So…what is the Monday Poll?
Excellent question! It isn’t, contrary to its name, an actual poll, like with little clicky buttons. It’s just a list of more or less random questions I’ve been posting on this blog every Monday morning for the past quadrillion years (since 2007).
1. One thing you like to do to relax?
I like to read a book or a magazine to unwind before bed.
2. S’mores or Rice Krispy Treats?
I like both, but today let’s go with the Rice Krispy Treats!
3. Charlotte Tilbury or Chanel?
Chanel, please. (But I won’t say no to Charlotte, dah-ling!)
4. One of your talents?
I can easily and happily organize a daunting amount of information into a spreadsheet or a slide presentation.
5. Something that happened yesterday?
I took Connor to three Easter Egg hunts!
6. Something you realized recently?
Honestly, for most of my life I had no idea most Easter Egg hunts 1) occurred outside, 2) involved plastic eggs with toys or candy, and 3) could involve groups of children. When I was a kid, egg hunts meant hard boiled eggs hidden indoors the same designated places. I had no idea outdoor egg hunts with other children were even a thing until I had Connor!
7. Something you do well?
Apparently I’m very good at “telling it like it is.” Four people I worked with at my last gig made this comment recently, and I would like to assume it’s a compliment, LOL!
8. Things that make you happy?
Sunshine. Possibility. Understand myself and the people around me better. Baskin Robbins ice cream in a sugar cone. Sleep. People who really listen.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. Here are the questions to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to ya soon.
1. One thing you like to do to relax?
2. S’mores or Rice Krispy Treats?
3. Charlotte Tilbury or Chanel?
4. One of your talents?
5. Something that happened yesterday?
6. Something you realized recently?
7. Something you do well?
8. Things that make you happy?
P.P.S. Good morning and happy Monday, friend. I hope people are being kind to you today. We’re going to have a great week, OK?
1. One thing you like to do to relax?
Read a magazine while watching Netflix – have you watched Beef with Ali Wong? It’s so good – can’t wait to see what happens!
2. S’mores or Rice Krispy Treats?
I love both – sweets are my weakness! Rice Krispy Treats are a little less messy so lets go with that.
3. Charlotte Tilbury or Chanel?
Chanel – I don’t have much of it due to $!
4. One of your talents?
Multitasking – I learned it at my old job – don’t need it too often at my new gig!
5. Something that happened yesterday?
I cooked a ham for the first time – and it was good! I don’t eat meat but the girls love ham and my mom had to work yesterday so she couldn’t host Easter – so it was up to me to make the Easter meal!
6. Something you realized recently?
That most hams you buy at the grocery store are already fully cooked – you basically just have to warm them up in the oven, low and slow!
7. Something you do well?
I feel like I can work well with different personalities – I would describe myself as diplomatic!
8. Things that make you happy?
The sights and sounds of the snow finally melting here!
Sounds like you and Connor Claire were busy yesterday! Hope you had a great Easter!
I started watching it yesterday. I’m about two episodes in and have to say I have NO IDEA where it’s going, which is a good thing!
Happy Monday!
1. One thing you like to do to relax? Reading.
2. S’mores or Rice Krispy Treats? S’mores, especially the ones from Chocolate By The Baldman in NYC.
3. Charlotte Tilbury or Chanel? Definitely Chanel.
4. One of your talents?I make a pretty good eggplant parm.
5. Something that happened yesterday? I claim close to finishing the Sunday NYT crossword puzzle in one day.
6. Something you realized recently?I’ve had enough of Facebook.
7. Something you do well? I m a good listener.
8. Things that make you happy? Speaking with my college guy
BTW, I can’t believe he graduates in about a month!
Be well.
Wait, WHAT!? How is that possible? I feel like he just started college!
1. One thing you like to do to relax? Go for a walk. Read, but not on an electronic device.
2. S’mores or Rice Krispy Treats? Neither really. Give me brownies!!
3. Charlotte Tilbury or Chanel? Chanel!
4. One of your talents? I have good 3-D skills.
5. Something that happened yesterday? I made this roast tarragon – cognac chicken recipe from the NYTimes. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1024103-roast-tarragon-cognac-chicken And Kenji Lopez-Alt’s Best Crispy roast potatoes for dinner. And the smells from the oven half way through were making us drool. Seriously, soooo good.
6. Something you realized recently? That I can do a power lifting workout or weed the garden on any given day. But I can’t do them both in one day because, oof, my back.
