alternately: foods I should be a spokesperson for
Utz Potato Chips
-Specifically, the Honey BBQ brand. They are the best chips I have ever tasted. So much, in fact, that we made it a priority to visit the factory when we were on our road trip. And then bought, like, 20 mini bags at the factory outlet store because we really like Utz chips and we were going to be driving out of their shipping radius. WE ARE THOSE PEOPLE. If you can find them, try them. And then try them mixed with Mac 'n Cheese. Holy deliciousness. Dot com.
Sunbelt Granola Bars
-Another sometimes hard to find snack. Case and point: The closest store that carries them to where we live in Seattle is 15 miles away. That isn't that far, unless you don't drive places. Which we try not to, unless it's absolutely necessary. And we think that going to Target <10 miles away isn't always necessary, so...yeah. This is another snack we stocked up for the trip. And then we had no air conditioning, so they all melted. And still tasted super. Especially the Oats & Honey. Noms.
Crystal Light
We go through this stuff like it is going out of style. We spent extra money on it the last time we went grocery shopping, because it was on sale. We bought four large tubs. That will last us maaaaaybe a month. Maybe.
That's probably about it. Actually, no it isn't. But the other things aren't specific brands, just generic foods. Like brussel sprouts, green beans, stuffing...etc...etc...
I'm so ready for it to be tomorrow night! I'm excited about traveling =)
-C
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
haven't lost it all yet (ten on tuesday)
1. What is a food that you never thought you would try, but then tried and liked?
When I was younger I was pretty picky (also, my sister was REALLY picky,) so there weren't many new food introductions in my house. As I've gotten older, I've discovered that I'll try pretty much anything, unless it includes foods/spices I know I dislike. But I suppose once I started trying raw foods, I was surprised at how many I wound up loving: oysters, carpaccio, sushi, etc.
2. Do you subscribe to any foodie publications? If so, which ones?
Nope. Not unless you count food blogs ;)
3. What ingredient do you find yourself reaching for the most when you cook?
Pasta. Basil. Recently, brussel sprouts. Cheese. I'm kind of an Italian food junkie, so anything that goes well with noodles!
4. Are there any foods that you hated as a child, but then learned to like as an adult?
I remember vehemently not liking onions. Now I love them, as long as they aren't raw.
5. What do you like to eat that others may consider weird?
Brussel Sprouts? I also love Kraft Macaroni and Cheese mixed with Apple Sauce. It's like the low-brow equivalent of brie and apple slices. I haven't had it in a long time, though.
6. What is the weirdest ingredient you’ve ever cooked with?
Hmm...probably nothing that weird. For me, it was probably spaghetti squash. I'm so adventurous!
7. Do you have any major food allergies?
Nope. But I do get a rash on my skin if I leave citrus juice/residue on it. Especially the skin around my mouth.
8. Is there an ingredient that you would like to cook with, but are intimidated to try?
Eventually I'm gonna go for the 'buy the shellfish while it's still alive and dump it in boilig water when you get home' thing, but for now, it scares me.
9. Do you bake?
Not usually. Nate is better in that department.
10. If you could go on any “foodie” show to compete, which one would it be, and why?
Chopped. But I'd fail miserably, cause half the time I've never even heard of what's in the basket. Or have any idea how to cook it.
-C
(check out the other answers and link-up at RootsandRings!)
When I was younger I was pretty picky (also, my sister was REALLY picky,) so there weren't many new food introductions in my house. As I've gotten older, I've discovered that I'll try pretty much anything, unless it includes foods/spices I know I dislike. But I suppose once I started trying raw foods, I was surprised at how many I wound up loving: oysters, carpaccio, sushi, etc.
2. Do you subscribe to any foodie publications? If so, which ones?
Nope. Not unless you count food blogs ;)
3. What ingredient do you find yourself reaching for the most when you cook?
Pasta. Basil. Recently, brussel sprouts. Cheese. I'm kind of an Italian food junkie, so anything that goes well with noodles!
4. Are there any foods that you hated as a child, but then learned to like as an adult?
I remember vehemently not liking onions. Now I love them, as long as they aren't raw.
5. What do you like to eat that others may consider weird?
Brussel Sprouts? I also love Kraft Macaroni and Cheese mixed with Apple Sauce. It's like the low-brow equivalent of brie and apple slices. I haven't had it in a long time, though.
6. What is the weirdest ingredient you’ve ever cooked with?
Hmm...probably nothing that weird. For me, it was probably spaghetti squash. I'm so adventurous!
7. Do you have any major food allergies?
Nope. But I do get a rash on my skin if I leave citrus juice/residue on it. Especially the skin around my mouth.
8. Is there an ingredient that you would like to cook with, but are intimidated to try?
Eventually I'm gonna go for the 'buy the shellfish while it's still alive and dump it in boilig water when you get home' thing, but for now, it scares me.
9. Do you bake?
Not usually. Nate is better in that department.
10. If you could go on any “foodie” show to compete, which one would it be, and why?
Chopped. But I'd fail miserably, cause half the time I've never even heard of what's in the basket. Or have any idea how to cook it.
-C
(check out the other answers and link-up at RootsandRings!)
i sure hope that's it (ootd)
I mentioned going to h&m over the weekend. I would like to show that I am superbly happy with at least part of my purchase: a new navy blue blazer!
Taking photos with a self-timer on my iPhone in front of the copier in the mailroom reminds me of my The Put Together Project days, back in January. In any case, I love this blazer! It's kind of halfway in between a jacket and a blazer, as it's a little heavier and more jacket-esque than a blazer is typically, since it's lined, but made out of very heavy, stiff sweatshirt material. Wearing it around the office keeps me both warm and stylish. Or something like that. I'm still not convinced the outfit works, but I've been wearing my khakis entirely too much lately, so i needed to put on some different pants. Like my skinny cords. Yay!
Last night's dinner was nothing exciting -- we had chicken salad sandwiches when we got home, because we were both starving, and a baked yam and some sauteed turkey kielbasa about an hour and a half later. I went to bed at 10PM last night and I was still tired this morning when I got up at 7:15AM. I've come to the conclusion (again) that I am just not a morning person. Even after nine hours of sleep. It's a rough life.
-C
Monday, March 28, 2011
just listen for the lark
Hi there!
I'm so tired, my eyeballs feel all scratchy and I think I'm that guy at work because I'm having problems keeping my eyes focused on anything. Especially tiny, 10-point font. Gah. But this weekend was fabulous, so I'll sit here and sketch out for a while and not complain too too much.
Friday night, walking home from work, I ran into a lot of things having to do with the Sounders that was happening later. I got a free energy drink and saw a giant soccer ball!
Saturday was a lazy day for me. Nate had to work from 10-4:30, and then they wound up keeping him until 5 after telling him he could go at 2 and it wound up being a huge 'I don't know when you're coming home so I'm hungry but I can't make dinner yet' fiasco. FIASCO!
Actually, it wasn't that bad. But it was kind of touch and go there for a little while.
Saturday night we went to Kells, which is in an alley way in between the stores on 1st and Pike Place Market that we didn't even know existed, to meet Nate's friend from college, Meghan, and her husband, Matt. We drank, ate, talked and listened to some fantastic live Irish music. After about a bottle of wine each (for the ladies) and a couple pints of Guiness (for the men-folk,) we decided that it sounded like a good idea to go over to Meghan and Matt's apartment to play Monopoly. Until, you know...2AM. Which is fine. Except that it's way past my bedtime, and we were all, uhm, slap-happy, to say the least. It became increasingly harder to do math, as it got later and later. So Nate and I finally called it quits, took leave of our gracious hosts via a cab. Once we got home, we promptly passed out as soon as our heads hit our respective pillows.
Sunday morning was a little rough, but we managed to be up and out of the house by 12:30PM, which is decent if you take into account that we didn't get out of bed until 11:15 or so. We found some coffee and some Jimmy Johns (and some ibuprofen -- hah) before I sent Nate off to Molly Moon's for his website meeting. I, of course, went shopping. What else do you do with a tax return? I got a couple pieces from H&M, but I also had a giftcard from my Aunt for Victoria's Secret, so I got some new undies while I was out, as well, since they are having a 7 for $25.50 sale right now, and my wardrobe from American Eagle boyshorts is getting kind of old and well-loved. So I picked up a couple different kinds, including their hipsters and boyshorts, to see what I like best so I can use the rest of my giftcard. They were running this promotion where you get a giftcard with your purchse worth between $10 and $500, so I'll have to go back in April and see what I get! Knowing my luck, it will be $10, but you never know.
We also went grocery shopping Sunday afternoon/early-evening. We spent more than we meant to, but we got everything from Safeway, instead of splitting it up between there and Uwajimaya, and most of what we bought we stocked up on, and bought more of than we normally would, because it was on sale! Like Crystal Light and Veggie Ritz. Plus we needed things like spices and household items, which are always makes things more expensive.
Sunday night we had homemade pizza for dinner, with an appetizer of stuffed mushrooms.
I'm so tired, my eyeballs feel all scratchy and I think I'm that guy at work because I'm having problems keeping my eyes focused on anything. Especially tiny, 10-point font. Gah. But this weekend was fabulous, so I'll sit here and sketch out for a while and not complain too too much.
Friday night, walking home from work, I ran into a lot of things having to do with the Sounders that was happening later. I got a free energy drink and saw a giant soccer ball!
I also found some pretty cool graffiti along the way.
I don't really remember what I did Friday night, but it must not have been too terribly exciting.Saturday was a lazy day for me. Nate had to work from 10-4:30, and then they wound up keeping him until 5 after telling him he could go at 2 and it wound up being a huge 'I don't know when you're coming home so I'm hungry but I can't make dinner yet' fiasco. FIASCO!
Actually, it wasn't that bad. But it was kind of touch and go there for a little while.
