a list

1. Long time no type. Buried in schoolwork and life. Not necessarily in that order. Attempting to force myself to come up for air.

2. Chemistry is hard. Like, fail-out-of-class hard. (Not me, but you know what I mean.) I knew there was a good reason to fear it back at Penn State! Anyway, I’m doing alright, but a recent bombed quiz has shown me I need to devote more time to Chem and less to Anatomy.

3. In all my busy-ness today, I decided I needed to make bread. That’s so like me. Why? I had to “revive” my starter that’s in the fridge. And have I forgotten about the GAJILLION things of bread we brought home from our Thanksgiving trip? (No fewer than 1.5 loaves of rye bread, 10 bagels, 8 onion rolls, plus crackers.) Our house is carb central!

4. My Thanksgiving pumpkin pie was the ugliest thing ever (thanks to my impatience with store-bought crust), but tasted great. Get the recipe here.

5. Speaking of recipes–I just managed another blog post for the co-op. It’s about cranberries and I included the cranberry brisket Andrew loves so much. Read it here.

6. I am now “officially” a New Yorker; I took care of getting a new license and registering the car. License should be here in about a week! It’s kind of exciting, in a really anti-climactic sort of way. I think if we’d moved into a house we were excited about, everything would feel different. Instead, everything still feels very temporary. But, nonetheless, it’s still neat to see the Pilot with its new yellow and blue license plate.

7. We named our plants. Well, I named our plants. Andrew just went along with it good-naturedly. My dear friend, Emily, inspired me. She has such beautiful, healthy, vibrant house plants. I am so jealous. She and I recently traded some plant clippings and she mentioned one of them was named ‘Stella.’ Now, I’ve heard of people naming their plants before, but I just never have. I mean, mine don’t normally last that long…it was never a good idea to get attached. However, I do have one that has lasted FOUR years now! Andrew and I were in disbelief when we realized it. So, on the way home from our Thanksgiving holiday, I used my phone to look up names and their meanings (again, such a ‘me’ thing to do–we’re talking the significance of the names of HOUSE PLANTS) and we decided to call the big, four-year-old one “Gerard” which means ‘hardy.’ (We’ve been calling it ‘hardy’ since I hadn’t killed it yet, so we figured why not?). I have one other plant, an orchid Andrew bravely got me for Valentine’s Day this year. (I don’t know what he was thinking.) Anyway, it did alright for awhile, then the blooms fell off, then I panicked until I found out that was normal, and just when it was growing another stem and bloom, one of the movers bumped into it on our table and broke it off! I was heartbroken. I looked up ‘long-suffering’ and ended up with “Patience.” She’s been through a lot, that one, and just the other day I noticed a tiny bud getting ready to sprout from the moss–hurray! And now, I have Emily’s purple one to re-pot, who I have been calling “Stella 2.” Between the animals and now anthropomorphic plants, we have one full house!

8. I’m supposed to be working on psychology homework. Must hurry!

9. Hadrian has been down for the count all day today–GLORIOUS! I’ve been so productive. (In case you’re wondering, any time he returns from ‘puppy camp’ he sleeps 24/7 for about two days. Totally normal.)

10. We have 7 pints of ice cream in our freezer, plus the remnants of two Jeni’s that Emily and Dan brought us, plus a tiny bit of homemade Jeni’s vanilla. SEVEN unopened Graeter’s and Jeni’s pints. That’s like $45 in ice cream (hey, don’t judge my expensive taste in ice cream!). My brilliant plan: tiny scoops, both to make it last and keep it off my hips. I’ll let you know how it goes, but I’m not terribly optimistic…

a (giant) list

WHEW! What a day…

1. Tried to have a relaxing morning. Sort-of did. Until it turned into a whirlwind day of studying while on the elliptical, rushing out the door to breakfast with Andrew, a 2+ hour hair appt then running an errand with Mom Layer. At least I slept-in this morning until 7.

2. Didn’t breakfast look yummy? It so was. And filling! Holy cow! I’m STILL full and we ate 5.5 hours ago–that’s got to be a record for me. I’ll probably have something uber-healthy before my night class tonight so my tummy doesn’t start grumbling. (And I totally blogged on my iPhone from the salon–how cool is that?!?!)

