Wednesday, June 29, 2011

The magic & mystery of Dairy Month

June Dairy Month, an annual tradition started in 1937, began as a way to help distribute the extra milk created when cows started on pasture in the warm summer months. Today, its rich history continues, with communities, companies and people from across the country observing June Dairy Month in a variety of ways. In the Midwest, dairy farms and families often open their gates to visitors at breakfasts and tours.

In the South, many communities sponsor cattle shows and princess contests with coronation ceremonies. One of the traditional highlights is a parade, featuring county and regional dairy princesses, town officials, floats and marching bands. Other activities include cow milking contests, cow visits at zoos, or banks offering free milk and ice cream cones.

I am a huge fan of dairy.  I just love milk & ice cream & butter {international butter club, anyone?} & cheese...you get the picture.  My fantastic eating plan allows for ample amounts of non-fat diary, & this is really what has helped me.  Smith Creamery is a dairy farm here in Louisiana that is regionally quite famous.  Every chef gets their milk & butter from there, we first found them at the local farmer's market, the products are sold at Whole Foods - it's awesome.  The skim milk tastes like whole milk.  I loooooooooove it.

Yesterday I went grocery shopping at Whole Foods - mainly to purchase non-fat yogurt & milk for the week.  I went the usual section.  No Smith Creamery there.  Were they all sold out?  I tracked down a worker & made my inquiry.  He told me,

"The creamery blew up."

What?  I started laughing before I realized he was serious.

"Did all the animals die?"

"No, ma'am, the cows were all out at pasture.  Lucky 'cuz all the buildings burned down."

I mean...can you imagine? 

Imagine my surprise when this morning, talking on the phone with one of my bosses (born & raised in rural Louisiana) about our current project & he randomly says to me, "well, I'd been counting on the magic of Dairy Month (June) to get us to where we need to be (with our current project).  'Cept now the creamery went & blew itself up so I'm a little worried about the voodoo getting us too."

So be careful out there...

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

If I've invited you over for dinner in the near future, chances are this is what I'll be serving you

Image via

I made this dry-rubbed salmon over the weekend, & oh my goodness if it wasn’t the most amazing thing ever!!! I tweaked the sauce because I’m on a diet & used frozen peas instead of the tomatillo & avacado, & plain non-fat yogurt instead of the sour cream. I served the flaked salmon with the sauce drizzled on top & cut up raw green peppers & radishes to dip in the sauce. It was so good I made it again the next day.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Friendship


Painting via

I've feel lucky that up until this point in my life, I've haven't experienced the female right of passage known as the "frenemy" or "toxic girl friend."  Unfotunately, this is no longer the case.

It's hard to know when it's time to let someone go, whether it's a boyfriend or a girl friend, & that has always been a tricky line for me to find.  I've stayed in some relationships way too long, & in other cases, not opened up to let a friendship develop.  I suppose that's the risk you take by being a human, & I'm of the mindset that it's far better to take the risk to have the chance to find something really wonderful.

Anyway, I digress.  After rather two torturous weeks of a fighting with a friend, I've concluded that it's time to cut ties.  I'd rather only spend time with people who I adore & value,  & most importantly, with people who love & adore me.  Everyone's time and energy are very precious, & it's useless to try to force situations to improve.  I'm also glad that I was semi-courageous & told each other how I felt, & that it was best not to be in touch for the time being.  This is a serious improvement from the standard "fade-out" that most of us employ when executing a breakup. 

It also makes me so grateful & happy to know that I'm blessed with true friendship & sisterhood (literally in some cases - love you, JAR!) from so many wonderful girls & women.  As I have experienced this recent sadness & hurt feelings, it's encouraged me to call my friends & family & express to them how much I love & care for them.  Making those calls is a very wonderful way to pass the afternoon, by the way.  "Hi, mom - I love you!" 

Nothing could be more delicious.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

{Squeal! I love summer!}

Guess who is the proud owner of 6 hot pink star-shaped popsicle pops?