Saturday night we went to Kells, which is in an alley way in between the stores on 1st and Pike Place Market that we didn't even know existed, to meet Nate's friend from college, Meghan, and her husband, Matt. We drank, ate, talked and listened to some fantastic live Irish music. After about a bottle of wine each (for the ladies) and a couple pints of Guiness (for the men-folk,) we decided that it sounded like a good idea to go over to Meghan and Matt's apartment to play Monopoly. Until, you know...2AM. Which is fine. Except that it's way past my bedtime, and we were all, uhm, slap-happy, to say the least. It became increasingly harder to do math, as it got later and later. So Nate and I finally called it quits, took leave of our gracious hosts via a cab. Once we got home, we promptly passed out as soon as our heads hit our respective pillows.
Sunday morning was a little rough, but we managed to be up and out of the house by 12:30PM, which is decent if you take into account that we didn't get out of bed until 11:15 or so. We found some coffee and some Jimmy Johns (and some ibuprofen -- hah) before I sent Nate off to Molly Moon's for his website meeting. I, of course, went shopping. What else do you do with a tax return? I got a couple pieces from H&M, but I also had a giftcard from my Aunt for Victoria's Secret, so I got some new undies while I was out, as well, since they are having a 7 for $25.50 sale right now, and my wardrobe from American Eagle boyshorts is getting kind of old and well-loved. So I picked up a couple different kinds, including their hipsters and boyshorts, to see what I like best so I can use the rest of my giftcard. They were running this promotion where you get a giftcard with your purchse worth between $10 and $500, so I'll have to go back in April and see what I get! Knowing my luck, it will be $10, but you never know.
We also went grocery shopping Sunday afternoon/early-evening. We spent more than we meant to, but we got everything from Safeway, instead of splitting it up between there and Uwajimaya, and most of what we bought we stocked up on, and bought more of than we normally would, because it was on sale! Like Crystal Light and Veggie Ritz. Plus we needed things like spices and household items, which are always makes things more expensive.
Sunday night we had homemade pizza for dinner, with an appetizer of stuffed mushrooms.
I love stuffed mushrooms because they're so super easy to make. The filling is basically whatever you have hanging out in your fridge! This time, it consisted of cream cheese, ranch dressing, parmesan cheese and an Italian spice blend, whith a Veggie Ritz cracker crushed and sprinkled on top. Pop them in the oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes and they are golden brown and delicious! I love mushrooms, can you tell?
We also bought our tickets and hotel room for my friend Catherine's wedding in Atlanta this weekend! We're leaving at 8:20PM on Thursday night and taking the red eye, so we have Friday to be there and sleep (and hopefully get me an appointment at the eye doctor -- I haven't found one in Seattle yet, and I am in desperate need of new contacts,) Saturday for Wedding-ness and Love, Sunday to hang out in Atlanta and Monday to get back to Seattle in one piece. And it's nice flying out this way, because even though we don't leave until 5PM, it's eight hours of flying, we get in at 10PM (which will feel like 1AM -- blech,) we can still get a regular night's sleepy-times. I'm so excited!
-C
Friday, March 25, 2011
one more night
Recently here it's looked like this:
And it's been 60 and just lovely. It does rain off and on, but for the most part, it's sunny and beautiful and warm enough that you really just want to go hang out on a blanket in a park somewhere.
Nate and I went to Fado, and Irish Bar, last night for dinner. We had Bruchsetta and Harp Battered Onion Rings, which were ok, but not great. I'm a fan of my Bruschetta being not soggy, and having a little more cheese with it. Nate loved the onion rings, but they weren't my cup of tea, because the batter was so pepper-y. Although, I did enjoy the Guinesss mayo. We had the 'Gourmet Burger' for dinner, which was excellent, except that it was -- like the Onion Rings -- too spicy for me. Nate was in burger heaven, however.
For dessert we had a delectable concoction -- a Brownie with Guiness Ice Cream, whipped cream and chocolate sauce.
This will be the first trip we've taken since the end of our big trip. I can't say I'm excited to be on planes for almost 12 hours, but I am excited to see some familiar faces. Unfortunately, we won't quite be close enough to Tallahassee to visit back there (since it's a 5-ish hour drive -- eww,) but I'm excited to see friends.
Nate and I went to Fado, and Irish Bar, last night for dinner. We had Bruchsetta and Harp Battered Onion Rings, which were ok, but not great. I'm a fan of my Bruschetta being not soggy, and having a little more cheese with it. Nate loved the onion rings, but they weren't my cup of tea, because the batter was so pepper-y. Although, I did enjoy the Guinesss mayo. We had the 'Gourmet Burger' for dinner, which was excellent, except that it was -- like the Onion Rings -- too spicy for me. Nate was in burger heaven, however.
For dessert we had a delectable concoction -- a Brownie with Guiness Ice Cream, whipped cream and chocolate sauce.
6 minutes later, it looked like this:
All gone!
It was also supposed to come with pecans, but we asked for it without, since Nate doesn't like them in his dessert. Our waiter came back out to ask if he had a nut allergy, at which point we struck up a conversation with him. Turns out he's from GA, and just moved here recently. So we talked about that for a while, because we're going to Atlanta next weekend!
This will be the first trip we've taken since the end of our big trip. I can't say I'm excited to be on planes for almost 12 hours, but I am excited to see some familiar faces. Unfortunately, we won't quite be close enough to Tallahassee to visit back there (since it's a 5-ish hour drive -- eww,) but I'm excited to see friends.
We haven't been up to too much else. None of the sites or programs I need to work at work are actually working on my computer, so I'm stuck checking every ten minutes to see if they've fixed themselves. Shakey fist!
-C
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
i've made up your mind
Holy Cow, y'all! I've had 52 pageviews so far today. I was excited that I was hitting 20-something the other day. I still only have three followers...I'll have to figure out how to remedy that. (I feel a giveaway coming on!)
In any case, I'm gonna have to try real hard not to have the whole blog be memes, since I love filling out forms/answering questions. Seriously? If I ever qualified for any of those surveys the "get paid for taking survey" websites use, I'd be rolling. Cause I'll fill things out all day long. No joke.
For now, I'm trying to figure out what to make for dinner. We have chicken thighs and ground pork, as well as yummy veggies - brussel sprouts, baby spinach, sweet potatoes, yellow onion, celery, white mushrooms...maybe carrots? I don't remember. I also have a shallot sitting in the bottom of the crisper that I haven't quite figured out how to use yet. Any recipe involving it would be greatly appreciated, because I've been out of ideas for a while. I'm so tired when I get home these days -- my own fault, I simply don't put myself to bed early enough on weekdays -- that I haven't been feeling terribly creative. Oh, for carbs I have spaghetti, white rice, brown rice and baking potatoes. Maybe we'll have baked potatoes tonight! Hmm...
I wish Instagram had a feed you could follow online, like Flickr or Twitter. In any case, my boyfriend is having fun walking around downtown Seattle, taking pictures of things as he meanders his way toward a coffee shop for the rest of the afternoon. They're all posted to his Twitter, so you can check them out here!
-C
In any case, I'm gonna have to try real hard not to have the whole blog be memes, since I love filling out forms/answering questions. Seriously? If I ever qualified for any of those surveys the "get paid for taking survey" websites use, I'd be rolling. Cause I'll fill things out all day long. No joke.
For now, I'm trying to figure out what to make for dinner. We have chicken thighs and ground pork, as well as yummy veggies - brussel sprouts, baby spinach, sweet potatoes, yellow onion, celery, white mushrooms...maybe carrots? I don't remember. I also have a shallot sitting in the bottom of the crisper that I haven't quite figured out how to use yet. Any recipe involving it would be greatly appreciated, because I've been out of ideas for a while. I'm so tired when I get home these days -- my own fault, I simply don't put myself to bed early enough on weekdays -- that I haven't been feeling terribly creative. Oh, for carbs I have spaghetti, white rice, brown rice and baking potatoes. Maybe we'll have baked potatoes tonight! Hmm...
I wish Instagram had a feed you could follow online, like Flickr or Twitter. In any case, my boyfriend is having fun walking around downtown Seattle, taking pictures of things as he meanders his way toward a coffee shop for the rest of the afternoon. They're all posted to his Twitter, so you can check them out here!
-C
i'm falling forever
Ten on Tuesday: Food! Hosted by Chelsea, at one of my favorite blogs to read (though I don't think she knows that, cause I've never talked to her. Hi Chelsea! I like reading your blog =)
1. What condiments are always, always in your fridge?
Mayo. Hot sauce and/or salsa for Nate. But for me? Mayo. I don't like ketchup, mustard, relish (aka pickles) or most salad dressings, so it's really the only one left. Unless cream cheese counts?
2. How do you like your steak cooked? Your burgers?
I don't much like steak, but in the form of carpaccio, I'm ok with it. So...raw. But if it has to be cooked, probably medium rare. My burgers I like basically steamed, so that they're fully cooked all the way through, but are still super tender and moist. Mostly I eat them medium well, though, since you have to be careful with ground beef.
3. What’s your favorite use for fresh tomatoes?
Another thing I'm not terribly fond of, because the acidity hurts my tongue. But I do like a nice fresh slice of tomato on a sandwich.
4. What’s your go-to dinner when you haven’t planned anything in advance and you don’t feel like going out?
Pasta. Usually with pre-made sauce that has extra veggies and/or meat added in. With cheese. Lots and lots of cheese.
5. What’s your favorite snack food lately?
Cake? Erm...I've also been eating a mix of almonds, chocolate chips and dried coconut.
6. What’s your favorite weekend breakfast to make at home?
I actually don't make much breakfast on the weekends since we got to Seattle. I think because I'm sleepy and don't get up, and then it's lunch time. Or because the dishes in the sink are still dirty from dinner the night before because I hate cleaning. But if I do make it, eggs, wheat toast, cheese grits. Potatoes if I'm feeling fancy.
7. What’s your favorite thing to grill? How do you do it?
I'm not a huge fan of grilled flavor, and I also don't grill, so that kind of puts a damper on this question. But I'd have to say salmon. Or hot dogs.
8. What’s your favorite wine for under $10? If you’re not a wine person, what brand of beer is your favorite?
Yellow Tail Whites are pretty delicious. There's also this Green Apple Wine that The Winery in Tallahassee makes at their vineyard that's under $10 a glass, does that count? (This wine always makes me think of my friends Leslie and Jessamyn -- specifically the night Jessamyn and I decided toget completely wasted have a little too much wine sitting at the bar in The Winery and talk about a lot of things that I don't remember now. We also may have then gone over to Waterworks. What?)
