Misadventures in Procrastination

You need to make this: skillet-broiler pizza

2011-06-27T22:50:00.005-04:00

Try to follow this slightly convoluted chain of searching and websites that brought me to a delicious discovery that I'd like to share with you, my few readers. One day I was searching for a photo of the amazing food at Pizzeria Posto and I came across a photo of it and a homemade recreation at this blog: Pie Oh My, which then led me to the pizza-centric Slice, which is a must visit for any pizza lover.

I started scanning Slice, and found it full of all sorts of awesome tips. But what I hadn't yet found was a way to solve a perpetual problem for me: getting a nice char on the top of my pizza and a crispy bottom without turning my crust into the texture of a giant cracker using my bottom of the line apartment oven. Then I found THIS. The skillet-broiler method for making pizza at home. I won't copy and paste anything from there, I will just tell you that it is a revelation. I don't think that I'll ever touch my pizza stone again to make pizza. The results are dough that is crispy and as charred as you like (keep an eye on things, or you'll burn them :-P ) and still has a bit of chewiness on the inside, so it's actually like real pizza crust, not a cracker! You will believe the second you hear the crunch of the crust when you cut it.

Now, summer obviously isn't the best time of year to try this if you don't have air conditioning, as the broiler cranks your oven temp up to 500+ degrees, but if you do have AC, or it's cool where you are, get out and try this NOW. If you don't, bust out the grill and go that route instead.

Below are my results, topped with some of my favorites: salame, rosemary, mozzarella, caramelized onions, etc. Eat it with your eyes!

The stretched out dough placed in my cast iron skillet and topped. Note: tuck anything you don't want charred (caramelized onions) under things you do (cheese and salame). I fixed that the second time around.

The finished product!

nice, charred bottom

check out that crust! I'm just holding the very end, and it's staying in place. Just how I like it!

topped off with arugula, and polished off before you had a chance to finish reading this. EAT IT.

Decorative Concrete in Phiadelphia

2011-06-26T12:00:00.000-04:00

This smallish apartment building on S. 20th Street in Philadelphia is otherwise rather nondescript in pale brick with little ornamentation. However, the street-level entrance is housed in a nice little treat of Art Deco concrete, that I'd like to share with you:

New Apartment! etc.

2011-06-25T19:39:00.004-04:00

So, lack of inspiration here leads to lack of blog posts. Apologies to those of you who care to know about my everyday life, but it's been a little lame lately (in between an awesome Atlantic City bachelorette weekend, and an amazing Maryland wedding) so I haven't felt much like writing, and let's be real, I doubt you all really want to hear about my adventures in bad re-runs and house cleaning in a 90 degree apartment.

However, things are about to get a little more exciting in the next few months as I relinquish my couch-based lifestyle. Upcoming events:

1. trip to Omaha with the family
2. packing up and cleaning my apartment, along with selling a few things I don't want to take with me to PA
3. paying movers to pack my third floor apartment into a Penske truck (YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS)
4. SARANAC! (if you don't know, it's one of the best weekends of the year, where thousands (?) of rugby players descend on a small town in the Adirondacks and proceed to play lots of rugby and wreak lots of havoc.) This will be my 7th (I think) year going, and I couldn't let a little move from Massachusetts to Pennsylvania get in the way, so I'll be driving my 16' Penske truck there on Friday, and then onto Philadelphia on Sunday or Monday.
5. Unpacking into my new apartment in the Graduate Hospital neighborhood of Philly.
6. Attending a wedding back in New England
7. Decorating my new apartment
8. Starting orientation August 22 (!!!!)

So, onto that little apartment. Last week, after said Maryland wedding, I traveled to Philadelphia to apartment hunt with my sister. It was...not amazing. This was my fourth apartment hunt since college (ughh) and I've seen plenty of shitty, junky, gross, etc. apartments. However, when you cram a whole lot of those uninhabitable (by me, at least) apartments into a few days, rather than a few weeks, it becomes a little overwhelming. I was ready to call up Penn and ask if I could get my money back, or if I could have more in order to spend way more than I wanted on a much nicer apartment. Now, not all the places were awful; we saw some that I would have been OK with living in, but did I want to? No. I wasn't about to relinquish my red oak floors for laminate and blue industrial carpet (WHAT possesses owners to use blue carpet, I will never know.) I know that some people don't really care about where they live, as long as it's pest free and has a roof and hot water. However, I am not one of those people. I need to actually want to live in the apartment, or I'll be uncomfortable and miserable, which isn't really something I want to come home to when I'm working my ass off in grad school.

So, on the last day of our search, the last apartment we saw had fate written all over it. It was in a spot that we both liked: just 4 1/2 blocks from my sister's current place, so the same commute for her, more or less; and 1.3 miles from school, meaning I could walk, bike, or take the Penn shuttle to campus; the pictures on Craigslist looked nice; it had pretty much all the features we wanted; it was owned by individuals, not one of Philadelphia's many notorious slumlord management companies; and the address even ended in 6, which is the case for every apartment I've rented (726, 36, 56, 26.) Well, it was fate! We were the first people to put an application in, and signed the lease this week, and my decorator juices are already flowing. I can't wait to move in and rework the items I already have for the new space, as well as add items to make the space unique and our own. I can't wait to head to the Brimfield Fair in mid-July to scope out a night stand and some accessories.

