Another Monday

Mondays....ugggh! The weekend with the BF seemed to fly by, and here I am back at work. Not complaining about the working part - just the missing him part. He got in Thursday night after my rehearsal, so we watched some movies and stayed in. We're kinda lame. Then Friday we went out for an amazing date night at Bonefish and Cold Stone for dessert...yum! Then yesterday morning I took him to IHOP (his favorite) for a farewell breakfast. We were both zombies from staying up so late the night before. Whenever he's home it seems I get no sleep! We don't leave the other ones house until super late (like 2 or 3 AM) & his parents' house is about 35 minutes from mine. Then we're always up by 8 AM to see each other again. Sleeping over is a big NO-NO for his parents! (Don't even get me started...that's a whole other blog - hehe) Nonetheless it was a fantastic weekend and I am so grateful for the time we get to spend together when he's home.
After he left I went shopping at Old Navy because I heard they were having crazy sales - which they were! I got 2 tshirts, 1 dressy shirts, 2 long tank tops, and 2 sundresses for 60 bucks! All very basic stuff, but I needed some summer clothes for sure. My mission was a new bathing suit, but it was another one of those "medium too big, small too small" deals. Grrr! So I'm gonna spend my lunch break looking on American Eagle for some. My amazing coworker gave me a 20% of coupon that expires tomorrow, so hey, might as well use it! We drag each other down with our shopping habits :-)
Now I'm busy conjuring up a weekend plan for girls only! My step dad is going out of town so I'm thinking of taking my mom, aunt and cousins out for some shopping and dinner. Like I need to do more shopping. Geeze. Gotta stimulate that economy somehow, right?!
(I take every chance I get to make a joke or show my overwhelming apathy for our failing economy because I'm SO sick of hearing about it. I know it's a big deal. Just tired of hearing about it...kthanks.)

Yowza...it's been a while!

It has been entirely too long since I've been able to blog! Let's play catch-up, shall we?

This weekend was amazing! I bought my new car!!! A perfect 2009 white Jetta :swoon: The new car smell is almost enough to make me drool. I traded my Jeep in and got a really good deal - I couldn't be happier with it!
My wonderful cousin who goes to school in D.C. came down for the weekend on her way to spring break in Florida. We all met up at my aunt's new house in Alpheretta and had about 20 people jammed into one townhouse (the more the merrier!) Good wine, family, excellent food = my kinda weekend! (Are you starting to see a pattern with my life? Hehe) We had planned on staying into the night Sunday since she only lives an hour away, but the crazy Georgia weather got the best of us. We heard there would be snow flurries and icy roads in Atlanta, so alas, we had to depart early. Thank GOODNESS we did! The whole ride was pretty tame until we got about 20 minutes outside of our city. Can I just tell you - I have never seen snow like that in my life! I mean, I've been skiing in Tennessee in the dead of winter and that still didn't compare to what we got! I was scared outta my whits driving in the few inches of snow (in my NEW car, mind you!) because I never have had to do that before. I finally made it home safely and returned to a house with no power. No power, freezing cold, only family around with a fire place...yep...we had about 20 people at my mom's crowded around the fireplace until midnight when it came back on. Such a crazy night! That is exactly why I don't go camping. The next day when I got up for work, I couldn't even move my car for all the snow. What should have been a great snow day simply wasn't! I had no winter clothes packed, because the day I left it was friggin 60 degrees. So I sat around the house all day bored out of my mind watching trashy soap operas with my mom. Such the girl bonding time (no, not really).
The good news is now the weather is beautiful, AND my wonderful boyfriend is driving in tonight for his spring break! I couldn't be happier! I have a long rehearsal from 5:00-9:30 tonight, but he promised to be at my house waiting for me when I got done. I've been grinning from ear to ear all day :-) I'm planning on taking him out to Bonefish Grill tomorrow night as a surprise date. If you have never been there I beg you - please go! It is the most amazing food ever! It can get a little pricey, but totally worth it for a romantic and nice dinner. Last time I went I was a bad vegan and got a ton of meat...probably will happen again tomorrow! My recommendations are:
Starters - Bang Bang Shrimp & Bacon Wrapped Scallops
Salads - Bonefish House Salad & Florida Cobb Salad
Main Course - Grilled Tilapia with jasmine rice pan Asian sauce, Imperial Longfin with asparagus, & the scallops in chimichurri sauce
Drinks - Ocean Trust Martini, Chocolate Martini, & the Red Wine Sangria
Take my advice! Your stomach will thank you.

I'm hooked again!

