in which i admit to having some, if not all, of the feelings

i have a confession to make. i got a little teary while boarding the metra train back to the 'burbs tonight. it's not that i haven't missed being in chicago before now, because i have. tears have been shed previously over not living here anymore, so this isn't anything new.

it's a combination of things, really. spending 10 days in the city i know and love with some of my favorite people (you know who you are and you're awesome and i love you like i love chocolate and reading and quiet time), plus dealing with yet another father's day w/o daddy even though a part of me really thinks that after 15 years, i shouldn't get as affected by this as i still do, plus feeling grateful for my new part-time gig even though i'm still hoping/praying for an additional part-time job or a full-time one so i can really try to set things in motion to get back to chicago on a permanent basis, plus feeling sad for my oldest brother who just laid his biological father to rest yesterday, which has to be extra-painful given that it's father's day weekend and now he's lost all three of his parents - our mom, my dad, who was technically his stepdad but i honestly don't remember that terminology ever being used, and now his biological father, who he just (re)discovered ~10 years ago - plus losing james a few years ago and i almost sorta kinda but not really wish that our relationship was such that i could call or email him and let him know that i know the shit hurts, but we're not in that space and therefore i feel like an asshole and why on earth do y'all let me run on like this?

so, all of that, plus the unshakable "i really should've been back by now and why the fuck is this taking so long" feeling of frustration i have, plus feeling like shit b/c i am stuck on the sidelines while a colleague/friend is trying to maneuver her mother's pending demise (i would really like cancer to die in a fucking fire right the fuck now), plus dealing w/some other feelings toward some other people that i know good and gotdamn well i have no business even trying to deal with right now b/c i really don't have the emotional and/or mental fortitude to go there, and yeah…i'm kinda surprised i haven't started bawling while i'm typing this on the train.

y'know what's weird, though? the whole time i've been writing this post, one of the voices in my head has been screaming at me for even considering sharing this with y'all. i will readily admit to not being superwoman, and damned if i'm gonna keep all of these feelings bottled up when i have a perfectly good outlet like this blog to get some shit off of my chest and out of my head. i mean, we all know i'm gonna (wo)man up and put on my big girl panties and keep plugging away until i'm back in chicago and am approaching something that could be construed as financial stability, but fuck. this shit is hard. it's really fucking hard and i am so fucking tired and sometimes the only thing that stops me from curling up into a ball and sobbing myself to sleep is knowing that y'all have my back and that some of y'all would, if i asked, quite literally kick my ass and make me get back in gear b/c you know me well enough to know that this is only temporary and for fuck's sake i've run on again. shit.

before i forget, though - and this is really important - please don't let my current insanity stop you from talking to me about any and all major shit (hell, even minor shit) that's going on with you. i really appreciate the fact that you don't want to add to my emotional distress by telling me your troubles/challenges/whatever, but we're friends, gotdammit, and if we can't share the highs and lows of our lives with each other, then we're all doing it wrong. i'll readily admit that i haven't been as communicative as i probably could've/should've been w/some of y'all lately, and i'm sorry. it's never been my intent to use my woes as an excuse to be (more) self-absorbed and uncaring. that's not what i want, and if you see me doing that shit, please tell me to cut it out, mmkay?

hot fun in the summertime*

eta: omg you guys. i have a job. i start on friday. more about it here.

*yes, i know it's not technically summer yet, but i think we're close enough.

i've been in the city since thursday and i am pretty sure i've eaten more pork and drank more alcohol in these past few days than i have in at least 2 months. seriously, i'm amazed that i haven't succumbed to a porcine version of the meat sweats. and ham. and more bacon. i actually had a meatless monday yesterday b/c i know my system isn't accustomed to this much swine anymore. that, and the fact that there's more pork in my future before i head back on sunday. bacon burgers? check. a pork/apple pie? yup. it's all gonna happen and maybe now some of my pants/skirts will stop falling off of me due to the weight i'm sure to gain this week.

