Do you ever feel like your life is a sitcom? You know, where one theme will emerge and then continue to assert itself over the course of a few days?
Last night I got some pretty disappointing news about a guy that I’ve been scoping out. I’m not completely sure the news is true, but after hearing it last night, I started picturing said guy in a number of Whiskey Tango (white trash) situations and got really depressed about the whole thing.
So then this morning, while waiting for the coffee to brew at work, I was talking about the weekend’s food with my foodie co-worker, Feeners, and we were talking about how hard it is to find quality bread in Havre de Grace. I asked if he ever went into [a local] bakery, and he said, “yeah, on occasion, but…” and here he kind of glanced around and lowered his voice, and said “it’s kind of a… white trash bakery.” I laughed, and he said, “not to be classist… but… there are a LOT of good old boy types in Havre de Grace.” That made me feel a little sick, because it’s true, and UGH, if it didn’t relate to my issue.
Then this morning, as I was telling my friend Jane all of this, she reminded me of something else. Last night we went to a chili cook-off, where my friend, Fred, was competing. His chili was amazing, and had beer in it… but anyway… the name of his chili? White Trash.
I wish, like any good sitcom, this all gets resolved; maybe some Uncle Jesse type can tell me what the lesson is in all of this. But most likely, time will just tick on.
MMmm: Cardamom/Saffron Sweet Tea Loaf
$@&*! It was completely hollow. COMPLETELY. I could have fit a skein of yarn inside. Or 4 and 20 blackbirds. So embarassing. The worst part is that this happens EVERY TIME. I can not get bread right. I even bollocksed up the No-Knead Bread. I don't get it at all... I can bake any type of cake imaginable, but bread is my downfall. Blast.
I baked that, along with my ol' trusty stand-by, the Roasted Butternut Squash Tartlet, for last Sunday's Spinning Day. My friend Ali's Mom used to own a yarn shop, and gave spinning lessons. So when Ali told her I was interested in spinning, she sent over a Clemes wheel (I love that hippy painting on it, I think Ali's Dad did that):
We learned a LOT, particularly that Jane does not like spinning, and that I do (no real surprise there though). Also, spinning kills your thumb muscles, moreso than knitting. Yeouch. It is a lot of fun though, and a great way to escape from frustrating knitting projects. I spun a skein of roving Jane had purchased on Etsy from Moonlight Baker, and am now turning it into a lumpy-bumpy-first-attempt-at-spinning style hat:
What else? I finally got a hair cut! I decided that I wasn't ready to grow out my bangs just yet:
It was the first time a guy's ever cut my hair. It was great, Ashley-Ryan was good, and explained in great detail how I should style it (I must have looked a hot mess walking in there or something... )
We went to restaurant week in Baltimore last night, and finally hit Roy's, this upscale Hawaiian fusion place. For $30, you get a 3-course meal. So I had some kind of braised duck/lotus root soup (yum... lotus roots have the perfect texture... like beets!), mahi mahi (meh, I think it had been frozen) served on top of glass noodles in lobster broth. Those noodles were amazing. Dessert was some kind of lady-finger fruity thing, but I was jealous of Jane and Myrick's choice... the macadamia nut crunch bar. It was two chocolatey colored bars with the consistency of chunky peanut butter, maybe a little firmer... but soooo much tastier, too. God I love restaurant week.
This week it's back to classes... the semester starts Monday, actually. I'm looking forward to it a little, but I'm still not ready to give up my free time. I hope I don't neglect my friends again, because when I get stressed, I tend to avoid social situations. I need to remember my New Years' resolution: no more half-assing. I'll try.
Tonight I was super excited to come home from work, because I decided around 2 pm that tonight I would be having popcorn for dinner. I'm not even kidding. Excitement:
Jane got me the popper for my birthday this year, and it's definitely my most-used kitchen appliance. Well, aside from the microwave. But not for popcorn!
Now I'm finally trying the homemade hot chocolate mix and peppermint marshmallows I made for Christmas:
Not bad, but I had to add some sugar.
The rest of my night includes more Hanna progress, and the first disc of season 2 of The Tudors!
Good night, errybody.
Tonight I used up what might be the last of the delicata squash until it comes back in season late next fall. I don't think I'll ever get tired of those, they are soooo good:
I've been knitting the Bacchus socks from the fall Interweave. Notice anything... out of the ordinary?
