Down in the Dumps(ter)

Although my breakfast yesterday was bright and cheerful…
Hmm…this CFY of puffed wheat, Kashi Honey Sunshine, All-Bran Bran Buds, and ground flax, topped with apricots and peaches is beautiful…but missing something…
A-ha! A cheery cherry on top!
Mmmm….I love you Archer Farms plain yogurt…
…and interestingly shaped spoons….

[It's not dirty...there is some flax rubble left on it post bite. I promise.]

…we must transition from that sunny funshine [Bear?] to some moments of sadness:

1. Did anyone else cry just a little last night (we know judge Susie did) when Brad was kicked off of The Next Food Network Star? [I was so downtrodden, I wrote about it for the culturemob.com blog.] Goll, y’all, he is a cuteness monster, and since he lives and works here in Austin, I don’t think it’s too big of a leap to think I might be able to meet [slash] date [slash] hang out on a boat together (yeah, I’m not sure where that daydream came from either) some day. He did say he loves Torchy’s Tacos. Perhaps a little ‘trailer park’ romance is in my future…

2.I finished Sarah’s Key in one day. [And by 'one day' I mean a literal 24 hours. There was sleeping in between page 245 and 246. Only because I started not to understand what I was reading I was so tired, and the half of a watermelon I was eating simultaneously started to make my stomach hurt.] Sad, but hopeful. Tragic, but inspiring. {Sigh}

3. And sad in the “you are a hopelessly uncool individual who succumbs to peer pressure” kind of way…I finally joined twitter. Like rockin’ robin, I can now tweet my heart out (tweet! tweet!). [Follow me: @thesmartkitchen]

I met Cara at Summermoon Coffee Bar yesterday afternoon.
[They boast "wood-fired" coffee....but I don't know what that means. Also, they don't make Decaf regular drip coffee. Just in case you have already had 8 cups of regular by the time you get there. Not that that happened to me or anything.]
Below you will see my (regular) coffee—I put real half & half in it, but I didn’t find that it did anything to the flavor—Waste of calories? Check! [Hiding in the shadows is Cara's Mint Hibiscus Tea. Good, but a little bit more intense than either of us expected.]
After a lovely life conversation, we departed, but not before I declared my love for this green table and chairs…if I could have taken them, I would have.
Luckily for me, I found this random green chair by a dumpster outside. After a quick assessment, Cara and I agreed it needed to come home with me. Since I have yet to put the seats up in my car (yes, it’s been at least a month now since I moved), it was easy to get home.
Do I know what to do with it? No. Is it still dirty? Yes. Will it be sitting in my living room for an extensive period of time looking helpless and forlorn? Most likely.

At least it will have company with this owl painting that I didn’t actually pull from a dumpster, but saved as it was on its way. I took it from Ximena as she was moving…and now it looks (scowls) at me from across the room as I cook, as I have no idea where to put him. Although the owl is my sorority mascot (Go Chi O!), the painting is not really my style.
I feel like he belongs in a professor’s office somewhere, not alongside my brightly colored Mexican ceramics and Costa Rican masks. But I like him anyway. So whatever.

Immediately after coffee with Cara (oh lovely alliteration!), I was called by my friend Erika, who was in a state of semi-heartbrokenness. Although meeting for a drink would have been somewhat (?) logical, a broken heart needs ice cream to heal. Or, better yet, frozen yogurt!
Despite my many frozen yogurt taste tests, I had yet to visit this one. (I swear, they keep popping up like the gophers in that carnival game.) Inside, the topping set-up reminded me of my other favorite kind of bar (no, not one serving drinks to those over 21)…a salad bar, stupid.
There were also pictures of fruits and things participating in unlikely activities, like playing bongos, above the machines. I chuckled a little bit.
A small but satisfying bowl of Italian Tart, Pomegranate, and Cake Batter, with a few black and razz berries, as well as some mochi balls (which are white, thus hard to see).
When we departed, I think both Erika and her sister (who had found out that day her friendboy was cheating on her!!!! Oh boys…) were less down in the dumps than before.

I had some more fun finds to come home to…not from the dumpster, but from Goodwill…so, you know, sold in style.
Four new plates (my others are either a bit overwhelming in photographs or the boring black I inherited with the apartment) and three new baby spoons!
Along with this beautiful Italian bowl that I obtained through slightly devious means.
Yes, I heard a man say, “Oh, this bowl is awesome. I need to think about it though. It looks chipped.”
When he put it back, I swooped in! No chips could I see…seemed pretty perfect to me. [Rhyme alert.] At the register, he was behind me and said, “Oh, you got the bowl.” To which I replied, with a charming smile, “I did. Isn’t it lovely?”
Some might say it would make a good fruit bowl. I say, “That bowl needs a salad inside it!”
Romaine topped with cucumbers, yellow bell peppers, celery, tomatoes, black olives, as well as some chopped roasted red peppers and shrimp left from my paella.
Sprinkled this superb-with-seafood seasoning on top. [Thank you Dad & Faye for this gift!]
Delicious! [I ate it with chopsticks. In case you were wondering.]