I received this email earlier this afternoon:
Dear Emilie,
You submitted an application to the University of Washington for Summer 2009. At that time, the University was not able to offer you admission but referred you to the University of Washington's Evening Degree Program.
[shock. disbelief. bullshit. more bullshit. tears. fears. agony]
Sincerely yours,
Connie Montgomery, Director
Academic Advising
UW Evening Degree Program
two hours later, I received this email:
Dear Emilie,
You recently received a message from the University of Washington Evening Degree Program, signed by Connie Montgomery. Please disregard that message. Due to an error, their message was inadvertently sent to you.
We regret any confusion or inconvenience this may have caused you.
Sincerely,
The Office of Admissions
University of Washington Seattle
MOTHERFUCKER! I nearly shit my pants!
the owner of Finn MacCools is one of our regulars at work, and he's actually about to open a new bar. I don't remember the name, but I believe it's on East Lake (like, on the lake) and it's going to be more swank and loungier. He actually came in today and when I asked him about it, he said it was opening this Thursday. Now I can't say I'm entirely sure he knows/remembers me, but as he was stepping out, he told me, "maybe we can steal you away" ::wink::
ahhh, what does this mean?! Do I have a chance to work there, even as a server? I'll be bar back--I'll be someone's bitch! Why do you tease me so? And in that adorable Irish lilt of yours? Have I mentioned that even though he's like in his 40s or 50s, he's a total silver fox, mmm... Anderson Cooper, step aside. I like my men like I like my whiskey: straight.
oh, but I digress. I first heard of this upcoming bar about 2ish months ago, and since then have been slowly trying to plant the seeds of bubbly, personable barista to get him to remember me. Perhaps my plan is working, yes ::evil laugh::. If only I can work for him and leave the coffee biz T_T. I don't even drink coffee, but at least I enjoy a dranky drank here & there so my product knowledge would be put to better use.
as part of my ongoing plan to ingrain my face in his memory bank, I propose attending opening night this Thursday! If not to become a member of his workforce, at least to be a regular and maybe gain comped-drink status? Beer for coffee? I'd say it's a fair trade... well, not really, but it's all relative. Anyway, who's down?
I can't wait to have a place of my own. I was putting things up today and while my current digs are really nice (in fact, my latest house project is a vegetable & herb garden! ^_^ I'm really excited to get that started, but more on that later), it made me think of my dream box.
I use to have a box where I collectively stored ideas, pictures, floor plans, and notes on things I wanted in my dream home. Whenever I ran into something I liked, I either jotted it down, took a pic of it, or tore it out of a magazine to save for that day when I became a *homeowner*. The idea came to me when one sunny afternoon, I passed by (in the words of Yann Martel) "a riot of flowers". I walked by some of the most beautiful gardens, and like any true UW student, took in the beauty of the blossoming cherry trees that fill The Quad. I knew that I could never learn the names of these plants, so I figured, if I were ever to landscape my own yard/garden and my contractor asked what I wanted, I'd just show him/her pictures, hoping he/she would be able to identify them. In addition, after my family moved into the house, I took pics of our really cool shower facets because I knew that when I wanted to design my bathrooms, I wouldn't know how to describe what I wanted in builder's terms, but I could show what I wanted and get it done right.
unfortunately, through the years and many many moves, I lost this box :(. I lost pictures of plants, architectural structures, and designs that I'll never see again. I lost ideas that were progressive and had balanced form with function. I lost parts of my dream home, le sigh...
but alas! all is not entirely lost. I know that my tastes have changed between when I started this project and now. I've traveled to further lands and was introduced to new art forms and ideas of urban planning. I've seen other cultural interpretations of efficient use of living space and taken note. And most importantly, my own experiences residing in multiple living situations has taught me more about myself and what I look for in a home. It's time to start a new dream box! To jot down what little I remember from the old box and record new things to come ^_^.
