Happy Father's Day

Happy father's day to all the dads out there. I had a great day, hope you did too. :-) Being a dad sounds awesome. less diaper changing and feeding than mom, unless you're an exceptionally cool dad. All of the fun of getting to coach little league and all that. of course, mom's can coach little league too. :-) Love it. too bad my XX tendencies inhibit me from ever having those dad pleasures, because it sounds like a fun gig.



in other news, I'm watching Lifetime, and for their father's day special, they are showing Too Young to be a Dad for their special father's day weekend programming. it's a weird choice, I'll be honest.



of course I'm watching it.



Finally, this guy, he was awesome. happy father's day.

First Block Party!

Just a reminder, tonight is the first Block Party of the summer!!

One World Tribe will be playing in front of Calamari's and Breeze, which means the party is on State St., between 13th and 14th. There's no way you can miss it. These are always a good time, and offer one of the best people-watching experiences you could ever ask for.

Also, Breeze is closing this weekend (according to the article in the paper) so it'll be a good last hurrah for the place.

and about Breeze closing... this saddens me. I can make a decent Pad Thai at home. Theirs is better though. and the (moon) tuna nachos?? I think the least Chef Lee can do for me after years of fueling my addiction to his sweet, sweet tuna nacho heroine is give me the recipe. If anyone knows him, please do a little begging on my part.

come to the block party tonight! it'll be fun.

feeling my years.

I have been feeling so old lately. I know coming from a 25 (and a half, thank you) year old, that sounds preposterous. But really, This quarter century thing is catching up with me. I have a self-imposed 10pm bedtime, I get sore 2 days after i work out instead of the day after, I am now a hangover queen, and my gray hairs are hooking up and having babies all over my head.

Last night Amy and I went out to Edinboro to celebrate the 21st birthday of a friend's daughter. Last year, the last of my friends turned 21, I was convinced that would be my last 21st birthday party. This one snuck on me. I had the presence of mind to limit my consumption of "birthday shots" and was in bed by midnight, but it left me feeling I'm a little too old to have that much fun.

okay, okay. so this old girl can still hang, getting moving the next day is just a little harder than it used to be.

recipe break

Here's a little mini-recipe for the below mentioned deliciousness. I don't keep very good track of things as I cook though, so feel free to improvise.


Laroux's Spicy Rice-y:

1 1/2 c. instant brown rice
1 small (8oz?) can of tomato sauce
1 c. water
1/4 red onion, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
1 fresh jalapeno, seeded & diced
1 c. frozen corn

bring water and tomato sauce to a boil in saucepan, add rice, bring back to a boil, then lower to just simmering and let it do its thing for 5 minutes or so. I stir it a lot during these 5 minutes, b/c I'm a little bit of a control freak. and I HATE when things get stuck to the bottom of the pan. After 5 minutes, add veggies, stir, cover, and remove from heat. (I didn't measure the other day when I made this at all, so best of luck. I take no responsibility for crunchy rice.


Tilapia w/ Peach Salsa:

tilapia fillets (one per mouth to feed)
juice from 1 lime
1 T. olive oil
peach salsa (from the Mediterranean bar at Wegmans. oh, the shame. i'm so embarrassed.)

Turn on your broiler and let it get all nice and hot. Completely line a cookie sheet with foil (you'll thank me for this later) . Drizzle the oil and lime juice over the fillets, both sides, and give them a little black pepper too. Place under the broiler for 3 minutes, then flip and give them another 2 or 3 minutes. I'd keep a close eye on it, I think I may have a weak broiler. and if your experience goes like mine, the smoke detector in your kitchen will probably go off. Plate the fish on rice and top with the salsa and some chopped cilantro if you go that way.

Enjoy!


PS. spellchecking this post has me completely confused about the word filet. apparently it can't be plural, unless you add an extra L? or maybe I've been spelling it wrong the whole time. or maybe (GASP!) spell check is leading me astray?

