Yeah, I know. I’m the worst. I’ve been gone a really long time, and rest assured, I’ve been quite busy. I’ve considered giving up the blogging thing – I’m just not that good at it. I used to be… I used to have a Livejournal that I kept going for years and years until I caught on that my mom had found out about it. That was the end of the LJ. And of course I’ve Myspace-d and Facebook-ed myself silly. But a real blog just seemed like the next practical step. Plus, I’m sort of addicted to reading food blogs. Like, read them continually during the day at work, check for updates on my phone, and then check again at night before I go to sleep. Every day. So I thought I’d create a nice little bloggy of my own… except I had nothing to write about! Let’s face it – my life is hardly interesting. The most exotic thing I do is go to Whole Foods about once a month. So really, if I have nothing to write about, why blog?
These are the thoughts that have plagued me for the past month or so while I wasn’t blogging. I considered just giving up the blog. But then I thought again and decided that I should maybe keep it, and someday maybe I’ll have something interesting to write about. I just need to find my niche. Is it food? Pittsburgh? Volleyball? Trader Joe’s? Crazy people at the gym? Perhaps I’ll figure it all out some day and come back. But until then, consider this my “summer vacation.” It might last longer than the summer… or it might just last until tonight. If anyone has any ideas, or has any thoughts on what I should write about, by all means, let me know.
Thanks!
5.28.2009
4.20.2009
Drivin away from the wreck of the day and the light's always red in the rearview
Holy crap, what a way to start the day!
The bad luck from my last post continued this weekend and into this morning, but luckily nothing absolutely disastrous happened… but disaster was just barely avoided. I’ll start with the good weekend stuff first, though:
Friday after work I went to Trashmart to buy the pretty red bike I’d been eyeing up for a few weeks… except they didn’t have it in stock! I was getting a bike this weekend no matter what it took, so I changed my disappointed sourpuss face into my hopeful face and bought a 2-bike trunk rack for my car. Since I had cleaned out/eaten about ¾ of the contents of my freezer over the past few months and since Trashmart has really cheap frozen Kashi/Healthy Choice/Lean Cuisine meals and paninis, I splurged and decided to stock up. When I got to the register, the total came to exactly $100.00. (The bike rack was about $40… and the food I got will last me for a looooong time) You’d think such a perfect number would be a sign of good things to come… and in a sense it was because Saturday I went on the great 2009 bike hunt through Monroeville!
I woke up early on Saturday and made a HUGE batch of juice for the upcoming week’s smoothies – celery, carrots, apples, oranges, grapefruits, pineapple, mangoes, grapes, strawberries, cantaloupe, and kiwis. This mixture will be combined with bananas, raspberries, blueberries, more mangoes, spinach, and protein powder for super smoothies. It seems funny to me, and I know other people have discovered the same thing, but I feel much more awake when I have my super smoothies in the morning – they wake me up way more than coffee or tea, and I almost never crave sweets now. Plus, I just feel absolutely amazing when I drink them and they’re super yummy! They don’t taste AT ALL like veggies (I even made some people at work try the mix, against their better judgment… they readily agreed that they’re awesome!), and the carrot and celery add a very subtle sweetness to the smoothies.
Anyways, back to Saturday. I had big plans for the day since it was GORGEOUS outside. I went to the gym, ran for the first time in weeks since my knee’s been killing me, lifted weights like a bodybuilder; and then made the bike circuit. First up was Target, where I found my original second choice – a women’s Schwinn Jaguar bike for $149.99. This bike is nice and it caries two reputable names – Schwinn and Jaguar. Plus, I thought it’d be cool to say I bought a Jaguar this weekend… but the consumer reviews weren’t so awesome. Determined to find my first choice and to not make any hasty decisions, I then went to Dick’s and Dunham’s. Dick’s was terrible since their cheapest bike was on sale for $229… Dunham’s just didn’t have much of a selection at all… and then I realized I’d forgotten about Kmart! Why not? What does it hurt to look? Well, good thing I did, because I found the winner of the day. Ladies and Gentlemen, my new best friend is a… Kent Glendale CS Comfort Cruiser bike. It’s a really pretty blue, a cruiser, has 7 gears, a comfy seat, and got better consumer reviews than the Jaguar bike. Plus, it was the same price… and I was already in Kmart and didn’t feel like going back to Target…
I made my way home and went on a short inaugural bike ride around the neighborhood… then came back, mowed what felt like 5 miles of uphill grass (over 1 hour of mowing at a HR of 170!!), and went for another quickie spin around the nabe… then came back, got a drink of water, adjusted the handlebars/seat/reflectors/gears to my liking (normal people would have done all that BEFORE riding it), then went for another longer ride around Wilkins Twp and Turtle Creek. I LOVE my bike!! It’s so comfy and smooth, and it doesn’t feel like I have to try as hard to ride it as I had to with the old crappy hand-me-down bike.
Needless to say, with all the running/lifting/shopping/riding/cutting/riding/riding, I’d worked up quite an appetite. I made my first-ever batch of baked penne, complete with ricotta (my dad hates ricotta, so I never get the real thing at my parents’ house), fresh mozzarella, and garlic bread fashioned out of garlic foccaccia. The penne was good, but nothing too special. The garlic bread, on the other hand, was incredible. I could have easily made a meal out of just that, but I restrained myself and froze most of the rest. I can’t wait till I have it again!
Sunday was a dreary day (thank goodness we had at least one nice day for the weekend!), so I used it to gourmandize my breakfast. I made apple-grapefruit-orange juice, coffee, cinnamon-nutmeg French toast out of the leftover Easter bread from my grandma’s, turkey bacon, and freshly-sliced homefries with green peppers. YUM! Don’t worry, as I do with most of my Sunday breakfast splurges, I only ate about half (less than half, actually) and saved the rest for this morning’s breakfast and lunch. It was all really good, but the star was definitely the homefries with peppers. I don’t normally bother with peppers simply because I don’t usually have them on hand… and it just doesn’t seem worth it to take the time to wash them and cut them when I’m doing a gazillion other things. Lucky for me, Lisa from work had heard me talking about my juice extractor and wordlessly dropped a huge bag of chopped veggies onto my desk one day this past week. I used the carrots and celery sticks in my weekly juice blend and was able to use up the already-chopped green peppers in my homefries. I still have mushrooms and cauliflower if anyone wants them… I don’t like either one.
After indulging in my extravagant breakfast, I relaxed and went to work on clearing up the memory on my computer. When I was home for Easter, my aunt and uncle had said something about me using their digital copies of DVDs they had since they didn’t want them. I went over to their house to load them onto my computer, but had to stop with 2 movies to go because my computer was mysteriously out of memory… even though it shouldn’t have been. So when I finally sat down to check it all out, I noticed I had my iTunes and iPhoto stuff in about 3 different places – not necessary. I copied everything to my external HD for back-up (that needed done anyways – it had been over a year!) and set about deleting a bunch of duplicates. Also, I put my new movies on DVDs, although I can only use them in my computer since they’re data DVDs. I don’t understand how all of that works, but oh well. I’m proud to say that I now have over 24 GB free on my computer, so I’m free to download as much as I like (for a while)! I think I did screw something up, though – when I went to update my iPod with a new playlist, the computer told me neither the computer nor the iPod was authorized to play anything I’d downloaded from iTunes. What?! Luckily, most of the stuff I listen to wasn’t downloaded from iTunes, but still. What on earth? I tried to authorize the computer, but it wouldn’t let me… so who knows what I did to it… Any ideas?
Last night I made my way to the gym for Sunday night volleyball and for once, I played like a demon! My serves were great, my passes and sets were good, and I even got a few hits in! And not just dinky “accidental” hits, but real full-on solid hits! Approach, swing, and everything! It was AWESOME! However, once I got home, I noticed that my knee was hurting a LOT, so I’ve been trying to rest it as much as possible before tonight’s game.
On my way in to work, I VERY NARROWLY avoided disaster/death. I was on the stretch of Penn Ave in Wilkinsburg practically right in front of the Wendy’s, driving in the right lane when a few cars up someone in the left lane wanted to turn into Wendy’s. I was literally right beside a huge black SUV when out of the blue the SUV driver decided he didn’t want to wait for someone to turn, so he came into my lane – WHILE I WAS STILL RIGHT BESIDE HIM! With no time to think, I swerved completely onto the curb and almost hit a phone pole. There’s so much traffic on that road during rush hour that any sane person would have known there was someone beside them and that they’d have to wait and look before moving into another lane. When I got off the curb and back onto the road, the SUV was still in front of me and I got a spectacular look at his license plate before he swerved in front of someone else – so if you see anyone driving around Pittsburgh in a black SUV with the license plate “MIRACLE” (or maybe it was “MIRACL”… I can’t remember if it had the “E” at the end… nice license plate, I guess this person realizes it’s a miracle they’re still alive?), feel free to show them that they’re #1, if you know what I’m saying.
When I got to work, I inspected my car just to be sure there wasn’t any damage, and my wheels/tires are all sorts of screwed up on the passenger side. I called my mom, who’s also my insurance agent, and she told me there wasn’t any point in submitting a claim since I have a deductible. And I’m pretty sure that since there wasn’t a real “accident,” the police wouldn’t be able to do anything. Still, what a jerk. What a way to start the day…
On the bright side, when I have a bad start to the day, I usually have a spectacular night at volleyball… so I’m hoping that’s the case tonight. Our game’s in Greenfield/Squirrel Hill instead of Downtown tonight, so win or lose (ahem, WIN!), we’re treating ourselves to Mineo’s for some pizza after the game! I think I’m almost as excited for dinner as I am for our game!
