all good things: two hands, one beating heart

All Good Things started as a one-hour Sunday night radio show on KSTO St. Olaf radio, featuring feel-good music and 10 highlights from the past week. The show, and its current written form, is brought to you by Clara, Second Set of Baby Steps creator, and my radio co-host Cassie. We both contribute things to the list, so I'll tell you who said what to avoid confusion.

So set yourself up outside and enjoy this week's good things in the sun!

1. Song of the week: Girls Chase Boys by Ingrid Michaelson. This one's dedicated to my roommate Katy, whose birthday was this week. She has been playing the song on repeat all weekend, while we prepped for the party and then cleaned up after it. I already love Ingrid Michaelson, but this song is such a feel-good anthem, catchy, poppy, upbeat... and the video is so great too. Obsessed. - Clara

2. My dad gave up his whole Saturday to fix our faucet. The levers on our bathroom sink faucet have been missing since we moved in, which makes it incredibly hard to turn the water on and off when your hands are wet and soapy and slippery. We bought some knobs to try and screw on there, but it didn't work, so my dad spent his entire Saturday running around, finding parts, and installing a brand-new faucet for us. We already knew he was da bomb, but really. This is just beyond awesome. - Clara

3. Nora Lee's French Quarter Bistro. J took me out to Old New Castle for date night this week, and we went to this excellent, pretty legit New Orleans-style restaurant. We drank Abita and ate blackened cajun everything, salmon and tuna and jambalaya and hush puppies. YUM. - Clara

4. Sunday morning breakfast. Luke and I had a lot of moving left to do from our old place today so we decided to get up early and head out to breakfast. We went to Turtle Bread, our favorite neighborhood spot. I had some amazing french toast, and Luke had salmon scramble. It was such a relaxing way to start a day of moving. Also, I'm still full 5 hours later so that's never bad either. - Cassie

5. Rainy afternoons. Now that I have a dog, I'm not such a huge fan of rainy days. It involves lots of wet dog problems that are sort of annoying. BUT, there really is something about a rainy afternoon where the smell of the falling rain wafts in through the window while a Harry Potter marathon plays on ABC family and I sip a homemade latte. Hard to have negative feelings during those moments! - Cassie

6. Hosting family. Luke and I had his parents over to stay for Easter weekend. I was pretty stressed going into it. We have a one-bedroom apartment, Luke's mom doesn't like dogs, and we were also having everyone in his family over for dinner on Friday night. Despite all my anxiety, things went really well! Everyone had a great time, and I really enjoyed having them stay here. - Cassie

7. Having my books with me in the new apartment. During the move we decided books didn't need to be moved right away so we left them behind for the time being. We finally moved them to our new place, and I didn't realize how much I missed them! They add so much color and life to our apartment. - Cassie

8. NOT being on reality TV. My friend Marina and I discovered a terrible reality show this week called BridalPlasty, which gathers 10 women into a house and makes them vote each other out, one by one. That's bad enough, but what they're competing for is a full-body plastic surgery makeover and a celebrity dream wedding completely paid for. Along the way they get to have minor procedures done, and have Botox parties. The one episode we watched was full of lines like, "Who doesn't want to have a few nips and tucks?" Me. I don't. I'm good, thanks. And I'm super thankful that I'm happy with my body just the way it is. - Clara

9. Divergent by Veronica Roth. This is our latest book club selection (which I would have tried to read even if we hadn't chosen it for discussion) and I just finished it this afternoon! So good. Can't wait to get my hands on the second book... - Clara


10. Friends you can work with and play with. Last night we had a bunch of people over, people we met at different places and do different things with. Some we work with and/or work out with and/or hang out with. It was cool getting everybody together in the same place with some shared interests (food, drinks, and games) and when I went to church the next morning I saw some of the people that were there and we got to exchange knowing glances the whole time. Lots of good people in my life. - Clara


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Thank you, readers, for being with us tonight, and for giving me reasons to write, and things to write about.

And thanks for joining us every Sunday night! Join the Baby Steps on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/TheBabyStepsSaga for good things every day, and updates on new posts. Come back next week for another reminder of 10 more things to be thankful for!

Until then, be kind to each other, and find a reason to smile!

posted from Bloggeroid

all good things: i'm no superman

All Good Things started as a one-hour Sunday night radio show on KSTO St. Olaf radio, featuring feel-good music and 10 highlights from the past week. The show, and its current written form, is brought to you by Clara, Second Set of Baby Steps creator, and my radio co-host Cassie. Cassie is celebrating Easter with her family this week, but will rejoin us next Sunday night.

So set yourself up outside and enjoy this week's good things in the sun!

1. Song of the week: Superman by Lazlo Bane. The Scrubs theme song: I've been listening to it all day, and I also think the words are a good reminder to me. I can't do this all on my own, / no, I'm no superman...

2. Chard sauteed in bacon grease. I made rainbow chard from our CSA twice this week, chopped up and sauteed with bacon grease and just a little bit of pepper. It is unbelievably good, and super quick and easy!

3. New toilet seat! The hinge holding our toilet seat onto the toilet was cracked when we moved in, and it finally snapped all the way off last week... Which means the seat would randomly fall off when you were sitting on it. Not cool. So like adults we went out, bought a new one, and put it on. Seriously one of the most worthwhile things I have done in awhile. It only took about 5 minutes to switch and it makes all the difference.

4. Union Jack's. A pub in Manayunk (Philadelphia) that I've been hearing about for years. It's got a great ambience, great beer, great service, and great company. Apparently the wings are so good no other wings can live up to them, but I'm not a big fan or expert in chicken wings so I'll just pass on the recommendation on that one.

