I Need to Go Grocery Shopping

Another random post for the day. (But hey, it's a post -- alright?)

This one's for my friends with no access to Trader Joes, and for the ones that love it as much as we do. I think you'll love it either way.



Why is it that they no longer carry all the things you love? And where did the green curry tuna go? That stuff was good!

Mother Knows Best?

I was listening to V-103 on the way to work this morning -- yes, I listen to hip-hop/R&B stations in the car (can you say well-rounded?) -- and they were having an interesting discussion on prostitution. "Is it right or wrong?" "Church-goers who pay for childcare and grocery bills with money earned "on the side"? Afterall, it is a recession, and "everybody gotta have their hustle." Am I right?

The calls were entertaining, and the debate over prostitution is fascinating. As a feminist, I'm not really sure where I stand. I can see both sides -- and yes, there are feminist arguments for both. I won't flesh that out here, or at least not today. We'll save that for a rainy day.

I just had to share the last caller's story with you because I thought it was hilarious. A woman calls in and shares this little nugget of maternal wisdom:

"My momma said, 'As long as you got a workin' box, your kids'll never go hungry." And she was right!'"

After finding out that beer isn't even recession-proof, I guess sex is the last sure-bet moneymaker. [Cue James Brown's "Shake Yr Moneymaker"]

See? Mother really does know best.

Today's Lesson: Save the Best for Last

Today's Lesson = "Save the Best for Last."

Case in point...I went to Whole Foods, my old standby, for lunch & a couple of items for tonight's dinner. I forgot to pick up a shopping basket, and proceeded to carelessly fill my hands with too many items. (I'm a smart girl, I swear. Sometimes I just don't think ahead.)
Well, since my hands were so full, I didn't feel like perusing the Hot Bar. Instead, I just grabbed a pre-made burrito, a cookie and a drink.

After paying for my food & hopping in the car, I decided that I couldn't wait to eat the delicious-looking Peanut Butter cookie I picked up for dessert. I decided to eat my cookie then -- right there -- in the car. So impetuous!

Now, I'm not usually one to "eat my dessert first," and my husband and family will tell you I'm kind of "particular" about doing things in their proper order. Well...today I threw caution to the wind and ate my cookie FIRST. And it was DELICIOUS. (It was the Vegan Peanut Butter cookie from WF, if you're taking notes.)
It was easily the most delicious PB cookie I've ever had. Melt in your mouth, buttery-sweet turn to liquid-gold-in-your-mouth GOOD. Yum.

As soon as I got back to the office I happily microwaved my burrito and then sat down to enjoy my lunch. Even though I ate "out of order" I had high hopes for said burrito. Eh. Turned out that was not the case....Whole Foods Adobo Chicken Burrito, you let me down. Too tomato-ey, too rice-y...overall, not very enjoyable. And the kicker? I'm stuck with a bleck burrito taste in my mouth coupled with the disappointment of not having "dessert" -- all because I was impatient and threw "caution to the wind."

If only I had saved the "best for last," I could have made up for a not-so-great burrito with a truly fabulous cookie. All would be well. Instead? I'm blogging about a burrito?!?! Oh my.....

New Digs

Unless your oblivious, you probably notice the new layout. I don't like it (yet), but I feel that it's better than the previous layout. I'm not proficient in HTML -- at all -- so I have to rely on the pre-made Blogger templates. However, none of them really "float my boat."

If you all have any ideas or pointers, send them my way. I want things to look "pretty" yet very clean & simple. I just lack all of the skills to get there. Any and all help is appreciated.

Oh, and if you think it's super-duper the way things are, let me know that as well. Maybe I'm just being silly about this.

My Valentine's Day Surprise

I meant to blog about this over the weekend, but I got bogged down by yard chores and my massive iTunes upload (I'm adding my CDs to iTunes...hundreds & hundreds of CDs). But...better late than never, right?

I need to preface this post by saying that I think I really did "win the golden ticket" when my husband, Tyler, came into my life. He's not just a great guy, but he's also an amazing gift-giver. The surprise he gave me this Valentine's Day was a perfect example of that.

So, you probably already know I'm a huge fan of the Atlanta Falcons. We're talking dedicated fandom here. Season tickets. Jerseys (one for a prior player & one customized with my nickname "Boots"). T-shirts. Hats. Addiction to the NFC South blog on ESPN.com. The whole she-bang. I even get ridiculously excited when I see the Falcons mascot out at public events (parades, grocery store promo events, etc). Yep....I'm a dork. Oh well. I don't care.

