A tale of two birthdays

Somehow it has been over a year since my last post here, though it has definitely been quite the whirlwind with just over a year in Austin and nearly a year of business school under my belt!  I won't even attempt a massive catch up because there is just too much, but we had a moment last night that really made me realize what a difference a year makes.

Yesterday was Greg's 29th birthday.  We celebrated his 28th birthday just 8 days after moving from DC to Austin and we knew almost no one here.  I had not started school yet and we were both working at home so it was just the two of us in our little rental guest house in Hyde Park.

28!

There was definitely a strong sense of adventure with the two us starting over in a new place and a new year but it was also a tad lonely.  Fast forward to last night, exactly a year later, we were able to muster a group of 8 wonderful friends on a Tuesday night for an impromptu celebration at one of our favorite bars.

29 + crazy-eyed girlfriend

Silly party hats, a surprisingly delicious grocery store cake, tons of candles and terrific draft beers made for a pretty fantastic night, but the best part was looking down the long table at a handful of the amazing people that have come into our lives over the last year. I felt so lucky to have people to sing with and to celebrate this amazing guy of mine.  Austin has been very good to us so far.

Happy, happy birthday Greg!  I love you so very much and can't wait to see where this next year takes us!

Oh hello there!

It's been awhile since I've been here and I must say that I have genuinely missed this little space to collect some thoughts and happenings each week.  It has been a busy few months here as we prep for our big move to Austin, TX, which is now quickly upon us.  The big push to get things out of the apartment happens this weekend so our apartment looks like this:

Our lease technically doesn't end until July 12th, but because we will be out at my family's farm for a long weekend next week and up in Connecticut for our dear friends' wedding the weekend after (HA! craziest summer ever) it's officially go-time.

Both Greg and I have lived in the DC area since graduating from college so this rapidly approaching change definitely involves a mix of emotions.  We are both thrilled about the idea of exploring a new place and making new friends and I am really looking forward to beginning my studies at the end of August.  However, we also have so many wonderful friends (and family) here and we are very, very sad to leave them behind.  Luckily it seems that Austin is a city a lot of people have a travel crush on, both because of the climate and the music scene, so we are counting on having frequent visitors to our new home to help ease that feeling.

I promise to report back soon with tales from our travels and our halfway-across-the-country move.   I am so excited to share about our adventures as we take on a new city starting in July!

Go-to Lunch: The Perfect Soft Boiled Egg

Since I started my current job last summer I have been working from home 3 to 4 days a week.  It took me awhile to get in a groove with my lunch routine but I have finally got it mostly down.  One of my favorites tricks is the key to the perfect soft boiled egg, which I first discovered courtesy of Hither & Thither.

I have always loved poached eggs and can never get them right at home.  While this is not exactly the same, it yields a similarly wonderful soft yolk and the method is so quick and easy. 

It is perfect for topping pasta, a frisee salad, a mess of black beans, a bowl of rice or really anything that could benefit from a runny egg yolk (which is almost everything in my opinion). An egg also adds the perfect hit of protein and texture to transform something light and simple into a meal.

Most often, I just throw one on top of a slice of buttered wheat toast with salt, pepper and a little hot sauce.  When I plan ahead and have an avocado or some slow-roasted tomatoes to throw in the mix it is all the better. I hope you'll give this a try at any hour of the day when you have six and a half minutes to spare.  If you do, I'm confident you'll find even more excuses to top dishes with the incredible, edible egg!

Chocolate Covered Clementines with Chili Salt

Hello there friends! All of the sudden it is March and I somehow let the whole month of February slide by without a single post.  It was a bit of crazy one as we are figuring out next steps with a big move this summer.  February was also the homestretch of planning a bridal shower in my hometown for my best friend from high school, the lovely Katie.

I have been a bridesmaid several times but this is my first time as a maid of honor. It has definitely been a much greater responsibility but also one I'm so happy to take on.  I stressed over a million little details but thankfully was able to relax on the actual day. We had such a fun group of ladies and most importantly, the bride-to-be was thrilled.  I definitely plan to share more details at some point but I thought I'd start with a little recipe I discovered while brainstorming for the dessert tray.

