Just missed the snow

This storm was the second-most snow Philadelphia has gotten, and I saw online that near my apartment got around 18 inches. And I missed it! As much as it probably stinks a little bit to be snowed in, I sort of wish I had been there because it must look amazing outside as well as really fun to play in. Alas, I've been in Florida since Wednesday, where here there was rain in biblical proportions. Just a 50 degree drop and that could have been a snow storm, too. Oh well, I'm sure I'll get plenty of snow once I'm back, just probably not as much.

Been doing lots of holiday stuff. Got some shopping done yesterday; the mall was a crazy but not as bad as I've seen it in the past. VERY excited about my new boots that I picked out (but won't be getting until Christmas). They're Nine West, flat, an indetermine brownish/gray color which sounds weird but I think its going to go with almost everything, upper calf height, with a buckle thing near the ankle. Going to have some warm feet back in Philly! Also picked out a tree and helped to decorate it. Went to a Hanukkah party. Even Florida is trying to get in the spirit, its down in the 60s today. lol. Still have sugar cookies to make and decorate and presents to buy and wrap. Plenty of time though. STILL working on a paper, but I am determined to finish it tomorrow and then finally have my vacation work-free. Pancho downloaded The Blind Side so I think we might watch that tonight and perhaps go driving to look at Christmas lights. Trying to mix in this paper-writing with fun stuff. Grrr for my procrastination.

So grateful for awesome weekends. When a truly great one comes along, well, its a beautiful thing. Went down to Baltimore. Delicious homemade chili (Thank you Panch for making it, thank you Walf for that recipe that continues to live on), good friends, assisted with gingerbread cookie making and house decorating, christmas light looking, all-around good time. And apparently there is a place called Chocolatea mere blocks from where I was living all those 8 months that serves out-of-this-world hot cocoa and lattes and pastries. Had a scrumptious Irish cream, hazelnut hot chocolate concoction. Seriously could have drank a gallon of it. And then hit up Chili's for the 3 for $20 deal or whatever it is. And of courseeee I got a margarita. Didn't knock me off my feet like usual, probably because I actually ate along with it. :) Hmm. this weekend appears to have revolved around food. and I'm so okay with that.

Pancho's roommate has quite the girl situation going on. It was interesting being an observer. I still don't really quite understand how you can be somewhat exclusive with someone but then not be a couple. Isn't that a fuzzy boundary? Maybe its just because I like having clearly defined parameters. Things tend to be black and white, I don't deal well with gray. I think I would just have such a problem with not really being able to claim someone's attention/time/affection as my own. Guess its a good thing I've locked Pancho in then, eh? (Sorry, honey, I know you just experienced some sort of minor anxiety over that statement)

Also, my faith in humanity is restored. I lost one of my good gloves on Friday when I was at the parking garage getting my car and I fretted all weekend about how irresponsible it was. BUT alas, someone turned it in at the front desk. YAY! Really, it may not sound like a big deal, but I'm tremendously relieved.

A very HAPPY birthday indeed

I feel like its fairly well-acknowledged how much I love my birthday/the holidays/December (but honestly, who doesn't?!) but I have to admit that I was slightly ambivalent about how this birthday was going to go. Is it still a proper birthday without dinner at Carrabbas followed by checkerboard cake? Apparently, yes.

I just love my first-year cohort. We had the last class of the semester today of the class we all have together so it was pretty celebratory. Big breakfast-y feast and the professor starts with "I have a surprise, but we have to get through most of the proposals before we have it. I forgot the orange juice to make mimosas, but there is champagne." YES. in class. at noon-ish. All I could think was "I love grad school." And one of the girls brought in muffins and a candle and everyone sang Happy Birthday to me. It was great, frankly all classes would be much improved with alcohol.

Then, I enjoyed a way too sugary "lunch" of the new Starbucks Caramel Brulee latte and a chocolate croissant from Au Bon Pain. Delicious, if not a bit much. If birthdays aren't a day for indulgence, well... Spent the afternoon watching disc 2 of My So-Called Life. My latest obsession. Must have been weird to come of age in the 90s. All that plaid and grunge-y boys. ehck. I also enjoyed all the birthday texts and calls today, just makes me feel good. Finally, out for dinner with the girls. Lots of fun, and I found a pretty decent sushi place thats only 4 blocks away. score. I really don't know what this semester would have been like without them. So glad that I've made friends here, makes all the difference.

Wonderful birthday. I feel like a million bucks.

Thought this was a cool article on NYTimes. Studies have shown that the act of giving has helped chronic pain sufferers and others with health problems to feel better, less stress, improve symptons etc etc. I checked out the 29-Gifts website and think I'm going to try doing it. Not like actually giving tangible gifts, but trying to do acts of kindness in a conscious way.

It is December already. oy. But that just means my birthday is 8 days away! This is the first year that it has almost snuck up on me. Usually I start counting down 40 days out but I only realized it like last week when I was shopping for my mom's birthday gift (its the day before mine so I figured I should buy something and leave it with her during Thanksgiving -- no shipping costs!) Got to think of something to do. Maybe suggest drinks out with some of the girls? Its the second-to-last day of classes so maybe I should plan something for the night after.. Hmmm. Got to think.

The weather is doing some crazy highs and lows this week. Supposed to get like 30s-cold this weekend and maybe possibly some snow in the near future?! That would be awesome.
Nothing else to update, except that Thanksgiving was great and relaxing and wonderful and I don't know how I'm supposed to go back to doing work for 2 weeks. ughhh. Oh. and Gossip Girl last night was deliciously drama-filled and ridiculous. I'm so not ready to give up on that show.

Turkey time!

I've arbitrarily decided that it is now appropriate to turn ON my Christmas music playlist. 99 wonderfully holiday terrific songs to get in the spirit. Oooh, that means holiday shows are going to be on soon. (I'll confess that I watched Merry Madagascar last week. It was pretty bad actually.)

But before I jump the gun, Thanksgiving is coming first. So excited to be getting away for a few days. Heading to Atlanta to see my mama and her new place. She has also not hidden at all the fact that I will be going through the "boxes and boxes and boxes of books" among other stuff that she has in storage. Since I've been in Philly, she's been sneakily adding random stuff to care packages, things that I usually have no desire to have anymore or even remembered I owned. Such as a pink winter hat that barely touches the tops of my ears, a Monopoly shoe paperweight, and my collection of cds. On that last one, I called my mom and I was like I have iTunes with all of those on there.. but I fibbed and said I would put them in my car to make her feel better. They have since sat forlornly in my closet, gathering dust. So hopefully me going through it will stem the random mail flow. Plus, maybe a few goodies will be uncovered. :)

I was also reminded about traveling during this time of year, and I am so thankful not to be making the Gainesville-Boca-Gainesville drive. Stressful, harrowing, boring, long, frustrating, uggh. The Sunday after Thanksgiving and the one after Spring Break are the two WORST days to make that drive, hands down. I always felt so bad (and nervous) about all the college kids in those clustered pileups. A group of 3 cars, another 2 like a quarter of a mile later, on and on and on. ::Shudder:: I'm not even going to keep talking about this. Oh! But I am reminded of the endless drive with Ali and Dana freshman year. Classic 8 hour drive for what should have been 4 hours, but lots of fun nonetheless. (Ali, I still have those Thanksgiving drive mix cds you made in my car.)

And since this is going reverse chronologically apparently, this weekend was super lowkey. Read (and read and read). Watched Up! which was really cute but also somewhat sad. The little wilderness scout kid was cute. Love animated movies. Got pho from the Vietnamese place down the block. Amaaaazing. I had been there once with Pancho when I first moved in and at the time we were ravenous and just devoured it because we'd been moving and unpacking all day so I guess I hadn't noticed just how big the serving was. Yesterday I got it take out and so brought it home and realized I didn't have any bowls big enough. I used my Pyrex casserole dish and it just barely contained it. Insane! But made for yummy lunch leftovers today.

Has anyone seen the new Target commercial about "Nancy" who is planning for her first Thanksgiving? I've seen it more than a few times, and I love it every time. Although it terrifies me for the distant future when I will probably need to cook a Thanksgiving dinner. yikes. But its really cute how she practices serving the table and has like paper cut-out drumsticks. Just watch it.
It also triggered some sort of holiday shopping switch in me, but then I realized that not only do I not have any money, but I also just shouldn't buy anything for holiday decorating. a) I have so much crap as it is and b)all the moving around --of which I will be doing again next year--- has me hyper-aware of all the stuff I have. Feeling very conflicted about consumption. I also just read The Consumers' Republic for a class about how post-WWII basically the American Dream was now to be able to buy all the middle-class goods (refrigerators, tvs, cars, toys) that hadn't been in production during the war years. and it all essentially was wrapped up in this language of citizenship and democracy all benefiting the economy and making the U.S. prosperous. It has warped my thinking about why we buy things. and this is deeply saddening seeing as I love(d) to shop. lol.

Some things I like this week/lately...

• Cobra Starship- Good Girls Go Bad. Pancho has liked this band for awhile and I suppose they're okaay, but I just really like this new song. Leighton Meester shamelessly plugged it on Gossip Girl a few weeks ago AND it was on Greek as a dance skit. Very catchy.
• Speaking of Greek, Cappy and Casey are back together. I finally got to catch up on the episodes and I was sitting here smiling at the computer. Oh, I love good romantic-y tv.
  
• NPR podcasts make my walks to/from school so happy (and funny/liberal/informed). Wait...Wait..Don't Tell Me literally has me laughing out loud as I'm walking, grinning from ear to ear and probably looking like an idiot. Sometimes I wish I had a real commute so that I could listen to more.
  
