Kimkobiloba

Moo

2009-08-04T09:13:00.003-05:00

So I stumbled upon this site the other day when brainstorming and I'm super excited to have a reason to visit it again - in thinking about wedding invitation bits and pieces.

Besides the custom stuff you can have printed there these are so cute. I sorta wish I had a reason to hand out a card with a cooking motif but maybe someday, right?

MiniCards $19.99
Buy this on MOO.com

Seriously cute video

2009-07-21T15:56:00.004-05:00

Now, this is a super sweet video, kids.

Let's let out a collective "AWWWWWWW"

Speaking of Anniversaries...

2009-07-10T11:41:00.005-05:00

I saw this video for the 50th Anniversary of the Olympus Pen. It's a pretty cool video since it took so much work to produce but I wish the song was better. Maybe it's my mood but it seemed too contrived and bogus...like I wanted it to get me and make me get misty-eyed yet all I kept thinking was, "I bet they had someone write this song specifically for the already produced video and they're trying to use the words 'and down below' perfectly for every time they go underground/underwater, etc. which irritates me!"

Oh well, we can't all be perfect.

Happy Friday!

Here's a link to the video.

Happy Anniversary!

2009-07-09T09:09:00.004-05:00

Tuesday was my Mom and Dad's 47th wedding anniversary!

Look at how cute they look on their afternoon date to the Jewel Box and to Amighetti's on The Hill.

Love you!

Wedding!

2009-07-07T10:41:00.004-05:00

I've been working on things for our wedding. Everyone is getting their save the date cards now so we're now on to bigger and better planning! Invitations! Food! Decor! Outfits!

Subsequently, the blog has suffered. Honestly, wasn't the blog suffering before? Am I right, people? Heh heh.

As for now, I'll leave you but I'll keep you posted on the wedding planning more often!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-23T21:47:00.004-06:00

This December has been brutal for Chicago. In fact, Ryan saw today that it's the snowiest December since 1871. I not-so-secretly love snow but man, this is trying my patience. We wanted to leave town today but a snow storm has delayed us. Thankfully for you, I have time to post a Merry Christmas blog.

To everyone out there in the blogosphere, I hope that you have a very Merry Christmas and that you take the time to spend a few slow moments with your family to remember in the hustle and bustle.

Here are a few photos from around town...the huddled pigeons (instead of people) under the heat lamps at the train stop, the numerous packages on snowy doorsteps today and a snowman that was so cold this week he was really just made of ice.

See you all soon!

XO,
Kim

Grade school woes

2008-12-22T20:12:00.003-06:00

So, I don't often think about grade school. I mean, I guess I do sometimes when I'm at my parents' house but that's about it. A few days ago I was suddenly contacted by a former classmate of mine who had been trying to find me on the internet. My class is having a 20 year reunion this summer and he was trying to find everyone for the list.

At first I felt kind of happy about it like, "Oh, won't that be nice. Everyone will have fun stories and it'll just be great" but now I'm starting to realize that I didn't really like grade school all that much. In fact, now that I'm on this email list and I'm getting a constant barrage of emails from people yucking it up, re-living the good times, talking about recent times they've all hung out together...I'm just realizing that all the memories...and all the insecurities are flooding back in for me. Was I a total bully in grade school? Was I funny? Did people think I was better looking than I thought I was? Do people have good memories of me? I have no idea and, frankly, I'm a little scared to hear.

I'm not 10 years old anymore but man, it's it interesting how those feelings are still so strong?

I know I don't talk all that deep on my blog mostly because I'm not usually a blabber about personal stuff to the world but something about it just made me want to write it down. It's just interesting how I just realized how much that whole period of my life affected me...good and bad...but how that formed such a huge part of who I am. People are still affected by what their parents did, their classmates, their teachers. We're all shaped by our experiences in our lifetime and we just can't shake that.

I can only hope that my role in the life of my step sons, nieces and nephews will be one that they will look back on fondly and, hopefully, helps shape them into happy people.

Cat Cookie

2008-12-18T19:30:00.004-06:00

Several weeks ago at the DIY Trunk Show we got Ralphie a catnip-filled cat toy in the shape of a fortune cookie made by my pals Mary Ellen and Tyler of MELTY (they don't seem to have a website that I can find). Ralph loved it so much that within a few hours it already looked like this photo and by 48 hours it was nearly obliterated.

I managed to snap a photo before he disassembled it.

Just saw Obama!

2008-12-18T10:26:00.004-06:00

I went downstairs to get a coffee at Hobin's (also known as Au Bon Pain) when Sarah and I noticed the calm on the street outside and a man stopped still just looking up the street. Since Sarah has seen Obama 4 times now her perceptive Obama-dar (a new form of radar) was alerting us to head outside immediately. We noticed all of Michigan Ave stopped dead and people were all stopping on the street waiting with eager frozen faces. And then he came on our little one way street so close to us...so exciting...in his SUV and on the phone with all the other SUVs behind him . I waved my little hand and did a little jig. Too bad I didn't have my camera!

Update on Janet!

2008-12-16T09:14:00.004-06:00

Hey everybody! I got an email from Janet this morning letting me know they were going to induce her at 6am this morning since little baby Dorothy seems like she could be 9 1/2 pounds in there! Apparently she's not live-blogging this whole thing! Jeesh! (juuuust kidding)

Big secret project!

2008-12-16T09:00:00.001-06:00

I'm sorry I keep spacing out and not blogging! Don't you just hate it? You check in here like everyday, every other day, every HOUR and I got nuthin! Arg!

I've been busy! I just finished up a big project for Christmas and I'm hopefully going to finally give my full effort to another Christmas present for my niece and then I really wanted to make my yummy minty chocolate balls (what did I call them last year? mint oreo truffles?).

So, anyways, I'm saying I'm sorry. I really do have a lot of photos I keep needing to show you. I'll try to get some up tonight!

XOXO,
Kim
P.S. This photo isn't mine. I think someone forwarded it to me a few years ago but I love it and just had to post it!

End of the train

2008-12-02T23:23:00.004-06:00

After a very long commute to work this morning with unexplained train stoppings and delays, I wound up being the only person on the last train car between the last stop and mine. I sheepishly looked around the train a few times and realized it was true, then grabbed my camera and headed toward the back window in the door. I didn't have much time but I snapped a few photos of the snow-covered rails as evidence of our first real snow of the season.

Goodbye

2008-12-01T20:36:00.004-06:00

Unfortunately, I feel like I've had to say a lot of goodbyes on my blog since starting it but this one...it took me over a month to write.

Goodbye Grandma.

From my earliest memories I thought you were the bee's knees. I savored every ounce of food you made from your famous cream puffs to your orange chiffon cake. I snickered at your declaration that you hated chicken and fish. I laughed just hearing you burst into a cackle. I liked hearing you fall asleep in my bed when you came to visit while I slept on the trundle. I clung to you on Halloween when the house in our neighborhood was too scary (and while you did more of that aforementioned cackling). I proudly announced you were my Grandma while the other kids at the Halloween party were screaming when "Dracula's Daughter" entered the room. I secretly cheered when you said "crap" in front of my mother and she scowled.

I love how joyful you were - how everyone in the room was happier that you were in it.

You were the matriarch.
You were Grandma and I would not be who I am today without your wonderful influence.

I love you.

Unsinkable

2008-10-09T09:51:00.004-05:00

I can't even begin to tell you how emotional the last three weeks have been for me. Moving was bad enough but then the call about Grandma was overwhelming.

The best news to report is that Grandma is amazingly doing much better!! I can't even explain it myself. She was near death last Monday but we all prayed she'd make it until Tuesday when I got in to see her. Tuesday morning when my mom arrived the doctor said, "I think we have a little miracle here." Grandma was sitting up, jabbering about fish frys and spaghetti and winking at us again. Wednesday through Friday was another slow decline which led us to a hard realization - we had to honor her living will that said no feeding tubes even though she was unable to swallow herself. We moved her out to the nursing home my cousin works in with the idea that it would be hospice care. Even in those moments Friday when this healer came in to pray over her, my Grandma, who hadn't spoken much all day or made much sense, told my mom to sit down and relax.

Saturday morning we arrived heavy-hearted but soon saw my Grandma perk up, make jokes, more winking, I love yous and the planning of her 90th birthday party on October 17th.

When I left on Sunday I was completely unsure of what was going to happen but since then she's been eating ice cream and now being wheeled out into the dining room to hang out! Every day is another miracle with her and I'm just so thankful that I had the time to spend with her for that week while she was in the hospital. I hope that our love, adoration and making her laugh (as well as her making us laugh too!) helped inspire her to make it through this rough patch and on to more fun times ahead.

Thank you all so much for praying for her. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm totally in love with my Grandma and credit her for passing down some of the best genes I have! I'm in awe of her strength and her love.