So why in the world did I ever stop shopping at American Eagle? I think it's because when I graduated high school I thought I was a little too grown-up for it...PSH! YEAH RIGHT! Have you seen all the adorable stuff they have lately? It's so cute and Bohemian without being over the top and tacky. And the prices are not bad at all! It makes me even more excited for Spring and Summer. These are a few of the pieces that MUST make it into my closet :

Deep V Print Tee - $17.50

Floral Cami - $24.40

Floral Dress - $44.50

Knit Skirt - $24.50

Watercolor Bikini - $19.50 & $14.50

Striped Shorts - $39.50

Sunrise Sandals - $29.50

Other than American Eagle the only other thing on my mind is how excited I am that tomorrow I will hopefully be purchasing a NEW CAR! I have a Jeep Liberty right now and have had so many problems with it - I'm over it. And everyone has told me now is the time to buy since they're so cheap. So I'm looking at VWs...mainly Passats and Jettas. Cute, little, clean white car for me is what I'm keeping my fingers crossed for!

My Top Oscar Picks

Taraji P. Henson - She is adorable and seems like she has such a cute, bubbly personality

Natalie Portman - Probably my favorite look of the night!

Kate Winslet - Has she ever had a bad red carpet look?

Freida Pinto - Always picks great colors that look amazing with her skin

Anne Hathaway - The only sparkly gown I was crazy about

Angelina Jolie - Ice Queen...yes! But she looks good, as usual

Amy Adams - Wowed me in Doubt, and blew me away with the outfit!

I was super tired waking up this morning for work being as how the Oscars didn't finish until midnight, but it was worth it seeing all the gorgeous gowns, heart-felt speeches, and very funny songs and jokes by Hugh Jackman. My family and I had a mock ballot where we places our "bets" on the winners aaaaaand I won! We picked 10 categories we thought were the biggest of the night, and I only missed two (I had my money on Mickey Rourke for Best Actor and Marisa Tomei for Best Supporting Actress). Other than the Oscars, my weekend was fairly boring!

Busy week ahead of me though...tomorrow is the dreaded dentist for my fillings. Then work, rehearsal, and more rehearsal! I got asked to sing some lounge type songs from the 20s with some more regulars around our community theatre for a fundraiser Saturday night, so I'll practice for that an hour every night before my show's rehearsal. I'm excited about that - I love all the jazz and blues music from that era, so I'll try to do the standards proud! Anyone else have any exciting plans for the week? I hope the Monday's haven't gotten everyone else as bad as they've got me...

Dental Disaster

Yesterday was the first time I have been to the dentist in like two years...sad, I know! The verdict - I have to get two fillings plus have a wisdom tooth removed! Why, oh why?! My mouth is so small it has no room to come in so it's growing sideways and pushing my other teeth - gross. I hate the dentist as it is, so this just makes my hatred grow. Plus, I was told my teeth look weak - probably from a lack of calcium. Very understandable since I don't eat dairy. So I stopped by GNC and got some vitamins to ensure I don't have teeth falling out when I'm 30. Then I went home and drank about a carton of soy chocolate milk...good excuse to indulge :-) She also told me the cavities were probably from my obsession with diet sodas. I've tried to cut back to only drinking it during the weekends, but there was a time I was drinking 3-4 a day. It must have caught up with me. But it's Saturday, and my hard-headed ass is sipping a diet Dr. Pepper as I type this *sigh*
Last night I hung out with some girlfriends for dinner and Rock Band (I am probably the best drummer you'll ever find...I'm hardcore!) We made the most amazing eggplant Parmesan! One of the girls is a vegan also, and since we were at her house her fridge was fully stocked with stuff I could eat and cook with. I'm mildly obsessed with Italian food, and I love trying out new recipes. It just seems like you can never mess up an Italian dish. Here is our super easy recipe we came up with.

Ingredients:
1 very large eggplant cut into disks about 1/2 in. thick
Italian style bread crumbs
3 tsp. egg replacer (or 2 eggs)
4 tbsp. water (omit if your not vegan)
2 cups soy milk
1 large jar of your favorite marinara sauce
1 cup vegan Parmesan cheese
1 cup vegan mozzarella cheese
olive oil
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 350.
Mix together egg replacer, soy milk, and water in a small bowl & put bread crumbs on a small plate.
Coat a 8x12 casserole dish with a thin layer of marinara.
Coat eggplant slices in olive oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Turn stove on medium heat and cook eggplant on both sides until slightly tender and golden brown.
When eggplant is done, dunk each piece in wet mixture then coat in bread crumbs. Lay pieces slightly overlapping in casserole dish over marinara.
Add a layer of Parmesan and mozzarella cheese over eggplant.
Repeat the layering until dish is filled and top with cheese.
Leave in oven 20-25 minutes or until cheese on top is golden brown.

It was such an easy thing to make, and like I said you really can't mess it up. And of course you can switch any of the ingredients for non vegan!

