the words don't mean enough

It has been crazy CRAZY here at work, because it's the end of the fiscal year so everyone is scrambling to get shit stuff done before the 30th. I am taking  amoment to breathe, because after lunch I feel like all hell is going to break loose and there will be people physically running invoices around. We're obviously super prepared for this! Hah.

Nate and I went to the gym last night to have our free personal training sessions for the month. He was training with a guy named Charles, but since he got a new 8-5 desk job (which he is increasingly more excited about every day he goes) and Charles only works until 4:30, he was in need of a new trainer. So we decided to do a buddy session with my trainer, Dawn. I was a little skeptical, but it turned out to be awesome! We worked mostly arms, legs and cardio, with a little core (which is fine by me.) We also did measurements, and discovered that -- despite my week in Boston eating every type of barfood imaginable and not working out for a week and a half -- what I have been doing is paying off. I haven't lost a whole lot of fat (see: copious amounts of nachos/ice cream/rich wedding food,) but I have gained 1.5% muscle, which is awesome. My arms are now even (apparently before one was 9.5" and one was 10.5"...so I gained .5" in one and lost it in the other. Hoorah for symmetry?) Unfortunately everything else is the same or a little higher, but I'm not surprised by that fact. Now that we're back in the swing of things, that should (hopefully) change.

Ok, back to numbers and numbers and numbers. Have I mentioned I'm not really a numbers person? Oh well.

bad news bears

My beloved Kindle fell off my desk at work last Friday. I was resting it on my wrist-rest in front of my keyboard and it just slid right off. I inspected it right after it happened and it seemed fine, but yesterday, I discovered the corner now looks like this:

Boooooooo! =( It works fine, but I'm afraid to push on the corner too hard. It seems like all it needs is to be popped back into place, so the little tabs can do their job, but without knowing if the little tabs are bent or not, I am afeared. The part that's popping out is right next to the volume button (for when it reads to you,) but since I don't use that feature -- and haven't, uhm, ever? -- I'm not too worried about the button continuing to work. Maybe this is my cue to get an iPad. Too bad I can't afford one. Boo #2.

Also, I found a networking lunch for Nate to go to for $25 this afternoon. He should be getting ready to leave right about now. What's funny about it, though, is as we were at Office Depot getting business cards for him to make and pass out at this lunch, he got a call from a staffing agency (one that had contacted him waaaaay back in September of last year -- when we first got to Seattle) about a job that's closer to our apartment than mine is. It's laterally in the same place as my building, just across the area where Qwest and Safeco, their parking lots, and the train station are, towards our apartment. Kind of hilarious and coincidental. Kind of how our lives always seem to work. This could definitely be the world making up for our car getting broken into -- twice in one week. I would like that very much.

We also went to Fireworks after getting business cards to try and find a business card holder. They only had this one:



We decided is was fine, since he does graphic and web design, and can therefore afford to be a little quirky. I was going to buy Knock Knock's What to Eat Pad

but they didn't have it at that location, so I guess I'll have to get it from the location closer to work. If they don't have it there (although, I think I've seen it there,) I'll just have to call it a day order it off their website. Or maybe UO will have it, you never know. I just love that they make matching things, so I can put it up on the fridge next to our 'All Out Of' Grocery List and marvel. I might go during lunch. Or I might just wait. I'm so spur of the moment, can't you tell?

'long as the room keeps singing

Alternately Titled: I may have watched the entirety of an awards show for the first time in my life last night.

(But that one doesn't roll off the tongue as easily.)

So I've dicovered two things:

1) I could get used to this Cinnamon Roll oatmeal and peanut butter thing. Who KNEW. Then again, peanut butter can make just about anything better.

2) Awards shows are much more entertaining and inviting when they don't keep you up until MIDNIGHT on a Sunday. The West Coast has got it right -- let's start the Oscars at 5:30PM! They're over by 9PM, and you still have time to finish drying that last load of laundry. It's incredible.

So we watched the entirety of the Oscar last night! I'm not much one for fashion, but I hated Jennifer Hudson's dress (weird boobage issues,) and loved that you saw Anne Hathaway walk in wearing an awesome red dress and immediately thereafter saw her on stage in a black and cream one with creepy crazy feathers all up ins. Maybe there weren't feathers, but the dress did make her look a million miles wide, which is a ridiculous statement in and of itself. So there.

