New Haven and Packing

Yale

So my last day of work was last Friday.  No one ever stays until 5:30 pm on their last day, so I managed to leave around 3:00.  It was kind of awkward saying goodbye to people.  Actually, it was most awkward saying goodbye to the other associates -- it was somewhere along the lines of "peace out, catch you in NYC sometime".  My managers were really nice, asking me about my PhD plans, thanking me for the work I did, saying they were sure I would do well in my endeavors, and offering help and advice if I needed it in the future.  I managed to fit all my cubicle paraphernalia into one tote bag.  I felt naked leaving behind my ID badge.  So I  got back to my apartment and left right away for New Haven so I could see Daniel!   Traffic was worse than normal, since I was actually traveling when other normal people are out on the road, rather than like at 11 pm on a Sunday night, haha.  So I got there and hung out at Yale's student bar, chatting with Daniel while he checked IDs at the door.  And I actually ran into a couple people I knew -- a former colleague from ZS who's starting his PhD at Yale, and secondly, a fellow Princetonian who I spent my freshman summer in Cleveland with, as part of the Summer on the Cuyahoga program.  The Harvard-Yale-Princeton network is very closely intertwined : ) 

Settlers of Cataan -  Cities & Knights

On Saturday we played a good game of Ultimate at a field in New Haven.  Nice big field, no big mud puddles or dead grass.  And a little water fountain on the side of the field  : )  After lunch at UNO's, we played two games of Settler Cities & Knights.  I hadn't explained the rules in awhile, so there were some nitpicky details I had to look up.  But it was fun, a 3-person board is a good way to explain the new version.  We had dinner at Geronimo's, a southwestern tequila bar grill place.  I was afraid of sneaky spiciness, so I just got a burger.

On Sunday, it was rainy and dreary and cold and one of those days where you just want to curl up in front of a fireplace with a book and blanket.  Except it was in the middle of August.   So, anyway, we went to Blockbuster, but it turns out it was closing so they were selling DVDs instead of renting them.   And they were also selling like the cardboard covers from the DVD boxes, for thousands of movies.  We spent like a half hour looking through all of them, trying to find good ones.  We ended up getting 30 of them -- about 10" x 6".  Daniel's gonna make his into coasters, and I think mine just might be little posters on the wall.  So for the movie, we got a blu-ray version of The Hurt Locker, since Daniel can play those movies on his computer and hook it up to his laptop.  And then we went grocery shopping for ingredients to make super-duper homemade lasagna, where 'super-duper' means a million ingredients from scratch.  So we got a lot of random things like bayleaves, fresh basil, carrots, italian sausage, etc.  And then we made the lasagne (both of us had never made lasagne before, so it was crazy fun), and cooked it while watching the Hurt Locker.  A pretty perfect lazy Sunday, no?  Oh, and we had some wine and cheese before cooking : ) And the best part?  Since I didn't have to get back to Philly for work, I was able to stay Sunday night and leave Monday morning.  It's AMAZING how much difference an extra 12 hours can make.  It made our Sunday so much more relaxing and we were able to slow down and have fun and appreciate our dinner and movie.

Boston!

And all this past week, I've been packing up my apartment.  On Monday I had my last hip-hop class at my gym : (  I think I'll sign up for a class at Columbia's gym. Hopefully it's just as good and at the same difficulty level.  On Wednesday, I played softball for ZS, since they always need people (and girls).  We actually won!  It was a great game, since our opponents were the same skill level as us, so we were tied most of the game.  I played 2nd base and fielded a lot of ground hits and got some outs at 1st base : )  And yesterday was some more pick-up frisbee at a field in the ghetto of West Philly.  The field was pretty small and we had 7 on 7, so I got pretty frustrated, since we could barely cut to the disc since people were cluttering up the space.  Plus someone was smoking weed right near the field, and that disgusting smell annoyed me too.  Haha, anyway, just more packing this weekend, and the big move day is Monday!  And then a week of orientation and then a trip to Boston with Daniel for Labor Day (but really for our 4-year anniversary!)

Atlantic City! -- Part 1

Raechel driving!

AC skyline as we drive in on the expressway

Our hotel, the Atlantic City Hilton

So two weekends ago, Raechel, Lindsay and I went to Atlantic City to celebrate Lindsay's 24th birthday, from Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon.  Raechel drove us, and we left at the crack of dawn on Saturday (well...9 am, but still).  It was a pretty fun ride, with a stop at Wawa to grab some of their grapes, cheese and crackers snacks.  We got to our hotel, the Hilton, right around lunchtime.  It was a really nice hotel, the typical ultra-fancy and ultra-luxurious lobby that all the casinos have.  Our room was pretty spacious, especially the bathroom, which is a big plus when you have 3 girls getting ready at the same time : )  So right away we hit the beach -- it wasn't too hot that weekend, only like 78 or so, so it wasn't the perfect beach day, but it was still relaxing and everything.  I managed not to get sunburned, woohoo! I always use the spray sunscreen, and I finally learned that I actually have to rub it in and around so that it reaches all the spots, or else I get random sunburned patches on my stomach, like what happened in Punta Cana.  We had lunch at one of the beachside bars at our hotel.  The frozen drinks were awesome, but the food was underwhelming -- we ordered hamburgers and sandwiches and stuff, but they came as boxed lunches, so they weren't fresh : (   After we got our fill of the beach, we packed up and walked along the boardwalk for awhile to check it out.  Since our hotel was all the way at the southern tip, we didn't get too far before having to turn back to get ready for dinner, but we explored the Tropicana a bit, and got some rock candy, ice cream, and chocolates.  Mmmm.

