Periodically, I apply for jobs that I find posted on Craigslist (the ones that aren't insultingly underpaid and seem to be interesting). This one in particular was a part-time position with a local antique dealer as a research/administrative assistant. The pay was good and the work consisted of researching and drafting write-ups of various pieces in the collection and updating the company website from time to time. It also involved answering phones, doing invoicing, you know, the usual administrative stuff. I wasn't over the moon about the actual job, but more the prospect of earning a little income while doing something that wouldn't rot my brain from boredom.
I had a phone interview last week and the next day they asked if I would come in for an in-person interview. I agreed and thought I pretty much had it in the bag. In my experience, in-person meetings are really to make sure the person on the phone isn't a total nutjob, which I am not (at least most of the time). The interview time worked out perfectly, since it was about an hour and 15 minutes before my dentist appointment right around the corner. I woke up to a cold and rainy morning, but saw it only as an opportunity to sport that raincoat I purchased this spring. I decided to walk to the interview to get a little exercise in for the day, especially since it wasn't raining that hard. I arrived to the interview about 10 minutes early and rang the bell.
The person who interviewed me on the phone came down the stairs and opened the door. I stuck out my hand and introduced myself and he proceeded to tell me that the position had been filled. He looked really embarrassed and said that his boss had just told him minutes before I arrived -- he tried calling on my home phone number, but only about a minute before I showed up, so obviously, I wasn't home. I stared at him in shock as he apologized profusely and paused to see if I would tell him it was okay.
Well, I didn't. It wasn't okay. It was horrifying, humiliating, and insanely annoying. I leaned back on my heels, nodded, turned around and started walking. I know you're not supposed to burn bridges when job searching, so not replying to his apologies was not exactly professional; however, I was afraid that if I opened my mouth, I'd chastise him in some way, which would have been even worse.
Trying to put all of this in perspective, I remembered my trip to the Japanese Garden this past weekend with Jesse and our friend, Tex. At least I'm not this guy (who had about 15 tripods set up behind his, um, behind). I may have had my dignity crushed for an afternoon, but at least there isn't any photo documentation of the event.
I always have leftovers in the house. I blame this largely on my Mom, since she taught me how to cook in epic proportions. It was hard living on my own, because my freezer was constantly packed with 18 servings of gumbo or chicken noodle soup. Once Jesse came along, that problem became less of an issue, but his travel this week has brought up this single gal dilemma again. What to do with an entire pound of macaroni & cheese?
Long before I even dreamed of throwing an egg on it, my solution to leftovers was simple: throw it on a salad. This worked well when I was working full time, because it was a simple and healthy meal that I could make in minutes before leaving for the office. Leftover Pad Thai or Cashew Chicken? Great! Red beans and rice are surprisingly good over tender greens, as is vegetarian chili that has been slightly drained.
My stomach started to growl as I was finishing up my class reading yesterday, so I opened the refrigerator and peered inside. I don't think I've put leftovers over lettuce for over a year, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. It was as delicious as I remember. I simply tossed a giant bowl of baby lettuce with a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt & fresh pepper and then mixed in a small serving of the mac & cheese. I still have quite a bit of pasta left in the fridge, but that means two or three more tasty lunches for me! Maybe tomorrow I'll be more adventurous and add some cranberries and almonds. The possibilities are endless!
When Jesse is away, I always have a hard time motivating myself to cook a good meal. Usually, that's not a huge problem since his trips generally last for only a couple of days. However, he's on a 5-day site visit and it's hard to justify take out or grazing on hummus and pita for an entire week. Tonight I was really craving mac & cheese, but also wanted to try and get some vegetables in my diet. So, I turned to an adaptation of my favorite stove top recipe by Alton Brown.
His version is plain mac & cheese that calls for evaporated milk, but I never have that on hand and honestly, don't think it's necessary. I use a mixture of half & half and 2% milk and that works just fine. I also subbed Dijon mustard for dried, since I never have that in the spice cabinet either. I like the tang of the Dijon better anyway. The recipe is so easy that you can make it in the time you boil pasta and tastes way better than the boxed stuff. For this batch I added peas and spinach, but I've been known to incorporate grated carrots, sauteed mushrooms, sauteed garlic, onions, and even tomatoes. It's a perfect base recipe that I've adapted multiple times depending on my mood. Paired with a salad (eaten after this photo) and a refreshing grapefruit Juice Squeeze, I was a happy woman.
