January Wrap Up

Ramblings:

I love January 1st.  I've heard "Oh it's just another day. You can start new things whenever you want" in different forms many times before but there's something about the date being 01/01 that just screams for new notebooks, new lists, new projects.  This year I've been trying to get at least J and myself out of the house once a month to do something new.  This month we took the Tornado to a local children's museum where he had a wonderful time and can't wait to go back.  He's learning how miners used dynamite in the picture.  It appealed to him.  

We've had a ton of school delays, cancellations and appointments.  I'm hoping this will slow down a bit now because I'm so far behind on house stuff it's not even funny.  J has been watching all the Star Wars movies with the Tornado and we're now all Star Wars all the time.  He's been running around asking us where the Rebel base is so I think he may be identifying with the Empire.

Chef of the Month:

Chef of the Month was definitely interesting for me.  I didn't love Mario Batali's recipes that much but Carla Hall who I expected to be a bit meh about is amazing.  Everything I made from her book was so good that I ended up buying the book.  Michael Symon's is solid which was no surprising.  Seriously, has that man lost any competition he's been in?  His book 5 in 5 is a great book for good food that's still good for weeknight dinners.  

Next month will be Nigella Lawson.  I own a lot of her books and just love her attitude about food in general.  J and I have been watching her on ABC's The Taste.  I love the show but for the 2nd year in a row she's not doing very well.  I wonder if her lack of experience in a professional kitchen hinders her somehow?  I love the addition of Marcus Samuelsson as one of the mentors and Bordain and Luido are always fun to watch since I think their egos may be about the same size.

Pinterest:

Oh Pinterest how I love you.  If I was any good at poetry I'd probably write sonnets to it.  I've been using it a little differently this month and pinning all the workouts I do on Youtube to different workout boards with how long they take.  I'm hoping it will help me find workouts quicker so that I don't talk myself into missing days.  

I did find this recipe for Irish Pancakes from the English Kitchen that looks intriguing.  What's the difference between Irish and regular pancakes?  I must find out.  Also, this recipe for Grilled Balsamic Chicken with Chilled Bruschetta Topping from Favorite Family Recipes has me impatient for summer so I can pick tomatoes out of my garden.  

Subscriptions:

I missed the January grab bag that Golden Tote did at the beginning of the month much to my disappointment.  Then I played around and missed the accessories grab bag.  I'm counting down the days to when the February Boutique is up though.  I will not miss out again!

For Birchbox my favorite thing was the Burt's Bees Intense Hydration Day Lotion.  with Clary Sage.  I was glad to see a moisturizer because winter is making my skin beyond dry but I wasn't expecting to be particularly wow-ed by this.  It's been a great moisturizer.  My skin's been softer and clearer than it's been in months.  I'll definitely buy this in full size and I like that Birchbox included a coupon.

This was the first Ipsy bag that I wasn't absolutely thrilled with.  I got maybe one full size product and nothing that I absolutely loved.  The Epice Purifying Exfoliant is a nice scrub that isn't too harsh.  I haven't had a change to use the Proactive Mark Fading Pads yet so maybe they'll be amazing.  

Looking Ahead:

I did okay this month in sticking to my plans.  I got a little behind in cleaning because it just seemed like we were always running around in a panic.  I got the pantries, the garage, the Tornado's room and my bathroom reorganized and  it's been blissful knowing where everything goes.  February seems to be decorating.  I'm working on a few areas that I have never been happy with how they look.  It's hard to find a balance between pretty and family friendly or unique but inexpensive.   I'm hoping I get the time to pull out the pasta maker this month and get that figured out too.  I want to do a fun dinner for Valentine's Day and plan another outing.