Massage.

So I am sitting here at work, relaxing after my first massage in years. I used to have this theory that massages actually made me really, really depressed. I would be in this blissful, relaxed place and then BOOM! I would be transported to reality and it would suck. Because of this theory, I have avoided getting a massage for years. However, my shoulder blade had a huge knot that wasn't going away and I was having trouble moving my neck so I decided that I would give it another shot. Now, I don't really feel that sad..but I hurt pretty bad. She worked some deeper muscle in my shoulder area and I feel like she may have started working on that stupid knot. We shall see...

I also wanted to share that I finally finished the 50 Shades of Grey trilogy that American Women are going goo-goo, ga-ga (is that how you write that?) over. I am sad to say that I blew through them pretty fast and for the most part, enjoyed reading them. At times they could become monotonous and slow because there was a lot of "I love you," "I love you too," "I will never leave you" "etc.etc.," but when the story picked it, I enjoyed it as an easy, semi-dirty read. If you secretly liked twilight, you will probably secretly like this book series(unless you have trouble openly reading about sex...then don't read this book!). Anyways, I am now back to reading some books worth merit. Right now, I just started Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche. She was just at Benaroya Hall in Seattle speaking, and while I didn't get to hear her speak personally a lot of the students that I work with went. So, it was a nice surpise that I was going to read this book next anyways. This will be just one more thing I can talk to them about when the going is slow.

I didn't actually take any pictures of my pita bread so I figured that it would be boring to discuss more baking without any pictures to skim through. In fact, I have been pretty bad at taking pictures so that's why I just googled "cute bunny" and put that picture up instead. I really do love bunnies. I cannot figure out if its because they are REALLY cute animals or if its because they are reminiscent of my childhood. I grew up with bunnies as pets, so now I tend to equate any comfort object with 'bunnies.' My remaining two stuffed animals (yes, two now-two are in the goodwill bag and so technically already given away) are bunnies, and sometimes i call my boyfriend Bunny. :). I dunno. Bunnies are just a source of love, and comfort.

Santa Evita

Aww...shoot--another weekend has come and gone. This weekend was pretty action-packed with lots of activities and sunbathing. However, I still feel unfulfilled because it was Cinco De Mayo weekend and I couldn't get my butt out at night to celebrate! Friday night I didn't get out because I had to wake up early to run the Fiesta 5k Ole (which I did, came in 12th in my division! yay. My pace was 8min41seconds a mile). Saturday, Dustin and I laid down after dinner to talk and relax before heading out to Fremont but we both fell asleep. I woke up in a panic at 11pm, but the night was a bust. Blah. Oh well, besides that minor disappointment I ran my first 5k race since I was a kid, ate some killer street tacos, saw Avengers 3D (it was entertaining), and today I made pita bread and attended book club. More on my pita bread later, I just wanted to share my thoughts on this book that I just finished. 

This is going to be a pretty quick review as I am super tired and need to head to bed. Essentially, this book was about Eva Peron and primarily, what happened to her corpse after she died. First, if you are not familiar with Eva Peron and her rise from rags to riches, you should probably do some background research on her before pursuing this book. You could get by with just watching the Madonna musical, but maybe some quick reading would do you good as well. Anyways, Eva's corpse holds some mysterious power, but in a ghostly sense but also in the sense that she was a really powerful women when she was alive; who holds her corpse ultimately yields more power. The book follows both of these power struggles as her corpse engages with many different characters. Sound Confusing? It was.

I found this book to be interesting at times, but mostly so disjointed that I couldn't really connect with any of the characters. The author inserts himself in and out of the book sporadically, so I had a hard time whether I should be reading it as a non-fiction book, where the author knows all truths, or as a mystery fiction book allowing me to come up with my own hypotheses. He also inserted different documents, such as transcripts and written notes. I felt like I could follow each individual chapters, but not the story as a whole. I would tell people about the book because the subject matter is very interesting, but I did not find this to be a favorite of mine.

Tomas Eloy Martinez actually wrote another book about Eva Peron's life. I want to read more about her, so I might give his other book a try. He clearly is skilled in researching-I just wish that I could have followed his musings better.


Super late for work because I couldn't find my bus pass. (It was in my coat pocket from Friday...duh)

Rachel.

Canning Artichokes

NOTE TO SELF: Before embarking on a canning journey, you should probably learn how to cook the food for real. Also, you should probably not be hungover.

Yesterday, was a series of disasters as I attempted to can a food that I had never actually prepared in real life. Being completely unfamiliar with the artichoke was only part of the problem. First, artichokes have spikes everywhere. Ugh! Second, there are different types of artichokes so writing on your shopping list '6 lbs artichokes' is not sufficient. The recipe called for baby globe, and I bought globe. I am not sure how big of problem this ended up being and I suppose I will never know. Third, artichokes have tufts of hair in the middle of them! This was the biggest surprise of all. I cut this plant in half and a purple flower with hair comes out, it was quite an unexpected sight.

After cutting the artichoke in half, the recipe did not become much easier. The recipe said that I should pull back all the green leaves until I reached the yellow ones. Sounds easy, except my artichokes only had like 10 yellow leaves each (about 20% of the actual plant). So, I was all "that cant be right", and decided to add a bunch of the previous discarded green leaves in.? Now, I am wondering how those super tough green leaves are going to pickle the same as the dainty green ones. Also, what are you supposed to do with the fuzz that is in the inside? I took it out as I couldn't imagine eating it-but why would you not mention in a recipe that an artichoke has a massive, hairy pit and that you should take it out? Anyways, I followed the directions, made some more up, and then put the artichokes in the vinegar/oil mixture.

