Review

If a platter of rare roast beef is not the sort of thing that excites you, you're clearly in the wrong place. It excites me. Even just the pictures. I made this roast on New Year's Eve at Albert and Anna's, roughly twelve hours before something really incredible happened. I also made this potato gratin which is stupefyingly simple and incredibly delicious, thanks in no small part to my mother-in-law who gave me a Cuisinart a few years ago and I now have the power to evenly slice through several pounds of potatoes in mere minutes. The amazing thing that happened roughly 12 hours(okay, more like 14 hours) after that meal was that perfect little baby in Anna's arms. Alessandra Gianina Matriotti was born at 1:40 p.m. on January 1st, 2010. I got to see her the next day, and she liked me so much that she slept on my chest for a few hours while I got drunk off the smell of her newborn head. So delicious. New Year's Eve, shortly after midnight. I know there are lots of cheesy quotes about friends being the family that you choose and that sort of thing, but the people in this picture really are family to me. Two of them literally are, one being my husband and another my brother-in-law, but even if I wasn't married into their family I'd still love them a lot. Iain(behind the feather) flew up from Ojai so we could all be together for New Year's and thus complete a satisfying decade: the same group of friends spent New Year's together from 1999 into 2000, ringing in the New Year from the deck of Iain's old house in Everett. I met Iain through homeschooling ages ago, and he introduced me to his best friend Tristan(in the white feather) who then introduced me to Aaron. It took a long time for us to iron out all our relationships and there was a lot of drama involved, but we're all still together. Iain comes to the Northwest about twice a year and then we have a Week of Festivities, a tradition I which I hope will continue for another decade of New Years and beyond.

We're all a little older, a little wiser, and a lot better-looking than we were ten years ago. And now we have dance parties, an after-dinner ritual which we started recently and one which I cannot fathom why we didn't start earlier. None of us are particularly gifted dancers skill-wise, but no one can rival our unbridled joy. Also? If you're going to fall of the work-out wagon, dancing is a great way to not let yourself go completely until you're sober enough to get back to formal exercise.

And after all the platters of rare roast beef, Duck a L'Orange, and red wine-fueled dance parties I needed a cleanser. Arugula and radish salad with shaved parmesan and red wine vinaigrette cleanses nicely, especially after a reunion with my trainer. December and early January were a whirlwind of parties and preparations, and in all the hubbub I completely neglected my exercise routine. I dreaded going back yesterday; I was tired and groggy and all I wanted to do was put on my pajamas and watch a movie, but instead I went to Laura's to work and sweat for an hour. She made me do a lot of leg work and walking was painful today, but it was really refreshing to realize that I do actually enjoy working out. Not just the results, I enjoy the actual process of moving and strengthening my body. So much of my focus during the day is outward, and it's relaxing to consciously inhabit my own body through physical activity. It's strange how long you can live in your body without actually acknowledging its existence, and it feels refreshing to lift a weight and realize you have arms and shoulders and back muscles, that you are made up of moving, living parts and that you can control them. I sometimes need a shove to get there though(like on rainy Tuesday afternoons), and having a standing appointment really helps. It also helps that, prior to my little hiatus, I was in the habit of exercising so that I had a flow of regular activity to get back to, rather than making well-intentioned but ill-supported resolutions to start exercising. It was an amazing month. Reunions, epic dinners, new babies, family gatherings; I am full and I am tired. We have one more holiday dinner this weekend but it will be much more relaxed for me, as it isn't at my house and the only cooking involved for me will be cranberry sauce and green salad. I do love cooking, but it will be nice to get back to regular everyday cooking for a while. Now that Christmas is over I'm really excited to get to all the projects we put off during the month of partying. Tomorrow Aaron and I are going to work on the master bedroom together so we will have a suitable space to put the beautiful new bed he got me for Christmas. That is, if I can keep my hands off him long enough to let him get any work done. Seeing my husband do manual labor, um, affects me.