Homemade popsicles, here I come.

Now....how to make a popsicle out of vegetables...?  :)

Friday, June 24, 2011

We're walking, we're walking

Want to hear something crazy awesome?

I've lost 20 pounds. 

Yes I have!!!!!!!! 

The classier part of me feels like this probably shouldn't be discussed with my internet friends, but frankly, I'm so proud of myself that I don't really care. 

So yes, I'm very pleased.  Although I am quite frankly shocked at how little a visible difference the loss has made.  I mean really...I thought 20 pounds would mean all my problems were solved & peace & good will would reign the earth.  I honestly thought I would go down a pant size at least!  I must have a very slender...spleen...now...but I want skinny legs & skinny arms & a tight bum!!! 

So I will keep going.  But I'm still way way proud of myself, because I cannot recall a single time in my life when I've ever successfully lost a nice amount of weight (without the help of the flu, or something).  I've always been pretty average sized, veering to the pear shaped when not careful.  I have always wanted to really kick my butt into gear & get superfit.  Fortune smiled on me when my new neighbors (new as in February) moved in & opened a small gym ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE HOUSE.  They are fun, tough, affordable, & so supportive.  I found a food plan that works for me & doesn't taste awful. 

My original goal was 20.  Now that I'm here & I see what I see, I need to make a new goal.  Come join me!

My day as a shoe

If I were a shoe, this is the shoe I would be right now. 

Thankfully, my weekend plans are really lovely, & I can't wait to start feeling like this again:

These shoes made Princess/Duchess Catherine even more beautiful than ever! 
Absolute perfection.  She is stunning. 

Thursday, June 23, 2011

If you can't say anything nice, please don't say anything at all

I've had some people get into it with me today.  I'm not exactly angry, more just perplexed with hurt feelings.  

I'm fully aware that I come to the table armed with ideas & opinions.  But I also know that I take time to listen, change course when someone else's idea is better, & know how to work through a conversation. 

And I'll be honest, I'm getting pretty annoyed.  I don't just tell every single person around me exactly what I think of them all the time.  I've learned the hard way that I absolutely must think about what I say before I say it.  It's just not a grown up option to be so reckless.  And I feel...reckled...which obviously isn't a word but seems to perfectly describe how I feel.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Reading rainbow

I'm taking the liberty of adding a new resolution at the mid-year point.  I've decided that for my own personal & literary benefit, I would like to read one classic piece of literature each year.  What?  I'm in grad school, I can't read one a month.  I can't even remember the last time I read a non-school book.  Well, that's not totally true, I reread one of my favorite beach bunny books yesterday while laying out.  Rereading doesn't count. 

I think I'm going to start with The Great Gastby but if you have any suggestions, please leave a comment or send me an email! 

Merci, xoxo

Monday, June 20, 2011

Weekendy things

These days, by the time Friday arrives I'm kind of...done.  Stressed, exhausted beyond belief, & moody.  Charming, no?

No.

The best part of Friday afternoon is picking up Tulip from her doggie day care.  It's her special Friday treat, & she LOOOOOOVES it.  My favorite Friday thing to do it take pictures of her as she is snoozing in the front seat, exhausted with happiness. 

After that, I was meant to go to a JLNO poolside cocktail party.  Unfortunately, my outfit was partially (and unintentionally) hijacked by another party girl who lives in my house, but that's ok because I'll have another one & she looked supercute for her party.

Our Gigi is coming!  Which means our dwelling needs a fair bit of cleaning & conditioning before her arrival.  Most of Saturday & Sunday were spent glamourously doing laundry, cleaning, organizing, folding, etc.....I did make sure to save time to lay out & read under the neighbor's palm trees.  It was lovely.  That meant I sacrificed time to go grocery shopping but it was totally worth it.  I needed a recharge & sometimes you gotta find some you time.

My rose garden is feeling a little parched  & scorched because it is so bloody hot here!  And barely any rain!  Oh well, when the flowers bloom they are lovely.

