Waiting on Vienna

Pickles!!

2009-09-03T17:55:00.000-07:00

Gave refrigerator pickles a try tonight! We'll have to wait and see if the turn out to be any good, but from the lovely aroma of the boiling spices, they are promising! The cucumbers are from NJ (Thanks, Mom Marshall!), the onion from Boston Organics. Can't wait to give these a try.

Totally Locally Sourced!

2009-08-25T18:36:00.000-07:00

There are so many things that I would like to write about, but I just don't have the energy. But! I want to share what we had for dinner tonight:

Completely locally sourced! Right down to the tomato basil farmers cheese we used to flavor the potatoes. NOM. The beef was from Lionette's in South Boston and was really good. Grass fed beef tastes so different! I really hadn't expected that, but I guess I didn't know what to expect. I'm hoping that we can make locally sourced meat a more consistent part of our diets for ethical, environmental and health reasons. And because it's good! Hopefully more on this later!!

Amazing Year

2009-08-11T18:22:00.000-07:00

I can’t believe that 367 days ago, Kyle and I got married!

This has truly been the greatest year of my life, and as Kyle said at our special anniversary dinner Saturday night, “Here’s to 70 more!”

For our anniversary, we spent a lovely weekend relaxing in Portland, ME. Portland was our stateside jumping-off point for our honeymoon to Nova Scotia and, while we thought that the city looked like a lot of fun, we didn’t have time last year to really explore.

Given that Kyle is a very patient man, he didn’t mind that I found a very local-friendly, well reviewed restaurant for our celebratory dinner – even when we had to take a 9:45pm reservation. Eating so late let us entertain the delusion that we’re not quite as old as we pretend when we’re at home. I actually found the restaurant by doing a search on LocalHarvest.

And so we ended up at Fore Street, and had one of the very best meals that I have ever had. Oh. My. Gosh. The FOOD!! It was SO good, and not just because we were eating so close to my bedtime. For whatever reason, the only pictures I have are from my phone and they don’t even begin to convey how amazing everything was.

We started dinner with a tomato goat cheese tart (very generous on the goat cheese which endeared me to them immediately) so good that I would consider having it for every meal for the rest of my life and I’m sure I wouldn’t get sick of it. Next came the main courses of yummy yummy Gulf of Maine halibut for me and Maine-raised venison for Kyle. We also got Maine garlic mashed potatoes and green beans almondine which were the least impressive offering of the night, though still good.

But the real achievement of the evening was dessert. There are not words for how good this dessert was, suffice to say that not only did I eat sweet corn ice cream, it was one of the most delicious things I’ve ever had and I can’t wait to figure out how to make it at home and eat it until my stomach pops like the Gluttony guy in 7even.

Dessert was a blueberry shortcake (really a cream puff covered in blueberries) served with the aforementioned sweet corn ice cream of awesomeness.

It truly was a perfect meal. I can’t express how blessed I am to have such a wonderful partner and I hope that we will have 70 more years of wonderful meals to celebrate this life we are building together.

Happy Farmers Market Chicken

2009-08-07T05:51:00.000-07:00

Who knew that a naked, slightly shriveled, little chicken sitting in a bag of brine in our fridge would completely occupy my thoughts for an entire workday? That I would be overcome with the anticipation of my first whole chicken roasting adventure that meaningful work would be hard to come by? I sure hope that our dinner guests tonight understand the gravity of the situation but given that they are kind and loving souls, I’m sure that they will neither laugh at my enthusiasm nor think me insane. But that’s just because, at this point, they know that I’m insane.

The chicken obsession took root last weekend while visiting my parents. My mom started a job in VT recently as has been raving about the Norwich Farmers Market for months now. I was very eager to visit as we rarely have the leisure time to wander farmers markets in our area (most are during the work week and end at 6pm so when we have gone we’re usually racing around to snap thing up before everything gets shut down). Plus it was a lovely excuse to have my mom and aunt show off their still newish home and for us to get some quality time together.

I went in with a plan, and for the most part stuck with it. I’ve been increasingly interested in finding humanely raised meats for our diet but because of convenience issues haven’t put too much effort into actually following through with this. The farmers market was the perfect opportunity to get started following through on this! Many vendors had free range chickens, organic eggs and grass fed beef and my mom even picked up some Guinness elk sausages for Kyle and my dad. (I tried the elk and it was good, but one bite was enough.) After a completely humiliating encounter with one chicken vendor (I certainly didn’t know that we were talking whole chickens at first, although that seems pretty stupid in retrospect. Not to worry, I ran away from her to a much kinder woman with more reasonably priced poultry), I was the beaming owner of my very own 3.19lb whole roaster. YAY!

With friends coming for dinner tonight, I decided that it was the perfect time to debut the bird. I really have no idea if this is going to work or not but I’m hoping that the waxed beans with mint and steamed broccoli (also from the Norwich F.M.) will be enough if the roasting goes terribly wrong. I’m also planning blondies for dessert. I figure that if all else fails, putting guests into a sugar coma is as good a way as any to end an evening.

***

So, thinks went relatively well. But I've learned several valuable lessons.
1.) Cooking past my bed time isn't a great idea. I ended up brining the chicken's butt all day instead of the breast.
2.) I have no freaking idea how to carve a chicken. Next time I'll look that up before mutilating the bird before our horrified guests.
3.) 3.19lbs of chicken is not enough for 4 adults when the hostess is incapable of getting all the meat off the bones and nobody likes legs.
4.) Anything with a stick of butter and cup of brown sugar is sure to be delicious. The blondies were soooo good!

Overall, I'm really pleased at my first roasting attempt! Now to perfect my technique and make some chicken stock!

Summer of Food

2009-08-04T18:23:00.000-07:00

Last Christmas I received Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and read it just as fast as I could shouting out things to Kyle like, “We are totally going to raise chickens! YAY chickens!” “Can we somehow convert our concrete hole of a yard into a garden this year??” and, “I’m so totally going to make CHEESE in the KITCHEN.” Needless to say, I was more than a little intrigued/enthused/consumed by the entire notion of eating locally. It just makes a lot of sense. Without going into it much here, I’ll just say that the book is a must read and has left me craving a small farm in Appalachia a bit more than the next girl.

