Happy Birthday, JP!

For the 21 years that i have known Jason, his birthday had been on June 8th.
Despite the fact that both he and his parents insist that he was born on June 7th, i just know that it is the 8th.
 Who are you gonna believe - the woman who actually gave birth to him or Niki?
Over the weekend, his parents were in town so we went to a japanese steak house to celebrate the big 4-0.
I like to call this one Jasons in the Mist
 as he looks on wistfully at the impending fried rice.
He really likes fried rice.
I, on the other hand, really like onion volcanoes
  but, i mean, who doesn't?
Happy Birthday, man - today, yesterday and everyday.

did you forget something?

When one is walking along a busy thoroughfare in a bustling Northern Virginia suburb next to a construction site one does not expect to see random footware lying about.
  Especially when it is a holiday and there are no construction worker's feet anywhere to be seen.
Not to mention, who in the world would wear flip-flops at a construction site?
There are some mysteries that we may never solve.

supper for a thunderstorm

Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot.
 It was hot today; Summer is definitely making a bid to push Spring aside.
Around 5pm the storm clouds rolled in and thunder echoed through the house.
I was sitting in the sunroom, reading a book on my glider (did i mention how much i am enjoying not going to work?) when the first few drops started to fall.
I thought i'd roast some of the asparagus that i bought at the farmer's market yesterday for dinner and eat it in the sunroom, on my glider (really; i am seriously liking not going to work).
After calling Jason and Kate again to verify cooking instructions (i don't know what it is about 20-30 minutes depending on the thickness, at 400 degrees that refuses to stick in my brain, but i have to call them every time i roast veggies; mayhaps i should write it down somewhere...) i drizzled the spears with some olive oil and then on a whim (like everything else in my life isn't) i sprinkled on a handful of some dried tomato and garlic pesto mix that i've had forever (i think it is from a Tastefully Simple party 5 years ago).
It smelled yummy as i popped it into the oven.
 I didn't want anything heavy cause the storm was just breaking the heat so, inspired by the italianesque spices on the asparagus, i cut up some sharp provolone cheese and thin sliced pepperoni.
For a touch more protein i started to slice a hard-boiled egg, but decided at the last minute to mix up some herbed egg salad with parsley and dill.
Once all three things were on one of my beloved pink dogwood plates, i stuck it in the fridge to be chilling.
Speaking of chilling, i poured an inch of fruit juice into a glass and stuck it into the back of the freezer.
25 minutes later the asparagus was ready and i stacked it on the chilled plate and headed back out to the glider.
  mmmm...

I poured more fruit juice into the frozen glass over the juice-cicle and settled in to eat and watch the storm. 
Since there was no crusty bread (i hardly ever have bread in my house; it goes bad before i eat it) i stacked my yummies on melba toast (am i the only person who actually likes melba toast?).
The chilled plate cooled the asparagus enough that i could eat it with my fingers, without it actually becoming cold.
The only thing missing would have been some stuffed green olives, but alas i had none in the house.

The thunderstorm never really became a rain storm, but my finger-food supper was just right for rocking in the glider with a book and icy cold fruit juice as the temperature finally fell.

i continue to blame Rea

I'm pretty sure there is no graphic art of a huge chicken on a traffic box on a street corner in downtown Baltimore. I mean, why would there be? We are miles and miles from the nearest farm/hatchery/eggery/or Perdue plant. I'm pretty sure i imagined it because my cousin and I have been talking about $1 chickens on Craig's List.

Next, i'm gonna start believing rutabagas are real.

I'm pretty sure i don't want to know...

... what sort of catastrophe turns a gas pump into a twisted wreck with all of the glass and screens shattered. I just hope that whatever it was happened while the pump was off. Caution, indeed!

it's not easy being grilled cheesee

I have found heaven,
and it is filled with grilled cheese.
This is a (relatively) new restaurant in Catonsville that is right at my exit from the Beltway so i see it every night when i get home from work. I finally got a chance to try it last week and was so glad that i did.
  Grilled Cheese & Co serves variations of toasted bread with cheese. It doesn't sound like an earth-shattering idea, but it is. Imagine a row of sandwich presses, each perfectly toasting your bread from edge to edge and the smell of cheese in the air.
sigh... it's wonderful
They have a small dining room with seating for about 40-50 that was immaculately clean. The menu is written on the wall and the prices are competitive with other sit-down sandwich places. I opted to sit at one of the 2 outdoor tables with umbrellas cause it was a lovely day and though the view is not exactly picturesque i hardly noticed, since my eyes were locked on my Blue Ox combo with sweet potato fries
Behold! That would be roast beef and blue cheese grilled with horseradish sauce. They did not skimp on any of the ingredients and the side portion was large enough that i took some home with me.
With my soda it was $9.50.
Plus, the sandwich was so good that i couldn't stop thinking about it and went back to get another 3 days later. If you aren't Jason (or a vegan), give Grilled Cheese & Co a chance. You'll be so happy you did.

