New favorite dish

So I've been trying my hand at cooking without recipes and I created a new favorite dish. granted I wasn't very creative but it was still a success! I had bought some sirloin steak tips and tortilla rounds, onions and mushrooms. I cooked the steak on my roommates George Foreman grill with a little bit of seasoning salt. Meanwhile I was letting the onions and mushrooms saute in some butter on med heat with McCormicks Salt Free Garlic and Herb Seasoning (my go-to seasoning) Once everything is done just pile it all together on a heated tortilla, add cheese and enjoy!

Tonight I'm going on a double date with a friend I haven't seen in quite a while and we are going to a new restaurant which I love. I love going new places to try it out and hopefully find a new favorite along the way. Right now I'm spending time with Mr. Perfect waiting on double date time and I'm loving every minute of our QT. I'm so happy he decided to come up and visit me. I have the best boyfriend ever!

Cooking & Cleaning

So in preparation for Nathans visit next weekend I have been cleaning like a mad woman. Not that the apartment is very dirty its just that we have stuff everywhere. Macon (my roomie) and I are not the neatest people in the world which is why we work great together as roommates. Neither of us really cares if its messy or not. My boyfriend on the other hand is not a messy person so cleaning will be a part of my future whether I like it or not. To give myself a break from cooking however I cooked. I love to cook. I love experimenting with recipes and finding out which ones suck and which ones need a little help. I especially love when I perfect a recipe to where its just amazing. Last night I made steak fajitas. And they were awesome! I also made cream cheese squares for dessert but I'm supposed to be saving them for Nathan. I've only eaten a couple and I am definitely not eating anymore because I already gained a pound back from this weekend's pizza and wine fiasco (nothing crazy just overindulged in both). So back to the gym and ready to feel great inside and out.

On a related but side note, I have embraced the therapeutic effects of cleaning. The feeling of accomplishment when you've cleaned or organized a room just leaves your whole being feeling better. Plus its great when you don't have to worry about people coming over and seeing your place a mess. So does anybody have any great organizing tips to share?

Quest to Graduation

I've had some adventures with the possibility of graduating and I'm finally at the point that it's actually a reality. Now that I can see the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow I'm struggling to grasp that my life is about to start. I have to start seriously job hunting while also trying to finish the enormous workload ahead of me.

Can you say overloaded???? To make my life a bit better because I've been working so hard I've included a workout regimen and cut back to basically eating one meal a day (not starving myself just only eating when I'm hungry) So far I've dropped ten pounds and steadily losing. Losing about 2 lbs a week so doing it healthy though I have cheated this week which means an extra workout in the morning but oh well.

I bought a very big Kentucky Derby style hat from work and I cannot WAIT to wear it. Just have to find the right occasion. I'm thinking a girls brunch to make up for missing somebody's birthday brunch last weekend. Just have to make sure I don't have to work first.

A true Bookworm

Don't you just the love the term Bookworm? It implies somebody who is always seen with their nose in a book. As if that's a bad thing??? When I was a freshman in college I took a reading test for a class. As the teacher was going over the scores she never mentioned mine. So I asked what mine meant and as she told me that I had the reading intelligence of a 2nd year doctorate student. Really? Cool.

So obviously I fit the "bookworm" profile because I do love to read. And I really can't stress to younger generations enough how important that is. It doesn't matter what you read. I love a good trashy romance just as much as the next woman (especially the ones set in the middle ages because I love trying to sound out the abbreviated words) but that doesn't mean I don't have other interests. Personally I have read the entire Harry Potter series about 12 times. I'm not even a Harry Potter geek. The books are very well written and that's why I love them. I've also really gotten into Rick Riordan lately who to those of you don't know is the author of the Percy Jackson series. He also has two new series he has started that I'm very into: The Kane Chronicles and a spin off of the Percy Jackson Series: The Heroes of Olympus. He has only released the first of these so far but its just enough to tempt you and a new book should be out in May (yay!)

The author I really love the most however is Stephen King. He is just an amazing writer and I've loved his work ever since I read the Tommyknockers. The thing I really love about Stephen King is that he puts little addendum's in the back of his books. Most notably his short stories. Or sometimes there is a letter in the beginning. It makes you really feel like you are talking to him about his work. I just finished reading "Just After Sunset" which is a book of short stories published in 2008. King says that obviously the most common question he is asked is where does he get ideas for his stories? Certainly someone who writes the things he does can't just make them all up. And he doesn't. He gets his ideas from events or everyday activities or dreams. His comment about one of his stories titled "A Very Tight Place" says that he shows us, the readers, his fears by the situations he puts some of his characters into. And that got me to thinking (even though I should be sleeping) about what makes us read the things we do? Why is it that I, someone who screams when the toast pops out of the toaster, reads pretty damn scary books at night when I know that a nightmare is a good probability from it? The other books are easy: Romances-I mean who doesn't love a good love story?; Mysteries-Life is a mystery!; Fantasy-I really truly and honestly believe that we are not alone, not just in this universe but on this very planet. (why would there be so many stories about vamps, witches, werewolves, fairies, etc if they weren't true????)

