Pomegranatini

Yes, we're all well now, thanks for asking. And even though much of December felt like a wash, sometimes a beautiful cocktail is just what the doctor ordered to get back into the spirit of things. With that in mind, I share the following treasured holiday libation.

Pomegranatini

Rim your martini glass with a mixture of sugar and finely microplaned orange zest.

Fill a cocktail shaker half-way with ice and mix together the following:
1 part vodka
1/2 part triple sec
2 parts pomegranate juice

Shake well, strain into your prepared glass and garnish with a few fresh pomegranate seeds.

Like a vamped-up lipstick on pale, wintery skin, this bold ruby cocktail packs some va va voom for the holidays. And speaking of holidays, I hope you all had a nice one and may your new year be filled with great things.

Mostly I'm praying for peace.

Cheers!

The Gift That Keeps On Giving

Nice to know that this holiday season we've already received a special gift that's been so popular, it's gone around the whole household. No need to wrap it, stuff it, or make a card. You know when you get it.

Like a great game of tag-you're-it, it spreads it's presence to anyone who'll come close. First my daughter had it, then my husband, and now I have it. Perfect timing too, the week leading up to Xmas. Not like there's anything to do around here but play nurse-maid to sick people. Or lose entire days of precious time in a cold sweat or draped around the bathroom floor.

Yeah.

Hopefully we'll all be well enough for saltine pie on Christmas day, because lord knows there won't be a roast. And we can skip the eggnog. Gatorade cocktails anyone?

On the upside, we aren't traveling the ice-storms this year AND we've already met our New Year's weight-loss resolution. The cleanse just came a little bit early this year. With any luck, we'll all be well by Christmas morning, fingers crossed.

Happy Holidays and be well! You can never underestimate the gift of health.

And by all means, don't get the gift we got!

Did You Know?

Deal? 

Deal.

If you're smart, you're doing online gift-giving in order to avoid the crowds at the mall, or the narrow parking-less boutique-y streets, not to mention those massive post office lines this time of year. Congratulations. You're a smart cyber-shopper.

And if you're like me, you're also searching make and model #s, comparing online prices to get the best deal possible, not to mention tax-free, which in our 8.25% town adds up quickly.

But here's a quick tip t0 up your savvy. Did you know you can sniff out promotional codes for many online retailers, saving you anywhere from 10-30% off the top of an already good deal, or free shipping, or a free whatnot add-on item? You just have to look for 'em.

I just tested 3 different codes to see which would give me a better deal: $10 off $50 or more, 15% off, or free shipping on a weighty item. (I used two different promo codes on two separate orders from the same vendor to save the most money per purchase.)

Just Google the name of the site/vendor and the words "promotional code" and chances are you will be able to search through a plethora of deals. Grab the codes and go back and plug them into the vendor's check-out box, and voila, an even better deal. You gotta love that!

Happy hunting and Happy Holidays!

Beauty Comes In Small Packages

5 Calla lilies: $3.29

3 Holly branches: $6.99

10 Ruby Red Tulips: $6.29

2 bouquets of holiday cheer all for about $16.....



































priceless.


Here's to an abundant and joyous holiday season!

(p.s. oops!...and a pomegranate. Sounds like it's about time to crack open those pomegranatinis, he he he...)

SOS

It's day 3 in my sick bed, vise around my head, pain at my throat and chest, weaving in and out of delirium. Scenes fast forward and rewind in my brain as I wind in and out of consciousness. The only way to avoid the nausea is to curl up in the fetal position and ride out the wave. I awaken to discover hours have gone missing.

Life bubs along without me as I lie alternately sweaty and chilly in my bed listening to the sounds of the blithering vaporizer. Sometimes I swear I hear voices, music, streaming out of its chute.

I contemplate what it would look like to go missing, to pass on, what that might do to current tangents in my life. I contemplate my family, our home, the school I've devoted so much work on, the mess that is my office, the piles of plans I've made and evacuated. Pebble drops into water...rings reverberate outward, silently. Silently.

Hard to see it, my little pebble, except in the immediate sense of familiar obligation. Like I'm tethered because of them, otherwise I would let go. Release all.

I told my husband last week I couldn't sleep in because if I did, I would never wake up. But when I was mocking sleep, this wasn't exactly what I had in mind. My body, pushed pedal to the metal for months on end, has finally broken down. Enough. It's been years really, since I've had decent--what they call restorative--sleep. I may never get out of bed.

Except the irony is, all this sleep is now being used to fight off the evil in my body, not the lost time, the deficit I've collected for years.

When I said I was going to take a soft retreat, take on no more obligations, this is hardly what I had in mind.

Top 5 Things I Miss Since Becoming A Mom

This question recently made the rounds on our online moms group. In the interest of being completely candid, I offer you the following uncensored mama bit:


1. I miss that raging do-me-right-now, in a chair, up-against-the-wall-of-a-building kind of sexuality I used to have. Now, sex is so intimately connected to the possibility of life, and death, and the knowledge of how all that changes everything, that that wild in my body God-given feminine power has somehow lessened and become tamed. Sorry, but it's true. Womanly hips and clogs have replaced my come-f-me pumps. The only kind of do me right now I feel is for a cocktail! Or a nap.

2. I miss the tautness of my abs, the firmness of my thighs, and my ability to feel fully dressed in a cut-off wife-beater, mini skirt and rocker boots. When did my Forever 21 days go Lands End! I also miss my perky little A-cups, and would trade in these C-pluses any day without regret.

3. I too miss feeling rested, or getting more than 5 hrs sleep/night. I miss rolling out of bed at 10:30 in the morning to leisurely sip my coffee in silence. I look in the mirror and wonder where the last 6 years went. I feel old and tired and could pack a lunch in the bags under my eyes.

4. Showers! OMG, what happened to showers? I used to always start my day with one. Now I'm lucky if I end my week with one! (Note: when several people ask you, "Hey, did you get your hair done?" and you reply "no, I just washed it," you might want to rethink that shower thing! This happened to me recently.)

5. I don't feel the need to qualify that I love my daughter intensely because that goes without saying, but I desperately miss my independence and having the responsibility be only to myself, my needs, and my work. Now I work when I should be sleeping since that seems to be the only quiet, uninterrupted time in the house.


Bonus round:
God, I miss silence!
Or living without a color-coded family schedule.
Or not having to hide things like Sharpies and gum and chocolates.
Or actually finding something where you last left it.
Or wearing nice jewelry without worrying it will be toyed with and broken.
Or making only one dinner, although I'm doing that more and more now.
Or talking on the phone for hours. OMG, what did we talk about?
I miss feeling no sense of civic responsibility, and the freedom to be as selfish as I want to be.

And sometimes, just sometimes, I even miss my naiveté…

What do you miss?