It was the cheese in the kitchen comment that really caused Kyle to throw on the brakes and declare that perhaps I should slow down before attempting to turn our fairly urban apartment into an 1800s homestead. So I spent the next several months eating take out four nights a week and putting off any local eating experiments until the weather turned warm and their was local fair to be had. (Actually, my take out shame spiral had nothing to do with the cheese-free kitchen edict and everything to do with the fact that my job search was dragging on and leaving me more than a little down about it).

But the spring brought gainful employment and a rededication to the idea that trying to find ways to eat locally would be awesome and was something that I just had to do. Right. Now. And after several months of working on this, I’m feeling compelled to record the attempt here. Blogging has never stuck for me. Just as I have horrifyingly embarrassing middle school journals that are all false starts, lamenting about boys and declarations that, “this time I am determined to keep writing here!” that were abandoned after days, so too has this blog been one false start after another. The difference is, this time I don’t care. Right now I feel like sharing our food adventures, so I will. If tomorrow I change my mind, OK!

That being said, the biggest thing to get the ball rolling in terms of giving this a try was subscribing to Boston Organics. Boston Organics has always offered great organic fruits and veggies delivered to your door, but only recently have they started a locally sourced option, the Dogma box. For me, it was the local nature of the food that was the most important, not necessarily the fact that it’s organic (although that is awesome) so this is really the box for us. Every week we’re delivered local, organic, interesting produce that we then have to figure out 1.) what it is and 2.) how to consume it. This has been an awesome opportunity to learn to cook a variety of veggies we would have walked right past in the grocery store, to find out that I/we like some (kale, collard greens, cabbage) and that others aren’t as popular (Kyle finds eating baby bok choy to be the most cruel form of torture imaginable). It’s also helped me to remember that I love cooking and that take out is expensive and not very tasty. I’m spending far more time in the kitchen than I have in recent memory and I love it. While we still struggle to get through all the produce in one week (either freezing it for the winter or eating it all up) we’re getting much better at it and I’ve found a lot of joy in the attempt.

Much Needed Weekend Away

2009-03-03T17:39:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, at the kind invitation of Jess, I escaped from the city for an amazing weekend at SPA in Freeport, ME. It would be an understatement to say that I needed this time away with wonderful, funny women and an abundance of cheese and wine.

The past few weeks have been particularly hard in terms of dealing with my the anxiety of my job search and the frustration and sadness about still not finding work in my new field had really been wearing on me. It's not that I didn't think the search would be hard, it's just that I never thought the search would drag on so long. When I first starting looking for post-graduation work, the economy was just smoldering a bit at the edges, having not yet so thoroughly gone up in flames. And somewhere in the long stretches of not having to get our of my pajamas or put on makeup, I started to forget how blessed I am to have job at all, let alone one that allows me to be a part of such an amazing community and to work with people that I truly love. I now feel like a complete idiot for being so sulky, but I think this sort of thing can creep up on all of us now and then.
So to say that I had high hopes for my weekend away would again be putting it lightly. I had hoped that weekend would somehow snap me out of the doldrums and I was not at all disappointed! Just the overall sense of camaraderie and the infectious laughter made me so happy that I had tagged along for the ride. Meeting new, wonderful people and getting to know friends even better over a glass of wine or decadent snack buoyed me and certainly made me feel like I belonged. And I am so glad that I took the plunge and decided to get a drop spindle! Many, many thanks for Amy and Adrian for their instruction and encouragement! And then, I made yarn!! Here's the proof.

It's one of the 4 pictures I managed to take this weekend and it just makes me smile.
So to all the lovely ladies that made this weekend so fun and who know just how to get in the perfect amount of trouble, THANK YOU!! You're all getting hugs at knitting night next week, whether you want them or not! ;)

Adventures in Baking

2009-02-17T11:52:00.000-08:00

For Christmas, Kyle's parents gave my the Sweet Melissa Baking Book and since we've been *trying* to eat healthier, I've satisfied my sweet tooth by just reading the lovely recipes. Oh my gosh, they all look amazing!

Last weekend, Kyle, Janet and I piled into the car with the puppies and headed to my parent's house so that Kyle and Jan could ski. Given my terror of heights and of chairlifts in particular, skiing is not for me. At all. So I stayed home and finally cracked open the cookbook for some special Valentine's Day baking.
I personally think that the name of the holiday should be changed to "Eat Your Weight In Chocolate Guilt Free Day!" but I'm not sure it will catch on.
I decided to go with the "Fallen Souffle Cake" given my chocolate love and desire to learn a new culinary technique. I've never really worked with eggs in any fancy way before so I was particularly excited to learn how to make a meringue and was overjoyed when, with a lot of assistance from my Aunt Val, my eggs formed soft peaks! So cool! Sadly, the cake ended up being a bit overdone but it was still delicious, if not as pretty as it could have been. I can't wait to try the other amazing sounding treats from this book! So pleased!! Here's the entire process:

Chocolate Souffle Cake

Cop Out Post

2009-02-09T17:45:00.000-08:00

So I had big plans for a post about my recent knitting (mis)adventures, all the fun things we've been up to and my very strong feelings about "He's Just Not That Into You."* But I'm really tired tonight and have been tagged about a million times about this so I thought I would give it a go. Given that I have little to no use for Facebook, I wanted thought this would work better for me.

