Sunsets, Craft Beer, Food Trucks, and Cupcakes

Happy Friday! I would just like to say, hasn't the weather been absolutely perfect in Virginia this week?! I mean really - August is never like this in Virginia. I'm gonna soak up every ounce of it though. This week has gone by far too fast for me. Next Thursday is my last day at work and I'll be making the small move back to the beach for school during Labor Day weekend - can you say horrific traffic? It's ok though - I can usually bypass it fairly well. 

On Wednesday afternoon/evening I found myself in a mood funk. I was just downright . . . down. Leaving work I realized that the weather was perfect for sitting on a patio somewhere. I had to turn my frown upside down, so I texted my girlfriend Brittany (my sushi date girlfriend) and asked her if she was down for dinner somewhere. We threw around the idea of Bonefish Grill, but settled on The Boathouse at Sunday Park (many of our friends have actually gotten married here and they used to have a pretty spectacular Fourth of July fireworks show). The best part? The Boathouse at Sunday Park is a mere 12 minutes from me and has some gorgeous sunsets - win!

I arrived at Sunday Park and took the scenic stroll past Daniel Butler's gardens (I had my senior pictures taken here) before putting our names in for a table. There's something about Black-Eyed Susans that I'll never be able to pass up.

I rounded the bend and this view was waiting for me - instant mood funk sucked away.

Brit had a glass of Beringer Moscato with Carolina Jumbo Shrimp and a bowl of Eastern Shore Crab and Vegetable Soup. I had their Steamed Pei Mussels and a Baby Iceberg Wedge Salad. I also ordered a bottle of the Jefferson Vineyards Pinot Gris (they do sell it at Whole Foods here in Richmond), had a glass or two, and re-corked for the ride home. It's my favorite wine and it's half off on Wednesdays! Mood funk still being sucked away.

We were dining and chatting when something pranced over and landed near us. This little praying mantis decided to chill at our table with us for a little while. It looks like he's actually praying, or maybe he's thanking Him for this beautiful view. Either way, my mood funk had officially vanished at this point.

Yesterday was a pretty chill day at work and it was beyond needed. O! Did you know that . . .

Borrowed from Star Hill Brewery's page

Yep. August is Virginia Craft Beer Month. So what's a girl to do? How about Food Truck Court at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery? Why yes, I think I will.

Last night, my girlfriend Kelly and I ventured over to Hardywood after work to check out the food trucks, some brews, and to enjoy another beautiful evening in Richmond of course! If you don't know anything about food trucks, I'm certain this show might give you an idea. Some of the food trucks that participate in Food Truck Court actually set up camp around the hospital downtown. They sell their delicious goodies to hospital, city hall, and capitol employees, as well as regular 'ol city patrons. Their food is delicious and pretty inexpensive. Can you say score?

Here's a peek at our evening.

Dressed and Pressed.

Thai Cabin, Chupacabra, and Mister Softee Soft Serve.

Boka Tako.

Kelly got Lettuce Wraps from Thai Cabin.

I got "The Gauntlet" from Boka Tako. It was awesome. Left = Asian, Right = American, Top = Mexican (I think).

 We ventured inside for some brews.

1. Singel   2. SB 604   3. DIPA   4. Bourbon DIPA 

The Singel and the Bourbon DIPA were my favorites. I had really wanted to try the Virginia Blackberry, but they were out. 

Found some of this clever signage while waiting for the restroom. Beer Master. "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." - Benjamin Franklin

Suggested Receptacles for the Drinking of Beer.

Can't wait to try their Mocha Belgique (and their Farmhouse Pumpkin and Gingerbread Stout)!

Sitting at the picnic table enjoying beers, weather, and company - Flynn's has Sweetater Fries!

The evening was a blast! Such a family friendly event. If brews aren't your thing, Food Truck Court also visits the Virginia Historical Society on weeknights.