7. Something you do well? Chef. Drive cars. Ride horses. Take care of Dear Husband and Dear Daughter.
8. Things that make you happy? Dear Husband, Dear Daughter, All the fur babies. A good workout, a good walk. Travel. A good K-drama. A good book.
I find chicken so hard to cook! I’m going to try these recipes. 🙂
I’m not sure what you find hard when cooking chicken. Maybe I can help you trouble shoot. If you want to shoot me an email I’d be happy to help. Chicken is my quick, go-to, when I haven’t got a clue what to make thing. (Although I can barely stomach touching raw chicken so I always wear food service gloves when handling it.)
Chicken yakitori, chicken sate, chicken teriyaki, chicken with miso and mushrooms, roast chicken, flattened and pan roasted chicken with garlic, sheet pan chicken with various veggies, mustard and onion chicken, lol, the list goes on.
But hey, I can’t write worth a darn. Not only does grammar trip me up, but I lack creative ideas. We all have our talents… feeding and fattening people up is mine.
1. One thing you like to do to relax?
Read fashion mags. Hiking.
2. S’mores or Rice Krispy Treats?
Rice Krispy Treats
3. Charlotte Tilbury or Chanel?
Charlotte. Although I can’t afford either brand.
4. One of your talents?
Accessorizing 😉
5. Something that happened yesterday?
I got through my first Easter without my father.
6. Something you realized recently?
I actually enjoy working out on the elliptical only if I am watching fashion shows on YouTube.
7. Something you do well?
Finding excuses not to use my elliptical.
8. Things that make you happy?
Fragrance. In the home, on my skin, in my car.
I am sorry for your loss. Holidays without our parent(s) are hard but each year from their passing does get better – I don’t know why but it does.
Pamela – I’m so sorry about the loss of your Dad. I’ve lost both my parents, and two siblings, and holidays are really tough. Hold those memories close, they become even dearer with age.
Sending you extra hugs this week, Pamela.
1. One thing you like to do to relax?
Go for a walk or FaceTime with my niece or nephews
2. S’mores or Rice Krispy Treats?
Rice Krispies for sure!
3. Charlotte Tilbury or Chanel?
Hmmmm, Chanel except for lipstick in which case I love the formula of the Matte Revolution lipstick from Charlotte Tilbury.
4. One of your talents?
I am double jointed so rock yoga poses – kinda like cheating though lol
5. Something that happened yesterday?
I spent Easter Sunday with my 2 year old niece and I got to see the delight in her doing an Easter egg hunt with her parents – sheer joy
6. Something you realized recently? Just because with think it doesn’t make it true.
7. Something you do well? I help others whenever they need it
8. Things that make you happy? Family, long weekends and smiles.
Sounds like you had a fun Easter! 🙂
1. One thing you like to do to relax? A long hot bath with mineral salts.
2. S’mores or Rice Krispy Treats? Rice Krispy please – I’m one of the few women I know that doesn’t like chocolate.
3. Charlotte Tilbury or Chanel? Chanel but I love Charlotte’s eyeshadows.
4. One of your talents? I can teach someone how to fly a plane.
5. Something that happened yesterday? Church potluck brunch. I brought vegan apple crumb cake.
6. Something you realized recently? I cut my hair super short to let the grey grow out so I could be a “silver fox”. At 65, I had TWO gray hairs and my natural color was only a teensy bit darker than what I’d been spending all that money on so I just quit bothering.
7. Something you do well? I have finally mastered my sourdough starter so it’s fed, happy, and can be used in everything (I made a vanilla cake with it that was the bomb).
8. Things that make you happy? I donate all of my author income to small animal rescue groups that don’t get a lot of money. I love getting little notes and cards and pictures from them with photos of the dogs, cats (and the occasional rescue donkey).
Love your answer to question 8! 🙂
1. One thing you like to do to relax? Listen to music.
2. S’mores or Rice Krispy Treats? Rice Krispy Treats.
3. Charlotte Tilbury or Chanel? No idea. I’ve never owned either one.
4. One of your talents? Logical thinking.
5. Something that happened yesterday? Nothing interesting. However, today I saw a wild turtle or tortoise in my backyard – a very unusual thing around here.
