Just listen.

It's been a great week for Hebrew Friend support and Hawktastic wins! Tonight we defeated Drexel and I will be honest that I had a hard time staying focused. It was a close game with Drexel tight on the Hawks' tail until the very end. My favorite little man Carl Jones had a late start, but it was C. J. who really owned the game with some amazing defense tonight. In celebration I've decided to dedicate this post to music. Win a game, get some music.

Adele - Rumour Has It

Adele, I love you and Lord knows Yonni loves you too. Obsessed with her sophomore album, 21, It's hard to believe that someone as young as she has experienced so many emotions and can sing so poignantly about them. Rumour Has It is the latest track that I have become obsessed with. 

Foster the People - Don't Stop

Everyone knows about Foster the People's Pumped Up Kicks and if you've seen the latest Nissan car commercials then you've heard Don't Stop as well. Everything about this song, the energy, the rhythm, and the lyrics are incredible. 

Fun - We Are Young

Fun's We Are Young featuring Janelle Monae has been blowing up the airwaves in Philadelphia and whenever it comes on the radio I roll down my windows and belt it out even at 8:30am, stares from strangers be damned! I can not wait to see this band live and I am eagerly awaiting their arrival in Philadelphia. 

Peter, Bjorn, and John - Second Chance

Everyone loves Peter, Bjorn, and John and everyone loves 2 Broke Girls. What do these two awesome thing shave in common? Second Chance. The band's song has become the theme song of CBS's new show and I think I heard it on the radio for a beer commercial. I love it, even more than I love Young Folks and I love that song a lot. 

Jimkata - When the Day Comes

If you haven't heard of Jimkata you haven't been listening close enough. It's okay though, I wasn't listening that well either until an acquaintance of mine introduced me to them a few months ago. I later found out that my friend Ryan went to high school with them and I have since been hooked. I listen to them in the car, on my ipod, and when I'm writing (they're playing right now). I get to see them in December at Kung Fu Necktie in Philadelphia and I've heard twitterings that they'll be in Vermont sometime in February (definitely worth the eight hour drive). I told Lance about them and now I need to give him some of their music to pass onto Charlie so that he'll book them at the Matterhorn in Stowe, VT. What's better than beer, sushi, and Jimkata?

P.S. you can download two of their albums at www.jimkata.com

You need something witty? That's too bad.

I think to date this is the longest I have gone without posting. Of course at the rate that I get distracted by not so shiny objects it probably won't be the longest I will go either. It's been a busy past few weeks with not registering, catching up with the school work that got left in the dust, and of course work: work study and Buca included. To fill in those brief gaps of time in between one thing and the next I've been able to fit in a pint of beer, and hour of sleep, and repeat the process. I've been putting off writing and reading any blog posts because I've been so depressed and uninspired with my life, but really I should have been writing all along. Regularly posts would have made me examine my life's recent event and given me a chance to reflect on them instead of bottling them up and hiding under the two down comforters I keep on my bed in my lonely, lonely apartment.

So to get back on track here is what I've been doing to keep my mind off things:

I recently snowed a few weeks ago. I forgot to through this up a few posts back, but better late than never. I ended up spending the evening with my Hebrew Friend drinking gin and watching movies. I also got to break out my new winter boots from L.L. Bean (they have since been put back in the closet) which were super warm and soft. Best birthday gift this year. 

I made acorn squash for the first time in my apartment. I was a little lost since I've started eating squash in recent years. I put a lump of butter and some maple syrup in the middle and let the whole thing bake for about an hour. I wasn't planning on squash but Ellie got stuck in the city and I had to go rescue her and on the way home I saw the squash and got inspired. The other day I saw a squash recipe on Mr. Kate with rosemary that I want to try out next. 

The men's home opener was Monday and it wasn't even a real home opener, just a scrimmage. We won! I know shocking. It was a great time though, I played my saxophone for the first time in a year; I was impressed with the fact that I could still play it without any major problems. Go me!

As a part of being in the band we get free food. I'm not a huge fan of hotdog (who is really?) but for some reason I really wanted one. I got luck too, someone on the track team must not have been paying attention when they wrapped the yum yums because I got a two for one deal. 

Yesterday when it was dreary and dull I decided to build myself a bear cave by putting thick blankets over the window and curling under the bed sheets. I drank a glass of white wine at 2pm and it sent me into anxiety so my Hebrew Friend had to talk off of a ledge. On the bright side the not so thick blankets made me some very nice poor man's stained glass. 

