Archive for the 'work' Category

This is the last day of our acquaintance, 25

Published
by
ashley
on January 6, 2009
in family, friends, i am ridiculous, life, marques, television, waylon and work
. 4 Comments

It’s 12:17 a.m., which means that today is officially the last day I can call myself 25 years old.

And in 24 hours, I’ll be 26.

26 is nothing.

My boyfriend is just two years from 30.  He’s the one who should be concerned.

I always tell myself every year that this is going to be the year when I grow up, when I stop playing so many video games and start contributing to a 401k.  Last year, I resolved to learn to like wine and to start appreciating mushrooms.  Still hasn’t kicked in.  Though I did try.  I still have hope for the wine, but definitely not the mushrooms.  Blech.

I’m also constantly concerned that this is going to be the year where I develop a severe food allergy, like to peanuts or to shellfish and I will have to be one of those people who carries an epi-pen around with them.  I am deathly afraid of developing a food allergy only because I am quite irresponsible and I realize that I will not be the kind of person who asks a restaurant to tell me the type of oil my food was prepared in (especially considering that we eat at a lot of ethnic restaurants where English is not the first language).

You hear stories all the time about some unsuspecting girl who dips a spoon into peanut butter, ready to savor the peanut butter goodness and when she brings the spoon to her mouth, her throat closes up and she dies.  And always, the friends and family attend the funeral and everybody commiserates - “She always enjoyed those peanut butter cookies from Subway” or “She loved dipping a spoonful of peanut butter into a bag of chocolate chips” and nobody knows how this allergy formed so quickly.

One of my resolutions for 2009 is not to cut my hair.  I can handle that, I think, because I want to make sure that my hair is long enough to curl or put up or whatever Lorrie wants us to do for her wedding in June.  But secretly, it is also because I am literally dying to have hair like this girl:

(sidenote:  Someone please hack into our Netflix queue and stop us from receiving British sci-fi shows)

By the end of 2009, by the beginning of my 27th year, hopefully my hair will be similar to that hair.  Fingers crossed.

I realize that none of us knows how many years we have in our lifetimes.  I am grateful that I’ve made it to 25 years and 364 days old.  I hope that when I’m 26, lots of things will happen.  I hope I become a better baker, and I hope my hair naturally grows into Gwen Cooper’s hair.  I hope that Marques and I will stay together for another year (really, no other man would put with my constant making-up-songs and burned rice and crinkle nose, not to mention my frequent pop-culture references) and I hope that we are both healthy and happy.  I hope that I do eventually get a new pair of Chuck Taylors as I am tired of walking around with wet socks in the rain.  I hope that I go on vacation this year to a warm and sunny beach with lots of mini-golf and spicy shrimp (though I do not hope I develop the aforementioned shellfish allergy).

On my last day of being 25, I will go into work, and we will publish a newspaper.  I will eat leftover rice for lunch with an orange and maybe some yogurt.  I will buy myself a green tea lemonade or maybe a salted caramel hot chocolate if it snows.  I will come home late to hugs and kisses from my boyfriend, and I will make us a big pot of turkey chili to ward off the cold.  I will maybe hit the treadmill, though it is doubtful because we’re receiving season 4 of Battlestar Galactica tomorrow (one thing that happened while I was 25 - my nerd quotient tripled.  I am the biggest geek in the world) and I’m sure that we’ll want to spend at least 2 hours watching it, curled up with Waylon.  And at midnight, I’ll be 26 (though not officially, that happens at 4:13 in the morning) and when I wake up, it’s more of the same.

I love my birthday.  I love my family.  I love my boyfriend.  I love my cat.  I love my coworkers.  I love my job.  I love my friends.  What it all boils down is that I am thankful that the year of me being 25 has passed and I still love all of these things.

(Now it’s 12:42 a.m. and I am that much closer to not being 25 anymore!

