EggNog Shakes are Back!!!

I have a VERY IMPORTANT SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: Today only the eggnog shakes are back at B. Good and $1 of every shake sold goes to Starlight Ministries, I've mentioned before they're near and dear to my heart so if you're in the Boston area and you love me, you should go get an eggnog shake at B. Good. Stock up (it only comes out once a year) and put them in your freezer at home or buy one and give it to a homeless person. I don't care, just go buy one now!! (or you know as soon as you can get out of work).

Product Placement

So I have decided I love the Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers (I've only tried the Ziti and Meat Sauce). I think that the packaging is inspired (and because they're $3.00 each I plan on re-using it with my own half cup of pasta and my own sauce to save money in between). It involves a little plastic tray where the pasta is held, with a fill line so you don't even measure the water. The top is covered in holes and fits on securely so it properly steams your pasta and acts as an extremely easy to use strainer to strain off any excess water when you're finished. On top of the pasta when you open it up is a little (sealed) container of sauce. It's in a microwave safe tray as well, but I found the pasta was warm enough to heat the sauce through without a second microwaving session.

I am really picky about over cooked pasta (though I am not an expert in pasta and sauce flavor so you'll have to try this yourself to see if the flavor is crap) and this managed to cook the pasta perfectly. I actually liked the sauce, there was discernible meat and it was strangely spicy.

If your scrambling for pre-packaged meals for lunch. I think this may be a winner.

In Christ Alone

On Sunday we were in church for one of our sporadic Sunday visits (I mean really what kind of people go to church two to three times a week but only manage to get there on Sunday every other week?). After getting help unloading a car full of supplies for various ministries and being blessed with a parking spot near the door -- that alone led me into a lot of philosophical discussion in my head about whether it was ok to pray for something as stupid as a parking spot so fervently and be annoyed when God wasn't quick in responding, I mean on the one hand all the supplies were things we were hauling to the church to further HIS kingdom. On the other hand people are dying an being persecuted in his name all over the world. . . reminded me a little of Jonah and that tree :)-- we went up to the service.

It was a great service, from the baptism to the guest speaker. One of the closing songs we sang was In Christ Alone. I am always struck by the following lines:

No guilt in life, no fear in death—This is the pow'r of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow'rof hell, no scheme of man, Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—Here in the pow'r of Christ I'll stand.

I suffer from a heightened sense of guilt. I blame it on my Jewish half (that makes me feel guilty too though ;)). I also have an extreme fear of death even though Christians are supposed to feel ok about it. I fear stupid things like getting bored, and how overwhelming F-O-R-E-V-E-R is and how you have to get along with other people and how nothing is the same as this current world order. . whew, I am getting worked up right now just thinking about it. I mean seriously, terrified.

Anyway, on Sunday, even more than my usual contemplation and prayer that goes along with this section of the song. I thought about my mother. I realize that when it talks about "no pow'r of hell, no scheme of man" It is really talking spiritually rather than physically, but it was good to get a perspective on this. For months now we've watched as doctor after doctor has just made the situation with her worse. When we've thought we'd hit rock bottom, we'd realized that there was a trap door to a whole other level. My prayer on Sunday was to remember God's sovereignty in all of this (though I have to admit, it also included praying to God to stop the pain and to overthrow our enemies -- cause it never hurts to throw in a little Psalm action when you pray).

Hello Again

Um, so it's been awhile my blog friends. Clearly a lot has happened in a month. Sadly in that "a lot has happened" one thing that hasn't changed is my mother. She's still not doing well. At. All. sigh.

I didn't go as Sarah Palin for Halloween and it looks like for the next four years I won't either :). I went as the queen of harts (with a lovely coat of arms featuring many deer taped on my back):

I considered blogging about several things in my hiatus from blogging including when we hit a bad bump in my car and the car made a horrendous noise which we realized was the muffler falling down and my boy miraculously found the bolt and we only had to go 50 yards to reach a home depot where they helped us hunt down the correct pieces to fix the muffler back in (this also means I LOVE Home Depot right now -- I also hate Babies R Us so if you're having a baby and registering there, count on me buying stuff elsewhere) and my boy was known as my hero for the rest of the night. -- whew, are my gramatically correct friends still with me?

We also started getting our milk delivered this month by Crescent Ridge Dairy and it's terribly exciting. Every Wednesday, like clockwork, there are fun things left on our front porch. Since we're still new to the service, we have gotten bonus "welcome items" every week. I find it exhilirating. Also, they have the best chocolate chip ice cream I've had ever (mostly because the chocolate melts quickly in the mouth and has a flavor and doesn't just taste like wax and get stuck in your teeth).

Apparently we plan on stocking up on all of their ice cream novelties because this week we also got a new mini freezer. We celebrated this purchase by getting interesting vegetable mixes from trader joes and going home and defrosting the freezer in our fridge -- what can I say, we lead a thrilling life.

To sum up all of this materialisticness (and yes, I know that's not a word), I thought I would also share the exciting news that amazon now has a universal wishlist button you can add to your favorites. It allows you to add items from any of your favorite websites to your wishlist. I am so happy. I immediately added the weather channel's 3 in 1 jacket to my wishlist (I want it every time I am in the rain) and the eddie bauer ankle length coat I am committed to having before the end of this winter (I have endured almost 30 winters in cold states, I deserve it!). If you want to see what other things I've found to add you can go here (and yes, that's a shameless link to send you to my wishlist, on the bright side if you're looking for christmas gift ideas it will help you get started early). Besides, I just got finished writing an article on places people can go to purchase gifts that give back to the community and where they can donate their excess material goods, doesn't that make up for it?

I encourage all of you to go and update your wishlists too. Then I know what to buy you for Christmas :).

Super Sarah

Last night I announced to the most liberal of my small group that I had bought a Super Sarah t-shirt when I was in Alaska. I don't actually know how I feel about Sarah Palin. I have only heard her speech at the Republican Convention (yes, it's like I've been in a bubble for the last month. I missed the Katie Couric interview, I missed the SNL sketch -- you know the one where Tina Faye seems to have made Sarah look smarter-- and I missed last night's debates) I just really like the t-shirt, being a Sarah myself, I figure I'll get years of use out of it :).

