I love this May. May is usually crazy and full of transition. And this one was, too, to an extent. But the weather has been unseasonably cool and gorgeous:
And my day job is Summer Housing (i.e., working with college students) instead of Summer Conferences (i.e., working with minors…who…I’m sure it’s different when they’re your own…but working with other people’s children makes me never want to find out). So I had a fantastic May and a fantastic start to summer.
How May makes me feel. This cat understands me.
Here’s what I’m into this month:
To write:
I started my Getting it Together series on the blog. I am enjoying the food. I am tolerating the cleaning. My entryway is giving me fits. I hope the rest of the rooms aren’t this much of a struggle.
My favorite post that I wrote this month was Badger. It was good to talk about it, and I think I was fair enough. It’s hard to be fair when you’re telling your side of the story.
To read:
Summer (and perhaps my Getting It Together project) have me dreaming up food ideas and being drawn to ideas that others have dreamed up. So I read cookbooks and foodie memoirs and foodie fiction even more than usual.
There are not many books that I read and then need to go immediately and buy because I can’t stand the thought of being without it. A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg is one such book. This is my favorite book that I’ve read this year. It’s a treasure. And arugula salad with dark chocolate bits? Pretty much the best idea ever.
I also readKeepers by Kathy Brennan and Caroline Campion. Most of the book is meat-intensive, which I am not, but I will end up buying it for the sauces alone. I’m a sucker for a sauce.
To watch:
I have continued my obsession with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and I will probably end up buying it by the end of the summer. Such great characters. Such amazing one-liners.
I have also watched Chocolat four times. Because chocolate. And France. And Johnny Depp. I will probably watch it four more times before I return it to the library. Because I checked out the book, so I’ll need to watch it again after I finish the book. NEED.
To hear:
I’ve been writing and scheduling posts for What Not to Say, so I’ve been listening to my WNTS station on Spotify. Maybe not safe for work, depending on your workplace.
To eat:
May has been DELICIOUS. As part of my Getting It Together series, I’m going through some of Mom’s recipes, so May has tasted like my childhood. There was cavatini (which is basically pasta, sauce, ground beef, pepperoni, and cheese, all in one glorious dish), chicken salad, and sausage balls. I’ve also made a couple of loaves of beer bread, which makes fantastic toast for breakfast. Food at my house has been so good that I haven’t even wanted to go out, which is unusual for me, but it was a nice change.
One day, and already 51 likes. I feel like Sally Field:
Anyway…on to the tour…
Upon what are you working?
I have two major projects going right now, and I hope to have the manuscripts for both completed by the end of the year.
The first is a work of fiction called Fishbowl. Fishbowl was a NaNoWriMo project from a few years ago that was meant to just be a novella or a series of short stories. Then I fell in love with the main characters and couldn’t stop writing about them. I still can’t stop. I have most of the chapters mapped out (which is unusual for me – I’m a big ol’ pantser), and I should have at least a full first draft finished by late September.
The second is What Not to Say. It started as a series of rants when I was blogging on livejournal, and it has taken on a life of its own. Now it has its own blog, and I am hoping to eventually make it a community project, because my single life experience, vast as it might be, is still only one person’s experience, and there’s a lot more to say out there than what I can say. It might be a really big book. Maybe with several volumes.
I also have a couple of exciting things going on in this blog space, as well as another one on the horizon.
This summer, I have taken on a project called Getting It Together. I want to take advantage of the extra time I have with my lighter work schedule and get into some good habits, like cooking regularly (instead of driving through Whataburger five times a week) and keeping the apartment clean and organized (so that I can have company over without having to devote the entire day prior to the event feverishly making it presentable). I am on Week Three. It’s been both easier and harder than I imagined it would be.
I love good coffee – this surprises no one. I also love road trips. I don’t always get good coffee when I go on road trips, though. So I’m in cahoots with my good friend Stefanie from Coffee2Conversation to remedy this situation. We are both hosting a Coffee Shop Road Trip Series, so if you have a great local shop that you would love to highlight, send me a submission (your own blog space not required)! In September, I will be launching a similar series on restaurant/bars, because I love supporting local places, even when I’m traveling.
How does your work differ from others in the genre?
I’m not sure yet where Fishbowl fits into the general fiction genre. The main character is telling the story after his death, so I guess that’s unusual. I am fighting the urge to insert my own musings about what happens after one dies into it and trying to let Bob just figure it out as he goes. I think that makes the story stronger than it would be if I were trying to Get A Point Across. Marketing for the book will probably include a disclaimer and reminder that this is a work of fiction, so do not email me if Bob’s experience doesn’t fit your personal beliefs or philosophy. I’m very protective of Bob, and I am likely to respond accordingly. Also…fiction.
