Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Sunny Robot!!
(thank you, thank you)
one year ago today I was at Intralogic Solutions, thinking to myself.....'Man daytime television is awful'. I was also thinking, 'what's this blog nonsense everyone keeps blogging about?'. So i started an account and copied a gloomy story i had written a few days prior. It began as a silly way to keep me occupied and in all honesty, I like hitting the "publish" button on the bottom of the screen after i had written something. it was small, but i like that word and what it means. As someone who throws out or rips up journals after they were finished (although had been staunchly advised against such practices) it was a liberating feeling having written something, whether it be lists or rants or recipes, and throwing it out to the public. Although this public consists of my family and a handful of friends, it is certainly a step for me to share whatever writing or thoughts i have with whoever will read them. And i am a bit proud.
So as it began, changes seem to happen quickly, and looking back on the year it all seems pretty dark. I was quite stuck. I had nothing to write about but what i was feeling and what was going on in my life, neither of which were things that were generally inspiring or pleasant to read. I knew i didn't want to treat this blog as a journal. but i didn't know what else to write about. there are countless pages in my notebooks that are scribbled and scratched with the phrase "there is nothing to say". and that gets real frustrating and real boring very quickly.
Fortunately, it was while working at Spiegel Brands as a receptionist that i realized not only where i could potentially take my blog, but where I wanted to go with my life wholly. this was the process :
+Calorieking.com checking calories.
+searching recipes for healthy meals.
+realizing, maybe i was obsessed with how much i consume because.....I AM OBSESSED WITH FOOD.
+hearing my family's advice to do what you love, echoing through my ears.
=i love food. that's what i'll "do".
you see where this is all heading right? well it seems obvious but it was revelatory and very exciting for me.
and so, the sunny robot went through some recipes, applied to culinary school, and tried to write something worth reading. I am still not there, but it is good for me to have a direction and something to discipline me. I try to do AT LEAST 4 posts a month. so, if i haven't done anything by week 3, 3 posts in a day will happen, and has happened.
ok, so well, this is boring, and a long winded way of saying
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Thank you for reading and encouraging me to keep writing.
there is much to come in the next few weeks.....I promise.

xo-The Sunny Robot

not just planes

bahhh.
i've been told to write in the morning when i first wake up. but days when i am not off to work or school, i am generally nursing a hangover, ordering Chinese food and watching re-runs of the office all day. so, this morning I awoke, made a pot of coffee and sat at the dining room table in my home upstate. i am here to sleep, mostly, and to spend some time with molly. we both woke up around 11:45, and we talked about how she likes living here alone in the country, and about how i like living alone in the city. it was a nice gradual wake-up, one i know my body was meant for, as opposed to the bells that echo in my cold apartment, too early everytime.
I've been having bad dreams, planes crashing, girls ducking from unidentified ojects, and unspeakable things i hope i can forget. Perhaps it's all the sugar. anyways!
now i look out the window to a perfectly clear world. a blanket (more like 12 blankets)of snow keeps the earth cold. winter always turns things around. the cat lazily jumps from one couch to the other, thinking the next will be better, and then realizing it's all the same, and it's all ok.
the shower is running, and the heat is softly blowing. the sun shines in and the coffee is strong. always a mini-vacation up here; away from billows of soot and people who talk to noone but themselves. my cell phone rings and i turn to get it. I stop myself...(keep writing, you never do, the day just started everything is new)...and then i start biting my stumpy fingers wondering who has called.
So Sue Me! I picked it up. a friend texts me "Bobby Flay is in the building! Repeat, Bobby Flay is in the building!" (she works at Chelsea Market)
I am glad i picked it up. how quickly i forget the snow, the lazy cat, the soft sounds,the country. Now I am thinking of fast kitchens, school specifically. it's hot and there is a smudge of flour on my cheek. I think of getting back in the kitchen, working fast, listening hard and being brilliant. (the latter the goal of course)
I look back to what I wrote a few moments ago and say "what a change of personality! I muust be crazy!" and then i reassure myself....damn this is strong coffee...the proof is in the deteriorating handwriting)
even the cat has woken up, the little one grabbed at my pen as i was writing furiously.
And once i wake up I start worrying. worrying about my family, my work, my friends, anonymous planes in the sky.
and then i realize why writing first ting in the morning is recommended. by the time your eyes have blinked off the sleep, that first cup of coffee has been gulped down, and the first contact with the outside world is established, your mind is elsewhere. The focus is obscured, and your pen doesn't know what to write about anymore......you can't.....
oh look, something shiny!!

