Just a Standard Issue Amazing Weekend

Well this weekend has been ridiculously awesome.  Truth be told, I don't even know where to start.  Friday I met my cousin at the Wit hotel where she was staying for the evening and she informed me that I missed seeing Jackson Avery from Grey's Anatomy by about ten minutes.  He checked in right next to her and evidently was even better looking in person.  I feel like I always want to believe that if I were to encounter an amazingly attractive celebrity that I would be all chill and cool and nonchalant, but really, I'd probably stand there and stare at him with my mouth agape, which is pretty much what my cousin said she did. We proceeded to eat dinner right next to Donovan McNab.  Apparently, I should spend more weekends hanging out at the Wit hotel.

After dinner we saw my cousin's friends' movie premier at the Gene Siskel Theater.  I'd never been to an indie film premier and I rather enjoyed the experience.  The movie was very well done and I very much liked it, although it made me terrified to have children.  The premise was a young couple with a baby and the mom goes back to work and spends her whole day missing her baby and the dad is a screen writer and he stays at home with the baby, but can't work anymore so his entire life becomes about watching his daughter.  It sort of inspired me to get working on my creative projects while I still have my youth and freedom.

We then went out on the Rooftop at Wit, followed by drinks that Renaissance Hotel bar.  My cousin and her friends went in and I met friends at Envy, which is not my scene at all, but I was dressed the part.  There were so many things going on in my dress trying to keep everything in place, I sort of felt bad for the celebrities who are on the red carpet.

Saturday I met friends for brunch, sat in traffic for an eternity, and then took a nap. I woke up around 5 and inspired by the movie premier the night before, went to work on my novel.  Though I didn't know I had it in me to finish it, I just sat there and kept working it out.  I stayed up until three in the morning and I am very very proud and excited to say that I have finished my first draft of my first complete novel.  It's an amazing feeling to have finally finished a project.  Obviously, it is just going into another really long stage and process now, but just having a complete story line is something that I honestly haven't even fully grasped yet.  Even if it never goes anywhere, which is likely, it is such an accomplishment to say that I have 342 pages, 85,500 words of material that flow together in a consecutive story all from my own brain.

In other exciting news, I found out last week that I am actually advancing in that karaoke contest.  I have to sing another a cappella song tomorrow to see if I can advance to round three and I have no idea what I'll do yet.  I really should have been practicing.

Today was a cousins day on the boat and we had unbelievable weather.  All in all, this has truly been a fantastic weekend all around.  I made a delicious cherry couscous salad with arugula to bring to the boat and you can see the recipe here.  I think it was a hit and I got to bring the leftovers home, which I am excited about.

Original Professional Version

Cherry Couscous Arugula Salad  (altered from The Kitchen)

Mine - Pretty Good Right?  Minus the real photography

Ingredients: 

Couscous
1 cup water
2/3 cup orange juice
1 1/3 cup (1/2 pound) whole wheat pearl couscous (I used regular pearl couscous as that's what I found)

Salad
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2/3 cup dried cherries
2 stalks celery, finely diced (forgot to buy, but I substituted green pepper and onion)
3 ounces baby arugula, finely chopped
1/2 cup walnuts, lightly toasted (I used pecans because I like them better and think they go well with cherry) 
3 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
Flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 ounces young Gouda or sharp white cheddar

Put the water and the orange juice in a 2-quart saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir in the whole wheat couscous, cover the pan, and turn the heat down to a simmer. Cook for 20 minutes. (I actually only cooked mine for about 10 minutes and it had already started to burn to the bottom of the pot.  Careful and watch it!  It burns quickly!)  Prepare a large baking sheet by covering it with parchment paper. (Rather than mess up a baking sheet, I just put them straight on wax paper and it worked fine)  When the couscous is done (it will have absorbed all the liquid) spread it out on the baking sheet to cool.

Whisk together the orange juice, olive oil, and red wine vinegar in a glass measuring cup. Add the dried cherries and microwave for 2 minutes on HIGH. (Or, bring the mixture to a light simmer in a saucepan on the stove, then stir in the cherries and turn off the heat.) Let the cherries stand in the liquid for at least five minutes, or until they are glossy, plump, and soft. Drain off the liquid into another cup, and reserve it.

When the couscous is lukewarm to the touch, pick up the parchment paper and slide the couscous off the paper into a large mixing bowl. Take the reserved poaching liquid drained from the cherries, and whisk vigorously until it is combined and emulsified. Stir this into the couscous.

Stir in the steeped cherries, minced celery, arugula, toasted walnuts, and sliced shallots. Taste and season with salt and pepper if needed. Use a sharp vegetable peeler to create thin shavings of the cheese. Toss this with the salad. Serve warm, or at room temperature.

Random last note:  Why do men still not understand that just because a woman is engaging in conversation with them that we have any interest in being more than friends?  We just like to talk.  Get used to it.