Post Grad Book #8

Model Student: A Tale of Co-Eds and Cover Girls by Robin Hazelwood
Finished: June 29, 2011
Page Count: 390
Why I read it:
I was picking up books at the library for my mom and this was on the shelf in the library lobby that are basically suggestions for books to read.  I grabbed it off the shelf, read the first paragraph of the summary and knew I would love this book.


Booklist review:
A new novel takes a look at young women trying to navigate the world of modeling and balance hot careers with the other priorities in their lives. Hazelwood, a 13-year veteran of the modeling world, offers up the tale of a young model torn between her career and college in her debut novel. At the tail end of the 1980s, 17-year-old Wisconsin beauty Emily Woods dreams of becoming a supermodel. She has been working to make her dream a reality, but she is also enrolled in prestigious Columbia University for the fall. After a whirlwind trip to L.A., Emily heads off to school and finds representation at the up-and-coming Chic agency. From that point on Emily is juggling modeling jobs with classes, trying to keep up her grades while taking meetings for magazine shoots. Not unexpectedly, the glamorous world of modeling, with its chic parties, dashing photographers, and drugs, is more immediately appealing, but as time wears on, Emily realizes she is going to have to choose between her hot career and her education. Hazelwood's first outing moves along at a frenetic pace that mirrors the industry she is writing about and provides a true insider's look at the fascinating world of modeling.

What I thought:
I loved it.  I loved every page, every moment, every description of this girl's rough (yet oh-so-glamorous) life as an aspiring model in the 80s.  I wished it would never end (though it had to at some point and 390 pages was probably good enough).  Seriously- there is nothing else to say about this book more than how much I loved it.  It made me think about how my life would be different if I were about 50 pounds skinnier and decided modeling was the path for me at a younger age.  The book wasn't all sunshine and rainbows- there was some drug abuse, some "pimping", a lot of frustration, heartbreak and homesickness.  Still, I loved it and I highly recommend it as a great and easy summer read!

Food Challenge: BASIL/Pesto

Recipe #2 for my basil challenge.  I love pesto.  I haven't gotten around to making my own until this week when I bought a bunch of basil at the farmer's market.  It doesn't stay fresh for long so I had to do something with it- and quick!  I put it on pasta for dinner today but I plan to mix it with mayo later this week and make a tasty sandwich.  Yum!

Basic Pesto
Recipe from: Food Network, but I can't find it right now so I'm doing it by memory

10 basil leaves
1 garlic clove, smashed
2 Tablespoons pine nuts, un-toasted
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Salt & pepper

In a food processor, fix the first 4 ingredients until blended.  Add the cheese, salt and pepper and mix again until incorporated.  Viola!  Serve over pasta, with pita chips, on bread- its very versatile and can be eaten with just about anything.

I read someplace that air is the enemy to pesto so it needs to be stored (refrigerated) with a tight seal.  I've also seen it put into ice cube trays and frozen until its needed.  I made some on Thursday night and it already looked a little gross today after being in the fridge so I definitely recommend to either use it quickly or freeze it for later!

Food Challenge: QUINOA/Mango Blueberry Quinoa Salad

Recipe #1 for my quinoa challenge. Here's some background on quinoa, thanks to Wikipedia.

Quinoa ( /ˈkiːnwɑː/ or /kɨˈnoʊ.ə/, Spanish: quinua, from Quechua: kinwa), a species of goosefoot (Chenopodium), is a grain-like crop grown primarily for its edible seeds. It is a pseudocereal rather than a true cereal, or grain, as it is not a member of the grass family. As a chenopod, quinoa is closely related to species such as beets, spinach, and tumbleweeds.

Here is a fun SNL clip where they mention quinoa (which I think is how we first started talking about it).


And now, here is the recipe!

The verdict?  Mom, Dad and I all loved it!  (Liz hasn't tried it yet).  The mix of fruit, vegetables and grain = very refreshing!

Mango Blueberry Quinoa Salad
Recipe from: Dash of East
Ingredients (Serves 2):

Quinoa
1/2 cup quinoa (washed)
1 cup water

Salad ingredients (minus the quinoa)
1 mango cut into cubes
1/2 cup blueberries
1 medium cucumber cut into cubes
1/4 cup dried cranberries

Dressing
1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Juice from 1 lemon
1 teaspoon orange marmalade
10 Basil leaves chopped finely
Salt and pepper to taste

Let’s Cook!
Boil the water in a medium skillet, then add the quinoa. Turn heat down to medium, cover the skillet and let simmer for about 10-12 minutes or until the quinoa is cooked. Remove from heat and let the quinoa cool to room temperature.

While the quinoa is cooking, prepare the other ingredients. Combine the fruits and cucumber in a medium bowl. And whisk together all of the dressing ingredients, except the basil.

When the quinoa has cooled, combine the basil with the dressing and mix half of the dressing into the quinoa. Combine the quinoa with the fruits and cucumber mixture and serve immediately with the rest of the dressing.

