epic failure of posting, but lots of pictures

my apologies. it seems that i've fallen a bit behind in the blogging, but by no means in the cooking or adventuring.

since moving down to silver spring, md a little over a week ago, my non-food adventures have included:

1. turning 21 and ordering 2 drinks without getting carded
2. going to the beach
3. starting my first real internship and working 2 hours of overtime in the first week
4. drinking my first legal pint of guinness and doing a lemon-drop shooter at murphy's (again, not carded)
5. meeting 9 incredibly awesome kids i'll be working with all summer
6. buying 2 cases of beer from the shadiest liquor store ever in college park
7. going to my first happy hour with 6 of the 9 above mentioned cool kids and ordering my favorite glass of wine (got carded this time)
8. celebrating the end of my 21st birthday week with a party that merged my high school, college, and summer program friends plus two new acquaintances
9. watching the pens try to take the stanley cup (game 6 currently in progress)
10. going on a SEGWAY TOUR of DC (and getting paid for doing so) with other summer consultants
11. lost my phone to an epic technological failure and had to argue with the at&t store as they tried to give me a $100 refund that i couldn't accept without the original credit card and ended up buying a $100 blue-tooth headset to be shipped home and returned by my mother (oye)
12. out-driving a torrential downpour/thunderstorm this afternoon with a plastic bag stuck to the grill of v's car

as you can see, i have plenty of excuses for not blogging. the excessive alcohol content of my adventures was due completely to the fact that i turned 21. i do not take my milestones lightly. in addition to celebrating with drinks, i also have gotten to do a lot of fun cooking:

1. before moving down here, i made black-pepper brown-sugar salmon with grilled pineapple for my parents
   
   
   
   
   
2. i made my own birthday cake: a pink-lemonade double-layer cake with raspberry filling and almond buttercream icing (topped with sprinkles and candles, and enjoyed with a toast of 1+2=3 cava)
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   



3. i used a's antique kitchen-aid to mix up a batch of margarita cupcakes (a vctotw recipe) with a tequila-lime glaze (adapted from the vctotw green tea glaze)

i served the cupcakes at my first ever dinner party (point 8 on adventure list), along with grilled shrimp tacos, a spicy slaw, tomato gazpacho, and mojitos with mint fresh from the garden. it was a huge success.

and i have been staring at the computer (with a break for the segway tour, the ride home, and dinner) since 8:10am. i am tired, my eyes are sore, and i need to watch the pens keep the series alive (go black & gold)!

this week is a barefoot week, so another post is coming. it promises to be yummy, and i promise to update more.

happy june!

ciao,

j