My Greatest Fear (not actually but whatever)

Last night, as we were getting ready for bed, I turned to Spencer and said, "I'm terrified of living in the suburbs."

It's true. I'm petrified of having excess square footage (so much to clean!), needing a car to run all my errands, and worst of all, doing yard work. Blech! I need zero personal space, a million neighbors, and tons of noise! (slightly exaggerated but still...)

Now, don't get me wrong - suburbia is a great place to live. Both Spencer and I are children of suburbia; residential neighborhoods, 2-car garages, spacious backyards; and we loved our childhoods. The funny thing is that even while I was living that life, I always wanted to live in a city. Didn't matter which city, I just wanted to live in the heart of one. Luckily for me, this happened! I've been residing in the heart of New York City for four glorious years, and I don't want it to end. On the flip side, I'd like my future kids to have a bit of space and dealing with city schools? And the cost of owning in the city? Oof. (Now I finally understand why people go out to Brooklyn.)

While I was shaking in my boots at visions of McMansions and minivans (both of which are good things, just not for me), Spencer brought up the possibility of owning a townhouse. Huh. More space than an apartment, possibly a small yard, but with limited rooms to clean and the ability to walk to neighborhood stores? I'm sold! 

I did some googling on the internets, and oh good gravy, look at these:

Georgetown, Washington D.C.

Via

Via

Via

Alexandria, VA

Via

Charleston, SC

Via

Via

Can you tell I want to settle in a warmer clime? Lol. I also found these sweet round-ups on This Old House - Best Old House Neighborhoods 2012: City Living and Walkability. Y'all, I've seen my distant future (home), and it is small, old, and wonderful! Now if I could only afford any of those places...

Open to Interpretation: Nautical

Before we get into the whole outfit portion of this post, I just need to say one thing - IT FINALLY GOT HOT IN NEW YORK!!! I sat outside in the sun during lunch yesterday, and I got sweaty just sitting there. Yay! Seriously, I'm super pumped about it! This was the first day that I didn't need to carry around a jacket, and I couldn't be happier about it.

As if she knew that the weather would finally turn, Kayla chose this fantastic inspiration for this round of Open to Interpretation:

Gap

I do love a good nautical look, which is probably why I'm always wearing these boat shoes. I enjoy the nautical look so much that I got these embroidered cropped pants:

Necklace: giveaway win, Shirt: Joe Fresh, Pants: Old Navy (different embroidery), Watch: Amazon, Sandals: giveaway win

Why yes, those are indeed tiny green anchors on my bright blue pants! Bless you, Old Navy. 

And bless you, Spencer, for coming home from the office hours earlier than planned to release me from our building's rooftop. I got locked up there when taking these photos after work, and we aren't technically supposed to be on the roof. Whoops. I frequently fear getting locked out of our apartment without having my phone on me. With Spencer's hours, I'd be locked out all night! Thankfully, I had my phone with me this time (whew!), so I could call Spencer and then enjoyed the evening sun while I listened to an audiobook and played Solitaire. Maybe not my first choice on how I'd pass the evening, but it definitely wasn't the worse way. I probably should have spent the time learning how to use the timer on my camera (yeah, sorry about the blurry pics), but...eh. I'd rather read. :)

Now head over to two ladies that know how to get dressed and work a camera (and many other things) much better than I - Kayla and Grace.

The Problem with YA Novels

The problem with YA novels is that when reading them,
you think you are much smarter than you really are.
You guess all the twists, turns, and surprises.
You foresee the ending.
You know it all.

But you shouldn't think you are smart.
These books are written for someone half your age.
When you remember that, you start to feel a little less than brilliant.

And then, a fairly obvious twist catches you unaware.
In a book written for an audience that probably hasn't passed puberty.
Face meets palm and brain-ego deflates.
Oh, how the high and mighty accountant has fallen!

To make it all the worse, the book cover looks like this:

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan. 

Madre mia.

Breakfast after Dark, Breakfast-Burrito Style

This post in an ode to breakfast burritos.

