12/31/12

1. Getting to the movie theater for The Hobbit 15 minutes early.
2. Really nice run in Monmouth Battlefield Park with AL, despite the cold temperature.
3. Fairly quick running of errands at Nordstrom and Bed Bath & Beyond.
4. Red duck curry for dinner.
5. Not taking too long to pull together all my various stuff, just forgot my shampoo bottle.
6. Going home with Dan after watching the ball drop with the family ("That fly will not live to see 2013").

A year ago today.

Top good things in 2012:

1. Completing the Jersey Girl Triathlon.
2. Running a 10K on a beautiful day in October. 
3. Going on multiple international trips for the first time since 2009. 
4. Finally getting around to hanging gallery walls in this apartment.
5. Making a bunch of photobooks for past trips and events.
6. Going to Harry Potter world at last.

12/30/12

1. Going to dim sum with the whole family.
2. My mom giving me a ride for my errands.
3. Completing a bunch of returns to the outlets and Sears.
4. Working together with both of my parents to salvage the noodle dough for dinner after breaking the KitchenAid pasta attachment.
5. Doing a G+ Hangout with Amy to go over WWOOF photos.
6. Working on the photobook and getting through most of the France photos.

A year ago today.

12/29/12

1. Sleeping in in the morning.
2. Making a plan of recipes for frozen CSA meat.
3. Dan figuring out where to buy serrano chiles even with me missing his texted question.
4. Going to LA Fitness with my mom and hanging out in the sauna at the end.
5. Doing a light bit of lifting for the first time in months.
6. Editing the photos for the last photobook of the year.

A year ago today.

12/28/12

1. Quiet day at work.
2. Getting to the cafe a bit early for a meeting with HJ.
3. Pulling out the scale to weigh all the CSA meat.
4. Putting gift wrap and bike rack away into closets.
5. Vacuuming the apartment.
6. Talking Dan into staying for the dance lesson with my aunt and doing quite well at the cha cha.

A year ago today.

12/27/12

1. Lunch with AJ.
2. Grabbing dinner at the office.
3. Making it on time to pick up the meat CSA.
4. Returning a bunch of items to J.Crew and Madewell.
5. Stopping by David's Tea and getting a free cup of delicious-smelling nutty tea.
6. Meeting up successfully with Dan at the 14th St. PATH station.

A year ago today.

12/26/12

1. Quiet day in the office, all meetings canceled.
2. Nutella flavor in the nutella-stuffed chocolate chip cookies intensifying.
3. Getting the sequel to The Magicians out from the library as an ebook.
4. Getting cinnamon sticks from Manhattan Fruit Exchange.
5. Picking up a pretty drawer knob from Anthropologie for the unfinished side table.
6. Stopping by the library.

A year ago today.

12/25/12

1. Going to see my grandma.
2. Finding a few dim sum items at the Chinese buffet lunch.
3. Stopping by the L-side Christmas in time for the gift exchange.
4. Saving enough room for the Christmas dinner my sister made.
5. My parents breaking out red wine from Napa for dinner.
6. Baking cookies with my sister.

A year ago today.

12/24/12

1. Wrapping the last of Christmas gifts for CS/PB that I had shipped from Amazon to my parents' directly.
2. My aunt handwashing the grubby parts of my down vest.
3. Doing several loads of laundry.
4. Stopping by Christmas Eve in Shrewsbury for a few hours.
5. Dan's dramatic reading of the Christmas hobo poem being quite the hit.
6. Family bringing in my line-dried pants before the rain.

A year ago today.

12/23/12

1. Lounging around on the couch for most of the day.
2. Remembering to set up the DVR for the Christmas Doctor Who episode.
3. Cleaning up the apartment. 
4. Packing up all the stuff to bring over to my parents', including the KitchenAid mixer.
5. Timing working out in the end to drive to Monmouth County with RC and SR as well.
6. Dan coming back to Holmdel to bring back frozen dumplings to Hoboken.

A year ago today.

12/22/12

1. DC giving me a ride to South Station in the morning.
2. Dan having the apartment all cleaned and tomato-spinach-sausage risotto made.
3. Successfully making cheese straws as a party snack.
4. HTHSers over for our Festivus party! Don't think our apartment has been host to so many people at once before.
5. Cinnamon chip sea salt cookies (made with the KitchenAid stand mixer!) being a huge hit.
6. Playing Sporcle into the night.