Today on the train, there were three women vehemently discussing Ms. Palin. Clearly they were party line democrats. Clearly they'd seen all the speeches/interviews/parodies etc. Clearly they hate Sarah Palin. That's fine, as I say, I live in a bubble and don't know much. What galled me is the inaccuracy in their facts when they were talking about how uninformed Palin is. Yes, they were stupid facts that annoyed me, but I felt like it undermined their arguments.

One woman said, "she's clearly appealing to the rednecks, and really, how many rednecks can there be out there?" Much as the East Coast and parts of the Northwest would rather not admit it, there are a hell of a lot of rednecks out there. Country music is the second highest selling type of music out there (behind only Rock), pop music has half the following that country music has. Like it or not, rednecks are a significant part of the population.

Another woman was criticizing Palin's expertise. Saying "she's the governor of the state with the smallest population how can she make decisions for an entire country?" I couldn't stand it any more, I hissed at Sean at this point, Alaska is NOT the smallest state population-wise!!! Wyoming is! He was reading the paper and had no idea what I was talking about so I had to repeat it two more times and still he had no idea why I was yelling at him in a stage whisper about Wyoming. . . .It turns out, upon further research, that Alaska is actually fifth from being the smallest state (and that's not even counting all those crazy territories that are out there American Samoa etc).

I was annoyed with a friend once and I told my other friend, Chris, how angry I was with her because she'd said I didn't like anything. . . (oh, did I not mention it was petty?). I found the statement utterly galling. Chris asked if I was upset because she was making a negative comment about me or because I felt like it was an inaccurate statement. I had to admit that it was the inaccuracy that was the most aggravating, not the actual comment on my negativity.

So I am not sure what the point of this post was, it's clearly not to show that I am any closer to using anger in a Nooma type way, but I thought I would throw it out there.

I hate doctors

I hate them with a burning passion. A frightening body shaking fury. A powerful hate that makes me want to punch the living day lights out of the last one that was here. I am still thinking about how satisfying it would have been to flatten him as he was in my face telling me how busy he's been this week. How he's had a rough week. 

Really? Why don't we instill a freaking infection in your back as a result of you and your colleagues sheer incompetence and then leave you in a hospital room to rot until you're doctors are tired of that game and decide to send you home. You, the patient who hasn't had a temperature in a normal range for more than 24 hours, who hadn't up until those 24 hours had a normal temp for three plus weeks. A patient who has had one semi-normal kidney test in an entire week and two days before had an even worse kidney test when fluids were being tapered before. A patient who clearly should stay at least one. more. day. . . . . Then tell me how your week is going. 

Sigh, the doctor that I am visualizing deliciously on the floor from my powerful punch (yes, the only thing I know about punching is you keep your thumbs on the outside, but still) just came back. Instead of being in my face or belligerent or cavalier as he was earlier, he touched my shoulder gently and handed me a card with the "back" number so we could call and make sure that a follow up appointment was made quickly. 

It's sort of representative of how this whole trip has been. A lot of ups and downs. A lot of euphoric we're out of the woods now, followed by crushingly low lows. A lot of anger at the powerlessness of it all only to have the winds of anger sucked out too. 

I watched an episode of NOOMA on anger and how wonderful it is in the sense that it gives you an energy, a power etc. It talked about how anger can be used for good. Anger can enable you to fight for social justice. It can help you stand up for what you believe in. It can be the impetus you need to do right. I, however, find myself going the other way. . . The non-nooma endorsed way. Letting my anger at the powerlessness of this whole situation, the injustice of it simply lash out at others. . . . 

As good old Paul would say: I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. You can try looking it up on Biblegateway.com, Romans 7:15, good luck with that. I couldn't get a link to that verse.

Addendum to Dressings not Dresses

For up to the minute (well at least almost daily) information on the gross (both grossly incompetent and just plain ew gross) things the medical professionals are doing to my mother, you can go to my dad's blog: http://hartofak.blogspot.com/

Dressings as opposed to dresses

So after mixed reviews on the dresses (some so terrible I won't repeat them here), MZ and I went out dress shopping. I found two more contenders. I am not posting them online though, and not just because my sister is liable to call an intervention. It turns out we're not going to the wedding, we're going to AK to try and help out with my mom's recovery. I mean we're not trained medical professionals, but we are able to fetch things and to cook meals to be frozen and to stay "on call" while my dad and sister sleep or go to work.

Alaska Air was incredibly accommodating and the woman I spoke to was helpful and conscientious. Northwest Airlines on the other hand has been nothing but horrible to deal with. When I called for help I was told that they could walk me through it online but they couldn't help me over the phone unless I paid $40. So I could keep the guy on the phone forever as long as he was helping me online, but he couldn't quickly look up the information and just do it. . . Makes total sense. Also, annoyingly, with the tickets we bought instead of being able to just get a "refund" where they give us the credit to use within a year, it's either figure out some other flight you want to take and the credit will be applied (less the $200 change fee) or you just lose it all. Mind you I believe that NWA is now one of those horrible airlines that charges for your first piece of checked luggage as well (which makes me go cross eyed and my blood boil when I think about it -- you know because we're not allowed to have liquids through security and the cabins in planes were already crowded enough before all this and this is just INSANE), so what did I expect really?

I don't really know that there's much point to this post. But I was Internet starved for the last five days and I finally caught up enough on work to take a small break so there you have it. I've posted.

The Sweater Dress Phenomenon

So I am trying to decide whether to succumb to the sweater dress phenomenon. Really, in all honesty I've gotten too fat for my standby "dress I wear to weddings". Not too fat to wear it at all mind you, just too fat to wear it comfortably all day. Sad since it looks terribly lovely next to my boy's blue pin stripe suit, but let's move on because while I'm working on the being the fattest I've ever been in my life, it's slow going and as much as I want to be motivated to go back to the gym, so far I am not. Anyway, I think the two options I bought would work for our big work event in October as well (and since, as I said, the working on losing weight is slow going, I need to think ahead to things like that). I have pictures posted below. If you'd be so kind as to tell me whether I should stick with them, or keep looking it would be greatly appreciated. Also, please be gentle, I mean yes, looking at these pictures I think I should have a sign labeled wide load taped to my back, but really, I am already aware, there's no need to let me know, no matter how constructive you feel it might be. Oh, and yes, the living room (and my bedroom and my boy's bedroom and the kitchen, are all a mess and instead of cleaning I am doing a fashion show. . . ). Also, I cannot figure out how to post a survey so you can just click a button to give me your answer so you'll have to leave a comment.

