Winter Walk

This morning SB and I ventured to a local park that I have wanted to visit for a long time. Its trails wind around a small lake as well along as the Mississippi River, and the park is home to very old trees. Gorgeous! We will be tapping this great resource all winter, and it'll be fun to see it blossom in a few (okay, many) months. A lovely activity for a long holiday weekend - we encountered only a handful of people, nearly all with adorable pups as companions. One day we'll have a dog of our own to walk on these trails. :)

Cricky

Our little Cricket has been acting strange lately. For the past several days, she has had "spells" that are generally five to ten minutes long, and involve twitching, compulsive self-cleaning, tail-swishing, darting across the room suddenly, and a crazy intense look on her face. Sometimes this occurs multiple times per hour, other times it is more like every few hours. It is heartbreaking because she looks both physically and mentally distressed and possessed. We were up at 4am with her racing around our bed in a strange terror. Yikes.

Of course we consulted the internet first, and her behavior matches the description of a rare "syndrome" called feline hyperesthesia. It seems kind of quack because there is no test to diagnosis it, the causes aren't clear, and no real effective treatment exists at this point. And the syndrome resembles typical cat behavior, only amped up with a strange compulsiveness. It seems to ultimately be a combination of acute skin sensitivity and obsessive behavior. It is possible (and our hope) that her skin is just dry due to the change in season, and perhaps wet food and other skin/coat care cat products may do the trick. Hopefully if we can cure the skin sensitivity, we can end these spells!

Speaking of Recipes...

A friend sent us a gift card as a belated wedding gift, and with it we got the newest cookbook, Isa Does It, from our fav cookbook writer, Isa Chandra Moskowitz, who also happens to be a vegan. None of our other cookbooks of hers have photos, and this new one is in hardcover with gorgeous photos of amazing meals that also happen to be quite nutritious. Complete win. Below are photos (excuse the poor quality - it is cloudy so the light isn't great in our apartment at the moment) of some of the recipes I'm most looking forward to trying...Can you tell that it is autumn by the fact that my picks are largely comfort foods?

Pesto Soup with Gnocchi, Beans & Greens

Farmer Salad with Chive Vinaigrette

Dilly Stew with Rosemary Dumplings 

Korean BBQ Portobello Burgers

Chai Spice Snickerdoodles

At last!

It is that lovely day again, when you know you're only a matter of hours away from two days of complete freedom. Although, to my surprise, I am finding myself so swamped with work these days that, like SB, I will probably be bringing my work home this weekend. But hey - busy is good, and especially when you can work in pajamas! (For some reason I feel complete distain toward "business" or "business casual" attire.)

In addition to relaxing and doing some work this weekend, I will also be doing some serious anticipating, as I've been doing all week already, as one of my best friends is mere days away from her due date! It'll be the first baby born to a close friend of mine, and I'm going to have to think of a way to spoil him despite the geographic distance between us! Some local friends of ours are also trying for a baby, and I am excited that the future will be one surrounded by adorable children. So fun.

Also, you know that I've been on an soft-boiled egg kick - check out this awesome-looking recipe I just found for spinach and egg pizzettes! Happy Friday!

Here and Now

This weekend SB made one of his dreams come true - he replaced his old and falling-apart bike with a serious upgrade - the batmobile of bikes, as we like to call it. I mean, sure there are fancier bikes out there, but for his solo long-distance riding purposes, this is pretty classy. Two words: carbon fiber.

But don't let me fool you into thinking that I'm the dream wife who simply said "Go for it, honey!" - because that was not and will probably never be me. I mean, that was the bottom line of what I said, but tears were shed over the cost. As always, it is hard for me to spend money - even little amounts, let alone big amounts - and I just kept thinking of our long-term savings goals being trumped by this undeniably "sexier" and more immediately satisfying purchase. The selfish part of me thought, "wait, wait, wait - what about me? What do I get out of this?" followed by confusing feelings of "well then I should just get myself something that I want!" and "no, now we really need to curb our spending in light of this big purchase." Oh the whirlwind of emotions. Over money. Ug.

Most importantly, we were able to each share our perspectives and make the decision together. But this experience was a bit of a wake-up call for me. All of my feelings led me to realize that the degree to which I am frugal, while great for saving money, can also cause me harm. For example, I've been wanting a replacement pair of wool socks for months, and I haven't been willing to spend $10-$15 for a pair because in my mind I deem that as "too much for one pair of socks." So I bought cheaper socks and they didn't keep my feet warm. :( So when SB bought this bike, which he completely lit up after riding, it made me realize that life is short and that you have to enjoy it. 

It is important to keep spending in check, but I'm realizing that it isn't worth putting all of my eggs in a "FUTURE"-labeled basket at the expense of day-to-day happiness. When it comes down to it, future planning offers no guarantees and sometimes just knowing that you can come home to an incredible bike ride, or a cozy pair of winter socks, makes a hard day easier or a great day even better.