abc, 123

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The ABCs of Chloe:

A – Attached or Single: Single…happily, happily, happily single, although I do miss kissing. Well, I guess I don’t need to be attached to be kissing, but I’ve learned from experience that attached is better than unattached when kissing.

B – Best Friend: If I had to choose one, well, I couldn’t. My sisters and then some. I have some dear, dear friends and they all fill different needs in my life, so I’m just going to say my sisters and leave it there.

C – Cake or Pie: Cake. I am not a pie person (I like them, occasionally, but not very often). But cake, I like all the time. My preference: Yellow or white cake (made from a box) with chocolate (from a tub) frosting.

D – Drink of Choice: Diet Coke, specifically from Sonic, with vanilla. But, as of today, I am off of carbonation and caffeine. Why? Because apparantly carbonation and caffeine are not good for running and I want to do everything I can to be ready for this marathon. Pretty much, just stay away from me for the next three to four days. Caffeine withdrawals are a b*@?#!

E – Essential Item: Lately, my camera. I can’t seem to be without it. Oh, and my cell phone.

F – Favorite Color: Tune in tomorrow for this one. It’s the spt challenge for this week and I have chosen to participate.

G – Gummi Bears or Worms: Worms. Definitely worms.

H – Hometown: Walnut Creek, CA. It’s a little suburb of San Francisco.

I – Indulgence(s): Books, blogging, Swiss Milk Chocolate ice-cream from Fenton’s or Leatherby’s. Fenton’s is better, but Leatherby’s is here and not in California. Good bread, good cheese, and good chocolate. That’s what living in Europe will do to you. Oh, and sushi. Oh, and shoes. How could I forget shoes?! Evidently, I am quite indulgent…although anyone who knows me could have told you that.

J – January or July: July. I am a summer girl…at least now that I live in Utah and not Arizona.

K – Kids: None of my own, but five…soon to be six (my sister’s having a little girl tomorrow) nieces and nephews who I absolutely adore. You can see one of them here.

L – Life is incomplete without: My family, movies, music, books, good food, traveling and shopping.

M – Marriage Date: Thankfully, I don’t have one.

N – Number of Siblings: Four. Well, that’s the uncomplicated version. But really, I have a brother who died when he was five months old, long before I came along, so five.

O – Oranges or Apples: Totally depends, but probably oranges.

P – Phobias/Fears: Mutating bacterial infections. I know, that’s weird, but it’s real. Otherwise, my greatest fear is that something bad will happen to someone in my family. Sometimes, I wake up in the middle of the night with a bad feeling and want to call every one of my siblings to make sure every one is okay.

Q – Favorite Quote: “It always works out.” – my mom

R – Reason to smile: My sister is having a baby tomorrow! I am so excited! I can’t wait to see this newest member of our family!

S – Season: Fall. I love the leaves changing. I love that it is still relatively warm. And my birthday is in the fall.

T- Tag Three: This has been around a lot so go tag yourself (and leave me a comment to let me know).

U – Unknown Fact About Me: I’m pretty vocal, so most people know most things about me (I talk way too much).

V – Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animals: I am a happy oppressor of animals. I tried the vegetarian thing once and I can see the benefits of it, but I love me a good steak.

W – Worst Habit: Talking too much. I can be pretty self-absorbed. I don’t know what else. I’m sure my siblings would happily share them with you. Oh, not folding clean laundry. It just sits, for days, getting wrinkled.

X – X-rays or Ultrasounds: Interesting question. Since I’ve never had an ultrasound, I’m going to have to go with x-ray.

Y – Your Favorite Foods: See my indulgences.

Z- Zodiac: Scorpio

my favorite tart

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No, it’s not a catchy title for my post (as evidenced by the pictures). This is literally my favorite tart. “The Gang” had a little bbq last night and, pre-the Weight Watchers decision, I told my friends I would make my favorite tart. So, I did.

Here’s the recipe:

Tart Pastry

Pre-heat oven to 375 F.