Things that I am thankful for, in the spirit of the holiday

Published
by
ashley
on November 25, 2008
in cooking, family, friends, i am ridiculous, life, marques and work
. 4 Comments

1.  I am thankful every single day that I have all of my fingers, all of my toes, both of my arms and both of my legs.  I realize this is a silly thing to be thankful for, but I am lucky to have all of these extremities (especially since I hate wearing gloves).  My grandfather lost two of his toes in an accident when I was very young and I can remember staring at the shiny scar tissue, both awed and repulsed at the same time.  I am also a pretty independent person, so I would be quite unhappy having Marques open my peanut butter jar for the rest of my life.  So yes.  Thankful for fingers and toes and arms and legs.

2.  I am thankful to have a boyfriend who would spend the rest of our lives opening my peanut butter jars should any sort of accident befall me.  He would probably even make me a peanut butter sandwich if I asked him nicely.

3.  I am thankful that I have a body that it is working condition with no diseases or illnesses aside from the occasional common cold and , and that I escaped my college years without any sexually transmitted diseases, stomach pumpings from alcohol, or babies.

4.  I am thankful that I have a good job that I enjoy, with a really awesome boss and amazing, hilarious coworkers who like to talk about food as much as I do, and will eat all of my baked goods, even the ones I burn.  I know that there are a lot of people who have jobs that they don’t enjoy, so I feel doubly-thankful that I have never once dreaded going to work while I’ve worked here.  Except on days when it was 95 degrees outside, but that wasn’t really because of work, that was just because I didn’t want to be a sweatmonster while walking to the metro.

5.  I am thankful for Chuck Taylors.  I have been wearing them for quite a long time and this extended period of time has worn any natural foot arch down to nothing.  My feet are essentially duck feet without webbed toes.  So I am thankful for Chuck Taylors for continuing to support my flat feet… which they caused.

6.  I am thankful for kittens and puppies and sneezing panda cubs for being so adorable and providing me many hours of entertainment while at work.  Also LOLcats.

7.  I am thankful for my best friends, who still talk to me after all of these years.  They are all beautiful and fun and so funny and easy to talk to and there are no other people in this world I would rather drink a pitcher of margaritas with.

8.  I am thankful for food, in that I enjoy making it and eating it.  I love cooking and baking things - just last night, I made a giant pot of chili and a giant pan of coconut macaroons for my Mom as a Thanksgiving surprise (I was originally going to make them for Christmas, but I got too excited and made them last night).  I love trying new restaurants and new foods and I love McDonald’s ice cream cones (guilty pleasure).  I am very glad that we do not live in an age of Soylent Green and foods in pill form, even though that would be kind of cool and very sci-fi.

9.  I am thankful for David Bowie.  David Bowie is what I listen to when I feel like dancing.

10.  And of course, I am thankful for my family, who I get to see this weekend.  I have a small family, but it’s fun and not stuffy and not the kind of family that pressures you to go to Yale and not the kind of family that puts out wine and cheese for the holidays.  My family is the kind of family that you play Mario Kart on the wii and argue over board games.  I am really glad that I have the type of family I do, despite all frustrations (my grandma asks 56 questions to everyone, my mom texts me constantly and sends me picture messages of her cats).

So with those ten things, I am out.  I am leaving to go home tomorrow morning, spending 6 hours on the road.  I will spend my time seeing old j-school friends, my best friends, eating Thanksgiving dinner, baking cakes, watching movies with my mom, shopping and being pretty happy.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

And I will be here with my fingers crossed

Published
by
ashley
on November 4, 2008
in life and work
. 1 Comment

In 2004, I spent election night in my college newsroom, waiting to hear who our next president would be. I was a fervent Kerry supporter (though my real love was Howard Dean) and I had my fingers crossed. Part of me believed that the Bush administration could be voted out, that America had had enough, that John Kerry could actually be our next president. I sat in the ancient newsroom on the third floor, with its 1960s Eames couches (I still lust after my old office couch) and its musty smell and watched the tiny TV with my fellow newspaper staff. All of whom had voted for Bush. I was dismayed.