Also, James Franco is constantly high. Did anyone else catch his strangely loopy interview with that woman I've never seen before in my life Robin Roberts before the show? He just laughed, the whole time. What's so funny, creeper? (Ok, the fact that he's a creeper doesn't stop him from being attractive, and I understand that. But...creeper.)

In other news, who knew Zachary Levi could sing? Actually, probably everyone except me, since probably everyone and their mother has seen Tangled. Which I probably will watch at some point, even though Mandy Moore's singing completely turns me off (I don't mind her acting, really.)

And maybe it's just me, but when is the rest of the world going to realize that we're just indulging Gwyneth Paltrow's fantasy of becoming a country singer? Granted, she can kind of sing. But as much as I don't love country, the country songs I know and like feature one of two kinds of voices: sweet and sultry or large and in charge -- and kudos to the singers who can do both. Gwyneth...does really have either. Her voice is just there. And I don't connect with her lyrics or her stage presence. Isn't it strange how someone can be a formidable presence in one artform and not even capture your attention in another? Seriously, that's why we even have "triple threats." True ones are few and far between. Let's demand some real singers up in here, y'all.

Speaking of country songs, I justed discovered this Leann Rimes song, and I kind of like it. And by kind of, I really mean I like it a lot.

(Nate liked the little wrist-flicking dance towards the end.)

Also, watch Peter Hollen's new video! (I find the turn around on this song kind of sickeningly fast.) And if you haven't watch his other a cappella covers, you should do that, too. He's my a cappella friend by six degrees of Kevin Bacon separation. Plus, you may have seen him on that little show called The Sing-Off on NBC. Yeah.

There's a 50% chance of rain or snow all day today, but right now, there's actually blue sky outside. Plus, it's Jeans Week at work, which makes my life. Or at least my week. I'd rather be in jeans than anything else.

What did you think of the Oscars? Did you watch the whole thing?

-C



apple chips, pizza and WINNING!

I have a project today at work that won't take very long, but it involves a lot of hole punching. Good thing I have a brand new hole punch!

They kept saying this week was going to be nice, but it was kind of cloudy and gloom all week, and now it's supposed to rain all weekend. I've been trolling searching Craigslist this morning trying to find furniture -- namely, a dresser, desk and king-sized bed frame -- for relatively cheap. Because we don't have any of these things, and we decided that they were pretty much all we needed to complete our apartment, since we aren't going to be spending more than a couple years here. We don't really want anything that we'll fall in love with (I've already fallen entirely too in love with this oversized chair that we found for free on CL -- I'm having to tell myself we probably won't be able to bring it back to Boston with us, whenever we decide to go back there. Ooh, hoo hoo.) we just need furniture that works for now. For realsies.

Dinner last night was pizza. We contemplated delivery from the usual (aka Dominoes,) and Nate really wanted to get two feet of pizza from Pizza Hut, but instead we ordered from Mod Pizza on 6th Ave (about a ten minute walk from us.) We thought they delivered, but found out they didn't, so we picked up the pizza and ate there. It was SO GOOD. The pizzas are just enough for two people and only cost six bucks. We got mushrooms, onion, crumbled meatballs and cheese (asiago, parmesean and mozzarella) on ours. Plus, you can get an order of four garlic knots (or cinnamon knots, if you prefer) for a buck fifty. So we got a pizza and two orders of garlic knots...and ate everything. I was too full, but it was delicious. Totally worth the over eating.

I'm going to be kind of sad when I no longer have to take pictures of what I wear every day. TPTP only (technically) goes another week or so! Today is Friday, so jeans are a total go, but I did decide to wear one of my new tops I got at Express the other day when I got my sequiny scarf. I'm not much one for turtlenecks, but I couldn't resist the rouching on this baby:

We desperately need to go grocery shopping, because we have no proteins in the house. This is definitely the thing we run out of the fastest, because we don't buy anything frozen (especially since we found the $2, two pound chicken breast at our favorite market,) but it means we have to eat them pretty quickly, or they start to smell kinda funny. In truth, the chicken I made the sweet potato and onions with was already starting to smell kind of weird, and the fresh meats like that don't last for anything past a week from when we bought it. We have strong stomachs. I figure if it isn't completely rancid, we'll be fine. We gotta cook it all the way through, anyway.

