8 Random Things

Because yesterday was insanely busy, and I don’t have a good blog idea, I’m copying this fun little list I found on Mrs. Newlywed’s blog. Someone tagged her with the list. Therefore I am tagging Beth at Luke 10:27 and Rachel at Braving the Beauty.

8 things I’m looking forward to:

1. Planting my garden
2. Making Jamie Oliver pork chops with fresh pesto for dinner tonight
3. Mr. P being done with finals
4. My sister living with me this summer while Mr. P is at Officer Candidate School in Virginia
5. Climbing Mt. Theilsen this summer with my Dad
6. Mr. P returning from Officer Candidate School in August as a commissioned officer
7. Moving overseas
8. Having a baby (this will happen in the distant future—years—but I’m still looking forward to it)

Mt. Theilsen

8 things I did yesterday:

1. Read the Princess Diaries volume 4: Princess in Waiting
2. Wrote in my journal
3. Sat in on conference call to Washington DC
4. Had a meeting with my boss about Eugene’s Land study
5. Read proposed Lane County Chapter 14 code amendments
6. Went to “Save our Streets” PAC meeting
7. High School youth group at church
8. Watched Mr. P and some friends play pool while drinking beer (I cannot play pool and my attempts are fairly disastrous)

8 things I wish I could do:

1. Buy every expensive ingredient I want to cook with
2. Live in a house with a yard and garden and porch
3. Go to Paris
4. Spend more time at my grandparents ranch with my horses (and my grandparents too)
5. Hear God more clearly
6. Sing well
7. Write my own cook book
8. Have a dog

Mrs. P

"Oh, my God, what is wrong with you? You look you just ate a sock?"

As I said in yesterday’s blog, I am re-reading the Princess Diaries Series by Meg Cabot. I finished the first three volumes: The Princess Diaries, Princess in the Spotlight, and Princess in Love. Here is my list of the 10 funniest moments in books 1-3:

1. Fat Louie once ate a sock (Fat Louie is a 25 lb cat)

2. While being told by her father that he is actually a prince and ruler of a country Mia is plagued with very loud hiccups in the middle of the Plaza’s Grand Tea Room. This causes many tourists to stare.

3. Grandmere, Grandmere’s princess lessons, and anytime Grandmere gives romantic advice

4. Anytime Lilly attempts to phsichoanalyize anybody

5. When Mia jam’s her Nutty Royal Ice cream cone into Lana Wineburger’s sweater (Lana being the mean popular cheerleader who torture’s Mia on a daily basis)

6. Lilly’s list of the best movies with commentary by Mia Thermopolis

7. Cousin Hank and Lilly’s disappearance from school together

8. Fat Louie’s collection of shiny objects behind the toilet in Mia’s bathroom

9. When Cousin Hank and Lilly disappear from school together (really Lilly is helping Hank actualize his dream of becoming a male model but this fact is unknown to the student body of Albert Einstein High School)

10. Boris Pelkowski, especially when Boris punches Hank for aforementioned disappearance with Lilly (Lilly being the object of Boris’ love and affection)

Mrs. P

Oh to be a princess

Recently the 10th and final installment of The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot was released. I have been reading The Princess Diaries since the first and second was released back when I was in high school (way before the movie came out). Actually, my younger sister, who at the time was in middle school, first discovered them and we have been reading them and re-reading them together ever since. Thus, with the release of the 10th and final installment here I am reading the entire series with great joy! If you haven’t read these I highly recommend them, as they are hilarious!

They tell the story of Mia Thermopolis, a five foot nine, flat chested, vegetarian, combat boot-wearing freshman at a private high school in Manhattan. The books open with the beginning of Mia’s diary. Due to Mia’s refusal to talk about her feelings with her mother, modern painter and ardent feminist, Helen Thermopolis, her mom gives her the diary.

Through her diary Mia tells us her woes. Not only is she the tallest girl in her class, flat chested, failing algebra, tormented by the cheerleaders and clearly destined to be a social freak, but also her mother has just begun to date her algebra teacher. But what Mia doesn’t yet know, and is about to learn, is that she is the sole heir to a small European country. So begins the Princess Diaries and what follows? Complete hilariousness. I am not exaggerating. These books are so funny you will laugh out loud. In fact beware when reading them in public places because cracking up in public can be a tad bit embarrassing, trust me I speak from experience.