Here's a photo I snapped of her on Sunday before I left. She had just gotten that little Dracula (her favorite man) from her friend and she was delighted! She'd kill me though if she saw this - she doesn't have her teeth in!

Grandma

2008-10-04T07:46:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone,

Sorry I've been absent. I moved last weekend and then flew out Tuesday to be in St. Louis all week at my Grandmother's side. Things are not looking good for her right now. Please keep my lovely Bernice in your prayers.

Love,
Kim

We're moving!

2008-09-14T23:01:00.003-05:00

Yes, yes, I know, moving makes it seem like we can't cut it in the neighborhood without the Morans but...well...we can't cut it in the neighborhood without the Morans. Oh I'm just kidding. Honestly, we've been thinking about moving anyway and, upon looking around for a while, we found a place exactly in the neighborhood we want! So, in two weeks we'll be hauling all of our junk over to a place in Lincoln Square. I'm excited to be able to walk to many of the places we love. I'll also be headed back on the CTA and using my ipod again!

Photo courtesy of future landlord.

Cute alert!

2008-09-12T16:53:00.004-05:00

Ok, this cheered me up today in the midst of being way too busy at work!
Read this from the bottom up. I can't even explain how much I wanted to hold that little furry cutiepie! Check out this blog:
Buster's Journey

Felines

2008-09-09T08:11:00.005-05:00

This past weekend we shopped around for cats! We had it in our mind that we wanted a kitten...so cute...so silly...so tiny! Anyway, within seconds of our visit to the Evanston animal shelter, the ladies were shaking their heads, smacking their gums, and telling us a kitten is just not a good idea to pal around with a bored and depressed 10 year old male cat. I don't know if I agree...Ralph is pretty darn playful and seems like he'd adore something to just take care of but hey, I'm not professional cat psychologist so I don't know.

Anyway, we left there and headed over to Felines, Inc. near our house. They have about 140 cats in that place all just hanging around in a cageless building. It was an amazing experience. The staff was so cool and so nice - the just let us walk around and just hang out which was great. We got to just sit and chill, pet the cats, check them out, let them schmooze us. After we left I realized I had fallen in love with about 3 cats in just 30 minutes! That's way better than trying to see which cat you think is cute while in it's cage! WHA?

We didn't get a cat that day...I think we're just sitting on the idea a bit...working on some more pressing issues (which I will fill you in on shortly), but I think we've decided we're in love with that place and would love to get Ralph a new buddy from them. I'll keep you posted!

P.S. The first and third photo are of the cat they named Toto because he was left on an animal shelter's doorstep in a basket. He was aaaadorable but maybe a little snippy toward some other cats. He swiped at one guy while we were there but man, he even let me pick him up and snuggle him! The second cat (oh, I can't remember his name) followed Ryan around the whole time, rolling around and looking cute until we'd go to pet him and he'd want to bite. The big black and white guy was Moki and he was so calm, so sweet and cool. I just wanted to scoop them all up and take them with me! When I got home I was instantly on Petfinder.com looking up their cats like it was their personals ad.

A little bit of randomness

2008-09-09T08:07:00.004-05:00

Here are some photos that I took a little bit ago when accompanying Ryan on a journey to his band's practice space. I thought the area was the perfect Chicago hidden nook...I wanted to take photos of everything. Between the rapidly setting sun and the battery dying in my camera, I didn't get a lot of photos but I got a few!

Andrew Bird show

2008-09-07T09:05:00.003-05:00

Wednesday evening Ryan and I met up downtown at the Pritzker Pavillion in Millennium Park to see my favorite - Andrew Bird.

He was spectacular. Like a proud mom I watched my local boy rocking out one minute and silencing the crowd the next with his violin, his wildly waving pointing finger and his shoeless pedal-pushing feet.

It was a perfect evening.

More to come

2008-09-04T08:14:00.003-05:00

There will be more photos than this but this was the first one I really took a look at today and I kind of liked it. Last night we saw Andrew Bird down in the park and it was splendid.

Mini Doughnuts

2008-08-24T20:21:00.001-05:00

Mmmm...doughnuts...

I bought a mini donut pan a couple of weeks ago to bake (=healthy) some doughnuts. In scouring the internet, I kept reading that the recipe that came with the pan was horrific but that the pan was pretty fun. I found a vegan recipe and somewhat de-veganed it for my own purposes and created some pretty tasty and cute doughnuts this morning!

Here's the recipe:

Baked Mini Donuts

Dry ingredients:
1c all purpose flour
1/2 c sugar
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1/4 t ground nutmeg (yes, i really did grate a nutmeg this morning!)
1/8 t cinnamon

Wet ingredients:
1/2 c vanilla soymilk (i kept this part in)
1/2 t cider vinegar
1/2 t vanilla
1 egg
4 T butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In large bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients and set aside.

In a sauce pan, add in soymilk, vinegar, vanilla and butter. Set the heat to low and let it warm up slowly. When the butter is about 1/2 melted, add in the egg and stir wildly to combine. You don't want this liquid to be so hot that it cooks that egg and scrambles it so be sure everything is a nice baby's bottle temperature at the most.

When the butter is fully melted and the egg incorporated, add it into the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.

Spray mini donut pan with baking spray and, using a small spoon or pastry bag, load in batter to about 1/2 - 2/3 full. Bake for about 15 minutes or until browned. I suppose you could cook them longer if you want them super brown but they might get tougher on you. Transfer to a cooling rack.

When slightly warm you can roll them in sugar, cinnamon sugar or wait until they are cooled and dip them in a glaze or chocolate! I used all four methods and I'd say we liked the milk glaze the least. My favorite was the milk chocolate glaze with nuts (not pictured...whoops). For the chocolate glaze I mixed lightly melted milk chocolate Ghirardelli chips with milk until the desired consistency. Dip in the chocolate then dunk in the nuts. Yummmmmmms.

Yield: 24 mini doughnuts

Miss you guys

2008-08-24T11:01:00.003-05:00

So our friends Janet, John and Henry moved away this past week. It's been sad to see their place from our usual perch with the binoculars and telescope (just kiddin) without them in it. We'll miss you guys, our easy walk over with food from across the street, being yelled at by Henry as I head out to work, being taunted by Janet still in her pjs and preventing the police from needlessly ticketing John's truck. It's going to be pretty boring around here without you.

Happy Birthday Declan & Henry!

2008-08-11T23:06:00.000-05:00

Declan and Henry's birthdays are 10 days apart so they have the pleasure of celebrating them together...but like 100 times at everyone's houses over that 10 day span. We did our first celebration of their birthdays at our house the other day. I thought this series of photos was pretty funny.

Don't mention the store bought cake. Thank you. It's been so hot in our apartment that it's really not good to crank up the oven. Ryan said they wouldn't care one bit. Of course, when I put the cake down, Declan's first words were, "Did you make it?" I said, "No." He went, "AW." in a disappointing decrescendo. I did write "Happy Birthday" on it, added dinosaur sprinkles and white icing flourishes to the edges. Whichever, it kind of made me feel better in a way that he noticed...and likes my baking so much. :)

I love the rainy night

2008-08-10T09:29:00.008-05:00

Growing up in Missouri, we had tornado sirens going off at least once a school year. We'd all practice running into the hallway, tucking up in a ball and waiting until the teacher said we could finally get back to our desks. I always liked the fire drills better since those you could at least go outside and talk to your friends. The tornado drill just made you intimately familiar with the dust bunnies down the corridor and the smell of pencil shavings that somehow permeated my uniform skirt.

Chicago doesn't seem to get tornadoes. Every lay person has their theory like, "the buildings are too tall, it just can get over here" or "the lake breaks up the pressure so we'll never have a tornado in the city." I don't know what the real story is (and clearly I don't care enough to look it up) but I'm usually comforted in knowing my house won't be swept up and thrown onto a witch anytime soon.

Last week we had an incredible storm here. The tornado sirens started going off and the emergency service kicked on our TV specifically giving a shout out to Rogers Park as in the path of imminent destruction. Ryan and I ran into the basement and sat on the floor hoping we wouldn't lose our electricity. Our basement neighbor was in his apartment blissfully unaware just cooking some dinner in the microwave.

When we ventured back upstairs I sat in awe of the powerful storm. The lightning was constant and gorgeous. I was hoping to catch one of those moments when the lightning stretched across our skylight but I never caught it. I did manage to catch a bolt of lightning illuminating the building across the street in a pale blue light. I thought it was beautiful.

Mr. Blue Sky

2008-08-10T09:21:00.007-05:00

I think it's fitting that on Friday, the day the Olympics started in Beijing, I was so taken with the sky on my way to work I had to snap a few photos. There's no way that my quick clicks from the inside of my car could do it justice but here we go.

