Best May 2-4 Ever! (or, Fat Weekend in Mattawa)

I woke up in my own bed today, sadly, after a weekend of extraordinary company, food and shenanigans. I am proud to say that I have been declared officially Canadian by my friends (even though the government gave me a card for this a good 11 years ago) as I successfully roasted marshmallows, made s’mores, canoed AND fished for the first time…all in one weekend! I also caught a tiny little fish that I later named Jermaine. He was released back into the wild, but one of my friends managed to catch a MASSIVE pike that subsequently became dinner (with the addition of some lemon and peppercorns – DELISH). The three of us (C, our fisherman of a friend and I) were pretty convinced that this beast of an aquatic creature was going to tip the canoe that we were in; luckily, it didn’t, and we arrived back on shore DRY. No, that’s a lie. It was pouring rain outside, so we were just rain-wet, as opposed to being lake-wet. Small victories.

Over the course of the weekend, we managed to fit in beach volleyball, tanning, two bonfires, 86 cans of Coors, a game of nighttime hide-and-seek, fishing, kayaking, star-gazing, fireworks, Road Bingo, Spoons & a variety of other card games, Penny Can, Scrabble, countless impromptu dance parties & sing-a-longs, a novel per person, a metric shit-ton of delicious food, all prepared by Team Awesome (the 7 of us), naps and more laughter than ever thought possible.

It felt really good to get out of the city for a few days, isolate ourselves from the rest of humanity & technology, and just enjoy the simpler things. In the end, they’re all that really matter.

Be jealous of the view from the cottage:

What 7 in the morning looks like at the cottage.

Thank you, Queen Victoria, for allowing us to celebrate you with a long weekend that ROCKED.

Bis später!
-V

(As a sidenote, C is not dead; she is very much alive, just lacking a computer. Unless I spent the weekend sharing a bed with a ghost. Creepy.)

My name is V, and I am a Food Network addict.

After getting back from the gym this morning, I realized that I had more time to kill before meeting a friend than I had originally thought. Naturally, I first went into the kitchen to whip up a batch of cookie dough for this weekend’s Mattawa shenanigans (I’m baking them on Friday to ensure freshness). After that happened, I sat down to watch a Top Chef marathon. I am now proud (or ashamed) to say that I am completely updated on the Canadian version AND Top Chef: All Stars. Moral of the story is…when there is nothing on the Food Network to watch, I actually turn the TV off. Okay, so I lie, American Top Chef seasons are on Reality, but aside from that. I figure, of all the reality shows, I might as well watch one in which people do something productive and that features Anthony Bourdain sometimes. I respect and love that man something fierce.

Did I also mention that I made corn bread, too? Yeeeeah, that happened.

When the days are dreary and cold, there’s nothing better than watching incredible chefs duke it out while sipping on some rosehip tea. Deeee-lish!

My choice of activities worries me sometimes. Although, in all fairness, I did go and play some drop-in volleyball at Carleton last night for a few hours, so that counts as a real person activity…right?

Bis später!
-V

P.S. Countdown to Mattawa Cottage Weekend 2011: TWO DAYS!
P.P.S. I haven’t posted a sexy car in a while:

Prrrrr.

A wordless Sunday…

Back to studying!
-V

I have way too much fun.

This week has been absolutely insane on the school front, and I’m pretty sure I have science leaking out the ears. To alleviate the agony, I’ve been practicing plating meals, even when I’m just making myself lunch. Here is an example:

This is chili chicken and cinnamon & cumin carrots grilled to perfection (FINALLY), served with polenta. I’ve also clearly been playing with the filters available on the Instagram application on my phone. It makes my photos look a touuuuch less ghetto, though adds a touch of pretension. Whatever! I like it.

There’s another tournament coming up this weekend, two labs, and exams loom…despite all this, I haven’t felt better in ages! The sun’s out, the weather’s getting warmer and I feel that I am going to rock everything. That’s right. BRING IT ON, WORLD. BRING IT ON.

