Cooking, College, and More

Happy

2011-08-25T21:49:00.000-04:00

It seems like this summer has just flown by...I can hardly believe that it's only 3 weeks until I leave for England. There's so much to do before then, and I would be lying if I said I weren't getting a little bit stressed out by it. Not about the move itself, but rather the relatively minor worry that I won't be able to find affordable storage for all of my stuff while I'm there. I know, that should be the least of my worries, right?

I've been focusing on the really important stuff, though. That's really why I haven't written much. I've been really seizing the day, all day, every day. I've been traveling to visit many of my friends while I'm still on this side of the Atlantic (for details on my New York trip, see here) and I've been making the most of every opportunity. Going on spontaneous road trips to Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Western Massachusetts, and NYC, just because I can. Signing up for a flying lesson. Swimming in the ocean. Piercing my nose (say WHAT? Yes, really). Launching a cooking blog. Performing in Canada with my choir. Sewing a dress. And oh, so much more.

These past few months have been amazing. So, so, so wonderful. Despite all the stress from the move, I am oh, so happy. And that is the way that it should be.

Wow, really?

2011-07-03T17:25:00.001-04:00

I can't believe that it's been 3 months since I last posted. Time really flies. I'll try and update more soon, but for now I just wanted to pop in and say hi.

Pond hopping

2011-04-07T21:31:00.000-04:00

I can't quite believe that this day has come, but...

I just bought a one-way ticket to England. As in, I am moving to a DIFFERENT COUNTRY. For at least 2 years. (Insert minor freakout here) Come September, I'll be hopping the pond and moving to England for grad school.

I'm feeling a lot of excitement mixed with a pinch of nervousness...and joy...and terror...and elation...and, well, you get the point.

Oh, hi...

2011-04-07T21:25:00.000-04:00

Sorry, sorry, it's been just about forever since I updated this blog. Life has been SO busy, that I haven't had enough time for everything - what with doing several huge projects for work, training for the Walk for Hunger, and having unexpected surgery, things have been a little hectic.

All of my inclination to write vanished...I dove headfirst into work, coming up only to eat and breathe. I had a very large project that I was working on for a work-related class that was consuming all of my free time. Several thousand words later, I'm finally done with that and ready to start recreational writing (aka blogging) again!

Crash!

2011-03-08T21:54:00.003-05:00

Disclaimer: this post was sponsored by Wayfair.com - in return for writing this post, I was given a gift card to their site.

Y'all, I seriously need to invest in some new furniture...

All my blogging is done from my temperamental laptop which, because it's fussy, can't be moved from the desk it's sitting on. Which would be less of a problem if the desk and chair set were a little more comfortable and/or had a few more nuts and bolts!

A couple of days ago, I was answering emails at my desk. Every now and then, the back of my desk chair starts to work its way loose (it's not held together by screws or glue) - the wooden pegs holding chair back to chair body succumb to the pressure exerted by my back and become increasingly detached. The process usually takes a couple of days, so I've always managed to catch it and pound the pieces back together with a hammer.

Anyway, as I was typing merrily away on my computer, I suddenly felt something give....and before you can say "blarglesnurgs"* I found myself on the floor staring at a whooooole lot of pieces of desk chair.

I'm thinking it's definitely time to update my desk set and buy something that is a) not in pieces and b) super cute.

*What? It's totally a word.

Update on iPad giveaway

2011-02-25T21:19:00.000-05:00

Oops, forgot to mention in my last post - the giveaway ends at midnight tonight!

Here's a little bit more in the way of details about the fundraiser:
The Dickinson family is adopting sweet little Masha, an orphan in Eastern Europe who happens to have Down Syndrome. The Dickinsons are no strangers to international adoption, having previously adopted Macey and Marcus from Ukraine. International adoption is an expensive undertaking, and so this iPad fundraiser generously sponsored by the Cornish family will help raise money to cover the Dickinson family's airfare and other associated costs. The chip-in for the fundraiser ends at midnight tonight, so hurry on over and enter the giveaway before it's too late!

http://cornishadoptionjourney.blogspot.com/2011/02/todays-tears-ipad-giveaway-and-more.html

Last Day for Ipad Giveaway!

2011-02-25T08:16:00.000-05:00

Help the Dickinson family fund their adoption and win an ipad in the process! See here for more details. Remember, the drawing ends tonight, so move fast :-)

Paradise

2011-02-19T10:09:00.000-05:00

I first read this poem in college during a course about gardens in medieval and Renaissance literature. The text is particularly beautiful, and involves an interesting play on words; the words at the end of each line are "pruned" much like the narrator himself. Though he fears the painful act of pruning at the hand of God's knife, he comes to the realization that even fruitful, blossoming trees that might already be considered perfect can be improved by a little paring. By the end, he welcomes the painful act, concluding that "Such sharpnes [sic] shows the sweetest FREND [sic]; such cuttings rather heal than rend."

P.S. Embrace the Renaissance spelling :-) It makes the poem "work."

Paradise.

I Bless thee, Lord, because I GROW
Among  thy  trees, which in a ROW
To thee  both  fruit  and order  OW.

What  open  force,  or  hidden  CHARM
Can blast my fruit, or  bring me HARM,
While   the   inclosure  is   thine   ARM.

Inclose   me   still  for  fear  I   START.
Be   to  me  rather   sharp  and  TART,
Then let me want thy hand and ART.

When thou dost greater judgments SPARE,
And with thy  knife  but  prune  and PARE,
Ev’n   fruitfull   trees   more   fruitful  ARE.

Such sharpnes shows the sweetest FREND:
Such   cuttings    rather   heal  then   REND:
And  such   beginnings   touch  their  END.

By George Herbert, 1633

Also, I'm still collecting donations for the Walk for Hunger. Please consider sponsoring me for this very worthy cause - all proceeds go to feeding hungry families using emergency food programs. For more info, or to sponsor me, click on this link or on the button below. Thanks!

Please sponsor me in the Walk for Hunger!

2011-02-15T20:47:00.000-05:00

Just in case you don't read my weight loss blog, I wanted to let you know about an exciting event coming up for me this Spring. This year, I'm taking part in Project Bread's annual Walk for Hunger. Although I'm using the Walk for Hunger's 20 mile course as a fitness challenge and as a way to celebrate my continued efforts at weight loss, the Walk for Hunger means so much more than that to me.

Let's face it: the economy has been rough in the past few years. As someone who recently graduated from college, I spent close to a year being either unemployed, underemployed, or working for free. More than ever before, I gained an understanding of what it means to live paycheck by paycheck. While I was fortunate enough to have a roof over my head and food to eat, others are not. By supporting me in my efforts to raise money for Project Bread, you will be helping those individuals who, due to the economy or other circumstances, are unable to put food on the table.

Please consider donating to the Walk for Hunger using my personal sponsorship page (found HERE). I've made it a goal to raise at least $500 dollars for Project Bread, and I still have a long way to go. You can donate as much or as little as you want to - every little bit counts.

Thanks!

Get. Me. Out. Of. Here.

2011-02-05T19:46:00.000-05:00

Just when I thought the weather couldn't be any more irritating, I was proven wrong. Shortly after I woke up this morning, my downstairs neighbor starts pounding on my door.

"There's water pouring from my ceiling and it's coming from YOUR room!" says she.

In a panic, I start freaking out. "What?!?!?!" I make a mad dash to my bedroom, and find that it is remarkably (gasp, pant, panic) dry. I run quickly to my sister's room and fling open the door to find that it is remarkably DRENCHED. There is water pouring from her ceiling, presumably from the roof (which is directly above). We keep her door closed when she's off at school...it could have been days or weeks until we'd discovered the water, had it not been for our neighbor.

We do our best to stop the flow, setting up pots and pans and large plastic tarps, then head up to the roof. Which is only accessible by a very rickety ladder. Which doesn't actually go all the way up to the roof's trapdoor. And to make it those 2 extra feet, you have to fling yourself onto the roof. Which immediately drops 75 feet onto the ground below.

Generally, I forget about my fear of heights. Mostly because the opportunity to make itself known rarely presents itself. As I made my way up the ladder, there were tears in my eyes, and at the top I froze completely. How I found the strength to get onto the roof, I'll never know, but I did.

We spent hours up there, shoveling off the foot or so of snow that had accumulated up there, then chipping off a 4 inch thick layer of ice so that the area with the leak had a clear run to the drainage tube. We had to go slowly, because the only thing stopping the roof from leaking was a thin layer of rubber. My friends, when I buy a house you can be d*** sure that I won't be buying a house with a flat top roof and inferior rubber sheeting.

The affected room is a total mess and a lot of books in there got drenched. Books, I can deal with. I'm a book conservator, for Pete's sake! Everything else, though... I want to cry. I seriously nearly broke down this afternoon. The ceiling is very water damaged and I'm hesitant to even think of all the work that needs to be done. We haven't even told my sister about her room yet.

I hate this weather, I really do. We've got months of winter left, and I'm horribly depressed about it. This is too much. As bad as I wanted to go to somewhere sunny like California or Florida last week, today's events have made that desire so strong that I can hardly stand it.

Springtime, hurry up!

On a somewhat brighter note

2011-02-02T15:34:00.000-05:00

I am making palmiers today! I'll let you know how they turn out. I rarely get the chance to make puff pastry from scratch, so I seized the opportunity when today's snow day offered me a huge chunk of free time. Sidebar: as a kid, I thought that nothing could be more awesome than a snow day. Recently, I discovered the perks of a paid working professional snow day :-)

Blizzard season

2011-02-02T12:24:00.000-05:00

This has, by far, been the most brutal winter New England has seen in ages. Not because of the cold - we've only had a day of that achingly cold, dangerous-to-be-outside weather - but because of the snow.

We didn't have a snowfall until VERY late this year - mid-December, in fact. Some years, it starts snowing by October. Silly me - I'd entirely convinced myself that maybe we'd have a really mild winter, particularly given the intensely hot summer that we'd had.

Our first major snowfall happened shortly before the new year, dumping 18 inches of snow onto our city. Being hardened New Englanders (have I ever told you about the time I worked on an organic farm in Vermont for 5 months and it was -30 degrees fahrenheit every single day for the month of January? No? Another story for another day...) we made quick work of the shoveling and it was no big deal. We then proceeded to get a major snowstorm every 5-7 days for the past 4 weeks.

Here's the real problem: 1 foot of snow is a pain, but manageable. 5 snowstorms of a foot+ of snow each week is a major problem. It simply isn't melting. There is nowhere to shovel it, and we are quickly running out of space. Due to a never-ending state of snow emergency, we can't park on half the streets in my neighborhood. The other half have a few properly shoveled out places, but mostly are filled with parking spots that lazy 30-somethings decided to just drive out of instead of shoveling. Which is all fine and good, at least until the snow freezes into un-shovelable chunks. Catch my (snow)drift? Oh, and the sidewalks are icy and the shoveled paths are sometimes as little as 6 inches wide (talk to those 30-somethings), so people are having to walk down the streets in the middle of traffic. At that point, the snow becomes dangerous, rather than irritating.

I usually pride myself on being able to get through a winter with cheerful spirits, but this one has been difficult for me. The cold is awful, the snow is worse. I spent last night searching for airfares to California. I need sun, warmth, and flowers, not more of this:

Taken on the way home from work. That snow drift was about 8 feet high

Happy groundhog day, everyone!

The perfect day

2011-01-30T21:22:00.002-05:00

There are many things that I love in life: food, friends, Le Creuset cookware, cooking, books, and, yes, shopping (to name a few). Yesterday managed to combine all of those elements - ah, perfection! The only downside is that there are absolutely no photos to show you because I was too busy having fun.

The day started out a little too early - I discovered a 1-day housewares sale at Bloomingdale's late on Friday night. Honestly, I really shouldn't be buying any more items of cookware when I'm about to pull up stakes and move to a different country in less than 9 months (EEK!), but I noticed that the sale included a discontinued color of Le Creuset dutch ovens. In kiwi. Which is one of my favorite colors.

I don't think I've ever blogged about my infatuation with Le Creuset cookware, but let's just say I have a ~~major~~ minor addiction to it. It's hand-poured, handmade, lasts forever (seriously, 101 year warranty), and is absolutely gorgeous, not to mention cooks everything marvelously. The only downside is that it is expensive. Like, REALLY expensive. Hence, my collection is not as large as I would like. And so, you can imagine how excited I became when I heard the words "60-75% off" when uttered in conjunction with my lovely Le Creuset.

Only true love could have pried a 20-something out of bed on a Saturday morning at 8am in order to shovel out her mother's car which was surrounded by snow drifts up to 3 feet deep. Only real dedication to the cause could have kept her going when she discovered the solid foot of ice encasing said vehicle. And only a true fanatic would have run the length of an entire mall in order to be at the front doors of Bloomingdale's before they opened.

There were only two (TWO!) items left - apparently the staff had all purchased the rest before the store opened (sidebar: isn't there some kind of law/store policy against that?). Only a minor miracle enabled my mother and I to find both items among the rest of the jumbled cookwares. A previously unaffordable oval kiwi dutch oven was mine! One more item I won't need to put on a future bridal registry, I guess (lest ye be concerned that I am withholding information, I assure you that I'm not yet engaged).

On the way out, I spotted an irascible two year old banging a 75-dollar tea kettle on the floor while his father looked on in horror, shooting apologetic smiles to the surrounding customers.

Next, we went cookbook shopping - I need more cookbooks like a fish needs a bicycle, but I simply couldn't resist buying the New York Times cookbook since I'm a huge fan of Amanda Hesser (that, and the cookbook was 40% off...I'm a sucker for bargains), thus bringing my cookbook count into the low 50's (it occurs to me that I also have a cookbook problem).

From there, I went to an AMAZING Senegalese restaurant with friends. Remind me to wax poetic about it later, because it was truly stunning.

Finally, my friends and I headed over to the H's house and cooked dinner for about 14 of our friends. Clam chowder (fresh clams, naturally!), some kind of Korean rice (my friend is from Korea - it mostly involved a bunch of fresh herbs, radishes, rice, and LOTS of butter), and a lemon meringue pie. We made everything from scratch, including the roux, the meringue, and the pie crust. That's just how we roll.

And then we stayed up late talking, cramming ourselves first into the kitchen, then into the living room. I don't know how we fit that many people onto two small sofas, but we did it. The more, the merrier!

All in all, a perfect day. What more can I ask than to spend the day with people I love, doing the things that I love, and loving every minute of it?

