Pork Suey! + Lovely, Unnecessary School Supplies & Blog Award

Listening to "Talk of the Nation," NPR.

I have heard that it's bad to tie shopping to emotions.

You shouldn't shop to celebrate, or shop to cheer yourself up... you should only shop when you need things.

I've heard the same argument about eating ("Don't eat when you're upset!").

And I understand the argument.

But... once a year, before a very important time, I shop on emotion.

The emotion of pure excitement.

I buy school supplies.

Silly, colorful, frivolous school supplies! I love them.

School to me is... a sweet return to normal (think Tom Hanks in You've Got Mail... "bouquet of newly-sharpened pencils"), an enjoyably difficult task to conquer (definitely Hermione in Harry Potter), and something I've always loved to do, and probably always will... (maybe Diane Court in Say Anything... but I totally wouldn't have broken Llyod Dobler's heart...)

And I celebrate the start of a new academic year (sometimes even the start of a new semester...) with new school supplies.

Even when I don't need them.

And this week, I bought these:

Oh, that isn't all I bought. But here are
the most fun/frivolous things...

1. The Multi-Colored Pens, Highlighters, and Fun Mechanical Pencils: Do I need that many? No. Do I love and cherish them? Yes.

2. The Polka-Dot Pencil Pouch: Also holds cute, tiny-sized post-it notes to mark textbook pages. Love it.

3. Color-Matching Desk Set: Small clock, stapler, paper clip holder, and miscellaneous boxed supplies. I mean... do they need to all match? No. But will that look really cute in my tiny TA cubicle? YES.

4. THE BEST OF ALL-- Is it a purse? No. It's cute enough to be a purse, but that polka-dot bag in the back, ladies and gentlemen, is a LUNCH BOX. That's right. A lunch box. So cute.

I bought other things as well... binders, tabbed dividers, a new planner (LOVE new planners...), loose-leaf paper (college-ruled, baby!), and some spirals.

But thought I'd show you the silly ones.

Didn't break the bank or anything (thanks, Wal-Mart)... but I definitely consider the whole thing to be a treat for myself.

You know how it is... everyone has different splurges, yes? You have one, right? Maybe yours is a big night out, a fancy new pair of shoes, or even just an ice cream cone after a hot summer day. My splurge just happens to be school supplies.

CAN'T WAIT!

~*~*~

Cooking Update:

Pork Suey!
(From Quick & Healthy)

YUM.

Quick Instructions, if you're interested:
Brown pork cuts (1/4-inch thick) in non-stick sprayed skillet. Add celery (2 c.), onion (1 c.), soy sauce (1 tbsp.), beef broth ( c.), and salt (dash), and let simmer 10 minutes.

In separate bowl, mix corn starch (2.5 tbsp.), ginger (1/4 tsp.), molasses (1 tbsp.), and water (1/4 c). Stir into hot skillet. Allow to boil and thicken; serve over noodles or brown rice.

I slipped in too much corn starch, and you can definitely taste that (oops!), but still tastes good overall :)

I definitely recommend!

I do have a questions, though: If you're making a dish with soy sauce or another Asian influence, do you have a favorite pasta or rice type? I'd like to cook more with soy sauce, since I looooove it, but I don't know which pasta/rice to serve with it. Advice?

Matt was working late when I fixed this; it was a yummy, filling meal that paired well with wine and some lazy television :)

~*~*~
!*!*! AWARD !*!*!

Thanks SO much, ACE!

What a cute award-- I'd never seen this one!

Looking forward to fulfilling the award duties (a one-word challenge-- I LOVE word challenges!) in my next post. Thanks again!

~*~*~

Back to the daily grind of this crazy week... it's actually been a great week, just busy. I hope your week has been great as well!

I've been doing a lot of planning for the TA position :) I can't WAIT to get started!!

Twitter and Facebook Users: How about that crazy down-time episode today?! They're saying it was hacker-driven. Interesting story about that here.

I'll be gone this weekend-- going to visit Matt's parents and grandmother!! I can't wait to meet his grandmother; I've never met her before since she lives far up north. Plus, seeing Matt's parents is always fun: they're great, their lake house is beautiful, and his Mom is quite the prolific knitter.

See you soon!

Your snackin-on-Cap'n-Crunch,
Summer-storm-enjoyin,
always-checker-board-knittin,
New Girl Blogger