Look ma' I can sew!

I just put the finishing touches on a Christmas stocking I've been sewing since October for my best friend's little girl. Mailing it out today, finally. It's one of those kits that comes with all the fabric, needles, thread, beads, etc. I think I may have been a little too ambitious, but hey, it's done and it looks so cute. Now, if I can just get it to her by Christmas!

Here are some pictures so that we can all bask in its beaded glory:

Pepsi vs. Coke

I've always preferred the flavor of Pepsi over Coke, but now I love Pepsi for an entirely different reason:

"Pepsi drops Super Bowl ads in favor of cause marketing"
December 17 2009

After 23 years of advertising during the Super Bowl, PepsiCo is pulling its beverage ads in favor of an upcoming cause marketing program, The Wall Street Journal reported. Meanwhile, Coca-Cola is continuing with its plans to advertise during the Super Bowl, with a spot rumored to be featuring the Simpsons.

Pepsi's new cause marketing program will let consumers choose community programs to receive grant money from the beverage company, which has set aside $20 million of its ad dollars for the program. It will also focus more on PR and online advertising.

The Journal reports:
"In 2010, each of our beverage brands has a strategy and marketing platform that will be less about a singular event," says Frank Cooper, senior vice president of PepsiCo Americas Beverages.

Pepsi's new tack is "not a condemnation of the Super Bowl," says its Mr. Cooper. It would be too hard to explain Pepsi's new marketing campaign in a 30-second TV spot, he adds.

It's a video posting kind of day...

I've been doing some research on the best blogs out there for "a blog on blogs" and I came across this video embedded on a blog called "Bad Astronomy." It's from CollegeHumor.com so you know it's probably got bad language...but dang it's funny!

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1797753

More muffin mania

Muffin video...sent to me by my good friend Stephen. Disturbing and hilarious at the same time.

Yummy muffin recipe

I just made the most delicious muffins. Had to share the recipe. For some reason there are more pomegranates at my local Kroger than I have ever seen at the grocery store in Florida. I'm guessing they are abundant in NC?

So, my husband suggested I make some muffins using pomegranates instead of blueberries or some other fruit. Here is the recipe. They turned out to be soooo good that my husband ate three right away!

Pomegranate Walnut muffins
The basic muffin recipe I used was from The Best Recipe from Cook's Illustrated. I added ginger, the pomegranates and walnuts and substituted brown sugar for regular to modify the recipe.

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (you can also try crystallized ginger)
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup light brown sugar + 1 tablespoon for sprinkling on top of muffins
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups plain low-fat yogurt
Arils (seeds) from one pomegranate
1 cup walnuts, chopped
Vegetable cooking spray or additional unsalted butter for greasing muffin tins

1) Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and ground ginger together in medium bowl; set aside.

2) Cream butter and brown sugar with electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in one-half of dry ingredients. Beat in one-third of yogurt. Beat in remaining dry ingredients in two batches, alternating with yogurt, until incorporated. Add the chopped walnuts and mix with electric mixer. Add pomegranate seeds and mix gently with a wooden spoon so as not to break the seeds (called "arils").

3) Spray 12-cup muffin tin with vegetable cooking spray or coat lightly with butter (I used the cooking spray that combines flour into it. Works great!). Divide batter evenly among cups. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of brown sugar evenly over muffin batter, once in muffin tin. Bake until muffins are golden brown. 25 to 30 minutes. Set on wire rack to cool slightly, about 5 minutes. Remove muffins from tin and serve warm.

ENJOY!

I'm baaack!

Okay, I know it's been a while since I've written anything for this blog, so I am going to rededicate myself to it. As we enter into the holiday season I know things will start getting crazy, so I will do my best to chronicle the season as experienced by a new citizen of North Carolina...

Let me just say that Halloween us HUGE in Chapel Hill. I had some idea that it would be big based on the fact that my husband and his colleagues were required to work that night, but wow. My mother and aunt came up to visit and we went down to Franklin Street to see all the kiddies (and middle-aged adults) in costume. W-O-W. I probably saw at least four sets of Super Mario Bros. and several naughty maids/nurses/police women, etc. I actually love dressing up in costume. Last year I went as Marylin Monroe. These people take it to the next level though. I took pictures, but didn't want to seem like a creepy-paparazzi, so they are all pretty far away and blurry...Oh well. Enjoy! (Also, I included a picture of the pumpkin I carved. I'm so proud of my carving skills!!)

Transformer??


Ummm...need to work on my photog skills for next year...

Happy pumpkins only!

It's one of those nights

It's 1:24 am and I can't sleep. It's one of those nights were I start to drift off and then suddenly I get a surge of adrenalin that wakes me up again....I believe it's called "anxiety"...WTF?

"Why do you have anxiety?" you may ask? Great question...Uggh.

The bright side

So, I've been in a major funk lately. Actually, it's more of a rut. I can't explain it but I'm pretty sure it has to do with:

- Getting rejected from two jobs this summer,

- Being in over our heads in credit card debt (entirely my fault too),

- Having to keep waiting to start trying to get pregnant (wrap your mind around that one),

- Feeling like I'm not doing a good job at the job I already have,

- Feeling like I'm not maintaining the house like I should,

- Having a constant upset stomach (need to go to the doctor for this one),

- Not taking care of myself by making a doctor's appointment for my constant upset stomach,

- Feeling like I'm trapped in the house for days on end,

- My freakin' herbs are dying because our apartment is a dark cave (I loved those herbs),

- ...

Wow, what a sad little list...Okay, seriously. I could definitely be worse off. Here is the bright side:

- I have an effin' job that I love and that pays me much more than I would make working at a retail job like Banana Republic (I will never work retail again!),

- I have a wonderful husband who likes to give me crap at every turn, but who really knows what makes me happy,

- I applied to the perfect job at UNC two days ago and though it doesn't close until November, that leaves me with a full month of positive thoughts that I will get an interview,

- It is absolutely beautiful outside right now...and yesterday too. I actually took a blanket and sat out in the sun/shade of a tree in the park and it was wonderful (see pictures below).

