Anyway, last year I didn’t have many goals, other than working on my 101 in 1001 list, and when Audra and Paul and I were out for dinner and a movie on new year’s eve-eve, the topics of goals came up and I was inspired with these 7.

1.  Run one race per month that is at least 5k distance

Last year, I decided I needed to start exercising.  I took a look at my friends and the ones that were consistent about exercising were almost all runners; I figured there must be something about running that kept them motivated, other than the runner’s high.  What I think it is, are the races – there’s always another race around the corner as motivation to keep training and keep going.  So, this year I’m going to do one race a month, and who knows – maybe I’ll even get to a half marathon!

2.  Finish social anxiety CBT work

Most people who know me don’t think I have any problems talking to strangers; sadly, this is patently untrue.  I have a form of social anxiety that makes it difficult for me to talk to strangers, so I come off as aloof at first, although my friends see me as gregarious.   The whole stranger anxiety thing makes things like work functions, parties, or meeting people at bars incredibly difficult, and frustrating.  My therapist gave me a book a year or two ago and it looked promising enough on the first read to go out and buy.  So now I’ve got to go find out where that book went to in this apartment and work through it.  I’m tired of feeling awkward in social situations with strangers.

3.  Go on 10 dates

The stranger anxiety has done me no favors in my dating life.  In fact, everyone I’ve had a relationship with has been someone I’ve known for a while previously as a friend.  I don’t know how to “give the signal” it’s okay to ask me out, mostly because I’m incredibly anxious about the whole thing.  So, this year I’m going to sign up on some dating sites, and make an effort to go on at least 10 dates this year.

4.  Buy a place to live

When I moved back to Chicago, I didn’t have any idea of the neighborhoods and where I wanted to live.  I’ve been living in a great place that’s nice, has good parking and a fenced in back yard for the dog.  But it’s mostly a single family area, and you really have to drive to get most places.  So, I’ve contacted my realtor and am going to start house hunting for the elusive townhome in the Lincoln Square or Roscoe Village area; hopefully I get this all wrapped up by the time my lease expires in April!

5.  Complete 366 photo project

I’ve tried doing the 365 photo-a-day project before and got frustrated and gave up about 3 months through, because it was so much trouble uploading to flickr, uploading to blogger, et cetera, et cetera.  Enter in the fabulous Kat, who did her 365 project all with her iPhone.  I picked her brain and am unrepentantly stealing her methodology (and blogger theme) and starting off on the project myself, complete with one extra BONUS DAY, thanks to leap year.

6.  Organize 6 brunches

Last year I started organizing Ladies who Brunch as a way to get together with some of my women friends and enjoying my favorite meal. I was hoping to get a brunch a month organized, but I think managed only about 4 or 5. This year, I’d like to aim for once every other month, and look for new places where I can eat brunch in my new sugar-free, refined-sugar free, vegan eating ways. Now, that doesn’t mean we’ll only be going to Vegan places – as long as they have something I can eat, I’ll be fine.  But, since I am organizing this rodeo, I’m sure we’ll be going to a couple vegan/vegetarian places.

7.  Go to church once a month

Since I moved to this apartment, I haven’t really been going to church as much as I used to.  The church that is close by really was suited to families than single folks, and so I went for a while, but just couldn’t continue.  All the other Episcopal churches nearby are not really near by – and parking is a hassle.  It’s almost easier to go to the church I grew up at, and used to go to, in the burbs.  It’s only 30 min on a Sunday morning, but it’s about a 90 min round trip on weeknights if any other functions go on, and what I miss most about going to a church is the sense of community, along with the spiritual fit-ness.  Maybe the move will get me closer to a satisfactory church, but I’ll at least start going once a month this year.

Happy New Year everyone!

After I got back from Vegas, I was inspired to try an run a half marathon sometime in the next year (although with the way my training is going, it might be the next two, but that’s besides the point).  Part of this was something I’d been thinking about for a while, especially after reading Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s book Eat to Live and seeing that if I made a radical change in my food plan, I could improve my health (and hopefully help ease some of these migrainses I’ve been getting).

So after Vegas, I made the decision to cut out refined grains (anything white, basically), sweets, alcohol, caffeine (except for green tea in the morning), and anmial products.  I’d been pretty close to a lot of this already, I’d cut out dairy, and wasn’t eating much flour or sweets, but I definitely missed my coke zero.

