Grad Party

I'm finally getting around to posting about my graduation party. Unfortunately, I don't have very many pictures. I forgot how busy you are when you are the host! I'm not used to playing that role since my condo isn't big enough for entertaining. I look forward to buying a house down the road and hosting some parties... but probably on a smaller scale than this one!

I was super nervous about the weather, but it turned out pretty well - in the days leading up to the party, I told myself that I needed to be happy with the weather as long as it didn't rain. And luckily, it didn't rain - so I guess I can't complain. It was a big on the cool/windy side, but it was sunny - all in all, pretty darn good weather for a May day in Minnesota!

The party kicked off around 3 with a bunch of appetizers. My mom's 2 sisters were there early on Saturday and helped with all the prep work which was wonderful - as a result, I was able to sit down for a bit at the beginning of the party and get some pictures taken.

Here I am with 3 of my 4 nephews. The 2 older ones (James & Andrew) were happy to pose but Kolin had just woken up from a nap so wasn't too happy about posing... luckily my SIL had some M&M's to bribe him with!

Kolin was much happier on my dad's lap, aka the Baby Whisperer. He is so popular with the boys. They have all been so drawn to him since they were infants! I think it might be the fact that he is kind of the calmest person in our family!

My other nephew Matthew is also quite a fan of Grandpa. He gives him a stare down quite often - similar to what you see in this picture. I guess the Baby Whisperer can communicate without words or something!

The weather was cool, but that didn't keep the boys from playing with their water guns. It was fun to watch Kolin - he wanted to do whatever the older cousins were doing! James helped show him how it worked.

I got one last photo with my friend Brooke before heading in to start getting ready for the main meal. Brooke is one of my best friends - we lived together during college. She came up early that day to help get ready. I am so thankful for all the help I had! I tend to get a little bit on the stressy side, but the help from my parents, siblings, aunts, and Brooke kept me from getting stressed out!

We ate dinner around 5 - here is a picture of the spread. Needless to say, no one went hungry! My brother Kevin took care of the meat since that is his forte. He cooked up 2 pork shoulders, which is about 36 lbs of meat I think, and also bbq'd 8 chickens!!

I believe there were about 50 people there, so we had quite the crowd! Here's a shot of some of them enjoying the meal.

All in all, the day went really well. I didn't get much of a chance to visit with people, though, which I kind of felt bad about. I know that is part of being the hostess, but I still feel guilty. I guess I just need to let it go, though!

At the end of the day, we were all pretty exhausted! Here's one final shot of the Baby Whisperer reading to two of my nephews!

I think they might like books almost as much as their auntie! :)

I'll leave you with a recipe for one of the salsa I made for the party - it is sort of my signature appetizer. It's so simple, and so good!

1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
1 can corn, drained
1 red onion, diced
1-3 clovers of garlic (I use 3 but I love garlic…)
1 red pepper, diced
¼ c. finely chopped cilantro (more or less depending on how much you like cilantro!)
½ tsp. pepper
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. cumin
½ tsp. crushed red peppers

Combine ingredients and chill before serving. I think it’s better if you make it a day ahead of time, or at least 4-5 hours ahead so that the flavors can all combine.

Enjoy!

The Time Traveler's Wife

For the 2nd time in a month, I am reviewing a book that pretty much everyone and their mom has already read. It was a new release back when I was working part-time at B&N. I remember picking it up, reading the synopsis, and thinking - this is not for me. It just seemed a little bit too science fictiony. Which is so not my genre. But lately, I've been hearing all about this book. I've read a few posts about the book and it's been on a few blogger's 'must read' lists. So I decided to give it a shot. If you are not familiar with the book, "The Time Traveler's Wife" tells the story of Henry, a time traveler, and his wife Clare. You should be prepared to be a bit confused at first. Henry can travel backwards and forward in time, and he can be any age when he travels. So sometimes he'll go back to 1991 and be 30 years old. Or he could go back to 1991 and be 8. And sometimes he will go backwards or forward in time and visit himself - so 8 year old Henry & 30 year old Henry will hang out together at times. But once you get your head around this, the book flows very smoothly, and 500+ pages seem to fly by. At least that was the case for me - I think I read it in a span of about 4-5 days?