A birthday dream

2010-12-30T12:06:00.000-05:00

In the slightly-more-than-a-year that I was unemployed/underemployed/working for free, I came to know many things. I learned how stressful it was to have no money, how close the tears often were when I'd look at my bank statement only to realize that I had less than 50 dollars to my name and $150 dollars worth of student loans due in just a few days. I learned how hard it was to go without a winter coat, a hat and gloves simply because I couldn't afford it. I discovered how much it hurt to be left out of fun adventures with my friends because I simply couldn't scrounge up enough cash to even grab a quick bite to eat.

While the past year was filled with financial hardships and plenty of worry, it was so worth it. Yes, worth it. Because with all of the toils and troubles that I came to know, I also came to know great joy. I came to know God.

It's no secret that I adore Reece's Rainbow and the faces of the many children on the site just break my heart every time that I look at them. Wouldn't it be lovely if there were no orphans, just millions of children in loving forever families? Sadly, that's not true right now, and the awful fact is that many families are held back by the heavy financial burden. There were many times in the past year that I wanted to donate to Reece's Rainbow families in need, and each time it just crushed me that I couldn't. Every night, after I prayed to God, begging, beseeching, imploring Him to bless me with a job, I made a promise to myself that I'd use $100 dollars from my first paycheck to donate to Reece's Rainbow.

They say that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. I got a job in October and received my first paycheck shortly after that. And then I received another...and another...and another. At first, I'd forgotten that I'd even made myself that promise. And then, when I finally remembered, I kept on putting it off. At one point, I even convinced myself that I only needed to sponsor 1 orphan ($35, significantly less than I'd promised). I convinced myself "Oh, it can wait another day/week/month."

That is, until the dream. On the night before my birthday, I had a dream. I'd gone to Eastern Europe to adopt a child with Down syndrome. The child I received, a daughter, wasn't the child I'd dreamed of adopting and she wasn't the one I'd committed to. However, in the dream this little girl was seconds away from being transferred to a mental institution and she desperately needed parents. And so, while I was disappointed to have to let go of the other daughter I'd planned on adopting, I sucked it up and committed to adopting this particular girl. As soon as they placed her in my arms, my disappointment vanished. I loved this girl, loved my daughter more than words could say. I would have moved mountains to protect her.

Which was just as well, as minutes later 5 tornadoes attacked her school simultaneously. Yeah, my dream world was a little unrealistic.

When I woke up, I mourned for the sweet little girl who had been my daughter only seconds before. She was not real and she was never mine, but for a few moments I felt what it must be like to be a parent, to love and mother someone instantly and without question.

However, while my dream daughter was imaginary, there are millions of other very real children living in orphanages right now. It occurred to me then that while I can wait another day/week/month, the many children in orphanages across the world cannot wait. $100 isn't much in the grand scheme of things, but for these children it is a matter of life and death. There are so many children who would have parents by now if finances weren't an issue.

After that dream I knew I had been given a clear sign that I needed to do something IMMEDIATELY, not later, not when giving $100 felt comfortable or easy, not when it was convenient for me. I needed to act NOW. And so, I leaped out of bed, went straight to my computer, whipped out my credit card and proceeded to sponsor 3 orphans with Down syndrome on the Reece's Rainbow Angel Tree.

A week later, 3 sweet little faces on ornaments arrived to grace my Christmas tree. I'm happy to report that Phoebe, Lillian, and Anastasia S. have all reached their fundraising goals and have at least $1000 in adoption grants! Although the Angel Tree is nearly over for the year, there's still time to donate. Even if you miss the December 31st cut off, you can still donate to these children and many others simply by visiting the Reece's Rainbow website. Go on, check it out - you won't be sorry that you did!

Happy birthday to me!

2010-12-05T16:46:00.000-05:00

Today is my 24th birthday! So far, it's been a great day - got up in the morning and had a lovely breakfast with my parents (poached eggs on creamed spinach, sourdough bread, fried tomatoes (English-style) and steaming cups of tea. They gave me a very high-quality chef's knife (8" Sabatier K from France, for any foodies out there) and a collection of bluegrass CD's as well as a chocolate sampler.

I also went over to my friend Nat's house and she stuck a candle in a latke and sang happy birthday to me :-) It was super amazing and totally unique! We also watched Glee and sang along to many of the songs.

Tonight, I'll go to the Vespers/Christmas Concert at my old Alma Mater with my friend Xenia - we were both in choir and it'll be fun to go back. This is always my favorite choir concert of the year, particularly because the singers process up the aisles with real candles.

Pie!

2010-11-17T21:52:00.001-05:00

Question: How do you know your that job is totally awesome?

Answer: The dean of the university where you work sends out an email stating that she will be giving you (and all of the other university employees) a free pie in honor of Thanksgiving!

So, what kind should I choose: pecan, apple, or pumpkin?

In other pie-related news, when I was reading the New York Times today, I found an article containing several interesting recipes for pie including Butter Pie (the very name sounds utterly delicious) and Apple Green-Chili Pie With Cheddar Crust and Walnut Streusel. Actually, the article more or less persuaded me that I NEED to visit NYC as soon as possible even though I was there just last weekend. And I obviously do not need to eat my way through the city again. And I really shouldn't spend 4 1/2 hours in a bus each way just so I can eat pie.

ANYWAYS!

Given that Thanksgiving is next week, it's prime pie season right now. And so, in the spirit of pie, I'll ask my readers (all 2 of you) what your favorite pie is and whether you have any particularly good memories of pie.

For me, I'll have to say that my absolute favorite pie is Maple Syrup Pie (also known as Tarte au Sirop D'érable). I first tried maple syrup pie during a trip to Quebec in 1996. I was about 10 at the time, but still a major foodie. My parents took my sister and I to a restaurant after a long day of sightseeing and boy, were we all exhausted. As per usual, we were all super cranky and my sister and I were probably being pains in the butt. Upon entering the restaurant (Restaurant Aux Anciens Canadiens, if you're interested), a hush came over us. A quaint little stone room, dimly lit with flickering candles set the scene for a truly spectacular meal.

While poring over the dessert menu, a couple from the next table leaned over and said to us "Try the maple syrup pie, it's stunning!" So we did, and they were right - it was (and still is) the best pie that I've ever eaten.

Over the years, I've made this pie again and again - for school bake sales, for parties, and for special dinners. The recipe that I linked to above is the one that that first magical maple syrup pie was made from. I highly recommend that you try it! If you do, make sure that you use real maple syrup (none of this "pancake syrup" business...as someone who was raised in Vermont and who has actually made maple syrup the old-fashioned way, I consider anything less than the real deal to be not worth my time. Trust me on this, the pie will just taste icky if you use the fake stuff!) and be sure to serve the pie with either creme fraiche or heavy cream - it helps cut through all the sugar.

Happy pie-eating!

O Magnificent Maple!

2010-11-15T20:25:00.000-05:00

I was out walking yesterday afternoon when I saw this absolutely stunning Japanese maple. The photo has not been altered in any way, and if anything the real tree was even brighter than in the picture. Isn't it gorgeous?

Amazingly Bizarre

2010-11-14T00:11:00.000-05:00

Tonight, I went with a couple of old choir friends from college to see our old choir perform. This was not a hugely crazy or remarkable event in and of itself, but what happened that night sure was!

As soon as I arrive at the concert, one of my friends who is still in the choir hollers "DUDE! There are two of you!" Umm...what? "Someone joined choir this year and she has your name!" I scanned the program and found out that it was totally true - for the first time ever, I met someone with the same first AND last name as myself. SO COOL! Upon talking to her and her family, it turns out that we might even be (very distantly) related. Talk about amazing, eh?

That would have been astounding in and of itself, but wait...there's more!

During the concert, I saw another girl onstage and kept on thinking to myself "that girl looks just like me!" I seriously kept on doing double takes because she was my spitting image. After this show, this girl beelines it over towards me and asks if my name is Mary. Apparently, everyone in choir's been telling her that she reminds them of me. She then asks "Hey, do you know S____?" (the name of a person who I sung with for many years as a teenager in an entirely separate and unrelated chorus).

Apparently, she sang with the sister of S and she's into the same kind of obscure early American shape note music as I am.

How amazing is it that out of all of the people in the entire world, tonight I meet one person who has my exact name and another person who shares a mutual friend, despite the fact that we grew up on opposite ends of the country?

Sewing Adventures

2010-10-14T18:59:00.000-04:00

What happens when a generally crafty, good-with-her-hands girl decides to branch into new territory?

Strictly speaking, sewing isn't actually a new territory for me at all. When I was younger, I took 8 years worth of embroidery classes (no joke, it was offered through my elementary school!), as well as a hand-sewing class, a silk-ribbon embroidery class, and spent my 3rd-grade spring vacation at my grandma's house sewing a quilt because everyone else was watching TV and I was bored silly with daytime TV :-)

The real problem is, I've never had any formal training in the art of using a sewing machine or how to follow a sewing pattern. Therefore, the issue is not so much that I don't know how to sew, but that I don't know how to sew correctly.

I'd sewed 4 articles of clothing before this current project: a very simple pair of drawstring pants, my prom dress, a cute little peasant dress from a vintage pattern I found at a yard sale, a shockingly revealing shirt (for lack of a better word) that I sewed as a 15-year-old which was essentially a strip of cloth that was strapless, showed my belly button, and narrowed in the back to a couple of 2-inch wide ties. I am beyond glad that I came to my senses and never wore it in public.

The main point is, while I am capable of sewing something from a pattern, there's a whole lot that I don't know. I'm good at forgetting minor details like that.

And yet, for some inexplicable reason, I decided that the perfect birthday present for one of my babysitting kids was a hand-sewn dress constructed from a pattern marked "Advanced Sewer." Apparently, good judgment isn't my forte.

Even worse, after I cut out the pieces, they laid unattended on my dining room table for weeks. Finally, to light a fire under my butt I emailed the mother and said "hey, I have a present for J! When can I drop it off?" Yes, I was talking about the present sitting in pieces, as yet unsewn. Evidently, I'm also a glutton for punishment.

With only a week to finish the darn thing, I sewed like crazy. The only problem was, the collar would not attach - the pieces just wouldn't fit together correctly! Finally, I managed to do it, only to find that the zipper wouldn't go on straight. At the last minute, I realized that the finishing - sewing all those seams to make the inside look just as nice as the outside - was going to take a lot longer than I thought.

I finally got the dress done approximately 0.01 seconds before I needed to leave the house to go drop the present. I wrapped the present WHILE I was driving. That's not even a joke (relax, I only wrapped when the car was stopped at red lights or in heavy traffic).

The dress: pretty cute, no?

When all was said and done, the dress turned out super cute and I did feel proud of what I'd managed to accomplish. That said, one of my other babysitting kids has a birthday coming up, and you know what? There are some pretty cute, no-stress-necessary, already sewn baby dresses on sale at Macy's right now...

Who says grownups can't build sandcastles?

2010-09-15T00:38:00.000-04:00

Whoever said grownups can't build sandcastles...obviously never met me or my friends!*

*Being the overachievers that we are, we were building a model of Notre Dame complete with flying buttresses. That is, until the waves took out the sacristy and south transept :-P

An update

2010-09-13T21:22:00.000-04:00

You know how I was frustrated with one of my friends? While I can't say that the situation has resolved itself yet, things are going in the right direction. Last week, I was hanging out with a different friend who also happens to be friends with the person I've been having problems with. She brought up how much difficulty she's been having in meeting up with our mutual friend, and how our friend is always so busy that she never seems to have time to hang out anymore.

What a relief! I guess it's not me she's avoiding, per se, but rather she's avoiding all her friends in general while her life has been so hectic. Better yet, when I called her this weekend, she actually returned my phone call AND asked if I wanted to hang out next week. Guess she's not mad at me, just busy.

Nevertheless, I think I'm going to talk to her about how I've been feeling for the past few months, particularly about how hurt I felt when I texted, called, and emailed after surgery this summer (mostly because I felt terrible and needed some kind of distraction) and she didn't get back to me...at all. I get that she may have been busy, but when she didn't return any of my messages, it kind of felt like she didn't care.

Ah well...

Can I just say...

2010-09-05T23:52:00.000-04:00

...that it is SO nice to finally have my sister in the same country/time zone/state as me? She spent last summer in India (no phones or internet, especially during monsoon season), the whole academic year in France (5-6 hour time difference), and this past summer on an island in Maine (where, naturally, she was without a telephone and rarely had internet). It is so good to finally have her be back in a place where I can, y'know, pick up the phone to call her or even go see her without it being a long, arduous, or expensive trip!

I finally got to hang out with her today (the other days I saw her I was helping her move back to college/driving her around on errands, or helping her sort out stuff). Today, we got to spend time singing together - something we used to do a lot, but haven't been able to do more than once in the past 18 months. It was so nice to harmonize with her again! I have a whole bunch of songs (old-timey appalachian stuff, mostly) that I've made up harmony parts to and I really want to teach them to her :-)

What would you do?

2010-09-04T16:09:00.000-04:00

I'm having a problem with one of my friends. Part of the problem is that I don't know if it's a problem. As a person, I tend to be extraordinarily sensitive and it doesn't take much to hurt my feelings. As a result, I sometimes have a hard time distinguishing between intentional slights and things that I'm only perceiving as negative (but that aren't actually).

One of my friends appears to be blowing me off. Again, I don't know if that's actually the case, but that's what it feels like anyway. Here is what I do know: 90% of the time that I've called/emailed/texted in the past three weeks, she hasn't returned my call/text/email at all. The other 10% of the time, she takes a really long time to get back to me.

It's not just that either. It seems like I'm always the one calling to arrange a time to get together and hang out. I can't think of one time that she's actually initiated this. However, it seems like she hangs out with her other friends (who, by the way, are also my friends) a lot more often. In the past month, every time we arrange to hang out I'll call her before we were supposed to meet up and then she says she's busy or that she forgot and made other plans.

Purely based on the description above, you're probably saying "ACK! What a terrible friend! Run away as fast as you can, because this person is the worst friend ever and she's clearly not into hanging out with you at all. Find some new friends, girl!" However, there are some mitigating circumstances here, specifically that she's in a long distance relationship and her significant other has been visiting for the past few weeks. Under the circumstances, it's entirely understandable that she's not hanging out with anybody else.

I guess the most mature (and most difficult) thing to do is to just find a time to talk to her about it. It's most likely that it's entirely unintentional, but if I have made her mad in some way (and honestly, I can't think of anything...we've never fought) I'd like to know about it so that I can do something to make amends. Still, it is really hard to talk about this kind of stuff, you know?

So, my question is this: how can I bring this up without it being really awkward? I want to be really nice and non-confrontational about it, just matter of fact rather than overly emotional. What do you think?

