Cooking Adventures

In a down economy it never hurts to stay in and eat a home cooked meal. Here are some of my favorite pictures of making meals in the past couple of months...

Chinese food night- RSlo had recently learned how to make egg rolls and so we decided to do our own version of takeout.

I made beef and broccoli with lo mein (spaghetti noodles).

Frying up some more eggrolls! We made them ourselves! They were really tasty.

First Meal of the New Year- I got a Dutch oven for Christmas and lamb shanks with orzo were on the menu.

Yummy Lamb Shanks

The first time I had ever made orzo but it had a great flavor

I've also been doing a lot of baking, so I'll post some more pictures as I go along, but so far it's been a lot of fun!

Happy New Year!

2010 started a bit slow, RSlo and I got stuck in Phoenix after missing our connecting flight back to San Luis. That was pretty disappointing since I was looking forward to ringing in the new year with my friends in San Luis, but slowly RSlo is teaching me to make the best of situations.

So much has happened this past year and I think I am a much stronger woman for it. Having moved to a new place and begun my professional career, I am amazed at the things I have been able to handle. It hasn't always been easy for me to ask for help in the past but this year I learned that I can't always handle things on my own and that I need to ask for support and help when I need it and that it doesn't make me weak doing so.

So I don't make resolutions but I do have some things that I plan on doing more of in the new year:

1. Cook more- I got a Dutch oven and several other kitchen accessories for Christmas and I plan to use them!
2. Exercise- I am running another half marathon in March, so I have to get back training.
3. Keep in touch with my friends- letters, phone calls, emails, I need to stay better connected.
4. Figure out my next steps- school, work, just planning the next couple of years (anything beyond that is too overwhelming)
5. Enjoy my life

2010 is going to be a great year!

Home for the Holidays

I've been home since Saturday and will be in NYC until the 31st. Since my arrival there has been a foot of snow and the temperature has not been above 35 degrees. Saying it's cold is an understatment. Nonetheless I have been braving the cold to head out and see friends, or shop in the city. I always try to make most of my time when I am in NYC but I think the cold is making me take things a little slower. I brought home three books and I've been spending time laying in bed in pajamas and socks and reading. It's nice to take time to relax and unwind.

My family has never had many traditions when it comes to Christmas. We usually go to midnight mass at Saint Patricks Cathedral. I grew up Catholic and so while I am don't consider myself Catholic anymore (another conversation for another day) it's still something that I do with my parents out of respect to them. My parents also don't decorate the apartment. They did when I was younger but it's been a long time since I lived at home so I don't think it's something they get excited about doing. The one thing that is always a staple is that my mom cooks Christmas dinner which is a favorite of mine since I find her to be an excellent cook. Most importantly it's nice to be able to spend time at home.

RSlo is coming to visit NYC a couple days after Christmas. It's always fun to have him in NYC because I get to take him around to different places in the city and it's like I am seeing these places for the first time again. Our itinerary so far includes: go kart racing, vintage shopping in Brooklyn and going to his favorite Chinese restaurant that serves table wine with dinner. We are also going to cook dinner for my family one night. I am looking forward to it all.

Happy Holidays!

Friends: how many of us have them...?

I have spent the past two weekends with friends and it got me thinking about friends. In grade school, high school, and college making college was no big deal (at least for me) I gravitated towards people who had things in common with me and I always enjoyed the friends I had. Never any drama, just about hanging out, having fun, and being supported.

As I have gotten older I am happy to say that I have stayed pretty close with a few of my friends from high school and several friends from college, but how do you make friends in the real world? Are your friends your co-workers, friends of spouses or partners, parents of your children's friends, how do you do it? I think all of those ways are true, I have friends that I became close to through RSlo, and I am really happy to say that I have had some great luck with meeting people and connecting with those that I work with. I have made some really close connections since I have moved to SLO and it feels great to have a social circle that makes me feel appreciated and I have fun with. Because of these connections I know that there are people across the country that I can visit and spend time with, which makes me feel incredible. For example, I spent Thanksgiving with some people from work that I have grown very close to and have become really good friends of mine in a short time. The weekend was filled with funny stories, lots of laughter, and really good restaurants. Spending time with them as well as my two great friends that I visited last weekend in LA makes me thankful for the awesome people I have in my life and that I need to work on cultivating and preserving the great friendships I have. I am not always the best at calling and keeping in touch but it is something that definitely plan on working on because it is always so sad when you think about that great friend you had a long time ago that you lost touch with. It's never to late to reconnect!

