Baguette and Nectarines

D'Paul and I took his brother down to the farmer's market this morning. Smoothies and  gorgeous thick cups of chocolate milk were consumed along with freshly fried donuts. This is one of my favorite things to do on Sunday morning. Today I picked up a delicious baguette and some beautiful nectarines. This is what my afternoon looks like:

I've been cooking and focusing on eating a lot lately (even more than usual) for a number of reasons. I've been introduced to my new favorite blog, which makes it impossible to avoid wanting to make delicious food. Rehearsals have also been taking a good bit of time, so when I get a few hours I like to take the time to eat a real meal and get my head on straight. The rehearsal process is going wonderfully, I just have too much on my plate. It's always been this way, and will continue to be until I find a livelihood that is satisfying on a personal level that also pays the bills. This could take awhile...

Back to the food. I just tried this next recipe and you should probably stop whatever you're doing right now and go make this delightful Baked Vanilla Yogurt! It was a hit with everyone, even after an evening of stuffing ourselves full of my wonderful potstickers. I prefer a smoother filling to my potsticker, so when you're looking at the recipe know that I use onion, garlic, and ginger powder instead of actual chopped veggies. It's a personal preference, you should do what sounds delicious to you. I definitely use the cabbage, it's wonderful.

I did my first run yesterday to start my training for the 5k. It went pretty well, and I plan to go back to the gym tomorrow and do another. I will run outside when the weather is more comfortable. I also got my feet and my stride analyzed yesterday. Turns out I have what they call "islands" for feet. It means that my arch is so high that when you take a print of my feet from below you only see the ball and the heel of the foot. I thought I was probably closer to being flat footed since I spend all of my time barefoot or in flats if I can help it. I hate arch supports in shoes, they all feel uncomfortable, which makes D'Paul uncomfortable. He's wildly concerned that without arch supports my arches are going to collapse, but the girl at the store didn't seem bothered by the idea of that happening. Her rational was that I've spent so much time as a dancer that my feet are so strong and so stretched out at this point that I'm unlikely to hurt myself. Just keep stretching...

Then they took an analysis of my running, which was really interesting. I got on their treadmill and ran for about 30 seconds with a camera looking at my feet. I'm almost completely neutral. One side of me (I forget whether it's right or left, don't worry it's written down at home) is perfect and my other side only turns in slightly. I may run reeeeally slowly, but I also run near perfectly. This means that I need a completely neutral shoe. I will probably be investing in new shoes in the coming weeks. My current shoes are basically crap and a few years old so they're not doing me any favors.

I finished out my summer semester with an A in my Religion and 20th Century Drama class, so that's wonderful! The course was great and I am taking one with the same professor this fall that I'm looking forward to attending. I've picked up the banned books project again, but with less urgency than before. I'll probably plow through them over the course of the next year. I'm going to try and keep it stress free.

Something Special

Last night was our first stumble through for Hedwig and the Angry Inch. It was also our run for the folks designing the show. I’m having trouble putting into words just how amazing this experience has been so far, and from the looks of things, will continue to be. I almost started to write about the individual talents and energy from the designers, musicians, actors, director, stage manager, and supporting Iron Crows with personal descriptors, but the fact is that it’s unnecessary. EVERYONE who is working on this project is amazingly gifted, enthusiastic, committed, and a consummate professional.


When I think about this show I get a tingly excited feeling in my stomach. I’m not nervous; I know it’s going to be wonderful. This feeling is telling me that we’ve got something really special on our hands, and I am so thankful that I’m a part of it. Get your tickets now. This is not to be missed.

UPDATE

Here are some beautiful rehearsal photos from the designer run, taken by the lovely and talented Katie Ellen Barth.

Procrastination, Pastry, and Pace

I have two papers that are due for my Religion and 20th Century Drama class this Wednesday, so of course I'm choosing to update this instead. I will be brief, for even my procrastination knows that I have limited time between now and Wednesday to work.

I baked a loaf of bread this week. It looked and smelled beautiful. It was boring to eat. D'Paul said to throw out the recipe because it was no knead bread, which he says he doesn't believe in. It just doesn't exist. He's probably right. At least it made my apartment smell like I knew what I was doing.

Fall must be coming because in the last week I've started baking in my spare moments (which are few and far between), along with shopping for sweaters, and now the bread cravings have hit.  I ran to the store before coming to work this morning just to grab a delicious batard to go with my soup. Oh yes, I also made delightful cream of crab and corn chowder. It is thick, creamy, and spicy - and full of crab meat.

The picture here is from the next bread recipe that I plan to try. I will let you know if mine turns out as beautifully as the bread in the picture! I hope so...

I suppose that it's only appropriate to end a carb heavy post with some physically fit news. I plan to run the Baltimore Running Festival 5k this October. I ran it last year, and while I am a trail snail, finishing it (without stopping or walking, no less) was a great feeling of accomplishment. I am fond of feeling greatly accomplished, so if I can get the day off of work I will do it again. Now that I've frittered away 10 minutes of writing time, I should return to my essays. Au Revoir!