This is her Dowager Countess face, I believe.

The best kind of yam, a Hannah Yam!  Only 1.99 a pound, it’s a STEAL. (Thanks Sarah for the picture!)

I should probably clean my fingerboard?!  Violinists, do you think I should be playing more on the tip of my pinky?  And how often do you people cut your nails?  Since I’ve quit biting mine (fingers crossed) I find they are constantly too long?

Does that say “pants?”  What would the relevance be? 

No, I’m not having one.  Just a novella I read the other day—(yes, more reading!)–

Midlife Crisis by Brian Doyle

Brian is primarily a playwright and blogger—but he wrote a little novel, or long short story, or novella, whatever you want to call it.  I agreed to read and review it on my blog, so here we are.

In his words: “It’s a comedic story about an crotchety old guy, who never knows how to admit he’s wrong or take responsibility for his mistakes.”

The crotchety old guy is named George, and he is a 67 year old man married to an unfortunate woman named Martha (unfortunate in my opinion for being married to George among other things—he describes her as looking somewhat like a “pear with features and a white afro.”)

The whole story takes place over a short period of time, and we are not definitely meant to sympathize with George.  He realizes some shortcomings of his life and tries to change them but keeps doing so in the worst possible way.  For instance, he sells his car and buys a Prius, thinking it is a manly car.  When somebody makes fun of him for this he sells the Prius and decides to buy a bike, thinking he’ll get in shape.  But then the bike he ends up buying is a girl’s bike and he ends up getting into an accident. Things get worse from there.

Ultimately it all seems to turn out okay, but in the meantime the reader is both amused and depressed by the turn of events.  I particularly found the way George and Martha interacted to be most depressing—I certainly don’t want to be like them in 30 years!

Anyway, if you are interested in reading it (it’s worth a read!), you can get a copy of the book for your Kindle for FREE today only (and honestly it’s short enough that reading it on your computer is no big deal either—).

Did I like it?  Yes and no.  I usually read light stuff because I don’t LIKE to think when I read, I like to be entertained.  It’s not that I wasn’t entertained but like I said, it was a little bit of a downer, but it was also pretty thought provoking.  I do like the idea of a Midlife Crisis hitting at 67 rather than say, 40 for sure!

NEW YEAR NEW YOU!  YOLO! LIFE IS SHORT!

Did I miss any cliches?

Okay, we all know the best way to lose weight is to diet and exercise, right? And I’m a huge proponent of eating proper meals, and getting enough fruits/vegetables and protein, and NOT starving yourself, because if you starve yourself your body goes into starvation mode, and honestly, that’s not good either.  Plus they always say, don’t diet, just change your lifestyle.

You have to fuel your body properly to work out.  You have to treat yourself properly and consider feeding yourself as something that is IMPORTANT and not guilt-ridden.  And interestingly enough, cookies and dessert are not actually needed everyday. (This is something I struggle with during the holidays, not so much during the year, oddly.)

But sometimes you need a little help.  Or you feel a bit desperate, or like you need a little bit of a jump start. Here’s where Vitacost comes in! (Click on that link, I save $10 and you save $10.)

ALSO Vitacost is running a huge sale from 12:01 EST today (Jan 3) through 11:59 EST tonight!  24 hours only, so act fast.

From the company:

Achieve your goals naturally with help from Vitacost.com’s wide selection of diet products, diet foods and weight management supplements. Whether you’re looking for weight-management supplements, diet supplements to support lean muscle, or appetite and satiety support, you’ll find an array of dietary supplements to meet your needs. Forget questionable products or ingredients – you can depend on the high-quality, all-natural supplements offered by Vitacost.com. From filling fiber to caffeine-free formulas, Vitacost.com has everything you need to stay on track, without harsh stimulants and mysterious chemicals. Along with a healthy diet and exercise program, our dietary supplements and other products can help you manage your weight and feel great. At Vitacost.com, we’re committed to providing you with quality vitamins, diet supplements, minerals and other health products at the lowest prices available.

In addition to the one day only discount code, I have a giveaway to offer that lasts for a week.

Honestly, I wish the giveaway I had to offer you was for some protein powder, because I love that stuff and eat it every morning either in a fruit smoothie or mixed into oatmeal, but instead it’s for a Slim-Fast Starter Kit.  After all I just blathered on about, I’m suggesting you switch your breakfast and lunch for a shake or something.  But hey, free is free, right?  And yeah, it’s possible I just suggested you need to lose weight–it’s possible you don’t!  I won’t assume that everybody gained a bunch of weight over the holidays 🙂 (In fact, a recent study suggests being a little overweight could help you live longer…)

The contest runs until midnight EST on January 10.  Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy Anniversary to my husband Chris! 

Last year:

This year:

(No, I’m not wearing my bridesmaids dress.  Yes, I did buy it because it sort of looked like my bridesmaids dress. It’s a short version and I got it for approximately $25 at Marshall’s and I love it! Yes, I own things that aren’t purple but I rarely wear them.)

Here’s to many more! 

Looks about the same, right?  The holes are where there were little wooden “support beams” for the cake topper. 

Tasted great too!  I wrapped it in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil, one year later, tastes fantastic!  We actually refroze it after each having a piece…I don’t know how many more times we can do that though.

Shameless “our wedding” plug: If you are new to the blog and you love weddings, be sure to visit my wedding tab!  We planned our wedding mostly by ourselves and had it in St Louis (at Moulin Events, and here’s a link to my post with all our vendors), so if you are getting married in St Louis and have any questions, I’d be happy to answer them (honestly I love talking about weddings, so feel free to talk to me no matter).  A good friend of mine recently got engaged and I was getting all excited talking to her about it, and she said, You really want to plan another wedding, don’t you!  I said, well, maybe…maybe I should be a wedding planner!  But seriously, no, it’s entirely too stressful (I do play violin for weddings, so I’m in the industry), but I had so much fun planning it (in retrospect, I think we had an okay time and fought a bunch) and frankly, I love attending weddings too.  I’m still waiting for my sister’s professional photographs and hope to do a recap of her wedding and vendors when that time comes.