recap

So this Thanksgiving was, by far, much better than last year's. In fact, my whole Thanksgiving vacation was better, even though it wasn't much of a vacation in the work sense.

My dearest, most wonderful long-time friend CJ came up from North Carolina for the holiday. On Tuesday night she was most gracious in making an appearence at my apartment with our friend Nikki. Cody had some friends from out of town meet us at a local bar for some wings and beers. It was pretty fabulous - lots of catching up and having a good time. We went back to my place to play some Rockband and gossip like high schoolers. I love nights like that.

Thankfully, I had decided to take off work the next day. Not so thankfully, I had planned to do some side work at my old place of employment. I am heading up the insurance company's dreams to go paperless. And get their accounting in order. And make sure taxes are paid. Etc etc etc. What have I gotten myself into? A lot...but the money on the side is pretty sweet.

Thursday was Thanksgiving...and I'm really happy with the decision to go to my aunt and uncle's house. A lot less drama - and I can easily avoid political talk. Many years of practice, you see. I've learned that no matter what my opinion is, whether certain people in my family agree or disagree, all they want to do is argue about it and get crazy. So I just listen. It works nicely. Cody got a chance to meet more family members...and I was super excited to see Heather (Hi Heather!! Thank you for your beautiful gift!!). The food was great, the wine was good, the relaxation and being around family was the best...I didn't even mind the drive home (over mountains, through woods, deep fog, potential deer disaster).

Cody had to work on Friday, so I took advantage of getting up at 6am to get my butt in gear and head back to the insurance company. I think I worked from 8am-6pm...a mad woman I am. All worth it!! Later that night, my good friend Christine came for a visit and we had a GREAT night. More talking and catching up.

Saturday...bridesmaid dress shopping!! I had all my girls come over to David's Bridal with me, with the exception of Ana. In the middle of her master's thesis and is going slightly mad by the minute...so unfortunately she could not join. Everyone was super nice about trying on dresses. We had some hits, some misses - sadly, the ones I saw online that I liked the best weren't available in the store. But I did find something! Strapless, truffle-y (that'd be the color), and short - but not trampy. I hope. I think. Anyway, they're going to look great with some fall flowers. I'm really excited!!

After hanging out with my maids (I'll just refer to them as that for a bit and see how they like it...ha), I headed back to PA for a date night with Cody. We went to Monk's, enjoyed some mussels and frites, and tried Monk's new place - the Benelux Tasting Room. Don't go unless you enjoy the smell of dirty feet (or really strong cheese). It was a nice night and a great way to end a crazy few days.

My goal for the next holiday is to take advantage of my days off a little more - working a few days is good but I cannot work all of my days off. I'm also seriously into watching more Wendy Williams. Does anyone else get into that hot mess of a creature?

How YOU doin?

ps - I'm so getting tickets to her show.

thanksgiving in general

I walked into CVS the other day and it looked like Christmas puked all over the place. Seriously? Is it that time of year already? Every commercial on tv has jingle bells in the background. As someone who has always been a huge fan of the holidays (typically, I go full throttle on November 1st with my Christmas music), I'm just not feeling it this year. I don't know why.

I definitely prefer Thanksgiving over Christmas. Less stress, no presents, and you still have a bit of a holiday season to look forward to.

For awhile, my family went away every year around Thanksgiving, so our dinners were either non-traditional, or we'd do some American style buffet. I'm pretty sure we did the Sizzler or something one year. But I loved it! Those unusual Thanksgivings are the ones I remember the best. I can't remember when we started being home for Thanksgiving. Probably when I was out of high school? My parents are usually away the few weeks before Thanksgiving, so we've gone to other family members' houses for dinner. I don't know, most of my Thanksgiving memories in college are forgettable. Except one!

The year I was in Prague (2006), I was bummed about not being around my family for my favorite holiday. So we decided to get our study abroad group together and have a Thanksgiving extravaganza. We all made dishes that we were going to miss from home, and even went so far as to get a turkey and pumpkin pie. A few of my classmates never had pumpkin pie - the girls from the Netherlands and one girl from the UK. Before we ate, I asked if we could all share what we were thankful for. It was a wonderful experience I'll never forget. They weren't my family, but we had a great holiday.

Two extra points for Thanksgiving '06 since I left on a plane for Spain the following morning. Everyone else went to Auschwitz...I went to glorious Madrid and ate tapas and went dancing and wandered fabulous art museums while listening to my iPod on shuffle. Alone. Best. Thing. EVER.

Anyway... last Thanksgiving was pretty much awful. To make a long story short, politics got involved and it was nasty. I spent the hour ride home bawling about how disrespectful some people are to others views and why does my favorite holiday have to get shit on and my God I'm just going to eat Thanksgiving dinner by myself next year.

Here's to a better one this year. I have a lot to be thankful for (which I shall cover in a later post) and I expect this years spread will be nothing short of delightful.

And if people are going to fight, I am having a back up plan for the closest place that is serving a Thanksgiving feast with all the fixins. AKA I will have a Boston Market platter waiting for me at home just in case.

terminal meltdown

Note to self: don't go to the Reading Terminal on days where they have events and/or on Saturdays in general. What a zoo. No one has any respect for others, everyone over the age of 50 walks the slowest they possibly can, and the people running the stalls are so busy that they hardly take a second to be polite.

