Good morning, sunshine!

Spring break in Fort Lauderdale has thus far been fantastic. Adrienne, Anna and I spent yesterday morning and part of the afternoon at the beach. I turned as red as a lobster after a few hours outdoors. Afterwards, we did a little shopping on the beach and I splurged on the cutest dress in the world. We went to the grocery store to stock up on food for the week, and then punished ourselves a little with a four and a half mile run. Really, though, the temerapture was perfect and the houses were beautiful so it wasn't too bad. We ended our night with burgers, corn on the cob, brownies and some good red wine. Does it get any better? We will find out today!

Truly golden birthday

My golden birthday was this weekend; I turned 25 on the 25th! Since Boyfriend Matt was in Vegas, I had the opportunity to celebrate with a number of other awesome people. :-) There’s really nothing like seeing old friends. They remind you of who you have been, and who you’ve become, and frankly, all of my old friends are fantastic people so it is just fun to spend time with them!

On Friday Emily and I enjoyed an evening of dinner, the Parent Trap (Lindsay Lohan version, natch), Trader Joe’s almond champagne and brownies. On Saturday I got to hang out with Adam, another ND pal. We had a great dinner out and played a few board games – I won our game of Scrabble, and he and his friend Scott both schooled me in Trivial Pursuit. Today I made my way to Chicago for my evening flight to Fort Lauderdale, and luckily had enough time to get lunch with Patrick at Uncle Julio’s Hacienda. I had a chile cheese relleno (a green pepper stuffed with cheese, battered and fried and topped with peppers and onions) that was quite yummy. Patrick generously offered to store my car and drive me to the airport, saving me the $50 parking fee I would have incurred otherwise. Now I’m just recharging my laptop in the airport lounge and waiting to board my flight to Fort Lauderdale! Hope y’all are having great spring breaks, wherever you are.

Published...ish

Today I discovered that some research I did for a professor last year has actually been published, and though I'm not a co-author or anything, I'm mentioned and thanked. Pretty exciting, eh?

The rest of today was busy: five hours of work at the hospital, class, getting an oil change, doing laundry and dishes, returning movies and empty kegs, donating clothes, baking bread, cleaning out the fridge, working three hours at the front desk and so on. I'm trying to get everything done before I leave for spring break. Tomorrow brings more class and work, dinner with Boyfriend Matt, Mary and Jeremy at Amadeus, bar night at Necto and bowling. Friday, I head out of town. The weekend in Chicago and Urbana-Champaign celebrating my 25th birthday should be fun, and I can't wait to go to Florida after that. Tanning, shopping, girl time, the King Tut exhibit... what more could a girl ask for?

And apparently no one reads my blog except my dad, Klein and some anonymous person. Now I feel more comfortable posting my innermost secrets. ;-)

Curiosity killed the blogger

So, I'm a naturally curious person. Some might call me nosy. I wouldn't say that, of course, but the assessment may hold a grain of truth. My problem: it drives me crazy not to know who is out there reading this. It's not that I have a problem with anyone reading it; I just want to know who y'all are. So, drop a comment and say hello! I'm curious to know who's getting all of my life details via UnaMusings. :-)

Useful running tool

I can't say enough about the wonderfulness that is the Gmap Pedometer. This is the perfect tool for runners, bikers or curious people who wonder how far they walk or drive every day. It has allowed Adrienne and I to plan our running routes perfectly. Instead of running and guessing our mileage, we're able to pick our favorite neighborhoods and routes beforehand, and we can rest assured that we'll run exactly as far as we should. I should also thank Cam, who introduced the site to me! Hope y'all enjoy it.

Congratulations, Mary and Jeremy!

I'd also like to echo Boyfriend Matt's congratulations to our Mary and Jeremy, who got engaged last night. They are great friends and we are so happy for them. Here's the picture of the six of us (our regular dinner group) after we heard the good news!



