feeding the soul

After such an insane few months, it's been nice returning to my normal pace of life. I'm still playing crazy catch-up, but I spent most of Friday evening and yesterday relaxing—and it was so, so needed. Friday I went to yoga; if I could have purred through the whole class, I would have. My poor little body has been wound up like a spring lately. Saturday, Glenna and I ice-skated with a group of sweet and funny second-graders via New York Cares. Then I watched a movie and checked out a new restaurant in the neighborhood. (The verdict? Delicious but expensive. I had the pecan tofu and it was unlike anything I've had before.) I even squeezed in a mini-nap and woke up with Monkey curled up in my arms. Could there be anything better?

home sweet home (office)

This is the view from my computer right now. After nearly two months at a fill-in gig, I'm back at home and in my pajamas. There's no place I'd rather be! I've worked around the clock—literally, I've pulled more late nights than finals week in college—so I'm looking forward to getting sleep, exercise, and social time. Huzzah. Also, isn't it funny how your body is so much smarter than your brain? Recently my skin started acting up for the first time in a long time, and I know it was because of stress and my change in routine. It as if my pores were saying, "If you don't slow down, lady, you're getting pizza face as punishment." Well-played, body, well-played.

xin nian kuai le

Tomorrow is Chinese New Year! It's year of the dragon, which is supposed to be the luckiest. Side note: One of the perks of being Chinese-American is that you get a two fresh starts, which is perfect. So far, 2012 has been a bit of a scramble, but here's to a calmer rest of the year!

#shitChinesemomssay

Now that my mom lives on her own, Tim and I chat with her every day. Since I have a 20-minute trek from the subway to the office daily, I like to call her on my walk. (I've turned into one of those weird people who talks on their iPhone headphones.) Lately she has been cracking me up. Here, a few snippets of our conversations:

Mom: Is Erik's stepmom also from Avocado?
Me: You mean Colombia?
Mom: Oh, yes!

Mom (at 10:30 pm, late for her): Sharon!
Me (worried): What's wrong?
Mom (discussing her Chinese soap opera): They are not getting married.

Me: How was your Bible study group?
Mom: It was fine. So many dishes to eat!
Me: Did you understand the lesson?
Mom: Not really. The food was good!

Mom: What you make Erik for dinner?
Me: Erik can make his own dinner.
Mom: I don't understand your relationship.

Edited to add: Have you seen this? The "no boyfriend till married" cracked me up!

please hold

Hi, pals! Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. Mine was so lovely: Saturday, I got up early to run with the ladies, and then took a blissful nap. The rest of the day was spent roaming the neighborhood, feasting on French food, and dozing off to the Republican debate (our version of playoff sports!). Sunday I did a little cleaning and then went to a pals' potluck. I only did a wee bit of editing, and it made me realize that I've really been burning the candle at both ends lately. Since the start of December, I've pretty much been working non-stop. My weeklong gig has stretched into two months and, while I've been just loving it there, that means the only time I can catch up on my previously assigned stories is on nights and weekends. Phew. So excuse my absence both online and in real time, pretty please?

little letters

Dear pack-rat me,
Thank you for holding onto all of your old birthday cards. I found the sweetest, most loving letter from my dad in one from 2009 when cleaning up recently. Let me tell you: waterworks. In the very best kind of way.

Dear massaged kale salad,
Yum. You are my new favorite dish.

Dear three beers,
Oh geez, now even you guys can give me a hangover?

Dear crazy landlord,
The ginormous leak on the first floor is not coming from any sort of shower-related puddles seeping through a tiled floor and ceiling. Your laws of physics befuddles me.

Dear NYC marathon,
OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG.
P.S. Please also let my friend Geoffrey in so we can run together.

2012 goals

As I've mentioned before, I'm a big believer in setting goals and going for them. (Maybe this is a remnant of my competitive swimmer days? Thanks, Coach Bruce, for our goal-setting sessions!) Here's what on deck for the year...

1. Create more of a boundary between work and home. This first year of freelancing, I've been so eager that I've just gobbled up assignments at the expense of my evenings and weekends. I love being able to dictate my own schedule, but next year I need to carve out a little more white space.
2. Use my Google calendar and actually look at it. I'm the queen of double-booking, and flakiness is so not cool.
3. Run a full marathon. It's on my life list, so might as well tackle this year—and I've already gotten into the NYC marathon. Eee!
4. Go on a long trip. Sarah and I have El Salvador on the map, and Erik and I want to do another international adventure. Maybe Spain and Greece?
5. Eat less processed foods and added sugars as a family. I'm a healthy eater in general, but just want to clean up some of the snacks and meals we resort to when we're crazed and wean myself off of diet soda and artificial stuff. And I'm opting for trickle-down nutrition; since I do most of the cooking, he'll be forced to eat more veggies.
6. Stay curious. Okay, I may have borrowed this from a certain CEO, but the sentiment is there.
7. Set up a professional Web site. Dude. I've been slacking!

happy 2012!

I'm starting this year with a smile and full heart. This is the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes. Love!