Yay. Easy. done. Except for the fact that the vinegar fumes gave me a MASSIVE migrane. I mean, it could have been coincidental that I chose to do canning project at the very same time that all drops of 'fireball whiskey' left my body and thus, I was just suffering a normal, alcohol induced headache. But, this one was BAD. I had to leave my canning station, dig around for advil, cry to Dustin, and then resume. Really the whole canning process, took longer than usual. So. with all these new experiences, I did manage to the get the artichokes canned in olive oil and lemon. I am still a little apprehensive about the end result, but I suppose we will see. 

Sorry that I do not have pictures of my canned goods. It really doesn't look that interesting, trust me. I would have taken pictures but I was too busy being upset about my horrible headache. :(. Next project, more carrots! A vegetable I am COMPLETELY comfortable cutting and cooking.

Rachel

I know why the Caged Bird Sings

Finally! Today, I just finished a really great book! At a slower than normal pace (as a result of not being on buses as much as usual, and the coincidental phone call while I am trying to read), I finished I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. Now, I didn't know much about Maya Angelou except that she is popular and inspirational to the African-American community, and intimately knows a lot of famous people like Oprah and the Clintons. I had assumed that her book was going to a story of moving up in society despite all racial/gender hinderances, but done in a way that would make me as a white female disconnected. I mean, I have been reading a fair amount of literature recently written by African-Americans about the past tensions (and blatant explotion) of blacks and whites. While, I try my hardest to empathize and associate myself from the protagonist's point of view, I feel that some authors let me in (as an outsider to the culture, the 'race' and the experience) to the story better than others. In this regard, I felt that Maya Angelou did a great job with her autobiography. She was able to portray the racial tensions and stories that she had witnessed in her childhood, but still relate to my experiences and my personal, coming-of-age tale. Alternatively, through my journey with African-American literature I could just be becoming more aware of the injustices and the history, that with each book it becomes to easier to see the narrator's point of view. I apologize if my thoughts are kind of muddled, I have not done much (or basically anything besides a few conference lectures) on racial history or race in general, so I feel like its hard to articulate my thoughts succinctly or in the most correct way possible.

Anyways, I particularly enjoyed the stories from when Maya was living in San Francisco. I also found her perserverance was extremely inspirational. She also notes her mistakes and her flaws and relates those in her book as well. I will definitely read her second part.

My next book choice is Santa Maria. It is a Latino, fictional story (my favorite!) centered around the tale of Eva Peron and what happened to her after death. Besides that, I don't know much about it-so I will let you know how that goes. :)

Alright! Back to work!
Rachel

Pickled Carrots.

The most gorgeous weekend of the year so far (not much competition there) has come and gone. I had a wonderful weekend starting off with Happy Hour with free 'munchies', doing the Troll Stroll to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis and seeing Cabin in the Woods last night! Meanwhile, getting some color back into my skin and wearing a spring dress without tights for the first time! It was definitely an eventful weekend.

On Sunday, I made some spicy pickled carrots! I have now made every canning recipe that I loved as a kid. Although, my green beans (my first pickles) won't be ready until May 5 and the carrots wont be eaten until after Sasquatch. I remember circling the 'end date' of the preservation period on the family calendar as a kid, and counting down the days. Now, I have gotten a little smarter and write the date to be opened directly on the labels, so I can be reminded and excited everyday! Simple pleasures, but I can't wait to eat my pickles! My next one is to try some new recipes that I did not watch my dad make, like artichokes in oil. I love to eat those on my salad.

Henrietta Lacks

Happy Friday!

Yesterday night, I went up to the Central District in Seattle to attend a lecture series put on by Seattle University's 'Center for the Study of Justice in Society'. The conversation was with David (Sonny) Lacks, son of Henrietta Lacks who unknowingly donated the HeLa Cells that have made Modern Medicine what it is today. My fascination with Henrietta Lacks started a year or two ago when I saw the book at the University bookstore. I kept trying to buy it and read it, but something always seemed to distract me. Then last September, I finally took the plunge and bought it on my Kindle. I read it in less than a week; I was hooked. Quickly, the book tells a true story of a woman who died at the age of 31 of cervical cancer. Being a black women with a poor economic background, she got seperate and un'equal' health care from John Hopkins. At the time she went in for care, they took some of her cancer cells and attempted to grow them in a petri dish. Scientists had not yet been able to get human cells to grow outside of a human body and for some mysterious reason, Henrietta's did. Her cells ended up helping all medical developments/cosmetic developments (anything used on a human) for the last 50 years. Her cells also grew into a multi-million dollar industry, being sold by medical supplies to scieentists and researchers. The family has been mostly unaware of this and uncompensated, bringing up many issues of  patent laws, consent for research and healthcare for all. For more detailed information and background, go here (a video).

So the talk was Question and Answer session between David (Sonny) Lacks and another women. The crowd was a mix between African Americans and White ethnicites, although being in Seattle there was a very liberal air to talk. I just wanted to share some parts of the talk that I found good/interesting. The issue is extremely complex, and if you read the book you will probably be like "hmm....eh, I agree but like not really."

1) The introduction of the HeLa cell put the Polio Vaccine ahead by 5-10 years.

2) Her cells were essential to create Gardasil, the vaccination that essentially eliminates the HPV that killed Henrietta Lacks in the first place (Thank you Henrietta Lacks!!)

3) Mr. Lacks was talking about watching her mothers cancer cells under a microscope approach another cell in a petri dish and overtake that cell, and begin to divide. Mr. Lacks describes this as "My mother had attitude after death. She doesn't want anyone invading her space).

4) Mr. Lacks was talking about how racism was today "The world is now high-technology. Racism is just now high-tech."

