I'm FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I am always a busy person. I am an only child and I think that being an only child has been fantastic! People say, oh weren't you bored or lonely as a child? No! I could always come up with something to do, this led to several robust hobbies that I have kept on into my adulthood, like crafting, cooking, gardening, video games, reading, costuming, theater, ect.....

Well this past month I took being busy to a new and unholy level. But I am FINALLY finished with my crazy commitments and I am FREEEEEE! Don't get me wrong, I am still quite busy, trying to schedule anything on a weekend for the next 4 months is a joke (I do have some free days coming up in August). But that is my normal state, rather than the work all say, stay late, then go home and work until I drop from exhaustion! I normally don't have this many CRAZY huge things all lumped at once, here is what I have been up to:

March 25th was our "site visit" at work. I work in a Bio lab at UCSD and every 5 years the federal government (NIH) comes to inspect us to see if we deserve more money for the next 5 years. So needless to say this is a HUGE deal for my work, we have to have everything ready and perfect.

Then March 30th was our Spring Line Up! Craft Show. This was a blast! I can't believe how many people came! I was on the PR committee so I am glad to see all our hard work getting the word out paid off! The only downside is right when we opened the doors it was so crowded people could hardly shop!!! If you stopped to buy something everyone behind you bumped into you!!! Well we are working on that for next time! Check out my pictures! I also hate to say I am glad it is over! I enjoyed doing it, but it was also hard because I was simultaneously trying to start up my business so I had to also do things like design and order business cards, get my tax license, try to make a website, ect.......... I also had never done PR before so I had no idea what that would be like! Then I made a 100 pairs of earrings to give away in the swag bag, and I had to make stuff to sell too! So it was pretty crazy, but it was worth it. Also I bet it will get easier with each show I do!
Then on April 5th I had to cook a medieval feast for 80+ people!!! The UCSD medieval club (otherwise known as the College of St. Artemas in the SCA) was having it's 20th anniversary extravaganza so I wanted to do an extra-special feast this year! I decided that the main course would be a beef Tri-Tip roast, it came out SO GOOD! The beef melted in your mouth! We had two ziploc bags of meat leftover which they decided to auction off and they went for $40 each! I cannot believe we made $80 auctioning off leftovers!!! A lot of people told me it was the best feast that they ever went to so I guess I am pretty proud of myself! We did not quote sell out, we were selling 80 seats and we were about 15 short so that means we had about 65 people. Well I cooked 120lbs of meat! And there was not very much leftover! So that means on average people ate 2lbs of meat each PLUS side dishes. We did not have many side dishes left either! It was crazy! Here, check out our crazy menu!

St. Artemas 20^th Anniversary

Feast Extravaganza!

~Course One~

St. Artemas Veggie Platter

Featuring green veggies and special yellow St. Artemas carrots!

Tzatziki Dip

A refreshing yogurt based dip with cucumber and dill

~Course Two~

Capon Rosted

A roasted chicken where lemon and rosemary infused butter is rubbed

under the skin with moist and delicious results

Fenkel in Soppes

Fennel and onions are sautéed in olive oil and seasoning and then turned

into a very light and tasty soup

Bread & Butter

A classic staple! The butter is flavored with honey, fresh parsley, and basil

~Course Three~

Malaches of Pork

With eggs, pine nuts, currants, ground pork, and seasoning this medieval

quiche is basically sausage pie which is extremely scrumptious

Salat

A salad of mixed greens, red onions, glazed walnuts, gorgonzola, and

a balsamic vinaigrette dressing

Couscous

A grain dish that is actually made of very small pasta spheres, added to

this is dried apricots, almonds, and olive oil for a pleasantly sweet flavor

~Course Four~

A Roste

Beef Tri-tip is roasted to perfection for a melt in your mouth consistency

and covered in an exotic array of sweet and savory spices

Garlec

Garlic cloves boiled with a rich array of spices

Hummus

A dip made of mashed chickpeas, garlic, tahini, and pine nuts

Pita

A slightly leaved wheat flat bread with a subtle onion flavor

~Course Five~

Fyne Cakes

These cute little cakes are shaped like mini castles and taste similar to modern

shortbread with cinnamon

Glazed Nuts

A delightful mix of sweet spiced pecans and walnuts