the apartment life.

[So this evening I was reading my friend Megan's blog and was compelled to attend to the poor unused and neglected blog of my one. Alas, here I am back at it again. Hopefully I can find the drive and motivation to keep it current and write a post or two each week.]

These vernal months have been characterized by perfect Santa Barbaran temperatures, various adventures with friends, repeated and habitual grilling of the frozen chicken breasts in the freezer, countless trips to the gas station to spend my entire month's earnings, and of course, those long days at the beach that enivitably result in exhaustion and some form of sunburn. All and all, it has been a pretty good summer thus far.

Living in my own apartment has proved to have its pros and cons, as does every living situation I suppose. The joys and excitment of cooking homemade and fresh meals lasted about a week and the strange desire for the easy and ready-made meals of the D.C. at Westmont manifested itself. I thought that day would never come. Now I just cook the same thing over and over again. Grilled marinated chicken breast, attoped with grilled pinapple. Rice pilaf. And a Geek salad. Maybe some biscuits if I am feeling adventurous. This only changes if there is an invite to dinner from a friend or if I venture to the store and scower the aisles and score on some item that is on sale. The sale items are the only items that can even be considered to be purchased. But, occasionally I splurge and buy an avocado or some yummy new salad dressing. The dishes always need to be done. The bathroom always in need of a cleaning. And the fridge always need of refilling. I get excited when spinach or yogurt is on sale or when slow-churned ice cream is two for $5 (usually when Allyson Arendsee is around. Our tradition is to eat slow churned straight out of the tub. Page-style). The trip to the store usually involves at least one phone call to my mom to see if "this much is too much to pay for this many of that." I am learning though. Grandma is always giving me grilling tips and teaching me the ins and outs of buying and seasoning meat.