Anyone who has ever lived with me knows that I absolutely inhale eggs. It's my regular go-to meal, no matter the time of day. Scrambled eggs, egg sandwiches, omelets, and of course, my all-time favorite, breakfast burritos. I kid you not, I once ate b-fast burritos for dinner at least twice a week one semester in college, and, much to Spencer's dismay, not much has changed. But I just can't help myself! It's so delicious and easy!

And right there is the gem of the breakfast burrito - it's as easy or as complicated as you want it to be. Sometimes my bb's are no more than tortilla, egg, cheese, and hot sauce. Sometimes I add in produce like avocado, tomato, bell pepper, and onions, and sometimes I add in the real nice stuff like bacon and/or sour cream. Yeah, our bb's get real fancy at Chez Ricks. 

Besides the eggs and tortillas, the other must-have for my breakfast burritos was butter to cook the eggs in, at least it was until I tried I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! Oh man, that stuff is good! And with swimsuit season staring me down, I'm pumped to find any way to cut the fat and keep the flavor. Did you know that I Can't Believe It's Not Butter has 70% less saturated fats than butter, zero hydrogenated oils, and is made from a blend of vegetable oils? AND it's gluten-free. I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! for the win! (Please tell me you read that in a Fabio-voice. That's how I wrote it.)

Anyway, after that unnecessarily long introduction, here's the purpose of this post - my "fancy" breakfast burrito recipe that is, if I do say so myself, amazingly delicious:

Erica's Upscale Breakfast Burritos

5 eggs

2 red potatoes

1/2 red onion

1 red bell pepper

1 jalapeno pepper

Tortillas

Green onions (or leftover chives from last night's dinner)

Sharp cheddar cheese

Salt

Pepper

and of course, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!

1. Wash and dice the potatoes. Boil them in water until they are soft and fall apart a little bit when you poke them with a fork. Drain. Whisk the eggs in a bowl with salt and pepper. Set aside.

2. In a large saucepan, melt a pat of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! over medium-high heat and then saute diced potatoes and chopped red onion until the potatoes brown and get a bit crispy. Season with salt and pepper. Set potatoes and onions aside in a bowl.

It's Christmas in my pan!

3. Melt a bit more I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! over medium heat and then add in the bell and jalapeno peppers, both diced. Cook until they are soft, lower the heat, and then add in the potato/onion mixture. Pour the whisked eggs over it all and continually fold the mixture with a spatula until the eggs are cooked. 

4. Heat tortillas either in the microwave or a pan (I prefer stove top). Serve egg mixture in the middle of a tortilla, top with green onions/chives and cheese, roll up, and ENJOY!

That's the good stuff, right there.

These b-fast burritos take a bit longer than most, but they are so worth it. Now if only mine came with a man to cook them like Lisa Vanderpump's did. No matter, I'll have Spencer do the dishes, and that's the part I really hate. :) For more Breakfast after Dark recipes, check out these webisodes, starring Lisa Vanderpump, because who doesn't want more ways to eat eggs for dinner?

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Tuesday, May 14th

Way back when, Janssen did one of her "day in the life" posts, and I told her that I loved reading them. She responded that she'd like to read one about my day, after which I told her it would be super boring and full of Excel spreadsheets. Lying through her teeth, I'm sure, Janssen said she'd still read it. Many moons later, I finally got my act together, and Janssen, this is for you. Prepared to be very, very bored:

7:10 - Alarm goes off to this song. I set it this early thinking I'd get up and run. Ha! I get back in bed, and for the first time in ages, I snuggle with Spencer and go back to sleep. (that's not a joke - I'm not much of a cuddler. he even remarked about the rareness of the snuggle.)

7:53 - I finally get out of bed and get ready for work. I shower (washing my hair and shaving my legs!), boil a couple of eggs for lunch, dress, put on makeup, etc. I don't actually do that much; I'm just the slowest person ever when it comes to getting ready for the day.

8:43 - Head to the 6 train, and take it to work.

The building where I spend most of my days.

9:02 - Arrive at my desk on the 19th floor, sign in to my computer, and send a couple of emails. (See that? 20 minutes from door to desk. Not too shabby)

9:10 - Get breakfast and water from the kitchen while chatting with my friend/coworker, Kim.