Here’s hoping your day is/was a lot better than mine!
The bad luck from my last post continued this weekend and into this morning, but luckily nothing absolutely disastrous happened… but disaster was just barely avoided. I’ll start with the good weekend stuff first, though:
Friday after work I went to Trashmart to buy the pretty red bike I’d been eyeing up for a few weeks… except they didn’t have it in stock! I was getting a bike this weekend no matter what it took, so I changed my disappointed sourpuss face into my hopeful face and bought a 2-bike trunk rack for my car. Since I had cleaned out/eaten about ¾ of the contents of my freezer over the past few months and since Trashmart has really cheap frozen Kashi/Healthy Choice/Lean Cuisine meals and paninis, I splurged and decided to stock up. When I got to the register, the total came to exactly $100.00. (The bike rack was about $40… and the food I got will last me for a looooong time) You’d think such a perfect number would be a sign of good things to come… and in a sense it was because Saturday I went on the great 2009 bike hunt through Monroeville!
I woke up early on Saturday and made a HUGE batch of juice for the upcoming week’s smoothies – celery, carrots, apples, oranges, grapefruits, pineapple, mangoes, grapes, strawberries, cantaloupe, and kiwis. This mixture will be combined with bananas, raspberries, blueberries, more mangoes, spinach, and protein powder for super smoothies. It seems funny to me, and I know other people have discovered the same thing, but I feel much more awake when I have my super smoothies in the morning – they wake me up way more than coffee or tea, and I almost never crave sweets now. Plus, I just feel absolutely amazing when I drink them and they’re super yummy! They don’t taste AT ALL like veggies (I even made some people at work try the mix, against their better judgment… they readily agreed that they’re awesome!), and the carrot and celery add a very subtle sweetness to the smoothies.
Anyways, back to Saturday. I had big plans for the day since it was GORGEOUS outside. I went to the gym, ran for the first time in weeks since my knee’s been killing me, lifted weights like a bodybuilder; and then made the bike circuit. First up was Target, where I found my original second choice – a women’s Schwinn Jaguar bike for $149.99. This bike is nice and it caries two reputable names – Schwinn and Jaguar. Plus, I thought it’d be cool to say I bought a Jaguar this weekend… but the consumer reviews weren’t so awesome. Determined to find my first choice and to not make any hasty decisions, I then went to Dick’s and Dunham’s. Dick’s was terrible since their cheapest bike was on sale for $229… Dunham’s just didn’t have much of a selection at all… and then I realized I’d forgotten about Kmart! Why not? What does it hurt to look? Well, good thing I did, because I found the winner of the day. Ladies and Gentlemen, my new best friend is a… Kent Glendale CS Comfort Cruiser bike. It’s a really pretty blue, a cruiser, has 7 gears, a comfy seat, and got better consumer reviews than the Jaguar bike. Plus, it was the same price… and I was already in Kmart and didn’t feel like going back to Target…
I made my way home and went on a short inaugural bike ride around the neighborhood… then came back, mowed what felt like 5 miles of uphill grass (over 1 hour of mowing at a HR of 170!!), and went for another quickie spin around the nabe… then came back, got a drink of water, adjusted the handlebars/seat/reflectors/gears to my liking (normal people would have done all that BEFORE riding it), then went for another longer ride around Wilkins Twp and Turtle Creek. I LOVE my bike!! It’s so comfy and smooth, and it doesn’t feel like I have to try as hard to ride it as I had to with the old crappy hand-me-down bike.
Needless to say, with all the running/lifting/shopping/riding/cutting/riding/riding, I’d worked up quite an appetite. I made my first-ever batch of baked penne, complete with ricotta (my dad hates ricotta, so I never get the real thing at my parents’ house), fresh mozzarella, and garlic bread fashioned out of garlic foccaccia. The penne was good, but nothing too special. The garlic bread, on the other hand, was incredible. I could have easily made a meal out of just that, but I restrained myself and froze most of the rest. I can’t wait till I have it again!
Sunday was a dreary day (thank goodness we had at least one nice day for the weekend!), so I used it to gourmandize my breakfast. I made apple-grapefruit-orange juice, coffee, cinnamon-nutmeg French toast out of the leftover Easter bread from my grandma’s, turkey bacon, and freshly-sliced homefries with green peppers. YUM! Don’t worry, as I do with most of my Sunday breakfast splurges, I only ate about half (less than half, actually) and saved the rest for this morning’s breakfast and lunch. It was all really good, but the star was definitely the homefries with peppers. I don’t normally bother with peppers simply because I don’t usually have them on hand… and it just doesn’t seem worth it to take the time to wash them and cut them when I’m doing a gazillion other things. Lucky for me, Lisa from work had heard me talking about my juice extractor and wordlessly dropped a huge bag of chopped veggies onto my desk one day this past week. I used the carrots and celery sticks in my weekly juice blend and was able to use up the already-chopped green peppers in my homefries. I still have mushrooms and cauliflower if anyone wants them… I don’t like either one.
After indulging in my extravagant breakfast, I relaxed and went to work on clearing up the memory on my computer. When I was home for Easter, my aunt and uncle had said something about me using their digital copies of DVDs they had since they didn’t want them. I went over to their house to load them onto my computer, but had to stop with 2 movies to go because my computer was mysteriously out of memory… even though it shouldn’t have been. So when I finally sat down to check it all out, I noticed I had my iTunes and iPhoto stuff in about 3 different places – not necessary. I copied everything to my external HD for back-up (that needed done anyways – it had been over a year!) and set about deleting a bunch of duplicates. Also, I put my new movies on DVDs, although I can only use them in my computer since they’re data DVDs. I don’t understand how all of that works, but oh well. I’m proud to say that I now have over 24 GB free on my computer, so I’m free to download as much as I like (for a while)! I think I did screw something up, though – when I went to update my iPod with a new playlist, the computer told me neither the computer nor the iPod was authorized to play anything I’d downloaded from iTunes. What?! Luckily, most of the stuff I listen to wasn’t downloaded from iTunes, but still. What on earth? I tried to authorize the computer, but it wouldn’t let me… so who knows what I did to it… Any ideas?
Last night I made my way to the gym for Sunday night volleyball and for once, I played like a demon! My serves were great, my passes and sets were good, and I even got a few hits in! And not just dinky “accidental” hits, but real full-on solid hits! Approach, swing, and everything! It was AWESOME! However, once I got home, I noticed that my knee was hurting a LOT, so I’ve been trying to rest it as much as possible before tonight’s game.
On my way in to work, I VERY NARROWLY avoided disaster/death. I was on the stretch of Penn Ave in Wilkinsburg practically right in front of the Wendy’s, driving in the right lane when a few cars up someone in the left lane wanted to turn into Wendy’s. I was literally right beside a huge black SUV when out of the blue the SUV driver decided he didn’t want to wait for someone to turn, so he came into my lane – WHILE I WAS STILL RIGHT BESIDE HIM! With no time to think, I swerved completely onto the curb and almost hit a phone pole. There’s so much traffic on that road during rush hour that any sane person would have known there was someone beside them and that they’d have to wait and look before moving into another lane. When I got off the curb and back onto the road, the SUV was still in front of me and I got a spectacular look at his license plate before he swerved in front of someone else – so if you see anyone driving around Pittsburgh in a black SUV with the license plate “MIRACLE” (or maybe it was “MIRACL”… I can’t remember if it had the “E” at the end… nice license plate, I guess this person realizes it’s a miracle they’re still alive?), feel free to show them that they’re #1, if you know what I’m saying.
When I got to work, I inspected my car just to be sure there wasn’t any damage, and my wheels/tires are all sorts of screwed up on the passenger side. I called my mom, who’s also my insurance agent, and she told me there wasn’t any point in submitting a claim since I have a deductible. And I’m pretty sure that since there wasn’t a real “accident,” the police wouldn’t be able to do anything. Still, what a jerk. What a way to start the day…
On the bright side, when I have a bad start to the day, I usually have a spectacular night at volleyball… so I’m hoping that’s the case tonight. Our game’s in Greenfield/Squirrel Hill instead of Downtown tonight, so win or lose (ahem, WIN!), we’re treating ourselves to Mineo’s for some pizza after the game! I think I’m almost as excited for dinner as I am for our game!
Here’s hoping your day is/was a lot better than mine!
4.17.2009
The Ting Tings
Holy crap, I just checked out City Paper and The Ting Tings are coming to Mr. Smalls on May 16! Anyone wanna go?! :)
I am a little bit insecure, a little unconfident...
I TOTALLY jinxed myself yesterday. And the bad luck hasn’t worn off since.