It's interesting to think about Henry's ability to time travel. I asked myself - would I want to do this? I often joke that I wish I had a crystal ball, but in reality - I don't think it would be ideal to know what is going to happen in your future. Henry knew what was going to happen, but he could never do anything about it. He couldn't change the course of events, so the knowledge really wasn't much of a benefit for him. He also had to be careful about how much he told Clare about their future - he didn't want to upset her by sharing things that would happen, which put a strain on the relationship at times.

Clare spends so much of her life waiting. Waiting for Henry to return from his time travels. Waiting to find out what Henry already knows about their future. Will they have children? Will Henry live a full life or die prematurely?

One of my favorite part of the book is actually a poem that was included right before the dedication page. Here it is:


Love after Love by Derek Walcott

The time will come
when, with elation

you will greet yourself arriving

at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.

You will love again the stranger who was your self.

Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart

to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored

for another, who knows you by heart.

Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,

peel your own image from the mirror.

Sit. Feast on your life.

Isn't it beautiful? It represents the theme of this book so well and is a poem that most people can probably relate to. I know I can. Haven't we all sort of 'lost ourselves' at some point in our lives? It seems like, at some point in your life, you go through something that leaves you feeling like a shell of who you previously were or who you will be in the future. But then you heal and one day you catch yourself laughing or smiling and think to yourself - 'Thank the Lord, I am back.'

If you haven't read this yet, it is worth checking out. But you better hurry - the movie comes out this summer! Rachel McAdams plays Clare and Eric Bana plays Henry - it will be interesting to see how they make this book into a movie. With all the time traveler and difference in ages during the time travel, it seems like it will be a little bit tricky!

Oh and I was excited to learn that this is the August selection for a local bookclub called "Books and Bars". I've wanted to go to one of their meetings for months and now there is no excuse for me to not go since I have already read the book!

June-a-thon

I am just days short of being one month out of grad school. And wow - the last month has flown by. Graduation feels completely official now that I've walked through commencement & hosted a party for family & friends this past week (pictures & a post to come soon...) I'm feeling a little nostalgic about the whole grad school process. I got a little bit sad when I went to campus to return my hood a few weeks ago. It's kind of like when you break up with someone and then after a few months, you kind of forget why you NEVER should have dated them in the first place... and they seem like this wonderful person.

But I've got this little thing called a ginormous student loan that keeps me from trying to 'get back together' with grad school. At times, I will wake up in the middle of the night, panicking over that student loan payment that will kick in this October. I calm myself down by reminding myself that I have increased my earning potential by getting that degree, but I'm not the most rational person at 2 am...

So those mini-panic attacks prevents me from even considering obtaining another degree. Seriously. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a betting board in Vegas on how soon I will be back in school. That was the question/on-going joke at my party last week. I got a lot of 'sure you aren't going back to school' looks. But believe me - I am done with formal education until those loans are paid off, or at least paid down considerably!

Of course, language classes are an exception to this. I fully intend to work on becoming fluent in French as soon as the thought of sitting in a classroom doesn't induce a gag reflex.

So what have I been up to during my last month of freedom? Lots of stuff. I have absolutely no trouble filling all the hours that used to be consumed by homework, class, and group projects. I read 4 books last month and started knitting a scarf.

And I ran. That was my main goal for the month, and I am pretty happy with my progress. Being the analytical person I am, I kept track of how often I ran. The final stats? I ran 14 out of 31 days. Which means I probably logged more miles in May than I did during the entire spring semester...

I'm taking it easy and am only running 3 miles each night, but I am starting to feel like a runner again. A half-marathon in the fall is looking like an attainable training goal.

I'm pretty pleased with the 14 out of 31 days of running. But it could be better.

I read a post by a local runner that has inspired me to set a goal for June. I am going to attempt to run every day in June. I think know it is possible... but it will be a challenge for me. I put my gym membership on hold, so this means I need to run, rain or sunshine. It will also force me to get up and run on the mornings when I have plans after work.

I'm borrowing her title and am calling it a June-a-thon. It will be a challenging goal, but I know I can do it. And by putting this out there in the blogosphere, I am more likely to follow through with it. There's nothing like posting about something you intend to do to keep you honest.

So here goes. I'll probably post occasionally to let y'all know how it's going. Especially if I fall off the wagon. But let's hope that doesn't happen.

After all, Abby's wedding is just over 2 months away, so it's crunch time for this maid-of-honor!

