TEN THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY RIGHT NOW

1) Doing 750words  for the month of August (and competing with Julie)

2) Lilith Fair tomorrow!

3) Tim and Val's Day of Fun and Baking on Wednesday!

4) FINALLY beating my sister's ski jump score on wii fit.  (I know this means she will camp out at my apartment until she beats my score, but it was AWESOME.)

5) Seeing my tiny cousin this weekend

6) Picking out restaurant week choices, and drooling over the menus

7) Hanging out with friends on Sunday, and watching them hilariously try to do the wii fit. ("AROUND THE WORLD"  my arms are sore from the flapping though.

8) my Iced coffee solution I re-jiggered at work. (Hitting the Strong  button along with the espresso button. what? are those my eyeballs vibrating?)

9) The Tv Show White Collar. it's funny and interesting, and I may be a little bit obsessed with it.

10) Speaking of obsession, I am now obsessed with origami.  officially.

28 in the 28th- 2 months left.

Okay, I'm headed down the home stretch, and I've got two months to go until I'm 29 (eep!)  here's what I've accomplished so far, and what I still need to go. 14 down, 14 left. I can do this!

1 Write a Novel. This looks like it might not happen, sadly. Well, there's always room on next year's list!
2. Try one new craft   Origami!  I can make a flower, and a box, and a waterbomb.
3. Go to DC for the day by myself and walk around
4. Cater a Non Family Event
5. Make Homemade christmas gifts Done! Several family members recieved mittens, and snowflakes. I am going to start working on christmas presents earlier this year though. I did not get nearly as much done as I wanted to.
6. Learn how to can things (like jam)
7. Take a cooking class- Thanks to a completely awesome birthday present from my friend julie, I am taking a pasta class here in March. I was also able to take a vegetarian cooking class, as well, it rocked!
8. Go camping
9. Go to a non House Concert- Show    Done!  Went to See Corinne Bailey Rae and The Rescues. Plus! am going to see Lilith Fair this week.
10. Get a Manicure, Pedicure and Facial  Done! I got a Mani, Pedi, Facial with my sister and my cousin Kate, before my cousin Lindy's wedding, which was very excellent. I actually have super long nails right now, and have been debating getting a manicure. I will probably just end up cutting them, though.
11. Go on 12 dates I've not gone on 12, but I still need to make progress on this goal. Serious progress needs to happen on this front.
12. Visit a city I've never been to before   Done! Toykyo, March 2010
13. Learn how to make a recipe by watching my G make it.  Done! Pitzelles, June, 2010, Homosassa Florida
14. Go to at least one Free Fall Baltimore event Julie reminded me that we went to Fells point fun Festival this year!  We ate pit beef, we had deep fried Oreos, we bought crafty things, it was great!
15. Have a Cookie Baking/Decorating Party
16. Make a tradition of my own  Glee tuesday (which then merged into Top Chef Wednesday, When Glee was over) is a weekly tradition that Paul, Julie and I have formed. We get together, cook some good food, drink some wine, and watch some awesome tv.
17. Go to a museum
18. Have dinner that is multi-course and paired with wines
19. Go to a winery and have a wine tasting
20. Make something beautiful
21. Create ten new cupcake combinations- Five down, five to go.
22. Get my camera fixed. DONE!
23. Twelve Random Acts of Kindness for strangers- One down, 11 to go.
24. Go for a week without internet (for non work puroposes)  Okay, it wasn't quite without internet completly, but I was without my computer when we were on vacation in Virginia, and I had very limited access. So I'm counting it good.
25. Do some acting I am in the Iron Crow Theatre Company! And we're doing a night of short plays by Christopher Durang called "In Durang's Shorts" I acted as a Chorus member and Phyllis, in Phyllis and Xenobia
26. Go to ten new restaurants in Baltimore Done!
27. Learn a new card game
28. Go see a movie with Subtitiles (or, rent and watch Amelie without falling asleep)

Taste Memory: Coffeemate

Empty coffee cup of shots of iced espresso.

There is music, that when I listen to it, I am immediately transported back to the time and place that I first listened to it. For example, Tegan and Sara's first CD This Business of Art, puts me right back in my Providence Apartment, taking turns playing video games with Jamie.  Catie Curtis reminds me of freshman year of college,  Girlyman puts me at Falcon Ridge folk festival, and I have many, many more musical triggers.

But this isn't about music, it's about food. Well, not food exactly, but a food like product. I usually take my coffee black. This habit was learned when I was with the Red Cross, specifically during Hurricane Katrina. I was working in our office, getting volunteers ready for deployment to Louisiana, and was working on average, 14 hour days. We had a lot of coffee around, and while I am not a coffee addict now, I was seriously one then.  I would get my cup of black coffee, a pack of peanut butter crackers, and begin my workday.  I would have 1 or two more cups of black coffee during the day, while making phone calls, greeting volunteers, and watching the four tvs we had in our office, turned to CNN, Weather Channel, Local news, and (depending on who won that day, either Fox News or MSNBC).

It would hit about 3 or 4pm, when I usually would begin to get a little burnt out, and I couldn't deal with another cup of black coffee. So I would make myself a cup of coffee, dump some sugar in, and some coffeemate creamer. I'd take my cup outside, and take a ten or fifteen minute break, sitting under a tree, and I'd call one of my friends, to hear them talk, and remind myself that there was a world outside my office. 