A picture's worth a thousand words

So apparently in the blogging lull I had I should have posted some of the many pictures I had on my camera. In the move I got rid of the two sweaters I wore to the short lived but much beloved ugly sweater party. I will post those at some point this week. I also apparently took a picture of the map of the Walk for Hunger with all my stamps on it (probably to show all of you who so generously supported me). Finally there's such a cute picture of one of the signs from the sushi birthday party I had this year. Since I've already blogged about that party, I'll put that picture below.



Suzib made the signs this one was on green paper to show that it was vegetarian and had a big star to warn those with nut allergies to stay away!! They were so good.

Really though, the reason I started this whole post was to announce the newest addition to my family. I mentioned the elephant lamp in a previous post (I finally downloaded his picture)



Today we added a beautiful red chicken. I bought a red hen roaster. It was on an incredible sale at Williams Sonoma ($30 cheaper than the cheapest one I could find online and being cast iron it was even more of a deal because shipping can be a killer on something like that).

Isn't she pretty? As soon as it cools down I am totally making stew, roasts etc. once a week so she gets all the use she deserves!!

don't stop me if you've heard this before. . . .

We took a mini road trip yesterday. It was the usual route to New Hampshire and we passed several signs that always make me laugh.

We passed the Stone Zoo sign and yet again a picture of a zoo dedicated to pet rocks popped into my head. I pictured all the unwanted pet rocks being saved and put in appropriate habitats there. I know that's not true, but come on, you know it's a more exciting picture than just another zoo.

We also passed the shriner auditorium and (this is probably soo wrong) I chuckled to myself thinking if you were going to ever scream fire as a joke in any theater, this is probably not the right one!

A bonus to this road trip was when we passed a "passive park" yes, that's exactly how it described itself on a sign. It said something like this is a passive park, no dogs or ball playing allowed. The sign went on quite a bit more but since we were driving by I didn't have time to read it all. The idea of a park with so many rules calling itself passive made me think it was more like a passive aggressive park. . . .

I'll have one of everything

We went to Rock Bottom last night for dinner. I have never been incredibly impressed by them. They're as good as any chain restaurant really. . . Last night was incredibly fun though. My group ordered their beer sampler. It came with one of every beer they make plus the bartender's choice.

When we discussed where to go last night and rock bottom had been suggested I fought for it because I'd seen their beer sampler earlier and had wanted to try it. When we got to the restaurant though, I didn't see any beer samplers and I didn't see it on the menu. So I TOTALLY chickened out on ordering it. I got mild flak from my group about it and when the waiter came back to check on us someone else ordered the sampler for the table. It was soo fun!

It was almost like being a kid and having a new box of crayons delivered to a table with a paper table cloth. The beers were such pretty colors and each one came in an over sized shot glass. We each took a sip and then divvied up the left overs according to each's favorite. Leaving the stout to sit in the corner by himself (there's a good joke in there somewhere about being stout and relegated to corners but I can't figure it out right now). I got the IPA which had a bitter aftertaste that reminded three of us of grapefruit juice and one of us just thought the others were nuts.

How much did a beer sampler cost? you ask. $6.97! I thought it was such a steal. I was convinced we should always get the sampler. It was brilliant. Everyone else seemed to think that it was probably better to pay $5.00 and get an entire glass of what they liked. Clearly they know nothing about diversification!

I <3 Sprecher

So my first real true love when it comes to root beer is Henry Weinhard's. Consider yourself lucky if you live in the west or in Chicago (the one city outside of the west where they supply their root beer). There's a lovely honey flavor in Henry Weinhard's and no minty herbiness that gets in the way. I had really great communication with someone from Henry Weinhards awhile back sadly the upshot of that communication was that they're not in Boston and they don't plan to expand.

A few weeks ago the New York Times ran an article about root beer. They mentioned a website that my boy is now hooked on: http://rootbeerbarrel.com/ (did you know that there's a root beer producer just outside his home town?! guess what we're stocking up on when we go visit his family in September :)). Also in the NYT article they discuss a root beer produced by Sprecher Brewing. My friend Christina who tends to be more on the ball with these sorts of things sent away for the root beer (and got a lovely mix that also included orange cream soda that my boy thoroughly enjoyed as well). She gave us each a bottle of the root beer and last night we split one bottle (and by split I mean I let my boy have one sip and then I drank the rest -- no easy feat since it's 16 oz).

I. LOVE. Sprecher. While I still love Henry Weinhard, Sprecher has a similar flavor to the one I love AND it comes in 16oz bottles (larger than that if you're actually in Wisconsin, then you can get the 1/4 and 1/2 barrels -- you lucky wisconsonians!!!). I checked the price for sending the bottles to Alaska and it was a little pricey, but if you're only sending to Massachusetts, the price for the soda AND the shipping comes out to about $2.00 a bottle. If you figure that you get 16oz bottles instead of the normal 12 or 13 that comes in cans it's actually not that bad a price (and if you compare it to actual beer, you're coming out way ahead :)). I highly recommend looking into purchasing some of this lovely root beer if you're in the lower 48, it's well worth the expense. Also, since the article, it looks like stores in NY are actually stocking the soda so perhaps it's only a matter of time before Boston starts stocking it too :).

Jack and the tomato stalk

So we checked on our tomatoes last night. While our other friend is up to two pints of cherry tomatoes, we have only one close to ripe. My boy ended up cutting down several long branches that had green tomatoes on them. Why? Because the tomato plants, instead of putting their energy toward ripening their fruit so that we can partake in the delicious juiciness of home grown tomatoes, are growing absolutely enormous. There are at least three plants that are taller than I am and at least a foot over the 54 inch supports we bought for them (if not two, I want to bring our tall friend over and have him stand next to them!). My boy thinks they're trying to reach the sun since they're in a slightly shady section of the yard. I am starting to think we're on our way to finding a golden goose. My boy prefers the golden tomatoes that we were supposed to have though, so, as I said, he cut the plants back last night hoping to encourage them to re-focus their energies.

Oh, yes, that's right, I am totally counting this as a post even though all I did was talk about tomatoes!

