This is cute piece that my friend, Erin, passed along from The Chicago Tribune's "The Stew" dining blog.  It also confirmed my guilt in the mispronunciation of "bruschetta": it's broo-skettah, not broo-shettah.  Click *here* to read more!

Here are some resolutions that I'd like to stick to for more than a couple of weeks this New Year:

• I really want to start running again (and chasing after the ice cream truck can no longer count).  I think about it constantly and just need to man up, throw on my sneaks, and hit the pavement.  What am I so scared of?
• Read more books with substance and less issues of US Weekly Magazine
• Visit more of Texas than just my hometown.  I owe Lubbock, Dallas, Austin and Houston a long-overdue reunion.
• Find me a decent man...one that I can cook for; a willing guinea pig.  I have so many recipes that I'm dying to try and I'm sick of having to throw parties as an excuse to put on my apron.
• Take my analyzing down a couple of notches; stop attempting to understand why someone did or didn't do something the way I see fit.  You know you're guilty of thinking too much when you ponder what it was the writer was trying to convey when they ended an email response with a generic "Sincerely."
• Buy/adopt a dog.  Sorry Mom, I know you think that bringing a small animal in to a 400 square foot space sounds ludicrous, but I'm more than ready to start taking care of something other than myself.
• Forgive, or at least try harder to.
• Take a trip somewhere I've never been...by myself
• Remind myself to take a step back and look at how far I've come.  I'm my own worst critic.
• Be more trusting and less guarded; let more people in to my life.  Stop assuming that every situation will unfold like the last, be it positive or negative
• Cook more. 
• Put forth a better effort of documenting daily occurrences.  For the shear fact that I live in this crazy city, I witness some amazingly hysterical and fascinating stuff!
• Ask more questions
• Put myself first more often
• Stop rolling my eyes so much!  It's become a horrible habit; I feel like Dorothy Zbornak from The Golden Girls.

I always wonder what message my uber-feminine logo sends across to my readers.  Lately, I've been asking myself some questions:

• Do they (my readers) assume that I'm a total girlie-girl?
• If a guy happens to pull The Lunch Belle up at work, for example, on an open trading floor, is he worried about what people might think if they see him looking at a site that has more pink on it than a bad episode of "Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?"   

Looking back now, I have to laugh when I recall how much of a non-sorority sorority girl I was.  I was the chick who, when all of the other ladies dressed up as sluts promiscuous nurses for Halloween, instead opted for the baggy chola/gangsta' girl get-up.  Or how about the numerous times that I got busted by the sorority "chief of police" for smoking cigarettes in my Greek letters?  Plain and simple: you either loved me or you hated my wild ways.  And one special sorority sister who did find me and my vices quite entertaining was Amber Browning.  I think it was those two grueling weeks of Rush (on the inside) that ignited our initial bond.  We didn't sweat the small stuff and were definitely able to find humor in just about everything.  Amber was such a breath of fresh air, plus I loved her raspy Southern accent.  At a time in my life where I wasn't quite sure where I fit in, Amber always made me feel comfortable and confident in my own skin.  She was a great audience to my quirky jokes; we played off of each other famously. 

Recently, Amber and I reconnected on Facebook.  I was thrilled to learn that she had just graduated from law school at the prestigious Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. She was engaged to be married and certainly seemed well on her way to a bright and highly successful future.  Most recently, Amber learned that she had passed the grueling Texas bar exam.  Life was looking pretty damn good.

TLB

...people, places and things (food, of course) that have been making me smile lately:

• Isharya jewelry
• Sea lions.  They are the most curious, lazy, vocal, smelly and loveable creatures on the entire planet. 
• Being able to completely forget about work, deadlines, returning phone calls, etc. while on vacation.  The ability to fully immerse yourself in holiday/relaxation-mode is truly priceless.
• Bea Arthur as Dorothy Zbornak on The Golden Girls
• My gorgeous & adorable god-daughter, Miss Blair
• Finalizing plans to spend Memorial Day with some of my best friends in Austin, Texas
• Cesare Casella
• Saucisson sec (dry French sausage)
• Shrimp n' Grits on L'Ecole's current brunch menu
• Gazala Place's boureka
• Morandi's Frittelle di Ricotta (ricotta fritters)
• Brooklyn Larder
• Salted butter
• The Corner Cafe's everything-flagel with a thick schmear of pimento cream cheese
• Grandaisy Bakery's potato pizza
• Watching the leaves change color against the backdrop of brownstones in Brooklyn and the West Village
• Via Dei Mille's pappardelle alla bolognese
• Closing my eyes and dreaming of a bigger space
• Buttercup Bakeshop's PB&J cupcake
• Chandeliers
• Reruns of The Office
• The candy bins, not the frozen yogurt, at Tasti D' Lite
• Butterfield Market is selling select treats from Cheryl Kleinman and Payard
• Thai iced tea-flavored bubble tea from Crazy Bananas