So, I will continue to endeavor to see the bright side of life (and I guess I'll make a doctor's appointment, too).

Guy reading on bench...



















Pretty trees...













Wow, I've got white legs...

Truth v. Truthiness

I just read a pretty interesting article written by St. Petersburg Times media columnist, Eric Deggans, about the difference between "truth" and "truthiness" in journalism today. I think he raises an excellent point that we must all be aware that most of the media are no longer in the business of reporting straight facts, but rather, reaffirming beliefs already held by their viewership. I think this is inevitable given the increasingly tough competition among media outlets to attract viewers/readers. Anyway...food for thought.

Here's the link:
http://www.tampabay.com/news/perspective/when-news-feels-right-it-might-be-the-truthiness-not-the-truth/1039173

I L-O-V-E fall...and cookies

Fall has got to be my favorite season. It's even more apparent to me how much I love the fall now that I live in a place that actually experiences fall-like weather. It will be 55 degrees when I wake up tomorrow morning (compare to the 90 degrees in Florida) and will not rise above 70 degrees. How lovely!

The hubby and I have been laying low for the past few weeks due to our financial situation (which will improve after we get paid tomorrow...whoop whoop!) so I've had to opportunity to explore my domestic side, which has really come into its own since we moved here. Well, to be fair, it does help that I work 10 hours less a week than I was in Tampa (and that I work from home!).

I've been baking like a madwoman lately and have been really enjoying it, except for the fact that we are both gaining weight...ha! The perils of being a domestic goddess, I guess! I've been on a cookie kick and have made three different batches of cookies in the past TWO weeks. Cookies, I'm convinced, are absolutely the perfect thing to eat on days like today (or any day, for that matter). I've made chocolate chip cookies twice and shortbread cookies this past weekend. The brown sugar and pecans in the chocolate cookies are so yummy. And when they're eaten after cooling for 10 minutes or so, they get a little crunchy around the edges and stay soft and chewy in the center.

I have to spread the love, so here's the recipe:

(One thing to note: You don't have to make the whole batch at once! Roll the dough you make up in parchment paper and slice off dough two or three cookies at a time as you get a craving...I used our toaster oven to bake them so I don't have to pre-heat my giant oven.)

Traditional Chocolate Chip Cookies (This is the original Toll House cookie recipe)
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I might try substituting whole-wheat flour for these next time)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 pound (2 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup light or dark brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon water

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate chips the first time I made this and my husband preferred them to the semisweet)

1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans

1) Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk flour, salt and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.

2) Either by hand or with electric mixer, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes with mixer set at medium speed. Scrape sides of bowl with rubber spatula. Add eggs, vanilla, and water. Beat until combined, about 40 seconds. Scrape sides of bowl.

3) Add dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined, 15 or 20 seconds. Add chocolate chips and nuts and stir until combined.

4) Drop batter by tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets, spacing pieces of dough about 1 inch apart. Bake, reversing position of cookie sheets halfway through baking (from top to bottom and front to back), until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges begin to crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Cool cookies on sheets for 1 to 2 minutes before transferring to cooling racks with wide spatula.

5) Get a cold glass of milk and enjoy!!

Do over

Okay, remember when I said that one sign you've become an adult is when you no longer bounce checks? Well, I guess I'm stuck in limbo between kid-dom and adulthood because we have officially gone negative in our bank account. Ugghhh. Adulthood, apparently, is more of a continuum rather than a hard and fast state of being. I definitely lost a few adulthood points this week.

On the bright side, I am learning that having girlfriends is something a woman should ALWAYS have. A few girlfriends and I had a girls night last night over several bottles of wine and two chick flicks (13 Going on 30 and Twilight, respectively). Sometimes, all a girl needs is some girl talk and booze (and homemade chocolate chip cookies).

When I grow up...

So, I've had zero luck in the job market lately. As I have chronicled here I have had a couple of close calls, but the dream job has yet to come a knocking on my door here in NC. I am so, so thankful for my Tampa company letting me work from home for them as long as they have, but I know that this arrangement can't last forever (despite my foolish belief that it can). 

Though I am by no means at the end of my rope as far as the job hunt goes, I started thinking today that maybe I am limiting myself too much in the scope of my search. Perhaps I should start thinking outside my little pr/communications box and look at the big picture (copywriting, journalism, writing, etc.). For kicks, I started thinking about all the professions I have always wanted to do but never had the time or the direction to take me there. Here they are:

- Novelist (not sure what kind...I might be good at writing "chick-lit")

- Breeder of small fluffy white dogs (a la Rudi)

- One of those special ASPCA police that rescue abused animals

- Interior decorator

- Photographer

- Children's book author 

- Host of a travel show (think Samantha Brown's show on the Travel Channel)

- Wedding planner (I think I wanted to do this most while I was planning my wedding...)

- Food critic

- Movie critic

- Chef for a fancy French restaurant

- Bakery owner

- NASA astronaut 

Okay, okay. So, maybe I have a shot at some of these jobs more than others (my husband thought it was hilarious that I put chef, since I rarely cook! I reminded him that these are dream jobs.). I just have to find something that I can see myself doing for the next 40 or so years. Uh...no pressure there. Whether it's in pr or not, I know it just has to be a job that I learn something from every day. That's what I love about pr, and photography for that matter. I like the idea of living my life WHILE I do my job, not just living my life in between the times I'm not at work. Are my expectations too high?

