All Questions: the Mars edition

So this single lady has had a few questions regarding the fellas.....

Just going to throw these all out there so they're out of my head. If you should feel so inclined to play along (be you from Mars or Venus), go for it in the comments! More questions or answers are all accepted.

In no particular order:

*If, after three years you realized that your ex took something when he left that you thought you've had all along, would you let it go? Or find a way to get it back? You might really want the thing he took.

*Why would a gentleman NEVER mention the fact that he has a live-in girlfriend (not even casually like, "oh, yeah, my girlfriend helped me out with that" or "my girlfriend and I went to that..."), but then mention it to your friend whom he's met all of two times.

*Why would a gentleman when given a perfect opening to tell you he's in a band, not tell you he's in a band? Don't all gentlemen in bands want everyone to know they're in a band?

*What's with a gentleman (or really anyone for that matter) who doesn't return a friendly smile?

That's all I've got for now. Maybe I'll be able to sleep better tonight with all that out of my head and out in the universe.

All Questions.

I have some questions for y'all:

If you are a patron of the arts, say you have season tickets to the symphony or you have purchased some art that you love. Do you talk about it? Or do you just nerd out on your own over the particular art you love?

Do you have room for out-of-town guests to sleep comfortably at your house or apartment? How many can you sleep? I'm planning on coming over and need to know! mwahahaha!

Do you or your significant other do the yard upkeep at your house? Or do you share the yard work? Or do you hire it out?

What's your favorite thing about warmer weather?

Are you on Twitter? Have you ever introduced yourself to someone you follow (who may not follow you) when you've seen them at a social function?

Leave your answers in the comments. Then I'll answer in a later post!

Age Old Question

A Question for Modern Times

I'm curious what everyone else does in this situation. You go to a restaurant to pick up some yummy take out items. It's the kind of place where the pleasant person helping you actually has to package your food - go get the soup, the accompanying roll and heap some salad into a container from the deli case. You pay with a credit card, where there is space for writing in a tip - because it's a restaurant and that's how every receipt must look - and for your signature. You go to said place a lot. Like, they know who you are on sight. Do you write in a tip for counter service? I don't believe there's a "tip jar" for cash like some establishments have. So I'm not really sure what's expected. Don't want to feel like a tool for not tipping, if that's standard practice.

Help! Do you have an answer to this question for modern times? Please share!

Line Jumper

I don't normally get creased over people's rude and/or oblivious line etiquette, but this week a trip to my local ice cream shop to meet up with some friends could have turned ugly. Understand the line at this place is usually out the door and it was a hot night, so a good place in line is coveted. I got there a few minutes after my friends and got in the shorter-than-usual line by myself. All of a sudden a lady and a couple kids under seven or so just make themselves comfortable in front of me. Yeah. Don't mind me, I'm not even standing here. I was in a mood to begin with and didn't want to be a jerk, so I didn't say anything, thinking she'd realize she and the kids had hopped the line and make things right by getting behind me.

Not. A. Chance.

And to make matters worse she was all space cadet about moving up in the line. For real? As a human in the United States you've probably been standing in one line or another since you could stand and you're basically acting like this is your very first time in a line or are so filled with entitlement that you have no concept of what lines are even for. Come on! Her only saving grace is that the line was shorter than normal and there was ice cream involved.

Otherwise...yeah, I wasn't going to go all Christian Bale berserk on her, but wanted to. What I would have done was to politely say, "excuse me, but I believe I was here first." She would have looked at me like I was the crazy, insane person for committing the unheard of act of speaking up kindly for what's right and what rightly yours. Whatever.

The Deer Traxx in a sugar cone helped smooth things over.

Do you speak up when someone line jumps? What have you said? Do people usually yield?

Shaka Shaka

My geometry teacher had this deal for choosing lucky contestants to come to the board and write out proofs from our homework assignments. She called it "shaka shaka." Every student's name was on a tiny slip of paper in a can on her desk. She'd give that can the ole "shaka shaka" and pull out a name. If she picked you, it was your lucky day for putting your geometry skills on display. Everybody loved/hated shaka shaka. It broke up the routine of the same kids always solving proofs, but breaking up the routine meant you could be the one put in the geometry hot seat.

I'm hoping to shaka shaka my life, by breaking up my routine. I'm so craving excitement and fun. I've felt stuck in a rut for a while now. Perhaps that's why I've been a little more quiet than normal around these parts, there's been nothing terribly noteworthy to blog about.

Shake It Up, Hand Painted Giclee Print on Canvas

by Russell D'Allessio

Instead of waiting for something exciting to happen that I can be a part of, I need to make my own excitement. This could take on many forms. Mainly, I can't keep waiting for the good stuff to happen. I need to make it happen. It's so easy for me to get trapped in the daily grind of work, run, eat & sleep that I forget there's so much more to life. I'm not in the thick of training for a race right now, so now is a perfect time to shake things up, to do things a little differently, to do things I've been thinking about doing, but haven't.

