Herbalicious

So, now that I've turned into a 40 year-old suburban mother sans children, I decided to exert all extra energy into my plants. (Is there such a thing as a plant lady and if so, is that as big of a turn off as a cat lady?) I really enjoy planting.  Countless times, I walked in on my mom stroking her hydrangea tenderly and my gran confessing her love to a budding rose.  Needless to say, this attraction runs deep in the fam (Tidbit: Mom and Gran both love dark eyed, dark haired studs).

One of my first edible experiments was an herb pot garden (if has 5 different herbs growing. IMO this constitutes a garden).  From this herb garden, Matthew made us a Caprese Grilled Cheese and I mixed us up a delicious Mintade.

Caprese Grilled Cheese

Uh, duh… Caprese ingredients (fresh mozzarella, basil, tomato, cracked pepper, and drizzle of balsamic) all sliced up and slapped between two pieces of bread (your choice, we used thick multigrain) and grilled to perfection.

The sandwich was EXTREMELY tasty and I’d love to eat it again.. which we will have lest our yard to be taken over by basil monsters. The Mintade was DELICIOUS.  I purposely planted mint in my garden for mojitos (I do not have a problem). There’s just nothing that screams Summa’ Summa’ Summatime better than a cold mojito sipped through a straw or Sangria or a Keg (I do not have a problem).  Anyways, Matthew recently attempted to make a homemade Margarita.. eh, it was drunkening and not in a good way so we both feared what would come of my muddling.

Mintade

About 6 mint leaves for each glass (you can tell from the image our glasses are bigger.. about 2 cups)

Muddle the mint with a splash of lemonade

Ice

Rum (We used Myer’s – “yam on”)

Simply Lemonade

Be sure to stir when finished

So I've been cooking.... without meat....

Recently, I was an unemployed mid-twenty something in a totally unfamiliar territory.  So, I took on cooking dinner to make me feel as if I had some use in the world.  I somehow managed to convince my love that vegetarian was the way to go.  I believe that this meat eater's willingness to consume hamburgers made out of beans, meatballs made out of zucchini and broccoli as a main course was his attempt to keep me from crying more than I have while I attempted to become acclimated to child-free suburban living.  These are my adventures.

Lover of all things once walking.

Fancy Giant Eagle, not so fancy carts.

So, I ventured over to the fancy Giant Eagle in Shady Side.. with its fancy people, fancy elevators, fancy ethnic foods, fancy cheeses and fancy carts (well, a self locking cart isn't tooo fancy, I guess) because I wanted to get stuff from their olive bar (I love my friends too much to let them eat anything off South Side Giant Eagle's olive bar.. well honestly, I love myself too much for that).  So I gathered my things including olives off the olive bar which I must say was fantastic because I openly ate olives while I filled my container not feeling guilty one bit.  I also felt that this made up for the fact they were out of my milk, Silk plain light soy milk.  Seriously, how many people do you know that are lactose intolerant??? Drinking soy milk isn't a trend, people.  Leave it for the ones who really need it you fricking hippies.  (done ranting)
When done shopping, I pushed my cart to my prime parking spot (not in the fancy garage). There was an empty prime parking spot right beside me that some woman in a van wanted.  Although I was clearly busy with the door swung open and the cart there, I'm nice so I decided I'd move... well the cart that worked 2 minutes (not even) before refused to move.  "Hmm," I thought.  I pushed again to no avail.  I became immediately angry flailing the cart all over in an attempt to get it to move. Pushing forward pulling back.. all with a scowl on my face.
 I threw my arms up in the air saying perhaps loudly enough for the woman to hear, "What they hell do you want me to do, lady?!" as I continually pushed and shoved the cart with wheels that no longer turned.  After what seemed like 5 minutes of this (which it may have been seeing how I kept throwing my arms in the air shooting glares at the woman as the man in the car behind him slapped his knee in delight) I pushed the cart far enough away that the woman could park in her spot.  What I didn't realize is that I had drawn a crowd of people laughing at my misfortune.  I couldn't help but laugh myself... once the woman exited her car from her prime parking spot that I had provided her by sacrificing my own sweat, blood and tears to get (slight exaggeration), she apologized (yes, she probably heard me cursing at her) and I assured her it wasn't her fault but that darn cart's fault!  The crowd of people laughing at me continued to watch.  When I finished putting my bags away, I again attempted to push the cart into the cart holder hicky ma doodle.  No luck.  Some stranger started howling, "The wheels are locked!! You know what you do when that happens! You tilt it back and you just drag it!" "You've done this before, I see... I bet you stole many a shopping carts in your days didn't you?" I thought with a kind smile on my face.  Some other young woman offered to do it for me while a few other strangers chuckled. "I'm so f'ing glad you all are enjoying this," I thought.  I thanked the woman and went on my way but I'm still left wondering... why the hell did the wheels of my cart lock IN the parking lot.  No, seriously?  I'm calling Giant Eagle to complain.

Things I've learned through 25 years of experience.

A cluttered space leads to a cluttered mind.
Sweating makes you feel good.
Not everyone will like you and that's okay.
Sometimes you have to be selfish and do what's best for you.
Reading does make you smarter.
What those who love you think matters more than those who don't.
What you're passionate about may pay peanuts and yes, that sucks (but @ least you're doing what you love).
Take criticism and learn from it.
You're never too old to call mom when you're upset.
People remember the nice things you do even if they don't tell you that.
Make time for friends.
Life is a learning process.... there's no regrets just growth.

