I just ate the biggest gyro down at Giovanti's, way more food than I should have eaten but it was pretty darn good. Late dinner tonight at Cafe Luna so it's all good. The folks should be in around 7pm and I need to grab some groceries before they come. Probably won't get a chance to update until the weekend is done and they've gone home.

Gamera Gabs: CU Blogger Meetup

Hey, available bloggers locally, meetup at Esquire this evening starting at 5pm. Be there or be square. (I have to be square unfortunately due to complicated weeknight schedules).

Gamera Gabs: CU Blogger Meetup

I just ate a big plate of leftover fruit from a conference we had today. Cantelope, watermelon, honeydew, pineapple and grapes. Can I just say I L-O-V-E summer fruit (and veggies really)? Give me those, some peaches, nectarines and various berries (strawberries, raspberries and blueberries especially) or some fresh asparagus, tomatoes and pattypan squash and I'm one happy girl in the summer. Then comes fall, rolling along with it's hard rind squash varieties, pears, apples and oranges and I'm just not digging it much.

And you would think with my love of fruits and veggies it would be simple to maintain a girlish figure, but no, I love chocolate and beer just as much. Often, I enjoy them at the same time.

Meh.

The bed is up and I found a cheap set of sheets and comforter for it that I like ok. Not great but certainly sufficient for a guest bed. Now I just have to find other things to fill out the room and match the bed decently (like replacing the white wood bookcase and computer desk I have from high school), fix the ceiling and paint the walls. Hey, at least my guests will have a real bed now!

I just love this new blog I stumbled across today: This Just In. Blogrolled to share (she also has a food blog I've been reading). Yeah for awesome local blogging girls!

Warning: Rant ahead.

If you use a public bathroom facility and you can't seem to actually get your pee into the toilet, for the love of all that is good WIPE YOUR OWN PISS OFF THE TOILET SEAT and don't assume the person coming in after you wants to do it for you.

That is all.

Does everyone have that one room in their house where everything "else" goes when it has no designated spot? I swear, even after five years, just last week I finally got around to moving all the stuff out of there (and to the basement, hey, it's a step in the process) so I could actually make my guest bedroom useable. Then I bought a bed (woot!) and nightstand for it (okay, mostly because the folks are visiting next weekend and I cringed at them sleeping on the sleeper sofa again). The room looks like crap still because I need to paint it and fix the ceiling, but hey, at least it's going to be a real bedroom. It only took me five years to get to that point.

Now, the situation involving the lightswitch turning off the computer plug is still to be rectified in there. Will try and hash that one out tonight. Stupid old electrical stuff.

Here's the new bed and nightstand, which I LOVE. Now I just need some new comforter and sheets and we're good to go. I was thinking that I wanted something cool and asian or indian inspired and then to paint the walls dark red or purple but I have to admit I like the clean and simple look in these pictures. Off to Macy's and Penneys tonight to see what I can find on sale.

Potentially wicked weather today, so stay safe everyone. The set up is much like the March tornado outbreak, which was a bad one.

-the weather geek

This week's veggie share crop:

onions
tomatoes (cherry, yellow grape, green zebra and some funky fuzzy yellows)
radishes
spring salad lettuce mix
broccoli
garlic
leeks
colored bell peppers
celery

They say we're getting ready to have some winter squash varieties and maybe some potatoes soon with the cooler weather. Only 6 more weeks of the share for this year (boo!).

Like a virgin, tagged for the very first time

My first time being tagged for a meme comes from Chicken and Cheese, who wants to know my Top 10 Favorite TV Characters of all time. This one is a little hard for me, but I'll give it a go (in no particular order), knowing that I really only started watching regular TV in the last year or two. Now, if had been Top 10 Movie Characters I'd have been all set. :)

1. Adrian Monk (Monk)- I love him. He is me and I am him (you know, except for the whole private detective thing...). I have many a "Monk moment".

2. Jim (The Office)- OK, this man and his secretary are totally me and the hubster in our early days at a certain insurance company we both worked for. Does anyone NOT watch this and root for them each week to get together?

3. Tommy Gavin (Rescue Me)- Dennis Leary, first of all, hello? And his character is so witty and insanely likable. I just adore him on this show.

4. Dr. Perry Cox (Scrubs)- Again, maybe I just like rough around the edges people with abrasive demeanor but a good heart, but this character does it for me again and again. And, can I just add.... HILARIOUS.

5. Jason and Grant (Ghost Hunters)- the paranormal intriques me in general and Jason and Grant keep me scared and laughing at the same time on this show. It spooks me, but they are totally awesome when they prank people on the team during an investigation.

6. Chandler (Friends)- I came late to Friends, I admit, watching it mostly via reruns, but I loved Chandler and the way he talked and his dry wit. "I'm Joey, could I BE wearing any more clothes?".

