musings aspirations & prose

climbing the ladder of success one wrong by wrong.

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It happened! I'm officially Mrs. Gradone! My husband and I enjoyed the best weekend of our lives with friends and family from all over. Even with a dark monsoon-like storm and spilling red wine on my dress at the end of the night, nothing could've made that day bad!

Now it's time to start a new chapter of life, and I couldn't be more pumped!

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Everything. Plain. Cranberry Orange. I'm kind of obsessed with making bagels now.

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Our day in Chattanooga, TN.

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my life these days.

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"We Are All Connected"

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Sometimes it seems like we're all living in some kind of prison, and the crime is how much we hate ourselves. It's good to get really dressed up once in a while, and admit the truth -- that when you really look closely, people are so strange and so complicated that they're actually...beautiful. Possibly even me.

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a creative way to display polaroids. i'm in love with this.

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It's Derby Day. And to this Kentucky girl, it's a special day. When I was younger, growing up my family would head over to my grandparents house to watch the derby with the rest of my extended family. We would all pick a horse to win, and the adults would throw in a little money for the winner. Today, I will honor this day by watching the race on television and enjoy a refreshing Mint Julep.

Mint Julep

4 fresh mint sprigs  2.5 oz bourbon  .5 tsp white sugar  Splash of soda water 

Place sugar and soda water in glass. Allow the sugar to semi-disolve and add mint sprigs. With a muddler or spoon, crush the mint and 'simple syrup' together. The mint should not be muddle to a bunch of pieces, but just pushed on to allow the flavor of the mint and simple syrup to blend. Add bourbon (my personal favorite is Makers Mark) and then lots of crushed ice. You want this drink to stay very cold, because, really it just tastes better this way.

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I am a visual person. This being said, the simplest ads, commercials, photos, videos, etc. can make my mind start to wonder and bring life to some project I've been working on. Right now, I am in the slow process of turning my apartment into my home. Aside from the daily inspiration of apartmenttherapy.com, a couple of videos have caught my eye, and have re-awaken interior designer in me.

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Spring 2011.

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Do.

It's been awhile since I have posted anything on here. Mainly because I don't have a computer, and in the last month I have decided to take the leap and move out on my own. Meaning, I have no computer to bum off of. But this year has already proven to be an interesting one.

First of all, like I said, I have moved into my own home. It's a cute one bedroom apartment in a split house. The charm of the place is the front porch, old windows, hardwood floors, and well, it being my own space. I've kept myself busy trying to organize, decorate, and create it to be my own.

Secondly, a wonderful, special friend who lives out of state sent me a package filled with treasures including fresh tulips from Holland, a flower pot, a couple of avocado seeds, and a book on organic gardening. Needless to say, I've been spending my spare time and energy on studying up for the spring.

Third, my car recently decided to bite the dust. Well, not really. It's a fixable problem, but a little too expensive for me to invest in. A friend of mine decided to move to Portland, and with that I was the proud owner of a 1976 Jawa Transistor 40. My new friend, Brent, has been showing me how to use it, and also teaching me mechanical things. New parts have been ordered, and *crossing my fingers* I will be riding this beauty by the end of the week through the summer.

And last, something happened to me that I never thought would have, and came at a very very helpful time. This year, my friend Karen and I decided as one of our new year resolutions that we would be silly and play a $2 scratch off lottery ticket every day. Now, we have been very inconsistent to playing it everyday. But when we can, we'll play a few tickets here and there. In the month and half that we've been playing I've only won a few dollars here and there. The other day, after a steady shift at work, Karen, Meg, and myself decided we would treat ourselves to a couple of drinks at our favorite bar and then head to a movie. While at the bar, I decided to walk down the street to the gas station and purchase a few lottery tickets. And you guessed it, I won. I scratched off $500.

So, thus far, 2011 has been a very productive/fun/and silly year. And I hope it continues to be this way.

The End.

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the song I can't get out of my head...and I'm okay with it.

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observe.

"Late one afternoon, while waiting for a Fifth Avenue bus, I noticed a taxi stop across the street to let out a girl who ran up the steps of the Fourty-second Street public library. She was through the doors before I recognized her, which was pardonable, for Holly and libraries were not an easy association to make. I let curiousity guide me between the lions, debating on the way whether I should admit following her or pretend coincidence. In the end I did neither, but concealed myself some tables away from her in the general reading room, where she sat behind her dark glasses and a fortress of literature she'd gathered at the desk. She sped from one book to the next, intermittently lingering on a page, always with a frown, as if it were printed upside down. She had a pencil poised above paper--nothing seemed to catch her fancey, still now and then, though for the hell of it, she made laborious scribblings. Watching her, I remembered a girl I'd known in school, a grind, Mildred Grossman. Mildred: with her moist hair and greasy spectacles, her stained fingers that dissected frogs and carried coffee to picket lines, her flat eyes that only turned toward the stars to estimate their chemical tonnage. Earth and air could not be more opposite than Mildred and Holly, yet in my head they acquired a Siamese twinship. And the thread of thought that had sewn them together ran like this: the average personality reshapes frequently, every few years even our bodies undergo a complete overhaul--desireable or not, it is a natural thing that we should change. All right, here were two people who never would. That is what Mildred Grossman had in common with holly Golightly. They would never change because they'd been given their character too soon; which, like sudden riches, leads to lack of proportion: the one had splurged herself into a top-heavy realist, the other a lopsided romantic. I imaginged them in a restaurant of the future, Mildred still studying the menu for its nutritional values, Holly still gluttonous for everything on it. It would never be different. They would walk through life and out of it with the same determined step that took small notice of those cliffs at the left. Such profound observations made me forget where I was; I came to, startled to find myself in the gloom of the library, and surprised all over again to see Holly there."

breakfast at tiffany's. truman capote.

