Peaches and Plums

Creativity.

Sometimes I look at the hubs and am struck by how creative he is. He is always working on something and loves to create projects. The fact that these projects tend to be clustered in the food domain makes it even better! Our vegetable garden, pickles, salsas... it all turns out pretty well. When the hubs excitedly told me about his next project, I was intrigued. Preserving fruits in liquor? Why not?

We used pisco and brandy for our liquors and small peaches and plums for our fruit. We started with this small batch of four jars, and we'll see how it turns out in a few weeks. The nice thing about a project like this is that it's pretty easy to try out, and if it doesn't turn out well, we can always try again. I'm so excited to taste it when it's ready!!

Has anyone else ever tried preserving fruits in liquor or done any fun kitchen experiments lately? I would love to get some more ideas!

 

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Sunday Currently : 32

It's a quiet, rainy day in these parts, the sort of day where you make yourself some tea, wear your favorite sweatshirt, and settle in to get lost in a book or good movie.  Then maybe you rest your chin upon the windowsill, watching the misty rain fall from the sky, hoping that the flowers are soaking up every drop. What is it about the rain that makes gardens look so much more lush?

If the rain keeps up, I'll do plenty of romanticizing the weather later this afternoon. Before then, though, I am off to Brunch Club with my ladies! I have been trying to more actively honor my friendships by being a more present friend, and I am excited to spend time with this group of special people. We're getting to the point where people are starting to move away for jobs, and I am realizing that the time of our little group all living together in the same city has already passed. I want to appreciate what we have together now before it's gone.

reading : Native Son, my next 100 Best Novels selection. I like it so far, though it is definitely shocking in some parts. I was so engrossed in it that I nearly missed my metro stop and my bus stop yesterday! Thank goodness for my ability to leap through closing doors...

writing :  My dissertation! I went to school twice last week and devoted several hours to work, which actually felt really good. Two of my friends are working near my new place of employment, and we have been talking about getting together once a week after work to write for Dissertation Club. Not as fun as Brunch Club, but I'm finding that I need to be around others to be truly productive with this kind of writing. 

listening :  To cars driving on wet asphalt. I love that swish, each and every time.

thinking :  About fun events that are happening this year. This academic year is going to be busy and stressful, but I have a feeling that it is also going to be really enjoyable. One of my friends just set her wedding date, and I already know that it is going to be such a beautiful and wonderful time. I love weddings!!

smelling :  The lingering sweet scent of lavender. I have been putting sachets in our closets and drawers, and it's nice to give them a little rustle when I pass by.

wishing :   For peace today. I think I'll get it. :)

hoping :   For sustained energy this week. I am stepping into some new responsibilities at work that I am excited about, but I also feel nervous as I settle into this new role.

wearing :  Mint skinnies, gray tank top, and gold accessories. It feels cool enough for jeans, so I'm hoping that I'm comfortable on the walk to brunch.

loving :  Life in general. Life is really good!

wanting :  A pair of Hunter rainboots. I've been eying a few pairs for months, but now the color I wanted is no longer available, so I am stuck waiting until a new color strikes my fancy. Hard life. 

needing :   To fix one of the window screens in our bedroom. I awoke this morning after being pounced on by our kitten for the past two hours to find that he had busted the screen out of its frame. How he didn't go flying out the window, I don't know, but I'll be doing some DIYing this week...

feeling :  Excited for Brunch Club. The waffles are beckoning...

clicking :   On the brunch menu at B Too. What would you order?

Linking up with Lauren for the Sunday Currently 

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Last week on The Quixotic Chica:

Sunday Currently / Empire State / Barcelona / Six Things

Six Things

I have to admit, I got a little bit way too excited when Betsy tagged me for the Six Things post that is working its way through blogland. I've really enjoyed reading others' takes on all of these questions, and I'm happy to share a little bit more about myself here. Without further ado, here are my six things!

- Tell us about a situation that ended with you feeling really proud of yourself.

I have always loved musical theatre and performing, but it wasn't until midway through high school that I decided to be brave and audition for a big role in our annual musical. While I had started to cultivate my niche in the theatre crowd, breaking into the school musical was a whole new level. I was so nervous! I started taking voice lessons a few months before auditions came around, practiced around the clock, and wished so hard that I would get a bigger role than the chorus. Well, folks, this story has a happy ending because that year I scored the female lead of Rosemary in How to Succeed in Business. :D I was over the moon!!! It felt so good for all of that hard work to have paid off!!

- I always leave conversations thinking, "Oh man, I wish I had said that witty comeback but I came up with it too late!"  When was the last time it happened to you?