9. Give us your most delicious cocktail recipe.
Vanilla Vodka and Root Beer. Alcoholic root beer float! I'm also a sucker for coconut rum and pineapple juice.
10. How do you like your eggs?
If they're scrambled, dry and dead and smothered with cheese. Otherwise, Over-Medium. I can tell you the different between all the over-'blanks,' if you care to know. I worked in a breakfast restaurant. I don't like the texture of the yolk when it's cooked -- though, for some reason scrambled is fine -- but I also don't like my egg whites runny at all. So I'm Over-Medium all the way =) Whites fully cooked, yolk fully runny. It's the hardest way to make eggs -- leaving the yolk runny, without breaking it, while cooking the whites all the way through. This means I am pleasantly surprised when they can get it right at a restaurant.
-C
1. What condiments are always, always in your fridge?
Mayo. Hot sauce and/or salsa for Nate. But for me? Mayo. I don't like ketchup, mustard, relish (aka pickles) or most salad dressings, so it's really the only one left. Unless cream cheese counts?
2. How do you like your steak cooked? Your burgers?
I don't much like steak, but in the form of carpaccio, I'm ok with it. So...raw. But if it has to be cooked, probably medium rare. My burgers I like basically steamed, so that they're fully cooked all the way through, but are still super tender and moist. Mostly I eat them medium well, though, since you have to be careful with ground beef.
3. What’s your favorite use for fresh tomatoes?
Another thing I'm not terribly fond of, because the acidity hurts my tongue. But I do like a nice fresh slice of tomato on a sandwich.
4. What’s your go-to dinner when you haven’t planned anything in advance and you don’t feel like going out?
Pasta. Usually with pre-made sauce that has extra veggies and/or meat added in. With cheese. Lots and lots of cheese.
5. What’s your favorite snack food lately?
Cake? Erm...I've also been eating a mix of almonds, chocolate chips and dried coconut.
6. What’s your favorite weekend breakfast to make at home?
I actually don't make much breakfast on the weekends since we got to Seattle. I think because I'm sleepy and don't get up, and then it's lunch time. Or because the dishes in the sink are still dirty from dinner the night before because I hate cleaning. But if I do make it, eggs, wheat toast, cheese grits. Potatoes if I'm feeling fancy.
7. What’s your favorite thing to grill? How do you do it?
I'm not a huge fan of grilled flavor, and I also don't grill, so that kind of puts a damper on this question. But I'd have to say salmon. Or hot dogs.
8. What’s your favorite wine for under $10? If you’re not a wine person, what brand of beer is your favorite?
Yellow Tail Whites are pretty delicious. There's also this Green Apple Wine that The Winery in Tallahassee makes at their vineyard that's under $10 a glass, does that count? (This wine always makes me think of my friends Leslie and Jessamyn -- specifically the night Jessamyn and I decided to
9. Give us your most delicious cocktail recipe.
Vanilla Vodka and Root Beer. Alcoholic root beer float! I'm also a sucker for coconut rum and pineapple juice.
10. How do you like your eggs?
If they're scrambled, dry and dead and smothered with cheese. Otherwise, Over-Medium. I can tell you the different between all the over-'blanks,' if you care to know. I worked in a breakfast restaurant. I don't like the texture of the yolk when it's cooked -- though, for some reason scrambled is fine -- but I also don't like my egg whites runny at all. So I'm Over-Medium all the way =) Whites fully cooked, yolk fully runny. It's the hardest way to make eggs -- leaving the yolk runny, without breaking it, while cooking the whites all the way through. This means I am pleasantly surprised when they can get it right at a restaurant.
-C
Monday, March 21, 2011
Big White Room
I've been listening to five tracks on my new Jessie J album kind of constantly:
-Price Tag
-Do It Like a Dude
-Who's Laughing Now
-Mamma Knows Best
-Who You Are
Big White Room is growing on me, but I feel sometimes that the recording (that's on the CD, I haven't listened to any others,) is slightly contrived. It's such an introspective song, I kind of want to hear it devoid of runs, repeated syllables. Without her all-out, girl-power, let-loose voice. Just...the song. Calm. And sad. Because really, that's what it's about. And maybe it's just me, because I don't do runs or girl-power shouting (up in that range.)
However, I really find it interesting that there are all these songs that are going along with the 'yourself is beautiful/good enough' movement coming out now. Born This Way and Who You Are, which are the two that come immediately to mind, both speak to staying true to yourself and knowing that you are beautiful and good enough, no matter what other people say. I find it kind of disheartening that it has come to the point where we need to send specific messages via music, text, videos, etc. to reverse all the body image damage pop culture has done to our psyches. But that's what has spawned this information-age purge and re-assignment, via people like music divas, video vixens and CaitlinHTP's OperationBeautiful.
Enough heavy stuff, let's talk about the dinosaur cake Nate made me this weekend!
What was your best birthday cake?
-C
-Price Tag
-Do It Like a Dude
-Who's Laughing Now
-Mamma Knows Best
-Who You Are
Big White Room is growing on me, but I feel sometimes that the recording (that's on the CD, I haven't listened to any others,) is slightly contrived. It's such an introspective song, I kind of want to hear it devoid of runs, repeated syllables. Without her all-out, girl-power, let-loose voice. Just...the song. Calm. And sad. Because really, that's what it's about. And maybe it's just me, because I don't do runs or girl-power shouting (up in that range.)
However, I really find it interesting that there are all these songs that are going along with the 'yourself is beautiful/good enough' movement coming out now. Born This Way and Who You Are, which are the two that come immediately to mind, both speak to staying true to yourself and knowing that you are beautiful and good enough, no matter what other people say. I find it kind of disheartening that it has come to the point where we need to send specific messages via music, text, videos, etc. to reverse all the body image damage pop culture has done to our psyches. But that's what has spawned this information-age purge and re-assignment, via people like music divas, video vixens and CaitlinHTP's OperationBeautiful.
Enough heavy stuff, let's talk about the dinosaur cake Nate made me this weekend!
Yeah, my boyfriend made that. That most awesomest of cakes. He's legit.
He also stayed up until, like, 1:30AM on Saturday making it. Granted he didn't start until, like, 9PM, and then had to wait until the cake had cooled to start frosting, but I couldn't quite make it up that late, because I'm an old lady. So I didn't see the finished product until the next morning. Which was awesome!
What was your best birthday cake?
-C
Friday, March 18, 2011
just the way you are
You know what's even better than oatmeal with almonds, peanut butter and shredded coconut? Oatmeal with almons, peanut butter, shredded coconut and chocolate chips. I love chocolate with everything breakfast. It makes it feel that much more decadent!
Yesterday's feast of crock pot Corned Beef and Cabbage was absolutely delectable, and it's sitting in my bag, waiting to be consumed again for lunch. I would say we'd probably eat it for dinner -- I'm kind of an addict -- but I think we're going up to the University District to see a play put on by the theatre company that Nate is re-doing the website for, call 'The Happy Ones,' with free food and open bar afterwords. So maybe we'll just need a snack of corned beef and cabbage beforehand. Le yum!
...sorry.
I am in love with my new iPod Nano. It is adorable and functional. And green. And it has a touchscreen, and I am a sucker for Apple products. I am also in love with the jewelry my sister got me:
Yesterday's feast of crock pot Corned Beef and Cabbage was absolutely delectable, and it's sitting in my bag, waiting to be consumed again for lunch. I would say we'd probably eat it for dinner -- I'm kind of an addict -- but I think we're going up to the University District to see a play put on by the theatre company that Nate is re-doing the website for, call 'The Happy Ones,' with free food and open bar afterwords. So maybe we'll just need a snack of corned beef and cabbage beforehand. Le yum!
Stop! Cabbage Time.
I am in love with my new iPod Nano. It is adorable and functional. And green. And it has a touchscreen, and I am a sucker for Apple products. I am also in love with the jewelry my sister got me:
Love.
-C
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Olibgatory Irish Post
Despite the fact that I look like this:
(a redheaded step-child, with the crazy 'I-burn-in-30-minutes-and-never-tan-only-freckle' fair skin and bright blue eyes, who looks best in kelly green,)
I'm actually only 1/4 Irish. (I know. GASP!) But seriously. Everyone assumes I'm Irish, because of the coloring, but I come from a very mongrel (albeit very Western European/Palest People in the World) background. My mother's parents were Irish (O'Neil, which was actually Nee before Ellis Island -- how you get O'Neil from Nee is beyond me. Kinda seems like somebody just wasn't paying attention.) and Polish (Marszalek -- coincidentally, Marszalek gets anglicized into Marshall. Did you know? Google is fascinating.), and my Dad's parents were English (Nelson) and German (Stelzriede) (with some other Western-European people mixed in there, like Dutch, Irish and Scottish -- so I guess if you count that, I'm just a little bit more than 1/4 Irish, but whatevs.)
Despite my lack of full Irish heritage, I feel very Irish. And not just on St. Patty's Day, when everyone is Irish! But also on the in-between days. Especially on the days when I'm listening to my various connection of jigs and reels (or any other Irish music for that matter.) You know that music that just feels right? That's Irish music for me. I am sadly into Riverdance (probably as much as I'm into Phantom of the Opera, but that's a story for another day.) I'm pretty sure I bought the entire Border's collection of Irish CDs at some point. I took a trip to Ireland after I graduated high school, and stepping off the plane, even just standing in the airport, and seeing all the green makes me feel at home. It could be all just in my head, but for me, it feels magical. And I'm okay with that.
That being said, I'm not a big beer drinker, so I can't get into that; I have on more than one occassion enjoyed a delicious Shepherd's Pie, and I am all-up-INS the corned beef and cabbage. It's sitting in my slow cooker at home right now, and I'm really hoping Nate doesn't get called into work, so we can enjoy it together. Because it's St. Patrick's Day, and what says 'celebration' better than a ridiculously salty, corned piece of meat! (Can corned be a verb? Oh well.)
