sinéad, freshly-squeezed

friday.

2012-01-14T11:49:00.001-05:00

Now that's my kind of Friday night. Fancy dipping sauce* and all.

*2 parts wasabi mayonnaise, 1 part ketchup. Stir well.

still in style.

2012-01-04T12:42:00.000-05:00

I sometimes wonder if anyone notices the girl with the mustard yellow winter headband warming her ears, loaded down with handbag and gym bag and grocery bag, basking in the warmth of the subway platform (which 5 short months ago was unbearable until the doors of the F train opened, blasting the lucky ones with cool air). I wonder if they catch her casting sidelong glances at them as they wait for a train, and if they know that she's already stitched a narrative of their past in sixty seconds, all lost loves and long voyages and small in-between moments held together with twine. I wonder if they've done the same for her.

But most of all, do they notice her reading material? Do they realize it's no longer Sunday?

it just keeps getting better.

2012-01-02T20:50:00.000-05:00

Christmas was really nice this year.
It's hard to go wrong with New York at Christmastime, coming home to family & cats, a delicious dinner, and spending time in front of the fireplace every night, but for some reason, this year just really topped them all. Kevin and I enjoyed soaking up all the city had to offer (and the inevitable crowds that go with it). Gifts given and received were the most thoughtful yet, and from a dinner party on Christmas Eve Eve to leftovers days after Christmas, each meal had everybody in the kitchen and tasted better than the one before. I was surprised actually; this time last year, I had just come home from South Africa and couldn't have imagined a nicer Christmas-- but this year really took the cake (and pie, and salted pistachio-white chocolate bark).
There was hot apple cider at the Columbus Circle market, the Rockefeller tree, watching skaters in Central Park, fat happy cats with ribbons round their necks, and oysters on Christmas Eve, and bottles of vino, and Skype chats with family across the sea, and wrapping paper, and pearls, and beautiful cookbooks, and ginger-lemon crème brûlée, and long walks, and morning lie-ins, and pomegranate seeds, and shopping trips, and a whole lot of laughter.

I'm resigned to making 2012 the year of self-improvement in all aspects, but I really can't complain about life now. I feel so lucky to have made the move to Brooklyn, especially last night when my roommates and I hosted a hair of the dog potluck to ring in the new year. Our apartment was cozy and warm, looked beautiful in the last light of the dried-out Christmas tree, and was full of friends old and new, sharing food and drinks. This year ended on the really high note it's been carrying all along.

Cheers to 2012.

happy holydays.

2011-12-17T11:57:00.000-05:00

A gift from our generous old Italian landlord, a tree from the guy on the corner, and records old and new.

Happy Holydays.

my heart was in the right place...

2011-12-08T22:56:00.001-05:00

... but my peppermint hot chocolate still exploded all over the microwave. After my roommate had spent a good while scrubbing said appliance.

At least I've got Vince Guaraldi playing in the background.

But then again, there was a stovetop fire and massive flood in the building at work today, which caused it to "indoor rain" all over my desk and forced everyone to spend the day cleaning and running around and doing damage control.

At least I could see my breath as I rode my bike home from my second shift of the day, the wind going right through my safety-pinned coat.

But then again, there is still the issue of having no time for anything in these last few weeks before Christmas-- it's all comings and goings, laundry left undone, overdue DVDs and subsequent fines (I know, that's what I get for still checking out movies from the library), inevitable lack of time for a run or yoga.

At least I've got two boxes of Christmas lights just waiting for the right little evergreen to come along and live in my apartment.

I guess optimism is more easily come by at this time of year than usual. Thank goodness.

thankful.

2011-12-05T21:39:00.001-05:00

This may be a little late, but I am thankful for:
lemons that have finally ripened, kir royale and surprise on-sale lace dresses, Scrabble with my sisters and their loves (and champagne), Moroccan carrot salad, comfortable love, cheap beer, new friends, a night drinking and laughing just like high school, and a day out getting fresh air, unexpected toad-in-the-hole, and a glass of white wine with my dear Mum.

c'est arrivé!

2011-11-17T20:25:00.001-05:00

Today, the third Thursday in November, we welcomed the arrival of Beaujolais nouveau with un poulet rôti, des frites, and a chilled bottle of this year's "bo-jo".
Beaujolais nouveau stands out because it is such a young wine, bottled and sold only a few weeks after the fermentation process has begun. Across France and among oenophiles worldwide, this wine is greeted with banners and one-minute-after-midnight tastings. Reviews are mixed among the French; critics cannot get past its youth, but it seems that its devotees believe a comeback is brewing (or fermenting, so to speak).
I liked what we tasted tonight. Though its initial introduction is a bit astringent, I found the taste grew more rounded. And it was a perfect accompaniment to our easy, tasty meal on this chilly autumn evening.

Bienvenue, bo-jo.

And as a side note, is there anything better than a rotisserie chicken? Moist, flavorful, topped with a juicy skin-- not to mention incredibly convenient after a long day at work. Paired with some Trader Joe's oven fries and a salad, it might just be the perfect dinner. At least I think so.

oh, how the light has changed.

2011-11-13T16:48:00.000-05:00

Autumn is a season of changing light.

The light of the early morning is the perfect place to enjoy that first cup of tea, though the air is still cool and bed beckons.

There are delicious long runs on Sunday afternoons, each one a race to beat the dying day. An end to the weekend that leaves me juxtaposed between flushed cheeks and skin that is cool to the touch.

Darkness falls earlier in the city these days. The shadows of buildings and skyscrapers lengthen and meet the setting sun, the warmth of the light fades, and a chill moves in.

This is my favorite season. I guess I've always loved change.

a weekend in the city.

2011-06-24T15:02:00.000-04:00

Part of the move to Brooklyn and adjustment to city life has been trying to sort through the overwhelming number of things going on here on any given day. Every weekend there's a round of questioning that goes something like this:

- Oh, the weather will be nice this weekend. I should probably take some time to go for a run and sit and have a coffee somewhere, maybe read in the park...
- But then there's this street fair in downtown Manhattan on Saturday and it would be really great to eat lunch from one of the food trucks that will be there...
- But then again, Brooklyn Based is sponsoring an event in the neighborhood...
- And the event has free beer, sold...
- I need to see Friend X today, and also Friend Y, and Friend Z is visiting but only knows Friend X...
- There is a huge pile of laundry still sitting in my room.
- Wait, it's Sunday?

I'm not complaining; part of my motivation for moving here was the appeal of all these exciting, interesting happenings. It's just exhausting!

But it does lead to some pretty sweet photos. Enjoy.

hello brooklyn.

2011-05-21T23:46:00.002-04:00

The past few weeks have been among the craziest since I got home from South Africa. I have no complaints, but life has happened at warp speed. I unpacked my bags, got a job (twice), and then had to suffer only two months of commuting before moving into a gorgeous apartment with two very cool roommates in Brooklyn. We joke that our walk from the subway to the front door is a little like wandering down Sesame Street-- it sure looks that way.

Here are some photos from our first few nights. It's time to get into some semblance of a routine, including regular posting again.

Our move-in weekend mostly involved high levels of stress, but luckily such worries were eclipsed by champagne toasts, avocado and lemon pepper, the record collections of both our dads, finding working speakers on a stoop in Carroll Gardens, and the view of downtown Manhattan from the roof. That and the company of some good friends have me very happy to be here. It's going to be a good summer.

Postscript: I am so ok with how central our hardwood floors are to these photos.

a day at the museum.

2011-03-27T21:00:00.001-04:00

Back at the end of February, just before I started my new job in Brooklyn, I spent a day running around my beloved Philadelphia with Kevin. It was a beautiful early spring day, and a fitting "farewell" to the city of brotherly love.

We had some Robsons beers that I'd smuggled home from Durban to go with our giant plates of brunch at Sabrina's. We walked up the Parkway to the Art Museum where we got given the red member badges, for the sole purpose, the girl at the counter told us, of making us feel superior. We saw armor that seemed to be made to transform horses into unicorns, lots of modern art installations, and scoffed at tourists running up and down the museum steps (I guess the red badges worked).

It was a very nice day.

All photos taking with the iPhone, some with the instagr.am App.

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oh, life.

2011-03-02T22:18:00.002-05:00

Life has been crazy lately. Since my last post, I wrapped up a very short-lived career "trading for Joe", and began a new job at a non-profit in Brooklyn.
Yep, that's right. Brooklyn. As in, "I live in Pennsylvania and commute to Brooklyn every morning and every evening". Luckily it hasn't been as bad (yet) as I'd thought and within a few months I'll have saved enough money to pay a deposit on an apartment in New York. But for now, my travel time clocks in at just under 2 hours each way, which I'm viewing as extremely valuable reading/podcast time (Ira Glass, I'm lookin at you).

I've got a lot of figuring out to do, most especially in the How will I ever find time to do the things I enjoy doing in the free time I don't have? category, but it will come with time. And for now, I've got my first real job working for an organization I believe in in one of the greatest cities in the world. And though the commute may get long at times, that fact is certainly nothing to complain about.

This weekend, updates about life. Promise.

my kind of valentine.

2011-02-14T11:07:00.000-05:00

Having culled the best of the best from Twitter suggestions, NPR have created a series of public radio themed Valentines, which, it has to be said, would win me over any day of the year. Thanks to Becca for the link!
I for one will be spending Valentine's Day stacking Gala apples into aesthetically-pleasing pyramids and trying to resist the temptation to buy chocolate and baby roses with my employee discount.

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hyperlinked apologies, or the best email i've gotten in a long time.

2011-02-09T12:39:00.002-05:00

My 24th birthday is swiftly approaching, so I invited a few friends to celebrate with me in New York for a variety of activities, included, but not limited to: improv comedy at Upright Citizens Brigade, burgers at Trailer Park Lounge, and jukebox partying at The Library. My friend Jackie can't come, but she completely made up for it by sending me this hilarious email (if any of the links don't work, blame Mark Zuckerberg):

Hey Shin,

I'm super sorry but I can't make it down to the city this weekend! School is just crazy, shocking, I know. Anyways I'm pretty bummed because (aside from seeing your shining face) I've recently been getting into Parks & Recreation which makes me think of UCB bc of Amy Poehler. I was actually just trying to explain it to someone. Which sketches are the ones that you would always watch? I want to show them to everyone and/or watch them at 7:30 pm on Saturday so we can be doing the same thing...I'm such a hopeless romantic! <3

mmmmk well I'm sorry again that I can't make it. I guess you can have a "Lovers Concerto" with someone else at the Trailer Park Lounge. Tell me what the special surprise is...I'm really curious.

xoxo :-* lylas ;-)

Jackie

If being a fancy lawyer doesn't work out, perhaps crafting hyperlinked emails could be a valid career choice...

grade 3 plants a flower.

2011-02-07T23:49:00.000-05:00

If you haven't heard by now, I lived and worked in South Africa last year as an Augustinian Volunteer. I taught English in a Zulu primary school not far from Durban five days a week, to children in Grades 3-7.
This is a silly and very amateur video I made of one of our projects. On Earth Day, Mary-Kate and I asked our third graders to decorate (hlobisa) a petal we'd cut out of white paper, which we then assembled, and... well, just watch the video.

Music by Orba Squara.

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chocolate orange cake.

2011-02-05T22:23:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned last time, I decided to bake a chocolate orange cake for my sister's 21st birthday. While many people don't love fruit and chocolate together, I think that chocolate, especially of the dark variety, and crisp, citrusy orange is a match made in heaven.
The cake turned out quite dry, but the delicious ganache frosting made up for it (in my humble opinion). I used a few substitutions, but for method stuck quite strictly to the recipe.

(1) melty chocolate (2) orange zest (3) batter

(4) stiff egg whites! victory! (5) in it goes (6) out it comes

(7, 8) the finished product (9) mumsy and the birthday girl

Chocolate orange cake,

adapted from the Avoca Café Cookbook

6 oz dark chocolate (70% cococa)

6 oz unsalted butter

8 oz sugar

6 eggs, separated into yolk and whites

Grated zest of 3 oranges

5 oz self-raising flour -- if you have it; I used all-purpose flour and added a bit of baking powder... almost forgot that step but yanked the cake out of the oven when I had realized my mistake

Orange slices, to decorate

For the icing:

4 fl oz double (or whipping) cream

8 oz dark chocolate (55% cocoa) -- I used Lindt Excellence Intense Orange Dark With Pieces of Orange and Almond Slivers and it worked really well, if you like almonds

1-2 tablespoons Cointreau -- I used Bailey's and it was deeeelicious

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Break up the chocolate and melt it in a double boiler (bowl set over a pot of gently simmering water-- but make sure not to get any H2O into the chocolate!). When melted, set aside. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, then gradually beat in the egg yolks. Stir in the melted chocolate and the orange zest and then fold in the flour (and a bit of baking powder if you're using all-purpose flour-- don't make the same mistake I did). Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff and fold them into the cake mixture. Spoon into a lined round 9 inch cake tin and bake for 40-45 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Remove from pan and leave to cool on a wire rack.

