Giving Chocolate Thanks

Things are still going well on the dating front - I know this is so not as juicy as all my disaster stories! But have faith, dear readers, either one of two things will happen - things will work out well enough that I can tell funny stories about my relationship with this man (we just can't scare him off yet) or the whole thing will go up in flames and I'll be back out there. Oh God. Let's light a candle at the Church of Chocolate and hope that doesn't happen again. At least not for a while. Hell, while we're at it, let's munch on a communion wafer or two. Maybe start some holy fondue.

Let's examine the Seven Suggestions in a little more depth.

If you'll remember, Suggestion One is about gratitude.

One of the best things to do when you feel blue is be grateful for what you do have. Actually this is one of the best things you can do anytime, but it's especially effective as a pick-me-up (or a pick-you-up...you know what I mean!). Everybody has those days when they feel a little low. Usually what you do is obsesses over what you feel you're lacking - a job, love, a great body - whatever the heck is it that day. This does no good and just makes you feel worse. Then you progress to comparing yourself to everyone else who seems to have those things - and you are off to the pity party! This spiral takes you away from chocolate heaven and down to emotional hell.

So I hope you'll join me in expressing a little gratitude.


The awesome Diane Fain-Worthen (she of the gorgeous red scarf and the Vann's Chocolates) hooked me up again! Diane, I don't know how you knew I would need this, but you did! Diane sent a box with some delicious home made cookies (which I devoured before I even thought about taking a picture of them - cookies have that effect on me), and this cute magnet and the best smelling lip gloss EVER! The flavor is chocolate dipped strawberry. And it's sexy too! (Now that I have someone to share this with, I'm pretty excited!)

How sweet was that of Diane to think of me? Diane, you're the best!!!! (And there is SO a place in Chocolate Heaven for you!)

And last week I spoke for the Mid Day Professionals Chapter of the ABWA (American Business Women's Association). Now these women have been great fans and friends since I started FireStar and they have set me up with speaking engagements many, many times. I don't think I can ever thank them enough. Toby Page sent me those great Seattle Chocolates (blogged about earlier) and this time she brought me some Wilbur Buds:

Cool box! I've reviewed Wilbur Buds before, but how sweet is Toby?? She also is the cutest human alive.

At this same meeting, Gwen Taylor showed up with two boxes from Mama Laura's Chocolates. The website is http://www.mamalauras.com/.

I have three words for these chocolates - OH MY GOD! The caramel (upper left) was so smooth and creamy and gooey, it should be outlawed. The others are truffles and are filled with the smoothest, creamiest dark and milk chocolate ganache you can imagine. And the second box had turtles which I'll blog about next. (They are so good, they would be considered a sin in several religions, but not ours!!! I actually think our first Saint may indeed be St. Mama Laura).

I just want to give thanks for such great friends. None of them had to go out of their way to do these things. They just have hearts of gold. They didn't even know I was making myself a Priestess when they gave me these gifts, so they weren't trying to buy their way into Chocolate Heaven. But, hey, wait - three wise women bearing gifts.....OMG - it's our first chocolate miracle!!

May the chocolate be with you.

Is Relaxation Evil?

As anyone who has been following this blog knows, I have some issues. One issue I often struggle with is being idle. (Or as some might say - relaxing). I always feel like I should be doing something - working (when you work for yourself there is ALWAYS something you could be doing) or working out. Cleaning out my garage. Reading one of the millions of books I own but have yet to read. Obviously I have PLENTY to do. I confess, sitting around doing nothing seems like some kid of sin to me.

Now I'm not saying I'm always productive - I have streched an ab workout combined with watching CSI NY and going through catalogs into a marathon of half-assedness. I just am not good at doing nothing. And this is not necessarily a good thing.

For example, I'm at the Grove Park Inn - one of my favorite places in all the world. (You may remember I purchased a two night stay as a welcome home for Afghanistan Man.) Well, I had to use it by the end of May and it can only be used on a Sunday through Thursday. So I thought I'd come out during the Festival of Flowers at Biltmore and schedule a couple spa treatmants and give myself an early birthday present. After all, who better deserves the trip than I?

I scheduled spa treatments for today and drove up yesterday with the intention of seeing the Biltmore Gardens. It poured all day. I relaxed in my room, read through a bunch of magazines that had been piling up at my house and just, well, relaxed. I felt incredibly guilty the entire time. I thought I should be seeing the gardens, I should be answering e-mail, I should be working out - what is wrong with me???

I just didn't want to. It was a rainy Sunday, I was in a gorgeous hotel in the beautiful North Carolina mountains. I did nothing.

