• The Roast Beef and Pomegranate Crostini is to die for…this is my favorite…except that I used goat cheese instead of the sour cream that the recipe calls for (I am obsessed with goat cheese).
• The Ricata and Roasted Tomato recipe from Real Simple is amazing…
• The Pesto, Radish, and Sea Salt Crostini recipe from Real Simple is “whaaaaaat!?!?!??” (meaning – so good!)

2.  Take a hot bath (bring wine!)

Before bedtime, take a hot bath.  Bring wine.  Find a candle and light it. Turn off the bathroom lights.  Oh yeah, and bring wine or water).  I like to bring both wine and a tall glass of iced water for after my bath.  I started doing this routine every night after I got my daughter into a “bedtime routine.”  I used to have trouble sleeping, but as soon as I do my own, mommy, bedtime routine, I am out in 2-minutes by the end of it.  

3.  Don’t try to solve your life’s problems at nighttime.  Wait until morning – when you are fresh.

Do not try to solve problems at nighttime.  And do not argue at nighttime (See Top 35 Life Lessons to Pass On To Daughters, and remember this advice!)

4.  Utilize the power of music – make a playlist of all the songs you loved when you were younger.

Make a playlist of the music that you loved while you were in Junior High (Middle School) and High School and listen to it.  I’d be lying if I said that the song “Bye Bye Bye,” by N’Sync didn’t make me really, really happy.

5.  If you are in a bad mood, consider the alignment of the “stars” (aka: could it be hormones?).

Ask yourself if you could possibly be PMSing, or if any sort of hormonal changes (fertilization drugs, pregnancy, miscarriage, menopause) could be causing your mood to change.  Sometimes I forget how much PMS can effect me (no, “Mr. Mia,” this is not an EXCUSE…it is REAL!!!), and it’s not until my PMS is over that I realize why I felt like such a nut-case. Learn how to identify PMS (for instance, track your period). 

If you are PMSing, then your hormones will have a field day reading You’re Gonna Miss This – A Reminder for Parents.

If you are a male who suspects that your significant other may be suffering from PMS, then I highly suggest that you consider tracking your wife’s menstrual cycles through an iPhone app (or any smartphone app) to arm and protect yourself with this information when the time comes (TIP: DO NOT TELL HER THAT YOU ARE DOING THIS…ESPECIALLY IF SHE IS ALREADY PMSing, OR YOU MAY BECOME HER NEXT VICTIM).  

If you have irregular periods, like me, then if and when I start crying at a Subaru commercial, for example, then I try to make a mental (no pun intended) note to myself that I may be a bat-shit crazy person for the next few days. (SIDE NOTE and IN MY DEFENSE: the Subaru commercial that I am referring to has a young daughter that suddenly phases from a 7-year-old with pigtails into an 18-year-old leaving her home for college….all the while her dad is standing outside of the Subaru, with his loving father eyes – wanting her to be careful and she drives away in the Subaru).  The commercial is adorable.  See the commercial that makes me cry when I am PMSing below:

• Rule of Thumb:  If a commercial makes you cry (as touching as they can be), then your hormones may be deceiving you, and you should check yourself (and your hormone levels) for potential discrepancies.  You may owe the guy at the first window of the Burger King drive-thru an apology; because you may, or may not have, un-rightfully, given the poor guy an attitude for not remembering that you ordered a medium, instead of a small, Whopper Jr. value meal.
• I make a mental note to myself that I may be bat-shit crazy for the next 3-days, and I try not to let the fact that “Mr. Mia” left his dirty dinner play on the floor for the 100,000,010th time.

6.  Put down your computer, and go outside.  

Get away from your computer!  Yeah!  I’m talking to you!  Put down your phone!  Computers and the internet (Facebook) can make you feel like total poo when you compare yourself with “Mrs. Jones”…at the very least, you will probably end up with a cramp in your neck by the time you eventually emerge from the hypnotism of Facebook.  If the weather doesn’t permit outside activity  then try to get out; go anywhere (even Walmart).  If it is nighttime and you need to stay at home, refer to my above idea and TAKE A BATH.

7.  Get lost in a book.  

Ask someone, whose taste you trust, for a book recommendation (I always ask my mom).  Here are some of my favorite books that have, historically, captured me to the point where I always forgot whatever miserable occurrence was lingering in my life at the time at the time (e.g., first-trimester nausea, dark winter days, etc.):

• Feeling Saucy?  Read a Romantic Book by Nicholas Sparks
• Feeling Bored?  Read a Thriller:  Gone Girl: A Novel by Gillian Flynn
• Feeling Sentimental?  Read a book on Friendship: Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
• Are you a lover of man’s best friend (aka, “dogs”)?  Read, “The Art of Racing in the Rain” by Garth Stein.

8.  Watch this video (put in on the “full screen” mode option…it makes it so much better.”)

This video will make you sniff-sniff with tears of happiness, and if you have a pet – you might want to go hug the little booger after watching this.