i got a new camera!

I've wanted a DSLR camera since high school. I would start to save up for it, and then need the money for something else, usually plane tickets. I had a change jar going last year and then we bought a house and needed all the money we could find to furnish the thing. This christmas I got a huge surprise under the tree from the best boyfriend ever! I couldn't be more excited. I'm still trying to figure out all the functions, and I will be for a while. Here are a few of my first shots:

What do they call English muffins in England?

Well, they're just.... muffins.

Independence Day?

"It's a common misconception that America broke free from our rule...in actual fact we just didn't want it any more. Enjoy your national holiday USA...you're welcome! P.S. You're lucky we didn't charge you for that tea!"

~The Fourth of July according to Jay

moroccan food

I was excited about the food in Morocco. I love cous cous and I was looking forward to discovering different ways to cook it and spice it up. Boy was I disappointed. According to the guide book, Moroccans love making traditional food at home. However, when they go out to eat, they want to eat Italian, Spanish, and French food. So how am I supposed to get a hold of some good Moroccan food?? Here is what we experienced...



Walking through their open-air market places showcasing mountains of spices, one would expect their food to be tantalizingly full of flavor. The flavors do stand out from the general blandness of English food, but they are not too exciting. Most meat and vegetables come to the table bright yellow and all tasting the same. Many restaurants offer a variety of choices, including pizza, pasta, and under the heading of 'Moroccan' give you two choices, both with either beef or chicken: tagine or cous cous.Tagine is a stew of veggies and meat with yellow spices served and probably cooked in pottery that looks like a pointed hat. It's usually pretty good. The cous cous looks like the same thing only it's served on a plate with a separate plate of cous cous.

Each meal begins with bread, butter and olives and ends with mint tea. We heard great things about the mint tea, but had a variety of experiences. It was always served in a silver tea pot and clear glasses and poured from way up high to make it bubbly. A couple times it tasted like someone put their cigarettes out in it and one time quite a few ants were also trying to get a taste but had failed miserably. Towards the end of our trip it got better, tasting clean, sweet, and minty just like it should. I think this improvement was in part due to letting the tea settle and in the other part due to better quality restaurants.

Most restaurants had seating outside which contributed to visitation by a gang of beggar cats nearly everywhere. These cats were skinny, and many of them young, so of course we shared our chicken with them!

In Marrakech we saw quite a few butchers like this one where live chickens are kept in cages on the back wall and slaughtered and sold right there in front of you. I can't decide if this is healthier because it's so fresh or less so because of the close proximity of excrement and flies. However they did have a sink for rinsing the chicken off before they sold it.  The picture quality is bad because I had to grab it quick as some guy across the street was saying something to me in French about not taking photos. I wasn't exactly sure what he meant, so I just got out of there.

 
This monk fish was delicious and as you can see, Jay is enjoying his paella. While you are eating, people are desperate to get your money. Kids come by with roses or tissues, guys come by selling sunglasses or excursions, musicians play horrible made-up songs and then hold their hands out, and sometimes acrobats come along and do flips and then collect change from everyone.

When we didn't feel like being hassled, we resorted to eating pizza in our room and watching the only English television channel BBC news or a movie on the ipad. Pizza Hut seemed to be one of the only restaurants who didn't have a sweet talker stationed outside to try to entice you.

Overall it was an interesting culinary experience, and I guess I will just have to make up my own cous cous recipes!

Morocco in panorama

Sooo the prince got married amongst some bank holidays which means Jay could get 10 days off for the price of three! Why  not go to Africa? Neither of us have been to that continent, nor to a culture so vastly different from our own. Off we went to Morocco, for seven days, not really knowing what to expect. Boy were we in for a treat! There is so much to tell, but I will start by sharing some experimental and fun panoramic shots to whet your appetite. You know you're hungry..

bluebells

Jay and I went on a walk last Sunday and I was pleasantly shocked and surprised when we came upon a forest with a purply-blue carpet of bluebells. In England, bluebells are a sure sign of spring and pop up after the daffodils. At the time I didn't have my camera so I had to go back later in the week. As you can see from some of the pictures, I was almost too late! 