Here's the new place in its current state; I can't wait to get my hands on it August 1!

This is the living room, looking mostly original. What you can't see in this crappy photo I took is the cool plasterwork on the ceiling and the paneling below the windows, which is mostly blocked by those curtains. In an ideal world, I'd like to situate my couch facing the windows to create a faux foyer, as the front door is on the left, and the coat closet is on the right. However, I didn't take measurements, so I'm not sure if this is feasible. The floors in here and the kitchen are original fir, something I'm very familiar with from my first two Boston-area apartments. It's very lovely, and being a softwood, was less expensive than hardwoods like oak, and therefore very common in working-class early 20th century buildings.

The awkward kitchen-in-a-pantry/closet/original bathroom(?). BUT, it has a full size gas stove, woo! It's also got this nice big dining room attached to it, so it has plenty of space to add more storage and workspace, which we plan to do. This will definitely be where we have the most projects to do to make it functional for two people who love cooking, and one person who doesn't like staring at boxes of food out in the open.

I didn't take a photo for some reason, but that door in the kitchen leads to the pathway to the back deck! Outdoor space! I'm so excited to use that space during nice weather.

This is, by a fairly wide margin, the nicest rental bathroom I've had to date. Everything is very new and nice, and my shower curtain even goes well with that wall color: bonus! I think we might add a shelf in here for spare towels and such, like the ones I have in my bathroom now. They've been really useful, and each one cost me a total of $7.

This will be my sister's bedroom. I'm not thrilled with there being carpets (you know I prefer wood in all rooms!), that said they're neutral, newer, berber, and will be cleaned before we move in, so I'll live :-P. I have no explanation for the awkwardly different sized windows.

And this will be my room. Big sister gets the bigger room :-P. The closet and another window are on the left, again awkwardly a different size than that strange small window. The closet creates a sort of nook in the corner with that window, which I'd like to use for my desk if it'll fit, or as a reading nook with my Craftsman chair if the desk won't work.

I won't bore you with a photo, but there is also a basement with our own washer and dryer and lots of storage space.

A Minimalism Update

2011-05-02T11:42:00.004-04:00

You may or may not recall that back in late 2010 I purchased these traffic cones, also known as the Saucony ProGrid Kinvara.

When I started running outside this winter, I would run the majority of my route in my regular Brooks motion control shoes, then stop by my house and switch into the Kinvaras for a short mile-ish loop. In addition to that, I brought the sneakers with me on my trip last month and spent a few long walks in them.

If you know me, or follow this blog, you might know that I've struggled with IT band issues for, I think, almost four years now. I had absolutely no issues last summer, when I was training for the Warrior Dash, or for most of this winter when I was enjoying running outside. Unfortunately, that didn't last, and I started feeling some pain and tightness in my knee again. Therefore, lately I've been going on much shorter runs, and usually I have to stop and walk the rest of the way around 1 1/2 miles into the run, which is exceedingly frustrating!

So, last week I had to run to the post office to send my passport renewal via certified mail, and on a whim decided to use my traffic cones instead of the the Brooks. The post office is about a mile from my apartment, and after dropping off the mail, I still felt good. So I continued my run, and ultimately made it home after about 3 miles. I took a couple walking and stretching breaks, but overall I was totally surprised to find that my IT band felt pretty great after the run, yay! In addition, my feet have gotten used to the sneakers, and I no longer have foot pain when trying to run in them.

If you're thinking about trying minimalist shoes, I'd definitely recommend it! But take it slow! When your feet are used to traditional running shoes, it takes a while. I'm easily frustrated, but I'm happy that I stuck it out, because it seems like I may have found shoes that my IT band actually likes.

A Sad Weekend for Long Island

2011-04-18T21:09:00.002-04:00

It was a sad weekend for Long Island, as the beautiful Land's End mansion, designed by Stanford White, of the storied firm McKim, Mead & White, was demolished to make way for a subdivision of McMansions. Progress is one thing, several McMansions that are likely to stagnate on the market are another.

(source)

35 Day Challenge Recape and a New Goal

2011-04-18T18:02:00.003-04:00

Long story short: I actually managed to lose bout 3lbs during my 35 day challenge. I won't say that I didn't cheat, because I did. There were a few times when baked goods were just uncontrollably delicious looking and needed to be baked/consumed. I also drank more than I said was I going to. Shoot. I did, however, rock out nearly every planned workout or run, which I am very proud of. Another thing that I took away and have been great with continuing is keeping my walking levels high. Spreading out errands that aren't urgent has been a great way to get me on my feet most days.

Trouble is, I'm pretty sure I ate all those pounds right back onto my love handles while I was away. We did a lot of walking, but pretty much every day was a morning till night kind of day, and I was tired enough as it was, so getting up at the crack of dawn to exercise, just didn't really happen. Unfortunately, I then got sick directly after I came home, and that combined with my lack of exercise on vacation and stress over making a decision about grad school left me totally unmotivated to get off my butt.

