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By kilax, December 21, 2009 4:56 am

Every time I’m about to hit “publish” on this rant post I have drafted out, I end up with some surprise I’d rather blog about. First it was from my mom, and then last week, I got a wonderful surprise almost every single day! I think this is a sign from the universe – save that rant-y post for January, Kim… have some holiday spirit…

I received the first gift was from my blogger buddy Gina on Monday. I have been blogger buddies (well, we call each other blogger sisters) with Gina and Courtney for over three years. We write group emails almost every week, exchange holiday and birthday gifts and cards, and hope hope hope that the three of us can meet up someday (Gina is in New York and Courtney is in Texas).

Appropriately, Gina sent me Julie & Julia – the movie about Julia Childs and the blogger Julie Powell! I had not seen the movie, and I was so so excited when I opened it! She sent it along with vegan popcorn and a thoughtful card. How lucky I am to have a friend like that?! Steven and I really enjoyed watching the movie. It made me hungry though!

What does Data think of Julie & Julia?

He likes it!

Then on Wednesday at work, one of my team members brought in holiday treats for us all. She was thoughtful enough to make me vegan gingersnaps!

Isn’t the packaging cute?

Nom Nom Nom. Looks like something you’d buy in a store!

On Thursday, I received Lindsay’s copy of The Reader, which she is loaning me. I sent her a book of mine to borrow, so we are doing a fun little exchange.

And then Friday a holiday package from Lauren arrived (we participated in Morning Runner’s blogger gift exchange). WOW. Lauren HOOKED ME UP! DUH! How could I have forgotten she works IN a running store???!!! She sent me Saucony socks, Adidas headbands, a “run” keychain, and some prickly pear cactus candies which I am super excited to try. Isn’t that the best gift ever?! I really got lucky in drawing Lauren’s name. I have been having a lot of fun getting to know her through her blog. I love how down to earth she is and the great attitude she has. Check her out if you don’t already read her blog!

On Saturday, there was yet another package, from Courtney, wrapped in adorable “Meowy Christmas” paper!

And inside of an adorable Santa tin! What could it be, Data and I wonder…

Homegrown pecans! WOW! I cannot imagine how long it took to shell all of those! What a thoughtful gift! Steven and I are thinking about using them to make baklava!

Yes, I show Data all of the packages. He is curious.

We also received a ton of holiday cards this week, many from thoughtful bloggers, along with those from family and friends. THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!

How lucky I am to have received all of this? Who am I to even consider ranting about the small things in life when I have such a wonderful network of supportive friends? I am so grateful for these relationships! And I am grateful for each and every one of you who take the time to leave comments and develop an online relationship with me. It really makes my day to read your insight and feedback to my ramblings! Thank you!!!

Have you received any surprises lately? Does this time of year make you stop and think about the things in life for which you are grateful?

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By kilax, December 16, 2009 4:17 am

There was an interesting article about bad gift-giving and how it can be straining on marriages this Tuesday in the Wall Street Journal. I found it humorous, but also, disappointingly sexist – both for men and women.

The article gives the classic examples of “bad” gifts given to wives from their husbands – vacuum cleaners, over-sized sleepwear, cooking pots, golf clubs, etc. Those stories are always good for a laugh or two.

But I felt like the whole article made men sound like thoughtless idiots who don’t listen to their wives, think twice about what they are getting them, or care if they are given a “bad” gift. It made women sound like they are overly emotional about receiving a “bad” gift, elusive about what they want, and the perfect gift givers.

Well, I always say “stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason,” but come on*. I know this isn’t true in our relationship. Since we’ve been together (7 years) I have not been able to get Steven the “perfect” holiday** gift. First it was an XBox. Then a printer. Specialty items for the Saab. A nice watch. A Garmin. So on and so forth. Run-of-the-mill things. How do we measure the worth of a gift? By the excitement of the person opening it? By how much they use it? How much they talk about it? If they thank you?

Steven has given me amazing, thoughtful gifts. Probably the most amazing was the first thing he ever gave me – a handmade box for holding my drawing pencils. He made that!

