Simple Pleasures Sundays - Soup

Well, it's really been an interesting week of me forcing myself to keep going even though I've been sickly and sounding like death.

I want to post about my experiences at the day program with the little 1st graders, because I have some serious gems and moments of insanity to share.

But this post is about all the soups I've had this week.  Though, I probably could have had more soup.

On Tuesday and Friday, I got to feast on some delicious phở action.  Have you had phở?  It's Vietnamese brothy noodley deliciousness. 

I usually get the chicken soup, and I love throwing in the basil leaves, bean sprouts, and squeeze of lime.

When the boyfriend and I go out for phở, we sometimes argue about who gets the bigger lime wedge - because we both love limes.  Then we realize that we could just ask for more lime wedges.

It's also recommended to squeeze in a generous amount of Sriracha and hoisin sauce.  I like my sauces to change the color of my broth.  But then it gets nice and spicy - so much so that it help drain my sinuses and I have to get gross and blow my nose at the table.

So frakin' good.

On Thursday night, the boyfriend concocted this delicious soup made with chicken broth, potatoes, and kielbasa.  Seriously, if there's any reason to keep this guy around, it's because he can cook and he can cook well and creatively.  Thank goodness for years of being a bachelor.

Then just tonight, we spent time with some good friends and some new folks sharing in some hot pot action.

Hot pot for 9

I know hot pot isn't exactly soup, but there is the broth that is the important component of the meal.

We had tons of veggies, fish, shrimp, beef, pork, and chicken.  Our friend's dad made some delicious dipping sauces, and at the end we got to soak up some more of the broth with some glass noodles.  There was enough on the table that our friend and his dad will have left overs for at least another couple of meals.

It was delicious, and we are properly stuffed.

There's just something wonderful about the warm brothy goodness of soup that I think is wonderful no matter what season it is.

Though, there's something about having soup in the winter and especially when suffering from an illness that makes it the most pleasurable.

Mermaid with a Cold and Nightmares

Well, I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later.  But this mermaid got sick!

I know I didn't protect myself from a the windy coldness last Saturday, and I made myself extremely vulnerable by sleeping late.

I have a stuffy head, running nose, and soon-to-be sore throat.  But, I've also had the opportunity to work at this after school program during this February vacation week.  I'm not too worried about giving my cold to any of the kids, because they really probably have better immune systems than I do.

But at night time, I've been getting extremely warm.  So warm that I feel like my brain does a lot of spinning around.

The first night, I thought a lot about how my body was exuding all this heat because I let too much coldness in.  I'm pretty sure I started blabbering to the boyfriend in my sleepiness.

And last night, I had two nightmares, which I haven't had in a long time.

The first nightmare involved me hiding under some church pews or a table of some sort.  While other people were pretending that there was nothing to hide from, I saw this demon-looking creature fly around above the heads of the seated folks.  Suddenly, it spotted me.  It's cold eyes stared at me.  Then, it swooped down at me.  I woke up.

The second nightmare started off with me out shopping.  I was in a store, when a bell or an alarm started ringing.  All the women were directed to another section of the store, almost like it was standard procedure.  They asked us to sit down and put our heads in our laps.  The room got dark, and this fog entered the room.  I remembered that the place was haunted by a little girl, and I assumed that this was some ritual for the little girl to choose someone.  Choose someone for what, I have no idea.  I could feel the little girl ghost approach me.  I then felt the eerie chill of her little fingers walking down my spine.  I woke up.

I felt this fear grip me when I awoke.  I suddenly started thinking about whether being sick makes one really attune to the spirit world, and perhaps I became clairvoyant in my illness.  My back was facing the bedroom door, and I was certain that the little girl ghost was there.  I had to really change my thinking around just to convince myself that it was okay to move just to reach out to touch the boyfriend.

It was frightening, but in the light of day I know how silly it sounds.

I am definitely planning on taking some Theraflu tonight before heading to bed!

City Sights - Ice and Clouds

I feel like I could take pictures of snow all day, especially on a snowy day like today.

But here's some other things I like noticing during the wintertime.

Wall of ice made from water droplets. 
Some of the icicles were reaching upwards!
Brighton, MA
February 2011

One restless night, I watched the clouds flit quickly through the sky.
So many clouds moving so fast.
Brighton, MA
February 2011

Simple Pleasures Sundays - Recognition

One of the neat things that the boyfriend is into is old movies.  On this lovely but cold Sunday, he saw that How the West was Won was just starting on the Encore westerns channel.

It features quite a lot of awesome movie stars, like James Stewart, Debbie Reynolds, Gregory Peck, and of course, John Wayne.  There are definitely parts of the movie that make me glad to be a woman in today's day and age.  But, it is quite an adventure-filled movie.

Now, the fun thing about watching the older movies is to recognize some faces and voices.  There were two characters in this movie whose voices were so absolutely familiar to me, but it took me a bit of time to place them. 

After a while, I realized that the two voices were voices from Disney movies!  Both were in Robin Hood, one was the voice of one of the Vulture guards keeper and the other was the voice of Friar Tuck.

Sometimes I really enjoy playing this game with myself.  I'm usually pretty good about recognizing faces and voices.  But if I get stumped, I refuse to head right to IMDB.com.  I will try to figure it out for the rest of the movie, if need be!  I'm just that stubborn.

There is just some simple satisfaction from recognizing people on my own.  Absolutely satisfying.

Tosies of the Month - February 2011

I know it's really only been a month.  But it strangely feels so long since my last pedicure.

I'm testing out this Blogger app on my Droid, so I figured that I could put it to some good use while I'm still at the salon.

It feels like spring is upon us here in Boston. The dirty, massive ice mountains have shrunk into ice cubes, and the melted mix of snow, trash, and melting agents flow like rivers to the sewers.

Seems like others had a similar inclination as I did to head to the nail salon, though it does seem like the majority of girls (because let's be honest...they're mere fetuses or college kids) are here for an eyebrow wax.

Nonetheless, I present to you my toes.

The color is OPI - Unripened, pedi by Ken and design by Dana herself.  The location is Dana's Nail Salong, Brighton, MA. The occasion - warmth amidst the cold.

Alright, Blogger app.  Let's see how you do.