All Plann-ed Out.

One of my favorite posts to read on other blogs is about meal planning.  I'm always interested to hear how other people plan out their menus for the week ahead.  (I told you I was a planner).

Lately, the boyfriend and I have been taking a few moments on Friday or Saturday to come up with a rough meal plan for the upcoming week.  It usually starts by laying out the days of the week, picking one night to go out or order in and then filling in the others backwards.  I usually cook to have leftovers for lunches, so we tend to cook something new every night or every other night.

We keep a little whiteboard on the fridge so we both know what our options are.  The meals aren't set in stone--we can be flexible--but it's helpful to know what ingredients we have on hand.

We also do our best to plan based on our schedules.  For instance, on the nights I have a late class at the gym, we plan something quick and easy--pasta, quiche, soup and salad.  Fridays usually mean a crockpot dinner or something I can stick in the oven and then collapse on the couch.

Sometimes it's as simple as 'something from the freezer' (we usually keep at least two different types of meats, plenty of microwaveable veggies, and a homemade soup in there at all times). 

As is usually the case, we have a few staples that appear again and again on the menu, but I try to incorporate one new recipe a week into the mix. It keeps in interesting and helps keep me out of a food rut without becoming overwhelming (or expensive).

I'd say the three lifesavers I have when it comes to meal planning are:

1.  My crockpot - I can throw any mix of veggies in there with a little tomato paste, veggie broth and some spices and voila, we have a hearty vegetable soup.

2.  The grill - I bought the boyfriend a mini gas grill for our tiny balcony this summer and it has cut cook time in half!  I whip up a marinade for steak, shrimp, fish, chicken, veggies, etc. and a quick fire on the grill has dinner on the table in seconds.

3.  The boyfriend - having an extra set of hands in the kitchen really is a lifesaver.  Though I love to cook and find food prep extremely relaxing, having that extra help makes a world of a difference!

What are your meal planning secrets?  I'd love to know!

Stopp-ed at a Crossroad.

Every once in a while, life brings out the flashing lights, waves its arms, and screams into the megaphone, "YOU ARE AT A CROSSROAD!!!"

As we all well know, life can be pretty discreet most of the time, hiding some of her biggest changes in a smile, a missed bus, or an exam score.  Next thing we know, we're married to the smiler.  Or we meet a very important stranger at the bus stop.  Or we qualify for admission into a school we never expected to get in to and end up following a new life path.  If life made us aware of how big every decision we make really was, existing would be pretty exhausting.

So, instead, she picks her moments.  And these are the times times when she pulls out all the stops.  For some reason, life decides this is a decision she's going to let you make.  Perhaps to her, they are the small things.  'My lease is up, where will I live next?'  To us, it's a huge decision.  A decision involving contracts, and movers, and more money than we sometimes can afford.  To her, this is a minor detail.   Her work involves the little things that fill in all of the other moments of our existence.

So my round-about advice is enjoy the 'big' decisions because perhaps they are the smallest ones you'll make.  And what seem to be the most insignificant ones--smiling at a stranger--could change the path of your life forever. 

So, YOU ARE AT A CROSSROAD!!  Life's little inside joke to make you feel important.  No matter which path you take, it will all work out.

Neglect-ed.

Isn't it funny how finite the space in our life can be?  We pack it to the brim with responsibilites, and relationships, and passions, and when we try to add just one more thing, one more drop, a little spills over and we have to take something out of the cup to drink it all down.

I'm sorry to say that is what happened with you, dear -ed chroniclers.  I filled my life with family road trips, and work projects, and book club, and late night phone calls, and early morning gym sessions.  And before I knew it, I'd gone a week without a hello.  Though I'm sorry to have neglected you lately, I am not sorry that my life has been at the brim.  A full life is a happy life--and I'm not just talking about activities.  A life full of love, and laughter, and little e-mails 'hello' is the happiest of all.

You only have one life, and who knows how tall the glass will be.  Fill it until it spills over, and then gulp down the delicious nectar squeezed out of every experience.  Trust me, there's room for a walk in the sunshine, and a margarita with the girls among your laundry and grocery shopping.  And I guarantee, your thirst will never be quenched until you drink every last drop, every last drop, every last drop.

pic: weheartit

Rust-ed out.

"It's better to wear out than to rust out," Mom always says.

Go a mile further.  Reach an inch higher.  Hug a second longer.

And above all, love.

Fir-ed Up.

So yesterday's post got me thinking.  How does one go about making a career change, especially in the beginning?  Is it trial by fire?  Throw a bunch of resume darts into the air and see which ones stick?  A tactic I imagine to be beyond frustrating, inefficient, and yet, logical.  Or, do you plot and plan with painstaking caution until you've pinpointed the exact career fit, then track down the VP of the department, and stalk them until they  give you a job in the mailroom and encourage you to work your way up?  Again, frustrating, inefficient, and yet, logical. 

No, none of these seem quite right. 