• I've gotten some class papers back. and I'm feeling a little more secure. Don't think they're gonna change their minds and kick me out. at least not yet anyways. !
• Pancho was here last weekend. It was awesome and really made me eager for when we're living together again. Turns out I do like sharing meals with another human being. and snuggling. I miss that, too. Although I get absolutely no work done when he's around so... perhaps its a good thing right now.
• Yay, Gators! (Enough said.)
• Although I think its too early to have the red cups out, I thoroughly enjoyed my Peppermint Mocha from Starbucks today. Officially become an espresso fiend. Occasionally the thought occurs to me that my grad student habits are probably taking time off my life. but then, there will be time to deal with that later, right?
• Tomorrow is Friday! but seriously, it was JUST Friday. Time is going too too fast. I'm planning on having some girls from my class over on Sunday to have waffles. I haven't made any in awhile and I figured it'd be sort of piggy to eat them all myself so.. good reason to be social. The gift that keeps on giving. Thanks, Ali & Walfies! :)
  

JSTOR should be my default webpage

I have been a verry delinquent blogger. Frankly, I can't remember what has happened in the last 3 weeks except that I went to Baltimore for a long weekend. We had a Fall Break, but this is sort of misleading, it was really just a single day off. Although fortunately, its a day that I have class so hallelujah for saving those 3 hours PLUS the 10, 11, usually 13 hours that would have gone towards reading. Spent a very enjoyable weekend watching an absolute ton of college football and the season premiere of Ugly Betty! And seeing Pancho, too, of course.

And, big news, I finally got a new phone. After 4 years and 2 months of that awful awful heavy and brick-like phone (Walf & Ali, remember those struggles of fitting it in my wristlet with my keys, walking over to the Gator games?), I made the leap. Nothing fancy. I told the sales person "I just want to make calls. No photos, no email, just calling." Turns out, they don't even make basic phones anymore. I've got a camera now and all sorts of cool things. I especially like the tip calculator, no more consulting my little faded tip sheet in my wallet. and no more flip phone, this one slides to cover the number pad. Everything works great, except that my apartment is like a black hole. Calls just don't go through, I don't get missed call alerts either, so Pancho has taken to calling several times in a row, incrementally spaced in hopes that something goes through. I just worry about other people calling that I'm never aware of. egh. technology. and big buildings.

So, in the 8th week of classes now. This is a crunch week for me. and I'm just beginning to feel like I'm figuring it out. Which is nice of course but also somewhat frustrating to look back at how I was spending my time before. It has become painfully obvious that I need to be getting up earlier so as to start working, how much stricter I have to be about leisure time, and the need to balance the work I do for each class rather than do everything for one which leads me to skimp on another. Good lessons, now I just need to follow through. and try to remain sane.

Random other things so that I don't keep talking about school:

• I bought tights! I've spoken at length about my anxiety for dressing in the North, and I feel like I'm making progress. I got both grey and black and I've worn them both already under skirts. I'm already sick of wearing pants (which is not good considering its not even winter yet) and any day above 60 is basically fair game to do tights. Which is another thing I've noticed, I can already get away with much lighter layers than I could in Florida for a given temperature.
• The leaves are gorgeous here. and falling like crazy. Its been raining though so they're all a big soggy mess that stick to everything. but a very pretty mess.
• I've been reading The Omnivore's Dilemma (very slowly. basically the only time I allow myself not to read for school is when I eat. which is sort of ironic in this case.) and I'm only about 35 pages in but it's good. I don't know how or even if it will affect what I eat, but I'm curious to learn more about this whole local/organic/follow the path of corn trend that has been going on.
  

Fall

Fall is officially here, with all of its obvious signs: Cool weather, leaves just beginning to turn color, I can leave the windows open all day, seems acceptable now to make hot chocolate, and butternut squash is back in season! I'm a little sad about it not being summer anymore, feel as though I hardly got to experience it and the chance to wear shorts, but fall just seems so much more cozy.

I had my first presentation today. The first thing I've had to actually do, that wasn't just read and discuss books. I had to give a "state of the field" report on the historiography of immigration. Basically identify and look at the major works that historians have done in immigration history, give their thesis, what argument they made, and how it affected historians writing after them. Discuss trends (like looking at Irish, Jewish, women, ethnic groups etc etc) and the new theoretical frameworks that came into play over the years. I of course got myself all worked up over it, As I am wont to do. Had lots of notes, probably talked a little more than I should have, but hey at least I was thorough. I think it went fine, my perspective is still a little skewed at this point. Afterwards I asked the prof if he had any feedback and he seemed to think it was fine so I guess I should just move on. :) Its very new this whole attitude I sense about grades just not really mattering anymore. Like, you do the reading, come to class and discuss, and thats it for most of the time. Never going to be tested on it or need to write about it (at least in my case, not the PhDs so much because they have General Exams) so its very much a learning for your own knowledge type of thing. It is taking some getting used to.

But, there is so much interesting stuff that I have been reading. I started a pile of those books that maybe some day I will go back to and actually get to read from cover to cover and soak it all up. Such a wide mixture of things-- the Progressive era, Japanese American immigrants, British missionaries in Jamaica. My brain is sort of on overload.

Grad school is kicking my butt. I am trying to keep up on the reading, on class discussions, on research, well.. everything really. It's difficult. I have very little to add to discussions which is rough when its a 3 hour seminar and basically your entire grade depends on it. Its still the first couple weeks though so I'm telling myself I'm still adjusting and will pick up speed. Rather soon though I hope.

Although Pancho was visiting this weekend and I have to say it really reminded me of what life outside of the school bubble is like. We went to the history grad happy hour, out for dinner with CJ in Center City, did errands, watched football and the Gators win!, and hung out. It was so nice to just relax a bit. He won't be able to visit again for 25 days (of course I counted) but it is more often than we visited before so I guess I can deal with it. I realized though how much I already miss having another person to eat dinner with. I've gotten lazy by myself. Stouffer's french bread pizza and some strawberries on the side? Yep, thats what I tossed together tonight.

Finally bought all my books. Spent awhile tracking down the best prices online and in bookstores. Feeling quite accomplished now that I won't be chasing things down during the semester. The grand total was $677.13. And to think that I ever complained as an undergrad. Only bright side is that I had budgeted to spend more, so technically I didn't do too bad. I guess. Just a little shocking to have actually spent that much although its 30-odd books. Some interesting looking titles, too, so I will be sure to share once I get to them. in my frenetic, speed-reading pace that I'm still learning how to do effectively.

Today was actually kind of nice. Got to watch new start of season of How I Met Your Mother and enjoyed another Gossip Girl. Curious to see how them at college is going to turn out. And since I no longer have cable nor DVR, I'll be hitting Hulu to catch up on House and Greek. I'm really hoping that somehow I can keep up on my shows, but I recognize that I might finally have reached a point where my academic career really can't take an hour break to watch. Sad.

And. After an 8 month hiatus, I now subscribe again to Time. I was giddy when my first issue arrived. Its like catching up with an old friend. Except I don't have anyone to casually leave it for on the kitchen table anymore....

Grad School

I have negative time to post about Penn/grad school/Philly because I'm already behind on the reading schedule I've set up for myself. But I will fill in with a few details until I can devote a really awesome post (sometime. eventually. probably by the time I graduate).

I've been here exactly a week. My apartment is fantastic, very cozy, I'm finally unpacked and will post pictures once I've actually taken some. I currently do not have internet which is a long and vexing situation that better be fixed by Thursday. so I am utilizing both the library's WiFi and someone's wireless in my building in the meantime. shhh.

My classes this semester are The Nature of Sex (feminist/gender/sexuality theory), 20th Century US History, and a foundations sort of course on theory and methods in history which I have for the whole year. Haven't been to the 20th Century one yet because its on Mondays so will check it out tomorrow. I'm really not quite sure what to make of things yet. The reading is daunting but it seems like that is all I will be doing. The Nature of Sex class is heavy reading with only 2 3-page response papers and the foundations thing is like one big paper similar to my senior thesis and that 30-pager isn't due until April. Neither of those classes is straight up history, its all theory and analyzing frameworks and methods and things that I don't understand yet. We had to read a book for the first class for one of them and I seriously could not understand what people were saying in discussion. People name drop historians and Diderot and talk about deconstruction and basically make me wonder at what point in my academic career I was supposed to have picked up on a lot of this. I'm really ready for the adjustment period to be over as quickly as possible so I can be right along with everyone making interesting points.

ANYWAYS. The other first-years are very nice and I've made some friends. There was a history grad student happy hour on Friday so I ventured across town on the subway to Old City. It was nice getting to meet other people in the department and be more social with people that I do have classes with. Figured out the bus system to ride back because apparently its not safe to ride the subway alone at night. So that was fine. I hung out with CJ for a long while on Saturday night. He is just done with his first week in law school and seems to be doing fine and reading a lot, we caught up on the last 3 years since Hume pretty much and then went exploring my neighborhood. Ended up at The Greek Lady for dinner. Really good lamb gyro.
Then I went to a picnic today for the department as a back to school thing. Gorgeous weather, nice and sunny and got to meet even more people.

more on Penn and Philly to come....

How is it September already?