Crazy times

I haven't posted since my birthday last week...It's been a crazy seven days. My blogging will pick up soon, I promise! Here's what has gone down since I last posted:

Let's see...I had a GREAT 28th birthday. My husband made me a delicious dinner and my carrot cake turned out so well. We went out for drinks at a bar that is quickly becoming my favorite place for a beer or glass of wine.

The next day was so bitter sweet. I got an e-mail in the morning saying that I DID NOT get the job that I've been interviewing for over the past two months. It really felt like a break up. Rejection hurts! But, we had dinner that night with several friends at a sushi joint that was very fun and effectively took my mind off not getting "the job."

The next day, hubby and I left to fly to Nashville to visit our favorite married couple and the plane had a hydraulics failure soon after we left Raleigh. Ummm...I don't like flying as it is, so this was not a pleasant experience for me. Even hubby got nervous when they asked the mother & baby in the front row to move back and then the pilot said over the loud speakers to expect an ambulance and fire truck to greet us as we land and, lastly, a flight attendant ran full speed to the back of the plane. After we landed (which was without incident, by the way) we were able to board another plane right away and got to Nashville just two hours late.

The weekend we spent at the Albrights was very fun and relaxing. It included pedis/manis, wine, beer, food, Star Wars Monopoly, Hobby Lobby (my new favorite place. Dear god, am I a senior citizen?!), Gran Torino, Florida State football and more sushi.

My best friend is very preggers at the moment and it was so fun spending time with her and kind of just witnessing the miracle of pregnancy. Seeing her so cute and big makes me very excited to have a baby myself. I did realize that part of the reason I wanted this job so much is because I know it would get me a little closer to being ready to have a baby (financially speaking, that is).

Anyway, on Monday night there was a murder next door. A MURDER for crying out loud. A woman was murdered by her husband and I heard the bullets. They actually sounded like loud knocking on the front door. I hear about murders on the news, I see them in movies and tv shows, but never, NEVER, have I been that close. I'm so glad they are moving from the neighborhood in a couple of weeks, though I know that kind of thing can happen anywhere.

Anyway, we flew back to Chapel Hill on Tuesday and I had to fly out again this morning to Tampa for a press conference tomorrow. I am so excited to fly home tomorrow and just veg this weekend...No murders, no airplane hydraulics failures, no AIRPLANES for that matter...Soo looking forward to it. I guess I'll keep sending my resume out...ugh.

Today is a great day...

I'm turning 28 today (at 6 thirty-ish pm to be exact) and instead of the dread that I usually feel at getting another year older, I think I will turn my birthdays into a chance to reflect and feel utter contentment with my life.

Here goes...

Today is a great day, because:

• My husband woke me up this morning to sing me happy birthday.


• He also went grocery shopping for me last night and bought my favorite yogurt, which I enjoyed for breakfast this morning.


• I plan to bake my own birthday cake this afternoon because I have re-discovered how much I love baking...especially Carrot Cake!!


• I'm healthy and happy...all anyone can ever really ask for.
  
• I have fantastic, lovely and wonderful friends and family. (Did I mention they're great?)


• I love the new state and city I'm living in.


• College football is right around the corner. (GO NOLES!)


• I am starting to get more involved here in NC...I've already joined the Junior League and am social chair for the Triangle AXO alumni group...yikes! (My family thinks I'm turning into a Stepford Wife!)


• I'm getting a birthday pedi/mani today...can't wait!


• I've been stressed out about not hearing from UNC about the job, but should find out something today (hopefully).


• And finally, today is a great day because I have a spectacularly wonderful, beautiful mother who made this whole crazy, flaky, fabulous life possible. Thanks, Mom.

I'm an adult...holy crap how did that happen?!

So, I'm preparing for a small dinner party tonight and it hit me while I was making a tiramisu that I have now totally and completely entered into adulthood...I know it didn't just happen overnight, but realizing it HAS happened has been a slow process.

Here are some of the signs that you have finally reached adulthood (in case you weren't sure yourself):

• You've found yourself making a tiramisu or any other kind of fru-fru dessert. No, rice-krispie treats do not count (though they are equally delicious).
• You look at your bank account and there is actually enough money to pay all your bills.
• You can't remember the last time you bounced a check.
• You have 'effin dinner parties!
• You use matching china at those dinner parties.
• You go to the dentist/gyno/eye doctor on a regular basis.
• You start saying things like,"Those darn kids are making too much racket."
• You finally appreciate what your parents had to go through to raise you not to be a serial killer or stripper.
• You start thinking about having kids, like, SERIOUSLY thinking about it. (I'm not sure all men go through this step.)
• You drive more cautiously. When I say cautiously, I mean no more than 5 miles over the speed limit, signal your turns, don't tailgate, etc. (My husband would say I have not achieved this bullet yet.)
• You own every kitchen gadget known to man.
• You go to bed by 11 pm and wake up by 7 am (sometimes on the weekends, too!).
• You read for pleasure. (Currently reading Harry Potter #7 for the third time.)
• You are gainfully employed.
• You use words like "utilize" and "garner."
• Your mother actually goes out on a limb and tells you you're finally acting like an adult.

Umm, I'm sure there are more and will be more as I keep getting more "adult-like." Please comment and share your "signs that you've reached adulthood!"

Oh, and in case you feel like crossing off the "making a tiramisu" bullet off your adulthood list, here is the recipe!

Tiramisu
From "The Gourmet Cookbook"
Serves 6

3 large eggs, separated
3/4 cup sugar
1 (8 ounce) container (scant 1 cup) of marscapone
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup of very cold heavy cream
2 cups brewed espresso or very strong coffee, cooled to room temperature
2 tablespoons sweet Marsala wine
18 savoiardi (crisp Italian ladyfingers)
1/4 cup good bittersweet chocolate shavings (not unsweetened; shavings made with a vegetable peeler) or 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Beat together yolks and 1/2 cup sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until thick and pale, about 2 minutes. Beat in marscapone until just combined.

