The Decayed Gentlewoman

Man's Best Friend

2012-01-27T07:38:00.000-06:00

One of the fire alarms in my house started it's low battery beep at 3am last night. One high pitched beep every 90 seconds or so isn't necessarily enough to wake me up. However, two very concerned dogs pawing at me definitely is. Hereaux, my rescue dog, was particularly insistent on following me around until I found the source of the beeping and made it stop. I was pretty irritated at the time, but in retrospect, it's nice to know that your dogs will wake you up if for any reason a fire alarm goes off in the night. When I woke up this morning I told them that they were very good dogs! :)

The Frozen North

2012-01-04T08:58:00.002-06:00

It was 8 this morning. Which was actually an improvement from the low of 5 last night. I'm actually kind of excited to say that 8 is by far the lowest temperature I've been exposed to. I'm pretty sure that when I was out and about last night (I had pizza for dinner) and it was 17, that was also, at the time, the lowest temperature I'd been exposed to.
I'm excited about this because all things considered I've been pretty comfortable. It's not like I've dawdled outside or anything, but I think that the winter wear I own is definitely good enough to keep me warm in this kind of weather. In general, the only part of me that's cold is my knees b/c my coat comes down to the top of my knees and I'm unwilling to wear leggings under my pants if I'm going to be mainly indoors b/c I'm worried I'll be too hot.
So as for shoes and clothes, I've been kind of wearing the same few things over and over again, especially at home. My bean boots are my go-to for when I'm going outside, and inside I'm living in my fleece lined mocs. Outside, my long down coat has been perfect (if not a little too warm- I was sweating while taking down the trash and recycling today, but I needed it when I walked the dogs), and inside I've been living in an Under Armor hoodie and pair of sweatpants that one of the groomsmen from the wedding sent me for Christmas. (The hubby got a similar pair.) He said it was to preserve my marriage because otherwise I'd leave Maine once it got cold. Haha! Of course I may need to buy a second set so I can disagree when the hubby accuses me of wearing the same thing every day. :)
In honor of the cold snap, I have a nice, warming meal planned this evening. It's based on a recipe for pasta with sausage, tomatoes, and mushrooms from Smitten Kitchen (it's the last recipe on the page) but I'm planning to add some chopped carrots and white beans to the mix to make it a bit healthier and to ensure that I'll have plenty of leftover sauce to freeze.

In other news our NYE party went really well. I ended up serving meringues, baked brie, rotel dip, red pepper jelly dip, smoked salmon deviled eggs, bacon wrapped water chestnuts, chicken salad bites, and a chocolate tart with cinnamon and cayenne, a biscoff cookie crust (ganache loosely based on this recipe and crust loosely based on this one), and Kahlua whipped cream.
For drinks we went with Poinsettia cocktails, Moscow Mules, and Sazeracs.

What are you go-to cold weather coping mechanisms?

Resolute

2011-12-29T17:46:00.003-06:00

Well, 2011 is almost over. It's been a pretty stellar year. I ran a marathon, discovered that I love to camp, got married (!), went to Spain, moved to Maine, climbed a mountain, and, this Christmas, saw the desert for the first time (visiting my in-laws in Arizona). 2011 is going to be hard to top!
I'm looking forward to the new year with a sense of gratitude for all my wonderful memories from 2011, and a sense of hope that 2012 will prove to be lovely as well.
Of course, I have a few resolutions:
First, to make the most of the time I have. I think that I waste time in a lot of ways. I sit around watching movies I don't even like. I goof off way too much on the internet. I waste time and energy hating the way I look. I get mad about stupid things and waste time holding onto that anger when I should just let it go. So my first and biggest resolution is to live my life with more intention and to gently remind myself of this goal when I stray off course.
Secondly, I resolve to write fiction (in novel, short story, or play form) or poetry at least 4 days a week. I have several stories floating around in my head and I need to get them down. I'd love to write another novel but that seems restrictive, given that at least one of the stories is in play form. Mind you, it's completely ripping Wes Anderson off in tone so I doubt it will see the light of day, but that's not why I'm resolving to write. I'm always afraid to tell the stories I imagine because I think people will recognize themselves in them and be offended if they ever happen to read them or on the off chance that I were to be published. So I'm telling myself that no one has to see what I write and repeating it over and over until the day when pigs fly and I miraculously stop caring what other people think. I just hate that I have neglected my writing for so long because it's something that I've always loved to do- I've just become too self conscious to let myself do it. I'd like to remedy that this year.
Finally, my last resolution is a carry over from 2010- I resolve to go to the dentist in 2012. I finally met my other 2010 resolution to go to the eye Dr. this year, so there's hope yet.

What are your resolutions this year?

Party Planning

2011-12-14T11:22:00.002-06:00

Sadly, the Hubby and I won't be able to host a Christmas party this year. Fortunately, we're having a New Year's Eve Party instead! (The biggest problem, of course, is that the majority of my serving platters are Christmas themed...)

Here's what I'm considering for my menu:
A few favorites from years past: Rotel Dip (I've taken to calling this Cardiology Dip b/c it's sure to keep your Cardiologist in business!), Cranberry and Blue Cheese Stuffed Endives, Meringues, Fig and Prosciutto Crostini, and Baked Brie.
And a few new ideas: Chicken Salad Bites (serving my favorite recipe on crackers or toast), Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs (time to actually use my egg tray!), Ice Box Cream Cakes, and Crack Dip (a favorite from my friend Jon's mom- it's mainly Cheddar and Red Pepper Jelly)

Of course, there's also the drink menu to consider.
New Year's Eve obviously calls for a Champagne Cocktail. I'm debating between the classic, a bellini, my favorite: the Poinsettia Cocktail, or just Champagne + Vanilla Vodka garnished with a strawberry. I also think Martha's Champagne Punch looks divine.
I think that we should definitely revisit the Brandied Port (recipe for this and lots of other tasty holiday beverages in this post) and Brandy Milk Punch. But I'm still on the lookout for more drink recipes. The Bittercup sounds like something the hubby would LOVE but I tend to hate Campari.
I'm also going to offer some sparkling lemonade for a non-alchoholic option this year.

So, two questions today:
1) Which champagne drink should I serve?
2) What's your favorite NYE cocktail? I need ideas!

Chowder

2011-12-08T13:59:00.001-06:00

The hubby and I are heading down to Boston this evening to meet up with our friends who now live in D.C. One thing I'm really thankful for is that I've been able to keep in touch with my dear friends despite moving so far away. I'm so excited to see them!

On Challenges

2011-12-01T08:29:00.001-06:00

This weekend my flight from New Orleans to Portland got diverted to Boston at 1am. After a day of flying, I was, unsurprisingly, exhausted and miserable, sitting on the plane waiting to go into the airport, bracing myself to haggle with airline employees, wondering if I'd be forced to find and pay for a hotel room at such a late hour, and dreading the early morning flight that was sure to come the next day. It sucked. But, as I've done many times in the past year, I composed myself with this thought "You can handle this. You ran a marathon and that was much harder than this!"
My marathon helped me drive for three days straight when I moved to Maine. It helped me climb Katahdin. It's been there through numerous travel days spent sprinting through airports desperately trying to make my flights. This accomplishment has given me a wellspring of strength and confidence to draw on whenever things get tough.
My marathon isn't the only challenge I've met that makes me feel this way. Climbing Katahdin and writing a novel (during NANOWRIMO a few years ago) give me similar feelings of strength and accomplishment. And it's not about being really good at something or having fun the entire time. My marathon time wasn't that fast, Katahdin isn't that high of a peak, and my novel is terrible. Writing my novel was at times tedious and frustrating, Katahdin was exhausting, painful, and sometimes scary, and parts of my marathon were incredibly painful. The reason that these experiences are important to me is that I chose to do something that I knew would be really hard and I stuck with it until the end. From that I gained a better awareness of my own capabilities and the confidence that comes with toughing something out.
I've had to endure bad situations in my life in the past (high school, grad school, divorce...) and I am definitely proud of how strong I had to be to get through those times. But I have so many negative emotions tied up with those experiences that it's not a good idea for me to give myself a pep talk that goes "You can do this! This isn't nearly as bad as being bullied in high school!" If I thought about stuff like that when I was already tired and miserable, I'd probably just start crying.
But having ready examples of times when I faced challenges head on and came out smiling makes all the difference. This is one of the many reasons I love to challenge myself. I'm thankful for my lousy flight this weekend because it reminded me of this benefit of choosing to challenge myself. Now I just need to decide what my next challenge will be!

Amazing

2011-11-08T08:18:00.000-06:00

Quick, while it's still fall, go buy some apple cider. Now, heat it up and steep your tea in it. I tried Chai Tea first b/c apple cinnamon is classic and I didn't believe Martha that Earl Grey in apple cider was a good idea, but once I tried Earl Grey, there's seriously no going back. The apple + bergamot combination is appealingly complex and almost floral. I'm completely hooked!

P.S. How awesome is this picture?

A Revelation

2011-11-06T18:04:00.000-06:00

Tonight I made French Onion Soup for the first time. In the past I've looked at recipes and thought that it really wasn't worth spending half an hour at the stove stirring onions, but I was seriously wrong. Though time consuming, this soup is absolutely worth it! It's rich, savory, comforting, and pretty much fool proof. I combined several recipes to come up with my version of this soup- so I have to give credit to both Smitten Kitchen and Apartment Therapy. My version is as follows.

First, roast a chicken. I'm actually not kidding at all. I really think that using homemade broth elevated my soup to a whole new level. I make my broth by saving the carcass and skin from a roast chicken, then baking them in a dutch oven full of water with the juice of half a lemon at 200-220F for 12 hours. I think you could also stick the same ingredients in a crock pot on low for the same amount of time. If you don't have your own stock, then use a good organic chicken stock (in all fairness you can also use any combination of chicken, veggie or beef stock and red or white or no wine). Once you procure your stock, here is the rest of the recipe.

2.5 red onions, chopped
1T balsamic vinegar
3 T butter
1 T olive oil
1 t salt
2 cups of white wine
1 quart chicken broth
2 T flour
3 T brandy
1 t pepper
2 bay leaves

Melt the butter in a large pot. Add the olive oil, then the chopped onions. Splash on the vinegar and sprinkle with salt. Cook covered on medium for 15 minutes. Stir. Continue cooking, stirring frequently for 30 more minutes. The onions should become dark and jammy.

Add 1 cup of the white wine. The wine should boil off quickly but leave everything with a bit more moisture than before.Sprinkle on the 2 T flour and stir for about 1 minute. Add the additional cup of wine, the broth, the brandy, and the bay leaves and pepper and bring everything to a boil. Boil for 30 to 45 minutes. If the soup looks to thick, add 1/2 cup of water.

When the soup is almost done, toast a slice or two of bread, and top with muenster or mozzarella cheese. Melt the cheese in a toaster oven or under your oven's broiler. Spoon the soup into a bowl and stir in a bit of grated cheese. Float the bread in the soup and enjoy!

What time consuming recipe do you think is totally worth it?

Cocoa

2011-10-26T08:46:00.001-05:00

Looks like it's time to stock up on cocoa!

Why blog about how awesome Maine is when you can rant instead?

2011-10-20T10:16:00.008-05:00

Sorry I've been out of the picture for so long, everyone!
I definitely let blogging inertia get the better of me, to the point that I've done so many cool things in Maine that I should blog about, that the backlog is absolutely paralyzing. So I'm just going to ignore all the stuff I should be writing aboutand say in short that Maine is awesome, the food and outdoor opportunities are amazing, and I've been taking full advantage of them. This summer was temperate and beautiful and with the exception of a few gross cold rainy days (like today) this fall has also been gorgeous so far. Whew! Glad to have that out of the way!

Now I'm going to blog about something that has been weighing heavily on my mind. Sweatpants. You see, I don't own any. And on gross, rainy days like today, it's proving to be a problem. I own tons of hooded sweatshirts and fleeces, but aside from a pair of oversized trackpants from New Zealand (courtesy of the husband, who is objecting to the title "Dr. Hubby") and a pair of fleece pants (also slightly too big) I got on super sale at the North Face Outlet in Freeport (how can I pass up anything North Face for $20?)- I have nothing to keep my bottom half warm.

I was looking online for sweatpants and I realized exactly why I don't have sweatpants. They are ridiculous nowdays. The most striking example of this is, of course, the Victoria Secret Pink line of sweatpants. For $42 you can wrap your butt in $2 worth of jersey fleece, decorated with enough hearts to make cupid say "That's a bit much." There's also an $80 dollar option for all you One Percenters who'd like to add $5 worth of sequins to one of your legs.
I thought that this was the height of misplaced vanity until I realized that Abercrombie and Fitch have an entire page devoted to detailing the 6 different fits of women's sweatpants that they offer. I'm sorry, "super skinny" sweatpants aren't sweatpants- they're really ugly leggings that you can't wear with anything b/c they've got a freaking drawstring messing up the line at the waist. And for a mere $40 to $70 (depending on cut), they can be yours. They don't even look warm.

Look, I'm basically giving up by even shopping online for sweatpants. My google search history makes me look fat right now. I don't care how flattering you try to make an inherently unflattering style of pants- I'm still not ever going to wear them in public. And chances are, if I'm in sweatpants I'm also going to be under a blanket and therefore not worried about how my butt looks- I just want it to be warm! I just want plain grey or black pants that don't have any writing on them, don't cost an arm and a leg, have an elastic waist and banded legs, and keep me reasonably warm. I've resigned myself to the fact that they'll make me look like my grandmother. I'm okay with that.

I considered ordering a pair of Cabela's sweatpants. The logo is fairly non-annoying, the brand loyalty would appeal to the husband and at $30 they're comparitively a steal- but I really want some truly hideous old fashioned banded sweatpants. If I'm going to give up, I'm going to do it with flair! (More practically, I'm ruining the hems on all of my pants b/c they're too long- curse my shortness!)

And then it occurred to me that the problem was that I just hadn't sunk low enough to find the perfect pair of sweatpants. So I googled "Walmart" and there they are- exactly what I'm looking for. A 2 pack of boys XL Hanes Sweatpants for $9. I seriously think I'm going to have to make a trip out to South Portland to get them this weekend.

Do you like the fancy pants sweatpants, or are you, like myself, a sweatpants purist?

Check it Out

2011-08-26T06:58:00.001-05:00

Just dropping by to share a link- my new friend Meagan posted a review of a dinner we shared at The Green Elephant- an awesome vegetarian restaurant. Check it out!

Seriously?

2011-08-25T07:12:00.002-05:00

Hurricane Irene : 5 Day Forecast Map : Weather Underground

And yes, I know, I've been gone for a month. (And it was a fun, momentous, month- full of all sorts of bloggable things!) All I can say is that I'll try to catch up eventually. Sorry!

Because I Don't Have Enough Things to Feed

2011-07-26T12:31:00.006-05:00

I just made a sourdough starter. I'm using this technique with a few modifications- namely, I only used 1 cup of water and 1 cup of (whole wheat flour) due to the size of my jar, and I added a handful of blueberries for their yeast. I'd say they were Maine blueberries but I'd be lying- the box says they were grown in New Jersey. I did buy them in a grocery store in Maine at least!

Anyway, here's a lovely picture of my starter. I think I'm going to name her Maude.

In other news, my weekend of camping was absolutely perfect. It was much cooler in Acadia National Park (I'm sure being in a well ventilated tent in a shady campground had something to do with that as well) and we were very happy with the Seawall campsite in general. You hike in up to 300 ft. to get to your campsite- which is far enough in that you don't feel like you're sleeping in a parking lot. The sites are close together, but wooded enough that you feel like you have a little bit of privacy. The facilities are clean and although there aren't showers, there are plenty of bathrooms and plenty of running water.

We ate ridiculously well on this trip- we had steaks planned for dinner the first night and impulsively stopped at the Trenton Lobster Pound on the way in and picked up a lobster to have Surf and Turf for dinner. Dessert, of course, was s'mores. Breakfast the next morning was bacon, eggs, and leftover steak. Lunch and dinner on Saturday were pretty unremarkable camping fare, but for dessert I stuffed bananas with chocolate, peanut butter and marshmallows, wrapped them in tin-foil and set them in the coals for 5 minutes. The result was delicious, messy, and decadent!

We did a few short hikes that didn't make up for the delicious calories we consumed but did provide us with some amazing views. All and all it was great to spend some time relaxing and enjoying being outside! These pictures are of Dr. Hubby on the Wonderland Trail which takes you down to a granite rock lined shore, and of me on the Ocean Path which winds along seacliffs overlooking the ocean.

Seriously?

2011-07-22T08:05:00.003-05:00

Clearly someone up there is having a good chuckle at my expense.

I spent the week working in New Orleans where it was consistently cooler than Portland, Me. The weather was heinous- 100% humidity and flash floods (literally) but still. I also got to see my parents, my coworkers (who I really do miss) and my friend Steph. Meals included an awesome dinner made by my boss and his wife (goat cheese brie, pate, salad, shrimp and artichoke pasta, and berry cobbler), Squeal, Drago's, China Rose (ask for the chinese menu), Horinoya, and Rio Mar ( with Steph, where I found the best wine ever.)

While I was gone, my single glorious strawberry ripened and was devoured by Dr. Hubby who said it was "super yummy and sweet." Fortunately, I have 6 itsy bitsy strawberries growing to replace it. :)

This weekend we are going camping in Acadia National Park. It's a bit further north and should be slightly cooler at least.

Stocking Up

2011-07-15T08:39:00.002-05:00

Spending lots of time at home has afforded me the opportunity to tackled several multi-hour projects. The result is that my freezer is quickly filling up! So far I've made veggie broth, mushroom broth (just the water I was soaking some dried morels in, but it's very flavorful) and chicken stock. I have plans to make bone broth next since I don't go more than a couple weeks without roasting a chicken.
I've also realized that when you live in a place that doesn't have year round 100% humidity, bread dries up instead of getting moldy within a day or two. As a result, I know have at least a year's supply of bread crumbs as well.
Of course the catch is that I need to actually use all this stuff before I completely fill up my freezer!
Still, it feels good to be a little less wasteful.

Like Lambs to the Slaughter

2011-07-09T11:30:00.011-05:00

Against my better judgement, I decided to go ahead and get plants for all of the pots on my porch. I mean, they were just sitting there, full of dirt, judging me for wasting them. What else could I do?

