.cheese.

.winter in new england is rough.

we had a storm watch today, so the office closed at noon. there is currently no snow accumulation, and it has only been snowing a bit off and on. i actually was looking forward to a blizzard - when i'm home and can enjoy the snow without having anywhere to be, it's nice and peaceful.

all of the blustery winter weather makes me crave fondue. mmm. cheesy goodness. we didn't get a chance to make fondue while i was at dad's place in switzerland, so j and i will have to be sure to make some when we go in may.


.cheers.

.negative.

.feels like -5.

have i discussed yet how much i absolutely love boston winters? yeah... not so much.

.cheers.

.merry.

.merry (late) christmas!.

i was in switzerland for christmas, and couldn't post, but i hope everyone had a wonderful christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate). i'll post pictures from portugal and switzerland when j is back and i can load my pictures.

currently 13 degrees in cambridge, feels like -5. excellent.

oh. and i'll leave you with a picture of c's that i blatantly stole from her (which is why the quality is bad). do i really look like that when i'm taking pictures? yikes.


.cheers.

.so soon?.

.it is snowing.


no, this picture is not from today (thank god) - it's from last february. but, it is snowing. mind you, not the first snowfall of the year. that happened in mid-october (wha??). but, it is snowing, nonetheless.

so, j and i are listening to the smooth sound of kenny g's christmas carols and making cards. well, i am making cards. he is studying for finals.

to be honest, i was a bit relieved. the weather has been so wonky here lately - i think it was up to 70 at some point this past week. so bizarre. so, i am ready for snow. as long as the blizzarding, crappy boston weather holds off until i am back from my christmas trip, i will be fine. maybe not fine. boston winters suck. we'll see. maybe this year will be different.

maybe.

.cheers.

.sugar.

.i have been trying to cut back on my sugar intake.

honestly. and i've actually been really good about it! j has awakened me to this primal food kick, and, being the crazy veggie lover that i am, i'm enjoying it.

however, we all know i have a sweet tooth, and it's been hard for me to let go of the yummy sugary goodness of deserts.


so when i found these pictures from this summer, buried away in my files of images, i almost drooled.

these cupcakes are from sweet, a cupcakery fairly new to harvard square. now, they are not quite as good as trophy cupcakes (because, come on, i will always be a trophy lover), but they are pretty darn good. i must say, i consider myself a fairly good judge of cupcakes. i'm quite picky; i hate crappy, cheap frosting, and dry cupcakes make me gag. and sweet is pretty darn good. the frosting is excellent, and the cake isn't too bad either.


too bad i don't eat sugar anymore.

.cheers.

56 - done!

56. go out to high tea

so, i hadn't even remembered that this was on my 101 in 1001 list until i looked at the list for my last post and realized hey! i did that this summer!

and, the best part? i got to go with this lovely lady.

yep. that's right. i had three amazing females as house guests this summer! it was quite busy and hectic and full, but i loved it. first mom, then m, then bear. she was here the longest, which was great, because i hadn't seen her in a while. boston was her stopping point prior to heading across the pond to lille.

anyway, back to high tea. we went to high tea at upstairs on the square, which is, surprisingly, smack in the middle of harvard square. it is apparently a great restaurant, but this was the first time i had been there (j has had several snooty hah-vahd soirees there), and i loved it! the tea room is very pink and a fun mix of modern and old-fashioned. and the tea service was pretty good!

lots of yummy sweets, and some really good sandwiches. i think my favorite food was the bacon-wrapped date - it was amazing. i had the rose tea, my absolute favorite, and they bring you refills, which is nice.

all in all, a really great high tea experience. it made me think of all the times we used to go to the empress in victoria for high tea. mmm. i love tea.

and i love this little sister.


oh, and sorry for the terrible quality of the pictures - pulled c's pictures from facebook, and mine are just with my p & s. except the last one.

.cheers.

80 - done!

80. fly my mom out to visit me in boston

this was one of the items on my list that i was most looking forward to! way back in july, i forced mom out for a visit. just kidding, i know she wanted to see me.

she was here for a little over a week (10-19 july), and it was awesome. so much fun, and i'm glad that she was able to come out and see where i live, and explore boston/ new england a bit with me. i didn't take too many pictures, but here are some (both dslr and my point and shoot).