I do have motivation, though: I am not at all happy with my body. I can celebrate the small victory of losing 3lbs, but the truth is that I'm still very uncomfortable with the way I look both in and out of my clothes, save for those few pieces of universally flattering clothing I own. Truthfully, I was happy that I never got a chance to wear my swimsuit while in Florida. Both summer and my friend's wedding are rapidly approaching, and I want to get back the confidence I had last summer in a swimsuit, and look awesome in my bridesmaid dress.

Therefore, the new goal/challenge, whatever you want to call it, is to lose 7lbs in the just under 8 weeks that are left before the wedding. I've never lost that much weight in that short of a period of time, so I don't know that I can or will actually reach my goal, but that won't stop me from chasing it, either. The plan will be much the same was it was for my 35 day challenge, with a few modifications/additions:

Biking! I don't think it's any coincidence that when I was at my lowest weight last year I was biking at least 8 miles, 2-3 times per week. The weather has turned, at least in the right direction, so my tires are getting pumped and I'm hoping to spend lots of time on my bike doing everything from running errands to longer rides.

Limiting the carbs: painfully, I know this works. I'm not saying no pasta meals ever, but I will resist the urge to buy delicious loaves of bread and eat half of them, and will try to limit most dinners to carbs of the vegetable form only.

Smart cheating. I will not shove my face full of an entire order of spicy fries on a regular basis and be OK with it.

I am actually going to commit to less alcohol. I absolutely love beer, so I am sad about this one. I just don't need the liquid calories that aren't milk. But hey, if I lose the lbs now, that means I can feel less guilty about the outdoor beers in the middle of hot summer nights!

And, to keep me more active and make me less of a veg, I'm making an effort to get out more and do more, especially free things! All of Harvard's museums have times when they are open free to Massachusetts residents...I'm all over that! Spending an afternoon walking to and from a museum, and being on my feet for a few hours, is much better than spending it on the couch!

Thumbs Down

2011-04-12T20:40:00.003-04:00

This is what happens when a city is priced into a market where only rich people can afford the historic homes available for sale. Rich people want what they want and they can afford to get it, and if that means tearing a house down to the outer walls and basically constructing a new building, then so be it. As soon as the "For Sale" sign comes down, the building permits go up. Shame. And this is something that I will not miss about Cambridge.

Done

2011-04-11T00:29:00.005-04:00

I spent this past week agonizing, and I do mean it; I think most of my body is 26, but the wrinkles between my eyes are probably 30+ now after all the time they've spent furrowed this week. Seriously. I don't take commitment well, as explained thoroughly in my last post. Well, I spent all day today with my stomach in knots, even though I really knew my decision already. And so it makes sense that after I filled in my info, entered my credit card number, and clicked submit, that the pit in my stomach disappeared and was replaced with a smile. Maybe I'm crazy, because the debt is going to suck for sure, but I'm excited nonetheless. It seemed fitting that exactly 3 months after I submitted my application, I accepted the offer that I'd received.

See you in Philly sometime later this summer! I'm totally terrified and excited at the same time.

Confessions: On Commitment

2011-04-10T16:43:00.004-04:00

Excuse my lack of posting since I returned from my trip. It has been a very overwhelming week spent with my furrowed brow buried deep in my laptop screen, over analyzing every last minutia I could find, hemming and hawing, tearing at my hair, avoiding showers and leaving the house, feeling like I'm going to have a breakdown. This is the life of a commitment-phobe. I often call myself indecisive, but the truth is that I usually know what I want. The problem is committing to that decision. I will spend endless amounts of time second-guessing myself, letting all the "what-ifs" race through my head and prevent me from actually committing to the decision that my gut has made.

The truth is, I haven't made my commitment yet; still hovering over the "send" button, fearing that my decision is the wrong one, and it's scary! But I need to do it, and once I've sent that deposit, I'm making more than just the commitment to attend a specific university, I'm also making these commitments:

I am committing to myself: to change myself and my life and quit living the easy and somewhat miserable existence I've been letting myself experience for the past 5 years.
I am committing to move to a new state
I am committing to future all-nighters and to treat school like a full-time job, but still work other jobs so I can afford to feed myself and keep a roof over my head.
I am committing to debt, which terrifies me.
I am committing to no longer have dead-end jobs that are in no way fulfilling, and to working hard at it, because if I don't, this time and money will all be a complete waste. Mediocrity will not be acceptable.
I am committing to step outside of my shell and being pro-active, rather than passive, when it comes to my education, something that does not come easy to me.
I am committing to get over my fears of networking so that I can find the job I really want after I graduate.
I am committing to not be embarrassed to say what I do when my 10 year high school reunion rolls around next year.

Once I actually click "yes, I will accept your offer" I'll let you all know exactly where it is that I think I've decided to spend the next two years.

Greetings from Florida

2011-03-30T22:35:00.005-04:00

I thought I might not be terribly busy this week...WRONG! It's been kind of nonstop! A quick recap:

Friday we flew down to Charleston with a fuel stop at Hampton Rhodes Executive Airport in Virginia in about 7 hours total travel time.

On Sunday we took off from Charleston, and promptly turned around back to land on the same runway when VFR conditions had change to IFR as the ceiling had dropped dramatically.

