My Family Shenanners

I freaking love being at my parents'. My dad was still awake when I pulled into the driveway at 2:30. Leia wagged her way over to me at the door, blinking the sleep out of her eyes. Love.

I put all my shit down, dragged my dog to my room (even though she's not allowed upstairs...), updated my Facebook and Twitter, and knocked the hell out with my puppy sprawled out all over my legs. Warm :)

This morning, I woke up freaking early. First item: making some veggie stock. Actually... making a lot of veggie stock. Lots of peeling and chopping of pounds of garlic, carrots, onions, and celery. Then some pretty little herb bouquets. I think the chopping woke my parents up. Feeling Holiday-inspired, I popped in some allspice berries, cinnamon sticks, and orange zest dotted with cloves set the stock on simmer. Then it was off to Costco and SAFEWAY (not Vons) with my mommy for some last minute foodstuffs.

The rest of my day:

1. pie fillings (one apple, one pumpkin)
2. cranberry sauce
3. lunch
4. brine for the bird
5. Gears of War 2
6. cornbread for stuffing
7. cream of mushroom for green bean casserole

Tomorrow will begin with some pie crust construction and blind baking. Then some not so blind baking. After that, I believe my daddy and I are going to pick out some beers (I'm thinking some hard cider will be on the bevs shopping list as well...) Then... some hardcore kitchen business. Stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, biscuits, and the big turkeezy biznass.

It's not just me. My mom is currently braising a freaking huge pork butt/leg thing (I have no idea what the cut of meat is in English) because I have a ferocious shitload of relatives coming over tomorrow. I am a little scared. I feel like I should make flashcards for the distant relations...

Happy holidays, folks. Here's to kicking off the season with some delicious meditation on thanks to be given. I am glad for all I have been blessed with: a loving and supporting family, the most adorable little puppy I could ever hope for, amazing friends, a boyfriend, a job, a blossoming academic career, all that jazz. I should just be happy that despite the occasional kink or two, it's all good in the hood.

My Challenge!

So this goal setting thing. Right-o. Last week, I went to the gym for over an hour every day except for one (which I decided would be a rest day since I was too sore AND sick to even get out of bed for about 3 hours). But I would still call my goal to consistently work on my fitness a success.

This week, I am continuing that gym diligence dealio. But I am also adding to the equation. This week... Mikey and I are not only going to avoid eating out, I am going to cook a healthy dinner for us each night of the week for under five dollars per meal. It's not an easy one, but I think it's doable. I am allowing myself to disinclude pantry regulars (salt, pepper, olive oil, common spices, milk, broth, that kind of thing) from the totals.

Tonight's fare:

1 can diced tomatoes ($1.20)
1/2 can tomato paste ($.25)
2 cloves garlic ($.10?)
1/2 an onion ($.25?)
2 spicy italian sausages ($1.44)
1 small carrot ($.20?)
3/4 package whole wheat penne ($.97)
sprinkling of parmesan ($.50?)

Grand total: $4.91

I'm planning on cooking up the sausages sans casings, and squeezing the excess grease out of that meat. Then, to the little brown bits left in the pan, I'm going to add a little bit of olive oil, the diced half onion, my two cloves of garlic (minced), and the whole carrot (grated) with some salt and pepper. When all that gets nice and soft, in goes the tomato paste and canned, diced tomatoes. Let that all cook together while the pasta gets boiled in some salted water on another burner, add the meat in at the last few seconds, and toss the sauce with the pasta. That's the plan anyway...

Hearty and healthy homemade meat sauce with whole wheat pasta for less than a Subway footlong. ChaCHING! I think it will be good for me to have these exercises in frugality. With a good amount of portion control thrown in on my part, which is something I should also work on, the leftovers from dinner tonight could work for lunch tomorrow. Yay for saving money!

Tomorrow... garlicky mac n' cheesy broccoli.

My Pint-Sized Powerhouse

This weekend, I had the privilege of meeting Scout Bassett. She's 4'8", an amputee, and a member of the U.S. National Triathlon team. She's also hilarious and a lot of fun to hang out with.

Indran, Mike's friend from high school, met Scout at UCLA. They're close friends, so when Scout decided to do her first half marathon (13.1 miles) to benefit the Challenged Athletes Foundation on Coronado Island, Indran tagged along. When they stopped by to visit Mike, we met.

