It's been a while since I did a Things I Love Thursday post. But I'm loving some things today!

-- Ramen. I have always loved ramen. (I won't mention that I used to occasionally eat it for breakfast when I was a teenager.) These days, I make it myself and use lots of veggies, so it's not actually the super cheap packets college kids rely on. I've had a hard time finding large packages of plain ramen noodles lately, but I went to United Noodles today, and there was plenty to choose from.

-- Running! I just had to get out and run in the cool morning air today, since the heat is moving back in starting tomorrow. I ran my own half-marathon course, and I surprised myself by how well I did! (It took 2:11:53, for an average pace of 10:04/mile; I wasn't expecting to run it under 2:15:00.) I've got a few 'real' half-marathon races on the docket, so it's very encouraging to know that I'll keep improving as the heat and humidity of the summer go away.

-- Fake ham. Okay, I know it doesn't look that appealing as a log, but I sliced it up after taking the photo and refroze it. The veggie ham came from United Noodles, too; it was one of the main reasons I made the trip there. I can't survive on seitan alone, and this works out to about fifty cents a serving. It's the first time I've bought it (it tastes a lot like Yves or LightLife's deli 'ham', though), and I'm super excited. I realized that I haven't had real ham in almost TWENTY years. I'll take the fake stuff, thank you, strange as it looks.

-- New (to me) coffee shops. I went to The Edge Coffee House today, which is on University and Raymond, in St. Paul. It's sort of just how I'd like a coffee shop to be if it were mine. The woman who owns it is very friendly, and she made me a vegetable + cream cheese sandwich that was awesome. If you're a local, stop in the next time you need coffee!

-- Minnesota. I feel happy just looking at the shape of the state. I like everything there is to do in the Twin Cities, and I like the scenery outside the metro area. I like that we have the best state fair in the country (no, don't even start). And we invented the most delicious of apples, the Honeycrisp. I'm even looking forward to (but not hurrying the arrival of) winter. That last one might be some form of Stockholm Syndrome.

It's Thursday, and I'm armed with a list of things I love.

-- Smoothies. Specifically, smoothies with lots of spinach in them, because you get all the green goodness without even trying. Of course, I had my spinach-banana-strawberry smoothie with a plate of kale and mukimame, so consuming greens isn't really a problem for me, most of them time.

-- Sleeping kittens. Also: sleepy kittens. Birdy is a cuddler, and unlike Beany, she's small enough to curl up just about anywhere without being in the way (not that Beany has ever let her size stop her from trying). And when she's asleep, it means she's not chewing on a cord / trying to drink from my glass / clawing at the strings of my hoodie / etc.

-- Foam rollers. I watched the DVD that came with mine, and you can pretty much roll yourself out from head to toe. I often have an achy part of my body and wish that I just had a way to apply pressure to the knot, and now I do! And the cats like the box it came in.

-- Running. This is usually about the time of year that I put my running shoes away, because I get started with the garden and everything, but I'm training for my 10k in a month, and it feels like I'm finally making progress with this whole running business. I subscribed to Runner's World (the American version), because even reading about running feats I have no intention of attempting still gets me all revved up.

-- Spring. And the sun, and warmer weather, and green stuff growing out of the ground. I've walked outside with short sleeves. We survived another winter, guys!

Things I Love Thursday! Here's what I'm loving:

-- Remembering to keep brainless dinners in the cupboards. I couldn't decide what to have for dinner last night (because I'd already had my pile o' greens for lunch!), but my problem was solved when I realized there was a package of Tasty Bite's Bombay Potatoes hidden away. I cooked in some kale (because what isn't made better through the addition of kale?) and called it dinner. Easy peasy.