On Monday we left around 6:30am drove a little under 7 hours in our rental car from Charleston to Winter Haven, FL as the weather had not improved (in fact it had become worse) from the day before. We made it in time for lunch and dinner with the Cardinal Flyers!

Tuesday we went bird watching at a former cattle ranch, visited Frank Lloyd Wright's buildings at Florida Southern College, and drove around Central Florida take in various sites. Sprawl is the name of the game here, as is strip mall, but if you take the time, there are many charming sights to be seen, and I've enjoyed it in spite of myself.

Today we finally made it to Sun N' Fun, where I enhanced my sunburn, saw lots of cool planes, and unfortunately missed the airshow portion of the day due to more nasty weather. But my dad promises me that he'll take me to the Quonset airshow in June, so I am looking forward to that.

Tomorrow, my mom flies home, and I am off to NYC, then PA, then back home on Monday. I hope to post some recaps with images, but for now that's more effort than I want to go into, so I'll see you then!

Recipe Time: Wicked Tasty Burger

2011-03-23T10:24:00.001-04:00

We're already familiar on here with my love/hate/hate relationship with ground beef. Hamburgers are not my favorite thing, and I'll usually eat hot dogs at cookouts instead (I genuinely LOVE hot dogs, don't judge). But for some reason, after planning to make my chicken lentil stew recipe, I got a major craving for burgers. I'm not sure I've even made a homemade hamburger since college, but it just seemed right yesterday.

I went to Trader Joe's and picked up 1lb of 90/10 ground beef, and one package of 80/20 to mix it up a bit. The results after I added all my seasonings and toppings was nothing short of delicious, but I like the word tasty better. So, below is my recipe, but sorry I had no time for pics, had to eat.

Wicked Tasty Burger

Makes 8 burgers

2lbs lean ground beef (or turkey if you're not a beef person, but I'd suggest adding more egg and/or a little olive oil if you go that route)
1/2 large onion, diced
2-3 cloves of garlic, diced or crushed
1 whole egg
1/2 - 1T balsamic vinegar
1tsp Cajun seasoning
1/2tsp Tony Chachere's (optional, if left out, add a touch more Cajun seasoning)
4 diced pieces of salame or pepperoni
1tsp crushed red pepper
1/2tsp dried oregano
Generous freshly ground pepper
salt

Toppings:
1 1/2 large onions, French cut/sliced
dill pickles sliced very thin
2 avocados, sliced or mashed, per preference
Swiss cheese
diced pickled Jalapeno peppers (or fresh if you prefer)

8 whole wheat hamburger buns or sandwich thins (the Trader Joe's buns are just 110 calories, so barely more than the sandwich thins)

Begin by putting the 1 1/2 large onions in a medium to large saute pan with a little bit of olive oil or butter on medium heat to caramelize. This will take a while, so start this then move onto preparing the hamburger ingredients, pausing to stir the onions occasionally. Combine all burger ingredients in a large bowl and mix until evenly combined (hands are best!) I find the easiest way to make 4 close to evenly sized patties is to flatten the meat out in the bottom of the bowl and then cut into 8 wedges. Roll wedges into balls and flatten to desired thickness. If you like them thick, punch a little divet in the middle with your thumb to keep them from turning into balls. Once the onions have turned a (weird!) caramel color and taste nice and sweet, those can be set aside.

It's not really grilling weather yet here, and I'm too lazy to go down 2+ flights of stairs [ugh, I totally spelled that "stares", feel free to judge] to do so unless it is really nice outside. Therefore, I busted out my awesome cast iron grill pan. Place patties on your grill or pan, and prepare your other toppings. Cook until close to desired level, then add cheese till it's all nice and melty. Add burger to toasted bun, and top with jalapenos, onions, and 1/4 avocado per burger.

Enjoy!

Hometown Tourist: JP Licks

2011-03-22T18:34:00.004-04:00

If the part of the country that you grew up in is anything like New England, summertime was always ice cream time. Almost every little town has an ice cream stand, or a farm stand that sells ice cream during the summer, usually with ice cream that's homemade or sourced from a local dairy. I was not the most adventurous eater as a child, in fact up until, let's be real, my 20s, I pretty much only ate chocolate ice cream in a dish with chocolate jimmies (that's those poo shaped sprinkles to the rest of the country. Tangent: I managed to make it to 9 years old and a visit to family friends in Rochester, NY, before I found out that not everyone called them that, this despite the fact that my dad is from Nebraska, and my mom moved all over as a kid). I hated those boxes with the vanilla and strawberry veins...gross! Fortunately, I've grown more adventurous as an adult and have tried other flavors, though chocolate is still a favorite, and I still think that vanilla ice cream is a condiment for molten chocolatey desserts.

After moving to the metro Boston area 4 1/2 years ago, I discovered JP Licks, a veritable den of deliciousness when it comes to frozen cream. Seriously, screw yogurt. Their ice cream is the perfect combination of not so heavy that you feel like you just chugged a pint of cream, yet very flavorful. They have lots of fun flavors, including different monthly ones, but my absolute favorite is, get this, IRISH COFFEE!!!! That's right, they make an ice cream each March that basically tastes like frozen Irish coffee. I think it is a grave mistake that they don't make that flavor all year round, but each March I have to buy at least a quart of it, along with a half pint of chocolate jimmies for topping!

