Bowling Trip

Friday night I finally started feeling better from my nasty cold. So far Greg is holding it off which I am thankful for. I always feel so guilty when I make him sick. On Saturday night we headed out for some bowling with our basement neighbors Cory and Marie. We went to a nearby bowling alley in Woodside. It was cosmic bowling which I hate where they turn off the lights and run black lights and smoke machines but we got lucky because there was league bowling at one end of the alley and we were placed 1 lane over from them with normal lights.
Greg wowed us with is unique bowling technique and I pulled out from behind for the win in each game (I found a good ball with xx-large holes). Cory bowled with a ball he found in the garbage and Marie was just super cute trying so hard to hurl her super light ball down the lane hard enough to knock down the pins. It was a fun time.
Sunday was spent with an early morning trip to the grocery store, chores, various projects, cooking a yummy meal, church and then watching the Oscars. Hope you all had a nice weekend.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

We are finally having some real winter weather today as we enjoy a snow storm. I say "enjoy" because I am still sitting at home watching the snow from my warm dry sofa. There are 5" so far in Central Park and they think it will continue snowing until about 1pm when the snow turns to rain and sleet. It certainly is pretty.

Maine trip #2

I hope you all had a lovely President's Day weekend. I just returned from a trip to Maine over the weekend to visit my friend Karen and her family. I had a great time as usually hanging out with her and her adorable children.

My trip included stops for haircuts for William and Mommy. A visit to the fire station.A walk through the snow in Hallowell and a stop at the bakery for a cookie and some hot chocolate.(Sorry, couldn't get enough of this too big snow suit! Is there a baby in there?) Tons of playing at home and reading books. Lots of yummy meals including almost no kneed bread which I will be trying at home soon, shopping without the kids, and a trip to the spa. Ah the spa. Karen got the great idea that we should get pedicures while I was there. So she put baby Eileen down for a nap and left William with Daddy. We wanted to go to the Senator Inn which has the highest ranked spa in the state but they couldn't fit both of us in for pedis. Instead we turned to the phone book and found a place in a town one over. The website looked nice and professional. We drove over and came upon an old farm house that had obviously been renovated to be a business (meaning it looked nice from the outside and had a little parking lot and everything). Once we were inside we quickly realized that this "spa" was just 1 woman. I got a leg wax which was pretty professional (although Karen had to sit and wait in a recliner for me to finish) and then she did our pedis one at a time. This was the first drawback since we didn't want to be gone too long. So I sit down on a little love seat and the woman proceeds to get out a galvanized bucket to fill with warm water and throws in a few rocks she found at the beach and lets me soak my feet! This is extra funny to me since I had said in the car on the way over that if I end up sitting on same strange lady's couch with my feet in a bucket we should run out of there! Here I was on a couch with my feet in a bucket. She gave Karen a pedi first. This involved sitting on a recliner up on a platform while the woman worked below on the foot rest. It was a totally bizzare experience. The second drawback was that the nail care was really mediocre. We probably could have done at least that much at home on Karen's couch. Not really up to par with even a nail place here in town let alone a spa. We had really been expecting a lot more. The woman was very nice but lets just say Karen is not planning to return! Oh and did I mention the place was infested with Lady bugs? Yep. Definitely fun for a laugh.

One drawback to my trip was that I picked up a cold from the kids. They just had runny noses but in me the cold includes coughing, scratchy throat, nasal congestion, a fever and body aches. So I am taking the day off from work to rest. Still worth it to see how much the kids have grown in just 4 months since my last visit.

Out with the old and in with the new

At the very beginning of the year my lab moved from our private location on 7th floor to a giant shared lab space on the 8th floor. The lab had been in one place for over 15 years. It was quite an undertaking but we managed to move everything (about 3000 sq ft) in a little over a week. I thought I would share some of our old vs. new space with you.

Keep in mind that the lab was old but it did look a lot better when we were in it! First up my office. I used to have a private office with a great view. Now I have a cubicle:And this is my view:I am really trying to get used to being so out in the open. As you can see from the photo I often look up and find someone else staring back at me. A little strange! Having no privacy has been hard.
The old lab space looking right:Old lab looking left:My old bench:Now it is just holding lots of junk but I used this bench for almost 2 years as a technician. At one point I shared it with Suzan. It was at that bench that we forged our friendship. I have never done lab work in this new space. That is a little bittersweet.
New lab, our benches:We get 10 benches in the new space. This is an example of 1 of our aisles. It is all open concept, no walls, open shelving.
The whole lab:The rest of the lab is common space. It has been hard to get used to and there are all kinds of group dynamics we are still getting the hang of.
Old lunch room:You can't even see the sink, microwave and refrigerator. Lets just say dorm rooms have better kitchens than we did.
New lunch room:We are all so excited to have a full sized fridge and a microwave that actually works well. Not to mention in the new space our entire lab can eat together and we aren't crammed around 1 small table. Though, we do miss the coziness of our old lunch room! (This room doubles as a conference room. You can't see the table but it is huge).
Core:This new space is pretty state of the art. We even have a robotics room.

There are lots of other nice details. We are settling in well so far. My job is not finished however since they are moving 3 investigators into that old lab after a minor renovation and I am coordinating all their moves plus 1 other person going into a temporary space. It has been an interesting experience negotiating all their needs and wants. I hope you enjoyed this little tour!