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indulge.

Today is a snow day in Nashville. I went to a friend's going away party at 10pm last night, and when the party was over there was already about 3inches on the ground. Granted, the snow we have is nothing like what some of my family and friends in other states experience, and they would probably laugh at a nashvillian snow day (run to the grocery store and buy out all the bread and milk, school closings before there's even a single snowflake in the sky, people cancelling any plans at the chance of a half inch...not to mention all the random snowboards and skiis that come to life once that little dusting hits as well as a last minute "official nashville snowball fight" for the whole city to get involved in). But today, I woke up and had to run errands. And in the mist of the cold I decided I would make my favorite type of chili, later I will make snow cream, and top the night off with some mexican hot chocolate. Sounds like the perfect snow day to me.

3 Bean Vegan Chili

Prep: 10 minutes Total: 70 minutes

Ingredients:

1 T. olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and finely chopped

6 cups water or vegetable stock

3 T. tomato paste

1 28-oz can stewed tomatoes with their juice

1 15-oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 15-oz can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1 T. chili powder

1 t. cayenne pepper

2 t. ground cumin

1 T. fresh lime juice

¼ t. salt, plus more to taste

Preparation:

1. In a medium to large stockpot over medium heat, heat the olive oil. Add the onion, green pepper, red pepper, celery and jalapeños and sauté until the onions are fragrant and translucent, about 6 minutes.

2. Add the water or stock and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to low and add the remaining ingredients, stirring until combined. Simmer for about 45-50 minutes. Salt to taste and serve hot.

Snow Cream.

Ingredients:

Ice cream ingredients:

snow

1 pint half and half

3/4 cup sugar

2 egg yolks

1 teaspoon real vanilla extract

Preparation:

1. Combine in a saucepan: Half and half, egg yolks, sugar, and pure vanilla extract. Use the whisk to thoroughly combine these ingredients and to beat the egg yolks a bit.

2. Place the pan on medium heat. Warm while stirring gently with the whisk. Do not bring this mixture all the way to a boil, just heat until it begins to simmer. At this point, the half and half, egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla should be thoroughly incorporated.

3. Remove from heat. Pour the mixture into a bowl and put it into the refrigerator or freezer until it is cold...Meanwhile: Go outside and gather your snow...Preferably new, fresh, fluffy snow. Get two big bowls full. 4.While stirring, slowly pour the half and half mixture into the bowl full of snow. Add extra snow as needed to get desired ice cream consistency.  

Mexican Hot Chocolate Ingredients:

3 tablespoons instant hot chocolate mix

1 tablespoon chocolate syrup

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 pinch chili powder

1/4 cup milk

3/4 cup boiling water

Preparation:

1. In a large mug, mix the hot chocolate mix, chocolate syrup, cinnamon, and chili powder. Pour in the milk. Add the boiling water and stir. 

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New Years Eve 2010

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Make.

One of my goals for 2011 is to cook a meal every night that I am not working. Last night myself and my girls, Karen and Lauren, cooked steak-and-onion sandwiches with jalapeno kettle chips and a vinegar spinach salad. Lets just say, I'm craving some more today.

Prep: 20 minutes Total: 45 minutes

ingredients:

1 top round steak (1 pound), about 1 1/2 inches thick

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Coarse salt and ground pepper

1 medium red onion, halved and thinly sliced

6 tablespoons white-wine vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 head (10 ounces) red-leaf lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces

8 slices whole-wheat bread, toasted

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

directions:

Pierce steak all over with a fork. Place in a shallow dish, and rub with Worcestershire; season with salt and pepper. Let stand at least 15 minutes. In a small bowl, combine onion, 4 tablespoons vinegar, and sugar; season with salt and pepper. Let stand at least 15 minutes.

In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high. Cook steak 6 minutes. Turn, and cover; reduce heat to medium. Cook until medium-rare, 6 to 8 minutes (if steak is browning too quickly, reduce heat to medium-low). Transfer to a plate; let rest 10 minutes. Thinly slice against the grain.

While steak rests, stir together 2 tablespoons vinegar and 1 tablespoon oil in a serving bowl; season with salt and pepper. Add lettuce, and toss.

Spread 4 slices of bread with Dijon; top with steak and onion. Close sandwiches; serve with salad.

We added provolone cheese and used an Italian bread. Also, if you don't like raw onions they are just as delicious on the sandwich sauted. The final product: