videos of the week

these are posted in the order i saw them on tv this week. first up is this direct tv ad:



i was giggling at the turkish baths part and damn near on the floor rolling with laughter by the end.

next up, this music video that sjb tweeted in my direction, with a note telling me to pay particular attention around the 40 second mark.



i swear i've watched this video and/or listened to the song no fewer than a dozen times since wednesday. it makes me wanna do hoodrat things with my friends. i have the original and the instrumental on my ipod and it takes all i have not to start dancing in public when it comes on. it's so wonderfully ratchet.

honorable mention goes to the capital one ad with alec baldwin where he references getting kicked off a flight for playing games on his phone. it made me giggle. of course i can't find the ad online right now, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

recipe review: green beans and cherry tomatoes

yes, this recipe is probably as easy as you think it is. i used about 1/2 a pint of grape tomatoes that i cut in half, b/c that's what was in the fridge. i also used about a tablespoon of minced garlic, but if i make this again once i have a kitchen of my own (sigh), i'll probably used chopped garlic instead b/c the minced garlic, surprise surprise, damn near burned within 30 seconds. still nom, though.

fall out boy + prince

equals this gem, which i just rediscovered in my email. proverbial tip of the hat goes to sjb for sharing this with me and for making sure i didn't injure myself when i almost passed out laughing/screaming.

my name is eulalia, and i vote(d).

if memory serves me correctly, i have yet to miss an election since i've been registered to vote. you'd think that with all the recent upheaval in my life, i would've forgotten about changing my voter registration. actually, i did kinda forget about it, but chicago, lovable city that it is, went ahead and changed my registration for me based on my current mailing address. wasn't that nice of them? god forbid the city miss out on a potential vote, right?

since i won't actually be in chicago on election day, i decided to vote early while i was in the city running errands and such. i didn't get a cool "i voted" sticker, but i did get my officlal early voting receipt. i wonder if i can take that to local businesses and get discounts on stuff? no, wait...that implies that i have more than $10 in my wallet and $2 in the bank right now. never mind, then.

y'all should go vote if you haven't already. i figure if my un(der)employed, broke, and, well, technically homeless ass can do my civic duty, then other folks should be able to do the same.

and now i will step down from my soapbox and wish y'all a great weekend. :-)

recipe review: sauteed spinach with mushrooms

i made this as a side dish tonight and i can't shake the feeling that i've made it previously. nothing comes up in my searches on this blog for this recipe though, so maybe i did it back in the urbantherapy days and since that site is no more, i can't confirm or deny prior existence of this review. at any rate - this one comes from the new york times and i'm just gonna copy/paste it here:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 pound mushrooms, wiped clean, trimmed and sliced

1 to 2 garlic cloves (to taste), minced

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 pound baby spinach, rinsed but not dried; or 2 pounds bunch spinach, stemmed and rinsed but not dried, and coarsely chopped

1. Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large, heavy skillet, and add the mushrooms. Cook, stirring, until seared and beginning to sweat, about five minutes. Turn the heat to medium, and add the garlic, thyme, salt and pepper. Stir together for another minute or two until the mushrooms are tender. Add the spinach, and stir until wilted, about two minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and remove from the heat. Serve hot or warm.

Yield: Serves two to four.

i used about a teaspoon of dried thyme instead of fresh, and i didn't chop the bunches of spinach b/c it was all gonna wilt down anyway and i didn't really see the point. 'twas nom; would make again. the end. :-)

the celebration continues

remember back in december when i said that my birthday celebration would last until pulaski day at the earliest? well, pulaski day is on monday, and honestly, i'm not ready to put an end to this celebration yet. yeah, it'd be nice to actually have something to celebrate, like a job or an apartment or a bank balance that doesn't make me laugh to keep from crying everytime i log into my account, but all of that will happen, and hopefully soon.

in the meantime, though, i'm hereby decreeing that my birthday celebration will indeed continue until at least memorial day. i figure that gives the universe ample time to get its act together and throw some positive outcomes my way. :-)

recipe review: rice, cheddar, and spinach pie

(posts that aren't all about food coming soon. i promise. maybe.)

i was at barnes & noble on saturday and decided to thumb through a few magazines. never mind the fact that i have a huge backlog of magazines waiting for me once i'm done with my current stack of library books. anyway...i was looking at the recipe index for the most recent issue of eating well magazine and saw a listing for rice, cheddar, and spinach pie. usually i clip/save recipes to try out at a later date (read: weeks/months from when i originally see them), but since i knew we had everything except cheddar cheese and onions on hand, i decided to try to give it a whirl this week.

i made a couple of changes/substitutions, though - i used shredded sharp cheddar cheese b/c i wasn't as specific on the grocery list, and i used pre-minced garlic b/c, well, it's there and i might as well use it. for the rice, i used some leftover cooked white rice that was stashed in the freezer from our last chinese food order. i'm looking at the recipe again now and just noticed that it called for brown rice. oh well.

if/when i make this again, i'm adding more seasoning. i didn't measure the salt/pepper this time around and i thought it was a bit bland. i don't know what spice(s) i'd use, but i'd definitely start with more salt/pepper and go from there.

recipe review: balsamic honey chicken

have boneless skinless chicken breasts, will consult folder of recipes for ideas i haven't tried yet. i saved this one from an email i received who knows how long ago, and decided to go for it.

only one substituion this time - i used canned pears instead of fresh b/c that's what was on hand; i'd say maybe a can and a half, however that translates. no, wait, i lied - i used 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts that i cut in half, but that's not a substitution so much as a...oh, i don't know. a change? my brain is refusing to work properly right now, so i'll let y'all figure that one out.

in sum: this recipe was nom and i'd make it again, either with canned pears or actually buying fresh. the end.

a query b/w my brain surprises me sometimes

so i'm finalizing my outfit for a b-day party i'm attending tomorrow evening, and i picked out one of the biggest pairs of earrings i own, mainly b/c i won't be around babies for most of the day tomorrow and therefore can wear them w/o worrying about one of the twins yanking said earrings out of my ears.

then i glanced at the calendar and realized that tomorrow is february 18. february 18 was daddy's birthday. he would've been 79 tomorrow. one of the things i brought with me to the 'burbs is a little keepsake box of stuff that belonged to daddy and to james. it's mostly cta-related paraphernalia, and a bracelet made of coins from 1976 that daddy had someone make for me when i was in high school, and daddy's old masonic ring.

i tried on the bracelet and it's too small. i looked at the ring, tried it on (it actually fits on my ring finger) and, within the space of a minute or less, started a thought process that sorta kinda looked like this:

"what if i started wearing daddy's masonic ring? i could switch my class ring to my left hand and wear daddy's ring on my right. or i could put the ring on my necklace. i have a hard enough time w/the twins yanking at the chain now, though; do i want to give them more ammo? would it be weird for me to wear this ring? are there rules/guidelines for this kind of thing? i don't know. i'll ask the internet!"

and as i was about to go on twitter and pose this quasi-important question, i realized that a blog post would be more appropriate, since this is obviously way more than 140 characters. :-)

anyway...i'm opening this up for discussion. in case it matters, the aforementioned necklace belonged to james and is the one i'm always wearing. the ring on it was my mother's. you can see why the sentimental side of me is leaning toward adding daddy's ring to this mix, but i haven't made an official decision yet.

as for tomorrow - i'm leaving the ring and all the other keepsakes at home. i still have daddy's old cta key on my keychain, so that'll be my memento for the day.

heh.

so, monday's post about the grammys? post number 69 on this blog. giggity.

oh, and to follow-up on yesterday's post - i have enough chocolate in my stash to get me through the end of the week. just sayin'. :-)

why yes, i would like some cheese with that whine

if by "cheese" you mean chocolate, and by "whine" you mean actual alcohol, that is.

