Left Field Friday: March 22nd, 2013

It’s Friday! You did it!

• I may be late to the party, but do you even KNOW that kale chips are actually good? Until this week, my relationship with kale has gone mostly like this: I buy bunches of kale with the intention of doing SO MANY cool things, like kale chips, but then the poor leafs sit in the crisper forgotten, lonely, and limp until The Beast finally cleans out the fridge and shakes his head at me as he throws them away. This week I am wasting NO kale. First, I made the chips, pictured above, which are whoa-damn good. Next up? I’m thinking I’ll make a vegetarian variation of this pizza. Boom, kale chip pizza.
• It’s been a stressful work week for me, and this had made me realize that my coping skills aren’t quite where they should be. Exhibit A: Wednesday I had an appointment for a hair trim. I left $150 poorer, but with cleaned-up nails, a fabulous botanical hair mask, fancy conditioner, and heat-protectant styling spray. All necessities. Exhibit B: I went to Target on Thursday to buy sparkling water, and left with a whole host of new beauty products, including some very important lacy nail stickers. I’ll start saving money next week. Yeah, that.
• Last weekend I asked The Beast to go along with me on a day trip to my college. I blame my recent can’t-stop-watching obsession with Felicity for my sudden need to take a walk down memory lane. Surprisingly, once we arrived on campus I felt relieved by my lack of nostalgia. The most emotional moment came when The Beast and I split one of my favorite monster cookies from the restaurant on campus. Ohmagawd it’s ridiculous: thin but chewy and full of M&Ms and peanut butter and who even knows what else? Magic? Probably. Anyway, my take-away from the day was that I enjoyed college, but I think I’ve always been made for the adult world. As my mom said to me last week, “You’re a much better adult than you were a teenager or young adult.” Wait, what?
• Speaking of college, remember when Facebook didn’t exist? When I received my letter telling me who my freshman roommate would be, I had to do a Google search to creepily stalk her (fortunately she turned out great, whew, thanks Google). What a weirdly social world we live in now. For instance, WHY, oh why, should we be able to know everything about people we don’t even talk to? Why should anyone have the option of looking up past boyfriends/girlfriends (helloooooo self-destructive behavior)? I find myself opening up Facebook as a habit/boredom/90s-kid-who-needs-entertainment-at-all-times type of thing, and then I end up looking at pictures of a friend of a friend of a friend’s baby (don’t act like you never…). It’s those times when I wonder if maybe, just maybe, I should be doing something more productive (note: the answer is yes, yes I should). To summarize, I’m in stage #6. Damn it.
• On another note entirely, I usually don’t consider shortbread a craveable cookie, but with peanut butter, chocolate chips, and salt in that crumbly, buttery shortbread base, this recipe might make a believer out of me.
• Lastly, I must leave you with this. #4 is my favorite.

Have a good weekend!…and Happy “Spring!”…?