have i mentioned lately that i have awesome friends? b/c i do. i've managed to hang with a few of y'all already and there have been lots of laughs and music and nomz and booze and i love y'all for it. it's no wonder that this got stuck in my head before i went to bed last night:

time for a little family feud

when richard dawson died this weekend, this gem of a video popped up in my twitter feed. i just watched it again and if you're having a week like i'm having so far, you could probably use some laughs. enjoy. :-)

can't travel anywhere

oh, cta. you've really gone and done it this time. announcing the closure of the dan ryan branch of the red line (from cermak/chinatown to 95th street) for five months, presumably in the name of saving money & time. 

my initial reaction to today's news was shock. i didn't play the racism card, although there's definitely a strong case to be made there, seeing as how the ridership south of chinatown to 95th is predominantly black. but that's not the case i want to make right now.

people who know me relatively well know that i am a huge fan of the cta. i come by it honestly, seeing as how both daddy and james worked for the chicago transit authority for more than 20 years before they retired. i've always said that cta helped get me through northwestern, thanks to daddy's pension plan. the occasional trips home from evanston didn't hurt, either.

people who know me relatively well also know that i've been attending 1st c. off and on since i was 6 years old. in those 25+ years (holy crap i am old), i have never missed 5 months of sunday service. not when i was in college. not when i was balancing 2 part-time jobs, an internship, and grad school. not even during my current suburban sojourn. 5 weeks, maybe, but not 5 months. 

for those of you who weren't at the urbantherapy wedding or at james' funeral: 1st c. is on the far south side. like 111th street far. as in i take the red line to 95th and then hop on a bus to get to 1st c. this pending closure pretty much means that i'll be fully embracing my heathen status for those 5 months. that also means that i'll be losing a part of my community for 5 months. oh, yeah, and there's that whole "the only time i usually hang with my family is at church" thing, which will go by the wayside for 5 months.

i'm writing this while riding the metra back to the 'burbs and i haven't been online since lunchtime, so i don't know if any major players have made a statement about this cta plan. i'd love to know what the white sox think of having their primary station closed…but i'm willing to guess that having a green line station and a metra station nearby takes some of the sting out of it. i'd presume the same for the university of chicago, esp. since the green line is technically closer to campus and there's also metra access nearby. same goes for iit.

[eta: the tribune article has been updated w/comments from the white sox, who do indeed refer to the nearby green line and metra stations as game day alternatives.]

i wonder what metra has to say. are they planning to boost capacity and/or adjust schedules on their southern routes during these station closures? has cta mentioned anything about changes to their bus lines/schedules, particularly in the areas affected by these closures?

did anyone at cta give voice to the fact that the "shuttles to the green line" option only works for people who aren't south of 63rd street? or that it's entirely possible that some riders may find it cost-prohibitive to switch to metra for those months? or that it's just not a convenient option to get to/from a metra station, or a bus stop, for that matter?

granted, we have a whole year to gear ourselves up for this, but right now? it just doesn't sit well with me. hopefully i can make it to one of the town-hall meetings to see exactly how this is supposed to play out.

recipe review: rosemary chicken

y'know how sometimes, after a (long) weekend, you look in the fridge/freezer and realize that you don't really feel like cooking for the rest of the week? you find yourself coming up with basic dinner plans b/c you already know you're not going to the store for any extra ingredients and the thought of expending any more energy than you absolutely have to is just enough to send you over the edge?

yeah, that was me last night. "let's see...boneless skinless chicken breasts...frozen pizza...um, i think there's a box of mac & cheese in the pantry...yeah, that'll work." tonight was chicken night. actually, it was supposed to be leftovers and/or chicken night, but a last-minute remembrance of just how long the leftovers had been in the fridge crossed them off of the list. luckily i'd already finished making this.

a few substitutions on this one: i used 2 teaspoons of dried rosemary instead of fresh, and about 3/4 of a tablespoon of minced garlic instead of chopped, b/c that's what was on hand.

verdict? somewhere b/t meh and nom. i marinated the chicken for 4-5 hours, give/take 30 minutes in either direction. i think i overcooked it a little bit, but in my defense, these chicken breasts were ginormous even after i cut them in half and i was trying to err on the side of caution.

would i make it again? probably. if i'm organized enough, i might even make the arugula and white beans, instead of the salad & mashed potatoes we had tonight.

