Thank you for your opinions on Twitter from yesterday's post - although I feel it's only fair to point out that this is an Angietatorship here on my blog, and so I probably would have joined Twitter either way. But I'm glad to have gotten all the feedback because I'm a benevolent Angietator who still enjoys hearing from the people. I'll let you know as soon as I (and when I say I what I really mean is my sister) gets my Twitter account set up, that is if my lame Angietator jokes have not driven you away from the idea of reading my Twitter page, I promise I will strive to be less corny with my Twitter updates.
And now it's time to take a trip in the time machine, back to that magical time known as 1989.
Here I am standing in front of the carriage house at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in Mansfield, Missouri. This picture was taken during the zenith of my Laura Ingalls Wilder obsession and so I was happy enough that day for it to overpower how incredibly sick I was. I'll spare you the gruesome details, let's just say I spent the whole car ride there sitting in very close proximity to the trashcan and leave it at that. I'm so glad to see that despite severe illness I still got up and put on my perfectly matching outfit, with match socks and bow - because, after all, illness is no excuse for not looking ones best
I have no idea why this picture insists on being posted off center, so just pretend like I was trying to be artsy and creative with that one.
Despite feeling sick I still posed for several pictures - although I wasn't given much choice in the matter. My Mother has no concept of when it's appropriate to take a picture of someone and when it's not, and so there are times when she feels the need to hold the car keys for ransom until her demands are met, in this case her demands being "Okay, I know you feel sick, but before you go to the car to throw up could you just smile for one more picture."
As much as I hate to stop talking about me, I think it might be time to actually talk about today's book - although who am I kidding here, I'm still going to talk about myself even while pretending like I'm talking about today's book.
Today's book, "The roles of celebrity wife and mother satisfied Anna Sandoval completely-until her husband, a famed international journalist, suffered a fatal heart attack. Now, a year later, still young and with her children grown, Anna seeks an interlude from grief and a fresh start on the timeless isle of Crete. In a small Greek community of ancient hills soaked in sun and surrounded by sea, Anna adapts to a slower pace and simpler lifestyle. Gradually, she rediscovers a passion for drawing and becomes protégé to a local artist and his sage wife, whose combined insights help Anna transform life into art-and take charge of her destiny. But when two very different men invite her into their lives, she must decide not just what kind of love she wants, but whether love itself is worth risking everything she's gained."
I expected today's book to be kind of like Under the Tuscan Sun, which was a book I enjoyed. However, today's book lacked the charm Under the Tuscan Sun had, and there were parts of the book where it felt like the author was trying too hard. The characters in this book seemed to fall into two categories: 1. boring and 2. annoying. So I spent most of the book contemplating: Who would I rather spend time with, someone boring or someone really annoying? On the one hand, spending time with someone boring can have it's advantages because sometimes it's fun to be the most interesting person in the room. But, on the other hand, annoying people are more fun to mock on the car ride home. I guess I'd had to settle for boring, because sometimes boring people become more interesting with proper exposure to people who are more fun than they are, but annoying people seldom become less annoying no matter who they spend time with.
The one part of the book I enjoyed was the part where Anna decided that she didn't care what people thought of her since she was on vacation. I've always been a firm believer in that motto. Who cares if you do something really dorky or embarrassing - no back at home is ever going to know about it, and so it's as if it never happened. Although that attitude doesn't differ all that much from how I feel at home, where I take the attitude of "Who cares what that person over at that next table thinks. Why do I need to worry about the opinion of someone wearing stone washed jean shorts anyway?" Basically what I'm trying to say is that I'm equally mean, judgemental, and carefree on vacation as I am at home.
And here's your summer recipe for the day dear readers. I invented this recipe a couple of years ago when I was too lazy to go look up how to make homemade marinara sauce, so I decided to just invent my own way of making pasta sauce, and this is what I came up with:
Summer Pasta Sauce
1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, cut in quarters
1 small onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, diced
2 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp tomato paste
1/4 cup vegetable broth
1/4 tsp basil
1/4 tsp oregano
Saute onions and garlic in olive oil for 3-5 minutes, or until soft. Add tomatoes and saute an additional 2 minutes. Add tomato paste, vegetable broth, basil, and oregano and stir to combine. Simmer for 10 minutes. Serve over pasta.
