Mary Richards and Me

Seven Quick Takes, There’s a First Time for Everything Edition

Posted on 7/2/2010 at 9:33:41 PM

This past week has been a week of firsts.

One. First time eating, of all things, goat. Yes, I ate goat. Here’s the story: I went to the Taste of Chicago on Sunday afternoon with a girlfriend and we decided to try a few “tastes” of some of the more exotic dishes. I was feeling indecisive but eventually settled on 1) African goat with rice–quite delicious, actually!–2) Spanish gazpacho, which–to my complete surprise and disappointment–turned out to be cold tomato soup or, basically, tomato juice, and 3) a “pickle-on-a-stick”. Weird combination, I know. If I return to the Taste on Sunday (July 4th!), I’m thinking about tasting mango rice pudding and getting one of those huge watermelon wedges. Mmmm, yes.

Two. First time without glasses. My sister Maria (12) went in for her annual eye exam this week and came out wearing contacts! She looked great in glasses all those years, but now, without frames in the way, her eyes simply pop out in all their stunning beauty. Just don’t get me started on how much older she looks and how she’s almost as tall as me now and how she is suddenly super trendy and far surpassing me in terms of style and fashion such that people will probably start to question whether I’m truly the older sister…do I sound like an old fogey yet? (I love you, Maria!)

Three. First pink swimsuit. By the end of the first session of swim lessons last Friday, Caroline and I were already in desperate need of new swimsuits (mine was from two summers ago!). So we went shopping on Tuesday and I got this in pink. Too bad it’s going to be all faded and stretched out by the time lessons end in five weeks.

Four. First Tim Keller book. Ashley and I have read and discussed a book every summer since our freshman year of college (except for last summer when I was interning in DC and she was wedding planning). This summer we decided to read The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Timothy Keller, the pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City.

We’ve only discussed the Introduction and Chapter 1 but so far I’m enjoying it. Next week: Chapter 2, “How Could a Good God Allow Suffering?” and Chapter 3, “Christianity Is a Straitjacket”.

Five. First blueberries of the season! I was tied up with swim lessons so I didn’t get to go, but, yesterday, Mom, Lara, and Maria picked this summer’s first batch of blueberries. They aren’t at their peak yet so hopefully we’ll return to pick more on a day I can actually go too. If you’ve never picked blueberries before, it’s actually a lot of fun and not terribly strenuous (especially compared to strawberry picking). For me, it’s extremely special not only because my family has picked blueberries for as long as I can remember but also because of this book: Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey. (For those of you who don’t know, “Sal” is actually a nickname of mine.) Like Sal, I used to have a hard time not eating the blueberries as I was picking them. As I’ve grown up, I’ve gotten better at restraining myself–but it’s still hard!

Most memorable quote of the book: “Kerplink, kerplank, kerplunk!” (Read it and you’ll understand.)

Six. First day of July! The start of a new month is always exciting, I think, but I’m especially excited about this July. Even though I’ll be working a ton as I did in June, pretty much every weekend will involve a visit from an out-of-town friend or two! Hooray!

Seven. First attempt at this salad recipe. I LOVE orzo. And feta. And zucchini. And cayenne. So this recipe absolutely rocks!

I made it today for our family picnic tomorrow afternoon in celebration of my grandparents’ 60th wedding anniversary. We had a mini-celebration on the actual day (June 3) but have a two-day celebration planned for this weekend with the out-of-town family and a couple close friends from Grandpa’s Navy days. This afternoon we all met at the Science & Industry Museum in Chicago to watch the Hubble telescope IMAX movie (upon Grandpa’s request) and afterwards enjoyed a delicious dinner at a long-time Forsythe Family standard: Aurelio’s Pizza in Homewood (the original location!). If you hang around with us long enough, you can count on getting at least one chance to eat there. Their thin-crust pizza is amazing. Like no pizza you’ve had before. Seriously. Come visit and you can see for yourself!