1) Leftovers are Amazing
I love when I have leftovers to bring in to work. Down at school I am often eating lunch at the cafeteria, or at the cafe mostly, so my leftovers go bad. Not here, folks! Cooking for one is a great thing when you work in DC! (I'm sure other places too, but I can only speak from experience) So far I have had leftover Baked Ziti (recipe to be posted soon), Love Pie (another recipe I will share), and today its Crockpot Chicken (for lack of a better name) and couscous. Combine the last bit with the lentils I bought at Trader Joe's yesterday and I am going to be a happy girl come lunch time.
2) Pioneer Day
I guess when you work for Mormons... its a bigger deal than it is if you are just LDS. We get June 23rd off of work. Yes. Seriously. The office is closed. What does that mean? That means I will be using that day to see all of the things that I have been wanting to do but DC has been too packed with tourists for me to actually do them. (That's a lame excuse and partial lie. Ive also slept in on almost every Saturday, but its also fairly crazy with tourists in the city on weekends)
3) Favorite Things
You know how some things just make you smile, inherently? A lot of mine are food. That's silly, but true. Strawberry Milk. Salt & Pepper UTZ Chips. Nutella. Goldfish. Then there are other things like: Running through sprinklers on a hot day, Finding little treasures like a hole in the wall bookstore & a place with great fresh bread, Using reusable shopping bags, Having roommates who cook just as much as I do, Babies (you knew that was coming), The hope that The Gospel brings to people, knowing my dad would drop everything and come to my aid at a moments notice, How my big brothers are like my own personal mafia warding off any who may attempt to do me harm and yes, even how they still call me Kid, Pillow talk with my roommate as we drift off to sleep, Listening to the Hispanic radio station in Maryland, Thinking about Beach Week and the 6 days I get to spend camping, tanning, touring and playing with my sister and my niece in our favorite destination (Rhode Island).... wow... there are many more to this list. But you get the point. I love finding reasons to smile, too many people look so grumpy on the Metro, Id rather smile.
4) My love of Cooking
The general smell of food cooking. I love it. I think it comes from growing up in a home where my mother was always cooking *until she started nursing school, at which point I took over*. My grandmas house always smelled like good food. Mostly it was chicken cutlets (with 4c, always and never anything else, bread crumbs), macaroni & cheese, corn and hot dogs - because that's all we kids would ever eat (and grandma makes the best chicken). My sisters house always smells like food too. This woman should have her own cooking magazine, because she is stellar. She taught me how to make my own pasta sauce (along with grandma) and that jarred sauce should only be used in dire situations. She taught me the beauty & art of cooking in general. How nothing needs to be measured, only tasted. How you can throw what you have in a pot and come out with what you think is the greatest meal you've ever made. It truly is an art form the way we Haywood women cook. The way all women cook, I think. I love the smell of truly homemade meals & watching people enjoy something I have created.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
If not for the kindness of strangers...
Red Lines: Delayed
Oh, Metro Delays. While riding to work today we were being held at each station for 5 minutes as we got closer to the city so I decided to walk to work from Farragut North (which should have been simple). We walk out of the Metro and there is a guy playing, easily, the most beautiful (yes, beautiful) version of "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon. Different harmonies and melodies than the band uses and if I had any cash at all on me I would have given him some. It was great. Then... I got lost. I walked all over the city, back and forth, up and down... finally deciding to ask a GWU student for help. He pointed me in the right direction and then at one point... I turned the wrong way. I realized it quickly and as I am turning around I see him running towards me trying to put me on the right path again. How sweet. You don't find that often here but this kid was looking out for me. It felt nice. I made it to work, 1 hour late, but smiling because someone was nice enough to help me out.
Some other fun characters I have met on my travels:
1) The guy on the Metro Wednesday Afternoon. The train was packed. I had just gotten off another destination Grosvenor train because there was no AC and boarded another. A seat opened up after 2 stops next to a friendly looking guy. Really, he looked like Noer :). After a minute I felt some water hit me, not sure where it was coming from since I was on a train, I begin to look around. The guy next to me gives me a nod and points up to the ceiling, where the water is slowly dripping from, and then gestures towards the laminated folder keeping his leg dry. We both chuckled over how silly it was to have rain falling on you while on a train and before I got off, we exchanged smiles. We had a great conversation without any words at all.
2) The guy at the bar at Pub Trivia. You may have been more interested in the ball game and that's why you moved closer to our group, Ill pretend its because you wanted to know how on earth we were having so much fun without any beer on the table. Come next week. I'll bring you a Book of Mormon.