Hm, how about a left sock chart knitted on a right sock? You might not think it's a big thing, but knit these socks and you'll find out why. When you reach the leg, the chart extends out to the heel... well, not so on these. Had to improv a little twisted rib. Oh well, the recipient isn't a knitter, so she shouldn't notice... right? Hope not.
I got a little frustrated so I moved back to knitting Hanna, for MEEE! Ah, I'm so glad to be making something for myself after all that Christmas knitting:
Well, my week and a half of freedom is drawing to a close. After spending much of Christmas Eve all alone at the office, I was able to stay outta that place... until tomorrow. I think I forgot what it's like to do work.
I have been having way too much fun. Cheap fun though. Like making Jane help me rearrange my living room. Also, lots of games of the new Trivial Pursuit 25th anniv. edition (Christmas pressie from my parents), lots of good TV/knitting time with friends (last night Jane and Ali came over and stayed until 1 am... watching TV, messing around on facebook, eating pizza, having indigestion). I read Steve Martin's book Born Standing Up (loved it... love him. He's my birthday buddy). It's been a good run.
Yesterday Jane, Ali and I made the trip to Lancaster. We first stopped at... a Mexican restaurant (I won't name names) but it wasn't what we were expecting. I can't say the food wasn't good, because it was... Some kind of good peppery chicken, and I know I ate at least 3 cups of yellow rice. But we all had indigestion allllll day from it. Nobody can say it wasn't authentic though, because the only other people in the place spoke only Espanol. We love ethnic food.
Afterward, we walked all over the city on what felt like the coldest day of the year. Those streets are wind tunnels, in the words of Ali. We hit an art store so she could stock up on canvas. Then... we hit Lancaster Yarn Shop! It's always so exciting to me to hit an actual brick and mortar yarn store... we have 0 near us (well... there's one in Bel Air, but that's still a good 40 minutes of driving!). I think I touched every skein in that shop. I finally went with some KDG farm wool which looks to be a heavier fingering weight, in this gorgeous "London Fog" colorway:
Wouldn't this look sweet as a Swallotail shawl(ette)? I think I'll save it for spring time knitting, it's the perfect color.
We met LYS' owner, Wendy, who was so so nice and knowledgeable. She told us where to go all over the city, and we did head in the direction she told us to. We stopped at a Creperie for coffee (Jane and Ali got nutella hot chocolate... I sipped it and it was GOOD). It started to get dark though, and colder, so after a few thrift shops, we headed home. But we're definitely going back soon to see more of the shops. It's really close too, closer than I thought.
This weekend I committed to finishing Ali's Christmas pressie, Coraline:
I just need to get some buttons on it. It's a bit (ok, way) small on me, but it will fit Ali. And, among a ton of other goodies, Ali made me a drawing/painting:
I love it. Especially the "no hipsters" sign on the front steps. We did a handmade Christmas this year -- Jane made me an awesome DVD of photos from... I want to say the past 5-10 years. Unfortunately (for me) she also included a video from my birthday... we went to a piano bar (Howl at the Moon, in Baltimore) where my friends TOLD THEM IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY! AHHHH! I hate being put on the spot... but then, they made me dance like a stripper. I looked more like a slothy old lady. Ha ha, oh well, at least I was behaved. My friend Myrick made us all a Moroccan feast for our gifts. But for me, handmade means knitting, so I knit mittens, a cowl, a sweater, a scarf, a blanket, a llama... a hat... and I think that's it. Also, I gave out some baked goods for presents, like rosemary shortbread cookies, homemade hot chocolate mix and homemade peppermint marshmallows, salted caramels, fruit and nut bark, and oatmeal raisin cookies, to name a few. I was sooo worn out come Christmas Day, but it was worth it. I'm not completely broke, and I don't think anyone felt at all slighted.
So my plan for today... finish (or come close to finishing) Hanna, finish watching Meet the Press, watch Elvis the Mini-series, watch the CHarm School Reunion show tonight (um, hello... Sharon Osborne in a fight? I'm so tuning into that). Also, since the diet starts tomorrow, I'm going to eat or toss all the bad bad goodies in the house.
My new years' resolution: stop half-assing. I mean it.
Hope everyone had great holidays and plenty of time to relax!
