Taking the First Step

I finally did it... I finally started a new frickin' blog.

Charm City Kim

I'm trying to transition to a less anonymous blogging life. I don't know how much longer I'll keep this blog up but please update your links if you have me linked!

I'll also be switching my comment name from "MrsTwink" to "CharmCityKim".

Btw - this commercial from careerbuilder.com? Yeah - that totally struck a chord with me. UGH.

Glass Half...?

First, I'd like to say Happy belated New Year to all my Korean people out there! I forget about this every year until my mom reminds me the weekend before and gives me random food to celebrate. This year I got a bag of peanut M&Ms, a ton of rice cake treats and some spicy tofu thing.

Anywho…

This past week has been a strange week for me. I feel like I've encountered more random bad things than good. Without sounding too whiny (who am I kidding? That's what I do!), I realize that I have my health and nothing I'm about to complain about is really that awful… but it's my blog and I'll bitch if I want to. However, I'm going to try to balance out my complaints with something positive.

Glass half empty
My cleaning lady's schedule changed. What does this mean? She had to pick up a 9-5 job because most of her clients have cancelled their services with her therefore she can only clean in the evenings or the weekends. Unfortunately - this is when we're home and it is horribly uncomfortable to hang around your house when someone is cleaning it. So - we cancelled her services. Now we have to suck it up and super clean our house. I felt a little guilty about cancelling on her considering others have also cancelled but…

Glass half full
We are now saving $75 a month AND she pulled up in a BMW. She doesn't seem like she's hurting too too badly.

Glass half empty
I gained back a lot of my detox/cleanse diet weight. Although a lot is probably an exaggeration considering it was only 3-4 lbs. But it still kind of sucks.

Glass half full
It's Baltimore Restaurant Week this week so I've had the opportunity to eat at some fabulous restaurants. Friday night, The Mr and I had a date at Gertrude's (inside the Baltimore Museum of Art). Fantastic. I highly recommend it.

Saturday was a birthday dinner for one of my fave people, Geoff. I'd happily gain 3 lbs for him. I have plans to visit 2 other restaurants this week and am stoked.

Glass half empty
To balance out the gluttonous dining out, I finally went for a run outside on Saturday. It took me about an hour to get psyched up for it. I lounged around in my running gear for about an hour. I checked Facebook. I straightened up. Finally - I went. I was a little excited because it was sunny, I was using my Nike+ iPod thingamabob that I've only used one other time (it's supposed to be a good motivator for me for outdoor running) and I was getting serious about running outside.

Well, my Nike+ Ipod thingamabob wouldn't work. The connector wasn't connecting to the sensor and at this point, it was too frickin' cold for me to figure out why. Then about halfway through my run, I noticed a few snowflakes. The few snowflakes turned into more snowflakes and then at about mile 2.5, it was a BLIZZARD. I was blinded by snow. I quickly hopped in my car and drove home. An hour later? The sun was back out and people think I'm making up this whole freak blizzard thing since all evidence was gone.

Oh and my Nike+ iPod thingy? Yeah - it definitely worked at home. I didn't have it properly clicked into my shoe.

Glass half full
At least I managed to squeeze in a 2.5 mile run.

Glass half empty
I ordered a juicer from Amazon a couple of weeks ago. After my detox diet debaucle, I decided that I really wanted to try this whole juicing thing. I found a rather inexpensive juicer (compared to most of them) and ordered it.

I was stoked when it arrived but then…

It didn't frickin' work! Yarg!

Glass half full
I contacted the company and they responded immediately to apologize for the inconvenience and to say that they'd pay for the return shipping and issue me a full refund.

Glass half empty
Back to the juicer saga, there aren't any additional juicers left so the company can't send me a replacement juicer.

Glass half full
I technically didn't pay for it. I was awarded a gift card to Amazon so at least this isn't something I truly paid for. I think I'd probably be Incredible Hulk angry if that were the case.

Glass half empty
My spring graduate school semester started last night. I didn't think the semester started until Wednesday (I still have no idea why I thought this). A co-worker/classmate just happened to e-mail me yesterday morning asking if I had seen the syllabus. That is when I noticed I had class. I was definitely NOT in the mindset for class last night.

Glass half full
The professor is awesome! And the people are even more hilarious (mostly unintentional). This should be an interesting semester.