To make the icing, put all the ingredients into a double boiler and leave to melt. Stir until smooth (unless there are pieces of almond in the chocolate, obviously) and then remove from the heat and set aside for about 20 minutes. Spread evenly over the cake and decorate with slices of orange, and Joyeux Anniversaire! if your sister is an avowed Francophile.

Try not to eat it all in one sitting; the icing is rather rich.

joyeux anniversaire

2011-02-01T23:31:00.003-05:00

One's younger sister only turns 21 once in her life, and there are only so many times a number of one's college friends can gather together in the same city. Thus, I spent the weekend at Villanova, my alma mater, for some good ol' (disappointing) college basketball, quality time with old friends, and birthday celebrations.
I coerced my friend Diana to drive up the dreaded PA Turnpike with me late Friday night, and we arrived on campus just in time for a French-themed fête at Niamh's apartment, where red lipstick, cheap wine, and striped apparel abounded.
Saturday morning took us bright and early to the Wells-Fargo Center, where after some raucous tailgating and joyous reunions, we watched Villanova lose to Georgetown in quite a nail-biter of a second half. Oh well. After snacks and lots of lounging, our stamina failed us and we ended up choosing bedtime over bars. Typical postgraduate behavior.
We spent Sunday morning eating sandwiches and getting caffeinated at Milkboy Coffee in Ardmore, an excellent haunt where I spent many a long thesis-writing weekend as an undergrad. When our drinks were finished, we ran around campus in the winter sunshine, reminiscing and trying not to look too out of place-- next time, we'll bring backpacks. After saying goodbye to friends, Niamh and I got ready to meet our parents and little sister for dinner at Sangkee Bistro in Wynnewood, where we ate lots of delicious Asian seafood, showered Niamh with birthday love, and laughed at our waiter's ridiculous antics. And then, after the family had gone home, there was a trip to the bars for a celebratory drink (or four) come midnight.
On Monday, I walked back to campus to meet up with two of my former professors. Though reminiscing about college life with my friends on Sunday left me feeling a bit bereft, the strange feelings lessened come Monday, and I felt as though I could have sat there, drinking coffee and talking for hours.
Confession: I not-so-secretly long to have the life of an academic.

I left campus and drove home with the Arcade Fire blasting, the window down (halfway), and feeling very positive about life. It was so nice to sit down and instead of discussing philosophy paper deadlines or conjugating the ever-elusive subjonctif, we could swap book titles (and actual books), chat about interesting movies, and catch up on life in general. It was very nice indeed.
Optimism continues to prevail and I feel quite confident that whatever direction my life is due to take in the next few months, I will still have some really great relationships with my family, old friends, and other acquaintances I can count on for intelligent conversation, movie recommendations, and des spectacles (merci, SW).

And now, some photos:

Post-script: I baked the Avoca Cafe chocolate orange cake for Niamh's birthday. Recipe to follow.

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4 corners.

2011-01-27T21:57:00.004-05:00

In case you haven't heard, it snowed last night.

After spending a little over two hours shoveling today, I headed outside to take some photos. Most of the better ones are from my Nikon, but ye olde iPhone did the trick for these four corners of my snowy backyard.

1. our trellis (and last year's Christmas tree!)
2. the fire pit and teak bench
3. Mum's gardening corner, and
4. The Red Wheelbarrow.

All photos taken via Instagr.am for iPhone

the potential story of my life.

2011-01-20T23:20:00.003-05:00

Note: There was a video posted here about the joys of applying for jobs as an "aid worker"... but it seems that Global Poverty Project has taken it down. Le sigh.

At least it's good to have a sense of humor about these things.
Thanks to friend and fellow former SA volunteer, Emma, for sharing this one. It gave me a good chuckle on the heels of my first really disappointing employment rejection.

Video via Texas in Africa

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yikes, starbucks

2011-01-18T12:22:00.002-05:00

Image via the hairpin

they're worth a thousand words anyway.

2011-01-13T22:09:00.003-05:00

Since I've had some trouble thus far putting my year in South Africa into words, I've decided to share some photos instead. I held off on uploading a ton while I was away, not really on purpose, but because our internet was limited and there were more important things to do. So, if you'd like to see some of my year as a volunteer in KwaZulu Natal, head on over to dispatches from kzn. I'll try to be good about putting up one a day. But that is not a resolution.

nou bouke.

2011-01-13T21:43:00.000-05:00

While flicking through the TV channels tonight after dinner (and let's be honest, we don't have cable Chez Cloughley so there isn't much choice in the first place), we stumbled upon a documentary about Haiti. There's been a lot of coverage on public television about the earthquake and the state of Haiti and its people a year later, but this particular program was really incredible. It's called Nou Bouke, and was made by a team from The Miami Herald. "Nou bouke" is a Creole term meaning, "We're tired." What an apt title.

Though I enjoyed the entire piece, I really loved a feature on a man named Jerry Rosembert, a graffiti artist who uses street art to spread a message from Haiti, and for Haiti. Watching the documentary led to some internet searching, and I found these to share.

From Voices of Haiti: A Daily Photoessay by Jeremy Cowart. See more of his beautiful photography here

From Repeating Islands: News and commentary on Caribbean culture, literature, and the arts

From the Haiti Photo Library, which you can find here

The recovery effort in Haiti is complicated, because the quality of life for the majority of Haitians prior to January 12, 2010 was abysmal. And now, cholera has sunk its ugly teeth into an already decimated population; to rebuild a nation on a foundation that is already full of holes seems an insurmountable task.
But as it is with Jerry, so it can be with others. Paired with a little help and a lot of hope, Haiti's people will retain what makes them whole.

Just something to keep in mind when you're booking your next cruise to the Caribbean.

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4 corners.

2011-01-12T12:02:00.001-05:00

The four corners of my bedroom.

It's strange to be in a transitional phase-- looking for jobs, applying to graduate school, making moves to take the next step. Among countless conversations with friends in a similar phase of life, I can't really complain, or feel "left behind". I feel excited. I could find something in Philadelphia or in New York. I could be working full-time, I could be going to school for my Masters. I could even be back in Dublin, for goodness' sake.
Then there are the questions like, "Should I paint my bedroom?" I can't decide what's worth my time or not. I have no idea how long I'll be here or where I'll be next.

It's all rather exciting (that is, until the excitement wears off and I can't stand to look at my résumé for one more second).

As a sidenote, there's nothing like Downton Abbey, Olive Kitteridge, and a little amoxicillin to make a bout of strep throat bearable.

All photos taken via Instagr.am for iPhone

2011-01-10T13:57:00.000-05:00

South Africa, I miss you.

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geez, you're something to see

2011-01-03T21:25:00.000-05:00

I'm a big fan of this song by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, but when I saw that they had posted this link on their Twitter, I think I may have a new favorite version. You can hear the original here.

Something to make you smile on a Monday night... or cry, depending on your mood.

(via @EdwardSharpe)

out with the old, in with the new.

2011-01-02T16:53:00.004-05:00

Hi! I'm back!
After my year in South Africa , and three weeks of joyful reunions, slow readjustment, and holiday cheer, I have decided it's time to return to this little blog. My post-volunteering job hunt has just begun and may take some time, so in the meantime, I can share a bit of my life here on SFS.

I rang in 2011 with a weekend in New York.

2010 was the most exciting, interesting, challenging, eye-opening year of my life yet... but I have high hopes for 2011. With my best friends from college, I welcomed January 1st at Brooklyn Brewery, and spent the surrounding days soaking up all that New York has to offer. There were a couple of stressful trips to Trader Joe's in Union Square (is that place ever not crowded?), a few too many strong margaritas at happy hour(s), beer-drinking adventures in the Village with a good friend I hadn't seen in way too long, and a tough morning curled up in Diana's bed, watching wedding shows and attempting to rehydrate (unsuccessfully).
And after a very lovely few days, I've decided that although my job search is widespread in the hopes of finding something sooner rather than later, I would really love to find something in New York. So here's to the hunt...

I read this poem here last night, and thought it was really beautiful. And so, to start off this year and to bring this blog back to life, here it is. Happy New Year!

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
   The flying cloud, the frosty light:
   The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
   Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
   The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind
   For those that here we see no more;
   Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
   And ancient forms of party strife;
   Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
   The faithless coldness of the times;
   Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
   The civic slander and the spite;
   Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease;
   Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
   Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,
   The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
   Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "In Memoriam (Ring Out, Wild Bells!)"

what it's worth.

2010-11-22T13:23:00.000-05:00

It's been a whirlwind ten months since my last post on this blog. I've been keeping myself busy here, but I thought I should share this on my "everyday life" blog as well, just for posterity.
As I face my final two weeks as a volunteer in South Africa, I can't help thinking back to all the frustration, sadness, giggles, and driving on the "wrong" side of the road that has happened in the past ten months. Teaching has been an amazing experience, and my time at St. Leo Primary has awakened new passions within me that I didn't give one ounce of thought to before.
Amid the three-week strike, the World Cup fiasco, the lack of student attendance and the inadequacy of education in this country, one of my learners in Grade 7 dropped this note on my desk as she left class last Friday. And this is why I'm here.

"To Shinad
Hi Shinad How are you me I am fine. I would like to tell you something. Shinad at first I did not like white people because of aparteid but I have realise that you must not hate somebody just because of the colour. You must not judge some body the colour of the skin, and since I have relise that you are a good person and you are a kind person. And even you are not near me I will always love you. You show me the love that my parent never show.
Shinad I love you with all of my heart
From: Hlengiwe"

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time to make moves.

2010-01-05T11:53:00.000-05:00

My floor is covered with books and photographs and clothes, in my meek attempt to pack some of my life into two suitcases to take with me to South Africa. The hardest part is deciding what to bring besides clothes. Every year, moving back to Villanova, I'd bring a crate of books with me-- not to read, you understand, but sort of as a comfort item. On a trip thousands of miles away, it seems that a crate of books is not the most practical of ideas. I need to bring photos, but which ones? Will they get damaged if they're not in frames? Exactly how much makeup am I going to need for an entire year?

It's been important to sit back and take a moment or two to remember my purpose in going to volunteer. I'm not going on vacation; I'm going to work and be a part of some small means of assistance to people who have never had to pick which makeup to pack, or which five pairs of shoes to bring.
I'll probably only wear flip-flops anyway.

And so, amid this packing and preparing and phonecalls to the bank, I'm signing off from Sinéad Freshly-Squeezed for a while, mostly because I've created a new blog to chart my experiences in South Africa. It's called dispatches from KZN (title inspired by McSweeney's) (and f.y.i. KZN means KwaZulu Natal). Though I plan on checking in here once in a while, I was in need of a specific place to keep my family and friends up-to-date on my adventures. Both blogs link to each other in the side panels, so if you need some orienting, there it is.

Peace out, blog world. See you in South Africa!

ode to sundays.

2010-01-04T00:18:00.002-05:00

A while back, my dear friend (and fellow redhead) Colleen wrote an ode-- specifically, an ode lauding the merits of front porches in her hometown. She suggested that some other bloggers out there might be similarly inspired to write such a post, and now, much later than I care to admit, I've decided to write my own ode: an ode to Sundays.

I hated Sundays growing up. Even throughout four years of college, Sundays were a reminder of the week that followed. They meant homework that I'd put off all weekend, an hour of being bored at church, shifts at Barnes & Noble Café during high school, and in college, laundry and other chores that would bite me in the butt come Sunday night. A good friend once referred to the dreaded day as being like, "the last meal before an execution," and, for a long time, I took that comparison to heart. Even when Mondays were occasional holidays, Sundays were always my least favorite day of the week.

But all that changed after my move back home following graduation.

Now, on Sundays, I sleep late-- but if the sun looks particularly nice, I might go for a brisk run around the neighborhoods, happily aware that the benefits of my exercise will be counteracted by Dad's crepes or Mum's lemon muffins or croissants from our local grocery store. If the warmth of my bed wins over motivation for exercise, I'm usually woken by the sound of the coffee grinder, and thoughts of steaming hot cups of dark coffee diluted with skim milk.