Brasilliant's Stove Top Mac & Cheese3/4 - 1 lb. elbow pasta (I used fusilli)2 Tbl butter2 eggs3oz half & half3oz milk1 tsp dijon mustard1 tsp. hot sauce (I like Sriracha) or more to taste10 oz sharp cheddar (I used a mixture of cheddar and Gouda this time)salt and fresh ground pepper to tasteBoil the pasta according to box directions, drain and return to pot. Toss noodles with butter. Turn heat to low. Whisk together the rest of the ingredient except for the cheese and add to noodles. Stir in cheese and continue to mix until creamy and thickened, about 4-5 minutes. Make sure that you keep the mixture moving so that you don't scramble the eggs at the bottom. Mix in any additional vegetables and enjoy!Optional Additions
- Sauteed mushrooms, tomatoes, and minced garlic
- 1/2 bag frozen peas (I throw them in the pasta water for the last 5 minutes)
- 1 bag baby spinach (sauteed and squeezed of water) -- Frozen would work well too
- 1 cup shredded carrots (toss them in the pasta water for the last 1-2 minutes to soften)
- Sauteed broccoli and minced garlic
My rule of thumb is to make sure that any veggies added aren't too watery. For the spinach, mushrooms, and tomatoes I always saute for a few minutes before mixing with the pasta. You don't want runny mac & cheese! If you think the garlic will be a little too powerful raw, stab it on the end of a fork and blanch it for about 30 seconds in the boiling pasta water, or just saute it with the rest of the veggies. Voila! Delicious bachelorette dinner.
Wow, it's been a whole week since I posted last. Despite my days of leisure (still not gainfully employed), I can still manage to not write a darn thing for seven whole days. Way to go Brasilliant! In the past seven days, very exciting things have taken place. First, someone put carved pumpkins outside of our apartment building and they haven't been smashed to pieces. I love our neighborhood and can't wait for Halloween.
Second, Jesse brought the car in to have the oil changed and asked the mechanics to look at our stuck temperature knob. I was terrified when we got a phone call about 2 hours later and Jesse started laughing on the phone. I thought maybe the repair was so insanely expensive that he was going into hysterics to deal with the pain. In reality, he was laughing because the problem was so ridiculous. Remember that digital conversion box that I installed way back in 2008? Well, somehow from moving the cord around to plug in our iPods, it had wrapped itself around the internal gears, causing the knob to get stuck. It cost $80 in labor to have them pull out our stereo unit and unwrap the cord, but it was worth every dime for the relief I felt knowing that we wouldn't have to sell all of our possessions to pay for the fix.
Third, I tagged along with Jesse for a business trip in Seattle on Thursday and Friday. Unfortunately, it poured for 48 solid hours and I didn't feel like taking any photos. I did get to hang out with Jesse's cousin and his wife in their new neighborhood -- I'd totally live in the Fremont area if we moved to Seattle -- and Jeremiah made a tasty tortilla soup that he shared with me for lunch. On the Seattle trip, I also found out that our cruise control was actually not broken. The secret-hidden-bonus cruise control button had just been turned off for 10 months. I think this confirms that I am not worthy of owning a car. (Neither is Jesse, since his knee turned the dimmer knob for the interior lights all the way down and we both thought the electrical system in the car had failed for a couple of hours while driving around town.)
Fourth, I went to look at a 2-bedroom apartment yesterday and submitted a rental application. I didn't mention it to anyone (except my Mom) until after I put in the application, for fear that I would jinx the whole thing. The apartment building is only about 4 blocks from where we live, which is perfect because, again, I love our neighborhood. We contemplated renting a house on the east side, but after looking at several places, nothing seemed quite right. It's one thing to buy a fixer-upper, it's another thing entirely to rent one. Also, I would truly miss having our grocery store, PGE Park, and favorite bars all within a 10 minute walk. Exciting things about this apartment? It's twice as big as the one we have now. It has a hallway (yes this may seem minor, but it makes me want to jump for joy). And it has a washer/dryer AND a dishwasher. We might actually get to live like real live grownups. You know, with a living room that doesn't also double as an office and guest bedroom. Perhaps this is fate's way of lessening my disappointment over the fact that we truly won't be able to afford to buy a house for another year or two.
I'm trying not to get too excited about things looking up, but I have to admit. It was a pretty good week.
