Month: January 2014

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Reading Round-Up: January 2014

Reading is my oldest and favorite hobby.  I literally can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t love to curl up with a good book.  Here are my reads for January, 2014…

Little House in the Big Woods (Little House #1), by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Little House on the Prairie (Little House #2), by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Farmer Boy (Little House #3), by Laura Ingalls Wilder
On the Banks of Plum Creek (Little House #4), by Laura Ingalls Wilder
By the Shores of Silver Lake (Little House #5), by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Long Winter (Little House #6), by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Little Town on the Prairie (Little House #7), by Laura Ingalls Wilder
These Happy Golden Years (Little House #8), by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The First Four Years (Little House #9), by Laura Ingalls Wilder

I spent the first three weeks of 2014 (give or take a few days) immersed in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s pioneer world.  I was with her in the Big Woods of Wisconsin, rode in the covered wagon with her family to Indian Territory, then to Plum Creek in Minnesota and finally to Silver Lake and De Smet in the Dakota Territory.  I watched her grow from a “Half-Pint of Sweet Cider Half Drunk Up” to a young woman and then a wife and mother.  I rejoiced in the wild beauty of the prairie, celebrated when Mr. Edwards met Santa Claus, gritted my teeth at mean girl Nellie Oleson, marveled at the bowl of violets in the buffalo wallow, shivered through the long winter, and walked hand in hand with Laura and Mary on their sunset strolls.  Reading the Little House books end-to-end like I did was a wonderful experience – more about my impressions of the series after reading it again, but for the first time as an adult, here.

The Honest Toddler: A Child’s Guide to Parenting, Written Under the Supervision of Bunmi Laditan – I am a HUGE fan of the Honest Toddler, “the internet’s most infamous tot,” and I follow her on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, in addition to reading HT’s blog posts and the absolutely hilarious press releases put out by the Toddler Council of Everlasting Gloriousness.  (The Toddler Council’s press release on the birth of Prince George was priceless.  “To Will and Kate, we would like to wish you both a heartfelt blank stare followed by crying.”  Tears, people, I had tears running down my face.)  I am constantly trying to read HT blog posts out loud to hubby and breaking down in uncontrollable laughter after three sentences.  The Honest Toddler book was more of the same cheeky, mischievous wit and I loved it; some of the content was directly from the blog or was otherwise repetitive, but since I read HT’s blog posts over and over again, that didn’t bother me so much.  (A warning: do not allow grandparents to read this book.  My mom read it while visiting me and got an incredibly big head from the constant grandma-boosting.  And a word to Peanut: if “loving like a grandparent” means allowing you to eat cookies anytime, then don’t get any fancy ideas.  Peas for lunch, and you can complain to Nana all you want but you’re still going to eat your veggies.)

WinterSong: Christmas Readings, by Madeleine L’Engle and Luci Shaw – I’ve been dipping into this slim, but lovely, volume most days since Thanksgiving.  Although the book is billed as “Christmas Readings,” it starts with meditations on Thanksgiving and late fall, covers Annunciation, Christmas, Incarnation, and Epiphany, and finally concludes with New Year’s and early winter.  I picked a few readings each night, working my way gradually through the fall chapter around Thanksgiving, the Christmas chapters at the appropriate points in the celebration, and finally reading the New Year’s and late winter chapter over the month of January.  The poems and readings here are lovely, often poignant, and always thought-provoking.  I’ll be revisiting this one each year.  (And proving once again that we are kindred spirits, my pal Katie posted this blog about “dipping” into books just as I was finishing my two-months’ enjoyment of WinterSong.)

A Red Herring Without Mustard (Flavia de Luce #3), by Alan Bradley – Flavia just keeps getting better and better!  In this third installment, my favorite eleven-year-old sleuth/chemist/cyclist/revenge specialist finds herself involved in two separate, but possibly related, investigations.  First a Gypsy woman is brutally attacked while camping on Flavia’s ancestral estate.  Almost immediately thereafter, a local ne’er-do-well is found dead, with a lobster pick from the de Luce family silver chest sticking out of his nose.  Are the two crimes connected?  And is the attack on the Gypsy related to the case of a baby who went missing several years earlier?  One thing is clear – the police will need Flavia’s help to sort out this fishy situation.  I love Flavia more every time I crack the spine of one of her adventures.

