A Change of Heart

I have never been much for Valentine's Day. You see, I'm really not that type of girl. To me it is a day made up by smart people in some greeting card PR department to trick smart people like you and me into believing they need flowers and cards and candy. Those smart PR people got into to cahoots with the flower and candy people and they all jacked up the price of their respective products feeding into the idea that they are a must for all of us to have. Let me let you in on a secret people, I lived in Kenya, the country where the majority of the worlds roses come from and they do not cost $60+ a dozen. They really cost about $4 a dozen. Talk about inflation. BTW men of the world, roses are generic and lack creativity. Tulips and irises however do not.

I don't awww at sweet moments in girlie movies like other girls might. I usually roll my eyes, or burst out laughing and go into some rant about how cheesy and unrealistic it is.

I don't fall for pick up lines. It is rare that anyone actually tries to use them on me, but I have in fact actually laughed in a guy's face once for attempting. I felt really badly about afterward. Okay maybe I didn't, but who thinks those things actually work anyway? I may be what you would call cynical when it comes to this kinda stuff.

Right, so why am I telling you all this? Don't worry, you have not stumbled onto one of those complaining blogs whose point is to hate on this holiday. The reason I am telling you all of this is to intensify the impact of the next sentence. This all may be changing for me. When these beautiful flowers found themselves at the front desk of my building last night AND they were for me, I became one of the girls I make fun of. I gushed and awwed and got all girlie. Then I grabbed my phone and gushed and awwed to the sender. I shocked even myself with how easily I was converted into a gushy girl. I guess deep down I want pretty flowers on Valentine's Day just as much as the next girl. Who knew?

Just don't expect me to be crying at Titanic anytime soon, a girl has her limits.

Passing The Time

Day 5 people. We are on day 5 of the snowstorm. I have been stuck in my apartment for 5 days. Okay, I ventured out for a short bit a few times, but basically I have been in my apartment. Alone. Soon I will start talking to myself. This must end. However, we are supposed to get 10-20 more inches of snow over the next 2 days. So, better learn to make the best of it.

So, as you can expect I have been baking away. In fact, I'll even admit to being a huge dork and say that I have been spending many minutes (fine, hours) searching for new recipes. A girls got to amuse herself somehow. Also, blueberries were on sale at the grocery store and I had to use those bad boys up before they went bad. First up- blueberry scones:

don't let these fool you, even though they look like cookies, they are actually scones. If you like a softer scone these are your cup of tea (or coffee, respectively). As always, Joy comes through. Then last night I baked up some oatmeal blueberry muffins. That's right, I was feeling a little healthy (or maybe a little guilty about the amount of munching in front of the TV I have been doing). Healthy and delish!

What to bake next?

Winter Wonderland

Look at yesterday. Wasn't yesterday pretty? Don't you just kinda want to throw on your boots and mittens and go make snow angels like a little kid? Look how fluffy it all was...

Well it all melted about two hours after I took these photos. It stuck around just long enough to get me the day off of school (which will now be made up on teacher workday-FAIL). So now this storms big brother is going to plow through tomorrow and Saturday and dump upwards of 20 inches of snow. Okay, we can we be honest about this? When did I start living in the artic? Also, why can't people in DC handle snow? The grocery store tonight (at 8:45 PM) was a scary, scary place. The produce? Cleaned out. The meat section? Cleaned out. I mean I was there for coffee, cheese and crackers (the essentials of course) so I was not too worried, but WOW. People are all whacked out and trying to run each other over with shopping carts. Chill people, just chill. Embrace the beauty of the snow, the beauty of sleeping in, and the beauty of hot chocolate. Bonus- school canceled tomorrow ALREADY, without an ounce of snow yet. It truly is a winter wonderland.

Taking A Day

I work. I work a lot. I am so often at work, or doing work, that I have a serious problem. We've discussed it before. I have a hard time relaxing. If you know me I may have fooled you, I am often thinking about the work I have to do when you think I am relaxing. I know how awful this sounds, and I am working on it. So in my attempt to take a break from work I took a day. Okay, it was a holiday so I didn't have to go to work, but I actually didn't even think about work. Sometimes the little things put life into perspective. Like taking a day to spend some time with a friend. Lucky for me this friend also likes to take pictures...

