Meet Fashion Santa

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For those of you that have read Random Olio over the last couple of years, you may remember that I am not big on holidays. Most likely a product of my childhood, they have never really been my thing. My dad was overzealous about Christmas, and so there are things that make me nostalgic, as there are memories I have where he seemed happy and completely into the moment. Yet most of those moments were things I witnessed not really things he taught me or I learned from his example.

He was all about Santa, in the decorate-your-house kind of way. Not as much as a kid but when I was in high school and college and no longer lived with him I would usually see him for part of Christmas day. His house, with haphazard furnishings throughout the year, would transform into a showcase for Santa and Father Christmas decorations. Some of them actually creeped me out in a wizard-like or scary old man way. Somehow as he got older, he would wait until after Christmas to purchase a Santa or two on clearance. Only to pack them away and bring them out for a few weeks the next year.

In any case, I am all for change and a new look on things. So when I heard about Fashion Santa I thought “why not!” He hails not from the North Pole, but from a shopping mall in Toronto, Canada. He is styled in clothes from stores in the mall in a lumber jack meets metrosexual St. Nick way. Along the way he is raising money for a charity that helps sick kids. So all in all the 2015 looking Santa is doing good.

Next I would be curious how the stylist would upgrade Mrs. Claus. Anyone up for the task?

Digital Girl Scout Cookies: Good or Bad?

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I was a die-hard Girl Scout. Yes, I enjoyed the campouts, badge earning, and other activities — but my favorite time of year was selling Girl Scout cookies. I am extremely competitive, and each year I would challenge myself to do better than the prior year. No one put me up to it. My parents did not pressure me or push me to sell a specific number of boxes. They also did not reward me for my achievement. It was my own crazy self that worked my ass off to do more than I ever had.

One year, one of the prizes from the local community of Girl Scout troops was a 10-speed bike. I did not have a 10-speed and wanted one badly. I knew it would take a lot of babysitting and tips from my paper route to be able to purchase that bike, not to mention selling my parents on my spending my hard-earned money. The next best way to ensure I had that bike was to sell the number of boxes required to win the bike — and I did.

A different year there was a trip to an amusement park in Ohio. I had been a few times on school trips, and absolutely loved amusement parks, so of course it was on my list to win a trip. I had my goals in mind and I made sure I met them, however crazy I was to find ways to sell boxes. Since I lived on the edge of a University campus, I would go to fraternity houses, their student center, apartment complexes, and dorms, not to mention door-to-door in my entire neighborhood to sell as many boxes as possible. I learned a lot — specifically on how to cater my communication and language to the person on the other side of the door, or the one with cash in their hands. I learned how to warm up my audience, be cute when needed, or spout off the benefits of the different types of cookies – whatever I could do to make sure they walked away with boxes of cookies in their hands.

So when I found out that Girl Scout cookies have gone online, I had mixed feelings. Girl Scouts will now be able to take credit cards and transact business via an app online. They can have family and friends in other parts of the country place an order through their specific online webpage. Here is why I have mixed feelings — yes they learn business techniques for 2015, online sales, webpages, social media, and credit cards, but I feel a lot is lost. It feels much like what happens when parents sell for their kids at work, but their kids never have to do a thing. How is that good for the kid? My parents did not sell a box for me. I sold every single one.

With selling cookies now online, I fear that kids will no longer know how to make change, do math in their heads as buyers put them on the spot with questions, and my largest concern is that they have now taken the human side out of selling cookies. Maybe I am old school, but I feel that the learning experience has dwindled for these girls.

What do you think?

1,000 what?

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Random Olio is just a few weeks shy of its 4th birthday, and yet today is my 1,000th post. Shocking. I can hardly believe that I have found 1,000 different things to talk about in those 4 years. How is that possible? Of course I often have rants and ramblings about women’s issues, creativity, family, life, and of course books and food.

There are days when I get ideas for weeks full of blogs and others where I think: “I do not want to even try to think about formulating a sentence.” Other times I wonder who would ever care to read a specific post on a topic I might find odd, or a bit off the wall, and then I receive a heartfelt comment that makes me so glad I listened to my gut and put my fingers to the keyboard.