So, I am not anti gift-giving or saying I am awful at giving gifts, but… maybe it’s not all that important, in the long run. Maybe it’s not something worth getting upset about. Maybe we should just be excited when someone was thoughtful and generous enough to get us something. You can tell when it is sincere and from the heart, not matter how good or “bad” it is.

What do you think? Are these gift-giving stereotypes true?

*I would love to see this article include some examples of same-sex relationships as well. I wonder what the gift-giving stereotypes are there.
**Steven, it doesn’t help that your birthday is THREE days before Christmas!

Comments (31)

By kilax, December 10, 2009 5:16 am

The December issue of Shape* has an article titled “Eat what you want and still lose weight!” with nine somewhat tired strategies to “celebrate the season without feeling deprived – and may(be) even drop 5 pounds in the process!”

Ha. Ha ha.

Tip #8, “Keep Your Focus” is about not being preoccupied when you eat. “Give your full attention to the conversation or sit down to concentrate on the food in front of you – you’ll appreciate it more.”

Makes sense, right? But then they throw this in:

Where you sit a dinner matters too. Try snagging the chair next to your brother’s cute friend: A new study published in the journal Appetitefound that women who ate in the presence of a man consumed 358 fewer calories than when they dined with a group of women. Researchers at Canada’s McGill University say women often suppress their eating in front of a person of the opposite sex.

Okay. This struck me the wrong way. It’s all fine and dandy if this study is true. BUT, the fact that the magazine is encouraging it?! I think this is something women should get away from! They should feel comfortable eating how they really want to around men. I know the magazine is just including it as a tip, but I think they were better off sticking with “keep your focus” and “be mindful of conversation.”

And, really? I am more self-conscious around some women than men!

What do you think? Do you think the study is accurate? Do you think it’s a good tip? What are your holiday tips for not going overboard with food?

Here’s a tip that wasn’t included: become a vegan so you can’t eat anything at all during the holidays! Ha ha, I am just joking around, but it IS particularily bad at the office holiday potluck. Almost every dish has meat in it. I bring my own food from home for the parties.

Note: After I wrote this, I found an article on the same topic on The Great Fitness Expermient (she pretty much came to the same conclusion as me). I was going to do a similar poll, but decided not to since there was one up there.

*What is with all of the magazine references, Kim?! This is what happens when you have two flights in one day and are stuck in the airport for awhile!

Comments (18)

By kilax, November 28, 2009 7:20 am

We celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday with my sister, Christina, and her friend, Will. What does a vegan Thanksgiving look like? Let me show you…

The Sous Chef and Chef

The main dish: Stuffed Acorn Squash

Your choices are lentils and rice or…

Dressing!

We also had lentils and rice

and dressing on the side!

A delicious new Green Bean Casserole recipe! We used the leftover sauce as gravy for…

… the potatoes! Nom nom nom.

Of course, we had to have Cranberries. We just bought the canned Ocean Spray kind, but I may make a fresh cranberry dish for Christmas.

And you can’t forget the rolls (from ALDI)!!!

The fully set Thanksgiving Day Table…

and the fully set table with peeps!

My plate (this is all I ate – I knew we would have LOTS of leftovers)

Christina makes the classic mashed potato sandwich!

There were just a FEW servings of leftover mashed potatoes

We waited a few hours (Christina and Will played Wii the whole time) until we got out the DELICIOUS vegan pumpkin pie (new recipe here)

My plate

Everyone else’s plates!

The only thing that wasn’t vegan at this meal was the butter for the rolls, the whipped cream, and ice cream.

We had a lot of fun yesterday. Steven and I did the food prep while Christina and Will chilled, then we just played Wii all day and hung out. Sometimes, it’s good to spend a day indoors!

I didn’t do a thankful post this year. After reading many of yours, I can say I am thankful for the same things. But one unique thing I have to mention is how thankful I am too have a supportive husband who loves to experiment with food. I became vegan on June 15, but Steven is still a vegetarian. However, he fully supports my decision to be vegan and is always “veganizing” dishes we used to make with animals products, and trying out new recipes that I can eat. What a sweetie! Being vegan is not impossible, but Steven makes it much easier.