A year ago today.

12/21/12

1. DC making us all eggs for breakfast.
2. Yummy Thai food lunch at the Coolidge Corner location of Nud Pob.
3. Browsing Brookline Booksmith.
4. Making dinner of squash risotto and brussels sprouts.
5. Lots of good heart-to-heart talks with my girls.
6. Finishing reading The Magicians.

A year ago today.

12/20/12

1. Getting a haircut at Zen Hair.
2. Various venting sessions with the Boston folks.
3. Helping the Boston team take a hilarious Christmas family photo.
4. Dinner at Tasca's with EN/DC.
5. Fun Christmas present exchange.
6. Sleepover with LW and EN staying over at DC's as well.

A year ago today.

12/19/12

1. Actually noticing a text from EN to give her a call back.
2. Finding Bonine at the CVS near work.
3. Mailing out MB's jam gift and finding the price through FedEx to be comparable to the post office.
4. Snoozing through most of the bus ride up to Boston.
5. Running into EN on the T to DC's.
6. Picking up a copy of The Joy of Cooking on loan from EN while she was sorting through her stuff.

A year ago today.

12/18/12

1. Getting stuff to the laundromat in time for same day wash& fold.
2. Sausage/tomato/spinach/noodles really hitting the spot for whatever reason.
3. Splitting the noodles into two portions to not be too stuffed.
4. Burning the Heath Ceramics ginger candle while Dan isn't around.
5. Going for a run.
6. Putting up the hooks to hang up lights for the party.

A year ago today.

12/17/12

1. Remembering to pick up my re-soled cowboy boots from the cobbler.
2. Sticking it through the long line to mail out a bunch of packages at the post office.
3. Lunch with AJ.
4. Going to a talk by Smitten Kitchen at the NYPL with CS. The Amateur Gourmet was actually a pretty good host/interviewer, too.
5. Getting a call from DC while waiting to get CS' book signed.
6. Having the apartment to myself with Dan away on a work trip.

A year ago today.

12/16/12

1. Deciding on the final "packaging design."
2. Wrapping up the majority of Christmas gifts.
3. Writing up holiday cards to be sent out.
4. Wedding canvas getting delivered! Order had never been confirmed and not sure why USPS is delivering on a Sunday, but getting it within a week of placing the order is pretty nice.
5. Everything being hung up on the walls in time for the Festivus party.
6. Cleaning up all the excess packaging material.

A year ago today.

12/15/12

1. Getting another notice from The Strand that a used copy of one of the books on my wishlists with them was in stock again. This feature is very dangerous...
2. Finding a few things on further sale with Madewell's 30% off sale today.
3. Cleaning up my plant collections, getting rid of the dead ones.
4. Successfully replacing the light bulb in the hallway, which was almost too high up for me, even on the ladder.
5. Going for an easy run up and down the boardwalk while listening to the America's Test Kitchen podcast.
6. Dan's dad stopping by the laundromat he was in to pass along the message of getting stuff to make mashed potatoes for dinner.

A year ago today.

12/14/12

1. Feeling refreshed when I woke up.
2. Scrambled eggs with goat cheese for breakfast.
3. Getting the FedEx delivery of the two adult-size turquoise chairs I won off eBay last weekend.
4. Dan bringing home an order from the Taco Truck for me.
5. Catching up on TV episodes that had been DVRed for awhile: Once Upon a Time, Copper, and Jeopardy.
6. Lounging about and watching random movies on TV.

A year ago today.

12/13/12

1. Getting a ride from Dan to Newport station.
2. Plenty of time for a leisurely breakfast even before a 9am meeting.
3. Massage with AS.
4. Remembering to go get lunch right before it ended at 1:30.
5. Grabbing a bag of freshly popped popcorn from the microkitchen.
6. Making it to the meat CSA pickup right before 7pm.

A year ago today.

12/12/12

1. Warm congee in the morning for breakfast. Making it with chicken broth is better than with beef broth, but overall I think I still prefer just plain water.
2. Few meetings today.
3. Being home to accept a bunch of UPS packages from the last couple days.
4. Talking to RC's sister on the phone for a bit as a prospective referral.
5. Dan agreeing with me on the merits of switching careers earlier on vs. later on.
6. Testing out different gift packaging methods.