This was my version of chicken Florentine. I didn't use cheese and just used the food that I happened to have in my refridge/cabinet. What you see is crushed tomatoes and some seasoned spinach on top of some chicken with some whole wheat French bread. You can see the brown with blue flower plates underneath. Those were the original plates that my parents had back in the 80s. They've been become rare collectables after giving birth to me. 

A happy photo. Except for the fact that I have a huge forehead. Do they do forehead reduction surgery? IDK?

Ps. I remembered this week that I'm a viking and apparently related to the Wannamakers of Philadelphia? WTF bitches???

In conversations we want him to read our mind and in bed we want him to read our vagina’s mind.

Yesterday I went to the beach. It wasn't anything special because the waves were nearly dead and I was by myself, but the water was warm and I was able to finish a book and start another. It was great though because it was extremely hot out, but on the beach there was a nice breeze that kept things even and helped keep me in the sun longer. Don't worry Mom I wore my sunscreen. I also wore my polka dot one piece. I bought the bathing suit last summer when I was at the peak of my weight gain and couldn't face myself in a two piece but didn't want to look like I was eleven or my mom in my lap suit. I like the suit because it has a cutout in the back and it can be worn strapless or with a halter-type strap. It's already a bit loose, but I can still get away with it for the rest of the summer. It's my last one in it though because I don't intend to ever get that fat again unless there is a baby in my belly. I just don't think that this suit will still be in style in ten years.

No waves. Sad panda.

I've finished the Hunger Games. That's ALL I'm going to say since I already almost screamed at my friend about how I felt about the series conclusion and I can't relive that here. 

I actually put effort into making something for dinner or at least put the effort into assembling things on the same plate to make a meal since it's summer and it's too hot to actually cook anything in my apartment. It was brilliant and now I feel very full and content and will soon fall asleep from food happiness. I went to the store with the intention of picking very specific things up because I thought I was in the mood for something very specific, but once I got there I discovered that I was really in the mood for something else and brought home goat cheese, tomatoes, and pita chips. I also purchased a personal favorite from my childhood for dessert. 

Dinner for me was a full head of romaine. Actually I picked off the the tops because I don't like the soft dark green parts of the lettuce. I usually just do oil, vinegar, and cinnamon, but I wanted something different so I mixed olive oil, lemon juice, spices, and tarragon and tossed that with the lettuce. I added a tomato and some goat cheese for extra awesomeness. The tomato was slightly under-ripe, but what can you expect from anything outside of Lancaster County. The goat cheese was what really made the salad. The tangy cheese combined with the salty lemony dressing made fireworks in my mouth. 

I love goat cheese so much that I ate almost most of it with pita chips on the side of the salad. I've become more and more a fan of pita chip over potato or corn chips. They are just more filling without actually eating more of them. The Sandy's kind that I get also come in a bunch of yummy flavors. My favorite is the Naked kind with just a little salt, but I also love the cinnamon sugar kind. They are just the right amount of sweetness. 

Dessert is something most people wouldn't touch if they've ever had the real thing, but I didn't want to bake in the heat so I bought the stale cake cups that are sold next to the fruit for strawberry shortcake. I love strawberry shortcake with whipped cream. If I had been serious about the dessert I would have soaked the packaged cakes in raspberry liqueur to soften them and give the dessert added flavor. Instead I just piled the cakes with layers of strawberries and whipped cream until the little mounds could no longer stand. The heat from my apartment melted the whipped cream a little and the cream helped soften the cakes which was an unexpected bonus. I almost never eat these, in fact the last time I did was two years ago when I was living in the house, but I miss this even if the real thing is so much better. 

*The title comes from article I read over at Hello Giggles. 

I made him, I can break him.

God I watch weird television shows with weird dialogue. That's usually where I get my blog titles from. In fact absolutely nothing in the title relates to the content of my blog post, most of the time. So now you all know what's going on up above, though for the life of me I can't remember where this one comes from, probably an ABC Family show or Glenn Martin, DDS. BTWs if you like Kevin Nealon, watch Glenn Martin.