Bis später!
-V

… Volleyball!

Ah-mazing tournament! I would like it to be stated that, for the record, the 17 year old boy that V crushed a) was like 6’amillion, and b) looked like he was quite literally going to cry after the second block. The blocks weren’t even “Oh, your hit didn’t make it over, sucker”. There were “wow… your massive swing quite literally just got CRUSHED into the ground on your side of the net. You should probably just give up at volleyball, because your ass was just handed to you.”

I am slightly less sore than V on the purely volleyball front, because I am 5’notalot and spent significantly less time breaking the souls of children at the net. I am, however, equally completely-dead-to-the-world as a result of cumulative sportsness (and some going out on The Town). Friday, after putting in some significant school time, I went rock climbing with training partner Val and KICKED SERIOUS ASS, ya hurd? I sent not one, but two routes that I’ve been working on, after not finishing a damn thing for aaaages. Beyond that, I made some serious progress on two other projects, including one hold that has been the bane of my existence for about 2 months now. So eat it, purple route. Eat. It.

We went out to the bar directly from climbing.. fairly certain Val and I are among the few who get ready for a night out in the bathroom of a climbing gym. This is because we’re among the upper percentile of seriously awesome. Then I volleyballed all day Saturday, and then, I got to go learn how to do some kayaking in a pool!! Kayaking was some serious fun. This is dangerous because for chrissake, the last thing I need is another sport, especially on that involves more equipment. So on that front… god daaaaaaaaaaaaaaamnit. I’m totally doing it again next week.

I would like it to be noted that I’m currently being devoured by school, specifically by two giant fourth year projects. They’re pretty interesting – one involves creating an integrated environmental impact assessment for local sports events, and the other requires us to make a basic framework for an undergraduate-wide first year course on sustainability in relation to various disciplines. So – wildly interesting and engaging stuff, but holy shit holy shit holy shit I have so much work to do, and on top of that I need to apply to jobs for the summer. So, my posts will likely be significantly more sporadic for the next while.

Ta!
-C

Volleyball? Volleyball.

I am sitting in my chair of awesome on a Sunday morning while a butternut squash & couscous stew simmers on my stovetop. I would be lurking around, making sure it’s not exploding, but my body is completely drained of all energy and strength after yesterday’s EPIC tournament (the first I played with C. in a while!). I left my house for it at 7:30 in the morning, and only got home at around 6 in the evening…in all fairness, at least 2 hours of that time was travel time, but ooooh, the rest of it was volleyball. It was a reverse 6s tournament hosted by one of the local clubs, the Ottawa Fusion, and for my first reverse 6s tourney, I had THE most fun. Basically, there is no rotation, just a serving order; men can only hit from behind the attack line and can’t block. PLUS, it was played on a women’s net, so I had all the fun in the world blocking the ladies and the boys. Whee! I am pretty sure I crushed the soul of a 17-year-old boy by blocking him twice in one game, so I feel a little bad, but otherwise, VICTORY. Also, as a result of all this blocking, I ended up with this:

That’s my left forearm. Yes, that is swelling. In any case, we won the consolation round (WHAT UP) and took home sweet shirts and volleyballs. Yesssssss.

In retrospect, I probably shouldn’t have gone to the gym this morning, as I have a dance class and coaching this afternoon. Whoops. I’m going to go be comatose now.

Bis später!
-V

P.S. Watch this video. Why? A) It’s Epic Meal Time. B) My friend’s in it. INSTANT RESPECT.

What up, weekend!

Firstly, this killed me:

Now, onto real people things:
The first week back from Reading Week drew to a close, and thankfully, it was a successful one. That is to say, I survived another 5 days of school, scot-free, with most of my sanity intact. While my darling C is off in the T-Dot, squashing other human beings in sport (SEE WHAT I DID THERE), I stayed put in Ottawa to play in a Begin 2 Believe volleyball tournament at Carleton U. Well, that was just today; yesterday, I took over the inter-club competitive girls at coaching in addition to my group, and had a great time teaching them all sorts of new skills that they’d need as they grew as gymnasts. I really love my job.