Tilapia makes me happy-a!

Tilapia with peach salsa and spicy rice-y and asparagus. terrible picture but really delicious dinner. :-)

Pretty standard week so far. Laundry was done today, which means I get to cook something fun while Amy handles the switching, folding, etc. I definitely have the easy end of the deal. I secretly love laundry day, shh.

That's a wrap. Check back later this week for something more exciting. I promise.

Love this place...

So if you've spent much time with me in the last year or so, this will not be news to you, but I really love The Brewerie at Union Station.




3 important things about this place...

1. The Beer. I don't consider myself to be a huge beer snob, but I definitely am into the microbrew thing. And the beers at The Brewerie are pretty awesome. They have a pretty big list of draft beers that they make themselves. I think I counted 7 last night. All of the brews are so different, no matter what I'm in the mood for, I can usually find it. The Hefewiezen is probably my favorite. Try it with cherries and an orange slice. (and if you make it there on Wednesdays, it will only cost you $1!)

2. The Place. This building is awesome. Kinda a big deal in Erie, and while most Erie-ites have been here before I notice something new about the place every time I'm there. Maybe I'm a big nerd, but I really love interesting old places. Also, I'm pretty sure it might be a little haunted. At least that's why my ghosthunter friends tell me.

3. My Bill. I usually don't eat here, but for drinks, I rarely spend more than $15 -- doesn't matter if it's happy hour, late night, or in between. The beers are big and strong so I only have a few and they aren't expensive either. Love that.


The staff there is pretty great too, and the atmosphere is always welcoming. And the place is 5 minutes from my house. it's a win-win-win-win.

Next time you're thirsty, give it a try. even if I'm not there, you'll still have a great time.

Barack Obama

Amy and I got to go see Barack Obama speak at Penn State Behrend on April 18th. It was a MUCH nicer day than when we went to go see Hillary, and an all together pleasant experience. It was also great to get to play hooky from work.

Sen. Obama held a townhall meeting, spending most of his time answering questions from the audience, which I loved. It was great to have an opportunity to see someone in person answering questions that pretain to our local community.


Got to get pretty up close and personal. I didn't get a hand shake or anything, but I thought this was pretty close.


And of course, got a book signed.

I'm feeling so lucky that in a place like Erie, I was able to see both democratic candidates in less than 3 weeks. This election is so exciting, I've never felt like as a Pennsylvania voter that I've had much to influence in the presidential primaries -- it feels fantastic to be able to make a decision, cast a vote, and see how it influences what's going to happen.

great stuff.

True Story.

True story... I like reading other people's blogs more than I like writing in my own. urgh.

I think it's because I don't think I have any readers. but I also am not sure I'm ready for readers. I'm kinda hit and miss on this thing so far. But I'm sure I'll get going on it one of these days. and oh, when I get going.

oh! I almost forgot. I last posted about going to see Hillary Clinton speak at Mercyhurst College... well I left out the most exciting part. The week before Hillary came here was when Barack went bowling in the State College area (I think) and scored a whopping 37. for 10 frames. People, I'm pretty sure my niece can nail a good solid 70, and she's 8.

Anyhow, bowling's not for everyone. But I had this genius idea that I would write Hillary a note asking if she would like to come bowling after the rally and paperclip it into my copy of Living History. Well, I got my book signed by passing it to an unknown girl in the front row -- and when she gave it back to me she informed me, very excited, "She took your note!!"

I should mention that I included my cell phone number in the note on the off chance that Hillary really did want to go bowling.

so yeah, I totally gave Hillary my number.

HILLARY!!

Very belated update. But too exciting to skip.

Amy and I went to go see Hillary Clinton speak on 4/1/2008. It was a fantastic day. I left work a little early, Hillary was supposed to speak at 7:30 and they were letting people into the auditorium at 5:30 so I thought it would be a good idea to get an early start. Amy and I got to Mercyhurst at 4:45 or so... I was still thinking we had PLENTY of time. Then I saw the line to get in. I am pretty sure there were like 2000 people (seriously) ahead of us in line. The end of the line was on the opposite side of campus from where the event was happening.





