A placed called Rainbow...

...for those of you who've been following since I made the trek to the Frozen Tundra, you know what that means...

I went grocery shopping!!

OK, y'all, I have to confess something: I way do not like grocery shopping.  Stores are never set-up in a way that is intuitive (or makes sense on any level in some cases), they are always crowded, and well...food (good food) is expensive.  That's 3 strikes...that usually means, "you're out!!!"  But, alas...we must eat.

So, I did it.  I sucked it up and finally went grocery shopping.  I hadn't been, but to get a loaf of bread and carton of milk, since my return from TX...shameful, I know...but, don't you worry, I ate...my cupboards were officially empty this morning, hence the need for a shopping trip.

But, my shopping trip did allow me to get some things for a little lemonade recipe I've been wanting to try.


Fresh lemonade.....

Fresh blueberry mint lemonade...!!!

 How pretty is that glass of drink??  B-e-a-utiful!  You know what else...?  It's deeeelish!
 And, guess what else!  It's easy peasy...lemon squeezey!  Bah-hahahaha!  I couldn't resist...and I apologize.

Here's what you'll need:
1c lemon juice (about 2 large lemons)
3/4c sugar (I used white this go round, but I'll be trying it with cane sugar next - I think it will make it pop even more!)
4c water
1c blueberries (a good sized handful or two should do the trick)
1/3c mint (I just used a sprig of mint with something like 8-9 leaves on it. I didn't use the stem, but I suppose you could chop it up and throw it in the mix?)

Juice your lemons.  I used my Magic Bullet Juicer adapter and was able to get over 1c of juice from two large lemons. 
Add sugar and water to lemon juice.  Shake/mix vigorously, ensuring that the sugar is dissolved.
Add in blueberries and mint.
Chill for however long and enjoy!
recipe adapted from La Petite Coquin


The original recipe recommends letting it sit for a few hours to allow the flavors to mix and infuse more, but after letting mine sit for even just 30min it was wonderfully delicious.  I'll let you know how it tastes after sitting over night, though!




It has been a good night in the kitchen, to say the least.

It's amazing what having food on hand to cook with will allow for, eh?

My dinner consisted of this:

My variation of J Ponder's (from Ponder This) fried rice...what I wouldn't give for some of that goodness...and some Ponder company on top of that - to die for!

I've mentioned it on the blog before, but I like my picture from tonight better than the other one I snapped before.  No carrots this time, though.

It was fabulous, and the spicy went excellently with the refreshing lemonade.  Yum!!

And now, I'm going to settle down for the night with a movie, some chocolate, and another glass of that there lemonade  ;)

Nighty-night.

Shalom!
~MW

A fresh week!

Salutations! (Charlotte's Web, anyone??)

This week is seeming to be off to a better start (yes, I am well aware that it is only Monday...)! Yesterday, other than the botched attempt at trying a new church (all I'm saying is that the street I was supposed to turn onto does not exist...it's just not there...I drove around for 20min trying to find it and it simply was not there...stupid FT streets...hmph!), was a rather productive day!

I ran a ton of errands (including grocery shopping - best experience yet!) and did a ton of cleaning around the apartment - my desk is no longer a heaping pile of...well...crap. Everything has now been filed away and has it's very own appropriate place in my new home (all of the, "hmmm...not sure what to do with you - I'll deal with you later" things ended up on top of my desk - it was more than awful.). So, that was quite the accomplishment! I cooked some stuffs for my dinners and such after all of the errands (we'll get to all of that in a moment) and cleaned my crazy trashed kitchen that followed that project. I love my kitchen right now - it's gorgeous, I'm just sayin'.

But, errands! Oh the adventures running errands brings. Though not completely successful, they went pretty well. I am still in serious search of Moleskines...my life kind of depends on them. Yes, I am well aware that I can simply purchase these little life essentials online from Moleskine directly...but the I have to wait. Y'all, I'm down to like 4pages in my last cahier!!! I just might die. I'll try not to, but I make no promises. Anywho, aside from my Moleskine search being a bust I got a lot of other stuff done that I needed to!

