Unapology

But before I get to that, I do apologize for not updating since the Olympics.

Remember those "Thoughtful Thursdays" posts I did awhile back? Well, even though it's technically Friday, I'm back-dating this so it says "Thursday."

I was talking with some friends this evening. And sometime after eating homemade bread and homemade cheese, but before my really embarrassing "tired laugh," (some of you know the one) we had an interesting discussion about how easy it is to judge others and how awful it feels to be judged.

And while I'm often entirely guilty of this, I'm sad that we sometimes feel like we have to conform to others' views of what we should say, wear, enjoy, love, listen to, read, eat, and so forth. But, I also feel like I'm getting better shedding the guilt. I remember learning early on in elementary school what the word "unique" meant. I still think it's a pretty cool word. But even as a grownup, it's hard to remember that it's a pretty cool thing to be.

You see, I THRIVE on variety, as I think a lot of us do. I find beauty in a lot of different things. I love spending time with creative people who teach me about their way of viewing the world, thus broadening my own view.

As it happens, I unapologetically love a lot of things. I love beautiful prose. Pride and Prejudice is my favorite novel. I also enjoyed Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I love Romantic poetry. I really enjoy reading Dan Brown novels. I've spent a lot of time reading Harry Potter. I used to sneak read Babysitter's Club books after "Lights Out." I had a deal with my dad that for every Earnest Hemingway novel I read, he'd buy me a Roswell High novel.

I think it's okay that I like Gilmore Girls, Lost, Roswell, and Firefly. I also thoroughly enjoy Disney Channel and Nickelodeon programming--even though I don't have kids to watch it with. I think most of the shows are funny and smart, and I never have to worry about inappropriate content.

I love listening to Nickel Creek. Periodically you might find me at an intersection singing along to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at the top of my lungs. I've seen *NSYNC, Sara Watkins, Iron & Wine, Counting Crows, Jimmy Eat World, Snow Patrol, Paramore, Panic at the Disco, Dashboard Confessional and others live. This summer alone, I plan on seeing She & Him, Punch Brothers, Jonas Brothers, and Hanson live.

I really love good food. I love cooking with whole, fresh ingredients, and I love new and interesting flavor combinations. Sushi is delicious. I both despise chain restaurants and love Wendy's.

I find George Clooney and Zac Efron very attractive.

I own clothes from both Anthropologie and Walmart.

I dream of being a mother, and I still dream of being a movie star.

I equally enjoy talking and listening, teaching and learning, laughing and crying. Especially during those rare and beautiful moments when all of these happen at once.

After all that, I'm not sure I'm laying down what I hoped you would pick up. I think what I want to say is that it's okay (and totally possible) to be hipster and teeny-bopper (Just don't tell the hipsters. And don't even try telling the teeny-boppers. They're too busy shrilling.) It's okay to be passionate about something, even if no one else is or even if everyone else is.

We should never feel the need to apologize for what we love, who we are, or the things we believe. The best thing about life is that we don't all have to like the same things in order to have good conversations with, or respect for, one another.

A/N: Edit and Republish Count: 3.

Christmas in a Cup! Or, Best Tea of 2009

Okay, before you call me out on quoting the delicious Ryan Reynolds in The Proposal, I'll have you know I have been referring to Celestial Seasoning's Bengal Spice this way long before I ever saw that movie, and rightly so. The ingredients consist of cinnamon, roasted chicory, roasted carob, natural spice and vanilla flavors with other natural flavors, ginger, cardamom, black pepper, cloves and nutmeg.

I enjoy it hot, cold (iced soy Chai-esque latte, anyone?), and I hear it's excellent steeped in hot apple cider.

Trust me. It's the tops.

Best Restaurant Moment of 2009

I love eating out. It's one of my favorite things to do. When I was living in Salt Lake City, I enjoyed discovering new haunts. Well, in the Avenues, a new restaurant opened up called the Wild Grape. I'd say it's probably in my top 5 restaurants in the city. And, since I lived so close, I was able to get there during non-busy times.

Another interesting thing about the restaurant scene in Salt Lake City is the period during spring when we all wait breathlessly for The Day We Can Eat Outside. Random snow storms usually push this day further and further back, but when it finally arrives, it's almost better than Christmas.

After a particularly rainy morning during the summer, the sun started creeping out mid-afternoon and by the time I got done with work, it was positively balmy. I drove past the Wild Grape and noticed they had tables outside, but no one was dining. So, I walked in and asked if they were seating people on the patio, fully prepared for the hostess to say no, but I'm pretty sure she conned a server into setting up table for me.

So, there I was, sitting by myself out on a lovely patio, looking out at a shady section of South Temple, and enjoying every minute of it. I jotted some notes about a novel I was thinking about writing, chatted with my server about life, and just enjoyed the general splendor.

Then came the food.

I blame my dad on my salmon snobbery. He just cooks it so deliciously every time that other salmon cookers have no chance to compete. Until now. This salmons was grilled to perfection, and it sat on a bed of shallots, spinach and sausage.