Glass half empty
I was going to work on my new blog over the weekend. Really - I was. That's why I didn't post anything last week aside from Monday's bit about Top 5. I was really committing to the switch. Well - when I went to buckle down and do it, the computer crashed. YARG!

Glass half full
The computer is back up. That's all I've got. Maybe I'll make the switch in Feb 1st?

How has everyone else been lately?

Re-evaluating my Top 5

I know I should probably talk about this momentous day but let's be honest... everyone and their mothers are talking about the inauguration. I don't think we need another blog post reflecting on this occasion.

Instead - I'll talk about something completely frivolous and ridiculous. My celebrity Top 5. Don't pretend you don't have one. I think Ross Gellar even laminated his list.

Over the years, my Top 5 has kind of shifted between the same celebrities:
Jake Gyllenhaal
Jude Law
Matthew McConaughey
Justin Timberlake
David Beckham

I usually always fall back on the celebrities above. There are some celebs that I will always love though like Keanu Reeves (thanks for the reminder, Willikat!), Robert Downey, Jr, Andrew McCarthey (only AM from the 80s though) and some others.

However, I've decided that it is time to revamp my list. While I still hold a special place in my heart (and pants) for the men above, my taste is shifting...

I bring to you, my new list:

Paul Rudd


He's cute and hilarious. I've always been soft on him since Clueless! The Mr said he's really short but his hio says he's 5'9". That's about my height. I can live with that... I'll just wear flats!

Jason Segal


Ever since How I Met Your Mother has started, I have fallen for Jason Segal. Adorable and hilarious! Freaks and Geeks was fantastic (and is very much missed) but he has really made "How I Met Your Mother" one of the best shows on TV right now. And I love him for it.

Neil Patrick Harris


Clearly "How I Met Your Mother" is one of my favorite shows. Adding NPH to my list is tough only because he's gay (so clearly I'm barking up the wrong tree) but how can you not love him? I was actually ridiculously upset that our DVR jacked up our recording of SNL! I didn't see anything from it. Yarg!

Zachary Levi

I f'n love Chuck. Love it. And seriously - his whole cute, funny always messing things up but somehow things work out for the best just melts my heart.

Okay - coming up with one more is proving difficult but I'm seeing a trend of extreme hotness being replaced with hilarity.

I told The Mr he should feel good and not at all threatened about the fact that I'm not drooling over really really ridiculously good looking men with ridiculously hot bodies (although I wouldn't complain if presented with one) and that I just find funny to be sexy. His response? "So are you saying I'm not funny?"

Who tops your list?

Saving the Economy

I think that I am single handedly saving the economy because I can't seem to stop shopping. I don't know what has happened to me but it's like a switch has been hit in my brain that says, "keep buying stuff you don't need". I didn't do much shopping last year and then the holidays hit. Every store had crazy sales and I just lost my mind.

Crazy sales are STILL happening and I just can't stop buying things. I don't think I've paid full price for anything outside of gas and food in the last 3 months.

Yesterday, I received an e-mail from J. Crew that there was an additional 20% off of sale merchandise sale happening this weekend. Of course I had to check it out. I quickly filled my shopping cart with merchandise that I periodically went through and cleaned out but I was most stoked about a bathing suit. I managed to find 2 tops and a bottom all in my sizes and in the same color. Cha-ching! Each piece would have been $7.99.

I weeded out some of the crazy "ooh - it's on sale so I'll totally buy this sequined jumper" out of my shopping cart and had a good number of solid items. But then… someone stopped by my desk to chat. And by chat, I mean talk to me for 10 minutes about nonsense. I can't really say, "Excuse me but I'm doing some quick online shopping at work before I head off to this meeting so can you please shut the fuck up so that I can proceed to buy things I don't need" because that's not really work appropriate.

When Chatty Cathy walked away, I refreshed the screen and a few items had sold out. Okay - no biggie… they just weren't meant to be.

But then I pulled out my credit card and… another co-worker came by my desk because it was time to leave for our big meeting at a different location. Dammit! We were already a little late so I couldn't ask her to hold on another 3 minutes.

I spent the majority of the meeting thinking about my shopping cart of goodies. When I finally came back to my computer 3 hours later, everything was gone. I wasn't so bummed about the clothes as much as I was about the bathing suit. It was the perfect suit! 2 tops, 1 bottom for 2 different looks? Kelly green looks great against my skin tone. Yarg!

