Fresh Starts

So, if you've managed your way here on purpose or on accident, I'd like to formally announce the end of this blog and the beginnings of another.

Join me at my new blog, Garnish. It'll  be similar stuff going on, but I hope a better focus. More of a collection of thoughts and tidbits, but well organized.

And with three posts underway, I hope it's enough to grab your attention and keep it for further reading. :-)

http://togarnish.blogspot.com

L'été de renaissance

I haven't written on this blog for months!

Why?

Not quite sure. One gets tired of things, and I suppose I got tired of writing in this, not really knowing what to say on it anymore. And perhaps there was a bit of winter depression added to it. I'm not a hardy winter person, and lose the will to do anything beyond the necessary. As spring is here and summer approaches, I find it much easier to enjoy Paris, enjoy life.

In fact, I bought a bike here. Yes, I bought a bike. I actually had a bike at UGA, that is either still chained to some railing on campus or stolen or recycled for someone who deserves it more. The point is, I could not bike around that campus, though I did want to. Now, I'm biking around Paris. It's funny how a change of life, habit and scenery can do.

Now that I'm talking about the bike, I sense that I haven't shard a lot on here that I should!

Did I mention I work in Paris? At a somewhat real job, that is not babysitting or tutoring? I work at an American grocery with other amazing people. Some of the girls there really inspired me to get my ass on a bike and stop waiting on metros and buses, which by the way, are hell during the summer. So, after a fairly short search on the internet for reasonable bicycle prices, I initially decided to buy a new one from Go-Sport.fr My friend, Scott, told me that the derailleur/derailer gearing system was whack, so continue my search. I did.

I came across the website http://velo-vintage.fr/ . You must click on the link. It's a cute website, also in English, and the shop is run by two young guys. They have an amazing selection of vintage bikes, even more than what's listed on the site. I bought my new bike from them, and on top of all my friends telling me it was really cute, two random guys told me "Il est beau, ton vélo!" "La classe!" Nice, right? Now, I'm biking almost everywhere I go, to work, to school, to hang out around those areas. I'll probably do a bit more exploring later.

I'm not so sure what talking about my bike is supposed to express other than my undying love for this new acquisition.

I'll try and be better about blogging at least for the summer. I'm taking a photography course, so at the very least, I will be posting pictures from the course here.

For now, I will be seeing you. Just as an aside, I will be going into Finals week soon, so I can't promise any greatness until after the first week of May.

A Gift from the Heavens

The one thing about having classes at 12h10, is that I have no desire to wake up before I need to. I've wasted away half my day by lying in bed. Even if I go to bed at a reasonable hour (23h-2h being reasonable), I am still waking up around 10h00 to leave at 11h30. It's a terrible system.

Today,  I was supposed to have a class at 10h30, but it ended up being cancelled, so I only had to prepare for work at 13h. I had so many plans when my alarm rang at 8h. I could wash and do my hair. Take some wet clothes to the laundromat to dry. Just go for a walk around my neighborhood...

Instead, I woke up at 10h30. I went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, and dared myself to look in the mirror. My hair was a wreck. Between the humidity and general mistiness of Paris' current weather pattern and the heat generated by two blankets being slept under, my hair had curled to a messy mop on my head. I calculated the time for a complete hair doing from the wash to the style...at least two hours. Two hours that I didn't have. Or rather didn't want to set aside.

I considered putting my hair up. I hated it. I turned on my straightener, but thought better of it. I decided to experiment, and just tied my hair back with a scarf and call it a day. Big hair day. Fake afro day. I give up day.

I did put some effort in though. My bow-tying skills have gotten much better since my cheerleading days! The bow looked so good that you could have taken it off and stuck it on a present! Surprisingly or not, I'm terrible at gift-wrapping.

My scarf, unfortunately, is not for style purposes. I actually am not a fan of this scarf with my outfit, but it's cold in my room, so I need to keep some survival warmth before I retire for the evening.

I love my studio, but I wish spring and summer would hurry up so that I could really enjoy it!

Pomegranate Rum Punch Jello

As I promised, I had some recipes to share that I made over the winter holidays.