But we haven't even gotten to the Best Restaurant Moment. Until now:

Okay, seriously? I don't even remember what this was called. It was a cheese cake-esque custard of some sort, but instead of cream cheese, it was goat cheese. Yeah, you read that right GOAT CHEESE. It's a running gag in my family that anything can be made better with goat cheese. My dad tries to put it in everything.

It was drizzled with a honey-wine-fresh cherry reduction, and it was the best thing I have ever put in my mouth. Ever.

And at that moment, I knew what heaven tasted like.

Gratitude

Thanksgiving will be over in just under an hour, and I'm about ready to go to bed.

I've wanted to do a Thoughtful Thursday post for quite some time, but usually by the time Wednesday is over, I'm too tired to think of anything. But today, I didn't have a lot going on. I slept in, cooked some food, made a pie, and spent time with family. Tomorrow will be more of the same, sans the food prep.

I find that I have plenty of reasons to be grateful, most of which might be considered "little things." For example, I'm grateful I caught the last few minutes of An Affair to Remember just now. I'm grateful my cranberry sauce turned out. I'm grateful for my gold shoes and some new rings I bought.

Then there are bigger things: I have job I absolutely love. In fact, most days I can't believe I'm finally getting paid to read and design books. I love my house. It's fresh and clean and warm. I'm grateful that I got to live for a whole year in the Avenues. I'm also in love with my car. Sometimes it's strange to think that I even have a car.

I have a family I adore. Seriously. They make me laugh until I can't breathe, and most importantly, they make me feel safe. I have great friends. They add the best spice to life. Honestly, to know me is to know that 95 percent of my anecdotes start with something like this:

• "One time, my cousin and I . . ."
• "Little Brother said the funniest thing . . ."
• "I was talking with my sister the other day, and . . ."
• "Can I just tell you why my parents are the coolest?" (This question is rhetorical.)
• "Last time at book club . . . "
• "My nephews and nieces are cuter than yours because . . ." (I usually only imply that last one. People would get offended if I just came out and said such a thing. It doesn't it make it less true, though.)

Most of all, I'm grateful to know what life's all about. I'm glad to know that even though right at this moment I may not enjoy everything I hope for, sooner or later I will. And trust me, I have quite enough to be getting on with.

And yes, I know I ended that sentence with a preposition. It's okay: I'm off the clock.

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth.

But I HAVE moved to Springville to a lovely new apartment really close to work. My books are unpacked and shelved according to spine color, and I've shaved an hour and fifteen minutes off of my commute.

The only downside: we don't have internet yet! As one might imagine, this cuts deeply into my blogging time, and I miss it deeply. I have videos I want to share, treats I want to show you, pictures I want to feature and food I want you to be jealous of. But no, we might have to wait longer for any of these things to happen.

Hey Smalls, you wanna S'more?

One of my favorite things about camping is delicious, fire roasted food. So, imagine my disappointment when my two most recent camping trips fell through. Well, on Monday, I stopped off at home to share the joy of my first day of work, and wouldn't you know, my parents had a fire in the fire pit out back, all prepped and ready to go for some tasty hot dog roasting.

Now, before I get to the next part, I have to explain something. I hope my mother doesn't get embarrassed, but for as long as I can remember, she has been supremely health-conscious. When it comes to restraint born out of sheer willpower, she is unsurpassed. I respect and admire her for this, and I'm sure I'm sometimes a source of frustration for her because I'm never as careful as I should be when it comes to food.

That being said, she deserves all credit for this masterpiece:


You're thinking, what? You believe your mother invented the s'more?

Of course she didn't.

Let me explain. A month or so ago, my mother wasn't a huge fan of s'mores. She liked marshmallows okay, the roastier the better. Then, one fateful evening, she had some women from her neighborhood over for a ladies night and they roasted marshmallows around the fire while chatting and laughing and thoroughly enjoying themselves.

My mother's fire pit (yes, it was a birthday present) is made up of a metal ring, with stacked bricks around it. It's really quite a lovely addition to the back yard. Well, in a fit of inspired brilliance, Mom discovered that if you set a graham cracker on the metal ring, and set your chunk o' chocolate on top of that, the chocolate gets deliciously melty while the 'mallow is roasting.

I regret not having a camera to capture the expression of sheer delight on her face when she was telling me about this later.

"Guess how many s'mores I had..."

"I dunno, one--"

"Three!!!"

So, on Monday, I tried out this new, patent-pending technique. You know how sometimes the chocolate is too hard or cold and you can't bite through all of the layers of a s'more without the whole thing crumbling? Problem solved. The tricky thing now is figuring out what do with all the melty goodness. I, for one, got chocolate all over me.

Not a problem I ever mind having.

Next week on Foodie Friday: Blaming my father for my salmon snobbery and love of goat cheese.

Thought(less) Thursday

So one time (like two months ago) my dad and sister were completely shocked to discover that "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and "The ABC Song" were actually the same tune. Until that moment, they had gone their whole lives not knowing this.

I made fun of them.

Imagine my embarrassment when I wandered into Albertson's for some lunch yesterday and it dawned on me that "deli" is short for "delicatessen."