I've already changed things up a bit today. I got my running miles in this morning. I actually got out of bed at 5:00 a.m. and was running by 5:15 a.m., which when you consider my previous snooze button abuse, this is a big deal. I'm already so into the morning run, I'm looking forward to getting up tomorrow and doing it again. Tomorrow isn't even a day I'd usually run! There's something very cool about being up before the sun. The streets were mine and I was home before I would normally even be out of bed! With the heat we're experiencing here in Michigan, the morning run will probably save me from heat stroke.

So that's just one example of me giving my routine the old shaka shaka. I've got to keep the momentum going so I'm continually looking forward to something. I'll try to keep you posted. What do you do to break out of a rut?

Summer (Dreaming) Eats

The weather here in Michigan this week has been far from desireable for late spring. It's been about 45 and cloudy and/or rainy since earlier this week. So what else can a foodie girl do but start dreaming of all things summer? I've been thinking about food in particular, things I want to make that will help enhance the summer mood, once it finally does arrive. Here's what I've got so far:

Ice cream sandwiches made with homemade cookies and or graham crackers.
Salsa from scratch.
Blueberry pie.
Peach pie.
Pesto with fresh basil.
S'mores.
Grilled corn on the cob.
Pasties.
Potato salad.
New and adventurous salads.

I've made a number of these things already, but look forward to them each summer. I love things that are rather simple, yet full of flavor. There's nothing better than making something with items I've picked up at the Farmer's Market earlier in the day. Each of the recipes I've made are seasonal palate pleasers that pretty much fit that bill (except maybe the S'mores!) and I can't wait to create some new summer snacks to share with family & friends and you. My plan is to document a few of these and post pics here.

What foods are your summer favorites? What am I missing out on? Wanna swap recipes?

Hair ye! Hair ye!

I'm in the market for a new hair spray. It's been quite the ordeal! I purchased my third hairspray today in probably as many weeks and I'm going to return it.

Today it was L'oreal Elnett Satin Extra Stronghold Hairspray. Available at your local Target. I was intrigued by this hairspray because Ford Artists' Hair Stylist and youtube video hair-to super star Johnny Lavoy tweeted about it a couple months back. He's an awesome stylist, so I thought I'd give it a try. I liked how it sprayed, but CANNOT stand the smell. To paraphrase an amazon.com reviewer, "why would you get all dolled up and want to smell that bad?" It's a smell that does not go away either. I'm so returning this tomorrow, unless someone out there wants to try it and maybe trade me something you have but don't like. Total let down.

I've also tried L'oreal Vive Pro Glossy Style non-aerosol hair spray. I still have that one, but it's not my favorite, because it sprays on too wet. If you're local, I actually know you and you want to try it I'll give that one away. There was a John Frieda aerosol spray in the mix too that went back to the store after one try - the spray was way too powerful, we're talking pressure like those cans of air that you can clean your computer keyboard off with. It was ridiculous!

I'm really looking for a good areosol-type hairspray. I've been using Aveda's Witch Hazel hairspay for years. I adore how it smells, but have found that sometimes you need the finer mist of hairspray than the heavier spray a pump hair spray gives you. May consider trying Aveda's Air Control hair spray. It's at a slightly higher price point than I'd like to spend, but may have to break down and try it. At this rate, I need to widen my scope since I just really want to find the one that will do the trick, hold a style in place without creating helmet hair, provide volume and most importantly smell good or not smell at all.

Totally need to crowd source this: what hairspray are you using? Why do you love it and where can I get it? Please let me know, clearly I need your help!

Day Three (afternoon)

Dear Internets,
It's been three days aboard this ship with nary a sweet, cheese or bread stuff to be found. The cravings are so much stronger than the other days of the cleanse. This afternoon, I've been thinking about what it would be like to eat the following items, in no particular order and of course not all at the same time:

Frosting, heck, I'd eat the cake too!
Pudding.
Cheese in any of its melty forms.
Crusty delicious bread.
Big Bob's cheesy breadsticks, which combines bread and cheese!
A slice of pizza from NYC or Georgio's (have you tried Georgio's in GR yet?!)
Swiss cake rolls. Hey, Little Debbie, can you hear me?!
Cookies. Ginger snaps or chocolate chip cookies right out of the oven.
Butter.
Diet coke.
Ice cream.
Barbecue Sauce.

Really, these cravings are not any different from my usual cravings, it's just that I might actually eat some of them if I weren't so determined to make it the full seven days of the cleanse (some of you have asked how long it goes...). I will prevail. Going to try not to think about it.

Got any food cravings you want to share?

WTF?

Is there really a difference between being daring and not knowing better? I think there is. Knowing better takes history/level of danger/risk into account. Being daring, looks at the history/danger factor and decides the risk is worth the reward and that the possibility of loss isn’t that great. In other words, you can safely utter and answer the phrase, “what do I have to lose?” If I were more daring and/or didn’t know any better these are things I might do:

Quit my job and start a business catering to high net worth individuals who have more money than time.

Ask the next man who I fancy if he’ll marry me sooner rather than later.

Find a way to get what’s mine without it being traced back to me.

Find a way to go on tour with the Kings of Leon.

Sky dive.

Eat candy all day.

Get a giant visible tattoo.

Tell more people what I really think.

Max out as many credit cards as I can get my hands on.

It's probably a good thing for all involved that I know better/am not that daring. Just saying. What would you do if you didn't know better/were more daring?