But after further deliberation, I'm only going to share one, because the Red Wine Caramel Apples did not turn out as delicious as they looked.

So I'll go through the steps of making a yummy alcoholic jello that looks amazing in a martini glass. I received the recipe in my inbox a couple days before New Year's Day from Daily Candy. They call the recipe's concoction, "Punch Jelly."

Since jelly makes me think of stuff to put on bread, I decided to call it what it is: jello.

You can look at the original recipe here. And I've pretty much copy and pasted the steps here. I'll slide in my alterations in a happy color.

I started with a Pomegranate Rum Punch recipe. I didn't really look for a definitive recipe, but all you need is an ample amount of pomegranate juice, and your favorite rum. I used a spiced rum, as you can see.

For every pint of the punch the original recipe makes, omit 1 cup of water or nonalcoholic liquid, then assemble the punch base as directed, increasing sugar to taste (this helps the jelly set).

I wanted to put ginger ale in the original rum recipe, so I omitted 2 cups of this.

Bring however many cups of water or liquid you’ve omitted to a boil. For every cup, you need one ¼-ounce packet of gelatin.

Okay, so now I'm boiling the liquid and setting aside two packets of gelatin.

4. Bloom each packet in 2 ounces of cold water; add hot liquid; stir to activate.

I had no idea what blooming was. Apparently, I just pour the gelatin into the water (4 oz. for me), and then wait for a while. That was easy enough. Next, after taking the boiling hot sweetness off the stove, I added the bloomed gelatin and water, and stirred.

5. Add gelatin mixture to the punch base.

Here, I'm mixing the hot sweetness and gelatin with the pomegranate and rum mixture. Stir well!

6. Pour into a Jell-O mold and refrigerate.

At first, I poured the jello mixture into a glass bowl, but there was still some left over, so I decided to pour the rest in some martini glasses. The original punch recipe calls for lime juice. Since it was recommended to not add citrus juice to the jello, I garnished the glasses with lime.

The jello turned out slightly too sweet for my tastes. And too sweet for my parents, so I think it might be too sweet for most! I suggest using only water for the non-alcoholic liquid you boil. Or just being aware of how sweet your jello may turn out to be.

This recipe is perfect for house parties. More classy than the dixie cup jello shots. But still fun and a bit less serious than a martini with an olive. And there's nothing wrong with having both at the party. 

Bonne Année!

Sometimes, you look up and realize that time has gone by so fast. This day has felt so long. I woke up at noon in time to receive a text informing me that I needed to be at work like 15 minute ago. Literally. Six hours at work with me trying to regain my French listening ability. And now I've been at home watching Season 4 of Skins which is apparently the hardcore version of Degrassi -- and I like it.

Then I realized, It's the eighth of January. What happened to New Year's? Where are my eight days of break going to go? I already know the answer to this question actually. Many will be going to work. Others will have to be dedicated to culturing myself.

Here are a few pictures of my holidays. A joyous couple of weeks spent with family and friends. and booze. I actually am kidding about the last one. I didn't get drunk once. Imagine that. I finally make it to the United States of America and can't get sloshed with my brethren! Honestly, I hate the feeling of too many drinks so I try to avoid it.

I actually do have a couple recipes to share, one of which turned out pretty good, the other of which will remain on my parents' table as decoration.

As we begin this new year, we've probably made some resolutions.

Mine are as follows.

Become a better photographer.

I'm in one of the architectural meccas of the world, and how many pictures do I have to prove it? That must change. And I want to find beauty in the simple things. Perhaps not street style, but capturing a moment. 

Organize and mobilize for the fashion magazine.

I started really well with coming up with a concept and setting up the website for my fashion mag at AUP. But after that, assignments kind of pushed all of that to the side. I'll need to do better this year and put this thing on the map.

Cook more.

This past semester, I feel like all I cooked was pasta. Which meant I was barely cooking at all. Shameful.  And I actually like to cook. I need to get better at it. So when I actually am cooking for other people besides me, ie roommates, they won't collectively decide to eat at McDonald's instead.

Last, but not least, I hope everyone has had a happy start to their new year! And that the goodness continues well beyond!