new town’s resolutions

Just Moved to the big city of Austin. and wow! am I ever subsequently lost and found!  I am found, in that I am trying to be as honest as possible with this new scene.  and on a less introspective note, I have access to a crap-ton of local food! WOOT!

I am lost, in that I have lost my sneaky food-buying tricks.  I know my old grocery store used to mark down their overripe produce at the end of the week. I knew which bakeries marked down day-old baguettes to 50 cents.  The places around here get all ethical and donate their old food to people who can’t afford it. Effing social effing Responsibility.

So…. New town offers the opportunity to create new habits.  The new goal is to cook more meals at home, and cook in-season as much as possible because those items will be cheaper as they are more accessible. The hubby is completely supportive of the cooking at home goal, as well as the cooking in-season goal.  I’m slowly chipping away at his love for pre-packaged snacks, but I think as I am able to replace sugary snacks with things higher in fiber and flavor, hopefully our tastes will slowly evolve.

And just to prove I’m not a completely hypocritical bastard… my 2010 goal is to swap out all the hot chocolate drinking for hot tea.  I can put as much sugar in it as I want… but it’s healthier, less expensive and creates less waste.  so hopefully this small switch will prove beneficial.

I found this rockin’ slow-cooker blog, and anyone who owns a slow cooker knows how easy they make cooking at home.

I’m making curry loosely based on this lady’s recipe, but using my own veggies, and soymilk instead of coconut milk (because that’s what I have).  I’ll cook it overnight tonight, so it will be ready in the morning and we can take it to work (another new effort, brown bagging it!).

pretty…

No observations, discussions or complaints here.

I was online searching for “manly christmas ornaments” (of which there are few) and somehow ended up looking at this guy’s work:

It’s like, editorial fashion-meets pop art -meets… ahhh…

I LOVE it.

How to find a coffeeshop that sells decent beer

Hey loves,

Trust me here, after having been a shortcut-savvy townie all of my life, and now being the new kid in a town full of new kids, I have figured out my favorite way to get around this colorful city… ask.

The three little words that will almost guarantee awesome pizza, shopping, deals, etc. are this: “what’s your favorite?”  Who doesn’t love to talk about their favorite things?  It’s really helped me find some cool places that would have taken me ages to find otherwise,  annnddd…. someone talking about their favorite pizza just might start to crave it, and then you guys could, like HANG OUT!?!??

There are obvious flaws in this logic… I’m gonna ask a girl who shares my taste in arts and music where she likes to drink wine. I’m gonna ask my frugal but fit coworker where she works out (because gyms are expensivveee!!!).  If I ask the same of a collagen stuffed forty-something rocking Ed Hardy at Central Market… well I wouldn’t because she’s probably feeling a different “scene” than I.

God’s been good to me this month;  I’ve found cool people almost by accident, and I think they like me…. they really like my moody ass! Also, Lady Gaga’s album has been the motivation I needed to get my butt working out, and we have a lease on the cutest duplex ever.  We’re moving in on Wed and I hope I don’t lose my mind among the boxes.  Thankfully, If I need a drink, a new friend told me where all the dive bars are

I hate emma from Fox’s “Glee”… but that’s not what this post is about.

Hey there bitches and bros,

In case you have been completely out of touch with me (which is possible- all my loved ones know how hard it is to get me on the phone) or aren’t really my friend and just stalking me (hi!!) you probably hate me for not blogging.  I did in fact move to the big city of Austin.  I also moved in with some wonderfully kind people because I started work the week before thanksgiving, and the hubby A had 3 weeks left before he was going to start his new job down here.

I miss sex.

*ahem*

Sorry, I started to say I missed sharing and caring on the couch after work… but somehow that just slipped out.

Stay tuned for more great stuff about how much cooler Austin is than wherever YOU live.

Love found when you don’t expect it

Went to central Cali last week.  I absolutely love the perfect 80 degree Mediterranean climate. I covet these people’s perfect agricultural landscape.   I knew they had vineyards, and orchards, but had NO idea about the olive industry.

While wandering through a farmer’s market with hubby A and the in-laws I spied that unmistakable silhouette;  a bar, row of bottles with pour spouts, and a little stack of cups.  OH! My brain went off, We are in California AND THERE ARE BOTTLES! THERE IS WINE OVER THERE!!!!

I grabbed A’s arm and nonchalntly jerked my head towards the potential wine tasting.  He, being almost as “spidey sensitive”  for finding vino as I am, picked up on my smooth signals and headed towards the setup.

“hello there!” said the woman behind the bottles “what do you know about olive oil?”

Eh?

So we participated in an olive oil tasting.  I’d never done that before, and OH WOW! I LOVE OLIVE OIL!!!

I learned that dark extra virgin olive oil (Rachel Ray’s “EVOO”) and the lighter olive oil have very different tastes.  Additionally, much like wine, different olives make for different tasting products.