before i finally went the fuck to sleep last night, i'd managed to come up with a plan for today's trip into the city. the primary purpose of today's visit was for my monthly date with state-mandated bureaucracy, but i was also going to go to the harold washington library to return books and update my address, pick up my mail and a check from my most recent freelance gig, deposit said check so i could pay my cell phone bill and handle a couple other expenses, maybe have a quick chat with my former boss, go to the evanston library to return books and update my address, and buy chocolate b/c my stash is running low and we all know how dangerous that is, and somehow be done with all of this (and my "date") in enough time to meet j in skokie so we could head back to deerfield so he and l could maybe go out for a quick valentine's day coffee while i stayed home with the (hopefully) sleeping kids. i know that sounds like a lot, but i've actually gotten quite used to packing major amounts of activity into my chicago sojourns, so i had no reason to believe it wouldn't all get done.

i should've known something was up this morning when i found myself being mildly jealous of the 3 y.o. receiving cards & chocolate & presents for v-day. granted, said cards and presents and chocolate were from her grandparents and one of her classmates, but damned if the proverbial knife didn't turn in my heart just a wee bit. irrational, i know, to be even a little jealous of a 3 y.o., but the first step is admitting i have a problem and i promise that if i don't get help at charter, i will get help somewhere.

the fun continued during my trip to the train station. one of the radio stations (i forget which one) was having a segment about "sad and single girls." these women were calling in with their tales of woe in an attempt to win a vacation to...mexico? details are fuzzy b/c the twins were alternating between babbling and crying, and sometimes it takes a while to restore some semblance of calm. i was listening to these women and actually felt a bit proud b/c i wasn't sad. single, yes, but not sad. i'd managed to shake off the earlier feeling of jealousy, primarily b/c i knew there would be copious amounts of chocolate in my future.

i made it downtown, went to the harold washington library and accomplished the tasks of returning books & updating my address (note: there's a self-checkout kiosk at the harold washington library now. woo!), and then went to the red line to head south for my appointment with the state of illinois. that was a bit of a clusterfuck b/c the red line wasn't running normally (as of this writing, i haven't had a chance to find out what the exact problem was), so i went over to the orange line and then eventually wound up on the red line to continue to the link office...

...where i proceeded to wait. and wait. there's normally a good hour or so wait between the time i check in for my appointment and when i actually see a caseworker or other staff member. i figured today would be no different. so very wrong.

an hour went by. 90 minutes went by. 2 hours went by before someone called my name and asked ?s about the reason for my visit. never mind the fact that i had a sheet with all of the pertinent appointment info on it that i presented when i checked in. "oh, you're here to see ms. so-and-so? ok, have a seat and someone will call you."

suffice it to say that i was at the office for a good 3.5 hours, only to be told that no, i couldn't see a caseworker and oh, yeah, btw, my case has been canceled and i need to reapply for benefits and no, they don't know why it took so long and no, they don't know why no one told me last month that my benefits were set to expire. gee, thanks a lot for wasting my entire afternoon. happy valentine's day to me.

by the time i got back on the red line to head north, it was too late to pick up mail and the aforementioned freelance check, let alone stop in for a chat with my former boss. didn't make it to evanston, either. and slightly more painful than not picking up my check? i didn't have time to buy chocolate. which is probably for the best, b/c there's only ~$25 left on my link card and since i'm now in bureaucratic limbo, i'm not even sure i can use that.

so, yeah. fuck today and the three-legged horse it rode in on. i have to now hope that my cell phone provider cuts me a bit of slack and doesn't disconnect me between tomorrow (when my bill's due) and saturday (the next opportunity i'll have to pick up my check). i'm upset that i can't chip in on groceries for l & j and the kids b/c the state of illinois decided to...oh, hell, i can't even pretend to know what the state decided to do. no idea when i'll find out, either, b/c my application has to be reviewed and then i get to have another date with bureaucracy to attempt to figure out what in the actual fuck happened.

but, hey, at least i got to hang at starbucks long enough to write this post while being subjected to seal's cover album(s). the fact that i didn't walk over to binny's instead is a testament to how cold it is, how underdressed i am, and how little money i have in the bank. i'm seriously going to go "home," eat dinner, and figure out how long i can stretch my current stash of chocolate while wishing i could punch today in the face.

hope y'all had a better valentine's day (or tuesday, if this holiday isn't your cup of tea) than i did.

my top 3 moments from the grammys

#3 - this commercial for target:



this is my new favorite commercial. i've been that girl singing on the bus (and on the train, and walking down the street, and in the store) more times than i can count.

#2 - adele's performance:



i couldn't even talk while i was watching this last night. i'm not sure i managed to tweet during the performance, either. i was just so happy to see/hear adele back on stage singing one of my anthems from 2011, i might've just sat in my seat holding my laptop and trying not to jump up and down like a teenage fan. which leads me to my top moment...

#1 - ll cool j as host

to say i was excited when i found out that ll was hosting this year's grammys is a major understatement. y'all know i tend to watch the grammys every year b/c i like being entertained/amused, so it's not as if i needed another reason to tune in, but omg. i had to warn everyone here about my ginormous crush on ll and that i would indeed be squealing like a 12 y.o. girl. and i did. more than once. i can't even pretend to be ashamed. if you followed my tweets last night, then you got a glimpse of just how happy i was. yeah, i'm biased, but i thought ll did a great job, and we all know i'd have no problems with him hosting again next year. :-)

recipe review: skillet chicken & rice with corn and tomatoes

what happens when boneless skinless chicken breasts go on sale? you buy lots of them, and then you find yourself asking "wtf are we gonna do with all this chicken?" ok, maybe not in those exact words, but you get my drift.

anyway - i had this america's test kitchen recipe in my files and figured it was worth trying out. i'm copying it here b/c atk requires a login to view recipes and i'm guessing that some of y'all (myself included, actually) don't have an account with them.

Serves 4

To remove corn kernels from the cob: Use a chef’s knife to cut the cobs in half horizontally, and then stabilize the cobs by standing them on their cut ends before slicing the kernels from the cob. You can substitute 1½ cups frozen corn if fresh corn is not available.

1 cup long-grain white rice
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
Salt and pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1½ pounds)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
8 scallions, white parts minced, green parts sliced thin
3 ears corn, kernels removed from cobs
2 garlic cloves, minced
1½ teaspoons ground cumin
1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 teaspoon grated zest plus 1 tablespoon juice from 1 lime

1. Combine rice, 1 cup broth, and ¾ teaspoon salt in microwave-safe bowl. Cover and microwave until liquid is absorbed, 10 to 12 minutes. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Cook chicken until golden brown, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to plate.

2. Heat remaining oil in empty skillet. Cook scallion whites and corn until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in garlic and cumin and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

3. Stir rice and remaining broth into skillet and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, nestle chicken into rice, and cook, covered, until liquid is absorbed and chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Transfer chicken to platter. Stir tomatoes, lime zest, and lime juice into skillet with rice and cook until heated through, about 1 minute. Stir in scallion greens and season with salt and pepper. Serve with chicken.

i used frozen corn - it is february, after all, but if i made this during farmers market season, i'd probably go with fresh. i think i only used 4-5 scallions, instead of the 8 called for the recipe. i think i had the stove turned up too high and the rice was starting to stick, so i added a little more chicken broth toward the end; maybe 1/2 cup or so. i'd make this again. when sweet delicious swine is back in my life on a quasi-regular basis (read: when i once again have a place of my own), i'll probably try it with boneless pork chops or sliced pork tenderloin.

recipe review: hearty meatball stew

i saw this recipe while watching food network a week or so ago. i told l about it, she bought ground turkey during a trip to the store, and i put it on this week's menu plan.

did i mention that i'm sick? and that most of the folks here have been sick this week? my taste buds aren't working properly, breathing through my nose is becoming a distant memory, and the fact that i had enough energy to do all the prep and pull off a decent, if admittedly bland, meal is impressive to me.

and now, the substitutions/changes. let's start with the meatballs:

--used 2.5 lbs of ground turkey, about 1/2 cup of water, salt, pepper, dried parsley, garlic powder, paprika, and panko. i didn't measure any of the spices. also didn't measure the panko, although i probably should have so i'd know for next time. oops. it all came together the 1st time around, so yay for that. i got about 24 meatballs out of it - 1/2 for this stew, and 1/2 for tomorrow's dinner tbd.

