Archive for the category ‘Other’

First Full Week

By Brit

This is the fourth of five days in the first full 40 hour week I’ve ever worked. I’m not doing too terrible, I mean, everyone does this, it can’t be that hard, right? I’m not going to lie, I can’t wait to do NOTHING this weekend.

My camera broke last night. Yeah. I’m pretty sad, as you can imagine. So, until it gets fixed/a new one is bought, I’m going to put the 365 project on hold. I could take pictures with my regular point and shoot camera, but the reason I wanted to do the project was so that I could learn more and more about my DSLR. So, yeah, suck.

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This entry was posted on March 4th, 2010 under Other.

First Day: Down

By Brit

I made it through my first day, and although we didn’t actually eat the dinner I cooked, I baked some manicotti for the freezer (we had another batch of it last night for dinner, two nights in a row is a bit much). I let Matt take me out for dinner tonight to celebrate the new job (I’m not sure how many times we can celebrate it, but it’s so awesome, I’m sure we’ve got at least another one in us).

So far tonight: Luce has had a bath, I’ve baked manicotti, done 2 loads of laundry, taken umpteen pictures around the house for today’s 365 picture, and oh, my ASS is killing me. Yeah, that kind of killing me again. I am NOT impressed.

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This entry was posted on February 22nd, 2010 under Other.

Ginny’s Hummous

By Brit

I made Ginny’s recipe for hummous today. It’s absolutely fantastic. It’ll be my last batch of hummous for awhile though, as my blender blended it’s last batch of hummous. It was a sad day for about 2 minutes until I realized that means I get to get a new blender (or! maybe a food processor instead). Decisions, decisions. What blender do you use? Would you rather use a food processor?

Ginny's Hummous

Ginny’s Hummus

1 cup chick peas, drained
⅓ cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon garlic
⅓ cup tahini
3 tablespoons water
pinch of salt

Drain liquid from can of chick peas. Add water and drain again.

In blender, put lemon juice, garlic, salt, tahini, chick peas and part of water. Blend on low. Stir around with rubber spatula. Blend on medium or high adding water for desired thickness.

At this point, also taste for salt and lemon.

Serve in bowl and garnish with paprika and chopped parsley.

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This entry was posted on February 21st, 2010 under Other.

Something New

By Brit

Monday I start my new job. It’s the first job that I’ll work 40 hours a week. It’s my first real job. I’m scared to death.

The two years I spent as a flight attendant were amazing. It was a job, I just don’t know if I can call it a real job. I sat at home for days on end while “working” waiting to be called. It was awesome at the time, but I don’t get anything done while sitting around the house. Some of the time, I traveled the world; most of the time, I sat on my couch. It was an amazing opportunity, but I didn’t want to be on reserve (the sitting around waiting for a call part) the rest of my life. Getting a schedule to fly was a good 10 years away, probably even more with the merger. The life on reserve combined with the illness, and subsequent surgeries,  I had while flying made me stop. I miss it sometimes. I miss traveling most. I’d give quite a bit to go to Amsterdam again.

Anyways, Monday starts my new job. Well, ok, the five weeks of training before I start my new job at the hospital. I’m nervous. I can’t lie. I’ve never had a job that was five days a week, eight hours a day. It’s daunting. How am I going to keep up with the laundry? How am I going to make dinner every night? Am I really going to pack my lunch everyday and not succumb to the crappy hospital cafeteria? I sure as hell hope so.

Matt’s still working from home, so he’ll be a help with the laundry (ok, I’m really hoping on that one). His idea of a cooked meal is a frozen meal (there’s totally nothing wrong with that, but it’s not what I want to eat every night when I get home from work) or a pasta/rice side (again, not what I want to eat every night). I’m really hoping that this will get him to want to cook more, it’s a big wish, but maybe someday it’ll happen.

I know that I can spend a good chunk of time over the weekend preparing and freezing meals, and I know that a sandwich is a perfectly acceptable dinner … but I want to make the big dinners and I don’t want to go out to eat six times a week. I want to be able to make up new recipes. I want to make amazing things. I just don’t know how that all fits in with this new working thing. I know people do it, and they really excel at it. I just don’t know how I’m going to do it. It’s a lot to do, and but if I actually try it can’t be too bad, right?