6. Something you realized recently? Nothing recently, as I’m over 60 and have seen a lot happen in this country and around the world. Your comment about Easter egg hunts really surprises me. We always had the outdoor plastic (or sometimes real) egg hunts when the weather was good, when I was a kid. Sometimes we had the boiled eggs we colored ourselves in an indoor hunt, like you did.
7. Something you do well? Grow plants in a very difficult environment.
8. Things that make you happy? Reading a good book, listening to my favorite music, seeing a new plant bloom (especially if I raised it from seed), being creative.
I was surprised (shocked, really) about Easter Egg hunts, too. I think it’s because my parents aren’t originally from here; they were also working all the time and didn’t really spend a lot of time with figuring out what the typical childhood experience was like here. *shrugs*
1. One thing you like to do to relax? Go to the driving range
2. S’mores or Rice Krispy Treats? Rice Krispy Treats but homemade
3. Charlotte Tilbury or Chanel? Chanel
4. One of your talents? Playing the ukulele
5. Something that happened yesterday? Caught up on the phone with my good friend to plan a trip this summer
6. Something you realized recently? Sadly that I’m not the same adventurous traveler I was in my younger days. I have to consider a lot of things now like what’s the weather going to be like (more specifically how hot will it be) and is the hotel noisy or does the Airbnb have reliable air conditioning? Those were never things I worried about in my 20s and 30s.
7. Something you do well? Cook and bake
8. Things that make you happy? SoCal, snuggles from my little boy, cake, my houseplants, lunch dates during the work week with my husband, and discovering new music
Hi KC,
I feel you on having different traveling needs as you get older. When I traveled with friends in my 20s and 30s, we’d all pile into the same room. Now there’s NO WAY I’d do that, LOL! Give me my space, please!
1. One thing you like to do to relax? When I just want to relax, working or sitting out in the gardens is just about perfect.
2. S’mores or Rice Krispy Treats? For me, neither, but the grandkids like Rice Krispy Treats.
3. Charlotte Tilbury or Chanel? Chanel without question. CT makes some nice products, but her esthetic isn’t the same as mine.
4. One of your talents? I have the ability to enjoy, get along well with, and relate to people of all ages. Perhaps it’s because I grew up in a multi-generational household where everyone—no matter their age—brought value to the whole. It’s a shame that many people my age (79) are mired in the past, are unhappy with the present, and only want to associate with people their own age. They’re missing out on so much.
5. Something that happened yesterday? Sunday wasn’t particularly special as we don’t celebrate Easter, but I did enjoy watching our neighbor’s grandkids racing around the front yard looking for eggs. Their squeals of joy were priceless.
6. Something you realized recently? I no longer have much desire to travel far afield. I was quite a globetrotter most of my adult life, but now? There’s no place like home.
7. Something you do well? I can listen attentively and without judgement to what others have to say—spoken and unspoken.
8. Things that make you happy? “All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful: The Lord God made them all.”
1. One thing you like to do to relax? Watch Tik Tok. The videos totally suit my personality as they are very short. I have no attention span at all!
2. S’mores or Rice Krispy Treats? Both, yum!
3. Charlotte Tilbury or Chanel? Chanel all the way! But love CT as well
4. One of your talents? Cleaning and organizing.
5. Something that happened yesterday? I got stuck in the Lincoln Tunnel traffic leaving Manhattan
6. Something you realized recently? I have no patience to sit in a car longer than 3.5 hours.
7. Something you do well? Remember things!
8. Things that make you happy? Birds chirping, the sun, my health, having a roof over my head on a rainy day.
1. One thing you like to do to relax? Knit and/or watch TV. I’ve been binge-watching Lucifer recently. It’s a good level of brainlessness and eye candy.
2. S’mores or Rice Krispy Treats? I prefer s’mores, but only with a campfire, so I probably eat more rice krispy treats.
3. Charlotte Tilbury or Chanel? Chanel for sure. It just seems like a better range of shades in every category.
4. One of your talents? Organization and pattern recognition. Honestly, I should have a side hustle as one of those home organizing gurus.
5. Something that happened yesterday? We were able to spread about a yard of mulch in the beds.
6. Something you realized recently? I may only see my father 10 or so more times in his life. He just turned 72 and most people in his family don’t live past 85 and usually have memory/dementia issues starting around 80.
7. Something you do well? Get to the point.
8. Things that make you happy? Finishing up anything, especially personal care products. Clean floors. Watching our nieces and nephews grow up (there are 10 of them from ages 17 to 4).