So I was really hyped up for our game yesterday… I was totally ready to go and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a ball. I got to the games super-early – early enough to watch the entire match of the teams before us, hoping that maybe one of the teams would be short a player and need me to step in. They weren’t, but this gave me extra time to mentally prepare myself… we warmed up a little and then we started playing. I was the first server for our team and my first couple serves were spot-on… and then suddenly I biffed it. I missed a serve. After I said yesterday that I haven’t missed a serve since starting the comp league… ugh. Luckily, I only missed one serve of the night. But the rest of my game was just really off. My sets were decent; in fact, everyone was complimenting my sets all night. Some of my passes were horrible, though, and the few times that I tried to get a hit in, I hit the ball out of bounds. I remarked early in the first game that it seemed like everything was moving in slow-motion. I guess it’s because we all play in the competitive league, too, where the games are much faster-paced and skillful. It’s like we forgot to play slowly – and the saying that you play to the level of your competition is totally true. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the only one having a bad game day – we all screwed up a few times and we all felt like everything was off and in slow-mo. We lost the first game, but came back to win the other 2 for the match. Plus, we met another one of our players, Fawn. She seems really awesome and I’m already comfortable around her. So we still have one more player to meet, and I’m not even sure what her name is. Theoretically, I’ll find out next week… if she shows up. This is good, though – we technically have 7 people on our team but only 6 are allowed on the court at any one time. So if someone always misses a game, no one ever has to sit out!
To continue my bad luck, my car is literally running on fumes and the little “low fuel” dinger dinged at me for the first time ever this morning on the way into work, startling me so much that I almost went through my windshield trying to stop and not hit a #1 Cochran truck. Luckily I stopped in time, but it was way too close. Last night when I got home, I grabbed my mail and part of it slipped out from between the sheets of an Ulta ad and fell into a big muddy puddle. And I keep dropping things. Chronically. Like, I can’t keep anything at all in between my mitts. Oh, and my mystery knee injury is in full swing pain-wise after last night’s awful vb game… even though I played so horribly there should be no reason for pain.
Oh well. I guess you can’t win them all… I just hope the bad luck stops before it gets ridiculous.
So I was really hyped up for our game yesterday… I was totally ready to go and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a ball. I got to the games super-early – early enough to watch the entire match of the teams before us, hoping that maybe one of the teams would be short a player and need me to step in. They weren’t, but this gave me extra time to mentally prepare myself… we warmed up a little and then we started playing. I was the first server for our team and my first couple serves were spot-on… and then suddenly I biffed it. I missed a serve. After I said yesterday that I haven’t missed a serve since starting the comp league… ugh. Luckily, I only missed one serve of the night. But the rest of my game was just really off. My sets were decent; in fact, everyone was complimenting my sets all night. Some of my passes were horrible, though, and the few times that I tried to get a hit in, I hit the ball out of bounds. I remarked early in the first game that it seemed like everything was moving in slow-motion. I guess it’s because we all play in the competitive league, too, where the games are much faster-paced and skillful. It’s like we forgot to play slowly – and the saying that you play to the level of your competition is totally true. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the only one having a bad game day – we all screwed up a few times and we all felt like everything was off and in slow-mo. We lost the first game, but came back to win the other 2 for the match. Plus, we met another one of our players, Fawn. She seems really awesome and I’m already comfortable around her. So we still have one more player to meet, and I’m not even sure what her name is. Theoretically, I’ll find out next week… if she shows up. This is good, though – we technically have 7 people on our team but only 6 are allowed on the court at any one time. So if someone always misses a game, no one ever has to sit out!
To continue my bad luck, my car is literally running on fumes and the little “low fuel” dinger dinged at me for the first time ever this morning on the way into work, startling me so much that I almost went through my windshield trying to stop and not hit a #1 Cochran truck. Luckily I stopped in time, but it was way too close. Last night when I got home, I grabbed my mail and part of it slipped out from between the sheets of an Ulta ad and fell into a big muddy puddle. And I keep dropping things. Chronically. Like, I can’t keep anything at all in between my mitts. Oh, and my mystery knee injury is in full swing pain-wise after last night’s awful vb game… even though I played so horribly there should be no reason for pain.
Oh well. I guess you can’t win them all… I just hope the bad luck stops before it gets ridiculous.
4.16.2009
I'll miss the catch if they throw me the ball, I'm the last chick standing up against the wall
Hiya!!
I’m super hyper and excited for tonight’s volleyball game! It’s funny that we’re in the 4th week and I still don’t have any idea who 2 of our players are… then again, we’ve only played one game since we had a bye the first week and last week was canceled. It’s like I CRAVE playing vb sometimes – this morning I kept moving my fingers like I was setting the ball and I keep trying to pass the tennis ball on my desk (note: this doesn’t work well). I’m really digging the competitive league and I think playing in it actually makes me want to play even MORE. I was stoked on Monday when I was in the middle of a long serving streak and the other team had to call a time-out because I am invincible. Ok, I’m not, but it feels that way sometimes. I don’t know that I’ve missed a serve at all since starting the competitive league!
Anyways, that’s enough about VB for this post – I’m sure everyone’s tired of hearing about it. :)
Last night “the boy” and I went to The Rivertowne Pour House (or the “Whore House” as Natalie seems to think it’s called) to celebrate his birthday. His bday was Tuesday (he’s now 29!) and mine’s next Thursday (the 23rd… I’ll be a ripe old 27!). We ordered a homemade pretzel with “beer mustard” to start and Wow-ee! That was some HOT mustard! It was awesome, though, and really helped to clean out my sinuses. If I’d been with my parents I would’ve totally kept the uneaten mustard to take home… but I feel like that’s maybe bad date behavior, so I restrained myself. For dinner I ordered “The Pacino,” which was basically a hot Italian sandwich – per their website, “Thick sliced Italian bread with grilled pepperoni, salami and cappicola, roasted red peppers and sliced banana peppers, then covered with melted provolone cheese, lettuce, tomato, onions and Italian dressing.” Minus the tomato and lettuce for me. I love lettuce, but for some reason I don’t like it on hot sandwiches. This sandwich was truly AMAZING. The meat was pleasantly crispy and I think the banana peppers were what “made” it. I ate half of it last night and ate the other half for lunch today – soooooo good. Our beverage selections included (mine): the new pomegranate ale (yum!) and “White Lightning” (meh… a Belgian white beer with coriander, oranges, and mystery spices… I don’t think I’m really into spiced beer) and (his): Pierced East Coast Stout (yum! Similar to Guinness and/or Black Out Stout) and Cartman’s Celtic Red (super yum! The best beer of the night, I think!). I was really happy with this place and I’m excited to go back!
Last week we had a quick dinner at Carl’s on Rt 22 – if you’re not familiar with the area, Carl’s looks like a huge DIVE. It just doesn’t look nice at all from the outside. And to be honest, I’ve been a little intimidated to go there – it seems like the kind of place where dirty old men hang out waiting for cute young girls to mistakenly walk into their lair so they can take them out back and have their way with them… but Carl’s was truly INCREDIBLE! There weren’t that many old men, and actually, there were a bunch of families/middle-aged couples having dinner while we were there. Their beer is relatively cheap (depending on what you get) and the food was ridonkulously yummy! I got their version of a chicken cheesesteak and I was immediately in love. Words can’t accurately describe it. It was just lovely. I’ve only previously had chicken cheesesteaks from Uncle Sam’s and Peppi’s (Uncle Sam’s being the clear victor of the two), but now Uncle Sam’s has some real competition. Just writing about it makes me want to go back. Ugh, and now I’m hungry…
Oh, and of all the awesome things to find at work, I found a package of the new Pepperidge Farms Fruit & Grain Cherry Pomegranate Bagels on my seat today when I came in! How exciting! So a big thanks to Lori for the early birthday present! Guess what’s up to bat for tomorrow’s breakfast! :)
That’s pretty much all I have time for today – I’m heading to WholePaycheck Foods to see if they still have mangoes on sale, then it’s off to the Rec Center to PLAY BALL!
Have a great Friday!
I’m super hyper and excited for tonight’s volleyball game! It’s funny that we’re in the 4th week and I still don’t have any idea who 2 of our players are… then again, we’ve only played one game since we had a bye the first week and last week was canceled. It’s like I CRAVE playing vb sometimes – this morning I kept moving my fingers like I was setting the ball and I keep trying to pass the tennis ball on my desk (note: this doesn’t work well). I’m really digging the competitive league and I think playing in it actually makes me want to play even MORE. I was stoked on Monday when I was in the middle of a long serving streak and the other team had to call a time-out because I am invincible. Ok, I’m not, but it feels that way sometimes. I don’t know that I’ve missed a serve at all since starting the competitive league!
Anyways, that’s enough about VB for this post – I’m sure everyone’s tired of hearing about it. :)
Last night “the boy” and I went to The Rivertowne Pour House (or the “Whore House” as Natalie seems to think it’s called) to celebrate his birthday. His bday was Tuesday (he’s now 29!) and mine’s next Thursday (the 23rd… I’ll be a ripe old 27!). We ordered a homemade pretzel with “beer mustard” to start and Wow-ee! That was some HOT mustard! It was awesome, though, and really helped to clean out my sinuses. If I’d been with my parents I would’ve totally kept the uneaten mustard to take home… but I feel like that’s maybe bad date behavior, so I restrained myself. For dinner I ordered “The Pacino,” which was basically a hot Italian sandwich – per their website, “Thick sliced Italian bread with grilled pepperoni, salami and cappicola, roasted red peppers and sliced banana peppers, then covered with melted provolone cheese, lettuce, tomato, onions and Italian dressing.” Minus the tomato and lettuce for me. I love lettuce, but for some reason I don’t like it on hot sandwiches. This sandwich was truly AMAZING. The meat was pleasantly crispy and I think the banana peppers were what “made” it. I ate half of it last night and ate the other half for lunch today – soooooo good. Our beverage selections included (mine): the new pomegranate ale (yum!) and “White Lightning” (meh… a Belgian white beer with coriander, oranges, and mystery spices… I don’t think I’m really into spiced beer) and (his): Pierced East Coast Stout (yum! Similar to Guinness and/or Black Out Stout) and Cartman’s Celtic Red (super yum! The best beer of the night, I think!). I was really happy with this place and I’m excited to go back!