Don't worry, Pop and Sis, I made fun of myself.

What about you? Any sort of silly things you probably should have known a long time ago but for whatever reason just figured them out?

Foodie Fridays

Paul: What is it that you really love to do?
Julia: Eat!
Paul: And you are so good at it!
Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci, Julie and Julia.
I was actually going to talk about something entirely different today, but when good ol' Mallory offered to treat me to a post-interview celebratory movie watch (I think the interview went really well), how could I talk about anything else on this, the First Foodie Friday?



Aside from the fact that watching Meryl Streep act is like looking at fine art, and that this movie also featured Stanley Tucci, Amy Adams, and a delightful cameo by Jane Lynch, the unsung character in the movie was all the delectable food. And Paris. I want to go to there.

Now, I don't know a lot about Julia Child, but the woman portrayed in the movie was one who finds joy in food, family, people, and life, and it was wonderful to see. Now, I'm trying to decide what I can go cook in three cubes of butter.

Answer? Anything.

Life pretty much doesn't get any better.

This is what I call a perfect end to Birthday Fortnight Round 1:

Lunch at Les Madeleines with the promise of this...

...for breakfast tomorrow.

And, as a special surprise, I just found out I won Jenna's contest!

So, thanks Birthday Fortnight Fairies, for the abundance of Birthday Miracles hurled my way.

Let the Celebrations Commence!

Dearest, Darlingest Momsie and Popsicle:


Thanks for officially starting my birthday celebrations with salmon, potatoes, peach ice cream and every good thing. (There were beans too, but I didn't manage to nab a photo before we ate them).


Thanks also for letting me hang out with you to watch Conference.

Love,

Megan

Be still my heart

My long lost coworker (she moved upstairs and I am bereft without her) invited me to a lunch meeting sponsored by AIGA SLC (American Institute of Graphic Arts, Salt Lake Chapter) at Caffe Niche in downtown Salt Lake. There are many reasons why I loved this. First of all, I love hearing people talk about graphic design. The event was called Shift.Option.Talk, which, if you have ever designed on a Mac, is just a cool name for a seminar. Last, and totally not least, I fell in love with Caffe Niche after visiting their website to peruse their menu options.

Look what greeted me:


The rest of these pictures I snapped with my camera phone, so they leave a lot to be desired, but I hope you catch my drift.



Finally, imagine this as a really big wall to serve backdrop to the speaker (image belongs to Caffe Niche):

So, this was extra cool because the speaker was there to talk about environmental graphic design, or the infusing of a space with the client's brand. Caffe Niche was a built-in case in point.

Tomorrow I'm off to an event called Slide Jam! at the Salt Lake Art Center. A handful of presenters have 5 minutes each to share their thoughts through slide images that have to do with a traveling exhibit called "Branded and On Display." I'm not much of a branding expert, but can appreciate good branding when I see it.

Isn't Salt Lake City great?

For those who care (Dad, I'm looking at you) I chose the Roasted Dame Sandwich for lunch: herbed goat cheese spread, roasted butternut squash, balsamic figs, arugula and lemon-chive oil on sourdough. Divine.

Christmas Time

There are lots of things I love about Christmas:

• My mother's beautifully decorated home.
• 125 baubles on a Christmas tree.
• Days off of work.
• Delicious food.
• Listening to my dad read "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" complete with delightfully awkward Freudian slips.
• Reading the story about the Christmas bells.
• Reading Luke 2.
• Singing Christmas carols around the piano, even if I don't play as well as my sisters.
• Giving gifts.
• Wrapping presents and tying bows.
• Talking to nieces and nephews about what Santa brought them.
• Contemplating the numerous and varied blessings I have, the greatest of which is the birth, life, atonement, and resurrection of the Savior.

Yep, there's lots I love about Christmas. It really is the most wonderful time of the year. Also? Santa brought me these this year.

I can't wait...

...until these are mine.

Saturday really is a special day...

I'm really loving the transition into post-college life. Take, for example, my first official Saturday as a college graduate. I say "official" rather than "technical" because technically, I spent the first Saturday in bed after being leveled by a sleep deprivation-induced migraine. Not fun. So the first official Saturday I did the following:

• Woke up at home in my comfy Lehi bed.
• Enjoyed that nephew Joshua liked me instantly, instead of taking his usual obligatory three hour warm up.
• Ran errands with my dad (deserving of its own post, believe me).
• Went to Target (one of my favorite things to do) to buy a shower gift for my greenie.
• Went to said greenie's bridal shower.
• Had a J-Dawg/Smart Cookie extravaganza with former mission companions.
• Went to a barbecue at my aunt's house.
• Watched the first few minutes of Sandlot projected at the baseball field.
• Had a few sips of Henry Weinhard Root Beer.
• Saw Iron Man.

So really, a jam-packed day full of things I love to do with people I love to see. And in no way was it tainted by homework, or even the threat of homework. Also, there wasn't snow, which the weathermen have been threatening for days in an effort that I'm convinced is for the sole purpose of trying to suck a little of the joy out of life.

Well take that, weathermen.