Monday Musings: About Those Donuts, Calm Down

I'm going to 'fess up right away. In the last 30 days, I have eaten too many donuts. I actually went a whole span of time, something like 10 years, where I couldn't eat donuts.* But, then, one day I could. Again. 

I blame my love, who on more than one occasion has brought me donuts, including my absolute favorite, a caramel Long John (or maple bars or whatever you refer to them as), to me in bed on a lazy weekend morning. Wash that sucker down with a plastic container of ice cold milk and that, my friends, is simplistic bliss at its finest. 

To make matters worse, I just discovered that one of my favorite places in PB - The Baked Bear - now offers Donut Ice Cream Sandwiches! Eep! This place allows you to mix-and-match your favorites cookies or brownies with whatever flavor of ice cream you wan't scooped in between. If you follow me on Instagram, then you've already had a visual of this glorious concoction.

I scarfed that puppy down so fast. So, it's clear I need to cool it on the donuts. Especially since two of my goals for the new year is to walk more and do the abs portion of my workouts. 

I take classes at 24 Hour Fitness pretty regularly, but I often opt out of the abs at the end. I either lie on the mat reveling in my own awesomeness for making it to the gym or hightail it out of there before the torture can begin. This year though, it wouldn't hurt me to stay. Even if I still lay there for half of the time. 

Walking is something I want to do more of because of the exercise, but more for the chance for me to clear my mind. I love a good, long walk either with friends, my guy, or solo. I am fortunate to live in a gorgeous city with near perfect weather year-round, so walking new paths isn't hard to do. 

I took a five-mile walk recently, exploring an unfamiliar to me and discovered another thing I want to do this year: go sea fishing! If you live in San Diego or are just visiting, they have a new open fish market every Saturday morning at the docks by Seaport Village. I have yet to go, but I want to check it out and also befriend a fisherman and experience it for myself. Not sure how I'm going to do that quite yet, but I am confident it can be done.

Should I just leave a note on one of these boats? 

San Diego fishing boats - January 2015

I'm feeling pretty good this first Monday of 2015. With inspiration from the Passion Planner, I am creating a focus for the week and listing all the things that go well, which will help keep things in perspective for me. 

Other randomness -- 

What I'm reading: Someone Else's Love Story by Joshilyn Jackson
What I'm listening to: Out of the Woods by Taylor Swift (shamelessly on repeat) and also Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars (because sometimes you just gotta DANCE)
What I'm watching: The Pioneer Woman (always, and all the shows that are coming back from break, including Suits! #TeamDonna)

Hope you all have a spectacular week! Quit grumbling about Monday -- it's almost over!

*When I was a young girl at Girl Scout camp, one of my fellow scouts handed out the donuts we had packed for the trip. She went on to lick her fingers between each donut and all I could imagine was her disgusting slobber all over my glazed pastry. I declined eating donuts that day and for hundreds of days after. Moral of the story: If you want to go on a diet, imagine someone has spit on your food.

50/50 Challenge 2015: I'm at It Again

Yes, I am trying the 50/50 Challenge again! I was so, so close in 2014 that I think that this year is my year to complete it. After hearing raves about Goodreads from fellow book lover friends, I've decided to update my book progress through the site, which hopefully will help me keep better track. 

You can track my progress and become a book friend here. 

Also, by using Goodreads, I can leave all my reviews in one place to help things be more streamlined. For movies, I'll probably update this blog after every five or so movies I see. 

Here's to a new year of literature and film!  


Rooms by Lauren Oliver

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


As someone who is fascinated with ghosts, I thought the idea of writing a story from the perspective of ghosts was interesting. However, there are several narrators throughout the novel, both alive and deceased, which can cause some confusion. There is a lot going on in the history of one house.

A family has returned to settle the affairs of their father/husband who has died. The Walkers definitely is a family with issues and "ghosts" of their own and the whole story is depressing and quite melancholy. The mom is an alcoholic. The daughter is nymphomaniac who may have a daughter that is also maybe (*SPOILER:) a spirit. And, the son is contemplating suicide. If the story relied on their tales alone, it would be kind of deflating to read, but the voices of the house ghosts, Alice and Sandra, add another element of story as it relives their pasts and how they came to haunt the house.

The writing is vivid and descriptive, but there just might have been one too many characters. When discussing a story that spans over decades of years and more than one family, it can be hard to keep track of who's who.

I wanted the story to be more eerie, but it read more like a family history, which began to lose its intrigue over time. In fact, it had the book had a slow start. I like the theme the author used of traveling from room to room within the house and reliving memories that happened there and what it meant for the people involved. I also thought the end was a perfect wrap up to the story and didn't leave the reader feeling unsatisfied. There was closure.

If you do not have any interest in reading about ghosts, then this book may drag for you for reasons mentioned above. Getting the "other world" insight was what kept me reading.

*I'm not sure that this part is actually a spoiler because I am not sure if my interpretation is true or not. It'd be a question up for debate.



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New Year, New Recipes: Meatballs and Rice

Dieting has never been a resolution of mine because I just enjoy food too darn much. However, I did make a food resolution: try one new recipe a week. This helps me with my endeavor to cook more and eat more vegetables. 

My first recipe, though not vegetarian, was a success! I don't know if I can call it a new recipe necessarily, but since it's a short week, I am going to count it. 

Meatloaf is one of the easiest things to make. You only need ground beef (or turkey), an egg, breadcrumbs, and seasonings. I never make my meatloaf the same way -- I use what seasonings I have on hand and whatever additions I think I need.

I also never keep a refrigerator full of groceries because they usually go bad before we can use them, so I only shop for a few days at a time. I got one of those meat logs and divided it into thirds, the way my mom taught me, and used one-third to mix with the above mentioned ingredients and make meatballs. 

Voila new recipe! 

Meatballs and Rice

It's simple, easy, and most importantly delicious. 

You need: 

1 lb. (roughly) of ground beef
1 egg
1/2 cup or so of bread crumbs (I used the regular, unseasoned kind)
any spices that you think might be good (I used salt, pepper, garlic powder, and seasoning salt)
a few shakes of parmesan or cotija cheese

If you want measurements on the seasonings, I'd say about a teaspoon or two of each, but heavier on the pepper rather than salt. Mix all ingredients by hand until everything is incorporated and roll into meatballs. 

Cook on a baking sheet at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes until brown and cooked through. Option: the last five minutes of baking, pull out the meatballs and add BBQ sauce, then finish cooking the last few minutes.

Serve with rice, steamed veggies, and garlic bread. All of this is a meal for two for under $10! 

I would've taken pictures of the cooking process except another one of my 2015 goals is to take better pictures. That and my cooking mostly tastes better than it looks. 

Enjoy the eats!