(S)He Taught Me to Eat Artichokes

Last night, Sean and I went to the Logan Square Public Library to hear Mike and Clare give a talk on local, organic farming and CSA programs. It was a 2 hour panel discussion on how CSA's work and why they are good for the person, community and earth. It was really interesting and it made me really excited for next summer's program to begin.
I have already signed up for next season's CSA, which begins in May and goes thru mid-October. I participated in Mike's CSA last summer and received so much good produce, and a few chickens as well! It was delicious and fun!
Sean also got inspired and has decided to join Mike's produce CSA!!
I have added a link to Mike and Clare's farm onto the sidebar of this blog. Please take a minute to open their website and learn more about their program.

We also got to listen to a farmer named Jody who discussed his meat CSA program, thru Cedar Valley Farms (see link on the sidebar). I am not much of a meat eater but for a reasonable price ($240 for all 3 months) you get an incredible amount of food! Each month your box contains the following: 3-4 Lb roast, 3 lbs hamburger, 1 package of hamburger patties, 1 1/2 lbs whole Italian sausage, 1 package of 4 pork chops, 1 pasture raised whole chicken, 1 pasture raised cut-up chicken and 1 dozen farm fresh eggs. Every month you get all of that!
Now that is way too much meat for just me so Sean and I have decided to go in on the program together. We will each pay $120 and then split the monthly meat. Even that will be a lot of meat but doesn't that seem like a steal for fresh, locally grown meat?!?!

Afterwards, Sean and I realized we hadn't had a chance to eat dinner and all this talk of fresh produce and meat made us even more hungry, so we headed over to Dunlay's for some dinner and a couple of pints. Sean suggested we order the grilled artichokes as an appetizer. I told him that one of my favorite books is titled "She Taught Me to Eat Artichokes" and yet I, personally, have never eaten them before. So last night, Sean taught me how to eat artichokes. How to peel it apart petal by petal, how to dip it in garlic butter and how to scrap the meat off with my teeth. It was delicious...

Stuck

i hate blogger sometimes. it won't let me post links anymore!
anyway...cut and paste this and you can see this week's crossword puzzle:
http://www.chicagoreader.com/pdf/071122/071122_inkwell.pdf

Mike and I worked on the crossword puzzle last night (actually he did most of the work, but I did get 59 across!). Anyway, we have it almost completed but we're stuck on a couple of clues:
38 across?
30 down?
56 across?

*you know who is good at crossword puzzles by the writing utensil they use. i am still at the pencil level. mike is an ink pen guy. did anyone see the documentary on crossword puzzles? bill clinton and john stewart use sharpies to do the new york times crossword puzzle.*

A Handmaid's Tale

It's a new week and I've got a new read. This is another one of the classic pieces of literature that I've never read. I'm really enjoying it!

Leave

I can not stop listening to the Once soundtrack. I think I'm going to burn a hole in my Ipod if I don't choose another album soon. I have a request in to friends to burn me any and all albums by The Frames. If they come up empty handed, I just might have to break down and buy a couple of albums. Wow. That will be a change for me.
Anyway, this morning on the drive into work I listened to the song Leave, which has to be the best break-up song out there. (other noteworthy break up songs: Untouchable Face by Ani DiFranco and most songs by Alanis Morrisette).

It got me thinking about the worst breakups I've had, so far in my 30 years. (Plus last night, I was watching Sex and The City and it was the episode where Burger breaks up with Carrie on a post-it note.)
So here's the list: Top 3 Worst Breakups (in chronological order):

1. T.L.'s and my breakup - senior year of high school. He died. That really, really sucked.
2. C.K.'s and my breakup - sophomore year of college. I called him, at his hotel room, early Christmas morning (he was in Hawaii visiting family) to wish him a Merry Christmas. Another woman answered the phone.
3. R.U.'s and my breakup - less than 6 months ago. He spent the entire weekend with my family and about 20 minutes after they left he asked me to bike up to Edgewater/Roger's Park for a pint, which is about a 25 minute bike ride. Fast forward to 2am, a few pints later and I'm slightly buzzed. We head back to our bikes and pedal for about 10 seconds when he breaks up with me. I was stranded in the middle of nowhere, a bit tipsy, in a kinda dangerous neighborhood in the middle of the night. I had to call my girlfriend (which, seriously Carisa, you are an incredible friend and I will ALWAYS be grateful for you) and wake her up so she could drive to come pick me up. This breakup almost ties with T.L's death.

So in honor of crappy breakups...here are the lyrics to Leave:
I can't wait forever is all that you said
Before you stood up
And you won't disappoint me
I can do that myself
But I'm glad that you've come
Now if you don't mind

Leave, leave,
And free yourself at the same time
Leave, leave,
I don't understand, you've already gone

And I hope you feel better
Now that it's out
What took you so long
And the truth has a habit
Of falling out of your mouth
But now that it's come
If you don't mind

Leave, leave,
And please yourself at the same time
Leave, leave,
Let go of my hand
You said what you have to now
Leave, leave,
Let go of my hand
You said what you came to now
Leave, leave,
Leave, leave,
Let go of my hand
You said what you have to now
Leave, leave...