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

dream journals?

any of y'all down with the whole "write down what you remember of your dreams as soon as you wake up" thing? b/c i think i really need to start. i was in the middle of a really disturbing dream and i actually had to wake myself up to snap out of it. at 5am. once i managed to calm myself down, aka stop shaking and borderline freaking out b/c it was only a dream and hopefully none of that shit will actually happen irl, i was wide awake until 6 or so. of course, one of the twins decided to start waking up just as i started to doze off.

the last dream sequence i remember before i woke up again? i was in philadelphia, riding around with someone. i have no idea who that someone is/was. we'd just dropped someone else off (again, a mystery) and i'd just gotten back in the car. i'd put my seat belt on, but took it off b/c i was wearing a heavy coat and it was warm out and therefore i didn't need it. i strapped myself back in and started singing along to this:



(note: i kinda miss having the ability to hit some of those high notes. i'm pretty sure my voice teacher would say that i still could if i really wanted to, but that's neither here nor there.)

so anyway - i'm in the front passenger seat of this car, singing my heart out, and the car's moving backwards through this parking garage. did i mention that i'm the only person in this car? and i'm too busy singing along to notice the backward movement, let alone grab the wheel? the car somehow exited the garage and was about to back into traffic when my alarm went off.

weird, right? by the time i dragged myself out of bed 15 minutes later (thank god for snooze options), this song was stuck in my head:



i was sober for all of this, btw. i have no idea what my dreams would look like if i was drinking on a regular basis (again), and i'm not entirely sure i want to find out. this is not to say that i don't want to drink on a quasi-regular basis, though. wait. that doesn't sound right. y'all know what i mean, though. i hope.

happy saturday. :-)

recipe review: slow cooker barbecue chicken

believe it or not, there are some folks out there who think that slow cookers should only be used in the winter. they're probably like that guy in those stove-top commercials who thinks that stuffing is only for thanksgiving.

not me. slow cookers and stuffing never go out of season for me. that said, when i was flipping through my files for ideas on what to make with the pack of boneless skinless chicken breasts i'd taken out for tonight's dinner, i came across this recipe. a quick search confirmed that yes, i had everything i needed, and so here we are.

(side note - i've become that person who has hundreds of recipes saved on their computer. let's not even talk about the folder of recipes currently on my desk. or the binders of recipes packed away in a box. what'd i say last night about food pr0n? yeah...)

back to the recipe, though. i started the crockpot around noon and by 3:30, my stomach was growling and the house smelled all nice and barbecue-y. by 5, the chicken was ready to be shredded and yes, the sauce actually thickens like it's supposed to when you add the cornstarch/chicken broth mixture. i had my doubts about this b/c cornstarch and i have had a contentious relationship, even when i mix it with water/broth/whatever as a thickening agent. but it worked, and the chicken went back in the crockpot for just about 40 minutes or so. oh, and i seasoned the chicken with a little bit of black pepper at the beginning, but that was the only substitution/addition i made.

verdict? nom. would make again. my thinking is that the italian dressing added just enough of a vinegar taste to balance out the brown sugar and the bbq sauce. i definitely see this recipe making a comeback during football season (hopefully in my own place), b/c i don't think it'd be a problem to double or triple this recipe for a crowd.

win some, lose some

today? today goes in the win column.

no, i didn't get a job. money didn't magically appear in my bank account, although i haven't checked my paypal since this morning, but i won't hold my breath there. i didn't stumble on a way to be back in chicago full-time (yet!), i didn't win the lottery...nothing really earth-shattering happened. it was all about life's little victories, combined with my #humpdayhustlin, that led to today being a win.

in no particular order:

--e-mail from lane bryant saying they're offering 50% off their entire site, and me having just enough in the bank to order a new bra, which was perfect timing b/c i just had to toss one of my old ones in the trash. and shipping was free b/c i'm having it sent to a store, and it should be there by the time i'm back in the city.

--applied for at least a dozen jobs.

--accomplished 4.5 things on my to-do list, including reconnecting with someone i worked with back in my grad school days. potential professional networking hookup? yeah, maybe. we'll see.

--had enough downtime today/tonight to apply for the aforementioned jobs, make 2 phone calls (which account for 2 of those 4.5 items on my list), and pretty much finish my freelance project for this week. ok, so the project as a whole will probably take me until labor day to finish, but this particular phase of it? pretty much done. i hope. if all goes according to plan, i will have monies while i'm in the city next month. woo!

