Goodbye Bread

Dear Bread,

You are delicious.  I have loved you for a long time and in all varieties.  When I was in gradeschool I used to make PB and J sandwiches on Butternut, or sometimes mayo and banana pepper for a change of pace.  That's a little gross now that I think about it.  Or remember when my gradeschool BF and me wanted to open up a grilled cheese restaurant?  We tested a lot of bready cheesey sammies out in those days.

In high school I became addicted to paninis.  Is there anything more delicious than a warm and gooey panini? I don't think so.  You've always kept me company in restaurants, giving my hands something to do while I chatter away, dipping you in balsamic and olive oil.

On my trips to France I gained a whole new appreciation for you, and by gained I mean I gained 5 pounds.  But who could resist a fresh crusty french bread covered in smelly camenbert?  yum.

Yesterday I had lunch at an organic cafe, it's my favorite place to eat here.  I had coconut and butternut squash soup served with a slice of thick, fresh, yeasty multigrain.  It was the perfect accompaniment to my soup.  Hearty, but spongy and delicate at the same time.

However, 15 minutes after lunch I started to get a stomachache.  And by the time we were driving home from work I felt like someone was stabbing me in the gut.  It was pretty painful.  And I know it was your fault, bread.  I feel really upset about this, because I have enjoyed your company for so long, but it seems we're not good for each other anymore.  I am trying to say good bye but it hurts a little.  I'm not sure what's worse, the pain that eating gluten causes or trying to rid myself of the emotional attachment I have to you, and your various comforting friends, like pizza crust and pasta and baked goods.

I guess what I'm trying to say is this is going to be a tearful goodbye, but this doomed relationship needs to be over.

I'll miss you dearly, but I'm hoping getting rid of you will make me feel better and better.

Love,
Kelly

ps.  Friends if any of you are gluten free and have any tips or tricks for baking I would appreciate it!

Husband Repellent

I have been wearing the above grey high waisted Zara pants on repeat since before Christmas probably.  I am like that.  I tend to find a piece of clothing I like and live in it.  That is a problem in general, but it is really a problem when you're wearing man repellent pants.  For me... high waisted = no muffin top, however, the husband just admitted that he thinks high waisted = big wide ass.  Thanks husband.

Being married is such a learning experience.  I retired my grey pants this week.  And Nick is attracted to me again.  Holler.

Must work on grown up wardrobe.  That is all.

Studying and Such

Dear Friends,

I know it has been super duper quiet around here and every time I am posting I am apologizing for not posting for so long.  But I've been really busy.

For the last few weeksin addition to work and volunteering at the vet clinic  I have been studying like a maniac...

You're probably wondering why, since I've graduated college and all..

But on Tuesday last week I took my British driving theory test...

And I PASSED!!! yay now I just have to take the real test where I have to actually drive which is scary!.  We will see how that goes.  Did I tell you we have been renting a car? It's awesome.  I love cars.

The other test I've been studying for was the GRE.  I was feeling pretty stressed about it to be honest.  Like I was gonna spontaneously barf for like a week before the test.  I needed to get a 1,000 to apply to vet school and I was pretty worried I wouldn't get it.  But did!  I almost cried when I saw the score appear on the screen at the end of the test.  But I did a lot of positive visualization of the big G-O-D telling me what the answers were and when that didn't work I thought about.... hmmmm well thats a secret but it worked!  Anyways I am trying this power of positive thinking thing and I think it's working.

In other news we had to go London to take this test.  We stayed at the Ibis hotel (I would not recommend).  We ate at Josephine's Filipino restaurant on Charlotte Street Friday night (I would HIGHLY recommend).  (Sorry no pictures cuz I was stressing!) Then on Saturday I took my test and we went to Chipotle to celebrate!!

Judge me if you will.  I know there are a million delicious restaurants in London, but Chipotle only exists in London in this country and ohhhh my god I miss it.  But it's not half as good here so that was a bit of a let down.  The tortillas tasted weird.  And the avocados suck in this country.  But I guess beggars can't be choosers eh?

Happy Monday.  

I missed you, blogosphere.

ps.  This means I can cross off more items on my Day Zero List.

