tapas

i seem to be on a bit of a tapas kick lately.

last weekend we had brunch with my parents at a lovely little peruvian tapas restaurant in dallas. everything was good, from the little fried corn appetizer to the subtle salad dressing to the grilled veggies. everything had its own unique flavor, and, just as important, the decor was absolutely beautiful. even the bathroom was gorgeous.

last night alan took me on one of our surprise dates to a barcelonian tapas place (we're planning on taking a trip to barcelona sometime this year). it was completely different of course, but it was amazing. the decor was distinctly european looking. i could have eaten everything on the menu (i feel like we got pretty close to doing that, actually)! we had vegetarian paella and pan tomate and grilled asparagus and some sort of ridiculous cheese croquette, and we topped it off with cappucino and a traditional barcelonian dessert. after dinner, we went home and watched l'auberge espagnole, a french movie about a young parisian man who goes to live in barcelona for a year and how the city and the people he meets change his life. and all of it just made me want to go to barcelona that much more.

inauguration day

praise song for the day.
each day we go about our business, walking past each other, catching each others' eyes or not, about to speak or speaking. all about us is noise. all about us is noise and bramble, thorn and din, each one of our ancestors on our tongues. someone is stitching up a hem, darning a hole in a uniform, patching a tire, repairing the things in need of repair.
someone is trying to make music somewhere with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice.
a woman and her son wait for the bus.
a farmer considers the changing sky; a teacher says, "take out your pencils. begin."
we encounter each other in words, words spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed; words to consider, reconsider.
we cross dirt roads and highways that mark the will of someone and then others who said, "i need to see what's on the other side; i know there's something better down the road."
we need to find a place where we are safe; we walk into that which we cannot yet see.
say it plain, that many have died for this day. sing the names of the dead who brought us here, who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges, picked the cotton and the lettuce, built brick by brick the glittering edifices they would then keep clean and work inside of.
praise song for struggle; praise song for the day. praise song for every hand-lettered sign; the figuring it out at kitchen tables.
some live by "love thy neighbor as thy self."
others by first do no harm, or take no more than you need.
what if the mightiest word is love, love beyond marital, filial, national. love that casts a widening pool of light. love with no need to preempt grievance.
in today's sharp sparkle, this winter air, anything can be made, any sentence begun.
on the brink, on the brim, on the cusp -- praise song for walking forward in that light.

inaugural poem recited by elizabeth alexander

a study in cat personalities

the big cat is a big chunk of tummy and fur. he lives for meal times, and you'd better believe that he will let you know when meal time is. he has been known to chew through a bag of cat food. as much as he loves to eat, he doesn't care much for human food (with the exception of strawberry yogurt). he has a curious fascination with empty carrot bags but no use for actual carrots. he will take any opportunity to jump into an open box or drawer. he sleeps most of the day and only plays with the occasional sock or ice cube. he only seeks out attention first thing in the morning and first thing when his parents get home from work (although he will happily accept a good brushing any time of day). other than that, he can be found napping somewhere in the closet. he is very quiet with a soft meow that he uses very rarely and a big purr that he uses liberally. he can open drawers and cabinets and he likes heights. he will happily spend the entire night curled up at his parents' feet.

the little cat is all awkward skin and bones (and ears). he likes cat food and all, but what he really wants is human food. he has been known to steal cheese straight out of his dad's hand. he recognizes the milk carton and whines until he gets what he wants. he eats things off of the ground that aren't necessarily even food. he could care less about boxes and drawers and prefers to spend his time following people around and "helping". he has a curious fascination with toes and chap stick. he plays with everything all day long. he wants attention all day long. he is the definition of a lap cat. he has a very loud and very strange meow and he knows how to use it. when he isn't talking he's purring. he loves to cuddle but he gets unusually {obnoxiously} hyper at bed time.

they are polar opposites, and we love them both with all our hearts.

what i've been up to...

so here's the update on what's been going on in my life so far in 2009...

i spent new year's eve with my hubby and two of my best girlfriends, eating sushi and drinking champagne. they came by afterwards to see my new apartment and take pictures and drink more {pink!} champagne. i was in my pj's by eleven and asleep by midnight-thirty. it may sound tame but it was one of the best new year's eves i've had in a long time!

new year's day was a good lazy day, spent on the couch mostly, watching football and reading the second book in the twilight series. i must say that if there was any doubt in anyone's mind that i am a fourteen-year-old girl trapped in a twenty-five-year-old's body, it's definitely gone now. oh well.

alan and i went to canton for first monday trade days. there's no way to explain canton to people who have never been to canton. it's like a giant flea market with a whole bunch of crap to buy and food and maybe the best people-watching outside of the state fair. plus dogs. lots and lots of dogs. i fell in love with a blue-eyed dachshund and a beautiful husky, but alan reminded me that our cats would break up with us if we came home with a dog. in the end i came home with a vintage sugar sack and a tummy full of roasted corn and salsa samples.

i found out that my new car gets 32 miles to the gallon!

we had the seventh edition of our girls' slumber party, which was more fun than you can possibly believe. we went shopping, we ate sushi, we exchanged five-dollar christmas gifts, we baked cookies. we watched a movie about girlfriends that should have been good but definitely wasn't, and then to erase the bad-ness of that movie we watched three happy episodes of sex and the city. we went to bed at two and in the morning (well, okay, at noon) alan and i made vegan pancakes for everyone. yum yum! elysa can tell you more...

alan and i got to go to pappadeaux (best food this side of new orleans) with his family to celebrate his brother's 24th birthday. i cannot tell a lie: i ate some crawfish. and birthday cake. the vegan police are on their way.

other than that, i went back to work for the first five-day week in what seems like forever. two three-day weeks will do that to a person, i suppose. it's good to get back into a normal routine, and it's good to have my whole team back too. plus, i got to reward myself with a "fancy friday" soy chai latte at work yesterday morning and a super-fun girls' happy hour last night after work. i would say that this week was a success!

and so far, i can't really say that i have any complaints about 2009, either.

resolutions

at the start of 2008 i made a new year's resolution to acknowledge every day the things in my life that i am thankful for... three hundred and sixty-eight entries in my gratitude journal later, i am more aware of the beauty of the big picture, but i am also more aware of all the little things that bring me joy each day. this may be the only new year's resolution i've ever carried out through an entire year - i've learned so much in the process; it's been an amazing journey for sure.

i will say that writing every single day got to be a little difficult, especially since i started my new job, which keeps me busy pretty much all the time. i definitely needed a blogging holiday, which is why i've been missing for the past week or so. i haven't quite figured out what i'm going to do with olive relish going forward, so bear with me while i figure it out... i'm still going to try and post at least once or twice a week, at the request of my mommy and my husband and all five of my other readers (shout-out to southeast asia!)... i don't know if it will continue to be just a gratitude journal or if it will involve random musings about sushi and bad chick-flicks or if i will move on to a new set of new year's resolutions...