January was all about comfort reading for me, and it was the right time for it since I spent most of the month hunkered down inside, trying to weather the Polar Vortex along with the rest of the East Coast.  (<– See what I did there?  “Weather?”)  I’d been wanting to revisit Laura Ingalls Wilder’s world for a long time, and the Little House books made for perfect winter reading – especially Little House in the Big Woods and The Long Winter, both of which have many memorable wintry scenes.  After I finished the Little House books, I continued on the comfort theme with some comedy via HT, and a cozy mystery via Flavia.  And, of course, L’Engle and Shaw dealt out plenty of lovely, comforting bedtime reads in WinterSong.  Now I’m looking forward to February and some more good reads – I’ve got a couple of books out from the library that I’ve been very excited to read, and I think I’ll also dig into some of my Christmas books.  Stay tuned…

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Living Bold: January 2014

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As part of my efforts to live bold this year, I thought I’d do a monthly post about how I’ve been embracing that One Little Word.  Sometimes I might write one longer post about one particular thing I’ve done, and other times I might do a list, like this month.  So here’s how I’ve been living bold in January:

  • Signed up to run the Buffalo Marathon Relay with a group of moms from my local Stroller Strides community.  This is my biggest, boldest action of the month!  I usually shy away from group runs of any sort.  I’m always worried that I’m not fast enough and that I’ll somehow let the group down.  But I have to remember that I do have some running experience, and that these supportive, encouraging ladies would have welcomed me to the team even if I didn’t.  (But you’d better believe I’ll be folding some speedwork into my training.)  I’m excited!  I was kicking around the idea of volunteering at the race, but looks like I’ll be lining up with the other runners instead.  Yippee!
  • Ran 7, then 8, then 9 miles.  I have a virtual race coming up in February (more on this to come) and although I don’t have to do it all in one shot, I’m aiming for that bold goal.  That means busting out some long runs again – something I haven’t done since 2011.  I feel pretty hardcore, watching those miles stack up on my Garmin.
  • Signed up for the TD Five Boro Bike Tour.  Forty miles through all five boroughs of New York City!  This is another event that will definitely challenge me in new ways, and I’ll be riding with my dad, brother, and brother’s girlfriend, so I’m a little nervous about being fast enough to keep up with the group.  (I do have a nice, zippy road bike, so that should help.)  And then there’s the added nerves that come from sharing the road with tens of thousands of other cyclists… I really hope I don’t end the ride in a pileup.  But part of what I am trying to do this year is to step out of my comfort zone and accept challenges even when they involve other people, so that’s what will drive me to train hard for the event.
  • Knitted my mom an infinity scarf.  This sounds like it wouldn’t be such a bold thing to do, but I’m actually a little insecure about knitting for others.  I always think I’m incapable of knitting something that the recipient will actually like and use.  But I had some soft, nubby red yarn that I knew my mom would enjoy wearing, and a stitch that has completely captivated me, so I went ahead and made her one.  The verdict: she LOVED it and encouraged me to make more infinity scarves for family friends (something I was kind of planning to do, but it’s nice to get confirmation that the scarf I made is nice enough to gift to someone outside of immediate family).

January was a pretty bold month for me!  I worked on making the choices that were best for ME, and I said yes to a few events that really intimidate me.  (We’ll see how bold I feel at the starting lines…)  Can’t wait to see where my one little word takes me in February.

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Library Tour: Buffalo’s Central Library

The library has always been my happy place.  I love to wander up and down the rows and rows of yet-to-be-discovered titles, browsing in the fiction section, or shivering in the mystery aisle, or visiting old friends in the young adult stacks.  And when I come to feel at home in a particular library, well, it becomes a very special place indeed.

Leaving my beloved Sherwood Library was a wrench, but I was excited to discover the riches of the Buffalo library system.  Peanut and I have enjoyed almost weekly walks to our local branch (tour coming soon), but today I want to show you around the Central Branch.  It’s not my regular branch – it’s about a fifteen minute drive away – but I’ve spent quite a bit of time there, soaking up the book-lovin’ atmosphere.

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Walking up to the imposing building, you will begin to feel a fluttery sensation deep down.  Don’t worry about it.  That’s your soul rejoicing at the thought of all the books you’re about to encounter.

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When you walk in, immediately to your left, you’ll see the adult fiction and children’s sections.  The BEST parts of the library, if you ask me!  There’s a cute story area for the kiddos and plenty of room for Mom to browse.

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Deeper into the building, you’ll come across the non-fiction and reference sections, complete with study tables.  (To get here, you’ll have walked past Fables Café – yes, a café in the library, I know, I was excited too – and the Mark Twain Room, with a well-curated selection of Mark Twain manuscripts, early editions, photographs and artifacts from his time in Buffalo.  I didn’t take any pictures in the Mark Twain Room because I doubt photography is allowed, and because I wouldn’t have felt right about taking pictures even if it was.  But if you’re in Buffalo, go check it out, especially if you’re a Twain fan.  I’m not, don’t hate me, Buffalonians – I have tried many times but just can’t get on board the Twain train – but hubby is, so we spent a good twenty minutes looking over the exhibit.)

Upstairs, there are offices and meeting space, including a big room where I spent four Saturdays training to be an adult literacy tutor.  But if you just want to grab a sandwich and park it at Fables, I won’t judge.  I’ll be in the fiction section if you need me.

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Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

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32 Things: Update 1

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It’s been three months since I published my list of “32 Things to do Before I Turn 33” and it’s time for an update.  Items in progress are bolded; items completed are crossed out.

