The State I Am In.

Goodbye Teal Tower, Hello Birdhouse!

2010-09-16T18:28:00.000-07:00

The past couple of weeks have been dedicated to moving. Ian and I have relocated to Grant Park to live with our friends, Molly and Jay and their two dogs, Annie and Pickle. As of right now, we are on a 6 month lease to see how things go--- you know, make sure we all work as roommates. Although the house is large, our living space has been cut by more than half (but so are our bills). We are fortunate enough to be able to store most of our belongings in Ian's Mom's basement, lucky us! Between moving all of our stuff to two different locations (that are more than 30 miles away from each other) and painting our old apartment back to the gross old cream color--- both of us are exhausted.

I had the day off today. After a couple hours of unpacking and organizing, I had a date with myself. First, I went to Southern Sweets. Have you ever been? I love that place. They are mostly known for all the YUMMY desserts, but the lunch menu shouldn't be overlooked! The grilled cheese gets me every time. Today I got it on multigrain bread with provolone, pepper-jack and bacon. Yummmm. Afterwards, I did a little produce shopping at Dekalb Farmers Market.

Then, I headed towards midtown and treated myself to a well deserved manicure. I'll be honest, I was really looking forward to the hand/arm massage. It's my favorite part. I was even going to ask if I pay extra, could the massage last longer. To my surprise, she skipped it! At least my nails aren't half purple/half apartment paint anymore. They now scream "Smitten with Mittens!" Thank you OPI for making a delightful sparkly red color.

To finish my date, I went to see Eat, Pray, Love. I haven't read the book yet but always enjoy Julia Roberts so I decided to see it anyway! I enjoyed it. I makes you think about some of the heavy things in life.

I think living at the Birdhouse will bring good things. I am going to make the effort to cook more meals at home. Molly has one of Martha Stewart's cookbooks that I skimmed through this morning. I'm pretty sure I saw an entire chapter devoted to tomatoes! Also, Grant Park always makes me feel more encouraged to go for walks. It's the perfect combination of hills and flat road as well as shade and sunny areas.

Oh, man! Only eleven days until my 25th birthday. I need to plan what I want to do!

Home Sweet Home.

2010-09-06T21:31:00.000-07:00

I spent the holiday weekend in Dallas, Texas. It isn't very often that I travel on holiday weekends. Luckily, I had an excuse to take five days off, my cousin Carol got married.

Unfortunately, the weekend proved to be more emotionally draining than anything. My mom's side of the family has a hard time getting along for an extended period of time. No one speaks their feelings to each other, which results in someone feeling like they got left out or picked on or yelled at or anything that could interpreted as a personal attack. It is always a struggle to balance the drama with the fun.

The hardest part of the weekend for me was the father/daughter dance at the reception. My Dad died in April and it has been a challenge for me everyday since. It's always hard when I think I am doing fine and then find myself sobbing. I did remind myself last week, it has only been four months. For me, I know it will take much longer than that to heal. I thought I would be okay through the reception because I was fine during the ceremony. I genuinely felt happy for Carol that Texas Jeff (her Dad) could walk her down the aisle. Of course I also felt happy that he could make a speech and dance with her. It's not envy or jealousy. I think it's just sadness because I know if I wanted that at my wedding, I wouldn't be able to have. Yes, there are plenty of Uncles who I love that could fill in. But it's just not the same.

More later.

Oh, Sunday.

2010-08-22T15:38:00.000-07:00

Sundays are always such a long day for me. I get to work by 8:30, and the restaurant is completely packed with a wait by 9:15. From that point on, it is nonstop. I am grateful tohave have a job that has such a following, but sometimes it's just exhausting. I figured I should post something on here, maybe that would help with letting myself decompress.

I walked over to Atlanta Cupcake Factory on Friday. Initially, I thought of it because I wanted a cup of coffee and didn't feel like grinding the beans. Of course a cup of coffee would taste even better with a cupcake. It turns out their coffee pot was broken, but I still got a cupcake.

I got the chocolate peanut butter cupcake:

Looks delicious, right? It was. ACF has also started making cupcake truffles--- described as the "essence of their cupcake, the cake mixed with frosting and rolled into a ball." After a description like that, I had to try one. So maybe, I tried two.

Strawberry Shortcake and Oreo:

I strongly suggest you go try one, only $0.75 each!

On a side note, I think it has always been hard for me to consistently post new entries on my blog because I think who wants to read this? If you are reading it: hopefully, my posts will become more frequent, a bit more interesting, too.

Fast Girls, Erotica For Women.

2010-08-17T20:31:00.000-07:00

I have been reading Cupcakes Take the Cake for a couple years and I absolutely love it. If you love to bake, buy, eat, wear, or just think about cupcakes---you'll love it, too. The everything cupcakes blog was co-founded by Rachel Krammer Bussell (RKB). I don't know her personally, but do follow her on Twitter and am friends with her on Facebook (Oh, the virtual world). Anyway, she seems to be a very intense, hard working lady who inspires me to actually DO things with my life; like, not serve tables forever. With the upcoming release of her latest book, she set up a virtual book tour for any and all bloggers to participate in. I was lucky enough to be selected as today's feature.

The book:

I wasn't sure how to begin my discussion on the book. Mostly because it is erotica, and I am not well read in the genre. Not to mention that I have always been fascinated by other people's sexuality but have never publicly embraced my own. After discussing the matter with a good friend, she made it simple by suggesting, "Just be 100% honest."

To be honest, I was hooked after first skimming the introduction, which can be read here. It sort of spoke to me because it suggests the idea that these girls are not just sluts. They are women who have sexual wants, needs and desires. Which I think shines a positive light on female sexuality. Besides, who defines the term slut?I have always had an issue with that. I think that many people are taught (by society) to immediately associate a negative connotation within the context of a sexually promiscuous woman (i.e. a slut). I wanted to keep reading because it obvious to me that the stories to follow were about indulgence in sexuality for complete personal pleasure.

Each story depicts a female who is unique as a character and within her surroundings. Maybe that's why the book was so appealing, it's very realistic. Think about it, your own desires or fantasies. Have you ever discussed them with anyone in your life? A sexual partner? A friend? A shrink? Anyone? How often do you find someone who wants what you want? Not everyone shares the same fantasies, likes and/or dislikes in the bedroom. Fast Girls does a great job in showcasing many different scenarios.

I would recommend Fast Girls to anyone who has ever been intrigued by erotica. But especially to those ladies who are interested in getting what they want, need, crave, desire. Those ladies who listen to their own bodies.

Interested in reading more for yourself? Buy Fast Girls here. Or do you need a bit more background info? Check out the Fast Girls website, it includes a breakdown of contents and a book trailer featuring the editor, RKB.

Almost three years later.

2010-06-24T14:01:00.000-07:00

I created this blog a very long time ago. If you couldn't tell from the URL and the title of the blog--- Belle and Sebastian was probably playing in the background. Well, I still love the band but hardly think I would choose a lyric or song title to base my blog around. That's okay.

I will keep the name but begin to document my daily life on here. At least I hope to get into the habit of doing so. Obviously, that's what I wanted when I originally set this thing up.

I tell you in the kitchen about my day.

2007-08-23T12:33:00.000-07:00

This is my new blog. Hopefully I will put lots of thoughts here.