Snow Globes and Hearts Made of Cheese

Dear Readers,

Rather than trying to split two small things up I thought I'd combine them. And, because they'd both be much later than they actually happened I decided to just squish them together like some sort of story casserole. 

Part I: Snow Globes

At one point or another I expect that you've all seen a snow globe. They're amazing, especially when they're also a music box. For those of you poor souls who haven't had the pleasure of seeing one I've found an accurate representation for you:

via http://www.monikadesignoldala.eoldal.hu/cikkek/hogomb.html

How amazing is that? Now, in a real snow globe the snow doesn't fall indefinitely, you have to shake it up for the snow to fall. 

Now, I've got a large imagination, but I can honestly say that I've never considered what it's like to live inside one of these globes. As you can see from my extremely accurate picture above there is a limited amount of things to do in a snow globe. That snowman is lucky enough to have his house back there. Hopefully that's his house, otherwise life is not gonna be fun for him and whoever lives there.

Then again...He is a snowman...He probably doesn't mind living in the snow...

Alright, forget that whole bit, I don't know enough about snowman living habits to speak accurately on if he needs a house or not. 

The fact that there is a limited number of things to do stands, though. That really was the point I was rambling towards. 

 I can now say with all honesty that I don't have to imagine what it's like living in a snow globe. I know. 

About three weeks ago now Portland (and the surrounding areas) experienced some snow. 

Now, when I say some snow and am referring to Portland I generally mean something like this:

via http://terriblycute.com/depressed-by-a-dusting-of-snow/

Aw, a little bit of snow, how cute. 

Not this time. This time I mean, so much snow that people were skiing down the street, so much snow that for the first time in history the city sent out an emergency alert via text message, urging people to stay inside. 

On the first day this was pretty nice, I live in a place where snow is infrequent, so it was awesome. The second day was nice, I went for a lovely walk in the snow. For the most part the snow was light and fluffy and everything you want snow to be. 

After that there was chaos, the news seemed to only report on the snow. Any time it was on, snow. It was incredible. 

Part II: Hearts Made of Cheese

I know that this post is into March already but I'd be remiss if I didn't discuss Valentine's Day. 

Based on my sarcastic view of the world you might be expecting some sort of "Valentine's Day is only there for people to spend money on chocolates and flowers and cards and pink and red." You'd be wrong. 

I think Valentine's Day is wonderful. Is the candy overpriced? Sure. Are people selling their first born to buy a dozen roses to court the love of their life? Probably. It's still wonderful. This is coming from someone who spent most of her teenage years actively avoiding any sort of romantic movie/literature/shows/songs.

I think love is beautiful. I don't think that this should be the one day a year that people choose to show their love, but if someone needs a kick in the pants in order to make a move, then awesome. 

Now that you know where I stand you're probably gearing up for some sort of, "But I still hate it because I was alone."

Sorry to say you're wrong again. 

I mean...

I was alone, well, not alone alone, my roommate was in the room. Romantically, though, yes. I was alone on Valentine's Day. 

That didn't mean I couldn't enjoy some holiday cheer! My mom sent me an awesome box of awesome stuff, but being mindful of my good eating habits, I only had a couple squares of chocolate. 

How else, then, could I enjoy the holiday?

I had decided early in the day to make a meatloaf, because meatloaf. Now before you get all "BUT YOU JUST SAID YOU WERE EATING HEALTHY! I'VE BEEN BETRAYED!" Take a breath. 

I made an awesome healthy meatloaf with 95% lean beef, tons of veggies and oatmeal in place of bread crumbs. 

I'm sure you've realized that this is not a romantic Valentine's Day meal. 

Don't you worry your little self.

via Myself

I totally classed it up, and rather than a meatloaf, it was dubbed "Meat Cake" (because that's not weird...).