Today I did work out and did about 30 minutes of work, but I've been hanging out at the spa all day. Still didn't go to Biltmore. Part of the reason is that my car (in the dark, cool parking garage is PACKED with chocolate for two Motivation by Chocolate sessions this week.) I was too lazy to haul it all in so I could drive to the Biltmore and leave my car in the hot sun.

Why am I telling you all this? Because I think a lot of you are like me. We find it really hard to relax - we work ourselves to death so we can have "fun" but when it comes time to have fun, we don't really let ourselves enjoy it. I think technology has made this worse. (Hell, I'm blogging right now instead of going all zen and meditating or something!)

I have to tell myself it's okay. It's okay for me to spoil myself - I worked hard for the cash to pay for this trip - I deserve a little R & R. I have to remind myself that there will always be more work - another mailing I could send out, another call I could make. But there will not always be more life. I could die in a car crash tomorrow. Would I have rather spent today working or getting a much needed massage? And the Grove Park Inn is truly one of the most beautiful places in the world - check it out:

http://www.groveparkinn.com/Leisure/TheSpa/

I just want to remind you all not to be so hard on yourselves. It's okay to stop and smell the roses (or not - I never did get to the Biltmore). It's okay to let life unwind instead of trying to control everything all the time. And you deserve some down time. The work, the messy garage, the e-mail will all still be there for you to tackle tomorrow. But sometimes we need to listen to waterfalls, to birdsong, and to just relax. The real world is a gorgeous place - we have to be still sometimes to remember.

But don't worry - there was still chocolate! When I got my pedicure (ah - I love those!!), they offered me champagne and chocolate. I passed on the champagne, but NEVER on chocolate!

How cute is this container?

And better yet - these were inside:

I'm sure I'll be going to hell for this (but we've already established I'm probably going there anyway so why get all holy now?). These are like Communion Wafers - the way they should be. I so want to start the Church of Chocolate and give these out! I could be the High Priestess! We could go on holy trips to Switzerland and Hershey, PA. I could wear one of those cool hats like the Pope! I could carry a staff topped by a Hershey's Kiss!

Apparently a little relaxation goes straight to my head.

Anyway, these little wafers ROCK!!! They are amazing chocolate and have a thin filling in them. They are incredible! They are so good, I had to Google the chocolater listed on the liner:

http://lebelgechocolatier.com/home.htm

I am SO going to order some of these - they look great and the ones I tried really were amazing. You know they were good if I'm thinking of starting a Church.

I'm sure that thought will pass after I get my massage.

Everyday Can be a Holiday!

Hi Gang! I hope you had a great weekend! I am still sad about the passing of Easter, but to cheer myself up, I decided to revisit Valentine's Day. Remember all that half price candy I bought? Well, I sampled some this weekend and so far, all I can say is, "Thank God I didn't pay full price."

Two of the hearts I bought were from Elmer's Chocolates and Guinevere Chocolatier both from New Orleans. I'd never tried any of their chocolate before, so I was very curious. Well, well, well - guess what? These two are the same company. They have two different websites and try to look like different companies, but their chocolates are EXACTLY the same. And they are so not good. What they have are strawberry and orange creme (glack!), caramel (too sweet, not chewy - somewhere between too soft and not soft enough), chocolate raspberry truffle. The exact same flavors, the exact same shapes - the same damn company! Boo!

This heart I picked for its sexy color combo:

Very glam - I liked it. I liked the box WAY better than the chocolate. (This was by Riviera Brands out of Deerfield, IL - but I have no idea if they just distribute or actually make the chocolate. And after eating this, I don't even care.)

First of all, I think if you sell an assortment of 18 chocolates, there should be more than three flavors. Boo!!!! Secondly, well, these were just bad. Waxy chocolate, too sugary, no depth of flavor at all. In fact, the best thing about these was they really made me appreciate all the great chocolate I've gotten to sample. I've learned more about great chocolate by tasting bad chocolate! These all were so sugary and so waxy, chocolate was the last thing you tasted. They really made me appreciate the subtlety of many of the chocolatiers reviewed here.

It's kind of like dating - sometimes you don't realize how much you like someone until you go out with someone who is not them!

Speaking of dating, I'm still seeing the man I like, things still seem to be going okay. I know, scary, right? I'm still on match.com although my heart's not in it. But I don't want to take my profile down if his is still up - argh! See how complicated dating is, my married friends?

But then again, it's like the bad chocolates - the right guy for me will SO not have fun on dates with other women. And you can't lock someone down anyway - either they want to be with you or they don't. I mean, Russell Stover may try to win my heart, but I go back to Hershey every time. And the more chocolate I eat, the more I love Reese's. The best way to get someone to stay with you (whether a friend, a lover or a customer) is by being who you are, letting them be who they are, and knowing that the right people will keep showing up.

Even if someone else is half price.