Oatmeal

There are certain foods I don't like, don't care about, and really could care less whether or not my tastes for them change. Eggs, for example, are a food I could definitely do without. The smell of them makes me want to vomit, which really doesn't make me want to ever think about eating them.

Oatmeal, however, is not one of those foods. I have always really wanted to like oatmeal. In the bowl it always looks so delicious, so creamy and good for your soul. Once in a while I'll have an urge to make a bowl to see if my tastes have changed, and I always end up with the same, disappointed feeling when oatmeal and I don't get along.

So when I found a Heart Health Awareness Month series on the TasteSpotting blog for different ways to eat oatmeal, even though my brain told me that I should want nothing to do with oatmeal my mouth couldn't help watering. Oatmeal with fruit and honey? With butternut squash? Mushroom risotto (Ris-oat-o)??? It all just sounded so good!

I found myself obsessed with one recipe in particular. It was very simple but sounded so delicious. The secret was to drizzle olive oil on the cooked oats, and then add salt and pepper to taste. Sounds wonderful, right?

Over spring break when I was home alone and lonely I ended up making it. The oatmeal smell wasn't as incredible as I had hoped, but the olive oil, salt, and pepper were divine. The first few bites were heaven-- the earthy oats complimented the toppings perfectly-- but after that my love affair with my oatmeal began to sour. Oatmeal raisin cookies are one of my favorite types of cookies, so I really think my dislike for the dish is a texture thing. The oats I've had are always pretty mushy, so maybe the secret is finding someone who actually knows how to make proper oatmeal.

My oatmeal experience ended poorly over spring break. What started out as a terrific discovery ended up with half a bowl of oats uneaten and unloved. That's not to say that oats lose their special place in my heart. I still really want to like oatmeal. Until I find someone to teach me to make it, though, I'll just have to love it from afar.

Never a Dull Moment

Before I get started, two Public Service Announcements:

1. I'm trying to see if I want to move my blog over from Blogger to Wordpress, so for the next little bit I'm going to be posting at both chiccasroughdraft.blogspot.com and chiccasroughdraft.wordpress.com.

2. I submitted Self Expression, a shirt I designed, to Threadless last summer and while a lot of people were excited about it, it wasn't chosen to be printed. This summer, I'm printing it myself! Right now I'm trying to figure out if people like the red or yellow color scheme more, so if you have an opinion please weigh in (click here for better pictures). Otherwise, keep your eye out for the sale! It should go up in a couple of weeks.


In the meantime, I have a lot of other projects on my plate! I know that the summer is supposed to be a time to recuperate from all the stresses of the semester. Anyone who knows me personally would also know that during the semester I am way too busy to sleep-- between fencing, a capella, work, and, well, life, there just isn't enough time! So I don't know that anyone would be surprised to hear that even though I leave for Argentina in July, this summer I ended up with two jobs and a zillion projects to complete!

 In addition to working with a wonderful medical billing office, I landed a job with one of my favorite professors. My class last semester on the Criminal Justice System was the first class he'd ever taught, but this was one of the best classes I've ever taken. Normally he's a defense lawyer, and this summer I don't have enough time for a full internship. He promised me an internship for next summer, but this summer he has me organizing and designing a website for him! It's right up my alley and it pays really well, so I am SUPER excited.


In other news, I'm getting so far on my sweater! Look look look!




I don't remember if I mentioned this before but I've been working on a sweater on and off since last summer. It's called Tree Jacket by Zephyr Style and I'm knitting it up in this burgundy-maroon soft wonderfulness. I took this photo at about midnight but since then have finished the top garter section and have moved onto the body lace. I'm super excited!



In my queue I also have a hat for Clara and the second half of my mommy/baby monster pair. I decided to knit them in GIGANTIC yarn and Baby looks was truly a MONSTER. The original picture from Danger Crafts' Etsy is at top left, and Baby's picture is below. Yeah, that's right. It took up my entire lap! Anyway, waiting in my queue is Mommy Monster, who I expect to be at least twice the size. Whoo!!



Look for lots of posts in the next few days, I think. I just uploaded a bunch of pictures from my phone and have a lot of catching up to do!

Breathing

I don't generally complain that my life is boring. I understand that life can't be like the movies-- love doesn't often happen at first sight, I won't always have a great hair day, and no, I probably won't save the world-- but every once in a while my life gets really, really exciting. It's pretty exciting right now, don't get me wrong. I've started dating a cute boy and I'm happier than I have been in a while. But it's about to get even more exciting.

Want to know why? I'll let you in on a little secret:


I'M GOING ABROAD NEXT SEMESTER!!


To Argentina, of all places!!


That's right. You read that right. I'm going to be living in a wonderful, foreign city, staying with a family I don't know and speaking in a language I don't fully speak. I'm going to navigate a city I've never been to in a hemisphere I've also never been to. I'm going to be taking all my classes in Spanish and trying to make friends. I even plan to fence down in Argentina, which will be both strange and exciting but leaves me with the problem of carting all my equipment down there.

In reality I am both excited and mortally terrified. College has been the first time I've ever been away from home for any extended period of time, and I'm really not all that far away from home. I see my parents every couple of weeks during the fencing season because my meets are all in the area and I get to go home during breaks. But Argentina is not only another country, it's in another hemisphere. It's a really, really long plane ride away. And I know it's going to be an unimaginably awesome experience, but I can't help worrying about what exactly it's going to be like. Will I be able to communicate effectively? Will I make friends? Will I stick out like a true American? Will the way I dress and purport myself scream "pickpocket me"?? Will I ever get used to using vos instead of tu?????

Some of those really shouldn't be things that keep my up worrying at night-- don't worry, none of those actually do keep me from sleeping-- but I can't help worrying about them in the back of my mind.

Anyway, this is all distracting me from the main point of this post. When I leave in July this blog will turn into a bit of a travel blog. I hope to upload photos and stories of my travels, and hopefully I'll have more time to update regularly.

In the meantime, look for posts about projects and adventures around home. I hope you all are starting the summer off right!