time to start the end-of-the-year wrap-up (crazy, isn't it?) -- another year older, another year wiser... here are some things i've learned about this year:
1. pete's fresh market: this place is awesome. cut my grocery bill in half. avocados for 40 cents apiece all year round = fresh guacamole every week. phenomenal.
2. eyelash curler: i had one in grad school, but post-wedding have learned that a little more open-looking eyes makes everything better. it's kind of an extension to my 2003 discovery that adding a little mascara after being up for 24 hours makes you look more awake and alert.
3. bronzer: several times, when counseling frantic friends trying to drop a few pounds before a winter vacation, i have suggested that they stop worrying about what they can't change in 2 weeks and start focusing on what they *can* change, with the help of a tanning bed. a little color is better. until this year, though, i had no idea that the same help can just be brushed on in the morning! evens out the weird blotchy thing that happens to fair skin in winter.
4. good rum: my blogmate and i brought back lots of this in 2005, but until recently i'd only been using it for rum and cokes. not that i would ever say anything bad about rum and coke; it's delicious! but on vacation in curacao this year, we learned from a german hotel manager that venezuela makes delicious rum that can be sipped like a cognac. wow, is that amazing. to be fair, i might have learned this one earlier, but since mb and his friend nick blew through our entire bottle of admiral rodney's barrel-aged rum from st. lucia in one night and i didn't get to have any, that puts this on my 2007-education list.
5. more stores on roosevelt: i am so excited about the north-and-clybourn-esque transformation of the south loop! bring on progress. there are PARKING LOTS where i can take a CAR to get STUFF. compared to my first days in chicago getting lost every time i tried to leave hyde park, this is phenomenal. target, world market, linens n things, panera, dsw (ahhh, shoes...) home depot. errands no longer take a full day.
hmm, more to be continued. so far this is sounding pretty girly. i'm ok with that, but i'll have to think up some power tools or something that also changed my life this year. what about you? learned anything good?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
my blogmate has a good list going, but i feel compelled to add a few:
1) the office on NBC. i know plenty of people have known about this for years, but damn it's funny.
2) bushmill's. also likely new only to me, but irish whiskey makes everything better.
3) mark ronson's remake of the kaiser chiefs "oh my god" (with a little help from lilly allen) - some songs really deserve the repeat button.
4) beets. who knew something that tasted so much like dirt could be so good?
and finally,
5) higher quality blind dates. going out with charismatic, good-looking boys who know how to behave makes it all better... and justifies the purchase of a whole wardrobe of "date clothes."
I have to be an occasional interloper - but you had me at fresh guacamole. I have learned the more general value of rum, in coke as necessary. It fosters social-bility. Moisturizer is a good thing too. Most recently, I have become more open minded to the debit card, damn handy.
And OMG I forgot - I discovered Trader Joe's - actually I got a personal tour of the joint - love. (love the gelato, the cranberry cashew trek mix cereal, the chocolate, the flowers, the pomegranate sparkling juice...) Okay, I am done now - thank you!
Post a Comment