My 11 Commandments

1. Prioritize and conquer.
2. Remember your Ps and Qs.
3. Enjoy the sun.
4. Really listen when people are speaking.  Especially if you love them.
5. Do it now.  Not later.
6. Moisturize every single day at least once.
7. Be yourself.
8. Don't sweat small things.
9. Appreciate everything.
10. Do one nice thing everyday.
11. Love who you are.

Love, the most complicated thing in the world

The love of your life.

The man of your dreams.

Your one and only.

Your soul mate.

Your true love.

So often people throw these phrases around but I think until you've really fallen in love like for real for real in love in love with the person your destined to be with, you just don't understand.  Sounds funny right, coming from a 25 year-old.  I laugh when I hear myself saying such corny things to be honest....  You would think that if love is so meant to be... it wouldn't be so hard to make happen.  

I met the man of my dreams in March of 2006. On spring break.  I kid you not.  Sounds like one of those love at first sight moments... I've been drinking since I woke up at 11a.m. dressed in the clothes I wore the night before complete with spilled liquor on my shirt, I don't remember when the last time I ate was I think it was a hotdog two days ago?? and anti-sunscreen me has a severe sunburn.  Instead of hearing birds chirping in the background, I heard people screaming "Woo," "Yeah," and "Chug it!"  The epitome of romantic, trust me, I know. 

The moment I caught said man checking out my butt, I knew he was special.  I don't remember our first words or pretty much anything we discussed those next few days that we hung out (alcohol may have been involved...) but I remember liking this boy A LOT.  

He's even comparable to my knight in shining armor having saved me from potential danger when I insisted on stumbling back the two miles to my hotel BY MYSELF to ensure my besty was still alive.  I really thought all 100 pounds of me could fight off anything, rapist, murder or even a rabid dog.  I still think like this btw. A true gentlemen by anyone's standards.  

It's funny though, who would have thunk that anything could come of a crush from spring break.  The day that I left Ft. Lauderdale, I was overwhelmed with sadness.  A weird sadness.  I only met this strange boy two days earlier but I was really sad to say a goodbye forever.  He didn't want to hug me goodbye and I became pretty upset until he explained, "I hate saying goodbye."  I took that as a sign that he was feeling slightly sad too....  After returning to PA, Florida boy and I became pretty close friends trough facebook, IM, and eventually the phone.  Thank you technology!

It was kind of a miracle when he had a job interview in Ohio and was able drive to PA and see me in person (330 some days later).  It was even a nicer and a bigger miracle when Florida boy became Ohio boy and I then moved to Pittsburgh (the west side of PA) to earn my Masters.  Our relationship was moving forward from 20 hours to 6 hours to 4!

But it stopped.  Somehow between the years of 2006 and 2007, we managed to cut our distance five times... since then, well we haven't.  

I find this frustrating.  

Maybe I'm partially to blame.  I'm a fond believer in all those annoying sayings people like to say when you're upset: Everything happens for a reason, If it's meant to be, it'll be, etc.  I find these sayings to be inhibitors. They make it okay to give up because it's out of your control.. so you stop trying quite so hard... maybe that's my problem... I then find myself talking crazy, "Well maybe, maybe it's just not meant to be."  I usually know when to slap some sense back into myself, thank goodness.

I also believe in a supreme being who can fuck with you whenever He damn well pleases.  Thus my avid church going every single Sunday and the dollar bill I slip into the collection.  Alas, this has yet to be successful... Perhaps $20 will get better results?!

How long must two people go on proving their love for one another before something else good happens for them?  The hardest part is, I don't find myself loving this boy less each day because of the distance. Most of the time at least.  4 hours is a super long drive.  And, I hate hate hate driving.  Rather each day, he says something or does something or even just makes a stupid noise that makes me love him so much more.  Every time I learn something new about him, I find another reason to keep him as my own.  

Because I do believe in God, please let Him know that you too think Matthew and I should be together.  Or hey, if you know of a place in Pittsburgh looking for a handsome engineer or even just an engineer.. let him know!

These are a few of my least favorite things

When I get on the bus first thing in the morning, the last thing I want to do is talk to someone.  I'm confused why not everyone feels this way.  There are these people, these people who build relationoships with others on the bus so that each day then can be like, "Hey, how was your night?!" and gab about their boring evening of spaghettia and American Idol the entire way downtown.  Do you really care about what they ate last night or how many hours of television they watched, really? Granted, it's only like a 1.5 mile ride, but still... have you no courtesy for your fellow bus riders?? To you people, please stop.  Your conversations are so dry they make me gag.  Save discussing how you cooked wheat noodles as opposed to the typical white for the ride home.  Or even better yet, talk about something more interesting say... the girl fight you saw on the corner, or the man picking his nose in front of you.  Perhaps then, I would try to listen in on your converstation rather than turning the volume on my Ipod up so high, I can feel my eardrums popping.  

Other things I hate..... women who carry more than two bags with them to work.  In my opinion, even two is one too many but I guess some women find it necessary to have a messenger bag AND a purse.  But, a third bag... really.... is that necessary.  What could you possibly be carrying in that third bag that cannot touch the contents of the other two?  Perhaps, the idea of your potato salad spilling onto your shoes is gross.... but you can definatly fit that lunch pail inside one of the other bags.  I promise.  And, did I mention that these bags these women carry do not match??  They carry all these muli-colored, different patterned bags that bring to mind Joseph and his amazing coat.  They do not look good together, obviously.  I just got the greatest idea, invest in a larger bag!!  A bag that can carry everything (your lunch, shoes, books, papers, and heck... maybe even a pair of gym shorts!!)

Jessica Abel.... solving the world's problems one at a time.