Katherine M. Carroll @katherinemcarroll-blog - Tumblr Blog

Since I am horrible at making chicken, a few months ago I decided to experiment with fish.

It hadn't been particularly successful so far, but tonight I made the most amazing baked salmon fillet using Alton Brown's Smoked Salmon Rub I followed his instructions up to the point where it sits for hours in the fridge before you smoke it.

I used half the amount of sugars it called for since I only made one fillet and only a 1/4 of the salt. I wrapped the foil as tightly as I could around my fillet and baked it at 375 for 15 minutes. After the time was up I took it out of the oven to check on it then flipped it over to bake a little longer. ( This process would have been much more successful with tongs and maybe another layer of aluminum since I lost a lot of the delicious juices when I flipped it and put it back in.)

15 minutes later I took the fillet out and it was flaky, perfectly glazed and ridiculously salty with a little bit of spice.

It probably would have been fine if the salt was cut down even more. Maybe just a pinch or two.

But all in all my adventures with Salmon was a great success!

#Baked Salmon #Alton Brown #Salmon Rub

Fashion Fights Poverty: Dress Responsibly Gala

#Fashion Fights Poverty #Dress Responsibly #Seth Aaron #Artisphere

Help support Fashion Fights Poverty programs!

Corporate Bar taken over by Pirates

I had planned to post this a week ago, but of course I waited, and then waited too long...

There is a show on SpikeTV called “Bar Rescue.” A few months ago a really cool bar near my apartment called Piratz Tavern was picked to be on the show and a few weeks ago it was “rescued”.

Last Saturday I walked up to the bar to meet some friends. I stood under the new sign, a sketch of a man’s body in a suit with the name Corporate Bar written over top.

I opened the door and walked into a bar that was lit brighter than my apartment. I stood in front of a fish tank noticing that the walls looked a lot plainer than what I remembered Piratz Tavern looking like.

The rescue was supposed to change everything, from the menu, the wait staff to the decorations and the name. When I sat down at my table though I was greeted by a “pirate” and given a menu listing, among other Piratz Taverned themed drinks, pitchers Grog.

Not that I’m complaining, but it does make me wonder what happened. Did they realize that the Corporate theme wouldn’t fit with the neighborhood? Was there an outpour of criticism about the socalled “rescue”? Or did the pirates just come into corporate bar and takeover? Either way, welcome back pirates.

The Washington Post published a story about this today and it was the best thing I had read in months.

#Piratz Tavern #Corporate Bar #Silver Spring #Pirates

Mediterranean pasta!!

Mediterranean Pasta

Alright so I made the best meal of my life tonight and I'm really proud of it and impressed with how good it is, so I'm going to share it with everyone.

I decided earlier that I really wanted spaghetti tonight. And avocado. so I went searching through the internet for a recipe that included both. then I found this amazing Mediterranean Pasta recipe.

I was a little worried about how this would work out because I had frozen my avocados so they'd last longer (another great internet find that worked out well).

I eliminated butter from my version entirely and just used Olive Oil which worked just fine. I also used Parsley instead of Cilantro since I think Cilantro is disgusting.

Other than that I followed the rest of the recipe.

Pour the sauce over spaghetti and sprinkle some grated cheese on top. (I also had Coppola's Bianco Pinot Grigio with my dish which went really well.)

(Sorry I ate it all before I remembered to take a picture) but if anyone tries it and takes photos of theirs please share!

#Mediterranean Pasta #Avocado #Dinner options

The Polar Bear Plunge

A little over a year ago my friend called me and told me she had just come back from an event called the "Polar Bear Plunge" and it looked like the coolest thing she had ever seen and "we should definitely do it next year."

So around November or December I looked up Polar Bear Plunge MD, emailed the information to her, and the next thing I knew we were registered to "plunge" into the Chesapeake Bay in the middle of winter.

The Polar Bear Plunge took place last weekend in Annapolis. All plungers are required to raise at least $50 dollars in order to participate-- All of the proceeds from the event go to the Maryland Special Olympics, an organization that I am a big supporter of since I started working for an organization that supports adults with disabilities.