So there's me. I'm redheaded, I like Irish music and I have a penchant for potatoes. Plus I look good in green. That's gotta count for something, right?
On March 17th, everyone's irish. But what do you love about your heritage?
-C
I'm actually only 1/4 Irish. (I know. GASP!) But seriously. Everyone assumes I'm Irish, because of the coloring, but I come from a very mongrel (albeit very Western European/Palest People in the World) background. My mother's parents were Irish (O'Neil, which was actually Nee before Ellis Island -- how you get O'Neil from Nee is beyond me. Kinda seems like somebody just wasn't paying attention.) and Polish (Marszalek -- coincidentally, Marszalek gets anglicized into Marshall. Did you know? Google is fascinating.), and my Dad's parents were English (Nelson) and German (Stelzriede) (with some other Western-European people mixed in there, like Dutch, Irish and Scottish -- so I guess if you count that, I'm just a little bit more than 1/4 Irish, but whatevs.)
Despite my lack of full Irish heritage, I feel very Irish. And not just on St. Patty's Day, when everyone is Irish! But also on the in-between days. Especially on the days when I'm listening to my various connection of jigs and reels (or any other Irish music for that matter.) You know that music that just feels right? That's Irish music for me. I am sadly into Riverdance (probably as much as I'm into Phantom of the Opera, but that's a story for another day.) I'm pretty sure I bought the entire Border's collection of Irish CDs at some point. I took a trip to Ireland after I graduated high school, and stepping off the plane, even just standing in the airport, and seeing all the green makes me feel at home. It could be all just in my head, but for me, it feels magical. And I'm okay with that.
That being said, I'm not a big beer drinker, so I can't get into that; I have on more than one occassion enjoyed a delicious Shepherd's Pie, and I am all-up-INS the corned beef and cabbage. It's sitting in my slow cooker at home right now, and I'm really hoping Nate doesn't get called into work, so we can enjoy it together. Because it's St. Patrick's Day, and what says 'celebration' better than a ridiculously salty, corned piece of meat! (Can corned be a verb? Oh well.)
So there's me. I'm redheaded, I like Irish music and I have a penchant for potatoes. Plus I look good in green. That's gotta count for something, right?
On March 17th, everyone's irish. But what do you love about your heritage?
-C
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
you only bring me your funny papers
Last night's dinner was excellent. EXCELLENT!
Let me go backwards. We had already made plans to go dinner (which I've mentioned,) but Nate surprised me at lunch time with some flowers and a balloon. Thank goodness our OM wasn't here, because it meant I didn't have to wear the hideous birthday hat, once everyone in the office besides Brian found out it was my birthday.
He took me to Jimmy Johns for lunch and it was delicious. Because it always is.
After work, I came home to Nate baking banana bread, because the pan that he ordered for my birthday cake still hasn't arrived and we have two bunches of overripe bananas that need to be used. It works out better this way, anyway, because we will be able to eat the cake when it's fresh! It's white Funfetti cake, with chocolate Funfetti icing.
We went to the restaurant for our 7:45 reservation. It's basically above one of the Public Market buildings on Pike and 1st, so we followed the signs upstairs, around corners and down hallways until we found it. The space was tiny, but the wall facing the Sound had huge bay windows, which made it feel bigger. I would love to go back when it's nice outside, and you can actually see out across the water.
First course was Raw Oysters and Beef Carpaccio -- because apparently these are our staple appetizers, now -- and they were excellent. The oyster appetizer came with two different toppings: preserved meyer lemon and cucumber with salmon roe. The second was my favorite, because the roe was giant and salty, and paired perfectly with the fresh cucumber and the fresh oysters. I am a sucker for super-fresh, raw food.
Let me go backwards. We had already made plans to go dinner (which I've mentioned,) but Nate surprised me at lunch time with some flowers and a balloon. Thank goodness our OM wasn't here, because it meant I didn't have to wear the hideous birthday hat, once everyone in the office besides Brian found out it was my birthday.
He took me to Jimmy Johns for lunch and it was delicious. Because it always is.
After work, I came home to Nate baking banana bread, because the pan that he ordered for my birthday cake still hasn't arrived and we have two bunches of overripe bananas that need to be used. It works out better this way, anyway, because we will be able to eat the cake when it's fresh! It's white Funfetti cake, with chocolate Funfetti icing.
We went to the restaurant for our 7:45 reservation. It's basically above one of the Public Market buildings on Pike and 1st, so we followed the signs upstairs, around corners and down hallways until we found it. The space was tiny, but the wall facing the Sound had huge bay windows, which made it feel bigger. I would love to go back when it's nice outside, and you can actually see out across the water.
First course was Raw Oysters and Beef Carpaccio -- because apparently these are our staple appetizers, now -- and they were excellent. The oyster appetizer came with two different toppings: preserved meyer lemon and cucumber with salmon roe. The second was my favorite, because the roe was giant and salty, and paired perfectly with the fresh cucumber and the fresh oysters. I am a sucker for super-fresh, raw food.
(all the pics at dinner were taken by tealight)
Second course was Pan-Seared Halibut Cheeks with Potato Confit, an Apple Parsnip Puree and Lentil and Wilted Green salad, which was very good, especially when you ate the potato, halibut and puree together in one bite. Our other entree was a Strip Loin Steak with green beans, baby carrots and potatoes, which was also good. I am not a fan of steak, however, so I preferred the fish =)
Dessert was a Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee (served cold with flambed top -- I can't understand why they don't serve hot cremem brulee, but maybe that's just me) with berries and a Bitter Dark and White Chocolate Mousse Cake with a Raspberry Sauce. They were gone very quickly.
Nate saw them put a candle in someone else's dessert while we were eating, so he had them put one in my creme brulee, which was very nice of him, though the waitress said she was going to do it anyway, since she saw my birthday when she checked my ID for our wine pairings. They also gave me two chocolate truffles to take home in celebration.
(see? tealight)
FedEx came this morning with my present from my Mom!
Yay for Apple products! Except that I have to hide them away while I'm at work, because I'm in Microsoft land.
See? It came in a little box. A perfect disguise. I also got my birthday present from my Aunt yesterday in the mail, a giftcard to here. Wooh, wooh!
Nate also packed me enough banana bread to feed a small country this morning for breakfast.
Which is really just fine by me!
Don't forget to check out A Mess of Dresses, or my new list of fave blogs (on the right-hand side of the page.) It's gorgeous outside, so I hope if it's nice where you are, you're going out to enjoy it after you read this post! Because I can only watch from the conference room window.
-C
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
I need you so much closer
It's my birthday! I'm officially twenty-five. I'm also sitting at work, munching on my maple & brown sugar oatmeal with almonds, coconut and Justin's maple almond butter (first try -- I'm hooked.)
There's is apparently a Birthday Hat here in the office, but since our Office Manager is out sick and I have the key to her office, where the Birthday Hat makes residence, there will be no hat. I'm not that good of a sport. I even had to wrestle the key away from one of our AV Managers, because it was sitting on my desk and our Accountant, Brian, tried to get her to commandeer it. I won. I'm spritely...or something.
I haven't written in a while, but I had a good weekend. Friday evening Nate and I decided to make pizza, with our 79 cent box of Jiffy pizza dough mix and various toppings. It turned out DELICIOUS.
Thanks for reading!
-C
There's is apparently a Birthday Hat here in the office, but since our Office Manager is out sick and I have the key to her office, where the Birthday Hat makes residence, there will be no hat. I'm not that good of a sport. I even had to wrestle the key away from one of our AV Managers, because it was sitting on my desk and our Accountant, Brian, tried to get her to commandeer it. I won. I'm spritely...or something.
I haven't written in a while, but I had a good weekend. Friday evening Nate and I decided to make pizza, with our 79 cent box of Jiffy pizza dough mix and various toppings. It turned out DELICIOUS.
(pre-baking. There's mushrooms and onions under there, and I had to fight to get the spinach put on.)
The crust was thin and crunchy, and just the right consistency. And it had plenty of cheese.
...I like cheese. It's a sickness, really. In any case, we grabbed the pizza, some Mike's Hard Cranberry Lemonade (well, I had that, Nate had Vanilla Rum with Crystal Light Fruit Punch as a mixer,) and watched Let Me In. It was kind of boring. I didn't think the story flowed very well, but some of the effects were pretty cool. And Nate gave me my birthday present early (which he never does) and it was Just Dance 2 for the Wii! I've been wanting it for a while, but it's hard to justify spending $40 on a video game instead of food or clothes or paying off debt. He gave it to me on Friday so we could play over the weekend, since that's more fun than getting it Tuesday night and not being able to play a lot. It's hilarious, and we already have our favorite songs. Not to mention songs that he's better at than I am, and vice versa.
(singing while making dough)
Saturday we stopped by Express and used some free knit coupons Nate got from work plus a little discount to get some clothes. With no food in the house, we stopped and had a Kobe burger with sweet potato fries for dinner and a giant brownie with vanilla ice cream for dessert. The menu didn't say it had walnuts in the brownie -- which is fine for me, but not so much for my weirdo boyfriend -- so Nate was slightly unhappy. He ate it anyway. Yum. Sunday was dark and stormy, so we made it a point to do nothing and ate mostly pasta all day.
Monday night I had plans to go to bed super early, because I couldn't fall asleep Sunday night, but then I came across a 25th Anniversary Concert of Les Miserables on PBS and I just couldn't tear myself away from the fantastic singing. It was basically the show without the set, and it was just so very well done. Minus Nick Jonas as Marius. I don't have a problem with the Jonas brothers, but you put a pop singer who's had a few voice lessons up against world-renowned Opera singers and people who have played title characters in the show on Broadway or in the West End multiple times and it just isn't going to hold up. He's was definitely the weak link, and it was kind of depressing. (I'm only slightly judgemental.)
Tonight we're going to dinner for Dine Around Seattle. I'm excited, it should be very yummy!
Thanks for reading!
-C
Thursday, March 10, 2011
and a bubble burst
A 'Getting to Know You' meme, that I've seen some other blogs do (though, namely stolen from here.) Maybe you'll learn something!