for the stew: a can of green beans (drained) instead of fresh, 2 potatoes instead of one b/c they were a bit on the small side, a large (oh, i dunno, 24-25oz) can of diced tomatoes (drained), about 2 cups of chicken broth, skipped the red pepper flakes, and added extra salt & pepper along with garlic powder & paprika. no, i didn't measure the spices here, either. you'll have to use your own best judgment here, folks.

consensus seems to be that the stew was nom, if a bit bland. i probably could've added more spices, but as mentioned previously, my taste buds aren't fully functional right now and i didn't want to overdo it. that said, i'd probably make this again, possibly with (turkey) italian sausage mixed in.

poet and didn't know it

i'm reading this book of essays about zora neale hurston , which is exciting in and of itself, b/c y'all know i'm a huge fan of zora and her work.

so far, i've read essays about zora being a choreographer, and about her being an environmentalist before such a term really entered our lexicon, and of course about her fiction and plays, etc. one essay in particular stood out b/c it discussed zora's poetry and how a lot of people (myself included) don't really think of her as a poet. the essay closed with 2 poems of zora's that i hadn't read before, and one of them really hit home:

This Year Has Been

This year has been
a great trial of endurance
for me.

I don't mind saying
That more than once
I have almost said:
I can't endure.

I shall hold on,
But every time
I see a cat slinking
in an alley
fearing to walk upright
lest again
she is crushed back
into her slink
I shall go to her
and acknowledge
The sisterhood
in spite of
the skin.

and now i have yet another reason to swoon over zora, as if i needed one. :-)

modern-day mourning

there's an article in the new york times about mourning in the digital age. for the most part, i found myself concurring with the piece, but there was one quote in particular that didn't sit too well with me:

“We’re just too busy in this world to deal with losing people,” said Maggie Callanan, a hospice nurse for the last 30 years and the author of “Final Gifts,” an influential book about death and dying. “And yet we have to.”

the notion of people being too busy to deal with losing people just doesn't resonate with me. maybe i'm spoiled b/c y'all showed up in such an amazing way when james died. maybe my opinion of myself is too high when i think that despite the current insanity that is my life, i'd do my best to support a friend in their time of loss.

maybe i'm overreacting b/c i've been thinking about james a lot during the past week. but i really feel that the day that we're too busy to be genuinely supportive of one another, regardless of the circumstance(s) or what that support looks like, is the day that humanity's doing it all wrong.

and that's all i have to say about that right now. you may now resume your regularly scheduled friday night programming. :-)

recipe review: easy roasted potatoes with garlic

burgers were on the menu for tonight, and we'd decided to have potatoes as a side dish. red potatoes were in the fridge, along with a white onion. my original plan was just to cut them up and throw them in a skillet for a quick saute, but then i found this recipe in my files and decided to follow the basic outline of it.

i say "basic outline" because i:

--added the white onion which isn't in the original recipe
--used a teaspoon of sweet paprika instead of cayenne pepper b/c we all know i'm a wuss when it comes to spicy food. that, and i didn't want the potatoes to be too spicy for the 3 y.o. in case she decided to try them. (she didn't, but oh well.)
--used about a tablespoon of bottled minced garlic instead of chopped b/c that's what was in the fridge

i didn't cube the potatoes; more of a rough dice/chop, which translated to a slightly longer cooking time (about 40 minutes, plus a few minutes under the broiler).

simple. nom. would make again. the end. :-)

recipe review: maple-roasted chicken with sweet potatoes

i'll admit to being a little more nervous than usual about trying out this recipe. not because of the actual recipe itself; it's pretty straightforward (imo) and i knew that once i'd gotten the sweet potatoes under control, the rest of my prep would be easy. the reason for my anxiety? this was the first meal i made for the folks i'm currently staying with. (not up-to-date on that? go check out my other blog.)

so, nervous. i lost count of how many times i copped the "i haven't tried this before so i have no idea how it's gonna turn out" plea in the past 24 hours.

it turned out nomtastic! here are the substitutions i made:

--dried thyme instead of fresh b/c that's what was on hand (let's say i used about a teaspoon or so)
--a combination of pancake syrup & honey b/c, again, that's what was on hand (i'd say at least a tablespoon of each, maybe? i didn't actually measure any of the spices. or oil, for that matter.)
--i probably added less salt & more pepper than the recipe called for. did i mention i wasn't measuring things?

when i make this again, i'm adding more sweet potatoes. why? b/c i love sweet potatoes and i felt like the ratio of chicken to sweet potatoes was uneven. aside from that, we all enjoyed it. woo!

as promised: the "things that will be (back) in my life this year" post

i had to go back a few posts to confirm that i actually made such a promise, and i did, so here goes.

2011 was pretty craptacular, for myriad reasons. i still have a bit of optimism left, though, so i've decided to make a list of things that will be (back) in my life in 2012. i wouldn't consider this a list of goals or resolutions or anything like that - just some things i'm looking forward to in the coming year. i'm sure i'll come back to this list as 2012 progresses, either to check things off or make some additions/changes. in no particular order:

--a smartphone w/a data plan

--voice lessons

--room service

--an apartment of my own in chicago

--less debt

--live music (as in going to concerts more often)

--a vacation that involves an airplane and/or a change in time zones

--dining out (as much as i love to cook, i really miss going to restaurants. so many places to visit, both old and new.

--arts/cultural/entertainment outings

--at least one trip to the casino, preferably on christmas eve for jesusjack

--a job that doesn't suck

--medical insurance

--visits to my doctors that don't involve me begging for free samples of meds

--going out with friends spontaneously (vs. having to plan things out w/r/t my budget)

--disposable income

--a savings account that has more than the minimum amount needed to keep the account open

--a retirement account, or at least something that resembles a retirement plan

--more book purchases (and bookcases to put them in)

--a trip to the dentist

--a new watch

--regular attendance at ddpp

fun with online contests

my track record with contests on twitter has been pretty solid as of late. this morning, i found out that i won my first prize of 2012. woo!

that said, i just entered another contest this morning for a macbook air. want in on the fun? of course you do. click here to enter and we'll see what happens.

happy hump day!

stockyards palate

a new york times article about charlie trotter closing his restaurant came across my twitter feed on sunday. the person who shared the link seemed a bit taken aback, if not offended, by the "stockyards palate" mention in the headline. i shared the outrage at first, primarily in a "how dare this nyt writer talk about chicago in such a way" kind of way.

but then i thought about it. charlie trotter's has been open for 25 years, which means i would've been, oh, 10 years old or so when it first opened. my memories of dining out from that age that didn't involve mcdonald's or other fast food? old country buffet and any number of chain steakhouses - ponderosa, bonanza, sizzler, etc. oh, and shoney's, but that was for the breakfast buffet and we were almost always traveling when that happened. this was also during the time when kids could be fooled into thinking that "chopped steak" was a fancy meal, instead of a hamburger sans bun. yes, that happened to me. i was probably a freshman in high school when i was allowed to upgrade to real cuts of steak. mmm...steak. i've definitely become more adventurous in my food choices as i age, but steak and potatoes never fails to make me a happy girl.

i say all of that to say that, maybe, the notion of my fair city having a stockyards palate back in the day isn't that farfetched. i'd love to hear from other folks who grew up around here and can remember going out to dinner w/their families. where'd you go? what kind of impact do you think those types of restaurants/meals had on your current palate?

first recipe review of 2012

i knew i wanted black-eyed peas and collard greens today. yes, i support the "black-eyed peas for luck and greens for money" superstition. i also knew i'd want something relatively easy to make. i remembered that i had this Cajun Chicken With Collard Greens recipe on my hard drive, and decided to give the collard greens part of it a try. i'd already made chicken wings earlier in the week, so i didn't need to make another main dish.

when i finally managed to get dressed this afternoon (note: migraine + cramps + migraine-induced nausea + all the vodka i drank last night = one of the worst mornings i've had in a long while), i knew i was only going to eat one meal today. once i managed to establish that i could indeed go longer than an hour w/o regurgitating and could actually think about consuming food instead of the water/7up diet i'd been on all day, it was time to start cooking.

note: i used minced garlic instead of the slices called for in the recipe b/c i had minced garlic on hand. i also "cheated" and used a bag of precleaned/prechopped greens that i picked through and rinsed thoroughly. good thing i did, b/c the greens were still a bit gritty and there were still plenty of stems that needed to be discarded. oh, and i used seasoned salt instead of salt/pepper. i didn't measure it, though, so i can't give you a measurement for that. sorry. also, i let the collards cook a little longer than the recipe specified; maybe 10-12 minutes or so before i added the peas.

anyway...nom. so nom, in fact, that i had to stop myself from finishing all of it in one sitting. i might actually eat some more later tonight as a snack.

i just realized that the last 2 recipes i've written about have been vegetarian. that wasn't intentional on my part, but i know there are some of y'all who can appreciate that. :-)

bon appetit!