To round out the evening and to compliment my Bourbon DIPA, I had to have this guy. A Cinnamon Pumpkin Spice Cupcake (Fall, in your mouth) from RVA Vegan.

Some other food carts in attendance last night: Station 2, Pizza Tonight, Rooster Cart, and Sustenance. Maybe if craft brews are your thing, you could also check out Star Hill Brewery, Blue Mountain Brewery, or Beach Brewing Company - all in the beautiful state of Virginia!

Have a wonderful weekend! I'm headed to Charlotesville/Staunton to hang with my girlfriend, her man, and a presh yittle boy named Ryder!

-Suze

Etsy Shops, Cupcakes, and Being a Pharmacy Student

"You can love Etsy shops and cupcakes and also be a med student in the middle of her residency."

- Elizabeth Morrow at Delightfully Tacky

Last night, after everyone had gone to bed, I was sitting at the kitchen counter, absorbing the silence and reading the autumn edition of Artful Blogging. I had my feet kicked up on the stool beside me, flipping page by page reading the testimonials of other bloggers, taking in all of their beautiful photos when one page stopped me in my tracks. I literally kicked my feet off the stool, sat straight up like a grunt at basic training camp, and said out loud, "Oh my gosh. Yes! She gets it. Thank. Goodness." It was as though I were waiting on news from a doctor informing me that my family member would be ok, except Elizabeth was the doctor and the news was that it's ok for me to be a pharmacy student and be an artist of sorts.

For any readers out there, it's obvious that I usually do posts with recipes, paintings, crafts, various photos that I take, etc. For the most part, I'm a very private person. I don't like to divulge too much information about myself to others that I'm not extremely close with. Why? Fear of scrutiny. I think many of us struggle with this.

Some may think, "Well that's dumb. You don't want to share a lot about yourself? Hellooo?? You're putting everything on a blog. On the internet." That is true. I am doing that. What I haven't been doing (up to this point) is sharing personal things. Intimate things about myself. I'm not going all 13 year-old doodled-all-over-diary on you, but I will be sharing more. More thoughts. More feelings. More opinions.

With that being said, I feel like I'm losing grip. How come? Exactly one month from today I will be packing my book bag, my lunchbox, pulling out lab value books, picking out an outfit, entering things into my iCalendar (crossing my fingers that iCloud doesn't fail me), and exhaling - because the next morning I will be heading to class to complete my final didactic year of pharmacy school course work. I have never felt so many emotions. I'm apprehensive, nervous, and anxious. I've been looking forward to this year for so long. This is the last year that I will have to sit in a classroom everyday. It's bittersweet really, but at the same time, nerve wracking.

I feel as though I'm losing grip because pharmacy school is hard. No bones about it. I'm okay with hard. I'm okay with really, really hard. I'm not okay with something completely overtaking my life. I've struggled with this since day one of pharmacy school. I like my free time. My "me time." Time to do what I want, when I want to. Maybe this sounds selfish. Maybe it is. Pharmacy school has been nothing short of major adjustments. Adjustments in my study methods, adjustments with my time management, sleep adjustments - all things I thought I had mastered in undergrad. Boy was I wrong. The adjustments I had made were perfect for undergrad, but were in no way fit for pharmacy school.

All summer (besides completing my required three week rotation at another hospital) I've worked, come home in the evenings, watched my reality TV (yes, I'm a sucker for it), painted, crafted, sewn, and more. On the weekends I've traveled, painted, crafted, sewn, taken photos, lots and lots of photos, and had sushi and fro-yo dates with one of my best girlfriends. Why? Because I could.

Pharmacy school is kind of like a meeting with a nagging boss. You aren't ever looking forward to the meeting. You dread it really. Then the meeting comes. You sit through it. You get it over with. The meeting is finally over. You're done. Back to life. Back to reality (did anyone just sing that song to themselves haha). Back to your comfort zone. 