'dewey cheetham and howe.' fictitious law firm in harvard square. just say it out loud if you don't get it at first. mom got a kick out of this.

harvard law review building, where obama was president of the law review back in the day. mom is down on the chair in the left corner - she's hiding

me and mommy at the law review building.

mom and inger - long-time friend of mom's from their cooperstown days

candid shot of the ladies

beautiful janicki family

mom and inger at the beach

weeee. seagulls

for some reason, i love this beach shot. i think it's the rainbow umbrella

red sox game! mom at yawkey way (thanks doug!)

mom on spectacle island - one of the boston harbor islands. boston in the background

my beautiful mom! on the ferry to the harbor islands

note: contrary to what you might think, looking at these pictures - we did not wear the same thing every day that mom was here. most of the pictures were taken on a few days; i didn't take my camera with me very often when she was here.

anyway, i love my mom, and loved that she took time to come out to visit! the worst thing about living on the east coast is being so far away from family and friends.

love you, mom!

.cheers.

.oops.

.sorry.

i suck at blogging. just so lazy and busy lately.

here, have a flower.

not much new here. let's see, i had a cold, i fainted and had to go to the er, i had a cold again. work work work. mostly, i've just been lazy and not feeling like blogging. oh, and j still hasn't downloaded my summer pictures. damn him.

anyway, it's starting to feel like fall here. i actually love fall - the crisp air, the crunching through fallen leaves on the ground, everything apples (plain, cider, crisp, you know how it goes). we've also been making amazing crock-pot chili every weekend, which is awesome. there is nothing like chili on a cold, sometimes rainy fall day. but, it does make me shudder, thinking that fall will soon lead to snowy, snowy boston winter. sigh. i shall enjoy fall while it lasts, though!

.cheers.

.heat wave.

.it's been so hot here lately.

not today, necessarily, but this past week or so has just been unbearable. mainly due to the fact that we don't have air-conditioning. so, i have taken to indulging in ice-cold showers, in the hopes of cooling my body's core temperature.

and it works! until i get out of the shower and immediately start sweating again. but let's not get into that.

so, i'm just sighing, and remembering how i complained about the unusually cold summer up until now.


and how i wish it were lovely, cool spring again. until i remember how terrible the winters are here. it makes me want to bottle up this hot steamy weather and keep it in a jar for when it sta

.cheers.

.luxembourgers.

.burdick's is amazing.

just thought i'd throw that out there. it's a little chocolate shop right off of harvard square, on brattle street. it's teensy tiny, and there are only a few tables, which fill up quickly with college students and families. the atmosphere is fun, although the cashiers can be a bit rude sometimes, but the hot chocolate is to die for.

seriously, it's amazing.

thick and rich. just like hot chocolate should be. the only other place i have had hot chocolate this fabulous was in barcelona, where it was almost like pudding, and you dipped your churros in it.

to be honest, i'm as chocoholic as they come, and i can barely finish a small. they have dark, milk, and white hot chocolate - i have yet to try the white, but i imagine it is just as fabulous as the milk and dark.

oh, and did i mention that they have all sorts of fabulous pastries? i haven't tried too many, but i am slightly obsessed with what they call "luxembourgers," or french macaroons. chewey and soft, these babies are incredible.


the tart in the picture wasn't as amazing as i was hoping (it was all i could do to hold off on eating it long enough to take the picture, it looked so good), so i just ate the fruit and left the shell.

but those luxembourgers. whew, i tell ya. it's a good thing burdick's isn't closer to my house, or i would definitely be gaining some weight.

.cheers.

.i spy.

.more snow means more time indoors.



but, the other weekend was sunny. j played some snow football, so i went and wandered around the side-streets of cambridge.

the squirrels have been out in full-force lately - not sure why they love playing around in the snow, because it is *freezing* out. they make funny little tracks in the snow, too.

anyway, while i was wandering, i came across these two little guys that were running all across these two trees and some telephone wires. on of them definitely tried to attack me. i think he may have been slightly scared of my camera.

i think he's doing some sort of weird stretch here

this was when the squirrel tried to attack me

i think squirrels may be a new favorite animal. i know they're little rat-beasts, but they're so funny to watch. seriously, sometimes i just sit on a bench in cambridge common and watch squirrels. mostly in the spring/summer, though (except we don't really have spring here in ye olde new england). when it's nice.

halloooo!

.cheers.

.yikes.

.why i miss california.


j and i were going to go out to a nice dinner tonight, but i think it is much too cold for that. 9 degrees currently. brrr. it makes my lungs and nostrils actually freeze.

.cheers.

.lenovo.