What Not To Say is different from what I’ve read in the rant/advice genre in that there is hope infused into the angst. It’s not a you’re-a-terrible-person/friend-and-this-is-why manifesto. Its purpose is to mend bridges rather than burn them. There’s a fine line between confrontation and condemnation, so I am being quite needy with my editors to make sure I stay on the confrontation side.
Why do you write what you write?
This blog is a place for me to use my own voice. I think it’s important to have a space to do that whenever one is writing fiction. It makes it easier to compare the two to see if it’s really my characters talking (good) or if I’m just using them to channel my own voice (not good). I will tell personal stories occasionally or respond to something going on in the news or on the Internet (although my mulling process usually takes so long it’s not really news anymore by the time I write about it). But mostly, I’m talking about my everyday life. I also participate in link-ups and synchroblogs, because one of my favorite things about blogging is the potential to interact with others in the blogosphere.
I write fiction because I love reading fiction. My most precious dream is that someday I will meet someone who tells me that Fishbowl is their favorite book. Okay, I’ll settle for being ONE of their favorites (but if we’re being real here – I really want to be THE favorite).
I write What Not to Say because of the time-honored advice to write what you know. I know being single. I know it way more than I would like to know it. I have things to say about it, and I want to hear what others from all levels of single experience have to say about it.
How does your writing process work?
I have to write every day, or I fall out of the habit. And then it’s a month later, and my works in progress are no longer than they were the previous month. I try to write for at least an hour a day. For a while, I tried to get up an hour early and write, but those hours started to look like a sad girl clutching a coffee cup and staring hopelessly into a blank screen with the cursor blinking mockery at her. Morning person, I am not.
So now I write in the evening. Most days, writing starts around 8:00 p.m., after I have had time to get home, eat supper, and take care of all the things that I “need” to do and that I would use as an excuse not to write. On teaching nights or nights when I have plans with friends, however, writing starts closer to 10:30 p.m. It makes for a late bedtime, but I’m willing to miss sleep for my craft. And really, I’m a night owl, so I don’t usually fall asleep before midnight anyway, whether I’m writing or not. Might as well be writing.
I write quickly, but I edit slowly. So I can churn out a first draft as fast as lightning. Then it will be a week before I’m satisfied enough with it to let anyone else see it. Editors are usually seeing – at minimum – a third draft.
Now the way this is supposed to work is that I am to tag other bloggers. But it took me so long to do it, I’m pretty sure most of them have already answered these questions. And some of them might not want to. So no pressure – just free press – but feel free to answer these questions if you want and comment with the link to your post. And go read Michelle Woodman, JoAnne Silvia, Jennifer Seay, Sharry Miller, and Stefanie Goodman.
On this week’s installment of the Coffee Shop Road Trip, Jennifer Seay is back with another reason I need to visit Las Vegas – Inspire News Café. And basically the whole downtown area. I am ecstatic to include a post that touches on my favorite things – coffee, tea, books, and shoes (or at least a company that sells shoes). Enjoy!
Something about the day said “Get up! Get out!” So, I did. And, while that may or may not have been a mistake, here I am. Back when Suzanne first posted about the Coffee Shop Road Trip there were two spaces that came to mind. The first was within ten minutes of my house. The second was Inspire – which is where I am now.
Downtown Las Vegas was just about the last place I ever would’ve thought of to put a coffee house, but that was a little over a year ago before Tony Hsieh (all of those letters phonetically form “Shay”) decided to make downtown his project – aptly named the Downtown Project. See, Mr. Hsieh is one of the creators and the CEO of Zappos and if you don’t know what that is – you haven’t been shopping for shoes on the intertubez. So, long story short – he has more money than … someone with a lot of money … and he’s actually giving back to his community. How … revolutionary!
Inspire was made possible by the Downtown Project – as many things have been since Mr. Hsieh came to town – and the coffee itself may be forgettable (It’s Illy coffee) but the space is great and there is plenty of character to go around. My 16 oz cup of Earl Grey tea cost $3.00 and there are no foodstuffs for purchase, but here at Inspire it really does seem to be about the environment. There are magazines – local magazines – lining the walls. There are national magazines, too, but I was impressed by how many local publications there are. A free wi-fi passcode came with my tea which allowed me to be interrupted by a rather disturbing request from a friend – disturbing in that it was non-specific which usually means I’m about to let myself get railroaded, but that’s a personal problem…
Off to one side is something that looks like a Xerox and, in fact, it is, but it is so much more than a photocopier. This machine is the Espresso Book Machine. It will print and bind your book (or any book in their catalog, which includes anything in Project Gutenberg, among other things) in minutes… as an aspiring writer this machine has a huge hold on me. I want to give them my file and watch it become a reality, but I know I have lots of editing to do – I’m mired in editing right now. And avoidance of said editing, but again – personal problem!
