Under the Arch

What can I say? I fell in love with that face…

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

I ran into my friend Jessica tonight, which is why it's midnight and I'm just now baking my desserts to take to Thanksgiving dinner. We spent a ridiculous amount of time talking at Noodles and catching up on what had been happening in each others' lives.

She's been dating too and I wish I wrote down how she phrased her relationship status, cuz it had something to do with Facebook. She did say that Facebook was going to be her downfall. (Sound familiar, MP? ;>)

At one point, we were comparing the size of our clothing collections....

Me: Did I tell you about the time when I did a bunch of laundry and had to buy more hangers? I didn't even FINISH my laundry.

Her: You win.

Me: Is it bad that the idea of getting serious with someone means that I'll have to share a closet?

Her: What if he complains about how many pairs of shoes I have?

Me: It's like my worst nightmare!

Her: We are so sad.

Me: Yeah. Probably.


(I hope I don't have to explain that we were joking. Mostly.)

• I've been seeing a guy with a dog (a different guy than from before, I sort of didn't mention that, huh?) The dog is adorable, but my cat has been PISSED at me and has done little more than grumble or mew pitifully at me for days. She finally seems to have gotten over it and let me rub her ears tonight. ;)
• I ordered groceries from Schnucks' delivery service. We could pretend that I don't have time for grocery shopping, but really, I just hate it and a $5 delivery charge is worth the reduced aggravation. I'm willing to give it a try anyway, consider me your guinea pig. ;)
• The holiday season is upon us, bringing with it all the stress, but also all the yummy FOOD! I was skimming my newest issue of Woman's Day (Do you have magazines showing up in your mailbox that you never actually subscribed for? No? Just me?) and tearing out recipes that I have to try and now I'm craving pumpkin cupcakes and turkey pie. NomNomNom
• The 2 above points mean that there will probably be extra treats, I'll twitter about anything that needs a home. ;)
• I've picked up a couple of new commenters, there is a man from Indonesia with an interesting take on our election. I don't know about you, but I think it's interesting to see what bloggers from other countries think about our government. Check it out if you are so inclined. ;)
  

A couple of weeks ago, I was perusing a set of photos on a friend's myspace page and talking on the phone at the same time. The photos were from the night I went bowling with friends, and one of the girls caught me from the side in mid-hurl. (I suck at bowling. I pretty much suck at all sports. They always picked me last and I didn't blame them. Beside the point.)

Me: "Oh my god, is that what I look like?!"

Her: "What?"

Me: "Are my legs really that small? That's what I look like?"

Her: "It's about damn time you noticed!"

I was talking to an Aunt at my recent family reunion and she asked how I got so thin and I told her the truth, that I've had a lot of stress in my life recently and I've been forgetting to eat. "Well, that doesn't sound like something I could do."

"No, I wouldn't recommend it, really."

I put my body type on my match.com profile as about average even though a more accurate description would be slender or too fucking skinny because I still see myself as the self I was 20 pounds ago and even occasionally get startled by a glimpse of myself in the mirror.

When I saw that photo, though, I knew I had to do something.

Me: "I'm going to gain 15 pounds."

Her: "Thank God, you were starting to freak me out."

And this is the part where I want to throw my arms over my head and ask people not to throw anything at my head. I feel bad saying I need to gain weight, like I've broken some sort of sacred woman code, like I should be happy to watch my boobs shrink and my hipbones stick further out. After all, if the fashion magazines that I like to read are to be believed, I've reached some sort of pinnacle of weight to height ratio. That's ridiculous. I learned very young that thin does not equal happy. At this point in my life, I'm just working on maintaining my weight because if I have to buy one more fracking pair of jeans, I'm going to completely lose my shit. ;) This is how my body reacts to stress, which isn't the worst thing, I guess, but it sure is a pain in the ass.

I'm 5' 8" and weigh as of a few minutes ago 125, 5 pounds from my goal. How's that for Naked? ;)

 

 

BlogHer asked me to write about Tinker Bell for a promotion they are doing and since I'm a big fan, I happily agreed. You can find my story about looking for fairies in my mother's garden over here.

Heh. Sorry, I couldn't resist. Pervs. (And can someone explain why I always want to spell magic with a J?)

As promised, I'm going to show you my kitchen. Brace yourselves.

My stove...EXCITING! The white counter type thing next to the stove I made myself...which is why it wobbles. I would never make it as a carpenter, basically. ;) Yes, that is a grill pan, which I LOVE. The kitchen doodads, including the magnetic knife thingy, I bought at IKEA, of course. This is my attempt at organization..here's the other.

Spices, salt and pepper shakers, my cute little diner sugar dispenser, and more spoons. SPOOONS!! Yeah...I don't know either. ;)

So, this is why I have to be sort of organized...

