Sunday: Chocolate Blackout Cake

Chocolate Blackout Cake
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

We didn't have just chocolate cake for dinner. We actually had two friends over for dinner and were having such a wonderful time I forgot to take a picture till dessert.

The cake was fantastic. However, it was incredibly labor intensive. I had to buy a candy thermometer for the love!

My girls

As the Grammys started, I said, "I just want to go on record as saying The Dixie Chicks are going to sweep."

It goes without saying that I am ecstatic to see them get the recognition they so richly deserve. I think what they went through was intense and they faced it with courage and humor. Most importantly, they took that experience and turned it into fantastic, honest music.

P.S. Jessica this also goes without saying...but I told you so ;)

Discuss

Yesterday, while down in the laundry room, I noticed that another resident was wiping out her laundry basket with Clorox wipes. When I mentioned that I had never seen someone cleaning a laundry basket, she said that the dirty clothes were in there before the clean clothes depositing all types of germs.

Last time I checked germs don't grow so well on cold, hard basket, but what do I know?

How do ya'll feel about this? Normal or borderline OCD?

Saturday: Potato Skillet Pie

Potato Skillet Pie
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Official

I am now an intern for Hillary for President.

I know this is a very proud day for my father. :)

Scallops and Spaghetti

Scallops and Spaghetti
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Thursday: Eggplant Stirfry

Eggplant Stirfry
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Unbelievable

I can NOT believe the week I decide to stop reading celebrity news THIS happens!

Boosotto

Boosotto
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Acorn Squash stuffed with Quinoa with Cherries and Walnuts

Acorn Squash stuffed with Quinoa with Cherries and Walnuts
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Not that we needed further confirmation...

English Muffin Egg Pizza

English Muffin Egg Pizza
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Right now...

I'm sitting in front of a fire with a big ole cup of hot chocolate. I'm under my favorite blanket, my dog is curled up at my feet, and I'm watching The Hills.

Can I just say awwwwwwwwwww? :)

Nachos

Nachos
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

It's the Super Bowl - what do you want? ;)

French Onion Soup

French Onion Soup
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Justin
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

So, somehow over the past month or so I've morphed into a 14-year-old. I'm not sure when or how it happened but, somewhere between my new obsession with ringtones and the Justin Timberlake concert last night, it did.

Seriously, when we were waiting for him to come out and the music was pumping and you could just see shadows moving around on the stage, I'm sure I looked like those screaming girls from the old Beatlemania footage. I was just SO like excited, you know!?! (Insert Valley girl voice and hair flip here).

All teenage jokes aside, he is fantastic. His music is great. He is an amazing performer and there was not a second of the concert that wasn't 100% crazy energy.

Then of course there is the whole "He is so freaking sexy I would pay large sums of mony for a quick butt pinch" thing. I think my friend Kirsten, who accompanied me to the concert, put it best: "I'd do anything. I'd listen to him call my mother a whore."

So, in a nutshell, JT is highly recommended. If you are an actual 14-year-old girl or just pretend from time to time, all the better. :)

P.S. I was too excited to take a picture of my dinner. I had General Tso's Bean Curd and it was delicious.

Breakfast for Dinner
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

So, I'm pretty much following Pollan's #1 rule...I mean my great-great-grandmother would definitely recognize this meal. She'd just be REALLY freaked out when we tried to explain that sausage was made from soy not meant. ;)

Nutritionism

I'm a big fan of Michael Pollan. Hearing an interview with him on NPR is what led me to give up Coke. This is a really great article by him recently published in the New York Times Magazine really addressing some of the bigger issues with our Western diet.

For those of you who don't want to read all 12 pages, here are his general recommendation.

1. Eat food. Though in our current state of confusion, this is much easier said than done. So try this: Don’t eat anything your great-great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food. (Sorry, but at this point Moms are as confused as the rest of us, which is why we have to go back a couple of generations, to a time before the advent of modern food products.) There are a great many foodlike items in the supermarket your ancestors wouldn’t recognize as food (Go-Gurt? Breakfast-cereal bars? Nondairy creamer?); stay away from these.