There are lots of choices for seating including a wooden, theatre style, tiered area with pillows to use. I sat at a table in the corner that had a bench seat on the wall and a chair across the table. There were also couches in the center that were occupied on and off by people having discussions – probably of business related to downtown…
Along with anything in downtown Las Vegas comes the local wildlife – in this case a gentleman on the street yelling about how much he hated Chicago, he was quite creative with the way he interspersed colorful metaphors into his tirade. Few people in the shop took much notice, so this must be a semi-regular occurrence. Also – parking – it is on street and you have to pay, but it’s not bad at all. $1.00 per hour with a two-hour time limit.
While you’re here I highly recommend the Container Park, which is a mall built out of shipping containers – the metal shipping containers used by companies to move freight whether by road, rail, or water. All of the businesses in the Container Park are local, small business start-ups. Most of them are heavily subsidized by the Downtown Project – at least to get started and then as they grow they become more independent. It is just a couple of blocks away on Fremont Street.
This wasn’t meant to become a love letter to Tony Hsieh, but the man certainly deserves a really big cookie for everything he’s done for downtown Las Vegas. If he aspired to be mayor, I’d vote for him.
As for Inspire – the hook here is the environment, not the coffee. I enjoyed it. I’d come back again if I were in downtown. Is it worth a special trip to downtown? For me, yes – at least this once, but I’m a ‘satisfy my curiosity’ kind of person. Is it worth it to get a taxi from the Strip? Hmmm… probably not, unless you want to check out that cool book-bindery Xerox machine thingy. Is it worth it to stop in if you’re already checking out the Fremont Street scene? Yes. Absolutely.
Location: The Southeast corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Fremont Street
Parking: Street. Pay the meter. The meters take coins or credit cards.
Hours: Monday – Saturday 9am to 7pm for the Café and 10 am to 7pm for the Book Machine
Jennifer grew up in the southeastern United States eating dirt and drinking goat’s milk. She wrote her first story when she was six years old titled “The Cats in the Carillon.” It was approximately 200 words and had three sequels. Her current piece is approximately 100,000 words and the main character is not a cat. She lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with her husband and two furry editors. She burbles about her book, cats, and life at mercurialforte.wordpress.com.
Because I knew this week would be a short week but also a work intensive week (y’all – it took me two hours to alphabetize my CDs last night. Nothing was in its correct case. Nightmarish.), I did my cooking on Saturday when I just so happened to have people over for brunch.
The menu (in addition to copious amounts of cheap champagne mixed with various assorted nectars, of course):
1. Mom’s Sausage Balls
I grew up in Texas, so I have never been to a potluck where there were no sausage balls. And I can’t remember a moment in my childhood when they weren’t magically hiding in a Ziploc bag in the freezer. These little glories freeze beautifully, both pre- and post-cooking, but I have yet to make a batch big enough that I felt compelled to freeze them instead of just baking them all and keeping them in the fridge to snack on for a few days. I don’t do this often, though – I would be the size of a house. Health food, they are not.
The real beauty of this recipe is that you just can’t mess it up. You mix three ingredients, roll them into 1-inch balls, and bake them at 350-375 for 20 minutes.
It doesn’t even really seem to matter how much of each ingredient you use. Mom uses half a pound of sausage, four cups of grated cheddar, and two heaping cups of baking mix (she uses Bisquick but you can also make your own). I used a whole pound of sausage, a large log of goat cheese (DO IT…SO GOOD!), and three scant cups of baking mix. You can look all over the Internet for recipes, and most of them will have slightly different measurements. If it sticks together enough to roll into a ball, it will work.
2. Vegan Mini-Cinnamon Rolls
I originally chose this recipe for its adorableness, but with a few minor tweaks, I was happy to discover that it can also be vegan. I didn’t think it was possible until I was reading the crescent roll label at the grocery store, trying to figure out just how many pills I would have to take to partake of them. Zero. Zero pills. The original Pillsbury Crescent Roll is lactose-free. So I did a little digging, because lactose-free dough sometimes means vegan, and although PETA does give the disclaimer at the bottom that it was probably processed in non-vegan ways, it lists the product itself as “accidentally vegan.” If it passes PETA’s standards, I guess it passes mine (although if I were to go all-out vegan, I would be one of those religious kind of vegans who grinds my own sugar and never eats processed foods, just in case, which – i.e., my commitment to laziness – is at least part of the reason that I have yet to go all-out vegan). If you are a religious kind of vegan, you can also make your own crescent roll dough pretty easily, although I would totally sub coconut oil for the canola oil, because DELICIOUS.