--won a twitter contest. mmm...free nomz...

--found out that l & j's satellite provider now offers cooking channel. i actually did a little dance of joy when i discovered this. yeah, i spend an inordinate amount of time watching food shows and reading about food and looking at food pr0n. fight me.

like i said...nothing earth-shattering or stupendous, but i was excited and happy and can you really blame me for running with that? i didn't think so.

actually, this whole week so far (*knocks wood*) has been pretty solid. on monday, i found a pair of shoes that i've been searching for since january. my backlog of magazines? done. my chocolate stash has been replenished and i need to lay off of it a bit, b/c last week's stress eating=this week's acne. you'd think that my system would be well-acquainted with my affinity for chocolate and therefore would behave accordingly. oh well.

--------------------------------------------

and now for something completely different - wtf are people doing for memorial day? clearly i can't host anything (sigh), but if someone's gonna grill and/or ply me with alcoholic beverages, i'm in. i might even make brownies, assuming that i get a chance to go to the store and buy the necessary ingredients. i feel like the holiday kinda snuck up on us. that, or i missed a memo somewhere. if something's happening this weekend that resembles a get-together, please let me know so i can start planning transportation and crashpad options.

hope y'all are having a good week. right now i'm resisting the urge to watch penguin cam b/c i really need to go the fuck to sleep. sweet dreams and all that. :-)

i thought i'd be back by now.

first of all, i can't believe that we're already halfway through may. second of all, i can't believe that i'm still in "suburban sojourn" mode. honestly, when i made the decision back in december to do this whole "barter childcare/household help for a stable place to sleep" thing, i figured i'd be back in a few months. definitely in time for spring. maybe summer.

now? i'm hoping to be back in chicago in time for football season, and i'm not even sure if that's going to happen. it's depressing as all hell, really. it's not as if i haven't been trying to move back, what with all of my job hunting and interviewing and babysitting and freelancing and other hustles. but, here i am, still unemployed with no regular income aside from my food stamps and still technically homeless.

i am trying not to complain. i know how good i have it, relatively speaking. i could be in a shelter or riding the red line all day and night with a suitcase or god knows what else. i'm lucky to know folks who would do whatever they could to make sure i didn't end up in a shelter or a permanent cta passenger. and at least i have 'net access so i can apply for jobs and post updates here and on twitter. and my cell phone is still on (barely) b/c of those babysitting and freelance gigs and donations. i get it. i'm blessed. no need to remind me.

and yet...it'd really be nice to take off this damned cape and let myself wallow for a bit. double bonus if there was someone who'd be willing to take some of this proverbial weight off of my shoulders. that's not how i am, though. like the other day, when a heat-and-hormonal induced migraine hit and i tried to keep moving through it, knowing that the best thing for me would be to take my meds and go the fuck to sleep. yeah, but since i only have a few meds left and am trying to save those for my really severe migraines, i popped a couple of tylenol instead and went on with giving the twins their dinner and cleaning up and whatnot until l basically demanded that i go upstairs and go to bed. so i did...for maybe an hour or so, until my stomach decided to join the migraine party and add nausea to the mix.

back downstairs i went, even though i knew i wasn't 100% better and probably looked as wobbly as i felt. didn't matter to me, though, b/c there was still "work" to do and i was still "on the clock" since the twins were still awake. (no, i'm not getting paid and no, i'm not punching in - this is all in my head. yes, i know i'm crazy.)  even though l and her mom and j when he came home from work were all giving me that "why tf aren't you in bed?" look. 

i did come back upstairs eventually, after making myself eat a pb&j and some sun chips (mmm...sun chips) and cleaning up the kitchen and loading the dishwasher and i forget what else.

why do i do this to myself? b/c my type a-minus personality won't let me be lazy and procrastinate all the time. b/c i'm a overachiever. b/c this isn't my house. do i live here? yes, for the moment, but it isn't mine. i'd feel a lot more comfortable doing a whole lot of nothing if i only had to be responsible for myself. if part of the deal didn't involve taking care of the kids and helping out around the house. but that's the deal, and damned if i'm gonna welsh on it.