2. Avoid even those food products that come bearing health claims. They’re apt to be heavily processed, and the claims are often dubious at best. Don’t forget that margarine, one of the first industrial foods to claim that it was more healthful than the traditional food it replaced, turned out to give people heart attacks. When Kellogg’s can boast about its Healthy Heart Strawberry Vanilla cereal bars, health claims have become hopelessly compromised. (The American Heart Association charges food makers for their endorsement.) Don’t take the silence of the yams as a sign that they have nothing valuable to say about health.

3. Especially avoid food products containing ingredients that are a) unfamiliar, b) unpronounceable c) more than five in number — or that contain high-fructose corn syrup.None of these characteristics are necessarily harmful in and of themselves, but all of them are reliable markers for foods that have been highly processed.

4. Get out of the supermarket whenever possible. You won’t find any high-fructose corn syrup at the farmer’s market; you also won’t find food harvested long ago and far away. What you will find are fresh whole foods picked at the peak of nutritional quality. Precisely the kind of food your great-great-grandmother would have recognized as food.

5. Pay more, eat less. The American food system has for a century devoted its energies and policies to increasing quantity and reducing price, not to improving quality. There’s no escaping the fact that better food — measured by taste or nutritional quality (which often correspond) — costs more, because it has been grown or raised less intensively and with more care. Not everyone can afford to eat well in America, which is shameful, but most of us can: Americans spend, on average, less than 10 percent of their income on food, down from 24 percent in 1947, and less than the citizens of any other nation. And those of us who can afford to eat well should. Paying more for food well grown in good soils — whether certified organic or not — will contribute not only to your health (by reducing exposure to pesticides) but also to the health of others who might not themselves be able to afford that sort of food: the people who grow it and the people who live downstream, and downwind, of the farms where it is grown.

“Eat less” is the most unwelcome advice of all, but in fact the scientific case for eating a lot less than we currently do is compelling. “Calorie restriction” has repeatedly been shown to slow aging in animals, and many researchers (including Walter Willett, the Harvard epidemiologist) believe it offers the single strongest link between diet and cancer prevention. Food abundance is a problem, but culture has helped here, too, by promoting the idea of moderation. Once one of the longest-lived people on earth, the Okinawans practiced a principle they called “Hara Hachi Bu”: eat until you are 80 percent full. To make the “eat less” message a bit more palatable, consider that quality may have a bearing on quantity: I don’t know about you, but the better the quality of the food I eat, the less of it I need to feel satisfied. All tomatoes are not created equal.

6. Eat mostly plants, especially leaves. Scientists may disagree on what’s so good about plants — the antioxidants? Fiber? Omega-3s? — but they do agree that they’re probably really good for you and certainly can’t hurt. Also, by eating a plant-based diet, you’ll be consuming far fewer calories, since plant foods (except seeds) are typically less “energy dense” than the other things you might eat. Vegetarians are healthier than carnivores, but near vegetarians (“flexitarians”) are as healthy as vegetarians. Thomas Jefferson was on to something when he advised treating meat more as a flavoring than a food.

7. Eat more like the French. Or the Japanese. Or the Italians. Or the Greeks. Confounding factors aside, people who eat according to the rules of a traditional food culture are generally healthier than we are. Any traditional diet will do: if it weren’t a healthy diet, the people who follow it wouldn’t still be around. True, food cultures are embedded in societies and economies and ecologies, and some of them travel better than others: Inuit not so well as Italian. In borrowing from a food culture, pay attention to how a culture eats, as well as to what it eats. In the case of the French paradox, it may not be the dietary nutrients that keep the French healthy (lots of saturated fat and alcohol?!) so much as the dietary habits: small portions, no seconds or snacking, communal meals — and the serious pleasure taken in eating. (Worrying about diet can’t possibly be good for you.) Let culture be your guide, not science.

8. Cook. And if you can, plant a garden. To take part in the intricate and endlessly interesting processes of providing for our sustenance is the surest way to escape the culture of fast food and the values implicit in it: that food should be cheap and easy; that food is fuel and not communion. The culture of the kitchen, as embodied in those enduring traditions we call cuisines, contains more wisdom about diet and health than you are apt to find in any nutrition journal or journalism. Plus, the food you grow yourself contributes to your health long before you sit down to eat it. So you might want to think about putting down this article now and picking up a spatula or hoe.

