Literary Inspiration: Travels With Charley

Clockwise, from top left: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,

I’ve recently found myself lost within the pages of John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley. Part of the appeal certainly stems from the excitement of venturing out onto the open road with no agenda other than to explore and experience America. Now that I’ve graduated college, Steinbeck’s travels touch upon that wanderlust within me. It urges me to pack up my car and go out into the unknown with the only goal of seeing, living, and learning. Romantic, perhaps, but isn’t that what this time of life is about?

I wanted a dog for my graduation present. I got plates.

How To Enjoy Yourself

One of the benefits, I guess, of working for a company that produces bar juice (cocktail mixer) is that my mind is constantly thinking about alcohol.

Did I just say benefit?

I promise I don’t have any sort of “problem.” And that I’m over 21. And that really, I do think about things other than alcohol. Plus, it’s not really the alcohol I’m thinking about. It’s how I’m drinking it that matters.

In a classy, creative cocktail.

Blueberry Mint Vodka Sour. Is that even a real correct drink name? Over it. It’s what I’m calling it.

In it: 3 oz. RIPE Agave Sour (available at most Whole Foods along the East Coast, especially in the Northeast), 1.5 oz. vodka, 1/4 c. blueberries, small handful of mint leaves, and sparkling water. And ice.

This delight was enjoyed upon returning home from work selling such a product. Outside on the patio, enjoying the heat that weighs heavy right before a storm.

With a book by my side.

I found this book lying on the counter a few weeks ago, and was subsequently informed that it belonged to me. Apparently, my father bought it for me because he thought I would enjoy it. A story about a woman who goes to cooking school in Paris. What would ever make him think of me? Weird.

You all picked up on my sarcasm, right? I only ask because my sarc-dar has been surprisingly off-kilter lately. And I want to make sure we’re on the same page.

So far, I’m really enjoying this book. I read it before bed and during lazy moments in the afternoon; I love retracing her steps of Paris in my own mind. In 9 months, I’d covered more of that city than I’d realized. And the author’s love interest and budding relationship doesn’t hurt either.

I’m also exhausted, weirdly enough. I guess the past few weeks have been really busy, in terms of traveling with a french boy that we hosted (a fabulous experience, by the way, and I think I totally evened out my karma from all the shitty moments of the past 9 months). Think Vermont, Long Island, New York, Boston… from July 4th until July 20th. That’s a lot to do in 2 weeks.

My travel days, however, are far from over. I’ve got a lot to look forward to!

On the schedule:

• My best friend LIZ is coming to visit Hartford for less than 24 hours! I haven’t seen the girl in more than 1.5 years. That’s a long time for best friends.
• Newport Folk Festival this weekend with friends

• Boston for two nights to catch up with old buds
• Maine to visit Gordon
• Canada with the family for my first ever Stratford Shakespeare Festival (and my family’s, like, 10th)
• Boston again in late August. I can’t tell you what for, though. That’s a surprise for the end of the summer!

• CENTRAL EFFING NEW YORK FOR SENIOR YEAR.

And no, I haven’t thought of a sign off yet. And I’m not going to say “signing off.” Or “Stay Classy.” Or “Go F Yourself, San Francisco.” Anyone, Anyone? “Bueller?” Ok. My random association movie quotes addition is over. Goodnight.

Latest and Greatest: February 2012

HELLO. Here I am, once again, returning after a blogging hiatus. I mentioned in my last post some of the stuff that I had planned for late February. Well, I finished reading Tess of the D’Urbervilles in French, but now I’m onto Proust, and while I’m happy that I’m reading La Prisonnière in its mother tongue, that doesn’t make it any easier. Just give me a plotline and some blood and guts, that’ll make me turn the pages a lot quicker.

Anyways, despite my accumulating pile of work, what else is new? A lot. Eh, fine, not a whole lot. But how about a life update in general?

1) I ate at some FABULOUS restaurants. Un Dimanche à Paris takes the cake, in this case. The chocolate cake. It’s a chocolate shop that also has a restaurant and salon de thé attached, and all of the dishes include some form of chocolate. It’s not the kind of place you’ll want to go every weekend, as I’m pretty sure if you did you would no longer have a wallet or a bank account, but for a special occasion– like visiting family– it was totally worth it. And it got thumbs up all around, even from the slightly conservative 15-year-old diner.

2) I. SAW. DAVID. LEBOVITZ. This event will forever go down in my mind as one of my top celebrity moments. Of course, when I was telling my boss about it the next morning at the bakery, she just shrugged as she sipped her coffee and said: “Oh, David? He’s one of my friends! He offered to let us use his oven.” While I know he’s been into Sugarplum before because of this post, I’m still waiting with baited breath for him to walk in again. If you don’t know who he is, google him. Read his blog. Read his books. Make his food. My father actually brushed elbows with him at Little Breizh, my favorite crêpe place in Paris. I’m so jealous.