To veganize the recipe in the link above, you brush the dough with coconut oil instead of butter and use coconut milk instead of regular milk in the glaze. If you use full-fat coconut milk, it will be so creamy you’ll want to roll around in it. And I’m using maple syrup in every glaze I ever make from now on, because that was fantastic.
3. Farmers’ Market Veggie Frittata
Frittata – another thing that’s hard to mess up. Full disclosure – the only things from the Farmers’ Market I used in this recipe were the tomatoes. The shredded potatoes and spinach were totally frozen. Organic…but frozen. You can use any vegetable you want, though, and fresh is better for this recipe.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Take some eggs. I like to make a lot at a time, particularly if I’m feeding other people, and I own that big ass skillet in the picture, so I use a full dozen. If you are using a smaller-than-twelve-inch-deep-dish skillet, I recommend using fewer eggs. Then again, I like a frittata where egg is not necessarily the star, so if want more of an egg focus and you use fewer additional ingredients, you can probably get away with a dozen eggs in a smaller skillet. It just all has to fit when it goes into the oven.
Whisk the eggs and season them generously with salt and pepper and any other seasoning you like (a healthy dash of herbs de Provence medley – marjoram, summer savory, thyme, rosemary, lavender – is nice). Set aside.
Heat a dollop of oil on the skillet and add crushed garlic (two-ish minutes on medium heat). Add whatever vegetables you are using – washed and chopped, of course – to the skillet and toss them around for a little bit (3-4 minutes).
Pour the eggs over the warmed vegetables. Stir gently a couple of times in the first minute, but then let it sit for a few more to set the bottom of the frittata.
Put the skillet in the oven and bake until the frittata sets completely. Mine usually takes about 15-20 minutes, but the time will vary wildly depending on a number of factors, such as how long you kept it on the stove, how warm the vegetables were when you poured the eggs in the skillet, how crispy you want the edges, etc. Just make sure you keep it in the oven until you can press down on the center without it being wobbly.
And now, a word about adjustments:
I’m only three weeks into the project, and my refrigerator and freezer are bursting with leftovers. I have shared at least two meals a week with other people. I even brought Cavatini leftovers to leave in the fridge at work for the summer RAs to have, because I can’t finish them all. I have so much food it is taking over other people’s refrigerators.
I know. There are worse problems to have. But when the novelty of raining leftovers down on all my people wears off (which, if the past is any indication, will happen in about two more weeks), there could be a lot of food that goes to waste if I don’t scale back a bit.
So I’m scaling back by playing it by ear. I will keep my three main categories – Mom’s recipes, vegan recipes, and farmers’ market recipes – but if Mom’s recipe makes eleventy dozen meals (and a lot of them do – we were a family of four, and she’s also a fan of leftovers), I will either skip one of the other categories that week or combine them.
Also, that bread business? Let’s scale that back to a couple of loaves every other week, or just when I need it. Bread takes up a lot of space in my tiny freezer, and I do not eat a loaf a week. Apparently, my planning self thinks that I have a brood of children I’m feeding. But my freezer begs to differ.
This week, in addition to the cooking habit (which I will update tomorrow) and the cleaning habit (which is working far better than I ever imagined it would – YAY!), I will be focusing my deep cleaning and organizing mojo on the entryway. When I was planning the schedule, I thought, “Oh, the entryway would be the perfect room to work on during my short week. It doesn’t have a lot of work that needs to be done on it.” When I was taking the before pictures on Saturday, I thought, “I feel cheat-y – this looks pretty good, on account-a I just had people over this morning.”
Then I looked at the pictures again a minute ago, and I do not feel cheat-y anymore. Even in its relatively-put-to-place state, this area needs a lot of work. This post might get long.
For the purposes of this project, I am considering the entryway to be the door area, the mail table and the shelves beside it, the dining table, and the little area where the table goes when the Christmas tree is up.
First – the shelves –
The original purpose:
to hold movies and CDs
to hold the clock/radio/CD player
to display adorable coffee/tea/serving pieces that don’t fit in the kitchen
What I want to change:
I hate the CDs and movies out on display. I’m going to move the movies to the TV cabinet (where, according to logic, they should be anyway). I am also going to scour thrift stores for small CD cases and use the sleeves to alphabetize my CDs in the orange boxes (hidden behind the coffee plaques) so I can get rid of all the hideous jewel cases. I might also have to buy more boxes.
