My new living room

Sweet and satisfying after bitter and bad

Yesterday was an interesting day. It was a Monday, which can always be a bit rough especially since I took Friday off so I was coming off of a 3 day weekend. The bitter and bad unfortunately refers to work. Things have been...well, surprising lately to say it nicely. I suppose my expectations and reality are not quite in line with each other and my non-work life is being affected more than I had expected or hoped. So, it's tough...forging through unexpected territory, trying to find my way and figure it out without getting totally bummed out. Not to mention the stresses of dealing with people who think they are the only account in existence (not co-workers or client, but other groups involved in the events I am working on). It made for a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth upon leaving work.

And then came the sweet and satisfying part of the day. First off, I put my new ice cream machine to work and made a delicious, no, ecstasy filled creation - Pina Colada sorbet. Divine. I wanted to eat it until it was completely gone and than lick the icy cold freezer bowl (visions of "A Christmas Story" danced in my head). Following my sweet post-work treat was another enjoyable event. It was finally nice out...warm, sunny, cool breeze. Oh how glorious a sun dress feels, flowing lightly against sun flecked legs, the breeze dancing across my bare shoulders as I strolled down to Church St. I met a new friend for drinks. This new friend I was introduced to through a Bostonian friend whom insisted that we would become instant friends. The new friend just moved back to Burlington. We had met once before but this was our first official "girl date". We sat outside at Half...a thing I have been dreaming of since the last day of summer last year. Mojitos and wine. Great conversation. So much in common it's almost like we came from the same pod. It's always exciting making a new friend. And it was such a positive note to end what had been a rough day.

Summer...oh how I've been longing for thee.

This could mean trouble

I admit that I sometimes have a shopping problem. My closet is testament enough of this little affliction. Something about purchasing garments just feels so darn good! Now, I have an equal weakness for home goods and cooking items. This is why going into Williams Sonoma never results in pure browsing. Yesterday was no different. I was wandering through the mall and decided to pop in, see what little sample treat they had, check out some items and just get inspired to cook that night. Then sometime caught my eye. This shiny red instrument of awesomeness...the Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker. And then it began..the ladies of W&S must have smelled the shopper in me. They began giving me samples of different ice creams they had made that day, showed me all kinds of recipes, talked about ones they had made and so on. Over a half hour later, I walked out with this...yeah, I couldn't resist. And they even threw in a free bottle of pina colada mix to make this delectable pina colada sorbet over grilled pineapple. So, I am going to attempt my first batch tonight and I'm pretty excited! I am hoping to stick with sorbets and yogurts with the occasional gelato here and there but I am determined to not allow this purchase to add to my waist line :-).

I have a feeling this could become a big hit at dinner parties. I'm even thinking about whipping up a few different flavors and having an ice cream social in the coming weeks! Yey!!

Physics and Good Samaritans

Last night I had an experience with physics and good Samaritans. I picked up a couch some friends were giving me and Kevin and I headed over to my place to get it up the stairs. I had pre-measured the couch and stairs to insure it would fit and knew that it would on certain sides. We get to house, make it in the front door, up the first set of stairs and are feeling good at our ability to turn and rotate this bad boy. Then we reach the landing to my stairs. Why do old houses have odd turns or skinny stair wells or low door frames or doors that don't match up? It took us many many attempts at pushing the couch through and straight up to get it through the frame at the bottom of the stairs. We tried every configuration possible and were within a centimeter of getting it. Then suddenly two people show up to help. They had been next door at the Bed and Breakfast and could see us struggling through the window so decided to come offer help. After about 30 minutes of attempts we finally jammed it through the door. Home free! Or so we thought. We begin to climb the last set of stairs only to realize that the couch is on the wrong side to fit through the door. And then we get stuck going back down. It was at this point that I decided if I had a chainsaw i'd just start hacking this thing to pieces and say the hell with it. I honestly thought there may be a couch stuck in my hallway permanently. We finally start to get it back down so we can rotate it to the correct side. All of a sudden the couch makes a lurch down the stairs...Kevin and I were on the bottom and had full control but during a quick step down my arm got caught up against a protruding outlet type box...a good inch protrusion from the wall. It pretty much tore across my arm in a fit of searing pain and agony. At first it seemed like nothing had come of it minus some compression pain. And then the massive bump, bruising and cut showed up. This photo is after much icing and cleaning.

The good news? We finally spun the couch onto it's correct side and after a few hard pushes to get through one door, we were in. Two and a half hours later. Kevin is a saint and I'm sure Emma was wondering what the hell was taking so long. Those random strangers from the B&B are also saints. And the best thing is...the lady was a Gator!! She went to undergrad at Florida and was getting her Vet degree there currently. Talk about a small world, and how much that made me smile. It's true..."Through all kinds of weather we'll all stick together for F-L-O-R-I-D-A!"


Now I truly understand why furniture delivery charges and/or movers cost so much.