Signed, Sealed, Delivered (no. 81)

There were no excuses this year…and next year, I’ll likely be in the throws of work at Big Law.  So I picked up two boxes of holiday cards and sent out about 30 in the week before Christmas.  It’s not a very impressive number but it’s the most I’ve sent in years (and maybe ever).  One lesson learned (in the event I do this again) — I’ll probably search to send out New Year’s cards as that give me the week after Christmas to also write and mail out…and get rid of all of the holiday stamps!

Dust of the Dancing Shoes (no. 36)

On Halloween (yes, I’m a bit behind on this write-up!), Mark and I handed out candy with friends and then headed into the Downtown Crossing area of Boston to show off our own costumes at a club. When the club of choice reached capacity before 10p(!), we headed over to The Liquor Store which had a smaller cover charge and plenty of festive music.  The night also corresponded with Daylights Saving so we got an extra hour of dancing (although, in full disclosure, Mark and I headed home at 1a…er, 12a).

Can you guess who we were?

And some pictures from the club:

Extra, extra! (no. 32)

Two weekends ago, Mark flew down to DC for the weekend of friends, food, football (Colts 17 – Ravens 15!!), and such.  One of the highlights of the 48 hours was our visit to the Newseum with friends Katherine and Jeremy.  I love museums, undoubtedly in part thanks to an upbringing of family memberships to Richmond’s art, science, and history museums.  Meanwhile, Mark and I had one of our more vivid early fights after I dragged him to an art exhibit in Atlanta.  But we both (all) absolutely loved the Newseum! 

The exhibits were varied, engaging, visually pleasing, and comprehensive.  The Newseum displays the front page of a paper from all 50 states along the sidewalk so Mark and I perused those before heading in.  Then, we started off with the Berlin Wall gallery which was incredibly powerful — in addition to actual slabs and an East German watchtower, the exhibit offered newsreels of the life of the Wall and detailed information about the division of Berlin and the stark reality of life in East Berlin. 

We next wandered through the temporary exhibit of photographs on the athlete by Walter Iooss.  These two, from a Cuba 1999 series, were my favorites.  I love the expression of the children in the street and the use of space and shape in the second.

We spent a considerable amount of time perusing a temporary exhibit, G-Men and the FBI.  In addition to detailing some of the most famous crimes in twentieth century US history, the exhibit “boasted” the Unibomber’s cabin, the car used by the DC Snipers, and the electric chair that killed the Lindbergh baby kidnapper.

The permanent News Corporation News History Gallery was absolutely amazing — an exhaustive timeline of news, an amazing collection of historic newspapers and magazines, interactive touch-screens…it was fantastic!  The 9/11 gallery was simple and tasteful.  And as a law school graduate, I loved the First Amendment gallery with the Tinker armband and “Bong Hits for Jesus” banner. 

Meanwhile, with only 2.5 hours in the museum (parking meters), we didn’t get an opportunity to see everything (lots of really interesting films were located throughout) and I could have spent more time in each exhibit.  Mark and I agreed – we’ll plan to go back again!

An Education (in Solitude) (no. 91)

A couple weeks ago, I didn’t have to work on Veteran’s Day.  With all of my friends busy with work and the arrival of Oscar season (my favorite!), I headed over to the local movie theater and caught An Education, written by Nick Hornby and starring the luminous Carey Mulligan in a breakout performance.  Given the reviews, I had very high expectations and while they weren’t entirely met (the ending wrapped up a tad too nicely), the small and quiet film was the perfect accompaniment to a rainy day of solitude (in no small part because there was no need to grasp someone’s hand at a suspenseful moment).  Basic synopsis: Mulligan plays sixteen-year-old Jenny, a discontented girl who dreams of symphony and art but feels destined for a dull life until she meets and willingly is seduced by the much-older David.  The acting is truly superb and director Lone Scherfig has a perfect grasp of the place and time (London, 1960s) on the cusp of great social revolutions (civil rights, feminist/sex).  I additionally appreciated a few small scenes in which David’s contradictory nature (particularly that of experience v. awkward ignorance) hinted at the coming revelation.  After completing this item, I’d willingly do it again!

fABulous (no. 15)

I’m in week six of The Internship of Diminishing Returns (copywright pending) and desperately trying to think of ways to make the minutes pass between the tasks I’m handed.  Since I just finished a lovely novel (The Help by Kathryn Stockett) and have nothing on hand to read and as I appear to have exhausted the Internet, I decided I’d update the list with a(n unnecessary) note that I remain on pace to complete number 15 – attending an abs class at the gym once a month.

I’ve never been much of a gym class person.  I find it preferable to do my weight training (with a magazine in hand) and cardio (plugged into the TV) solo.  When Mark and I have belonged to the same gym, I”ll weight train with him.  But I don’t really enjoy the closed-door, mats down, everyone in sync feel to gym classes.  Plus I boast both a bad lower back and shaky right knee that makes some classes (like step) painful. 