*swoon*

y'all know i'm a zora neale hurston fan. you also know that i love reading. the fact that i didn't scream with happiness when i saw this pic a few minutes ago? pure self-restraint. (also, i need to save my screaming/yelling for the bowl game in a couple of hours. go u!)



source: awesome people reading, a site i just found while clicking through vintage black glamour, another swoon-worthy site.

happy saturday!

roasted vegetables and chickpeas: a review

you'd think that not having a kitchen of my own would diminish my zeal for cooking and looking at recipes. you'd be oh so very wrong. i may or may not have a tentative menu plan in mind for my first few meals in my new apartment (whenever that happens).

when i saw this recipe, i decided i wanted to make it for christmas dinner. so i did. and it was delicious. the prep work was a little intense, b/c sweet potatoes always seem to give me trouble w/r/t to peeling and chopping them, but the payoff? nomz. i still have leftovers and they're still nomtastic. i'd make this again.

my favorite songs of 2011*

not all of these songs were released in 2011, but i added them to my itunes library this year - hence the asterisk. there's no particular order of preference here. i basically dumped all the songs into a playlist and then rearranged a few in an attempt to make them sound more cohesive, for lack of a better term.

here's the list:

mmm...hot fudge action...

i don't even know why i still have this photo in my files, but i saw it last night for the first time in who knows how long and had to laugh. someone remind me to make brownies for the nye bowl watch party so we can try to get a reprise of this:



happy saturday and/or (insert your preferred holiday greeting here)!

just in case you want/need a little more holiday spirit

i know we've all seen this 5011 times, but it still makes me laugh.

highlights from today

--commiserating with folks about the gotdamn snow even though it's december in chicago and we know better

--running into a former northwestern football player (from the 1995-1999 era) at the cvs in evanston

--picking up this book, among others, from the library

--hot fudge action at margie's with donna (sorry, christin. i know you're my usual partner for hot fudge action, but you're out of town and, well, it *is* my birthday and all. :P)

--watching hours and hours of cable, which i'd missed in the past couple of weeks

--all of the texts/emails/tweets wishing me a happy birthday. thanks.

lowlight? definitely twisting my ankle/foot while coming down the stairs of my friends' apartment building. nothing's swollen or sprained, but there's definitely a bit of a limp in my stride.

but the absolute best highlight from today had to be this email snippet:

I believe in you. I have always believed in you. This is a detour, and you will find your way out of it. You’re coping amazingly well.

apparently i needed that more than i realized, b/c that definitely pulled at the heartstrings a bit.

and this is where i thank y'all for reading about my adventures, both here and on my other site. your support, as always, is much appreciated.

coming soon: my list of songs i really loved in 2011 and a "shit that will be (back) in my life in 2012" list. saying that here means i actually have to work on them, so hopefully that means i'll get them up sooner rather than later. stay tuned.

*throws confetti*

it's here! my birthday, it is here! i made it to 35! woo! holy shit i'm old! exclamation points!

i kinda feel like a little kid at christmas. i woke up at 4am and then again at 6am and had to convince myself to go the fuck back to sleep b/c it was just too damn early. when 7:30am rolled around, i figured it was ok to start waking up, even though my alarm wasn't going to go off until 9am. whatever. it's my birthday, bitches!

and omg it's fucking snowing. i'm so glad i arranged a ride from my current crashpad to my new one later today, b/c lugging my stuff around in the snow on cta isn't really an experience i want to have on my birthday. fucking snow. there was no snow in the forecast last i checked. what the shit, mother nature?

anyway...it's my birthday and the celebration will continue though pulaski day (that's in march) at the earliest. i'm not doing anything big today b/c of the aforementioned switch in crashpads - i'm actually looking forward to watching tv and reading b/c it's been a busy week and tomorrow might be a bit epic w/r/t mistreating my liver.

i keep looking out the window and i can't believe it's fucking snowing. i'm going to the library later this morning (yay books!) and there's snow on the ground. this shit is actually sticking. i did not sign up for this.

ok, enough bitching about the snow...for now, anyway. it's my birthday! squee! :-)

it's almost my birthday (and other updates)

of course this week is sorta kinda jam packed with stuff: my monthly date with bureaucracy and a job interview (woo!) and dj'ing at ddpp and maybe helping people pack and maybe helping people clean and definitely laundry and who knows what else?

oh, and i'm taking myself to dinner on friday night, thanks to a stash of gift certificates i somehow had the foresight to put in one of the folders i'm moving around with (vs. one of the folders stashed in a box in a basement). saturday? no official plans for the day yet, aside from moving from one friend's couch to another friend's guest room in advance of my latest catsitting gig. depending on how the week goes, i might go to dave & buster's for skee-ball & tequila shots, or i might just curl up in front of my friend's tv and watch cable all night. i honestly don't know yet.

in any case, i plan on celebrating my birthday until pulaski day at the earliest. (pulaski day's the first monday in march, btw.) special thanks go out to everyone who's asked about my birthday plans. if i come up with a group outing, or if i decide to go to dave & buster's, i'll post an update here or send a mass email or something.

hope y'all had a good weekend. :-)

when a year treats you like this

how can you resist the temptation to punch it in the face? seriously, 2011 - you sucked balls and blew goats, and i can't wait to put you behind me.

(image courtesy of a friend's tumblr)

rolling in the mashups

these have been stuck in my head all week, so i decided to share them with y'all. you're welcome. :-)

adele vs. the eurythmics:

adele vs. jamiroquai:

all december everything

it really is the most wonderful time of the year. yeah, i'm biased b/c my birthday's in 16 days, but so what? december's my favorite month, my birthday's my favorite holiday, christmas is another favorite holiday even though i don't really make a bfd about it...it's a celebration, bitches!

although i don't foresee being able to do it as live as i'd like to for my 35th (well, not right now, anyway), i'm still planning on having fun. actually, the fun started a couple of weeks ago, when i had a day of free food and free laundry and made a little bit of money helping out a friend. last week's fun? hanging with bff and her mom. i'm taking myself to see "the muppets" as soon as i'm done posting this entry, so that'll be this week's contribution. i've won 2 twitter contests in the past week, so i'm counting those prizes (a cookbook and a pair of jeans) as birthday presents.

remember at the beginning of november when i identified 2 goals that i wanted to achieve? well, that didn't happen. not for lack of trying, though - i applied for 119 jobs and contacted who knows how many agencies re: housing referrals. i actually called a few more places today, only to be told that their waiting lists are at least 6 months long. obviously i don't have that kind of time. you can go to my other site to read more about that.

y'know what i want for my birthday, besides the obvious job offer and stable housing? room service. seriously. i want to stay in a hotel for my b-day weekend. this urge wouldn't be as strong if i actually had a place to sleep lined up for that weekend (december 16-18), but as it turns out, those are the only days in december where i'm not catsitting or crashing somewhere. (wanna offer up your couch/futon/air mattress/spare bedroom? let's talk.)

i think i'm forgetting something, but of course i can't pinpoint what that is right now. bah.

happy december! :-)

gobble gobble (for real this time!)

happy thanksgiving! or, for those of you who don't celebrate this holiday, happy thursday! :-)

i won't bore y'all with a list of who/what i'm thankful for this year, primarily b/c said list would be way too long to type out right now. i woke up this morning and started thinking about a quarterly list of thankfulness, and even that's kind of insane. so, here are a few of the people and things i'm thankful for, in no particular order:

--the amazing folks who helped me move out of casa de eulalia

--friends who've offered up their couches/futons/air mattresses so i have somewhere to crash

--bff, for so many things. it's not her birthday, but i could definitely write another post about our friendship and how grateful i am for her.