Welcome to Fantasy Island

My boy shouted da plane da plane awhile ago and I looked at him like the freak that he is. He said "what? it's from fantasy island." I continued to stare at him and he said, "you know, fantasy island. . . ." The thing is, I don't, well didn't really. I watched my first episode last night. I am in the process of watching my third episode now. Perhaps it's because I only watch them late at night, or perhaps it's because this is actually "quality television" but I really like the show so far. I think the stories are rather inventive. Yes, they all end happily and you can kind of guess the endings to some. But still, overall, I really like it! If you haven't seen any episodes, it's worth a try.

Shout out for South End Flowers

I am not actually sure why they're called South End Flowers because they are worlds closer to the North End than to the South End. Though they may seem directionally challenged, they're still a really nice shop with the most friendly, soft dog ever (in case flowers and nice people weren't enough to sway you).

They're very good about working within your budget and listening to you when you explain you want something crazy like as many orange flowers as you can (not that I would have first hand experience being that crazy person :)). When I needed pink gerbera daisies STAT, they sent for them from another store and had them there by the end of the day. When I order corsages and boutonnieres they are extremely competitively priced and look lovely.

They have a lovely outdoor market in the Custom House Courtyard this summer and their store is across the street. You can also order online or call them and tell them your crazy ideas. I am a huge, huge fan so I thought I would post and tell people (Besides, now it looks like a blog again ;)).

A Bad Blogger

So I was told this weekend that my blog is essentially considered a "dead link" which is mildly sad. Especially since I think of blogs so often as my lifeline out of boredom. I can see where one might get the impression that my blog is a dead link what with me posting only about once a month at this point.

Here are some things I have thought about posting but haven't.

1. Much sadness!!!! The Incredibly great Garlic that I LOVE LOVE LOVE from Trader Joe's is no longer sold there and no longer will be ever as far as I can tell.

I so loved this garlic that I had wanted to figure out how to grow it myself so I wouldn't be dependent on having to go to trader Joe's to enjoy it. In researching growing this garlic I realized how hard it was to find bulbs to grow and I couldn't figure out if I could just plant them from the actual heads I bought from Trader Joe's. I had decided stocking up at Trader Joe's was the best bet.

When I went last week to get some I was so sad to find out they don't carry it anymore. But that was ok, I was willing to fight for it. I was willing to blog and email and convince other people who are easily intimidated (or swayed) by me to email them too and tell Trader Joe's how incredible the product was and how they should bring it back. I told one of the guys at Trader Joe's about this and he was terribly encouraging. He said the wasabi mayo had been brought back twice due to popular demand.

Sadly, the death knell was sounded this week. Someone from Trader Joe's called to tell me that they were no longer carrying the garlic and had no plans to carry it in the future because it was imported from China and their customers had voiced concern over products from china. So my favorite garlic is gone forever. I hope that a vampire comes and gets the buyer for trader joe's, just to show him!

2. I have moved. I have put off announcing it here for almost a month because I kept thinking I would be unpacked and I could show pictures and do some "splaining" as Ricky Ricardo might say. It hasn't happened though. I am hoping that since my friend is visiting in August, it will be unpacked enough for some pictures then and I'll write a full post at that point.

3. I am now the president of Chelsea Community Kitchen's Board. It's been sort of a challenge already . . . I think the greatest act of my presidency so far is commissioning a logo from my boy. I mean doesn't that look cool:

(and in case anyone cares, this blog in no way represents the CCK's beliefs or views nor is it endorsed or supported by CCK in any way so if you're unhappy with the blog, take it up with me, and don't blame CCK -- I am sure CCK would not support wishing vampires on people for example).

4. I just finished reading Water for Elephants and, while I thought the ending was a little too neat and quick, I still really liked the book. Also, I realized at one point as I was reading the book under the elephant lamp (which much to my boy's disappointment is what I continually refer to as our first purchase together) in the living room. I promise I'll enclose a picture when I take those pictures of the apt. Also in that same room, my boy lined up a bunch of elephants a friend from Africa gave me. I also found this article from the New York Times that I thought was fun: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/30/dining/30circ.html?_r=1&oref=slogin I've realized I've become semi obsessed with circuses.

5. Another obsession I have had of late is reading http://www.weddingbee.com/ I started when I was at the height of boredom because it's a good site for being quickly and consistently updated (as I said, blogs are a lifeline for me :)). I am sort of tapering off as the bees I liked are marrying off, but it has certainly made me think about weddings A LOT MORE. The fact that I am currently obsessed with circuses and the fact that every wedding seems to be a circus has made me embrace a circus theme for a wedding (you know if and when and all that).

My mother should be happy at one point she informed me her two dogs would have to be included in a wedding ceremony if I had one so now they can wear tutus etc. and be included :). I think people think I am kidding about a circus themed wedding but unless my obsession with the circus cools, I am almost positive that's what I'm going to do. I mean I even have brilliant (I think) ideas about what I want to include food wise etc.

6. I am not actually engaged. And no, my boy doesn't seem terribly worried about my obsession. Since two weeks into our relationship I've planned both our wedding and our break up. I think he's ok with my random planning as long as it stays evenly balanced ;). Besides, who wouldn't want a wedding reception with cotton candy and popcorn -- cheap and soo yummy!

7. I think that's all for random musings.

Don't Get Excited, It's Not Much of a Post

So I haven't written here in quite some time. It's not just because I lead such a boring life that it's not worth blogging about. It's mostly because my boring life has been pretty crazed lately (doesn't everyone say the same thing).

Just because I haven't actually written in what seems like years. It doesn't mean that I haven't kept reading. In fact, I have added some blogs to my reading. One of those blogs is http://www.dooce.com/ While I don't necessarily agree with everything she says, she usually says it in such an entertaining manner that it doesn't matter (as David Sedaris once said, funny trumps everything -- ok he didn't say that exactly but it was something like that and no, you won't find anywhere where he wrote it because he said it in a lecture at Symphony Hall, which makes it even more difficult for you to prove that I am lying). Anyway, on dooce's website she has something called daily style. Usually I am firmly in the unstylish camp and so for quite some time I didn't even look at that part of her blog. But I got bored and I caved. On that section of her blog she features home decor, clothing, accessories and other stylish things (that's the technical term). She usually has some interesting caption to go along with a nice picture of the utterly cool item in question.

