From 'I love you' to 'I can't live without you'

Enjoy!

Look what else I found!

I feel bad for some of these kids, I'm freaked out watching this and I'm in bed.

P.S. Sometimes I procrastinate going to sleep...

P.S.S. I was so funny in 2008 (I highly recommend you go and read entries from September)

I found them!

Spring Cleaning!

on a friday night. :(

Look what still fits after 7 years!

I made these my junior year in high school. I was "artsy" and made my own clothes (by buying jeans at gap and sewing on a flower with old rags and drawing on them with a sharpie). Those were the days. . .

They kind of give me a front butt now. I'll take that as a sign of maturity and spiritual growth.

New Job!

I got a job as a dog walker!

Look how cute I can be:

Okay, let's be realistic: I will never look like that. My calves are never going to be that thin and I don't wear heals (or skirts above my knee).

This is more like it:

Okay, I'm not that lazy.

This is what I will actually look like:

Minus the backpack plus a dog.

I don't know why I thought it was important to share that with you. I guess I'm really pumped about my new job. I can put on all my future resumes that I was a dog walker - something that takes hard work, skill, and dedication. Seriously, my resume kicks butt compared to yours.

My Personal Environmental Impact

I've almost killed a whole tree!*

*Correction - I have almost killed 1% of a tree. My bad.

Broiled Portobello Mushroom "Pizzas"

I have gotten 2 requests for this recipe and I have procrastinated long enough! Here you are, Rita and Holly!

I got this recipe from The Complete Vegan Cookbook. This cookbook is amazing for healthy, feel-good recipes (bonus: they weren't too vegan-y). This recipe is really simple and can be made with non-vegan ingredients. It makes 4 "pizzas" but I would say it serves 2, maybe 3. It's one of my favorite dishes to make when I have a friend over for lunch because it's easy to prep ahead of time and tastes great.

Broiled Portobello Mushroom "Pizzas"

4 medium portobello mushrooms

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 canned tomatoes, drained

1/2 cup finely chopped fresh spinach leaves

2 tablespoons minced fresh basil leaves

2 cloves garlic

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 course dry break crumbs

1/2 cup shredded soy cheese (or just normal mozzarella cheese)

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat the broiler.

Pop off stems of the mushrooms - wipe off any bits of soil. Sprinkle caps with salt and pepper and place mushrooms cap side down on a broiler pan (I always put aluminum foil on the pan for easy clean up). Place pan about 6 inches from heat source and cook until lightly browned and tenderized, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the tomatoes, spinach, basil, garlic, oregano, and remaining salt and pepper in a mixing bowl. Toss to combine well and set aside. In a separate bowl, combine bread crumbs, soy cheese, and olive oil. Toss to combine well and set aside.

When mushrooms caps are ready, turn them over and spoon in tomato filling evenly into the caps. Top evenly with the bread crumb mixture. Return the pan the broiler and cook until cheese has melted and the crumbs are lightly browned, about 4 to 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

Note: I almost always end up burning the bread crumb mixture and while it looks nasty, it still tastes fine. But you can avoid this by carefully watching the "pizzas" and constantly checking on them after 1 minute under the broiler.

Enjoy!

Happy Monday!

This never fails to make me smile on Monday mornings:

enjoy!

23rd Birthday Bash at Viceroy

Thanks to all the friends that came out. It was a really really great night.

Couscous Confetti Salad

I was feeling really depressed today. And not the "I'm sad but everything is great" kind of depression, it was the "I'm sad and everything is falling apart, so I'm going to climb into my bed and lay there for two weeks" kind of depression. So, I climb into bed and prepared my body for two weeks of laying there. . . but I got bored after about 3 hours. So, I decided to go grocery shopping and make Couscous Confetti Salad. And folks, it was as good as the title claims - a real party to swing me back into happy land.

I loved making this! I used to never make/like salads like this because my social media always told me salads have lettuce. This has whole wheat couscous, carrot, green onion, parsley, and red pepper. But despite the absence of lettuce, I loved it! It was a lot of chopping but it's so healthy and I can just pop it into my mouth right out of the fridge.

That's shredded carrot (not cheese). It was my first time shredding a carrot and I have to be honest- I felt like I was torturing it to death.

RIP carrot

That's a lot Couscous Confetti Salad.

Close up!

Also, I don't know why blogger underlines everything after a upload a picture. Usually I go through some work to undo it but tonight I am too lazy.

Funny Picture!

I'm tired! (take #2)

I took a picture in case you didn't believe me.

My to-do list is overwhelming. I'm exhausted just thinking about it. It's strange how a thought about a to-do list can be exhausting. Americans are weird. I can't help but think that if I was born in France maybe I wouldn't be so exhausted all the time. I learned in class that they eat baguette with almost every meal. That sounds nice.

Oh gag. I'm procrastinating on my exhaustive to-do list- it's making me more exhausted. Oh, life- just let me day dream about being French.