I spent the rest of the day sulking about this stupid bathing suit and my missed opportunity.

But then God, in an effort to apologize for not giving me breasts, shined a light on me this morning because when I went to double check (seriously - you have no idea how much I wanted that damn suit), most of the items I had originally wanted were available again. While I wasn't able to get the bathing suit in kelly green, I was able to get it in rich aqua. Score! Although in hindsight, I probably should have just not purchased anything because I could have lived without another suit.

I have a shopping addiction.

btw - I'd post a picture of the bathing suit that nearly ruined my day but it has already sold out!

Random Blurb about Heroin

I'm falling back into that whole, "I don't know what to blog about" phase in my life again. I feel that there is too much going on or nothing worth blogging about. It's tough - I try to keep this blog light and somewhat humorous but am not feeling very funny about anything as of late.

Actually - I take that back. I find this to be hilarious but unfortunately can't afford to go. Well, I could afford to go but really? Not worth the money. However the idea of singing karaoke with Jordan Knight is not something you can really put a price tag on.

I go through the day with a lot of random stuff happening to me and am always struck with the idea of, "I should totally blog about that" but essentially end up forgetting what I was going to write about and when I do remember, so much time has passed that it doesn't seem worth it anymore.

But I will blog about heroine because I remembered my thought of "great blog topic!" from my drive home yesterday.

So I live in Baltimore city. Big city = heroin junkies. This isn't news. I am, however, shocked from time to time by the number of heroin junkies I see on a daily basis and at what time they're high.

I live next door to a junkie. Actually - I live next door to an alcoholic (who apparently knows kung fu and carries a gun with him. His words, not mine… but you'll understand why I never correct him when he calls me Britney). The alcy's roomie is a junkie. A very nice junkie, but a junkie. The Mr and I have come home on several occasions to see junkie roomie on the front porch with his eyes half open just kind of rocking back and forth.

Anywho - I was driving home and saw a young lady just strolling down the street, stumbling all over the place, same look on her face as my neighbor and all I could think was, "wow - it's only 4:30pm and it's freezing outside. No thank you." Clearly I am not meant for junkie-dom because I doubt cravings have timeframes and weather limits.

My big question is - how did they get there? I mean - you hear reports that weed is the gateway drug and to that I say, "shenanigans!" because that's a load of crap. I don't see how smoking leads to stabbing yourself with a needle. Call me crazy…

But really - at what point does it seem like a good idea to try it? I mean - didn't we all grow up with afterschool specials, D.A.R.E. and Law & Order? I can understand cocaine because its portrayal is generally that of glamourous and high-powered people. I can even understand meth just because Stephanie Tanner and Fergie were meth addicts.

But heroin?

I don't even like getting my finger pricked for a blood test and that is getting done by a medical professional in a sterile environment. I can't imagine letting junkie Jim in his dazed state poke a dirty needle into my arm under a bridge in Baltimore.

**UPDATE** Only proving even more that I am so NOT a junkie - I realized I spelled heroin incorrectly the first time!

Results of the Detox

I survived the detox! And here are the highlights, lowlights, lessons learned and results…

- I ended up losing about 4 pounds although it is hard to truly say it was a direct result of the detox. I exercised throughout the week as well. Regardless, my pants fit better and I'm looking less puffy.

- I feel good. No more crazy sugar cravings only to be followed by a severe crash. I was feeling very lethargic the last 2 months and I think it's because I went through lots of highs and lows from all the desserts/candy I'd been consuming. You know the cycle… you eat some candy or dessert; you get on a sugar high and then you crash… only to reach for another piece of candy or dessert.

- I cheated a little bit. Look - I'm being honest. I didn't cheat with bad food though so that should count for something. The beginning of the week called for a mix of pumpkin seeds and raw sunflower seeds. So throughout the week if I felt really hungry and had another hour to go before another "meal", I'd munch on some seeds. Nothing out of control.

- I learned that quinoa is f'n amazing. It's my new favorite side dish (in place of rice). Seriously - go try it. It's nutty. It's delicious. Apparently it's good for you.