After a late breakfast, I spend the day finishing a couple of chapters in that book next to my bed, or finishing a blog post I'd meant to get around to all week. My little sister Megan does homework (though the Top 40 Hits blaring out of her stereo would suggest otherwise) and a good portion of time is spent convincing Mum that she's not texting, she swears.

On some Sundays, my sisters and I are reunited for a short while, because Niamh makes the trek home from college with laundry in hand, craving a good meal and the familiar comfort of her own bed.

In the warmer months, Mum and Dad would have been out in the garden long before my sisters and I get out of bed. After breakfast, they'd go back to it, and whenever I see them out there, I make a silent promise to one day spend some time pondering horticulture as a hobby too. Now that it's chilly, Dad might venture out to break up the old trees that fell during summer thunderstorms, and chop them into firewood. Mum catches up on emails, occasionally letting out an excited yell when a potential houseguest to our French cottage drops her a line. She catches up on her reading for one of her two book groups, and then it's into the kitchen, where she (and Dad, more and more these days), spends some time figuring out what we can eat for our early Sunday meal out of what's in the fridge.

I peek my head in from time to time, sometimes offer to make a salad dressing or dessert, but usually happy to be assigned the already carefully planned tasks that Mum's worked out. Her timing is impeccable; with Megan due at youth band rehearsal at 5, dinner's always on the table around 4. Sometimes Dad and Meg make homemade pasta, cranking out perfectly shaped strips of yellowish dough, while Mum roasts vegetables or simmers a sauce that goes perfectly with the fish Dad caught on his most recent fishing trip. I'm never shy to get the cheese out before we sit down to dinner, so that it's ready to eat after the plates have been cleared away and before Megan jets off to practice.

Then, before we eat, we hold hands and for a brief moment, every week, we say grace together. We each take a turn wishing blessings on the family member seated next to us, and for that one moment, all is quiet around us. It's the perfect meditation that lasts all week long. Though we trundle off to Mass after dinner, the short grace that we say before our Sunday meal is one of the most sacred moments of my week.

At Mass, we sing along with Megan and the youth band. Mum says her prayers the Irish way, and I secretly love to hear her do so-- it's a reminder of the family across the ocean who have also attended Mass that same day. Dad never applauds the occasional speaker after Communion, and Niamh and I sometimes revert back to childhood and attempt to outsqueeze each other's hands during the Our Father. For a sacrament so full of tradition and meditation, it's the routine of being there with my family that I appreciate most.

After coming home, we change back into the yoga pants and sweatshirts we'd worn before church and boil the kettle to fill the teapot. Teabags are a prized possession in our house; they're the only thing we insist on smuggling back to the US after a trip back to Ireland. The tea is made with precision, and after dessert, Meg goes back to her books and Niamh settles in for an early night before her drive back to school on Monday morning. Dad goes upstairs to check his email, and then reads his book before going to sleep, and downstairs, in the living room, Mum and I take up residence on the couch with the cats to watch our one televised indulgence of the week. After a short debriefing of the episode and complaints about the inevitably unimportant local news at 11, we, too, make our way to bed.

In reflecting on the Sundays I've come to cherish since moving home, I've decided that my enjoyment of them has been affected by the lack of schoolwork I've reveled in since graduation. But, more importantly, I love Sundays because they have come to be the nucleus of my family's week. On Sundays, we take the time to be with each other. We're busy people, especially now that my sisters and I are grown, and we have lots of commitments that get in the way of quality time spent with each other. But on Sundays, when we sit around the table, or together at church, or even watching TV, there's a different feeling of togetherness than on other days.

And that's why, on this last Sunday with my family for a whole year, I'm quite sad to reflect on how much I enjoy them. It's hard thinking about my new life without my family in it, and I think that Sundays will be especially tough. But there are things that I can do-- like going to Mass or cooking a meal at home-- that will remind me of the peace I've enjoyed on Sundays with my family.

what a year for a new year.

2009-12-31T16:03:00.016-05:00

I really loved 2009.
No, like, really.

In January, I started off the year sipping cocktails with my best girlfriends from high school, started the last semester of my undergraduate career at Villanova, and joined thousands of people in Washington, D.C. to witness President Obama's inauguration.

In February, I celebrated my 22nd birthday, cheered on Villanova as they made their way towards the NCAA championships, and crossed my fingers as I sent in my application to my volunteer program.

In March, I got to be Ashley's date to NYU's Violet Ball, drank a pint of Guinness before 11 am on St. Patrick's Day, spent my entire spring break writing the final draft of my senior thesis, and drove out to Detroit with my roommates to watch Villanova in the Final Four.

In April, I attended my final classes as a college student, shut myself up in the library as I finished my thesis, and found out that I'd been accepted as an Augustinian Volunteer in the South Africa program.

In May, I celebrated the end of classes, spent senior week in a celebratory haze with my best friends, graduated magna cum laude from Villanova, celebrated some more, and moved out of the poor excuse for a house that myself and seven other girls came to cherish... and back home.

In June, I spent ten days eating feta, drinking Mythos, and soaking up the sun in Greece with my best friends from high school; visited family & spent Bloomsday in a very Joycean fashion in Dublin; and returned to France for market-fresh dinners on the patio, bike rides among the sunflower fields, and some Parisian joie de vivre.

In July, I was reunited with some college friends for apple pie & beer on the 3rd of July, and quit selling books in favor of three very random weeks working at a summer camp in northern New Jersey (and would not have traded it for the world).

In August, I drove to Newport, RI with Colleen & Wil for a very flannel & beardy weekend at the Newport Folk Festival, spent a week getting oriented with my fellow Augustinian Volunteers and community members going to South Africa, and started my job at ADROP in Philadelphia.

In September & October, I came to accept the fact that my life no longer runs on a semesterly schedule and sank my teeth into some really good reading (for pleasure!).

In November, I spent a weekend in New York City and got to see Amy Poehler and Rachel Dratch in a show at UCB, then flew across the country with Colleen to whet our west coast appetites visiting Becky in San Francisco.

And in December, I finished out my time at ADROP, ate huge Christmas meals until I was fit to burst, enjoyed a very beautiful snowfall, and began to make preparations for my trip to South Africa in just one week's time.

What an amazing year. Though I think New Year's Eve can be a bit overhyped, I must say that today, going into 2010, I feel so blessed to be where I am. I'm surrounded by people I love, with a fulfilling decade behind me and a new adventure about to begin.
Here's to you, 2010.

merry merry!

2009-12-24T12:06:00.003-05:00

I've been quite remiss in blogging lately, but I chalk it up to the busyness of the season, and my efforts to spend more time with my family when I'm home instead of in front of the computer.

We drove to New York City yesterday to get our fill of Christmas cheer; we went to Bryant Park & watched the ice-skaters, visited a few exhibitions at the New York Public Library, sat in St. Patrick's Cathedral and admired the beautiful creche, and had delicious coffee and hot chocolate on the 8th floor of Saks. We finished up the day with dinner at The Spotted Pig, and after walking through the West Village from the subway to get there, I've decided to save all my money and one day, move there. What a great little neighborhood.
There's also nothing better than wandering down a street, the scent of something amazing in the air-- and find yourself standing at Magnolia Bakery.

It was a great day, just one of many we've been having since Meg finished up school and Niamh came home from Villanova. My presents are wrapped (in brown paper with pretty ribbons), my flannel plaid nightshirt is laid out, and tonight we'll go to Christmas Eve mass and then to celebrate with some family friends. Tomorrow brings a full Irish breakfast, presents being opened, and cooking and eating the rest of the day away, finishing up with a movie all together.

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

snow!

2009-12-20T13:33:00.005-05:00

I had been wishing for a snowfall before I depart for summertime in South Africa, and I got what I wanted! Our region was hit with about two feet of snow from early morning hours on Saturday until this morning. It's really beautiful, and although it forced me to reschedule my farewell party, I'm really enjoying the wintery scene outside my window.

Here's a little collection of songs I've been listening to this weekend; I think they make for a nice wintertime playlist. Enjoy the snow!

Click here to see the playlist.

doctors without borders.

2009-12-14T13:03:00.004-05:00

Every Thursday night in high school, Mum and I would settle down in front of the TV, like millions of other moms and daughters, to watch ER. I really loved it; I fell head over heels for Noah Wyle in his role as Dr. Carter, and, in his final days as a member of the cast, his character traveled overseas to do humanitarian medical work with an organization called Doctors Without Borders (or Medicins Sans Frontieres).
I was spellbound. Though you wouldn't know it by the large volume of paperbacks on my bookshelf, or by my college diploma and degree, I dreamed for a long time of going to medical school and becoming a doctor. I've always loved helping people, and I saw medicine as a field in which I could be a professional "helper". And who knows, maybe one day I'll relearn biology and science and don a white jacket, but I'm not sure my English degree will be much help.

Nonetheless, I really got interested in MSF. I did some research online, and in college, applied for a few internships in their New York offices (to no avail). I get their monthly newsletter by email and have a map of the world hanging in my bedroom that they sent me, marked with the quote by Nicolas de Torrente, executive director of the group: We find out where conditions are the worst-- the places where others are not going-- and that's where we want to be.

So when I found out that a documentary had been made about the organization, I was eager to see it, and tonight, at 7:30pm, it's being shown in 450 movie theaters nationwide. It's called Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders.

Here's the trailer, and if you're interested, you can head over to their website to see what movie theaters near you are playing the movie. There are even rumors of some Oscar activity... I can't wait to see it.

san francisco!

2009-12-11T14:57:00.009-05:00

This past (extended) weekend, my friend Colleen and I took a trip out to the west coast to visit our college roommate Becky who is living and working in San Francisco as a volunteer.
I'd been there once before, years ago, with my family, but didn't remember much of my trip. This time around, I absolutely fell in love with the city.

San Francisco is one of the coolest, most interesting cities I've ever visited. It's cosmopolitan without being flashy, artsy without being (too) pretentious, and its location in the northern part of California and on the ocean means the weather is a bit more interesting than elsewhere in the Golden State. It also happens to be the site of 826 Valencia, the first of Dave Eggers' writing centers for kids (disguised as a pirate supply shop!) and McSweeney's, his venerated publishing house. Visiting those two sites was one of my favorite parts of the trip, but I decided they deserved a blog post of their own sometime soon.

Photographic evidence:

I finally got to try In-N-Out! It was pretty delicious, but as a french fry connoisseur, I was unimpressed by their attempt. Luckily, In-N-Out has a reputation mostly for burgers, not french fries.

We hung out in the Mission a lot, the neighborhood where Becky lives. In the background here, you can see Mission Dolores, the mission for which the area was named. I was also pretty happy about including a palm tree in this photo.

We warmed up one night after a walk around Fisherman's Wharf with Buena Vista's famous Irish coffees.

We danced at a bar called Holy Cow! (or tried to...)

Then we napped in a park with the Tanners and the rest of the Full House cast...

...after getting pretty silly at a brunch at Lime in the Castro, featuring bottomless mimosas for SEVEN dollars.

I made Becky take silly jumping pictures with me at the Palace of the Fine Arts in the Marina district.

Coll attempted to swim to Alcatraz, but the Pacific Ocean is just way too cold for that.

And of course, we posed with the Golden Gate Bridge, our last sightseeing stop on a fantastic weekend.

It was such a great trip, mostly thanks to Becky, who was an absolutely amazing tourguide. She knew exactly what we'd want to see, gave us lots of options, and knew lots about the city she's come to call home. Seeing her living with her volunteer community also made me really excited for my new adventure, just a short month from now, when I'll be moving to South Africa to start my volunteer year. I'm also really glad I got see Beck before I leave; a year is a long time to go when you're thousands of miles apart.

Thanks, Becky! I miss you already.

coloring for a cause.

2009-12-09T21:50:00.006-05:00

I saw this and just had to share, as most of you are probably like me & scrambling for Christmas gifts for the people you love.

For the indie rock lover in your life, who may happen to also need some good old-fashioned coloring therapy once in a while, comes.... the Indie Rock Coloring Book!

Released by the Yellow Bird Project, based out of Montreal, the coloring book features artwork inspired by musicians including The Shins, Laura Veirs, and Bon Iver-- and the profits from the sale of the coloring books goes towards charities chosen by the musicians involved.

