I gotta get going here...

#45 - It's almost the end of the month, and I've got all my recipes in thank pete! They were some REAL good ones too...

1. Apricot Orange Crescent Rolls for Easter Brunch
Mix together 1/4 cup apricot preserves and 1/4 cup orange marmalade (helps to microwave for 20 seconds to loosen it up). Separate and roll out Pillsbury Crescent Rolls onto a baking sheet and preheat oven to package directions. Spread a layer of the fruit mix onto each triangle with the back of a spoon and roll into crescents. Beat one egg with a little water and brush each roll with the egg wash. Sprinkle sliced almonds and toasted sesame seeds on top of all the rolls. Bake per package directions, until golden on top.

2. Brie and Cauliflower Stuffed Potato
Just as it sounds...bake a potato for 45 mins or so. Be sure to smear EVOO all over the potato to make the skin crispy! Also poke holes in the potato about half way through baking. Scoop out the potato yummness and mix it with a triangle of brie cheese and some chopped cauliflower. Put the mixture back into the skin and the potato back in the oven for another 15 minutes.

3. PB&J Drummies with Asian Slaw
Mmmmmmm this was absolutely AMAZING! Recipe is in a book at home, so I'll have to add it later!
*PS I used my atypical produce (#50), Radicchio, in the Asian slaw...perfect!

4. Salmon with Brie and Apples
This one sounds weird (salmon and cheese and apples?!?!) but I was completely taken aback by the perfect combination of flavors and cannot WAIT to have it again!!!
Preheat oven to 350. Rub 1-2 salmon fillets with salt, pepper, paprika, and minced garlic. Sear the fillets, first skin side down, in a hot pan with EVOO for about 4 minutes. While searing the other side, pull skin off the top with a fork (should come off easily). Sear the former-skin side for another minute, and top with several pieces of brie cheese, place on foil lined baking sheet, and bake for 15 minutes or until salmon is flaky. Meanwhile, peel off the skin of a Gala apple and cube. Heat in a pan with a TB or two of butter, a pinch of salt, and a touch of honey. Simmer for 10 minutes plus, until the apples are soft. Serve over the baked salmon.

#63 is in the works...Mandsi and I did a thorough cleaning before Casey visited, I organized the hallway and bathroom closets, and now we just need to tackle the kitchen...the snakes. I also need to organize my bedroom closet and give a TON of stuff to Goodwill!

#68 - I went to Kopp's AGAIN when Casey was here...and I also just pretty much ate whatever I wanted the entire week he was here. So I need to take a break from all that mos def. I feel like the biggest bloato baggins ever and I don't think I'm getting enough produce in my life!

#79 & #98 will be in the works VERY soon with my SUPER AWESOME HipsterCache idea!! More later!

#82 - I have yet to actually put any money into savings :( It's virtually May and I haven't done anything so not only am I behind on my $1/day savings, but this $25/mo additional savings. The way I see it, I'm behind by $220. Do I have that much to move over?? I guess I'll take a gander at my checking account this afternoon and see.

#87 - New artists! There were a few this month and now they're all escaping me. I've enjoyed individual songs by the following, however: She & Him, Friendly Fires, Buck 65, Emiliana Torrini, and Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings. OH! And I DID fall in love with Jessica Lea Mayfield at the Ray LaMontagne show the other night :)

In other news, like I ALWAYS seem to say, "I gotta get going here." On CREATIVE PROJECTS!! C'mon Katie! Currently I have nothing pending, aside from my portfolio site, so I could really take advantage of the time. What time? That's the problem. My schedule for the next few months is totally insane. I'm seriously going to have to buckle down on the week days if I truly want to get anything done. I just have to bite the bullet and make a strict schedule on how to at LEAST get started. I know I keep saying that. I wish there was a magic wand available for purchase that could make me DO it.

Finally, for next month I'm going to eat Bok Choy and give up sweet bakery again because it is RUNNING MY LIFE RIGHT NOW! No more!!!

F this list, I'm so over it!!

April Fools??? No, but seriously, it finally sunk in this past weekend that this list really may not be doable in its entirety. I discussed with my mom, and she said "In the future you should only have three projects going at one time: a big project, a small one, and one that isn't all that important that you tinker with when you have the time." And that sounds GLORIOUS! Such a nice alternative to the 394829305 projects currently looming on the horizon. So with that said, I'll try to keep keepin on, but there might have to be a 101 Things in 1001 Days: The Epilogue after Oct 29th, and just tackle those one by one.

