dinner in the courtyard

The company that manages our building put 2 grills in our courtyard last week. Completely unannounced. They just showed up one day. I know that doesn't sound super cool, but just trust me that this is a big deal. I'm not even a grill person.
Turns out living in the city does something to a person. Every time you smell someone bbq-ing on thier much coveted patio or even more coveted backyard, it does something to you. It does something to all city dwellers. It's like...you have to get as much of that smell as possible. You follow the trail. You take deep breaths. You look at all your friends and say "[big breath] ahhhhh, grilling," and they nod their heads in agreement.

So not even a week later, and Ryan and I have already eaten dinner in the courtyard 3 times. Mind you, it's also been raining a lot this past week. So that's pretty much all we could eat out there. One night that we were eating down there, there were at least 5 other couples/families from our building grilling too. I wasn't kidding; living in the city does something to your grill-deprived souls.

Salmon burgers with parmesan and provolone cheese, sauteed spinach with garlic and olive oil,
lettuce, mashed avocado and homemade garlic-lime mayo. Sweet potato fries with ketchup or
bbq sauce. Rinsed down with peach iced tea (or water?)

Yum!!! I foresee many grillin' nights this summer.
It's also really nice because, when you leave the apartment for a meal it kind of feels like a date. So even if Ryan only has time for dinner that night, we still get to squeeze in some quality time together



On another note, I fell more in love with Zooey Deschanel today. I know. I know. I didn't think it was possible either. I was reading her interview in Marie Claire magazine and they put a warning out there to all guys who are in love with her...she doesn't want to have kids. She said this on the topic,

“That’s never been my focus. My sister [Emily]
was always very motherly, babysitting and stuff.
I like kids, and I like being around kids –
but it was never an ambition, something, like, I need
… I like working. That’s what I like doing. I like to work.”

The article also said that she seemed almost embarrassed to admit it. Like she had gone too far.

And I was reading it, and was just like, "Ahhhh, a girl after my own heart. I knew we were soulmates." And whenever I tell people that I don't want to have kids, I kind of feel bad too! I can just feel them judging me. No matter how much I explain myself, and my heart, people just have a really hard time grasping the idea of a young lady having no desire to have children.

 

With that said, I really believe that Zooey and I should be best friends. As if I had any doubts before.