Malice of Fortune – A delicious masterpiece of historical fiction set in 1502 Italy that brings together Leonardo da Vinci, Niccolo Machiavelli, a polished courtesan & a Borgia Pope. Click on npr to hear Lynn Neary & I discussing it on All Things Considered.

Where’d You Go, Bernadette? - Loved this book. I’ll admit I’m attracted to people who are amusing, smart but also a little nuts so I fell hard for Bernadette.

Wonder - Loved absolutely everything about this wonderfully character driven, heart tugging, quit feeling sorry for yourself PERFECT (middle grade) book.

Gone Girl – Really? You haven’t read it? Seriously?! What are you waiting for – go read this book but make sure you have plenty of time because you won’t put it down.

Tell the Wolves I’m Home - Beautiful story of family, loss and all the right & wrong kinds of love. Story takes place in the 80′s so I completely identified with the time period & family dynamics.

Heads in Beds - Easy, entertaining read about life in the hotel industry. Makes me want to go find Jacob “Tommy” Tomsky and ‘slip him a brick’ for so much of the crap he’s had to endure and then I’d like to go have some drinks and hear more!

The Legend of Cowboy, Ninja, Bear – Great new take on rock, paper, scissors. Kids will love it.

And if you are looking for MORE, check out my earlier BOOK posts or head over to Books on the Nightstand, a brilliant literary podcast that keeps my ‘to-read’ list growing & growing.

Cooking More – I’ve tried 3 new recipes over the last week and 2 are keepers. Also, I’m getting better at remembering to thaw out my ‘make-ahead’ meals that I do on a semi-monthly basis at Time for Dinner.

Eat More Paleo / Blood Type O – Not so good. Having a difficult time at breakfast and damn those chips & salsa.

Get up earlier – I’m reading Laura Vanderkam’s What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast (ebook) and it’s a strong, persuasive argument for not hitting snooze. I also joined the Hello Mornings Challenge that started today and maybe tomorrow I’ll actually get up early for it.

Find an exercise to do 3/week – I carved out the time that I could go exercise, but so far haven’t made it out the door.

Read 43 books – 10 books so far. Okay I cheated and started counting on January 1 AND I read really fast AND I LOVE books. Next post, I’ll give my favorites from 2012.

Watch 15 Independent Films – 1 so far. I may have to partner this with spending quality time with husband as that’s harder to plan that I realized.

For the remaining ones, I’ve done zip, nada, nothing but that’s what so ingenious about this plan. When most people are already falling off the wagon with their resolutions, I’m just getting started! Anyone else with me?

credit BBDesigns on etsy

For the first time ever, I am making a serious concerted effort to celebrate the Chinese New Year on February 10th, 2013. Truth be told, it will have given me 41 additional days to sort our my resolutions and goals for the year. January 1st arrived much too quickly and I didn’t want to make any knee jerk resolutions. According to ‘research’ people born in the Year of the Snake are reputed to be thoughtful and wise and to approach problems rationally and logically, seldom instinctively. While I was born in the year of the dog (we can find fault with many things and are noted for our sharp tongues), this particular snake year seems to be aligned with where I’m headed.

Life Simplified continues to be a great place for me to provide shortcuts, solutions and suggestions for living a more simplified life both here, facebook & on twitter. Moving forward, for this particular year, I’m also going to share my quest to follow through on the many goals, ideas, & resolutions that I always WANT to accomplish, but somehow (always) let slide.

In no particular order…

• Cook more.
• Eat more Paleo or Blood Type O foods/diet.
• Prioritize husband / couple time.
• Find an exercise that I will do 3/week.
• Entire family to learn basic Spanish.
• Read 43 books (tracking on goodreads.com).
• Watch 15 independent films.
• Get up earlier, even if it’s 15 minutes.
• Go to bed earlier, turn off bad TV.
• Less screen time, more kid time.
• Focus on positive, stay present.

Nothing like learning rocket science, but at least if it’s public, there’s more accountability. And what I’m really hoping is that this helps me direct my time as opposed to wondering where it went. What’s on your agenda for this forthcoming Chinese New Year? I’d love you to share any of your own shortcuts, solutions and suggestions for getting where you want to be! GOOD LUCK!

Sadie & I, treatment #2

Okay, I get it. Well we got it & now I understand it. Lice, nits – the whole works and I’m not confident that I’ll ever quit itching. After 5 days, 4 treatments and 17 loads of laundry, we’re all clear but that is something I never want to go through again. Because I didn’t get much direction from doctor or pharmacist, I’m going to save you a lot of time and tell you what worked and didn’t…for us.