I'd love to color a picture of Devendra Banhart's beard!!

EWR -> SFO

2009-12-02T23:31:00.002-05:00

In about twelve hours, I'll be coasting through the air on my way to... San Francisco! I'm headed to the west coast to visit Becky, my best friend (and roommate) from college. But it's doubly great because my other best friend/roommate Colleen is coming too! We're meeting up at Newark tomorrow morning & we have the makings of a delicious picnic to eat on the flight.

Becky is spending the year as a Jesuit Volunteer in San Francisco, so I'm excited not only for our reunion but to see a slice of her volunteer life as well. She's got a lot of great things planned... I'm most looking forward to In-N-Out, Irish coffees, seeing the Golden Gate Bridge, and bottomless mimosas at brunch on Saturday. Yum.

Stay well & have a great weekend, friends. See you on Tuesday!

Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/futurowoman/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

getting Nothing for christmas.

2009-12-02T19:57:00.005-05:00

The "holiday season" is a very exciting time-- the prospect of bundling up against cold weather, family-friendly Christmas movies on weekend television, and the comfort that comes from being surrounded by evergreen and tinsel decorations, twinkling with tiny lights. Personally, I look forward to Christmas especially for the quality time I get with my family. Most years, my parents and two sisters are the people that I spend the few days with (the majority of our extended family lives overseas). We order extra Netflix movies, Mum makes dozens of her delicious mince pies, and we hole up with good food and each other's company to enjoy a few days rest from school and work.

I can't say, though, that I remain unaffected by the other side of Christmas; that is, the decorations in the mall, the special deals on electronics and other gifts, and the small joy that is a red Starbucks cup. I'm as subject to clever marketing and advertising as the next consumer.

But, this clever site brought me back to reality. Check out the one of the most-wanted items this year & see if it changes your mind about the things on the Christmas list you still insist on writing to Santa, all these years later.

Found via The Uniform Project (another site I highly recommend-- an interesting project!)

a personal reflection, on world AIDS day.

2009-12-01T15:31:00.009-05:00

Today is World AIDS Day, and though it was commemorated in full force at my university, this is the first year where I've been forced to think about the reality of the virus. In just a few weeks, I will be living in the country with the largest percentage of HIV positive people in the world. Though there is some hopeful news (like this and this), the fact is that of the 33 million people infected with AIDS in the world, 22 million of them live in Africa, and the so-called "Dark Continent" is often overlooked in favor of issues closer to home.

On a more personal note, I'm really struggling to come to terms with the fact that today is the first of December. As I told someone over the weekend, when I thought about going to South Africa, I was content to mark the time passing, then suddenly realized that I had only two months to go! Just when I'd accepted that fact, time had slipped by and now I'm on the brink of my last month at home before I leave for South Africa.

I've been reflecting a lot on life and the choices I've made thus far, and how I can choose wisely and have the best life possible in the future. In talking to AV alumni, especially of the South Africa program, I've just gotten so excited to meet people. I know the country will be beautiful, and the culture will fascinate me, but even since beginning work at ADROP last August, I've really come to appreciate the simple interactions that life provides with people from all walks of life.
When you work in a city (even if you don't live there... yet), you're surrounded by strangers from the moment you leave your home until you return at night. You walk alongside them on the street, get into very close quarters together on the train or subway, and they serve you coffee and deli sandwiches when your energy dips. I love that about cities-- the interactions with strangers that serve as a reminder that we're all just going about our days next to each other.
I can't wait to feel similarly about the new people I'll encounter in my year abroad as an Augustinian Volunteer. In a conversation with Emma, an AV alum who served in South Africa in 2008, I mentioned something about how amazing it must be to have such an uncommon experience every single day. She agreed with me, but then said, "You know, it starts to lose that after a while. As time passes, that "experience" just becomes your everyday life."

I think moving to South Africa will be a series of highs and lows. Though volunteering won't be the same type of experience, I remember vividly the pattern that my emotions followed during my semester abroad in France.

There's the inevitable excitement a few months before, then a bit of nervousness as the date of departure approaches. There are the final goodbyes with friends and family, and the inevitable tears shed at the prospect of a year without face-to-face interaction with the people I love the most. There's the exciting trip itself, and the feeling of landing on foreign ground, knowing that as time passes, it will inevitably feel more like home. And as the weeks go by, there's the routine to slip into, to help numb homesickness and nervousness and fear, and the new friendly faces that become a foster family away from home. There are the moments when I'll look around, at the three girls I live with and at our surroundings and think, "Wow, look at us. These people are our reality and this is our everyday life." And then, before I have time to notice the passing of time, it will be over. December will come again and with it, the promise of a return home, to tell stories and share experiences with friends and family-- and maybe even a stranger or two.

So today, I've got Africa on my mind, and not just because it's World AIDS Day. Today I can see a major global crisis and my personal ambitions tied up in a life that will begin in just over a month. I hope that at this time next year, I can look back at today's reflection and feel like I've made a small difference, even if just in myself.

Image courtesy of the ONE campaign

december!

2009-12-01T13:00:00.001-05:00

Rabbit rabbit!

Happy December everyone! Sorry I've been so absent lately; I finished up November with a delicious and relaxing Thanksgiving & a weekend in New York City.

Now I'm getting ready for the end of the year with lots of Sufjan Stevens Christmas music, a trip to San Francisco this weekend with my best friends from college, and attempting to prepare myself for my move to South Africa. Whew.

Photo courtesy of JoshuaDavisPhotography.com

capucine.

2009-11-20T09:05:00.006-05:00

Here's a special Friday treat. I discovered this while perusing this blog and I just could not stop watching it. This little French mademoiselle is just adorable, from her storytelling to her impeccable accent to her little French clothes.

And just when you don't think it could get any better, it does.

Capucine's maman saw how popular the videos of her little girl were on the internet, and decided to put their success to good use. She connected with a group called EduRelief, which provides Malaysian kids with access to educational materials like school books, through the sale of goodies like t-shirts and magnets. You can visit her Vimeo site here to learn more.

I hope you love this little girl as much as I do-- in the words of my dad, "There's just something so endearing about little children speaking French."
Here's another one to keep you tickled.

Amuse-toi bien ce weekend! A bientôt!

happy birthday ginger!

2009-11-19T15:59:00.008-05:00

Happy birthday Colleen! Today, one of my best friends turns the big 2-3, and although she insists that she's "over the hill", I argue that she's got a good long while to go before she can really complain about being old.

The photo above is of us together at the Newport Folk Festival this summer in Rhode Island. It was a fantastic weekend and one of my favorite things we've done together since becoming friends during our freshman year of college. Since then, we've also trekked around Europe for 2 weeks together, hung out with Dave Eggers in Harlem, and made lots of delicious meals together.
We spent three years as roommates, (even during our semesters abroad, when we used the Eurostar multiple times to cross the English channel and visit back and forth between London & Paris) and now that college is over, we maintain our friendship via conversations about food, books, and traveling.

One day, we're going to open a restaurant together called ginger and though we don't know where it will be, or how it's going to happen, we know the food will be delicious and there will be books lining the walls.

But until we can celebrate your birthday in the restaurant we own, happy birthday Coll-- my fellow redhead, writer, English major, Epicurean friend!

saying it out loud doesn't make it better.

2009-11-17T14:24:00.007-05:00

Since Rosalba 's returned to Colombia two weeks ago, I've been arriving at St. Rita's early for ESL with no Spanish lesson to take up the extra 45 minutes before class. I could take a later train into the city, but then I'd be late... so better early than that, I suppose.

It's a beautiful day today, so instead of taking the subway down Broad Street to ESL, I decided to kill the extra 45 minutes by walking to St. Rita's instead-- because the evening ESL class runs til 8:30, I don't get home until 10 and then rarely have energy much less desire to exercise, so this was a good compromise.

I stopped into a Starbucks close to the train station to get a coffee, and the friendly employees were expediently making their way down the long line, filling orders and ringing people up. They took my order, then moved onto the gentleman behind me, who asked for, "A reduced-fat turkey bacon breakfast sandwich, and a grande, mostly decaf with just a splash of regular Pike blend coffee."

Hang on a minute, I thought to myself.

Having worked at Barnes & Noble cafe, I've had the privilege/punishment to be aware of the caloric content of most pastries, drinks, and other goodies provided by Starbucks and its affiliates. And you don't have to be a genius to realize that the truth behind the frosting and chocolate chips and pumpkin spice and whipped cream is not pretty. In fact, it's really, really ugly. One chocolate chip cookie from Barnes & Noble cafe clocks in at about 490 calories. That's a lot of nutritionless points working very hard against one's waistline.

So this guy, whoever he was (and I'm sure he's very nice and had the best intentions) seemed to be under the impression that by stating that his breakfast sandwich was indeed the "reduced-fat" variety, he has won yet another battle against the fatty gods-- and wants everyone to know it. I'm quite sure of this fact because he repeated "reduced-fat turkey bacon breakfast sandwich" about five times in the six minutes it took me to get my coffee, pay, and leave the store. Before you berate me for being too hard on this guy who really just wanted to make sure he was getting the right sandwich... there are no other turkey bacon breakfast sandwiches at Starbucks. I'm actually just glad he didn't say "reduced-fat turkey bacon breakfast sandwich with cholesterol-free egg and reduced-fat white cheddar cheese," because, well, that is what the sandwich is actually called.

Maybe I should stop being so critical and instead have asked him to accompany me on my walk around the city. It probably would have been a more practical opportunity for him to improve his health than the repetition of his low-fat mantra. But instead, I grabbed my grande Pike Place blend coffee with a splash of non-fat milk in a travel mug to go, and left the store.

Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/iirraa/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

of course it was.

2009-11-17T14:22:00.002-05:00

Opprobrium was on the exam. Life is funny sometimes.

standardized tests should end with the SAT.

2009-11-15T23:27:00.006-05:00

Tomorrow is the day of reckoning. I'm taking the GRE. I will not bore you with my tirade which proclaims the utter pointlessness of said exam, but let it be said that I am in no way looking forward to sitting in front of a computer screen for hours, feeling dumb because I have an English degree and can't tell the difference between probity and opprobium.

Opprobrium means disgrace caused by shameful behavior.
Probity means integrity.

At least I know they're both nouns?

Like I said, I'm not looking forward to it.
For now I'm listening to Girls and Boys by Ingrid Michaelson and getting some rest. I'm also debating setting my alarm for yoga early tomorrow-- because, let's face it, a couple of hours attempting to memorize more vocabulary is much less relaxing than a nice sun salutation in the morning.

Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/jackhynes/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

the glass is half-full.

2009-11-14T11:28:00.003-05:00

Things, other than my cute cat (even though she's much bigger now), that make me glad:

1. this track featuring Sufjan Stevens-- and yes, it's by Chiddy Bang
2. discovering Polaroid 600 film on Craigslist for a very good price
3. mum's freshly-baked lemon muffins
4. the last of the beautiful autumn colors in the trees
5. the Modern Love column in the weekend NY Times
6. tights!
7. crossword puzzles-- lots of crossword puzzles

Have a great weekend!

an imaginary trip to: london!

2009-11-13T13:31:00.006-05:00

I was inexplicably grumpy earlier today, so I got myself a soy latte and trundled home from an unsuccessful trip to the gym, only to find myself staring out my window at the grey skies, daydreaming, & taking myself on an imaginary trip to... London!
I've been to London a couple of times for real, as my aunt lives there and a couple of my friends studied there during college, but I still feel like I don't know the city as well as I'd like to. So, off I went.

First things first-- I had to get in the English mindset, and remember to look right instead of left for oncoming traffic when crossing the street.

Then I rode the Underground all over, making sure to pick up the latest edition of London Lite, which is mostly filled with celebrity gossip instead of "real news", but that's ok.

Then I got pretty hungry, so I stopped into a pub to have a ploughman's lunch-- crusty bread, ham, cheese, and mini gherkin pickles served all together, washed down with cups of milky tea.

As I wandered the wet streets, I had been hoping to catch a glimpse of a guard dressed in his tall bearskin hat, but they were staying dry inside.

Then the sun came out, so I headed over to Notting Hill to peruse the markets and snack on fresh cream buns!

Then, the sun set (early!) so I took in the last of the city's lights with a ride on the London Eye.

And, believe it or not, my imaginary adventure really improved my mood. It was much more entertaining than studying for the GREs... that's for sure.

