The Dish from Trish

Maybelline One by One Volum' Express

2011-05-24T20:40:00.000-07:00

Instead of apologizing for such infrequent posts, I am just going to post this one about mascara I worked on a few weeks ago, and say, it's never too late to start again!

As a true mascara addict, I am always searching for the biggest, newest and best. Coming this weekend, I will feature one about Benefit's latest, "They're Real", which I can honestly say I LOVE! That is a first for Benefit mascara for me.

THIS post however, focuses on a drugstore find, Maybelline One by One Volum' Express. This mascara claims to give you volume without the bulk, with a brush that de-clumps and detangles.

I am always attracted to anything promising volume. My own lashes, while dark and somewhat long, are not abundant or voluminous. Here is a before shot of me with no mascara. My lashes are curled though, I am jealous of girls who don't have to curl!

No mascara.....

In this next photo, I have mascara on my right eye, upper and lower lashes.

In the next two photos, I have mascara on both eyes. As you can see, I got a lot of length and volume!

I have experienced slight flaking with this mascara, but when I used an eye primer, either Benefit's Stay Don't Stray or Urban Decay's Primer Potion, the flaking was minimal.

I really like the results I got from this mascara. It retails for 6 bucks or so at major retailers.

http://www.maybelline.com/products/109

What are your favorite drugstore mascaras? Have you tried any of the Volum' Express line?

Back! With a (Scented) Vengeance

2011-04-09T22:07:00.000-07:00

It's been too long, friends.

I am diving back in.

To the world of blogging.

To the universe of fragrance.

I have always been a perfume junkie, but I fought it. I fought it hard. I fought it long.

It was a futile battle.

I lost. And perfume won. I will collect perfume, and wear it, until the day I die.

I got a new one yesterday. I am in love. I will wear it tomorrow.

Then I will add a new one, and wear that. Then add it to the rotation.

I will post a post about all my perfume, but tonight let me say...

POPPY!

But tonight, poppies will not put them to sleep!

Poppies will awaken them to...

new strength...

new confidence...

a new start.

Sweet.

I thought I couldn't wear jasmine.

WRONG.

Jasmine, rose, cucumber....hello happiness.

I am your new best friend!

Dove Damage Therapy Color Repair Shampoo and Conditioner

2010-09-27T08:06:00.000-07:00

By request! A review on budget-friendly hair care for colored hair.

As you have seen by now, I am a bit obsessed with hair care. I do not mind spending money on quality products. However, a friend pointed out that not everyone wants to shell out big bucks to have good hair. If that sounds like you, and you have color-treated hair, meet your new friends!

At under $5/each for a 12 0z bottle, this product is a steal. I have been using it for a week now and my hair looks great-healthy, shiny, but not weighed down. I have tried other drugstore brands and had poor results. Many will coat the hair follicles, making it hard to hold a style. This is especially true of those green bottles that start with a G, and the other well-known drugstore brand that starts with a P. I am sure you know what I am talking about. STAY AWAY!

I have also had Dove recommended to me by two wonderful hair stylists. They wouldn't go on the record, but one confessed she used this when she wanted her hair to smell good for her honey, and the other whispered that this is the only drugstore brand worth trying.

Dove claims this shampoo/conditioner combo is superior because they contain micro-moisture serum and fiber actives, which reportedly "penetrate to help reconstruct hair from within". Although I haven't tried any complicated hair styles since using these, my everyday blowout looks good and I am happy with the results. I do find I have to use a bit more of this product than salon brands, because salon brands tend to be more concentrated, but still, this is a bargain and I would recommend it to anyone with color-treated hair.

Have any of you used other Dove hair products and enjoyed them?

Bumble and bumble Mending Shampoo and Conditioner

2010-09-16T20:49:00.000-07:00

Inhale....ahh, bliss.

Shower happiness, thy name is Bumble and bumble Mending shampoo and conditioner.

IF, like me you regularly blow-dry, curl, flat-iron, or color your hair, it probably needs a little extra love.

IF you are not on a tight budget....splurge and try the newest from Bumble and bumble.

The shampoo is very concentrated and one only needs a little for rich lather that smells heavenly and doesn't strip the hair. The conditioner is not too slippery but nourishes. I like that I can use this and not weigh my hair down, while knowing I am getting enough conditioning for my stressed-out hair.

After using the Mending shampoo and conditioner, I still use my favorite post-shower maintenance products, Redken Anti-Snap and Moroccan Oil. Read more here:

http://dishfromtrish.blogspot.com/2010/04/shining-streaming-gleaming-flaxen-waxen.html

I am still loving my Moroccan Oil Shampoo and Conditioner, and alternately use Biolage Color care and Redken color products.

What shampoo and conditioners do you swear by?

Steak and Broccoli Stir-fry

2010-09-14T20:11:00.000-07:00

Another awesome recipe from Cook's Country!

I cooked this for my friend Shannon's visit last night. I wanted something I could do most of the prep for in the morning, and then just throw in the skillet when we returned from our zoo adventure. I liked it, but wasn't sure if she would be down for stir-fry. Guess what? She had seconds!

You can do all your veggie chopping in the morning, as well as cook your rice. Then, when you get home, it is just a matter of whisking up the sauce and cooking everything together. This dish is great for people who like the steaks and sauce of traditional stir-fry, but maybe not all the funkier vegetables. The first few ingredients are easy to find in the "ethnic" section of most major grocery stores.

Did you know....if you don't have a big enough non-stick skillet for stir-frying, you can use a bigger regular pot, just increase the oil by 1-2 more tablespoons to keep everything from sticking. Remember, get that oil really hot, it will make everything cook quickly and get a nice brown on the steak. Also, keeping the veggies cut into similar size pieces helps everything cook evenly.

Photo courtesy of everyday health, since I don't photograph food very well.

(also, my kitchen gets MESSY :)

Cook's Country Steak and Broccoli Stir-fry (serves 4)

Recipe courtesy of September 2010 issue

1/4 cup hoisin sauce

1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon Asian chili-garlic sauce

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 flank steak (about 1 1/2 pounds), sliced thin*

1 pound broccoli, florets cut into 1-inch pieces, stems peeled and cut into 1/4 inch rounds

2 carrots ( I used 3), peeled and cute into 1/4 inch rounds

1 green bell pepper, cut into 1/2 in chunks ( I added this, yay me)

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger (this is really important, use FRESH not dried)

1 tablespoon sesame seeds**

1. Cook your rice and toast your sesame seeds

2. Combine hoisin, water, soy and chili-garlic sauce in bowl; set aside. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Cook half of steak until browned, 1-2 minutes per side. Transfer to plate and repeat with additional 2 teaspoons oil and remaining steak.

3. Add remaining oil, broccoli STEMS and carrots to now-empty skillet and cook, COVERED until nearly tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in ginger and cook for 30 seconds. Add hoisin mixture, broccoli FLORETS and any accumulated beef juices and simmer until sauce is thickened and vegetables are tender, 3-5 minutes. Stir in beef and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve over rice.

* Slice the beef with the grain into three long strips, then cut each strip across the grain into 1/4 inch thick slices. For easiest slicing, freeze the steaks for 15 minutes beforehand.

** Toast the sesame seeds in a dry skillet for a few minutes over medium heat, shaking the pan frequently to prevent burning.

Quick Chicken Pad Thai

2010-09-13T07:35:00.000-07:00

The Dish from Trish can't be just make-up! I will keep including fun recipes as I experiment in the kitchen.

Lately, I have been loving the 30-Minute Supper recipes from Cook's Country. I would highly suggest getting a subscription if you love food but don't have a lot of time in the evenings. Given the choice, I would gladly spend an hour in the kitchen each night, because I love to cook, but that is just not realistic for me. Since I started using these recipes, I am still able to cook from a variety of cuisines and feel like I am eating healthfully and frugally!

This recipe is super easy since it uses an already cooked rotisserie chicken. If you keep some basics on hand, you just have to pop to the shop for chicken and cilantro, and maybe bean sprouts. Because asian food items are so readily available now, you shouldn't have any trouble finding ingredients.

You can enjoy a 14-day trial subscription by clicking here:

http://www.cookscountry.com/pwlogin.asp?did=4170&area=recipe&iseason=

Last night we had Quick Chicken Pad Thai.

For my kitchen novices--did you know you should read through a recipe a couple of times before you start cooking? I have found with these quick-cooking asian-inspired dishes, having all the ingredients measured and ready to go means I don't panic when I have a skillet full of hot oil! We are not all those show-off chefs at Big Bowl, ok?

Cook's Country Quick Chicken Pad Thai (serves 4)

Recipe available courtesy of May 2007 issue

8 ounces dried rice stick noodles, about 1/8 inch wide*

3/4 cup warm water

1/4 cup fish sauce**

1/4 cup juice from 2 limes

1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 rotisserie chicken, skin discarded, meat shredded into bite-sized pieces (about 3 cups)

4 garlic cloves, minced ( I used 6 cloves, Ialways add more garlic than is called for)

1/4 cup bean sprouts ( I omitted these, mine smelled funny!)

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 cup chopped scallions

1/4 cup chopped peanuts

lime wedges and additional cilantro, for garnish

1. Cover rice sticks with hot tap water (I just boiled water in my tea-kettle while I started shredding the chicken, I live with an Irishman so we use the tea kettle alot!) and soak until softened but not fully tender, about 20 minutes. Drain noodles. While noodles are soaking, whisk 3/4 cup warm water, fish sauce, lime juice and sugar in bowl until sugar is dissolved.

2. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over high heat until just smoking***. Add chicken and garlic and cook until lightly browned and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add noodles and fish sauce mixture and cook until noodles are coated with sauce, about 3 minutes ( I tossed the noodles with rubber-ended tongs). Scatter bean sprouts and cilantro over noodles and continue to cook, tossing constantly, until noodles are fully tender. Serve, topping with chopped scallions and peanuts if desired. I also garnished with additional cilantro and lime wedges.

*I used Golden Pak Rice Vermicelli

**I used Kikkoman Oyster Sauce

(You can also substitute 4 minced anchovy fillets in 1/4 cup soy sauce)

***This is CRUCIAL! Get that skillet hot so you can really brown the chicken!

Clean up is quick! Chopping board, some bowls, skillet....not too bad! And we ate all of it-no leftovers. This will definitely go into regular rotation!

