Things I love

For one I love that  my lone basil plant in my planter box on our balcony is still alive. It might even be growing new leaves, despite my best efforts to kill it.
Two: I love that the day after I start this trial run of a blog, my husband tells me “you should start a blog”.
Three: I love that blog is now a commonplace word in America’s vocabulary, whereas I would laugh whenever I heard it only a few years ago (ok I still laugh a little inside… blog hehe, sounds like Liz Lemon, blerg.)

Four: Ingredient bowls. I love ingredient bowls. I love watching cooking shows and I always am envious of their organized little bowls all in a row, pre-measured ingredients, in such lovely colors. And now I have my own.
Five: Lists. I like to be organized as much as the next person and to get things done, but mostly I just like to check things off of lists. I will even write things down like ‘eat lunch’ ‘check email’ ‘read book’, then at the end of the day I get to check, check, check, check!
Six: Fresh fruit. Not just fresh ripe fruit from the store, but the kind that comes right off a tree, like my friend Juliane who brings me plums and blueberries and its like giving out love in little round beautiful tasty packages. I love fresh fruit.

Seven: I love my handy dandy beautiful amazing camera I got for Christmas this year. It makes this whole blog/pictures/ hobby possible. I even think it is pretty enough to photograph. I still use the auto function most of the time, but I will soon move past it.

Eight: Dahlias. I also love seeing beauty in places you least expect it. In parking lots, or on street divides. flowers bursting through cracks in a sidewalk or on roofs and out of gutters.
Nine: Lazy days. Today will not be one, I have too much to do, but I do love lazy days.

Ten: The Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Jellyfish, Sea otters, Touch pools, ooh and Leafy sea dragons.

The beginning…

Writing is not my forte, but neither is cooking or photography. But I do love cooking… and photography. I decided yesterday when I couldn’t get a picture of my beautiful green zucchini being mixed in the dough for zucchini bread that I needed to take a food/cooking photography class. I can roast a chicken (very proud of that one) but I can barely take a decent picture of the beautiful meal!

So here is the start to my adventures in getting better at the whole cooking and picture taking and feeding the husband while I’m at it thing.

I have two weeks of freedom (relative freedom) before I start school again. At that time I will start a 20 hour a week internship and my second to last semester of my Master’s program. My hope is that I will still have time to cook, photograph and do what I want.

Just as a little background, I got married a little over three weeks ago. It was a wonderful absurd fantastic amazing fiasco. More work and preparation and planning than anything I have ever done before in my life. And more fun, family and friends together in one place laughing and  (I hope) having an absolute blast than I could even imagine. Now that its over though… I am finding that I have time for things I had lost time for prior to the wedding. Such as cooking, watching tv, playing games, seeing friends, and (ooh its so gooood) sleeping.

On a similar note, I was speaking with a friend yesterday and at the end of our conversation my only advice to him about all his seeming troubles was to do what he wanted. He wanted to travel to a place but it might take too much time, I said “do it” do what you want! He was worried about not doing something because it might be inconvenient for someone else. I said do what you want! Not to injure anyone else, or be selfish, but to be happy, and to be able to say, I am doing what I want!

It inspired me to do what I want. And what I want right now is to listen to This American Life, make Heirloom tomato pizza and Goat cheese and zucchini pizza and drink a little white wine. And tomorrow… well we’ll just have to wait for tomorrow.

Recipes for the above picture include: Roasted Chicken, Sweet Potato Wedges and Roasted Asparagus