Random thoughts

Lobster Mac ‘n’ Cheese #reverb10

Prompt: Soul food. What did you eat this year that you will never forget? What went into your mouth & touched your soul?


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(december 26)

This year I completely changed my outlook on food and how I eat.  With the help of my personal trainer, Joe, I revamped my diet to include tons of veggies, lean meats and fishes, and whole grains.  I ate large quantities of salmon, tuna, mahi mahi, couscous, brown rice, whole wheat bread, spinach, lettuce, broccoli…and really learned to enjoy eating those things.

BUT.  Those things are forgettable. 

What is NOT forgettable is the lobster mac and cheese at Herbie’s.

Each week Chris and I go out to eat and have a “cheat meal” where we eat what it is that we have been craving and denying ourselves (let’s not get into a discussion over whether said denial is appropriate or healthy, leave it BE).  We discovered a wonderful restaurant in the Central West End called “Herbie’s” that serves a mean martini, according to Chris, and…though it is not on the regular menu, often has a special called Lobster mac and cheese.

Heaven.  Each bite is a bite of heaven.

Twisty, cheesy noodles, with truffle oil and crunchies on top.  It’s seriously the greatest thing I have ever eaten.  Words cannot do it justice.  As I type this my stomach is rumbling, GROWLING, for the mac and cheese (which shall be denied until our next visit…). 

The first time I ordered it…was one of my first “cheat meals” on THE DIET.  It was approximately a month in.  I felt guilty…dare I eat this most delicious meal ever?  Would I be able to go back to eating fish, rice and broccoli after experiencing this meal?  The answer to both questions …a resounding YES!   (suggestion:  pair the appetizer size with the herbie’s house salad for a complete meal). 

Christmas

Getting back home

So the one thing I didn’t mention yet:  getting HOME from Long Island. 

We were scheduled to fly out on Monday evening.  Well, Sunday (as you may know) there was a gigantic storm—about 2 feet of snow dumped in less than 24 hours.  Flights into and out of the NYC area were all canceled.  Including ours on Monday night.

The airline said they could rebook us for Friday.  Or we could get to the airport and try standby.  In fact, the woman said, if we could get on the 7:15 am flight to Chicago we could likely get a flight from there to St. Louis!

IF.  I thought about it.  First:  the flight was likely already totally full.  Second: two days of flights had been canceled…and this was one of only three flights to Chicago that day (thanks, Southwest!).  Our chances:  LOW.  Especially as I’m sure some folks would get priority with frequent flyer type status plus perhaps sleeping in the airport.

So I though, let’s drive—it’s only 17 hours or so.  Chris got on the phone with rental car companies.  Nada.  No one had a car, at least, no one had a car available to drive one way to St. Louis.  Finally we got somebody who did.  Hertz.  They quoted $750 for one way on Monday afternoon to St. Louis.  Um…I don’t think so.  Then they quoted $350 for Tuesday afternoon.  Okay!  We made a reservation.  If the standby flights failed, we’d drive home starting Tuesday afternoon.

Then we found out our friends’ (who were visiting family 15 minutes away) flight also got canceled.  Boo!  I offered to share the rental car.

Then they called:  his parents were willing to lend one of their cars for the drive and would pick it up later (in a month or so).  SCORE!  Super super generous. 

A Honda Fit.

carpic

Yes, I look like a crazy person.  I don’t know why!

For some unknown reason, we left Monday night.  (We had heard there might be ice).

We drove through the night.  Again, for some unknown reason.  I think we forgot we were in our 30’s…not spring chickens anymore Winking smile I didn’t drive.  I was SO sick, and on tons of cold medicine, I didn’t think I should.  Instead, I stayed up a lot to entertain the drivers. 

We stopped a lot—starbucks, waffle house, gas stations.  We complained a lot.  We all had trouble sleeping in the back seat of a very cramped Honda Fit. But somehow we made it home by 1:00 on Tuesday!  Good times!  I was so exhausted, I slept for three hours that afternoon.

But it was great to be home Smile

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(the boys, asleep in the back seat)

Random thoughts

Photo #reverb10

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Prompt: Photo – a present to yourself. Sift through all the photos of you from the past year. Choose one that best captures you; either who you are, or who you strive to be. Find the shot of you that is worth a thousand words. Share the image, who shot it, where, and what it best reveals about you.

reverb10.com

(december 25th)

imageyear

This is me with my boyfriend Chris.  I didn’t actually look at THAT many photos before settling on this one, because it just jumped out at me.

We are in Chicago at Blackbird in April, eating dinner with another couple (one of them took the photo).  We are silly and having fun. 

Why do I like this photo?  It shows you ME.  I am silly, I love to laugh and goof off, I have a very difficult time keeping my eyes open in photos, I have awesome shiny hair…plus the dinner was AWESOME and the Chicago trip was great fun.  There’s another photo, taken right after this one, where we are more “normal” looking, but this one is better.

Random thoughts

Everything’s OK #reverb10

Prompt: Everything’s OK. What was the best moment that could serve as proof that everything is going to be alright? And how will you incorporate that discovery into the year ahead?

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from December 24th

Proof that everything is going to be alright?

I feel that I lead a charmed life.  Life comes pretty easy for me, and I have been lucky to have loving family/friends and good health. 

That’s my proof that everything is going to be alright.  It already has been!  What better proof is there?

Random thoughts

New name #reverb10

Prompt: New name. Let’s meet again, for the first time. If you could introduce yourself to strangers by another name for just one day, what would it be and why?

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from december 23rd

(Okay—disclaimer:  I was out of town for the past week, and the only internet access I had was my phone.  So I’m WAY behind on my reverb10 prompts, but my plan is to still finish.)

New name?  You know, it took me a long time to get used to the name Hannah.  I used to think it was a dingy name, used for old maids or overweight middle-aged women.  I wanted to be a Jennifer, a Melissa, or a Stacey.  I thought my name was too serious, and I wanted to be more flighty, more fun, more light.  But then a funny thing happened as a grew up—I grew to love my name.  I loved its uniqueness and the fact that hardly anyone I knew was named Hannah.  I loved that it was a palindrome and was spelled the same backwards and forwards. 

Then a funny thing happened:  people started named THEIR children Hannah.  Now there’s tons of Hannah’s (15 and younger mainly), there’s Hannah Montana, and it feels like a fun, light, flighty name.  But I was there first!

I don’t need another name.  That’s what I’m trying to say Smile

thoughts about violin, teaching, running, life.