Homeboy wore combat boots to the beach!

I used to be one of those people who didn’t watch TV unless there was a game on. I didn’t even own a TV throughout my university years. Sex and the City was online and I usually went to the frat house or to the pub to watch the game.

In March I was introduced to Grey’s Anatomy and I watched the first and second seasons on DVD until I had them memorized. I downloaded all the back episodes of season three so I would be up to speed for the end of the season.

And now it seems I watch The Hills. That’s right. The Hills. Lauren. Audrina. Whitney. Heidi. I know who they are. I have opinions on them and their lives and their hair and who they date and oh my freaking lord what is happening to me???? I may or may not have watched season one of Laguna Beach all in one day, given up on season two halfway through because Kristen was too annyoing, and may or may not have stayed up till 3:30am watching season one of The Hills last night.

Help.

Boats, Bonfires and Baking

The nice thing about being unemployed is that I can sleep in on Monday morning after a busy weekend. A while ago, two friends of mine (Rose and Charles) got engaged…er, to each other. Her parents threw them an engagement party over the weekend, it was a boat cruise and it was a blast. Rose’s grandpa, such a sweet man, told us all about how he served in WWII in Italy, how he’s been married for 6o years and that the first twenty five were the best. He was very dissappointed that I didn’t speak Italian though…I think he thought I was Italian? There were about seventy people on board, her entire family and they all seem to get along quite well. It was fun. The mere idea of my entire family on a boat together is horrifying to me…aside from the fact that we would need a ridiculously large boat I am quite certain all hell would break loose very quickly.

I went to a BBQ/Bonfire out in the country, accompanied by a double batch of cakey brownies and couple of very fun bloggers, where we ate far too much, looked for constellations and realized how much we love our smoggy city air and noise.

Last night, there was a mini reunion of some of my mom’s school friends. About four families all got together, not people I’m well aquainted with really but it was an excuse to bake and cook…I made Shrimp Alfredo Primavera, a pavlova and miniature cakes. I remembered to take a couple pics for you guys as well but WP seems to be in the midst of a hissy fit and won’t let me post them. BLAH!

By the way, does anyone know how to merge two pictures? If you do and you have a minute, I may need just a smidge of help and I’d be ever so grateful! **UPDATE** Kenneth is absolutely amazing and fabulous and merged them all together for me in a second! Thanks Kenneth!

Short and Sweet

So I got a job. Today was my first day.

I worked six and a half hours. Then I quit.

That is all.

Shoulda Been A Dentist

I love love love to bake. When I’m having a bad day, frustrated or generally not impressed with the world I bake. I also bake when I’m bored, when I have company coming, when I’m going somewhere…basically for any possible reason because there’s rarely a bad time for a gorgeous Pavlova, chocolatey brownies or cute cupcakes. Every so often I become possessed by the NEED TO BAKE. Baking is kind of like crack to me. But, you know, prettier and more productive. Certainly more apprciated by my family and friends. The thing is, I don’t like just baking and having it around. There has to be someone else who is going to eat it because I won’t. I love making cheesecakes because they are so elegant but I won’t touch them because I don’t like them. Same with tarts. Tarts are stunning with their layers of fruit and clouds of cream, preserves or honey but I don’t like them. Clearly I have issues.

Today I was overcome with the NEED TO BAKE  and I liberated this treasure from Chapters and added it to my collection. (Pssssst Brandy, I think the majority of those recipes are gluten-free!) The NEED TO BAKE is what finds me in the kitchen now, well past midnight with merangues cooling on the counter, brownies in the oven and chili on the stove.  The chili is just for diversity really.

Now that the baking is done I am fairly concerned as to who is going to eat it…

Its times like this that I miss university. Anytime I felt the need to cook up a huge meal or bake a ridiculous amount of fabulousness there were roomies, roomie’s boyfriends, friends within a two minute walk, my sorority sisters and frat boys galore to gobble it up. A tray of cupcakes in a sorority house has a very short life span.

By the way, see that book cover? I’m feeling the need to bake those adorable cakes this weekend to take to a BBQ…

(I didn’t bake the exact ones that are pictured here, I found those pictures online but who doesn’t enjoy drooling over pretty baked goods?)

If I Could Bottle This…

I think I might have stumbled across a way to be both too rich and too thin. Now I just need to figure out how to mass produce this method, market it, and sit back and watch the money roll in. 

It’s a foolproof, effortless and entirely effective diet…and you don’t even realize you’re on it! You can’t really break it either! Honest. I was on it for four weeks without even realizing that I had started it and the effects were pretty obvious within the first week.

This diet my friends is called…nausea.

For four weeks I was too nauseated to eat anything, not a constant overbearing nausea but more rolling waves of it that become more pronounced when I’d eat, consume dairy or come across strong smells. I didn’t notice that I wasn’t eating properly because I actually do love vegetables and salads and don’t mind living on them. In four weeks I lost nearly eight pounds.

Of course, I suppose you could eat not so healthy cold foods like cupcakes and brownies but there’s always a way to sabotage every diet.

So now then, I’ve already been the guinea pig and its been tested and approved…who wants to help me figure out how to bottle, market and sell it? Oh it needs a new name…nausea won’t sell…suggestions welcome!

Yikes!

This is my third day at home and I can’t tell you how happy I am to sleep in my fabulous bed, not share a bathroom with anyone else, have great coffee and not live out of suitcases. I’ve unpacked, socialized, spent a day at an amusement park with my closest friends, cooked for myself, gone to the gym, driven myself around in my beloved little car to my heart’s content…

Three days. Three unemployed days…

Holy hell I need to be productive. I need a schedule. I need the days of the week to have meaning and I need to accomplish things.

Who wants to hire me?

Jolly Old England

The instant I set foot on English soil I was convinced that I needed to move to England. It was a sudden overwhelming need that hasn’t left me, even though I’ve later discovered just about all stores close at 5:00pm. I can’t understand why anyone would ever leave England. Scones and clotted cream. Hot bartenders with those adorable accents who flirt mercilessly even when just getting you water. Pubs EVERYWHERE. Castles. Westminster Abbey. Oxford. Cadbury Factory. London. All the history. Maybe I can get Tim Horton’s to open in England too…then I’d be set and moving for sure.

In Birmingham I stayed on the same road where the founder of Cadbury lived and where his decendents still are. I’m sure they love the random people taking pictures outside their house. I was counting the Porches in that neighborhood when a Lamborghini pulled up in front of me.

I’ve been to Stratford-upon-Avon, Oxford, London, Birmingham and Warwick and loved it all. Ever since I can remember I have had the oddest fascination with Westminster Abbey and yesterday I finally got to go, I took a guided tour which was amazing and lit a candle before I left but unfortunately I couldn’t stay for a service. Tidbit: Oliver Cromwell was originally buried at Westminster but three years later King (James I think) had his remains dug up, hung from the gallows, drawn and quartered and then placed his head on a spike where it stayed for twenty-five years till it was blown off in a storm.

Alas….its just about time for me to go home…on the way I think I’ll try to understand the mushy peas that come with the fish and chips.