Luckily for us, it was around 55 degrees on the day of the event making the water around 40. So all in all it wasn't so bad. It was still a pretty big shock for my body though when the water hit my bear legs. Even more so when I forced myself to stay in the water so my friend and I could get photos of each other.

Even more important than mentally preparing for the cold water though, was preparing our outfits to wear when we "plunged". The only thing we knew without a doubt is that we had to wear bow ties. It's amazing how hard it is to find a good bow tie for a woman. So we ended up making ours; or my friend made ours. The other must--at least for my outfit-- was a Tutu which I hapended to find at Hot Topic, a store I haven't set foot in since I was 15. We also opted to chalk our hair (http://www.seventeen.com/fashion/blog/hair-chalking). Which we did using Soft Pastels from the craft store. It was perfect because it washed out right away unlike actual dye that usually takes a least a few days to wash out. Unfortunately it made our hair feel like a Barbie doll's.

The photos are ones my friend and fellow plunger, Taylor Welch, took of the event (She happens to be a professional photographer so I am also including a link to her website too- http://www.taylorwphotography.com/):

#TaylorW Photography #Polar Bear Plunge MD #Annapolis

Do you even know what you want?

I've been asking myself this question a lot lately. Especially when I find myself in situations where I desperately want to want what is right in front of me but know that I don't.

I've realized in the last couple months that if I really put my mind to it I can talk myself into wanting just about anything. From the Ice cream cone in the middle of January after eating two hamburgers to that cute guy who is my complete opposite in everyway.

I recently found myself with this incredibly good looking generally very nice guy. It was one of those situations, though, where you look at someone and you just know. He's fun but he's not right for you. But somehow I still found myself letting go; giving in to the game that he wanted to play.

When I thought about this in the days that followed I realized that I do this a lot. I love Love. I crave even the illusion of it. Even when I start out realistic and rational-- telling myself that this one isnt the one, slowly but surely that voice in my head gets softer and softer until its words become entirely different. And then I'm in it. Attached until I need to be pryed off with tools meant for heavy machinery.

I seem to have a lack of trust in myself when it comes to getting into relationships. Would I know the one when I saw him? Do I want to say no because I'm scared or because some part of me knows this isn't right?

So I take a chance. I close my eyes and dive in. And the more he falls the more I do too. Now here I am, 25 and wondering how to stop this cycle because as embarressed I am to admit it I would really love to be done dating already.

This is my favorite quote from Sex and the City, probably because I have become the real life Charlotte York in the last few years...

#Relationships #decisions #Sex and the City #Love

25 -- Not quite what I expected... So far

I've been thinking a lot lately about the months when I was getting ready to graduate from college and the summer I was moving out of my apartment to come back home.

My roommate, who was about to move to Israel, and I were giving away everything we owned; repeatedly saying that we wouldn't need x or y anymore. Now that it is starting to get colder I specifically remember several space heaters that I stupidly told myself I would never need again.

I seem to have had all of these naive ideas about what my life would be like as a 20 something after college. I thought I would have this amazing job where I'd be paid a decent salary, and I/we would be able to live in these great places where there was an actual heating system so the pipes didn't freeze and burst in the winter (which is exactly what happened in college).

Now here we are 25 years old desperately wondering what happened to all of those space heaters we used to have in our college apartment, since our heating system in our new apartment is incredibly loud and ineffective anyway.

It's more than just the lack of adequate heat though. I saw my sister and her friends graduate from college three years before me and it was like they all found jobs immediately, and these great apartments in the perfect locations.

Their careers and lives are established and were by the time they were my age. But when I look at my life and my friends' who graduated with me we are all in the same boat. Either working at a job that we can only hope is a stepping stone to what we want or still looking for that first step or next move after an education.

#25 #Collge #Occupy DC #Job crisis #washington dc

Children grow up and move on. Apparently so do their parents

Several months ago I took the leap and moved out of my parents house and into an apartment 40 minutes away.

