the lunch hour

yesterday, i had a rather interesting lunch hour. it involved whole foods, an uber-trendy man, and yogurt.

during my break at work, i decided to stroll into town for lunch at whole foods. basking in the sun, eating grilled chicken and lentils, i couldn't help but direct my attention to the man sitting next to me. my first impression: wow, that is a great pair of denim. naturally, my next thought was: hmm, i wonder what he'll be eating. people-watching at whole foods is great...with its abundance of unique eats, i am always inspired to try whatever the person next to me is eating.

so as i watched mr. hipster begin eating (creepy on my part, yes), i was impressed with his choice of the newly stocked siggi's - an icelandic yogurt, similar in taste and texture to greek yogurt. as he scraped the last bit from the container, i was excited to see what was next on mr. hipster's lunch menu. he seemed adventurous, health-conscious. perhaps he'd pull out an exotic fruit or an interesting grain. maybe a dip from india or a sunflower "meat" patty. oh, the possibilities!

eagerly awaiting the next "course," i was soon disappointed. out of the bag came another yogurt. the same type as before. a container of plain siggi's. dismayed, i just had to let it go and give him the benefit of the doubt. perhaps the one container wasn't large enough for mr. hipster. he was about 6'2," after all. but no! there were no more excuses. his third "course" was ANOTHER yogurt - this time, plain greek yogurt. what? two containers weren't enough?

for as trendy and adventurous mr. hipster appeared, his lunch-hour palate was far from comparison. in his case, i hope the old adage "you are what you eat" is false. otherwise, i hate to say that he'd be a bore.

what people eat

while listening to KCRW this morning, i was immediately drawn into an announcement for an upcoming event called global street food hosted by good food's evan kleiman. i could hardly contain myself. listening to guest speakers from around the world share traditions of their native land's cuisine; sampling authentic dishes prepared by proud folk from vietnam, argentina, and india to name a few; and ultimately deepening my appreciation for cultural exchanges. i can't imagine anything more delightful!

in my current read tender at the bone, i underlined, circled, and starred the following line because it resonated with me from deep within:

"i was slowly discovering that if you watched people as they ate, you could find out who they were." 


i feel this global street food event will be the perfect setting to put this line into action. discovering people through food.

some things never change

this past weekend, i was welcomed in portland by my roomie-for-life, emma. i have to say that even though we haven't lived with each other for three years and hadn't seen each other in four months, some things never change...

early to bed, early to rise. lounging about and not feeling guilty for hours gone by. lingering over meals and taking our sweet time enjoying treats - one bite at a time. falling asleep to movies. finding mugs and glasses in emma's room. getting ready while tunes are playing. driving around in the luxe wagon.

but the most important thing that hasn't changed is the comfort i feel when i'm with emma. everything is right. everything makes sense. she is my roomie at heart, and no state, rain or "piece of cake" fluke is going to change that.

thank you, emma, for sharing your "oregano" life with me!

whoa, gardenia!

i have never been so pleasantly overwhelmed with a flower's fragrance as i have with the gardenia's.

running in the dewey mist today after dawn, i was not surprised to pass the familiar scents from my path: fertilizer at the end of the block, fresh bread at a nearby cafe, fried chicken (which always manages to semi-upset my stomach) at a house on montana and 25th avenue, and all things lovely by the sea.

but this morning was different. just about every other block caught me off guard. gardenia! a perfume so easily distinguished from others. each deep inhale during the transient encounters jolted me in a way comparable to a shot of espresso taken by Jo Schmo Businessman going about his day-to-day, run-of-the-mill routine.

it was enlivening. awakening. a harbinger of what's to come. whoa, gardenia, thank you for making your presence well known!

really, girl scouts?

today i noticed a huge problem with america: outrageously over-priced girl scout cookies. at $4 a box, girl scout cookies are trying to lure the common populace into succumbing to nostalgic recollections of a Do-Si-Do dunked in milk or a perfectly chilled Thin Mint straight from the freezer. there is nothing honorable about that, as far as i'm concerned. $4 a box for 20-or-so mediocre, industrially processed, far-from-fresh annual cookies. seriously? and to make matters worse, the cookie stands are run by the over-involved, over-zealous mothers rather than the girl scouts themselves. this cookie season, i have yet to be won over by a scout. there they are, sitting around, chatting away, or just being completely ambivalent to the prospective customers. i really want to believe there's a badge for mothers to earn.

times must be telling if i can say i remember selling girl scout cookies for half the current price. how exciting it was to proudly sport my sash, showing off each earned adornment. oh, the anticipation of finding out to which storefront i'd be assigned! yes, moms were there to manage the money, but it was our duty to put on the charm, to make our sales pitch: hello! would you like to buy a box of girl scout cookies?! 


it all seems a distant memory now. as much as i'd like to get in the spirit, i have a hard time believing that buying a $4 box of less than appetizing cookies sold by a mother is going to achieve the mission of the girl scouts of america: to build girls of courage, confidence, and charcter, who make the world a better place.


so with that said, susie cakes, here i come.

subtle reminders

if i can be so bold as to say that last night was one hell of a shift, then here it goes...last night was one hell of a shift. between giving a blood transfusion, investigating unrelieved pain, correcting shallow breastfeeding latches, ruling out a newborn seizure, and witnessing the complete absence of a husband who was physically present, i was stretched. challenged. exhausted.

normally i can walk away from a shift feeling like i positively contributed to a patient's postpartum experience, but this morning i felt incompetent and alone. like i wanted to put that night in a distant place and forget about it.

but after waking up, processing, venting, and praying for clarity, i was reminded of the beauty of human limitations. that i am not alone in the murk. that i am growing and through my perceived ineptness, i am doing everything i can to love.


it's a funny thing how certain images are presented to us during times of reflection. for me, they were the following, taken during last weekend's hike. i think of them as subtle reminders, signs of hope...