9:15 - Sit back down at my desk, take a bite of my cereal, and realize that the milk rotten. Toss it out and munch on a pack of Emerald's breakfast to-go instead.

9:20 - 12:30 - Finish my work on closing April's books. This is done by doing a million recons and using a million and one Excel spreadsheets. Specifically, I reconcile the marks, post the month-end marks, discuss some discrepancies between the general ledger (GL) and various spreadsheets, make a multitude of GL entries to fix said discrepancies, reconcile the Asset Data Dump to the EOM report and Balance Sheet, reconcile the daily cash in TPG and then post the cash on our GL, post the MBS, Swap, and UST marks, make adjusting entries on those, and then make sure the various data dumps tie back to our balance sheet. I also ran the Balance Sheet, EOM report, and Income Statement a thousand times on FRx. It was an unusually busy morning, and my head was thumping by the end.

12:35 - 12:45 - Step outside for a quick bit of (not really) fresh air while chatting with Kim and munching on an apple.

12:45 - 1:35 - Eat lunch in the kitchen with Adis, Kim, Khalil, Chi, and Ginny. Lunch consists of a hard-boiled egg, grape tomatoes, almonds, and a homemade green juice (cucumber/celery/apple/lemon).

1:35 - 4:40 - Generate the consolidated Income Statement as of 4/30/13 (which required a million more spreadsheets and running reports on FRx). Do the Accrued Interest Recon for March and April, start the swap-hedge effectiveness file for April, start the documents for a new swap we purchased, and file some past month's month-end recons. (Again, my day was abnormally full. Generally, some g-chatting makes it way into my day.) At 4, I ate another hard-boiled egg and some original Popchips.

4:45 - 5:15 - Attack my personal inbox for the first time in days. Shudder at it all. Delete a bunch and reply to a few. Read a couple of blog posts, and go onto Twitter for the first time today.

5:15 - Head out to the Manhattan temple by walking up on 5th, along Central Park South, and then up Central Park West. I pass by the banana stand again! But once more, the line was absurdly long and not worth the banana I could easily make myself. This is all done while listening to Bossypants (a reread. Tina Fey reads it herself! I love her but she does use some foul language so listen with caution).

From Monday. And I will have you know that there was NOT money in the banana stand. I checked.

5:50 - 8:20 - Volunteer at the office of the Manhattan temple and spend the time answering phones, scheduling appointments, and reading General Conference talks. And eating a slice of homemade carrot cake! Boom! I do this every second and fourth Tuesday. I took over a Kaitlyn's shift as a way to keep myself busy while Spencer works freakishly late hours. Other things I find to occupy my time are shopping (grocery and otherwise), cooking, cleaning, exercising (hah!...sure, I do...), hanging out with friends, reading, working if I'm unlucky, and oh yeah, blogging.

8:20 - 9:00 - Take the 1 train up to 86th, transfer to the 86th crosstown bus, get off at Lex, and then walk the few blocks home, again all while listening to Bossypants. 

9:00 - 10:06 - Sort mail, put away Blue Apron delivery, and cook dinner (Roasted Cornish hens with baked potatoes and spring vegetables. I got a free week of Blue Apron from a friend, and then they sneakily sent me another delivery when I thought I had cancelled, leaving me stuck with paying for a week. Curse them and their delicious food that comes in way too much packaging and costs more than we normally pay for groceries!) All this occurred while New Girl and The Mindy Project played in the background.

10:06 - Sit down with dinner and turn on Like Crazy. 

10:14 - Turn off Like Crazy (too boring) and switch to The Decoy Bride, even though I had watched it the night before. Why? Because David Tennant, that's why. 

10:30 - 11:00 - Put away leftovers, do the dishes (all handwash. I've never had a dishwasher since I've been married), and clean up the kitchen.

11:00 - Midnight - Type up this post while finishing The Decoy Bride and then listening to Bossypants again.

12:05 - 12:25 - Brush teeth, wash face, say my evening prayer, and do other little things to get ready for bed and for the next day, including tidying up the bedroom. Because the best time to make your bed is right before you get in it, right?

