fine dinning.

Saturday was a relatively busy day for me despite not really having plans.  I had a baby shower to attend (and I actually held a baby . . . gasp), I had a London trip planning session, and made it my mission to find a killer dress for the upcoming wedding.  Quite the itinerary.  The state of the London trip and the pursuit for the killer dress will be subjects for another blog post. 

The highlight of my Saturday was sitting down and cooking a meal.  This is something I have taken for granted lately, as I’ve been working crazy hours, and luckily they compensate us with food brought in from surrounding resturants each evening.  It sounds amazing at first . . . but you slowly become sick and tired of eating take out.  I really could care less if I see another Jimmy John’s sandwich for 3 months. 

I got to thinking about the ingredients in my refrigerator on my way home from the mall, when it struck me . . . buffalo chicken ranch pizza.  Yum.  I had never tried this creation before, but it was super simple.  Requiring only the following:

1. Pizza crust – I used single serving crust from the farmers market a few weeks back that had been in my freezer.  This local bakery makes the most delicious flat breads that I use for just this occasion. 
2. Ranch dressing – this could be substituted for bleu cheese as well.
3. One chicken breast – self explanatory.
4. Buffalo wing sauce – mine was the cheap store brand and worked like a charm.
5. Bleu cheese crumbles – one of my favorite salad toppings ever.
6. Mozzarella cheese – liberal amounts as I love mozzarella. 
7. Parsley and basil – to make it look pretty and professional.

Now I don’t have any measurements or directions really as this was by the seat of my pants, but here goes:

1. I cooked the chicken in a skillet with some buffalo wing sauce and black pepper until my chicken was good to go.
2. I lathered my pizza crust with ranch and drizzled in some buffalo wing sauce.
3. Applied chicken, bleu cheese, mozzarella, parsley, and basil in any amount desired.
4. Baked said pizza until it looked delicious (about 12 minutes at 375 degrees).
5. Drizzled additional wing sauce on top.

Done!

 It was mighty delicious if I do say so myself.  Check out the pictures!

The finished product!

Ready for its close-up.

 

I would say I get at least an “A” for creativity and execution.  I told TJ about my culinary adventures today, and I believe he was quite intrigued and impressed by my feats.  He even said he wished he could have had some for supper tonight.  Gold star for me.

 

Off to bed.  I didn’t work at all this weekend, so my work week with be insane and possibly slightly hellish.  I am hoping to wake up early and get a head start on my day.

 

I only need to survive this week . . . and then vacation! 

life goes on.

Life is slowly coming to a new normal!  This week I did not work past 7:30 PM on any single night.  My average departure time was actually 6:00.  CRAZY.  I just have to make it through another week, and then I am released to go on vacation!!

I don’t have any immediate plans for my upcoming week of vacation.  This is only slightly scary since I’m afraid if I don’t make plans, I’ll just end up folding and working over my time-off.  Hopefully, I can manage to get all my work done so I can actually relax.

My one plan does involve a trip to Minnesota to attend my former roommate’s wedding.  This wedding has been a long-time in the making since the bride and groom dated virtually all of college.  They began dating around the same time as “the ex” and I, but clearly went down another path.  This wedding has gotten me to thinking about “what could have been.”

In May when I was attending the wedding of another of my former roommates (there were 6 of us in one house), the mother of the bride told me “we always thought you’d be the first to get married.”  Confidence BOMB dropped from 50,000 feet.  My first reaction was mild offense, but the more I pondered that very thought, the more I realized she was right.

If you looked at my college life, it was pretty dull at best.  I might as well been a married woman.  Ugh.  I was definitely the girl in the “serious relationship” whose world revolved around said relationship.  Anyone on the outside (i.e. roommate’s mom) would have thought we were destined to wed not long after graduation.  Thank goodness we never let ourselves do that.  What an awful and immature decision that would have been.  They always say that everything happens for a reason, and I think they’re right.  I learned a lot from that relationship . . . mostly what the signs of a bad relationship are . . . seriously.

The bottom line is that “what could have been” was a lifetime of putting up with a sub-par relationship just because we were scared of being alone.  Woah . . . SCARY. 

Good news is that life goes on.  In fact, I would say that after a few years of happy single life . . . drum roll . . . I am dating.  I had a second date with TJ (my acronym to protect this mystery man).  The best second date I’ve ever had (this guy has a serious streak going).  We had the perfect midwest date including fishing, star gazing, and the county fair.  Third date is in the works, and I have even asked him to accompany me to the roommate’s wedding.  Scary but kind of exciting.     

I will continue to provide updates as this adventure unfolds.  My immediate weekend plans are not nearly as exciting . . . baby shower, work, planning my UK trip (less than 40 days away I believe), and having Sunday lunch with my family.  Okay . . .  that is actually a full schedule.  I also would like to find a super cute dress for the Minnesota wedding, but there’s always next weekend too!

A Funny Thing Happened.

Woah . . . I’ve been behind on writing.  So much has happened in just two weeks.  Here is a synopsis of the past two weeks of my life:

(1) Still working like a mad woman.  T-Minus 9 days until the craziness temporarily subsides.

(2) Turned 25.  I had a great outing with great friends.  It was a perfect evening!

(3) Worked some more.

(4) Had a wonderful 4th of July weekend with friends.  I was only almost killed by fireworks once.  Whew. 

(5) Oh yeah . . . I worked. 

(6) I went on a great first date.  This is no lie. 

 

I will expand on that last point.  While I have not been on too many first dates in my life, I will rank this as the best.  It was fun, effortless, and sweet.  I very much enjoyed my company and we’ll see where this goes . . . maybe it won’t go anywhere, but maybe it will.  That’s the fun of the first date.  Maybe I’ll divulge more later, but for now I’ll keep my cards close to my chest.  I will tell you that I’m glad I avoided the on-line dating scene for now.