a very special blog post

It’s Saturday, I slept till noon, and will spend the afternoon catching up on blogs, catching up on DVR, and catching up on some running. That can only mean one thing…exam #2 is DONE. Two done, one more written and one oral to go. And I am a girl who knows how to celebrate (see day’s plan, above). Yesterday I went straight from my exam to my bestie’s, where I made celebratory TJ’s mac and cheese and she made a plum crisp, then we watched that new show Revenge—awesome—and met up with her brand new husband for a drink and a bite. Was out till 9 p.m. too. Jealous?

I’ve been meaning to post about their dreamy wedding, held at the groom’s dreamy family summer home, which is basically Kellerman’s from Dirty Dancing + sailing and lots of glorious gorgeous ocean.

(this was the house I stayed at with a group of friends. basically my dream house, so i think i’ll buy it once i get my next paycheck)

Their first look. If I were a happy/emotional crier, I would have cried tears of happiness and/or emotion.

Oh so beautiful!

Plus the reception featured four of my favorite things: St. Germain, pumpkin ravioli, pumpkin whoopie pies, and a ROCKING DJ.

Thumbs up!!

As Best Woman, I gave a speech during the rehearsal dinner. In poem-form. At least three people, including the bride’s college-aged brother, came up to me afterwards and asked if I was an English teacher. What gave it away???? The tweed vest, the glasses? The loafers? The bun? Because I rhymed zest with behest? I’ll share it here so the bride can cherish it forever in an online format.

 

There once once a boy who didn’t wear shoes,

Who listened to Phish and would rather sail than cruise.

And there was a girl he met one winter day

Comfy in loafers, fond of Kohs and Tar-jay

They dated and fell in love topsy turvey

Faster than he could say “Hoist the scurvy”

“Jamba the Juice! Boom the poop deck leak!!”

And other such things in his nautical speak.

The girl was impressed! This fellow’s legit

And I think I even like Phish a little bit

Together they toiled and worked on their careers

He fixed the young ‘uns and she granted them college years

Life isn’t easy, for real, no fooling

And a Master’s from [his university] is nothing but grueling

A career change for her opened a new door

(Though she’s sad not to work with a [mylastname] anymore)

A fact everyone knows and believes quite true

Is that these two can accomplish anything they choose to

Together they laugh and seek adventure with zest

While saving the youth on the nation’s behest

So raise your glass, your wine, champagne or beers

To offer these two our deepest of cheers

We’re so happy you chose each other to cherish

And if I could give you one thing it would be this wish:

That forever you’re happy, forever you feel joy

Forever you find adventure to which you say Ahoy!

I love you both and am happy to say

Congratulations and cheers for your wedding day!

—-

Here all night, folks. Wocka wocka.

 

Also, the bride and I stayed up late a couple nights before the wedding, crafting.

These flags were attached to an actual sailboat which was then filled with ice and bottled beer during the cocktail hour. ..Right??? Awesome. Love you guys!!

Oh what’s that picture? Nothing major. Just voted BEST FRIENDS in the class superlatives section of the yearbook, class of 1998. By a jury of our peers. That’s all. No biggie.

america’s next top fashion blogger

I’m only blogging now because I have ten minutes before I leave to take in some physical fitness, and if I don’t do something with this time I’ll probably end up off in the Internets somewhere reading about new ways to put my hair into buns; in the office trying to read just another ten pages, just one more article, just one more introduction, and/or Criminal Minds reruns.

Welcome fall semester! I’ve already gotten well acquainted with you via the Requisite Back-to-School Cold and the Requisite Back-to-School-Outfit Photos, which I’ve been remiss in posting.

Still don’t know how to operate that ol’ flash, but someone learned where the self-timer button on her camera is.

Don’t act like you’re not impressed.

junior year

Because my car’s still in the shop, today I took the train to school like in the old days. I felt like it was two years ago when I started this grad program and spent many many long hours waiting for/riding the train, all bright eyed and bushy tailed and increasingly fatigued.

The first year of grad school was the worst. For a moment this morning, riding the train, my body/mind must have flashbacked to two years ago when my anxiety was off the charts and I wanted to run away from school and join a band of cheesemongers. I had a visceral reaction to the whole train-routine…standing at the commuter rail stop with my ipod and the Metro; riding backwards out of the suburbs and into the city; rushing through the station to grab the T; squeezing into a seat on a train that gets less and less crowded with each stop, until I arrive at my school. Panic seized me—with no reason—until I remember that it was now, things were better, I liked school, and I’d get my car back soon.

Phew. Also, third year of school. I’m a junior of sorts.

