Friday, Friday, Gotta Get Down on Friday

1. They've found me. Everything minus the living with your person and going on double dates, everything. #momsknoweverything

 

 2. I got Virginia, which is close to Georgia, and much closer to home than most of my friends got. What are you?

 

3. I'm so excited - I've joined up and become a guest blogger at bSMART-- this week I'm sharing advice on keeping your resume up to date, among other things. If you liked my series on busines school, I'd highly recommend joining bSMART. I've been seriously impressed!

 

4. Obsessed. I've listened to it approximately 100 times on repeat.

 

 

5. I re-joined Tinder after my traumatic experience. Snowstorms make people crazy, don't judge. So far I've reconnected with a guy I used to date, scheduled a date for next Tuesday, and had penis pictures sent to me. Internet, I love you.

 

6. Running. I'm running again. Thursday, I only ran 3 miles, but I ran them faster than I've ever done. Friday I ran 3 more at the same pace, and I'm hoping to do 4 miles before tennis practice on Saturday morning. My shin pain has miraculously gone away (knock on all the wood)

 

7. It's b-school admittance season and I've adopted the #proudmom hashtag for all my kiddos who are accepted or applying, because I'm basically the proudest mama HR person there ever was. All my kids deserve trophies! The worst part is waiting for 2nd rounds in March, I think my anxiety might be worse than theirs. PS - those are the 2 best kids I've ever known <3 p="">

 

 

 

8. I haven't had a haircut since September, which I promised my new haircut girl I wouldn't do. But I loved, loved, loved my long hair and I wish it would grow this long again.

 

 

  

 9. I graduate from business school in May 2016 and I turn 30 in April 2016. You'll be able to find me in Iceland, Russia, China, and SE Asia in May/June/July 2016. Bye, work! See you in the fall.

10. I'm still happy. So so so so so so so so so happy. I smile just because. I don't even have a reason not to anymore. Let's all just be this happy together!

My Mom

This morning I decided that I am going to text my mom every day and tell her what I am thankful for. I figured this would come as no surprise to her, because I've also called her out of the blue with instructions for what to do should she find out I've been in a horrific car accident and also what to do if anything else happens to me where I can't communicate for myself. I need to revamp those plans, because my go-to people now live further away than my parents. CRAP.

Anyway, I didn't tell her I was going to tell her what I was thankful for every day, all I did was send her a text that said:

Today I am thankful for new friends. What you thankful for?

My mom texted me back a few hours later and said:

I am thankful for a good doctor report for your uncle.

This made me happy for so many reasons.

1. The fact that I randomly texted my mom and told her what I was thankful for and she responded back without batting an eyelash.
2. The fact that my uncle received a good doctor report. He was diagnosed with Stage 4 stomach cancer 18 months ago and has been kicking cancer's ass ever since.
3. That my mom is so selfless that she is not thankful for something for herself, but rather something for someone else (and what that means for his family/my 14 and 17 year old cousins).

There are so many things I am thankful for, new friends included, but you know what I realized? I am so thankful for my giving, loving, caring mom.

Mothers Day: Better Late Than Never

I'm bummed I can't be with my momma today.

It's amazing to me how things have changed over the last 25 years with regards to my mom.

I was never a mama's girl, per se. In my house, mom was the punisher, the enforcer, the supporter, the everything.

I remember fighting with my mom as a teenager a lot more than telling her how much I appreciated her being at every single volleyball game, decorating the street on the way to school for my 16th birthday, letting my friends and I take over her bathroom to get ready for the 8th grade dance, shuffling me between friends houses after school...you name it, my mom did it. And really, up until I was a senior in high school with a great group of friends who liked hanging out with my parents, I liked to pretend that she didn't do any of those things.

Moms are embarassing, moms are out to get you. Duh!

But now, at 25 (and even at 22 and 23 and 24), I wish I could see my mom every day. I wish she could still live with me so that when I get ready for work she could tell me if I look good, and she could make my lunch if I was in a rush, and I could have someone to yell at when I'm running late, because clearly that's her fault.

