Let's fly away

Well...I'm headed to Toronto tomorrow for 6 days! See you later suckers.

My thoughts in 3 parts

Part 1:

I've had to completely retrain my brain when I go to my closet to get dressed. I'm so used to carting a jacket or a light sweater out with me when I go out at night that I literally have to stop and think and remind myself that it is still 97 degrees when I step out the door at 8pm. It is the weirdest feeling to be out at night and still suffocating in the thick heat. I can't get used to it and I don't want to get used to it. I can't wait to get out of this hair dryer in the face place.

Part 2:

I think I want to start a series on my blog entitled "I should have been..." detailing the many occupations that I think I could have been good at if I only applied myself. Make sure you look out for those at the end of each post.

Part 3:

I discovered something last night that might have just changed my whole food world forever: green bananas. Last night we were celebrating our 6th month anniversary (already feels like forever) and went to a Jamaican place in downtown Phoenix called The bread fruit that was absolutely delicious. That's were I had green banana for the first time.

It came on the side of my plate next to the wheat dumpling and chicken curry with a side of vegetables steamed over coconut milk (heavenly by the way). It looked like a grey cooked banana, interesting. But you mash it up and eat it like potatoes. It was just like a baked potato, only better! I couldn't believe this whole other use for the banana was under my nose all my life and I didn't know it. I barraged our server with questions about how the cook it, etc and then went home and did a little more research. You just use a regular supermarket banana, not a plantain, and boil it in water for about 20 min, take the skin off and mash it up. It has a very mild flavor and can be used for all sorts of things! In fact, I read a recipe for banana fries. Just peel the green banana, cut into small slices and fry in the oil of your choice, then salt for a healthy alternative to french fries. They recommend smaller bananas for this. Kids and most adults will never know the difference! Also, Ricky did a little looking too and apparently green bananas help you absorb calcium which is good because I don't think any of us ladies wants to take Sally Field up on her offer to find out more about osteoporosis meds. I don't know about you but potato who? I'm over the spud now.

Don't bug me

I was reminded of a funny story tonight while I was battling with a bunch of cauliflower in the sink. I am SUPER paranoid about bugs in my produce so I rinse EVERY corner of every piece of lettuce, etc. And tonight while I bathed the cauliflowers every bunch I was taken back to a night in college during my junior year when just a situation had given me the upmost pleasure that one could ever get at the expense of another person.

Her name was Suzy. She had lived in the "loft" of the big barn on 7th E and 620 N for who knows how many years. All I know is she thought she owned that place. And I get it Suzy, you were my age now and 4 young phillies in their junior year invaded your space. But I don't think you needed to go all passive aggressive on us and take down any and ALL decorations we had put up and leave them in a pile on the floor to be discovered when we returned home. It's called communication and we had to start it with an 'apartment meeting' after your episode. C'mon, and "apartment meeting"? You made us do it. Didn't really help.

And after months of icy glares and barely a word shared between the 5 of us it happened. You were sitting in the kitchen having just devoured one of your spectacular vegetarian fares, just a big pile of broccoli, and I came in to make my meal and noticed a big wet spot on the counter. Ahh...you had washed your broccoli and forgotten to wipe up the excess water. But it didn't look just like water. It looked...occupied. So I scooped in for a better look and AH-HA!!!!! It was full of bugs! Little black bugs everywhere. There is no way they all made it out of that pile of broccoli - she had eaten bugs!!! So I casually said, "hey Suzy, you might want to come take a look at this". She did. The look on her face was priceless. I think she wanted to toss her vegetables if you catch my drift. It made all the awkward silences worth it.

She had eaten bugs.

And tonight as I remembered this while I washed my vegetables it made me smile just as big as it did the day Suzy ate bugs.

To Denver with love

Ricky and I have a problem deciding on where to live one day.  We pretty much differ in all our wants for an eventual home.  He loves rain and boat shoes and I have curly hair that frizzes in the rain and ankles that aren't built for boat shoes.  He loves the east coast and all the green and pretentiousness, I love the west coast and all the sunshine and laid-backness.  Basically we can't decide on anywhere because there is nowhere that I love.  He would love plenty of places but I just don't feel attached to anywhere yet.  And then I went to Denver.