.it shipped!.

it wasn't supposed to ship until the 28 - seriously, how long does it take to get parts and put a computer together?! - but it shipped yesterday! yay yay yayayayay! wow, can you tell i am excited? i will finally have a computer again, and won't have to steal j's. and it will be beautiful and new and shiny and big-screened. and will have sweet graphics.

so psyched.

in other news, dad is in town this weekend! he's rowing in the head of the charles, and i'm skipping out of work a bit early to meet up with him (is it pathetic/sad/evidence of us ea's being overworked that even skipping out a few hours early, i will be working overtime hours this week? yes). i'm going out to dinner with him and sue and his rowing buddies tonight at an italian restaurant. rowers need to load up on carbs before the race, and i need to load up on wine and tiramisu, so it works! should be a fun weekend, and who knows, maybe i'll be able to blog about it from my new laptop! we'll see.

and, in more news, alaska cancelled my flight home for christmas.

don't freak out, all you people who love me and demand that i come home for christmas!

i was just as shocked when, upon signing into my alaska online account, it said "due to scheduling conflicts..." blah blah. so i had to call, and the morning flight was cancelled, but i realized that this could actually work out for the best (as alaska has the same flights to/from boston/seattle every day), so, instead of staying on the night flight they put me on that same day, i requested the night flight for the day before! so i have a whole extra night in seattle to drink wine and eat ice cream cake with mary, and maybe fulfill some of my 101 in 1001 - walks around greenlake and discovery park, mom and dad?

so that's about all that's new with me. i've worked for two weeks straight (this is why conferences = bad), so i am ready. for. the. weekend!

.cheers.

.hurricane.

.these past two days have been incredibly muggy and sweaty. not that boston isn't always muggy and sweaty in the summer, but this is a different mugginess. it's much more dense and damp. like walking outside in a sopping wet, but still hot, comforter on. scratch that. shag rug.

thank you, hurricane hanna.

so i was walking to the store today, seeing as we badly needed milk and frozen blueberries, and was pleased with the air-conditioned goodness of shaw's. however, on my way home, it started to rain. in all fairness, i was somewhat hoping that it would rain, as i was already sweating as it was, and thought the rain would cool me down.

no.

it was that wet, tropical rain that is hot and not at all refreshing. like big shag rugs just falling on me. like walking home in a sauna.

thanks again, h. hanna.

so now there is a torrential tropical downpour outside that has been steadily falling for at least three hours, and the storm hasn't even hit us yet.

lovely.

i just hope that another hurricane does not disrupt my conference travel plans to new orleans for the sha in october. i need some beignets!


by the way, funny story:

as i was on the orange line coming back from work the other night, just minding my own business, doing my usual after-work-sudoku, i see a guy sit down one seat away from me. mind you, it was a fairly empty car (shocking, for rush-hour), so i was like, weirdo, and kept at my sudoku. then i see him, out of the corner of my eye, just staring at me.

naturally, i thought pervo/creepo/crazy man, and started looking around the car for large men, in case this guy grabbed me and tried to rape/stab/who-knows-what me.

he mumbled something.

excuse me?
i said, did you ever live in south africa?
um, no.
ah. you look like a girl that i went to school with there. who did a homestay in south africa.
i see. no, i have never lived there. i haven't even visited, although i would love to. i've heard it's beautiful.

he went on to explain that he was from south africa, was a pediatrician there, and spent all of his time off travelling. he had been in the states for two months. didn't like massachusetts at all, liked san diego and california, liked seattle. apparently he was forty - he did not look forty. at all.

to be honest, a lot of his story seemed a bit weird/shady/not true, but it was kind of neat that he was just a random chatty-kathy on the t. i feel like people get so wrapped up in their own little bubble that there is not enough of that human interaction.

.cheers.

.fiscal.year.

.this week is budget week.

.the bane of my existence.

well, not really. but it's pretty annoying/frustrating/eyebrow-pulling inducing/least fun part of my job. (i may be exaggerating, but only a little)

basically, i have been trying to determine what will be in our budget year for fy10 (and don't even get me started on this whole 'fiscal year' thing!).

and it astounds me how late some of these authors are! seriously, many of the projects on the classics list had contracted delivery dates from 2005 and 2006. three years ago! some even before that! it's ridiculous! and these are academics. i swear, they need to be herded, like sheep or children. these are the people that i so looked up to as a student. don't get me wrong, i still greatly admire those in academe. but honestly, people. i never turned papers in late. never! not even a day! and your manuscript is three years late? seriously? it makes me very cynical. i understand that emergencies pop up, i do. but there are only so many times i can take the excuse of "my wife and i had a child 8 months ago so i still am unable to work on the script." c'mon people.

it also astounds me how often people just don't respond to my emails or calls. how can you not respond to someone who has essentially hired you?

