Wkend Recap: Post Sickness Fun

Thursday: Stayed at home for the last day of a three-day run so that I could fully recuperate from the Sickness that had plagued me all week. It was a lazy day, it was a productive day.

Friday: Worked my last day at the B&B! Then came home to find that I had left my keys in the apt. Called to interrupt beau's Mela lunch so he could come let me in. After all this, we joined the beau's parent's and a French family friend (she lives in the same neighborhood as Johhny Depp in Paris![swoon]). We spent a fair amount of time walking around some of my favorite spots in downtown and having coffee. And then had the always delicious goulash and bread and cheese. Afterwards, we played some darts, smoked some hookah ("shouldn't you close the window - isn't this illegal?") and collapsed for sleep, precious sleep.

Saturday: Halloween! Worked at The Littlest Birds till 6. Got dressed in an old halloween costume (flapper!) while watched bemusedly the beau have costume identity issues (his final choice was a hot skull-faced woman). Spent the night at the Pocket, got drunk way too quickly, failed miserably at beer-pong and ended the night w/the best Waffle House experience ever (hashbrowns by candle-light).


Sunday: Worked at TLB till 4. Went to a potluck w/the beau that Alexandra was hosting and ate some unbelievable orzo salad, chicken pot pie and vegetarian pizza, among other yummy dishes. Also made a lovely spill of red wine on my favorite white shirt and cardigan. Then we went over to a co-worker of the beau's to pick up a sweet little kitty, named Tabitha. After a hilarious car ride back home we watched her explore the place and contemplated her replacement name (goulash, cinnamon, cardamon).

<3

Wkend Recap: Mountain Adventures & Parties

Thursday: Worked at the B&B. Watched Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince at the Asheville Brew and View w/Steph, D & the beau. Had some yummy Ninja Porters.

Friday: The beau and I had a mountain adventure...but not like it sounds. We started our day in the hopes of making it to Mount Mitchell, the highest peak in the US east of the Mississippi. After eating at Asheville Pizza, we soon realized the day was much too foggy and rainy. So we continued on eastward. We stopped in Marion at a visitor's center and found a map and decided to venture to Johnson City, TN taking all back roads. So after taking many windy, old beautiful roads we made it to JC. We walked around the town and the beau's alma mater and remincsed about the days when we were still in college. We also stopped by the wonderful Acoustic Coffee House for some beer, tea and chips. As the sun began descending, we thought we'd head back home (the fast way). Back in Asheville! We then hung out w/Alexandra & Nik, where the girls throughly kicked the guys butt at both Trivial Pursuit and darts. Take that!

Saturday: Worked at The Littlest Birds. And instead of doing anything exciting, I just stayed at home and relaxed w/a cup of warm tea.

Sunday: Worked at The Littlest Birds till 4. Nik dropped off his cat, Gonzo, so he could make a visit to his parents in Chapel Hill. Next, we headed to the Mountain Xpress' Best of WNC party at the Orange Peel (The Littlest Birds won Best Kid's Clothing Store & the owners gave us the tix!). We had a blast filling our bellies from some the best restos in Asheville and listening to an amazing bluesy-rock teenage band, called Skinny Legs and All.

<3

Wkly Recap: Lots o' Movies

Monday: Yoga, Grove Arcade Copy Shop (w/the adorable older couple!) for forever trying to fax something to gas company, also forever on the phone w/the gas company trying to make them believe I am not the old tenet who lived here (who owes them money), The Littlest Birds blog work, made Squash soup and salad for me and beau (which was so delish but totally not enough of), watched Year One & our fav. Gossip Girl w/Steph.

Tuesday: Yoga, The Littlest Birds boutique work (lots of consignment organizing), grocery shopping (where we can't stay at our shopping limit!), the beau and I are really tired so we pick up a couple of pizzas and watch Vanity Fair, which was way too long and drawn out, by the way.

Wednesday: Worked at the Bed and Breakfast, came home to collapse but instead made food and prepared to make more food, beau then gets home so we go to my credit union to drop off some money and then we make a stop at Ingles for a movie, cough drops & some boxed wine (for us and for the stew we made), at home we made Beef Stew w/Mushrooms and watched Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. The stew turned out o.k. overall, but the movie was pretty bland.

<3

A little bit about the beau

Meet The Beau:
The basics:
~Age: 26
~Eyes: Big, big blue eyes. Blue mostly, but sometimes changes to a blue-green mix.
~Hair: Dark brown. It changes length all the time. But he looks yummy when it's a bit longer and shaggy (and with a beard, please!).
~Height: A little taller than me, which isn't saying much b/c I'm basically a munchkin.
~Weight: Scrawny-arse, but w/the beginnings of a beer belly (but don't tell him I told you that).
~Occupation: Currently works 1 day/wk. as a server. He's student teaching (becoming a French teacher in May!) so he has no time to work, really.
~Hobbies: Pool, games, darts, being a beer connoisseur, reading The Wheel of Time, and cooking.