These are just some of the highlights of the talk. There were also other issues that people tended to think were 'unfair' or 'outrages', but I didn't particularly think that was the case. It's hard to get a lot of people in a room who feel very personally affected by this and have an unbiased talk about all the issues surrounding such a complex, controversial issue. Overall, David Lacks was happy and proud that his mother has virtually saved/helped every person in the world by contributing greatly to modern medicine and vaccinations. Just something to think about when you are getting that next shot/ putting on that new layer of makeup.

Sorry for the long post!

Rachel

Books...meh.

I have some down time before I sign off from work for the day, so I just wanted to write a quick update. First, today I went down to the YMCA tech lab today and decided to see if they had some speakers for my computer I could borrow. For the whole year, I have not had speakers-and I LOVE them. Work has gone by much faster with Pandora and me rocking out to my favorite jams. I am also more voluntary to do busy work that I would normally put off. So, this is great for my productivity!

Over the weekend, I finished two books over the weekend, and I found both to be pretty blah. First I read Fool by Christopher Moore, for the April book club read. This book is supposed to be a satire off of Shakespear's King Lear. I have not read King Lear, but I really didn't find this book to be funny, nor really that amusing. The story is told from the point of view of Pocket, King Lear's jester. Basically, there were a lot of farting, peeing and sex jokes. A few of the jokes were funny and clever-but the majority of the humor in the book was elementary. Now, I am not a pretentious reader-I think Sophie Kinsella books are pure genius. However, in Moore's defense, I have never found "poop" and "sex" jokes to be funny en masse. They might get  a smile from me. I prefer book humor to be more witty and involved in the plot (meaning that a joke or a funny situation can take a while to reach the punchline). So, maybe this was not my thing and might be yours.

Okay, anybody who has been reading the women-oriented blogs is probably rolling their eyes right now. This book (part of trilogy) exploded into the internet/book scene a month or so ago as the new "mommy" porn. Essentially, since the advent of Electronic Readers, erotica fiction geared towards ladies has risen some crazy number like 300%. The idea is that since women don't have to show what they are reading anymore (via book covers), they are feeling more comfortable buying smut. They interviewed one lady who has a kindle exclusively for naughty books, and averages reading 11 a week (INSANE!). With all this background, I had to read the book that got everybody all up in arms/hot and bothered. I found the book to be a lot like Twilight (it originally was Twilight Fan-Fiction) in that the writing was simple and at times, bad, the story was basic, the man controlling, and the fact that I was in no way jealous for the protagonists' life or situation. All that said, I couldn't put the stupid book down (another similarity to Twilight). I also wrongly thought the book was going to be all smut-but there actually is an honest attempt to unmask feelings and emotions of a burgeoning relationship. 

Note: The book does try to address BDSM. I have no idea if they do accurately or not, but have heard mixed and very passionate reviews on the internet. If you read my review and are intrigued, wanting to secretly give the book a try-I would suggest reading some of the blog articles on the book, as well as reviews about the couple's relationship.

Alright! Work is almost done. 

Lastly, I just wanted to share that I have been shopping diligently to put more color in my wardrobe. Whenever I do laundry, I feel like I am just hanging out a bunch of blacks, grey's, and dark red shirts. I have started to go to H&M due to budget constraints. Not sure if that's a good idea yet, but I am happy now because I can get so much more for my buck! Hopefully, the clothes don't unravel the second time I wear them. 

Happy Wednesday!

Sauerkraut...check.

Well, another weekend has come and gone. Safe to say, I am pretty bummed. I am ready to move onto the next chapter of my life-and I am anticipating a slow week at work. Furthermore, the weather has been getting nicer and nicer and so that has made me have a bit of cabin fever. My office has a 'stained glass' window, or one of those windows that lets light through (a huge glare on my computer screen) but doesn't allow me to actually see outside. So annoying. When I try to look out of the window, I figure 'that's how princesses must have felt'-as the window does resemble one on a castle. hehe.

This weekend I did not do much cooking-as I have a surplus of food. I came up with some new cooking projects, and so I have to go get supplies for those, but I spent my evenings watching movies and my days laying outside in the sun, socializing and reading. I did, however, get to finish canning my sauerkraut. I ended up with 2.5 jars worth of kraut, so I refrigerated the half one and canned the other two. I also threw some Carraway seeds in the sauerkraut before I canned it. I am not sure what taste they add, but the recipe I was using recommended it. So, we will see.

The first picture is the kraut in the sauce pot. The recipe I was using wanted me to boil the kraut for 5 minutes. The internet, however, disagreed with that-saying that naturally fermented kraut has probiotic bacteria and is thus, a super food. Most sauerkraut in the grocery stores are vinegar brined, and not fermented-so you can't just go to the store and pick any old random stuff. The internet was pretty strict on this. So, I kind of mixed the two ideologies and half boiled it. haha. I then added some brine to the cans, that I made out of salt and water. Again, I couldn't find much about this on the internet (do I make sure brine covers the kraut or no?), so I just guessed that it should be preserved in some sort of liquid. So, I made that too. I know the one in the fridge tastes good-but we will see how the canned ones taste with my additions to the recipe.

Anyways, I hope everybody had an awesome weekend in the sun! Rachel

Strawberry Jam

I had an early day off of work today because I was the only one who showed up to the office. heh. I arrived there at 9am, sat there for an hour and was like 'wow, everybody must have slept in.' And, speedily walked out of the office to quickly run an errand (buy Justice concert tickets). I came back and was still alone. At around 12.30 I called my boss just to be like 'oh shoot, was I supposed to be somewhere else?', but I guess it was just that fate collided and everybody else decided not to come to work today. :(. Alas, I decided then to take a field trip to H&M and then go home early.