to that note, I hope to someday have an awesome herb, vegetable, & fruit garden in my dream home. I want to be able to go to my backyard and pick fresh vegetables or to plan my meals with the seasons. But before I can do that, I need to learn how to garden; a bit of a green thumb would help, and as I mentioned earlier, I'm currently working on an herb & vegetable garden. Chris & I went to the store to pick up tools and seeds, and fortunately, his backyard is already set up for a garden. There are 6 boxes ready for the pickens and 3 planters for our herbs. I have some experience with herbs from a birthday gift Carlo & I got for Char so I know they're fairly low-maintenance, but after reading My Empire of Dirt (future gardeners & farmers, take note!), I've come to realize that I still have a lot of learning and research to do, aiyah! It'll take some time & energy, but whether this is a good thing or not, I have a lot of that... at least until school starts in the summer. I can only hope my gardening experiences now will not only yield edible crop, but will also help me plan better and add new ideas to my dream box.
oh, and I would like to mention that this entire gardening venture was completely unassociated with Michelle Obama's interview on her own gardening plans. I was only informed today that such an article even existed, hence this recent "locavore" movement. Us roomies have been planning this vegetable garden for quite some time now, though I must give props to our First Lady for advocating self-sustaining food, holla! You mah gurl Michelle, you mah GURL!
Robb's back and I couldn't be happier!!!
if you like awesome, progressive, and innovative animation, watch this. It's pretty crazy. And by crazy, I really mean crazy AWESOME!
I'm so annoyed at people right now, argh! >:[ Don't talk to me, don't try to make it better when it's really none of your business, just let me do my thing, and especially don't make things harder!
one of the perks of dating a (aspiring) chef is free cooking lessons. A more obvious perk would be the delicious food he makes for me, but we've been together long enough that we're past that initial impress phase, and have moved on to educating each other on our interests. At some point, Chris plans to teach cooking classes, so as a precursor to that, he's been teaching me how to cook various dishes. So far, we've covered potato karrokes (croquettes), ravioli made from scratch (pasta too!), homemade lasagna with pink sauce (red + white, mmm), and braising. All of these dishes I made before I started this blog, but now that it's here, I'd like to showcase my culinary progress, starting with last night.
he taught me how to make gnocchi, which, for those who don't know, is definitely one of my absolute favorite dishes. Gnocchi Thursdays will now be the new Taco Tuesdays, hell yes! To make Gnocchi Thursdays happen, here's how you make gnocchi:
Basic Gnocchi (serves 2)
3-4 potatoes
flour
salt
1-2 egg yolks
the first part is easy. It's like your making mashed potatoes. Start boiling some water. Meanwhile, wash, peel, and chop your potatoes. Boil them and add salt to flavor until tender. Drain the potatoes, and mash them up. We use a ricer, but you can also use a mixer or any other type of potato mashing utensil. The key thing is that it has to be mashed to a really smooth consistency.
egg yolks are optional, but according to Chris, they help hold the dough together, so you'd only need about one. We used 2 because I generally like my stuff eggier (omelettes, leche flan, custard, you get the idea). Anyway, add your egg yolks and flour to the potatoes. There should be about one cup of flour per potato. Knead that (and any other spices or salt to flavor) in until you have a nice dough that you can shape.
divide your dough in thirds. Take one of the thirds and lightly flour a flat surface. Roll the potato dough into a long strip about an inch thick (or thinner for gnocchini). Cut into small pieces; I just eyeballed it to form little pillows. Lightly use the tines of a fork to press a little design into each piece of gnocchi, and there you have it! Simple as pie. Trust me, if I can do it, you can.
to cook the gnocchi, boil some water. When the water begins to boil, just add the gnocchi and when it floats, it's done cooking. Ours took about 3 minutes to cook. Add any sauce of your choice on top and some basil. We made a simple red sauce with crushed tomatoes, sauteed onions, garlic, zucchini, salt, and pepper. Ooh, and for an even better taste, before adding the sauce, I'd sautee the cooked gnocchi in some butter! Bon appetit, or what I like to say, Mahlzeit!