Today, I was hoping to have a "daily style" of my own for my blog. Yesterday Megs gave me a bracelet featuring the saints (in particular I think she said it's supposed to be Our Lady of Lourdes). No, I am not particular to saints. I don't pray to them. I don't actually know much about them at all. The point IS this is the kitschiest piece of jewelry I own and I love it. I love the faux rosewood. I love the lacquered on pictures. I just love it. Also, talk about miracles. When it's on my wrist it is impossible to photograph oh sure some of you may say it has something to do with the above mentioned lacquer, but deep down I think we all know it's closer to a miracle. I felt like wonder woman when I had it on and couldn't focus the camera b/c of the shine. Perhaps I can't deflect bullets but I could certainly blind someone. . . Because the camera couldn't take a picture on my wrist, I took one off my wrist but then I couldn't find the equipment to download the picture to my computer and then it was time to go to work so, as I said in the beginning, this isn't a post to get excited about. I will, however, post a picture I found online of a similar bracelet, so as not to disappoint my loyal readers.

Long Awaited Pictures

So I owe much more of a post, but I figure I'll start with the long promised photos of the giraffe feeding (one of the coolest things EVER).

HOW CUTE?!!!! (that's my hand)


Sam and Melinda feeding a female Giraffe

The male giraffe (doesn't he almost look like a dinosaur?)

I know they're not giraffes, but aren't they funny? I liked it when the meerkats sat up on their haunches, this picture was irresistible when the other fell down in front of the one on his haunches.

There's so much more I could share about the trip (and several more pictures) but this is probably enough photographs of a vacation (I mean until I pull out the slide carousel etc ;)).

I promise to try and update with more information soon. OH! I almost forgot. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to those of you who supported me in the walk. We made it all 20 miles though I was whining most of the way (also I may or may not have screamed at some teenagers who kept kicking plastic bottles into the crowd). And for those of you who gave me birthday presents (you know, two months ago?!) I do have thank you cards for you. They're all in a pile on my desk at work. I promise I will get them out this month -- I really do appreciate your gifts!

Decadence

Decadence is:

• Telling your boyfriend you don't feel like going to the kitchen early on a saturday morning and him letting you sleep in with no guilt.
• Having your boyfriend bring you home the free lunch from the soup kitchen.
• Having that same boyfriend deal with your car which has sat in the driveway for four months.
• Having said car miraculously start instantly without even a jump and purr outside the window.
• Having grilled chicken for dinner (the first grilled food of spring -- that batch in Jan doesn't count).
• Having the windows open with the sun shining in and birds singing -- almost like a disney movie!
  
• Having more roasted garlic in the house than most self-respecting vampire haters (20 heads and 1 quart sized bag full of roasted cloves).
  

So a lovely day.

Ooh, and thank you to all of you who have donated to the walk for hunger! For those of you who still want to you can go here: http://www.projectbread.org/goto/get_bitter

Learning to Ask for Help

A friend of mine recently realized she has a problem asking for help -- for those of you who know me, this isn't a situation where I am using "friend" and meaning myself. I love this friend but I don't think she realizes the extent of her problem. I had actually emailed and talked to her several times OFFERING her help. It wasn't even a matter of asking, it was a matter of simply accepting ;). She has a problem accepting help, not just asking for it! Anyway, she's got enough on her plate now, she doesn't need to worrry about that at this point (and if by some fluke that friend is reading -- relax, we've got a plan, we'll be initiating it at 5:00 tomorrow it's all good).

It reminded me, however, about how I hate asking for things myself (unless of course you're my poor parents or my boy in which case I don't really ask I basically demand). In theory, I am doing the walk for hunger again this year -- strangely I feel even more unprepared this year than I did last year when I vowed I was going to train in the spring next time :). So if you'd like to support me, and by extension all the hungry people in MA, you can go to my walk website: http://www.projectbread.org/goto/get_bitter How fun is that? They totally let you just pick any old name for your website. The templates leave a little to be desired, but you can go over and take a look yourself :).

Also, I promise to post pictures of giraffes and maybe even blog about my trip to CO at some point :). In the meantime, if you're bored, you can go look at the project bread website. . . .

Champagne Wishes and Caviar Dreams

So I have a lot of other things I should catch up with as far as bloggable items (I was in Colorado Springs a week ago and got to feed giraffes for one thing -- I mean clearly cool things that I have negelected to share). I also have a small group study I am not making much progress on and which is really due tomorrow or I have to fake some long prayer thing. . . . There is also actual work, that thing that pays me. . . . sadly not enough to fulfill the dreams I have.

I have been looking at craigslist a lot lately trying to find my boy a place to live starting in August. I have found some gorgeous places. Of course they don't fit into the budget. I gave up for awhile and started looking at places to buy.

I found this one yesterday, it's less than a mile away from a train (according to google, though not sure it's a good walk since it's basically on the side of a minor highway) and has a HUGE yard: http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/rfs/635006983.html can you imagine? a single family home near an actual t station with a giant yard for entertaining? Lovely. sigh.

This place I found today is very urban and open to whatever changes one could desire: http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/rfs/635948150.html (it's not really convenient to public transportation either which is a major criteria, but it's in the underprivileged town where we spend early saturday mornings ;) and there's a studio in the building where if my boy wanted he could display his photographs. For more pictures (because I know you want to drool like I did) you can go here: http://www.abostonloft.com/chelsea_dudley210/photos.htm

Sadly, even though I grew up watching Robin Leach and being surrounded by the 80's affirmation crap that I could do anything, there's no way I can afford to buy anything any time soon. I'll go back to looking at the dives available to rent in the budget my boy has given, but wouldn't it be nice? Don't you wish I could afford one of these cool places? I promise I'd invite you over :).

So what's a month or so among friends?

I haven't been great about actually hooking my camera up to my computer and I didn't want to post about some things till I could put up the pictures and now that I have the pictures, it seems so long ago it's almost not worth posting -- see the vicious cycle? Anyway. . .

