domestic bliss

I’m going to keep my fingers crossed… but tonight Danielle and I are dropping off our security deposit and signing a lease for a new apartment that we’ll be moving into in July. It’s a little further south and a little further east than our seperate current digs, the price is right, it has a den, and a very workable (read: big and uncluttered with a butler’s pantry) kitchen. It is the first apartment I am really excited about moving into. I have enjoyed living in all of my environments, but am ready to be cat free. My job has given me lots of great ideas design and I can’t wait to apply them to my home. Talking about color selection/ space planning with Danielle has been really fun. We have similar tastes that are different enough to keep it interesting. All of this is great, but Danielle and I both have benefitted from living with people who have a lot of furniture. This means we have a couple of shelves, and our beds. This means we need a couch.

For my birthday my grandma decided it was time that I get some “adult furniture” but not until I move out of my current apartment. Well the time has come, and I luckily work at one of the best resources for home design in the city of Chicago. I got lucky on craigslist and found this couch from a really nice couple who I turn out to have some mutual friends with.

The couch is great

I can’t wait to sit on it

I’m recovering it in this fabric, which is called Rocket in the color cocoa.

And I’m making 2 big pillows for it in this Paul Smith fabric, that I have been obsessed with since August.

Many happy meals will be made in this house, and eaten on this couch.

senior living

I have read 4 books since I arrived in Florida. Some good, some bad; The Year of Magical Thinking, Itty Bitty Lies, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and Killing Yourself to Live. I understand that these books have little in common besides the fact that they are written in English . I love Joan Didion, but after breaking my heart, I really needed to read a caper about loose Southern Women. I digress.
I love living the life of a senior citizen. Asleep by 11:30, awake by 7:30. This is the life. Going to the beach and eating 3 square meals a day. I, for some reason, know that I will not feel this way when I return to my fair city, especially since I hear rumors of warm weather and repaired bikes, but for now it is perfectly wonderful.

On Sunday we had lobster ravioli from the farmers market with a sundried tomato cream sauce. My grandma made it, and it was tasty.

I made the salad, it makes me excited for fresh midwestern produce. The tomatoes down here are amazing!

On Monday we had steak and potatoes. No, really.

When I decided to come down here for vacation, I told my grandparents that I wanted to make them dinner. I gave them 2 choices: a French Menu or a Mexican Menu. They decided on French. The menu was as follows:

Cocktail: Citrus Cooler

Salad: Orange, Fennel, Olive, and Baby Greens w/ a Citrus Mustard Vinagrette

Soup: Cauliflower Thyme Brie Soup

Main Dish: Lemon Thyme Roasted Chicken with Mustard Gravy over Garlic Roasted Fingerling Potatoes. As a side note, I have never roasted a chicken before. I was really nervous. This recipe was easy, although time consuming– well not exactly time consuming but demanded a fair amount of planning and foresight. Also, did you know that the chicken comes with its gizzards and heart in a bag? I think I might have to write a song about it.

Dessert: Grapefruit Granita… Which I unfortunately forgot to take a picture of. It was really pretty, and easy, and you’ll just have to trust me on this one.

We had a great time!

Tonight we’re going to the Florida Studio Theatre!

we set the table for breakfast

Currently on location in Siesta Key, Florida. Surprisingly, there is wireless internet AND a platform for uploading pictures to my computer. Hanging out with Clara Lou and John (Grandma and Grandpa, respectively) They picked me up from the airport yesterday and we went to Barnacle Bill’s Seafood for a quick “soup and salad.” Tamiami Trail might not be the most attractive street, but it does have the coolest name. After a that meal, we drove back to the condo and chatted for awhile.

This is my Grandpa, relaxing on a Saturday night:

I was in bed by 11:30 (10:30 Chicago time!) and awake by 8:30 (7:30 Chicago time, you get the idea) When I woke up, Grandma was in the kitchen cooking bacon and pancakes, and the table was set.

I had 2 kinds of juices, and coffee, just like at a restaurant.

The blueberry pancakes were amazing! My Grandma apologized for using pancake mix, which I can only see a woman from her generation OR some weirdo foodie (ahem) apologizing for. She used way more blueberries than Cozy Corner and it tasted that much more delicious, also probably because my grandma made them.

Recently, Grandma and Grandpa have found they prefer bacon cooked in the microwave because it is crispier. Sometimes, I agree

We also had a long discussion regarding their switch to real maple syrup as opposed to the kind you get in the plastic pitcher. I have to say I am very happy with this switch.

to the beach!

sitting on the dock of the bay

Yes. I am leaving my fair city for warmer climes on Saturday, but only for one week via Delta to Sarasota, Florida; specifically Siesta Key, which has smelled the same since I can remember. I will be staying with my grandparents and working on a tan (while protected by sunscreen) and not doing much else besides eating and making food. I am most excited about local produce! It’s Florida! Oranges and Mangoes ACTUALLY grow there!

One of the funnier things about going on vacation to the same place since I was born is that I usually go to the same places. Favorites include: Mar Vista Restaurant , Anna’s Deli, Surfrider (which has closed but is delicious). There are tons of other places, but those have been my favorites since I was 4. Wow! That was 21 years ago.

My grandparents condo development is on the beach. Their unit isn’t featured on the website, but you get the idea. It’s a roll out of bed, put on a swimsuit, slap on some sunscreen and lay on the beach kind of place. Last time I was there I read some reallllllly good books (ahem, Dan Brown). Go to the beach with the biggest tumbler of iced tea you can carry and relax.

I haven’t been on a vacation for 2 years. It is about time!

let’s start from the top, shall we?

again, i have neglected my fair blog. baby, i’m sorry. i think about you and wince like maybe how some people do when they don’t put money in the salvation army thing outside the grocery store. so i’m back, but i’m not making any promises. i’m around, you’re around sometimes it works out. usually on a tuesday after work, when i need even more fun qt in front of a computer screen. we can begin with yesterday. i filled up on winter skirts at the thrift store by my house. then i went to see margot at the wedding which was sad but good and funny like the squid and the whale (same director i think) then i made two soups: curry cauliflower and carrot cardamom. which should prove to be quite handy since it’s christmas season and i’ve given up buying lunch so i can buy the people i love books and pictures! i went to be early last night, it was nice.

let’s move backwards to sunday.
sunday began with me making pizza dough.

and a sunday morning chocolate souffle
starting with two coffee cups

cream and eggs

chocolate and butter

pop it in the oven, out come twin souffles!

they are yummy, and great for people allergic to wheat, ahem

you can find the recipe at this awesome website, cooking for engineers.

then i ate pizza with some friends and missed gerard.

on saturday, i made french onion soup because it was snowing.

on friday we went to sushi with lucy and tony, who are both funny and tall. lucy is smart and has great earrings, tony is also smart but substitute the earrings for some legos.
this is a bad picture of a delicious scallop salad.

then we went to the hungry brain for lisa’s 25th bday!

then all of last week i worked a lot. with the exception of sunday…

when we went to breakfast

yum!

and saw beowulf.

the weekend also consisted of
hanging out with annie

and thanksgiving
i lust after my mom’s sugar bowl.

grandpa john

grandma lou

mom and dad

broccoli rabe strata ( a success, no less!) the first time i brought something to thanksgiving! and people ate it!

din-din

have you heard the song white and nerdy? here is the family scrabble tourney. you tell me, ok?

the previous week, sarah and i hosted what has to be the highlight of my young life.

a beautiful dinner party.

it was insanely amazing.

sarah’s blog has even more great pictures, and a better description because i still get sad when i think about how it’s over.