And then, of course, Ohio was called for Bush, and the newsroom erupted in cheers. And I sat at my computer, all alone. And then I got up, dramatically, and went into the closest office to lay on an avocado green vinyl couch, heartbroken and disillusioned in the political system I worked so hard to change.

One of the Bush supporters, one of his most loyal, the one I had gotten into the most fights with that election season, came over to me and made me hold out my hand. I did, and he dropped a little silver Hershey kiss in it, and said, “I’m sorry.”

That guy is voting for Obama this year. People do change.

I’ve been trying to embrace a more bipartisan lifestyle, though sometimes it’s a bit difficult.  I keep an open mind with things and I’ve done a fairly good job not shoving my politics down people’s throats.  I’ve tried to be very low-key this election and I’m pretty sure I’ve come out of it without any enemies.  My Republican friends still like me, so that’s one good sign.

And tomorrow I vote, and voting makes me excited, it gets me energized and ready for (dare I say it?) a great leap forward into an unknown presidency.  I love watching election returns, all of the coverage.  I don’t know why I thought I would not have to work on election night (brain damage?) but I was originally dismayed to learn that I would have to work.  I was hoping Marques and I could go to a bar, get ourselves nice and drunk and silly and watch the electoral votes climb.  Or climb in bed and eat popcorn and hot chocolate, anxious and eager to see the winner, whoever it may be.

However, now I am almost overjoyed to work during election night - it’s not glamorous or relaxed, but I have to pinch myself sometimes because I am here, in Washington DC, in a political newsroom during the most historical election of my generation and it is a far, far cry from where I was 4 years ago.

It is humbling and it is exciting and I will be here, in front of my computer, refreshing CNN, listening to the news being created, history being written.  And I will be here with my fingers crossed.

Bacon-palooza is not approved by your doctor

Published
by
ashley
on October 30, 2008
in baking, friends, life and work
. 2 Comments

I will say this now - I am not that big of a fan of bacon. I don’t like eating it by itself (I don’t like breakfast meats in general) but I love it on pizza and hamburgers.

And, I suppose, now brownies.

This madness started two weeks ago when I posted the link to bacon cinnamon rolls. I was telling my co-worker Scott about them and he got overly excited. He does that and it’s cute. It was a late evening, we were the only ones left in our department. When it’s just us, there’s lots of food talk.

Scott’s reaction to the bacon cinnamon rolls pretty much went like this:

Oh. My. Gosh.

(revered silence as he stares at the picture in awe)

This. Sounds. So. Good.

So we started perusing the Bacon Today website, just checking it out. And I found their post about bacon brownies.

Holy. Crap.

A plan was immediately formed. I would make the bacon brownies and Scott would make the bacon cinnamon rolls. Team Bacon is go!

I did not make homemade brownies. I was tired, I had already made pizza, and my entire apartment smelled like bacon. My best baking sheet had a half-inch thick layer of bacon grease on it. So I pulled a mix out of the pantry. Mixed it right up, poured it in a pan, and crumbled some cooked bacon on top of it.  It looked like this:

Ignore that tiny little unstirred chunk of brownie powder.  Also, this looks kind of disgusting.

I baked them for 30 minutes then took them out to cool.  The bacon pieces had kind of sunk down into the brownies, but you could still see them.  I was hoping the time in the oven would cook the bacon pieces into crunchiness, but unfortunately, they were still kind of chewy.  Here’s what they looked like after baking:

I thought they were okay.  I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I would’ve used more bacon.  The bacon definitely added a nice salty, smoky taste, but it was odd to eat a brownie and hit…. meat.

Scott really enjoyed the bacon brownies - he ate most of them.  Everyone liked trying them, though, and a lot of people who thought they would be grossed out actually liked them.  So bacon brownies = semi-hit.

