Salt n' Pepa

Yo!

In the 80's, there was a band called Salt-n-Pepa. They were in fact the first ever all female hip hop band. Their song Push It, was a big hit back in the day.

This photo of my salt and pepper mill is one of my favourites: I just love the play of light and shadow in this photo. Over the years, I have developed a "photographer's eye". Sometimes the light just looks really amazing and then I have to grab my camera. This was one of those days. The late afternoon light just hit our dining table perfectly.

The place mat is from Ikea (made in Vietnam), the salt mill (the smaller one) is from Stockmann's (the biggest department store in Helsinki, Finland) and the pepper mill is from Rome, Italy. I found the pepper mill right after I had sprained my ankle! I was in Rome with a friend and we were eating take-away muesli from bowls and walking down the street at the same time - and I was wearing high heels. Well, you can guess what happened...

Very soon after that incident, we ran into a store that sold really good quality gifts etc. The pepper mill cost something like 50 euros, but it was exactly what I wanted. And I use it almost every day. I am addicted to large quantities of freshly grated black pepper. Other food stuffs I am addicted to:

- Olives (especially the big ones, marinated in garlic)
- Feta cheese
- Parmesan cheese (this cheese is just sheer heaven, that's all I can say!)
- Good wine
- Good champagne (I mean the real kind, the best I can afford. Sometimes I buy Veuve Cliquot or Moet & Chandon for a special occasion)
- White chocolate
- Mozzarella cheese (the really good kind, made from buffalo milk)
- Greek yoghurt with honey (for breakfast, or anytime)
- Sparkling mineral water (Pellegrino is my fave, but I rarely find it in this country)
- Olive oil & balsamic vinegar (for dipping good bread in or on salads)
- Tapas
- Meze
- Freshly squeezed orange juice
- Croissants (but you can only get the really good kind in France!)
- Fresh strawberries and rasberries
- Fresh pineapple
- Prociutto di parma (the food of the Gods! - with melone, of course)
- The really, really good (and expensive) goose liver paté (I can very rarely afford this but you can't beat it with champagne!)

As you can see, I unfortunately have somewhat expensive tastes! I do also eat hamburgers all the time, but the stuff listed above is what I really like to eat.

This reminds me of a story. Several years ago, I was talking to a bunch of colleagues over lunch/coffee/whatever and one colleague told us about something she had seen on TV: a housewife was so obsessed with watching figure skating on TV, that she actually forgot to take care of her kids when she began to watch.

My colleague said "Imagine being that obsessed about something! That passionate! I'm not passionate about anything." This statement absolutely shocked me!!! I could not believe my ears. Is it really possible that someone is not obsessed with anything??!!!!??????? What a way to live? Or not live, rather. How can anyone not be obsessed/passionate? I don't understand. And this was not some depressed person, she was someone I had always thought of as a happy person - perhaps even happier than myself, because my moods are pretty much up and down all the time. I guess we really, really are different, us humans.

If I started to list the things I'm passionate about, I would literally never finish. I could start with the fact that I'm passionate about taking showers. I love and adore everything about it: the feel of the hot water (I am always cold), the scent of the products I use, etc. I am passionate about clean sheets!! There's nothing better!! And don't get me started on clothes, shoes, accessories, perfume, cosmetics, travel, art, design, movies, books, music, dancing, talking....well you get the picture. See my profile if you want to know more. And even my profile probably lists like less than 1% of the things I'm passionate about.

I really wonder how people without passions actually get through life? Is everything just nice and steady for them? I can't imagine it. I wrote that I consider myself a renaissance woman - it's more like I'm all over the place all the time. How can one limit oneself? People are strange - and yet I'm really and truly passionate about them as well!!! The passions just never end!

Passion is the spice of life (pun very much intended).

Pink & Very, Very Passionate - and still always a Lady