I call my mom every day. Sometimes I think she gets annoyed with how often I call her and how much I have to say. But she's my mom, and since she doesn't live 20 minutes away from me anymore, I need to call her and make sure she knows every single detail of my life so I can turn around and yell at her for being so nosy and wondering why she asks so many questions. Because she really does ask a lot of questions.

I love my mom. I love that she has taught me how to be independent (much to my chagrin) and I love that I have taught her bad words. I love that she & my dad have showed me how to be in a relationship and I love that I have shown her that I actually did take something away from the 18 years I lived in their house. I love that she tells me every single day how proud of me she is, and I love that I can continue to make her proud every single day.

 

For my entire 25 years, I have never once wondered if or how much my mom loved me. I have never wondered if I could tell her something, or if she would understand. I have never wished for a different mom, or even for my mom to be different (except sometimes).

Mom, even though I tell you this a lot, you're the best, and I love you. Now if you could please move back to Atlanta, all would be right in my world.

Christmas Spirit

I know this is 2 Christmas-related posts in a very short timespan, but I'm a girl on a Christmas spirit mission. My roommate shot down my suggestion of putting up our decorations on Sunday (watch out roommate, they'll be out in full force by this Sunday!) and I'm already plotting and planning as many Christmas extravaganzas as I can fit into my already jam-packed calendar. I've sent my mom my Christmas list, and then about a gajillion follow-up emails with other stuff I think of that I want, which I claim are just "mental reminders to myself" that I just casually copied her on. I consider it helpful, she rolls her eyes and probably reports me to spam.



Speaking of my mom, did I tell you her birthday is Christmas Eve? Yup, it has been for my whole life! So we always celebrate her birthday before dinner on Christmas Eve complete with presents and some sort of dessert. Then we have dinner. Then we do family Christmas presents, and Christmas morning Santa brings presents. Still. And it even gets held over my head.

Me: Damnit Mom what the hell?
Mom: Do you want Santa to bring you presents this year? Behave yourself.
Me: Sorry.
Mom: Well?
Me: Yes I want Santa to bring presents.

I just hope that those conversations take place in the privacy of my own home instead of say... on the MARTA bus during the afternoon commute. I bet some of those super fly businessmen think I'm pretty freakin' ridiculous. What else is new?

So, now that I've shared more background than you ever could have wondered and I still haven't found a good way to segway into this, I'll cut to the chase. WHAT THE HELL DO I GET MY FAMILY FOR CHRISTMAS? AND IF I CAN'T EVEN COME UP WITH 1 THING FOR CHRISTMAS, HOW AM THE HELL AM I GOING TO FIND 2 THINGS FOR MY MOM??? (Sorry mom, and yes I still want Santa to bring us presents).

My sister is 21, almost 22, and she & I are as opposite as they come - I wear Polo sweaters to the bar and she wears 5" heels & 2" skirts. Not even exaggerating... My dad has so many tchotchke things that I would be doing him a disservice by buying him something else, and my mom just likes to melt glass & string beads. Really awesome melted glass & gorgeous beaded necklaces, but still. You get my point. They are difficult to shop for if I am going to buy anything with any real purpose. The picture frame thing is overdone, I gave them a scrapbook for their 25th wedding anniversary... I'm out of ideas. I'm stuck.

So now what? You can't even have wine delivered in Florida, or you can bet your bottom dollar they'd be getting a bottle of wine a month for the next 12. Hmph.

Help! Although I think a little trip around the mall and into a few specialty shops is calling my name... I'll report back on what I find.

I came, I saw, I ate.

A few nights ago I conquered all things apple, and last night I attempted all things Asian. Or, all things Asian that I crave on a regular basis.

My mom has a ridiculously easy and delicious Beef with Broccoli recipe that we have been eating for years. It was that special birthday meal, the meal that we had when my dad came home from being out of town, the one that she couldn't keep us out of the kitchen while she was cooking. Yeah, you can tell she really liked cooking that meal... and after I made it once a week for 6 months, I'd had enough of it too.

Because I was feeling sickly, and because my mom was here so I knew I couldn't screw the recipe up too badly, I decided to make my first attempt at Hot & Sour soup. I was worried because I didn't want to be missing any crucial ingredients that the restaurants include. You know, like lard and copious amounts of MSG. Priorities, people. I didn't want to completely ruin something I love so much.