NEVER AGAIN.

It was the Forgotten Foods Festival, and it was so darn crowded, I didn't even get to try my teaberry ice cream I looked forward to for about a week. Which may be a good thing because my internal organs prefer when I keep ice cream out of my diet.

goings-on

After almost a week on strike, Septa is back to work. It was a nice surprise to wake up to. I didn't want to risk taking the bus to work (you know, if my driver decided he wanted an extra day off), so I took the train for the last time. As much as I complained so hard about the strike, I won't lie - I'll miss the comfort of the train, the silence, the rather smooth ride. I also really was starting to like the walk. I took the bus on the way home - traffic wasn't bad but I was stuck at the transit stop for about a half hour. That is definitely something I didn't miss.

Regardless...I'm glad to see that the thousands of people who depend on public transportation now can get back to normal.

We finally got our wireless router this weekend - and THANK GOD is all I can say. No more switching wires around and having to wait my turn if I needed to check something on the internet that the iPhone doesn't allow. We got the router from Microcenter. If you ever need any techy type things, definitely check them out. You can find them online and they have a store in Radnor (and stores elsewhere I believe). They have great deals. We got our router for $35 and it was so worth it.

This weekend was very, very busy, but it was a good one! Friday night we had some Mexican food at the Adobe Cafe and came home to watch The Count of Monte Cristo - one of my favorite movies. I'd recommend it to anyone - there is something for everyone in it. I'd also recommend the Adobe. The one in Manayunk is SO MUCH BETTER than the one on Passyunk. I think the atmosphere is nicer and the waitstaff is much more efficient. Cody got a bit of a bonus in his check, thanks to making the switch to his new employer, so it was a nice treat. Thank you Cody :)

On Saturday, I took Cody to B&Bs grocery outlet. If you live in the Philly area and haven't been to B&Bs - MAKE THE TRIP! It is hysterically wonderful. You can find it just off of the Turnpike past the Downingtown exit (Morgantown I believe it is). It's in the furniture outlet mall - if you ask the toll booth person, they can direct you to it. We got $150 of groceries and cleaning supplies for about $50. Just check the labels for dates, but other than that you can find some fantastic deals. Afterwards, we went to the ultimate fast food spot - Sonic. I'm glad there are none that are too close to me, otherwise I'd weigh about 100 pounds more. We then hit up Microcenter for our router and then Bed, Bath & Beyond for my cousin Jaclyn's bridal shower gift. *sigh* We were all over the place. We wanted to go bowling that night, but we were just too beat. We sat in and watched some Office episodes and crashed pretty early.

Sunday was another busy day... Woke up and went to church, sped home to do some chores, and then I had to make the trek to Delaware County for my cousin's shower. It was really nice to see my family - and even better to hear so much good news from so many people! Jaclyn seemed to enjoy her day and she got a lot of great things. After the shower, I came home, made dinner, attempted to watch the Eagles game but passed out by 9:30.

Can I get a weekend from my weekend? I'm pooped.

A lot of busy-ness going on at work and I expect to work some long days ahead. Our yearly retreat is a week from today and there are a ton of things to do to get ready for it.

Is it just me, or is November seriously flying by? So much to do, and so little time! I'd say I better get started on my Christmas shopping, but I prefer to wait until Christmas Eve. And no, I am not kidding. A tradition I tell you...

my wednesday

On Wednesday I had a lunch meeting with two women who work in the International Programs department. A lunch meeting which they paid for...at Pod. If you know Pod, then you know the place is no joke. It's pretty pricey and a bit fancy, even for lunch.

How did I get this meeting, you may ask. Well, back in the summer I emailed an adviser in the study abroad program, basically detailing my love for travel and how I'd love to someday help students plan their study abroad. I think it is an important, invaluable, once in a lifetime opportunity that shouldn't be ignored. I said I'd love to meet with an adviser to see what direction I should take in regards to my future Masters program so I can someday be an adviser myself.

After no response for a few weeks, I decided to email another adviser. She was super enthusiastic and said she'd love to meet with me over coffee. Coffee was eventually replaced by Pod. Like I said, Pod's a big deal. I started to put crazy ideas in my head for the following reason: I had applied for a job a few months ago as an assistant to an executive in the IP department. I was hoping and praying that this meeting had something to do with that job, not just my future education choices, so I got dressed up in my finest business wear, printed out updated (and beautifully formatted, if I may say so myself) resumes, and was SO pumped. I even started thinking "hey, maybe they have an opening and they want a young, dedicated lady to kick ass and take names in the field of study abroad advising." You know, if advising had anything to do with kicking ass and taking names.

Bah. No such luck.

The two women I met with were REALLY nice. Very honest in the fact that it is incredibly difficult to get a job working in the study abroad field. Very honest in the fact that if you are so lucky as to get a job doing this, you will be paid peanuts for several years and not much more after that.

Drats. Not that I want to do this for the money. If you want to work in education, you should put the idea of being wealthy far, far out of your mind. But the thought of making even close to what I'm making now makes me nauseous. The thought of possibly not finding a job in this competitive field makes me even more nauseous. Like I want to vomit on the cat sitting on my lap right now.

