we call him chewie (or dog man behind his back)

how could you resist this face? clearly, j and i couldn't. so we brought him home and are now officially dog owners. at least, that's what the paper work says. no, seriously - he's our dog as of about 36 hours ago. he's a one year old mutt that i found at a PetSmart adoption center. he came from a shelter a couple hours away. until tonight we had never heard him whine. we still haven't heard him bark. he has yet to use the bathroom indoors and isn't loving his food (even though its the same kind his foster mom gave him. i asked). he has been pretty laid back, but progressively coming out of his shell. he prefers people to toys and the sofa to the floor. we're trying to break him of the second one. he loves welcoming people to our home and spends most of his time sleeping on the rug. oh, and shedding? he doesn't. pretty great dog, huh? how am i liking being a dog owner?

i have mixed feelings.

having someone SO excited to see me when i get home has been fun. having a cute little animal laying on the carpet has been pretty cool. plus, he's about the EASIEST dog you could ask for. no complaining there. here's the thing (and i might be admitting a bit of psychosis): i don't like having someone else to care for 24/7. we all know that i can barely look out for myself. i had it down enough that the good Lord saw fit to give me a husband. that has been fantastic - but he won't pee on the carpet if i leave him alone too long. and now it feels like there is one more being in the world that i have to worry about. i don't know if i like it. i mean, i just want him to be really happy, ok? then again, it's only been a little more than a day - so i'll get back to you on this. maybe it just takes some getting used to. he is really really cute. need another example? here ya go.

good thing we didn't go straight to having kids, huh?

why i can't make a machine gun sound with my mouth

"Researchers wired a playground for sound. They found that all the sounds coming from girls were recognizable words. Only 69 percent of the sounds made by boys were understandable words. The remaining were either one-syllable sounds like ub or mmm or sound effects like Varoooom! Yaaaaah! Zooooooooom!"

-Marlene LeFever in Learning Styles

it's like Christmas came early!!!

i thought today would be like any other day on break. . . relaxing, minimally productive, and enjoyable. but today had some surprises in store. today was going to be spectacular and i didn't even know it.first, it started by staying in bed too long. have i mentioned that this is one of my favorite things to do? especially when there is no accompanying guilt and today there was none of that. then j and i got breakfast at the Kolache Factory. Have you ever had a kolache? the first time i tried one i was in birmingham, searching for goodies in our office kitchen. i found these rolls and bit into one only to find a delicious sausage and cheese filled center wrapped inperfect yeast dough. i ran down to my office to tell everyone about this amazing discovery; they already knew. i literally could not believe no one had ever told me about the kolache. so, here they have a whole bakery dedicated to them and that is where i got to enjoy breakfast with the cutest guy on the planet.

then, after some shopping and cleaning while j and his twin (yes, he has a twin, no he is not single) played video games in the basement - we decided to hit up pappy's bbq for a late lunch.

if my kolache experience was a fantastic first date, (or second?) my relationship with bbq is nothing less that a lifetime covenantal commitment based on love and mutual respect. good bbq is one of the things i miss most about the south. slow roasted pork on buttery buns and ribs that make you work for the tender smokey pieces of meat. oh my gosh, i could go back for more right now. pappy's has been featured on the food network and cooking channel, which is what convinced me to give it a chance. it's midwestern though, which kept my expectations low. after eating there all i have to say is this: GO. get all the meats, get all the sides and double up the sweet potato fries. when i was done, my plate looked like this:

sorry, is that gross? who cares?! i need to relive this moment. so we sat there talking about how good it was and how full it was and how the guy on man v. food ate there and then we all knew what had to be done: we had to hit up the crown candy kitchen.

crown candy was also featured on the food network and is known for it's milkshakes and malts and yes, candy. it closed at four, so we had 30 minutes to get there and sit down. we made it, and ordered these:

please note, each of these fills a standard milkshake glass a whopping 3 times. 3 TIMES!!!! no, i didn't finish my silver cup of chocolate banana goodness but the part that could fit in my stomach was incredible. when i was in jr. high and high school my dad and i set out to find the best milkshake in columbia. if crown candy had been in the running it would have owned everywhere else that we went.

