T&L

So I’ve been seeing these little “Seven Things” surveys floating around the blogosphere on some of my favorite blogs lately, and they’ve been a fun way to learn more about some of the ladies whose blogs I consistently read. It’s always fun to learn something new, right?  And what the heck, I’m game.

1| What is the best piece of advice you have received?

A few of my favorites – “Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.” “We must take adventures in order to know where we truly belong.” “Say Please, Thank You, and I Love You, every day, over and over and over.” “Travel is the only thing you can buy that makes you richer.” “Decide that you want it more than you are afraid of it.” “The things you take for granted, someone else is praying for.” “We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” “You are a woman with a brain and reasonable ability. Stop whining and find something to do.”

2| What’s your biggest struggle in life?

To not let my desire for adventure, travel, great food, trying new things, or decorating our home to carve out our own special space in the world overwhelm the gratitude and joy I have for the wonderful life we already live, with exactly what we have, and who we share it with, just the way things are right now. As a person who consistently yearns to see, explore, experience, and fully appreciate the world and all the beautiful, wonderful things in it, it can be really easy to get carried away and unintentionally turn that positive desire to experience and appreciate into unsavory emotions, like greed, envy, frustration at our tiny budget that doesn’t allow for much other than our basic living expenses, or an all-consuming desire for ‘more’ – even if that ‘more’ isn’t necessarily about materialistic things, and even if it is born from a place of good intentions. For me, it can be a daily struggle to find the balance between experiencing as much as I can of this world because I’m so grateful to be living in it, and enjoying everything and everyone simply as it is, because our current everyday life is also beautiful and I’m truly grateful for that too. I think the trick is to focus on enjoying life now instead of waiting for the future, but to also keep your eyes, mind, and heart open to opportunities. Also, I realized while writing this, if this is my biggest struggle in life (other than our usual job insecurity with both of us working in the theatre industry and our consistent medical expenses), we’re doing pretty good and have a lot to be thankful for.

3| If money were no object, what are 2 things you’d buy for yourself right now?

I’d treat myself a luxurious full salon package – a pedicure, manicure, full-body hot stone massage, shampoo and deep conditioning treatment, and a haircut with blow dry and styling – in Door County. I’d also splurge on a stylish yet comfortable new wardrobe of essentials that are appropriate and can be mixed and matched for both work and weekends. Because finances are tight, my wardrobe is pretty limited and I haven’t bought new clothes in a long time (many of my clothes and shoes are still from college – which I realize every dude out there is like “so…?”), massages and nail appointments happen only on special occasions (like my wedding), and I usually only get my haircut once or twice a year at somewhere quick and cheap, but a new look to usher in the fall would be welcome and it feels so nice to look and feel fresh and put together on occasion. I’m not a girly girl and I’m not usually about salons, style, or shopping…but once every few years I get the urge for a revamp that will hopefully last me for the next 5 years.

4| Pick 3 bloggers: who’s your biggest blog crush, who would you like to meet in real life, and whose wardrobe would you love to steal?

Amanda of Marshalls Abroad (biggest blog crush), Bonnie of The Life of Bon and Rebecca of Girl’s Gone Child (meet in real life), Taza of Love Taza and Megan of Freckled Italian (wardrobe I’d love to steal). For the record, I wouldn’t mind meeting any of these cool and bold women!

5| It’s your last meal…what are you eating?

When you like food a lot, this is a terribly difficult question. Are you ready? Today, I’d go for a fresh and perfectly balanced gourmet salad with all kinds of fantastic mix-ins and dressing to start, an appetizer of steaming artichoke hearts with lemon butter, a soft hot fresh-baked roll with warm honey butter, followed by a meal of a robustly seasoned and perfectly tender seafood and steak platter bursting with flavor, some kind of creamy out-of-this-world mac n’ cheese, fresh steamed broccoli of the perfect texture and seasoning, and a double-dessert of a warm and sinfully rich flourless chocolate cake with a scoop of devilishly creamy ice cream and a tangy lemon bar. I’d sip on a sweet and bubbly glass of cold moscato with the salad and appetizer, drink milk during the meal, and top it off with a small sweet butterscotch martini served with dessert. Ask a dangerous question, get a fully loaded answer.

6| You’re road tripping across America. What 3 cities, landmarks, or tourist sights do you have to see?

Arizona (Painted Desert, Sedona, Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon, Havasu Falls, and the Wave), Oregon (Thor’s Well, Crater Lake, Heceta Head Lighthouse, Mount Hood, West Coast Game Park, and Sea Lion Caves), and Colorado (Continental Divide, Royal George Bridge, Dunton Hot Springs, Rocky Mountain National Park, Cliff Palace, and Crystal Mill).

7| If you could pack up all your belongings and move to a new city or country, where would you move?

