Wednesday, June 29, 2011

I'm learning

I'm slowly learning not to be as stressed out as I can normally get.

I found out yesterday that a paper for class I thought was due next week was actually due tomorrow. Instead of freaking out, I just moved my time table up and tightened my belt. I managed to knock out the outline and a good chunk of the paper last night and today. I can stop procrastinating if I have to :)

I also have alot of Spanish homework for tonight and an in-class writing to study for as well (they give us a topic and we write for a half hour about it - definitely need to study for it). And of course the cats have somewhat revolted and I have to pick up normal kitty litter tonight.

But I'm not stressed about it. It'll be ok and if I have to go to bed just a little later, that's fine too. I like not stressing out and will always choose it if I can (and sometimes I just can't).

Probably one of my favorite photo-bombs ever
I hope everyone else is having a stress-less day as well :)

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

M.I.A.

I've been a little MIA the last couple days. That's thanks to a mix of laziness, school work, and cleaning I had to do. My room was a mess, laundry needed to be done and I hadn't done groceries in a while either. First I had to catch up on all of that.

I've also been feeling like poo. Being my normal self, I've just been ignoring it, drinking alot of fluids and taking Advil or Tylenol. After waking up in the middle of the night with a pain in my side, my mom convinced me to go to the health center. And what would you know, sometimes Moms are right. I have a kidney infection (fun times!) and am now on multiple meds to make me feel better.

So now that all of that is taken care of, I can write a little. Saturday I made and AH-MAZING pasta salad. I got the recipe from one of the many cooking blogs I follow, The Hungry Texan. I love BLTs as it is, so the idea of making it into a pasta salad intrigued me. That and the recipe called for 2 POUNDS of bacon. So it had to be amazing. And it didn't disappoint. With the slight coating in ranch, it really does taste like a sandwich in a bowl. And I have enough to last me all week. YUM.

I made it to the farmer's market this weekend, finally. The fresh veggies I got were, on average, cheaper than what I get at the grocery store, and obviously fresher. I'll be having squash, zucchini and cucumbers with dinner all week.

I leave you today with a little cartoon that is basically me in cat form.
Can you tell which one is me? I'll give you a hint: it's not the one trying to calm him down.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Spoiled cats

As if my cats aren't spoiled enough, I'm completely convinced they have full control over me.

They look so unassuming...but don't let them fool you
Always being the "Frugal" person I am (Thanks Mom and Dad!), I bought some recycled newspaper litter that was on sale. I cleaned out the boxes and changed out the litter with the recycled pellets. Usually, as soon as I'm done, one of them feels the urge to use them. But this time, they all sniffed it super cautiously, as if it could attack at any moment and looked at me like I grew an extra head. Even when I put them in it, they walked like there were hot coals in there instead.

Apparently, I didn't read the directions, which says that you should introduce it gradually. So I had to run out and buy a small bag of the normal cat litter to mix in. I was worried they wouldn't use it and go somewhere else in the apartment instead. There is now a 50/50 mix of litter and pellets. And I was forced to go out in the rain to pick up normal litter. Yup, I know who controls me.
She walks all over me
I love them, what can I say. I could choose to not let them rule my life, but what fun would that be?

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

A delicious going away dinner

I know it's been a while since I last posted, and I really have no good excuse. I'm just kinda lazy sometimes.

But I'm back! And last night I had a DELICIOUS dinner for Elora's last night in Bloomington. We went to Restaurant Tallent for dinner, a great chef-owned restaurant here in town. The chef uses local ingredients, as well as those in season. Jess and I have been wanting to go for a while, and this was a great excuse! While we didn't get the tasting menu (Jess and I are going to go back for that), we did order some great food. The 5 of us each got appetizers and entrees. Alex, SJ and I ordered the House-Cured Charuterie.
The jar contains duck liver pate with a rich fig topping, which literally made me pause as soon as I put it in my mouth. It was so rich and flavorful that my tongue didn't know what to do. There are also some pickled vegetables, bacon (at least I thought it was bacon), a mustard sauce and some beef. It was DELISH! And only the appetizers. Jess got the crudo.
Last night's crudo was an albacore tune with avocado tempura and micro-green salad. It was really rich but really good. She let me try some :) Jess is also a much better food photographer than I am, so I'm using her photos instead of mine. Her's make the food look way better than mine do. Elora got a delicious leek and potato soup with a dill creme fraiche. Our entrees were also amazing. SJ and I got the sea scallops, with white beans, asparagus, mushrooms and maple-glazed pork belly. OMG was it good.
SJ finished it in no time flat. I tried to enjoy mine for a little longer. But the scallops were perfect. And who doesn't love pork? Jess got the daily special, the Alaskan King salmon.
Hers looks amazing as well, although I didn't taste it. Alex got the Original RT Burger, with homemade bacon, really good fries, and caramelized onions. Elora got a mish-mash of things. Listening to it was like listening to a Starbucks order. But she really liked her dinner and the veggies she got to go with her pasta tasted ridiculously fresh.

We girls ordered dessert. Jess got the tart, which she loved. I got the rhubarb pie with some awesome ice cream, and Elora got the carrot cake french toast. I don't think any of use shared those :)

We had a great dinner and I was glad we all got to be together for one last dinner with Elora.
We're a pretty good looking group. And Elora will be greatly missed :(