Life After Facebook

I finally took the plunge.

I deleted my personal FB profile.

(Waiting for applaud.)

You see, I hate everything Facebook stands for.
Gossip.
Drama.
the “need” to log-on.
Snooping/spying.
Tracking.
FB telling me who/what I should look at.
*Everyone knowing my personal business.

*What? You’re a blogger! Yeah, but I can control what
I put on FB or my blog. I can’t control what other
people write.

At times, Facebook made me into a person that I didn’t like.
It made me log-in to check my account instead of
getting on the phone to call my Granny Jo.

It made me write status updates instead of writing letters
to my Granny Fanny.

It was a place to go when I wanted to procrastinate.

So it’s GONE now.

 It’s such a liberating experience.

Yes, I’ll miss the friends that I never see otherwise, but I guess if we were
super close, we wouldn’t need FB to stay in touch.

 

However,
Life the Epic Journey
still has a Facebook page.

Facebook Page for Life the Epic Journey

I know that some people still like FB.
And I made a phantom profile so that I can still follow blogs and Rick Steves.

So there you have it!

Red Cycles/Yellow Leaves

Yesterday, the Hubs and I took a morning ride on the trail that goes past our house.

On our little red bicycles.

And it made me sad to think that we won’t be able to do this much longer. But, I plan to enjoy autumn while it lasts!

a. These are cell-phone pics, not very great.
b. Those Geese live in the creek. And they chase you.
c. Have I ever mentioned that I love stripes?
I do. Flattering or not, regardless.

 

Happy Weekend!

Fall ‘11

A dead man, a church picnic and French bread.

 

I have been unbelievably busy during the past two weeks for someone who has nothing to do with her life. That’s right, nothing to do. I’m taking the current semester off from school.

Yup. Obviously I’ve known this for quite awhile and kept it from my blog friends. Sorry. It’s just embarrassing to admit that I became so exhausted that both my grades and health were suffering.

Anyway, I’ll be back to academia in January, when I have sufficiently recuperated.

So what have I been doing?

1. Making pot roast with my little sissy.

She thought the following picture would make good blogger fodder:

She is pretty cute.

2. I’ve been drinking hot chocolate.
Winter has officially hit Tennessee. It was in the 60’s last week! (Blah!)

3. I’ve been taking secret snapshots of magazine articles while in Books-a-million. Getting fall ideas.

If it makes you feel better, I do subscribe to like 20,000 magazines. So it’s not like I’m stealing
from the industry. At least not much.

4. I stood in Earthfare for an hour trying to figure out which tea Andraé wanted. Earthfare is a local Whole Foods type of place. Very cool. Their cheese counter is as big as the meat counter at the supermarket.
Me loves.

5. Discovering new breads. I went back to Earthfare yesterday with the Hubs and we succumbed to the scent of fresh bread. A loaf of French Peasant went to the car with us. The assault on my senses
after the first bite would be X-rated to describe. Let’s just say that I ate half the loaf before we made it to the book store. With my eyes closed.

6. I went to a bridal shower. Generally pictures from bridal showers don’t make it to the internet, but these are pretty hilarious. Instead of making a wedding dress out of toilet paper, we made lingerie out of party streamers and TP. I think my two friends A and J did a pretty good job. I got to model.

 

*Future employer: I don’t party. Ever. This is the dirtiest thing I’ve ever done in public.
You have no reason to fear hiring me. I’m dependable and friendly. LOL

7. I went to a Church picnic.
I talked on a swing with my friend for hours and missed watching my husband play softball. Bummer. But we had a good talk.

8. I watched Jane Eyre with my Aunt and cousins. The movie was great. But I’m not sure if I like this guy or not. It’s my job to screen the leading men in all English Provincial movies.

