Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Email blog

*wind whistles forlornly*

*tumbleweed rolls past half-heartedly*

Is anybody out there...?

This is a quick post to say - I am still here, and I think about blogging more often than I can. But I think I've discovered the problem: I am never home long enough to check blogs, and it's not allowed at work. Email blogs will do. And I no longer stay up till 3am; I keep normal hours instead. I think adulthood has begun in earnest...

Facebook rocks, however. We are allowed to do that at work. Status updates are the way to go.

Blog update, anyone?

Still doing the whole organizing and buying of organizational things. Every weekend consists of going to Bed Bath and Beyond, or HomeGoods, or the hardware store, so it's falling into place one thing at a time. Also, Jeffy is homehunting, well, his colleague-who-is-also-a-realtor is doing so on his behalf, but not fast enough.

As a result of partially re-organizing the kitchen, we're able to cook at home a couple of times a week. Grilled veal with a spicy quinoa-rice blend (by me), and a salad with walnuts, feta, and raspberry dressing (by Jeffy). Or tuna steaks in a soy/honey/sesame chili oil/sesame seed reduction (by me) with garlic wild rice (by Jeffy), and a salad of sliced tomato sprinkled with feta, cilantro, xtra virgin olive oil, and balsamic vinegar (Jeffy). We're still a good team in the kitchen!

But THIS weekend we take a break and are going off to Hershey, Pennsylvania to visit Hershey's Chocolate World - where we will take a ride through the story of chocolate-making, and have a choc-tasting experience, and go to the museum. (There is also Hershey Park, which is a theme park, but that's not what we're going for.) Then we go to another town nearby to meet his cousin and family. We will stay at a lovely Victorian B&B in Hershey, then on Sunday we're off to Baltimore to hang out with his law school buddy F, and catch a Tracy Chapman concert.

P.S. I drafted this probably sometime Friday. I hope to give a weekend update soon - we did remember to take SOME photos, but not as many as usual.

P.P.S. Thanks Glo! Once again you've come looking for me, so I got this out of my Drafts box and sent it off!

21 comments:

nikkipolani said...

Dinners at home... how lovely that sounds :-) As for your Hershey tour, do you get to taste Scharffen Berger chocolate, too?

Olivia said...

Yes, I was surprised to see Scharffen Berger and Deloba on a couple of shelves, both from CA with no mention of Hershey or Pa. What's that about?

nikkipolani said...

They bought the higher end chocolatiers but letting them run as before. Kind of like how Kelloggs bought Kashi and left them alone.

Miss Dallas said...

If you enjoyed Hershey, PA, then you've got to go to the Ghirardelli factory in San Francisco!

Good to see a new blog from you, Livvy!

Olivia said...

Nikki - that's a decent arrangement. I did not know Kellogg's had bought Kashi. I have to admit, I've bought a lot of Kashi products - cereal, granola bars - and just can't get into it, though for a very short while I liked their chocolate chip cookies (in NYC, can't find them here, unless they were a short-lived product). THen one day I discovered underneath everything tasted like cardboard. :-o

***

Jo - I've wanted to visit the Ghirardelli factory ever since I started drinking their double chocolate drink, sometime in the early 90s. They also made a dark choc bar with real raspberry (not creme) in it and I believe that's what got me started on my love affair with dark chocolate. One time I ate half a bar when I was PMSing, in my early 20s. Never did that before, or since.

Rick Rockhill said...

I fully understand Olivia, I too have been swamped of late. We can see Blogger at work, but not Facebook or YouTube, which is probably a good thing, otherwise nothing would ever get done. Take care...

Pandabonium said...

The definition of a consumer.

Not staying up to 3 am is not a sign of adulthood, but rather sanity.

Facebook has too many privacy issues to suit me. Oh well. A sign of old age?

Flighty said...

It's good to see that you're okay, and about to enjoy a good weekend!
Thinking of you, take care! xx

Glo said...