and now i've forgotten where the hell i was going with this. oh, right - i'm not back in chicago full-time yet, despite my best efforts, i'm tired and thankful at the same time, and i'm looking forward to summer anyway b/c i'll be in the city for a couple of weeks off and on. and, y'know, if you ever wanna visit me here in the lovely north 'burbs, feel free. and there were probably at least two other points i wanted to make, but the twins will be up from their nap soon and i should wrap this up while it's still relatively quiet.

yeah. happy hump day.

music diary - the end

ok, so i didn't watch nearly as much vh1 soul as i thought i would this weekend. i didn't even flip to music choice. so, yeah, these last two entries are super-short.

saturday may 12

be happy - mary j. bilge

o hai vh1 soul!

seven whole days - toni braxton

blessed - jill scott

what they do - the roots

sunday may 13

more vh1 soul!

let go - lalah hathaway

baby don't cry - lalah hathaway

don't stop your love - keith sweat

down here in hell (with you) - van hunt

this could be the night - zo!

candy girl - new edition

who do you love - bernard wright

and there you have it. this was a fun experiment. leave a comment if you participated - i'd love to see your lists. kthx.

music diary 2012 - may 11 edition

friday may 11

sweet dreams (are made of this) - eurythmics

and now we switch to the folder of 500+ songs i've played at ddpp…

addictive - truth hurts

shame - evelyn champagne king

i need more love - robert randolph & the family band

take me out - franz ferdinand

doowutchalike - digital underground

everything - p-money feat. vince harder

funky town - pseudo echo

poison - bell biv devoe

(don't) give hate a chance - jamiroquai

don't stop the music - rihanna

walk with me - mob

paradise - change

mistadobalina - del tha funky homosapien

linus & lucy - george winston

all for love - bilal

west end girls - pet shop boys

hurt - johnny cash

a change is gonna come - sam cooke

everyone nose (all the girls standing in the line for the bathroom) - n*e*r*d

sweet sonora (original mix) - nuboy & sebastien gamboa

good luck - basement jaxx & lisa kekaula

ride like the wind - christopher cross

remember the time (roforo remix) - michael jackson, fela kuti

back to the regular shuffle now…

cherish the day - sade

show me what you got - jay-z

turn me away (get munny) - erykah badu

the pressure, pt. 1 - sounds of blackness

all cried out - lisa lisa & cult jam

my lists from this weekend could be interesting, if i stick to my current plan of catching up on vh1 soul while in the city in addition to my itunes listening. we'll see what happens. :-)

music diary 2012 - wednesday/thursday

wednesday may 9

no you girls - franz ferdinand
up jumps da' boogie - timbaland & magoo feat. aaliyah
the fact is (i need you) - jill scott
mercy - duffy
yes he is (reggie burrell mix) - track & feel events
horse with no name - america
all day - girl talk (i cued this album up around 8:45pm b/c i needed something to keep me awake while i caught up on email and settled in to work on job apps)
black and yellow - wiz khalifa (sometimes listening to girl talk makes me want to listen to other songs that i really shouldn't like. this is one of them.)
single ladies (put a ring on it) - beyonce
i'm bad - ll cool j
whatever that's mine - tanya morgan
you - raheem devaughn
not like crazy - jill scott (i almost always listen to these 2 songs back-to-back. i wish someone would create a quality mashup of them.)
i want you - erykah badu
get gone - fiona apple
take me out - franz ferdinand
one time - the roots
knock power (ll cool j vs. justice) - the hood internet

thursday may 10

got to be there - chaka khan
hear my call - jill scott
get me bodied (extended mix) - beyonce
million dollar bill - whitney houston
full moon - armand van helden feat. common
love ballad - l.t.d.
already mine - dance floor plans
15 step - radiohead
touch it/technologic - daft punk
living in confusion - phyllis hyman
hey young world - slick rick
nothing compares 2 u - sinead o'connor
corners of my mind - nikka costa
honey - erykah badu
sunshower - dr. buzzard's original savannah band
strawberry letter 23 - shuggie otis
skyy, can you feel me - raphael saadiq
sometimes - bilal
ex girl to the next girl - gang starr