Catonsville Bicentennial Fine Arts Exhibition

Now that we are in June I can share more about the art exhibition in which i am showing a new piece of work. To celebrate the 200th year of the founding of Catonsville, some local artists decided to put together an exhibition of various types of art being created by people living and working in the local zip code. A call went out for submissions and i was intrigued. By no means would i consider myself a fine artist, but i saw this as a chance to try something new. In all the years that i have been painting i have only shared the two pieces hanging on my wall in my studio and the two pieces that i have given as gifts. The rest have either been buried under piles in my studio or cut up and used in other mixed media pieces. I figured it was time to hang something on a wall for other people to see. I was excited to submit the piece and then i regretted it completely and then i was so excited again that i wished that i had more time to submit another piece and then i was trepidatious. Excited, scared, excited, scared - it oscillates between the two every day. I really want people to come and see the mixed media with acrylic painting that i finished. I am terrified of having it hang next to trained and professional artists. I'm proud that i am even trying this. I'm scared no one will come. I'm scared people will come and laugh. I am all over the emotional map about this. That is where all of you come into the picture. Wouldn't you love to come see some local art and witness me being a basketcase? Mayhaps you would like to purchase some handpainted cards? Perhaps you'd like to bring your kids to do some crafty things. Did i mention refreshments? SATURDAY JUNE 12th 1:00-5:00 is the opening reception with all of the activities. SUNDAY JUNE 13th 1:00-5:00, the gallery will be open with the artists, as well. Many of the pieces will be for sale. The exhibition continues through July 16th. This will hopefully be a fun time for everyone and a character building experience for me. Please come say HI, if you can. I'll put a counter on the side of my blog to help you remember.

all keyed up

After the farmer's market i came to the library to try to get caught up on blog posts as there are 9 currently in the queue (yes, i still have Portland posts to finish...sigh). They started locking the bathrooms here a few months ago, but since i live less than 2 blocks away i haven't needed to get the key. Until now. I can't explain why, but the key holder makes me happy: It is decoupaged on both sides with nice handmade paper and beautiful stamps from around the world. The workmanship on the decoupage is excellent with hardly any seams, lumps or bubbles. I appreciate that somebody in the library took the time to make a utilitarian object so lovely.

I blame Rea

I am taking a few days off this week as we have finished school programming for the year (except one Starlab on Friday that has been a scheduling nightmare for a month) and don't start summer programming for 2 weeks. I can really use a wee respite after all of the work/financial drama of May. Today i went to the Catonsville Wednesday farmer's market for the first time. I really like farmer's markets, but this one runs during the day on Wednesday so us working folks are denied the chance. To address that issue, Catonsville has introduced a Sunday market which i plan on hitting this weekend. Anyhoo, it was a nice little market at the Bloomsbury Community Center, with a butcher, a fishmonger, an egg seller, a bakery, 2 nurseries and several produce vendors. I didn't take any pictures cause i was too focused on asparagus. I like to support local businesses, but i also like that the prices are sometimes lower from the farmer than they are from the grocery store. I got broccoli, asparagus, sugar peas, granola bars and eggs. Here is where i blame my cousin. You see, the local farm fresh brown eggs that i bought were definitely NOT cheaper than the grocery, but when i saw the table with the chicken-print tablecloth and the jaunty stuffed chicken sitting next to the cooler all i could think of was I wonder what kind of chickens they have. People, i barely knew that there were different kinds of egg-laying chickens before Rea started her egg business and now i feel compelled to ask what type of chickens laid these eggs. After a lengthy chicken discussion (where the girl selling the eggs said that their chickens are mostly mixed breeds, bred for egg size and color and i was very proud that i could name at least 4 of the gazillion breeds of chickens that Rea owns), i bought a dozen even though they were more expensive than the store; I felt like i owed it to my chicken owning cousin to buy local. So Rea, i am doing my part to sustain local eggeries (what is the word for a place that produces eggs?). Though if you were to move a bit closer than BFE Ohio i would gladly buy them from you instead.

you got sparkles in my glitter...

...no, you got glitter in my sparkles

Or so says my friend Douglas who sent a birthday box of pretty ponies ready to become glitter ponies or sparkle ponies depending on my mood (and in my color palette, too).

I'm gonna glitter everything in sight!

Thanks, baby!