99 (even lower now)
• Zinwell Digital to Analog TV Converter for $45.00 (its been a week and the thing still hasn't shipped... come on Amazon....)

All in all, so far things have been good!!!

Pros: Saving plenty of money each month on cable. With the bundle I'm saving $40/month now, after my bundle would have expired the savings are more like $60/month (not including upgraded channel selection or premium channels).
Cons: No sports! Which is ok for me - luckily I have friends, or 2 cool neighborhood bars within walking distance or I can watch online

Considering the switch?? HuluPlus has a 2 week FREE trial offer if you sign up through my referral code!
http://hulu.com/r/zLTOSg

Reflection on the BEST moment in 2012 - Michigan 3-Day Kids Crew

I'm sitting here at my desk working on my 2012 reflections and came across the following questions:

Describe your favorite day, moment or occasion of 2012 in words & pictures.

The answer came to me IMMEDIATELY and rather than write it on a paper you'll never see, I wanted to share it with you.

This year I participated in the Susan G Komen 3-Day 60 Mile walk. I was a little nervous leading up to the date - I mean, 60 miles is a lot!!! After the car accident last year I had been taking it easy and slowly building my strength back up through physical therapy sessions. This walk would be my first big attempt at something even remotely athletic and I prayed non-stop that my back and neck wouldn't give me any pain. Overall, it wasn't too bad! I'm sure some of that was probably attributed to my numb feet and aching legs taking most of my attention, but we did it!!!

Despite 3 days of amazing people, events and scenic routes through suburban Detroit, there is a single moment that defines the whole weekend for me. I get chills just thinking of it. Where do I start???

For those who have never participated in the 3-Day walk, its a grueling 3 days of approx 20 miles of walking a day. 22-18-20 were the numbers we were given as daily mileage, but most of us agreed that these were "Komen miles" and the actual routes were each a couple of miles longer! So on day 1 - the longest of the days - I was sore, aching and I don't even know how my feet kept going, but they did.

As we approached the final 1/2 mile I thought of the day's events. The supporters on the street, the emergency vans and EMTs who were cheering us along, and the 3-Day Kid's Crew - a father driving around his 2 young daughters in a mini van blaring fun party music, dancing and giving us constant encouragement during the first half of the day... then they sorta disappeared.

 

Well, lo and behold, in that last 1/2 mile I look at the sidewalk, only to see these young girls used their chalk and wrote every other square, the story of their mom's best friend "Natalie" - a young woman who had died of breast cancer - and their mom, who made it her mission to help find a cure. As I walked, face to the ground, eagerly awaiting each word, I got choked up. These young girls, surely no older than 11 years old, had such an awareness of the disease, the effects and the impact of the 3-Day event. They thanked us for our efforts and called us their role models for fighting this disease in hopes that there will be a cure when children like them become adults.

In that reality-check moment, only minutes after I questioned why I was putting my body through this, there was no amount of pain that could keep me from finishing Days 2 and 3, no matter how tough it got. I wiped my tears, put on my smile, and gave high fives to those 2 little girls, who were dancing and passing out candy as I turned the corner into the Day 1 finish line! Talk about inspiration!