granted, we have many many amazing authors and editors who do get their scripts in on time, are very responsive, and are a joy to work with. it's just that other crowd that drives me nuts. it just is incredible to me how people who are under contract will be so late. i found one script that was supposed to come in 1997. still isn't in. sheesh.

in other news, yesterday was 'every student in the world pile back into boston day.' mayhem and turmoil, i say. so many people moving in! so much junk on the sidewalks! so many moving vans! ah, the good ol' days of college. how i miss thee.

i wish i could put up some of my pictures from my d-slr, but alas, dad still has the installation software, and without it, my computer doesn't recognize my sweet sweet camera. (c'mon dad! send it and the batt. charger already!)

*sigh* life is so hard.

.cheers!.

.charlestown.

.yesterday j and i decided to make an excursion to charlestown.

first, we got sidetracked by st. anthony's feast, this massive festival in the north end that was basically an excuse for all of the italians in boston to come out and celebrate their italianness.

the statue of st. anthony, with garlands of money hanging off of it. who knows where all that money went. hopefully to charity.

i had actually heard about the feast, but didn't know when/where it was, and i think i didn't really understand how huge it was, either. to give you an idea - j and i walked down the length of a block, and thought that we were approaching the end. nay. the festival definitely spider-webbed over several blocks, and continued on ahead for another few blocks as well. massive. there was a live band (as opposed to a dead band) that was playing some pretty sweet oldies covers, and lots of old ladies dancing.


apparently it is a huge deal, and it was really fun to be in that kind of artery-clogging food, shoddy carnival games environment. no, really, it was fun, and neat that we just happened to stumble upon the celebration. so many people, though!


i was most excited to come across the stand selling torrone, possibly my favorite food in italy. it's a type of nougat, and i generally don't like nougat, but it's just so darn good. creamy, sweet, usually with almonds in it. there was one really amazing place that sold it on the via dei servi in firenze, but i don't remember what it was called. so amazing. i haven't had it since i left florence, so i really wanted to get some, particularly in such an italian setting, but i didn't really want to lug it around all day. sad times. maybe next year i'll stumble upon st. anthony's feast again. i was actually a bit surprised to see it, since it's mostly a christmas treat, but oh well. i'll eat torrone any day.

.yum.

mmm. terrible but amazing food. too bad we weren't hungry. probably a good thing, actually.

so that was a fun and random stop on our excursion.

after the st. anthony's feast, we continued on across the bridge to charlestown, which is quite the quaint little area. it's right across the river from boston, but it was so quiet. the houses were beatiful - lots of brick and colorful shutters.

we ducked into the warren tavern, which is over 225 years old. it was built in 1780, and includes paul revere and george washington among its list of frequenters. it's a really neat old building, with beautiful wood walls and beams. i was very excited to see boddington's on tap. the atmosphere was really fun and laid back, and the beers were great. it was very cool to have a pint where george washington and other such company dined and drank! on the whole, a very fun tavern, although if you do go, please do not order the food. at least don't order the shepherd's pie. shepherd's pie is possibly my favorite food in the whole wide world, and i thought that such a fine establishment as warren's would serve good, english-style shepherd's pie. no. the meat was incredibly oily, the three peas and two carrot slices that were in there were over done, and the mashed potatoes were (i am positive) from a box. so, the food was not so great. the atmosphere and the beers, however, were fine, and i would go back there for another drink.


j and i did the freedom trail last year, but had left off the bunker hill monument for reasons that escape me now - perhaps it had started raining? who knows. so it was fun to wander around charlestown, and then see the bunker hill monument.


as we approached the monument itself, there was a demonstration going on, and a revolutionary war soldier was definitely firing a musket. dang, those things are loud! so so loud, and it was just one musket going off. i can't imagine being at an actual battle with those things, and having hundreds and hundreds of them going off. it would have been deafening. and it was a little disturbing to see how long it took for the 'soldier' to re-load. definitely enough time to get your head blown off. ah, the good old days of warfare.

he looked a bit like fr. art. i miss him.

the monument itself was, well, a monument. nothing too special in terms of architecture, i don't think, but j and i climbed all 294 steps (what a workout!) and the views from the top were awesome. there was also a grate at the top landing where you could see all the way down to the light shining below - a bit eerie to have a measly who-knows-how-old grate as the only thing separating you from a 221ft. free fall.

i thought it was funny that people somehow snuck coins out through the window and onto the ledge. it's not a fountain, people, it won't bring you good luck!

the lovely city of boston

all in all, a very good day.

.cheers.