3) I’ve been running. A lot. Somehow, I managed to get back into the running groove– I’m guessing it was because of this beautiful Spring weather that’s made its way to Paris. And this Sunday is the race. I actually found out that I’m missing a form that I need in order to compete (leave it to the French to require stamped forms in order to run), so I’m hoping to get that taken care of today and tomorrow… because if not, I’ll just be on the sidelines. And that would be such dommage.

4) After realizing I’ve been eating a little too much free cake, I realized I needed to work out a little more. I already run enough, but why not do some more overall body work? I’d dabbled in BodyRock before, but I’m really getting into it now. The workouts aren’t long at all, which is great because I get bored and unmotivated really easily. It’s the “Home Workout Movement,” and even after doing it for a week and a half, I already feel stronger! Check it out if you’re having a hard time getting to the gym.

5) I’m having such a breakthrough in French. All of a sudden, I feel like I can understand everything that’s going on me. I feel like that’s a really good sign. Instead of feeling like French is this strange tongue that I only sort of understand, I feel as comfortable listening to it as I do English, most of the time. Weird, but I’m excited about it.

6) 21 IN LESS THAN A MONTH. So anti-climactic in France.

 

So let me apologize for my huge blogging hiatus. While the workload won’t decrease, I’m hoping to just balance my time a little better– and to continue posting some of my adventures around the city! The latest one includes a vegetarian meal (it has brown rice, that’s all you need to know right now) and a green smoothie (WHAT? A GREEN SMOOTHIE? IN PARIS? WHERE?).

Stay tuned!

The 2011 Book List

My New Year’s Resolution for 2011 was to read 12 books, approximately 1 a month. I made a few other resolutions but… I don’t remember what they were. Oops… I guess I didn’t keep them.

But I’ve stayed pretty conscious of the book goal. I may not have read 1 book a month, but I definitely read 12 in total, if not more. I can thank my summer job for that, where I spent 8 hours a day reading books in a lawnchair on the Burlington sidewalk while working on my tan. My job also involved wearing a bright orange safety vest and, occasionally, a hard hat. I’ll leave you with that.

This list is as much a literary “year in review” as it is a reminder to myself of everything I’ve actually read. So here they are, in no particular order. (I’m still in the process of trying to remember all of them.)

1. And the Heart Says Whatever, by Emily Gould

2. The Mayor of Casterbridge, by Thomas Hardy

3. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver

This was one of my favorites. 

4. The Sweet Life in Paris, by David Lebovitz

An enjoyable book, but I’m not sure it gave the best representation of Paris. It made me so nervous for my year abroad, when I’ve rarely encountered any of the situations Lebovitz describes in his book. So read it for enjoyment, but take it with a grain of salt.

5. Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen

6. Year of Wonders, by Geraldine Brooks

7. Homestead, by Rosina Lippi

8. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz

9. Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen

10. Cooking with Fernet Branca, by James Hamilton-Paterson

Possibly my favorite book of the year. At least, it’s up there. A funny and enjoyable story set in the Italian countryside. I couldn’t help picturing the main character as Steve Coogan.

11. How Did You Get this Number? by Sloane Crosley

If you’re a fan of David Sedaris, try Sloane Crosley. This is her second collection of essays– the first, I Was Told There’d Be Cake, is equally, if not more, hilarious.

The rest of the books I read this year (because yes, there were more than 11) are various self-improvement books and ancient philosophy books that I didn’t find particularly necessary to post. There were also quite a few French literature books and theatrical works, but if I read a book for school, I don’t put it on my “pleasure reading” list.

And I guess I can say I read 12 books purely for enjoyment if I include Jane Eyre, since I read the second half of that in the beginning of January, and I just started Beautiful and Damned, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. So if you add those together, you have a hypothetical book equivalent. I guess that counts? Regardless, I’m proud that I actually made an effort to read! I’m pretty impressed with my reading list!

Missing the Kitchen

I love to cook. I’m not particularly good at it– as I’ve mentioned before, I have low standards when it comes to food presentation– but I love everything about it. Ever since I read Ruth Reichl’s books (Tender at the Bone, Comfort Me With Apples, and Garlic and Sapphires) two summers ago, I have developed a love for the art of preparing food.