1. How did your parents decide on your name?
I believe it was from a character in a TV show that came out around the time I was born, but my parents couldn't remember which one? Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, Mom. It also wound up being very popular the year I was born -- there were four Caitlins in my ballet class when I was 4, but there are so many different ways to spell it and pronounce it, even when I meet another Caitlin, (or Caitlyn, or Kaitlin, Kaitlyn, Katelyn...you get the idea...) I still feel special. Heck, I feel more special when I find one that's spelled and/or pronounced the same way. Name twins!
2. Do your initials (First, Middle, Last) spell out anything fun/funny?
I'm a CON! And if I take my boyfriend's last name, I'll turn into a COP, which he finds hilarious.
3. Did you take your middle name from childhood or did you take your maiden name as your middle name? (If unmarried, what do you plan to do?)
I really like my middle name, O'Neil (my Mom's maiden name,) and I want to keep it when I get married, but I feel some guilt not keeping my Dad's last name, Nelson. However, they mean the same thing (Son of Neil, just from different Western European origins,) so that makes me feel a little better. Plus, there are boy cousins who can keep my Dad's family name alive, so I don't have to feel as guilty.
4. Are you or will you name your children thematically (ie. same first letter, all of same origin…)
Hah....no. Unless you count names I like as a theme. =P I'm not a big fan of thematic names.
5. Did you decide on baby names as a little girl? Did you stick to them or change your mind?
I'm not a very maternal person, I don't think, so the earliest I remember ever picking out baby names is high school. The end of high school, after I'd finally decided that yes, I do eventually want to get married. That being said, a lot of the names I like are probably going to drive my kids crazy, because they aren't normal names. Specifically, I'm into names of Celtic descent. But I like other things, too.
6. Does your family have any names that have been passed down through generations?
No? Not that I'm aware of.
7. Do you look at the meaning of the name or just the name itself?
I don't usually look at the meaning of the name when I'm deciding if I like it, but I do like to know the meaning of the names I like. Does that make sense?
8. Do you name pets with human names (Sally, Henry) or with pet names (Fluffy, Mr. Bo Bo)?
We don't have any pets right now (sad face!) but all our animals had pretty animal-y names: Friskie, Nala, Shortstop, Kobi (whose full name is Kobayashi Maru...yay for Star Trek?) Scout, Amber (I guess I do know human Ambers, but she's named that because she's amber-colored,) Hemingway, Rio. My parents had cats before I was born named Robert (a bobcat...Bob the Bobcat. Very original) and Vanessa, but the other three cats were Fizzbin, Ernie and Little Kitty. And we fostered a Pomeranian named Winston for a while when I was in high school, but that's not a very popular name. Unless you were born in the 1800s in Britain. We like animals.
9. Are there any names that you have an affinity or dislike for based on a childhood experience/someone you once knew?
I tend not to like names that are (very sterotypically) for "preppy" girls (e.g. Tiffany, Britney, other names that end in y?) or old-fashioned girls names, e.g. Ingrid, Martha, Barbara, cause they tend to sound...well...old. Sorry, just how it is.
10. What are some of your favorite names? Why?
Boys
Neil
Jameson
Kieran
Neason
Tobiah
Reilly/Riley/Rilee (last one for girlz, not dudes)
Girls
Celeste
Leila
Sofia
Cecelia
Keely
Isidore
edit: plz add Kylie (Kiley, Keilly?) to the list, as well as Emma/Emaline (maybe my thematic names will all be from Ben Folds songs...)
-C
1. How did your parents decide on your name?
I believe it was from a character in a TV show that came out around the time I was born, but my parents couldn't remember which one? Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, Mom. It also wound up being very popular the year I was born -- there were four Caitlins in my ballet class when I was 4, but there are so many different ways to spell it and pronounce it, even when I meet another Caitlin, (or Caitlyn, or Kaitlin, Kaitlyn, Katelyn...you get the idea...) I still feel special. Heck, I feel more special when I find one that's spelled and/or pronounced the same way. Name twins!
2. Do your initials (First, Middle, Last) spell out anything fun/funny?
I'm a CON! And if I take my boyfriend's last name, I'll turn into a COP, which he finds hilarious.
3. Did you take your middle name from childhood or did you take your maiden name as your middle name? (If unmarried, what do you plan to do?)
I really like my middle name, O'Neil (my Mom's maiden name,) and I want to keep it when I get married, but I feel some guilt not keeping my Dad's last name, Nelson. However, they mean the same thing (Son of Neil, just from different Western European origins,) so that makes me feel a little better. Plus, there are boy cousins who can keep my Dad's family name alive, so I don't have to feel as guilty.
4. Are you or will you name your children thematically (ie. same first letter, all of same origin…)
Hah....no. Unless you count names I like as a theme. =P I'm not a big fan of thematic names.
5. Did you decide on baby names as a little girl? Did you stick to them or change your mind?
I'm not a very maternal person, I don't think, so the earliest I remember ever picking out baby names is high school. The end of high school, after I'd finally decided that yes, I do eventually want to get married. That being said, a lot of the names I like are probably going to drive my kids crazy, because they aren't normal names. Specifically, I'm into names of Celtic descent. But I like other things, too.
6. Does your family have any names that have been passed down through generations?
No? Not that I'm aware of.
7. Do you look at the meaning of the name or just the name itself?
I don't usually look at the meaning of the name when I'm deciding if I like it, but I do like to know the meaning of the names I like. Does that make sense?
8. Do you name pets with human names (Sally, Henry) or with pet names (Fluffy, Mr. Bo Bo)?
We don't have any pets right now (sad face!) but all our animals had pretty animal-y names: Friskie, Nala, Shortstop, Kobi (whose full name is Kobayashi Maru...yay for Star Trek?) Scout, Amber (I guess I do know human Ambers, but she's named that because she's amber-colored,) Hemingway, Rio. My parents had cats before I was born named Robert (a bobcat...Bob the Bobcat. Very original) and Vanessa, but the other three cats were Fizzbin, Ernie and Little Kitty. And we fostered a Pomeranian named Winston for a while when I was in high school, but that's not a very popular name. Unless you were born in the 1800s in Britain. We like animals.
9. Are there any names that you have an affinity or dislike for based on a childhood experience/someone you once knew?
I tend not to like names that are (very sterotypically) for "preppy" girls (e.g. Tiffany, Britney, other names that end in y?) or old-fashioned girls names, e.g. Ingrid, Martha, Barbara, cause they tend to sound...well...old. Sorry, just how it is.
10. What are some of your favorite names? Why?
Boys
Neil
Jameson
Kieran
Neason
Tobiah
Reilly/Riley/Rilee (last one for girlz, not dudes)
Girls
Celeste
Leila
Sofia
Cecelia
Keely
Isidore
edit: plz add Kylie (Kiley, Keilly?) to the list, as well as Emma/Emaline (maybe my thematic names will all be from Ben Folds songs...)
-C
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
on the first page of our story
This is probably my favorite part of having a little corner of the internet:
(and, you know, a stats page!)
I hope these readers come back -- if you are one of them I'd love to hear from you! Actually, I'd really just love you hear from any of you, whoever you are. I think some of you are my family and friends (HI!) but I think some aren't, and that's super cool!
It's trying really hard to be sunny here, after raining hard enough this afternoon to cause water to leak into the windows of the building I work in. Not my windows, but our GM's windows. And apparently westward-facing windows on every floor in the building. Whoops.
In other news, it's my BIRTHDAY soon! I'm gonna be a quarter-of-a-century old next Tuesday. It's also a kind-of 'restaurant week' here in Seattle for the month of March (I think their actual restaurant week is in October?) called Dine Around Seattle, where a bunch of restaurants in and around the city have fixed 3-course menus for $30 (or lunch for $15,) so Nate and I are going to Chez Shea next Tuesday for birthday dinner. The fixed menu sounds excellent. I'm excited.
On a less happy note, Bobby McFerrin has laryngitis so we didn't get to use my winning tickets to go see him in concert last night. A major bummer. And of course, it's the ONE time I win something. Go figure. So we have to talk to the theatre about getting our tickets exchanged for the rescheduled concert -- whenever that is.
I made a decision the other day to do WiiFit at least three times (hopefully more like five times) a week from now on and I'm sticking to it! Today will be my third time for this week, so that's good. I love the Routines part of WiiFit Plus that allows you to just go from one yoga or strength pose directly into the next (in an order that they suggest or you set up on your own,) because it's pretty much what was missing from the first iteration of the program. I'm also hoping that someone gets me Just Dance 2 for my birthday, because I think it's going to be a fabulous way to get in some cardio without running. Because I hate running and I can't afford a gym membership.
Time for my afternoon snack! Nate is working tonight, so I'm on my own for dinner. Which probably means it will consist of pasta with some Prego sauce beefed up with mushrooms, onions and baby spinach. Because I'm lazy when I'm cooking just for me. Dinner last night was pretty, because of the purple cauliflower and mashed sweet potatoes.
I took the second pic with the macro lens. So cool looking. And pretty in purple.
(All I can think of when I say the word pretty with an extended 'e' -- ooh, preeeeeeetty -- is that scene in Devil Wears Prada when Anne Hathaway's character gives the freebie purse to her friend, and when discussing why women need multiple bags, she says 'and it's preeeeeetty.' Yes? No? Is that just me? Ah well...)
-C
I hope these readers come back -- if you are one of them I'd love to hear from you! Actually, I'd really just love you hear from any of you, whoever you are. I think some of you are my family and friends (HI!) but I think some aren't, and that's super cool!
It's trying really hard to be sunny here, after raining hard enough this afternoon to cause water to leak into the windows of the building I work in. Not my windows, but our GM's windows. And apparently westward-facing windows on every floor in the building. Whoops.
In other news, it's my BIRTHDAY soon! I'm gonna be a quarter-of-a-century old next Tuesday. It's also a kind-of 'restaurant week' here in Seattle for the month of March (I think their actual restaurant week is in October?) called Dine Around Seattle, where a bunch of restaurants in and around the city have fixed 3-course menus for $30 (or lunch for $15,) so Nate and I are going to Chez Shea next Tuesday for birthday dinner. The fixed menu sounds excellent. I'm excited.