I came across the link to this recipe for chocolate covered clementines in a round up on The Kitchn and was immediately sold both on looks and ease of preparation. It is barely a recipe given its simplicity but here are a few notes on how I threw it together because I just can't help myself:

• I used about 6 clementines for a total of 48 dipped segments.  Depending on the number of people you are making this for you can easily make more or less, though I must warn you that these are highly addictive and surprisingly light so they do go quickly.
• My mom had a big chunk of dark chocolate in her fridge that she donated to this cause so I don't know the exact amount of chocolate to recommend.  I would expect that two bars of 70% cacao Ghirardelli chocolate, a baking aisle standard, would get the job done.
• I definitely recommend tempering the chocolate, particularly if you are making these the night before and will be storing them in the fridge.  Tempering the chocolate keeps it from developing that icky gray color when chilled and also gives it a nice shiny quality. I had never tempered chocolate before and used this tutorial to help me on my way.
• For the chili salt, I just mixed a couple tablespoons of flaky salt (pink Himalayan in this case though any will do) with a few pinches of cayenne pepper. I thought it provided just the right kick and would recommend it over the hunks of salt and red pepper flakes shown in the original recipe.  The sprinkling of chili salt is definitely what takes this to the next level so don't even think about skipping it.
• If you are preparing these the night before, be sure to cover the plate in plastic wrap before storing it in the fridge to keep the little segments from drying out.

Who would have thought anyone could have such detailed notes on something as simple as chocolate dipped oranges?! These really are so easy to make and will definitely be a go-to in my entertaining arsenal moving forward.  They manage to be juicy, sweet, salty and spicy all in one little bite and I can't recommend them more highly.  

One more day until the weekend - I hope your weeks are all going well!

Hook 'Em!

Campus

I'll be back with a roundup of the past weekend later this week but I wanted to share some exciting news on the business school front first - I found out early Friday morning that I was accepted to the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin! To say I'm excited would be a serious understatement.  Not only is it an amazing program, but the City of Austin itself is incredible and I feel so fortunate to have this as an option for next year.

We're still anxiously awaiting word from UC Berkeley (due this Friday) so please keep your fingers crossed for me on that front, but until then, Hook 'Em Horns!

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Birthday Brunch, Barack Obama, and Baby

Sometime this year I will get back to posting about things other than weekend reports, but given how crazy work has been over the last couple weeks almost all the fun stuff is happening on the weekends anyway.  This past weekend my littlest brother, Chad, was in town to celebrate his 17th birthday.  "Littlest brother" is actually a significant misnomer these days as he is now the biggest of the four of us at just over 6 feet...

Where did this "man" come from???

He got into town late Friday evening and we had a laid back night consisting of pizza, trashy reality TV and a couple pints of Ben & Jerry's. Russ also came to spend the night, which made us especially miss Kauri to round out the sibling sleepover. Saturday morning we hosted a brunch birthday party for Chad at our apartment.  Katie, Ben, our adopted Norwegian sister, Rosa, and Greg's parents all came over to celebrate.  Katie has known Chad since he was flirting with her from his car seat, so his age (and sheer size) blows her mind almost as much as it blows mine.  I love the laid back vibe of brunch parties and this one turned out especially well.  The star of the menu was definitely the monkey bread birthday cake pictured above.  It was so over-the-top decadent that I got chills.  Every bite is like the best gooey piece of a cinnamon roll...dangerous.

Taken from the roof deck off our gym during Obama's Inaugural Address

Saturday night we grabbed burgers and went to see Silver Linings Playbook, which I highly recommend to anyone who has not seen it yet.  It is equal parts tough, funny and sweet with amazing performances from the entire cast that left me quite misty at the end.  On Sunday, we popped Chad across the Key Bridge to meet the Georgetown crew coach (woohoo!) and then headed down to Chinatown to hang with Russ and meet his new pet hedgehog, Quilliam, before Chad's train.  Sadly I did not manage to snap a picture of my little nephew but I assure you that he is as silly and cute as he sounds.  As always, Chad's trip flew by way too quickly, but it was a joy to have him in town for the short time we did.  