12:26 - Lights out. Spencer hadn't come home yet (and still has yet to go home, poor guy), so I sleep spread-eagle in the middle of the bed. It's the little things, ya know?

Footnotes: I had to finish this post the following day because my ESP has been off-kilter lately. Also, don't forget about the giveaway! Even I need sunglasses now, and I see the sun maybe .00005 minutes a day. 

Books, books, and more books: 1st Quarter 2013

This post is a bit cray-cray. I think I read more in the first quarter of 2013 then I have in a long, long time, and if you make it through this post, wow. 

Shadow Kiss, Blood Promise, Spirit Bound, and Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead: I first talked about these books here. The books were very entertaining, even if they tended to blend together towards the end, and the endless love triangles left me wanting to beat my head against a wall. Either way, I love me some kick-butt heroines, and I love me some snark (hello, Adrian!)

Bloodlines, The Golden Lily, and The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead: Semi-sequel series to the Vampire Academy books, these books center on Sydney, a human/Alchemist, who is going undercover at a boarding school with vampires and dhampirs to keep Jill, a Moroi princess, safe after she was attacked in a failed assassination attempt. I related to Sydney, a bookworm who is a bit dense when it comes to boys, more than the super-flirty, intense-fighter Rose, and I generally prefer books when I can see myself in the protagonists. Also, the love triangles are dialed back (thank goodness!), and the books are all about Adrian! He was my fav-a-lav from the Vampire Academy books. These aren't action-packed like the other series, but I still enjoyed them immensely. 

Knocked Out By My Nunga-Nungas, Dancing in My Nuddy Pants, Startled by His Furry Shorts, Love is a Many Trousered Thing, Stop in the Name of Pants!, and Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me? by Louise Rennison - I think the fact that I read 6 of these in a quarter speaks for itself. They are short, hilarious, and basically the best. I laughed out loud reading them and would quote it to Spencer. Even he thought it was funny. Read them. The end.

Rusalka by Megan Richey Olsen - Gripping YA read that I wrote about here.

Austenland (reread) and Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale - If you love Jane Austen, you will love Austenland. It's where women in the 21st century vacation at an Austen-era house, complete with the clothes, dances, and dreamy men in trousers. And obviously, the book is all about love. It's super darling. Midnight in Austenland wasn't just a straight love story but also was a murder mystery, which seemed a bit out of place because it's a fluffy book. But someone dies? And there is a psychopath murderer? Hmm...still an entertaining, quick read that I would mostly recommend.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth E. Wein - I started this book AGES ago but I have yet to finish it, I'm ashamed to say. I love WWII novels, and I love strong female protagonists, so I have no reason to not love it. It just didn't quite grip me like it seems to have everyone else. I'll finish it one day, I swear.

The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen - Just like Code Name Verity, I started it, have had it sitting on my bedside table for ages, but haven't picked it up in ages.

The Serpent's Shadow (reread, audio) by Rick Riordan - Egyptian mythology in modern day Brooklyn. I originally wrote about it here.

Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor - I love, love, loved the first book, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and have been waiting for about a year for this book. I was a bit nervous that this book would be prey to the pitfall of so many sequels, but by jove, I think I liked this book better! Days of Blood and Starlight is a more well-rounded story, following Akiva and Karou separately as they deal with the aftermath of the war between their people. There is war, love, intrigue, soul-searching, and of course, hilarious sidekicks.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (reread, audio) by J.K. Rowling - Do I really need to talk about my love for these books? No, I didn't think so either.

The Belgariad Vol. I and II (reread, audio) by David Eddings -Oh, The Belgariad! This series, I think, opened up the floodgate of adult fantasy books to me, and I think these are still my favorite. It's your classic quest and coming-of-age story, complete with magicians, kings, war, and of course, love. But it's light on the romance, heavy on the quest. The first book, Pawn of Prophecy, is a little bit slow, but once you get past it, you get completely sucked in to this other world that Eddings has created. Sucked in so much that you, like me, read 12 books about this world over and over and over.

