important updates

1. i had a breakthrough yesterday morning. i used ONLY my brush and hairdryer to do my hair.... no straightening iron... and my hair stayed straight allllll daaaay looong!! for too long i have operated under the assumption that i either have to iron those curls out, or use some scrunchie gel and let my hair air dry. this latest discovery is exactly the combination i was searching for: an efficient use of my time, minus the bum-like hair that air-drying produces.

2. did my third night of jillian michaels' 30 day shred. still on level 1, though its getting easier... a little. 

3. just got back from a delicious vietnamese dinner at pho bihn with friends. it's a little hole-in-the-wall place but it will knock your socks off. the lemongrass tofu is breathtaking. and no, i'm not exaggerating.

ok, time to study.

what can i say, really?

i'm buried in work. and study materials. for the last 3 weeks or so - apart from the hour i set aside every night to cook and eat dinner - i have been living and breathing architecture. 


at work, we are in the home stretch for our renovation project. i work 10-11 hour days- definitely not the norm- and do not get paid overtime or collect comp time. a grande pike place from starbucks each morning is my way of coping. at home, i am studying for the first of my architecture registration exams. there are 7 total. i'm not sure exactly when i will take this first exam, since i am waiting on the TN board to approve my application and give me a testing number. my goal is to finish all exams by the beginning of june 2011. we'll see how that goes.


i'm sorry that all this seems to have a "woe is me" vibe to it... i really am surprisingly quite happy and satisfied with the way things are going lately. one thing i have found is that i am about 150% more productive during the week (and weekends for that matter) than i was with my 40-hour work week. somehow i find time to workout and cook dinner every night. if it weren't for those 2 things i think i would go crazy. oh, and the support of my wonderful bf doesn't hurt either. 


even so, i'll be happy when this deadline has passed and i can have time to style my hair in the mornings.


so that's where i am. i do have delicious recipes to post- i still try to cook something new once a week. soon i will post: portabello burgers. yum :) you will LOVE them.


thanks, friends, for continuing to check in. 
miss you all!!

and 3 months later... i'm back

here's an update on my life this past three months. i'll make it quick because, let's face it, my blogging endurance is not at it's finest...


september: channeling julia child... boeuf bourguignon

october: halloween partaaaaaay

november: seattle and portland

december: the girls' visit & merry christmas

i'll talk to you soon :) i promise.

i literally laugh out loud...

you MUST read this blog: FU, Penguin.
i just bought the book on amazon.com and am counting down the seconds until it arrives on my doorstep.

just like i promised.

a couple of weekends ago, sean and i decided to be tourists in our hometown and visit the ghost river brewery. it's located on south main... like, waaay south main, where it dead ends into crump. they do tours every saturday at 1pm, FOR FREE. you get a tour of the brewery and a sample of each beer that they are currently making.


the brewery makes beer for bosco's restaurant (one of our favs) and its own label. they give you all sorts of information on the history behind the brewing company, as well as the process for making each brew. it's really interesting- i definitely learned a few things. and you can buy it too :) they call them growlers... a 64oz jug of beer for $10. you pay a $3 deposit for the jug, and then can refill it anytime with any of their beers for only $10. i  l o v e  i t. you should go, it's awesome.


http://www.ghostriverbrewing.com/

here are a few more pictures from our afternoon around the south main district:

i wish kitty baths were this easy on harbert ave...

Cat Takes a Bath @ Yahoo! Video

in the works...

i'm telling you about this so i'll commit myself to it and actually follow through. this is stuff i've been meaning to blog about for a little while now, and just haven't gotten it done. now that you know about it, hold me accountable.

future blog topics (in the NEAR future, i promise) will be:

1. the cheesecake corner

2. ghost river brewery

3. sean's birthday dinner (julia!!)