So far the only thing that I can ascertain is that he has too much hair on his face. Or not enough. It’s just
a little too scraggly for me. He was a decent actor though. So I guess his facial hair shouldn’t matter.
(Who am I kidding? Mr. Darcy without Colin Firth or Matthew Macfadyen would be a joke…)

9. I sound like a 5 year old. SO says a massage therapist. A rock-star-turned-massage-therapist. Only my husband could find a therapist who used to tour Aerosmith when he was the bassist for Jackyl.
Anyway.
The dude came out of the clinic and over to the car, just to ascertain that I was indeed 23 years old. After shaking my hand and pronouncing my age as 5, he walked back inside. Apparently my voice over the phone is “little.” I’m having a hard time not hating him right now. (kidding.) He even asked Andraé if I was a little person. As in 4-feet-tall. I’m 5’6” THANKYOU!

10. Finding dead people in my yard. This was probably the most exciting event of the week.
Unfortunately “people” isn’t exactly truthful, because there was only one guy. And he wasn’t really dead.
But I thought he was, does that count?

One evening as I was finishing some last minute touches around the house before the Hubs came home from work, I happened to notice a man slumped over in our yard. We live on a pretty busy road, so it wasn’t surprising to see someone there, but his position was weird.

He was propped up, with his head leaning down on his knees. At first I thought he was resting, but it looked so unnatural. His arms were lying limp in his lap, and his neck looked really weird.

The conversation with myself sounded something like this:

“He’s dead!”

             “No, people don’t die sitting up.”

“Oh yeah, of course.”

“Are you sure?”

           “Well…there was that person in the news who died sitting on their toilet.”

“OH MY GOD! If you can die on the toilet then you can die in the grass!!”

       “What should you do?”

“I’m going to go outside and check on him!”

                   “What if he is a serial killer just waiting for you to get close,
                        and then he’ll grab you and stuff you in his backpack!!???”

“OH MY GOD! I didn’t think of that!”

Not wanting a serial killer to get me, I played it safe and called Andraé. Our conversation went something like this:

“Hello”

               “HONEY!!!!!! COME HOME NOW!”

“I’m on my way, what’s wrong?”

                 “There’s a dead guy in our yard!!!”

“What??”

                 “Yes! I’ve been watching him for like 10 minutes and he hasn’t
                    even twitched!” 

“Ok, are you sure? Call the police.”

                 “I don’t know yet, I just wanted you to know what happened to me
                  if I’m gone when you get here, you’ll know that he got me!”

“Ok.”

                   “Ok, BYE!”

(I laugh as I read this now.)

After I hung up the phone, yelled out the door, and the guy didn’t flinch.

Then I went outside and yelled from about 3 feet away. He didn’t flinch.

I shook him. He didn’t flinch.

By this time, cars are beginning to stop because they have noticed the dead guy too.

I call 9-1-1.

As the dispatch answers and I try to explain what’s going on, the guy suddenly jumps to his feet.
He was completely confused and embarrassed. He wouldn’t stay long enough for me to find out what was wrong, but I think he must have had some sort of a health problem. He didn’t appear to be passed out on drugs or alcohol.

It was exciting.

And sad.

And that’s pretty much my two weeks! Sorry for the novel. But I had to catch up.

Straw & Hay Penne

I have made many versions of this dish, but this recipe from Family Circle is my favorite.

You can find the recipe here.

 

The recipe calls for Gorgonzola and Romano cheeses, but I didn’t have any on hand. I used Feta and Parmesan instead. Personally, I’m not a huge blue cheese fan (Gorgonzola), so it works out fine.

Cutest thing ever…

 

This popped up in the news this week, love it.

Pinch and a dash…

 

 

 

 

 

Turkey burgers with honey mustard and mint glaze, grilled pineapples,
Bourbon baked beans, grilled corn with fresh basil and oregano. 

To catch a thief.

This week I’ve been reading Priceless by Robert Wittman, the former director of the
FBI Art Crime team.

Such a great read, I highly suggest that you pick it up this weekend.

Summer Flowers

 

 

I love the farmer’s market.

I actually won something!!

 

No. Unfortunately I did not win the trip to Paris. But, read on.

As I was perusing the blogosphere the other day, I came across a competition by AnyTrip.com.
Each week, a new question is posted on FB, and those who come up with the best replies
win prizes and perhaps even a trip to Paris!

Last week I answered this question:

Q: “What do you love about Paris?”