Pandemonium (reread) and Requiem by Lauren Oliver - I don't really get the Delirium series. The first one was decent, the second was great, and the third stunk. I couldn't even get through the 3rd book. It's a dystopian series that is based on the premise that love is the root of all evil, and so future America mandates that all people undergo a brain surgery to be unable to love. You can figure out where it goes from there - girl falls in love, defies society for love, overthrows society. Could be good, but it wasn't.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn - Ok, I'll be honest, I did NOT get the hype of this book. I didn't give one whit about any of the characters, I guessed some of the "major surprises," and frankly, the ending sucked. Pass on this one.

Scarlet by A. C. Gaughen - You say "fairy tale re-told," and I'm all over it! This story is a retelling of Robin Hood through the perspective of Scarlet, a young woman that's part of Robin Hood's Merry Men by masquerading as a boy. She, unsurprisingly, has a dramatic backstory that's a giant mystery and is also an incredible fighter. There is romantic drama, obviously and which I didn't really like, but the plot thankfully mainly focuses around the trouble stemming from the bounty hunter the Sheriff of Nottingham brought in to kill Robin Hood. Classic fight between the people and "the man." Things get fairly graphic, so this may be a fairy tale, but it is not for kids. (Just real quick on my beef with the love story in this book and with many others - I loathe when authors jump right into the romantic tension without showing to the readers why the characters are in love. I don't want to be told people are in love and be expected to root for them if I didn't get to see them fall in love! I want to go on that journey with them, and stop telling me who I should like! Rant over.)

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare - I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS BOOK FOR A FULL FREAKIN' YEAR!!! You've probably heard about the City of Bones (the movie is coming out soon), and Clockwork Princess is the final installment in the companion trilogy. Guys, don't even bother with the City of Bones books, head straight to Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince, and Clockwork Princess. There is a love triangle (sigh, they get SO old) but it's the best written love triangle ever. But forget the love triangle, this book is all about the bromance between the two men in the love triangle, who also happen to be best friends. Their friendship may have made me ugly cry. It was intense. And then the fighting and magic and blood and gore is also extremely entertaining. Ugh, such a good book.

Just One Day by Gayle Forman - This was my first Gayle Forman book, and I liked it. Allyson travels in Europe the summer before her freshman year of college, and while there, she spends one whirlwind day with a Willem, who she falls in love with and rocks her sense of self. Allyson returns to the States, not knowing who she is, who she wants to be, and what she wants from life. From there, Allyson goes on a year-long journey of simultaneously finding herself and Willem. The story was good, but it drives me bonkers when girls let boys send them into a state of depression if the boy leaves (cough, cough, Bella!, cough, cough) And that she spent an entire year and so much time and energy searching for Willem also bugged me. It's just a guy! Move on! So yeah, I liked it, but I didn't love it.

Looking back at this list, I really only have one last thing I'd like to throw out into the literary universe - COOL IT WITH THE LOVE TRIANGLES!!

Firmoo Sunglasses Giveaway (closed)

I am a huge fan of Firmoo, as evident by my ever-present Firmoo glasses (seen here). I'm also a huge fan of sunglasses (who isn't since we all look better in sunglasses). So you put Firmoo and sunglasses together, and you have a win! You literally have (or can have) a win as Firmoo is offering one lucky reader a free pair of sunglasses and six other readers $20 sunglasses vouchers*. 

All you gotta do is head over to Firmoo's sunglasses and let me know what pair you'd want. Me? I'm all about the big, bug-eye glasses like these or these. The bigger the better! OR if you wear glasses on the regular like me and don't want to go the traditional sunglasses route, Firmoo has the option to tint the lenses of prescription glasses. Suh-weet! 

K, now head on over to Firmoo, tell me what you want, and getting ready to rock some slammin' sunnies because with seven winners, the odds are most definitely in your favor! (Boom! Hunger Games reference!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*The free pair of glasses is contingent on number of entrants to the giveaway. If less than 50 entrants, only the six vouchers will be given away. If 50+ entrants, than the prizes will be as stated above.

P.S. Don't feel like waiting for a new pair of sunnies? I don't blame you! If you need any order help, you can go here, and if you need any shipping help, head here.