The Truth Has a Habit of Falling Out of Your Mouth

Last night Carisa and I went to The Swell Season show at The Vic. Oh my goodness, it was the most amazing show I've seen in a long time. And it wasn't just the music that was amazing but the vibe of the theater was magical. Glen, the lead singer, was just so incredibly excited to be on tour and so extremely thankful to all of us for listening to his songs. He would ramble on for 5 minutes or so between each song about how happy he was.
But the part that moved me the most, along with everyone else at the show, was how Glen looked at Marketa, the piano player. The back story to them is that she sang backup on a couple of songs for his other band The Frames. This writer guy heard their songs and loved their voices together and contacted them saying he had written a script for a movie called "Once" and he wanted them to star in it. So the two of them, along with the other members of The Frames, sat down to write music for "Once". Then Glen and Marketa spent a few months filming the movie and in those few months, they fell in love.
And now they are touring the soundtrack and they've been dating for a couple of years now and it is so obvious that they love each other. At the beginning of the set Glen started telling a story about the song he was about to sing. He said the song is about being a simple guy who meets this brilliant, amazing woman and not really knowing what to do because you want to do the right thing and impress her but you just don't know how and you're all nervous because she is so amazing. And then he looked at Marketa, smiled, held up his hands and shrugged.
And then, 3/4 of the way thru their set, Glen looked over at Marketa and leaned into the mic and whispered "You're brilliant". The entire crowd was silent.
You could see her blushing and smiling.

I cried a total of 4 times during that concert. The first three times I was blinking back tears and trying to conceal them as they leaked from my eyes. But that last song, when she broke out into "O Holy Night", I just lost it. Tears were streaming down my face, the whole audience was silent except the sniffles of people around me. Carisa was crying too...it really was just beautiful.

Every woman deserves a man who will look straight into her eyes and whipser, in front of a crowded room, "I think you're brilliant". And every man deserves a woman who will look right back at him and smile from deep within her heart. And I know it's super cheesy but I don't care...I am so looking forward to that day when I meet that guy who looks at me the way Glen was looking at Marketa. And I know that guy is out there...somewhere.

And that is why, no matter how much I want to be Carrie, I know I'm Charlotte.

It's Better Fried

Yum!! Fried Kumla! and a tasty fruit soup with wild mulberries and garden grown raspberries. :)

Happy Birthday Mom!

Cookin' Kumla

It took 4 hours to make the lefsa and 5 hours to make the kumla. But we were determined to make an authentic Norweigan feast! Our hard work paid off. Delish!!

Santa

For the past few years, since moving to Chicago, I have participated in a program where I 'adopt' a child in a low income community. What this entails is that the child will write a letter to Santa and then the letter is delivered to me. I then purchase gifts for the child based on their wish list and also on practicality. I then wrap the gifts up and they are delivered to the child's school where the teacher hands them out.

I just received my letter yesterday.

This year, my child is a 3 1/2 year old girl. Her wish list includes a pink coat, a pink stocking hat and a Dora the Explorer doll. She even drew me pictures of each item. :)

I think Santa and I can work something out to make sure she gets everything on her list. ;)

Tis the season for giving, folks. Wouldn't it be great if everyone who reads this blog buys an extra gift for a child this year and then drops it off a Toys for Tots location? (hint, hint)

Skooled

Chris Brown is my new obsession. I sure did call it when I said he reminded me of Michael Jackson. Here's a clip of his dance routine at the MTV Music Awards. He's not only breakin' but I see hip hop, tap and elements of ballet in there! And I love that 2 of his backup dancers are little kids!
Watch and be amazed...

Break It Down

I know the quality of this video isn't very good but HOLY SHIT this boy can dance. I caught a few minutes of the AMA's on Sunday night and was blown away by this guy's ability to breakdance. His name is Chris Brown and I have never really heard his music before but I actually dig this song, "Kiss Kiss". But more than that...he is one of the best B-boys I have ever seen. He makes it look effortless, but trust me....the shit he's doing is really f*cking hard.
Wow.
I will keep hunting for a better quality video but in the meantime, check this kid out.

Oh yeah, did I mention he's 18?!?!! His dance ability reminds me of Michael Jackson. This kid can do stuff no one has ever seen or done before. He is inventing dance styles. Amazing.
*Update - I keep watching this video over and over trying to catch all the poppin' and lockin' and other such moves. All it makes me want to do is go hit up a dance floor for a couple of hours. Carisa...you and me gots to find ourselves a dance floor sometime soon. There is a stage/cage/top of speakers out there with my name on it!!*

*The video has been taken down due to Dick Clark Productions and copyright infringment. But I'm on it...I'll get it back up as quickly as possible.*


i can't get the embedded html code anymore, so you gotta go to youtube to view it.

Aaaand now blogger is broken. sorry guys, you gotta cut and paste the link to see this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1MSHfUWKwA

Sadia - LOVE! You run YouTube! What is up with that?!?!

Fall Into...

Anyone else lovin' the new Gap ads?

Math Equation

Last night, Carisa, Michi and I went to Goldie's to partake in $1 PBRs. The bar's slogan is "On The Cheap: All Day, Every Day". Now you're talking my language!

Then off to Martyr's to check out a Jam Band. But then Michi and I heard the call of Fourth Meal and walked 2 blocks to enjoy some tasty Mexican food at The Burrito House.
What a perfect evening. :)

A Room With a View

These are some photos I took from my living room window this morning. The Village looks beautiful right now.

American Gangster

Last night Carisa, Michi, Tim and I ordered some Homemade Pizza Company and watched a bootleg of American Gangster. It wasn't too bad of a copy either, except that half an hour where the audio was slightly ahead of the video. But it felt like watching a kung fu movie, which is sorta funny when the lead actor is Denzel Washington.

Anyway, I digress...

It was a really good film and I recommend you folks out there go and watch it.

It's getting cold outside so movie season has officially started.

Makes You Want To Jump! Jump!

Most girls know that if you want to look skinnier in a photo you should cross your legs. It should be a subtle cross, one foot slightly in front of the other. It gives the illusion of thinner hips.

But in the case of these two ladies....it makes them look like they are in desperate need of a bathroom break.

It also makes me think of Xriss Xross. "The mac daddy makes you wanna jump! Jump!"