Here's a picture of a cupcake my boy and I tried to make like the kind we used to get at LuLu's Bakery in the north end (they've since changed it slightly -- perhaps they learned like we did that marshmallow cream melts fairly quickly):

We made chocolate cupcakes and a marshmallow frosting, we then inundated the marshmallow frosting with graham cracker crumbs we'd made in the food processor. My boy injected the graham cracker marshmallow frosting into the center of the cupcake (we need to work on the technique we don't have an actual pastry injector so he had to improvise) while I made a chocolate ganache. After the cupcakes were injected with graham cracker we put the chocolate ganache on top and then sprinkled more graham cracker crumbs on that finally we put a dollop of marshmallow cream on top and toasted it with a torch. As you can see, suzib doesn't seem to mind the melty-ness:

The other culinary feat we accomplished in the last month was bacon cups for a mini Cobb salad for our friend Debbie's bridal shower (her favorite foods are avocado and bacon so you can see how a Cobb salad was basically mandatory). A friend sent my the instructions from the not Martha website. I adapted her recipe merely by using disposable muffin tins and putting them in a disposable roasting pan so the drippings went into it instead of in the bottom of the oven. I also put the bacon once woven on the muffin tins in the freezer briefly so the shrinking was somewhat minimized. Again, I think there are kinks to be worked out. With our system we only made three at a time. With another roasting pan, I think we could have at least made six at a time. They were worth the effort though, they looked great at the party and tasted amazing!!

For a more in depth look at Debbie's shower you can go to Christina's website. I highly recommend looking at the memorable quotes section (the cutting board line is my favorite). Also, you can see the pretty "sheet" cake Christina and I made out of a king sized sheet set. It's not as easy as you might think from the many instructions available online, or, perhaps, Christina and I just aren't terribly coordinated :).

My Birthday Party Was a Disaster. . . .And Other News. . . .

So my party didn't turn out at all how I pictured it. My family makes fun of me because of my "pictures." They refer back to Lost In Yonkers and compare me to Bella. . . . My Best Friend told me in High School, never invite me to your wedding, I don't want to be there when you have a melt down because it's not how you picture it.

I didn't have a melt down (at least not a complete meltdown) on Saturday, but I mentioned a couple of times it wasn't how I pictured it. The party lacked organization, it lacked thought, it lacked food when people arrived and it lacked the proper equipment and instruction. . . So many things went wrong including poor timing on food which resulted in a glut of food left in our refrigerator and in the cooler we'd set up on the back porch. Every day since, we have had to come up with recipes to use up the massive amounts of fruits vegetables and fish we have left. It's a race to see who wins (general entropy of mold and rot, or us). It's also a reminder at every meal about how disappointing the party was.

Don't get me wrong, the lack of organization, the lack of food etc. none of it was the result of laziness on anyone's part (least of all my boy or suzib) it just happened. Also, the guests at the party were incredible, pitching in where needed being easy going and undemanding. Constantly complimenting and giving me even more wonderful gifts to add to the post before. I felt like I had failed my guests though, both with the food/planning issues and then with my inability to mingle, saying goodbye to some guests I'd only said hello to. . . . It was just a sad state of affairs.

The one good thing to come out of the party (besides the presents and knowing my friends really are chill and fun people) was a grasp of how loved I am by my boy. He had gotten up at 6am to take me to the library Saturday morning where we sat for over an hour waiting for work to be completed. Then he spent insane amounts of money on all of the food that now sits mocking us. He worked hard all day steadily chopping, stirring, cooking etc. and he took it as I got more and more shrill and panicky. He didn't demand attention at the party he'd worked so hard on and he didn't complain when he was kept up late (though he did fall asleep during the after party movie some of us watched ;)). I had time to think about all this as I was doing dishes at 1:30 in the morning. I am truly blessed.

I <3 Presents!!!

So call me selfish, immature and anything else you want, but I. LOVE. PRESENTS. LOVE them. I got some absolute gems yesterday, two gorgeous red knives from my boy.

A star of david bundt pan with a great book called Bundt Cake Bliss (which includes a recipe for a coming out cake which I think is hysterical, if I ever came out, I would totally want a bundt cake with the gay pride flag visible if you gazed down the center). I am very excited.

Oh yes, and I also got another le creuset whisk. I love them. They are something I think no kitchen should be without and with a little bit of hoarding and luck, I should never have to be.

It's my birthday!!!

So far I've gotten lots of ecards, and lovely daffodils and a star of david bunt pan (to name a few items). Ooh, and a cook book which includes a coming out bunt cake recipe. It's really funny. I'll write the description later. Anyway, happy day. I love birthdays, essentially people shower you with presents because you haven't died. That's your one accomplishment. And I know for people like Suzib that sort of is an accomplishment, but really for most of us, it's not that hard ;).

To continue my focus on the wrong thing

Today I was on the phone with a water proofing company. They answered the phone It's a beautiful day at pioneer (which I thought was slightly amusing). I was so wrong though, the amusing part of the conversation came when I was put on hold, the hold music was singing in the rain! I am not sure if it's them who sings because of all the work the rain drums up, or if it's us, the customers singing because we're so confident that our waterproofing will work, but either way I thought it was an amusing choice. I was hoping I'd be on the phone long enough to hear if the next selection was rain drops keep falling on my head.

In less amusing news (also slightly related to rain), our family cat died this week. Ok, so in our family's dark humor sort of way, it is sort of amusing, but also sad.

What did I do to deserve this?

My boy is over and I promised to make dinner, while it's baking he started playing some football video game he's played repeatedly. Being a semi-supportive girlfriend I have sat through several games while he "plays" football even though I detest video games and I am not terribly fond of football.

Tonight, I went into my room in theory to pack for the retreat this weekend, but getting bored with that and with the prospect of folding and putting away all the clothes I should I turned on MASH and started reading my email.

My boy came in and said "What?! You're not going to watch me play football?" I said "You're not really playing football. It's a video game. Maybe if you were actually playing football with your brothers or your nephews I might actually watch, but I've put in my time watching you play a video game."

He rustled around in some videos that he had brought over awhile ago (I thought that they were all Iron Chef Japan) and put in a video. I said do you see that I am already watching something, he said you said you want to watch me play a real game of football. He started the tape and left.

I am currently watching blurry high school football dubbed with terrible 80s music. I have no idea which one he is or which team I'm "cheering" for.

There's no point to this post. I thought it was semi-amusing, but coming to the end of it, I am not sure it actually was. I have to go now. I am going to flag a play.

We're not having kids.