Feeling like a parent

2010-09-04T10:32:00.000-04:00

I do a lot of babysitting. Tons of it, in fact. I started babysitting at the tender age of 10 and have more or less been doing it constantly ever since. At first, I started babysitting because it seemed like the cool thing to do - according to books, TV, movies, and the teenagers in my grade school, that's what all the cool older kids were doing. I'm not sure I even thought about it in terms of practice for future parenthood. I just happened to get along well with kids, was good at playing games, and was responsible enough to handle a group of 5-7 year olds.

Round about college, this started to change. Instead of babysitting for the money or because it was something that all the cool older kids did, I started babysitting because I genuinely loved taking care of kids. I think this coincided with the time that, all of a sudden, I realized how much I wanted to be a mom someday. I went from "eh, maybe I'll have kids but honestly I don't care much either way" to OMG baby crazy more or less overnight.

A few years later, little has changed. I still adore taking care of kids. I'm more certain than ever that I want to be a mom (though, as my parents are quick to point out, I don't even have a boyfriend yet!). Every moment of babysitting, even the days that are riddled with challenges, are precious to me. Even days like last week when the baby pooped on me, was crying nonstop because he was teething, and totally eschewed naptime except for a brief 10 minute stint.

Was it hard? Heck yes! At the end of the day, I went home and took a nap as soon as I got off work. I was exhausted! And yet, that wasn't the part that I remembered. The part that I remembered was the millions and billions of goofy grins that the baby gave me as he played on the floor. The fact that he's starting to be able to crawl. The utterly sweet moment when he fell asleep in my arms. All totally amazing, this-parenting-thing-is-totally-worth-it moments.

I think my parenting instincts are in the right place, too. Last week when I picked a 4yo up from preschool, it was raining HARD and it was absolutely freezing. She had no coat, because the weather had been pretty nice that morning when she was dropped off. I did bring a coat for her, but it was woefully inadequate (I guess I grabbed the wrong one). Without even thinking about it, I whipped off my own thick fleece and bundled her up in it, not caring that it left me in just a t-shirt. "Won't you get cold?" she asked. "Yes," I said, "but it's more important for you to stay warm." Honestly, I barely felt the cold because I was so worried about her getting soaked.

Even though I have moments where I feel like a parent now I know that being a parent for real is 1,000 times harder AND 1,000 times more amazing than I actually think it is. I bow down before the people who are parenting 24/7, day in, day out.

A new look for my blog!

2010-08-24T20:42:00.000-04:00

My old blog background disappeared sometime in the last few days, so I decided to spruce up my blog with a new one. I really like this one, and with a few modifications I think it will be a keeper! I changed the hair color of the girl in the header from black to red (my hair color), and I think I'm going to be tweaking the location of some of the widgets and a few of the smaller images. All in all, though, I really like it!

Pasta with Creamy Goat Cheese and Tomato Sauce

2010-08-21T09:50:00.001-04:00

This is a very easy sauce to make: the tomatoes aren't cooked, so all you have to do is let them sit and marinate with the other ingredients. Great for those nights when it is simply too hot to stand over a stove, stirring away at a pasta sauce. This recipe is based upon one I found in the Boston Globe a few years ago. Click here to see the original (as well as other fresh tomato-cheese-herb pasta dishes - I'm particularly fond of the brie and tomatoes version).

Note: It is so important to get good tomatoes for this - the bland supermarket versions just won't taste as good. Try to find heirloom tomatoes, or buy tomatoes from the farmers' market, or if you are in a pinch, vine-ripened tomatoes from the supermarket. In a real pinch (or to be cost-effective), you could use whole canned tomatoes.

Pasta with Creamy Goat Cheese and Tomato Sauce
2 1/2 pounds heirloom tomatoes (or any other tomatoes you happen to find that are particularly ripe and tasty)
2 cloves of garlic (or more - YUM!), finely minced
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
Grated zest from one lemon
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 ounces mild fresh goat cheese, crumbled into small pieces
1 pound pasta (penne rigate, fusilli, rotini, or any other short, tubular pasta works well)
6 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs (the original calls for mint, but you can also use basil or parsley)
Salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese to taste

Wash and core the tomatoes, then squeeze them (open side down) to remove inner seeds and juice. It is important to make sure that the seeds and juice are removed, or this sauce will be too watery. Roughly chop the tomatoes (this should yield about 5 cups), then mix the tomatoes, garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, pepper, and olive oil together in a large bowl and set aside.

Cook the pasta according to directions (I prefer mine to be al dente). Drain (but DO NOT rinse) in a colander, then place the pasta back into the saucepan. Toss with the tomato mixture until the goat cheese has melted from the heat of the pasta and the ingredients are evenly distributed. Season with additional salt and pepper (if desired) to taste. Add the fresh herbs and toss to incorporate, then serve warm or at room temperature with parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

Caprese Salad Recipe

2010-08-15T18:55:00.000-04:00

Okay, to be honest, this isn't so much a recipe as a general set of suggestions :-) Caprese salad is just about the easiest composed salad out there. It has only a handful of ingredients, so be sure to find the freshest, highest quality heirloom tomatoes and fresh mozzarella in order to maximize the flavor.

Caprese Salad
2-6 heirloom tomatoes (depending on size)
A couple of ounces of fresh mozzarella (the kind that comes in water and looks like this. Do NOT get the stuff that Americans put on pizza...it's not the right kind and will taste terrible in this salad).
A handful of fresh basil leaves
A couple of teaspoons of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Wash and thinly slice tomatoes. Tear the basil leaves into large, coarse pieces. Drain and thinly slice the mozzarella. Layer tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella on a plate, then drizzle a layer of extra virgin olive oil over the top. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve with slices of toasted sourdough bread. Enjoy!

Tomato Watch 2010

2010-08-15T09:10:00.000-04:00

It's that time of the year, folks! It's tomato time! I find supermarket tomatoes so dull and blah, even the hideously expensive organic ones from whole foods. Seriously, how on earth do they expect us to like these pale imitations reality?

When I was a kid, I knew several people who grew tomatoes in their back yard. As a consequence, each summer we'd get the opportunity to sample a few homegrown tomatoes. A few REAL tomatoes. Because, make no mistake my friends, once you bite into a homegrown tomato, you won't want to go back.

And so, when I strolled down to the farmers' market this week, I was delighted to find an abundance of beautiful heirloom tomatoes, perfectly ripe in a riotous array of colors.

Tomato Watch 2010: It's on!

South African Singing Workshop

2010-08-14T17:24:00.000-04:00

A little while ago, I participated in a South African singing workshop. The leader is from South Africa and runs a folk chorus there - I'd sung with her in a music summer camp that I did back when I was a teenager. It was great to sing South African folk music again and I had SO much fun! The song you see here (please pardon the sound quality, and the fact that you can hear some people singing louder than others - my camera doesn't get fantastic sound) is a praise song (the lyrics are mostly just Alleluia and Morena (God), with a handful of other words sprinkled throughout. You can see part of the dance that we're doing (raised hands) and when we start clapping and singing at the end, that's very typical of African Zionist church songs.

Enjoy!

The coolest thing EVER!

2010-07-21T11:55:00.007-04:00

What did I do at work on Monday? Oh, you know...nothing special. Just did some conservation work on books OWNED BY GEORGE WASHINGTON.

But really, no big deal.*

As always, click on the photos to enlarge them. Enjoy!

*Who am I kidding? I spent the whole day pausing every 5 minutes and going AAAAHGHGHGHGHGGHGHGHGH THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING DAY EVER!!!!! Seriously, how many times can you say that you've actually touched the first president's signature, that you've turned the same pages that George Washington did? It should be noted that I did some work on Washington's books a couple of months ago, but I only saw 1 book with a signature and only got to handle it briefly. Today was exponentially more awesome because I spent the whole day with the books and saw a whole bunch of signatures!

Also, his signature is totally not what I was expecting. I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting, but that sure wasn't it!

Very funny, God!

2010-07-12T16:10:00.000-04:00

A few months ago, when my belief in God was still in it's infancy stage (although really, it's probably still there in terms of how much I still need to learn lol), I decided to give prayer a try. (Forgive me for the lameness of my prayer - I'd never prayed before and I wasn't sure how to do it). I more or less said:

"Ok, God. I am desperate for a job here. As it is, my only income right now comes from working on Sundays which means I can't go to church and learn more about You. If you help me find a full-time, Monday through Friday job, then I promise I will quit my other Sunday job and go to church instead. Please?"

A few weeks later, another part-time job was dropped, quite literally, onto my lap. It wasn't a job I'd applied for, I hadn't heard about the position before I got the call, I didn't know the person/people I'd be working for, and yet the job was mine for the taking since I'd been referred to it by a former employer who'd given me a glowing review. There's no way it could have happened without divine intervention.

What was it, you ask? Working in a church nursery during their Sunday morning service. No, it wasn't a full-time job, but it gave me a little extra cash so that I could make ends meet.

The sermon is transmitted downstairs through speakers so that the people in the nursery can hear it even when they're not in the sanctuary.

Sooo....God answered my prayers and gave me a job (albeit part-time) AND guaranteed that I'd be in a church every single Sunday. Which proves that God, in addition to having divine and ultimate wisdom also has a wicked sense of humor.

Pastor John was right...

2010-06-23T09:52:00.003-04:00

A few weeks ago, I told Pastor John* that I was going to be missing work one week (I work in a church nursery on Sunday mornings) because one of my friends was getting married. He grinned and said "you just wait and see - the next 4 years, you'll be attending one wedding after another. There seems to be a critical period where everyone gets engaged/married in their mid 20's."

I laughed politely and explained that no, my friend who was getting married was an anomaly. That she's been thinking about getting married to her fiance more or less since they met (four years ago, I would have found that too cheesy to be believed...and now I see just how perfect they are for each other). That her wedding was inevitable, but was scheduled so quickly because her brother was entering the Korean army (mandatory for all young Koreans) this summer, and once he'd enlisted he wouldn't be able to leave Korea for 3 YEARS. That yes, many of my close friends were in long-term, stable relationships but that we were WAY too young to be getting married (I know my grandma got married at 19, and many people get married during/right after college, but where I'm from that's a huge anomaly. Typically, people get married in their late 20's or early 30's. Even getting married at 26 is considered "young").

The pastor just smiled knowingly and went on his way. This morning, I found out that another one of my friends is engaged.

I guess Pastor John* was right after all...

*Names changed to protect the innocent.

Hellenic (Greek) Festival

2010-06-20T21:55:00.004-04:00

Tonight, I attended the Greek festival in my town. I can't believe that I've never gotten around to attending because it was pretty amazing! TONS of authentic Greek food (case in point: the Greek version of doughnuts as pictured above - they deep fried them before my eyes, then dipped them in a steaming bath of cinnamon sugar syrup, drizzled them in honey, and sprinkled a layer of pistachios and walnuts across the top), a live band (playing Greek music, naturally), and people dancing Greek folk dances. It was AWESOME! My only regret was that I had to leave before I got the chance to dance - the dances reminded me a lot of traditional Balkan dance, something that I have done a lot of, and I would have relished the chance to learn a few!

Never have I ever...

2010-06-19T00:55:00.003-04:00

Until last Tuesday, I'd never seen a grown man prance around onstage, striking a variety of Pan-like poses while playing the electric flute and standing on one leg. To give him credit, though, he nailed it.
Guess who went to a Jethro Tull concert?

Meeting the Reed family in real life!

2010-06-14T23:53:00.002-04:00

(I know this is a long post, but keep reading all the way to the end...there's an important message that I really want to share right at the end and it's a pretty amazing story to boot).

For years, I've been a dedicated reader of Smiles and Trials and it's one of the first blogs I check each and every morning. I love Christine's writing style, and I've enjoyed reading about her amazing family. Through her blog, I feel as if I've come to know her family, albeit only in the virtual world. Never, ever in a million years did I imagine that I would ever meet Christine or her family in real life...and yet today it happened!

Today, I needed to go to Logan Airport in Boston to pick up my little sister who'd been studying abroad in France for the year. When Christine posted early this morning that she and her family were going to be stopping over in Boston for a layover on their way to Ukraine, I was amazed - how crazy was it that we were going to be in the same place on the same day? I then felt a tinge of disappointment that our paths wouldn't intersect - after all, she and her family were going to be at the airport later in the day and besides, they'd no doubt be stuck in the passengers-only side of airport security.

Fast forward a few hours. I went to check my sister's flight info and saw that her plane was delayed. They initially said it was delayed by 3 hours, but when I clicked on the flight link, they said it was only delayed by 1 hour. I decided to go with the 1-hour delay time because it seemed more accurate, and readjusted my schedule accordingly. When it came time to go, I was a little late in leaving because I had decided to start dinner once I found out about the flight delay and I didn't want to leave things half done. As I was finally leaving the house, I went to put the laundry into the dryer....and somehow the machine quite literally fell apart in my hands, probably because I was in such a hurry to get out the door. ARGH! A full 25 minutes of frantic fix-it work later, I finally left the house....only to run into heavy traffic.

By the time I finally got to the airport, I was incredibly stressed. My poor sister was probably waiting all alone at the arrivals gate! There's truly nothing worse than spending a whole year away from home and finally arriving to what should be a horde of welcoming family members...and finding nobody there. I pictured her in tears, and I felt terrible for having let her down.

The sight of me running all the way through the airport from the parking lot in clogs and a skirt must have been comical. By the time that I arrived at the arrivals gate, I was sweaty and disheveled, in desperate need of a shower, a hairbrush, and a new outfit (oh, did I mention? I've lost so much weight that my skirt was falling off my hips!). My sister was nowhere to be seen, and so I frantically ran to the nearest information desk. Imagine my irritation when I discovered that my sister's plane wouldn't even be landing for another 2 hours...

As I walked away from the information desk, I saw a familiar face. Several familiar faces, in fact. Hardly able to believe it, I drew closer. Could it be? Christine, John, Caleb, and Rachel Reed were standing right in front of me. Amazing! Of course I had to go over and say hello :-)

Having now met the Reed family (well, a few of 'em, anyway!) in person, I can now officially say that they are every bit as awesome in real life as they are in their blog! Everyone was so nice and it was so great to finally meet a family that I've long admired from a distance.

What an amazing occurrence! Had my sister's flight not been delayed, had I not misread the amount of time it was delayed by, had I not been late getting out of the house because I was trying to finish up dinner prep, had I not broken the washing machine in my haste to make up the time I'd lost in making dinner, had I not run into traffic, had I not rushed over to that specific information desk...had I not done any one of those things, then I never would have run into the Reed family. Which just goes to show that even though I felt as if everything about my day was going horribly wrong in so many ways up until the moment I got to the airport, it was all for a purpose, and a good one at that.

