"The Hottest Women of Food Network"

Hey, Gals! I have no time whatsoever to post right now (we're moving this week, and I think I'm losing my mind), but being the Food Network fan that I am, and considering the running dialogue (which I'm sure a lot of other people are having) I have with my husband about Food Network personalities, I just had to post a link to this article entitled "The Hottest Women of Food Network." Make sure you read both pages; I thought it was hilarious. :D

I just can't wait for the unveiling of the next Food Network Star! I secretly hope that it's Amy, although I don't think it will be if enough heterosexual men vote; I think Rory's boobs will win.

On a different note, has anyone seen the Lens Crafters commercial with those beautiful white lace up pumps? I think (judging by the style and the red soles) that they are Christian Louboutin, but the only ones that I can find right now are a pair that are silver and brown (Go here to see what I'm talking about). Anyway, I do not always have a shoe fetish, but those are the sexiest damn shoes, and if I had just one ounce less of self control, those shoes would be on their way to my house right now. (Yes, my passion makes me care nothing for run-on sentences.) Sometimes I am such a whore for fashion that I embarass myself.

Well, anyway, take care, friends, and send your best thoughts and prayers our way as we hit the road. We'll soon be closer to some you, and that makes me happy. :)

new home!

Well, as many of you have heard, we're moving! G got a job elsewhere, and we're getting the hell out of this dinky little town. Hallelujah! (I'm not giving any details here because there are so many damn creepy people slinking around the Internet.) So anyway, I won't post pictures of the exterior, but here are some pictures of the interior of our (soon-to-be) apartment. Keep in mind that these are pictures with someone else's decor and paint choices. Also, it's really hard to tell what's going on in a lot of the pictures I took because the place was so messy, so I'm just posting pictures of the first floor, since it was the most tidy part of the house (and my favorite part, too, because it contains my three favorite rooms).

Here we have the stairwell to the second floor. I really like the landing. The person who rents the apartment now has a little table with a vase of flowers on the landing and a mirror on the wall that you see as you're walking down the stairs. So, I guess you can adjust your hat or your lipstick before you walk out the door. See?

Looking down the stairs.

Here's hubs (on the left) in the living room. I really like the size of this room and the large window to the right (You can't really see it here, though). I'm also excited about the hardwood floors throughout the house.

Here is our cute little dining room. We've never had a seperate dining room before, so I'm really happy about this. Since we only have a small kitchen table, I think I'll probably put the table against the wall under the window and put my desk and a hutch for our dishes in here.

Ah, the kitchen! And a very cute kitchen if I do say so! I love the window over the sink; that will make washing dishes so much more pleasant. I'm also quite pleased with the appliances. The dishwasher and stove look relatively new, and the stove is gas-- not electric. I have pined for a gas stove for so long!

Not a lot of counter space, as you can see. That will be a bit of a pain, but I'll make do. I'll probably end up using the kitchen table a lot. I'm spoiled by the large amount of counter space my current kitchen has. The other option would be to put a slim waist-high table in here in place of the baker's rack that the present tenant has. I'm planning to put food in the cabinets, so I won't do the baker's rack. I could be vexed by these dilemmas, but I'm really just so excited about arranging the place. Overall, we're going to have so much more space.

The opening to the left here leads to a half bath (on the right) and the stairs to the basement (on the left).

Well, I'd like to post more pictures, but I'm tired and have to fold laundry. Why does Blogger take so long to upload photos when all of the other photo uploader things I use on the Internet are so fast?

Anyway, I have a lot of ideas for this place already, but let me know if you have any cheap, non-time-consuming ideas for improving space or aesthetics. (I'm going to be working full-time, so they really must be simple.) Cheerio, everyone, and come visit, my friends!

Ottawa

Glen and I went to Ottawa, Ontario, at the beginning of May for a conference on Northrop Frye. (You might remember my mentioning this in an earlier post.) G gave a paper, and I just enjoyed listening to the papers and exploring Ottawa. Ottawa was absolutely gorgeous, and I think it is my favorite Canadian city so far (I haven't visited very many). G and I spent most of our time with our friends Jeffery and Christina, and we had a really good time.

G, Christina, and Jeffery in front of the Parliament buildings

Entering the Parliament buildings

Me with a statue of my namesake

G with his second Elizabeth

In front of Queen Victoria's monument

G and Jeffery at a French restaurant called L'ange (A picture of the restaurant is above this one).

Christina and Jeffery at a pub. I love these pictures.

Christina and Jeffery at D'arcy MacGee's

G and I on a bridge over the Ottawa River

The Ottawa River

Jeffery and Christina walking to the university

Above: G and Jeffery, Christina and I at the University of Ottawa

Christina, Jeffery, and G in front of a church. I like this one because they are in order of height. LOL.

abigail renée

I just realized I talked about my friend Hannah's new baby, but I never posted a picture. This is Abigail Renée, born March 17, 2007. What luck!! :)

torte

The first time I made this torte, it was for a house blessing, so I made a powdered sugar house on it. This time, I made the torte for a bachelorette party/shower, so I tried to make hearts, but I made too many. I have learned that one must keep the design simple with powdered sugar. Anyway, I promised to post this recipe from Green and Black's organic chocolate, so here it is.

Ingredients:

3 Green and Blacks bars: I usually use the "Maya Gold" for all three, but you could do two dark and one Maya Gold or one Dark and two Maya Gold. It just depends upon how strongly you want to taste the orange and spice.