I think that the reason I love Mr. King so much is the fact that he always shocks me. From his profanity( the man loves the f* word) to his situations. I mean life is scary enough right?? From bills to stresses of everyday life shouldn't that be enough? But that's the problem. Sometimes it is too much and its nice to have some perspective. Gross, you have to use the porta potty at the fair. Well you could end up trapped in it for over 24 hours with excrement sitting around you and have to fight your way out of the bottom. See? Perspective.

However I can't claim that this is a new passion of mine. As a child I was more interested in the Goosebumps series than the Babysitter's Club. (though Nancy Drew gave R. L. Stine a run for his money) So what is it that makes us read the things we do? As a sociology major we like to look at group think but I personally think that the individual themselves is the more important thing. So I, who am easily scared by someone popping around a corner, reads the most horrible things imaginable. Does that mean I secretly love this kind of horror? Well of course I do. King's new book "Full Dark No Stars" had a story about a woman who was raped in it. And she ends up killing them for it after they left her for dead. Personally I think in a perfect world she could have cut pieces off little by little but in the book she just shot them, which helps her get away with the crime.

Life is not always rainbows and sunshine. Sometimes you really have to get through being left in a drainage ditch for dead before you can realize that you have the strength to overcome anything.

Why yes, I do live alone wirth my cat.

Long time no blog, but hey no one's perfect. Don't you love the preconceived notion of the crazy cat lady? The woman you see in the grocery store who just LOOKS like she owns 8 cats all of which have fun names like Mr. Twiddlekins. (my personal fav!) But what happens when you receive the crazy cat lady look from others? Does it make you depressed? Vindictive? Or running towards the candy aisle? For instance, I received "the look" the other week in the grocery store. I was buying cat treats and wine. Very classy of me, I know but still why the look? Was it my hoodie and jean attire? Did I look sad or crazy? Or was it the simple fact that I bought wine and cat treats at the same time? I like to think that I don't look so unhappy while grocery shopping that people think I'm incapable of being happy without wine and my kitty kat. (Who's name by the way is Rambo, which is very manly but also conveys my obsession for Sylvester Stallone) The opposite is true. I'm in a very happy relationship with Mr. Perfect (aka boyfriend), and I'm in general a very happy person. Being owned by a cat (and anyone who is around cats knows that this is how the relationship is truly defined. they own you. don't fight it) is a very rewarding experience. The argument I make to Nathan (Mr. Perfect in case you were wondering) is that dogs (which he happens to own. yes i know we both fit the stereotype) are just as happy to see you as they are the mailman. My Rambolini (yes I call him that, not very manly but he doesn't answer either way) is only ever happy to see me. I mean he is offended if I don't say hey to him when I first walk in the door. I'm the only lap he gets in unless other laps have catnip (which he cannot resist) which means that in HIS eyes, I am special. I am the ONE person who he relies on to be there for him. And in turn I rely on him. Sure cats are just as likely to come to you as they are to roll back over and pretend they didn't hear you, but never when you truly need them. Though they may pretend indifference they will hop onto your lap when you need them the most. Had a bad day and can't stop crying? Mr. Kitty Kat will join you acting like he needs petting when he is really saying "Look I know your upset but as long as we both pretend I'm only doing this to get rubbed it'll be okay if you cry on me a little bit" Belonging to a cat is both rewarding and frustrating but when you need them the most they are there for you.

Sugar Cookies at Midnight.

Hello, my name is Emily. Some people like to think that their life is so important that they should blog about it. I don't agree with this concept but I would like to think that my life is somewhat interesting enough that people would want to read about it. For instance, I just made sugar cookies; it's midnight and I really wanted them. I've also decorated them with fun sayings like: "your awesome" "looking good" "fancy pants" "you rock" "hey gorgeous" and the horn tooting continues. Nothing says fabulousness like eating delicious cookies that stroke your ego at the same time. Especially because they're fattening. Lots of different people have come up with lots of different sayings to commemorate life's nuisances and joys. They tell you tricks to deal with all types of situation. And I'm gonna tell you one more. Spend an hour reading articles like how to deal with a breakup(thefrisky.com and yourtango.com have AWESOME articles that are good for any and all occasions) then bake you some sugar cookies at midnight. Decorate them with things that make you happy. Then every bite is like adding a little bit of happiness to your life. Because you, my friend, are powerful, you, are amazing, and you eat sugar cookies at midnight.