Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Whispers

"Kelly" he whispered as he pulled my head close to his, "Can you come over today?"
I giggled as his whispers tickled my ear.
I turned my head to whisper in his ear, "I can't today, but maybe tomorrow?"
"Ok" he whispered back as he looked deeply into my eyes.
He then gave me that grin that makes women swoon, "Can we play Mario Party 8 or maybe Mario Galaxy?"

Love is...Nephews like Lance whose 5-year old whispers tickle my ear and my heart.

Shout-Out to my Lurkers

Hannah! - Because you are cool, you reading my blog makes me cool.

Katie! - You and the Ear Doctor rule too.

Amber! - So glad to discover you lurk! My blog is open for lurking or commenting whenever you wish. (Though I confess commenting makes me gladder. (I know people, I know, "more glad"!))

And to all my faithful non-lurkers, thanks for all the love throughout the year. Keep it up!

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Prom Retrospective

Lookee what I found! Inspired by Abby & Sarah's walk down prom-memory-lane, I came across my own photos from Junior & Senior proms.

Junior year (1994)...
Senior year (1995)...

I HATED this dress then, and even more so now. Can you say "Senator's Wife"?? (Though I must say I looked better at Rodney's prom than I did my own, wearing the same dress. It was all about the bad hair.) Phoebe, on the other hand, looks darling.

(See, Phoebs, a post about me can also be about you, I'm that kind of friend!)

Hurray!! or BOO!!

It seems to be a trend to "take roll" on one's blog every now and again. (This is me joining the bandwagon.)

All you lurkers out there, come one, come all and let me know you're reading so I can shout "Hurray!!" and feel the love, or "BOO!!" and feel sad and alone in this blogging world. Please comment with the following information:

1.) Name
2.) Why you love me
3.) Why you love reading my blog

Proceed.

(If you don't actually know me, or not well, feel free to replace answers to questions 2 &3 by telling me how you found my blog and why you come back to read again. Ok, that last one's still like #3. What can I say; I'm shameless.)

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Hippo Birdie Two Ewe!

Happy Birthday, Ging!
Thank you for being one of my bestest friends ever.
May this year bring you all kinds of unexpected wonderfulness!

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Hip Cooks: Chiffonade & Purple Potatoes

In honor of Ginger's upcoming birthday (#37!), to Hip Cooks we went to cook up a storm: Me, Ginger, Sarah, Brandi & Denise.


On the menu was Moroccan chicken with barley, new potato & green bean salad loaded with garlic and olive oil, salad and chocolate tarts with black raspberries and whipped cream.
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For the potato salad, we chopped garlic, cut potatoes and chifonnaded basil.

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We sauteed carrots, onions, prunes & wine for the chicken, tossed the potato salad and plated the chicken.
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After all the food was made we sat to feast and make new friends (Hello new Lurkers!).

More photos on Flickr

Friday, January 11, 2008

Food Network: Top of 2007

Food Network published their top 100 recipes of 2007, including the 10 most popular. I found it funny that although I've never watched Paula Dean's show, 2 of the 3 recipes that looked most delicious to me were all by Ms. Dean.

Baked French Toast Casserole .............. Creamy Macaroni & Cheese ............ S'more Brownies


Which recipes on the list look best to you? If you've tried any of them, please share your thoughts!

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Ladies and Gentleman, please allow me to introduce Guest Blogger Liz!

(Roaring Applause)

Yes dear readers, in case you didn't realize it, I am that bigtime that I now have guest bloggers. And since Liz had repeatedly refused creating a blog of her own, I thought mine would be the perfect forum to express her wild and zany thoughts.

First, a little about Liz...

I met Liz in the summer of '69, when me and the guys from school, we had a band and we tried real hard. Oh wait, that's Bryan Adams. Liz, Liz, Liz...Liz hails from a land far, far away, called Minnesota, then outside Chicago, then San Diego, then Azusa. That's where she lived until she moved to Pasadena, where she resided for a number of years and worked at an ad agency. Before I ever met Liz, her reputation preceded her. You see, Liz worked at this ad agency with my sister B. B would often tell me stories about Liz (all nice, I promise Liz!) and would mention that surely I must know Liz as we both attended the same church group and we both claimed involvement. It was months later that I finally met the notorious Liz.

