New Baby

I am not really a spontaneous person. I think I used to be... in high school. College too perhaps. However, once I got to grad school apparently all my fun, youthful, crazy, spontaneity went away. Sometimes I look back on those days fondly and remember how fun it used to be to just get up and do something without excessive planning. I would often wake up and just feel compelled to do things. Picnics. Day trips. Redoing my bedroom. Parties. Fun times. These days I tend to plan things in advance... way in advance and in painstaking detail. It's kind of boring. Chris often tells me that I need to stop planning so much and start being more spontaneous. I know I need to find a better balance.

This week I made a step in that direction. (Sort of). As you know Chris and I have been talking for awhile about getting another dog. We wanted a companion for Reaghan. We had planned to get one most likely in the month of June, so that I'd have time to socialize them before I started working full time. We had just recently decided to move away from a blood hound (which in the end we decided would be too big for our apartment) to a basset hound a la The Pioneer Woman. I had been looking into some puppies in the area, even going so far to contact woman from a local ad in the paper for some more information. She had let me know that her litter was already sold out and that they just had a "show" puppy left which was double the price. I kindly let her know that we could not afford such a puppy, but 'thanks anyway.'

This Tuesday said woman e-mailed me to let me know that she was willing to sell the "show" girl for the regular price. She also said that this puppy would be available "right now" and then sent me a picture. In the matter of 5 minutes I called Chris, had a brief decision making conversation, called a friend to see if she'd come with me to pick up the puppy (I was scared to go alone) and then e-mailed them back- YES! She e-mailed back to meet her in about 45 minutes in a town that's 30 minutes away. Within an hour of getting that initial e-mail I had a new puppy in my apartment. To me that felt pretty spontaneous. (I may or may not have had an anxiety attack in the car about my "lack of responsibility" in being so spontaneous. Luckily, I had my friend who talked me down.)

So without further ado. Please meet our new baby girl.

Chris has not yet determined a name. I said he could pick it, since he isn't here for our first 3 weeks together. He is taking this responsibility VERY seriously. Hence, having to run around yelling "Puppy!" when she's eating my shoes. Although she's quite the handful, Rae and I (and Chris through Skype) are quite smitten. She's a sweetie pie.

Seafood

So living in Texas does not do much for my seafood habit. Growing up in NY and vacationing every summer in Rhode Island, I developed a deep love for seafood. Clams: whole belly, on the half shell. Oysters. Calamari. Lobster: steamed, stuffed, rolls. Scallops. Cod. Flounder. Mahi Mahi. Tuna. Sea Bass. Red Snapper.

OK. I'll stop now. I'm drooling onto my computer. But as you can see I have a deep love (or some might say obsession) for seafood. Unfortunately, there are no fresh seafood stores in Texas. Or at least where I live. So when I need a seafood fix I have to buy it at the seafood counter of the grocery store, usually frozen. It makes me sad. Very, very sad.

A few weeks ago I had a craving for seafood and gave in and bought some of the frozen stuff. I found two recipes on the Food Network that looked good and tried them out.

Steamed Mussels by Bobby Flay was the first. I did not have shallots, so I substituted onions. I also did not have tarragon, so I used dried marjoram. (Always use less if you're substituting dried herbs for fresh herbs. They are much stronger.) I thought this recipe was good, but not great. I've had some mussel broths that are so delicious I want to lick the bottom of the bowl. This was not one of them. However, it was quick and tasty and did the trick.

Next, I tried Scallops Provencal by the Barefoot Contessa. Again I substituted shallots with onions. I never have shallots in the house. I made some spaghetti and served the seafood over it. I thought this recipe was yummy. The sauce thickened up nicely and it made enough that I could heat leftovers up the next day for lunch.

I must say though- I am counting down the days until I'm back in the northeast with fresh seafood. It makes a WORLD of difference. Excuse me while I go dream of lobster rolls and clams on the half shell...

The Kentucky Derby...

I love horse racing. This is not too surprising, given that I love sports, gambling and animals. If you combine them in a way where I feel like the animal actually enjoys it- then its my dream come true. I love watching how beautiful the horses look as they run, I love the joy on the trainers and owners faces when a horse wins and I love how the horses run their little hearts out, showing everyone that they were born to run as fast as can be. I also love getting so invested in something that it consumes your whole soul for the 2 minutes the race lasts.

I remember the derby my first year away at grad school. I ordered Pizza Hut to be delivered and it arrived just as the derby started. There was no way I was missing any of it, so I insisted the delivery man come inside and watch with me. Given that I was a single gal living alone in the country, this is probably a clue as to how involved I get in these races. As born and bred New Yorker, I am usually overly cautious with strangers. But put me in the middle of a derby race and sane thoughts fly out the window. There was no way I was missing a second.

I always pick the filly if there's one in the race. Girl power and all. But if not, I usually go for something Irish. This year my money's on Paddy O'Prado. The son of El Prado, the Irish champion. This year every member of my family has bet on a different horse, so it will be a fun time as we do the conference call for this year's race. I'm sure that Paddy will win though...