4. shopping report

5. november painting show

thanks for listening, we'll talk soon. :)

EDO

between sean's call nights, i thought it appropriate to treat him to dinner. he suggested a new sushi place, edo, that a friend told him about. it's on summer ave. near mendenhall- it looks like hole-in-the-wall place. and it kind of is. but the quality of food is consistent with hole-in-the-wall places- AMAZING.


it's small inside, when we got there we were sharing the restaurant with 3 or 4 other tables. as dinner progressed, though, it became clear that people definitely knew about this place, and that they loved it. by the time we left, every booth in that little restaurant was full. 


they use plastic (but decorative) cups and plates, my placemat was paper, and i didn't get to eat my miso soup with one of those fancy spoons. (and i LOVE those fancy spoons.) but in this case, i think that's why this place is so good. the sushi is the most important part of their business. it was so fresh i swear it has to be flown in daily. the flavors were so full and that was some of the best miso i ever had. just as i judge mexican restaurants by their rice and beans, i judge sushi places by their miso soup. edo passed with flying colors. and everyone i saw who worked there was 100% japanese, so you know it's legit (in my opinion that's one of the first signs of a good restaurant).


and then comes the BEST BEST BEST part. the  p r i c e ... sean and i each had miso soup and we split 4 sushi rolls, one of which "expensive" (at $6!?) and our bill was just shy of $25!!! what!? for amazing sushi!!!!


and then we capped off the night with cupcakes from muddy's. life doesn't get any better.


I LOVE IT. WE'RE GOING BACK. END OF STORY.

hearty minestrone

had a fabulous run tonight!! i did 3.4 miles in 31:30, which is great for me!! PLUS i went running even through i really didn't feel like it. it takes a lot to overcome your mind saying "nah, no running tonight.... wouldn't it just feel good to cook dinner and sit on the couch?" yes. yes, it would. but i won the argument with myself, so combined with the great time i did i count tonight as a double victory. 

and here's dinner for tonight. it's been a while since i posted a recipe and since this was fairly easy, very delicious, and a hit with the boys tonight so i figured i'd share!!

HEARTY MINESTRONE
from the South Beach Diet Cookbook
(i couldn't find good picture of this soup, so you'll just have to trust me- it's delicious!!)


1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 leeks, white and green parts, white halved lengthwise, rinsed and thinly sliced, green parts chopped
2 ribs celery with leaves, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp dried oregano, crushed
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp salt
3 cups chicken broth
4 cups swiss chard, chopped (couldn't find this so i didn't use it...)
1 cup green beans, cut into 1" pieces
1/4 cup whole wheat ditalini or small shell pasta
1 clove garlic, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup chopped italian parsley
1/2 cup sliced zucchini
4 tsp grated parmesan cheese
4 sprigs oregano, for garnish


heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. add the leeks, celery, minced garlic, dried oregano, pepper, and salt. cook, stirring frequently, for 4 minutes, or until vegetables begin to soften.
add the broth, swiss chard, green beans, and pasta. bring to a boil over high heat. reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 8 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender and the pasta is al dente.
meanwhile, in a cup, combine the chopped garlic with the parsley. stir into the soup along with the zucchini. cover and cook for 5 minutes or until heated through.
ladle the soup into 4 bowls and top each with 1 tsp of the cheese. garnish with the oregano sprigs.


enjoy!!


makes 4 servings. 


and for those of you that care... per serving: 138 calories, 6 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 5 g protein, 17 g carbohydrate, 3 g dietary fiber, 1 mg cholesterol, 988 mg sodium.


(and if you're doing the south beach diet, this is a phase 2 recipe... if you leave out the pasta it's phase 1.)

movie night at the orpheum

two weekends in a row, we have gotten to enjoy the movie night at the orpheum. it is so much fun to go an watch old movies in the venue they were originally shown in. there is a big difference in watch these movies on your couch and in the grandeur of a place like the orpheum. 

last week, we met rachel, adam, and rachel's new law school friend + husband for butch cassidy and the sundance kid. i have an eternal crush on paul newman, and paired with robert redford, things only get better. if you haven't seen butch cassidy, definitely put it on your netflix queue. if you have seen it, another paul and robert fav of mine is the sting. my dad introduced me to this movie years ago, and i can't get enough of it. 

last night we double-dated with our roommate and his girlfriend (both fellow classmates of sean's) for gone with the wind. classic and utterly enjoyable. we got a couple beers and a big tub of popcorn, and settled in for the almost 4-hour film. it had been years since i had actually sat through the entire movie at once. it's a test of stamina, for sure, but completely worth it. in a slight digression... last night i became more aware of how completely insane and manic scarlett o'hara actually is. it's quite exhausting. there's no way things would have ever worked out with her and rhett. i'm just sayin'. 

