Poco-Cocoa – Page 138 – Things & Stuff

Happy Birthday to me!
I’m 32 today! I still feel so much younger, which is a good thing, I suppose.

We started celebrating this weekend, with dinner Friday at Garrido’s, then lunch Saturday at Franklin BBQ, a rusa at F&F, a visit to the Museum of Art downtown to see the Hatch Show Print Exhibit, dinner at The Woodland, and drinks at Fino… then Sunday we shopped for clothes and spent time with Rachel. Today we’re having lunch at Asti and dinner at Fino, so it really couldn’t get any better!

I’ve been reading Susannah’s blog (and taking her Unravelling course), and I’m using two of her great ideas for my birthday. First, I’m choosing a word to focus on this year… something I can always have in mind when making decisions, being creative, and tending to relationships: COURAGE. I want to be brave and take risks… not be afraid to make new friends or use up my Polaroid film or try something new.

I’m also making a list of things I’d like to do by this time next year. I have no idea if I’ll accomplish all of these, but I plan to look at this list often, and again on my birthday next year, to cross off the things I’ve done.

33 Things to do before I turn 33
1. Give more love
2. Learn French
3. Take more film photos
4. Create an organization system for my film negatives
5. Practice yoga or stretching every now and then
6. Take more walks
7. Be at peace with food
8. Paint my toenails rainbow colors
9. Write poetry
10. Travel to new place
11. Invite friends over for dinner or dessert
12. Go to a beach again
13. Create more rituals (morning, night-time, Sundays)
14. Go on more me-dates
15. Keep reading books
16. Keep blogging
17. Start a collection
18. Journal more
19. Take random days off work to just relax
20. Keep loving my hair (which basically means keep getting haircuts with Joey)
21. Organize my recipes
22. Go to sleep earlier
23. Wake up earlier
24. Remember birthdays and holidays
25. Choose not to gossip or be critical
26. Keep up my gratitude notebook
27. Be positive
28. Toss/organize/clean up at home regularly
29. Take self-portraits and be more comfortable with my appearance
30. Pay off debt
31. Write
32. Go to the movies at least once a month
33. Be me
I hope you all have a fabulous day!
March 30, 2010

Random Thoughts
Five Senses Friday

Tasting :: tofu ramen at Banzai for lunch (yes, I eat here all the time)

Hearing :: kitty cats purring

Seeing :: Everything through the lens

Feeling :: the final bits of my Jamaican sunburn peeling off

Smelling :: cucumber melon candle on my nightstand

March 26, 2010

Fun stuff, Random Thoughts
My New Toy!

I found a perfect Polaroid 600 camera on Craigslist! I’m in love…

Thankfully, The Impossible Project has started making film that works in Polaroid cameras, now that Polaroid itself has stopped producing film. They just released monochrome film for SX-70 cameras, and they should be releasing film for 600 cameras next month. Hooray, hooray!

March 25, 2010

Fun stuff, Photography
Franklin Barbecue

A couple of weeks ago, my coworkers and I walked over to Franklin Barbecue for lunch. Holy moly, people, you HAVE to try this place!

You’ll need to get there early, though… we arrived around noon on a Friday, and waited over an hour in line to order and get our food. Thankfully, it was a gorgeous day, we had great conversation, and the food was worth it.

Another reason to get there early: Franklin is only open until 4:00 p.m., or until they run out of barbecue. I love that.

There are shaded picnic tables, and four different kinds of sauces on each table: espresso, sweet, hot, and pork. And they are all fantastic.

I decided on the brisket plate. The super-cool guy behind the counter asked whether I wanted fatty meat or lean meat. I asked for a bit of both. They’re both amazing, but I gotta say, fatty meat is fabulous meat. While he sliced the brisket, the super-cool guy handed me a burnt end to nibble on… heaven. The side dishes were great too… I’m not really a coleslaw fan, but my coworkers loved it. The pinto beans were smoky and delicious. I’m anxious to try the potato salad next time.

They were also selling pies from Pie Fixes Everything, for $5 a pop. These were definitely shareable. I chose the cherry pie, and took it home to share with Justin. The crust was tender-flaky-perfect, and the cherries were lovely.

I’m thinking that we might head over early on Saturday for lunch. Or maybe I’ll head over today. Or both. 🙂

March 24, 2010

Austin, Edibles
Cream and butter
Seriously, everything is better with cream and butter. Last week I used our lovely Farmhouse cabbage in Molly’s recipe. The recipe on her website is for Brussels sprouts, but her book has a recipe for cabbage. It’s divine… the browned bits are buttery and nutty, and the cabbage just melts in your mouth. I served it with a simple salad and stuffed chicken breasts from our corner grocery.

Lately I’ve been up to:
- Anticipating my birthday staycation with Justin on Saturday
- Scouring the internet for used-but-functioning Polaroid cameras (I think I found one!)
- Thinking about dying eggs for Easter, then making deviled eggs
- Playing with apps for my iPhone (I am obsessed with photography lately)
- Thinking about knitting and crocheting
- Dreaming of Hawaii
- Working on my Unravelling projects
- Thinking about documenting everything I eat
- Thinking about writing poetry again
- Watching this (spooky!) and this (sigh)
- Cleaning out my closet (5 bags of clothes to give away!)
- Culling through my magazines and adding pages to my visual journal
- Reading this and this
- Looking back wistfully through these photos
What have you all been up to this spring?
March 23, 2010

Edibles, Fun stuff, Random Thoughts

Happy Birthday to me!

Five Senses Friday

My New Toy!

Franklin Barbecue

Cream and butter