Her Morning Elegance

I dedicate this blog post to my Alison who is undergoing so many refreshing, messy, necessary, and brave changes at this time. Moving away is the best hardest thing I ever did, if it's more hard than best before you go, give me a call. Love ya.

These are the women with whom I rang in the new year, WHAT a blessing!

My mother made an observation about our generation the other day; "You know, between the Facebook, blogs, Myspace business, your generation is extremely self-involved." Naturally, I was at first defensive but couldn't muster any response that could prove the contrary. This got me thinking, "What do I get from this blog, but more importantly, what can I possibly say that would make it worth reading and advantageous to others?" I don't have the answer to this yet, but I would love to hear your thoughts. Would you like editing tips? More stories about strangers? Book lists? Recipes? I can only offer what I know, but I'm open to suggestions!

If you're here for an update, I can help with that:

What I'm reading: The Book Thief (it is AMAZING, I can't believe I'm not through it yet, but it is wonderful and I'm at least happy to not be rushing this story)

What I'm cooking: One terribly gone-wrong turkey chili recipe (threw it out), one successful souffle, one "dump cake" which was so good I had to ruin it before I ate the whole pan (so, after eating too much of it, threw it away too), a curry-coconut pumpkin soup that was divine with a few tweaks to the recipe, and a couple dozen pre-made Trader Joe's choc. chip cookies for some friends.

What I've been doing for fun: Watching The Happening with friends (we laughed through the whole thing), basking in the fabulousness of Lindsey, Annie, and Courtny's new home, and trying new coffee shops (wi-fi nomad that I am). Driving with the windows down in our 80-degree weather, I'm completely in awe of this climate. Enjoying restaurant week with a hot date (thanks Jenni!)

Happys: Reading the Bible again, being back in my bed, reading while sipping tea I got for Christmas using water from the tea kettle I was gifted with too, seeing the ocean, the fact that my workplace brews Starbucks coffee everyday, my new vests I got for Christmas, early spring cleaning. Sharing Sarah's excitement as she continues to expand her circle of friends and community, Alison's excitement as she moves to Rochester and actually having the experience to back up my advice to her on moving.

Crappys: Work is really hectic right now and I'm nervously taking on my biggest editing project yet, I miss my people in NE even though I love being here in CA and can't imagine being anywhere else, my resistance to getting into a workout routine--why do I make this so hard?

I'll think of something enlightening and hopefully useful for my next post, but for now this is my update for 2009 and I hope all of you are having a good start to the new year!

Doin' Fine in 2009

New post coming soon! First thank you notes, then blog.