Okay, fine. I exaggerate, but it is 44ยบ outside and raining. And my toes feel like icicles. It's the first morning that I didn't want to get out of bed without a winter coat, due largely to the fact that we still had the bedroom window wide open. All windows in our apartment are officially closed! And I took my coffee hot this morning instead of iced, something that rarely occurs (even in the winter).
A recent addition to our household is a giant french press. It is my new love. I have a smaller version that makes exactly 8oz., but it was intended for a pick-me-up at the office. Given that I haven't had an office in over a year, coffee is always made for two (or three or four). I had forgotten how much different coffee tastes when made with the french press -- it's creamy and delicious, kind of like hot chocolate. However, I have yet to brew anything other than Stumptown coffee since we got it, so the marginal stuff might taste just as mediocre. I'll have to run a comparison in the future.
Today calls for a healthy serving of coffee, as neither Jesse or I were as productive yesterday as we had hoped. I set out to finish reading for my class and writing a short paper, but ended up taking care of a few phone calls, messing around on the internet looking for rental houses, finding excuses to not cook dinner, and generally being lazy. However, this morning we are off to a good start. Jesse took the car in for an oil change and to have them check out our temperature knob that will not turn to heat. Given the recent cold snap, I think a defroster will be necessary very soon. (As a side note, I had a slight flush to my cheeks when I realized that out heater has been broken for nearly a year. Oops. Where did all of that time go?) I'm already getting started on my paper outline and will be cooking up a tasty pot of potato leek soup for dinner. I'm determined to have a better day than yesterday!
Yesterday's weather was gorgeous. Despite all of the sunshine, I stayed inside for a good part of the day. After reading a little in the morning for my class, I poked around on the internet to see what kind of houses were available for rent on the east side. I found a couple of addresses that seemed promising and around 3pm, convinced Jesse that he needed to drop all of his work and take a bike ride to Southeast Portland. It didn't take very much arm twisting, he'd had a pretty full day already and needed the exercise.
We coasted down the waterfront and landed at our first destination, a small house just south of Ladd's Addition. I had high hopes for this one, given that it was so close to downtown and in an awesome section of town. It, however, was a total let-down. It looked like a place that had been rented to college students and even by just peering in the windows, I could tell that it wouldn't do. The next place was equally as disappointing, as it looked like a storage locker with a front door (no wonder neither of the landlords posted photos).
With one more house left as our only hope, we rode all the way out to 57th Avenue near Mt. Tabor. It's a lovely neighborhood, quite perfect in every way -- cute house (just look at those windows!), nice back yard, beautiful street, right in our price range, and down the street from a nice park. The only down side is that it is located on top of an impossibly steep hill. That means that it would be sweet for commuting to work by bike, but kind of a drag to get home. However, the streets just west, from 51st (at the foot of the impossibly steep hill) to 39th seem to be our "sweet spot."
I still need to do a little more research on the area, like where my local grocery store might be, or what restaurants we might frequent, but as of our bike ride today, I'm sold. I just have to keep my eyes peeled for any other houses that might come up. On our way home, we both realized that we were starving, so we stopped in at our favorite Thai place, the Pad Thai Kitchen on Belmont. I'm always looking for a good excuse to ride out there, because their food is pretty awesome. Jesse got his favorite, the pumpkin curry, and I ordered drunken noodles. It was the perfect end to a pretty good afternoon.
I love this time of year. The weather starts to get cool, the trees start to turn, I get to roast vegetables and make soup, and of course Halloween is just around the corner. I love the process of thinking about and costumes, getting excited about creating crazy gross-out Halloween food, and carving pumpkins (even though I never end up actually carving a pumpkin). In D.C., we were lucky enough to have friends that loved to dress up and go out on the town, but our last Halloween there was a bit of a let-down. Most of our friends had moved away and we just couldn't get up the motivation to go out on our own. Since we moved to Portland just two months before Halloween last year, we didn't have a lot of time to make friends and sat that one out too. I have now had two years of build-up and can't wait to get out for Halloween Portland-style.
I feel pretty lucky to have found a group of friends who love to dress up (at Halloween and otherwise), so this year is going to be pretty awesome. The Halloween party date is set, and everyone is hush hush about their costume ideas. These ladies and gents take their Halloween pretty seriously. I have a couple of ideas up my sleeve, but they'll have to stay under wraps for now. Here are a few of our costumes from the past to hold you over for a couple of weeks:
2003: Ice Queen (which unbeknownst to me was my nickname during the first few months of grad school) and Wolverine.