then i fell into a food coma. and it was worth it. merry Christmas to me.

the follow up to the 70's-tastic gingham cookbook recipe

surprise everybody! it looks like i care about blogging all of a sudden. it's probably the lack of final exams and really long papers to write.

so, i made the chicken divan, served it with some brown rice (what? we're healthy-ish) and it was pretty good. i didn't even gag when i squeezed out 1/2 cup of mayo and stirred it into the cream of chicken goo (see? that's why we're only healthy-ish). the divan was good, but not as good as the stuff my neighbor brought over when we moved in. so if you are desperately in need of a chicken divan recipe, i'll get hers.

in other news, i've moved on to massive chocolate chip cookies by martha stewart. they look like they're off of a commercial and my husband keeps asking if we have more. for the recipe, click here. oh, except i made a minor change. instead of even reading what kind of chocolate and how much i was supposed to use, i just dumped in a bunch of chocolate chips. there were so many that i couldn't stir them all in and i had to eat a bunch of plain chocolate chips after i made all of the cookies. oh - and one more change. i tried to cook them on wax paper because i was out of parchment paper AND foil. it went well until smoke started pouring out of the oven and our house began to smell like a melting wax castle. we had to open the doors to create a breeze to carry the smoke out. it worked, and the breeze was 11 degrees with a wind chill of -7.

and tonight? sugar cookies with that awesome royal icing. you know, the kind that looks all smooth and fan-say (that's the fancy way to say 'fancy'). they're in the fridge right now, waiting to be baked and iced.

and you know why i'm not a first-class food blogger? i don't have pictures of any of it. sorry!

i've been cooking a lot lately . . .

and tonight, i'm cooking out of this book:

when it comes to family heirlooms, most girls get fancy jewelry, silver, antique dressers or fur coats.* me? i get Cotton Country Cooking and my great grandmother's well seasoned iron skillet. and i. love. that.

food is quite the tradition in our family, and having this well used, written-in copy of staples in southern cooking and entertaining. tonight's recipe? chicken divan. it involves mayo and cream of chicken soup. i can't go wrong, right? i'll let you know how it goes. until then - happy dinner time!

* also food related, my grandmother did give me a set of crystal salt and pepper cellars with sterling silver mini spoons. they're beautiful, and her message with them was more beautiful "I just wanted your new home to have something that has always been a part of our meals together in my home"

So so thankful

i know, it's been a while since thanksgiving. but i have so much to be thankful for that i still had to do a post about it. (besides, beggars can't be choosers and if you actually look forward to new posts on this site, you qualify as a beggar) we were with Justin's family for the great feast, and it was, truly, a great feast. i held on tight to my purnell roots and took mostly pictures of food (seriously, its like a disorder in our family - at least my brother married a professional photographer who can do it well) and a few pictures of people with food in the background.

First there is the best chocolate bundt cake in the world. i would HIGHLY recommend it. super easy and pretty impressive. oh, and so good that i could probably eat it for every meal.

Marie, justin's grandmother, made almost everything. we ran around drinking wine, taking pictures and stealing bites. she's a great grandmother though because she didn't care that i ate almost a whole can of olives before we even sat down.

Me and my Dr. Quinn bangs. they look better now. oh - and becca (the other twin's wife) and dori (the mother-in-law, who i am so so thankful for).

and dori and all of her boys.

besides all this there was turkey and stuffing and SNOW!! best of all there were people who are thankful for each other. and besides the chocolate cake and olives, that's what thanksgiving is all about, right?

from where i was to where i am. . .

step 1: move to st. Louis, mo.

step 2: become a full time grad student

step 3: get artsy barista job at locally owned coffee shop

step 4: get bangs.

(i apologize for the grainy picture and the expression on my face. i just left it because, well, that's the expression usually on my face these days)

and there you have it - from where I was when i last posted to where I am now.