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Just a quick note today to let you know that I decided to leave Brownies for Dinner where she is for now. I moved all of the posts I’ve written since January 2013 to my new blog at: http://patricialawless.com. So if you are looking for any of those, you can find them there. I may [...]
Last week was the kids’ winter break, so Dan and I took them to Lake Tahoe for some fun in the snow. We were joined by a couple of friends and their two boys. There was ALOT of boy energy in our rental cabin. And it was a blast. It was also my first day [...]
On Monday, I said that a dream is just a nice idea until you commit & take action. And that got me thinking more about the c word: commitment. Let’s talk about Commitment for a minute. After many false starts (on this blog, on my exercise routine, on diets, on… well, lots of stuff), I’ve [...]
It’s Time! There’s a cheer I remember from way back when I was a cheerleader (9th & 10th grade) that I think applies very well to my life right now. And your life too. It went something like this: (to the beat of stomp-clap, stomp-stomp-clap ;) What time is it? … It’s time. What time [...]
Hello! How is this week treating you? It’s treating me mighty fine, but then it doesn’t hurt for it to be B-day + V-day week. Color me spoiled. Still, we have work to do around here. So quit your loafin’! That was totally directed at me, not you, by the way. ANYWAY, moving on. I [...]
Dan & I kicked off our birthday week (his is on Valentine’s Day) on Saturday with a fabulous dinner at one of our favorite restaurants and Bill Cosby Live (such an amazing & funny man! He’s still got it at 75). I’m not going to tell you how old I am today because I don’t [...]
Welcome to February. Last month I chose the word courage as my theme and intention, and with courage I learned some things from Sandy (as in Grease), posted my first video, and found my own remedy for a vulnerability hangover. So now we’re already into the month of February and my new word is: love. [...]
Have you heard of a “vulnerability hangover”? I first heard the phrase from Brené Brown (whose books, by the way, are AWESOME & don’t even get me started on her Ted talk. Love.). Then this week I got a newsletter from Jennifer Lee (of The Right Brain Business Plan) in which she fessed up to [...]
Well, I’ve gone and done it. I made a video. It took a bit of courage to start recording and a bit more to upload it to Youtube. AND EVEN MORE to post it here today. But here goes nothing… By the way, I’m working on some exciting stuff that will help you kick your [...]
Photo Credit: Marloes de Vries (via Pinterest) Be sure to ask for something AWESOME!
Remember in Grease how Sandy is at the beginning of the movie? She is the quintessential good girl. She’s a nice girl. She doesn’t quite get it when people are sarcastic or being mean. How could she? She’s nice to everyone and expects that everyone else would be nice too. Growing up in the South [...]
A new approach This year, I’m choosing a word each month to use as my theme/intention/guide post. When I originally thought of this idea, I thought: January would be a great time to focus on simplifying. Yeah, totally, dude. The January word is totally: simplicity. Rad. But now that I’ve recovered from my surfer-dude speech [...]
As I mentioned in my new year’s post, I’m changing the direction of this blog. Expanding beyond food and writing about things that are important to me now (things like: hey! I’ve become a certified a life coach and a stepmom and have a whole new relationship to food and health… and you know what? [...]
Wishing for you that wherever you are is the happiest place on earth. As the calendar rolls over, I wanted to let you know that I’ll be making changes to this blog… starting over in some ways, and moving into a new direction. What you can expect: more posts than there’s been the last year [...]
Image Credit: Otto Bettman via Pinterest Do you recognize that line I used in the post title? It’s stuck in my head as I write this, even though I had never actually listened to the song until I started writing this post (cause I wanted to get the lyrics right). “It’s Friday, Friday, blahblahblahblah Friday”… [...]
With all these pancakes lately, I’ve had to drag my butt back to the gym. Back to spin class… Sometimes, I hate it. Like when the instructor has us cranking up the resistance to “climb a hill” and the song sucks. Or I look up at the clock thinking we must be close to the [...]
I’ve only had the last name Lawless for 1.5 years now, so I’m still getting used to cashiers and waiters saying, “Cool last name” when they see my debit card. But I have to say I really do like having it. It just sounds so… rebellious. Anyway, I’ve been kind of obsessed with pancakes lately [...]
