by JP Esq | Jun 5, 2012 | Uncategorized
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| Indy Food Swap |
Funny thing about life. It happens and it happens quickly. And when it does, the first thing on your mind is blogging. Unfortunately, it is the last thing to get done. I’ll spare you a phony apology, but I will issue the heartfelt promise that it will happen again. Probably soon.
Moving right along.
I will dedicate this post to @NaptownBuzz and @MyCarDoc whose Twitter shout outs lit a bright, hot fire under my lovely lady lumps, requiring me to do something, post-haste, about this cobwebs catcher I like to call my public journal. I hear the distant call of a guest post one of these days…
…and of the grammar police telling me about that run-on sentence with too many commas I just wrote.
Plenty has happened in the past 12 months, but this is not about me playing catch-up with a blog audience of three entire humans. Instead, I need to tell you about what I did on Saturday and why it nearly made me cry.
A few weeks ago, I woke up to a tweet about a food swap. It was early, I was delirious, and so I signed up immediately. I mean, you make stuff & you trade stuff – seemed like a good concept to me. Then, by invitation from @indyrestscene, I attended a Community Dinner Party at the City Market. I won’t recount the glory of that evening, but if you’re dying to know, just read Erin’s post about it here. Suffice it to say that it was an evening filled with amazing food and great company. Serendipity decided that I’d find at my table that evening, Suzanne of @IndyFoodSwap. Little does she know she calmed my growing anxiety about my latest attempt at being normal and doing things with people I don’t know.
See, what I’m afraid to tell you is that I’m painfully shy and meeting new people gives me the kind of anxiety that burns a hole in the pit of my stomach. I’m that person who quietly sits alone in the corner at family gatherings. And I know those people.
I try so desperately to be different, but if I’ve learned anything in the first year of my 30s, it’s that I am who I am. And I am. Ok. With Me.
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| Lemon-Thyme Pound Cake |
By the day before the swap, I was in full blown “Oh $#!+” mode. I didn’t know what I would take, I knew I would only know one person, and I wasn’t sure this was such a good idea anymore. I could easily back out and give up my ticket to another deserving swapper. But, in line with the goals I set for myself a year ago, I decided to breathe it out and proceed. I am so glad that I did.
I decided on Lemon-Thyme Pound Cake, a Katie Brown recipe I’ve leaned on for quite a while. I started baking at, uh, midnight and finished packaging & labeling the mini loaves around 4am. A true labor of love. By noon the next day, we were all dressed and ready to go meet new friends and trade vittles.
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| Earth House Collective |
We gathered behind that alluring red door at Earth House. I’m convinced that magic happens when you pass through. I signed in, set up & began to quietly chat with the other swappers. As a first-timer, I made what I hope is the common mistake of trying to bid on a hot ticket item before the bidding process actually started. Oops and thanks to Brad the Beer Guy for straightening me out. Once the process did open, I got bid happy because there was just so much good stuff. And everyone took the time to add that extra dash of TLC that makes everything just that much more special. And then it happened…
The swap.
All of a sudden, the room came alive with what I can only describe as the best adrenaline rush I’ve had in quite a while. {Ok, I need to get out more, but whatever}. I don’t even know what I was doing, I just know that I left with a bunch of love-filled goodies and the happiest smile on the planet. Because this really wasn’t about the food. It was about community and coming together with a group of lovely people who are genuinely interested in knowing you and appreciative of sharing space and time with you, however brief the encounter may be. There is power in that.
The kind of power that pulls an introvert, like me, out of her shell.
The kind of power that makes you want to sign up again with 15 of your friends.
The kind of power that makes you dream about that Maple Bacon Jam you were 3.7 seconds too late to swap.
Perhaps you have to know me personally to understand how much of a release it is to my soul to meet really great people, who aren’t judging you, rating you, comparing you or otherwise making your Anxiety Meter screech to a halt at 150+ ARPMs {that’s anxiety revolutions per minute and yes, I made that up}. I went. I went alone. And I had a blast.
I suggest you learn more about Indy Food Swap and sign up for a future swap. We all want to taste that relish you make…
…You know the one.
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| June 2, 2012 – Indy Food Swappers |
by JP Esq | May 19, 2011 | Uncategorized
And bloggers don’t blog apparently. And food bloggers certainly don’t blog about food. Because that would be silly, now wouldn’t it? Probably as silly as the title of this post, because it has nothing to do with dogs with or without barking capabilities.
Oh look. I made a cake. It was da bomb if I do say so myself. I fully intended to blog that recipe and the process, however, I did not.
I would take this moment to issue an idle promise to you about returning to blogging regularly and experimenting with crap in the kitchen. But, I’ll spare you of such foolery.
I still hoard ingredients though. Although, now I’ve expanded my horizons to bags of beeswax and boxes of Borax, and essential oils, and powdered substances likely resembling the side activities of a street pharmacist. I’m making face moisturizers and lotions for myself now kids.
Not to worry…this will likely go the way of the Flea Market cruising. I know it warms your heart to know that I’m still the scanning, serial craft-starting yet not finishing, procrastinating, apron-wearing chocolate drop I’ve always been.
You’re welcome.
by JP Esq | Mar 7, 2011 | Uncategorized
I stole this from a friend’s blog here. Sometimes I like giving you information about me. Sometimes…
A. Age: 29 for a few more months.
B. Bed size: Queen. Middle. All. Mine.
C. Chore you hate: Washing windows.
D. Dogs: Lhasa Apso – Prince. Yorkshire Terrier – Dutchess. They wear clothes. I’m typical.
E. Essential start to your day: Prayer.
F. Favorite color: Black. It goes with everything. Classic. Sexy. Timeless. (Please do not add any “black is not a color” comments to this post. Thank you kindly.).