2004: My best friend, Lauren, and I dressed up as Krystle and Alexis from Dynasty. J said that my faux silk jumpsuit was so ugly that he might never be able to love me again.
2005: Bill the Butcher from Gangs of New York and Mrs. Incredible. I think bourbon and some strong margaritas gave me the courage to put on skin-tight red suit. Jesse also really enjoyed the margaritas and nearly got kicked out of Heaven and Hell (a local bar) for his jubilant dancing. I had to cut off part of his costume when we got home. It was a good Halloween.
Jesse's parents were in town this weekend for a quick visit and we had an awesome time. We went on lots of neighborhood walks, stopped at a couple of our favorite food spots, and went to a Timbers playoff game at PGE Park. Unfortunately, the Timbers tied with the Vancouver Whitecaps, which was not enough to advance them on in the tournament. It was quite heartbreaking to see the team so distraught after the game. So, we had to all drown our sorrows in some good Cajun food at Montage. I personally comforted myself with the Spold mac & cheese with Andouille sausage. We also shared a plate of crawfish hushpuppies that were outstanding.
On one of our walks through Ladd's Addition, we stopped to admire this plant that nobody could identify. I'd never seen anything quite like it before and was struck by the beautiful pink flowers and teal centers/berries growing inside. I haven't bothered to Google it yet, as I'm hoping that you, the internets, will help me come to some determination. The flowers were growing on what appeared to be a small tree, or a very well-trained bush. Seriously, I've never seen that blue color occur like that in nature. It was pretty awesome.
Walking through the neighborhoods made me long for a cute house with a yard again. It was like tearing open a wound that I thought had healed. Given that I still have not been able to figure out what I'm going to do for work here in Portland, renting will likely have to suffice. And honestly, I'm pretty okay with that solution. I went to a couple of websites this afternoon to check out what's available. Jesse and I are going to ride around a few neighborhoods this weekend to see if there is anything on the rental market that might work.
With that said, I didn't have much time to think about those cute bungalows calling my name, as I had a short interview with a staffing agency and later broke into a friend's house and stole their car. Heh. I like to leave out the part about them giving me permission and giving explicit instructions on how to break into their house and car. Even still, I was a bad-ass ninja today (avert your eyes if you can't handle the the masked facade). The photo was taken just before I (the perp) entered the premises and made off with their Matrix. My ninja status was seriously compromised by the baby car seat and smiley sunshine face in the backseat. However, if I didn't look in the rear view mirror too much, it was easily ignored. Besides, even ninjas sometimes have to transport cute babies and their parents home from the the airport from time to time.
Yesterday, a very special package came in the mail. It was from Jesse's office. No, he didn't get promoted, but judging from the excitement in the apartment, you would have thought they made him King of the non-profit. We did a little happy dance as he ripped open the padded envelope. That very special package was the new Adobe Creative Suite 4 Web Premium edition. It's the tricked out Cadillac of all Adobe packages and it's allllll miiiinnnneee. (Ok, technically, it's all Jesse's, since he is going to use it for work, but I can also load it on my Preshus and tinker to my heart's content.)
I popped in the tutorial cd this morning and realized that there are about 15 different programs and applications, many of which I've never heard. I decided to get a little breakfast before diving right in, because I am definitely not worthy. Having this software package to do the types of projects that I have in mind is like hiring Deloitte and Touche to balance my checkbook. However, I feel that I must step to the challenge of owning the CS4 Web Premium edition. In addition to my Public Administration course, I'm thinking of taking a basic web design class to learn how to use Dreamweaver. My main goal will be to rebuild the Quickcrit Blogger template (which is right now sort of a Frankenstein of pieced widgets and html parts) so it's not all buggy and annoying. We'll see how that goes.
Oh and my Public Administration class? Awesome. I think it's going to be a really great quarter for two reasons: my professor is pretty great and Public Administration is such a nebulous field that just about anyone can find a niche -- kind of like my degree in American Studies. Oh, and speaking of American Studies, my professor is also an American Studies graduate. I think I'm going to love this class!
Well, I didn't. It wasn't okay. It was horrifying, humiliating, and insanely annoying. I leaned back on my heels, nodded, turned around and started walking. I know you're not supposed to burn bridges when job searching, so not replying to his apologies was not exactly professional; however, I was afraid that if I opened my mouth, I'd chastise him in some way, which would have been even worse.
