109. fancy feast.

did i mention the food?
because oh my gosh the food.

 this cup housed club soda mixed with homemade ginger syrup.

chopping ginger made my fingers all tingly.

 

pictured: fresh baba ganoush, caprese skewers, tomato/olive tapenade on endive boats, and cake balls (that's balls 'o cake dipped in dark chocolate and covered in gold sugar sprinkles)

sorbet cake!

a big high five to robyn b., as usual

104. lou.

last trip to see jj in stl:

food adventures 

movie watching

packing up

rasoi lunch buffet

outdoor seating for nice breezes and people without bike locks

work day surprises

 apop records' discount bin

newsies making tunes!

don't worry, i looked it up for you:

see you, cates avenue.

you'll be missed, but there are other continents to explore.

101. cheese it.

a bright spot about working on fridays is that sometimes (this time, anyway) there are piles of surprise pizza brought in for the whole office and placed right next to you:

and then it takes over your desk!

95. tired feet.

a busy, fun weekend in the north.
a rehearsal, a dinner, a fancy morning, a wedding, a reception.
nice to see so many people i like all in one place.

 kt made me some clip-ons for the occasion

veg plate: pasta with roasted vegetables

i wish my dress had allowed me to eat more of it!

a lincoln by the bathroom

 

93. summertime eats.

mango salad, quinoa, tofu.

peppermint.

 

black bear bakery vegan brunch.

my apartment is the same temperature at 9:00 pm as it was at 9:00 am: 90 degrees.
drinking diet coke in front of a fan (heat makes things heavy).

90. chicago, in three parts.

one:

npr knows!

(second city)

 two:

a conneticut yankee in buckingham's court

 three:

 the simplest, best dinner

(not pictured: cookies!)

85. codes and keys.

a spring afternoon:

eatin' berries, shreddin' papers, smashin' bugs.

83. places.

what jc has been up to the past few weeks:

1. graduating from library school with a lot of cupcakes

2. going to las vegas for the wedding of good folks keith & ashley

3. visiting the grand canyon with friend maggie

4. seeing abe lincoln with best dude jj

i have a pile of new books to enjoy, futures to scheme, and no school work to distract me.

let's make it a good week.

82. lady things.

went north this weekend for a few pre-wedding friend activities.

i know my lisa loeb.

i was not, however, so good at the smoochin'.

81. on dinner.

 i burned my dinner tonight and set off the smoke alarm.
i then put some substitute food in the microwave and burned that too.
it made me think of when i was a kid and my dad would grill chicken a few times a week.
i wanted my serving covered in cajun spice and burnt. not just crisp, black.
he'd bring in everyone's food and have me check mine for approval.
he always had to go back outside.
i got away with a lot of fussiness then.
it's a wonder i ever came to eat plants.

assembling stories today.

maybe you want a copy?
(that is a hint to tell me such, and i will make you one)

80. life on mars.

i visited wisconsin recently and did what all good illinoisans do upon driving south towards the border: stop at the mars cheese castle.
imagine my surprise when i discovered that there have been some changes on the planet mars recently.

the old castle (current dumpster):

and the new:

 guards to the kingdom

 DO IT

castle in a castle!

79. love bombs.

a nice long weekend with jj.
illinois marathon race, midwest zine fest, new records a'spinnin'.
the perfect prelude to finishing the semester's work, and grad school in general, in precisely one day.

 dang!

 first midwest zine fest at the IMC

nice folks who make neat things

 little treasures

 combined zine booty

on sundays, jc transforms into a donut

78. to the moon and back.

 oklahoma is OK

 desert watchmen

 so nice, we ate there twice.

green vegetarian, san antonio

conference hotel

3279 miles, 10.5 days
dry heat and sunshine framed by midwestern thunderstorms
mountains, stars, burros, guacamole, scissor-tailed flycatchers, gallon water jugs, forrest gump, wranglers, dust, canyons, hospitality, wildfires, lyndon b. johnson, gasoline, quiet, prickly pears, roads, jenny, and jeremy.

23. lines.

...and so ends a january weekend.
jj came up and we saw seven samurai at the art theatre on saturday. my first kurosawa, with a running time of about 200 minutes.
also, one of the inspirations for a bug's life (a reference that should not have been mentioned to me before the start of the film, unless they wanted me to have images of little blue ants in my head. which i did until about the intermission.)

this was complimented by an eating tour of c-u, including merry ann's, siam terrace, and bombay grill.
i didn't even have to wear my winter coatttttttttttttttt

22. friday on my mind.

today was everything a day off from class and work should be:

-i slept until 9:00, made breakfast, and then trained a very nice new volunteer at the library. we helped a dozen or so library patrons with computer issues.
-i met a new friend for tea and we talked for 2.5 hours with ease.
-i cooked kale and tofurkey sausage and rice and red pepper for dinner, with a clementine for dessert.


now a clean apartment + the kinks. i feel refreshed and warm.

16. good eats.

saturday:

snowpeople at soulard market.

not for sale.

lunch: vegan pulled pork sandwich at shangri-la, an all-vegetarian diner.

not pictured: barbies in rollerskates attached to the walls.
we took german chocolate cake home for dessert.

don't mess with missouri.