After all of my claims that they would never see me again I have made the long trek around the beltway at least once a week every week since my move. I always do this under the impression that my parents want me to come home. They miss me and look forward to my arrival.

So you can imagine my confusion when I arrive at my parents house on the weekends, basket of overflowing laundry in hand stomach grumbling because I waited to eat breakfast until I got there only to find that my loving and obviously lonely parents aren't there.

I call my mom. No answer. When I call my dad his voice bellows into my phone. "HELLLOO?" When I ask him where they are I am convinced he is laughing a little when he says they went out to breakfast. He knows I have arrived at what they now call "my weekend house."

There is a series of Toyota commercials that my mom and I always laugh at because of the fact that it is so representative of our current situation. The 20-something kids talk about their parents as if their whole world revolves around them and the parents clearly sit around knitting and reading the newspaper all day now that they don't have their kids around to do things with. The next scenes show the parents pulling hiking gear and water skis out of their cars; preparing for their next adventures...

#Toyota Venza #Parents #independent

I went looking for something more and found Future Project

Long after the students at Woodrow Wilson High School in Tenleytown had left the school to start their weekend activities more than 100 young adults filled the lobby of the new building ready to learn all of the skills they would need for the year that they are about to embark on.

Coaches from New York came down to DC to help us learn different skills and tools for coaching. For two hours on Saturday night and all day Sunday we took in the skills and advice from the facilitators and tonight it really begins. Tonight we meet our fellows and start the journey.

For me it started a few months ago. I was restless and frustrated and looking for something more. So I turned to Idealist for volunteer opportunities. That's when I found it. Future Project. A brand new project launching in Washington, DC, New York City and New Haven Connecticut. The goal is to inspire and motivate young people to fulfill their passions and do good.

After I applied i had just about let it go until I finally got an email from someone in DC asking me to interview. Everything I found out about Future Project only made me want to do it more. The mere fact that two people about my age created this from idle conversation a year ago was inspiring enough.

Now here I am. I left yesterday feeling more excited, inspired and motivated than I have in a long time.

I should mention for anyone reading this that there will most likely be a lot of posts about my Future Project experience from here on out.

#TheFutureProject #Woodrow Wilson High School #Washington DC

"Don't Ask Don't Tell... Don't seek don't flaunt"

Earlier this week "Don't ask Don't Tell" was lifted, finally allowing military service men and women to come out and be themselves without fear of loosing their jobs. Last night Campus Progress screened "Don't Ask Don't Tell" a documentary by John C. Walsh and Marc Walsh.

More than 2,000 people were interviewed for this film. Some were Gay or Lesbians some were straight all were active members of the military or veterans. To protect the privacy of the people being interviewed, Marc Wolf took each tape recording used for the video and acted as their voice making the people completely anonymous, if they requested to be.

Throughout the entire film Marc Wolf sits in different rooms of what appears to be the same building and he wears the exact same T shirt and jeans for each story he tells but he takes on such very different mannerisms and facial expressions that you almost believe that you are watching the very person that he interviewed.

One of the most interesting aspects of this film was the various interviews that he got from men who said that having gay people in the military would cause so many problems that the military would fall apart to gay military veterans who told their stories of how convinced they were that they would lead a life of celibacy until they met other men in the service who were also gay.

One of my favorite stories was from a man who served in Korea. He laughed about cutting his fatigues so short that his butt cheeks hung out a little and strutting around the grounds until everyone in his unit called him Mary Alice. He continues for a while telling his story until he suddenly realizes that all 11 of the men in his group stayed alive and he attributed that to his ability to make them laugh and be himself.

After the film Marc Wolf did a short question and answer session about the film. When he was asked if there was anyone he would go back and interview again now that Don't ask Don't Tell has been lifted. Then he told a story about how important discharge papers used to be back during Korea and Vietnam when everyone was in the military. How employers would ask to see discharge papers and if you were discharged for being gay no one would hire you.

