By Popular Demand.....

A certain picky and demanding overnight guest recently requested (read: demanded) waffles for breakfast. Eggos of course wouldn’t due, no matter how many ways I tried to fancy them up. So a waffle iron was purchased (based on reviews and research performed, the cheap one from target was the way to go), www.Allrecipes.com was consulted and a recipe was selected (read: sent to me with a note demanding I make these waffles)

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cinnamon-Pumpkin-Waffles/Detail.aspx

Um, I’m not a big fan of waffles, but these are pretty delicious. And the wheat flour/germ totally makes me believe they’re healthy despite the butter/milk/sugar/etc. The best part? They freeze well! I made a whole bunch at once and froze them individually. I just pop them in the toaster and they’re good to go! Based on feedback, I’m not the only one who thinks so! J I highly recommend this recipe!

Jennifer Van Gogh

I subscribe to two on-line coupon groups: www.groupon.com and www.livingsocial.com, which allow me to “get one unbeatable deal on a restaurant, spa or event in Charlotte emailed to you each day.” These are awesome! I’ve gotten great deals on massages (my personal favorite), facials, spa treatments (see a trend here), and restaurants. But you know what’s even better than these deals to places I would have frequented anyway on my own? That it also introduces me to events/activities/places I wouldn’t normally find/research on my own: belly dancing, painting classes, glass blowing, pottery classes, etc. (Yes! that is totally a foreshadowing of upcoming events you will read about here—I know, you’re super excited! So am I!).

So when a great deal came to my inbox for this place, I had to give it a shot.

http://www.cajuncanvas.com

I know, I know. This place probably would make a "real" artist turn over in his/her grave. But to me, a girl who has neither artistic skills nor imagination*, it’s a great way to spend an evening. AND it’s BYOB! What could be better than getting your girlfriends together and spending an evening here, painting, with a bottle of wine (or two….).

I went on Havana Night—by the end of the evening I had a delightful painting of an ocean sunset scene, a belly full of Cuban food, and a coupon for a $1 off a mojito. A Piece of Havana provided the appetizers—although my knowledge of Cuban food is somewhat limited, it was delicious and I can’t wait to give it a real try for dinner sometime. Check it out! http://apieceofhavana.com/index.html

The painting hangs in my cubicle at work. I haven’t gotten a lot of comments on it yet, but I know everyone is intimidated by my skill.

*Although anyone who saw the paint job I did on my dorm room sophomore year might disagree. That was pure artistic genius!!!...thank God they tore that building down later that year….Also, I apologize to whoever drove that pickup truck parked on the second floor of the West Ridge parking deck. I’m sure that pepto bismol pink paint wasn’t easy to get off of your tires. L

Ta-Da! I'm a Chef!

I know pasta dishes are probably among the most easy dinners to throw together…if you’re not me. However, when boiling water has been known to take a disastorous turn, it seems like a really good starting point! I wanted to make a delicious, healthy, vegetable-filled pasta dish and preferably something not tomato sauce based. Seeing as one of my earlier “projects” this summer was growing my own herbs, primarily basil, a pesto-based dish seemed like a good choice (also, I LOVE LOVE LOVE pesto). I usually go to www.allrecipes.com for my recipes. I love the rating and review system. It’s pretty similar to www.tripadvisor.com, which is my go-to travel site!

Anyway, I found the following recipe for pesto, which allowed me to put all of that basil to use AND was a good way to get more spinach into my diet:

Pesto:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Spinach-Basil-Pesto/Detail.aspx

This is a great pesto recipe (although I’m fond of adding more walnuts) and I’ve used the pesto both frozen and fresh—both times it was pretty delicious (if I do say so myself)!

I used the following pasta recipe:

Pasta:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pesto-Pasta-with-Chicken/Detail.aspx

I used whole wheat pasta and added a bunch of fresh veggies (broccoli, zucchini, and squash). I also used a TON of pesto—more than called for.

Also, my recipes usually end up with a dash of pug hair. This is strictly optional L.

PS—growing my own herbs proved to be so easy. Especially considering I’m growing them indoors. So cheap too! Simply picked up basil, mint, and cilantro at walmart and potted them. The basil requires a TON of water, the mint smells fantastic but I have NO idea what to use it for (I’m leaning towards mojitos! You provide the rum, I’ve got the mint! I think that’s fair. J), and the cilantro died really quickly. But hey, two out of three isn’t bad for an indoor, spur-of-the-moment herb garden. Also, check out that awesome pink elephant watering can. $1 from Target. How great is that?!?!

