Cupcake Happiness

This is a picture of the beautiful cupcakes that B and I made in early January. I was dreaming about them today, but sadly I just don't have the time to bake right now so I thought I would simply post a picture instead.

FRUS-$%#*&^-TRATION!!!!!

Somehow in the past 2 weeks I have managed to lose a $100 jacket and my physics lab manual. Frickin' awesome man! Aaargh! I hate losing things and feeling so helpless at finding them. Especially a new $100 coat...

Blah, I should be celebrating the fact that I got 100% on my biochem exam, but instead I am just overcome with frustration. Anyone have a suggestion for getting rid of the frustration (outside of just finding the thing)?

Stale Bread

I originally started this blog so I could talk about my favorite thing: food! Anyone who knows me knows that I love to eat, cook, bake, find new recipes, read cooking magazines, and try new restaurants. So instead of only writing boring updates on my life I am going to take a new approach and write about food issues that I am digging at the moment.

My latest food obsession is oatmeal with wildflower honey. I eat it every morning for breakfast and it is the perfect balance of sweet and warm and filling that I need to start of my long, cold days of school, studying, the lab, and work.

Last week B and I made my perfect vanilla cupcakes, and yes, they truly are perfect. The recipe is everything I have ever desired in a cupcake: dense and airy at the same time, moist, vanilla-y, and not too sweet. The frosting is really the...well, the icing on the cake! A simple mix of butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Yum!

Lists

There is something so satisfying about making lists. Maybe it is a little OCD, but I can make a list for just about anything: errands I need to run, books I want to read, grocery lists, recipes I want to try, etc., etc. So here is a list of all the movies I have seen since fall semester ended. It should tell you two things: How much I love movies and how I have spent a good chunk of the break.

Confetti, Sliding Doors, the Host, the Simpsons movie, Fracture, Copying Beethoven, Beauty Academy of Kabul, Bleak House, Atonement, Walk Hard, P.S. I love you, Waitress, the Heartbreak Kid (worst movie of the year!), the Treatment, the Lord of the Rings, Charlie Wilson's War.

Unfortunately the movie watching is probably going to slow down this week because I have to work 5 shifts at the restaurant this week. I am still going to try to squeeze in a few though:)

Lame Brain

So I have been in the panicked frenzied pit of Hell known as Finals Week, but really it has lasted for the past 2 weeks. My brain is jammed full of words and equations and lists and memorized details and and and...ugh, it is exhausting just thinking about it. I am at the point were I will be dutifully reading along in my notes and all of sudden the words look like a fancy form of ancient Martian script. My brain can't compute Martian! And then I get all freaked out and feel like life is over because I am going to fail all of my classes because my notes were written in Martian. Oh brother, some fresh air and relaxation are much needed at this point so I can regain some sense of sanity:)

Anyways, I allowed myself 42 minutes of fun today and watched an episode of Brothers & Sisters. One of the actors is from Wales, but has an American accent on the show. Halfway through this particular episode, his accent totally broke and I just wanted to kiss him. I adore accents from the UK and even though this was just a smidgen of one, it was brilliant. I had to rewind it four times. Maybe it was just the Martian reading I've been doing lately that made me want to kiss him, but oh that accent!

Snow Poetry

I had to write 5 poems for my creative writing class and quite frankly I actually enjoyed it. It is a whole new experience just being able to have fun with words rather than worrying about all the other crap that comes with most writing (grammar, punctuation, content..blibbidy blah). And, the best part is, my dear sis who has her MFA in creative writing and is a very, very talented poet, told me that I have some of her genes! Wahoo!
So here is my snow poem:

Snow in Eight Parts

I.

Fragile lattice of crystalline ice,
melting into the barking dog’s fur
like warm chocolate on a hot day

II.

Blankets of downy white
hush the chirping birds
and speeding cars.

III.

Dying leaves,
desperate for a drink,
lap up the frozen water vapor.

IV.

Togetherness
of hydrogen and oxygen:
is it the most perfect bond?
Is it as simple
as ionic attraction
between H’s and O’s?

V.

Meteor showers of snow
rushing past the silhouette of silver moon—
not crescent, not whole,
simply a round shape hanging in the sky.

VI.

They fall on the cold glass,
with the force of flying bugs
hurtling towards the windshield,
oblivious to their imminent end.

VII.

Enjoying their moment
in the spotlight of streetlights.
Shining, begging for
notice of their minute of beauty,
all glitter and intricacy.

VIII.

Droplets of water,
now only spots on a window,
no longer bound by their hexagonal arms.

Missing Sweden

The foggy, cold, damp snowstorm yesterday made me start missing Sweden, with its everpresent snow and all of its challenges. I miss putting on three layers of socks every morning (and sometime sleeping in them too), putting on bulky H&M sweaters, wrapping a scarf around my neck, slipping on a warm hat, bundling up in my full-length down coat, and squeezing into my boots (and all of this was just to get to the laundry room!). I forgot how invigorating it is just to survive everyday in that kind of harsh environment and how rewarding it is to enjoy a warm cup of kaffe (and maybe some Milka) after braving the bitter cold of outdoors.
I wish we had more weather-challenged days like that here....