The No Good Miserable Monday

Yep, its me!!! I am having a grumpy kinda day today! The weather is miserable, gloomy, wet and just plain gross! The drizzle won’t stop and it doesn’t seem like we’ll  be seeing the sun anytime soon. Its been like this all weekend and I think I really just need some sunshine! I have two papers due on wednesday and a test tomorrow, and nope, not even close to being ready for the test!

Work is super stressful at the moment and I really shouldn’t even be blogging right now, but hey, never stopped me before. I have been a bad friend because I forgot to call my best friend on her birthday and now I feel like a total s**thead. My bangs are driving me crazy because they are in that awkward phase and it looks hideous no matter what I do! I ate a Wendy’s spicy baconator sandwich last night for dinner and now feel sick that I could even eat that ! My apt is seriously a mess and I should have done laundry oh…yesterday!

Do other people have days like this, where they feel like they are just falling apart? Well, at least the bitching helped. Wish I had the desire to post all the happy things I was going to post, but thats going to have to wait for another day!

Spring Fever

I officially decided to kick off the lovely weather with a purchase of a new spring/summer dress. I think it will be perfect for school, bbqs and all sorts of other outdoor events. Also it was a brilliant buy at Forever 21 so it was only $ 13.50. That is a deal that is hard to beat. Just seeing the sunny yellow puts me in a good mood!

Empress Rope Dress

Forever21

$13.50

Random Post

I forgot to post this photo from our smoky mountain trip, but I laughed and laughed when I saw this. The funny thing is J and I did eat and got gas there, we only saw the sign after we had already had some *yummy* gas station food and filled up our tank.

 Yes, I know I am easily amused!

Sex and the City Movie

I’m so excited that the Sex and the City movie is coming out this summer, I was just talking to a friend and I might drive 8 hours to Nashville just to see it with my friend! I know, I know  girls are weird! It won’t be the same even if I can drag J to go with me

 Here is the leaked  trailer

A Whole Lotta Food

As I was scrolling through my old posts, I noticed I haven’t done a food related post in a while, which is really a shame, since it has been rather eventful in my food life recently. So here’s a quick update.

I made meatloaf for the first time last week. I don’t really like meatloaf so I never cook it, but I found an awesome recipe that sounded so delicious that i just had to make it. It is a southwestern flavored meatloaf, that is stuffed with pepper jack , colby and prosciutto. And the recipe doesn’t call for ketchup…yeay!

 This weekend I tried a brand new dish called Menudo , which is a mexican soup/stew that is made with cow stomach or tripe, but unlike just one part of the stomach it is made with all 4 and each has very distinct textures. The soup is spicy and really heavy but it is super tasty if you wash it down with some pina agua or pineapple drink. Some of our really good friends took us to a little hole in the wall mexican place on Alston Ave. but it was definitely as authentic as we were going to find in Durham NC. I also went a little nuts and had some of my fave pastor tacos and an asada quesedilla. Fun trivia about Menudo, according to my friend Y- In mexico they have the 4 different stomachs up by the counter and you can chooose which ones you want in your soup. We went there after our pretty crazy friday night and apparently Menudo is good for hangovers!

I am also pretty excited because I just read somewhere that one of my favorite low brow drinks – Jack and vanilla coke is now an official drink named Blackjack! I have such weird tastes in drinks, I have been spoiled because I know all these awesome bartending gurus who have introduced me to cocktails and liquors that I had never even imagined- What would my life be without the Millenium Cocktail or a Sazerac or even just a classic martini, but Jack and diet coke is still my favorite drink ever.

If you like portraits…

 then you will love this blog!

The Sartorialist is a great photo blog that captures real people caught in super cool outfits on the street, in different parts of the world. I love that site so much that I visit it at least once a day and I keep meaning to blog about it,but what finally became a catalyst is that the blogger is now in New Delhi, India and has some wonderful portraits of people on the streets. An example is this one posted by the Sartorialist on

Sunday, March 16, 2008

New Delhi in Black & White and Color

You can check out this awesome blog at The Sartorialist

The Smoky Mountain Adventure

Last weekend was the tail end of my spring break and J and I took a trip to the Smoky Mountain National park with our friends JE and Er.  The weather was supposed to be rainy with a chance of flurries, but we decided to risk it anyway. We were going to leave early friday morning and get to the park by the afternoon but anyone who knows me and J knows that we are incapable of waking up before noon. But we did manage to get up by 10, pack up the car , drop off  the laylster at the kennel and hit the road by 1. We took a leisurly drive and then as we got close to the the NC side of the park, we made an error. I did not realize that our campsite – Cosby was in the Tennessee section of the park and was only accessible through only one park entrance. So J and I ended up driving through the highest points of the park, in the dark, while it snowed and with a thick fog ( they don’t call it smoky for nothing). We then had to drive through Gatlinburg and the surrounding areas and finally we made it into Cosby campground by 8.

