Birthday Bonus: 4wks

Happy Birthday, 3 for 365! One month already. Thanks for sharing with me as I raise my young blog. I look forward to your continued feedback. 334 to go.

January 31: Liver

1. A tiny little girl with big eyes smiled up at me from her baby carriage.
2. I learned to drink mint tea with honey ('think chocolate mint,' E said).
3. E also told me that as a child she liked liver more than the colour orange.

January 30: Hustle

1. One afternoon, two beautiful grandmothers.
2. Mission accomplished: deadlines met. Go, FedEx!
3. Running - I do mean running - all my errands.

January 29: Panties

First, it was the hegemony of the thong. Now, the boy-cut.

Yes, they're all hot. But the bad news is that a basic, low-cut bikini brief is getting harder to find. Which actually looks good on most of us! Selection is growing sadder by the season. To my relief today:

1. Elle Macpherson - top honours
2. Victoria's Secret - reliable enough
3. Calvin Klein - kudos all around

Ladies, I'm counting on you. Comment or email your faves. (Guys, your two cents will be heard if you feel so inclined.)

January 28: Emo

1. Exceptional cup of Early Grey tea this morning.
2. Lunch - and then dinner - on the house.
3. Continuing Ed: More lessons in the world of hip-hop and music culture learned. Bro, you're hip, but you didn't know "Take Me Home, Country Roads" by John Denver!

If you ever need to know what emo-punk is (or can't understand what your kids are saying), visit UrbanDictionary.com.

January 27: Bunnies

1. Precious time to Bless this Mess. I did a Molly Maid and took my vacuum on an offensive. Dust bunnies, be gone!
2. An old friend asked me to help compose her wedding invitation.
3. I discovered that The Economist now has an audio section. Podcasts blow me away. Global music and stories streaming into my ears wherever I go... we're all Citizens of the World, you know what I mean?

January 26: Ugly

1. Better than bad: naughty thoughts about someone nice.
2. Celebration: Tim's heavy metal and champagne party.
3. Ugly Ripe: I learned that Florida had banned the export of these delicious tomatoes because they were too ugly. Well, Ugly has won! More celebration here and here.

January 25: Chivalry

1. My taxi driver forgave me $2. I didn't have to break a 20.
2. My higher-ups provided me very nice reference letters.
3. A gentleman (and a hottie, to boot) held the door for me. Chivalry lives!

January 24: Bro

I will never forget the day my mom brought my brother home for the first time. Who would I be without you?

1. brother,
2. frère,
3. broliuk,

I love you so much! Happy Birthday.

January 23: Eyelashes

1. A little dude (all of five years old) flirted with me on the train: sang, danced, mimicked train chimes, batted his eyelashes furiously. It was hilarious.
2. I watched a movie off the Internet. Was this good? Well, yes, it was good that I didn't have to pay $13 to see it at the theatre.
3. In my search to find out who else out there is doing Three Good Things, I hit the jackpot: Three Beautiful Things. Check out the link list. (I'm now contacting some of these bloggers to compile a list of 3s, by whatever name.)

January 22: Wonderful

1. I bumped into a waaay back former colleague of mine.
2. We had a wonderful little opportunity to catch up.
3. She told me I look *exactly* the same. BLESS HER, SHE MADE MY DAY.

January 21: Clicks

1. I had a few minutes in the #1 spot on 25peeps.com. The Internet is such a strange place.
2. My dad called me to ask how I'm doing.
3. I finished the final assignment for my recent coursework. TIME TO PARTAY!

Thanks for your clicks, all y'all!

January 20: Pizza

People had attitude. I ran late. I saw a movie I didn't like. But it all paled by comparison to this Saturday's many, many charms!

1. I took notice of myself smiling at someone today. No reason.
2. Irish pub: jeans, sweatshirts, friends, love. It bears repeating how totally radical and splendiferous this surprise wedding was.
3. Coming home to an empty fridge after a few drinks sucks. My lovely roommate shared her pizza slice with me at 4am.

Izzy, thanks for reading my blog! J’apprécie ton soutien.

Weekend Bonus: Peeps

I'm not sure exactly how it happened, but I'm on the front page of 25peeps.com. Click away!

See, I haven't changed a bit! (Don't get me wrong. I love my tushy, but you'll need a special password for that.)

January 19: Voices

1. My brother's voice on the phone.
2. My nephews' voices on the phone.
3. My sisters' voices on the phone.

Oh, and my colleagues surprised me with a birthday cake, a card, a song... six weeks late! A first in my books.

January 18: Nuptials

1. Garlic was oozing out of my body all day. This was very good because it kept the winter flu at bay (as well as everyone and everything else).
2. I made significant progress in my work. Shoutout to my Paperback Oxford Canadian. You can love a dictionary this much!
3. *Late night news alert!* Two of the absolutely coolest people I know are having a party on Saturday - after their surprise wedding! I was wondering how it would unfold... no razzmatazz, no pageantry. I couldn't be happier. Congratulations!

January 17: Garlic

First,
• infused with olive oil; showered with salt and pepper.
Second,
• set for three hours at low temperature in the range.
Third,
• indulged in three heads of buttery, soft roasted garlic!

January 16: Yxes!