A year ago today.

12/11/12

1. Making all the train connections quite quickly in the morning, surprisingly.
2. JW complimenting my new red Hue fleece-lined (!) tights.
3. Eventually successfully meeting up with AJ to have lunch.
4. Fun and funny gifts at the office white elephant gift exchange.
5. Going to The Strand again to pick up a used book after getting an email notification for it being back in stock earlier in the day.
6. Timing working out just right for Dan to pick me up from Newport.

A year ago today.

12/10/12

1. Dan giving me a ride to Newport in the morning.
2. Getting in to the office with plenty of time for breakfast even before an 8:30am meeting.
3. Rain holding off while I did my various errands and returns.
4. Noticing a duplicate line on my J.Crew receipt from Black Friday at the Grove and getting it refunded as well.
5. Chatting with a guy at The Strand and getting a bunch of book recommendations.
6. Not waiting too long to get a light rail to go home.

A year ago today.

12/9/12

1. Falling back asleep in the morning after Dan got up.
2. Dan making sausage & peppers with a tomato apple cider sauce for lunch.
3. Hanging up the gallery wall in the living room!! Finally.
4. Having few instances of getting everything into the frame only to find random specks of dust between the print and the glass.
5. Ham hock with lentils in the slow cooker turning out quite well, for working with bits of different recipes cobbled together.
6. Putting together the family wedding photos to use a Google Offers deal for a custom printed canvas.

A year ago today.

12/8/12

1. Sleeping in in the morning.
2. Finishing re-reading Sunshine.
3. Winning an eBay auction for replacement adult-size turquoise chairs.
4. Getting the roots for my colored streaks touched up at the salon with $50 credit from Amex Small Business Saturday and 20% off coupon.
5. Dan taking me to the outlets in Paramus to return a crapload of J.Crew Factory orders.
6. Messing around on the keyboard that Dan brought off craigslist.

A year ago today.

12/7/12

1. Sleeping in a bit in the morning.
2. Heating up the Hoboken on Rye potato latkes in the oven and finding them to still be decently crispy on the edges.
3. Getting my work inbox cleared down to < 5 by the end of the day.
4. Finishing entering in the rest of the recipes I want to try from the Smitten Kitchen cookbook 
5. Finding Sunshine available online after all even though it isn't available for Kindle from Amazon.
6. Successfully converting PDFs into Kindle format for easier reading.

A year ago today.

12/6/12

1. Finally feeling refreshed when waking up in the morning.
2. Breaking out the new Lululemon gloves and beanie for a short run, set to Springsteen.
3. Stopping in at the gym and Hoboken on Rye to check out how they were doing.
4. Coconut macaron from Hoboken on Rye.
5. Making an enormous pan of butternut squash mac & cheese. 
6. Giving Dan his birthday card which said, "You will always be older than me."

A year ago today.

12/5/12

1. Sitting in one of the boxes to listen to an orchestra rehearsal with my mom and sister, quite fun.
2. Authentic Thai food for lunch with good fish cakes.
3. Finally getting to the Cloisters and getting a tour by a guy who did a great job explaining tenets of Christianity behind the medieval art shown.
4. Popping out from the subway station right in front of the tree at Rockefeller Center.
5. Finally finding a doctor still in to take care of the speck in my sister's eye.
6. Entering in the recipes I wanted to try from Make the Bread, Buy the Butter.

A year ago today.

12/4/12

1. Dan giving me a ride to Newport so I didn't have to drag all my stuff on the light rail.
2. Finding a way to nap briefly in the nap pod by stuffing pillows in the bend in the chair to be able to curl up on my side.
3. Catching up with BB over lunch.
4. Successfully running all my errands in the afternoon.
5. Remembering to grab dinner at the office.
6. Light rail coming by pretty quickly so got home just in time for an 8pm meeting.

A year ago today.

12/3/12

1. Warm breakfast of congee with all the toppings.
2. Roasting up all the remaining CSA squash and making toasted squash seeds for a snack. Tastes like the kernel in popcorn but without any burnt taste.
3. Going for a run! First time since the 10K in October.
4. Pork chops with maple balsamic vinegar glazed turning out quite juicy and flavorful indeed and going well with mashed potatoes and creamed spinach.
5. Putting up the hooks for the three blue plates to hang over the stove.
6. Finally hanging the gallery wall of souvenir posters/prints.