Pretty much, all I’m going to do this weekend is worry. Awesome.

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This entry was posted on February 20th, 2010 under Home, Other.

I Have A Problem …

By Brit

10/365

I used my muffin tin last weekend to make my french bread crusty. I found a tip (which seems to have disappeared now) on The Kitchn that said if you want to make your french bread crustier you can fill a muffin tin with water and it’ll crisp it nice. It didn’t work. The bread was alright crispy, not the best crispy ever.

I learned my lesson. Muffin tins are used for muffins and cupcakes and the cutest little meatloaf cups ever. Not for water when making french bread.

So, now the problem … is the pan still safe? I found (through Aparna) that you can use potatoes to clean it, or baking soda.

Those are all well and good, but did I just buy a crap pan? I don’t know.

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This entry was posted on February 19th, 2010 under Other.

It’s Been Busy

By Brit

This week has been incredibly busy for me not working, yet. I start on Monday. I have an orientation at the hospital Thursday. It’s been a nice break not working, but I’m not sure how I’m going to juggle all of the new things I’ve been doing lately, and working. Other people do it, I can’t imagine that I won’t be able to.

Yesterday, I bought an external hard drive for my MacBook. I’ve been getting into photography A LOT more lately and I didn’t want all of my photos clogging up my laptop, so I bought the next best thing.

I was so excited to get the external hard drive (to me, it was the first real step in becoming more of a photographer). I got one that wasn’t a portable one. The external hard drive being non-portable meant that I was going to have to set up a desk. I had a desk set up in the basement, but it’s COLD down there! Ok, not always, but it’s 2 floors away from everything and everyone else. I convinced Matt to move the guest bed to the basement room and then I could bring my desk up. It is an awesome set up. Someday, I’ll even take pictures of it.

So that takes us to yesterday afternoon, when Ginny tells me that my new lens has FINALLY been delivered to her house. I met her half way between Ann Arbor and Toledo in Dundee (at the Russell Stover outlet, where else?!) and forgot my camera. Big surprise. At least I remembered to wear my bra … oh wait, I didn’t remember that either. I did get some amazing pictures with the new lens (a 50mm, f/1.8 AF) and I am IN LOVE WITH IT. I’m serious, it couldn’t be more perfect. Someday I’ll actually get around to taking AND posting some pictures.

Today has been spent returning the external hard drive that wouldn’t work with my Macbook (yeah, I was pissed), shopping for some new work clothes, checked out where my orientation is on Thursday (have you seen the U of M’s hospital campus? CRIPES!) and taken the Macbook back to the Apple Store (for the second time in a month) because its hard drive was on the fritz.

I ended up walking out of the mall with a new hard drive this afternoon and shortly after opening my computer back up to get to “work,” I realized I DIDN’T HAVE A GODDAMN THING THAT I NEEDED ON IT. Ok, I saved the pictures to the new external. I saved some songs. I saved my resume. I didn’t save anything else. I’ll be the first to admit I’m the dumbest dumb-fuck around today. I pretty much curled up in a ball and cried for a half hour because I didn’t have my RSS feeds, my bookmarks, MY RECIPES, and a whole bunch of other crap that I thought was inconsequential. So, pretty much. Fuck me. For the next 3 days, I’m going to be trying to get back everything I had before.

I learned my lesson, eh?

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This entry was posted on February 16th, 2010 under Other.

10 Things

By Brit

Taking a cue from some other bloggy-people, I’ve made my list of the 10 things I can, but don’t want to, live without:

1. the love of my life
2. my little furry-babies
3. my friends and family
4. waking up to cold puppy noses
5. watching EVERY single Tigers game with my Cakes
6. crusty bread.
7. cheese.
8. my rss feeds
9. buffalo wings
10. my camera

What are the things you can, but don’t want to, live without?

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This entry was posted on February 13th, 2010 under Other.

SNOW-MAGEDDON!

By Brit

It snowed a lot on the East Coast over the past weekend (oh how I wish I was there!). Finally!!! Tomorrow, we’re supposed to get our own snow storm in Michigan. Ok, as of right now, the Ann Arbor area only has a Storm Watch (COME ON WARNING!) and I am STOKED. I can’t wait for tomorrow and Wednesday. Ugh.