feel free to leave a comment if you're participating in music diary 2012, or if you got here via the music diary 2012 site and just wanna say hi. :-)

music diary 2012 - may 8 edition

i watched "smash" this morning and i suppose i could count whatever songs were covered in that episode as part of today's listening, but then i'd have to include any other songs that come up during my tv watching (outside of vh1 soul or music choice, that is) and i don't know if i feel like going that far. that said, here's my playlist from tonight:

don't gotta work it out - fitz & the tantrums
l.o.v. - fitz & the tantrums
rich girls - fitz & the tantrums
moneygrabber - fitz & the tantrums
breakin' the chains of love (brand new karate world remix) - fitz & the tantrums
in case it wasn't obvious, i downloaded a free ep from fitz & the tantrums and decided to give it a spin. you can get your own copy on their site.
(and now, back to the shuffle. actually, i cued up "sideways" 1st b/c it's been stuck in my head all day, thanks to a headline i saw about rommey's criticizing obama for running the country "sideways or worse.")
sideways - suntan feat. citizen cope
adam - me'shell ndegeocello
gold - prince
rock superstar - cypress hill
walk on by - aretha franklin
sunrise - simply red
express yourself - diplo feat. nicky da b
one time - the roots
jump in the line - harry belafonte
got to be there - michael jackson
runaway love - linda clifford
everything - p-money feat. vince harder
sinceran - nina simone
prototype - andre 3000
pastime paradise - stevie wonder (i will never listen to this song, or anything else from the "songs in the key of life" album, the same way again thanks to this book. go read it if you haven't already.)
i'm not in love - 10cc
ain't no fun - snoop
bitter sweet symphony - the verve

music diary 2012 - the beginning

while catching up on some of y'all's pages, i found out about this project. (proverbial tip of the hat to sjb) it sounded cool enough to me - keep a running tally of what i listen to this week. sometimes i tweet about what's playing anyway, so i figured this wouldn't be much of a stretch.

my plan is to post a daily list of what i've been listening. given my recent track record of posting (or lack thereof), it's entirely possible that some days will be combined. my itunes library is set on shuffle, so usually i'll start with whatever comes up and then skip songs until something else catches my ear. if a certain song gets stuck in my head, then i'll cue that up and resume shuffling once i'm done with that selection.

for the purposes of these posts, assume that i did all of my listening via my itunes library on my laptop. i will try to add notes in if another listening method presents itself.

and now i present day one of music diary 2012:

makin' happy - crystal waters

read a book - bomani "d'mite" armah

after the love is gone - mint condition

double pump - girl talk

inside my love - minnie riperton

the getaway - little brother

sexyback - justin timberlake

les fleur - minnie riperton

you & i - rick james

that's right - girl talk

make my heart - toni braxton

pastime paradise - stevie wonder

bright lights bigger city - cee-lo

countdown - beyonce

light & day/reach for the sun - the polyphonic spree

that's the way love is - ten city

one more time - daft punk

come & talk to me (rmx) - jodeci

love's gonna last - jeffree

get right - jennifer lopes

work it out - monie love

peanut butter jelly time - buckwheat boy

all these things that i've done - the killers

controversy - prince

this is it - kenny loggins

because we can - fatboy slim

proud mary - tina turner

i fail at life*

* - by life, i mean blogging. specifically posting on this blog. fuck. i'm sorry. i've been trying to catch up on my piles of magazines and library books, so between that and keeping my other site sorta kinda up-to-date, that pretty much eats up my larger chunks of free time. i mean, right now, i could be working on one of the post ideas i have on my to-do list, but i'd much rather read more of this james brown biography, so that's what i'm gonna do.

my bad, y'all. maybe i'll start working on posts during my metra commutes, since my ipod is dead (note to self - add "new ipod" to the list of things that will hopefully be in my life this year) and i don't feel nearly as nervous about working on laptop on the metra as i would on the cta. i don't think i've ever pulled out my laptop on the cta. sometimes i'm paranoid like that.

anyway...something that resembles content coming soon. i don't even have any recipe reviews for y'all b/c i haven't tried anything new lately. of course, now that i've typed that, i'll suddenly go on a recipe testing spree and then have a backlog of those posts. whee.

but y'all are good though, right? everyone's doing relatively well?