Honestly. Where did August go? The weather this week has been cool, and I'm worried about how much longer I can wear summer stuff. Having had to wear business-y work clothes for the bulk of the last 3 months, I feel like I haven't had the chance yet to wear all my cute warm-weather gear. It's making me so aware of the whole seasons thing. Those new style sandals I never got around to buying? Well, missed the train on that so now I'm debating if I need a new pair of flats or if I should jump ahead to boots? Stood in the Target shoe dept for about 20 minutes today, having an honest internal crisis:

I got to thinking about when it actually gets cold and whether flats are going to cut it. I sort of wore them here in Baltimore in Jan/Feb but they don't cover your feet and forget it if is wet or snows. So I got the rain boots which are fantastic for those conditions. But Philly is going to be colder, and I can't wear wellies all the time (like when I go out or just everyday errands) so what do I do? I found flat boots at Target, but they were just a little below the knee and I got to thinking whether I could wear them with all of my jeans because they don't all tuck in well and then I saw ankle boots. And here is my dilemma- On principle I don't like ankle boots because I think they are a bit silly but they are starting to make more sense. They cover your foot more than flats do but they aren't as high/restrictive as a taller boot. Anyways, I stood there debating over and over and had to really pull myself out of there to avoid an impulse purchase when I wasn't totally gung ho on either. I suppose I can wait until it is actually cold out and then see what everyone else does. I bet that would be a good idea. However, I welcome comments about the taller boot/ankle boot debate.

Why does fashion in the NE get me so anxious? This post is reminiscent of the leggings and tights worrying from a few months ago which resulted in my not actually buying any at all. oy.

Blog title suggestions?

Well, I don't suppose that I can legitimately use this blog title for too much longer now. City of Brotherly Love Follies just doesn't have quite the same ring to it either, so I need to brainstorm and will kindly accept suggestions.

Spent the weekend in Philly doing the Big Move. Packed up my car (again) with all of my worldly possessions and drove it off to my new apartment. Quite possibly the easiest move-in ever. It did not rain during the drive, nor when we were bringing everything inside (despite the forecasts for basically a monsoon in the NE because of a tropical storm. I bought a brand new air conditioner AND a desk from people that live in my building so I literally had to ride the elevator, hand over cash, and take it up to my place. The apt does not have central air, this is not unusual up here, and I had been planning on just keeping the windows open and buying like a fan, figuring the weather will cool down in a few weeks. But the AC unit was cheap and well, now it can be a cool little oasis. Basically, these were major scores.

Made the obligatory trips to Ikea and Wal-Mart. Got a great kitchen table with chairs and a side table. Pancho put them together (with a little bit of my help!) and so quite wonderfully I now have a functional and furnished apartment. Hung all my posters which made me think the place looks a bit college-y but now it totally looks like my place. It's very cute. I love hardwood floors. No pictures yet but thats because I only half unpacked so it looks a little cluttered. We fixed the stove which hadn't been working. Just needed to put a match to the pilot light (another non-Florida thing. all the stoves are pretty much gas. Freaks me out a little that its going to leak and I'll be overcome with fumes in my sleep.)

Explored my neighborhood a bit. Went to dinner at this amazing Vietnamese place on my block. Pancho was in heaven. He would eat Vietnamese or Thai every day if I let him. We had these giant bowls of pho. Panch seems convinced that I will be flocking there on really cold nights for a hot dinner to warm my soul. (He was really emphatic.) Then we went to a bakery for breakfast. It solidified my sense that I will love eating in Philadelphia. I mean, it was the most typical bakery with different breads, coffees, and pastries, right down the street. Exactly the type of place I have always wanted to live in close proximity. I mean, the best thing in Boca was Panera?

Anyways, the neighborhood has a great vibe. A little eclectic, caters to students, lots of little eateries and bookstores. All within walking distance. We had a great weekend. A very refreshing getaway for our relationship, too. It was nice being by ourselves and out and about. Sort of like a date weekend.

It was weird setting it all up though and then getting in the car to go away for a week. But I figured I would rather come back to Bmore and hang out than be in Philly by myself without school yet. I'll be spending the next year alone, why add an extra week.

Back in the Florida sunshine. Got in to Coral Springs on Saturday night. Went to hibachi for dinner for the first time. It was really cool, couldn't really believe that I hadn't done it before. Just been hanging out for the most part. Nothing that I need to do, and no one to see besides my parents. We went to church yesterday, and I don't regularly attend, pretty much when I'm visiting my Dad or for the holidays, but its sort of like a new, young, Baptist (I think?) church, lots of music and video graphics and stuff. Anyways, the theme was about maintaining a healthy marriage and the pastor was saying how in the U.S. that wedding ceremonies tend to be more rigid, a ceremony more than a celebration (the service part, not the reception) but he was like once in awhile there are exceptions and then proceeded to play the JK Wedding dance video from YouTube. I was cracking up.

And we went to Publix, which I have so dearly missed. Publix-brand yogurt that is just the right flavor and doesn't have fruit chunks? Being able to buy alcohol at the grocery store? Lots of produce that always seems to be in season and looks good? Yes, please.

Mad Men is also off to a good 3rd season. I'm anxiously anticipating whats going to happen with the JFK assassination since this season it is supposed to be 1963. !

Called in sick today. Felt crampy this morning so I thought why not? I have a sick day left and its my last week of work anyways. Slept all morning. It was glorious.

Its just starting to hit that its mid-August and almost the end of the summer. Where did it go? In fact, where did the last 8 months go? Looking back, it was such a mixture of boredom, relaxation, stress, and activity that I don't honestly know what to make of it. Moving to Baltimore, settling in, applying to grad schools and then all that waiting, figuring out what to do for the summer, moving again, the monotony of commuting, getting things together for Penn, and all the while trying to figure out what my relationship was and had evolved into. Just been feeling run-down a little, so trying to remind myself how good life is, enjoy the time before life really gets hectic with grad school. (Saw the syllabus for one of my classes. 16 books.)

Going to Florida on Saturday for a few days, see my Dad, get to the beach, enjoy a little of the heat and humidity that has been missing from my summer. :)

5 years

Tried out Ethiopian food for the first time on Friday. Went to Dukem, the only place to get Ethiopian here in Bmore, and it was fantastic. Although when Pancho and I first got there and couldn't figure out the menu nor a single word of what our waitress said, we were a little skeptical, and probably more so when the food arrived. It was on a giant metal hubcap looking thing, with various mounds of different veggies and sauces with a big mound of steak tibs all on this spongey bread. Once we started digging in and scooping up the mixtures with the bread bits it was delicious.

Got to attend/work the swearing in of the new Justice Sotomayor! The judicial oath ceremony was literally 4 minutes long (I recorded it at home on CSPAN and really, we initially fastforwarded over the clip because it was going forward by 5 minute intervals). Really amazing, she is incredibly nice. Stood right next to her several times. It's going to fun finally being able to talk to visitors about our new Justice.

Pancho and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary Sunday. I both cannot believe it has been that long (5 years just sounds like a long time, like its serious or something) but also that it has only been that long (once I start thinking about what all of this time has encompassed, its almost surprising that we've fit it all in). But the day was very low-key. He took me out for Cheesecake Factory Godiva cheesecake and drinks last night and today made jambalaya for dinner. Had tried to make plans to go to the beach but the nearest ones are like 2.5-3 hours away and that just seemed a bit silly for a day trip. SO. We went to the Baltimore public pool. which...was....interesting. and also where I was lifted up into the air and then pushed underwater by a 300-lb stranger. yep.

Watched Frost/Nixon. Nixon was such an odd guy. Very paranoid about his enemies and bitter about elitism and intellectuals. The movie made it interesting to see what happened to him after his resignation. I mean, he essentially dropped off the public radar after this interview.

When I went to the Nationals baseball game last night after work, I saw David Gregory!!!! I was standing outside waiting for Pancho's brother to meet us, and I look over Panch's shoulder and I thought OMG, I know that face. He walked right behind me and then passed by our group again a few minutes later. I should have said hi. Ugh. Not saying anything to him or Pete Williams leads me to think I will probably be speechless if --no, when-- I see Brian Williams. Oh well, it was still really cool.

We've started watching Weeds from the first season. Fantastic show. Mary Louise Parker is awesome. Already into the 3rd season just this week. :)

And I've been reading Shadow Country by Peter Matthiessen, a book I got for Christmas and am only now just getting to... But its about the Everglades and west coast of Florida at the turn of the century, when it was still frontier land and basically only outlaws lived there. I'd never heard of it before, but apparently its like this great American epic. The book is big (900 pages) and apparently it was originally conceived as a 1500 page novel in the early 90s but the publisher made the author trim it down to 3 separate novels. They got all this acclaim and then a few years ago Matthiessen felt like it wasn't right and so he re-worked them all into one novel again (which is what I'm reading) and it is amazing.

Also, we now have a new Supreme Court Justice.

Getting everything together

So I signed a lease last weekend for my new apartment. A pretty big efficiency: it has a separate kitchen area and a nook for a kitchen table, a regular-size closet plus a big walk-in and then one big room for everything else. It's on the 6th floor, overlooking the front of the building (it faces south) so I can look at the courtyard and the elementary school across the street. Nice hardwood floors and big windows. No one lives there now so I was able to make sure everything was fine. I get the apartment Aug. 15 but probably won't move in to stay until Labor Day weekend. It's a big relief to know I have a place to live, and it is 3.5 blocks to campus so only a 15 minute walk to the History department. It is supposed to be a safe area, the Penn police go up to my street as part of their patrolling. And just a block away is a grocery store and 7 Eleven (yay slurpees) and CVS is actually diagonal from the apt. building.

