My Happily Ever After

I was just reading this blog by Heidi Munson called Dateless this New Year? Online Dating?  (okay, so New Year is past: I’m a little behind on my reading).  This is what she suggested for New Year’s Eve–or as we call it back in Zambia, Old Year’s Eve, makes sense, right?–a do-it-yourself beauty makeover, eating in with a fabulously set table, Frank Sinatra playing in the background, and that special dessert you’ve been meaning to make.  Next, a movie marathon with titles that inspire you to believe that there’s still a chance for Happily Ever After.  She goes on to suggest that you reinvent yourself online by spying on the competition and then reworking your own profile so that you don’t attract “toads,” the term she uses for unwanted prospects.  Her blog is about online dating tips and other toad evasion techniques.

The latter didn’t appeal to me at all.  No online dating for this 100-year-old single woman.  And no Frank Sinatra.  How about Bon Iver and Beirut?  That’s who I had playing on my iPod on New Year’s Eve.  I had on my yoga clothes from my yoga session followed by a hike I’d taken with my dear maniacs up the “other” hill (after my incident with The Law up the regular hill), but no beauty makeover.  It may be too late.

In the oven, I had a leg of lamb with potatoes that turn oh so crispy at the end; sauteed chopped kale and cannellini beans, mint sauce, chutney, and fresh green peas completed the dinner.  But here’s the best part. I made myself a Bloody Mary with salt around the rim of the glass along with a stalk of celery and a lime wedge: the first I’ve ever made.

A little preamble here, I’m not big on hard liquor but I had just read an article on how to make the perfect Bloody Mary and as I was craving that spicy tomato taste, that’s what it had to be.  Yow!  It was the bomb.  I had two and then amidst a cluster of lit scented candles, I ate my repast on my Thai traveling trunk that serves as a coffee table as I watched MI-5, a British import and very guilty pleasure, with Fergie and Jake’s eyes glued to my fork.  But they’re polite little Staffies, averting their eyes when I looked back at them.  Life is good.

 

10 thoughts on “My Happily Ever After

  1. I like the yummy, delicious, beautiful meal, I love the Bloody Mary (willing to share this amazing recipe?), I love MI-5. Along with Fergie & Jake, it seemed like a helluva way to open 2012.

    My teenage daughter was with her dad and I kicked back: I got mad at the book I was reading because it was written very badly and I wanted to know how “this” could get picked up by an agent and publisher; I made meatballs from scratch (which I had never done) and ate my comfort food while watching (for the 5th time or so) “The Abyss” ’cause I love Ed Harris; fell asleep between my new (thanks, Mom) cozy flannel sheets at 11:15; woke up when my girl arrived home at 1:15; couldn’t fall back asleep so got up and started working on my final edit of my manuscript—and before I knew it, it was 5 a.m. Bringing the new year in doing something I love, and being able to stay up until whenever because no alarm was going off the next morning—I dig it.

    Happy 2012 to you!

    1. Hey, Kat, the mix was Red Eye Texas Style, with horseradish. It’s my new V-8 juice, I think. You watch MI-5? Yes! You’re the only I know who does. I love that you got up and wrote. I’ve only done that once and it was good, but not until 5 a.m. Final edits are exciting. Good luck! And Happy 2012 to you too!

  2. I’m honored – thank you for sharing, and I’d be simply thrilled for a couple of recipes. Bloody Mary fan – honey, those are my weaknesses. Nothing better on a Sunday morning.
    I look forward to reading more from you, Rossandra!
    Warm Regards,
    Heidi Lee

    1. You’re so very welcome. Let me tell you about this Bloody Mary I had at True Food Kitchen, Andrew Weil’s restaurant, that made a fan of me. I was all for skipping dinner altogether and staying with the Mary (I didn’t my friend insisted on eating, sigh). What makes the drink a double delight is that it has salt around the rim.

      1. With the right condiments – the Bloody Mary can be a dinner all its own 🙂 My secret ingredient – just a hint of pickle juice. I know – sounds strange. But that is how we do ’em up Wisconsin style. Yum!
        Somebody pass the tobasco!

Leave a Reply to Marcy Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *