quite proud

i don't have a lot of food in my apartment right now: hardly any fresh produce. nothing green. a few slices of bread. a handful of canned things. and since i will be visiting my parents for a long weekend this weekend, i don't want to buy food before i leave.

so last night i come home and i'm searching for something good/creative/anything to make. i didn't have a ton of time since i had to leave soon for monday night bible study. after five or so minutes of staring at my almost barren cupboard, i finally spied the sad onions that have been sitting in my kitchen for the past couple of weeks. are they still good? i have no idea. i honestly don't remember when i bought these onions. i cut one open and realized that the slimy white stuff probably shouldn't be there. luckily the second onion was alright, so i chopped it up and threw it in a pan with some olive oil and chopped garlic. i figured i'd just heat up some black beans in the sauteed onions and call it a night. simple enough.

but then i remembered that i had some corn in the refrigerator from the night before. "aha!" i thought to myself. "throw the corn in with the black beans! brilliant! take THAT rick bayless!" (i kid of course.) i also found some forgotten tortillas in the crisper drawer. i then topped off the beans and corn with some cumin and chili powder. the finished product was very good. very, very good.

needless to say, i was quite proud of my impromptu dinner. it only took me roughly 20 minutes to prepare, cook, and clean up the kitchen. i would have taken pictures but i was too hungry and my food looked too good to take 2 seconds to find my camera. oh well.

my only wish is that i had some sour cream to go with this dish. maybe next time when i'm more prepared and actually have a stocked fridge.

it's that time of year..

no i'm not talking about back to school. no i'm not talking about end of summer cookouts. and no i'm not talking about the need to bake something involving blueberries, raspberries or strawberries.

i'm talking about a book. ever year about this time, i reread pride and prejudice. this may seem somewhat silly, but i can explain.

when i first read pride and prejudice, it was right before my 21st birthday and i was the same age as elizabeth bennet. because of this i've always had an emotional attachment to lizzy. she's so strong and knows what she wants. she's not afraid to speak her mind, even if she should hold her tongue. she's very no nonsense. and she's quite fond of walking. if she were a real person, i believe we would be kindred spirits.

and of course there's mr. darcy. how can you not love mr. darcy??

(side note: if you're very much into p&p, i would recommend pamela aidan's trilogy retelling the classic story from mr. darcy's point of view. it is brilliant.)

therefore, in case it wasn't already apparent, pride and prejudice is my favorite book. so i reread it every year before my birthday.

earlier this year i lent my copy of p&p to my cousin and she still has it. since i couldn't not read my own worn copy, i went to the local library. oh how i love the library.

even though this is my fourth time reading pride and prejudice, i still get caught up in the story like it's my first time. jane austen's sense of humor is wonderful. i especially love the quips mr. bennet has to share. i find myself laughing aloud many times. those who say that jane austen writes stuffy, boring, english romance novels hasn't truly given her a shot. they don't now what they're missing.

again, i ask you, how can you not love this book??

i've missed this view

this past weekend i went home for the first time in 11 weeks. 11 week! that's almost all summer!

i had a lovely, relaxing weekend. just a few more weekends like this last one and i will be able to call this summer a success.

familiar faces

when you ride the train at the same time everyday, with the same people, you start to recognize a few. i don't know their real names, per se, but i like to give them my own names. may i introduce you to evelyn?

i just feel like her name would be evelyn. i'm not sure why.

i first noticed her last week when i was waiting for the brown line at the merchandise mart stop. she was walking down the platform wearing this bright green dress and carrying a black backpack. she is an older woman, probably in her late 50s, with glasses and shorter auburn hair. i feel like she might work in a library of some sort. when i saw her i thought to myself, "wow, that dress is great. she looks happy and hip for an older woman. good for her." this scene brought a smile to my face. then the train came and i forgot about her.

this past wednesday morning i was lucky enough to get a seat on the train. i was so engrossed in my book that i didn't even realize evelyn was sitting across from me until i was half-way to work. on that particular day she was reading a book and wearing this:

i couldn't help but smile. if you know me, you know i love bikes. i saw this dress at anthropologie a few weeks ago, but of course i couldn't afford it. it's terribly cute, right? i bet you evelyn has an old bike that she rides. one with a basket in the back to carry her groceries.

she intrigues me. i want to know more about her. i noticed she doesn't wear a wedding ring. for some reason when i realized this i felt a pang of sadness for her, even though she doesn't look like a sad person. now, i know marriage isn't for everyone. and my single self is just fine with my singleness, but at the same time it made me wonder about her.

who knows if she's a widower or she couldn't get married because she had to take care of an ill family member. or maybe she was just too shy to tell the man she loved how she really felt. again, who knows.

these are the thoughts i have about various people when i'm riding the train. we all sit or stand on this crowded train, not saying a word, most of us preoccupied by a book or newspaper or electronic device. every now and then i wonder what kinds of stories the person next to me can tell. stories of heartache and pain. stories of joy and laughter.

maybe one day i'll know evelyn's real story, but until then i'll keep a look out for her and try to put the pieces together myself.

oh, cy..

what have you done.

as if i didn't need another reason to go to paris. this is the newest work by cy twombly at the musee du louvre. i think it's great. and i'm preeetty sure i need to see it in person.

i loved his series cy twombly: the natural world, selected works of 2000 - 2007 at the new modern wing at the art institute last summer.

this series just makes me happy. it's so summery and bright and energetic. i want a full sized replica of the above painting to hang in my teeny tiny apartment. i don't care if it's too big. i'll make it work somehow. even if i have to knock down a wall.

i doubt i would ever be in a foul mood if every day i woke up to his paintings.

to end, here is the quote cy incorporated into the sixth panel from the series:

ah! the peonies

for which

kusonoki

took off his armour

-takarai kikaku

things i wish i had: a garden

living in the city, green space can be hard to come by (outside of the many wonderous parks and lakefront, of course).when i first moved to chicago i lived in a high-rise in the loop. if i wanted to see some green i had to hike over to millennium park. after 3 years my roommates and i moved up to wrigleyville and enjoyed the second floor of a brownstone that had a front yard AND a backyard. we couldn't necessarily use the lawn space, but it was nice to actually have a lawn.

now, i still live in wrigleyville but i live in a garden apartment. it's nice to have the word "garden" in the title but i still don't actually have one. there are some pretty flowers out front, but once again i am without a nice green space to call my own.

more than anything i want a garden.

i want a place to plant basil and rosemary and coneflowers and daisies and tomatoes and cucumbers..

last saturday while walking back from the farmers market, i wandered through oz park. i could have stayed in the flower garden for hours. i love the combinations of floral plants and mostly green vegetation. i sooo want to be creative outdoors!

my church has asked me to help landscape a barren square next to our building. i can't do much since the spot is mostly shaded, but i'm looking forward to digging in the dirt and smelling like soil for the first time in a long time.

things that are happening right now: banana bread + arcade fire

i have a tendency to want to use my oven when it's insanely hot out. today is one of those days, or i guess nights, since it is 8:30pm. my non air conditioned apartment is miserable, but i really want to make some banana bread. it's actually more of a need, really. i have 7 ugly, black bananas sitting in my freezer and they need to be put to use.

my usual go-to banana bread recipe comes from orangette. last time i made this i didn't have enough cinnamon so i used 1/2 tsp of cinnamom and 1/2 tsp of ground nutmet and it was delicious! i may have to do that again.

also, i have playing in the background the newest release from arcade fire. please do me a favor and check it out.

seriously. do it. right now. tout de suite..