Photos one, five, and six courtesy of Colleen Curry, and photos two, three, and four courtesy of Christine Mykityshyn. Thank you ladies!

rainy day poem.

2009-11-12T14:36:00.006-05:00

It's a rainy day in Philadelphia, so I've settled in at the coffeeshop with a giant bowl of milky latte & my GRE books. And I decided it's a poetic rainy kind of day, so I'm sharing a poem by Mary Oliver.

Last Night the Rain Spoke to Me

Last night
the rain
spoke to me
slowly, saying,
what joy
to come falling
out of the brisk cloud,
to be happy again
in a new way
on the earth!
That’s what it said
as it dropped,
smelling of iron,
and vanished
like a dream of the ocean
into the branches
and the grass below.
Then it was over.
The sky cleared.
I was standing
under a tree.
The tree was a tree
with happy leaves,
and I was myself,
and there were stars in the sky
that were also themselves
at the moment
at which moment
my right hand
was holding my left hand
which was holding the tree
which was filled with stars
and the soft rain –
imagine! imagine!
the long and wondrous journeys
still to be ours.

Mary Oliver

pay it forward.

2009-11-11T21:02:00.006-05:00

I am a lucky girl.

Last night, after a day at work with no internet, after a stressful afternoon debating the merits of rescheduling my imminent GRE exam, I decided to skip out on seeing Jonathan Safran Foer speak at the Free Library in favor of heading home to study. I sat in Suburban Station, chatting on the phone and eating Laughing Cow cheese on Wasi crackers-- one of my favorite snacks.

As the announcement heralding the arrival of the R3 came over the PA system, I got up from my bench, spilled Coke all over the floor, but had to hit-and-run as I scurried downstairs to track 2A to catch my train home.

An hour later I was at home, changing into yoga pants & preparing myself to face the vocabulary words (opprobrium? Really?!), when our home phone rang. Mum came into my room, phone in hand. "It's Septa," she mouthed, and I held the receiver to my ear, very confused as to why the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority was calling my house, asking for me. Did I have to pay a fine for leaving spilt Coke on the floor of the train station?

As it turns out, the phone call was much more surprising than that. The woman on the other end told me that my wallet had been found near the ticket office in Suburban Station, and someone had turned it in at Lost and Found. I couldn't believe my ears-- I rarely leave things behind (especially after this debacle!) and I hadn't noticed that my wallet was missing!

"Does it seem like everything's... intact?" I nervously asked, remembering that my spoils from a weekend of babysitting had been nestled inside the turquoise lining; I hadn't had a chance to deposit the cash in the bank.
"Well, there's 206 dollars in there, if that's what you're asking."

I think my relief must have been palpable, because she laughed before giving me the details on how I could pick up my wallet at my earliest convenience.

I hadn't even counted my money, but I knew that I'd had a good amount of cash in there.
And that's how, on a Tuesday night in November, my faith in humanity was restored.

I picked up the wallet today-- and I had put my monthly train pass in my jacket pocket so I had no trouble riding the train without my wallet last night and today-- probably contributing to the fact that I hadn't noticed its absence.

Thank you, random stranger in Suburban Station, whoever you are. You should know I plan on paying your good deed forward.

Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/russmorris/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

feeling feisty.

2009-11-04T13:08:00.008-05:00

I've loved Broken Social Scene for a long time now, and even got a chance to see them perform in Paris (for free!) when my friend Wil came to visit me during my semester abroad. When I first heard about Feist, a solo project from one of the band's many members, I was a little hesitant in liking "1 2 3 4", her first release from the album The Reminder. But as time went on, the song, and then the entire album, grew on me and I really began to fall in love with her music.

And now, having collected older albums and releases, I have to say that I'm a bit of a Feist fiend. I just can't get enough!

It doesn't hurt that this girl, Leslie Feist, has a really cool name, but she's also cute as a button and I'm not ashamed to say I've got a bit of a girl crush. She's got great style, I love those bangs, and she even pulled off a royal blue sequined jumpsuit for the video for "1 2 3 4" (which I can't put on my blog, but check it out on YouTube!)

Feist has spent lots of time in Paris, and even recorded one of her albums there. Below is a video for "Gatekeeper", from the album Let It Die.

I've just always loved Feist at this time of year.

Photos courtesy of Lizzyville & AmieStreet

november!

2009-11-01T21:04:00.001-05:00

Rabbit, rabbit!! (See more on this here)

Happy November 1st, everybody. Time is flying by... officially 72 days until I leave for Durban. Unbelievable.

Photo courtesy of JoshuaDavisPhotography.com

the glass is half-full.

2009-10-31T13:18:00.010-04:00

Orange and black decorations? Is this Halloween, or Princeton Parents' Weekend?
I need to know whether to be scared, or proud of my cousin.
30 Rock

A spooky Halloween weekend happy list:

1. reminiscing about last year's shenanigans with my roommates-- dressed up as Mario Kart characters!
2. pumpkin bread
3. candy in packages small enough to not be that bad for you (right?)
4. a chance to reuse my fantastic Wilma Flintstone costume -- thanks Becky!
5. pumpkin soup
6. scary movies that make me jump even after having seen them hundreds of times

7. still having that magical Halloween feeling at the age of 22

Have a spooky, silly Halloween! I hope everyone gets a chance to dress up today, even if it's only in a Phillies or Yankees jersey...

driven to distraction.

2009-10-30T14:13:00.007-04:00

I'm notorious for getting distracted. Whether it was procrastination during my years as a student, or an inability to watch just one thing on television, it's always hard for me to stick to a task with blinders on.
Some of the worst incidences of this distraction come when I'm trying to clean my room. It may be just a simple picking up of clothes on my floor, but then I spy a photo album on my shelf and get sucked into hours of reminiscing and reflection. When the clean-up job is something bigger, like today's attempt to organize my closet, I'm a lost cause.

So here are two items sitting on my desk that I thought worthy of sharing! Take that, closet.

The first is a gorgeous set of notecards & envelopes that I got from the woman I babysit for. They're handmade and I love the string closure on the notecards! There's a website advertised on the packaging (www.clearpinkdesign.com) but it doesn't seem to lead anywhere.
(Edit: You can see more handmade stationary at the designer's blog -- http://clearpink.blogspot.com -- thanks Kim!)

And secondly, these are the contents of a square envelope I found waiting for me when I got home on Wednesday. One of my South Africa roommates, Becca, had been thoughtful enough to send me a mix CD with songs that reminded her of our imminent year together, as well as a lovely card and a gorgeous stone pendant. The pendant was given to her by a man at a Peace festival in San Francisco, and has a design on the front, and the Zulu word for peace, ukutula, on the back. I'm in love with it, and thread it onto brown string as soon as I pulled it out of the envelope. Wearing it was a good reminder all day yesterday of my upcoming adventures. Two months to go...

hey jude.

2009-10-30T12:25:00.003-04:00

How cool is this flow chart of "Hey Jude" by the Beatles! I discovered it via Clotilde's Twitter. Check out her immortal food/Paris blog, Chocolate & Zucchini, for a lovely Friday treat.

The chart was originally posted on love all this, a tumblr page. I'm still trying to figure out this tumblr thing but it seems pretty cool. Anyone have any experience with it?

as american as baseball...

2009-10-29T13:41:00.005-04:00

I'm not much of a sports person-- I dabbled in CYO basketball and track in elementary school, cross-country in high school, and had a go at gymnastics sporadically throughout my childhood. I've thrown a frisbee around more times than I can count, but growing up, I was never the little tyke in a bright magenta t-shirt and black shorts down to her ankles running after a soccer ball, or pushing a too-large helmet up from her eyes to swing at a softball. I don't know whether it was the fact that my family didn't stay in one place for too long when I was young, or that I just was more interested in reading, but I don't think athletic is the first word that comes to mind when people look at me.

There is, however, a part of my character that I can definitely attribute to the way in which I grew up, and that is my basic lack of excitement towards most sports as a spectator. Until the age of eight I lived in England and then Ireland, and just when I could have matured enough to adopt a soccer or rugby team into my heart, we left for America. I had no idea why every boy (and many girls) in my fourth grade class wore Starter jackets (see here) and spoke of touchdowns or homeruns, and I feigned understanding when I started to play "two-hand-touch" football out in my neighborhood with some of the guys.
In high school, I got better at two-hand-touch and developed bare bones knowledge of some of the rules of American sports, but still never felt much affiliation for the Phillies, or the Eagles, or the Flyers. And you can be sure I always bypassed the games on TV.

I think a lot of my outlook on sports has come from my parents; they're still not big into any team, though these days my dad has gone back to his rugby roots (he played in high school). I've found rugby to be pretty great to watch-- over in a set amount of time, quick, and interesting. Plus, rugby jerseys are much more flattering for a female fan than football or basketball jerseys!

But I digress.
It was in college that I really began to understand a fan's affection for a team. Villanova University (my alma mater) has a pretty stellar men's basketball team, and last March, my roommates and I took a roadtrip out to Detroit, Michigan, for the NCAA Final Four games. Though we were disappointed at our loss to UNC, being among so many other fellow students and fans really changed my view on spectator sports, at least where college basketball was concerned. March Madness really is an exciting tournament, and I was sad to move on from being a student spectator to a Villanova alumna, mostly because tickets are no longer free.

Now that I've been spending a lot of time in Philadelphia, and South Philly specifically, I can't escape the Phillies "Phever" that has taken over the city. Though Phillies fans are out in full force all season, now that we're facing the Yankees to take the World Series title two years in a row, the excitement is palpable. And the other day, after reading yet another scathing article dissing the Yankees in metro on the train, I found myself understanding that though my days as a Villanova student were over, I could find a similar love for Philadelphia teams. I am not and never will be a diehard baseball fan (I just can't understand the point of watching people plan throws for five hours), but in talking to people with whom I work and friends from the area, I'm beginning to find a real place in my heart for those Phillies.

While I can't say I'll be crying if the Phillies end up losing the World Series to the Yankees, I will feel pretty happy if they take it again this year. I don't understand all the rules of baseball, but I do understand the great dedication the Phillies have to their fans and the city of Philadelphia.
And who can protest such cause for celebration! The best thing about working on Broad Street? I've got reservations for front-row seats if the champions happen to be parading down the streets of Philadelphia (and not New York!) next week.

Photo courtesy of wallyg

fake friday.

2009-10-22T16:32:00.006-04:00

Today I had a seriously grumpy morning. I've been tired all week and finding it really hard to get out of bed when my alarm goes off, and I haven't worked out as much as I'd like to.

I got really frustrated after ESL class today for a couple of reasons: Rosalba's computer stopped running Rosetta Stone completely after a few weeks of spotty performance, which led to her insistance that I take the entire hour and a half to learn extra Spanish (and by learn, I mean try to make out what she's saying). Then I got irritated thinking about how I'm considered the default IT person where I work; it seems that just because I work with older people and am straight out of college, they assume I know everything about technology. I'm not completely dumb when it comes to computers or internet or networks, but I'm no technician either.

Thankfully, another young guy who works next door happened to walk into my office (as the steam was still spouting out of my ears). He and I shared stories of our mutual frustration for a while, and then he took the troublesome laptop from me and seems to have fixed the problem-- fingers crossed.

A few deep breaths later, I was a bit calmer, but still wished to be at home preparing for Homecoming weekend rather than sitting in my cold office. I stepped outside to run next door, and the sunshine felt so welcoming and boosted my mood so instantaneously that I called to my boss and let him know I was leaving, then packed up the heavy laptop and walked outside.

I had originally planned to go take a little peek in H&M for a sassy dress for Saturday night, but the thought of lugging my heavy bag all the way to the center of town was off-putting, so instead I wandered over to Cafe Ole, a great discovery since working at ADROP. It's a trendy little European coffee shop with the most amazing vanilla chai I've ever tasted-- and I decided to get a Greek salad and sit outside, enjoying the unseasonal warm weather.

So here I am, iced coffee next to me, and having just eaten the best Greek salad I've had since returning from Greece! It's got leaves (unlike traditional Greek salads...), but also giant chunks of fresh feta, diced cucumbers and tomatoes, marinated olives, and.... stuffed grape leaves! I'm in heaven.

Plus, this neighborhood is just brimming with young people outside at the moment, enjoying the weather. It's perfect for people-watching-- one of my all-time favorite activities! There are young parents showing off their adorable babies to each other. There's a boutique gym across the street with a couple of mustache-adorned men flexing their muscles. Everyone around here seems to be dog-walking at the moment, and it doesn't hurt that cute boys riding bicycles zoom by every few minutes.

