Top 16

I'm recently excited about:

1. Fall coming + fall festivals.

2. Open Cabinets in new kitchen.

3. Discovery of decent Indian restaurant in Blacksburg. Chicken Tikka Masala!

4. New addition to animal farm: Harriet a fat, orange and very spunky hamster. That girl loves her wheel.

5. Purchase of local meats, eggs, vegetables, and fruit.

6. Living closer to friends + family.

7. Micro tip graphic markers in rainbow colors + mish mish the art store they were bought at.

8. Fall!

9. Baking + Cooking in bigger kitchen

10. Garfunkel being so much friendlier since move. Was this Brooklyn cat secretly a country cat all along?

11. Finding Chinese five spice at world market.

12. Avett Brothers + Great Lake Swimmers

13. Impending creativity.

14. Locating "lost" engagement ring that I packed away during move + two very vivid dreams about finding it and assuring me that it would be found.

15. Watching the food network again.

16. Cast Iron Skillets.

DNC- the new self-help

Like a lot of people I've been watching the DNC this week and though it is political I can't help but feel like I've gotten a good dose of life coaching from the speakers. Anyone else feel like they are watching a self-help seminar? I mean that in the best possible way.

I loved when Joe Biden quoted Lincoln as his VP acceptance speech "put your feet in the right place and stand firm." Or when Hillary quoted Harriet Tubman " If you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the woods, keep going. If they're shouting after you, keep going."

I have to say this year I've never felt more hopeful and inspired as I have been watching Ron Paul and Barack get funding from every day people in hopes that our country can be won back.

In unrelated news we are still unpacking and putting things away. I'm still adjusting to being here. Last week I was totally cool with leaving Brooklyn, this week I feel a little pang of sadness for the city. I knew it would come eventually, as I'm a creature of habit and tend to miss the weirdest things. Its the same feeling I had when I left WV for NYC two years ago. Yesterday I realized that I couldn't just walk out the door and go to the store or hop on the train and be anywhere. I cringed when Josh said going to town was usually a 3 time a week venture. What? only three? Is there a bus?!

Our life in NY was very isolated even with the millions of people around us. We were living literally and figuratively on an island of the two of us and I think we both loved the anonymity that we had there.

Me and Josh are both type B personality, but occasionally have spurts of type A. I think its hard to be less outgoing in an outgoing world. I'm not sure if this is true, but I've always heard that American's value charm, wit and being outgoing more than anything else. I've always wished I was more type A because I hate being called "shy" or "quiet". I've never felt like I was either of those things towards people that I know, because I'm not. I just never had the natural ambition to talk to the ear off of a stranger.

I was joking with Josh last week that I'm a bad first impression person. We laughed that I'm more of a fungous that grows on someone. Hopefully less gross and invasive. I guess I feel vulnerable about the idea of being sized up or figured out so quickly upon meeting and usually fidget or make bad jokes. When I worked at POCC in new york, I was quickly coined "the shy/nice white girl" but after awhile they stopped seeing me as just shy, but as someone who is outspoken and can have a good time. I'm not sure why it takes me so long to feel warmer and comfortable around people, but I eventually get there.

I've Realized...

I've realized something this week: my brain is a little faulty and doesn't catch up quickly. We finally made it to Floyd on Thursday a little after 6pm and its hard to believe that a week from today we were in Manhattan drinking margaritas with my fellow poccian's in total denial that we had to move all of our stuff 9+ hours to VA the following day.

The picture above is from wikipedia, but sums up how nice everything looks from all directions. Last week, I looked out my bedroom window and saw an apartment building. Or from the kitchen I could see the old man that sits by the window everyday and sometimes watches me cook. Now, I see trees and mountains. I went from hearing sirens, car alarms, music, and people to crickets and wind.

I feel myself slowing loosening up towards people and ridding myself of the necessary toughness and rough edges I acquired in nyc. When I first moved there I was wide eyed, looking at everything and everyone soaking everything in. Eventually nyc became a place to live and survive. I will always love nyc and feel like a small portion of the city is mine forever.

I'm really glad we're here, and look forward to new routines and daily life. New adventures and making where we live personal and homey. The decision to move here was of the pro's and con's list kind and eventually this little town won out. We don't know if this is our final stop on the road to "settling down" so who knows. I'm not sure what that even means, but we're giving it a try.

The cats are totally loving our new home! Garfunkel who is usually standoffish towards me, now sits next to me and nudges me to pet him. As I write this they are both on either side of me on the couch- worn out from chasing each other up and down the stairs.