My answer:

“I love Rue Cler. When I first stepped into neighborhood, I knew I was at home. The markets, the locals, the amazing (and cheap) food at Cafe du Marche, falling asleep with the windows open (listening to the clanking of glasses, laughter from below). Then there was this moment when a tiny, older Parisienne lady walked along in front of me...she was dressed in an immaculate but older trench coat, leather shoes with hose, and a hat. She was the perfect stereotypical French Gramma. And then...I was really at home.”

And I won!

I never expect to win these things, especially on Facebook, so I didn’t even think twice about what I wrote.

Here’s my prize:

I found out at like 3 o’clock in the morning when I reached for my phone after a sleepless night. I was so excited that I started whooping and yelling. Then I promptly fell asleep.

Clouds come floating into my life.

 

“Clouds come floating into my life,
no longer to carry rain or usher storm,
but to add color to my sunset sky.”

Random.

 

 

Tomato fest @ Farmer’s market

 

The shrimp had a birthday (not pictured.)
We celebrated.

We are a bunch of weirdos. In case you missed that.

 

The birthday girl is growing up, makes me feel ancient.
But as you can see, I make up for it.

 

Yup. That’s my Dad planking.

 

I want this sign. Even though I don’t drink. It would look stinkin’ awesome in my house.

 

That’s the end of my random photos. For today.

Easy Mexican

One of my favorite foods to cook on the quick is Mexican, and bean burritos are probably
the easiest.

 

Wrap up some refried beans and cheese in a tortilla, microwave for 1 min.

Serve with *organic chips, salsa and rice.

I normally keep these ingredients on hand, in case I need to make dinner quickly, but
today I realized that I didn’t have any Mexican rice. So I popped over to Bon Appetit
and found a great recipe.

Toasted Garlic Rice with Fresh Herbs and Lime

What’s your favorite dish in a dash??

 

*Obviously this isn’t an organic dish (canned beans, boxed rice),
but the organic blue corn chips by Tostitos are delicious!!
They are lightly seasoned with sea salt, so yummy!

Pasta al Pomodoro

 

Recipe here.

buono.

Portobello Burgers with Pesto, Provolone & Roasted Peppers

 

This is one of the yummiest sandwiches ever! Another Bon Appetit recipe…

I do it a little different than the recipe.
I start by toasting the ciabatta first, and then again at the end.

1. After scooping the “undersides” of the mushroom, brush with oil, sprinkle
with salt & pepper, and grill until tender:

Prepare sandwiches according to directions.

I replaced the arugula with Spinach.

And served with my favorite fingerling potatoes.

 

Yummo.

Let me show you something.

I hate writing reviews.

But I love reading reviews.

I like knowing how products and services work, or how they don’t work.

So here’s my top 10 for 2011 {so far}.

 

1. gabriella rocha

I already told you about my old Gabriella Rocha boots in an old post.
But I’m going to tell you again about how amazing they are.
They are amazing.

My new boots came via Zappos with free shipping.
They were at my front door by the next day.
(I should do a “how awesome is Zappos” review.)

I haven’t actually worn them yet. Except at home.

For this reason alone do I look forward to winter.

 

 

2. The Ridiculous Race

They aren’t kidding.
This book chronicles the most hilarious and ridiculous things that two men could ever do.
Steve and Vali (two comedy TV writers) race around the world, each going a different direction.
They can’t take planes.

Steve begins his journey with a bored-to-tears float across the Pacific.

Vali begins by driving for 3 days to Mexico where he hopes to buy a jetpack.

Honestly. I laughed until I cried at these two idiots.
It’s on my must-read list.

 

 

3. Jordan Essentials

In April I became a staunch supporter of all things Jordan Essentials.
It’s an organic skin care company.

I am not very good at nicely stating the obvious, so I will let
my dear friend Jessica wax eloquent:

Cleaning up my act…

She says big words like “transdermally.”

However, this would be a false review if I didn’t state that
some people have had allergic reactions to the products.
Everyone’s skin is different, and you should treat
these products like you would any other. It’s kind of funny,
if you have a reaction to a popular store brand, everyone says that
it’s just “my skin.” If you have a reaction to a product that labels
itself “organic”, everyone says “it’s a bad product, the company is lying
about something.”