I Whip My Hair Back and ....

.... oh shit.

I have no hair to whip.   I cut it all off.  Actually a girl named Sarah cut it all off and gave me a chic British hair do.   You should have seen what a scene I caused in that salon.  Other ladies in the salon came up to me to tell me how brave they thought I was, as if I was donating a kidney.  All the stylists stopped what they were doing to watch.  It was actually a little embarrassing. 

Locks of Love is unheard of in England, so I found a place called Little Princess Trust to donate my pony tail to.

It was high time I got rid of that thing anyways.  It looked like a small marsupial was hanging out on my shoulder most of the time.

You nosy folks in blog land prolly want a sneak peak... so here it is....

 
My American friend Molly, and I had a girls night out afterwards.  And we decided to do ourselves up like girls from The Only Way is Essex.  Basically The Hills, but for England.  I'll never in my wildest dreams be tan enough to pass for a member of that cast, but we did wear fake eyelashes which is why my eyes look a lil droopy.  I've never worn them before so I think I need to master that skill.

Anyways thats all I have to report to you.  I miss my hair already.  I feel like a chubby version of Twiggy and I want it to grow back so I can at least put it into a bun again.  I didn't realize it was going to be this short.  But such is life, hair dressers always cut more than they say - don't you think?

Mary Mary quite contrary how does your garden grow?

Rather ravenously to be honest.  

I thought you might like to how green my thumb is...

We've got all sorts of stuff growing at Casa DeCourcy right now.

The only problem is we can't plant anything in our garden without it being terrorized by Heidi.

But, I'm pretty innovative and we have found some good growing solutions...

The hanging bags work like a charm because you can fit 7 plants in them 

and they are totally out of reach of the dog.  

They seem pretty happy in there so far,

 but we won't find out if there will be lots of tomatoes and tomatillos until later. 

Doesn't everything look so happy and healthy?  

Nick is getting a teensy bit irritated about the number of pots we have bought, 

but hopefully they will pay for themselves with fresh food goodness.  

I have big plans for making salsa. 

The only salsa you can buy over here is Old El Paso.  

Definitely not my favorite.... 

Thats why all visiting Americans are required to bring a jar of 

Rick Bayless's Tomatillo Salsa.

But hopefully this year I will be able to make my own!  

They don't even sell tomatillos in the grocery store here, 

in fact, no British person I have talked to even knows what they are.

In other news, people have been nagging me about this blog thing.  I wish I had new material, but truth be told, I haven't been getting busy that much lately.  My job is super duper horribly boring and I only really have my mind to entertain me which means no photos to share which means boring blogs usually.  But if you must know these are some things that have gone through my head at work lately...

(sorry for the repeats if you follow me on FB or twitter.)

• When I am at work I feel like Harry Potter must feel when there are dementors around.  You know when your soul gets sucked out and you feel like you'll never be happy again...?  Ok yeahhhh debbie downer.  
• I had the thought that I was Ash Ketchum the other day and that Heidi was pikachu and that I could tell her to shock everyone on campus.  That made work enjoyable for a few minutes.
• I have been thinking about quitting my job to pursue my dream of being in a 50 cent video, but everyone keeps laughing at me.  I don't really know why... 
• Today I occupied myself by reading The Jungle Book for the 2nd time.  Yeah I read the whole book today, at work, in it's entirety.  I need a Kindle.
• A few days ago I bought myself a pack of mints and ate them as slowly as possible for entertainment.  
• I put on hand lotion frequently to give myself something to do.
• On Wednesday I only sold £3.00 worth of stuff the whole day, and 60p of that was a candy bar I bought myself to eat because I was soooo bored.

In all seriousness I really need a new job.  I feel shitty saying that because when I was unemployed I told God that ANY job would make me happy, but I am a liar (public confession).  I need a job with challenges.  There are very few opportunities in Sheffield though so if any one wants to see my resume in the USA holler atcha girl.  I'm so ready to move stateside.  

In a positive note tomorrow is the Eurovision Song Contest and I am soooo excited for the ultimate display of Eurotrash to occur.  You can see my Eurovision 2010 Highlights post here.