Beat whites and salt in another bowl with cleaned beaters until whites hold soft peaks. Add remaining 1/4 cup sugar a little at a time, beating, then continue to beat until whites just hold stiff peaks.

Beat cream in another bowl with cleaned beaters until it just holds soft peaks. Gently but thoroughly fold cream into marscapone mixture, then fold in whites.

Stir together espresso and Marsala in a shallow bowl. Dip 1 ladyfinger in the espresso mixture, soaking it for about 4 seconds on each side, and transfer to an 8-inch square baking dish (1 quart capacity). Repeat with 8 more ladyfingers, trimming them as needed to fit snugly in bottom of dish. Spread half of marscapone mixture evenly over ladyfingers. Make another layer in the same manner with remaining ladyfingers and marscapone mixture. Refrigerate tiramisu, covered, for at least 6 hours.

Just before serving, sprinkle with chocolate.

One note, I needed many more ladyfingers to cover the bottom of my dish, so buy extra just in case. Also, I ended up brewing strong coffee instead of espresso, which is fine. Also, make sure you buy SWEET Marsala wine, not the stuff you find for cooking. Lastly, any kind of ladyfingers will do, but we really liked the flavor of the Italian ladyfingers or savoiardi. They are bigger and soak up the coffee or espresso better than others you might find.

YUM!

The kiddies have taken over

Chapel Hill is alive again and positively throbbing with energy from the thousands of college students and their families who have made their way to campus. School doesn't actually start until Wednesday, so these kids have two whole days of mischief ahead of them.

I honestly MISS being in college and am a little jealous of these kids. Their worlds are so wide open and full of potential and possibilities. Okay, in all fairness, my world is still wide-open and full of possibilities, but there is something to that feeling of utter naivete and unabashed optimism that greets you with every new school year.

Heck, I even miss the school work. Um, is it weird to admit that I MISS being graded? I MISS sitting in class and having the knowledge of my professors wash over me (some were more successful at communicating that knowledge than others). I miss that feeling of being part of a system larger than myself. Of being affiliated with a university...MY university.

My three and a half years in college were like a dream. I dated; I went to school; I went to parties; I had sisters; I went to football games; I ate...A LOT. I never really had to think about the outside world. That is, of course, with the very big exception of 9/11, which happened during my sophomore year.

I am in the real world now, but still living on a college campus. It's a very surreal feeling. It's like straddling two worlds. On the one hand, I get to experience the energy associated with a college campus (youth, college sports, under-age shenanigans, etc.) and on the other, I'm married, contemplating having kids in the near future, looking for a job, paying bills, making ends meet...you get the picture.

Sometimes, I really do just have to stop and thank my lucky, quirky, unpredictable stars for my life.

Oh yeah, GO SEMINOLES!!

Baby, it's hot outside

Yes, boys and girls, we are in the dead of summer and it is proving to be a H-O-T one. I honestly don't mind the heat. I'm one of the few people who prefer warm weather to cold.

This hot weather actually reminds me of the extreme heat and humidity we experienced during our wedding festivities over two years ago (Oh my god. Has been TWO years already?!)

Let me set the scene: July 2007. British Virgin Islands. Tortola, to be exact. Beautiful aquamarine water with sugar white sand beaches and searing 90+ degree heat. I'm walking down the aisle, sweating after only 30 seconds outside and I see my wonderful husband-to-be absolutely DRENCHED in sweat (of course, he had to wear a khaki suit). I'm sunburned, he's sunburned. I'm an emotional wreck. My Dad is sobbing. My Mom is sobbing. The photographer had been yelling at me right before I went to walk down the aisle that if I don't hurry up the officiant will leave. So I'm pretty emotionally fragile and pissed off that I was running late and that the freakin' photographer was telling ME what to do on my own wedding day.

Despite all that, it was still one of the most profound, life changing 15 minutes of my life. Oh yeah, and the food wasn't bad either.

Luckily, and despite me wishing ill on the photographer, the pictures from our special day came out wonderfully. I've included a few here. Enjoy!

This week so far...

Well, this week has been a strange one so far. Not bad by any means, but not great. I'm still in limbo-city about whether they are offering me the job or not. It won't be until late next week that I find out. I looove working from home, but I definitely could use the money and the human interaction that this job would surely provide. So, there's that. Then our air conditioning has been acting wonky this week making the apartment feel like a wet refrigerator. NOT a good combination.

Finally, my friend Shana and I have been going to the gym a lot lately. Which is great, BUT I am getting all achy and creaky feeling in odd places. I'm only 27 for god's sake!! (Well, to be fair, I WILL be turning 28 in less than a month...crikey!).

Our goal this week is to go to every class, Monday through Friday. So, Step was Monday, Sculpt was yesterday, Yoga is today, Zumba is tomorrow and Kickboxing is Friday. I am quite possibly the least coordinated person in the entire class (with the exception of the men who join us...poor guys).

I made the Apple Raisin cake on Saturday and it turned out to be so good. The cake had the right amount of cinnamon, raisins, apples - perfect for the fall! My husband thinks I'm trying to fatten him up by baking all the time, so I sliced up the cake and gave it to his little starving college students. They loved it, or at least pretended to love it, which is fine by me.

Apple Raisin Cake:













So, it's not a bad week, it's just not a great week...yet. Tonight we're having dinner with my sorority sister which will be fun. And Saturday I have my first Junior League meeting at the "Hill House"...should be interesting!!

Being happy

I will not pretend to be an expert at what makes people happy, but I am slowly beginning to learn what makes ME happy...It's only taken 27 years to do so! Just read about this new study from UNC that basically says that they key to happiness is to focus on the small, everyday things that make you happy.

