Attracting Bees or Vinegar in My Soul

A colleague accosted me this morning (will spare present details), suffice it to say, it wasn't the first time. Perhaps it was my vulnerable state— honestly I have NO CLUE why I came to work today (oh right, it was my sense of duty...pfff, whatever)— but what she said finally did it.

I broke.

My voice quivered.

Saline solution pooled and now I'm going home.

That's all.

Warding Off Summer Colds: (Chocolate + Garlic)

Combination of sweat, plus 90°, followed by an ice-box theater chamber did me in. Honestly, I can't recall the last time I was sick. So, I spent the rest of a perfectly good weekend with a wretched nasal drip, barrels of water, sleepless nights, and several rolls of toilet paper. #tmi

Since I could only manage so many hours of the usual sick remedies (sleeping, movie watching, updating FB, and reading), I decided to turn my attention to the kitchen. Wait. Before you go and call the CDC, rest assured, I haven't yet imparted of my substance to anyone. But that is exactly where things get complicated.

In my fuzzy stupor I threw pesto ingredients into a blender (NOT the best way to make pesto, must invest in a fancy one of these), and began shredding a zucchini the size of my forearm.
Result one: less-than-stellar pesto that functions fine as a spread; now know that pine nuts, sea salt and a food processor will yield better results next time.

Since my cousin likes to throw out virtual wafts of this summer time treat, I decided to put the oozing pile of zucchini into Result two. Modifications included: less sugar, a touch of honey, more zuc, 1/2 wheat flour, 1/2 white, and 2 tsp. decaffeinated instant coffee powder. Then, like Miranda, in an bizzaro real-life In The City episode I proceeded to eat half the 9x13 pan.

It was medicinal, right?

Ps- For the record, I have never done this before. Never.
Pps- The frosting is intoxicating.

We All Need Mirrors...

"The kneeling archer, in his position, was always ready for battle..."

Laurel

Over the weekend, in the midst of a mini-meltdown, this post was just what I needed.

Weekend Roundup

Usually my weekend starts at Noon on Friday. (If I was living in the Beehive state I would've had the entire day off, complete with bonnets and creamies.) Sadly, a five hour desk shift, Friday afternoon, was only a precursor of things to come.

Intentions of enjoy Jazz in the Sculpture Garden were dashed when I realized 1) just how sticky a night it was and 2) that every single resident of the District, NOVA, MD and hoards of tourists had descended on my little patch of urban live music. Argh. Plus the fact that something about Jazz and couples picnicking can sometimes be too much for the single gal. (More on that later.)

Because I still had high hopes for my weekend, early Saturday morning I trotted off to King Street for a taste of FM vittles, complete with one peach and one cherry muffin (because I couldn't decide), 2 lbs of peaches, and two giant elastic-bound bunches of basil. Pesto was top of my weekend to-do list.

After that, I met up with Tyler for the third instalment of our how-many-weekends-are-left-in-the-summer? part series of bike rides.
Goal: Bike the Mount Vernon trail to Georgetown, catch a matinee of HP, and ride back.
Turns out, that is 17.5 miles each way. Thirty-five total. I know that because I biked every. one. of. them.

{Aside: for not having seen any of the other HP movies (oh, wait, I did see HP 4 on a first date a few years back, but really only remember that my date's parents were also with us), I enjoyed the film immensely. Alan Rickman, yes. Old man crush, definitely. To my delight one of the family cable channels also happened to be showing several of the other HP movies over the weekend so I caught up on a few of the ones I've missed. Just curious, is there a favorite among fans?}

Sunday morning, somewhere between the hours of, ahh I should be asleep and why is my throat/nasal passage all wonky? I awoke to find that my body had staged a full on revolt.
New post...

Keeping Up

This won't be one of those sorry-I-have-not-updated-my-blog in two weeks posts. Nope.
(Forthcoming tidbits include: Chi-tales, volunteer bites, and other happy summer time treats).

This post is just a little hip-hip-hooray! that I've beat the NewsHour statistics. Yup, been tweeting (did I just say that?) now for two months. Apparently, nearly 60% of folks that sign up drop off within the first month. No kidding?

While I claim no twexpertise, it is slightly addicting. Prolly, shouldn't have started a blog and a twitter account at the same time. Now if I could just get my RSS Google feeds over to @bookbloom.

Windy City of Steel

South Water Street Illinois, Central Railroad Freight Terminal. LOC

Headed out, for my first visit to that toddlin town. Looking forward to a) Spending time with a dear friend and good traveling companion (essential qualities in my book), b) Catching up with Y colleagues, c) Noshing on fab food finds, d) First poster session (eek!) and e) Relishing all the other architectural, cultural, and outdoor items on our to-do list.

Patriotic Weekend Roundup

What a splendid 4OJ weekend. Today it's back to a brutal dose of reality, so, for now, I'll relish in posting this little blurb.

Some of my weekend highlights included:

Biking into Georgetown to rent kayaks with friends.

Discovering the joys of National Harbor (apparently more accessible than ever), over a heaping molcajete of guacamole.

Almost zero humidity. In July?! Seriously. This was the best Independence Day present ever. I'd like to think the Founding Fathers had a little something to do with this.

Crashing a portion of the Midsies weekend (Sunday at the VC) and being pleasantly surprised.

Having one of my g-school friends tell me that she had emailed her friend to ask, "Do you know of any cute Mormon boys that I could introduce my friend to?"

An entire extra day to finally visit Ocean City, MD. (Three hours to beach paradise, I could get use to that.) I confess, despite my better judgment, I indulged in salty vinegar boardwalk fries. Man, they. were. good.

Because it wasn't all roses, some of the lowlights were:

Cranking too sharply over a sizable asphalt lip in a slight drizzle. Result: right wrist breaking my fall, with 100% of my non-petit frame landing hard. Just typing this post is a bit challenging.

A forgettable $3.75 cupcake in Georgetown. Boo.

An entirely too affectionate Persian guy. Come on, No means No.