Here is a little taste of the line we were in. I still can't believe how many people were there. It was REALLY cold out there, and we were completely unprepared to be out there for that long. After we were in line for 90 minutes or so (remember, they began letting people in at 5:30) and hadn't moved much, Amy and I began to worry that we would never get in. So we took a couple of pictures of us in line, just in case that's as far as we got...







Once we got to the entrance, we realized that it just was taking a LONG time to get that many people through security. It was necessary for everyone to remove their snappy Hillary buttons and with everyone all bundled up, it was apparently pretty time consuming.


Once Amy and I got inside, we were shocked at how close to the stage we were able to stand. It was pretty great. and of course Hillary was great, it was awesome to see that many people fired up and excited about her campaign. for the record, there is still no word on Sen. Obama's plans to visit Erie. is there a plan? Here are a few more pictures for you...











There is another important and fairly entertaining aspect of my Hillary experience, but I'm missing an important visual necessary to blog about it, so that's gonna have to wait. it's great though!

Bill

Almost a week late, but I'm getting better. :-)

Since I didn't actually get to go to see Bill Clinton speak in Erie last week... and Amy did... I'll share an excerpt from an e-mail she sent some friends about the event. It's safe to say she was a little starstruck.

Bill Clinton was GREAT. Funny, smart, charming,
inspiring...

After he spoke, a couple hundred people stuck around in an attempt to get a handshake, photo, autograph... I was the shortest in the crowd. If I stood on my tiptoes, I could catch a glimpse of his soft, flowing white hair. I was waving my book (Giving) in the air as high as I could. We made eye contact. There were probably 10 people in between us. He pointed at the book and I handed it to him. He disappeared for a few minutes, but we found each other again. When he grabbed my hand, it felt as though I was placing my hand between silk sheets. He has the softest touch. I screamed, "THANK YOU BILL, THANK YOU BILL!" and he drowned into the crowd.

I thought I would never get my book back. Somebody told me you were supposed to write your name and address in it, and they mail it to you. I hung around for 15 minutes or so, after Bill left the gym. A guy comes out with a stack of 20 books. He was reading the names off in the books. When he got to mine, he said, "No name, Giving!" Everyone was claiming it as their own. Who is he going to give it to?! I yelled, "It has a Borders sticker on the back!!" He looked, then said, "Good call! Here ya go!" Phew!

So anyhow, a great time was definitely had by all. Here are some pictures...

Bill talking. I'm sure he was being brilliant.

Bill about to shake Amy's hand. She still hasn't washed it.






and the signed book! so exciting, this is just the motivation I need to finally buy a bookshelf for the living room.


Here's to more exciting political events in Erie!

too tired

really exciting Bill Clinton stuff to come. promise. xo.

bad laroux.

I'm officially a terrible blogger. over the past few weeks since I decided to try my hand at this thing, have have thought of literally millions of things to write about. millions. literally.

but I haven't actually written a single thing. slap me.

Bill Clinton is coming to Erie tomorrow, and I can't go. :-( Amy and our friend Leah are going and I'm sure it's going to be a blast. double points if he breaks out the saxophone.

I'm out.

1st Post!

Hi! I've never blogged before, not really blogged at least. In college there were some of your typical "online journal" enties filled with drama... but this is my first venture into a real blogging experience. :-)

I've been reading some more blogs lately, it started with my interest in the presidential primaries and political blogs... That led me to having a little more interest in the thoughts of other people. I found this (which is a really interesting idea) and started thinking that if I was enjoying reading what other people were thinking and talking about, then certainly it would do me some good to join this revolution! I'm part of the blogosphere. I own real estate in the blogiverse. I'm a future postaholic. (I'll stop.)

Happy Monday!