Monday, February 25, 2008

Taking Monday Back

Jared and I had a fun day today. We decided to have "Saturday on Monday". The main reason for this is that Monday is his day off for his internship. He wants to do something fun on Monday because he has to work the rest of the week. Me, well, I always want to do something fun! We laughed that while most people are groaning about Monday arriving and the weekend ending, he was excited that it was Monday morning!

The poor weather this morning halted our plans of hiking, but we made a list of other things we needed to do and went on our way. We met up with Mark and did a little shopping and grabbed some lunch. After Mark split, Jared and I checked the list and headed over to the mall so I could get a lens cap for my camera. You know you are having a good day when:


Somebody left a bunch of time on the meter! All right!!! We did a quick swoop into the mall and were able to leave some time on the meter for somebody else!

With our shopping was finished, we did a little exploring around Charleston. We saw a pretty wild road sign. One of the great thing about our curvy roads in West Virginia is some of the road signs they come up with. This one caught our attention so much that we put the car in reverse to go back and figure out what it was telling us. You always want to know what is waiting around the curve and with signs like this you are prepared!

After all this running around, we were in desperate need for a cup of coffee, so we stopped into the Bridge Street Bistro in Charleston. We had never been there and thought it looked like a nice place, so in we went! The cup of coffee extended into coffee and desert. We just had to try this Mexicali Chocolate ice cream that our server recommended. And what a treat it was! Mexican chocolate is chocolate that is spiced up a bit with flavors like cinnamon and vanilla. This was a chocolate base ice cream, but it had all kinds of other flavors in it with a kick at the end! The description we came up with was: "Chocolate Chai, followed by Andes Mint, finished with a Red Hot to provide a kick of lingering heat." Paired with a strawberry and a cup of coffee - loved it. We have taken Monday back.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Soup for you!

I got an awesome new "chili pot" for my birthday! My love for soup has been growing stronger each year. Especially this year, being out of the south and into the cold has made me crave soup several times a week. So what better gift to get than a perfect pot for making soup?
A soup I have fallen in love with lately is a Greek lentil soup from a Cooking Light article. If you would like to try it, it's here. This is a great recipe because it is cheap and uses things I usually already have at home. I did make a few changes based on what I had around. I used onion instead of shallots and shredded cabbage since I didn't have parsnips. I deglazed the pan with apple cider vinegar which gave it the perfect acidity. I have made this recipe a couple of times, but the other night I had to try out the new pot! It was perfect!!! Nothing beats a hot bowl of soup on these cold snowy nights.

Monday, February 18, 2008

27

Today is my birthday!!!

Maybe this will change as I get "old", but for now, I kind of enjoy my birthday. It is one day of the year where I almost always have a good day. I guess that "good" is more of an attitude, because bad things can happen any day. I remember one birthday stuck in a car with a migraine driving for 13 hours. Not really an ideal situation, but I suppose that on my birthday I am able to keep a better attitude. I enjoy my birthday for a number of reasons.

For one thing, I think a birthday is a day to really appreciate the gift of life. I know that some people get depressed about getting older and hate having birthdays, but growing older is a part of life. I am so excited that I am alive and well and able to do the things that I do. Some days get me down, like anyone else, but life really is a gift and I want to make the most of it. Carpe Diem.

Another fun thing about my birthday is that I have always shared it with someone! This is probably not the most normal way to have a birthday, but I didn't really have much choice. See, I was born on my Dad's birthday! What a gift he got! Growing up, it was always fun to have our special day together. We each had our own birthday cakes, his German Chocolate, mine something else (usually some strawberry-ish creation; Thanks, Mom, for years of creativity), but it was our day.
As if it wasn't enough to share a birthday with my dad, TWO of my best friends also share my birthday! How crazy is that? Ben and Dave! So it seems no matter where I have been, I have shared this day with someone close to me.

