Lessons for Miami Me

I figured I'd follow up my Lessons for Little Me post with a Lessons for Miami Me post.  Enjoy!

Try New Food

This picky eater is trying to be more adventurous.  Eat the duck tongue.  Eat the oysters and clams.  Try dim sum.  Try Peruvian food.  Dining with friends is fun.  Dining with J is a great experience to talk.   I have found a lot of new cuisines that I like and restaurants that I will miss.  I'm looking forward to exploring the dining scene in Seattle now.

Tapas.  Yum.

Travel

It's a cliche, but it's true: it's not about the destination, it's about the journey.  Some of my best memories are about what happened on the way to a end-point and who I was with (reading silly billboards in GA with Miss E comes to mind immediately).  San Fransisco was a cool place, but going there with our friend and meeting up with J's brother enhanced the trip for me.  France is beautiful but my friends also made it fun.  Eat the local food, sleep on the floor if you have to, but just GO.

France is Fun-iculaire with friends.  Inside joke.

Learn Constantly

I've taken a writing class and numerous crafting classes.   I've also learned from people around me: how to crochet, how to work smarter and not harder, how to live and work in Miami...  I'm really passionate about being a life-long learner. 

I've learned how to do things that I never thought I could do...

Read, Always

I've had my nose in a book since I was a wee little thing, but my reading went to the next level while living in Miami.  I joined a book club and read books that I normally would not have picked up and in the process my world expanded even more.

Reading with wine is even better!

Be Brave

Yes, I am afraid of murky water.  Yes, I think about crocodiles grabbing me, but if I have to swim through murky water to pet a baby manatee and if I get to see that manatee roll over on it's belly because it likes being pet then I will just have to be brave.  When we went on that trip I was literally saying "Be Brave, Becca" over and over in my mind while snorkeling.  I'd never gone snorkeling before and that in and of itself was a challenge that I overcame.  I've had to be brave while driving and while working with some difficult individuals.  Be brave and you'll be fine most of the time.

This is not the murky water!  This was from the same trip, though.

Be Assertive, Ask Questions

I've had to stand up for myself, my husband, and my pets in situations that I might have usually shirked away from.  It can be difficult doing that in a city with a different culture than the one I grew up in.  I've been confused in some situations and I've had to ask questions.  I'm actually a fairly shy person (unless I'm one-on-one) but in the last three years I've had to learn how to navigate some challenging situations and keep some conversations afloat (to avoid that potentially awkward silence).

Becca and Grumpy Cat both hate awkward silences.

I'm sure there is more, like: How to do Your Laundry and Dodge Little Lizards and That was a Miami-Left Turn... but that's it for now.

Things I'll Miss and Things I Won't...

We have been in Miami now since August 2010.  We're leaving at the end of June 2013.  We're just two months shy of three years.  Don't worry, I'm not wishing to spend any additional time here!  The impending departure has both J and I waxing poetic on some things... and saying, "Oh my God, I won't miss this!" on other things.  So, I thought I'd do a quick catalog of what I will miss and what I won't miss.

I'll Will Miss You...

• No snow.  I hated getting up early to brush my car off.  I hated driving in snow.  I had a couple of close calls thanks to a car that lacks ABS breaks.  I didn't like driving in fog, either.  
• MY CAR! We're not taking it with us to Seattle.  I'm really mourning this loss.  To me a car represents freedom.  And I own it fair and square.  It is mine, and soon it won't be.  I have to learn stick-shift in order to be able to drive in Seattle because J's car is manual.  I hate riding the bus (I get terrible car sickness and the smell of buses makes me woozy) but I'm going to have to take it in to campus for work three days a week, so I'll have to get used to it.
•  Free time.  I won't have time to tinker or read when I'm struggling to keep up in school work.  I did a good job of making the most of my free time in Miami.  I read oodles and oodles.  I also volunteered almost three hours every week.  I'll be happy to get some time to watch my favorite shows when I'm not doing school work, work work, or sight seeing!
• Craft Night.  I enjoyed having people to craft with.  We didn't do it every week, but we did it fairly regularly and I liked feeling like a part of a family, even if it was for two hours on a Tuesday.  Crafting, for me, is enhanced by chatting while my hands are working.
• Living 7 blocks from the library.  In Miami I learned how to request books and I utilized the service to the fullest.  It saved me a lot of money to borrow books.  Reading copious amounts helped ease my loneliness here.  In the last year and a half, I've kept myself so busy with reading and volunteering that I don't feel lonely anymore.
• Living in Coral Gables.  It really is "City Beautiful."  The trees are gorgeous and I felt at ease living under their green canopy.  I don't know that I'll ever get to live in such a tree-filled neighborhood again.  The buildings are gorgeous and I'll miss gawking at them too.
• Bougainvilleas.  Always colorful, no matter the time of the year.  Seeing as I don't plan on living in such a hot, humid place again, I will really miss them.
• My 2 bedroom apartment.  We're downsizing and yet our fur-family grew.  While we strove to be minimalists, we still acquired stuff.  We're selling as much as possible, but sometimes I feel bogged down.  Where will this junk go in our new place?  This was also our first place as a married couple.  We made it home and all of the furniture matched and was new (thanks to wedding money and the reasonably priced IKEA). 
• Croquetas.  It took me awhile to fall in love with them, but now I look forward to mornings when I have time to stop by Bustelo or even Publix for the $0.69 breakfast treats.  
• LAN Pan Asian Cafe.  J and I go here on the regular and we've taken several people to it.  Yummy Asian Nachos.  Yummier sushi platters.  Great service.  Reasonable portions for a reasonable price.  It started to feel like "our place."
• FIU Friends/Family.  The ladies in my office feel like my family away from MKE.  I've celebrated holidays and birthdays with them.  They've been there for me and laughed with me.  We've disagreed and we've made up.  They made me feel welcome in this hard city.  I'll miss some of the students I work with, too.  They were the closest to me, age-wise, so I always enjoyed chatting with a few of them.  I'll also miss some of the teachers.  Many of them did things to make us feel appreciated.  Many of them made me laugh.  I learned a lot during my two years in the real-world working.

Goodbye and Good Riddance to...