It is only recently that I have come to believe in God and there is still much that I have to learn about what it means to be a Christian, but today it sure felt like God was showing me in a very clear, very real way that everything, good or bad, happens for a reason. Ultimately, the struggles that occur along the way are fleeting hurdles that pave the way towards truly amazing things. So many parts of my day were stressful, but the stress was instantly canceled out by my miraculous chance encounter with the Reeds. I feel as if I was doubly blessed today...not only in getting to meet the wonderful Reed family, but also in getting a message from God that I so badly needed to hear.

And so, while I had to spend 2 hours waiting around at the airport today and while my washing machine is still broken....all I can say tonight is that God is SO good.

Back from France!

2010-06-09T13:22:00.004-04:00

I'm finally back from France! In the next few days, I'll be posting pictures of my journey along with posts about some of the adventures we had (including a hotel eviction and a sprained ankle!). In the meantime, here's a tantalizing picture of one of the desserts I ate while there:
Why, yes! That is a freshly baked chocolate cake with a molten chocolate center sitting in a pool of creme anglaise! However did you guess?

Hello from France!

2010-05-21T12:50:00.002-04:00

Just popping in to say hello from France! The post won't be long since the keyboard is all switched around and it's hard to type when the letters are all in the "wrong" places.

So far, we've spent a week in Aix-en Provence and a couple of days in Arles. The open-air vegetable markets are particularly lovely, and everything is so fresh. I've had a lot of fun cooking yummy meals in the apartment we rented and I've been really good about not over-eating (I am so determined not to gain back the weight that I've worked so hard at losing).

I am having lots of fun and will be sure to update more with real posts and pictures as soon as I get back.

Going to France tomorrow!

2010-05-12T23:57:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow I'm heading off to France to visit my little sister! She's been studying abroad in Provence all year and I'll finally get to see where she's been living. My parents are coming along too, so we're making this a family vacation.

I may or may not be able to sneak in a post while I'm there, but we're trying to make this an internet-free vacation so we'll see about that. Otherwise, I'll be back in 3 weeks with pictures and stories to share. See you then!

Hello, George Washington!

2010-05-01T21:51:00.000-04:00

Every Friday, I intern at the conservation facility of a private library, one that has an extensive rare books collection. Among those volumes, the library is proud to own a large number of books from George Washington's personal library. Some are ones he clearly read quite frequently, others it is obvious that he never touched, as evidenced by the uncut pages.*

Last week, I was repairing some of the books from this collection when I nonchalantly popped open a rather large book containing trade accounts from the East Indies. And there it was. The thing I'd been secretly hoping to see after a whole day of working on these books, but had finally given up on: George Washington's signature. His real, honest-to-goodness signature.

To say I was completely astonished, elated, and awed is a complete understatement. Here I was, a lowly intern holding an item (a signed item) that belonged to the very first president of this country. I could hardly believe it. Even more amazing was the fact that I was permitted to touch the signature.

I gingerly reached out and caressed the unassuming signature, and at that instant I felt as if I was shaking hands with George Washington. His hands had created that writing, had held that book, had turned those pages. And now, centuries later, I too held it in my hands.

Hello, George Washington!

*Historical sidebar: back in the day when books were still bound by hand, the paper was often folded once or twice from a larger sheet into what was called a signature, which was then sew onto cords. If you wanted to read the text within the folded pages once the book had been bound, you had to literally cut them open.

Long time, no blog!

2010-04-22T22:32:00.003-04:00

As Delahne pointed out to me today, I haven't updated this blog in a while. I've been so busy in the past couple of months (but hey, busy is good, right?) that I haven't had the chance to sit down and actually write about stuff. Plus, I've been so busy with what seems like mundane things that it hardly seemed worth it to blog about it. In retrospect, though, a lot of cool/fun stuff has been happening.

The big news is that I'm going to France! My sister has spent the year studying abroad in Aix-en-Provence and so I haven't seen her in ages - it's the longest we've ever been apart. She spent the summer in India, came home for 3 days (at which point I was in North Carolina so I missed seeing her) and then has been in France ever since (her Christmas break was too short and it was too expensive to fly her back anyway). I did see her in November when I went to England, but I haven't seen her since then. In just 3 short weeks, my mom, my dad, and myself are flying to France for a visit. I'm super excited about it and I'm looking forward to seeing her again.

I'll blog more soon, but I don't want to make this post too long :-)

A glimpse into parenthood...

2010-04-02T15:34:00.002-04:00

Last week, for one of my (many) babysitting gigs, I woke up at the crack of dawn (ok...6am, but I'm a 20-something just barely out of college, so give me a break) in order to commute over to my babysitting job. I'd gotten maybe 4 hours of sleep, tops, and I was exhausted. I spent the morning playing with the baby, waltzing around the kitchen with her, changing her diapers, and trying to clean bits of carrot and avocado off the bumbo seat.

When the baby (a 7-month-old) went down for her nap, I found myself wistfully remembering the days when I used to get naptime too. As I sat in the darkened room, gently rocking the baby's cradle (the only way she'll stay asleep for more than 10 minutes) and listening to the white noise CD, my eyes involuntarily crept shut, much as the baby's had just minutes before as I rocked her to sleep. I fell asleep completely upright, propped against the dresser drawers, face sliding into one of the knobs....

...only to sit bolt upright 2 seconds later when my subconscious registered the fact that AAAAGHHH the BABY!! Made a sound! When she sighed contentedly in her sleep! ALERT ALERT ALERT! I guess my parental instincts are already pretty finely tuned.

As I sat there in the dark, rocking the baby in her cradle, it struck me that this is probably what it feels like to be a mom. So exhausted that you're falling asleep in funny places? Check! Doing everything under the sun to make sure that NOTHING WAKES THE BABY UP. NOTHING. Check! Being hyper aware of every single sound the baby makes, even if you're asleep? Check! Yep, sounds like parenthood to me...

Spring has sprung!

2010-03-18T10:13:00.002-04:00

Because I live in New England, I'm hesitant to say it BUT....I think spring may finally have arrived. The weather's finally sunny and yesterday it got above 60 degrees. Let me repeat that: 60 DEGREES! In March. (For all you Californians/Southerners out there, let me put this in context: we once got 2 feet of snow in April. I've even seen it snow in May. Our weather has a sense of humor.) I was even outside wearing a t-shirt without a sweater or jacket - AMAZING!

In other news, I can't believe it's been over a month since I last posted. I've been so busy - I'm still unemployed but for the last month or so I've been able to get temporary work. The upside is that I'm finally earning some money, but the downside is that I haven't had a day off all month - I'm seriously working 7 days/week. I just don't feel like I can turn down any paying jobs right now, particularly if they're only temporary.

Finally, if I haven't been commenting on anyone's blogs in the past couple of weeks it's because we had an internet blackout. Someone hacked our modem. We received several scam messages on our voicemail and my dad somehow thought it would be a good idea to call them back to see if they were legit (ummm....if they weren't, they sure wouldn't tell us so I'm not quite sure what he was thinking). A little while later, our internet went down.

After 6 wasted hours spent on the phone with Comcast, it stayed down. We suspect that there was a Comcast security breach (which is how the scammers got our number and account info) and Comcast was trying to disguise the fact that it had happened (they seemed to have a lot of information on the scam, plus a few customer service reps admitted that this type of situation had been happening all day to other customers). They kept on passing the buck for hours and hours until they closed for the day...at which point we were so frustrated we just canceled the service outright. It's taken a few days to switch over to another provider.

The upside to this whole situation is that we don't have to share our internet with 6 other families anymore. We live in a co-op and had been sharing it with everyone else in the building. It had become a point of conflict (at least for us) because we were paying for it. Everyone else was supposed to contribute to the monthly bill, but no one ever did. One of the co-op members streamed movies constantly from 5pm-3am nightly which meant that the internet was s-l-o-w and we may as well have had dial-up. Nobody else could do much with the internet beyond checking emails when that co-op member was online. Now, our internet is technically slower than before but it's much, much faster in actual practice. I can watch videos on Netflix again! Skype has more than one pixel!

One other thing I noticed is just how much time I spend on the internet. Without the internet, I got a ton of stuff done. I baked cookies, I read multiple books, and I reorganized my room. Now that we have the internet back, I'm going to try to use it less often. We'll see how that works!

Happy Pancake Day! (err...I mean Shrove Tuesday :-P )

2010-02-16T11:37:00.002-05:00

In Great Britain, people always eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday (the day before the beginning of Lent and Ash Wednesday - similar to Carnival in Catholic countries) and it's often called Pancake Day. It grew out of a need to use up butter, eggs, fat, and sugar before Lenten fasting began. Nowadays, pretty much everyone over there does it regardless of whether they are Church of England or not.

My dad is English and moved here 24 years ago when he married my mom, so we always celebrate this day by making "English" pancakes which are thin like crepes. Traditionally, they are eaten with lemon juice drizzled over the top and sugar (granulated or powder, depending on preference) sprinkled on top of that. You then roll up the pancake, sugar and all, into a tube and eat it.

Here is a pancake recipe similar to the one my family uses. Enjoy!

I had a dream

2010-02-06T11:11:00.002-05:00

I had a dream the other night. It wasn't especially profound, or action-packed, or even particularly glamorous, but it has given me a lot of food for thought.

In the dream, I was exploring the country, spending 2 weeks to a month living in each major geographic section of the U.S. I'd try and absorb as much of the local culture as I could before I moved on to the next place in the hopes that I'd become familiar with the way people lived in this nation. I was so disappointed when I woke up and discovered it wasn't real.

After the initial longing-to-be-back-in-the-dream phase, I realized that this dream had touched me in a very real way. Despite having lived in America my whole life, I don't really know what the U.S. is really like. I live in New England, in a very liberal bubble which isn't representative of the rest of the U.S. (or even the rest of my state) lives.

I've barely been outside of New England - when my family travels, we go to England. That is where my grandma, aunts, uncles, and cousins all live and if we can afford to travel, then we go see them. Even when we went to France we stayed with my aunt. I have been to New Mexico and North Carolina once, but those were for academic programs in contained, isolated campuses and I didn't get to really explore the area.

This dream made me realize just how much I don't know about this country. How is life different in California, in Texas, in the deep south? The food, the culture, the politics - I want to experience it, all of the quirky differences that make them unique. I need to know what living in the U.S. is like, above and beyond the tiny little community that I live in (ok, I live in a big city, but that city has a very strong community identity). As each day passes, I feel the desire to live out this dream strengthen and I know that I need to do it.

The question is, how? Road trip? Pay a small fortune to plane-hop my way around America? Stay in hotels or try and stay with host families in order to get a better sense of how the average person lives? How can I possibly hope to fund this trip?

Uh-oh....

2010-02-03T18:30:00.003-05:00

I look young for my age. Everyone says so. When I was 18, I was still passing for 12 (my parents (who love to pinch pennies) were delighted, and made sure that they always got the 12-and-under discount for me, even in my first year of college).When I was 21, I was mistaken for a 14-year-old. Even last month, someone told me that I didn't look a day over 18, despite being 23. I suppose that in about 10 years time, I'll find it very flattering :-)

It doesn't help that I'm very short (5ft2) and have a high-pitched voice. When telemarketers call the house, they always ask "Hi sweetie, is your mommy there?" Yep, that's right, they think I'm young enough to call my mom "Mommy."

I think that's all about to change. In the past couple of months, whenever people call the house and I pick up the phone they think they're talking to my mother. Not just telemarketers, but family friends and my mom's coworkers, people she talks to every single day. And every time I let them know that it's just me, not my mom, they say "Oh, really? You sound just like your mother." Let me repeat that: you sound just like your mother.

I caught myself hollering at a group of teens the other day asking them for the billionth time to please set the table so that I could serve dinner. And then I mentally rolled my eyes and said a prayer for patience.

Is this it? Am I going to turn into my mother?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi!

2010-01-16T14:36:00.002-05:00

I know I haven't posted in forever...sorry about that. I feel as if I haven't done much, though that's really not true. Here's a quick recap:

Went to the North End with a friend and at a.m.a.z.i.n.g. Italian food - fresh, homemade pasta with green beans and a homemade pesto sauce. Oh, and a delicious appetizer of fried zucchini blossoms with ricotta and prosciutto. While there, we took the time to check out a bookbinding program (I had considered going there, but decided to go to grad school for book conservation in England instead).

I also went to the Harry Potter Exhibit at the Boston Museum of Science (twice - the second time was accidental). The first time I went with an out-of-town friend and I was dragging my heels because I thought it would be overcrowded and cheesy. Much to my surprise, I LOVED it and was fascinated to see all the details of the costumes and wands in close detail, as well as the props and sets from the movie. My only quibble was that it wasn't even slightly science related and was obviously a ploy to get more museum-goers through the doors during a recession. If you're going to see the exhibit, definitely go on a weekday as I did so that there are no people there and you can stay as long as you want. Also? Be sure to check out Umbridge's Ministry of Magic decrees! The last line of the text simply goes "Blah Blah Blabl Ahlblah..." Very funny :-)

Had a 4-hour-long job interview which I hope will lead to a job for me because it is:
a. perfect
b. I am running out of $$
c. at a Very Important Institution That I Cannot Name Yet But Will Look Excellent On My Resume

I can't think of anything else right now. I think I'm going to go to the gym this afternoon, then maybe to a friends house.

Christmas Recap

2010-01-02T18:20:00.003-05:00

Yeah, yeah, I know. Christmas is so 2009. But what can I say? This December was busy (but amazingly fun). And so, without further ado, here are some photos of Christmas. We celebrate in the same way every year. Wake up and eat a late breakfast: ham, eggs, sourdough toast, English mustard (which we always make fresh that morning), and tea.

My dad's English, so the recurring theme of Christmas is always tea, and lots of it. Also, a few English Christmas traditions thrown in - the only thing missing this year were Christmas cake and Christmas pudding, both of which you have to make at least 3 months in advance and ply with brandy periodically in order to preserve it. We didn't make ours in time, so alas no flaming plum pudding (you actually set it alight by pouring flaming brandy on it).

After breakfast, we do the dishes, then clear all the old bread out of the freezer. We go for a long walk along the river, and on the way back we take our sacks of bread and feed them to the geese.
Cheeky little bugger, isn't he? Every time he felt like he wasn't getting enough bread, he'd waddle around behind me and nip the back of my knees.
We then go home and drink more tea. It's about 1-2pm at this point, so we start Christmas dinner preparations. This year, I made duck (with an awesome garlic butter sauce), leek risotto, roasted carrots, onions, and turnips, and brussels sprouts with roasted chestnuts. The candlesticks (pictured below) have been in the family since 1820!

