welcome to nc!

A sleepy, tree-lined, generously sidewalked neighborhood.

  

Many a garden, staked up with eco-friendly and beautiful bamboo.

The suspicious feeling one has entered a time warp to 1969.

 

(with a few modern issues)

Agave and soy milk for your iced coffee, simply placed on the counter like normal people add them?!

Ubiquitous adorable bikes.

 

And my dream school. I hope. Someday.

   

The following is a compilation post from two separate trips to my new state (!) of North Carolina. The first time I ever went I already catalogued in the blog (it’s worth a read because there are LEMURS!!). Then I took another trip this past May which I just lacked the organization to post about til now.

My missions were to:

- Get the lay of the land (check)
- Get stoked to live there (check)
- Reconnect with a wonderful friend with whom I attended summer camp (check!)
- Find myself a roommate (not check, but it’s for the best since the place and person with whom I ended up are both infinitely more awesome than the respective places and roommates I encountered on the first trip)

So the above pictures were captured during various meanders along the streets of Carrboro (my future town!)and on the UNC Campus (my future school?! PLEASE?!). Does anyone else wander neighborhoods taking pictures of eating establishments? ACTUALLY, I ended up randomly running into another camp friend at a bar on my last trip (so random and awesome!) and she said she was moving to France in October to teach English (awesome) and had opened up Google Earth to explore her hometown and make sure there were pastry shops (super awesome! And there are 4!)

This combined a pun and wings, which made me think Steve would be all over it, but apparently he’s a vegetarian now… so it’s posted solely for your amusement.

 

Yes please.

Yes please.

The most exciting dining establishment I encountered on my May trip was Panzanella. Its lovely courtyard:

 

And its exciting and admirable mission:

 

Meant it was obviously going to be my destination for a wonderful single lady’s lunch. So exciting to read a menu and actually know it’s of ethical origins and I can eat it! Went for the spicy spring chicken wrap:

Aaggggggggggh it was so delicious!

 

That afternoon I met with someone about an apartment who was totally wrong for me and I’m totally better off without her and I didn’t even like the walk in closet (shh… yes I did). Roommate rejections. Very dramatic. It’s like dating: you meet someone on Craigslist, you send some tentative emails, then they want to Skype. You talk, you laugh, you feel a connection and then… poof. Sorry. It’s not you. I need to live with another college student.

Anyway, I ended up with someone way better- you’ll see in the next post!

That place I looked at that day was within walking distance of Whole Foods, which at the time thrilled me but retrospectively I can now say would have been dangerous for my wallet. With Exhibit A of why being my exciting purchases for the road trip home.

BUT, you say, this is all ANCIENT HISTORY!

How true.

I returned to the Triangle this past weekend to help move someone in. Someone named my boyfriend, who’s joining me in the NC adventure!

We were thrilled to be reunited and in our new town, so we hit up a bar! Slash restaurant. We’d both admired Southern Rail’s charm on respective past trips to Carrboro, so we made our way there to spend a beautiful evening eating and drinking al fresco.

Waited on a table, and began by people watching at the bar area.

  

I saw the bartender making someone something beautiful with strawberries, so I requested one of the same “but not too sweet”. Got fizzy water instead of Sprite, which is good cause otherwise it woulda been too much sugar. What I got was kind of a variation on a mojito. Yum! Steve got a fat tire.

This is ONE drink in DC:

(Note: I tipped! It wasn’t filled in yet!)

We ate outside in what basically felt like an enchanted forest.

Steve got something beautiful with cucumbers and cilantro and basil and gin. Next time, Southern Rail. This is mine.

  

Southern Rail immediately earned my undying loyalty by having tater tots in the menu. One of the appetizer options was basically tater tot nachos: topped with mushrooms, onions, chili, and cheese. Mind boggling. This picture fails to convey how ENORMOUS this was. We took leftovers in a box and then fed them to my friend we ran into at the bar :) (She’d been drinking on an empty stomach. Whoo!)

 

I got the black bean burger, which was delicious but I was basically already full from the appetizer, so I ate like two bites :) But the patty was clearly homemade and spicy, and the avocado spread was delightful. I ate my side salad out of duty, as I hadn’t yet had any vegetables (well unless you count the tater tots and ketchup… which I cannot do in good conscience). Steve got a fab, garlicky pasta and veggie dish.