--everyone who's donated , either online or offline. i've been blown away by y'all's generosity.

--the friends who, while casa de eulalia still had a physical presence, were more than ok with coming over to hang out on the cheap.

--anyone and everyone who's subsidized food and/or drinking outings in the past few months. thanks for making sure i don't starve to death and for keeping my alcohol tolerance at a steady level.

i feel like i'm forgetting someone or something, so i should probably stop here. this was meant to be a partial list, anyway.

enjoy your day! :-)

supply vs. demand: the food pantry edition

(o hai! as you can see, i do indeed have internet access while at bff's this week, albeit on a limited basis. i'm enjoying it while i can - which means you get to read a new post. woo!)

anyway...i was just reading this article about food pantries in the area and how they're unable to meet the growing demand of folks who need assistance. i've tried to support local food/clothing pantries whenever i can, even during my recent turmoil. and here i am being thankful once again, this time for not (yet) having to visit a food pantry for basic supplies. yeah, i don't have a kitchen to call my own right now, but i can still buy food, so, yay. ok, technically yayboo, but you get my drift.

here's what i'd like from y'all. find a food pantry in your area and make a donation. food, clothing, money - whatever you're able to give. i know that sounds a bit weird, given my usual plea for donations these days, but i also know that there are people out there who aren't as relatively lucky/blessed/etc. as i am right now, and that's not something i want to lose sight of.

kthxbai.

gobble gobble in advance

i'll be hanging out with bff for a week starting tomorrow afternoon. woo! my 'net access might be a bit limited, though, so don't be surprised or alarmed if i don't post updates here or on my other site in a timely fashion. same goes for responding to emails and posting/responding to tweets.

that said, i'll wish y'all a happy thanksgiving now. contrary to what some folks may believe, i have all sorts of things to be thankful for this year. i'll spare you the details, but i am truly happy/thankful/grateful for everyone and everything positive in my life.

i reserve the right to edit or delete this post if i am indeed able to haz somewhat regular access to teh interwebz, though. just sayin'.

louis vs. rick

do you have a cat? do you know someone who has a cat? do you like silly internet humor?

behold, your new favorite thing: the story of a man who taught his cat to use instant messaging.

it's as silly and hilarious as it sounds. of course, we all know my sense of humor is slightly warped, so you might not find it as funny as i did. apologies in advance if you feel your time was wasted.

i love chicago.

this shouldn't be a newsflash to anyone, but i really do love it here. i was leaving a staged reading at the goodman tonight and in the few blocks it took me to walk to the bus stop, i fell in love with chicago all over again. seriously. i damn near wanted to hug the city. yes, i know that's impossible, but that's how i felt.

therefore, it is your job to remind me of how much i love chicago when it's the middle of winter and i'm bitching about the never-ending cold and/or thundersnow. kthx. :P

this is so very true sometimes

(via sjb)

midweek update

i just typed out the title and realized that this is periously close to a mid-month update. yikes.

applied for 34 jobs so far this week. made a couple of calls about potential referrals for housing; nothing solid as of yet, but i am now in possession of a multi-page list of agencies that could maybe possibly be of assistance. paid my cell phone bill and my life insurance bill. almost finished my quota of state-mandated volunteer hours. made dinner for the friends i'm currently staying with. saw some of y'all this past weekend. will probably see a few (if not more) of y'all within the next week or so. yay friendship and all that.

can i tell you guys something that you probably already know? i miss having my own apartment. this is not a new revelation, obviously, but it really hit me earlier today. it's not that i'm not grateful for the friends who are letting me sleep on their couch (and the other friends who've pretty much guaranteed my housing situation for the rest of november), b/c i am. really. honestly. i can't say enough about how thankful i am about that.

but i really miss having my own apartment. i had a really intense dream last night and for a brief moment when i woke up this morning, i wanted to call one of the people involved in said dream and invite them over to hang out. but i didn't. i couldn't. i can't. and that makes me...well, a bit sad. i really want to have a place of my own (or even a stable roommate situation) by the time my birthday rolls around. i honestly don't know how long i can keep living out of 3 bags (four, if you count my stash of library books) and bouncing around from couch to couch.

i'm sorry. i don't mean to complain about things, b/c i know shit could be a lot worse than it is. but i'd also be a big fat liar if i pretended that i don't get bitchsmacked by the reality of it all every now and then. b/c i do, and today happened to be one of those days. (also, i just finished watching last night's episode of "parenthood" and my emotions are all over the gotdamn place.)

so, yeah. that's what's been going on with me so far this week. how the hell are y'all?

so simple, and yet...

i've identified 2 goals for november:

1) get a job; and

2) find a place to live.

obviously the first goal has been on my list for quite some time now. the 2nd one is a more recent addition, but that doesn't make it any less urgent.

these sound fairly straightforward, right? if you've been reading this blog (or my other blog) for any amount of time, though, then you know that finding a job isn't as easy as i'd like it to be. as for finding a place to live...well, let's just say that whole process will go a lot smoother once i have something that resembles an income.

but i'm working on it. i've applied for 6 jobs so far this month (yes, i know the month just started yesterday), there's a couple of potential freelance gigs on the horizon, and the contact i mentioned in my post last thursday will hopefully be able to put me in touch with someone who knows someone who might be hiring, so we'll see.

as for housing...right now i'm just happy for the fact that i pretty much have this month covered w/r/t places to sleep. i have some potential agency referrals that i'll be following up on within the next week or so; fingers crossed that something feasible comes out of that process.

here's to a (hopefully) productive november!

can i just tread water now?

so that job i'd told some of y'all about? the one i really, really wanted? the one that would be perfect for me in at least 3 different ways? the one i had 2 rounds of interviews for (three, if you count my initial phone screen)?

yeah, i just received word from their hr rep that they decided to go with another candidate. sigh.

i'm not so much sad as i am disappointed. did i mention that i really wanted this job? b/c i did. still do, if i'm going to be honest, and yeah, i know wanting a job that technically is no longer open might be weird, but life's like that sometimes.

but i applied for 9 jobs last night, and i had a meeting this morning with a colleague of a friend who might be able to connect me with some folks who might be hiring, so all isn't completely lost. and in case you missed the update on my other blog, i now have somewhere to stay until november 10th, so yay for that.

i feel like i'm forgetting something else that i was gonna share with y'all...i'll edit later if i remember what that something is.

happy thursday. :-)

poetry mashup

i'm not quite sure why these poems were stuck in my head late last night, or why i started transposing lines from them as if i wanted to create the aforementioned mashup, but here they are:

We Wear the Mask
BY PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR
We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be over-wise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask!

