Favorites of 2015...four months late

I began composing this post in my head about four months ago.  Then, I jotted down a few notes in an old notebook with the intention of writing it about three months ago.  Then I promptly forgot about it two months ago.  Then I felt guilty for not writing it and neglecting my precious "me time" one month ago.  Now I am writing it.

The point of this post is not particularly for your enjoyment.  Don't get me wrong - I do indeed hope that you will pass a few pleasant moments here, making note of your own opinions.  Howevs, I really just wanted to write something on the blog as it has been months since I made my last appearance.  And I like making lists.  Shut up.  It is fun for Type A Introverts with obsessive compulsive tendencies such as yours truly.

Enough introduction.  (Insert awkward transition into post...)

Raise your hand if you have ever been to a Starbucks.  (If your hand is not raised, then I sincerely wonder who you are, and how you even got access to a computer.  It's 2016, folks.)  Now that Oprah owns all of the Starbucks(es?) on the planet -and in outer space, for that matter- I'm sure you have all noticed that she has her own version of fortune cookies on the sleeves of all the hot drinks. 

Yes.  It is Oprah.  Why wouldn't she have her own fortune cookies?

 I know some of you may worship at the altar of O, but I can't help imaging a shitfaced, drunken Oprah, spitting out "wisdom" to some poor intern whose job it is to tell her she is "a-MAAAAAAAAAA-zing"!!!  (That was my impression of Oprah's voice.  Pretty good, huh?)  So, after pasting some of Oprah's brilliance on my bathroom mirror, I thought to myself, If Oprah can have her book clubs and lists of favorite things, why can't I?  (Yes, I too was inspired by Queen O's higher powers.)

So I made a list of Anouchka's Favorite Things of 2015...like a BOSS!

*FYI, for you losers who have never been to Starbucks, some of these things are not new to me -or to planet Earth- in 2015, but that is the year that they peaked in my life.

Kids/Family

• Play dates:  Having a toddler is waaaaay better than having an infant.  Sure, they destroy everything in your house (and laugh whilst doing so), eat Cheerios they found under the fridge, and throw epic tantrums in public, but outings and play dates are so refreshing, especially when you are doing things with a more interactive child.
• Stroller tours at our local art museum:  Hello, Culture!  I'm in love with this very inexpensive opportunity to introduce Chicky to the arts in a manner that caters to her age.  Strollers and crying babies welcome?  Sign us up!
• Story Time at the library:  For the past year, we have been hitting up this free resource to (1) get out of the house, (2) foster a love for reading, (3) see Ms. Farhana and Ms. Nancy (our lovely librarians), (4) learn all sorts of skills (e.g. new songs, sitting still and listening, etc.), and (5) to make new friends.  Love, love, LOVE!!!
• Parent-and-Tot dance class:  We found a cheap way to introduce Chicky to dance in a drop-in class where parents and toddlers participate in a variety of activities with dance as a focus.  Waaaay cheaper (and easier) than trying to force expensive dance classes on a toddler without really knowing whether s/he is even interested.
• Family weekends/staycations:  We are poor.  So, instead of annual vacations, Habibi, Chicky and I designate about four weekends per year for just the three of us - we don't make plans with anyone else.  We go on seasonally-appropriate outings (e.g. zoo, farmer's market, splash pad/park, picnics, Christmas tree farm, museums), have movie nights in our living room forts (that continue even after Chicky's bedtime), have a special meal out, etc.  I have found that I look forward to these weekends more than just about anything else during the entire year.

Self

• Essential oils:  Yes, I suppose I jumped on the bandwagon, but mainly because I just like to smell nice things.  Currently, I like to use lavender in the shower, peppermint on sore joints, and orange blossom to freshen up the kitchen sink drain.  Speaking of essential oils...
• Creative projects:  For Christmas 2015, Habibi and I decided to do all homemade gifts.  It really was a lot of fun, although a bit stressful.  We saved money and got to be creative, but I have never been so "last-minute" in getting my shit together!  Anyway, in reference to the essential oils, we made hot/cold packs for my dad and brother-in-law using fleece, rice, and essential oils.  They each got two peppermint ones (for inflammation of the joints, as they are both active) and two lavender ones (for soothing).  I still may make some for my own household!
• Neighbors:  Since getting married, Habibi and I have lived in a lot of places around town.  In fact, we have moved almost annually - something our friends enjoy bringing up to tease us.  Sadly, we really only had at most a fleeting sort of relationship with most of our neighbors in our past apartments.  However, we actually made a bit of a deeper connection with a family that lived a couple of doors down from us last year.  Unfortunately, they ended up moving last summer, but we have just begun to socialize a bit with a few other neighbors in our community.  Having kids around the same ages has helped immensely with this.  SCORE!
• Courthouse weddings:  OK, I never thought I would say this, but I loved, loved, loved the simplicity of a courthouse wedding in which I had the pleasure of participating last fall.  A good friend of mine got remarried and, instead of some grandiose affair, decided to keep it simple and small (BEST!).  One of her other friends and I served as witnesses and it was wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am and BOOM!  They were married.  I designated myself as the best man because her other witness was wearing a dress and I was wearing pants.  I never thought I would get to be the best man in a wedding, but it was stupendous!  I would gladly do that again.  Plus, I got a cool present:  a cup with cats on it.  (Drop the mic.)
• ASPCA:  I like them.  If I have to explain this to you, then I hate you.