Comments (21)

By kilax, October 30, 2009 7:33 am

What are your Halloween plans this year? Dressing up and going out – what as? Trick-or-treating with the kids – what are they going as? Handing out candy – what kind? Not doing anything?

We are doing the same thing we have the past two years – handing out candy. Well, not candy, but animal crackers! We usually don’t have many kids come to our door; I think it’s because we live in a townhome. Two years ago we had 35 kids visit, and I think last year we had between 20-25.

Two years ago, we handed out little Darth Vader helmets (from inside of that big helmet) that were full of candy.

This year the trick-or-treating in our neighborhood is from 1:00-7:00 pm. Doesn’t that seem like a long-ass time?! When I was a kid, it was from 5:00-7:00, and we were hauling ass going from house to house.* We had so much fun though. We always went to my grandma’s neighborhood, and hit almost every house. Then we immediately went back to her house to sort our candy and make any trades. My grandma really got into Halloween. She always had this scary dummy she put on the bench on her front porch. One year, we arrived, and walked right past it, and it jumped out at us! She had dressed up as they dummy to freak us out. Well, she did. Hmm, that must be where my mom got that. Ha, I’ll have to tell a funny story about that sometime.

Oops, got off tangent. I hope we have more trick-or-treaters since they have a six-hour window to trick-or-treat. Our only other plans this weekend are to paint the guest bathroom. Woo-hoo! Not. I hate to paint. But this was my idea. We have paint, might as well use it!

*I apologize for the use of the word “ass” twice in one sentence.

Comments (19)

By kilax, October 21, 2009 7:20 am

Ugh, I have been excited about the holiday season since September. That is just sick! Let’s just blame it on the cooler temperatures we had this year, and move along…

We have a lot to look forward to this year:

• My mom, dad, and grandma are coming to Chicago the week before Thanksgiving for the 2009 Cookie Extravaganza.
• We may host Thanksgiving at our house this year with friends (if any Chicago friends are around)
• My sister will be in town late Thanksgiving Day, and possibly stay until the following Saturday, so we can have another fun meal with her and maybe do some “window shopping”
• Steven’s family is coming to our house this year for the holidays, so we get to decorate (And get a real tree! Data will be so excited when I tell him.), and plan fun meals and activities
• We may go visit some college friends in December
• We will get to see my family for the holidays sometime in December or January
• There is a slight possibility that we will travel to Disney World in January to run a half marathon (if not, we will be looking to get rid of our entries)

Our first real tree, in 2005!

We have fun, busy times ahead to look forward to. And I didn’t even mention that we have sometime planned practically every weekend until the holidays hit. Luckily, those events are close to home, and we don’t have to travel (much).

I think I get so excited about the holidays each year because I love to plan. Even though every year, I realize more and more how things don’t ever turn out exactly as planned (hey, that’s life!).

Do you get excited about the holidays? Do you love to plan things out too?

Do you live in a little fantasy world in your head like I do? Ha ha.

Comments (13)

By kilax, October 10, 2009 9:12 am

Remember last year when my mom, grandma, sister and I baked all of those sweets to hand out? Well, we’re doing it again this year. Same weekend (before Thanksgiving), one less person (Christina can’t come). And I am just as excited.

But, we all remember how tired we were making so many sweets (and dealing with a few failures). So, we’ve decided to only make four things.

Of course, my mom is already calling me suggesting more and more to bake. What happened to only making four things, mother?! She’s apparently having a hard time deciding on what to bake.

So, if you were receiving a basket of sweets, which four items below would you want in it? See the photo below the poll for a reference picture. And let me know if you have some favorite item that we did not include on the list!

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All the sweets we made last year, some items not included in the poll

And, one more poll, that Steven sort of inspired me to add at the last minute.

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By kilax, January 5, 2009 12:39 pm

December is full of celebrations, family get-togethers, and days off from work… then January hits and NOTHING is going on.

I distinctly remember spending most of LAST January’s weeknights and weekends on my couch, watching DVDs, and probably eating something.

As awesome as that is, I really hope I don’t let that happen again this year. It’s fun for one day (like yesterday, where I stayed in my pajamas until 8:00 pm when I put on clothes to exercise), but then it just becomes an addicting cycle of doing nothing that makes me feel worse and worse about myself.

I like to have something to look forward to. I know I am supposed to live in the moment and all that, but having something to look forward to gets me going through the day.

So what I am looking forward to this winter?

• Our trip to the Bahamas at the end of January. HA HA, JUST KIDDING! I WISH! HA!
• A (real) trip to Denver to see friends and try skiing for the first time.
• A weekly fencing class that runs until the middle of May.
• A gun safety class in January (okay, I just had to put that one on there to be funny).
• A 4-day weekend in both January and February.
• On-going half marathon training.
• A game night with friends?
• Seeing friends and family? Nothing is set in stone, but I always look forward to that.

Yeah, it’s a pretty lame list, but it’s all I got. Anything on yours? Or are you able to make it through the winter blahs without one?

Comments (16)

By kilax, December 30, 2008 7:09 pm

My wish didn’t come true.

My Metra wish, that is.

All I could think about at the end of the day was getting home. I had a wonderful Christmas, but I am exhausted. I feel dead tired – more tired than I’ve felt in a long time. This month is just wearing me out, and our travels aren’t over yet – we’re flying to Kansas City on Thursday. It’s fun to spend this time of year with family (or any time), but the back to back traveling just kills me.

The holidays just aren’t the same as they used to be.

Anyway. The train I was taking out of Chicago tonight went about 500 feet then stopped for an hour. We saw cop cars pull up and a stretcher go by. No announcements were ever made. People on the train started to complain to one another. One man said “We’re like hostages on this train!”

Why tonight, on a night when I just want to get home? I tried to relax and make the most of my time sitting there… but really, I’m stuck on a train. There’s not much “making the most of my time.”

Bleh. When will I feel energized again?

Soon, please, soon!

(Even though this is written in the past tense, I am still on this gd train as I post this!)

Comments (26)

By kilax, December 22, 2008 9:26 pm

Today is Steven’s birthday. Can you guess how old he is?

When I asked Steven what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday, he said he wanted a “huge bavarian creme donut.” “Not twice the size of a normal doughnut, but like, four times bigger.”

Hmm.

I sent an email to our favorite bakery, to see if they could accommodate the request:

Dear Deerfield’s, My husband loves your bavarian cream donuts. I was planning on ordering a cake from your store for him for his birthday, but he asked if I could order him a big bavarian cream donut with chocolate frosting. Is it possible to order something like that? I think he just means bigger than a normal donut, about four times the size. I would order it for pick up on Dec. 21st. Thanks for letting me know (and for humoring me!) Kimberly

They responded right away:

Hello, We don’t make a “jumbo” donut however we can either do a layered birthday cake with a custard filling or a Bavarian Cream Pie which has 2 layers of yellow cake filled with Bavarian Cream and topped with fudge icing. Please call Customer Service @ 847-520-0068 ext. 4 to place your order, Thank you. Cindy

At least they humored me. I laughed when I saw “jumbo” in quotation marks.

So, Steven didn’t get his “jumbo” donut – he got the leaning tower of donuts (thanks for the suggestion, Denise!) as well as a birthday cake, and some black and white cookies (which were very, very disappointing).

I gave him the donut tower, cake and cookies yesterday, since I wouldn’t have the opportunity to pick them up today. I also made sugar cookies, peanut butter cookies, and snickerdoodles yesterday (for Steven to take to work). So breakfast was donuts and cookies. Lunch was cookies and cookie dough. Afternoon snack was string cheese, then cake and ice cream with our neighbors. Pre-dinner snack was cookies. Dinner was penne pasta with alfredo sauce and green beans.

No wonder I had a headache when I woke up this morning!

When I was walking from the train to work this morning, I thought maybe yesterday’s sugar overload had finally cured me – I had made me feel awful enough that I would never binge on cookies again!

Yeah, right.

Sweet treats will always be around at celebrations! Birthdays just aren’t the same without a special sweet treat. I hope Steven enjoyed his! Happy Birthday, babe!

Steven and the furbaby.