Last week we had a quick dinner at Carl’s on Rt 22 – if you’re not familiar with the area, Carl’s looks like a huge DIVE. It just doesn’t look nice at all from the outside. And to be honest, I’ve been a little intimidated to go there – it seems like the kind of place where dirty old men hang out waiting for cute young girls to mistakenly walk into their lair so they can take them out back and have their way with them… but Carl’s was truly INCREDIBLE! There weren’t that many old men, and actually, there were a bunch of families/middle-aged couples having dinner while we were there. Their beer is relatively cheap (depending on what you get) and the food was ridonkulously yummy! I got their version of a chicken cheesesteak and I was immediately in love. Words can’t accurately describe it. It was just lovely. I’ve only previously had chicken cheesesteaks from Uncle Sam’s and Peppi’s (Uncle Sam’s being the clear victor of the two), but now Uncle Sam’s has some real competition. Just writing about it makes me want to go back. Ugh, and now I’m hungry…
Oh, and of all the awesome things to find at work, I found a package of the new Pepperidge Farms Fruit & Grain Cherry Pomegranate Bagels on my seat today when I came in! How exciting! So a big thanks to Lori for the early birthday present! Guess what’s up to bat for tomorrow’s breakfast! :)
That’s pretty much all I have time for today – I’m heading to WholePaycheck Foods to see if they still have mangoes on sale, then it’s off to the Rec Center to PLAY BALL!
Have a great Friday!
4.13.2009
Fruit Machine
Awesome, awesome weekend. How about a re-cap?
Our volleyball game on Thurs was canceled due to the processions for the fallen police officers, so I had the first evening of my long weekend free for a movie. I rented Bolt at the Redbox and was really pathetically excited to watch it. There were a lot of “awwww!”s and “oh my gosh he’s so CUTE!”s coming from my living room, but really I wasn’t too keen on the movie itself. Bolt was pretty stinkin cute, but the movie just didn’t do it for me.
Friday I woke up early with all intentions of going to the gym, but my bed was just too comfy. I got a shower, made a green monster smoothie, and was on the road by 11. My mom and I had planned on going to my favorite lunch restaurant, but they were closed for Good Friday. :( However, we went to another good place and I had something I’d been craving for weeks – hot bacon dressing. Yum, yum, yum! Dinner was a local fish fry (I got the baked), the first and last of the season for me!
Saturday was my absolute fave breakfast – a Belgian waffle from King’s. I am in love with these. These would spell trouble for me if I had a King’s really close by and I had money to burn. Lunch was leftovers from Friday’s dinner (my eyes were MUCH bigger than my stomach), and dinner was steak and baked potatoes. I’m not big on steak (or red meat in general), but every now and then I’m ok with it. However, this steak was HUGE and I started to feel a little sick about halfway through. I persisted, though, and finished everything.
Easter Sunday was an extended family breakfast at a new place near our house – I got a “French toast sandwich”: 2 slices of French toast, sausage patties, eggs (egg whites for me – yolks are gross!), and a slice of cheese, all arranged like a sandwich with awesome homefries on the side. I can’t remember the last time I couldn’t finish my breakfast – but yesterday’s breakfast was enormous and I ended up taking about 1/3 of it home for breakfast today. But ohhhhh was it good!! Easter dinner (our family’s “dinner” was at 2:30, haha) consisted of a little bit of ham (not a huge fan of ham), cheesy potato casserole, pierogi casserole, halushki, baked beans, baked pineapple, coleslaw, and massive amounts of fruit salad (for me). I made a little (ok, huge) plate to take home, but then my grandma decided I needed more, so I ended up with 2 HUGE STACKED plates of dinner foods and desserts, a cupful of fruit salad, and pretty much half of a ham – bone and all. Somewhere in the quarter of a second between someone saying “Does anyone want the bone, or are we throwing it out?” and me piping up “I’ll take it!,” I had big dreams of a big pot of ham & bean soup stewing on my stove… so the bone (and about half the ham) came with me! My fridge is currently stuffed – just like my belly last night!
Over the weekend, I bought something I’d been eyeing up for a month or so – a juice extractor! I got the cheapest one I could find at Target (the Hamilton Beach one), even though I’d been researching the Jack Lalanne juicers and the Juicemaster models. I’m hardcore, so I don’t do directions. That said, my first attempt was AWFUL. I thought that since it was a juice EXTRACTOR, I could put an entire orange in, peel and all… but apparently that’s not the case. Now, I DID get just the juice from it – there were no bits of peel in the “juice”… however, the “juice” tasted like bitter rind. Eww. My mom wasn’t fond of my second attempt, but it looked great to me. My third attempt (MY juice) was freakin AWESOME! I made orange strawberry juice and it was incredible. Yesterday morning I made orange strawberry apple juice and it tasted EXACTLY like an Orange Julius. Once I got home last night, I played around some more and made the most awesome juice of all for this week – plum, pear, apple, orange, carrot, celery juice. I made a smoothie with it this morning – the juice plus a ton of spinach, vanilla protein powder, TJ’s frozen wild blueberries, and some ice cubes… this was the greatest smoothie I’ve ever made, hands-down (so far). I’m so excited about it!It takes a little too much time when you factor in cleaning the machine to make fresh juice every day – but I’m hoping that making a big batch on Sunday nights will suffice for smoothies through the week – I have it in a container with a lid, so I’m hoping it stays pretty fresh. So far I’m really digging the juicer – it’s really awesome for using up produce that’s almost bad and it makes really yummy juice!
Two tiny personal victories made this weekend really great (besides family time, of course!):
* While we were at the restaurant for our Easter breakfast, a man who worked there called me a “little one,” as in, he thought I was under 12. His points of reference were my little cousin (6 years old), her parents (36ish?), my mom (44), and my grandma (late 60s). I am MUCH closer in age to my uncle and his wife than I am to my cousin. I’m continually amazed by the amount of people who think I’m under 12. It used to annoy me a little, but now I just think it’s hilarious. Plus it makes me feel better since my boss is always joking and saying that I’m getting old. :)
* I ordered an iced tea at lunch with my mom Friday and for the first time ever, I did not need to add any kind of sugar/Splenda. It sounds silly and trivial, but I always used to think that unsweetened iced tea was gross. Not gross, really, but just not good. But I’ve finally weaned myself off it so that I am quite happy drinking stuff without sugar, artificial or real.
My juice smoothies have been giving me a LOT of energy, so I’m bouncing up in down in my chair at the moment, anxiously awaiting our volleyball game tonight! I should probably get some work done first, though!
¡Hasta luego, amigos!
Our volleyball game on Thurs was canceled due to the processions for the fallen police officers, so I had the first evening of my long weekend free for a movie. I rented Bolt at the Redbox and was really pathetically excited to watch it. There were a lot of “awwww!”s and “oh my gosh he’s so CUTE!”s coming from my living room, but really I wasn’t too keen on the movie itself. Bolt was pretty stinkin cute, but the movie just didn’t do it for me.
Friday I woke up early with all intentions of going to the gym, but my bed was just too comfy. I got a shower, made a green monster smoothie, and was on the road by 11. My mom and I had planned on going to my favorite lunch restaurant, but they were closed for Good Friday. :( However, we went to another good place and I had something I’d been craving for weeks – hot bacon dressing. Yum, yum, yum! Dinner was a local fish fry (I got the baked), the first and last of the season for me!
Saturday was my absolute fave breakfast – a Belgian waffle from King’s. I am in love with these. These would spell trouble for me if I had a King’s really close by and I had money to burn. Lunch was leftovers from Friday’s dinner (my eyes were MUCH bigger than my stomach), and dinner was steak and baked potatoes. I’m not big on steak (or red meat in general), but every now and then I’m ok with it. However, this steak was HUGE and I started to feel a little sick about halfway through. I persisted, though, and finished everything.
Easter Sunday was an extended family breakfast at a new place near our house – I got a “French toast sandwich”: 2 slices of French toast, sausage patties, eggs (egg whites for me – yolks are gross!), and a slice of cheese, all arranged like a sandwich with awesome homefries on the side. I can’t remember the last time I couldn’t finish my breakfast – but yesterday’s breakfast was enormous and I ended up taking about 1/3 of it home for breakfast today. But ohhhhh was it good!! Easter dinner (our family’s “dinner” was at 2:30, haha) consisted of a little bit of ham (not a huge fan of ham), cheesy potato casserole, pierogi casserole, halushki, baked beans, baked pineapple, coleslaw, and massive amounts of fruit salad (for me). I made a little (ok, huge) plate to take home, but then my grandma decided I needed more, so I ended up with 2 HUGE STACKED plates of dinner foods and desserts, a cupful of fruit salad, and pretty much half of a ham – bone and all. Somewhere in the quarter of a second between someone saying “Does anyone want the bone, or are we throwing it out?” and me piping up “I’ll take it!,” I had big dreams of a big pot of ham & bean soup stewing on my stove… so the bone (and about half the ham) came with me! My fridge is currently stuffed – just like my belly last night!