What I do think the best tactic would be is to use your web of contacts to get a foot in the door.  This is, by no means, a new idea.  Networking is as old as the invention of fire.  'Yo, that dude is cooking his food? I need to meet him and learn his skills.'  (Yes, cave people are thugs in my head.)  I do believe what a lot of today's career specialists leave out of the networking equation is the idea of selective networking.  Sure, I believe you should always be kind to those around you.  Strike up a conversation in the elevator.  Have good manners.  But, when it comes to getting ahead, the people that can get you where you want to go are the people that had the resources to get there themselves.  (Think of the cave man and his fire.) 

So, once you have an idea of where you'd like to go--or at least a vague idea of where you don't want to be--come up with your selective networking strategy.  Who has the resources (and perhaps the professional expertise) to get you in the right conversations, in the right social circles, in the right frame of mind?

I've tapped a few of my resources lately, but I'd love to hear what you all are doing to make your way into your dream job.  If only life were as easy as being the dude with the firewood.  Now, you have to be a five-star chef with a restaurant metropolis, your own cooking show, and a publicist to be 'the dude with skills.'

Did this (cough) light a fire under you to get networking, ahem, selectively?

Unguid-ed.

the best and worst aspect of life's design is that there is no instruction manual.

pic:weheartit

Baby Stepp-ed.

I had a bit of a rough day yesterday and decided the best remedy was a home-cooked meal and one of Dad's pep talks.  Sure enough, Mom's spaghetti bolognse and Dad's sage words did the trick.

Here's what he said:  This is just the beginning.  Building the foundation for the rest of your life is often the hardest, and the least interesting task, but certainly one of the most important.  It can only get bigger and better from here.

Look at everyday as a challenge.  You may not make much, or feel that you do much (of importance, at least), but this is just the beginning.  Imagine how exciting it will be when you get out of the ‘foundation building’ and start putting up the walls…and then eventually, decorating the walls just the way we like them.  You can’t decorate a wall before the wall is built.  Though I hate to say this, you’re going to have to take baby steps.

And so far, you’ve taken some great baby steps.

As if those words weren't enough,on the morning commute I read the following quote: “That which is around me does not affect my mood; my mood affects that which is around me.”  The sun is shining, the world is vibrant, I am ready.

pic: weheartit

Stray-ed from the Path.

The best advice I've ever given, but never followed:

Being lost is okay.  

I know you feel hurt and confused, but what you find when you are lost is often worth much more than what you'd discover staying on the same path and never questioning what lays just beyond.  Sometimes we need to wander, to take a risk, to follow our hearts into the dark underbrush to find the little treasures of an untapped forest.  

Though the path seems to guide is in the right direction, the path only guides us in the direction that others have gone before.

90% Convinc-ed

Charles Swindoll is credited for the equation: "I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it."

Today began as one of those days where nothing particularly awful happened, but I woke up determined that it was going to be a bad day.  I was turning tiny hiccups into huge emotional dramas just because I felt like it.  About halfway through my second cup of tea--after snapping at my mother, snubbing my roommate, and scowling at the world--I remembered Mr. Swindoll's theory.  So, I gave myself until the last sip of green mint tea to be angry at the world, and then my time was up.  I was going to take my 90% control and use it to my benefit.  

Now I'm not going to tell you that my day immediately turned around, that the birds started chirping outside the 23rd floor window of my office, or that my co-workers were singing and dancing down the hallway to broadway tunes, but I will say that the day was put to much better use than it would have if I focused my energy on frowning.  Sometimes all it takes is a deep breath to refocus on the important things.  Keeping in mind that you always have control over that 90% makes the 10% feel miniscule.  

And, if I may get a little existential here, your 90% may just influence someone else's 10.

Diagnos-ed with Old Love Syndrome

Why is it that the only time we diagnose something in our lives is when we're physically unhealthy?  Perhaps that's the only time when something can be treated.  But when you think about it, aren't there a million other times in our lives when we need to recognize our symptoms, diagnose the problem, and treat it?! 

I ask you to consider the following case: 

An old lover comes back into the picture via a flirty text.  Patient A responds with an equally flirty text and continues to banter back and forth via mobile device into the late evening.  11:58pm to be exact.  The situation that caused to the initial breakup of said love affair is unclear.

Patient A presents herself to her mental health professionals--her girlfriends--and asks them to diagnose her.  Here is what they determine:

Diagnosis: Old Love syndrome
Cause: Flirty late-night text sessions, lack of closure in previous encounters
Symptoms: Incessant thoughts of getting back together with old lover; incessant self-reprimanding for thinking of getting back together with old lover; frustration about current love situation; experiences involuntary random memories of previous hookups, things said, and moments spent together
Treatment: Unfortunately, treatment for this disease is not simple.  Milder cases can be cured with a few nights on the town.  More severe cases must be isolated, tested, and treated with one of the following:

a.  a strong martini, a night out on the town, and a makeout session with a very attractive new boy.
b.  a strong martini, a night out with said love interest, and a makeout session with said lover.
c.  a strong martini, a night in with the girls, and a willingness to accept the fact that the symptoms may have been quieted for the time being, but a future late night text could potentially spark a flare up of the disease and treatment a or b must be implemented.

Please see the front desk for your prescription (vodka) and to schedule your next appointment (tonight).

Hope this helps.
Dr. -ed