I decided that I'd only grow things that I could attempt to eat or at least season food with (if they live long enough) so at first I tried to grow some basil from seeds I literally got off the back of a triscuits box. Of course that didn't work at all so today I went to the Farmer's Market and bought lavender, rosemary, and strawberries. I also um...foraged.... some mint that was growing beside my driveway. In all fairness I'm 90% sure it wasn't being intentionally cultivated at this point (I puled it up from a 3" edge of dirt between the driveway and the house next door so I think it had basically migrated there from their planter) and 100% sure that it will grow back 2-fold b/c I haven't met a mint plant that isn't hell bent on world domination. I can't even kill mint. (I say that now!)

This was a housewarming gift. The only reason it's still alive is I don't touch it. (Although I did move it outside so it could get some sun today- so it's days may be numbered!)

Rosemary. Most people grow so much rosemary that they can't use it all. In the past mine has lasted up to a week.

Lavender. You can't grow lavender in the south because it's too hot, so I'm really hoping that my lavender will actually grow because I love the stuff. Best smell on the planet!

The nice farmer at the Farmer's Market told me I can grow strawberries in a regular pot if I pinch off the creepers that grow. We'll see if it works!

Mint #1. He's way too big for this pot so we'll see what happens. He'll probably eat me a la Little Shop of Horrors in a couple of weeks.

Mint #2 is more pot plant sized- for now at least.

All together now. You can't see it but over by the rosemary in the far left of this picture there's a wooden rocking chair.

Vanity

2011-07-08T12:05:00.002-05:00

It just hit me that since I'm going to New York for my 30th birthday, I need to figure out what on earth I'm going to wear!
I always feel very intimidated when I pack for Europe because I don't want to look too much like a touristy American and I feel a similar sense of intimidation regarding NYC. I definitely don't want to look like a bumpkin!
We're going to be there for 2 nights/3 days in mid-August. What should I wear? I'm thinking casual-ish dresses with sandals would be comfortable during the day and not to hot and then maybe a couple of nicer dresses with heels for dinner...

Any advice?

Cordoba

2011-07-06T16:40:00.008-05:00

Welcome to the first in a series of posts about my honeymoon (that I should have gotten around to writing like 2 months ago- whoops!). We spent 2.5 weeks traveling around Spain via train and bus and visted Cordoba, Sevilla, Granada, Alicante, Valencia, Barcelona, and Madrid.

We landed in Madrid on the first day of our honeymoon and spent the first day traveling to Cordoba and exploring the city. Cordoba is known for its Mezquita (a mosque that was later turned into a Catholic Cathedral) and La Juderia (a historic Jewish neighborhood full of winding cobblestone streets). Unfortunately due to Semana Santa (Holy Week) festivities we were unable to go inside the Mezquita. Instead we wandered around the city taking pictures, watched part of the Semana Santa procession in the courtyard of the Mezquita, and ate a delicious huntsman's paella which featured, as I recall, what was probably lamb or goat, asparagus, and white beans in saffron flavored rice.

Staying up for dinner, which is famously late (like 10 or 11) in Spain was a battle against jet lag, and after dinner we opted not to partake of the famed Spanish night life. The next morning we woke up early and caught a bus to Sevilla where we would experience Semana Santa in all it's glory.

Cordoba is famed for it's patio gardens that are tucked away inside La Juderia

It also has some lovely plazas- this one would have been more lively had it not just stopped raining

The famed cobblestone streets of La Juderia

A bridge leading across the river to the other side of town, I love how old the supports look. (P.S. get used to this rain jacket- I'm wearing it in 90% of my pictures.)

Looking across the river, the skyline looks positively medieval...except for the crane on the far right, that is.

Outside the Mezquita- one of the wider streets. Cars also would barrel down paths I would generously describe as a "narrow sidewalk."

Enjoy the contrast between Arabian design and Christian Iconography

What I've been up to

2011-07-06T12:37:00.011-05:00

Oh my gosh, it's been nearly a month since I've written! I've been busy settling in and enjoying Portland, but of course that means I've been putting off blogging for far too long.

Our drive up to Portland was exhausting but went really well, in that everything made it up in 1 piece and we didn't have any significant Penske-truck-pulling-a-trailer mishaps, but Dr. Hubby swears that he will never drive a moving truck again!

Our apartment is wonderful and nearly done- once I hang up our pictures and figure out where to store the colony of computer related cords living in the corner of our front room I'll post a bunch of pictures. :) I love it because we actually managed to avoid cramming every inch of it with furniture. Having a bit of space makes it feel very peaceful. That being said, we still feel like we have too much stuff and took another car load of things to goodwill once we got here. I also love our location- Munjoy Hill feels a lot like the Marigny in New Orleans and we are close to the water, a gorgeous park, tons of restaurants, a coffee shop, and a gourmet/healthy food market.

Portland is amazing. Living here right now really does feel like being on vacation. My "office" is a sunroom that had a great view of Casco Bay and I walk my dogs in the Eastern Promenade (a big park leading down to the bay) every day. I've taken them down to the beach a few times but they are horrified by the fact that the water moves! They really love being in the park though and when it's not crowded we take them off their leashes and let them run back and forth between us. Bernie, lazy creature that he is, kind of gamely trots along until he gets too tired, but Hereaux SPRINTS with this big doggie grin on his face. He is in doggie heaven here!

Eastern Promenade after a rain

The happiest I've ever seen my dogs

I've found a lot of things I love about Portland already- The weather, of course, is perfect. I've also joined a yoga studio that I really love, I run a weekly 5K race (and have plans to run many more races), I've gone to to Farmer's Market and tried every strange veggie I found (fiddleheads! kohlrabi! salad greens with edible flowers! garlic scapes!), I've done a First Friday Art Walk, I watched the 4th of July Fireworks over the Prom from my porch, I've eaten at a lot of great restaurants, and I've cooked some pretty good meals here as well. And of course, the only pictures I've taken have been of dogs and food. :)

Fiddleheads! (and grilled chicken)

Periwinkles- aka snails! I basically pulled these out of a tide pool and boiled them- they were tasted like clams!

Speaking of clams- this guy was the size of my palm. Divine paired with fresh bread from the Standard Baking Co.

I also really like how environmentally friendly Portland is. Gone are the days of having to drive to find a place to recycle (and only being able to recycle newspapers). We have free curbside recycling and we definitely generate more recycling than actual trash because they take everything. It's awesome. Less awesome is having to pay $1 per special trash bag to get rid of our trash, but in all honesty, I appreciate the incentive to not just throw away stuff. Because we are total cheapos, we've also started a compost bin (despite the fact that I have a black thumb and kill every plant I try to grow) and I have been saving a bag of veggie scraps in the freezer for stock. I actually made my first veggie stock on Monday and plan to make chicken stock from the bones of last night's roast chicken tomorrow.

Working at home is going pretty well- I've been able to meet or exceed all of my deadlines so far and I really enjoy wearing yoga pants all the time, eating omelets whenever I want to, and painting my nails unprofessional colors. :) It can feel a little isolating but I'm making a point to actually leave the house every day (and walking the dogs doesn't count) which helps me feel more connected to the outside world.

In the next few weeks I'm looking forward to camping in Acadia National Park (Dr. Hubby talked me into getting us new tent and me a sleeping bag), running more races, going to the Farmer's Market more regularly (I've missed the past 2 weeks), doing a walking tour of the Hidden Gardens of Munjoy Hill, and taking a trip back to New Orleans for work (I need my boudin fix!). I'll also be going to D.C. soon to visit friends, and will be celebrating my 30th birthday in NYC with my inlaws since my brother-in-law is turning 3o three days after I do!

There are a lot of things I want to do but don't have concrete plans for too- trail running, getting out on the water (be it in a kayak, paddle board or real boat, I'm not picky!), skiing and snowshoeing this winter, and making friends and workout buddies.

Overall, I miss my family and friends but am incredibly thrilled to finally living in Portland. I still walk around and think to myself- I can't believe I actually live here. :) So far, the adventure is going well!

Bittersweet

2011-06-09T08:34:00.002-05:00

Packing and getting ready to move has been an absolutely crazy and time consuming process. Basically, for the past several weeks Dr. Hubby (who is home all day since he's in between med school and residency) has worked really hard during the day to get the house organized and sell off our unwanted furniture. I've typically worked a full day then spent my evenings organizing and packing. We've made a huge effort to get rid of unecessary furniture and extra *stuff* that we've accumulated over the 3 years we've been in our apartment. Hopefully this will pay off when we move in to our place in Portland- but right now I'm just overwhelmed with the amount of things we still have. I'm kind of disgusted with myself for having so many boxes of clothes. We did a great job of getting rid of our excess furniture, but I think when you're nearing the end of a move it's pretty normal to get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of random stuff that has to somehow get packed- it's neverending!
I think a lot of this angst is coming from the fact that we went out of town for a wedding this weekend and lost Monday because of flight delays- so we didn't end up having as much time as we hoped for. I'm also kind of bummed because I had to say goodbye to my dear friend Stephanie and my awesome running buddy Margee this week. This is tempered somewhat by the fact that I'm returning to Nola for a work trip in 2 weeks.
On the bright side, I'm looking forward to seeing my friend Meg and my brother-in-law Tyler and his girlfriend Kate on the way up to Maine. I'm also looking forward to cooler weather (it should be in the 60's when we get there on Sunday) and to finally seeing our awesome apartment! This move is a big adventure and I've always wanted to live somewhere other than the Deep South, so I'm definitely ready for this new and exciting period of my life to begin. I just wish I could fast forward through the physical move itself! It's going to be a loooong 3 days of driving!
And I haven't forgotten that I still need to write about Spain. I'll get to it, I promise!

What's the craziest thing you've ever done?

¡Hola!

2011-05-18T20:38:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone! I'm back! I've been back, in all honesty, for a couple of weeks- but, as usual, I have been swamped! Since I've been back I've spent the weekend at Jazzfest, watched Dr. Hubby graduate, entertained his parents during graduation weekend (entertaining his parents was awesome because they wanted to try all our favorite restaurants!), and thus far have worked 34.5 hours in the past 3 days. Oh and I have jury duty next week!
However, I promise I'll post several posts about my honeymoon in Spain because it was wonderful and I don't think that one post would do it justice. (Also, it would be book length.)
On top of all that, the move to Portland is rapidly approaching! Last week, Dr. Hubby flew up to Portland and found us the most amazing apartment! It's 2 blocks away from the Eastern Promenade (a big park) with a view of Casco Bay. The neighborhood is called Munjoy Hill and is full of coffee shops and good restaurants. Best of all, the apartment itself is beautiful! There is a built-in teak desk and a built-in leather couch in the living room, there are stainless steel appliances and granite counter tops in the kitchen, and a great sunroom that I am planning to turn into an office because, luckily for me, my company is going to let me work remotely! (Holy run-on sentence, Batman!) Our big move is scheduled for the second week in June!
So that's a very brief update on what's been going on with me these days! More to come, I promise!

Photos are up!

2011-04-17T21:01:00.002-05:00

Last post, I promise! I just want to link to Meg's blog post with my wedding photos because I am so thrilled with how gorgeous they are!
I think I've thanked Meg a dozen times by now but she keeps sending me things that are more and more beautiful and I feel like I just can't thank her enough. I'm completely blown away!
Enjoy!

The Honeymooners

2011-04-17T16:45:00.009-05:00

It's still a bit surreal to me that tomorrow I'm leaving for Spain! Although I've been to Switzerland a few times, that has always been with Dr. Hubby's family and we've basically stayed in one place. On this trip we'll be traveling around the country and it will be just the two of us- so I'm expecting (and looking forward to) a very different experience.
I just want to record a few loosely connected things so excuse me if this blog isn't entirely coherent.
This weekend has definitely felt like the start of our honeymoon, despite being fairly chore laden- mainly because Dr. Hubby has insisted on serving me coffee ice cream topped with pralines for breakfast.
Yesterday we picked up a bunch of used books to take on the honeymoon and leave when we finish them. I love that Dr. Hubby agrees with me that once needs at least 4 books for a 2.5 week vacation.
We decided at the last minute to go to Buffalo Exchange to get Dr. Hubby a new jacket today. He walked out with an navy Eli Tahari linen suit for $32. Some people have all the luck!
I think I've finally succeeded in packing light for a trip. Of course, the key is to plan to re-wear everything and to not travel in the winter. :) I also realized that if I ironed things like pajamas and underwear, they folded up much smaller than they otherwise would. I'm perhaps overly proud of this fact.
Overall I'm taking 2 pairs of jeans, 3 dresses, 1 skirt, and 9 shirts for 18 days. I also have a trench coat, a cardigan, a pair of leggings, 2 light scarves, a thin pullover sweater, a black tank top, 1 pair of PJ's, and a raincoat. My extravagance is that I'm taking 3 pairs of shoes- I'm bringing the Pumas and Birkenstocks I originally planned to bring, but wearing my Naturalizers on the plane. They're not very pretty shoes, but I think they'll come in handy, especially with the dresses when it's too cold for the Birkenstocks. (Temperatures range from a high of 80 in Andalusia to a low of 45 in Barcelona.) Dr. Hubby is bringing the suit, two pairs of pants, 2 pairs of shoes, a raincoat and 6 shirts. So once again, he's beating me in the packing light department. I still think i did pretty well this time, and my clothes fold up into smaller pieces than his do anyway. :) My color palette for the trip is mostly black and charcoal with accents of purple and green- so hopefully I'm successfully walking the line between completely drab and "look at the clownish American!" :)
I think we're just about ready to go- we still have to clean the house so we don't horrify our cat sitter with all of the post wedding clutter that is currently filling up every nook and cranny. (I'm procrastinating at the moment.) So I hope everyone has a lovely 2.5 weeks! I'm sure I'll have a ton to write about when I get back!

1 week a-versary!

2011-04-16T21:09:00.045-05:00

I can't believe it's been a week since I got married! Since we're leaving for our honeymoon in Spain on Monday I thought I should blog while I had a chance!
The short story is that despite having a somewhat non-traditional wedding with different events ALL throughout the day- everything was absolutely perfect and beautiful. The day exceeded my expectations in every way and I hope that everyone there had at least as good of a time as I did.
I want to blog about all the little details in part so I'll remember it and in part so that anyone looking for New Orleans wedding ideas can hopefully find this and get some inspiration. I think that many of my vendors aren't your standard wedding vendors- but they really should be because so many of them were so wonderful! (I seriously hugged all of my vendors.)
Events started on Saturday night with our rehearsal dinner at Calcasieu. I joke that my bridezilla moment was when I decided a week prior to the wedding that needed flowers for the rehearsal dinner because I was worried that it would be too "plain". I ended up adding flowers to my order with the florist at the last minute (more on that later) but I shouldn't have worried because the quality of the food overshadowed everything else about that evening.
I sat at the table with all of my very picky relatives from Mississippi and really enjoyed watching them be blown away by the food. We started with Chicken and Sausage Gumbo, then had Smothered Greens, Shrimp and Eggplant Dressing with Roast Pork with Onion Jus, and Andouille Sausage with Green Chiles and Creole Cream Cheese Grits as entrees, then finished with Brown Sugar Lemon Meringue Pie and Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie for dessert. My relatives all said that it was the best gumbo they'd ever had and the best meal they'd had in New Orleans- and I caught most of them going back for seconds. I think that most of them planned to go eat at Cochon again before leaving town. My biggest worry at that point was that the food at Calcasieu would outshine the rest of the weekend- it was unbelievably good!
Saturday morning, we woke up bright and early since the wedding itself was at 10:30. My photographer (and dear friend), the ridiculously talented Meghan Campbell, did double duty as my makeup artist. She arrived bright and early, along with Diem Lu from the Keith Noonan Salon- to help me get gorgeous! Again, I can only say wonderful things about both my makeup and hair- they lasted from 7:45 am to 12 am- amazing! If you live in New Orleans and need an updo- go see Diem! She's a miracle worker!

My flowers were also delivered Saturday morning. I used Harkins the Florist for the flowers for my rehearsal and wedding and my MIL used them for a family brunch she hosted the next day and we were both extremely pleased with how easy Harkins was to work with and how well our flowers turned out. I honestly couldn't stop looking at my bouquets because I was obsessed with how beautiful they were. I also have to point out that they were incredibly accommodating when I decided to expand my order a week prior to the wedding.

So pretty!

The wedding itself was just for immediate family (I wanted a small wedding, so we had a tiny ceremony followed by a big picnic and reception) and was in the Peristyle at City Park at 10:30 am. The Peristyle was gorgeous and my only complaint was that they decided to power wash the peristyle that morning so the bottom of my dress got a little wet during the ceremony. All things considered, it wasn't a big deal and if I'd had an evening wedding, it wouldn't have been an issue at all.
I really loved my wedding ceremony. We hired a violinist- Stephanie Screen, and I'm really glad that we did. Beautiful music added so much nuance to our ceremony.
Our ceremony was performed by Benjy's good friend who is a Methodist Preacher. I loved his sermon because he told a really funny story that involved him and Benjy trying to cook a live lobster and being terrified of it until his vegetarian girlfriend (now wife) showed them how ridiculous they were being by picking up the lobster! I loved that he had a personal story to tell!
I didn't anticipate being very emotional, but I found myself with tears streaming down my face during our wedding vows. This is just further proof that I'm a total sap. :) (And I have to say that despite my tears, my makeup didn't budge!)

This is me, makeup miraculously intact!

After the wedding, we all walked from City Park to Ralph's on the Park for brunch. We started with turtle soup, then had a choice of shrimp and grits or cochon du lait over poached eggs and biscuits. Dessert was chocolate and Kahlua mousse in pecan crisp cups. Everything was to die for, and Ralph's is just a beautiful restaurant.
After brunch, Benjy and I went with Meg and her husband Eric to take pictures in City Park. I really enjoyed having Meg take my pictures. It's always interesting to see how you are seen by your friends, and of course it helps to have friends who are *really* talented photographers. I really enjoyed watching Meg and Eric play with light and just enjoy the amazing backdrop that City Park provides- but I also really enjoyed watching them work as a team. Seeing another couple work so well together is a great way to start off one's marriage!

A great action shot of Meg and Eric

I've seen a few of the pictures they took so far and I am incredibly impressed- I'm so happy that they were there to capture my wedding day! If you live in Chattanooga you should really check out Soliphoto- they are outstanding!
After we took our wedding photos, we went back to the Peristyle to have a picnic with all of our guests. (I told you we held events ALL DAY!)
We had the Peristyle all day, and so we decided to have a picnic there between the wedding and the reception and invite everyone who would also be going to the reception. This was the biggest logistical difficulty but I was fairly shielded from that because Benjy did all the work for the picnic.
We chose to self-cater it because City Park charges you $3 per person if you bring in a non-city park caterer (for that and power washing related reasons, I'd give the Peristyle an A- overall), but cooking food yourself is free. We grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, and turkey burgers; and had baked beans and Zapp's chips as sides. I also made sure that the picnic fit into the theme of the rest of the day by making sure that there were pretty beverage dispensers with lemonade and tea; flowers (hydrangeas in mason jars) and white table clothes on the tables.