25 Random Things

25. I have a crazy memory and can remember in vivid detail events and conversations that happened many years ago. I'm very proud of this fact and when I can't remember something it totally freaks me out.
24. My very first memory is of being in my grandparent's living room while the rest of the family was in the kitchen trying to put out a small fire (burning meatballs). I was hugging my cat. I was three.
23. I once called 9-1-1 because I thought that my grandma and great aunt had fallen into some locks. The scuba rescue team was not pleased when they discovered that they had really fallen onto a little beach.
22. I called 9-1 once because my little brother was chocking on a hot dog but then he coughed it up and was fine.
21. My dad saved my life with the Heimlich maneuver when I was six and choked on melty cheese on my spaghetti.
20. When I was in fourth grade I wanted to be Hellen Keller, I thought she was so cool. In fact, my friends and I took turns playing Hellen Keller and Annie Sullivan after Girl Scout meetings.
19. I really enjoy "true crime" shows like Cold Case Files and American Justice. Kyle often asks if we can watch something "without murder."
18. I am weirdly proud of the fact that I'm left handed and really hope that I pass this on to my children.
17. I find nothing more satisfying than crossing something off of my "do-to" list. I've often written down things I've already accomplished so that I can cross them off.
16. I prefer writing in blue because I think that it's happier, or something.
15. When I was young, my family vacationed at a cabin in Vermont. Those trips provided some of my most treasured memories.
14. I grew up living with my grandparents. I think that has a lot to do with who I am today. I still miss my grandpa often.
13. I knew that Kyle was a keeper from early on, and I was totally right.
12. When I was younger I really thought that I could single-handedly save the world. Now I know that it will be a team effort I spend my entire life trying to do my part for.
11. I can be a little stubborn. Especially with knitting. It's like I think I can will something into not looking like a piece or crap or having mistakes. This hasn't worked yet.
10. I'm a huge history nerd. HUGE. Like I want to live in Concord, MA because of it's awesome historic ties. (I said huge)
9. I spend a lot of time stalking houses on the internet. I really want to be a homeowner.
8. I also stalk doggie day cares in the areas where I stalk houses. I love our puppy and want him to be happy and well adjusted.
7. I love traveling but hate flying. I wish I could get over the irrational fear that getting on a plane equals certain DOOM, but I can't.
6. Sometimes I wish that we could just pull up stakes and move to London for a year or two. I think London is the most magical place I have ever been.
5. I loved planning our wedding and I think that it was beautful and perfect, but I wouldn't want to do it again. Too much stress!
4. I have just started to enjoy red wine. I think this is a sign that I'm growing up. Kyle thinks this means I will someday like beer. That's never going to happen.
3. Our puppy, Russ, is awesome but after watching an Animal Planet program on pugs I'm totally afraid his eyes are going to pop out. It happens!
2. I love boardgames, and Boggle is a favorite. I wish the husband liked them, too.
1. Oh and I hate Facebook, but this was kinda fun. :)

*Whatever you do, don't see this movie. It was AWFUL and reduced men, women and marriage to Neanderthal stereotypes. Ick. Actually, that's insulting to Neanderthal's so scratch that.

Finished Knitting! YAY!

2009-01-29T18:31:00.000-08:00

One of the really wonderful things about being done with school is the fact that my evenings and weekends are mine, to fill with whatever leisure activities I choose. No papers I should be writing, no papers to read and NO guilt! Well, there is still "chore guilt" but I'm working on it.
So how have I been filling the hours? With lots of knitting and reading!

First, a pair of warm and cozy socks I started Inauguration weekend in D.C. I love them! And considering that I my feet would never be warm again after Inauguration Day, it's fitting that they are so toasty!

Here are two pairs of socks that I finished knitting last summer but never wove in the ends. So sad, my laziness. But now they are wearable!

Having just finished up the Inauguration socks, I thought it was best to start another pair immediately! It was also a great excuse to play with my new ball winder and swift. Oh my LOVE for these items!! I don't know how I went so long without them! Kyle is pleased that he'll no longer have to ball up my yarn for me because I'm only capable of making tangled messes in less than 30 seconds when left to my own devices. Russ also wanted to get in on the action! He is totally yarn obsessed! Good thing he's cute and (usually) well monitored in the presence of pretty things. :)

Witnessing History - The BEST Part

2009-01-22T16:11:00.001-08:00

We've been home for nearly 48 hours and I'm still trying to process the entire Inaugural experience. There's nothing that I can say that will adequately capture the incredible power of being there, among 1.8 million other Americans (and some Canadians waving flags like crazy right next to us!) to witness the Inauguration of President Obama. I'll leave the trite cliches to the media, some of whom captured the day for me but most of whom I felt did a disservice to the dream of Dr. King by declaring absolute victory when as a nation we are still far from the promised land. It goes without saying that President Obama was judged by the content of his character, and this makes me as proud of my fellow citizens as I can possibly be, yet it does not erase the social and economic injustices that prevail across the United States. I absolutely believe that President Obama can and will lead the country down a path towards greater justice and that we can see the true fulfillment of Dr. King's dream in my lifetime.

During the Inaugural Address I was struck by the fact that a candidate whose principles and policies I truly believe in was now assuming the presidency. During the election of 2004, I was unconvinced that this would ever be the case. Kyle and I have been excitedly following the political rise of President Obama since his speech at the DNC that year and I never thought that we'd arrive here so soon. I am SO excited and energized and look forward to following this Presidency with the voracity that some stalk Perez Hilton's celebrity gossip blog. As before, I think that our pictures capture things far better than I can. The rest are here.

Witnessing History - Part 1

2009-01-19T15:42:00.000-08:00

So...my last semester of grad school was hard. Very hard. And perhaps I stretched myself more than enough ways to make myself crazy. Hence the absolute silence around here. But, now I have my degree and I would not have changed one thing! Sure, I nearly lost my mind, but in the end it was all worth it! (Not sure if the husband and the puppy feel the same way, not there not really complaining at the moment so we'll assume they're over it).

Now I'm free! This means that we've got the freedom to do totally awesome things, like travel with the rest of humanity to the most amazing thing to happen in my life time - the Inauguration of Barack Obama !!!! Tonight we are doing "Inauguration Day Strategery" which includes things like "Have a positive attitude!," and, "Stuff your pockets with toilet paper! And granola bars!" We've already had an amazing time, box relaxing and braving the city for the Inauguration Concert 2009. Here's the recap:

1.) Arriving at the concert and asking strangers to take our picture. The woman with the guy that took this for us shook her head "no" when asked if they would take the picture. Nice. 2.) Getting interviewed for BBC radio. Lost a bit of respect for the BBC when the reporter asked us to pretend that it was the next day and that we were super excited about Beyonce and Usher. Apparently the UK is not as into Springsteen and James Taylor. 3.) The crowd was HUGE. And we were pretty close to the front. 4.) Singing along with everyone was amazing and made me happy happy happy!!

