I am thankful for good friends

I have great friends. I have great friends who live all over the world. But, tonight I'm thankful for good friends who live in this city.
Earlier I was driving up to my friend's house for a girls' night dinner. It was the first time I had driven my car all week but that's not unusual. However, the way my car was acting was unusual. It was shuddering when I was at a stop, the engine light was blinking and then was fine and it felt like my car wasn't getting much power. I made it to my friend's house and parked the car safely but decided not to drive it home tonight. I didn't want to be driving around forever finding parking and have something go wrong and the car die in the middle of the street. I wanted to be able to just drive my car straight to a shop and get it checked out.
I was joking with some of the girls that I was going to bribe their husbands to take a look at my car and see if they could figure anything out. My friend S said that her husband probably would simply because he usually borrows my car on Tuesdays for some meetings so he has a vested interest in the health and well being of my car. I joked that unless he was willing to take it into the shop for me tomorrow, I wouldn't have time to take it in until Tues and he would have to find another way to get to work.
Guess what. He's going to take a look at my car in the morning and then take it into the shop for me. I explained what it was doing and he thinks it just needs a tune up and some new spark plugs and it should be good to go. For one thing, I'm glad to hear that it doesn't sound major (although I know that could change in an instant). But, mostly, I am just extremely thankful for friends who pitch in to help take care of me. I know nothing about cars. I know you have to put gas in them to keep them running. I know you have to get the oil changed when the little sticker on the windshield tells you to do it. And, that's about it.
A large city can feel very scary and lonely when you are on your own. Tonight was a good reminder that I'm not alone at all.

Worth every hour

I don't feel like I've done a ton worth talking about so far in 2010. I'm working on changing that for the rest of the year so I'll keep you posted. One of the things that I have tried to do more is try new recipes. Desserts are always my favorite but I've been trying to test out new main dishes too. It's nice to treat myself to something tasty a couple of nights a week and really nice to have the leftovers for lunch the following days.
One day at lunch someone said something about French Onion Soup and I was reminded of how much I like it as well. So, I decided it was time to make some. I figured if I was going to do it, I was going to do it right and I used the great Julia Child's recipe (at least mostly). The whole process took me about 3 hours but it was totally worth it. It's not three hours of standing over the stove so don't let it scare you.
The onions smell amazing as they caramelize and the soup has an amazing rich flavor. Since I knew that I wasn't going to eat the whole pot in one night, I opted to make homemade croutons to float in the soup instead of putting the bread and cheese under the broiler each time. Then I just sprinkled grated swiss cheese on top.
It's the perfect meal for a cold winter night.

I'm sorry I've neglected you

Dear Blog,
I'm sorry that I have completely abandoned you this year. It's been busy and I really haven't had the energy or the desire to share anything. I'll try to be better.
Sincerely,
Me

Gold Stars

I got this in the mail today. Starbucks has changed their rewards program and starting in January I will be a member of that program. Not just a member, a GOLD level member! I'm really not sure what this says about my habits. I'm pretty sure I shouldn't be proud of this. But, I intend to use it. About this time last year, I joined the new Starbucks Gold club. You paid $25 for a year of membership and they sent you this very cool little black card that was like a secret key or something. This fun card got you 10% off all purchases, free wireless, a free drink on your birthday, etc. $25 seems like a lot of money for a stupid club but my co-worker and I did the math and all you had to do was buy 45 small coffees in a year and get 10% off all of those to make back your money. Sadly, I knew that I would purchase more than my required 45 coffees. They have now changed their club and there isn't a fee anymore. The 10% discount is also gone. However, for every 15 drinks you buy, you get one free. I also still get free wireless, free flavored syrups, free soymilk and a free drink for my birthday. Bonus, I get a cool gold card to replace my black card. I'm pretty sure this makes me super cool. Even more bonus, my nifty gold card came with a coupon for a free drink which means that tomorrow morning I will go in and order something that would normally cost $7 and it will taste all the better for being FREE!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

I hope that you all are having a wonderful day and are able to spend it with people you love. I'm enjoying time with my family in Wisconsin and thankful that I made it up here before the bad weather. The brother had to work today and my parents are helping set up for a wedding taking place tomorrow but we'll get to sit down to a cozy dinner this evening and enjoy each other's company.

Many blessings to you and yours this Christmas!

Brown paper packages tied up with string

These are a few of my favorite things!

I've been a fan of using brown paper to wrap presents with for several years now. It means that I buy one roll of paper (often the kind sold with the other packing materials and usually used to wrap packages that are being shipped) and can use it for any occasion that might come up. Since the brown paper is usually so cheap, I spend what I save and keep several kinds of really pretty ribbon around. This year for my Christmas gifts I found this great twine at IKEA in red and green. I think that it's festive yet simple and elegant in it's own way.

It's almost ready!

'It' being the schnapps that Kelly and I made at the end of October. I'm SO excited! I'll admit to having had a little taste of the orange schnapps a couple of weeks ago (long before it is technically ready) and it was already good.