A happy coincidence – finding Hong Kong House in Knoxville (gratitude #49)

December 21, 2008

My sister used to live in Marietta, GA. I was reading a great food blog about Atlanta, the Blissful Glutton, which reviewed Tasty China, a restaurant in Marietta that served Sichuan style food. They specialized in cooking with Sichuan pepper, which provides a numbing experience/taste. The food at Tasty China was delectable. We enjoyed several [...]

Grateful for bad examples and laziness (gratitude #48)

December 20, 2008

We’ve been watching Mad Men. We missed the first season, but heard enough about it at the launch of season two that we caught up with Netflix and DVRed this season. We’ve been enjoying it, especially me because I work in Internet Marketing and have worked with several advertising agencies. So, it is fun to [...]

Easy holiday shopping (gratitude # 47)

December 16, 2008

I think this was the easiest Christmas shopping season ever. We did a mix of local and online shopping, and I feel in control and not stressed about at least this one thing at this point in the holiday season. I threw myself on the mercy of Vicki at Ann Arbor’s funky, fun store Heavenly [...]

Charity giving – the difference in giving time instead of money (gratitude #46)

December 2, 2008

It’s the holidays now, and calls for giving arrive in my mailbox every day from charities to which I contribute and charities I’ve never encountered. My knitting meet-up, the Ann Arbor Stitch n’ Bitch Knitters, is doing a “Knit One, Save One” Hat Drive. We’re knitting hats for low birth weight babies for Save the [...]

Fun creative pursuits with family (gratitude #45)

November 30, 2008

My in-laws visited, and my mother-in-law and I spent as much time as we could knitting. We compared yarns and brainstormed projects, we exchanged patterns and even traded needles. She had just finished a lacy scarf and lamented that she wanted to put beads on it. I had a crazy beaded mohair, so I borrowed [...]

A taste of Detroit: tahini and Vernors (gratitude #44)

November 29, 2008

The holidays is a time for family gatherings. We hosted my in-laws this weekend. Originally from Michigan, they love living in Massachusetts. Next weekend, I’m going to visit my sister in Tennessee. Born and raised in Michigan, my sister is happily now a southerner. But, I think that no matter how happy they are in [...]

Job changes, once removed (gratitude #43)

November 19, 2008

My husband changed jobs. He wasn’t unhappy at the old one, just the opposite, but he got an opportunity for growth from a former employer and, after a fair bit of reflection, decided to take it. I’m happy for him and proud of him and all that. Really. I have also been anxious about it, [...]

Writing a letter to my five-year-old nephew (gratitude #42)

October 30, 2008

So, my nephew is sad when he doesn’t get mail, and my sister asked if I would write him a letter. I was happy to, as he’s one of my absolute favorite humans, though I was also mildly stumped. What should I write? I decided a letter at all was more important than the perfection [...]

Grateful for dial-up – the pleasure of not being connected (gratitude #41)

October 29, 2008

So, this past weekend we went up north with some friends. It was a brief trip, much too short for the length of the drive, but it was nice to get away, get up north and relax. Breathe in. Breathe out. Appreciate the scenery. Repeat. In the summertime, we share DSL and a wireless router [...]

My desert island item – a stack of freshly laundered kitchen towels (gratitude #40)

October 9, 2008

You might think I’m reaching the dregs in the gratitude barrel, but no, this is actually one of the things for which I’m actually, sincerely, really-really grateful. I’m not someone who stockpiles; I’m an under-buyer. Normally, I tend to run out and go run an errand to refill my supply of (important item here). But, [...]