176-182: Week Twenty Six/Picture a Day for a Year

176/365: I love basil. I know I have 2 basil plants in our garden but I couldn't pass up this giant container of basil at the farmer's market. I'm going to make and freeze some pesto.

177/365: I wore this lovely necklace today- my grandparents bought one for me and one like it (with mice) for Liz when we were younger. I think they got them in Germany. I still wear mine and think its fantastic!

178/365: There are few things in this world more satisfying than being the first to stick your finger in the brand new jar of peanut butter. :)

179/365: July bulletin boards at the Benedictine Health Center- this one is in the dining hall so we added picnic foods and ants! So clever!

180/365: I had zebra nails all weekend then started to pick the nail polish off the other day. So I saved one nail and painted the rest white. I'm so trendy!

181/365: I had a tangerine flavored lip balm from AVON when I was younger. Today I realized it tasted like orange Starbursts. Yum.

182/365: Firecracker cupcakes. Best. Idea. Ever.

Food Challenge: BASIL/Strawberry, Mango & Basil Salsa

Recipe #1 for my basil challenge. I bought all of these ingredients (minus the onion because I forgot) at the Minneapolis Lyndale Farmer's Market this morning so its extra tasty and fresh!

Yum yum with pita chips and my sweet zebra nails!

Strawberry Mango Basil Salsa
Recipe from: How Sweet It Is
makes about 2 cups

3/4 cup chopped mango

3/4 cup chopped strawberries

1/4 cup chopped red onion

6 fresh basil leaves, chopped

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Combine all ingredients and mix, or simply later ingredients in a bowl. Tastes even better after it sits for a few hours! Salsa should stay fresh in the fridge (in a sealed container) for about one week.

Food Challenge!

I've decided to bring a new series to my blog, a food challenge.

My mom bought this GIGANTIC bag of quinoa at Costco this week and apparently my dad was displeased because he wondered how we'd ever eat that much quinoa. I already have a recipe picked out to use like a cup of the bulk bag so now I'm looking for more recipes to try! I'm going to do this food challenge with other ingredients- my plan is to find 5-10 recipes for each ingredient and post them here.  Check out my upcoming posts for fun recipes with unique challenge ingredients!

My current challenges:
* Quinoa
* Basil
* Asparagus

169-175: Week Twenty Five/Picture a Day for a Year

169/365: My purse contents- I spilled food on it last week and Liz got a beer spilled on her Vera yesterday (and her self) so we're washing them today- thus I had to dump everything out.
1. Gum- I have at least 2 flavors at any given time, today I have 3.
2. Also, I carry mints.
3. Tums.
4. My inspiration notebook for writing down cupcake flavors and great ideas.
5. Checkbook.
6. Lotion.
7. TGI Friday's wet wipe- Trudy told me an interesting story that made me want to keep this in my purse for emergencies.
8. Beatles Love button- it was attached on the outside of my purse.
9. Pocket Sudoku that I haven't actually used yet. It also has a note about Lisa's favorite wine that I have to try.
10. Mirror and Kleenex.
11. A shirt I have to return to Target.
12. Umbrella because its been raining all the time here lately.
13. Hand sanitizer.
14. Graduation card for Connor.
15. Pop tabs.
16. Wallet.
17. Lip gloss and mascara.
18. Another notebook that I never use.
19. Summer playlist card from Starbucks.
20. Coffee cozie from Jaci.
21. Payment info for the chiropractor.
22. Hands On Post-It paper.
23. Lighter- I always carry one on me just in case.

170/365: I've been shoving tank tops in this little drawer for almost a year since I've been home and I can never find what I'm looking for in a timely fashion. WHY I didn't do this before, I'm not sure.

171/365: I like to pester the puppy to the point that he covers up his face and says "noooooooooo". I giggle.

172/365: Chris came over to the house tonight so Liz hugged the dog to keep him from attacking the big scary man. Love.

173/365: The Mall of America looks lovely basking in the sunlight on such a cloudy day!

174/365: Beautiful farmer's market strawberries, perfect for strawberry shortcake.

175/365: I bought a dragon tree at IKEA. It looks lovely on my desk at work!

#25: Growing Up?

Last night I went to bed around 10:30, my normal "bedtime" these days. Considering how I work full days and get up between 6 and 7 a.m. and yesterday I worked out for half an hour straight, I feel it is a normal time for an adult to go to bed. Then I heard a ruckus outside and got up to investigate. Down the street (in the darkness because we're one of the only houses that keeps our front lights on at night) several cars were parked haphazardly on the street and many shadowed people were standing in the middle of the street. They were all in front of our neighbor's house where a high schooler (junior or senior?) and college sophomore live. Their mom is a nurse, their dad is a cop. I'm assuming all the people hanging out were friends of the high school aged son. They were being loud and obnoxious and I was annoyed as I enjoy having my windows open on beautiful summer nights but its hard to sleep when stupid kids are laughing and talking so close to our house. I stood out on our front step and watched as a few of them got into cars and started driving away. One of the guys got in his car and proceeded to BACK UP down the street, around the corner to go down another street then around yet another corner. Another kid followed him (driving in the correct direction). At this point, I was PISSED and concerned for the safety of my car which is parked on the street in front of my house, dangerously close to where these idiots were driving. The rest of the kids milled around for a while then got into their cars and sped away as well. Finally, there was peace on our street and I was able to go lay back down, only to jump and wonder about every single noise that came from outside.