This morning, I went down to get some coffee, and I really didn't feel like black coffee, or hot coffee, So while I was maguyver-ing a solution to my problems, I got two esspresso shots out of the coffee machine, and mixed in coffeemate, and sugar. and when the coffeemate hit the hot coffee, I was immediately back at the Red Cross office, and a wave of nostalgia hit me. I know that a lot of people romanticize their first 'real' jobs, but I really had a great one, even though at times it was epically stressful. I had a great team of co-workers, an awesome boss, and a really supportive environment.

Then I poured the mix over a cup full of ice and drank it down. 

In other news: hi. hi. hi. hi. how are you doing? I am good, hi. hi. hi. hi. hi. two shots of espresso drunk in ten minutes? AWESOME. hi. hi.

Ten things

This week I really need Ten Things.  Between work being crazy, a death in the family, and general stress and worry and suckitude, I definitely need some serious good things that I'm happy about. (what? suckitude is a word.)

1) My Tiny cousin turns 2! It's really awesome and exciting, and I can't wait to see him when he's in NJ in August, so I can give him his presents. And take lots of pictures of him.

2) My dad's Birthday is this week too! Happy Birthday, old man.

3) I've been downloading some of the new music from Lilith fair, and I'm really excited to hear new music!

4) Made banana pudding this weekend. love banana pudding. I didn't even eat any yesterday because I know how much better it is when it sits for a day. (look at that! patience! who knew?)

5) Looking forward to the Theatre Company fundraising meeting tonight.

6) Original flavor Sun Chips in the work vending machine. HOLY CRAP this is awesome. for a long time they only had the terrible chese flavored Sun Chips, or the slightly passable french onion Sun Chips. All of these versions are massively inferior to Original Sun Chips

7) I have not mentioned lately how much I love Twitter.  I do. I love twitter a lot. Despite that fact that other people think it is dumb.

8) Community DVD Season 1 pre-sale!

9) Burt's Bees Chapstick

10) Popsicles

What is making you happy right now?

Crocheted Food Part Deux

 


So my little cousin is turning two at the end of the month. While I have been contemplating how time flies so fast, (because he was just born yesterday) I have also been crocheting things for his kitchen, which his mom tells me he is ALL about lately. (feeding the dog hamburger soup from his hamburger pieces? awesome.) So above is all the things that I've made, and below is a more in depth look at the individual pieces I've been crafting.


A banaba that comes out of the banana skin:



Ribs- (come on, did you NOT think I was going to do ribs?)



also a waffle, because that kid likes waffles:



A slice of watermelon



Apples:



Oranges:



A S'more



Corn on the cob (that also comes out of the green)



And a pb&J sandwich:


I'm sharing them here because he's almost two, and while he's very advanced, I'm sure he doesn't read my blog.  I'm going to finish up on a couple more things, and then I'm going to get them shipped off.  If you have any suggestions, let me know!

(also,  some more in depth photos on the flickr site. Click on a photo to take you there!)

Ten things that are making me happy right now

1. Renewing my Flickr Pro Account:

Click the picture and you will be magically transported to my flickr page! woot! (be prepared for more pictures on this site.)

2. Had an awesome time on vacation.

3. Won the rib competition (that's going to be a thing that makes me happy for a long while)

4. All the crocheted things I've made for the Tiny Cousin. (pictures coming soon)

5. Going to lilith Fair in two weeks!

6.  Working the next two saturdays. which you wouldn't think would be awesome, but i'm looking forward to having comp days off during the week.

7.  Perhaps making a second chinc trip this summer?

8. Doing some volunteering soon

9.  I feel like Earl's mellowed a little lately (this could be in my head)

10. Due to my Chincoteague vacation, I may have gotten a tiny addiction to TRUtv.  just a small one.

What is making you happy right now?

Wonderful Vacation

I am back from vacation. I kind of would like to be back there right now. Chincoteague is so peaceful.  this is the view off the back of the house. Crazy beautiful, right? 

Every year my family rents a house on Chincoteague Island (sometimes parts of the family camp, but I prefer a house, with you know, a bed. and air conditioning. it is hot out there)  We've rented this house a bunch of times, and I love it.  It's gorgeous, has a great big and wonderful kitchen, and a long table for everyone to sit at.  I have spent lots of hours in this house- we've rented it a couple of times, and I really, really like it.

I really like the whole island. It is restful, and relaxing, and easy vacation. I can spend time sleeping, and crocheting, and reading.  Cooking good things, and hanging out with the family.  Not everyone was able to make it this year, and even those that were were not able to be there the whole time, which was a bummer. But I'm glad I had the time with those that did make it there this year.  And there's always next year!

I've posted a bit about my rib competition with my uncle: (and other people who want to enter, last year was Potter)  and these are my ribs:

And this is my trophy:

:)

The trrophy returns to Baltimore once more, to grace my bookshelves and inspire me to kick ass again next year.  I already have ideas marinating for next year's rub and sauce. (and maybe also my rib competition videos)

Just before we chow down on ribs.  Chilling with the family.  One thing this family has down is eating and drinking.  We had a ton of "food coma" moments, usually after eating dinner, and occasionally after lunch (see: Woody's barbecue, Woody's fried chicken, Vientamese resturaunt, The Creamery, and Mr. Whippy)
One of the things that I like is how much cooking we all do while we're there- Appetizer night,  Seafood night, Rib competition, and lots of other meals, and snacks (I did not make nearly enough guac this year. Must remedy that next year)

Helena and Auntie Ange feeding the seagulls. Which they continued to do even after Uncle Dave told a story about a friend of his who was feeding seagulls and the seagull bit off the tip of his finger. I was not going to be going anywhere near seagulls after that. They, however, purchased a whole loaf of bread to feed the seagulls with.

It was a great week, and I can't wait until next year.