that was easy.

This was so easy, like sooooooo easy.  Guys, if you were thinking about volunteering and were waiting because you didn't know how/where may I present to you Chicago Cares.

Go there.  

It's such a brilliant idea.  A website where organizations can post volunteer opportunities and 'we the people' can peruse them, and decide where to help.  Did I mention it was super easy!?!  I actually did it from my phone... 5 clicks, 4 questions, and a submit button later, I'm signed up with a confirmation e-mail and all.  I'll be spending a couple hours next Saturday morning reading with 3rd-5th graders and doing fun crafts!  Really seriously, check out Chicago Cares... and have a good Thursday! 

P.S.  There are still a few spaces open if you want to come with me!  It's Saturday April 9th from 9:30-12.  Just leave me a comment if you want details...

we are experiencing technical difficulties...

I've spent my whole morning researching volunteer opportunities.

Kind of.

Really, I think I found a cool place to volunteer, but since you don't want to hear about me filling out forms, and trying to figure out why my computer keeps reloading this one page over and over again, you should go here.  While waiting for my computer to get its act together I've been checking out the prints and looking at all the pretty pictures available on the cheap.  I think I'll get the one above for my living room.  Also, helping out a struggling artist is kind of like volunteering right?

Dear Shannon, XOXO The Universe

Me: sitting on couch twiddling thumbs

Universe: Hey Shan, you should change things up.

Me:  I'm good.

Universe:  No really, you should mix it up.

Me:  Nope, I'm fine thanks.

Universe:  hold. on. tight.

It turns out there is going to be a whole lot of change for me this year.  I'm excited.  Really excited.  My comfortable complacent existence is going to get totally shaken up, and while I'm welcoming what's to come, it's also a little scary.  Just so we're all on the same page, last week I found out my roommate is moving to her own place, and my job is moving to California, and I'm not going with either of them.  This means that in the next 8 months I'll be welcoming a new roommate, finding a new job, and embracing a whole new decade.

Change.
Big. Change.

I thought that this week I'd work on my resume, or roommate search, or both, but I'm feeling a little rudderless right now, and I think I may need to work on that first.  I decided to spend this week finding a place to volunteer on the regular.  I don't think that I'll change the world in just a few weeks or 'find my calling', but I do think it will be good to do something that reminds me how great I've got it (changes or not).

what's new. 12

O.k. if you had asked me on Monday what I was doing for the week I would have told you, 'cooking', but I would have been thingking 'trying not to burn down my apartment'.  I hate to beat a dead horse with talk of apartment fires, burnt food, inedible meals, and my general inability in a kitchen, but that is generally what I thought I was getting myself into.  This week however, could probably be the biggest shocker so far in that none of the afore mentioned disasters happened.  Aaaaaaaand I had fun.

Yep. 

I. Had. Fun. Cooking.

Here are a few things I learned while doing it:

-I am not a horrible cook.  I don't really have many (or any) instincts in the kitchen, but if I take a deep breath, I can figure it out.

-Cooking is waaaaaay less overwhelming if you calm down and do one thing at a time.

-I'm super slow at prepping.  It takes me twice as long as the recipe says.

-Patience.  I need to work on cooking patience.

-I won't be able to throw a meal together with what I have in my fridge, but I don't mind stopping by the grocery store after work.

-I now know where the bacon is in the jewel, and in life.

-I will gladly deal with the anxiety, the daily grocery trips, and the clean up for the delicious food, and even better the time spent with favorite friends.

-You're always welcome at my table, I'll just set an extra plate.

impromptu dinner parties.

On Thursday night my roommate and I ended up hosting an impromptu dinner party for a few friends.  It was one of those perfect nights where everyone 'ends up' at your apartment, there is a ton of food, good wine, soooo much laughing, and a general feeling of happiness all around.  If we had planned for it, I'm sure it wouldn't have gone so well, or been so fun.  I probably should tell you how delicious the pot roast turned out, or how we broke the crock pot making the au jus, but really I just want to tell you what a great time we had, and how much I loved hanging out with such lovely friends!

Baked Kabobs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, yesterday's dinner had a lot of people to please.  First, I was cooking for my boss, who is a very good cook, and again, MY BOSS.  Second, I was cooking for her 3 year old and 5 year old, who would prefer to eat macaroni and cheese or vanilla yogurt for every single meal of the day if you let them.  Third, I was trying to make something super healthy.  How do you please a boss, 2 picky tots, and stay healthy you ask?  My answer was baked Kabobs, roasted sweet potatoes, and cheesy risotto.  The Kabobs and sweet potatoes were planned, the risotto was a last minute addition when it became clear that if I didn't have some kind of cheese on the menu, the tots would mutiny.

Besides the fact that it still takes me twice as long as it should to prep anything, this one went over way better than I thought.  Everything looked really pretty, smelled really great*, and tasted wonderful.  You know the meal is a success when everyone asks for seconds, when you're happy-full for the rest of the evening,  and when the 5 year old sits still long enough to clear her plate.


*Full disclosure:  I don't have a sense of smell, but everyone kept saying how great everything smelled.

Fancy B.L.T.'s

the spread.

basil and garlic mayo.
(which I made)

avocado.

tomatoes.

thick cut, smoked bacon.
(which I peppered)

wheat oatmeal bread.

...with spinach.

faaaaaancy.

Success!

Last night's dinner was a huge success, but it almost didn't happen...

Kyle: Yelllllllllow? (That's really how Kyle answers the phone when I call)

Me: (whispering)  Hey, it's me.  Don't laugh, but where's the bacon?

Kyle:  Ummm in life?

Me: (still whispering)  No, at the jewel.  I'm making fancy BLT's and I can't find the bacon.

Kyle:  Are you by the meat?