Four years ago, his birthday present was attending Barack Obama's first Inauguration in person.  We got up at 4:30 a.m. to make it to the Mall along with 1.8 million other people.  I would not trade that memory and experience with my brother for anything, but I will say that I was content to watch this year's ceremony on television from a treadmill.  I thought it was very moving (I am a sucker for democracy in action as previously discussed) and can we talk about Kelly Clarkson? Girlfriend nailed it.

Little love bug

I wrapped up the weekend with a visit to the newest member of Greg's extended family: Baby Northe.  Hard to think of a better way to end a busy weekend than snuggling a newborn and toasting his arrival with family. 

I hope you all had a wonderful long weekend and that this short week is kicking off well!

The weekend

Friday was one of those unexpectedly fun nights that you just can't plan for.  Early in the day I had asked Russ what he was up to since Greg and I kind of had an itch to go out and he pointed us in the direction of the Knocks show at the 9:30 Club. Greg and were back and forth all day and my afternoon ended up being crazy stressful.  I was on the verge of losing my nerve when he texted to say that not only were we going, but so were our friends Brian, Emily and Russ (another Russ, not my brother), and that everyone was convening at our house for drinks beforehand. I am very happy that I rallied.

9:30 Club delivers again!

The show itself was a lot of fun and sold out shortly after we bought tickets.   The Knocks are very dance-y, so with a packed house the energy in there was pretty amazing.  Ironically, after inspiring this adventure, my brother did not manage to score himself a ticket. Luckily, we managed to track him down post-concert at Nellie's, which is a gay sport bar with an amazing roof deck right by the club.  It was great to meet up with him for even that little bit and unwind after the show.  From there we headed to Ben's Chili Bowl, which is pretty much a must when out in that neighborhood, and is also where I managed to capture my favorite picture of Greg so far in 2013:

My love

Armed with a chili half-smoke, an order of chili cheese fries and a slice of chocolate cake for good measure, we headed home to enjoy our late night feast.  Needless to say, Saturday morning was a little rough in our household...

Completely shifting gears, I did managed to polish myself up in time for an afternoon tea date with Katie at the Mandarin Oriental's Empress Lounge.  It was completely lovely and a very relaxing, pleasantly indulgent way to pass the afternoon.  We chose the option that came with a glass of Veuve Clicquot as well as tea and were very pleased on all fronts.  Definitely something to do again.

Bubbles, passion fruit tiramisu, delicious little cucumber sandwiches...need I say more?

Saturday night was necessarily laid back and just what we needed.  We curled up on the couch in pajamas with Chinese takeout and watched some of the best playoff football I can remember seeing.  I cannot wait for this weekend's games.  Adding to the cozy vibe, a thick layer of fog rolled in on Saturday night and stayed for the entire day on Sunday.

Sunday morning

Sunday was a catch up day on multiple fronts, and as usual I was sad to see the weekend fly by so quickly, especially one this fun.  I hope you all had fantastic weekends as well and that the week is off to a good start!

Mindy Kaling on Chick Flicks

Over the holidays I read Mindy Kaling's book "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (and other concerns)" and I could not recommend it more.  I have always loved her on "The Office" and now  "The Mindy Project," but my girl crush has reached new heights after reading this book.

Perhaps my favorite part comes from the chapter entitled "Types of Women in Romantic Comedies Who Are Not Real."  I love romantic comedies and my sister and I fancy ourselves quite the experts on the genre,  however I have never seen their appeal explained quite so well as in the following passage:

I enjoy watching people fall in love on-screen so much that I can suspend my disbelief for the contrived situations that only happen in the heightened world of romantic comedies.  I have come to enjoy the moment when the normal lead guy, say, slips and falls right on top of the hideously expensive wedding cake.  I actually feel robbed when the female lead's dress doesn't get torn open at a baseball game while the JumboTron is on her.  I simply regard romantic comedies as a subgenre of sci-fi, in which the world created therein has different rules than my regular human world. There is no difference between Ripley from Alien and any Katherine Heigl character.  They're all participating in the same level of made-up awesomeness, and I enjoy every second of it.