I want to find a little shelf to double up and consolidate the espresso cups on one shelf.
As the clock radio is my only CD player in the house, it gets to stay, but I’m moving some of the coffee plaques I have elsewhere in the house to hide it.
Main goal – create a little more shelf space for various other items taking up space around the apartment so that I have more room for things that don’t fit there.
Next, the entryway table/main area:
Feel free to bask in the gorgeousness of this table. I’ll wait.
The original purpose of this area:
To organize all the things I tend to drop when I walk in – keys, umbrella (in the orange pail by the door), mail, etc.
To store bar glasses (inside the table) and wine (the sadly empty swirly thing in the corner)
To sort mail so that it doesn’t become a monster that eats my house
What I want to change:
I want to distinguish between inbox and outbox in the mail file.
I want to put up some small pictures that I had in my room when I was a little girl in the blank space beside the mirror to un-blah that white space.
The doorway:
And a close-up:
Instead of original purpose (as it is evident that I didn’t actually have one), I am going to tell you what’s going on here:
Towels around the door work as a buffer to keep out hot or cold air (whichever one I’m trying to combat, according to the season), insects, and all the smoke from the neighbors who don’t seem to understand that smoke does not recognize a closed door as something designed to keep it out and thus will just seep right in, particularly when one is smoking directly in front of said door, directly below said door, or really, anywhere within 10 feet of said door. Super-smeller problems.
A sad door in a shoddily crafted building next to a site that was under construction (read: shaky ground) for a year and a half. The door does not really fit the door frame, so the bottom latch and lock only work sporadically (better in the summer than in the winter, for some reason). When people come in to fix things, I need them to lock the deadbolt when they leave in order to insure that my house stays locked, so I leave them a helpful reminder.
Orange dot carpets. Super cute, but they need to be washed often more often than they get washed.
That box is just straight up trash.
Crock pot was used, and that’s where the most readily available plug in the house was. Then it was washed…and it stayed there.
What I want to change:
All. The. Things.
Ultimately, fix the door. I can fix the deadbolt latch easily enough, but I need to call in the apartment maintenance crew to fix the huge gap under the door. This might not happen by the end of the week, however, because although they have a key and have every right to enter the apartment when I’m not there, they seem to want me to be there when they are working on something, and because I work full-time during the day, this significantly limits our time frame – hence, the problem still being a problem.
Until the door is fixed – find a less tacky way to block the breeze. I have a surplus of towels, and I could probably fashion a prettier solution and then affix it with velcro so that it will stay even when the door is closed from the outside but can also be easily removed and washed. That’s my current plan. This will either be a great idea or an amusing story.
Wash the orange dots and spread them out.
Quit being lazy and take trash out when needed instead of piling it by the door.
Move crock pot back to its home.
Put up Find and mount the coat rack I have on the wall opposite the door.
Find something to do with that rod that’s just hanging out in the corner.
The dining table:
The original purpose of the area:
Place to eat (or serve, when hosting gatherings larger than two)
Where the Christmas tree goes when ’tis the season
What I want to change:
Not much – I like the placement. Maybe add fresh flowers to the table.
This area tends to draw clutter (observe the unopened Pampered Chef box under the table). Stop that.
You can’t see it, but behind the curtain are small pots of dirt with dead herbs in them. This window gets amazing light and will serve as a great herb windowsill when I decide I want to do that. I want to start collecting pots that fit there.
And finally, the space where the table goes during Christmas:
It’s a small space, but I promise, the table fits.
What I want to change:
Ultimately, move blue chair to bedroom where it belongs.
Get a small (read: something that would fit under dining table, as it will have to for about a month out of the year) cabinet to store liquor and cocktail paraphernalia.
Today, tomorrow, and Friday are thrift days. I will be on the lookout for the cabinet, mini-shelves, velcro, and CD books/sleeves.
Whew. Tall order for a short week. It might not all happen, but I hope to make great strides.
This week has been pasta-intensive. It has been amazing, but I feel like I didn’t get anything done except nap.
1. Mom’s Cavatini
This might be my favorite thing that my mom makes. When I make it, I adjust her recipe by having more pasta and less meat. I even wrote it at the top of the page where I copied it down, like I would forget:
In recent years, however, I’ve been keeping the pasta about the same and replacing half (or all) of the meat with spinach.
