Kitty photo shoot!

Alright, so it seems that three photos is their max. No worries, I'm nowhere near becoming a crazy cat lady, and in fact, these aren't even mine. I have, however, had the pleasure of watching them do laps around the living room, wrestle, and try to throw themselves through the front window (picture a bird flying into a glass pane) for the past year and I'm certainly going to miss these little guys once I move out at the end of the summer. What with all of the ear scratching, feeding and making sure their water bowl is full, I feel like we've bonded; Take care, (Jeze)Belle and Willow.

Celebrating America's Birthday

You know you had a successful 4th of July when...

Your 9 guests somehow consume nearly 9 liters of delicious, homemade Sangria.

You've managed to procure a grill, currently sitting on your back deck, and successfully grilled everything in sight.

You wake up to find one of your friends still in your living room, and asleep on your couch.

Or, when you've not only experienced the aforementioned but are nursing a massive hangover. Yes, it was a fabulous Fourth indeed. My roommate and I held an impromptu barbeque; all attendees brought an array of grillables and we provided copious amounts of (yes, you guessed it) sangria for the group. Our recipe was fairly budget friendly (laugh all you want, there was indeed Franzia used) but surprisingly delicious. See below.

1 box of Franzia ("Cabernet Sauvignon")

1 bottle of rum

1 cup orange juice

1/2 liter lemon lime seltzer

1/2 cup white sugar (add more for liking)

(chopped and added)

2 apples

2 peaches

2 oranges

1 lemon

1 lime

It's summer and P.S. I need a job

New season, new look, long time much? Very long time. As is evidenced by the gross lapse in posts, the past few months clearly got away from me. But, in all seriousness, would you be inside nerding out* and diligently posting to your blog when this was literally right outside your window? Yeah, I didn't think so.

*Nerding out: Recently heard this term used by one wonderful roommate of mine. "Nerd" as a verb? How brilliant. I will be permanently adding this to my daily vernacular.

Anyway, now that I've rediscovered my account and dug up my password, it's time to start typing away. And, conveniently enough, since I'm both without classes AND a job, I've got PLENTY of time on my hands these days. Not exactly something to celebrate or brag about, for that matter, but I might as well make the best of it.

Recent cost effective ventures during my fiscal freeze (pending temporary, part-time summer employment):

Hiking Wallace Falls













Hiking Rattlesnake Ridge












Hiking Mt. Si












Watching naked bike riders at the Solstice Parade












Entertaining lovely friends from Boston
(Yeah, alright, this did include $15 trip to the top of the Space Needle, but it turned out to be a lovely, and hilarious, time)

"Winter" Weather in the Northwest

I have moved to the land of the perpetually runny nose. We're looking at about 7 days of not just mist but serious, steady, unrelenting rain. The sky hangs just above the rooftops and there is hardly a moment when my socks aren't soaking. In reality, this isn't much different than central New York in the middle of January, except my finger tips aren't frozen and I'm not wading through knee high snow drifts. But, there's something enchanting about snow, where as rain just breeds bad moods. That being said, the drab is interspersed with an occasional, absolutely gorgeous, sunny and mild, day. I've included a (poorly taken, amateur level) video as proof. This is of Red Square, a central part of the University of Washington campus; the beautiful stone building is our library and, even though you can't see it (thanks to the fabulous quality of said short), Mt. Rainier is looming in the distance, just beyond the fountain.

Coming out of the Bravo closet

That title is in homage to my dearest roommate and one of the many fabulous, deep, "pondering the meaning of life" conversations we've had this quarter. Well, alright, this particular one featured reality television and formal attire. Not exactly life changing, but totally enjoyable. I want to begin by simply stating: television programming of the reality variety, viewed as an escape from (real?) reality, a much needed break after a long hard day of work, or a way to mindlessly kill a rainy afternoon (this is Seattle, it happens), is in no way reflective of the essence of your character, or indicative of your intellectual capacity. I know some wonderfully bright, lovely people that partake in the likes of such guilty indulgences as "The Bachelor" or "Flava of Love" (although, I must say, the latter is a particularly awful show, isn't it? Even I can't stomach that garbage). Everyone knows someone who watches TV while espousing their desire for quality, educational programming and condemning those who use it for sheer entertainment purposes. Well, encourage these folks to pick up a book (I absolutely love fictional literature, I must say), newspaper or magazine, and tell them to suck it. Yes, these shows are often cheaply done, poorly structured, manufactured, superficial and oftentimes featuring deplorable human beings. Sometimes I even need to switch the channel or throw on the 'mute', when the grating sound of two tweens bickering over a cashmere cardigan becomes too much to handle. I acknowledge their flaws, I embrace their shortcomings, and I can't deny that these programs serve their purpose quite well: mindless entertainment.* That being said, have I seen "Jersey Shore"? Um, "obvi". Does it fall into the category of poorly themed reality TV meant to follow and stir up the lives of "ordinary" folk, with a dash of pop culture and a pinch of pettiness? Then yes, yes I've seen it.