That pretty much nails it right?  Definitely keeping that explanation in my back pocket.  That is just one brilliant tidbit and I heartily encourage you to read the whole book.  It is the perfect breezy read for a vacation or to brighten up any commute!

Hello 2013!

It has been way too long since I updated this little space.  Between the rush of the holidays and travel and a conference for work last week I have barely had time to stop and think about the end of last year and the beginning of this one.  I will definitely do a rundown of the past 3 or so weeks at some point but this morning I felt like it was important to dust myself off and start somewhere so here I am!

A little blurry but also dreamy

I took this picture on my way to Union Station this morning to catch my Tuesday morning train to Baltimore.  I love that it is already starting to get lighter earlier, especially on the two mornings a week that I am up before the sun.  Having grown up in the Northeast, there is definitely a big part of me that loves the nippy weather, hats, scarves, down jackets, possibility of snow, and cozy, hunker-down mentality that this time of year brings but I really do miss the light.

Back to more regular posting this week.  I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday and a great start to this new year!

Under the Mistletoe

Like just about everyone, I love when the calendar clicks over to December 1 and it is officially time to start listening to Christmas music.  There are so many wonderful songs that have come to make up that genre over the years and so many takes on each that it is impossible to zero in on a total favorite.  This year I thought I'd share an album that my sister recommended to me and which I have been happily bopping my head to through this holiday season: The Good Lovelies' Christmas album Under the Mistletoe.

I love the mix of songs on this album as well as their fun, swingy take on the Christmas classics, including a few less common ones like Mele Kalikimaka, which is one that I often forget about but always love when I hear it.  There are also a couple of original songs that fit the album quite nicely.  I definitely encourage you to give it a spin on Spotify! I know it will not disappoint.

In other Christmas news, I am sad to report that our little rosemary Christmas tree did not survive our trip to California.  We returned to find a sad shrively little brown plant in its place, which broke my heart a little. However, as the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention and I quickly devised a replacement that I know can survive minimal watering and thus the Christmas Jade plant was born:

Not bad right?  I still want a real, full-sized tree next year but I am very happy with our little non-traditional one at the moment.  I hope your trees have fared better and that you enjoy some great holiday tunes down the stretch here...6 days until Christmas!

Notes from Northern California

My has it been a busy month, and not just for the typical December reasons!  Can you believe that Christmas is only a week away? I have many updates to share but I'll start with our quick trip out to California at the end of last week.  It was short but totally wonderful.

Leo was very helpful packing me up

My interview at Berkeley was on Friday morning so we flew out early Thursday to get ourselves situated and on schedule. We got in early in the afternoon, picked up our rental car, made the mandatory stop at In-N-Out Burger and then headed to Greg's aunt and uncle's house.  We spent the late afternoon and evening catching up with the family, which was the perfect way to unwind before my big morning.

Mmmmm

The day of my interview we got up very early, which is luckily really easy coming from East to West, got all polished up and headed into the city.  Greg's company has an office in downtown San Francisco, so I dropped him off there for the day before heading over the Bay Bridge to Berkeley.  I arrived more than 2 hours before my interview and found a killer parking space a block away from the Haas School, which kind of felt like destiny in that moment.  After triumphantly parallel parking, I popped down to a little coffee shop right by campus that Greg's dad, who got his master's at Berkeley, had recommended to finish up my interview prep.  It was a gray, drizzly day but sitting on Caffe Strada's heated, covered patio alternating between people watching and preparations was exactly what I needed to calm my nerves before heading to my interview.

California golden bears outside the Haas School of Business

As far as the interview itself, I think it actually went really well.  I connected with my interviewer right away, so any remaining nerves quickly subsided.  Her questions also allowed me to talk about exactly what I wanted to talk about, which is a somewhat rare thing in an interview from my experience.  It is always hard to know exactly where you stand, but I left feeling good and more excited than ever about the idea of going to school there.  Based on a few of my interviewer's recommendations, I spent the next few hours bopping around Berkeley.  I walked through the beautiful center of campus and then headed down Telegraph Ave, which is filled with shops and restaurants and was having a Christmas street fair the day I was there.  That is where I discovered the little beauty pictured below. I kept seeing people walk by with ice cream sandwiches and knew I must have one.  A couple blocks later I found the source: C.R.E.A.M. You get to pick your own cookies (which come out of a warm oven) and flavor of ice cream and it is total bliss.  I went with snickerdoodles and salted caramel ice cream and I'm kind of still thinking about it...