Beauty

• Kenra Blow Dry Spray:  I rarely (if ever) make an attempt with my hair.  There is a lot of it.  It is wiry, coarse, and difficult.  (I feel like I just described myself.)  However, in the winter time, I do NOT like to go out with wet hair, so I fell in love with this hair product.  It would normally take four thousand years for me to blow dry my hair BUT, with this spray, those millenia are reduced to mere minutes.
• SPF moisturizer, chapstick, tweezers, eyebrow brush, blush:  These are all products that I have been using since I discovered I had a face, but they are currently (just about) the only items I use in my make-up routine.  Thank you, motherhood. 

Literature

• Evangeline, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:  I'm a big reader, but finding time to read when you have a toddler is difficult, to say the least.  However, this epic poem by HWL reads so quickly that it is easy to squeeze it in throughout the day (or before bed) and, over the course of a few days, it's over.  It is a beautifully written and crafted work (but not even 100 pages, if I recall correctly) about the deportation of the Acadians (later known as "Cajuns") from Canada to Louisiana.  Beautiful, sad, and based on true events, although the validity of specific characters is questionable.
• Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte:  I have a thing for certain classic pieces, and this is one of them.  I hadn't read a Bronte work in nearly a decade (Wuthering Heights by Charlotte's sister Emily was one of my favorite books in my early twenties) so I felt it was about time.  Jane Eyre is yet another quick read (despite its length) because it's tough to put it down.  Also, it reads much easier than Wuthering Heights, and actually has a happy ending.
• Yallah Bye, by Joseph Safiedinne and Kyungeun Park:  While I wouldn't necessarily call this graphic novel (graphic as in comic book, not graphic in content) one of my favorite pieces of literature, it led me to understand how much I enjoy reading graphic novels in French!  Having the illustrations is immensely helpful.  Furthermore, when reading in a foreign language, it seems to be in the narration (versus the dialogue) where people stumble to comprehend the most.  A graphic novel is primarily dialogue and illustration, enabling readers to pass through the work with more ease and comprehension.  I will be doing this again, to be sure!

Films and TV

• Doctor Who:  Habibi and I actually started watching this show in 2013.  We took a long break when Chicky was first born in early 2014 and, when we started watching it again that same year, I was a bit more emotional than I usually am.  Needless to say, when a very important character left the show under unfortunate circumstances, I was a wreck.  I sobbed for days and felt sad for weeks.  If I had known then that most of the characters who leave the show do so under similarly unfortunate circumstances, I would have been distraught.  However, in early 2015 (maybe even late 2014?), I re-discovered my love for the Doctor and his pals...and was in a better emotional state to do so.  Needless to say, Habibi was also glad to be able to enjoy one of our favorite shows again without his darling wife going into mourning for months at a time.
• 30 Rock:  Yes, I know this show is from the early 2000s, but I never really watched it until the beginning of 2015.  I was quite a bit behind, but I still laughed hysterically at this show.  It jumped the shark a bit in later seasons, but that didn't stop me from rolling on the floor - and committing to the entire season again shortly after finishing it for the first time.  Favorite moment?  Probably this one:

• Netflix Marvel Series, Daredevil and Jessica Jones:  We are MCU nerds, so these were great, binge-worthy shows for us.  While both were a little violent for my taste, they were certainly entertaining.  (I'm not particularly squeamish, but I don't care for gratuitous violence or sex.  It takes me out of the experience when I feel like people are trying to shock me.  Annoying.  Plus, I have feelings on desensitizing people, but that is a different discussion.)  Anyway, depending on the person, I would probably recommend these.  I definitely had a whale of a time, despite my feelings that Jessica Jones would be more accurately titled Krysten Ritter Puts On Her Pants.

Web/Social Media

• Movita Beaucoup:  This is my most favorite blog to read/place to waste time on the internet.  I love her storytelling, especially when she explains famous ballets.  I also love just looking at all of her baking stuff - too pretty to eat!  And, although I do NOT consider myself a crafter, I still like looking at other people's craftiness.  She's got some really cute stuff.  (Note my love for ballet things later on...)

