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A place to rejuvenate and find yourself

Mr. Quirky and I in front of my old apartment complex where we shared our first kiss

One of the odd side affects of working from home is that the lack of daily interaction with co-workers makes me extra chatty.

It didn’t take much, really.

Tonight on my nightly trip to the grocery store (why can’t I learn how to do this once a week?!), I recognized a woman from my old apartment complex. Despite the fact that I never once exchanged words with her while we lived under the same roof, I felt compelled to say hello. (See previous statement about being extra chatty.)

She recognized me.

We both had dogs and often passed on the sidewalk, or in the parking garage.

Without much else to discuss, I asked her if she still lived there. She said that she had recently moved in with her boyfriend. I shared that I was married in February.

We congratulated one another.

“It’s so nice to be out of there, isn’t it?” she asked me.

Well, I hadn’t really thought about it that way. I really loved living in the complex, especially the days I shared the apartment with roomie. The pool, the proximity to the Plaza, the beautiful fountains and view from the patio…

But sure, I thought, it is great to be in a house again. And even better to share my home with Mr. Quirky. I mentioned that I lived there after a divorce and despite some crazy management issues, it was a wonderful place to enjoy my single days.

“Exactly!” she said. “I was married for 27 years. I moved there after my divorce too! It was a great place to rejuvenate and find myself.”

Suddenly I felt warm and tingly. (And no, it had nothing to do with my close proximity to the wine section.)

I couldn’t have said it better myself. “A place to rejuvenate and find myself.”

Isn’t that the key to moving on after divorce? Isn’t that the reason that despite such a horrific and jarring end to my first marriage, I’ve been able to sink cozily into the institution once again?

On my way home, I thought about what it meant to “be out of there.” Being out of there means I’m out of the dark early days. It means I have a wonderful husband to laugh with and spend my days with. It means I will never have to go back “there” again.

I really did find myself in that apartment. I found Queen of Quirky (and not just the blog), I found my love of cooking, I found a dozen wonderful friends including DD Girl and Roomie. And most importantly, I found Mr. Quirky.

And even though I live in a house with a couch on the front porch, (Will someone please come take that darned couch?! We moved it to make room for my new office.) I’m happy to be out of a place where I needed to rejuvenate and find myself.

I guess I am really glad to be out of there.

Fire & Wine Night: Green Curry and “Salty Pancakes”

Everyone loves a party.

Especially one hosted by Aarti. For those of you who don’t know, Aarti won the Food Networks Next Food Network Star challenge. And she wears the most amazing hair flowers!

Ok, so Aarti didn’t come to Fire & Wine night (we’ll work on that.) But she did inspire the delicious Green Chicken Curry.

The recipe lived up to every positive review on the site. I served it with basmati rice AND nAan. (Aarti suggested either or, but I figured a true Aarti Party would include both.) Mr. Quirky had never had naan before and he likened it to salty pancakes. Fair enough. Regardless, of what it tasted like, it didn’t last long…

(I grilled it on my grill pan and brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with a little bit of Kosher salt.)

If you’ve never made Indian curry before, this is a great recipe to start with for a few reasons:

1. It’s not spicy. Trust me. DD Girl won’t even let me put black pepper on food. So she wouldn’t have touched it had it had heat to it. (You won’t miss the spice, but if you are like me and insane, you could add a little bit of pepper sauce to your own plate.)

2. It uses a ton of fresh herbs (please say that with a hard “h” like the Brits do. It’s much more fun.)

3. While the smell of it will linger for a few days, it tastes amazing and will impress your guests with your MAD International culinary skilz.

4. It uses easy to find ingredients.

5. It’s healthy!

Aarti’s Green Chicken Curry

2 small bunches cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped, 1 1/2 cups
1 bunch fresh mint, leaves, coarsely chopped, 1 1/2 cups
1 red onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic
1 1/2-inch piece ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup water, plus 1 1/2 cups (I used low-sodium chicken broth.)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 shallots, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, about 1 3/4 pounds, halved
1/2 teaspoon malt vinegar
1/4 cup plain whole milk yogurt, whisked until smooth
Cooked basmati rice or warm naan bread, for serving

Directions

Add the cilantro, mint, red onion, garlic, ginger, and salt, and pepper, to taste, to a food processor or blender. Puree on high until smooth. With the processor running, add about 1/4 cup water ( I used low sodium chicken broth), and blend until the mixture is the consistency of a thick paste, a.k.a. “masala”. Set aside.

In a large pot or deep skillet heat the olive oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add the shallot and cook, stirring often, until golden brown.

Add the spices and cook for 30 seconds. Pour the masala mixture into skillet and cook, stirring often until it deepens in color and aroma. You’ll know it’s ready when it looks shiny, little droplets of oil will appear on the surface, and the masala will hold together as a cohesive mass.

Add the chicken, coating every piece in the masala and stirring often. Continue to cook for 5 minutes, so that the masala really adheres to thechicken. Add about 1 1/2 cups water(Again, used broth), just enough to cover the chicken, and the vinegar. Bring to a boil, and then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, until the chicken is tender and sauce has thickened slightly, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Remove the pan from heat and stir in the yogurt. Taste and adjust seasonings, if needed. Transfer the mixture to a serving dish and serve over rice or with warm naan bread.

Have lasso. Will love again. Part III

I looked up at him from the flowers, a little bewildered.

Doyouwannamakeout?

And as my brain translated his mushed together words, I remembered our conversation about kissing before the first date.

Um, sure? I’m a relatively hip, cool 30 year-old chick, dating multiple men, making out with strangers … why not kiss this red-headed boy before I kick his butt in skee-ball?