The recipe, as my mother has it written:
2 lbs. ground beef
3/4 c. each of curly, shell, and macaroni noodles
3 tall skinny cans of tomato sauce
1/4 tsp. each – oregano, celery salt, garlic salt, and pepper
1/8 tsp. thyme
1 large onion, chopped
2 pkgs. mozzarella [that’s 32 oz. of cheese, for those who are wondering]
2 pkgs. pepperoni
Brown meat, onion, and seasonings. Add tomato sauce and pepperoni. Simmer 5 minutes. Add cooked noodles and simmer 5 more minutes. Take off stove; add mozzarella; serve.
Upon re-reading the recipe, I noticed other changes I make:
I only use one type of pasta, unless what I have on hand happens to be remnants of several different shapes. But three pastas are not something that I do on purpose, even though I must admit it makes the dish prettier.
I use my own homemade spaghetti sauce, which includes onions, pepper, and a whole lot of seasonings, so I exclude the onion and spices from the recipe.
I made cavatini twice (three times if you count the next recipe in the list). My friend Stephanie came over on Tuesday. I left out the pepperoni and kept the sauce separate from the pasta, and I left the cheese on the side as well. So I guess that was build-your-own-cavatini night. I turned right around and made another batch for the part-time staff Wednesday night at our meeting. This time, I threw it all together as the recipe instructs, because one pot is easier to carry than three.
I also made two loaves of beer bread for staff. One of them remarked, “I guess this is the closest you’re going to come to buying us alcohol.” Yep. I had just enough bread left over to have the best toast on the planet for breakfast the rest of the workweek.
2. Vegan Cavatini (aka, Pasta Primavera)
Leave in the spinach, add another vegetable or two (I vote yellow squash and orange bell pepper), and leave out all the meat and cheese. You will have a meal that is healthier but still delicious. Make sure your pasta doesn’t have egg in it, or that won’t be vegan.
3. Farmer’s Market – Roasted Broccoli
Broccoli is not my favorite vegetable. I have always thought it was okay. Then in 2002 when I started having digestive issues and couldn’t keep much of anything down for months, the smell of broccoli sickened me. It’s been on my list ever since.
But I found some this week at the market, and since it’s starting to get too hot for it to grow, I thought I’d give it a chance this week.
Chop up the broccoli and a red onion, and roast them in grapeseed oil. It’s so good, it might redeem broccoli for me.
Big Mike’s Coffee Shop is great. It’s located right across the street from UNT campus in the same location and under the same ownership as Voyager’s Dream (before The Man ruined Fry Street…but that’s another story for another time). Their website lists my three favorite things about Big Mike’s – independent, local, and fair trade. They are also ecologically minded. They save their coffee grounds and give them to local gardeners for their compost piles. I also like how they take care of the students. They used to be a 24-hour shop, but now they are closed from midnight to 6:00 a.m. most days. However, during dead week and finals week, they reinstated their around-the-clock hours to support the students cramming during the wee hours of the morning. And on graduation day, they offered anything on their menu at half off for graduates who came in their caps and gowns.
Also – there are signs like this:
(I swear I waited to take the picture until after I had ordered.)
Sounds like this would be my favorite shop in the world, doesn’t it? So why haven’t you heard about it before now?
Confession: I only go to Big Mike’s in the summer.
Yes, they take care of students. But so do I. I take care of students 40+ hours a week. So I don’t really feel the need to go hang out with students after work.
Summer, early morning, and Sundays are the only times I can find parking anywhere near the shop. Could I walk there? Sure. Am I likely to do so? Lol…no.
The atmosphere in summer is really laid back. In fact, all of Denton is more laid back in the summer, because many of the students go home. And because many of the students go home, it’s even more important in the summer to support the local shops that I want to see stay in business, particularly the shops whose clientele is predominantly students.
Summer at Big Mike’s is great. I can walk in, order, sit at a table and stare into space, and no one thinks anything of it (or if they do, they keep it to themselves). The baristas don’t try to rope you into small talk while making your drink. If they talk at all, it’s to say something that’s actually interesting. I have never been forced to talk about the weather in Big Mike’s.
I realize that this might be a point against them for extroverts or normal people or people who are uncomfortable with silence or people who have narrow views of what constitutes good customer service. But for introverts, Big Mike’s in the summer is like Mecca.
My typical order at Big Mike’s when I’m not going to stay for long is a macchiato.
Little shot of espresso marked with foam. And their espresso is gooooood. Sometimes, I even order them when I am going to stay for a while, but then I end up getting four of them, and that’s a terrible idea.
For a while, they had hazelnut milk, but I’m not sure they offer it anymore. I could get a hazelnut latte made with hazelnut milk. Glorious. That was my go-to drink when I would make a coffee run for Maggie and me before HOST meetings. Good times.