me? that's another post that i'll probably never get around to writing. :P

*taps dust off of microphone*

apologies for the lack of content here as of late. i had every intention of writing something last night, but then i wound up having a nosebleed that, i swear, lasted for at least an hour and by the time i was able to get back online, all i wanted to do was watch penguin cam until i fell asleep.

anyway - i have at least three blog ideas on my to-do list and hopefully i'll get to at least one of them w/in the next week or so. for now, though, i'm going to continue battling whatever illness decided to invade my body this week. whee.

thank you easter bunny!

remember when i had all of the rage on valentine's day? not so much today, b/c i got a totally unexpected and wonderful easter basket! there's chocolate, which, as we well know, everyone loves. and a mini-pedicure set. and a pocket/travel sized hairbrush and mirror. and...a walgreens gift card! now i can go buy more chocolate toiletries w/o having to spend what little cash i have. oh, and a card reminding me not to throw in the proverbial towel. yay! thanks, easter bunny!

in case you're wondering - yes, i know who actually gave me this kick-ass basket and they've been thanked in-person already. i just wanted to share some of the happy with y'all, ok? i have snickers eggs and cadbury caramel eggs and it is taking all i have not to pull a cookie monster and nom the unholy fuck out of all of them right now. seriously. they're right next to my laptop and they're looking at me as if they're shocked to still be intact and in their packaging and oh god i'm totally gonna eat these before i go to bed tonight. no. i will eat some other chocolate that's in my stash and save these until tomorrow at least. yes. that is what i will do.

in other news...does anyone else remember the tom & jerry easter cartoon? i thought of it this morning, specifically the duck wishing any and everyone a happy easter, and then i found this on youtube and all is temporarily well with the world. :-)

1Q2012: a look back

ok, so i haven't been able to cross anything off of my list of things that will be back in my life this year as of yet. it's gonna happen, though.

if my numbers are correct, then i applied for 360 jobs during the first quarter of 2012. there's been some interviews in there, too, but i don't have those numbers readily accesible at the moment. i also read 23 books during 1Q2012, all from the library. i've been able to spend some weekends in the city, hanging out with some of y'all, and that's been great. i've tried out a few new recipes (go back through the old posts for those if you want), and please don't ask me how many new recipes i've saved, b/c i honestly don't know.

i feel like i'm missing some details here, but it could also be because i'm tired and my brain is starting to slow down a bit for the evening. you get the point, though. i hope. maybe.

recipe review: garlic string beans

my m.o. for trying side dish recipes these days goes something like this:

--figure out what vegetable(s) are on hand
--go through the recipe folder on my hard drive to see what looks interesting and wouldn't clash with the main dish i have planned
--figure out if i have all the ingredients for a recipe or, if i don't, if i'd be ok skipping or substituting it
--jot down directions so i don't have to bring my laptop into the kitchen

so when i realized we had green beans, i started looking for ideas that wouldn't clash with the baked chicken i had planned. enter this recipe (no, not the scallops; scroll down for the side dish directions). i used a tablespoon of minced garlic b/c that's what was on hand, and i let the beans cook for a little longer than directed b/c i was working with slightly more than a pound of them and figured they could use a couple more minutes. would i make them again? absolutely.

recipe review: slow-baked salmon with lemon and thyme

i picked up some salmon during this weekend's grocery store outing b/c i was in the mood for seafood and the salmon was only a dollar more per pound than the tilapia, so why not, right? but then i realized last night that i hadn't quite decided how i was going to prepare it for tonight's dinner. lucky for me that i have a good dozen or so salmon recipes saved on my hard drive, and this was one i hadn't tried out yet. i knew i wanted something simple, and i was intrigued by this slow-baking concept, so i went with it.

i used about a teaspoon of dried thyme instead of fresh, b/c buying fresh herbs that i know will go to waste just doesn't make sense to me when i have dried herbs on hand. i didn't serve it with lemon wedges b/c i only had one lemon and i needed that for the lemon zest. the salmon fillets i had were a bit on the thick side, so i cooked them for 18 minutes and then turned the pan around and let them cook for another 5 minutes. end result? nom. would make again. i thought about adding oregano but didn't go through with it - maybe next time.