And then all too soon, it's Monday again.  Monday does not equal funday around here, so we do our best just to not talk about it.  AND, bonus round for me, I got up (ok, fine, Jess got me up) & hauled my bones to the gym this muggy morning.  It was awesome!  Monday is better ALL DAY LONG when I know I've already killed it at the gym.  Rar.  Who knows what wonders tomorrow will bring?

You are what you eat

We've all heard that saying before, we all know it's true, blah blah blah. Here's further proof.

Today, after a weekend of indulging in some ghetto microwave s'mores & more than my share of graham crackers, I went to gym to detox.  As I worked out & started sweating copiously, I literally smelled like a graham cracker.  There are worse things to smell like, so I feel pretty blessed overall, but never have I ever experienced something that so clearly demonstrates that we do in fact become what we eat. 

From here on out:  PROTEIN, VEGGIES & H2O

Friday, June 17, 2011

After a hurricane comes a rainbow

So after one of the most trying weeks of the year came one of the best weeks.  And yesterday might have been one of the best days of my LIFE.  It definitely ranks in the top 10.

One of the most important things I've done while being is grad school is join the Tulane Entrepreneurs Association, and was eventually voted Vice President of the association.  I was responsible for running the business plan competition, a nationally recognized comp, and it was awesome.  I found hundreds of judges, solicited money for the prizes, coordinated sponsors, dealt with the competitors, you name it, I did it.  Much of my ability to do this came from a previous awesome job and organizing destination conferences.  (C + M, love you guys.)  I ran the TBPC for two years.  The first year was beyond amazing.  The second year was very, very, difficult.  Lots of additional issues, compounded with increased pressure from my new job made this year's experience nearly unbearable.  If I could have quit, I would have.  If I could have run away, I would have.  I very nearly lost my sanity and came thisclose to not passing a few of my spring classes.  On the day before the competition, I finally met one of my final round judges in person. 

It turns out that he does exactly what I want to do.  On a different scale, yes, and in a different genre, yes, but we quickly realized how closely aligned our goals are.  I want to produce.  He is a producer.  I want to stay in New Orleans after I graduate.  He wants to expand into the NOLA market, because there are not any prod companies based here.

At the Gala event following the competition, I worked up the nerve to ask him if I could come shadow him for a day.  He did me one better.  He said, why don't you come out and intern for a couple weeks with me?

Cue the heavenly chorus.

After some lengthy negotiations with my academic advisor, and coordinating work and school schedules, it's locked & loaded.  I am so stoked.

So basically, he's going to teach me a lot of stuff, and I’ll prob go out there one more time before I graduate, with the ultimate plan in the next year and half to form a producing partnership. 


To crib a phrase from QBS, the only word to describe how I'm feeling right now is HEARTGLOW.

Finally, finally, finally, I can see the bend in the road ahead.  The tiny light at the end of the tunnel.

As my lovely LL said, "Holy crap, that's so awesome."  (She is a television producer & knows her stuff.)

My other lovely JRK started crying when I told her.  (She is a writer & former producer's assistant & knows her stuff.)
This is one of those moments that you hope exists, that shows you that hanging on is worth it, that working hard can pay off, & that all the muck & mire you've been plowing through has a purpose.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Enough with the pity party

I'm talking to an amazing producer next week about the possibility of a summer internship.
Vacation is on the horizon.
I love my Tulip & she loves me.
The sun is shining & today is a new day.
A very sweet old man spoke at church today.  His defining feature is his use of the phrase, "I love all y'all."

I love all y'all too.

Friday, June 10, 2011

dih-skur-ij

A Verb, meaning:
1. to deprive of  hope or confidence; dishearten; dispirit.

2. to dissuade (usually followed by from ).

3. to obstruct by opposition or difficulty
 
That's some sad stuff.  Except the best part of the word?  The COURAGE part.  Never let go of it.  You cannot let go of your courage and your hope.  Even if you're the last person on earth who believes in you, you must always hold your head up, continue to hope for something better, and have the courage to keep on going. 