Me:  Ummmmm yes?

Kyle:  Why is that a question?

Me:  I don't know?  There's a lot of meat in this place.

Kyle:  Go to the meat section, like where they keep the chicken and steaks and things, and look by the pork.

Me:  What does pork look like?

Kyle:  Yikes.

Me:  Wait, what?  wait, o.k. I'm by the steaks and chicken, and there's no bacon.  Should I go check by the eggs and orange juice?  It might be there.

Kyle: (laughing)  No it won't.

Me:  O.k. o.k. o.k. I'm an idiot, where's the bacon!?!

Kyle:  Calm down, and look by the packaged meats, maybe by the lunch meats, possibly by the sausage.

Me:  I see brats.  Maybe by the brats?

Kyle:  Possibly.

Me:  Oh wait, (much too loud for a crowded jewel) Oh My God!  I found the bacon!!

Kyle:  Allright!

Me: (realizing several people were looking at me) gotta go.

Tacos.

 

 

 

 

Success!  Friends, I did it.  I made a meal, that was delicious, and I didn't burn down my kitchen. (Which by the way, you may think is a far fetched exaggeration, but you clearly were not here for BOTH times I set the salmon on fire in the broiler and had to put it out with several dish towels.)  I won't bore you with all the details, but a few big things happened last night.

1. I went to the grocery store.  This one is big.  You'd think as someone who's plan is to meet her future husband in the aisles of a grocery store as we both reach for the same gallon of milk, I'd spend a lot more time there.  I'm getting better at going, I just wouldn't say it happens regularly.

2.  I did this all by my self.  Full disclosure, I did call Kyle from the afore mentioned grocery store, and he did walk me through a few of the ingredients necessary, and with out his help, dinner would not have been as tasty. However, once I was home, I was totally on my own.  There was no roommate to pester with questions of temperature, and timing, and when to add things.  I successfully chopped, sauted, grilled, mashed, and plated without a single mishap, or any tears.  (There were onions.)

3.  I got to payback my roommate on the tiniest scale.  My roommate Crystal is an excellent cook.  She makes those kinds of delicious meals that aren't too fancy or pretentious, yet make you excessively happy you just got to eat them.  I would say Crystal cooks 3 or 4 times a week, and I try really hard to pull my weight, but there are only so many roaster chickens I can bring home before she wises up and realizes that this is as good as its going to get.

4.  Did I mention I didn't burn down the apartment!?!  Little victories friends.

So, for the record, this week I don't plan to turn into some sort of culinary genius.  My meals probably won't have more than 8 ingredients, and you'll probably think, 'Oh, I make that all the time'. I just want to make a few meals that are better than edible, closer to delicious, and without any calls to 911.

I am not a good cook.

O.k.  I'm going to need you to brace yourselves...  It could be the fact that it's officially Spring, and therefore still light out when I get home, or it could have something to do with the Supermoon and the earth's axis shifting, but I have decided that this week, this whole week, I am going to COOK.  Before you get too alarmed, I checked and my smoke detectors all work, all the emergency exits in my apartment are clear, I have a working fire extinguisher next to the oven, oh and I have my firefighter friend Todd on speed dial.

I just have no instincts in the kitchen.  I could bake for days with no recipe and no worries, but put me in a kitchen with a skillet and raw chicken, and you might as well call my friend Todd, grab the fire extinguisher, and get a Tums because in the event that I actually make something that doesn't go up in smoke, you'll wish it had mere seconds after I make you eat it.  I love the idea of cooking and will gladly volunteer to help if you cook for me.  I excel at such things as opening the wine, pouring you a glass of said wine, and stirring, aaaaand thats about it.  I've talked about my friend Kyle, and what a great cook he is, so this week he's volunteered to be on call  if I need him and give me a lesson or two.  In fact, by the end of this week I'm going to cook dinner for him.  Please pray for me, and Kyle, and my as yet flame free apartment.
  

what's new. 11

Here's whats new for my week of trying to listen to myself:

-The more sleep, more water, more little breaks the better.

-I will never crave spinach or fiber, that doesn't mean I shouldn't eat them.

-While barbecue chips may always sound good, I need to tell myself no.

-There is a difference between listening to oneself, and self control.

-I get a lot less stressed if I recognize I'm losing it and embrace it.

-A pudding cup for breakfast is perfectly acceptable.

-It's a lot easier to hear yourself if you turn off the t.v./iphone/computer/radio/megaphone.

Viv.

This weekend my friend Mike and I checked out the Vivian Maier exhibit at the Chicago Cultural Center, and then headed to Ear Wax Cafe for brunch.  Per-the-usual, a day exhibit hopping and brunching with Mike is pretty rad.  Enjoy the photos!

p.s. you may remember Mike from our trip here.
p.p.s. check out Mike's art here



*ADDENDUM!  I've decided to add this extra blurb and some comments on these photos.  It just didn't feel right short changing such a great day and so many pretty pictures with something so thrown together, but I was running really late this morning when I posted.  I like hanging out with Mike for a ton of reasons, one being he's so good at so many things, and such a talented artist, I just feel cool tagging along.  Also, his spirit makes me feel like I could do anything and he wouldn't judge, if anything he'd find a way to help me make it cooler.  The V.M. exhibit was super cool.  Maier was a totally unknown photog up until a few years ago, right before she died.  She spent her days as a nanny for wealthy families on the Northshore, all the while capturing and documenting what she saw on the streets of New York and Chicago with her honest and unassuming street photography.  After seeing her work, and a few other exhibits, I tried my hand at snapping some street photos , while Mike prayed I wouldn't crash my car, or embarrass him too much.  Capping the whole thing off with brunch at a place with side-show themed decorations made all of this the perfect way to spend a rainy Sunday.