Taking pictures and enjoying an unseasonably beautiful day. That may work. Buying yourself flowers-

That will work too, everyone needs flowers now and then.

This-

this always seems to work. Sometimes you just need to take a day for yourself. Throw work by the wayside and indulge in the little things. There is always time to freak out about the work that you didn't get done tomorrow...

As You Wish

So, of course, it's pretty clear that I like to bake. It's also pretty clear that I like to show you what I bake. You read this blog, you know what I am talking about. So I'll let you in on a little secret-I'm a bit of a people pleaser. That's right, I have an issue with trying to do things to make people happy. What does this have to do with anything you may be asking, well I have recently discovered that this people pleasing has found its way into my baking. Now, in some ways this kinda sucks because baking is my release. It's one way I relieve stress and being worried about people being pleased with my cooking has a bit of a chance of taking that away. Then again, who am I kidding, of course I want you to like it. Of course I am baking it just as much for you as I am for my stress relief. Sure I am starting to realize that I seem to be the last one to figure this out. That being said I am a sucker for people asking me to bake them something. I can't say no and I sit on pins and needles waiting to know if it past the test. This was my most recent request- Apple cake. I'd never been asked to make an apple cake before. In fact I could probably count on one hand the amount of times in my life that I have had an apple cake. But, I'm always up for something new so I gave it ago. If photos could talk...



It just looks yummy...



I thought it was delish! Then again as a people pleaser- I really hope that for the recipient, it past the test...

Hello Old Friend

It's been awhile ol' blog; since before I went on vacation. And by vacation, I mean that I went to see my family. I would share some photos with you but our camera was stolen the night before we left Vietnam. That being said, I highly suggest everyone visit Vietnam at some point in their lives, I definitely plan on going back. Aside from the heavy reliance on fish, the food is awesome, the people are massively friendly and the country is still relatively unspoiled of factories/pollution (I'm looking sternly at you China).

So now that I am back and un-jet-lagged and have clean clothes, I wonder why I actually needed a vacation. I didn't. I don't have a job and so don't really need a break from anything or anyone. Except one thing. Cover letters. I have been on the job hunt seriously for about 2.5 days now and it is NOT fun, it feels like an eternity. I can think of few things in life that I hate more than writing cover letters except personal statements which is why I just can't bring myself to apply to grad school.

I wonder why it is that no one likes to write these things. We all know what they are going to say...and to me a cover letter is redundant. I used to HATE getting them when people would apply for jobs in my department. I know why you sent me your resume. Am I the only one who thinks these things are wildly inefficient?? Or maybe just need some more coffee and less grumpy. Or a vacation.

Merry Christmas Mom

I love my mom. She's pretty great- as evident from this blog, a little quirky, but great. One thing that is great about her is that she will support my little hobbies. My mom will tell me I am a great photographer- people they call it a hobby for a reason, I do it for fun and not because I am all that good at it. Regardless of my photo taking skill (or lack there of) she loves them. Don't you love how all moms think their kid's work is great?It's like those horrible finger paintings you brought home in pre-K that your mom ooohed and ahhhed over-the phrase "only a mother could love" comes to mind (btw my pre-K finger painting is STILL on the fridge). So let's call these my 29 year old version of finger paintings shall we? Anyway, when it's come to thinking up creative Christmas presents, the last two years I have turned to my cameras. Betty, my 35mm film SLR, pulled out some lovely animals on Kenyan safari that now grace my mothers stairwell. Kate, my spiffy digital SLR, helped me pull these out for this years photo gift. Now my mother may be a lot of things, but tech savvy she is not- blog? what's that? Right, so I can freely share these with you with no chance that she will stumble upon them. My mother went to the National Cathedral for high school, and loves it, so the subject was an easy choice. Seriously how could you not love the Cathedral? The architecture is GORGEOUS. I had planned to take these Saturday and then whoops, 2 feet of snow. So, Becca humored me and tagged along while I shot these. 1. It was freezing. FREEZING outside. I have never taken pictures so fast in my life- I barely had enough feeling in my fingers to adjust my camera settings! 2. I don't care how busy you are, photos at the brightest time of day outside are never as great as photos later in the afternoon. oops. 3. Becca deserves Starbucks for a week.

So here is a sample of the 120 pics I took (see why Becca deserves Starbucks?). I hope you enjoy them, better yet, I hope my mom does.