the Fresh Prince said it best...

Hi guys.

Sorry it's been a while, but in my defense...my life has been crazy lately.

And when I say crazy I mean crazy like a fox.

Or to put it in the immortal words of the Fresh Prince, "my life got flipped turned upside down."

Don't you worry, flipped like in a  good way. At least I think. Only time will tell.

You see, a few weeks ago I applied to a job.

About a week later I had a phone interview for said job.

The next day they called to schedule a face to face interview.

Ten days later I boarded a plane and had that interview.

The very next day I accepted that job.

So now I have a new job...in Colorado.

I am moving in just 14 days and that freaks me out more than you know.

Mostly I am just really excited, but I would be a big fat liar if I didn't say I'm a bit of a mess too.

I have been at my current job for three years, it has been an amazing run. I have made some terrific friends and above all else I am comfortable here. I don't have money troubles, I'm good at my job, I have a routine, all that shit. It took time to get to this point but I did. And now I'm leaving.

In like two weeks I am packing all my worldly possessions into my Scion and Fred and I are driving 30 hours out to Denver where we have no place to live....

And that's that.

Manfriend will not be coming, at least not for a while. And that means a bunch of pieces of my heart will be staying put in Maryland and that scares the bajeebies out of me.

I can't really say too much more right now because I am still a bit of a raw nerve.

Don't get me wrong, I am beyond excited. This is where I want to go and the job is a dream. But it is hard too.

So that is the scoop. And that is why I might be a terribly blogger in the coming weeks.

I have a lot to do at work before I leave, you know like going away parties and such....but really I'm pretty swamped. Thanks for being great as always.

Some Changes...

My life has recently undergone some changes.

I want to keep you all on the edge of your seats, because it's fun....but in the meantime in honor of these secret new changes, I have changed the name of my blog.

Pretty mind blowing stuff I know.

This bad lad will be called the Downdog Blog from here on out, or until I change my mind again.

I just think it fits me a little better right now seeing as my favorite things in life (aside from food and wine) are dogs and yoga.

So there you have it.

I hope you will still stick around, though to be honest I am not sure how much blogging I will be doing in the coming months. I've just got some other stuff on the horizon. Maybe I will write more, and maybe I will hardly ever...your guess is as good as mine.

But just know I like you all a lot. Like almost as much as dogs and yoga.



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old about me section

Hey you,

My name is Erin and I'm 28.  Yikes, this is getting really awkward for me already.

I guess I won't be able to try match.com if my boyfriend ever dumps me because I don't know how to convince people to read my blog, let alone sleep with me.  However as you can see below, I am an incredibly attractive woman so this will probably never be a problem.

I grew up on the mean streets of Detroit selling weed and pimpin' hoes.  Just kidding, I atually lived in a really nice suburb outside the city, but I did spend my fair share of time underage drinking there so I can still call it home.  Despite what you have heard, Detroit is a really great place to live, they just don't have much going on in the economy department.  I decided to make a career change a few years ago, and wound up in an extremely rural part of Maryland for a great job opportunity. 

This small town living is not exactly my thing.

I have two roomates, my dog Fred (who moonlights as my best friend), and my boo Jose

 (who I met the old fashioned way, in a bar).  They are both pretty cool.

For now I am trying to make the best of whatever life throws me,

and when I can't make the best of it I get drunk instead. 

This blog isn't really about anything in particular just me writing snotty stories I think are funny even though me and my mom are probably the only ones.  Who am I kidding, my mom doesn't always think I'm funny, she thinks I swear too much actually.  

Oh yeah, I have a toilet mouth. 

Don't read this if that offends you.

double the meat, double the fun

I recently broke one of my cardinal rules guys.

I prepared a dish that had two kinds of meat. This is something I usually just don't stand for.

I just think it is over kill most of the time. Like if I have a burger it don't need any bacon, come on now. One animal at a time please.

I decided to give in for my manfriend's sake though and made a little dish with double meat. Chicken and ham yo. And it was Delicious even though it goes against all that I stand for. (I am totally being a little sarcastic FYI, I am ok with double meat in the form of a club sandwich 100% of the time)

So anyway, here is the recipe for those of you who want to walk on the wild side like I did and double up your meat.

You Will Need:

(makes 3-4 servings)

-4 Thin slices of boneless chicken breast (I bought the pre-sliced stuff but you could always get regular chicken boobs and slice them your self)
-4 slices of ham (I used the big chunk of ham whatever that's called and not lunch meat)
-Shredded mozzarella cheese
-4 green onions
-Olive oil
-Salt and pepper

Directions:

-Pre-heat your oven to 350.
-Slice your chunks of ham into four nice slices (you may want to use a little more if you go with lunch meat) Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
-In a skillet begin heating olive oil.
-While you oil is getting nice and hot lay out your thin slices of chicken.
-Place your ham, green onion (sliced in half), and about 1/2 tbs of shredded cheese onto each boobie.
-Roll the chicken up keeping all the goodies inside and close with toothpicks.
-Place the chicken (crease side down) into the skillet. Brown on all sides then transfer to a sheet pan.
-Bake chicken in the oven for 20 minutes or so depending on the thickness of the chicken.
-Serve with a tasty ass side and enjoy your double whammy of meat.

up close look at the goods

Happy Day

Just wanted to say a quick Happy Valentine's Day to all of my readers out there. I love you all for visting this crazy mess that is my blog. It means more than you know.

I hope you are all surrounded with chocolate, flowers, and maybe even some people you love today.

But mostly Chocolate.

I am sitting at an airport right now waiting to board a big jet plane so I can spend a long weekend with my mom.

