Treat Yourself Well

There are many things I love in life.  2 of those up there on the list: Saute pans and hot tea.  Never be without the both.

With the Saute pan, magic can be created in just a matter of minutes.  Throw in tasty things and out come hot, imaginative dishes.  Last night I threw together a left over green pepper, some frozen shrimp, slivered raw almonds, leftover brown rice and some ginger & soy..sprinkle with a little green onion and voila! Dinner is made even when you are so tired you can barely make it up the starts to GET to your kitchen and home.  Thanks to Mr. Saute Pan I can create healthy delicious meals...and then follow them up with some ice cream down the street :) hehe. 
Today I went exploring even more.  I've been in the mood for a farmers market for a while now, I know the one in Fayetteville has been open for a while and maybe that has got me a little jealous.  Sure if I REALLY wanted a farmers market I could always hop on the train and go to Union Square in NYC..which is great but really probably not worth a $20 train ticket if that's the only reason I'm going. 
So instead of doing that today I went for a quick run at a local park.  It was quick because I can't seem to get rid of my IT band pain and so I really didn't make it that far..and I went further than I should so now I'm sitting here enjoying an Ice Pack.  I headed a town over to New Canaan (known to be the highest per capita income city in Fairfield County BTW).  This is the first Farmer's Market of the season I am aware of.  Not much starts up around here until June.  Although it was warm (I was in a long sleeve shirt and shorts)..I guess you just never know up here. 

The market had a lot of flowers and food/bakery vendors but really not a whole lot of produce, which was a little disappointing.  A lot of the food vendors were handing out samples of their products.  There was one vendor who sold an assortment of pestos, quinoa salads, hummus and guacamole and everything I sample there was really good.  They even had a vendor cooking fresh wood stove pizzas with supposedly healthy and natural ingredients.  There was probably a little bit of everything (bread, sweets, coffee, plants, flowers, produce, music and local grown meat) but all in all it took me about 10-15 minutes to go through the entire thing.  Definitely not the atmosphere that you can see in Arkansas.  But it's early, so I'm sure there will be more to see.  After that I killed some time walking around the shopping area.  There area  lot of Avenues up here with little boutiques and fancy shops and restaurants/cafes..seems like every town has a little street or two.  Probably the biggest is Greenwich Avenue which I haven't been to yet but this one was pretty nice..and full of beautiful things way out of my price range. 

So that was nice..minus the screaming IT band and limping back to my car. haha
But alls well that ends well...with a hot cup of tea back in SONO. :)

Well time to get down to business..I have a lot of packing to do and only a few hours to do it!  See you soon once again Fayetteville.

Random Thoughts

So, I thought I maybe should start updating this thing more often.  For my own sanity, the interest of my readers(ha!) and in order to truly capture my thoughts.  But hence the title of this post..when I don't plan this thing out (not that I ever have)..rarely does it follow any sort of flow or sense of organization.
I'm reminiscent tonight for many reasons.  One, do you know the smell an old shirt has?  Like one that has seen years of wear?  They all seem to smell the same to me.  Maybe they are all from a certain period of my life where shirts were just made in such a way that gave them a distinct smell..I'm not sure.  But tonight I found an old gem.  A t-shirt my mom gave me when I was younger.  It is a hand me down from her old racquetball days and it's made out of that thin t-shirt material that just sort of lays on you like a light sheet..so soft and almost a little worn.  I remember I used to think this t-shirt was so cool back when I was a tomboy and had no style at all (what was I thinking!?).  I don't remember the last time I wore it but it always smelled the same.  And tonight..I feel a little bit cool too.  Although the shirt is much larger than is fashionably acceptable...and to think I wore it over 10 years ago.
Another reason I'm a little reminiscent is because I was reminded of home and jealous of some gathering friends.  See, I found out that I'll be going to AR once again next week for work.  Which is a blessing and a curse.  I'm finally starting to settle in a bit more (at least with a routine and getting out and involved with my hobbies).  And a week away would disrupt that a little but as I'm being reminded as my excitement grows I love Fayetteville and the people in it.  And I will be glad to see family.  In honor of talking to some friends back home I decided to go enjoy some patio time (something I can't enjoy at my own place because I have a hallway entrance).  So I mooched some porch time at The Gingerman down the street..felt a little odd drinking a beer and reading a book so I decided to look semi social and call my dad.  So all of those things put together and I'm left...reminiscent :)

When I'm not reminiscent I have basically been working and being obsessed with riding my bike.  I've found that CT is VERY bike friendly and there are a number of places and people to ride with.  Amazing given just the great amount of TRAFFIC there is up here.  I guess you are never isolated from it..and I'm starting to learn a few tricks, there is just no avoiding it when it comes to running errands or trying to get places on time..