The festive tubes to the right of the plates are Christmas crackers, an English tradition. Two people pull on either end of the tube and the cracker lets out a huge crack (there's a small amount of gunpowder in them - it's totally safe but you can definitely smell it when it goes pop) and splits apart. Inside are a paper party hat (pictured below), a paper with a joke, riddle, and fun fact, and a toy/trinket (the quality of which depends upon how much you spend on the Christmas cracker itself).
Finally, after a day's work of cooking, eating and walking, we get around to the presents. This year, we started around 6pm (but one year we started at 9pm!), a time that surprises most Americans. "Wait," they say, "How on earth did you manage to get your kids to wait the whole day to open presents when they could see them under the tree?"Simple, really. My sister and I were raised so that presents always happened after breakfast, after the walk, and after dinner. Sure, I can remember one or two Christmases where it was agony to wait, but I really treasure this tradition in our family. Instead of the 5 minute tear 'n shred present-fest that occurs on 6am on Christmas morning in most households, we have a whole day's worth of fun beforehand, then take turns to open presents, one at a time. The process of opening presents takes a while because we usually ooh and ah over each gift as it is unwrapped. We get to savor the moment of giving and see the other person's face light up over a homemade gift. Christmas occupies a whole day rather than being over in a flurry of early morning unwrapping.

Our Christmas celebration is very family oriented - we spend the day with each other - talking, cooking, laughing. There's a TV (and now internet/computer) ban on December 25th so that there aren't a whole lot of distractions from face-to-face family time. We sing Christmas carols together and call our relatives in England and France. It's a truly wonderful way to spend the day and I wouldn't change it for the world.

Pictures of my costume!

2009-12-17T13:29:00.004-05:00

With my stage family

In the green room wearing my full costume

I've mentioned a couple of times that I'm in a Christmas show, but I haven't had a chance to post pictures of my costume yet. Well, here it is! Despite the petticoat, long dress, apron, bonnet, and kerchief it is amazingly comfortable - even more comfortable than jeans. I also love the way it looks - for some reason, that dress shape is very flattering to my figure :-) Too bad prairie dresses aren't in fashion right now!

We just finished our 6th show - 11 more to go! I'm having so much fun singing shape note and Appalachian music and the people in the cast are fabulous. It's past midnight now, so I'll wrap it up and try to write more later.

Birthday Girl

2009-12-05T02:18:00.002-05:00

Now that it's past midnight, I can officially say it - it's my birthday! I'm 23 years old today :-) I just got in from my birthday party. I have such truly amazing friends and I couldn't imagine a better way to ring in my birthday than with them!

How to waste a day at the DMV

2009-11-30T20:18:00.001-05:00

Whenever I've heard anyone mention the DMV, it's accompanied by an eye-roll, a groan, or a snort of derisive laughter. Having only been in there a couple of times (and not since 2005, when I got my license), I wasn't quite yet at the point where I hated the experience. Sure, I knew it could be a hassle, but could it really be as bad as everyone said it was?

After today, I can indeed confirm that the DMV lives up to all the hype.

I had to go renew my license (which expires on Saturday), so I went over hoping to make it a quick trip and thinking that I'd spend the remaining 2 hours between engagements shopping for a new sweater.

When I arrived at the office, however, I was greeted by a packed room and a line snaking waaaaaay out into the mall. Quick? Not likely! Before I could even wait in the long line inside the DMV office, I first had to queue up in an even longer pre-line to even be given a number to be seen! After waiting forever in the pre-line, I finally reached the front only to be told that the licensing system had just crashed across the entire state of Massachusetts.

What?!?!? I asked if they knew when it would be back up. No. Would it be up and running by the end of today? No...maybe...they didn't know. Try back in an hour.

Ok, fine. I went over to Target to shop. After an hour, I came back to the DMV. I waited in the pre-line again and finally got to the front. Was the system back up yet? Yes. Success!!!! They issued me a number and told me to wait (again).

When I glanced down at my ticket, it was at least 15 people out (and there were only 2 stations and you know how long it takes to serve people at the DMV). And yet, clear as day, the estimated wait time on my ticket was listed as 4 minutes. I know now that this number was a fabricated work of fiction belonging to the world of fairies, unicorns, and make believe.

A good 40 minutes later, I finally got to the front of the line. You know how they always demand 12 different forms of ID to prove this, that, and the other about yourself? I came supplied with a bagful of stuff including, but not limited to: driver's license, passport, U.K. passport, birth certificate, 2 separate bills, credit cards, etc. Do you know how many of these they looked at? 0, zip, nada, zilch. Of course, had I brought only my driver's license, they would have needed everything else :-)

Oh, and when I finally got everything sorted out, the woman asked me how to spell my street address. I looked at her oddly as I spelled it - wasn't it on the form/in the system from my previous card? I checked out my old license to be sure. In 4.5 years of owning it, I'd somehow missed the fact that they spelled my street incorrectly. OOPS! At least it's correct now :-)

And that, my friends, is the story of how the RMV ~~stole~~ took my 50 dollars and exchanged it for a piece of plastic worth 5 cents.

Ready for Christmas

2009-11-28T23:33:00.003-05:00

As of this evening, I've not only purchased/made Christmas presents for all my friends and family, but I've also wrapped all of them! It's not even December, either. Then again, considering my December schedule, that's probably a good thing. I'm in a show, one that is going to be so amazing (I can't wait to show you pictures of my costume!) and I'm going to enjoy doing so much. It is also a major time commitment! In the next month, I have:

1 all-day rehearsal (8 hours)
1 Tuesday rehearsal (which has been happening weekly for the past 3 months)
4 tech rehearsals (5 hours each)
1 dress rehearsal
4 cast potlucks that I have to cook for
17 performances
1 set strike
1 cast party

This weekend, I'm also throwing a birthday/Christmas party (I'm turning 23 on Saturday), as well as going to the all day rehearsal. On Sunday, my friends are performing in a concert, which in turn conflicts with the annual Christmas church service at my alma mater and I really don't want to miss that...but I already told my friends I'd be there. Maybe I'll go to half of one and half of the other? I'm such a busy woman!

I got into grad school!

2009-11-21T19:34:00.002-05:00

WOW! That was really quick :-)

They sent the letter out the day after my interview/portfolio review/practical skills test/visit, so I guess they really liked me. On the day of the interview they mentioned that there weren't any actual spaces in the program for next year (they can only have 9-10 students at any given time, and they had accepted so many people into the program last year that they were more or less full). They cautioned me that "theoretically speaking, should you get, say, a letter of admission it would probably be for 2011 rather than 2010" (they can't offer formal admission until it's done by their admissions office, so they said everything in hypothetical terms to let me know what the deal was without them saying anything straight up). Apparently they created a space for me in the program :-)

I was excited first, but got anxious about money pretty quickly. While I was bummed to hear during the interview that I might have to delay my education by an extra year, I had started to think how sensible it might be to save up a little extra money. Being suddenly offered a place a year sooner meant that I'd have to take out more in the way of loans.

At this point, I'm trying to figure out if I should (or if I even could) defer for a year. It's a LOT of money that I'd have to pay back in the form of loans (we're talking about 50-60K here) and that is making me more than a little stressed. On the other hand, there are some grants available (not much) that could offset the cost and it's better to get my degree earlier rather than putting if off. EEK!

I'm going to England!

2009-11-09T15:26:00.003-05:00

In just a few hours, I'll be flying to England. Surprise! Actually, the trip has been planned for months, but I don't think I've ever mentioned it on this blog.

The purpose of the trip is two-fold. I'm half English, so my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandma on my dad's side of the family all live in England. I rarely get to see them, so it will be great to catch up with them. Also, my sister (who spent the summer in India and is now studying abroad in France) is flying over so that we can see each other for the first time in 6 months. Secondly, I'm going over to look at/interview at two grad school programs that I'm interested in. Woohoo!

I'll try and post pictures when I get back, but I'm not sure how much internet access I'll have when over there.

Did you?

2009-11-03T12:28:00.002-05:00

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T22:24:00.003-04:00

Me, two hours ago, just before going trick-or-treating. I happen to own a sari that I purchased second-hand from an imports store in Vermont several years ago (not for Halloween, but because I wanted to. IlovecostumesshutupalreadyandIevenownaweddingdressgaahhh). Anyway, I have a few friends who are Indian and taught me how to properly wear a sari without safety pins (although I've forgotten, so this is my best approximation), so I pulled it out of my closet for a last-minute costume.

I invited the kid that I babysit and his parents over for brownies and trick or treating. Since he's only 16 months old, we all felt a little guilty about trick or treating since he wasn't going to be eating any of the candy. So we'd walk up to a house, go "trick or treat!" and then politely decline candy.

The most amazing thing happened while we were out, though! My babysitting family asked if we could go visit their friends a few blocks over from my house who'd recently moved into the area. When we arrived at the house, I realized that their friends were the people who'd bought their house from old family friends of mine! But wait, it gets even more crazy! On the porch of this house, I see a woman who looks vaguely familiar. "Hey, your name's Mary, right?" she asks. I think hard and reply, "Carrie??" It's my old babysitter who I haven't seen for 15 or so years! Funny how an unplanned trip to this house would result in so many random interpersonal connections...

And now, I'm off to bed. I spent the day singing Balkan, Georgian, Shape Note, and South African music, and tomorrow I have to get up early for another all-day rehearsal. Fun!

I saw Ben Affleck and Jon Hamm!

2009-10-26T20:39:00.003-04:00

If you live in L.A., star-sightings are common. If you live in Boston? Not so much. Which is why, last Wednesday, I was super surprised to see not one, but two movie/tv stars! As I was sauntering through Harvard Square, I noticed a lot of police tape and a few men in FBI jackets. "What in the world?" I thought to myself. "Has there been a bank robbery or some super-awful crime that's been committed?"

Nope, just a movie set. The movie "The Town" is being filmed on-location in Harvard Square. As soon as I saw all of the camera equipment, I got as close as a I could to the set without ticking off the police officers and production assistants. All of a sudden, Ben Affleck popped into view and went about his business of being Incredibly Physically Attractive. Exhibit A:
(click on the photos to see them full-size)

When I went back to the set after lunch, I also saw Jon Hamm (Mad Men, anyone?) actually shooting some scenes. He was such a goofball and was smiling and joking around with the other actors any time the cameras weren't actually rolling. It's hard to believe it, but he's even hotter in person than he is on TV. What a great looking guy :-) He had a makeup assistant fussing with his hair, making sure that his bangs arced perfectly over his face. That was pretty funny too. Exhibit B:
What a crazy, totally random thing to happen...I don't usually go to Harvard Square during the week, but if this is what happens when I do go, maybe I'll visit there a little more often!

Grad school applications update

2009-10-23T16:28:00.004-04:00

I mailed off my first grad school application last week. I was a bundle of nerves the entire week, checking and rechecking to make sure everything was perfect. I'll admit it...I printed the application out on expensive paper, added some extra pictures to my portfolio, and even rewrote a whole page of it because my signature was slightly sloppy just to give my application an extra "edge."

So when it came time to send it off to England, I wanted the best - and fastest - mail service I could buy, even if it was going to cost me 30 dollars. My dad laughed at me, saying "What difference does it make? It will only take a few more days and will save you 20 dollars if you send it by the 6-10 day global service instead of the 3-5 day service!"

Who's laughing now, DAD?

By paying that extra 30 dollars, my application was delivered (with tracking confirmation) to the grad school's admissions office on the same day that the English Postal Service went on strike. A day later and my application could have been delayed indefinitely (they're striking again next week), or caught in the backlog of the estimated 150 million parcels and letters held up by this month's strikes in Great Britain. Perfect timing, eh?

Watch This

2009-10-18T22:55:00.003-04:00

Every time I see this video, I weep. Watch it - you won't regret it. It is a powerful testament to the fact that ANYONE can do ANYTHING and that you should never judge a book by it's cover.

(sorry I can't embed it, but the embed function for the video has been disabled)

Plum Upside-down Cake

2009-10-14T15:42:00.004-04:00

I made this recipe for a potluck supper I went to last night, and it turned out so well! It was super simple to make, tasted wonderful, and looked like it came from a professional bakery.

Too bad I'm on a diet!*

*Ok, I'll admit it...I had a slice. But it was a very small slice and I worked out beforehand. And it was so worth it.

I saw "Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!" and Ashley Judd!!!

2009-10-13T12:29:00.005-04:00

Last Thursday, spur of the moment, my mom called me up at work and said, "Are you doing anything tonight? I have free tickets to a live taping of Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! and VIP lounge passes for the pre-show cocktail hour." WOW!!!! Of course I had to go. I mean, I've been listening to that show for years. For anyone who doesn't listen to NPR, the show is a news-based trivia game show hosted by Peter Sagal and Carl Kasell. It's funny, witty, and listened to by people all across the country.

I invited my friend Helena to come along (an even more enthusiastic Wait Wait fan than I am), but all of my other friends already had plans for the night. Problem? We still had 4 extra VIP tickets. We literally roamed around Boston Common playing Santa (or perhaps fairy godmothers), approaching people and asking if they wanted these tickets. People were so surprised, and some thought it was a trick :-) It was so nice to just give the tickets away though, a gift to a stranger with no strings attached. We ended up giving two of them to a girl and her mother whose boyfriend and husband happened to be at the show already - now they could all go together as a family!

The show was great and I spent pretty much the entire time laughing! I did think that Peter Sagal mentioned the fact that he went to Harvard one or two million times to many, but other than that he seemed like a great guy. I was so amazed that the guest star was Ashley Judd...quite a famous movie star! I was very impressed with all of her accomplishments - she's really into humanitarian work and has taken a break from her acting career to get a graduate degree from Harvard in public policy.

And now, for some pictures! I had to take them without a flash because we were in a theater, so I apologize for the blurriness.

Carl Kasell and Peter Sagal answering questions after the show

Carl Kasell, Ashley Judd, and Peter Sagal

Here's a video of Ashley Judd talking about how she called up Car Talk to get suggestions for her newest truck, despite having a race-car driver for a husband:

Blue Ginger Restaurant Review

2009-10-09T21:45:00.003-04:00

If you live anywhere near the Boston area, you've probably heard of Blue Ginger. And, if you watch cooking shows and are knowledgeable about celebrity chefs, you've probably heard of Ming Tsai, the owner and head chef of Blue Ginger, located in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

When the restaurant first opened over 11 years ago, it was seen as cutting edge and widely heralded as the next new trend in the cooking world. Back then, Asian fusion cuisine was a novelty, not the norm. People flocked to the restaurant in droves, raving about the East-meets-West flavors, more than willing to pay the substantial prices commanded by the menu.