Chris has been incredibly patient through all 1000 blog posts. There are times when the last thing he wants to talk about is my blog. Or, I wrangle him in to make a “Random Recipe” (hey, he gets to enjoy the bi-product in his tummy). It has taken countless hours of our life to design and redesign the site, let alone writing all the content. Earlier this year, Chris asked me if he could be surprised with the post each morning like everyone else. However, with pregnancy brain I need him to point out my careless typos and tell me when something does not make sense.

I am not sure how Random Olio will unfold in the coming weeks and months and if motherhood will inspire me to write more or less. Regardless of the next stage of Random Olio — I appreciate each and every person that has read, contributed, shared, and been apart of the randomness.

Random Recipe: Salted Caramel Coconut Cookies

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I was a Girl Scout who loved selling Girl Scout Cookies. I think that was the reason I stayed involved so long. It was the competition, trying to surpass my goal from the year before, and the adrenaline of it all. At the time I hated Samoas, mostly because I did not like coconut. I have always had food texture issues, and something about the texture of coconut grossed me out. Until about five years ago. Somehow as I changed the types of foods I ate to become healthier I found coconut in its purest form (not mixed with chocolate and caramel). I fell in love with coconut and eventually added chocolate and coconut and now love Samoas.

These quasi cookies / slight macaroons would not have been something I would have eaten as a child. I would have been missing out. What is not to love about coconut and salted caramel? These are pretty easy to make and hit the spot, plus the added flake salt makes them even better. Definitely worth trying. Enjoy!

Salted Caramel Coconut Cookies

Makes about 20 cookies

1 1/5 sticks unsalted softened butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large beaten egg
6 oz sweetened flaked coconut
7 oz soft caramel candies (soft!)
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon flaky sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat together butter and sugar with a mixer. Then beat in the vanilla and salt. Gradually mix in the flour and beat until combined.

Roll the dough into 1-inch balls with your hands.

Beat eggs in a small bowl. Put the coconut in another small bowl. Dip each ball first in the egg, then roll in the coconut.

Place balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Press an indentation into each ball with your finger. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and re-press the indentations. Place the cookies back in the oven for an additional 10 minutes or until the cookies and coconut are golden.

Remove and let cool on a wire rack.

Unwrap the caramels and place in saucepan with heavy cream over low heat. Stir until the caramels are melted and the mixture is smooth. Spoon the caramel sauce into the cookie indentations. Sprinkle with sea salt.

“Our energy follows our attention”

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Being 37.5 weeks pregnant means I am not as mobile as I used to be — which means I am reading a bit more on the weekends. Since I have not gone for a run in 3 months (so hard for me) – it meant my reading had slowed down. We have filled our days and nights with planning and prepping for this baby boy to join us, but these last few weekends I have been reading more.

A recent book I finished, was “The Book of Doing and Being: Rediscovering Creativity in Life, Love, and Work” by Barnet Bain. It was filled with lots of exercises, which often bore me and I skip because I am not interested. In any case, I thought this demonstration Bain shares was fascinating. I tried it and had Chris try it with the same result:

“First, we need to understand the power of conditioning. The following demonstration will make the point.

Right now, wherever you are sitting, lift your right foot a few inches off the ground and then start moving it in a clockwise circle. At the same time as you’re doing that, raise your right hand and draw a number six in the air.

What happened? Your right foot switched directions, didn’t it? Try it again. The reversal will happen every time!” page 4

Frustrated? Did it happen for you or were you able to get past it? It got me interested enough to keep reading (even though I skipped a lot of exercises). The real nugget I wanted to share was:

“Our energy follows our attention, always.” Page 69

It is true is it not? What we focus on we absorb. What we absorb, we ingest. What we ingest impacts our energy, our mood, our body language, and often what comes out of our mouth. Chris and I often talk about the energy we allow into our home. I think about it at work and with friends. We have a choice on what we focus on, what we attend to, and if we redirect — we might actually have a happier and more “energetic” life.

What do you think?