Gorgeous, sunny, and sunshiney today.

My first Italian class! It was a blast. I had so much fun. I really can pick languages up very easily. I hope I learn enough to be able to communicate a little bit while on vacation.

Buongiorno! Come sta? Sono vegetariana.

That's pretty good learnin' for the first class.

Today I finished Can You Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella. Frothy, easy, fun.



Tonight we are going bowling...in Norwood. Can't wait!

I <3 Beth Ditto.

Went to see the Gossip last night. Amazing, amazing, amazing, as usual. Beth is the most gorgeous, talented, dynamic lady. She's so preeeeeetty. She always inspires me to dress up more. I love her clothes and the way she dresses and she had a little Hairspray-ish quality to her hair last night which was cute.

I'm just so in love with their new album. They opened with 'Standing in the Way of Control' which got everyone booty-shaking, but I thought that 'Coal to Diamonds' and 'Last Night' were the BEST, totally. There was a pretty good vibe at the middle east, even though it was so uncrowded, maybe just 1/2 sold. They had some great merch, too, Kelsey and I are now proud owners of Gossip tote bags.

There was one bizarre incident. A girl snaked through the crowd from the front presumably to go to the loo, and she was really pawing and petting everyone she passed. Now, I'm all for a pat on the shoulder to make someone move out of the way, but she had it down to a science and it entailed patting on the shoulder to get you to move, and then as she passed behind you, keeping her hand there and HONKING MY BOOB as she made her way back! She tried it with Kelsey, too. Gah, I don't want strangers touching my boob. But it also made me feel old, because I vividly remember being 18 and drunk and grabbing the hands of my friends making them touch the bottoms of complete strangers. I'm like someone's conservative granny now, I guess.

My Italian class starts tomorrow, so I am currently reading my Italian textbook, and also The Year of Yes by Maria Dahvana Headley.



On Saturday, Eric's birthday, we had a suburban adventure and went bowling in Norwood. It was so awesome. I absolutely love candlepin bowling, even though I am horrible at it.

I can't believe we live a 15 minute drive from a suburban bowling alley.

Eric and I have been trying to eat more vegan lately, and since I am now a housewife with nothing to do all day except watch Dr Phil and cook, I've been having lots of kitchen fun.

A couple of my favorite websites for inspiration are:

Vegan Lunch Box

The Post Punk Kitchen

The Fat Free Vegan Kitchen

All of these sites are excellent for inspiration and recipes, and I especially like the forums at the PPK because I can ask questions like "why does my seitan look like brains?"

Some of my biggest successes lately have been in the area of baked goods: bran muffins, chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting, and to die for pecan and chocolate chip banana bread. Outside of the baked goods arena, tonight we had roasted eggplant burritos. You might not think that roasted eggplant would work in a burrito, but it was pretty awesome.

In this same vein, I have been lately reading books recommended on these vegan websites.

Disease Proof Your Child: Feeding Kids Right by Dr Joel Fuhrman



Dr Fuhrman claims that his patients have been cured of everything from ear infections to ADD by placing them on his diet. I wholeheartedly agree that children should not be given the refined sugars and overly processed foods that make up most of what they eat today. When I worked at the library, the kids would come in carrying bags and bags of food from Wendy's EVERY day. The smell alone was nauseating. Anyway. The book contains many recipes, including one for a vegan cashew "cream" sauce.

May All Be Fed: A Diet for a New World by John Robbins



This book, by the son of one half of the Baskin-Robbins ice cream empire founders is an incredibly persuasive argument for veganism, full of facts and figures on how eating meat and dairy is detrimental to health AND the environment. Also contains recipes. The facts and figures part is pretty bleak. Most of it made me sad.

And just to "turn the page" entirely, I read another Hannah Swensen mystery, The Peach Cobbler Murder. Excellent twist to this one. Highly recommended.



The next in the series, The Cherry Cheesecake Murder has just come out and I'm on the waiting list at the library. In the meantime I'm about to start Can You Keep A Secret by Sophie Kinsella.

Well, today marks my one week anniversary of being a housewife. I must say that it hasn't been all bad, and I'm really enjoying the downtime. Nothing makes me happier than a clean house, and now I have the time to clean and tidy the way I'd like to. Aside from my many social engagements, I've only left the house to go to the library, the post office, and the market. I'm terribly fixated on oranges, I must have at least one a day, and as lame as it is, walking down to the market to buy a couple of oranges is a good excuse to leave the house.

But that errand may soon be eliminated, because I'm awaiting my first delivery from Boston Organics, which is a local organic produce delivery service. You can choose the size box you'd like, the frequency of delivery, and the ratio of fruit to veg. We chose a $25 50/50 box to be delivered every week. There is no separate delivery charge. It's kind of like peapod, for produce, I guess, but you don't get to pick the contents of your box. Which I actually think is awesome, because you get to try things you might not normally pick up at the market, and it forces me to be creative with my veg cooking. You also can't pick the delivery day or time, but you don't have to be home when they deliver. I don't know, this is kind of the highlight of my week, sad as it is.

My next "big project" is to neaten up and redecorate and reorganize the guest room, and turn it into a craft room. Right now it's just a big black hole of storage mess and the cats have taken it over as their room. I think it needs wall shelves.

And now for miss Bani and anyone else who'd like to know what I'm reading lately...

I got super sucked in to this series of mysteries, which is unlike anything I would normally ever pick up, but I LOVE THEM!!! The author is Joanna Fluke, and they are the Hannah Swensen mysteries. They take place in a small town in Minnesota. The main character, Hannah Swensen, owns a cookie bakery and has the odd tendency to come across dead bodies. Because she's intelligent, tough, and very clever, she usually solves the crime before the small town detectives can. Also, there's an intriguing love triangle (will Hannah fall for the local dentist or the local detective? Um, if she solves the crimes before the detective can, my money's on the dentist), and cookie recipes sprinkled throughout. I just started the fifth book in the series today. Very enjoyable and highly recommended. There's a webpage to see the books at Murder She Baked . I learned recently that this type of mystery book is called the "cozy," now isn't that a very twee categorization. Ah, well.

Well, my first day as an unemployed librarian. Or as a housewife. Stay at home mom of cats. Writer "between novels."

I ate some flax flakes and then headed into Cambridge where I got my eyebrows waxed, my hair cut and coiffed, my hands exfoliated and my nails manicured. And I do intend to go on as I've begun!

My big plan for tomorrow is to make big batches of vegan bran muffins, chickpea soup, and ratatouille. I just love batch cooking. Chuck it all in the freezer, and voila, delicious homemade vegan meals whenever you want them.

I can't wait to catch up on my reading, too. I have loads of books waiting to be cracked open. It's such a luxury to have all of this time. I can feel myself losing my crazy impatience...I was really okay waiting for the 66 bus today. After all, where on earth do I have to be?

What does an exdelivery boy deliver?

X's.

What does an ex Young Adults Librarian do?

Why, solve mysteries, of course!

Getting older, getting...lamer?

Is it possible that only three years ago my favorite magazines were Sleazenation and Mojo? Is it possible that I actually had a subscription to Q? AND saved every issue?

Three years later...and I'm looking online to see where I can find the cheapest yearly subscription to Martha Stewart Living.

I think if the 23 year old me met the 28 year old me, she'd be disgusted. I don't think they'd have anything in common.