The beachside bar where we ate lunch on Saturday

The Atlantic City beach outside the Hilton!

Walking along the boardwalk

The restaurant we ate at Saturday night

The delicious birthday dessert

So we got back to the hotel around 5, thinking we had enough time to get ready before our dinner reservations at 6:30.  But with 3 girls getting ready with only 1 shower, 1 hairdryer (circa 1985), and 2 mirrors, there was no way that was happening. We all had brought like 3 different dresses, 3 different pairs of shoes, and tons of makeup and stuff so it was a dilemma trying to pick out the perfect outfit.  So we get all dressed up, because we went to the bars and clubs right after dinner.  However, we didn't realize the restaurant was sooo far down the boardwalk, like on the far northern tip, so I walked like 1.5 miles (each way!) in 3 inch heels on the boardwalk. By the end of the night I thought my feet were going to be permanently stuck in that position.  So we had dinner at this place called Megan's Good Grub & Pub, which was actually somewhat fancy, except Raechel and I didn't really like any of the entrees, so we both got burgers.  We were eating at the tables outside, and at one point this homeless man came up to our table and was being very aggressive and confrontational. So we called over one of the waiters, and he handled the homeless guy for us : )  It was also pretty chilly that night, so we were all kind of freezing during dinner.  This place had the tiniest french fries I have ever seen, they were so small it was hard to pick them up with your fingers.  At the end of dinner, Raechel "surprised" Lindsay with a birthday dessert -- a warm brownie with vanilla icecream.  Sooo good. 

Sweethearts

You know when there's a marriage announcement or something about a couple, and they say "they were high school sweethearts" or "college sweethearts"?  Why can't other couples be "sweethearts"?  I guess these high-school and college couples are somehow cuter and more aww-worthy just because they met earlier?  What exactly is it about meeting in high school or college that makes us more in love with these types of couples?  That's my thought of the day.

iPods

So one of my pet peeves is people who can't walk a couple blocks or drive 10 minutes or anything without having their iPod buds in their ears.   Like, is real life honestly that boring that you can't stand to just listen to the sounds around you?  It seems so pointless to me to spend time to get out your iPod, put the buds in, pick a song, and stuff, when you're just going to work or school or something.  Just give it a rest and sit there and actually interact with the world around you.  Would it kill you if you didn't have music blasting in your ears for your 20 minute commute or whatever?  The reason this annoys me is because when I'm walking in downtown Philly to work, there's always kiosks or flower stands or something that impede the flow of pedestrians on the sidewalk.  So we kind of have to scrunch together, have the fast people past the slow ones and stuff.  But when I'm trying to pass the people with their iPods on, they (obviously) can't hear you coming up from behind them, so when you're just walking besides them, kind of close b/c you're trying to avoid the kiosk or whatever, they give you this weird look, like "where in the world did you come from?".  And sometimes I just want to be like "I was here all along, maybe you would have noticed if you didn't have some weird need to block out all the normal sounds around you."  So yes, people, take the iPod out of your ears and enjoy the sounds of everyday life, interact with your surroundings and be aware of stuff going on.

Taco Night!

So on Friday night, Noah hosted taco night at his place.  It was a really simple idea, and it turned out to be really, really fun.  The idea originally spawned because he makes great homemade guacamole, and he wanted people to actually enjoy it with a meal rather than randomly during a midnight snack.  So there were like 7 of us in his parents' kitchen (Noah, MaryBeth, me, Erin, Sarah, Jeff and Ian), and we all brought ingredients, and for half hour or so we were chopping onions, cooking meat, making guac, baking cakes, and blending daquiris.

It just felt awesome all contributing and participating, and in the end, we made a delicious meal that we all enjoyed together (pictures to come....).  Cooking really is a great way to bond, one of those rare activities where you can actually have a conversation while doing something (unlike watching TV, movies or playing sports or something).  Anyway, Taco Night was definitely a success, and I can't wait to do something like it again!

Oops

So I was trying to make this blog private, so it made me list the e-mail addresses of people I wanted to "allow", so I just listed people who had told me they read it or had commented, in case they wanted to keep reading it.  Little did I know that they would actually send out e-mails to all of you.  I'm sorry for clogging your inboxes! 

Bug!

