So close

Sorry that it has been so long. Boo! I have been crazy busy doing nothing and everything. Yeah, I know...excuses, excuses. So my 365 project has once again come to a screeching halt. I forgot a couple last week and I decided to take a break starting last Friday. Hopefully I can pull my ass out of the gutter and start again in a day or so. I am going to keep up with the number count starting on the new days.. no restarting or endings here.

So this weekend is 4th of July weekend. What does that mean? It means that I am going to Chicago. Whoop, whoop!! I have never been nor have I taken a vacation from work since last summer, so as you can tell I am pretty darn psyched. I am heading off to the Windy City on Thursday morning and coming back Monday afternoon. I have no clue what's in the plans since I am going with my good friend Easy E. I know we are staying in the 'burbs, Arlington Heights, the first night so she can see her fam, but after that the city is our oyster and OMJoe will be our "Pearl". Taste of Chicago is going on this weekend and Steve Miller Band is playing so we might take that in. I will be sure to post some fat daddy pics on here next week so be on the lookout.

I wanted to make y'all aware of a new website I have found; new to me that is. Shit as funny as hell, but apparently the writer is on hiatus so who knows how long we will wait to get another issue. The Plug is the name of the site and to find stories, you click on an issue, and then hover over one of the icons. There are multiple stories per issue. Some of these are pretty damn funny like this one and this one.

And finally, a picture of 365 from the past week. They mainly sucked so this is the semi-best of the bunch.


Oh and I wanted to post a couple of random new pictures that I feel like posting.

Sets of 3s

They say things happen in threes right?? I have always wondered who the they is in this. Who was the first person to come up with the word trifecta? Who was the first person to realize that shitty things happen in threes, or so I hope that's the case. I have had a string of crappy luck as of late.

It all started with the damn AC a couple of weeks ago. I finally have central heat and air, which I am pumped about; no more U shaped house with the lone window unit blowing only into the living room. I am a bit of a cheapskate, at least when it comes to things like this, so I waited awhile to turn on my air. When I finally did nothing happened.. that's right, nothing. It was blazing hot in my house - I think it was in upper 80's that week. Let me preface by saying that when I purchased the house last November the AC worked. Anyhoo, I called out the repairman and $440 later my AC was blowing hard.

The 2nd thing to topple in my house was my bed, literally, and not in a good way either. Nothing sweaty about this bed breaking session. I was having people over and I happened to go into my bedroom and lie on the bed, I also just happened to have had a bit to drink so I needed a soft place to lie. A friend came and sat on my chair to talk with me. Another friend decided that we looked entertaining so he came and leapt upon the bed. Most beds would hold up under this; mine unfortunately is not one of those beds. The one peg holding up all of the slats popped off leaving a mattress, sans bed spring, floating precariously. I brought this bed, this awesome mid-century teak piece of furniture art, to a local antique "fixer" and the bed still lies there. My wallet has since been relieved of $460 for the work.

Here comes the third, and hopefully final, piece to the story. Yesterday I came home from work and went to take a sip of water. The water from the fridge was not near as cold as usual. I didn't think much about it since the light in the fridge came on. I made food for potluck, went to potluck, and went to take another drink of water from the pitcher in the fridge. The water still wasn't cold. It got me thinking that maybe something was wrong. None of the other food in there felt all that cold either. I opened the freezer and saw the ice glistening wetly despite the fridge light and obvious fan noise sounding from the back of the fridge. No price yet on how much this shit is going to cost, but I will say that I hope this stops the bullshit problems that are floating around the house just waiting to pick a moment in order for something else to fuck up.

Scorned Lovers

Brought to you by the good folks at list of the day

Bleh

Nothing like a super heavy meal in the middle of the day to make a person feel good. I went and ate some delicious roast duck and Singapore noodles at Hong Kong BBQ in the food court by Dinho (off of New Peachtree Road). While this random food court isn't really attached to anything other than an outdoor strip mall, it has some of the cheapest and mighty tasty Asian around. Hong Kong BBQ is down at the end of the food court to the far right - look for the dead animals hanging in their window. Another delicious place in the food court is Chong Quing Hot Pot. $8 will get you a massive hot pot filled with your choice of meat, veggies, noodles, and broth. It is by far enough for 2 meals. The Szechuan Fish in Spicy Chili Oil is amazing and they have all you can eat rice...just walk behind the counter and to the left to get it out of the gigantic rice cooker. Another popular place in this eatery is the chinese joint next to Chong Quing- it has some pork soup buns that people go mad for.. get 10 for $6. You can find all this awesomeness here:

View Larger Map


Okay one of the better 365s of the week is me all Suzie Q. Homemaker like with my banana-black bean empanadas:


I hope everyone has a delightful weekend.