Then free concert across the street, whoo! This is where I ran into my camp friend… outside the ladies’ room. Steve said from his seat he just saw me outside the bathroom high fiving someone and was like, “Gosh, she’s really very friendly”. Heh.

On to the next morning.

I’d immediately called my good pal Andrea (who I’ll sometimes call Love Fern, and she me) when I knew I was going down for the weekend, and she requested a meeting for Saturday brunch. She said the best place in town for it was Guglhupf, and since I can’t imagine any place better I’ll just believe her and go here for the rest of my life.

It is SO BEAUTIFUL!

 

I mean my gosh there is a fountain. There were lots of adorable families with adorable children. One little boy just wandered back and forth on this ledge, staring in wonderment at the water. Precious.

 

Steve and Andrea both got a scrumptious looking egg somethingorother.

 

And this was my beautiful plate.

Not picture is a guzzled iced coffee after a not-so-stellar night of sleep. I also got this gazpacho, partly because gazpacho tastes like summer.. and partially because I was suffering from veggie guilt.

And I got the most FANTASTIC bircher muesli! I am obsessed with this stuff, and used to try to make it at home, with very little success. This is the best American incarnation I’ve had. (My ultimate trophy, however, goes to the hotel buffet I got to enjoy in Thailand. Not likely to taste it again for awhile, though my little sister is actually there now!)

This is just part 1 of the North Carolina posts. There will of course be many parts, as it’s my new home (!) but the next installment will introduce you to Steve and my’s dope new places, dope new roommates, and dope new neighborhood.

sunburn in March

I know my last post made it seem like I was having wild revelations, and while I maintain that that is totally true and there will be more posts on that subject, the truth is I already quit being the unproductive angst-bucket of recent months that had been a large factor in my decreased posting.

Because the SUN CAME OUT! Horrific sign of irreversible damage we have inflicted on our planet though it is, I am so so happy the sun came out. 80 degree March meant relaxing evening walks listening to crickets; gabbing at the work picnic table enjoying sun al fresco.

It also meant my usual craving for cold, refreshing food which had lately been exemplified by this rendition of hummus:

 

The deets:

Cilantro Hummus

1 small clove garlic
1 1/2 green onions (the whole thing)
a few handfuls of cilantro (perhaps 1/4 cup tightly packed?)
1 can of chickpeas (I used Goya low-sodium and thus only semi-drained it since the water was low in sodium and high in chickpea flavor and thinned the hummus quite nicely)
juice of 1.5 lemons
olive oil as desired

Whirr up garlic, onions and cilantro in the food processor til in little bitty dice. Add chickpeas and lemon juice and whirr until near your desired consistency. Stream in olive oil from the top as desired (I used perhaps 2 tsp? It’s all personal preference).

SO refreshing.

A great wrap: Flatout (or fake Costco flatout!)

 

Cucumbers (this was leftovers from a Mark Bittman cucumber salad with yogurt)

 

Greens, ideally of the peppery and exciting farmer’s market variety

Fact: if you freeze your wraps and then thaw them by toasting them in the toaster oven, you may turn them into… kind of… large crackers.

It was still an enjoyable wrap to eat.

Particularly on the deck. SO nice eating lunch at home on Thursdays, my day with a random gap between work and class.

Get to watch Sheila romp around in the growing foliage.

Lunch also involved a combination that is DELICIOUS: cottage cheese and strawberries. That’s it. It’s a flavor thing but it’s also a texture thing.

 

Crackly-licious wrap. In the sunlight :D When there’s great light I get so enthusiastic about blogging!

  

A complete lunch: cause you gotta hydrate, too. So much sun!

 

The next stuff isn’t all that cool or fresh or healthy, but is at least photographed in natural light :D

These charming square plates hail from, as perhaps regular readers can predict, my all-time-favorite all-things-delicious-from-Latin-America, Cafe Sazon!

Met up with Patricia for a long-overdue megachat. We were meant to just get coffee and go for a walk but I was running late but by the time I got there Patricia had gotten a pastry. Since I hadn’t had but a half banana for breakfast (had an upset stomach that day and have actually, on and off, for the following week, and continue to as I write this now, eesh!), and suddenly gained an appetite second wind, I ordered an empanada. And my beloved api morado. And then, since then have a $5 minimum, one of their alfajores. Let’s call it brunch.

