the proper way to cook mushrooms

An interesting tidbit I truly appreciated this evening about mushrooms was the fact that when sautéing them in a copious amount of olive oil and butter is that during the first couple minutes they soak up all that glorious fatty goodness. And then after browning a wee bit, they release it all again. Amazing! I learned this while cooking Julia Child's beef stroganoff, or more formally, Sauté de Boeuf à la Parisienne [unlike this girl's though, I cut my beef into stew-style cubes]. It is delicious and wonderful with noodles or steamed green beans and whole baby potatoes.

There is something about cooking that is very relaxing even when hot oil is sputtering all over you. I love the look of a nicely arranged plate of delicious food.

In other news, I have acquired another bridesmaid dress. I am slowly becoming that chick from 27 Dresses. When I alerted Kyleman to this and politely [ok, maybe not so polite as highly suggested slightly more on the demanding side] told him to propose to me soon so I wouldn't sink into "always-a-bridesmaid-never-a-bride" syndrome. He told me no. Eh, I knew it was a long-shot anyways.

Anyways, I've just realized how late it was and since I've FINALLY been getting some decent sleep the last couples nights [last week was sleep hell. I think it might have actually been a combination of staying up late and getting up late and the extra heat from all the blankets on my bed: the trouble is, my room is super cold when I get into bed but by the morning I'm boiling. Constantly a lose-lose situation] I don't want to jinx it by losing all the good work I've done of depriving myself of sleep until I was forced to go to bed early to survive.

Ok, it might not have been as dramatic as that. But hey, I'm tired and in my brain that's how the history goes.

Obviously time for bed.
Ta.

Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Bride

I finished rereading all of the Harry Potter books semi-late last night [definately bawled my eyes out at one part]. I think this time they hit me a lot more than when I read them the first time. To me, the Harry Potter books mark a significant  place during my childhood and early teenage-hood but they are definately some of those books that get better each time you read them because each time you do, you pick up more and more. True story.

Also I calculated from a date mentioned in the last book, that if Harry were a real person this year he would be turning 31. Again true story.

Today I had the joy and luck to be present while one of my best friends found her dream wedding dress, and my other friend announced they had picked a date and asked me to be a bridesmaid. While I am so very excited for them [believe me, I almost cried at the beauty of Jessica in her dress], I ended up just coming to a shocking realization:

No matter how many times I tell myself that Kyleman and I are getting married eventually, that we have a date all picked out and that we are essentially engaged, he just won't admit it...we are not engaged. We are not officially getting married. As of right now September 13, 2014 is just another date that has a lovely ring to it [and a diamond if a sister could get herself any].

Just when I was making such great progress into situated adulthood. Damn it.