However, when I visited the restaurant 4 years ago, I couldn't help but be surprised. Prepared by the enthusiastic reviews given by many well-respected food critics, I arrived expecting nothing less than culinary perfection. However, aside from a few shining exceptions (like the fois gras shumai), I found the meal to be less than stellar. Many of the entrees we ordered had elements with potential, but each plate seem to be far to fussy. I love fancy food, but the separate elements must work together in order for it to work at all. The soba noodle sushi and Alaskan butterfish, while delicious in their own right, failed to work in harmony. Each entree had 4 or 5 painfully overwrought aspects working in discord, leaving the diner with a feeling that the dish was muddled and over-conceptualized.

Let's just say I wasn't surprised when the food critic of the Boston Globe slammed Blue Ginger in their review last year, much to the chagrin of many Bostonians. The menu was no longer cutting-edge or innovative, and they hadn't changed it in 10 years.

Tonight, I was given a chance to change my opinion. Instead of eating in the main dining room (where they still don't seem to have changed the menu), we ate in the relatively new lounge area. They could only offer us a table in the dining room if we promised to be out in less than one and a half hours, and we were unwilling to rush our meal, so we elected to eat in the lounge instead. The lounge had different food - they served a number of small plates (like a Chinese version of tapas) as well as several entree options.

However, instead of the stereotypical "bar food" found in similar situations, this food was out-of-this world amazing. I'd even go so far as to say that the lounge food was better than the full Blue Ginger menu.

We started out with a selection of the small plates. The shiitake-leek springrolls with three chile dipping sauce was a step up from the typical springrolls found in many Chinese restaurants, although I found them to be a little too sweet. The shiitake mushrooms were served whole within the roll, and seemed oddly chewy, an unpleasant element in an otherwise acceptable appetizer. The saving grace of this dish was the Chinese "coleslaw" served with the springrolls - delightfully crisp cabbage marinated in a tangy sauce that added a nice contrast to the sweetness of the springrolls themselves.

The fresh crab rangoons with cranberry chutney were nicer. Having actually attended a cooking demo by Ming Tsai where he made this dish, I was able to explain to the table exactly how he made them. The natural sweetness of the hand-picked fresh crab was allowed to shine through, complemented by the merest hint of cream cheese. Far from the typical, overbearingly cheesy rangoons found in many restaurants, the cheese served as an accent, not a main ingredient. Also delightful were the shrimp shumai with citrus truffle vinaigrette. The shrimp was tender and accented nicely by the sauce, although in this case I thought the citrus truffle vinaigrette was so subtle that it was almost bland.

By far, the most outstanding item on the "small plates" menu was the Bigeye tuna poke with crispy sushi rice cake and peppercress-tosaka salad. (For all you Haoles out there, Poke is a Hawaiian dish consisting of cubes of raw fish, usually tuna, marinated and served with garnishes such as seaweed, tomato, onions, etc). The rice cake, fried to crispy perfection, perfectly complemented the butter-soft chunks of tuna. The tuna itself was like biting into clouds - as soon as it hit your tongue, it melted dreamily away. Freshly grated wasabi sauce added a spicy kick to the dish, flavorful yet not overbearing. The dish had only three ingredients and shone in its simplicity, highlighting the natural flavor of the tuna in its purest form.

The "large plate" menu featured several noteworthy items. A confit of duck, served with toast, salad, and a poached egg was reminiscent of Eggs Benedict (perhaps a Chinese cousin?) and was quite good by one diner's account (I was less enthused, but then again, I hate brunch, so I wasn't wildly enthusiastic about this dish). The sake-miso marinated Alaskan butterfish with soba noodle salad was stunning. Although other diners enjoyed the noodle salad, I found it to be too sweet. The butterfish, however, made my tastebuds sing. Lightly seasoned, yet wonderfully tasty, the fish really did taste like butter and was cooked so skillfully that it was literally the tenderest fish I had ever eaten.

The garlic black pepper shrimp with edamame sticky rice and pea tendril salad was similarly amazing. The pea tendril salad was an interesting take on the typical shrimp-and-spinach pairing, and was freshly crisp. The shrimp were tender and simply cooked, the sauce peppery and flavorful, with an wonderfully elusive aftertaste that had me spooning it up long after I had finished with the shrimp and rice. The sticky rice was delicious, having been wrapped and steamed in a banana leaf.

After such an amazing meal, it was hard to think of dessert, but when we looked at the menu we knew we had to try some of the amazing options. The palm sugar cranberry tart with brown-butter crunch ice cream and cider caramelized apples was nice, although the cranberries were almost unpleasantly tart. The bittersweet chocolate cake and ganache with cardamom ice cream and a spiced sugar wafer was seductively rich, the cake tasting like a very tender piece of dark chocolate.

The Tahitian Vanilla Crème Brulée with an apple butter snickerdoodle and almond shortbread was similarly smooth and creamy, accented by the typical crispy burnt sugar topping. The Crème Brulée was surprisingly light, resembling creme anglaise rather than custard, an airy alternative that melted in one's mouth.

The most intriguing dessert by far was the "cheese course" offered by Blue Ginger, featuring cheesecake made from creamy brie, accented with sesame fig jam, walnut toast, Riesling sorbet, fresh figs and grapes, and candied walnuts. The sweetness of the cheesecake contrasted delightfully with the salty crust, and the texture was closer to panna cotta than the traditional form of cheese cake. The fig jam featured whole figs, complementing the fresh fruit and the brie within the cheesecake. The Riesling sorbet was tangy, alcoholic, and icy, allowing the diner to clear her palate between bites of the other sweet items on the plate.

Overall, this was a truly stunning meal. From start to finish, the food was amazing, and I will definitely be going there again.

One year blogiversary

2009-10-09T21:41:00.002-04:00

I can't believe it! I've been blogging for exactly one year today. When I started this blog a year ago, I had no idea if I'd keep on blogging for this long, but here I am! In fact, I am thinking about launching a website solely for cooking, so stay tuned :-)

Woman with Down Syndrome swims Boston Harbor

2009-10-08T23:07:00.002-04:00

Tonight while watching the news, a story came on about an amazing woman with Down Syndrome named Karen Gaffney. Braving icy cold, incredibly stormy and turbulent waters, she swam four miles in order to raise awareness for the Massachusetts Buddy Walk and Down Syndrome Awareness month. After watching her interview, amazed and inspired by her, I googled her, only to find out that she was even more incredible than I had previously thought.

Karen used swimming as a way to strengthen muscle tone as she was growing up, but she didn't stop there. Despite having hip and leg problems, she learned to swim with her upper body and competed on her high school's swim team. She earned a varsity letter during her junior year. She graduated from a selective private high school (funnily enough, one of my friends went there too!) with a 3.0 gpa, having met the state of Oregon's diploma requirements. She participated fully in her mainstream classes and completed all of the work assigned for class, including reading several works of Shakespeare's. Furthermore, she completed an associate's degree at a local community college and gained teaching certification.

None of the requirements for admission or completion of these programs were modified for her because she had Down Syndrome. Karen never said "No!" or "I can't do it," but instead worked hard and succeeded with courage and fortitude. Her message today was that just because she has Down Syndrome, she is not disabled. In her own words, "we are more alike than we are different." She is an inspiration to us all.

Flat Broke, Jobless, and Depressed

2009-10-06T22:50:00.003-04:00

When I checked my bank account today, I realized that I'm down to my last $100...not good. I'm still unemployed and desperately searching for a job, and it's slow going. I know that it's the economy and not me (I've got excellent references and a strong resume), but with so many people also desperate for work, companies can afford to be picky. Why hire a college grad for that entry-level position when you've got 20 individuals with M.B.A.'s applying for it? Even with my almost-Ivy-league education, I can't even get a job working at Trader Joe's.

Every time someone asks me whether I've found a job yet in that pitying tone, I force myself to put on a bright and chipper face and say "No, but I'm sure I'll find the perfect job soon!"

And while that may be true, it doesn't change the fact that I'm broke and depressed about it.

Shopping is actually...fun?

2009-10-05T22:53:00.003-04:00

If you've been following along on my weight loss blog, you'll know that I've recently lost more than 20 pounds. I'm very proud of how far I've come, though I recognize that I still have some more weight to lose before I reach my goal weight.

Today I went clothes shopping for the first time in forever. I've never liked shopping for clothes too much, particularly if my size 2 sister comes along, because I invariably get frustrated by the way clothes look on me - I always felt overweight and frumpy. Imagine my surprise today when I tried on a cute top (I'm now a medium!) and LOVED how it looked on me. I think I'm going to love shopping from now on!

We don't have a full-length mirror in my house and I usually avoid looking in mirrors anyway (I'm still working on my self-esteem), so today was the first day I realized just how different I look. For the first time in years, I felt happy with what I was seeing in the mirror.

And that, my friends, was priceless.

Partying until 3am

2009-09-26T03:15:00.001-04:00

I'm usually never out and about at 3am (though I may often be at home and awake at that time), but I went to a GREAT housewarming party tonight and the fun just never stopped. I saw friends I hadn't seen in a year or two, as well as many that I hadn't seen since graduation. I even made some new friends, as well as became closer to several people with whom I'd merely been acquainted with up until tonight. It was fabulous!

There was so much to do, it's no wonder I was out so late! I took part in a disastrous attempt at an île flottante, sang a number of songs in 4-part harmony, rocked out to Website Story and Summer Heights musical selections, did a Bollywood style dance, talked politics and gender theory, and played trivial pursuit, just to name a few of the many things :-)

And now, off to bed!

Christmas begins....NOW!!!!

2009-09-19T23:19:00.005-04:00

On Monday, I auditioned for a show, something which would be an amazing opportunity but is extremely competitive. I was pretty sure I wouldn't get into the chorus because people from all over Boston (and New England) try out every year, and they can only select a handful of people.

Guess what? A wonderfully "thick" envelope came in the mail today - and I got into the show! I was dancing up and down with excitement :-)

Looks like the entire month of December is now booked solid for me - I'll be busy busy busy doing 18 performances (over the course of three weeks, plus a week for dress rehearsals) in front of an audience of 1200 every night. WOW!

The Christmas Revels are a huge deal where I'm from, and I've been going to their performances since I was a kid. It's a Christmas-themed show that's been running for 38 years (this will be the 39th). Mostly music and songs, but there's a play holding the whole performance together and there's dancing too. Each year, they pick a different geographical location and time period around which they base the play, music, and dances. Back in 2003 (I mentioned it briefly here), I got into the Armenian/Georgian Revels which was awesome-the first act had Armenian music and the second had Georgian music. Better yet, I got to wear a traditional Armenian dress as a costume! This year's theme is Appalachia, so I can only assume that I'll be wearing an old-fashioned prairie dress and bonnet :-D

Anyone who knows me knows just how much I love Christmas and would celebrate it year-round if I could. In fact, I've been listening to Christmas music non-stop since June. Now I've actually got an excuse to celebrate Christmas for the next 4 months!

Grad School References?

2009-09-13T12:14:00.003-04:00

So I'm applying to grad schools right now, and I'm having trouble deciding what references to use. The programs that I'm applying to only want 2....problem is, I've got three people who would give me excellent references and all three volunteered to do so. I don't want to disappoint one of them.

Each reference has distinct strengths which makes it really hard to choose just two. Two of them are work related references - I'm applying for MA programs in book conservation, so work experience is important. One person has employed me as a book conservator (full-time) for the past three summers. She knows my work well and would give me a good recommendation. Another person has employed me as a book artist (bookbinding, papermaking, turkish marbling, etc.) and would give me a GLOWING recommendation. I've also taken two classes with her and she could testify to my academic strengths as well. The third person would also give me a great recommendation, and since she is my major adviser, as well as my independent study adviser, could confirm my academic credentials. She's also a good friend (as are the other two people).

I spoke to my mom (who went to art school and is the director of an art museum) and she thinks it's appropriate to send all three. Her reasoning is that all three would be excellent and help me get in, and since three is only one reference over the limit, they wouldn't get annoyed (whereas they would if I sent in 10). That's probably what I'll do, though I really don't want to annoy the admissions committee. What do you think?

A perfect meal

2009-09-11T21:32:00.003-04:00

Fall is definitely here - it's been a cold, rainy, and dreary sort of day. I wanted to make a meal that was hot and full of comfort foods (and used the oven a lot, so it would heat up the house!). I made sage and honey pork tenderloin, cauliflower with roasted red peppers and arugula, and steamed artichokes (see posts below for recipes). For dessert, we had apples and slices of gruyere. It was so lovely and we took a couple of hours to eat dinner because my family stayed at the table, talking and listening to the rain drops patter against the windows long after to food was done. What a nice way to spend a Friday night!

Sage and Honey Pork Tenderloin

2009-09-11T21:16:00.002-04:00

I came up with this dish tonight because I wanted something suitable for a cold, rainy day like today. It pairs nicely with the Cauliflower with Roasted Red Peppers and Arugula dish that I posted below.

1 pork tenderloin (approximately 1 pound)
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons honey
2 teaspoons port wine
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
6 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine soy sauce, honey, port, mustard, sage, and garlic in a small bowl and stir until all ingredients are well incorporated. Pour mixture over the pork tenderloin and let marinate for at least 6 hours (ok, tonight I cheated and only did it for a few hours, but it's more flavorful if it marinates for longer).

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Place the pork tenderloin in an ovenproof dish and spoon the marinade over the top. Sprinkle sea salt and freshly ground black pepper over the top of the pork, then place in the oven. Roast the pork for approximately 30-40 minutes, or until done. Enjoy!

Cauliflower with Roasted Red Peppers and Arugula

2009-09-11T20:54:00.003-04:00

This is low-fat, low-carb dish that I use in lieu of mashed potatoes. It's delicious, easy to make, and is chock-full of vegetables.

1 head of cauliflower
3 red, orange, or yellow bell peppers
4 cups arugula (if you don't have arugula, you can use spinach)
3-4 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. Slice the peppers in half and remove seeds and white pith. Flatten pepper halves (skin side up) onto a baking sheet that has been greased with olive oil (I use Trader Joe's nonstick olive oil spray), then sprinkle sea salt over the tops of the peppers. Roast in the oven until tender and the skins are blackened and wrinkled (can take anywhere from 20-30 minutes). Stack the peppers on top of each other and let steam for 10 minutes (this loosens the skins). Peel the peppers and slice into thin slices.

Meanwhile, remove stem and leaves from the cauliflower. Wash and chop the florets, then steam until tender.

Peel and finely mince garlic, then saute in a large skillet with olive oil. Add the arugula and cover the skillet until the arugula is wilted and dark green. Add the steamed cauliflower and mash the florets until they are smaller in size (but not totally pureed). Add the strips of roasted peppers and the minced parsley, then stir until all of the ingredients are evenly distributed. Add salt and pepper to taste, then serve immediately. Enjoy!

