Decisions, Decisions...

I have been presented with an opportunity to travel.  Awesome, right?  Right.  But, the overly responsible side of me is wondering how the heck I am going to make this happen!  Eeeek!  I mean, really all I need is time and money.  You know, just time and money.  Two things I can't get more of... legally, anyway.  But, this is what this whole blog is all about for me.  Finding opportunities to live more, live bigger, better and along that path, find happiness.  I don't want to be afraid to make certain things happen in my life.  I don't want my own insecurities to hold me back.  I want to be stronger, this is my life and I am the only one responsible here.

Crikey!

By the way, I'm not talking about a weekend at Grandma's house (though, if I could, I would).  I am talking about a chance to go to AUSTRALIA! Amazing.  Australia is truly a place I never thought I would have the chance to visit. Primarily because I never thought the opportunity would present itself.  Also, I hate flying and always dismissed the idea of Australia because there is not one piece of me that wants to do the flight.  Now that it's a real possibility though, I think I can handle it... funny how that mindset changes.

One of the ways I make decisions - seriously, I do this a lot - is I ask myself if this event/circumstance passes, will I regret not doing it?  Or regret not trying?  I have to say that whenever I do this exercise, I feel confident with my decision.  So, with this situation, my friend invited me to Australia in November.  A couple of thoughts that are crossing my mind are: 1) This will use up any vacation time I have for the rest of the year at my job.  This is really weighing on me as I spend most weekends down The Cape with my family.  I love long weekends there, having a few days to unwind does wonders. 2) This is definitely going to put a big mark in my savings, which is minimal to begin with!  Yet, when I picture December coming, holidays fast approaching and reflecting back on the year, I truly feel like I would regret not giving myself a once-in-a-lifetime adventure.  So, is my decision made?  I think it is....

Try this little regret question next time you are faced with a difficult decision.... see where it takes you!

Love, Lizzie

Get Your Book On - Summer Reading

Memorial Day weekend has come and gone and summer is officially underway.  Well, not according to the calendar, but according to everyone in the United States.  The weekend down the Cape was awesome, so much fun and more pics and recipes to follow from that.  In the meantime though, I thought this was a perfect time to get out some recommendations for summer reading.  I was at the beach three days last weekend and it reminded me how much I love sitting by the ocean totally consumed with a great book.

Summer Reading - Lite
If you want a true "beach read" then these books have to make it to your list, I love, love, love them all:

- Something Borrowed (read years ago and still one of my faves, movie is out now with Kate Hudson)
- Something Blue (don't read one without the other, it's a continuation of the same story)
- Blue Bistro - will make you want to open a restaurant on Nantucket
- The Godmother - all the single ladies, all the single ladies
- The Help
- South of Broad - mix of mystery, romance and scandal
- Saving CeeCee Honeycutt - combination of The Help and Secret Life of Bees
- American Wife - you can get lost in the story of her life, it's hard not to feel attached to this character

Old School Summer Reading
If you want a more challenging book or a more serious topic, dig into these:


- The Last Child - I could not put it down
- The Glass Castle - if it wasn't true, you wouldn't believe it
- The Hunger Games - don't let the disturbing idea of this amazing book deter you
- Memoirs of a Geisha - one of my ALL time favorites
- The Kite Runner - wrote both this and Thousand Splendid Suns
- Thousand Splendid Suns - seriously, he can't write a 3rd book fast enough, I could read these 2 books over and over again for the rest of my life and be happy
- The Other Boleyn Girl -  hard to get into at first, then before you know it, you're sucked in

Check out these books at Amazon or Borders.  Enjoy!

Love, Lizzie

Everybody's Working For the Memorial Day Weekend!

I have been waiting for this weekend since, well, Labor Day.  I always love getting away, especially down the Cape, but to have a long - hopefully sun filled - weekend is the best reward after a horribly long winter.  Right now is the best time because the whole summer lays in front of us... hmmmm, what will happen?  Something always does!

For the past 8 months I have been day-dreaming of morning coffee outside, the beach, beach reads (list to follow), beers on the beach as the sun starts to set, outside showers (life changing if you haven't had one), gin and tonics on the patio, oysters, shrimp cocktail, peel-and-eat shrimp, grilled shrimp (alright, chill out Bubba) and of course looking at all the stars.  This city dwelling lady does not see many stars unless I leave the city.  Down the Cape, it's not unusual to see shooting stars.  Last year I even saw a comet - cray-zay.  I love the Chatham and I love our house, but I also love going to see other areas too... there are so many nooks and cranies on Cape Cod, you could drive around forever.  Sometimes, when I am not in a rush, I drive home on Rt. 6A which is more scenic and has cute shops and places to stop for lunch.

Tonight, I am trying to pack, which apparently consists of me writing for Blooming Horizon and doing laundry.  So, I thought - instead of folding and packing - this would be the perfect time to share my ultra-secret pasta salad recipe!!  The good thing with this recipe is you can't really mess it up, you can tweak any of the ingredients based on your taste/preference and it's really not that bad for you!