The Picnic!

Self catering was difficult because we had to figure out who would bring the food and beverages and cook the burgers. It worked out perfectly, but only because some good friend stepped in to start grilling when all of our groomsmen got stuck in traffic. I'm glad we had the picnic though because we've gotten some feedback from people saying that they were glad to have something to do during the day and prior to the reception so they didn't feel bored or lonely.
The final event of the night was our wedding reception. We held our reception at the Lemieux Art Gallery on Julia Street. Lemieux was such a cool place for our reception! We didn't have to do much in the way of decorating because there was lots of beautiful art- and the space itself is just really beautiful and unique. They were also really easy to work with.

Food at the reception was provided by Michael's catering, which is the catering branch of Matt and Naddie's. It was outstanding. Our good friend Jon chose to have his last meal in New Orleans before he moved to DC for his residency at Matt and Naddie's because the food at our reception was so wonderful. We also chose to have Haydels king cakes instead of a wedding cake, and I think that the king cakes were a big hit! I don't like "regular" cake, so this was an easy decision for me. :)

The cake topper was on my maternal grandparent's and my parent's wedding cakes too!

The other highlight of our reception was the music. Debauche: The Russian Mafia Band played and absolutely brought down the house. Benjy and I were both in favor of getting a band we love rather than a "wedding band" and it really ended up making the reception. They were so much fun! Our reception was pretty non-traditional- we didn't cut the cake or throw bouquets or garters but I think that the great music more than made up for that!

Other outstanding vendors- I used Pearl's Place for my wedding dress (which was actually a pretty inexpensive Bridesmaid's dress ordered in white), wedding bands were from Symmetry, and had my nails done at Rose's Nails on Carrollton and Oak (and I have to say that manicure lasted a full week without chipping- amazing!). I booked a block of rooms at the Embassy Suites on Julia. While the location was perfect, I have to say that I was a little disappointed with my dealings with them. They were supposed to expand the block after our initial 20 spots (10 on Friday and 10 on Sat.) filled up, but they were unable to because they were booked. I understand that, but I wish they had let us know. Finding that out when my mother in law was suddenly unable to get a room on our block was fairly unpleasant. Overall I'd give them a B compared to the giant A++ I'm giving almost everyone else.
I know this post is dragging on forever, but here is my little bit of wedding planning advice. First, choose a photographer whose work you love because your wedding memories are precious things that you want to preserve. After that, spend the majority of your money on food/beverages and music; and choose beautiful settings that don't need very much in the way of decoration so you can save money that way. Overall, try to focus on what makes you feel joyful about your wedding day. Even if things don't go exactly as planned- only you know that plan! So if you don't sweat the small stuff, your guests will never know there was anything to sweat about at all! That being said, the more you can do in advance, the better! Like I said, the only challenging part of the day was dealing with the picnic logistics because everything else had already been taken care of.

This gorgeous shot and the one at the top of the page are courtesy of my sneak peek from Soli Photo.

I'm currently wound up in packing for my honeymoon, but hopefully once I get back I'll remember to write a post all about what I packed and how well it did or didn't work out. (Hint: 18 days, 9 shirts- will I make it?)

My last bit of news is that it's time to retire Benjy's last nickname (my darling fiance). I'm thinking that since he's graduating from Med School the week after we get return from Spain, I'll go ahead and promote him to Dr. Hubby. :)

The Soon to be Formerly Decayed Gentlewoman

2011-04-06T18:14:00.002-05:00

I'm getting married in 3 days! I really happy to have a little time to blog since I've been BUSY this week, but I'm going to keep it short for obvious reasons.
Wedding preparations are going great and I am so grateful to my darling fiance because he he has been incredibly involved and helpful throughout this entire process, but especially this week- he's been working his butt off to get everything ready. A girl couldn't ask for a more responsible, considerate or hard working fiance! I appreciate him so much and I'm so happy and excited that we're getting married this weekend! I don't want to get too sappy, but I can honestly say that before I met my darling fiance I couldn't have imagined that someone so perfect for me even existed. It was more than I even thought to hope for. I thank my lucky stars that I was able to meet and fall in love with him. :)
When I'm not busy stressing myself out over a million little details (because let's face it, it's kind of inevitable the week before your wedding), I'm really aware of how lucky I am and I feel so happy. I'm overwhelmed by the love and help and support that we've received from our families and friends and I feel so lucky to have so many wonderful people in my life!
I'm also really thrilled that we have so many people who care enough about us to come in from out of town for our wedding. I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of people I haven't seen in quite some time (and some of my darling fiance's family I haven't gotten a chance to meet) and I'm so flattered that they've chosen to travel to share our day with us!
I can't wait for Saturday! I'm looking forward to seeing everyone, enjoying the celebration, and most of all, getting married!
I'll leave you with the music that will be played when I walk down the isle- Bach's Wachet Auf. Enjoy!

Thriftiness

2011-04-01T16:48:00.005-05:00

Inspired in part by Grace, I went by a used clothing store (Glue on Oak) in search of a steal or two. I think in general the stock is more 70's polyester/costumey- but I was pleased to find that everything in the store is currently 50% off.
My favorite thing to buy at thrift stores and used clothing stores is jeans. In general, I'm never completely happy with the jeans I own and am always on the lookout for the perfect pair. I've found that a good way to get designer jeans on the cheap is to look at used clothing stores. I think they have more name brand jeans than Salvation Army type stores do these days because people know they can sell them. The other benefit of shopping for second hand jeans is that they're perfectly worn in!
On this particular shopping trip, I found a pair of DKNY jeans for $16. Sweet! Less sweet was the logo in cursive on the back pocket, surrounded by tiny rhinestones. Personally, I don't like my jeans to scream "Hey! Look directly at my right butt cheek!"
Fortunately, I know from experience (I'm looking at you, Michael Kors. Put down the bedazzler and walk slowly away.) that it's not all that difficult to remove rhinestones and logos that aren't embroidered from your jeans. Rhinestones tend to pop right off if you use your fingernails and I had good luck shaving the logo off of these jeans with a knife blade. (Mine was pretty dull so I didn't have to worry about cutting myself- if you're going to try this at home, use a cutting board!) Sometimes when I do this, I can see a little bit of an indentation where the rhinestones and logo were, but a couple runs through the washer take care of it. Of course, I didn't think to take a picture of the jeans until I was done so you'll have to take my word for it. Sorry!
As I was scraping her name off the butt of my new jeans today, I wondered who would be more dismayed by my anti-brand attitude- Donna Karan or the 6th grade version of myself who would have killed for a pair of brand name jeans (specifically, Girbaud, since it was the early 90's)?

Do you buy used clothing? If so, what are your fix it up tricks?

Birthday Boy

2011-03-29T21:43:00.005-05:00

This weekend, I helped my darling fiance celebrate his last birthday as an unmarried man! On Friday night, we enjoyed happy hour drinks and $0.75 sliders at the American Sector, then hung out with our friends Steph and Brandon at our house.
On Saturday, we attended Hogs for a Cause and ate lots of Barbecue while helping to support pediatric brain cancer research. I had pulled pork macaroni, boudin balls, brisket sliders, and a salted fudge brownie. Stephanie and Brandon gave him a confederate flag belt buckle/beer opener for his birthday. I'm sure the people in Maine will love it. :P

What a beautiful day for a BBQ!

That night, we went to the LPO and saw Sir James Galway. Sir James Galway was awesome- incredibly talented, very Irish, and really quite adorable. I told my darling fiance that I want to take him home and keep him in a shoe box under my bed. (For the record, I also feel this way about Danny Devito.)

Wearing the Derby hat I gave him for Valentine's Day and sporting a seriously cute beard

Sunday was my darling fiance's 31st birthday. Of course, I chose to celebrate this momentous occasion with lots of food. In the morning, I made him eggs with black truffle butter, and for dinner I bought a pheasant from Rare Cuts for him to cook on the grill. The pheasant turned out really well- I butterflied it, rubbed it with honey and olive oil, and then he weighed it down on the grill with several cast iron skillets and cooked it for 30 minutes, turning it every 10 minutes (then every 5 minutes for the last 10, so it would be even). I served it with a side salad and mashed celery root with cranberry wensleydale cheese.
Dessert was a double peanut butter iced cake with chocolate ganache. It was a hit. :)
Hopefully, we'll have at least as much fun next year for my darling fiance's first birhtday as a married man! :)

Name Change

2011-03-22T21:37:00.006-05:00

One thing about getting married again that I'm still torn about is whether or not to change my name. I don't like to write about my divorce very much, but one issue that was particularly emotionally charged for me was how long it took for me to get my name changed back to my maiden name. For whatever reason, it was a huge ordeal and I still have that old name on my cell phone and cable accounts because they make name changes particularly difficult. I felt really strongly about getting my maiden name back and found the difficulties in changing it back to be really upsetting. I still feel disgusted when I see my ex's last name on my cable and phone bills.
I came to value my name as something that was mine because I worked so hard to get it back and I'm not really psyched about the idea of changing it again. I've used my name professionally for a number of years and it is also on both of my diplomas- I think it would be especially difficult to try to go by a new name when potentially applying for jobs because all of my references know me by my maiden name.
On the other hand, it kind of goes against my sense of fairness not to change my name this time. My darling fiance doesn't care one way or the other, as long as our children have his name rather than a hyphen (which is fine by me). So he, at least, isn't concerned with the fairness of the act. (He does joke that the people at our kids' school won't let me pick up the children without calling him-haha.)
I've been putting off making a decision because I can't change it until after the honeymoon anyway due to my passport being in my maiden name. I'm kind of leaning towards not legally changing my name and using it professionally but not minding if people address me socially with my darling fiance's last name. Hopefully this won't cause undue confusion.

What I really would like is advice from other women who haven't taken their husband's names. Did you have any complications dealing with things like signing loans together, getting on each other's insurance, etc....?

I almost forgot!!

2011-03-20T22:02:00.004-05:00

The most random thing about my bachelorette party is that when we picked our car up from the Ritz, I saw Shaquille O'Neal! So cool!
(Also, I'm wearing 2 inch heels in this picture.)

Love in a Cold Climate

2011-03-20T19:00:00.006-05:00

I meant to blog about Match Day prior to the actual day because I was really nervous and full of deep thoughts about what the future might hold. Of course, I suck at writing about anything remotely meaningful, so that post didn't happen.
What did happen, however, is that on Match Day, my darling fiance matched into his first choice for residency! We're moving to Portland, Maine!!!
Despite living exclusively in the deep South, I've always had an odd fascination with New England. I can't wait to live there and I'm tuning out all the mocking I've been getting that starts with "wait until your first winter...."
Planning for a big move adds all sorts of additional complications to the craziness that's been going on (even though it's not entirely unexpected since there was only one residency darling fiance could apply to in New Orleans and 13 spots on his rank list), but hopefully I'll be able to juggle it all. We have basically zero details worked out at this point, but I'm sure I'll be blogging more about the move as it gets closer.
Leaving New Orleans will be incredibly bittersweet because I have a great job and great friends here. I also truly love the city and enjoy being fairly close to my family. However, my life is only going to get less portable and I feel like I'm at a "now or never" point in terms of having a big adventure.
Other notable things that took place this week included getting our marriage license and my bachelorette party. My darling fiance and I had to go downtown to get our license, so afterward we took advantage of Happy Hour at Domenica and had some half off pizzas and cocktails. My pizza had garlic, oregano and clams, and his had roast pork shoulder, fennel, and apples. Both were outstanding!
My bachelorette party was on Saturday. First my friends took me to tea that Ritz. Then we got cocktails at the Hotel Monteleone's Carousel Bar, and then we went back to my friend Sarah's house for a lingerie shower! Finally, we went to dinner at Slice. It was a fun day that didn't end with me dancing on a table (my main request) so I'm calling it a win. :)
Today was a pretty slow catch up day. I did laundry, helped tidy the house, bought groceries, and roasted a chicken. As usual, I wish the weekend wasn't over so soon!

Of all the places you've lived, which one was/is your favorite?

Crazy

2011-03-09T21:39:00.002-06:00

Please excuse my even longer than usual absence from blogging. I've been unbelievably busy, both with wedding planning and with work. My company recently merged with another company and I've also taken on some new projects- and as a result I've been working at a frantic pace for weeks, with no end in sight.
Add to that the disruption of having my bathroom redone (it's done, thankfully) and dealing with a misbehaving cat (Pancake, obviously) and Mardi Gras festivities- and hopefully you'll understand why blogging has been at the bottom of my to do list. I think I'm managing pretty well, but when I'm this busy, my free moments are filled with a nagging anxiety that I'm forgetting something.
Of course, it hasn't all been bad- I had a good time during Mardi Gras, got fake eyelashes (so glam!) for the ball I attended this year (and as a trial for my wedding look), got a wonderful hot stone massage last Wednesday, and made some really awesome homemade granola tonight (seriously, go make this granola now- it's easy and so so good!).
I'm also doing pretty well in terms of not biting my nails. Getting a manicure every 3 weeks or so is really helping- as is wearing fun nail polish colors. My current favorite is OPI's Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous, a platinum grey with kind of a satiny finish. It's kind of bold for nails, but I really loved wearing it during Mardi Gras.
The biggest news of course is that I'm getting married in a month!! Of course, I'm really excited and I know that any wedding related stress will be so worth it in the end. :)

Are there Mardi Gras parades/celebrations where you live?

I survived!

2011-02-21T21:35:00.002-06:00

Camping was actually a lot of fun. Of course, we were car camping in a brand new state park with really clean bathrooms and a huge tent. We also had an awning that went over our picnic table, a camp stove, and lots of hammocks and chairs. Stephanie even brought an air mattress for me and her to share. So my first camping experience was pretty luxurious. Nonetheless I feel like I've overcome my fear of sleeping in a tent and would definitely go camping again.
The Bogue Chitto State Park itself was kind of boring- all of the camping sites had both tent pads and RV hookups and there were a LOT of RV's. Since it was so new, the foliage was pretty sparse as well. In a year or two, I think it will be a lot prettier once nature has a chance to kind of take back over (unless of course you enjoy seeing nothing but RV's and scraggly pine trees).
There is a 7 mile hiking trail that is really easy- most of it is gravel packed. I really wanted to run it, but I don't think that the other people hiking with me would have appreciated that! The portions of the trail near our campsite were really boring but once we hiked down near the Bogue Chitto River, it got much prettier. That area was called the bottom lands and the camp sites there were prettier as well. Of course, it was sold out when we called, which is why we stayed in the less picturesque lowlands.
So my review of my camping trip is that camping is fun and s'mores are awesome, but the state park we chose needs a few seasons to get back to nature, and the one trail is way too easy if you are looking for a good hike.

Happy Camper

2011-02-18T14:40:00.002-06:00

I'm going camping for the first time ever this weekend! (In fact, I'm blogging when I should be loading up the car.) I'm actually fairly terrified of sleeping with nothing between the great outdoors and myself but soft tent walls, but I guess there's no time like the present to conquer my fears. Also, I love hiking so I'm looking forward to doing some of that. The best part of going out into the wilderness this weekend is that the wilderness is going to be a lot cleaner than my apartment. The charm has struck again! My entire bathroom is being ripped out and replaced because the tub (and a concrete slab that was inexplicably poured below it to level out the floor) has apparently been sinking through the rotten wood below it. Our handyman has expressed wonder that I didn't fall through the ceiling and die. Awesome.
So anyway. Camping is probably less scary than bathing in my house.
Wish me luck!

26.2!!!

2011-02-13T21:00:00.004-06:00

I did it! I finished my first marathon in 4:53! The first 16 miles flew by like they were nothing. I had a bit of an upset stomach around mile 16 (I'm starting to think that caffeinated gels don't work well for me on long runs) but then miles 16 to 20 were good and strong. After mile 20, I was in unfamiliar territory and I definitely felt it. My feet started getting really sore and I slowed from a 10 minute to an 11 minute mile until around mile 23, when I started having a lot of trouble with my left hip. I'd never had an issue with that hip before, but it would get tighter and tighter until it burst into a sudden stabbing pain that would make me gasp, curse (I hope I didn't teach any young spectators any new words today!), and walk until it loosened back up. Around the 25th mile, we crossed a little bridge in the park that had enough of a hill for me to widen my stride and stretch my hip out, and after that I was able to run to the end and even sprint at the finish line. As I was sprinting towards the finish, I got really excited and a little choked up, which somehow translated into my airways closing up a bit and I when I finished I really needed some albuterol that I didn't have. I made myself stop and calm down and breath through my nose for a minute until my chest loosened back up, but in the future I will definitely run with my inhaler.
Looking back, I think there were a few things I could have done differently. I think if I were to do this again, I'd choose a training plan that included two 20 miles runs rather than just one, especially since my 20 miler didn't go very well. I'd also have either avoided running on the neutral ground or started running on it prior to my 15 mile long run because I think the switch from asphalt to dirt is why I injured my foot after my 20 mile run (the neutral ground isn't very level and I don't think my body was able to adjust to the instability when it was already getting used to running so far.) Finally, I'd have been better about getting in my short runs. I ended up doing a lot of cross training rather than running at night because I don't like running at night and because lifting weights helps insure that I'll look nice in my wedding dress.
Overall, I had an absolutely wonderful time. When I look back on this experience, my main feeling is one of gratitude. The volunteers supporting the marathon were top notch (and many were in costume!), there were a lot of great bands playing, and there were tons of spectators cheering us on! I really thrive on the energy of a race, and the energy of this race was amazing. I really want to volunteer at a water station in the future.
I'm also incredibly grateful for the support I got from my friends and my darling fiance. I had several people standing on the sidelines cheering me on, and even more friends who ran with me. One highlight was my friend Larissa who ran 20 miles with me in preparation for her marathon in 3 weeks and was a source of constant energy and optimism. Someone called us the happiest marathoners they'd ever seen. Another highlight was that my darling fiance ran the last 4 miles with me. Those were my hardest miles and having him there meant the world to me! It made such a difference because even though I was in a lot of pain, it really lifted my spirits and I spent most of the race looking forward to running with him.
And finally, I'm grateful for my running buddy Margee who's been working out with me for 2 years and inspiring me to push myself every step of the way. I'd never had run a half marathon, much less a whole marathon, if it weren't for her encouragement.
Overall, I'm happy, proud of myself, tired, and stiff- and I wouldn't trade this feeling for the world.