The film will be available soon on comcast on demand and Fios on demand as well as Snagg Films.

#Campus Progress #Don't Ask Don't Tell

FREEFEST 2011

I spent most of the day "preparing" for this concert that I had been "preparing" for for months.

I woke up early even though I knew I wasn't leaving until after 5 p.m. to get dressed and put makeup on. I read the FAQs on Merriweather's website repeatedly to make sure I could bring snacks and bottles of water into the pavillion. Then the time finally came.

My friend and I got to the concert just in time to miss Patti Smith, hear pieces of Cee-lo Green (which to be honest we could have cared less about) and catch TV on the Radio.

But none of that could have comared to the Black Keys performance. As a new fan, there were very few songs -- besides the two most popular that are always on the radio-- that I recognized, but it didn't matter. They went from one to the next only stopping a few times to introduce themselves and another band that came out to play a few songs with them.

Each song had a different light display, during one of the earlier songs in the set the entire pavillion lit up in blue dots, during another a gigantic disco ball rotated behind them dispalying bright lights over everyone in the audience.

They played Tighten up and Howlin' for you back to back which was a little bit of a let down since they were the only songs I really knew the words to, but they did them well and when everyone was up dancing and the lights were flashing it didnt matter that I missed Two Door Cinema Club or any other band that performed that day. I Love Black Keys.

the accessory I forgot when I went to Fashion's Night Out

For weeks I had been mentally planning what I would wear to Fashion's Night Out in Georgetown last night. My make-up, hair style, jewlary, everything.

So yesterday after it had rained all day I settled on jeans, layered tanktops, small brown heels and a simple french braid to keep my hair from looking frizzy despite the gallons of anti frizz serum I ran through it.

When I stepped out of my apartment to get on the metro, the sky had cleared from all of the rain and it even seemed like the sidewalks and roads were starting to dry. And that was enough to convince me that the rain for the day was over.

Needless to say... I was wrong. By the time I got to Georgetown it was not only pouring but there was also thunder and lightening too.

The high hopes I had had for going out to this big event and taking cool pictures of all of the other girls dressed up for a night of fashion and shopping was quickly dissepating but I kept convincing myself that If I could just find a good place to hang out everthing would be fine.

I went from one shop to the next, my hair slowly gaining that slick look like I had sprayed it with too much hair spray and my jeans and front of my top starting to get wet. Each shop that I went into I looked more and more out of place and less and less stylish...

I finally gave up an hour later without any cool new accessories or clothes bought at discount Fashion's Night Out prices, without Champagne or snacks floating through my system, with soaking wet hair and cold skin.

Fashion tip number 1: When its been raining ALWAYS bring an umbrella.

#Fashion's Night Out #Umbrella #Georgetown

Do you ever see someone on the street and instantly try to come up with a story about them? That's what I did when this woman sat down next to me on the bus this morning.

Everything about her was so intriguing to me. Her dress and hat (which may be hard to see) were both pastel blue, which reminds me of New Mexico and the kind of Jewelry I always see there. Could she be Native American? Maybe Mexican?

Then I noticed her nails. They're green and peach colored. Each nail is alternated a different color and has the opposite color dotted in the center.

Keep in mind I am in no way making fun of this woman. I was honestly so interested in her and her life. Was this just something fun she decided to do today. Does she do this all the time? Could it be a ritual?

There was also something about her expression that caught my attention too. Even in this photo her expression seems so serious. Maybe even worried. (Hopefully it wasn't worry over why I was taking her picture with my phone)

While I watched this woman I saw her as one of those older women who have all of this knowledge and wisdom and opinions but would prefer to keep them to herself, and just sit quietly in the corner and watch and listen to everyone else.

Halfway through the bus route she gathered up her bags, and got off the bus and I went back to the solitaire game that I was playing on my Ipod...