• Rude Peeps.  This city is known for being really rude.  I'm not going to miss all of those people that acted like butt-munches.
• Healthcare.  J and I received some really horrible service regarding healthcare down here (both of us, multiple times each).  My dogs get better care from our vet than we got from some doctors.  I do have two good specialists I see, but it took me a long while to find one of them.
• Identity Theft.  South Florida is notorious for it and between J and I we've had our Credit Card/Debit Card information stolen/compromised five times.  So frustrating.  I hate the bozos who do that kind of stuff.
• Dumb Drivers.  Okay, we don't have the worst traffic in the country, but I think we have some of the cruddiest drivers.  They pull fast and dangerous moves.  They are always on their phones or having animated discussions with others in the car.  I see a fender bender (or more than one) almost every day!  ..and I only drive to work and back and while keeping errands to a minimum.  The month I worked that terrible job in Fort Lauderdale frayed my nerves with the commute alone.
• The Heat (temperature, not the basketball team... but I could care less about them too.) Oh. My. Word.  I am a sweaty individual.  My dad and brothers have the gene too.  But I'm a girl.  I'm not supposed to be this disheveled looking!  I avoided the outdoors so much that I'm really pale now.  The lightest colored Too Faced BB Cream is called Snow Glow and it is too dark for my pasty skin.  But I don't worry too much because it doesn't stay on me long since I'M SO DAMN SWEATY ALL THE TIME.  Ugh.  
• Mold/Mildew.  It's humid and we live in an old apartment with cruddy A/Cs and no fan in our bathroom.  A neat-freak like me finds this to be a nightmare.  I know Seattle will have it's fair share of mold/mildew (everything is covered in moss there), but we're moving into a newer place that will have fans and less build up gunk.
• DUST.  A/Cs seem to kick up a lot of dust.  My work desk is dusty and my house is dustier.  I now know that I cannot own dark furniture without going crazy.  It shows every speck of dust and cat hair.  We eventually shaved Tashi to cut down on her tufts of hair flying around and because she is hot too- she's sitting in front of the A/C as it is on full-blast as I type this.  In our next place I am planning on lighter furniture.  Hopefully there will be less dust.
• Lizards.  They're fast and they make me nervous.  But their not fast enough that I don't see their little corpses once in awhile.  It totally skeeves me out when they get in the apartment.  Give me spiders and snakes any day.  Yuck.  Enough said.
• Six months of summer.  I could file this away with The Heat, but I miss the change of the seasons.  Right, I know I said I don't miss snow.  But I miss colorful Fall and pretty Spring.  
• Lack of Comfort Food Restaurants.  There will be too many of these in Seattle.  I'm going to have to practice self-discipline.
• Lack of Quality Craft Supply Stores.  But, I won't have time for this stuff in Seattle, so, oh well.
• Crummy Target Stores.  I don't know how corporate Target doesn't shut these locations down and start again from scratch, but I certainly hope Target is better in Seattle.  
• Crummy Shopping, in general.  I have the damnedest time finding clothing that I like down here.  Here's to hoping I won't struggle as much in Seattle.  Also, shopping is the Miami past time, so no matter when you go you can count on the malls/stores being frustratingly full and you might have to pay for parking just to buy your junk.

So, there you go.  Things I'll Miss and Things I Won't... I'm sure I'll have more to add as the next month and couple of days progress, but that's how I feel for now.  :)

Big Update: Past, Present, and Future

I would first like to start the post by saying that on April 8th we went to the vet with Trini and unfortunately we came home without her.  Even typing this is very hard for me.  She would have been 19 in July/August.  She's been with me longer than my youngest brother.  Life has seen us through many changes, many different locations, many different relationships, and our personalities have grown and shifted.  She wasn't the easiest cat to love, but I loved her with my whole heart and it broke my heart and I sobbed whenever I had to clean her in her last few days.  All I ever want is to be the best guardian and life-steward I could possibly be to the creatures in my care.  I am a profoundly in love with my pets, even when they make little messes or misbehave.  I know, with confidence, they love me right back.  I've tried my very best to move on and pretend as if everything has been fine, but it has been on my mind constantly.  I consider myself a very lucky person that I've only encountered death a few brief times in my life and it naturally brings up questions and concerns.  J has been a huge support for me in those moments of weakness when I felt I was failing or when I was frustrated with the situation.  I called my parents frequently to give them updates because even though they don't particularly like cats, Trini was a big part of their lives too.  All that mattered to me in those last few days was that I was doing everything I could.  I won't lie, it was very exhausting.  When we took her in, someone in the waiting room said something about how she looked "icky" and any other day I might have walked up to that privileged woman to give her a piece of my mind regarding my life companion but in that moment I could have cared less about others.  It was about me and Trini.  It was hard.  I cried a lot and in front of everyone.  Thinking about it right now makes me teary, so I will wrap this bit up.  All I know is that when I came home, J and I sat on the couch for a long time with the rest of our girls.  Tashi, our 10 year old cat, gave me a lot of attention and I gave her a lot of care, too.  She seemed to understand.  In a very un-Tashi like event, she sat on my chest, maintained eye contact for a long time and then just licked my face a couple of times.  She's mourning in her own way.  Every day is a little better for her.  Every day is a little better for me.  As long as I have my loves, I'll be okay.  Thanks to everyone for thinking about us.  We appreciate it.