  • 1 large egg yolk (cold)
  • 2 Tbsp. ice water (literally, put some ice in it)
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 1 1/4 c. flour
  • 1/3 c. sugar
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 c. unsalted cold butter, cut into 1/4″ cubes

Sift dry ingredients together (if you don’t have a sifter, mix with a fork, get any lumps out and “fluff” to get some air in).

Cut in butter with a pastry blender (you can also use two knives). You want to combine it until you have a cornmeal type consistency (it will be very dry).

Mix the yolk, water and vanilla in a separate bowl. Once combined, add to the flour mixture. Mix until just combined. (And the trick to a really good, flaky pastry is keeping the dough cold…you should still be able to see mini balls of butter in the dough).

Roll dough into 1/8″ thick circle (it should be between 9″ and 11″ in diameter). You may need to flour the rolling pin and pastry board (or counter top…that’s what I use).

Move the tart pastry into the tart pan. Smooth out the dough and push it into the pan walls. Cut off anything over the top of the pan. After that, “fork” bottom of the dough. This allows air to escape, which will keep the crust from bubble up and cracking.

Put foil over the shell and place pie weights (I use a smaller pan with some water in it and place that on top of the foil) on the foil. Bake for about 15 minutes in the lower 1/3 of the oven with the foil and weights. Remove the foil and weights and bake another 5 to 10 minutes.

Voila! I know is sounds extremely complicated, but once you’ve done it once, it’s really quite easy.

The rest of the tart really is easy, even the first time.

Orange Tart Cream

  • 8 oz cream cheese (you can substitute with fat-free…the texture will be a little funny, but no one will know once you put the fruit over it and it tastes just fine).
  • 1/4 c. sugar (you could probably substitute with Splenda, but I used regular sugar).
  • 1 tsp. fine orange zest (or finally grated peel)
  • 2 tsp. orange extract

Use a mixer to combine all ingredients. Spread on cooled tart shell. Layer with fruit (strawberries and blueberries are recommended). I used a 1 lb carton of strawberries and about 4 oz of blueberries.

It sounds difficult, but it is seriously worth it! And, made with just one substitution (I used fat-free cream cheese instead of regular) it’s 7 points per serving…serves 8.

ETA: I found the recipe on the Williams-Sonoma website (that’s where it came from originally…well, I got it out of their “Pie and Tart” cookbook, although now I have it on a card in my recipe box since the majority of my books are in storage) and discovered the texture issue of the non-fat cream cheese might be because it wasn’t at room temperature, and it should have been. So, the non-fattedness of it may have nothing to do with it. (Yes, I like making up words). Oh, and they have a glaze there, but I don’t like glazes on my fruit, so I don’t have it on my recipe card.

today’s run

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I am extremely lucky to live where I do right now with the running that I’m doing. It is not only a beautiful place to run, but I have met people with whom I can run on Saturday mornings. Dianne (she kind of got me into this whole race thing) and I hit the road at about 8:00 this morning. The nice thing when you run with someone is that you can shuttle. We park one car at the end of our run and drive the other one to the beginning, that way we don’t have to do an “out and back” run. This alleviates the halfway breakdown I regularly experience when I have to turn around knowing I am only halfway through. Not only that, but I love running with Dianne, specifically, because she pushes me (she runs just a bit faster than I do) and she keeps me going with all of the great conversation. I never thought I would be one for chatting while running, but it sure makes the time go by a little faster. It helps that she is a very interesting person (although I do have one headphone in my outside ear…I have to have music).

We had a great run. We did about 4.5 miles today at a good pace, and because Dianne has done St. George nine times, she knows great training routes which means that I will be well prepared. And after we finished our run (which seriously flew by), I went back to take pictures of the beautiful things I saw along the way…I’m a little photo-obsessed lately. Can you blame me?




