When I'm Not Working

I truly enjoy cooking and feeding people.  I wish my parents were a bit more adventurous with food and ate all that I do, but that's why I need to have friends over to my house more often so I'm not gorging on everything!  For example, last Thursday I invited Kerry over and put together a chicken roast with potatoes, onions, spinach and tomatoes.  I seasoned the chicken breasts with lemon pepper, cumin and parsley and then stuffed them with a bit of Swiss cheese and more spinach.  Even with my guest, my parents had leftovers and I had two meals for work!  It was delicious and simple, so give me a shout if you'd like the recipe!

I go to school in a pretty rural area, and I'm not much of an online shopper when it comes to clothes.  Needless to say, my first Salvation Army visit last Wednesday since winter break was a thrill!  I was in heaven again, sifting through all the color-organized racks, the soft and musty clothing with bright colors, off-sized fits and throwback patterns.  Wednesday is the half-off day and I spent $25 and acquired things such as a nice mason jar with a lid, Matilda and The Rescuers Down Under on VHS, a pair of American Eagle jeans for $2, a fluorescent orange windbreaker, a new houndstooth scarf, a New York & Co. pink cardigan, these wonderful printed drop-crotch pants (okayyy so it's two seasons ago and they are pure man-repelling status [term courtesy of the Man Repeller] but at this low of the price how could I resist?) and so on!  I love thrift shopping.

I nabbed this woven tote as I was heading to the dressing room--it's in perfect condition. Score!

When I have more than a moment to spare, I dive into painting.  I enjoy being lost for a few hours, not knowing exactly what my brain and brush might produce.  The one below is a preliminary for a larger painting that I would like to do on canvas from Monet's gardens in Giverny this past fall.  Photo cred goes to my friend Merrit.

Weapons of choice :)

 

I wasn't quite ready to start a full-size painting, so I made note cards!  I need to acquire a nice set of water colors, I miss manipulating their fluidity and saturating textured paper.

I am decidedly too antsy and lazy to read books.  I'm trying so hard to work through an environmental one by Bill McKibben, so maybe it's the subject matter that's not holding me down enough?  Bah whatever, I'll drift in between with my NatGeo Traveler magazines.  I'm itching to trot the globe again!

Listening: "Blue Skies" by Ella Fitzgerald

Musical [side]Note

I was going to do a post talking about the thrifting, painting, cooking and more working that I've been up to, but then my pictures did not deliver to my inbox.  Whatever!  I just wanted to share some epic videos of bands that make my heart stir.  There are a few others, and I'm quite determined to see them before the age of 25.  If it means buying a pair of tickets and flying to Austin or L.A. for a weekend to catch them, then let it be done!

Arcade Fire, "Wake Up" at Glastonbury 2007  

The Shins, "Australia" in 2011  

Of Monsters and Men, "Little Talks" in Iceland Summer 2011  

Despite my ardor for music and festivals, I haven't done anything too extreme to make it to a live performance. I think the most I've driven is 3 hours, spent about $70 and came back at 3 in the morning before a 8 AM class (though on different occasions). Maybe next summer, or when I graduate, I need to think big: Bonnaroo, Lolapalooza, Coachella maybe or Osheaga in Montreal? There's also Outside Lands in San Francisco and of course Glastonbury where it all started, and then Europe's wild techno summits. At the moment, it's a fallacy worth fighting for. This July, I might take a weekend and volunteer at the Grassroots Music Festival that's at the southern tip of Cayuga Lake. I could apply to volunteer as hospitality, dining service (already do enough of that though), set up and clean up, or the children's tent.. yeahhh, probably face painting with the kids :). 

Jeez louise, it's already been over a week since I left school.  It feels quite long ago, though I'm happy to report that I'm going to the Adirondacks on Monday to spend a few days with my house mates and a few other friends!  Mountain R&R, away!!!

 Listening: Arcade Fire, because they make me tear up in the best way possible.

The Weight

I had a lot of time on my hands this weekend, and I sublimed all my pent-up anxiety and energy and emotion from the semester and its end and let my creativity loose!  After my cleaning spree, I really locked in an art studio set-up in the barn.  My Dad salvaged a wooden table easel that my brother never used, I opened the crusty jars of acrylic paint, popped in some of my favorite cds from senior year and just went to work.  Behold, my first piece of the summer:

 

I've reinterpreted the donkey a bit, but I'm pleased.  I only used the three primary colors and white, and I think I reflected the values quite well.  I'm giving it to a co-worker who had asked me to paint it last summer, and I finally came around to doing it!

My activity does not end there!  I have all this active yeast and I've been taking a try at making bread.  Actual loaves are difficult, like the consistency and the flour measurements were slightly off for my attempt at a French-style baguette, but goodness is it gratifying to have a house smelling like a bakery.  It didn't taste bad either.  I also treated my parents to these enormous homemade cinnamon rolls from this recipe.  I didn't have bread flour so they were probably denser than the recipe actually produces, but still delicious and fairly simple.  We cleaned up the leftovers for this morning!  Nothing like starting off the day with a hearty dose of butter, eggs and sugar in pastry-form.

I recently finished a twelve-hour shift at my home turf work establishment, Mill Creek Cafe.  I'm learning how to cook on the line this season, in order to diversify my skills and be useful in all sides of the game.  It's a ton of fun because I love learning how the different dishes are made, but my feet are exhausted-- I need to take a load off.  In the last two days I've had two shifts that amount to 18 hours already this week... bring on the cash monay, baby! 
 

Listening: "Superstition" by Stevie Wonder