As far as the tournament is concerned, we didn’t make it to playoffs, but we had an absolutely awesome time playing together. The Dirty Balls are a great crowd to play with, and I am learning a shit-ton in the way of experience. Okay, so I’ve been playing since 6th grade (11 years, for the record), but the past two or three years, I’ve grown so much as a player. This is due largely to the fact I’ve been playing mixed and have been learning tips & tricks from club players…I no longer rely solely on my massive height to succeed! Anyway. There will probably be action shots once the tourney photographer gets them online.

As a side note, those cookies that I baked on Thursday disappeared by the next morning; two dozen cookies just faded to nothingness over the course of several hours. I would call that a resounding SUCCESS. To fill the now-cookieless void, I baked a second batch yesterday, only to find the disappearance rate had increased. I think my friends and family are still in a sugar coma, but that’s a story for another day. Plus, as an added bonus, I learned that the dough freezes really well. Fact.

I’m off to contemplate going out dancing tonight(read: going to curl up in my armchair and take a baby coma); the pouring rain is making me not want to leave my house…

Bis später!
V

P.S. Good luck, C! I hope you destroyed them other ladies.

I was set loose in the kitchen…oops.

Now that I am pretty comfortable with the semester’s work, my crazy baking urges have returned. I had some spare time (read: I was pretending I had nothing to do) yesterday, so I decided to make dinner for the family. This is what happened:

I made a chicken & veg pasta casserole! I am continuing my adventures by baking some cookies for my OCVL team, as we have a game tonight. Since I only have to be in the lab for about 30 minutes today to do a presentation, I’ve got this 6 hour gap that could be better spent studying. Naturally, I’m going to bake some cookies. It makes sense, right? Or something.

Without further ado, I present to you…

The Oatmeal & Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (Loosely based on the recipe found at Love & Olive Oil)

Seeing as how I don’t actually believe in “measuring,” all the values were approximated using scientific eyeballing and tactile texture-sensing. 99% of the time, it works every time. All kidding aside, my (very picky) 15-year-old brother is currently trying to inhale multiple cookies at the same time, so I think this batch turned out well! As for me, the intoxicating smell of peanut butter is definitely still lingering in my house, and I feel drunk off of cookies. Awkward. There’s also the fact that I ate more dough than I baked, but that’s another matter entirely. The only complaint I’d have about this recipe is that it’s definitely lacking in oatmealy goodness, but that’s also to taste. Next time, I’m full-out going to double the oatmeal content and enjoy picking bits out of my teeth. It’s how I pick up all the men; you’re just jealous.

With a batch of deliciousness successfully delivered unto the Earth, I am off to get ready for my OCVL game tonight!

Bis später!
V

P.S. My lab partner and I KILLED the presentation; the TAs were impressed. V: 1, School: 0

Of coaching and all the tournaments in the world.

It’s now Monday morning, and Reading Week is officially over. I really needed the break from school madness, but man, I am definitely not ready to go back to classes and “regular” life. Unacceptable. I have a class and a 6 hour lab today, and I would much rather be playing sports or laying on my floor, listening to Ferry Corsten.

In other news, I played in a women’s tournament on Saturday, and got the best workout of my life (?!). My abs were sore the next day. My abs. From volleyball. That just doesn’t happen. We got knocked out in the quarterfinals, but I had a great time, despite the fact I hadn’t played middle since high school. The net was so low that I just had all the fun in the world annihilating everything. I hope to continue this awesome streak of tournaments by playing in one this upcoming Saturday and the one after that. Yesssss. My life priorities are clearly all in line. I fully intend on bringing my camera to the next two to deliver some sweet action photos.

Here is another sexy car:

I’m off to print a lab and make myself a pulled pork panini, so I bid you adieu…

Transmission over.