Recap and a Recipe

Hello, hello. How's everybody today??? Good? Good! So I think I am still recovering from a whirlwind of a weekend. I had a semi-house party Saturday in between watching the USA vs England game, which was equal parts exciting and hot, and drinking at the hiz.


It felt like an international festival at my house since we had been taken over by Hungarians and a Frenchy. Out of the 4 cases of beer we consumed, there are 2 lonely singles left in the fridge and the 7 layer dip left us somewhere around 4 pm. Sad. Cabbagetown Park's soccer event was a lot of fun, what with the lack of breeze, 100 degree weather, and loads of soccer fans rooting on the US. We will just forget about those limey Brits sitting a row or 2 up from us. Really though, I had loads of fun hanging with old friends and gaining some new ones. Oh and Yay USA!!!

Sunday Funday was actually Sunday Cookday. I took my mom to a wine tasting/cooking class for a late Mom's day gift. On the menu was chicken in a pomegranate reduction, asparagus risotto (better than mine but more fatty), shrimp with feta and 'maters, and a flourless bittersweet chocolate cake. Yum!!!. I might have to hook y'all up with the recipes at some point. Maybe baby.


Lastly, Sunday night led me to a cookout at a friends house. Good times, tired times. Friend grilled it up and we all did a little trampoline jumping. I brought Cheetos's. I am such a thoughtful guest.

Recipe from Last weeks potluck:
Smoked Salmon and Apple Carpaccio
adapted from Giada De Laurentiis
(Makes 3 Servings, if you are serving hungry people)

Sliced French Bread, toasted
6 ounces Smoked Salmon
1 green apple, cut into very thin slices
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed and drained
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Place the sliced bread on a baking sheet in a single layer. Lightly coat with olive oil. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes than flip to the other side for a couple of minutes. Let cool.

Arrange the smoked salmon in a single layer on a serving platter. Lay the apple slices on top. Sprinkle the capers over the salmon and apple slices. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve with the toasted bread.

Let me just forewarn you... this got eaten up extremely quickly, like only a couple of people made it to potluck on time and it was gone way before the rest of the people showed up. If you or your friends are fans of smoked salmon y'all will kill this quick, so you might want to up the recipe. Look at the beautiful Droid picture I took. Awwww- it's like a flying heart!




Oh and my ah-ree-ble (pronounce like the British) 365 picture of last week is.... dun, dun, dun

I'm so domestic

Recipe- Asparagus, Goat Cheese, and Lemon Pasta

Honestly, I copied this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, whom I adore. She adapted it from Bon Appetit, whom I don't adore or give 2 shits about. Basically this makes a load o' pasta, enough for 6 or 7 at least. I wasn't the biggest fan of this recipe because I thought it was a bit on the bland side. Perhaps if I had used Sweetgrass Dairys fresh chevre then all would have been good, but I didn't so it seemed to be a bit goat cheesy bland. Whatevs... just telling it like it is. Anyhoo recipe below:

Ingredients
1 pkg spiral pasta
1 pound asparagus spears, trimmed and cut into 1- to 1 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp finely grated lemon peel
2 tsp chopped fresh tarragon (FYI has a licorice type taste, substitute basil if you don't like tarragon)
1 5- to 5 1/2-ounce log soft fresh goat cheese (the pre-crumbled stuff will not melt as well)
1 - 2 tbsp Fresh lemon juice to taste


Cook your pasta in a large pot of well-salted water until it is almost tender, or about three minutes less than what the package suggests. Add asparagus and cook until firm-tender, another two to three minutes. Drain both pasta and asparagus together, reserving one cup of pasta water.

Meanwhile, combine olive oil, lemon peel, lemon juice, tarragon and cheese in a large bowl, breaking up the goat cheese as you put it in. Add hot pasta and asparagus to bowl, along with a couple splashes of the pasta water. Toss until smoothly combined, adding more pasta water if needed. Season genersously with salt and pepper. Throw in some fresh spinach at the end if you want a bit more veggie in this dish.

Photo below was taken with Droid phone on the way to the weekly potluck.

Wherever did the weekend go?

I had an interesting weekend. My favorite local festival was last weekend so I did it up big. Went to see the first band- Lindsey Rakers Band- because I know a girl, not Lindsey Raker, who's in it. They rocked. Luckily a friend of mine lives around the corner to the closed to alcohol music fest so we proceeded to say "fuck the man" and snuck our beer in all day. I saved major money this way. Score! The money savings meant I could purchase a hot waffle ice cream sandwich which was deliciously good. Went back and froth from the friends house to the stage hanging with different friends. Final band was tonic, the 'roid band from the late 90's.. they were ok. I mean, it was free so who can complain. Oh wait, me. Met up with some long-time-no-see friends and headed to Mellow Mushroom for dinner. We lost some people there after deciding that we would go to the Atlanta Eagle for a "lonely" friend.