I could not be more excited. I haven't seen that crazy woman since Christmas and we are going to eat and drink our way around Austin until Monday. It will be glorious.

Love,

Erin

how the sticks have ruined me....

...or maybe they have made me better, I think the jury is still out.

The other day I wrote a bunch of nasty things about where I live. And while those things are all true, I also love it here in my own way. I wanted to be a little more positive today and focus on all the good stuff, plus I am trying to be a bit more sharey from time to time, because why the hell not.

Once upon a time I was a Coach purse carrying, hair highlighting, make-up applying, high heel wearing kind of gal.

And now I just can't.

I moved out to the middle of nowhere and so much changed.

I got really crunchy and stopped dying my hair. The thought of it freaks me out now. Honestly I don't usually even brush it...I've got the beachy wave thing going on (or at least that's how I justify it)

I started hiking like all the time. I get sad if the weather is crummy and I miss going every week. Fred is cool with my addiction, he always comes with.

I started worrying a lot about what I eat. Now it is not so much worry as I just don't eat anything I consider crappy. Like ever. Don't get me wrong I love chocolate and the like but it best be organic. I have never felt better in my life.

I don't drink very much. I was a bar star once upon a time, then I moved to the middle of nowhere and for a long time I didn't know anyone so I rarely went out. Then I slowly started to realize how wonderful life is when you aren't hungover all the time and I really cut back. I drink and all, but not like a wild woman I used to be. I hope this doesn't change when I eventually move back to a city but I am only human after all. I guess I should note, my definition of drinking a lot and the average joe's might be a tad different. When I say a lot, I mean I don't drink heavily five nights a week anymore...I'm still pretty rowdy I won't lie about that.

I love nature so much. It makes me a little irritated when I think of how hippie dippy I have grown over the last few years. I used to make fun of people like me. But I am surrounded by pretty outdoorsy shit and I just can't help it.

I cook all the time. There are not many restaurant options in my neck of the woods so I have really honed my cooking skills, feeding my friends has become my mission in life.

My dog became my best friend. Moving to a place where I knew no one, then having many of the people I meet move away as soon as we become bff's because they are usually in the military around here has resulted in me spending lots of time with Fred. And he is the best friend a girl could have, I mean it. I have had dogs my whole life and loved them all, but he is my number one homie.

It's funny how much a place can change you.

I think ultimately moving away from all my people has made me value relationships a lot more. I have realized it is more important to have a few quality friends than a ton of mediocre ones. Sure, I miss knowing everyone and their mom like I did back "home", but I also value the few amazing friends I have made out here so very much.

Speaking of friends, I am amazed at how little changes even when you move a zillion miles away when people really love each other. I still talk to many of my friends back in Michigan on a daily basis. Distance can't hurt a real friendship I have found, and that is pretty neat.

I am awed by how quickly you can become attached to someone as well. I have met a handful of people out here that after a few weeks of knowing them I cannot imagine my life without. It's funny how certain people come into your life for a reason.

I have also become a lot more confident. I can't just rely on my family to get me out of problems like I once did so I am more self sufficient, I won't lie though, sometimes I really miss having my dad deal with all my car troubles. That was swell.

Not sure where I am going with all of this, I guess I just wanted to post some positive things since I got a little down on my tiny town the other day. (Look at that poet and I didn't know it).

Have you changed because of where you live?

quinoa is more than just trendy

I love quinoa guys. Not just because it is the cool thing to do either, I just think it is the cat's ass.

I swap it for rice all the friggen time and I just love it. They say its good because it has lots of protein and all that jazz but let's be honest we really all love it because it tastes good and it's what all the cool kids are doing.

Well not the real cool kids, the real cool kids don't eat gluten or they are paleo or whatever.

Anyway, I got my qunioa fix the other day in the form of stuffed peppers and they were bad ass if I do say so myself.

 

 

You Will Need:

(makes 2-3 servings)

-2 bell peppers (I went wild and did one red and one green)

-1/2 pound ground chicken

-3 cloves of garlic

-1/4 cup chopped onion

-1 can diced tomatoes

-Cayenne pepper

-Honey

-Salt and pepper

-3/4 cup cooked quinoa

Directions:

-The thing that made this batch of peppers so friggen awesome was that I roasted the peppers in advance. It gives them a lot more flavor and keeps the filling from drying out. So all I did was rinse and dry my peppers and then place them on a sheet pan (whole) drizzled a smidge of olive oil on them and roasted them for about 20 minutes at 350. Check them from time to time you want them to get a little charred but not totally falling apart because you still need to stuff um.

-While your peppers are roastin, heat some olive oil in a skillet and add your ground chicken and onion. Season with salt, pepper, and as much cayenne as you can handle (for me that is like 30430 shakes because I like it hot).

-Once your chicken is thoroughly cooked add your garlic and can of tomatoes. Squeeze in about 1/2 tbs of honey and continue to simmer. While you are cooking your chicken prepare 3/4 cup of quinoa according to the package (it's similar to rice) and don't forget to keep your eye on those peppers.

-Once the qunioa is done add it to the skillet and simmer in the mixture for a few minutes.

-When your peppers are done take them out of the oven and allow to cool. Cool off your chicken mixture as well.

-When both are cooled slice your peppers in half lengthwise (making four cups) and fill with your chicken filling.

-You can make these bad lads up in advance so you can just pop them into the oven when you are ready to eat, or if you want to do it all in one step just be careful handling the hot peppers and be careful they don't tear.

-The last step is to bake the peppers with the filling. Everything is cooked so you just need to heat. I left mine in the 350 oven for about 20 minutes and added a little shredded cheese for the last ten minutes. I served them up with mashed pataters and they were divine.