Let me know what you think!

CoverGirl LashBlast and other drugstore mascara reviews

2010-09-08T20:29:00.000-07:00

Two confessions:

First, I am currently putting off making a video post until I fix my hair. Mama needs a touch-up!

Second, you DO NOT need to spend a ton of money to get a great mascara!

THERE---I SAID IT!

Videos will be made, hopefully soon, but this mascara review just could not wait. I do lurve high-quality make-up, and my collection proves I don't mind spending money on it, but seriously, you do not need to fork over big bucks for a great mascara. Keep reading and learn about my favorites as well as some to avoid!

CoverGirl Lash Blast

I have a crush on this mascara. It is perfect for everyday use. The brush allows you to build volume and length equally for beautiful lashes. As with all CoverGirl mascaras, this comes in a variety of colors. I like the Black. If you are very fair, opt for the Black/Brown.

My friend used the waterproof version on her wedding day, and it really lasted, without flaking or clumping. I am looking forward to trying the fusion option, with brighter colors and shimmer.

If you need a perfect mascara for daily use, check this out. It retails for around $7.

Maybelline The Falsies Volum Express Waterproof

Perhaps the most disappointing mascara I have ever used!

I wanted the look of false lashes. Somedays, I feel like I just want huge, long, gorgeous lashes, and I thought this would be the ticket. WRONG! Clumpy, clumpy, clumpy. Honey, if I can't make a mascara look good, it ain't good! The formula doesn't work for me, and I found the brush cumbersome. I cannot WAIT to throw this one away.

I have used the regular Volum Express and found it to be satisfactory. Not amazing, but ok.

Maybelline Great Lash BIG Mascara

Meh.

Maybelline Great Lash has long been a favorite of make-up artists, and the basic Great Lash is good. It's a classic. For $5, you simply can't go wrong. I don't love the BIG though. I think it is trying to be Benefit's BADgal Lash, but it's not as luxurious. I could survive with this mascara, but I am not in love. If you crave a really big brush and can splurge, go for the Benefit-it's the original, and retails for $19. If you want to stay under $5, go for the Maybelline, but don't say I didn't warn you.

CoverGirl LashBlast Length

Ok, I know I already said I love the regular CoverGirl LashBlast. But this mascara is SO GOOD! The nylon in the formula is what is credited for keeping it from flaking. I have found my lashes keep that soft, flexible look, so they appear real, not caked-on and gross. The skinny long brush distributes the product evenly along the entire length of each lash. You can layer this one on and not get clumps.

If you want to go for a bit more length, this is the mascara for you. I am using the Black, but think when I stock up, I am going to get the Very Black as well, for ultra-glam nights out. Retails for $7-8 bucks, and absolutely worth it. As with the other CoverGirls....if you are very fair opt for Black/Brown.

I hope you found this helpful! Let me know what you think!

New Make-up!

2010-09-02T13:35:00.000-07:00

I applied for my MAC Pro card last week! This is big news! It means I get to purchase MAC products at a discount....an advantage of being "in the field". I am so excited. I will get my card in a few weeks, but I did get to purchase items that day, with the discount. I exercised restraint, but did pick up a few brushes I have been coveting...

The 217 Blending Brush

The 168 Large Angled Contour Brush

And I am also now obsessed with the blush recommended by one of my favorite beauty bloggers, Amy, at http://www.makeupandbeauty.ie/

She recommended M.A.C.'s Springsheen, and I have been loving it this past month. I layer it over Benefit's Posietint, and am constantly asked what I am wearing on my cheeks. I love it because it looks good whether or not I have a tan.

I am still searching for the secret to taking better self-portraits so that I can share different looks with you. I don't know if it's my camera, the way I hold my giant head, or the fact that I have small eyes, but I never can take a good shot! So, until I figure that out.....here goes nothing!

Once I get the hang of better pictures, I start posting some how-to tutorials!

My other current favorite product is Benefit's Girl Meets Pearl! It came out last month and I am sooooo enjoying how it gives my skin a glow!!

It is a "liquid pearl for face", basically, a golden-pink highlighter that I have been using on cheekbones and cheeks, and down the center of the nose and a bit on the forehead. So pretty and girly!

I am just starting to get excited for fall make-up....a return to jewel tones and smooth, matte luminous skin. I will have to think up some fun new looks!

Boutique Wedding, Part Four!

2010-08-12T19:48:00.001-07:00

Welcome to the final chapter dear readers!

Sad, you say?

Well remember, this is only the final chapter of the first day!

There will be many more adventures to follow...

But without further ado, here are the last images from our wedding day....

Part One: Millennium Park

The weather was gorgeous. Perfect Chicago summer-breezy, hot in the sun, and cool in the shade. We made it to Millennium Park after leaving Daley Plaza. Our poor photographer, Tony, was probably realizing that P and I are not easy customers. He gamely hopped in the front seat of the cab we grabbed, turned his lens to us and proclaimed "Taxi smooches!" to which we said in unison, "NO!". He was so sweet and took it in stride! Tony, I promise next year we will be more cooperative! Looking back, I would love some shots of smooches in the cab!

We had already run into a friend (Sherm, the P.I) outside of the Cook County building, then had a judge who loved Galway, and then my namesake Patti (100% Irish, by the way) made it in time for the ceremony. The day already seemed charmed. But, then, just as we got to Millennium Park, we find another Irish friend, Catriona strolling through the park on her lunch!

P and one of his best buddies. My fondest memory of Jerry is the first time he was over when I cooked dinner for the two guys. I set their plates down, and Jerry says to P, "You keep her."

I wanted to include this picture because not only did my parents get us flowers for the day (we gave them a 5 day notice, and they got a lot done!!!) but, my mom had the ribbon from her wedding bouquet!

Family shot in front of the bean! And no, I was not a bridezilla who said we all had to wear our hair the same way. We just coincidentally opted for side ponytails! I love my family! Oh, PS, it took 10 shots to get this photo, since my Dad kept trying to be artsy with his cell phone and take pictures of Tony. "Photos of the photographer? Yeah? Yeah?", Dad, no! FOCUS!

P won over my parents my carving the Christmas ham, which wowed my Dad, and by drinking tea with my mom. We have been through a lot with them, but looking at pictures like this, everything has been worth it. I love the reflection in the bean, when you can see everyone's arms intertwined!

I don't even have words. I didn't think I could experience that level of joy.

This pictures sums it all up.

L-O-V-E

Ooh! This is when Robert showed up! Robert is super fun, also a carpenter like P and Jerry. He also is part owner of a very hip new restaurant, so my Dad loved talking business. And Jerry loved that my Dad looks like Dick Cheney, so it was a jolly afternoon. If you had asked me when I was a teen what the groomsmen in my wedding would look like, I might've given you a different answer. Now, I wouldn't have it any other way!

The Gage. Perfection.

Irish classics, five-star service, best Guinness in the city.

I love this picture, because Patrick and I are looking at each other, and my Dad is looking at me. Oh, and ANOTHER coincidence! The owner of the Gage, Billy Lawless, is also from Galway. His sister was supposed to come into my work for a spray tan that week. When I saw the Gage on caller ID, I chatted with her and made our reservation. Turns out, she knows Jerry from back home, so the restaurant bought us our first toast!

While we waited for the main course, my sisters wanted a photo shoot. I love this shot, so Sex and the City. They are so pretty and happy! (and I am talking, BIG SURPRISE!!!)

They are the best. What an honor to be their older sister!

After 2 more rounds of champagne toasts, thanks to my aunt and P's family, who called long-distance and arranged it, we had yet another surprise. I felt like my heart was already bursting!

We had finished dinner, and I was regretting I hadn't thought to order a cake. It seemed weird to end the evening by asking for the dessert menu. As I sat pondering this, the server emerged with a cake in her hands! I looked at my mom, started crying and said, "Ruth!". I knew it had to be my mom's friend who was so thoughtful, and it was!

P and I categorically HATE wedding cake, but this was AMAZING! The Gage pastry chef made it, and it was lemony and spongy and raspberry-ey and delicious. OH MY.

And then P asked for the dessert menu too!

This is so Peterson.

Thanks for sharing in the adventure of our day! If we had this much fun THIS time, can you even IMAGINE what next year will be like?

Boutique Wedding, Part Three!

2010-08-10T19:17:00.001-07:00

Hello Dear Readers!

Welcome to Chapter Three of the ever-engaging story of our downtown wedding day! I hope you are still enjoying hearing of our adventure. After all, this is only the beginning! So far, you have seen the pictures my sister took of the early part of the day, as well as the first batch of professional pics by our friend Tony. Hey, you can check out his website, in case you should ever be in need of a photographer!

http://www.kaleostudios.com/

So here goes Round Three, are you ready?

It took 2 days of research to figure out just where one should go with their beloved if they want to get married downtown. It was like finding a secret society! Marriage court is located in the underground "pedway" (aka pedestrian walkway) beneath the Daley Center. It is a Cook County building, so you get married by Cook County, not Illinois. Weird, huh? Betcha didn't know that!

Here you can see we made it to the building! We also just spotted our friend who is a Private Investigator! We thought someone was having us trailed, but Sherman just happened to be downtown that day!

My dad and his son-in-law to be do manly stuff before the ceremony. I had gone to find the bathroom (ON THE SIXTH FLOOR!) so I missed it when they called our name!!

When I got back, P said we had to wait until after lunch, since I missed it! I almost started crying since I didn't want to wait 4 hours and I could tell he was upset. Then my dad started cracking up and I knew he was joking. IRISH MEN! (Cook County, how about adding a few more restrooms to your municipal buildings, huh?)

P was having a bit of a hard time not having his family there. He wouldn't have admitted that, but I could tell. Then, we get into the room with the Hon. Judge Scully, who hears P's accent, and says, "Are you from the Old Country?" Turns out, he LOVES Galway, and has been to P's hometown many times! So then P got all choked up since he felt like he had someone there who know where his heartland is!

In this picture, please note, I am already beginning to realize the enormity of what we were doing. Up until then, we had been racing around, so it was kind of a blur. I am catching on here!

