Mmmmmm, Monday...

Oh, hey friends! I hope you've all had lovely starts to your week! And if not, at least Monday is almost over...and there's a 3 day weekend coming up. Huzzah!

Here's what I'm digging on today...

Boyfriend Breakfast

The boy woke up earlier than me (which is unheard of when he has the day off!), at like 8:15 (also unheard of...) and was rummaging around in the kitchen. When I got out of bed about a half hour later, he was in the middle of making breakfast for us. When I asked him why, because I know he's not a big breakfast eater, he said, "I was hungry, and you have an interview today, so I wanted you to have a good meal." Um, swoon?!?


Homemade Wine Spritzer

One part sparkling water, one part chilled red wine (I prefer Jam Jar Sweet Shiraz. It's inexpensive, but one of my favorite reds. I can always drink it in the summer because it isn't too heavy or dry.), a few mandarin orange pieces. You're welcome.

** A note about this: I know that wine spritzers are usually made with white wine. And that red wine usually isn't chilled. But check it out...it's my mouth and I'll put whatever kind of wine I want in it!


Stewed Okra and Tomatoes

I have a lot of okra in my garden, and it's the one thing that I have been consistently harvesting. This is my own take on this recipe, because the okra and tomatoes are usually cooked and then served over the rice. As I hate doing extra dishes, I just make it all in one pot.

Dice and saute 1/2 of a medium onion and a minced clove of garlic. Slice up about 5-6 okras, peel and dice a medium tomato, add those to the onion and garlic and cook for a few minutes on medium-low heat, until the tomato begins to soften. Add 1.5 cups of chicken stock and 1/2 cup water - 2 cups total- (or vegetable stock and water if you want to make it a vegan meal) and 1 cup rice and simmer until the rice is cooked. Season with a little salt and pepper, red pepper flakes and a pinch of cumin. Add a few dashes of hot sauce, and you have magic in your mouth. I've also chopped up a few frozen shrimp and threw those in there in the last 2 or 3 minutes of cooking and they add an amazing flavor (It's kinda like the lazy man's gumbo...)


Friend Reunions

I went to a baseball game with two of my besties last week. We call ourselves the Tripod and we are AWESOME! I met these ladies when I was in grad school, and I was the graduate advisor of the campus programming board, of which they were members. We went to a conference in November 2006, and it's all history from there. We laugh and have inappropriate discussions, eat tube meat, make inappropriate comments about DILFs and just generally make folks around us jealous because they aren't part of the AWESOME that is Tripod. I don't mean to sound douchey, but if you have great friends who you can always have a great time with, you know what I mean. Sucky part of the Tripod is that we have this pattern of moving away, one at a time. When I finished grad school, I moved to California for 2 years. When I moved back to Columbus, B-Rock moved to California for 2 years. B-Rock just moved back to Columbus, and now Double Dubya is moving to Philly for grad school for 2 years. Once we get it together and are all in Columbus at the same time, magic will happen. Like double rainbow magic. Get. Ready.

Fall Weather

It's starting to get cooler, we can sleep with the windows open without melting, Oktoberfest Sam Adams, pumpkin flavored anything, sweaters, boots. I would say football, but I'm kinda meh about it. I can't even wait to go apple picking (and I will totes miss my staff from last year) and make a shit-load of pies. Yum-tacular. If you're nice to me, I might make you one ;-)

What made your Monday yummy?

Mmmmmm, Monday...

Monday gets a pretty bad rap. Granted, it can mean different things to different people, none of them great...It can be the end of an epic weekend. It might be the beginning of a week of soul sucking drudgery. You could just be starting up 5 days of the boring old grind. Or perhaps you just plain old have a case of the Mondays. Either way, I've decided to show Monday some love. So every once in a while, on Mondays, I'll share a little love and talk about things that just make me happy :-)

Starting off the list:

Eucalyptus Oil

It is the ONLY thing I have found that actually stops mosquito bites from itching and swelling up to the size of silver dollars. God bless this pungent liquid, but be careful using it near your face...it stings the nostrils. Burns the eyes. The smell also reminds me of one of my favorite drives in California, from San Luis Obispo to Arroyo Grande, through the eucalyptus grove. And while there aren't koala bears running rampant through California, who can resist a picture of a koala??

Homemade Pizza

The boy and I had dinner at his parents house and his stepmom had all the fixins (including handmade dough) to make our own pizzas. They were delicious!

The First Day of Clean Sheets on the Bed

What a lovely bed setup! Wouldn't last a day in our house...

This one of my favorite sensual experiences (and I mean sensual like pertaining to the senses. Not sexy time...gutter minds!). I get so excited over fresh, clean sheets. They are all nice and cool and crisp and not wrinkly, and not covered in dog hair, and pulled super tight on the bed. And if I just took a shower and shaved my legs right before bed...(you can just go ahead and imagine me doing the Homer Simpson glazed eye, gurgly throat noise he makes when he has donuts.) LOVE. THEM.

Yoga in the Park on Saturday Mornings

Saturday mornings are not a day that I choose to wake up early. But this summer I have been getting up at 8:15 a.m. to drag my ass downtown to the park, and it has been totally worth it! The weather starts out a little cool and cloudy, and as I'm getting my zen on, the clouds break up and the sun rises over the buildings. It's a truly lovely way to begin the weekend :-)

Mushrooms

Mushrooms Part I: For some reason, after a heavy rain, the next day we have a few mushrooms in our front yard that are around 4-5 inches tall. WTF grows that fast?!? And they look like penises. Penii? Whatevs, our yard makes me giggle the day after the rain.

Mushrooms Part II: The beau went grocery shopping a few days ago when I was hanging out with my family. When I came home, I saw 2 containers of mushrooms in the fridge. He doesn't even like mushrooms, but he got them for me because he knows I do. What a sweetiepants <3

Building a Deck and Having All My Body Parts Still Intact

We're really close to being done! And I haven't smashed my hand with a hammer, shot myself with a nail, cut off any digits with the various power saws, or anything else that would require a trip to the hospital! Huzzah! (knocking on wood with all my heart right now to keep from jinxing myself!) Coincidentally, I have used some version of every one of these tools in the past month. Except the flashlight. Who the hell describes a flashlight as a power tool?!? It doesn't count.

What makes your Mondays happy?