Or more accurately, how I dice an onion. My knife skills are self taught, mostly from watching way too many episodes of Top Chef. So by no means am I claiming to be the most skilled or expert knife wielder. But I wanted to share how I’ve learned to do it, just in case it [...]
[Via: Buzzfeed] Isn’t that sheep awesome? I dare you to find that kind of happiness this weekend. I’ll be looking for it at the beach. Are you on Pinterest? Let’s be Pin pals! (nudge, nudge. Get it?… So I’m cheesy. I like cheese. Don’t you?) Here are a few of my favorites finds on Pinterest [...]
This week I had the best of intentions. I started out Monday with perfectly reasonable goals for blogging, my new-ish coaching business, clutter-busting around my office, and exercise. But no sooner had I written down my goals than catching up on House: the last season took priority. Do/did you watch House? If so, please tell [...]
Does this ever happen to you? You buy a bunch of cilantro or mint (or another herb) for a recipe that calls for a few sprigs, only to have most of it go bad before you figure out what to do with the rest? Maybe it’s just me. I can live with that. But to [...]
Confession: I hate to cook Don’t get me wrong. I love to cook… except when I don’t. And when I don’t, my feelings are middling at best. At worst, I avert my eyes from the stove as I pass through the kitchen, as if it were that guy outside of the grocery store asking me [...]
Howdy y’all. Where has the year gone? Holy moly, it’s almost July 4th! But rather than dwell on how the year has slipped by, I thought I’d ask what your plans are for the 4th? Are you firing up the Q? I’m planning to make bbq ribs with corn on the cobb and a salad. [...]
Hi there, Hope you are having a fabulous weekend. I am. I went to lunch with a couple of my best friends earlier and then spent the rest of the afternoon lounging on the sofa. Our sofa has its own gravitational force field… Ripley’s Believe It or Not! ;) Okay, don’t believe it. But it [...]
According to Urban Dictionary: Functionista: Someone who consistently wears situationally appropriate clothing. Anyone who dresses purely according to the dictates of function, in response to actual weather conditions and in pursuit of personal comfort. The opposite of fashionista. In other words: me. At least, that’s the way I dressed for most of my life. Deep [...]
Hey! I’ve been thinking about you. How are you? I’m good! You ready for 2012? I AM!!! I’m excited. I think it is going to be a great year. I have lots going on… I’m taking an acting class (for fun), I’m finishing up a leadership program that I started in the fall, I’ll be [...]
Photo: Me and Dan finishing the San Jose Muddy Buddy I was out for a run yesterday when I had an idea for a series of blog pots that would focus on those things that maybe I’ve been keeping to myself… afraid of saying out loud (on line) for fear that you would think I’m [...]
Did you watch last night’s Top Chef? You know, the new one in Texas. I recorded it then watched it this afternoon. And while I usually love Top Chef, this episode left me feeling… well, a little annoyed. I get that they wanted to make it bigger being in Texas and all that. But shouldn’t [...]
Photo: Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting I hate when bloggers disappear for months then come back saying “Sorry I haven’t written in a while” and “Hey, I’m still here”. It just seems… silly. I mean, we all get busy. And blogs are like friendships: sometimes we are in constant contact and other [...]
A couple of months ago, I went to my friend Christine’s baby shower. The food theme was “babyQ”, so they had baby back ribs and baby-sized burgers. And I contributed some baby-sized ‘hostess’ cupcakes. Sitting on the back patio, I watched as her brother pulled rack after rack of saucy ribs off of the grill [...]
Last month I was back in Georgia visiting family and ventured out to Metter to visit my Aunt Helen for lunch. She is a vivacious Southern lady, always good for a story and a tasty bite or three. For lunch she served a Greek-inspired salad to keep things light so that we could indulge in [...]
My fingernails are caked in paint. Not like a pretty manicure, more like a mottled mess. But I don’t care because I love to paint. This is new. In the past whenever I’d try to paint, I would only see the mistakes. I’d think, “I’m not an artist.” And pack up my paints and [...]
Can you believe it is already May? I’m shocked. And relieved as well. April was a marathon of family events from simple visits to weddings and a funeral. Overall it was a good, albeit hectic, month. But now April is gone (whew) and May is here (woot!). And now with all this free time, I’ve [...]