Overall, I was truly amazed at the spirit and kindness of the crowd. Everyone seemed genuinly thrilled to be there and we were able to chat with people from all over the country that were there to have a good time and share the experiance. It was fantastic! And the amazing line up of performers capped off by a speech by the President Elect was beyond words. And, as the program continually reminded us, we were WITNESSING HISTORY. ;) I can't wait to tell my grandchildren about this!

A New Woman

2008-09-01T19:46:00.000-07:00

New bling! New puppy! New Hair!

I swear I blinked and the summer is over. It's been the best summer of my life, and I'm having a tough time taking it all in!

Hopefully getting settled into our new married life together will lend itself to more blogging, knitting, and spending time with friends and family (although not in that order) ;)

It's good to be back!!

A Year Ago Today

2008-06-26T19:37:00.001-07:00

Bliss!

Janet's Birthday Awesomeness!!

2008-06-25T18:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Janet's 25th birthday!! We were too busy running around town and having fun for me write about what an amazing friend she is here.

Janet and I have been friends for over ten years! We've been through all the adolescent angst of high school together, stayed close even though our colleges were far away, and have been roommates for the past 2+ years. When she moves out before the wedding, I am going to be very, very sad. :( She's the best friend a girl could have and I am truly blessed to have her in my life!

OK, enough sappiness. Now for the pictures!

To celebrate Jan's quarter century of being around, we headed out for sushi in the middle of an awful storm! Seriously, I thought at one point the car was going to blow right off the Zakim bridge!

Once we all got settled at the restaurant and ordered a round of drinks, things were looking up! Tons of sushi were consumed, a mini-raucous was caused and a good time was had by all (ok, at least by the people at our table) ;) Here's the proof!

Happy Birthday Jan! Love you!!!

Too Funny!

2008-06-22T09:23:00.000-07:00

I have lots of thoughts about politics and I am strongly supporting Obama in November, but I've tended not to talk about politics here. This is mainly because I seem to only have time to say things like, "Shiny! Pretty! I like!" and writing a coherent post that deals with politics is beyond my brain at the moment.

But as soon as I saw this video, I knew I had to share. It's totally my kind of humor, and I've been giggling over it for a solid ten minutes now.

Enjoy!

A Fun Challenge

2008-06-17T20:31:00.000-07:00

I miss knitting. And reading. In a previous life, I did a lot of both. These days, things like working 2 jobs, unpacking an apartment and planning a wedding rule the day. But once upon a time I was a real girl with hobbies! Hobbies that I miss and that I think made me a better, more well rounded and happy person.
Well, starting now I'm going to try and find a bit of balance. There is a group on Ravelry where people gather to read Jane Austen novel and knit projects based on the books that they're reading. Sign me up!!
Considering that I haven't completed a "for fun" book or a complicated project in longer than I care to remember, this is going to be a real challenge. But the book they're starting now is Sense and Sensibility and I'm going to start working on a beautiful shawl and I'm going to give it my best shot. We'll see how it goes!
On a totally unrelated note, there are very few sports teams in Boston that I can feel hometown pride for, being a Yankees fan that fake roots for the Colts and doesn't care about hockey. But! I can get excited for the basketball finals. So, GO CELTICS!

Florida In Pictures

2008-06-11T20:07:00.001-07:00

Well, I've been meaning to sit down and write a proper post about our awesome trip to Florida to visit Kyle's family, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen any time soon. So this is the best that we're going to get for now. Enjoy!

A Funny Story to Pass the Time

2008-06-04T20:05:00.000-07:00

Life around here is nearly out of control, and at such an inconvenient time, too! I have lots of wonderful things so share (like my lovely trip to Florida to see Kyle's family, wedding progress, work goodness, and the like) but right now my entire world is consumed by digging out from our move. Oh I'll be putting up pictures, but nothing will truly capture the insanity of the situation at the moment or how totally overwhelmed it's making me. So, while I have lots to share, it is probably going to be a while before my head is screwed on straight enough for me to write any of it down. In the mean time, here is a funny* conversation that happened at the doctors office last week when I realized less than 24 hours before our flight that my prescription for the drugs that make me a slightly tolerable human while traveling by air had expired and I needed a refill before I'd be going anywhere near a plane.

Nurse (typing my intact info into the computer in front of her): "So, you don't like to fly?"

Me: "No, I hate it. I nearly have a panic attack every time I even think about our flight."

Nurse (after looong pause): "Oops, I just typed dying instead of flying!" (laughter)

Me: (blank stare of shock and terror; is this woman a psychic?)

Nurse: "Oh, I guess that's not very funny."

*This story is only funny now because I am safely back on the ground and have no intention of flying again for a good long time.

A Very Good Reason for Being Off the Map

2008-05-27T19:29:00.000-07:00

So live around here has been INSANE. I mean really crazy. As in I'm more exhausted and haven't stopped moving in days and am way more emotionally and physically taxed than I was during finals a few weeks back. But, for the most part, all of the things that have kept us running are wonderful things and I do feel incredibly blessed, if incredibly tired.

Here's the list of all of the things on our plate at the moment:

Helping my parents pack up the family home and move to the new homestead in New Hampshire this past weekend!!

Packing up for our move to our super cool new place!

Getting our wedding invitations printed, addressed and out the door on time. (This may be a stretch, but we'll see!)

Flying to Florida on Thursday for some quality time with Kyle's family to celebrate the graduation of his cousin, Todd.

Having work totally BLOW UP and working like crazy to push along a project 8 months in the making to meet a June 15th deadline.

Trying to maintain my sanity and my cheerful demeanor ;)

Now I'm tired just writing it all down!

This past weekend was really amazing as we helped my family make the move up to NH. They'll be up there for good in just a few days and I couldn't be happier for them! Their new house is SO beautiful and I really think this is going to be the perfect place for them to enjoy a slower pace of life and all the snow they are going to get.

Here are the pictures.

A Very Long Week

2008-05-08T19:01:00.000-07:00

It seems like I've really packed a lifetime into this week. When I think about where I was last Saturday night (freaking out about my upcoming finals), I can't believe its only been seven days since I was in that place. Crazy! My finals went very well and I'm going to give Bob a lot of credit for being such as good study buddy!!

