The House Poet

Yes, my friends, it's that time of year again: Spring Break! I, for one, wish my college would have spring break later, when it's actually more spring-like, but it's okay. I went home yesterday and was confronted with a house empty of meat because of Lent! Now, I was not worried; my dad is a great cook and I don't need meat to be happy. So, for this week, I decided to document all the food I eat in an effort to show the world how one family eats during Lent. :) (Also, this gives me something to work on as I miss Andrew SO MUCH) I hope you all enjoy the posts this week! :D Lunch yesterday was simple and comforting. I was supposed to be in LA with friend for the beginning of break; however, I have been sick since last Monday and wasn't better by the time they left. Thus, I just went home to rest and recuperate. Since my throat was hurting a lot yesterday, I requested miso soup for lunch and my dad did not disappoint! :) It was rich and thick with tangy miso, flavorfu...

It's been a grey day and I've just been holed up in my room since it's so cold outside. I actually did go out to take some pictures of my friend for my photography assignment, and it went well. But when I got back to my room, my fingers were stiff and freezing! Luckily, I don't have much homework so I can just relax, which is what I have been doing. I do wish I could bake something though..... Last week went well, except there was a TERRIBLE storm for a few days! The wind and rain were so strong I had trouble sleeping! Not to mention that walking to class and the University Center was a chore. There might be more rain this week, so I am not looking forward to that. Andrew started classes again and his schedule is rather intense! I have been there for him and we have fun being together, even if we are sometimes tired lol. I went to a couple family parties this weekend which were so fun!! I was a little overwhelmed by all the people I hadn't yet met, but everyone was ...

Yep, I am on a blogging roll today! I want to write up the posts as soon as I can this week so I don't get bogged down and behind like I do when at school, haha. Also, it's fun, and I want to make sure Andrew can see what I am up to! :) My sister and I went to Tulio's, which is an Italian restaurant I used to go to as a kid when I was done with ballet class, which was across the street. So, it's been around for a long time! We were seated promptly and given a basket of baguette and foccacia bread, both of which were good and just how I remembered them. Also, a bowl of herbs, olive oil, and balsami vinegar accompanied the bread. Dipping the bread in the mixture was very tasty, especially with parmesan sprinkled in it! This was the house salad that came with my pasta entree. I wasn't a fan of everything in this salad; I think the beats are an odd addition.....but that's just me. I asked for vinaigrette as my dressing and they served that in a quaint silver bowl. T...

I am indeed back home for break! The train ride was very nice; the train was really crowded since it's a holiday week, so I took a seat across from a nice older lady. She and I talked the whole hour-long way, and it seemed so quick! :) My sister picked me up from the train station when I arrived around 10 am and we went to visit my mom, stepdad, and halfbrother. My stepdad ended up giving me his classical guitar, which he never uses, but it sounds great! I can't wait to play it for Andrew! Afterwards, Fiona and I stopped at Lunardis to grab some groceries and got some yummy, though not too healthy food! I love how there is such a thing as lactose-free ice cream. ;) I also picked up a bottle of Naked's Mighty Mango juice!! On campus last week, some people set up a Naked juice table in the student center/dining hall and had a Wheel of Fortune sort of game set up. I spun it and won a Naked t-shirt, which I wore and found to be super comfy! I also tried a sample of the mango ju...

Yes, that is what my dad called me when I got out of bed yesterday morning. Thursday night I went to go get my hair cut (a wonderfully spur of the moment idea) and my curls were unleashed! My hair is super thick and heavy, so when it's layered and thinned out, curls come out of hiding! It feels so good and light! It's a breezy, cheerful hairstyle to go back to school with and I can't wait to show it to Andrew when we see each other next!! :D Yay! That's me Thursday night right after the hair cut. It took a lot longer than I expected, and my sister also got a trim. It was worth it and cheered me up! Actually, I am just feeling better in general, so that's good. :) My dad made Aloo Gobi again on Thursday for lunch, which is an Indian dish of curry, potatoes, and cauliflower. It was good, and we also had Trader Joe's frozen garlic naan bread which tastes pretty authentic and compliments the aloo gobi nicely. Then......last night, we had pizza! Yay! This time, my d...

