another year older

Sunday, February 3, 2008
Posted by chelsea 0 comments

I was definitely planning on being a lot better about keeping up with my blog, but the weeks just flew by and I continued to be lazy in my updating. I could promise that this will be the last time, but we all know that's not true.

I've been in Shepherdstown, WV for about a month now, and I'm absolutely enamored with it. It's such a beautiful and quaint European-esque town with so much character...how could I not love a place like this?

I live above a bakery, which I also work at, and my other job is at a tiny little restaurant that serves mainly organic and very gourmet dishes. They just put out a new menu (it changes with the seasons) and the owner/head chef added an entrée called "Athens" just for me. It's great how personal my job there is. I've really gotten to spend a lot of quality time in the kitchen, soaking up whatever I can from the cooks.

Last week was my birthday. I'm the ripe age of 23 now, which doesn't seem very epic at all, but I realized that I do feel quite accomplished for my age. Not in the way of success job-wise or anything, but in the way of achieving my goals in life. If things continue the way they are now, hopefully by the time I'm 33 I'll feel exactly the same way about my life.



Instead of a big hokey outing for my birthday, I kept a fairly low profile, which was great. I worked in the morning at the bakery (where they surprised me with a tiny German chocolate cake) and came home in the afternoon to a bathroom decked out with all the trimmings for a relaxing bubble bath, courtesy of my lovely roommate Ashley. The tub was surrounded by candles, with a kettle of hot water waiting for me to brew my choice of tea, accompanied by a platter of goodies ranging from raisins to lavender cupcakes. I couldn't have been happier to come home to that.



I soaked for quite some time in pure bliss, relaxing as the tension left my body. I even nodded off for a moment or two, and probably would've taken a short nap in there if I hadn't been awakened by the smell of burning hair. I reached up and snuffed out the flames, only to be left with a small chunk of blackened strands in my palm. The damage wasn't horrible, and after I brushed it out, there was no noticeable indicator of my short time ablaze. The next bath I take will most assuredly be accompanied by candles at the foot of the bathtub.



The rest of my day was spent in preparation and then in enjoyment of a beautiful Greek dinner that Joel and Ashley cooked. I managed to convince Ashley to try her hand at Moussaka (one of my favorite Greek dishes), which turned out even better than some of the times I'd had it in Greece, so hats off to her. The evening was topped off with a spiced Masala chai cake, decorated with my name written in Greek.



I really couldn't have asked for a better birthday, especially for being in such a new place. I'm really looking forward to the coming months as I get to know this place and its people better.