Five Favorites for March

Five things that are making me happy lately:

1. I just read Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer's book about the disastrous 1996 Everest expedition. I am all about mountain adventure stories lately! My boss Kevin recently gave an amazing slide show about his K2 expedition back in the mid-1990s which has definitely piqued my interest in mountaineering stories. Kevin actually climbed Everest with one of the key players in Into Thin Air (apparently these high-altitude climbers move in small circles!). Anyways, the book was totally gripping - I finished it in less than 24 hours! I think I'm just in awe of the fact that these elite athlete-adventurers WALK AMONG US (especially here in Boulder).

2. Baseball spring training is under way! The Red Sox and Yankees are playing RIGHT NOW! And the Red Sox are winning! Woohoo!

3. The mercury is finally rising here - we've had some beautiful weather the past few days. Of course, I didn't get to enjoy any of it today cause I didn't leave the office for 10 straight hours, but yesterday I enjoyed a gorgeous ski day at Eldora and then sat outside in a T-SHIRT drinking a beer! After the winter we've had, my pasty white arms are a surprisingly welcome sight.

4. That new show 30 Rock has been completely cracking me up lately. Alec Baldwin is a comedic genius. I love it when he insults Tina Fey: "I like you. You have the boldness of a much younger woman." I also think that the page Kenneth is hilarious!! "Didn't you tell me to live every week like it's Shark Week? And that nothing's impossible except dinosaurs?" And Tracy Morgan is ridiculously funny too, especially when he is completely mangling the English language: "Ken, I'll be gone soon but I just wanted you to know that I loved being your mentor and it's been an honour having you be my manatee." I'm bummed to hear that the show isn't going to be on for a while - I hope they don't cancel it. It's just so unexpectedly crazy.

5. This bit of Red Sox trivia: When Terry Francona (current manager of the Red Sox, who led them to the 2004 World Series victory!) was applying for his first job as a major league manager, who called the GM and gave him an enthusiastic recommendation (uninvited)? You'll never guess this one: the one and only Michael Jordan. Why? Because when Michael Jordan played minor league ball, Tito was his manager. God bless the internet for making these little details available to the general public.

Five Favorites for January

I meant to start doing this EVERY month, just a way of noting my favorite things periodically so I can look back and say, oh yeah, in October I was obsessed with That 70s Show! (I think I will enjoy that...not sure that anybody else will, but hey, blogs aren't really for the READERS, are they?) Anyways, this month's favorite five:

1. The Office (especially Season 2 on DVD, but also the current season). Nothing better on TV these days. I think it's the best comedy since Seinfeld. Maybe even better than Seinfeld (although they are so different, it's hard to compare). Current favorite Office quote: "The office is like Friends. I'm Chandler...and Joey." (Michael, of course.) Another similar (and classic) Michael quote: "Ryan...is book smart. I am street smart...and book smart."

2. Adobe Photoshop Elements. I have been having SO much fun lately just messing around with Photoshop - I learned some neat effects from a magazine article and I've been digitally altering all my photos ever since. I also have been trying a little digital scrapbooking - I downloaded a bunch of swirly brushes and digital "stamps".

3. L.L. Bean. They are on my good side this week because I saw a suitcase in a catalog for $99, but online it was $119, so I called and asked them to honor the catalog price even though the catalog stated quite clearly that the prices were only in effect until 12/31/06, and they gave me the $99 price! That kind of customer service goes a long way, in my opinion.

4. My new iPod FM transmitter. So I can listen to all my tunes in the car. Frickin' awesome.

5. Soy sauce. Okay, I get that it's basically salt water and probably not worthy of being in my top five. It's just SO tasty! (I'm thinking of soy sauce right now because I made a yummy cashew chicken stir fry last night.)

Five Favorites for October

I am resolving, right here and now, to begin posting more frequently, about everyday little things, not just the big events in my life. To revel in the everyday. In that vein, I am going to list five of my favorite things right now:

1. Getting my fall wardrobe out and putting my summer wardrobe away...and getting my winter wardrobe out...and then getting my summer wardrobe back out. Colorado has crazy weather - last week it snowed overnight (just a dusting) and this weekend it should be 70 degrees. I am excited for colder weather - I love scarves and hats and mittens!

2. That 70s Show reruns - I never watched this show when it was on, but I've discovered recently that it's one of the few sitcoms out there that actually makes me laugh out loud on a regular basis.

3. The song Sexy Mistake by the Chalets - "if you kiss me - I will - feel - nothing!"

4. The Detroit Tigers, especially Nate Robertson and his dorky but sexy glasses. Don't get me wrong - the Red Sox will always be my first love. You don't have to worry about me renaming my dog "Comerica". But the Sox aren't in the playoffs this year, and so I am rooting for the Tigers.

5. Thursdays.