4/29/12

1. Sleeping in for the 2nd day in a row.
2. Getting to the gym and doing pretty well considering I hadn't been in a week.
3. Going through and editing all the New Orleans trip photos to make the photobook.
4. Hanging up a bunch of frames in the bedroom and in the hallway!! It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, particularly once I got into the swing of things. Only stopped because I ran out of nails.
5. Dan making tomato-spinach-sausage risotto for dinner.
6. Vacuuming and cleaning up the apartment, which is good since I'm going to be gone the next few weekends and may not have time to clean again for awhile.

A year ago today.

4/28/12

1. Sleeping in to finally catch up on sleep.
2. Bringing home an entire saltwater duck.
3. Finding everything on my list at Michael's and bike rack at Wal-Mart and more frames at Ikea.
4. Swedish meatballs at Ikea.
5. Fixing up some jewelry with the new supplies from Michael's.
6. Mending a vintage dress while watching random movies on TV.

A year ago today.

4/27/12

1. Dan giving me a ride to Newark Penn station.
2. Red duck curry at home for an early lunch meal and watermelon (first whole watermelon of the year!) for snacking.
3. After circling around for ages, finding a parking spot that didn't require parallel parking.
   
4. The nutrition talk by BS at the Jersey Girl Triathlon kick-off party where he focused on all the supplements that you don't need.
5. Papaya salad and tofu blocks for dinner.
6. Watching TV and home videos with my mom.

A year ago today.

4/26/12

1. Working from home in the morning.
2. Productive meeting with AG, YW, and TO.
3. Remembering to get a check from IK for her half of the CSA for this summer.
4. Getting to Dickson's Farmstand to spend a $10 AMEX credit from a Twitter promotion. 
5. Chorizo with eggs and spinach for dinner.
6. Watching TV with Dan instead of going to the gym.

A year ago today.

4/25/12

1. Picking up various notions in the Garment District in the morning. 
2. Table massage with AS.
3. Stopping by the Pippin Vintage Jewelry store to get some clip-on earring converters.
4. Discovering that the clip-ons could snap off pretty easily without leaving glue residue behind or splintering anything.
5. Finding familiar faces to talk to at the PSP evening event, including connecting with SK on wedding and crafting stuff.
6. Getting a sufficient amount of food for dinner from the hors d'oeuvres at the event.

A year ago today.

4/24/12

1. A morning meeting getting canceled so got an extra half hour break between other meetings.
2. Not eating much for lunch since I didn't feel that hungry and being right about that since I didn't become starving in the afternoon or anything.
3. Just making it onto the 5:35 bus from GWB bus plaza into Fort Lee. Bus left 3 minutes late.
4. Feeling great after the first training run for the triathlon! JS and her sister were very kind about keeping to my slow pace.
5. Dan coming to pick me up.
6. Working on articulating what I want changed in the wedding album design.

A year ago today.

4/23/12

1. Wearing my new J.Crew chambray button-down shirt that actually fits with black skinny jeans and brown boots over those jeans. A classic outfit for many and yet took a long time to find items that would fit me for that style.
2. Delicious flatbreads with ramps at lunch and this weird-sounding pea cream sauce tasting amazing spread over broccoli.
3. Lots of laughing in our weekly core meeting, some of the meetings end up like that for whatever reason.
4. Leftover turkey burgers with sun-dried tomato aioli on a bed of spinach and a sliced up bell pepper. I'm just going to keep making this meal over and over again until I get tired of it, I think.
5. Finishing watching Once Upon a Time while doing a bit more hand-sewing.
6. Going to bed relatively early to catch up on sleep.

A year ago today.

4/22/12

1. Dan helping me iron my chambray shirtdress in the morning.
2. Putting away last night's laundry, vacuuming, and making turkey burgers with sun-dried tomatoes aioli again all in the morning before showing and heading out.
3. Staff at the J.Crew Factory store not demonstrating any annoyance at how many things I was returning.
4. Having a fun time at Dan's work shindig, talking about running and triathlon (his boss' wife is doing the Jersey Girl Triathlon and has done it before!) and garage sale finds.
5. Postponing the Ikea trip until next week and coming straight home since I was tired and it's raining out.
6. Catching up on Jeopardy with Dan.