On a less happy note, Bobby McFerrin has laryngitis so we didn't get to use my winning tickets to go see him in concert last night. A major bummer. And of course, it's the ONE time I win something. Go figure. So we have to talk to the theatre about getting our tickets exchanged for the rescheduled concert -- whenever that is.
I made a decision the other day to do WiiFit at least three times (hopefully more like five times) a week from now on and I'm sticking to it! Today will be my third time for this week, so that's good. I love the Routines part of WiiFit Plus that allows you to just go from one yoga or strength pose directly into the next (in an order that they suggest or you set up on your own,) because it's pretty much what was missing from the first iteration of the program. I'm also hoping that someone gets me Just Dance 2 for my birthday, because I think it's going to be a fabulous way to get in some cardio without running. Because I hate running and I can't afford a gym membership.
Time for my afternoon snack! Nate is working tonight, so I'm on my own for dinner. Which probably means it will consist of pasta with some Prego sauce beefed up with mushrooms, onions and baby spinach. Because I'm lazy when I'm cooking just for me. Dinner last night was pretty, because of the purple cauliflower and mashed sweet potatoes.
I took the second pic with the macro lens. So cool looking. And pretty in purple.
(All I can think of when I say the word pretty with an extended 'e' -- ooh, preeeeeeetty -- is that scene in Devil Wears Prada when Anne Hathaway's character gives the freebie purse to her friend, and when discussing why women need multiple bags, she says 'and it's preeeeeetty.' Yes? No? Is that just me? Ah well...)
-C
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
you never leave me no messages
Reading through my (ridiculously long) Google Reader list, I came across a post that I couldn't ignore on Eat, Live, Run, detailing five books she couldn't live without. This got me thinking, if I could only have five books to read, what would they be? I'm an avid reader, and my favorite book list is probably miles long. I will read almost anything, but it takes something special to be a favorite -- those books that have the crazy, ripped up covers (cause y'all know I can't afford hardback copies,) and super dog-eared pages. The ones where you read it again and again and again, even though you're to the point where you could probably write the entire synopsis out, chapter for chapter, without actually having the book with you.
Some people say they don't like re-reading books (or, you know, re-watching movies or whatever,) because they already know what happens, so what's the point? This is not me. I just lurve re-reading and re-watching things, because part of the fun for me is knowing what's coming up, and being excited about it. I think this also stems from the fact that I am the least visual learner you will ever meet in your life (ok, so I'm a little overdramatic,) so for me to learn and remember things, I need to write them down -- the actual kinesthetic act of writing puts the information into my brain -- or hear them and somehow associate them with things (bring on the mneumonic devices!)
In any case, here is my list of five (just five, as much as it pains me) books I can't live without -- in no particular order:
1. American Gods (Neil Gaiman) -- I keep trying to get my boyfriend to read this book, because I just find it so fascinating. Part of it is Gaiman's unique storytelling abilities -- eloquent without being terribly wordy, constantly moving forward, pushing toward the next happening in the plotline, which is dark and somewhat twisted in a wholely human way, despite the inherent folklore backgrounds (if you're unfamiliar with him, he is the storyteller behind Coraline, which was made into a movie.) The other part is that I am absolutely enthralled with pantheistic deities in every culture, but especially in Ancient Egyptian culture, and that is used in much of the story. It's just rich.
2. Summon the Keeper (Tanya Huff) -- This is one of my favorites because I'm a big nerd who loves magic and because I envision myself in the title role. I can't help it. But it's also extremely well written. I've probably read this more than any other book. I guess that kind of says it all.
3. Lord of the Flies (William Golding) -- Call me a creeper, I can't help it. There's something so fascinatingly disturbing about the comments this book makes on human nature.
4. Jurassic Park (Michael Crichton) -- This could be translated into 'basically anything Michael Crichton ever wrote,' but we'll stick with Jurassic Park for the purposes of this list because I am enthralled with anything that has anything remotely to do with dinosaurs. In any case, I love reading Crichton because I feel like I'm learning something and being entertained at the same time. I don't need to know about air frames, or type IIb blue diamonds, but if it's entertaining? Yes, give it to me. I will learn.
5. is a toss-up between MasterHarper of Pern and The White Dragon (both by Anne McCaffrey) -- Mainly because I can't decide which I like more. I love the MasterHarper of Pern story, but I'm a sucker for the dragons, which are the whole reason I fell in love with the series and world of Pern in the first place (and why I'm a giant nerd who plays severely dwindling text-based games based on the world of Pern. Doesn't that just make you want to be my friend?) Not to mention Anne McCaffrey sounds like the coolest lady ever. I mean...she writes about dragons and lives in a place called Dragonhold-Underhill...which is literally dug out of a hill. How cool is that?! And I'm not at all opposed to her son, Todd, taking over her legacy. I enjoy his Pern stories, even if other people don't. I'm more about the moment than the overall canon of the novels.
So that's that! My five must-have books. Now that I've told you mine, suggest your favorites for me to read! I'm constantly looking for new things and since I'm pretty sure I've now accomlished reading the entirety of Michael's Crichton's literary accomplishments (I'm currently on The Terminal, which I believe is my last one, I'll have to check,) I just have 127 Hours: Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston and The Shining by Stephen King (I tried to read this when I was in high school and couldn't do it, so I'm trying again,) before I have to start searching for new things.
-C
Some people say they don't like re-reading books (or, you know, re-watching movies or whatever,) because they already know what happens, so what's the point? This is not me. I just lurve re-reading and re-watching things, because part of the fun for me is knowing what's coming up, and being excited about it. I think this also stems from the fact that I am the least visual learner you will ever meet in your life (ok, so I'm a little overdramatic,) so for me to learn and remember things, I need to write them down -- the actual kinesthetic act of writing puts the information into my brain -- or hear them and somehow associate them with things (bring on the mneumonic devices!)
In any case, here is my list of five (just five, as much as it pains me) books I can't live without -- in no particular order:
1. American Gods (Neil Gaiman) -- I keep trying to get my boyfriend to read this book, because I just find it so fascinating. Part of it is Gaiman's unique storytelling abilities -- eloquent without being terribly wordy, constantly moving forward, pushing toward the next happening in the plotline, which is dark and somewhat twisted in a wholely human way, despite the inherent folklore backgrounds (if you're unfamiliar with him, he is the storyteller behind Coraline, which was made into a movie.) The other part is that I am absolutely enthralled with pantheistic deities in every culture, but especially in Ancient Egyptian culture, and that is used in much of the story. It's just rich.
2. Summon the Keeper (Tanya Huff) -- This is one of my favorites because I'm a big nerd who loves magic and because I envision myself in the title role. I can't help it. But it's also extremely well written. I've probably read this more than any other book. I guess that kind of says it all.
3. Lord of the Flies (William Golding) -- Call me a creeper, I can't help it. There's something so fascinatingly disturbing about the comments this book makes on human nature.
4. Jurassic Park (Michael Crichton) -- This could be translated into 'basically anything Michael Crichton ever wrote,' but we'll stick with Jurassic Park for the purposes of this list because I am enthralled with anything that has anything remotely to do with dinosaurs. In any case, I love reading Crichton because I feel like I'm learning something and being entertained at the same time. I don't need to know about air frames, or type IIb blue diamonds, but if it's entertaining? Yes, give it to me. I will learn.
5. is a toss-up between MasterHarper of Pern and The White Dragon (both by Anne McCaffrey) -- Mainly because I can't decide which I like more. I love the MasterHarper of Pern story, but I'm a sucker for the dragons, which are the whole reason I fell in love with the series and world of Pern in the first place (and why I'm a giant nerd who plays severely dwindling text-based games based on the world of Pern. Doesn't that just make you want to be my friend?) Not to mention Anne McCaffrey sounds like the coolest lady ever. I mean...she writes about dragons and lives in a place called Dragonhold-Underhill...which is literally dug out of a hill. How cool is that?! And I'm not at all opposed to her son, Todd, taking over her legacy. I enjoy his Pern stories, even if other people don't. I'm more about the moment than the overall canon of the novels.
So that's that! My five must-have books. Now that I've told you mine, suggest your favorites for me to read! I'm constantly looking for new things and since I'm pretty sure I've now accomlished reading the entirety of Michael's Crichton's literary accomplishments (I'm currently on The Terminal, which I believe is my last one, I'll have to check,) I just have 127 Hours: Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston and The Shining by Stephen King (I tried to read this when I was in high school and couldn't do it, so I'm trying again,) before I have to start searching for new things.
-C
Monday, March 7, 2011
begin to find
Looking at my stats, I've had at least one page-view from France, Denmark, China, the Phillipines, the UAE and Belgium.
That's exciting! If you're one of those people, wave your (comment-indicated) hand in the air!
I'm also contemplating a give-away. Is there anything specific to Seattle that you would just LOVE to have?
I'm thinking...something from Pike Place? Local honey, lavender or a kitchy t-shirt with the Space Needle on it?
-C
That's exciting! If you're one of those people, wave your (comment-indicated) hand in the air!
I'm also contemplating a give-away. Is there anything specific to Seattle that you would just LOVE to have?
I'm thinking...something from Pike Place? Local honey, lavender or a kitchy t-shirt with the Space Needle on it?
-C
numb, numb, na-na-na-na-na numb
Seriously, what gives Nickelback to right to keep writing the same song over and over and over again. I mean...take a break. Write something different. It can't be that hard, can it?
Anyway, I think the spider crisis has passed, and hopefully the dishwasher is getting fixed today, so that will be all set and things can go back to semi-normal.
It's beautiful outside today, but it's supposed to rain tonight. It was actually nice this weekend but of course I a) didn't leave the house on Saturday and b) it was mostly cloudy when we walked around on Sunday to go grocery shopping (but bright -- I wore my sun glasses.) We went shopping at our neighborhood Uwajimaya, and their chicken was on sale for almost as cheap as the tiny Dong Sing market we normally go to for meat, so we just decided to do all our shopping there. We got:
1.5lbs of brussel sprouts @ $3.49/lb
2 large sweet potatoes @ $1.39/lb
1 medium yellow onion @ $.69/lb (or each? I can never remember)
1 head of broccoli @ $2.49/lb
1 head of purple cauliflower @ $2.49/lb (I'm so excited!)
a packet of hawaiian sweet rolls
4 large chicken breasts (I'm not sure what the poundage was) for between $5-$6.