Over the weekend, I bought something I’d been eyeing up for a month or so – a juice extractor! I got the cheapest one I could find at Target (the Hamilton Beach one), even though I’d been researching the Jack Lalanne juicers and the Juicemaster models. I’m hardcore, so I don’t do directions. That said, my first attempt was AWFUL. I thought that since it was a juice EXTRACTOR, I could put an entire orange in, peel and all… but apparently that’s not the case. Now, I DID get just the juice from it – there were no bits of peel in the “juice”… however, the “juice” tasted like bitter rind. Eww. My mom wasn’t fond of my second attempt, but it looked great to me. My third attempt (MY juice) was freakin AWESOME! I made orange strawberry juice and it was incredible. Yesterday morning I made orange strawberry apple juice and it tasted EXACTLY like an Orange Julius. Once I got home last night, I played around some more and made the most awesome juice of all for this week – plum, pear, apple, orange, carrot, celery juice. I made a smoothie with it this morning – the juice plus a ton of spinach, vanilla protein powder, TJ’s frozen wild blueberries, and some ice cubes… this was the greatest smoothie I’ve ever made, hands-down (so far). I’m so excited about it!It takes a little too much time when you factor in cleaning the machine to make fresh juice every day – but I’m hoping that making a big batch on Sunday nights will suffice for smoothies through the week – I have it in a container with a lid, so I’m hoping it stays pretty fresh. So far I’m really digging the juicer – it’s really awesome for using up produce that’s almost bad and it makes really yummy juice!
Two tiny personal victories made this weekend really great (besides family time, of course!):
* While we were at the restaurant for our Easter breakfast, a man who worked there called me a “little one,” as in, he thought I was under 12. His points of reference were my little cousin (6 years old), her parents (36ish?), my mom (44), and my grandma (late 60s). I am MUCH closer in age to my uncle and his wife than I am to my cousin. I’m continually amazed by the amount of people who think I’m under 12. It used to annoy me a little, but now I just think it’s hilarious. Plus it makes me feel better since my boss is always joking and saying that I’m getting old. :)
* I ordered an iced tea at lunch with my mom Friday and for the first time ever, I did not need to add any kind of sugar/Splenda. It sounds silly and trivial, but I always used to think that unsweetened iced tea was gross. Not gross, really, but just not good. But I’ve finally weaned myself off it so that I am quite happy drinking stuff without sugar, artificial or real.
My juice smoothies have been giving me a LOT of energy, so I’m bouncing up in down in my chair at the moment, anxiously awaiting our volleyball game tonight! I should probably get some work done first, though!
¡Hasta luego, amigos!
4.07.2009
Smoke (or puss) gets in your eyes
Greetings!
Sorry for the little blogging vacation – I just don’t seem to have very much time these days. I have no idea what exactly has been taking up my time, but every day feels like it’s shorter and shorter.
This past Friday I was supposed to have my wisdom teeth removed. I say “supposed to” because they’re still in my mouth. I had made arrangements with my grandma for her to get off work, drive an hour to get to my house, take me to the oral surgeon’s, then take me back home and deal with my grouchy groggy self. I had also scheduled a sick day (haha, yeah, I “scheduled” a “sick” day). Grandma showed up on time and surprise! My mom decided to come with her! Yay!! We loaded ourselves into the car and headed to Fox Chapel… as we were driving over the Highland Park Bridge (literally MINUTES away from the dr’s office), my phone rang. The doc’s number. “He was called away” was what they told me… well, that’s fine, when do you want me to show up? We can hang out at the Waterworks for a little while… Nope, he won’t be coming back at all for the day. I was thisclose to completely losing it on the phone. I had done everything – fasted, taken the day off work, interrupted other peoples’ lives to have them take care of me – and suddenly it just wasn’t happening. I just don’t understand – any other times my docs have been “called away,” they’ve come back into the office and stayed late to attend to their patients. It’s just good business. And my other docs are actually *real* doctors, who have real, life-threatening surgeries to attend to. This was an oral surgeon. Seriously, what on earth would take the entire day? So yeah, to say that I was ticked is an understatement. It makes me even madder that my grandma and my mom both took the day off work for nothing. If it had been just me taking the day off, fine. But no, they won’t do the surgery without someone there in case something happens. So anyways, I continued over the bridge and ended up in their office, stormed in and got my x-rays back. I really don’t want to go back there. The dude was Dateline-creepy anyways. Now I’m in the midst of trying to figure out if my dental insurance will pay for another “initial exam” so that I can go somewhere else. If not, I’m going to have to suck it up and disrupt yet another weekend to get this done at Dateline-dude’s practice.
The high point to last Friday is the fact that 1 suckered my mom and grandma into going to not just 1 of my fave places, but 2. First up was Oakmont bakery where I got an almond macaron, just like you’d find at Fauchon in Paris!!!, a cookie monster cookie that’s STILL nearly [unbelievably] untouched in my fridge, and a “Pittsburgh crème paczki” – basically a HUGE overstuffed donut-y thing… yum. I’m currently finishing the paczki at my desk… and there’s cream filling alllll over my face. I’m so professional at work. The second highlight of the day was lunch at my fave restaurant – The Green Mango. I introduced both of them to Thai Iced Tea (holy yum!), spring rolls, and the ever-popular palate-scorcher Drunken Noodles with Chicken. For anyone reading this who doesn’t live in Pittsburgh or who has not yet experienced it’s magical menu, Drunken Noodles is a REALLY hot noodle dish with rice noodles, napa cabbage, chili flakes, some kind of spicy sauce, and I think there’s basil in it. Add some chicken and you have my favorite restaurant meal. They’re called “Drunken” noodles not because they’re made with a;c
What else is new? Nothing entirely exciting. We won last week’s competitive vb games 3-0… we won last week’s recreational vb games 3-0… we lost this week’s competitive vb games 0-3… and we have a rec game on Thursday which is going to be T-O-U-G-H. I’m liking the facts that 1. this is a short work week and 2. this is a pay week. 3. I get to play vb 2 of the 4 days I have to go to work this week.
I am definitely NOT liking the fact that I have some weird eye infection-esque thing going on that is neither an eye infection nor anything that I’ve found any cures for. I am also not liking the fact that I gave myself a black eye last Thursday. Same eye as the non-infection puss-filled eye. Yes, I literally gave myself a black eye. Looks a heck of a lot better today; in fact you can barely tell anymore. It was not so pretty Saturday and Sunday. And ok, yeah, I was secretly proud of myself for giving someone a black eye… even if it was myself. I’m so hardcore.
I’ll spare y’all the details about my revelations that a) I have abs! I actually have ABS! Abs you can see! Defined abs!! and b) my biceps were *ahem* bulging out of my arms yesterday at the gym… and last night in front of the mirror… and this morning in front of the mirror… and this afternoon in front of the bathroom mirror at work… It’s like I’m afraid they’re going to disappear if I don’t keep checking on them. :)
Ooh, and I went on a little download-spree this weekend. Now hanging out on my “new music” playlist is:
1.) Bel Biv Devoe – Poison album – includes such hits as “Do Me!” and of course “Poison.” I’d swear I had this CD when I was in 7th or 8th grade… but of course I had no idea what any of the lyrics meant… then again, I’m still not entirely sure.
2.) Slumdog Millionaire Soundtrack – includes a bunch of songs I can’t pronounce, again with lyrics I don’t understand (but for obviously different reasons than Bel Biv Devoe’s Poison). I watched the movie Wednesday night as my last redbox redblog free movie Wednesday rental, but then didn’t have time to return it before vb Thurs, so I ended up paying for it anyways. I’m pretty cool like that. Anyways, given the techno-like beats to the soundtrack, I might try running to this. The lyrics in the first song include, “They can’t touch me. We break off run so fast they can’t even catch me.” Sounds like it might do for a workout.
3.) Lily Allen – It’s Not Me, It’s You. I like “The Fear,” but I really bought this because I loved Alright, Still and listened to it for weeks on end before finally getting tired of it. I took a break from it, and now when I listen to it again, I get a little thrill like the first time I heard it. I’m expecting more of the same from this album.
4.) Some 50’s Car Show music CD that my dad bought a few weekends ago – I can’t remember what it’s called, but I love me some oldies and these songs always remind me of summer, being dragged along to car shows with mom and dad.
5.) Tone Loc – Loc-ed After Dark – There is no song that embodies my entire life more than “Wild Thing.” I listened to it as a kid at my grandma’s house, sneaking into my uncle’s bedroom and listening to his cassettes with huge dj-sized headphones while he was at his friends’ houses; I listened to it in high school; I loved it in college; and to this day, no matter how grouchy I am, hearing this sound always, without fail, puts a huge grin on my face. Funky Cold Medina’s pretty awesome, too.
6.) Joan Jett – I think I covered this in my last post, eons ago. I’m still addicted to “Do You Wanna Touch Me There (Oh Yeah).”
7.) Blind Pilot – The song “Go On, Say It.” I’m 100% sure this was an iTunes free download, but once I actually listened to it, I was craving the entire album. I’ve never heard of this group before… and I can’t find them on the free download sites, so for now I have to stick to one song. All I know is, it fit my mood perfectly, like an old sweatshirt for the soul, yesterday as I was driving in the rain/sleet/freaky April snow to my vb game. They (he?) sound like a beautiful cross between Rufus Wainwright, Guster, and I’m not sure who else. It’s amazing to my ears.