To help you get to know Liz better, I've asked a former co-worker for their comment:
"One of the first things I remember about Liz is how she yelled at me to turn my cell phone ringer down." (As told by "Schmike," an alias)

Through our involvement at church, Liz and I became acquaintances, and then close acquaintances and then finally friends. Our membership in the same women's small group facilitated many deep and personal conversations. One of the things I appreciate most about Liz is her unfailing wit and sarcasm that contradicts her sweet-as-pie outward appearance. That girl can throw zingers that take me by surprise and make me bust a gut. If Liz didn't hail from Minnesota, then outside Chicago, then San Diego, then Azusa, then Pasadena, and now Chicago, I'd swear she was British; she has just that sense of humor.

Liz is currently the Capitan of "Team Chicago" and prays desperately each day that God would see fit to deliver me to the land of milk and mid-western boys. Liz has been seen to write many a blog post comment raving about the warm Chicago winters and the cool, balmy summers. She's also kind enough to offer me a place to stay when I visit. For more information on Liz, you can read about her in my posts here, here, here and here.

Without further adieu....Here's Liz!
***
Greetings readers of Kelly's blog! Kelly has been trying to get me to start a blog for awhile now and I keep telling her that my life is too boring for anyone to want to read about. So, she suggested I be a guest blogger so that I can get the feel of it. So, I'm writing this for Kelly to post on her blog (plus, now that she has a guest contributer, it moves her to the top ranks of blogger status....).

In talking we thought of two topics that I could blog about today.
Topic #1 - Liz's adventures at the library
Over the years I have developed the habit of purchasing books that I want to read instead of using my perfectly good library card to go to the library that has never been more than about a 10 minute walk from where I live. I would say that 80% of the time I am satisfied in my choice to purchase these books as I have enjoyed them very much and have been able to loan out my favorites to friends who have wanted to read them. Then, there's the other 20% that I either didn't enjoy, started but never finished, or have still never started a couple of years later. This year I have decided that I am going to be much more intentional about where my money goes and part of that will be to frequent my local library more often than my local bookshop (which will be hard because there's a REALLY good bookshop on my way to the library!).

Topic #2 - How to rationalize NOT going to the gym For the last couple of years, I have actually been pretty good about regularly going to the gym 3-4 times a week. I can't say that I lost huge amounts of weight or anything doing this, but I felt better about myself and that's what's important. Sometime around September of this year I got out of the habit of going and have only visited the gym about 4 times in the last 4 months! I am not bothered about this as much as I should be because in September I also joined a new gym that is MUCH cheaper (and consequently not as nice) as my old one. Now that my life has at least settled into a more predictable routine, I am trying to get back to my gym rat ways. However, I am really good at talking myself out of going. For instance, this evening. It started raining this afternoon and I have forgotten to bring my umbrella with me. So, I think to myself, I should probably go right home after work and not stop at the gym, it's raining. Somehow, in my head, it actually makes sense that it would be better to walk in the rain right after work instead of going to the gym first and having to walk in the rain after I have worked out. There is a tiny bit of logic to this thinking in that my neighborhood is very difficult to park in. If I go directly home after work, I can get a decent parking space but the later it gets, the further away from my apartment I have to park. However, we are not talking about a difference of blocks here, we are talking feet, maybe a half a block at the most. Then I also realize that I need to do laundry tonight so I should probably get home and do that. Reality is that I wouldn't start my laundry right away anyway and I'll probably get home and manage to talk myself out of doing laundry completely tonight anyway. After all, I still have clean underwear for another day or two. Hey! Maybe I should start a blog about hot to talk yourself out of doing the things that you need to be doing!
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So there you have it folks! Thanks to Liz for sharing her thoughts and her laziness with the readership and the blogging world.

Until next time, discuss amongst yourselves. Or on this blog.

Yes, Ricky, it should have been.