You tell me that this isn't the face of a winner.

A Raise Would be Nice...

So one of the new campaigns I'm participating in as a BzzAgent is the "America Deserves a Raise" contest. A raise? Yes, please! I've spent all day trying to figure out how to pay bills on my grad school budget. Sadly, however, I'm not sure what I do qualifies as an actual job yet... but I can still win if the person I nominate does! I'm still thinking about who I want to nominate. I know lots of people who work really hard and don't get paid enough. Who do you have in your lives that you could put up for the $40,000?

I Want a Bloodhound...

So Chris and I have always said we would get another puppy when we finally were able to move in together. We already have Rae, but Rae needs a sibling and I wanted to wait until we had a bigger place (and someone else to help me take care of them) before we got another one. Plus I wanted it to be "our" dog and not just my baby that he has to adopt. We (I) have gone back and forth about the type of dog we want to get. For awhile we were very hooked on bulldogs. Their squooshy little faces are just too cute and I totally fell in love with my cousin's. Recently, though, I decided that a bloodhound would be perfect for us. They are nice and mellow when they're indoors, even though they're really big. And they love the outdoors and need to be taken out daily for exercise. Picturing Rae following around a great, big ol' bloodhound just melts my little heart. They would be just too cute. I can just picture Rae tugging on his floppy little ears to get him to do her bidding. So since then I've been trying to convince Chris that this is the dog we've been missing all our life. Seeing as how our move is about 39 days away I thought I would up my game a little bit. I discovered that bloodhounds are very famous. They have been in lots and lots movies/tv shows. So here's a little tribute to all the famous bloodhounds.

Ladybird (King of the Hill)

Old Towser (One Hundred and One Dalmations)

Napoleon (Aristocats)

McGruff (The Crime Dog)

Copper (The Fox and the Hound)

The Bumpeses Hounds (A Christmas Story)

Bryant (Sweet Home Alabama)

Bruno (Cindarella)

Trusty (Lady and the Tramp)

Hunny. Clearly a bloodhound is the type of dog we need in our life. Practically every movie ever made needs one, so we do too. And if that didn't melt your heart, then maybe these will:

Aww! Look at the baby!

Floppy Ears!!

Random Things...

So I've been cranky for about a week straight at this point. I have a chronic ear infection that 3 doctors have not been able to make go away, insomnia so bad I wake up at least 4 times every night, a dissertation that won't apparently write itself, and a lack of money necessary to pay for the pile of bills that will be coming along in June. I really don't know how Chris has put up with me this week. I have very much lived up to his nickname for me.

Today I should be productive. I was productive all weekend and got a nice, big chunk of my dissertation done. The productivity should flow into Monday no? Unfortunately, the answer to that is a big, fat NO. I was cranky and lazy all morning, so no work done then. And now I've taken a Benadryl in the hopes of clearing my ear out (since the ear drop antibiotics, oral antibiotics, Mucinex, Flonase, vaporizor, hot showers, yawning, chewing, swallowing, holding my nose and blowing, and three doctors I've tried over the past two weeks haven't been able to do a darned thing). The Benadryl hasn't even made me sleepy yet, but I refuse to do work in the anticipation of the sleepiness that is sure to follow. I almost see it as a strike against my ear. You don't want to get better? Fine I will just sit here and stay miserable until you do. Let's see who can wait it out the longest. (Clearly, I'm being very mature and rational about this).

Regardless, since no work is getting done today (or at least right now) I thought I'd post a dinner I made last week. It was similar to one I did the week before. I picked up some swordfish and pre-made mango salsa at the grocery store. Marinated said swordfish in a quick Asian-style marinade (rice vinegar, sesame oil, peanut oil, red pepper flakes, salt & pepper) and then baked it at 450 for 15 minutes. While that was cooking I cooked up some Near East Garlic & Pecan Rice on the stove-top. I served the salsa over the fish over the rice. The fish cooked up with a nice pile of marinade left over which I poured over the whole thing as sauce. Pretty similar to the meal last time, but without the serving of veggies. There was enough left for lunch the next day.

I may do more take-out this week. My cranky-lazy disease is making it hard to get up and plan a meal, grocery shop for ingredients and then cook. We'll see. I'll try my best not just to rant and rave about my ear all week. (But I'm not making any promises!)

Breakfast for Dinner

I felt like a light dinner tonight, since I stopped at Red Mango for some frozen yogurt on my way home. (It was really yummy by the way. I had ginger yogurt with mangoes, strawberries and mochi balls). I found this omelet recipe over at the Food Network and was surprised that it was Paula Deen's, because I don't really associate her with healthy eating. I ended up using the yolks too; egg whites just seem too boring. I also didn't use frozen spinach. Instead I just chopped up some baby spinach. It was really yummy. I paired it with a slice of oatmeal toast with orange marmalade. Breakfast. It's what's for dinner. :)

Sorry, the pics came out terrible. I'm not sure what's up with the yellow tint.