7. Detective Frank Pembleton (Homicide)- this was one of the first series I made a point of being home to see during the week (on Friday nights nonetheless). This character was amazing to watch. He suffered so much and had such close relationships with other characters. Totally captivating.

8. The Rock (WWE)- Yeah, so I'm sort of a male soap opera fan (aka wrestling). I started watching years ago when The Rock was in his heyday and loved the character (People's Eyebrow, People's Elbow, Rock Bottom). I don't watch it as much today but sometimes where there's nothing else on it still shows up on my TV.

9. Steve (Blue's Clues)- OK, busted. This was about the only kid's television I could stomach when the kidlet was wee. Steve was totally cute and sweet and smart and I was aching for just that in a man. Did you know he now has a band (and is still cute)?

10. Trent Lane (Daria)- Oooo, I love the big brother of Daria's best friend. He was in a rock band and ultra cool (piercings anyone?). He was also super-nice to Daria, who secretly crushed on him.

Not sure if she's up to it, but I love her blog and think she's kind of local, so I'm going to try and tag Easily Distracted for this meme next.

So today's local news of the weird...

I just heard that "the La Bamba's guy" was kidnapped and held for ransom for $250K the last few days (now home safe, thank goodness). Which begs the question....

Did they ask for a ransom as big as his head?

Yar! In case ye didn't know already, it be Talk Like a Pirate Day, so be sure to assail all ye scoundrels and wenches with pirate speak on this fine morn!

http://www.talklikeapiratedaycom/

Now avast ye maties!

I just had one of those realizations where you sit down and look at your calendar and realize that you have something going on all month long. We have stuff planned for this coming weekend, three of the four October weekends and are looking at a visit to my folks on the last weekend of Sept. Somehow this always happens to me in October and it still surprises me each year. Go figure.

Another Monday, another dollar. :)

I figured if this is going to be a legitimate foodie blog of sorts, I better start posting some pictures of food I've made, etc. Here's a few previous pics of stuff I've cooked, party layouts we've had, etc. More to come (and don't judge too harsh, food pictures are harder to take than you'd think!).


The first thing we made with the new smoker, whole rainbow trout stuffed with fresh dill, lemon, garlic and olive oil:
















Crab, shrimp, jalepeno and coconut salad with asian pear:
















Thanksgiving appetizers:
















Crab and shrimp red pepper quiches in wonton wrappers:
















Superbowl XL party spread:

















Superbowl XL party spread:

















Christmas spumoni:

















Christmas appetizer (shrimp and cole slaw, king crab):

Easy dinner last night being Friday and all. Hummus and gorgonzola on wheat pitas with cucumber and green olives, as well as fresh tomato and red onion from the share. Fresh pineapple on the side rounded it out. Nice and easy and cool.

Lots of folks down at Hessel this morning tailgaiting for the U of I game. I guess I must have avoided it on my walks previously in the fall, as I never realized it was more than parking for the game. Got an hour and a half of walking in, it's beautiful out this morning. Looking forward to chilling outside a bit today.

Dinner tonight, with a lovely tomato salad thanks to the share!

brown rice and garlic herb shrimp
peas and pearl onions
tomato salad (cherry, yellow pear, green zebra and roma) with balsamic roasted beets, fresh mozzerella and garlic

Dinner last night was SOOO good. Here's the rundown:

onion, mushroom, garlic and parmesan cheese rice cooked with veggie broth
eggplant, zucchini and squash roasted with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder and then tossed with toasted sesame oil
salad with grape tomatoes, yellow pear tomatoes, kalamata olives, roasted asparagus and vidalia onion vinegrette

Me! (just so I can put a pic in my profile)

Three posts for the first day! Just to share, here's what I got in my veggie share this week from the wonderful Tomahnous Farms:

big bunch of fresh basil
mushrooms (shelf-looking, not totally sure what kind)
zucchini
multiple colored peppers
little hot peppers (I'm excited to think they may be the chili bird thai ones)
kale
onions
cherry tomatoes (regular ones and little yellow pear shaped ones)
big regular tomato (they have been fabulous)
garlic

Last week I got celeriac root for the first time and roasted it last night with some red potatoes, garlic and a few leftover radishes (not my favorite, but I hate wasting fresh stuff). It was interesting. Very celery-flavored, but heartier. Not bad, though I might not seek it out regularly. I've heard it's not that cheap, but haven't been to the store to look for myself.

OK, so I'm going to have to take some time figuring out where I want this blog to go but offhand, I can see two major things being focused on here:

1. General life, here, travel, work, day to day stuff, etc.
2. Food. I'm a HUGE foodie. I LOVE food blogs. I like to look at food, eat food, talk about food, cook food, etc. So you'll likely hear a lot of what we are eating, getting in our veggie share, etc.

Other than that, we'll see. :)

Okay, okay, I get it

I get it. I'm living deeply enough in "blogworld" now that I need to create my own. Done. Just give me some time while I figure this out and forgive my learning curve.