(L to R: Matt, Jeremy, me, Mary, Meredith, Alex.)

It was a success!

Last night's party was an unqualified success. 70+ people made it over to our apartment in the freezing cold to celebrate my birthday! I felt very loved (a much better feeling than today's, which is primarily "hungover" and "needing to clean"). The menu, prepared and executed by Boyfriend Matt, consisted of Arepas with Pulled Pork and Pickled Onions, Chicken Quesadillas, Pepitos, Tamalitos, Chili Cheese Dip and Cheesy Corn Dip. The food was delicious, and a few particularly rave reviewers (Dan on the tamalitos and Jesse on the chili cheese dip) convinced Matt that our partygoers enjoyed it! Roommate Jenny put together a terrific party music mix and even remembered to include favorites such as Britney Spears's Toxic and Journey's Don't Stop Believing.

Two Merediths also contributed greatly to the party's success. One came early bearing armloads of gifts and spent the entire evening doing extremely helpful and menial tasks. The other came late bearing multiple cakes that were absolutely amazing.



Thanks for an awesome night, everyone! (Also, more pictures are available here.)

Wish List

I always thought it would be cool if you could have a life registry. The gift registry itself is a very nifty thing. It's a socially acceptable way for you to tell everyone exactly what you want, and it's a convenient way for them to buy you something that they know you'll appreciate. It would have been especially useful at Christmas, when I was trying to buy gifts for Best Friends Meg, Jill and Bethany. At another time in my life I saw these gals daily and knew exactly what they wanted or needed for the birthdays. Now, though we keep in touch, I don't have a clue. I don't see their apartments regularly enough to know what funky art print will match their bedspread, or whether or not they have a good martini shaker. I end up getting gifts for them that are nice but not as tailored as they could be.

The problem is, the gift registry seems to have caught on in only two situations: for weddings and for babies. I don't plan to have a wedding or a baby anytime soon, so this puts me - and most of my friends - in a bit of a crunch.

However, Boyfriend Matt (who has often spoke of wanting a life registry) discovered the Wish List feature on Froogle, a Google feature. Intrigued, I made a Wish List for myself earlier today. I understand how rough it can be to want to buy a friend a gift, but not know what to get. Here's hoping I can alleviate your struggles. ;-) If all else fails, this list will help remind me what I should buy myself if I win the lottery!

Party prep is starting

Boyfriend Matt is already deep in preparations for the birthday bash he is throwing for me on Saturday, and I can't wait. If it's anything like last year's party, it will be a blast. Last year was an awesome mix of old friends and new friends, great food and fine drinks (except the flaming 151 shots! those were unnecessary!). We did our first round of grocery shopping on Tuesday; he is out looking for the harder-to-find items right now while I prepare for my Evidence midterm tomorrow. Cooking will be a three day process that begins tonight.

For New Year's, I made a myriad of resolutions. Some are harder to keep than others. The first, which was "work out regularly", has actually gone quite well thanks to Adrienne's and my decision to train for the half marathon and the rock climbing classes. The second, a more vague "look nice" has been tougher. I realize that as I transition into the real world, I need to cut back on my uniform of jeans and t-shirts. I should wear proper make-up regularly (always a struggle). I should do my hair nicely, avoiding ponytails. Maybe I shouldn't wear flip flops all winter.

At the beginning of the semester, looking nice was kind of fun. I felt good about myself, partially because of all the compliments I received. (Thanks, guys!) However, it's not as fun to dress up anymore. It's hard work. Heels hurt my feet. My hair takes timeto tame. Skirts in the winter? Too cold. Maybe making the change will be easier in the summer, when I don't have the option to wear jeans to work. Who knows. I'll keep working on it, though.

Sore!

I attended my second-to-last rock climbing class yesterday. I was partnered with a guy who didn't seem to want to climb at all, so I spent a lot of time on the wall. This made for a few great accomplishments and incredibly sore muscles today. Amrita, Adrienne and I are heading back this afternoon to give our routes another try!