I went to Target and got the drain baskets I've been needing to get so that I no longer am looking down gaping holes when I take a shower or brush my teeth...I no longer have to fear dropping my Aggie ring or my earrings or something, either. Whew! I also picked up a few things I'd been needing to get for my cubbie in the lab so I can actually settle-into it. Like school supplies!!!!!!!!!!

I got a trashcan and a board and some peg-board peg/hook thingys so I can store some stuffs in my cubbie - like my ladybug from Mika, my butterflies from Momma, pictures of my peeps, verses to keep me sane in the world of evolutionists/athiests/agnostics/etc...you know, the stuff of life :)

I got a lovely new pot (and some potting soil, or course) for my ground orchid, so I could re-pot her and hopefully be rid of those blast scale insects!! Ugh, they gross me out...yes, I just said that a bug grosses me out. These little buggers are just plain mean, though! They infest my beautiful, beautiful orchid, that I've had for over a year now and has given me two absolutely lovely blooming events, and they suck the life out of her!! How incredibly rude!! She does, however, have a lovely new shoot growing - gives me hope that she'll pull through alright.

Picked up a little something "for" Jakers...CHILDPROOFING LOCKS FOR MY CABINET DOORS! In case you haven't heard, he's taken to opening the cabinet under my sink and pulling out my trash can and throwing my trash around everywhere...lovely. So, to remedy the situation I decided I'd childproof my cabinets. With some help from the neighbor I got them all installed last night.

I was so proud of my defeating the war. I left for campus this morning with an extra spring in my step, as I was 100% certain that I was going to come home to a kitchen that did not have trash thrown around it. I walked through my door all excited to see my "well behaved" puppy dog and not have to scold him, and what do I find, but a cowering puppy dog. I'm thinking, "what on earth could you have done that you know you are in trouble??" I make the turn out from my entry way into the kitchen and see the cabinet door open, the trashcan on the floor, my trash bag across the kitchen...and the childproof lock? Totally and completely snapped off. He was so determined to make a mess that he actually broke the lock. As frustrated as I was/am, I gotta hand it to him, that's some serious determination, and I mean, ok, in all honesty, it's pretty funny...CRAZY DOG! So...all you parents out there: what childproofing ticks do you have for those, errr..., way strong chil'ins you have/had running around..??? I'm thinking the magnetized ones, where you have to use the magnet to unlock the door?? Thoughts?

Ok, I had probably the best grocery shopping experience, yet. I went...to...TRADER JOE'S!!! And, my dear readers, it was positively glorious. Ten times more exciting than the day I first set foot in Rainbow. Oh, my heavens, it was just beautiful. I can't do all of my shopping there (it's just too expensive for some things, and they don't have absolutely everything...), but it's nice to have, none-the-less. I may or may not have splurged a bit...I got way good meats (including, but not limited to lovelies like prosciutto!!) , and eggs, and cheese, and yogurt, and umm...jasmine rice, and, and, and!!! And, then I went to Rainbow to get things like PopTarts...convenience still wins on some days...I did get my real coffee from Rainbow, though...Organic Coffee Co., how I have missed you :)

I think I found my new favorite thing to substitute for ice cream...soooo good, and it doesn't make me want to die!!

Ok, so what all did I make as far as dinners and things go?? I made some more jambalaya for last night's dinner and I'll probably make the rest of the week on it, if I can control myself and not keep eating the chicken spaghetti I made....it's just so good! And, I haven't made it in forever, and I like it. And it's cheesy, and it has Rotel in it so it reminds me of home, and it has Rotel in it...did I mention the Rotel??? K, as long as we are clear on that ;)

JAMBALAYA!!!

CHICKEN SPAG!! Pre set stage.

Well, my loves, here I sit with my vanilla honey chamomile tea, and I am thinking it is about time I get to getting ready to settle-down for the evening. I love you all, and I hope you've enjoyed this more up-beat post :)

Shalom & Blessings!
~MW

Phone Sorrows

Hello, lovelies!

Well, first I must inform all of you that my cell phone has gone on the fritz. Therefore, if you have texted me at all today...I cannot open your messages. Lame, I know. I will be visiting AT&T tomorrow to see what they say. {**new phone?!** I can dream...}

Today was...an interesting day.

