Lock Out!

Sometimes it takes climbing through an apartment window to remember what you love in life!  I had the smart idea to leave my keys in my apartment this morning, so I found myself banging at my apartment's front door hoping someone might hear me.  I thought that if I could get into the front door, then I could break into my apartment door.  Also, it happened to start snowing when I found myself in this situation.  My efforts were to no avail!  So I felt I was justified to go to Starbucks and provide myself with a pumpkin spiced latte, and having missed the bus, I walked the 20 minutes through this:

The "sidewalk"

After warming and drying off in my home away from home, I found out that one of our apartment friends actually was home!  Brett gave me his phone number and I caught the bus back, to be let in.  I tried my darndest to use my ID card to break into my apartment, but again failed.  Brett was kind enough to let me climb through his window, and use a chair to reach the window ledge of our living room, a floor above.  This is something Jeff has done before, so it was doable.  As Brett pushed my feet up, I pulled and scurried and was able to open the window and escape to the warm dry living room.  I yelled thanks and ran to the shower.  AAAhhhhhhh!!!

My point here is that as I was enjoying the hot water, I remembered how much I love doing stuff like that.  Climbing on things and random adventures :D  They make me very happy.  Very very happy.  There are some big decisions coming my way soon, regarding where I will go and what I will do.  It was nice to get the feeling again that I do, in fact, know what I want, to an extent, and should direct myself that way.  So fun adventures, slightly rugged......?

Just thought this early morning view from my school was nice :)

Tea with Winter

This past weekend I was in Chicago visiting old friends from years gone by.

Ms. Mara and Me!

Charlie and Dovile being wonderful :D

Calmer

Miguel and Me :D awesome!!

The Girls reunited !!!

The Bean?

Oh whose that in the bean???

Chicago view from the Wit Hotel

So, I have now had my sort of first real taste of Chicago.  Before it was to see Khaled at school, which was always a rather short endeavor unfortunately.  This time I got to visit more of downtown and see some of the places.  It is a cleaner more relaxed version of NYC, which was nice.  It was COLD though!!  I was somewhat thinking that my return to Rhode Island would entail warmer versions of winter, but upon landing I found ti to be COLDER here than in Chicago!!!  Hahaha.  I could only find it humorous.

The weekend overall was amazing, and is a nice starting point for some new memories to blossom from :)

Now I sit and drink Mate tea to keep warm and stay away form the windows.  Listening to Owl City, the Shins, and some wonderful Postal Service while I finish learning about Food Safety and Sanitation.

I also wanted to send some love to the way of my dearest dad who is beginning his classes today!! Returning to college to learn about baking and pastry!!  I'm so proud and excited for him!!!

Life is great and it all feels gooood!

Being Vegan

Today I read a nice blog post by one of my all time favorite food bloggers, Gena!  It got me to thinking about the pressures of the people around me regarding being vegan.  I did stop being vegan for about a year, and have been back to the animal-free world for about 5 months now.  I left the vegan world to experiment, again, to see if I could apply the healthy techniques I learned as a vegan to the world of omnivorous food.  I found that I could actually.  I was quite proud.  The thing that I noticed, though, was that I craved a mostly vegan diet and was also feeling a lingering feeling of guilt.  The guilt took some time to understand, but it was completely understood when I visited Vera Cruz.  I knew that some of the guilt had to do with the fact that I didn't really like eating animal products anymore, and that I couldn't seem to stand up for it.  I actually felt bad about knowing that some domesticated animal was created for me to not really enjoy eating it or its products.  I wanted to stop, but I felt like I couldn't.  I felt like my ex would not approve.  That he would mock me.  That it would be more difficult to cook for me etc. etc.  In Vera Cruz, when they killed that goat for us, I decided that I was done.  I hated myself for not standing up for my personal beliefs.  When did I become such a scared person!!??  I believe on the drive back from Vera Cruz I told my ex that I was going back to being vegan.  I got a bit of grief about it "in the name of making sure I was doing it for a good reason."  I stood up for my beliefs and have been feeling so good about it since!  I felt so empowered to stand up for myself.  I should never feel that I can't, and I decided not to let my worry about that happen again.  If whoever doesn't agree with my views, that is perfectly fine, but they are mine, and it is my lifestyle choice, something I love living and I believe in strongly.

the other interesting thing that struck me was that I used to be very strong about my beliefs, with no fear about judgement etc.  At some point, that Lia started to falter.  I think she took a step back for a couple of years actually, but it seems like she's back...or really that I am back, unabashedly and proud!

Christmas

The Eve

The holidays were filled with many loved ones and the wonderfully chaotic times that can only come when the family is together.  We began our festivities on Christmas Eve, with my cousin Ahmed, his wife Louise, and her mother Mona.  They prepared an amazing Swedish Smorgasbord!  Glug to start, a warm spiced red wine, with the optional addition of blanched almonds and raisins.  With cups in hand we caught up on recent times and let old grudges melt away.  Once our hearts and mouths were well oiled and warmed, we moved to the dining room where, awaiting us, was a beautifully garnished array of cold appetizers.  Including some of my favorite smoked fishes, Herring and Mackerel with their complimentary vinegary sauces and accompanied by breads of different varieties.  Also available were traditional Swedish meatballs and smoked salmon.  The hot foods came next and included sausages as well as ribs, neither of which I partook in, but they looked and smelled divine!  With the food came the drink.  A choice of white or red wine, or beer and a side glass of Schnapps.  Dessert consisted of fruit cake and a rice pudding, both looked very appealing and hit the sweet tooth of those who partook.  The evening continued in a relaxed digestive mood until Ahmed returned from a brief trip outside dressed as Santa!  This made the night!  His son seemed not to notice that Ahmed was trying to be in disguise, and simply wanted to sit with his father.  It was beyond cute, and gave credit to little Gabriel!  So, Santa handed out some gifts and some Ho Ho's and plenty of pictures.  What a wonderful Christmas Eve, one I certainly will not forget!

The Day

Christmas was the typical situation of the kids scurrying around downstairs eagerly awaiting the parents to wake up, not trying too hard to be quiet...except the "kids" were 22-35 years old! We went through the tradition of preparing breakfast, a heart warming one of homemade waffles with many different toppings.  Once the dishes were done we proceeded to gather around our chimney (no tree this year!) and open the gifts one by one.  It was truly a bonding experience for us all and brought our guests closer to our family.  Many smiles, ooos and aaaaas were exchanged until all that was left was a pile of torn wrapping paper.  Each one of us shifted and vanished to our own corners to relish in our new gifts, exploring each one, folding or wearing anything new.  I eventually realized that food preparations had began already for the evenings events!

The Dinner

My mom's famous red current tenderloin starred at dinner!  She marinates the venison for at least 24 hours, and then cooks it to perfection!  Accompanying it is the sweetly acidic sauce full of currents and all sorts of goodness that come together in an admittedly orgasmic way.  Giving it support were plenty of roasted veggies, thrown together by yours truly ;) and my dad's famous bread!  To tie it all together was red wine from our family friend's vineyard and winery, Paumanok.  We took our time enjoying each bite and each meandering of conversation, until the serving dishes were empty.  The ended on a note of warm apple pie and vanilla ice cream.  What could be better?