- I learned that seitan is not good. I was so turned off by the seitan I ate (which technically is cheating on this detox because it's a wheat gluten but they didn't provide veg alternatives so I substituted the best I could) that I don't ever want to try any of the seitan dishes in my vegan cookbooks.

- Never eat raw beets blended in a blender.

- I need a juicer. Once I obtain said juicer, I'm going to retry that beet juice concoction.

- I've learned the value of snacking. So instead of eating huge meals and then feeling so full (to the point where I am on the brink of vomiting)… only to snack throughout the day from feeling tired or bored, I've learned that I should eat smaller meals and snack smartly (i.e. on nuts or something).

- Drinking lots of water = less headaches for me. That's awesome! I think I was just TOO full from eating all day to consume more water so I'd just get terrible headaches at work.

- I've learned that I do have some bit of will power. Go me!

- I missed drinking wine terribly. I don't even drink wine very often but man, I really really wanted some wine during that week.

- The craving for wine led to me drinking an entire bottle on the evening of the last detox day. Is that cheating? The Mr felt that at that point in the detox, I wasn't really detoxing anymore from my body.

- I got some good recipes from this plan! That carrot and ginger dressing? F'n delicious. I made it again on Sunday.

Would I recommend this? Certainly. It's only 7 days and it was a good way for me to break some bad eating habits. Do I think it's feasible to maintain this type of eating for longer than 7 days? No. That would just be a sad life, doncha think?

The Detox

This is a kind of long post (mostly because I've copied the detox plan into this post) so apologies in advance for that…

I also feel I must preface this post with the following statements:

1 - I do not have an eating disorder.
2 - I don't plan on developing an eating disorder.
3 - I don't think I'm fat. I just think I was taking myself down a destructive road of rotten teeth, a muffin top and overall feeling of poopiness.
4 - I do not think Gwyneth Paltrow is a diet expert and find it a little annoying that she was even think she needed to shed a few pounds.
5 - I realize that the diet has some contradictions in it (i.e. you can't have dairy yet the smoothies call for whey protein).
6 - This diet is not veg-friendly so technically I cheated. I tried substituting the chicken and fish with seitan but seitan is a wheat gluten and this is supposed to be gluten-free. I have realized the seitan prepared in the manner below is TERRIBLE so I switched to beans.

So - here are some highlights from the detox plan (available at Gwyneth Paltrow's site Goop:

DETOX
It is that time of year, folks. I need to lose a few pounds of holiday excess. Anyone else? I like to do fasts and detoxes a couple of times during the year, the most hardcore one being the Master Cleanse I did last spring. It was not what you would characterize as pretty. Or easy. It did work, however. As I do not wish to subsist on lemon water in the middle of winter, I asked my doctor, a detox diet specialist, for the guidelines he uses to achieve a good detox that is not as hallucinogenic (in a bad way) as the Master Cleanse. He actually thinks that the Master Cleanse can be dangerous because the liver is not supported by the nutrients it needs. What it came down to was this: you can detox easily and effectively while you continue to eat as long as you are cutting out the foods and other substances that interfere with the detoxification process. Make sure you check with your doctor before you start any detox. Drink A LOT of water. I created this menu plan for a seven-day elimination diet. The shakes and juices are meant to be liquid meals that help decrease the amount of work your digestive system has to do. I will be suffering along with you to kickstart my year a bit lighter. Good luck to us all!

According to Dr. Alejandro Junger* (our detox specialist) in addition to the above, there are a few more "basic principles of detoxification" that should be kept in mind while following our detox menus.

Do deep breathing or gentle yoga.
Take a couple of spoonfuls of extra virgin olive oil at night to help stimulate your liver to eliminate bile and keep its circulation flowing.
If your bowel movements get sluggish, you can accelerate things by drinking half a cup of castor oil or using a mild herbal laxative. Bowel elimination is paramount for correct detoxification.
The skin gets rid of many toxins so it is important to sweat, either by exercising or taking a sauna.
Finally, make sure you eat whole organic foods, which have the best chance of having all the nutrients needed for liver and general detoxification.
*This is an excerpt from Dr. Junger's upcoming book Clean, which will be published in May. Be sure to pick up a copy!

The part about drinking castor oil to help you poop isn't very appealing, I know. And what's this about hallucinating?! I've always wanted to try the Master Cleanse but am pretty sure I'd die.

