With no handlebars.

I rode my bike to work today! After rolling around sleeplessly every night and trying desperately to arrive by 9:30 a.m. for the past few weeks, I decided last night to ride my bike to work today.

My alarm fruitlessly kept sounding at 7:15, but I rolled over and tried to snooze off like I do every morning. But this time, I actually awakened 15 minutes later and by 8:10 was out the door!

Along the way I was able to enjoy the levy and the slow-moving Delta waters before the heat started to kick in. I wasn't alone either, at least 20 other people were up running, walking and biking the levy, just like myself!


So I'm glad I was finally able to pry myself out of bed early today. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to enjoy nature in the morning and get a healthy dose of exercise in.

Maybe this will continue? Should be interesting to see, especially since I'm taking a sports sociology class at 9:30 every morning for the next four weeks beginning on Monday....

Jenn's Bachelorette Party....

....Was a blast.

I miss big, bustling cities with endless restaurants and numerous night life outings. Someone should be uploading photos to facebook soon, so maybe I'll let you see them.

Sorry I don't have much to say today. Deal with it :)

Can't Stop Thinking French.....

Ugh, I keep feeling the call to study French/teach French/research French literature en route to a PhD.

While researching today I found a really neat Comparative Literature program that requires a TAship in a foreign language department (duh, français) at UNC-Chapel Hill in North Carolina.

But then I started thinking more about programs and remembered I'd consider living in Louisiana for a while, why not? Which reminded me, for a while I pondered LSU.

Of course, what better way to study French in the United States than in one of the country's largest French-speaking regions?! The campus is located in Baton Rouge.... even the city name is French! And apparently the graduate program in the French Department is considered one of the top programs of study in French in the country! Naturellement.

So this is the program. And it's next in line for my "future" prospect of the week. Because as you all know me, I have a different idea each week for what I want to do in my life in the years to come.

Tune in next week, kids, when I pick a different adventure for my life!

(But, you've got to admit, French in a Franco-American region, and the conversion from being a Pacific Tiger to a Louisiana State Tiger.... it's just too perfect!! And I guess their athletic teams are alright....)

La-La!

I still wish I lived in LA.... ALL the time! But my friend Lisa lives in Santa Monica right now. She held up her end of our "after college we're moving to Los Angeles and being roommates again" deal.

I did not.

So in attempt to make up for that, I get to stay with her for a few days mid-week. Why would someone drive 5 hours each way just to go to LA from Tuesday night until Thursday afternoon?!...........


..........Because J.D. got us tickets to go see the ESPYs!!! ESPN's version of an award show. And the much-wanted tickets to the after party with celebrities and sports stars!

See, having a journalism degree pays off sometimes ;)

This is what they look like:


This is the host in 2009:



And this is the venue.

Here's to hoping I'll make some famous friends in just a few days ;) My only complaint is that it conflicts with the All-Star game..... buuuut I'd be watching that on t.v. anyways, so I'll just catch one of the 85 times it re-runs on t.v.

Hope I'll have pictures when I get back!

More food stories!

Since they've had us over for dinner at least four times now and have bought us tons of appliances and needed items in our new home (in addition to acting as handy-men whenever things break), J.D. and I decided to have his parents over for dinner last night.

It was the first time really, that I got to play hostess at a dinner party. Kinda weird feeling, but I guess I'll be getting used to it!

Unfortunately I did not snap any photos, so you'll have to let your imagination guide you.

We started off with breads, various cheeses and rosemary roasted garlic for the first course. I sliced chunks of melting brie, sharp cheddar crusted with almond slivers and a mozzarella-prosciutto-basil roll.

Then the wine started flowing. A French Bordeaux blend purchased from Trader Joe's and a Coppola Pinot Noir for an extra bottle. Of course, we only ended up drinking half of each, but there are still plenty left over.

Next up was the vegetable course, with a large mixed green salad, bowl of edamame and a tomato-basil caprese salad for the side.

After the plates were cleared we brought out the main dish: pork chops seared with home-stewed applesauce. We made the applesauce with fresh apples, apple passionfruit juice, chopped walnuts, cinnamon and nutmeg. Plate that with a side of brown rice and then we were good to go.

Out came the cheese plate again paired with a little wine and Pellegrino and then we were ready for dessert.

Again, thank you Trader Joe's for doing all the work, I served a fresh lemon tart for dessert that J.D. spruced up with raspberries.

After the dinner finished, I began reading my newest book: My Life in France by Julia Child and then went for a 20-minute run into the gated golf course community past the lakes.

Before the night ended, we whipped up some chocolate-dipped strawberries for after dinner tonight and then it was time to sleep! I had such a great evening cooking and eating :)

Chocolate raspberry (and flax seed?! no way) French Macarons

I tried to make French Macarons in preparation for Jenn's bridal shower next weekend.

Basically I need to make thicker wafers, which can be easily remedied by letting one layer cool, then adding a second afterwards. I think a proper food processor would solve a lot of my problems as well. Because I don't have one, I relied on a blender to mix my powdered sugar and sliced almonds.... buuuut you'd quickly know that it's not such a great idea. So we tried to make the batter thicker by adding a flax seed and water mixture. However, that made the wafers more grainy than smooth.

But the general consensus was still quite good!

So I used the rest of my chocolate ganache mix and dipped my remaining raspberries in it. And then J.D. and I toasted my successful baking with a brand new bottle of champagne!

Here's my first attempt. Photos courtesy of my iPhone (and J.D.)!

Step 1: baking the wafers


Step 2: filling the raspberry-stuffed wafers


Step 3: chocolate-dipped raspberries!


Step 4: finished dessert


Step 5: toasting with French champagne


Step 6: pour another :) and enjoy!

Hodgepodge of photos

Since I've been talking a lot about my adventures, I figure I'd post some photos for you all to see. These aren't really turning out full size... I'll see if I can figure out how to make them smaller. In the meantime, here is the link of all my recent photos on facebook. You can get the actual size there!

Enjoy! Hope the holiday weekend treated you all well :)

Moules frites and my new kitchen/dining room!

J.D. and me at my alma mater: UC Santa Barbara!

Wine and cheese tasting in Santa Barbara. That was soooo delicious!

Santa Barbara crew at another wine-tasting room and jazz house! I had such a blast :)

Oops

Still haven't taken/loaded photos of the new place. Or photos from the county fair this past weekend.

Oh well.

This morning I just ate my very own home-made fruit, yogurt and granola parfait which is actually the salvaged remains from last night's dessert. With a few very ripe plums from last week's farmers' market, I decided to cook with them. So I tossed plums, strawberries and raspberries into a ramekin and mixed up a crumbly and crunchy topping to cover the fruits while baking. So I took a couple of cups of instant oats, flax seed, water, butter, brown sugar and cinnamon/nutmeg and folded it all together for the crisp upper layer.

Well, with an impending road trip tomorrow, I made the decision that all leftovers must be quickly consumed. So breakfast today with a bit of yogurt and banana slices, and then I'll have it as dessert again tonight. Possibly with ice cream this time?

But about that road trip.

J.D. and I are headed off to SANTA BARBARA for a long, holiday weekend! On Saturday the baseball team I worked for in college will be having a 4th of July free game at the harbor, while the municipal Independence Day Parade will take place around lunchtime through the beachy city streets of Santa Barbara. Then street festivals and.... fireworks!


All very exciting things to look forward to. Especially since I haven't set foot in Santa Barbara in exactly one year. But it's still crazy to me that where I spent four magical years of my life is someplace different, strange and new to me. Crazy.