Category Archives: lists

23

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Recently one of my favorite ladies of the internet, Joy the Baker, was interviewed on The Every Girl. Among the many quirky and insightful things she said was advice to her 23-year-old self: You’re not the kind of girl who settles. Keep not settling.

That is rad and real advice, and the kind that a 23-year-old, myself included, could probably use.

Joy’s advice made me think … what would I tell my 23-year-old self? The one living recklessly yet so nervously in Raleigh who felt like her biggest life decisions were in front of her.

New Year’s Eve, 2007

1. Get a new perspective when faced with challenges, don’t run away. Don’t feel guilty about getting new perspective, and don’t call it running away when it’s what you need.

2. Do your own thing, be your own person, be confident in your decisions, and don’t let other opinions pressure you into going where you don’t feel you should go.

3. Enjoy that one warm winter you spend in Raleigh. It’s OK to forget what single digit temps feel like for a minute.

4. No regrets. None. Every single thing you do will get you to where you will be, and it will always be good and OK. Don’t wish things had gone differently. Be glad they went just as they did.

5. Get a real hairdresser, a real haircut, and some real, good hair products. Control the frizz.

6. Enjoy every moment you get to sit on a horse. Those moments will lessen.

7. Find a hobby that is less expensive than riding. Baking is good.

8. Break the feet-picking habit. It’s way gross.

9. Be present. Be positive. Learn the benefits of breathing.

10. Listen to the lyrics.

11. Get a good pair of running shoes! Your toenails will still fall off, but your running will improve.

12. Moving back to your hometown is a step forward, not a step backward like it may feel at the time.

13. Your boobs are bigger than you think. Consider that next cup size up. Consider showing off your cleavage sometimes, too. It’s cool.

14. Do not try Velveeta macaroni and cheese in the box. It will only lead down a slippery slope. Wait, on second thought, try that business. Your 28-year-old self can’t imagine life without it.

Corny Pancakes

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I know, I know, I’ve been ridiculously absent lately. List of reasons:

  • I haven’t made any inspiring new recipes (until this past Sunday morning). I’ve been recycling delicious old favorites.
  • We’ve been searching for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. They’re the boyfriend’s favorite thing to spend money on at the grocery. Obviously, I am convinced I can make better than store-bought. We’re very close.
  • I’ve been totally copping out on Songs of the Week by posting just a song, no explanation, on my Tumblr.
  • Nothing noteworthy has happened and I don’t like blogging about random, meaningless things.
  • I’m going to work on sharing more things like awesome internet finds, my running updates, and things I’m making every day in the kitchen. (This’ll involve more photos, so bare with me as I struggle to become better!)

So, weekend breakfast. It’s my favorite meal of the week. I love taking my time to make something a little more involved, slowly sipping multiple cups of coffee, and not eating like I’m taking part in a competition. I like pancakes, but so often the just basic, run of the mill, buttermilk variety bores me. Pancakes with a twist, an extra ingredient and more dimension, are worthy of weekend breakfast in my house.

For my birthday, my sweet brother got me The Essential New York Times Cookbook: Classic Recipes for a New Century. This cookbook is a compilation of over 1,400 recipes gathered from the New York Times food section from as far back as the 1850s. There are sections on everything from drinks to fish to dessert. And a whole section on breakfast and brunch!

When I was craving pancakes Sunday morning, I turned to my new trusty kitchen companion, and I found Kathleen Claiborne’s Hot Cakes. They’ve got cornmeal in them, which gives them a great texture and flavor, and a lovely light yellow color. The whole pouring boiling water over cornmeal and sugar was a bit odd and resulted in a very thick, almost paste-like mixture. But once the milk and oil are added and the egg whites folded in, things even out. I put a bit of syrup on some of mine and apricot jelly on others. Definitely worthy of Sunday breakfast.