1.  First, a BIG one: Visit my BFF in Germany next summer (and maybe tack a week in Austria on there too).  I know this will be a challenge to pull off with a toddler, but we really want to try.  Hubby, R and I are all super excited.

2.  Write my grandmother at least once a month (I don’t expect replies, just want her to receive letters from me).

3.  Visit Frank Lloyd Wright’s Greycliff.

4.  Run the 2013 Buffalo-Niagara YMCA Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day.  Such a fun race with my sisters-in-law!  Read my recap here.

5.  Read and blog about 20 classic books for The Classics Club.  Blogs posted for Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island, Jane Eyre, Middlemarch and Excellent Women.  I need to get on top of some of the classics I’ve read but not yet “reviewed” and get posts written ASAP.  Look for some of those coming soon.

6.  Make refrigerator jam.

7.  Re-read Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House series.  I can’t believe it took me so long to re-read this series, which I loved as a little girl.  My thoughts on experiencing the Little House books as an adult are right here.

8.  Join a group at church.

9.  Road-trip to Ithaca for a weekend.

10.  Knit a dress for Peanut.

11.  Learn to play three new piano pieces.

12.  Go to see Shakespeare performed in Delaware Park.

13.  Have a date night with hubby at Rue Franklin.

14.  Knit through 1/4 of my yarn stash.  Working on this!  I’ve made infinity scarves for myself and my mom, a neck warmer, and I’ve got a wrap on the needles right now, which I’m planning to send to my grandmother (shhhh! nobody spill the beans!).  I’ve done it all using stash yarn and I’m working on emptying one of my Rubbermaid tubs of yarn before we move next.

15.  Write a guest blog (anyone interested?).

16.  Take Peanut for a bike ride in one of those hilarious trailers.

17.  Finish Level I of the Rosetta Stone French course.

18.  Spend a few days (a week if I can swing it) with my high school BFF and our kids.

19.  Knit a lace beret.

20.  Go to a Sabres game!  (Ideally, I’d also like them to win.  C’mon guys, for me?)

21.  Overcome my fear of baking bread – a holdover from last year.

22.  Get in the habit of better skin care – another holdover from last year.  Working on this, too.  I’ve gotten into a pretty good moisturizing routine.  Next I’d like to make time to exfoliate once or twice every week.

23.  Volunteer with Literacy New York – Buffalo-Niagara.  I’ve completed volunteer training and been matched with a student, but wild weather has prevented us from meeting yet.  I’m hoping to meet with her next week.

24.  Knit a cozy shawl for my grandmama.  Working on this (see above), but I’m probably going to give the shawl (well, wrap) to my other grandmother.  My grandmama is in a skilled nursing facility and a handknit wrap is a bit too much for the laundry to cope with.

25.  Go see a movie in the theater.

26.  Read South Riding, by Winifred Holtby.

27.  Buy a Sabres hockey jersey for Peanut.  (She already has a Cornell jersey.)

28.  Learn the Tunisian crochet stitch and make myself a scarf.

29.  Do some charity knitting.  I’m thinking hats for preemies?

30.  Read a book by Umberto Eco.

31.  Try out five new hikes in WNY.  Can I say this is in progress if I’ve been spending lots of time researching hiking trails in the area and comparing models of child carrier backpacks?  The weather is way too cold to hike with Peanut at the moment, but I have plenty of ideas for the spring and summer.

32.  Another BIG one: buy a house.

Well – not too bad.  I could stand to get a little more done, and I really do need to get out for that movie in the theater.  (We wanted to see “The Hobbit” on the Friday after Christmas, but we ended up driving back to Buffalo with a sick baby that day.)  I’ve certainly got enough knitting and reading on this list to keep me busy until spring comes…

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On Re-Reading the Little House Books

Little House on the Prairie

For several years when I was growing up, there were three authors of consequence.  There was L.M. Montgomery, there was Madeleine L’Engle, and there was Laura Ingalls Wilder.  (Honorable mention to Frances Hodgson Burnett.)  I loved all three authors, and when I got a little older, L.M. Montgomery edged out into first place (I even named Peanut after one of her heroines).  But for awhile there, it was all Laura, all the time.

I dreamed about riding in a covered wagon and living in a little house just like Laura’s, out on the wide expanse of prairie.  I read book after book about the pioneers.  I even convinced my grandma to sew me a “prairie girl” costume for Halloween and I wore it two years in a row.  (I’d have worn it a third year, but I grew out of it.)  I can’t even count how many times I read, re-read, and re-re-read the entire series of Little House books.

Last year, I bought the entire set in beautiful hardcover editions.  My childhood copies were long since lost, and I wanted Peanut to have especially nice copies to enjoy when she is old enough.  But first, I was going to enjoy them again.  I’ve had them sitting in a pile ever since, waiting for me to get around to re-reading them again, for the first time as an adult.  This month, I decided it was time and I dove in headfirst.  I’ve just now come out of two-and-a-half weeks of living blissfully in Laura’s world once again.