Now I can really see the tears in P's eyes as he says his vows, so I really start to lose it. However, I sealed the crap out of my eye make-up so it didn't budge. Yay, industry secrets! Seriously though, this is one of my fave pictures. (P.S.--things happened so quick, I didn't even hand off my bouquet!)

WE ARE MARRIED!

He was so relaxed once it was said and done, it was great. Now we could just enjoy the day!

My namesake raced over from her job at the Tribune, and made it just as we got in the room. I guess it was a good thing the bathroom was on the 6th floor. I got choked up as soon as I saw her. Love you Patty!

Have I mentioned how gorgeous my sisters are?

I can't believe we got to take wedding pictures at Daley Plaza by the Picasso! My Ferris Bueller Wedding Day....WOOT!

Daddy and his girls

P was glad to have his friend Jerry be able to join us for a little Irish flair.

Up next, shots from Millenium Park!

Engagement & Boutique Wedding, Part Two!

2010-08-06T20:37:00.000-07:00

We would now like to bring you a break from our professionally photographed program.

What follows are some shots captured by my amazing sister Chrissy on our wedding day, before our photographer Tony arrived. I am so grateful she captured some of these moments. My sisters were both so wonderful, and I can't wait for them to really get the chance to shine as bridesmaids next year!

Two nights before the wedding, they came down to visit me at work, and for Chrissy to get a brow wax. I then had them back over to the apartment, where we had a rehearsal dinner, at which I served Tombstone pizza and Any-tizers Chicken nuggets. Wow, what a gourmand. We also watched "Slumdog Millionaire". Certainly non-traditional, but very memorable! I love my sisters!

The morning of the wedding, they arrived bright and early (and hopped up on McDonald's) to help me finish getting ready. P and I had enjoyed breakfast together at Julius Meinl (where we had also celebrated getting engaged (the brunch mentioned in the "Knock it off--I have a ring---can we go have brunch" conversation). It was really special to start the day together before the whirlwind began. I think next year, I will wait to see him until the ceremony, but I liked that we did this together this time.

I am including these pictures for a few reasons.

1. If you are like me, you like seeing people's make-up collections and stuff.

2. Although I would like you all to think I look as amazing as I did in the professional shots all the time, the rehearsal dinner shots and everyday life testify otherwise, and it took make-up and lighting to look like that!

3. I always like seeing the getting ready shots of other peoples' weddings.

Alice is hiding in the back because her shirt wasn't on yet. Or as we would say in Peterson children parlance, "She is nakey back there!"

My hairstylist had given me a quick tutorial on the side pony, and it looked pretty good to begin with. More hairspray, and less messing with flowers would have helped. Again-professional hairdresser--a good thing. I do love my highlights from the fabulous Kassi though. The note on the mirror makes me smile, it is from Chrissy a few years ago and says "love you sistapretzel" which is nickname we came up with when I used to come home and visit during college. We would snuggle and make sister-pretzels. She is my buddy!

The girls were so cute. "Take the dress picture!"

After brunch I didn't let P see me until I was all ready-we are in the spare room/office/make-up explosion! However, given my profession, make-up now officially belongs in my office.

P does not give verbal compliments. While I will always long for them, he shows his love in myriad other ways. I used to ask him to try and do it more, but he is a quiet man who was raised by quiet people who do instead of say. Given a choice, I know it is better to have someone really love you, than to shower you with compliments, but a girl likes hearing it, ya know? Recently, I have taken to being his inner monologue, which cracks us both up. "I am so glad I got such a hot younger girlfriend, when I am such an old man" stuff like that. This is all a lot just to say that when I emerged from the spare room, he caught his breath and said....

"Mmm. Ya look good."

Epic, people. EPIC.

Then my parents arrived! They gave us beautiful Waterford crystal champagne glasses!

My aunt and uncle sent us a beautiful card and a bottle of Veuve Clicquot! My mom had thought to bring orange juice, so we had a mimosa toast before leaving. She also brought a gorgeous spread of homemade coffee cake, but P was so nervous that he just wanted to get downtown. Don't worry, though. The coffee cake did get eaten. By me.

My parents also got our flowers for the day. Some beautiful sweet peas and freesia, with the ribbon from my mom's wedding bouquet 30 years ago! The look on my dad's face just kills me!

Bouttiniere, the one word I really struggle to spell. And, as always, I let my mom pin it!

Oh my gosh, I think he is CUTE!

We are both saps. We choked up all day! My dad and I will be basket-cases next year, I am glad we had this day to see what it will be like. I have the same expression on my face I have in every Christmas morning picture since 1981.

Thus ends installment #2 of our awesome wedding adventure! Short break tomorrow, as we venture to the suburbs for someone else's wedding! I will be back as soon as possible, I know you can't wait to see more!

Engagement & Boutique Wedding, Part One!

2010-08-05T20:35:00.000-07:00

AND NOW....

The long-awaited, much-anticipated story of....

Our super-fast, take-'em by surprise, 2-week engagement and boutique wedding

EXTRAVAGANZA!!!

Starring:

Yours truly, Trish the Dish

AND

The not-so-Prince Charming P-funk!

As you can see by the looks on our faces, we were both pretty freakin' excited on the night we announced our engagement to my family. This picture was taken on Monday, June 14, 2010. Our engagement story actually begins a few days before that.

For those who know us well, this part of our story is non-traditional, and therefore not all that surprising. Instead of a down-on-one-knee, candlelight and roses type of deal, (which I could never imagine P-funk doing, and wasn't quite sure I wanted), P asked me to "consider" something. He then proceeded to map out his reasons for wanting a simple wedding now, and big party later. By asking me on a Friday, he was giving me the weekend to do the considering.

"Let's do it!", I said!

(Let's be honest, I have been "considering" for a while! I was ready!)

But he wanted me to think for a few days.

After the weekend, and many more discussions, some of which included such phrases as:

"I am not a Prince Charming! This is what I was worried about, since you were raised on Disney fairy tales!"

"I don't care if you're not Prince Charming, you're my dream come true!"

(Cue gag reflex, but we actually said those words)

ANYWAY, after the weekend, during which we had managed to sort out expectations/hopes/dreams, etc, and even more surprisingly, I had managed to KEEP MY MOUTH SHUT and not tell a single soul, we decided on Sunday morning that we would go and tell my family on that Monday.

But, WHY a quick wedding you ask?

In short-it is complicated when a citizen of one country marries a person from another country. To make that as simple as possible, we did a small wedding, faster than anyone expected. Now, because P's brother is getting married in February of next year, we can move forward with some things, let them have their special day, and throw a big 'ol blowout in the Fall of 2011.

Ok, but still, that was just a conversation! What about the ring? Well, that's what I thought too!

SO on Sunday morning, being convinced of the following:

1.) He must have a good reason for not having a ring

2.) I am a jerk for wanting a ring (for reasons such as, diamond controversy, outdated custom, selfish to need a big fat piece of jewelry, etc)

3.) I cannot tell my parents we are getting married without something to surprise them with...

I got all worked up and started crying, saying that whenever I see a girl's ring, I know that no matter what size it is, it was the best he could do, and he loved her enough to want to show the world, etc, etc, it was gross. "Don't I take care of you at Christmas?", he asked. "Don't I spoil you on your birthday?", 'Wouldn't your parents be more surprised if you DIDN'T have a ring", Yes, yes and NO!

Finally, he looked at me and said, "Knock it off. I HAVE a ring! I was picking it up while you were at work today, so I could surprise you when you came home! I put a rush on it, ok? Can we go have brunch now?".

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All I can say is, I would have loved it no matter what, because it came from him. It is the prettiest thing I have ever had, and I get choked up whenever I think about it. Let that be a lesson to me to just let him be him, and not feel the need to ask a million questions!!! I didn't want down on one knee, but I wish I knew what he would have done, if I had just let him do it!

So, as of June 13, we were engaged. Then, as we considered when we would actually get married, it became apparent that this is a busy summer for us! I realized I was off July 2, so we made sure my family was free, got our license (that is a separate post entirely!) and then BOOM!

WEDDING DAY!!!!

My parents hired a great photographer, (and friend of my sisters) to accompany us on our downtown wedding adventure. I love this shot of us crossing the street as we walked from our apartment to the train.

P: "Why didn't you make me get a haircut?"

Me: " I tried. 3 times."

I love the shots he captured on our journey. The lighting was perfect that day!

Never thought the underside of the Brown Line could feel romantic!

I know when we got married so quickly, there would be worry that it was a shotgun wedding. I AM NOT PREGNANT! Although, I admit, the pockets on the dress create a weird effect. Just want to be clear, folks!

My gorgeous sisters helped me get ready that morning, I will post those pics separately. So glad my family was there with us!

My dad looks like Dick Cheney.

My mom was so cute trying to get flowers in my hair. I learned a lot at my mini-wedding. Some of those learnings include having a professional do your hair, and using just a small flower. My hair flowers were bigger than P's bouttiniere!

My family made gourmet snack bags for Millenium Park! Monogram!

My dad and I consult the L map to decide which stop we need to exit.

Happiest day of my life!

More to come....

(Feedback: You want more detail? less snarkiness? Let me know!)

Too Hot in the Kitchen

2010-08-04T18:55:00.000-07:00

Meet my favorite summer dinner!

A new take on the caprese salad, this is delicious and unexpected.

Mango-Mozzarella Salad

1 ripe mango

1 bocconcini mozzarella ball

5 basil leaves (I chiffonade them)

extra virgin olive oil

white wine vinegar

Slice mango and mozzarella.

Chiffonade* the basil.

Sprinkle basil over salad.

Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar.

Finish with a dash of freshly cracked black pepper and a bit of sea salt.

So delicious and dinner is ready in 5 minutes!

I ate it tonight with crusty, sourdough bread.

Is anyone still wondering the easiest way to cut a mango?

*chiffonade: stack all your basil leaves, biggest on the bottom, roll them up tight. Slice your little bundle into 1/8"think sections. Now you have little ribbons of basil!

Update!

2010-07-31T19:54:00.001-07:00

A lot has happened in the last two months, and once again, I find myself apologizing for my absence from the blogosphere.