Anywho - this went from being a plan about weening myself off of desserts to a being a personal challenge for myself. Was I really capable of kicking my sugar habit? Was I able to really not constantly munch on food all day long?

Now onto the plan:

Adjust the time to your schedule and the meals to your taste but remember that there can be no dairy, grains with gluten, meat, shellfish, anything processed (including all soy products), fatty nuts, nightshades (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant), condiments, sugar and obviously no alcohol, caffeine or soda.

DAY ONE
7am (or upon rising): Glass of room temperature lemon water
8am: Herbal tea
10am (breakfast): Blueberry and Almond Smoothie
11:30am: Coconut water
1:30pm (lunch): Salad with Carrot and Ginger Dressing
4pm (snack): A handful of mixed pumpkin and sunflower seeds
6pm (dinner): Broccoli and Arugula Soup

DAY TWO
7am (or upon rising): Glass of room temperature lemon water
8am: Herbal tea
10am (breakfast): Raspberry and Rice Milk Smoothie
11:30am: Coconut water
1:30pm (lunch): Detox Teriyaki Chicken and Steamed Greens
4pm (snack): Miso Soup with Watercress
6pm (dinner): Pea and Basil Soup

DAY THREE
7am (or upon rising): Glass of room temperature lemon water
8am: Herbal tea
10am (breakfast): Oatmeal (make with rice or almond milk instead of water so it's a bit more substantial)
11:30am: Coconut water
1:30pm (lunch): Blueberry and Almond Smoothie
4pm (snack): Cucumber, Lime and Basil Juice
6pm (dinner): Super Greens Juice / Miso Soup with Watercress

DAY FOUR
7am (or upon rising): Glass of room temperature lemon water
8am: Herbal tea
10am (breakfast): Mango and Coconut Milk Smoothie
11:30am: Coconut water
1:30pm (lunch): Miso Soup with Watercress
4pm (snack): A handful of blueberries
6pm (dinner): Steamed Salmon and Greens

DAY FIVE
7am (or upon rising): Glass of room temperature lemon water
8am: Herbal tea
10am (breakfast): Peach and Almond Smoothie
11:30am: Coconut water
1:30pm (lunch): Raw crudite (carrots, green beans, radishes, cucumbers, zucchini) with Carrot and Ginger Dressing
4pm (snack): Beet, Carrot, Apple and Ginger Juice
6pm (dinner): Cucumber and Avocado Soup

DAY SIX
7am (or upon rising): Glass of room temperature lemon water
8am: Herbal tea
10am (breakfast): Blueberry and Almond Smoothie
11:30am: Coconut water
1:30pm (lunch): Mixed Greens with Steamed Salmon, Olive Oil & Lemon Juice
4pm (snack): Super Greens Juice
6pm (dinner): Detox Teriyaki Chicken, brown rice, steamed zucchini

DAY SEVEN
7am (or upon rising): Glass of room temperature lemon water
8am: Herbal tea
10am (breakfast): Raspberry and Rice Milk Smoothie
11:30am: Coconut water
1:30pm (lunch): Miso Soup with Vegetables
4pm (snack): A handful of almonds
6pm (dinner): Steamed fish, quinoa, roasted squash

I'm in day 6 and feel pretty good. My cravings for sweets have come to a halt. I don't even crave chewing gum! I don't think you guys understand, I used to chew gum constantly - until the point where my jaw ached by the end of the day.

Overall - this diet is okay. I enjoy the smoothies and the soups but anything that was supposed to be juiced was terrible. I learned a valuable lesson - juicing vegetables and fruits is much different than blending them. I don't own a juicer so I figured blending would be close. Holy fuck - was I wrong. That "Beet, Carrot, Apple and Ginger Juice" from Day 5? Gwnny described it as "sweet". I guess maybe if I had juiced it, it would have tasted fine… but raw beets blended in a blender? Fucking awful.

I'll blog about the results later but I think this post is long enough. So - anyone interested in following this nutty plan?

A Circle is a Desirable Shape, Right?

The gym I belong to (conveniently located in one of the buildings of my employer) does incentive programs from time to time to motivate gym members to actually work out more. Being the competitive nerd that I am, I generally enroll in these programs. I don't really need the motivation because it has just become a part of my morning routine.