Anyway... it wasn't a total loss. I was advised to go into the Higher Education Administration program rather than the International Communication/Education program. Apparently, the first option would probably open more doors for me. Agreed. But the curriculum can be pretty dry. So my next plan of action is to speak with someone who has gone through this program and see if it's something I can tolerate. But the last thing I want is to end up in a business office at a university. I want to work with students and gosh darn it I will. I think. I hope.

So here I am...back in the same spot as before. A bit lost on what I want to do. I still would LOVE LOVE LOVE to do this, and one part of my brain says JUST DO IT LYNDSEY!! But the other part says...look at other options, please, for the sake of someday being able to not worry about my bank account before buying a new pair of shoes because the ones you have are falling apart.

Ahh so quite a predicament. Regardless, I have to get on gear with taking my GREs and making tough choices. I refuse to be a slave to crazy professors for the rest of my life. Or at least I want to be a slave with some say. And have little minions below me so I can delegate work to them.

To dream. It's so fun.

I think I would have taken this disappointing lunch meeting a little better if I didn't have a doctors appointment immediately following it. There's nothing like getting your dreams crushed (well, kind of crushed...more like slowly depleated) and then having a doctor poke and prod your lady parts 45 minutes later.

Life, how I love you sometimes. Grr.

a hex on Septa!

Between a crazy few weeks at work (gotta love grant season!), wedding junk, being anti-computer at home, and various weekends goings-on, I have been terribly lax in updating my blog, which I promised that I would be good with. Thank you, Lora, for bringing this to my attention.

So what's been happening in your life? Mine has been a bit hectic to say the least... on the wedding front, I've made some big strides. We booked the caterer, which I'm way excited about. I wish they had a website so I could promote the crap out of them. They're called Company's Coming and their food rules the world up and down and around the block. Cody, my mom, and I went for a tasting a few weeks ago. This was no tasting, this was a full out gourmet feast. We LOVED the food. Seriously loved it. I hope it's as good on the day of the wedding. If you're ever in Manayunk on a Tuesday in the winter, go to the Terrace Bistro at Shurs Lane and Terrace. It's $35 prix fix and all you can drink homemade beer. This is what they do when it's not wedding season. I seriously recommend it.

We got our photographer - check him out here. He is great, just the kind of person we wanted. We did our engagement shoot on Halloween and it was amazing. He made us feel super comfortable and we're so happy with the photos. He posted them on Flicker the same day! Service doesn't get any better than that. It was rainy and chilly, but we made the best of it. All photos were done on UPenn's campus. The leaves were such a stunning color, and I think the rain actually helped my ridiculous hair.

My mom and I got my dress a few weeks ago (thank you a million times more, Mom!!). We first went to Bridal Town out by Collegeville - sooooo not me. I didn't care for their styles and none of the dresses they had to try on fit me. I am very impatient when it comes to shopping so we left pretty quickly. We ended up at David's Bridal and the 2nd dress I tried on I fell in love with. It's so me. I can't wait to wear it again! Now I'm on a mission to find some bridesmaid dresses that go with it.

So I think I'm on track considering the big day isn't for another 10 months or so. I'm kind of enjoying this whole planning deal, more than I thought I would. I think I'm happy that I decided to have the wedding here instead of away. I can involve more friends and family, which is really important to me.

In other news....... this damn Septa strike!! If you're my friend on Facebook, you know my feelings about it. I'm so annoyed on various levels. But optimistic me is trying to find the bright side.

Pros:
1. The train is way more comfortable than the bus.
2. I'm forced to exercise a lot more than before - I got lazy since the bus picked me up and dropped me off in front of my house. Occassionally it would be at the bottom of the hill near my place, but that's hardly 5 minutes of walking up hill. I, thankfully, live between 2 train stations and both are about 10 minutes of walking away. Plus I have to walk to work once I'm at 30th Street. Yes, pounds will be shed and muscle will be gained...I hope...
3. People are a lot quieter on the train. On the bus, there is always this group of women on after work and they don't SHUT UP. On the train I can zone out to my favorite 80s hits and read my blogs.

Cons:
1. Cody had to buy train tickets since he doesn't have a monthly pass - this is $10 a day. $10 a day that we need for saving. Boo.
2. The mad crowds at 30th Street. People are evil when it comes to getting on the train first.
3. No guarenteed designated drivers on the weekends when I want to go out. Sigh.
4. The INCONVENIENCE it causes people that aren't near Regional Rail. Thank God I live near not one, but two train stations. I can't imagine what I'd do if I was still in South Philly. It would take me at least an hour and a half to walk to work, maybe more since the South Street Bridge is still closed. I feel so badly for those that honestly have no way to get to work or school.

Anyway, I hope the strike ends soon, but it's not really looking like it will.

A change in subject... we got another cat! Yes, if it wasn't obvious before, we are now the crazy cat people. Meet Miss Mitts (I did not pick her name...if I did, it would be Julie Andrews).

She has decided that I'm her "person." She follows me around constantly, cuddles up with me as soon as I'm in bed, and is always trying to sit on my shoulders (???weird). I'm really glad we adopted her. My day is always brightened as soon as I walk in the door and am greeted by her little smushed fuzzy face.

So Mitts makes 4 cats...and Patrick Swayze of course...NO MORE!! Too many animals! Thankfully, Cody is really on top of keeping the litter clean and I am vacuuming all the time so it really doesn't feel like a cat house. But dear God it is. At this point, I don't think I could have it any other way.

