Sixteen on Sunday*

Ugh...I've been so negligent of this blog for the entire summer!  I feel like I've done everything and nothing this summer and sadly, the end is nigh.  As a last hurrah, I am headed to the Midwest to explore and conquer new territory...and go to M's wedding.  I will be "off the grid" for an entire week (omg!) so I contemplated writing a bunch of posts that I could schedule to post automatically, but I haven't had the best of luck with that in the past.  And I've been lazy super busy packing for my adventures. 

So instead of the usual Six on Sunday, I thought I'd beef it up to Sixteen on Sunday to (hopefully) tide you over.

1.  Last weekend I went to Maine but didn't kayak or even out my tan.

2.  I did go on a boat ride and explored the lake for the first time.

3.  Everyday Mom and I went to the outlets in Freeport.  The stores on the main road are all in old town buildings.  Starbucks is in an old bank and Abercrombie and Fitch is in the old library.

4.  I tried to convince Everyday Mom to use her 20% off coupon to buy this at Coach.

5.  She didn't.

6.  I drove the four wheeler down to the lake all by myself.  Sure, I needed a small refresher course and yeah I forgot to let off the gas when I changed gears...but I made it.  File under: second gear is a little tricky.

7.  I saw OREO COWS!

8.  I also saw lakes and mountains.

9.  My parents were so excited about the free zucchini they got when buying blueberries.  Lots of blueberries = lots of giant zucchini.  Everyday Dad smuggled some home in my bag.

10.  Someday when I am a lady, I will learn how to walk in proper high heels making me even more awesome than I am now.  For now, I'll stumble through a wedding on 2.5 inch heels wishing I was wearing flats.  (Who am I kidding...I'll be the girl walking around in bare feet at the wedding.  Wait...is that rude?  Or just unclassy?  FYI: I painted my toenails party pink Back to the Fushia for the occasion.)

11. On Friday I stood in front of an ATM vestibule for an embarrassingly long time.  Who knew you had to insert your debit card UPSIDE DOWN to open the door?

12.  This weekend I got stuck behind an 18 wheeler full of ponies.  I was annoyed and happy at the same time.

13.  When my parents go up to Maine I go over to their house and do laundry while watching their movies channels.  #True story. 

14.  I watched How Do You Know and I will never get those two hours of my life back.

15. Because I am (surprisingly) all packed for my trip tomorrow, I will spend the night eating a Jello pudding cup and watching The Glee Project finale.  <---Don't judge me.

16.  I will be getting up at 4:30 am tomorrow to head to the airport to fly to Philly to fly to Detroit to drive to Kalamazoo with my lovelies...and I can't wait!

Well that does it.  Goodbye for now blog friends.

* It's like Six on Sunday on Steroids.

  

Six on Sunday

1.  I'm going to see Stephen today!

2.  Stephen is my brother.

3.  He is my favorite (read: only) brother.

4.  He is in town for a wedding.

5.  He lives far away in Virginia.

6.  He rides roller coasters for a living.  <---He doesn't really but I don't really understand what he does so I imagine him going up and down and up and down all day.

 

For L

Smile!  It's Friday!!!

Happy weekend!

I'm off to Maine to:

• Kayak
• Even out my tan
• Yeah...that's all!

  

Hummus Happened

This week has been quite the "Try New Foods" week!  First there was quinoa and tofu noodles.  Then there was hummus.  Homemade hummus.  Hummus with lemon juice.

The scene: Sangria Wednesday.

D:  Have you ever tried hummus?
A:  No, but it's on my list.
D:  Points to the bowl of hummus.
A:  Maybe later.

1 hour passes.

K:  Amy, I was thinking about having some hummus.  How about you?
A:  That was not smooth.
D:  The time is now.  Hands me a blue chip with hummus.

Amy eats the hummus.  Doesn't hate it.  Doesn't love it.

K:  Amy,  you didn't take a photo for evidence.
A:  Dammit.  Amy eats ANOTHER chip with hummus.

End scene.

PROOF!

Also at Sangria Wednesday:

• Laughing.
• New found ABBA knowledge.  (Did you know they were married!)
• Sangria.
• 33 candles = a bonfire on an 11 piece cake.
• New faces.
• An invite to try homemade tofu (apparently making tofu is akin to making cheese) made with homemade soy milk (did you know you can milk soy nuts?)

  

Nothing Compares To...

Pasta!

While I was away hiding from the blog world, I did brave things...like shower in the dark (more on this later) and try new foods.

I went to Norway (Maine not Scandinavia) to visit a spice store.  They have a whole bunch of spices, flours, and general cooking things that you purchase by weight.  I picked up some rye flour and some caraway seeds for my next bread adventure and I bought these:

They are quinoa veggie curls.  Kind of like tri-colored pasta and kind of not.  Well...I don't know whether I undercooked them or whether quinoa is just naturally crunchy but it wasn't quite a substitute for pasta.  They get two stars.

Next, I tried this:

Tofu was on my list of new foods to try and while I doubt that anyone who ACTUALLY eats tofu would regard this as trying tofu, I am playing the technicality card.

I've read a lot about this "spaghetti shaped noodle substitute" as of late.  It has no cholesterol, sugar, gluten, animal bits, or guilt (according to the label).  Let's just say that I didn't have high hopes.  I planned to toss the noodle substitute into a chicken and veggie stir fry so I wouldn't even notice they weren't real noodles.  <---Mistake.

I followed the directions to a T.  I rinsed thoroughly to get rid of the natural odor (um yeah...that should have been my first clue), par-boiled them (I still don't know what this means), and patted them dry before adding them to my stir fry.  I know they are a noodle substitute but I honestly expected them to taste like noodles. <---Naive.  They were soft on the outside but had a weird crunch to them. Not enough of a crunch that I could pretend they were bean sprouts so I ended up eating around them.

All in all...try new foods has yet to result in adding a new food to my day to day repertoire.

 

I'm Backkkk

But hopefully in a less creepy way than this:

A friend politely reminded me that I was scheduled to return from my blog vacation in August and it indeed is now August.  (Although to be fair, I don't think she has posted a blog in like 600 days.)  Since we missed the regularly scheduled July recap, August goals and many, many Six on Sundays, let's play catch up (in bullet form obviously) ...okay?

While I was away ignoring the blog, I

• Went to Maine.
• Spent some quality time with my air conditioner.
• Saw Harry Potter...twice.
• Got a sunburn and TERRIBLE tan lines.
• Peeled from aforementioned sunburn.
• Got REALLY excited about my Midwest trip.
• Made s'mores.
• Got mosquito bites.
• Went in the ocean...it was cold.
• Lost 10 pounds.
• Read a lot of books.
• Ordered 312 dresses online.
• Hugged a baby.
• Got screwed by unemployment.
• Kayaked.
• Became obsessed with the movie Country Strong.
• Finished a minibook.
• Got a job.
• Tried new foods.
• Did NOT go to Dunks at all!
• Not even for an iced latte.
• Turned 29 and a half!

Here's to catching up and actually blogging again!  What have you been up to in my absence?