Well, let me just tell you... I conquered that bad boy. It was SO GOOD. I didn't take any pictures of the process because that really ain't my thang, but I'll just tell you what... YUM. I inhaled. My mom inhaled. My dad said, "Ew gross. You can really cook?" He doesn't like hot & sour soup, and he thinks we should be the exact same in every aspect, apparently including his inability to cook. Sorry pops, apparently my genes aren't entirely Hamilton and there's a little bit of mom in there. Who knew?

I used this recipe -- BAM! -- but I basically halved it. And then I eyeballed most of the ingredients because I'm lazy & my dishwasher was full.



Image from Food Network

 Ingredients

2 ounces dried shiitake mushrooms  (I hate mushrooms & my grocery store had no shiitakes, so we bought regular ones and I did the same thing and then gave all the mushroom bits to my mom. Worked fine.)
10 cups chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/3 cup chopped fresh ginger (TOO MUCH GINGER.)
2 tablespoons minced garlic
3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper (To taste... depends on how spicy you really want to go!)
1/2 pound chicken or tofu, cut into small bite-size strips or chunks  (I had every intention of adding chicken but then I just didn't... and I probably wouldn't.)
1/4 cup lime juice
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons mushroom flavored soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Hot chile oil, for drizzling
2 tablespoons thinly sliced scallions (Unnecessary condiments that I likely won't use again. And scallions just suck.)
Bean sprouts (I added these because I love them.)

Directions
Combine shiitake mushrooms and 3 cups of the chicken stock in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and let stand until mushrooms are tender and broth is flavorful, about 30 minutes. Remove mushrooms and discard stems. Thinly slice caps and reserve. Strain broth through a fine mesh sieve, combine with the remaining chicken stock and set aside. (If you buy regular mushrooms already cut up, you can eliminate most of these steps. At least the annoying ones like straining and chopping gross mushrooms!)

In a medium saucepan heat the vegetable oil and, when hot, add the ginger, garlic (BUT DON'T LET IT BURN!) and crushed red pepper; cook for 2 minutes, or until fragrant. Add the chicken stock and reserved shiitakes and bring to a simmer. Add bean sprouts. Cook for 30 minutes. Add the chicken or tofu and stir to combine. In a small bowl or cup, combine the lime juice and cornstarch and stir until smooth. Whisk the cornstarch mixture into the hot soup and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Add the soy sauce and sesame oil and serve the soup, drizzled with hot chile oil to taste, and garnished with some of the sliced scallions.


In conclusion, thank you Emeril for allowing me to feel the exhiliration of culinary success. And thank you, also, for allowing me to surpass my parents expectations of me. After my mom devoured her bowl of soup she turned to me and said, "Wow, you really can cook. What do you know!"

Thanks for the vote of confidence, madre.

Maybe now I'll go bake an apple pie, I have a few apples to spare. Do you think I should add mushrooms to that?

Top Ten Thursday

In preschool, we had 2 choices for a drink with our snack: apple juice and water. I could digress into a monologue about how much I hate apple juice, but instead I'll suffice to say I chose water. I attribute my water-drinking skills now to Grace Presbyterian Preschool and the choice they forced me to make. Because now, 20+ years later, I still choose water 9 times out of 10. Well, that and because my wonderful mother-dearest is a cheapskate who NEVER let us order soda when we went out to eat, and I mean NEVER. Even now, as a full-grown adult... no sodas allowed at dinner. But my mom's frugality is another story for another day...

Today's Top Ten Thursday is dedicated to the reasons why you, too, should choose water.

10. It's always free.
9. It makes your skin shine! I seriously notice when I haven't consumed enough water because I start getting more blemishes on my face!
8. You can carry around a cool looking thermos and be environmentally friendly.
7. If you drink 87 glasses of water a day at work like I do, you end up having to go to the bathroom 890432 times a day, and therefore probably get at least a 10 minute break every hour just in going to the bathroom. They can't deny you a potty break, can they? BONUS!
6. Getting up to get those glasses of water also can attribute to approximately 10 minutes per hour of your work day, especially if you have particularly long-winded coworkers who like to linger by the water source.
5. You feel like you are having a real treat when you drink anything other than water.
4. You save that extra $2-$4 on a drink at dinner so you can get an appetizer or dessert!
3. If you drink a lot of water during the week you are just preparing your hydration for the weekend when you thoroughly dehydrate yourself through lots of exercise... or copious amounts of non-water beverages (I never said I only drink water on the weekends, too!)
2. You can add awesome flavor to it with just a little piece of fruit!
1. It's just so great for you, how could you not insist on drinking a glass of water at every opportunity?

Anyone else drink more water than they could possibly imagine and waste at least 30% of their day getting water, going to the bathroom, or thinking about either activity? Because I do (and my amiga Jessie does!), and in fact some people at work have even noticed... and a while ago someone commented on it, and then I mentioned that smokers probably waste even more time than me thinking, worrying about, and actually smoking, and they shut up. I am developing and encouraging a GOOD HABIT, a HEALTHY HABIT. Can you say the same about your smoky, smelly breathed, excessive break-taking employees? That's what I thought.

So, today's lessons: Drink water, don't smoke. The end!

I Give Up On Nostalgia

When my parents moved in 2008, for the entire year before that, my mom had slowly but surely meticulously packed boxes upon boxes upon BOXES of our stuff and moved it to a storage unit near our house. She had a list with the boxes number, written on the outside, and the list told her what was in each box. When the house sold, all the sudden things were a lot less meticulous and the things that we used on a daily basis got shoved in with my old baby dolls and Lauren's old Barbies.

Lauren's old Barbies also warrant a post in and of themselves, because when we attempted to clean out the storage unit, we uncovered ELEVEN BOXES OF BARBIES. That doesn't include her Barbie house, cars, boats, etc. But I digress.

So back at Thanksgiving last year, I decided that I wanted, er, HAD TO HAVE, all my stuff out of the storage unit. I didn't trust that storage unit with all those nasty bugs, I thought someone was going to come in and steal all of my Berenstein Bears books and my report cards from Kindergarten-12th grade, and I was POSITIVE that the rest of my family just could not be responsible for my personal items that I just had to have for the rest of my life or I would die, such as my Bee, my spoon cabinets, and a mirror my best friend etched for me for my 17th birthday.

My mom & I dug through all 493 boxes and I found all the things I wanted. My spoon collection, my Berenstein Bears books, my report cards from Kindergarten-12th grade, the newspaper I was quoted in after 9/11, holiday decorations, the whole nine yards.

Well now that I've rifled through it all and gotten nostalgic and cried over pictures of my 135 lb 18 year old body, all that SHIT is sitting in my our entryway closet taking up a lot of space, and really not getting used. Now that I know it's there, I don't really want it. I'd like direct and immediate access to it, but I really don't need it to be sitting in our closet taking up copious amounts of space (and I'd imagine my roommate will be delighted with the removal of these things from our house). So tonight, I will be removing it from my immediate vicinity and putting it BACK in the storage unit, trusting that at least if it goes up in flames tomorrow, I won't be the only one missing 20 years of my life.

Things I Know Now That I Wish I Knew Then

i don't know why i was thinking about this, but i was. these are some general things i wish i had known at some point, recently or long ago, that i have come to terms with now. that doesn't mean i take my own advice, but i'm at least aware of it!

• when you break up with your boyfriend, the best way to get over it is to sever all contact. there is no such thing as being friends, no such thing as being nice, and no such thing as keeping in touch, at least not in the forseeable future.
• designer rainboots are really not worth it. designer jeans, on the other hand... yes please.
• moms are the smartest, wisest, most knowledgable humans on the earth. i'm pretty sure they get smarter as we get older, too.
• you are fully capable of killing the bugs, changing your windshield wipers, and moving big heavy boxes, but having boys around to do those things is just better.
• if you want something, go after it. nobody can make your dreams come true faster than you can. you just gotta "put your number in the tip jar and hope that eventually he'll propose!"
• alcohol makes small problems bigger but at least its fun in the meantime. and, once the problem is monstrous, it's probably better to figure it out without robert mondavi's help.
• friends are there to pick you up when you fall. thats why they are your friends. and if they are good ones, they'll love you no matter how hard you fall or how many times. and they might tell you how tired they are of picking you up and that damnit katie have you learned your lesson this time?, but they'll keep doing it, because they're your friends and because they love you.
• sometimes you just have to close your eyes and do what feels good.

what do you know now that you wish you had known then?