I'd love to write more, but it's just about dinner time and I need to figure what's gonna be cooking. Thanks to my Aunt Roseanne, I now have my very own Better Homes and Gardens cookbook so I'll be making tastier food soon enough.

Good evening all and in final thoughts: Phillies, I still love you. Next year boys, we'll do it again next year...(hopefully after Ryan Howard spends some considerable time in the batting cages to bring his game back up).

happenings

Since I no longer use my computer at home (darn you wireless router!) and work has been busy, I have good excuses for not updating. Always a good excuse.

We booked our ceremony and reception site at the Morris Arboretum. I'm getting more and more excited by the day! It would have been nice to have the big day a bit later in the fall, but our family has a full schedule of weddings coming up. Anyway, that's about the only thing set in stone so far. I'm waiting to hear back from the caterer, I'm setting up a meeting with a potential photographer, and then we have to schedule the officiant. Other than flowers, that's probably all the big stuff. I think. I have no idea what I'm doing, to be honest.

The weeks have been flying by! We've had some full weekends lately. This coming weekend we're babysitting my nieces and nephew up in Yardley. I think we're going to take them apple picking on Saturday and then make an apple cake when we get home. Other than that, I have no master plan. I hope we're able to keep them sufficiently entertained (i.e. keep from beating eachother to death) for 24 hours. Should be interesting.

exciting times

Well, so much for the "new business venture." I haven't had much luck lately. Maybe with the holiday weekend and kids going back to school it's just a little too hectic right now. I did get an email from a guy who wanted me to organize his office, but I had a bit of a weird feeling about it, so I didn't follow up. Oh well. I'll keep plugging away since God knows I need that moolah for an upcoming event.

I got engaged!



I've been wanting to take a picture of me with my bling, but I've had some pesky pimple problems lately. Not to mention some eye baggage due to as-of-late sleeping problems. But here we go - isn't it lovely? It's a family heirloom that I absolutely love. Cody also got me the beautiful necklace. I feel as if I've been spoiled rotten over the past week.

I feel so funny about telling people about this big life change. I mean, it's DEFINITELY NOT because I'm trying to hide it. I think it's more that I've never been a girl that gets excited about wedding planning. Don't get me wrong - I love a good wedding, especially when it's for someone I love. It's just I've never been the type that has dresses picked out, knows the flowers she wants, blah blah blah blah blahhhhh. Et cetera. And so on. I have one friend (bless her little heart) who has an entire book of ideas, a book she's apparently had for about 10 years. She has accounts for all the wedding sites and has EVERYTHING picked out already. Did I mention she's not even engaged?

I, on the other hand, kinda want to barf at the thought of planning this entire thing. Flying to an island with my one and only is looking awfully nice right now.

I have a few ideas that I've come up with in the past week, but I still feel a bit lost and overwhelmed. Apparently you need to seriously get your rear in gear and book a place ASAP or you'll be out of luck. Cody and I went to check out one place this weekend - we have our hearts set on it and it's probably one of the few places we'd be willing to consider if we had it in the Philadelphia area. Unfortunately, the cost (to me) seems high. It might be completely reasonable, but being the thrifty woman I am, I get heart palpitations just thinking about it.

Like I said, a beach wedding a few thousand miles south is looking swell.

new business venture

Last night was my first night working for my first "client."

"Client" makes it sound a lot dirtier than it really is. It's dirt dirty, not sexy dirty. Covered in dirt and sweat and mosquito bites and whatnot.

So I spent two hours after work destroying weeds in someone's very overgrown, mosquito-infested garden. Tonight, provided it doesn't storm, I will return for two more. $60 - BAM! Not bad for a few hours worth of work. Not to mention I like being outside in the evening, listening to my iPod, daydreaming about hitting the Mega Millions or Power Ball or whatever you call it. Which I did not win. Boo.

A few neighbors saw me toiling away like the good gardner I am and asked my client if I do other work, like babysitting or pet sitting. Heck yeah I do. I am not picky. Therefore, today I will be working on a flyer to distribute around the neighborhood. If I can do odd jobs for people 4 hours a week, that's more than $200 a month. Bonus for big weekend jobs. These fancy people on the Main Line love hiring poor souls such as myself to distribute cocktails and tapas at their gatherings.

I think that if I show I work hard and I'm willing to be adaptable, something good could come of this. Networking with wealthy folk in a fancy neighborhood?? Probably a good idea on my part.

I have to say, the last thing I want to do at 6pm when I'm finally home from work is to go and watch someone's kid or play gardener, but I'm out of ideas. If I could work from home, I would in a heartbeat, but as stated in an earlier post, most of those jobs are scams. I've been taking online surveys for points and free gift certificates and whatnot to (hopefully, eventually) offset some costs.

I want to go out and buy a new pair of work shoes...or new clothes...or go to a concert...on VACATION...so on and so forth. I'm young, unmarried, childless. This is the time I'm supposed to blow money on stupid things. I want to do that now. Dammit.

Next time I write it's going to be about something other than money. Cross my heart. It's just that right now, it's about all I can think of.

i'm a winner! (all over the place post)

Thank you, Ashley, for picking me as your JuJu giveaway winner! I'm so excited to use my new piece of home decor. Now to find a place a place for it...