So good news: I don't have work tomorrow. I always have Wednesdays off and usually I go to the beach but I have so much to do before I go up to Vermont. On of my friends had expressed interest in going but then they changed their minds and I'm actually a little grateful that they changed their minds because I would have gone even though I didn't really want to. I'm retarded like that, I do things for my friends sometimes when I don't want to because I feel obligated to as a friend and usually I don't mind because I love my friends, but sometimes I have to think about me.

So bad news: I got into a bit of a fight with a friend tonight. It was really more of a tiff, but I didn't listen to my friend and I think I made him feel a little bit embarrassed and uncomfortable. I feel really bad about that. We were at a bar with another one of my friends and I wouldn't let go of something so he left.  My other friend totally called me out on it later, but then he got tipsy on his beer challenge and forgot about it, but I still feel bad. Sometimes I pick up on things, even things that I don't really care about or make a big deal about, and don't let them go. Even if there is absolutely no point to my argument I still feel like I have to win. I get like that with the people I feel really comfortable around, it's a weird quality about me.

So good news: I bought an amazing strapless push up bra last weekend and I am in LOVE with it. I used to hate strapless because they aren't as supportive as I like on my chest, but I got one from Victoria's Secret a few months ago and I wear it almost all of the time. Last weekend I found a similar one in black with a bit of padding to create plunge and it is perfect. It supports everything and I fill it out. It also helps that I got measured and realized I needed a bigger cup size for that collection. Sometimes I'm worried that when I get pregnant I'm going to have huge chest and will have to hire two men to carry each one around for me. I have several years to contemplate that plan though. I will say that I am in love with this new bra. I was never a fan of any sort of push up because of the false illusion that it creates, but fuck it, this bra is awesome.

I love coming home late form the bar. I get super tired, but am just awake enough to get home and get into bed and fall into a deep sleep. I love having a nice time out with friends and trying new beers with Neil from his beer challenge. I'm a little bummed with my second beer tonight because I couldn't finish it. It got to be too sticky and sweet by the end, but I did love Neil's beer with the piggies on the can. Not so much the beer, a little hoppy, but the dancing pigs on an orange can were cute and fun. 

Swallowing makes my tummy hurt.

Hebrew Friend beat me to it, but yesterday I went to the beach with some friends. I wasn't even thinking beach trip when he called me Tuesday and asked what time we should leave by. And when he said that he wanted to drive and that there were a few extra people coming I wasn't even thinking about where we would be going. I was just excited that there would be more than just myself this time. While I am all for alone time on the beach it is nice to have others around to talk to and go swimming with. I was also thinking that we would be going somewhere other than the state park since Yonni's a big fan of the southern beaches as well as the state park. I guess he's found his spot though because he asked for the park pass and knew exactly where to go down at the far end. It was a really nice selection of people who were with me too. There was my Hebrew Friend of course, but also Erin a girl I used to work with and Dev a lady that went to school with Yonni. I hadn't seen Erin at all since I left my job at the bookstore so it was nice catching up with her and I had only spoke a few words past hello with Dev when I first met her so it was excellent to get to know her as well.

Leaving Philadelphia it was extremely hot so we had the air conditioning on in the car for the ride down, but when we got out onto the beach we found it to be rather chilly and windy. The water was excellent with big waves and much warmer than it had been, but a few hours in I was huddled under two towels trying to keep as warm as possible. I swear it was going to storm, but then the sun came out and warmed us all up. Some even got a bit sunburned. It was nice to have so many people in the group because it gave us more things to do with each other. Yon brought a Frisbee as always though the wind made it hard to throw well at some points and Dev brought an excellent card game called Five Crowns. It was a bit like gin rummy and poker all mixed together but with a double deck of cards. The cards were really beautifully illustrated and reminded me of characters from an ancient Babylonian royal family or something you would have seen on one of the crusades. I even got a chance to read a little from Lolita and write in my log book. I showed the book to Yonni, but it's not finished and there isn't a whole lot about him in it. I need to start writing his stories down too so that he has a place in the archives. I want to finish the log book by the beginning of next summer so I need to be more diligant about writing in it.

After about six hours of beach time, my uncle invited us over for dinner and a chance to use a real toilet. Everyone agreed to some food before the trip home and I warned them that he likes to talk a lot. It seemed like a good time was had by all, Dev was really wonderful with my uncle, I think he liked her the best. It was a quick visit because we were all tired and wanted to get home. By the time we were back at Yonni's house I could barely keep my eyes open. I helped him clean up our beach mess as best as I could before I had to get back to my apartment and crash. It was wonderful to be tired from the sun and swimming because I soon fell soundly asleep and didn't even get a chance to read my Hebrew Friend's beach review until I woke up this morning. It has really been a wonderful summer so far. Vermont in a couple of weeks.

