Archive for the ‘Personal’ Category

We Mourn Together.

Friday, June 4th, 2010

Since moving here, I never for a second doubted that Philadelphia’s nickname, the City of Brotherly Love, was well deserved.  For almost two years, I truly believed “Brotherly Love” came from a bond over the happy times, after all, Philadelphia is known for the birth of a nation, a fantastic nation.  I’ve seen this city celebrate with ferocity on the Fourth of July, when Obama won, and especially when the Phillies win.  This city has a heart beat, deep within its roots and when it pumps faster, I feel it.  I never thought I could feel so connected with a city as deeply as when we celebrate.

But our love, our brotherly love, is not so frivilous as to be fair weather.  The recent tragedy of Sabina Rose O’Donnell broke the heart of the city and sent a pain that resonates with everyone, especially my fellow residents of Northern Liberties.  Moreover, the passion the city has for its Phillies, Eagles, and Flyers is a spark compared to the bonfire that errupted from this loss.  We celebrate together.  We mourn together.

Sabina, you may have left us physically, but the monster could never destroy the influence you have on us.  We will carry on your bright light.

If you have the constitution, read the story of Sabina Rose O’ Donnell on nbcphiladelphia.com.  I personally ask you to donate to her memory.  Funds go towards funeral expenses (including hopefully flying members of her family to her funeral), catching her killer, and a memorial garden.  You can donate in cash or check at PYT or via this website.  You can even text SABINA to 56624 to securely donate $5.00.

Be safe readers.  Do not walk home alone.  Do not bike home alone.  Travel in groups.  Take a cab.  Be aware.

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Making Whoopie (Pies) for Lupus: World Lupus Day

Monday, May 10th, 2010

I want you to meet a very special person I have not had the opportunity to bake with and/or featured on the blog yet.  Here is a picture of my dear Marshmallow (or Sherri) and her crispy Porkchop (you may know her as me.)

Sherri and I graduated from the same high school in Colorado Springs in 2003 and were familiar with each other, but didn’t have much more of a relationship than an occasional hello.  When I moved to Philadelphia, my best friend and I talked about my lack of friends in the area and my best friend mentioned she thought Sherri went to Temple.  I added Sherri on facebook and sent her what could only be described as a desparate plea to hang out with me.  She accepted.  Since last year, Sherri has been the single most comforting person to me.  I don’t really touch on what I feel like when I am homesick, but Sherri is basically my blanket during the times I need her most.  Nothing says home like a conversation with this ladybird.  If she wasn’t around, I don’t know what I would do.

She is my personal hero.  Why?  Let’s see, she’s younger than me, she donates her time and money to great organizations, she has a huge appreciation for the restaurant Honey’s, she is goregeous, she plays and coaches hockey, and she has the biggest heart of anyone I know.  And on top of it all, I often have to remind myself that Sher-mallow has lupus.  She works full-time, has an active social life, and still plays hockey.

Since May 10 is World Lupus Day and living in Philadelphia was a catalyst for Sherri and my friendship, I decided to bake some purple, PA-based treats– Whoopie Pies.  Since these did not come out as well as I hoped, I’m not going to post the recipe.  They were too firm and cookie like to be true whoopie pies.

Additionally, World Lupus Day is all about spreading awareness and I can’t think of a better way than showcasing one of my best friends and the toughest lady I know.  This is what you should know about lupus:

1.  It is an auto-immune disease, unrelated to AIDS.  Basically it’s opposite AIDS (I hope no one finds that offensive), it’s not contagious and the immune system is overactive rather than underactive.  It can be hereditary though.

2.  Lupus can affect any organ in the body.

3.  Over five million people are diagnosed with lupus; 90% of them are women.

4.  There is no cure, only symptom management.

5.  Lupus sucks.

So, now that you’ve read a little about Lupus and how much it sucks, I would love if you could help people like Sherri.  On May 16, you can join us (Team Sherrishine) at Atlantic City in the Walk for Lupus (http://tinyurl.com/39zaz6x) or donate (http://tinyurl.com/3394zqy) or even do both.