It just made me wonder what it would be like to live in a city where you never see the sky like this. For all of Beijing's accomplishments and construction, they can't build a new sky in which to over their bird's nest stadium.

Michigan Trip

2008-08-03T11:18:00.006-05:00

A few weeks ago a whole group of my pals and I went up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to hang out at Brenna's family's cabins. We had an incredible time up there kicking back on Lake Superior. Here are some photos from the trip! It was so beautiful up there it was hard to decide what photos to use!

Goodbye Vashti

2008-07-30T08:24:00.004-05:00

Some of you may already know that last Friday we had to let our cat Vashti go. She was suffering from a total shut down of her kidneys.

Although it was a hard span of 24 hours, we spent as much time with her as possible camping out on the bed in the air conditioned bedroom all having lunch together, petting her constantly and trying to make peace with what was to come soon.

She was a beautiful kitty who knew, after I lost Beano, that I needed a new best buddy. She followed me around the house, even pushing open the bathroom door with a little determined grunt just to see me (sometimes this was awkward), standing on the chair behind me as I was on the computer rubbing her head on my shoulder...just all of those sweet moments that brighten your day and make things feel like they'll be OK.

She is greatly missed.

Doileez

2008-07-21T10:55:00.003-05:00

So I don't do much linking around to products and things I like. I'm not sure why...I guess I feel like there are so many blogs with so many things that are cool...where would I even start? But honestly, I might as well start somewhere. This morning I saw these super cool Doileez and I just fell in love seeing that image of the cake and two raspberries. The best part about this product - doesn't make you feel super guilty that you just bought a whole new set of dishes just because you think they're pretty! This way, you have very thin stacking Doileez that jazz up your existing plates, tables, etc. and the "I have way too much stuff and I feel bad about myself" guilt is as a minimum. :)

Aimee's new blog!

2008-07-01T13:32:00.001-05:00

Howdy -
In true Kimkobiloba fashion, I've been failing to post new things because I have a serious backlog of great photos I need to edit before I can post images of my most recent trip. This is a problem that has been noted and has been forwarded all the way to the CEO, CFO, UFO and CPD. Thank you for your patience.

In the meantime, I wanted to mention that my good pal Aimee has created a new blog called Label-Free. It's entirely about the world of "homesewn" - a world I've been daydreaming about joining in earnest very soon. I wish some of these folks lived in Chicago to help tutor me!

Ryan's Father's Day Note

2008-06-17T08:41:00.005-05:00

Ryan received this note with his Father's Day card from Declan on Sunday. Thankfully I was laughing about Henry being goofy when Ryan read point #2 out loud so I could freely keep on hysterically laughing without Declan knowing it was about his note. I'm assuming he means that Ryan is a very loving father. :)

I really, really like you

2008-06-05T08:11:00.001-05:00

Ryan and I have been seeing these signs that someone has made and posted up around our neighborhood. It's not an original idea - the "you are beautiful" guy championed this several years ago - but it still makes you stop, think about who this is, why they're doing it...

And this morning I'm using his signs that we took photos of to post for myself on my blog to give my sleeping Ryan an apology for biting his head off last night as we tried to install the air conditioners and fix the blinds in the horrible heat.

I'm sorry I was a meanie pants. :(
I still really, really like you.

New No Poop

2008-06-04T12:32:00.001-05:00

Looks like this year my downstairs neighbors got a fancy new sign for the front yard! I like!

Here comes the sun

2008-06-02T11:04:00.000-05:00

Vashti

2008-06-01T08:46:00.002-05:00

So over the last few months Vashti has decidedly changed her personality into a very sweet and loving little cat. The problem may be that I'm allowing her to be too spoiled to the point where, if I don't pick her up enough, she'll just walk around and cry. I'm trying to cut back, honestly, but who doesn't find it fun to have a cat that will just hang out and be held while you blog on the computer, while you brush your teeth, look for the right pair of socks, etc.? Am I right, people?

Anyway, I'm trying to cut the cord a bit so she's totally not in my lap while I'm writing this. Actually, I think she's eating. I'm always second fiddle to that bowl of dry food.

Cupcakes

2008-05-30T09:13:00.000-05:00

The joy of letting them decorate their own cupcakes...

OkGo

2008-05-28T15:54:00.000-05:00

okgo show

The other evening I had the pleasure of receiving some free tickets to see OKGO from my pal Neysa. It was an outdoor event for Columbia College's big art festival, Manifest but I was *special*.

We weren't supposed to have cameras so I couldn't go crazy with the photos but here is what I did manage to snap that was noteworthy.

I won't race unless I'm Chased

2008-05-27T09:11:00.004-05:00

Last Thursday I participated in the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge (race thingy). I had convinced my entire pod (for laymen that means the 4 cubicles of people that all sit together at my office) to participate. I am no runner so I determined ahead of time that this would be a purely walking endeavor.

After the 1/2 mile walk down there, standing around, listening to all the runners going for 15 minutes, we finally began to scramble up to the starting line. At about the 1/2 mile point we got right alongside the runners who were nearing the end of the run. :( 3 miles to go...

And then, at about 2.5 miles we just all got bored. I felt like jogging...which clearly means I'm losing my mind...and we all ran out of things to talk about except how bored we were. I came up with the idea of strapping a laptop around my neck next year so I could at least email or maybe even do a real-time blogging event! But we persevered and headed to the finish. At the last few moments I decided to sprint and took off like a mad woman toward the finish. I made the photographer laugh.

All in all, I think it was close to a 5 mile walking day. I was proud of my pod for participating and proud of myself for sticking to it.

Happy Memorial Day!

2008-05-25T12:23:00.003-05:00

Nothing like a giant hot dog balloon to wish you a Happy Memorial Day weekend!

Lou's Birthday

2008-05-24T10:35:00.004-05:00

Here are some images from Heidi Lou's birthday soirée earlier this month. We had a great time with tons and tons of great food from Brenna, some homemade burgers and quite a few cupcakes. I had made the pink ones which tumbled inside the carrier on the way over to the party so the little white ones were a photo substitute but heck, I still took photos of the pink messes anyway. And please note the sad clown, Brenna. She was cutting onions.

Maybe Brenna will be so kind as to send over some of our group pictures? We were posing for a photoshoot for Brenna all huddling over Heidi, and Otis (Brenna's doggie) was licking his chops each time we leaned him in...then his party hat would slip to the side and Heids and I would cry with laughter.

It was one of the funniest evenings I have had in a long long time.

Happy Birthday, Lou! Love you real much!

Me? Career Day? Huh.

2008-05-24T08:13:00.008-05:00

Earlier this month the super boss of the whole office got an email asking if he could send a photographer or at least a researcher to talk at Career Day at Rosario Castellanos Elementary School on the southwest side. The request was then filtered down until it got a yes from me (the reigning "employee of the quarter", i might add).

I arrived at the school right around lunch time and I was greeted by some kids who were told to carry all my stuff for me...pretty sweet. So my lackeys and I went off into the library where there were pans and pans of what looked like the best Mexican food I had seen in weeks (Hah! Sorry, I eat a lot of Mexican food). I fixed a small plate and headed for a seat when I immediately recognized our local NBC morning weatherman, Andy Avalos. I smiled, he smiled and said hi and then I shuffled to the table behind him because I felt silly.

After lunch (where we were even offered homemade flan but I had no room to eat a bite) I was led to my classroom. There were three sessions of kids, so three presentations I was supposed to do, each lasting 30 minutes. I had no idea what my angle was going to be. I figured, "I'm a talker, I'll come up with it on the fly."

So there I am in the middle of talking about my basic stuff like what I do, where I grew up, blah blah, and I'm thinking, "I'm supposed to advise these kids on what it's like to be a photo researcher? I'm supposed to be a model of a career path when I tend to meander through school touching on 4 different majors and being forced to finally just pick something due to a lack of time, a career largely based on meeting a hilarious guy at my Kinko's who's parents happened to own a photo researching business...this is all supposed to inspire kids?"

Huh.

And then I realized my angle...it was so clear to me. I spoke, "You know, some of you will just know what you want to do in life. Someone here might really want to be a doctor, someone here might really want to open their own restaurant, or be a basketball player. My best friend knew in college she wanted to be a photographer and that's exactly what she did. I've never been that person. As a kid I loved art, I loved music, theatre, cooking...and that's pretty much what I still love today. I've never found it easy to decide which of those things I've wanted to concentrate on. I know there will be some of you out there who will feel that way too...that you're interested in a lot of things and you're good at them. I think the best advice I can give you is that it's ok. It's ok to not know what you want to do. You don't necessarily have to choose one career that you're going to be in for the next 50 years. Keep your eyes and ears open, keep yourself learning along the way, and try to keep learning about the things you love. It's ok to figure it out as you go."