Today is me and Andrew's 6 month anniversary! Sadly, he has class today so that's why he came over on the weekend to celebrate early. I hope he had a wonderful day though! He sent me an mp3 of a cover of a song that he and I have just discovered these last couple days; it is SO beautiful and I am so touched that he did that for me!!! Thank you sweetheart!! :D My dad came back home this morning from Reno, so it was nice to have him back! He had a wonderful and relaxing time up there full of good conversation and interesting moments. My sister and I were also excited to have him back home because it meant he would cook for us! Yay! For a little appetizer/treat, he picked up some Safeway inarizushi for me before lunch. They didn't contain too much rice in them, which was a bit disappointing. Also, the rice was plain rice, not sushi rice. These weren't terrible, but you can get better. My dad's homemade inarizushi are the best though, and Andrew would agree! :D My dad s...

No one is home right now except for me and Scooter, who is scuttling around being curious as usual. I am sitting on my bed, typing away and thinking about how awesome my weekend was and that I love Andrew so much! I am so happy because he came over on Friday to stay over to celebrate our 6 month anniversary a little early since he has class on Tuesday. It was so fun and relaxing!! But, it went by too quickly. After we got home from dropping him off last night I walked into my room and was so sad by the fact that he wasn't there. I miss him so much! I just have to keep in mind that I will be back at college in 2 and a half weeks! I need to stay strong! Andrew has become such a part of my life now; it's hard when he is leaves to go back home because I feel like a part of me leaves too. But, I have memories of a fun, sweet weekend so I'll be fine. :) Of course, I made him a cake! Yay! However......I completely forgot to give it to him before he left! We had just come back fro...

Last night after a pretty hot walk with my family, we came home and got ready to eat pizza! Yay! My dad also made some wheat bread for us and an ailing client. Doesn't it look cute? As I mentioned in my other blog post, my dad decided to take a break from making calzones, so he went back to making normal pizzas last night! Yum! Above is my dad's pizza with ground beef, fresh mozzarella, basil leaves, and olives. Here is my huge pizza, complete with an egg! :) Otherwise, it has the same toppings on it as my dads, minus olives. I never cared much for olives. My pizza was very tasty; the ground beef was a nice change from ham or pepperoni, so that was good. Even the fresh mozarella tasted really good and was all gooey! I love the addition of the fresh basil leaves from our plant too. :) And lastly, here is my sister's pizza! :) Hers has the same as my dads, mnius the olives. She doesn't like the idea of putting an egg on pizza. :) She wanted me to take a picture of her ...

Yes, the weather has been acting oddly this past week. Chilly winds and cold evenings have been plaguing where I live. This afternoon it's been hot, about 90 degrees, which actually feels kind of nice. :) Scooter is enjoying walking around our little porch in the nice sunshine! Last night, my dad wanted to make corn chowder since we had some fresh corn on the cob from the farm stand near us. It was tasty and warm! He also put in some potatoes I had bought from the farmer's market in Martinez, so it was a pretty healthy (apart from the bacon hahaha) and organic meal! The bacon added a nice saltiness so it was appreciated. :) Here are some of the grapes that I bought at the Martinez farmer's market. They were pretty sweet with a somewhat tough exterior, but my sister and I enjoyed them before lunch. We put some in cute little red mugs to nibble on. :D For lunch, my dad made the leftover taco meat for himself and my sister. But also, he kindly made me some beef ramen! We had s...

My dad has been on a calzone kick lately. Last night for dinner, he made 4 calzones, and we ate two since my sister was at a friend's house. She ate one of the leftover ones last night, and then I had the other for lunch today. :) Yum! My dad wants to go back to making traditional pizzas now though; he says he misses how the cheese would cook together with everything else on the pizza. Here is a shot of mine from last night. Ham, eggs, basil, cheese, and pepperoni were crammed into this one and it was very good! I love the egg in it, and the basil adds such a nice earthy kick to it. :) Below are pics of the calzone I ate today. This one had the same as the others, but with the addition of red onion. The onion added a nice flavor and goes well with the other ingredients. My sister was craving beef tacos, so my dad made some for them. I tried a bit and it was good! I was fine with eating my calzone since the tacos might have been too spicy for me. They loved it, so that's good! ...