My Kitchen Smells like Basil

My kitchen smells like basil, which is wonderful, but it came at a high price. Here's a sad farmers' market story for you:

Last time we went to the farmers' market, we spent about 6 dollars on food. We parked at a meter that cost 3 dollars for an hour, and made it back just before our hour was up. However, we found a parking ticket for 53 dollars on our windshield. Apparently we were about one inch out of the paring space. So we spent about 50 dollars more on parking than on food that day.

Today, I went by myself. I drove up to a parking structure right by the market just to see how much it cost. 3 dollars for every ten minutes. Then someone drove up behind me and I was trapped! So I parked there, shopped as fast as I could, and ended up spending $9.40. And about 4 dollars on food. So not as bad as the first time, but it would be cool if we could figure out how to spend less on parking than we do on food!

(Here is what I made for dinner last night. So good!)

Project

I'm working on a project! And Violet is helping. If "helping" means making the project take about ten times longer but still being cute.

Maybe this project will be done tomorrow. And maybe tomorrow I'll have pictures of the white coat ceremony to share. Maybe maybe maybe.

Weirdest restaurant concept ever

Hi! This morning I used the 20 minutes Violet slept not in my arms to do the dishes instead of blog like I usually do. So this late post is the best I can do today!

Today Glenn got out of school early, which was wonderful! And we were able to run some errands together. On our way to Wal-mart, we saw not one, but TWO restaurants like this one:

In case you can't read the sign, it says "Louisiana Fried Chicken and Chinese Food!". Weird.

At Wal-mart, we bought a shoe organizer, and Glenn was totally in his element organizing my shoes. And yes, I took a picture of it.

To make sure you don't feel like you wasted your time by reading this very random post, here is the cutest picture ever, that I took yesterday:

Violet's brand new cousin!

Violet got a new cousin on Sunday morning! We won't see her in real life until Christmas, probably, which is SO SAD because she is beautiful! I might even be a little biased because look at these pictures:

(Violet)

(Emma)

Is it just me, or DO THEY LOOK THE SAME?

P.S. We were so busy this weekend! Glenn's parents came to town for the white coat ceremony. It was so fun having them here, the enchiladas were delicious (if I do say so myself), and the ceremony was cool because the USC band was there and they wear trojan helmets and walk like horses. Pictures tomorrow. Maybe.

The Sauce

(I fixed yesterday's post, so the video works now.)

I took on my biggest cooking project yet in this new apartment yesterday. I've been lazy about cooking because my kitchen is SO non-functional! And, in order to complete my project today, I needed a broiler. Look at this picture:

What goes in that bottom drawer? Sheet pans and muffin tins?? Not here! That is the broiler! Maybe I am just not experienced enough in the world of broilers, but that is not where I expected it to be! I also had to learn how to use it. It is gas powered, so there is a scary open flame.

Also, the counter space you will see in some of the following pictures is literally the only workspace I have in the whole kitchen. And it is about one square foot.

But ignore my complaints! Because in my pathetic kitchen, I have made a masterpiece! Glenn's parents are coming in town tonight for his white coat ceremony tomorrow, so I wanted to have a good meal ready for them. My mom sent me a recipe for the best green chile enchilada sauce ever.

I was very excited to try this recipe because every time I see these:

In the grocery store, I think they are so beautiful. I always think, if only I knew something to make with all those beautiful chiles, I would buy them. Three poblanos, three anaheims, and three jalepenos went from

THIS to THIS

using my trusty and elusive broiler. Then into the blender they went, with some not pretty enough to be photographed cooked spinach, onions, and garlic.

I stirred in the cream and was done! I tasted it, and it was DELICIOUS but also SPICY! Scott and Terri, I hope you are ready for some pretty hot enchiladas.

p.s. Violet was strapped to my chest in the baby carrier throughout. She is learning how to cook already!

Violet's new skill

My last few posts have had far too few pictures of Violet. So to make up for it, here is a video!

Spoiler: She can pull herself up to standing if we hold on to her hands! It is so cute because you can tell she has to try really hard. Her little legs shake and she grunts, but she can do it! You can hear her grunt once in the video.

LA people

If you had to guess, would you guess that people would be friendlier in Mesa, Arizona or in Los Angeles?

I have been so shocked by how friendly everyone is here! Every person that sees Violet stops to ask me about her! People hardly ever asked me about her in Mesa. I think it is probably because there is an abundance of babies in Mesa, and in downtown LA, they are scarce. At the farmers' market last week, I couldn't take two steps without someone stopping me to take a better look at her! I don't know if farmers' market people are just extra friendly, but it seems to happen everywhere here. I have even had quite a few "conversations" about Violet with people who don't speak English.

People are friendlier in general too, not just concerning Violet. Here is what is happening in the picture above: That guy saw Glenn skim boarding alone and talked to him for a few minutes before running home to get his skim board so he could join Glenn! Also, all three of our neighbors (our apartment building is basically a four-plex) are SO nice. I have to hide from Lis, the old mexican women upstairs, if I don't want to have an half hour long gossip about what is happening within the apartment complex.

Glenn was skim boarding and making friends at Venice beach. Violet and I were there too.

(My Grandma grew up in Venice! We saw her high school on our way to the beach, which just happens to be the high school where they filmed "Grease")