When looking around for vegan ideas for recipies, I stumbled onto Chocolate Covered Katie, who is a vegan that loves chocolate, and loves making deserts healthy.  Her Healthy Deep Dish Cookie Pie recipe came up as a reader favorite, and I couldn’t believe the secret ingredient was chickpeas, and that EVERYONE loved it.  I decided to try it, but since chocolate chips weren’t on my food list, I decided to sub in some cocoa powder instead, and change out the sugar for some dates and agave syrup, as obviously sugar is on the no-fly list as well.  My first try came out a little dry, but still pretty tasty.  The second batch was dead on tasty!  I make a half batch which gives me plenty for 3 mini cakes.

Mini Chocolate Cakes

(based off Katie’s Healthy Deep Dish Cookie Pie recipe)

• 1 cans white beans or garbanzos (drained and rinsed) 
• 1/2 cup quick oats
• 3 T unsweetened applesauce
• 1 1/2 T canola oil  (next try, i’m just going to use 1/2 c applesauce and omit this to see how it tastes)
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup agave nectar (or 1/4 c pressed pitted dates – smush them in there)
• 3 T cocoa powder

Blend everything really well in a food processor (I use my Blend-Tec blender).  Spray 3 or 4 mini cake molds (silicon works great) Cook at 350F for around 25 (or possibly 30) minutes. Let stand at least 10 minutes before removing from the pans.  I top mine with 1/2 c berries nuked in the microwave for a minute to make a compote.

You really wouldn’t know the beans were in there if I didn’t tell you!  Gluten-free, too!

As part of my training for the couch to 5K (C25K) plan, I’m putting a plan together to sign up for a race per month just to keep me motivated to go train.  December’s run was the Jingle Bell Run, and my friend Audra agreed to join me.

• I’ve started the Couch-to-5K (C25K) program and plan to train for a half-marathon after that
• I’ve given up refined grains, caffeine, alcohol, sweets and animal protein (basically the Eat to Live philosophy) in order to train for the half, and because I think it’s a healthier way of life
• I’m buying a house in the next few months (and desperately need to declutter my current apartment before I do so)
• I’ve also figured out I have a form of social anxiety that I like to call “stranger anxiety”: if I don’t know you, I am very anxious and have issues talking to you.  This makes the thought of dating just SO EXCITING.

So I’ll be writing about a whole mix of things, and doing it just for me; although to be honest, we all blog to be heard and for the comments, right?

I’m personally a huge fan of her long wear gel eyeliners, and have been eying her long-wear cream shadow in Heather as well…

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Also sitting in my cart pending indulgence are the Sephora Brand Flashy Liner Waterproof in Flashy Copper and Flashy Green($8), Sephora Brand Blush Me Twice - Coral Bronze($8), ck Calvin Klein Fashion’s New Face Signature Collection($39), and Dior 5-Colour Eyeshadow – Twilight 140 - Twilight 140 ($56). I did get a pretty nice tax return thanks to the moving bonus I got from my previous company, so I can do my part to stimulate the economy, but I’m waffling on the ck Signature collection, but that nail polish is so incredibly pretty!

Here’s the details if you’re interested – it is for Beauty Insiders only, but it’s free to sign up to be one!

*VALID NOW THROUGH APRIL 21, 2009, AT 11:59 PM PST. Apply your 15% off promo code to one merchandise transaction, and it applies to entire purchase. Offer may not be applied toward previous purchases, egift certificates, gift cards, shipping, or taxes. Return of discounted merchandise will be for the price actually paid. Not valid for cash or cash equivalent. Not responsible for lost or stolen promotion codes. Offer valid for Beauty Insiders registered before 4/14/09 only. Offer not valid in Canada checkout on sephora.com, only in Canada retail locations. Featured products not available in all Sephora retail stores or in all Sephora inside JCPenney locations.

TO REDEEM ONLINE: Enter promotion code BD2T9CB5 in the promotion code box on the billing page during sephora.com checkout to receive your 15% off discount.

TO REDEEM IN STORES: Email with barcode must be handed in at time of purchase. Sephora reserves the right to end or change this promotional offer at any time.

During dinner the other night, I told BG that I did not think The Unusuals, the new show that came out Wednesday was going to be any good, because Amber Tamblyn was being totally cast against type.  I mean, she wasn’t talking to God or wearing miracle pants, right?

I finally caught the episode last night and was pleasantly surprised at the entertainment level.  Turns out Tamblyn really isn’t being cast against type: she’s a quirky park avenue princess who turns her back on that life to become a cop, doing her stint in vice as a hooker.  She ends up getting promoted to the 2nd squad homicide division aka “The Unusuals”, which prompts the best line of the night when she gets asked if she always wears 3 inch heels to work: “Hey, I was a hooker up until 10 minutes ago.”