For instance, waking up in the morning and having the change to share a morning cup of coffee with my husband makes me insanely happy. Going to the gym makes me happy. The sound of my mother's voice makes me really happy (except when she's lecturing me on my shopping habit ;-). Having time to lay on the couch and read for an uninteruppeted period of time makes me happy. Snuggling up with my husband to watch tv before bed makes me happy. Being outside makes me happy...especially during the periods between winter and spring and between summer and fall when the weather is perfect.

From The Chapel Hill News
UNC study: To build resilience, don't worry, see happyPatric Lane, UNC News Services
CHAPEL HILL - People who seed their life with frequent moments of positive emotions increase their resilience against challenges, according to a new study by a UNC psychologist and colleagues. The study, "Happiness Unpacked: Positive Emotions Increase Life Satisfaction by Building Resilience," appears in the June issue of the bimonthly journal Emotion.

"This study shows that if happiness is something you want out of life, then focusing daily on the small moments and cultivating positive emotions is the way to go," said Barbara Fredrickson, Ph.D., Kenan Distinguished Professor of Psychology in UNC's College of Arts and Sciences and the principal investigator of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Laboratory.

"Those small moments let positive emotions blossom, and that helps us become more open. That openness then helps us build resources that can help us rebound better from adversity and stress, ward off depression and continue to grow."

In the monthlong study, 86 participants were asked to submit daily "emotion reports," rather than answering general questions like, "Over the last few months, how much joy did you feel?"

"Getting those daily reports helped us gather more accurate recollections of feelings and allowed us to capture emotional ups and downs," said Fredrickson, a leading expert in the field of positive psychology. Building up a daily diet of positive emotions does not require banishing negative emotions, she said. The study helps show that to be happy, people do not need to adopt a "Pollyannaish" approach and deny the upsetting aspects of life.

"The levels of positive emotions that produced good benefits weren't extreme. Participants with average and stable levels of positive emotions still showed growth in resilience even when their days included negative emotions."

What little things make you happy?

What's cookin'?

Or baking I should say...I feel like baking a cake today. I meant to do it last night, but I was out of eggs...and I went over to my friend Shana's house and had waaaay too much good wine.

Anyway, I thought I would share the recipe of my latest kitchen experiment: Apple Raisin Cake, courtesy of The Gourmet Cookbook (2004).

Apple Raisin Cake

Ingredients
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 tablespoon dark rum
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 Golden Delicious apples (peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4 inch dice)
1/2 cup raisins

Instructions
Put a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour Bundt pan, knocking out extra flour.

Sift together flour, baking soda and salt into a bowl.

Whisk together oil, eggs, sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, rum and vanilla in a large bowl until just combined. Fold in flour mixture until just combined, then fold in apples and raisins.

Spoon batter into pan. Bake until a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center of cake comes out clean, about 1 1/4 hours. Cool cake pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then turn out onto rack to cool completely.

Happy Friday!!

Today is a great day...

Today is a great day because...

...I'm eating a peanut butter & jelly sandwich, with homemade peanut butter and raspberry jam (which I guess makes it a peanut butter & jam sandwich)...

...I just got back from a yoga class and now I feel all loosey goosey...

...They are checking my references and I am in the final three. Glad to have made it this far...

...Even if I don't get the job I can be satisfied in knowing that I'm still employed and I love what I do...

...My husband is planning a themed opening for the residence hall we live in. The theme: "Hogwarts." Love that man!

...It's a little cloudy today, which has cooled off the entire city. Finally!...

...And finally, today is a great day because I have family and friends who love me just as I love them. And they should know that though I may not talk to them every day, week, month (heck, or even every year) I do and always will love them...

Sincerely just seems so insincere

Sorry if it seems like I've been taking the easy way out lately by re-posting articles I've ready, but hey, I'm a pr professional, it's what I do...

I just read a witty article on e-mail sign-offs in the Miami Herald. Enjoy!

Posted on Mon, Aug. 10, 2009
Sincerely just seems so insincere
BY RUTH McCANN Washington Post Service

It feels like the 18th century all over again. All that daily correspondence, all those long hours spent hunched over a desk, composing some thoughtful missive about one's dowry or the Jacobite rebellions. Signed, ``Yr humble servant.''

Same deal now, basically, except we're not clutching quills; we're writing a passel of e-mails and clicking send on ye olde BlackBerry. And something else isn't quite the same: Unlike the heroes and heroines of epistolary novels, we aren't blessed with time-tested formal guidance on the correct way to sign off.
``Best''?
``Cheers''?
``Sincerely''?

For Daniel Morrison, CEO of the international relief nonprofit 1Well, the wrong sign-off posed an impediment to deeper romance.

``I sent an e-mail to a girlfriend, and she was very put off by me signing off with `Regards,' saying that I sounded very `emotionally detached,' '' Morrison says via e-mail. ``We did break up shortly thereafter, so maybe she was right.''

Will Schwalbe, co-author with David Shipley of Send: Why People Email So Badly and How to Do It Better, warns, ``You can really do a lot of damage, even with a careless closing. And one of the terrifying things about e-mail is: You may never know.'' But you may well feel the chill.

``If you have been writing to someone `Best' this and `Best' that, and you get an e-mail that is a little colder, a little hostile, and they sign `Sincerely,' that does mean things aren't so good,'' Schwalbe says. `` `Sincerely' is the one that says, `There's a problem here.' ''

And, one may well wonder, does ``Cordially'' ever mean anything other than ``My hostility is only thinly veiled''?

IS `BEST' BEST?

Craig Brownstein, vice president of media relations at the PR firm Edelman, is a devotee of ``Best'' and its variants. He says he started seeing ``Best'' in e-mails a few years ago and has since picked it up. But that professional close can quickly escalate into greater e-intimacies.
Brownstein asked his research team, StrategyOne, to catalog the most common e-mail closing lines with an online poll. (The sample of about a thousand Internet users came from a nonrandom pool of respondents, so these numbers are rather more food for thought than hard data.)

