When The Baking Mood Strikes

Thanksgiving baking adventures. 

When Thanksgiving and Chanukah Collide

Giving Thanks

For Family

For Sisters

For The Men They Love

And For Their Babies

For My Man

For The Home We Built

And For His Family That Has Become Mine

For Best Friends

That Are Forever Friends

For this life. Beautiful. Messy. Mine.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Sure Signs Thanksgiving Is On The Way...

If you live or work in Manhattan, as I do, there are certain signs that the holiday season is about to kick into full swing. More than just the selling of holiday cards at the Papyrus on 6th Avenue which have pretty much been available since September, or the Christmas decorations on Radio City Music Hall which have been up since October because of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular.

I'm talking about the signs that start to pop up during Thanksgiving week. The decorations and the people who are absent one day, appear the next day out of nowhere, and become to quickly and neatly ingrained into the landscape of Midtown Manhattan that you can hardly remember a day when they weren't there.

Yesterday on my way to work I stumbled upon three such signs:

The Rock Center Christmas Tree Star

The lit up trees and the ornaments stacked in the fountain

Dancers for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

The season is officially underway.

Happy day before Thanksgiving to you and yours.

Awards, Awards, Awards

As most of you know, I am in the middle of a blogging challenge called NaBloPoMo, or, National Blog Posting month, where I blog every day of the month of November, or for thirty days straight. It's a little tricky, but also a lot of fun.

One of the best parts has been reading posts from bloggers I wasn't entirely familiar with before this month began. I have Yeah Write and its massive NaBloPoMo grid to thank for that.

Recently, I have been the recipient of two awards from bloggers I have met recently. I got the Liebster Award from the lovely Michelle DeLorge at Scattered Wrecks, and I got the Sunshine Award from the incomparable Jake at Jake vs. The City.

The rules for the awards are similar. I write eleven random facts about myself, answer eleven questions posed to me by the giver of the award, and bestow these awards on some other bloggers of my choice. As I have been the recipient of The Liebster before, I have already divulged some little known facts about myself here, but who couldn't use a few more?

Here they are, in no random order:

1. I can't remember the last time I slept through the night. I sleep pretty well, but I wake up at least once in the middle of the night, every single night.
   
2. You all know I love romance novels, but did you know that I love post-9/11 spy novels too?
   
3. And YA novels about dystopian futures? I just finished the first book in the Divergent trilogy, and am re-reading The Hunger Games trilogy too.
   
4. I saw all 8 Harry Potter movies at midnight on the night they came out.
   
5. And also both Sex and the City movies.
   
6. I keep a handwritten red notebook filled with recipes. Not everything should be done online.
   
7. I love to cook but I rarely use cookbooks, relying instead on the aforementioned red notebook.
   
8. This year is the very first Thanksgiving in my entire life that I am not going to be with my parents. I'll be at my in-law's house for an epic Thanksgivukah (Thanksgiving + Chanukah) celebration, in honor of the last time Thanksgiving and Chanukah will overlap for more than 70,000 years.
   
9. I get a weekly manicure. It's one of my biggest indulgences, but I never feel completely put together without one.
   
10. In my house, when it snows we get to have special snow day treats. Think: doughnuts, cookies, grilled cheese, hot cocoa. It's a tradition held over from when my sisters and I were little, and I want to maintain it forever.
    
11. Sometimes I imagine what life would be like if I had a brother, and I can't ever get that picture in my head. sisters are the best.

And here are my answers to Michelle's questions. She asked us to pick our favorite movies in 11 different genres:

1. Drama - A League of Their Own
2. Comedy - It's a tie...Crazy, Stupid, Love and Pitch Perfect
3. Romantic Comedy - You've Got Mail
4. Romantic Drama - The American President
5. Epic - Apollo 13
6. Animated - Toy Story, the original
7. Biopic - The Social Network. Weird, I know, but I can't help but watch it every time it's on.
8. Historical - Does Pearl Harbor count? Because I really, really love that movie. 
9. Sci-Fi - Is Harry Potter sci-fi? Because, magic. I say it does.
10. Foreign - I just can't with foreign films. This might make me uncultured. I'm not so sure I care.
11. Mystery - The Life of David Gale

And here are my answers to Jake's:

1. If you were an animal, what would it be? - A leopard, because I like the spots
   
2. What is your favorite book and why? - This one is hard, because I have so many favorites, depending on the genre and what I'm in the mood for. But I think my all time, never goes out of style favorite is Just As Long As We're Together, by Judy Blume
   
3. If you could have 1 superhero power, what would it be? - To fly
   
4. What's your favorite color? - Purple
   
5. What strange thing do you do when you get ready in the morning? - Follow a routine that never, ever varies. If it does, I imagine all kinds of bad things that will befall me during the day.
   
6. What's your favorite movie? - I have lots of favorites, see above. But my all time most favorite is definitely The American President.
   
7. If you could go one place in the world, where would it be? - Italy
   
8. Harry, Ron, or Hermione? - Hermione. Smart, cool, and a really good friend
   
9. iPhone or Droid? - Droid all the way
   
10. Staying in and watching a movie, or going out to a movie theatre? - Staying in, I'm a homebody.
    
11. Why did you start blogging? - Mostly because I had a lot to say, and I was tired of keeping it all in.

Thank you so much Michelle and Jake...Stay tuned for my nominees!

Welcome Back Winter (and my blue running jacket)

The very first thing I do when I wake up on Sunday morning is check the weather, mostly so I know how to dress for my run.

For the past three plus years, Sunday has been my long run day. Depending on the time of year, and whether I am training for anything, long run can mean as little as three miles, and as many as ten. But regardless of how long I plan on being outside, the one thing I have learned in these three years of running is that the easiest way to completely ruin a run is to dress wrong, and I've made some pretty big mistakes in my day.

The 2 degree night running hills in Central Park where I didn't wear a jacket and forgot my gloves comes to mind. Or the time it was in the 70s and I decided that my 3/4 running pants were a good idea instead of shorts. Or the time I wore summer socks in February and I honestly thought I would lose toes due to frostbite.

One can't be a runner and not go through these kinds of wardrobe malfunctions. But over the years, I have gotten a lot better at predicting what I should be wearing, depending on the weather.

I knew it was supposed to be cold and windy yesterday, but I didn't know exactly how cold and windy we were talking. So when I woke up, far later than normal, and checked my Accuweather app, here is what I found:

A real feel of 4 degrees and 40 mile per hour wind gusts? Sounds just perfect for an outdoor run. (I'm being half serious. I love running in the cold. I could do without the wind).

So I donned my running tights, long sleeve shirt and jacket, grabbed gloves and a hat, and was out the door. It was my first real run in tights and a jacket, and I was thrilled with the result.

I had to cut the run a little short due to wind gusts pushing me off the path every 2 minutes, but it felt great to be out there in the blazing sunshine and frigid air. Running in the cold makes me feel fierce and it makes me feel alive.

Welcome back winter. My blue running jacket and I have missed you.