8.) Black Eyed Peas – Boom Boom Pow – I developed an awesome car dance specifically for this song. I used to hate the BEP, but their music is great for working out and getting pumped up (“I’m a beast when you turn me on, into the future cybertron. Harder, faster, better, stronger…”)…yup!
9.) Linkin Park/Jay-Z – Collision Course - Ok, I know I’m about a gazillion years late getting this one. Truth is, I love Jay-Z, but I’ve always kind of disliked Linkin Park… that is, until I downloaded Minutes to Midnight solely for “Bleed It Out,” AKA my vb anthem. Lately I’ve been hearing a lot of “Numb/Encore” and it’s really been psyching me up to work out. It’s kind of sad how working out is my prime motivator for downloading new songs.
10.) Seether – “Careless Whisper.” I was never a fan of this song in its original version… perhaps because I was too young when it came out. It just sounded too soft and mushy and icky. But although I am not at all a Seether fan (I think they’re too soft and mushy to be on The X), I’m loving their cover of this song. It just really sounds like they’re totally PO’d and I respect that. I have quite a temper on myself, so sometimes I just need “angry” music.
11.) The Ting Tings – We Started Nothing – On the exact opposite spectrum of music, this is just too poppy and happy to not love it. Ok, I guess it could get old really fast because it’s kind of annoying, but for right now, I love it. This Britpop group is quite catchy. Ever heard the song “Shut Up And Let Me Go?” Yep, that’s them. Also popular is the song “That’s Not My Name.” Good car-dancing music. Car-dancing choreography is also a huge factor in what music I download. :)
That’s it for now, sorry for the relatively boring post. Although, I guess none of my posts are really exciting. Probably because my life is lackluster. Maybe I should name this blog “This Lackluster Life.” Kind of like “This American Life,” but with a running commentary on my excruciatingly boring life. Hmm… ideas, ideas…
Sorry for the little blogging vacation – I just don’t seem to have very much time these days. I have no idea what exactly has been taking up my time, but every day feels like it’s shorter and shorter.
This past Friday I was supposed to have my wisdom teeth removed. I say “supposed to” because they’re still in my mouth. I had made arrangements with my grandma for her to get off work, drive an hour to get to my house, take me to the oral surgeon’s, then take me back home and deal with my grouchy groggy self. I had also scheduled a sick day (haha, yeah, I “scheduled” a “sick” day). Grandma showed up on time and surprise! My mom decided to come with her! Yay!! We loaded ourselves into the car and headed to Fox Chapel… as we were driving over the Highland Park Bridge (literally MINUTES away from the dr’s office), my phone rang. The doc’s number. “He was called away” was what they told me… well, that’s fine, when do you want me to show up? We can hang out at the Waterworks for a little while… Nope, he won’t be coming back at all for the day. I was thisclose to completely losing it on the phone. I had done everything – fasted, taken the day off work, interrupted other peoples’ lives to have them take care of me – and suddenly it just wasn’t happening. I just don’t understand – any other times my docs have been “called away,” they’ve come back into the office and stayed late to attend to their patients. It’s just good business. And my other docs are actually *real* doctors, who have real, life-threatening surgeries to attend to. This was an oral surgeon. Seriously, what on earth would take the entire day? So yeah, to say that I was ticked is an understatement. It makes me even madder that my grandma and my mom both took the day off work for nothing. If it had been just me taking the day off, fine. But no, they won’t do the surgery without someone there in case something happens. So anyways, I continued over the bridge and ended up in their office, stormed in and got my x-rays back. I really don’t want to go back there. The dude was Dateline-creepy anyways. Now I’m in the midst of trying to figure out if my dental insurance will pay for another “initial exam” so that I can go somewhere else. If not, I’m going to have to suck it up and disrupt yet another weekend to get this done at Dateline-dude’s practice.
The high point to last Friday is the fact that 1 suckered my mom and grandma into going to not just 1 of my fave places, but 2. First up was Oakmont bakery where I got an almond macaron, just like you’d find at Fauchon in Paris!!!, a cookie monster cookie that’s STILL nearly [unbelievably] untouched in my fridge, and a “Pittsburgh crème paczki” – basically a HUGE overstuffed donut-y thing… yum. I’m currently finishing the paczki at my desk… and there’s cream filling alllll over my face. I’m so professional at work. The second highlight of the day was lunch at my fave restaurant – The Green Mango. I introduced both of them to Thai Iced Tea (holy yum!), spring rolls, and the ever-popular palate-scorcher Drunken Noodles with Chicken. For anyone reading this who doesn’t live in Pittsburgh or who has not yet experienced it’s magical menu, Drunken Noodles is a REALLY hot noodle dish with rice noodles, napa cabbage, chili flakes, some kind of spicy sauce, and I think there’s basil in it. Add some chicken and you have my favorite restaurant meal. They’re called “Drunken” noodles not because they’re made with a;c
What else is new? Nothing entirely exciting. We won last week’s competitive vb games 3-0… we won last week’s recreational vb games 3-0… we lost this week’s competitive vb games 0-3… and we have a rec game on Thursday which is going to be T-O-U-G-H. I’m liking the facts that 1. this is a short work week and 2. this is a pay week. 3. I get to play vb 2 of the 4 days I have to go to work this week.
I am definitely NOT liking the fact that I have some weird eye infection-esque thing going on that is neither an eye infection nor anything that I’ve found any cures for. I am also not liking the fact that I gave myself a black eye last Thursday. Same eye as the non-infection puss-filled eye. Yes, I literally gave myself a black eye. Looks a heck of a lot better today; in fact you can barely tell anymore. It was not so pretty Saturday and Sunday. And ok, yeah, I was secretly proud of myself for giving someone a black eye… even if it was myself. I’m so hardcore.
I’ll spare y’all the details about my revelations that a) I have abs! I actually have ABS! Abs you can see! Defined abs!! and b) my biceps were *ahem* bulging out of my arms yesterday at the gym… and last night in front of the mirror… and this morning in front of the mirror… and this afternoon in front of the bathroom mirror at work… It’s like I’m afraid they’re going to disappear if I don’t keep checking on them. :)
Ooh, and I went on a little download-spree this weekend. Now hanging out on my “new music” playlist is:
1.) Bel Biv Devoe – Poison album – includes such hits as “Do Me!” and of course “Poison.” I’d swear I had this CD when I was in 7th or 8th grade… but of course I had no idea what any of the lyrics meant… then again, I’m still not entirely sure.
2.) Slumdog Millionaire Soundtrack – includes a bunch of songs I can’t pronounce, again with lyrics I don’t understand (but for obviously different reasons than Bel Biv Devoe’s Poison). I watched the movie Wednesday night as my last redbox redblog free movie Wednesday rental, but then didn’t have time to return it before vb Thurs, so I ended up paying for it anyways. I’m pretty cool like that. Anyways, given the techno-like beats to the soundtrack, I might try running to this. The lyrics in the first song include, “They can’t touch me. We break off run so fast they can’t even catch me.” Sounds like it might do for a workout.
3.) Lily Allen – It’s Not Me, It’s You. I like “The Fear,” but I really bought this because I loved Alright, Still and listened to it for weeks on end before finally getting tired of it. I took a break from it, and now when I listen to it again, I get a little thrill like the first time I heard it. I’m expecting more of the same from this album.
4.) Some 50’s Car Show music CD that my dad bought a few weekends ago – I can’t remember what it’s called, but I love me some oldies and these songs always remind me of summer, being dragged along to car shows with mom and dad.
5.) Tone Loc – Loc-ed After Dark – There is no song that embodies my entire life more than “Wild Thing.” I listened to it as a kid at my grandma’s house, sneaking into my uncle’s bedroom and listening to his cassettes with huge dj-sized headphones while he was at his friends’ houses; I listened to it in high school; I loved it in college; and to this day, no matter how grouchy I am, hearing this sound always, without fail, puts a huge grin on my face. Funky Cold Medina’s pretty awesome, too.
6.) Joan Jett – I think I covered this in my last post, eons ago. I’m still addicted to “Do You Wanna Touch Me There (Oh Yeah).”
7.) Blind Pilot – The song “Go On, Say It.” I’m 100% sure this was an iTunes free download, but once I actually listened to it, I was craving the entire album. I’ve never heard of this group before… and I can’t find them on the free download sites, so for now I have to stick to one song. All I know is, it fit my mood perfectly, like an old sweatshirt for the soul, yesterday as I was driving in the rain/sleet/freaky April snow to my vb game. They (he?) sound like a beautiful cross between Rufus Wainwright, Guster, and I’m not sure who else. It’s amazing to my ears.
8.) Black Eyed Peas – Boom Boom Pow – I developed an awesome car dance specifically for this song. I used to hate the BEP, but their music is great for working out and getting pumped up (“I’m a beast when you turn me on, into the future cybertron. Harder, faster, better, stronger…”)…yup!
9.) Linkin Park/Jay-Z – Collision Course - Ok, I know I’m about a gazillion years late getting this one. Truth is, I love Jay-Z, but I’ve always kind of disliked Linkin Park… that is, until I downloaded Minutes to Midnight solely for “Bleed It Out,” AKA my vb anthem. Lately I’ve been hearing a lot of “Numb/Encore” and it’s really been psyching me up to work out. It’s kind of sad how working out is my prime motivator for downloading new songs.