• Nix Lice treatment – it’s pesticide for your hair?!? Recommended by pediatrician, but not for me.
• Fairy Tales Hair Care- great online video (including Step 3 which is pouring yourself a glass of wine), decent lice treatment but really like their preventive spray which I will use EVERY day for the rest of my life. All natural, organic.
• Quit Nits – smelled the best but not most effective
• Lice MD – BEST for getting rid of lice & nits
• Tiny teeth metal comb at drugstore, better than any ‘included’ combs
• Use lots of clips, do very small sections, comb every direction & wipe comb every time

On the up side, I got some serious quality time with both my kids. BIG talks that might not have happened and a lot of movie watching while we literally went through each other’s hair with fine toothed combs again & again & again… (“So happy for my husband who has been travelling since the whole mess started”, said no one ever).

UPDATE 1 WEEK LATER…Apparently none of the above completely worked but Lice Busters St. Louis did. Save yourself a lot of time, laundry and frustration by contacting them first. Wish I would’ve know about Lice Busters from the beginning. Thanks Libby & Susie.

While driving my daughter to soccer practice, I noticed a lawn care truck in front of a neighbor’s house. A seemingly nice man was putting away his mower when I shamelessly accosted him and asked if he had any time to cut our grass. Typically this falls into ‘husband’ category, not that this Kentucky girl hadn’t handled a SNAPPER mower on my childhood farm for MANY years, but said husband had been dealing with his own crazy work stuff and getting home late and exhausted. Lawn care is certainly not in our budget, but at this moment when our grass had gotten to an almost embarrassing level, I decided that I could shave some money from one budget line or work a few additional hours JUST TO GET IT DONE.

My kids says that in the heat of the moment that I told Ron Busken (Busken Lawn Care) that I loved him when he agreed to the task (I’m denying it) and off we sped to soccer. When I returned, it turned out to be a bigger project due to the length/thickness of the grass and the odd angles in the backyard, but Ron was very nice and charged me a very fair amount for being ambushed at the end of his work day.

Fast forward a few hours when the heavens opens and it starts to pour down rain, husband gets home and and is so happy that the deed it done – Priceless.   Read more about determining your own priorities in regards to time and money in 168 Hours & All the Money in the World.

Here are the stats and the highlights:

Miles traveled: 4861,  States traversed: KS, CO, UT, AZ, NM, TX, OK, MO, IN, IL, KY, TN

Hottest air temp: 112 degrees at bottom of Grand Canyon (and over 100 everyday from Phoenix to St Louis).

Coldest water temp:  48 degrees in Colorado River

Class 5+ rapids conquered on Colorado River:  3

Continental Divide crossings: 3 x over, 1 x under.

Highest elevation: 11,539 ft ( Hoosier Pass, CO)

National Forests driven through:  lost count

Most overcrowded state park: Slide Rock, Sedona, AZ

Most scenic view from hotel room: YMCA of the Rockies, Estes Park, CO

Best balcony: Overlooking the Animas River at Durango Doubletree, CO

Best missed sunset: Mather Point, Grand Canyon

Favorite song:  ”Old Matt Palmer’s Misfit Farm” – Bar D Chuck Wagon Singers

Drive that will make you go vegetarian:  Rte 60 between Bovina and Hereford, TX

Best upgrade: the premier car on the Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Train

Favorite meals/restaurants: Brunch – L’Auberge, Sedona, AZ; Lunch – Nini’s Taqueria, Durango, CO; Late lunch – Pops, Arcadia, OK; Dinner – Plaza Bonita, Tusayan, AZ

Best beers:  Big Texan Steak Ranch, Amarillo, TX

Cheapest treat: Sno-cones at Four Corners Monument

Most random, multi-tasting stop: Eagle Ranch Pistachio Farm, NM – wine, pistachios and ice cream all before 11am

Most UFO sightings: Roswell, NM

Best dunes – White Sands National Monument, NM

Longest and most unnerving drive into a national park:  Mesa Verde, AZ

Favorite pool: Tapatio Cliffs, Phoenix, AZ

Arizona towns laying claim to inspiration for the animated movie “Cars”: 3 – Peach Springs, Seligman, and Holbrook

Most wacky or random signs:”Knives and donuts” – NM; & “Toot n Totum”  - TX

Where graffiti is encouraged: Cadillac Ranch – Amarillo, TX

Nicest Welcome rest stop:  Oklahoma between Texola and Erick

Most Ironic – Having a Family Reunion in a dry county

Most Fun on a Lake – Pontoons with slides in Dale Hollow, KY

We had a great trip and if you are ever considering this journey to the Southwest , along this portion of Route 66, or Bardstown, KY let me know and I’d be happy to help.

To the right my sister and I are “just standing on a corner in Winslow, AZ…”

1. Defending Jacob by William Landay – legal thriller that SHOCKED me

2. Divergent by Veronica Roth – if you loved Hunger Games, jump into this series

3. Drop Dead Healthy by A.J. Jacobs – one man, 18 months of using his own body to test and try all fitness fads, ridiculously entertaining & informative

4. The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty – delicious historical fiction & USA Today‘s #1 Hot Fiction Pick for the summer

5. Before I Go To Sleep by S. J. Watson – creepy, creepy, creepy fantastic, kept me guessing till the end

6. In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin by Erik Larson - offers a fascinating window into the year when the world began its slow slide into war. Non-fiction that reads like fiction, unbelievable.