It's Monday and August is more than half over. Where does the summer go? As much as I'm enjoying getting home while it is still sunny, I'm looking forward to autumn. I am not a fan of heat and humidity - I prefer to be in hoodies and sweaters than tanktops and flipflops.

Cody and I just got back from our first and only vacation of the summer. Does being gone Friday to Sunday count as a vacation? I hope so...especially since it took 5 hours to get there. As much as we wanted to go to Ocean City, MD, we decided on Lake George, NY. It was more driving, but it was well worth it.

We stayed at the Sprucewood Motel in a cute little cabin. It was such a great find! The motel is located about 2 miles outside of town and right at the end of the trolley route. Although there was no beach access, supposedly the campground across the street lets you use their beach. We spent most of the time in the pool - it was clean and shaded and we had it all to ourselves. We did a lot of walking downtown (as small as a downtown it is), ate some good food, and even went horseback riding. It was very low-key, but perfect for us.

Anyway, I'm super proud of my spending situation lately. I did a good job while away, but I could definitely use extra funds. If I could knock out my car insurance and/or phone bill with money I get from doing side jobs, I'll be set. Does anyone have any ideas for making extra money? I wouldn't mind babysitting, but I don't really have references. I've never waitressed - plus I hear waitressing jobs are few and far between these days.

My best spur of the moment ideas was to put up an ad on Craig's List - kind of like an "I'll do whatever (within reason) to get paid!" Yard work, baby sitting, tutoring, so on and so forth. So far, I've gotten a response from one woman to do yard work at her place in Bala Cynwood. Hopefully this one job turns into more.

I wish those work from home signs I see all over the place were legit. Grrr.

recap

Thanks to last Sunday's storm, our router is fried and we have to buy a new one. Awesome. Not having internet at home isn't such a bad thing, thanks to the fact that Mom loaded me up with about 15 magazines. I've also super-cleaned the kitchen and living room. I'm productive, I swear.

The Atlantic City Food & Wine Festival last Saturday was FANTASTIC! I couldn't have been more happy about winning such a fabulous prize. It was incredibly crowded - a lot more than I expected - so my pictures were few and far between. I'll upload them as soon as I have a chance.

Half day of work today, so I'm off to the beach in a bit. Yey!

BlogPress

Oh, how fun it is to be stuck in Schuykill traffic at 6pm on a Friday on a Septa bus. Ugh - thank you torrential downpours!

I thought I'd check out what kind of apps were available for blogging on the go. I really want to keep up with my writing and this might be a good way to do so. The more writing, the better.

I ended up purchasing BlogPress. It was $2.99 ($0 for me, thanks to iTunes gift cards for my Aunt Debbie and Uncle Tim). I have to say, so far I am quite happy. It seems easy to use, it upload photos, and I can type in landscape.

Now I just have to get better with typing on this thing.

lunchtime

It's just about lunchtime so I'm obviously thinking about food. I'm always in the mood for some Chinese, but as I've mentioned before, the lack of good Chinese food around my work is disappointing. The lunchtrucks aren't as good as they should be...but good has arrived!

Sang Kee is tapped to be opening a spot in the Sheraton University City. I've heard nothing but praise for this place, yet I've not been. Has anyone ever tried this spot? They currently have two locations - Chinatown and Reading Terminal. I always see the Chinatown place when I'm on 676 which subsequently makes me drool on my steering wheel.

I don't know when their opening their new location, but I'll be waiting. Sigh.

Also newly opened... Brauhaus Schmitz on South Street. I CANNOT WAIT TO TRY THIS PLACE. I have a deep affinity for wienerschnitzel, cabbage, potato pancakes, and of course German beer. I'm trying to wait so they can work out the kinks, but I'm terribly impatient. Goal: eat here by end of August so if it's good enough I will come back for Oktoberfest.

All this talk about food is making me more and more pumped by the minute for the AC Food & Wine Fest this weekend. I'll be prepping my own food fest this evening: beef kabobs with Hawaiian marinade (mango!papaya!pineapple!), along with some corn on the cob and zucchini (thank you Mom).

what is blick

I'm really loving What is Blick right now. When we finally paint the walls, I want to splurge and get one of these wall decals.

Some of my favorites:


Anise by Ilan Dei



Wisteria by Ilan Dei



blik Bamboo


I think paint and What is Blick is going on my Christmas list.

University Dining Days

It's University City's Dining Days until tomorrow night. I know it's awfully late to be letting people know about it if they don't already do, so my apologies for that, but keep an eye out for it next time around. Dining Days is a great deal that about 15 or so restaurants in University City take part in. The restaurants have either $15, $25, or $30 fixed menus with 3 courses with their specialties for you to try. You can check out the link here.

Last night, my co-worker, her daughter, Cody, and I went to Vientiane Restaurant at 47 and Baltimore Ave. It's a great little Laotion/Thai restaurant in a great neighborhood by Clark Park. I really wish I took some pictures of our meals - I definitely have to remember to start doing that more often if I want to be blogging about food.

I had a delicious naam salad (marinated rice, coconut, mint, scallions, lime, chili, and lettuce to wrap the salad in), stir-fried silver noodles, coconut and rice pudding, and a Thai iced tea. This was all for $15. The portions were smaller than what I expected, but when I was finished eating I was pleasantly full. Everything I had was so so so good, not to mention they looked beautiful.