However, I got ENGAGED....

With the most gorgeous ring I have ever seen....

And then, two weeks later, I got MARRIED!!!!!

Tums.

2010-06-03T22:29:00.000-07:00

I can't sleep. I am such a whiner. My tooth hurts-it is likely fractured. Seriously!

Also, I don't think my dessert of pineapple agreed with me. So I am up, on the computer, eating tums.

I am going to do a post on perfumes next, I think. I also should use my food processor, as I actually had to DUST it yesterday. Oh, and I still haven't used my new mandolin. SAD--when the only cooking I have done lately is steak and asparagus. So maybe a perfume post, and then a new food post? I am nothing if not non sequitur.

Sorry for the pity party.

The Young Victoria

2010-05-21T21:15:00.000-07:00

Run to your nearest Redbox, get it in your Netflix, heck I am BUYING this movie after having seen it this week...

I was drawn to this movie having seen Sandy Powell take home the Oscar for Costume Design. Ms. Powell also designed costumes for Shakespeare In Love, The Departed, Gangs of New York, and countless others. She is phenomenal, as are the costumes in The Young Victoria.

But what a story! I knew little about Queen Victoria, Britain's (and the world's??) longest reigning sovereign. And very little has been discussed of her early years--this movie dives into her life just before she becomes queen, and then follows her journey falling in love and eventually marrying her cousin, Prince Albert. The marriage was arranged for political reasons, but no one knew that they would fall in love. The script is charming and engaging, and the acting top-notch. I loved Emily Blunt in the Devil Wears Prada, and she is altogether completely different and wholly delightful in this.

The Victoria portrayed in this movie is stoic, and wise beyond her years. I would love to read her diaries that have been preserved. This young woman stood up to false advisors and those that would have taken advantage of her, even her own mother. She made her own decisions, and owned up to the ones that proved to be bad choices. Her love story with Albert is inspiring and realistic, I was crying by the end!

Now, on a side note, having an Irish boyfriend, I am all too aware of the horrors that occurred in Ireland during Queen Victoria's reign, and they are atrocious. I make no excuses for the decisions she made. However, as a love story, and as a beautifully scripted, acted and designed movie, I highly recommend this one.

Watch it if you are a history buff, a fan of Victorian excesses, value witty writing or strong females, and if you want to fall in love with this young royal couple.

Scrub a dub dub...

2010-05-21T20:24:00.000-07:00

Ok, I am going to share my enthusiasm for another Benefit product. For those of you who like a really gritty exfoliator, this scrub is for you!!

"Honey, Snap Out of It" can be used as a scrub, or my favorite, as a mask. Benefit's website claims it is "An a.m. cleansing scrub that gently exfoliates and vacuum cleans your skin with soft almonds, natural honey and Vitamin E, leaving your skin simply sumptuous." I like the oat kernel protein that's in it, which I really feel helps pull gunk out of your pores. I apply a thin layer all over my face, let it dry for 10 minutes, and then SOFTLY massage it off with a warm, wet washcloth. I like to do this at night, and then apply my night time skin care...

This actually does what it claims to do! You use two drops over clean skin at night, and your face looks fresher and restored in the morning.

This is basically a combination of essential oils, is paraben free, and 99.8% natural ingredients. I also love that Kiehl's does a great job of using recycled materials, and collects their empty bottles from customers. They are one of the more eco-conscious beauty brands out there.

After the concentrate, I apply either my Neutrogena anti-wrinkle cream (see older post) or an acne treatment containing salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide. I am still searching for the best ones of these, but as a rule, favor Neutrogena. For drugstore products, they work well, and are affordable.

Don't forget eye cream!! What are you using? WAIT, you don't use one! You better start! It's never too early!

Thanks to TiffanyD, http://www.youtube.com/user/MakeupByTiffanyD I gave Garnier Skin Renew Anti-Fatigue Eye Cream a shot. I like it for morning, under make-up use.

At night I still like my Kiehl's Abbyssine Eye cream. It is more moisturizing.

I am looking for everyone's feedback on what they do when their skin gets hormonal, I still have one week a month where my skin doesn't behave!

Ooh, Morocco!

2010-05-11T21:17:00.000-07:00

So glorious. I am loving this shampoo right now!

And of course, the conditioner! Wow. My hair is so shiny and full! I am surprised at how it can have such healthy volume. I am trying to let it air dry a few more days a week, since I could see how the heat styling was starting to really wreck the ends. If you haven't tried Moroccan Oil products, they really are worth it.

I rotate these with Redken Color Extend products, and the Enjoy Sulfate-free Luxury line. Every once in a while, I will try a drugstore brand. Garnier was the most recent one, since I like the smell. I can't stand how they make my hair feel though! I know, I sound like such a snob. I have heard good things about the Dove color line, so that might be up next. Do you have a favorite shampoo/conditioner pairing?

Moving on from hair, new lip glosses from Benefit came out this week! I can't lie, one of my favorite perks is the freebies we get!

These glosses are far superior to our old ones. The colors are gorgeous! The texture is sheer with no gloppiness, and the smell is light watermelon. I think the brush applicator is better than the old sponge ones, too!

Even the colors that look neon go on the lips super sheer and flattering. I haven't blogged much about my new job, as I am not sure how much I can legally say! But I do like it, challenges and all, and will share more soon!

Return of the Dreams Posting, Pt. 1

2010-05-09T07:23:00.000-07:00

I am going to return to blogging about my dreams--at least the really weird detailed ones.

My dream last night wove together so many disparate elements. I will spare you the self-analysis, and leave you to try and determine why I would have these things floating around in my sub-conscious.

It all starts with the Cooneys. I have always been fascinated by the Cooney family. The Cooneys are my best childhood friend Ciara Forrest's maternal side of her huge Irish American family. By huge I mean that the Cooneys and the Forrests had 9 kids each, so holidays were ridiculous. I thought our parties were big but I envied hers. Because Ciara's mom is a Cooney, there were always cousins over and I met a lot of them throughout the years of our friendship, since many of them lived in and around Park Ridge, where we grew up.

In my dream, Grandma Cooney was coming to visit from Ireland (instead of her condo behind the Pickwick theater!) and I got the great idea of teaching all her grandkids to sing as a choir to welcome her. I made them all CDs to practice with, and led practices. Our repertoire was the gospel music from the a cappella album by Glad. We rehearsed a few times, but it was hard to teach harmony to squirmy kids.

Somehow, we wound up at a nursing home, having been scheduled to perform. The kids were freaking out because we had never managed to sing the songs from start to finish. While I tried to talk them through at least a few of the songs and figure out which ones we could perform, I found myself forgetting the words. Instead of the words I remembered, one song had turned into words from a Catholic prayer. All of these good Irish Catholic kids couldn't figure out how I didn't know the prayers they had memorized since birth. While I was about to give up, I realized one older cousin and I could carry the first song on our own as a duet, and let the younger kids join in on the chorus section. When I went to introduce us and explain our delay, I realized the old folks had long since lost interest.

They quickly perked up though, when a marching band trooped in to the tiny room! They proceeded to play a full football halftime show, complete with dancers swirling amongst the senior citizens, nurses, Cooney cousins and myself. Before I knew what was happening, my ex appeared as one of the dancers. She pretended not to know me, but then came over with a bunch of bottles of shampoo and lotion and said, if I had gotten them for her to try and make her not mad anymore, it didn't work! Luckily, none of the kids knew what was going on.

After the nursing home, we went back to Ciara's house. We ended up singing for her grandmother, with moderate success. One of her cousins had gone through puberty quickly, and developed a lovely baritone, so he soloed on a few numbers. It wasn't what I had hoped for, but we seemed to make the family happy.

I will have to continue this dream posting later, I must go get ready for work!

Shining, streaming, gleaming, flaxen waxen!

2010-04-20T19:52:00.000-07:00

Can anyone name the song I quoted in the title?

It's taken a long time, but I finally love my hair.

Those of you who have known me for years may remember some of the following:

The never-ending spiral perms of the late 80s
The ill-advised short-cut in 3rd grade
The worst hair cut of my life in '95 RIGHT before I started high school
The streaky highlights of early college years
The self-administered maroon hair that appeared every so often

Really, I should be posting pics with this! I will have to dig up some oldies and scan them

ANYWAY....this is all just to say that, while I have had some HORRIBLE hair in the past, I actually like my hair now, AND, I am often asked how I get it to stay so healthy. It's simple. I credit the following two products with allowing me to grow my hair out, color it, heat style it almost every day, and still look shiny and full.

Ladies (and some gentlemen) meet my dear friends:

I use a nickel-size amount of moroccan oil after every washing--I just rub it between my hands and pull it through my ends. AMAZING! This changed my life. It keeps your hair shiny and conditioned, but is not greasy. I really this this is what lets me heat style my hair so frequently, yet have minimal split ends.

My other fave:

I use 3 pumps of this after every shampoo as well--rubbing it between my palms and spreading it through my hair starting at the roots. This prevents that awful breaking off of hair that can occur when you wear frequent ponytails or pull your bangs back off your face. It also helps keep my color-treated hair stronger as the roots grow out.

For styling, I typically use Bumble and bumble products. I will do a separate post about those.

What are your hair care secrets?

2010-03-30T19:29:00.000-07:00

I am trying a new mask tonight! I have read about Queen Helene for years, but have never tried it. Maybe this will end my quest to banish blackheads. I will post my feedback!

While I let my mask work, I will be soaking in a new bathbomb from Lush! Have I mentioned my new obsession with this store and product line? My favorite bath bomb so far is Avobath

It is amazing and made my bath water so slippy and fun.

Tonight, I am diving into Big Blue!

2010-03-08T20:58:00.001-08:00

In addition to the eye cream I blogged about below, which I cannot recommend highly enough, I am also loving this:

It has taken years off my face! Now, to find the solution to the never-ending problem of blackheads. Any suggestions?

A Red Lipstick Day

2010-03-08T19:54:00.000-08:00

Today I did a Sandra Bullock inspired make-up look.

Sadly I did not take a picture.

Doesn't she look fabulous, though?

If I do the look tomorrow, I will grab a shot of it!