A year ago today.

4/21/12

1. Going to town on the turquoise chairs I bought off eBay with a magic eraser.
2. Great workout at the gym, felt much stronger than on Tuesday.
3. Watching home videos while working on sewing stuff. Better than mindless background TV since I don't risk paying too close attention to crime procedural show's plot.
4. Hauling out the serger and really learning how to use it this time! Really went all out, rolled hem on a slip and serged the unfinished seams of multiple dresses.
5. Lamb shoulder chop with tomatoes and olives coming out better than the one with figs, less greasy. Trimming the fat off the chops beforehand and wiping the pan clean after browning them really made a difference.
6. Serging all the seams of my vintage dresses that were unfinished on the inside. Stayed up really late but I really got into a sewing zone!

A year ago today.

4/20/12

1. Putting together a cute outfit with vintage puffed overlapped sleeves polka dot black dress with new J.Crew Factory grey skinny patent leather belt, grey leggings and grey Steve Madden boots.
2. Grabbing a quick lunch with AJ.
3. Cracking jokes during team meeting with SH and JM.
4. Thoroughly browsing the Manhattan Vintage Fair and discovering a new vendor with decent prices and some larger items in stock, including a perfectly fitting pink slip that doesn't need to be hemmed.
5. Grabbing a fleece jacket from the office before going home since it had gotten somewhat chilly.
6. Getting dinner at The Taco Truck.

A year ago today.

4/19/12

1. Wearing out my seafoam/mint green jeans out into the world with the bright red/coral Gap oversized sweater.
2. Fun lunch with BB and FDG.
3. Taking a power nap and feeling loads more energetic afterwards.
4. Staying late at work after getting in a zone to finally finish off the feature list for the next release.
5. Turquoise fiberglass chairs that I ordered off eBay being delivered directly to our apartment instead of needing to pick them up at Port Authority.
6. New bookhou triangle print bag arriving in the mail too and while it's simple in construction (no pockets on the inside or anything), it's definitely well-made, the leather strap isn't too long so it's ok that it's not adjustable, and I love the triangle print so much right now.

A year ago today.

4/18/12

1. Though I was late in the morning, AJ was later so I didn't have to feel bad for holding her up.
2. Food at the conference being surprisingly good, for both breakfast and lunch!
3. Listening to some pretty interesting talks, standouts were Millard Drexler (J.Crew CEO) and General McChrystal.
4. Getting several free books, including Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking and How to be Black.
5. Getting a free box of Thin Mints!
6. Going directly home instead of going to the office to work like I'd originally planned and then changing into PJs from the tight shift dress and shapewear that I'd been wearing.

A year ago today.

4/17/12

1. Having WM be a sympathetic ear.
2. Feeling better after shopping at the Greedy Seagull booth at Artist & Fleas some more, though didn't buy anything new, just picked up the mostly repaired scallop-edge black dress with orange and yellow print (kind of looks like oranges and lemons).
3. Minimizing my late fees by dropping off overdue books at the 23rd St. library.
4. Resisting the urge to be snarky when dealing with Mint customer service that kept not reading my emails very carefully and sending the same canned response.
5. Finishing my workout before everyone had left the gym.
6. Lamb chops with fig sauce coming out just fine even though I burned the onions a little.

A year ago today.

4/16/12

1. Getting in to the office in time to get scrambled eggs and a bit of bacon for breakfast.
2. Calling Chase and getting approved for a third credit card with them.
3. Going shopping with AJ/BB and having a great time picking things out for BB, she even ended up actually getting a couple things that I had picked out.
4. Dropping off BB's clothes haul and my laptop back at the office so I wouldn't have to carry the heavy laptop home, it was too late for me to realistically actually work more at home.
5. Perfect temperature and (lack of) humidity outside on the walk home.
6. Rest of turkey burgers and sun-dried tomato aioli...burgers are ok but that aioli is just amazing.