Will Volunteer for Concert Tickets

A few weeks ago in the middle of having Novocaine shot into my gums and a dentist and his assistant fill two cavities in my mouth I anxiously watched the clock. I had to be out of the dentist before 10 a.m. When I walked out of the office at 9:45 I was thrilled (although also incredibly numb and drooling embarrassingly). The clock changed to 10 while I was still driving home and holding my phone in my lap I repeatedly tried to access the Internet.

Then finally I got on to the Virginmobile Freefest Facebook page and clicked the link but it was too late. The ticket site was jammed and there werent anymore tickets anyway. I was devasted until I read that I could volunteer/ donate needed items to the homeless to get tickets.

So last week I took two buses to NE DC (near the train station) with my 5 bags of toiletries in hand, to the Sasha Bruce House. Thursday was the picnic to celebrate the end of the Summer Enrichment Program.

I'm not exactly sure what I expected when I showed up at the house to drop off my hygiene kits and start helping them set up. For whatever reason I think part of me was hoping for elementary school kids who would do relay races and painting activities. So you can imagine my dismay when I walked into the backyard to find 7 high school girls sitting on a picnic table completely uninterested in who I was or in doing anything but sitting on the table and talking to each other.

Over all though, even though there was little to do once set up was done, it was a good afternoon. I attached myself to the other volunteers and a few staff/ Sasha Bruce House volunteers that I met and it is good to know that these places exist for kids who don't have anywhere else to go.

And finally when I got home and logged into the freeip site I was able to put in the code I got at the Sasha Bruce House and two days later redeem them for a ticket to Freefest.

I am a volunteer junkie. I live to help. So getting a reward for helping -- however small my contribution was -- was a little like getting candy for sleeping in.

Freefest 2011: Black Keys, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Patti Smith, Two Door Cinema Club, Cee-lo Green...

#Freefest 2011 #Sasha Bruce Youth Work #volunteer

Facebook Official

I don’t mind admitting that Facebook is a big part of my life. Not just because I work as a communications associate and half of my job is monitoring our social media profiles. Even in my personal life I rely on Facebook to keep me up to date on what my friends and organizations and companies that I follow are doing and to get the word out to everyone I know about what I’m doing, thinking, planning etc.

I love posting photos on Sunday afternoon of all of the funny things my friends and I did over the weekend and I usually wait anxiously ready to untag myself from any unflattering photos my friends may post of me.

One thing Facebook is great for is broadcasting relationships. with a click and an acceptance two people can announce to the whole world that they are dating or getting married or that they broke up. You don’t have to worry anymore about having to tell people one by one because Facebook will post the message in News Feed of all of your friends and family and the post will be there waiting for them the next time they sign on.

I take full advantage of this feature to keep up with who my friends in other cities are dating or not dating and to check up on exes. When the tables turn though and it is my relationship that is expected to be all over Facebook I am a little hesitant.

When I started dating my college roommate’s friend from high school I tried my hardest to keep from announcing it on Facebook. Even when the notification showed up on my page that he had requested to be in a relationship with me, I didn’t want the world of Facebook to know. When I finally gave in a slew of comments followed. Several people who already knew that we were dating said it was finally official—Facebook Official.

But if after a while the relationship ends you are left with the inevitable task of making the end of the relationship also Facebook Official. How long do you wait after the break-up before you also break-up on Facebook? And is the person who ended the relationship supposed to be the one to also end it on Facebook?

And then just like when the relationship began the comments start. Everyone wants to know what happened. But no one wants to ask over the phone or in a private message, maybe not because they are being insensitive but because Facebook has created an ease of conversation. Just like if you had verbally announced to a close friend over coffee that you and your boyfriend are no longer seeing each other people feel the same way about the anonymous announcement on Facebook. You are being asked to have a very public conversation with your friends and acquaintances about your break-up. And this is considered appropriate and expected now.

Soon the comments will end. You’ll both move on but you will always have the funny comments and messages you sent back and forth to each other, the photos you and your friends posted of the two of you when the relationship was new And if you ever are going back far enough you will have documentation of when your relationship became Facebook Official.

#Facebook

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Katherine M. Carroll