And there we had it, that was my angle, the girl who, to them, looked like she had this awesome career working with photographers in this cool company downtown but who really made a lot of detours (especially in college...sorry Mom) but still ended up doing pretty well for herself.

The funny part is I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up.

P.S.

2008-05-15T09:07:00.005-05:00

I looked for a contraband video from our show last night and couldn't find one but here's an ok video from an earlier performance. This is one of their new songs which was pretty cute. At our show Jemaine messed up the lyrics and they had to restart which was amusing...and we didn't have the sing along...and Bret's hair is shorter now...so many subtle yet important differences to note...I'll quit boring you with the details. On with the show!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aT-gyVrwYI

And, not to support the people who were blatantly taking photos at the show although we were told not to, here is someone else's photo from the show just for posterity.

Flight of the Conchords

2008-05-14T23:49:00.004-05:00

Yes, that's right, we were two of the 3,600 people lucky enough to get tickets for the Flight of the Conchords show tonight! This is all due to Ryan's smart move of getting in line at 9:30am the day the tickets went on sale. We got 4th row slightly to the left...probably 25-30 feet away from Bret and Jemaine for their brilliantly funny show at the Chicago Theatre.

They played a bunch of their stuff from the show and the album as well as four new songs. It was sad that Ryan was still pretty sick or else he would have been laughing much harder. :( Poor Mr. Ryan.

If the guards at the theatre wouldn't have been so threatening I could have tried to take more photos besides these sneaky ones!

Smile!

2008-05-10T12:00:00.002-05:00

Ok, everybody, put on your best fake smile for the camera! Lookie here! Greeaat! Thank you!

The Sublets at Lilly's

2008-05-07T08:29:00.006-05:00

Last week I saw a raucous show out at Lilly's in Lincoln Park. It was this new band called "The Sublets". The lead singer/guitarist looked amazingly like my very own fiancé. They sounded great, looked pretty cute too and had what was the best merch I've ever seen for a new band! They have a bunch of shows booked for the summer already so I'll be taking more photos...hopefully in a place that's more photogenic than this one!

Seattle

2008-04-27T23:05:00.008-05:00

Hi there!

A few weeks back I went out to Seattle to visit my good pal Nikki thanks to a frequent flyer ticket. The weekend was short but so fun to hang out with her, meet her pals and see some great scenery.

Here are some of my favorite photos from my trip!

#1 - Pike Place Market (with Nikki's beautiful flowers and a Beatles cover band)
#2 - Tulips outside of Seattle (it was a week early for the tulips but please note Nikki's mandatory cup of coffee)
#3 - Night time ventures in Seattle (and playing with very low light)
#4 - La Conner, Washington
#5 - Nikki's apartment and the Space Needle

Sabor

2008-04-23T08:02:00.004-05:00

Ryan and I have found this great little Mexican place not too far from our house. We first went there about a month ago when I was feeling the combination of wanting to eat melted cheese (does that mood hit everybody or is it just me?) and wanting to venture out more in our neighborhood.

There's this stretch of street that has at least 25 Mexican restaurants on it...all of them looking unique in their own way...all of them small businesses. So it's hard to determine which one is THE ONE you're going to try. We decided to go for the one with the bright paint job and old diner counter.

The food was great...fresh...generous portions...creative yet traditional...everything I really wanted. So last night we went back for our second visit. This time they recognized us and treated us more like regulars. I realized then that the place is owned by two people in their early thirties (and to me that's young and wonderful). They're making the horchata from scratch. They're starting the beans from a soak. He's making up citrus marinates for the pork. It was then that I felt, "This is our place!"

I don't know if everybody is like that...I guess maybe they are, take the theme song from Cheers, for example. But I loooove finding that new special place where I not only love what they're selling but I want to support them in their success as well. I do it with my hair dresser, I do it with my Mexican food, I do it with my sushi & Thai. To me, there's nothing better than seeing my money going to support someone else's dream, their passion and their hard work.

Maybe I'll think about finally signing up for the fresh vegetable boxes from the local farmers with that same idea. Maybe that will make me fall in love with brussel sprouts the way I fell in love with Sabor Michoacan's horchata.

It's a Boy!

2008-04-03T22:24:00.003-05:00

No silly, I'm not pregnant but my sister-in-law is! We just found out yesterday that she's having a boy! After three girls they are thrilled to be bringing home a boy to play with legos and Star Wars with Daddy. Of course, Daddy has trained the girls to like those things too!

Congratulations and HOOOOORRRRAAAYYY!!

Brown sugar

2008-04-01T22:57:00.000-05:00

The rest of the light brown sugar mingling with the dark brown sugar...

This chocolate chip cookie recipe was insanely good. The cookies stayed chewy and the mix of chocolate was a stroke of genius on my part. (If I do say so myself)

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 c unsifted flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 c butter, softened
3/4 c sugar
3/4 c brown sugar
2 t vanilla
2 eggs
1 c Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Chips
1 c Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 375. Stir flour with baking soda and salt; set aside. Beat butter with sugar and brown sugar at medium speed until creamy and lightened in color (about 4 minutes). Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed until incorporated.

Gradually blend dry mixture into creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for about 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.

Yield: nearly 4 dozen cookies

It occurred to me the other night that there are tips in baking cookies that I can impart to my dear readers. Here goes:

1) Cook one pan of cookies at a time for best even cooking. I know sometimes I've tried to jockey two pans in the oven but I'm constantly worried and it always seems one pan is overdone too quickly. If you can just take your time you're better off.

2) When you take the cookies from the oven, remove them quickly and place on wire baking racks. They'll cool down the quickest and have the best texture.

3) Use as many pans as possible. When I take one pan from the oven I can throw another pan in for baking. I then remove the cookies from the first pan, wipe the pan with a paper towel to remove crumbs and distribute any grease, then cool down the pan before loading it up with new drops of cookie dough. If you put the dough on a hot cookie sheet too soon, the butter will start melting from the dough and spread out along the pan, causing an ugly spreading thin cookie that will have super dark edges. Always try to get the pan to room temperature.

Signs of Spring

2008-03-31T08:15:00.001-05:00

Easter photos

2008-03-30T22:39:00.002-05:00

This Easter was so early we had snow the day before it. That was hard to stomach when I thought about the joy of a good Easter egg hunt, the flowers starting to pop out of the ground...the usual sort of thing I conjure up when I think of Easters past. It was a nice day, however, and not super cold (the snow melted off by afternoon) and we had a great time. The boys were treated to a surprise indoor Easter egg hunt from the Easter Bunny when we arrived home from Grandma's house. As you can see, Declan broke into a dance from the robin-egg candy rush and then ended up floored.

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T10:37:00.004-05:00

Hi everybody! Sorry I've been completely absent lately but I've been organizing a "green week" at my office about the environment, making peep cupcakes for our baking contest and generally working constantly without stopping. I had a quiet moment this morning to say hello so I thought I'd reassure you that I'm still here and will be posting more soon. For now I leave you with a photo of my baking contest-winning peepcakes from earlier in the week so I can get ready for Easter at the future in-law's house!

xoxoxo

Knit bathtub

2008-03-14T08:23:00.003-05:00

I've been trying to catch up on old Martha Stewart episodes here and there when I have a free moment so last night I started to watch a pretty old one on knitwear. Now, I don't knit, although I wish I knew how, so sometimes the complicated or overly crafted stuff just leaves me kinda clueless while the knitters all drool or talk about technical stuff.

So at the beginning Martha is chatting about the knitters in the audience and they get to this girl who's showing her knit snake eating a knit mouse, her insanely adorable knit garden with knit carrots stuck in it and a knit bunny and then this disgustingly cute knit bathtub with all these faces on the bubbles. Martha was clearly in love with those because she fawned over it more than she really would if she was faking it.

Anywho, as I was drifting to sleep on the couch while it was on I was thinking, "Remember to look up Anna and the knit bathtub...remember...re...zzzz..." So this morning I did just that. I don't think I've really done a whole lot of linking to other sites about things I like so today is a small insight into my fuzzy mind.

Here we go! She runs a blog and shop named mochimochiland and her stuff is beyond cute. Maybe someday I'll hire that knitting tutor so I can do it myself! Check out that snail vs. slug deathmatch! Check out the bathtub! I just died a little when I saw the stackable cats!

Cooking with Henry

2008-03-06T21:13:00.011-06:00

Henry likes to cook with me. Unless he's in the middle of some huge Star Wars battle or Superman earth-saving scenario, he'll ask me if he can help with whatever I'm cooking. Sure, it can add into the mess sometimes but honestly they are some of my favorite moments.

