Dusting off my Passport!

Other big things are happening, too!  It's been 2 years since I was last out of the country (I cannot believe it's been that long!  Seems like just yesterday.), and now my severe wanderlust is being satisfied this summer - I'm leaving for China in a week!  My university's orchestra is going on tour, and we're headed to Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin.  We just received our itinerary, and besides performances, it includes visits to gardens, museums, temples, a boat ride, an acrobatic show, riding on the bullet train, and seeing the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square...the list goes on.  It sounds like it will be a very packed trip.  I'm pretty excited because I don't think I would have thought to put China at the top of my list of travel destinations anytime soon, and I don't know if I'd feel comfortable just heading over on my own for a visit, so this will be a great way to get a first taste.  I was talking to my dad, and he said that's how he felt about going behind the Iron Curtain when it was still the Iron Curtain; he went on tour with his school choir, and that was the best way to do it.  And then he said that there was one slightly sketchy part of the trip where he and his friend went off to Budapest for the day on their own and exchanged currency on the black market, "but everything worked out well."  Whaaattt??  Crazy.  You learn something new every day.  Anyway I can't wait!  Also, more travel news coming up soon...

~xomo

ps:  photo from the window of my friend's flat in Paris, where he graciously took me in for a week when I visited a couple years ago :)

Weddings and Babies

Big things are happening people, BIG things.  Big plans, Big changes, Big bellies.  First of all, Carolyn (also known as my best friend in the entire world) is getting married in two months!  I guess I never mentioned anything about her engagement, but that's obviously old news now.  Her husband-to-be is in those pictures above.  His name is Brandon, and he is a very intelligent, quirky, funny, and faithful companion to Carolyn.  I don't think I would have let her go to anyone else :)  I am super excited for their wedding!  I get to be at home for about a month before it, too, to spend time with Carolyn during her last single days, which I'm really glad about.  Time flies - It seems like Trish and Justin's wedding was just the other week.  It was actually about 7 months ago, however, which you can see by the size of Trish's belly (she calls it an aspiring little mountain).  I can't believe they will have a baby soon!  Those are a couple photos of her in Egypt, where she and Justin are currently living.  She recommends these books, and also check out this article that another mom-to-be wrote, about having a satisfying pregnancy experience, which is interesting.  I am totally in awe of the changes that Carolyn and Trish are undertaking right now.  Love those ladies to the ends of the Earth!

~xomo

ps:  I feel like I see a decent amount of people marrying someone that they slightly resemble.  Don't you think Carolyn and Brandon share some physical characteristics?  I wonder if we unconsciously gravitate towards a face that feels a little familiar and comforting, or if we start to look more like our partners as time goes by because we pick up on facial expressions and style?  I guess some people looking nothing alike, so...whatever.

Spring Cleaning and Perfect Potatoes

It seems spring has officially arrived in Kentucky, although who really knows, because the weather here is pretty whack - it changes all the time.  Things have really started warming up and blooming though, and I think it might be here to stay.  Apparently it was unseasonably chilly this year, and the first weekend where I could comfortably open the windows, I decided to do a real spring cleaning, which I don't think I've ever done in any of my other apartments.  It is such an amazing ritual!  Every item of clothing, sheets, towels, was freshly washed, all surfaces dusted and scrubbed, every dish clean, the refrigerator wiped down and organized, sinks gleamed, fresh air blew through...ahhh.  It felt so nice and I'm already thinking about it a little wistfully, as since that weekend there have been multiple mouse sightings, a couple ant attacks, the dust is returning, and I desperately need to do laundry.  Oh well, everything in life is cyclical.

That weekend also happened to be Easter weekend, and I celebrated by sharing a meal with some friends, where I roasted a whole, little chicken a la Julia Child (which I've always wanted to try) and we ate springy vegetables like asparagus and peas.  I also unexpectedly made the best roast potatoes of my life by accident.  I cut them into bite-sized pieces about 1/4 inch thick, and marinated them in olive oil, lemon, and salt and pepper, and then forgot about them for awhile.  So they were sitting in a bowl on the counter for about 30 minutes, and when I finally returned to them, a ton of liquid from the potatoes had drained out.  I put them in to oven and roasted them for awhile at 350, and bumped them up to 400 for a quick blast at the end, and they were perfectly cooked and had a nice crisp skin, which I've always had trouble getting.  Perfection!!  Try it!

I hope you're having weather you can enjoy, wherever you are :)
xomo

The Most Awesome Birthday Gift Ever

This is long overdue, but I want to brag about (and say thank you) for the amazing birthday gift that Tara gave me back in February (when I turned the big 2-5).  It's a chocolate subscription!  She stumbled across the company Standard Cocoa, which delivers three bars of specialty chocolate to you, or someone of your choice, once a month, for as long as you like.  The last bar I tried was Hawaiian chocolate with coconut milk and caramelized ginger, and it was out of this world.  The couple who runs the company say their mission is to "connect chocolate lovers with people who love to make chocolate."  So now, amazing chocolate is regularly delivered to my doorstep.  It's literally the gift that keeps on giving!  Actually the chocolate is delivered to my landlord's doorstep, and then he resists the temptation to eat it and hands it over to me.  When I explained the subscription to him he said, "That is the most awesome birthday gift ever!"  I totally agree :)  Sisters are so great; thank you Tara!  Actually, I was given a few really cool and surprising gifts this year, so maybe I will share the others as well...

Cheers!
xomo

Road Trip Stop - Nashville!