Everyone (radio personalities, native Jersey-ites, even my coworkers) is in a tizzy about this new show on MTV, and everyone has their own opinion about it. Fair enough. Well, here's mine. I'm tickled pink by America's recent emphasis on, and fascination with, a very specific group of tri-state area Italian descendants. Hailing from Long Island, it nearly feels like home turning on the tube to see a group of individuals tawlking about the price of their tan and brand of protein shake. However, if you're going to purport to record the experiences of said demographic, MTV, then first and foremost you should make sure that they're all in fact from those specified locations. One of the dudes is from Rhode Island; another chick is from Poughkeepsie. Last time I checked, neither of those areas fall within the 10-mile Nassau, Staten Island, Jersey radius. Granted, the rest of the members are from these fabled locations, but, still... And, of course, they're all belligerent, spray-tanned, illiterate, gutter-mouthed floosies, boys and girls alike. I know, I know that sounds uncharacteristically harsh, but such is the truth. And, quite often, it's not pretty (much like the aforementioned cast-mates).

*A few stellar reality shows to check out if you have some time to kill/waste/use unproductively, all thanks to our friends at Bravo: Top Chef, Project Runway (alright, so that's now on Lifetime), and the Housewives series. Stay away from Million Dollar Matchmaker, though; Patty's kind of frightening.

Never try to cut haircut costs

This post is fairly self indulgent (well, I suppose no more than usual). The past few days, I've realized that there are now three things that I will never, ever skimp on:

One, beds and all things related (I am, of course, referring to pillows and linens).

Two, mouthwash and/or floss (my teeth and I have been through some tough times).

Three, haircuts (please see below).

A few days ago, I chopped off all my hair and in an effort to be economical (yes, cheap, what have you) I went to a place that I was not familiar with. Yup, in this case bargain was synonymous with disastrous; the cut looked like it was done with a hatchet: very graduate chic, and really, not at all cute. 24 hours later (and a restless night of sleep, although, that might be related to the host of other assorted sleep issues that I've been having) I found myself at a lovely salon (which I knew was lovely though I was far too freaking frugal to go to in the first place). And, there you have it, here I am, 48 hours and 4 inches of hair later. It's cute. And, in the end, rather costly. Great...

One paper and 3 days left before I'm on a redeye flight to JFK. Three fabulous weeks of vacation, and I cannot wait. Boston, Vermont, Long Island...

'Simpler Times', Indeed

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of all time. Yes, yes, there's delightful, excusable gluttony and oftentimes silly carousing, but more importantly, you're with your family and kicking-off the fabulous holiday season; there's finally a chill in the air, you can see your breath, and the smell of woodsmoke is in the air! Bring on the Christmas songs! Bring on the twinkly lights! Bailey's, Andes Mints and Peppermint Mochas! Charlie Brown trees, the Griswolds are on TV and an animated clay elf just wants to be a dentist! YES. I love it. (Chel, are you laughing and/or mocking me yet?) I also absolutely adore buying Christmas gifts (or, well, gifts in general) for people, but as we all know, grad school is an exercise in frugality. I'm afraid I won't be able to enjoy that quite as much this year (just WAIT till Christmas, 2011!). Ahh, I digress...

This year, I had the privilege of having my first Thanksgiving not on Long Island, but at the home of my fabulous friends residing in Capitol Hill. And, even though I was thousands of miles away from family, it was pretty awesome. A handful of kids from my program were all in the city, so we gave thanks over 5 bottles of wine, "Pilgrim Punch", and an AMAAAAZING spread, thanks to our hosts. (Said spread included gluten free stuffing AND desserts, so needless to say, I was especially thankful). The afternoon to evening to late night included great conversation, football, cooking, Wii and, uhh, a couple rounds of Kings (yeah, did I mention that large quantities of adult beverages were consumed?). The following photo pretty much sums it up. Friends, fun, glutenless deliciousness... And, a VERY fitting beer brand.

(Is it obvious that, since figuring out how to, I'm all about uploading photos to this thing?)