When Laura’s story begins, with Little House in the Big Woods, Laura is just a very young, very small little girl living with her Ma and Pa, her older sister Mary, and Baby Carrie, in – you guessed it – a little house in the Big Woods of Wisconsin.  Laura and Mary play amongst the trees outside their home, roast a pig’s tail, attend a “Sugaring-Off” dance at Grandpa’s house, and listen to their Pa spin yarns and sing along with his fiddle every night.  But Pa is restless, and in the next book – Little House on the Prairie – the family packs up all their wordly possessions into a covered wagon and moves out to Indian Territory.  The remainder of the series follows them from little house to little house – first on Plum Creek in Minnesota, then finally to Silver Lake and what becomes the town of De Smet in the Dakota Territory.  There Laura finds herself a group of girlfriends, stands up to a mean girl, and meets Almanzo Wilder, the man who would become her husband.

There were a few scenes that I remembered vividly from my many readings of the Little House books as a child – the “Sugaring-Off” dance in Little House in the Big Woods, the exciting river crossing in Little House on the Prairie, the Ingalls family settling in town during The Long Winter, and blind sister Mary braiding her rugs using colored strips organized for her in separate boxes.  But there was so much more that I discovered again – or maybe even for the first time – reading this series again as an adult.

When I first read the Little House books, I was most interested in Laura and, to a lesser extent, in Mary.  (Most of my friends had little use for goody-two-shoes Mary, but as a people pleaser myself, I felt rather in sympathy with her.)  As an adult, I still loved reading Laura’s story, but I also found riches in the books that I don’t remember being there the last time I read them.  The descriptions of railway building work warmed my labor history-lovin’ heart.  The scenes in which Pa deals with a mob of angry workmen, or joins a group in confronting a storekeeper who has raised his wheat prices above what anyone can afford to pay in a time when half the town was starving, were far more interesting (and nerve-wracking) because I was able to read through the lines and comprehend how dire those situations were and how easily they could have gone very, very badly for Pa (and consequently, for the whole Ingalls family), in a way I never could have understood as a child.  And I loved, absolutely loved, watching the town of De Smet grow from just the Ingalls family to a thriving community in the Dakota territory.

I wish I hadn’t waited so long to re-read these books, which were such a big influence on me years ago.  I found so much to love – again – in Laura’s pioneer story: her family, her relationship with Pa and with Mary, her explorations of her various prairie homes, her selfless determination to contribute to the family income (even through teaching, which she hated) so that Mary could go to college, her friendships with Mary Power, Minnie Johnson and Ida Brown, and her love story with Almanzo Wilder, and so much more.  It may be awhile before I re-read the entire series, but I’ll be sure to re-visit my favorites (Little House on the Prairie, On the Banks of Plum Creek, The Long Winter and Little Town on the Prairie) much sooner.

Have you read the Little House books?  Did you love them?  Did you follow Pa’s instructions and build yourself a rocking chair?

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Forays into the Buffalo Dining Scene

On my last day in D.C., some of my coworkers took me out to a farewell lunch in Dupont Circle.  (Tapas at Boqueria – my choice.)  While we were enjoying our lunch the conversation turned – as it often did, with that group – to other dining and food experiences.  We were a foodie bunch, what can I say?  Naturally, they all wanted to know what the restaurant scene is like in Buffalo, but at the time, I couldn’t really tell them.  I knew that the Buffalo food scene was more than just chicken wings, and I described Rue Franklin, a fawncy (and delicious) French restaurant that hubby had taken me to for an anniversary dinner several years ago, but beyond that, I wasn’t too sure what kind of options there were.

Having lived here for a few months now, I can now say… the food scene in Buffalo is pretty great.  You can get anything you want around here – from top notch sushi to incredible brunch, and everything in between.  We’re lucky enough to live in a neighborhood with tons of options within walking distance from our house (which will be a big factor in our decision-making when it comes time to buy a house, but more on that later) and we’ve established a few favorite neighborhood places where the wait staff already knows us.  (Well… they know Peanut.)  But we don’t just go to our favorites; we’ve tried a number of new-to-us places over the past few months.  Here are some of the highlights just since Christmas:

Elm Street Bakery, East Aurora NY

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I’ll have a whole post about our day in East Aurora coming soon, but I wanted to share this gem.  The Elm Street Bakery is a family favorite with my in-laws; they make incredible breads and delicious-looking granola.  (I’d have brought some granola home, but I’m eating sugar-free in January.  I’m sure the granola will be there in February, though.)  We decided to give the place a try because my in-laws told us they make wood-fired pizza, and we’re still on the hunt for a replacement to Pizzeria Paradiso, our favorite place in Old Town Alexandria.  The restaurant itself was quaint and cozy – check out the order counter above!  And the verdict on the pizza: pretty darn good.  I’d say it probably was the best pizza we’ve had so far, since we moved up here.  Now I’m dying to go back and try some of their other menu offerings.