how to make Molly smile

as i sit in my chilly apartment, munching on chocolate thin crisps and sipping a diet coke, I am reminded of a time when i made Molly dog biscuits. it was last saturday. ah yes, i remember it well. It was chilly then too, and I had just come home from school. Molly had gifted me with cookie cutters in the shapes of things dogs like; dog houses, fire hydrants, bones, little bones, paws....and i had yet to thank her for the thoughtful gift. so i set out to begin my adventure.....
here is a very basic recipe for dog biscuits that will guarantee a puppy smile and a friend for life. or at least until someone gives her a hotdog, and then you have some stiff competition. anyway!
I gathered my ingredients, which included : Cornmeal, oil, whole wheat flour, and broth (or water. but it's a scientific fact that dogs love chicken broth.)

First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, roll it out and cut away! (seriously, it's this easy!)
As many of you know, I have recently moved, and I left my rolling pin in my old apartment! but, you can't keep a good dog down(bow wow wow wow), and I found a convenient and effective replacement.

using the cookie cutter i made about 50 biscuits. I burned about 18 of them. I am still getting used to my new oven. boo me.

so then i packed them into a tin, and made my way upstate to the snowy mountains of Michellebletown. Molly liked them, quite alot. And I like Molly quite alot, so it was a win win situation.

Molly waiting not so patiently.


Molly in a house!

saying goodbye to pie.

you will be missed Miss Kristen. Safe travels, and the best of luck and love and all that crap.
SEE YOU IN A YEAR!!

i lovvve you.

xox-Beamy

update!

I will be getting internet in my apartment this afternoon!
Please stay tuned for postings about food,Astoria, and other things i can't stop thinking about.
xo!

busy bees in an '09 kinda hive.

Good morning! ugh.
this is the first post in the new year! which i think is quite exciting.
So, let's start with news, shall we?
Last Saturday I moved from Brooklyn, back to sunny Astoria. Shmoops left her warm bed in Michellebletown in the wee hours of the morning, fueled up with coffee and Mango Coconut cake and drove down to help me move. I barely slept that night, dreams of pythons eating small people and epic fights with loved ones haunted me. But once the sun filled the apartment i awoke, made sure i had packed all my little things into little boxes and ate the last of my frozen waffles. Once mom arrived we crammed everything (EVERYTHING!) into the car with surprisingly few obstacles.
we hopped on the Bklyn/Qns expressway and an hour later we were in a greasy spoon, in my new/old neighborhood, chatting over coffee and eggs. (and bacon for me, of course)
So this last week I have been puttering in my new place, all by myself, singing David Bowie and walking around in my underwear and ridiculous leg warmer BECAUSE I CAN! so ha.
This Saturday I start culinary school. (i'm humming, "the long and winding road" to myself) i can't believe it's finally here!! although it has been less than a year since this idea was a twinkle in my eye, it seems as though i have been waiting a very long time for this. Tonight i will iron my uniform with such precision, and pack my school bag with fervor and nausea. (I'm nervous!) As i was telling a co-worker about school, and the schedule she exclaimed "So you have no life!!". No. No, i don't. i work and then i work and then i school. but school becomes your life, and all i can hope is that that becomes a life that makes me happy.

And then, next week, my dear dear Kristen Apple Pie, biffle for liffle, partner in crime and a king amongst men, is leaving. Off to that place which we not dare mention or utter under our breaths. aw, what the hell....she's off to NEW ZEALAND. of course. heh.
but in all seriousness, she is off for a year long adventure in Lord of the Rings country, and i wish her nothing but the absolute best in the world. under this thick xenophobic exterior, i'm just a big ole softy who is very proud of her (and all that embark on adventures) and can only hope she comes back in one piece. with a cool accent. and some fancy new zealand booze for me.
so! last night we went to Panna II again, and ate spicy food under bright lights, and drank Dutch beers from huge cans. it was lovely, as per usual.
and now i am left to think of the good times, the drunk times, the hungry times and even some sad times. ahh the life and times of the sunny robot.....it never seems to get dull, does it?