Cause these are the only cabinets I have, aaannnnd a sink full of dishes. You do remember THIS post, don't you? Messy. I hate doing dishes. Ugh. But, the point is, there are 2 tiny bits of counter top and that's it. Which would be great if I didn't, you know, cook. So, the wobbly counter bit is born. ;)

Ok, look away from the dishes. Look in my fridge. Come on...stop looking already, geesh!

Fascinating isn't it? Geesh, I should throw out that pizza box. I can see bacon and icing, cream cheese, butter, eggs, cheese, sliced ham, and some left over chicken, which now that I think about it, should be thrown out too. Ok, another angle.

Um, bacon grease, garlic, spaghetti sauce, chicken broth, bbq sauce, catalina dressing, which is a really excellent marinade for chicken....basically I need to go to the grocery store, I'm out of milk and juice and potatoes.

I'm feeling really naked now, I hope you're happy. ;) So share, what's in your fridge? What's your favorite thing in your kitchen? (LOVE that grill pan!)

I was going to go out for dinner. I didn't really feel like cooking and I would have to thaw something out, blah blah blah LAZY! But, then I remembered the cans of crescent roll dough in the fridge and thought, "What can I wrap that around that would taste good?" Mmmm, chicken! Just like that, Fajita Chicken Wraps are born! I knew it could be horrible, but I photographed everything anyway and intended to blog whatever happened. Just my luck, they tasted good, huh? First, as PW always does, the cast of characters:

Ortega taco sauce (which I decided to just use after cooking if it needed a kick), pepper, salt, fajita seasoning packet, olive oil (which I keep in squeeze bottles, an idea I saw on the food network), shredded cheese, crescent roll dough, and chicken(I buy meat in bulk and divide into individual freezer bags for meals)

Start with your chicken: I just turned the burner on medium and squirted out enough oil to keep the chicken from sticking.

Brown your chicken(whatever you have),and season with salt and pepper.

When the chicken is cooked through, lower the heat and tear apart with a fork.

Add enough water to cover the bottom of the pan and sprinkle the fajita seasoning in(I used about a 1/3 of the packet, the packet is enough for 1 pound of chicken) Stir until the seasoning is dissolved and simmer until it thickens to a sauce. Turn off heat.

Open the can of dough and unroll. Tear off a triangle.

Place a bite or two of chicken and a pinch of shredded cheese in each one and roll up.

Like this. If I had had some veggies, peppers and onions, I would have used them, being careful to cook the veggies down to get as much water out as possible. But, this was a spur of the moment dish and this is what I had.

When you have them all rolled up, arrange in a greased baking dish and sprinkle some more cheese. (If you use a full pound of chicken, you'll need 2 cans of crescent rolls and a 9x13 baking dish.) Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees until the crescents are golden brown. Mine took about 20 minutes.

Almost done

Yum!! Served with some canned sweet corn and a smidge of tace sauce that I didn't even need. These little babies were super easy and would make good party food I think. Once they cooled some, I could pick them up and eat them like a homemade hot pocket. lol Makes me feel all domestic!

Now I'm thinking all kinds of things that would be good in there; bacon, bbq pork, pepperoni...the possibilities are endless!

(updated below)

I am not a food blogger, but these are so freaking good, I had to share. I am invited to a BBQ tomorrow for the 4th of July holiday. It is a standing invitation with a friend's family and I am never expected to bring anything but myself. Today, though, my friend jokingly said that everyone was required to bring something and then I realized that maybe I should. Knowing I have to work tomorrow before the party, it would have to be something that can be made ahead of time and stored in the tiny fridge at work. I was thinking about what I would want to eat at a party and I started to think about the Chocolate Bar and all the yummy things they offered on the cheese platters. So, I made my own cheese platter. I bought various kinds of cheese slices, some nice crackers, toasted some Bosnian bread and some nuts for spiced nuts. Mmm spiced nuts! I actually had a recipe from a long ago Camp Jeep, but some where in the moving I seem to have lost it. Food Network to the rescue! This is a recipe from Emeril and I've been "tasting" them all night to make sure they're all right. ;)

I was sitting in Blueberry Hill (Chuck Berry's restaurant) a couple of nights ago and I kept hearing this very distinctive laugh. I felt like I knew this person, but I couldn't remember who it was, or tell where exactly the laugh was coming from....until it hit me. Duff from Charm City Cakes! It wasn't actually him, but I'm thinking that I watch too much late night Food Network.

I still didn't have any photos or art for my kitchen and I thought...why don't I go to Soulard and take pictures of produce, see what I can come up with? So, I did. Wanna see? Why, of course you do! :) These are my favorites, all the photos I took today are also on Flickr.