friends+ old venice + muddy's

sean's on call for pediatrics tonight- he left at 5:30 this morning and i won't see him until i get home from work tomorrow night. that's no fun. BUT i have fantastic friends who invited me out for dinner and dessert!! many thanks to paul and suzanne for adopting me tonight- paul even bought my dinner!

along with several other med-students, we went to old venice pizza company. believe it or not, that building used to be my pediatrician's office! when we were eating, i tried to see if i could remember the space how it used to be, with colorful murals everywhere and jars of lollipops. not quite... the food was delicious. suz and paul got some killer spinach dip and the chicken tuscany pizza. i got the eggplant parmesan. not the best i've had, but definitely tasty. (ciao bella is still my fav.)

after dinner we went to muddy's bake shop- a place i've been eyeing for a looong time. i'd heard so many great things, and just recently they won "memphis' best bakery". i got a classic staple- vanilla cupcake with vanilla icing. mmmmmmmm. i'm already looking forward to going back. i mean, place your eyes on THIS....

to all my girl friends who come visit every so often... this is going to be our next must-do activity. coffee and cupcakes at muddy's. i'd better not hear any arguing.

back to blogging

has is actually been 20 days since my last blog?? oh geez.

i don't really have any excuses, just add it to the long list of things i always have on my to-do list... i seem to accomplish most of those things, but i guess blogging is dead last and inevitably gets new to-do items shoved to a higher priority regardless of how much time it spends on the list. poor blog. i got inspired to write today when i was doing some eco-friendly materials research at work. i found a website, that had a "check out our blog" section. the blog had ONE entry. from 2007. i vowed right then and there to (try to) not neglect my blog like that.

i've been good about running lately. yay!! i always fall out of love with running during the summer because it's just too damn hot, which my real runner friend, sarah, can attest to. but the last month has been ridiculously good weather, and has inspired me to get back into it for my fall race season. and yes, i do have a fall race season. i love running in the fall and winter, and that's when most of the races are. so i have 2 races each month from september to december, mostly 5k's with a couple of 4-milers thrown in. i have been having great runs each night after work, and each leaves more more inspired for the next. oh, and sarah (running friend) is doing the chicago marathon in october. that is also VERY inspiring.

seattle/portland vacation cannot come soon enough. i am really looking forward to seeing a completely new part of the country and (hopefully) loving it so much we'll want to live there!! now, to be realistic, sean and i have also sat down with a list of residency programs to figure out all of the places in the u.s. that we'd be willing to go... that match program is crazy and you're only screwing yourself if you limit your options. we have cities all over the country- ca, wa, or, co, ny, ma, il, ct, de, nh... you get the idea. i think we'll get some time to visit denver at some point, and probably new york city and boston. very, very exciting and i can't wait to see where we end up!!

and now i'm watching hgtv show #5 of the night. i know, that's a little extreme, but i LOVE these shows. now showing: house hunters international goes to the caribbean. these people and their vacations homes.... makes me bubble over with jealously. earlier, house hunters went to portland, and sean and i got a small education on the condo market there. not cheap. that's all i'll say.

and i really have to get going on my paintings. i've avoided working on them so far, but with a show coming up in november, i'm probably going to regret not getting started when i originally planned to. i'm going image hunting tomorrow so i should have a good bank of inspiration.

as random as this has been, i hope it hasn't been to terribly boring. i've enjoyed getting some thoughts out and i hope i can be disciplined enough to come back soon. wish me luck, dear readers. whoever you are.

running in the rain

... is something i am not yet prepared to do. we have had a plethora of storms lately, and one came again last night. 3am. room-filling lightning and constant thunder. i was planning on running this morning, but as i lay in bed listening to the storm and trying to go back to sleep, i realized it was unlikely i would have the motivation to get out of bed when the time came.

many times i use the rain as an excuse not to exercise, which is probably fine if you're living in memphis. BUT if sean and i end up in seattle, which i am hoping for, decisions will have to be made. either 1. i buy a treadmill, but i hate treadmills so i hate that idea 2. i join a gym, but that seems like kind of a waste when you're in the midst of such beautiful, natural, active surroundings or 3. suck it up and become one of those hard core people who runs rain or shine, and maybe even barefoot in the snow just for fun. yeah, that sounds good.