The beau, if you don't know already, is French. He moved to the U.S. with his family when he was 11. He's the brother of Miss Lulu. He graduated from ETSU in 2006 with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism and French. He's now attending UNCA, just 2 months shy of getting his teaching license in French. He's extremely friendly and full of energy. He's a huge lover of games (and dogs, too) - any and everything...board games, video games, bar games, sports, etc. He has an eclectic collection music, but his current musical obsession is Europe (mostly for their phenomenal The Final Countdown). He loves having people over and impressing them with his awesome cooking skills and beer knowledge.

<3

Creating Meals for the Week

Something I've started doing lately - so that the beau and I can not only shop smarter but also eat healthier - is looking at recipes during the week and rounding up a list of needed ingredients for our next shopping trip. That way we know what we're eating the next week and we know that we've spent our grocery money on food that we won't waste.

(Source.)

The two sites I've used so far are the Greenlife Grocery recipes and Cooking Light.

This week I've decided on:
-Quick Pizza Margherita
-Lemon-Shallot Scallops
-Lemon-Basil Chicken w/Basil Aioli
-Shrimp Florentine w/Caramelized Garlic
-Chunky Vegetarian Chili
-Beef & Vegetable Kebabs

Sounds delish, doesn't it?
<3

bonne anniversaire pour moi!

It was my birthday yesterday. I had beaucoups and beaucoups of fun. The festivities included lots of champagne, chips & dip, the little mermaid, gypsy music & bindis, handmade pizzas, bbq chicken sandwiches, real corn cornbread, spicy mac & cheese, twitter chatter, so much wine & beer, keds shoes, dainty undies, gift talks, craft talks, FigsandGinger, baked beans & mouth-watering made from scratch red velvet cupcakes.

(The only picture from the night. A silly one, indeed.)

It. Was. Wonderful. My first organized little potluck turned out quite well indeed. And the fun isn't over. I'm going out w/the beau tonight to Table. Having lunch with my parents on Sunday & (I think) getting a stereo receiver so I can FINALLY play some sweet albums on my sweet record player. Oh! And some new clothes, as I so desperately need some jeans without huge, gaping holes. ;)

24 isn't so bad, I think.
<3

have a holly jolly christmas

Le sigh...I love being off of work and with my most beloved friends and family. I love spending the holidays with my bf's family. I love dis french family. And do I ever love the french food. (I wish I could show you how much I am drooling right now! Wait, no, I don't. But I do wish you could smell the food - then you'd be drooling.)

In the spirit of this season, I'd like to wish everyone out there a very happy, pleasant and warm holidays (whichever you are celebrating is up to you).

(Photo courtesy of mercurian.)

Please, relax for a while, with your family and friends and enjoy the peaceful, happy times.
<3

support

I'm so happy to know that I have such great amounts of support right now. From the long emails with lulu, to the sweet messages from a person I've never met, to hanging out at all hours at a time with old friends to receiving a random, heart-felt message from a college acquaintance, I am happily overwhelmed by the support I've been receiving through this new and stressing time.

I've been pretty motivated in my searches of apt. and jobs. I've already looked at one house today and I am supposed to look at another one later today. I've responded to 9 ads so far of people looking for housemates. And I've applied to 8 jobs and counting.



I've also been listening to a lot of M.I.A., Santogold, Micky Green, CSS, Regina Spektor and Feist. This blend is funky, female, and soothing all at once. They are really the only music I can listen to right now without analysing every word and intimately relating it to my situation.

This week should be pretty busy. Wednesday, the 20th, is one of my best friend's birthday. She's turning 23. So I'm going with her and our third counterpart to Pigeon Forge tomorrow. We'll be staying there until Tuesday evening/night. I'm also going to Carowinds on Saturday. And really the only reason I'm going is because I was retarded and forgot the tickets the last time I went earlier this summer. And then I might, not sure yet, be going to Sliding Rock on Sunday. I've just heard that my french friends will be coming on Saturday and I'm really sad. I was hoping to see them, but I won't be at home on that day. Hopefully, I might be able to convince them to come on another day, like Wednesday or Sunday (I can go to Sliding Rock on another day).

(The lovely Heather.)

Some other plans of mine that I'm working to:
1. Car! I have to wait until I get a job, but I've been scouring craigslist looking for a good one $5,000 or under. I will have to get a loan to pay for it, but that's just how the dice roll right now.
2. College, v.2! Getting my mind and ideas together so I can apply for my master's in Vermont. I need a lot of help with this because, as usual my ideas are broad and I need to narrow my ideas down.
3. Photography ideas. I want to do Suicide Girls. I've wanted to it for a really long time, but now just might be the time. To do this, I've been planning poses, locations, backgrounds and clothing. I also took some pictures of a friend, not nude or erotic, mind you. But cute "pin-up" pictures and I think they turned out well. This has inspired me.
4. Clothes creations. I've been slowing getting some sewing supplies. Meanwhile, I've been drawing designs, thinking of colors, ways to reconstruct things and be sustainable at the same time.
5. Making delicious creations. I love cooking. I really loved to do it before the Frenchman broke up with me. That love has dwindled a bit since then. This is unfortunate. I am trying to get that fire raging again and those smells wafting throughout my kitchen.