10.) Seether – “Careless Whisper.” I was never a fan of this song in its original version… perhaps because I was too young when it came out. It just sounded too soft and mushy and icky. But although I am not at all a Seether fan (I think they’re too soft and mushy to be on The X), I’m loving their cover of this song. It just really sounds like they’re totally PO’d and I respect that. I have quite a temper on myself, so sometimes I just need “angry” music.
11.) The Ting Tings – We Started Nothing – On the exact opposite spectrum of music, this is just too poppy and happy to not love it. Ok, I guess it could get old really fast because it’s kind of annoying, but for right now, I love it. This Britpop group is quite catchy. Ever heard the song “Shut Up And Let Me Go?” Yep, that’s them. Also popular is the song “That’s Not My Name.” Good car-dancing music. Car-dancing choreography is also a huge factor in what music I download. :)
That’s it for now, sorry for the relatively boring post. Although, I guess none of my posts are really exciting. Probably because my life is lackluster. Maybe I should name this blog “This Lackluster Life.” Kind of like “This American Life,” but with a running commentary on my excruciatingly boring life. Hmm… ideas, ideas…
3.29.2009
Say hello to my little friend
I'd like to introduce everyone to my new best friend, kale. I never thought I'd like kale. In fact, I was pretty sure I'd hate it. It just looks like it'd be bitter and nasty. But you know what? Kale is AWESOME!
Kale can be made into scrumptious chips, as demonstrated above. The taste is similar to potato chips but they're much healthier. All you do is rinse, dry, and pull apart the kale, drizzle some EVOO, sprinkle some sea salt and maybe some cracked black pepper, and bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes, or until the edges start turning brown. Yummm. They're very fragile when you take them out, so be careful when you're storing them. They have such a surprisingly good taste to them!
My second experiment with kale was an even bigger success:
This is wilted kale cooked with onions, half a granny smith apple, some dried cranberries, and sprinkled with some slivered almonds. Oh. My. Goodness. I was in love once I tasted this. The cranberries and the apples take over the taste of the kale, so that instead of bitterness, you're left with a pleasant sweetness. I ate about 1/3 of this and saved the rest for later in the week, but I'm really tempted to eat all of it now for dessert! Imagine that - kale for dessert! No joke, though - this was incredible!
I spent the rest of my afternoon making a half batch of homemade bagels:
(gettin chubby)
Boiled, baked and beautiful!
My bagel shaping skills really need to be sharpened, but who really cares as long as they taste awesome? Actually, I shaped them a lot better this time than in previous attempts, but they stuck to my counter when it was time to boil them, thus rendering them nearly shapeless. Still, they're awesome and I can't wait until later in the week to have one!
Now to backtrack...
When I got home Friday afternoon I was excited to see a FedEx package waiting for me by my door. What could it be?
After seeing these lovelies on several peoples' blogs, I decided to write to the company (One Natural Experience, or O.N.E.) to see if I could possibly score some coupons or maybe a free sample. I certainly wasn't expecting 12 samples!! Lucy was kind enough to send me three samples of each flavor, to make a full case!
It's time for their close-ups:
Amazon Acai - according to the O.N.E. website, this drink:
May help combat premature aging
May help increase energy levels
May improve mental clarity
Cashew Juice - the site says it could:
soothe the throat
calm the stomach
promote healthy skin
Coffee Berry Juice - O.N.E. states the antioxidants in this might help:
Fight the buildup of free radicals
Protect against oxidative stress
And finally...
The ever-popular Coconut Water, about which it is said:
O.N.E.™ Coconut Water is excellent for replacing lost
electrolytes from exercise or illness
O.N.E.™ Coconut Water is an all-natural sports/energy drink
O.N.E.™ Coconut Water is a natural isotonic beverage – contains a similar level of electrolytes found in human blood.
O.N.E.™ Coconut Water may help promote smoother,
more hydrated skin
O.N.E.™ Coconut Water is non-allergenic
O.N.E.™ Coconut Water is rich in potassium. Potassium helps regulate blood pressure and heart function
O.N.E.™ Coconut Water is an effective oral rehydration medium and keeps the body cool.
I'm beyond excited to try all these flavors out, especially the Coffee Berry! I'd never heard of such a thing until I started seeing this stuff on other blogs. A HUGE thank you to Lucy and the O.N.E. crew for sending that over to me! Product reviews to come as I try em!
It's been quite the busy weekend, what with baking, cooking, the excitement of new products, and a visit to my parents! I even managed to squeeze in a MUCH-needed haircut! (Dude, $2.99 at a place called Great Clips! It was their Grand Opening, so I literally got a haircut for $2.99 (plus a generous tip, of course!)... How sweet is that?!) Since Desperate Housewives is a) on late and b) a repeat, I'm heading off to read the 4th Twilight book and rest up for our competitive volleyball game tomorrow! Hooray for Mondays!! :)
Kale can be made into scrumptious chips, as demonstrated above. The taste is similar to potato chips but they're much healthier. All you do is rinse, dry, and pull apart the kale, drizzle some EVOO, sprinkle some sea salt and maybe some cracked black pepper, and bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes, or until the edges start turning brown. Yummm. They're very fragile when you take them out, so be careful when you're storing them. They have such a surprisingly good taste to them!
My second experiment with kale was an even bigger success:
This is wilted kale cooked with onions, half a granny smith apple, some dried cranberries, and sprinkled with some slivered almonds. Oh. My. Goodness. I was in love once I tasted this. The cranberries and the apples take over the taste of the kale, so that instead of bitterness, you're left with a pleasant sweetness. I ate about 1/3 of this and saved the rest for later in the week, but I'm really tempted to eat all of it now for dessert! Imagine that - kale for dessert! No joke, though - this was incredible!
I spent the rest of my afternoon making a half batch of homemade bagels:
(gettin chubby)
Boiled, baked and beautiful!
My bagel shaping skills really need to be sharpened, but who really cares as long as they taste awesome? Actually, I shaped them a lot better this time than in previous attempts, but they stuck to my counter when it was time to boil them, thus rendering them nearly shapeless. Still, they're awesome and I can't wait until later in the week to have one!
Now to backtrack...
When I got home Friday afternoon I was excited to see a FedEx package waiting for me by my door. What could it be?
After seeing these lovelies on several peoples' blogs, I decided to write to the company (One Natural Experience, or O.N.E.) to see if I could possibly score some coupons or maybe a free sample. I certainly wasn't expecting 12 samples!! Lucy was kind enough to send me three samples of each flavor, to make a full case!
It's time for their close-ups:
Amazon Acai - according to the O.N.E. website, this drink:
May help combat premature aging
May help increase energy levels
May improve mental clarity
Cashew Juice - the site says it could:
soothe the throat
calm the stomach
promote healthy skin
Coffee Berry Juice - O.N.E. states the antioxidants in this might help:
Fight the buildup of free radicals
Protect against oxidative stress
And finally...
The ever-popular Coconut Water, about which it is said:
O.N.E.™ Coconut Water is excellent for replacing lost
electrolytes from exercise or illness
O.N.E.™ Coconut Water is an all-natural sports/energy drink
O.N.E.™ Coconut Water is a natural isotonic beverage – contains a similar level of electrolytes found in human blood.
O.N.E.™ Coconut Water may help promote smoother,
more hydrated skin
O.N.E.™ Coconut Water is non-allergenic
O.N.E.™ Coconut Water is rich in potassium. Potassium helps regulate blood pressure and heart function
O.N.E.™ Coconut Water is an effective oral rehydration medium and keeps the body cool.
I'm beyond excited to try all these flavors out, especially the Coffee Berry! I'd never heard of such a thing until I started seeing this stuff on other blogs. A HUGE thank you to Lucy and the O.N.E. crew for sending that over to me! Product reviews to come as I try em!
It's been quite the busy weekend, what with baking, cooking, the excitement of new products, and a visit to my parents! I even managed to squeeze in a MUCH-needed haircut! (Dude, $2.99 at a place called Great Clips! It was their Grand Opening, so I literally got a haircut for $2.99 (plus a generous tip, of course!)... How sweet is that?!) Since Desperate Housewives is a) on late and b) a repeat, I'm heading off to read the 4th Twilight book and rest up for our competitive volleyball game tomorrow! Hooray for Mondays!! :)
3.27.2009
i got a new attitude... and food!
Afternoon, all! The past week or so has been quite a whirlwind, but it’s all been pretty good. I started getting to work at or before 8 am, so I’ve been leaving around 4 and going straight to the gym. Yesterday was just fantastic because I was home from the gym by 6:30, and by 9 I had gotten in a full day of work, a really good workout, watched a movie, cooked, ate dinner, baked brownies, got my stuff ready for today, washed dishes, checked in with my parents, solidified weekend plans, and caught up on blog reading. Whew! I’ve been really productive! Maybe this waking up early thing isn’t so bad after all…
Lunch today was totally new for me – an Amy’s Indian Samosa Wrap and Fantastic World Foods Vegetarian Great Lakes Cheddar Broccoli soup. Sorry, no pics – I had to pick the one cell phone that doesn’t have a camera on it. I was pleasantly surprised at the Amy’s Samosa Wrap – the ingredients included tofu and my experience thus far with tofu has been less than stellar (though not awful enough for me to blacklist it yet). The wrap was slightly smaller than I’d expected, but it was bursting with flavorful goodness! I couldn’t taste the tofu at all, and didn’t even notice the texture of it since it was mixed with potatoes. It didn’t taste exactly like samosas from an Indian restaurant, but they were a much healthier and equally tasty alternative. The Cheddar Broccoli soup, on the other hand, got a big thumbs down. To be fair, the package was a little expired. I tried to eat it, and managed to get nearly halfway through, but I had to throw it out before I threw it up. Blech. I also sneaked in a Champagne Mango from WF since I had seen them featured on eatliverun.com (sorry, can’t do hyperlinks when I post from work). Luckily, the mango made up for the soup and I was sated. :)
It seems like any time I lift weights at the gym I become abnormally ravenous the next day. I lifted Wednesday and yesterday and I just COULD NOT stop eating yesterday! I think I planned better for today, but still – I’m anticipating a hefty snack before dinner tonight.