I am about to run out to have dinner, but I wanted to share the pictures of the Strawberry Jam I made last Tuesday (another quick day at work due to a dentist appointment). I was shocked to discover how much sugar was put into jam. With the recipe that I used, the sugar amount is almost the same as the actual fruit. In the future, I am definitely going to find ways to make jam more healthier-and until then, I will think twice about licking the knife (well actually I probably won't..hehe)

I also want to just state that I made a HUGE mess while making this jam. At one part the recipe said that I had to keep the jam at a rolling boil for 1 minute. Seems pretty simple, except when the jam boiled it increased in volume by about 5x. It bubbled up out of the huge stockpot and fell over the oven. Meanwhile I am dodging giant, popping jam bubbles while trying to stir, counting the minute down. I came out with only one injury and I was happy about that! Nevertheless, I now have enough jam to last for a really, really long time.

I read after I made the jam that with butter/margarine, I could have limited the increase of size and foaming action. Note to self: this is a mandatory extra step.

The smashed strawberries and the sugar. It needs to be constantly stirred. 

All of my hardwork

What an individual jar of jam looks like, and behind: the bleach wipes that I used to scrub down the entire kitchen!

My next canning project is going to be salsa! Yay! And, I am in need to make some bread this weekend for lunches. It's going to be a cooking weekend-and the weather is gorgeous!

Rachel

PS: You probably all thought I forgot about my saurkraut. I have not. I have been checking on it for almost 3 weeks and it will be ready to be put into jars/eaten this Sunday! yay

Blindness

I don't think I mentioned this before, but I randomly joined a book club on meetup.com, a site where people can plan activities and clubs and random other people can join in on them. It's a great way for people of all ages to come together. I understand that some people have big reservations about meeting strangers on the internet, whether it be for dating, becoming roommates or friends. I, however, have embraced it (well not dating...). Seattle can also be a pretty unfriendly city, so its great to have an online portal of people who want to meet up (hehe) and do something! Anyways, after sitting and following the group for a couple months, I finally took the plunge and went to a book club meeting. We discussed the Novel Room by Emma Donoghue, which I had read last year. The people there were of all sorts of ages, and I tending to navigate only to people my age, had a little trouble expressing my thoughts. However, by the end of the conversation I felt comfortable with all the people in the room and helped vote for the book, Blindness to be our June book read.

Blindness was intense. Basically, the book is about an epidemic that sweeps the nation that leaves every single person blind...except one lady. The government, in the beginning, attempts to thwart the burgeoning epidemic by quarantining the blind people-and this is who the book follows. It illustrates how much of our society is done by seeing and through the feelings of shame, accountability, responsibility and judgement-all of which are primarily done by seeing others and others seeing you. Without this, things can go haywire. The book at times was scary and was very harsh on humanity. Eventually, everybody goes blind-and the book continues into how the group carries on in the real world. It is definitely a must read. There is a definite reason why this book won the Novel Prize for Literature; it captivates the reader, and scares the hell out of them in illustrating how much of our society and sense of 'self' and propriety is based on the judgement of others. Without these judgements, accountability is lost-and where does that leave us? Do we take care of ourselves and others because we are humans? Or, do we do it so it will reflect well upon us-when others SEE us do it? Anyways, just read the book.

Lastly, one thing that was interesting about the book was the fact that the author wanted to write as if he were blind-and thus, no dialogue. Entire conversations are catalogued in the book, but since the narrator cannot see who is saying what there is very little "Hi" said Bob, "Hey babe" said Julie, etc. Rather, it is a block of conversation separated by commas. At times, this can be confusing and daunting (pages with no paragraphs or dialogue indentations), but it also allowed the book to be read as if you could not see who was saying each part. Most of the times, you could get it, but by taking away the visual sense of the book, it made the narrative more authentic.

Alright! I need to head to bed, busy day tomorrow with an alumni social and all!

This is my favorite picture on the whole, wide internet. 

Movies part deux.

I have been watching a lot of movies recently. My shows have been on a spring hiatus, and with it staying lighter and warmer longer into the evening I feel that I can actually stay up to enjoy a movie, instead of just falling asleep to Teen Mom 2, Army Wives, or some other Emmy-winning materials such as that (haha). Anyways, I just like to go through and review some of the recents.

I actually just finished this movie, so I am going to start with this one first. This move is on Netflix, so you can watch it for free. I was pretty excited to see it available because I had read the book by Tatiana De Rosay (?) approximately two years ago. I remember sitting outside in my Front Yard at my house junior year. We only got sunlight in one specific spot in the front yard, so I would lay a mexican blanket out, tan, smoke/drink and read. You don't typically see many people sprawled out, soaking up the sun in their FRONT yard, haha. But, I guess we all had to make do with what we got, especially in Seattle! Anyways, the book was an easy read, obviously written for the general public. However, I remember being emotionally attached to the characters and surprised at how invested I was in the book at the end. It is a truly good, but tragic story. I don't want to give too much away, but it centers around World War 2 and an incident in French History, where they (the French) rounded up their own jews and relinquished them to the Nazis. I suppose it was meant to secure some sort of brownie points amidst the threat of occupation. The story delas with a girl who deals with the 'roundup' and a family that is affected by it indirectly. It's a good movie and I recommend it. One quick note, it IS in French subtitles. I know that some of my friends who read this blog probably won't mind that at all though ;)

This movie was unexpected. I didn't read any reviews prior to watching it, but I did catch the word 'comedy' in the synopses on Itunes. Furthermore, Diablo Cody wrote it (she also did Juno, Whipit, and United States of Tara-all of which I <3 a lot) so I had high expectations. The output, however, was a little lackluster. I thought that the movie in itself was good, and I was engaged throughout the whole movie. Yet, the movie wasn't really that funny. I found the story to be a bit sad as well. I did like how Mavis, ie. Charlize Theron, interacted with the other main character, Matt who has a cripple. The guy who played that was also in United States of Tara. It was cute that in the end, Mavis finds companionship in him-instead of her weird, bizarre fantasy worlds-however, it didn't have all the elements to be a true romantic comedy. All in all, I suppose the movie was good-I just may have been expecting something more funny. Instead, it was kind of sad and not really romantic -ish in any way. :(.