Here we are making cupcakes. I taught him how to run the back of the spoon along the edge of the bowl so the batter wasn't just running off all over the place. I watched him carefully and gently scrape the spoon against the side nearly every time (a few times he forgot) and he'd dump that spoonful into a cupcake liner. At one point he started talking and it was clear he wasn't talking to me. At first I thought he was walking himself through the process but then I realized he was giving advice that I hadn't given him, "Now, spread it out a little bit" as he pushed the spoon back and forth in the liner to even out the batter. I think he was talking to his future television audience when he starts his novelty cooking show with him, the lead guitarist of a famous rock band.

When the cupcakes were nestled in warm the oven he scampered off to change into a Superman shirt so he could be "Superboy" and save me from whichever evil guy was after me this time.

Superboy, Superkid and Superfiancé each got sugar hearts on their cupcakes and a whole lot of love.

Lunch

2008-03-04T11:03:00.000-06:00

Before heading out of town, we got a quick lunch with the adorable Aimee. It seemed like no time had passed since she moved to Philly.

Violet

2008-03-04T11:02:00.000-06:00

Last week I headed out to The Violet Hour to see Aimee who was only in town for something like 20 hours. The place is unmarked from the street but upon opening the door and passing through two sets of heavy curtains you open up to a very calm, candle lit set of rooms that are host to swanky drinks and good vibes. You can't spend too much time here (even though you really want to) because of the prices but it's definitely worth a visit.

And, of course, it was worth visiting with Aimee & Neysa.

Banana Pancakes

2008-03-03T08:22:00.002-06:00

Mmmm...banana pancakes...

One trick I'd have to tell you is this:

Don't just throw some banana in that batter. I'd slice the banana and put in the pan first - then dump batter over it. See, I did that but then I had extra banana in the batter which didn't set up by the time I went to flip the pancakes which caused the banana slices to FLY OUT and create tiny little banana pancakes (which actually wound up being pretty adorable on their own) but also left big holes in the original pancake. I fixed my error in the next batch and still had some tasty goodness on a plate.

The pancakes with my new coffee from my coffee press (thanks to Mom) were fantastic!

Wii my age

2008-03-03T08:18:00.005-06:00

Friday morning I decided to take the Wii fitness test. I took it in November and they determined I was 54 years old. Now, that's right after we hooked the thing up so cut me a little slack at how well I could swing the "bat" for home runs and such. Anywho, I took it again and look! I'm my age! In looking back on it this morning I thought, "Hmmm...did/should that upset me to see that big THREE THREE on the screen?" My fiesty reply in this internal dialogue, "MMM...NAH!"

So, maybe that means this year...at 33...(slight sigh)...I'm feeling pretty much ok with the age thing.

Karaoke

2008-03-02T22:29:00.003-06:00

Last weekend I encouraged a bunch of folks to venture down to American Legion, Franklin D. Roosevelt Post 923 to check out the location and the karaoke night. After chatting with Sgt. Rodriguez, I learned that the post didn't admit any vets after WWII until the 1990s, when the many posts around Chicago started to close because their numbers were dwindling. Now he is mostly in charge of the post with only a pretty small number of guys left from WWII. To raise money they have a karaoke night once a month run the infamous Rory Lake.

I didn't have the nerve to sing but Ryan got up and sang a stirring rendition of the bizarre "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show" by Neil Diamond. We had a great time.

Brasserie Jo

2008-03-02T21:57:00.000-06:00

I haven't been to Brasserie Jo in years - probably since the incident where Fry, Wong and I went in a group with Theo paying which wound up being an evening where I actually saw Wong feel sick from eating so much (that boy could put away platefuls of food without blinking so this was a huge feat to see him suffering).

After winning two Lettuce Entertain You gift cards in the last few months, I thought it might be a great idea to go for my birthday. Ryan happily agreed.

Dinner was fantastic. I made sure we ordered dessert, he had the profiteroles and I ordered the chocolate mousse. We were so stuffed that mine went into a doggy bag for the next night and we tried to make a dent in his dessert.

We gave it two enthusiastic thumbs up.

Morning Miracles

2008-02-24T19:03:00.004-06:00

I'm not really sure what happened this week but I suddenly got the urge to quickly sew things in the morning before I left for work. Yes, I know, I don't understand it either, but each time I felt, "Hey, you know, I bet I could sew (insert item here) really quickly before I leave."

This also produced one of what I am now calling a "morning miracle". A morning miracle is one of those times where you're trying to get ready for work and you realize all or most of the following things are true: a) you need to do some serious laundry and most of your stuff is in that pile b) you've "outgrown" a good percentage of the clothes in your closet c) you can't dress like a total schlub at work but most of what you own is pretty schlubby d) you do own some new pants but you've not gotten around to hemming them because you've been avoiding the sewing machine after a few years of forcing yourself to sew too often. So, on Thursday morning I found that all of those options were true and I was feeling some stress. I suddenly got the urge to hem a pair of brown corduroy pants I've had for a while that I haven't worn. Then I searched around for something to wear with it...digging through the drawers...and I found a brown frilly shirt...and then a green cardigan...and suddenly I had a morning miracle - an outfit that somehow looked really nice for work and came together as though an angel was over me helping me through the morning panic. Ahhh...I love when that happens.

Dinner with Heids and Brenna

2008-02-24T18:41:00.004-06:00

Last Wednesday I had the pleasure of dinner out with two of my favorite pals - Heidi and Brenna. I suddenly decided that Ethiopian was the exotic choice for the middle of a dreary winter and we wound up at Ethiopian Diamond near my house. The food was fun and tasty and the coffee was even tastier. I had a great birthday dinner out with my friends. :)

My Birthday Weekend

2008-02-24T09:35:00.004-06:00

My parents came up last weekend to celebrate my birthday with us and the boys. We had a great time eating at Fat Willy's, Kitsch n', going to the Field Museum, playing Wii together and just having fun. We had a great time!

Thinking of Colleen

2008-02-19T07:46:00.008-06:00

This weekend my parents told me some very sad news. Colleen Z., a friend of mine from grade school, had passed away recently. I met Colleen when she transferred to our school in 5th grade. She had the most enviable hair on the planet - this thick, red, curly mane that was so cool to a thin, brown, straight haired girl. We had slumber parties, were in youth group together and even stood around in the freezing cold parking lot at recess together. Colleen was honestly one of the nicest people I had ever met in a school where a good majority of my class was pretty mean and cliquish. Colleen always made me laugh, she thought of others before herself and had a great heart.

In that 5th grade class Colleen also met Mary who was also in youth group. They became great friends and kept in touch after Colleen's family moved away. After college Colleen moved back and became roommates and, eventually, were married a few years ago. They actually were great friends of my college pal Mark...such a small world. When they came up to Chicago a few years back we all met up for dinner and they were so much like I remembered them to be: dry sense of humor, great laugh, still so involved in the church and active in fun things like square dancing.

I'm very sad that we've lost a warm and wonderful Colleen. To Mary, Mark and all of their friends and families I send my thoughts.

She will be greatly missed.

Attached are two scans from my "Young Years Diary" in grade school. One is our 5th grade class photo. (Yes, my hair is horrific but it was my stylist's idea.) The other was one of the sections from the book where I filled out Colleen as one of my favorite people.

Happy Birthday to ME!

2008-02-18T15:41:00.001-06:00

So, it's the first anniversary of the blog and, more importantly, my birthday. Here's to new beauty and new growth in the coming year.

She's a real talent

2008-02-14T11:51:00.002-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day from her to you!

Sledding

2008-02-11T23:39:00.000-06:00

Here we are sledding this weekend. We had a blast! I can't wait to go back again soon!

MMMMMac N' Cheese

2008-02-11T08:25:00.002-06:00

Sunday's frigid temperatures inspired me to make an warming favorite, mac n' cheese. I've sort of made up some recipes now and then and made a version with my sister-in-law once but yesterday I tried my hand at the Alton Brown recipe I found. I did have to make some changes, of course. 1) No onion. I figure I'll try the onion step sometime on my own, maybe, but I thought the kids would be seriously less inclined to eat it if they saw I really messed with their favorite that much. 2) My dry mustard was pretty old and smelled a little sketchy so I threw in a bit of dijon mustard. I think it was a better choice. 3) I didn't use as much cheese on the topping as he did purely because I spaced out and forgot. 4) I altered up the topping by using only one slice of bread for crumbs and added in crushed Cheez-its into the mix. I thought that was pretty delicious and so did the kids. It's thicker than what Henry's used to from the box but once he understood that different can be good too he ate the whole brick! Add a glass of sweet tea into the mix and you've made me cozier than a bug in a rug.

The photo is from the re-heated sections we had again for dinner!

Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 6 to 8 servings

1/2 pound elbow macaroni
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon powdered mustard
3 cups milk
1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 large egg
12 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh black pepper
Topping:
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup panko bread crumbs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.
While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.
Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.
Melt the butter in a saute pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.
Remember to save leftovers for fried Macaroni and Cheese.

And all that snow

2008-02-04T15:28:00.002-06:00

Here's what my street has looked like for several days now.