I am enjoying reading them immensely (albeit it may be the 10th or 12th time I’ve read them). Mr. P on the other hand does not understand. Saying he rolled his eyes when I announced my reading plans would be a gross understatement. He has repeatedly stated concerns about what reading 10 of these books will do to my brain. Furthermore, I swear I have caught him glaring at the stack of them on the coffee table since I borrowed them from my sister over the weekend. Sometimes husbands just do not understand.

Mrs. P

P.S. The Princess Diaries books are not to be confused with The Princess Diaries movies made and butchered by Disney. There is NO comparison.

A Cooks Delight!

As some of you may know by now, I adore Jamie Oliver. Well…it’s probably more accurate to say I am a little bit obsessed with Jamie Oliver. I can’t help it. I think he is the most brilliant chef in the world. I love everything of his I have ever made, and I’ve made a lot. He makes interesting and creative food that is both delicious and doesn't break your bank. Furthermore, he can make 5 ingrediants into the best pasta you'll ever eat. The man is a food genius! The above pictures are his cook books which I own (believe me I’m on my way to owning all 8 but they aren’t cheap). I have read ever single page of each one of those books. Last Christmas when I got Jamie at Home, I read the entire book that day!!! So clearly I’m a bit obsessed. But before you judge I challenge you to try a Jamie recipe, or pick up a book, or watch an episode, and, I do believe, you will understand how amazing he is. This weekend I made Cous Cous salad with fresh herbs out of The Naked Chef (Jamie’s first book). It was delicious. I was very happy. Thursday I am making pork chops with lemon and fresh pesto for dinner, which I’m looking forward to. I even splurged and bought fresh basil and pine nuts for the occasion.

Jamie is also major inspiration for my gardening. Last year was my first attempt at a garden. But it was a group effort with some friend who knew what they were doing. I have to say it was a little disappointing because I didn’t feel like it was my garden so much as I felt I was helping out with their garden. This year Chris will be gone and my friends moved back East so it truly is my garden. And I am really excited. In Jamie’s last book, Jamie at Home, he organizes the whole book by seasons. Each chapter of the book is about one ingredient or technique from that season. For example, in spring there are chapters on asparagus, lamb, eggs, rhubarb, and peas. In summer there is a chapter on tomatoes and grilling. In autumn there is a chapter on canning, hunting game, and pastry. As think about what to plant in my garden I am really trying to think about what ingredients excite me the most. Right now I’m really excited to grow tomatoes and make homemade catsup. I’m also excited to try and grow fresh herbs. I’ve learned, from Jamie, that chili peppers are a highly under used ingredient than can add the perfect kick to many dishes. Try chili peppers in roasted butternut squash soup—brilliant! So with Jamie and a garden plot I am looking forward to a summer of delicious eating and fun cooking with friend.

Mrs. P

Ps. The most brilliant food you will ever eat: Jamie Oliver’s Sticky Chicken from Jamie at Home. Mr. P and I ate the entire pan in one sitting (the recipes serves like 6!)

My New Lamp

Lately, I have been narrowing down how exactly I want to decorate the bedroom. Even though we’ve been married for 10 months now I still haven’t decorated our apartment. All our furniture is random hand-me-down leftovers from college which makes it hard. Plus, the whole idea of decorating is still pretty new to me. Until Chris and I got married and moved in together I have lived with college roommates and had no surplus money to decorate with. Now, I want to make our home feel more like a home and look nice. We still don’t have a ton of surplus money to decorate with or buy furniture but I’m trying to take baby steps. So I’ve been focusing on the bedroom.

The duvet we got is white with light grayish tan branches and leaves and simple yellow birds. We don’t have bedroom furniture per say. We have a bed with no headboard, an old dresser and two mismatched night stands (both quite old) and a 60’s vanity chair. My plan is to accent the yellow throughout the room. To start with I want to get are a yellow lamp and a yellow quilt or blanket to go at the end of the bed to bring out the yellow birds. I want a lamp that has a yellow ceramic base but a modern shape with a white shade. After two months of eyeing lamps I have found the perfect lamp. The Sonoma yellow bedside table lamp from pottery barn and yesterday I finally bought it! It is gorgeous. I got the smaller size in yellow.