I didn’t realize how much I loved the smell of garlic sizzling in the pan until I realized that I never smelled it anymore. My host family doesn’t share the same food principles that I’ve developed over the years. They work a lot, so when they come home at 8 pm, they don’t have a lot of energy to cook. Instead of hearing the crackle of garlic in the pan that signals that it’s time for dinner, I hear the beeping of a microwave. This isn’t an attack on their way of life, as it works for them. It just doesn’t work for me. I honestly wish I could say that it did, that food wasn’t that important to me– life would be a lot easier that way. But I can’t say that, as it’s not true. I’m finding that in just a month without the familiar smells of the kitchen, I’m becoming sad, tired, lethargic, and negative. And I find myself thinking about garlic, of all things. That’s how I know that it’s this cooking withdrawal that’s affecting me.

I hope to change my living situation in the coming week, hopefully to a situation that is a better fit in terms of my personal needs. That sounds awful, but it’s hard living without something that is so important to you. (Don’t even get me started on life wihout dogs.)

I want to thank you all for the love and support I have received over the past few weeks, from friends and family alike. It has been an incredibly hard time for me, trying to decide if this is a situation worth changing. I really thought that the food component wouldn’t be that big of an issue for me, but I’m finding that it’s impacting me more than I realized, both physically and emotionally.

Thank you, again. Hopefully there’ll be a little more positivity on here in the future!

The Latest and Greatest

Whenever people ask me to tell them what I’ve been up to– or whenever I ask them– I always refer to it as “the latest and greatest.” So Liz, tell me about your life. What’s the latest and greatest? I have quite a few odd sayings that I pull out from time to time; “I’ll be back in a shake of a lamb’s tail” is one that comes to mind. Who knows where that (or anything else I say) came from.

Anyways, onto the latest and greatest:

I finished The Sweet Life in Paris, by David Lebovitz. Did I tell you that already? Perhaps. It was a pretty good–and quick– read, especially if you’re sitting on the beach somewhere dreaming of eating French pastries.

I, of course, was sitting next to a construction site, fully clothed, with no body of water in sight, looking forward to the PB&J I had made for lunch. Très français, Louisa, really.

But don’t let that stop you. Like I said, the book is a good escape, though it made me wet my pants out of fear/anxiety/excitement for my upcoming trip to Paris. Lebovitz’s book sort of turns into a cautionary tale about the French, replete with tourism nightmares and bureaucratic frustrations. But having been to Paris before, and having talked to oodles of people who have spent a good amount of time there as well, I know that Lebovitz’s generalizations aren’t really that… general. It seems he had quite a few eye-opening experiences that didn’t always cast the French as the nicest of folks, and he’s sort of taken those moments and sardonically exaggerated them into a “full-length” book. With some random recipes thrown in. Like I said, it’s a good escape, but it won’t be staying in my bookshelf.

What will be staying in my bookshelf, though?

This little number.

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Absolutely hilarious. This book too is a great escape, though for very different reasons.

1. It’s set in Tuscany.
2. It’s hilarious.
3. The characters are hysterical, as is the narrative (it’s a novel, which I’m not usually keen on reading. I prefer first-hand experiences).
4. It has a great cover (won’t lie, the title and the cover are what convinced me to buy it in the first place).
5. Did I say it’s hilarious?
6. It has recipes, though I’m not sure you’ll want to make them. Trust me on that one.
7. It’s well-written and has a great plot.
8. Yeah, I’m not sure you were listening before but I did say it was hilarious. Hear me that time?

So there you go. Eight reasons to go out and buy the book at your local bookstore.

Okay, so onto other news.

Uh… what other news? Yeah, my weeks are pretty same-old over here.

I’ve been going to yoga. At least once a week. And I’m loving it. I feel like I’ve finally found a studio that works for me– and I know that might sound pretentious, but I never realized that a yoga studio is just as much about “the right fit” as a college is. It might not be as big of a financial investment, but it’s still pretty important. And I would know, since the first yoga class I took in Burlington at a studio (not naming names, here) was just nahmahthang. Not a lot of instruction, the instructor went at her own pace, there was very little leadership… I wanted some soothing words, dammit, as I slaved away in my down-dog!

I finally wandered into a class at Burlington Yoga. And I never want to leave. I’ve practiced with three different teachers, and they were all amazing in their own way. Though I’d take the same class each week with the same teacher, each practice was different, which was important for me. If a teacher always leads the same practice, every time (and some do), I start expecting the next poses and then start counting down. Ok, we’re on the 3rd sun salute right now. So we still have to do the warrior sequences, then core work, then the standing pose… what time is it? Only 15 minutes in? 

