ATCs- and I don't mean air traffic controls

To start off the week I found a very simple recipe in one of our Rachel Ray magazines. Black bean and sweet potato quesadillas (my spell check just just went nuts on that word). Some flour tortillas, a can of black beans, some cheese, some cooked chicken - throw it all on the panini maker and smash - and you have your self a quick, tasty dinner. It was a hit, and Ryan and I both brought the leftovers to school for lunch the next day.

Speaking of new dinners, Ryan and I had an opportunity to try Somali food for the first time on Wednesday. I work with an aide at Trillium who is from Somalia. I asked her where Ryan and I could find some authentic Somali food, as we had never tried it, and she offered to take us to one of her favorite restaurants. It was called African Paradise. She told us all about her life in Africa, and how she transitioned to the United States as we dined on rice, salmon, chicken, goat, flat-bread, a tomato based dipping sauce, and bananas. we also had a pitcher of mango juice. It was really fun to hear her stories and eat real Somali food. We had plenty of left overs for lunch the next day. Now we can add that to our growing cultural food list. So far we've had Ethiopian, Somali, Korean, Greek, Indian, Bali, Lebanese, and I'm sure there's more I can't think of.

In hobby news, I have discovered a new one! ATCs! Artist Trading Cards. There is an entire community of artists who make small masterpieces on playing-cards sized paper/canvas. They swap them online or in person for other cards. Some of the swaps have themes, and others are open. I am totally hooked. I've already joined some swaps and made some cards. The site I joined up with is ATCsforall.com. Just what I needed as finals approach, a new hobby to distract me.

Here are some of the cards I've made. The top 2 are for an "Homage to Tim Burton" swap, and the bottom 4 are for a "Gesso Faces" swap, in which the artist finds a face in a magazine, applies a thin veil of gesso, and brings out the face by drawing or painting. I can't wait to send them in and get new cards in return!

Yesterday marked 6 months until wedding. My brain celebrated by creating a terrible nightmare about my mother being my hair stylist for the big day (no offense, mom), and me ending up with the same hair cut I was cursed with in January of 2008. For those that remember, it wasn't pretty. I also had no groom, and attempted to hold the wedding at McDonald's. When it was all said and done, I had no recollection that the wedding even happened. It was very strange and I was relieved to wake up.