mid-year update

FIRST OF ALL....how is it the middle of the year already? That's just absurd. Plus I'm mentally (because of work) into July already - literally today, I was talking to someone about the week of July 4th and I referred to it as "next week"...yikes.

Anyway, here's what I said earlier in the year, that I wanted to do in 2012:

*go to jazzfest
*go camping more than once
*read all of the song of ice and fire books in time for the second season of game of thrones to start
*save money
*do yoga more regularly
*get stronger. literally and figuratively.
*learn something new
*get as many people on board (pun absolutely intended) with the Guess Who Halloween costumes as possible
*give clothes away
*love


Here's the update (checked things off, added things!)


*go to jazzfest  DONE!
*go camping more than once
*read all of the song of ice and fire books in time for the second season of game of thrones to start (working on it - I'm on book 4!)
*save money (HA)
*do yoga more regularly (I need to find a good/decently priced studio...)
*get stronger. literally and figuratively. (working on it! my trainer is great)
*learn something new 
*get as many people on board (pun absolutely intended) with the Guess Who Halloween costumes as possible
*give clothes away DONE!
*love YES, of course! I haven't been dating since April but I've found more love in my life through my friends and family, and The Pepperton of course. The little dude is a bomb of joy.

*Corn Maze!
*Visit Rosa in NYC

Okay, so I've done some things, and still need to work on others. I REALLY need to save money. I'm pretty much right where I started moving in here two years ago...not great. But I am making progress on some of the others - I've been going to my trainer appointments and making additional gym trips in between (like once or twice more, let's not get crazy) and I've been reading Song of Ice and Fire books voraciously. Well, I read the second and the third ones voraciously. The fourth one is being read...normally. I'm just not loving it as much. 

The "love" one is the most interesting, I think. I quit my OKCupid profile back in April, because, I just wasn't having fun with it anymore. I was going on dates for the sake of SAYING I was going on dates and it was tiring and I was getting really cynical. So I stopped. And since then I've felt lighter, SO much happier, and much more able to see the existing, amazing love around me I have already. I am so lucky. 

sometimes you have a pretty damn good day.

i made myself an awesome dinner this evening, if i do say so myself. it's pretty, nutritious, and quite tasty.

salad: baby greens with feta cheese, sliced strawberries and balsamic vinaigrette

other thing: quinoa mac and cheese (adapted from this recipe) - in my version i kept the red pepper but swapped the leeks for chopped broccoli, cauliflower, and kale. i've made other versions with the leeks, carrots, butternut squash and red pepper. i apparently really like red pepper. 

the white stuff is sour cream, obviously, because, well, it's sour cream. i don't need to explain. shit's delicious. 

in other news, today franklin and i bought tickets to see THESE DUDES at the 930 club in july. cannot. wait.

 will you think less of me if i tell you seeing them live was/is on my bucket list?

...and in other OTHER news, i collected $3 dollars this evening off of a craigslist posting i did for a couple of my old DVDs that i don't want to move with me. i got $3 and i didn't get murdered. boom goes the dynamite.