Belated Thanksgiving Related Silliness

We make pie. Kirsten plays with iMovie. Here are the results.

Just a comment

While I am in general very pleased with the way the election went I want to just say how disappointed I am in the county for defeating Proposition M. I find it incredibly selfish of many county residents who have said they didn't want to vote for it because they didn't want to have to pay for a service that they don't use. Some of their other reasonings were that Metro is mismanaged and the shouldn't need the extra money (I don't know about this because I haven't done the research).

Here's a plan to keep Metro afloat. Just cut off all bus routes west of I-170 (they can keep the metrolink service to the airport) and just let the people over there rot without their public transportation.

Since when did St Louis stop being an actual city? Real cities have public transportation. Hell, even Vancouver has a decent bus system. This is just sad.

Reasons for current state of inebriation:

1. Soulard Oktoberfest
2. Karaoke
3. Really large beers

Oh jeez.

New Music

Well. New to me anyway.

A few years ago I was in the car with my friend and former coworker Josh and we listened to this band called Cornershop and, even though I liked it, I hadn't really thought about since then. Well, a few months ago I spent a ridiculous amount of time in Slackers (for the St Louis challenged, its a used music/video game/random store) and saw their album When I Was Born for the 7th Time. I didn't buy it because I wasn't sure it was the same one I listened to before and because I just don't buy music without a little bit of research. Last Friday I was up super early and was tooling around on the internet before I had to go to the bus stop and decided "What the hey?" might as well broaden my musical horizons.

So long boring story. But I really kind of like it. It's a weird mix of Indian music, hip-hop elements, pop and general funkiness. Plus the last song is Norwegian Wood (in Hindi).

Life

So. I haven't really written anything of substance in ages. Life goes on. Work sucks big time. But I have proven how invaluable I am to them and unexpectedly got a raise before I should have. Unfortunately, I still have to work opens four or five times a week which is draining on my personal relationships not to mention my health. In the past few months I have been applying for new jobs but for whatever reason have only managed to get one interview. It went really well but its for a part-time only position that would be paying the same amount (or slightly less) than what I'm making now and I'm not sure I can afford to take it if I do get it.

Oh well.

I finally have my weekends to myself which has been nice. Brian and I went to the Soulard farmer's market a couple weeks ago. It was a gorgeous day and we got some really good stuff that we used to make gumbo.

I dyed my hair. I'm a brunette now which I am loving.

Rory and Kate moved away to Oregon last month and although I didn't see them that often when they did live here (damn my crappy schedule!), I'm really missing them but I've been putting off buying plane tickets to go out there and visit them (and also my parents) because I don't know if I can really afford it and I'm waiting to here about this job and if I get it I probably won't be able to take time off. Sigh.

This post is kind of a downer so I'm goint to end it here.

Ow.

I am sunburned.

Again.

Damn you pale skin!

A Movie I Love

So this movie has been out for more than a year now but I just can't get enough of Stardust. Sure its not the greatest piece of cinematic art but I could literally watch it over and over. In fact I'm watching the end of it right now.

Sigh. It makes me happy.

Confession

So I was sitting here messing around on the internet and I had VH1 on in the background...and then the new New Kids on the Block song came on and I just couldn't look away. It was like watching a trainwreck or something.

Does it make me a loser if...

...listening to the Danny Elfman song "The Little Things" from the Wanted soundtrack makes me feel like a badass?

Probably.

Post with substance coming soon I promise.

The Joy of Being a Housewife

Is it so wrong to enjoy being a housewife?

Because of my work schedule I often work weekends which means my days off usually fall on weekdays (either Thursday/Friday or Monday/Tuesday) and since the husband suffers from a 9-5 office job I find myself at home alone on my days off. These are the days I get to play housewife and I actually kind of like it. Granted the first few months of this schedule I spent my days asleep, reading or immobile on the couch recovering but now that I've gotten a little more used to the schedule I find I have lots of energy and instead of being bored I clean. It is nice to have a clean house. A dust and cat hair free house (at least for a couple of hours). I get a certain amount of pleasure out of a freshly dusted and wood polished dining room table (which hasn't been cleared off in about three months). And I like making a shopping list and going to the grocery store in the middle of the afternoon.