Some of the other dishes ordered were fresh spring rolls, Asian sticky wings, papaya salad, chicken pad thai, red curry, and vegetarian laab. I tried everything (except for the curry - mainly due to my curry experience a few weeks ago) and I thought everything was really good, except for the pad thai. I mean it was good, but it was lacking something. There was no real kick to it, and there weren't enough vegetables for my taste. I also prefer shrimp and tofu in my pad thai rather than chicken. Maybe I'm too spoiled because I've been to Tamarind on South St. and Chabaa in Manayunk too many times. Those are top notch pad thais.

I'd like to mention that I even tried everyone else's desserts - banana chocolate spring rolls and steam sweet rice with red beans and bananas. I liked the sweet rice - the bananas were more like plantains - but the spring roll was nasty. I hate bananas more than anything else, except for maybe bleu cheese. I will say mine was by far the best - yum yum.

I would suggest Vientiane to people living in University City, but I don't think I'd be so quick to suggest it to people from outside of the general area. It's kind of a pain to get to. I think there are better Thai places in better locations. I would be more inclined to recommend Tamarind, or if you want a Laotian place I'd say to try the one at 11th and Washington.

If you want to check out Vientiane's menu, as well as what other people are saying, click here.

I'm going to Atlantic City's Food and Wine Festival this weekend, so I plan on taking lots of pictures and taking notes. If you're interested in attending, tickets are $35 each and the dates are August 1st and 2nd. Thanks to Foodaphilia for picking me as a ticket winner!!

the Biopond

Since it's Friday and my boss is out, I decided to meet Cody for a long lunch. We grabbed some Chinese food from a cart and walked to a park (dubbed "The Biopond") hidden behind some of the biomedical lab buildings at Penn.

One of Cody's co-workers showed him this park a few months ago when he started at the hospital. He's been wanting to take me there, but I'm usually too busy. I'm really glad I finally made some time to enjoy myself during the work day.

If you're ever up at Penn or the hospital and want to escape from the craziness for a few minutes, hunt this park out. It's small, but it's better than nothing. You can find it behind the Richards building at 38 & Hamilton Walk, on Locust Walk.



The water is looking a little murky. I wonder if it's always like this or because of the constant rain we've had over the past weeks.



You can't really tell by this picture, but they had plenty of ducks, turtles, and koi. There's even a waterfall. A few people were back here eating their lunches and just enjoying the nice weather.

My favorite part was when the Google Maps people showed up. If you've never used Google Maps, you're missing out. It's way better than MapQuest, plus you can zoom in and check out actual photos of the location you Googled.



If you Google 38 and Locust Walk in a few weeks, you'll probably see a picture of me and Cody eating Chinese food on the bench in the park.

A reporter from the Associated Press was following the Google crew for the day. He decided to come up and ask me and Cody some questions about what we thought about what we were seeing. Uhhhh...it's a guy on a bike taking pictures for Google. What do you think we think?

By the way, that was pretty much my response. Tomorrow I'm Googling myself so I can see if that dipshit used my stupid quote for his story.

curry experiment

I've been dying for Chinese food for the last few days. I haven't had it in quite a while so my belly was aching for some General Tso's. Mmmm. I have been super good about packing lunch for work that I decided to stop by the Chinese lunch truck down the street from my office and splurge a bit. Big mistake. I can't even guess what they gave me, but it was no General Tso's with white rice and broccoli. I'm pretty sure it was uncooked mystery meet with soy-tastic brown rice and unidentifiable veggies. You better believe I returned that crap and got my $4 back.

And yes, I used the word splurge when referring to my $4 meal.

Since I didn't want to risk my life again, I sadly returned to my office to see what kind of granola bar could hold me over until 6 tonight. And surprise! Someone left a Trader Ming's (Trader Joe's Thai cousin?) Tasty Thai Meal in my snack drawer. I bet it was Robin. Thanks Robin.



There are so many different kinds of curry out there, and while I've tried a handful, I can't say I'm a huge fan. Some I like, some I don't. Germans love curry, so I had most of my curry when I was there. They even love curry in ketchup (which was gross, in my opinion). But since this was a free lunch and I'm a fairly adventurous eater, I thought I'd give it a shot.



The "jasmine rice" smelled nothing like any jasmine rice I've had before. It was gluey and difficult to break up.



I won't even say what this reminds me of. This, however, at least smelled ok - until I heated it up.




After mixing up the rice and sauce and then microwaving for two minutes, this is the outcome. My office now reaks of curry. I share a suite with 5 others so I'm sure they're really enjoying this circus of smells wafting from my office. The taste is kinda spicey (as in flavorful, not as in burning your mouth spicey), very heavy on the coconut, lemon grass, and cumin. I've drank a can of Cherry 7UP and chewed 3 pieces of gum and all I can taste is curry. I could only eat about half of what was in the container because the flavor was just so overpowering. I'd also like to add that I'm sure the little curry that I ate will probably take revenge on me later on tonight.

Lesson of this story is: don't hang out with Trader Ming unless you REALLY like curry and you REALLY don't care if it's good curry or bad curry, you just want some damn curry. And you really want to smell like curry for the rest of the day.

bad blogger

At my cousin's high school graduation party last weekend, it was brought to my attention that once upon a time I had a blog and I updated it. Sporadically, but I updated it.