In other news - after dinner I received one of the most bittersweet phone calls ever. My boyfriend had a big-deal audition yesterday in St. Louis where tons of theatres nationwide recruit actors for their summer shows. He has been very down on himself lately and questioning his talents. *FYI - there is absolutely NO need in this! The boy is the most talented actor I've ever known...I'm bias of course, but I am 100% convinced he is going to hit it big one day. He's talented, but even more so he's a damn hard worker and never does anything half way.* When he called me he informed me he had about 11 job offers over the summer! The two main ones he was considering were for lead roles....but they are in Indiana and Oklahoma. He's in school all year, so the summer is really the only time we get to feel like a normal couple and see each other whenever we want. I was crushed. I did not let on, however, in the least! Of course I'm ecstatic for him and I didn't want to kill his mood, so I screamed for him and told him over and over how proud of him I was (which I am!). Inside, though, I'm just a selfish girlfriend who is going to miss having him home for 3 months. But it will pay him weekly, PLUS pay for his housing and provide 3 meals a day for him...it's an amazing opportunity with a great setup. So don't worry - I will be gushing over him and bite my tongue like a good girlfriend should.
Well it's off to a long day of rehearsals for me...I hope everyone is having a great weekend so far!

Dream Giveaway

Holy dream come true, Batman! ~*The Tale of A Southern Belle*~ Is having a giveaway. She is giving away (BRACE YOURSELF) a trip to the Bahamas! Are you kidding me? Seriously the nicest thing ever! You guys go to her blog and check it out. I would give more details, but I think I'm still in shock.

*Since my dumb dumb computer at my desk still won't let me put in hyperlinks, I'll do it the old fashion way!*

http://southernbellejm.blogspot.com/2009/02/trip-giveaway.html

PS - More about me later...it's still before 8AM...zombie mode.

Beyond...

As I am now on the quest to learn some 35 (yes - it's a lot!) or so songs for our show one song replays over and over in my head. It's a song sung by Eve before she discovers the tree of knowledge. She is singing about an unexplained urge to BE more and DO more. She knows she is meant to stay in the garden and live a repetitive lifestyle of endless perfect days, but she feels deep down she is itching for something else. Do any of you ever feel this way? The more I listen to the song the more I get that itching myself. I am completely happy with the way my life is going...I have a great job, amazing boyfriend, family and friends I love being with...not that I would trade any of that for the world. I just kind of feel like I need some sort of adventure. That's why I have really enjoyed the past few weeks. I'll work a four day week then race off for a three day weekend somewhere else. This past weekend was out of state, and this weekend will just be Atlanta, but I always feel energized leaving town. When I was in New York this past October I feel like that void was filled. It was pure joy for me running on three hours of sleep a night...roaming the busy streets full of lights and glitz until the wee hours and being around all kinds of different people. The awesome shops I had never been to, beautiful architecture of churches and old buildings, museums full of art, blocks and blocks sounding with street musicians. Sometimes (okay, most times) I just feel bored with the same day in day out routine. I get sudden urges to run on the beach and swim in the ocean, rock climb, hike through a huge forest, learn to play a musical instrument. While I would hardly call learning an instrument an "adventure" I need something to take me out of my BLAH state right now. I love the feeling of having something all week to look forward to on Friday, and I don't want to lose that. I think I will make it a regular habit of having a mini-adventure every weekend to feed my restless spirit a little. This weekend I am going with my mom & step-dad to visit my aunt in north Atlanta. We are planning a big bonfire for Saturday night, and I am going to try to talk them into driving even further north to the mountains (what they call wine country). We have done this once before and it was fantastic! We will wake up early, make a big breakfast, and spend all day walking the vineyards and sampling delicious homemade wines in the cellars. Mini-getaway, here I come! It's no NYC or California, but it will do for now :-) I'll let you all know how it turns out. Any more suggestions for more things to fill up my bland weekends would be greatly appreciated! Especially those of you who live in Georgia and know what's around!


The Spark Of Creation

Beyond,beyond
It sounds full of wind and mist, doesn't it
It means other things exist, doesn't it
Beyond, beyond
It says Adam leave your list, doesn't it
Father why does my head feel this joy this dread
since the moment I said Beyond!
I've got an itching on the tips of my fingers
I've got a boiling in the back of my brain
I've got a hunger burning inside me, cannot be denied
I've got feeling that the Father who made us
When he was kindling a pulse in my veins
He left a tiny spark of that fire, smoldering inside
The spark of creation, is flickering within me
The spark of creation,is blazing in my blood
A bit of the fire that lit up the stars
And breathed life into the mud, the first inspiration
The spark creation
I see a mountain and I want to climb it
I river and I want to leave shore
Where there was nothing let there be something, something made by me
There's things waiting for me to invent them
There's worlds waiting for me to explore
I am an echo of the eternal cry of Let there be!
The spark of creation, burning bright within me
The spark of creation, won't let me rest at all
Until I discover or build or uncover
A thing that I can call, my celebration
Of the spark creation
The spark of creation, may it burn forever
The spark creation, I am a keeper of the flame
We think all we want is a lifetime leisure
Each perfect day the same endless vacation
Well that's alright if you're a kind crustacean
But when you're born with an imagination
Sooner of later you're feeling the fire get hotter and higher
The spark of creation!!!