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Oh my my my, the adventures of dating, online dating, and blind dates set up by friends who I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt & believe they truly mean well. I forgot how terrifying that world can be...I had gotten so comfortable in my sweet bubbled routine little world. Reality was a harsh, awkward, agonizingly brutal wake-up call. The online experience has been the one that have proven to be the most entertaining; it’s definitely kept me on my toes. I understand how hard it can be to put yourself out there, to have standards and actually stick to them, and to not just settle for the first guy who says ‘you’re too beautiful to still be single’. But goodness…there are some interesting characters out there who just screams ‘dear god, help me in any way you can’. 

Lesson 1: Explicits + compliments cancel each other out

You cannot expect me to answer to an email that simply says, 'You are so ____ sexy girl. Why you on here?'. (a) I don't talk to guys who find it necessary to use explicits when trying to make a good/lasting impression on women. There are better lack of words that will express the same enthusiasm. (b) The fact that I'm on an online dating site is already an issue in itself. There is no need to bring up the reasons WHY I'm on it. That, sweetheart, will get nowhere. 

Lesson 2: Do not email me 't@lkiN lik diS cuz I aint knO wut u mean'.

Now I know you're trying to be trendy and you may think it's cute. But it's not MySpace & it's not 2001. We are both at an age where that is no longer acceptable...in any situation. I don't want to spend 45 minutes trying to decipher what you are all about. 

Lesson 3: The past is the past. Please do leave it there. 

If & when I actually do accept an invitation to meet up, please don't spend the majority of the night telling me how your previous Match dates went/how your ex-wife got a profile just to stalk you/how we hardly have a thing in common except for the fact that we're both on Match. This will only make me hate my life and you.  

*NOTE: The above was written with a sense of humor. I’m not trying to be a snob nor do I think I am above online dating (obviously if I have an account). 

-N. 

Chicken Noodle Love

This would be the second time this season that I’ve nearly coughed up my lungs, my throat is probably shredded beyond repair, and I’m probably going to sound like a man for the rest of my life. Yes, I am one of those people who absolutely refuses to get the flu shot (we’ll get into that another time). 

Nothing is more comforting than a big bowl of chicken noodle soup when I’m on the verge of dying. The great thing about this soup is how simple it is. Everything goes into a big stockpot & just simmers into deliciousness. 

Chicken Noodle Soup

Adapted from A Family Feast

Ingredients

-4 quarts cold water

-1 fryer chicken 4-5 pounds quartered

-2 chicken feet, or 4 chicken wings or 1 turkey wing

-1 clove of garlic peeled and bruised

-1 onion peeled and cut in half

-2–3 carrots peeled and cut into 1 inch hearts (about one cup) 

-2 celery ribs tops and all cut into 1 inch pieces (about one cup)

-½ bunch fresh flat leaf parsley tied with a string

-1 bay leaf

-1 ½ teaspoon salt

-½ teaspoon whole black peppercorns

-1 package Rotini noodles, or noodles of your choice

Instructions

1. Excluding the pasta, put all ingredients into a large stock pot and slowly bring to a boil 

2. Reduce heat and simmer for four hours, skimming often.

3. Strain the stock from the solids and discard the onion, parsley, bay leaf and peppercorns but save the chicken, and other vegetables.

4. Remove skin and debone the chicken. Shred the chicken between your fingers and return the chicken to the pot with the stock.

5. Return the carrots, celery and garlic to the pot with the stock and bring back to a simmer.

6. Boil water and cook noodles according to package directions. Add to the soup & simmer for additional 30 minutes. 

7. Season finished soup with salt and pepper to taste. Skim off top layer of fat and discard.

8. Ladle some into your favorite mug & head back into the warm pillow cocoon & enjoy! 

-N.

The Starfish

While wandering a deserted beach at dawn, stagnant in my work, I saw a man in the distance bending and throwing as he walked the endless stretch toward me. As he came near, I could see that he was throwing a starfish, abandoned on the sand by the tide, back into the sea. When he was close enough I asked him why he was working so hard at this strange task. He said that the sun would dry the starfish and they would die. I said to him that I thought he was foolish. There were thousands of starfish on miles and miles of beach. One man alone could never make a difference. He smiled as he picked up the next starfish. Hurling it far into the sea he said, "It makes a difference for this one." I abandoned my writing and spent the morning throwing starfish.

