Saturday, June 12, 2010
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
Wedded Memorial Bliss-en
Jennifer Sherwood is wedded!
{to the church!}
Many of you, in fact most of you, never had the immense privalage of meeting Miss Jennifer Sherwood, as was. Alas, nevermore, quoth the Raven. She is now wedded to her paramour, Mr. Clark Walker.
{watch out Clark}
{unity}
Jennifer was a fellow with me and one of my roommate this past year. I thought this subject would be a decent reentry for myself into the world of blogging. Her wedding marked the end of a year of change. To really begin, I must recall the end of the fellows program last spring. It ended with a long beach week of memories and joking, the perfect end. Most fortunately, my impending gloom was staid off by my immediate leep into family affairs. By immediate, I mean twelve hours after arriving home from North Carolina, I was sitting next to my baby brother in the back of our loaded Denali co-vying with our parents for a trip to the Field Museum in Chicago.
{two people lovers}
{the fellows, as were}
{bhops, now btut}
{my steadfast roommate, Ashley...for now!}
{Kiley & Jason soon to be multiplied}
{I love weddings...and sangria}
{I heeard that}
It was not a hot house summer upon my return from our family trip more of a Kentucky, tornado summer with living in a new house in a fresh section of town and beginning a new job. It was lonely going for a while as I felt my world torn asunder and pieced back together in a fashion I needed to learn to recognize. Quite quickly though sweet co-workers (new to feast! like me!) became dear and favorite playmates. The winter proved endurable with some creative collaboration like Indian food chez moi and pedicures and with, bien sûr, the old stand-bys, BBC mystery and drama. Yes, please.
The pleasure of living within walking distance of purchasable goods is a daily recalled to my mind. It is a delight that I had dreamt to experience in America but did not expect to realize at such a young age. Hurrah. Charlottesville is teaming with foodie restaurants which champion talented chefs and local, fresh ingredients. Cute shops abound, not my favorite haunts. But kitchy and unique havens do, too, such as O'Suzannah's and Antics, a vintage clothing shop.
Now, welcome Summer! More changes have begun but with a foundation of stability as the main ingredients will not be changing, i.e. job, house, church. One roommate is married and a new one will arrive from Fort Worth, TX mid-July. Yes, that is correct, I will be living with two Texans again next year. I can handle their egos, don't worry. In the meantime, I am amorously awaiting each day's summer thunderstorm and making a plan to fight off the algeae on my brain. I've begun with What Jane Austen Ate & Charles Dickens Knew, a guide to information 19th century readers would have known in contemporary literature. It was an unfinished book of mine that I am redeeming. Cheers!
{Yes! A post!}
Monday, August 10, 2009
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Rainy summer morning
A favorite breakfast: oatmeal with Mr. Freed's fresh blueberries and peaches with a drizzle of honey
I awoke this morning to a wet vista. From the wide bay windows of my living room, I looked out on my jungle yard of mimosas, dogwoods, weeds, ivy, and vines all sagging and glistening with water. Refreshed from my nearly nine hours of sleep (I went to bed at 10:15), I slouched against a counter in my kitchen while waiting for the water to boil for my tea. Rain, like snow, gives the streets a different sound, a reverent sound. People become quieter even as they go about their daily rituals. I wonder why?
Snuggled up on my coach with tea, devotional, book, and journal (be prepared!), I felt happy. Yes, simply happy. This foretaste of autumn has made me so, even though I am dreading summer's end. Summer, with its vibrancy and heat and joy, has gone too quickly this year and every indication that it is packing its bags and moving out sends me into little bouts of relationship-induced depression. But fall...yes, it's one of my favorites but I'm not quite ready. But this surprise rain reminds me that season transitions go slowly and not quickly in the mid-Atlantic. Here in Virginia I won't wake up tomorrow to trees without leaves.
Homemade yogurt tastes so fresh! Moo...
The second go around with the yogurt proved even more successful. A firmer consitency was achieved by a longer sitting time. I also used a coconut yogurt base so the whole batch has a hint of sweet coconut. Delish! I first had coconut yogurt in France and ate it like a rapid racoon. Sadly, America didn't seem to sell any. But I just found some at Whole Foods. Try it.