-- Running outside. Okay, it may be too early to say that I love it, but I took my two-mile (and a bit) run outside yesterday, and it went better than expected. I always feel like I'm moving so slowly when I'm running for real versus on the treadmill, but I actually shaved 40 seconds off my usual two-mile time. When I first started running, I did so exclusively on a treadmill until a couple of weeks before my 5k, and trying to run outside was killer. So I think I have a lingering fear of running 'for real' which maybe shouldn't apply as much anymore. I read something last night about running outdoors taking more muscle control, due to uneven surfaces, and that would definitely explain why my legs felt tired for the rest of the day, which almost never happens after a treadmill run. The best part, though? I was able to walk through my sunny neighborhood to cool down instead of a sweaty gym.

-- My wireless mouse. I realized earlier this week that the wireless Logitech keyboard and mouse that I used with my old PC (before the Torborg residence became all-Apple) were still in the basement and would work with my MacBook. Sweet relief. Using the laptop's trackpad for extended periods of time while proofreading gets to be painful, but having the mouse off to the side is much more comfortable. It only took me three years to figure this out.

-- VitaTop + cream cheese. I had an Apple Berry VitaTop with my salad for lunch, but instead of eating it plain, I sliced it into two layers, spread cream cheese on one, and then put it back together. Incredible!

-- A tidy home. When I started my whole 'overhaul' project, I stopped doing the fake tidying I usually engage in, where I stuff things in closets and cupboards to get them temporarily out of the way. But I've been busy lately and haven't had much time to dedicate towards properly organizing things, and I realized I just had to straighten the house out for the time being. The piano room and my bedroom have already been overhauled, so there's no stashing going on there, but the kitchen and guest room really benefited from some surface tidying. Whew.

I generally have a pretty good sense of time, but today really felt like a Wednesday. I was planning on doing a What's Hot, What's Not (not that I'd thought of anything yet... but I was planning to), and then I realized that it's already Thursday. So I guess I can just do the Things I Love instead.

-- My house. I don't spend much time out front, so I rarely take photos from there; there are many more shots of the back of my house. But I think it's cute, even in the deep snow.

-- Going for walks. An after-dinner evening constitutional is the best in the summer. Today was so sunny and mild (almost above freezing!) that I took an afternoon stroll around my neighborhood. My shoe hurt the back of my foot, and the sidewalks were treacherously icy in places, but I still enjoyed it.

-- Creative energy. There's nothing like having a big push to get things done, work-wise, and actually enjoying it. And I feel full of ideas and potential right now. Awesome.

-- Flowers. I wonder if there's some sort of 'weekly flower delivery' gift that one could bestow upon a person (me). That would be pretty expensive, I bet. But I love having flowers in the house. My mom gave me a Bachman's bulb garden basket, and it's starting to bloom.

-- Hyacinths. How do they smell so good? Hyacinths and lilacs. If there were a body lotion that accurately replicated either of those scents, I would buy it.

-- Dreaming about new spaces. I'm seriously still obsessed with getting a studio-office. This will happen. I want to earn a full year's rent before actually committing to it, so it might not happen in the next few months, but it feels achievable. Especially if somebody (*cough*Alex*cough*) splits it with me.

Lastly, not a thing I love, but a request. Every so often, I get questions in the comments, and I forget to answer them more than I should. I'm thinking of doing a post of answers to questions, so if there's anything you've been wondering (and maybe you already asked, but I didn't respond), ask away. Any topic! No question too boring! Doesn't have to be relevant! If I'm not comfortable answering it for some reason, I'll at least acknowledge that it's been asked, so you don't have to think I'm some big ignore-er. So leave a question in the comments or send it to anna.torborg [AT] gmail.com. Once I've got a batch of them, I'll do the answers post -- soon, I hope!

I am going to write a list of things that I love, because it's Things I Love Thursday. And because I saw Elvis Costello on A Prairie Home Companion tonight, and now I am sad that... it's over? That I'm not best friends with Elvis? I don't know what my brain thinks it wants, but making a list will help remind it of what it has.

-- Oatmeal with dried cherries cooked in. The cherries get all plump and are sweet and tart at the same time.