Also, if you like WINNING things, head over to the fANNEtastic Food blog, where you can win a $50 shopping spree to iHerb.com (they have more than just herbs.) I like winning things, don't you? (Not to say I ever do win anything, but I still like it.)

Thinking about making Apple Chips with my new corer and Snow White apples tonight or tomorrow. I'm thinking baking them with cinnamon sugar or pumpkin pie spice will be super tasty. Got any suggestions for the best easiest apple chip recipes?

it don't break even

So, I find this letter I received from a major beverage company kind of funny and also kind of eye-opening. I applied for a position as a Receptionist at their corporate headquarters right when we got to Seattle (maybe before, when we were still squatting in Nate's sister's apartment in Sacramento, CA.)


January 12, 2011

  

Caitlin O. Nelson

(My Permanent Address,

which was still in NH at the time) 

Dear Caitlin:

We have received your application for the position of Receptionist/Administrative Assistant. After careful consideration, we regret to inform you that you have not been selected for this position.
We will retain your candidate file in our database and may inform you of job openings that match your profile if you selected this option. We also invite you to visit the Career Section on our Web site regularly.
We thank you for your interest in (Name) Beverages Company and wish you all the best in your career.

Best regards,
Human Resources Department
(Name) Beverages Company

If I recall correctly, the job description wasn't anything fancy: answer phones, distribute mail, hand out badges for guests coming into the headquarters. Pretty much the exact same thing I do now. I find this letter kind of funny, because the company I'm working for contacted ME for an interview. They found my resume on CareerBuilder and wanted me to come in. As opposed to this company, which did not contact me for an interview, or contact me at all, until almost four months later, to tell me I didn't get the position. Ya think?

In any case, it also got me thinking about what we would have done if Freeman hadn't contacted me. I did receive another job offer before this one, for a part-time administrative assistant/reception relief position in a building pretty much equidistant, in the opposite direction, but the company, unfortunately, never got the go-ahead from their headquarters to hire me for the position. It worked out better, because I was looking for a full-time position, but I was thinking that I could "get my foot in the door" with these people, and hopefully they'd decide they had a job for me later on down the line. In any case, I was told I had a job with them on October 8, 2010 (which was, I want to say, about two weeks after my interview,) and told them I had received a job with Freeman on October 22, 2010, a full two weeks later. At this point, they still had not received the approval from their headquarters to do the hiring, so I had continued to go on interviews (because I couldn't wait around,) including retail positions for the holidays. It was all a crazy, big mess. So, it ended up that I had the part-time administrative assistant job offer, a part-time, seasonal retail job offer and my full-time job offer contending all at the same time. Obviously we know which one I chose.

The point of all this is that I am our financial security. I make enough to pay for our apartment and basic necessities, so Nate's pay winds up becoming spending (or soon, savings,) for us to do with what we please. But if Freeman hadn't contacted me? We might not be in Seattle anymore. We wouldn't have been able to afford our apartment. We would have had to at least go back to California and mooch off of Nate's sister's hospitality for a while, until we could find jobs there. Or we might have had to beg money from our parents to make it back across the US as quickly as possible to live in Tallahassee (where I always have a job, and I'm sure Nate could have, also,) Charleston (where my Mom isn't even LIVING anymore,) or Franklin, where we have a room set up for us to stay in whenever we'd like, and try to find a job in NH or MA (Nate could have had a job in Burlington, in probably one of two locations, at least for a while, but those would be kind of an extreme commute from his parent's house. As would my job, which I probably could have had back, if I'd asked really nicely, at MiniLuxe.) What a FAILURE that would have been. Broke and right back where we started. It's kind of terrifying to think about, and makes me consider myself extremely lucky.