seattle

sean and i are planning our first "find out if we want to live here post-med school" trip to seattle!! we're looking at going just before thanksgiving, since sean has that entire week off. we would, of course, be back in time for turkey :)

we got a travel book yesterday, to get the process started, and have also done mucho research on flights, trains and car rentals for a side trip to portland, and a little work on the cost of apartments... just to get an idea of the big city prices. (actually wasn't nearly as shocking as i thought it would be. yay!) so i don't really have any details for you, but we are getting excited about this opportunity to live somewhere else... here are some of our favorite pictures we found while perusing the internet yesterday.

breakfast at tiffany's

i cannot believe that i have only just NOW seen this movie. i don't know how i survived before... this was a $7 purchase at target with sean on friday, and last night we curled up on the couch with some pizza and drinks and my life was changed forever. i love how modern it is- at some points i had to remind myself that it's almost 50 years old. i'm sure you've seen it, but in case you haven't, RUN to your nearest store or get on netflix right now and push it to the top of your queue. happy viewing.

ps- i want EVERY SINGLE THING that audrey hepburn wore in this movie. now, please.

meet lola!

sean and i finally got the chance to go get another kitty!!

we'd been talking about it for a few months, but knew it would be better to wait until after he was back from chattanooga, and things were settled again. we had already decided we wanted to get a little boy kitten and name him oscar, after the fabulous waiter we had in venice last summer.

yesterday morning we went to humane society. right when we walked in there was a kind of towered kennel that had four kittens, three black-and-white and one grey... all female. the woman who was getting ready to clean their cage saw us oooogling and suggested we take all four into the visiting room and play with them while she took care of the kennel.

we left with lola, or rather "kuna" (sean came up with "lola" in the car on the way home). she's a bundle of fun for sure. very energetic and happy. also excited to play with zoe. now, zoe only returns those feelings about half the time, but eventually i think she'll come around. for now she's a little timid but that's to be expected. we're just going to try and give her as much love as we did before, since she will always be our number one baby :) plus, you don't want zoe to be pissed at you. you'll wake up to find a turd in your bed. it's true.

lola was... how shall we say it... interactive last night. she loves to talk. and apparently she's a vampire because she doesn't need to sleep. so i'm a little fatigued (sean is still asleep) but i'm sure i'll manage... we will need to formulate a kind of game plan today, though. being awoke multiple times between 2am and 5am is not something i'm willing to get used to.

regardless, we LOVE our new addition!! here are a couple of pics... the ones i could get of her where she wasn't a bluuuuur. ENJOY!

wardrobe woes

i wish it was fall so that i could wear my pashminas.

they're calling to me.

new recipe!!

after our racquetball game last night, sean and i coupled this delightful dish with some spanish rice. it's quick and delicious and you should make it!!

SPANISH-STYLE SHRIMP WITH GARLIC

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (or more if you like spicy)

6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 bay leaf

1 lb. large shrimp, peeled and deveined

pinch of kosher salt

2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley

4 lemon wedges

heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

add crushed red pepper, garlic, and bay leaf and cook 2 minutes stirring constantly.

bump the heat up to medium-high and add shrimp

saute about 4-5 minutes until the shrimp are fully cooked.

remove from heat, sprinkle with salt and discard bay leaf.

sprinkle with parsley and serve with lemon wedges.

TA-DA!!

yeah, i'm still here

my sincerest apologies for the lack of posting lately. there's lots going on. including, but not limited to, painting for the show, boyfriend back in town, holiday celebrations, ribs at the parent's house, cleaning the house... and it has all swallowed me whole. but i will do my best to get back on track.

tonight, sean and i resume our pre-chattanooga workout regimen with a few games of racquetball. looking forward to that. then i'll probably make this new shrimp dish i've been eyeing for about a month.

for now, though, i'm just tryin to give myself a pep-talk for the week ahead. i love 3 day weekends. not 5 day work-weeks. and now it's time to leave... meeting the boss and the client for a site visit. i know you're jealous.

happy monday!!

penny pinching

in an effort to not spend a fortune on AC this summer, we've been keeping the 3rd floor air off during the day. every night when i go up there to paint, i turn the air on and after about an hour and a half it's only 80 degrees :) ha. still not great, but better than what i see when i go up there at first:

who knows how hot it actually is up there... the poor little needle has no where else to go.

welcome to memphis summers.