And the best part of it all is knowing that after ESL class tonight, nothing stands in the way of me and a much-anticipated weekend reuniting with my college roommates. I'm getting a badly-needed haircut early tomorrow morning, then I'll be off to pick up Becky from the airport (she's flying in from San Francisco!) We're going to eat lunch on campus and then hang out with my sister Niamh for a while, mostly so that I can raid her fabulous closet. And then the rest of the weekend festivities will begin! I'm so excited to be reunited with my college friends-- especially since I may not see some people again before I leave for South Africa.

Fake Fridays are even better than real Fridays!

the glass is half-full.

2009-10-17T19:12:00.005-04:00

What a wet weekend! Here's what I'm thinking of to keep myself warm & dry.

1. summertime evenings on the patio outside our French cottage
2. the laughs during Toy Story 1 & 2 (in 3D!!) with my sisters today
3. the triumphant return of polaroid film!
4. smooth and creamy Guinness
5. having the chance to break out the tights and boots in this terrible weather
6. Jones FuFu Berry soda
7. only one more week until homecoming at Villanova!

Happy weekend-ing.

with love, from paul.

2009-10-14T12:04:00.003-04:00

What's better than waking up to find your parents home safely from a few weeks across the pond?

Waking up to find a pain aux raisins sitting on the kitchen counter for breakfast, in its recognizable off-white paper bag, PAUL printed in black across it.
What a lovely morning encounter with a treat from my favorite French boyfriend, a pastry shop named Paul.

Paris, tu me manques beaucoup, ma cherie.

Photo courtesy of www.paul.fr -- try not to salivate too much.

apples to apples.

2009-10-12T22:02:00.013-04:00

My parents have been off enjoying themselves in Europe for the past two weeks, first stopping in Ireland to visit with family and then entertaining and being entertained at our little cottage in the Loire Valley in France. While my sisters and I have been missing them-- especially when we realize all the things they take care of for us-- we've really been enjoying our independence since they've been gone. And no, I'm not talking about raging parties and staying up way past our bedtimes.

We've spent a lot of time in the kitchen together. Before Niamh came home from college for her fall break, Meg and I planned our breakfasts and dinners every day-- banana chocolate chip pancakes, veggie bacon & eggs, spicy black bean burgers with homemade guacamole, and homemade pesto pizza were just a few of our efforts. Now that Niamh's home, our culinary endeavors have only continued just as successfully, with a bit of added silliness and a lot more rap music.

Tonight, after a day of hardcore cleaning in preparation for the return of our parents tomorrow, we decided to make a hearty, warm meal to fend off the chilly autumn temperatures. Niamh took it upon herself to lead the way on this one, and messed with a few vegetarian spaghetti bolognese recipes from the internet. She eventually came up with a concoction incorporating elements of a few different ones. We also cooked with tempeh for the first time, and it added the consistency of a turkey-type meat to the dish. It was delicious!

Since I'd spent a perfect Saturday afternoon picking apples from an orchard here in Bucks County this weekend (an activity I highly recommend!), I wanted to make something with the fruit (har har) of my labors. So, I scoured some of my favorite food blogs to find a suitable recipe, and came up with this apple crostada from Bread & Honey.

And it was delicious. We ate it with vanilla bean ice-cream as we caught up on Season 3 of 30 Rock.

I didn't have high hopes because I used different apples than the recipe called for, and I was nervous making pastry as I've never really made my own pie crust before, but this turned out really really well. I also substituted grapefruit zest for the orange zest in the recipe, and I loved the sweet tang it added to the crostada. I can't wait for mum and dad to try my creation when they arrive home tomorrow afternoon!

With warm apple cider, this was the perfect way to end a really lovely long autumn weekend. And I've still got six apples to use up; anyone got any suggestions? I might try apple turnovers, but with work starting up again tomorrow, I may not have time to attempt those until next weekend. Hurry up, Friday!!

the glass is half-full.

2009-10-11T20:37:00.005-04:00

Since it's a long weekend (for some-- sorry to everyone else!), I'm allowed to post a weekend list on Sunday night. So there.
Things making me happy this weekend:

1. my sister being on fall break this week :)
2. going apple-picking for the first time on Saturday
3. surprises involving gummy bears
4. apple cider donuts*
5. the return of my parents this week from Europe
6. spending 6 dollars on today's New York Times, featuring this and this
7. brunch in NoLibs today & catching up with old WXVU friends

*This blogger cannot be held responsible for how many of these delicious treats she may or may not have consumed this weekend.

noah & the whale.

2009-10-08T16:58:00.002-04:00

I don't have much to say about life right now, except that this album has been keeping me very busy. Every time I listen to it, I discover something more to love.

I guess, actually, that says a lot about my life right now.

Check out Noah & the Whale (I love their outfits & those beards!). You won't be sorry.

The First Days of Spring Official Trailer from charlie fink on Vimeo.

the glass is half-full.

2009-10-03T12:00:00.004-04:00

This weekend's happy list!

1. the prospect of spending the night reunited with my three best girlfriends in new york city
2. feeling better after a bout of the sniffles yesterday
3. my new black patent leather heels
4. finding myself to be a very capable older sister/head of the household this week
5. getting halfway through Cry, the Beloved Country in one afternoon
6. my trusty Schwinn
7. CVS nighttime cold medicine

Hope your weekends are happy too!

the rosalba stone.

2009-10-01T23:04:00.006-04:00

Today, for the first time-- despite my semester of duty as a philosophy TA, despite my countless hours babysitting, and despite my years as 3rd grade "teacher" with old textbooks in my basement as a child-- today, I finally felt like something of a real teacher.

Part of my job as Program Coordinator for a small Augustinian non-profit in Philly is devoted to English as a Second Language classes. I don't do much; I simply show up for ninety minutes, morning and night on Tuesdays and Thursdays, at an empty room at St. Rita of Cascia church in South Philadelphia. There, I oversee as many as six non-native English speakers who wish to refine their grammar, speaking, and writing skills, using Rosetta Stone. I can't tell you how many times I've sat and listened to What are you doing?, There are sixteen blue flowers, and Yes, I am looking for some money during that time. The phrases that the developers at Rosetta Stone have chosen to educate non-anglophones force me sometimes to question the great praise the program has received. How often is a woman from Colombia going to need to say My parents are from China, but I speak English?

Regardless, I was nervous to dive into this position at first, as my pitiful Spanish was limited to hola and como esta. My chosen language was French in high school and college, and though it's served me well, I am now witnessing the evidence that supports the "But why take French when Spanish will be much more useful?" argument.

The students in my classes caught on quite quickly that I had barely a lick of their native language (though not all are Hispanic-- we also have one Vietnamese woman and one from Indonesia). And so, kindly, a student named Rosalba has offered to instruct me in half hour increments before our regular ESL classes begin on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. She proudly brought in her "Spanish for Beginners" picture book donated by her grandkids from Colombia, and so this is how I find myself twice a week at 10:00 in the morning. She's patient with me, and like my very own Rosetta Stone-- or better yet, my Rosalba Stone-- most of the phrases I learn aren't exactly useful (such as, "The children watch the duck swim in the water inside the red bathtub"), but I'm glad to have exposure to the language nonetheless.

Today, Rosalba was waiting for me when I ran into the room, ten minutes late after a heinously long wait to deposit a check at the bank. She had next to her a black plastic bag, and offered me its contents: two gorgeous tiny apples, looking like they had just fallen from an equally gorgeous apple tree.

But I wasn't allowed to have them until the correctly pronounced phrase dos manzanas crossed my lips, and with that, I was given the apples and initiated as la profesora. And those thirty minutes with my Rosalba Stone have already shown me the importance of good, solid relationships with any sort of student. It's these days I hope to tuck away and take with me when I go to South Africa in just three months.

Photo courtesy of Ivan M, http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivanomak/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

october!

2009-10-01T22:20:00.000-04:00

Rabbit, rabbit!!

I don't know why this happens, but someone told me at some point that saying "rabbit" twice, first thing on the first day of a new month, is good luck.

So here's to October, and good luck.

Photo courtesy of JoshuaDavisPhotography.com

a happy accident.

2009-09-28T20:03:00.005-04:00

I got up early and conquered some early gym time this morning before dedicating the rest of my "day off" to some quality time at the mall. Though my purchases were spread out over the day and from different shops, I soon realized (while doing a fashion show for myself, you know how it goes) that I had bought a very cohesive color set... even my off-season bikini fit the palette!

the glass is half-full.

2009-09-26T15:45:00.005-04:00

Things that are worth smiling about this weekend:

1. getting paid this week
2. seeing my sister at Villanova on Sunday :)
3. the return of crisp autumn weather after a humid week
4. this beautiful necklace (via littlebrownpen)
5. minnetonka moccasins
6. receiving a heartfelt Thank You note in the mail
7. my unhealthy addiction to The Tudors (I just finished season one!)

Hope your weekends are lovely and full of things to smile about.

trader joe's!

2009-09-25T09:50:00.003-04:00

Today is a very exciting day here in my house. Trader Joe's, my favorite grocery store, is opening just over the Delaware River near Princeton! Granted, it's going to be very busy there today, but now we've got Trader Joe's just fifteen minutes away and I couldn't be happier. Since mum is going overseas for two weeks soon, the store opening is the perfect opportunity to stock up on yummy TJ's specialties before she leaves. I'll be looking out for chocolate-covered raisins, a nice crusty baguette, low-fat string cheese, maybe some meatless breakfast sausage, and their delicious easy Asian noodle bowls & vegetarian Indian dishes... well, to be honest, I'll have to probably restrain myself from running wild.

In college, my roommates and I loved shopping every week at Trader Joe's, so I'm sure visiting this store will remind me of them and our exasperation that we never ever won the raffle they offer when you shop using your own reusable bags. Maybe today will be my lucky day!

And here's a hilarious YouTube video that perfectly sums up the TJ's experience. I can't wait!!

hummus, burgers, & sufjan stevens

2009-09-24T15:48:00.013-04:00

I've been a bad blogger, I know. I promised myself to keep updating this thing at least once a week, even if it meant a silly optimistic weekend list, and I haven't even held to that these past two weeks... so I'm sorry. I'm not even really apologizing to any of you, because I mostly feel disappointed in myself! But I won't get hung up on a lack of blog updates. Thankfully, there have been blog-worthy things in my life since my last post!

Restaurant Week has turned into Restaurant Two Weeks in Philadelphia, which is great news for those of us who love dining out & bargains. There are also a few restaurants offering a special $20 (yes, you read that right) lunch menu. Since I don't work on Fridays and my friend Chris only has class in the morning, we decided to start our Friday afternoon last week with lunch in the city at Zahav, an Israeli restaurant in Society Hill that has gotten rave reviews since its opening. I'd wanted to go forever, mostly because I'd heard such good things about their hummus! And it really did live up to the hype.

Zahav offered four courses for its Restaurant Week menu, starting with a selection of small salads and a giant plate of hummus and fresh pita for the table. Because I love sharing, this worked out perfectly, as did the rest of the menu-- though my lunch partner took a little convincing. We then had fried cauliflower with a mint tahini dipping sauce as well as mini stuffed peppers, then moved on to two types of kebabs; one traditional Israeli merguez and the other a lamb and beef mixture. Though I haven't been eating meat lately, I had to give these kebabs a chance, and they were really delicious. Perfectly seasoned, served over tomato couscous and the other with some sort of cracked wheat that was really also couscous. I was slightly disappointed that the couscous wasn't the fat Israeli kind I love, but happy nonetheless.

My second-favorite part of the meal, after the hummus, was the dessert. We decided to branch out and for one of the options got a traditional dish, which was phyllo pastry made into a sort of light birds' nest, over ricotta cheese served with pistachio and rosewater. It was absolutely spectacular... a perfect blend of savory, creamy, and sweet. Even though we were already pretty full, it was light but a nice sweet note to end on.

All in all, a fantastic experience, though I won't be drinking Turkish coffee again anytime soon. They even slipped two "$10 off" coupons in with our receipt, so I'm hoping my parents will get a chance to check out the restaurant soon!

If you're interested in squeezing in a dinner or lunch during Restaurant Week, you still have time! Offers are valid until tomorow, Friday, and you can find a list of restaurants with menus here.

