A Motivating Manicure

I'll be the first to admit that I'm a slacker. I really am. And it's clear to see that in how little progress I've made on my goals, and how little I've blogged in the past few months. And it's not because I'm busy, because I'm really not. 


I've actually spent a lot of time and energy the last few (several?) months focused on one goal: to get a full-time teaching job. Well, it hasn't happened, and I'm afraid it won't. At least not this year. When you try so hard to get something, and all of your efforts turn out to be totally futile, it's hard to want to try for anything anymore. (Dramatic, I know. But I'm dramatic sometimes.) 


Luckily, though, I accomplished a goal today that required no effort whatsoever. The good news is that it seems to have reignited the flame in me to try and get out of my "half-life." My life has been so boring lately, and I need to stop wasting all of my time like I have been. So accomplishing this small easy goal today was maybe the little kick in the butt I needed.


I took my sweet mom, Nanci, to get her first ever pedicure today. It was my Mother's Day present to her, and she decided to finally redeem it (now two months later) so that her toes could look pretty for her trip to Wisconsin. I was excited for her to get pampered, as she is an exceedingly self-less lady who hardly ever pampers herself. So we met in Boulder this afternoon, and both got wonderfully relaxing and beautiful pedicures. While we were there, though, Nanci decided that she would also like a manicure. Since it was only an extra ten dollars, I thought I'd jump in and get one too, thus fulfilling goal #75: Get a manicure.


I'm not totally sure why I put this as a goal, to be honest. I guess just because manicures are fun, and something I pretty much never do. I love getting pedicures, but I'm not used to having my fingernails painted. This was, in fact, only my third manicure ever. I got one for senior prom, and one as a bridesmaid gift from Sarah for her wedding. So it really was nice to get one again, and to feel pampered and pretty. And I feel extra happy because my fingernails are gold. The last Harry Potter movie comes out in 4 days, so it only seemed fitting. They look beautiful and magical.


And Nanci loved her mani-pedi. It was so nice to share such a lovely time with that precious lady. 

Pedicures on our toes...
Not sure why my left ones are curled under.

Gold!

Easy as pie?

My senior year of high school, I took a Foods class as an elective. I thought it'd be fun to learn how to cook, I knew that I definitely loved to eat, and it seemed like an easy A. Win, win, win... right? Nope. Foods class turned out to be a sore spot in my day. For one, I would always leave class smelling like kitchen smoke, which would inevitably stay with me all day since class was during 3rd period. Secondly, my group insisted on always including onions in our recipes. My good friend and ally, Caitlin, was in my group and also doesn't eat onions. But somehow our opinion was always trumped by the other three girls. Rude. So Caitlin and I would often find excuses to leave class in the middle of the period, and we'd wander the halls of Fairview complaining about how much we hated Foods. And thirdly, there were a few mishaps...

The first mishap, I swear, was not my fault. We were making homemade tortilla chips, and the chips were frying in oil on the stove. Just as I was walking toward the stove from the other side of the kitchen, the oil suddenly went up in flame. I had been nowhere near it, but because I was close when it happened, I got blamed. 


The second mishap, I will admit, might have been my fault. We had a class competition baking apple pies. When all of the apple pies were done, our teacher tasted them and gave out awards for the best pies. Our group's ribbon said 6th place... out of 6 groups. It seems that *someone* put a little too much salt in the crust. Perhaps they mistakingly put in 1 Tablespoon instead of 1 teaspoon? Woops! So yeah, the crust was a little salty, sure. But besides that the pie was just fine! Delicious, you might say! Well not according to Mrs. Kester-Meyer. I still hold a little grudge about how much she made fun of our pie. Again, rude.


All of this is to say that I was a little hesitant to ever attempt to make a pie again. But nine years later, I strove to prove Mrs. Kester-Meyer wrong... or something. So the night before Easter, I spent some quality time with my mom and sister-in-law, Kathy, making two hopefully delicious pies for our Easter dessert. Kathy made a strawberry pie, and I made blueberry, because blueberries are my favorite fruit. The crust was, without a doubt, the hardest part. I know people (Laura) say it's so easy, but it was hard for me, and when I do it again, I think I'll make more crust. There wasn't quite enough to make my lattice top at the end. 

Bottom crust, as pretty as I could make it.

The final product. Not as pretty as I'd hoped. 

So the pie didn't turn out perfect. The filling sure was delicious, but the crust wasn't quite right. I'm not sure if it cooked long enough. I'd like to try some different crust recipes/ tactics without the painful memories of Foods class looming behind me....

Side note: It took me a few months to finally blog about this one. Lately, though, I've been re-watching Pushing Daisies (the most magical television show that ever was), and it's inspired me to attempt some more pies. I can't wait!