Love you, Trini.

~~~

In what was probably good timing, I left to visit my friend E in Galveston, Texas two days after we said goodbye to Trini.  E helped us move down to Miami and set up our apartment back in August 2010.  She really eased my transition from having my wedding to moving two days later.  J had to start school the day after we arrived in Miami and I was unemployed in a jumbled apartment in a brand new city.  She had moved to Galveston with her boyfriend from Madison and I was excited to be her first visitor.  I flew in on a Wednesday and had until Sunday to hang out and explore some of Houston and Galveston.  Here is my trip in some pictures. 

On Wednesday we took it easy.  Houston to Galveston is a bit of a hike and traffic is -dare I say it- worse than Miami.  The drivers aren't as bad as Miami drivers, but there are just more people on the road, so there are bound to be loads of accidents.  We went grocery shopping and made tacos for dinner and planned two crafts we wanted to tackle.  On Thursday we headed back into Houston.  First we stopped at a mall because I had my Sephora VIB coupon for me and a friend (15% off -what a deal!) and then we went to the National Museum of Funeral History and the Cullen Sculpture Garden.  I thought the museum would be a fun, unique Houston attraction and I wasn't disappointed.  It was in a residential area and it was virtually empty, but for $10 it was a nice way to spend a couple of hours.  It was also massive at 30,500 square feed.  That is a lot of history. 

E and I decided to do a quiz.  If you got 90% right you got 20% off an item at the gift shop.  I thought I could bring something funny home for J.  Well, let me tell you- that answer sheet was locked up so tight!  E and I diligently answered the quiz and the cashier pulled the money out of the till, set it right in front of me so that she could "grade" us, and then she proceeded to take HALF points off for things like, "Name an animal represented as a fantasy casket"  I wrote, "Chicken/Rooster."  The answer was "MOTHER HEN."  She offered to call management to see if I could get a full point but we politely told her that it wasn't necessary and laughed our butts off all the way to the car.  It was especially funny because there was a book on Abraham Lincoln's assassination as a part of an exhibit that was labeled as "top secret" but we felt that the answer key to the silly quiz was more guarded.  Still, we learned some really interesting things.  I'll enlighten you with just a smattering of what I learned!

This is a glass casket.  They stopped making these because when they were lowered into the ground the lids would often crack.  It was one of my favorite caskets there because it was so unique and oddly pretty.  Glad it's not see-through, though.

This is a casket for three.  It was a sad story of a couple who lost their young child to an illness.  They commissioned this casket because they were planning a murder-suicide and they wanted to be buried with their child.  They had a change of heart and they moved cities, but they were still charged for this expensive piece.  I've never seen anything like it.

The museum had an exhibit on celebrities and I wasn't that interested in it, but I was really intrigued to learn about Mr. Meinhardt Frank Raabe.  He was a little person and a Wisconsin native.  He was cast as the Coroner in the movie The Wizard of Oz.  E and I couldn't remember a Coroner, but sure enough, he's in it, he sings a couple of lines about how the first witch is really, truly dead.  He graduated from UW-Madison (Go Badgers!) with an M.B.A. and he came up with the idea for the Weinermobile, something near and dear to any Wisconsin-ites heart.

Unlike the first glass casket, this glass casket really creeped met out.

The museum had a couple of international exhibits.  They had a full-sized replica of King Tut's sarcophagus.  This mummy cracked me up, though.  Mostly because, wouldn't it look like a person while it was being embalmed, not like a movie mummy?  I had E take my picture by it, but I looked no better than the mummy, so I deleted it.

They had a lot of stuff on the first embalming techniques.  The "Father of American Embalming" is Dr. Thomas Holmes.  Interestingly enough, I saw a table just like this on Oddities, a show I watch that is on the Science Channel.

I call this picture, "Look out, Abuelita!"  Death is knocking on Abuela's door.  What a creepy exhibit.  This is part of their Dia de los Muertos Exhibit.  It had a little girl in it too, but honestly, she gave me more heebie jeebies than Skeletor over there.

E and I took a ton more photos, but these are just a few.  They had a lot, a lot of hearses and carriages and caskets.  They had an exhibit on presidential funerals, military funerals, Victorian funerals, and oddly enough, an exhibit on "Celebrating the Lives and Deaths of the Popes."  That last one was a huge exhibit.  As neither E nor I were raised as Catholics we didn't understand a lot of the customs or the pomp and circumstance but it was interesting to walk through, nonetheless.  And I got to see the actual Popemobile used by Pope John Paul the II.  It was a 1982 Range Rover, in case you were wondering. 

After that we headed to the Houston Museum District to stop and enjoy the Cullen Sculpture Garden.  It was free.  A lot of the sculptures of people were nekky.  A lot of the sculptures were really modern.  I mistook a jaintor's cart for a sculpture at one point.  I can't take me anywhere.  Then we went to lunch at a really cute place called Barnaby's Cafe.  It is a dog-themed restaurant with ethical food (I think if we had ate more in Houston, there would have been more restaurants like this to choose from).  And then we headed back to Galveston to try to beat traffic and we stayed up past our bed-times chatting and crafting.

One of the many sculptures.  I liked this one because it had a lot of optical illusions (water, reflections, glass).

See? Nekky.  I liked this one, too.  He's missing his ten gallon hat, though.

The rest of the trip was pretty relaxed.  We stayed close to Galveston.  E showed me the numerous antique and thrift shops and The Strand (it was odd, a bit like a shopping street in Universal Studios).  Galveston has an interesting composition.  It reminds me a little of the Keys.  We did a little shopping at Hobby Lobby and Goodwill and the mall.  It is nice to go shopping with a fellow female once in awhile.  J and I are very purposeful shoppers and we have a nice shopping groove, but it is fun to take your time once in awhile and window-shop for the hell of it.  E drove me, yes, drove me to the beach.  It was so weird to see cars and trucks driving along the water.  We went to a couple of neat restaurants (The Spot, Jimmy's on the Pier, Farley Girls). 

It was interesting to note how different the ocean is on the east coast, the west coast, and the Gulf coast.  I found black sea shells for J.  I guess the water is brackish.  I like the color of the Miami ocean but the look and feel of the Oregon coast.  In some places you can see the oil rigs.

An entire serving of raw oysters all for me because no one else likes them?  Oh what a shame.  Who am I kidding, I wasn't going to share with anyone anyhow! :)  How I eat these disgusting things, I will never know, but I love them.  From The Spot.

Okay, so my excuses for this meal at Farley Girls was 1) it's Texas and food there is ostentatious and 2) it was technically National Grilled Cheese Day.  I'll have you know I ate with a knife and fork, barely touched the fries, didn't finish the burger, and the grilled cheese was my favorite bit.  I felt actually pretty bad after eating this meal.  (My tummy wasn't exactly thrilled with my either, J and I eat relatively clean back in Miami.)  But, you go to Texas and eat no meat.  You can't.  Even their salads are chicken salad, tuna salad, bacon and blue cheese salad.  No wonder people are unhealthy there.  I'm no skinny minny, but it was really eye opening to see all of the food, the size of the portions, and the types of food.  Off the bucket list...

Shrimp po'boy from Jimmy's on the Pier.  I liked the tots.  I couldn't finish everything you see here because we also had an appetizer of tots.  J informs me that this is not a real po'boy.  I'll have to try a NOLA one.

It was really nice to see E and visit with a friend.  If you'd like to read her account of events, please check out her blog at:

http://theodoregriffithandco.wordpress.com/

~~~

Now, to address the future.  As you all know, J and I have been taking steps toward moving out of Miami and continuing the adventure of our lives.  I've worked hard at my position as a secretary, but I've always wanted something more for myself.  I really have a passion for learning and I've wanted to go back to school for quite sometime.  (In the future I hope to have Ph.D. after my name!)  I have been attending information sessions and writing away for informational packets for the last two and a half years.  (I've even started a career binder that was thoroughly labeled and color coded.)  There are many things I think that I could be successful at and many things I like to do, but I spent a long time considering what would bring my passion and talent together.  I applied to two schools and J applied to three schools for Ph.D. programs in his field.  We got into all of the schools we applied to and it came down to a long discussion about where to live and how to pay for it.  That discussion was answered when I was offered a position as a Graduate Assistant that would cover a large portion of my tuition in addition to providing me with a stipend.  So... here is the big news... (it's already dropped via Facebook and family, so it's probably not news to most of you, but I haven't said anything yet on the blog...)

J and I will be moving to Seattle, Washington.  As I mentioned, he'll be continuing his studies in Atmospheric and Oceanic Studies and working towards his Ph.D.  I'll be working towards my Master's Degree in Library and Information Sciences.  I'm combining my love of reading, organization (see example of career binder above), information, and learning into a career that is expanding beyond the traditional stereotype of a librarian.  I'll be working with technology, assisting professors with their websites and I'll be taking most of my classes online, but I'll be taking some on campus and I'll be working on campus.  While I am in school, I hope to get some writing done, unlike now, when I come home exhausted from my 9-5 and volunteering.  There are opportunities for me to work with world-class faculty and to study abroad.  UW-Seattle is the ranked the third highest in Library and Information Sciences in the country and I couldn't be more thrilled.  I was very, very bummed to turn down and opportunity to return to UW-Madison, but we feel like this is the best move for the both of us.  We'll be leaving Miami at the end of June (spending a month in Wisconsin before we head out west in August), there is an end in sight for this Midwesterner!  Now we'll just become Pacific-Northwesterners.  Very busy, very tired, very hard working Pacific-Northwesterners. 

