"I Quit: A How To"

Apparently today is the day to quit your job in a dramatic fashion, as evidenced by the people in these two articles.

Fed up flight attendent

Fed up assistant

I'd like to see follow up articles on these people. Will any of the people that copied these articles stating "This guy is my hero!" be willing to hire him? Does the pleasure and catharsis of a public resignation outweigh the blemish to the person in questions references and reputations? Either way, it does seem like a victory for the average guy.

Double Rainbow all the way across the Sky!

Unfortunately I didn't catch any double rainbows after the storm the other night. I hear it is supposed to rain again today so maybe there's still hope. Of course I don't think I could ever be as excited about a rainbow as this guy...



For some reason this amuses me to no end. It's definitely worth it to hold out at least until he starts openly weeping.


In other news, we went to XPN fest on Sunday afternoon. The bands we were interested in seeing weren't playing until later in the day, so we had a lazy morning and finally ventured into the heat around 3 o'clock. We (as in Joe) accidentally missed the correct stop on the PATCO train, so we spent a good twenty five minutes playing Scrabble and staring at this view. Which I thought was pretty cool. I like the thumb tack graffiti.


We finally got to Wiggins Park and squeezed in among this crowd. We had beer and watermelon peach gazpacho and people watched. We saw Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes and Dr. Dog perform. Robert Randolph and the Family Band were up next but we've seen them before and by then we were both feeling kind of meh about the heat and the proximity to hippies and the comfort of the hill we were sitting on. Last year we held out much longer. Maybe we are becoming more yuppie with each passing day. Or maybe Joe is starting to hate fun too!! AH HAH! I might be on to something here.

There's a storm a brewin'

At least there was when I started this post. Between then and now there was a hell of a storm. There is still some thunder in the distance, but the sky is bright. Brighter than it seems like it should be at 8pm.
I really really love rain. I love how green it makes everything, the smell right before and right after a storm and so many more things. It's just so beautiful and perfect. Another thing I love about rain is that I don't have to fill a bucket with water and trek up these stairs to water the plants on the roof deck. During this wonderful rain, I am watching Bones and drinking a glass of wine (maybe two). Joe hates Bones, so it works out pretty well that he plays basketball on Monday nights when Bones is usually on.

I had to take a food safety certification class today instead of going to work as usual. It was uneventful but surprisingly exhausting. Sitting in an uncomfortable chair and listening to someone read out of a textbook for 8 hours is TIRING! It's weird how I feel more worn out today than a typical workday of running around doing a million different things.

Have a good night darlings. Sweet dreams!

Ups and Downs

Today was a day of highs and lows. High of 105°. Low of incredibly frustrated and overwhelmed.

It was a rough day at work dealing with a menopausal coworker who, on her best day, is crazy and bipolar. That stress was exacerbated by another employee and several unpleasant customers. My faith in humanity began to wane when a customer called to complain about a topping that was accidentally left off of his ice cream. Certainly, it should have been included. Absolutely, he was a little miffed to find that his hot fudge sundae was absent of wet walnuts- THE HORROR!- but to insist upon having us return to his workplace to deliver said wet walnuts immediately seemed a little ridiculous to my heat stroked brain. To waste my time (and his) yelling at me about that 75¢ topping when I already agreed to send my poor, sweaty delivery person all the way back to him was really crossing the line.

My faith in humanity was restored when a group of about 8 adults came into the store, joking and being kind of loud. They took their time making up their minds about what to order, but they were very friendly. They ushered people behind them in line in front to order first. They joked around with us and seemed to be enjoying each others' company. While I was ringing them up one of the guys mentioned that they were having a memorial. Apparently their father passed away several years ago today and he really loved our ice cream, so every year on this date they come to the store together to remember him. Even though it was kind of a serious occasion, they were interacting pleasantly with strangers and putting a positive spin on the day.

I really could go into more detail about this and MANY more work stories, but when Joe nods off while I'm telling them in person it makes me realize they're really only interesting to me.

Stay cool tonight. Cross your fingers for rain and cooooooler weather!

Garces Trading Company

In case you're living under a rock (or not from Philly), Jose Garces is the most recent Food Network Iron Chef and my favorite chef/restaurateur. He recently won the Best Chef in the mid-Atlantic region award from the James Beard Foundation, and he is on fire these days. He owns six restaurants in Philadelphia, all of them incredible. One of his most recent restaurants is Garces Trading Company, which the food critic at the Inquirer recently
reviewed.