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Randoms

I just wrote an entire post about something that is bothering me and then deleted the whole thing.  A dear diary moment isn't quite the same when the diary is the WWW.  Although I do feel better, I'd rather just post the whole thing. 

I'm curious though - as someone who has maintained a strictly untidy existence, why is it that all of a sudden cleaning makes me feel better?  The end result not withstanding, it's a tiny miracle.  Fold a load of laundry, save your soul. 

I'm gonna need some more laundry...

Summer Goals

  1. Get really good at my job
  2. Finish the script #1 and submit
  3. Be cool, stay in school
  4. Get super fit!!  Bootcamp, tennis, & yoga
  5. Get tan
  6. Have fun
All are welcome to come along.

I just love when I am right. Even if it's 5 years later

Once upon a time, in a wonderful place far far away, I had a wonderful job working at a talent agency.  Except for the slave wages I was paid, it was mostly, completely perfect.  One of my favorite extracurricular parts of the job was attending the theater most nights on the lookout for new, young talent.  Juilliard was a favorite haunt of mine, and I saw many amazing performances there.  {My favorite?  A Valentine's Day production of The Scottish Play [Shakespear, starts with Mac and ends with beth].  Divine.  The VERY best way to spend a single-girl Valentines with a good friend.}  I digress.  I saw a girl a few times who was AMAZING.  She was so talented and beautiful.  I reported back each time that this girl was someone we should look closer at and interview.  My bosses disagreed.

Fast forward a few years.  Not only does she have a starring role on True Blood, but she is making her way in features as well!  It's always good to know that other people {no matter how obliquely} agree with your taste.  :)

http://www.deadline.com/2011/06/true-bloods-rutina-wesley-lands-lead-in-harrowing-rwanda-tale-left-to-tell/

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Thoughts

Do you ever wonder who reads your blog?  Do you ever wonder if anyone reads your blog?  Do you ever wonder why you blog?  Typically, I don't. 

Except when I want to write a certain something because I'm feeling a certain way, or maybe want to share a certain something, and then I stop to think, hmmm what if so-and-so {enter any name here} reads this?  What will they think?  Will they think I'm silly?  Narcississtic?  Stupid?  Smart?  And then I think, well, maybe Dr. Seuss had it right all along:  be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.  Except that it's hard to do, turns out.  If you asked me, I would tell you that generally speaking, it doesn't really matter to me what people think of me.  Except in reality, that's not true.  I greatly care about how I am perceived by my team at work, I get embarassed when I find out someone in one of my classes thought I said something stupid, and on and on and on.  When did I give away my power to be myself?  When did I stop being myself and start trying to be the person I think the other person thinks they want me to be?  I don't have an answer.

Oprah told me {and millions of you too} that until we face our true desires and passions in life, we won't ever have a chance to become who we are supposed to become.  But what if you don't know what your true desires and passions are?  I feel so many things bubbling up inside me that want to be explored and dreams I want to pursue but how do you make your dream-catching your reality?  Because the real reality is - we all need to work, go to school, cook dinner, plant the garden, do the laundry, go to the gym, get up on time {I rarely succeed at this}, and so on.  But if that's all you do and there is no room for imagination, passion, dreaming - no room to grow - you start to feel blah.  And boring.  Who wants to be friends with that girl?  Not me.

I don't have an answer.  Yet. 

And if this is all too personal and weird and all that, don't read it.  I've finally realized that having thoughts & dreams & putting them out there - even at the risk of judgement & ridicule - is a MILLION times better than having no dreams.  Because this belongs to me.  I need to live my life for myself.  So, agree, disagree, read, don't read, doesn't bother me either way.  And finally feeling this way?  That's a damn good thing.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

All the new Blogger bits are a bit annoying...


I can't figure out how to flip these photos!

Anyway, the point is, I'm halfway done writing it.  YAY.