Hi Liv ~ Glad to see all is well and that you are busy and happy :) Cooking in the kitchen with Livvy and Jeffy sounds like a tasty combination to me ;) Going to a chocolate factory!!! ~OMG how decadently delicious. Have fun ~ especially enjoying all the chocolate kisses that are sure to pucker up ;)

The Moody Minstrel said...

Hmm...

You've stopped staying up till 3 a.m. right at about the same time I've started staying up till 3 a.m.. Coincidence? (Probably.)

Creativity doesn't come quite so easily when you're only running on a third of a brain.

For some reason I thought Ghirardelli had gone out of business. I'm glad they haven't! I'd love to see their factory and Hershey's...though if I did go to the latter I'd probably wind up making some vile comments about the "mockolate" (using vegetable oil instead of cocoa butter) they're threatening to use instead of chocolate in some of their products. BLASPHEMY!!!!!

neena maiya (guyana gyal) said...

Hey, this email blogging is good, it works! Hint, hint. I think you can mobile blog now. hehe.

Panda's right, not staying up 'til 3 a.m. is good for your health.

Olivia said...

Rick - I think I have some time now to catch up with blogs. If I see you haven't blogged that much this summer since your Italian trip then I won't feel so bad!

Although both Blogger and YouTube are discouraged at work, I can see them both. The only thing so far that has been blocked is anything remotely to do with astrology or numerology, which the notification page calls "occult". Not that I actively look that stuff up, it's just that a few time I've clicked on those interesting links on MSN about what month you were born in says about you, things like that.

**********

Pandabonium - I put off joining FB for a couple of years, but finally relented in 2007. It is worth it. I don't have to put everything down and can let various people see different levels of info, but I haven't had any problems so far.

**********

Flighty - a good weekend indeed, and another one nearly gone since then.
xx

**********

Glo - if only it were a better kitchen. He sees the limitations of the current place, and as it's only a stopping point to his second home (as he already owns one in Baltimore), he keeps saying "We need a better place, don't we?"

By the way, we got a bag of candy coated miniature kisses!

**********

Minstrel - now why did you think that? I hope it's not true. I still see many of their chocs on the shelves, and chocolate chips in the baking section. True they have a lot of competition these days.

That's disgusting about using veg oil in chocolate. Ugh. That is why I like Dove choc, they keep the cocoa butter in, as evidenced by the amazing smoothness of the chocolate.

***********

GG - unfortunately, can't mobile blog with my current provider! I used to in London - blog and email - but here I chose a more affordable, therefore more limited, provider, and am locked into a contract for another two years or so.

Oh well.

Christopher said...

Yes yes...I am here too and enjoying another fabulous visit to the mountain.

Pictures darling, I have posted and I am dying to see all the ones you have taken that you have yet to post.

I know that you are enjoying a beautiful and romantic summer, and that just makes my heart sigh...I can see in the look in your eyes, the glaze and the glow that radiates....

Just don't forget about us folks sweetie, this has been one beautiful journey to watch of your life and I miss reading your observations and seeing the cuisine!

xoxo

Deborah Barocas said...

Heard somewhere that you like Guyanese Pepper Sauce. My recipe is waiting for you at www.guyanastastyexotic.blogspot.com
Love your photos of Cape May, must go there, must write on my to do list...

Regards,
Deborah

Anonymous said...

Hi Miss Olivia!

House hunting? That sounds very exciting. I hope you find one, that suits both of your taste. The home shopping sounds like fun!

Hope your having an excellent summer! :)

Pandabonium said...

Olivia said, "*wind whistles forlornly*."

Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds.

Glo said...

Hi Liv ~ Yoohoo! Time for catch up! Thinking of you ~ Glo

Glo said...

Hi Liv ~ Yoohoo! Time for catch up! Thinking of you ~ Glo

Um Naief said...

I feel the same as you when it comes to blogging... where does the time go?! Life sorta gets in the way most days... :)

Added you to FB... love all your pictures.

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