Seattle Trip

Since I mentioned the Seattle trip in my last post I thought I might as well elaborate. We were in Seattle in March for a few days to see the families and celebrate my Mother-in-law's 60th birthday. She didn't actually know we were coming so it was a huge surprise for her. She wasn't really excited to celebrate this birthday but in the end she had a really great time. We had been sending her 60 birthday cards before we arrived and she had been waiting for the last card to arrive (which we hand delivered out of the blue). Here is a photo of her card display:The other fun thing was that Greg's aunt came to town armed with 60 gifts for the birthday girl and we hadn't seen her since our wedding 7 years ago. We were really excited to get to spend some time with her.I drove down to Olympia to see my friend Katie and her oh so cute Ava. Greg had some time with his friends too including a trip to the bowling alley with Jeremy and his fiance. It was pretty surreal for us to be there since it was the sight of our 1st date and IT HAS NOT CHANGED IN 14 YEARS! So weird.
In addition to all the birthday festivities I managed to do some shopping and picked up 3 pairs of cute shoes at the Rack, some new clothes, craft and sewing supplies, and lots of cute papers, bags, and ribbon at Packaging Specialties. Also got to spend the day with my sister who is expecting a baby (the first Howard grand baby) this summer. More shopping for us girls! Even Greg did some shopping and got new used clothes at Value Village. That was another trip down memory lane since I worked there in high school. The store has changed a lot since then.Greg and I also went out to Mercer Island to cheer my mom on as she ran a 10K. It was supposed to be a half marathon but she is nursing an injury and her doctor told her no more than a 10K. We couldn't get to the finish line because of a mad parking situation so we camped out under the I-90 bridge and rooted for all the runners. We chatted with a nice race volunteer (who took our picture). We were right before a big hill (the course is really hilly) so we would yell "you can do it" "don't look to the right" "enjoy the downhill". It was really fun. We erroneously told people they were about half way (when they asked) only to find out later we were acutally at more like the 3/4 mark. Oops!The rest of the trip was spent hanging out with the families and working on a few small projects. While we were there we learned how to play my parent's new favorite dice game. My mom picked this game up while visiting my great aunt and uncle in Wisconsin last summer. My parents have played cribbage during meals for years and years but like this dice game so much they switched over. That's how you know it is fun! It is called "Oh Sh*t" or as my mom said while we played "That's too bad". It does involve gambling for quarters but it is a lot of fun and Greg and I have been playing at home during dinner ever since we got back. Here is a little video I took while we played. You can't see Rachel but she was still there (coming in last place!). Fun times.

I am sure I am leaving something out but we had a very nice visit and will be back again in August for Jeremy's wedding and to meet the our new nephew (we can't wait!).

Kale Smoothie?

Well I did it. This morning I washed and chopped up a bunch of kale. As I was drying it and putting it into my big half empty spinach container I was noticing how rough/stiff kale is and I was really doubting it would be good in the smoothie. That didn't stop me from piling it in and whizzing it up.....

It was great! A little less smooth than the spinach smoothie but still tasteless. I used lots of OJ in this one so it was very sweet and fruity tasting. And in case you need reasons to eat more Kale take a look at this powerhouse of a vegetable:

Kale (100 Calories) (3cups)

455 mg Calcium
9.46 g Protein
3.1 mg Iron
59 mg Magnesium
1059 mg Potassium
6.7 g Fiber
47 mcg Folate
.38 mg B2
2.2 mg Niacin
.59 mg Zinc
83 mg Vitamin C
21,159 IU Vitamin A
1 mg Vitamin E
0 g Cholesterol
0 g Saturated Fat
Tons of Phytochemicals and Antioxidants

I had over a cup of kale in my smoothie!

I'm Back!

Sorry for the long delay in posting. I did nothing but study for so long I didn't have much to say or time to say it. I took my test last week and it went very well. I had total peace and calm while doing it and came out with a decent score. I am debating whether or not it is worth taking it again in order to raise my score a few points. I am not allowed to take it again for 30 days so I have a little more time to think about it.

I took the rest of the week off to relax and read something besides test prep books. Next I have to begin working on my applications which are due in just a few short weeks.

Today I thought I would share something that got me through all the studying, my new favorite smoothie!