I love those girls. They are so adorable. Both are RAs at UCLA, but they had no issue drinking with us in I-House on Friday night. We went home early, but it was the funnest night we'd had in a while. AND none of us were hungover the next day. Hooray for hydration and rest!

Scout is such a positive person. She's hugely famous, having been featured in all sorts of running magazines, USA Today, and motivational speaking things, but you wouldn't know it from talking to her. She is about as nice as people get, and so outgoing, she just puts everyone around at ease.

Mike and I waited for her at the finish line of the half marathon this morning so we could all go get brunch together afterwards. She finished the whole damn thing in just under four hours... she even got stopped a few times by people asking for her autograph. I am so proud of her, and I am so glad that I got to meet her and Indran and hang out with them both.

Even though some of this weekend was very sad/frustrating for me in other aspects, I am glad to have made such inspiring and wonderful new friends :)

My Call Of Duty

Modern Warfare 2.

I absolutely LOVE that game... and I can't wait to play it with my brother over Thanksgiving. On my parents' ginormous TV. The game play is fantastic :) The only problem is I tried to do the specop missions with Mike... and it made me want to kill him. He's retarded. End of story.

On a very different note, I have gone to the gym every single weekday so far! That is the best I've done in a really long time. I'm sore all over, but it's a good feeling. I'm feeling better in general. And it's much better than lying on my ass all day when I'm sick. Oh yea. I've been sick all week. Finally starting to get my voice back, but it's still too difficult to sing.

I went back and read a lot of my old Xanga entries. I miss my Xanga. And I really like reading about my doings from around 1 year ago. It makes me feel as though I've grown so much. I truly believe that I have. I'm different now. Considerably less irate, smoke-free for four months, motivated and ambitious, and an all around happier person. It's change for the better. And I'm glad for it. It was long overdue.

It is now 3:14 am (happy pi time!), and I should be fast asleep. It's a good thing I have no school on Fridays. Now that midterms are over... maybe I'll get myself good and drunk soon :)

My Hubris

One day after my goal for the next few years is set, I feel a familiar tickle in my throat.

For all my attention to hand-washing and diet-balancing, some kind of bug has still managed to begin penetrating my defenses. I can only hope to nip this thing in the bud. I had spinach and eggs for breakfast. Spinach, of all foods. I then topped that off with honey/citrus tea, complete with rinds, pith, and all. Splurged in the Sunshine Market today on some fresh fruit, hot soup, and lots of water.

Practice had to be cut short today to save my ailing throat. I used that time to research interpretations, jotting down notes and articulation in my sheet music. My favorite thus far is that of Renee Fleming, American soprano and opera superstar with a soft spot for Lieder, more commonly known as the art song.



I really hope I get over this sickness business quickly. I've got a lot of practicing to do before I can even hope to be as good as she is.

My Goals

November has come. (Gorillaz reference). And it is beautiful. Kind of a pain in the ass because of the temperature extremes, but beautiful nonetheless.

Setting goals seem to be a good idea. It started when my vocal lesson went particularly well yesterday...

I had been having second thoughts about my major for a while. I practiced and worked so hard, yet all my progress was trivial. Minor improvements in breath control. Marginally better Italian diction. Slightly more expressive performance technique. I was pretty dissatisfied with how I sounded.

For some reason, my coach assigned me some new vocalises yesterday. When I sung them for her, something clicked. Something felt different. And I sounded different. Much MUCH better. So much better that it was exactly the kick in the pants that I needed.

After that lesson, I decided that if I am going to do this, I am going to do it right. I know I have put a lot of work into my voice... but I am going to do more. I made a small goal for the week: to perfect the emotional interpretation of my American art song. It's in English, hence much easier for me to connect with than my Italian repertoire. Next week is my lesson with an accompanist. And I am going to sing that song to my standards. Not much is expected of undergraduate vocalists at UCSD... but it is probably for the best that I am my harshest critic.

On another note, I am going to incorporate more produce into my diet. Sweet potatoes, bok choy, celery, lean meats, legumes, you name it. Not eating out for a week should cover that. That is my slightly larger goal.

But the big goal I have set for myself... preparing repertoire. I need to build up a complete set of performable music with which to audition. First for a reputable summer program in 2011. Then for conservatory.

Ready, set, BREAK!