Blogs and Websites I Love

I probably spend too much time on the internet.  I'd like to think I mitigate that by reading way more books that the average American reads and by spending my time creating things (writing, crafts, art...).  I had the unique experience of growing up at the same time the internet was growing.  It is an amazing tool (and an amazing time suck).  I can see things through my computer that I may never get to see in my life.  I can learn about people I would never have met due to distance constraints.  I can learn about any topic I want with the click of a few keys.  Living with the internet is a balance, though.  For every amazing nature photo I gape at I need to make time for the real world outside.  For every person's blog I read I need to connect with a real person in my life.  When I choose to spend time on the internet, I try to spend the most amount of time on sites I either admire or sites that make my life easier.

***

A Beautiful Mess
http://abeautifulmess.typepad.com/

This is an insanely popular blog.  If I could do a fraction of what these sisters do, I'd be over the moon.  They craft, cook, create, and cultivate really beautiful lives.  It has been said that we should hang around with people who lift us up rather than tear us down.  In high school and college I sought friends who made me smile, but also ones that made me want to meet their work ethics.  I didn't hang around with lazy people in the School of Education.  They threatened to pull me down with them.  These sisters are my online version of my School of Ed friends.  They accomplish so much and do so beautifully.  They appreciate the little things in life while tackling big, fun projects.  I may not have the same aesthic for clothes, crafts, and decor that they do, but I admire them nonetheless.

Enjoy It
http://eliseblaha.typepad.com/golden/

This woman is another powerhouse.  How do these people do all they do?  They should bottle their energy and sell it!  Elise writes about her life in a frank manner while maintaining a positive outlook.  Seeing as she is married to a man in the military, this can be hard.  She has great tips and tricks to share regarding running a popular blog and starting her own business (A Beautiful Mess does this too).  She takes stunning photos that chronicle her life in California.  I read about her struggles to maintain friendships after a cross country move and it inspired me to write my Midwestern Girl's Guide to Moving post. 

North Carolina Charm
http://northcarolinacharm.blogspot.com/

Here is another blogger I wish I could be like.  She brings a Southern Charm to the internet.  Her home decor, recipes, and party planning are all super cute.  She makes me want to bring out my inner Martha Stewart.  Like the first two bloggers, she brings positivity to the internet.  None of these ladies lament.  I do because it is in my nature, but I always try to make my frustrating posts funny.  She has some really good tricks and tips for making life at home a little easier. 

Wordsmithonia
http://wordsmithonia.blogspot.com/

I don't even know HOW I stumbled across this blog.  I do know it was when I first moved to Miami.  I really admire this blogger for having a full time job (unlike some bloggers who blog full time) while posting frequently.  He gives thoughtful, concise book reviews.  I've read one or two of his suggestions.  He really likes older titles and mystery books.  I haven't read Agatha Christie since high school, but I still appreciate his well thought out reviews on her work.  I think that it is really cool that he reads books that might be a little older.  I have the problem of wanting to read the latest things that get mentions in magazines or the New York Times.  Older titles need loving too.

Shelfari
http://www.shelfari.com/beccaf

I've written about this site twice before because I love it.  If you want to challenge yourself to read more the statistic feature on this site is a great way to push yourself to keep reading.  You can set reading goals and Shelfari will tell you if you are ahead of your goal or behind.  It also allows you to change your goal because -hey!- it's life, sometimes things come up.  I'm currently ahead of my goal having read 24 books out of my goal of 40 this year. 

Pinterest
http://pinterest.com/smallfryb/

Remember how I wrote about amazing nature photos at the beginning of this post?  Yeah, I just drool over the Science and Nature category on this site.  Pinterest started as a place for people to "pin" ideas to a "board".  Crafting and DIY are prominent topics on this site.  I found Enjoy It! and North Carolina Charm through "pins" people had added.  You can curate "boards" for various topics.  Teachers like to have "boards" for lesson plan ideas or classroom organization.  Some people like to "pin" gift wrapping ideas.  Other people like to "pin" inspiring pictures or sayings.  Basically, this is an internet version of taking clippings from magazines or newspapers and saving them for future reference.  As an avid idea collector it appeals to me.  As a minimalist who hates clutter, it appeals to me even more.

***

I need to challenge myself to be willing to make more connections with bloggers and blog readers.  That is one of the best ways to grow readership.  It's also a good way to make friends.  I like having "pen-pals."  Check these websites out.  I wouldn't recommend them if I didn't think they had merit.  After jumping on these sites for a quick peek, you might find that you spend a lot of time there! Enjoy.

Up In The Air

Time is such a funny thing.  It likes to play tricks on me.  I will have days that drag by that make up weeks that fly by... I'll have one random day that goes far too fast.  Months can either take forever or pass in the blink of an eye.  I cannot seem to catch up but sometimes I think I don't really want to.  I'm at a really weird stage of my life right now where the answer to every question that I seem to be asked (or ask myself) is "I don't know."  I had discussed this feeling with my friend Airbud on the phone a few months ago.  We called it the Up in the Air Effect.  We don't know anything and we don't know when we will know so it's just "I don't know."  If you know me and Airbud at all, you know that this does not sit well with gals like us.  But right now, there is nothing either of us can do to really change that.  Time and life feel like a big shoulder shrug lately.  If I had plans, I'd be more than happy to share, but "meh- I got nothing." 

While I wait to get a better idea of where life will take me (or where I force myself to go) I have to do something for fun once in awhile.  This weekend I had Friday off of work.  It is always nice to have a day off of work with no plans, but I ended up feeling icky.  I get headaches and migraines a lot, and Friday was a day where I was fighting the migraine.  J and I wanted to try an All-Natural cafe in Sunrise, but the drive up there was brutal (about 40 minutes away - but there was traffic).  I thought I was going to be sick.  I made him stop at a store so I could get Saltines and Sprite.  We drove all the way up there and ended up feeling so-so about the food.  I tried fes-un-jun and I learned that I do not like fes-un-jun.  It's a pomegranate walnut sauce served with basmati rice and I got tofu as well.  I like pomegranates and I like walnuts, but they should probably not be blended together.  It was a really strong dish.  I ate the rice.

On Saturday I worked on reading Shadow of  Night by Deborah Harkness (I finished on Sunday night).  It is her sequel to A Discovery of Witches.  I read both books as soon as they came out and there was such a delay between the two that I forgot a lot of the details from the first book.  It was okay at the beginning and it started to get better towards the end.  It had aspects of history that I really liked and I found myself having to look up a lot of vocabulary (a challenge I appreciate), but I'm not as excited for the third book (who knows when that will come out?).  I just try to take mental notes about what I like and what I don't like about books.  Maybe I'll apply them to something of my own in the future?  Who knows.  Big shoulder shrug here too.

On Saturday night, J and I went to the Wynwood Art Walk.  I love going there.  To me it feels like home.  When I have the fewest tattoos out of a huge gathering of people I get a comfy feeling and I start itching to make a collage or doodle.  We stopped in to a lot of the same galleries that were there before.  It is a little more organized now compared to the last time we went.  We had to drop by Ms. Cheezious!  It was just filmed for a Cooking Channel show that I watched called Eat Street.  I asked the owner when he thought it would air and he said sometime around January.  (I went way after filming because I don't really like chaos, but I still wanted to go to support my favorite small company in Miami!)  I picked up a really cool upcycled bag from an artist named Migdalia http://www.recyclemybag.com/  I appreciate the use of previously worn materials that might have been thrown away or left in a thrift bin purgatory.  She is an amazing illustrator and I was immediately drawn to her work.  I got a bag for $30 which was an insanely good price.  I cannot work a sewing machine that well (I try!) and her craftsmanship is as good as the art.  I was especially happy with her price because I had just bought two handmade collars for Ruby online and it cost me $40 and they were a month late and completely unprofessional.  Migdalia and Ms. Cheezious have restored my faith in small businesses after my debacle from last week with two others.