"Ricky revealed that he had a slight advantage on this challenge, as he’d already designed a prom dress when he was younger. 'When I had a girlfriend, I actually made her prom dress,' he told us. Then the openly gay designer joked, 'That should have been a clue right there, right?'"

(From MSNBC's Project Runway episode recap)


Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Exercise in Frustration

As frustrating as any visit to the DMV is, please allow me to reassure you that a telephone conversation with one of their call center representatives is no less capable of driving you INSANE.

My vehicle registration was due last month--specifically, December 8, 2007--and like a good girl, I mailed it in several days in advance. As of today, my tags and new registration card have yet to arrive. Curious as to why that was, I contacted the DMV and after waiting on hold for, like, FOREVER, I finally spoke with a representative who informed me that my tags were scheduled to be mailed out tomorrow. Concerned that it was because my payment was delayed in arriving to them I queried and the man insisted my payment was received on December 7. When pressed for further understanding as to this delay, the man (who sounded as though he was in a wind tunnel) sighed in frustration and stated that it shouldn't matter to me why they were being sent out late and he wouldn't know anyway as he's in a call center, so I needed to just relax and know they were being sent out tomorrow, after which he concluded, "Thank you for calling." and hung up the phone.

Jack-@$#.

I'd better not get a ticket for expired registration or I'm coming after anonymous-wind-tunnel-call-center man.

Be There or Be Square

When I read other blogs I find myself lamenting my lack of exciting or funny life. Other people seem to have the most entertaining things happen to them, worthy of posting. Yesterday I had to ask myself, "Is it really that their life is all that funny or am I just not adept at describing the inane details of my life in a witty way?" Probably the latter though I do believe that one blogger in particular is blessed to have both a way with words AND hilarity in her life. Case in point is found here.

If you haven't found Dooce, run, don't walk (or click really, really fast on the links) and work you way back. There's plenty to keep you entertained at work home.

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

I can't decide!

I cannot for the life of me figure out if this is real.

What do you think? I've read places it is real and other places he's lip-synching. It's driving me crazy not being able to confirm it!

PS. Hearing this song took me waaaaaaaaaaayyy back to my junior year boyfriend Bart. We saw this when it came out at El Capitan. It was our song. Young love. (Well, I was young. He was less young; 20 to my 16.)

PPS. (& for further evidence) Nick singing Little Mermaid's "Part of Your World" took me back to the summer between 7th & 8th grade when Kelly and I watched the movie so many times (while stringing our beads to make bracelets and necklaces) I had the entire movie dialogue memorized. (I bet that's in the recesses of my brain somewhere, taking up space. No wonder I can't remember anything now.) And that same summer I got a note from a boy at church, Caleb (who, a few years later, tragically died of a brain aneurism), who said he liked me and knowing I liked Little Mermaid, wrote some of the lyrics in the note that expressed how he felt. I don't remember them now but I was so embarrassed I ripped up the note in front of my girlfriends and flushed it down the toilet. "Memories! All alone in the moonlight!"

Monday, January 07, 2008

You're Killing me, Larry!

Upon my return from lunch I saw that I had received a new email at my Gmail address, which I've only given to grad schools for communication about my applications. The subject line read: Potential Interview for Psy.D. Program. My heart leapt in my chest as I scrambled to click on the message, growing quickly frustrated as it took several seconds for the page to load with the new message.

All this anxiety only
to discover it was a reply to an email I'd sent to Pacific (in Portland) regarding my preference for an interview date should I get one, which they'd asked I do "just in case".


I sighed the sigh of only those awaiting big news via email can sigh when they realize the email they thought they were about to read was in fact only something inane or random.

I sat back, frustrated, yet resigned to wait another several weeks before word came.

And then it happened again...

A mere 3 minutes ago I was notified of yet another email; this time from DU (University of Denver). There was no subject line for the email so all that initially showed was the first line of the email, which read "We are pleased to inform you..." leaving me to once again scramble to open the message to discover what they were so pleased to inform me of. All the stress and anxiety once again, only to discover that they were pleased to inform me that my "admissions file has been forwarded on to the appropriate department for review" and I should contact that department should I have any questions as to the status of my application.