Although he didn't do too well when I got up to stretch my legs!

By the time I finished up school on Tuesday night, I was totally exhausted but the fun was just beginning! We spent that evening and the next hanging out with Jess, Casey, and the awesome Mary Heather!! She was AWESOME and it was great to get to know such a super sweet and fun person that would talk politics with Kyle so that I could get a break. ;)

Now it's time to really buckle down and get this apartment packed up before our big move and before my amazing friend Ashley comes to stay with us later this week. I'm SO excited!! For now I'm going to relax because I'm not sure when I'll next be able to enjoy a Saturday night on the couch.

Let's be honest

2008-04-29T18:42:00.000-07:00

I just got home from class not too long ago (Tuesday nights always run late), we haven't eaten dinner yet (it should be delivered shortly) and I'm totally tired. All I really want to do is sit on the couch, watch House, and knit my sock. But this is finals week, so I really need to be more productive than that. I have a final paper due tomorrow that is 95% done, but I will sleep better tonight if I actually finish it. Plus it might be nice to try and get ahead on the massive amount of work that lies between now and this time next week when I will certainly be in lump mode.
Speaking of summer break, I have grand plans. There will be lots of reading and knitting (I have an ambitious project planned), wedding planning and sleeping. Unfortunately, the reality of my first few weeks of summer break is going to be very different. We'll be in the middle of a major project at work with a very firm deadline, Kyle and I will be moving across town, my parents will be moving to a new state and we've got some very firm wedding planning deadlines looming. Ugg. I'll need to find a way to reconcile what I want to be doing with reality.
So let's be honest about what I'm going to do right now.

Open my final paper due tomorrow.
Stare unblinking for several seconds
Turn on House, pick up my knitting, and try and enjoy my evening (while remaining riddled with guilt)

I'm an idiot...that kinda smells

2008-04-15T20:07:00.000-07:00

So I've never been the most graceful person. In fact, I'm pretty damn clumsy. Usually this manifests itself in subtle ways, like how after the last snow storm of the season I fell down our front steps like a ton of bricks or how I recently almost ripped my ear off at the gym because my ipod fell onto the moving treadmill, shot across the room and nearly took me with it. Ugg.
Tonight I really outdid myself, though. What's worse, it was all my fault. I can't even blame gravity for this one.
I pretty much wet my pants tonight. You read that right, WET MY PANTS. As I was waiting for class to start, I sat enjoying my lukewarm coffee and digging in my bag for the granola bar I swear I packed this afternoon although it never made an appearance. As I struggled to find the phantom snack, I decided I needed better access to my giant bag so I put my coffee between my knees (so ladylike, I know) and pulled the giant bag onto my lap. Only as I did this, I must have moved my legs because the coffee cup started tipping and before I could do anything to stop it there was a LOT of warm coffee all over me. Like in a GIANT PEE STAIN pattern. I just stared down for a few seconds and then looked at my friend, Meg, and said, "Um, I totally just wet my pants." Then she looked down and we both started laughing. Classy, right?
The only problem is that after nearly 3 hours the mix of stale coffee and skim milk is not so pleasing on the nostrils.
So yeah, I'm the smelly girl that peed her pants. And contrary to what Billy Madison might tell you, it's not the coolest!

A Weekend in the Kitchen

2008-04-13T19:28:00.001-07:00

It feels like I spent this entire weekend in the kitchen, and although I am now very full and very tired, it was well worth it!

On Friday, Kyle and I trekked all the way out to Brookline (that's practically another state) for a Gburg happy hour at The Public House. It was really wonderful to catch up with some of our very favorite people that we don't get to see nearly enough. There was good conversation, cherry beer, and fun pictures. A good time was had by all!

Yesterday was really the onset of my kitchen time. Kyle and I hosted coffee hour at church today, so I really wanted to make something special for this first attempt at really integrating into the church community in a new and exciting way. After nearly five hours, I had my grandma's coffee cake, mini quiches and raspberry scones to show for my efforts. Yum!

I was definitely nervous that people wouldn't eat the food and that we'd be a coffee hour bust. But we were totally a success! There was scarcely a crumb to bring home which was great because we hosted the priest that will marry us for dinner tonight and I spent more time making yummy healthy lasagna and a frozen blueberry pie. I just had to roll myself into the kitchen to make a cup of tea!

Now I'm going to curl up on the couch with the Yankees game and my knitting and start the sad countdown to Monday morning.

A Good Week

2008-04-03T19:51:00.000-07:00

This has been a really good week. The sun has been (mostly) shining and I've been getting things done. An excellent feeling!
Here are some of this weeks accomplishments, in no particular order:

We finished planning our honeymoon. Yay! Yay! Yay!
My office finished a really painful move to a new building and now I have my own workspace.
I've actually dragged my lazy self to the gym.
I registered for the last semester of grad classes. They look awesome and all are in the afternoon!
Boobs is visiting and we've been watching John Adams. It is fantastic.
I've been chugging along on my Clapotis. Knitting during the week is a real luxury. :)

After a few weekends of wonderful family visits out of state, getting back on track with work, school and life this week has really been nice. Hopefully I can keep it up because the to-do list certainly isn't shrinking!

Too Cute!

2008-03-28T17:40:00.001-07:00

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T20:46:00.000-07:00

So, this is how I've been feeling for the past few weeks...

Just a bit worse for the wear
Look at the poor guy on the left in the back! His sister's GIANT ear has totally covered his face and you can really see the pleading in his good eye to be put out of his misery.

Things have been a little challenging recently, but tomorrow is a new week and things are bound to improve!

I'll be back very soon to tell the story of my lovely Easter weekend with Kyle's family and all the other craziness that has been my life, but until then HAPPY EASTER!