These photos were taken with my little Olympus Stylus Tough, which is why some of them are not in perfect focus. I'm still saving up for a nice and shiny SLR! *sigh*

a british pub

sooo I got a part time job at a pub less than a mile from where I live to make a little dosh and socialize with the brits. What better way to experience this culture than at a pub!? So far the biggest challenge was learning what and how these English people drink. Here are some examples:

• The head on the beer should be no more than 5%. If there is a larger head, they feel like they are being cheated out of their money and you will have to top it up. If it's much less than that, your boss will be concerned about his stock. I'm still practicing this one.
• British people don't tip. I can't tell you how many times I have given people 5 or 10p (¢) change and they have happily put the tiny coin in their pocket. I don't think they know the phrase, "keep the change."
• Cordial is a concentrated fruity syrupy thing that is mixed with water or soda and usually drank by kids and called squash. In the pub however, it is sometimes added to beer or cider. We offer blackcurrant or lime flavors, and I still need to try it.
• Sometimes people ask for a "top" or "topper" on their beers which is a squirt of lemonade (sprite). I'm not sure what effect this is supposed to achieve..
• A "shandy" is a half and half mixture of lemonade (sprite) and any lager or ale. It keeps the alcohol level down, adds a bit of sweetness, and just might be my new favorite drink. (yum)

Since I am new to a pub with lots of regulars, they seem to like to talk about where I am from. Some think I'm Eastern European?? One guy asked me if I was Canadian so I wouldn't get offended if I really was Canadian and he called me American. I've also been called a Yank, as well as Yankee-Doodle-Dandy. nice.

Overall I like the atmosphere of this pub. Many of the customers are old men who sit in the same spot and drink the same beer in their favorite glass and sometimes engage you in polite conversation. There are some older couples, some families, and a younger crowd who have no volume control towards the end of the night. They are my least favorite.

At the end of June the pub will close for a few days and be remodeled. During this time we will undergo new training and get to sample the food and wine so we can be better informed. This will be a great opportunity to learn some new skillzz and everyone needs skillz! I'm especially excited to try all of the desserts!

Here it is! Quite a large place with a huge garden out back.

my dad was born

Today is [one of] my dad's birthday. He was born 51 years ago, and upon marrying my mother, took on the crazy responsibility of me! (Lucky him! haha) In honor of him, I thought I'd post a few memories of him from when i was little. (awww how sweet!)

• building a snowman in the backyard – with muscles
• singing "can't touch this" while riding his shoulders down the hallway to bed
• him yelling at other drivers. I didn't realize "dick" was a bad word until I was probably 11.
• dressing in blue and watching the Colts win or lose while he yells at the tv
• vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup and sprinkles
• popping black jewel popcorn, and scarfing it down while watching a movie
• the way he used to talk to our husky Summer (rip) like she was a real person. that's cuz she was!
• the custom-made wire rack that fit in that odd space in my dorm room and held 2 mini fridges, a microwave, and a tv
• countless summers spent at the lake, swimming the whole day, throwing us up and into the water, cruisin on the boat, fishing, and paddleboating
• Vacations in North Carolina and how he'd lure the crabs out of their sand-homes, throw sand on the entrance before they could hide, and then capture them with his bare hands
• making us say "please" whenever we asked for something; which i now do to all kids i work with

Dads are cool and I'm fortunate to have three! Perhaps one of the coolest things about this one, besides his use of the word "cool," is that he took me in as his very own kid and I never felt like anything less.

I just realized how cool it is that birthdays can make you think of someone you really care about and all the good times you shared together. They aren't just for writing on people's facebook walls, they are a chance to show people how much you care and love them. Last year I forgot a few birthday's of people who really matter to me, this dad included, and I have since made it my mission to be better at birthdays. I hope I've improved.

Here's to you, Cool Dad. x

this cat is special

this cat's name is Maxxie (Maxi). He's not my cat, but he seems to spend most of his time in our penthouse entertaining us.

disclaimer: not one of these photos is set up or altered. these are all situations he chose for himself.

the mug was there first

we barely got our fresh, seasonal veg out in time!

right after removing the laptop

fruit-of-the-loom fort?

in the tv stand

self-explanitory

apparently, i never close this drawer, so jay thought he'd just put it in the middle of the room. i think he was trying to make a point, but what he really did was make a new cat fort

unfortunately i missed the part where he was perched on the edge like a bird because we had to save him from falling out

merry christmas!

snuggling with the bunny (rip) or trying to push him out of his home..

Who knows what he'll get himself into next!

phone photos

sometimes phones can take some pretty sweet photos dude. here's a few from my iphone that i like. some are funny. maybe you'll see them in a gallery someday! ha.

630 am tide pool saco bay

pitch pine & saco bay  

Oxford 

i really like this one

hottie

hottie

tough guy

oracle shopping mall in reading

dumb cat