After being a nervous twit about it for several days (one of my frustrated friends yelled at me over the phone, "Yeesh, it's not a date!!) I left my apartment in a new top and heeled sandals to meet MP at The Chocolate Bar in Lafayette Square. I had looked up the address from the website and studied the map (I have a ridiculous ability to "see" maps. It's weird and I don't know how to explain it, but I was a pizza delivery driver for a while and I rocked at it.), but I neglected to write down the number, so I knew that if I took a certain exit and went down two blocks and turned on Park, it would be there before I hit the park. BUT, for some reason I thought it was on the left, rather than the right, so I passed it and didn't see it. So, I knew I was in the right place, I parked and walked, figuring it would be easier to see on foot. MP called as I was walking and she waved me down from the door. We hugged and giggled, because how else do you greet someone you've been talking to for months but had never actually met in person? ;)

MP and I decided to get started with the drinking (and yes, I downloaded the menu at home, so I would be able to pick what I was going to order. am. FREAK.) and ordered a couple of chocolate martinis. And, as I said last night, took pictures before we even tasted them. Hee. They were delicious, but we'd barely even started when BOSSY arrived with her host, Tempered Woman.

Let me tell you, Bossy really is as gorgeous as she looks online, maybe more. She was so funny and just natural to be around, I would NEVER have been able to do what she has done, travel around meeting strangers every day, I thought I was going have a nervous breakdown and I didn't even have to drive, but for a few miles. We all settled in at a back table on their patio and just chatted like we had all known each other for years.

Over the next few hours, I met Angie from Fluid Pudding, Raquita from WOBL in Training(wise old black woman, how funny is that?!), Heather from Three Boys and Me, MP from My Second Journal, Sonrie from 1017, Jenny from Mommymae (it turns out that Jenny and I went to high school together in Southern Illinois, though we didn't know each other), Kelly from Mocha Momma, her daughter, Mallory, Tempered Woman, and her sister. (I can't remember her name at the moment, she doesn't have a blog and for a while, we were calling her Dooce.)


Conversation was fast and furious as we chatted about, I swear, everything under the sun. I found myself telling Heather and Raquita about my clothing woes and at one point, we all talked about my eyebrows, again.


With a short bit about The Chocolate Bar, I'll end this longer than normal post. Yay you, if you've made it this far!!!

More expensive than a casual night out would warrant, it's perfect for a special date or birthday celebration. The cheese plates were amazing and the drinks strong, I certainly felt like I got my moneys worth. My only complaint? The bathrooms, while completely charming and nicely appointed, are down a set of steep stairs and the bathrooms are unisex, so not marked with ladies or gentlemen. While it is probably more convenient that way, my inebriated self had the worst time figuring out which door to choose. ;)



To sum up....had a great time....food and drinks were good....company was excellent.

If you haven't already, please visit everyone else's blogs!!!!

I love to cook, but being a single girl, it can lose it's charm when I go through all that effort for just myself. I've been trying to eat better and cut out the fast food lately, so rather than being empty like it usually is, my kitchen is full of food. I wanted to share a couple of recipes that I tried last week that worked out really well.

Daddy's "If They'da had This at the Alamo We Would'ha Won!' Texas Chili

This link will take you to the allrecipes website, where I found the recipe. What I love about this site is that you can adjust the serving size, so instead of making a recipe for 20, I can make it for 4. That makes the leftovers much easier to handle. I really don't want to eat one meal for a week.

For this recipe, I used ground hamburger instead of stew meat, and I couldn't find the flour, but it was thick enough without it. (This is a texas chili, which means without beans, but you can add them if you like, I don't.) It is pretty yummy, but HOT. I've never had chili before, so I had no idea what to put in it (cheese? crackers?). I found some shredded cheese in the fridge and I didn't have any crackers, so I used some corn chips. Yum!

Cheesy Potato Soup II

I adjusted this one to 3. I pretty much kept to the recipe, but I cooked the crap out of the onions and celery, cuz I'm weird and it freaks me out when I'm eating something soft, but it also crunches. (shudder) Oh I also added some sharp cheddar cheese cubes and crumbled bacon. It's really good, I would recommend it, especially for kids who are freaked out by vegetables. I chopped them so small and cooked them long enough that you can't tell that they're in there. Nom Nom Nom

Anyway, if you're looking for a new recipe to try, these were both good, I recommend them.

Update!!
My good friend, Sarah, emailed me today to remind me that I still haven't sent her the recipe for my Cheesy Enchiladas, and since we are talking about recipes today, I thought I would add it here too. My mom has been famous in the lives of mine and my siblings' friends for several dishes, I have used the promise of her Scotcheroos to barter favors and my sister's friends fight over the chance for leftover baked ham, I am not kidding. Cheesy Enchiladas is one of those recipes. They are just that good. If you like cheese, this is for you. Yummy, comforting, and filling...just perfect. Here's the recipe and then I'll tell you how it can be altered.....