1lb of salmon @ $6.49/lb
1 14oz bag of tortilla chips $2
1 (small) bag of dried, unsweetened coconut $.89
for about $40. I especially consider this a steal, because of the price of the chicken. The pound of salmon and the brussel sprouts were probably the most expensive things...also the most delicious. I feel like uwajimaya is a secret place, where only weand every person of Asian descent in the Seattle area shop.
I cooked about half the chicken last night, and we had half of that for dinner and the other half became chicken salad, which is lunch today. I have to say, the quality of this chicken versus what we normally get is way better. As Nate says, "It tastes way more normal." I can't wait to cook the salmon. Mmmm.
On a completely different note, I'm sorry, but I didn't realize 'Love Don't Cost a Thing' by J-Lo was still a Top40 hit to be played on el internet radio. I'm apologize, I will make a note. Not that I'm complaining.
I have to find boxes to send out all of the Christmas gifts we've beenhoarding putting off saving to send out until now.
It's my birthday soon, and I get to see Bobby McFerrin in concert tomorrow. Wheee!
What's you best kept grocery secret?
-C
Anyway, I think the spider crisis has passed, and hopefully the dishwasher is getting fixed today, so that will be all set and things can go back to semi-normal.
It's beautiful outside today, but it's supposed to rain tonight. It was actually nice this weekend but of course I a) didn't leave the house on Saturday and b) it was mostly cloudy when we walked around on Sunday to go grocery shopping (but bright -- I wore my sun glasses.) We went shopping at our neighborhood Uwajimaya, and their chicken was on sale for almost as cheap as the tiny Dong Sing market we normally go to for meat, so we just decided to do all our shopping there. We got:
1.5lbs of brussel sprouts @ $3.49/lb
2 large sweet potatoes @ $1.39/lb
1 medium yellow onion @ $.69/lb (or each? I can never remember)
1 head of broccoli @ $2.49/lb
1 head of purple cauliflower @ $2.49/lb (I'm so excited!)
a packet of hawaiian sweet rolls
4 large chicken breasts (I'm not sure what the poundage was) for between $5-$6.
1lb of salmon @ $6.49/lb
1 14oz bag of tortilla chips $2
1 (small) bag of dried, unsweetened coconut $.89
for about $40. I especially consider this a steal, because of the price of the chicken. The pound of salmon and the brussel sprouts were probably the most expensive things...also the most delicious. I feel like uwajimaya is a secret place, where only we
I cooked about half the chicken last night, and we had half of that for dinner and the other half became chicken salad, which is lunch today. I have to say, the quality of this chicken versus what we normally get is way better. As Nate says, "It tastes way more normal." I can't wait to cook the salmon. Mmmm.
On a completely different note, I'm sorry, but I didn't realize 'Love Don't Cost a Thing' by J-Lo was still a Top40 hit to be played on el internet radio. I'm apologize, I will make a note. Not that I'm complaining.
I have to find boxes to send out all of the Christmas gifts we've been
It's my birthday soon, and I get to see Bobby McFerrin in concert tomorrow. Wheee!
What's you best kept grocery secret?
-C
Saturday, March 5, 2011
all the right moves
Ok, so I think the spiders are gone. At least, most of them. Probably some escaped, and we'll see them later on, building webs and catching the insects that will undoubtedly make their way into the apartment when it gets warm enough outside to open the windows (since we don't have air conditioning.) Hopefully the pidgeons that hang out outside the windows won't also decide to try and come in to the apartment.
Kinda creepy, no? There's a real brave one that sometimes sits on the window ledge in our bedroom. Nate took some pictures of him through the window one afternoon and he just...sat there.
Also, I finally attached the little metal ring to my phone case so I could use the Macro/WideAngle lens. So here's the scoop:
The lens itself. The little string is attached to a metal circle that holds the lenses so you can carry them around. It also comes with a cover, so the lens doesn't get scratched. The macro part is just the back half-inch or so, and then the WideAngle part is the front that opens outward, which you can screw onto the macro part. It's nifty!
Dino toy taken with Macro lens. They sent it to us with the order. Yay! I think Nate might have named him already, but I'm gonna call him Gerard. Here's a pic of Gerard with the regular camera, so you can see -- he is quite small.
Notice how you can't see the whole picture? Here's the photo with the wide-angle lens. (For anyone who cares, I keep wanting to put an 'e' on the end of lens. Ugh.)
You can just barely see the whole thing. I'd say at this range (which is pretty small, about 3 to 4 feet away from the wall) the wide-angle lens added about half a foot in either direction. I'm excited to see what it can do about larger, outdoor pictures. (As mentioned in the previous post about this item, you can also see the little black corner in the bottom left. Nothing Photoshop can't handle.)
Nate is at work, and I told myself I would clean, but besides putting away and throwing away some paper work on the breakfast, I haven't really done much. I think I'll eat the last piece of pizza and contemplate cleaning some more.
-C
Kinda creepy, no? There's a real brave one that sometimes sits on the window ledge in our bedroom. Nate took some pictures of him through the window one afternoon and he just...sat there.
Also, I finally attached the little metal ring to my phone case so I could use the Macro/WideAngle lens. So here's the scoop:
The lens itself. The little string is attached to a metal circle that holds the lenses so you can carry them around. It also comes with a cover, so the lens doesn't get scratched. The macro part is just the back half-inch or so, and then the WideAngle part is the front that opens outward, which you can screw onto the macro part. It's nifty!
Dino toy taken with Macro lens. They sent it to us with the order. Yay! I think Nate might have named him already, but I'm gonna call him Gerard. Here's a pic of Gerard with the regular camera, so you can see -- he is quite small.
(our TV is maybe a 30")
And here is a picture of the panoramic photo of Boston Nate's parents got him for Christmas. First without the wide-angle lens. I'm back up against the fridge for this one -- pretty much as far away from the pic as you can get in our little hallway area and still be facing it straight on. It's probably about 3' in length.
You can just barely see the whole thing. I'd say at this range (which is pretty small, about 3 to 4 feet away from the wall) the wide-angle lens added about half a foot in either direction. I'm excited to see what it can do about larger, outdoor pictures. (As mentioned in the previous post about this item, you can also see the little black corner in the bottom left. Nothing Photoshop can't handle.)
Nate is at work, and I told myself I would clean, but besides putting away and throwing away some paper work on the breakfast, I haven't really done much. I think I'll eat the last piece of pizza and contemplate cleaning some more.
-C
eeeeeeeek!
Nate, as he's leaving for work, goes., "What's that?"
Me: "What's what?"
Nate: "That. (points to our bookshelf) It's...like an infestation of little bugs."
Me: "Ewww! (looks closer) Actually...they're baby spiders."
Bugs, I can deal with. Baby spiders....not so much. Even though they're probably much too small to hurt anything just yet. But they must have JUST hatched because they were tumbling in vast droves down from the second shelf towards the floor. We're lucky Nate saw them, because if he had just left, I probably wouldn't have noticed them and they would have just spread out all over the apartment and gotten big...and then we'd have a problem. As it is, the offending bookshelf got a good cleaning:
Me: "What's what?"
Nate: "That. (points to our bookshelf) It's...like an infestation of little bugs."
Me: "Ewww! (looks closer) Actually...they're baby spiders."
Bugs, I can deal with. Baby spiders....not so much. Even though they're probably much too small to hurt anything just yet. But they must have JUST hatched because they were tumbling in vast droves down from the second shelf towards the floor. We're lucky Nate saw them, because if he had just left, I probably wouldn't have noticed them and they would have just spread out all over the apartment and gotten big...and then we'd have a problem. As it is, the offending bookshelf got a good cleaning:
But now I just feel all creepy crawly. And we got our desk from the same place, so hopefully there isn't a time bomb sac of baby spiders waiting to explode hatch in there, too. Ew ew ew.
Ew.
-C
Friday, March 4, 2011
everything is going to the beat
Haven't blogged recently because I've been exceptionally tired. And I've been working on putting this together:
A Mess of Dresses
It's geared towards helping designers get their products out there, and toward helping you find the perfect dress. I'm still working out the kinks, such as how to use the hashtags to be able to find dresses by color, length, etc., but I've got lots in the queue already. I'm strongly encouraging people to submit dresses they find, and I'll even put YOUR dresses up there if you just submit your website.
So follow away! Tell other people! Help me get this off to a great start. Because unless you love countless hours of Googling (uhm...excuse me while I raise my hand) to find the perfect dress for Saturday night, you can just look here.
In other news, I've there are bagels leftover from a meeting this morning and they are SO GOOD. And I've had two today. Hello, my name is Caitlin, and I'm a carb-a-holic.
Plus, the cream cheese is whipped.
Ugh.
-C
p.s. the dishwasher is for realz broked, and has to have the motor replaced, so...we have no dishwasher until that can happen. except our hands. have I mentioned I hate washing dishing? That's why Nate does it. And why I ampersandheartssemicolon him. Beam.
A Mess of Dresses
It's geared towards helping designers get their products out there, and toward helping you find the perfect dress. I'm still working out the kinks, such as how to use the hashtags to be able to find dresses by color, length, etc., but I've got lots in the queue already. I'm strongly encouraging people to submit dresses they find, and I'll even put YOUR dresses up there if you just submit your website.
So follow away! Tell other people! Help me get this off to a great start. Because unless you love countless hours of Googling (uhm...excuse me while I raise my hand) to find the perfect dress for Saturday night, you can just look here.
In other news, I've there are bagels leftover from a meeting this morning and they are SO GOOD. And I've had two today. Hello, my name is Caitlin, and I'm a carb-a-holic.
Plus, the cream cheese is whipped.
Ugh.
-C
p.s. the dishwasher is for realz broked, and has to have the motor replaced, so...we have no dishwasher until that can happen. except our hands. have I mentioned I hate washing dishing? That's why Nate does it. And why I ampersandheartssemicolon him. Beam.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
always giving her attention
It's sunny!
