Coffee Talk

Hello!  I hope y'all are staying warm!  After having a beautiful day last week in the upper 60s, of course Raleigh experienced an ice storm last night.  I was working overnight in the psychiatry ER and ended up just staying at the hospital in the doctor's call room instead of trying to go home in morning.  The call room resembles a bed in a closet, but I brought my laptop from home and my ipad and tried to make things as comfy as possible as I waited for my shift tonight.  Watching Dance Moms and HGTV helped lift my spirits some.

Without further ado, let's catch up.

 Isaac Mizahri Candles

I love candles, but I've never been one to rave about them before - until I found these Isaac Mizahri candles at TJ Maxx last week.  They smell heavenly, like a garden!  I bought rose, which is shown above. They also have gardenia and a few other flower scents.  They are a resonable price of $9 and do a wonderful job of diffusing sweet scents across your home.  Highly recommended, I will definitely buy again. This is one of my favorite candles for the price point.

Intepreters of Maladies

This was my book club's pick for the month of January. It is a Pulitzer Prize winning collection of short stories by Jhumpa Lahiri.  Many of the characters are Indian Americans, which is a culture I am largely unfamiliar with and loved learning about.  Many of the stories feature problems that are common in any culture - marriages shook by miscarriages, infidelity and children.  It reminded me that relationships take work.  Happily ever after isn't easy at all with long work hours, bills and screaming babies.  You have to strive to honor your spouse instead of just living beside them.  You also have to learn to lean on your spouse during hard times instead of building walls.  This one is hard for me.  Sometimes when I am stressed I prefer to be left alone, which is okay for a little bit of time.  However in a relationship I think it is important to reach out and incorporate your spouse so they can feel involved and help you carry the burden.  This book was quite enlightening and touching about these subjects.  


Billy Elliot

On Wednesday my friend Amanda invited me to see Billy Elliot with her.  Hardly familiar with the musical, my first thought was Billy Joel?! but then I remembered Billy Elliot!! It's a musical about a boy growing up in a coal miner's town who wants to be a ballet dancer.  It was amazing, so funny and I loved the songs.  It also made me wonder why haven't I seen more musicals lately?!  I think it's impossible not to feel warm and fuzzy when leaving a musical.


Venus in Fur

Along the lines of theatre, a few weeks ago Aaron & I went out with the Contemporaries to see Venus in Fur at the Raleigh Little Threatre.  The contemporaries is a young adult group of the North Carolina Museum of Art.  Besides us, a large amount of senior citizens were there.  For a show about sadomasochism, we were quite the eclectic crowd!  The show was awesome, shocking, brow raising and hilarious.  Compared to 50 Shades of Grey, it was probably quite PG but that was enough for me.

Speaking of 50 Shades of Grey, I didn't read the book and I don't think I'll be seeing the movie.  I read this article  written by psychiatrist Meg Meeker regarding her take on the flick.  While I don't think I'd ever tell someone not to see something - people can make their own decisions - I think Dr. Meeker brings up lots of good points in this article about relationships flags.  I hope that the majority of people who see the movie know enough to make decisions for themselves for themselves and their love lives, but for those unsure, this is a good article.

What have y'all been up to? Did anyone like 50 Shades of Grey? Also - do you want to see pics of Paris?? If so visit my friend Amanda's blog!!!  Take care! :)