I haven't really ever had a nagging boss, but I suppose you could also equate this to holidays with certain family members, your children getting out of school for the summer, or flying on a plane. Maybe not so much dreading your children getting out of school for the summer, rather the thought of, "What are we going to do all summer so we don't drive each other up the walls?" You get the point I'm trying to make.

The funny part about all of it is that there's literally a night and day difference within me.

Day: Put on my business casual attire, drive to one of the best teaching hospitals on the East Coast/top hospital in the state of Virginia, arrive at work, then do my thang. I utilize the tools that I have been taught in and out of the classroom, the knowledge that I have gained while working at Wal-Mart and Ukrops (a long-standing Virginia comfort now known as Martin's), as well at this top hospital. I page doctors and nurses regarding their patients' prescriptions, change doses, recommend alternative therapies for conditions that many students my age have only read about. For all of these things I am truly blessed and fortunate.

Night: I drive home from the hospital. I make it home and put on my most comfortable, worn-in WVU football t-shirt, yoga pants, and UGG slippers. I tie my hair back. I walk to the kitchen where I decide which project I will pick up that I left off on from the previous evening, or which of my reality TV shows I must watch rather than DVR, or I cook. I decide. All of the day's stresses, trials, tribulations, and anxiety wash away. I work for a few hours using my God-given talents and abilities to create things, mostly for others, with all the love I have in my heart. You have no idea how much it over joys me to make things for others. Then I hit the hay.

I do this everyday. I have done this everyday since May. This is why I feel as though I'm losing grip. Losing touch with things that I love so much. Things that I won't get to just pick up at leisure once school starts because once school starts back, what is leisure?

Anything worth having requires work, and I'm no stranger to that. I just have to suck it up. I have asked myself, why is this summer different than the rest? I've summed it up as being the last summer in which I really have the freedoms to do whatever I want. Last summer I worked a lot, worked lots of overtime, worked for people that needed time off, etc. I viewed it as making a little extra money. This summer - my last summer - my mentality changed. I've spent quality time with friends and family, spent time making things, cooking things, eating things. All things that I enjoy. I can make money for the rest of my life. Why not use the time that I have as a young, fit adult and just soak it all in and enjoy life to the fullest?

Let me get back to Elizabeth's statement. The point is, is that even though I have invested a great deal of time and energy with my schooling, my daytime person makes me tick in a different way than my nighttime person. I love science and learning, especially about the human body and how resilient it is. My nighttime person completes me. It is the side you see on this blog.

My daytime person can be a med pharmacy student. My nighttime person can scroll through pages of creative Etsy shops, adding things to my cart that I long to have. She can love cupcakes and have an entire Pinterest board devoted to them. Elizabeth - Thank you for recognizing this and other things with your inspiring and heartfelt words.

My daytime person is what I do. My nighttime person is who I am.

-Suze

O! And one more thing! Another very creative girlie (that I've had the pleasure of meeting) is featured in this same edition of Artful Blogging - Becky over at Farmgirl Paints. Woohoo. How exciting is that?

Put It In The Book

I had the whole weekend off this past weekend, and I completely enjoyed it with my whole being. I'll share it with you via some Instagram pics.

Saturday morning my friend and I went to the South of the James Farmer's Market in Forest Hill Park to stock up on veggies/fruits for the week. She and I had never been to this particular one, but it proved to be a weekly trip for us. That morning I made my coffee at home a little strong and decided not to finish it. Besides, I knew Blanchard's would be at the market, but didn't know Crossroads would be. Upon arriving we went straight to the Crossroads truck, and I got an iced caramel latte that was delish! Then we headed over to Wild Heaven Farm's booth (they have goat's milk soap) and I picked up a large bar (only $4.50) of the scent, Mint In The Morning (I'm hoping it will clear up this summer cold I seem to have developed overnight).

Next, we attacked our veggie/fruit lists. I snagged a zucchini, yellow squash, large tomato, big ginormous cucumber, eggplant, two banana peppers, pint of blueberries, large bag of spinach, and half a bunch of kale for about $19. Not too shabby. My friend wasn't far behind in money spent, as she was buying for she and her daughter.