Seriously, people! You're killing me!!

I do believe my hair will start to grey before all this waiting and anticipating is over.

Lunchtime Craving: Puffed Oven Pancake*

There was a family with two girls my sisters and I swam with when we were young. When we would have sleepovers their mom would make what she called German Pancake. This puffed-on-the-sides, eggy yet firm bottom, sprinkled with powdered sugar and drizzled with maple syrup was...YUM.


I would often think longingly of this breakfast treat until the day I discovered Betty Crocker had a recipe for a "Puffed Oven Pancake" that was almost exactly as I remembered Mrs. Fox's German Pancake.


At work this morning I was struck with an overwhelming craving for the non-sweet pancake mixed with the sweetness of the sugar and syrup. Rather than eat the lunch that I'd brought with me to work, I headed home to make this instead.

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My intended lunch will work just fine for dinner.

Puffed Oven Pancake*
2 Tb Butter
2 Eggs
1/2 c Flour
1/2 C Milk
1/4 tsp Salt
Round cake or pie pan

Preheat oven to 425 F. Place butter in pan and into oven for 4 minutes, or until melted and bubbling. In the meantime, for the batter, combine eggs, flower, milk & salt and beat until well combined. Remove pan with melted butter from oven and pour batter into the pan. Return the pan to the oven and bake for approximately 17-20 minutes, or until sides are puffed high and a light golden brown. Pancake will deflate some upon removal from the oven, so sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve immediately with syrup. Fresh or pureed berries would also be delicious in place of the syrup.

Serves 2-3 (or 1 depending on how generous you are willing to be!) for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Or whenever the craving strikes you.

* To Whom it May Concern: This recipe was adapted from Betty Crocker's online recipe for "Mediterranean Oven Pancake" which contained the basic recipe for Puffed Oven Pancake (sans Mediterranean vegetables). At this time I cannot verify whether this is the same exact recipe I've made since I rediscovered this childhood favorite, as my 10+ year old copy of Betty Crocker's cookbook is packed away in a box and the latest edition does not have this recipe. (For shame!) Yours truly, with no plagiarism motives, Kelly R.S.

My umbrella & I went for a walk in the rain.


Inspired to practice my photo taking skills regardless of the camera I'm using, I went for a walk in the rain this afternoon.


And then I came inside to play with contrast and saturation.



Saturday, January 05, 2008

So long, Farewell (Another one bites the dust)

It really is rather strange how many peeps from my posse are moving on to new and far away places. Last night brought a "So long, Farewell" soiree in honor of Julia who transplanted to Cali from Michigan 10 or so years ago. Today she returns to the land of Michiganders for an 18-month stint in the classroom followed by 2 years in the Peace Corps in an as yet undetermined international location.

Befitting her star status, she was celebrated with her name on the Walk of Fame and the city lights and palm trees surrounding her. Charlyn and I braved the torential rains to honor our friend and former fellow small group member. But she's worth it.

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Ah, Jules, you'll be missed!

Friday, January 04, 2008

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I'm uninspired right now. I'll return when I have something interesting to say or share.

(Which, now that I've said that, will probably be this afternoon.)

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Another Year, Another New Year's Eve in bed before midnight

I spent the afternoon helping Charlyn make appetizers for a shindig she was attending and then the rest of the evening with the Rydmans, recently returned from Christmas in Oregon.

Rama cooked a scrumptious meal (with homemade rolls!) and a delicious lemon & blackberry cake/pudding-esque dessert.

Our plan was to toast the New Year, New York time, but 9pm came and went as we chatted and Dave and Raja entertained us with some tunes on the piano. But not to worry, we toasted belatedly with some very lovely champagne.

It was my plan to ring in the New Year with Kir and the kiddos but alas, driving home I was overcome with sleapiness, the likes of which I knew would not abate. And so to my bed I went, content and cozy to sleep the new year in.

As calm and peaceful as this New Year's Eve was, I look forward to the crazy madness of moving and starting grad school this year. Now if only I knew where I was going...!!