9. Eat like an omnivore. Try to add new species, not just new foods, to your diet. The greater the diversity of species you eat, the more likely you are to cover all your nutritional bases. That of course is an argument from nutritionism, but there is a better one, one that takes a broader view of “health.” Biodiversity in the diet means less monoculture in the fields. What does that have to do with your health? Everything. The vast monocultures that now feed us require tremendous amounts of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to keep from collapsing. Diversifying those fields will mean fewer chemicals, healthier soils, healthier plants and animals and, in turn, healthier people. It’s all connected, which is another way of saying that your health isn’t bordered by your body and that what’s good for the soil is probably good for you, too.

Polenta with lentils and tomatos

Polenta with lentils and tomatos
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

WHOPEEEEEEE!!!

We're going to Paris!

Instead of spending my share of the bonus money on jewelry (which felt like I was just spending it to spend it) we've decided to take our Spring Break plans up a notch and go to Paris.

I haven't been since I went with my mom and grandmother after I graduated from high school. At the time, I swore I wouldn't go back without my significant other because they are NOT kidding about that City of Love stuff. So, now I have a significant other who has never been so we're both super-excited. I should probably lose ten pounds in anticipation because as Nicholas's friend Paul says "it's a movable feast."

We're going for nine days and staying at the Pavillon Villiers Etoile Hotel. I've already bought an Instant French language set to brush up on my French skills. (I figured it would be a good idea since all I remember is "Je parle englais"). We're going to go get guidebooks tonight!

Homemade Burritos

Homemade Burritos
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Ummmm....

Thinking sexy thoughts about Harry Potter makes me very uncomfortable. But dang!!!

The Big Reveal

Living room
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

So, here it is. Finally! Our living room. It only took six months! ;) I was waiting till I finished my photo wall, which was pretty time consuming. I'm really really happy with it though. Of course there are still a couple of things I'd like to do...much to Nicholas's chagrin.

Cinicinnati Chili

Cinicinnati Chili
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

In the name of all things sacred and holy...

I wish these celebrities would fade into oblivion. And I don't mean VH1 Celebreality oblivion either. I mean real oblivion. Go away! Forever!

1. Fergie - I am amazed at how each of her songs is more and more obnoxious. She's terrible. Just terrible.

2. Britney Spears - Where to begin? How about a flashing your junk when you have two small children under the age of five? And seriously I can forgive a lot if you have actual talent I miss. Like Whitney Houston (I'm so hopeful!) or Lauryn Hill. But we wouldn't miss Britney, even Britney at her best.

3. Tom Cruise - I'm glad he's got new PR people and has finally shut the hell up. But his crazy is lose now and I won't ever forget it.

4. Joe Francis - I really hate even classifying him as a celebrity but I would if it meant I never had to hear from this jerk again.

5. Paris Hilton - Enough words have been spilt on why she is famous? Or why she doesn't deserve to be? I don't really care. I just want her to go away.

Runners up: Jennifer Lopez (I decided to not include her because of Enough - I love that movie!), Angelina Jolie (Sigh...she is SO pouty but I guess she does do a lot of charity work), and Matthew McConaughey (He really kind of gets on my nerves, but he is awful fine).

More pizza...

More pizza...
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

We went to Armand's for my friend David's birthday. They are known for their deep dish. We had spinach, garlic, and mushroom. Yum!

Flounder, Baked Potato, & Sauteed Spinach

Flounder, Baked Potato, & Sauteed Spinach
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Now THIS is what I'm talking about...
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Of course I'm currently watching An Inconvenient Truth and it seems I might need to soak up this cold weather while I can...
Seriously, all joking aside, I hope we are all trying to do our part to make this better. :)

Pizza...obviously

Pizza...obviously
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

So we're the most boring married couple alive...wanna make something of it? Do ya, punk?

Spaghetti Fritatta

Spaghetti Fritatta
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Whoops

!!!SPOILER ALERT!!! Do not read this if you have not seen Grey's yet!
Ok so member how I've been so excited about video messaging? Well... me and my friend Laura often text message after Grey's to share our shock, disgust, or whatever. So, imagine my delight when I realized after Grey's tonight that I could send a video message of the part I was shocked over! So I sent this video message with the text "WHAT!"


Grey's on Vimeo

Then I got this message from Laura:
duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuudddddddddddeeeeeeeeeee
we DVR grey's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i may never forgive you ;)

The subject line was: video messaging is a dangerous weapon

I couldn't agree more.