Last Friday we made chicken pot pie. If I hadn't been able to go through all my cookbooks during the day and come to this decision we probaly wouldn't have made such deliciousness. We tend to wait until right before its dinner time to pick a recipe and go shopping and since this was a fairly involved recipe with lots of ingredients we probably would have passed it over. Instead we got to enjpoy individual pies full of potatoes and chicken and peas and green beans with a flaky and fantastic fillo dough crust.

Oh and I pretty much hate my job so the idea of being a housewife and not working has a definite appeal. This week for example I was reduced to tears by a coworker. A domineering bossy bitchy coworker who treats me like a complete idiot who doesn't know how to do their job. Oh and she doesn't even outrank me at all. Her rudness and her bossiness had been building a lot of resentment in me until finally I snapped over something really stupid, told the GM about it and then went into the bathroom and cried for five minutes before coming back and having to deal with customers while I was still trying to fight back tears. While I was doing this I could hear her yelling at my GM about how I was always whining and crying to him about something (which is lie since I have previously only cried at work twice before, once because she snapped at me because she thought I was being rude to her (which I wasn't) and once because the baker told me I had gotten to work too early and he wasn't going to let me in anymore even though he doesn't have the authority to tell me when I can and cannot get to work). I wanted to go back there and smack her. But I didn't. Anyway, my GM is awesome and probaly effectively told her she was being a bitch and to back off. So problem solved. Except I still have to deal with psychotic bitch queen three to four times a week at 4:30 in the morning when I'm barely awake and haven't gotten any sleep. /end rant

Other things going on:

• I started taking a spinning class at the gym. Is it normal for your crotch to hurt that much after only an hour on a bike?
• We bough Mario Kart for the Wii and its awesome
• We won a Playstation 3 in a drawing that we don't even remember entering
• I have a new musical obsession: Ludo. Seriously, check out their album You're Awful, I Love You it is truly fantastic.

Simple Delicious Food

When it comes to cooking I tend not to be too creative on my own. I like recipes. However, the other night the husband and I got crazy in the kitchen. Okay, he got crazy and I just watched television. The result: Grilled Turkey Pita. Want to know how to make it? I guess I can tell you.

Take some boneless/skinless turkey breast and season with some poultry rub (we're fancy so we used some from Harry & David). Then grill it along with some slices of zucchini. Take some whole wheat pita, add some soft spreadable cheese (Laughing Cow) and your grilled turkey and zucchini and then dip in some ranch. Deliciousness.

Now I'm hungry.

Spontaneous Us

Lots of super-fun things have been going on this past month. Like our impromptu trip to Turtle Park. It was a gorgeous evening right around sunset and the weather was perfect. When you get to be old married people like we are (sarcasm), it can be hard to remember the simple pleasure of hanging out in the park. And this one has giant stone turtles you can climb on. Or in (see visual proof).

We also decided on a whim to get a hotel room (get your minds out of the gutter) for the night at Lumiere Place, the new casino in downtown St Louis. It was a really quiet Monday night so it felt like we were the only people staying in the hotel and the restaurants and bars in the casino were also pretty empty. The room was nice and I got the best nights sleep ever...the bed was so comfy.

Now a lot of people think the building is really ugly. And at night it can be (sorry I don't have any pictures) because it has this band of LED lights around the outside (in the daylight picture its that brownish red strip) which, at least the night we were there, were white and it stuck out and looked terrible. But during the day I think it looks just fine. Anywho...I'm feeling a bit rambly so I'll have to continue the story of our super awesome month of May later.

