Here I am again, which means I've been partially successful in keeping up with my blog. I've also completed all five of my monthly resolution items for the month of January. However, I can't be too proud because January is the easiest month - let's see where I am come fall!
Task 3: Have at least one culturally-enriching experience was checked off a few weeks ago at the Taft Museum of Art. The museum does monthly "house parties" with different themes each time for some adult fun. I checked out January's house party with three coworkers to see what it was all about and we were not disappointed! The theme was 90's game night. There were tons of board games available to play, a trivia night, DJ playing 90's hits and adult hot cocoa (yum!). There was also a food truck, but by the time we got out there they were closed. The event was free so being able to see the main gallery and special exhibit for no charge was a pretty nice perk. My favorite part of the night was that the museum challenged people to a "What Do You Meme" game. We drew a card and had to match the saying with a piece of art that best expressed it. Participants posted their memes on Instagram with a specific hashtag and one entry was picked as the winner. We did not win, but we enjoyed playing. Check out our selection and a selfie with former lady-of-the-house, Anna Stinton!

Task 5: Read 200 pages or watch a thought-provoking movie or documentary was accomplished, and then some. Not long after my initial post of this year, I went back and watched the first season of True Detective  on HBO. WOW. I had watched the second season live and was getting excited for season three with one of my favorites, Mahershala Ali, but I realized I had never gone back and watched season one. It was amazing. Completely worthy of all the praise it received when it originally came out. In addition, I also watched Won't You Be My Neighbor?, the documentary on Mister Rogers and Struggle: The Life and Art of Szukalski. Both were great. I especially loved learning about the eccentric Szukalski and his increasingly complex life.
When it comes to Task 4: Bake something from scratch, I took a little bit of liberty. A tiny bit. Instead of a dessert, I made pierogi , two kinds! One half was potato, bacon, cheddar, green onion, and the other was potato and herb goat cheese. I brought back a bunch of homemade kielbasa, so I can't wait to pull both out of the freezer one of these nights for a delicious, from scratch, Radzinski-made, Polish dinner. 

When it comes to Task 2: Spend at least 30 minutes doing something for myself, I think I did this in a few ways. One night I took the time to soak in a hot bath with some aromatherapy. Along those same lines, I have spent a lot of time relaxing. My free time at home is going to disappear soon, so I have made sure I have taken advantage of being able to be home with no plans. I've watched some shows (some noted above), read through some magazines and overall, not cared or felt guilty about just taking time to turn off my brain and work and be a couch potato for a little bit. It helped that we had some snowy weather on the weekends, so the view looking out was lovely and the birds visiting on my porch were fun to watch.

This past three-day weekend, my friend came to visit so I got to explore a new coffee shop and then we splurged on some sweet potato dumpling with pork shoulder that was almost too pretty to eat!

This post has been long enough, so, even though the Oscar nominees were announced today, I'll save that until later - maybe this weekend!

Clearly, I'm not the greatest at this whole blogging thing. But, it's a new year and there is no better time to give it a go. Writing has always been a bit cathartic and relaxing for me, so if nothing else, it gives me a reason to jot down some original thought.
Anyway, resolutions are always hard to remember and stick to for 12 months. Who honestly can keep a resolution from January 1 through December 31?! So, I've picked five items that I wish to accomplish each month during the year of 2019. They are:

I love food, for the first is an easy one and a way to make sure I treat myself every once in a while. The second is an obvious. The third is an attempt to ensure I get out to museums, parks, monuments, etc., to learn and to enjoy. The fourth is something I do fairly regularly. I love to create sweet treats, so I want to be sure I don't skip this in any month. The fifth is something I try to do naturally anyway, so this will be a good way to keep track. Most of these will be pretty attainable in January, but the reason for doing monthly tasks is so once my schedule gets extremely hectic February-May, I want to be sure I am still taking time for myself - for personal enjoyment and learning.
January's meal has already been checked off the list. Once the holidays were over, I swung through my old stopping grounds of Kent, Ohio, for a great visit with friends. We went to dinner at an old favorite, Bistro on Main, and I had sweet potato gnocchi with spinach and pulled pork. It did not disappoint! I had pumpkin gnocchi at a place in Cincinnati in December that were an amazing. I think that started a current obsession. The sweet potato gnocchi came with a sriracha maple syrup that I got on the side because it was a little too hot for my weak taste buds, but it had great flavor and was a great compliment to the dish. 
Once I got back to Cincinnati I kicked butt taking care of things. In a 24-hour period, I cleaned out my fridge, went grocery shopping, stopped at a few other stores for some items, did two loads of laundry, dusted, swept and mopped floors, put away Christmas decorations, worked out and meal prepped. Whew! It felt great to get a lot accomplished. There are still a few things I want to do, but I hopefully can knock those off this coming weekend. On top of all the productivity, I read one of the stack of magazines I have wanted to get through. For task No. 5 I wanted the entire first season of True Detective on HBO - and when I say watch I mean binged. I watched the second season live and cannot wait for the third, but I realized I had never seen the initial season. I'm so glad I finally watched it. It was as amazing as I had always heard it was.

Saturday night had had another fantastic meal, this time checking out a new local place: Agave and Rye in Covington, Ky. Let me just say - wow! Every taco is huge and they are hard shells wrapped in a soft shell. They also can put deliciousness like queso, salsa and beans in between the two shells. I got a No. 15 The Plain Jane which was ground beef, lettuce, cheddar, tomato and sour cream with queso between the shells. Then I got the No. 5 The Rima D which has braised short rib, garlic mashed potatoes, crispy onions and natural jus. At most places three tacos is standard. At Agave and Rye, one could be a meal and two will make you so full! Highly recommend stopping by for anyone looking for good tacos in the Cincinnati area. There are unique choices and something for everyone. They are also well-known for their tequila and bourbon, for those who like to imbibe, as well.