-- Getting into my bed. No other bed is as perfectly comfortable as mine is.

-- A big bowl of yogurt in the afternoon. I like breakfast and my afternoon snack best; lunch and dinner are never as simple and satisfying.

-- How clean my countertop looks when it's all shined up. I recently got some Method brand granite polish/cleaner, so it's extra sparkly now.

-- Smoothies. Today I blended up some almond milk with frozen banana, cocoa, and chocolate stevia drops. Simple and tasty.

-- When I'm running and my iPod shuffles to an exciting song and I feel awesome and unstoppable. I have not felt like that this week. (AND I forgot my earbuds today, so I couldn't even listen to music. Things I DON'T Love Thursday!)

-- Summertime. Lately, when I walk out the back door of my house, I imagine what the garden will look like in the middle of July. I'm predicting less snow than we currently have.

-- Elvis Costello performing the death scene in 'The Lives of the Cowboys' sketch. Best. Thing. Ever. Oh, except now I've made myself sad again. Oh well.

Okay, I haven't really gotten into doing 'Things I Love Thursday', but I'm feeling the love today. So here are some thing I love right now, with a 'bein' up in Sandstone' theme.

-- Changing up my breakfast. Actually, for the most part, I'm very happy to eat the same thing(s) day after day, but it's nice to have a little variety when I'm away. This morning, I had a packet of instant oatmeal (already in the cabin cupboards) with some egg white cooked in (better than it sounds), frozen blueberries, and a blueberry yogurt. I mixed everything (oats+yogurt) together after I took the picture, which was strange, but delicious.

-- Minnesota stickers. Like the one on my journal this year. Actually, I liked that Sanibel sticker, too. I find most kind of kitschy state pride appealing, but I love Minnesota kitsch the best.

-- The tiny donuts that the IGA in Hinckley sells. See this photo. I stopped in today to get a donut exactly like that for my breakfast tomorrow. That's the sort of planning ahead I can get on board with.

-- The Hinckley thrift store is, on the whole, only average (although it's better than its nearest competitors). But they have a really good selection of sewing patterns, spanning many decades, and they always seem to be different when I visit. Oh, and they're only a quarter each. Today I got patterns for a '50s blouse, a '70s (I think; I haven't checked the date) dress, and a '70s/'80s knit-fabric hoodie. For 80 cents, including tax.

-- Being warm. The cabin actually gets TOO warm pretty quickly during the day, thanks to the sun (curse you, day star!). But I have a high threshold for being warm, thankfully. I laid on the sofa for a while this afternoon, after closing all the blinds, and I imagined it was the middle of the summer. Then I opened the blinds a bit and dozed in the sun until I had to get up and drink water, because I'd boiled my brains. So much better than constantly wishing I were warmer, though.

-- I love Richard Dawkins' writing. I know he can be a bit dogmatic in interviews (although I generally agree with him, so it's more the tension that makes me uncomfortable rather than his views), but I think he's pretty amazing at explaining complex ideas in writing and making them understandable. And funny. I keep finding passages that I want to share, except that they have nothing to do with anything; they just make me laugh. About DNA.

-- Ace Hardware. This is on my list of places to go before I head back to the cities (although there's an Ace just down the road from my house, too), because I might buy some roller catches to fix my kitchen cupboard doors whose hinges are busted. My dad used to talk about the hardware store being 'like Disneyworld' or 'a little girls' favorite place' (or some other outrageous hyperbole/blatant untruth), and I can kind of understand it now. Another quirk to chalk up to home ownership, perhaps.

First of all: Does anybody have any experience with using PayPal to sell a file for download? I finished up the PDF for three awesome houses (sneak peek), so now I just need to figure out how to get it to you. Er, for money. I've already got the PayPal account, but I'd like to do something a bit slicker than manually e-mailing the PDF once people have paid. Any ideas, clever friends?