Lizzie's Pasta Salad

1 box elbow pasta, boiled per directions and cooled
1 green pepper, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1/2 medium-sized red onion (tweak to your liking)
1/2 jar green olives with pimentos, cut each olive in half
3/4 cup chopped cheddar cheese
8 oz. Ken's Light Italian salad dressing (more or less as needed)
Salt and fresh pepper

Boil the pasta and once it's cooled, mix everything together.  Don't mix if the pasta is still hot, it will soak up the dressing too much and get a little sticky.  Start off with less, you can always add more dressing, salt or pepper.  Then I always make my sister be my sous-chef for the taste test, which is mostly just an excuse for us to eat... but still, necessary for ingredient adjustments.  We make this all the time for dinner and always have leftovers for the beach the next day!

I am praying for safe, fun and sunny weekend!  Look for me back here in tears on Monday night...

Happy Memorial Day!

Love, Lizzie

Are You There Hope? It's Me, Lizzie

Today was just one-of-those-days.  Sigh.  We all have them, right?  Right?!  Well, I think how I will choose to view today is: putting me one step closer to where I want to be.  Yes.  I am doing my best to turn lemons into lemonade.  Well, come on, let's get real... I'm trying to turn a sh*t sandwich into a dirty martini.  All I wanted all day was to come home and be alone.  That feeling of just being able to live in my own head for a little bit.  No distractions, no running around, no phone calls and emails.  Well, that is what I am giving myself.

Tonight is actually the first night in a long time - maybe ever - that I have come home from work and not turned on the TV.  I just knew that I needed some insight, some inspiration and although my best friend, TV, may have lightened my mood, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be any better off at the end of the night.  I am allowing myself to just be with my own thoughts for now.  Well, my thoughts and Oprah's.  I picked up the June issue of "O" Oprah Magazine earlier tonight.  As I stood in the grocery store (buying everything I forgot last night) I thought to myself, 'Who can give me some words of wisdom while in Stop & Shop?'  Obvi, my girl Ope.

I sit here with my adult beverage - you know I needed that - and I am feeling my heart slow down, in a good way.  It's actually a beautiful night in Boston, warm but with just enough breeze so I am not sweating and forced to turn on the air conditioning before Memorial Day.  I finally feel like I have a few minutes to think about what I want to do with my life.  AH.  The age old post-college question.  Ultimately, I know what I want to do, my challenge is getting the courage to take the risk to actually do it.  Also, there is a financial impact for me and as much as I would love to think I am above such materialistic obstacles, I am not.  I have a mortgage and a car payment and oh yeah, credit card debt and damn that bathing suit I bought a Bloomies on my store charge and oh right, my crazy cell phone bill (I love you iphone!) and that thing called a life.  Like, where I eat and drink and buy items to keep myself clothed.  So, with all that, it's scary to make a big decision, one that could end up back firing.  But the one and only Ope has saved my night...

The article in "O" that caught my attention is an interview with Oprah and her bestie Gayle, entitled "One Incredible Journey".  They reminisce about Ope back in the day, when she realized she was like, super famous and also some of her favorite episodes.  Gayle pushed Oprah to explain what her favorite show symbolizes and this is what made me pause and gave me some hope.

It speaks to the essence of what the show has tried to say all these years: that you are not a product of your circumstances.  You are a composite of all the things you believe, and all the places you believe you can go.  Your past does not define you.  You can step out of your history and create a new day for yourself.  Even if the entire culture is saying, "You can't."  Even if every single possible bad thing that can happen to you does.  You can keep going forward.

To read the full article online, click here.

Really, can we just call her Hope-rah?  Maybe I will leave the TV off more... well, until True Blood is back on.

Nighty-night world... I'll see you tomorrow.

Love, Lizzie

Din Din - Only Partially Frozen

Zucchini Carpaccio - to be tossed

Baked Stuffed Organic Shells

I loathe frozen dinners.  I said it, I loathe them.  But... yes, I eat them about 2 - 3 times a week.  Why?  Well, I wish I had a better answer then, it's all I have time for.  Many nights I am working late, usually until about 7pm and then I have to take the filthy bus home.  Some nights, I am not walking in the door until 8pm, so I am certainly not going to start slicing, dicing, baking and grilling.  But I will manage to microwave for 4 minutes and 30 seconds.  Tonight though, I left work on time and and I am having a friend over so I am making my own salad and using the help of some frozen items... trust me, they don't taste or look "frozen".  It's all about efficiency for me!  Plus, both frozen items are organic, much better than a box full of chemicals and salt.


On the menu tonight, I pulled a salad recipe from one of my favorite sites skinnytaste.com - Gina The Genius (yes, I just gave her a nickname) behind this site is amazing, I love all of her recipes.  She, like myself, follows the Weight Watcher Points Plus plan.  So, Gina creates recipes of her own or tweaks others and then provides you with the Points Plus value.  Check her out!!