Contradictory Week

2008-03-08T15:55:00.000-08:00

This week has been full of contradictions. I spent Monday through Thursday totally bogged down by a paper for school and as soon as it was handed in, a huge weight was lifted. Now I'm on spring break, which means that I'll be spending the week writing a final paper and studying for a huge midterm. Super. :)

So I've decided to take today off! I've shelved the school and work obligations for at least 24 hours and I've been playing video games with Kyle and working on wedding stuff. We've been playing this:

Star Wars Wallpaper : Lego Star Wars - The Video Game

That's right, Star Wars characters made out of Lego's acting out scenes from the movies! It's a game made for children which explains my mild success (and great enthusiasm!). Being able to play a game with Kyle as opposed to watching him kill from various planets and time periods is refreshing. ;)

In more exiting news, I did something totally awesome today!! Even though it was raining and the thought of wet socks makes my skin crawl, I ventured out to attend a jewelry making class! I've wanted to make something to wear for the wedding and my friend Meg from school told me about Spark Crafts. It's this really neat local yarn and crafty store that was tons of fun to visit. At first I was nervous that I wouldn't be able to make jewelry as I have no experience and for the first few minutes of class my fingers felt like lead, but eventually I picked it up!

Without further ado, here it is!

Yay!!

2008-03-01T10:27:00.000-08:00

This past week has been a bit stressful for me, mainly because of school-related anxiety and my incredible guilt over my work load. When I'm too busy I feel terrible for neglecting Kyle and the laundry but when I'm not completely overwhelmed I feel guilt over not working hard enough for my degree. This, I know, is not logical by any stretch and I am working very hard on understanding that at this level my degree is working for me, preparing me for a career in public health and my grades are not (nor have they ever been) a reflection of my self worth. My nails are really suffering the most from this because I have recently taken to chomping them down to the first knuckle, a habit I have long had (mostly) under control. Oh well, maybe some tea and a little nail polish will save my sanity. ;)

In far more exciting news, I've been able to finish a bunch of knitting projects in the last few weeks!
First, my Minimalist Cardigan.

This is, by far, the best thing I have ever knit for myself! The yarn is super soft and warm and squishy (as everyone in my general vicinity for any part of the knitting process can attest, as I made them touch the yarn many, many times) and has sentimental value since I bought it at my first Rhinebeck this fall. I also worked very hard to concentrate on the process of knitting this, with less emphasis on my usual goal of just getting things done. This meant a lot of ripping out when I made a mistake (which happened pretty frequently) but the result was so worth it. I'm totally in love.

I also finished these little Gettysburg inspired baby hats last weekend.

SO. FREAKING. CUTE. The baby they were intended for joined the world yesterday as a leap-year baby. How cool is that?

Roomie Date Night

2008-02-24T12:47:00.000-08:00

Last night, Kyle, Janet and I decided we wanted an adventure (i.e. Kyle and I didn't want to be couch lumps yet again) so we headed out to Route 1. This stretch of road is seriously weird with huge themed resturants with even bigger neon signs. We settled on Kowloon, a massive Asian-Polynesian-Thai-American place with seriously kick-ass decor.

In addition to this charming fountain, the dining room also features a giant ship and several murals depicting easy beach living and erupting volcanoes. Fun fun!

To help pass the hour until we could eat, we sipped yummy cocktails and took silly pictures, like this

And this!

For dinner we were very adventurous, sharing several dished including this unbelievable concoction of deep fried shrimp donuts served with pineapples and maraschino cherries in a FLAMING PINEAPPLE! The picture doesn't do the fire justice.

Overall, it was a perfect evening!

A Confession...And Cupcakes!

2008-02-08T13:36:00.000-08:00

The weather here is totally gross and has been for days. I've also just survived an crazy week at school and am now feeling totally drained. But this is no excuse for what I'm about to confess.

I have started recording Martha Stewart's tv show...and loving it. Sure, the woman might be some kind of robot, but she's so crafty! I know I should be ashamed, but I'm not. I mean, look at this stuff!

Images from MarthaStewart.com

Maybe it's because she seems to be obsessed with order and putting things into tiny packages? This is something I can get behind!

Blame it on Martha, but I was inspired to do a bit of baking for Valentine's day!

With lots of help from Janet and Jess, these little cupcakes were super cute! I wish I had had more food coloring because I really wanted them to be red, not pink, but they'll do.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Save the Dates! Yay!

2008-01-31T18:51:00.001-08:00

So I've decided that many many years from now, when I really want to torture the grandchildren with stories of my youth, I'll want to talk about our wedding. And I'll want the internet to stand as a witness that we actually did some pretty cool stuff (at least to me!). So tonight I'm going to share our Save the Dates.
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(If you'd rather be surprised about these details, no peeking!)
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I am SO excited that the vast majority are out of our hands and on their way to hopefully adorn the refrigerators of the people we love most in the world. We did them ourselves, which was something I was set on from the very beginning, and I'm very happy that we did!

First and foremost, I wanted to find a rubber stamp that would be the workhorse of our invitations and general wedding themeness (totally a word). After months of searching, I found one that I LOVED and it was totally on. Having never used stamps in a crafty way since elementary school, I had to gather all the needed supplies.

After making decisions about color, paper and font and gathering all the addresses we were ready to go. Until, of course, our printer decided to be a total pain in the ass and hate us and not want us to get married. I mean, what had we ever done to the printer to deserve hours of torture until Kyle had to hand feed every card while resisting every urge to through the thing out the window. Ugg.

Kyle, of course, has the patience of a saint and eventually we had a stack of beautifully printed cards.

Next came the stamping and embossing which were really fun! Every time the embossing powder melted and was all pretty I couldn't help but grin like an idiot. Yay!

As our very first DIY wedding project it was truly a learning experience. Having personally worked on every one of our Save the Dates made me feel like I was wonderfully invested in making our wedding just how we want it to be. Of course, it took three times longer than I had expected so next time I'll have to be sure to factor in all the "Murphy's Law" moments that are bound to pop up. Overall, though, I would do it again in a heartbeat!

Two Truths and a Lie

2008-01-24T16:47:00.000-08:00

My second week of classes is done! Yay! Things are really shaping up to be very interesting this semester to say the very least. I def. came home several times ready to rant and rave about the totally insane things that people had said in class. Some of the things were unreal! So, instead of ranting and raving here, we'll play a little game. Can you tell which one is the lie?