The program they had over the holiday season was called, "Maintain - Don't Gain" where they took your measurements/weight before Thanksgiving and then again this week (after New Year's). The idea is that if you lose or maintain your original measurements/weight then you win. If you gain, you lose and owe them fitness points (points are redeemed for merchandise).

I usually sign up for this particular program and always choose measurements because my weight can fluctuate anywhere between 0-5 lbs depending on if I've pooped, drank too much water or my period is just around the corner. Yeah yeah, tmi. At least I don’t cheat! One woman I know had her weight taken right after lunch the first week and then re-weighed herself first thing in the morning without having eaten anything. You're only cheating yourself! I heard of another woman cheating at Weight Watchers. She actually suggested to another WW pal that they "wear heavy clothing" for their first weigh-in. What's the point? It's not like you're gearing up to wrestle a specific weight class in the big state finals. You're only cheating yourself when you play those games. But I digress…

This holiday season was kind of out of control for me. I think I'm a stress eater - and when you combine the whole crashing of the economy, fear of losing my job, being in grad school, having a husband in law school, dealing with turds and a whole smorgesbord of other things… you've got an out of control snacker. Also factor in the holidays which means that everyone and their mothers is throwing desserts at you.

It ended up with my pants fitting much too tight and me feeling icky and lethargic.

So - on Sunday, I decided I would partake in a detox diet. It's a 7-day plan that was sent to me via a GOOP newsletter. And yes, I realize that it's ridiculous that Gwyneth Paltrow would even claim to need to shed a few pounds but the reason I was drawn to this plan was that perhaps it would help me kick my sugar addiction.

I'm in day 5 of this plan. I can't believe I've made it this long. I didn't realize how much I grazed at work until I couldn't do it anymore. The first day was killer but now I'm used to it. And just know that I AM eating. Aaanywho… maybe I'll save the whole detox thing for another post.

I got remeasured today. I weighed myself and saw that I had lost a pound from the initial weigh-in (score!) so I figured the measurements wouldn't be much different.

Arms - ½ inch BIGGER. I wish I could say I had some Madonna-esque guns but sadly, I do not.
Chest - ¼ inch SMALLER. Seriously? God - why do you hate me?
Waist (Belly Button) - ½ inch BIGGER. YARG!
Hips - ¼ inch SMALLER.
Thighs - the same.
Calves - ¼ inch SMALLER.

Yes - because every woman strives for smaller boobs, hips and calves while increasing their arms and waistline.

And then it struck me. If I keep this up, I'll begin to take the shape of a circle.

I think 2009 should become the year of the circle. Fuck an hourglass figure. Give me a circle, dammit!

First Post of the New Year

Wow - my first post in 2009. What should I discuss?
Should I write about what I did for New Year's? Well - I went to a pal's place for a nice, low-key evening. We normally host a party but this year, we just weren't in the mood. So we hung with friends, played games, drank a couple of bottles of champagne and called it a night.

Should I write a "Year in Review" for 2008? Honestly - I can't seem to remember that far back. I couldn't really list out what I did each month. For a funny recap, check out Eludius's write-up. Seriously - I can't remember what I did in January. That is really really sad.

Should I write about my resolutions? Sure! I'll try to keep it brief. I generally come up with a list of somewhat ridiculous resolutions every year. I even go so far as to type them up into a document and save them. Some past highlights include:
- Do a split (think cheerleaders or super cool dancers). I still can't and I still haven't even really tried to "train" for this.

- Find a hobby. I still struggle with this one. I love lots of things but lack the dedication to any of it. Aren't hobbies supposed to sort of consume my free time? I generally too wiped to do anything outside of watching TV.

- Learn more Korean. I even got Rosetta Stone… LAST CHRISTMAS. I haven't even put the headphones on yet. Yikes.

Some of my successful past resolutions have included:
- Run a 5k. Now I've done more than I can even remember.

- Pay off credit card. At the time I wrote that, my debt was kind of crazy and I did manage to pay it off.

- Do a date night. So I don't really classify cooking dinner once a week as date night anymore but it did spark my interest in cooking. I've managed to keep it up somewhat regularly and continue to get better (at least I think I am.)

So what have I resolved to do this year? It's tough to decide especially now that I have that 101 in 1001 list. That is sort of a long list of resolutions but what I really want to focus on are the following:

- Learn more Korean. I feel like such a fraud not being in touch with half of my family's language. Plus - what a waste! The Rosetta Stone was a gift and I was totally called out last month for not even having used it yet.

