Real Men Rock the Pink

I am so loving the pink the NFL is rocking for Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

Advice

I’m having some problems in the bedroom.

I need new bedding and I just can NOT decide which of these to go with. I have dark wood furniture and white walls. Which of these do you like?

What? You thought I had other bedroom problems?

What I’m Making v5

Kindra from Meal Planning 101 recently asked me to share my orange chicken recipe and, as this is one of my FAVORITE things to make, I was more than happy to oblige! (Definitely check out her link….she has one of the best food /meal plan blogs out there in my opinion! Real food for real people and budgets and minimal packaged/preservatives. Definitely my kind of cooking!)

Orange Chicken

Chicken;

2 chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces

3 tablespoons cornstarch

salt & pepper to taste

olive oil

Sauce:

1 1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons orange juice

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/3 cup rice vinegar

2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon grated orange zest

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

2 tablespoons chopped green onion

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

cornstarch to thicken if desired

*I like a LOT of extra sauce so this makes quite a bit. You may need to play with the proportions/add more chicken for your own taste.

*I use fresh orange and lemon juice. It really adds to the fresh flavor I think.

- Throw chicken pieces, cornstarch, salt and pepper into a large ziplock bag and shake, shake, shake until coated.

- Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a deep skillet over medium heat and cook chicken until done.

- Remove chicken from skillet and wipe out (or use saucepan if your skillet isn’t deep enough). Add ingredients for sauce except for the cornstarch and bring to a slight boil. Add cornstarch to thicken if you like a thicker sauce (I always do this…it makes it feel more decadent and restaurant-like to me). Add chicken pieces into sauce and heat through, about 5 minutes.

- Serve over rice and garnish with green onion if desired.

Soapbox – The Health Care Debate

I rarely voice my political opinion on my blog, mostly because I believe in a variety of viewpoints and in accepting the opinions and perspective of others, both political and otherwise. However, the current health care debacle has me digging in the closet and dragging out my soapbox.

I agree that this country is in need of a health care brainstorm session. Changes should be made to the current arrangement so health care coverage can be both accessible and affordable for everyone and there should be a illustrious debate in this country with a variety of sides and viewpoints so we can find the best reform. What is right now being called “the health care debate” is neither productive, informative or even what I would call a debate.

I am outraged that the Town Hall meetings that members of Congress have tried to do have turned into at best, theatrics, at worst fulmination. People have showed up to the meetings (sometimes even armed) not to become informed or to inform or engage, but to fear, harass and intentionally mis-inform. The media is fueling this fire and politicians on both sides are failing at explaining their stances by using dramatics and antics instead of facts and data.

I acknowledge there are legitimate anti-reform talking points, but the antagonizers attending these meetings aren’t using these valid points to sway opinion. They are using intimidating fallacies to sway public opinion and increase their anti-reform following. Current proposals do NOT call for “death panels” or encouraged euthanasia and are not, as Rachel Maddow of MSNBC puts it “a government plot to kill old people”. It simply calls for Medicare to provide reimbursement for consultations with your doctor regarding your end of life care. You do not have to have such a consultation if you do not want to. The proposal is simply paying for the appointment if you chose to have it. For those few rallying against government-run insurance programs, but who say they love their current Medicare/Medicaid plan, just an FYI – Medicare and Medicaid ARE governmental-run health insurance programs. Also, the proposals are not advocating a 100% switch to governmental health insurance plans, they are simply providing another option for you than your status quo health care plan. It does appear that there is a chance that some people may lose the option they currently have with their employer because some companies may end up choosing to drop their current offerings and I do think that is something that should be looked into further if you fear this may be the case for you. For those looking to fear monger the Veterans, rest assured, despite the sound bites, Veterans benefits are NOT diminishing in the new proposals. Also, sex changes are NOT mandatory in the new proposals (my personal favorite health care reform fallacy).