Crust Pizza, Buffalo

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Crust is a new restaurant, which just opened a few months ago.  We’d been meaning to give it a try, because in addition to build-your-own pizzas, they have arancini and POTATO CROQUETTES.  Yes, you did read that right.  We finally hit it this past Friday and the food was great.  We tried pizza with red sauce, chicken, mushrooms and broccoli and it was delish.  (Next time, I’d leave off the mushrooms because, while they were good, the broccoli was even better.)

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^Our pizza!  Sorry for the dark shot.  Ambience, ya know?

My only complaint about Crust is that they have no high chairs.  No big deal for my friends sans kiddos, but we had a tough time managing Peanut and eating at the same time.  We had to eat in shifts, which is something we haven’t had to do since last summer: hubby went first and wolfed down his dinner while I held Peanut, then it was my turn – but by then, my food was cold.  So what we learned that night is that Peanut having her own seat is integral to a good dining experience for all of us.  (Hubby and I like to enjoy our food simultaneously, and Peanut is at a stage where she’ll happily sit in a high chair but doesn’t really appreciate being restrained by a parent.)  We’ll definitely go back to Crust, but I think we’ll save it for date night, or when Peanut is big enough to be trusted in a real chair.

Betty’s, Buffalo

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I saved the best for last!  I’ve been to Betty’s twice now and am officially declaring it My Most Favorite Buffalo Restaurant Ever.  I went back in October for a networking lunch and had a smoked trout Nicoise salad that was absolutely unbelievable.  Look, I really like salad, and I order it a lot… but this was no ordinary salad.  This salad was… absolutely unreal.  Every single bite was packed with flavor and freshness.  I inhaled that salad and I’ve been talking about it ever since.  (Seriously, ask hubby if he isn’t tired of hearing about this salad.)  So when my parents came into town for a visit, I knew Betty’s had to be on the agenda for the weekend.  My sister-in-law had recently gone for brunch and said it was just as fabulous as ever, so we decided to save it for Sunday and man, am I glad we did, because lookie what I had:

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Yes, that is smoked salmon eggs Benedict.  (Please don’t lick your computer screen.  I won’t be held responsible for any technological failures.)  The smoked trout Nicoise salad wasn’t on the brunch menu, which was probably a good thing, because I was forced to try something new… and let me tell you, EVERYTHING on Betty’s menu looks phenomenal.  (Hubby also had the smoked salmon eggs Benedict, and my mom had a breakfast burrito, which she said was excellent.)  We’ll be going back to Betty’s ASAP.

Those are just a few highlights of our Buffalo dining experiences – I promise more to come!  What about you – any favorite Buffalo restaurants that I just have to try?  Non-Buffalonian friends, what are your favorite local dining spots?

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One Little Word 2014

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Well, as I mentioned in my Intention for 2014 post, in addition to setting an intention for the year (“a better life”), I’ve decided to sign up for Ali Edwards’ One Little Word workshop for the year.  Some of my favorite bookish bloggers do this workshop, and I’ve always thought it sounded interesting.

What’s the Big Idea?

The workshop directs participants to choose a word for the year.  It can be a noun, verb, adjective, anything – just as long as it is meaningful to you.  All year, we will be seeking out ways to welcome our chosen words into our lives, to make them our own, and to think about them in new ways through Ali’s creative prompts.  The first task is to choose the word that will be at the center of things for the year.

Choosing My Word

In the first handout of the workshop, Ali explains that the process of choosing a word usually happens in one of two ways: either you spend lots of time reflecting, debating choices, mulling over options and generally thinking, thinking, thinking, or… the word finds you.  In my case, I didn’t really choose a word.  My word found and chose me.

I always thought that if I did participate in “One Little Word,” I’d be battling my indecisive Libran tendencies and would take six months to even come up with a short list.  But that wasn’t the case at all.  As soon as I got the idea to sign up this year, a word popped into my head, and I knew I didn’t need to think about it anymore.  I’d found the perfect word for 2014… or, rather, the perfect word had found me.  My One Little Word for 2014 is:

BOLD.

“Bold” sums up what I want to be, and how I want to approach life, this year.  I want to take on challenges and own them.  I want to achieve things.  I want to kick down walls.  I want to do more, be more, accomplish more, than anyone outside my four walls thinks I can or will.  I want to scale mountains, run miles, write pages, and be freer than ever before.  I want to walk up to the fences that I’ve set up for myself, or that others have set up for me, and then boldly dismantle them.

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Being bold, according to Wiktionary, means being “courageous, daring” and also “presumptuous.”  Synonyms include “audacious,” which is a word I’ve tried – not always successfully – to embrace in the past.  It’s just not something I’m always good at.  I’m not particularly loud, nor do I love being the center of attention.  I’m usually content to sit on the sidelines and cheer for others.  In recent years I’ve come to feel that anytime I am open about what I want to do or who I want to be, I get burned for it.  As a result, that’s not my adult persona.  But I’m not looking to change my entire personality here.  I’m just looking to live better.