My plan to clean out my freezer and pantry by eating everything up is coming along swimmingly. In fact, I’ve started doing the same thing with my drawers at work – I’ve been giving away some of the food and trying to eat up the rest that I’ve neglected. A lot of the food is expired (hence today’s soup at lunch), but I’m trying to eat it anyway. Safe, right?
I have to get a bunch of stuff done, so I gotta run. I’ll probably be heading to my parents’ house this weekend, so yippee for free food!
Have a great weekend!
Lunch today was totally new for me – an Amy’s Indian Samosa Wrap and Fantastic World Foods Vegetarian Great Lakes Cheddar Broccoli soup. Sorry, no pics – I had to pick the one cell phone that doesn’t have a camera on it. I was pleasantly surprised at the Amy’s Samosa Wrap – the ingredients included tofu and my experience thus far with tofu has been less than stellar (though not awful enough for me to blacklist it yet). The wrap was slightly smaller than I’d expected, but it was bursting with flavorful goodness! I couldn’t taste the tofu at all, and didn’t even notice the texture of it since it was mixed with potatoes. It didn’t taste exactly like samosas from an Indian restaurant, but they were a much healthier and equally tasty alternative. The Cheddar Broccoli soup, on the other hand, got a big thumbs down. To be fair, the package was a little expired. I tried to eat it, and managed to get nearly halfway through, but I had to throw it out before I threw it up. Blech. I also sneaked in a Champagne Mango from WF since I had seen them featured on eatliverun.com (sorry, can’t do hyperlinks when I post from work). Luckily, the mango made up for the soup and I was sated. :)
It seems like any time I lift weights at the gym I become abnormally ravenous the next day. I lifted Wednesday and yesterday and I just COULD NOT stop eating yesterday! I think I planned better for today, but still – I’m anticipating a hefty snack before dinner tonight.
My plan to clean out my freezer and pantry by eating everything up is coming along swimmingly. In fact, I’ve started doing the same thing with my drawers at work – I’ve been giving away some of the food and trying to eat up the rest that I’ve neglected. A lot of the food is expired (hence today’s soup at lunch), but I’m trying to eat it anyway. Safe, right?
I have to get a bunch of stuff done, so I gotta run. I’ll probably be heading to my parents’ house this weekend, so yippee for free food!
Have a great weekend!
3.24.2009
if you got money and you know it, take it out your pocket and show it and throw it!
I learned something very important and profound today. You know that sinking feeling you get when you look at your checkbook balance and discover that no matter how much you scrimp and save, you’re never going to get ahead? For some unknown reason, I got that same feeling when I realized today that it’s “actually going to be okay.” Thanks to my tax return, this has been the first month since buying the house that I haven’t had to take money out of my savings to pay my bills. It’s crazy, but I’m somewhat confused and unwilling to believe that it’s going to be fine. Maybe I just need more time to process this. I mean, I haven’t felt “safe” since July. My nerves have kind of gotten used to the frenzied pace of bank-to-bank transfers. I’m not sure how to chill out.
I’ve been on a strange Joan Jett kick lately. Especially the song “Do you wanna touch me there (Oh Yeah).” It’s like crack to my ears. Ear crack. It makes me want to go run. Awesome.
I’ve also been on a gorgonzola kick… like, I’m craving mold. How weird is that? I wonder if it has anything to do with the new Joan Jett obsession?
Last night was our first match in the competitive volleyball league. We played at the Downtown YMCA, which was quite an experience. First off, let me just say that I HATE going into Downtown Pittsburgh. Really hate it. I avoid it at all costs. Second, I’m stubborn and I absolutely flat-out REFUSE to pay for parking unless I’m spending the entire day somewhere. What kind of parking is available downtown? Parking garages and metered parking. Aargh! Luckily, our game wasn’t until 8 and parking is free after 6 or so. Still, it took me a good 15 minutes to find a spot, nevermind the nearly half hour it took me to get there from Point Breeze. I am NOT thrilled with this arrangement. I don’t know what I’m going to do when we have games at 6 – I’ll have to leave work by 5 to be absolutely sure I get there in time (and I’ll have to pay for parking, at least a little bit of it).
Anyways, the game was GREAT!! We lost the first 2 games, but won the last one. And you know what? It might be heresy, but I’m kind of glad we lost. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t want us to lose all our games and I’m definitely not sabotaging us. What I mean is that I think our egos needed to be taken down a peg. I didn’t have any high expectations for this league – in fact, I was so nervous before our game yesterday that I literally couldn’t speak. One of my teammates showed up early to watch the other teams with me and I was the absolute worst conversationalist ever. However, once we started playing, everything changed. The game really wasn’t that much more difficult than our more challenging Rec league games. And the scores were ridiculously close – we went into extra points the first game and lost the 2nd only by 2 points (the minimum by which the games must be won). AND we played really well. Even I played really well for once – I was all over the court (in a good way), got all my serves in, was ready for anything, and I even got a hit in! I was so proud of our team that I sent a kind of emotional email to all my teammates after our game… I almost ended it by telling everyone I loved them, haha. It was a fantastic night, and I’m super excited for our next game!
As a result of a combo of my nervousness/tenseness last night and my high-energy game, I was EXHAUSTED last night. I haven’t been that tired in so long! I tried to read a chapter of my book before bed and it took all my strength to keep my eyes open. I fell asleep really quickly and really didn’t want to get up this morning – I was so comfy! But I hauled myself out of bed and managed to make it into work by 8:07 – for the second time this week! I’m trying really hard to come in earlier to work so that I can get out earlier and enjoy the sunshine and warmer weather. Trying to balance gym time with my desire to be outdoors is killing me! It’s like there’s never enough time in the day!
Ooh, and I’m potentially going to the PUMP/PSL happy hour tonight at Buffalo Blues! Yay! Hopefully if I go, I can be one of the first 100 through the door so I can get a free beer. Mmm, free!
I suppose I should get back to work. Have a great week everyone!
I’ve been on a strange Joan Jett kick lately. Especially the song “Do you wanna touch me there (Oh Yeah).” It’s like crack to my ears. Ear crack. It makes me want to go run. Awesome.
I’ve also been on a gorgonzola kick… like, I’m craving mold. How weird is that? I wonder if it has anything to do with the new Joan Jett obsession?
Last night was our first match in the competitive volleyball league. We played at the Downtown YMCA, which was quite an experience. First off, let me just say that I HATE going into Downtown Pittsburgh. Really hate it. I avoid it at all costs. Second, I’m stubborn and I absolutely flat-out REFUSE to pay for parking unless I’m spending the entire day somewhere. What kind of parking is available downtown? Parking garages and metered parking. Aargh! Luckily, our game wasn’t until 8 and parking is free after 6 or so. Still, it took me a good 15 minutes to find a spot, nevermind the nearly half hour it took me to get there from Point Breeze. I am NOT thrilled with this arrangement. I don’t know what I’m going to do when we have games at 6 – I’ll have to leave work by 5 to be absolutely sure I get there in time (and I’ll have to pay for parking, at least a little bit of it).
Anyways, the game was GREAT!! We lost the first 2 games, but won the last one. And you know what? It might be heresy, but I’m kind of glad we lost. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t want us to lose all our games and I’m definitely not sabotaging us. What I mean is that I think our egos needed to be taken down a peg. I didn’t have any high expectations for this league – in fact, I was so nervous before our game yesterday that I literally couldn’t speak. One of my teammates showed up early to watch the other teams with me and I was the absolute worst conversationalist ever. However, once we started playing, everything changed. The game really wasn’t that much more difficult than our more challenging Rec league games. And the scores were ridiculously close – we went into extra points the first game and lost the 2nd only by 2 points (the minimum by which the games must be won). AND we played really well. Even I played really well for once – I was all over the court (in a good way), got all my serves in, was ready for anything, and I even got a hit in! I was so proud of our team that I sent a kind of emotional email to all my teammates after our game… I almost ended it by telling everyone I loved them, haha. It was a fantastic night, and I’m super excited for our next game!
As a result of a combo of my nervousness/tenseness last night and my high-energy game, I was EXHAUSTED last night. I haven’t been that tired in so long! I tried to read a chapter of my book before bed and it took all my strength to keep my eyes open. I fell asleep really quickly and really didn’t want to get up this morning – I was so comfy! But I hauled myself out of bed and managed to make it into work by 8:07 – for the second time this week! I’m trying really hard to come in earlier to work so that I can get out earlier and enjoy the sunshine and warmer weather. Trying to balance gym time with my desire to be outdoors is killing me! It’s like there’s never enough time in the day!
Ooh, and I’m potentially going to the PUMP/PSL happy hour tonight at Buffalo Blues! Yay! Hopefully if I go, I can be one of the first 100 through the door so I can get a free beer. Mmm, free!
I suppose I should get back to work. Have a great week everyone!
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