Drop of Sunshine

With the news of yet even more snow on the way, I decided I needed a cocktail that would remind me of summer.

I based it off a cocktail I had on the Disney Fantasy (made by the inimitable Laurence from England), but gave it my own twist.

For my initial trial, I used whipped cream flavored vodka, but the flavor was a little to artificial when paired with the lemon juice. Vanilla vodka works much better.

Drop of Sunshine
2 parts fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 parts vanilla vodka
1 part Barenjager honey liqueur

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a martini glass

Cubicle Lunch

There is just something really sad about eating lunch in your cubicle.

It gets even sadder when your lunch is small, or when it's the twin of what you packed for your first-grader to take to school.

Today's might have been the saddest of them all.

Prepackaged salad, straight from bag, opened upside down no less.

But wait! By some miracle this salad was DELICIOUS. The kale and Brussels sprouts were set off perfectly by the tangy dressing and nutty asiago.

Maybe my lunch wasn't quite so sad after all.

The not-so-sad salad :)

Selfie

Selfie, Day 2

One thing I have noticed over the past little bit is that when we are vacation, I am noticeably absent from our photos when we get home (though, to be fair, so is my hubby). We take pictures of the kiddo, or the scenery, or our food, but rarely of ourselves or each other.

This was brought into sharp focus (pun not intended, but amusing nonetheless) on the cruise when our new friends practically forcibly took our phones from us to take pictures of us out on deck one day. It hadn't even occurred to Steve or I that we might want our picture taken, but to our friends it was a shock that it wasn't instinctual for us to be asking for them to take one for us.

Also, these friends of ours? They have FIERCE selfie game. I have never seen such great selfie skills. I realized that I rarely, rarely, take selfies, and even when I do, it's even rarer for me to show them to anyone.

Most of the reason is because I usually hate how I look in them. And it's not because of bad lighting, or shaky camera work. It's mostly because I have gotten used to dodging myself in the mirror, not looking too closely for fear that I might not like what is looking back at me. Or when I do look, I focus on just my hair, or just that one eyebrow, or that one fat roll. I never see my whole self, so I have become almost a stranger.

But the past few days I have been feeling pretty good about myself. I have been making some good, positive decisions for myself. I have been looking in the mirror.

And yesterday? I took a selfie. And then I posted it.

I was nervous. I figured at worst, I would get zero reactions.

Instead, within seconds, "Look at how cute you are!" came from a far flung friend in New York. "It's so great to SEE you." came a few hours later from another in Australia.

Then this morning, on my way to work, I caught a glimpse of myself in the rearview mirror.

And I liked the way my makeup looked. So at the next stoplight, I took a quick selfie.

I wasn't planning on doing anything with it. I mean, it seems a little narcissistic to post another selfie, right?

But.

I think I might need to be a little narcissistic right now. If I want to make these big changes in my life, I need to not be afraid to look at the stranger in the mirror. It's the only way I am going to find my way back to me.

So. New blog, new outlook, new challenges, new selfie policy.

I am going to take a selfie everyday for 100 days. I'll post a week's worth at a time, because daily would just be annoying for all of us, and we'll see what effects this experiment has in a few months' time.