P.S.

I should note that two of my favorite people celebrated birthdays in the last week: Meg and Little Sister Jos. Wish I had been able to celebrate with either (or both) of you!

Feeling blessed

This weekend was a mix of all sorts of fun! Janine, Alison, Boyfriend Matt, Pearson, Maren and I headed to Mr. Wolverine on Friday night. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, it's basically an all-male law school pageant that rivals Keenan Revue for its humor. One of our friends won the competition; we celebrated at Oz afterwards. It seemed like the whole law school was there and it was fun to hang out with friends I don't see often enough!

Boyfriend Matt and I dragged ourselves out of bed late Saturday morning for a quick trip to the gym, after which we jumped in Harry the Honda and headed for Chicago. Our plan was to check out a possible apartment to sublet, hang out with Patrick for the night and meet up with Emily for breakfast the next morning.

The trip couldn't have gone more perfectly. When we got to the neighborhood where the apartment is located, it looked eerily familiar. (For those of you in the know, it's on Diversey between Sheridan and Clark - just a block away from Duffy's, the Michigan bar.) We found a parking spot and walked down the street, peering at numbers to find our destination. When we came upon it, it seemed to good to be true. It's a set of brownstone-like apartments in a U-shape, with a pretty courtyard in the middle. Last summer, Matt and I walked by this very apartment building and fell smitten with it. We wrote down the web address to the building and thought: "Maybe we'll live here someday". We had no clue the apartment we were going to see was in that set of buildings!

Gleeful, we rang the bell to the apartment. It was just about perfect. It's a huge place with a nice living room, a separate dining room, hardwood floors, tons of windows, etcetera. Directly across the street? A full fledged grocery store. Within two blocks? A dozen restaurants and bars, Starbucks, Panera and Borders. Within four blocks? The north end of Lincoln Park Zoo, the bike path and the lake. Needless to say, we decided to sublet the place for the summer. Come visit anytime! I think we both feel pretty lucky to have found such a great place, and I can't wait to share the apartment with him. It'll be the first time the two of us have really lived together (without having additional roommates) and I can't wait.

Boyfriend Matt and I wandered around our new neighborhood and had a delicious Chinese food dinner, then spent the evening hanging out with Patrick and his friends at a bar, where I downed way too many drinks. This morning we got up all too early and met Emily and Andrea at the Bongo Room, home of the best breakfast on earth. Seriously, if you are ever in Chicago, go there. Get there at 8:45 (just before it opens at nine) and you will get a great seat and amazing pancakes.

After partaking in the pumpkin-carrot cheesecake pancakes and the yellow corn and cranberry pancakes, we drove our hungover, content selves back to Ann Arbor. Adrienne and I embarked on a challenging but surprisingly fun five mile run, our longest yet. And now I'm feeling the effects of the weekend: I'm worn out and exhausted, but it's the kind of exhaustion you feel good about. A good night's sleep is all I need (I hope!) to start off another great week.

Red hot lunchers

Boyfriend Matt and I checked another restaurant off of our list today by grabbing lunch at Red Hot Lovers. We both had Coney Dogs (hot dogs smothered in chili and onions) that were pretty darn good. We even sat at the counter, something I haven't done in years.

Last night Mary and I studied, ate a Pizzalato pizza and watched a lot of television. Mary rented the first season of Lost and we originally intended to start watching that. I have a ton of friends that are hooked on this show. People are always chatting about how great it is. Unfortunately, Mary and I just couldn't do it. After watching the first hour of the premiere, which was filled with dead bodies and constant foreboding music, we couldn't handle it. We gave up Lost (though I think our significant others would both enjoy the show). Instead, we tuned in to Project Runway, a show neither of us had seen before. Now that was what we were looking for. Flamboyant designers. Big furry hats. Funny gay guys. Catfights over models. "I'm sorry, but the talk doesn't match the dress." Smoking hot Heidi Klum. It was great, and I'm officially hooked.

Girls night in

Tonight Boyfriend Matt is generously taking my shift at the front desk (in part to fund his spring break trip to Vegas with the boys) and I'm headed over to Mary's to eat pizza, study (maybe "study") and watch a movie or even just some crappy tv. I can't wait. :-)

Adrienne and I had a successful 3.5 run despite the fact that we were forced to battle rain, sleet, snow and driving winds. We are now just over two weeks into our twelve week training program. Thanks to this blog and our spreading the word, people are actually coming up to us and asking "How's your running going?" or saying "I saw you running the other day!". Thanks for the supportive peer pressure, folks. Your comments keep us on track - at least part of the reason I keep running is because I'd be too embarassed to respond, "Uhh... we quit".

Also: three cheers to Scott, who basically wrote the proper code to get the links posted to your left.

Rock climbing begins today!

Boyfriend Matt and I finally received Season 4 of the Shield from Netflix, and thanks to understanding Roommate Jenny we were able to watch four episodes yesterday as Matt prepared his chili for Danny and Nick's Playoff Chili Cook-Off. I watched the first game with the gang; we feasted on six (yes, six! or was it seven?) different chilis. At the end of the day, Matt was decreed the champion, eeking out a victory over Danny's dish.

