Say Goodnight and Go...

Sorry I have been missing in action for the past several days.  Thursday was my last day of work at the Court of Appeals, and I really will miss it.  It was a great transitional job between law school and the real world...my friends and family can attest to the awesome hours and small workload I had (since I peppered them with emails throughout the day, responding to their own messages within seconds).  I'd even feel slighted when they didn't respond within a similar time frame.  How dare they?  Wait, you mean to tell me normal people actually are very busy at work and don't have time to play me on words with friends/respond to my funny imgurs within minutes??!?!  No. Way.

After leaving work on Thursday, Friday was the big moving day.  I gathered the remaining things from my now empty apartment and headed to my new home for the next few years: Greensboro (not before stopping in Chapel Hill to celebrate my friend's birthday and going to S.'s friend's wedding).  Although my new place in Greensboro is so nice (pics to come later), my Raleigh apartment was awesome.  It was my first big girl place (no roommate = no rules!).  Check it out:

(The bottom take out box has the yummiest sopapilla cheesecake I have ever eaten.  It's from Remedy Diner in Raleigh.  And it is to die for.  Oh, and it's vegan!  Neither S. nor I could even slightly tell.)

  (Sad, empty apartment.  That middle room right there was my closet.  Yes, you could sleep in there.  Yes, I have slept in there.)

Usually, moving doesn't phase me.  I have done it over 10 times in the last 8 years.  I guess I never even stick around a place long enough to get attached to it.  But, Raleigh, you were different.  You were so cute.  You felt like my first home since I left my parents for college back in 2004.  I made several good friends (Jonathan, Jill, and Digyna - with whom I'm going to Thailand with on Friday!!) and had so many good memories.  After all, it's also where S. and I met and hit it off for the first time.  And most memorably (S. will get mad at me now), it is home to the best, freakin late night cheese dip you'll ever have.  Love you always, Armadillo Grill.  Until next time!

For now, it's time to say goodnight and go to Raleigh and hello to Greensboro.  Wish me luck!  I start at Brooks Pierce on September 24th.  What will I be doing until then?  Thailand with Digyna for 16 days!  Will do my best to keep the blog updated, so live vicariously through us as we trek our way through Thailand.

Moving Day Disaster

I moved My friends and parents helped me move most of my stuff out of my apartment yesterday.  I can't believe it's been a year already!

I also don't think anyone could have had more of a disastrous move than yours truly:

1. My dad accidentally hit some pipes while trying to drive the moving van into my new condo's parking deck.

2. Steam started coming out of one of the pipes.

3. The pipes burst.

4. The fire alarms went off.

5. The fire trucks came.

6. One of the busted pipes may have been  a sewage line.

7. Think about that.

8. Everyone's water was shut off for several hours.

9. The building could have been condemned.

10. Everyone would have had to stay somewhere else that night.

11. We tried to keep moving me in, but then the elevator stopped working.

12. I live on the 3rd floor.

13. I have very heavy stuff.

14. The daughter of the guy who was helping me move got stuck in the elevator.

15. Oh, and it was pouring.  So that was pretty sweet.

But I think everything is okay now (except that everyone at my new place probably hates me).  Oh well, whatcha gonna do.  Enchiladas help make things better:

I filled five with fat free refried beans, onions, grape tomatoes, and spinach and the other five with the same stuff except mushrooms subbed in for the tomatoes.  Rolled up and topped with enchilada sauce (canned sauce warmed on the stove with cumin, garlic, and paprika added) and shredded reduced fat mexican cheese, then baked in the oven for 20 minutes at 350.  Broil for another 5 minutes.  Garnished with cilantro and a few with bean sprouts (I was slightly confused with the mix of genres too, but don't ask, S. loves bean sprouts).  Served with homemade guac and a side of sweet corn on the cob.  It sure did help us forget our day!  (Excuse the haphazard presentation, I was pooped!)

Slob Kebab

Good morning!

Since I was a total slob kebab after yoga yesterday and ate tortilla chips, nachos (spicy thai peanut sauce and melted cheese), a sweet roll, a banana, and some plain spaghetti, I will save you the torture of describing in detail that meal.  Instead, on to pad thai and bbq faux chicken thin crust pizza!  (Two SEPARATE meals, not to be served together, mind you.  But oh my, that could be fun.)

Pad Thai

I LOVE pad thai.  I LOVE Thai food generally.  I love it so much I'm going to Thailand from 8/31-9/16 (more on that later).  But as much as I love Thai food, I have consistently failed to make it taste like the restaurant at home.  But this time, I think we got as close as I've ever been.  It would have been nice (and much easier) to buy the ready made pad thai sauce at HT, but almost all of those use fish sauce, and you know I'm not down with that.  Instead, S. whipped together his own sauce using spicy HT peanut sauce (can you tell we love this stuff yet?), garlic, ginger, cilantro, ketchup (just go with it), peanut butter, and sugar.  We coated the rice noodles with the sauce in the pan and garnished the whole affair with green onions, cilantro, and, our favorite, bean sprouts.  Oh, yeah, we also added marinated tofu, but that turned into a mess as the tofu hadn't completely thawed from the freezer, turned a weird spongy texture, and was way too salty (with our garlic soy sauce marinade).  Next time, maybe just a garlic sesame oil marinade would be better.  In any case, the meal was delicious, as you can see:

BBQ Faux Chicken Pizza

This meal is my go to.  It is delicious, quick, and looks so appetizing while it's baking it almost makes me want to eat my own arm.  But that's not vegetarian.  (Monkey logic strikes again).  The recipe is quite simple.    Drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil on a frying pan and heat.  Cook the top side of the tortilla until it is nice and browned, then flip the tortilla so the back is on the pan.  Mix a teaspoon of spaghetti sauce into 3 tablespoons of BBQ sauce and spread over the tortilla.  Add your chopped up Morningstar buffalo wings, red onions, chopped garlic, freshly chopped jalapeno peppers, and sliced mushrooms.  Sprinkle shredded cheddar/mexican cheese over all of the toppings.  Wait until the cheese begins to melt on the pan.  Once the cheese starts melting, pick up the entire tortilla with a spatula, stick it in your oven/toaster oven, and bake for 10 or so minutes.  Switch to broil for 2 more minutes.  When the cheese and the crust of your tortilla have browned, it's ready, and it's oh so mouthwatering-ly good.  Crispy too!  Next step: drizzle ranch on top and go to town.  YUM:

On another note, I'm moving at the end of this week.  I can't believe it's been a year since I've been here, since I finished law school!  At the same time that I'm sad to leave the friends I've made here, the familiarity I've grown to love, and the comfort in my job, I am also ready to start something new, to really push myself to my limits at work, to live only 10 minutes away from my parents, and to make new friends and a new life.  

I will never forget this year though.  It was plain old freakin awesome.