Oh, Metro Delays. While riding to work today we were being held at each station for 5 minutes as we got closer to the city so I decided to walk to work from Farragut North (which should have been simple). We walk out of the Metro and there is a guy playing, easily, the most beautiful (yes, beautiful) version of "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon. Different harmonies and melodies than the band uses and if I had any cash at all on me I would have given him some. It was great. Then... I got lost. I walked all over the city, back and forth, up and down... finally deciding to ask a GWU student for help. He pointed me in the right direction and then at one point... I turned the wrong way. I realized it quickly and as I am turning around I see him running towards me trying to put me on the right path again. How sweet. You don't find that often here but this kid was looking out for me. It felt nice. I made it to work, 1 hour late, but smiling because someone was nice enough to help me out.
Some other fun characters I have met on my travels:
1) The guy on the Metro Wednesday Afternoon. The train was packed. I had just gotten off another destination Grosvenor train because there was no AC and boarded another. A seat opened up after 2 stops next to a friendly looking guy. Really, he looked like Noer :). After a minute I felt some water hit me, not sure where it was coming from since I was on a train, I begin to look around. The guy next to me gives me a nod and points up to the ceiling, where the water is slowly dripping from, and then gestures towards the laminated folder keeping his leg dry. We both chuckled over how silly it was to have rain falling on you while on a train and before I got off, we exchanged smiles. We had a great conversation without any words at all.
2) The guy at the bar at Pub Trivia. You may have been more interested in the ball game and that's why you moved closer to our group, Ill pretend its because you wanted to know how on earth we were having so much fun without any beer on the table. Come next week. I'll bring you a Book of Mormon.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Music Monday
It was between THIS video (Thank you Mal G. for posting it on facebook) or Matt and Kim's Daylight. Today is a very Monday feeling day (you know how Monday can be) and this song keeps it from feeling that way. Enjoy.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Recap.
Dinner... did not turn out as planned... but it was good :)
I tried to make the Blueberry Cake the night before and.. it broke coming out of the mold. Like straight up, busted - my roomates and I enjoyed it though
The fridge was set to 7, 7 being the coldest, so the veggies for the salad were frozen.
BUT the ziti was fun to make, and the dinner/night was wonderful. We caught up over garlic knots and laughed and played a board game - it was good to catch up with good friends.
Tonights plan - Scrabble, Cookies & Biscuits before bedtime.
I tried to make the Blueberry Cake the night before and.. it broke coming out of the mold. Like straight up, busted - my roomates and I enjoyed it though
The fridge was set to 7, 7 being the coldest, so the veggies for the salad were frozen.
BUT the ziti was fun to make, and the dinner/night was wonderful. We caught up over garlic knots and laughed and played a board game - it was good to catch up with good friends.
Tonights plan - Scrabble, Cookies & Biscuits before bedtime.
Friday, July 9, 2010
The Ondricek's
Nathan and Megan OndricekMegan and I had worked at Joyful together for a year and a half when her and Nate were about to get married. J and I made the trip up and it was so worth it. I only started getting to know Nate because he was in a class of mine but he was quirky, smart, charming - perfect for Megan.
Before school got out they invited me over for dinner. Megan made an amazing Split Pea Soup with Ham, and a Salad. For desert I made strawberry shortcakes, and we almost started a fire... then we watched Emperors New Groove - It was a night!
Megan and Nate are up in DC this summer and living about 30 minutes southwest of me. Its been far too long since we have seen each other and so tomorrow we are doing dinner again! Im so excited because I get to cook for them this time and Nate will have to take the Metro for the first time, what an experience. I wanted to post somewhere what I have planned for dinner but didnt want to ruin the surprise so I chose my blog :-)
The Menu
Tossed Salad with Cukes, Tomatoes, and Peppers
Baked Ziti
with Italian Sausage, Homemade Roasted Red Peppers and Fresh Mozz
Blueberry Cake
with a Lemon Glaze
Im SO excited!!
P.S. For Iron Chef I think Becky and I are making a cake so I wanted to get a nice looking cake plate/stand, and I really wanted a ceramic baking dish, so I tripped over to Home Goods. I found a really nice cake stand for $14.99 and a teal square baking dish for $9.99... but I wanted to see what better deal I could find. I went to the sale aisle and found instead a triangular cake plate (Think Equilateral version of a Ouji Board guide) that would fit our cake for $2.00 and a navy square baking dish with a metal rack for $7.99!! I love steals like that :-)
Dear Tourists of Washington, D.C.
If you don't start listening to the announcements/picking up on the patterns that we D.C. Commuters know, love and live by - I am going to write, nay, paint a lovely poster for you so that you may realize what you are doing wrong and why we dont sympathize with you when your arm gets stuck in the Metro door.
Tips from a fully frustrated commuter:
1) When you hear the announcement that the doors are closing, or see the blinking red lights in the door way this is not, I repeat is not, the time to play daredevil and try and make the train. Chances are, there is one right behind the one you are trying to get on. If not, well get to the platform earlier next time but please, do not delay us because you have to make this train. You don't. When the door closes on your purse, your backpack, the tent that you are carrying in said backpack, (or funnier yet) your arm - We dont have much sympathy. Why? Because most likely, it is rush hour that you are doing this during so we are already in a crunch to get to our paying jobs and now the door will (hopefully for you) re open and try and close again. This is a delay. If you continue to stand in the door, it will close on you again... I just may laugh. Then I get to hear a lecture from the conductor on proper Metro door etiqitte, which doesnt make me any more thrilled that you actually made it.