I don't really know what to say about this movie. Now, I do not know much about Freud or the other dude (they may have said the main characters name like two times, and I missed it both times. I managed to watch the ENTIRE movie without knowing who the hell the protagonist is). After watching the movie, I don't really know much more than I knew before. Keira Knightly confused the hell out of me. She starts the movie as a hysterical woman who is bathing herself in mud and convulsing when sad memories are brought up, and she finishes the movie as a proper, pregnant, female psychiatrist who is famous for her work. I understand that mental health issues can be overcome, but the movie really did not illustrate how she overcame all of her mental disabilities in the first place. Unless the hysteria was all an act or the only way she knew how to act (because woman didn't have a lot of say....thats my guess), but then that should have been brought up too. I was pretty disenchanted by this movie.

I was going to delve into the inconsistencies of the Russian accent in the movie, but then I remembered that the new Footloose was even WORSE, so I will save that musing for another day. All in all, bleh.

Yay-Tomorrow I only have to work a half day (if that) because my saga to the dentist office continues. They will be deep cleaning more of my gums and stuff. I have started using my SonicCare toothbrush but I have also upped my sugar dosage because of the Easter weekend. So, I bet that just negates everything. But, off to bed and to a half, easy day at work! Hiya!

Rachel

Easter Weekend

Well, another weekend has come and almost gone. I was super excited for this weekend because the weather in Seattle was promised to be sunnier and warmer than any other weekend this year. I wanted to go on a long, day hike and explore the area and then on Sunday, head to a potluck to celebrate Easter. However, the hike plan was foiled because I came down with a HORRIBLE cold on Friday night. I went to bed with my throat a little scratchy and woke up miserable. I spent most of Saturday sitting in the sun (did manage a walk around Greenlake and U-Village) and napping. Still feeling bad, I have managed to make my potluck contribution and will head to socializein a little bit. I am worried for Monday because I have to deal with super-hard-to-handle students, but I'm sure it's nothing that Dayquil can't fix.

So, I made 'Easter Egg Nests' for my potluck. I forgot to buy the food coloring, so I didn't get the real effect of the colored grass but I thought they turned out fine anyways. I ate so many of the 'cracked, mistake cookies' just a little bit ago, that looking at these pictures actually makes me a little queesy (and my super stuffed up sinuses don't help), but I hope that other people like them. :)

Cheers and Happy Easter!

Rachel

The House of The Spirits

Wow, Today was one of those days where you don't really do anything but yet you are totally exhausted. Yesterday after work, I went on a treadmill run and then did this 'age-defying' workout. I figured it was a set of moves for older people that want to look younger, and thus, the workout would be easy peezy. In fact, I even added extra reps. I woke up this morning and my butt muscles were on FIRE. It was painful to sit in the dentist chair today and the muscle soreness just got worse through the day. Oh man! I am not exactly sure what particular exercise I did to give myself such a sore butt-but I hope that means that I just instantly toned up some muscle I didn't know I had (yeah right). My workout was simply.

Do the circuit 3 times:

10 skaters (10 right, 10 left)

20 jumping jacks

1 around the world plank (plank off of an exercise bench and use your hands to walk around the bench

10 squats.

It doesn't seem too hard, but yeah-kicked my butt (literally!)

I also just wanted to comment on this book that I just finished. I was pretty sure I was going to enjoy the book before I even started it, given on how partial and in love I am with South American literature. I thought the story was a drawn out a bit, but overall I enjoyed all parts. There was plenty of romance and mysticism-two key elements of a Latin story. Yet, it also conveyed the upheavals of South American politics throughout the 20th century. It followed a man who became involved politically later in life, and watch him battle the socialist revolution and the incidental military coup that a lot of the countries in the area experienced in that time. The country in which the book is set is not named (and I looked it up on the internet and it did not specify; I assume the author meant for it to be fictitious) but I chose to identify Chile because that was where the author is from (although there are clear similarities and differences between the book's political upheavals and Chile's historical ones). Nevertheless, the book is about have morals and ideals, living with passion and believing in things such as spirits, love and fate. It's a wonderful read and I recommend it.

Rachel

My first attempt at canning.

This weekend was kind of slow. Dustin and I had plans to go skiing, but he stubbed his toe and his snowboard boot wouldn't comfortably fit on his foot, so we had to scratch those plans (:/). But, it turned out to be okay because I got to socialize with some new people and stay in town for the weekend. On Friday, I went to Ballard with my co-worker Colleen, her roommate and some random kid Colleen had met on the bus. We went to a couple of different bars and just had a great time. It was really nice to hang out with a new crowd, hear all their stories and just be chill. And, I tasted Cheese Curds for the first time! Saturday night, I went out with Dustin and we met up with my friend Camille at Lobby Bar. That was definitely a shorter night (and it was pouring rain at times), but fun nevertheless.

On Saturday, I got some goodies in the mail. Sadly (but maybe not so sad because I need to curb the spending) the dress I posted below by Quiksilver was way too big. I have not yet decided if I am going to exchange it and try for a smaller size or just return the thing and forget about it. Also, a few days ago I was working and urgently had to use the restroom. The closest acceptable place for me to go happened to be Nordstroms (uh-oh). I went in there, did my business, and a few days later-got these shipped to my beautiful house. Aww I'm such a sucker! But Dustin says I look like Janis Joplin, which I guess is okay...

Sorry, Sunday night Sweats!

I really need to figure out a better picture-taking situation. The IPhone an my trembling hand is not cutting it. 

Anyways, I knew I shouldn't have bought them, but at least I LOVE them, right? 

