My Tribute

It's hard to believe that another year has gone by and we are at the 7th year anniverary of Sept 11th. I just wanted to write a short something to show my respect for the people who died and the family members who lost people in this terrible attack.
To me, this is one of those moments that you'll NEVER forget where you were at. My parents had the day that Kennedy was shot and Martin Luther King Jr getting shot. Until this day, I didn't really have much. Not that I was wanting something tragic to happen so that I could call that my something.
The morning of this awful day I was living abroad in London. I was living there with a bunch of people I knew and we were all going to Florida State over there. It was around 2 in the afternoon when Jay Sullivan burst into my flat saying that a plane had crashed into the towers. I could hardly believe what he was saying. Up until now, this was only something that you'd see in the movies, not something you'd think could actually happen. Especially not to the US. So a bunch of us ran next door into this flat and we were watching the news. They were showing a replay of the first plane crashing into the building. Then right before our eyes, the second tower went down. All I could think was I felt like I should be home right now. Somehow if being in the US would make me feel better and take away everything that had happened. Soon after this happened, my school called a meeting for all of us that evening so that we could talk about what had happened. I remember soon after watching this on tv, I was walking down the street with Melanie. We were saying that it was so crazy that we were walking on the street as if nothing had happened. Nothing had stopped, nobody was really acting any differently than they were before. I just really wanted to be home. Many of us tried calling our families back here, but nobody could get through on the phone lines. Even for those of us who were calling states that weren't New York, we still couldn't get through. It took several hours before I was able to talk to my family. I always wonder how it would have felt different if I had been in the country during this event. I'm curious how it would have effected me? There were a few people that had family and friends working in the Pentagon and the Trade Center. Luckily, each of those few people had crazy stories of how they were late to work so they never made it or they just didn't make it into work that day. Thank gosh!
So later that evening our school had a meeting for us where they basically told us to tell NOBODY we were American, because at this point we weren't sure if that was a good idea. Therefore, we were supposed to tell people we were from Canada. We were told to not "dress american". No white tennis shoes, no hats with sports teams, and no shirts with sports teams. Nothing that could make us pinpointed in any way as an American. There was a Florida State University emblem hanging outside the University door which they took down that day. This was all so sad. It felt like something changed forever that day, and I still feel that it did. It's not like I felt completely safe back then, but I feel even less safe now. Even though Bush says he's done a lot to "make things safer". I just don't feel it.
Anyway, at Hyde Park, they were having a memorial where you could bring flowers,letter and whatever you wanted basically to set out there for all the fallen people. So I am gonna leave with a few photos of what me and some of my friends did and of some of the thousands of flowers that were put out there. We will never forget....

Finally, Motivated!!

Ever since my friend came to visit and had me her help make our delicious dinner, i've been a lot more motivated to REALLY learn to cook well. I wouldn't say that i'm a horrible cook. I'd just say that I just don't always like to take the time it should take to make a good meal. However..i'm trying to turn over a new leaf and become a good cook. I'm living with the best cook i've ever met, so you'd think that i'd be better than I am. Haha.
The other night I tried to recreate what Caitlin and I made that night. It was a pasta dish that had some veggies, and olive oil was the sauce. I felt really proud of myself prepping all of the vegetables and onions and so on. Maybe it wouldn't be a big deal to "normal" people, but to me it was totally exciting!! The food turned out really well actually and so that has made me want to learn how to make more things.
Tonight Amir made a eggplant and tofu dish, that didn't look all the complicated. The hardest part will probably be making the tofu. Yes, it's true that i'm a vegetarian and have been for 9 years. In all this time i've only made tofu like two of three times. I never really knew what to do with it. However, that will all be changing soon.
Last night Amir and I were going to Ihop, and right when we were pulling into it he realized that he forgot his peanut butter (he can't eat pancakes w/o it). So we stopped in this grocery store right next to Ihop to get some. The place was amazing!!! I felt as though I was at a produce market, however, they also had regular groceries too. This place has the most inexpensive produce i've seen in years maybe. There were fruits and some veggies that i've never seen or even heard of before. The whole time we were in there I felt as though I was on air! Some people go to a club to have fun, but me and amir can do that in a grocery store! When I was younger I said that i'd meet my husband in a grocery store. That actually happened.
So anyway, i'm just a lot more excited to cook. When I have kids I want to be able to make them fabulous meals and not just be able to make pasta in 10 different ways. It'd be cool if they bragged to their friends about how much better a cook I am then their moms'. Haha. There is one thing I really am wanting/needing before I really start getting into the cooking thing: an apron from Anthropologie. You've gotta have a cute apron when you're cooking right??
If there is any one that reads this that has any good vegetarian recipes let me know.

Living the Married Life

Just wanted to show my a few photos of me and my cute husband. He's fabulous!

Good Times

I remember when I was younger and all of my friends lived in the same town as me. Then I grew up, went to college out of state and met a lot of different people, from a lot of different places. Some of these even included different countries. The summer after college graduation, I got used to saying goodbye what seemed like every week to someone. Basically from then on, i'm lucky to have 5 friends in the same town. At times I feel as though I don't even have friends, but then I just remember how I do HAVE friends, they are just all scattered.