My mechanic was running behind so I had to kill some time before getting my car. I sat at an outdoor cafe under an umbrella because it was raining. I put my blazer on my laptop to shield it from any wayward drops and worked until my battery died. I popped the collar because I thought, well, why not?

Tomorrow is the first day of classes (today was a faculty meeting) and I’m going to paint my nails and try to go to sleep before 11 p.m. Gotta pick out my first day of school outfit!

slow weekend, busy week

Thinking back, my car seems to break down before the start of every school year. It’s almost like Seabiscuit does not look forward to the first day of school as fervently as I do! Just make it to 200,000 miles buddy, that’s all I ask. 250, as long as I’m asking.

It was a slow weekend, carless and all. I read a couple books and took a lazy Saturday night stroll with DP for some ice cream. Last night at 9 we walked the 5-mile loop to and around the town lake, we were so stir-crazy. Oh yeah, his car died too. He’s able to get it started and go to work on Saturday but it sputters and shakes and dies at the most inopportune moments.

But on Sunday we made pancakes, which makes everything a bit brighter. I use the basic recipe from Joy of Cooking and tweak it: more whole wheat flour than white, some pumpkin pie spices, and about half a cup of flax seed. I meant to shake in about a tablespoon or two but the bag upended.. Plus frozen blueberries. Pancakes for hermits!

I’m ready to shake off the summer. The humidity is getting to me and I’m eager for routine. I’m eager for the markings of a comfortable fall: new Sharpie pens, first day of school clothes, brand new schedule to adjust to, steel cut oats, blazers and jeans, pomegranates.

Today I’m readying myself for the week ahead. Plenty of reading to do, and last-minute syllabus tweaking. Classes begin this week and this weekend is BFF’s WEDDING WEEKEND. I’m ready to jump on into it. Bring it on, fall!

 

boyfriend jeans, the sequel

Last year I briefly owned a pair of the most perfect boyfriend jeans. Slouchy, faded, hole-y. I even wrote an elegy to them last fall.

Sick of my wistful jean pajama reminisces, my BFF Jill gave me a pair of hers that didn’t fit right. After some basic YouTube research, I gathered some implements to distress them. Who knew it was so easy!! To distress/rip jeans, you can use any of the following:

• microplane
• hand-held cheese grater
• nail file
• pumice stone
• sandpaper

I owned everything above besides the sandpaper and I found the microplane did the best job. I zested those jeans like they were an orange until the white threaded part showed through. I scuffed them up near the pockets and on the mid-thigh area. Not bad for a fifteen-minute hack job, and I think they’ll look even better after I wash them.

Believe: I’m going to wear the hell out of them throughout the fall and never never lose sight of them again.

Endnote: Slouchy cropped boyfriend jeans are exactly the kind of pant that small-stature women are advised NOT to wear. I say eff that. I’ve been thinking a lot about style lately, and the rules we follow and ideals we strive for (or, rather, the ideals women’s magazines/media dictate). I find the notion that one must always dress to enhance their length/tallness problematic. I suppose evolutionarily speaking, taller humans survived and thrived over their shorter stature counterparts, but that hardly seems relevant today. Once again I’m reminded that aesthetic & fashion, like everything else, is largely constructed and—I’d argue—should be critically reexamined.

Hence: slouchy boyfriend cropped jeans with flats on this 4’11 frame.

My car is in the shop yet again and today I’m housebound, reading, putting together my fall class assignments,  drinking too much coffee, and contemplating homemade donuts. I’m back on the Pomodoro Technique and today my goal is 10 tomatoes.

 

blonologues and blumps

ohhh blog it’s been awhile.

August was a busy month. Finished teaching a fantastic summer course and then—lucky me—traveled to two back-to-back bachelor/bachelorette parties: Vegas and NYC. Both amazing. Scenic photos only for the blog.

And then I realized August was ending and September was coming way, way too quickly. I’m in a blog rut. With my second qualifying exam at the end of September, I’m pouring all my energy into 18th century transatlantic narrative, novel, and theory. And I’m spent. And I’ve fallen hard for stupid Pinterest, which isn’t stupid at all because I love it and have approximately 97 boards.

This is my internal blonologue:

-I should blog. Blogging is good. Blogging is fun.

-Ughh, I have nothing to blog about

-I should blog about my garden

-Ughh I don’t feel like taking pictures of it

<Reads style blogs>

-I could blog about style. I should blog about style.

-Ughhh I don’t feel like taking pictures/don’t know how to use the self-timer on my camera

-I should blog about academic things on my new professional blog

-Ughhhh. Feel dumb. Nothing to say. Bad grad student. Uh. Wah. Uh.

