Per aspera ad astra

I moved to Houston for work about three weeks ago. My stuff followed me about a week later and payday was just this past Friday. Both of those proved to be good enough reasons for me to explore Houston’s “dining out” scene. (It’s impressive, folks. More to come on that.) But now, money in the bank and pots & pans in cabinets, I’m ready to start being an adult again.

My refrigerator is pleased to have things besides leftovers to house. A trip to Houston Farmers Market got me some local chicken, goat feta (oh.my.word.), veggies and eggs, while a venture to ye old H.E.B. got me the essential mustard, Greek yogurt and Russian(!) beer. My pantry joins the celebration and welcomes some of the basics.

After my first-ever Spin class tonight, I decided I needed to get back down to business and take care of myself at home too. Enter Chicken Gyros with Homemade Tsatsiki (I swear, I checked the spelling on “tsatsiki” a million times.). A little more time-consuming when the chicken isn’t cooked already, but totally worth the wait. I substituted whole wheat pitas for whole wheat sandwich thins, put the tsatsiki underneath and added some goat feta (did I mention oh.my.word.?). Voila! Taste explosion!

So, it’s been a while. Thought it’s not like I haven’t been busy (I recently relocated to Houston and started a new job!), I haven’t been that busy. What’s the deal with my lack of blogging? Well, despite a number of emails and gentle phone calls from my aunt and mother, avid readers, I’ve just been plain lazy.

In my attempt to jump back into things, I thought I’d draw inspiration from two lady bloggers I envy. Over at Here’s Looking at Shoes, Cara posts regularly (daily?) updates on, well, shoes and jackets and fashions and frocks and trends and.. I’ll never be as stylish as Ms. Ballard (seriously, check out these shoes, this simple-cute look or this bright and cheery dress), so I thought I’d stick with something more my speed.

Cue Jonesin’ For… (c/o Jessica Jones- more proof that Russian majors can be useful to society, not to mention witty with titles). Now I consider myself a decent cook, but whenever JJ posts something, I secretly worry that my boyfriend might leave me for her her chocolate stout cupcakes w/ Bailey’s cream cheese icing. Of course that thought only lasts a millisecond before I can’t focus on anything but salivating.

While I promise (swear!) that a post with new apartment pics, jobtalk, etc. is coming, sometimes baby steps are the way to go.  Today, Jess posted this killer recipe for fennel & apple salad and my craving for prosciutto finally convinced me I could blog again. Next week (Mon-Sat), I’m going to make at least one JJ special and do a little write-up about it (perhaps even incorporating some of those aforementioned details about my new life). I’ve got an empty fridge, a new paycheck, and a whole bunch of inspiration, so давай!