Movie night...old school stye

Tonight’s activity of choice:
http://belmontdrivein.20megsfree.com/nowshowing.htm

Not that much of an adventure but definitely a different, delightful, and affordable way to spend the evening! I definitely recommend it! :-)

Operation Write Home

Tonight’s Project: Making homemade cards for the troops overseas

Organization: www.operationwritehome.com/

Mission: Supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them.

This seemed like a perfect project for me! I love crafts of all sorts and am always looking for new projects. Despite a few personal conflicts J, I, of course, support the troops as a whole and have been involved in projects involving this cause before. I found a group through meetup.com* called The Charlotte Altered Arts Artisans. This group is self-described as “an art play group for people who have a common interest in altered books and paper arts. We like to mess around with various art/craft, forms, including Altered Books(ABs), Artist Trading Cards (ATC's), art dolls, little shrines, mail art and the list goes on and on and on...” (I totally can’t wait to make a creepy art doll! It will be a Christmas gift for one of you….I haven’t decided who yet….I’m picturing something similar to Phoebe’s art on Friends…but I digress). An art project that calms me, makes other people feel better and is free?!??! Perfect!

The meeting was held at a scrapbooking store (which in itself was lovely) and consisted of mostly all women. Everyone was friendly, outgoing, and super crafty. I gained new ideas, picked up some supplies, and contributed to our goal—a total of 88 cards were made!! Overall, this was a great night out! I can’t wait for the next meetup of The Charlotte Altered Arts Artisans. And yes, I’m totally crossing my fingers for the creepy art doll!!!!

*(I know many of you have heard me mention meetup.com before but just in case…it’s a wonderful website that allows you to search for other people with like interests. I currently am a member of meetup groups that focus on pugs, tennis, volunteer work, social events, and crafts, among others. These groups will then organize meetings that allow us to gather and share our interests, such as the craft group meeting tonight to make cards or a play date for pugs meeting this Saturday.)

And we're off!!!!

You know the saying “Can’t teach an old dogs new tricks”? Well, I don’t buy it. I’m an old(ish) dog and it’s time I learn some new tricks!!! Granted, I’m not really all that old, but I am old enough that I’ve become settled into my ways, my patterns, my activities…my acceptance of who I am and what I “do”. So it’s time to rattle things up, break these patterns, and start exploring life, even if it’s only through little things, like trying a new recipe!

(Although, it should be noted, that trying a new recipe is within itself a pretty dramatic thing for me. I am someone who doesn’t cook. 18 years with my parents, 5 years in the dorms/school cafeteria, and 5 years living out of a suitcase/eating out does not create a great need to learn kitchen skills. So yes, there will be a lot recipe trying/cooking adventures to be had.)

The first step in this process was quitting my job! It got in the way of my free time. Yes, that sounds arrogant considering today’s economy but I’m very lucky in my choice of career/skill sets and fortunate that these past several years I have done a pretty decent of establishing myself and my resume. So, I got rid of the job that required an entire life/style commitment and took on a more “normal” 8-5 job that allowed me much more free time and NO travel. It’s been three weeks and I haven’t looked back since. Funny how a thought that lingered in my mind for almost 2 years turned out to be so not scary once actually put into action!

The second step was actually finding stuff to do. Turns out Charlotte is brimming with activities of every sort, all of the time. Meetup.com, local Community Colleges, city magazines, friends—all of these things are full of great suggestions as to what I can do with my free time.

The third step was figuring out what I wanted to do. Lord knows I spent enough time these last few years exploring the drinking habits of college co-eds and young professionals in a social setting, so I decided to try and focus on things that would better me—improve my health (physically and emotionally), teach me something new, expand my mind (does that sound illegal?), and/or actually be necessary for “grown-up” life (see cooking above!)

So I was off….and I quickly learned that even the simplest recipes can go dramatically wrong if you forget to remove your Tupperware when you preheat your oven, that swimming is SO much harder than it looks and I might be okay simply mastering the doggy paddle, and even if you go to something alone, chances are you’ll still end up with someone to talk to (especially if you bring a bottle of wine to share.)

So friends, at your request ;-), here’s to new tricks. Wish me luck!