― Loren Eiseley

We are all the fruit of a lot of cultivation. In my own case, I can trace much of my progress in life to a few dedicated, giving people. To these people, I own them much more than I can ever repay.

-N.

Rum & Raspberry

The Pacific Northwest gifted me with such a gorgeous night last night. For the first time in months, it was "warm" enough to sit outside and enjoy the view. Looking up at all those stars made me feel so small and insignificant compared to the vast universe. Everytime I think of it, it makes me appreciate every little thing in life. There's a quote from The Immense Journey that I adore. Speaking of the first time a man looked to the stars, Loren Eiseley wrote:

“For the first time in four billion years a living creature had contemplated himself and heard with a sudden, unaccountable loneliness, the whisper of the wind in the night reeds. Perhaps he knew, there in the grass by the chill waters, that he had before him an immense journey.”

Any stars you can see in the night sky without the aid of a telescope is part of the Milky Way.

There are over 200+ billion stars! If every star in the Milky Way was a grain of salt, they would fill an Olympic sized swimming pool!

The largest supply of alcohol in the universe is in deep space! Astronomers have spotted an alcohol cloud in the Milky Way that measures 288 billion miles across.

(Now get ready for the most interesting fact) The Milky Way tastes like raspberry and smells like rum! How can a galaxy taste of raspberry and rum?! I'll elaborate since I'm sure you're more than curious now. As impossible as it sounds, scientists have found traces of the chemical ethyl formate, which gives raspberries their taste and rum its smell! The discovery was made by accident (as most discoveries in science are). They were actually looking for amino acids in the galaxy, which would indicate the possibility of life & just happened to find large traces of ethyl formate! 

“If people sat outside and looked at the stars each night, I'll bet they'd live a lot differently.” 

-Bill Watterson

-N.

My favorite 3 words

The 3 most beautiful words in the English dictionary: Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars. I had these amazing little bites of heaven for the first time at an afternoon tea a few years ago. (Don't ask me how many times I've made them since.) 

I'm catching up with an old friend tonight & of course, will use any opportunity to bring any & everyone to the creamy, sugary, sweet dark side. Enjoy! 

Ingredients:

-2 cans pillsbury butter crescent rolls

-2 (8oz) packages cream cheese (softened)

-1 cup sugar

-1 teaspoon vanilla

-1/4 cup butter (melted)

-Cinnamon & sugar

Instructions:

Unroll and spread 1 can crescent rolls on bottom of un-greased pan. Combine softened cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Spread mixture over crescent rolls. Unroll and spread remaining crescent rolls over mixture. Spread melted butter over the top and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Cut into squares, serve, & watch people swoon!

-N.

Goodbye & Hello

My Facebook, along with all it's nonsense, is gone (& let's hope it stays gone). Within a single hour I would have logged into Facebook on average 7 times. I'm awake about 16 hours a day; that's 112 logins PER DAY! Obsessively excessive would be putting it lightly. It wasn't as if I was logging in to participate; it was just mindless scrolling through my newsfeed/people's profiles.  Nearly dropping my phone into a 385° oven as I tried to multitask putting in a roast & logging into Facebook was the eyeopener. Enough was enough.

& on that note, Helllloo new blog world. I'll use this blog (as well as my instagram (@nicolevn)) as a means of unloading all of my thoughts, pictures, recipes, adventures, rants & raves, and of course, the many random things that often occupy my mind.

See you soon!

-N.

UPDATE: I'm FEIGNING and finding that a lot of valuable friend information is no longer accessible since I have no Facebook. I've had to activate to find emails/phone numbers & almost caved in keeping it like so. But not yet...I need a major detox. Maybe in the future when I've realized that I do not need to know what all 650+ of my friends are doing/ranting/dating/not dating/thinking at the very moment. This blog, along with Instagram & Skype, are doing a pretty good job at keeping me connected enough to the Cyber world...at least for now.