Appallingly Bad Taste

I actually meant to write about this awhile ago but I just thought I would share with the world what a truly terrible taste in movies I have. See ExhibitA:


That's right I like the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. Sure, when we were kids watching Alvin was great, we thought it was hilarious. And The Chipmunk Adventure, awesome. Who wouldn't love a crazy hot-air balloon race around the world which was really an evil plot by a bunch of diamond smugglers? Plus there was singing. But I'm a 25 year old there is no reason for me to love the new movie (and watch it twice in the last week) and yet I do.

Anywho...That's all the sharing I think I can handle right now.

The Frames

This past weekend, I finally got the opportunity to watch the movie Once. After hearing a lot of good things about it, I couldn't wait to see it. Let me tell you, not a disappointment at all. Although not your typical "musical" with huge dance numbers and over the top songs, it was still beautiful and enjoyable.

While cruising around the interwebs afterwards, I discovered that Glen Hansard had a band known as The Frames. On kind of a whim I downloaded their most recent album, The Cost. Two of the songs were previously recorded as part of the movie soundtrack ("Falling Slowly" and "When Your Mind's Made Up") but the versions on this album where just as fantastic and the rest of the album is just as good as I expected. All I have to figure out now is which of their albums I want to download next.

Movies, Movies and More Movies

It seems like all I've down the last week has been watch movies (and television shows, but we'll get to that in a minute). The husband and I went to the Chase last week and indulged in some good natured fun in the form of Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. The plot is basically this: Miss Pettigrew is dimissed from her governess job and desperate to find a new one she intercepts an employment offer but it turns out its for a social secretary not a governess. Silliness and sappiness ensue. It was a pretty cute movie, all feel-good and everything, plus Amy Adams is extremely charming. I recommend it for a good laugh but if you are not feeling like spending a bunch of money to go to the theater definitely worth a rent when it comes out on DVD.

This past Sunday, a friend of mine came over and having made some really delicious dinner (burgers with cheddar cheese inside it and horseradish and also some delicious red velvet cookies), we rented a couple of movies. Yes, rented. Went to Blockbuster and rented. I think its been about a year since I've actually been in a video store. We watched The Ten, a very ridiculous and sometimes midly disturbing movie. Then Monday morning I remained immobile for most of the morning watching Across the Universe. Now, I've heard that people either love this movie or hate it but I'm actually pretty indifferent. It was a visually very pretty and I do love the Beatles and the versions of the songs (at least I thought) were actually quite well done. Maybe I should watch it again and see if I like more the second time around.

But I have to take it back to the store so, hmm...Anywho...

Went to the movies again tonight and saw The Other Boleyn Girl. Not great but not bad, a little intense at some points. And as my friend and I were saying, there's just something about a man with big puffy sleeves. Sigh.

Finally. Finally. Been watching this television show that I remember watching when I was in high school. I'm not going to tell what it is because its a little embarassing but I'm enjoying myself and the really bad acting and so ridiculously overdramaticness of it all, so there.

Random Notes from the Last Week

Well not much has been going on this past week and though I originally intended to post on this blog daily, its kinda hard when your life is so boring. Anyway...

I went to the DMV last weekend. And by last weekend I do mean weekend it took two days and three hours of waiting in line before my car became an offical resident of the state of Missouri. Why did it take so long? Well, funny story. And by funny, I mean not. First I had to wait in line at the Assesor's office for a waiver (what this is for, I still have no idea) and then I had to wait in line at the actual DMV (which is conveniently located right done the hall from the Assesor's office). But stupid me chose the last day of the month (and a Friday) to do this so it was ridiculously crowded. Now to make sure we would have no problems we checked online to make sure we had all the paperwork (old title with parents signatures signing it over to me, safety/emissions inspection and insurance). However, after waiting in line for a good hour and a half we get up to the front and no my parents signature on the title and the words on the title "Gift to Daughter" apparently is not enough we needed this other piece of paper that basically said the exact same thing (name of person its being gifted to and a signature). Seems a bit redundant and unnecessary and unnecessary and redundant. And this wonderful form was not mentioned anywhere on the website that we saw. The woman was nice enoguh to say that if we got my parents to fax it back over we wouldn't have to get back in line we could just come up to the desk with the completed forms but seeing as they were closing in less than an hour that was just not going to happen.