I hope everyone else had a wonderful weekend!

Fast!!!

2011-02-11T12:50:00.004-06:00

I can't decide if the guy in this Zappos video really loves or really hates his job....

My big news is that my marathon weekend is finally here. I've been preparing all week by going to bed early, eating lots of pasta, and drinking tons of water! Wish me luck- hopefully I'll go fast. :)

Peril

2011-02-04T09:04:00.004-06:00

I am a nail biter. I don't bite my nails every day (more like once a month), but my habit is still pretty awful. In my case, I am fully capable of growing my nails out, but once they are long and pretty- they are in imminent peril. Sometimes I bite them out of boredom or nervousness, but what usually happens is that one nail will inevitably break. Of course, it will break when I have no access to a nail file or clippers, and I'll bite it to make it as smooth as I can for the time being. But once I bite that nail, I want to bite all of my other nails too so that they'll be "even." This of course leads to a downward spiral ending with me having gross nubs for fingernails.
Right now, my nails are nice and long and I'd really like to break the cycle. I think I might try to get a manicure today if I have time.
I'm kind of busy today because I'm getting a "trial" wedding updo after work. Today's gross weather is horrendous for hair- cold, rainy, and windy, which is perfect because if my updo can withstand this weather, it can withstand anything! I am also attending Tulane's Med Prom, so my hair and I will be out and about. Other plans this weekend are to run a few miles (I'm tapering since my marathon is in 9 days! Eek!), go to the Vietnamese New Year's Celebration in New Orleans East, and get croissants with Steph and Sarah on Sunday. Should be fun!

Does anyone have any good tips on how I can stop biting my nails?

Things I'd like to have for my Honeymoon

2011-02-01T12:55:00.006-06:00

Now that I've finally gotten a good bit of the planning done (I've only got one hotel left to book, but I still have to do bus/train/museum tickets), I'm starting to think *even* more about things I think I need for my honeymoon.
1) A backpack- I'm thinking that this will be more convenient than my giant wheeled suitcase.
2) Shoes- (I'm sure y'all saw this one coming.) I think that along with my naturalizer flats, I'd like a fashionable-ish dark colored sneaker like a puma or maybe a pair of Adidas. I need to replace my beat up pair of black Saucony Jazz's anyway- so this could ultimately double as a casual Friday shoe.
I'd also like a pair of sandals that are actually comfortable to walk in. I'm awfully partial to the Birkenstock Gizehs.
3) I'd also like a fairly secure bag that I can either wear cross body or just under my shoulder. I really think that Lesportsacs are adorable, but I'm also sort of looking at the Baggellini bags (I think I saw some of these the last time I went to TJ Maxx so I'll have to check them out the next time I go there). I've heard that map-case type bags are good, and I also like the Kavu Kicker Bag.

Of course, these are all the type of things that it's better to look for in person, so this online browsing is completely in vain. It's a nice way to get my thoughts in order at least.

What are your travel necessities?

Things are Looking Up

2011-01-31T21:26:00.002-06:00

This evening when I was about to walk my dogs, I found the sapphire pendant from the necklace I lost! It was in my stairwell but there was no sign of the chain, oddly enough.
I'm taking this to be a good sign!

The Longest Week Ever

2011-01-31T11:22:00.004-06:00

Last week felt longer than the entire month of January for me. So while I'm absolutely shocked that February starts tomorrow, I'm looking back on things that happened last weekend and genuinely feeling like they were 3 or 4 weeks ago. Does anyone else ever feel like that?
Last weekend was actually fairly lousy. I ran 20 miles last Saturday (the longest run in my marathon training plan) but hurt my foot in the process. That Sunday, I somehow lost the sapphire necklace that my darling fiance gave me for our anniversary this year. At the beginning of the week, I found out about a bunch of significant changes that are taking place at my work as well. Without getting into a ton of detail- these changes are likely good ones, but it's going to be an adjustment. (And we all know how I feel about change in general! It keeps me up at night, to say the least.) The rest of the week was better, but I had to fly to Houston for work, which is always pretty tiring, and I spent the week feeling really frustrated by my foot, which definitely didn't love all the walking through airports I did!
I thought that the foot situation was looking up and I ran 9 miles yesterday without too much pain and I felt pretty positive that I'll be able to do 26 miles by Feb. 13. Then, of course, my house attacked me. Somehow in the process of me closing the door to my porch, the big glass doorknob fell off the door and landed right on the joint of my big toe. I've got a lovely bruise and my foot hurts quite a bit when I walk on it too much (3 cheers for my desk job!)- I'm guessing the run and the doorknob are equal partners in that pain. I'm curious to see how painful it will be tomorrow.
For the record, I still think that I'll be able to run the marathon, but I'm also thinking that my foot isn't going to feel very good afterward.
Of course, there's been plenty of things to enjoy about the past week or so as well. I've had a lot of fun with my friends, my darling fiance is finally done traveling for med school, and we've gotten a ton of work done on the honeymoon planning front. I only have 2 hotels left to book! (I still have to figure out bus tickets and decide about things to see and places to eat, but I feel better having an itinerary and places to stay lined up!) We're also close to finalizing our wedding food, and have selected the attire for the groomsmen and our wedding rings!
I've also started brushing up on my Spanish using the Rosetta Stone. I did the first lesson of level 1 last night and while it's a little easy for me, I think it's a good idea to start from the beginning. I'll try to do a review of the program after I've worked my way through it. My thoughts for now are that it's pretty engaging and very visual (I matched individual words and phrases that were printed on the screen and read aloud to pictures), but I'm confused about why the Rosetta Stone thinks that I need to learn the work for "elephant." (It's elefante.)

How was your weekend?

Flight Safety

2011-01-27T19:58:00.002-06:00

Is it just me, or is this Delta Flight Safety Video oddly dystopian?

It just seems like she moonlights as a lottery announcer on The Island or something....

Veggies are beautiful

2011-01-19T21:18:00.004-06:00

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I was able to go to the Farmer's Market again on Saturday! I think that the fresh vegetables there are always so beautiful and appetizing! I bought more than I really needed because everything looked so delicious.

Delicious Carrots

I forgot to take a picture of my green onions until after I chopped them up

Beautiful Kale- my favorite!

Red Potatoes

This Cabbage is about twice the size of my head- and it was only $1.50!!I've managed to work my way through two of these big tupperwares full of cabbage so far this week

I've also been snacking on Satsumas

Is there a Farmer's Market where you live?

Looking Forward

2011-01-14T10:05:00.004-06:00

I've found that obsessing over what I'm going to pack for my honeymoon is way more fun than actually planning my honeymoon. Unsurprisingly, my obsession is mainly about what shoes I'll bring. Obviously my comfortable Naturalizers will be coming with me, but I also want a pair of sandals that are magically cute, dressy, and comfortable when walking long distances (oh and cheap too). I'm also harboring a mild longing for a pair of Sanuk's but I think they would look too sloppy and "American" to take to Europe.
I think my darling fiance is doing something similar. Despite not knowing where we'll be living next year, he's sending me links to apartments in a couple of our favorite cities. Fantasy apartment shopping is way more fun than residency interviews!
I wanted to blog about this because I felt weird having three posts in a row about king cake. Of course, I promptly realized that I blogged about my Naturalizers last week. I may have to change the name of my blog to Sugar and Shoes.
As far as other stuff that's going on- I still need to enter the race, but I'm pretty much officially running the Mardi Gras Marathon in February, I finally chose my hairpiece for my wedding (a bejeweled ribbon headband thingy), and I'm supposed to be trying Ethiopian food tonight.

How do you procrastinate?

Dispatches from Candyland

2011-01-13T08:52:00.004-06:00

Today's King Cake was cream cheese (and ridiculously moist and delicious). It was sitting on the table in the breakroom alongside some blessedly small and thin cocoa cookies (which I also tried), several Ferrero Rocher truffles (which I ignored, though I love them), a couple of cookies bars (cranberry chocolate chip, I'm guessing, since I left them alone too), and a fruitcake (no thanks).

I think they're on to me....

King Cake Update

2011-01-12T22:32:00.004-06:00

Today's King Cake was a donut king cake from a donut shop in Laplace (I think). It didn't taste like a King Cake so much as a giant cake donut topped with a delicious fluffy white icing and green, yellow, and purple sprinkles. Since it was a "weird cake" I tried it. I especially loved the icing which is saying a lot for me because I often dislike cake icing (yes, I'm weird). Of course, I spent the rest of the day craving sugar. It's so addictive!

Tis the Season

2011-01-11T09:53:00.004-06:00

It is officially King Cake season in New Orleans! I make no secret of the fact that I LOVE King Cake. I love it so much I'm having King Cake instead of Wedding Cake at my wedding. However, my office tends to have 3-5 King Cakes a week in the breakroom and I really don't need to eat a slice of cake every day from now until Mardi Gras (March 8, this year).
Over the years, I've learned that the best way to curb my King Cake consumption without feeling deprived is to make a few rules for myself.

1. I can have a slice of the first King Cake of the season if I want to, regardless of what flavor it is. (If the first king cake that comes into my office is from some place like Winn Dixie, I tend to pass and hold out for a nicer first taste).
2. After my first slice of King Cake, I will only eat filled cakes in flavors that I really like- apple, praline, and cream cheese. Since the filled cakes are more expensive, people usually buy plain, which means I'm eating cake maybe once a week or once every other week by instituting this rule.
3. I'll also try specialty cakes (goat cheese and apple my friend Sarah got at Cake Cafe was the highlight of last year's cake season for me) and plain cakes from the really good bakeries (Haydel's, Randazzo's, and Gambino's) the first time they show up at the office.

It's much easier to pass up a mediocre slice of cake when I know I'm holding out for the good stuff. I will add that I'm still debating whether or not I want to try a Hubig's Pies King Cake...

Who makes your favorite King Cake?

A bit of a rant

2011-01-07T12:22:00.003-06:00

I watched this video on the Today Show website this morning. I clicked on the article (entitles "Is it your clothes that are making you look fat?") because I do sometimes feel like the cut of my clothes aren't the most flattering (not "fattening" necessarily, but just unflattering, if that makes sense.) I thought "Hey, maybe I'll pick up some tips for a more flattering silhouette."
No such luck.
I'll save you the time of watching the video (although I'll admit that watching Hoda and Kathy Lee huffing away on a treadmill during the segment was kind of amusing) and say that all they did was tell you to wear a good bra, spanx, tights, and a jersey dress that cinches in at the rib cage.
Rocket science? No.
Something I've never heard of before? Also No.
Comfortable? Heck No.
Worth taking time to write a whole damn book on the wearing of layers and layers of spandex under ones clothes? NO.

(They also dressed a lady in a leaopard print dress and a gold chain necklace and called it "work appropriate" which I find a little baffling.)

Does anyone else hate fashion advice that basically boils down to "Suffer or you're not doing it right?"

Old Lady Shoes

2011-01-03T09:04:00.003-06:00

I ran 16 miles yesterday! It was actually a pretty painful run because my right hip and knee were really hurting during the run for some reason, but after the run and today, I'm just having some run of the mill soreness. I'm crossing my fingers that I'm not injured (I don't think that I am) and in the meantime, wearing a pair of Naturalizers that my mom gave me because they didn't fit her. It's seriously like walking on air! Three cheers for old lady shoes! (Not that my mom is an old lady- I'm just saying Naturalizers seem to have a certain cachet among those who are pushing 70. Mom has resorted to such shoes because she has arthritis in her feet.)
In other news, I am cooking a ton of Mark Bittman recipes lately. Partly because I got the Food Matters Cookbook for Christmas (Thanks, Tyler!) and partly because he's been putting some really good recipes online lately. Last night I made a version of the chicken, broccoli, and mushroom stir fry in the article I just linked. I used carrots instead of mushrooms (darling fiance does not share my passionate love of mushrooms), added some shredded cabbage when everything else was almost done cooking, and used some sesame oil to finish the dish. I was really glad I added carrots to the stir fry because they were perfect with the ginger and garlic that the recipe calls for. I'm also pretty thrilled to get back on the veggie band wagon.
As for the cookbook, I can't say enough good things about it. I've poured through the book and dog eared the pages for a TON of recipes I want to try. I really like the approach of using meat as a seasoning rather than the focus of a dish, and I think he's done a good job of making sure that his recipes, despite being low-meat are veggie focused rather than just giant servings of carbs (and the carbs in the recipes are also exclusively whole grain). I think that his recipes are very straightforward and there is a nice balance of ingredients that appeal to me and flavor combinations that I wouldn't have thought of on my own but am excited to try (like navy beans and butternut squash). I also love that he provides tons of recipes for beans!
As for the recipes I've tried out- I made Jook (asian rice porridge, basically- it's creamy, comforting, and full of veggies), red bean and collard green soup (southern, yet healthy!), and pasta with tuna, capers, and tomato sauce (I was surprised by how much I liked this one. Tuna in olive oil is amazing.)

What's your favorite cookbook?

Bye Bye 2010!

2010-12-30T10:09:00.004-06:00

I don't know how people manage to blog regularly over the holidays! The theme of the holiday for me has been "Shelly is tired." I'm definitely looking forward to the new year, if only because it will give me a chance to go to bed early and eat lots of vegetables!
Things to talk about since I last blogged: Dinner at Upperline was delicious and it was great to see Bonnie and Gabe again. I spent Christmas with my parents, saw the Pinta and the Nina (excuse the lack of a tilde) which were docked in Biloxi, and recieved an awesome quilt made from all my old Sorority T-shirts from my Mom. I met up with Kristi and Colin in Hattiesburg and walked 6 miles on the Longleaf Trace while chatting and catching up with them. (I'd have preferred an actual trail to hike, but I think that walking and talking definitely beats sitting in a coffee shop or a restaurant all day!)
I get to see two more friends soon. My friend Daniel (and his friend Shauyi) are staying with me over the weekend for NYE, and I get to see my friend Ginny in Baton Rouge for brunch in a couple of weeks. It's definitely been a holiday for catching up with people I haven't seen in a while!
As for resolutions, I'm not sure I have any formal ones. I didn't do very well on my resolutions last year (I think I resolved to go to the eye doctor, the dentist, and to stay in shape and only succeeded on the last resolution- I'm gross, I know...but at least I floss all the time!)
There are a few things I'd like to do in 2011, of course. Get hitched and go to Spain are obviously on the top of my list, but I'm also thinking about running a Marathon in Feb., and in light of all of the life changes that may or may not be happening this year (getting married, and, depending on where my darling fiance ends up doing his residency, moving and finding a new job) I'd just like to handle anything that comes my way with grace. (Which obviously won't happen because I am, as ever, a stress ball.) I'd also like to keep up my good eating and fitness habits, and not get too behind on wedding planning.

What are you looking forward to in 2011?

Mississippi Blasphemies

2010-12-23T15:42:00.004-06:00

I don't keep the fact that I am a terrible Southerner a secret. Here are some of the the blasphemous thoughts that have crossed my mind this week.

Why do I need 3 deviled egg trays when I have never actually made deviled eggs?

I don't need to put on makeup just to run to the grocery store, do I?

Am I the only one who realizes that Faith Hill's Mississippi Girl is just a countrified rip off of Jenny from the Block?

And somewhere, my mother is hanging her head in shame.....

Feel free to add to my list of Southern Blasphemies!

Christmas Spirits

2010-12-22T09:45:00.011-06:00

This weekend was SO busy! After the Christmas party on Friday (which went swimmingly), I attended an afternoon wedding on Saturday, the first of two family Christmases on Sunday (which involved a 3.5 hour drive each way), and a latkes party at Sarah and Jon's house on Mon. The holiday season is clearly in full swing! As for the rest of the season, I'll be seeing my friends Bonnie and Gabe (who now live in Sacramento) on Thurs. (and having a Reveillon dinner at Upperline- Yum!), spending time with my family (and eating Christmas dinner #2!) over the actual holiday, and seeing my friend Kristi (now living in San Francisco) the Monday after Christmas!
I promise I'll put up a few pictures from my Christmas party soon (my Mom sent me a fabulous homemade ugly Christmas sweater!) but to tide you over, I thought I'd post the drink recipes from our party.
The first year we threw a Christmas party, I made a list of the alcohol and mixers I thought we should buy for the party- basic stuff like wine, beer, rum, vodka, orange juice, and Coke. My darling fiance read my list, declared that screw drivers and rum and cokes were off the list due to this being a "Christmas party rather than a frat party" and sat down and came up with a list of fun holiday cocktails to make during the party. He even printed up a drink menu for our guests!
Since then, fancy drinks and a printed drink menu have been a big part of our Christmas party. Much like my food menu, the drink menu has evolved over the years- we keep the things that everyone loves and rotate out the drinks that didn't go over very well (this painful candy cane martini from our first party springs to mind- it went the way of the gougeres I made that everyone mistook for biscuits). Regardless of the drinks we decide to make, I think my darling fiance does a great job as a bartender every year, and I think that this year all the drinks were very good.
The classics that we've kept year after year are the Poinsettia Cocktails (my absolute favorite), Peppermint Patty shots (tasty and not overly alcoholic), Brandied Port (the gentlemen always love this one), and Brandy Milk Punch (a New Orleans classic).

Poinsettia

3 ounces cranberry juice, chilled
3 ounces champagne, chilled
1 ounce triple sec

Pour into a fluted champagne glass, stir, and serve.

Peppermint Patty

1/2 oz. crème de cacao
1/2 oz. peppermint schnapps
1 oz. cream

Stir with ice , strain into shot glass

Brandied Port

2 ounces ruby port
1 ounce brandy
Dash fresh-squeezed lemon juice (optional)

Shake well with ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass; garnish with twist of lemon or orange peel.

Brandy Milk Punch

1 ½ ounces brandy
1 ounce simple syrup
½ bar spoon high quality vanilla extract
A couple ounces of Half-and-half
Cubed ice
Grated nutmeg

Pour brandy, simple syrup, vanilla extract and half-and-half into a pint glass. Add ice to a shaker and shake the concoction until well mixed and frothy. Add cubed ice to a rocks glass and, using astrainer, pour the mixture into it. Top with a bit of grated nutmeg.

The new drinks we tried this year were the Cherry Gin Sling (this one seemed to be the least popular, but I enjoyed it), the Rosemary Salty Dog (the Rosemary provided a delicious aroma and made this drink very Christmas-y), and the Elf in a Blender (which tasted like a really delicious strawberry daiquiri).