Harlem
BY LANGSTON HUGHES
What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

i'd offer some sort of analysis, but i'm currently operating on ~5 hours of sleep and my brain isn't quite up for it at the moment. happy friday.

addressing the address situation

it should come as no surprise that, even in the midst of the insanity that is my life these days, i'm still actively looking for jobs. i remembered last week to pull my address and home phone from my resume and other job-search documents, and i still need to log into all of my various online application sites and change my info.

i noticed something during last week's job search, though: a fair number of sites require an address as part of their application process. for some of them, i was able to type "address available upon request" in the address field and made up a zip code of 60600. that doesn't work for all of them, though, so i went ahead and used my current address, my rationale being that it was technically my address at the time of my application, so all should be ok. besides, it's not as if most places send out old-fashioned rejection letters anymore, so as long as my other contact information (cell phone and email) are ok, i should be set.

this got me thinking, though. how does this process work for people who are, for lack of a better term at the moment, more housing-insecure than i am? how does, say, a woman temporarily staying at a shelter as safe haven from domestic violence apply for a job? or anyone else who's homeless? it's entirely possible that i'm over thinking this and that these groups of people are able to use some sort of alternate address when this issue arises. it's just something that occurred to me - maybe the universe decided i needed yet another "attitude of gratitude" reminder. i don't know. if i come up with anything else on this, i'll be sure to share.

recipe review: lamb and chickpea chili

my "recipe roundups" will be going on hiatus until my living situation is a bit more stable. that said, i wanted to give a quick review of the one recipe i've tried out since my last roundup:

lamb and chickpea chili

substitutions/additions - i used all ground turkey instead of 1/2 lamb and 1/2 turkey, b/c i had a pound of ground turkey in the freezer that i needed to use before the move anyway. i used chili powder instead of harissa b/c no way am i going to voluntarily spend money on something super-spicy. oddly enough, though, i also added a dash of crushed red pepper toward the end of cooking.

you know how chili tastes better the longer it sits? it's true for this recipe as well. it was decent the first night, but by day 3? omg amazing. the texture's a bit weird b/c, well, there's chickpeas involved and none of the chili i normally consume has chickpeas in it, but don't let that stop you from trying it. unless you have texture issues, in which case feel free to ignore this recipe's existence. for those of you with a higher tolerance for spicy food (which, i assume, is everyone else on the planet b/c we all know i'm a wimp w/r/t spicy food) - i'd love it if you tried this with the harissa (or maybe more chili powder/cayenne) and told me how it turned out.

bon appetit!

oh, vh1, you've done it again

pop-up video + chapter 1 of "trapped in the closet" = comedy. now if we can get vh1 to give the pop-up video treatment to all 22 chapters...

R. Kelly - Pop Up Video - Trapped in the Closet Chapter 1 (Pop Up Video) - Free Music Videos

my dear miss brooks

if you've ever heard me talk about my undying love for gwendolyn brooks, then you know that i was way too excited when i saw this photo on sjb's tumblr. of course i had to share it with y'all, b/c that's just the kind of girl i am. :-)

paying it forward?

i was walking home from dominick's earlier and a woman approached me to ask if she could bother me for a moment. i had a few minutes to spare, so i stopped to listen. you've heard a version of the spiel before, i'm sure: single mom, didn't want to go into a store and steal something b/c she knew god wouldn't approve, just looking for some help so she can feed her kids, etc.

i almost always say no when people ask me for money, if for no other reason than my cashflow hasn't been very positive lately. if someone asks me for food, though, i'll offer to go to the store with them so they can buy a few things. most folks turn the offer down, but this woman didn't. off we went to aldi.

she was so grateful and couldn't figure out why i'd stopped. i couldn't pinpoint it immediately, either, but after i paid for her groceries, gave her the hug she asked for, and started walking home, i figured some of it out:

1) the woman reminds me of an older version of my friend tiff. seriously. similar facial structure, similar sounding voices...it was a bit uncanny.

2) i found $20 while walking home last night. i bought an instant lottery ticket while i was at dominick's and won $2 (technically $1, since i paid $1 for the ticket), so i suppose i was feeling a bit generous.

3) the universe and i have been having a bit of fun lately w/r/t me being open to new experiences/changes/etc.

as i'm writing this, reasons 1 and 3 are really sticking out for me. obviously, the fact that i'm, relatively speaking, down on my luck at the moment (read all about that here if you haven't already), also might've weighed into my decision. i don't regret it, though.

i can't stop laughing at this

vh1's "pop-up video" is back (woo!), and one of the 1st videos to get the pop-up treatment on this season is lauryn hill's "ex-factor." if you follow me on twitter, then you probably know that i tend to refer to lauryn as #mshillifyourecrazy. (what? we all know i'm bitchy like that!)

but anyway...the level of pop-up snark for this video has left me damn near in tears. i've laughed so hard that my stomach hurts. therefore, i decided that such comedic genius (imo, anyway - y'all might think it's utter bullshit and that's totally ok) had to be shared. here you go:

Lauryn Hill - Pop Up Video - Ex-Factor (Pop Up Video) - Free Music Videos

september: a recap of sorts

91 job applications. 4 interviews. 1 eviction notice and 2 court dates (update on that here). zero job offers. countless hours of college and pro football viewed. copious amounts of booze and chocolate consumed. ok, so that last one is pretty much a monthly occurrence, but you get my point. i'd tell you how many books i read, but since i track them by quarter and not by month, i can't give you an exact figure.

suffice it to say that there were quite a few times when i wanted to punch september in the face. yes, i know it's a month and not an animate object. i also know that 2011 is a year and not an animate object, and yet i want to beat the everloving shit out of 2011 on new year's eve. it hasn't been an easy year, let me tell you, and september definitely was not a pleasant month.

it wasn't all epic fail, though. i got to hang out and/or reconnect with some of y'all, which is always nice. i met some new people at my volunteer gig (i swear i will do a post about this on my other site before the end of october). overall, things could be a lot worse, etc., etc. although i don't really want or need to find out just how much worse things could get, mind you.

and now i will leave you with 2 of the songs that have been stuck in my head all weekend:

grab a tissue...

i found out today that a friend's grandmother died earlier this week. i asked my friend how she and her family were coping - the grandmother had been suffering from a long-term illness, but obviously there's still grief and other assorted emotions when you lose a loved one. she told me that it wasn't until they were at the cemetery that her family realized that the grandmother 1) was being buried in her wedding dress; 2) being laid to rest next to her late husband; and 3) this was happening on what would've been the grandparents' 63rd wedding anniversary.

i am not ashamed to admit that i got a little teary when my friend told me that, and i promise not to judge you if it suddenly got a little dusty wherever you are while reading this. :-)

i love y'all. happy friday.

a cross-posting of sorts

i posted an update on my other site earlier today, so y'all can just go ahead and read that if you haven't already. have a good evening.

o hai.

i'm not being quiet on purpose...it just kinda happened that way. my bad. i did an update on my other site last week and there's not been much else to report. when that changes, i'll be sure to let y'all know, either here and/or on my other site. hopefully it'll be good news. stay tuned.

more fun with faith

before i went to bed on saturday night, i decided that i'd go to evening service at 1st c. on sunday. my original plan was to go to 11am service, but the bears fan in me just had to watch the game. (yeah, i know - mistake #1.)

anyway, after the game was over, i had to re-convince myself that yes, i was going to church and yes, i needed to change clothes and no, i didn't need to stay home and watch nfl red zone and yeah, it was raining but c'mon. so i got changed, turned off the tv, and off i went...only to discover that there was no one at church. i can think of 2 reasons why this would happen on a sunday when 1st c. is normally scheduled to have an evening service: either bishop got invited to preach somewhere else that afternoon/evening, or bishop made the decision during morning service to cancel evening services.

i came back home in enough time to see sunday night football (how insane was that game? also, mike kafka! woo!), and before i went to sleep, i decided to do a little bible reading to make up for the fact that i didn't make it to church, hadn't been to church at all this month, and probably won't go next week b/c i'm a football lover with heathen tendencies. so i turned off nfl gameday final, grabbed one of my bibles, and started flipping to random passages. nothing was really jumping out at me until my fourth passthrough, when i almost fell out of my bed after reading this commentary from joyce meyer:

Do you need provision in an area of your life, and you are not really sure where it is going to come from? Be encouraged because in Psalm 111:5, God promises to provide for those who "reverently and worshipfully fear him." As long as we worship God, we are going to have his provisions.

Perhaps you have been told that you are going to lose your job or housing. Maybe you are elderly and living on a pension or Social Security, and you wonder what is going to happen to you in the future. You see prices on everything rising all the time and the devil whispers in your ear, "You are not going to have enough to live on." Or maybe the figures just do not add up; your income simply is not enough to support you, and yet you are doing all you know to do.

