Tag: living better

Little Luxuries, Warm Cookies

A while ago, Not Martha posted about freezing cookie dough balls, so you could have one or two warm cookies when you wanted something sweet.

I don’t like the chemical-laden cookie dough you can get at the store, and I tend to avoid making cookies, because I immediately stuff the whole batch in my face.

So last time I made a batch, I doubled it and popped these in the freezer. Man, nothing is better than a late-night treat of a warm cookie or two, especially when friends are over. Give it a try, it’s an easy thing that makes your life nicer.

Optimizing

In an effort to eliminate my mystery hives, which are apparently not allergic reactions, I am off to have a very nice acupuncturist stick needles in me. These are tiny needles. Hair thin needles, I am told. Needles so small they hardly even qualify as needles, you see. So why call them needles then? Why not call them something less panic-inducing? Stupids.

Fun Fact! Tongue goo is a part of the diagnosis process in Chinese medicine. Therefore, I was not supposed to brush my tongue this morning, which is counter-intuitive when you wake up and it tastes like something died in your mouth.

The end.

Solution! Cheese Plate Jar

Since Hank came along, we entertain at home a lot more because we’d rather buy groceries for the week than fund a sitter for an evening.

This is our cheese plate jar, it’s where we keep snacks for impromptu hosting. We used to eat all the yummy snacks ourselves, and then have sliced fudgesicles and dry pasta curls when people came over. Now, once something goes in the jar, it’s for guests only.

You can stock it with all kinds of shelf-friendly snacks, but our favorites include:

  • Bars of Dagoba or Scharffenberger dark chocolate
  • Raw almonds, pecans, filberts
  • Roasted pistachios or pumpkin seeds
  • Dried apricots, cranberries, or mangoes
  • Crystalized ginger

If you happen to have some cheese in the fridge and a little drizzle of honey, you can make a killer cheese plate with that stash. If not, take three little dishes (we use sushi plates), and put out almonds, dried apricots, and chopped chocolate. You can put it together in five minutes with no cooking and no stress.

Look at you, so fancy.

Strapping on a Pair

I have not been taking good care of my body.

For four years or so, I’ve had crazy, hive-inducing allergies along with a few other health problems that I’ve been alternately complaining about and ignoring, hoping they’ll go away. Today, I sat down and made a big batch of appointments, because it’s time to figure everything out. I don’t know why I’ve been afraid to do this, but I have. Nothing life-threatening is going on, but my quality of life hasn’t been near as good as it could be, and it’s silly to go on accepting that.

So. What about you? Have you been putting yourself off? Today, as a favor, I would like you to take better care of yourself. Please think of one thing you can do to make your life a little better, and take the first step. Maybe it’s as small as taking a walk, or as big as going back to school, or getting screened for the cancer that runs in your family. Do it, and let the weight lift off you.

I’ll be over here, thinking good things for you.

Mighty plans

As we discussed last week, today is my pretend birthday. Hooray! Pretend birthday hats for everyone.

Three and eleven are my favorite numbers, so age 33 is particularly auspicious. If you see me, you should probably rub my tummy for good luck.

Every year, I make birthday resolutions, because I find them weightier than the New Year’s variety. This year, I have three big ones:

1. Don’t drop-kick the puppy.

In Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott writes:

“Try looking at your mind as a wayward puppy that you are trying to paper train. You don’t drop-kick a puppy into the neighbor’s yard every time it piddles on the floor. You just keep bringing it back to the newspaper.”

This year, I’d like to be a little gentler with myself. I need to focus on my health, my environment, and the present tense. I’m going to take all the time I waste replaying my various inadequacies, and spend it celebrating the things I should be grateful for instead.

2. Make my work the best it can be.

Here’s the part where I lay a little Oprah on you — she always comes up when I’m course plotting. She says the defining question in her life is:

“How do you use your life to best serve yourself and then extend that to the world?”

I spend a disproportionate amount of time working, and this is because I have an awesome job. I’m feeling inspired lately, especially by the design community, and I’d like to use that momentum to rethink the Mighty sites with Oprah’s question in mind.

3. Harness the good.

This is something I think about almost every day. There are so many of you. I’d like to know more about what you know, and find ways to make each others’ lives better. I’m still working through the details, but I want to do some sort of group project with the Mighty Life Lists many of you made with me. Perhaps we could start by crossing a few things off.

