Delicious.

Thanks, Cass.  This pasta is the best, and so are you!  ;)

1. Napping

2. Winking

3. The awesome new quilt my mom made us

Happy Monday.

Could it be that Mac and Shana just don’t really like or value anyone enough, even in a kind of goofy way, to spend a couple minutes awarding them an imaginary gold star?  What selfish, insular people!  Keeping all those imaginary gold stars for themselves!  

Of course, this is not the case, as we hope you understand.  I think everyone here agrees that imaginary gold stars only bring you joy when you give them away.  

Neither has it been a problem of having no one in our lives that we like or value; in fact, the problem is quite the opposite!  We think and we think and we just can’t decide!

Gold stars to Megan the wedding cake goddess, for the dreamily delicious cake testing all day Saturday? 

Gold stars to everyone who’s helped Megan test cake over the past few weeks?

Gold stars to Thia for being so happy to host us in DC and because it was so good to see her? 

Gold stars to Jill for changing her flight back to Austin so she could hang out with us?

Gold stars to Catherine, Amanda, and other Bonnies, because they wanted to hang out with us and we couldn’t and we feel bad?

Gold stars to Southwest airlines, for having such cheap flights in and out of Midway? 

Gold stars to Rohn and Ammy for not destroying the house while we were gone? 

Gold stars to Mike Ditka, for being so manly?

Gold stars to my boss at work for finally giving me a enough hours so now I won’t be kicked off the health insurance? :-\

Gold stars to my health insurance?  To health insurance in general?  To health?  Ahh!  How can you give an imaginary gold star to “health”?? 

Gold stars to whomever we forgot?  Are you offended?  Oh no!!!

You see, this week, things have gotten out of control. They say that failure to make a decision is a decision in itself, and it seems that they have hit the nail on the head this week.  I guess that makes Mac and me the nails.  Mac has actually recommended just giving a black star to ourselves for the crappy job we’ve been doing with gold stars.  

But no, let the madness stop!  There’s enough depressing news out there, no one wants to hear that on top of it all, Mac and Shana were paralyzed with to hand out any imaginary gold stars this week.  And so we’ve made a decision, and the winner is: 

Threadless, for having a $5 t-shirt sale.  Mac got us each a shirt, just for fun and to make us smile – mine says “being vague is almost as much fun as doing this other thing…” and it’s yellow, and Mac’s is a picture of a cop holding hands with a donut with sprinkles and a cup of coffee, and it says “Crime Sucks.”  

The t-shirts have made us both very happy, in an “it’s the little things” sort of way.  With this in mind, I encourage you all to consider stimulating this depressing economy by spending up to $5 on something little that makes you smile and laugh.  A stack of post-it notes shaped by the first letter of your first name?  A Reese’s peanut butter cup?  Bubbles?   Sleeping in?  That’s free!

And if you feel like it, let us know what you got.  We love love comments.  :)

… AND with us having crossed that oh-so-certain but sometimes oh-so-far-away line that is March 21, I cannot help but endorse: Spring. 

As if we have a choice, right?  It’s not like you can choose Spring, so I don’t know that I can technically endorse it, but wow, I’m so ready I don’t even care.   Our weekend in DC really got me in the mood – warm weather, birds chirping, daffodils, crocuses, tulips, farmer’s markets and flower stores, heavy coats and scarves left in the back of the car… man oh man, Mac even got a sunburn on the back of his neck Sunday afternoon!  Here are some pictures from our completely lovely time at Frager’s Garden Center (those in DC should check it out, if you haven’t already) minus – don’t worry – any kind of photo documenting of the back of Mac’s neck: 

Oooooh, you want it, don’t you?  It’s sooo pretty.  Right down the street from your house, don’t you want it??  Colors!  More than just “dead grass green” and “dirty white” and “really dirty white”!  Pink!  Red!  Blue!  And that’s just the watering cans!!!  Oooh, you can just taste it now, can’t you?   Your mouth is watering now, isn’t it?  Well, that’s weird of you, because you can’t eat watering cans.  

At any rate, back here at home, crossing from March 20 to March 21 means that the days are now longer than the nights, and that we will, for the first time since we moved here in October, get sunlight in our north-facing windows (which far out number our other-ways-facing windows).  Once it stops being so cloudy, the cats are going to love it.  Cloudy and cold.  And rainy.  Once it starts actually feeling like Spring… 

Here in the Midwest we know to be patient, and we know not to let little set-backs take our eyes off the prize of a yard full of daisies and falling asleep on a picnic blanket while reading a book out by the lake… technically, snowstorms are totally fair game through about the end of April, and technically, we’re not supposed to complain, because that’s what we signed up for when we move to the Midwest (or never moved away).

So I guess if I’m actually endorsing anything endorsable today, it would be hanging in there, though it’s 48 and raining right now, though even next week’s weather forecast – next week where we finally get to see April – only has highs in the low 40’s.  Soon enough, soon enough, we’ll be dancing our way through our first farmer’s markets of the season, right here in Chicago, drinking our first iced lattes – outside with no gloves on – and popping our first allergy pills, but not minding one bit.  Hang in there, everyone.  The flowers are peeking up out of the ground already – grab your umbrella, your parka, and maybe your snow shovel, and see if I’m not right.  Soon enough. 

For the record, I am secondarily, but still very enthusiastically, endorsing “Frager’s Hardware,” “planting a flowering tree,” and “taking a vacation to a place you love to visit people you love where you’ve all got enough fun, free time to wander around together through a gardening store, reminiscing about all your favorite flowers-coming-up memories.”  And allergy pills, I’m also endorsing allergy pills.  

More news of our DC trip will be sprinkled throughout this week’s posts, I’m sure… we took a boatload of pictures, as would be expected.  For the record, “Spring” and all things associated just barely won out today over the very strong candidate, “having your good friend Megan Woods bake your wedding cake.”  Intrigued?  That just might pop up on Wednesday… stay tuned.