Finally, I am going to admit that this is a completely selfish post on my part.  Lupus is a serious disease that causes Sher to lose energy quickly and sometimes prevents her from hanging out with me.  I hate it a lot and I want it to stop.  So, help me out a little and throw a couple extra dollars towards the walk.  It would mean more than you could ever know to Sherri and especially me.

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The Crutch

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

The view from my apartment in Colorado

The view from my apartment in Colorado Springs

For the last two years I spent in Colorado, I lived alone. It was a beautiful, one bedroom apartment with a huge living room/dining room area and a decent sized kitchen. However, despite the chance to entertain and open my home, I mostly stayed to myself. The few people who came over snacked on fast food or leftover sushi from the fridge. The first year, I had a legitimate excuse– I went to school full-time, worked on the school’s arts magazine mostly independently, was an active member of the honor society and a writing group, ran study groups for all of my classes, oh, and worked full-time. Home was for sleeping and cat snuggling. The most I could do was boil some water and cook some pasta or Rice-A-Roni.

The second year was much different.

this is my adorable cat josephine. this picture is titled "sick days." i was not sick that day (and will never call in sick for a "mental health day" again)

If anyone tells you that there is an easy transition from going to school full-time to being in the real world full-time– they are wrong. Within months of getting out of college, I scored a great job at one of the top 10 companies to work for (and it still is, but for a person at a different stage in his or her life/a different sort of personality.) Though I did what everyone told me to do, I was quickly falling into a deep unhappiness. Not only had I gone from being a very active and community involved student to a full-time worker, I kept receiving feedback from my boss that went from constructive to negative. My entire outlook on life changed and as the economy began to slump, my job prospects began to as well. It was hard to get out of bed in the mornings. It was hard that my friends were still in school and I, always the overachiever, had graduated early and had a little too much free time. I barely read. Sometimes I would make cupcakes or cookies for the office but most of the time I would watch tv, knit, and play with my cat. Anything that didn’t require me to leave the solace of my bed. Eventually, I started working at my favorite sushi restaurant again part-time (Yes, my hobby was working… I have problems, I know). Regardless, I barely cooked and you know what my excuse was?

I didn’t have any time.

My last year of school, being home maybe 50 hours a week, I cooked more than my first year in the “real world.” Fact.

Me, stuck in a snow storm with a toddler in the car for three hours but happier than I was in Colorado Springs at the time.

The thing about not cooking at home because of this or that is it is an excuse and for me, each excuse became a crutch that I depended on. The crutch became my language and my mentality. I did not have to cook at home because I had an excuse. Eventually, as I fell deeper into unhappiness, it spread to the rest of my life until one day, a virtual stranger turned to me and said, ‘You feel trapped. You’re 23. You are not trapped.”

My father has a saying that I openly hated up until that point, “The easy way is the hard way.” It was that moment, at those four words, “You are not trapped.” I realized I was relying on the crutch that is excuses in its entirety and by that I was taking the easy way out.

Every excuse I made was another piece to the crutch. Over time, I had somehow convinced myself that cooking was too hard and too time consuming and too expensive versus eating out. That what I made was gross compared to McDonalds or Lean Cuisine microwaved panini (I will never describe myself as “logical”).  As mentioned in my about me, the kitchen was big and scary.

So what’s this quick journey through a chapter of my life have to do with cooking?

Well now, I look at cooking much like setting up a television. You don’t have to be fully informed of the tubes and wires and microchips a television has to make it work, those are for the people who make televisions for a living. You don’t have know how to set it up for automatic screen adjusters or how to set it up to play wirelessly through your computer or anything super fancy. But you should know the basics of settings and how the cables go into the television, because you have to know whether to call the cable company or the electrician if you get home and it doesn’t turn on.

Cooking can be learned, just like another language, a musical instrument or tying your shoes. Of course it may seem hard at first, but basic meals can save your life. Especially with a brilliant resource like the internet, we have no excuse when it comes to cooking at home.

self-portrait in philadelphia

self portrait in philadelphia.

EPILOGUE: I look back on my last two years of my time in Colorado as an important step in the learning process.  Now, I have chosen to live my life with no excuses, a positive attitude, and a free heart.

My first loaf of bread ever baked. It turned out amazing.

my first loaf of bread!

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