I’ve nearly given up hope that any kind of debate on this is going to be informative. I urge everyone to do their own research, form your own opinions and find respectful and productive ways to get them to your representatives if this is an issue you feel strongly about. Health care is undoubtedly a complex issue and one that affects everyone. I myself am not sure I find comfort in the fact that I can pretty much do what I want to my body and either my employer or the government will have my back.

Soapbox going back in the closet, but maybe not pushed quite as far back as before.

My Spa Experience

I do not like Spas…..I’m not a huge fan of strangers touching me….I don’t like being semi-nude in the presence of others…..I hate any and all attention focused on me. I am so NOT a spa girl. Lately I’ve needed to tame my eyebrows and I have an easy week at work since all the execs are out of the office, so I decided on a whim to try a Spa around the corner for work to get a quick eye brow wax at lunch.

I LOVED it. 30 minutes of being totally transported into a serene environment in the middle of a work day was SO worth having someone pour hot wax on my face and them rip it off.

If that’s not a ringing endorsement, I don’t know what is.

Narcissism at its finest

As promised, here are some shots from my photoshoot the other day!

Teaser

I let the extremely talented Caryn at Magnifica Photography take some photos of me this weekend. I’m still working on the editing, but stay tuned for my very brief and likely never to happen again stint as a model.

A Perfect Black Skirt is Priceless

I have this skirt from the Gap I bought YEARS ago. Black, perfect fabric that doesn’t wrinkle in a suitcase, perfect length, figure flattering. But when I bought it, it was a smidge too big and now that I’ve lost (and kept off) some weight, it falls right off me.

I put it in my Goodwill pile with a heavy hand and tried to forget about my perfect skirt, but when I finally made my trip last week to the donation bin, I couldn’t bear to part with it and decided to see if I could have my perfect cheap skirt altered.

I was TERRIBLY embarrassed to take it to my fancy NYC tailor for fear of the mocking I would pay so much to get such a cheap piece of clothing taken in, but perfect black skirts are hard to find so I bit the bullet and took it in.

He listened careful to what I wanted done and inspected the label. He said in his heavy Eastern European accent “umm…this is like $18″. I apologized for bringing in such cheap piece and started in on a lengthy explanation of how it was the perfect skirt and how I’d searched for years to find a replacement and couldn’t and he patiently listened while glancing at the cashier with a “what is this chick talking about” look. When I finally finished he says to me “No, Miss. I mean the ALTERATIONS will be $18.”

I thanked him, took my receipt and got out of there as fast as I could.

The Single Life: Getting to know someone takes CONVERSATION

In my lifetime of singledom, I have met men in a variety of places. On the train, at work, through friends, even at bars. The older I get, the more slim the pickings seem to be, and that is most evident in the meat market called “The Internet”.

I have dipped my toes in the online dating pool and have come to realize that there are a number of things I do not understand about men and dating. There are profiles with bullet point lists of qualifications that a Yale educated supermodel wouldn’t meet, there are profiles with elaborate descriptions of intimate acts I’ve never even heard of, and my personal favorite, profiles that say nothing except “contact me”. And don’t even get me started on the pictures. Am I to find photos of men carousing with a variety of scantily clad women while fondling a beer bottle enticing? Is a faceless photo of a minute male body part supposed to make me swoon? Do these men really get responses? I can’t help but channel Dr. Phil and ask “How’s that workin’ for ya?”

I can’t help but wonder if conversation over coffee is a lofty expectation in this sea of men who think the foreplay is over after the barrista takes your order.

4/20/1999

I didn’t grow up having to worry about my safety while I was in school. If I should have, I somehow managed to survive my ignorance.

There were no metal detectors or visible police presence in my hallways. There were occasional locker checks, but the worst the drug sniffing dog ever came up with was some weed. The most trouble anyone caused was the occasional pulling of the fire alarm, but nobody ever died from that.

It is in these moments when I start to feel my age creeping up on me. The anniversary of today, a reminder that I existed in a different time. The worries of the 90s, nothing compared to the worries of now and beyond.

My beloved phrase “endless possibilities” has a very ugly side.

I wish I could remain blissfully ignorant just a little longer.