In a Politics class we were discussing a MA school that uses aversive therapy on severely autistic and mentally disabled children. The school uses negative reinforcement to alter behavior. Techniques include withholding food, sleep, and giving the children electric shocks. The question at hand was why the state legislature had been unable to stop what we essentially agreed was state funded child abuse. A fellow classmate then raised her had and said, "Um, I'm not sure I see the governments role in this. I mean, if parents choose to have their kids, like, abused or something, shouldn't we just let market forces act to get the school to close?" It took all my power not to punch her in the face.

In an Epidemiology class, we were asked to complete a take home assignment. At the end of the class when the assignment was handed in, we broke into groups to go over the correct answers with a TA. One woman gave an answer that was very clearly incorrect and argued about it for ten minutes. It was painful, and I was embarrassed for her. It would be like if someone said that 2 x 2 = 6 and refused to accept that they were wrong. It was that basic of a concept. Ugg.

This same crazy Epi girl decided that our TA was not up to snuff and stormed out of our room. She decided to join the group next door because our group was going too slowly. When that group was not giving her answers fast enough she yelled out, "I don't mean to be a bitch, but can't we go faster? I need to go."* When the TA didn't pick up the pace, she stormed out.

Now this is def. cheating because all three are true. And the most unbelievable thing of all is that I'M GETTING THE SAME DEGREE AS THESE PEOPLE.

On a lighter note, I finished knitting something this week!

It's pretty and pink and I kinda love it. I'm still not convinced I'm a hat person but with this I'm willing to give it a try!

Perfect Thursday Night

2008-01-17T20:26:00.001-08:00

Homemade cookies, Starbucks and lots of knitting! Yay!!

First Week Recap

2008-01-17T17:01:00.000-08:00

Despite a huge snowstorm Monday, my second semester of classes got underway. This semester the schedule is a bit different so I have two afternoon classes and some classes that are only half the semester long. So even though I'm taking 18 credits it should feel like much less. Now I know that first impressions aren't always the best, I'm going to share my snap judgements about this semester based on just a few hours of class time. ;)

Monday, Class 1: This is my management requirement and the class that I'm most worried about. Not because it seems particularly difficult but because it's a bit touchy-feely and way out of line with really anything I've studied before or am remotely interested in. It certainly doesn't help that the most irritating student program is in the class and is already making my crazy with her loud mouthed ass kissing? Sigh. But maybe this will be a real learning opportunity!

Monday, Class 2: I've had this professor before and am totally excited about this class! It's a little numbers heavy so I may have to reassess in a few weeks to see how I'm feeling about it then.

Tuesday: While this class is only 8 weeks long, it should be totally awesome! If the prof. can get herself together...She was a bit all over the place and even managed to insult a student or two with her assessment of the personal stories they shared in class. And our first guest speaker was all over the map and seemed to have had twelve too many redbulls before he arrived. Not too helpful. But the content has a lot of potential!

Wednesday: I have really high hopes for this class! It's all about obtaining the practical skills to work for health care reform which sounds amazing. I was a bit concerned, however, that our first assignment involved reading a transcript from Oprah. Oprah! Needless to say it was PAINFUL and we haven't even talked about its relevance yet. Maybe next time?

Thursday: This class is going to be awesome! The Prof. wore a jacket with leather elbows!! (Clearly a mark of academic excellence) It's my only non-policy centered class so I'm really looking forward to something a little different. Yay!

Books that make me happy...and not so much

2008-01-11T20:15:00.001-08:00

Last week Kyle and I both got a few post-Christmas presents for ourselves. Kyle got a new video game to keep him company once my classes start and I got these.

The DIY Bride book is so awesome that I just keep looking through it and daydreaming about being crafty! And the pictures are so pretty! I didn't manage to do any non-school related reading last semester so I'm setting the goal of finishing Atonement by the end of finals. Sadly, I'll be really happy to make that goal!

Since classes start Monday, I've also had to get my books and readers for the semester.

Looking at this stack, my initial thought was that there is no way in hell that I'm going to be able to read every piece of very expensive paper in this pile before the end of the semester. When I was standing in from of the Kinkos counter buying them all, they were so expensive that I was actually sick to my stomach. So expensive, in fact, that two days later I was unable to use my bank card to get my morning cup of coffee because the bank had flagged the purchase as "suspicious card activity!" No no, just my nerdiness getting in the way of my buying groceries. ;)

Favorite 2007 Knitted Object

2008-01-06T12:21:00.001-08:00

So I thought that as 2008 gets underway I would put up my favorite knitted things from 2007 as a way of chronicling my knitting accomplishments. Turns out, there wasn't a whole lot of substance to my knitting this year! There were several unsuccessful sweater attempts and some really fun socks, but there is a clear winner in terms of my favorite project of the year. My Jaywalker Socks!
I am a little bit in love!! They are my first pair of actual socks, since my first sock attempt ended with one completed sock and one that's still, two years later, sitting on the tiny needles.

These socks are so lovely I couldn't help but finish them! The yarn is awesome (Tofutsies) and the colors are super fun, all pinks and blues and greens.

I think I may wear them to my first night of classes next week because it's always fun to start the semester wearing something special. :)

Seriously? These are your health care reform proposals??

2008-01-04T15:44:00.000-08:00

So now that the primaries are actually underway and we're not just talking about them anymore, I want to share my real disappointment with the health care reform proposals of the major Democratic candidates. I wrote an essay on the plans of Obama, Edwards and Clinton and while my first thought was, "Cool! I really get this stuff now!" my next thought was, "Wow. This is a bunch of the same old crap that doesn't actually get us anywhere. Sigh."

In many ways, the proposed reforms of all three are strikingly similar. They all focus on reforms to the current system of public and private insurance and embrace the “play or pay” mentality of mandating employers to provide health insurance for workers or pay taxes for failing to do so. Concurrently, they propose varying methods of increased insurer regulation, creation of public insurance programs and maintenance and expansion of current public insurance programs. Clinton and Edwards also include individual insurance coverage mandates in their proposals, much like the recently implemented system in Massachusetts. Finally, cost controls that are centralized to the federal government are generally lacking from all three proposals.