I'm back! Mainly because I now have a computer desk and a computer chair and a comfy spot to sit after work to read blogs and update my own. Disregard that it is 3pm on a Friday and I'm actually at work updating this thing. My officemate is out for two weeks and my boss is worried about something, I don't know but it's not me. It's Friday and I work my tail off 95% of the time, so I'm taking some me time and being a slacker.

So, as mentioned above, I have my own computer desk and computer chair and comfy spot to sit in after work to read blogs and update my own. Please add to that list that I have a spot to watch tv other than my bed, a tv that's bigger that 12 inches, a closet that's bigger than my tv, a backyard with grass, a parking lot to park my car in, a kitchen that is (usually) clean and (ALWAYS) bug free.

Due to my backyard having grass, you can deduce with your incredible sleuth skillz that I no longer live in dear old South Philly. I don't miss it. Ok...well I miss good pizza. The Greeks in NW Philly don't make good pizza, but the Italians/Mexicans in South Philly do. I also miss that I missed the opening of Capogiro on Passyunk. And I miss the singing fountain. And regular, frequent bus service. And being in walking distance of Center City. And the POPE! And the Cantina. And Acme. And that's it.

I don't miss anything else. I don't miss hunting for parking. I don't miss funky smells. I don't miss the number 23 bus. I don't miss getting up at 6am and driving across the city to get changed and get on the bus and go to work and work and come home from work only to pack my bag and head across the city again because I am madly in love and people who are madly in love do crazy things. I don't miss the weird old men that are taxi drivers/mob hitmen that hang out on the corner of 12th and Cross and make lewd comments.

I love love love love Manayunk. I love living next door to a bakery and waking up at 3am and smelling baking bread and delicious sauce. I love the QUIET. I love central air. I love saving money. I love having parking and a lower Geico bill. I love having 2 bars within a block of me in both directions and I love having the will power of not going there every night, or even every week. I love being cooked for just about every night and I love that I clean up afterwards. I love not living out of boxes. I love having 3 kitties cuddle with me every night.

And most of all I love having a HOME and living with someone I love love love. Someone I can be weird and dorky and goofy around and not be ashamed dance around to terrible music that only I love and someone who can do the same things around me.

I make myself vomit in my mouth sometimes.

Anyway, my decision making skills have been on par the last few months. My choices might some a little...brash...but I think I've made some good choices given certain situations. What matters is I am much happier than I was this time 2 months ago, 6 months ago, and even a year ago. It just keeps getting better.

capogiro!!

I am not an ice cream kind of girl. I don't think I ever really have been. But oh my gosh do I love gelato. Gelato and ice cream shouldn't even be in the same sentence. It's like heavenly deliciousness.

This made my day...

http://foobooz.com/2009/02/capogiro-to-east-passyunk/

an explanation of absence

So the boy and I broke up. That should somewhat explain why I have been a bad blogger lately. But before you offer your condolences, I would like to let you know that I am not in need of them. It was bound to happen eventually. Actually, we probably should have never gotten back together at all now that I really think about it. But we did. And now we're done. For good.

My good sense finally hit me... well a combination of my good sense and one other thing. I'll start with good sense. Having someone treat you like gold, having a good time with that person, being able to talk to that person and tell them anything....all these items are important qualities for me to find in a partner. But they don't mean squat if you don't have romantic love for that person. I'm not unrealistic, so I'm not expecting to feel that all the time. But yeah, I need to feel that at least some of the time. Any of the time for that matter. Without that, you're just with a friend. Up until not that long ago, I thought I had that romance. But after getting a reality check, I realized that oh my gosh I DON'T HAVE IT! At least not with him...

Anyway, I'm actually very happy. Very very happy. Weird? Probably, especially because it wasn't like he was a terrible guy or anything. He is very sweet; some lady is going to really luck out with him. It's just not going to be me, as furious as he is right now. Furious or not, I'm no longer going to

So what else hit me? And why am I happy? It's "it." I'm calling it "it" because I have no idea how else to label this bizarro feeling the seems to have taken over my body the last few weeks. I've never felt this way in my entire life. Really. Seriously. It's like I have butterflies that are kickboxing in my stomach and simultaneously making my chest feel all warm and fuzzy just about 24 hours a day. I walk around with this goofy ridiculous smile on my face. I want to cry because I feel so happy, because I've never felt this happy in my whole.entire.life.no.lie.

And all these weird things keep happening to me! Like very very weird coincidences... I'm not going to explain for the sake of me not trying to be totally nuts. I'll just say I've never been one that saw "signs." But it's been happening. A lot. To scary proportions.

Has this ever happened to anyone else??? Am I losing it???

I've never been this way. It's like some foreign being has taken over me. I've been happy before, but not HAPPY.

Yeah, definitely think I've lost it (especially since I'm posting this to the internet).

Flyers Fundraiser

Support research at the Center for Brain Injury and Repair! Tickets on sale for $40 (approx. $6 less than face value). $15 from every ticket goes towards research.

