Around Town: Easter Weekend (2/2)

Donuts.  Look yummy.  Taste less.  Oh well.

Part 1

Where did I leave off?  Right.  Sunday.  So, while the farmer's market may not be a tradition, Easter Sunday Resurrection Rolls most certainly are.  Basically they are sugar dough wrapped in marshmallows and when they bake the marshmallow melts leaving the dough hollow on the inside.  Yummy, but almost too sweet if such a thing exists.  Tradition I will carry on to infinity?  I think yes.  Just as soon as I lean how to make them...

Anyway, church this year was a combined service at Davies Symphony Hall. <dork> It was amazing! I always hate that they don't let you sing in concerts, but since this was church I could sing all I wanted.  Sweet.  We sat in orchestra which was indescribably cool other than that I was taking a picture before we started and then a man sat directly in front of me.  </dork>

I am purposely not talking about the camera debacle, but there was one, and these will be the last pictures from this camera for a while.  </idontwanttotalkaboutit>

After church we went home to change clothes and then went to go see/participate in Bring Your Own Big Wheel.  Basically, it's a "race" down one of the steeper hill in the city that includes around seven hairpin turns.  I went down on a tiny plastic motorcycle which was awesome, but did not have a way to steer.  Let's just say I didn't win in the traditional sense.  Or in any sense really.  There's a reason there are no pictures of me in the race.

Home.  Dinner of yummy food that I appreciate more and more the longer I have to feed myself.  The rest of the day was uneventful which was actually probably not good considering that I had (have) so much work to do.  It's beginning to be time for mantras and all-nighters.  I cannot even describe how much I'm not looking forward to that part.

In unrelated news I am still somewhat stunned that I had to break this up in to two posts.  I probably didn't HAVE to, but on some level I'm kind of impressed with myself for being able to eek this out for content... I mean.  I could have...  It was...  I talk too much.

By the way: church was at Davies Symphony Hall.

No big deal.

Sister Emma's pic: Mom at BYOBW.

Sister Emma pic: Me and my not very big wheel.

Sister Emma pic: Trying to get through the BYOBW crowd.

Around Town: Easter Weekend (1/2)

San Francisco airport.

So, in all the craziness that was the past few weeks I completely forgot to share pictures of going home for Easter.  It was absolutely lovely.  I got to see some of my favorite people and do some of my favorite things.  Just enough to tide me over until summer... granted, now "summer" is in two weeks, but still.

I flew in on Thursday night after a crazy day full of Freq Out rehearsals and worrying about getting to the airport.  Thank goodness I got there early because I then found out that my gold status expired last month, so I'm back to being a regular old passenger.  Poo.  I did get to use my backpack for this trip though.  Even if it was probably a bit of overkill.  It's good to use to practice with.

Friday I went to yoga class with my mom.  It was... well, it wasn't the first time I'd done yoga, but I think the last one was a fluke, so this one was better.  Granted I was not at all prepared for it clothing-wise.  Which doesn't explain how I was completely prepared gear-wise for an impromptu climbing session with some youth group friends after the Good Friday Tenebrae service (which was inexplicably held at noon).  Just go with it.

To say that the Saturday morning farmers market is a family tradition might be a bit of a stretch, but it is by far my favorite Saturday breakfast and everyone in my family knows it.  So usually, when I'm there for breakfast they indulge me and we go for a farmer's market breakfast.  Not that they hate it, but I get the sense that when I'm not around they typically go to sit down restaurants with waiters instead of pigeons to take away the leftover food.  Yeah.

In the afternoon I went out to lunch with Trevor & Co. in the sunset.  Just the beginning of the long list of people I miss terribly when I'm away.  We then trekked out to Stonestown for browsing and wandering, waiting far too long for a bus.  Ahh Muni, predictably unpredictable.

Of course then there was Sunday... but this post is getting quite long, so I'll stop here and make this part one of two.  Who knew I was going to have so much to say about a weekend.

Waiting to be picked up.

Pretty lights

Dad at the Farmer's Market.

Emma, before her wanting to kill me stage.

Trevor with the bright red hair.

Taking a picture of myself in the mirror -- lent is over so I can use mirrors again.

Of Wool, Flannel, and Downton

This week I moved back to Chicago for school.  My roommate and I don't like to turn the heat on in our apartment to save money.  When the roommate is home this leads to long chats in the living room where we wind up eating ice cream because we've forgotten that it's cold.  When I'm home alone?  Not so much.  My mom's advice would be to "Put a sweater on", but sometimes that doesn't do much.  Once the seasons change and the temperature heats up, that will be all that's necessary.  In the meantime, here are some of the things I've been doing to keep from shivering.

1. Make Tea.  This is one of the more obvious ones, but certainly not wrong.  For me this is two-fold.  I get warm tea that is delicious and awesome AND when I'm really cold I'll stand over the kettle as I wait for the water to boil, soaking in the heat from the stove.  After which I'll go right back to the internet surfing, blanket wearing mode that I was in before tea was made.