So, since it's March, a couple weeks ago I finally made the walk to Harvard Square to purchase my favorite flavor of all time. If you're visiting the Boston area, check out their website, jplicks.com, since they are a local chain and have a number of locations. If you like ice cream, I highly recommend checking them out. And in case you're wondering, the JP stands for Jamaica Plain, the neighborhood in Boston where the first store opened.

Harvard Square location.

Happy cow in my freezer.

This is right before I dropped the spoon on my shirt.

---------

Do you have a favorite ice cream shop that I definitely need to check out if I ever visit your city? Or do you hate ice cream, and love froyo? Favorite summertime cool-off dessert? (I'm also partial to bomb pops).

35 Day Challenge: Week 4

2011-03-19T15:32:00.002-04:00

This Friday's weigh in: 139.8lbs. Back into the 130s by the skin of my teeth! Total loss so far: 2.6lbs.

Admittedly, it was a struggle for me to get back into my routine after vacation, but once I did it was all good. I started the next stage of New Rules of Lifting for Women, which is always fun, and dialed back my running distance to 3.6 miles to give my knee a break.

My Sunday and Wednesday runs went well with Wednesday bringing my best training pace at this distance yet, but Friday was pretty much complete misery. I felt totally blah and slow the whole run, yet my heart was racing anyway, and as a bonus, thanks to the warm weather, my shorts chafed the crap out of my right thigh. I nearly chased after a car that didn't stop for me in a crosswalk to murder the driver in my miserable rage. But if I feel compelled to look on the bright side: no IT band pain.

I lifted Tuesday and Thursday, and will tomorrow. There's nothing like starting a new set of exercises (even if you've done them before) to really kick your muscles asses'(?) (yes, my muscles have asses). I was still VERY store from Tuesday's workout on Thursday, and when I went to have an MRI on Wednesday (for a study) the worst part was that my sore butt got extra sore sitting on that table for 40 minutes. Thursday was a less successful lifting day. I managed to do my exercises out of order, despite having them in front of me on a paper, and then tripped over a metal box/bench, scraping the crap out of my shin because I am in fact the most graceful and least awkward person around. Observe:

In the food department: can't lie, I have been drinking on some weeknights. What? I like wine. And Guinness on St. Patrick's Day. It happens. Then I made cookies on Friday and accidentally had 3...but I didn't have 4! If I can hold myself to baking once per month, I think that's a good balance. I just had to make this recipe when I saw it. Now I just need to manage to ration the rest of them in a one per day sort of manner. I've been good otherwise, and made a tasty stew on Thursday as well, yum!

OK, I think that'll do for now. I'll probably have to wrap this up sometime the week after next while in Florida as I'll be leaving my apartment around 7am on Friday to head down to the airport where my dad keeps his plane.

Stay tuned for my first Hometown Tourist post soon (later today or tomorrow)!

Decorative Concrete in Cambridge and Somerville, Part 1

2011-03-16T20:52:00.003-04:00

I mentioned previously that I wanted to document the disappearing decorative concrete from early 20th century buildings here in Cambridge, MA. Well, doing all of them would be way too ambitious, so I've backpedaled a bit: I'm just going to document everything I see when I happen to be walking around with my camera. That means I'm taking some shots in neighboring cities as well.

Over the past few days, I managed to remember my camera (I have a sieve brain) and had enough battery life to take some shots near me while walking on various errands. I think this form of decoration is under-appreciated, and I'm not sure who makes reproductions, as it's cast, not carved like stone, but I hope a lot of these examples can stick around!

Here are a few of the photos, and you can find the rest in this Flickr set.

I love the name of this apartment building, after the street it's located on. Otherwise it's a pretty classic (ha) Classical revival doorway with dentils and Doric columns. Blocks like these are all over the area, with brick with concrete accents (used to simulate stone).

I love the whimsy of Gothic elements used in a modern office block. The copper corner is a fun touch as well. Unfortunately, the first floor of this building has been re-done at least once and is pretty lackluster. But at least we have this to look at!

Look up to see the small details you miss if you just run by. The tiny rosettes are a treat, as is the vintage "Fallout Shelter" sign, one of at least a few in the neighborhood. This is in a bit of disrepair, and some of the brick in need of repointing, but I enjoy looking up at it nonetheless.

Lastly, I wanted to include this photo, as I mentioned it in the original post. As you can see, the cornice is now copper. I don't doubt that this will age into an attractive patina, however I can't help what was there before. Over the fall/winter, the brick with concrete balustrades interspersed was taken down and tossed. I do appreciate this replacement over plain, mismatched brick, but I miss was was there before. Fortunately, similar examples still exist in the area.

Thanks for reading! More to come in my Flickr set in the future, and I will post the most interesting examples and details here for your enjoyment, if you're into that sort of thing. If not, feel free to ignore future posts, but you're lame!