I realized the other day that my boy makes in three hours of overtime the same amount of money I make all day at regular pay. I was telling my best friend this in the middle of whole foods (while my boy was working overtime). I said, "so my plan is to marry him and quit my job and make him work three hours of overtime every night. It's perfect, then I get plenty of alone time AND we lose no money in the deal!" At just that moment my boy's friend walked by the end of the aisle. I don't think he saw me, but it did make me laugh.

A few days later my boy and I were in Marshalls scoping out baby items on sale because I have several friends currently pregnant or newly enjoying babydom so I try to see what I can get. My boy, not being terribly interested in green booties (because NONE of my freaking friends can find out what they're having ahead of time!!) wandered over to the toy section. He found an elmo vidoe camera. It was the most obnoxious toy ever! I can't remember all the phrases that elmo giggled out, but they included: "Smile!" and "Ready for you close up? HAHAHAHAHAHA" and "Cut that's a wrap HAHAHAHAHAH" the last phrase coming at the end of far more phrases I've blocked out.

I told my boy we were never having that item in our house if things should get so far as us having kids. He turned to me, perfectly straight faced, and said, "Oh, I am stocking up on these kinds of toys, the more noise the better. If you're going to be home alone with the kids all day and make me work three hours extra every night, we're going to have a house full of loud toys." It made me laugh, but out of fear that he'll follow through on his threat, I am not having kids. . . . .or, perhaps, I'll just take the batteries out of all the items all day and have a mad rush "game" with the kids where we put them back in before daddy gets home. Then he can play with the kids and the obnoxious toys and I'll go to my soundproofed bedroom and read a book!

I hate elevators

There's so much that should be written here, stuff about 800 gallons of water being pumped out of the elevator pit of an elevator that's taken twice as long to be installed as they originally promised. And yet I am simply hung up on the floor. This floor (which I found on a website warning about items containing asbestos):

REALLY?! REALLY?! THIS IS THE FLOOR THAT THEY THINK IS UNOBRTRUSIVE? ONE THAT WILL BLEND IN WITH THE LOBBY?! Our lobby is mahogany pannelled, with beautiful tile, the elevator has nice faux mahogany walls (because we picked them out -- we picked out the flooring at the same time sadly THEY DIDN'T WRITE IT DOWN).

I realize that tiles are a minor problem (and even if I didn't at least three people have told me numerous times). The thing is, the tiles are representative of so much more to me. I feel like we played the game right. We planned ahead, we paid on time, we fulfilled our end of the bargain, IT'S NOT FAIR THAT WE'RE STILL LOSING!

Happy Valentine's Day

My boy went way over board for V-day. He got me two bunches of daffodils and two giant chocolate hearts (one had chocolate that's good and was decently sized, the other one met my size criteria -- the biggest possible heart you can find -- 40 ouncess of chocolate baby!!) He also got me a pajama gram. Apparently he's making up for all those years when I was single. Because we had our one year anniversary on the 13th, I didn't get him anything for valentine's day (when I told him this he just sighed and said of course not, guys are always expected to get stuff, and girls never are).

The other valentine's surprise, our friend John Doe (he hates that name) sent us a shared valentine's day card, that was terribly amusing!

It's hard to read, but it says, "May your romance never fade!"on the inside.

I hope you had just as lovely a valentine's day!

One Year!

So my boy and I have been together one year. We didn't take a picture of our one year anniversary, so I am including a picture from this summer when Suzib my boy and I went on a mini-adventure (I've got the cool puppet on, my boy is in the middle and suzib's got a mini-hard hat -- she got a better one for her birthday).

For our anniversary, my boy and I (we left SuziB at home) went to Clink the restaurant that's in the liberty hotel (formerly a jail). The lobby is really amazing. There's a pretty mosaic between the escalators, but don't be distracted. LOOK UP!!! It's GORGEOUS. They have the original wood work and beautiful chandeliers. They have pretty (and I believe original) windows. It's just lovely. That's where the real joy in the place ended.

Below are my favorite moments from the night (the comments my boy made :)):

"Usually you don't name the salad after the garnish" (referring to the blood orange salad after I'd asked if he'd eaten all the blood orange leaving me two tiny pieces -- turns out he hadn't, he had two tiny pieces as well).

"This is on the sharing menu, can you imagine if there were ten of us and we were at the end of the table when this came around?" (talking about the silver dollar sized piece of monk fish and duck confit garnished with green lentils that we had to split -- and I don't have to try hard to imagine that situation, he and I went to a party at dali where we were in just such a position, luckily the tapas to share at dali are slightly larger -- though not much).

"It's not every night you go out to dinner and the salad and the soup are the larges part of the meal!" (in summation of our dinner).

I think if you go, stick with the bar, it's in the lobby and a better atmosphere and probably the same food if you want it. . . .

I have more comments, but I'll save you all my ranting :). Know that my boy was a perfect gentleman and did everything in his power to make it an incredible evening.

Open House

So we went to the most fun open house on Saturday! It was a chocolate factory tour, a printing press/card making open house and a t-shirt screen printing tour/open house all in the same building.

I don't think they were expecting the turn out they got, but it was sooo fun. Everyone was so keen on each of their separate projects and it was so neat to see so many entrepreneuers all in one building.

I liked Taza's Mexican chocolate except it was slightly too cinnamony for me -- I loved the texture though. They're talking about developing more flavors of the mexican so that's something to look forward to. They also sell chocolate nibs (an ingredient which, oddly enough, was used in several iron chef america dishes in last night's chocolate challenge). Nibs are apparently the roasted and separated cacao beans. I like to think of them as chocolate nerds. I bought a small bag just for munching.

Our tour guide was apparently giving us an off the cuff tour and mentioned that they use the husks that they've taken off the cacao beans as mulch and they give it to various places. We asked about it when we were leaving and they just gave us some bags. Very light and slightly chocolatey smelling so nicer than fertilizer in a lot of ways -- can't wait for tomato season :).