Today will be a busy day, with classes and meetings straight through until 3:30, after which Adrienne and I will attend our very first rock climbing class at the IM building until 6. Later tonight the Kristens, Anya and Lisa are coming over for dinner. I can't wait to see them (for the first time this semester!) and to relax the evening away. Will post again soon... if my arms haven't fallen off.

Dream car day

Last night's dinner was quite yummy, though the best part of it was getting to catch up with Mary, Jeremy, Meredith and Alex over bottles of wine (and an oddly flavored root liquor). We played a game of Trivial Pursuit: Pop Culture. Meredith/Jeremy were asleep/drunk by the end of the game, but Matt/Alex and Mary/me fought tooth and nail. We each had all the pie pieces, but Matt and Alex landed in the final circle first and won the game with the answer "Girls Gone Wild".


Today Matt and I headed out to the North American Internatial Auto Show in Detroit, which helped me identify many a dream car. We both loved the Lexus LS 460 and the new hybrid Toyota Camry, and I am currently imagining myself in a red convertible Mini Cooper. Absolutely adorable. After a couple of hours of wandering in the incredibly crowded Cobo Hall, I started feeling a bit off, so we sadly skipped our dinner date with Janine and Kyle to come home, nap and relax. Now, time for ordering some Thai food and crashing on the sofa to watch the end of Season 1 of the Amazing Race and Season 4 of the Shield. Thank you, Netflix!

An update

The last couple of days have been busy and I haven’t had an opportunity to write! Since this was last updated, I ran with Adrienne again (our last 3 mile run before our ‘short runs’ get upgraded to 3.5 miles). Boyfriend Matt made a delicious spicy vegetable soup that we enjoyed with Roommate Jenny last night. Roommate Jenny surprised me by coming home from the mall with a bag full of shirts from Forever 21, for me! I wore one of them out to bar night and bowling last night.

Speaking of bowling, our team is -1 original member again this semester. Elizabeth and I are now the only original members; we are joined by Dave (who bowled an awesome 193 last night) and Elizabeth’s boyfriend, Jake. We rocked our first games of the season – though our first game resulted in a tie, we won our third game by 153 points! We also got our highest team score ever recorded, 553 points. It so happens that my office is having its holiday party today at the same bowling alley. Thank goodness Rachael (subbing for Meredith) will also be there. It’s awesome to have a friend during these types of events.

Tonight is the third meeting of the supper club, which consists of Mary, Jeremy, Meredith, Alex, Matt and me. For those of you not familiar with the concept, one couple hosts the dinner party. That couple plans the menu and then farms out a few of the recipes to the attendees. I love it for a number of reasons: it means you cook stuff you wouldn’t normally cook, you save a little money by distributing the costs of dinner to everyone, and of course, you get to have dinner with some of your favorite people. Dinner tonight will be Italian food in honor of Mary and Jeremy’s Christmas holiday in Italy. Matt and I are responsible for making Cheese Crostini with Anchovy Herb Butter and Beef Crostini with Red Pepper Mayonnaise. I can’t wait. Hope y’all have a similarly wonderful evening.

Just desserts

Last night I went over to Meredith and Alex's for dessert. Meredith made her fabulous Black Russian Cake (the recipe is available here). I brought home samples for Boyfriend Matt and Roommate Jenny, who also loved it. What a treat!

Today was a full day of classes, a coffee date, and a 3 miler with Adrienne. Surprisingly enough, our legs weren't too sore after yesterday's 4 mile run. Maybe - just maybe - we're getting in shape! Amazing.

Not much else to report, but here is a quick question: I am trying to make up a music mix to keep me going during those workouts when Adrienne and I can't go together. Ideally it'll be filled with good songs with quick beats. Have any suggestions?

A long, long, long run

Well, okay, the run really wasn't that long. And it was really, really slow. But I can't remember the last time I ran four miles, and I couldn't be more proud of Adrienne and me!

Dinner with Boyfriend Matt, Josh and Nicole at Pacific Rim last night was delicious, though I'm not sure if it was worth the high prices. We were pleased to find that the menu had cheap bottles of wine (as low as $24 or so - cheaper than the entrees!) and split a good bottle of sauvignon blanc that went quite well with my yellowtail hamachi. The six short plays we saw were pretty good. It included plays by a lot of modern playwrights like Alan Ball, and the actors were certainly enthusiastic. All in all, it was a great evening.