On Sunday night J and I hit up the new location of Shake Shack.  It's a restaurant that started in NYC and opened a location on South Beach.  It's the only place where we can get frozen custard down here and sometimes it is hit or miss, but it is always worth a shot.  They have more artisinal flavors like Sweet Corn (it was lightly disgusting) and regulars like Boston Cream Pie (much better).  I miss my Red Raspberry from Kopp's though.

So, it was a food filled weekend that occupied my time and took my mind off of the Up in the Air Effect.  My lunch break is over, so I should sign off, but here is an update of Lily (her pretty eyes are open!) for you until I write again.

"The best laid plans of mice and men..."

Friday was one of those days where everything seemed slightly off.  Due to unforeseen circumstances, we found out that the puppy we thought we were getting wasn't going to be the puppy we were getting.  Hence the quote starting this blog post.  I'd rather not get into the details, so please don't ask.  J and I got the news in the morning and we spent the whole day in a sort of funk at our respective offices.  Then one of his Chinese friend's had a car back into hers (not her fault) so he went to help her navigate the confusion that is filing a claim.  It is a frustrating, whirlwind situation for someone who has lived here their entire life, so I can only imagine how I would feel if I got into an accident in another country.  Then I had a less than pleasant experience as I was locking up the office by myself at 5:00 PM.  It was just one of those days that culminated in overall frustration and weariness.

J and I talked about the puppy situation for a long time, and we decided that instead of passing up on a puppy altogether, we would consider one from a different litter.  We had gone to visit with blinders on, trying not to fall in love with any puppy but "ours."  Still, while talking to the breeder, we had a chance to hold a couple of other puppies.  One of those was a sweet, little girl from a different litter whose color I adored.  We decided on her.  She's a little bit older than the one we would have originally taken home.  Her mom was very sweet and calm, which I took as a good sign.  We briefly considered a boy, but J and I had our hearts set on a girl.  We will still call the new puppy Lily.  Some might think it is odd, since it is a different dog, but we've been calling a second puppy Lily since November, before either dog was conceived.  (I already have boy names picked out for future dogs, when we have a house with a yard.)

Here is a picture of the new puppy:

She is a blue Italian Greyhound.  She shares a lot of family with Ruby, even though they don't have the same parents.  If I understand it correctly, Lily's mom and Ruby are half sisters, so Lily is Ruby's niece of sorts.  When I shared this observation with J, he started singing "I am my own grandpa..."  He can laugh all he wants, I just wanted to be sure that we were getting a dog that will be healthy and pleasant like Ruby.  Now that I think about it, it is sort of funny.

Unlike when we went to pick out Ruby, both puppies were still so young that they had their eyes and ears closed.  So, while it was heartbreaking to get the news on Friday, it wasn't the same connection we had with Ruby, who was attentive and had a clearly developed personality: quiet confidence.

After our emotional flip-flopping Friday, I spent the evening watching episodes of The Big Bang Theory and Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog (DVDs from Netflix).  On Saturday J wanted to grill sweet corn and potatoes again, so we ran errands and he cooked.  I finished a book and updated my Shelfari page.  If you are looking for a way to track your reading, this is a great website.  You can sign in with your Amazon account.  If you want, you can sync your Amazon book purchases to Shelfari (I choose not to because I have bought some books for work that are highly technical and now Amazon thinks I am smarter than I actually am...).  You rate books, you can edit book information, write your own reviews, connect with book groups, and best of all- see how many pages you've read.  If you choose to join, feel free to "friend" me: http://www.shelfari.com/beccaf

Yesterday night we went to Starbucks and I wrote four pages to a story that I've been thinking about.  I read it out loud to J when we got home, took his feedback into consideration, made some edits, reread it to him, and went to bed thinking about how to edit again.  I have had five story lines floating around in my head for months on end now.  I've been painstakingly plotting out one since November of last year.  I want to have it mapped out before I sit down and start writing, but sometimes I just want to write, so I am playing around with the other four stories in bits and pieces.  J and I are taking a free Science Fiction Coursera class starting later this month.  I hope to apply what I learn from that to my writing.

If you are looking for free classes to take, check out Coursera.  You have to participate in the class online and it is graded, but the courses are free and they have unlimited enrollment.  Unfortunately, you cannot get college credit for them.  A lot of the courses are for people in the fields of science and technology who might want to brush up on a topic without having to take college classes for it, so there are limited offerings for people who prefer the humanities, like me.  Still, it sounded intriguing.  I'll let you know how it goes once the class gets started.  I also signed up for an online writing class from Miami-Dade Community College.  I had to pay for it and I won't be getting college credits for this one, either, but at least I don't have to worry about my residency status, tuition fees, segregated fees, prerequisites, and competing for seats in a class.

I shouldn't get too ahead of myself though.  I can plan all I want, but sometimes life just changes the parameters and you can choose to adapt or you can change course altogether.  We decided to adapt to the new parameters and we still believe we are doing the right thing for Ruby.  We want her to have as much love and companionship as possible.  We are ready and capable to take on the responsibility of another little life.  Who knows?  Maybe this will end up working out for the best.  (And now Little Lily can come home on my birthday weekend instead of having to wait an additional week.  Happy Early Birthday to Me!)

Hungry Hunger Games

This is just a really brief update from my post this past weekend. I didn't end up getting things on Etsy because I got distracted by doing other stuff- like going to see The Hunger Games. J and I thought the movie was so-so. We agreed that we both liked Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson as Katniss and Peeta, respectively but that some of the other actors were okay. Haymitch, Rue, and Cinna were more characters we thought were acted well. All in all, I think the movie wasn't as dark as the books. I am one of the people who think these books are inappropriate for young children. I wouldn't censor a child from reading the books, but I don't think that children can understand the full impact of the messages. In the end, people who have not read the books will miss the finer points of the story. I was interested to see how they would explain the unique things like tracker jackers and mocking jays, but they could have done more with the sheer horror that was the muttations. If you read the books, you will understand these comments. This being said, it was pretty good and it was the first big blockbuster I've been to in a long time. (The theatre was full! Once, down here, J and I were the only people in a theatre for the latest Morgan Spurlock movie.) J and I had a much more in depth discussion regarding our feelings on the film's interpretation of the book, but this is just my quick blurb.