Zucchini Carpaccio
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 4 • Time: 5 minutes • Calories: 81 • Points: 1.5
2 medium zucchini, ends cut off and thinly sliced
1/2 lemon
4 tsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and fresh pepper
1 cup baby arugula
1/4 cup shaved Parmesan
Combine oil and lemon juice. Place a layer of zucchini to cover the bottom of a platter. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with a little olive oil and lemon juice. Repeat layering zucchini, salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon juice until all zucchini is used up. Let marinade for at least 10 minutes. Right before serving, top with fresh arugula, shaved Parmesan and serve.


For the main course, I am making Nature's Promise Stuffed Shells. Ok, yes, they are frozen, but you still have to bake them for 40 minutes! They're not frozen dinner, frozen... again, if I had time I would make my own. I am combining those with Trader Joe's Turkey Meatballs and organic pasta sauce. The shells actually go into the oven frozen and smothered in sauce, covered with tin foil at 425 degrees. I love this because I rarely think ahead to defrost anything. Also true with the turkey meatballs, you can microwave, bake or pan cook these as well. In the essence of time, I microwaved them for 2 minutes and then cooked them with some cooking spray in a non-stick skillet to make them a little more crispy. By the way, if you don't have a non-stick skillet you must get one! I got my two at Bed, Bath & Beyond and Target. I don't know how I didn't have one for years! Now for most items, I don't use anything else. While the shells were baking, I made the salad and meatballs... all in all the timing worked out perfectly. When the shells were done, so was everything else.

I try to eat organic whenever possible and all the main ingredients - stuffed shells, turkey meatballs and pasta sauce - are. I don't go super crazy over "being organic" and of course I love to eat out, so my rule is if there is the option to buy it organic, then I do. I love Stop & Shop's Nature's Promise line, it's reasonably priced and everything I have ever tried is really tasty.

All in all, this is a well balanced meal - vegetables, a little healthy olive oil, protein and carbohydrates.

I hope you check out some of the recipes - so many good ideas and meals on all three sites!

Happy eating!

Love, Lizzie

Inspiring Today - SELF Magazine

Having fun down the Cape...

2 second later, getting soaked

I got home from the Cape last night after a dreary yet fun, ladies weekend (pics above from a different, sunny weekend), to the arrival of my SELF magazine.  SELF is definitely one of my favorites because it focuses on the whole being,  not just the physical like some other similar magazines.  One thing they always do towards the beginning is to put a 2-page picture of nature or some outside activity accompanied with some inspiring words.  For me, yes, I am aware of trying to be balanced in life and have fun.  However, it always means more when I see it written down (hello? this blog), so I love the section of SELF.  This months June issue - with Maria Menounos on the cover - says the following:


Happy Days

Remember how free you felt in the summer as a kid - joyfully unself-conscious and liberated from adult rules? Recapture that special sense of wonder and savor this season: Every day the sun shines get out and do something that exhilarates you. Dive into water that's a little too chilly, round up pals for a spontaneous road trip, laze in a hammock and read an old fashioned thriller, just for fun. Be a kid again!


To read more on self.com click here.

I love this sentiment because it drives us to really capture those special moments, to do something that makes us happy.  Whether surfing or relaxing with a nice, cold [adult] beverage, (which, sounds amazing to me right now, especially as I look out my window and see pouring rain) it's about YOU doing something for YOU... and isn't that what it's all about?  I am definitely looking forward to some sun, it's certainly been limited here in the Northeast.  Can I promise that every day it's sunny I will be running towards Boston Harbor to dive in?  Probably not.  But, my goal will be to do some thing that is out of my routine to make the day feel worthwhile and not one of the same.

Love, Lizzie

Are You Ready? Better Yet, Am I?

Welcome!  So, here I am... a little hesitant but mostly excited to see how my life unfolds on here... the big, world wide web.  I am typically a fairly private person, you know, besides all the pictures, status updates and conversations I document for 263 people on Facebook.  What brought me here though, was a desire to push myself.  To see what I can do when documenting not just for me, but possibly family, friends and strangers.  I feel like life has a way of slipping by, we get into these routines and sometimes don't have a minute to pick our heads up and take it all in.  My goal is to find the little and big things in life that are worth noting.  For me that will include my own stories, experiences - good and bad! - and hopefully at some point sharing others.  Mostly, I am looking for anything in this world to excite me and bring some passion my way.  Ultimately, how to find inspiration, balance and happiness... serenity now?  I hope at the very least, to have some fun and laughs and have this blog be a little something for me... and maybe you.

To give you a sense of what I hope to share, this is what I'm thinking:

- Travel - past and future
- Eating and drinking!
- Photography
- Current events - pop culture included!
- Seasonal activities
- Moments worth pausing for

Let's see where this goes....

Love, Lizzie