5 Things Friday: Habits in 2017.

Can we all agree that 2016 needs to take a hike?  

I mean, but REALLY. Aside from obvious political events that I don't feel like getting into, there have been several things that have just bummed me the hell out: terror attacks, shootings, Zika, David Bowie, Prince, Alan Rickman, Alan Thicke, Brexit, Syria. It was not good. It was, largely, not good at all. 

HOWEVER. 

There's a new year coming up. And sure - it's technically just another day. It's not really a reset button. But in the same way that Advent gives Christians time to reflect on Christ's coming, the days approaching New Year's Eve give us time to prepare for what kind people we want to be. 

Here are five tangible things I will be doing in 2017 to try to be a better human. 

1. Less mindless screen time.

Everybody relaxes in different ways, and I think how we relax is indicative of what kind of people we are. Relaxation for me looks like sitting on the couch, watching Netflix, and playing some sort of insipid game on my phone. I think this relaxation style screams "braindead" and or "7th grader," rather than "semi-intelligent 27-year-old woman." 

Instead of crashing on the couch with a show I've watched a thousand times already, wasting my life, I'm making a concerted effort to turn OFF the TV (or close the computer, as the case may be) in order to relax in another way, like taking Tom Hanks for a walk or playing cards with Jordan.

2. Get meaningfully involved in a volunteer program. 

One of the scary things about moving to a new place is that you leave all things familiar behind you: friends, family, church, social groups - the whole enchilada. Since we came to Asheville, I have done an awful job about plugging into the community in a way that I'm proud of. We've joined a church, but I want to make sure that I'm actually serving others in a real, everyday, intentional way. This is one that I'm most excited about.

3. Read more. 

This really could correspond with #1, but I want it to be its own category because it's so important. Y'all, I used to be SUCH a reader. When I was younger, I would just devour books.

When I started Teach For America, I stopped reading as much. I think that teaching took so much out of me emotionally that reading anything of substance - anything that might pull at my heartstrings even further - was just too much to consider. That might sound crazy/pitiful, but that's where I was. I felt I needed to protect myself. 

Insulating myself in that way is over. I am ready to jump back into the amazing world of the written word. I'm almost finished with Hillbilly Elegy, and if you haven't read it, ya NEED IT. Thanks to JD Vance for reminding me what I've been missing. 

4. Experience Asheville. 

I happen to live in one of the most desirable places to live in the country, but this could apply anywhere. If you're like me, a creature of habit, then you hit the same restaurants, order the same food, and like to be back at home in PJ's by 9. 

Hi, I'm Mary Catherine, and I'm 90 years old. 

Actually, that's not even fair, because I met a  90-year-old just yesterday who is much cooler than I am. 

My point is that I have all this great culture, food, all these hikes and outdoor experiences, right at my fingertips. I'm 27. Now is not the time to phone it in and decide we've seen enough of Asheville to stop exploring. We have a list on the refrigerator that I made the first week we moved here of restaurants, bars, and hikes. At first, we were making steady progress, but we've screeched to a halt. Time to pick it back up. 

5. Continue some habits I'm proud of. 

Because resolutions like these are so easy to abandon, I don't want to add too much to my plate at one time. So here are some things I've been working on that I want to continue with:

• Limiting my social media exposure/tapping out when I'm overwhelmed. 
• Trying hard to extend empathy and understanding those with whom I don't agree, and, in many cases, find hurtful or offensive.
• Attempting to create funny and/or meaningful blog content. 
• Actively keeping in touch with people (friends, grandparents) who don't live near me.
• Staying organized and on top of our calendar and bank accounts. 

So tell me - as the new year approaches, what are you considering? What do you want to change? I know we've all had plenty to say about the state of the world this year, but 2017 is ours for the taking. We can make it look however we want. 

So? What do you want? 

Top 5 Worst Christmas Songs Ever.

Today on HuffPo, check out my definitive list of the all-time WORST Christmas songs on the radio. 

Gift Guide: For the Chef.

I thought it might be fun to suggest a few gifts for different kinds of people as we approach Christmas. To me, buying for someone who loves to be in the kitchen is not only simple, but really fun. There are so many gadgets and crazy kitchen tools at this point that you'll never run out of options. 

Most of these recommendations are smaller gifts, so I thought they'd group nicely together for kind of a bouquet of kitchen-related gifts! 