This past Tuesday, I was lucky enough to score tickets to see Sufjan Stevens perform at Johnny Brenda's, a bar in Fishtown. The tickets sold out in about ten minutes, but luckily I heard my alarm go off at 8 am the day they went on sale and had minimal technical difficulties. And so, after work on Tuesday night, I met up with Chris and his fancy camera, and we made our way north for burgers at Sketch, on Girard Ave. Aptly named for the semi-"sketch"y area wherein it resides, the place was awesome. The walls were covered with customers' crayon renditions of various burger drawings, including one featuring Gordon Ramsey, another quoting Pulp Fiction ("Mm mm mm, that IS a tasty burger!"), and my personal favorite, a small piece of paper stating that "Cats love Sketch Burger."

I ordered a smashed onion burger with horseradish cheddar and aoili, and Chris got a smashed onion too, but with blue cheese and Greek Goddess dressing. We also got an order of fries with wasabi and chipotle dipping sauces, AND milkshakes. My belly hurts just writing this, but I'd eat it all again just to taste that delicious first bite once again.

As if we weren't full enough, we then got a pitcher of PBC Kenzinger at Johnny Brenda's before the concert began. Though I probably should have passed on the beers right after all that food, the stomach pain dissipated once the concert began. I'd had the pleasure of seeing Sufjan twice before; the first time, at the Chameleon Club in Lancaster, PA right after Come On, Feel the Illinoise! came out, and the second time, at the Tower Theatre in Upper Darby. This was closer in feel to the first time I saw him-- small venue, great crowd, and a really great experience all-around. Though he played a lot of new songs, I really liked the feel of them... classic Sufjan but maybe a bit more experimentally synthesized.

After playing a slew of new material, he came up to the mic and thanked us for our patience. "Thanks so much for letting us experiment with all that stuff. It's been a real honor to play.. Sufjan is up next." And with that, he launched into some older songs, including "John Wayne Gacy, Jr." which, though slightly creepy, never fails to tug at the heartstrings. I took a video which hopefully I'll get around to posting soon.

What a handsome, talented man. New requirement for anyone interested in romantic involvement with me: must play banjo.

And finally, a special thank you to Chris for allowing me to use his beautiful photos here (he took all the Sufjan ones, duh). You should check out his Flickr for more-- thanks for being such a talented good sport!

wet wednesday.

2009-09-16T14:31:00.011-04:00

Today is a gray day in Philadelphia, and instead of moping and complaining that I'm cold, I'm instead reflecting back to Monday afternoon, when Chris messaged me around noon, and asked if I'd like to spend the afternoon at the beach. I'd just gotten in from yoga, so I took a quick shower, packed my book and a blanket, and we drove to Belmar, NJ to lie on the beach for a few hours. It was heavenly. The September sun is the best-- still warm in the daytime, but with a perfect breeze. While Chris and his brother surfed (or, more like sat on their surfboards hoping for better waves), I fell asleep, drooled on my arm, and soaked up the last of the summer's warmth. We ended the day with a trip to Surf Taco, and I got to have a Brooklyn IPA for the first time... it was deeeelicious. I'm a sucker for IPAs. (And the beach, which is news to me.)

Speaking of beer... today, Foobooz, one of my trusty web-based Philadelphia food & drink guides, released a list of their top 50 bars in the area. I was happy to see a few of my favorites on the list, and I'm looking forward to trying the ones I haven't been to yet! I've only got until January 8th, so I'd better get crackin'. You can find the list here.

It's also Restaurant Week in Philly, so I'm hoping to take advantage-- and new this year is a selection of $20 lunch menus, as opposed to just the dinner options. If I were wealthy, I'd probably have a day of crazy gluttony and do a lunch and dinner out in one epicurean swoop.

And, in closing:

Today I watched a bit of Live with Regis & Kelly as I was getting ready for work, and I awas once again appalled during the trivia segments, which I believe is featured every single day. And every single time I've watched it, this phenomenon baffles me. The trivia questions are most of the time related to the previous day's episode: what movie is our guest So-and-So starring in currently, what did So-and-So say was his or her comfort food, etc.

Keep in mind, I've watched the show maybe once every two months. Yet, I'd say 4 times out of 5, Barbara calling from Spokane or Theodore from Raleigh, for some STRANGE reason, missed the previous show and therefore can't answer that day's trivia question. But not to worry; they always come away with a $500 gift certificate from Lobstergram or some American-made china set. It just blows my mind that people call in to be contestants when their chances of winning are based solely on diligent spectatorship of Live with Regis & Kelly. I think today Regis Philbin felt the same way-- after another loser hung up the phone, he said to the audience, "Well, hopefully next time they'll actually watch the show!"

My sentiments exactly, Reg.

Photos courtesy of NatalieMaynor and Khaz

wake up.

2009-09-14T11:24:00.003-04:00

This gives me goosebumps every time I watch it. October 16th can't come quickly enough.

the glass is half-full.

2009-09-12T14:31:00.004-04:00

Things to be glad about today:

1. finally getting to try Honey's Sit-N-Eat this morning-- and it living up to the hype!
2. tickets to see the Get Up Kids reunion show on Nov. 6
3. cardigan weather
4. getting over the intimidation factor & finally trying a yoga class
5. my cuddly cat
6. "non-dates" that involve running through the rain, nice red wine, and lots of laughing
7. this song by los campesinos!

Make the most of these gray clouds and have a lovely weekend!

Photo courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shanalee/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

sitting on babies.

2009-09-09T12:42:00.009-04:00

I never liked babysitting much. I don't hate kids. I'm not particularly terrible at supervising children as they watch hours of the Disney channel. I'll even allow two popsicles after dinner instead of just one. I'm just not particularly fond of spending inordinate amounts of time with other people's children when I could be doing something more selfish and more fun.

But last night, during four hours of child-minding, something happened to me that has never happened before.

I don't love playing House, where I am almost always assigned to be the "pet cat", and I can't really stand Hide & Seek anymore, mostly because I'm too large to fit in convincing hiding spots. I think that most Disney Channel original movies are creepy because the stars obviously deal with a lot of sexual tensions playing "brother" and "sister" to each other. But you know what? Partly because I'm a good person and mostly because I'm poor, I'll sit through a movie about incestuous wizards, or give piggy-back rides until my energy is spent. And in general, parents seem pleased with me and willing to ask me back.

Last night, I was introduced to a new family that wants me to babysit overnight later in September. We decided that in order for me to meet the children and make sure we were okay being around each other, the parents would go out for dinner one night and leave me with the kids. So I went over, met each of the kids (two girls and one boy), and settled into my "babysitter" routine. Things were going fine-- there was pizza and copious amounts of Disney Channel and I even got to flex my underdog (see: definition number 6) skills outside when I pushed the little four-year-old on the swing. This same four-year-old was having some sort of existential crisis; when I asked him, in pleasant, first-time babysitting conversation, when his birthday was, he responded, "In eight minutes."

There's got to be some depth to this child, who perpetually celebrates his birth eight minutes from the present.

When the credits finally rolled in time to some tinny pop music sung by pre-pubescent tweens at the movie's end, I rounded up the children and informed them that it was time for bed. The girls were quite understanding, and headed to their very pink bedroom to put on pyjamas. The ageless existentialist, however, put up more of a fight. He proceeded to hide beneath his fire-engine pillows, refuse to come out of his hiding place, and then, without warning, muttered a phrase I have never before had to wrestle with.

"I don't like you."

To say I was stunned is an understatement. Granted, the kid is only four (maybe), but he's clearly quite precocious, if he can read Sartre in his spare time.

I turned and left the room, asked his sisters to assist him in getting ready for bed, and was only mildly comforted by the ten-year-old telling me that he doesn't really like anyone, not even her. "But I'm the babysitter!" I thought to myself. "I let him have pizza, and popcorn, AND two popsicles! I even cut up strawberries for him and gave him ten, like he asked."

What had I done to deserve such slander?

After playing with his dinosaurs and listening to a Dr. Seuss story read by his sisters, the tiny existentialist settled down to sleep.

I spent the rest of my time watching The Beatles Anthology on both VH1 and VH1 Classics, alternating between the two during commercial breaks. Cable television is a perk of babysitting that hasn't gotten old since the days I used to stick flyers in neighbors' mailboxes, advertising my services for $5 an hour-- we don't have any sort of cable at home. But even with Ringo, Paul, John, and George serenading me on the screen, I couldn't shake the fact that a blond four-year-old expressed his dislike of me so directly, and with no remorse.

Ten o'clock came and the parents returned home, tipsy and tired, and I trundled off in my car, money pocketed and the prospect of another night with this child on the horizon. I don't know how I can change his mind, but I'm planning on bringing my copy of No Exit and hoping for the best.

Photo courtesy of Tim Zim

the powers that be. oh, and september!

2009-09-02T21:24:00.007-04:00

Sky over Delaware, 2009

I've had one of those days where I feel, without a doubt, that someone somewhere is looking out for me. Maybe it's the positive energy my sister has been directing my way while doing yoga every day; perhaps it's my optimism at the thought of the approaching cool weather; or maybe it's simply God looking down from up there. Whatever it is, I'm glad for it.

Today I was faced with the task of going into the office (a 50 minute commute by train each way, there and back) simply to sit and wait for a Verizon representative to come to my door, ready to magically fix our nonexistent wireless connection. I took advantage of the free day, and first took care of a few office errands. Then I met up with my friend Jimmy for lunch, as he works at the Arden Theatre just around the corner from ADROP-- we got delicious pizza nearby. It was great to see him! He's actually living in the house I inhabited last year at college, so hearing his stories and comparing them to my experience is always amusing, if a little strange. I decided, in the midst of our conversation, that I need to put my year in that run-down white house to rest, and never return inside its walls. My time there, with my wonderful roommates, was sacred. To interfere with the memory of every party, every fight, every meal we shared-- trying to brush the dust off all those moments would just ultimately end in disappointment.

After lunch, the sun was shining brightly and I felt very cooped up just staying inside my lonely, cavernous room, so I grabbed some paper and a pen and sat down in the sunshine on the stoop outside my building, ready to pen a few lines to some friends from camp who had been so kind to write me a few weeks ago. I was very content- my belly full of delicious pizza, the sun warm on my shoulders, and letters from lovely friends in my lap. I took a break from writing to rest my hand, and what do I see, but a Verizon truck, just down the street. I got very excited-- finally, finally I could get some help with this whole internet issue. But, unfortunately, the technician (who by now had put on her tool belt, walked in the opposite direction, waited a few moments, then taken off aforementioned tool belt) seemed to be unaware of my helpless presence just a block away.

So I ran after her. Yes, ladies and gentlemen; today, I chased a Verizon technician on the streets of Philadelphia.

And good thing I did. Bridget was truly a lifesaver. She was irate that no one had shown up to help me yet, and stood and coached me through a very firm reprimanding of the employee on the end of a 1-800 number. She called her dispatcher to let them know that though there had been a mistake and my service request was not on file, she'd be helping me fix my DSL issue. And then she spent over an hour in our smelly, mildewy basement messing with wires and Ethernet cables, until finally, we had a connection. In the meantime, we made smalltalk-- she lives in the city and gets very upset about the management at her company; even she, as an employee, has to deal with 1-800 numbers when she wants to subscribe for a service. But the negative aspects don't seem to sway her-- she's been working there faithfully for 11 years.

After the internet debacle, I decided to call it a day; there were no programs that I had to "coordinate" today, so once my office work was taken care of I was free to leave. Looking at the clock, I saw I had fifteen minutes to catch the train. I walked swiftly to the El, but, of course, a train didn't come until about 4:27, four minutes before my train home was due to depart. After frantically sprinting to the platform, I realized that my train was actually running 7 minutes late. I took a deep breath, and relaxed. I've just started reading The Human Stain by Philip Roth-- lots of downtime during the day has lent itself beautifully to my voracious reading habit. And so, once on the train, I settled down and read for the remainder of my commute.

Though I was tired when I got home, I decided to get over it and lace up my running shoes... and boy, was I glad I did. I love September's weather, and today as I was running through the neighborhoods close to my house, I came to the conclusion that September and I happen to be in a very healthy relationship. I love September, and it loves me back. When I feel cold after being in the final throes of air-conditioning, I can step outside and be deliciously warmed by the bright sun. When the day's heat is just about touching its limit, night falls and the air cools perfectly. It's like September knows exactly when to be overly affectionate, and when to back off. And September's sunny but chilly mornings make it really hard to get up in the morning-- and leaving a warm cocoon of blankets and facing the day is never easy.
Forgive my hokey style; I just finished reading Eat, Pray, Love and it would seem that Elizabeth Gilbert has rubbed off on me.