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/4 sticks butter

5 large eggs, beaten lightly

1 T ground almonds or 1/4 t. almond extract

Pinch of sea salt

Confectioners sugar or gold dust (if you are a rich cook. LOL)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8 to 9 inch spring form pan and dust with flour, knocking out excess. Melt the chocolate in a bowl in the microwave for one minute. Stir until fully dissolved. Melt the butter and sugar in a saucepan, whisking until smooth. Whisk the eggs, almond, and salt until well combined, and then quickly pour in the melted chocolate and the butter and sugar mixture. Fold in the chocolate, butter, and sugar until they are completely incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared spring form pan, and bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 35 to 45 minutes (depending on your oven). Let cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar or gold dust, and then remove rim.

For the perfect dessert, serve this with homemade whipped cream. Chill the beaters to your hand mixer and a big mixing bowl in the refrigerator. Then pour half a carton of whipping cream into a bowl, and beat the cream into stiff peaks. Do this right before eating, or the whipping cream will "melt." Serve a dollup of whipped cream with each slice of torte.

Bachelorette Party!

These are some pictures from a bachelorette party that we gave our friend Beth P. this past weekend (Don't worry, Beth; I didn't put up any of the pictures of the stripper giving you a lap dance. ;) ). Beth is a long-time friend who is getting married in June. Congratulations, Beth!!!

This is Beth and Sally, whom I had a great time getting to know.

I did end up making the Green and Black's torte AND the chocolate cookies with Craisins. I think that they both turned out really well. However, I also think that I left the beaters to my hand mixer at Allison's apartment. Crap.

Well, while I'm here, I might as well say something. Things are going pretty well in our household. I'm working all the time, so the house is always an absolute wreck. But at least we're happy! :) I think we might hire a cleaning lady/man. I'm just nervous about it because G's last cleaning lady stole his SSN, and that was a big mess. And the only time that I can be at home to monitor the cleaning person is on Saturday. However, it just dawned on me that I might ask Elizabeth, who cleans at the school on my hall. Perhaps she does house cleaning, too.

In a couple of weeks, G and I are going to Ottawa. I'm going to be so happy to get away from my students for a few days!! It will actually be the end of the term, so the only thing that I will have left to do (for work) when I get back is give the TOEFL exam. The TOEFL is a bitch, but at least it only takes a day.

But anyway: Ottawa. G is giving a paper on Northrop Frye's theory of primary and secondary concerns. This is an area of Frye studies that really interests me, and I hope to do more reading on it. I must say, Frye intrigues me. Even though some of his writing takes an effort to plow through, reading it is like drinking great wine: shitty wine just never tastes the same afterwards.

I'm also looking forward to meeting the other "Frye guys" and seeing some [not very old but dear] friends. G's friend Jeffery will be there, and he is such a wonderful person. I think I will also get to see Alvin, who was on G's dissertation committee and whom I have only met once.

Lastly, I have never visited the great capital of Canada before, so I am very excited about exploring Ottawa a bit. We are definitely going to visit the capitol buildings, and I hope we'll discover some fun shops and pubs. I love visiting cities for the first time!

Otherwise, things here are just dandy. The cats are well and growing quickly. Ghanima is twice as adventurous as Gus ever was, and she is into everything. She especially likes to eat food off the kitchen counter and drink water out of the toilet. She and Gus like playing hide and seek in the bathtub when there's no water in it. There is cat hair everywhere.

Cheers, everyone!

tidbits

Hi, friends! I'm back for a post this weekend. I was inspired by my friend Beth's friend's Sally's (I'm an English teacher. I should be ashamed of that!) blog Through a Glass Darkly. I know I haven't shared anything in ages, but I am sick with a horrible cold this weekend. I even missed work yesterday. Therefore, there's not much else I can do than sit at the computer. Ok, I'll admit to cleaning the kitchen and doing some laundry, but I think that about killed me.

G and I have been great. Yesterday was our five month anniversary. Hard to believe, isn't it? I usually feel like we've been married forever. I mean that in a good way. I feel at times like we've always known each other.

As I said before, I'm teaching ESL to international students. I love it, but it's very stressful sometimes. And being crammed in a room with all those kiddies has made me sick (literally).

I'm almost finished with my thank-you cards from the wedding gifts. I know, I know. I'm a horrible, ungrateful bride. Whatever.

My friend Beth is getting married in May, and I'm so excited. We're going to try to give her a lingerie shower sometime in March or April. I have never given a shower (without my mom) before, and I'm excited. I'm thinking of making a chocolate torte with Green & Black's Maya Gold organic chocolate with orange and spices (don't tell Beth!). The torte is probably the best dessert I've ever made. Besides the Christmas cookies with three kinds of chocolate, marshmallow cream, and Craisins, that is. Oh, God. I'm so hungry. My students laugh at me because I talk about food so much.

My friend Hannah is pregnant with her second child, a girl. The little lady (whose name has not yet been chosen) is due March 19, two days before G's birthday. Hannah thinks they will choose the name Abigail. I can't stop looking at CrewCuts, the adorable line of children's clothing made by J. Crew. I wish I were rich so that I could buy this child loads of adorable clothes. I must confess that I sometimes dream of having a daughter only because I want to dress one. My mother said she'd get me a doll to dress. LOL.

Ok, I need a cocktail. I'll talk to you peeps later. Ta ta!