It's my birthday!

I made Strawberry Génoise - a French cake that is slightly dense and not too sweet filled with whipped cream and strawberries. It doesn't have any leaven (yeast, baking power, baking soda) in it, so I had to use beaters* to whip the eggs for 8 minutes so it would rise.

The French cake was delicious! I would say it's very close to short bread. Because mine had strawberries, it reminded me of strawberry shortcake but maybe a little better.

*I borrowed the beaters and returned them to my friend before I made the whipped cream. That was a bad decision. I whipped the whip cream by hand and now I am very sore.

I'm hungry!

Why do I get so hungry after I go to bed!? I'm so hungry right now.

I want the following:

Yes, please!

Dramatic News Story

I don't think I've ever read anything more hateful (or dramatic) on a news website:

"No Fun Forecast: Stupid winter cold will not let up for the foreseeable future"

*Although, I must say: If anybody is aloud to complain, it would be me. Because it might snow on my birthday - which is March 29th. But you know what!? I can't control the weather, so there really is no reason to complain. Because complaining gets you nowhere.

Traveling

There is something magical about traveling. I don't know what it is, but getting away from home helps me relax, think, and re-evaluate my life. My biggest growing moments (or realizations) have happened while traveling. I become inspired and creative. It's magical and I need to do it more often.

Feather Earrings!

I am obsessed with these earrings!!!

I need to go out and buy more outfits to match them.

Simplicity . . .

Trying to be simple. . . AGAIN- Why is it so hard to be simple?

Simple: holding onto what you need, being organized, having space, and making time for what matters.

Here are my struggles:

• Getting rid of old crap. I don't need it but there is a demon whispering in my ear, "you might need it someday." Go away, I won't need this crap.
• I'm lazy - it's easier to shove all the Tupperware into the cupboard than to find the matching lids and stack it pretty.
• I'm a 'piler'. I stack everything into piles- mail, homework, books, magazines, recipes, etc. And then the piles never get touched. . . until I need something that is very important and I frantically look through ever pile making a HUGE mess of every pile. It's awful - stupid piles.
• I'm also a 'hider'. When I have people over and stuff everywhere and I have 5 minutes to clean, I hide everything. I cram it where ever it can go - usually closets but not always. I have stuffed dirty dishes in the oven before.
• I procrastinate. I find myself usually resting before I start working. For example, I will think "Okay, I'll watch one episode of This American Life and THEN I will start cleaning." But it never works that way! Because the internet sucks me in like a black hole.

Writing out these struggles makes me realize how easy it would be to overcome them. I'm going to start being simple, starting now!

Well first, I need to organize- I am going to go organize, starting now!

I have no idea what the I.W.W. is but I'm joining it!

Ellen Degeneres

I have spent an hour and a half watching Ellen youtube clips. I love this woman. She is upbeat, positive, and all around a wonderful human being. She has the ability to make anybody smile and feel special. She is great at loving people and people love her for it. Sorry mom, I have a new role model and it's Ellen Degeneres.

Life Lesson #1

Do laundry at least once a week.

I think this life lesson is the key to maintaining a happy, healthy, clean wardrobe. Which really is a win-win situation because then I am a happy, healthy, clean person. Which is an even bigger win-win situation because then the world is a happy, healthy, clean world.

I am positive that the only reason Grand Rapids has been so cloudy and sad recently is because I haven't done my laundry. Here is a picture:

Yikes!! That is a lot of laundry. My mother would be so disappointed in me. I hate doing laundry. It's my least favorite chore. I hate sorting the clothes, doing the whole washing machine thing, taking them out, folding them, and putting them away. The putting them away thing is usually what gets me - I will fold them and then leave in the laundry basket. And that's a really bad idea! Because then my new dirty clothes have no where to go and when I need a shirt its usually in the bottom of the laundry basket so when I'm scrambling to look for it I end up unfolding all the other clean clothes, throwing them on the floor, and mixing them up with dirty ones. THEN my room is a disaster! ALL because of laundry!

But if I did my laundry once a week, it would not be such a big deal because I would have about 2 pairs of pants and 5 shirts to wash. And that's easy!

Dear Mom,

I am going to try to follow my new life lesson and do my laundry once a week.

Love, Annie

Recent happenings. . . .

I saw Mike Birbiglia. He's a comedian from New York. It was really funny. I think laughing is good for your soul. Watch this:

I have also been eating way too much Taco Bell.

Man, I love this place so much. Probably too much. Please don't ever tell me the calorie counts of the cheesy fiesta potatoes, nachos supreme, or the bean and rice burrito.

I bought a 5 pound bag of oranges for $2.99.

and as of two minutes ago, I might be late to tutoring. O well, I would rather be blogging.

I need a cool Grand Rapids bumper sticker.

I'm cooking a special secret surprise dinner tomorrow. I'm really excited.

I'm tired!