Amsterdam, 2007

Tonight, I'm listening to Lightness by Peter & the Wolf with the windows wide open, and somehow, the cicadas seem to know all the words.

how monday improved.

2009-08-31T20:27:00.006-04:00

The weather today is perfect. Though I may try to describe it in other ways, no word can say it better than that.

The morning started off roughly, even for a Monday. Though the air was chilled and I was comfy in pants and a denim jacket, even though I got to ride my bike to the train station and make it on time, I sat down & paid for my ticket, only to realize moments later that I'd left my keys at home. Usually, this would be no big deal because hey, I didn't drive to work. But, since starting my new job at ADROP (don't judge even though there's campy muzak), I've gained five keys AND a new keychain in addition to my car keys, so I jangle around like a janitor, necessarily, so that I can get into my office building. My boss is at a conference in Mexico for two weeks beginning today of all days, which meant that without keys, I was not going to be able to get into the office.
Deep breath.
So I got off at the next station, and thankfully the kind SEPTA train conductor refunded me my money without me asking him to. Luckily my mom was free to come up and pick me up, so ten minutes later I was in the car driving to work. I showed up very late but got there in the end, keys and all.

I met up with my friend Kevin for lunch in Fairmount, an area of the city that I've yet to explore. It's most well-known for Philadelphia's biggest park and the Eastern State Penitentiary, a jail with an interesting history, spooky tours around Halloween, and a Bastille Day celebration complete with a Philadelphian version of Marie Antoinette shouting, "Let them eat Tastycake!" as she hurls handfuls of the calorific wonder down to crowds of plebeians waiting below. Though I saw Kevin on Saturday night at a (gulp) "college party"-- remember those?-- I was eager to get out of the office after sitting on the phone with Verizon for a couple of hours, frustrated that I had been left in charge of setting up an internet connection. We met up at Mugshots, which I was really happy to visit, as I'd heard so much about the place from various people & blogs. A skim latté and some hummus and pita bread later, I was feeling refreshed and ready to battle it out with Verizon once more.
All told, I had to set up an appointment with some technician and now have to be at the office on Wednesday, all day, because they'll be coming out at some point between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. Would it be so hard to pick a more narrow window of time? Looks like I'll have ample time to maybe decorate my cavernous office and finish up Eat, Pray, Love (yes I'm a girl reading it and loving it).

In addition to catching up with college friends and my sister this weekend, I spent the day on Sunday wandering the city with my baby sister, who is, I must clarify, sixteen years of age. We drove in on a whim, I wore a leotard, and we had a delicious brunch at Sabrina's Café, a little place I've been dying to try for ages. It was delish!

But I had my motives for this trip to the city. For the longest time, I've been itching to get a little stud in my nose. With my sister in tow, I visited a piercing shop off South Street, prepared to hand over $40 and leave with a cute little piercing. I spoke with the girl at the desk, all the while trying to avoid looking at her studded face and armpit tattoos (I kid you not), but all of a sudden, as she was photocopying my driver's license and began filling out the paperwork, I yelped, "Stop!"

I chickened out.

I took my license back, stuffed my wallet into my handbag, and bolted out of the store, wearing my shame on my face. A few text messages and phone calls from various friends and one irate sisterly, "You're being so stupid just DO IT!" later, and with a belly full of huevos rancheros from Sabrina's, I wandered back in, and bit the bullet.
Megan has some pretty heinous photos of the actual process, complete with a photo of a giant space needle sticking out of my nostril, but I'll leave those for private viewing.

So there we are. Just me & a hole in my nose.
And I love it. Though it hurt a bit yesterday evening and I'm absolutely terrified of snagging it on a towel or letting it get infected, I'm so glad it happened. In a cheesy way, it sort of represents how this year has made me feel like I've become more like myself, and I like that. Sure, I may take it out sooner than I expect, but for now, I'm really happy with it.

Oh, and listen to Fleet Foxes. If you think there's any music more perfect for the approach of autumn, I'd like to know.

the glass is half-full.

2009-08-29T13:13:00.003-04:00

Things that are making me feel better on a grey Saturday:

1. berries from the farmer's market with Greek yogurt & honey
2. finally tackling my reading list
3. freshly-painted fingernails
4. a plane ticket to San Francisco booked to see my college roommate Becky
5. my new job!...
6. ...and subsequent paychecks
7. the scent of fall creeping into the air

Happy weekend!

anticipation.

2009-08-26T14:30:00.006-04:00

This past week has served not only to better acquaint me with the Augustinian Volunteers program, introduce me to new friends, and nurture ideas of community and spirituality, but has also made me incredibly excited for January 11th, the day I will depart for South Africa. We even got our plane tickets; Mary-Kate, Becca, Meghan and I will be leaving for Durban (via Dubai) on the 11th, and return home December 15th, 2010.
I got to see a video walkthrough of the property where we'll be living, some photos of the people we'll encounter while over there, and hear stories of the amazing adventures some AV alumni have had while abroad.
Though "community" has been drilled into our heads all week, I know that this concept will be extremely important when the four of us are faced with the very harsh realities of life in South Africa. For example, we live in a pretty affluent area called Bothas Hill, which is populated primarily by white South Africans. The people we serve, however, live in the valley in a much poorer, rural setting- and they are almost all Zulu. I think the contrast between the two situations will be extremely hard to deal with. I'm really looking forward to the challenges though, because I signed up for this volunteer program hoping to be faced with just that.
And so, in addition to countless t-shirts, coffee mugs, and even a fancy travel bag, I got to count on a number of other people as new friends. The week was better than I ever could have hoped, though I'm quite exhausted, and I get butterflies every time I think of leaving my current life behind for a new phase thousands of miles away.

Mary-Kate, Meg, me, and Becca -- ready to learn Zulu & eat lots of cheese together

time to get oriented.

2009-08-17T12:38:00.009-04:00

I'm leaving in about an hour to attend a week-long orientation for the Augustinian Volunteers. I'm anxious, excited, not really that nervous, & really mostly looking forward to getting more focused on my imminent year abroad in South Africa. One of my best friends from college just had her orientation for a different volunteer program, the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, and she said it really helped her re-focus and reminded her why she wanted to do this year of service in the first place. I hope to come away feeling that centered.
I think I've overpacked, but it is eight days long. Although it's just down the turnpike in Wayne, it'll be nice to have some time away from home with new faces. I think there are a handful of other Villanova grads in the program as well so maybe I'll make friends with people I never even knew while at school!
Before finishing my errands (like getting a heinous passport picture for my visa and picking up medical forms from the doctor), I stopped by the book sale at the library again with my mom and sister. Today, the remaining titles are half-off... which means I just bought:

Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
A Supposed Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace (which I almost bought at Border's for fifteen bucks last week!!)
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain, and
Brick Lane by Monica Ali

for a grand total of.... FOUR DOLLARS. God bless the library.

That means that my "fall reading list" now looks a bit like this:

I can't wait to get stuck in! I think my commute by train to my new job in Center City will give me some much-needed reading time.

I hope you all had a great weekend! Mine was quite enjoyable; on Friday night, I stayed in with my family and then made a trip over to my friend Ashley's house for birthday cake and a hug, since she turned 22 this weekend. On Saturday, my college roommate Colleen & I met up in Philly for drinks and eats at Tria (one of my new favorite spots!) and then went to see Passion Pit at a sold-out show in the basement at the First Unitarian Church. It's one of my favorite venues, but I have to say it was less of a passion pit and more of a sweat pit. I've never been so disgustingly hot in my whole life. It was, however, one heck of a dance party!

Yesterday, my sister Niamh and I hung out together since she'll be moving back to school when I'm at orientation. We shopped (and I got super excited for fall), laughed a lot, & then made spicy black bean burgers for dinner- they were so delicious! The recipe is here if you'd like to try your own... I highly recommend using Hungry Student's variations on it.

And so, I leave you with a photo or two from the weekend, and à bientôt until I get home next week.

Yummy! Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA, truffled egg toast, & Tuscan white bean spread at Tria

Sweating it out to Passion Pit

Mm, mm, mm! That IS a tasty burger!

the glass is half-full.

2009-08-15T09:53:00.002-04:00

Things that are making me feel happy & excited this morning:

1. eating cake with a good friend on her birthday
2. hurting muscles after pilates class
3. On Beauty by Zadie Smith
4. the prospect of meeting new friends at AV orientation starting monday
5. tickets to see sufjan stevens in philly on 9/22!
6. cranberry nut bread from the farmer's market for breakfast
7. this article in the FT this morning

Happy weekend-ing!

please mister postman!

2009-08-14T16:17:00.008-04:00

Since moving home after graduation, one of the downsides to not having my own place has been a serious lack of mail addressed to me. I don't mean bills-- those can stay far away, but I have to say I do miss silly local election flyers, coupons for a "free panty" (why can't they say underwear?) at Victoria's Secret, Trader Joe's latest newsletter with seasonal recipes, and three mailings per day from Bed, Bath, & Beyond.
Nowadays, I get my Netflix a few times a month (if I'm good with returning my already-watched movies) and bank statements. Thrilling.

But today was different.
Today, after a productive morning of car-washing, bike riding that resulted in a flat tire but was fun while it lasted, and a trip to our local library's epic book sale, I checked the mailbox and found...

Us Weekly, a mysterious apparition in our mailbox lately, since not one of my family members has subscribed
(and, okay, it's addressed to my sister but still, I get to read it)...

...and a letter! A real, live, pen(cil) on paper letter, from my dear friend Taylor,
whom I met at a summer camp we both worked at in July.

I've long wanted to get back into writing real letters. During my junior year of high school, I went over to England with my family and decided to take a tour of Oxford, just for kicks of course. As a prospective "international" student, I was placed in a tour group with other foreigners, and struck up a conversation with the blond, blue-eyed boy next to me. Geoff was a cross-country runner from Ann Arbor, Michigan, and our witty banter had the tour guide convinced that we'd been friends for a long time. After the tour had ended and we had decided our SAT scores would most likely never allow us to even be considered for acceptance, Geoff and I exchanged email addresses and, all told, hung out in London for a day, which ended with a very sweet Cadbury's chocolate-flavored goodbye kiss.
Geoff and I exchanged letters for a few months afterwards, very infrequently, but it was charming nonetheless. There's nothing like a page or two of personal handwritten prose to make you feel special. Written correspondance truly is a lost art (says she, typing a blog, of all things).

The ironic part? Both Taylor and Geoff are from Michigan. So, moral of the story... if you want a handwritten letter, make friends with Michiganders. And yes, they're really called that.

salutations.

2009-08-09T22:32:00.001-04:00

Charlotte: Salutations!
Wilbur: Salu-what?
Charlotte: Salutations!
Wilbur: What are they? And where are you? Please tell me where you are and what are salutations?
Charlotte: Salutations are greetings. When I say salutations, it's just my fancy way of saying hello or good morning. Actually, it's a silly expression, and I am surprised that I used it at all. As for my whereabouts, that's easy. I'm up here. Look, I'm waving. See me now?

Charlotte's Web, E.B. White

Hello. I'm Sinéad.
The First Time in most arenas is never easy, and a first post is no exception-- except that, of course, this is not my first blog post ever. Two years ago, I recorded my adventures while studying abroad in Paris via blog (you can find it here).
Now that college is over-- I graduated from Villanova University in May with two bachelors degrees, one in English and one in "Honors"-- and I've entered a new phase of my life, I decided it was time to give this another go. Though my life back at home isn't fabulously interesting, I have had some really amazing adventures so far this summer. It also doesn't hurt to know that I'll be leaving in January for South Africa, where I'll be living and volunteering for a year with the Augustinian Volunteers. Judging by the success of my French blog, I think this one will be useful for friends & family wondering about my whereabouts during the next two years or so.

I'm not quite sure yet how this whole thing will pan out. I love writing but I haven't yet decided what types of things I'll include here on Sinéad, Freshly-Squeezed (SFS-- clever, eh?). Oh, and if you're wondering about the name, it comes from a rebus that my friend Melissa drew for me while I worked at a summer camp this summer (more on that later):

shin + lemonade - lemon = shinade

And freshly-squeezed because, well, let's assume that whatever I post here will be relatively hot off the press.
And so concludes the awkward First Time. Let's hope there will be a lot fewer elbows in the wrong places from now on.