3. LOVE. MY. HAIR.

It’s not too drastic; Megan chose one shade darker for a base color, then even darker low-lights and added in some highlights, too. If I’m really going to try to grow my hair out, I NEEDED a change, and a trim, badly. Two hours and a small fortune later, I love my hair and think it feels so much healthier. While there, I invested (pun intended) in color-treated hair shampoo and conditioner, a purifying conditioner for days I swim, and that volumizing root spray/mousse she used. I figure if I’m going to pay this much for professionally colored hair, I might as well take care of it. And I just told Andrew that if he wants me to grow it long, he’s going to pay the price 😉 He’s a good sport; he said I’ve never really given growing it out a fair shot, and if this is what it takes, so be it. The man must really like long hair!

4. Speaking of my man–he’s amazing. (And I’m not just saying that to butter him up about the price tag of my new look!) Not only did he surprise me with Sweetest Day candy and a super thoughtful card; he surprised me AGAIN last night with flowers and another card, this time to let him know how much he missed me after his 85-hour workweek and business trip this past week. Awww.

5. Reason number 9,673,268 that Andrew is awesome: souvenirs from his business trip!

He went to Orrville, OH and it is the home of the J.M. Smucker’s store! He called me and let me request some goodies: cherry and blueberry ‘simply fruit’ jams, cider apple butter, honey-flavored natural peanut butter and a gadget for stirring the separated peanut butter before refrigerating. (Surprisingly enough, I’d seen it in a magazine forever ago and have been on the lookout ever since! It’s no easy to task to get natural peanut butter mixed up really well without creating a huge mess…) Thankfully, Andrew goes to Orrville somewhat regularly, so I’ll always be able to get more of the flavors the regular grocery stores don’t carry! BTW: Real Simple did a natural peanut-butter taste-test awhile ago and Smucker’s won for chunky and got #2 for creamy. I’ve been buying it for awhile now, mostly because it’s widely available and reasonably priced. I LOVE peanut butter!

6. Who is this man I married? He’s been showering me with gifts 🙂 He must know me pretty well!

7. I’m teaching a Food for Thought class Monday evening. Or I MIGHT be, if enough people sign up. So, if you’re local, SIGN UP! I’ll be instructing on how to choose wisely at the grocery store and ‘smart switches’ you can make to eat healthier. The classes are sponsored by the EA Co-op and you can sign up at the Aurora Rec Center website.

8. Don’t forget about the Co-op’s Pizza Party and Membership drive Saturday night! If you’re interested in joining, or are a member and know someone who is, come on out! It’ll be a great chance to try Elm Street’s brick-oven pizza and support OUR co-op!

9. I’m running the Niagara Falls International Half-Marathon Sunday morning–so excited! The weather looks good for Sunday and the race doesn’t start until 10 a.m. (good for not having to get up at the crack of dawn, but I’m not used to running that late). If you’re local and up for spending some time in the fresh air across the border, I’d love to have a cheering section! Note to self: do not forget passport!

10. Abigail is coming home this weekend–can’t wait!!

two future RDs in a small world

Happy Saturday!

Before I forget, I posted my first official “Eat This” column for the EA Co-op’s blog the other day–it was on FIGS! Check it out here!

I’m in an unbelievably good mood for feeling incredibly UNproductive this morning. I woke at 6:15, and then putzed around while drinking coffee and eating breakfast; I didn’t leave for the gym until 7:45! I had had visions of ARRIVING by 7, when the gym opens.

I lifted weights for 30 minutes, then went to change into my swimsuit and realized I’d forgotten my shower shoes! I couldn’t bear the thought of walking to and from the pool and showering without them, so I packed up and went home. Ran into Wegmans for some random items (salad dressing–I’m having salad for lunch today–dryer sheets, vitamins and this month’s O magazine–Kath’s PUMPKIN recipes are in it!). I started thumbing through the issue in the check-out line and saw a giant “whole grain” spread featuring recipes from Kim Boyce, author of one of my FAVORITE cookbooks, Good to the Grain. SCORE!

I had thought I’d do some cardio here at the hotel, but I don’t really have time anymore, so I’m calling it my “idiot tax” for the day since I didn’t blog early this morning, which would have freed up some time now. Oh well. But then I wouldn’t have this nice story to tell you about my unproductive morning and magazine find at Wegmans!

Anyway, on to the REAL story: my dinner with Emily last night!

I actually didn’t MEET Emily until last night; she’s another blogger I found through Kath’s website. After I decided to go back to school, I emailed Kath and told her how much she inspired me and that I’m a huge fan, etc… (Yes, I really did. A little silly? Perhaps. But don’t we all like a little unexpected affirmation every once in awhile?) Anyway, Kath has a list of current and future RDs and their blogs on the “R.D. Me” section of her blog. She said she’d add my blog there (yay!) so I went to check it out. Sure enough, “Holly @ thefrozenpineapple” was there! I started clicking on some of the other blogs listed and came upon “Eating Chalk,” Emily’s blog. She said she was a recent transplant to Buffalo and currently in the Dietetics Program at Buffalo State–SMALL WORLD! I immediately emailed her and we’ve been trying to meet up ever since.