Work has been good. Incredibly busy. Spent this weekend catching up on the house stuff since I've been in Philly the last 2 weekends. Caught up on ironing! A major accomplishment, actually, because I usually have a constant stack to get through. Not too much else to report, getting all of my Penn stuff together, bit by bit. Found out that there are 18 incoming grad students in the dept. (14 PhD and 4 MA), and I'll get to register for classes here soon. Can't believe I will be back in the academic grind in 6 weeks, I've sort of enjoyed not having a monstrous weight on my shoulders about what I should be reading or studying or writing instead of doing for fun. Ehhh.

LOVE the video of the JK wedding entrance dance. If you haven't watched it yet, you really should. I just want to know whose idea it originally was and then how they could convince everyone to do it for real. It's awesome.

Just a sneak peek at Philly

Went to Philadelphia yesterday to scout out some apartments. I was really nervous that I wouldn't like any of them or that I would love them but they would be really expensive or not close to campus but lo and behold, I liked several! Now I just need to review the pictures we took, compare all the pros and cons and start making moves to get a lease signed. Although it did just hit me what living in a studio is going to be like--- very very cozy. I appreciate the old Gainesville apartment more and more every day. A dishwasher AND a washer/dryer in the apt AND it was clean with no mice?! Oh.. the glorious days in Lexington Crossing... :)

I think I will be quite happy living in Philly though. University City (the neighborhood I will be living in, borders Penn) is cute, residential, definitely has personality. Lots of converted Victorian houses, quaint front porches (sadly none of the places I looked at had any but I will make friends with people who do. Perfect studying spots!) At most I will have a 15-minute walk to campus and there are lots and lots of little eateries nearby to tempt me from my economical and healthy home-cooking. (Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, and this awesome dessert cafe, Naked Chocolate, are right across the street from the History Dept. and Library. You know, the places I will practically be living in for the next year. Its going to be a daily struggle not to indulge!

This was only my second time to the city so when we left we drove through Center City and I got a glimpse of the museums and Independence Hall area. Then it was off to Geno's to familiarize myself with the local cuisine. Got a "Whiz with" cheesesteak and it was delicious. also put me into a food-coma for the 2 hour drive back to Baltimore!

Fantastic July 4th weekend.
-Went kayaking because it was gorgeous out. Failed to put sunscreen on lower than my knees so I have lobster-red burns the length of my shins. So nice being outside, it really made it feel like a proper summer day.
-Caught the fireworks downtown at the Inner Harbor. Panch and I found a perfect spot, almost by accident. Figured since we were already paying for parking and were downtown we went to a dueling piano bar. So much fun. Really impressive how they just know so many songs. There were a few bachelorette groups, too, and I just cringed for all the embarrassment that those poor women were being put through.
-Capped off the weekend with breakfast at the amazing, delicious, and chic Ms. Shirley's. Cinnamon danish pancakes? Yummm.
-Pulled off making a strawberry shortcake. With homemade whipped cream. So freakin good. (I've been eating 2 slices at a time...)

July. Already?!

Work/Life are good. The days seem to be all a big blur. Weekends are here again before I know it. Not quite sure how I feel about the fact that the school year is just that much closer each day. Yikes!

Got to meet Justice Souter yesterday. The interns had an hour Q&A with him. Pretty sweet job perk. He was beyond brilliant. An entirely different level of intellectual-ness. He was also at times pretty funny. He is looking forward to "serious reading" during retirement, going to reread Shakespeare. Said that the usual 2 month summer vacation for the Justices only allowed for light reading, "like appetizers. They don't fill you up." He also talked about the law (of course), and one of the things I liked the most was when he was saying how there are no absolutes. Things are all in relation to other things. It was just incredibly amazing to listen to him talk, it was awe-inspiring to think about what he has read, how he thinks. Being a Justice is a pretty tall order (personally, I'd have to say its now my favorite of the 3 branches of government. Actual work gets accomplished here and on a really consistent and efficient manner at that. Yes yes a little prejudiced I guess but really. SCOTUS has its act together)

The Julia Child book was fantastic. I've moved on to Sweet Revenge, a culinary mystery (one of the latest in a series.) Easy reads but they revolve around food which is awesome. The main character is a caterer who just happens to have murders occur all around her! Plus there are recipes in the back of the books. never made one but they sound delicious.

No plans for the 4th. I do get Friday off (thank you federal employment) so I get to sleep past 6am. Yay! But will most likely spend the day figuring out private school loans and hunting online for apartments. ughhh, probably going to be frustrating. Think Pancho and I will go downtown and watch fireworks over the harbor. Maybe make a strawberry shortcake (you know, something really American-y). My Blockbuster movie this week is Rachel Getting Married, pretty excited about it. We liked Curious Case of Benjamin Button last week, a little on the long side but a good movie nonetheless.

TGIF. really.

Ahhh!!! What a stressful/crappy-ish way to end the week. Just a rough afternoon at work. Things just weren't going as they should, although to be easier on myself a lot of it a) wasn't my fault and b)couldn't be helped. BUT still. I like to leave work on a happy note, enjoying the brisk walk to Union Station on a nice sunny summery day (which it finally finally was today. No rain, no humidity. It was lovely.) I will move on. but I'm still, clearly, a little worked up over it.

Otherwise, I would say that the job has been great all-around. I like giving lectures in the Courtroom (had my largest crowd yet. 260 people) and I love love love giving private tours. But mostly I just like answering questions and talking with visitors who actually want to learn more and are interested in the history and stories that go along with most things in the building. Been working on some projects, too, and just got the one that I will be doing for the rest of the summer. From scratch, coming up with a plan for people to "self-guide" around the exhibits and spaces that are open to the public. Sounds a little vague, but thats pretty much because I'm starting at the very beginning. Should be interesting.... But, its all been good. I like the time I spend there, don't get bored (which is amazing. Thats always been one of the worst things about past internships/jobs. the lack of variety), and I think, I hope, that I am right about this being the field that I want to go into.

Just a few more items about work-- J. Ginsburg passed right by me the other day and I just smiled the biggest grin you can imagine. I heart her. Haven't actually met met any of the Justices but I have now seen all of them, been in the same room, etc. Got to sit in the Non-argument session yesterday morning for the handing down of opinions. Gets a little over my head when they start talking about Latin phrases and past precedents and statutes but its exciting just to be able to witness them doing Court stuff.

OHH! Its been so long since I updated that I havent gotten to mention that I saw Pete Williams from Nightly News. Like 3 times now! The second time we actually passed each other in the hallway and I smiled and nodded. And afterwards kicked myself for not saying Hi and how much I love NN. He knows B. Will. and therefore I am that much closer by degrees of separation of knowing him myself. :)

I'm the only one home this weekend. Pancho has been in Boca for the past week. And then Phil went to a conference so its just me, some cookies from my mom, and a night of watching What Not to Wear. actually sounds perfect. I like our new apartment. Its a total sty right now, but its such a vast and superior improvement over the rowhouse. Its as if I was living in squalor there compared to this. lol.

Just started reading My Life in France by Julia Child. I saw a preview for a movie coming out this summer about a woman who decided she was going to make all 500-something recipes in the Julia Child cookbook and thought it looked good. And then I saw the memoir at B&N (sidenote: there is not a Borders within miles. like several faraway miles. I cant use my Rewards coupons! its annoying. but thats why I was at bn which is literally 2 blocks away) and I know basically nothing about her and I figured since I like most cooking related things, why not give it a go? And its great so far. Its humorous, getting some cooking tips obviously, I'm learning more about Paris, its even inspiring me a little bit to brush up on my French.

Found out one of the other interns goes to UF. The Gator Nation really is everywhere! :said with childlike glee and wonder: So it was nice being able to reminisce. Talked about how much I miss Flaco's. Oh, its painful even to bring it up. What I wouldn't give for a twisty pastry with guava and cream cheese...

Last little tidbit: How absolutely cool are these White House cupcakes? I dont know if I have the talent to make little SCOTUS ones though. lol

<3 Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is awesome. I started last week, and it has been amazing. The other interns are cool, we've become a little pack. Nice to know you always have people to go chitchat with or eat lunch together. We're going out for Happy Hour tomorrow after work. I'm still learning how to do things, but definitely getting the hang of it. Every morning when I walk up to the Court, I think OMG, I'm just walking in, no big deal. It's incredible. Haven't given my first lecture yet, but I think it might happen this week. I'm ready. Can go on at length now about the history, the justices, architecture of the building. I'm curious to know how long I'll retain these many many trivia facts. I love it. It's going to be a great summer.

Pancho and I are finally into our new place. Spent the last week moving in, along with being utterly exhausted from my first week at work (The 1.5 hour commute each way takes a little getting used to...). It's nice, no mice (!!! sweet victory!), I can walk barefoot. These are big accomplishments. The only downsides are that there isn't a washer and dryer nor a dishwasher in the apt. but I will take that tradeoff for the next 3 months.

a few random sidenotes--- Au Bon Pain has really great vanilla lattes. I enjoy the new season of Jon & Kate Plus 8 but think that they should stop filming. Those kids are not having a normal childhood. I'd like to stay up tonight to see Conan on his first night but 11:30pm is quite frankly late for me these days.

After days upon days of endless rain, this weekend turned out nice and sunny-- quite unexpectedly. Good weather for sitting outside watching the Bluejays. Hopkins made it through Round 1 of the Lacrosse Playsoffs yesterday, (I saw Bill Belichick on the sidelines, watching the game; he's friends with the JHU coach) so I think we're headed down to Annapolis next Saturday to see them play again (and I have been wanting to go visit there anyways, so it seems like a fun idea). Slurpee run to recover from the heat. Perfect thing to cool off.

