Cheers to the good guys

My friend Richard Blais just won Top Chef.

Well, we may not be BFFs,

aaaand he man not know that he's my friend,

buuuut he does live next door to my in-laws.

And I did say, "Hi" to him once.

And I was smiling in a friendly* kind of way.

The thing about Richard is that he's a genuinely good guy.

This is how I know:

He helped the other chefs.

He didn't throw tantrums.

He was humble about his successes--and failures.

He didn't complain.

He didn't use language that needed to be bleeped.

And, when asked which fellow chef should have been kicked off sooner, he couldn't come up with a name. 

He really could not.

He may not be my BFF,

but he is just the kind of friend I want.

I wonder if he's taking applications.

Do you suppose he'll join us for dinner on Friday?

*"friendly" may mean goofy and stalkerish to some

My brush with fame and fashion blogs

All these years I've been waiting for The Sartorialist to find me

(okay, that one time in NYC--I was out of town when he was in ATL).

This is just as fun.

Probably more.

Rose spotted on campus and posted on a fashion blog:

Rose's thoughts:

"not really the same level as the sartorialist.. just sayin."

I'll grant her that.

But the photographer had a good enough eye to spot at least one fashionable co-ed.

(If you visit the blog, make a comment on her picture.

Answer the question I asked there:

"Cute skirt.  Does anyone know where she got it?" 

Extra points if you tell them the label is Tallulahs.

Extra extra points if you add the Tallulahs link. 

Points for what?

You tell me.

Mama's Voice

How many times do you hear your mother's voice in your head?

Probably more than once her voice says,

"Don't compare yourself with others."

She probably even says, "You are wonderful just as you are."

Sometimes our mother's voice helps.

And sometimes other voices help, too.

I like this one:

"I am the daughter in whom God is well pleased,"

(from  Iyanla Vanzant  on my once favorite show Starting Over).

What's your mantra?

My Heart Sings or Ode to Atlanta (again)

The thing is,

 I know we'll have more cold days.

 But the warm days will prevail.

 It's here.

That groundhog isn't so smart.

European Comfort Club

Once, while shopping for shoes that would not exacerbate* my Plantar Fasciitis,

Borrowed from Google Health

(Plantar Fasciitis is a fancy word for sore heel)

I shopped in the "practical" section
of an upscale department store.
I shopped for a pair of shoes that appeared as close to normal
as my sore foot would allow me to wear.
But then I was caught off guard.
An enthusiastic sales clerk asked,
"do you want to belong to the 'European Comfort Club?'"

Wait.

Am I that obvious?
I thought I blended.

European Comfort club?

Ouch.

You see, I am a shoe-ie. 

Like other people are foodies.

I enjoy shoes.

I care about shoes.

Fine shoes.

 

Pretty shoes.

Not practical shoes.

No.
I do not want to belong to your club.
Thank you very much.

And I took my pride,

and my dowdy shoes

as I turned on my sore heel 

and walked out of the store.

*exacerbate belongs to my "favorite words" list.  Plantar Fasciitis does not.

Don't believe everything you read...

Chocolate is a lot of things.

But this may be expecting too much.

I ate it anyway.

Humbuggers

To all you buggers who criticize Valentine's Day as a

Hallmark,

commercial,

made up holiday...

get over yourselves.

It's just another opportunity to show love.

Before going to bed,

Olivia realized that she was my only valentine in town.

We two would be the sole participants in our annual 

Coco Wheats breakfast.

Okay, we don't have Coco Wheats in the South, we add cocoa to Cream of Wheat...

Olivia got an idea,

woke up at 5am,

jumped out of bed,

gathered beautiful fabrics,

and quilted a pillow for me.

Well, she had to wait until I was awake to thread the machine...

but she was incredibly industrious,

and creative,

and visual.

And loving.

 

For those of us whose love language is gifts,

this is a marvelous opportunity to show love.

For those of you whose love language is something else,

this is a marvelous opportunity to show love.

The pillow is an expression of love from her

and a symbol of love to me.

And for any of you who remember her gift to me last year,

(which ended with lollipop dough sticking my lips to my teeth)

you will know how much I really cherish this pillow!

How was your love day?

Productivity

Again...or is it still...
my knitting needles have been calling me.

I even produced a few items this winter.

But it feels like an indulgence.

To sit and make knots in yarn.

I mean, it doesn't really need to be done.

Producing knitting is not being productive.

I have a love/hate relationship with productivity. 

I want to be able to just "be" (or at least knit and be),

but then my mind starts working,

and I keep thinking of things I could be doing,

or could have done,

and then I can't "be" at all.

It's not like I'm ever really all that productive.

But I do have an appropriate amount of guilt over it.

Or is it inappropriate?

Recently I told someone that I my day had been particularly productive

and that productivity made me feel good.

And in reply I heard, "as if productivity were the meaning of life."

Yeah.  Snicker.  I know.  Snicker.

Wait...

It's not?

I need some help with this one.

How do I resolve it?

Inspiration

I didn't feel like exercising this morning.

It's rainy and cold and I just wanted to knit.

Don't look, Oma.  It's a surprise...

 But I know I feel stronger,

and my back feels healthier,

and my emotions are happier

when I exercise.

So...I looked through the new Athleta catalog for inspiration.

Source-Athleta

 And then I reminded myself that my little bit of exercise

(seriously--little!)

gave me, a middle aged mom with extra layers,

muscles like this:

Source-Athleta

Okay, that's not me.

But it's all relative.

And when I tried to get a picture of my arms, this is what I got:

Trust me.

I may be the only one who gets to see my muscles...

but I have muscles!

And now for a little shout out to T-Tapp.

It's said to be "more tai chi than Taebo...
It's as intense as Taebo, but calmer...
Like yoga, T-Tapp is much harder than it looks."

Read more here.

 An exercise DVD that only takes fifteen minutes

about three times per week.

That's seriously little, right?

I can do fifteen minutes.

Even when I'd rather knit...

What inspires you to exercise?
Or to do anything when you would rather knit?

I Miss You

So I've taken a little time off.

I had nothing to say.

Maybe it's because my mind was occupied...

I was spending time with Oma,

Stephanie (Oma) painting kittens with Olivia.

and chatting with my lovely girl in Utah.

Rose and the charming Kailey.

In Park City.  If I look cold it is because I was cold!

and laughing with Liz 

(at the Sundance Film Festival!),

and being starstruck by Robert Redford,

He really was there.  That blue vested person just prevented YOU from seeing him.

and falling in love with Dominic Cooper.

Yes, he really was there to see me.  Dreamy, dreamy.

 No, real true love...

She means nothing to him.  She is just an actress (Ludivine Sagnier).

Whatever it was, I missed Lottie Bird.

And you.