Look, I'm not saying that Denver is perfect but have you smelled the air there yet?  Delicious.  It smells like mountains and it is crisp and tangible and intoxicating.  Everywhere you look is green and there are white-tailed bunnies hopping everywhere amidst the prairie dog hills with cute prairie dogs perched outside their holes just looking all cute with their hands held close to their chests.  I know if I lived there I would probably curse the prairie dogs for tearing up my yard but right now from far away they are so adorable.  

Also, they have a great light rail into the city which is actually why I liked Denver so much.  The suburbs were just suburbs but I LOVED the down town.  You end up at the station right next to the smallest six flags I've ever seen perfectly situated in walking distance to the baseball stadium.

Then you walk right into down town on a street where they don't allow cars  and you can just wander around and eat great food and and relax amongst the buildings.  I saw a side street full of christmas lights so we wandered down and came upon a whole street closed off full of chalk drawings and found this:

It is a Lechtenstein just for Ricky since that is one thing we agree on, we love the Lichtenstein.  I just loved it.  I'm not saying it is perfect and more than likely we won't end up there because I just hate snow and I know it snows there but it was so nice.  Also, the children there were very unremarkable.  None of my co-workers could come up with a better word than that for them.  They were just...blah.  But other than that - Bravo Denver, you made me want to come back again and again.  And even though the airport was a little nuts 

how can you be mad at something that looks like it is covered in merengue?

Maybe "the mile high city" needs a new slogan: "Just a mile below heaven".

Would you like them in your closet? Would you like them on your faucet?

"Oh no!" I said as I slapped myself on the forehead this morning.  "No, NO!  NOT AGAIN!" I screeched frantically.  "No, no, NO!!!!!"  I howled again and again as I rifled through my entire closet - and my husbands too.  "Where are they?" I wondered aloud.  

"Ughhhhhhhhhhhh, ughhhhhhhhhhh" I slowly stammered to myself.  "I've done it again" I said to myself out loud.  "Apparently I just have soo many clothes that I just throw things away without even wearing them once" I scolded.  

What is wrong with me?  This is the second time I've thrown away a new article of clothing that I love...into the garbage.  It is SO unbelievable that it has to be believable.  

The first time was in Tyson's Corner, Virginia 2 summers ago.  I had just scored the most unbelievable dress at my favorite store Zara for $20 on clearance.  Picture this:  black, knee-length frock with embroidered bright flowers just like a Mexican dress except from mid-chest up and onto the shoulders was covered in black sequins.  A sequined Mexican dress!  Is there anything more perfect?  And I was rushing to the airport but stopped to get my hair extensions (it was a nice experiment until I got dread locks underneath, nasty) fixed and in a rush to throw out garbage and extra bags from my friends car I threw away the bag containing my new dress.  Not only did I throw it away but it was a garbage in front of a Panera eatery.  No offense, they have some decent grub but it was no place to lay to rest the mother of all cocktail dresses..  I didn't realize it until I was already miles high in the sky.  I just hope that someone, somewhere emptying the garbage found it and wore it like I never could.

And today, more of the same.  I think I blogged a bit ago about finding the perfect pair of white pants - which never happens, btw.  It is like getting a new haircut and being able to perfectly recreate it the first time you have to do it by yourself: impossible.  But I found them and I was excited to wear them but as is the usual with all pants I buy they needed to be hemmed.  So I put them aside to await the sewing machine.  And today as I picked my wardrobe for my trip to Denver and Utah I went to find them and bam!  Not there.  Not anywhere.  I searched high and low and really low (under the bed) but again, nothing.  Then I remembered the pile of shopping bags I had outside my closet and how I wanted to be proactive and take out all the garbage - ok, and how I added more shopping bags to the pile and didn't want Ricky to notice - and they must of been in there, still in their bag.

Another wasted piece of perfect clothing.  Sure, the wide leg khakis I had to buy two summers ago for my summer camp keep showing up in my closet, but the good pants go to an early grave.  Maybe I should hire a garbage sifter to catch such things.  I would just feel bad because 99% of our refuse involves bits of food.  Yuck.  

My name is Laquina and I throw away brand new clothes.  Help.