The fine line between bad day/good day is a cupcake

Chandler: "Phoebs, you may know this. You know strange things. What is the boiling point of brain?"

My day, in a nutshell.

And what does one do when one's day reflects the boiling of brain? One Googles Martha Stewart + cupcakes. And one finds this:

And one salivates. And falls in love. And sees the day through new eyes, eyes that only see decadent cakes and fluffy frosting.

And all is right in the world again.

A Few Assorted Thoughts

So over the long weekend I was away at a youth conference for work (note: if you've never been to a four day youth event for adolescents, you've never really lived). Since about a thousand things happened in between then and now, here's an abbreviated list of a few assorted thoughts on some of them:

• On Thursday morning I opened my pantry and realized that I was in the midst of a coffee shortage. I don't know how it happened since I consume more coffee in a day than most people do in a week and consequently keep it readily stocked...and by readily stocked I'm talking fallout shelter proportions. The only coffee left to speak of was the sad remainders of two different bags: pumpkin spice and chocolate truffle. I did what I had to do. I mixed them. And learned that Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Truffle coffee is just as disgusting as it sounds.
  
• When the people at the rental car office know you by first and last name, you know you travel for work too often.
  
• When temperatures in the high 30's/low 40's feel tropical, you know you live in the Northeast.
  
• As per aforementioned rental car office, they may be surprised when they see I put over 800 miles on their brand new car in one weekend.
  
• As per aforementioned weather comment, somehow 23 years of my life have elapsed, most of them in the great arctic state of New York, and I have never owned a down coat, or even once worn one. Thanks to an enormous sale at Gap and a need to escape from frenzied teens, I went on a little shopping trip and found an incredible down coat on sale for $25!!! It is so warm, oh my word it is so warm. My valentine this year: the coat.
• Other shopping escapades included visits to Just Plain Good (home to an excellent slogan, "Do what you love, love what you do") and the fabulous Putnam Market (home to the best turkey sandwich in the history of turkey sandwiches (cranberry mayo rocked my world) and lemon frosted ginger cookies (also world-rocking)).
  
• Strange but true: I really missed typing during four days of limited computer access! Something about the methodical clicking of keys is oddly therapeutic for me, as is the assemblage of words in sentences. I never remember how much I love the combination until I go for a few days without it. As with all good things.
  
• A shout-out from Post Grad: "What you do with your life is just one-half of the equation. More importantly, it's who you're with when you're doing it." Amen. 

P.S. As unyielding as I am to change, it was time to ditch the Christmas background in favor of something more multi-seasonal. Say hello to a new (and likely permanent) look!

LOL...for real.

So as a result of the aforementioned benign stress that has weaseled its way into this week, I've decided to start a file on my computer named "Things That Made Me Laugh Out Loud." This list may come in handy on days in which I find myself not apt to laugh out loud unless reasonable cause presents itself. List = reasonable cause. The idea occurred to me while I was reading the following on timteblog.com, which did indeed make me laugh out loud:

More from Smith about Tebow, from Tuesday night:

I hope he has a great career in the NFL wherever it's at, whether we're a cat in this hat or somewhere else in the league. He's gonna be successful at anything he pursues in life.

"Whether we're a cat in this hat" is one of the strangest phrasings you'll ever hear. It's certainly new to me. I'll take that as some kind of secret code for "Yes, we're drafting him."

Whether it's the visual of the misspoken phrase, the Dr. Seuss references it conjures up, or my current state of exhaustion that made this quote so hilarious to me I know not. I do know that it had me cracking up for a good ten minutes.

The very next thing I added to the list was the post with the Joe Cocker video, which still puts me into hysterics every time I watch it.

I'm sure there will be plenty more additions to come in the near future, and I'll be sure to account for them here as well and label them under "Things That Made Me Laugh Out Loud" so that you all can enjoy them too. This will be fun.

Reality Check

This week I've been feeling more than a little overwhelmed, hence the blogosphere silence. But seeing the horror in Haiti puts everything into acute perspective. My temporary frustrations are nothing compared to the life-altering tragedy the people of Haiti are experiencing today and for many, many days to come.

The Haiti Earthquake: Pictures of Devastation

How indescribably sad. Abundant prayers are sent out to Haiti and the relief efforts headed their way.

Go Pack Go

You know what I love about being a sports fan? It's an exercise in loyalty. I could root for whichever team is on top in a given year and ride the wave of their victories. It might be fun to feel like a winner all the time. But I'd rather stick it out with my favorite team in the trenches and on the mountain tops, through mind-numbingly painful first quarters and exhilarating fourth quarter comebacks, even when it all results in an overtime loss and a brand new ulcer.

Go Pack Go, for better or for worse.

Home, home on the range

I don't know what rock I've been living under, but somehow I missed the rise of Pioneer Woman into blogosphere super-stardom. This woman is AMAZING: Photographer, cook, mom of 4, and self-proclaimed "accidental country girl" who not only accomplishes all the above tasks brilliantly but with a healthy dose of wit and optimism.

And her love story with her husband...OH MY WORD. Suffice it to say I've sacrificed every spare moment of my week and all semblance of appropriate sleeping/rising hours to devour her chronicles of their story (aptly named "From Black Heels to Tractor Wheels"). Now I am not one of those girls who swoons at chick flicks and popular romance novels. Far from it. But this story has elicited squeals and gasps and shouts of joy - and the best part of all is that it is purely, beautifully, completely real, not an ounce of fiction to be found. In a world polluted by scandals and infidelity it's so refreshing to know that real love stories still exist.

In the words of the Pioneer Woman herself, "Grab a cup of coffee. Curl up with a blanket. Have a box of kleenex and a fan handy." Settle in to read an amazing account of real-life romance; you won't soon regret it.

I could sing of Your love forever

Sometimes, when the day begins and the view from my window looks like this:

And my breakfast looks like this:

And the fresh-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookies my neighbor brought over look like this:


I feel like God is saying, "Good morning!!! I created this day for you! And I can't wait to show you what's in store!" And that has to be the absolute best feeling in the world. What can surpass the love of the Father?