Helloooo there!

A few hours of shopping later, I drove back across the bridge to grab Greg from work and head to dinner.  One of his coworkers recommended Salt House and we were lucky to score two seats at the cozy little bar. The drinks and food were creative and delicious and the atmosphere was bustling and festive - in other words, the perfect place for a low-key Friday date.  It was so fun to share updates from both our days in a brand new city and imagine what it might be like if that dream became a reality.  February 1st can't come soon enough!

Isn't it a lovely little glowing space?

The rest of the weekend was very low key compared with Friday's adventures and consisted primarily of relaxed drinks and quality time with Greg's extended family.  We returned very late on Sunday night to an enthusiastic greeting from Mr. Leonidas and got ready to start the last full business week of 2012.

One final bit of news to close out this post - I got accepted to the University of Maryland's Smith School of Business yesterday so one way or another, this girl is getting an MBA! Fingers are still crossed on Berkeley and UT Austin, but I breathed an enormous sigh of relief when I opened that email yesterday morning.   I hope all your weeks are off to great start as well!

Christmas Tea and Cookies

Just a quick little post about two things we have been enjoying around our apartment this season. One of them is the tea pictured below: Tazo Sweet Cinnamon Spice.  We are big tea drinkers, at least a cup a piece a night and sometimes more, and this tea is perfect for this time of year.  Warmly spicy and slightly sweet, it is a great cup to wind down with at the end of the day.

Cinnamon and star anise - perfectly festive, right?

One other little tidbit I felt I must share is this box of holiday edition Trader Joe's Joe-Joe sandwich cookies, or as they are duly called: The Astounding Multi-Flavor Joe-Joe's.  Indeed they are astounding and dangerously delicious.  The flavors, clockwise from the left are chocolate peppermint, white chocolate ginger, chocolate peanut butter, and double chocolate.  I don't think  I can buy another box because I cannot be trusted around them as I'm a bit of a cookie monster, but if you have access to a Trader Joe's you definitely should - they are not to be missed.

Seriously amazing

Anyone else have seasonal discoveries to share?   I cannot believe it is already December 11th...I feel like the season is just flying by!

Weekend of Parties

The weekend totally delivered and was so packed that I barely took any pictures.  Greg's work party on Friday was blast, and also a bit of a blur. It was really fun to meet the people he's been working with over the last few months and I'm just so happy to see what an amazing company he works for.

On Saturday we went out to his parents' for the Army Navy game, which was wonderful even though Army lost in heart breaking fashion.  This party has become one of my new favorite holiday traditions over the last few years. There are always such interesting people to talk to, not to mention an amazing spread of food and drinks, which of course never hurts.

The best part of Saturday was giving Greg's dad an early Christmas present - an amazingly beautiful needlepoint belt with West Point symbols, his initials and his company number, which was designed and hand-crafted by my incredibly talented sister.  You unfortunately can't appreciate the details here but as you can see, he really liked it:

As I've gotten older, I really do enjoy giving gifts as much or more than receiving them.  There is nothing like giving someone the perfect thing and seeing their joy as they open it.  Definitely keeping that in mind as I sprint to the finish with the rest of my Christmas shopping this week!

Happy Monday everyone!

Festive Friday

Hello and Happy Friday!  I apologize for the major gap in posting this week...it has been a roller coaster (mostly in a good way).  I turned in my third application on Monday night and exhaled a huge sigh of relief.  The next potential application isn't due until January 15th and if I get some good news at the end of this month I may not even need to submit that one...fingers crossed!  The applications were definitely painful but I will admit that producing them was a valuable exercise to go through.  Writing them made me think seriously about what my goals are and how I arrived at them and I am now even more excited about the prospect of graduate school.  Nonprofit management is the plan at this point and it is still kind of crazy to me that it can become a reality through the applications now in process.

