Dessert Kebabs and BBQs

Hello!

Last night I went to my friend Cynthia's house for a barbecue. It was great fun and I met tons of lovely new people. Everyone brought a food or beverage to share and I was on desserts. Of course, I frantically called my mom an hour and a half before the shindig, on my way to the grocery store with nothing in mind for what to make. At her (brilliant) recommendation, I was able to whip up some easy dessert kebabs and I think they were a hit! With the 4th of July just around the corner, I thought I'd share this super easy recipe so you might be able to make them for your next cookout.

A Cheap and Easy DIY...

Heyo!

It's time for a DIY project! Now, if you know me at all in real life, you know that I love crafts and projects (I have a knitting basket under my coffee table. I promise I'm only 23.) and that I also love to decorate (and redecorate) my house. DIY home decor projects? BEST THING EVER. Most recently, I did a makeover with an old canvas I had hanging in my hall.  

For a full how-to (with pictures!), read on...

In which I have a severe panic attack on an airplane...

I know it seems like a LOT of people say they suffer from an anxiety disorder of some kind. (Fun fact: it's not all THAT uncommon.) If you have it, anxiety can be a horribly crippling mental illness that seriously affects your everyday life. Unluckily, I suffer with anxiety to varying degrees. Luckily, it's usually not too bad. I spent two years on medication though and through that and assorted other things (yoga, changing my diet, meditation, etc.*) it pretty much stays in check. Sometimes though... Sometimes it really sucks. Today was one of those days.

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I have felt so many feelings today.

My mother and I just checked into a hotel after spending eleven hours at the airport. Right now, the main thing I'm feeling is tired, but I've felt a lot of different things today.

Frustration, because the nice lady mopping the floor probably doesn't know anything more about your delayed and/or cancelled flight than you do, asshole. Now let her clean up the mess your kid made in peace.

Disgust, because, sir, you just dropped that on the floor... and you're really going to eat it?

Giddiness... Skittles for dinner? Skittles for dinner? SKITTLES FOR DINNER!*

Astonishment at how few toddler meltdowns I saw. (It was zero. These kids were amazing.)

Serenity, because when you realize you're going to be in an airport for a while and all you can do is read and look at the internet, it's kind of relaxing in a weird way.

Curiosity, because, ma'am, why are you wearing blue camouflage overalls? And why are they rolled up to your knees? And where are your shoes?

Fellowship, because there is nothing quite like the camaraderie felt by a group of people stuck in an unpleasant but not unbearable situation for hours on end.

Relief, because I'm not in that airport anymore.


Anyhow, this has been a little glimpse into the roller coaster ride that has been my day. And by "roller coaster ride," I mean "moving from chair-to-chair in an airport cafeteria". Tune in next time (hopefully) for "Steph and Mom return to Iowa easily and quickly, with no flight complications and a very smooth airplane ride." It should be a doozy.

*I do realize, of course, that as a fully-grown human capable of independent thought and also feeding myself, I could have Skittles for dinner every night, but there's something magical about when it's your only option. (I am being dramatic.)

P.S. I just watched a video of a small turtle eating a raspberry and it was the highlight of my day, so, there's that.

Sometimes all you need is a makeover

Well, I've been playing around with the idea of getting [another] new blog recently. I decided that there isn't really anything wrong with this one, that it just needed a new coat of paint. Anyhow, I've had this background image on my computer for ages (I got it off Pinterest) and decided to put it to good use. The only downside: the link on Pinterest is gone now, so I can't attribute it... SOOOOO... I'm going to keep it up and if anyone knows who made it, let me in on the secret. If you made it and you want me to take it down, I'd be happy to. Or, you know, just tell me who you are so I can give you credit. So, that's that.

Anyhow, I'm sitting at the St. Pete/Clearwater airport in Florida right now... it's storming out and our flight doesn't leave for another three hours. This blog should be AWESOME by the time I get back to Iowa.

The New Girl phenomenon... and other related thoughts.

So, I, like the rest of the country, I think, have been watching The New Girl with Zooey Deschanel every week on FOX. And why shouldn't I? Zooey is completely adorable, and those boys... those boys are just fine by me. But here's the thing that's kind of been bothering me... everyone is completely smitten with Z.D.'s character, Jess, but no one is really stopping to realize that she is a total nut job. Really, that girl is completely weird and batshit crazy and I'm sure this isn't a popular opinion, but it's an honest one.

Young women around my age, what I assume to be the target audience for this show, love it because we all feel like we can relate to Jess. Assumed thought process: SHE'S WEIRD! -->AND I'M WEIRD! -->SHE'S JUST LIKE ME! -->AND SHE'S ADORABLE! -->SO I MUST BE ADORABLE!--> YAAAAY! I'M ADORABLE! Hold it right there, sister. That's where things get dicey. See, Jess is adorable because she is played by Zooey Deschanel, who, by her very nature is darling. What you get when you take her out of the equation is an unstable young woman with a very loose grip on reality. It's bad news for girls to start idolizing a character like this. She's naive to the point that it's dangerous. In the pilot episode, Jess excitedly tells her new roommates about a date she'd just made: "You know what? You guys were totally right. I talked in short sentences. I didn't sing. I laughed, I smiled, I said I needed rebound sex and it totally worked! He asked me out! Dinner. With food." Now, I can't deny that that is some charming writing, and don't get me wrong, Deschanel's delivery of the line was flawless, but the content? Not good.

As the season progresses, I'm starting to feel that Jess is less than just a cute and quirky schoolteacher and more of a helpless, naive girl who needs to be taken care of by her manly roommates. Although she does take on a motherly role emotionally for the boys, and babysits a drunken CeCe in the fifth episode, she's awkward to the point of being nonfunctioning in most social situations and even, at times, puts her safety at risk (jumping out of the car to avoid talking to Nick about why she's being weird... telling a random stranger she needs rebound sex...)

I know from the personal experience of being a one-time sixteen-year-old girl that it is easy and even expected to pick TV and book and movie characters that you admire and attempt to emulate them. I just hope that young girls realize as they're watching this show that yes, Zooey Deschanel is a great actress with unfairly good hair, and yes, the writers of The New Girl are clever and refreshing, and yes, it's good to see a lovable female weirdo carry a primetime network series, but that we should appreciate her for what she is: a comedic CHARACTER, not someone after whom to model our behavior. I think it's great that Jess (and the show in general) is all about embracing your weirdness, which is something I think everyone should probably do a little more. I just worry that people will mistake that message for the message of "Be more weird... Like this!"

Anyway, that's my two cents. I'm off to try to get that damn catchy theme song out of my head... Who's that girl?... Who's that girl?... It's Jess!