AUBREEVISION - Observations from the far side of the dial

For several months I have been on a casual but frustrating hunt for a cute garlic keeper, and can't for the life of me figure out who mandated that every garlic keeper has to look like this:



The ugliness pains me! That said, I did find this much cuter garlic keeper on a New Zealand website, proving that cute garlic keepers do exist, if not on this continent:



My hope is that I can find something decent on Etsy. Who would have thought that a cute garlic house would be so hard to find?

I'm spending the later part of this evening on the phones for the New Hampshire Public Television auction. Eric's mother volunteers every year, and invited me along this time around. Since I'm pretty new to the area, I figured it could be a fun foray into the local(ish) community.

This is my second shift -- I did the early shift last Friday (theme: flashback to 1974) and decided to go back for more (tonight's theme: Mardi Gras). Last week was a lot of fun -- though I'm not a big phone/dealing with the public kind of person, there was enough chocolate (Lindt is an auction sponsor) and goofing around with the other volunteers to make it worthwhile. The whole production is also delightfully low-budget -- I say that not out of snobbery, but with a genuine appreciation for all things discount (Eric cringes at my passion for the Christmas Tree Shop). From cheesy graphics -- e.g., the curtain image that looks like a plywood cutout someone's holding in front of the camera --  to people randomly walking in front of the camera to guest appearances by "local celebrities" (e.g. politicians who haven't held office since the mid-seventies), the flavor of the production is definitely a testament to the fact that public television needs your money.

On the other side of things, I've also been watching the auction off and on in the evenings. It runs for six and a half hours every night for 11 days, and the sheer volume of merchandise, from gift baskets to vacations, is amazing. After seeing the deals that winning bidders come away with (Eric's mom, for instance, got a hotel stay worth $150 for $90), I can definitely see myself becoming a TV auction nut.

Let the bidding begin!

Totally. Old.

But at least I got a pretty necklace and a pilgrimage to the world's longest candy counter!

Eric outdid himself with this little number:



A Guinness-Book-worthy feast for the eyes:



Since Eric has been spending ungodly amounts of time away from home for work, we cashed in some of his hotel points and celebrated my birthday in Littleton, NH. I hadn't been to the White Mountains and felt the big 3-0 demanded more than dinner and a movie, so off we went for a little adventuring à deux. Perks of Eric's ungodly travel volume include Hilton Rewards gold status, which resulted in an unexpected upgrade to a whirlpool suite!

We came away from Chutters Candy Store with a king's ransom in candy: organic soft licorice, sweet Finnish licorice, chocolate Squirrel Nut Zippers (a tip-of-the-cap to one of my favorite bands), chocolate cookie dough bites, chocolate-dipped coconut patties, Toxic Waste brand sour candy and more. After seeing the town and having supper, we watched a couple of flicks in our room. I don't have the strength to be kind: 27 Dresses was a steaming pile of crap (The Heartbreak Kid was marginally better).

When we got home Eric hooked me up with a pefectly yum-licious mini birthday cake topped off with a big ol' scoop of non-dairy frozen dessert (damn you lactose intolerance), enjoyed against the appropriate backdrop of a Food Network wedding cakes marathon. All in all, it was a fine way to celebrate a milestone!

The sun is shining in southern NH and I've just returned from moving the car back to the apartment parking lot after the street sweepers made their yearly pass. Freshly buffed pavement -- can there be a surer sign of spring? Ok, there's also the low nightly hum signalling the awakening of the mini-golf course next door...

For weeks I've been looking forward to tricking out our little balcony. Since we live literally in the shadow (or glow, depending on one's perspective) of Wal-Mart, it made sense to stock up at the W-M garden center. I've bought gerber daises, azaleas and a Thai hot pepper plant and transplanted some herbs from inside into this very nifty planter (forgive the sickly appearance of the herbs):



I'm also excitedly awaiting the arrival of this "storage cocktail table" we ordered from Target:



To complete the look we need to find a couple of comfortable chairs and an outdoor rug. I'm envisioning something along these lines for the rug:




With a string of pink star Ikea lights, a couple of hanging lanterns and our (hopefully) abundant plant life, it will be a perfectly cozy summer space. My excitement over this little project comes down to this: when it's sunny outside and I'm indoors, I feel like a caged animal. Trying to suck it up and exist indoors can make for a long, miserable summer. In order to spend as much time outside as possible, a welcoming place to go is a necessity -- hence, the "balcony project." Since I work from home, writing, I intend to slather on some sunscreen and adopt the balcony as my summer "office."

I realize that I've been MIA from the Mindsay world for, oh, nine months -- so maybe an update is in order! Here's a brief recap of life since last August:

- moved to New Hampshire from Canada
- got married
- started new business

Amazing how few words it takes to sum up some major changes! A year from now the list might read like this:

- turned 30
- bought house
- made baby

Those six words encompass too much change for the ol' brain circuits to handle at once -- for now maybe I'll just stick with getting through tomorrow.