I leaned forward and our lips touched (this is weird, really weird) and we started to kiss (this is good, really good). And then the kiss was over, and I was still standing there, holding a bouquet of flowers looking at this date of mine whose lips I had just been locked with.

What was his last name again?

He opened the car door for me. I didn’t know what to say, so I blurt out something about how he looked like his picture. He laughed, closed the car door and got in on his side. I pulled a gift out of my purse – a weird little pickle statuette that I thought he would find funny.

The ice had been broken, gifts had been exchanged, but there were still first-date nerves kicking around randomly in my stomach like me trying to keep up with a kick-boxing class.

We chit chatted all the way to Dave & Buster’s. He was easy to talk to, even if he was little hard to understand at times.

Understandably, he wanted to know why a seemingly normal [attractive, successful, talented, outgoing, smoking hot, sexy...oops, I inserted those.] woman such as myself ended up divorced at age 30. I promised him the story over dinner.

He listened as I told my story while we enjoyed beers before our food.

He shared that he has been in several serious relationships, recently ending a 10-month romance with a live-in girlfriend.

I kind of already knew that, since I had stalked him on Facebook. Her profile was public and I had also checked her out – tall, blonde, attractive and seemingly into all the same things he was into. She was also a foodie – someone who I thought would be a good friend to have. She kind of seemed perfect for him, but what did I know? I couldn’t be intimidated by his past, just like he couldn’t be intimidated by mine.

Dating was so weird.

Besides, I was still trying to force myself to have fun and not get tied down. So while I was enjoying our date, I was trying not to map out our future.

But with him, everything was so easy.

After dinner, we loaded up some Dave & Busters game cards and hit skee-ball. True to my promise I beat him. (Aside from that game and one fluke game of Trivial Pursuit, it stands as one of the only times I beat him at anything.)

After an hour or so we had enough tickets to claim some prizes in the ticket redemption shop. What to get, what to get.

When you are on a first date, these decisions matter.

We discovered a pair of battery-powered whirly headbands. Dork-dom to the Nth degree. Awesome. We wore them out of the restaurant, holding hands with stupid plastic headbands buzzing above us.

But my heart was buzzing louder.

Have you ever been on a first date and you just.wanted.it.to.be.over?

This was not that date. With the kiss out-of-the-way, and more kisses during dinner and games, there was no anxiety, only a really strong attraction that was growing and growing. Oddly, it felt like a third or fourth date.

Even though it was well after 11 p.m. on a Sunday night, I couldn’t get enough of him. He took me to his favorite bar in Westport. We had a drink and more conversation. Then, he saw some friends, “c’mon I want to introduce you!”

Woah. Introduce me? On the first date?

After I met several people, he took me to another bar where one of his two roommates was working. Later, the roommate referred to me as the Alyson Hannigan chick. (This became the inspiration for my Band Camp Girl Halloween costume that year)

At some point, I had to go home. He came with me and we talked and kissed way into the wee hours of the morning. (Nothing else happened. It was PG rated. Ok, maybe PG-13.)

The next morning, exhausted, deliriously happy and bed-heady, I walked him down to the front gate. We kissed again as the elevator opened and out walked hot neighbor.

Hot neighbor who was so gorgeous that I often lost my ability to form sentences when I was around him. Hot neighbor who was a lawyer, worked out regularly, kept a great tan and was super sweet. Hot neighbor who could feasibly still think I was on the market and had never seen me with a boy.

I could care less. “Hi, [insert hot-neighbor's real name],” I said. “This is [KCFilm Guy.]” Another kiss and then I was back upstairs to get ready for work.

That night, I had several friends over for a dinner party I’d been planning for a few weeks. I invited KCFilmGuy to stop by if he wanted to, after dinner. It was past 9 p.m., and any normal night I would consider cleaning up my kitchen and heading to bed after a few glasses of wine and a good meal.

But KCFilmGuy wanted to know if I wanted to come to his place and see a movie.

So began a week of absolutely no sleep whatsoever.

KCFilmGuy had a job that started after noon each day. My job started at 7:30 a.m. I began to feel the effects of my sleepless week.

I wasn’t sure this was going to work out. I really needed my sleep and it seemed KCFilmGuy never slept. At 9 p.m., he’d only been home from work for an hour or so and his evening was just getting started. At 9 p.m., I had already run a few miles, taken a shower, watched a few shows, eaten dinner and was thinking about bedtime.

But love is a funny thing. It keeps you going, even when you otherwise would be falling asleep at your computer during the day.

What were we doing? We had spent every night together since our date. And when we weren’t together, we were texting. This was so very different from the sporadic but reliable texts and dates I experienced with the other guys I had been seeing.

And speaking of them, what was I supposed to do about them? It was clear that I really, really liked KCFilmGuy, but I was trying not to settle down with anyone. And they were both really great guys. Was I ready to tell them good-bye?

I hadn’t had a chance to figure out the answers to these questions. I was just so tired and happy and confused…so, I put off thinking and decided to live in the moment.

But sometimes, you are confronted with a choice when you least expect it.

It was passed 1 a.m. on Thursday night. KCFilmGuy had made me a late dinner of his famous tuna casserole (I didn’t have the heart that I had made tuna helper the night before for dinner and then had leftovers for lunch, so the last thing I wanted to put into my mouth was more tuna.)

We were talking on his front porch – we had really lucked out in that we only lived 1.5 miles away from one another – and then he presented something I wasn’t quite prepared for.

“I was thinking that I don’t want to date anyone else. I really like what we have here and I want to see where it can go.”

To be continued…

Queen of Quirky

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