Monday's update

Why do grape-flavored things taste so horrible but real grapes are so delicious? Where does the discrepancy enter in?

My attempt at the early 90s' 8-Minute Abs video yesterday may have strained my neck muscles. or they're just really sore. I knew I had poor form.

During my last visit to Baltimore, Pancho and I had brunch at Ms. Shirley's, hands-down the best brunch place. I'd spotted the Monkey Bread on the menu before but at $10, it seemed a little steep for an appetizer. We were feeling indulgent and split it along with our meals. I've never had monkey bread before. It. was. heavenly. Like an awesome cinnamon roll but drizzled with chocolate sauce and powdered sugar and deliciousness. So I've looked into it. Williams-Sonoma sells a mix by King Arthur Flour which sounds like it could definitely replicate it at home. But then I went to the KAF website itself, which essentially means I lost roughly 45 minutes from schoolwork this afternoon. So they have a cheaper version of the mix there (figures, should always go straight to the source) AND you can buy a monkey bread pan. I could use my Bundt pan, all you really need is a tube pan to make them, but if its actually called a monkey bread pan, well, seems slightly more proper.

Anyways, I've been using KA flour for the past year (its amazing and organic) and judging from my survey of other baking blogs, a much-loved favorite. The website is pretty cool, lots of recipes and stuff. I have an urge to try my hand at baking bread, but I'm sort of intimidated about the whole rising and proofing and other vocabulary aspects that are out of my comfort zone.

(oh, and Pancho said the pan & mix could be a gift in someone's future... moi? ;)

What I've learned so far in Grad School

1. Professors are regular people. And by that I mean you get a pretty f* upped group when you put them all together. It is unbelievable the petty jealousies and tensions that simmer just below the surface. Has anyone made a tv show about college faculty? Because they totally could. Some of them think they are brilliant (One considered his Harvard classmates idiots when he was in grad school), others think they are just impossibly busy and can't deign to make time to meet with you (even though, um... its their job..?), and still others are just plain awkward and you leave class or meetings replaying the "conversation" you had about a thousand times. But mostly they are just impressive and smart and really really competitive and can write articles and books and do a million things at once. (Oh, yeah, there are plenty who are nice, too. but its just not as fun to blog about them.)

2. I am too old to pull off all-nighters. At least successfully and in the way that I could before where I was actually productive and could bounce back the next day.

3. I've jokingly said all year that I've had a growing caffeine dependence, but last week I went 4 days without any and went into withdrawl. I had an actual splitting headache that disrupted my sleep. So I think I do actually have some sort of issue there. ;)

4. It is possible to "read" up to 5 books in a week. and sometimes more if a paper is due.

5. TV breaks/ brain breaks/ relaxation is not only healthy but essential.

6. This website is hilarious. and so emblematic of my next point: I can bullshit about Foucault and discourse and "the theoretical underpinnings of this study" (an actual phrase in my 700 paper, btw). maybe not with the best of them, but I can at least do it now if pressed to. Also not sure if this is something I should be proud of because....

7. People talk about stuff they don't really know about. A lot.

8. People talk about stuff that has to do with their particular field. A lot. Even if it has NO relevance to the class discussion.

9. Getting a PhD / writing and publishing a book is daunting. DAUNTING.

10. You can't get through it without friends. Or, well, you can't get through it happily and sanely. Grad school is a great place to meet other similarly geeky people. It can be refreshing to be "with your own kind"

11. The dividing line between undergrads and grads is huge. I will admit to regarding them now rather dismissively. I cannot wait for them to leave for the summer.

12. The library can be your friend but also a black hole into which several hours can pass without notice.

146 footnotes and 44 pages later...

I am pretty much down to proofreading and trimming my final draft of my 700 paper. Hallelujah. I'm aiming for early afternoon completion tomorrow. and then its margarita time with my cohort!

I also had a margarita yesterday at a birthday outing. What is it exactly about grad school that facilitates regular drinking? Oh yes. Must be something to do with balancing out the compulsive caffeination. Hrmm. I'd be worried about my general wellbeing if I hadn't started running again.

My score at Whole Foods this week: Ciao Bella chocolate gelato. delish.

Mailed my Mom these cute flower petal earrings from BR for Mother's Day. actually very tempted to get myself a pair! So embarrassed though when I got to the counter to buy a padded envelope at the post office and forgot her address. whoops.

Only 2 more classes to go to! (perhaps forever?....) Going to be so nice not to have reading every week. hurrah!

Kicked off my job hunting in earnest last week. Tweaking the resume, spreading the word, gathering contacts. Hopefully something will come through soon. :::crosses fingers::: (I'm on LinkedIn if anyone else is.)

Phila. Gator Club Gator Guzzle (ie pub crawl) yesterday was so much fun. I ate a hearty lunch beforehand and limited myself to a beer per place, but it was getting a bit difficult at the end despite my preparation! Ended up at one of the member's houses for a post-party, incidentally a mere 2 blocks from my apartment. So we actually drank our way closer to my house over the course of the day. Did the Orange Blue chant at New Deck Tavern, sang lots of Journey songs and We Are the Boys at Blarney Stone. Met lots of cool people (true Gators and Gator-supporters alike), lucked out being the only young unmarried female (ie drinks bought for me/never at a loss for someone to talk to ;) and just a general good Gator-y time. Talked about Timmy. Denver is also blue and orange as it turns out!