Matt, Josh, Nicole and I spent Saturday evening at Gratzi. We had mussels and some cheeses for an appetizer. Josh and I both had their pasta of the day, which was noodles in cream sauce with proscuitto; Matt had pasta with sausage in a red sauce. Both were pretty good but quite simple. Nicole had a delicious tuna with a fried risotto cake, but when she got sick later that night we had to re-evaluate whether the dish was "fantastic" or "improperly cooked". For dessert we tried the cannoli and the tiramisu, both of which were yummy. Overall verdict: not bad, but there are better places to spend your money (and your Saturday night!).

You may not see many posts over the next few days, as Matt and I will be gearing up to prepare for Saturday night's birthday party. This means many trips to the grocery store, preparing pepitos, quesadillas, tamalitos, purchasing alcohol and figuring out logistics in general. If we missed you on the evite, drop me a line and come by on Saturday night, my place, anytime after 8:30.

Relaxing day

Last night Boyfriend Matt and I hosted a delicious Southern themed dinner party; Meredith/Alex and Mary/Jeremy were in attendance. Mary and Jeremy brought a fantastic bourbon peach cobbler. Alex and Meredith came with delicious collard greens. Matt and I made a huge pitcher of mint juleps and fried chicken with a pecan crust. Yum!

Today I ignored all of the work I should have done. I slept in. Went to the mall and bought the pasta attachment for my beloved red Kitchenaid mixer. During the afternoon, Matt and I sat around watching the Olympics, making pot stickers and butternut squash ravioli. I hope to do a little work between now and dinner at Gratzi with Burns and Nicole. All in all: a relaxing, rejeuvenating day.

The Michigan Daily

Boyfriend Matt’s brilliant thoughts are immortalized in print! (Here is the article to which he was referring in his letter.)

It's been awhile!

It's been awhile! You wouldn't think a brand-new-blogger would neglect her brand-new-blog for so long, but if she were busy, she might. On Thursday, I bowled my worst game in recent years. Hopefully, this is because I am adjusting to my very own brand new bowling ball (an early birthday present/late Christmas present from my friend Nolan - thanks Nolan!). My thumb kept getting stuck in the ball, and presumably the two drinks at bar night beforehand didn't help much. After four frames, I had an eleven. An eleven!! No good.

On Friday night, Matt and I got all gussied up and celebrated our two year anniversary with dinner at the Earle Uptown. His review is about the same as mine: pretty good food, a few standouts (I loved the stuffed artichoke and the Puree d'Haricots) but a bit too expensive to go back.

Saturday was a dreary day of movie watching, shopping, errands, a bit of reading and an early bedtime. On Sunday, Adrienne and I dragged ourselves out of bed and went on a five mile run despite the fresh snow and slush covering the streets and sidewalks. It was slow, but we finished the whole thing and felt pretty good about it. The rest of the day was spent reading, getting a pair of eyeglasses (an early birthday present from Dad - thanks, Dad!) and attending a couple of Super Bowl parties. Mom suggested that I take a terrific edible contribution to the parties - a large pan of green jello decorated with cool whip to look like a football field. Easy and fun. I was cheering for the Steelers, since I don't think Lisa or Ryan would have given me any other choice, so I was happy with the result of the game. One for the thumb!

Secret shopping

Thanks to a rough day of rock climbing Monday (my partner Amrita made everything look so easy!) and a chilly run yesterday, I'm happy to have a mostly-day-off. This afternoon I will celebrate by secret shopping an area department store, browsing around the mall and picking up part of a two year anniversary gift for Boyfriend Matt.

Yes, you read that right. Two years! We are celebrating by going out to dinner at the Earle Uptown on Friday evening; the restaurant comes highly recommended by Jeremy and Mary. I can't wait to dress up, get pretty and enjoy an evening out on the town with my favorite guy.