We finished up there and headed for the Body Worlds Exhibit at the Science Museum of Virginia. I have missed this exhibit in Pittsburgh and in San Juan, Puerto Rico, so I was determined to go when I heard it was in Richmond. I almost think it was a blessing in disguise though because I know so much more now about the human body (thanks to pharmacy school), that I had far more appreciation for the exhibit and what they had on display.

My friend had an eyebrow appointment in Carytown after, so I tagged along. Then we grabbed lunch at New York Deli. I ordered a four cheese omelet (just wanted three of the four cheeses) with tomatoes and jalapeños, but sadly received just a three cheese omelet. She ordered an omelet also, and had no complaints. In normal fashion we decided it would be a shame to pass up Carytown Cupcakes, as we were just a few blocks from their new location. After brunch we walked to the new cupcake shop where I had one of their weekly flavors, a gluten-free Georgia Peach cupcake, and my friend had their Red Velvet. Too yummy!

I headed home for a nap, but my mom had other plans. She wanted me to tag along to the paint store with her. So I did. I killed two birds with one stone though because I went next door to our grocery to grab a few things to make two dishes I had planned to make on Sunday. By the time we left it was late afternoon and my mom was craving something sweet. I had already had my cupcake a few hours before remember? Well I caved because they had my favorite flavor of fro-yo, Taro. I usually go to Sweet Frog in Carytown because they have the Taro flavor and their texture of fro-yo is better, but my mom likes Sweet Spoons.

Sunday was going to be my sleep in, bake, cook day. Wrong. My mom woke me at 6:45am trying to find something to do in Richmond for the day with my Nannie. Well, we didn't find anything and I was left sitting up at 7:15am like a crazy person. So I jumped on my baking first. I decided to make this Chocolate Hazelnut Cherry Tart. If you don't have time to invest, this is not the dessert for you. It's very labor intensive in terms of making the tart's crust. After that, it's easy peasy lemon squeezy. You'll probably need one of these also (if you don't already have one).

After making and tasting the final product, I decided that I would go a different route when rolling out the crust for next time, and I would also add a few drops of cherry liqueur or a cherry oil to the ganache before spreading it in the tart shell. It just needed that extra kick of cherry flavor.

Lastly, I cooked. I cooked probably one of the best meals I've ever made. I made this chick's Spicy Thai Noodle dish that she adapted from one of her friend's recipes, but I changed the sauce quite a bit. Essentially, I boiled and drained my linguine noodles, cut up two carrots, one zucchini, one yellow squash, and a bunch of green onions and set aside.

Then I made the sauce. The best sauce ever. I'm convinced it would taste good on anything. Really. I used 1/2 cup Sesame Oil, 1/4 cup Sunflower Oil, and 1 1/2 tbsp of red pepper flakes in a pan over medium heat for about 2 minutes (careful not to burn the pepper flakes). This will infuse your oil, but probably not enough. Separate the oil from the pepper flakes and place in bowl. Add 6 tbsp of honey and 6 tbsp of low sodium soy sauce to the reserved oil. Add two cloves of garlic, minced and about an 1/8 to 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper. Mix thoroughly and dump over noodles. Next add a tbsp of unsalted butter and a whole clove of garlic to a pan over medium heat. Let the garlic sit in the pan for a few, then take out so it doesn't become bitter. Add your veggies and cook (while tossing occasionally) for about 7 minutes. Dump over pasta and enjoy. (This picture doesn't do this dish justice. At all.) You will have quite a bit of oil in the bottom of your pasta dish, so I recommend not dumping it all in and using it for other things throughout the week such as a marinade, etc.

My mom has this book that she puts everything delicious she has made/adapted over the years. Well she came in from running errands and tried my dish. She was like, "Oh my goodness. That's addicting. You need to put that in the book."

I did just that.

-Suze