 I'm usually pretty good with snappy comebacks, but I struggle with comebacks when I'm caught off-guard. The other day I was walking home from the metro and was talking to my mom on the phone. I passed a couple of teenage boys, who immediately started calling out to me for about the next half block. "Hey, baby, you gonna call me on that phone? Come on, baby! We live in the same neighborhood!" Oh, dear. I would have loved to put my mom on hold, whip around, and lecture those boys on treating women with respect, not to mention the extreme unlikelihood of married ladies calling teenage boys they meet on the street... but let's face it, those sorts of situations are hard to handle. Until then, I will plot my perfect comeback and plan a feminist revolution.

- Someone is giving you a full scholarship and a stipend to get a degree in anything, anywhere you want.  Where would you go and what would you study?

Oh boy, I get to do even more school?? I've actually thought about this before. I've known since the end of high school that I wanted to pursue psychology as a profession, and while there is some stability in having steady plans for my future, I have to admit that I think I missed out on a lot of the fun, learning-for-the-sake-of-learning adventures that can come from having more open plans. So if I could just do a random degree, I think I would step out of my science-and-feelings world, hop on over to Dublin, and get a Master's in Modern Irish History from University College Dublin.... or I'd relocate to NYC, enroll at Columbia, and do a Master's in Human Rights Studies because that sounds pretty badass. I can't decide! Give me all of the degrees, please.

- What did you want to be when you grew up?

So many things! My top two dream jobs, though, were to be an archeologist specializing in Ancient Egypt or to be a novelist. I still hold on to dreams of completing one of the many mini-novels I've started writing over the past few years, but it might be a while before I traipse among the pyramids in Egypt....

- If you could be a fictional character, who would it be?

Probably Meg Murry from the Madeleine L'Engle novels. I loved that she wasn't a perfect, idealized teenager and was able to use her strengths to gradually figure out who she was. She had adventures, loved her family, and always felt very real to me.

- What actor would you choose to play you in a movie about your life?

Anne Hathaway! I have a total soft spot for her. And we were in the same college a cappella group, so I know my girl could rock a solid musical number.... because obviously a movie about my life would need to include several musical numbers.

I am tagging Lauren at Siddathornton, Tina at Like Ordinary Life, Angela at Swell Simplified Life, and Kate at Something Ivory.

My questions:

What book or movie best describes how you view life?

Let's talk brunch. If we were to hit up one of DC's finest, what would you be ordering off the menu?

Tell us about a time you surprised yourself (could be in a good or bad way).

If you could live in a different time period, what would it be and why?

What gives you inspiration?

Quick! What's the last thing you Googled?

I hope you enjoyed my six things! Let me know if you've read any other good ones lately!

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Barcelona

You know when you visit a new city, and you instantly think, "I could totally live here!" because of how captivating it is? The hubs and I absolutely felt that way about Barcelona.

Barcelona is a magnificent city full of history, and from the wide pedestrian boulevards to the winding ancient streets, it seems that every little corner has a story. The buildings are beautiful, the food is great, the people are wonderful... it's safe to say that we fell in love with this part of Spain.

Every day we took to the streets, exploring new neighborhoods and learning about the city's history. Here I want to mention two exceptional walking tours: Runner Bean's free walking tour of the old city and Nick's Spanish Civil War walking tour. Both were great ways to see the city with informative guides, and not once did I feel like a cheesy tourist! :D Seriously, though, they were both fun. Nick's tour was one of the highlights of the entire trip, and I left having a tremendous respect for Barcelona and the anti-Franco activists who fought to keep their city safe. Amazing.

We saw so much of the city that it would be impossible to share all of it here. I'll have a couple more Barcelona posts coming up (soccer and Gaudi each need their own!), but for now, here are some of our favorite snippets of the city.

I can still feel the cobblestones beneath my feet and the sun warming my skin as I weave through the streets. The cathedrals have amazed and moved me, and I can't stop raving about the modernist architecture and the wonders of Gaudí. Maybe I'll pop in to the modern art museum to cool down for a bit or pop open a bottle of cava on the beach. This could take a while. There's still so much ahead.

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Empire State

I was in New York a few weeks ago, and I stayed with a dear friend at her lovely apartment. After the gossip and the wine, the lights were eventually turned out, and I tiptoed over to the window to peek through the blinds at the world below.

New York, New York. The city that never sleeps. I don't know if I will ever call it "home" again, but it will always feel like a mix of familiarity and strangeness. I've seen it all before, yet I still get that shivering thrill when the lights glow against the night sky, and the buildings soar up in the sky in ways that shock me. We don't have that in DC. Life is closer to the ground, slower. I feel smaller in the city, humbled by the skyscrapers, the languages, the rush, the importance. It might be lonely to some, but I feel surrounded by stories and the lives of many, and together they weave around me and sweep me into the fabric of New York. It's okay, they say, we'll take care of you here... as long as you don't block the sidewalk. Just keep moving.