Cherry Gin Sling

2 ounces gin
1 ounce cherry brandy
4 ounces club soda
grenadine or Pom Cherry Pomegranate juice (optional)

Pour gin and brandy in serving glass over crushed ice. Top up with club soda and garnish with
maraschino cherries. You can also add a splash of grenadine or juice for a little added sweetness and color.

Rosemary Salty Dog

1 grapefruit wedge
Kosher salt
One 1-inch piece of rosemary sprig, plus 1 sprig for garnish
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 ounces fresh red grapefruit juice
1 1/2 ounces gin
Ice

Moisten the outer rim of a martini glass with the grapefruit wedge and coat lightly
with salt. In a cocktail shaker, muddle the 1-inch rosemary sprig with the sugar. Add
the grapefruit juice, gin and ice and shake vigorously. Strain into the martini glass and
garnish with the rosemary sprig.

Elf in a Blender

3 pounds strawberries, hulled and coarsely chopped
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons citrus vodka
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
Ice
1/3 cup chilled Riesling

In a bowl, toss the strawberries with the sugar and let stand, stirring occasionally, until
the strawberries release their juices, about 10 minutes.
In a blender, combine half each of the strawberries and their juices, the vodka, wine, and
lime juice with 1 cup of ice and puree. Pour into a pitcher. Repeat with the remaining
strawberries and juices, vodka and lime juice and 1 more cup of ice. Fill 10 tall
glasses halfway with ice. Pour the cocktail into the glasses, top each with about 1/2
tablespoon of Riesling and serve.

What's your favorite holiday libation?

You might be a foodie...

2010-12-15T09:47:00.003-06:00

If you've ever been late to work b/c you were opening a pomegranate when you should have been drying your hair....
If your cat is addicted to Greek yogurt.... (it's like having a small, sharp toothed food critic yowling at your feet whenever you go near the fridge)
If the thing holding you back from vegetarianism is your love of pâté.... (and if you google pâté so you can copy and paste it to get the proper accents on the word)
If you've ever made a vegetable dish for your non-veggie loving family and found out that they planted that very vegetable in their garden the next week....(I guess they liked my chard!)
If that same family still complains about the time you made them eat "paper" and "foot cheese".... (the paper in question was rice paper wrapped around pork and shrimp spring rolls, and as for the cheese- they were on the Atkin's diet so I took them out for Charcuterie plates!)
If everyone you know asks for recommendations about where to go for dinner....
If you come up with an awesome recipe to blog about then realize that you're going to have to make it all over again so you can actually figure out what quantities of ingredients you used... (I'm officially promising you a healthy shrimp and grits recipe of my own devising- I made it last night and it was awesome- but I'll probably have to put off my re-do until after the holidays)

Do you have any weird quirks related to your hobbies?

Tis the Season

2010-12-10T10:55:00.002-06:00

Today is my office's Christmas party. We're having a fancy 4 course luncheon at a nice restaurant. Of course, I decided to wear something festive! This is a ruffly red plaid button down paired with a pencil skirt, heels, and a skinny black belt. It looked better tucked in with a wide black belt around the waist but there is no way I'm tucking my shirt in on a day I'm going to be eating a big meal! Excuse the low quality bathroom cell phone shot, but hopefully it captures the Christmas-y nature of my outfit!

Christmas Party Planning

2010-12-02T09:51:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I mailed out the invitations to my yearly Christmas party which means it's time to start thinking about what I'm going to make this year!
Food I'm going to carry over from last year includes Baked Brie, Cranberry and Blue Cheese stuffed Endive, Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts (always a hit), and Rotel Dip (everyone LOVED this last year).
Additionally, I want to make meringues and either rosemary chocolate chip shortbread or Scottish shortbread for my sweets because they are all easy and can be made a couple days in advance. I also want to get a veggie tray. I enjoyed having pickled veggies last year, but I enjoyed a veggie tray at a Mardi Gras ball even more- so I think that's what I'll get this year. I'd also like to do some sort of bruschetta but I haven't decided what kind yet. Maybe fig and caramelized onion? I also think that this Beluga Lentil Crostini looks amazing but am not sure it would be a crowd pleaser... Cheese twists might be a fun way to use up the rest of my puff pastry left over from the Brie...

As usual, my darling fiance will be in charge of the drinks. I've had one request for Brandy Milk Punch already, and I don't think it's a Christmas party without a Poinsettia Cocktail- but the rest is up to him!

Do you like to host parties? I love to cook for a party, but I get stressed out by all the cleaning and preparations before hand- so one big party a year is perfect for me!

Getting Medieval

2010-11-30T21:29:00.006-06:00

The Louisiana Renaissance Festival on Sunday was a lot of fun! We at roasted turkey legs, scotch eggs, and Shepard's pie. We saw a skeleton puppet named Ded Bob do stand up, a wench show, a falconry show, a joust (which seemed to have taken a great deal of it's inspiration from WWE, and a juggling duel that involved the losing juggler rolling across a stage covered in mouse traps. The funniest thing about the festival was that there are apparently people (who own VERY elaborate costumes) who go to fair after fair, year after year. We definitely heard how Ded Bob was better when he was a strolling attraction who started out at the Texas Ren Fest, and met a guy who had seen the wench show "hundreds of times." I didn't wear a costume (just my sweet new old man hat), but my darling fiance wore a kilt, and my friends Sarah and Jon dressed up like a king and queen. I took lots of pictures, of course. Here are a few of my favorites.

Everyone watching the falconry show

Queen Sarah speaks softly but carries a big...hammer

King Jon would like to Axe you a question. :P

Scotland Forever!

My darling fiance's costume earned him lots of compliments!

Newsies, Merlin, and Braveheart?

Braveheart with Queen Sarah and King Jon (and Merlin)

Jousting!

Mississippi Gulf Coast Half Marathon 2: Electric Boogaloo

2010-11-27T18:56:00.003-06:00

Last year, the 1/2 Marathon was my first ever. This year it was my third. I'm proud to say that today I set a new personal record, beating last year's time by 2 minutes (and last month's time by 10!), running 13.1 miles in 1:56:57.
Much like last year- it was SO COLD this morning. Driving over, my car thermometer said it was 38 degrees! Fortunately, it was pretty sunny and by the end of the race it was in the mid-50's. Overall, it was a gorgeous day for a run and the time really flew by for me for the most part. Around 10.5 miles, I started really flagging and my running buddy Margee had to remind me to eat the Gu chomps I had in my belt, and the last 3 miles were pretty tough. Fortunately, I knew that I had a good shot at a new PR which kept me motivated!

Pros of this race:
The T-shirt is long sleeved and the design always makes me smile. What's better than a long sleeved race t-shirt? A long sleeved race t-shirt with a rocket on it!
Whatever energy drink they provided tasted really good. It wasn't too sweet at all.
After the race, there were Nilla Wafers and cups of hot chicken soup. Bliss!!
It's a fast run- flat and uncrowded.
It's cheap- it was $25 prior to Nov. 22 and $30 on race day.

Cons:
If you run this race alone, you will be bored. It's a small race and there are long stretches where there aren't that many people. It's also not all that scenic- you're running down a road with woods and nondescript buildings along side it for the most part. There are a couple airplanes and booster tanks at one point, but that's about it.

Overall- I like to run this race because I'm on the coast anyway for Thanksgiving and it's a great excuse to eat all the stuffing I can fit in my face. :) Also, I've gotten times I'm proud of both years I've run it. If the opportunity arises, I'd definitely run it again!

As for recovery, I'm doing basically the same thing I did after the Jazz Half Marathon- today I got home, napped, did runner's yoga, then took an Epsom salt bath. Tomorrow, I'll be doing a lot of walking b/c I'm going to the Louisiana Renaissance Festival with a bunch of my friends. So far I'm in more pain than I was last time, but I think that's b/c I had to drive half an hour back to my parents' house after the race and then an hour and a half back to New Orleans this evening, so my legs are kind of stiff. They're not too bad though!

How did you spend your long weekend?

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

2010-11-26T13:10:00.006-06:00

I'm in Gulfport right now, and I was way too busy stuffing my face to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving yesterday. :) After lunch yesterday, all the guys (my darling fiance, dad, brother and brother's friend Heath) went to Natchez to go hunting, and my mom and I had a girl's night with my brother's girlfriend Stacy and Heath's wife Ashley (and their sweet baby, Zaiden). We watched Mamma Mia and ate candy and popcorn. Yum!

Today, Mom and I woke up at a reasonable time (8am) and went to the local outlet mall to check out the Black Friday deals. We wandered around for a couple hours and I got some nice stuff. The best things I got were 3 pairs of work pants (buy 1 get 2 free at Bass!), a really warm wind and waterproof jacket with a soft fuzzy lining (also from Bass), and a really awesome old man hat from the Gap. I'm obsessed with it. :)

Tomorrow morning I'm running in the Stennis Space Center Half Marathon. I'm really excited b/c last year's was my first ever half marathon. This will be my third. It's supposed to be really cold, which makes for two things: an uncomfortable wait at the start line, and a good, fast race! I'm looking forward to it. Plans for the rest of the day include taking mom to TJ Maxx to look for sheets, picking up my race registration, and meeting Grace for pasta at Salute.

Honeymoon

2010-11-24T14:59:00.003-06:00

New plan! Instead of going to Portugal for our honeymoon, we are now going to Spain!
To make a long story short, I won 2 free tickets to Europe at a conference last year and we couldn't use them to go to Portugal in April (due to the Spring being a popular travel time and there not being many flights to Lisbon) so after spending a LOT of time with customer service, we managed to make a trip to Spain work out!
Not that I'm complaining because a free trip is a free trip, and I think that Spain is going to be awesome! So it's time to brush up on my Spanish! Anyone have a Rosetta Stone they want to lend me? :)

Has anyone ever been to Spain? Where should I go? What should I see?

Comets

2010-11-19T12:22:00.006-06:00

It's kind of funny how many comet names would make trendy childrens' names.
I particularly think that "Arend, Biela, Brooks, Clark, Daniel, Faye, Finlay, Gale, Gunn, Halley, Hartley, Helin, Hill (I went to high school with a Hill), Howell, Levy, Lovas, Maury, Ory, Russel, Swift, Swan, Taylor, Tempel, and Wolf" sounds like more like a Kindergarten class roll than a selection of comets.

DO you like trendy names or do you prefer traditional ones?

Shelly's Christmas Gift Guide (Part 2)

2010-11-18T14:29:00.009-06:00

I'm sure you all were waiting with baited breath for my gift suggestions for the gentleman in your life. (And if not, just leave me and my delusions of grandeur in peace.)

I really love shopping for guys. I think menswear is classic and appealing and timeless in a way that women's clothing is not (as an aside, I probably can't pull off these lady's wingtips, can I?) and there are so many neat gadgets marketed towards men! (On a related note, I gave up playing with girls toys when I was a little kid b/c my brother's toys were way more fun.) So overall, coming up with this half of my gift guide has been a lot of fun! (And right after I typed this paragraph, my friend Bonnie, who is apparently a mind reader, sent me a link to a great blog- Tomboy Style. Now I seriously want the wingtips!)

First I'd suggest you check out the new L.L. Bean Signature Collection and the new Land's End Canvas collection b/c I think they've done a good job of making these with an eye to a younger consumer. The styling is more current, and the fits are more tailored- but I think that they both have a lot of casual but classic appeal.

For dressier clothing, I'd check out Brooks Brothers and J. Press (home of the Chuck Bass scarf). J Peterman has some cool stuff if you don't mind the uncertainly of ordering something from an illustration (excuse me while I go drool over the lambskin flight jacket).

For a sportsman's kind of look- I'd go to Kevin's or Orvis.

And of course, there's always Jcrew. I've been really loving their men's shoes lately.

I'm also loving the ties and bowties from Southern Proper.

I've had good success giving men bags as gifts as well. Messenger bags, weekend bags, and shooting bags always come in handy.

As far as gizmos go, I'm always amused by ThinkGeek. I think that whiskey stones, fire starter knives, samuri sword umbrella, moleskin notebooks, a portable hammock, and a coffee cup power inverter, are all cool gifts. The entire site is worth pouring over and I think that they have a lot of stuff that's great for kids as well. I'll keep it brief, but their kitchen gadgets section alone is a thing of joy- who doesn't want a zombie head cookie jar, science themed cookie cutters, a brass knuckles corkscrew (true story I almost bought a clutch with brass knuckles as a handle at the thrift store last week!), a build your own crazy drinking straw kit, a pi ice-cube tray (okay maybe that's just me...), an egg cuber, or a pirate toast maker?

For entertainment, I like to give boxed sets of movies and TV shows as gifts. Star Wars always seems to be appreciated. (As a bonus, here's a really funny video on Talking to your Kids about Star Wars that my darling fiance sent to me last night.)

I'll wrap this up with some outdoorsy gift ideas. I shop for the hunters and fishermen in my life at Cabela's (Pretty much the only thing that makes my dad happier than a gift card from Home Depot is one from Cabela's). Sigg water bottles are great, useful gifts that come in a lot of cool colors. It's always a good idea to check out the deals on things like camping gear at Overstock.com. (Right now, there's a pretty good deal on cast iron skillets, for example.) I also think this telescope is really cool. (I think this would be a good gift for a guy with kids- my dad bought me and my brother a telescope for Christmas one year and we all looked at the stars together for years after that!) And if you live somewhere that actually has a winter- snowshoes could be a pretty cool gift as well!

Sewing Party!!

2010-11-13T22:45:00.006-06:00

My friends and I have been completely inspired by the blog New Dress A Day, and decided to get together, take a trip to the thrift store, alter whatever we found, and wear it out! I think the results were really great!
My dress ended up needing the least TLC of anyone's, but I also tailored my friend Stephanie's dress down from a size 18 to a 6, so I definitely did my part today. I've made a few mosaics to show our before and after pictures. Overall, I will say that altering a dress is way easier than sewing a dress from a pattern, and I will be scouring thrift stores for more alterable finds in the future because this was entirely too much fun!!

My dress didn't need much work- but the bell sleeves had to go!

I did all the sewing for Steph's dress- we took it from an 18 to a 6!
Sarah T. chose a blue skirt that fit perfectly and paired it with an Eli Tahari shirt that needed some help. She removed the sleeves and gave it a new collar!Sarah L. found a very long striped taffeta skirt- it was adorable once she made it a mini!

We all also found several additional items at the thrift store that we loved and brought home. Have you ever found something amazing at a thrift store?

Shelly's Christmas Gift Guide (Part 1)

2010-11-11T15:27:00.006-06:00

Since the holidays are rapidly approaching, I thought that putting together a little list of gift ideas would be fun! So if you're looking for gift ideas this year, I hope I can provide some inspiration. For this guide, I'll be linking to things that are primarily girly. Part two will focus on gifts for guys.

Homemade- I think that baked goods make wonderful homemade gifts. Choose something that's easy to make in bulk and keeps well like Scottish shortbread, meringues, or if you're feeling creative, you can make a cake in a jar! (Cake in a jar can be made two ways- you can bake it in the jar, which means that it will last up to 6 months, but the downside is that you can't frost it. Alternately, you can bake a cup cake and then put it in a jar along with frosting for an adorable presentation. I think both are great ideas. Here's a another link in case you are team pie.)

Paper- I LOVE paper products. I think that cards and stationary are great gifts because they fall right into that "this is so nice but not something I'd buy for myself category." Also, it harkens back to that golden age when people wrote letters instead of email. I'm a huge fan of Crane and Kate Spade stationary.

For the dreamer- I love sleepy time presents like herbal tea, lavender eye pillows, cute slippers, and PJ's! (A note on those PJ's- my darling fiance has two pairs of Brooks Brothers PJ's and the fabric is so soft. Highly recommend.)

For the reader- Kindles are great because you can get books, papers, and magazines! Plus, they solve that pesky problem of having to balance packing space versus reading needs (I usually need at least 2 books for a long trip!) when you travel.

For the fitness enthusiast- I'm not advocating that you give a gym membership to someone who isn't a religious gym goer (because that could possibly be misconstrued), but if you are looking for a gift for someone who loves a particular activity- gear is always appreciated. For runners, I'd suggest a spibelt, running clothes, or a sample pack of Gu. Yoga enthusiasts might like a gift certificate for sessions at their favorite yoga studio (ditto for Pilates studios) or a little something from Lululemon. A camelbak is a great gift for anyone who spends a lot of time outdoors.

Jewelry and accessories- obviously the options in this category are practically infinite, but here are a few things I think are awesome. I love this clutch, all of these five necklaces, this pin, these too. And since I hear that in some parts of the country (not New Orleans this year, apparently) there' a thing called winter- knitwear can also make a great gift.

Obviously there are tons of gift options that I haven't covered like books, wine, and decorative Christmas platters (you laugh, but I was pretty thrilled to receive several last year since I host a yearly Christmas party), but one lowly blogger can't do it all! Stay tuned for part two- gifts for the guys.

What's your favorite thing to give as a Christmas gift?

Makeup

2010-11-10T11:27:00.005-06:00

I've never been incredibly adept with makeup. I feel like some girls are just born with an innate understanding of how to apply it, whereas I'm lucky if I remember to slap on some lip gloss before I leave the house in the morning. ( I do wear light foundation, mascara and blush, for the record. It's just that nothing stays on my lips anyway!)
There are several reasons I'm not a huge makeup person. My mom never wore very much in the way of makeup, I am generally running late in the morning and don't like to spend any extra time getting ready, and I have very small facial features (which I don't think can really carry a lot of makeup- if that makes sense).
I do, however, like to amp up my look a little bit for special occasions in which I will be photographed repeatedly. So this means that I have to think about wedding makeup.

I think I want to do it myself.

I remember when I was in high school and college, getting one's makeup done for a special occasion (at least in the bustling metropolises....metropoli....metropolai? of Natchez and Hattiesburg) meant going to Dillard's or McRae's (which doesn't even exist any more! Clearly, Belk's bought McRae's just to make me feel old!) and getting your face done at the Estee Lauder or Clinique counter.
In all truth I wasn't really a fan of their work. You know the saying that when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail? I guess the deep south equivalent is that when all you have is a makeup brush, everything looks like a contestant in a Miss Mississppi Pageant.

Not the look I'm going for

I'd say my least favorite experience at the hands of a Clinique girl was when I was being prepared for a sorority formal and she said "Oh! You have the tiniest eyes and lips!" While proceeding to attack me with purple eye shadow. Yeah, That's not really a compliment.