Happy Friday

It’s finally Friday! And I hardly have to work today. I have a lunch meeting and I need to spend a few hours reviewing some reports before hand but that’s it. I usually don’t work very much on Friday’s because I accrue so many comp hours throughout the week. I have a lot of evening meetings and early morning meetings.

I am also very happy it is Friday because this is the first weekend in almost two months that I have nothing going on. I am going to start my garden and downsize our apartment for the upcoming youth garage sale at Church. I am looking forward to a very productive and relaxing weekend.

Happy Friday:)

Book Club

I am in two book clubs (yes, I am this much of a dork). But, I love to read. I also love to discuss books. This is probably what I miss most about college, discussions from English classes.

One of my book clubs met last night to discuss Azar Nafisi’s book, Reading Lolita in Tehran. If you haven’t read this book I highly recommend it. It is a memoir of her experiences as a women teaching literature in the Islamic Republic of Iran. What is most amazing to me about this book is how acutely she captures our experience of reading literature. What is also remarkable about this book is how she articulates the female experience in Iran. She is terminated from her position at the University of Tehran for refusing to wear the Veil when it is first imposed upon women. Ultimately, she has to struggle through the decision of whether to give up teaching altogether or whether to teach under a veil. What I never realized about women’s experience in Iran was that women had all the freedoms we exercise in the West until the Iranian revolution in the late 70’s. At that time women lost their rights. They were mandated to wear the veil, not wear makeup or nail polish, and not to socialize with men of the opposite sex. Furthermore, the marrying age in Iran was lowered from 18 to nine. Women were jailed for their transgressions against the laws of Islam where they were raped and killed. And the law in Iran stated that women were worth half the value of men. Thus women could not request divorce. Even worse they had no legal action to protect themselves against abusive husbands. They were legally the property of the men in their family. Yet despite these conditions Azar Nafisi met in secret with her best students to read and discuss great western works. Through these books the young women found hope in dreams, in relationships and in a future for themselves.

Saturday Night at the Roller Rink?

Yes it is true. Mr. P and I spent Saturday night at the local roller skating rink. And it was really fun! It all started last month when we were out bowling (yes on Saturday night) with our friends from church. We try to have a Young Adults social event every month and bowling was last month. During bowling someone suggested we really re-live our childhoods and go roller skating. Then Mr. P, who happens to love roller skating, got very excited. And so we planned our April Young Adults event at the roller skating rink.
It was so much fun I believe Mr. P and I may make it a regular activity. :)

Mrs. P

May I introduce Mr. and Mrs. P

After reading other people's blog's I have decided to brave up and start my own. Honestly, I just want to be friends with all you fabulous bloggers with cute shoes and clothes and great shopping advice. There is a serious lack of cute shoes in the Pacific Northwest, let me tell you.

Some things about me:

1. I am a newlywed.

2. I am married to a soon to be lawyer.

3. I love shoes. This fact continues to perplex my husband even after almost three years together.

4. I especially love red shoes and yellow shoes. I am currently on the hunt for the perfect pair of yellow ballet flats that cost less than $50. Any suggestions please send them my way.

5. I love the South and desperately want to live there.

6. I am obsessed with two chefs: Jamie Oliver and Dave Lieberman. If I had to pick one I suppose it would be Jamie, but it's a hard choice.

7. I am very bored of living in College Town, having lived here for all of college and now nearly another two years. Alas, I am stuck here until Mr. P finishes Law School and we can move.

8. I hate to clean.

9. I love books and own many of them. My favorite authors are Jane Austin, William Faulkner, Toni Morrison, Isabel Allende and Simone De Beauvoir.

10. I got my college degree in French Feminist Philosophy, much to my Engineer Father's horror, and yet I still manage to be the bread winner in my family.

I look forward to getting to know all of you lovely blogging ladies out there.

Mrs. P