SW and I had scheduled a meeting for this morning at 9. I'm thinking, sweet, I can test the bus out and not have to worry about if I'll make it to class or something. Well, it's a good thing I did! The stop for the bus I catch to campus is about a 10min walk {and that's at a brisk pace} from my apartment. Not awful, just wish it was a touch closer {I'm thinking about the windy winters...}. So, I get to the corner where the transit site said my bus would pick up {and I'm even a minute or two early} to see my bus zooming past. I'm not entirely sure it even stopped at all. "Crap. Now what do I do??" There was another bus pulling up across the street, so I ran over and asked the driver if his bus could get me to campus, even with a connection or something. What did I get in response? A blank stare followed by, "Yeah, I don't know..." Neat. Next mode of action: call dad! "Dad, when is the next time that bus 61 comes through this area?" "Not for another 45min..." So, then, all I had left to do was to run back to the apartment {OK, so I walked even more briskly...it was already warming up for the day} grab the car, and pray that I can find some public/pay parking somewhere within a 10min walk or so.

Finally found a pay lot, conveniently right behind my building (!), and made it up the insect museum where I was to meet SW, and I was only 2-3min late. I was impressed, I'm not gonna lie. I was not, however, impressed $7 I had to pay to get out of the lot...weak sauce. SW ended up being about 30min late, so, as it turns out, I could have waited for the second bus and made it in time...cest la vie. She and I ended up having a nice visit, none-the-less. Got some specifics loosely laid out for what my course work will look like this fall and in the spring.

SW and I also got to chat about my actual research and some of the things it will entail. I'll be honest, I'm in a bit over my head right now...I know nothing about leps {Lepidopteran = moths & butterflies}...nothing. Give me my parasitoid wasps any day of the week and I can hold my own, but leps?! Now they are something I'm only familiar in hating {when they are dead, at least}. Every hymenopterist {Hymenoptera = wasps, ants, bees} hates dead leps...they get in our traps and their wing scales muck everything up so we can't see our wasps. Very frustrating. But now I get to look at them not in my etoh traps :) I am rather excited about learning all about a new organism, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't terrified out of my mind to start something so new and foreign to me.

But! SW is awesome and lent me some of her "moth bibles" so I can start familiarizing myself with them - particularly the arctiids and even more particularly, Eucaetes. I'm way excited to start paging through these books

SW helped write both of these!!

So that was productive. I then made my way over to Rainbow Foods...which, may I just go on a little bunny trail with you for a moment? K, good. Rainbow Foods just might help to make the next three years survivable. I walked through those sparkling automatic doors Sunday afternoon into what I thought was Heaven. Beautiful produce, beautifully displayed. CLEAN floors...they were practically gleaming! CLEAN smell. Marvelously organized. I was home. There will, most likely, be no more Cub Foods runs...unless it's an emergency or something. But, I digress. Today, I made my way over to Rainbow {p.s. - I can't help but hear the, "double rainbow allll the way" guy in my head every time I go/think of Rainbow...makes me chuckle every time...I don't think it will ever get old} and picked up a little pre-paid bus pass to get my by over the next few days 'til my student ID gets issued. {However, I spoke to non-profit guy about the buses today and he had some less than comforting things to say and suggested that I stay away from the buses...sigh.}

I rearranged some of my living room furniture into a position I think I am pleased with for the moment...still have lots to do...sorry this whole setting my home thing is taking me so long...I've had to stop and do other things here and there, which makes for slow progress.

Oh! Big news, though: I got my interwebs today!!! Guy was super nice and we had a nice chat. He lives in Chicago, but is here for a few weeks helping out the Twin Cities crew with their increased work load. Cool.

Mmm, I made some of those frozen-allow to rise-then bake rolls with my dinner tonight...SO worth waiting for them to rise. They are delish. It's like I made them myself...only with 1/4 of the effort! WIN!

Well, I think that's all for now. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about my "things I love about my apartment" post. It's in the works :)

Shalom!
~MW