A year ago today.

4/15/12

1. Going to the gym and succeeding at the increased weights for squat and bench press both.
2. Sun-dried tomato aioli with turkey burgers and sauteed orange bell peppers and spinach for lunch.The aioli was excellent, sweetness of sun-dried tomatoes and honey + tanginess of Greek yogurt + garlic + touch of heat from cayenne.
3. Making Orangette's granola recipe for the first time in a couple years, when I used to make it in Boston.
4. Working out which prints to hang where in the apartment--the most difficult part that I've been paralyzed on for ages. Now to just get a few more frames and work on actually hanging the pieces in the selected locations...
5. Snacking on the mangoes my mom gave me that finally seemed ripe enough (wrinkled enough skin), delicious with some Trader Joe's rice pudding for dessert.
6. Entertaining episode of Mad Men.

A year ago today.

4/14/12

1. Overnight oatmeal in yogurt and milk for breakfast, with cinnamon and honey.
2. Showering and getting the dishes done before the cleaning folks came in.
3. Going to a free tasting at the Cheese Store and stocking up on my old favorites.
4. Sparkling clean apartment! They even took out the trash.
5. Walking over to Kohl's and returning the rest of the online order.
6. Flipping back and forth between Beauty & the Beast and Mr. and Mrs. Smith on TV, with popcorn.

A year ago today.

4/13/12

1. Making fried rice with Dickson's Farm Stand's gourmet hot dogs and mom's home cured meat for breakfast/lunch/dinner.
2. Working from home on a day with only one meeting.
3. Wearing in the size 10 of the seafoam green jeans from Kohl's and finding that they would stretch out enough to not be too tight. Size 12 would probably stretch too much and look baggy.
4. Getting to the explanatory part of Kate Atkinson's Behind the Scenes at the Museum and later finishing it.
5. Doing some hand sewing I'd been putting off: lining up the buttons better on the seafoam green coat and closing the ends of the ties on the black geometric pattern skirt I got from Secondtime around a couple weeks ago.
6. Lounging around and watching TV while Dan was at RC's.

A year ago today.

4/12/12

1. Amazing juice bar in the new cafe!! Carrot juice, green monster veggie juices smoothie, fresh coconuts, wheatgrass...
2. Getting lunch with EM.
3. Trying on and making decisions on shoe purchases (sent it all back).
4. Getting home in time to start making dinner (more sausage and eggs) before the meeting.
5. Meeting with SN ended early so I had dinner before my food got cold.
6. Good workout at the gym, succeeded at overhead press.
   

A year ago today.

4/11/12

1. Finding 2 things of Fage yogurt with honey in the 2nd microkitchen I tried.
2. Chair massage with AS.
3. Getting to the tailor with my polka dot dress and returning stuff to the Gap.
4. Sausage with eggs, spinach, and peppers for dinner.
5. Steamed pear coming about better tonight than last night.
6. Watching Jeopardy with Dan.

A year ago today.

4/10/12

1. Getting in to the office in time to grab some scrambled eggs for breakfast.
2. Trying on a pink slip and finding it to fit quite well.
3. Seller agreeing to fix the worn parts of the black dress as part of selling it to me and also letting me know that her partner would extend me $20 store credit due to the damage I discovered on the brown polka dot dress I bought from them last week.
4. Last of red duck curry for dinner.
5. Good lifting workout tonight, getting my strength back.
6. Starting to unpack the china we got from Dan's aunt and finding it to have more pieces than I thought.

A year ago today.

4/9/12

1. My mix-up about the Aldo return shipping label turning out not to matter (had started it on my phone and only set it up for one item to be returned), weight for just one item was the same as the weight they put on the label to ship it to me in the first place with both items.
2. Getting to the post office just in time before they closed (literally the last customer) to send my engagement ring back to get it resized.
3. Going to the Artist & Fleas market and browsing more slowly, picking out a turquoise necklace and a black with orange/yellow print scallop-edged dress.
4. Getting to the library in plenty of time before they closed.
5. Having enough cash on me to finally pay off the fines that I'd been accruing for awhile.
6. More red duck curry for dinner.