A very Disney Birthday!

I just got back from the most amazing vacation/birthday! RSlo and I spent my 25th birthday in the happiest place on Earth and I was definitely happy!  We took off for Disney on Monday morning and headed down south, we decided to first drive down to Santa Monica and spend some time at the beach.  RSlo loves the water, so he got into his bathing suit and played in the water, I knew the water was going to be way too cold for me, so I sat on the beach and read my book and then eventually fell asleep (the sound of the water always does that for me).  

We left Santa Monica and made our way back to Anaheim.  One of my good friends Emily was in Anaheim for a conference so I was so excited that we were able to grab dinner with her over at Downtown Disney.  We had a great dinner and then had the opportunity to walk around and catch up.  The weather was amazing for walking around and we went into one of the many Disney Stores and walked around, it definitely got me excited for our day of fun!

My birthday was Tuesday and I woke up so excited. It's the way I used to feel on Christmas morning when I knew that I was about to open my presents.  RSlo and I got to the park at 9:30 got our tickets (and my awesome birthday button) and stood outside of the park waiting for it to open.  The park opened at about 9:45 and we got to walk through the gates.  While the rope drop didn't happen until 10 (this allows you to get to the rides) we used our down time to take pictures with the characters.  I can't believe how excited I got to see Mickey and Minnie and Goofy I felt like a kid again and not the least bit embarrassed or silly, just fun! 

We had made a plan of attack the night before (with a great deal of help from lots of SoCal friends), and so we got some maps and got ready to go!  Thankfully the park was not as crowded as I expected it to be so our plan worked really well and we got to do everything we wanted.  We started at Space Mountain which we thought would have a really long line but didn't.  We proceeded to go on all of the big Disneyland rides: Pirates of the Caribbean, Matterhorn, Haunted House (which was so cool since it was the Nightmare before Christmas), and the Teacups.  

We were able to get through all the big rides at Disney by 12:30 (so surprising!) and we headed over to California Adventure.  I think that's when we had the most fun.  We went on the California Screamin' ride 3 times, and the Tower of Terror 2 times.  We definitely both enjoy roller coasters so we definitely got out fix and Cal Adventure.  We spent most of the afternoon there doing everything we wanted to do as well as partaking in some culinary treats : turkey leg and corn dogs!  

We ended our day at about 6 and headed back to our hotel.  We spent some time laying around before we went Tony Roma's for dinner.  It was such a great day and really nice to talk and have drinks with RSlo at the end of it.  I had an incredible day, this by far was the best birthday I have ever had and it took the sting of turning 25 away and made me feel like a kid again!   I have also included some sweet pics of our day! I think I am still glowing! 

New Traditions

I have never been much for Halloween.  Never really got into the costumes, going out, or doing much of anything.  I would usually stay in doors during the "holiday" and didn't participate in any festivities put on by friends.  This year has been something different.  While I am on duty for the weekend and can't go to the Halloween party one of my friends is putting on, my friend Veronica and I decided that we would do some pumpkin carving. Prior to this, as you can imagine I had never carved pumpkins so I thought it would be fun.  While I did have to respond to a situation while everyone else carved  away when I got back I made my pumpkin.  I had a great time doing it and I think it'll be something that I do every year.  Who knows maybe next year I will wear a costume! The pic above is a picture of all of the pumpkins we carved ! Happy Halloween!!

 Veronica and Jay the lovely couple we carved pumpkins with 

Me and RSlo 

Hair

So I have never been too attached to my hair, in fact I am usually really annoyed with it. I always kid around about chopping it all off. Last Friday I stopped joking and actually decided to hack it off. It wasn't sentimental, I didn't cry as I watched my hair stylist take the scissors to my hair, I wasn't interested in keeping the cut strands of hair (although my hair was way too short to donate), and I definitely didn't regret my decision. Quite the opposite, I love my new hair do. It's different yet I still have styling options and most of all it won't take me hours to do my hair. It's always fun to change it up and try a new hairstyle, and I have gotten good reviews from everyone I know. I like taking risks with my hair and not getting bored, who knows what I will do next!
Not the best picture, but once I take better one's I will post!