I hate that internal voice sometimes. But it disappears during my yoga classes now, because I never know what to expect! And just when I think I’ve been shown every basic pose in the book (though mastered each, I have not), a teacher will pull out a new one. Right now, I’m trying to get better at arm balances– crow pose, anyone? It’s a huge body-trust pose, and I’m finally feeling the confidence to try it out. Before, I’d just sort of squat on the mat and stare in amazement at my classmates.

But last Sunday, I got my feet off the ground! (Okay, only for 5 seconds… but it still counts!) I love how yoga is all about practice. There’s never a destination point, and there’s no such thing as being “good” at yoga. It’s totally an exploration of personal limits and challenges, and no matter what your skill level, your practice changes on any given day. One day you might have a great practice, another day might not be as exhilarating. But practice is practice, and both experiences are important.

And I just word-vomited about how much I love yoga. Thanks for listening, I guess… if you’re even still with me!

But can I let you in on a little secret? I’m starting to look forward to yoga more than running. Shh, don’t tell the running gods. But it’s true. My runs lately have just been… blah. No intention. Just running because I think I’m supposed to. I get a great rush of endorphins every time, don’t get me wrong, but one only has so much motivation to keep up a running schedule without any outside help, like friends, family, or a running club. Whatever/whoever helps you get moving. Maybe I’m just in a running rut.

But I need to remember that my bad runs are just as important as my good ones. And just because I have a bad run, that doesn’t mean that I should give up entirely. Maybe it just means I need to take a day off, or go at a slower pace. And look– here I am applying a yoga principle to life off of the mat. This is why I love yoga… it starts pervading every aspect of your life.

Tonight, I headed off on a run with a mindset to do anywhere between 3-5 miles. I started off feeling really stiff: my hamstrings were sore, my ankles ached, my feet felt swollen, my skin felt weird (think I got a sunburn today). I kept at it, but I could tell that tonight just wasn’t going to be the night. My stomach was also doing really weird things. I’d finished an early dinner two hours beforehand, and ate a normal amount. But for some reason, my stomach still felt empty, even on my run.

I decided to make it a shorter, faster run. Yes, it turned out only to be a little over a mile, though it felt like much longer.

And I have no shame admitting that towards the end of that mile, I wasn’t sprinting to get my heart rate up. Oh no, I was sprinting for food.

So I called it quits, and did what any normal girl would do: I made brownies. Vegan brownies, mind you. Delicious brownies. Ooey, gooey, chocolatey goodness. And I’m totally including the walk to the grocery store and back as part of my work out.

Expect some pictures tomorrow, when there’s better light (and believe me, I had to put those brownies away tonight as fast as possible before there were no brownies).

Also… I may or may not have done an ab workout on the kitchen floor while the brownies were baking. You gotta counteract those brownie nibbles somehow!

My Life in Coffee Table Books

I took this picture recently just because I thought the stack of books was oddly descriptive of my childhood and my interests in general. But before you think I had a thirst for fine vodka at a young age, I thought I’d explain each book.

-New York Fashion & The Evolution of Fashion 1066 to 1930: I used to want to be a fashion designer. I’m still interested in fashion, though I’m not sure I have the killer instinct to make it in the fashion world. From what I’ve heard, it’s pretty cutthroat. I used to endlessly occupy my time by drawing dress and outfit sketches. Which leads me into the next book…

-Barbie, What a Doll!: I was also obsessed with Barbies. How’d you guess? This was a gift from my uncle when I was very little (he also was responsible for the two books above), and let me tell you, I devoured this book as a child. If only I was smart enough to save some of my Limited Edition Barbies, I’d probably have made quite a pretty penny. But I was only interested in playing with them. I think Limited Edition Christmas Barbie (circa early 90s) suffered a nasty foot injury after my dog found her rubber legs particularly enticing. -TCM picture show: I love Turner Classic Movies (as does my mother, and my grandmother. We love talking about all the old movies we’ve seen recently!), and my mother got me this book of old movie posters one year for Christmas. Really interesting! They definitely don’t make posters like they used to. But this book always reminds me of my mom and grandma.

-Life in Hollywood: I used to be fascinated in old Hollywood glamour. The greats, like the debonair Cary Grant and the lovely Audrey Hepburn. Hence the Audrey, a Life in Pictures.

-Jackie O. A Life in Pictures: Okay, maybe I just had more of a general obsession with the 50s and 60s. My interest in Jackie began when my mother and I saw her wardrobe collection at a museum show when I was younger. I think it goes along with the whole “fashion, style, glamour” thing.