Celebratory glass of wine framed by twinkle lights on our balcony

All that positive self-discovery aside, I am more than happy to return to a normal life rhythm and to finally be able to enjoy the holiday season.  Despite a crazy work schedule with a major proposal sent out for delivery this morning, I managed to sneak in two happy hours, a long lunch with Katie and some Christmas decorating.  I'll share a bit more of that next week but for now I'm happy to have this picture of our twinkly little rosemary tree.  I really wanted to do a big tree this year, but with our trip to California and travel during the holidays I had to admit it wasn't practical.  That said, this little one is impossibly fragrant and will tide me over until I reach my parents' enormous tree at home.

Our baby tree

This weekend is full of fun, festive plans and is one I have been looking forward to for over a month.  Tonight is Greg's company Christmas party, so we are getting all spiffed up and heading out on the town.  I'm really looking forward to meeting his new coworkers and I also always enjoy the sight of my dashing man in a suit!  Tomorrow we are headed out to Greg's parents' house for their annual Army-Navy party to watch the big game.  His dad is a West Point grad and his parents have a lot of great friends from both the Army and the Navy, so it is always a really wonderful time.

I hope your weekends are similarly full of fun, seasonal happenings. Back with more on Monday!

Peppermint Patty Surprise Cookies

Before I get into a summary of the weekend and the last several days of application mayhem (the last in this wave is due at midnight tonight - woohoo!) I need to tell you about some cookies I baked this weekend for my brother's holiday housing warming party. Priorities, right?

Perfectly Christmasy - right?

I spotted this recipe nearly year ago when it was mentioned in passing during a Christmas post over on Young House Love, and it had been in my head ever since.  There was probably no need to wait so long to bake these cookies, but with all the chocolate and mint and crushed up candy canes action going on there was something so over the top holiday about them that seemed best saved for the month of December.

And oh yes, they are as wonderful as you would think they'd be and they went very, very fast at the party.  I will admit to being a bit of a cookie stalker and watching out of the corner of my eye as unsuspecting party guests bit into the cookie and found the peppermint patty tucked inside.  It never failed to garner a second look and positive reaction.

The money shot

As always, a few quick notes:

• In my sleep deprived, post-second application haze, I did not read all the way through the recipe before getting started and missed the fact that you have to refrigerate the dough for about an hour before assembling the final product.  Not a huge issue at all, except that I didn't start this little project until nearly 10:00 pm on Friday, so I thought I would point it out to spare you the same issue!
• The recipe says it produces 24 cookies but I was able to get 30 cookies out of it.  I think it depends on how you wrap the peppermint patties and while I certainly wouldn't skimp on the dough-to-patty ratio, I think you may be happy to find yourself with some extra goodness.
• The white chocolate drizzling process was less delicate than I expected it to be and was more of a gloop and smear situation.  Also, in case you find yourself thinking, "oh, I'll just add some water to that melted chocolate to thin it out," do not do it. The result is a grainy mixture that is truly disgusting.  I was lucky to have a little extra white chocolate on hand to save the day after that little mishap so all's well that ends well.

These cookies take a little bit of time to assemble but they really are easy and I know you will find them to be worth the wait.  So excited for that Christmas Cookie season is here. . .Happy December!

Funnier than usual

I don't remember the exact exchange (and it was most definitely inappropriate) but the scene in our apartment circa 1:00 a.m. this morning had the two of us laughing on the couch, taking a break from work.

"My we are punchy," I noted.

"Yes, we are funnier than usual," responded Greg, and his turn of phrase made me laugh all over again.

Archival footage from my old apartment - and again, not exactly sure why we were laughing

So that is where we are at this point in the week - in the throes of my applications and his final project for a class - sleep deprived and funnier than usual. Very glad to have this guy around this week and every week.

Homestretch!

Touches of the season in two cities

This year marks my 6th Christmas season in DC and as my cab pulled into Union Station this morning, I was reminded of one of my favorite pieces of the season here, namely, the beautiful wreaths that hang over the entry to the station at this time of year.  These decorations have been the same for the last six years and yet they always surprise and delight me the first time I see them - a clear sign that the holiday season is here!