Oh, I start my new job as Assistant Manager at a local business, Feast!, this coming Tuesday. Check it out: http://www.feastvirginia.com/
Saturday, July 25, 2009
A Year of Frugality
Welcome to this Year, my year, of Frugality. One of my friends took to naming her years at their beginning, sort of a forecasting and fore willing of the coming time. So I though I would give it a try. This year mine is to be -- will be -- frugality. As a young twentysomething, I am going to embrace the Depression-era jingle: Use it up, wear it out, use it all, or do without!
Generosity with money and things is not usually a struggle for me. I like to give. I scheme to give, usually. But frugality is not my tendency, at least of recent years. I used to save and save and sell candy to my siblings and temper all my saving and selling by lending to the desperate and giving to World Vision. Now, however, as a first time homeowner I must return to my roots! Dinners out? No! Specialty foods? No! High end clothes? No! I am going to try not to be extreme in my measures but terribly firm. In fact, as a blessing to my future efforts, I have arranged to meet with a Money Map Coach, two really, a couple, as support for my new year of monthly finances. Exciting! What will they say?
But in the meantime, anyone care for a walk Downtown, a trip to the library, or...homemade yogurt?
The yogurt:
I really made this. It was a success in taste. The consistency was looser than store bought but perfect for use with granola (it reminds me of Swedish yogurt). Next time, however, I will try to get it a bit firmer.
Quart of milk = $1 v. Container of yogurt = $3.69 = Savings: $2.69 per lg container of yogurt
See this NY Times article for the how-to: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/15/dining/15curi.html?_r=1
Generosity with money and things is not usually a struggle for me. I like to give. I scheme to give, usually. But frugality is not my tendency, at least of recent years. I used to save and save and sell candy to my siblings and temper all my saving and selling by lending to the desperate and giving to World Vision. Now, however, as a first time homeowner I must return to my roots! Dinners out? No! Specialty foods? No! High end clothes? No! I am going to try not to be extreme in my measures but terribly firm. In fact, as a blessing to my future efforts, I have arranged to meet with a Money Map Coach, two really, a couple, as support for my new year of monthly finances. Exciting! What will they say?
But in the meantime, anyone care for a walk Downtown, a trip to the library, or...homemade yogurt?
The yogurt:
I really made this. It was a success in taste. The consistency was looser than store bought but perfect for use with granola (it reminds me of Swedish yogurt). Next time, however, I will try to get it a bit firmer.
Quart of milk = $1 v. Container of yogurt = $3.69 = Savings: $2.69 per lg container of yogurt
See this NY Times article for the how-to: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/15/dining/15curi.html?_r=1
Monday, July 06, 2009
Independence Day
Ran a 5k with the Stamper's and Jenny:
Greg exemplified patriotic in his navy shirt, flag shorts, and flag (he ran with it!). In typical Stamper fashion, too, we biked three miles to the race course to make the 7AM start time and then biked back, an eventuality I hadn't considered the night before!
We had a champion's breakfast of soft boiled eggs, toast, zucchini bread, and sauteed tomatoes. Oh, and tea, of course.
Jenny and I then buzzed over to Staunton (pron: Stan-ton) to the Frontier Culture Museum. We picked up Ashley along the way and arrived just in time to hear the Declaration of Independence read. Brilliant! This is a tradition that I think should be continually observed. It was a great reminder of our heritage and our common ground as Americans. Afterward, fourteen toasts were read and after each one the whole crowd shouted, "Hurrah!" at the top of our lungs. Rowena will appreciate that as they were from 1814, a popular past time in that day (a toast for each state).
German clogs:
I tied for third place in a watermelon spitting contest. And finally -- there was a pie eating contest!
This was all the good part of the day. For some reason, traveling and starvation usually go hand-in-hand, in my experience. One tries to see as much as possible, everyone debates about where and what to eat, time ticks on, and before anyone realizes it it is the next meal time. In the mean time, however, decision making abilities are exponentially deteriorating. This makes food decisions even more challenging. At four o'clock on the Fourth, not having eaten lunch, we three girls were not immune to this natural process of the traveler.