1. Food scraper

I use this almost every time I cook for anything from transferring chopped veggies to a pan to scraping the excess biscuit dough off of my cutting board; If you know someone without this, it's a must. Buy it here.   

2. Specialty salt

My mom gave all of us this heirloom salt from a family mine in West Virginia last year in our stockings. We've used it sparingly, so it's still around! Y'all, let me tell you - hand-mind salt just tastes better. It's so nice to have it around when you're hosting a dinner party or just feel like adding a depth of flavor to a weeknight meal. It really does make a difference. Buy it here. 

3. Cast iron skillet

Every cook needs a cast iron skillet. It's a kitchen non-negotiable. They cook evenly, go from your stovetop to your oven seamlessly, and last a lifetime. This 10.25 inch skillet from Lodge Cast Iron is available for $25 - and free shipping! Scoop it up here. 

4. Cheese board

Most people who love to cook also love to host. Having something pretty to put out on the countertop for a little pre-dinner nosh makes all the difference in the world. A polished, pretty cheese board, like this one from Williams Sonoma for $40, is a great gift and starts any party off right.

 5. Chef's knife

Context for this one: when Jordan and I got married, we forgot to register for knives. So for almost three years, I've been using his bachelor-pad knife set that couldn't cut through a sheet of paper. Can't count the number of times I've almost sliced off the tips of my fingers because I was pressing down so hard to chop a potato or an onion. Enter: my new best friend. 

Jordan was so precious and got me a "big girl" knife set for Christmas this year. GAME CHANGER. I immediately ran to the kitchen and chopped a potato - totally different experience. I barely applied pressure and was able to slice the potato so thinly that I could see through the slivers. If you know someone who's using a dated, awful knife set, I can guarantee this will bring them hours and hours of joy and satisfaction.

Happy hunting, friends! 

Make Your House Smell Like Christmas!

My parents moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma in 2015 - just about the same time Jordan and I moved to Asheville. With my brother in Nashville, we're officially in three different states, so creating holiday schedules has become increasingly challenging. 

This year, since we were all already going to be together for Thanksgiving, we decided to celebrate ThanksMas - a new mashup holiday. On November 22nd, I decorated our whole house for Christmas and we opened presents in pajamas and ate our traditional Christmas morning breakfast (except we ate it for supper). The best part was that it was 7 o'clock - we got to have cocktails this time! 

One of the easiest ways to get myself into the Christmas spirit is to make it smell like Christmas. There are certain scents each of us ties to certain events - we always get a real tree, for example, so that's one of mine. Aside from that, this extremely simple stovetop recipe does the trick every single time, and will have your guests asking, "What smells so good??" 

Ingredients: 

1 cinnamon stick
2 T ground cinnamon
1 can of cranberry sauce
2 bay leaves
1 T cloves
1 T ground nutmeg
1/2 a navel orange
1/2 a lemon
2 c (or so) of water

Directions: 

This is the easiest thing of all time. You literally dump everything into the pot, stir, bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer. 

Once it starts boiling, your house will fill with the most delicious, Christmas-y scent. It smells like a warm cider mixed with a Christmas cookie mixed with...just general goodness. Trust me. Try it. 

The best part about this is, it keeps FOREVER. As you boil the water out, you can simply add more water and it starts the whole process over again. I keep this on the back burner of my stovetop all season long, and add more cinnamon and cloves as necessary to give it that nice pop of holiday smell. 

A word of caution: after you bring to a boil, make sure to reduce it to a simmer. Otherwise, you'll end up with scorched cranberries! 

You probably have most of these ingredients in your pantry already! So - get to work. A perfect Christmas house awaits you! 

New York Trip 2016

Every once in a while, I get focused on writing social/entertainment commentary pieces and forget I can sometimes write a post about something totally personal! So here's one of those. 

We went to New York - from the Saturday after Thanksgiving to Wednesday of last week - and had a BALL. Jordan had some continuing education work to do up there, so I got to tag along with his practice. 

I've been fortunate to go to NY many times, but this trip was really different. Every other time I've been, it's been with family or with a group of some sort. This time, though, Jordan spent a lot of the day in his classes, so I had hours and hours to myself. 

It. Was. Heavenly. 

