Something Happy Happened, Part I
It was hard for me to figure out what to write after my last post about my sister. I couldn’t go right back in to home decor or a new recipe – it didn’t seem right – or appropriate. I decided to write about something happy that happened to me – something my sister was happy about, too.
ManFriend is no longer ManFriend.
He’s ManFiance.
ManFiance and I got engaged on September 2 while we were vacationing in Chicago. The week that followed was as blissful as ever, but then the tragic news about my sister had me abandoning those feelings of happiness completely. It’s hard to celebrate during a time of mourning, but I know my sister would want me to carry on…
So here’s our happy engagement story:
We’re huge USF Bulls fans, so the trip to Chicago was mainly so we could watch them play Notre Dame (which USF WON!). The game was early Saturday morning, and ManFriend and I had dinner reservations at a restaurant called the Girl & the Goat that Friday evening.
We heard about this restaurant because we are big Top Chef fans, and season 4’s winner, Stephanie Izard, is the brains behind the restaurant. We also heard it was the hardest reservation to get in town – and that was no joke. We made our reservation ONE MONTH in advance and even still the only available time was 11:30 p.m. Ok, so a late dinner…
Our flight arrived around 8 p.m. and we had to take an hour-long train ride into the city. Now, let me preface this next part by saying both ManFriend and I are Florida natives, so we are not subway or train savvy by any means. Florida’s idea of “mass transportation” is a cruise, so bear with me.
Once we got off the train, we were underground, in jeans and sweatshirts even though it was 95 degrees that night (us Floridians assume the North is always cold), luggage in-tow and lost. We couldn’t figure out how to get out of the train tunnel thing! We decided to follow a lady who looked like she knew where she was going, but when she stopped to get on the next train, we finally asked her and she didn’t know what she was doing either. Grrrreatttt.
So we re-traced our steps and just walked. We didn’t know where we were going and we both were starting to panic/get angry at each other for not knowing where to go in a city we weren’t familiar with. I was hot, hungry, claustrophobic and kind of blaming ManFriend for all of this (don’t worry, he was blaming me just as much). After what seemed to be forever (which was like 10 minutes), we finally got back to where we started and realized the exit was to the right, not left.
Kewwllll.
Once we got out of the rat maze and had some fresh oxygen flowing through our lungs, we arrived at our hotel. We had just enough time to shower and change before heading out to our 11:30 reservation…
{This is Part I of our engagement story – it was getting a little wordy and I didn’t want you to go cross-eyed. Look out for Part II coming soon…}
My Beautiful Sister
I was debating about whether I should write something, but being that my oldest sister was such a huge supporter of mine, I figured she’d want me to do this.
My beautiful sister passed away Monday morning at the young age of 38. She was a kind-hearted person – she was always laughing and having a good time, but she always had such a tender, sensitive heart.
I still can’t believe she is gone – it doesn’t feel real. I feel guilty for not seeing her in years, but I know now she is watching down over me as she has always wanted. We had our ups and downs, but the constant that will forever remain is that we are sisters. Nothing breaks a bond like that.
We will be celebrating her life this weekend, the way she would have wanted. I’ll be sure to play some Depeche Mode for ya, extra loud.
A life taken too soon. I love you big sis – I hope you are living it up in Heaven.
Happy Weekend
I’m off to one of my favorite cities today, Chicago! ManFriend and I are diehard University of South Florida Bulls fans, and since they play Notre Dame this Saturday for their opening game, we just had to go. We can’t really afford the trip, but this is a lifetime opportunity we couldn’t pass up.
Especially since it’s apparent I was meant to watch this game from a very young age…
Notre Dame on my head, Bulls on my feet, Caterpillars above my eyeballs (seriously, wax much?).
Of course we’ll be rooting for our beloved Bulls, but the tradition, history and excitement of Notre Dame is unmatched. And I can’t wait to be there for it.
In honor of this spirited weekend, I chose a song that gets me going for college football season. Because honestly, is there anything better than this time of year?
Nope.