I hope to keep this blog updated more regularly now. I've also been writing on another blog and love doing it. Writing is therapeutic. I'm finding a variety of things are therapeutic. I am so happy when I can find a new form of therapy. I suppose life has its own form of therapy. :)
<3

Pizza-Time

Soooo, I finally made my first through and through home-made pizza! And I even remembered to take pictures of it before I completely devoured it. ;)

(Yay!)

I even made the crust! I was sooo proud of myself. After seeing this post, I was inspired to make my own. So, the next time went I to the grocery store, I got all the necessary supplies & came home to get started beating some dough up.

(My wee lil' piece of love.)

We also had a fabulous night of games last weekend (I had forgotten to write about this memorable experience). We had the "Pentagonal Tournament of Games." We played mancala, pente, boggle, 301 (darts game), & DDR (dance, dance revolution on xbox 360).

(Clockwise: DDR mat, boggle, mancala & pente. Missing: 301 .)

It was really fun, despite me losing miserably as usual. (Except for me kicking major butt at boggle.) :)

(Getting torn up in mancala by the bf [i.e. the supreme ruler of strategy games].)

Oh, & one last little thing: I'm super-proud of my little garden right now! I've joined forces w/my upstairs neighbor and we've been keeping up with our little garden of tomatoes, spearmint, lemon balm, oregano, basil, & moss roses. So, soooo happy! (Despite having to deal with spider mites and nitrogen-deficient tomato plants.) I've actually got a green thumb!

(Herbs!)

(Tomatoes!)

(Zee jardin [garden]!)

some finds, a lil list

finds:

-a neat online publishing co. where you can create and share your own publications with others who have done the same.
-a celestial solar tower...it looks very religious, like something you'd see in an over-produced biblical movie. but this thing is actually a solar thermal power plant. and green, it seems.

une petite list (of things that i've been vainly desiring):
1. sewing machine. for now all i want is a simple one that will break me into sewing more regularly. i've got lots of plans in my head...yaaay. ;)
2. record player. god, do i ever want one. i just want to chill out to some groovy tunes while i sew, cook and picture-take.
3. good, freakin' camera w/all the fancy-schmancy gadgets. i'll figure them out eventually. but i just love pictures with real texture and that i can really do something with (my lil camera died about six months ago & i've been using my bf's awesome camera ever since then.
4. coffee maker. i've become an addict. it's official. and i've been trying to save money buy drinking it at home, but without a coffee maker, i've just been drinking crizzapie, very much below par coffee.
5. printer & scanner (possible combo contraption?). it's not absolutely necessary right now, but it would make things easier when i want to scan pictures i've taken on the manual camera.
6. pizza stone. i'd love to make super pizza like these, in 5 min.
et, voila. c'est bon.

a blogger survey, hmpf

nothing else to talk about, is what i'd say, but really, i just don't feel like doing work. i'd rather contemplate the finer things in life:

Three ways you are stereotypically a girl:
1. I am becoming increasingly more domestic each day and tending to enjoy most parts of it.
2. I think about what I'd do with my child [ex. plant flowers, watch clouds, draw animals & bake cakes], if I were to have a child, on a rather regular basis. And it's not scaring me as much as it used to.
3. I love frills, lace & all those other ultra-feminine textures and fabrics [secretly].

Three ways you are stereotypically a boy:
1. I greatly dislike authority figures.
2. I make amazing & disgusting "hawking" noises when coughing up my blue-ribbon loogies. Ew.
3. I love to watch James Bond movies.

Three of your everyday essentials:
1. Water bottle.
2. Cup of coffee.
3. Pen + notepad.
-------------------------------------------------------------

1) What was I doing 10 years ago?
I was being awkward; making up dances to N'SYNC, Spice Girls, & Britney Spears with my next door neighbor. I was in finishing up my 7th grade-year; standing in the lunch line at school & flushing when I saw my crush. I was drawing up a portfolio of brightly-colored fashion designs, writing & drawing my own Archie/mythology-themed comic books, & starting on many unfinished short stories.

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today?
Catching up on work; setting up an "inspiration-sheet"; gathering things to bring in to work to make it more aesthetically pleasing; make my mom a CD of pictures; take pictures of "good" -minded businesses.

3) Snacks I enjoy:
Bagels; yogurt pretzels; jellybellies; sour gummies; blueberry muffins; almond croissants; kettle chips; fries!

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Quit my day job and work to save the planet; have my own hand-made whatever store and non-profit organization that is geared to environmental & social justice education & advocacy; pay off my debts & my family's debts; buy a solar powered car; visit every country of the world; give to organizations that i believe in & support; do as much as I can do to help the world & its people & animals. ;)

5)Places I have lived before:
(my current & first real place) Asheville, NC;
(my college place) Swannanoa, NC;
(my parent's place) Candler, NC