A final reason why I like my birthday is because people come out of the woodwork. Especially thanks to Facebook, which reminds all of my friends of my birthday. Since I have attended several different schools and moved around quite a bit, I have friends all over the place! They are literally spread around the world! As much as I love my friends it is difficult to keep in good contact with all of them! But it seems that on my birthday everyone shows up with messages, emails, and calls to wish me the best. I get so much pleasure from hearing from these people who I don't get to talk to that often.

Oh - and I almost forgot my best rule - calories don't count on your birthday!!!!

Thursday, February 14, 2008

XOXO

I hope everyone had a fabulous Valentine's Day!

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Boiled egg, anyone?

You know - I was going to write all about my favorite kitchen gadgets. I started with one post, but I haven't written about them since! I just have to tell you about "Boiley" and the story of when he came to live with me.
Last year I was living in Georgia. I remember coming home from a not-so-great day of work. It was just one of those days where everything seems to go wrong and I was feeling pretty frustrated. As I drove back to my apartment I stopped at the mailbox, expecting it to be full of junk mail as usual. I pulled out the fliers and ads and was about to close the box when I noticed a small package in the very back. As I brought it closer to me, I saw to eyes peeking out of a duct taped package with a return address of Pensacola. Apparently, Jared and Stacy had been out shopping and found this little guy. Jared had duct tape in his car, so they wrapped the plastic box completely in tape, except for a little slot where the "eyes" were. How cute and funny this package was!

Well, it took me some time to get all that tape off - but when I did I found Boiley - the microwave egg boiler. Now, I am not too big on eggs, but I just had to try him out! Stacy left me a note in the box with a warning - Boiley has a lot of metal inside his plastic body. Metal meets microwave??? Believe it or not, after 4 minutes I had a perfectly boiled egg and NO sparks or fire.

Boiley brought happiness to a gloomy day in Macon and will surely bring many more smiles. Who wouldn't love an egg boiled in a little egg guy? It's worth it just to watch him go round and round in the microwave.
Nobody will ever say it takes much to amuse me....

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Here is a "secret" message going out to my blog's #1 supporter:


Saturday, February 9, 2008

back to sewing

Okay - The needle is not jumping yet, but do you remember that dress pattern and fabric I bought a while ago? Quite a while ago. This one. Well, today I finally got around to cutting it out. We had an interesting moment when we didn't think the pattern was going to fit onto the fabric. Luckily that problem worked itself out. Now it's on to the fun part! Putting it all together and making the dress! Hopefully the finished product will be fantastic and I will be proudly posting pictures on my blog.

Friday, February 8, 2008

Dearest BC,


Why must you squawk as you do? Can't we just be friends? Together we could make beautiful music - you and me. Why wouldn't you want to cooperate? Must you be so difficult?

Monday, February 4, 2008

The old man is snoring....

Before I even opened my eyes this morning I heard the sound of raindrops falling lightly outside. I knew it was a little darker in my room than usual - no morning sun shining in my window. Safe to say we are having another rainy, foggy day. Thankfully, the temperature is hovering much higher than it has been the past few weeks. Could spring be on the way??? *cringe* I have to be very careful asking such a thing like that. I really should know better. In the past few years, spent in Georgia and Florida, I would not be taking too much of a risk to ask for warmer weather by the end of February. But I am not so "south" anymore. Here, I remember how winter likes to hang around for as long as it can.

I have enjoyed the rain today. Sometimes I really like rain. It can feel so refreshing. Of course there are days when I don't enjoy it so much. Rain can create quite a mess if you have to be outside working (or running into stores - parking lots can turn into obstacle courses with huge puddles you must try to hurdle and dodge, only to be splashed by a car who didn't feel like slowing down when he passed you and drove through that same puddle.) Or sometimes, as it did a few days ago - rain just makes me want to stay in bed all day! It is dark. It is cozy. I sit around just a little too long enjoying my morning coffee and internet and then it is too late. I'm done for. I can almost forget about doing anything productive the rest of the day. I can drink coffee until I jitter down the stairs, but I still can't function as a normal person. Whew - I'm glad today is one of those "good" rainy days. Now I better move on before I get too comfy in front of this computer. I've got things to do!