For me, being bold doesn’t simply mean being courageous.  Being bold means being courageous with a heaping helping of presumption.  Presuming to do what others think is impossible.  Boldness means courage with a bit of audacious in-your-face thrown in.  Boldness means saying “yes” to yourself and going after what you want, without apologizing.  Boldness means choosing to make each day better than the day before.  Boldness means ignoring others’ negativity and tuning out energy vampires, and just striving to be the best version of myself without worrying about pleasing others.  That’s how I’d like to live this year.

Living Bold on the Blog

The workshop provides plenty of content and creative prompts, which I’ll be following in my personal journal and the class binder, and I plan to reserve this space for checking in regularly about how I’ve been living bold this year.  I’m going to do a monthly post about what things I’ve done to live my word – maybe roundup style, or maybe highlighting just one effort; I haven’t totally refined my vision there.  I might do more than that, but right now I don’t have any ideas about that.

I’ve also created a Pinterest board to collect inspiration for living bold.  You can find my pinboard here (and you can find my other pinboards here).  There are a few symbols that have popped into my head as representative of my word, and they tend to be big natural elements – mountains, waterfalls – and sometimes, people conquering those elements.  So expect to see lots of those types of images on Pinterest and also in my monthly posts.  (Like the picture of Great Falls, above.)

I’m looking forward to taking 2014 BOLDly by the horns!

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Intention for 2014, and One Little Word

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Welcome, 2014, and BRING. IT. ON.  I am so ready to dominate this year.

In 2012 and 2013, I set goals in five different categories: blog, home, fitness, reading, and life/family.  In 2012, I had one goal in each category; in 2013, I was extra ambitious and set three goals in each category (and did pretty well!).  But when I sat down and tried to do that this year, it didn’t feel quite right.

Often, in yoga, the instructor opens a class by instructing the yoginis to set an intention for their practice.  The intention is private, is set silently, and can be anything you choose.  I try to be mindful of what I need from a practice when setting my intention, and I usually choose one word to represent what I am seeking that day.  Sometimes it’s peace, sometimes strength, sometimes joy, sometimes redemption.  Other days, I choose to dedicate my practice to another person – usually, to Peanut, because she is the person who inspires me most to live a good life.

So when mulling over how I wanted to approach 2014, it occurred to me that I don’t really want to make resolutions this year.  Instead, I’d rather set an intention for the year, and let that intention inform everything I do and all the choices I make.  My intention for 2014 is: A Better Life.

Last year, we moved to Buffalo in search of a better life.  We wanted shorter commutes, lower cost of living, no humidity, walkable neighborhoods – and we found those things.  But as much as I know that we took a huge step toward improving our quality of life when we moved here, I also know that it could get even better.  So this year I’m dedicating myself to living well, and spending all year finding out what that means for me, and for hubby and Peanut.  I’m looking forward to making those discoveries, but I think they’ll look something like these ideas, which are knocking around in my head right now:

  • A better life means getting organized.  We moved from a 3,100 square foot house to a 1,900 square foot house.  We have a lot of stuff in storage right now.  But I know I can cut down on clutter even more, to make our days run more efficiently and (hopefully) make my life easier when we (hopefully) move out of this rental and into a (hopefully) bigger place of our own.
  • A better life means a life lived outside.  I love to be outside in nature, breathing the fresh air and enjoying the gifts that each season has to give.  We’ve spent a lot of the past year-and-a-half in hibernation mode, because when you have a preemie, you have to be extra cautious about exposing her to germs.  But I can’t find long-term happiness inside, on the couch.  Peanut is big enough and strong enough now that she’s up for more, and it’s time to start integrating her into the things that hubby and I enjoyed doing – hiking, kayaking, exploring – before she came along.  I’ve always dreamed of introducing my kids to the joys of the great outdoors and I can’t wait to fold Peanut into all of our family adventures.
  • A better life means unplugging.  I am guilty of spending too much time tapping away at my iPhone, and that needs to stop.  Now.  I would rather let a few emails pile up and respond to them when I can than grab the phone every time I hear that tell-tale ding.  I need to spend more time being in the present, just enjoying watching Peanut play or feeling the breeze on my face or listening to birds call from the trees.  (This past weekend, we went out to spend an afternoon with my in-laws, and I realized ten minutes into the drive that I’d forgotten my iPhone, necessitating an afternoon without my technology.  And you know what?  It was glorious.)
  • A better life means running a race that scares me.  I got back into running last year, after a hiatus brought on by injury, then a high-risk pregnancy, then postpartum recovery and adjusting to the new reality of life with a preemie.  After a strong finish to the year, I would love to take my running to the next step and take on a race that challenges me in new ways.  I have one in mind, but I’m not going to spill the beans just yet.  Registration doesn’t open until the spring, and I don’t even know if I’ll get into the race, so I might end up looking around for something else.  But I do want to take on – and conquer! – a scary new challenge this year.
  • A better life means cooking more.  I kind of got away from cooking, and I have just started to enjoy being in the kitchen again, after a long time of feeling frustrated.  This year, I’d love to finally bake a really good loaf of bread and to come back to a real love of cooking healthy, nourishing food again.
  • A better life means exploring my new environment.  Here’s a cool thing about moving: it’s a whole new world to explore.  When I left DC, I knew the city pretty well.  (Live anywhere for ten years and it’ll be in you.)  Buffalo, though, is new to me.  Oh, I’d been here many times before we moved.  But the occasional visit is different from living somewhere.  Already, just after a few months, I’ve seen so many new places and things.  This is a really cool region, and the people who live here have good reason to be proud of their city and its surrounding areas.  I can’t wait to sniff out all of the gems – hidden and not hidden – in Western New York.  And of course I’ll share!
  • A better life means improving someone else’s life.  As you all know, I signed up to be a volunteer tutor for Literacy New York and I’ve been matched with a student!  I can’t wait to spend this year helping her reach her goals and improve her reading abilities.