After we saw the movie, J really wanted Nacho Mama's Nachos from Lime. For $7 you get the largest serving of nachos with the works. As we don't eat meat, we have ordered it with black beans and sauteed onions in the past for added protein (I didn't like it), but the extra beans is so excessive that I cannot imagine loading ground beef, chicken, or steak onto them. I didn't eat much of the nachos, but I ordered sopapillas for the first time, and they were simply amazing. They were also really cheap. For about three dollars you get enough little pastries for you and a friend. I could have eaten them all by myself though, they were really delicious. The only thing was, I felt bad for going up to a counter and ordering food after watching these kids battle to the death for basic supplies. If I was a tribute, I'd probably be the first to die in the Hunger Games because my survival skills are outdated (although I have some OLS lessons in the back of my head somewhere) and I couldn't outrun a turtle. And they don't have sopapillas out in the wild.

Moment in March

For the last month, work has been reasonable. (The co-workers are another story...) I was able to meet deadlines with ease in February, but things are picking up again. I wrote all of my deadlines on my calendar for April and it is going to be a doozy of a month. On top of the work itself, registration will begin on the 2nd, and it will be back to desperate students scrambling to get into their classes. J's family will be visiting right in the thick of it, so I won't get to take any time off of work. I'll have the evenings to spend with them, though.

School for J has picked up considerably as well. I would say he's in the final stretch, but his final stretch is less of a sprint and more of an intense marathon. He's a runner, so I'm sure he appreciates this analogy. I honestly do not know how he does it. He still tries to make time for me and Ruby, he finds time to work out, he completes his school work, and he does a lot to build his resume.

Despite not having friends to hang out with, I'm still plenty busy. I took three baby steps towards selling crafts. I ordered my business cards, purchased a domain name for a website, and I laid out the Etsy page. I hope to list a couple of items tomorrow. If I do, I'll let people know. I've scaled back a bit with volunteering. It is hard to do it every week (J needs me home for the furry baby), but I'm still doing that and my craft night. I've hit a crafting plateau... There are things I like to do, but don't have the money for. There are things I have the supplies to do, but don't have the patience for. And there are things that I've tried to do, but I don't really enjoy. Having something to work towards- like gifts- helps my motivation, but sometimes I just need a break.

I have been using my usual crafting time for reading. I finished five books in March. I don't know if I'll start another right away. I caved and read The Hunger Games trilogy. I finished the three books in 48 hours. I read them quickly because I just wanted to be done with them. I thought they were good. I didn't love them and I found the story line exceedingly disturbing, but at least the violence wasn't as detailed as I thought it would be. That said, it still gave me nightmares. I appreciate the message that the author tried to convey and I thought the social commentary was scathingly brutal, yet truthful. It was also good to be able to discuss books with J. We rarely read the same things. He is much more cerebral in his free reading choices, where I tend to read books for entertainment. I still read plenty of non-fiction, but you won't find me reading history books about hurricanes. :) I also read the book because J kept bringing up seeing the movie. He doesn't usually get to pick what we see (well- we barely go to movies), and since he kept talking about it, I figured I'd see what all of the hullabaloo was about.

The only other notable thing that has happened in the last couple of weeks is that we found a great dessert place. It is called Atelier Monnier and they serve traditional French desserts that are presented in a more modern way. The individual serving desserts run about $5, but you will NOT be hungry when you leave. The first time we went I had a berry tart. It was excellent. The second time we went I tried their eclair. It was very beautiful and even had a small gold leaf detail. I was expecting a regular cream filling, but it was chocolate cream. It was good, but a little rich for my taste. I'm one of the few women who doesn't go gaga over chocolate. I prefer fruity, tart flavors. Still, the eclair was good. J had sorbet both times and it was amazing. They have macaroons. I've never had one and I'm looking forward to trying. They also make bread and sell wine. It's a pretty cool shop. We'll be back.

Well, I figured I'd take this moment to post, because I know things will get busy in April. Here's hoping I have the energy to keep up!

Leapin' Lizards- February's Almost Gone

Happy Leap Year (one day early)!

I haven't been posting much because there has been very little worthy of posting. I hate having my time wasted, so I won't waste yours, dear readers. All two of you, mom and dad. :)

Work has been very soul-sucking lately. I'd recount some tales for you if I thought they were particularly funny. I started walking on my lunch break a couple of days a week. I'm not sure why I started that. It has very little to do with fitness and more to do with wanting to walk straight off the premises and out of Miami.

I have been reading up a storm lately. If you are on Shelfari, you can see what I've been reading. I read mostly fiction and I vary it between some more serious stuff (New York Bestsellers) and action/fantasy novels that are pure drivel and for entertainment purposes only. I recently read a New York Times article about falling in love with "Airport Literature." Those would be the sort of books you find in the airport kiosks. The journalist was well-read in the Classics and wanted to continue to read more cerebral work but found that when she picked up "Airport Lit" she enjoyed traveling a lot more. Personally, I try not to be condescending towards what people read because at least they are reading! Most Americans read a pitiful number of books a year. On my "down" months I read at least two books. In February I finished five. I'm low on cash lately, so I've been using the library way more than my Kindle (still love it). I live very close to my library, but the only problem is they organize books like yum-yums. Seriously, I have to look in THREE places to find New Arrivals. Young Adult books are half on their own and half mixed in with Adult Fiction. I cannot find a lot of the books I am looking for- I'm going to have to figure out the loaning system (not as easy as Madison's was)... At least there is always the option to try to check the books out from J's student library.

Let's see, what else can I tell you? Well, Ruby has been a doll and a terror. Simultaneously. She REFUSED to go potty outside. She has a more stubborn personality than I do! She'll hold it until we put her down for quiet time and then she goes on her potty pad IMMEDIATELY. We don't like to scoop her up to take her out because that scares her and then she won't go outside and then she won't go in front of us (which means secret diddles under the couch). BUT, I must say this, I would gladly deal with her going on a potty pad for the rest of her life because she is just such a good dog all around. She's calming down a bit now that she is getting older. She's pretty good with her tricks and commands (we are proud parents of a Puppy Dog 2 class graduate). She is so precious to us. When I come home late (which I do about two days a week), she greets me at the door and will not stop staring at me or following me until I pick her up for a hug. Petting her while she's on the floor won't do, she wants to be up in your arms for a solid six seconds before it is back down to play. She likes to be greeted properly. She's also funny when it comes to cuddling. If I am on the couch, working on my laptop, she'll stick her nose underneath one of my typing hands so I have to stop and hold her. But as much as she's a dear, she grumbles A TON. I've never known a dog to be so grouchy about car rides. It makes me laugh because it shows so much of her personality: playful, energetic child mixed with crotchety old-man.

There hasn't been too much to look forward to/work towards lately. I cannot wait for June because one of my dear friends from college is spending a long weekend with me. J might be gone to a conference so I'd get a girl weekend! I haven't had one of those since July. Thus far, the only trip I have planned for Milwaukee will be for my second cousin's wedding in October. I hope I get home before then, but the flies coming out of my empty wallet are buzzing another tune. Sometimes I think about getting a second job, but it would be unfair to J and unfair to Ruby (J is so busy with school right now). I'm already pretty tired from work, craft night, and volunteering... and I get very little time with J as it is, so I want my weekends to be flexible so I can sneak a couple of hours of his time, if possible. In college if I needed more money I just worked more. I don't have that option at my job. I've never been on a fixed income before this job and there is talk of more money being taken out for the retirement plans (so less money that I take home now). Sigh. It is my goal to start selling stuff on Etsy soon, so hopefully I can set aside a little sum to get myself started with that.