Enough bad stuff. Nate made biscuit dough yesterday (which turned out AWESOME -- we have his Mom's recipe to thank for that,) so that I could make chicken 'n dumplins for dinner. This is a recipe I've made before, that I found in Southern Living, which normally calls for pre-cooked chicken, a can of cream of chicken soup and a can of chicken broth, which you heat, add carrots, celery and Pillsbury Grands biscuit dough to, and wahlah! Chicken 'n dumplins. Delicious. I discovered however, when I went to make it last night, that I didn't have chicken broth OR cream of chicken soup. So, here's what I wound up doing. It turned out superbly, just ask Nate.

Chicken 'n Dumplins with Cheesy Biscuit Breadsticks (this amount of food fed the two of us, with a little bit left over for lunch for me today. And we may have eaten too many breadsticks in one sitting.)

Ingredients:
1.5 tablespoons flour
1.5 tablespoons butter/margarine (we always use margarine, but butter is perfectly acceptable)
1.5 cups of milk
1 cup of water (or maybe 1.5 cups...I didn't actually measure the excess water I added. Really you just want enough water added to the base to cover all the things cooking in the pot)
1 stalk of celery, diced
1 medium carrot, diced
Some white mushrooms, coarsely chopped (maybe 4 or 5, depending on size? We get ours pre-chopped, because I'm lazy and because it's the same price for a pound chopped as a pound whole at the market we go to.)
1/3 bag frozen corn (I'm sure you could use fresh corn, or canned corn, too.)
~1lb chicken breast (we had about a 2lb whole chicken breast, which I cut in half and tried to get rid of as much fat as possible from)
Half a batch of plain biscuit mix (but make a whole batch, cause you'll need the rest for cheesy biscuit breadsticks!)
Rosemary
Marjoram
Thyme
Oregano
(you can also just skip these four spices and use poultry seasoning instead, which also has ginger and sage in it. We didn't have poultry seasoning, ginger or sage, so those are the four herbs I used. Mine were dried.)
Salt
Pepper (if you like. I don't.)
Garlic (if you feel like it. I have a Garlic spray that I bought at a winery in the El Dorado Hills in CA. I use when I want just a hint of garlicky tastes. Or when I don't feel like chopping garlic.)

Directions:
1) Have you boyfriend/sibling/parent//friend/child/spouse/dog find a plain jane biscuit recipe and make it. Then have them cut it into strips. Ours varied in size from 1" to, like, 3". Don't worry too much about it.
2) Preheat the oven to 450.
Meanwhile....
3) Start your roux base with the butter and flour (easy roux recipe here. But basically, just put the flour and butter in the bottom of your saucepan over medium-ish heat until they're fully combined and look kinda weird and lumpy.)
4) Pour in the milk on top of the roux base. Stir it some, while you bring it to a boil, then reduce to medium-ish heat so it's not quite simmering. (here's a recipe for a cream sauce, if you need it. Though, I don't usually put "vegetable water" in mine, whatever that is.)
5) After the cream base is started, cut your chicken into medallions (or cubes...or, don't cut it at all) and cook over medium-ish heat. At this point, I seasoned my chicken liberally with aforementioned spices. Like, just dumped a whole bunch on either side. Most of it will come off and get cooked down into the liquid base, so you probably don't need to worry too much about over-spicing. Unless you're a crazy spicer. But I'm pretty crazy about spicing, so you'd have to be way crazier than me. My chicken was coated with spice on either side.
6) While chicken is cooking (and you're flipping it, and occasionally stirring your cream sauce, to make sure the roux base is integrated and you aren't burning the milk,) chop up your carrots and celery (and mushrooms.)
7) Once the chicken is fully cooked, chop it finely/shred it with your knife until it's in smaller, bite-sized pieces. At this point, the cream sauce should be mostly lump-less, but shouldn't have thickened too much (if you need to turn it down to low while you fix the chicken, this is perfectly acceptable. It isn't going anywhere.)
8) Put chopped chicken, celery, carrots, frozen corn (if you're using fresh corn or canned corn, you probably can wait to put it in with the mushrooms,) along with about half the biscuit strips into the roux base. Add enough water to cover everything in the pot (you don't need to drown it, just mostly cover everything,) and turn the heat up to medium-ish. Just enough to simmer the pot.
9) Salt liberally (i.e.: salt to taste.) I tend to be light-handed when it comes to salt, but if you're heavy handed, you might want to skip salting the chicken and just salt the liquid base. Then you can taste it and make sure you aren't over-salting.
8) While the pot is coming to a simmer, saute mushrooms in butter or olive oil or medium-high heat until they're nice and brown and delicious looking. Once they're done, and the pot has come to a simmer, add them (and fresh or canned corn, if you're using it,) to the pot. Stir everything, put the top on and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes, continuing to stir occasionally. This will be enough time to thicken the base, cook the raw veggies, and warm everything up to the same temp. Done and done.
9) Once you've set your chicken 'n dumplins to simmering, have your helper (see first instruction for acceptable people,) hand roll out the rest of the strips to your preferred length. Take two and twist them around each other to make twisty breadsticks. Add A LOT of cheese (or less cheese, if you are not a cheese fanatic,) to the tops and bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 10-12 minutes.