2) When standing on the platform waiting for the train you probably hear an announcement that suggests (read: demands) that you allow passengers to exit the train before you enter the train. This is a safety thing, seriously. When the train stops notice that commuters part to the sides of the doors leaving you and your 8 kids & a stroller standing directly in front of the doors... and people trying to exit. When you push your kids onward this upsets/causes a hold up at the entrance of the train. When you all link arms and try to enter, you make us all upset. Move to the sides and get enter the train like the rest of us do.
3) When your card does not work to allow you in to the metro, Do not stand there and try to force your all day pass in especially during rush hour. We're just trying to get home, sometimes our cards dont work either, it happens - just step to the side or find a less crowded gate but dont hold the rest of us up.
4) Grosvenor has a silent 's'.
5) On the escalator the rule is "Stand Right, Walk Left", standing in the middle may result in a slight shove and/or language. Disclaimer: I have not shoved someone nor used language I would not use at work, but have been the witness to this ocassion many times, the general feeling on the end of the receiver is confusing because they dont know the rule. There is a pattern in all things, just look for it.
That is all I have for now. I called J to rant about this after work and he could not stop laughing. He said " I got your text, I think it said that you dislike tourists on the Metro... Do you remember that was us at one point? " Yes, dear, that was us at one point. However we stood on the right side, realized rush hour was not the time to be at the Metro but rather eating good things like METRO (Silver Diner), Cosi, and Panda Buffet, and "metro surfed" on empty cars rather ones full of people. We were the fun kind of tourists. When I see people like us running around exploring, I smile.
**I sound terribly bitter and angry. Im not. Its all in good fun, until because of your chain link family entering the Metro it is my arm/purse that gets caught ...There may be a problem.
Tips from a fully frustrated commuter:
1) When you hear the announcement that the doors are closing, or see the blinking red lights in the door way this is not, I repeat is not, the time to play daredevil and try and make the train. Chances are, there is one right behind the one you are trying to get on. If not, well get to the platform earlier next time but please, do not delay us because you have to make this train. You don't. When the door closes on your purse, your backpack, the tent that you are carrying in said backpack, (or funnier yet) your arm - We dont have much sympathy. Why? Because most likely, it is rush hour that you are doing this during so we are already in a crunch to get to our paying jobs and now the door will (hopefully for you) re open and try and close again. This is a delay. If you continue to stand in the door, it will close on you again... I just may laugh. Then I get to hear a lecture from the conductor on proper Metro door etiqitte, which doesnt make me any more thrilled that you actually made it.
2) When standing on the platform waiting for the train you probably hear an announcement that suggests (read: demands) that you allow passengers to exit the train before you enter the train. This is a safety thing, seriously. When the train stops notice that commuters part to the sides of the doors leaving you and your 8 kids & a stroller standing directly in front of the doors... and people trying to exit. When you push your kids onward this upsets/causes a hold up at the entrance of the train. When you all link arms and try to enter, you make us all upset. Move to the sides and get enter the train like the rest of us do.
3) When your card does not work to allow you in to the metro, Do not stand there and try to force your all day pass in especially during rush hour. We're just trying to get home, sometimes our cards dont work either, it happens - just step to the side or find a less crowded gate but dont hold the rest of us up.
4) Grosvenor has a silent 's'.
5) On the escalator the rule is "Stand Right, Walk Left", standing in the middle may result in a slight shove and/or language. Disclaimer: I have not shoved someone nor used language I would not use at work, but have been the witness to this ocassion many times, the general feeling on the end of the receiver is confusing because they dont know the rule. There is a pattern in all things, just look for it.
That is all I have for now. I called J to rant about this after work and he could not stop laughing. He said " I got your text, I think it said that you dislike tourists on the Metro... Do you remember that was us at one point? " Yes, dear, that was us at one point. However we stood on the right side, realized rush hour was not the time to be at the Metro but rather eating good things like METRO (Silver Diner), Cosi, and Panda Buffet, and "metro surfed" on empty cars rather ones full of people. We were the fun kind of tourists. When I see people like us running around exploring, I smile.
**I sound terribly bitter and angry. Im not. Its all in good fun, until because of your chain link family entering the Metro it is my arm/purse that gets caught ...There may be a problem.
Time to Budget
As the summer comes to an end, I am realizing just how little money I have left - and how much more I want to do/want to buy. Concert Tickets is the main thing. Ive decided that its better late than never to start a budget. Im hoping to get at least 2 concerts in out of the few that I want to go to (Maroon 5, DMB, Paramore, Kings of Leon, and Fountains of Wayne).
Did I mention I am planning on going to Italy right after graduation...? Yikes. I am the definition of a poor, college student.
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