35 Day Challenge: Week 3ish

2011-03-15T01:05:00.004-04:00

So, let's just cut to the chase and not sugar (lol) coat things. On our trip I ate like it was my job and drank my weight in booze. In case you're wondering, I need at least 2 large beers and several ounces of vodka and/or tequila mixed with something in order to mentally survive flying. If not, I spend the entire time with my heartrate through the roof, my palms sweating, and giving the arm rests my best death grip. And obviously while there, I wasn't about to pass up Breckenridge Brewery and New Belgium beers that are impossible/hard to get here. I love me some beer. The New Belgium seasonal IPA is freaking delicious, by the way.

For exercise, I cross country skied on Sunday for a couple hours, then walked around town shopping, and skied the other days we were there.

Somehow, despite my baked good and alcohol binging, I still managed to lose .4lbs. Kind of sucks, but it's better than coming back and weighing 5lbs more!

Hometown Tourist

2011-03-14T11:42:00.003-04:00

It's beginning to set into my brain that I will be leaving the metro area (I can't say city, as I've worked in Boston and lived in both Somerville and Cambridge) I've lived in for over four and a half years. I'm excited for the new experience, but I will certainly miss it here. It is beautiful and there is so much to do and experience. Since the closest school I've been accepted to is about a four hour drive from Boston, I will probably only be back for holidays and the occasional trip (my family lives in the suburbs, hence the holidays). I'm sure I'm not alone in being very bad about seeing the sights and taking advantage of all the great resources my that the area I call home has to offer. Sometimes we tend to overlook these things when they're in our own back yard. Therefore, I'm starting a list of things I want to do before I get the heck out of here to wherever it may be that I end up! Here's the beginning of that list, and I'll try to document some of those activities here under this category.

eat at Border Cafe as much as possible
visit the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
sit around at Castle Island or Constitution Beach and watch the planes land and take off from Logan
Wander around neighborhoods like Beacon Hill and the South End
eat a delicious meal in the North End, followed by a full box of pastries from Mike's
visit Salem
hike Mt. Monadnock again
eat grilled pizza at my parents' house
bike the surrounding area on new and old trails/roads
run the trails at Middlesex Fells at least once a week once the weather permits
eat my LOTS of JP Licks ice cream (Irish coffee ice cream will be purchased today)
revisit the MFA's new Art of the Americas wing
visit the ICA
Camp out on the Harbor Islands (or at least take a day trip)
beach

That's just a preliminary list I've come up with sitting here this afternoon. More to come, I'm sure.

PS: just got my 4th acceptance today, CRAP! (in a good way)

I'm Not Dead Yet

2011-03-13T01:09:00.003-05:00

Oh hi, still here! I got back from Colorado Wednesday night, and that trip was fantastic. My photos are up on Flickr and I'll post a little recap here soon. If you're looking for one of those bloggers that blogs during vacation, look elsewhere. I may find some time while in Florida later this month, but this was a 3 day (not including travel) trip, and I certainly wasn't planning to waste any of it crafting witty thoughts here!

I managed to not break any limbs on my trip and even managed to drop .2lbs from last week, which is a minor miracle considering the amount of beer [and nachos] I need to consume to be OK with flying.

On another note, since my last post I've received two more acceptances, HOLY SHITTTT. It's funny; a couple months ago I was hoping to get into just one school and dreading the thought that I might have to end up in another miserable job for another xx number of years. Now I'm in the position of having to actually make a major life decision, which I haven't had to do in a LONG time, so forgive me in advance if I spend more time on grad school forums, chewing my nails, sucking down bottles of red, and traveling all over to visits/open houses than posting on here in the next 3-4 weeks. I'll hopefully have some trip posts and workout updates, but no guarantees.

In the meantime, BE JEALOUS (and save up your miles, because we flew there on 100k from United!)!

I'm IN!

2011-03-02T11:02:00.002-05:00

If you've been following this blog, or you know me well, you know that I've been in the process of applying to graduate school. A little background, if you're not: for the past four years I had the same job. I was truly grateful during the crappy economy to have a steady job, but it was never what I really wanted to do. However, in 2010 I started to reach the end of my rope. It went from just being a job that I was doing to make money to something I hated. So, after taking some graduate classes over the past few years and talking about it forever, I bit the bullet in June (I think?) and signed up to take the GRE in mid-October. That kicked off the 9 month process of studying, researching, decision making, finding people to write recommendations for me, writing personal statements, and filling out applications (mostly all online now!). I submitted the last of my applications on Monday, and it was all left to the hands of admissions committees.

Well, all my hard work has finally paid off!!!!!!!!!! I got a phone call last night from one of the programs that I applied to saying that not only was I accepted, but I was also being offered some money!! I DID IT, I'M GOING TO GRAD SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously, there aren't enough exclamation points to describe how awesome it felt (and is still feeling today!) I am on Cloud 9. I am following my dream to get a master's degree in Historic Preservation. I don't have to worry about accepting another waste-of-time job, because I'm going back to school! I'm still waiting to hear back from the other seven schools I applied to, but no matter what happens, I've been accepted, I'm going to school! Life, folks, is very good right now.

Congratulations to ME!!

I felt it was appropriate to post myself in front of this poster.

I have no physical letter to kiss and caress yet, so this bottle of Andre will have to do!