Did anyone else watch the Oscars? I wanted Meryl Streep to nab Best Actress, I LOVE "Julie and Julia", but now I am dying to see "The Blind Side."

What was the most unexpected moment of the show for you?

Motivation, one lipstick at a time

2010-03-05T11:48:00.000-08:00

Today is Day 5 without drinking soda. This is HUGE for me.

If I make it a full week, I get to go buy this!! This is the newest addition to MAC's Viva Glam line, the proceeds from which go to AIDS research. I just kinda wanna try a totally different kind of lipstick, and I do admit to liking Lady Gaga a bit!

I must admit I love the texture and smell MAC lipsticks. I am not saying that I will buy a new lipstick for every week I go without soda, but I am not saying I won't, either.

This will change your life...

2010-02-23T21:28:00.000-08:00

...if you wear eye make-up.

I am hooked on this eye make-up remover from Target! It is their store brand, Up & up, and it costs less than $5.00 Takes off all eye make-up, without tugging at the delicate skin in that area. Rinses easily with water, but really, you should be washing your whole face anyway.

After you wash your face (and stay tuned, I am searching for a good cleanser) this is great for the eye area:

Worth every penny! And you can get a HUGE sample just by asking!

I wish someone had made me start using an eye cream at age 20. Now I can only play catch-up.

Toxic sheet!

2010-02-23T19:22:00.000-08:00

Like that title?

I woke up with a screaming headache this morning, and I blame my sheets. It's a long story.

A few months ago, P-funk did some washing and when he came up with his dried load of clothes, he remarked that they smelled funny. UNDERSTATEMENT of the YEAR!!

The clothes didn't just smell, they were gag-inducing!! Someone else in the building apparently washed and dried their clothes which were soaked in lighter fluid or gas or something similar. Not only is this DANGEROUS, since they could have started a fire in the basement, that would have gone undetected until it started burning the other apartments, but HOW RUDE!!! We share those washers and dryers! P had to re-wash his clothes, which was a huge pain. Since it was already late, very cold, and we live on the third floor, he decided he wasn't in the mood to try again that night. If you didn't catch it, the laundry is in the basement,so, from the get-go, it is not a fun experience, and seeing as the smell was still in the machines, he waited to do his clothes.

What I didn't realize was that a set of sheets got laundered shortly after that. I don't know who did them, or why we didn't catch that the sheets didn't smell good. They got folded and tucked on a high shelf in the linen closet. Last night, I went to change the sheets and pulled down that set--I thought they smelled off, but realized I hadn't used that set in awhile, and attributed it to them just needing a good airing. I shook them out, made the bed, spritzed it with my lavender linen spray, turned on the fan, and thought nothing of it.

Two hours later, we collapsed into bed, and I noticed the "musty" smell was still apparent. At that point I was too tired to care.

UNTIL THIS MORNING.

I was thrust from dreaming at 5 am with a raging headache. This is the worst way to start a day--to enter consciousness in pain and crabby before I can realize what is happening. It usually happens with migraines but this didn't feel like a migraine. I took a sudafed, since I was congested, and blamed it on allergies. After an hour I took some ibuprofen, and was getting really frustrated since I was losing sleep before I had to get up for work. I was realizing the sheets smelled, STILL, but I was in a fog of pain and not making much sense, even in my own head.

By 7 I was pissed, and took a migraine pill. I told P I was miserable, and he woke up, and noticed the sheet stink right away. Our body heat overnight (and he is like a portable heater!) had only intensified the smell! ARGH!!

SO, I was up, and spent the rest of the morning trying to feel better. I had stupidly taken the pills on an empty stomach, so I was incredibly nauseous. I am really good at throwing pity parties, and I had a great one, trying to do Pilates, nibbling Digestive biscuits, taking a hot shower, and trying to look presentable for work. As that was happening, P was stripping the bed and muttering.

It is safe to say, I was the poster child for "hot mess" this morning.

Thankfully, my the time I got to work, my head had improved dramatically, thanks to fresh air and a little Mickey D's hash brown. I just had to fight the overwhelming lethargy that results from my migraine meds. This is the kind of day that makes me miss an office job, where I didn't have to look super cute and interact with people at the level I do now. I could've used a day sipping coffee and filling out spreadsheets. But knowing my luck, a day like today, in my past office life, would have involved client entertainment and brain-storming, and I would be no better off!

What a day. Can't wait for tomorrow, it is bound to be better!

Minestrone!

2010-02-22T18:11:00.000-08:00

I just made a pretty freakin' sweet soup!

I am not good at taking pictures of food, although I do try, so here is the photo of Better Minestrone from Cook's Illustrated!

P-Funk got a subscription to the amazing magazine from my parent's for his birthday. So far we have both enjoyed recipes from the issues! You can check out the recipe in the link below.

http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/article.asp?docid=21480

Today was my day off, and I had been planning on making this Minestrone for awhile. It was a grey, slushy day in Chicago, and this soup was the perfect antidote. (That and the airbrush tan I got today!) I think I could have soaked the beans for longer, although they did get about 18 hours in salted water, and when I simmered them tonight for an hour, I probably could have had the heat higher. I have to be honest, I love the trial and error aspect of cooking.

This week is going to be hectic at work, for a number of reasons I won't go into detail about here. I need to carve out time to write, and more importantly, to work out. I was supposed to go join the gym today. I have been saying that for months! At this point, I am the biggest obstacle to my own success. Hopefully acknowledging that will inspire me to shut up and just do something!

Well, here is to a mostly successful day off, and to finally getting back to blogging. Now, I just need to get back to Pilates and that good ol' treadmill.

2010-02-19T08:25:00.000-08:00

I miss this face.

2010-02-19T08:04:00.000-08:00

A customer "did my numbers" this week. As in, she asked me for my birthdate and then analyzed me using numerology. I had another customer tell me she uses color therapy to help people, and wanted to know my favorite colors so she could understand me. I categorically dismiss numerology, astrology, color analysis, etc., but what these ladies said did make me think. When I say I dismiss these things I mean, I believe it's dangerous to try and divine the future instead of trusting God, and it seems silly to say, well, I am a Pisces, so X-Y-Z, you get my drift. They make for interesting topics of conversation, sure, but I don't put any faith in them as truth. Everyone certainly seems to have an opinion though!

Color analysis:

*Big Surprise* the fact that I like being surrounded by soft green means I am family-oriented. Loving pink means I really, really love people. And, because I am drawn to purple, this would explain why I can't make my mind up about anything and rarely finish what I start. (Blogs, work-out schedules, home organization projects.) Having burnt orange walls means I like to be around people but don't like to be the center of attention. HA! Wrong!!

Numbers:

I am told I am a 5-which means there will never be enough time in my life for me to accomplish everything I want. Did I mention I started a Gaelic course, while trying to brush up my German, while wanting to simultaneously take a Hip-Hop class and start guitar lessons? And read more, and blog more, and create make-up tutorials, and I have baby fever, and I sing in choir when I can, etc., etc., you catch my drift.

Also, I apparently started on a course of life in 2004 which I am finishing now, so this year is a time of sorting stuff out for me. That scared the crap out of me, because that is true. But don't we start out on new courses every year? I feel like I am always sorting stuff out.

What do you all think? Do you buy any of that, for yourselves? Or do you at least find it curious?

Oh, and I really will try to post more....

kisses....

Blerg.

2010-01-09T21:29:00.000-08:00

I have never been good at New Year's Resolutions. This year I decided I wouldn't make any. But I do want to blog, at least once a week!

If there is one thing I would like to work on this year, it would be more DOING and less TALKING about doing.

I should start here....and blog about some of the many topics I actually enjoy, primarily food, and make-up...(you didn't think I was going to turn this into a fitness blog, did you?) but it's late, and I am lazy.

So, friends, I will say in hopeful January 9th fashion...new blog begins tomorrow. And just to give myself something to write about, I make my first "official" entry of the new year about Thai Style Shrimp and Veggies. And maybe eyeliner.

So there. See you tomorrow.

Back with a Vengeance....soon!

2009-08-28T20:02:00.000-07:00

So I have been absent from the blogosphere for quite a while now...the whole summer in fact. And part of the reason is because I sensed that this blog was getting to be one big whine fest. Fun sometimes, but not always. I am toying with the idea of turning into a more food-focused site, since it seemed to be leaning in that direction anyway, and a lot of areas in my life involve food. I am still thinking about what direction I want to take this in, but shouldn't write much more, since tonight I have mostly made friends with the above concoction....it's an intoxicating blend of rosemary simple syrup, fresh-squeezed lemon juice and vodka. I've been singing it's praises since my friend Gretchen introduced me to it in Minneapolis.

Disney Didn't See This Coming

2009-06-18T18:31:00.000-07:00

Wow, I wish I had thought of this.

http://joannagoddard.blogspot.com/2009/06/fallen-princesses.html

What do you think? And where's Ariel?!

I like baby animals

2009-06-11T14:25:00.000-07:00

This blog just about makes me pee.

http://fuckyoupenguin.blogspot.com/2009/06/desperate-otters-turn-to-cute-based.html

I wish someone would get me a baby otter.
I could use a snuggle.

Skinny Cow

2009-06-08T19:26:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a long power walk with my "running buddy" M. We always mean to run, but find that impedes our catching-up, so usually we just briskly walk. It's gotta be better than sitting on the couch watching TV, and we purposely chose to go during "Jon and Kate Plus 8" because we feel guilty that we care so much about them. So, while it's good that I am doing something physical, it's still not enough, because I talk all the time about getting in shape. And, when I came home, even though we'd walked for about an hour and twenty minutes, I am sure it didn't help that I walked right to the fridge and ate a Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich. They are delicious, at only 140 calories, and I find it ironic that the name sums up how I feel about myself. Sometimes I feel skinny, and sometimes I feel like a cow.
Skinny: When I fit into a smaller size shorts at Ann Taylor loft, prompting me to buy shorts for the first time in years. I wear shorts to work out, but not when I am trying to look cute.
Cow: Eating an ice cream sandwich in running clothes.
Skinny: Not eating tortilla chips with my mostly-veggie taco salad for dinner.
Cow: Eating tortilla chips later with the rest of the homemade salsa.