-Ballad of the Pirate Queens: Did any of you miss this? Yep, it’s hiding in there. Maybe not a coffee table book, but I used to read it all the time. And for some reason, I’ve kept it around. I always loved hearing stories about pirates when I was little. Pirates of Penzance was my favorite movie– I knew all the songs when I was 4. I had a pirate-themed birthday party, probably around the same time. And I’m obsessed with the Pirates of the Caribbean movie series. I definitely had a thing for Jack Sparrow in middle school (I’m sure my parents were cringing as they imagined my future boyfriends). A lot of the pirates you hear about are usually men, but I loved the thought of strong, powerful women serving at the mast on the high seas (do I sound like a pirate?). The illustrations were great too. I’m an awful sailor, but I’ve always found tales of old pirates alluring. The ones nowadays, not so much. A lot less glamorous.

And the one you’ve all been waiting for… Absolut Book and Absolut Sequel. I got these books when I was pretty young… like Kindergarten (at least, the first one). Here’s why. As a child, I loved looking through magazines and finding Absolut ads. I thought they were so clever! I loved trying to figure out how the Absolut bottle shape was incorporated into the picture.

 

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So naturally, my parents encouraged me to begin collecting the Absolut ads. I’m not sure what they thought they were doing with their pre-Kindergartener, but they probably saw it as a unique collection, more interesting than stamps or bottle caps. And that it was. They even helped me hole-punch the pages and stick them in a binder.

And there you have it. My life in coffee table books.

(As a side note, my parents did not serve me glasses of Absolut while I perused these magazines. I’m pretty sure they’d want me to emphasize that.)

Summer Reading

I love how I can read in the summer without worrying about the schoolwork I’m not doing instead. I think one of my biggest frustrations, and I know many of my friends agree with me, is not having the time to read for pleasure instead of for class. Each time I sit down with a book, I always think of what I should be doing instead. That’s why one of my New Years’ resolutions was to read one book a month. I’m not sure how I’m doing on that quota, but I’m pretty sure I’m falling behind.

So far this year, I’ve read:

Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen

Year of Wonders, by Geraldine Brooks

And the Heart Says Whatever, by Emily Gould

How Did You Get This Number, by Sloane Crosley

Eating in the Light of the Moon, by Anita Johnston

I just know I’m forgetting something. Well, I’ll include it when I think of it.

Right now, I’m reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver.

And I’m in love with it. Now, I haven’t been able to get to it every single day (and I tend to get lost a little bit at the scientific sections), but I love the way Kingsolver writes. She discusses the environmental repercussions of America’s current food culture in a very literary way. She doesn’t hit you over the head with her opinions, and talks about scientific and ecological topics as if she were writing a novel about them. Using metaphors and figurative language. For me, it’s much easier to follow because I’m definitely not a science-oriented person, so I tend to get confused and discouraged when I read statistic after statistic. It’s the same reason The China Study sits on my shelf. I know I need to read it, and I bought it because I wanted to, but the whole science aspect of it scares me. Especially because I never remember statistics enough to repeat them to other people, and so I just end up looking stupid in the end.

Kingsolver’s book has also been a huge influence on me when I enter the grocery store. The premise of the book is about eating locally and returning to the land. Focusing on farming our own food and eating seasonal produce, instead of shipping things all over the world, which uses a ton of fossil fuel and wreaks havoc on the environment. We aren’t supposed to be able to eat bananas in the middle of winter, for example. It’s nice that they’re in the grocery stores, but 1) they’re shipped from halfway across the globe, and 2) it’s not natural for people in certain environments, like those on the East Coast, to be eating bananas in the middle of winter. Bananas are cooling foods, as they’re grown in hot climates. During winter, we should look for foods that keep us warm and save our digestive energies.

I’m trying to buy a lot more things locally now. In fact, on my past grocery bill, 3/4 of the money I spent was from local/VT made products. Yeaaahhh. And locally grown produce is usually cheaper, especially if you buy it at farmers markets directly from the farmers themselves. I haven’t been buying fruit as much, though on my most recent visit, I found local/organic blueberries and currants. I love how Vermont places such a strong emphasis on local agriculture, I think it’s a way of life that more regions in our country should get used to.

Anyways, those are my thoughts on the book. I’ll let you know when I finish it! The book is co-authored by Kingsolver’s husband, Steven Hopp, and her older daughter, Camille Kingsolver, who includes personal essays with corresponding recipes. So there’s a lot that this book has to offer.

I know I went on a bit of a local food rant above there, but I’m not trying to lecture anyone. Those are just my personal opinions, and I recognize that we all have our own food lifestyles and opinions. I just think a lot of energy could be saved (not to mention our health!) if we redirected our country’s focus on regional produce and local, sustainable farming. I’m not including the corn and soy industries in that statement. Don’t even get me started on those.