We're supposed to have more of it tomorrow!! WHY? WHY? WHY?

My head in Play Doh

2008-02-04T15:23:00.001-06:00

This weekend Declan surprised me with a homage to my head made from Play Doh. :)

Ok, I'm not 11 but...

2008-02-04T12:16:00.000-06:00

I can't help but totally adore this new They Might Be Giants kid's video for "One Dozen Monkeys"!!!! They've been doing Friday podcasts for kids so that's what the talking John and John puppets are rapping about in the beginning.

Click Here

And furthermore...

2008-01-31T23:41:00.002-06:00

I know it seems like I only take pictures of food now. That's because I do only take pictures of food now. Well, it's because I don't have a camera so I borrow Ryan's to snap a photo or two...which is usually at dinner...and that's about it! Soon I'll take more photos of other things before you start thinking it's a food blog!

The photo is actually random here but it's of the flowers my mom sent to me a few weeks ago. I thought it jazzed things up a little.

Things eaten with the sauce

2008-01-31T23:31:00.000-06:00

So, remember how I made that tasty sauce the other day? It was because I was craving crab rangoon in the worst way. I'm not sure why recovering from stomach flu inspired that of all things but I went with it.

In my mind I was going to make these crab rangoon with tofu and reduced fat cream cheese and see what happened but then I failed to think about the state of the tofu in my fridge - which wasn't good - so they wound up being just low fat cream cheesy. Regardless, they were pretty fun to make and tasty too. Next time I'll bump up the flavors a lot more as well as put in some tofu!

Anywho, they were great with the ginger sauce. And that over there was some pad thai we made that night as well. Ryan and I were great in the kitchen that night - working our tails off for a fun dinner.

The last photo is of dinner tonight. Ryan made it all by his lonesome while I was sitting in snow traffic and pondering life's complexities. He used the ginger sauce as a marinate on the chicken kebabs, made a cilantro-lime brown rice (with his signature presentation style in the dome) and a salad with apples, carrot, green pepper, peanuts with a white wine vinaigrette. It was scrumptious!

All in all, the ginger sauce was a huge hit and I couldn't help but imagine what else I could use it on like poured over a cake, marinating salmon, used as a salad dressing...it's a perfect little sauce if you like ginger.

I think it's cool

2008-01-28T22:57:00.001-06:00

I have really no good way to loop these thoughts together tonight except they're all things that I thought to myself, "Holy smokes, that's so cool!"

1) I am in love with my new cutting tools! Friday my friend Amy gave me a present out of the blue. It's a double-bladed mezzaluna. If you're not a total foodie geek like I am you might not know what it is but see it there on the left. It's a curved set of two blades with handles on either end so you can rock it back and forth and cut things. It's so great for herbs and other stuff you just want to rough chop. Tonight it was glorious for finely chopping up ginger after I had cut it into tiny strips with my new Martha Stewart knife my mom gave me for Christmas! Good knives make Kim a happy cook.

2) I went to the store tonight and was checking out the sweet & sour sauces. I wanted to see if there was any upscale sauce with that kind of idea...something fresh...something new...not red and sticky. I couldn't really find anything exactly but I did see a fancy almost $5 bottle of this Tangy Ginger Sauce by Chinablue. I read the ingredients: Cider vinegar, Sugar, Ginger, Soy sauce. I thought, "Hmmm...I bet I could make that." So tonight I decided to use my noggin to plug around the internet and I found the recipe written by the founder of Chinablue himself! It was so insanely easy I made it in a few minutes. Joy!

3) When I went to take a picture tonight of my sauce and the mezzaluna I couldn't find Ryan's camera anywhere! I called him at band practice only to find out he brought it with him. :( Then I remembered my new and beautiful crazy green phone that has a much better camera than my last 80-year old phone. The best part? I took the photo and then Bluetoothed it to my computer! AH! I know this is dorky but I'm new to the Bluetooth scene. I'm just totally in awe of how completely cool it is. No emailing it! No burning disks! Fantastic!

Here's the recipe for that sauce, by the way:

Tangy Ginger Sauce
from Richard Wong's Modern Asian Flavors

Ingredients:
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
7 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/4 cup very finely minced peeled fresh ginger
Makes about 1 cup

Heat the vinegar, sugar, and soy sauce together in a small pan just until the sugar has melted. Pour the mixture into a bowl, add the ginger, stir well, and refrigerate until cold. The sauce will keep, tightly covered, for several days in the refrigerator.

Notes from the chef:
This is a variation on our family's dipping sauce for steamed, fresh crab Its clean, tart-and-sweet flavor enhances the crab's sweet meatiness. It is one of the first sauces I created for my company, chinablue. Tangy Ginger Sauce is great as a dressing the greens or fruit salads, to pour over vegetables, or to marinate salmon, or as a sauce for steamed, grilled, or baked fish. The sauce gives flavor to simple stir-fry dishes when added for the last few minutes of cooking. The flavor is a great inspiration for desserts as well. The recipe may he doubled.

Cheddar Bay

2008-01-27T10:58:00.000-06:00

I've had quite a week of sickness. On Monday I came down with the stomach flu and by Wednesday I had a cold on top of it. I'm surprised I was able to maintain some sense of friendliness since I was feeling pretty cranky most of the week from eating plain rice and toast. How Ryan has put up with me all week I don't really know. He's a saint.

So last night after a fit of whininess where I laid across his dresser and dangled my feet, whimpering about how hungry I was, I took a pathetic nap to ignore the issue. My rice tolerance was intolerant. My ability to be happy with applesauce was exhausted. Clearly I was losing it because I don't nap - ever. My mom knows very well that I can't nap (God bless her). But when I got up I decided all I wanted to eat was drop biscuits. I figured I could probably keep those down. Ryan and I hunted around and found a recipe for the Cheddar Bay Biscuits from Red Lobster. Honestly, they're the best thing on the menu...especially if you're eating at the one in Lincolnwood.

I'm proud to announce that not only was I able to eat said biscuits but I was able to eat some cornflake-crusted chicken and two, hear me, two tablespoons of corn without dying. I'm still blushing with pride.

Cheddar Bay Biscuits:

2 c Bisquick(R) baking mix
2/3 c milk
1/2 c shredded mild cheddar cheese
1/4 c butter, melted
1/4 t garlic powder
parsley flakes (if you have them and I didn't)

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Combine Bisquick(R), milk and cheddar and stir with a wooden spoon for about 30 seconds.
3. Spoon onto lightly greased cookie sheet.
4. Bake for 8-10 minutes.
5. Combine butter and garlic powder and pour over hot biscuits; sprinkle with parsley.

Made 6 big drop biscuits.

I found that the middle rack didn't really want to brown the tops of the biscuits very well so I moved them up to the top rack after a while. You know your oven best (or at least you should) so do what seems right but I'd say probably do 1/2 - 2/3 the time in the middle and then the rest of the time on the top rack.

Butterscotch and Coconut

2008-01-22T20:20:00.000-06:00

When I'm thinking about making cookies it's usually along the lines of chocolate, maybe with cherries, oatmeal with milk chocolate chips...I don't know...lately I've been in the flashy chocolate kind of mood so maybe that's why it was so surprising that I decided to make a batch of Butterscotch Coconut Drops.

I made the recipe a few years ago at Christmas and found them to be so insanely good that I flagged it. You'll be amazed at people's reactions. Everyone who tried them seemed to flip out. One girl even proclaimed it was her new favorite cookie. It seems like a ho-hum innocent cookie until you eat it and then, next thing you know, you're an addict and you're pulling up your couch cushions looking for change for another bag of coconut.

Here's the recipe:

Butterscotch Coconut Drops

3/4 c sugar
3/4 c firmly packed brown sugar
1 c butter, softened
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
2 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
2 c flaked coconut
1 c butterscotch chips

Heat oven to 375. In large mixer bowl combine sugar, brown sugar and butter. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy (1 to 2 minutes). Add eggs and vanilla; continue beating until well mixed (1 to 2 minutes). Reduce speed to low; add flour, baking soda and salt. Continue beating, scraping bowl often, until well mixed (1 to 2 minutes). By hand, stir in coconut and butterscotch chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto cookie sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Let stand 1 minute: remove room cookie sheets. Makes about 3 1/2 dozen cookies. From Lake O' Lakes Recipe Collection.

I love how they kept saying (1 to 2 minutes) in nearly every sentence. By the last time I thought they were just starting to mess with me!

Regifting

2008-01-20T22:49:00.000-06:00

Within the last year I started seriously recycling. Now, I had gone through phases of recycling but had lost a lot of faith in the lame Chicago "Blue Bag Program" which was a heap of bull. The idea is that you'd put your recyclables into blue bags and throw them in with the regular garbage and they'd be fished out later by sorters. Now, that's after being crushed and dumped and whatever else...so most of the times the bags tear open and wouldn't be fished out - even IF they really have someone there to sort them. But anyway, the point was that Ryan and I figured out that our recycling center is less than a mile away (embarrassment ensued from this finding) and I started rinsing out everything I could and piling it up in bins.

