Stir

(My Kitchen)

Sometimes, all it takes is a smokey kitchen, the scent of garlic and some good music to completely remind me that cooking is and will always be my first true love. 

Thanks to an expensive wrist slapping and a "Wow, Julia, why didn't you just pay them right away?" sort of afternoon spent paying for my 7 (oops) over due parking tickets at the Savannah Transportation Department, and an accidentally consumed caffeinated drink this afternoon (read: splitting head ache), I have opted to spend the evening snacking on ciabatta at home making a dinner with the produce that was bought last weekend and patiently waited for it's time to shine.

Lately, my love affair with cooking and food has been reignited and I can tell you that this is far from the last time I will choose alone time in the kitchen over taking part in the much celebrated typical college Friday night fanfare.

(I posted this and now, while I'm eating, I realize that I have more to say)

This evening is reminding me of the slow and exciting process that I feel this summer of solitude kickstarted: The rediscovery of Julia.

What is it that makes me tick? What things, ideas, sounds, and people am I attracted to and why?

When I was able to take away nearly everything and everyone familiar and I was left with simply myself, the conclusions of these questions was truly, for maybe the very first time, left completely up to me. Me without you. Me without them. Me without what I thought me would do. Me without what I felt like you wanted me to do. Me without what I thought you thought I thought we thought we thought.

This process is sometimes exhilarating. And usually surprising. And I feel like I'm meeting a different me everyday.

But, I guess, isn't that exactly what college is for?

Ok.

I think that's really it for tonight. :)