She lives up near Elmwood, which is a main thoroughfare lined with cute stores and eateries in the nice part of downtown Buffalo. We decided to meet at India Gate for dinner. I could just end here and say we had a great time, have a lot in common and that the food was good. And all those things would be true. However, there is SO MUCH more to the story.

Like the rain. It was POURING. I was wearing sandals. And jeans. I did, however, have a raincoat and an umbrella, neither of which helped. NOT AT ALL.

And the parking. When we first decided to meet near Elmwood, I’ll admit my heart started palpitating knowing I’d have to, inevitably, parallel-park somewhere. I don’t parallel-park often. And I have a giant car. SUV, rather. I CAN parallel-park, I just don’t do it often enough to be good enough to whip in-and-out of spaces like Andrew does, which is quite a feat when you consider other factors like visability and traffic. Well, it was rush-hour on a Friday night at the most hopping place to go out in Buffalo and POURING and other people were whizzing by me… Bottom line: it was terrible. I wanted to cry. I called Andrew in a panic. (He was hundreds of miles away on his way back from Penn State, so I’m not really sure how I thought he could help, but whatever.)

After circling the block a couple times, I found an opening and managed to back in. I think I always go in at too much of an angle because my back tire always ends up on the grass… Oh well, it was pouring and I didn’t care.

I attempted to avoid the growing puddles and eventually gave up–my feet/sandals/jeans were soaked in seconds. As I approached the intersection of Elmwood, it DID occur to me to look and see on which street I’d parked–points for me! Seriously, I’m always with Andrew and since he has GPS built into his brain, I never have to worry about where we are at any given time. I’m not used to this “paying attention” thing.

However, in my panic and unfamiliarity with the area, I realized I didn’t know which way to TURN on Elmwood to get to the restaurant… It should be obvious, I realize, but I’m not so good with directions. I said a quick prayer (I did) and made the best educated-guess I could: right. Praise God, it worked! I scurried down the street and into the restaurant!

Emily, who was also soaked to the bone, and I commiserated about the weather for a bit before digging into the subject that unites us: studying nutrition! It was so nice to chat with her about the program at Buff State and classes. I’m so glad I have someone to whom I can direct some of my questions; I feel a little disconnected right now being at ECC just taking pre-reqs.

I also found out she’s a runner, too, and she told me about the Niagara Falls International Half Marathon coming up next month in Canada–I think I’m going to sign up! It’s called “international” because the full marathon starts here in NY and ends in Canada–it’s the only one like that in the world. I’ve been DYING to break the 2-hour park “officially” in a half… I’ve trained much faster, but I always choke in races. I’ve figured out that it was because I was always going out way too fast (darn you, Susy!), so hopefully I can have a good, fast, even-paced race.

We got an order of naan and raita–I cannot have Indian food without it! I’m surprised these photos actually turned out OK for the lack of light. Now, if only I remembered what setting I was using…

I love that Indian rice comes with carrots and peas. I so miss Jeet! I LOVED their lunch buffet!

I ordered the Chicken Tikka Masala, which is my favorite dish. I was a little disappointed that it didn’t taste ANYTHING like the version I’m used to, although I have no idea which is more authentic… This one wasn’t creamy at all, and I’m pretty sure typical Tikka Masala does have cream in the the tomato sauce, so I wasn’t really sure what to think. I ordered it “medium” (instead of mild) and I was able to eat it, but my mouth was on fire! I liked how big their menu selection was, but since it’s all the way up in Buffalo (not to mention Andrew isn’t a huge fan of Indian food), I’m not sure I’ll be back anytime soon.

Thankfully it stopped raining while we were eating, so the walk back to the car was relatively dry. Emily and I said goodbye and plan to do another lunch or dinner “date,” this time in East Aurora so I can show it off to her. She and her husband, a med student at UB, are city-people, so they don’t get to the Southtowns much.

I have a busy day ahead of me: photo-taking for the EA Co-op blog, an interview (I’m writing my first freelance article for the East Aurora Advertiser!), HOMEWORK, and then maybe meeting up with the family later. Today is moving day for Carolyn; she recently accepted a long-term sub position in Olean, which is more than an hour away. She’s been commuting since school started until her lease here was up–today she’s moving to her new place in Franklinville, which is about half-way in between Olean and East Aurora. Andrew is providing some muscle for the move and I wish I were there, too!