A year ago today.

4/8/12

1. Having time in the morning after getting back to work on the computer.
2. Snacking on saltwater brined duck and carrot chips.
3. Lunch of red duck curry and rice.
4. Picking up Dan's great aunt T's china set at the Easter family celebration.
5. Catching up on Google Reader and staring at a computer screen helping me stay awake long enough not to go to bed too early.
6. Catching up on Jeopardy with Dan.

A year ago today.

4/7/12

1. Amaaaazing body scrub at King Spa & Fitness sauna! I have never been so clean in my life.
2. Exploring the spa's many different rooms and lounges, relaxing and hanging out with my mom.
3. Picking up needed Asian groceries at Kam Man.
4. Deciding to go to Holmdel for the night and having dinner of fish and homemade tofu with my parents.
5. Driving to Freehold mall and returning various orders to Nordstrom, J.Crew, and Kohl's.
6. Talking to my dad about different options for Google Groups and how to use Google+. He picked it all up really quickly!

A year ago today.

4/6/12

1. Excellent lunch at work: fettucine alfredo with peas, sausage with onions and peppers, mussels, brussels sprouts, and roast cippolini onions.
2. Getting complimented on my basic eyebrow structure and eyelashes by M and feeling confident in her skill moving forward. Her fee is high but seems to be good value.
3. Running errands of returning white pants to Madewell and buying leggings (on sale!) from Uniqlo.
4. Having time to get a steak bowl with guacamole and sour cream at Chipotle for dinner.
5. Getting a picture with Sly Fox (!) at the Nets game with EM and AM.
6. Finding sites to get rewards points or cashback and coupon codes for various online orders that saved me a lot.

A year ago today.

4/5/12

1. Really productive, educational, and invigorating meeting in the morning about approvals and workflows with CL/BG/MW/EL.
2. Going to Artist & Fleas with AJ/AC/EM and AJ finding the perfect Pretty Woman brown polka dot dress for me. Slightly tight right at the waist but overall a very good fit!
3. Chocolate milk and ginger ice cream from Ronnybrook, stopping at Dickson's Farm Stand and getting a hotdog sampling and sausages and hot dogs for the weekend.
4. Succeeding at 3x5x55 OP and not finding the deadlift to be too difficult.
5. Having one of Dan's frozen dinners (pho) instead of having to cook myself.
6. Trying on the clothes from the online orders and finding a lot of the J.Crew Factory stuff to fit quite well and of nice quality in materials and construction.

A year ago today.

4/4/12

1. Putting together an outfit with an interesting color combo, cream plaid skirt made by me with grey silk top, long and loose grey cardigan, dark red tights (almost maroon but not quite), and grey short boots.
2. Tui-Na massage with AS.
3. Finding fairly affordable vintage fiberglass chairs on eBay...apparently shipping via Greyhound is the thing to do these days. Fingers crossed that my bid wins!
4. Getting home in time to change and bring today's clothes to the dry cleaner's.
5. Finding a 35k point offer for the Chase Freedom card when I thought I'd lost out on the 30k offer from a couple days ago (normally 20k). Hopefully I can get approved though it's a little close to the last card I got from them.
6. Chatting with SP and getting her approval for an email I wanted to send out.

A year ago today.

4/3/12

1. Debuting two of the new-to-me items from shopping at Second Time Around last Friday, a black and white geometric print skirt (that doesn't have a zipper and has a small waist so I have to pull it on overhead...) and grey Steve Madden short bootes with buckles on the side.
2. Another avocado bagel and scrambled eggs with bacon for breakfast.
3. Making a spreadsheet of sewing projects (fixes/alterations, clothing from patterns, and home sewing stuff) and remembering the closet spending tracker spreadsheet I started for 2012 and updating that too.
4. Doing a bit of a closet purge.
5. Going to the gym and finishing the full workout.
6. Remembering to check evreward.com for potential cashback options while doing some online shopping.