After debating whether or not to go to Cracker Barrel, missing the exit, and thus continuing on, it wasn't until roughly an hour later that we realized that we had in fact gone an hour in the wrong direction. After re-grouping and turning the car around, Ashley promptly took a nap. But fortunately Jenny and I, seasoned travelers that we are, were able to let out our angst and have good conversation.
This event in itself would be dampering, however, things did not end there. After dropping Ashley off, Jenny and I were still ravenous. "Fried chicken!" craved Jenny. It sounded simple but since we couldn't find an open chicken place at 6PM on the Fourth of July (ridiculous), we decided to make it ourselves.
A word of advice: when you are quite hungry, it's late in the day, and you've been up since 5:45AM do not 1) attempt to make something you've never made, 2) cook at all, 3) decide to make a homemade pie on top of that, OR 4) involve yourself in anyway with hot oil, heat, or dirty dishes. Save yourself.
Let's just say disastrous. Yes, we laughed lightly then and heartily later. But...disastrous.
At 9PM, we finally relieved our hunger just as the first neighbors were moseying over for the planned out door movie. So, beautifully, are day ended as joyously as it had begun, with the Stampers hanging a sheet over their deck to project Dr. No, the first in their summer Bond series. The Lake behind us glistened with starlight, noisy firecrackers occasionally went off, and a few softly floating boats glided by as we watched.
Ooh, la, la, Mr. Connery.
Greg exemplified patriotic in his navy shirt, flag shorts, and flag (he ran with it!). In typical Stamper fashion, too, we biked three miles to the race course to make the 7AM start time and then biked back, an eventuality I hadn't considered the night before!
We had a champion's breakfast of soft boiled eggs, toast, zucchini bread, and sauteed tomatoes. Oh, and tea, of course.Jenny and I then buzzed over to Staunton (pron: Stan-ton) to the Frontier Culture Museum. We picked up Ashley along the way and arrived just in time to hear the Declaration of Independence read. Brilliant! This is a tradition that I think should be continually observed. It was a great reminder of our heritage and our common ground as Americans. Afterward, fourteen toasts were read and after each one the whole crowd shouted, "Hurrah!" at the top of our lungs. Rowena will appreciate that as they were from 1814, a popular past time in that day (a toast for each state).
German clogs:
I tied for third place in a watermelon spitting contest. And finally -- there was a pie eating contest!
This was all the good part of the day. For some reason, traveling and starvation usually go hand-in-hand, in my experience. One tries to see as much as possible, everyone debates about where and what to eat, time ticks on, and before anyone realizes it it is the next meal time. In the mean time, however, decision making abilities are exponentially deteriorating. This makes food decisions even more challenging. At four o'clock on the Fourth, not having eaten lunch, we three girls were not immune to this natural process of the traveler.
After debating whether or not to go to Cracker Barrel, missing the exit, and thus continuing on, it wasn't until roughly an hour later that we realized that we had in fact gone an hour in the wrong direction. After re-grouping and turning the car around, Ashley promptly took a nap. But fortunately Jenny and I, seasoned travelers that we are, were able to let out our angst and have good conversation.
This event in itself would be dampering, however, things did not end there. After dropping Ashley off, Jenny and I were still ravenous. "Fried chicken!" craved Jenny. It sounded simple but since we couldn't find an open chicken place at 6PM on the Fourth of July (ridiculous), we decided to make it ourselves.
A word of advice: when you are quite hungry, it's late in the day, and you've been up since 5:45AM do not 1) attempt to make something you've never made, 2) cook at all, 3) decide to make a homemade pie on top of that, OR 4) involve yourself in anyway with hot oil, heat, or dirty dishes. Save yourself.
Let's just say disastrous. Yes, we laughed lightly then and heartily later. But...disastrous.
At 9PM, we finally relieved our hunger just as the first neighbors were moseying over for the planned out door movie. So, beautifully, are day ended as joyously as it had begun, with the Stampers hanging a sheet over their deck to project Dr. No, the first in their summer Bond series. The Lake behind us glistened with starlight, noisy firecrackers occasionally went off, and a few softly floating boats glided by as we watched.
Ooh, la, la, Mr. Connery.
Saturday, June 06, 2009
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