It seems like all Jersey people do is hump and punch each other.

So I know last post that I would have this great story about me and Cynthia! driving to Newark to pick up our Hebrew Friend from the airport, alas!, this did not happen. Hebrew Friend has decided to stay in Israel another week and spend more time with his family. Funny, because he wasn't all too excited to go in the first place, but once he got there he's been very happy. Just goes to show what getting out of the city does for you. Anyways now I'm going to pick him up next weekend and Cynthia! will be at the beach so I'm traveling alone through the dark and dangerous streets of Newark until I pick up the Hebrew Hammer. I took the day off from work so I should just capture him and bring him down to Cynthia! or drop him at the Philadelphia exit and head to the beach myself. Just kidding Yon I'll take you home, but I really may just go to the beach afterwards. And to risk sounding too much like a teenage girl, Yonni I miss you and I'm excited to see you whenever you decide to come back from the Holy Land. Marg I miss you too. Your tiny apartment and I miss you in the city. Please come back from Maryland soon!

In this heat infested city I have come to the conclusion that I am more suited for a life at the beach. I'm just not sure when or where yet. With less than a year left here I have begun to face the grim reality of having to pack up everything in my apartment and move somewhere. I'm just struggling with the "where" bit. Right now my sister has a sweet gig at a beach resort in Florida and as I am no stranger to the service industry I am seriously beginning to consider something like that for a season or two.  

Thursday was my last class! The exam was annoying and long, but now it's over and as long as I passed the course I really don't care anymore. The school is getting rid of the course in the spring and it's just a requirement for graduation that I won't need for anything else in life. Seriously it really is one of those classes that no one needs unless you're a history major. But hey! It's over and done with and I can focus on my nonfiction class and my world lit class that starts next week. Very excited for these two classes.

I am having the best weekend ever so far. I was supposed to go to Manayunk for a friend's birthday, but I ended up having to close at work and by the time I got out of there and would have gone home to shower and change everyone would have been much more drunk that they already were and I didn't want to have to spend the next two hours playing catch up. Instead I went out with some of my friends from work. We went to this play that has a late night happy hour and the best curly fries ever. We all got properly soused and then spent the last hour or two sobering up and eating curly fries and chatting. I smoked a cigarette and fully remembered why I stopped smoking. Worst tasting mouth ever. I also did tequila shots with Lauren and one of Neil's friends. I haven't had tequila since the worst Tequila Sunrise ever incident that involved a clothing free bartender and orange juice. It's now why I don't drink orange juice with alcohol. Anyways...Neil's friend was very nice and extremely cute so now I need to meet up with him again. Poor Neil, I'm systematically going through his friends this summer. But he's good with it so so am I.

I'm ending this with the video "Hello" by Martin Solveig. I love the video because it reminds me of Luke Wilson's character, Richie, from The Royal Tenenbaums. Richie is the epitome of the late '70s tennis player who has a John McEnroe-esque meltdown and leaves professional tennis to move back home. It is an excellent Wes Anderson film.

Green Portuguese Beer

I'm not Irish and I'm not at Bala right now getting schwasted with the rest of my school's student body (the ones over 21 of course). The only green I have is a shirt that I got from a charity in India that read: Keep Calm and Carry On. Today I am sitting at other work writing this because there is nothing to do in the office other than eat copious amounts of Irish food and the leprechaun cake. Now I wish I had the balls to skip Sophomore Sem and go to Bala with KatWoman but I we have our papers due today and I have a deep fear of the teacher. Love her, but terribly afraid to skip out on her.

Okay so on top of all of the Irish foodies that I've been indulging in this morning, a girl from one of the classrooms came into the office and told us that there was Portuguese food in 313. Half the office immediately went out to investigate and since I have never really had any authentic Portuguese food so I got some too. Interesting mix of meats and seafoods all of it very good but it was all a little hard to finish. So much food in the office today.

I have to work today. My days at work at numbered dun dun dunnnnn. Tonight Other Jon and I are going out and hopefully some other people are going to come too. I told him we have to see if we can get the bar to give us green beer. A little food coloring to some PBR would be fantastic. I just need to finish the day stronger than it started.

              Yummy!