So what did Tyler get me for Valentine's Day? He arranged for Freddie Falcon to come to my office on Friday! I won't give you the play-by-play because you can watch it in this video (taken by my boss on his new mini-HD vido camera). I'll just say that I was totally surprised.





And yes...it just happened to be the ONE DAY in the year that I actually wore my Falcons hat to work. What are the chances?

UPDATE: The appearance also came with pictures w/ Freddie, a video shot by a Falcons staffer (we don't have the link to that yet), a dozen roses, a box of yummy Belgian chocolate, a gift certificate for a haircut/color at a Decatur salon, Falcons yearbook, stickers, coffee mug, and a "Defend the Dome" towel. And a bunch of hugs and kisses -- and a nice "terrorist fist jab" -- from Freddie.

Words Paint Pictures

I made a Wordle of this blog. I recommend doing the same with yours. It's illuminating to say the least. You can go here to see a higher-res version.

(Screenshot courtesy of http://www.wordle.net.)

I find that creating a word cloud of a blog (or any written text) can help solidify its purpose, or perhaps help you realize what your focus has been in the event you want it to go in a different direction.

It's pretty apparent from my word cloud that this blog is heavy on music, US politics and nostalgia. Yep, that's pretty much spot on. Although, I probably need to blog more about football for it to be truly representative.

10 years ago I was listening to...

Yes, I know it's crazy that I remember what I was listening to x-number of years ago, but you have to understand two things. One, I am freakish when it comes to dates and memories. (Just ask my husband. I amaze him with this skill/anomaly all the time.) And two, music is how I mark time. Because music has always been an important part of my life, I can usually remember albums or songs that correspond with major -- and even minor -- events in my life.

So on that note, here are some of the albums I was listening to 10 years ago. 10 years ago I was a senior in college, trying to decide between moving to Providence, RI on my own or moving somewhere -- yet to be determined -- with my on-again-off-again college BF. For some reason, staying in Columbus with my best friends from college didn't seem to be an option. I felt the need for moving on, forward or backward, but definitely not "staying put."




- Sunny Day Real Estate "How It Feels to Be Something On"
- Built To Spill "Keep It Like A Secret"
- Smog "Knock Knock"
- Hole "Celebrity Skin"
- Cat Power "Moon Pix"
- Scrawl "Nature Film"

I also listened to a lot of older Liz Phair and other female artists...probably reflective of the part of me that wanted to do my own thing and move to an unknown city. It's funny because I thought I sold myself out by moving to Atlanta "with a boy" instead of kicking it on my own, but in the end that ended up being not the case. Yes, I moved here "with a boy" but it became my city, my story...no one else's. It took me a while to realize this, but often you don't know what path you're on until you're a ways into it. These were some of the albums that kicked off that journey.

8 years ago I was listening to...

Okay...I am too lazy and/or busy lately to come up with well-crafted blog posts, so I'm going to do a few list posts like this to bide my time until I feel more "inspired." For my [few] readers out there, consider this your open thread. I'll post the albums I remember listening to and loving x-number of years ago, and you do the same. Feel free to include why those albums stick out in your memory and/or why you may have chose those specific bands or genres. It's a mini-biographical game, if you will....without the pressure of a Facebook "25 Random Things" posting.

8 years ago I was in a free-for-all. I had called off an engagement to my high-school and off-again/on-again college sweetheart. I was living with my grandmother. I had been dumped by my rebound boyfriend. On top of all of that, I went out too much, slept too little, was far more outgoing, but far more disappointed in myself. Taking that into consideration, read what you will into my music choices for the winter/spring of 2001.

Here are some of the albums I kept in rotation:




- At The Drive In "Relationship of Command"
- Cursive "Domestica"
- The Faint "Blank Wave Arcade" (lots of dancing this winter)
- Les Savy Fav "The Cat & The Cobra"
- The Lapse "Heaven Ain't Happenin'"
- The Causey Way "With Loving and Open Arms" and "Causey vs. Everything" (I was asked by Scott "aka Boy Causey" to be in this band over a glass of whiskey...no lie)
- Mogwai "Come On Die Young" and "Rock Action" (there was LOTS of Mogwai this year)
- Unwound "The Leaves Turn Inside You"

What were you listening to 8 years ago?