If it's not home, then I don't quite know what it is. Maybe it's a dream. Maybe it's a fantasy. But as I pressed my fingers to the window, trying to reach out to the Empire State Building, maybe it didn't really matter. Maybe it's just the New Yorker in me. 

Sunday Currently : 31

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday.  Today will be a day of errands and trying to make up for not doing the work I needed to do yesterday, so I'm feeling slightly stressed out. But not too much. There are still fun things to do, like going up to the Takoma Park Farmers Market, making plans for future weekends with friends, and buying flowers for my new office. And maybe, if we're really lucky, it will finally start thunderstorming like the predictions have said...

That's the thing. I feel like I'm just hovering in anticipation of something. My projects aren't completed, but they're started.... I survived my first full week at my new job, but I haven't yet delved into my new responsibilities... I started to straighten up the house, but I'm still sitting in clutter.... what am I waiting for? I'm not sure. But I would just like these thunderstorms to show up instead of floating away every day without a single drop, and then maybe I'll feel some relief.

reading : My pile of Smithsonian Magazine that has been growing over the past few months. I enjoy this magazine, but I am a terrible procrastinator, even when it involves pleasurable reading. I finished up Orange is the New Black this past week, as well as Amanda Knox's memoir, Waiting to be Heard. I guess you could say that my reading lately has been rather prison-themed!

writing :  A couple of posts for this week, though mostly I am taking it easy this morning and pondering what to pick up at the farmer's market. 

listening :  To the kitties chasing each other around the house. O'Higgins found a tennis ball and has been playing with it all morning, even bringing it into our bedroom early this morning so that he could be near me while he played. Aren't pets the cutest?

thinking :  About all of the work I need to catch up on. Yikes! Maybe I will have a productive afternoon today?

smelling :  Cinnamon from my cereal.

wishing :   For an easy day.... and for my bus to arrive when I need it. :)

hoping :   For improved friendship connections. I've found in the past few years that I am terrible at maintaining friendships separated by distance, even when the friends are dearly important to me. I'm trying to make a more conscious effort to reach out and stay involved, and it feels good to honor my values of connectedness in that way.

wearing :  Shorts and a tank top, as usual.

loving :    Our new habit of making salad and veggie wraps for dinner. Last week we sauteed some zucchini and threw in some other veggies and hummus, and it was amazingly delicious. These will need to become a new staple in our cooking!

wanting :    A tasty iced coffee.... but I'm feeling too lazy to brew some coffee myself, let alone wait for it to become cool. Starbucks run?

needing :   To get back into my gym/running routine. It's a great stress reliever for me, and there are a few 5K opportunities coming up that I would like to participate in, so... I need to get moving.

feeling :   Kind of neutral right now, but I think once I get outside I will perk up a bit.

clicking :   On Facebook this morning, since I was uploading some photos from our honeymoon. Also clicking on an article that the hubs sent me about preserving fruit in alcohol, something that he wants to start doing. We had some delicious preserved peaches soaked in cava while in Barcelona, so I hope we can do something similar!

Linking up with Lauren for the Sunday Currently 

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Last week on The Quixotic Chica:

Sunday Currently / Peachy Keen / To the Lighthouse / Happify

Happify

Back in May, I wrote a post about how to be happy, and shortly after, I was contacted by Happify, a group that specializes in the art and science of being happy. Sounds good, right? Also a little odd. I wasn't sure what to make of it, and I initially brushed it off. Something kept me thinking about it, though, and when I investigated Happify a bit more, it really resonated with me. 

Happify is about empowering people to make meaningful change in their lives through, essentially, mindfulness. It's about clarifying your values and acting with intention.While I already feel pretty happy and try to live mindfully, I thought it might be fun to try out Happify's program and track my progress here on The Quixotic Chica. I started out by completing a brief quiz that identified areas I wanted to work on, and the first track I was assigned to was "Be More Socially Connected." Each week, I am "assigned" activities to complete, each designed to enhance my social connectedness.

As a psychology nerd, I appreciated that Happify is based on psychological research. If I'm curious about the basis of a particular activity, I can click on a "Why It Works" button to learn about the research behind it. Since I've done some positive psychology research before, I'm familiar with a lot of the activities already, and it's cool to know that these sorts of "regimens" are truly effective for challenges like depression and anxiety. Essentially, this is a way of living authentically and bringing more mindfulness to one's daily experiences. It's not a quick fix or a cheap gimmick. Rather, this is about potentially shifting the way we view ourselves and our day-to-day occurrences and trying to find the good. I haven't participated in anything like this before, and even though my baseline happiness is pretty steady, we can all use a boost in various areas of our lives. I think it will be fun to try it out and see if I notice any changes in my well-being.

I will be tracking my activities over at Happify, and there will be brief entries about my experiences on my profile page. I will also be posting longer entries here on The Quixotic Chica if there was an experience that seemed especially powerful that I'd like to share with my readers. Let's see where this all goes! :)

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