1. Morning tea on the couch with wireless internet. Sexy!
2. Inspirational letter from my sexy Polish friend in Madrid.
3. Friendly hello and smiles from a sexy colleague at work.

Today has been brought to you by the word SEXY!

January 15: Slippers

Today was going swimmingly until my heart suddenly sank. It's been hard to shake. I could author a Three Bad Things blog, too. But one reason for Three Good Things is to get through days like these. I learned my lessons. Tomorrow is a new day.

1. My classmate came to my aid with warm socks and slippers for my frozen tootsies.
2. Another pair of shoes sacrificed to slush and ice (and salt), I grew ever so slightly reassured that the Earth is not yet melting away into an eternal summer.
3. Spring is here - in the fashion world!

January 14: Spumoni

1. Work
2. Work
3. Work
(Sometimes it's a good thing.)

But in between:
1. Spumoni ice cream
2. Spumoni ice cream
3. Spumoni ice cream
(Yes, I do mean three servings.)

Too much of a good thing?
Nah.

January 13: IOU

1. I swam like thunder!
2. Lots of eye candy at the pool.
3. The Italian bakery let me take my groceries on IOU since their debit and Visa machines were down.

January 12: Serendipity

1. I drove a car for the first time in three years. Everyone lived.
2. Tummies full of prosciutto chicken, we (a small group of friends) played a DVD board game together.
3. Everything tonight was serendipitously timed. Don't you love when that happens?

January 11: Močiutė

Today's lesson: not to post until bedtime. I was writing earlier this evening, but it was too soon to tell. There was a negative edge when in fact good things were yet to come.

1. I celebrated my grandmother's 85th birthday with her. What a treat!
2. I got three belated Christmas cards. Ačiū labai! Köszönöm szépen!
3. Jump Math generously shared its wine and cheese after tonight's meeting, so my roommate and I savoured a much-needed snack. Check out the good work at http://jumpmath.org.

January 10: Garnishes

1. Three venues: an Italian trattoria for lunch, a hotel roof lounge for dessert and a neighbourhood cafe for drinks.
2. Three flavours: mousse in three shot glasses, topped with three garnishes, served with three espresso spoons.
3. Three people: Peter, Yee and Julia, with three newspapers at the table, in discussion, relaxation and digestion!

January 9: Postmodern

A Japanese, a Korean and a Lithuanian walk into a bar... no, no, no - not like that.

1. A Japanese, a Korean and a Lithuanian meet for lunch in a North American city. The Italian restaurant is closed, so they browse the array of international eateries and finally decide on British pub fare.
2. They engage in interesting conversation all afternoon.
3. They marvel at the postmodern world we live in.

9pm EST. Today surely deserves a bonus, post scriptum:
4. Little Mosque on the Prairie has officially aired.

January 8: Kisses

1. Extra looooong hot shower this morning.
2. Marvellous matinee with my bro this afternoon.
3. Relaxing newspaper catch-up this evening (whilst enjoying Hershey's caramel-filled Kisses).

January 7: Tabloids

Some good on a dreary winter Sunday:

1. Having one of those skinny-waisted-feeling kind of days.
2. Imagining the fierce western wind as a warm Caribbean breeze.
3. "Reading" the tabloid magazines with Yee - with glee!

The debate rages on over Daniel Craig's alleged hotness.

January 6: Almodóvar

1. Volver. Almodóvar rocks the feminist world!
2. Grilled steak dinner at midnight, à la Buenos Aires.
3. Blog of Revelation: I am a lifeaholic, not a workaholic.

January 5: Friday

1. Friday has arrived. I've got nothing against that.
2. The boss is out. I've got nothing against that either!
3. I'm having a good hair day, all things considered.

January 4: Stalker

1. This one depends on your POV: I was followed around by an older, slightly dorky professional type after I left Starbucks. I had to lose him, of course, but I was secretly flattered...
2. I managed to get three *very* shy foreign students to crack smiles - and then laugh out loud!
3. A different kind of laughter: I caught one of them digging it in his nose. You really had to be there.

January 3: Banana

It's only dinnertime, but it's been a good day. If anything spectacular happens by tomorrow, I'll just have to include a bonus post, won't I?

1. Breakfast: *ripe* and delicious banana, 8:15 am, on a crowded subway car - in my *seat*, yessss!
2. Chat: did a little pleasant bitching with Margaret about our workload, then Elena called to wish me a happy new year.
3. Dollars: I received a lottery ticket in a gift card from my boss - and I won $2!

January 2: Antipasto

Shit happens every day, but the more I think about good things, the harder it is to narrow them down. Like today:

1. I left the house on time for work (even if I had to call a taxi).
2. I listened to the yummiest song ever: Soir de fête by Yann Tiersen (possibly a Gotan Project collaboration).
3. I created a new dish: shredded potatoes - con spicy Italian antipasto! (now accepting name submissions)

January 1: Crush

Three good things happened to me today. Three good things will happen to me every day this year. Happy New Year! Feliz año nuevo! Bonne année! Ein glückliches neues Jahr! Laimingų Naujų Metų!

1. I woke up at noon really well rested.
2. I finally completed a major project (my procrastination had known no bounds).
3. I got a strangely pleasant phone call from a long-ago crush.