``Best,'' as it happens, was barely a blip on this survey's radar. Twenty-five percent of participants said they close their professional e-mails with ``Sincerely,'' while 20 percent use some variant of ``Thank you,'' and 17 percent use no closing at all. ``Love'' is the most common personal e-mail closing, followed by no closing.

This all might come as no great surprise to Peter Post, author of Essential Manners for Men, and one of manner maven Emily Post's great-grandchildren. Post swears by ``Sincerely,'' which he describes as an all-purpose, ``safe'' e-mail close -- the little black dress of sign-offs, if you will. ``Yours truly'' and ``Regards'' can also work, Post says.

In their book, Schwalbe and Shipley recommend ``Best'' and ``Best wishes'' as ``among the most common in e-mail -- safe, all-purpose ways of bringing a note to an end.''

Schwalbe himself often ratchets ``Best'' up to ``Best!'' -- with the exclamation point added to warm up a medium in which everything can unfortunately sound a wee bit frigid and humorless.
Huffington Post editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington, likewise, says that one can do better than ``Sincerely.''

``The problem with traditional sign-offs like `Sincerely' is not so much that they're too cold as that they're like vestiges of another medium: letters,'' Huffington says. ``I've always used `Best' or `All the best,' because that's always been standard for me, even for letters. And I never liked `Sincerely' -- I always found it very cold.''

FOR MARINES, IT'S `S/F'
Murky waters unless you're in the military, where specific closings are standard. Matthew Cox, a senior staff writer at The Army Times, says that members of the Navy and the Air Force often close their e-mails with ``V/R'' (``Very respectfully''). For the Marines, it's ``S/F'' (Semper Fi), while Army Rangers sign off with ``RLTW'' (``Rangers Lead the Way'').

Participants in the StrategyOne survey reported all manner of e-mail closings that tumble forth from correspondents reveling in the intoxicating mania of near-instantaneous communication. Among them: ``In brotherhood,'' ``That's me yo,'' ``Hope you live through the night,'' ``Safety first,'' ``Wonka wonka'' and ``Seacrest out.''

Until e-mail etiquette starts being taught in elementary school, perhaps we've little choice left but to hit send first and ask forgiveness later.

I know this article advocates "Best" as the sign-off of choice, but I think it's more impersonal than "sincerely." What does it even mean?? Uggh...I cringe anytime someone sends me an e-mail using it. I truly WOULD prefer "Seacrest out"... at least it's original!

My top sign-offs:

Professional:

• Thanks
• Thank you
• Sincerely
• Have a great day
• Thanks in advance

Personal:

• Love you
• Love
• Kxxx
• LYMTML (that's "Love you more than my luggage" - sent only to my mother. If you've ever watched "Steel Magnolias" you'd understand)

I'll have to take "Wonka Wonka" for a spin...Or perhaps "Biance out"...

Wonka Wonka,

Kristen

Health care debate

I was just running in Chapel Hill (which, by the way, feels more like Dante's Inferno at 99 degrees this afternoon) and listening to NPR and I heard an opinion piece on the national health care debate that I found to be pretty spot-on.

The Health Care Debate Is Making Me Sick
by Brian Unger, National Public Radio

The health care debate is toxic, revealing a lot about us as a nation. And it feels embarrassing — like the whole world can see our underpants. Or hear us fighting in the kitchen.

First, most of us can't describe accurately the details of the health care reform now under debate. That makes us look stupid or too busy to care.

Second, most of us can't describe accurately the health care or insurance we currently have, so that makes us look kind of stupid, too, or lazy.

Some of us don't care about people who don't have health insurance, so that makes us seem unsympathetic or super lucky.

Most of us don't understand that we're already paying for people who don't have health care — which makes us too busy to care, in denial or merely rich.

Some of us — a lot of us — already receive health care under some form of government plan, but don't believe in health care under some form of government plan. That makes us hypocritical or selfish. In some camps, I hear that makes us patriotic.

A lot of us are a combination of these things: too busy, lazy, a bit stupid perhaps, lucky, unsympathetic, in-denial, really rich, hypocritical, selfish ... and patriotic.

We're having an identity crisis when it comes to caring about the nation's health, which makes me think what we really need is psychotherapy. But, sadly, that's not covered under most health plans, if you have one at all

To many, health care reform is scary, like someone's building a halfway house for criminals right at their doorstep. It's a N.I.M.B.Y. ("Not In My Backyard") issue evolved into a N.O.M.B.O. ("Not On My Back, Obama") issue.

People never change. But policy can, so our health care reformers must get more creative and visionary.
How about a Cash for Clunkers Program? Not for cars, but for older, beat-up people whose bodies have wear and tear, and can't go long distances when they're filled with gas?

Our government is offering us $4,500 to buy a new car. Can it also offer humans incentives — say, a tax break — to join a gym? To quit smoking? Or to buy produce from local farmers? Reward schools that teach kids how to eat right and exercise? You know, kind of like that class we used to offer kids called "gym."

Let's pay people to stay healthy, instead of only paying for them when they get sick. Then maybe our nation will find its compassion, the one true antidote for its health care identity crisis.

Now, I won't try to proselytize anyone with this blog, but I do believe our national health care system is broken and something needs to be done. I also won't pretend to be an expert in health care reform, but we cannot sit idly by and let certain individuals hi-jack the discussion through outright scare tactics and bullying.

The kids discussion

Since my husband and I got married we've occasionally talked about having kids and the conversation is usually the same:

Me: "I want kids."

Him: "Not now."

Me: "Well, now is the perfect time...We have no expenses...I have a great job."

Him: "I'm in graduate school, making $10k a year. Talk to me when we BOTH have fulltime jobs."

Me: deep sigh...

Well, here is the quote of the day from my lovely husband after having another such conversation:

"Kids: they're like teddy bears that cost a lot of money."