Although I could use the makeup artist at my salon on my wedding day, I have a couple of other reasons besides my distateful experiences at the hands of the Estee Lauder girls for wanting to do my own makeup.
1) I'll need to touch up my makeup throughout the day anyway.
2) It seems like a good chance to splurge....I mean, invest in, some nice makeup!
3) I think that if I do it myself, it will be more "me."

Fabulous

So...thoughts? advice? tips? Any favorite products to suggest?
I'm thinking about going to either Sephora or Mac to buy the makeup I'll use....

Are you one of those girls who "gets" makeup or do you find it a little intimidating like I do?

Meringues

2010-11-07T19:35:00.006-06:00

My darling fiance's mother gave us a KitchenAid mixer as an early (and greatly appreciated) wedding gift. I wanted to try it out today, so I decided to make meringues! I've never actually had meringues (although I love lemon meringue and key lime pie), but I thought they'd be the perfect thing to make in my mixer since they are so difficult to make by hand. Luckily, they turned out to be simple and delicious with the help of my mixer.
I used a recipe posted by Jenna at Eat Live Run, and added mini dark chocolate chips because someone in her comments suggested doing so. I'm glad I did because the rich chocolate was the perfect counterpoint to the airy sweetness of the sweetened egg whites.
Basically, I just mixed 3 egg whites, 1/4 tsp of cream of tartar, and 3/4 of a cup of sugar until the egg whites formed stiff glossy peaks, then folded in 1/2 a cup of mini-chocolate chips. I used two spoons to plop little meringue clouds onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper and baked them at 200 F for nearly two hours. Mine took longer than Jenna's recipe called for and I think it's because mine were bigger meringue blobs rather than the little meringue kisses she made- so adjust your time according to the size of your meringue. Just don't open the oven for a least an hour if you don't want your meringues to crack!
When the meringues were done, they were hard on the outside, and they got slightly harder as they cooled. The insides were spongy and full of air. (and chocolate!) They're so good that I'm not sure I'm going to be able to take them to work to share!

Hello, Gorgeous

Egg whites and cream of tartar

Let's get this party started!

Something's Happening!Wow! All that delicious fluff from 3 little egg whites!

Adding Chocolate Chips
Happy Little Clouds
The finished meringues. I ate two of them right after I took this picture!

What's your favorite dessert?

Wedding Inspiration Update

2010-11-06T22:14:00.003-05:00

It's been a while since I've blogged about wedding stuff, but I spent some time tonight updating my wedding inspiration board. I've split it into three boards- one for the ceremony, one for the picnic (we are taking advantage of the Peristyle since we have it all day by having a picnic between the morning wedding and evening reception, to refresh your memory), and one for the reception.

Finish Line

2010-11-04T10:14:00.004-05:00

I found a picture of me, Margee, and Jen finishing the Jazz Half in the photo album from their website. I'm making a pretty tortured face. Can you tell I was pushing it at the end?
Also, how amazing are Margee's pink leopard leggings? :)

Goody Two Shoes

2010-11-03T20:07:00.003-05:00

In the past two days, I've voted, gotten my flu shot, had my oil changed, worked out, and and eaten plenty of veggies. I've been so responsible! Bleh! :)
As far as my recovery from the half marathon, it couldn't have been better. I swam on Sunday like I planned, then spent the afternoon walking around the quarter and tailgating for the Saints game. I though I had probably over done it in terms of being on my feet so I took another Epsom Salt bath and I had almost no pain on Monday, which would normally be my worst day in terms of soreness.
Sunday was a lot of fun. I got to see my friends from college, Belmont and Brittany, who I haven't seen in a couple of years. I also sold my costume for the day (a pair of cat ears that were really cute, but at least 4 years old) to a random lady at Pat O' Brian's for $20 (which was way more than I paid for them!) The coolest thing was that my friend Jon won the costume contest at Pat O's and got $100!
He was teen wolf!

Jazz Half Marathon Recap

2010-10-30T17:58:00.013-05:00

I ran the Jazz Half Marathon this morning and it was a great race. I finished in 2 hours and 4 minutes, which is longer than my first half marathon, but not by much. The key differences were that this race was very slow and crowded for the first few miles and we stopped and took some pictures along the way. It made for a fun, no pressure race, which was nice. The course stared by the Convention Center, wound it's way through the central business district, then went up St. Charles Ave., around Audubon Park, and back to the Convention Center, so for the most part, it was pretty scenic. I ran with my friends Jen and Margee, which was great. They're both really good runners and keeping up with them helps me push myself to go faster. And they dressed up in 80's attire as well, which was really fun.
I'm trying to apply myself to my recovery this time b/c I had a very poor recovery last year. It was really cold, I had to ride for 45 minutes in the car to get back to my parents' house, and they didn't really grasp the concept of resting one's legs and kept asking me to get up and go do stuff until I finally gave up and went home to New Orleans so I could get some rest. I remember being sore for like a week. This time, I want to be able to run again by next weekend.
After the race and after party, I went home, showered, and took a two hour nap. I woke up feeling like a new person (I find napping really helps me heal) so I got up, ate some lunch, and went to the grocery store. Despite the benefits of napping, I do get really stiff if I sit around too much after my nap. After my grocery run, I chilled out for a little while, snacked on chips and salsa, then did some chores. Next I did a 10 minute Yoga for Runners video that left my legs feeling much looser. I started this post, then saved it and went to get Mexican food with my friends. Now that I'm home, I'm going to watch a movie and soak in Epsom Salts.
As of right now, I'm feeling pretty good- slightly stiff and sore, but I've felt worse after some long training runs. I'm not going to end up sitting on the couch with bags of frozen veggies on my knees at any rate.
My plan for tomorrow is to continue with my active recovery by swimming a few easy laps at the gym, then going to a Saint's tailgate. Who Dat!
I'll leave you with some pictures taken by Jen, one of my fellow 80's girl runners. (Other bloggers who I saw today were Grace, Lindsey, and Keith. It was Lindsey and Keith's first half, so congrats to them!)

Before the start of the race- it was dark!

In front of a spooky house on St. Charles Ave.

Jesus of the Porta-Potties

Post Race Party
Eating Kung Pao Chicken and rocking some truly awful bangs

Eek!!

2010-10-29T09:11:00.003-05:00

My half marathon is tomorrow!!!! I'm definitely sitting on the borderline between excited and nervous. Wish me luck! :)

p.s. I've edited this to add my costume for the race! 80's workout girl! :)

Dusting Off My Sewing Machine

2010-10-26T21:34:00.005-05:00

The good thing about my general wardrobe dissatisfaction is that I've been using my sewing machine a lot more to alter my clothes that just aren't quite right. When Grace posted a tutorial on how to alter your pants- I knew that I would have to give it a try!
I had a pair of light khaki corduroy pants that fit great at the waist, but belled out below the knee in a decidedly dated way (I think I've had them since college). I also wasn't worried about ruining that pair of pants because I have lots of corduroy pants. (So comfy!) They were the perfect pant to try to alter.
You should definitely check out Grace's tutorial if you want to try this at home because I think she explains it a lot better than I do, but here is what I did to alter my pants.
First I used a pair of skinnier pants as a template and traced them on the inside of the pants I was altering, using a pencil (if you want to do things properly, you should iron and pin them. I tend to take shortcuts when I sew which is probably why I'm not really all that good at it!)

My Template

Next I sewed along that line. I flipped them inside out, checked the fit, then went back and made a few more adjustments inside (it was hard to get the fit just perfect b/c I only needed to take the pants in up to the knee- the thighs were already fitted and the transition from stitching to no stitching was a little awkward).

Gotta Fix This

Then I did the same thing on the other leg.

Right= before, Left= after

Finally, I cut off the insides where I'd sewn the pants, ironed them into a new seam and stitched that down along the cuff. I went from bell bottoms to matchstick cords!
Thanks for the great tutorial, Grace!

Eat Your Heart Out, JCrew!

In other news, I went to the mall after work today and got four sweaters (I can't find the link for one- a hot pink v-neck merino sweater from Banana Republic that I somehow got for $12 because I win at life... oh and the third sweater I linked is in black and was marked down for much lower than the one that's linked- shopping in stores is paying off!) and a dress (for $15!), so I feel like my wardrobe has become at least a bit more versatile!

Cleaning Out My Closet

2010-10-26T12:51:00.002-05:00

Last week, we finally took our winter clothes out of storage. Fortunately, we haven't taken our summer clothes back to our storage building b/c New Orleans had a record high temperature of 88 degrees yesterday. So unfair. But anyway, I took advantage of having all of my clothes in one place and cleaned out my closet and bagged up a bunch of clothes for Goodwill. Apparently, I'd already done this with my winter clothes because I didn't end up culling many of them- but I had a lot of summer clothes that just don't make the cut anymore. It's a great feeling to be organized, at least temporarily!
I've been feeling really dissatisfied with my wardrobe lately, and although I think part of that is due to being at the end of a season (I'm sick of my summer time clothes and looking cute in transitional weather is always a little challenging) but I also think that the proportions of my wardrobe are out of whack.
What I mean by that is that a disproportionately large percentage of my clothes falls into a "casual/weekend wear" category (And by that I don't mean stylish going out clothes, unfortunately. I mean jeans and t-shirts.), while a disproportionately small percentage of my clothes could be classified as "work clothes" even though I spend more time at work than I do being seen on the weekends. (I think that I have an appropriate percentage of lounge wear/PJ's/ workout clothes and dressy dresses at least.)
I've been feeling like my work clothes are especially boring and frumpy and I'm starting to think that I legitimately need to at least get some more work tops. I really like the way dressy knit tops fit me, especially if they have a band at the waist, but I don't have very many of them. Button downs don't fit me very well compared to knit tops and I really just need to give up the pipe dream of having a fitted shirt that doesn't gap where it buttons up.
The catch is that it's really easy to buy a knit top and decide it's more suited to jeans than dress pants and relegate it to the t-shirt drawer. The other catch is that practical knit tops aren't exactly thrilling.
My dress pants aren't anything to write home about but they are comfortable and they fit. Also, I'm pretty discouraged about the state of dress pants in general after trying on the horrendous ones at the Gap last week. It wasn't pretty.
Also, I am seriously not allowed to buy any more Jcrew or Banana Republic casual T-shirts b/c I have a zillion of them.
And yes, I am a completely boring dresser. Does anyone want to be my personal shopper?

Any tips on how to spice up my wardrobe? I need all the help I can get!

Halloween Treats

2010-10-24T13:34:00.006-05:00

Two posts in one day! My goodness!
I wanted to post a quick and easy Halloween goody that I made for my friend Sarah's Halloween party on Friday. I made "ghosts" buy piping vanilla frosting out of a plastic bag (just snip off a corner and don't seal the top unless you want to pop your bag) onto store bought 2-bite brownies (I'm obsessed with these things) and adding mini-chocolate chip eyes. So if you need something quick to bring to a Halloween get together- give this a try!
And now, as a bonus, our costumes. I was a ninja and my darling fiance was a retired General McChrystal, now endorsed by Bud Light Lime. (It's an inside joke but I love his costume, especially since I sewed the better part of the outside of a case onto that thing!) Enjoy!

Ottolenghi

2010-10-24T13:11:00.009-05:00

My friend Kristi gave me the Ottolenghi Cookbook for my birthday and I promised to let her know how the recipes were. I decided the best way to do so would be to blog about it!
I wanted to make my darling fiance a fancy dinner and this seemed like the perfect excuse. After pouring through the cookbook several times, I decided to make two of the side dishes and serve them alongside roast chicken (b/c for some reason, side dishes and apps are always more appealing to me than entrees).
I decided to make roasted golden beets (the recipe called for mixed golden and red beets, but there were only golden ones at the store) and caramelized endives with Serrano Ham (I used prosciutto instead though though).
I made these dishes over the course of two nights. On the first night, I peeled and roasted the beets in foil and caramelized the endive halves in sugar and butter. The next evening, I assembled the roasted beet salad (using the herb mix from Whole Foods, along with sunflower seeds, and the recipe's maple dressing) then topped the endives with cream, cheese, thyme, breadcrumbs, and ham and baked them for 20 minutes.

Golden Beets Look Cool

Especially When You Peel Them

Halved EndivesCaramelizing Away- I Can't Even Describe How Great This Smelled

Ready to be Topped and BakedCompleted Salad with Beets, Sunflower Seeds, Baby Greens and Herbs

Endives Out of the Oven

Dinner is Served!

A few notes:
1) I washed the skillet after Pancaked stepped in it prior to cooking my endives. :)
2) The lighting in my kitchen is lousy, I cook at night, and my camera is old, so please excuse my picture quality.
3) The recipes I picked out were easy to follow and resulted in an excellent meal. My only issue with the cookbook is that all of the units are Britsh- so Celcius, ml, and grams. I did conversions for the stuff that seemed important but I was a little too lazy to figure out how many grams of salad I should have used and just winged it on things like that. Everything turned out fine, but if you are nit-picky converting everything could prove to be time consuming.

Overall I loved these recipes and I'm excited to cook more things out of this book. (I have my eye on mushrooms with barley and preserved lemons for this week.) Thanks for the awesome present, Kristi!

I Tried on All the Skinny Jeans at the Gap So You Don't Have To

2010-10-20T09:15:00.005-05:00

Okay, unless you are my butt twin, you probably still have to. But last night I had some time to kill before I picked my darling fiance up from the airport, so I braved the Esplanade Mall and went to the Gap. I've been wanting some work pants that have a slimmer leg than my current ancient slacks, so I went intending to try on the True Straight Pant. Unfortunately, it didn't look good on me at all. The leg wasn't much thinner than my current pants and it was too big in the waist-but I could tell that if I sized down, they'd be too small.

However, when I walked into the store, the salesperson told me that all of their jeans were 40% off that day. I did the logical thing and proceeded to try on every pair of skinny jeans in my size in the store. Then, since they were skinny jeans, I repeated the process with the size above mine. :)

(Does anyone else think it's total crap, by the way, that a given size in pants at the same store is too big in dress pants and too small in jeans?)

Actually, I've found that getting skinny jeans a size larger than my normal size consistently works well for me across brands. I have a very poorly defined waist and I've found that if jeans fit my rear and legs, they dig into my waist and create the dreaded "muffin top." (I also have a total complex about pants even making a line at my waist that you can see through an untucked shirt- I'm crazy, I know. And I never tuck in my shirts b/c it just emphasizes my total lack of a waist.) But anyway, I've found that if I size up on normal pants, the legs and rear are way too baggy once the waist fits comfortably. However, skinny jeans are tight enough that when they fit my waist, they still look good on my rear and legs.

The Gap currently has four options for skinny jeans: The Real Straight, The Always Skinny, The Forever Skinny, and The Leggings Jean. (They also offer the leggings jean with stirrups, but jeans with stirrups are an abomination and must be shunned.)

First I tried on the Forever Skinny and really liked it. It's comfortable, very skinny through the legs, but looked good and wasn't too tight through the stomach area. The rise is described as midrise- they were the highest rise of any of the jeans I tried on. (That being said- I'm happy to report that low rise does not mean what it meant a few years ago. None of the pants I tried on were as low as my hip bones, although this may be an artifact of my going up a size in all the jeans I tried.) I initially thought that these would be the jeans I ended up buying. The denim was nice and stretchy, kind of thin, but not so thin that I think they'll wear out too fast. They were very tight through the leg, which doesn't bother me, but my other skinny jeans (from Guess and Banana Republic, by way of Buffalo Exchange) have significantly more leg room than any of the skinny jeans in the 1969 line.

Next I tried on the real straight jeans. These were the most jeans like- they had the thickest denim and the widest leg (although it wasn't wide very wide). These didn't pinch my waist but seemed to have too much room in the front, if that makes sense. The pocket area was oddly bulky, which is something I've noticed about Gap Jeans in the past. These were the only ones I tried that had that problem though- but they were my least favorites of all the jeans I tried on.

Going from one extreme to the next, I tried the legging jeans (sans stirrup) next. The fit was fine but the legs were impossibly tight and I think I looked a little silly in them. Also, the fabric, while stretchy and very very comfortable, was really thin. I don't think that these would be durable, and ultimately, I already own black and grey leggings and don't see a need to own denim colored ones as well. I've seen these in a context that looks really great, but they just weren't for me.

Finally I tried on the always skinny jeans. These were very similar to the forever skinny jeans in terms of material and leg tightness but they had a lower rise. I was surprised to find that the lower rise actually looked a little better on me and I ended up getting these jeans. I kind of debated between getting them in regular or ankle length b/c the ankle length was really cute, whereas the regular was slightly long on me. However, if they shrink vertically at all, the ankle would look weird and the regular would fit, so I went with the regular. I'm planning to wear them shoved inside my awesome tall boots for the next few months anyway, and if I decide they are too long, I know a good place to get them hemmed.

The price of my jeans worked out really well too. They were 40% off and I had an additional take $10 off coupon, so all in all I got a pair of jeans for $34. Score!
This shopping trip really illustrated to me why it's a good idea to go to a store rather than just buy things online. I think I've blogged about this before but if I order something online and don't like it, I usually just keep it and try to make it work. However, in addition to the 1 pair of dress pants and 9 pairs of jeans I tried on, I also tried on 1 jacket and 5 shirts. I left with one pair of jeans that I really like, but had I been shopping online I wouldn't have bought pants (I know better) but I probably would have ended up with 3 or 4 mediocre shirts. I really hate going to malls and shopping in person, but I think that in a lot of cases, it's worth it.

Do you like to shop online or in person? Would you rather buy tops or pants? (I love tops but buying pants is like pulling teeth for me.)

Fun with the rice cooker

2010-10-18T12:12:00.003-05:00

Last night when I was about to toss my standard brown rice into the pot for my near weekly batch of rice and beans (to be consumed over the course of several lunches) I decided to get creative.
I used 1/3 cup of Black Japonica Rice, and about 1/4 cup or so of quinoa and amaranth. (I just scooped in a little of each.) I used about a cup of water, but next time I'll use a little more (I think my rice cooker tends to leave things a little underdone), but all in all it turned out really well- I just mixed the resulting grain mixture with a can of white beans, chopped tomato, some lemon juice, basil, and a tiny drizzle of almond oil. (Sitting overnight in the fridge with the liquid from the beans and lemon juice pretty much took care of the undercooked issue.)
It tastes really great, has a texture that's more interesting than my standard beans and rice, and looks pretty- the black rice and white beans are a neat combination. Best of all, it's packed with healthy protein, fiber, and vitamins!
Has anyone else cooked anything interesting lately?

