It's Moving Week

Yesterday was my first real day of packing. I had packed one box on Saturday, but last night I got down to business and packed 7 more, plus I disassembled a shelf, and I packed a suitcase full of clothes. I also folded all my linens into 3 piles. After some advice from Holly and Annie, I have decided to "pack" my linens in large garbage bags. I'm about 1/3 of the way done with all my packing. My goal tonight is to finish packing all my clothes (except for what I need this week). I also want to finish packing up the kitchen. I have a lot of that already done, I need to pack up the "everyday" stuff now, ie, silverware, plates, etc. We'll see how it goes.

TV/Books/Movies

Secret Life
This is a show on ABC family. It's about a teenager who gets pregnant after her first time of having sex. I have a friend who watches it and really enjoys it. I've seen an episode or 2. Last night while packing I had it on in the background. What astonishes me more than anything is the way the "adults" act on this show. The ridiculous attitude the teenagers have seems about right. I remember being 16 and even 18 and thinking that I would be in love forever. But the parents on this show know about their daughters and sons sleeping around town and they seem completely okay with it. This week one of the teenage girls manipulated her father into buying a house next door to her boyfriend. The parents are dating around, getting knocked up themselves. Acting and talking like teenagers. I doubt I'll ever watch again... or it might become a guilty pleasure.

From the Foodie in Me

Julie and Julia

So technically this post should go under the movies section, but it seems more appropriate here.
I LOVED this movie. Annie and I saw it on Sunday and I couldnt have been more hooked. It made me laugh, it made me cry. It was a fantastic chick flick. I think there are a few reasons it stood out so much for me.

First of all although it technically was a "chick flick" it wasnt about a girl finding the true love of her life. Most chick flicks are about the girl getting the guy even after some sort of ridiculous obstacle ie: How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, 10 Things I Hate About You, She's All That, Failure to Launch, blah blah blah. The list goes on and on. The narrator of this story, Julie, is married. She has found the love of her life already. This movie is about her finding something that motivates and excites her. I love that. I think it's something a lot of women can relate to. It's not always about finding the perfect guy, sometimes it's about figuring out what is best for you.

The second reason I loved this movie is because it's about cooking. I named this section "From the foodie in Me" because I never really fully considered myself a foodie. I don't go for organic fruit over market fruit, I don't cook with recipes. I'm more of a "homemaker" type of cook. I throw things together. Yes, they are always delicious, but it never felt like I was being gourmet. I realize now, I am totally a foodie. I LOVE food. I really do, I love to cook it and I love seeing the look on people's faces after the first bite of a meal I've created. It's an awesome feeling. Julia Child loved butter. It made me feel okay cooking with butter, something that I usually don't tell people. Actually, I rarely tell people what's in the food I make because they always want to alter my recipes to make them healthier, or I know they'll be disgusted that I cooked the fried chicken in lard (yep, lard). But for me it's all about what tastes good. There is no point in eating fried chicken if youre going to count every calorie. Sometimes you have to indulge. The trade off is that you don't eat like that every day. I'm all about the balanced meals.

I had a friend who was at my house once and he was eating a sandwich right before I was about to serve dinner. I said "Why are you eating a dinner?!" and his response was "It's only one item, so it's a snack. Dinner is 3 items or more. One item is a snack."
He was quoting me.

I'm a firm believer in a 3 item dinner. One protein and 2 sides. Growing up this is what we had every night. Apparently I've always been a food snob, I just never realized it. I was bred from a young age to love food.

I really recommend this movie if you're A. a girl or B. like to cook. I am also going to venture to say it's a chick flick you can drag your boyfriend to and he won't want to pull his hair out.

Grinds My Gears

The fact that I don't know how to send my calls straight to voicemail on my work phone. I also cant silence my ringer. I have realized now that answering the phone is a bad idea. I now let my line go to voicemail unless I recognize the number. what ends up happening is someone leaves me a voicemail with a problem. I can solve the problem and call them back with a solution. It makes far more sense and saves me so much time.