Don’t Give Up Until You, Drink from the Silver Cup

One of Matt’s favorite sayings is “I’ll try anything once, twice if I like it”. Well the moment I heard this clever little turn of phrase come out of his mouth I mixed it right into the soup that is my own life philosophy. Because of it I have re-tried a whole bunch of things in the last decade that I may not have enjoyed in the decades prior, or perhaps never even tried as a kid. I was tired of living by preconceived notions that I would not like it now just because of how I felt then and it has opened my eyes to so many kick ass experiences. Good examples of how I have applied this would be via avocados and skiing.

Avocados were a winner. Guacamole is a staple in my house now and I am always on the lookout for cool new stuff to do with this wondrous food. I will even eat them on the half skin with a little oil, balsamic, salt and pepper. Quite a departure from my upturned nose of years past.

Skiing. Well that was an entirely different story. It is safe to say that is an activity I will not be taking part in again. Ever. But how would I have known unless I gave it a whirl right? Not to mention the skiing story is one of my favorites to tell because it is just hilarious so at least something great came out of the day.

In the spirit of this attempt at trying things…

The other day I promised a new blog background with my first post in June. Well sorry friends but I am currently in the process of learning how to create my own template skin and because I am working out of the house all week the lovely brown is going to have to suffice until I can work on it more next week. It is something I am seriously enjoying figuring out though!

I am back on the hunt for a new hair color. This is not completely shocking to those who know me but I had actually resolved myself to only doing my natural hair color after I dyed over the fire engine red from last summer. I was tired of finding new colors, trying to select the perfect one, so instead of doing it on my own this time, I asked for help. When Matt ran out to get soysauges (yes breakfast sausages made from soy -- again, never knock it ‘til you try it, they are freaking awesome) I asked him to pop into Walgreens and come back with a box of hair color; to surprise me. I told him no matter what it was I would put it in my hair.

He looked frightened, as if I had suddenly become one of those girls that asks the loaded question for which there is no right answer, just so I can kick his proverbial ass when he is forced to make a choice. He started to sweat and search for a way out of the house without having to pass me where I would trip him and laugh. Sensing his level of panic, I laid out a few ground rules -- no platinum blonde, no jet black and nothing I would actually need to go to a salon to make it come out nice (like hot pink or blue). He exhaled at this point and even seemed eager for the challenge. He came home with a mahogany color that has strong tones of flaming garnet when seen in the sunlight. I freaking love it.

Right before I dyed my hair I decided to peruse a few blogs over coffee. One of my best bloggy friends Ginger had recently been on a hiatus with a busted up computer and one of her first posts back was for vegan pancakes. I read a whole slew of foodie bloggers because now that I am in charge of most night’s dinners, spaghetti and chicken soup were getting a touch lame. Ginger has never, and I mean never, let me down in terms of deliciousness. Her recipes should be in a book. Seriously.

As if by sheer fate, she posted the pancake recipe and I already had every single ingredient on hand to make them. I was stoked because we had an entire Sunday to do with as we wished; brunch fit right into the plan. I slightly modified her recipe using agave nectar in lieu of maple syrup, whole wheat flour instead of unbleached all purpose and a whole lime’s worth of juice plus an extra shake of cinnamon. We ate them with fresh strawberries, the soysauges and scrambled eggs with spinach, fresh tomato and fresh cilantro. Best. Meal. Ever. The recipe has already been printed and safely tucked into my box of tricks (which is growing so I guess cooking also makes it to the ‘give it a try’ list). But I highly encourage you to write the book Ginger, I’m running out of space.

Most everyone knows that I do not consider myself much of an outdoorsy type of girl. Woodland activities are not my scene because I really strongly dislike bugs and there is just something so perfect about being able to sleep in a bed. So when our friends, who we vacation with every year on Martha’s Vineyard, mentioned that their summer trips were likely to phase out the over priced, albeit beautiful, island and grow to include more camping trips, my own panic set in much as I described Matt’s above; furrowed brow, clammy palms and all. Tent camping was not something I ever imagined blipping up on my personal radar.

This activity is something Matt really enjoys but as much as I can tolerate a nice hike now and then, when it comes to the sleeping without a door lock in the middle of the wilderness with who knows what kind of rabid animal or psycho killer just past the line of sight, I can’t say that I am going to feel all safe and snuggly because I have a nylon sheet in between me and those threats. But despite my completely irrational fear that some Stephen King novel will play itself out in the middle of the family campground, I find myself looking at the price of a nice, sturdy tent that sleeps four and comes with all kinds of clip on pockets and stuff, not to mention getting a little bit excited about it, because you bet your ass there will be an air mattress involved. Not to mention two bags of marshmallows for ‘smores and maybe a bottle of wine so I can pass out and stay that way until morning. All joking aside, I promise nothing but just like skiing I will at least never be able to say I didn’t give it a shot.

(Luckily I know the real secret to living through the horror movie is don’t be a virgin getting laid for the first time in the cabin in the woods. Done and done. Mosquito bites on one’s ass -- so not attractive.)

Although I love my drums it was time to take a crack at singing. And I do mean crack; as in Peter Brady When it’s Time to Change kind of crack. Right after Wendy and Kyle left we went out and picked up Rock band II. With constant access to all of the instruments and the microphone as well, it was only a matter of time before I decided to give it a go. Now, unlike on the drums where I delude myself into believing that I might actually be able to play them someday because I have that independent limb thing down, in no universe would I ever try to say I could carry a tune on key. But that does not make a bit of difference with Rock Band; the only thing that matters is being able to maintain the pitch. Any song by a moderately lower pitched singer I can pull off now on hard difficulty. Man in the Box, Alive, Everlong and anything by Oasis are at the top of my favorite list. Sorry neighbors.

So now when I see something or hear of something that I either had no use for previously or never even considered up to that moment, I fully intend to at least give it a try. Never know, it could be something awesome that I might have missed if I never gave it that shot.