This weekend I also canned my first batch of 'dilly beans' or bean pickles. It took me hours because I really didn't do a lot of research on how to can, but rather, just jumped into the process head first. So, I had to spend a lot of time flipping through multiple canning books and internet FAQ's. I also had to quickly run out to Ace Hardware for a rack to help sterilize the cans. But, after hours of learning and then actually preparing the recipe-I think the bean pickles came out great. I ended up with 6 jars and 1 jar or extras that I have been snacking on the last couple of days (The extra jar is like 'pickle' light, kind of tastes good but I know the pickles will taste a million times better). Anyways, I hope that the more I practice, that faster I will get at the process. I think my next goal is to make some strawberry jelly (either this weekend, or next). Wish me luck!

I added some red/orange/yellow bell peppers in the mix for color! 

They will be ready May 5. Aww Cannot wait. 

Rachel

PS. Sauerkraut is doing great and there is no bacteria 'scum'. At first I was worried, but I read that some batches don't have scum and it tastes like sauerkraut-so yay!

Movies from Itunes

So, I have a couple of different blog posts-things I want to share- in my head right now, but have been getting backlogged because of how crazy work was last week. I presented at my first, real, adult conference on Friday for a whole hour (well, I co-presented). Anyways, I stood up there and talked to a bunch of environmental educators and teachers about what I have done with the YMCA this year and talked about how our program model meets the goals of leadership development, cross-cultural awareness, service learning and environmental activism. It was pretty cool. I had some good questions, too. The most awesome thing was that I wasn't even that nervous. Maybe it was because I knew that everybody would be on my side or that I was confident in that I knew the program model better than anyone (which, I did, because I work there...). But, really I have been shocked about how my stage fright has dissipated since college. I regularly stand up in front of student BODIES (so 300-750 students) and give them a speel about some happening or an event they need to come for. At first, I thought my lack of nerves was a result from the students being younger, so I felt superior over them. However, this conference has given me confidence that I might just have gotten more comfortable speaking in front of an audience in general. YAY!

Anyways, I have rented a number of movies on Itunes this lack week or so and I just wanted to go through them and give a short review.

My Week with Marilyn, I thought was a little-slow moving, but altogether a great movie to lay down and watch. Michelle Williams nails Marilyn both in behavior and in looks (I mean, I think, I haven't really watched any of Marilyn's movies). I was so intrigued sometimes by Marilyn's behavior that I felt the need to pause the movie and wikipedia Marilyn. In fact, I probably spent about an hour reading about Marilyn Monroe during the movie. All in all, I would recommend watching this movie-however, it would be helpful to have a little background about the main persona in the first place. 

This movie did not meet my expectations. All of the acting was superb and the movie was great-but I just didn't really feel any personal attachment to any of the characters, making a 'supposed to be pretty emotional movie' not too powerful, in my opinion. I would recommend it as an entertaining movie, I guess, but nothing life movie and definitely not a 'performance of Clooney's career'

This movie I watched on Netflix Instant and I LOVED IT! It's a documentary about the dude that is the puppeteer for Elmo (as you probably deduced from the image above). Anyways, I recommend this movie to everybody. Every time Elmo giggled, I did too. Elmo has also kissed a bajillion celebrities, I was pretty jealous of that too. And it was so interesting to see how this kid who loved puppets and grew up watching Jim Henson evolved into one of the most iconic characters ever. Just watch it!

Sorry this post is so disjointed, I need to go out to Cap hill so I am rushing super hard. 

Rachel

Weekend!

Wooo...I have done so many different things this weekend, I am not sure where to even start.

Friday Night, Dustin and I went to go see the Hunger Games movie. I had read all of the books recently, so I was pretty excited. I thought the movie was good and plenty entertaining, although I was annoyed at my fellow movie-goers immaturity. I sat by three 'trying to be dumpy on purpose' awkward pre-teens who felt the need to run commentary through all of the romantic and pseudo-romantic parts. Obviously trying to cover up their 'desire for the male characters' and the funny feelings you feel when you are young and you are watching some cheesy romantic happening (yes, I know you all can remember and know what I am talking about) with snarky remarks and a buttload of giggling. I tried to be patient and remember when I was in that situation, but my patience was wearing MIGHTY THIN.

Saturday, we woke up early to go skiing at Mount Baker. We decided to make the long trip because Mount Baker had received the most snow and had a whole section of 'intermediate hills' that Dusty wanted to try. Although I thought that the drive was pretty long-it was an amazing day of skiing on a bluebird day. Plus, Mount Baker is quite a sight to see. Check out this picture I took of Dustin. Anyways, that was a great day of skiing and travelling through a beautiful state. After that I was worn out!

Sunday, I got to work on my cooking adventures. I woke up early to start on Sourdough (which has been an over-a-week and multiple purchase affair). It essentially spent like 12 hours rising today, so it is currently at the oven at 10.30. I am not sure if sourdough bread is worth ALL this effort, but I suppose I should give everything a shot once. Besides, I basically mixed it in a KitchenAid, let it rise. Banged it on the counter top, let it rise again. Drizzled some corn meal on it, and once more let it rise all day. So, the majority of the work was extremely passive. I then spent the day shopping for workout clothes-I bought a pair of running capris (so I can hit the bike after the treadmill and dont get a weird rash from the seat) and a new pair of running shorts with my REI dividend. So, that was fun. I also couldn't resist and bought this dress from Quiksilver. I really have to stop shopping.:

Lastly, I wanted to tell everyone that I got my Sauerkraut started. My recipe book started off with an anecdote that she was having a 'true immigrant moment' and indeed, I felt like I was channelling an old Slavic/Russian lady the entire time I was squishing Sauerkraut (approximately 45 minutes). Basically, I took two cabbages, cut them up, put salt over them (I am scared I put too much salt) and squished them up in a bowl until they were tiny piles of mush and mostly salt water. The squishing part actually really hurt because of the salt and my typically-dry hands. I then squished it into a 'crock' and put a bag of water on top of it.  Now, the sauerkraut has to sit there for 3 weeks and I guess there will be some 'scum' on the top that I will probably think is really gross. Looking forward to it (will post pictures, but will not show anyone who I actually intend to feed the kraut too). The good news is, the risk of botulism is non-existent. Yay.

