Rebecca A. Foster

No, not real bellybuttons. I can go for...years without thinking about my bellybutton. Or anything else's. But food bellybuttons? YUM. Why is it the middle of something usually tastes the best? I remember standing in front of a watermelon on the kitchen counter, carving out the middle with a spoon, eating my way to the core and knowing I was going to get chewed out for ruining the watermelon, but I just couldn't stop myself. When I open my hummus, it is a little treat to scoop out the center swirl bellybutton. It doesn't taste any different, it just looks cute. I eat sandwiches and bagels in rounds so I can eat the middle last. My all time favorite food 'bellybutton' is the last piece of a cinnamon roll. Normally cinnamon rolls are not my thing because they are too sweet and gooey, but when I do eat one, I just about eat the whole thing only so I can get down to that last little button in the middle. Mmmm...so good. You know that Seinfeld episode about muffin tops?...

By heritage, I am half Spanish, half Southern. Good manners and social graces are a big deal to me. Which is why I laughed so hard when I got this email from a male friend: "Rebecca, Damn you, Rebecca!" Because when you curse someone out by email, even in jest, it's evidently still polite to address them first by their proper name. (The rest of the e-mail expressed his dismay that I am currently winning my fantasty football league. He doesn't think I deserve to win, as I don't even watch the games. He's probably right.) By the way, it's weird to be in a place where no one says "Miss Rebecca" as a friendly greeting.

My favorite candy is real maple sugar candy. My last trip to Canada, I bought a little piece of maple candy every night after dinner. And a small bottle of overpriced real maple syrup at the airport. (My Canadian friend Lindsey has a huge bottle of the same brand in her fridge. This is the difference between Americans and Canadians. I only need a small bottle.) I don't make pancakes or waffles, but I love adding a teaspoon or so to a cup of plain (not vanilla) yogurt, along with some wheat germ. (This is also good with honey instead of maple, but I think the maple is better.) I also brought home a small supply of maple sugar candy from Canada and I love sucking on it until it dissolves on my tongue. I only have two pieces left, and I'm rationing them. Who knows when I will get back to Canada? I love the sweet yet tangy aftertaste of maple. It's a complex flavor. I'd rather eat maple candy than chocolate, except for doughnuts. Maple doughnuts are nasty. And people talk a...

From one of my favorite books, Southern Ladies and Gentlemen: "For a woman who has spent years on college campuses and dated a string of tormented intellectuals...there are times in an woman's life when she does not give a hoot in hell whether a man has read War and Peace or not." Indeed.

This past weekend I met a guy in an elevator. He was coming home and let me into my friend's call-box building.  We stepped into the elevator together, he said something funny and self-deprecating to break the ice and it took about 45 seconds to get to my floor, but he was 45 seconds of charming and funny, with a kind demeanor. I'll never see him again. But I love these random interactions. They remind me how many cool people there are out there, how much chemistry is yet to be discovered, and how fun it is to meet a funny, charming and good guy. Even if it is only for one minute. (And of course, because this is me, I managed to make a fool of myself about it. The condos have an iron patio running the length of the floor and my friend was outside on the patio when I arrived. It was a party, so people were spilling in and out the front door. I start telling her, 'Did you know you have a really cute neighbor? He lives upstairs' etc. and then...we hear footsteps overhead. ...

I love studying the history and usage of words and currently own several different types of dictionaries, some specialized for the field of linguistics and lit criticism, some for general use. And one statistics dictionary I hope I never have to open again. But the end all, be all of dictionaries and the Golden Chalice of this book nerd is still the Oxford English Dictionary, or, in nerd parlance, 'The OED.' It's a 24 volume set (20 original, plus four supplemental volumes) and you can usually buy it for around $1,000. It takes up a lot of room. I almost bought it several years ago, but I knew I wasn't settled enough yet to buy a 24 volume dictionary. It's the kind of thing you don't want to haul around very far or often. But it's still a dream of mine to own the complete OED in print. In the Rebecca Scale of Consumerism, the OED ranks higher than diamonds. www.oed.com

