out of shittyness, you can still find pretty.

seared lamb with a rosemary, garlic, butter reduction
on a bed of arugala, dates, walnuts, goat cheese & balsamic viniagrette

do you ever have one of those weeks that ends up totally different than you expected it? yeah, welcome to my week. while at a dinner party with coworkers a couple of months ago, i admitted that when i'm having a day, i usually end up creating something really yummy when i get home. they think i'm crazy and say those are the days that equate dinners out or take out.

cooking calms me down. the whole process of thinking something up in my head, then taking pieces of things, manipulating them to create something satisfying not to mention complete, is fulfilling. there's a feeling of accomplishment that despite things didn't go as planned today, this week, this month, this year, that i started something, finished it and all without one sign of a bump.

life has been life lately. and while i my first inclination today (who am i kidding, this last two weeks) was to put together a happy hour in which i could drown my sorrows away, i found myself thinking about how not-so-bad it all was and remembering that life could be much worse.

i mean, despites it's up and downs, i've been able to tons in the last three years including:

visit medieval castles

wawel castel in krakow, poland | 2006

cross old, scary bridges
carrick-a-rede bridge in northern ireland | 2007

have cocktails a hundred feet away from the drop-off of victoria falls (see the mist behind my head? those aren't clouds)
livingstone, zambia | 2008

while i'm afraid my life won't be so interesting in the next few months - i have no trips planned in a long while, i'll try to revive this used-to-be fun blog soon even if that means reviving some old stories and adventures.