So if you’re in Denton in the summer (maybe you’re at a conference at UNT), don’t drive all the way to Starbucks just because it’s what you know. Go to Big Mike’s.
If you would like to contribute to the Coffee Shop Road Trip, you can follow that link to the original post for guidelines. The original deadline has been extended. The new deadline is forever. I am having so much fun, I will forever take posts on this subject.
My tendency in summer seems a little counter-intuitive to me. I feel gross and sweaty and hot (temperature-wise, not rawr-wise) and uncomfortable most of the summer (which in Texas is basically May through September). But summer is when I most want to dress up or engage in traditional beauty regimens. I wear jewelry more often. I give myself regular pedicures and paint my toenails. I am more likely to style my hair. I wear lipstick.
I steal hair clips. Oops.
I also – inexplicably – find myself more likely to exercise. One might imagine that I would want to sit in front of a fan and do nothing, but no. I do more Pilates. I dance around the house more. I am more likely to go to the gym.
I am also more likely to take on summer projects, like my Getting It Together series. Apparently, it’s not enough that I discover my own beauty. I need to surround myself with it. This will be fun.
One thing that does make sense to me is that I tend to eat better. I tend to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables – particularly if they can be eaten cold – and I eat less heavy food. I often lose weight in summer, not because I’m particularly trying to do so, but because I’m taking in healthier things and drinking more water.
I think the slower work schedule of summer slows me down enough that I remember to take care of myself. Maybe that’s what all these seasonal habits tend to be. I’m not running in three or four different directions at once. I can take a break.
I will say from the top that I don’t need anything else in the apartment. I do not need anything to complete this project. In fact, I could get rid of a whole lot of things and still have everything I need to make the apartment clean and organized.
I could just wash my hands of this whole budgeting issue by making “buy nothing” one of the rules. The only problem is that, having met me, I know that I would break this rule, and without guidelines, I would break it hard, because I really love buying things.
I won’t know everything I want for each space until I am spending the week focusing on it, but here’s a small dose of what I have been pondering:
Entryway (includes all the odd space between the door and the living area):
Divider shelf to make a stacked display of the espresso cups
Small cabinet for liquor storage/bar paraphernalia (hello, garage sales, because I am not paying retail)
Books for CDs so I can get rid of all those hideous jewel cases
Living room and writing nook:
Sheets, inexpensive fabric – something to make curtains out of that 1) is not sheer and 3) matches or can be dyed to match (ish – doesn’t have to be exact)
Possibly dye
Kitchen:
Storage containers – leaning toward mason jars for most things but will need larger ones for multiple flours
Small shelves to maximize space in all the cabinets
Wooden slats to fix bottom drawer of chest of drawers and perhaps make slats for bakeware
Barring the ability to find inexpensive shelving, spice jars that will stack
Add to my Simple Additions collection (Pampered Chef plates, bowls, etc. – also, I’m a consultant, so if you see something you like, I can hook you up. /shameless plug)
Bedroom:
Under-the-bed storage
Storage chest for end of bed
Material to make curtains (or just buying curtains) for east window
Materials to make headboard
Bathroom:
Silver accessories – soap dispenser, trash can, etc.
Plum linens – six bath towels, two hand towels, shower curtain, bath mat(s)
That’s a long list already for a home that doesn’t really need anything.
This week, I am going to start pricing things and scouring garage sales and thrift stores. Because here’s the kicker – I’m going to give myself a $300 limit. For the whole summer. And I’m anxious about even setting aside that much, because I really do not need anything at all.
I can buy almost everything secondhand on my list or make it myself. I imagine the bulk of the money will be spent on the bathroom (because secondhand towels give me the icks), so I’m saving $150 for it (I have some coupons). That means that the other four areas have to average $35 apiece, with a $10 cushion. I will have to be careful. Because I have four huge windows in the living room/writing nook, and finding curtains for all four that either match or at least fit together in an artsy but not college-student-living-on-ramen kind of way for less than $35 is going to take a miracle (or a really fantastic estate sale).
When it comes to spending money on my apartment this summer, I will remember two things:
I will not consider the week a failure if I can’t find items that fit into my budget by the end of the week that the room is supposed to be “done.” I will remember that the whole point of this project is that making a home is an on-going, ever-changing, organic process. It is unreasonable to expect that it will be My Ultimate Living Environment by the end of the summer.
Even though the work is going to be divided into areas, the shopping doesn’t have to be. If I find inexpensive storage or great towels this week, I’m going to go ahead and buy them. Particularly if they are on sale.