35 Day Challenge: Week 1 Recap

2011-02-25T18:39:00.003-05:00

Well, it was a good week 1! I kicked my butt every day except Sunday (rest day) with running and lifting. I'm a little frustrated with the scale, but there's no sense in dwelling on it. My running last week was better; this week I had some issues with my IT band, which may be due to how heavy on the hamstrings this stage of New Rules of Lifting for Women is. Oh well, still got some good miles in! There are two workouts left in this stage, then it's a week off from lifting (which conveniently corresponds with my trip to Colorado), and then back at it for stage 4 when I get back.

So, onto a recap of my "rules":

1. No baked goods: OK, so we had Italian on Monday and shared tiramisu for dessert. It was delicious, and I only consider it half baked, since creating the actual dish does not require baking. Not terrible.

2. Walk more: check and check. These are not including to and from the gym as I include those in my workouts. Saturday: 2.3 miles, Sunday: 2.56, Monday: 1.48, Tuesday: .96, Wednesday: 1, Thursday: 3.65. Booya!

3. Weighing once per week: This was brutal. Apparently I am addicted to my scale, because going cold turkey was ROUGH. I wanted to bust it out EVERY DAMN DAY.

4. Food: I didn't feel at all bad about going out for Italian on Monday, but I also didn't shove my face. *pats self on back*

5. Alcohol: errr, well, FAIL. I definitely had a few glasses on Monday.

6. Workouts: checkMATE, or something. Got every one of my workouts in and busted my butt.

Onto weight:

140, -.4lbs from last week

BAH! This makes me want to toss my scale out the window or stomp on it repeatedly, considering the amount of work I put in this past week, but at least it's a LOWER number, so I'll just suck it up and deal, DAMMIT!

Running in the wintertime: a comparison piece

2011-02-24T11:22:00.003-05:00

I present to you an awkward comparison piece:

Here is what happens when you fall on ice at slow speed while wearing running tights:

yes, I am messy

Here is what happens when you fall on the treadmill at high speed and then try to get up while the belt is still spinning and are fortunately spared by your thoughtful treadmill-neighbor hitting the stop button. Then you finish your workout, realize how much your legs are oozing, and then proceed to have visible scars (not emotional ones, I have been on a treadmill since) for the next almost-a-year.

yes, I wore knee-highs at work; it was effing cold in there. JUDGE ME!

I'm going to stick with running outside.

Recipe Time: What? I totaly made BAGELS??? Yes.

2011-02-23T22:23:00.006-05:00

For some reason I became obsessed this week with the notion of making bagels from scratch. I'm not really sure why, other than the fact that I do love bagels. Oh wait, I do know why: I need health insurance, to rent skis for Colorado, and to finish one last application for grad school, THAT'S WHY! Hey, at least I was making delicious hole-y bread products instead of watching Lifetime movies to avoid what I should have been doing! Actually, I did have a minor health insurance-related breakdown, but that only made the bagels more delicious.

So, after last week's heart shaped cake creation disaster (at least it was a delicious disaster), I was a little wary of trying something so crazy like bagels. Some reviewers of recipsa talked about their bagels going completely flat, etc., which is apparently a result of over-proofing (letting your bagels rise too long). I am really good at creating kitchen disasters, so I was fearful. However, I decided to push on.

I found a recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/i-swear-i-made-them-myself-homemade-everything-bagels-169758

Then I made the following changes: subbed 2 cups of white flour for whole wheat, and honey for the sugar; added a teaspoon of baking soda to the boiling water; skipped the egg wash and put my toppings on before I put them in the oven; didn't flip them. I think it's disingenuous to repost someone else's recipe unless you make major changes, so go visit the link and make my changes, or don't! I think it's a great basic recipe that you can make all kinds of changes to if you want like: adding seedy type things into the dough, using rye flour, adding chocolate chips, etc! Do whatever you want.

The process was messy (read: I'm messy), but god dammit I made freakin' bagels! They didn't collapse, they didn't fall apart, and they taste yummy! Could have used another minute or two in the oven, but no worries, I'll be toasting the rest anyway. These are 224 calories, but tonssss of carbs.

Behold, I can make bagels, and you can too!

"boiling" the dough circles. OK, it was more like tepidly bubbling.

mid-baking kitchen disaster = typical.

holy shit! bagels!

mmm, bagel sandwich! pesto, turkey, cheddar, yum.

ETA: This obviously isn't my recipe, but this totally falls under "budget cooking." It's basically flour, water, yeast, oil, honey, and oats, which are pretty much all pantry items, and all relatively inexpensive. Bagels aren't pricey to begin with, but this is like pennies on the dollar.

Ode to a sports bra

2011-02-20T18:01:00.004-05:00

For as long as I can remember, I have only loved one sports bra, the Champion Double Dry Action Tech (didn't actually know it was called that until today). It is completely low-tech and mostly cotton, THE DEVIL! I know, cotton sucks and such, and I wouldn't wear them hiking, that's what synthetics and wool are for. But let's be real, I'm running around the city, not off on some mountaintop in a rainstorm and therefore I don't give a shit if my bra is made of cotton or not.