And then I lose control of the English language and can only communicate via the baby sign for “more” that my 1 year old nephew taught me.

Two things I get from all this which are only mildly contradictory:

1. I am giving up the “shoulds”; the “shoulds” are not my friends. The shoulds are a bunch of jerks.

2. As I always tell my students, writing begets writing. To get out of my blog slump blump I’ll write a little something every weekday this month. Even if it’s only a link to my 800 Pinterest pins.

Happy September. Did I mention Hannah Montana was in Vegas too? She roomed with us.

new blog

I’ve started a new professional/academic blog of sorts, one that can serve as a proverbial clearing of the throat as I start thinking dissertation. I’m not sure what direction it’ll take or how much (or what, really) I’ll write about. Mainly, I promised my students I’d take the leap into professional bloggership with them.

Although this blog is utterly tame/boring, I prefer to keep it semi-anonymous. Meaning, I’d like to keep the two blogs separate and not have them deliberately linked to one another. The new blog can be found at my full first name my last name dot wordpress dot com. Sneaky!!

It’s a bit scary taking that professional leap forward into the blogosphere. Already I have one lovely comment from an academic whose work I admire. I gotta admit, when I saw I had a comment I immediately thought, “Oh no! Someone is already telling me how wrong I am!!” But that wasn’t the case and so I will chill. A little.

I’m going to continue blogging here as well, about my iced coffees and my books, because I like it and I think it’s good for me.

i can’t stop taking pictures of my office

Dave’s side of the office was really stressing me out. I don’t have a “before” photo, it was just that stressful. But imagine stacks of books falling out of shelves and piles of paper hanging pitifully off bulletin boards, like they were trying to figure out how to get the heck out of there.

I put on my Professional Unclutterer hat and set about piling his books in the middle of the room. I cleared off my desk and affixed little post-it notes on the wall to designate the destination of each errant piece of paper: “Keep”, “Recycle”, “File”, “Bring to Work,” etc.

Here’s a picture of the “during” :

After: his side, sorted and decluttered.

Ahh, it makes me breathe so much easier. And it helps with his ADD issues.

His new paperwork system: “File,” “Out,” and “In.” I set this up in early June and it’s still working for him.

The photos don’t show it, but I also cleaned OUT the closet and boy was there a lot of junk in there. Why do we own so many cords and where do they all go to?? I put them in a box in my file cabinet labeled “Cords and stuff I don’t know what to do with” and I’ll toss them if they’re not used in six months. Cords, you’re on watch.

Lord knows I can’t post enough pictures of my office. When my friend visited from the Galapagos she was like, “Oh! Your office! I’ve seen so many pictures on your blog.” Which means I need to find something new to write about.

Too bad! Office for the win!

 

blogs in the classroom

This morning my students spent 15 minutes or so surfing the Interwebs. For their next assignment they will be creating their own scholarly blogs and I wanted them to find examples of blogs within their fields they could use as models. I told them I’d create one along with them. Lately I’ve been considering starting a “professional”/literary/scholarly/academic blog, one where I could use my full name and talk about research and the doctoral process, and this seems like the perfect opportunity (plus, will force me to do it).

Then one student asked me if I had a personal blog. I can’t lie, so I admitted I did, but that I kept it private and semi-anonymous. I warned them not to go looking for it, because they wouldn’t find it. I hope no one interprets that as a challenge. I said if they found it I’d have to shut it down (or at least make it password-protected) and then I’d be sad.

I also mentioned that I really only write about nerdlife, like making granola bars and reading a book and drinking iced coffee, so I’m pretty sure this blog is already college-proof. Nothing to see here, folks.

 

kitchen sink granola bars

I’m obsessed with Smitten Kitchen’s recipe for thick, chewy granola bars. I’ve made a batch every week for about a month, and while they’ve all been ridonk. good, they were more crumbly than bar-y. I had a lightbulb moment yesterday: pumpkin! Pumpkin is the glue that holds everything together, granola bars included.

The recipe is very versatile which is perfect because I like to keep things fresh. Cook by the seat of my pants. Change it up, I’m crazy like that. I basically threw everything delicious into a bowl, including:

• about half a can of pumpkin (both to stick them together and to replace most of the oil for a healthier bar)
• dried unsweetened coconut
• dried figs
• dried berry medley from TJs (blueberries, cherries, strawberries I think)
• almonds
• sunflower seeds
• chia seeds
• flax seeds
• almond butter
• a mix of oat flour and wheat germ

Basically they are stupid delicious and the best on-the-run summer breakfast.

They’ll be awesome in the fall with some pumpkin pie spices to amp up the pumpkin flavor, maybe some choco chips. Whoa I am getting ahead of myself here.