Watched Marley & Me which was both hilarious and so sad! I loved it. Pancho really wants a dog now. But I think its going to be awhile before that happens. Also, sidenote, Pops has been gone for almost a month now. Went to a nice family in Virginia apparently (I was gone for the weekend when he was sold) so its been quieter now and much much less doggy hair around. Although now I feel like our "breaking in" potential is higher. urgh.

Pancho splurged and bought Guitar Hero for PS3 last night, so needless to say, that was what we did last night. and this afternoon. My hands are hurting. but my drum playing has seen definite improvement... unlike my singing which is still tone deaf but passable.

Less than 3 weeks left in this house so we're starting to do some cleaning. It's all just so gross. Although there's another push to reclaim the downstairs from the mice. Set 3 traps. We'll see.
Baking and cooking again. Last week, I made apple cinnamon muffins and cornbread. Also been using the grill a lot more - Shish kebobs and grilled chicken with corn on the cob. And we ate at an Afghan restaurant, The Helmand, downtown on Friday night. It was good (I had an eggplant and yogurt appetizer with beef and lamb meatballs) but honestly not that different from other Middle Eastern cuisines. And the service was so fast, we finished and I thought 'Did I just have a complete dinner?' I'm talking 38 minutes from sitting down to walking out the door. We are still on a quest for decent sushi in Baltimore (and a good Cuban/Spanish bakery for that matter).

Finally got a long overdue haircut. I love when its blow-dried by a stylist, it does all the flippy, bouncy look of a real hairstyle that I cannot accomplish on my own. Its always sad to wash it and know that it wont look this good until my next cut. lol

Watched Vicky Christina Barcelona the other day. It was good, different; I suppose it was totally what I would expect of Woody Allen. Not sure that the ending was what I expected but it certainly fit for the style of the movie. Mostly though it made me want to go back to Spain. Maybe movies just glamorize how laidback and fun life is there but it sure does seem like things are just enjoyed more, life is taken a bit easier. Under the Tuscan Sun is another example of an idyllic foreign residence.

Graduation mania starting to overtake the House. Just helped Pancho with his announcements, the boys are getting all geared up for Senior Week. It's extremely interesting to find out what people are heading off to do now. I think now is when friends and acquaintances will be more far flung across the country, more so than going off to college. This semester has gone by both fast and slow. Hard to believe that I've had this much time off when it still feels like there are lots of things I still want to do around here. Guess thats what the summer is for.

April showers...

It has been raining all day, since I woke up. I really like it when its raining and I can sleep in. Its nice to hear it outside, and the room feels more cozy and just makes me want to snuggle under the covers. That said, I was enjoying the lovely spring weather from Saturday, all sunny and mid 70s, so anytime that comes back would be lovely.

Had a great weekend. Friday afternoon was gorgeous out. Sat on the Beach with the usual group. Never thought I would sit outside in 65 degree weather and think it totally fine to be in short sleeves and it be pleasant. Used to be sweater weather for me. Lots of kids were out, they were all proud of the rare occasion when Hopkins looks like any other college campus. People actually looking like they are having fun. Not too much school spirit around here for the most part. Sort of sad, but makes it all so much more appreciate UF. Then, Pancho and I went on this dinner cruise around the Inner Harbor on Friday night with grad students from the BME department. Typical Hopkins slightly socially awkward crowd, but there were drinks included and the harbor at night was really pretty. I got pictures of the big paddle wheels on the boat. When I saw it, I immediately thought Tom Sawyer, Mississippi River, big white paddle boat.

This was Homecoming Weekend so lots of alumni in town. Saturday was also gorgeous out so Pancho and I threw a little tailgate. Burgers, hot dogs, frozen margaritas out on the front porch. Was perfect. So glad to be able to host a little something. Then went to the lax game against Navy. They won, I was more concerned with being super thirsty from the margaritas :) Walked around and got ice cream, sat on the Beach again. A very casual, summer-like day. Makes me think how awesome this summer IS going to be.

Got my official offer from the Supreme Court. I start in 5 weeks. Making more money than I thought AND they are subsidizing my monthly pass on the train to commute! Yay. More money for those work clothes I need to get! I think its going to be a lot of fun. Have to learn all about the Court now, and the architecture of the building. My boss seems awesome though from her emails so I'm happy about that. Lots of good stuff to look forward to.

Making Chicken Fajita Crescent Braid tonight, recipe sounds yummy, and so excited for a new Gossip Girl!!

Spring!

I have been absolutely loving the Spring weather. Its still pretty cool out, but its sunny (most of the time at least), and I can actually open the windows or sit outside and read. The Beach really is a nice spot to relax and overhear some Hopkins gossip. inevitable.

Looking forward to Easter. Its not one of my top holidays but I still like decorating for it (duh!). Not too keen on any of the candy, either. Don't like Peeps, jelly beans, Cadbury eggs. Just SweetTarts Chicks, Ducks, and Bunnies. So I've been planning for awhile for this weekend. Got Pancho's basket all set to go, ready to dye eggs, baking some Pillsbury Easter Chick sugar cookies, and cinnamon rolls on Sunday morning. So excited!

However, the schedule might change a little bit because I think I'm going up to New York. My grandmother is pretty sick and my mom is there now, and since its only a 5 hour drive for me, it makes sense that I should be there. And then on the drive back, I'm arranging a visit to Penn. Still working out meetings with professors and stuff. Really want to get a feel for the campus and the area, see if I can visualize myself there. Maybe spot the cafe I will take up residence in, with my mountain of books and articles to read and a pressing need to have direct access to caffeine and baked goods. lol. So, things are certainly happening, or rather, things are about to be happening.

Kaplan job not really for me, as it turns out. I realized that I shouldnt be doing things that I dont enjoy. Life's too short. Probably should really enjoy these last few weeks I have off before the summer starts. Therefore, Pancho and I are going to an Orioles baseball game tonight. He is so excited about the start of the new season. (Naturally, I'm excited about all of the game park food. Hot dogs and funnel cakes? Heck yes.)

Oh, so I'm not feeling well. Picked up another little cold, and I really wanted Matzo ball soup last night. We finally find that Whole Foods has it for Passover. Make the 15 minute drive over there, and they dont have it until today! Actually very disappointing. I dont like when I cant satisfy my inner Jew. We went to Pei Wei instead. lol

UMD

Lovely visit to DC over the weekend. Finally got to Georgetown Cupcakes. Only 20 minute way outside, and made it in plenty of time so wouldn't be turned away again. Tiniest place, and they were just moving people in and out. I got Mint Chocolate and Vanilla squared and then 2 chocolate peanut butter fudge for Pancho and Ira. Delicious but super messy (All the frosting). Also went to Lauriol Plaza, this great Mexican restaurant with amazing margaritas. Maybe had a glass (or 2 or 4) more than necessary. But tons of fun ;)

Then had a great visit to the University of Maryland on Monday. Learned all about the course requirements, the campus is absolutely gorgeous, met with some professors. Lots of Women & Gender faculty, so lots of classes that I would be interested in taking. No language requirement (woohoo!), and the current grad students were nice and seemed to have a very active history grad student group. Everything was what I could have hoped for, and now I'm just waiting to hear from Penn before really making that final decision.

Interviewed at Kaplan yesterday, I've moved on to the training program. Turns out I'll have to re-take the SATs if I want to teach them because its been almost 5 years so the last time. Sort of a turn-off to the job. But I'll see how things go, I get paid for training at least. Should hear from the internship next week, so still keeping my fingers crossed for that. Sigh, just some more waiting for me to keep doing. lol.

I've parallel parked twice in the last 2 days on my first attempt. Finally making progress!!
Been a super rainy day today, definitely a snuggle up with a book and tea kind of day, just a little house tidying to do first. ehh. Lots of really cute Spring/Easter baked goodies on the blogs recently to check out. Maybe this weekend I'll tackle some creme brulee or decorated cupcakes...

March updating

Been a very inconsistent blogger this month. I believe my readership is about 6 people and so when fully half of whom came to visit me in Baltimore, well, I figured I was semi-excused from writing about it. But I will now. Tried to show the girls the "best of Baltimore" or what it amounts to in my opinion. Checked out the waterfront at Inner Harbor, shopped along the quirky shops of Hampden, day trip to DC for museums, failed attempts at getting cupcakes, and then infamous chicken and waffles on the way back, made a full round of the nightlife, which sadly included PJ's, but Brewer's Art witnessed my first Irish car bomb (delicious. even if I remain the slowest shot/drink taker in the whole world), trip downtown to hit up pretty up the essential bars in Fed Hill including Dog Pub, walked around the Farmer's Market and saw Ana from Charm City Cakes which we also walked by (cakes in the window), watched a lacrosse game, meandered around campus, breakfast at Pete's Grill (alas, no Michael Phelps sighting), quick run through of the Baltimore Museum of Art, fajita and margarita night at Nacho Mama's, respectable play at the James Joyce trivia night, and got pictures of the Painted Ladies.
A very fun week if not totally exhausting. My days had gotten fairly leisurely by the beginning of March so being on the go was a definite change.

Home now in Boca to see my parents and relax. Brought an extra bag to return with spring decorations, a desk lamp, clothes, and some cake decorating icing tips. Random, I know, but its easier to do this than try to ship it all. Heading to DC on Saturday because Maryland is having an open house on Monday and it will be easier to take the Metro from there than drive in the crazy commuter traffic on Monday. I'm really excited about it, there is a full day planned to tell us about the program and we get to meet faculty and current students. Got into George Washington over the weekend so now I'm waiting on Penn, Sarah Lawrence, and Boston College. I just want to know already so that I can start comparing the programs.