Anyway, April 1st! So to wrap up March...

#33 - Ice skating!! Finally happened! I went to Pettit with a new manfriend this past weekend. Jeez, walking in there? I haven't been to Pettit since I was a Freshman in HS, and all these crazy memories came flooding back! And the smell of the place was exactly the same! Anyway, I was totally freaked after putting the skates on, like, is this really humanly possible? But sure nuff, it was like riding a bike and I even picked up some good speed after a few turns. After skating we got hot cocoa and that was nice :) I still want to go to Red Arrow and skate out in the elements! Next year!

#41 - I'm going to officially cross Twist Step three times a week off my list. With the new running regiment, I gotta keep Twist Step to a dull roar in order to give my legs some rest days. It's been grand Twist Step!! You helped me lose 10 lbs and be the sveltish lass I am today!

#45 - The last recipe of the month was a zesty sliced potato and onion with parm dish I made for my grandpa's birthday dinner. Yumtastic!

#50 - Atypical produce for April: Radicchio

#51 - No give up for March as I'm anti coffee and Facebook for Lent, but I should probably give something up for April since Lent is over in a week and a half! Hmmmmm...well I've already had sweet bakery this morning in the form of a delicious cupcake AND half a blueberry muffin. Well, I have an idea, so I'm going to try it out. It more or less has something to do with me being a Bitter Betty about certain things...and people.

#68 - Mmmmm I went to Kopp's this past week and indulged in a caramel sundae with sliced bananas and chopped nuts. It was absolutely glorious. I have a very special friend coming into town in a few weeks and I am definitely taking him to Kopp's for an explosion of deliciousness!

#69 - Platelet Donation!!!
So to recap, I decided against volunteering for the Blood Center, and decided FOR donating my platelets. What a dooz! So my veins are super thin and the platelet needle is really small...so right away, the techs were like "this probably won't work, but do you want us to try anyway?" Being no stranger to techs digging around in my veins (sorry Monica!), I was like why not?! These ladies were super talented though and were able to get up in there and make it work! On my end, I kept squeezing this heat pack (you have to keep SUPER warm during the entire process for it to work, so I was underneath a huge electric blanket!) like every half second FOR AN HOUR!!! My forearm was seriously ready to give out by the end! Anyway, the process totally worked! While I'm not afraid to try it again, I feel bad for the techs who will have to deal with me because it's quite a tricky process finding my vein and stuff. But I'm going to try sometime this month and see if I can keep the luck alive! Best part: I read up on platelet donation and knew that you have to have something with calcium in order to prevent tingling in your lips and a metallic taste in your mouth due to the anti-coagulant. So I hit up McDonald's right before the donation and bought a milk. "Just a milk??" they asked me. Haha! Worst part: When the heat pack exploded and oozed hot blue liquidish stuff into my hand but I couldn't do anything about it until the techs came back to check on me!

#97 - As you can see over at Must Run!, I'm totally all over this running thing!! Every run day I VERY much look forward to it the whole day! Today is one of those days, and despite the yuck, gloomy, rain/sleet 36 degrees it'll probably be...I'm still stoked :)

Alright, speaking of the weather, let's hope this gross Wisconsin "spring" picks it up a notch now that it's April! OH and speaking of April, Monday was officially the ONE YEAR MARK since John and my breakup! What a year it has been!! I went from a bit of a mess, making not so stellar decisions--to bitter and cynical, but hilarious--to positive, rolling with the punches, and hopeful for the future. I've got myself a new something-ship that's just in that interesting initial stage. So far so good, but we'll see where it goes! All I know is that it took me going through that breakup one year ago to realize how great a guy can really be, how compromise is the key to happiness, and how I truly deserve the things I want in life! As I said on March 31, 2008:
"For now I can start over, figure out what I honestly want out of life and out of a life mate! I never mind sacrificing here and there (ok I AM a glutton for punishment!), but I now see that there is a fine line between compromising WITH someone and sacrificing FOR someone. And in my case the smoking, not being able to have a child, or even a cat, of my own, and finally the probability of no marriage either...my fate is no longer sealed."
Amen to that!!!