On Saturday I found the first bug in my apartment.  And this wasn't some sissy little ladybug or ant or anything like that.  This was an insect almost too big to be called an insect.  Like, 2 inches, pushing 3 inches.  I FREAKED out.  I grabbed a sneaker, but even that got me a little too close for comfort when I tried to kill it.  I was debating putting on my highest pair of high heels to put a little more distance between me and the bug.   But my attempt was ultimately unsuccessful.  It ran away into one of my closets, and my state of blissful ignorance is gone.  Having a bug here and knowing about it is worse than having one and not knowing about it.  Uggh, gross.

Going Private

So I think this blog is being read by people other than my friends, so I'm gonna make it private.  If you're anyone I've talked to, like, in the past 10 years, then I have no problem giving you access, so make yourself known and give me the email address you want me to "allow".  Thanks!

Frisbee, Bang and Roommates

So on Wednesday I went home to Jersey for one of the last frisbee games of the summer.  Other than the unusually high humidity, it was the usual hour and a half of awesome fun.   Then we played Bang for awhile, which was kind of interesting since we had 7 people so there was some actual strategy going on.  But then I screwed up as Renegade by targeting the Sheriff instead of the Outlaws --- oops, my bad.  And then yesterday I played frisbee with some randos here, like in a field in the ghetto of West Philly (it's weird when you're driving through West Philly and you hear the Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song...you almost expect Will Smith to pop out of nowhere).   And this was a really casual game of frisbee, just like 3 on 3, half the people couldn't even throw a disc and had never played before. And this one guy is wearing cleats -- which is completely unnecessary, since the grass isn't wet and it's not competitive whatsoever.  And this is one of those guys that can't control his feet -- you know how some people walk with a purpose, mindfully putting their feet down in a controlled manner, whereas some people just flop and flail all over the place?  Well this guy was the latter.  And of course he's guarding me and I do a couple fake-outs to lose him, but since he can't control his feet, he stomps on my right foot HARD, with his cleat.  And I'm out for the night.  I can barely walk since whenever I try to contract my toes, it's excruciating pain.  And then I have to drive back to my apartment, which is hard trying to press the gas pedal with a bum foot.  So I'm like crying my eyes out but of course I have to stop crying because the freaking parking valet guys are always all up in my business and they'd give me 20 questions if they saw me crying.  So I put ice on it for the rest of the night, trying to avoid going to the hospital, and I wake up this morning and it's almost all better, miraculously.  It's still a little painful to walk correctly, but I'm gonna try going to the gym today and we'll see how that goes.

In other news, my roommate from Columbia finally responded to my email! Yay!   Turns out she's already been in the apartment for a year.  Kinda weird, I feel like I'm encroaching in on her territory a bit.  But she says it's a "very nice apartment", which is awesome.  We have to figure out furniture for the common areas, etc.

New Foods

So this past weekend I had a relaxing, normal weekend in New Haven. On Sunday, Daniel and I were eating at Red Lobster.  And, as we all know, I am somewhat of a picky eater, and thus Daniel discovered that I had never really had crab before, and wanted me to try it.  So he gives me a hefty piece of crab, and I chew it, and my reaction is kind of neutral. It's ok, it's a pleasant taste, but I just don't get why people go crazy for it, consider it a delicacy, and pay lots of money for it.  I say to Daniel "Eh, I don't know, it's not that different from chicken".  And Daniel says that yeah, it's not some far-out, super-exotic-tasting meat that will blow your mind, but sometimes variety is the only thing that matters.  And I didn't realize that at the time, but it's so true.

Why do people eat different types of foods?  Surely they could simply find the one they liked the best and eat that for every single meal (which I have been guilty of many times....).  But sometimes, even if you love chicken in all its forms, you just don't want chicken anymore.  So even if you have to eat something that's not your #1 favorite food, that's ok, and that's what makes life exciting - to go out to a restaurant and give something a shot and not know what exactly you're going to experience when it hits your tastebuds.  That discovery and curiosity and risk-taking is something new to me, and I definitely want to try more of it.  I have a feeling there might be more crab in my future, and less chicken : )

Dancing

Am I the only female who never took a single dance class as a child?  Sometimes I feel like I am.  Just a thought.

Thoughts on Inception

Here are my thoughts on Inception:

• It was too long, and the script could have been tighter. I found myself getting distracted and bored in the middle.
• Marion Cotillard was excellent as his wife, and Leonardo DiCaprio was good as well.  I don't think Ellen Page was the right fit for the part. DiCaprio could have done with an older, wiser female by his side.  That said, the scriptwriters made Ellen behave like the stereotypical dumb female - sitting in the corner and asking obvious questions while the men are out fighting. 
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt: it was interesting to see him in an action movie, after his role in 500 Days of Summer.  I think he pulled it off.  Although I felt bad for him to get stuck with the boring elevator hotel scenes while the rest of the crew was off killing people in Siberia.
• Which brings me to...the Sibera-like post-apocalypse scene that lasted like the entire second half of the movie.  Was there really any need to have it in that dramatic of a setting? I don't think so.  It was kind of distracting.  I would love if it anyone could tell me if there was any real reason why it needed to be in a location like that. 
• I kind of wish they had shown the guy dissolving his empire conglomerate at the end.