Cornbread. When it’s bad, it’s bad. Dry and flavorless, or too cakey and sweet. But when it’s good.. it is so good. That said, when I have chili, I always want cornbread. I’m not sure why that is. Maybe it’s like gestalt. You know, “The whole is greater than the sum of the parts”… like [...]
Winter has been overstaying its welcome. And I’m tired of it. With a string of day upon day of gray and rainy, I have had it. I wanted a piping hot bowl of comfort. But not if I have to work for it. Cause you know… I’m lazy. And somewhere in the midst of that [...]
I love to see new ways to solve (what should be) simple problems. This is one reason I like Real Simple. Still, what usually happens is I read how to use aluminum foil to scrub your glass bakeware, for example, and think “Hey, that’s a good idea.”. Only to forget all about it when I [...]
So far we have baked and frosted 200 cupcakes while keeping our cool, stored them overnight and got them to the venue, and now we are going to show them off. Cupcakes can entice nearly anyone into their presence like the Sirens luring sailors to their doom. Without any special displays or fancy decorations. So [...]
So you’ve got 200 cupcakes piled up in your kitchen, now what do you do? First, figure out how to store them I have 2 cupcake carriers. Each holds 36 cupcakes. Normally this is an excessive amount of cupcake storage, but for this endeavor it came up short. I don’t necessarily recommend having 2 cupcake [...]
I haven’t forgotten about part 2 of the cupcake saga (I promise I’ll post that soon), but this morning I had something else on my mind so please bear with me… I spent the weekend in a coaching class and learned a lot about the power of choice. We choose how to look at things. [...]
Well, almost. Even though I estimated that I needed 100-140 cupcakes I wound up baking almost 200. What can I say? I’m an overachiever. As freaked out as I was the night before, it wasn’t so bad. I’m not saying that if you’ve never baked a cupcake you should start by baking 200 in one [...]
I am now covered in smokey-meat-scent. Perfect for a night of romance :) I hope you had / are having a great Valentine’s Day!
Even though Dan and I ran off to Hawaii and got married by ourselves, we do want to celebrate with friends and family. So this Saturday we’re doing just that. Savory & Sweet is catering (mm, tri tip and polenta lasagna). Coffee Zombie Collective is jamming. And I… I am making the cupcakes. Wait, did [...]
I’ve been working on a healthy recipe for oatmeal pancakes off and on for over a year. You can ask Dan, he’s had to eat most of them. I’ve had the flavors right for a while, but the pancakes still fall apart when I try to flip them. Needless to say, the recipe is not [...]
Yesterday, I mentioned that 2010 felt like the year of less. So I’m declaring 2011 the year of more (I like balance). I don’t really like resolutions because they don’t really work. Well, at least not for me (how many have you kept? be honest). They feel like rules and I get weird about rules. [...]
Where did December go? One day I was thinking “I should start baking for the holidays” and the next thing I know we’re celebrating the new year. What the heck? Anyway, so Happy New Year! I feel all grinchy for neglecting my oven throughout the holidays. There was no baking around here. I mean, no [...]
Here we are just a couple days away from December, and I am not ready. Last year I made 12 days of cookies and wanted to it to be a tradition but I’m really not ready. I am not ready to bake for 12 days straight. I’m not ready to eat cookies for 12 days [...]
I had plans, but Mother Nature had other plans. And while I have a respectable amount of power in the kitchen, when Mother Nature decides to intervene, there’s not much I can do. I’m up at the cabin with Dan and the boys and we are having our first white Thanksgiving. Without power. Without turkey. [...]
Before I tell you about this pie, I first want to thank you all for your support and kind words. The comments on yesterday’s post made me feel warm-and-fuzzy-special which is a nice change from the short-bus-special I normally feel. I never rode a short bus but I did ride a special bus in high [...]
Sometimes there is a sign in the road that you can’t ignore. My infrequent posts and general blogging malaise is a sign to me. Maybe I’m not doing something right? Maybe I need to slow down and look at that sign before I hit the hump going full speed and find myself flying through the [...]
A few years ago, I decided I needed to make a pumpkin pie using an actual pumpkin. Do you get these kinds of urges? I get them all the time. Like what’s the best kind of pie crust? How do you make brown sugar? And what would happen if I substitute a little butter with [...]