With the paper bag on top of it, serving as a weight.

This is it in the brine and crock

Sundays.

Today has been a difficult day. I am tired and trying to recover from one of the most difficult nights out I have had in a very long time. That said, my emotions are so over the place. I woke up at 7am and was unable to sleep, so I started baking. I chose to bake two loaves of whole wheat bread because I am out of sandwich bread and have been using tortillas. Wraps are a wonderful way to cut calories and eat a sandwich like fixing, but unfortunately my tortillas kept ripping in the tupperware sometime between breakfast and lunch. Super frustrating. Thus, I had inspiration to therapeutically bake some whole wheat loaves.

Now as I mentioned before, I was curious as to why one loaf of bread always turns out perfect, and the other turns out janky. Kendra mentioned trying to switch the pans in the oven, but during this batch I was more observant and noticed how I made the loaves in the pan. See how many more folds the one on the right has? It seems to be my technique in separating the big pocket of dough into two loaves into pan. I will have to watch the difference in my technique in the future. Regardless, the bread smells amazing and I am exciting to have some fresh bread for lunches this week. At least work will be busy and hopefully stress free!

Unbaked

 Baked

Alright, well I am going to find some other activities to do. I bought the ingredients to make sauerkraut but the kraut needs to ferment for three weeks. I might get the initial step done today, we will see. But I still have to find a place to put 'fermenting cabbage' in my kitchen where it will be out of the way from my roommates and friends.

So long,
Rachel

I've Got Your Number-Sophie Kinsella

Before I do my book review, I just want to share that I finally took the leap and got all of the supplies that I need to start canning. I am now the proud owner of a brand new stock pot, thermometer and jelly bag so that I can safely pickle vegetables and make some rad jellies. I am so excited. My dad happened to can some pickles shortly before he passed away, and Aaron and I would crack open a jar every time I came home. Unfortunately, those jars of pickles have since disappeared. So, I am ready to take a crack at it and see if I can replicate it. If not only as a form of nostalgia, because I do fondly remember the afternoons canning with my dad. (I also bought a nice jar lifter because I clearly remember my dad burning himself constantly trying to pick the jars up with tongs). I have decided that my first canning endeavor is going to be...sauerkraut. Yes, I know it is random but it is something I eat fairly regularly and the ingredients are few.

I loved the book that I just finished today, I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella. However, I had no doubts that I would love the book. Sophie, as an author, creates hilarious chick-literature, novels. They really don't take any thought to read, and they are so amazingly cliche. I could see the ending from page 10. However, the situations that she cooks up in the middle of the book make the story...awesome. So while I can call the main gist of the story (who falls in love with who, the grand, romantic gesture at the end, etc), the small twists and turns of the protagonist's movements are in my opinion, hilarious. I read this book in 3 or so days and cannot wait for Sophie Kinsella to write a new one. I am now moving on to read a contemporary classic, The House of Spirits by Isabella Allende. This book is a little longer, so it may take a while for me to update. Especially with the upcoming work week being incredibly busy.

I also got the Sourdough Starter mix in the mail today (You CANNOT find Sourdough Starter in North Seattle. I went to 4 grocery stores!) So, I hope to start that project this weekend as well. Sourdough takes DAYS to make, so it will be a long term project-but perhaps a soothing/calming one after work?

Until next time,

Rachel

Like Crazy

I spent my rainy, Monday night watching this movie and I LOVED it! I recommend it for all who like love stories that are slightly more believable and deal with actual trials of life (rather than some chick flicks that just seem absurdly perfect and ridiculous, like the Sophie Kinsella books I divulge in.) but still are beautiful and represent love well. Anyways, this DVD is in my next order with Amazon because I feel that I could watch this many, many times.

In short, it is about two students-one American, one an exchange student from England-who begin a new relationship and of course, fall in love. In the bliss of love, Anna (the English one) decides to overstay her visa for a summer to stay with Jacob (the American, duh). As a result, Anna cannot come back into the United States and so they have to settle for a long-distance relationship. That synopsis is extremely simplified because I kept saying 'no! I don't want to ruin it', so just trust me, it's good!

Also, I just got this dress in the mail yesterday. I think that it is very different from what I normally wear for spring/summer dresses, but its a bit more conservative so I can wear it to work. It does billow out a bit, but with the right shoes and with a few wears, I think it will lay down a bit more. I was unsure about it when I tried it on, but I really don't have anything like it so I'm going to give it a shot. The brand is Quiksilver, and the dress is called "The Marina Helms Dress"

Until next time!
Rachel

Books. Books.

Hey,

Apologies for the delay in posting. Work has been a little crazy, with our biggest event happening on March 23rd. I have worked almost every Saturday...blah. On the plus side, I got into the Evans School at UW and received a fellowship as well. I am super thrilled and stoked to go back to school, do well, get out and earn more money and have a great life, and own a Scottish Fold Cat. Yup, have it all planned out. :)

Okay, well the main intention of this post was to share with you guys about the two books that I have finished reading in the recent months: 11/22/63 by Stephen King and The Color Purple by Alice Walker.