This is a green smoothie, or a blended salad. It may sound a little gross when I describe it but trust me, it is dynamite! I first read about the smoothie here on a food blog. I was intrigued and intended to try them sometime but skeptical that a smoothie with spinach blended into it could be yummy. And we are talking over a cup of spinach per serving, not a couple leaves. Well I was in Seattle and stopped in to see my friend Katie who was trying to whip up a green beverage to take to her recipe club. It had to be green for her St. Patty's day theme. She was working on this really odd concoction made of applies, avocados, mint, apple juice, and lime juice. It was not good. I won't say it was gross since I didn't barf or spit it out but it wasn't good. She was a little desperate for another option given her short amount of time and that she didn't have the opportunity to shop for new ingredients. I mentioned the green smoothie I had read about and we looked it up online. She happened to have bananas, mango, orange juice and spinach on hand so we whipped up a batch and would you believe it, it was fantastic. You really couldn't taste the spinach at all, just the fruits and juice. She took it to her recipe club and they loved it too and now apparently the green smoothie is making its way around town and even kids love it (take note moms!). It is a great way to sneak spinach into your diet and spinach is loaded with nutrients. I was just reading how leafy greens are the most nutrient dense food on earth. I have been having one of these every morning for breakfast and I love them. I am told you can use any greens even romaine or kale. I bought some kale and am going to give it a try this week. So here is the recipe adapted to the hand blender. You can use the link above to find the recipe for a regular blender.

Green Smoothie
Scaled to be made in the hand blender cup or right in a glass

1 ripe banana
4 chunks frozen mango
3 chunks frozen pineapple
1 fistful of packed fresh spinach or as much as will fit in the cup
water or juice to fill the cup and bring it up to the fill line. I like OJ and water in mine.
(Sometimes I add a scoop of protein powder to my smoothie too)

Put all ingredients in the cup and blend until smooth. You can use any fruit you want. Bananas make it creamy and berries make it more brown than green but all make it yummy.

Get up to speed!

Many of you may not know this but it is the main reason I have not been blogging these days. I am studying day and night to take the GMAT next week. It is sucking up all my free time so I have not been able to blog like I have wanted.

I am thinking about going to graduate school part time for an MBA or an MPA and this test has been both an opportunity to see if I have what it takes to focus and study again after all these years and it is required for one of my applications. So that is why I have been MIA.

Greg has been wonderfully supportive and really picked up the slack so I could focus all my attention on the test and remembering all that math I learned but apparently never use in real life.

On an unrelated note our mouse problem seems to be under control. We got a new threshold under our door so that the foil could be retired and no little critters could just walk right in. We also put out a bunch of traps with really delicious bait on them and have caught nothing (nor seen any "evidence" if you will).

My test is next Wed and then I hope to be back with updates on my Seattle trip, my new favorite smoothie recipe, my new haircut!, and many other exciting projects that are waiting in the wings!

I'm back!

I am back from a lovely vacation in Seattle with family. I will have lots of updates in the coming days but we returned home to find some little mice had moved into our apartment and we are having to deal with that. In fact the night we were back a mouse (perhaps the one who had been roaming around our kitchen) walked right in under our front door. We spent the evening emptying our entire front closet (where he ran and hid) to find him and chase him out. Now we are working with the landlords to get the gap under the front door fixed. Such a pain!

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!

Lake Placid

This vacation recap is LONG overdue and for that I apologize. The trip just wasn't that great so there wasn't much to talk about.

In the first part of January we took a trip to Lake Placid for a cross country skiing holiday. Lake Placid was the sight of 2 Winter Olympic games, 1932 and 1980 (made famous when the US hockey team beat the USSR) and has multiple cross country ski areas to choose from including the Olympic x-country trails. We took this trip with our good friends the Campbells and had a lovely condo/time share lined up. It was shaping up to be a great trip......until we arrived that is. We were met with unseasonably high temperatures. The ground was covered in snow (old snow but snow none the less) when we arrived on Sunday night but within a day that snow was gone! No cross country skiing, no ice skating, nothing. We pretty much ate, drank, and watched cable TV. At one point we were going to head home early but there was rumor of a snow storm coming so we stuck it out one more day. It barely rained.