Jello Cake

2010-10-13T09:15:00.001-05:00

Last night I went to a "bring your favorite childhood food" dinner party (aka Ketchup and Carbfest 2010) and I brought the cake that my grandmommy (mom's mom) always made when I was growing up (frankly, it was either that or spaghetti with ketchup and cheese). It's simple and delicious and much more than the sum of its parts- so I thought I'd share the recipe here. It sounds weird, but I promise, it's pretty much the best thing ever.

Jello Cake

1 box yellow cake mix
1 box lemon jell0 gelatin (not pudding)- oddly enough, the cake doesn't taste lemony
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup canola oil
3 eggs

Combine ingredients and bake in a bundt pan for 40 minutes. Be sure to both oil (or PAM) and flour the pan before you put in the dough b/c I've learned the hard way that this cake loves to stick. Enjoy with fruit or ice cream.

Anniversary Weekend

2010-10-12T12:16:00.007-05:00

This past weekend, my darling fiance and I celebrated our anniversary. It's a little early b/c our first day was actually right before Halloween, and we got engaged on Oct. 16, but this weekend worked out to be the best time for us to get away together. This is also technically our last anniversary in October, and we won't have another anniversary until April 9, 2012! (I did promise that I would make a cake next October anyway.)
On Saturday, we drove up River Road to Napoleonville, La and stayed at the Madewood Plantation. It was gorgeous! Having been a tour guide in an Antebellum home in Natchez (Rosalie), I've always wondered what it would be like to actually live in one and this was a little taste of that.
Our stay included a candlelight dinner with the other guests (as well as breakfast in the morning) so we knew that we would have to dress up for that. My darling fiance decided that he wanted to dress up all weekend, and so I followed suit. I must say, it made for some really fun pictures.
On the way home we drove down River Road on the other side of the river, so we saw lots of refineries, small towns, old cemetaries, and historic plantation houses (a strange combination, I know) on both legs of the trip.
After we got home on Sunday we decided to grill out. I bought Buffalo steaks out of curiosity and they were really tasty. We ended the night drinking Sazeracs because I bought my darling fiance the ingredients as part of his anniversary present (we celebrated our engagement last year in the Sazerac Bar, after all). The other part was the orange tie he's sporting in some of the pictures below- it's from Southern Proper and has shotguns on it. So of course he wanted to wear it immediately (hence our dressing up all weekend.)

Our Room- The Master Bedroom

Relaxing after our Car Ride

Our room led out to the veranda
My handsome fiance

Prior to Dinner we had wine and cheese and chance to explore the house- this was the ballroomAfter dinner there was coffee, brandy, and a slightly creepy portrait in the parlor

Exploring the grounds on Sunday
There were lots of other buildings on the property. Some were rather grand (like a riverboat captain's house that is being restored) and some were modest creole cottages like this one.
The separate kitchen was open for us to explore- I thought that this old stove was very picturesque.
Replicating Senior Pictures on the porch- haha!This is supposed to be my Southern Bell look- I think I just look skeptical. But you can see the pretty sapphire necklace my darling fiance gave me for our anniversary in this shot! :)

Lady Mags

2010-10-04T10:28:00.007-05:00

It seems like right after I posted a list of my favorite healthy living blogs, Marie Claire wrote a pretty scandalous "take down" that targeted several of the blogs I listed (among others). Basically, Marie Claire accused these bloggers of eating and exercising in a disordered way and being a bad influence on their readers.
As a long time reader of several of the blogs in the article, I was struck by many distortions and inaccuracies that were obvious to me. However, someone who doesn't read those blogs regularly probably would miss a lot of that because the article referenced posts that were written in December and January. Ultimately, my impression of the article is that it was written to be deliberately misleading.
I'm writing this post because I don't want anyone who reads me regularly to think that I would willfully suggest blogs that I believe promote a disordered lifestyle. Here are rebuttals from some of the bloggers who were profiled.
I hope I'm not the only person who immediately sees the irony of a magazine so enmeshed in the beauty industry accusing anyone else of promoting an unhealthy beauty ideal. The link between fashion magazines and poor body image in it's readers isn't exactly a secret. One of the first things I learned years ago in therapy that really changed my life for the better was that reading fashion and beauty magazines was incredibly bad for my self esteem. Now, when I read something I think about how it makes me feel. Reading those magazines does make me feel temporarily entertained but it also makes me feel like I'm not good enough. It makes me want to buy things I don't have and don't need. It makes me feel like I don't make enough money when I can't afford the things they're showcasing. It makes me hate my skin and my hair and my features because I know from experience that I will never look like the women I see in those pages (and neither can they!). But most of all, reading fashion magazines makes me feel fat. That's why I don't read them anymore.
I apply this litmus test to other forms of media I consume. I encourage everyone out there to do the same. I wouldn't read healthy living blogs if they made me feel bad about myself or made me feel like I should eat less. On the contrary, they make me feel like I should eat more- more healthy fats, more vegetables, more whole grains, more great foods that make me feel good and give me energy. Healthy living blogs have inspired me to revamp the way I eat and to become more athletic. This has improved my health and my self esteem.
However, I believe that every person has a responsibility to determine for themselves whether something is good for them.
There was definitely a time in my life when I was eating in a disordered fashion. At that time, I wasn't reading healthy living blogs. I was reading Marie Claire.

Inspiration

2010-09-30T11:02:00.003-05:00

I'm loving the comments in my post on vegetarian meal ideas and I found out that my friend Lauri now reads one of my favorite blogs, Oh She Glows, and found it through my site. I've decided to quickly list some of the bloggers who inspire me to eat delicious food and lead a healthier lifestyle.
So if you're looking for some inspiration to cook something healthy and delicious or get your tail off the couch and into the gym, I really encourage you to click over. I started my journey towards healthy eating by visiting a nutritionist back in Feb. 2009 but following these blogs has really helped me maintain the good habits I learned. They've encouraged me to try new things in terms of both food and fitness, and I owe a large part my complete obsession with all things healthy to them.

Oh She Glows
Healthy Tipping Point
Carrots N' Cake
The Fitnessista
Heather Eats Almond Butter
Eat Live Run (she's transitioned from a healthy living blogger to a more standard food blogger- aka she uses white flour now when it's called for and sometimes eats bacon-, but all of her posts are great)
Daily Balance

I've also been inspired by Mark Bittman's philosophies regarding food as well as his recipes, Simply Recipes, 101 Cookbooks, and Smitten Kitchen.

There are many more blogs that I subscribe to and enjoy, but this is kind of a primer on the blogs that really color the way I look at and enjoy food and fitness.

What are your favorite blogs?

Seasons

2010-09-29T14:20:00.002-05:00

I love how we're sitting on the edge between seasons this week. This past weekend I was basking in the sun on the beach in Ft. Walton, Fl (thanks to my friend Steph's lovely parents who let us use their condo!) and this weekend the plan is to go to my friend Jon's family farm and have a bonfire and make s'mores. Love it!
I'm also enjoying welcoming fall food back into my house. Currently there is an acorn squash and a bunch of fresh brussels sprouts sitting in my fridge, waiting to be devoured. Yum!
I found myself sending my mom a bunch of meatless dinner ideas today and thought I'd share the list here because it is a good one. (And in true flexitarian style (p.s. I actually hate the word flexitarian), I am also planning a post on roast chicken- just as soon as I roast one during daylight hours so I can take decent pictures of the process.)
But anyway, if anyone is looking for a little meatless inspiration, I hope my list will be helpful. Note: This list is, for the most part, decidedly non-vegan (I love me some eggs and cheese).

Lentils and brown rice:
Cook dried lentils according to package directions. I like to season them with garlic, onion, chopped tomatoes, salt and pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. I serve them alongside stewed okra and tomatoes (basically, you cook frozen okra with a can of stewed tomatoes) and cornbread.

Tex-mex rice bowls:
Black beans and brown rice topped with any of the following: cilantro, lime juice, salsa, chopped tomato, sauteed onions and garlic, mushrooms (sauteed or fresh), chopped green onions, avocado, cheese, or sour cream.

Black beans and saffron rice:
Saffron rice comes in packages at the grocery store, and is bright yellow and darn tasty. Top this combination with black olives, green onions, and chopped tomatoes or salsa.

BBQ bean bowls:
Black (or red) beans and brown rice topped with BBQ sauce, green onions, and mushrooms.

White beans and Kale:
This is my favorite winter meal. White beans sauteed with hot sauce, lemon juice, onion, garlic, Kale and topped with lemon zest, and Parmesan; served atop brown rice.

Roasted tomatoes, onions and white beans:
Toss a pack or two of cherry tomatoes (or any other small tomato or halved roma tomatoes) and some roughly chopped onion with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast at 400 for 30 minutes. Pour tomatoes and all their juices over a bowl full of warmed white beans. Add some basil (fresh is best but I also like to get the squeeze bottle of chopped basil at the grocery instead of having to use dried basil) and mix everything up. Serve this over toast- it's beans a la king!
.
Other quick bean ideas:
Garbanzo beans stir fried with Kale, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
Baked beans on top of a microwaved or roasted sweet potato.
Baked beans on cheese toast (preferably whole wheat) with chopped tomatoes.
White beans mixed with diced green chilies, cayenne, and cumin make white chili. Top with cheese.
Black beans, salsa, and cheese in a whole wheat or blue corn tortilla.

Veggie Enchiladas:
Roast some chopped squash, mushrooms, and zucchini (and really whatever veggies you like- experiment!) at 400 for 30 minutes. Place cooked veggies inside whole wheat tortillas, along with some shredded cheese, and plain yogurt (or sour cream) mixed with salsa- be careful not to overfill! Roll the tortillas up (I find that 4 tortillas worth is plenty for 2 people), and top with enchilada sauce (you can get this in a can at the grocery store on the mexican food isle) and more shredded cheese. bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Kale, Eggs, and Potatoes:
I chop up red potatoes and toss them with olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme- them roast them for 30-45 minutes at 400. While that's going on, I simmer Kale in about a cup of water with garlic and onion, lemon juice, a little hot sauce, and lots of black pepper (this takes 15-30 minutes, just check occasionally to make sure the kale is done). I serve the Kale with a fried egg on top and the potatoes with ketchup mixed with hot sauce for dipping.

Kale Spaghetti:
Cook the Kale like you do above, then toss it with some cooked spaghetti and Parmesan or goat cheese. You can top this with a poached egg too. Poaching eggs is really easy. You add a splash or two of vinegar (you won't taste it, I promise) and a little salt to a small pot of water and bring it just to a boil, meanwhile, crack an egg into a small bowl (this is really important. You can't just crack the egg into the water or it will break). When the water is just boiling, turn down the heat, gently slide the egg into the water, then cook for 3 and a half minutes. Remove it with a slotted spoon to let the water drain off before you put it on your food.

Baked Eggs in tomatoes:
Hollow out a couple of tomatoes and throw away the tops. season inside the tomatoes with salt and pepper, then sprinkle in a little cheese (goat cheese is awesome here- but you can use any cheese or any sort of spices you like really, just don't add too much b/c you want room for an egg inside the tomato). Crack and egg on top, being careful not to spill it. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes or until the egg has set. Serve with toast or a side salad.

Scrambled egg tacos:
Fill either whole wheat or blue corn tortillas with scrambled eggs, salsa, and shredded cheese. Devour. :)

Scrambled eggs and portobello mushrooms:
Brush portobello mushroom caps (2 or 3 per person) with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and broil for 10 minutes, turning them over after 5 minutes. In the meantime, scramble 2 eggs per person. Put eggs on top of the mushrooms. You can add toppings like goat cheese or veggies to this too, but it's surprisingly good plain.

Veggie omelets:
My favorite omelet in the world contains, fresh spinach, fresh chopped tomatoes, and feta cheese. So fresh and delicious.

Tomato soup and grilled cheese. It doesn't get any easier.

Race Update

2010-09-21T22:38:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the long absence! I don't really have a ton to say, but I did want to write a quick update on my race plans. I've decided to skip the Gulf Coast Half Marathon on Oct. 10 and run the Jazz Half Marathon on Oct. 30 instead. I've made this decision for several reasons. First of all, both my 9 mile and my 10 mile long runs were bad. I expected the 9 miler to be bad because I ran a tough race the day before (but felt like I needed to stick to my training plan anyway) but the 10 miler took me by surprise. Let's put it this way: it was so bad that it was actually a 9.5 miler. Basically, it was insanely hot which took me by surprise (since it's cooled down a little bit here at least) and around mile 6 I stepped in a puddle and spent the next 3.5 miles rubbing the skin off my feet. So when I hit my door and realized I'd only gone 9.5 miles, I decided to call it a day. And we won't even talk about time.
My next reason is that my running buddy Margee hurt her foot and doesn't feel confident that she'll be well in time for the Gulf Coast Half Marathon.
And finally, the Jazz Half is $10 cheaper until the end of the month!
After Margee and I talked it over this weekend, I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders and I went out and ran the best 6 miles (it was a "short" long run week) I've run in a long time. (It was also pretty cool Sunday evening, which had to have helped!)
The good run plus the extra training time is making me feel much less worried! I don't really pressure myself to race at a certain pace, but I don't want to get out there and do really poorly compared to my half last year, which is what I think would have happened had I raced on Oct. 10.
In other news, I discovered an awesome oatmeal topping this morning! Unsweetened apple sauce and walnuts- give it a try!!

Busy Bee

2010-09-13T21:53:00.002-05:00

I'm never this productive, but tonight I've gone to the gym and lifted weights, roasted a chicken (for dinners later this week), made kale and white beans (dinner tonight plus lunch this week), washed a load of laundry, washed the dishes, and altered a skirt and a dress that I've had forever that were too big. I'm so proud of myself! I still have to iron some clothes for tomorrow and would like to read a bit more of The Secret History, but I just had to blog about everything I've accomplished.
I've really been inspired to rework some items of clothing that were less than stellar lately thanks to the blog New Dress A Day. She gets an outrageous item from the thrift store for $1 or less and makes something adorable to wear out of it every day. Amazing!
I'm not a great seamstress by any means, but I am able to alter my clothes and make things like curtains, bags, and pillowcases when the mood strikes me. (I've made a grand total of 3 dresses and a shirt as well, but that was a number of years ago.) I feel kind of bad about letting my sewing skills stagnate. The hardest step for me is actually getting my sewing machine out and setting it up. It's really hard for me to overcome my own inertia but when I do, I'm always proud of myself. And I think it's a good idea to repair or alter something I have rather than buy new clothes all the time.
So with that in mind, I've dyed a gray knit dress purple to make it look less like a nightgown, removed the waistband from a shrunken dress and worn it belted as a top, adjusted the waist of a lovely Orla Kiely skirt that was too big, and adjusted the torso of a sleeveless black knit dress that was too long. And now I'm really excited to wear them!

Have you done anything you're proud of lately?

Details

2010-09-13T09:59:00.002-05:00

I love the shirt I'm wearing today. It's a pink button down with green, white and navy stripes and a white collar. But the reason I love it is for the tiny embroidered skull and crossbones on left cuff. It makes me feel secretly awesome.

Porridge

2010-09-09T19:08:00.003-05:00

I've been reading about savory oatmeal in the fitness blog world for a while now, but I've been really hesitant to give it a try. Oatmeal is just something I associate with breakfast, and something that I think should be sweet.
However, I decided to try it when I read about savory oats topped with an egg. (I'll eat just about anything with an egg on top!)
Although the savory oats were sounding more and more appealing, my mind kept rebelling at the thought of non-sweet oatmeal. Finally, I had to tell myself "It's not oatmeal. It's porridge." Rebranding it that way let me approach my dish with an open mind and I'm glad I did. And of course, I was too busy stuffing my face to take a picture!
This recipe is 100% comfort food and I enjoyed it so much that I'll probably make some more for breakfast tomorrow!

2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup old fashioned oats
1/4 cup shredded cheese (approximately)
1/4 cup chopped tomato
2 sunny side up eggs
salt, pepper, and hot sauce to taste

Bring milk to a boil and add oats. Simmer until milk is absorbed and oats are creamy. Top with cheese, salt, pepper, hot sauce, chopped tomato and eggs. Lament that you haven't tried this sooner. :)

I think that there are a lot of possible variations for this dish. You could add cottage cheese, goat cheese, salsa, nuts, beans, green onions, veggies, etc....

What's the strangest thing you've eaten that turned out to be surprisingly delicious?

Book Binge

2010-09-09T12:57:00.004-05:00

I have a lot of reading to do.
Currently unfinished are Mrs. Darcy and the Blue Eyed Stranger (a book of short stories that is, thus far, excellent- I'd recommend it especially to people raised in the South. My darling fiance gave it to me for my birthday.) and The Orphan's Tale- In the Night Garden (This one has an overall plot but is also composed of a series of short stories- these are more like fairy tales though.) I've enjoyed both so far and intend to finish them.
However, I also need to read The Girl Who Kicked in the Hornet's Nest (because it has been loaned to me by my friend Margee), Stories edited by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantino (a birthday gift from my darling fiance's brother and his girlfriend), and Pope Joan (for bookclub, although my friend Steph just finished it and didn't like it, so I'm not incredibly excited to read it now).
So of course it's completely logical that I just bought The Secret History. In all fairness, it's been on my wish list since it was mentioned in an article on Jezebel, by one of my favorite of their writers, Sadie. (I really enjoy her taste in books and movies).
On Tuesday, my darling fiance found out that Donna Tartt is doing a book signing at the Ogden on Sunday and passed along the information, saying that The Secret History was one of his favorite novels in high school. His copy is apparently worn to bits from his reading and re-reading it, so I decided to buy my own. I also greatly enjoy his taste in books, so I am looking forward to getting the book, which will arrive this afternoon.
I feel kind of neglectful for planning to read it before all the others that are waiting patiently in line.

What books do you plan to read soon?

5 Foods I Love

2010-09-08T18:11:00.002-05:00

Inspired by Bouille and NoJuju....

1. Soft boiled eggs with buttered toast for dipping
2. Prosciutto
3. Pâté
4. Grilled Corn
5. Cannoli

It's so hard to only list 5!