Since that tasting I’ve been thinking about using my new knowledge in the kitchen.  Tonight I sauteed some garlic, fresh basil and veggies in “EVOO” and mixed it in with whole wheat Pasta (Something like this).  After dinner A tried to jump my bones in the kitchen.

I think I have a new favorite dish.

 

Happy Halloween

Sooo…. I’ve been youtubing some good halloween music videos to get in the Spirit

Last night  guy told me I looked like Siouxsie Sioux from the post-punk band Siouxsie & the Banshees.  Dude! what an awesome complement! Siouxsie is Like Karen O’s bad-ass big sister. So we’ll start off with some vintage Banshees.

I found this Rasputina Video by searching “creepy music videos” on Youtube.  DUDE.  I am now going to Itunes and downloading this album.

Rammenstein is fucking creepy. It’s good music and definitely NSFW- especially if your boss speaks German.

And finally, I hate Nick Cave.  he is a bastard.  This video rocks though.

Wine ain’t the only thing improving with age

I realized something yesterday.  I’m aging.  nothing wrong with that because with age comes wisdom.  the stupid aging phobia ransacking all the reasonable *snicker* people in this country is embarrassing.

I remember being a teen, swooning over the likes of Heath Ledger and not understanding how an “old guy” could have a Gavin Rosdale/Heath Ledger/Brandon Boyd caliber of sway over women. George Clooney? meh. Harrison Ford? Ahhh… only as Han Solo. I had a vague professor crush in college, but that was more “just to see what it was like”.

However, I have entered a new stage in life.  I have to sympathize with those attracted to older gentlemen.  I was watching a preview for an upcoming HBO special, and I noticed something:

Jon Bon Jovi is pretty dang adorable.

Not here though:

EEP!!!!

snakeskin spandex AND Hi-tops.  Age can have the possibility being a really good thing for your appearance.

With age comes wisdom.  And if that were in a fortune cookie: “with age comes Wisdom, in bed.”

posting for the sake of posting to maintain the habit of posting

According to the website “43 Things” I am a

“Healthy Tree Hugging Reinventer”

Whatever the fuck that means.

I think I should make a “personality quiz”  and after answering mundane questions like “do you eat breakfast?” and “what do you do for a living?” the quiz will spit out nonsensical answers like: “you eat cat with seven!” or “you will marry sandwich red chakra!”

Life is a personality quiz. bitch.

(p.s. if you know the Gilbert brothers, imagine them saying that last sentence.  That’s what I did when I wrote it.)

..that’s not my name

I’m not usually interested in momversations as they usually have to do with, well, mommy issues.  However, when I do watch them I always come away wanting to apply makeup and talk into a wecam.

This most recent momversation addresses a discussion I’ve had with several folks, taking your husband’s last name (they also sling the word ‘feminist’ around which drives me nuts).  There are plenty of bigger decisions a lady makes in her life, but reasoning behind the name change is always personal and interesting.

Me? I took A’s name for several reasons, and most of them boil down to this:  I am a lazy butt. I felt like it would be easiest to make the transition to married life on paper if we both shared a last name. Also, I’m happy with  his last name, I like it.

A and I wanted to make our own family when we married each other.  Our sharing a last name gives us a sense of unity, and when/if we have a kid, we will have a family name that we all share.

On the flipside, I wasn’t excessively attached to my maiden name.  My sister and I don’t have the same last name anymore, and we are just as close. If someone can’t find me because I changed my last name… well, I probably don’t want them to find me!  Yay for free pass to hide from the highschool boyfriends!

Any reasons why you would/wouldn’t make the name change?

Why I drink after work

I was repping for my animal welfare group today and met an elderly lady who had adopted a dog from our shelter.  “great!” I said, and proceeded to try to give her a voucher for a free vet visit… *TRIED* to give away *FREE* vet visit and medication. I gave her the number for the five bajillion dallas vets she can pick from, and then I helped her find the vet closest to her house.  She responded with: “well you call and make me an appointment”.

“No maam, I can’t call for you, but once you get home just call these folks at your leisure, and let them know who you are and that you want a checkup”

“no, I’m old. You do it.”

“well m’aam, I’m not allowed to make appointments for you-”

“YOU MAKE EVERYTHING DIFFICULT!!!!!!”

“I just gave you a voucher for $600 worth of free veterinary care for your dog. I’m not allowed to have your personal information…”

“I hope one day you are OLD and that someone is this CRUEL to YOU! YOU are not CAPABLE OF LOVE!!!!”

“Okay… well, I circled this phone number….”

at this point the old woman just pushes her grocery cart off muttering to herself.

A cashier came by later to ask me if I was ok, because that lady was sure screaming. I shrugged and acted out the aforementioned scenario.  The cashier cracked up. Between breaths she gasped out : “she just tried to share Jesus with me at the register”.