So right before Christmas I pulled out stuff from last year which included a bunch of Christmas cards that I had saved and I realized I was on a gift tag gold mine! I started cutting up my card from Cathie last year (which wound up being the majority of the gift tags I used this Christmas!), a mailer from the Gap, a post card from DEPART-ment, and next thing you know I'm addicted. Tonight I went through the cards I received right around Christmas and started cutting them up for future gift tag use. Maybe you'll recognize your Christmas card in the pile or even your thank you note! I'm happy to have added them into my gift wrapping repertoire.

A major award

2008-01-20T20:39:00.000-06:00

At the company party on Friday I was voted "Office Comedian" by my peers and won a $50 gift certificate to a Lettuce Entertain You restaurant. Hooorrrraaaayyy!! I was stunned and literally speechless although the boss was pressing me to tell a joke. I'm not a joke teller! I'm a situational humorist!

If you're wondering how I could possibly be funny based on my sometimes humorless blog posts I'd say, "I'm a professional. I choose to keep my humor at work and my blog all business."

On a side note, I also lost my camera that night. I think it might have never made it out of the cab. :(

This is making me use my scanner more which is kind of fun. Just wait until I start the self portraits!

Resolution #2

2008-01-18T09:48:00.000-06:00

So, let's be honest, I looked pretty bad at the end of 2007. I think a combination of sickness, lack of motivation, general malaise and a particular feeling of hatred for all of my clothes led me down a path of looking a little rough every day. I don't think I wore makeup more than 5 times in all of December, I tried to plan my days around which hoodie I felt like wearing and was even lackluster about shoes! Heavens!

This inspired my other New Year's Resolution:

Let's go head and try to look better.

So each morning before work I think, "Ooooh gaaaaaawwwwww...I just want to wear my pink robe to work. I hate my clothes!" I have to move through that feeling and find something that looks ok - and not a hoodie with a t-shirt underneath! Then I move onto the makeup portion of the morning. Subsequently, my mornings are taking FOREVER right now because I'm digging around in my closet for thirty minutes, then digging around in drawers for another 15, then standing at the mirror again for another 10 groaning...you see how this goes. Next thing I know it's late thirty and I have to run!

But I will admit that it's nice to sit here and know that I am projecting myself at work as "not a schlub" if not looking pretty cute.

Delayed Reaction from the Gang

2008-01-17T17:20:00.000-06:00

Since Janet and John had to born right around the holidays, they tend to get a little less attention than they should for their birthdays. This year I really tried to not forget...and I didn't...but I still feel bad that the gifts usually come late and I'm not there making them do karaoke and eat lots of cake.

So this year our pal Joyce sent out the word that we were having a delayed birthday get together for our favorite friends Janet & John. Since my birthday was so deliciously memorable at Piece last year, they chose to eat pizza for their birthdays too.

Here's the gang last night celebrating our favorite couple.

With much love,
Kim

Leftover

2008-01-16T08:29:00.000-06:00

I'm not huge on New Year's resolutions. I find that I either set the bar too high that I give up or I come up with something just whack to begin with so the next thing you know you're feeling that pang of, "Well, I already am so far behind in this...maybe I should just quietly abandon ship when everybody forgets." Plus, everyone else is hoping you don't remember they mentioned they were going to run 5 miles a day too.

One thing I am going to try to be better about is not buying food at work. Now, hear me plainly, I didn't say "I'm never going to buy food at work" (because now that I say that I really want to buy a bagel or something this morning!) but I'm saying that I'm going to really try NOT to. It's just like losing weight...a daily struggle where you have to pull back into your rational mind and say, "My goal is this - now do I really want that?"

NO! Of course not. (mostly)

Salmon

2008-01-14T08:18:00.000-06:00

So this weekend I decided it was time to cook some things that would be uber healthy for us, get in as many fruits and vegetables as possible as well as challenge myself by making some new things. Of course this meant a Saturday afternoon going to the big fruit market I love but then that also meant I had to go to Whole Paycheck to get some specific items. Alas, I spent way too much money there but seriously, I'm not going to go buy fish at Dominick's either.

The first thing on the list for the weekend was to tackle making salmon. I cheated a little by buying the sides at the above mentioned expensive grocery store but come on now, ginger sweet potatoes? Cranberry couscous? Sounded great to me so I caved! Anywho, the salmon recipe I found was in the Oct. 2007 Cooking Light magazine. It was super easy, tasted superb and looked great too. I halved the recipe (since I was only making two pieces of fish) and made one addition to it at the end*.

Bourbon Glazed Salmon

3 T brown sugar
3 T bourbon
2 T low-sodium soy sauce
1 T grated peeled fresh ginger
1 T fresh lime juice
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 t ground pepper
4 (6 oz) skinless salmon fillets
Cooking spray
1/4 c thinly sliced green onions
1 T sesame seeds, toasted
*1 c orange juice (my addition)

1) Combine first 7 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add fish to bag; seal. Marinate in refrigerator 1 1/2 hours, turning occasionally.
2) Heat a large nonstick skilled over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add fish and marinade to pan; cook fish 4 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness. Place 1 filled on each side of 4 plates; drizzle each serving with about 2 teaspoons of sauce. Sprinkle each serving with 1 T green onions and 3/4 teaspoon sesame seeds. Yield: 4 servings.

So when I made it the sauce got really thick in the pan...maybe because I halved the recipe and there was less liquid to deal with. I then made the executive decision to add in 1/2 c (above I wrote 1 cup if you're using the full recipe for four people) of orange juice in the pan to deglaze. After scraping around in the pan to get all the stuck-on bits I let the sauce simmer down until it had reduced and then poured it over the fish. I think that my addition made this dish even better than it would have been. The orange juice added a brightness that I really liked.

Engaged!

2008-01-08T10:30:00.001-06:00

Hi Everybody!

So...

Ryan proposed last night!

I came home over an hour late from work to find that he had made Cincinnati chili for us. The table was all set and looking pretty with a candle and homemade place mats. I sat down to do the "word find" he made for me and something just made me think, "He's going to put the words "WILL YOU MARRY ME" in it! I know it!" But no, those words weren't in there. I still felt that funny feeling...

So I got down to the goofy trivia question and had to turn the page around to read the answer when I saw at the bottom on the other side, upside down, were the words, "Hey Kim, will you marry me?"

Ryan was off in the kitchen getting some sweet tea for me and I sat there tearing up - stunned. I scampered off down the hall and just waited for him to meet me so he could see my teary eyes and goofy smile.

His chili was the best version he's made so far and the sweet tea was great! That proposal was even more memorable.

Biscuits

2008-01-08T10:23:00.000-06:00

On Sunday Ryan started craving biscuits. He pulled the can out with that gleam in his eye and I gave in and made them.

As I popped open the can of Grands buttermilk biscuits I caught that whiff that I remember well from childhood and I said, "Mmmmmmmmm...potential donuts..." I slipped into a dreamlike state thinking about fried biscuit donuts rolled around in sugar or, better yet, cinnamon sugar.

Ryan said, "That's what Kim brings to the table -- a fresh, new, innovative
perspective. Most people see a can of biscuits and think 'biscuits.'
Kim looks at the same can of biscuits and thinks 'potential donuts.'"

Sounds like a good sales pitch!

Camera stinks

2008-01-08T10:20:00.001-06:00

Hi everybody!
I just wanted to apologize for my camera. See, I have one of the oldest cameras on the planet which I've loved until recently when I started thinking about seeing other cameras. It started a long delay thing when taking photos with a flash, it started that funky striped swirly strangeness that would go off and on and now it's got a blue haze down the left side of the photo and along the top as well as the stripes through the photo. This hasn't left me very inspired to take photos when I know they're going to look horrible.

So, please excuse my photos I'm about to post because they aren't as great-looking as I'd like them to be but that's the breaks. Momma needs a new camera.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-23T21:23:00.000-06:00

Howdy -

Yeah, I know I've been absent but, you know, blah blah, yada yada yada...I've been absent. So be it.

Anywho, I'm getting ready to leave town, getting recipes together, maybe packing some clothes at some point...but I thought I'd give you a new classic Christmas song for your Holiday pleasure.

So go ahead and gather your loved one(s), snuggle up on the couch, turn up that Christmas tree (and if you have the ability to speed up the flashing on that bad boy crank it way way up!) and put this tune on. It takes me way back to college.

ENJOY

Merry Christmas.
(and enjoy my award-winning ugly Christmas sweater I fashioned myself with cinnamon-scented gingerbread men appliques)

I'll talk to ya'll real soon.