Everything should be ready about the same time! Breadsticks are cheesy and delicious, and chicken 'n dumplins are hot and thick and everyone is happy. Serve and enjoy.

Besides the chopping, this recipe as super easy. Even substituting fresh ingredients, spicing everything and making the base myself, it didn't take more than half an hour to make everything. Especially with the boyfriend helping out with the biscuit part! Turned out ok, I'd say:

As for TPTP, today it is NASTY outside, and I still managed to look vaguely put together. It snowed, then rained last night, so I was hoping for a snow day (like all the Easter Coast-ers are getting today,) but alas, the roads were not icy and frozen, so I was stuck going to work. In any case, I wore more casual cords (and actually brought at extra pair of pants, just in case,) because the last time I tried to walk to work in wind and rain, not only did my umbrella break, but I was soaked from the waist down before I even got 100 feet out the door. It wasn't that bad today,  thankfully, but it was pretty slippery, with all the water, snow and ice on the ground, so going down the hill to get to work was more like skiing than anything else.

It's been sadly slow at work, so I've spent a lot of time favoriting things on Etsy and ModCloth, deciding what I want to spend all my money on (when I have money again.) Love these:



From Bed Buggs Boutique



-C

tonight i'm not takin' no calls...

h-o-leeeeeeee moocows, batman. i have spent the past week or so at work:
-signing 400+ company christmas cards for FOUR people who were not in the office to sign them
-putting address, return address and stamps on 400+ envelopes for said company cards
-stuffing 400+ company cards into 400+ labeled and stamped envelopes
-sealing 400+ company cards
-mailing 400+ company cards

OMG. so many cards. it took me two days of basically nonstop signing to get all the signatures on the cards, because my hand kept cramping up. i haven't written like that since we had to handwrite essays in high school. in cursive. uphill and backwards? no...that doesn't make sense.

aside from that, Nate and I did some shopping this weekend, and now we have a SPECTACULAR memory foam mattress topper for our crappy, back-hurting mattress...which really just makes me never want to get out of bed ever again. this means I've been slightly later than normal to work this week...but it's also a lazy, 3-day week, so I'm not too worried about it. most of the office is out, some of them for the rest of the year (since this week is short and next week is short.)

We got our printer from Nate's parents, so I've been looking online for easy holiday decoration ideas, since we have both photo and regular paper (both at home and at work) for me to craft with. I was thinking of making some heart garland out of some of our photos of the trip, to hang over our bed until we get some kind of frame/headboard going on (but seriously, who knows when that will be,) but I will probably not do it until this weekend, after I have finished my stocking stuffer shopping for Nate (we're only doing "stockings," no big gifts, so no big wrapping projects,) while he's at work, so it be a sort-of surprise. i do, however need some brads -- or some way to attach the string (which I also need) to the pictures once I print them out, besides the scotch tape we have. This requires finding a craft shop near the apartment, which may or may not be an easy task.

In any case, our stockings are hung, and I bought a small (fake) Christmas tree and some silver and white star ornaments from Borders, because everything was 50% off, plus a Christmas-tree smelling candle, so the house is looking more and more festive! We were contemplating working serving Christmas dinner on Christmas day, but we'll probably just hang out at the house, or take my co-worker up on her offer to hang out at her house with her, husband, baby and some extended family to play Kinect and eat entirely too much.

