Pre-heat to 350 for Happiness.

Damnit, "Julie&Julia" What have you done to me? You know, for someone who has steadily protested against the female constraints of the domestic sphere... I certainly have been playing that role a lot lately.

I swear, ever since seeing that movie, I have cooked more than I have in the entire time I have lived in that apartment. And all of that cooking means all of those dirty pots, pans, and dishes. But I don't even mind doing that. Today when I woke up and saw it was raining I thought to myself, "Good, I can wash the windows without them streaking." What is my problem!? But getting back to cooking...

I slowly started into it, taking each day of the week as a new challenge...

Monday I made omlettes. I know, nothing extraordinary.

Tuesday I made batches and batches of oat meal. I was convinced I could get the right ratio of milk, oats, and salt for that perfect oatmeal consistency and taste. Needless to say, I gave up on that one.

Wednesday night, I baked cupcakes. At 11:30 at night.

And Yesterday, Thursday night, I decided to make dinner. I had taken a recipe from food network off of the quick summer meals list. shell pasta and sun dried tomatoes over an Italian salad mix, with sprinkled parmesan and goat cheese to top it off.

But then I found a recipe on that fucking smitten kitchen blog for a moist, buttery blueberry cake. So I HAD to make that. Blueberries are in season around this time anyway. The cake was, needless to say, outstanding. I brought the left overs of it into work for anyone else to enjoy. Because there is no way in hell I would be able to live with myself if I polished off the whole pan on my own.

Because I could do it.

But honestly, I love to cook and bake. And I have this decent sized kitchen all to myself. Why not break it in with some gusto, and not to mention, some pretty amazing meals. I have wanted a kitchen of my own all of my life. So now I am hell bent on buying kitchen supplies. And a recipe box. I just REFUSE to keep printing out recipes, folding them in half, and sticking them into my cook book. A cook book I've never really broken in... hmmm... That must change.


So this week is, thankfully, coming to an end. I will see my parents tonight when they bring up my mosaic bistro set, and tomorrow I will go to my interview at Barnes. Still unsure as to how I feel about that though... Then tomorrow night I will help Bob with the nut-stand, go to bed, and wake up Saturday for my last day of Library work this summer. And how nice that will be. For the remainder of the weekend I'll get the apartment ready for Kristen, clean my room, bring home laundry, etc etc. And finally, I will make my way home to New Jersey for a week of nothing.



I will sleep in until I feel rested. I will lay by the pool and tan until my skin is uncomfortably warm, then dive and swim until my skin prunes and my lips purple. Then I'll repeat those steps well into the afternoon. I will read every book I've started this summer, but haven't finished. I won't wear a stitch of makeup the entire time. I will turn my BlackBerry off for days and not care. I will play board games with my family, drink wine with my parents at dinner, get yelled at for laughing too loud in the car, take Lolly for long walks...

I will do the best I can to cram my usual summer schedule into the week I will be home. I will do the best I can to reduce stress to a nothing.



What an amazing plan.