A year ago today.

4/2/12

1. First avocado bagel for breakfast in awhile.
2. No meetings except for at the beginning and end of the day.
3. Dropping off a bunch of stuff that needed small fixes to the tailor, only $6 per fix which is good since my handsewing skills weren't up to them.
4. Getting to Madewell and successfully returning an online order while picking up a red t-shirt with a triangle print and a pair of white jeans, though I think I'll return them and wait for them to go on sale.
5. Catching up on Once Upon a Time and Jeopardy with Dan.
6. Falling asleep really quickly since I was tired from getting up early today.

A year ago today.

4/1/12

1. Falling back asleep after Dan left early in the morning.
2. Getting to the gym finally for the first time since before going to New Orleans.
3. Making another and better batch of fried rice for lunch.
4. Getting laundry and vacuuming done.
5. Dan approving of the braised lamb shanks I made for dinner.
6. Making Mexican hot chocolate snickerdoodles.

A year ago today.

3/31/12

1. Sleeping in in the morning and finally catching up on sleep for the week.
2. Dan going out to get hotdogs to add to the fried rice I made for lunch.
3. Getting our finances in order for the month.
4. Re-examining our budget with Dan and finding we have more leeway now to put towards different goals.
5. Relatively minimal struggle to put together the photobook for studying abroad in Australia.
6. Getting the photobook order in just before midnight when the March coupon would expire.

A year ago today.

3/30/12

1. Getting an extra two hours of sleep in the morning.
2. Getting lunch in Chelsea with EM and ST.
3. Riffing with EM and ST on a rom-com idea titled "The Next Best Man" where the plot is that it turns out a wedding didn't go through and the bride has accidentally married the best man instead.
4. Extremely friendly visit at the dentist's, even moreso than usual. Also got a new and thinner case for my night guard.
5. Going out shopping with AJ and picking out an Oscar de la Renta gown for her as well as finding a couple things at the 2nd Time Around on 14th and 7th.
6. Catching up with AJ over delicious froyo at Red Mango.

A year ago today.

3/29/12

1. Getting the upgrade manual put together pretty quickly since it was mostly cutting and pasting links.
2. Dan's excellent timing to pick me up not long after I got off the PATH at Harrison.
3. Getting Dan to stop at a Panera earlier than he had planned because I was pretty hungry.
4. Swapping out the fries for more chicken fingers since I was still a bit hungry.
5. SPRINGSTEEN YEAHHH!!!!!!!!
6. Getting to sleep a bit on the way back while Dan drove.

A year ago today.

3/28/12

1. Being extra generous with the honey in my honey and Greek yogurt breakfast.
2. Chair massage with AS.
3. Mailing off our amended NJ state tax return, good riddance.
4. Making it past the halfway point on Last Chance to See before bringing it to the library.
5. Shrimp quesadillas for dinner at work that were actually pretty good.
6. Making it to the library in enough time before closing that I didn't have to tussle with the guard to get in.

A year ago today.

3/27/12

1. Remembering to bring in my passport in the morning.
2. JB and BG being there for the early meeting.
3. Said meeting ending half an hour early.
4. Re-reading some bits of The Hunger Games again.
5. Deciding to clean up the apartment a bit, particularly the kitchen, instead of going to the gym.
6. Organizing the bathroom medicine box and discovering we had plenty more cold meds for the next time I'm sick.

A year ago today.

3/26/12

1. Clearing out what remained in my inbox from laying low last week.
2. JB sending out detailed instructions on how to get a visa to go to China.
3. Getting passport photos done at CVS.
4. Getting more PSP France photos from LW.
5. Starting reading Inheritance on my Kindle, I imagine it would be quite a bulky book.
6. Not staying up reading too late.

A year ago today.