Meal planning is more difficult than previously expected! (Mom, I totally understand what you go through now. I'm sorry for any time I ever complained about dinner! You are an amazing cook and I am so lucky to have (begun to) learn from you!). I feel like I'm running out of ideas...luckily, the internet is a wonderful place and a couple of quick Google searches can give me some good inspiration. The main problem is that my fridge is tiny, so I can't buy much in advance. I'm pretty much grocery shopping every couple of days, which gets a little annoying, but its not that bad.
So, tonight I think I'm going to try my hand at pan-fried salmon, mashed potatoes, and broccoli, and make enough to have leftovers for tomorrow. The salmon I think I can handle, but I don't have a lid to my frying pan, which will maybe make it more difficult (?) to cook evenly without drying it out. I also don't have any fancy masher-thingies, so I'll be doing the potatoes with a fork and some elbow grease. As for the broccoli, I've got that down. :-) Wish me luck!
Monday, February 15, 2010
My family got a new pug!
My family just got a new pug two days ago! He is so cute and small, only 8 weeks old!, and his name will probably be Kung Pao. (Our other two are Won Ton and Mu Shu...sensing a theme, here?)
My mom found out about him a couple of months ago, when she was shopping at a small local pet shop and someone mentioned that an adult pug had just given birth to 5 babies, all of whom needed new homes.
My dad, mom, and brother went to visit them when they were only a few weeks old:
They chose one to be theirs a couple of weeks later, and then just the other day, once the puppies were old enough to be taken home, they went to go get him. Here he is, on his first car ride:
Then, lots of pictures of the pug at home! Sorry to bombard you with pug photos, but I am really excited about this little guy. I can't wait to see him in a month! (We have a massive 6-week break starting about 3 weeks from now, and I'll be spending 12 days of it back at home/school, visiting my family, friends, and boyfriend. I can't wait!)
And sleeping. A lot.
My mom found out about him a couple of months ago, when she was shopping at a small local pet shop and someone mentioned that an adult pug had just given birth to 5 babies, all of whom needed new homes.
My dad, mom, and brother went to visit them when they were only a few weeks old:
They chose one to be theirs a couple of weeks later, and then just the other day, once the puppies were old enough to be taken home, they went to go get him. Here he is, on his first car ride:
Then, lots of pictures of the pug at home! Sorry to bombard you with pug photos, but I am really excited about this little guy. I can't wait to see him in a month! (We have a massive 6-week break starting about 3 weeks from now, and I'll be spending 12 days of it back at home/school, visiting my family, friends, and boyfriend. I can't wait!)Playing around in the kitchen with mom and dad.
And sleeping. A lot.
Ahhh! That face!! So silly and so cute!
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Saturdays
Saturdays are so busy here! So many people out on the streets, shopping, walking around, in the coffee shops...whew!
So far today I've just been inside, catching up on a fair amount of reading I've been putting off (but distracting myself by watching the streams of people walking through the park below my window), but later today I will most definitely need to go to the University Library to pick up some books and then park myself in a good people-watching coffee shop for a little while!
So far today I've just been inside, catching up on a fair amount of reading I've been putting off (but distracting myself by watching the streams of people walking through the park below my window), but later today I will most definitely need to go to the University Library to pick up some books and then park myself in a good people-watching coffee shop for a little while!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Travel!
Eeps! Omg! gdfahefaoi4tnget! And other excited phrases as well!
I booked my first two hostels and Ryanair flight today! My grand European adventure--to take place over three and a half of the 5ish weeks I am on break--is now officially happening!
I am officially going to from Cambridge to Edinburgh by train, staying there for 3 days, then flying to Dublin and staying there for two days, and then taking a train to Cork to stay with friends for three days, including St. Patrick's day. Whoohoo!!
So excited. Also very nervous. But also excited.
I booked my first two hostels and Ryanair flight today! My grand European adventure--to take place over three and a half of the 5ish weeks I am on break--is now officially happening!
I am officially going to from Cambridge to Edinburgh by train, staying there for 3 days, then flying to Dublin and staying there for two days, and then taking a train to Cork to stay with friends for three days, including St. Patrick's day. Whoohoo!!
So excited. Also very nervous. But also excited.
Hey there, weather
Blue skies to blizzard to blue skies again in 15 minutes flat! Whoa there.
And, just as suddenly as it came, it was gone, and we're back to blue!
Hey there, blizzard. How you doing?
And, just as suddenly as it came, it was gone, and we're back to blue!
Monday, February 8, 2010
Woohoo!
IT'S SNOWING!!! I couldn't get a good picture of it out my window, so hopefully it will keep up for a bit and I'll have something better to show you than this...
(I swear, there's snow there!)
(I swear, there's snow there!)Sunday, February 7, 2010
So much good stuff
I think I am going to die from tangerine, nutella, pasty, indian food, and tea overload. Oh my goodness...
Saturday, February 6, 2010
On coffee shops and colds
Still sick! Go away, cold!
Speaking of cold, though, it was positively warm here yesterday!! And by warm, I mean like 45 degrees. It was lovely. I celebrated by wearing a jacket instead of a coat. Whoohoo!