About the Eagle- it is a gay bar in Atlanta that caters to gay men who like leather and all that stuff. So it was me, a female friend, 2 straight males, and my gay friend who went to the Eagle postsummerfest. I didn't wander around to the back rooms so I don't think I got a glimpse of all that the Eagle has to offer. I did however watch a 350 lb man wearing dress shoes and a speedo cutting a rug on the dance floor. It was a sight to behold. I was well into a 10 hour drinking fest so the dancer in me shown through. A guy even came up later and told me I was a fabulous dancer. I will relish that comment until the end of my days. Especially since the last time I got a comment on my dancing was when a girl in a Savannah bar came up to me and told me I had no rhythm. In your face, bitch! I would like to say that my straight guy friends rocked. I am so glad that some men are comfortable enough in their sexuality that they can go into a gay bar, especially this one, and not freak out about it. Unlike some other men, who told me that they would never be caught dead in a gay bar.


**Picture this guy with dress shoes and socks on, dancing to the music. Pure Eagle.

After our friend found himself a man, we left him and headed to MJQ. I don't think I am really the MJQ type considering I am not into hip hop, house, techno, or straight leg jeans, but I had fun all the same. That club always wows me when I walk in since it is so different than any other club in Atlanta. I love walking down the long sloping hallway to the underground rooms. It makes a person feel so gangster and hip.

The next morning I had to walk the 3 mile stretch between my house and the Highlands in order to pick up my abandoned car. I felt good walking off a portion of a days worth of food, drink, and waffle ice cream sandwiches.

Here's a pic from the festival festivities.

Operation Fat Ass

So I wanted to clue y'all in on Operation Fat Ass. It is time for me to get back in shape and I am actually working it now. Like no more "I'm gonna work out but I'm too tired" nonsense. I am done with my self pitying bullshit, while I continue to stuff my face. For the past month I have been consistently working out 4 days a week with hopes to expand upon that amount. I have also been eating better, though not smaller. I am starting back up with the 1400 calorie a day good measure meals next week and I signed a plan with my work gym as opposed to my spin and boot camp gym near my house)for a 1x a week personal trainer. Now that shit isn't going to fly long. I am doing the special that is 1x week personal trainer, classes, and gym use for $90.. it's regularly $250 or so, so I am dropping that after the month ends- don't tell them though. I'm sure they are going to try and hard sell my ass. The good measure meals thing will hopefully allow me to start eating less, but we shall see. No matter what the fuck happens I am sick of this fat girl body and I will drop some lbs. Depending how much weight I lose I will post a pic of before and after. I would prefer to post my before pic after i lose the weight. I don't want to sicken y'all immediatley. giggle.


On to other things. The BP spill. While it makes me sick that this oil is poisoning the Gulf, beaches, marshes, plants, and animals, and effecting peoples lives, I don't think that boycotting small business owners is the way to go about showing anger. Right now BP needs all their money to go to dealing with this catastrophe so why should we try to hurt businesses that aren't even theirs by boycotting owners?? I realize that they make billions in profits. But it is going to take a shit ton to clean up this spill as well as help out the people who are being effected so let's leave them alone. I also believe that while they did play a huge part in this can we stop affixing complete and total blame. What happened on that rig was an accident. Should they have been better prepared? Yes. Should they have had loads of backups in place? Yes. Should they have been more responsible? Yes. But it is over and done with now. Let's stop putting blame and focus our attentions to helping the environment and people work through this catastrophe. I just pray that they can fix that well as soon as possible and I pray that the ecosystem can get over thois major environmental hurdle. Next->

365 picture of the week is below- it's Day 10. I already missed a day, but didn't skip the number; I just started the next day remembered as the next day the number is up. Most of my shots sucked this week, but what can a person do when said person can't find said persons expensive tripod's connecting piece rendering the use of it useless. FUCK!



Very quickly i wanted to let you know that after I wrote this post, I spellchecked it and had no spelling errors!! How awesome is that!!

I'm still alive,

Just tired and out of sorts. Let me show you these a picture of these dookie looking pretzels I made the other day for broke ass potluck (took the pic with my droid, not my SLR). I should probably tell you that by made I mean I bought the mix for 1/2 off at Williams-Sonoma and mixed/kneaded that shit, formed those dukes, dipped them in water, salted, and baked them. They tasted good, but they look like crap.