A year ago today.

12/2/12

1. Sleeping in past 9 in the morning.
2. Making fluffy scrambled eggs on English muffins with ginger pear marmalade for breakfast.
3. Having an enjoyable time trying all the various items I ordered from J.Crew and Madewell with the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales.
4. Dan running out for rolls and provolone cheese to make some really delicious meatball subs for lunch.
5. Figuring out how to use the mat cutter to cut new mats and enlarge Ikea mats for several pieces that had been lying around for months.
6. Indulging in ramen for dinner.

A year ago today.

12/1/12

1. Finishing going through all my previous Cook's Illustrated magazines and entering relevant info/recipes into my new Google Docs system for organizing cooking stuff.
2. Pork katsudon for lunch/dinner at Mitsuwa.
3. Picking up soy sauce, soba tsuyu, and panko from Mitsuwa.
4. Getting a few of the red bean paste filled desserts from the food court.
5. Playing a few close games of go against Dan at the spa.
6. Skin feeling really smooth after the body scrub.

A year ago today.

11/30/12

1. Dan giving me a ride to Newport in the morning again.
2. Making up an avocado bagel for breakfast along with scrambled eggs, hash browns, and biscuits with sausage gravy.
3. Clearing out a lot of my inbox before the end of the day.
4. Finding that the size medium slipper would fit despite being marked for 6.5-7 and grabbing two of the last few pairs of shearling slippers at the 6th Ave. Bed Bath & Beyond for my mom and me. 
5. Dan picking me up from Newport.
6. Noticing the tall round flexible plastic laundry baskets right before heading out of the laundry section at the BBB in Jersey City for a cheaper and easier solution to the laundry-in-closet issue.

A year ago today.

11/29/12

1. Dan giving me a ride to Newport in the morning.
2. Lunch with AJ.
3. Writing down all the available spices and their prices at the Manhattan Fruit Exchange for future reference.
4. Remembering to run down and grab dinner before the cafe closed.
5. Finding Dan in the 14th St. PATH station since he wasn't able to get on the train that came while he was there.
6. Light rail to 2nd St. coming by right after we got to Newport.

A year ago today.

11/28/12

1. Falling back asleep after Dan left in the morning.
2. Warm slow cooker congee for breakfast.
3. Getting an email from J.Crew and finding a 3/4 length sleeve cowl-neck jersey dress I was looking at last week is back in stock in my size.
4. Coming up with a Google Docs collection system for organizing recipes.
5. Dan successfully getting a copy of our wedding certificate, finally!
6. Doing a G+ hangout with my sister to troubleshoot her computer problems.

A year ago today.

11/27/12

1. Morning work activity exceeding my expectations. 
2. Lunch with AJ.
3. Successfully running a crapload of errands: library, tailor, Container Store (where eventually we were able to find the 6" plate hangers, despite being hidden behind some other items), Bed Bath & Beyond, Lululemon, Staples, Whole Foods, and the Strand).
4. Staples still being open on my way back from Strand to pick up the packing tape I forgot and to grab some gift tags as well.
5. Dan hanging around in the Target parking lot in Jersey City so he could give me a ride home from Newport.
6. Heating up some chicken patties for dinner for the both of us.

A year ago today.

11/26/12

1. SS being able to cover one meeting so I could attend another, even though she was sick.
2. Making a large batch of eggs with tomatoes over noodles for a late lunch.
3. Pulled out all of jars to do an inventory for gift giving.
4. Realizing I could take advantage of a Cyber Monday sale for ordering another roll of washi tape to finish off the bedroom ceiling light project.
5. Being able to cancel an earlier Amazon order to re-order some other stuff instead and not have to add random stuff to get over $25 shipping again.
6. Hanging up the glass ornaments using some of the baker's twine.

A year ago today.

11/25/12

1. Doing a massive reorganization of the kitchen cabinets and all the closets.
2. Dan being out of the apartment all day while everything was a total mess.
3. Finally getting to putting up washi tape on the underside of the lampshade on the bedroom overhead light...ran out of tape but works quite well!
4. Cleared out space on the dining table by trimming down the scraggly lemon verbena plant.
5. Vacuuming the apartment.
6. Remembering to turn on the slow cooker for congee in the morning.

A year ago today.