I hate to be a whiny bitch and do the typical girl thing and complain about my weight. I guess I am thinking if I have to confess cow moments I will be less likely to have them.

Ok, I am over it. There are bigger issues in the world and in my life.

Mo000-ving on!

I Hate High Schoolers

2009-06-02T19:20:00.000-07:00

I was going to try to not make this blog a continuous bitch fest about that which irks me. I had started another blog for that purpose, which many of you knew about. I shut that one down for a few reasons.

1. It was not anonymous. To be as bitchy and politically incorrect as I want to be, because I think that's funnier and I KNOW it's more honest, I really shouldn't use my real name. Or post pictures of myself, for that matter.

2. My boss saw the URL. Not good. Some days he loves to bitch about customers and life in the restaurant world, and other days he doesn't. SO.

3. I felt like I apologized too much. For people who know me, I would like to think I am mostly positive, a people-person, and generally happy. And I do really like being a waitress for many reasons, only one of which is that I get to make people happy, with food. BUT. There are also a ton of things that drive me UP THE WALL, and yet on the other blog I felt like to bitch about stuff, I had to always explain that I am not really a bitch, and justify myself.

4. I am going to start a new, anonymous blog, where I really will just be a bitch. You readers will have a few choices. You can read this blog, with pictures of food and my mom, OR, you can just read the whiny, bitchy one, OR you can follow both. The blogs will both be honest, but probably not well-rounded.

For now, let me just say that today, I HATE HIGH SCHOOLERS.

It was a rough day anyway, for reasons better described on the bitchy, no-holds blog soon to come. However, just when I thought the day was over, my shift was winding down, and I had less than an hour until I was relieved by the evening staffers....a group of 6 high school boys walked in.

Without even waiting for an indication of where they would be seated, they barreled ahead towards the back of the restaurant. I created a table for them, by pushing two together, while they discussed whether or not they would actually be eating. Obviously, this is just what a server wants to hear. The fact that the restaurant is across from a university means I am accustomed to broke college students trying to make a cup of coffee last 3 hours-which is quite a feat even for a "bottomless" cup. And that's if they even order a beverage! Mostly, we get music students who drink only water and share a cinnamon roll 5-ways. Ah, bitter party of one, your table is ready!

But I digress.

I asked how many of the boys would be eating, and it sounded like they all said they would be, so I brought 6 menues and 6 ice waters to their table. Of course, no one ordered any additional beverages. I told them about our soup of the day, and the quiche selection (knowing there was a 1/1000 chance any of them would order quiche) and left them to consider the menu. After five minutes, I checked back with them. I guessed they probably weren't ready, but since, A: They were my only table, B: they had ceased to discuss food and were talking about kids at school, and C: I was trying not to jump to conclusions that they would be typical high schoolers. (Typical high schoolers= bags of douche.) Also, D: the lunch menu only has about 8 items on it, so I never understand how it can take people so long to make up their mind.

They were not ready.

I continued with my side work, readying the restaurant for dinner service, and listened as little as possible to their inane conversation. Just as I delicately placed a bread plate down at a table in the front, one of the boys jumped up and gestured towards the window, where some ofhis school peers were passing by the restaurant, "There goes the Asian invasion!," he shouted. "What dorks!!" I found this funny because this boy, along with 4 of the other 5 at his table, was actually Asian himself.

I waited another 5-1o minutes, wishing all the while they had opted to go down the street and eat at McDonald's, Jimmy John's or Subway. When it seemed that they had finally made up their minds, I approached their table. They had decided on four cheeseburgers (although none had paused to read the 4 cheese options listed on the menu, one of my top 5 menu-related pet peeves) and one reuben. If you are counting, that means one of them chose not to eat. Two had their cheeseburgers well done, so that means I had to listen to their conversation for another 20 minutes before I could deliver their food and they mostly shut-up to eat.

Their bill came to $47.33. They took 10 minutes to get their money in order, by which time the evening servers had arrived. I approached their table once more, and asked if they needed me to make any change. The kid holding the many said No, they were all set.

I took the money back to the wait station, and looked at the money in my hands. One tweny dollar bill, and 3 ten dollar bills.
$50.00

Did I mention I re-filled their waters SEVEN times?

I looked at my co-workers, who had just arrived and were tying on their aprons, and L. said, "Yeah, well I am not surprised. I waited on them last week and they requested separate checks, all paid their money, and then left leaving me nothing." Then E. said, "Ooh, go give them the change then!" (FYI: This is a waitress thing. A lot of times, stingy people will say, "Oh keep the change," leaving you an un-imaginably bad tip. One way a server can let them know that is unacceptable is to bring the money back, implying that the person is better off keeping their piddly amount of money.) To which L. replied, "Oh, no screw that. Don't you dare give them that back. You are lucky to get the two bucks!"

We all shook our heads in disbelief, and then I went out to finish a bit of stocking. When I returned 3 minutes later, I could see through the kitchen window that the table of boys had left. I was almost sure they had behaved as they had the week before and not left me any additional money, just like they had stiffed L. when she waited on them. When I came out of the kitchen, I saw that the boy who had handed me the $50 was still standing in the restaurant, facing the server station.

"Can I help you?", I asked him.

"Oh, I just need to get my change," he said.

I almost didn't know what to say.

"You told me you didn't need any," I reminded him.

"Oh" he said. ( Real bright, this one.)

"Did you guys leave a separate tip on the table?" I asked pointedly.

"Um, no", he admitted. "So do you wanna just keep that, then?"

"No." I said. "What I want is for you guys to leave a tip."
I was so angry I could barely count out the change.
"I don't want the change left over, that you didn't even think you needed."

"Yeah, you know, I'm sorry," he said. " We all just had finals, biology and stuff, so, we're like, pretty fried."

"Yeah, well you know," I said, "this really isn't ok. It's pretty standard to leave a minimum of 15% percent when you go out to eat, so if you guys are eating all over Chicagoland, you really need to keep that in mind. Here's your change."

"Thanks," he replied, and left the restaurant.

L. and E. and I looked at each other, no one knowing quite what to say.

I am glad I said what I did. I usually am not that assertive. I just couldn't believe they would come to a restaurant and stiff a server TWICE! If they don't have 10 bucks to spend on lunch, there are the 3 cheaper, fast-food options I mentioned above. So, what gives?

Like I said, I usually don't stick up for myself like that, but I hope if they come back, I remember how mad they made me today, and that I stop them at the door and tell them if they want to sit, and have me wait on them, and fill their water glasses SEVEN times, they can tip me, at least 15%, or they can leave. And I hope I am the biggest bitch they have ever met.

As mentioned before, it wasn't a good day before that happened. So, when I came home, I engaged in the cheapest form of therapy I know---chopping vegetables. This is what I made:

Ooh...Peach and Pepper Salsa!

Of course, it also had tomatoes, jalapeno, lime juice, onions and cilantro (sorry, Kelly).

That and 3 Pacificos and I almost forgot how much

I HATE HIGH SCHOOLERS.

Mother's Day

2009-05-26T11:37:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since my last post, I am sorry! While I should do a good catch-up on what's been going on, instead I am just going to post some pics from our Mother's Day dinner out at my folks.

Check out that Fattoush salad! It's always fun to introduce your parents to new dishes, like this one I copied from our favorite Meditteranean place!

Mother's Day is the busiest day of the year for most restaurants, so I was grateful that I was able to finish work early enough to go and celebrate with my Mom. P-funk helped by chopping all the veggies for our veggie kebabs while I worked, and then we drove out to the burbs and my Dad and I finished cooking. YUM!

We rounded out the menu with salmon, two different kinds of potato salad, and grilled steaks. Definitely worth the drive!

My dad is a goofball, obviously!

My mom also loved her tickets to Ravinia!

These Dreams, take 3

2009-04-21T15:44:00.001-07:00

Just before I really hit a deep sleep last night, i was jolted awake when I dreamt that a high-rise along I-94 tumbled over onto the expressway as I headed north to the mall. I awoke with my heart pounding so hard I had to get up and go sit on the couch with P-funk and drink chamomile tea. Then I slept like shit and woke up this morning having dreamt the following.

Dream conversation:

P: "Did you stuff your bra with cotton balls?"

Me: "So what if I did?"

P: Please don't. When you do, it's less fun to grab you. And I like to see your nips."

WTF!!!!!

Please please just let me have a normal night's sleep tonight. This is bullshit!

Always Be My Baby

2009-04-11T15:59:00.000-07:00

I used to baby-sit a little girl named Siobhan.

Cool name, cooler kid. It's pronounced Sha-vonn and is cool, cuz it's Gaelic, right? I met her parents at Tre K, we, the waitresses, noticed the family because the dad is H-O-T-T. And he was Irish, with the accent. (This was pre-P-funk, ok?) He used to come in with his new baby, and he could eat with one arm while holding her in the other. At the time we thought it was super cute, and we didn't really worry that the mom was rarely with them.

A few months went by, and they would also come in for breakfast as a family, so I got to know the couple. They had just started their own business, and eventually needed someone to hang out with Siobhan, when she hit the 6-month mark. At the time, I was back to living in the city(after The Worst Summer of My Life), and was spending 2 days a week baby-sitting another little half-Irish guy on Tuesdays and Thursdays, while waitressing about 5 nights a week. So I started spending Monday, Wednesday and Friday with this little red-haired peanut.

We became buddies. She was a big fan of my lunch-time dance parties, watching me whirling around to Indigo Girls and U2 while she ate Cheerios in her high-chair. We read lots of books and played with blocks and one of her first words was "Cilla-bear!" which she would exclaim when she saw my puppy. A year flew by, and we became an integral part of each other's lives....I got close to her parents, and when I started dating P-Funk it was great to have another Irish-American couple to hang out with. Remind me later to tell the story of the Most Hedonistic Night of My Life, which took place at their house. I used to have Siobhan sleep-over at our place so that her mom and dad could have date night, and I would stand her on a chair and she would help me make pizzas, and then we would have a "shnuggle" and watch Monster's Inc. or the Lion King or the Little Mermaid. When her hair got longer she would love when we would both have ponytails, and sometimes even P-Funk would let her play with his hair too.