We enjoyed several lovely restaurants, visited all the shops on the main drag, tried to complete a 2500 piece puzzle but failed miserably, and did a little sight seeing.
Our first stop was the Olympic Long Jumping Center where the skiers fly off a super high ski jump to see who can go the farthest. This was probably the highlight of the trip for me. First of all you ride a ski lift up to the jumping complex. I had never been on a ski lift. SCARY! Mostly because my jerk husband started each ride trying to make the chair swing around until I was screaming in terror and then he would stop. Then we got to take an elevator up to the top of the jump and look out over the course. Wow, I always thought the winter Olympics were a little lame and well, easy. How hard can skiing really be when tons of people do it? But man that jump was insanely high. I was impressed. They actually jump in the summer too using plastic mats and a water tank to jump into.
Next we went to the Olympic center and saw the ice rinks were the hockey games and ice skating took place and outside was the melted speed skating oval (closed for skating).

We also tried to take a bobsled ride. They offer them for a pretty hefty fee but hey, we were desperate. When we showed up the first day we were told that a tour bus of people had booked the entire days runs. When we showed up the following afternoon the entire complex was closed due to, get this, inclimate weather! We got to walk around and look at the track but it was deserted.
Behind the jumping complex is the sight of John Brown's farm and grave site. He was a famous abolitionist. That was closed too but we read the plaques and peeked in the windows of his house. The top left photo shows the high jump in the background. It is all you see for miles! The top right is the bobsled track map showing the track and which parts were built and used for which Olympic games and also showing the most famous bobsled curve in the world.

At one point we even decided to go up to Whiteface mountain where they do downhill skiing and take a gondola ride up and down the mountain. When we arrived we found the lodge completely dark. Turned out they had lost power on the mountain and the entire place was shut down for the day. We couldn't win for losing!
The rest of the trip was spent shopping at Price Chopper (they have EVERYTHING you need says the receptionist), cooking yummy dinners, and enjoying the fireplace. Needless to say not the best ski trip we have ever taken and we were happy to be home. The only good part really was getting to hang out with our friends. These photos show the huge condo we stayed in and our view at the golf course when we left. Not a snow patch in sight.

New Look

I decided the old blog needed a new, softer look. Someday I will figure out how to create my own page but for now I am sticking with templates. You can vote on the side bar whether you like or dislike the new blog!

So cute!

Found this cute photo in my inbox this morning. William wearing one of the shirts I made for him.
SOOOOOOO CUTE!
I am going to be visiting him and his cute sister in February and I can't wait. They are both so big. Why do kids have to grow so fast?

I made a little onesie for a baby shower this past weekend using the same technique. Unfortunately I forgot to snap a photo and then at the shower forgot again. Oh well!

Bad house guest = good husband

We had a house guest staying with us for a couple days. HE was a friend of Greg's when they were in the conservation program together several years back. The day after his first night with us I went to use the downstairs bathroom and I FELL INTO THE TOILET because our guest left the seat up (this is why I haven't used his name, so he won't be embarrassed when he returns to Indianapolis, the land where they don't put down the seat). It wasn't until that moment that I realized that in the almost 7 years that we have been married, Greg has never once, not once left the toilet seat up. I was so pleased I had to call and tell him right away and then call and thank his mother for training him so well. She denies ever formally training him in this area but I just know she must have taught him this technique during potty training. Me and my dry rear end are eternally thankful!

Happy New Year! 2008

Happy New Year! I hope you all celebrated in some way last night. We spent New Years about the same as last year is turns out. We spent New Years Eve with friends playing games and watching the ball drop on TV and today we packed up the rest of the Christmas decor and cleaned the house. It feels a little empty in here but it is good to have everything neat and tidy again. Greg and I sat down and looked over our 2007 goals and came up with some 2008 goals to focus on this year. Some of the main ones include getting back to eating home cooked dinners again (we have been enjoying the local restaurants a little too much), reassessing our finances now that we are settled into our new apartment and paying more rent, and I want to get back into the saddle with my scrapbooking again. In 2007 I had hoped to scrapbook 52 layouts again but in the end only did 15. That is pretty pathetic! This blog used to be a scrapbooking blog and I hope to at least discuss scrapbooking a bit more again in 2008 as well as other types crafts.

I return to work again tomorrow but the rest of this week is going to be really busy. Greg and I are heading out on vacation again real soon for a cross country skiing trip. So I have just 3 days to get caught up from the last trip and to prepare for the next trip. Don't know if I will get to blog much. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!