Wednesday, August 31, 2011

[Can we do this every weekend?]



Hurricane Irene was exactly what I hoped for. We were fortunate to be relatively unaffected by the storm, but it was still a fun excuse to stay curled up inside all weekend. Aside from a short power outage on Saturday night (which had me panicking on the inside, as I obvi canNOT survive in the wild without TV or air conditioning, plus we had just watched a very scary movie called "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark," which, of course, caused me to be a lot more afraid of the dark), it just felt like a relaxed, lazy weekend. A lot of TV and movie watching punctuated by a little baking, cooking, and kissing. On Sunday night, Chad said he kind of wished we could have another hurricane next weekend...and I was like, um, I don't need a hurricane to have another weekend like this...I'm not the one who has to coach Little League and go in to work every weekend... just sayin'. :) Seriously, though, we've both been crazy busy with work (I don't think either of us has left work before 7 p.m. in weeks!), so it was a much needed break from life. I know a lot of people up and down the coast were and continue to be affected by this storm--here's hoping to a speedy recovery for everyone!

*I love this picture of Chad. I came up to my room after dinner clean up and found him curled up in my bed, reading a science magazine, surrounded by his favorite little snacks, with a mischievous, boyish grin on his face. Caught!

Friday, August 26, 2011

[It's Friday, I'm...]

EXHAUSTED

...so instead of going on lunch, i'm taking a nap under my desk. normal, right?


I hope everyone on the East Coast stays safe and dry this weekend! Chad and I are planning an Irene party for two tomorrow. Just games, movies, treats, and cuddling. Pajamas only, and no work allowed! Tonight I'm going to make some chili, cornbread, and chocolate chip cookies to hold us over through the weekend and brave the grocery store masses to stock up on necessities, like water, candy, and floaties.


See you on the other side!

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

[this week's meal was...]


Really proud that I somehow managed to make a healthy meal entirely unhealthy. My heart-healthy salmon was defeated by the artery clogging butter sauce I smothered on it, resulting in a really delicious (if I do say so myself...) Sunday family dinner for me, Chad, and his cousin. I obviously had no idea how to make salmon, and my repeated calls to Mom (and Chad's mom) were unanswered, so I basically stuck it in the oven and hoped that it would come out alright in the end. Completely miscalculated the potatoes though, which I put in at the same time--turns out potatoes take twice the amount of time as salmon, who knew? Amateur mistake, yet again. All's well that ends well, though...the boys loved it, and both of them cleared the table AND did the dishes while I rested. Success!

Monday, August 22, 2011

[Night at the county fair.]


Pictures from the Montgomery County Fair, this weekend. I made a goal to consume, in no particular order, fried oreos, a corn dog, a pulled pork sandwich, freshly squeezed lemonade, and an elephant ear. Turns out this wasn't a SMART goal, because though it was specific, measurable, relevant, and timely, it was not attainable, SO, disappointingly, I failed. I did manage to ingest a corn dog, fresh lemonade, and 4/5 of my fried oreos (heaven in my mouth, people, really) before the nausea set in, so it wasn't a complete disaster of a night. Meanwhile, Chad attempted and failed at several fair games, as pictured below. He experienced similar failures at the fair last year, the same night I won him a stuffed crab, and the theme continued this year when I won him a stuffed dolphin by popping two balloons.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

[Hearts in the sky.]



In 3.27 seconds I may throw up from the hippy cheeseballness of this post, but I spotted this heart cloud in the sky the other day and couldn't bear to keep it to myself. I work pretty hard at surrounding myself with things *I* think are beautiful and fabulous (and often spend disproportionate amounts of my paycheck to do so), so seeing this cloud was a nice little reminder to pay attention to the simple things around me. What a lovely world we've been given, don't you think?


Alright, I'm off to plant a forest and rescue pandas.

[Kate Moss, I do.]

So the idea of marriage kind of gives me heart palpitations or nausea depending on the day. But I must admit that I'm a sucker for gorgeous wedding photos, and I'm pretty sure that if my wedding could be anything like Kate Moss' recent bridal affair, I'd get married every day for the rest of my life. Seethe with envy with me, will you please?




All photos from Vogue.com. See the whole slidehow here!

Friday, August 12, 2011

[So gross. So splendid.]

Remember the time we four roommates accidentally coordinated our outfits for a movie outing? So gross. So splendid. Who do you think wore the stripes best? I vote Domineau.





L-R: Corinne, Rachel, Domineau, whatsup

Thursday, August 11, 2011

[National S'more Day!]