Anyway, that’s the overview. There are many detailed to-dos attached to each goal, and I’m excited to tackle them. It’s going to be a good year. You come too.

From Your Keyboards to My Butt

So remember when I told you that most women’s underwear makes me want to stab people? I asked the universe where to get comfy yet stylish underwear, and 105 of you ponied up.

As a thank you, here’s a round up of the cutest and most oft’ name-checked undies in the all of Mightyland:

Adorable Enough to Risk It

Aerie Gobstopper Boyfly Boybrief (3 Votes)


$4 (on sale) from American Eagle

Maidenform “Micro & Lace” Boy-Short Panty (2 Votes)


$9 from Macy’s

Lulu Boy Pant (1 Vote)


$35 from Macy’s

Cute and Reliable

Hanky Panky Boy Shorts and Bikinis (7 votes) and Thongs (4 votes)


$34 each from Nordstrom


$26 each from Nordstrom


$18 each from Nordstrom

(I must interject here that I will wear thongs only for as long it takes to get me laid, but so many people mentioned these that I couldn’t ignore them.)

Women’s Mesh Hipster Underwear (4 Votes)


$3 each (on sale) from Old Navy

Straightforward Crowd Pleasers

Gilligan & O’Malley Modal Underwear (3 Votes)


$10 for two from Target

Hanes Body Creations Stretch Cotton Hipster (4 votes)


$8 for three from Amazon

Regular Rise Cotton Bikini (9 votes)


$4 (on sale) from Gap Body

Jockey Comfies Cotton Bikinis (4 Votes)


$24 for three from Jockey

There now. I feel more pleasant already.

On Chafing

The time has come to buy new underwear. However, since having that cute baby and then losing the pregnancy weight, something has gone awry. All currently fashionable underwear is now made to go up my butt.

Bikini undies? Sure! If you like them up your butt. Tap pants? Sounds good, assuming you enjoy that extra material nestled up your butt. Boy shorts? Why waste effort walking around for 10 minutes? Just wedge them up your butt immediately so you can tug uncomfortably at your jeans for the next eight hours.

Listen, I’m already wearing shoes that make my feet bleed. The underwire on my bra is probably jabbing my ribs. You don’t want me any more irritated. It’s taking all my willpower not to cut someone. Introduce up-the-butt pants to this precarious scenario, and I can’t be held responsible. I also probably won’t be able to operate a motor vehicle.

Do you hear me, Universe? Take me to your comfortable yet stylish underwear! You drive.

Growing Pains

A few friends and I have been reading a book on wellness that suggests eight ways to improve your life. It says you should choose a few and run with them, so I decided on:

Meditation:
Me thinking about light flowing into my head, and then thinking how nice it would be to nap.

Visualization:
Me thinking about how well things are going, then wondering when disaster will strike.

Conscious eating:
Me conquering food allergies by doing a restricted diet for 21 days, then remembering that I have hives because I really like to eat the stuff I’m not supposed to have.

Doing Fun Activities:
Me doing things that make me happy.

For the record, doing fun things is better than denying yourself caffeine. Should you choose to follow this path, I’d recommend starting with the fun stuff and worrying about your gluten intake later.

I’ve decided to do one fun thing a day, and it turns out that fun stuff is awesome. Yesterday I went down to City Hall to celebrate gay and lesbian couples getting married. There was a huge crowd, and lots of happy tears, and much merriment. Added bonus: no one yelled ugly things at the newlyweds.

So you see, we’re all evolving as a team.

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A Brief Note About Pregnancy

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Maggie Mason is a hot mama, originally uploaded by superhero.

So. Remember sixteen months ago when I was super, duper pregnant? Barely, right? It seems like a looong time ago. Especially when Hank strolls into the room and says something like, “Mummy, I have a few questions about the mortgage crisis.”

Well ladies, this is how long it took me to take off all the baby weight. Sixteen months. I did not wear my jeans out of the hospital, I did not lose the “fat face” the minute I gave birth, I was not able to eat whatever I wanted just because I was breast feeding, and I could not climb back on a tread mill right after Hank was born. I needed quite a while to heal.

Are you listening? Sixteen months. For me, that’s how long it took. Sixteen months and quite a bit of help from Weight Watchers online. It’s not true for everybody, but it is true for lots of folks. So put down the issue of People magazine, and turn away from all the moms on E! who got their bodies back a month later. If you’re feeling bummed about your gut, get yourself some flattering dresses, and give yourself a little time.

Good job making that baby, girl.