To Freeze or Not To Freeze, That is The Question!

I've fallen into the bad habit of not eating things before I presume they are going to expire. Or, buying things in excess with the idea that "oh, I'll just freeze it." I'm here to tell you about things that freeze well, and things that don't. More likely, things that don't.

Things that don't freeze well
1. Cream cheese. This may seem genius when cream cheese is on sale for $.25/package, but my suggestion would be to resist. It gets a weird texture when unfrozen. It's not the worst if you are using it to cook, but I don't recommend freezing and then thawing to spread on bagels.

2. Lettuce. Once, in a past life, I got the hare-brained idea that freezing an already dressed salad would prevent the lettuce from getting soggy. My apparently wiser, smarter, boyfriend of the moment suggested that it wouldn't work that well, and I INSISTED that the salad was worth saving and this was just the way to do it, and wouldn't it be a perfect lunch for him tomorrow. I was correct in that while frozen, the lettuce was not one bit soggy, but upon thawing, the lettuce was a lump of icky, green, stuff, less than ideal for lunch. Katie - 0, Boyfriend - 1.

3. Sour Cream. When I made tortilla soup, I had sour cream that was about to expire, so I dropped a dollop into each of the tupperwares of soup I was planning to freeze. Look at me, so smart, so savvy, so proud. Not the worst decision, but similar to the cream cheese... the sour cream just gets a little funny, in a weird texturous kind of way. Not recommended for freezing.

4. Cheese slices. Because once frozen, they don't separate like they are supposed to and you end up with little chunks everywhere. Maybe only annoying if you are extremely Type A, which I'm clearly not.


Things that freeze remarkably well
1. Shredded cheese. It thaws fantastically, it freezes great, and when you find those puppies on sale for $.42/bag, buy the whole lot of 'em. You'll have cheese for a year!

2. Fresh fruit. I make lots of smoothies, and sometimes I forget about my fruit. I've only attempted this with blackberries and mango, but just before they were going to go bad, I stuck the extras in the freezer and use them in my smoothies in the AM. PERFECT way to not waste fruit!

3. Buffalo Chicken Dip (and other dips, but not 7-Layer dip). Make some extra? Just throw it in the freezer and reheat later. Easy peasy. And still delicious!

4. Fresh lemon/lime juice. I learned this one courtesy of my mother. If you have lemons or limes that are on the brink of rotten, squeeze them into a plastic baggy or small tupperware and freeze it. It creates a neverending supply of fresh juice to use in cooking or cleaning or whatever else you need that kind of stuff for.

So that's it. I don't claim to be a whiz in the kitchen, but I've learned a thing or two about what to freeze and what not to freeze. Today I will attempt to freeze cooked and prepared pasta and a half-eaten egg roll, because it's what I brought for lunch but I'm going to take my parents up on going out for lunch instead. They only come into town once every few months, I take advantage while I can.

Stay tuned next week for who knows what. Adios and Happy Friday!

Happy Mother's Day

To the woman who, after many long years of being my worst enemy, is now my best friend, the person I call when everything is right (and more often when everything seems wrong), and my voice of reason.

She hits my sister for me when Lauren is being bad... (basically all the time)

And she poses for pictures on the beach even though she really didn't want to. Because that's what mom's' do, things their daughters tell them to even if they REALLLLLLLLLY don't want to, and will probably kill said daughters when they see that their picture has been posted on the internet.

And back in the stone ages (like 1952 or something), she looked like this and modeled in a fashion show. Ow Ow!

Mom, I love you! Thanks for being the best, and for loving me no matter what. I know you kind of had to, but still... you mean the world to me! And for the record... just like you are more and more like Grandma every day, I am more and more like you. I've just kind of embraced it, because really, there are a lot worse things to be.

Happy Mother's Day!