Strawberry glazed baby back ribs recipe

2009-09-11T14:07:00.003-04:00

Christine, an excellent cook and supermom, posted this recipe on her blog about one and a half years ago, and it looked so good that I cooked it for dinner that very night! This recipe for strawberry glazed baby back ribs with fennel has become one of my favorites and I've made it several times (and blogged about it here). It is really, really tasty and SO simple to make.

The last time I made it, I served it with mashed potatoes and roasted asparagus with Parmesan cheese. I substituted apple cider jelly for the strawberry jam and used rosemary instead of of fennel. Both versions are great - there's something about the sweet-savory mixture of flavors that works really well. Now that fall's approaching, I'll be making it again soon (my parents refuse to let me use the oven during the summer time because it heats up the house). Try it sometime - you won't regret it!

Adoption - it's everywhere!

2009-08-27T22:56:00.003-04:00

Adoption came up twice in conversation tonight.* My friend who was adopted from Korea as an infant invited me to her Korean adoptees meeting and then later on I spoke to a friend who had some exciting adoption news to share. She has 9 sisters adopted from the U.S. foster care system or through domestic private adoptions and her parents have recently decided to adopt another teenage girl. She's super excited about it, and I'm so happy for the whole family!

*To be fair, adoption comes up quite a lot in my conversations - partly because a few of my best friends are adopted and partly because ~~I won't shut up about it~~ I'm interested in adopting sometime in the future.

P.S. How is it that I spent 18 years not knowing ANYONE my age who had more than 1 sibling and now most of my closest friends come from large families? Most of my friends all have at least 3-10 brothers or sisters - two come from families of 8 children and two come from families of 11. The other two come from families with 4 and 5 kids. I have one other close friend who only has one sibling like me :-P I can honestly say that (at least in my experience) my friends who have grown up in large families are some of the most interesting, intelligent, and awesome people I have ever met.

Back in Boston!

2009-08-24T19:18:00.002-04:00

After two delightful weeks in North Carolina, I am back in Boston. I'll try and post about some of my awesome experiences in the next few days - I had an amazing time and I'm looking forward to sharing it with y'all. Right now, I'm unpacking and attempting to run errands/apply for jobs/reconnect with friends.

In the meantime, I wanted to share with you a cool thing that happened today. About 4pm, the sky started to get really dark, the wind picked up briskly, and the air started smelling like rain (btw, am I the only one who can smell approaching rain or do others do it too?). I suddenly heard the sounds of a torrential downpour occurring, but when I looked out the window the pavement was dry and there was no rain. Further up the block, however, the rain was heaving down by the bucketful. As I watched, a solid wall of rain moved up the street - there was a distinct line which divided heavy rain from dry pavement, and the line was pushing ever forward. I laughed out loud with sheer delight at the miraculous nature of the storm because it was a truly wondrous thing to see. Cool, huh?

Guess What?

2009-08-23T17:53:00.002-04:00

I'm posting this blog post from the airplane! They're running a WiFi trial, so there is free internet for the duration of the flight. Cool, huh?

A deep fried pickle

2009-08-08T20:15:00.002-04:00

Today, while I was at the airport in Charlottesville eating lunch, I bit into a random fried object on my plate and discovered that it was a deep fried pickle! I'd never even heard of such a thing. It wasn't my favorite thing in the world, but it wasn't bad either! The tartness of the pickle cut through the grease. The meal in general wasn't bad - quite delicious, in fact, despite the fact that it was airport food. The mashed potatoes were fresh and buttery, and the baby back ribs were mighty tasty. It was also a lot cheaper than most airport food - my plate which included a half rack of baby back ribs, mashed potatoes, collard greens, and corn bread only came to $11. Wow! I know that at Logan airport in Boston the food is much more expensive and less tasty. Maybe things are cheaper in the South?

Here I am!

2009-08-08T20:09:00.002-04:00

I arrived safely in North Carolina and let me say, it is beautiful here! I'm in the Blue Ridge Mountains, about an hour and a half away from Asheville. Everything is so green and lush and refreshing. The food is great too!

One really interesting thing that happened in the airport is that someone came on over the intercom and announced that they were leading a call to worship in the airport chapel! I've never heard of an airport having a chapel with it's own chaplain in it, but Charlottesville airport does. Too bad we had a plane to catch, or I totally would have gone :-)

Also, the plane we flew on from Charlottesville to Asheville was tiny and was so small that it had actual propellers. I'll post the pictures when I can. My window was right next to one of the propellers, so I got to see them in action (and boy are they loud).

Flying tomorrow!

2009-08-07T23:12:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow I'll be heading down to North Carolina for 2 weeks to work in a letterpress studio for a summer course. I'm super excited about it because I'm going to be staying in the mountains and it's supposed to be beautiful there. I've also never been to the South, barring Florida (which somehow doesn't seem southern to me in a way that North Carolina or Louisiana or Virginia do), so I'm excited to see what it's like there.

I'll try and take lots of pictures as well as blog about it, but there is limited internet and patchy cell phone service, so I may not get the chance. Could be a good thing, actually - maybe I'll break my email/internet addiction :-P

Hilarious!

2009-08-06T20:04:00.002-04:00

I just found out about this video tonight, and I've watched it a bunch of times already - it's hilarious! (That, and the singer is really, really good looking :-P ). It's worth a watch!

I Themba Lami

2009-07-26T21:53:00.000-04:00

By far, my favorite song that I learned this weekend was "I Themba Lami," very simple but beautiful nonetheless. Here's a recording of it (another group is singing it - we didn't have time to record anything yesterday). The lyrics are:
I themba lami ndonyuka nalo
Ma ndi ngene endumisweni
or, in English I will go with my faith when I go unto Heaven

South African Singing and Dancing

2009-07-26T21:33:00.002-04:00

This weekend, I did a South African song and dance workshop with my favorite choir, Village Harmony (I sang with them for 6 years). It was so wonderful to see old friends from my VH days. I learned some awesome songs and sure got a workout by dancing during the 8-hour workshop plus performing a couple of the songs in concert that night! I even learned a song in Xhosa (the language with clicking sounds in it).

I also went to an amazing place for lunch - a Persian restaurant called, of all things, Moby Dick. I had fezanjan (a stew made from pomegranate, walnuts, and chicken) and homemade lemonade with rosewater. It was out-of-this-world good and cheap to boot.

The concert went really well - the workshop people performed a couple songs and VH did the rest. They did a great job and I was reminded of how much I miss VH and I remembered how much I love shape-note music, bulgarian folk music, and south african music.

Breaking News (and a prayer request)

2009-07-23T16:29:00.003-04:00

Just a few minutes ago, I heard a HUGE crash, the kind of crash where you know instantly that it's an automobile accident. I ducked my head out the window and saw a car stopped in the intersection with its rear bumper hanging off....but no other car near it. That's when I noticed what looked like a pair of legs sticking out from behind the car.

I grabbed the portable phone and dialed 911 as fast as I could, then ran out the door and downstairs to see if I could help. I was shaking and sobbing as I talked to the 911 operator and when I got outside I feared the worst....all I could see was his body and what looked like a pool of blood draining into the manhole cover (fortunately, it was not blood but the red light from the car that had broken off and was lying near him). I felt like I was going to throw up and I was crying and shaking like crazy.

Fortunately, there was an EMT who happened to be nearby and got there within seconds. The police arrived in only a few minutes (the benefit of living in a big city and having the main police station AND fire station less than a mile away) and as the EMT's started taking care of the man it was clear that he was still conscious and very aware of his surroundings and he could also move his hands and feet.

I think (I hope!) that he'll be ok, but he was so incredibly lucky that it wasn't worse. His helmet landed a good 25 feet away and I think he may have been thrown a few feet. He was traveling in a motorcycle and had very little protection against a large moving vehicle.

So please, join me today in prayer for this man who is only 23 and who is pretty banged up. I'd also like to ask you to pray (as I will) for the woman who was driving the car. Physically, she is ok, but she must be incredibly traumatized by this event.

If any good can come from this event, please let it be that the city officials make that intersection safer. It's in a quiet residential area (speed limit 30 mph) and has one of those blinking yellow and red lights, but despite this it has a really bad track record. Before they put that light in, my neighbor says there were accidents there at least once a month. After they put that light in, there are still accidents (though there are less). It's near a school and I have seen a child get hit by a car there a few years back. My mother was in a car accident in that intersection during one very icy winter. The city needs to do something to make it safer before anyone else gets hurt. Be it video cameras, sleeping policemen, or a red-yellow-green stoplight, something must be done!

Hi again!

2009-07-23T15:20:00.000-04:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while - I've been so busy these past few weeks applying for jobs. It's so hard to find jobs that I'm qualified for and would earn enough money to pay off my loans/save up for grad school. It's rather depressing - right now, there are so few jobs out there that I'm having to compete with people who have MBA's for even the most basic of office/secretarial jobs. I've applied for 10 or so jobs and not a single person has called me for an interview. Sigh.

Weight Loss Blog

2009-07-05T00:42:00.000-04:00

I've embarked on a healthy eating/diet program and I am going to be chronicling my weight loss journey on this blog. Check it out!

http://eatyourpeasdear.blogspot.com/

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-04T23:05:00.000-04:00

Happy 4th of July everyone! I just got back from watching the fireworks over the Charles River in Boston. They were pretty spectacular, though not quite as crazy as the ones a few years back...the fireworks back then were in the shapes of smiley faces, peace signs, flowers, and even a couple of E = MC^2 equations! Hey, we're right next to MIT, so it made sense. This year, the fireworks were huge, but kept to the more traditional shapes. They had some pretty cool white, comet-shaped fireworks that stayed in the air, just hovering for a minute or so, and a huge golden one that looked like a weeping willow.

I also got a lot done today cooking-wise...I went down to the local farmer's market in the morning, then spent the afternoon cooking. I made pickles for the first time as well as garlic scape pesto.

Surprise!

2009-06-21T17:48:00.002-04:00

I think the word that best describes this Father's Day is "surprise!" At breakfast, I gave my father a present, a CD of songs by a British comedian he'd listened to in his youth. The surprise was that he didn't know such a CD existed and he was also surprised I'd known about this comedian in the first place.

Next, we had my father get into the car and drive to a mystery location. Surprise! A letterpress/printing fair with fully functioning monotype and linotype machines casting slugs while we were there. More surprising still, while I was upstairs rooting through the galleys full of type for sale, my mom found a bunch of metal type case drawer handles that had my dad's surname on them. Surprise! We bought them, and now he can install them in his workshop.

After we got home, I decided to make a surprise dessert. My father loves souffle a lot but never gets to eat it because it can be tricky to make. While he was reading the Sunday papers, I made up a recipe for mango souffle and cooked it. Surprise! (It was also surprising that the recipe worked!)

These were the only surprises that I'd planned, and I certainly wasn't expecting a surprise for myself. Minutes ago, my phone rang and the caller ID showed an unfamiliar number. It was my parents' friend, which was surprising in and of itself. I had NO idea why she was calling me. Earlier in the day, we'd seen her at the printing fair selling raffle tickets and I'd bought some. Turns out, I'd won TWO prizes! Surprise!!!!!

Baccalaureate

2009-06-20T16:29:00.006-04:00

The day before graduation, I sang in the Baccalaureate service. I am in choir, so I have sung in the service for the past 4 years, but this year it was especially meaningful because I was a senior. The baccalaureate service is an interfaith service that incorporates drumming, dance and music into the program. Seniors traditionally dress up in their graduation robes and process into the chapel, where the service is held. The seniors are then presented with a gift and process out. The procession is led by Flick (a professor) who is playing jazz music on his saxophone.

They had us write our names on little green circles, which were then pasted onto this quilt. For our gift, they planted a tree in a third world country in our name - one for every member of the class. That's a whole forest of trees! Well, a small forest, at any rate.

The theme of the ceremony was trees and there were tree-people made out of chicken wire and leaves everywhere in the chapel. There were also some pretty awful puns made by the dean of religious life relating to trees and nature.

Me with my friends before we processed into the chapel

Waiting for the processional to start. There were people cheering us on from the sidelines!

Flick with his saxophone

My dad, my sister, my mom, me, and my grandma

There was also a Baccalaureate concert that night - seniors who were music majors or part of the choir performed. Here is the choir singing Sweet Prospect by William Walker (I just love this song):

and here is the choir singing Lift Thine Eyes by Felix Mendelssohn:

Senior Gala

2009-06-20T16:12:00.006-04:00

Here are some pictures of Senior Gala. I got ready for it in about 15 minutes, since I was so busy packing up and moving out of the dorms. We rode Peter Pan buses to the hotel and on the way there, the bus driver hit the curb, scraping the underside of the bus. He paused for a minute, then kept on going!

Before getting on the bus and heading into Boston

My friend and me. I swear my dress wasn't really that shiny

My friends and I again

Another picture of my friends and me

A couple of my friends and I ditched Senior Gala early - the music was unpleasantly loud and none of us are hugely into dancing. Plus, the earliest bus left at 1am, and none of us wanted to wait around that long. Instead, we walked 1/2 a mile or so to Comm. Ave. and got sweet potato fries at an independent bookstore/cafe.

Me being silly with a sweet potato fry.

Tea and the Swan Boats

2009-06-20T15:47:00.004-04:00

My friends and I decided that for Senior Week, instead of wasting money on a pub crawl or six flags, we'd go out to afternoon tea in a Boston hotel. We chose the Taj Hotel, formerly the Ritz-Carlton, which is probably the most insanely decadent hotel in the area. It was MARVELOUS! I didn't get any pictures since the place seemed too fancy for that, though.

I must say, if you are looking for an unforgettable experience in Boston, Tea at the Taj is the way to go. Upon stepping into the tea room, we were whisked away to a table overlooking Newbury street. The table was set with fine china and silver utensils, and the armchairs were decorated in lovely brocade.

There were butlers for EVERYTHING! I'm not kidding about this. There was a butler to escort us to the table and pull out our chairs, another butler whose sole job it was to unfold our napkins and place them upon our lap, yet another to pour the tea, and one to serve. In the winter, they even have a fireplace butler.

The tea was impeccable - perfectly brewed, and the pots were placed upon paraffin warmers to keep the tea hot. The food was even better. They served dainty little sandwiches - one with smoked salmon and caviar, one with cucumber and cream cheese, one with prosciutto and melon, and one with egg salad. They also served a lobster profiterole which was delicious.

For desserts, they served us scones with cream and lemon curd, an Opera Torte, a lemon tartlette with tiny meringues and blueberries, a profiterole, a chocolate dipped strawberry (which had the name of the hotel spelled out in gold leaf on it), an almond and raspberry financier (which also had gold leaf on it), a citrus madeleine, and a pistachio french macaroon. Both the dessert course and the savory course came on silver platters.

