I heart the St. Paul Cheese Shop on Grand and Snelling.  I was recently there 30 seconds after they opened … and I was able to enjoy the whole shop alone (not a small miracle).  Delights that went home with me:  signature chevre and homemade crostini with rustic salami and fig preserves.  They have a tremendous cheese blog, which will clue you in to what’s happening at the top of the cheese food chain.  If you have to eat, eat well.

You can take the act of eating away from a foodie, but you cannot rob him of food camaraderie and table stories and memories made around a plate.  Roger Ebert, the legendary film critic, has not been able to chew or speak for over four years, which makes his new cookbook a marvel of the spirit (here).

I am a meditator. I don’t do it as part of a yoga practice or a religious devotion.  I do it to dump the junk in my head.  That’s as lofty as it gets right now. Twice each day, I focus on my breathing, let as many of my monkey chatter thoughts go as I can, and put myself in a state of mental neutral.  Is it bliss?  Well, in a way.  It’s freedom from all of the debris your brain is trying to catalogue and store as if it were valuable.  I feel relaxed and … clean when I’m done, as if I’ve turned my head back into a zen garden from the cat box it had become.

Life is short and very, very precious.  Susan Edlinger realized this through loss, redefined herself, and changed her whole world through a shift of perspective (the story is here).  Surf’s up!

Everyone’s January resolutions and/or goals fell apart by Valentine’s Day; it’s okay – don’t sweat it.  Perhaps it’s time to look at the process of yearly focus as 6 months of research, 6 months of action.  If you’re ready to take the next step, Moleskine has a beautiful new product just for you.

… and yet I wonder about the realistic benefits of crawling into a “nap pod” at work.  There could be lowered stress, increased focus and new heights of productivity – all good things, but unproven.  What is cold, hard fact is that there would be snoring, drooling and the occasional attempt to flip over which would result in bashing my head or falling out of said pod in a compromising position.  Worth it?

Something incredible has happened on Grand Avenue … and you need to let it happen to you.  I cannot say enough about Bombshell and its phenomenal proprietress, Denise.  This store is nothing short of revolutionary for its quality and customer service.  Are you getting your car keys out?  Good.

Hollywood made the icon out of booze, pills, foundation garments and marketing.  She bought into all of that and was doomed from the start.  She was naturally a size 14-16 … before the endless rounds of medication and starvation (hey, it worked for Judy Garland).  Everybody knows the end of this story, but very few have the courage to accept themselves and walk away.

I have a marvelous, amazing life … or at least I would have, if I could leave it alone and stop trying to improve it.  What I have been leading instead is the “near miss” life … the almost-enough-money-I-should-be-thinner-you-should’ve-done-that-instead haunting of something better – something I think I need or want or might have had if I hadn’t botched it.  Tired, irritable and still utterly lacking in perfection, I have decided to be splendid.  I mean really and truly splendid … fabulous, even.  First burst of resolve:  fewer excuses and more champagne.