On mocha cookies for spring break

My friends in Savannah had their spring break last week. Of course, one of the highlights of my time with them was a cooking experience. My friend Steven and I had been talking about baking cookies for a long time, so we found this ridiculously rich and tasty mocha cinnamon iced cookie recipe and went to work. We didn't even let the unexpected bugs in our all-purpose flour salt our game. I love baking.

In other news, I am forever trying to decide what to pack into boxes to mail to Seattle. It's really difficult to stand in the middle of my room and prioritize things that I love vs. things that I need. Oh, the road ahead of me is a long one.

On one way plane tickets and alfredo sauce

So, there's a hint at what I've been doing lately.  

My father went to work in St. Augustine- and it's kind of tradition to make as many dishes with mushrooms as we can while he's gone. He doesn't like them so we usually don't get to eat them when he's around. One of the dishes I made was a white wine alfredo with mushrooms. It was so rich and tasty! 

More importantly, I signed my lease and sent my check out for the house in Seattle. I feel so excited and anxious and terrified. I still have about a month to get used to the fact that I'm moving across the country and nobody I know and love is coming with me. Oh, that's a scary realization. It's a really strange thing to search for one way plane tickets.

On old pictures & random beauty

I've been working and planning so much lately! I haven't really had time to do anything worth posting about- so here's a picture from last year when I payed a visit to my good friends in Savannah. I wandered into a huge crowded art festival on River St, and despite my general dislike of large amounts of people, I really liked the warm colors that came out of it.

In somewhat more exciting news, I submitted a few pictures to randomgotbeautiful and they made it up. If you're feeling like you've got nothing better to do- you can go in and look for them! I'm sure, if you're a reader of this blog, you will have seen most of them already. 

(Hint! None of them are the picture above. I submitted orange, black, & white; and if you click on my images, they will lead you right back to my blog.) 

I'll have something better to show you kids next time. Promise. :)

On fireworks in the middle of the afternoon.

Well, I do have to break off into a deeper version of my writing every once in a while- but here, I'm back! With a much happier and light-hearted post. 

Justin came over yesterday with a box of fireworks he had in his apartment and, of course, we chose to light some of them- right in the middle of the afternoon! The regular explosion-type fireworks weren't as fun to watch in the daylight, but my most favorite were the little smoke bombs we lit. They were such vivid colors and left cute little colored burn marks on the road in front of our house. The firework fun had to end eventually, and we decided a good time was when we lit a firework which flew in the air over our heads and zoomed around while we all franticly ran around trying to avoid it.

 Okay, who am I kidding? It was when we were shooting roman candles and little neighborhood kids started riding their bikes into the line of fire. Anyway, it's nice to have a little fun in the midst of stress and craziness sometimes. 

On drowning (an example of sorts?)

There’s dirt on my feet,

from trudging on the ground I revered.

You don’t have to tell me twice-

It’s not as endearing, now that I am grown.

Pick me for your table setting!

[or,

place me in the compost, if you’d prefer.]

My hands are tired of holding tight;

too tight for my fingers to respire.

My lips are so dry,

from the salty water rushing past the bridge of my nose.

Don’t worry, I see it too-

a seemingly hopeless struggle to tread above the surface of my sad excuses.

Throw me a raft!

[or,

push me towards a waterfall, if you’d prefer.]

My heart is feeling terribly heavy now-a-days,

too heavy to hang above my weary lungs.

My arms are sore and trembling,

from trying to embrace a disappearing sense of comfort.

I know, I know-

It seems I’m grasping at air with my eyes closed tightly.

Feed me a loaf of encouragement!

[or,

give me a poison apple to slay my sense of wonder.]

My attempts at grace are feeble,

too feeble for your fleeting soul to see.

On finally having a cool president

It's taken me a little longer than anticipated to upload photos of this and make a post, but Happy Inauguration Day! Better late than never! Alison and I made Obama shirts and attended an inauguration party- after crying all day long while watching the live footage- we even made a change cake! (Complete with Obama logo and awful icing-lettering done by yours truly.) It was a really, really great day. The air even smells sweeter, don't you agree?

On being born in between holidays.

It's a bit tedious; having your birthday, Christmas, and the end of the year fall in so closely to one another. No matter how cliche, you cannot help but reminisce, picking apart and dissecting your year as it played out. The bad, the good; old habits die hard. Among all of the self criticizing comes the pressing realization that i’ve yet another year to add- another decade to conquer; another building block on my [somehow] faithfully sturdy structure. I’d like to think that i’ve learned some things this year, that i’ve grown from what i’ve done. No regrets, no takebacks. I can’t pretend to have an idea of what my life is going to hold, or anticipate what mess i’ll make of this seeming “blank slate” everyone hopes to start out with on January 1st. I don’t know much about what impact i’ll make on this next year, or what it will mold me into. I’m not sure what tastes i’ll acquire, or what lives I will change. Not knowing is so humbling and exciting at the same time. Right now, I guess it doesn’t really matter if I know the answers. 

I do know this,

There are still people out there who love me.

I still love avocado & tomato sandwiches and reading fiction.

Last night I fell asleep watching James and the Giant Peach,

and tomorrow is my twentieth birthday.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Bring it on, 2009.