I also found a great new coffee/tea/food spot yesterday. I'm silly and forgot to check what its name as, but it was on a great street called Kings Parade that is where the older, more pictureesque colleges are. I got an individual pot of tea (2 full cups worth) for just 1.50 pounds, which is great. Also, they had a full breakfast and lunch menu, and lots of pastries and other good stuff which I fully intend to go back and try. And, as always, great people watching. A problem I've been encountering with the coffee shops here is that they are SO small that I feel like I can't really stay for longer than 40 minutes or so before I start getting glares from the baristas to clear out and make room for another customer. This place, though, had enough space so that I didn't feel hustled out, so I was able to sit with my book for a while and just read. I've also worked out a system where I sit at one shop near my dorm for a while with a cup of coffee, and then sometimes walk over to another nearby shop for my second cup, thus doubling the time I can sit and read! Kind of silly, but it works.
Now, on to continuing my second Philosophy of Art essay. Wish me luck!
Speaking of cold, though, it was positively warm here yesterday!! And by warm, I mean like 45 degrees. It was lovely. I celebrated by wearing a jacket instead of a coat. Whoohoo!
I also found a great new coffee/tea/food spot yesterday. I'm silly and forgot to check what its name as, but it was on a great street called Kings Parade that is where the older, more pictureesque colleges are. I got an individual pot of tea (2 full cups worth) for just 1.50 pounds, which is great. Also, they had a full breakfast and lunch menu, and lots of pastries and other good stuff which I fully intend to go back and try. And, as always, great people watching. A problem I've been encountering with the coffee shops here is that they are SO small that I feel like I can't really stay for longer than 40 minutes or so before I start getting glares from the baristas to clear out and make room for another customer. This place, though, had enough space so that I didn't feel hustled out, so I was able to sit with my book for a while and just read. I've also worked out a system where I sit at one shop near my dorm for a while with a cup of coffee, and then sometimes walk over to another nearby shop for my second cup, thus doubling the time I can sit and read! Kind of silly, but it works.
Now, on to continuing my second Philosophy of Art essay. Wish me luck!
Monday, February 1, 2010
Dinner time
Mmmmmm. I just made some of my mother's delicious homemade macaroni and cheese and it is so good! I was actually pretty surprised, it came out almost as tasty as my mom's! I needed some home-cooked goodness today, because I'm feeling a bit under the weather (just a cold, nothing awful, but enough to wear me down a little), so mac-n-cheese definitely hit the spot. : ) Now I'm going to listen to a Wait Wait Don't Tell Me podcast and oggle some gorgeous (and some weird) Grammy dresses. Class tomorrow at 9 (ugh) so, hopefully an early night for me as well.
London
Two days ago I went to London with Andy for the afternoon. We took a 45 minute train from Cambridge to Kings Cross, and then got on the Underground to take us to the tourist-y area that included Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, the river and the London Eye, and, a short walk away, Buckingham Palace.
We spent almost 2 hours in the Abbey, as there is simply SO much to see, but they don't allow photographs, so, unfortunately, all I have from inside is one illegally-snapped photo, taken before I saw the "No Photography, Please!" signs. I took this because it was a statue of Athena, my favorite of the Greek gods, and because it reminded me of the California Seal:
Once you round the three short arms of the cross that make up the Abbey, you are popped outside for a moment to walk down the Cloisters and see the Chapter House (featured in the Da Vinci Code, for those of you who care/remember). This is taken from under a covered walkway, looking back at the nave of the church and the backside of the westwork:
The westwork, or front of Westminster Abbey:
We crossed the river to check out the London Eye, but it was far too expensive, so we had lunch on the other bank and just people-watched instead:
Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, back across the river:
Horse-riding policemen in front of Buckingham Palace!
Buckingham Palace. I was actually kind of underwhelmed...it is very one-note, and not an extremely architecturally-inspired kind of a building, but I had to pose in front of it nonetheless!
We ended our day with a late coffee and pastry at an adorable little French cafe in Soho, with promises to be back soon!
Here is Westminster Abbey from the side, where you begin your tour:
We spent almost 2 hours in the Abbey, as there is simply SO much to see, but they don't allow photographs, so, unfortunately, all I have from inside is one illegally-snapped photo, taken before I saw the "No Photography, Please!" signs. I took this because it was a statue of Athena, my favorite of the Greek gods, and because it reminded me of the California Seal:
Once you round the three short arms of the cross that make up the Abbey, you are popped outside for a moment to walk down the Cloisters and see the Chapter House (featured in the Da Vinci Code, for those of you who care/remember). This is taken from under a covered walkway, looking back at the nave of the church and the backside of the westwork:
The westwork, or front of Westminster Abbey:
We crossed the river to check out the London Eye, but it was far too expensive, so we had lunch on the other bank and just people-watched instead:
Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, back across the river:
Horse-riding policemen in front of Buckingham Palace!
Buckingham Palace. I was actually kind of underwhelmed...it is very one-note, and not an extremely architecturally-inspired kind of a building, but I had to pose in front of it nonetheless!
We ended our day with a late coffee and pastry at an adorable little French cafe in Soho, with promises to be back soon!
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