Whatever the reason for you concern about your provision, mark Psalm 111:5 in your bible. Meditate on it and even memorize it, because it holds the key to having your need met. That way when a need arises in your life, you will have hidden the word of God in your heart, and it will strengthen you and help you remain in faith rather than fear.

Believe God's word when He says He gives food and provision to those who reverently fear Him and worship Him. Whatever your situation may be, God will provide for you as you continue to worship and magnify Him.

Worship is actually fun and energizing; worry makes our hearts heavy and causes a loss of joy. Do not worry; worship and See God provide your every need.

if you've been keeping up with current events in my life, then you'll probably understand why this struck such a chord with me. so of course i had to read psalm 111:5 to see what the commentary was referring to. here's the amplified bible translation:

"He has given food and provision to those who reverently and worshipfully fear Him; He will remember His covenant forever and imprint it [on His mind]."

now, i'm not saying that this is going to be my magical ace-in-the-hole when i go to court on wednesday morning. i honestly don't know what's going to happen between now and then, and i have been trying to be ok with not knowing. it hasn't been easy, though. there have been periods of time during the past week where i've had this sinking feeling in my stomach and couldn't stop shaking b/c i was so nervous and stressed out. i actually had one of those moments sunday before i left on my relatively pointless journey, and no, it wasn't b/c of the bears game. (sigh.)

i read that passage a half-dozen times last night, and as cliched as it sounds, i really did feel a sense of peace by the time i was done. will this peace last? i don't know. does this mean the judge will give me more time to get my financial act together so i won't be evicted? no idea. all i can do is all i've been preparing to do - show up, explain my situation based on the advice i received from an attorney, and see what happens.

i was cleaning my bathroom earlier this morning and this song popped into my head, almost as a cosmic reminder of what i'd read last night:

i know not everyone shares my belief and/or my faith. that's more than ok with me. believe (or don't believe) in whatever works for you. i just figured i'd share this with y'all b/c, well, it's my blog and if i can't put it here, then something's seriously wrong. :P

i'm pretty sure i know where the time flew off to...

despite my overwhelming desire for a nap, i went to a reception hosted by my graduate alma mater tonight. hooray for free wine and cheese! i met the new dean for the school of business and a couple of staff members, and reconnected with 2 of my favorite professors. one of them kept looking at the graduation year on my nametag b/c he couldn't believe it'd been that long since i'd been in his class. never mind that loyola thinks i graduated in 2005 and not in 2004. and then i met some current students and i managed not to scare them out of the program, so that was my good deed for the evening.

but it hit me a little while ago while i was reading an email about this year's nu homecoming: i finished grad school 7 (!) years ago. i graduated from northwestern 13 (!!) years ago. i'll be 35 (!!!) in 3 months. i still don't feel old enough to be able to point to a decade-plus of my life and say that i've known most of y'all for that long, but it's true. it's weird, but true. i can't be the only one freaked out by this concept, and if i am, i fully expect quasi-mockage in the comments. :-)

it's a funny thing, how faith works sometimes...

i promise y'all that i have been trying not to get super crazy stressed about the chaos that is my life right now. it's not easy, though.

but then i listen to a song like this:

and things don't seem quite as horrific as they are. ok, maybe "horrific" is overstating it a bit, but still.

honestly, i listened to that song about 20 minutes ago and it really does feel like some of the weight has been taken off of my shoulders. not that i still don't have things to worry about, but sometimes a temporary reprieve is good. just sayin'. :-)

an anniversary of a different sort

my last day of full-time employment was september 12, 2008. when i voluntarily left that job, i had no idea that i'd be un(der)employed for three years. hell, i wasn't really planning on being un(der)employed for longer than a year, but that's obviously besides the point now.

as dire as my situation is right now, i don't regret quitting that job. it was time for me to leave. having a dream about getting fired and then being really upset when that dream didn't come true was the last in a series of signs that i needed. most of my former co-workers have moved on. the ones who are left are miserable, overworked, and underpaid. this stupid work ethic of mine wouldn't have allowed me to just phone it in after i'd gotten fed up.

to say that a lot of things have happened that i didn't plan for would be an understatement. here's a few:

--troy getting laid off about a month after i'd quit my job (remember that period of time when urbantherapy was 100% unemployed?)

--relying on babysitting gigs for income once my freelance projects dried up

--james dying

--troy & i getting divorced

--still being on the job market

--having to be very strategic about which bills are going to be paid and when

--getting served with eviction papers

don't get me wrong. it hasn't been all gloom and doom during the past 3 years, although the past few months have certainly been depressing as all get out. i've made new friends, reconnected with old friends, read a LOT of books, become even more thrifty than i already was...i'm sure there's things i'm forgetting but you get the point.

so here i am, 3 years later, hoping to hear about a job i interviewed for last week (and yes, i did send thank-you notes), praying for a miracle that lets me stay here in casa de eulalia for at least a little bit longer, and thankful that i still have outlets like this blog to get some shit off my chest. now if i can only scrounge up enough $ to pay comcast so i can keep my interwebz on...

no, this isn't a 9/11 observation post

although given my current state, i kinda wish it was. go read this and you'll see what i mean.

that is all.

recipe roundup - 9/9 edition

(9/9 referring to today's date, not to any sort of ranking)

y'all should know the drill by now: i link to recipes i've tried out and note any changes/substitutions. assume everything was delicious (or, at a minimum, worth trying again at least once), and, in the rare case where i disliked something, i try to explain why.

got it? ok. bon appetit.

--green beans and friends: i added some minced garlic (1-2 cloves, maybe?) b/c, well, i had garlic on hand and it seemed like a good idea. you could omit the bacon if you wanted to make this a vegetarian dish.

--roasted lemon chicken with red grapes: i'm not entirely convinced that you need the teaspoon of sugar called for in this. the sweetness of the grapes, especially once they've roasted, should be more than enough. if you make this & try skipping the sugar, come back and let me know how it turned out.

--bacon cinnamon rolls: this are as insane as you think they are. i need to adjust the cooking time the next time i make these, though, b/c they came out a bit more brown and crisp than i would've liked. also, make sure that you don't overcook the bacon - it needs to be pliable enough to not break when you roll up the dough.

--all-purpose spice rub: you probably have most, if not all, of the ingredients for this in your kitchen cabinet/spice rack/pantry/wherever you keep spices. do yourself a favor: make this rub, put it in a resealable container, and use it on damn near anything. to date, i've used this rub on fried pork chops (both on the chops themselves and in the flour to coat them), slow-cooker ribs, oven-fried catfish, and baked chicken wings. i actually made another batch of this rub the other day just so i'd have some on hand.

--honey-glazed chicken: a link for this recipe has to exist somewhere, but damned if i can find it right now. i clipped it from a recent (read: within the past 4 months) issue of real simple. i'm writing this post while in bed and i am too lazy at the moment to go find the hard copy of my recipe, but my notes say that i used drumsticks & thighs instead of a whole cut-up chicken. i'll edit this if/when i find the link.

--honey balsamic green beans: i know we're all shocked when paula deen gives us a recipe that's relatively healthy. of course i had to "ruin" this one by using approximately 2 1/2 teaspoons of honey, instead of the 1 tsp. called for in the recipe. i stand my decision, though, b/c these were delicious. i had these with the aforementioned honey-glazed chicken. nomtastic.