G. Gold or silver: Gold and Silver.
H. Height: 5’1″ on a good day. 5’5″ in the right heels.
I. Instruments you play: Piano, violin, flute, and anything I can pick up. I was a piano performance/piano pedagogy major and violin minor in college (before transfer). You know what jobs you can get with those degrees? None that buy Tiffany & Co. So I changed it up.
J. Job title: This is too much information.
K. Kids: None yet. Probably none ever. Better question = husband? date? Right…
L. Live: The Fish
M. Mom’s name: Nunyah Bizznass.
N. Nicknames: Lucy
O. Overnight hospital stays: Nope.
P. Pet peeve: Um, I’m afraid I would lose friends if I listed all of my pet peeves…so I won’t list any. I’d hate to put one and have people believe that the others are not as important.
Q. Quote from a movie: Chip: “Are they gonna live happily ever after, Mama?” Mrs. Potts: “Of course, my dear. Of course.” Chip: “Do I still have to sleep in the cupboard?” -Beauty & the Beast
R. Righty or Lefty: Righty.
S. Siblings: Three younger. A doctor, an engineer, an actress.
T. Time you wake up: Um, 8:10 am. Don’t judge me.
U. Underwear: Always. Black or Heather Gray. I own 1 pair of pink – does this count?
V. Vegetables you dislike: Beets.
W. What makes you run late: Hair.
X. X-rays you’ve had: Everything.
Y. Yummy food you make: Read the rest of this blog.
Z. Zoo animal favorite: Elephants.
by JP Esq | Jan 8, 2011 | Uncategorized
Um, hi.
Remember me? The kitchen-experimenting, procrastinating, distracted author of this blog? I do exist. I promise. And I do still eat. And cook. I just haven’t had time to write about it.
Allow me to do what every other person with a blog does on January 1 of each year: promise to blog more consistently this year. Idle threats.
Anyway, funny how life can change in only a few months. Things are different. Things are better. I don’t want to venture too far off track, so let’s enjoy another common feature of bloggers in the universe: recapping the year that just passed….month by excruciating month…
Or not.
Truth is, things are so oddly great that I’m scared to relive a year that I actually will tuck away as one I’m thankful for on the flip side, but gravely hated while I was in the midst of it. It was rough. I learned alot, but I have no desire whatsoever to ever have a year like that again.
I will say, 2011 has started off rather nicely and completely different that the last.
God’s up to something.
I’m ready.
by JP Esq | Nov 4, 2010 | Uncategorized
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| (c) 2010 Brown Sugar Meatloaf – Garden of the Gods – Colorado Springs, CO |
Not too long ago I had a slight breakdown {slight is a gross understatement}. I packed up my office and walked to my car. I had 5 days off and left my office in order such that if I did not return to this job, someone could pick up where I left off. Did I have another job to walk into? No. Did I care? Not so much.
Here’s the thing. {I’ve tried explaining this concept before so follow me if you can}. I’m an attorney by profession. Stereotypes or not, I think this gives you a tad bit of insight into the type of person I am. In a nutshell: in order for me to breathe properly, my brain must be actively engaged in some challenging task at all times. Although I have moments when I love my job, there tend to also be moments {that can last for months} when my brain is on an involuntary vacation. Boredom stresses me out. Does anyone out there understand my pain?
Of course, I hear the typical: “you get paid pretty well to be bored, so take your paycheck and hush.” While I can appreciate the fact that I am currently employed, subscribing to this mindset would leave me in a job where I am essentially ignoring my own knowledge, skills, abilities, passions, etc. as I sit still and accept a life of boredom. Along with this comes another frustration: I don’t wear my law degree on my chest and advertise this to everyone I come in contact with. It’s what I do, not who I am. Because I wasn’t hired into a position typical of other people with law degrees at my place of full-time employment, people I interact with outside of those walls {and sometimes inside of those walls} talk to me and treat me like I don’t have a brain in this head of mine.
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| (c) 2010 Brown Sugar Meatloaf |
To the airport. I fled to Colorado. I just wanted to be in silence. With nature. With God. With people I do not know {except my lovely JF and her new hubby with whom I had the opportunity to visit}. I wanted to find a lake, in the middle of the mountains and sit there for hours until the bears came to eat dinner.
I needed peace. I needed to be able to hear God’s whispers to me. I needed to be reminded that I was not created nor was I raised to quit anything on someone else’s terms. {Please note that I needed no reminder that I owe Aunt Sallie (Mae) upwards of $118K in education loans}. Walking away is not an option. Not like that anyway. So I sat.
And there. There, in the sweet open air of the Rocky Mountains, I found peace. Suddenly everything was still. I found renewal. I found the motivation that I seem to have lost.
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| (c) 2010 Brown Sugar Meatloaf – Bear Lake – Rocky Mountain National Park |
So now, I reboot. I go back to my roots and figure out how to do what I love. It’s not about me really. For me, it’s about living out God’s purpose & plan for me. I have to believe that my current situation is part of that. It’s up to me to find contentment within a less than ideal situation, use what I have, and push forward.
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| (c) 2010 Brown Sugar Meatloaf |
At some point, I’ll get back in the kitchen. Until then, I’ll dream of the majestic mountainside that is, to me, God’s Sunday afternoon canvas.
by JP Esq | Oct 16, 2010 | Uncategorized
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| (C) 2010 – BSM Blog – Bear Lake – Rocky Mountain National Park – Colorado |
I was here. Rocky Mountain “wilderness”. I needed a time-out. I needed life to pause. I needed to meet God again. I needed peace. I needed quiet. I needed to breathe.
And I sat.
And I didn’t move.
And I did breathe.
More updates & pics to come.
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