After tea, we decided to stroll around Boston common and take a ride on the swan boats. Touristy, I know, but it was both cheap and fun. Here are some of the pictures I took:

Me with my friend. I bought that green dress earlier that morning and I wore it during graduation.

100th Post!

2009-06-20T15:39:00.002-04:00

This is the 100th post I have made on my blog, which is cool. I've had a great weekend so far - a slumber party with my friends and lunch today with a friend I haven't seen since high school. It was great to see her again, and I hope we'll rekindle our friendship this summer. Tonight, I've got another social event planned - dinner out with different friends at an amazing (and cheap!) Italian restaurant, possibly crashing at their house for the night, possibly not, and then tomorrow I'm taking my dad to a printing (as in letterpress) fair and then we're going to an early music concert (as in baroque, renaissance, or medieval music). Should be fun!

Last Day of Classes and Stepsinging

2009-06-20T15:02:00.006-04:00

It's a tradition at my school to do 2 things on the last day of classes of the academic year - seniors graduation robes to their classes and everyone participates in stepsinging. Stepsinging also happens right after convocation (the first day of classes). Students dress up in their class colors and gather upon the chapel steps. The seniors stand on the steps with their class banner, and the other classes stand on either side of the steps, each grouped by class and with their own banner. We sing a number of traditional songs from the Wellesley College Songbook, including:

America the Beautiful (written by a Wellesley alum, Katherine Lee Bates, Class of 1880). Naturally, we change the wording of the first and last verses: "And crown thy good with SISTERhood." The word Sisterhood is always screamed rather than sung
The Alma Mater
Oh Thou Tupelo (with dance moves)
Ballad of a Bold, Bad Man
The Wellesley Composite
The Wellesley Girl Should

Stepsinging finally ends with the song "Oh, Evolu!" In which the singers sing about the miracle of the Senior Class becoming alums, the Junior Class becoming seniors, and so on and so forth. On each verse, the class being sung about moves positions. The seniors move off the chapel steps and onto the road, symbolizing the journey ahead, the juniors fill the seniors' empty places on the steps, the sophomores move into the junior's vacant position, and the first years take the sophomores' places. It's a lot of fun.

During the course of stepsinging, the songs are interspersed with class chants, and each individual class competes with the other classes to see who can be loudest. Each class can also call people over to their group after a chant like:
"Oh-nine Oh-nine Wellesley rah! Oh-nine oh-nine WELLESLEY! We want President _______/Dean ______/the alums, etc. This year, my class snagged the college president, our Class Dean, the Dean of Academics, and a few other administrative figures.

Me in my graduation robe and Wellesley beanie (also a tradition), wearing green, my class color

The Class of 2009 Songmistresses who lead Stepsinging

The Class of 2010 and 2011

The Class of 2012

Me, taking a picture with the college president. She was standing next to me the whole time! My friend Katie decided to get in on the picture too :-)

Me and my sister right after stepsinging - she's wearing yellow, her class color, and pearls (yet another Wellesley tradition).

Senior Prank

2009-06-12T21:34:00.010-04:00

Another fun, end-of-year tradition at my college is the Senior Prank. Late at night (or early in the morning) before the last day of classes, seniors descend upon the academic buildings and decorate them according to certain themes, generally related to the class color. My class color is green (it rotates on a four year cycle: green, purple, yellow, red), so our decorations were mostly green or related to the concept of green (like trees, dragons, aliens, the wizard of oz/emerald city etc.). The end results were pretty cool!

Our class tree, the Yoshino Cherry. Each class plants a tree their sophomore year and then people dance around it and sing. The stone at the bottom says the class year, and it's fun to walk around campus and spot the class trees that are from the early 1900's. Shortly after this picture was taken, the purple class (juniors) pranked our tree and wrapped it in purple, those scoundrels!

Some departments were a little lazy...

And some went all-out!

Pendleton was decorated with themes from the Wizard of Oz (Emerald City being green and all). Here is the main entrance, complete with Dorothy, the Yellow Brick Road and....

A rainbow! If you follow the yellow brick road, you'll soon reach....

Emerald City! These bottles were made from the bottles recycled on the academic quad during one week. The message? GO GREEN! (both in the environmental and class color senses).

Of course, no self-respecting Land of Oz would be complete without the Wicked Witch of the East's feet.

The twister that carried Dorothy and Toto away to Oz appears to have struck the fourth floor. The walls are covered in paper....

The furniture is in disarray....

and nothing is as it should be. That can only mean one thing:
The Yellow Brick Road says it all.

Hopping over to the library, one is instantly transported to Middle Earth:

Which apparently houses the Forbidden Forest as well:
The Science Center was an explosion of green!

Little Green Men were everywhere....
even in the elevators!
Hillary Clinton in the GREEN elevator with an alien baby and a nifty space hat

The (party) animals all got in on the action too:

There was an amazing green dragon too, that literally breathed fire:

It was probably guarding its eggs:

Pretty amazing, huh? This was all done in the space of about 2 hours and was executed on a shoestring budget. Some of the decorations will even remain up until the incoming First Year class arrives in order to welcome them onto campus (their color will be green too).

Hooprolling

2009-06-08T12:51:00.004-04:00

I'm going to be playing catch-up in the next few weeks, trying to blog about all the cool senior-type events that happened over the past month. I'll start with the Hooprolling:

Hooprolling 2009 (Photo Credit: Matthew Healey)

Hooprolling is a tradition at my college and has been going on for over 100 years. See?

Hooprolling, circa 1913

It was originally started as part of the May Day festivities, but was later moved when my college stopped having May Day. Seniors get dressed up in their commencement robes and gather at Tupelo Lane (the starting point) with their hoops. Because the starting point is so crowded, it is traditional for a Senior's Little Sister (at my school they assign each incoming first year to a Big Sister who mentors them and presents them with flowers on Flower Sunday) to camp out overnight at the starting point to reserve a spot. The students must roll their hoops throughout the race or they will be disqualified.

The winner of hooprolling is presented with a bouquet of flowers, then is tossed into the lake. Tradition held that the winner would be the first girl in her class to get married (the students who were already married raced baby carriages and the first of them to cross the finish line would be the first to have a baby). In the 1970's, this was changed to reflect the changing nature of women in the workplace - it was then said that the winner of hooprolling would be the first of her class to become CEO of her own company. Most recently, winning hooprolling means that that woman will be the first to achieve success, however she defines it.

On one memorable occasion, a man participated in and won hooprolling. In 1939, the president of the Harvard Lampoon, Ned Read, dressed in women's clothing and joined the front of the race, claiming his little sister had been saving him a spot. Minutes later, he won the race and when the class president eyed "Peggy" Read doubtfully, he pointed to a young man standing nearby and claimed it was his fiance. However, his wig fell off and the Wellesley women banded together and tossed him into the lake. From then on, it became common practice to toss the winner into the lake. This tale is also chronicled in the Wellesley College Songbook as "Ballad of a Bold, Bad Man."

"Peggy" Read

As for me? My little sister (real, rather than assigned) camped out at the starting point at 4am and I was in the front of the pack. A split second after the race started, a girl pushed me over, RAN on top of me, and didn't even stop to apologize. I have a big ole scar on my kneecap now as a result. As I quickly found out, hooprolling is an extremely competitive contact sport. Still, it was quite the experience!
Me with my hoop (painted green for my class color, of course).

Believe it or not...

2009-06-02T14:44:00.002-04:00

I just ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for the first time EVER today!*

*I also hate hamburgers, hot dogs, cole slaw and pizza. I know, I know, I am the worst American ever. Needless to say, 4th of July cookouts are very...interesting for me.

The Little Green Dress

2009-06-01T13:32:00.003-04:00

...like a LBD (Little Black Dress) only green, and a must-have. That is to say, my class color is green, and while it wasn't a requirement to wear a green dress, most other people in my class will be doing so at commencement.

"Ok" I thought, "how hard can it possibly be to find a green dress?"

The answer, based on a sample of 4 malls, 2 Macy's, 2 Sears, 2 Filene's Basement's and 3 Marshall's is "very, very hard." I am secretly convinced that dress designers got together this year and decided that green was just not "in" and designed no dresses in that color. Actually, based on the hundreds of dresses I looked through, they decided that pretty and tasteful were also not "in" either.

Not only could I not find anything in the right shade of green, all the dresses (green or not) were pretty awful - they either had loud, riotous, clashing patterns, revealed too much, or didn't look right on me. What I had in mind was a light-to-medium green dress which had to have a flared out skirt (form-fitting dresses just don't look right on me), a hem that fell about 2-5 inches below my knee (I'm 5 foot 2 and anything designed/marked as floor length extends about 11 inches past my feet), and had to be modest. Basically, something that you'd wear to church or maybe slightly fancier, like dinner in a nice restaurant. No rhinestones or plunging necklines for me, thanks!

After days of searching (getting all the more stressed - graduation is this Friday) I finally found the perfect dress yesterday. (As a side note, when my friends heard I'd been searching for only a week, they laughed long and hard at me because they started in February/March and found green dresses only in the last month or so). It's beautiful, green, looks great on me, and it's modest/tasteful and can be worn for events other than graduation. Sweet!

Whew!

2009-05-28T20:41:00.003-04:00

Today my gala dress arrived and I excitedly ripped open the package only to find that my dream dress had a noticeable stain on the front. I instantly started freaking out because Gala is on Tuesday and how on earth could I order a replacement before then? Worse still, it was after store closing hours and so there was nothing I could do at the moment. I headed to the Nordstrom's website in tears, hoping their return policy would miraculously save the situation.

A miracle was exactly what I got.

Remember how I talked about my happiness with Nordstrom in this post? My love for that store is even stronger now. Good things started happening the moment I looked at the "contact us" section of the website and realized that their customer service hours are 7am-1am 7 days a week - practically full time, and I would be able to talk to someone at the store TONIGHT! I called them up in tears and a very nice woman (who, coincidentally, knew several people who attended my college) helped me out. She listened to me ramble, then said that it would be no problem to fix. Nordstrom would ship a replacement dress, the dress would be hand-checked for stains before it left the store, they'd give me the same price I received in-store (which was far cheaper than the Nordstrom's website) and, best of all, they'd give me FREE OVERNIGHT SHIPPING. Which means that it'll be here by Monday, a whole day before I need it.

This was amazing - the lady was so nice, she didn't query my story, and she waived the (very expensive) shipping fees no problem. Customer service is definitely a strong point at this store. They totally saved the day, and what could have been a very stressful situation turned out well.

Senior Gala dress shopping

2009-05-25T13:12:00.004-04:00

I've been spending the past few days shopping for a dress to wear to Senior Gala. Today, my outfit finally came together (about time too! Gala's in a week). I went to Nordstrom, and let me tell you, I was pleasantly surprised. I'd always pictured Nordstrom as one of those places that only rich people shop out, and I'd never be able to afford anything in there. Today when I went in, I found some amazing bargains - the dress I found is silk, hand beaded, and was on sale for $100 (marked down from 200!). I also found the perfect shoes and earrings, both of which were also on sale.

It was a great shopping experience, and can I just say that the people at Nordstrom are amazing? I have never felt so pampered while shopping. While I was browsing the dress section, a saleswoman came up to me and not only set up a dressing room for me (the dressing rooms are very swanky and posh), but also gave me a free fashion consultation and showed me a few dresses that she thought might work well. When I found the perfect dress, it wasn't in my size, so she offered to ship it (FREE!) from another one of their stores.

I then headed downstairs, sample dress in hand to the shoe department. I have very little fashion sense, so I probably would have picked out black shoes for my dress. Fortunately, a salesman spotted me looking totally lost and so I showed him my dress. He instantly came up with a number of different choices (in silver, no less) that he thought would go well with the dress. I was wowed, because he actually looked at the shape of my feet and took that into consideration. I have itty-bitty feet, and it's really painful to wear heels because of that. He's the first shoe salesman who ever recognized that fact and came up with low-heeled sandals as a solution. He set up a whole little shoe fitting area (I was literally surrounded by shoes), and he checked in every few minutes. And, when they again didn't have the right size shoe, they offered to ship me a pair for free.

I finally went and got earrings, chandelier style to match the hem of my dress with Swarovski crystals to match the shoes, and I again had a sales rep helping me out. Everyone was so helpful and so nice - I usually shop for clothes at rummage sales, so having sound fashion advice and a personal shopping assistant (for free!) was so amazing. I'd definitely go there again, but maybe not for a little while because my credit card is worn out. (No, really, the plastic's now peeling. I really did wear my credit card out).

Here are the things that I bought:
The dress, an Adrianna Papell Evening Beaded Chiffon Halter Dress:

The shoes, BP Platinum Larissa Sandals (shown here in gold, I bought the ones that were silver:

The earrings, Nadri Chandelier Earrings (marked down from $60 to $30):

Taking Finals Used to be Easier

2009-05-17T01:36:00.002-04:00

Instead of writing 50 pages in 5 days, it would be so much nicer to take final exams like the ones I took back in high school. I mean, if all my finals were like my Ceramics final back in high school, I'd be all set. In order to pass the course, each one of us had to sing a karaoke solo. See, much more fun than writing a book's worth of material!

Excessive Library Usage

2009-05-15T15:40:00.002-04:00

The problem with checking 47 books out of the library is that I can never find the one I want when I need it. I'm writing a 25-page paper and most of the books are ones I needed for that paper. Now that I'm writing, it's hard to not only locate the book I need, but also to remember where I read the specific example that I'm writing about.

I need to write another 25-page paper for a different class, one that I've done little research for. I shudder to think how many books I'll need to check out for that one.

On the bright side, I've managed to finagle special borrowing privileges from my library. Scholar's perk, I suppose. I'm doing an independent study, so I was able to get a thesis carrel (a desk in the library that is mine and mine alone). Along with that carrel came the ability to check out up to 100 books at a time as well as the ability to keep the books for at least 5 months! Needless to say, for a book-loving nerd like me, this is a truly excellent thing.

Pavlova

2009-05-14T22:37:00.004-04:00

I'm in the middle of writing final papers for my classes, but here's a quick post to show you what I cooked today. I made pavlova (meringue, whipped cream, and strawberries - I decided to add blackberries to it too). The amazing thing about this pavlova is that I couldn't find an electric mixer so I beat the egg whites for the meringue by hand. WOW that took a long time (like half an hour). It turned out pretty well, even though I didn't have the electric mixer. I was bringing it to a faculty end-of-year party. The students that were invited didn't have to bring things, but I was always told never to show up to a party, particularly a house party, empty-handed. The professors whose house it was had a beautiful Italian stone garden and were an absolutely delightful couple. Which reminds me, I need to go write a thank you note to the hosts!