Someplace with a very different culture and way of life that I know nothing about. I’d never even given a thought to what life must be like in Lansing, Cincinnati, or Rochester before I moved to these cities, and each time I explored my heart out, experienced the good and the bad, and fell in love. I’d love to have an opportunity to live overseas, in a country with people, foods, customs, and a lifestyle I know very little about, so I can discover what life is like in another place I’d previously never given a thought to – like Cambodia, Chili, or Poland. There’s no better way to learn than to just dive in with both feet. I can’t stay I’d stay there forever, but I’d definitely give it a try for a year or two. Also, we’re finally getting settled in Rochester after moving five bazillion times between college and now, so I kind of hope to give ourselves a break and a little stability by moving nowhere for the next three to five years. I know Ted echos my sentiments. After that, I might be up for some new adventures.

****

Got a blog? You should play along too and then let me know in the comments below. Pick some questions that you wouldn’t mind answering or answer the ones I or someone else answered. Tag other bloggers in this post to answer these questions, or just leave it as is.  Answer two questions or answer twenty. No rules, no pressure.

Happy Thursday!

I think I should first clarify that Ted hates Chipotle. Hates. I didn’t think it was possible to hate Chipotle. He has all kinds of unsavory names brewed up for that place. I mean, how can their food not agree with you? They use fresh, locally sourced meats and vegetables, and its relatively healthy with salad bowls and tasty burritos, great non-greasy tortilla chips and an array of flavorful salsas, fresh guac, and they even serve margaritas! I swear they’re not paying me to say this stuff, though I wish they were. Really, its delicious. And I love it. Since my first Chipotle burrito my freshman year of college, I’ve been all about the Chipotle goodness. It’s no authentic Mexican feast or Tex-Mex, but for fast food Mexican? It really can’t be beat. I could consume their cilantro-lime rice, corn salsa, and guacamole for weeks on end.

I’ve been pleading with Ted to go to Chipotle with me for the entire five years we’ve known each other. Alas, whenever a Chipotle craving strikes once every few months, I must either ignore it and move on, get it on an extremely rare dinner date with a friend, or go alone and then face the impending commentary about how gross and/or expensive it is. It’s like tradition with us, and I’m used to it.

So when Ted picked me up from work on my birthday and asked where I’d like to go for a quick dinner together before dropping him off at his rehearsal that evening, I mostly-jokingly suggested Chipotle, knowing full well it wasn’t going to happen. To which he, shockingly and simply, replied “sure.” Once I’d retrieved my jaw from the floor of the car and questioned him at least half-a-dozen times to make sure he’d really just agreed to eat at Chipotle with me, we actually did it. We went into a Chipotle together. And Ted did not die. It was a monumental moment. And that is the story of how we thoroughly enjoyed I thoroughly enjoyed and Ted survived my awesomely unexpected birthday dinner at Chipotle. But really, it was the BEST.

If I didn’t know before, I know now that my husband must truly love me.

After I dropped Ted off at rehearsal for the show he’s working on, I met a small group of my lady friends for celebratory birthday sweets at the Village Bakery. We had salted caramel cupcakes, coconut cupcakes, a chocolate cake bite, and a phenomenal flourless chocolate cake that was so chocolately and divine! Because less flour = more chocolate. It was so rich and really, pretty amazing. Thank goodness they’re minis and not actually full cake-sized, because these babies are going to be a difficult temptation to resist.

From there we were going to stop for a few glasses of wine at a restaurant with outdoor seating along the Erie canal, but it was pouring rain and Arielle mentioned that she had just baked a from-scratch glorious peach pie that day, and had fresh homemade watermelon punch, wine, board games and cats at her place, which just happened to be fairly close by. Pie, wine, games, friends, AND cats!? That’s basically the ingredients for the best birthday ever. Sold! An unexpected yet very welcome change of plans! The pie was incredible, the wine, watermelon punch, and vanilla froyo were perfect compliments, we played a really fun game called Head’s Up (it’s a social group game, similar to Taboo, but played using an app on the iPhone), and I got sweet kitty love!

After we called it quits for the night and I picked up Ted for rehearsal, we went home for cards and birthday candles. It was a totally lovely birthday, and a small lesson on why you can have the best laid plans, but when it comes down to it, should just let go and flow when unexpected opportunities come your way.

Thanks to everyone for making my birthday so special!

We’re finishing out tech week for summer conservatory today and tomorrow, so my posts might be a little light (or altogether absent, we’ll see). But in the meantime…

{via}

Now there’s some perspective for your Thursday morning. Ted and I actually bought a Powerball ticket last Sunday – a first for us and, obviously, just for fun. So, of course, we cracked open the conversation about what we’d do with the money if we ever won any sizable amount worth writing home about (which, for us, would be anything more than the $2 we paid for the ticket). Odds are certainly looking slim because we don’t actually play the lottery more than once every five years, so I guess that’s step one, but it’s fun to at least consider what one might do with $400+ million smackaroos.