I updated my Facebook status with a threat to my neighbors (both of whom I am friends with on FB) that I will call the cops next time their friends are like this, ending the status with "neighborhood watch, bitches". I'm witty. Then I thought about it for a while and deleted the status. My thought process was twofold- one, I did not want my car egged or our house TPed (which happened to my across the street neighbor two nights ago). Two, I remember being in high school and I KNOW my friends were loud and obnoxious (though they always drove the proper direction down the street). I realized then that I must be growing up. I was always annoyed with my friends in high school when they were too loud or were doing something stupid but that was just it- we were in high school. I figured we were allowed some sort of pass for being stupid because we were just teenagers. I really had to put myself in check last night and realize that maybe that's what these kids are thinking too.

So I'll let the loudness slide for now... but if any of those morons drive down the street backwards ever again, I will call the cops.

#24: Calendars and Lists

I had two things I wanted to share today.  They're both about me being organized!  Ha.

 First of all, I've been thinking about this a lot this week.  I love calendars. Every year at Christmas, we get a new calendar for the next year from "Santa". The first thing I do is write in everyone's birthdays and holidays. This year in addition to the calendar from Santa, I made my own calendar where I got to put people's pictures on the day of their birth. It is awesome and I love it. The only thing is how permanent it is and how fickle life is. This is what's bothering me this month:

Yesterday was Sean's birthday. When I made this calendar in November 2010, we were still talking and friends and hanging out occasionally. As soon as the new year hit, that all changed but he's still here, staring me down every time I look at the calendar this month. It upsets me that he was in my life one minute and the next, he disappeared. I had a hard time yesterday deciding whether or not I should wish him a happy birthday on Facebook. I decided I'd think about it during the day and make a decision later. Then I forgot until I got home and looked at my calendar again while I was getting ready for bed. I love birthdays (he knows I love birthdays) so I probably should have said something but oh well. I think I've made enough attempts to engage in conversation with him since my own birthday when this all started and clearly he doesn't care to talk to me. Therefore, no birthday wishes to him. The shitty thing is its only June 11th and I have to stare at his special day on my calendar for 20 more days. Grr.  Luckily, his picture is tiny compared to the awesome pictures of Heidi & me at her parents' summer solstice party last year.  Something to look forward to at the end of this month!


The other thing I wanted to post today is how you can tell I am my father's daughter. He is apparently where I learned to make lists. I was going to post my list of things I wanted to do this summer and when I walked into the kitchen for breakfast, I found his own list, just for the weekend.

I love my daddy.

And here is my list for the summer.  Short and sweet!  And on the cutest cupcake paper!

162-168: Week Twenty Four/Picture a Day for a Year

162/365: I took this picture to show Lisa at work that ants do really open peonies. I think the thought of it really freaks her out but its just nature!

163/365: The Minneapolis skyline as we drove home from the Panic! concert. Beautiful.

164/365: Sideways cupcake! Chocolate cupcake with peanut butter filling and frosting. Yum!

165/365: Forgot to take a picture today. Instead, here is this comic from Left Handed Toons.

166/365: This lovely flower was waiting for me on the front step welcome mat when I got the paper this morning.

167/365: I've been getting this tasty panini from Target at least once a week for months and it always comes in this cute little box but no one has ever folded up this cute handle before! I was excited.

168/365: Peonies! My favorite thing about spring.

155-161: Week Twenty Three/Picture a Day for a Year

155/365: Trudy bought Liz a cool Green Lantern mask and ring and she put it on for me to take this picture. I used the cool green sunburst effect because I thought it made her look extra intense and superhero-like!

156/365: I made softball/baseball cupcakes for a company softball game today. They were a hit and so fun to decorate!

157/365: This lovely flower is one of many sitting in a pot on our front step. I have no idea what they are but I love them.

158/365: Boat of ice cream. YUM! Employee appreciation week!

159/365: I ate a bagel for breakfast then a bagel for lunch with bagel chips! My diet is such a healthy one. Ha.

160/365: I made this little mascot thing out of a bubble wrap thing from a new toner cartridge. People at work have mixed feelings about it being cute or creepy. I like it.

161/365: I took this stalker picture at the Twins game- I was confused as to why people wear their hats inside out. Apparently doing that makes it a "rally cap" and its supposed to help your team win. Unfortunately, these two kids FAILED us and we lost.