This bra has supported my boobs through high school track, recreational soccer, horseback riding, rugby, running, etc. One time I tried to buy a new ultra supportive bra, made by Under Armour, and it rewarded me by chafing the shit out of my shoulders. In the end, I always come back to my Champion.
Thank you, bra, for always being there for me and my boobs during intense physical activity. We don't care that you're cotton-blend or that you don't come in fancy patterns and colors. Don't ever change, you're awesome just the way you are!

in case you want to share in my boobly bliss, this bra is on sale for $19.99 at Champion.com and probably other places too, but I'm too lazy to Google it right now.

Look mom, I organized something!

2011-02-19T22:35:00.000-05:00

My boyfriend works from home two days a week, and due to the fact that he needs a direct connection to our router, rather than wireless, for this, he has to work in the living room where our router is. And what this all means is that unless I want to sit around between 8:30 and 5 watching ESPN, I need to either leave the apartment or occupy another part of it.

A couple weeks ago I felt absolutely no desire to venture to the library, chiefly for laziness reasons, but that meant I needed somewhere at home to work on finishing some applications and other stuff. Working in the bedroom is OK, but my back gets sore sitting against pillows. So I took a look at my desk.

broken drawer, kitty litter, laundry basket, camping gear, trash, totally normal, right? right????

Yeeeeah, that's rough. Time to clean it! But first I have a confession: not only did I want someplace to do work, I also wanted to procrastinate. You see, I pretty much only enjoy cleaning when I'm trying to avoid doing something else, such as what I should be doing. Therefore, clearing off my desk and reorganizing my drawers was the perfect choice! And thanks to the fact that I rarely go in the guest room except to use the desk, the surface has stayed relatively organized and is still usable. It's like I'm a real adult....errr human?

cleaned and organized workspace. papers are trashed or filed, new printer is set up in a permanent spot, and drawers are re-done.

one of three drawers from this IKEA unit that has my printer on it. top drawer is paper, thank you cards, etc.; bottom drawer is mostly computer stuff and a few odds and ends; and middle drawer pictured (ha!!) is all camera stuff (the fuschia things are the dividers from my camera bag, which has been playing laptop bag lately).

had to throw in Marta for good measure.

Factoid

2011-02-18T23:16:00.002-05:00

I have one application to complete, and after that my future is in the hands of admissions officers.

That is reallllly, really scary. I mean really.

35 Day Challenge

2011-02-18T19:29:00.004-05:00

It's no secret that I'm currently unhappy with the way I look. It's hard not to be when I lost almost 15lbs last spring/summer and have gained 10 of that back. I suppose it's better than gaining all 15 back, but it still sucks! Lately I've been really good about getting to the gym, but I haven't been eating amazing, which has meant that I've pretty much been spinning my wheels and my weight has stayed the same, which is PISSING ME THE FUCK OFF. Yeah, I'm a few days short of throwing my scale out the window and having a major hissy fit. Half the time when I walk, all I can think about is how much my thighs are rubbing together and how noisy that would be in corduroys. In addition to that, I am officially going to Florida with my parents at the end of next month. The return ticket is booked and everything (jetBlue of course!). I mean it's not going to a be a girls' weekend of boozing in slutty outfits and sleeping off hangovers on the beach, but I will spend at least one day there and will have to wear outfits made for warm weather. Sweet!

Well, as you may have guessed, said trip occurs in 35 days. So I'm going to personally challenge myself to kick my own ass and drop some poundage before we set off for Florida. I certainly have the time to devote, so let's go!

Here are the rules:

1. No baked goods. I have no self control when it comes to baked goods; I cannot have just one cupcake. Not conducive to losing fat. I am already crying sugary tears as I eat my last piece of Valentine's cake, believe me.

2. Walk more. When I was employed I walked at least a mile and a half every day, usually more. Since my termination most of my walking is to and from the gym, which is just about a mile total. Those lost burned calories are adding up I'm sure. If I can I'll spread out my errands throughout the week, and if I can't, well I'll just go for a walk for no reason other than to walk!

3. I will only weigh and measure myself once per week. Every Friday. I have a hate-hate relationship with my scale, and using it every single day does not help. Every Friday morning I will weigh and measure myself and will not touch the tape or scale any other day of the week!

4. I will not be super strict with food. Yes, you read that right. While I will restrict carbs somewhat and try to eat healthy, high protein foods, I will not be super restrictive, because that will only lead to me gaining back 2/3 of the weight I lose again!

5. No alcohol on weeknights. I know that I can have just one drink, but I really don't need the extra calories either way.

6. I will work out 6 days/week. The ideal is 3 days of weightlifting and 3 days of running. If not, I'll be skiing. That leaves one day totally veg out and not feel guilty about it.

I hope that writing this down and publishing this will make me actually accountable. I'll try to update every Friday or the weekend after on my progress.

My stats as of 2/18/11:

height: 5'4"
weight: 142.4lbs
waist: 27 1/2"
spare tire: 32 1/2"
hips: 39" (BADONKKKK)
thighs: 33 1/2"
bust: 36"

This week will hopefully be like a typical week for the next 5 weeks:
M: lifting
T: 4.25M run
W: lifting
TH: 4.8M ru
F: lifting
S: hopefully running 5 miles if I don't get blown into the Charles River by 50mph winds.

Here's to a thinner, happier, and healthier me in 35 days!