I went last week with my friend Marilys after running a rather surreal errand. Any excuse to eat an incredible meal is fine by me, and catching up with Lys was just the thing.
We bought a delicious champagne in the attached Wine and Spirits store. It's the first of its kind as far as I know, and very unusual for prudish Pennsylvania laws. It has recently attracted some legal trouble. Hopefully they pull out ahead and the concept becomes more popular around here.
We ordered the chef's tasting plate of cheese, which included a brie, a cheddar, and a fontina. The "sauces" were also amazing. white sangria honey, roasted garlic dulce de leche, pecan butter, and fig marmalade. I also got a jar of truffle lavender honey to take home. yum.
We also got the chef's tasting plate of smoked meats. I forget exactly what they were except delicious. We took almost an hour to eat the meats and cheeses, savoring each bite and sipping our champagne in between.
We split the Tuscon fusilli alla carbonara with guanciale, eggs, black pepper, and pecorino. Homemade pasta is about 74092547259 times better than the sad excuse for pasta everyone eats from a box. Bacon, egg, and cheese only makes it better.
This is the pizza we had with oven roasted tomatoes, mozzarella, prosciutto, and olive oil. It was all too much to eat so I took some home and put a fried egg on top for breakfast the next morning. When a restaurant is still making me happy a day later, you know it's amazing.

I brought home a delicious salted caramel macaron for Joe (and one for me, of course). I can't wait to go back!

Happy 4th! What are you doing today/tonight?

Happy Thoughts

Yesterday in my post I mentioned sending happy thoughts my way encouraging me to exercise. While you're at it, I have a few more suggestions for your happy thoughts, aka prayers. For Genna, who needs this job, for my grandparents, who need some positivity, and for Sue, who needs a good friend with a loving ear. Anyone else need some happy thoughts?

via lifetime

Speaking of happy thoughts, I am watching Drop Dead Diva, a feel-good dramedy on Lifetime in its second season. The premise is that a ditzy young blonde model dies in a car accident and due to an incident checking her into heaven, she gets returned to earth in the body of an intelligent, overweight, brunette lawyer. The show follows her as she settles into her new existence and learns life lessons in the context of the cases she takes on. Sound cheesy? It sort of is, but it is also charming and clever. IMDB gives it an 8.1/10 and the New York Times gave it a decent review. Gotta love a guilty pleasure.

That's all I've got tonight. I'm excited for this weekend- a concert with my favorite sister, visiting family, relaxing, fireworks!

Little Pleasures

Our visit yesterday with Joe's parents was really nice. It is always low key and relaxing when we go there. We went to The Art of the State exhibit at the State Museum in Harrisburg. We had hot dogs and sliders and angel food cake. We (I use the term "we" loosely) moved an old couch out of the basement. We practiced driving and got a few used books at a local store.

Today I woke up happy. I made a healthy breakfast and chatted with AmyFuckingWilliams before getting ready for work. Two buses drove right by me which is very irritating but it gave me a chance to talk to Mom while I walked to work.

It was an okay day at work. Meh, unexciting.
I ran some errands after work... Radio Shack, Sephora, H&M and the liquor store. I ordered some Creme de violette and I can't wait for it to come so I can make an Aviation! YUM.
I had a light dinner and afterwards I got this funny feeling. It kind of felt like motivation. TO EXERCISE! This doesn't strike often, so I got ready quickly before it wore off. I haven't been running in months but I'm really glad I went. It was dusk when I went so the air was a little less sticky than the rest of the day and there was a little breeze. Send happy thoughts my way encouraging me to go again soon!

When I got home I found my Amazon packages with some deliiiightful new books. I am really excited to read them. I'll let you know what I think.

Have a great day. Indulge in something special.

p.s. completely unrelated photos but they just looked happy.

A Beautiful Day

I woke up this morning to Joe hugging me and kissing my cheek. "I'm getting up," he said. I drifted back off immediately and woke up again to him nudging me. "You said you were getting up too." I don't think I said that. But we'll give him the benefit of the doubt since I was sleeping and I don't know what I said.

I got up and went up on the roof to water the plants. I neglected them yesterday and Joe was the official plant-waterer of the house while I was sick so I was anxious to see how they were doing. Unfortunately all of my hand made signs were a little broken. I guess hot glue doesn't hold up in a wicked thunderstorm... Any suggestions on how to secure these babies? They are just made of thin bass wood but they do splinter pretty easily. Oh well, the actual plants were thriving. Pictures to come later.

I took a quick shower and came down to find Joe putting the finishing touches on breakfast. Pan-fried potatoes, over easy eggs, spinach and garlic scapes. Delicious!