Empanada de queso, fresh hot out of the oven. *Swoon*

  

Has anyone had an alfajor? It’s a super crumbly and sweet and delicious cookie filled with dulce de leche, rolled around in coconut just for good measure. I split it with Patricia- thoroughly great!

 

And then it was time to talk for a lonnnnnnnnng time (a 5.5 mile walk’s work of conversation) and stop to admire the pond.

 

SUNBATHING. TURTLES. I LOVE SPRING SO MUCH!

alone

I am someone who recharges when I am alone. Somewhat the classic definition of the introvert. I like people (even love some of them), but my energy reappears when I have time just me, processing what’s in my head, going through the little rituals of the day with no one interfering.

Yesterday morning I woke up to snow in an iffy mood. In part due to the fact that it was 7:30 and I had barely slept all night. Read in bed for a bit. Finally, padded downstairs, made myself a dimly lit breakfast.

 

I’ve turned into such a grouch about snow in my old age. No more childhood delight. Replaced with panic over power outages and driving on ice.

I made protein pancakes, because I wanted pancakes with butter and syrup but wanted them to keep me full longer than thirty seconds.

So, protein powder it was.

Like all protein pancakes, these were kind of just mediocre because my protein powder (from Trader Joe’s) just doesn’t taste very good. The texture was a lot better this time, though, so I spose I’ll share what I did in order that if you have protein powder that tastes okay you can make and appreciate them:

1 scoop protein powder, 1/4 C. plus 2 T whole wheat flour, 1 egg, 1/4 cup plus 2 T milk, 1/2 tsp. baking powder, pinch of cinnamon, dash vanilla. Serves 2.

With hot tea, naturally.

 

And butter and syrup :D (I pulled out almond butter but I ignored it. These were good with BUTTER and SYRUP because they are PANCAKES and sometimes you should just go for it) 

They did indeed do a pretty good job of leaving me full. And I got to eat butter and syrup. Did I mention that?

I did my next Saturday ritual of the farmer’s market which was sort of nice but I still couldn’t shake the persistently low mood.

So, in what may perhaps an enduring Saturday tradition, I took a hot bath and listened to Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me in the tub. It was GREAT!

Nothing so revitalizing as a hot bath. Even Sylvia Plath said so in The Bell Jar, and Lord knows, she could use some cheering.

My brain is still a bit jumbled, evident from my general daily feeling of craziness and from the fact that I seem to’ve quit sleeping at night.

I’ve also been ruminating on the difference between feeling alone and being alone.

Feeling alone is wretched. Feeling like your thoughts are in a constant, inescapable cycle that leaves you feeling stressed and freaked out and disgusted with yourself.

For me the antidote to being alone is reaching out to others. First, reminding myself that everyone feels that way sometimes, especially at points in their lives where things change and the future is uncertain and one lacks control over how things are progressing, and at what pace.

Also, just hearing how everyone is doing. Dissecting our lives with Steve over cafe au laits (or cafes au lait?) at Dean and Deluca. Hearing “Forget You” on the radio and having to call my girl Erin to reminisce about duetting that song and singing it to our Americorps kiddos, then catching up on life. Getting an unexpected jingle from my friend Marisa and spending an hour catching up on our past years (she is doing Teach for America and makes any stress I get right now look like small potatoes). Checking in on a family member who’d been having some serious struggles and seems to be getting help. Bringing dinner to church friends with a death in the family.

I need others to survive and find meaning! It’s worth remembering, reaching out, and appreciating the feeling of togetherness.

And then I can be alone, eating my lunch under a bouquet of lilies from our church friends.

I am still trying, with only some success, to eat well and take care of myself. As Steve pointed out yesterday, nobody has to be perfect. Nobody is perfect. Nobody CAN BE perfect. If you do something better, that’s still something.

   

This was actually a HIGHLY delicious meal, with the star ingredient (my first taste and tragically the last of what had been a large jar, quickly decimated by the family), OKRA PICKLES!

FANTASTIC veggie wrap: mashed avocado, carrots, heavenly sweet wee farmer’s market cucumbers, greens.

 

And for Steve, who literally asked me yesterday, “So how is your yogurt stash doing?” because these are the romantic and normal conversations I have with my boyfriend, a bowl of yogurt. With apple and cinnamon.