Officially registered for the Philadelphia Half-Marathon. (and I think the running bug is back. oh how I've missed it.)

Also, so many of my regular tv shows haven't been new so I've been Hulu-hunting for just anything and this weekend I got addicted to Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution and wait for it... Southern Belles: Louisville. (oh god. its on SoapNet. lol) Well, Jamie Oliver is brilliant and if he came to Philadelphia I would totally go take free cooking classes.

not sure how else to describe this weekend's weather as anything other than blustery. it has dipped several degrees and gotten quite windy and so back to the spring jackets...

From Friday, a recap: Went to the Penn Student Healthy center early in the morning because I had pink eye. Just in the left eye, thank goodness. But it had progressively gotten worse all week, at first I thought it was just a sty from stress and stuff but then my eye got red, and hurt, and crusty. and clearly wasn't going to just go away on its own. ughhh. The medicine has been miraculous. It looks normal again and doesnt hurt much anymore. I have become a complete germaphobe though, and basically do not touch my face anymore. lol.

Struck out for Bala Cynwyd (suburb of Phila.) to find Target and Hallmark. It was glorious. I miss the suburbs. All that PARKING. beautiful. Got cute summer sandals that are all strappy and as if I'm hardly wearing shoes, so light. Then WalMart, Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. It was like a 4 hour shopping adventure. I loved it. Got to do some actual driving, more than the stopping at lights at every block like in the city. Movie night with the girls at Lori's. Watched Saved which I hadn't seen in years. Hilarious. It got us into a discussion about what happened to Mandy Moore. lol.

Saturday I met CJ for lunch at Pad Thai Shack in Center City. Humongous plates of food. Still trying to persuade him to join me next Saturday for the Philly Gators' Gator Guzzle bar crawl through University City (my neighborhood!). I've only been to 1 of the 4 bars, so this should be a good introduction to drinking spots within walking distance.

I also watched The Other Boleyn Girl which reminded me that The Tudors is still on my Blockbuster queue. I read the Boleyn book back in high school but my memory is spotty about it as is my recall of European history so I was vaguely aware of what was going to happen next in the movie. Like right as things were developing I'd think "and then she has a daughter, not a son".. and then he divorces the Queen... oh riiiight. yikes. maybe I should brush up a little more on that stuff (or just watch the movies!)

And then today, I went to a Catholic Mass. One of my friends in my class is a Jesuit priest and he was guest sermoning at the oldest Catholic Church in Philadelphia tonight so he invited us all to come. I think the only other Catholic Mass I've been to before was Pancho's cousin's wedding in Venezuela and that was in Spanish so I really had no idea what was going on. But it was really beautiful tonight. The church itself is incredible, but more in a quaint and pretty kind of way (its from the 1700s) than an ornate and over the top way. Sean's part of liturgy was personable and funny and I really enjoyed going.

Now it is 10 o'clock and I've caught up on Gossip Girl and Real Housewives of NYC (I know, I know. but they are so ridiculous) and its time to clean up and do a little more light reading....

So...

For as long as I can remember, I have had a goal of running a marathon before I was 25. (Why 25? I don't know. But I suspect that when I was like 13 or whatever, it just seemed impossibly far off and old)

Well, I'm realizing that this is like a little over a year and a half from now so I better get going. I'm in my 7th week of running 3 times/week. Doing just 2.5 miles each time but I know I could go more if I pushed myself a bit. Maybe eek out a 4 miler if I was determined to breath through it. Anyways, I looked up the Philadelphia (Half) Marathon which is in the end of November. Plenty of time to train. The only caveat is that registration prices start climbing every month after the end of April.

I believe I could do the Half. 7 months is definitely enough time. Its actually enough time to train for a Full. but I'm a little nervous about that.

SO.

Should I sign up for the Half now? or should I wait a little and see how my running goes before I commit the money? Or, do I try to aim for doing the Full in November? (I think if there are enough spots open you can actually bump or down to a different race once you've registered. So If I sign up for one its possible to change it later. If I sign up for the Full, should I also scout out a Half beforehand? to get some experience?)

Either way, I'm going to run a Full before December 9, 2011.

Well...

Here's to the next 5 (plus?!) years in Philadelphia. Pancho decided on Penn this week. I suppose it never really dawned on me that I could be living here that long. I've just been plugging along as a "well, I'm living here for a year and maybe longer." but I don't think I really thought about that last part. I like it here so far and all but well... 5 years is kind of a long time... lol.

Good thing I finally bought these really cool City Walks tour cards last week. I've been eyeing them since last summer. Its a pack of 50 6"x4" cards that have suggested walks around the city and neighborhoods. I haven't really gotten a chance to explore as much as I'd like so thought this would be a fun way to see all the requisite but also funky and out of the way places around here. 2 of the cards are in my neighborhood! (I was relieved to see that at least I've gone to most of the places listed on those)

And speaking of how awesome Philly is (yup. just full of Phila. love today) I was completely unaware that a) Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters are the same company and b)they are headquartered here! and I have passed the Anthropologie store a million times but havent gone in (just don't trust myself) but I read that the building downtown is actually its flagship store AND its in an old converted mansion that is like amazing with a lot of the original architecture and fancy staircase and an elevator with a couch apparently.

It has been Florida hot this week. I just walk outside and take a deep breath and soak it all up. Had my first iced latte of the year this morning, part of my recent rediscovery of my obsession with Dunkin Donuts.