And now, some things I love. I should have done this for 'Things I Love Thursday', but I'd JUST done 'What's Hot' on Wednesday, and I can't be expected to have endless appreciation on tap.

-- The perfect fried egg. I made this heart-shaped one by putting a metal cookie cutter (lightly oiled inside) in the pan and then cracking the egg into it. The key was placing a saucepan lid on top of the cutter, which helped cook the top of the egg without my needing to flip it. The yolk was still runny, but just starting to get chalky at the edges. Perrrrfect.

-- Running. Considering I've been running off and on for a few years now, this shouldn't come as a surprise, but that's what it is. I'm a slow runner, but I'm trying to embrace that. Last year, I never was able to build up much distance at my training pace, but I backed off this year and I'm making much better progress. And today, I went to the gym planning to do some incline walking (since I'd had a good, longer run yesterday), but then an exciting song came on my iPod, so I had to throw in a mile of running. It's as though I enjoy it.

-- Crossing things off my to-do list. What's better than a sense of accomplishment, right? Although it often happens, I don't really like putting things off; they sit at the edges of my mind and bother me. When I was a senior in college (yes, it only took fifteen years of school before I realized this), I decided it was SO much better to write all my papers Thursday night (I didn't have Friday classes my last couple of years, because English professors don't want to teach Friday classes -- hooray!) so I could enjoy my weekends with no responsibilities weighing on me.

-- Free pancakes. That's what I'll be getting tomorrow! The question: HOW much more delicious does a pancake taste when it's free? Can't wait to find out.

-- Playing 'chase' with Beany. This is her new big thing. She decides it's time to play chasing, so she'll sprong up in the air several times until she's got my attention. Then I'm obligated (by her cuteness) to chase her back and forth across the house, play hide-and-sneak, and do big arms to 'scare' her. Young cats are a lot of work.

Following my friend Alex's lead, I'm going to play the 'Things I Love Thursday' game this week (and in the future?). Here are some things I'm loving this Thursday:

-- Going to the Asian supermarket. Really, I just love seeing shelves lined with products I'm not familiar with. Different packaging. Yesterday, I picked up some Swiss rolls that aren't covered in chocolate. They're a little disappointing, actually; Little Debbie is miles ahead on the filling front.

-- Papercraft. There's just something about the precision of measuring, cutting out, folding, and gluing. And my brain likes the task of visualizing a 3D object flattened out on a piece of paper.

-- Smoked cheeses. I currently have a chunk of smoked Gruyere, but Mozzarella and Gouda are also prime choices. Homemade butternut squash soup with grated, smoked Gruyere on top? Awesome!

-- Coffee in the morning. I make a single cup of decaf in my Bialetti every morning and mix it with unsweetened almond milk. Using caffeinated makes me feel sick, but I just love the flavour of coffee with my breakfast. I'll drink it in the afternoon, but it's never as good.

-- New glasses! New glasses! I got an automated call this morning, letting me know they were in, so I swung by this afternoon, and now I can see. Two years ago, the eye doctor I went to spotted that I was actually farsighted (despite my having always been 'diagnosed' as mildly nearsighted), and that my trouble with distance was just the result of eye strain from all the reading and computing I do. Two years later (now), my close-up vision has gotten noticeably worse, so my new (twice as strong!) reading glasses are really making a difference.

-- Absorbing projects. I'm so easily distracted and/or have such a short attention span a lot of the time, even when I'm doing things I enjoy. But every now and then the odd project comes along where I start and then only remember to look up/make a cup of tea/run to the bathroom/stretch my legs every few hours. I like my job, but if I could somehow find a way to make money doing the sorts of things that pull me in like that... well, that would be a recipe for perfect happiness, I think. Or just a lot of missing days.

-- Being invited to things. Who doesn't love to be remembered? It's particularly good when the invite comes form somebody unexpected.

What things do you love this Thursday? If you want to play along on your own blog, leave me a link to your post in the comments!