I really enjoyed 11/22/63. When I bought the book I was skeptical because I associate Stephen King as a more masculine-driven writer, meaning that his prior book topics didn't always appeal to me. Yet, I decided to give it a chance because I read a review about it in Time Magazine. The review talked about the crazy amount of thorough research that King did for the book to make it authentic as possible. The review also praised how King handled the romance and love in the book, a new sort of genre for King. Thus, with all this praise I decided to plunge through the book. And, I loved every moment of it. I recommend this book for everyone who wants a long read, but one that has many turns and twists and great character development.

Today, I just finished The Color Purple. I had watched the movie years ago, but did not remember that I had when I started the book. However, I kept associating random characters with a young Oprah-and thats when I realized that I had indeed seen the movie before. Haha. The book is a pretty short read (under 300 pages) and is written in Dear... 'letter' format. Thus, its a pretty fast read. I wasn't attached to the story as much as 11/22/63, but I did find some of the spiritual thoughts that reside in the book quite beautiful and plausible. I adored Shug's character as a strong, loving woman. She always knew exactly what to say and her thoughts on 'God' were very Buddhist and were quite in line with my spiritual thoughts. So I enjoyed ruminating on those diary entries as well. 

Now, I am on a book journey that involves absolutely no thought at all! Ta-Da, I am starting the new Sophie Kinsella book, I've Got Your Number. Haha, I hope to have a glowing review on it, but don't expect it to be too profound. Kinsella is GREAT at writing chick-lit, fun novels, but don't expect anything too deep.  :)

I would also like to post this picture that Dustin sent to me of his breakfast. He said he saw the idea on my Pinterest that I left open on his computer. Haha, too cute. Alright, until next time!

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

My Cinnamon Raisin Bread was a success (taste-bud wise, see below for so-so aesthetics), everybody! I got the recipe from my Williams-Sonoma Baking Book, which I seriously recommend to anybody who is thinking of taking up baking as a hobby. It has a wide assortment of classic recipes (like sourdough and whole wheat bread) as well as some exciting new ones (walnut and fig bread, interesting cakes). This book has it all!

Anyways, my Sunday project was this Cinnamon Raisin Bread. The bread had two different types of raisins: ones that used to be green grapes and ones that used to be red. I had never eaten the 'used to be green' raisins nor was I actually aware that they existed. So, that was fun to try them. One difference I made to the recipe was that the book called for 'light brown sugar' but I went ahead and used 'dark'. Brown Sugar is essentially regular sugar with molasses-and I like the stronger flavor that dark brown sugar gives. If you want the recipe in its' entirety, shoot me a comment or send me an e-mail.

Haha, somehow I always manage to make one loaf look 'perfectly baked' and one loaf look 'gnarly'. It's not the pans, because they are the same brand and bought at the same time. Is it the oven?


So, I didn't get the swirls perfectly, but maybe I had better luck in the perfect looking one. I chowed down on the gnarly looking one first.


Mmm...Look at that DARK brown sugar pocket. 

Celebrations!

So many birthday celebrations this past week! Woo, it has definitely been a whirlwind. Last Thursday, my co-worker had a birthday party at the Burke Museum where we all went to go look at the new exhibit about food and what people eat. The exhibit was essentially an excerpt from the coffee table book, Hungry Planet: What the World Eats. I do not personally own the book, but I thought the exhibit was pretty informative and interesting. I also liked that the Burke Museum did a 'local history' section-displaying what the native Americans in the Seattle area ate in the past. The museum had a fair amount of artifacts and I enjoyed seeing how broad the diets used to be-we eat a tiny amount of different food items compared to what used to be.

Then last night, I went to Capitol Hill to help my buddy Doug ring in his 24th birthday. That was a good time. We started at this mellow bar called The Chieftain, but ended up most of the night at the Unicorn. We met some interesting people, fed the jukebox to play some good music and had a great time. As I write this, I am still suffering from a mild headache-but it was well worth staying up late. The only sad thing about the night was that I THOUGHT I put ketchup on my Seattle hot dog, but rather, put Siracha (spelling?) sauce on top. My hot dog was so spicy!

Anyways, there really isn't much point to this post. I just wanted to share some of my new purchases from the GAP as well as some of my upcoming buys. Their 'Friends and Family' sale starts March 8, so I get 40% off my entire purchase! Hoping to use that coupon to update my spring wardrobe and get ready for the warmer weather (kind of, this IS Seattle...)

What I just bought:

What I will get at the Friends and Family Sale:

Look really cute cuffed at the bottom to skim above ankle. Would not personally choose to wear those shoes with them. 

I know, I already have things that look like this, but I can never resist a motorcycle looking jacket. :)

Alright, I need to jet because I just took some cinnamon-raisin bread out of the oven. Pictures and update to come soon!

23.5

Hey!

I am so excited! It is my half birthday tomorrow! This is the day to celebrate (and lament) the fact that half of my year '23' is over. I always pay particular attention to this day. I feel that its a good time to contemplate what I enjoyed about this past 6 months, and take some notes for how to act/feel/do/experience in the future. I try to do fun things for myself on this day too. I am super fortunate this year that my half birthday falls on a Sunday. That means a drink to myself at midnight, some shopping and maybe a new hair-do tomorrow?

I also came up with a new tradition, where if somebody wants to get me a 'birthday' present, then they just have to pay half! I will pay for half of my present. I thought it was beyond genius. I am sure that most people think its ridiculous, but my mom thought it was adorable too! She said that I should pick out a new Fossil purse (I love Fossil Purses, they look nice but are cheap enough that if you spill something on it, you don't FREAK OUT!). I've been eyeing a few these last couple of weeks and I thought I would share them here! Two of these I set my sights on this winter, but I feel that they will translate nicely into the spring and summer seasons. Particularly here in the Pacific Northwest, where people still sport the darker, earthy tones in all seasons-and it doesn't get hot enough to wear as little clothing as possible.

Anyways, here they are!

DECISIONS. DECISIONS. DECISIONS