Albertine Press/May Day Studio/ Someone else who was really friendly and who's card I forgot to get had an open house too (oops) had a joint open house, just down the hall from Taza. Their handiwork was so fun! May day studio had really quirky and great valentine's day cards. Albertine Press was kind enough to let people try out their letter press. Anyone who wanted to could go away with a valentine they made themselves! They also have REALLY cool cards. My favorite wasn't one of their letter press cards (though I couldn't resist some of those either). I like the circus one below:

It says "Dear mom and dad, I joined the circus. Love, me" They also had a letter press save the date that had all the information in a postmark and lots of other cool stuff (a card that said smarty pants and had a doodle of Einstein). The woman who I forgot to grab a card from made the neatest little books. Tiny little books perfectly bound.

Finally, the last tour/open house we took advantage of was QRST's open house. They have a screen printing shop and he explained the process to us then took us back to the two dark rooms and through the paint room out to the floor where we could see the machines doing several shirts at once on sort of large horizontal windmill machines. They also have a huge digital t-shirt printer where they can inject the ink right into the fabric. You can't even feel the ink on the t-shirt and the details are incredible. He talked about various printers on the market and even answered some tough questions (like are wrap around designs possible -- turns out they are if you make your design right). He even let us take a free t-shirt in the end. Fun stuff. I totally want to get t-shirts made for my next event!

So a fun Saturday indeed. We ended the evening at Midwest Grill. A Brazillian restaurant in Inman Square. It was so good. The staff (other than one rather odd woman) was incredibly friendly and the food was good. I LOVED the Garlic beef (soooo garlicky) and the garlick bread which they grill just like the meat was lovely as well. They had chicken wrapped in bacon that I thought was perfect. There were other delicious options as well, but I would stay away from the strawberry pudding (and probably the chocolate pudding while you're at it).

So many choices and I blog about an ad

I have lots of things I've thought about blogging about lately, but somehow, none of those have made it up. Instead, because it's an election year and this week is the Superbowl, I am going to share with you my favorite superbowl/political ad EVER: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIq58H6CYQU it's a snickers ad (and I am not just posting it here because I love snickers -- which I do, just a little too much) featuring "Al Gore" and "George W." it's brilliant. The last line gets me every time, so keep listening past the part where they flash to the ooey gooey carmely chocolatey goodness.

There's a new candy bar ad out there that I love, but I can't remember it clearly enough to describe it. It's a milky way billboard that says something humorous about the caramel. Bonus points if you can tell me what it says Super Double Bonus Points if you can email me a picture (I think we saw it over on Mystic Ave, but I could be WAY off).

We Have a Winner!

It's a foldable cd rack. You can go here and buy one yourself if you want.

Sigh, that was so much less exciting than a travel toe separator for pedicures on the go, or a pastry imprinter or any number of other possibilities.

Guessing Game

So my roommate got the following in her christmas package. The person who sent it to her had gotten it at a fair in New York at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection booth. We have NO IDEA what it is. Okay in fairness, we have one idea what it is (a pen holder?) but it seems kind of weird that it would be foldable and that they would expect it to hold pens horizontally which obviously takes up more desk space. So what do you think it is?

How I spet my MLK Day vacation

Basically, I slept. I LOVED it. My boy got bored that I kept falling asleep any time we stopped moving. After I woke up from one particularly satisfying nap he said "I think you should see a doctor about this, it's unnatural to sleep this much." You can imagine how pleasant it was today that he was at work and I could take a two hour nap in the middle of the day with no comments :).

Other highlights include spending yesterday afternoon aimlessly wandering around the MFA and ending in the MFA store where fun things were on sale (I bought a shadow story book to take with us when we go to West Virginia with my boy's family this fall).

Tonight I roasted beets and made beet greens (sort of like southern style greens, but not quite as good). I was pleased with both enough that I think I'll do it again. We also had some lemon chicken, rice and balsamic mushrooms which needed more balsamic. It was a good dinner though. We finished with some EXCELLENT Banana nut chocolate chip bread which I have been hoarding. Sigh, just talking about it makes me want more. I love banana bread, especially this particular type.

P.S. thank you again to everyone who donated to the "Sarah needs a rice maker fund." I LOVE my rice maker!!

Short Lived

It's snowing now and the cities of Boston and of Somerville have been put in snow emergencies. So no more grilling to look forward to for awhile. I am eating the last of the grilled scallops at lunch today on a salad in defiance of the weather which is seeming to dictate soup or other warm comfort foods.

Tonight, however, we will probably try something warm and comfort food related (sadly I forgot to defrost anything before I left for work). Perhaps we'll just use the little bit of my steak that was left over from Sat, and some of the five lb bag of baby carrots and the many mushrooms we bought at Costco and make a slightly boring stir fry (then I can also use my lovely rice maker).

It's depressing when you're already thinking about dinner and being home in pjs at 10:30am. . . .

The smell of charcoal in the air

And it's coming from our house (at least it was a couple hours ago, now it's just coming from my boy's sweatshirt).

It's sort of surreal, having grown up in Alaska, to be grilling on the 12th of January. That's what my boy did though (it was unusually warm today). We had lovely scallops wrapped in bacon, steaks and grilled garlic bread (made with roasted emperor's new cloves garlic from trader joe's which I have decided are my new favorites for roasting). Apparently so have other people. My boy just asked me what I was typing about and I told him I was typing about the garlic, then I went on to sing it's praises a little more (it was sort of Christina-esque how long and passionately I went on about such a particular breed of vegetable--is garlic a vegetable?).

A funny thing happened. . .

So, long time no hear I know. I got back on Sunday night and except for a few highlights it's been a fairly rotten week. I have been tired and insanely cranky and every little thing that happens gets blown way out of proportion.

I had two funny things to share as of a moment ago though so I thought I would post. Sadly, as I post now, I can only think of one. . .

I opened an envelope today that I found in my pile of mail. It had no return address and no note, just this magnet:

It was incredibly cute and amusing and a definite pick me up for the week. Sadly, I don't know who to thank (someone sent it from zip code 021 but the rest of that was even cut off and that leaves A LOT of places).

I am currently watching the Miss America make over show on TLC and there was an amusing part where one of the women was talking about how she doesn't understand why people think women in beauty pageants are stupid, "I mean they're all competing for scholarships." Sadly she made a grammatical error in the process (which could happen to anyone speaking spur of the moment) but it sort of undermined her statement and was rather amusing. I'll try and find it at some point and post it. Also, Miss Alaska is not really doing our state proud in this episode, luckily, Miss Pennsylvania was more embarrassing the last time when she couldn't even find her flag!!