- Run a 5k or 10k every month this year. This wasn't MY resolution. It was the resolution The Mr created for US. Nice, huh? The only race we could find in Maryland in January was on NEW YEAR'S DAY. Ugh! But we did it.

- Stop being so angry at everyone. I have such a short temper and can hold some really long grudges. After reading Willikat's post regarding hating anyone new in 2008, I was really struck by how she doesn't hate anyone. I'm so quick to hate people or write them off. I think I end up feeling completely stressed about my relationships with people and I just need to let go of all of it.

- Launch the new blog. I created it and even starting adding content to it a few months ago but have yet to fully switch over to the Charm City Kim blog. I need to get off of my lazy ass and just do it! I also need to accept the fact that I am not graphically design saavy therefore the blog will not be some sort of masterpiece. I'm just tired of being MrsTwink.

- Finally finish posting all of Juli's wedding pictures and frickin' send her a copy. I've only been back from Scotland for 3 months. Geez - what is my problem.

- Speaking of Scotland, I will finally post pictures on my Flickr page from Scotland.

- And speaking of unfinished things, I will finish my stupid wedding scrapbook! I hate having all of this loose paper around. I don’t know why I'm getting so caught up in making the pages look scrap-tacular. I just need to glue stuff to pages.

- Push myself harder to run further. I've conquered the 5k. I even ran 5 miles in December (my longest run EVER). Now I need to finish a 10k. Ideally, I'd even like to try the half-marathon. No more wimping out or taking a defeatist attitude.

- Okay - my list is starting to get too long so I'll stop here.

Any fun resolutions this year?

Christmas in Pictures

I'd have to say that this Christmas was the least stressful Christmas I've had in a long time. Everyone got along well, nobody made me mad and both sets of parents went out of their way to make a veg-friendly meal for me! I was really shocked when my own mother made tons of veggie foods because she's still in denial that I'm a vegetarian.

Originally, The Mr wanted to make gifts for each other in light of the economic crisis and dramatic drop in our company stock (which we had planned to use to pay for a trip to Scotland). I poo-pooed the idea because I thought I'd end up with a sock puppet and some cake (both of which I do not need) but now kind of feel like a selfish a-hole. Next year, I think we should pursue spending less on gifts and more on donating to charities.

Sorry - I just watched a video from Advent Conspiracy that made me feel like Queen Douchebag. They make a valid point about consumerism and wasted money on useless gifts because one of the items we received on Christmas was a glass suncatcher/thermometer. Very random. And The Mr actually broke it while trying to hang it up. I also got 2 pairs of holiday socks. Really?

Anywho - here are some pics from Christmas.

The Mr loves these shoes. I got them for him last Christmas and he's pretty much worn right through them. So I got him a replacement pair. This might end up being a Christmas tradition.


Another dorky picture of The Mr! I'm conveniently not posting pictures of myself. He woke me up at 8am like a little kid who just can't wait to see what Santa brought. I was still half asleep when we went through presents. Oh and in case you're wondering what he is looking at, it's a wireless keyboard and mouse. I suspect his face is faked enthusiasm. He asked for that gift but really - who can get excited for that?


Work shirts! Wow, I'm the worst gift-giver, aren't I? Again, he asked for it and Jos A. Banks was having an amazing sale.


Strangely, the dogs weren't as excited for opening presents as everyone else. This is my SIL's dog. Super cute and she always sounds like she's snoring.


Our dogs were particularly stressed. Emily wouldn't leave my side! Petie was disappointed that nobody received a giant block of cheese to share with him. Even I look a little pissed (but I'm not!). I think I was looking to see if any more wine was left. Those rosy cheeks aren't from the weather!


This is my favorite (don't mind the blocked face... I'm protecting the innocent!). I thought that we needed a creative way to give a gift card. So The Mr and I took super dorky pictures with a large space between us and then I printed them out, cut around our faces with an Xacto knife and inserted the gift card then put it all together in a frame (click to enlarge the picture). Voila!

We bought Petie and Emily some new dog toys that they tore through in less than 10 minutes. Insane! Why is it the cheap-o $3 toys last longer than the fancy $10 stuffed monkeys?