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In the Details

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Reasons I loved Adam this weekend (don’t worry, I haven’t gone over to the sickly romantic side, this involves farting):

  • He’s reached the point where he laughs about my grandfather’s storytelling and obsessions with certain things (i.e. Some Like It Hot and My Cousin Vinny) and imitates him
  • He eats my pie
  • He introduces me by saying “This is my Julia”
  • He’s weirdly proud of what I do…though I think he likes to tell people I’m the editor of a magazine just so he can tell them he’s been published in my magazine. Twice.
  • He won’t let me eat fast food in the car, but makes me wait until we get home. Wait, I hate him for that…
  • He scoots up next to me, butt on my leg, and says excitedly, “Guess what?!” and then lets out a huge fart. Right on my leg. (I do love him for that, honest to God.)

It’s the little things that make me smile. And the fart-y and laugh-together-about-Papa things that make me realize we may have slipped into a very comfortable place. How I’ve waited to be in that place!

This weekend my mom dropped off a few old photos she’d found at Papa’s house. I think I was probably five or six-ish and must have been at a birthday party.

That’s me in the blue polka-dotted dress. The girl to my left in the pink dress is my friend Alix. We probably met when we were babies. To my right is Eric. I went to school with him through high school.

There we are again.

And that’s my little brother Ian (who’s tall and not chubby anymore!), and me and Alix with Mimi, my grandmother and Papa’s wife. She died when I was in seventh grade. I miss her so much. She was this kind of intimidating, really giving lady that held our family together in a matriarch sort of a way. She kept the kitchen stocked with Milanos and Veronas, and the candy jar in the den was always full of Jelly Bellies. Wasn’t she so beautiful?

Confessions

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Today I

* ate two small brownies at lunch

* have something heavy pressing down on my chest

* want to cuddle with my pup

* know that this city is too small and that I know too many people here

* hate my cellulite-y thighs

* can’t stop thinking about brownies

* feel like I haven’t seen Adam in forever (forever = Wednesday)

* am feeling the full weight of being broke and not being able to do fun summer things

* need a vacation so badly that if next Thursday doesn’t come soon I’ll explode

* love the purple ruffly tank top I got from Target on Saturday

* love these pictures of my mantra written in sparkler-writing (from Good Food)

Summer lovin

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I love …

The way cool rain smells when it hits the hot pavement.

Naps on the couch after pancake breakfasts.

Fudgy, chocolatey, buttery brownies that remind me of being little at my grandparents’ house.

Summer rain from my porch.

Long weekends and mondays that feel like Sundays.

Homemade iced coffee.

Planning birthday cakes.

Flowers in my new garden.

a grown up Christmas list

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I love lists. There’s nothing quite like drawing a neat black line through items one by one, just ticking them off. So I have three quick lists for the end of the Monday before Christmas.

Things That Should Not Happen Again

-unbuttoning my pants on the way into the bathroom at work (that should happen after I’m in the stall)
-wearing skinny jeans on a day when my thighs feel as big as boulders
-snow and ice on my car in the morning
-the toilet in my apartment running constantly (aauuugh the noise and the water waste!)
-going to the bathroom at work without my shoes on
-falling asleep on the couch for the millionth night in a row (contrary to anything Adam might say, this is NOT fun.)
-standing in line for half an hour at the post office to mail a gift
-Christmas present shopping for five hours

Things That Should Happen Lots More Times

-a free Moosejaw sweatshirt with orders over $79
-wearing a cute yet flowy shirt on a fat day
-wrapping presents and putting them under the tree (FESTIVE!)
-making cheesecake
-ugly christmas sweater parties
-talking about buying Bonnaroo tickets in December
-penguin onesies from Target (which is what I should have worn to work today instead of the skinny pants)
-Christmas present shopping for five hours only if done with Adam
-wearing red and white striped Christmas knee high socks with white santa fur around the top
-The Flaming Lips live (particularly “White Christmas” and “Do You Realize”)

Things That Are Going to Happen Tonight
-mushroom marsala pasta with artichokes
-pilates
-possible toilet fixation (well I do have a fixation with the damn toilet right now, but I meant the toilet getting fixed.)
-penguin onesie from Target