Those are just a few ideas I have, a few thoughts about how I might make my life tangibly better this year.  Not resolutions, not even necessarily plans, just ideas percolating.  I’ll check in periodically and update you all about my intention and what I’ve done to advance it – just like I’d check in with my intention during a yoga class.  And there’s something else I decided to do this year:

One Little Word

I keep hearing about Ali Edwards’ “One Little Word” workshop, and I keep seeing bloggers I admire signing up (like my pal Katie, who has done the workshop several times, and Kim from Sophisticated Dorkiness, a blog I love reading).  Every time I see someone else sign up for the workshop, I think to myself: I need to do this.  I have a word in mind, which is connected to my 2014 intention of chasing a better life, and I can’t wait to share it with you all and talk about what this word means to me, and how I plan to weave it into the fabric of my life and family this year.  I really plan to live my one little word this year, and I think that if I follow through with it, I’ll see out 2014 with the knowledge that I really did live my best life this year.  More to come on that very soon, I promise.

How about you – did you make resolutions for 2014, pick a word, set an intention?  Or do you think that’s all hogwash?

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2013 Goals Round-Up

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Happy 2014, everyone!  I love to start the new year with a fresh batch of goals and look ahead to the achievements I want to accomplish – but before I do, it’s time to look back over my previous year’s goals.  Here they are, along with my “grades” and thoughts:

BLOG

1. Keep up a M, W, F posting schedule consistently all year – no blog breaks.
2. Stay informed about current events in the literary world, and post about them.
3. Shoot a new header that reflects the spirit of the blog.

Grade: A-.  Once again, I let an entire year go by without shooting a new header.  One of these days, one of these days.  But the other two goals, I am really pleased about.  I posted many times about current events in the book world (see my six-month goal roundup for just a few examples), and I only missed a couple of days of posting, mainly because I was swamped and didn’t realize that I’d forgotten to schedule posts to go up.  I was consistent in my posting and I’m proud of the things I’ve written this year.

HOME

1. Get the rest of the house painted (even if I have to hire professionals to do it).
2. Hang curtains!
3. Plant an herb garden, and don’t kill it this time.

Grade: Incomplete.  I had good intentions to really personalize our living space this year, but we ended up making the surprising decision to move to Buffalo, which brought those efforts to a halt.  Hopefully, by this time next year, we’ll be homeowners again, and I’ll have some house-related goals then.

FITNESS

1. Get back into road racing.
2. Get into a regular yoga practice.
3. Join Stroller Strides and attend regularly.

Grade: A-.  I rediscovered my love for running this year, after looking for it for awhile.  I ran three road races: the Healthy Strides Community 5K in April, the Buffalo-Niagara YMCA Turkey Trot in November, and the Freezer 5K in December, and made major strides (see what I did there?) with each race.  I have some big running goals for 2014, so stay tuned.  I didn’t make time for a regular yoga practice, which is something I always wish I could commit to, but I did attend Stroller Strides regularly this fall and loved every minute.  The other moms were so friendly and welcoming, and the workouts were TOUGH!  We’re on hiatus right now, until the instructor returns from maternity leave, but I can’t wait to get back to class next year.

READING

1. Really, really read more books I already own.  I mean it this time.
2. Read at least one classic every month.
3. Explore more non-fiction.

Grade: A.  I definitely read many more books off my own shelves this year (helped, in part, by moving and being sans library card for a little while).  I read at least one classic every month (usually more than one) and I dove into some great non-fiction.  All in all, a great reading year.

LIFE/FAMILY

1. Seek out ways to be a better wife and mother, and practice them.
2. Practice gratitude even when life gets challenging.
3. Love my little Peanut wildly.