Now he is waiting patiently for me to finish this nonsense so we can get out of here to go visit his parents. Off we go!

Walking Home

Disclaimer: Our camera charger is hiding somewhere unbeknownst to me, so until I find it or buy a new one, forgive me for the grainy iPhone photos.

Some days I take the bus home from work and some days I walk. Often I use the walk home to check my email or catch up with friends on the phone, and I admit yesterday was almost no different. But for some reason I decided to leave the phone in my pocket and be more aware of my surroundings. Here are just a few of the things I see on a daily basis that I took a closer look at yesterday.The first time I passed one of these it took me a second to figure it out. The second and third ones I walked by I giggled. The fourth one I finally took a picture. I believe several traffic lights went out during the crazy storm on Thursday afternoon and these are generators chained to the power for the intersection, making a lot of noise and reminding people to think "classy" when they think of Philadelphia.
I stopped at the newly opened Feder's Fresh Produce on 19th St near Spring Garden. I was very thirsty and I noticed a sign for fresh squeezed lemonade in their window, so DUH I went in. I noticed this fruit I had never heard of- Mamoncillo. I bought a tiny little branch to taste it. It is basically a hard seed covered in slimy goo and a hard skin. From what I understand you are supposed to bite into the skin and suck the goo off the seed. The flavor was good but the texture left something to be desired and it was a lot of effort for virtually no results. I'm still glad I tried it though. If there is such a thing as mamoncillo juice, I'd drink it. The lemonade was also delicious. Just sweet enough and tart with little bits of mint and lemon peel. Yummm.
I walked past The Spring Gardens, which is a one-square-block community garden that has some really cool wrought iron work around the perimeter.
I love seeing greenery and plants around the city, but what is this? CORN??? Some kind of crazy weed growing out of the side of a building in an otherwise well-tended plant bed.
I walked past the mural-in-progress-of-which-I-will-withhold-my-judgment-until-its-completion. I will say that I'm impressed with how quickly it's coming together. I am a little confused about the theme and parts of the execution. Any mural is better than a blank wall, though. Do you agree?

Have a great rest of the weekend!

Insert Clever Title Here

Today was a very frustrating and stressful day at work. I don't have much more to say about that right now. Let's just look at some pictures of pretty flowers.
I think peonies are my favorite flowers. Watching them bloom is amazing. And they smell incredible. I wish I had some around here now but the pictures will have to do.
Wikipedia says there are between 25 and 40 different kinds of peonies. They come around in late spring or early summer and oohhhh do they make the changing season sweet.
Here's hoping tomorrow is the most productive day ever. My list is 40 miles long. Think there's hope?

Chocolate Covered Bananas!

All week I've been craving a chocolate covered banana. And since it's not like I spend 40+ hours a week working in an ice cream/chocolate store or anything, I had to take matters into my own hands.

First I melted a LOT (two bags) of bittersweet chocolate chips in short intervals in the microwave. As long as you stop and stir every thirty seconds or so, they won't burn. As the chocolate was melting, I peeled half a dozen bananas and laid them in a serving platter.
I poured the chocolate on top and turned the bananas around in the chocolate. I got messy. Darn, I had to lick chocolate off my fingers.
I pulled the bananas out of the chocolate and laid them on a baking sheet to freeze. They are definitely not pretty but oooh they taste good. I tried to make one like a popsicle, but the sticks I had were too flimsy. Stronger popsicle sticks might work but so far I haven't had a problem.
I was left with a ridiculous amount of leftover chocolate. I spread it out on another baking sheet and cracked it up to freeze once it solidified. In retrospect I probably didn't need so much chocolate but I can live with the results of that...
My roommate Ashley has been watching me write this post and staring at the photos. She finally succumbed to one of those bananas in the freezer. I asked how it was and she said "Bananas look bigger when they're covered in chocolate."

Is it me or was this a pretty innuendo-filled post? I can't even help it!

YAWN! That was a great nap

Oh, hey! I just had a little eight month hibernation. I think I'm back... I suppose time will tell.

Here are some highlights from the last several months.

we went camping...
we enjoyed christmas... (with some hysterical anti-deceptive packaging courtesy of samantha)
these jokers met their hero, the brewmaster of Brooklyn Brewery and author of The Brewmaster's Table, Garrett Oliver...
we survived several absurd snow storms...
we experienced culture... (this particular photo is the Philadelphia Orchestra)
we ate...
a lot...
we went to a super fun and memorable wedding of some of our best friends, Andrew and Becky...
and I started dating Don Draper.

I have a great life.