Not because I don't love Jordan, but because I had never gotten to explore the city on my own! Everyone is like this - left to your own devices, you can linger as long as you want in a store, spend as much time reading about something totally weird, and do things like...drive to Carrie's Brownstone and pay homage. 

Not that I did that. (I did that.) 

Our "Secret Single Self" behavior, if you will. 

So I got to do several new things: brunch at Sarabeth's, where I enjoyed 6 uninterrupted chapters of Hillbilly Elegy and lemon ricotta pancakes; wandering through Barney's; a cookie at Magnolia Bakery; writing in Central Park. 

This was also Jordan's first trip to NYC ever, so we did a few things that are NY staples! Here's an onslaught of low-quality iPhone pictures: 

SATURDAY: 

NY Public Library
Natural History Museum
Central Park
Cookshop (dinner)
Milkbar (dessert)

Highlights this day: Jordan's reaction to all things New York was pretty great. The museums/library are always spectacular no matter how many times I see them - beautiful architecture and content.

Dinner that night was at a restaurant in Chelsea called Cookshop, recommended to me by one of my very coolest friends. We sat down at our table and looked over to our right to find that Lea Michele of Glee fame was having dinner next to us. Welcome to New York! 

SUNDAY:

Pilgrimage to Carrie's Brownstone
Le Pain Quotidien (brunch)
Meatball Shop (lunch)
9/11 Memorial and One World Trade Center Observatory (more to come about that in a separate post)
Eataly (dinner)

This was the first morning I had to myself, and I lived. it. UP. I walked to Carrie's Brownstone, which was such a special experience for me as I am an ENORMOUS SJP fan and had never gotten to do this. There were a couple of other very timid fans who were there, so we all kind of quietly took each other's pictures and then went our separate ways. Very strange and wonderful kinship. 

We went to Eataly for dinner and Y'ALL. Holy WOW. It's basically a labyrinth of Italian food. The front part of the space is a specialty market which sells any Italian food you can imagine. They pull their own mozzarella in house. I was dying. We went to La Pizza and La Pasta, which, if you couldn't decipher from the name, serves house-made pasta and pizzas. I basically left my body. It was mind-blowing.  

SUNDAY:

Sarabeth's (brunch)
Walk through Central Park
Walked to and around Chelsea
Phantom of the Opera with the dental practice
Midnight pizza

Sarabeth's was a true delight. On Yelp, several people mentioned that the service was bad or that they were rushed out of their table. That may have been the case for them, but the service I received was second-to-none. These guys were so attentive, without hovering, and I had to ask for the check. I sat and read a ton of my book and just watched all the different kinds of people drift in and out. Heavenly. 

That night, Jordan's practice took everyone to see Phantom of the Opera! I am traditionally not a huge Andrew Lloyd Webber fan, but there is absolutely nothing like being in a theater on Broadway with a live orchestra in the pit. It is really electrifying. The performance was lovely, and, as an extra special cherry on top, the cast announced after curtain call that this was the 12,000th performance of that show. How insane is that?? 

TUESDAY:

Russ and Daughters (brunch) 
NBC Studio tour
Public (dinner with Emily and Kevin!)  

Per another great recommendation, we journeyed to Russ and Daughters, a famous Jewish deli-turned-restaurant, and had our minds blown. If you've never had a real New York bagel, you are missing out, my friend. They are just better. So for brunch, we had matzoh ball soup, latkes, cream cheese and lox and bagels, and raspberry blintzes for dessert. Please just kill me now 'cause I'm dead. 

Afterwards, it was pouring rain, so we decided to do an indoor activity: a tour of NBC studios. I highly recommend it if you ever get the chance. We weren't allowed to take pictures, but we got to tour Jimmy Fallon's studio, Seth Meyer's studio, and (my Holy Grail) the SNL studio. Y'ALL. It is SO MUCH SMALLER in person. So that's probably the only time I'll be in that room in my life. I soaked in every minute. 

The highlight of the trip was getting to have dinner with my great friend from high school, Emily, and her charming boyfriend, Kevin! There's nothing like being in a city full of strangers, only to cap the experience with a long, boozy, laughter-filled dinner with people you already know. 

And yes, I did wear those pants two nights in a row. Sue me, okay? It was New York and I needed to wear my ridiculous crushed velvet wide leg pants a lot of times. ;) 
 

Can't wait until next time!