:: obscure food holiday ::
:: stay at home date night ::
:: ghiradelli chocolate ::
:: urban campfire ::
:: accidental fiery marshmallows ::
:: someone likes the camera ::
:: a lot ::








:: and i like him ::
:: a lot ::

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

[Sunday Cooking. Or, My Arteries Cried.]

She's at it again!
Sorry I'm getting all Julie and Julia on you, but actually I'm kinda not because I told you last time this was going to become a more regular thang...

This Sunday's breakfast was a Spanish Tortilla (or torta), which is pretty similar to an omelette, but often served as a dinner dish. I wasn't sure Chad could handle eggs for dinner, so I made it for breakfast instead, and modified it so that it was more potatoe-y, less vegetable-y. I may have accidentally skipped a step, resulting in a slightly *ahem* well done exterior...but it was basically still delicious, so we survived.





Dinner, like every other Chad/Milan activity, was just going to be the two of us. Simple dinner of fettuccine Alfredo and grilled asparagus with hollandaise sauce. In a panic-inducing (but ultimately happy) turn of events, Chad's kitchen was a madhouse at dinner time, with roommate Ben making his own dinner on the counter with his girlfriend, and roommate Tanner and friend Meredith beginning to cook their dinner as well. I openly admitted that I was terrified of cooking in front of other girls--my trusty kitchen assistant Chad is even more clueless in the kitchen than I am, so I'm rarely embarrassed when I don't know how to do something, like saute vegetables--but other girls?? Yikes! I was completely overwhelmed with all the people and cooking going on--as a new cooker, I typically require absolute peace and quiet in the kitchen--but eventually the kitchen calmed down, and I was left with just Tanner and Meredith (obviously Chad was nowhere in sight). My arteries cried when I poured the heavy cream into my pasta, mixed in a whole cup of cheese, and melted an entire cube of butter into four egg yolks for the hollandaise sauce... When it became clear that Tanner and Meredith's meal was somewhat doomed, we pooled resources and they tossed their breaded chicken into my pasta. I was really self conscious of the fact that I was suddenly cooking for five people (the four of us plus Chad's cousin). I've never cooked for any one other than Chad, and he's an easy audience because whatever the outcome of my cooking attempts, he'll tell me it's amazing, and I'll believe him because I want to. In the end everything turned out okay. Doubting Tanner enjoyed the suspect combination of hollandaise sauce and asparagus, and picky Chad loved that I made something creamy and artery clogging for once. Meredith, despite being four years my junior, was obviously a million times more comfortable in the kitchen, and her help with the asparagus was much appreciated (and needed).



Lessons learned:

1. Don't forget that you're boiling something, because it will boil down to nothing and leave a nasty stain on the pot. Amateur mistake.
2. If boys are going to sit back and let you cook the meals, they need to be Pavlov-ed into automatically doing the dishes.
3. Hollandaise sauce is not that hard to make, even for a novice like me.
4. Read all the directions on the recipe. So you don't miss a crucial step and burn the tortilla. Oh.

Most importantly...

5. Don't inhale vinegar steam. Seriously. WORST. EXPERIENCE. EVER.

Okay. That's all. On to the next meal...

Monday, August 1, 2011

[Jessie and the Toy Boys Concert.]



You now how people will say, "Have your people call my people, and we'll set something up"? And how it's a joke, since we're all young and none of us actually have "people" yet? Well, for the first time, a friend *my age* said that to me, and it wasn't a joke. On Friday night, I hung out with Jessie, who was in town with the Femme Fatale tour (Britney Spears, Nicki Minaj, and Jessie and the Toy Boys) for the weekend. Sweet thing that she is, of course she gave me and Chad tickets for her show on Sunday night. We wanted to make sure to see her after she performed that night, so I texted her the day of her show to figure out how to make that happen. Her response? To get in touch with her tour manager, who would work out all the details for us! I loved it!! (Similarly mind boggling and entertaining: buying a concert tee with my friend's face on it.)



I'd seen Jessie perform on TV, and I've obviously loved her music over the years (always given to me in the form of burned demo CDs, with her name and a heart scribbled on in sharpie), but it was a COMPLETELY different experience seeing her perform in a huge, packed arena as an opening act for Britney Spears. The music was fabulous, her dance moves were killer (seriously - about 1000 times better than Nicki Minaj AND Britney - this girl can move!), but what was truly special about the experience was the knowledge that I was watching a friend's dreams come true for them, right before my very eyes (and thousands of others). I may or may not have teared up (but I tear up about something about once a day, so maybe that's not that noteworthy).









It's been so amazing to witness the transformation of a friend who literally started out with just a dream and has made it come true through an inspiring combination of hard work, personality, and faith. I can't wait to see the next step! Congrats, Jessie, and thanks again for Sunday night!