Miscellaneous

Ok so I've got to get a couple of things of my chest:
- For the hundreth time today, I told someone about my plans to move back to Kentucky and their immediate question was "What about your husband!?!" Seriously, I'm over it. First, something tells me if the situation was reversed the first thing people asked Nicholas would not be about me. Second, do you honestly think I would move without Nicholas?!? How would I eat, people? Third, give me enough credit to have discussed this major life decision with my spouse. We've spent hours on this and I'm sure we'll spend hours more so just the back the heck off already.

- The Fountainhead is really really long.

- I haven't written a lot about my personal dietary guidelines b/c let's fact it, as most of you know, I can get a tad preachy when I talk about nutrition. But I just have to take a moment to pat myself on the back. I get the Nutrition Action Newsletter from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (really the gold standard when it comes to nutrition, not some crunch granola mag). The recent issue has ten New Years Resolutions they recommend and can I just say I am really ahead of the game.
1. Eat bran cereal in place of other cereal (I'm about 3 grams short of what they recommend so I will be switching next week).
2. Eat less meat or go meatless (Duh, haven't eaten meat since May 2003).
3. Let beans squeeze out starches (As my old boss used to say, "Never met a bean I didn't like).
4. Don't drink your calories (Haven't had soda since May 2006).
5. Hold the cheese (Getting much better at this, although I won't EVER be asking anyone to hold half the cheese on my pizza).
6. Snack smart (Not perfect, would say I crumble (ha! no pun intended) and eat a cookie as a snack once...ok twice a week).
7. Make it salmon, not tuna (Tuna's too meaty for me so I haven't had it in months).
8. Sip soup, not salt (I o nly eat Nicholas's leftover soup, not processed).
9. Roast vegetables, not potatoes (Could work on this but I always have vegetables WITH my potatoes, does that count?).
10. Finish with fruit (Biggest weakness, always eat chocolate or other baked good when I have dessert).

- I'm feeling a little bit stressed about the upcoming transition in my life. I'm not used to not being 100% sure what I want to do next and it's freaking me out. Just thought I'd share.

- My husband just bought wireless headphones so I wouldn't be forced to listen to football. If that doesn't make him the best husband in the world, I don't know what does. I'll take that kind of consideration over roses any day. ;)

- For two weeks in a row, while watching Must See TV, I have laughed out loud, made Nicholas rewind it, then kept the funny moment on my TIVO so I could watch it again.

- My new cellphone would be substantially more phone if they didn't charge FOR EVERYTHING. Seriously, anything fun it does they charge for it. Except video messaging, still waiting for those emails people!

I think that's it. If I think of anything else, I'll let you know. ;)

859-492-9207

So I'm pretty much devastated. I have to give up my cell phone number. The cell phone number I've had SINCE I'VE HAD A CELLPHONE, aka 1999, aka for seven years.

I know it's not a huge deal but I've become pretty attached to it. It's the last link to Kentucky and Transy in particular. I know I will probably never live in Lexington again and that it makes more since to have a DC number but I really really love 859-492-9207.

I'm officially in mourning. :(

I will be sending my new number around. If you don't get it by tomorrow, let me know.

UPDATE:
I am now practicing the Buddhist ethic of detachment.
Also, I am trying to think of this as an important symbol of my transition from student to real life adult. :)

Vegatable Pot Pie

Vegatable Pot Pie
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Crabcake, twice baked potato, and salad

Crabcake, twice baked potato, and salad
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Nicholas went to a movie with a friend tonight so I was actually forced to find my own dinner! Really unacceptable, but I think I did ok. I bought a prepared crabcake and potato at the local grocery store and added a small salad my very own self. ;)

I know ya'll are impressed.

Envy
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

I GOT A NEW CELLPHONE!!!

I've had Sprint since I first got a cell phone my freshman year of college. But ever since we've moved I've gotten crappy service and had a ton of problems with my phone.

Since Nicholas is already on Verizon (and you get service in the Metro!), I decided to switch and got a new EnV in the process! It's amazing. I mean did you know you can watch video on a cell phone?Ya'll I am so behind! Seriously though I'm going to need all of you who can receive video messages to let me know and then wait excitedly by your cell phones for me to figure out how to use that feature. ;)

Anyway, it's a very exciting new toy that OF COURSE Nicholas is constantly hogging and trying to steal.

