So here’s the first (half) month of my project to motivate me out of yoga pants. A few things: a) I’ve decided it would be easier to use my phone for the photos this time around, but as I do not have the steadiest of hands I’ve got more blurry photos than I anticipated. I’m working on that. b) There are a couple of these outfits that I absolutely hate, but I did not know that until I saw them in photos. So, kudos for learning stuff! c) Cardigans are still my friend. d) I really only wear, like, 3 pairs of shoes during the winter.
Archive: January 2014
January brought its “A” game this year. It’s normally my least favorite month of the year; I’m over the snow and cold by month’s end, someone in the house almost always gets sick, and it just feels like it goes on forever. The bright spot exception is my very best good friend Laura Ann’s birthday, and I forgot it this year. Go home, January! You’re drunk!
It’s been snowing. Like, all the time.
My mom grew up really disliking Brussels sprouts, so she never cooked with them. And I grew up convinced they were essentially poisonous. I’d never actually tried a Brussels sprout until my first Christmas in England way back in the day; my stepmother-in-law always makes them with Christmas dinner. I tried them to be polite and was extremely surprised to find that they were delicious. My mom came with us to the UK one year for Christmas and tried them herself, and she, too, was converted.
The sprout of Brussels definitely gets a bad rap, but it seems like it is the new hotness in ingredients. I see recipes for them everywhere, and clearly when they’re cooked correctly (read: not boiled to death), they are awesome. I made them for Christmas this year myself. And last weekend I used them in this scrumptious frittata recipe from Food & Wine. I didn’t have a small enough skillet, which is why my frittata is quite thin. But it was lick-your-fingers good, and it’s one of the best smelling things I’ve cooked in a while.
Brussels Sprout, Bacon, and Gruyere Frittata (from January 2014 Food & Wine)
1/2 pound thick-cut bacon, diced
2 shallots, halved and thinly sliced
3/4 pound brussels sprouts, halved and sliced 1/4 inch thick
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
8 large eggs
2 tablespoons whole milk
1 cup shredded Gruyère cheese
1/4 cup snipped chives
I love making applesauce. It’s just so easy. Last fall I made tons of it while we were working on getting H to eat solids. I went through so many apples from local farms and markets, and I made two batches using my favorite recipe, but this time I didn’t add any seasoning at all. Just straight up apples for the little lady learning to eat. She hated it, of course, so I have been eating all of it myself through the winter.
So in September of 2010 I started taking photos of my work outfits after leaving one district and starting in another (this was the job I just left last June). I kind of just wanted to see if I could go a month without repeating outfits, but I kept it up. Then in 2011, I took a photo of myself almost every single day; the results are the above photo. This turned out to be the year I became pregnant with H, so the outfit photos became a diary of my growing baby bump. I stopped the photos after she was born in March of 2012 because, you know, newborn.
But last week I’m pretty sure I wore yoga pants 5 out of the 7 days. And turtlenecks, and sneakers.
This must stop.
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