Running Weekend

2010-09-06T20:34:00.010-05:00

I had a lovely, busy long weekend. Friday afternoon, I got my hair cut and decided to get some long, Zooey Deschanel inspired bangs. I love them!
On Friday night, my darling fiance and I drove to Pensacola, Fl to visit out friends Matt and Kelly. Kelly's family had rented a great condo on Navarre Beach and we had a great time catching up with Matt and Kelly and their two kids- Ellie (3) and Charlie (1). Matt is a Methodist Pastor and will be performing our wedding ceremony in April.
Saturday morning, I got up early and ran 3 miles along the beach. I ran on the actual beach for about a quarter of a mile before I decided that my knee wasn't a fan of the instability of running on the sand. Overall it was a great run because there was a nice cool breeze coming off the water.
The rest of the day was spent relaxing, swimming, eating, and sunning myself. Lovely!
We drove home Saturday night because my darling fiance had to work on Sunday.
Sunday was a big day for me because I ran the Crescent Connection Bridge Run. I was really excited about the race because my race number was 504, which is the local New Orleans area code. I was convinced that it was a lucky sign! The race was great and I had a wonderful time. I ran with my friend Margee. She came in 24th in women's and I came in 25th, but we both basically finished in 36:15. I was really happy about this race because I wasn't wiped out afterward like I was last year (I could barely stand up) and I wasn't sore today. I'm not much faster than I was last year, but I've noticed that I'm recovering much more easily. I think I'm stronger, which is pretty cool!

Post race, sporting my new running skirt Prior to my race, I got groceries and stopped by Buffalo Exchange because I was in the mood to shop. Buffalo Exchange is my secret to buying nice jeans- I got a great pair of Guess skinny jeans for $16! (Previously, I've ended up with a pair of Citizens for $25, which I'm still pretty proud of.) I also bought two funky pattern tops. My bangs are tired of my wardrobe of staples. :)

A better shot of the bangs

Today, I ended up running 9 miles. I normally wouldn't run the day after a race, but I needed to keep on track with my half marathon training. The run was pretty grueling (due in part to the fact that I ended up running around noon),but I got through it.
I also ate some excellent food today. Breakfast was eggs in a nest, lunch was whole wheat spaghetti with fresh tomato sauce and a poached egg, and dinner was grilled trout with basil pea puree, grilled corn (which may be my new favorite food), and salad with avocado and a cherry vinaigrette. Dessert, which I am enjoying now, is praline ice cream.
Lunch tomorrow will be whole wheat spaghetti with leftover basil pea puree and goat cheese.

How was your holiday weekend?

Birthday Recap Part III: Portland

2010-08-29T19:45:00.008-05:00

Thank you, dear readers, for hanging in there while I took my sweet time writing up this recap. I've spent the weekend prepping the house for my darling fiance's return (because of course, I didn't get around to any of the cleaning I'd planned to do while he was gone. I seem to have spent all my extra time watching episodes of Community on Hulu. Oops!)
Anyway, he's back now (so happy!) and has reminded me that I need to finish my recap, so here it is!
On Tuesday, my darling fiance had to work during the morning, so I woke up early and walked from his dorm in the West End of Portland down to the Old Port District and enjoyed a chocolate croissant and a cafe au lait in a little coffee shop called Morning in Paris. Once the shops in Old Port opened up, I did a little shopping and enjoyed a green veggie juice from the California Juice Bar. (It really hit the spot after the previous night's bacon fries!) I quickly discovered that Portland has a Lululemon!!! I'm so jealous since we don't have one in New Orleans! I have a few pairs of pants and a top from Lululemon that my darling fiance has given me, but I've actually never been to one myself. I immediately hit the sales rack and picked up an adorable running skirt. It looks a lot like the one I linked, but is a lighter shade of blue and has grey trim on the back. It's really cute and I've worn it comfortably on two long runs. I love it! I also picked up a purple headband. Happy Birthday to me!

My darling fiance got done with his work obligations and met me for lunch. We went to J's Oyster house and split a seafood plate (it had two raw oysters and two huge raw scallops, along with some crab meat, steamed shrimp, and steamed lobster claws) and a bucket of steamed clams. It was delicious.

Scallops are yummy!

Afterward, we walked around for a while and he bought me a birthday present- a Butter by Nadia dress. It's an infinity style dress which means that it has long bands on the top that can be wrapped a ton of different ways. Mine is dark purple, incredibly flattering, and wonderfully comfortable. I love it! After that, we walked back to the dorms so that I could take a nap. Once I was rested, we walked all the way to the other side of Portland to see the East End, Munjoy Hill, and the Portland Observatory.

Wearing my dress and enjoying the sunset at the East End

The View from East End
Portland Observatory

We ended our night with panini's and more french fries at Duckfat. I've eaten at Duckfat both times I've visted Portland and it is one of my favorite places. This time, I got the special panini with roast pork, sauerkraut, spicy mustard and cheese- along with duckfat fries with garlic aoli for dipping. So good!

A "Yaycation" indeed!

Finally, we walked back home and enjoyed some wine we'd picked up at the Cellardoor winery on Sunday. I also figured out that I'd walked a total of 9 miles that day!

I had an amazing birthday trip and I'm really glad I got a chance to visit Maine again. It's definitely one of my favorite places to vacation! Of course, I'd love to go back because there is still so much I haven't done!

What's your ideal birthday? Where do you like to spend your vacations?

Birthday Recap Part II: Camden

2010-08-26T19:01:00.012-05:00

Sorry for the long delay! Work has been insane this week! I've basically been wrapped up in a 3 day meeting and I'm pretty wiped out.
However, I don't want to wait too long before writing about my birthday trip.
On Saturday (Aug. 14), I flew to Portland, Me to see my darling fiance (who has been doing an away rotation up there) and to celebrate my birthday by enjoying temperatures under 90 degrees! I got in at 10:30 pm, but wasn't too tired to stop by a really nice pub called Novare Res. The next morning, we had amazing toast for breakfast at a coffee house called Arabica, then picked up lobster rolls to go from the Portland Lo bste r Company.

This toast was amazing

We ate them on the way to Camden, where we stayed at the Hartstone Inn.

Our room at the Harstone

Prior to arriving at the Inn, we stopped at the Cellardoor Winery to enjoy a food and wine pairing. We really enjoyed the wine and were excited to try BBQ bear (!!) prepared by a local cookbook author (I feel bad but I can't remember her name). I was surprised to find that bear tasted like a cross between venison and lamb and was much lighter than I thought it would be.

Enjoying the view outside the winery

Of course, I saved room for dinner, and happily, we were able to eat at Hartsone after all! (We had been on the waiting list.) We had lobster tortellini, salad with peaches and a peach/orange dressing, blueberry sorbet, lamb medallions with asparagus and an artichoke, feta, and pine nut tart, and a mudslide souffle with Bailey's Irish Cream Sauce. YUM!!

29 never tasted so good!

The next day was rainy and a little chilly, so we couldn't go on a schooner tour like we'd planned. However, we had a really nice time walking around Camden, Rockport, and Rockland, just sightseeing and enjoying the ports.

Beautiful Camden Harbor

We saw the famous G alloway Cows in Camden and visited the Puffin Museum in Rockland.

Look! Cows!After that we drove back to Portland and went to Nosh for dinner, where we thoroughly enjoyed eating bacon crusted french fries dipped in chipotle mayonnaise.

Pretending that salads totally make up for bacon-fries

We ended the night with wine and chocolate cake with salted caramel icing at The B ar of Chocolate. It was wonderful!

So stay tuned for the exciting conclusion to my birthday recap, in which I spend the day shopping in Portland and eat lots and lots of food. :)

Birthday Recap Part I: Karaoke

2010-08-21T19:38:00.006-05:00

This weekend has been very nice. I haven't really done much at all since I've been recuperating from a cold. I'm feeling 100% better, but I still don't have any energy in the evenings. Last night I went to dinner with my house guests, then went home and was in bed by 10, while they went out and painted the town.
I got up bright and early and met Grace for a run- which was a lot of fun. I don't normally have company on my long runs, but I found that the 8 miles really flew by this time. So thanks for the company, Grace! After that I went to the Farmer's Market, took a 2 hour nap (I'm such a granny), spent some time with my house guests on the levee, and got groceries. Now I'm just relaxing and looking forward to another quiet night in.
Tomorrow I'm going to Gulfport to visit my parents. I've requested BBQ chicken for lunch specifically so I will have an excuse to make another batch of cilantro lime slaw. I actually made some for dinner tonight as well and had it with sauteed shrimp, salsa, and corn tortillas. Drool.
I know I've promised y'all a post about my birthday trip, and I think the best thing to do is to split my post into a few parts. First, I have to blog about Karaoke.
Last Friday, 7 of my girlfriends met me at Little Tokyo Uptown, where I had reserved a small Karaoke room. My friend Steph had the genius idea to bring costumes, so we shut the door, closed all the blinds, and spent the next 3 hours making absolute fools of ourselves. It was wonderful. We sang at the top of our lungs, danced around, jumped on the couches, and totally let loose. It reminded me of nothing so much as going to slumber parties when I was 14. It was excellent girly fun and I totally want to do it again. My one caveat is this: no matter how tempted you are, it is inadvisable to head-bang during Bohemian Rhapsody. My neck hurt for the next two days!
Of course we took a lot of really funny pictures and I can't resist sharing a few!

Why yes, that is a chicken hat.

It's not a birthday party until at least one of your friends ends up looking like a Muppet.
Party on,Garth. Party on, Wayne.
Have you ever done Karaoke? If so, what's your favorite song? I like to sing Jose Cuervo by Shelly West. :)

And stay tuned for Part II of my birthday recap!

Quick Dinner Formula

2010-08-19T17:03:00.001-05:00

I want to post something of substance since my past 3 entries are so link-tastic. So in the vein of being busy and tired, yet still craving substance, I thought I’d post my quick, nourishing dinner formula.

It’s really easy. Basically, I opt for a fast protein like beans or eggs, a quick cooking whole grain (generally whole wheat spaghetti or quinoa), veggies (Like sauteed fresh spinach, or frozen broccoli that can be quickly cooked), and extras (any combination of olive oil, lemon juice, cheese, garlic and onions, spices, herbs, and hot sauce spring to mind).

So, for example: last night I stumbled into the kitchen, started a pot of water for some frozen Brussels sprouts, and another for some quinoa. Both cook in about 10 minutes. When they were done, I put them together in a bowl, drizzled in some olive oil and lemon juice, then sprinkled on Parmesan cheese and lots of black pepper. Finally, I topped the whole thing with 2 sunny-side up eggs, which take about 2 minutes to cook. My meal went from the freezer to the table in about 15 minutes.
The platonic ideal of this meal would have involved roasting the sprouts and adding some sautéed garlic and onions to the mix, but those steps are certainly optional. I opted out and still really enjoyed my dinner.

Tonight, I’m planning to cook some frozen broccoli, and combine it with some canned white beans, garlic (thrown in the pot when I heat the beans), lemon juice and goat cheese. This will be eaten on top of whole wheat spaghetti.

What’s your go-to formula for a quick, satisfying meal?

I'm all over the internet today!

2010-08-19T16:59:00.001-05:00

I just found out that a 3 ingredient recipe I tweeted to Real Simple Magazine was selected for an online slide show! Everyone should try it- it's Slide #8: Shrimp Appetizer.

Home Again

2010-08-19T11:34:00.003-05:00

I'm back!!
Actually, I arrived in New Orleans at noon yesterday, but I was too exhausted to post anything. I'm actually still pretty tired and busy catching up at home and at work, but I wanted to give you the link to my latest post on Bench Fly. In it, I write about non-research oriented science careers (riveting stuff to you non-scientist/engineers out there, I'm sure) and beg Myth Busters to hire me. Enjoy!
I'll be back with a post about all the fun I had in Maine soon, I promise!

The Things I Do For Shoes

2010-08-12T10:05:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone, remember that Agion Odor Free Shirt experiment I took part in a while back? Well, I wrote up my summary and put it online and if I get 100 votes, I get a $25 gift certificate to Zappos.com. So I'd really appreciate it if y'all could go read my summary and vote for me. Also, enjoy the really horrible picture I had to submit. I am not a pretty sight after a good workout! Thanks in advance!!

Foodie-ness

2010-08-11T11:26:00.003-05:00

Just an quick update since I have reservations for my dinners on Sun. and Mon. night- Paolina's Way is an all organic pizza place with it's own farm (!!!) in Camden and Five Fifty-Five in Portland is supposed to be excellent. I'm also hoping to check out the Cellar Door Winery in Camden. Of course, researching all these places made me so hungry I had to eat lunch early! Drool!!

Birthday Week

2010-08-10T22:18:00.004-05:00

This is my last week as a 28 year old woman. I'll miss 28 for a lot of reasons. 28 was a good age for me- I got engaged (which was definitely the highlight), I drove around in the first car I've ever purchased, I ran my first half marathon, I adopted a new cat, I kept the job I love, I traveled to new places, I maintained my healthy habits, and I spent lots of time with my wonderful family and friends.
Of course, I have a lot to look forward to! A coworker of mine who happens to share my birthday likes to celebrate her entire birthday week rather than just the day. In all honesty, thus far I've been celebrating my week by working on a giant spreadsheet at work and exercising after work, but there are good times coming soon! On Friday, I will be having an early birthday get together with all of my girlfriends and plan to celebrate with as much grace and dignity as one possibly can while singing Karaoke in a Japanese restaurant (i.e. not much). Then on Saturday I am flying to Maine!!!
I really really love Maine and am thrilled to spend some time in Portland and Camden. I'm really looking forward to a stay at the Hartstone Inn (which is supposed to be foodie paradise), to sailing on a schooner (weather permitting), and to just wandering around Camden and Portland. I can't wait to relax and get away from the hot weather down here for at least a little while.

Awesomeness

2010-08-07T23:55:00.003-05:00

While searching the internet for someone to play the harp or violin for my wedding I came across an online listing for a lady who plays in Harptallica- the all harp Metallica tribute band. Because it's New Orleans. Of course there's a Metallica tribute harp band! Why wouldn't there be?

Half Mary's

2010-08-07T14:08:00.004-05:00

I just worked out my training schedule for this fall. There are 3 half marathons I want to run: one on Oct. 10, one on Oct. 30, and one on Nov. 27. I finished my first long run (6 miles) this morning and if I follow my schedule, I will make it up to 11 miles before I taper down to 6 the week before the first race. (I ran up to 12 miles before my half marathon last Nov. and did well, and Hal Higdon only takes you up to 10 miles prior to a race, so I think having 11 as my longest long run will be okay.) My challenge is figuring out how far I should run during the 2 weeks between the first and second race, and then in the month between the second and 3rd race.

Does anyone have an experience in making a training schedule for multiple races? Should I just skip the second race and only do the first and 3rd?

I had a really great run this morning, when I was expecting to have a lousy run, so I'm really happy right now. It's really easy for me to forget why I run and kind of dread it when the weather is as hot as it is now. However, after my run, I was happily showering and thinking of all the reasons I run.

I run because it makes me happy- There's no negative emotion that can stick with me after a mile or two.
I run because it makes me feel strong.
I run because I get to eat to fuel my runs. (And we all know how much I love to eat!)
I run because it's good for me- body and mind, the health benefits are amazing.
I run because I like to race- the energy of a crowd at race day is amazing to me. (I race with a big grin on my face because I'm happy to be out there.)
I run because I can- I am reminded with every run how blessed I am to have a healthy body that can carry me places.

Why do you do the things you love to do?

Slaw

2010-08-06T16:50:00.002-05:00

I'm grilling with my friends Jon, Sarah, and Steph tonight and was charged with bringing a salad. I decided to try out NOJuju's Cilantro Lime Slaw. It is so good! The only changes I made were to buy a bag of pre-cut cabbage (because I am lazy) and to add a generous squirt of Sriracha (hot sauce).
So everyone, seriously, try out this recipe. I love how fresh tasting and crunchy it is. Plus, it's both delicious and healthy!

Pixie

2010-08-06T10:52:00.002-05:00

Emma Watson and her adorable new pixie cut are killing me. I am currently growing out my hair for the wedding and it has been a rocky road. I'm finally past the dreaded "awkward length" but my layers are never quite right and I just don't feel like myself with long hair. It's convenient b/c I don't have to style it (just blow dry and go) and there is always the option of a pony tail, but my short (bobbed, not pixied) hair was also convenient because it took no time at all to dry and although I did have to flat iron it, that only took about a minute. At this point, I'm definitely keeping the hair long for the wedding (b/c I've put too much work into growing it out!) but I'm looking forward to chopping it off, most likely back to a bob, when I get back from my honeymoon!I pretty much lack the guts to cut my hair into a pixie for a number of reasons. I had a pixie cut when I was in 8th grade and while I personally adored it, the thought is stuck in my head that it contributed to my lack of success with guys all through high school- long after the cut grew out. Also, I know my darling fiance prefers that I not get a pixie cut. (He sort of gave me permission once, but I don't think he'd like it at all if I cut my hair like that.) I know it's my hair and I can do what I want with it, but I want to be considerate of his feelings. Especially since I threw a fit when he completely shaved off his sideburns and he was totally great about it and immediately grew them back in for me. :) And finally, I suspect that the reason I love pixie cuts is that I see pictures of them on the few people on earth who look beautiful in them. And while I do have tiny features that are best suited to short hair, I'm afraid that my features are not lovely enough to pull off such short hair. So I will just admire the pixie cut from afar and, apparently, write a blog post about it.Is there anything you want to do with your hair but are scared to do?
I used to be afraid of going blond, but now that I am blond, I love it and have never looked back! And I also used to have pink streaks in the underside of my hair (pre- real world job) that I really liked once I worked up the nerve to get them.

Tips

2010-08-04T10:29:00.004-05:00

During this whole shoe breaking in process (Yes, I'm obsessed, I will not let these shoes beat me!) I read online that you can use a little rubbing alcohol to stretch out your shoes. Amazingly enough, it totally works! (The shoes were in wearable shape on Sunday but I got greedy and tried to make them even better by getting them wet then wearing them around the house- it totally backfired and the shoes shrank. So don't do that. But the rubbing alcohol totally worked and I am currently comfortably wearing the shoes at work.)

My success with the rubbing alcohol reminded me of a couple other unlikely sounding quick fixes I've learned about on the internet. Both involve dish soap (I'm actually surprised that the internet didn't tell me to put it on my shoes as well!).
You can use dish soap to avoid having to use a plunger on your toilet- just squirt in a liberal amount of soap then let it works its magic on your clog for 15-30 minutes before flushing. I've used this more than once thanks to my ancient plumbing and it totally works.
I've also used dish soap (and two pins) to untangle a severely knotted necklace.
Thanks, Internet!

Do you have any nifty tips or tricks that you've learned from the internet?