I find all of this really depressing. None of these proposals actually address the root causes of the health care crisis and by focusing on getting everyone covered we'll probably miss the boat in terms of getting everyone care. The individual mandates experiment in MA is very young and it seems insane to me to try something on a national scale that has no evidence of success. Most distressing is the fact that none of the candidates really address controlling costs in meaningful ways, and individual and employer mandates will really only mean a lot more of the same and even more astronomical health costs. Why doesn't anyone have the gall to address the clinical and administrative wastes that arise from the dysfunctional relationship between doctors that charge fees that are too high and insurance companies and the government (Medicare being, by far, the worst offender in my opinion) that reimburse at rates so low it's almost comical. And the fact that pharmaceutical companies make the majority of their worldwide profits in the U.S. because we have no way (or desire, it would sometimes seem) to set and negotiate drug prices on a national scale. Grrr!

I think the thing that is most frustrating for me is that if one of these candidates is elected president there is going to be a lot self-congratulation in terms of health care reform. But in order to give every American a little card that says "I'm insured!" we'll end up passing out policies with huge premiums and high co-pays and many will still be unable to actually access care! I guess I don't have to worry that my degree will be useless when I graduate. There seems to be no exhaustion of opportunities to fight for care for all in the near future.

My First Bridezilla Moment

2008-01-02T18:16:00.000-08:00

It finally happened...like I knew it would. I have promised myself at every step of the wedding planning process that I will not get stressed or crazy and I'll enjoy every moment. I've repeated with mantra consistency to myself and anyone within earshot that everything will be funfunfun! and there will be no bridezilla behavior out of me. Well, this evening I had my first brush with the totally awful she-beast and it was completely terrifying.
Actually, it was a bit like an out of body experience. One moment I was talking to my mom on the phone about ordering my aunt's bridesmaid dress from the 100 year old grandma running the local dress shop and the next I was looking down at my body as I wound myself to near hysterics about the possibility that the dress was ordered in the wrong fabric and oh my gosh that would totally be the end of the world!
For context, picking out bridesmaid dresses has been pretty stressful. And now that it's time to order them, the stress hasn't really diminished. While I was home over Christmas, I took my aunt and my little cousin (The cutest flower girl alive. Seriously.) to a shop pretty close to our house that had the dress at a reasonable price. As soon as we walked in, the trouble began. The proprietor immediately told me that I wouldn't be able to change the fabric of the dress from the incredibly intimidating iridescent taffeta to a much more acceptable satin backed crepe in a really beautiful raspberry color. In all her 40 years in business this had never happened! Having spoken to the company that makes the dress only a week before, I knew she was wrong but I was of course as nice as could be and she agreed to call and check.
The call came in today that I was right and that the dresses could be changed to any damn thing I wanted for a nominal fee (which the charming proprietor suggested they increase because I had quoted the manufacturers price and clearly she wouldn't be making an even greater profit if she didn't charge for the extra work it took to write down three more words!).
So obviously my faith in this woman's ability to navigate us safely through the dress buying process if nonexistent. (As if there is any excuse for the panic I'm about to describe) When I heard that my aunt had placed her order for the dress in crepe. Just crepe? PLAIN crepe? Not satin backed crepe? A fabric that is completely different than what we decided on and that will be gross and terrible and the most hideous thing in the whole world and who cares if we're getting married because the dress will be in the wrong f*ing fabric CREPE??? So after having my mom read the order slip to me 10 times I pulled myself together enough to call the shop just to check that everything was ok.
And, as expected, the charming proprietor of this charming shop once again made me feel like a total idiot. "Yes, of course we know what you want and ordered that. We just wrote down crepe so she'd know not to expect taffeta. You are so damn demanding I don't get paid nearly enough implied."
In retrospect, I think I held it together pretty well. Even if there were several seconds where the thought of a bridal party is mismatched fabrics was nearly enough to make my brain ooze out of my ear.
So long as I can keep all of my freak outs mostly internal, this whole thing will be funfunfun and I won't ever be a bridezilla again!

What's in a Name?

2008-01-02T13:37:00.000-08:00

When I first started toying with the idea of blogging, I wanted to find a name that would really reflect me and not be totally cheesy or weird. I’ve always loved this poem, particularly when I’ve felt stressed or overwhelmed.

My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends--
It gives a lovely light!
Edna St. Vincent Millay

Wanting to capture the fact that at the start of grad school this would probably be a good reflection of my life, Kyle helped me set up a site with the charming title Both Ends Burning*
I was still too shy to post, but I went to bed that night happy that I had at least taken one step in the right direction…and then sat bolt upright in bed, struck with the fact that a website called Both Ends Burning might be more fitting for a site dedicated to gastrointestinal ailments. Was this a blog of girl with IBS and a touch of the acid reflux? Or just some pathetic losers attempt at sounding not like a pathetic loser? The title would have to be changed immediately.
And since I was feeling nervous/shy about starting this in the first place, this embarrassing little realization scared me off of the idea for a good long time.
I’m now going to go with something inspired by Billy Joel. I heart him.

*Kyle would like me to clarify that he did not at any time endorse the use of a title which implied anterior and posterior inflammation.

2008-01-02T13:34:00.000-08:00

As 2008 gets underway, it seems like the perfect time to take stock of all the major life changes going on around here and find a way to catalog all the new and exciting things this year will bring. In 2008 I will get married (!!!), finish grad school (!!), hopefully become a puppy owner, knit a perfectly fitting sweater, and spend more time with the people that matter to me. I’ve found that the days and weeks are flying by and I want to slow down time, or at least find a way to keep track of all of these amazing things. Another major motivator behind this little project is the fact that I have so many wonderful people in my life that I miss and wish that I was in more regular contact with. If this can help me reconnect with any of them, it will have served its greatest purpose for me.
Finally, with school, work and wedding thoughts constantly on my mind, I’ve found that I need a bit of an outlet. I’m going to start doing some sharing of my thoughts here so that Kyle will still be able to live with me. ;) So there will definitely wedding planning and knitting on this site, but my thoughts on politics, sports and pretty much anything else might find their way here too.
Happy New Year! Let’s see how this little experiment goes!