One semester and lots of restaurants to visit

At the end of last semester, Boyfriend Matt and I realized we had spent two and a half years in Ann Arbor and we hadn't been to nearly all of the restaurants that we wanted to visit. Sure, we've been to the Chop House, to Cottage Inn, Palio, Grizzly Peak and Prickly Pear, but there is still a lot of Main Street (and Ann Arbor) to tackle. So we composed the following list of restaurants to visit before we graduate:

Jerusalem Garden (Matt somehow hasn't been there)
Argiero's
Eve
The Earle
Amadeus
Real Seafood Company
Gratzi
Cafe Felix
Blue Nile
Yotsuba
Pacific Rim
Fleetwood Diner
Zanzibar
West End Grill
Gandy Dancer
Rush Street
Red Hot Lovers
Mirai Sushi

We went to Rush Street at the end of last semester with Meredith and Alex. The wine was great and the food was absolutely fantastic. It was a little expensive, but we discovered that on weeknights from 4-6, all food and drinks (except bottles of wine) are half price. We are definitely going back!

Tonight we will check another restaurant off of our list. We're hitting up Pacific Rim with Nicole and Josh; its menu looks incredible if a bit expensive. Expect a review tomorrow! If you have any other restaurant suggestions, let us know. Alternatively, if you want to try one out too, let me know and we'll go together.

P.S. Paper update: it's at 14 pages! Tomorrow I will edit in the morning, incorporate my revisions in the afternoon and will send it in by five. Wahoo!

Being a grouch is no fun!

Combining overactive hormones and paper writing: not a good idea. I have done some first-hand research of this toxic combination over the last two days, and can report that it results in a messy room, a grumpy attitude and unnecessarily griping at one's very nice boyfriend. I can't wait until I turn this paper in so I can enjoy the beginning of the semester in peace!

Apart from that, the weekend has been nice. Boyfriend Matt and I watched the movie Knots with friends last night, and it wasn't bad. (Meredith and Mary also enjoyed it, Alex didn't!) Afterwards we headed to Nick and DD's party, where I experienced an awesome game for the first time. It's kind of like Dance Dance Revolution (DDR for those in the know ;-)) but instead of dancing, you're playing the guitar. I did pretty well with my song, but Boyfriend Matt kicked butt playing Smoke on the Water. He hit 98% of the notes on his first try!

On the queue for tonight: Matt is cooking one of the great Omaha Steaks he got from my mom for his birthday with grilled onions and sweet potatoes. As of right now, I'm on page 9 of paper writing - hopefully I'll be on ten or eleven before I leave for dinner at his place!

P.S. What is the classical piece used in the intro of the Beastie Boy's Intergalactic? It's driving me crazy. How could I recognize that tune as the Beastie Boys and not Stravinsky or whomever it is?

Another day, another run

Last night *I* made dinner (an all too-rare occurence) for Boyfriend Matt, Roommate Jenny and Meredith - just salad and chicken stir fry with brown rice. It wasn't bad, but Jenny and I both found ourselves craving sweets by the time we settled in to watch Sex and the City at ten.

Today's run will be a three miler. My legs are shockingly sore from a mere two mile run yesterday, so I hope that I survive. At least the weather is gorgeous. Also, current status of paper: now on my fifth page (only ten more to go!).

A note: the title of this blog, 'UnaMusings', is not a goal or anything. I'm just not good at being funny. So my musings will probably be, well, unamusing. They certainly won't be laugh out loud funny, unless I contract out to Matt or Pearsall or someone to write my entries for me.

The road to the half marathon

Adrienne and I did it. We signed up for the Martian Half Marathon on April 1st. Note, neither of us have run more than 3 miles at a time in a long, long, long time. We figure registering for a race might be just the thing to get us running longer distances over the next twelve weeks. I even found a good training schedule that, after one day, we have stuck to religiously. It seems like quite the challenge for us novices, so if you have any suggestions on how to accomplish our goal (new shoes? longer runs? cross training?), comments are much appreciated.

The promise of the first day of school

Isn't the first day of school fantastic? You get up early enough to eat breakfast, work out and shower. You pack your new books carefully in your bag; you write down your class schedule with reverence. Who knows? Maybe this is the semester you will be a good student. You will do your readings on time. You will have an innate understanding of the subject material.

Generally, one month in, I have misplaced my books, played freecell during my classes, and worn jeans and the same sweatshirt for days on end. But on that first day, I always think that this is the semester I can turn it around.

Taking procrastination to a new level

I am supposed to be writing a paper right now. This paper was originally due a month ago. A small apartment fire in my building that forced me to move out for a few days allowed me to postpone the paper's due date. It was really quite a lucky event, because I had made no progress on the paper when the fire happened, and the fire didn't affect our apartment in the least.

Even with the postponement, I have still made no progress on the paper. And when days are counting down (T-6 days until it is due), I have decided to create a blog instead. The procrastinating has become that bad. Before it was just "celebrating Christmas" or "road tripping to the Fiesta Bowl". I have actually stooped to setting up my laptop and typing... just not about FDA Law.

On the upside, Boyfriend Matt is cooking a dinner tonight. You would think I would get used to this after two years. He cooks dinner a few times a week, but every dinner still seems like a special treat. The menu tonight: Cajun rubbed filet of sole, brown rice and asparagus with orange sauce, followed by ice cream, the return of Gilmore Girls, and a trip to Live at PJ's to celebrate our friend Adrienne's birthday.