Baked Cheesy Enchiladas
1 lb ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 cup shredded cheese
1 package flour tortillas
1 lb Mild Mexican Velveeta
1 can Cream of Mushroom
1 can of water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Brown the ground beef and onion together and drain.

Divide beef and onion mixture into flour tortillas in a baking dish (glass 9x13 pans work best). Sprinkle shredded cheese in tortillas and roll up in pan.

In the microwave or saucepan, mix together Velveeta, soup and water. Stir together until cheese is melted. Pour mixture over filled tortillas and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

Now, to change it up....chicken in this dish is just as good. I'm not a big fan of onion, so I usually leave that out, or brown the beef with big pieces and fish them out. My Dad likes to spice things up with homemade salsa added in and on top of the enchiladas. Also, I hate mushrooms, but you can't taste them, so no worries there. This is super easy and yummy good.

There you go, Sarah, enjoy!

I heard this tow truck outside and thought maybe someone was having trouble with their car, or they were on my street for a repo job....but a woman drove her car right up on it, so I have no idea what this was about.


My grandma gave me this frog on a rock when she found out about my love of frogs...I had quite a collection going on in my former apartment's bathroom and he was part of it. I moved the frogs outside to the terrace when I decided to change the feel of the bathroom in this apartment...I've had the worst time with this, can't decide for the life of me. I noticed when watching the tow truck activity that this frog has had an accident. I have no idea how this happened, the goofy thing is made to go outside in a garden, so it couldn't have been ice, right? Maybe some freak hail or rocks falling from the sky, I just don't know.


This is my new favorite soda. Soda is really my only real vice, I'm addicted to Mountain Dew, but I found this little lovely at the grocery store in the ethnic section. I tried a couple out of curiosity and my favorite is the guava flavor. The best part? They're made with real sugar instead of that high fructose corn syrup stuff. Yum!

I'm taking this little break from being DEATHLY ILL to tell you that I have to drive back to my parents house tomorrow for more family togetherness. My parents are having my Dad's side of the family over for Christmas lunch/dinner (linner). I usually avoid these people, who include the crazy grandma that I talked about after thanksgiving, but my Dad is right that she may not have any idea who I am by next Christmas, if she's even around, so for him I'll make the hour plus drive there and back again with a head cold. I am a good daughter. I still have pictures to share and stories, but it feels like the back of my eyes are on fire, so I'm going to leave you with this one.....

Me and my nephew, Hayden making cookies...we are painting them with a food colored egg wash before baking, which sounds gross but looked neat and tasted yummy. He was VERY serious about the whole thing and absolutely delighted to have my whole attention for the afternoon. He's cute as hell and rotten in the way only a four year old boy can be. I'll post pics of the cookies later and tell you about my Mom calling bingo numbers on Christmas and how I resembled a Whoville Who with my Christmas outfit.

note: I'm not dying, I'm fine just pissed about having a cold and feeling like crap when I have so much to do.

"Oh. My. God. Did you have me on speaker-phone?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Could the girl at the window hear me?"

"I doubt it. I didn't even hear you.....why?"

"Because I just called you a fucking crackhead!"

"Oh. Well, yeah, that might have been awkward."

"Can you imagine? Out of nowhere a disembodied voice calls you a fucking crackhead and all you're trying to do is your job, giving people their stupid food in their stupid cars......"

"Yeah. That would suck."

"There's something seriously wrong with you."

"What? I'm hungry."

Got this link from Kendra and it cracked my ass up. It's a story of a girl, a dog, and a lot of sweet potatoes!

Tonight, I was eating some cookies that my mom made me last weekend (mmm, mom cookies!) and Angel started to give me the look. It's weird how when you have a pet, you start to be able to identify their moods and non-verbal "hints". This was not the innocent "I haven't done anything, please don't look under the bed" look, or the "I'm starving, my bowl has been empty for FIVE WHOLE MINUTES!" look, and it wasn't the panicked "I have an important meeting, and nothing to wear" look that usually procedes a mad tear about the apartment. This look was the "Look into my eyes, I will seduce you into doing my will. GIVE ME THE COOKIES!" Then she reached up to pat my cheek and smell my cookie breath. She's so funny.

...you can find these guys just outside the market on the park grounds...I don't know...they amuse me....

After wandering around the grounds, I took off down 9th Street to see what I could see. I am in love with the neighborhood...maybe after getting over the trauma of moving to my current apartment (which, frankly, may never happen) this may be where I land next.

Many of the buildings have little gardens where butterflies can be found....

I mean, really....how cute is this?


There are little concrete benches every where, just in case you feel the need for a breather while taking a walk.

I didn't, but I did squat down to take a picture and almost fell on my ass...

Everything is just so neat and pretty, though I'm sure it looks very different during Mardi Gras.

Further down the wall, I came across this gate...open and welcoming...

....back to the market and my car...all this walking has worn me out...time for a nap.