Things I am so thankful for this Friday

1. Elly Ameling (her Bach is really the best)

2. The fact that I had the courage to wear pink and red together today!  And that the skirt I'm wearing is kind of a label and I got it for ten bucks on Ebay!

3. My new necklace from J. Crew, courtesy of a special friend

4. Green tea with lemon.  It keeps me from eating the several bags of chips I desire.

5. Finally figuring out how to properly sear chicken so that it tastes good with out breading-- I did this last night to put on a green salad, and I think I may have changed Joe and I'd minds about eating salads for meals.  Here's how:  get a cast iron skillet REALLY hot.  Put a little oil in the pan and turn it up between high and medium for like five or six minutes.  Season chicken cutlets with A LOT of season salt (I use Morton's because it has a hint of Old Bay and I am from Maryland) on each side.  The key is to really thickly season them.  Pat the chicken pieces dry.  Slap them down in that hot hot pan and leave them there on one side until they are dark brown, without moving them.  Then flip them over.  You'll know when they're done, because you touch it with the tongs and it is quite firm and springs back.  Then you take it out and slice it and put it on your greens with balsamic vinaigrette-- shave some parmigiano on there, and it almost feels luxurious.  You know, like you're not on a diet.  Okay well...

6. It's almost time for our Miami get away.  I've never been to Miami, in fact the east of Florida at all!

7. Pedicure tomorrow-- first one since Christmas-- what color to choose?

8. Having a minute to spend with friends again.  I realize that there are a few people in my life that are so much like family that when I do not have the opportunity to see them regularly, it is hard for me to cope with life.

9. Thich Nhat Hanh:  a little Buddhist monk whose interview with Oprah I watched a week or so ago, and I have been re-watching it every few days.  I can't wait to start reading his books this summer.  There is something about him and what he has to say that makes me believe I can be a better person.

10.  My new mantra from Deepak Chopra:  My true self is fearless and immune to criticism.