That's what made this past weekend so exciting. I had two friends come to visit. My friend, Caitlin who came in on Thursday and then, Nick who i'd see Saturday. It was just such a good feeling to go shopping, have coffee, and just hang out with my really good friends. It's a great feeling when you can have a glass of wine and a good conversation with someone. Especially, when they see things in the world the same way that you see them. I won't go into details about all that we did and whatnot, but only want to say that your friends really do feel like they are part of your family, and never take them for granted because once you get older it isn't as easy to find good friends like when you were back in school. Therefore, the people that you do become friends with when you're older really are true friends because you are choosing to hang out with them and didn't just grow up with them.

I took a few photos of me and Caitlin. Unfortunately, I didn't get one of me and Nick which just makes it even more clear that I must go to visit him and his lady in Canada!!! Haha. And I will leave with the advantages of having friends all over the place

-free places to stay

-get to visit places you may never go

-always fun to vacation with friends

-new restaurants to check out

-and of course, new places of scenery for photos!

Brush Yo Teeth!!

(me showing my fabulous set of teeth)

For the past month I have been having so much anxiety of this day. About three weeks ago I went to the dentist after not really going for 5 years. The majority of those years I didn't have insurance and didn't make going to the dentist any kind of priority...Until NOW. Three weeks ago when I went to the dentist, it wasn't a good time. I felt as though I had failed some kind of test, because he kept reading off tooth after tooth that needed to be filled or possibly root canaled. So needless to say, I didn't want this day to ever come. I guess in a way I did want it to come too so that I could start getting some of these things taken care of.
Fast forward to today, basically he did three fillings for me. I was excited that they were not the old scary mercury fillings and instead were ones that are the same color as your teeth. So the only people that will know that I have a filling are in the dental industry. Anyway, I brought along my ipod because the thing that makes me the most nervous about going to the dentist is hearing all of the equipment. Let me tell you there were some crazy sounds that were happening in my mouth today so I was oh so thankful for that ipod. He gave me 2 shots of anesthetic to completely numb my right hand side. I'm not a big fan of the feeling you get from numbing, as it leaves me feeling crazy and like i'm talking as a drunken fool. Anyway, I have a feeling it felt better than feeling what he was actually doing. He filled 3 fillings for me today and it wasn't really as scary as I thought. After having a root canal done last summer nothing has really topped that one...except maybe getting a tooth pulled (which I hope NEVER happens). All in all I kinda broke the bank with how much all of this is gonna cost me, but at least I won't have to feel like my mouth is a scary mess of decay. Gotta go back for round two in a few weeks but now that I know what to expect i'm not too afraid of it. So everyone, make sure that you and your children learn how important it is to floss and brush everyday too. Listerine is also a wonderful thing to have in your life. Not too sure on the whole fluoride thing, but do yourself a favor and...Brush Your Teeth!!!

A Day at the Park

Friday is a day that I am always looking forward to because it's the only day that both Amir and I have off of work. I'm forever grateful for this day. Today we dccided that we'd bring the dogs to the park and let them run around. This is something that we didn't get to do enough of this summer, as it seemed as though there were always something else going on. So we wanted to let the dogs have some fun and just be able to run around on the grass hanging out soaking in the sun. This is one of Rufus's favorite things to do as he is a Florida/California dog. I'm jealous of him because he got to live in San Francisco, and I haven't. Haha...jealous of a dog. I think i'm crazy! Anyway, besides that today was a day of relaxing and not doing too much. Tomorrow's Saturday which means a day of probably 9 massages and the other day I woke up feeling like my right index finger was jammed. Still feels that way so tomorrow's gonna be a lot of fun. I am going to an orthopedic doctor in a few weeks for my hands so maybe he'll find something. Hopefully, I just minorly strained it in some way.
So after the park we dropped the dogs off and went to eat at Sweet Tomatoes which I always love. It feels like a somewhat healthy buffet. It's a salad/soup/pasta buffet and I thorougly enjoy it. I posted a few pictures up on flickr of the park. Bout it for now. Peace out!

European Vacation

(the matterhorn in switzerland)

I'm already getting really excited for next summer!! My mom's friend's son is getting married in Bristol, England next July and my mom has been acting like she wants to go. She doesn't like flying anywhere alone which is where I come in. I will be her flying to England/vacation partner! This makes me SO happy because i've not been to England since 2001, when I came back from my last abroad program in London. It's crazy to think that in a matter of two years I went to Europe/England and beyond 4 different times and since then have NOT been back. Until I went to California, London was my favorite place, so it's gonna be cool if this really does happen. I did some really good shopping there, and ate a lot of delicious food. Camden Market and Oxford Street here we come!! And Wagamama!!! Yay! My mom has never been abroad before so i'm looking forward to show her all of what her and my dad's money was paying for while I was there. haha! Not sure if we'll be going to any other countries while we're visiting. It might just be a London vacation which is fine with me. I'll be completely happy with that. I'm hoping to get out to Cali next summer too so all in all it's gonna be like a 3 week thing. Not too concerned with what work tells me because i'm taking it no matter what! For me to stay sane I need to be able to get outta where i'm at and vacate for a bit. So should everyone. Americans work too much, if you ask me and need to be more like Europeans. I love the idea of the siesta!! We need more of those!