We're both excited about having our own work space separate from each other and separate from other living spaces. Working from home is weird and can have a lot of work time/non work time boundary issues, its also hard to explain to people (and parents) that you're not unemployed, but self-employed. I'm ready to be creative again, something that really never happened in new york. I have so many ideas running around in my head and I'm ready to start making them. I hear there is a giant fabric store located in an old school, very excited to go there.

Today is a full unpacking day, more updates and pictures tomorrow!

Headin' South

I'll be back within the next two weeks!

Hair Cutter

This is a quick post in the middle of packing, we're moving in a week!

I've been cutting my hair for a really long time and it hasn't always been good, but it has gotten better over the years. I think in another part of my life I'll go to cosmetology/hair school and learn how to do this for real. I remember back in 8th grade I cut my friend Tara's hair. Jennifer Aniston's layered look was really popular and I remember saying "I can do that for you girl!".

After that I learned two things: do not cut a friends hair unless you know how and don't let 8th graders alone for any amount of time. Honestly, after styling it looked pretty decent. Extensive styling. She came to school the next day with jagged and very blunt layers in her naturally thick and wavy hair. She had a look on her face that read "you messed up my hair" and told me how mad her mom was. I naturally blamed her for not knowing how to "fix it right". Which really meant learning how to cover up a really bad haircut.

It didn't stop there, I never stopped wanting to cut hair. It all started at a very young age. In first grade I cut a bald spot in my hair trying to remove a huge chunk of gum. My sister was having a slumber party that night and I remember panicking in the bathroom with a very noticeable fuzz patch on the top of my head. I tried to cover it up, but I had really long hair. My mom wasn't pleased and I had to go to bed early. I was so upset with myself for not covering it up better. I remember her trying to hide it with headbands for weeks afterwards. I loved running my fingers over the area repeatedly while it grew in, it was soft like rabbit fur. I would sit in class calmly rubbing my bald spot.

Home hair cutting is just the way things were in my family. In third grade I got my first "real" haircut in a shop. Feista in the strip mall. It was short and curled under all around. I looked Dutch and I remember my mom making a big deal about this being my first hair cut by someone besides her.

Before that, I had a run in with my dad and his scissor expertise. He too, is a self-cutter. But, didn't really know what to do with hair longer than two inches. Everyone asked me that day "what did you do to your hair?!". I never saw it, but I was told it was as if he decided I needed a triangle cut right in the center of my hair. Before this, my dad was putting my hair up in pigtails that looked like they were put in by someone without thumbs. Bless my dad.

So now, I have shoulder length hair. Right before I moved to NY my hair was about two inches long all over. I hacked it all off before I got here, something I had been doing a lot in college. For some reason, I just stopped cutting it all off and now it's long. My hair gets really tangly and inevidably comes out when I comb it in the shower. I needed a trim, but I didn't want to lose the length I've been growing for so long.

And thanks to this woman:



I've got layered hair! Just like Jennifer Aniston. Sort of. But, seriously I'm so happy with it. It felt like I was cutting a lot off. I was safe at first cutting off what I thought was a lot. But, I put my hair up in the high ponytail again and cut even more. The result? The same length, but less hair and a really good trim. No more tangly hair and it actually has a lot more volume. I know the technique looks a little crazy for some, but it actually works. I just recommend using really sharp scissors. I'm seriously pleased, plus I didn't have to pay anything. Win, win. Man, I love youtube!

Red Wine Tomato Bisque

It probably comes to no surprise that I love any soup that contains heavy cream. While cleaning out the pantry I wanted to figure out a way to use the cans of tomato soup. I don't really know where they came from or how long they've been in the back of the food closet, but I needed to eat them. Remembering a recipe by The Pioneer Woman for Sherried tomato soup I figured I could make something similar with what I had. I didn't have any sherry around, its not something I just have around, but I did have an open bottle of red wine. I altered the recipe by what I had on hand and personal preference and it was amazing! Tangy, creamy, tomatoy and salty. I didn't even mind that it was 86 degrees outside.

I'm calling it:

Red Wine Tomato Bisque

3 tablespoons melted butter
1 medium onion, diced
2 cans tomato soup (I used one 10 oz and one 15 oz)
2 14 ounce cans diced tomatoes
1 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch of salt
Black Pepper
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cups heavy cream
chopped fresh parsley
chopped fresh basil

Saute diced onions in butter until translucent. Add canned tomatoes. Add tomato juice, sugar, pinch of salt, and black pepper and stir. Bring to a near boil, then turn off heat. Add in sherry and cream and stir. If you want a smooth bisque, let the soup cool for a bit and then puree in the food processor. Add in parsley and basil to taste.