This week, Scott made the bacon cinnamon rolls.  He just took a can of refrigerated cinnamon roll dough and rolled some turkey bacon up in it, then baked them.  Scott is clearly more health-conscious than I am because I used thick-cut fatty fatty bacon.  The bacon cinnamon rolls were good, too, even though Scott slightly burned them.  I’m the queen of burning things, so I had no problem there.  The turkey bacon had a lot more bite-give too - if he had used actual pork bacon, I think they would have been really chewy.

I couldn’t take a very good photo of the rolls, but here’s a photo I took on my camera phone:

So bacon-palooza is finished for now.  We might try to make bacon cupcakes, perhaps, but I think we need to give our arteries a good rest first.

Good thing Congress isn’t in session

Published
by
ashley
on October 9, 2008
in friends, i am ridiculous and work
. 0 Comments

If they were, we wouldn’t have time to make graphs about each other.  You might have to click on the graphs to make them bigger to see all the text.

Here’s a graph I made about Amanda’s distribution of time during her workday:

Here’s a graph I made about Scott’s workday:

Here are two graphs Scott made about me:

It’s true.  I love dinosaur chicken nuggets and I hate the gold dome on the W.Va. state capitol.

This is what I have to put up with all day long

Published
by
ashley
on October 7, 2008
in friends, i am ridiculous and work
. 0 Comments

I talk to my co-worker Amanda on iChat pretty much all day.  It’s entertaining.  Here’s an example why.  I’m the little Chuck Taylor shoes, Amanda is the old PostSecret postcard:

Cookiefest = resounding success and 5 pounds

Published
by
ashley
on October 6, 2008
in baking and work
. 2 Comments

Cookiefest 2008 has come and gone, leaving crumbs and an extra five pounds on my hips.  However, it was really fun and I think a great morale booster considering how much we’ve had to work since the conventions.  Recipes are under the cut.

Here’s my cookie:

I made a soft molasses & honey cookie.  It was pretty simple to make, though I did a few substitutions.  Instead of shortening, I used unsalted butter (look, I know I’m from West Virginia and all, but shortening makes me gag, it’s so gross) and instead of using just a straight up 4 oz of molasses, I did 3 oz molasses and 1 oz honey.  Mainly because I was worried the molasses flavor would be too strong.

I also tried to do a lemon-ginger glaze, but failed miserably.  I combined about 1/2 cup of powdered sugar with lemon juice, water, and ground ginger.  The glaze was a good consistency (a little thick, though) but the taste was off.  I don’t know what it was.  I only iced about 12 of the cookies and then decided that an unadorned cookie is better than a off-tasting iced cookie.

The cookies turned out very soft in the center and chewy on the outside - they were also perfectly shaped and rounded.  These would be really good with a tall glass of milk or a hot cup of coffee.

Here’s Scott’s cookie:

Scott made pumpkin chocolate chip walnut cookies.  These were delicious.  I considered making pumpkin ginger cookies, but I really wanted a chewy cookie and not a cakey cookie, and it’s near impossible to make a chewy cookie with pumpkin puree (unless you want to drain it on paper towels for like 8 hours).

Scott’s cookies, while not beautiful, are really really good.  So good.  I’ve eaten like 3 so far.  The walnuts are a good size and the chocolate is abundant.  It was a nice fall cookie, and I’m glad I have a stash of my own now to eat for the next few days.

Here’s Amanda’s cookie:

Amanda was worried going into this competition that she wouldn’t be able to keep up with her lack of baking skills.  So she chose a no-bake cookie, the cheater.

Seriously, though, I am a sucker for peanut butter anything, so this cookie was the winner to me.  It was like a combination of a Rice Krispie treat and a Little Debbie Star Crunch - it was pretty good.  I got a couple of frantic texts from Amanda on Sunday afternoon, demanding that the next cook-off we do should be pasta salad.  We’ll see.

The winner, well… there is no winner.  Our judges couldn’t decide the best cookie.  The best one to ME was probably Amanda’s, followed by Scott’s.  I liked my cookie’s looks, but in the end, I’m just not a ginger or a molasses fan.

You can see the recipes here. Continue reading ‘Cookiefest = resounding success and 5 pounds’