Unfortunately, it's been alternately like this and dark, storming and POURING rain. It comes in cycles.
I didn't get a chance to eat my oatmeal this morning, so I'm eating it now, since 'I didn't get a chance to eat my oatmeal this morning' actually means 'I didn't get a chance to eat anything this morning.' So I had my leftovers from dinner, bagel thin and a granola bar for lunch. I was still hungry, but I told myself to wait and see if it settled. It did, but I'm still hungry. So I'm having my cinnamon roll oatmeal, coconut and peanut butter concoction.
The coffee isn't great, but I'm a big fan of the mocha button. Plus, it's a whole mug for fifty cents. You can't really beat it.
Bad news: our dishwasher is broken, but good news: it should be fixed tomorrow. Unless of course, the repairman can't fix it, for some reason.
And see? In the time it took me to write this entry, it's back to being dark and cloudy again. Hmph.
-C
Unfortunately, it's been alternately like this and dark, storming and POURING rain. It comes in cycles.
I didn't get a chance to eat my oatmeal this morning, so I'm eating it now, since 'I didn't get a chance to eat my oatmeal this morning' actually means 'I didn't get a chance to eat anything this morning.' So I had my leftovers from dinner, bagel thin and a granola bar for lunch. I was still hungry, but I told myself to wait and see if it settled. It did, but I'm still hungry. So I'm having my cinnamon roll oatmeal, coconut and peanut butter concoction.
Doesn't it just look fabulous? Actually, it looks kiiiind of like vomit mush. But it tastes delicious. It also means the end of the peanut butter, so it looks like I'll be grinding some peanuts in our mini food processor tonight.
In addition to being hungry, I'm also sleepy. I wish Starbucks delivered (new business idea, anyone?) but they don't, so I'm taking advantage of our Tully's Coffee Machine.
The coffee isn't great, but I'm a big fan of the mocha button. Plus, it's a whole mug for fifty cents. You can't really beat it.
Bad news: our dishwasher is broken, but good news: it should be fixed tomorrow. Unless of course, the repairman can't fix it, for some reason.
And see? In the time it took me to write this entry, it's back to being dark and cloudy again. Hmph.
-C
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
i don't know how
So...I have this weird hunger feeling in the pit of my stomach after lunch sometimes. Like eating lunch has made me hungrier. This is especially true if I'm not hungry in the morning. And for the record: I always try to eat something, even if it's just a granola bar, in the morning. Even when my coffee has made me not really hungry. Or I'm just not hungry in general.
I usually have my coffee in the morning and breakfast. Breakfast can range anywhere from a granola bar to bagel thin with cream cheese to a beefed up packet of oatmeal (more recently.) Yesterday morning I was hungry enough for my entire bowl of oats. And then I had my PB&J for lunch with some cookies. And then a granola bar held me over until dinner.
This morning however, I was unable to make it through only about half of my oats. I ate my lunch of salmon, brussel sprout and pasta leftovers (which I guess are technically not leftovers, since I pack them before we eat dinner, in an attempt to have something left over for lunch and to make us eat less at dinner,) and I was fine. And then I started feeling really hungry about an hour later. I chugged some water, like I always do after lunch, and had a granola bar. And now I feel HUNGRIER.
Why? What can I use to make me feel more full? And why does eating make me feel hungrier?
-C
I usually have my coffee in the morning and breakfast. Breakfast can range anywhere from a granola bar to bagel thin with cream cheese to a beefed up packet of oatmeal (more recently.) Yesterday morning I was hungry enough for my entire bowl of oats. And then I had my PB&J for lunch with some cookies. And then a granola bar held me over until dinner.
This morning however, I was unable to make it through only about half of my oats. I ate my lunch of salmon, brussel sprout and pasta leftovers (which I guess are technically not leftovers, since I pack them before we eat dinner, in an attempt to have something left over for lunch and to make us eat less at dinner,) and I was fine. And then I started feeling really hungry about an hour later. I chugged some water, like I always do after lunch, and had a granola bar. And now I feel HUNGRIER.
Why? What can I use to make me feel more full? And why does eating make me feel hungrier?
-C
so much better
How to Make Parmesan Crusted Salmon without Hot Oil
(because if you're like me, heating oil in your skillet scares you.)
Pretty much, here's the deal:
1) Take salmon fillets and douse them with some olive oil
2) Cover them with a mixture that is one part cornmeal to one part parmesan cheese (the grocery store, circular container kind is just fine,) and mix in whatever spices you want. I use a hefty amount of garlic salt and basil. You want them to be completely coated, but not lumpy or thickly coated.
3) Meanwhile, heat up your skillet on medium-high heat.
4) Once it's hot, spray the CRAP out of it with cooking spray. I use butter-flavored. Yum =)
5) Place the fillets in the bubbly, already hot cooking spray. Spray the whole operation with cooking spray.
6) Wait a minute or two, then flip the fillets over and spray the whole operation again. Wait another minute or two before flipping the fillets over one more time.
7) Turn the heart down to medium and cover the fillets, cooking for about ten minutes and turning them every so often. You can spray more cooking spray at this point, if you feel like it.
Once the salmon is cooked all the way through, you eat them. And your boyfriend marvels at you. Oh, and you accompany them with angel hair pasta and roasted brussel sprouts. SOGOOD.
It's wet and disgusting outside, and I actually had more work than I could finish before lunchtime, which is kind of exciting, considering how slow the winter was. With any luck, I'll need to start blogging when I get home!
Also, the other day our fridge crapped out for a brief second, and everything started melting and we freaked out and called/texted/emailed (yes, all three) our landlord. But then we turned up the coldness and it kicked back on and it's been working fine, since. However, last night when we decided to the run dishwasher, it decided to make this high pitched whine-filled clatter about halfway through its cycle. So...now we get to call the landlord about that. Our landlord loves us. Good thing he's a 20-something, pothead. No really...it's a good thing.
Nate's Macro/Wide-Angle lense from for his iPhone (part of his Valentine's Day gifts) from PhotoJoJo came over the weekend -- I had it sent to work, because I'm sneaky! -- so I picked it up yesterday and brought it home for him. The Macro lense works like a charm. Unfortunately, I didn't read the FAQ, and the fact that the iPhone 3G/S is curved on the back causes you to be able to see the Wide-Angle lense in the lefthand bottom corner of the photos when you attach it. Fortunately, it's a miniscule amount of black and my boyfriend can fix anything in Photoshop. It attaches by a small magnetic ring that you stick to your phone, and it comes with two rings, so we will be able to use it with both our phones. All the pics he took are on his phone, so I'll post one when I can get ahold of them.
I got this 'Txting Kills' thumb ring from Allstate Insurance in one of my freebie emails a little while back. You can get up to five, so I got one for me and one for Nate. I like it, partially because it actually fits me (they have different sizes) and partially because it's something I believe strongly in. Phones are hazardous to driving.
Also, I was looking for a water bottle for a while and bought this one (by Aladdin from Target) a little while ago. I really like it, because I can drink out of it like a water bottle or like a cup. And I can fit regular ice in it, because the top unscrews. It's genius!
-C
(because if you're like me, heating oil in your skillet scares you.)
Pretty much, here's the deal:
1) Take salmon fillets and douse them with some olive oil
2) Cover them with a mixture that is one part cornmeal to one part parmesan cheese (the grocery store, circular container kind is just fine,) and mix in whatever spices you want. I use a hefty amount of garlic salt and basil. You want them to be completely coated, but not lumpy or thickly coated.
3) Meanwhile, heat up your skillet on medium-high heat.
4) Once it's hot, spray the CRAP out of it with cooking spray. I use butter-flavored. Yum =)
5) Place the fillets in the bubbly, already hot cooking spray. Spray the whole operation with cooking spray.
6) Wait a minute or two, then flip the fillets over and spray the whole operation again. Wait another minute or two before flipping the fillets over one more time.
7) Turn the heart down to medium and cover the fillets, cooking for about ten minutes and turning them every so often. You can spray more cooking spray at this point, if you feel like it.
Once the salmon is cooked all the way through, you eat them. And your boyfriend marvels at you. Oh, and you accompany them with angel hair pasta and roasted brussel sprouts. SOGOOD.
It's wet and disgusting outside, and I actually had more work than I could finish before lunchtime, which is kind of exciting, considering how slow the winter was. With any luck, I'll need to start blogging when I get home!
Also, the other day our fridge crapped out for a brief second, and everything started melting and we freaked out and called/texted/emailed (yes, all three) our landlord. But then we turned up the coldness and it kicked back on and it's been working fine, since. However, last night when we decided to the run dishwasher, it decided to make this high pitched whine-filled clatter about halfway through its cycle. So...now we get to call the landlord about that. Our landlord loves us. Good thing he's a 20-something, pothead. No really...it's a good thing.
Nate's Macro/Wide-Angle lense from for his iPhone (part of his Valentine's Day gifts) from PhotoJoJo came over the weekend -- I had it sent to work, because I'm sneaky! -- so I picked it up yesterday and brought it home for him. The Macro lense works like a charm. Unfortunately, I didn't read the FAQ, and the fact that the iPhone 3G/S is curved on the back causes you to be able to see the Wide-Angle lense in the lefthand bottom corner of the photos when you attach it. Fortunately, it's a miniscule amount of black and my boyfriend can fix anything in Photoshop. It attaches by a small magnetic ring that you stick to your phone, and it comes with two rings, so we will be able to use it with both our phones. All the pics he took are on his phone, so I'll post one when I can get ahold of them.
I got this 'Txting Kills' thumb ring from Allstate Insurance in one of my freebie emails a little while back. You can get up to five, so I got one for me and one for Nate. I like it, partially because it actually fits me (they have different sizes) and partially because it's something I believe strongly in. Phones are hazardous to driving.
Also, I was looking for a water bottle for a while and bought this one (by Aladdin from Target) a little while ago. I really like it, because I can drink out of it like a water bottle or like a cup. And I can fit regular ice in it, because the top unscrews. It's genius!
-C
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