Had a half hour telephone interview this morning with the Curator office of the Supreme Court for that internship. I was prepared, had a 2 page sheet of things I wanted to make sure to mention. I think it went well, I had some good answers for stuff, hoping that other answers were received well. Sort of nervous though, no idea how many other people are left at this stage so I could be against 4 or 40 kids. Won't hear back for 2 weeks so going to try not to think about it too much. Also just set up an interview with Kaplan to try and teach the SATs. Hopefully that goes well next week. Feel like things are moving along, just really really hoping one of these works out.
Glad that I'm being more productive again, had been feeling a little guilty for taking those 3 months off, although I think I really needed the break. It will be nice once I get a job and figure out what school I'll be going to, get a little more settled for the next 5 months.

I still can't get over the fact that I've graduated from college and am living with my boyfriend in a big city. It sounds more grown up than I feel in reality. I vividly remember in 4th grade around election time thinking that the next election I would be in 8th grade and the one after that I would be in 12th grade-- high school! And I couldnt even envision beyond that. Not only has that all come and gone, we're past that next election, too. I dont feel necessarily like an adult but I'll see people my age on tv and I think oooh, they look older than that, a real adult. Stuck in some sort of kid/ quasi adult category. Although after watching numerous What Not to Wear episodes this week (looove Stacey and Clinton), feeling like I need to update my wardrobe a little. Maybe weed out those things I still have from like sophomore year of high school. When I moved to Baltimore, Pancho and I realized that I have so much stuff because I never outgrow it, so it accumulates until it pretty much falls apart.

Bored

So completely bored. No one is in Boca, I don't have my car, so basically I'm watching a lot of tv and finding little projects around the house. Started back embroidering some quilt blocks that I havent touched in probably 4 or 5 years, cleaned some more things out of my closet to be donated, read a little. But ughh. and even the things that I can think to do involve spending money which I'm really really trying to avoid. Guess I could go running or swimming later. Take advantage of the amazing weather. sighhh.

Sunshiny State

Oh to be back in warm and sunny FL, back to friendly and familiar Gator country. Flight this morning was fine, took a little nappies on the plane. Lunch with Dad at the Riverwalk in Ft. Lauderdale and then a leisurely afternoon reading and unpacking. Went for a run, starting to feel slightly guilty about all of the junk I've been eating in combination with all of the not exercising I'm not doing. ehh.

BUT! I did break off a piece of the Chocolove Dark Chocolate with Orange Peel bar that I bought with the girls when we to the shoes & chocolate shop in Hampden. Delicious-ness and very rich so I felt perfectly content with just the bit I ate. perfect.

Squared away all of the details for going to the U. Maryland Open House. So excited! Apparently there is a current grad students taking us out for pizza and beer thing happening afterwards. Good. I need to get the inside scoop. Don't really have too much to do while I'm home, just wait to hear back from schools and jobs... yay. lol. Going to get some quality reading time in though which is always appreciated. Mansfield Park has been a pretty decent read so far.

No two are alike...

Playing in the snow is so much fun. Threw snowballs and made a snow angel. Stomped all around in my wellies. Snowed for most of the last 20 hours or so, big fat flakes. I hope it keeps snowing, or at least stays around for awhile before melting. The front steps are treacherous when it's slushy.

Updated quite a few pictures on Facebook, trying to stay on top of things. The Lacrosse game on Saturday was fun despite Hopkins' frustrating playing. Another game coming up this weekend. I still only moderately pay attention, but I'm getting better at knowing what is good versus bad play.

Time for B. Williams... more updating when I've got news. Starting reading Mansfield Park, by the way.

In the kitchen

I've become even more obsessed with baking/cupcakes in the past few days. There are so many cute baking blogs--- Cakespy, Bakerella, CakeJournal, and Cupcakes Take the Cake. Lots of new ideas to try out, thinking I might actually start decorating beyond icing and sprinkles. Need to see if I still have at home my frosting tips and books from my long-ago cake decorating days. With a little practice I could probably turn out some stars, shells, a little outlining. It would also help with the sugar cookies. The Christmas ones were cute, but definitely sloppy. Don't think I'll take another Wilton class, but if I still have my old supplies then I can at least do some basic decorating. Going to be baking some cupcakes (heart funfetti mix, vanilla frosting, red nonpareils) this afternoon as well as making Pancho's Mom's pasta sauce that takes 5 hours to simmer!! Jesus. But we're having it with bow-tie pasta tonight to use some of it up (I'm halving the recipe and it still makes an insane amount) because it is really being made for the Pasticho, a Venezuelan variation of lasagna that we're making on Saturday. Going to be cooking with leeks for the first time, too. Last night, made a really simple Baked Salmon with Cranberry-Thyme Crust with roasted asparagus (also the first time cooking either of those things.) Came out delicious, though I did overcook the asparagus a little bit. AND, Pancho has nailed down how to make a lemon drop martini at home. :) Oh yeah, my mom is so crazy, she sent me a culinary torch this week so I can caramelize creme brulee. I made pumpkin creme brulee over the holidays but had to stick the ramekins under the broiler to caramelize the sugar on top and it didnt exactly work out (the actual cream part started heating up). But now just need to light up the blowtorch and away I go. Seriously, my mom feeds into my ridiculousness. Homemade creme brulee isn't difficult, but Crate & Barrel makes delicious little kits, too.

I don't know if anyone else has read The Red Tent by Anita Diamant, but I'm reading it now and it is amazing. Talks of Biblical times from the female perspective, how women labored, their relationships with other women, their families, and the gods/goddesses. Its fiction but it is meant to fill in where the Bible leaves women out. Not my typical read, but from my women's history view, very interesting.

Also been watching more of The Biggest Loser lately. Its so inspiring, but also makes me really wish I had my own personal trainer to make me work out and try new routines. Today is finally warm enough for me to head outside.. ehhh. Don't want to but I should, at least walk for 30 minutes to get out of the house.

A big sigh of relief....

I got into Boston University!! Thank goodness, I am going to graduate school.

McYummy

I've been totally sucked in by the McDonald's ads for the new McCafe, and after reading an article about the battle between it, Starbucks, and peripherally, Dunkin Donuts, well I was more than intrigued. And then to my great delight received a packet of coupons in the mail yesterday which I immediately claimed ownership over. 2 free McCafes. So after our little jaunt to Wal-Mart, (where I picked a cupcake storage container. totally necessary. really.) I stopped and got a Caramel Latte. It was Fantastic. I also happened to notice a sign that all February between 5and 8am, McCafes are free. Now the question is, Can I motivate myself to get up that early in order to feed my espresso habit? (Though to be honest, since I've been in Baltimore I have yet to fire up the ol' espresso machine. Getting up at 10:30 every morning doesn't really inspire the need for caffeine. I'm fairly rested and awake at that point.) Anyways, its tempting.

Also, I am so grateful to have access to Bravo again. Millionaire Matchmaker? My new fave. Patti is freakin hilarious. I was literally smiling at the tv while I was watching it last night. The millionairess was just totally nice and you wanted her to find the right guy.

I also caught some Ace of Cake which I haven't seen in awhile. Now I'm all psyched about the potential of running into any of the people when I'm out and about. A Mary Alice or Geoff sighting would be really awesome.

Mousey, Ms., and Martha

Woke up uncharacteristically early today at around 7:30am. Feeling like I need a really productive day-- emptied the dishwasher, did dinner dishes from last night, read (finally finally almost finished with The Feminine Mystique), and am now watching The View. Oh yes, I've become a regular View watcher since I've been off. It's actually quite informative. Martha is also on at the same time so I switch between them. She can get on my nerves a little, her filler commentary is sometimes awkward, but last week for Valentine's there was just the cutest decorations and desserts. Ludacris--shockingly!--is on today, but totally cleaned up wearing a men's v-neck sweater over a button down and he's making sea bass to highlight his new Asian restaurant in Atlanta. hilarious.

While I was reading in bed, I happened to look up and spot a little mousey running along the floorboard under the desk. Though this was the first time I've seen a live mouse in the house, I didn't scream or make a single noise. Saw it, thought hmm wait, is that? and then it scurried and I knew it was a little mousey. Now I'm mostly wondering where the heck it went to. We haven't caught any in awhile, I think they got wise to the traps, but there is less evidence in the kitchen so maybe only a few are left. Nice thought, I know.

Finally feeling better, got so much sleep though that I would have been really concerned if I hadn't gotten better soon. Read an interesting article in Ms. yesterday about the importance of early learning. By the time a child is 4, a child of higher-educated, professional parents will hear 32 million more words than a child of lesser-educated, lower-income parents. In addition to the complexity of the sentences and wider vocabularly. It's sort of crazy. The article also talked about how people think of the achievement gap between higher and lower income kids as being evident in elementary school, but it can be detected as early as 18 months. Entering Kindergarten isn't some magical new entry into being able to learn, that it starts much much earlier. Essentially the article was highlighting Obama's campaign platform and commitment to early education and funding, more federal money needs to go to programs like Head Start that get low income children ready for school.

sickies

Finally caught the cold bug that has been going around. The rest of the house has been sick for a week, Pancho has bronchitis, but I thought since I wasn't sick by now then maybe I wasn't going to be. Wrong. Woke up with a sore throat and stuffy nose today. Oh well, I've got the time to rest so hopefully won't keep me down for too long.

Went to a Whole Foods Chocolate Lovers' Class last week. Basically a quick 20-minute presentation on how cacao creates chocolate and about the different percentages. Lots of samples! I love dark chocolate and they had these fantastic sugar cookies with a chocolate orange filling. Got the recipe, going to play with it a little to make chocolate-dipped sugar cookies. Learned how to double boil chocolate, too, which is something I've never really understood but it sounds easy as long as you keep attention to the water level. There are other classes and things, like about different cheeses and how to make soup. Might check it out. Picked up an organic sourdough round to go with our dinner that night and it was deeelicious. Sort of far (and expensive) to go there a lot but for certain things like special chocolate, bread, tea, cheese, or nuts I think I can convince myself.