I LOVE snow. I miss Muskegon where it’d snow almost every day. I don’t know why there’s so much of a difference in the 160 miles between Muskegon and Ann Arbor. It’s a pain in my ass. Even in Kalamazoo, when I was there for college, it snowed all the freaking time. I loved it. I hated it when I would de-ice airplanes and crap, but pretty much everything about snow makes me excited.

I love the waking up to the first snow of the season, especially when it’s unexpected.

I love drinking hot cocoa watching the snow fall.

I love that it’s cloudy ALL day when it snows.

I love warm, homemade food when it snows.

Basically, I LOVE SNOW. I can’t wait for tomorrow. I’m hoping there’s a good opportunity for pictures to be taken in the sn0wy-ness that I’m anticipating.

For now, I’ll leave you this picture, it’s about the most snow we’ve had fall at one time this year (how unfortunate!).

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This entry was posted on February 8th, 2010 under Other.

Around A2

By Brit

Today I went to downtown Ann Arbor for the first time. Ok, it wasn’t the absolute first time, I’d been there before, mostly it was just driving to No Thai or going to lunch with Ginny. Honestly, though, I hadn’t spent any amount of time there. I finally convinced Matt to go today while some friends were in town (perfect way to get him down there because he hates it there).

After parking in the PARKING STRUCTURE (which apparently is the weirdest thing I’ve ever said) we made our way down Main Street and then I saw this …

Then, across the street I saw people making ice sculptures, little did I know it was a theme all down Main Street and there was one right behind me in front of the Moosejaw store.

It was pretty awesome. I had my camera in my pocket the whole time (yeah, I didn’t think to bring the goooood camera – STRIKE ONE) but it was absolutely SO freezing (at a balmy 20°F, not including the wind) that I couldn’t bare to bring it out because I’d have to take my gloves off (they’re wayyyy too clumsy for any picture taking) and hold up the group to take any pictures. So I wish I had taken more pictures, but there’s always the spring and summer when it’s actually warmer (Aparna even agreed to go on a picture taking walk with me). I was ridiculously jealous of all the yuppies walking around with their Canon DSLR’s hanging off their neck (no lie, didn’t see one Nikon; therefore, Canon must be the DSLR of choice of yuppies).

We walked around downtown and got warm beverages from a certain coffee shop. The barista was absolutely the worst person working at a coffee shop ever. I asked for a Orange something-or-another Hot Tea. When it was given to me (like five minutes later), it had all this cream and crap in it. I ordered hot tea. Why the hell did it take five minutes to put a tea bag into a cup and fill it with hot water. Not only did it take that long, I’m fairly sure we were overcharged and all three employees were too busy worrying about nothing I wasn’t offered a refund. I figured I’d take care of it later.

So we went out walking again down Liberty Street and I saw this shop that was $15 and under AND fair trade. Awesome! I was so excited to go in and see what they had. As soon as I walked in the door, I was accosted by this woman wanting “to hold my coffee until I was done shopping.” First of all, it was keeping my hands warm. Second, nothing in this shop cost more than $15 (I would have more than graciously like an idiot paid if I had ruined something). Third, I’M A FUCKING ADULT. Seriously. I don’t need some hippy grabbing my tea from me as soon as I walk in. It’s like someone asking to hold your backpack when you’re in high school and you walk into a convenience store because they’re convinced you’re going to steal something. We left the store fairly quickly, but unfortunately, it was an awesome shop I’ll probably go to again (though, next time I’ll make sure I have a water bottle in my purse that I pull out and start drinking in the shop).

There was a Michigan basketball game this afternoon so it was ridiculously busy, but we walked around a bit, saw the city and the campus and now we’re braving the cold again to go to Palm Palace. I can’t wait!

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This entry was posted on January 30th, 2010 under Other.

Lucy’s Necklace

By Brit

Today I went to IKEA. It was um, a pilgrimage. I love it there. Seriously. Two hours and more than I should have spent later, I have a lot of things to chipper up the house. I finally finished the downstairs bathroom and I’ll have pictures later on, but I right now I have to show you this:

The most adorable dog necklace around. She looks ridiculously cute wearing it!

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This entry was posted on January 28th, 2010 under Other, Pets.