Was reading a news story about a woman who committed suicide following a cancer diagnosis by setting herself on fire in a parking lot. It definitely makes you wonder about the workings of the human mind -- assuming she committed suicide to avoid future suffering, it seems odd that she chose such a horrific, presumably excruciating means to an end. Mysterious creatures are we...

Here's a challenge for the un-faint of heart -- find a wedding reception location on two months' notice!

To give some context as to how I find myself thus pickled, here's the long-story-somewhat-short version of my life in recent months:

- March 2006 -- became engaged to a handsome American

- September 2006 -- began the application process for the Visa required for me, as a Canadian, to marry Eric and remain in the US

- Fall 2006 -- began making wedding plans for June 9th, 2007, our research having indicated that this would give us ample time for the unfolding of all necessary legalities

- March 2007 -- as my target move date of May 1st quickly approached, began probing the US Consulate for concrete information on our application status

- April 2007 -- intervention by a duo of fearless senators notwithstanding, received confirmation of our worst-case scenario -- there would be no Visa by June 9th. Wedding plug duly pulled.

- End July 2007 -- Received one week's notice to show up in Montreal for Visa interview/final approval

- August 1st, 2007 -- 11 months into the process and a couple thou in wedding deposits down the drain, we have Visa! With the requirement that I enter the US and be married within about 120 days, time was of the essence -- but we couldn't just throw together Wedding Version 2.0 overnight. With our desire to give ourselves a minimum of breathing space but have an outdoor wedding before the frost threatened to freeze our most personal bits, we decided that October 13th, 2007, would be the big day -- and one with the added significance of being Eric's parents' wedding anniversary and four years to the day since we began dating.

All of the vendors on tap for our late great June 9th wedding were exceptionally understanding and since we had already put money down, offered to hold our deposits for our new wedding date, provided they weren't already booked. Which brings me to our current dilemma...while we've found that many of our original vendors are thankfully available for Oct. 13th, one big'un -- the reception venue -- ain't. Since the obvious venues tend to book up more than a year in advance, we're doing some major scrambling. Eric, who's been doing most of the calling around given that I'm still in Canada, has been getting a pretty consistent reaction to his inquiries: "October 13th? Of this year?"

Fortunately, I don't think our guests will be left out in the cold. We have at least two solid, if not immediately lovable, possibilities:

-- a local function facility with an opening. Unfortunately, said opening happens to fall between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., translating to morning wedding/afternoon reception (definitely not our preference). The seemingly cookie-cutter nature of their reception packages also chafes at my creative sensibilities.

-- Chunky's Cinema Pub -- and you thought they only did burgers, beer and blockbusters! I was actually quite proud of myself for my outside-the-box-thinking on this one, and pleasantly shocked that it might actually be a viable candidate.

We may also contact the high school Eric attended on the off chance they have a big, empty space crying out for Canadian content.

So on that note, if anyone knows of anything remotely conducive to a wedding reception in the Derry, New Hampshire area, I'm all eyes!

I have been thinking today about something I haven't eaten since I was 8 or 10 -- the magnificent Salad Dog. This coleslaw-topped hot dog was served at a now-defunct restaurant my dad used to take me to when I was small; he would usually order the "hot hamburg sandwich," which was basically a slice of bread topped with a hamburger patty and gravy, served with peas and mashed potatoes. I haven't encountered either item on a menu outside of Nova Scotia. I can't even remember the name of the restaurant, which changed hands several times and has now been converted into a house -- only that it was frequented by flannel-shirt-and-work-boot-wearing local lobster fishermen like my dad. You could see into the kitchen through a cafeteria-style window and the bathroom area was partitioned off with a divider fashioned from some sort of wavy green plastic. I think they may have served customers car-hop style as well.

But back to salad dogs -- some friggin' good.

A long Easter weekend draws to a close, and, as has been the trend the last few days, I'm stuffed to the gills. cricker81 whipped up a fabulous spread of turkey burgers, strawberry spinach salad and baked potatoes, which I sandwiched between a mimosa appetizer and a coffee chaser. Yesterday's highlight was an Easter brunch potluck with friends, including such dishes as baked apple French toast, hash brown casserole, lemon cream cheese squares and Charlene's pièce de resistance:



I spent the ensuing afternoon and evening barely able to pry my bloated body from the couch, where I Facebooked myself into a stupor. Hooray for laptops!

A couple of recent wedding purchases:



Water-soluble, biodegradable "table confetti" from Ecoparti



Pink light cubes from Magic Wand Weddings



Simpsons-themed bride and groom toasting flutes -- I love you, eBay!

I'm all about the online shopping. Also bought this organic cotton "baby kimono" (baby not included) and matching hat by Parade for my sister, who's due in June:



Wedding preparations continue despite much immigration-related uncertainty. Recent conversations with the US Consulate revealed that my interview for a fiancee Visa to enter the US and get married is as yet unscheduled, but that it will likely be scheduled for the end of May/beginning of June. Given that our wedding is June 9th, there's a very real chance that I won't make it into the country in time for the wedding. Things are also upheaved by the fact that I'm now mostly without employment and will soon be without lodging-- having intended to move to the US May 1st, I put in my notice at work and rented out my room. Life is never dull, that's for damn sure.