I started watching Siobhan right when I realized all the talk about biological clocks suddenly "ticking" was true. And being with her helped me prolong my urge to have kids, and keep taking those little pills to make sure a baby doesn't arrive until both P-Funk and I are ready for one. But then, her mom and I had a fight. It didn't start as a big deal, and the warning signs of her mother's mental illness were not subtle.

Oh, did I mention that the summer after The Worst Summer of My Life, when I started my event career by working for The Biggest Bitch in the World, Siobhan's mom went into rehab for alcohol abuse? A month-long hiatus from her baby's life, with the hopes that she could work through some of her issues. Her husband forced her to go after coming back from work one morning when things didn't seem right, and found his wife passed out and the baby wandering around in a dirty diaper.

So every morning for a month, I would drive to Siobhan's house, her dad would leave for work, and I would feed her, clothe her, and drive her 30 minutes to her aunt's house in the suburbs, then drive back to work for The Bitch. Then at night, I would drive back to her aunt's, pick her up, and drive her back home. Two hours a day in the car, because I LOVED THIS KID. We made it through the month, and it looked like things might get better for this family that I had become so entangled with, but this story doesn't have a happy ending.

It's been 2 years now, since I abruptly stopped spending time with all of them. The mom got mad at me, after I opted to sleep after a busy day at the restaurant, and she thought I was going out drinking with her. I didn't have the energy to argue, and suddenly, we just weren't talking.

I used to cry when I thought about Siobhan. You don't go from cleaning up a kid's barf and spending tons of time with them, to 100% withdrawal and feel ok about it. And I knew her mom would not be ok in the long run. They avoided the restaurant for a while, and I got a better job eventually out in the western suburbs. I heard thru the Irish grapevine that they were divorcing, and then former co-workers told me they had ventured back to the restaurant a few times. Siobhan had gotten tall and very talkative. That was a few months ago.

Siobhan and her dad came in to Tre K yesterday. I had to keep stopping myself from staring at her. I begged the other waitress to take their table because I couldn't handle it. She was exactly like I had imagined she would be. She still loves bacon and cheese, as I heard her telling her dad (another one of the many things I dug about that kid) and she's beautiful and chatty and sweet. She looked at me and I smiled, and neither of us looked away for a while. Her parent's divorce is almost final, and she seems not-too-scarred by the many things she's already been through in 4 years of life. I can only hope that she's got more of her dad's Irish-country-person-common sense, and that she is able to side-step some of her mom's issues. And I can pretend that somewhere in her little heart she can remember how much fun it was to dance on the table so she could be as tall as me as we twirled around the dining room.

For your prayer list

2009-03-26T18:45:00.001-07:00

Please check this out and pray....Barbara used to work at Tre Kronor and I just waited on her dad, Dwight, and family last week! I don't know her family well, but my thoughts and prayers are with them!

Paddy's Day-longest post EVER

2009-03-22T16:29:00.001-07:00

I have been HORRIBLE about posting lately...I just got lazy. I blame P-Funk, who has been on "Spring Break", and takes relaxing seriously. I never met anyone who could do NOTHING all day and not feel guilty. Good for him. I have to remind myself that he has a physical job and works really hard, and deserves a break. At the same time, I am jealous. It's hard to work all day and come home, and then find that he has just watched TV. But maybe that's my own problem, because I have never been good at just relaxing. I realize that we do kind of balance each other out usually, and these two weeks are an exception to the norm. So, enough of the bitching.

We had a really fun St. Patrick's Day celebration that lasted a few days. On Thursday I drove to Elgin and had a card-making workshop with my buddy Vanessa. She designed the sweetest cards for me, and it was great to catch up with her. Check out her other projects here:

http://www.hotandbutteredcorn.blogspot.com/

On Friday, we drove to Cary for big dinner at my parents. We picked up soda bread from a little Irish bakery in Barrington on our way, and I showed my mom how to make cabbage like P-Funk's mom does...it's so much better! (If you're interested, I will share the Galway secret!) My mom really outdid herself with the table settings and food, and we had a great night. My sisters Chrissy and Alice and their boyfriends were there, along with Chrissy's roommate and her boyfriend. After dinner, we played a rousing game of boys v. girls Catchphrase that got pretty heated! A few years ago, I would never have thought we could have that much fun as a family. (My brother was working, which may explain how relaxed we all were....sad but true!) I wish I had taken pics, but I forgot my camera!

On Saturday, we took the El downtown and met one of my best pals, Ed. He had taken the metra in from Kenosha. I really wanted to witness the Chicago River being dyed green, as is Chicago tradition, we made it to the river just as the boat was dropping the orange powder into the river. The powder, on contact with the water, creates the bright green color for the holiday, as opposed to the normal greenish color of pollution!

Afterward, I suggested we have lunch at The Gage, which is a gorgeous Irish restaurant overlooking Millenium Park, but P-funk feared it would be too insane. So we decided to check out the parade and then grab lunch at a non-Irish establishment later. As we headed down towards the parade, we passed The Gage, and P-funk said, "Hey it looks pretty good in there!" We waited 2 hours for a table but it was worth it.

We passed the time with pints of Guinness--they pull some of the best pints in city!!!

When we were finally seated, the boys opted for Colcannon, a classic Irish dish of potatoes and leeks, topped with smoky, juicy pork. It. was. amazing. My burger was good, but not as awe inspiring.

Then we each had desserts too! Decadence! It was great to be at a restaurant that wasn't catering to the lowest common denominator on a holiday that is usually an excuse to half-ass everything.

The Gage is not cheap, but the service is phenomenal. The owner, Billy Lawless, is from the West of Ireland, like P-Funk, and he and his father also own the Irish Oak in Wrigleyville. They are definitely among the "Who's Who" of Irish in Chicago. When we went back there on Tuesday (Hey, I said we were living it up!) we were told by some connected friends that William Sr. was in Washington, D.C. with Mayor Daley and Obama for St. Patrick's Day! The father/ son duo used to own the Grafton, in Lincoln Square, too (where we went for our third date!), but when they sold it, it went to shit. I would totally recommend it if you have out of town guests you want to impress, or if you are looking for an exciting option downtown.

Back to my holiday with my two favorite men, Ed wanted to be touristy and go see the Bean, actually I always want to see it too! So we tooled around on our way ... please observe my 2009 t-shirt, which I got from a General Mills vintage t-shirt offer. (My vintage-y box of Lucky Charms was part of my Valentine's day gift!)

We tried to rendezvous with some old friends at the Emerald Loop, but the timing just didn't work, so we hopped back on the El to go to our local, the Atlantic. It was a much rougher crowd than at the Gage, and we (food snobs that we are) were disappointed that the beer was being served in plastic cups. Ed and P-Funk remarked that if either of them were single, they wouldn't have stayed 5 minutes, since there were no other cute women! The guys had some beers, I had some coke, and they ate again (obviously, riding the El created an appetite?) and we moved along. Sadly, we missed our chance to get an authentic SHRIT.

From the Atlantic, we walked a few blocks southwest to Paddy O'Splaines, because I know a bartender there. It was not the best choice for the end of the day, but with company like I had, I couldn't complain. The boys wanted to eat again, and having skipped the second meal, I was ready for more food, too. We got a mediocre pizza, and were harassed by really bad Italian musicians. We put Ed on the 9:00 metra and and dragged ourselves home...what a fun day!

There are more pics from our downtown adventures on my facebook page, if you're interested.

On Tuesday, the actual St. Patrick's day, I worked at Tre Kronor, and we had a blast. I put a bunch of Irish cds on my ipod, and once lunch started, pretty much played U2 as loud as I could get away with. I wore my 2008 shirt "IRISH: Irish you were rich, Irish you were cute, Irish you were smart" and lent Angelica my Lucky Charms one...the other waittress wore green too, and we all had green ribbons in our ponytails. The Mexican chef who makes the best Swedish pancakes in the city cranked out corned beef and cabbage all day and the weather was better than amazing! Sunshine and 70s all day!

That night, our friend Joanne (I have to blog more about her soon) took us downtown for the 10th annual Siamsa na nGael (Sheeemsa na gale) put on by St. Pat's church at Symphony Center. OH MY WORD IT WAS SO GOOD THIS YEAR!!!

The Siamsa na nGael is a celebration of Celtic arts, featuring a symphony, choir, vocal soloists, Irish musicians, spoken stories, and dancers. This year the theme was "Stories of Hope" sounds corny, but it worked. You can read more here: http://www.cso.org/main.taf?p=3,11,6,1&EventID=2611

First of all, i don't care if it's dorky, I love Irish dancers.

Second of all, the French horns were amazing. French horns make me cry, and DAMMIT! I should have bought a horn when I graduated from H.S.

Third, during the second act, a stage right door opened, and this little peanut of a 7 year old came out on stage in a little green dress and patent leather Mary Janes, and in the most gorgeous 7-year old alto voice, soloed on a song called "Joy We Will Call Thee" and I cried. Ok, I know she had a microphone, but her voice rang out through a 90-person choir, huge symphony and frickin Aeolian pipes! She was unbelievable! And her name is Kate Wild. I hope she becomes famous.

We had drinks at the Gage beforehand with some Irish friends, and dinner there afterwards with Joanne. It was a wonderful week, and now I am headed up to the Osthof in Wisconsin for a girlie sleepover with my mom, Chrissy and some family friends. Pics soon!

The Lit List

2009-03-10T21:54:00.000-07:00

I am not even going to take credit for this, I completely stole it off Ann-Marie's blog but I hope she won't mind! !

On her blog, she quoted her "Fellow blogger and friend Lara posted recently about recent news that the BBC alleges only 6% of adult Americans have read the books on the list below.

Since I am wide awake at midnight wishing I had some new reading material in my hands, I think it is a great time to reminisce what books I have already journeyed through. I was, in fact, an English Lit. major, and probably haven't even read all the ones that I should have!

