The things to come.. tomorrow

Tomorrow I will finally have internet in my new apartment. Then I will post a nice long post about my arrival to the city of St. Louis and the goings-on since my arrival. Until then my friends!

Year 24 Update

1. Move to St. Louis

24 down, 23 to go. Things are looking up for the year 24!

Year 24 Bucket List!

I quickly last night before it became my birthday came up with 24 things to do while I'm 24. A bucket list for 24 if you will. Check back in a year to see how I did!

1. Move to St. Louis
2. Go on a blind date
3. Sing karaoke
4. Go to a weird museum
5. Not watch TV (or the internet viewing of) for a week
6. Go further West than St. Louis
7. Buy a CD
8. Join a gym
9. Save money
10. Start a new trivia team
11. Touch the Mississippi River
12. Visit WV
13. Go to the top of the Gateway Arch
14. Try Lobster
15. Paintball
16. Visit another Grad School
17. Cook dinner for friends
18. Try a new hairstyle
19. Go to a professional sports game
20. Give a fake number at a bar
21. Convince Mom and Dad to go on a cruise for Christmas (and take me!)
22. Not be unemployed for longer than 4 weeks
23. Save my receipts!
24. Skype with more friends

There's a little Fangirl in all of us.

Today is the best day of the year. It's not just because it's my birthday. Okay, that's a HUGE reason why it's the best day of the year. But it's the first day of spring! It's the first day of the Zodiac! It's my birthday! And since it's my birthday no one can make fun of this admittingly embarrassing post.. But I love soap operas. They've been a part of my life for about 12 years now.. OMG - half my life! I inherited the love of soaps from both grandmothers and my mother (although she eventually moved on). I've been forced to let go of my most beloved soap, One Life to Live, a few months ago, but I still appreciate the genre and the actors that are a part of it. I admit that I still squeal with delight when two of my favorite characters get together, or yell at the screen when one character does something positively stupid, and I even roll my eyes when the storylines are so farfetched I can't wrap my brain around them. But I still love them. So imagine my birthday delight when two of my most favorite soap opera actresses wished me a happy birthday on twitter! I shamelessly told them both via twitter about my birthday, and asked for a little love and they both obliged! Yes this fangirl can't contain her joy and must share it with everyone. Finola Hughes was my first love of soap operas. I grew to love her as Anna Devane on All My Children although that character is better known on General Hospital. Kassie DePaiva played Blair Cramer on One Life to Live, and recently guest-starred on General Hospital as the same character. Today is also Kassie's birthday so I feel all the more special in being recognized by her. So here it is, the tweets that made is fangirl jump for joy on her birthday!

What a wonderful day to be a soap fangirl and to have a birthday!

Chattanooga

I was recently in Chattanooga for the South Eastern Theatre Conference. I saw friends from Theatre West Virginia and East Carolina. We all had a lot of fun painting the town red. I think if I had been able, I would have done a lot more around Chattanooga - seen more sights than the three blocks surrounding our hotel. But the 3 blocks around our hotel were pretty awesome. I highly recommend the following in Chattanooga:

1. The Chattanoogan Hotel. A really awesome hotel. Go to the bar on Thursday and talk to Jeffrey. He is a wonderful bartender that will pretty much make you whatever you want, however you and the best price he can make it. That being said, the female bartenders SUCK. And there's a live band on the weekend making it impossible to hear. But the hotel and Jeffrey were great
2. The Terminal. If you like stout, try their oatmeal stout. I hate stout but it was quite delicious. Also you haven't lived until you try their "festo."The staff is great and the atmosphere is really fun. 
3. Urban Stack. Burgers GALORE. Any thing you can ever ask for on a burger, they can make it happen. And they have Veggie Burger substitutes. Delish! Also, if you like Girl Scouts, try their Samoa milkshakes. 
4. The Southside Saloon isn't very quick at lunch, but they always have Miller High Life for $1.50 24/7. Just a good things to know.

Yep I recommend going to Chattanooga for their food and booze. But I look forward to the day I can return and get to see more of the city. 

Oh, and I guess the conference was fun too.

Bruschetta a la Friends

Tonight I made Bruschetta from scratch! Delicious! It was something I wanted to make on my own ever since the time this summer when I made it with Annie and Chris. Annie and Chris are my new best friends from this summer in West Virginia and they are my inspirations for wanting to cook.

Annie made up her Bruschetta recipe as she went along. I had to check a recipe. Before I even asked Annie where to look I found one very similar to what we made on allrecipes.com, and Annie suggested I check the exact site!

One of my good friends Leslie was hanging out with me today and she was my helper! (Annie would be so proud of me having a helper!) Leslie cut the french baguette and grated the parmesan, while I diced the tomatoes and chopped the basil. Leslie said she didn't like tomatoes, but she liked this! I'm so excited about it- and the best part was that it was so simple! And especially in the summer the ingredients were very cheap! When Mom and Dad came home they ate all the leftovers! SUCCESS!

The Balsamic Bruschetta recipe from Allrecipes.com called for:
8 roma tomatoes, diced (I used 7)
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2 cloves of garlic, minced (My Dad won't eat anything with garlic so I cut it out completely)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (I just about doubled that)
1 teaspoon olive oil (I doubled that as well, I like the juice!)
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 loaf French bread, toasted and sliced (I used 3/4 of a French baguette, sliced, and drizzled olive oil over them and put them in the oven at 325 degrees for about 5 minutes)
Recipe Link

(most of) the ingredients before..

 

the deliciousness after (Leslie and I had already eaten quite a hefty portion of what was in the bowl before I remembered to take the picture... it was too delicious to wait!)

Welcome to Stain Something!

Welcome to my new blog. As I am starting a new chapter of my life, I'm starting a new blog to document it. I am twenty-something, unemployed and moving back in with my parents. Ahh the sweet life that every college graduate dreams about... haha, not. 

But in all honesty, I'm really grateful to be moving in with my parents. First off, they are allowing me to stay with them rent-free (for now at least). And while I don't have a job right now, I am really looking forward to pulling my own weight around the house, especially since Mom went back to full-time this year.  I plan on making dinner, doing the laundry.. really exciting stuff here. And they are letting move upstairs. My whole life I have lived in a bedroom on the main floor. But now I am moving upstairs, with twice as much room and my own half-bath. But this upstairs has been storage for the whole family, for 20+ years and now it all has to move out- or at least to the basement. And the bathroom, although clean a functioning, isn't very homely. So I'm starting my own DIY project of turning upstairs into.. i guess my loft? haha.. I don't know what I'm going to call it yet, but it is certainly a bigger project than a room- makeover. And being unemployed, I'm trying to find the cheapest ways possible to get everything done that I want to happen. 

Wish me luck!