Abs classes, however, have become an exception (it helps that they are 30 minutes at both the Boston and Washington Sports Clubs).  And the instructor at the WSC has been great at pointing out and offering modifications for exercises that might trigger lower back issues.  So I’ve participated in 10 of the 34 classes I need to qualify for a green item (which means I’m narrowing in on 1/3 of the way through my 1001 days?!)

 

According to one website, here are the 10 most effective abs exercises.  In my abs classes, I’ve done 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, and 10.

Sister Act (no. 33)

"Greenville" by Jeff Pittman (click painting to go to website)

I’m not sure if readers (not that I have any) would get the allusion to Whoopi Goldberg’s 1992 movie but this post’s title actually refers to a 24-hour trip to Greenville, NC, to visit my sister and her family.  Although Sharon and I get together a few times a year, I haven’t been to her home since college!  It’s a bit off my beaten path (I never drove within an hour of it during the time I lived in Atlanta and it’s obviously not close to Boston), and we end up seeing each other at my parents’ home in Richmond or at family beach weeks.  But this fall, the timing is perfect as I am currently interning in Washington, DC, for ten weeks (this is my fourth).  I hopped on a train to Richmond last Friday, went out to dinner with friends, and the next morning, headed down to Sharon’s with my parents.

The day was low-key and relaxing.  We spent most of it in Sharon’s beautiful house, chatting and watching college football, and took a late afternoon walk through the neighborhood.  It was a lovely fall day!  After a nice home-made dinner (warm chicken salad, broccoli, and challah bread), we went to the high school chorus’s production in which Lauren (my youngest niece) performed a duet of “A Whole New World” from Aladdin.  She was adorable!  The rest of the evening included more catching up and warm brownies with ice cream.

Unfortunately, I failed to take pictures though I’m hoping Mark and I will be able to go back in June for my oldest niece Taylor’s high school graduation.  But since a blog post without color is inappropriate….

The Agony, No Ecstacy (no. 51)

I abhor needles, so I didn’t give blood until 2007 when I made a pact with God to donate should my beloved Indianapolis Colts win the Superbowl.  When they did, I cried tears of joy, called my brother who was in Germany to dance around the kitchen, and then sobered up when I realized a date with Red Cross was in my future.  This dutiful and irrationally superstitious person found herself on a makeshift stretcher two months later, chatting nervously with a Red Cross worker and trying to ignore the situation.  The blood giving went pretty well.  I read a magazine and averted all attention from the tube sticking into my left arm.  After I had been sucked sufficiently dry, I was escorted to a table for juice and cookies where I continued to read my magazine until I began to feel uncomfortable… looked lopsidedly at a volunteer….tried to say something….and fainted.

Even this image makes me feel ill...

In addition to being dutiful and irrationally superstitious, I am apparently a glutton for punishment so a few months later, in summer 2007, I signed up for a blood drive at the law firm where I was summering.  I warned the Red Cross personnel about my previous fainting spell, got myself stuck, and again tried to ignore the pulsing, uncomfortable sensation emanating from my left arm.  Once done, I sat up, chatted with a technician who started discussing Mel Gibson’s movie, Apocalypto*, and shortly thereafter, half-passed back out onto the stretcher where I remained for a good 20 minutes until I was able to rise safely.

*note: I have never seen this movie but talking to a woozy girl at the blood station about a movie that apparently involves human sacrifices was not the technician’s smartest decision that day.

Giving blood nonetheless has reappeared on my 101 list.  Surely, this indicates that in addition to be dutiful, irrationally superstitious, and a glutton for punishment, I am likely clinically insane.  But blood drives were offered several times over the course of my year clerking for a federal judge in Boston.  So when one popped up the very last week of my clerkship, a week in which work was almost entirely wound up, I decided I had no excuse.  I made my way to the mobile blood bank, filled out my paperwork, and got onto my bed.  Positioned with a window view, I ignored the Mass General worker who got my needle and tube ready.

The mood to which I aspired

And then, my friends, what can only be described as a painful shock to my system occurred.  Eyes afixed to some lone construction worker in the distance, I braced myself for impact (“please relax your arm,” I heard) and then felt a slicing knife-like sensation burn across my arm.  Sucking in my breath sharply, I heard the worker mumble something, move something around on my arm (OUCH!!!), and then ask me to please wait while she called over her supervisor.  The two women softly discussed something. Then, as the supervisor explained she was going to reposition the needle, massive pain ripped through my arm. A yelp and a grimace later and the needle was removed.  Apparently, the first nurse failed to steady my vein which moved upon needle entry.  And with that, my day of volunteering was done.  Apparently, once the vein is stuck, there is no more sticking for it that day…or for three months.