On the way to Houston we stopped in Nashville very quickly, just to drive through the downtown and get some coffee.  This is the first time I've ever been anywhere in Tennessee!  The city looks like it's a cool scene - colorful and lively; I've definitely heard great things about it, and the state seems to be beautiful.  It's not far from Lexington, so maybe it would be good to explore it more thoroughly someday...  Ever been there and have a favorite spot?  We're driving by on the way back and might need to stop again!

Spring Break!

Spring break is here!  I think this is the best spring break I've ever had because the semester was so busy the past 2 weeks, and it feels really rewarding to be away from school.  I've been, ahem, seeing someone, and we are on a road trip down to Houston, TX!  His name is Will, and he's in the middle photo there.  I think he's cute and I like him a lot because he says things like, "Actually I'm glad that you broke one of my wine glasses because it was sort of bothering me that I had an odd number."  He has other qualities to value besides embracing clumsy behavior, but I'll save them for later.  Anyway, I have extended family in Houston that are super cool, and whom I don't get to see often.  It's a 1000 mile drive one-way!  Long.  We are going at a leisurely pace and not worrying about making various stops along the road.  We started seeing more and more things that made me chuckle as we made our way further south, and I couldn't resist getting a picture of this man's t-shirt :) 

Breakfast of the Week

Have you ever made one of these??  It's a German Pancake, or I guess it's also called a Dutch Baby.  This is the recipe I used, and it was delicious.  Actually it was a lot bigger and puffier when I took it out of the oven, but then it proceeded to slowly deflate a bit upon its arrival on the table (Now I know what it must feel like to make a souffle.  Also, how do you type accents?) Maybe it realized it was going to be eaten right as its life began.  I filled it with apples that I sauteed with butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and a bit of lemon juice and brown sugar.

I would like to assure you that I do more in life than make breakfast.  For instance, this weekend has been really busy with opera performances, and my mom and sister are in town, which is awesome.  I've seen some great movies recently, including all the Godfathers, Argo, Munich, and Chinatown (all really good).  There have been some cool home improvement projects that I want to post about.  I also got a new job!  I'm a personal assistant for a doctor, which basically means that I do errands and pick up groceries for him.  I'm not really going to talk about him or the job much because I want to keep it.  But I will say that today I was thinking about how it's a little bizarre to become familiar with the way a person smells without knowing them very well.   You know what I mean?  Usually you have to know someone pretty intimately to recognize their smell.  I don't really know my new boss, but I do smell him a decent amount because I hang out with his clothes.  I know he must be pretty cool because the laundry woman spoke very highly of him when I picked up a load.  She walked with me carrying a small, superfluous bag of clothes, and said "I enjoy him, he's very calming and kind of mellow."  I started panting a bit beside her trying to walk down the aisle carrying the first, 50 lb bag of laundry, and kind of grunted, "Yea, calm," while almost spilling all of its contents.  I will also say he has a pretty cool apartment.  My favorite part of it so far is the vacuum, which is the nicest vacuum I've ever come across in my entire life; I get to use it once a week.  Anyway, it's a good job so far.  

So, life is moving, breakfasts are being eaten.  Have a good day everyone!
xomo

T.W.O.R.G.B. - Birthday Breakfast

 Hm, this is a little delayed, but The Week of Really Good Breakfasts came to a close last Sunday on my birthday!  It was a toast buffet (I love toast), and featured avocado with poached eggs, and ricotta and jam. Pretty simple because I had to come up with a dinner that would feed about 20 people later that night, but simple things are often the best.  If you have trouble poaching eggs, what I always do is bring the water to a boil, crack an egg into a bowl, and then hold the bowl very close to the surface of the water and let the egg slip in.  I let them cook a little longer than I would expect every time, until they start to take a definite shape and the yoke section is maleable to the touch, but not completely relaxed, and then take them out with a slotted spoon and pat off the extra water.  The whites are firm and the yolk is still runny, but not undercooked.  That's the way I like 'em, anyway.  I've decided to continue with T.W.O.R.G.B. because it's so delicious, but it has to be a little less intense, so I will just do a weekly breakfast post.  There are lots more recipes to try :)

Photos from Egypt

 No special breakfast at home today because I had a class that started in the early morning and provided food, but I wanted to share these photos that Justin and Trish took, who moved to Egypt a few weeks ago and will be living there for nine months.  They're expecting a baby and working on various projects, and the whole thing is a giant whirlwhind!  They started a  blog to share stories, and here are some amazing pictures, a few of which are above.  I think about them all the time, over there in another part of the world, livin' life.  Incredible :)

Take care out there!
xomo

T.W.O.R.G.B. - Day 5

The Week of Really Good Breakfasts - Day 5:  Spalding's Donuts 

Spalding's is a bakery that is both joyously and tragically located a quick walk from my apartment. Their big specialty is donuts, and oh. my. God.  they are unbelievable.  Seriously they are so good.  No really, you don't understand, they are sooooo good.  It is also joyous and tragic that they are pretty inexpensive, which is why there are a plateful shown above.  I guess when I picked them up my thinking was somewhere along the lines of "Ok, one for right now, one for...elevensies, or something?"  I can at least solemnly swear that I did not eat more than half of them today.  Ahem.

Go there!  If you are able.

ps:  I know this is something an obnoxious person would say, but...it's like I can actually feel the amazing combination of fat and sugar on display before you move to my waist when I look at the pictures.  Or maybe the pictures just remind me of what I ate?  Good grief.