Well, that's it for now. It's been a pretty quiet thus far. Hopefully I'll have wonderful things to report for March. In the meantime, do something fun with your extra day of 2012!

Settling In

I suppose some of you have been wondering why I haven't been posting. Okay, maybe only my mom, and then she calls, and maybe my computer is feeling neglected-- STOP ACTING UP COMPUTER AND THEN I'LL SPEND MORE TIME WITH YOU. Ugh. Well, that, and I get really tired of being attached to my computer and phone at work so I mostly just loaf around and read when I get home after dinner has been consumed and cleaned up. And I find myself going to bed earlier and earlier. I start brushing my teeth at 9 PM for goodness' sake! And it's not like I get up any earlier to be productive. I just don't sleep very well at night (I have an active imagination and my dreams are EXHAUSTING!), so I like just -resting-.

I have been occupied, though. Busy is the wrong word for my personal life. I'm busy at work. I'm occupied in my personal life. And I'm starting to settle in to the fact that J and I are really LIVING in Miami. For the longest time I felt like I was on an extended (and horrible) summer vacation. There is almost no change in the seasons, and I was unemployed for so long that I had lost a sense of passing time. We've been here for ten full months now. Where has the time gone? And why is there no snow? I miss chilly weather. Not FREEZING weather, just brisk, flurry-flake weather. My sweaters stare at me longingly from my closet. And I could take a break from this humidity. I look simultaneously sweaty and pinched. I'm always rocking this slight sheen of sweat and in order to prevent my hair from doing its "devil-horn curls" I have to pull it back in a really severe bun with a head-ache inducing headband. And there are some people down here who look fresh and pressed. I look wrinkly and disheveled. Fall cannot come soon enough. And the end of hurricane season. I'm terrified of one happening and then having to fight for supplies in a sort of post-apocalyptic sort of way. J and I joke about getting a shot-gun for times like that. But sometimes I'm not joking. Especially on the off-chance that zombies could be real.

I've settled-in in a couple of ways. The most excited and expensive way: I've invested in REAL sunglasses. I was using $12 sunglasses from Target that I had actually purchased down here when we came to look for apartments. I had bought a pair of faux-Ray Bans (Wayfarer Style) because they de-emphasize my rotund head. And a pair of aviators that ACTUALLY looked good on said rotund noggin. Of course the lenses on both are scratched, so they are not very fun to wear anymore. I have a pair of Versace (real, thank you very much)sunglasses that I love that my grandmother found and gave to me. But it just doesn't look right to be wearing tres-chic eye wear and sweaty, wrinkly clothing while trying to tame the frizz. I'm not worthy. :) And they are a little tight on my globe-like head. So, I've been telling J, "It's time to invest in a good pair of Wayfarers." Sunglasses are very prevalent down here, but still expensive. Not fair, supply and demand model! And thus I had been dragging my feet on making a $145 purchase when I have oh so many loan payments that are that price and higher. But whilst browsing one of my favorite fashion websites, they mentioned that TOMS is now doing eye wear in their One-For-One model (like their shoes). Basically when you buy a pair of TOMS shoes, a child in need also gets a pair. And now, with my purchase of $145 I was able to get decent sunglasses in the Wayfarer style, and someone will be able to see more clearly (they meet different needs: surgeries, glasses, and basic ocular health care). So I can now feel good about myself! And feel stylish! Without squinting in the sun. And don't worry- I got a very sturdy case so they won't get scratched. (When the guy at Nordstrom's asked me which designer cleaning cloth I wanted I chose Tom Ford because I think he's handsome... I'm a dork.)

Another way I know I'm settling: I got a library card. I don't know why it took me so long. I'm quite ashamed of myself really, but I've been reading a lot, I assure you. Now I can do it for free. The library system down here is decent. J's gotten me a couple of books from his school's library which is decent as well. I was spoiled with Madison Public Libraries, so I am always hoping for that experience. I have 8 books to read and it reminds me of the good old days when I would bike to the nearby public library and load up my back-pack, devouring the ten books in less than ten days. Yes, I've always read this much. Friends and family can attest to this. If I wasn't so lazy with this blog I'd do a book review blog. So, J and I went the three blocks to our local public library (lucky again, to be so close to a community center) and I stood in queue and proudly received my card. And then I promptly left J reading while I headed for the shelves. As my arms got heavier and heavier with books (some on my reading list, and some new) my spirit got lighter. There are a few places on earth where I feel happy to a point of delirium and giddiness. They are, as follows: libraries, book stores, office supply stores, craft stores, and THE CONTAINER STORE!!! And I found myself smiling as I met old friends on the shelf: Wind in the Willows, Redwall, Wee Free Men, and on and on... One of my friends had asked for book recommendations. Well, here is a list of books I've read since March. I hope some are inspiring:

Angelology by Danielle Trussoni
The Ichdiean Universe Trilogy by Sherrilynn Kenyon
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Alice Through the Looking Class by Lewis Carroll
The Devil's Queen by Jeanne Kalogridis
The Case of the Missing Servant by Tarquin Hall
Bossypants by Tina Fey
Lost at Sea by Bryan Lee O'Malley (graphic novel)
Scott Pilgrim Books by Bryan Lee O'Malley (seven graphic novels)
The Witch's Daughter by Paula Brackston

I really liked the Alice books and the graphic novels. The Witch's Daughter was pretty good. Angelology was frustrating because I didn't know it was part of a trilogy that's not done yet (like when I had read A Discovery of Witches-- but I loved that book). Right now I'm working on The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim by Jonathan Coe. Jury's still out.

And I've also added something to my social life: CRAFTING NIGHT! One of the women I work with was trying to figure out how to make me feel less lonely down here. She has a daughter my age, but we've got polar different interests, so she was peppering me with questions of what I like to do. I had been asking her what "kids-my-age" do down here and none of her suggestions were interesting to me. (J and I went out one night and I ordered my usual, vodka cranberry, and we were just chilling until the bill came and my tiny drink cost $11!!!) One day I wore a shirt that I had altered (I sewed cloth flowers to the collar.) And she complimented it. I told her I made it and craft night was born! She'll tell you she's not particularly crafty, but I'd beg to differ. She's great at painting. But the leader of our little rag-tag crafting group is her mom. She is the most amazing crafter I've ever seen. And I've seen some crafters. :) Her whole house looks like a block of the shops in Cedarburg. Her work looks professional. But she doesn't sell it. She just gives it away at the holidays. She's taught me to do a complicated crochet project (I'm not giving out details- they are going to be my Christmas gifts), and she figured out how to use the sewing machine that my mom had given me. Making stuffed animals will be a zillion times faster now. She's a very good teacher, and she's got a lot of crafting experience being 82. So the three of us gather at her house on Wednesdays now. Sometimes we order food, sometimes we pack extra in our lunches, and sometimes others will join us- which is nice. It's nice to have something to look forward to in the middle of a crazy week. Even though I'm not hanging out with people my age, I don't care. I'd rather be listening to this mother-daughter duo chit-chat while I try to do the many crochet stitches. Honestly, I get more out of it then if I were doing jell-o shots at one of the many drinking establishments. (Also, I hate how superficial Miami can be, so one less time to worry about looking sweaty and pinched...)