Valentine's Day

I can't say that I am a big fan of Valentine's Day in the traditional adult sense. I don' t like being told that one day a year I have to express my love for my hubby by purchasing pre-approved items that will cost 4x their normal value. Greg and I don't usually do a whole lot besides maybe cook a nice meal at home or give eachother a card. But I LOVE valentine's day in the child sense. Some of my fondest memories are of valentine's day as a kid. The parties at school, especially when the entire class would make mailboxes for our desks for the big day and we would hand out the little cards in little envelopes (they don't come in envelopes anymore by the way. So sad!) which would have 1 conversation heart candy inside. And at home my mom would give us pink milkshakes for breakfast or leave us a little presents by our beds with a card while we were sleeping and we would wake up to a fun surprise. That is the feeling I tried to recreate last year at work and decided to do it again. Not only for the fun of it but also to create comraudery in our new lab. So I began planning a few weeks ago. Nothing too fancy, just an hour in the middle of the day for a sweet treat.
I baked my Grandmother's awesome sugar cookies and some little cupcakes from a mix. To save time I used canned frosting (dyed one can pink). Used some old sprinkles I had in the cabinet and these adorable little toothpicks I found at a nearby store.I bought a whole bunch of kids valentines and asked people to sign them for me.Suzan made mimosas and we had some candy and fruit thrown in for good measure.
I also made these cute little felt stuffed valentines for the girls on the sewing machine last night. Super easy but really cute.Everyone had a fun time and got a little break from their work. One girl said it was the best valentine's day she'd had in 15 years. That made my day.(Miriam modeling a heart. Her baby is due next week!)
I hope your valentine's day is nice in whatever form you choose to celebrate it!
I love all my blog readers!

Card Tin

I wanted to come up with a fun little gift for Marcela's birthday. I recently purchased a package of little mint tins from Impress and thought of a way to put one to use.

I folded up a long strip of paper and adhered it to the inside of the tin.

When you pull it out you see the full message which I printed on little strips of paper and added flowers, a rhinestone crown, rub-ons and brads before painting the edge with regular brown paint and glitter paint.

It is really pretty simple but a bit more fun than a normal card. Plus I was in a hurry having waited to the last minutes so it came together really quickly. You gotta love fast drying scrapbook paints! Happy Birthday Marcela!

Camera died & Weekend Plans

I had my camera at work all week to take some photos and when I finally got around to it today I found my battery dead. SORRY!!

Instead I will share my oh-so-exciting weekend plans.

1. Working on a little project involving this cutie.(these are pictures of Greg as a kid if you had any doubts or thought perhaps I birthed a blond haired full grown child recently!)

2. Birthday party to attend for this fun girl!(Marcela from work. The party starts at 9pm. I may be a little to old for a party that doesn't even start until 9pm!)

3. Brunch with friends on Sunday.
(Tim and Alison who I don't have a photo of but who we recently cat sat for. We will be going to Brooklyn Label because Greg is obsessed with their Mayan Hot Chocolate)

4. Preparing for my visit to Maine over President's Day weekend to see this little pip who is growing like a weed!(Baby Eileen recently turned 6 months old. My biggest fear is that she has lost that new baby smell, but those chubby cheeks may make up for it!)

Have a super weekend!

Winter?

It is a balmy 60 degrees in New York City today! I left the house with wet hair and a light jacket. Kind of weird really but I love it!

I am in love!!!

And I mean seriously in love. I may leave my husband in order to marry this thing. I recieved many wonderful gifts for Christmas but this one was the most surprising. I had recently picked up a new vegan cookbook and there was a section on tools for the kitchen. The authors are city cooks who have tiny NYC kitchens and when they suggested an immersion blender I thought, hmm, why not. I have every other appliance known to man and I needed a gift idea to pass on to Greg's mom. I didn't even take it out of the box until late Jan. HOW DID I LIVE SO LONG WITHOUT THIS THING????? It is awesome. I have decided if I don't pull out my regular blender in the next 6 months it is going to Goodwill. This little baby is not only easy to grab and use in a pinch but it is also a breeze to clean! Just whiz it in some soapy water, rinse, and detach the end to dry! No huge glass pitcher to deal with. I have been using it all the time for whipping up marinades, blending drinks (even hot cocoa on the stove to a frothy consistency) and it is great for soups. No more transferring batches of hot soup to my blender and making a HUGE mess. This puppy makes creamy soup right in the pot. But my latest use is the world's fastest smoothies in the morning. I invented a new one (well new to me) this morning that was so great I have been dreaming about it all day. With the stick blender I can make the smoothie and clean up in about 2 minutes. Here is my new favorite smoothie recipe for you to try!

Peanut Butter Dream Smoothie
1 whole banana (fresh or frozen)
1+ cups of soy milk (for desired consistency)
1 spoonful of peanut butter
1 pinch of salt (our PB is the hippy kind with no salt or sugar so a little salt helps bring out the sweetness)
1 drizzle of agave nectar (you could use honey or a spoonful of jam!)

Blend until smooth. Drink and enjoy! It tastes like a PB milkshake but much lower on calories. SO DELICIOUS!