I love my husband and do appreciate his side of the argument. Having kids does cost money and is (or so I've heard from everyone who has one) a lot of work. He is very rational and I am very irrational when it comes to this discussion...I wish it wasn't that way, but there it is.

Stay tuned...

Tribute to John Hughes

I was just a little kid in the 80's, so it wasn't until my teenage years that I discovered the delightfully teenage angst/lust ridden movies of John Hughes.

My favorites include: The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Pretty in Pink...The list goes on...

He even wrote Home Alone and Home Alone 2 - two of our favorite Christmas-time movies.

Though they were set in the awkward, wonderful 80's, his film's themes were universal and are rarely replicated with success these days...with some notable exceptions, of course.

Here is a tribute to John Hughes from the St. Petersburg Time's "Stuck in the 80's" blogger, Steve Spears:

August 07, 2009
The lesson of John Hughes: 'Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.'

The man who guided us through awkward school dances, soul-crushing romances — and the best hooky day ever — died Thursday in New York, far from Chicago, the city he loved.

I miss John Hughes a lot. And like many people who grew up during the ’80s, I feel less than whole today, like I lost a parent — or at least a wise, and wise-cracking, Uncle Buck.

Through his movies, we learned it was okay to feel (and show) pain, to wrestle with uncertainty, to express love. We learned to be human. And, at the very least, we learned all the words to Danke Schoen.

After Sixteen Candles, it was suddenly okay to rule the geek nation like Farmer Ted, to suffer a silent crush with dignity like Samantha Baker. After The Breakfast Club, trading swagger for sensitivity a la John Bender was in vogue on locker row.

Every movie Hughes wrote or directed was a mirror image of our own pimply, awkward lives. Were you Gary or Wyatt from Weird Science? Or maybe Duckie Dale from Pretty in Pink? Maybe you leaned toward Amanda Jones from Some Kind of Wonderful. And doesn’t everyone wish that we could be just like Ferris Bueller -- if only for one day off.

Hughes left Hollywood behind in the mid ’90s without giving fans a reason. Maybe he’d given all he had and felt there was nothing more to say. Maybe like Steve Martin’s character in Planes Trains & Automobiles, he discovered the place he loved most was home with his family.

Or maybe, like any proud parent, he realized his audience had grown up and was ready to tackle the world on their own.

And now that parent is gone. But I thank him. And I’ll miss him. So go ahead and cry if you want to. Or put on your Ferris Bueller DVD and laugh until you can’t breathe. Life moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and look around ... well, you know the rest.
Posted by Steve Spears at 12:55:10 AM on August 7, 2009

Here's to you, John Hughes. May you rest in peace.

Fun Web site of the day

www.EmailYourInterviewer.com

Okay, maybe not so fun if you have to actually use it.

It's no secret that I have been searching for a new job for quite some time up here in North Carolina. Sometime during my resume/cover letter writing process I came across the blog "Ask a Manager" and became hooked. The writer is the hiring manager for a non-profit and pretty much an HR guru. She is extremely funny and her answers to people's hiring/firing/hr questions are spot on.

Anywho, people send her their interview experience horror stories and she posts them for everyone to read and learn from. A couple of posts ago she came up with the idea for creating a form letter to send anonymously to interviewers who leave you hanging or are extremely rude.

Luckily, the people I am interviewing with are wonderful and very responsive, but if you have the need, check out www.emailyourinterviewer.com. Use responsibly!

Today is a great day...

Today is a great day because:

...My legs hurt from Sculpt class yesterday. But, they hurt in a good way. Like you know you've worked your muscles pretty good, and they're saying "thank you! We needed that!"

...I just got back from a second interview with a company I really love and I think I did pretty darn well. And, if they don't hire me, that's okay because I know I did the best I possibly could.

...I'm married to one of the kindest, smartest, funniest, hardest working men I know.

...As I write, I'm munching on one of my recent experiements in the kitchen involving Splenda, flour, homemade peanut butter, chocoloate and butterscotch and it doesn't taste half bad.

...I'm going to a restaurant I've never been to for friend's birthday tonight.

Lastly...Today is a great day, because I've discovered blogging and realize how much pleasure I get writing and organizing my thoughts this way. And because there are so many people like me out there doing the same thing.

Sculpt class

Just got back from my first experience attending a "Sculpt" class at the UNC gym. All I can say is "damn, I hurt." I considered myself to be in pretty good shape, though, I will admit to having slacked off the gym time since summer school ended. I met my friend Shana there who is new to Chapel Hill like me.

We were a huffin' and a puffin' through that class which started with squats and pretty much ended with squats (which are my mortal enemy now). But in the end I feel pretty darn good, if not just a teeny weeny bit wobbly on my legs.

Anywho, I have been experiencing some pretty frustrating technical difficulties this morning with my computer. Now, I'm off to go scout out a free WIFI hotspot that will allow me to get some work done.

Have a wonderful Tuesday...

Me as a kid

My other cousin, Ellen, just posted this picture of me as a kid on Facebook...Too funny! I had chubby little legs then too!

Happy Friday, ya'll!

Well, it's been one week since I started this little blog...Hope it's not too terribly boring to read, though as long as I get a kick out of writing it I guess it doesn't matter!

So, I started twittering again this week after my cousin said I MUST TWEET or else no one will ever know my blog exists. Twitter is a strange and exciting experience for me. Normally I like to go on and on about a subject, but twitter forces me to be more concise. Good practice for blog writing, eh? You can follow me on twitter at @kristen.biance. Look for me to tweet more random, though hopefully interesting, musings!

As for the weekend, my hubby has to work, so I plan to read my new book, American Lion, clean the house and go shopping. I'm thinking about getting a new button down shirt for my second interview next week with UNC...so excited!