Let me know if you want tickets.

tax season

Yes, I am so unbelievably proud of myself - my taxes are done 2+ monthes prior to when they are due. This is a first in my life. Even when I was a lowly dependent, my taxes were done for me no more than 48 hours before the due date. Last year, I drove my sorry ass to H&R Block a few days before the due date after calling every one of my 7 employers and begging them to fax me my W2s since they got misplaced during my move the month before. Then I had to drive to 30th Street Station to mail my returns (and money I owed to the great state of Pennsylvania) the day they were due. Never again, I swore. I can't believe I followed through with that promise. High five for accomplishing one of my new years resolutions.

It took me one hour to do my taxes. Not bad, eh? Instead of getting my taxes done by H&R Block, I decided to do the free online Turbo Tax program. It was great! Very simple and very quick. H&R Block charged me about $100 last year. I justified this ridiculous amount with the fact that I had a dozen W2s from two different states (I was a substitute teacher last year), and I had lived in NJ and PA. Screw paying that again. I ended up paying $25 for online state filing, but it saves me the trouble of remembering to go to the post office and finding a printer at 9:30 pm. Go TurboTax!

I didn't get much back, but I'm not surprised. In fact, I thought I would owe money, as usual. I can't complain.

Sitting on the bus for an hour and a half every day sure makes me fly through books. Especially when they are fantastic books! I finished Immortality on the way home tonight, and I'm almost sad that it's over.

Kundera's an interesting author. He's got a very distinctive way of writing that I've never seen before. He's got a way of jumping around from character to character and through different points of time in their lives and bringing in more characters and then (in Immortality) bringing himself into the story. Somehow, through this whole jumble that can be hard to follow if you don't read Kundera, he brings the story to a fabulous close that leaves you wanting more. If you wanted to read Kundera, I would definitely start with The Unbearable Lightness of Being, then The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, and then move on to Immortality. Kundera has an almost crass way of writing, definitely European.

Next book on the list is Zero by Ignacio de Loyola Brandao. I found it in the Brazilian section of the library. I'm super excited to read it. I would start tonight, but my television rules on Thursdays. I can't help that I'm unabashedly addicted to ER and 30 Rock and The Office. Pathetic, yes, but a girl's allowed to have her vices, right?

immortality

I've been working at the University for almost 8 months, and yesterday was the first time I went to the library for non-studying purposes. I've been dying to get back into reading for the last couple of months, but I haven't due to a crazy schedule and apparently laziness. I signed up for a Philadelphia Free Library card, but the library's hours are horrible. Budget cuts or not, how do they expect people to utilize the library when they close at 5pm? Grr.

I wasn't sure what I'd find at the school's library, but let's just say I was pleasantly surprised. Five floors of glory with one entire floor dedicated to literature from around the world. And the floors are a city block long! For a big dork like me, this is like hitting Mecca.

Walking into that library, it's so easy to feel overwhelmed. I didn't know where to start. I decided to look up Paulo Coehlo just to see what they had for him. What I found were shelves after shelves of Brazilian literature, both translated and not. Amazing! Although it's a first class school, I was still surprised about the selection.

I am super excited to continue going to the library on a regular basis. First book I'm going to read is...



Milan Kundera is the man. I started reading the book on the bus and I will probably be finished soon.

I'm going to become a hermit.

When I picture myself in my mind, this is what I see. The photo above is one of the first pictures taken of me in Prague. Thinking about crossing the Vltava every day on the Charles, checking out artwork, listening to to good music, lost in my own thoughts, puts me in a stellar mood. That is, until I realize I'll never get to do it again.

I especially miss Prague in the winter. Cold weather is much more tolerable when you know you have some Kozel and pork with cranberries waiting for you when you get home.

"On Arab TV Network, Obama Urges Dialogue"

On Arab TV Network, Obama Urges Dialogue

I saw this news report on BBC America this morning. Although the above article is from the New York Times, the information seems similar enough for it to be worth posting.

As I was searching for this article, a news bulletin came across my screen. Israel is attacking Gaza again.

*sigh* Sometimes I have no words. I'll revisit this topic at a later date - when I can get my thoughts in order. It's been a long day and right now, all I want to do is veg out with a movie.

sham WOW!

This cracked me up!

So... who would you choose: Billy Mays [Mr. Oxyclean] or Vince of Sham WOW! fame?

I think I'll go with mutant Vince...

oops.

I promised myself I would write regularly. I am slightly disappointed, given I haven't typed in a month. In my defense, I declared my 12 days off from work internet-free (save for online bill paying).

New Years was pretty sweet. It was for sure better than last year, but anything would have been better. A lot of my wonderful friends attended the party. I noticed the next day that it was tamer than last year. Most were sleeping or had gone home by 3am and there was a lot less clean up. Guess that means we're getting old?

Now, here we are on January 26. The first month of 2009 is almost over. Time flies when you're busy.

Busy or not... I'm definitely trying to focus on the positives for the next few months. So many weddings. Figuring out my finances so I can save more money and actually put away for retirement. And vacation... dear God I need to get away... I once promised myself [note: I make a lot of promises] that I would not go more than a year without a vacation involving a plane ride. I have until May to get my ass in gear. I'm thinking that it won't happen. Hello terrible economy... and not getting a raise... *double sigh*

I shall leave you with an interview of my favorite tv personality: Anthony Bourdain. He's the man. When I met him, I told him that he inspired me to travel and try new things. I don't know if he realizes that I was pretty serious, but it felt good to meet my idol.

Out.