Home/Decor

• Method Foaming Handsoaps:  Love these.  Foaming handsoaps are great when you have little ones because you don't have to work as hard to get a good lather.  This is great when you are training them to wash their hands.  Plus, these soaps are cruelty-free, inexpensive, and they smell great!
• Baskets:  We have transformed into basket/bin people!  I am crazy about all of the attractive ways to stash your stuff - it borders on unhealthy.  Anyway, nice crates, buckets, baskets and bins are the way we have been corralling Chicky's toys, electronics (phone chargers, iPad, etc.) and all sorts of things while keeping them conveniently in the living room and out of the way.  I feel like, with these containers, our space is livable, comfortable, looks nice, and doesn't feel like a warehouse.  End of commercial.
• Ballerinas:  At the end of 2014, I made snowflake ballerinas to hang from our living room ceiling.  We liked them so much that we decided to keep them as decorations for every winter.  Chicky's first birthday party (January 2015) was ballerina-themed, and she loved seeing them again just this past winter (2015-2016).  She has some ballerina stuff in her room, and just got a pair of ballet slippers in her Easter basket this year.  As a retired dancer myself, I'm thrilled to death with this theme.

  

  Three of many ballerina snowflakes (tutu = snowflake)

  
  

  

  Cake (more of a sweet bread) for a ballerina themed birthday party,
  complete with my old ballet shoes and skirt as decor

Shopping

• "The Spot" (Target's dollar section):  I am and forevermore shall be on Team Target.  I hate Walmart and everything about it; it is my own personal seventh circle.  Anyway, we rarely go to Target anymore without getting roped in to buying something from "The Spot"...we are helpless to resist, and completely hopeless to have any desire to do so.
• Amazon:  Love buying children's books (especially in French!) and toys here for Chicky.  Again, we are hopeless.

Food/Drink

• NuGo Slim! bars:  I love these protein bars; they taste like dessert, and not artificial at all!  My favorites are Brownie Crunch, Roasted Peanut, and the peanut butter one (which I believe is also vegan).  YUM!
• Homemade bread:  We got onto a homemade bread kick for awhile in 2015.  I still prefer homemade bread to store bought, but it isn't exactly good for my waistline.  At any rate, we love using the bread maker that we have on long-term loan from my mom.  In fact, just a couple of weeks ago we made a delicious chocolate chip banana bread when we had company.  (At least I thought it was delicious!)  I can't exactly take credit for it - I just dumped ingredients in the pan and put it in the machine.  (Bonus!)  We also like this great French bread recipe that only takes one hour, start to finish!
• Starbucks Soy Cappuccino, DECAF!:  Ever since Chicky was born, I have found that I have a very low tolerance for caffeine.  In my mid-late twenties, I also discovered that I was mildly lactose intolerant, meaning I couldn't enjoy my signature mocha (or various other lattes) anymore.  So, I tried the cappuccino with soy milk.  It doesn't break the calorie bank (although any handcrafted beverage from coffee shops these days will burn a hole in your pocket) and it is lactose and caffeine free - perfect for me!  Plus, the soy milk adds just the right amount of sweetness to the treat.  MMMMMMMMMM!!!  I want one NOW!

Health/Fitness

• FitBit/activity trackers:  I got a FitBit for Christmas 2014 and, although I don't track my activity as religiously as most, I feel naked without it!  Plus, I just love it when I reach my goal and get "my parade" (when it vibrates and lets me know I'm a superstar athlete) at the end of the day.
• Online workouts:  My family is very generous because, in addition to my FitBit in 2014, I got a spin bike for my birthday in 2015.  (I've been slowly creating my own home gym since becoming a parent.)  Anyway, my favorites for spinning include a few workouts from Studio Sweat (you can subscribe to Studio Sweat OnDemand for a monthly fee, but there are a couple of free options on YouTube) and GCN's classes (all free).  For more of a boot camp/HIIT type workout where you need little to no equipment, I like Millionaire Hoy's free YouTube channel.  There are also some decent (and free!) TurboKick workouts online, but one in particular I love that is actually a tutorial for TurboKick instructors.  For a less intense AND low impact workout (because the two are not mutually exclusive), I like Jessica Smith TV as well as a number of online yoga/Pilates workouts.  Lots and lots and lots of stuff.  You just have to know where to look!
• Weight lifting:  Thanks to a friend of mine who is a professional trainer, I got started on weight lifting a bit more this year.  I had been lifting for several years prior to 2015 (especially after my knee injury, and during my pregnancy), but I started doing so with much more frequency last year.  I still prefer cardio, but weight lifting has become much more approachable.  Plus, I love it when a formerly heavy weight becomes light - a great benchmark of accomplishment, similar to adding that extra mile when you run!  It can be addictive!

OK.  I'm done for now.  Goodbye.