Love,
Kim

I miss you already

2007-12-01T19:45:00.001-06:00

Today we had to put my cat to sleep. I know it was the right thing to do...her lungs weren't even functioning at 1/3 of the levels they should, she had what was probably cancer in there and so on...but it was probably the hardest decision I've ever made in my life.

I'm a total mess about it. Anyone who knows me knows I loved my cat more than most of my past boyfriends. She was there through every serious relationship in my life. She's lived in every apartment I've had since I moved out of the dorms. She's politely waited for me to feed her by just standing quietly, patiently waiting. She used to rub my cheek with her paw when I was falling asleep. Just yesterday morning she was rolling around on the floor while I blow dried her on the bathroom floor.

She loved McDonald's fries for a total of three licks and one bite. She had a strange affection for biscuits and bread products...just like her momma.

All in all she was my little furry shadow by my side for 12 years and I loved every ounce of her.

I miss you, Weenie. You were the cutest baby on the planet. I love you.

Here's the last photo I think I got of her from November 18th.

Martha

2007-11-18T23:45:00.001-06:00

Even though I was starting to get sick again I had what was easily a highlight of my entire life last Saturday. I had heard a rumor from an employee at Macy's that Martha Stewart herself was coming to our downtown Macy's store to light our tree. After reading up on the Macy's website I saw nothing and blew it off. But a nagging feeling kept coming back that I should double check and yes, after reading around the web, it was confirmed she was coming as well as signing ornaments for lucky folks.

I set a plan into action with Sarah at work. Not only were we going there but we were meeting her no matter how congested I was.

So we arrived at Macy's that morning to a line stretching around the first floor of hopeful women (and a few men) to see if they too could purchase an ornament to have Martha sign. We were sweating it...the line was huge...women were panicking and asking the Macy's employees to just give a hint on if we were going to make it...we finally heard that they were not letting 300 people in to meet her but that Martha was signing 300 ornaments. I knew a bunch of these ladies would be purchasing several of these special oranaments! AHHH! The lady behind us started to freak us out with things like, "If I don't make it in I'm still going to run up to her no matter what! Maybe I'll make it on TV!" Sarah and I stood there helpless in line between soccer moms and psychos just hoping we'd be lucky enough to get to grab an ornament and get our wristbands.

We were so lucky. We got ornaments, we smiled, we giggled and we shuffled up to the 9th floor to check out the random workshops.

Upon arriving, we were greeted with fresh bags containing a free Living magazine, a small box of Frango's, another Martha ornament, a special Macy's shopping bag, free water and snacks. Fantastic! There were different areas on gift wrapping, gift ideas, cookies, etc. We hurried up to a table to decorate cookies. (see the first few photos where we're just happy to be there and basking in glow of Martha-ness) And then there was a commotion...it all went so fast...I don't know if someone announced her or what but like a shot I had grabbed my camera and was off to another part of the room to take photos of Martha Stewart herself welcoming us all there and saying hello. I snapped some photos - my camera was acting up - and then I started to head back to the table when I realized she was walking my way. I parked myself by a post and there we went...right in front of me (see that close-up...I didn't zoom! She was that close!) She asked Sarah how her decorating was going and Sarah said "good" or something...I can't even remember...I was trying to get a photo of Martha talking to Sarah but I was way too close to get them in the same photo (see the photo after Martha Stewart had passed Sarah and Sarah is clearly still reeling from it!) I then sat back down to see Martha talk about cookies, take some photos, then walk back by us to tell us to have fun. And then I realized my face was beet red, I was sweating, my heart was racing and I was giggling like mad. (See the photos of us totally freaking out after seeing Martha up-close).

I then realized that I acted exactly like my mom's description of when she saw the Pope. I remember she said she just instantly grabbed her camera and went running down some chairs or something to get photos. Sarah and I laughed even harder after that revelation.

So after the big tree lighting we finally got to meet Martha one-on-one. I was overwelmed and unable to think of anything interesting to say (and didn't want to mess it up like previous run-ins with celebs) so I mostly smiled, had the ornament signed and left. I didn't seem to realize my hair was all inside my coat (that's why I look like I got my hair chopped off or something) but she didn't seem to mind. She even personalized my ornament "To Kim - Martha Stewart". Sarah just got a signature. :)

On a sad note, Martha was in Chicago during a pretty tough time. Her mother had a stroke just the Thursday before she came and this past Friday she passed away. She was just on the show the other week too looking great.
See Martha's blog here.

Brightens my day...

2007-11-14T00:35:00.000-06:00

...she always does.

Halloween Party

2007-11-14T00:32:00.000-06:00

Dear Mr. Moran,

Here are the photos from the kids' Halloween party we threw at our house a couple of weeks ago. I'm sorry for the big delay but I appreciate your continued enthusiasm and committment to my blog and my photos.

Kind regards,
Kim

Halloween Chipotle

2007-11-13T23:54:00.000-06:00

So every year Chipotle gives out free burritos if you dress up like a burrito, burrito bowl or taco at Halloween. This year I was inspired by the burrito bowl and made this hats for us from the foil lids to old burrito bowls we had at the house. I was proud of my lettuce, tomato, black bean and corn streaming down our faces and the Chipotle folks rewarded us with the fattest burritos we've ever had. We ate ourselves silly.

Halloween House

2007-11-13T23:51:00.000-06:00

Here's my house decorated for Halloween this year. I loved every ghost, bat, cat, spider and rat in the place!

Lost my mojo?

2007-10-19T10:47:00.000-05:00

So, I think I had lost my blogging mojo. You know how it goes, right? Just not feelin' it? But then you compound the problem with the fact that I was getting really behind in editing the photos...that all starts piling on and you feel this sense of, "Man, to even blog about today I need to go back and do three days ago! I'll try to find time tomorrow...maybe." Clearly, that time didn't come.

So I beg your pardon for my seemingly random disappearance. I can't really explain it and I feel sort of sad because I really did have some nice photos in there. I think I'll take this weekend to think about how I want to attack Kimkobiloba when I get back on Chicago soil again.

But for now I bid you a fond farewell for the weekend. I'm off to UpperRespFest2007 (please give all credit for this title to Ryan because it's hilarious). It's a gal's weekend and two of us are sick (me included in that count) but it should be nice to get away anyway.

Adieu!

bbq

2007-09-02T23:48:00.000-05:00

Today was a little BBQ at Lou's house. I realized, upon reviewing my photos, that I took most of the photos of the day with HER new camera and not mine. That's poopy. Here's a really small mix of photos. :(

Fantastic Aprons

2007-09-01T23:41:00.000-05:00

So one day I'm at my corner market and I see this apron. Upon closer inspection I find out it's hilarious. It says "American Snacks" and lists random things like "salad toast", "chicken burgers" and mayonnaise. The fabric is supposedly cotton but it's kind of rough and unpleasant but I liked it anyway.

About a week later I had the guts to open the package of another apron on the shelf. This one says "Chinese Food" and is populated with shrimp, duck, some sort of drink you can't read because it's behind the pocket, sake - which isn't Chinese anyway and tea.

So what is this about? Are these sold in Pakistan where they are made? What's the intended market for these? Am I wearing the same apron as someone in the Philippines right now and we're both laughing at the same jokes?

Parking lot garden

2007-08-29T13:04:00.000-05:00

My car tried to break down this morning. The closest place I could think to take it to was PepBoys. As soon as I say it I shiver with disgust at their shoddy workmanship.

So as I waited for my understanding boyfriend to sweep me up and whisk me off to work, I decided to enjoy the public garden, er, plants in the parking lot of Home Depot.

Note the view of PepBoys haunting me from behind the flowers.

Ralph & Vashti

2007-08-26T23:10:00.000-05:00

Ralph and Vashti this evening as we were on our computers.

Target Mushrooms

2007-08-25T20:56:00.000-05:00

Since we had so much rain lately, there are mushrooms sprouting up everywhere. These were just the varieties I saw outside of Target today.

Over Easy

2007-08-25T14:30:00.000-05:00

I had a lovely brunch this morning with Janet and Tabitha at the Over Easy Cafe. It's always nice to have a little girl time. :)

It's shiny! Wha happen?

2007-08-24T23:59:00.000-05:00

WHO CLEANED THIS CTA CAR??

I nearly fell over when I walked into this CTA car tonight. The floor was shiny! The seats had been cleaned or recovered or heavily de-funked. I couldn't stop taking photos. I felt like I was in another country...a country who's trains are cleaned more than once every few years.

So I sat there smiling, taking some photos, chatting to a few other passengers about how great it was...

and then the train sat for 20 minutes on the tracks just past Monroe and a crazy guy came in and started yelling at the top of his lungs about politics and I had to move to another car.

You can't expect miracles with the CTA.