Not only is Halloween my friend Candace's birthday (holla!), but I love to dress up in cute little costumes. Kitty Cats, Pocahontas, Angels, Devils, I love them all. Because these days, if you want to dress up, you have to be invited to a Masquerade or a Costume Ball. And really, who throws Masquerade or Costume Balls anymore? No one. So Halloween has become du jour for expressing that playful side we normally can't express outside of college and Halloween (and oh, I used to dress up in some fantastic outfits for going out with my roommates Jill and Brooke and Dana in college. I could almost be my college-self for Halloween). Unless, of course, you are a Playboy Bunny like Bridget on The Girls Next Door ( the guilty pleasure of almost every girl I know ) . Bridget is my favorite because she LOVES dressing up. Every time they go on an excursion or have a party, Bridget has a little costume she wears and because she is a bunny, she can get away with it, even on a random Tuesday. ...

When grad school finals were finished each semester, I would splurge and get a hot stone massage from my awesome massage girl, Katie. Love her. She is so nice and her hands use the perfect amount of pressure. She always knew to clear out some time for me in May and December. I would also go to her for regular massages at other times, but the hot stone version was a special treat for a starving student. A hot stone massage is like a regular massage². Various sized basalt rocks are heated in water (Katie mixes in some essential oils with the hot water, because she is awesome) and placed all over your body. For example, the rocks are placed down your spine and across your pelvis, like the picture at left. When they have had a chance to warm up the muscles sufficiently, that area is massaged and worked on, so you get a rotating experience of the hot rocks being placed on your skin with the actual massage. On larger muscle areas, she also uses the warm rocks in her hands to stimulate the sk...

1. True Religion 'Joey' stretch denim jeans. Because they have a 34" inseam (long enough to wear with high heeled boots) and 7" rise (low enough to sit on the hip bones, not so low you have to worry about flashing people when you drop your keys). And with just a wee bit of lycra, a great fit if you are a bit curvier and like pants that don't gap at the waist in order to fit around your bum (and who does??). I also have a pair of NYLaundry jeans I found at a thrift store for five bucks that I love for the same reasons. I don't know where to find another pair like this. But if you come across any, try them out. Nordstrom.com, $172 - $216. 2. The Other Rebecca is in town this week for work and staying with me rather than at a hotel. Because we are such wild and crazy gals, the other night we stayed up late in our jammies watching Season 2 of The Office , which FloJo has never seen (sacrilege, darling!). It was so fun watching it again for the first time through ...

Lunch is my biggest and most important meal of the day, but breakfast runs a close second. Dinner? Eh, whatever. Overrated. I never, ever skip lunch or breakfast, but dinner is often just a pain in my heiny. "What, I have to choose what to eat again??" I sleep through dinner all the time. It's hard for me to keep my eyes open from around 5-7, my sleepiest time of the day. And if I have to choose between sleeping and eating, I'll choose sleeping every time. But I digress. One of my favorite breakfasts is two corn tortillas with melted cheese, onions, black beans and salsa. Delicious and healthy to boot, and it takes about five seconds, perfect for those bleary eyed mornings when I can't keep a thought in my head for more than five seconds. Just take a couple of corn tortillas (for an extra health kick, use the whole kernel ones you can get at Whole Foods or The Good Earth) and sprinkle about 1/4 to 1/2 an ounce of pre-shredded cheese down the center. Then...

If you like wearing 4 inch heels like I do, Foot Petals will save your feet and enable you to wear those shoes all day (and into the late night) with no discomfort. Why every shoe store doesn't sell these, I don't know. How many more pairs of really high-heeled shoes would you buy if you knew they'd be wearable for 12+ hours? Seriously, buy some. They come in different shapes and sizes, but this full length version can be worn undetected in even the strappiest of sandals and comes in several colors. www.footpetals.com