I Banana Republic:

Probably not appropriate for an interview, but meee likkkey:


I worked for Banana for a year, so you'd think I'd be burnt out on their clothes, right? Not so, says I! I love their clothes, plus they fit my rear the right way, without awkward bunching and such...

Two more pics... My cousin's girls, so cute it should be illegal...

Have a fantastic, random and joyous weekend!

My doughy mess

I tried experimenting with making dough for calzones this morning and ended up making a big, sticky, floury, yeasty mess...Here are some pics that prove my total ineptitude when it comes to all things kitchen-related.

I tried making the dough two times before running completely out of flour. The second time, I think I didn't make the flour "bowl" deep enough and the yeast exploded all over my countertop. Ick... (Looked worse than the picture indicates, but you get the idea).

Actually, I'm not a terrible baker. I love following recipes and have gotten particularly good at baking banana bread. FoodFit.com is a great site that will take your everyday calorie-loaded recipe and show you healthier alternatives using ingredients like honey or other natural sweeteners. I made these delicious cupcakes the other day using buttermilk instead of butter and they tasted just as rich and buttery...Yum!

Well, I'm off to go buy more flour (or perhaps some pre-made pizza dough?).

What I'm reading now...

I picked up this book on Friday and I can't put it down! It's called "The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane" and is a marriage of two of my favorite things to read about - mystery and history, especially early American history.

Here's the basic plot as stated in the book jacket cover:

"Harvard graduate student Connie Goodwin needs to spend her summer doing research for her doctoral dissertation. But when her mother asks her to handle the sale of Connie's grandmother's abandoned home near Salem, she can't refuse. As she is drawn deeper into the mysteries of the family house, Connie discovers an ancient key within a seventeenth-century Bible. The contains a yellowing fragment of parchment with a name written upon it: Deliverance Dane. This discovery launches Connie on a quest - to find out who this woman was and to unearth a rare artifact of singular power: a physick book, its pages a secret repository for lost knowledge."

Well, you get the idea. This book is by no means breaking new literary ground, but hey, I got up early this morning to read it, so that must be worth something.

I'm always fascinated by books that deal with the early formation of this country. I've been reading a ton of them lately with subjects varying from John Adams, early native American culture to the manhunt for John Wilkes Booth.

Still trying to get through a comprehensive history of North Carolina...dense, but fascinating read. For instance, I didn't realize that North Carolina has one of the oldest rivers in the world, second only to the Nile. (Incidentally, it's called the "New" River). Also, I never knew that North Carolina was founded as a proprietary colony, by eight Englishmen. It didn't become a royal colony until the 1700's. Umm, people do probably learn this in grade school, but it is fun re-discovering banal historical facts anway.

Okay, so I'm a nerd. But, I think what fascinates me the most is the fact that we will never have the opportunity to do what these folks did ever again. Baring a major catastrophe that wipes out civilization, we will never be able to colonize a new land or build a civilization from scratch.

Any other good history books I should be reading?

Oh Publix, how I miss thee...

Let me count the ways...

Delectable, yet cheap sushi and the sushi roller guy who always seems desperately happy for my business


Blueberry non-fat yogurt - the only kind my husband and I both enjoy


Frozen mini-shrimp perfect for pizza toppings


Honey butter for subs (nuff said)


Your friendly check out people and bag boys/girls*


The frozen aisle section so bone shatteringly cold I wished to god for a parka


Lemon rotisserie chicken and other assorted deli goodies


THE SPINACH DIP, dear lord the spinach dip


The close proximity of your stores, no matter where I was you where close by...


The bakery that smells so good, you wish you could curl up in a sugar-induced comaball on the floor


*Especially the checkout girl that told me she was pregnant when I didn't ask, and the checkout man who told me his life story in the span of 5 minutes, including how he lives with his mother and how his sister died a tragic death years ago...

PLEASE COME TO NORTH CAROLINA!!

Wasted energy

So, I like to work out. Keeps me sane, fit and is a good way to get me out of the house now that I've been working from home. My work in public relations deals a lot with recycling and environmental issues so I find myself reading, from time to time, recycling trade magazines (what fun!). So, imagine my utter delight to read an article about Ohio University's plans to convert work out energy into alternative energy.

From Waste & Recycling News, 7/24/2009:

University installs energy-producing workout equipment

July 24 -- Students working out at an Ohio University recreation center will be able to produce a little bit of alternative energy while working up a sweat.

The Athens, Ohio, university has installed 20 elliptical machines that will produce electricity from the students´ use of the equipment.

A 30-minute workout will provide enough electricity to run a standard light bulb for 45 minutes, the school said.

"Installing the ReCardio system allows us to demonstrate how energy is created and used," said Assistant Dean for Recreation and Wellness Douglas Franklin. "I think it´s important to create an environment that actively models best practices regarding sustainability rather than just talking about it."

Ohio University said it is one of nine universities in the country using the ReCardio system.

Technology that can turn our human energy into alternative energy is a pretty cool thing. Just goes to show that the solution to our energy crisis is out there and it doesn't necessarily involve drilling for more oil or building more coal plants, etc.

I'm curious if people will start putting these elliptical machines in their homes to generate some, if not all, of their energy needs. The benefits to the environment, not to mention their health, would be interesting to watch.

For my first post I thought I'd list the top ten things I'd like to do with my life. Blogging was one of them, so I can scratch that bad boy off the list!

1) Not feel so awkward in my own skin

2) Get to be somewhat good at what I do for a living (which is public relations, btw)

3) Have a couple of babies

4) Take good photographs

5) Start playing a sport and stick with it

6) Own a home

7) Pay off my credit cards, student loans, car, etc!

8) Save enough money to retire comfortably with my husband

9) Finish my knitting project

10) Travel to Europe

So, about the blog. I'd like to post interesting news stories I come across, discuss interesting ideas and rant about stuff that pisses me off. Cool?