P.S. I will be keeping my new phone number once I can "port" it over from Sprint on the 25th.

Red Lentil Dal

Red Lentil Dal
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Sunday: Spinach Calzones

Spinach Calzones
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Brownie Chocolate Mousse Trifle

Brownie Chocolate Mousse Trifle
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

We had a lovely dinner party tonight with our friends Jennifer and Eric. They are recently engaged so we spent a lot of time talking weddings and registry. :) The conversation was so great I forgot to take a picture (I know!) until dessert.

But I think it worked out well because that is one good looking dessert if I do say so myself!

Maggie for Hillary

Maggie for Hillary
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Just so we're all clear were Maggie stands.

It's official

I got this email message this morning. First, I have to admit it was nice hearing it from Hillary before anyone else. :) Second, I didn't realize how excited I would be once it was official.

As most of you know, I am a huge Hillary fan. I think she is wise, careful and considerate in her decisions, and has proven herself a survivor in the field of politics and leader on the world stage.

It also goes without saying that the idea of a female president goes to the core of who I am and I cannot imagine anything I would more like to see happen in my lifetime.

However, as Obama-mania built, I found my loyalties tested a bit. I've seen Senator Barack speak and he is charismatic and full of integrity. And, of course, there is the whole Oprah thing. She loves him and I love her so I found myself being pulled in two different directions.

But when I got an email from Hillary Clinton this morning with the subject line "I'm in," my heart started beating faster and a smile spread across my face. She is my candidate. The candidate I believe can win and should win because she is the best option for this country.

I like Barack. I do. But he is untested, inexperienced, and so far noncommittal on every major issue. He doesn't speak to me and Hillary does.

So, Hillary's in and I'm officially in for Hillary. I'm sure most of you aren't THAT surprised. ;)


UPDATE:
I read the post to Nicholas and here is the exchange that followed:

Nicholas: I guess I'm going to have to vote for Barack.
Me: WHAT!?!
Nicholas: You know...bros before hoes.

It's going to be a long campaign season.

Eventually

I suppose it was bound to happen eventually...we forgot to take a picture at dinner tonight. We went out for sushi at Sushi Taro (pictured) and just totally forgot to snap a pic. It was delicious sushi though, I swear.

After dinner, we went to see Babel. It seems destined to be a Best Oscar Pic nominee, if not the winner, so we felt obligated to see it. And after 2 1/2 hours, here is my thoughtful review...

It was eh.

Split Pea Soup w/Leeks and Carrots, Grilled Cheese

Split Pea Soup w/Leeks and Carrots, Grilled Cheese
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Cellulite

So Nicholas and I were jogging this morning and I noticed this movie poster.

And I have to say that I find it mind-boggling that a woman this heavy would have absolutely no cellulite. First of all, I have never met a single woman without cellulite. Period. But the amount and appearance seems to increase with weight.
Sooo...how ridiculous is it that unrealistic beauty standards are not only applied to everyday women but also to a character whose size is obviously a part of a joke AND who isn't even a real woman! Amazing.

Qdoba

Qdoba
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Tonight, we grabbed a quick bite before the movie. We went to see Volver. It was really good. It made me like Penelope Cruz, which was hard, because I REALLY disliked her. Yeah, that's pretty much my review. ;)

Dylan pondering Moroccan couscous
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Elizabeth

Ok so Helen Mirren just won a Golden Globe for playing Elizabeth I on TV and Elizabeth II on the big screen.

I think Nicholas nailed it. "There's a piece of trivia for you."

Thai green curry
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Recipe

Slice assorted vegetables (I used a red pepper, three carrots, a medium onion, and some greenbeans).

Drain and dice tofu into 1/2 inch cubes.

Stir fry everything over high-heat. (Start with the tofu so it will cook nice and firm.)

When cooked add 1) can lite unsweetened coconut milk, 1/4 tsp salt (or a few dashes of fish sauce), 1/4 tsp sugar, and about 2 tsp of green curry paste (Thai Kitchen brand). Stir to mix everything up and let cook down for about 3-5 minutes.

Serve over jasmine rice.

Last Minute Lasagna
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

How bout everyone just stop smoking...period

D.C. went smoke free on the 2nd. I was and still am super-pumped. However, I've just learned about a downside of going smoke free. I now inhale just as much or more second-hand smoke on the sidewalk outside the bars and restaurants, because everyone just goes right outside the doors to smoke.