7. The Might Have Been by Joseph Schuster – baseball story that resonates with the pull of lifelong dreams, the stings of regret, and the ways we define ourselves against uncertain twists of fate

8. Spy School by Stuart Gibbs – perfectly fun & funny for elementary & middle school boys

9. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland by Catherynne Valente - full of oddments, adventure, whimsy, and joy for ages 10ish and up.

10. Life if a small-town girl – For some laugh out loud uncomfortable, ridiculous reading, check out my teen angst years

Recently our family picked up Being Elmo from the library and while you can love or hate this well known muppet, you can’t help but be inspired by Kevin Clash, whose only dream was to make puppets. This documentary follows him through a series of good breaks that led him into the universe of Jim Henson and “Sesame Street,” and we even hear an eyewitness account to the day he “discovered” the Elmo character.

Currently at home, we have No Impact Man which I’m hoping will continue to move me into a less wasteful lifestyle and Page One, which grants the viewers unprecedented access to the New York Times newsroom. Last but not least is The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, a documentary about branding, advertising and product placement that is financed and made possible by brands, advertising and product placement. Trust me, even the trailer is genius!

Many others have generated their must see documentaries as you can review below but l’d love to hear your thoughts and recommendations as well!

• Ten Documentaries Everyone Should See 
• 50 Docs to See Before You Die
• 10 Documentaries to Be Watched Again & Again

• We used the (no annual fee) Chase Disney credit card so most of our trip was FREE. Room, dining plan, park passes were all covered by points that we had accrued over the last 4 ½ years.  We went through AAA to get even better deals than I found online and saved out of our monthly budget to cover our flights.

• We chose to take kids out of school for a few days and go at an unpopular time of year. I’m not good with heat or crowds so mid-January worked perfectly well for us. There were a few rides closed for repairs or refurbishments but nothing major.

• I’d read that pin trading was big at the parks so I went online prior to the trip and bought / bid on $1 Disney lanyards plus one ‘lot’ of 26 Disney pins ($25)  so the kids had pins to trade with cast members (employees) from the minute they walked into the parks. In the parks, this would have sent me back well over $150 and they kids really got into it. Instead of asking for things when we went into shops, they were finding employees to trade with.

• Going online and getting a few ‘gently loved’ goodies before the trip (my son loves Stitch and my daughter Tinkerbell) can save you tons in the long run on t-shirts, backpacks, ears (got these new & personalized for 50% off-free shipping by watching Disney.com/ store), etc. A family member gave each child a $25 Disney gift card for Christmas so we were actually able to get out of the parks with out spending anything ourselves. I did a countdown of “The 12 Days of Disney” before we left and each child got a pin every morning and then I surprised them with a t-shirt and backpack on the day we left.

• I’d recommend two web sites (if you want to pay) to join for an incredible amount of information on all things Disney – tourguidemike.com or touringplans.com. They each have different positives depending on your needs but I’d suggest at least one as it helps to guide you to the least crowded parks on which days, sample touring plans, reviews on everything and more tips and hints than you would ever need.

• About.com has a list of 9 Useful Walt Disney World Apps that I reviewed before I left. Ones that I used that were and were not included in the list were WDW Trivia (great, while waiting for anything), WDW Maps & More, Secrets Gold (hidden Mickeys) and WDW Lines (wait times).

• When they say make your dining reservations 180 days in advance, they aren’t kidding even in ‘low crowd’ times and especially if you want to do something special like a character meal or signature dining. You can reserve online or over the phone. There are various dining plans but we chose the Deluxe Dining Plan because of some of the specialty meals we reserved and we also wanted to sit down and eat 2/day and not be elbowing our way through counter service restaurants for chicken nuggets. While this added cost would have been over what points we had accrued, Disney offered a special for a FREE basic dining plan during January which our travel agent caught & that saved us close to $500 which put us back into our allotted points.

• We chose to stay onsite at The Contemporary Hotel (my favorite from childhood) which allowed us to walk to The Magic Kingdom and has the monorail that comes right through the hotel, pretty cool.

• Last but not least, read books (Peter and the Starcatchers, Swiss Family Robinson, Alice in Wonderland or rent a few Disney movies to get in the magical mood.

While all this may seem a bit overboard, saving money & having a plan were my 2 biggest priorities and all this led to a wonderfully spectacular trip. To be continued…

For further ‘research’ Vom Fass will turn anyone into an oil aficionado. Who knew that you could infuse orange, peperoncino, basil or chili to make a culinary master out of me? At your local store, you are able to sample dozens of these delicious oils in addition to a huge selection of Aged Balsamic Vinegars and Liqueurs , my favorite is the Latte Macchiato.

To finish off my oil obsession, I went in search of a fun dispenser / cruet. My top picks were from Folk Art Guild, Generate, & Red Candy.