Today’s pick for My Favorite Song Friday is…
Big & Rich’s “Coming To Your City” from College Gameday! How appropriate – watch out, South Bend, Bulls on Parade!!!
GO BULLS!
Fantasy Football
Tonight is my Fantasy Football draft.
I have a love-hate relationship with Fantasy Football and here’s why:
- It actually makes me want to watch football games that do not include my favorite team. – LOVE
- It sometimes makes me root against my favorite team if someone on my Fantasy Football team is playing them. – HATE
- It gives me something to talk about with people I normally don’t talk to. – LOVE (or hate?)
- It gives me something to do when I’m bored at work (or when I’m in procrastination mode). – LOVE
- There is the potential to become enemies with people you are normally friends with. – HATE
- But the friendship is usually restored by the end of the season. – LOVE
- It has you semi-wishing for injuries, illnesses or arrests of some players on the team you are playing that week. HATE
- The draft itself is usually the best part of the season. – LOVE
- The feeling of remorse when you wake up the day after the draft and realize that “sleeper” pick in the 5th round was totally made because of that shot of Patron you took right before you blurted out the name. – HATE
I’m stopping here because I’m leaving Number 10 open – it could go either way: Win the season (LOVE) or come in 4th place and win nothing (HATE).
Last year I had the most points in the entire league, but I still managed to come in 5th place and didn’t win any money.
Bitter – party of 1?
Bitter – party of 1.
HATE.
Sun Tea
My mom came to visit me a few weeks ago – and with her she brought something from my dad. When I originally talked to my dad about this something, he referred to it as “a box of crap.” You could imagine my excitement. It’s funny – now that ManFriend and I have this house, we have acquired more “crap” from our parents than I could ever ask for. I guess it’s only fair, since they held on to this “crap” of ours for so long…
Fortunately for me, this “box of crap” my dad sent wasn’t “crap” at all – the box was actually filled with brand-new cooking utensils that he had in storage for a few years. A friend of his used to work with Farberware and would bring him this stuff every once in a while. The box contained a baster, a ladle, oyster-shucking knife, 2 sets of steak knives – and a lot more… It was seriously like Christmas in summer.
One of the biggest fans of this blog is my dad, so he knows of my love for mason jars (as seen here). Being that he’s such a thoughtful guy (or the fact he was moving and didn’t have anywhere to put it), he also put a giant mason jar in this box of crap. At first I wasn’t sure what to do with it, but then it dawned on me – this jar would be perfect for Sun Tea.
When I was younger, my mom would make Sun Tea almost every other day. I remember coming home from school, pulling the Sun Tea off the back patio, and pouring myself a huge glass – it kind of became a habit because she would make it so often. I don’t know anyone else that brews their tea like this – I’ve seen people use the stove, the microwave, a homemade brewer contraption thingy – but not this way.
The best part about Sun Tea is there is no aftertaste. Every tea – hot or iced – always has this awful aftertaste to it that just sticks in your mouth and makes everything you eat or drink afterwards taste funny as well. Not this stuff. It’s smooth, natural and refreshing – the way tea is supposed to be.
Not only does it taste awesome, but it is so easy to make because you don’t have to do anything.
Fill your jar with water, approx. 1 gallon (make sure you use something with a lid). Place 6 tea bags in the water (you can add more or less depending on how strong or weak you like your tea).
Place the lid on the jar to tightly secure the tea bags. Make sure you leave the strings hanging outside the jar so they can easily be removed. Then, bring your jar outside and place in a sunny spot on your patio/porch/backyard.
Let it sit for 4-6 hours in full sun. You’ll know that it’s done when it looks something like this…
Or when your dog starts messing with it…
Now it’s ready to drink. It’ll be warm from the sun still, so make sure you add a lot of ice to your glass to ensure proper coolage. I like my tea just slightly sweet, so I add some sugar in my glass first, then ice, then the tea. I’d recommend not sweetening the entire jar since people like varying degrees of sweetness.
So good, you’ll want to chug it.
salted chocolate | life with a dash of flavor 