Made cheesecake on Friday for the first time. It's amazing. Not too difficult, either, but the 3 packages of cream cheese that went in it still gross me out a little. But the graham cracker crust came out nice and firm and the cheesecake is rich. I decorated with little valentine's nonpareils.
Valentine's Day was low-key but nice. Pancho made me jambalaya, all by himself. Just spicy enough and the sausage and shrimp were fantastic. (An Emeril recipe, too!) Mostly just hung out, I watched The Secret Life of Bees. Queen Latifah was great, as usual. I've liked her in the last like 4 movies she's been in.

Not too much is going on around here. I finally ventured down to the basement by myself to do laundry. It's dark and dirty and mice are probably lurking in every corner but I sucked it up. Those little miceies can't stop me from having clean towels. Otherwise, starting to wonder if I'm making the most of my time off. I'm suprisingly not bored but am amazed at how fast the time is going. I certainly feel relaxed and not stressed out so I guess its working as a vacation. Maybe feeling slightly guilty about it though, like is it wrong of me to have done nothing for 2 months?

Best former roomies ever. period.

To my complete surprise and utter delight I received a Valentine's care package from my old roomies. The most fantastic little goodies and Paige-specific things. I think the card alone would have made me happy. (Good work on the envelope, Ali. You really do have a way with puffy paint. I'm jealous of your skills :) Naturally, I almost immediately inhaled about 3/4 of the pink(!) M&Ms and now subsequently am feeling a mix of self-loathing and sugar high. The chore magnets are ridiculous!!!! I don't know how well it would go over with the guys if I actually put them on the fridge next to name tags, but it is certainly tempting! They are very true though, Feed the Animals, Take out Trash, Do the Dishes, Clean the Bathroom (these are the most vexing chores that are always needing to be done.) and the heart cupcake liners. Shockingly, I dont have any, so these are perfect to go along with the hearts funfetti mix I have. and some sticky notes and those Alligator and Lovebug magnets, so appropriate! lovelovelove.
Anyways, all of it was absolutely amazing and I <3 The Al(l)isons.

So I made Pillsbury pizza for the first time on Tuesday. Ham and Pineapple as toppings. It looked super fancy ( I think the other Roommates are getting jealous about all the "real" dinners I've been whipping up every night) but I think I slightly overcooked it or maybe used too large a baking sheet because it was thin crust and not at all like I remember Walfy's or Stella's pizza being like, so if you have tips on that, I'd appreciate it. Also thinking about trying a garlic butter crust next time, a la Satchel's.

The other day on campus I was looking at one of those flier walls to see if there was cool stuff to do and came across a lab test participant thing. I went for the first half last night at the Mind/Brain Institute. Basically I had my arm in this seriously homemade-looking box with my index finger receiving pulses from some sort of device. I had to differentiate between 2 versions which had a higher frequency based on that touch, I had headphones on at the same time giving me distractor pitch noises. Anyways, its a total of 10 rounds of 98(!) trials each of these 2 versions. But $10/hr, so I'd say its worth my time. I'm going in Monday to finish it up, only did 5 rounds last night but it took over an hour so thank you easy money.

Working on an internship application right now for the Office of the Curator at the Supreme Court. It's during the summer, and I guess you like get to lead tours and work on exhibits dealing with the history and architecture of the Supreme Court. Hey, I think its cool, and sort of perfectly in line with what I want to eventually do, so cross your fingers. (I need the moolah AND it would be pretty awesome to have that on my resume). Also, I did not get into Yale for grad school. Not surprised but now I feel like I need all the 11:11 wishes and prayers I can get, so think positive thoughts for me.

Pastries & Trivia

Last night Pancho and I went to Little Italy downtown for Vaccaro's All-You-Can-Eat Coffee and Dessert night. I'd been looking forward to it for days because the thought of gorging myself on cannolis was just too tempting. It's basically THE place to go for Italian pastries in Baltimore and we've been once before, a few years ago. The portions are indescribably huge, to the point of ridiculousness. So for Round 1 we started off with a latte, chai tea, chocolate hazelnut cake, and a sampler (two mini cannolis, 3 cookies, 2 cream puffs). The rule is you have to finish at least half before you can order something else. We polished off the cake and all of the sampler except one of the cream puffs. I was thoroughly enjoying myself until it came time to order Round 2. Decided I would take it easy and get an eclair, Pancho got a Belgian waffle with Baci gelato, hot fudge, and whipped cream. I was visibly in eating distress when the waitress brought out a BRICK of an eclair. Got through maybe 4 bites and it was lights out. Pancho, for his part, did do a number on his. I certainly got my sweet tooth satisfied, slightly disappointed I couldn't eat more, but it was just sheer sugar overload. I had read some other forum postings about Vaccaro's before we went, seeing what other people thought, and I have to agree with many people that maybe it used to be a great place but now is perhaps resting on its reputation and history in the area. I mean, the cannolis really were fantastic, the filling was some of the best I've ever had, but the prices are exorbitant ($6 for a latte?!) and there really is no reason to get dessert in the portions they serve, unless you're sharing with like 3 people. And other people had mentioned that there is a focus on quantity over quality and I think that is probably true as well, it was all yummy in the way that dessert is always yummy but nothing that I would absolutely rave over (except maybe the almond cookies. delightful). Either way, it was a fun thing to try and it has now pushed me to eat in moderation.

But we were sitting at the table there, uncomfortably shifting to find positions to sit to accommodate the dessert, and Pancho's friends called to see if we wanted to stop by Trivia Night on the way home. Its become the Monday night tradition, usually a good-sized group goes down to James Joyce, an Irish pub downtown for Trivia Night. Basically, 6 rounds of questions, very random, and you're in teams with the people you come in with. The winners get a $40 tab. Pancho went last week but I hadnt gone yet, so we went, and it was so much fun. I single-handedly contributed the answers to identifying a picture of Emma Roberts, knowing Jean Claude Van Damm was Belgian, that Gone With the Wind was released in 1939 in Atlanta, and that Rochester is Jane Eyre's love interest. It was all insanely random knowledge (which of New Zealand's islands is larger? Can you see the Great Wall with your naked eye from space? -- the Southern island and No) Between rounds you can answer individual questions for free beer, Pancho won a Blue Moon pilsner glass on one. And our Team-- Looks Are a Bonus-- ended up winning! So I got a free glass of Magners hard cider out of it and the satisfaction of being a winner at pub trivia, not bad!

It's a love story/ Baby just say yes

Recap of the weekend: Friday night we went for Happy Hour to Charles Village Pub (CVP) where I proceeded to get hammered off of two measly Vodka Collins. pathetic. but they were delightful. Then Pancho and I went for our weekly dinner out to Holy Frijoles in Hampden (a cute artsy neighborhood on the other side of Hopkins campus). They had fantastic sounding margaritas and martinis, but given my already imbibed status they would have really done me in. So I had water. :( but with really good chips and salsa and enchiladas. The rice and beans were so-so, but I was craving Mexican food and it hit the spot. We think going there just for drinks and chips would be fantastic.

Saturday morning we walked over to the Waverly Farmer's Market that is literally at the end of our street, about a minute walk (you can see it if you stand in front of the house) with a friend I made over the summer at that history scholars week in NYC who also goes to JHU. Since its winter I wasn't totally impressed by the offerings, but did pick up some orange peppers and an amazing round loaf of fresh-baked bread. We've been cutting off slices since then for sandwiches, toast, bread with dinner. Tres yummy.

The usual round of weekend chores--grocery shopping, laundry, cleaning. We've become amazing at printing coupons online, checking sale fliers for deals. We went to two grocery stores to maximize savings this week. lol. I just love a good deal.

The weather was simply incredible, too. In the 50s!!! and sunny. I knew I couldn't ask for any better conditions to go running in so I sucked it up and put on the UnderArmour. Was actually quite pleasant going around the border of campus and through the quads. Lots more hills/inclines than I am used to and the wind picked up on Sunday, but I got two really great workouts in. Now, I'm paying for it with sore muscles, barely making it up and down the stairs. Might also be from the stadiums I so mistakenly thought I was in shape for. I do miss having a gym though because when the weather doesn't cooperate I'm pretty much stuck indoors even if I do want to workout.

Hung out with some of Pancho's friends on Saturday night, had Firefly which is as close as I'm getting here to sweet tea. I've also started preparing for learning how to make cocktails (1 of my 5 plans for my sabbatical. The others being to read, cook and bake, work on French and Spanish, and scrapbook.) Now that I have my bar set, I used the jigger and shaker to make Crantinis last week (vodka, cranberry juice, and the juice from a fresh lime) which were delightful. I need to buy Peach Schnapps and then I have a few more to try (Sex on the Beach, Fuzzy Navel).

I made Allison's Chili for dinner last night with some Trader Joe's cornbread mix. Absolutely, insanely good. And so much leftover! I'll be having it for lunch all week. Pancho loved it, Roommate S had it, and we invited a friend of Pancho's for dinner. She was having a rough day and I spontaneously offered chili and cornbread because I know nothing cures a bad day like good food. (Says my inner fatty)

I'm so excited for Valentine's Day. I mailed both of my parents little packages of Berger cookies, cards, and graduation pictures I had printed out. Already got a box from my mom. She knows me too well--Big heart and kissy lip cookie cutters, Girl Scout cookies, sugared fruit slices, and a Hallmark mailer. Pancho and I aren't going out on Saturday, I didn't want to deal with making reservations and the cost, and we're not exchanging gifts, but we are going out tonight for our 4.5 year anniversary / sorta Valentine's Day meal (I dont think its silly we mark it. He thinks its a little embarassing to tell other people. pssh) and then giving cards on VDay itself and making a nice dinner and maybe out for coffee. I just think its important to make it a nice day, spend some quality time.