The books I've read are bolded, all-time favorites in large font, and ones i want to read italicized. Teeny tiny ones I actually never care if I ever read! Ha ha!
1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2. The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4. Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6. The Bible (never all the way through)
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8. 1984 - George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11. Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy (saw the movie, too sad for me!)
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare (seriously, most of them)
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18. Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
19. The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33. Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis
34. Emma - Jane Austen
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen
36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
(Um . . . This is part of the Chronicles of Narnia . . .)
37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40. Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne
41. Animal Farm - George Orwell
42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46. Anne of Green Gables - L.M. Montgomery
47. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48. The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50. Atonement - Ian McEwan
51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52. Dune - Frank Herbert
53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens (loved, loved this freshman year of h.s.)
58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley (loved, loved this senior year of h.s.)
59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon
60. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez ( i always thought I'd read this, but now I'm not sure. Will do)
61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65. The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66. On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68. Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72. Dracula - Bram Stoker
73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75. Ulysses - James Joyce
76. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78. Germinal - Emile Zola
79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80. Possession - A.S. Byatt
81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87. Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint
93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94. Watership Down - Richard Adams
95. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
My total: 38.

What about you? I'm excited to read some more and up my number.
Speaking of reading, did anyone else ever watch "Reading Rainbow" on PBS with Lavar Burton, prior to his stint as Geordi LeForge on Star Trek: Next Generation? I still hum that theme song! (Reading Rainbow, not Star Trek, although.....)

Auf Wiedersehen

2009-03-10T16:05:00.000-07:00

I have been brushing up my German lately, meaning I spent one hour on Sunday with my new computer course I borrowed from a friend. The only thing that has stuck in my head is "Tasse und Untertasse" which means cup and saucer. I will keep practicing. I also have arranged for a conversation buddy. Once I am a little more proficient, I will have coffee dates with the music professor who frequents Tre K, and he will get me back to being conversant.

In that spirit, here is what we are having for dinner tonight--Thuringer! I went to the darling deli up the street and got a bunch of sausages which P-funk is going to grill with peppers, and which will then be devoured with mustard and beer! Das schmekt gut!

So, for any of you German speakers, want to help? Send me a message or leave a comment auf Deutsch. I would love the practice! And while it's easy to make German sausage at home, and somewhat do-able to re-learn German, I will leave you with the best German export there is....

...with the understanding that to acheive this level of gemutlichkeit (and by that I mean freakin' hotness) I should probably consume less sausage and beer and make more like Hans and Franz. Ach! Bis morgen!

Far East Friday

2009-03-08T08:32:00.000-07:00

My favorite foodie blogger took off to the Big Apple this weekend (hope you're having fun M!) leaving me without updates and pics of things which make me drool.

In her absence, I will post a pic of something I whipped up for dinner this past weekend. It's one of my favorite Rachael Ray creations--Thai-style Shrimp and Veggies with Toasted Coconut Rice. As with most of her recipes, I added more veggies and garlic, and it turned out so good. We enjoyed the dish with large glasses of Sapporo, and watched Lawrence of Arabia, for a mish-mosh of Eastern culture all in one night.

KH, be warned, that is CILANTRO that you see (but it's one of my favorites!). I know a lot of real foodies don't care for Miss Rachael, but I find a good handful of her recipes to be great jumping-off points that let me explore different cuisines, why, she helped me make my first curry. So I love her, even if her show is now far too full of arugula and paninis.

These dreams, take 2!!!

2009-03-05T15:52:00.000-08:00

If I keep having these f-ed up dreams I've been having (and let's blame the Thera-Flu, so I won't feel so crazy) I am gonna write a book. I can't believe how vivid they are. And P-Funk loves to hear about them while he's having his morning shower. They are made all the more non-sensical because I am usually relating them while brushing my teeth. SO, last night's dream went a lil' somethin' like theeees....

Begin dream sequence...
I am broke (ok, this is a reality, actually) but in my dreams I now spending most of my evenings at this dive bar, that's tricked out like a tiki hut, and the bartender is a character actor whose name i don't know but you'd probably recognize him. He plays a cop in a lot of movies, most notably, "The Fugitive" OH! and he's a dirty cop in "The Dark Knight". Anyway, he asks me if I want to start doing some exotic dancing to earn more money. I SAY YES, even though
1.) I have enough body issues for a whole sorority
2.) I've never done it before
3.) It's not a strip club
4.) The clientele is mostly old couples
And
5.) I fear I have no sexy moves

The day comes when I will start my dancing, and instead of being in stripper clothes, I am in tight jeans and high-top Reeboks with double laces, just like the kind I always wanted IN THE THIRD GRADE. When it's my turn to dance, I am inside this tiki hut thing, not elevated or on a stage or anything, and I feel like the mood is all wrong because I have to start my dance by taking off the damn high-top Reeboks and tight jeans!! Not sexy! Especially because I have those marks that not-so-skinny people get on their stomachs when their pants are too tight. To make things worse, the music is not loud at all, so I can hear all the old ladies talking to each other because I am offending them by stripping off my clothes in what was, seconds before, a somewhat respectable Hawaiian-themed bar.

Once my pants are off, I realize I am wearing neon-green boy short-underwear, which I have been informed (in real life) doesn't do me any favors. I wonder why I chose these particular underwear when I knew I would be dancing, but it's too late to do anything at this point. So, although I have not made any money so far, and have only succeeded in grossing-out a crowd of pina colada-drinking grandmas, I take my bra off, just to find I myself now have droopy grandma boobs! They hang so low that I have to hold onto them, thus severely limiting my dancing capabilities.

When my set was over, I had made no money, I gathered up my stuff and found out I had lost my apartment and had to start sleeping and living in my car! The only good news was, it was my old car, which was a bomb-ass Dodge Dynasty with a delightfully comfy backseat, instead of my current Saturn, which has a backseat so uncomfortable I highly doubt I could pass out in it even if very, very drunk.

I woke up right when I was getting busted in my dream for having "relations" in the car with P-funk while parked in a gas-station parking lot. I mean, it was broad day light, but a girl's got needs, right?

End dream sequence

Let's just say, I am going to try and sleep without any medication this evening.

Once you go black....

2009-02-24T09:36:00.000-08:00

I went to a bachelorette party a few weeks ago....

Seriously!!!????!!!!!

I think I ate part of a butt cheek. Wow.

Kitchen fun with Schmoops

2009-02-24T09:19:00.001-08:00

When I was out visiting the folks recently, my dad and I created this lovely appetizer on the left. It is a mozzarella cheese roll, stuffed with homemade pesto and roasted red bell peppers.

Here's the man himself---and the main reason why I love cooking so much. This was just a little snack for the traditional Tuesday night viewing of "American Idol" with their neighbor. Most people would just heat up a pizza, but not this guy---what a Dad.

Thanks to the Club being closed for much of February, we had a lovely selection of wines to imbibe while we criticized wardrobes and song choices. And since I was staying over, I tried all of them. Mmm....

I wear my sunglasses at night

2009-02-24T09:12:00.000-08:00

He said, "Do you want to go shopping and get new sunglasses?

I said, "I am too broke for new sunglasses."

And then he said, "Do you WANT to go shopping for new sunglasses?"

We've both needed sunglasses for awhile, so we went. And now, thanks to the man who is not a sugar daddy but who does occasionally spoil me rotten, I have these. I am hot at 10:00 am, oh yeah....check out the polka dots on the bathrobe.

Sweet dreams are NOT made of this!

2009-02-19T05:28:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning from a horrible dream.

I had been trapped at a luxury resort with hundreds of bitchy, beautiful women. And, while I had fabulous shoes (which I am very good at running in, thankyouverymuch) and cute dresses (which is not the case in real life) all the ladies were really mean to me. I think it was because I hadn't shaved and had a bad manicure. I got in a fight with a Playboy bunny, and was told I might not be able to go the bridal shower everyone else got to go to.

Paging Dr. Freud!

I blame the stupid "Real Housewives of New York" and "Orange County" commercials that play incessantly during "Top Chef" and the fact that I saw a girl I know who IS a Playboy bunny on "Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations". Maybe I should just stop watching Bravo before bed.

Bravo however, doesn't explain why the night before I had a dream in which Patrick kept refusing sexual favors, and a giant alligator swam through the living room window, tried to eat my dog, while my mom screamed, "This has Bennigan's written all over it!"

Workouts start again this morning. I don't think my dreams were so f-ed up when I was doing kick-boxing.

2009-02-04T12:55:00.001-08:00

Helloooooo fabulous!

Maybe purchasing these hot mamas was not a wise economical decision for me at this time.

HOWEVER---they are really helping me look forward to spring!

And they feel gooooood!

2009-01-30T14:26:00.000-08:00

Dear 6-year old Tricia,

You might not grow up to become She-Ra.

You may, however, have:

Kick-ass boots

Great hair

Awesome hot friends

You might not acquire the following:

Sword skills

Really long legs

Arch-nemesis

Try not to be disappointed.

Deadline: Accomplished

2009-01-25T12:33:00.000-08:00

This is a good start.

I'd like to dedicate my first post to the irresistable Dave Hahn. He makes me want to write. Actually, in this case, he flat out makes me write. I had to have this blog up and running before E.O.D. Monday or face consequences. Thanks, Dave. In his honor, I'd like to share a list of reasons why he is so awesome.

1. No matter the geographical distance between us, or the amount of time between visits, we can pick right up where we left off. I have known him since middle school, and plan on being friends for life. Just thinking of Dave puts a big 'ole smile on my face.

2. He follows his dreams. He might tell you he's still figuring out what those are, but he's moving forward and serving as an example for the rest of us.

3. He wrote a bomb ass paper in 10th grade English about the archetypes present in Star Wars.

4. His hands look like they were meant to play the piano. One could argue they look that way because he does play the piano, but I think he's just fulfilling his destiny. And I love to listen to him play.

5. He's smitten with his girl and not afraid to show it. Guys in deep smit aren't always great at showing it, but Dave does a good job. I still remember his texts from when he was falling for her. Classic.

6. Dave gives the best backrubs. Period. I have not experienced one in the last ten years, but he's ruined me for life.

7. He's a great writer. He does many things well, so it doesn't seem fair that he should write well too. But he does. Check out his blog for musicians: www.musicianwages.com

8. He kicked cancer's ass!

9. He's thoughtful. I still have the card he wrote me when we graduated high school. He has helped me believe in myself.

10. He makes bald look good.