If I won the lottery, here are my top 5 things I’d do with the money (in no particular order):

1. Pay off anything we owe anybody (which is minimal, but still…)

2. Save and invest – we’d rest easy knowing that we’d have access to money if or when it was ever really needed. We could actually retire comfortably when the time came, and know that we will always be to – even now – pay our rent and utilities, cover all our medical expenses every month, afford car repairs when they are needed, and – in the future somewhere down the line – maybe even build the modest but beautiful house Ted designed.

3. Do good, help those in need, support important causes, and leave the world a better place than I found it

4. Take one epic trip across the world to experience all the food, cultures, people, animals, landscapes, art, history, ways of life, and amazing adventures that make the world such a beautiful and incredible place to call home (this would be my one splurge)

5. Spend more time with my long-distance family and friends

I know what I would do, but I also know what I wouldn’t do. I wouldn’t quit my job, want to live outside the current salary I earn, buy a new car(s), move to a large fancy house, hire service people, buy lots of new clothes or other material things, live extravagantly, become an unrecognizable person, change my priorities, or even tell anybody beyond immediate family that anything was different. I wouldn’t allow it to affect my work ethic, my passion for what I do, my relationships, marriage, or sense of self. I would hope only to continue living the wonderful life we do now (only with less finanical concern), soak in more great life experiences, and help make the world a better place and change other people’s lives.

What 5 things would you do if you won $425 million?

In Lasing we met up with Kristine, our amazing friend, actor, playwright, and former boss/artistic director at the theatre we where we met, for some tasty drinks, the awesomest thin crust pizza grub in existence, dancing to sometimes grand and sometimes awful karaoke, and five wonderful, joyful hours of conversation and laughter at Leo’s Outpost – one of our old Lansing haunts. She is such a gem and we love her dearly! Just having one solitary evening with Kristine was one of the major driving forces of our road trip, and we’re so thrilled we got her all to ourselves!

We vow it will not be four more years before we see this brilliant woman again!

This dude is the BEST.

My Sancho was diagnosed with diabetes this week. With changes to diet and daily insulin injections he should be just fine, but we’d really appreciate some good thoughts all the same.

I sure do wish he could live in New York with me.

{Goodbye Cincy}

{Hello New York}

{Obligatory new home shot…don’t mind the pajamas…we rolled out of bed, ate a bagel, took this picture, waved goodbye to dad, and went right back inside and right back to sleep}

As a going-away present to remember our wonderful 2+ years in Cincy by, a sweet friend of Ted’s from CCM sent Ted to Rochester with a goody bag full with housewarming items for us – all of which were made in Cincinnati by Cincinnati companies! After 9 months of living in Rochester, It was so nice to unwrap each item and be reminded of our time in a city I truly loved.

Our Cincy items gift bag included Puffs tissues, wine from Valley Vineyards (an awesome winery and grill-your-own-steak place in the country just outside the city), Dawn dish soap, Schiavone’s marinara sauce, Kroger Private Selections stone ground mustard, Montgomery Inn BBQ sauce, and La Rosas pizza sauce and Italian dressing. Practical, thoughtful, and amazing! Thanks Patti & Todd!

When Ted and his dad arrived in Rochester with the truck and trailer loaded with the last of our belongings on Monday evening, they had one more Cincinnati surprise as well. 10 whole pints of Cincinnati’s own amazing Graeter’s ice cream (stashed in coolers with dry ice to survive the 9.5 hour drive)!!!

I opened the freezer and screamed.

We are so loved! Cincinnati, we can’t wait to come visit you!

As of Monday evening, after 11 long months of living apart, Ted is finally home with me in Rochester to stay, and we are now residents of New York state!

I made pie to celebrate and Ted brought the ice cream (more on that later)

Happy Chapter 2 to us! We are so thrilled!

*****

More shameless schmoozy lovin’ below…

Ted captured a great little video clip of one of our awesome blue crays, Ace, flipping…literally!

Adult crayfish molt their shell a few times a year (that’s what the second, only slightly more translucent, blue thing is in the tank when you watch the video), and after they molt, their new shell isn’t quite hard yet (until they eat either old molted shell, which is full of calcium that hardens their new shell). While their new shell is still hardening, crays are extra vulnerable to attack from predators, so they’re on high alert for a few days (and total garbage disposals too…Ace will eat anything, and lots of it, after she molts). Even though Ace’s tank is her own and there’s not a predator in sight, just the reflection of Ted walking by her tank sent her into a panic. And this zipping-around-the-tank maneuver is what happens when crays panic…(or get a random burst of energy). I love her little claws wide open and ready to snip at the very end!

Check her out here!

Ace and Gigi are the greatest :)