Not so. It’s probably just your skin.
Kind of like the fact that my favorite facial moisturizer is
a popular body lotion. Lubriderm. Everyone’s skin is weird.

You might be allergic to the bee balm. It happens.

Try Jordan Essentials.

 

 

4. Berkey Water Filters

Let me tell you about this little babe.

But first, a story.
We used bottled water for the first few years of our marriage, because
the local city water is horrendous. It has more chlorine than
the legion pool.

I hated buying bottled, because it is so wasteful (both financially and environmentally),
but it was a hard habit to shake.

We began buying 2.5 gal distilled water last year, which we loved,
but we still wanted to find a good purifier.

My Mom mentioned Berkey water filters to me, so I did some research, and was
pleased with what I found! I was able to buy the Berkey Light (above)
for about $100, and it included two filters as pictured. You can buy
up to four filters, with each filtering about 1500 gal of water.

Besides tasting great, the list of bacteria and chemicals that it filters is mind-boggling.
Best of all, Berkey filters meet international standards of purification.
American health safety has disintegrated in the past 50 years or so, and I wanted
a purification system that met Western European standards. They tend to be
a little bit more concerned about chemicals than we are.

After using the purifier for over a week, I am happy to report that it is amazing!!

 

• Uses gravity to purify up to 4 gal per hour (with 2 filters)
  Great for emergency situations where you may not have electricity.
  (Hurricane, tornado, flooding, etc.)
  
• Stores about 2.5 gal
  
• Super easy to use!
  
• 2 filters work for up to 3000 gal
  
• BPA-free, Tritan™ Copolyester plastic
  (Which is, ironically, made by my husband’s company.)
  
• Tastes like “nothing!” Exactly like water should…
  
• Used by UNICEF, Peace Corps, Red Cross, etc.

You are going to go buy one, right?!!!

 

 

 

5. airbnb

  

I have not actually had the chance to use this amazing travel service yet, but I can’t wait to!

In a nutshell, it is private homeowners who are offering their entire home, cottage,
loft, studio, or maybe just a room for rent.

Unlike some websites, airbnb does an amazing job of making sure that these
places are safe, clean and reliable.

We met an antique shoppe owner who told us about it, her daughter had used
it all over Europe last spring.

The company has great reviews, so check it out!

 

 

6. Bon Appetit

Don’t be afraid of it.
When I read the magazine, I just want to give up cooking.

However, going to their website to find recipes is a god-send.
75% of what I make is off their website.

Somehow it is less imposing.

 

7. Pinterest

Do I have a Pinterest account? Yes.
Do I use it? Not really.

This is why I blog. My readers have enough to read
without having to go to 2-3 different places
to see what’s “on my mind.”

I think it is a great place for non-bloggers to share creative ideas.
But we bloggers need to blog. Not pin.

 

8. Shutterfly Photo Books

I tried several photo-book publishing programs, but they were
all so complicated and SLOW! When I got a free 8x8 book
coupon at Target for Shutterfly, I decided to give it a try!

 

I’m sure that the other programs are great too, but Shutterfly has been my favorite to use.

 

9. Windows Live Writer

 

This has been the most helpful writing editor of the century.
Ok. Well maybe not that drastic.

But no blogger should be without it.

Get your free download here.

I’m actually searching for a blog editor for Mac, any ideas?
I hear Blogo is the way to go, but that it still doesn’t compare
with Live Writer, plus it is $25.

Sometimes it would be nice to blog from bed with the Mac laptop,
instead sitting at the desk with my PC.

 

10. Masterpiece (PBS TV)

I actually fell in love with Masterpiece about a year ago, when I realized
that they stream their shows on PBS’ website.

Most of you already know what I’m talking about, so you can attest to their
awesomeness.

For those who don’t know, it is books turned to TV shows. Basically.

All summer I’ve been enjoying the Agatha Christie stories.

I feel like it’s cheating, but they are just so good!

 

So that’s it.