Next Saturday…6 miles. It’s a good thing I have such beautiful things to look at and such great company or I’d never make it all the way to the marathon. I can’t imagine running being much better than this (well, okay, so running next to the ocean would win, but I won’t be living next to an ocean any time soon, so this is a close second).

www…no, not the world wide web

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I’ve decided to start a new series of posts: Weight Watchers Weekly. I will post them every Friday (for the most part, but once a week for sure) as my meetings are Thursday evenings. I have finally admitted that I need to do something structured about my weight (apparently complaining doesn’t count, nor does it help me lose anything) and have taken the first step. Over the last year (or so) I have put on 20 lbs. That’s right, one year=20 lbs. Do the math…it’s a little painful. So, inspired by my friend/coworker, I went to Weight Watchers last night and joined. If Jenny McCarthy can do it, so can I! (Well, really, I’m sure Jenny has plenty of will power and help, but she’s definitely inspirational).

Now, I’ve done this before, and had some success, but I quit very quickly. I’m hoping that by publicizing my efforts and goals (and not living by my sister who loves to bake) I will have a little more motivation. Not only that, but having a friend definitely helps, especially since we will go to meetings together and can share successes (she started a week ago and is down 4.6 lbs).

So, in these weekly installments, I hope to update you all on my challenges, success, share any tips, etc. And, if I miss a week, please go ahead and remind me because, with my blogging obsession, chances will be that if I missed a week, it was intentional. And, even if I have a bad week, well, I want to be able to share that, as well.

So far, so good!

insecure dilemmas

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One of my least favorite existential dilemmas is how, no matter how accomplished or successful I am or how great my friends are, I always come back into moments of serious insecurity: the dilemma? Why? Why should I feel insecure? What is it that makes me worry about whether or not this person likes me or why that person never calls me? I have a pretty great life. Sure, I’m plagued with trials that we all seem to experience. Perhaps mine are different than yours, but we all have our share of hardships.

Even with those trials, I still feel like I have a very full and rich life. I don’t wonder where my next meal is going to come from, or my next pair of shoes, for that matter. I have fabulous friends whose company I thoroughly enjoy. I have a wonderful family. I have my health. So what is it that makes me feel “less than” because I can’t run a 6-minute mile, or sing as well as my voice teacher, or play the piano like my father, or have my sister’s cute figure, or choose fonts like my design friends, or write like, well really, lots of you out there, or, or, or? And why is it that, at 29, I still worry about being left out or missing something?

I think I had this idea as a child, and adolescent, that grown-ups didn’t worry about such childish things as whether or not people liked them or how well they could do things. I never imagined that my dad was ever unsure of himself at work or that my mom wondered why a particular friend hadn’t invited her to some luncheon. I had a hard time with friends through most of high school. I mean, I had them, but I always worried about whether or not my friends really liked me and whether I would be invited to the next party. But I always assumed that I would outgrow this, that as time passed I would become wise and knowing and stop caring about such trivial things.

Unfortunately, while the insecurities have changed slightly over the years, they are still there. Now I worry about whether or not my friends get sick of me talking (I can be a little chatty). I worry about what they think of my choices. When someone doesn’t appear to “like” me, I wonder why. Of course, I always assume it’s my problem, that I did something wrong. It’s like, the more I know myself, the more I realize how many weird quirks I have. And the more quirks I notice, the more I wonder why people are friends with me. I know that sounds kind of pathetic and I don’t mean it that way. It’s not that I don’t see my good qualities. I know I’m fun (see, obnoxious) and I think I’m a good friend, but sometimes I just really think, “Wow, sometimes I do this and it’s really annoying.”

The worst part is, I am fully aware that I am being ridiculous. I know that everyone has quirks. I know my friends do and they don’t bug me at all. The quirks just add to why I love them. They are what make my friends unique, entertaining and enjoyable. I know that I don’t have to be good at everything for people to like me and I know that it’s okay if some people just don’t like me. Well, I know all of this…in theory. The practical application, however, is a different story.

It’s funny that I always worry about what others think of me and rarely concern myself with what others think about what I think about them. I wonder how different my world would be if I would stop worrying about what other people thought about me and started worrying more about how I made others feel about themselves.