Tuesday and Thursday afternoons are going to be thrift afternoons, but I reserve the right to shop whenever I feel like it. Also, garage sales happen on Saturdays, so that’s when I’ll be doing that. I will also be scouring Denton’s Freecycle list more carefully (meaning, I’ll actually read the email instead of saying, “Ack! No! No more stuff!” and deleting it without opening it). And SCRAP just became my favorite store of the summer, because the next two Fridays are fabric sales, and I might find jars there that will serve my spice storage needs. I am actively planning to make out like a bandit.
Today marks the end of Week One (Keep) of my Getting It Together summer project.
The Food:
The three planned recipes for the week were Mom’s chicken salad, black bean and pepper fajitas (vegan), and ratatouille (farmers’ market). Two of the three actually happened.
Until very recently, I didn’t have a chicken salad recipe, because until very recently, I hated mayonnaise. That doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. Apparently. My brand new favorite way to make chicken salad is with rotisserie chicken – which is 1) almost as inexpensive, 2) far less disgusting, and 3) way less work than roasting my own – with grapes, apples, dried cranberries, celery, pepper, and two parts mayo to one part mustard.
For the vegans in the audience, this recipe is also delicious if you sub Vegenaise for the mayo and chopped up Chik’n nuggets (I think they’re made by Boca?) for the chicken. This also makes the expensive faux chicken nuggets go further, which makes my bank account happy.
The chicken salad that I grew up eating, however, is simpler. For my mom’s recipe, I used one chicken breast (baked and chopped into pieces), two boiled eggs, one half cup of mayo, and a couple of spoonfuls of mustard. Mom usually seasons with just salt and pepper, but I added a little parsley, basil, and oregano. It’s not the healthiest meal, but I got five sandwiches out of it, making it one of the least expensive meals I’ve had in a while. Throw a few carrot sticks or an apple on the side, and you have a nice lunch.
The vegan recipe I managed was black bean and pepper fajitas. In a skillet, I sauteed some onions and garlic. Then I added cumin, roasted red peppers, and black beans. I let it all cook together for a while (about 15 minutes on medium low). Then I spooned the mixture into some tortillas, spritzed it with lime juice, and that was it. It could not have been easier. It was good the first time, but the leftovers – after everything had hung out and marinated in the fridge overnight – were amazing.
The ratatouille will have to wait for a week when I actually make it to the farmers’ market. Turns out, it’s hard to get inspired by the farmers’ market when you don’t go. Ahem.
I totally forgot about making bread. I almost threw together some beer bread today, just so I could say that I made bread this week. But the plan was to make baguettes to go with the ratatouille…and neither of those things happened. I bought a day-old (i.e., half-price) loaf of sourdough at Ravelin. That’s…not even close to the same thing, but at least I didn’t pay full price?
The Home:
I called this week Keep because “maintain” sounds so boring. Maintaining is going about my workaday life, just slugging along. It reeks of stagnation. Keep, on the other hand, sounds more nurturing. I’m keeping a home. I’m keeping my space livable.
My cute coffee nook
You might be thinking, “What does it matter what you call it? Just do it.” But that’s what I learned this week – it matters to me. In fact, how I view this habit might just be the primary determinant of whether I keep doing it after summer’s over or go back to the way things have been.
Some things I learned this week:
Fifteen minutes hardly feels like any time at all. I was surprised by how quickly it went by every day. The daily fifteen minutes in the kitchen was usually over by the time supper had finished cooking, so that didn’t seem like a big deal either.
I can do a lot in fifteen minutes. I wanted to see if such a small amount of time would make any difference, and I also wanted to avoid getting burned out on my first week, so I stuck to the time limit pretty rigidly for this first round. After only a quarter of an hour in every major area in the apartment, it looks ten times better than it did last week. I definitely cleaned up more than I messed up.
I don’t feel like I’ve spent any time cleaning this week. This is the big one. I am very protective of my schedule. If something seems like it’s going to take a lot of time, particularly long-term, I’m unlikely to stick to it. This even translates to people. The first sign that I’m really into a guy? When I don’t mind that he takes up a lot of my free time. So it’s important for a new habit to fit easily into the schedule without upsetting my daily flow.
In reality, I have spent a lot of time cleaning this week. I have spent a collective three hours cleaning and organizing, which is about two and a half hours more than I usually spend. But dividing the time up in a day-to-day process takes away the feeling that it’s some grand imposition, and that’s going to be what makes this new habit stick.
Overall, I am pleased with the week. Now onto Week Two.
M. Suzanne Terry 