I’m not going to assign a grade for this one, because being a good wife and mother is something I strive for daily and not something that I think is “grade-able.”  I did work hard at this one this year, though.  (Except for goal #3 – to love Peanut wildly – I did that every day, of course, but loving her never feels like work.)  Moving our family 300 miles away, and leaving behind a successful career, beautiful home, and dozens of friends, was a hard thing to do, but it was something I did because my family needed it.  During this adjustment period (which is still going on) I have found things for which to be grateful: sunny runs through the park in the middle of the day; the opportunity to see my in-laws regularly and to visit my parents for a few days in the middle of the week; time to read and relax; a better job for hubby; and most of all, bonus time to bond and snuggle and watch Peanut grow into the precious little person she is becoming every day.  What a gift!

Next up: my goals for 2014!

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Christmas 2013

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I can’t believe it’s already January and I haven’t gotten around to recapping our Christmas celebrations for y’all yet.  Bad blogger!  Mostly, it’s because I wasn’t really focused on taking lots of pictures and planning out a blog post in my head.  I was just trying to enjoy the holiday (with as little stress as possible) and soak in time with friends and family.  But here are a few snaps, all from phones or iPods, to show you just a little of what we did over Christmas week.

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We spent the holiday at my parents’ house in northeastern New York, and I was so excited to be there.  Last year we had planned to go, but decided at the last minute that Peanut was too tiny to take on such a long journey.  So we passed Peanut’s first Christmas at home in northern Virginia and it turned out to be the right decision, since several of my family members were sick that week.  This year was a different story and we were itching to show Peanut off to the extended family.

We always do our big family gathering on Christmas Eve and it used to be a traditional, sit-down dinner.  Last year my parents hosted and they don’t have a big enough dining room to seat the entire family, so they did a buffet of hors d’ouvres and everyone loved it.  I asked if they would repeat hosting this year, because it would free us up to enjoy the party without worrying about Peanut’s bedtime.  She goes to bed at 7:00, which is just when things really get going, so if one of my aunts had hosted we’d have had to either leave right as the party was starting, or put Peanut down in a pack ‘n play in a spare bedroom and then wake her up at 11:00 p.m. to drive back to my parents’ place – neither option a good one.  My parents immediately saw that hosting again would be the best course and agreed right away.  (And I hear that was a popular option with the rest of the family, too – one aunt told me she was relieved not to have hosting duties, and one cousin told me the food was great at my parents’ house.)  So Peanut got to enjoy the party and then go to bed upstairs in her snug little room, and we were able to head back down and catch up with the relatives.  It was a great night, with plenty of time to see loved ones that we hardly ever visit.

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After the relatives left, Santa came and dropped off a ridiculous pile of presents for Peanut.  I wish I’d gotten a picture of the stack before we opened it, but we were all kind of in shock.  Peanut made out like a bandit, getting a huge pile of “bookas,” a lion walker to help her toddling efforts, and more noisy toys than she knows what to do with.  (I bought her a xylophone.  What was I thinking?)  On Christmas night our family friends came over for some wine, snacks and baby snuggles – perfect.

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We were there almost all week and packed in plenty of time seeing other friends, as well.  We stopped by a neighborhood party on our way to meet our friend Seth for our annual (or every year I’m around, anyway) tradition of seeing the Christmas lights in Albany’s Washington Park and then having dinner.  Seth is one of my closest friends from college (you may remember him from two Thanksgivings ago, when we squeezed the lights in early since hubby and I were going to Buffalo for Christmas) and we’ve been doing lights-and-dinner every year since 2002.  We only missed last year.  Hard to believe that Seth and I started this tradition over ten years ago now!  (Hubby joined us starting in 2005.)  This year, we drove through the park, waved to all of our favorite light displays, then had dinner at a new Belgian restaurant.  Seth and I enjoyed mussels, hubby had a duck confit salad, and we each had a Belgian beer.  (Yes, I drank BEER!  It was a Christmas miracle!)

Then, on Friday morning, my best friend from high school came by with her young daughter.  We exchanged Christmas gifts and let the girls play with each other.  BFF’s little one is 14 months older than Peanut, and Peanut is absolutely mesmerized by her.  We’re hoping to see more of their family now that we live closer.

Unfortunately, as soon as BFF and her girlie left, we had to hit the road as well.  We’d planned on staying until Saturday, but Peanut came down with her first cold – too much Christmas excitement? – and we decided to head home a day early.  We were glad we did, because we popped by the pediatrician and discovered that Peanut has an ear infection, too.  Poor kid!  And since misery loves company, she made sure to share her bugs with hubby and me.  We don’t have ear infections, but we do have icky colds and I had a fever for a day, which is very unusual for me.  We’re all on the mend now, thanks to antibiotics (for Peanut), extra sleep (for hubby) and ginger-turmeric tea (for me).  And heading home early did bring one benefit – a nice long visit with Emma, who was only in town for a short period of time.  (And Grace, who is in town all month.)  Peanut loved catching up with her aunties:

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So, that was our Christmas.  Some family, some friends, good food, and a cold to end the old year.  And now, welcome 2014!