So frustrating!

Corduroy

Corduroy
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Tonight was another Restaurant Week reservation. However, this time I remembered to take a picture before dessert!

We went with our good friends Laura and Daniel and had a wonderful time. I had oysters and scallops (pictured) and Nicholas had the parsnip soup and tuna steak.

Corduroy is one of our favorites and we've gone every Restaurant Week for three years in a row. Once again, it didn't disappoint.

King Lear

I don't know if you many of you knew this but apparently Nicholas moonlights as a Shakespearean actor. Today was really a headline day for him because he was literally pulled into the performance of King Lear we saw this afternoon.

D.C. has just began a six-month festival/tribute to Shakespeare. It is apparently the largest artist retrospective ever with everybody from local art galleries to the Kennedy Center participating.

One of the centerpieces of the festival is King Lear with Andre DeShields at the Folgers Shakespeare Library. The performance was VERY dramatic and in-your-face exasperate by the fact we were sitting four fee from the stage in the very first row and the performers kept running back and forth in front of us.

However, it is also apparently interactive. During the second act, when Edmond discusses his triangle with Lear's daughters Regan and Goneril, he waved Nicholas up out of his seat, stood him next to him, and asked "both, one, or neither." Nicholas, without hesitation, responded "Both!" The crowd giggled and the play continued.

Of course, our lives will never be the same. I'm sure it is only a matter of time before Nicholas quits his job as a lawyer to join the Royal Shakespeare Company. :)

Salmon, Rosemary Potatos, and Asparagus

Salmon, Rosemary Potatos, and Asparagus
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Update

For those of you who have had the pleasure of speaking with me over the past couple of weeks, you probably know I had recently applied for a job on the Hill. I got all excited about the Democratic majority and decided I just couldn't wait till May to get in on the action.

It was a pretty stressful application process because it basically came to a stand still over break and I didn't get an interview until the New Year. This last week has been absolute torture waiting to hear back and I have been not so much fun to be around. But the waiting came to an end today...

I didn't get the job.

And you know what? I'm strangely ok with it. I thought I was totally over school and ready to be out there working. But then I registered for some really cool classes and I realized I'd almost be disappointed if I had to drop them and switch to night classes. (Let's not even talk about working full time and taking night classes). Plus, I only have one more semester with my friends before we all scatter to the four winds. Not to mention, I have a four day weekend EVERY WEEK. And as my friend Laura put it, I'd basically be paying to work for a semester.

So I guess I'll just suffer through one more semester of a student's schedule complete with morning yoga classes and Friday matinées with my friends. (We just saw Dream Girls - whoa!)

But come May...watch out because I'll be rested and raring to go ;)

If we ever need, $1100

Lentil Barley Soup
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

My good friend Dylan asked to model our dinner last night. He joins us about a once a week so you should see his beautiful face pretty often.

We've known each other FOREVER (notice the T-shirt) and very few people understand me as well as he does. Our relationship was love/hate for several years but now is all love with a only a dash of mild annoyance at times. ;)

EDITED TO ADD RECIPE

1 medium onion, diced
3 stalks celery, chopped
2-3 carrots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1&1/2 cups french green lentils
3/4 cup pearled barley
3 vegetarian boullion cubes or 3 cups vegetable broth
1 TBSP cumin
1/2 TBSP turmeric
7 cups water (3 if using broth and not cubes)
14 oz can of crushed tomatoes

In a large pot, heat 2 TBSP olive oil over medium heat.

Add onion, celery, and carrots and saute for about 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute for about 30 seconds. Season with salt and pepper - be sparing with salt as boullion cubes and broth have lots.

Add water and boullion cubes, raise heat to high, and bring to a boil.

Add barley, lentils, turmeric, and cumin.

Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes.

Add can of crushed tomatoes.

Allow soup to simmer a little longer, until lentils are soft. Season to taste.

Serve with bread.

Maggie's New Haircut

Maggie's New Haircut
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Maggie would like everyone to know that she got a new haircut. She would also like everyone to know that she thinks her parents are real assholes for getting her groomed on the day winter decided to show up. :(

Radicchio Omelet w/bread and salad
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Tuesday Night: Spinach Quesadillas

Tuesday Night: Spinach Quesadillas
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.