Friday night, after its been set up

****

By now it was pitch dark and JE and ER had already set up their camp and ER was trying to put up a shelter with some tarps and ropes so that we could make a campfire. We were also the only ones in a campsite that had about 40 sites. It really felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. The boys got busy and finished the shelter and then finally made a fire. We ate bratwursts and baked beans straight out of the can for dinner and I swear, it was the best meal ever. The heavy rainfall continued, while we decided to call it a night. It was a good thing we had extra sleeping bags and blankets because we had another surprise in store.

Our tents

***

The campgrounds

***

We look squatters or refugees

***

The next morning, when I opened my eyes, I noticed white chunks on our tent and when I looked out, I saw snow everywhere. The boys once again were heroes and set to drying up the firewood and starting another fire and we had breakfast. The temperature had dropped severely and we decided to pack up and head out of the campground. We had a lunch at a cute little apple orchard, that had a store and a diner and ER and JE decided to head home. After much J and I decided to stay for the whole weekend. We spent the afternoon exploring some of the park and went on a hike to Laurel falls. For the night, we bargained ourselves a $40 motel room, that had not been updated since the 70s, it had green shag carpet, and wood panelling, very retro chic!

Cemetery close to the campground, lots worn out gravestones

***

Laurel Falls

***

A view of the park from a ridge

***

That night we hit the town and all we found were tourist traps like Ripley’s believe it or not and stores that sold medieval knives and other weapons, crazy airgun shops ( i actually thought that some were real) and super christian tee shirts. There were no bars in the town, but tons of violent imagery and weapons. Go figure. We were forced to have an early night.

Cades Cove

***

A primitive Baptist church

***

***

Cemetery with some civil war gravestones

***

***

The next morning, J and I explored Cade’s Cove, a wide valley which used to have a community of farmers. The valley was beautiful, dotted with meadows and old historic buildings and tons of deer. We checked out a few cemeteries with some civil war gravestones and then headed home after our grand adventure.

Extraordinary Machine

While I wait for J to upload our smoky mountain photos onto picasaweb, I thought, I’d do a fun post about the top 10 most played song on zen player. My friend RSG sent me an invite to Lastfm.com, but I have slacked off and haven’t actually downloaded the little widget onto itunes, so this is my closest attempt at recreating Lastfm.com’s lists. Anyway, I love my little zen player, I’m so glad I didn’t go with an ipod.

1. Extraordinary Machine- Fiona Apple, Extraordinary Machine

2. Rehab- Amy Winehouse, Back to Black

3. Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes – Paul Simon, Graceland

4. Have Mercy on Me - Loretta Lynn, Van Lear Rose

5. Now that I’ve found you- Allison Krauss , Now that I’ve Found you : A collection

6. Sleeping In - The Postal Service, Give up

7. The District sleeps alone tonight – The Postal Service, Give up

8.Crazy Love Vol. II – Paul Simon, Graceland

9. Shut your Mouth- Garbage, beautifulgarbage

10. Lady Midnight- Leonard Cohen, Song from a room.

Top 10 Things I love about camping

As I mentioned before I am going camping to the Smoky Mountains on friday with my friend JE and her family and I’m super excited. Last night, she and I were planning what supplies to take and it got me thinking about all the reasons why camping is one of my favorite things. My friend HotHotJJ who just got back from an awesome trip is also doing this entry tomorrow, so you can check out her answers at her blog

 1. The smell of a campfire smoke.

2. Eating Bratwursts and Baked beans. This has become one of our standard camping meals

3. Getting into a sleeping bag at night. I especially love it when the sleeping bag is all warm from having been in the sun all day.

4. Gathering wood, and putting in a group effort to make a campfire. THere’s always hilarious comments and when everyone has an opinion , it can sometimes take forever

5. Sitting and chatting around a campfire and making communal meals

6. Planning, prepping, packing the car before the trip, its always filled with so much anticipation

7. Walking around with flashlights in the dark.

8. Going hiking, exploring around the campground

9. Having an excuse not to shower!

10. Looking at the stars at night.