Yes...the story goes on but I thought it was time for a new paragraph. So...new paragraph!! Anyway (don't tell the state of Missouri) but the signature on the from that we turned in the next day after another hour in line because we had to go to a different location that was open on Saturday was a forgery. Because my parents don't have access to a fax machine I didn't want to have to wait another week to take care of this. So there. State of Missouri you have been cheated!

I've also been listening to a lot of Sufjan Stevens this last week. I downloaded Illinoise several months ago but I've been listening to it more this week than I have in the past. Its pretty much the only thing I feel like listeing to most of the time. But this morning I downloaded (Greetings from) Michigan. I'm not any good at articulating why I like his music so much. Maybe because sometimes its a little quirky and weird and maybe its because I find the instrumental soothing that I enjoy listening to it even when the subject of the song is a little...umm...odd. Who knows? Anywho...new favorite song of his "For the Widows in Paradise, for the Fatherless in Ypsilanti"

Funky Retro Silliness

I don't always have the best taste in music (I do have a deep love of sappy Styx songs) but I just bought Betcha Bottom Dollar by the Puppini Sisters (not sisters, by the way) and I'm really loving it. Silly. Its got some great "classics" on there like "Sisters" (which always makes me think of White Christmas when Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye lip-synch this with sparkly blue bow thingies on their heads, but I digress) and "Mr Sandman" but I must say I like their cover of "Heart of Glass" the most. So if you're looking for something silly and fun, I definitely recommend it.

And check out the outfits. Just too much. Is it wrong to like those red shoes? Probably. Anywho...

Welcome Aboard / Thoughts on Rachael Ray

Debut Post! This blog doesn't really have much of a point so don't expect a whole lot of deep posts about the meaning of life (or the meaning of my life). For the most part I just started this as sort of a dump for random thoughts on things I'm interested in like cooking, books, movies, music, etc. So please enjoy today's topic: Rachael Ray...

Okay. Now I know most (a lot) of people I know cannot stand her for reasons ranging from her use of cutsey phrases (like EVOO and Yum-O) to just her voice. Very few of the complaints actually stem from her recipes because (shocker) they are good.

So let us first talk about her wonderful cutsey phrases. Personally, I find that there is nothing wrong with them. Just because she talks that way does not mean that she wants everyone else in the world to talk that way to. And its not like everyone is devoid of verbal ticks. I say "actually" and "no big deal" and many other embarassing phrases that fortunately I have managed to only say around Brian but let's jsut say that if anyone else heard them they would probably want to vomit. So there you go. And sometimes I find myself thinking EVOO in my head (begin the mocking now). As for her voice, who cares.

And finally we come to the food. I have only made two recipes of hers so far that I have not liked. The first was this salad that probably would have been pretty good except the dressing part of the recipe was inedible (in fact her dressings are always a little weird but this one was actually full on disgusting). The other recipe was for Green Goddess Dip that might not have been so bad if it hadn't actually been green and if I wasn't already obsessed with the Melting Pot's version of the dip which tastes almost nothing like this one did. But I digress. What I was really going to say was that for people who aren't, you know, aspiring gourmet chefs her recipes are easy and tasty. And (huzzah) only take about 45 minutes (30 minutes, my ass like I'm that fast at chopping stuff) to make which for people who can't figure out what they want to eat until it's actually time to cook dinner, very helpful. Plus a lot of her recipes include the side dishes so you don't even have to think about that. Whole meals in one recipe including when you should start working on the side = awesome! Anywho for dinner last night we made Spanish Style Chicken with Mushroom-Chorizo Sauce and Butter-Herb Potatoes. Delicious. See visual proof.