Luckily, I've been able to see two friends down here. My old, old high school friend has started a new business and he was downtown for a company meeting. I was able to hang out with him while J was home in Wisconsin. It was nice to see him. It felt just like old times, except I felt a little different and a little wiser from my high-school days. It was nice to reconnect and see someone who had been such a big part of those four formative years. And to laugh about how ridiculous those four years were. (Well- he was a grade below me, so three, but still...) And one of my bestie gal pals (part of what I am going to call the Fantastic Five from the college years and doing time in Education) was down in Fort Myers for a family wedding. J and I make the trek North-West through the gawd-awful Everglades. We had breakfast with her (the most amazing bacon omelet, pancakes, and hash browns) and we chatted with her and her mom, went to a souvenir shop (got J's gma some post cards), and got burned on the beach. I got my first significant burn. I was brown on the beach, and then I turned pink in the car. Oooh the itching and simultaneous soreness. It was bad. And I STILL have streaks on my body from where I had lazily slapped SPF. (I retain color for a loooong time.) It was so good to see her. I've missed the Fantastic Five very much and it is hard to go from spending all day, everyday (class, studying, and yes- a little drinking to relieve that student teacher stress) together to being so far apart. These were the people I could "bitch" to no matter what, no matter when and they understood completely what I was going through because they were schlepping through it with me. I wish life wasn't so complicated, and that I had a zillion dollars because I'd fly us all to Hawaii to sip girly drinks (no, make it fishbowls from Wando's) on the beach. :)

So, even though I'm so very far from friends, I'm still striving to keep those connections. And even though I don't do what the average 23 year old does down here it doesn't mean that I'm without good company. I love the two office-mates I have (we had a few headaches, but we're down one, and the headaches are gone!), I have my hubby, and my crafting guru. And soon there will be PUPPY!!! We're picking up Ruby (it's a girl!) on the 2nd. But that's for another post...

(I'll try to be good and make that post this week.)

My Two Loves: Books and (of course) Food

This past weekend J and I did the most we had ever done here, which could have all been one day if we were back home, but we’ve become slow and old. On Friday night I asked him to go to Books and Books with me. It’s a local bookstore, a small chain with a couple of locations (including one at an airport). It seemed pretty cool, but there wasn’t really a place to sit unless you bought food/drinks, which is a bit discouraging. (At least, this if from what I can tell, I felt a bit out of place and walked around cautiously.) For being a small location, they have a great selection of books. The building is very cute and the atmosphere is interesting. There were a lot of older people. J and I live in an older neighborhood and even the people “our age” here are closer to 30-35. There were some musicians playing outside in a courtyard for people at tables.

There wasn’t actually a lot of book-browsing going on, now that I think of it. The children’s section is pretty small, but it has some good books. Books and Books attracts a lot of authors and there were many illustrations by famous authors and artists. I enjoyed looking at those more than anything else at the store. J showed me an empty spot on the wall and he said, “Look, they are reserving a spot for you.” Oh, how I wish. I saw a book I now love: The Duchess of Whimsy. The illustrations are beautiful, the story is so sweet, and it even has grilled cheese in it! I wish I had written the book.

On Saturday we decided to try out the Farmer’s Market. I know Madison has a wonderful, organized market, and I didn’t have too high of expectations. But the Coconut Grove Farmer’s Market was… Well, we aren’t going back. I felt a little nervous in the neighborhood. There are some gorgeous parts of Coconut Grove, and there are some dangerous parts. I had a feeling we were closer to that latter and I wanted to leave as soon as I got there. The market was on an empty lot in a neighborhood off of a busy street. Unlike the Madison market with many vendors, it was one big, almost corporate, vendor. That turned me off. They had a lot of produce, but very few customers. There were, maybe, five other vendors selling house plants, tea, used clothes, and food? Not sure. We walked around for five minutes, looked at some weird produce, and left. Oh, the things I would have done for spicy cheesy bread, fall air, and milling Madisionians at that moment!

We then headed to Sam’s Club. Not much to report other than it was way busier than the ones at home and I don’t want to go back. J told me that I shouldn’t even think of going to Wal-Mart down here… I never really did back in Wisconsin, but it was a cheaper option than Target in some regards, so I would make an occasional stop. I think all Wal-Marts are busy, but the fear in J’s eyes told me he wasn’t going to go again. He had two words to say and “cluster” was the start of them. I’ll take his word for it, if it is anything like traffic here, or like Sam’s Club, you can count me out. The grocery stores here are bad enough.

We wanted to do something to celebrate J turning 24. We had gone to a wonderful, fancy restaurant for my birthday and he wanted to keep it simple. We went to this place called OneBurger. Their headquarters are in Asia. I’m sure the burgers are fine to Miami standards. They have a good selection of “gourmet” burgers. The spicy fries were yummy as were the shakes, but we bit into the burgers and just looked at each other. We’ve grown up on greasy, diner, Midwestern burger goodness from joints like Oscars, Kopp’s, The Nite Owl, and even Culver’s. I don’t want dry burger. We made a pact to try out Shake Shake on South Beach this weekend. It claims to be NYC style food and I saw it on Unique Eats (Cooking Channel). Their first location is in Madison Square Garden and people line up for an hour to get those burgers… so it’s gotta be good, right? AND they have custard shakes which leads me to believe that they may actually serve FROZEN CUSTARD. Drool.

On J’s actual birthday I gave him the gift of food and silence. His work load has picked up and this week he had a presentation and a final exam, so I thought the best thing I could do would be to make sure he is full and that he can get work done at home. He liked the pork tenderloin that I had made so much that he requested that (and we had another one because Winn-Dixie had a buy one get one deal). So I made the marinated pork tenderloin, sautéed mushrooms, spinach salad with tomato and fresh mozzarella, a fresh veggie platter with cucumbers, red peppers, and carrots, and for desert we had brownies and ice cream. I decided to get creative with the brownies. I still have a pan of my failed fudge, so I put some goopy chunks of that in the brownie batter. It worked out perfectly. The brownies were the perfect warm, gooey, chocolaty goodness that paired well with the French Vanilla ice cream. Way better than cake and ice cream. I still have over half of a pan of failed fudge, so I will have to do it again. I took pictures and wanted to post them online, but something between my camera and computer is not working. My computer’s camera stopped working too, so I think it’s slowly dying. I intend to get the pictures up eventually.

This week has been pretty slow with jobs. I find new websites to apply to and then realize that I’ve already applied to the job! Oh well. I am confident that something will happen soon. In the meantime, I’ve been reading. I just finished The Cookbook Collector. It’s less about food than you think it is. It’s about books, business, philosophy, the late ‘90s, and then food. I liked it. I got another cheap book for my Kindle (love, love, love that thing) and I’ll be busy with that one too. In the meantime, I’ll keep chipping away at this whole employment thing.