Back in August I bought a MyBook, and it took me until January to install it (sometimes I’m a true procrastinator).  Turns out the Home Premium version of Vista that was installed on my new laptop doesn’t have any capability to do offline files, which is a pretty key feature if I want to move all my music and videos over to an external drive and still be able to listen/watch when not connected.  You know, like on a plane? Crazy talk, I know.

Rather than install a type of backup solution, I decided to buy Vista Ultimate through my microsoft employee contact (thanks!), and attempted to do the live upgrade.  It didn’t work the first time, so here’s a tip: reboot your computer before trying any upgrades.  Yes, I know, common sense, but no one ever accused me of having a large dose of that.  Turns out I needed to clear out a bunch of space for the upgrade, and so I moved my music files over to the MyBook (mistake #1) so I could proceed.

After reading a few articles on how to transfer your iTunes library, I proceeded to try and import the xml file to import my library that’s now residing on the external drive.  Sigh.  I’m STILL working on this because my wireless card will suddenly drop the network connection when transferring a lot of files, which just frustrates me to no end. Argh.

It got to the point where I thought I was going to have to recreate my entire library again, but after figuring out how to clear out my offline files, I attempted the import again and it of course went through just fine – to spite me, I think.

At this moment it’s currently determining gapless playback information, and then I’ll need to import artwork – again.

itunes, rebuilding library, itunes library, vista, mybook

Cooler than expected:
Ashton Kutcher – really, he’s just adorable in the twitterverse
John Mayer – I’m incredibly charmed (and have a wee crush) on him.  This is rather disturbing as the media paints him out to be, well, kind of a wanker

Pretty much what I expected:
Lily Allen – I already thought of her as pretty cool; she’s on a US tour now and doing scavenger hunts for tickets in each city.  Too bad I won’t be near the Chicago theater she’s playing when she hides the tickets.
Dr. Drew – of loveline fame!  I am a big fan and he’s just as neat on twitter as he is on the radio
Demi Moore – aka Mrs Kutcher; very sweet and a voracious reader.
Brea Grant – of heroes fame!
Wil Wheaton – You have been crushered!

Disappointing:
Greg Grunberg – of Heroes and Alias fame, who was my favorite supporting dude, and he started out pretty cool, with lots of heroes behind the scenes photos, but has pretty much become all YOWSA!! all the time!!  Again, rather disturbing and sad for me.

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Walgreens:
Maybelline face or eye cosmetics BOGOF
Covergirl BOGO50
Rimmel 40% off
L’oreal Skin Care – 15.99 (incl Skin Genesis, .5 to 1.7 oz. Revitalift Deep Set Wrinkle, Age Perfect Pro Calcium)

CVS:
CoverGirl Lash Blast Luxe or Exact Eyelights mascara $7 WITH CARD
L’Oreal True Match, Bare Naturale, Infallible or Visible Lift $9.99 WITH CARD
Physicians Formula Bronzer $9.99 WITH CARD
CoverGirl TruBlend MicroMinerals foundation or blush  $11 WITH CARD
CoverGirl Simply Ageless foundation  $13 WITH CARD
ALL Bonne Bell BOGO50 WITH CARD
ALL Revlon Cosmetics BOGOF WITH CARD
buy ANY CoverGirl Cosmetics get $10 extra bucks Extra Bucks® offer limit of 1 per household with card.
Nivea A Kiss of Moisture, Flavor or Shine lip care BOGOF WITH CARD

Jewel/Osco:
Almay Cosmetics Selected items 20% Off
Bioré Facial Skin Care Selected items 15% Off
Cover Girl Foundation, Powder or Blush Selected items 50% Off
L’Oréal Foundation, Powder, Mascara or Blush BOGOF
MAYBELLINE® NY COSMETICS 50% OFF
Natural Beauty Cosmetics by Sally Hansen Selected items 50% Off
Neutrogena Cosmetics Selected items 50% Off
Revlon Cosmetics or Implements Selected items 25% Off
Wet ‘n’ Wild Cosmetics Selected items 50% Off

Target:
CoverGirl & Olay Simply Ageless foundation $12.99
CoverGirl TRUblend Microminerals loose powder$9.99     
CoverGirl Outlast lipstain lip color or LashBlast Luxe mascara $6.59 each
10% off other selected CoverGirl face and eye cosmetics and all lip products

Kmart:
Physicians Formula 20% off
Airspun cosmetics $1 off
Rimmel Mascara, Stay Matte Clarifying Foundation, or Kiss and Stay Lip Gloss  $1 off
CoverGirl® face cosmetics BOGO50
Jane Face, eye or lip cosmetics BOGOF
La Cross Eyelash curler $.50 off
Rimmel cosmetics BOGOF
Sally Hansen Maximum Growth nail or Hard As Nails regular treatment $.50 off

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