2.  Cook or Bake.  Again, not the more original, but effective.  Along with the warm things eating, and the using of the stove, this one also gets you moving.  Movement means blood flow, means warmth.  That, and being holed up somewhere endlessly is much more enjoyable with a batch of brownies or a bowl of soup.  Or both.  And tea.

3.  Fold Warm Laundry.  Tell me I'm not the only one who will run the dryer again for five minutes to heat up the clothes/sheets/whatever that's in there so you can get the awesomeness of folding warm laundry.

4.  Curl Up and Watch TV.  I've found that what I really need when I'm cold is to be able to focus on something else.  Grab a blanket and the remote and cozy up for that NCIS marathon.  Or Friends if that's more your speed.  Whatever you watch, the more engaging the better, and you'll simply forget the cold.

5.  Get Some Exercise.  Pretty much the opposite of the last one, but once again with the movement, blood flow, and warmth thing.  Weather you play DDR on you Xbox or go run the treadmill in the shifty-looking exercise room in your apartment building, working up a sweat will make the cold less so.

6.  Wool.

7.  Leave the House.  Chances are that if it's cold in your apartment, it's colder outside.  That means that if you go outside and come back in, then the inside will feel warm by comparison.  Right?  This may work best if you walk to your destination as it offers you the most time spent outside in the cold.

8.  Invite a Friend Over.  Having someone else around doubles the body heat in the space, and also gives you something else to other than think about how cold it is.

9.  Go to Bed.  When all else fails, I've definitely gone to bed very early and/or stayed in bed very late.  What can I say?  Sometimes layers of flannel sound a lot better than a fifth cup of tea within an hour.  And not that I'm especially proud of this, but there was one time last week that I by the time I got out of bed the street lights were on.

This week a friend of mine is coming over for dinner.  We're going to be making lasagna and watching Downton Abbey (anyone else excited for the US premiere?  Bueller?).

Finals Week!

This is how excited I am that it's almost time for me to go home!

Finals week is this week and I'm so excited.  I have three exams, none of which I am especially worried about. I'm also super excited to be going home.  I hit up the airport Thursday night after class.  I'm pumped to go home and see my friends.  This will include going to my old school's nativity play, seeing my friend who spent the semester in Uganda, and giving my family Christmas presents that I'm super excited to give them.

All that being said, it IS finals week and I should probably go do some studying for those exams tomorrow.  Hopefully I'll be back with you guys on Friday, if not, I'll see you next week.

Going Domestic

It feels strange to say sometimes that I enjoy (some!) housework, but strange as it is, it's also true.  As long as I am not be rushed through everything, then I don't mind doing the washing and the ironing, the cleaning, the cooking and the baking.  I recently came across a list of Victorian Era chores assigned to days of the week (HERE, through another post on THIS blog I follow occasionally).  It seems so simple, so obvious.

I remember that as I was growing up.  My mom stayed home with my sister and I and every day of the week was reserved for a different chore.  I'm not sure we had baking on our list, and Daddy did the grocery shopping, but every day was assigned it's own chore.  My sister and I were expected to help.  Especially on cleaning day, dusting and picking up our rooms.  On washing day we would sit on the bed sorting socks.

The list got me thinking of all the things that I should be doing on a more regular basis.  Washing, ironing, cleaning, and baking among them.  Why not have a day for blogging though?  I already schedule posts to appear later than I write them.  Or a day reserved for catching up on all my television shows (I'm a TV major, let me have my fun).  On the more practical side a day for sorting through everything on my desk and dealing with things that need dealing with.  A day to go to the post office (something that's been needing to happen more and more lately).  A day to double check that all bills are paid.  A day to check in with my roommate, a day to change the sheets on my bed.

I can't help by think that I used to have days for things like this.  I can't help but wonder what happened to them.  With my changing schedule and constant homework situation, balanced with my level of procrastination, I do things in strange sequences as of late.  Washing doesn't get folded until days later, and ironing nearly goes forgotten.  Baking happens when I suddenly get the urge late at night.  Shopping is unplanned.  And all this leads to me staying up late into the night, or things not getting done at all.

So starting now I'm re-evaluating my schedule.  I'm creating lists and there are going to be changes around here.  I wasn't even expecting that when I started writing this post, I sort of talked myself into it.  Just now in the last two paragraphs.  But I think it does need to be done.  Ask me about this the next time you see me, yeah?  Cause I have no idea how it's going to work out.

Home Sweet Home

Home from Denver today.  I had a great time doing a bunch of crazy stuff, but more on that later.  The more exciting part about coming home is getting the apartment ready for my new kitty!  I got a call from my Uncle just before I left that some friends of ours were looking for a kitty-home while they go off on a crazy trip of their own.

No pictures yet (we're a little bit camera shy), but my roommate and I are now the proud owners of our own grey and white, middle-aged, slightly chubby, borrowed cat.  I'm very excited as I was considering adopting a cat before and one came around looking for a home.  I think this is going to be an interesting semester.