Yay, Thursday!

This has been quite a good day and its not even half over! Woke up early to go with Pancho to finally get everything with the car and parking decals sorted out. Having had horrible and painful experiences at home with the DMV, the Maryland Vehicles Auth. was a breeze. Competant workers, hardly any wait, nice nice nice. Then back downtown to switch the temporary card to a permanent decal. Yay, now I can park in Oakenshawe, District 1 until December without worrying about a ticket. Ha, except after I dropped Pancho back off at school, I'm still looking for shortcuts on parallel parking. I've been lucky to week to have been able to just drive into a wide enough gap normally and then just correct it. Eventually I will learn. eventually.

I will be in Boca from Thursday, March 12 through Tuesday, March 24. Airfare surprisingly normal considering its Spring Break time. Pancho is going to Europe with his parents and I really didnt want to stay here alone for over a week, I get freaked out enough by all the noises on a regular night if no one is home. Since the rowhouses are all connected and share walls, a lot of times I can't tell if a noise is our house or the neighbors. Then, given the area, there really is no way I would stay here alone. Dog or no dog. Pops does look menacing even though he's just a cute furry ball of energy (You should see him attack his stuffed duck. well, it used to be stuffed until one of the boys put a treat inside and Pops tore all the stuffing out to get the treat. sigh.)

Gossip Girl was so deliciously scandalous at the end. Although I'm worried about no upcoming sneak previews... 24 was also good. And now that Bravo is available to me again, I can soak up the awfulness of OC Housewives. Although I will confess (for him) that Pancho is looking forward to the Millionaire Matchmaker next week. I just love the advice that Patti tells these guys. Some people just don't deserve their money if they are going to act completely self-centered and pretty much ridiculous.

Some great recipes to share. We made tilapia with roasted red potatoes on Monday, stromboli with a hodge podge salad of lettuce, tomatoes, green peppers, mushrooms, gorgonzola crumbly cheese, and balsalmic viniagrette dressing (so yummy!) on Tuesday, did a Trader Joe's frozen penne mix yesterday with fresh tomatoes, cucumber, and green peppers drizzled with balsalmic, and tonight is beef burgundy soup. All of these were new dishes for me and I have to say that the tilapia and stromboli were absolutely fantastic. Warm, flavorful, and filling. I discovered Pillsbury's online recipes and coupons (!) early this week and got the stromboli and beef burgundy recipes. Its also nice because they have a cooking for two section so I dont have to make monstrous portions that we end up having all week for leftovers.

And! For my afternoon project, I'm going to make red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting from this cute mix I got for Christmas. Trying to get this house into a festive Valentinesy spirit. Last week I put up the gel heart window clings, most on our 3 bedroom windows but I did put some on the front door to which Housemate S declared they had to go (they are still up.) But I more excited about the fact that I have a banister to work with now. That cheesy red sequin and hearts garland? Wrapped around the handrail. It's so cute!! Then I had the leftover paper cutouts from last year and those are on the bedroom door. So today is the start to Valentines baking. Attempting cheesecake next week with red and pink sprinkles. I also picked up (on sale for $1!!) a funfetti hearts version.

Princeton & the Superbowl

Pancho and I drove Eddie back to Princeton on Friday. Not a bad 2.5 hour drive. Added Delaware and New Jersey to new states that I have now kinda been to. Princeton is a cute little town. Quiet streets and those classic Northeast-looking frame houses. Weather took a cold nosedive so couldn't fully appreciate the long walk of shops across from campus while hunting for a dinner place, mostly just focused on finding anywhere to get inside.

Took the Little One around to get groceries and run errands (always nice to have someone visit that has a car). Stayed overnight in the dorms. Definitely have not missed the twin-size beds. Went for breakfast at PJ's Pancake House. I was intent on doing things that were "Princetonian" while we were there. It certainly had that local place charm to it, handwriting all over the walls, cramped and packed with people, but delicious food. Absolutely fantastic chocolate chip pancakes. We all had them. Pancho of course had to do the chocolate chip and peanut butter ones. too too much if you ask me. but we all know how I dont like chocolate and PB mixed together anyways. And we ate until we were positively disgustingly full.

Walked around most of campus. Very pretty and impressive-looking buildings. Pictures on facebook at some point this week. And then Pancho and I were back on the road to Baltimore. Drive was going perfectly fine until we were about 25 minutes from home. I was driving, we were going to make a quick stop at Superfresh to get groceries for the week and it was going to all work out fine to be home to make an early dinner. UNTIL we see a road caution sign that there is an accident blocking the 3 left lanes (of 4 total) in 7 miles. There are no more exits coming up so we have to drive through it. Right when the cars start to slow down, my gas light comes on. No big deal, I have like 4 gallons when it goes on. Its 5:09pm and Freddie had calculated we would get to Baltimore at 5:35pm. So we're inching along and it gets to be an hour later, we've gone 1.7 miles (I always make immediate note of mileage and time when traffic slows, precisely so I can torment myself in situations like these to know just how bad it is.) And the gas ticker is creeping lower and lower. Normally, you figure that when the gas light comes on you have like 50 miles or whatever which would have been more than fine. Except we had been sitting in traffic for an hour. No idea what to do because it looks like there is no end in sight to the cars. We decide to drive on the shoulder to at least try to get ahead and hopefully get to an exit to look for gas before the car dies. Freddie still said we were like 3.5 miles from an exit and we figure that a cop would understand driving on the shoulder if it meant we wouldnt die on the side of the road. Anyways, so we're doing this and other cars are trying to block the shoulder. So we try to get back into the lane, no one lets us. Its not a good situation. I'm cringing, praying that we dont rub up on another car as Pancho has to just force our way into the lane. We're still in traffic, no real way to ride the shoulder anymore. So I call AAA and I'm like uhh we're not sure how much gas we have left and traffic is basically stopped what should we do? They put us in priority to have someone come deliver gas in case we do run out. This goes on for awhile, we're anxiously watching the gas ticker mark. And then traffic starts moving, we get to the exit, I'm still begging the car to make it to the gas station, AAA calls literally 3 times to see if we still need the gas. We made it and everything ends well. lol. It was much more nerve-wracking at the time, especially when we had gone 1.7 miles in an hour. Anyways, AAA and Freddie really got us through that one.

A bunch of the boys' friends came over to watch the game yesterday. I had originally made a list to do a potluck and have everyone bring something. But one of the guys thinks it won't work, the others won't bring stuff, whatever. So it's just bring your own everything. I was a little bummed, had been thinking I might try a spinach dip recipe for the first time. Everyone in the house decides we're going to order wings to split and Pancho and I get our own beer and chips. It's all good until the second half of the people arrive (of 12 people total) and they've got artichoke AND bean dip AND a nachos dish for everyone. Apparently word hadnt quite gotten back around that the potluck was off. Meanwhile, I'm mentally scanning our cupboards, thinking if there is anything that I can whip together to save myself. Of course there isnt. So now I have to do something to redeem my baking and hostess reputation (although I still maintain that it isnt really my fault. I would certainly have made something had I known) I mentioned doing a potluck for the final game of March Madness, next major sporting event I could think of. Sigh. But I've been baking stuff every week for the house at least. They know what the deal is. :)

Just a little shopping

So I found this list that Pancho got during freshman orientation of 51 Things to Do in Baltimore. (Seriously, aren't all good things contained on a list?) We've done some of them on previous trips--Fort McHenry, Baltimore Museum of Art, eat in Little Italy, Hopkins Lacrosse game, take the MARC to DC, wander Inner Harbor, lounge on the school's Beach. But the rest of the things will give us some ideas for the next few months. One of them said "Discover the Berger Cookie." Naturally, I'm intrigued. I googled it, and the bakery website pops up. The cookie looks yummy and seems inexpensive, but there are no store hours or anything to actually go there. I look at the other google hits, and found a really great blog, Cakespy. All about sweets and baked goods (yay!) and there was a post about the Berger cookie. Fantastic description--

For those who may not be familiar with these treats, the Berger Cookie is possibly Baltimore's crowning culinary achievement: a buttery, cakey cookie with a soft, sweet, fudgy chocolate topping.

I was hooked. All these people were raving about this cookie, but I couldn't figure out where to actually buy it. But lo and behold, the local grocery stores carry it! Picked up 2 boxes yesterday. One for us, one to mail to my parents. Sort of like a black and white cookie, but different (and still delicious!) Very thick/rich. Definitely need some milk with it.

We went to the Towson Mall to get me better equipped for the winter weather. Did extremely well, and the sales were fantastic! New blue gloves that seem like they will actually keep my hands warm, and really cute pink/raspberry colored Sperry Top-Sider wellies. Not normally a paisley sort, but these boots were just the perfect fit. Pancho also gave me a pair of regular boots that he never wears and which are perfect for when I'm out and the sidewalks are questionable. (As they were yesterday and I almost killed myself trying to walk in sneakers. Not enough weight/traction) Feel like I'm ready now for the outside, don't have to worry about slipping and sliding all over the place.

Heading down to the kitchen to make brownies. I'm Pancho's Design Team's "team mom" now. :)