Such agony with no ecstacy.  Instead, I fear I will be forced to try yet again to give blood at some later date.  Yes, with that sentence staring back on the page, it is confirmed.  Clinically insane.

Slice of Heaven (no. 21)

The stars aligned this week for me to attempt to make my childhood favorite lemon cream cheese, graham cracker crust pie: (1) I have been feeling crummy and have lost my appetite (not the worst thing the week before I need to squeeze into a dress for a wedding in which Mark is the best man) but for some reason, the memory of the smooth lemony filling coupled with the grainy texture of the crust had me craving a bite, and (2) I was bitchy to Mark over the phone and needed a way to make it up to him.  Solution: pie!  The fastest way into a man’s heart is….sex…but after that, sweets!

Cooking really intimidates me (see no. 19) so of course, I hemmed and hawed about getting started. I checked my shopping list twice, stumbled over to the local grocery, and got everything…except the premade graham cracker crust which was lacking in the store’s inventory.  Back home, I called around to all the stores that might carry said crust (including behemoth supermarket) to no avail.  A quick google search resulted in a recipe for the crust.  Two recipes for one dish??

After a second trip out of the apartment to a second grocery spot, I was armed with the ingredients and two recipes…It was go time.  Can I just say the joy experienced from the discovery that one of your favorite dishes, a dish that takes you back to the innocence and wonder of childhood, takes mere minutes to make is unparalleled!  I pounded away on the graham crackers and then got the crust concoction carefully placed in the pan to cook; whipped up the filling and sour cream topping; and had it chilling in the refrigerator in 15 minutes!

And voilà: Mark forgave me (the pie didn’t hurt!) and I was actually hungry when I took my first bite!
Recipe:

• Crust: Mash up 1.5 cups of graham crackers and place in bowl with a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, 6 tablespoons of melted butter, and 1/3 cup of sugar.  Mix and then place in pan.  Use the bottom of a cup/glass (mixing cup, drinking glass) to mash crust until flat.  Bake 7 minutes.  [Recipe courtesy of Marie here.]
• Filling: Mix 8 oz cream cheese, a can of Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk, 1/3 cup lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon vanilla until smooth.  Pour into graham cracker crust.
• Extra: Take some sour cream (maybe 1/2 cup) and mix in brown sugar.  Add thin layer on top of filling.
• Let sit several hours in fridge!

Julie and Julia and Kate (no. 19)

Because my job this summer is very low key (and presumably, my upcoming law firm job will not be), I realized now would be the perfect time to attempt to cook at least five meals in one week.  It also happened to correspond with the opening of Julie and Julia which was not intentional on my part but makes for a neat coincidence!

I am definitely not a cook. I once asked my mother why she never taught me to cook and she replied, “So you would find a husband who would cook for you.”  This arrangement showed a lot of foresight because Mark is an amazing cook! I am blessed to have a husband who makes dinner for us every night we eat in.  Of course, given my track record, Mark is probably blessed as well — that I’m not cooking! The first (and one of the only times) I attempted to cook for Mark, I decided to include corn on the cob. I filled a ceramic bowl with water…put it on the boiler…and three minutes later, the bottom of the bowl cracked open and the hot water spilled all over the kitchen floor.  So it was not without trepidation that I enlisted the help of various cookbooks we received as wedding presents and the handy computer (sample searches during the evenings included “boil broccoli” and “ounce to cup”).

Despite my own misgivings, the week was a complete success!! Mark raved about each of my dishes (four of the five were totally new recipes for both of us).  Below is a pictorial tour of our dining adventures…

I’ve added the recipes (most involve a Word document download) so that you can try them!  I definitely recommend all of them.  Not only were they lovely dishes, none was particularly time-consuming. On average, you can whip these together in 30 minutes!

Sunday: Summer Chicken and Caprese Salad

Monday: Tuna Steaks with White Beans accompanied by White Beans, Artichoke, Sundried Tomatoes, and Black Olive Tapanade

Tuesday: Prosciutto and Fig Pizza

Wednesday:  Mexican Pork Chops (slow cooker)

Thursday: Clams Linguine

Fore! (no. 13)

Back from a full round of golf with Mark and our friends, Sam(antha) and Mike! I am totally exhausted and I have a feeling my glutes are going to be sore tomorrow! According to Mark’s calorie tracker, we burned nearly 1000 calories playing for 5 hours. We teed off around 2 at President’s Golf Course and finished just before 7. I shot a 56 on the front nine (which included my best hole a par five which I parred!) and a lowly 62 on the back.  I don’t know that I’ll rush to do 18 again as I find nine holes to be quite satisfying and also better for time commitments, but it’s nice to know I can do a full 18!