I am in Baltimore today and walking down from Penn Station I was similarly enchanted on this gloomy day by the illuminated snowflakes and christmas wreaths hanging from the lamposts on either side of the street.  It is really fun to see glimpses of the seasonal traditions in another city as a weekly visitor.

Little joys like these are helping me to maintain my sanity during another stressful week of application craziness.  I have TWO applications due within the next week, one this Friday and one next Monday.  I have a lot of material to draw and definitely feel that these applications are significantly more manageable than the first, but I know it's still going to be an intense little stretch here.

I hope your Tuesdays are going well and that you are also finding small bits of the season that make your days bright!

Thanksgiving in Pictures

I had such a wonderful long weekend at home, which I think is best captured by some snapshots from the weekend.  We had amazing meals, great conversations, watched movies and lots of college football, drank many glasses of wine and celebrated my parents' anniversary with dear family friends.  I can't wait to be home again in a few short weeks.  For now here is the weekend in pictures:

Pug cuddles during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Perfectly golden turkey fresh from the oven

My adorable parents making gravy

Thanksgiving table - complete with turkey butter sculpture

Canine cleanup crew - this barely needed to be washed

"Baby" brother and a cat who never met a fleece blanket he didn't love

 All 5 of us at the anniversary party

Hokie colored flowers from Greg for the UVA-VT game + touch of Cavalier Pride

Late night glasses of wine on the last night home

It is always hard to leave home but it is also so, so nice to come home to this apartment and to Greg and Leo, which balances things out.  I hope that you all had lovely holidays and that your week is off to a good start!  So excited the holiday season is here!

Home

I realized on the bus ride yesterday that I had somehow not been home since Christmas last year.  I cannot believe it has been that long.  I saw my family at regular intervals between graduations, moving Russ into his apartment and various other trips, which I believe is why the fact that I had not been home to this wonderful house for nearly a year managed to escape my attention until now.

Home.

It is so good to be here.  There were huevos rancheros for breakfast and (of course) a full, hot pot of coffee when I came downstairs this morning to set up my office for the day.  Now I get to work at the table in the sunroom across from my dad, who is definitely my favorite co-worker yet.

Taking care of business

Mom just left to grab Russ from the train station and then the clan will be complete...all seven of us in the same place for the first time since May! I appreciate that fact more and more each year.  Tonight I'm grabbing an early drink with my friend Alix - who I have now known for 22 years (!) - and then settling in to a cozy night at home with the entire family.

One final bit of news - I got invited to interview at Berkeley and Greg and I booked flights this morning for a trip out in mid-December! Still pinching myself on that one and pretty much bursting with thankfulness all around today.  Safe travels to all who are heading home today and Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

Post-application & weekend report

Hello! It feels so good to be back after the craziness of last week.  It was a rather painful and sleep deprived process but I am proud to say that I have submitted my first business school application and feel very happy with the overall package.  I have several more to do over the next couple of months but getting over the hump with this first one was an important step and I think the others will follow much more easily.  For now I'm keeping my fingers crossed about this one.

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I spent almost the entire weekend in Old Town, Alexandria, which is an area where I always mean to spend more time. It is absolutely charming and was the ideal back drop for two days spent hunting for the perfect wedding dress for my dear Katie.  There were many beautiful options to choose from but I think we finally found the main contender yesterday afternoon.  It was so fun to spend the weekend watching her play dress up and moving one step closer to visualizing that big day coming up in July.

Sadly, the one casualty of the weekend was my phone, which somehow managed to get stolen on Saturday night.  Apart from the general sadness over it being stolen in the first place, it seems that my photo stream was not properly backing up so I may have lost many of my pictures, though I'm working to see if there is something to be done on that front.  A new phone will arrive at my parents' house tomorrow, just a few hours before I do, so it is really not so bad after all.

I hope your weekends were lovely and theft-free! Also, can you believe it is Thanksgiving this week? I can't wait to be on the bus home tomorrow evening.