I've been getting really into decorating the apartment (besides for Christmas,) which, as I was telling Nate, I think is because this is the first place we've lived together that we chose together. Our apartment in MA, he chose and moved into about the time we started dating, so I didn't move into it until about three months after. It was mostly his furniture and his housewares, with the things which were important to me (from my first apartment in Boston,) mixed in. The second place we lived was with his parents, so no decorating there, and the third place we lived was in our car. It's nice to have a place that is a fresh start, for both of us, so we can decide on furniture, both pieces and arrangements, and decor together. We found this awesome bar table and chair set at Bed, Bath and Beyond when we were there looking for our mattress topper (which was our big Christmas gift to ourselves,) which will fit perfectly in the little hallway space next to the kitchen, for less than the one we were looking at on Target.com. Plus we have a 20% off coupon, so that will be the next big furniture purchase. And then we can put up pictures and artwork, and it will be like we actually live somewhere, and aren't just vagabonds. Terribly exciting!

-C

i want you on my team

So, I realized that it's hard to measure out real food when you don't have the correct tools.

I'm sure I busted my calorie intake yesterday for dinner, but we also spent an hour afterward moving the rest of our stuff from our old apartment. We're officially moved out. Nate keeps talking about "moving back" to the other apartment when they're done fixing the windows, but I am really against that proposition. I hate moving. And it's already going to feel like too soon to move if we decide to find a new building at the end of our lease at the current one.

Today is going well, so far. I had a toaster strudel for breakfast. They're only 180 calories (with the icing,) and we bought a bunch of boxes at Target last weekend because they were on super-sale (four boxes/ie: 16 strudels for $6.) I know they aren't terribly healthy, but I'm so bad about eating breakfast that I figure eating something to get my metabolism started in the morning (besides my coffee) is better than nothing at all. My morning routine is entirely too hurried for cooking of any sort, and the breakfast "burritos" I see are either not very appetizing looking, horribly full of salt or tiny and expensive. I supposed I could make them the night before, but re-heated eggs are never very appetizing.

I actually measured the sugar/creamer for my coffe this morning. It's a little more bitter than I'm used to so far, but I'm planning on weaning my tastesbuds off the ice cream taste by the end of the week, so I have to start somewhere. Totally drinkable, though more bitter when paired with delicious toaster strudel.

Mostly everyone is out of the office this week at a show in Atlanta, so it's been quiet. With Payroll in and the MS Report basically done, there's not too much to do. So, I plan what to eat. Dinner tonight will be chicken breast, probably with Garlic Butter (read: Margarine) Brussel Sprouts with Cooked Onions. But I'm out of Light Ranch, so I'll have to find something else to marinade the chicken in. I need to go back to buying Catalina dressing, it's soooo tasty. Noms.

Anywho, veggie, meat and either pasta, rice or potato. It's always a great debate: I am a pasta-holic, but sometimes you need a change of pace. I love potatoes, too, but I usually don't feel like washing them off and chopping them up to either roast or mash. And I always feel like rice is going to take too long, and then act surprised when it's done the same time as everything else. It's kind of silly. I think it'll probably be a rice night, but we'll see by the time I get home, if I still feel like it.

I had all these plans for decorating the old apartment, but the new apartment layout is completely different, so some of those plans have gone out the window. Most of it was just curtains, but I'm glad we didn't buy curtains for the other apartment, because there are more windows in the new one, and they are a different size. Smaller, so we might be able to get away with one curtain on each window, instead of definitely needing two. This is mostly for the bedroom, where they will be to block out light, and less for the living room, where I'd like two sheer(er) panels on each window. But sheer costs less than big, thick and heavy, so I think this will be good.

I think it's time to be done with the coffee and move on to water. It's a wonder my lips aren't more chapped, considering I sit here drinking my caffeinated beverage with my space heater on full blast. I'm just glad I'm not on the East Coast right now, where the tempatures are frigid and everyone's heaters seem to be malfunctioning. Including my mother's.

It's nice outside for the time being. It was raining when I had to walk to work, and it will probably be raining when I have to walk home. Just my luck.