--roasted sausage and grapes: i used a tablespoon of dried thyme instead of fresh. i'm sure the flavor of the thyme would've been more intense if i'd used fresh, but i think it turned out ok. oh, and the pack of italian sausage i used was about 1 1/2 pounds, but it had 6 larger sausages instead of the 8 small ones called for in the recipe - i probably added 3-5 minutes to the cooking time listed just to make sure they were cooked through.

and now, your moment of "wtf?"

this ignorance came across my twitter timeline earlier today and it left me damn near speechless. i mean, there are so many things wrong with this statement.

my take on this: i'm 34. i've been sexually active since i was 17, and have been on some variation of the pill since i was 18. i've used plan b once (and allow me to remind everyone that plan b IS NOT AN ABORTION PILL KTHX). i've never had an abortion, although i have friends who have and guess what? they're still my friends.

anyway...it's maddening enough when random guys i encounter on the cta or walking down the street are surprised, if not damn near horrified, to discover that i don't have kids and really don't want any. (that's really a rant for a different day.) i don't need another woman implying that there's something wrong with me, or any woman, if i've made it past the ripe old age of 25 without having 5 abortions. that's just dumb. another reminder: a desire for motherhood or lack thereof doesn't make you any more or any less than a woman.

the previously linked bullshit also ignores women who use birth control, women who are choosing to be celibate/abstinent or who are virgins, lesbians, women with reproductive issues...i'm sure i'm leaving a group out, and for that i apologize.

and yes, i know i'm preaching to the choir, b/c you're sensible and logical (most of the time) and it's one of the many reasons why i love y'all, but damned if i didn't need to get this shit off my chest right quick fast. carry on.

this is too great not to share...

freddie mercury + google doodle = 1:38 of awesomeness. see for yourself:



via sjb

eta the muppets' version of bohemian rhapsody, b/c why the hell not? you know you wanna watch it again.

labor day and unemployment

i read this morning that the unemployment rate in august remained steady at 9.1 percent. for the record, i've been trying to do my part to change that statistic. you saw my post about my applying for more than 100 jobs last month, right? no? you haven't been reading my other blog? well, consider this your special invitation. it, and all the other sites in my linkorama list, are there for your reading pleasure.

anyway...it's labor day weekend and i'd be a lot more excited about it if, you know, i actually had a job. although i did apply for a dozen jobs this morning, so i suppose i can celebrate that. :-)

have a good weekend!

when friendship and teh interwebz happily collide

sunday morning: i see a post on twitter about a new song and an upcoming album from one of my favorite artists. i retweet it and someone i know points out that meshell will be in chicago this january. i start thinking about how to incorporate this concert into my b-day celebration - maybe it'll be the finale? i dunno.

monday night: i realize that 2 of my girlfriends. who also are meshell fans, aren't on twitter and therefore probably missed my excitement. i make a note to email them on tuesday.

tuesday morning: i send my friends a quick e-mail with 3 links: one for the new song, one for a quick article about the new album, and the concert link posted above.

one of them writes back almost immediately, saying that they'd just been thinking about meshell and wondering if we'd put the concert date on our calendars. before i had a chance to respond in the affirmative, she wrote again, saying that we definitely had to put the date on our calendars b/c she'd just ordered our tickets.

i might have shed a couple of happy tears. here i was, sharing information w/friends who i knew would be interested, and now we're all going to see meshell again. and, of course, i will figure out an "official" way to tie this into my month-long birthday celebration. this is a good problem to have. :-)

things i've learned so far this week

1) watching the video for jill scott's "hear my call" in public isn't a good idea, b/c i will be reduced to tears and no one on the cta wants to see that.

eta: here's the video.

2) nikka costa puts on an amazing live show. that was my concert splurge for the summer and it was totally worth it.

3) dance floor plans also puts on an amazing live show. click the link and give them a listen.

4) the fact that 2 people asked me the same question w/in 36 hours, coupled with the question itself, is seriously making me reconsider all kinds of things that i previously thought/still kinda think are true.

5) the universe is laughing its ass off at me right now. ok, that's not really a new revelation, but it's really come through loud and clear this week.

but how the hell are y'all? :-)

to thank or not to thank...

this note came across a jobs/careers listserv i'm on (yes, listservs are still active in 2011):

Dear (list moderator),

Please don't advise people to send those silly thank you letters after interviews. I hire three or four people a year and I see those things as a pure negative. I'd rather hire someone who didn't send me a thank you letter than someone who did. The letter to me signifies "hire me because I'm polite" instead of focusing on the job requirements. It's my choice whom to hire. Don't try to influence me. That's my two cents.

(letter writer)

i strongly disagree with the letter writer.

let's be honest: a job interview is all about influence. the potential employee is doing their best to convince the interviewer that s/he is the best fit for the position and for the company. in some cases, the interviewer is trying to "sell" the potential employee on the reasons why s/he should join their organization.

i still send handwritten thank-you notes after in-person job interviews. one organization that i'd interviewed with decided not to hire for the position, but my contact there made it a point to thank me for my thank-you note when she told me the news. do i think a thank-you note can make or break my chances of getting to the next round? not necessarily, but i do think that those notes help keep me in the interviewer's mind as they're trying to make their decisions on who to hire.

personally, i'd rather hire someone who sent a thank-you note than someone who didn't. it shows me that this person is interested enough in the job and was appreciative enough of my time to thank me for it. if they're like me, they include something we discussed in the interview in their note, which shows that they were paying attention. and, yeah, they're polite.

thoughts?

and speaking of birthdays...

james would've been 49 today.

that is all.

ode to bff

today is my bff's birthday. i couldn't tell you exactly how we first met in 7th grade, but we've been friends ever since. one of the things that's most amazing to me about our 20+ year friendship is that we have never lived in the same city/suburb. as you can imagine, this made (and still kinda makes) hanging out a bit of a challenge. remember that this was before e-mail and cell phones - we're talking passing notes during class and meeting up at lockers, and even that fell by the wayside once i transferred high schools during our junior year.

during our 20's, there were times when we'd go weeks w/o talking on the phone, just b/c our schedules were insane or whatever. i loved that we could pick up wherever we left off. actually, we still do that now, but at least we're a bit better about keeping in touch.

to say that we've been through a lot is an understatement. we're both daddy's girls who lost our fathers way too early. we've had more than our fair share of family drama, relationship drama, college drama, b-school/law school drama, fallouts with friends (but, thankfully, never with each other) - you name it. an ongoing joke i have with her is that neither of us can run for office and piss the other one off, b/c we both know way too much about each other.

it's not an understatement to say that i wouldn't have gotten through the past year or so w/o her. this is not to say that the rest of y'all weren't supportive and wonderful, b/c you were & i love y'all for it. i have to say, though, that having your oldest & dearest friend in your corner when your life takes yet another unexpected turn makes dealing with it just a bit easier, and for that, i am forever grateful. (awww…)

out of all the people i knew in junior high and high school, bff is the only one i'm still in contact with. i am more than ok with how that turned out.

so…happy birthday, erica. here's to yet another year of friendship and love and support and booze. :-)

were they saying "boourns?"

this new york times article caught my eye yesterday - the author wonders if it's ok to boo at the theater:

You hear it at Bayreuth and at the Met. Some places in Italy are so famous for it you’d be disappointed not to hear it. Booing at the opera may seem like a breach of protocol, but for better or worse it’s a tradition. In some circles, it’s even a sign of good taste.

So I wonder … if we hear booing at the opera, why don’t we hear it at the theater? And — dare I ask — should we?

this intrigues me b/c i've NEVER heard booing at the opera. in the, oh, let's say, dozen or so operas i've attended at the lyric, i have never heard booing. sure, there's been some groans, but that's usually due more to the plot/character than to the actual performance. i was actually unaware of this "tradition" of booing at the opera until i read this piece yesterday.

as for booing at the theater - i can't say i've ever heard it there, either, and i've been to way more plays/readings than i have operas.

booing at concerts? sure, i've done it. for some reason, though, i wouldn't dream of doing it at an opera or at a play. i'll withhold applause, i'll stay seated when ovations break out, but actual booing? not so much.

i should also point out that i've only booed at "popular" music concerts. something seems very wrong about booing at symphony center or ravinia. house of blues, though? i've been that person yelling "get off the stage!"

(although now i'm remembering a "popular" concert i attended at the civic opera house where i might've booed the opening act...)

i say all of that to say that i don't see myself booing at the opera or at the theater anytime soon. i'd love to hear from y'all on this - have you booed at an opera or at a play before? would you? why/why not?