Plus, you can control the jukebox using an app on your phone. Our group definitely took advantage of that.

5. Safe travels. This is something I try not to take for granted ever, but especially now when there have been so many big transportation disasters lately. My mom and sister are in India for spring break right now, and they arrived safely at their destination.

6. Projects. My dad texted me on Saturday morning to ask for help putting together a presentation for the Easter Vigil that evening. I made a version of a Creation story PowerPoint for him sometime in high school, but since then it's deteriorated and the slides got out of order. So I spent a few hours on Saturday putting it back together, and while it wasn't all fun and games, it did feel really good to help my dad in one of the biggest weeks of the church year, and to do something creative like that.

7. Being taken care of. I have felt awful all day today, with a persistent headache and stomachache that laid me out on the couch for most of it. J kindly, and without complaining, gave up his Easter Sunday to camp out in the living room with me, make sure I didn't pass out from dehydration, and keep me company.


8. Lemon honey ginger. This is my drink of choice this week, with the big changes in temperature and feeling sick for most of today. I shred some ginger into a pot, boil it in water, stir in a teaspoon or so of honey, and then at the last minute add a splash of lemon juice. It's so delicious and it has cured many an ill.

9. Scrubs. This is one of the shows J likes to watch in his spare moments throughout the week, and this morning when I set up shop in the living room that's what he had on. So we watched it for most of the day. It's just so good. There are some dumb parts, but the show actually touches on some real human issues, emotional vulnerabilities and the nuances of relationships that keep us all on our toes, even in the real world. And it's pretty funny too.

10. Spending time just focusing on people, and being flexible. This week I spent a little while hanging out with my sister and talking about college; spent time talking with my friend Jess about a whole range of different big-deal kind of things in both of our lives; worked on a project with my dad (that's our quality time); had two date nights with J, one of them spontaneous; went out for dinner spontaneously on Friday night; and I forgot my phone at home when we went out last night, so I couldn't pull it out to distract myself even if I wanted to. I feel like my time was well-spent.

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Thank you, readers, for being with us tonight, and for giving me reasons to write, and things to write about.

And thanks for joining us every Sunday night! Join the Baby Steps on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/TheBabyStepsSaga for good things every day, and updates on new posts. Come back next week for another reminder of 10 more things to be thankful for!

Until then, be kind to each other, and find a reason to smile!

posted from Bloggeroid

all good things: food for the good life

All Good Things started as a one-hour Sunday night radio show on KSTO St. Olaf radio, featuring feel-good music and 10 highlights from the past week. The show, and its current written form, is brought to you by Clara, Second Set of Baby Steps creator, and my radio co-host Cassie. We both contribute things to the list, so I'll tell you who said what to avoid confusion.

Sometimes the list, and the good things on it, are tempered by tough times and difficult things that happen. What Cassie and I have found, time and time again, is that these difficult things often make us see or appreciate the good things more, and emphasize the deeply beautiful and important things we have.

We write the list every week, regardless of our circumstances, to remind ourselves of that. We write this list in hopes that it can remind you, our readers, when you need it most.



1. Song of the week: The Cave by Mumford and Sons. Last weekend at the Roadtrip talent show one of the guys sang this song and his voice was indistinguishable from the actual singer. Amazing. And then I randomly heard it again later in the week. It's a feel-good jam.

2. Spending time with family during tough times. It reminds us we are loved and not alone. - Cassie

3. Luke. Since my aunt passed away he's been so amazingly supportive and helpful. I'm a lucky lady. - Cassie

4. Good conversations. Last night we went to a co-ed baby shower and I got into a conversation with a cousin's girlfriend about Wilmington's social conditions and about making a difference and about how we end up in the places we end up. It was a really solid conversation with substance, and I always like meeting smart, interesting people with something to say. Plus, big family gatherings are not exactly my element; the one-on-ones are what I'm really into. - Clara

5. Book club. On Thursday my mom and I went to the first meeting of a new book club with some really great women. I think this is going to be a lot of fun. - Clara

6. Watching wedding movies, looking at bridal mags, and drinking girly drinks. Now that I'm engaged, even though I'm not actively planning anything, I'm enjoying at least being able to talk about planning. I had a girlfriend over on Friday night who is also taking a slow engagement, and we just got to be typical together and it was fun. - Clara

7. Once Upon A Time. Now that we have Netflix we have been getting into this show. I've always liked fantasy-reality fusion and this is no exception. - Clara

8. Puns. I just love them. Buzzfeed put out a list of puns this week that definitely made me laugh out loud, and that was just one example of punny hilarity this week. - Clara

9. Getting back in the pool. I got out of my swimming routine back in October when I got a perforated eardrum, and went back for the first time this week. I'm definitely out of practice, but it still feels good... And the regulars remembered me and asked where I'd been. It was like old times :) - Clara

10. Puppy Bowl. I love this. So cute. I just left a house full of dog-lovers who were all over this show, which just makes it better. The kitty halftime show leaves something to be desired, but it has potential too.

Mainly I love even these commercialized holidays because they bring people together to laugh and eat and drink and be merry. I got a lot of hugs today, and ate so much good food. Talk about all good things!

* * * * * * *
Thank you, readers, for being with us tonight, and for giving me reasons to write, and things to write about.

And thanks for joining us every Sunday night! Join the Baby Steps on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/TheBabyStepsSaga for good things every day, and updates on new posts. Come back next week for another reminder of 10 more things to be thankful for!

Until then, be kind to each other, and find a reason to smile!

posted from Bloggeroid