Wish me luck!

A day for the record books

So today pretty much goes down as one of the crappiest, most frustrating days of 2009.

Have I ever mentioned how much of a scatterbrain I can be? It's terrible. I was the kid in school that was always losing her mittens. I probably should still have mittens that attach to a string that you can string through your jacket. I just have such a proclivity for losing things, misplacing things, etc.

You'd think this is something you would grow out of. Wrongo batman.

Here's how my afternoon went. I got on my bus at 4:30 and got to the place where my car is parked around 5:15. About 5 minutes before my stop, I realized that I had forgot my coat at work... and my car/house keys were in my jacket.

I seriously wanted to punch myself when I realized this.

So I had to take a non-express bus back into downtown, but when I got my office, I couldn't get the elevator to go to my floor since I apparently don't have after hours access so I had to track down the security people in the basement so they could escort me to my office.

And then when I finally had the dang keys, I couldn't get out of the building. Every door I tried was locked. At this point I almost lost it, but luckily one of the cleaning guys let me out. Oh, and let me mention that it was only 6 pm at this point, and this building is in the center of downtown, so there is NO reason that the building should have been locked down like that!!

So then I took a non-express bus back out of downtown and got to my car at 7:15. Thank God I had a good book (The Time Traveler's Wife) to keep me from going berserk.

So I essentially lost 2 hours of my night. 2 precious hours that I had planned to spend making some of the dips/salsa/etc for my grad party this weekend. So much for that. I did still get a run in and went to the grocery store to get all the fresh produce ingredients for the food for the weekend. Oh, and while I was there, I was reminded of how much of a culinary moron I am. I couldn't for the life of me identify a Serrano Chile. And there was seriously no one in the entire produce section of the grocery store, or anywhere close bye. So I swallowed my pride and called my aunt Barb and she explained what to look for.

Criminy. I'm 28 and I have to use a life line when I'm in a grocery store. Thank God I have a patient and wise auntie to call on!

So yah. Today was not my best day. Plus 21 people got laid off in my division this week, so things are work are pretty down/somber.

But I figure maybe I got all of my bad luck out of the way. And hopefully the rest of the weekend will go really, really smoothly!

Early tomorrow morning I am heading back to my hometown for a bridal shower for my little sister, Saturday is my grad party at the lake where I am expecting 40-50 people, and then on Sunday we are celebrating my nephew's 4th Birthday. So it's going to be one full, fun weekend! I'm sure I'll have some pics to post next week!

My Sister's Keeper

Wow. Two book reviews in one week. Can you tell I am done with grad school & have a little more free time? It helps that I am now taking the bus 5 days a week instead of 3-4. Can I just say how much I love public transportation? I bet I get at least an hour of reading done each day!

Anyways, moving on to the book review! I started "My Sister's Keeper" on Sunday night & finished it last night. Here's the odd thing. A little over a month ago, I reviewed "Nineteen Minutes" by Jodi Picoult and was so sure that I had only read one other book by Picoult. Then my cousin commented & said that she was sure that I had read it and recommended it to her. But I had zero recollection of reading it. As soon as I started reading it, the book felt so familiar and I realized that I had, in fact, read this book before. I could remember some of the non-essential details of the book, but not the ending. So I burned through the book so I could get to the conclusion and find out what happens!

The book is about two sisters, Kate and Anna Fitzgerald. Kate suffers from a rare form of Leukemia. The Fitzgerald's older son is not a match for Kate, so they genetically screen embryos until a perfect match is found... and along comes Anna - the perfect match for Kate. Throughout Kate's life, she undergoes multiple procedures from the donation of her umbilical cord to the donation of bone marrow. In the book, we meet Anna at age 13. Kate is in need of a kidney transplant and the Fitzgerald's assume that Anna will willing donate. But Anna decides to file for medical emancipation from her parents so she can make her own decision about whether or not to donate an organ.

I'm pretty sure everyone and their mom has already read this, so I won't say much more. For those who have read it, I have a question. Did you think that the lawyer made a bigger deal about his condition than was necessary? When I found out why he needed the day I was like, 'Huh.' Yes, it's a major condition, but not something he needs to hide... But whatevs. I guess the mystery of his condition added to the plot line of the story.

If you haven't read this book, then I will definitely recommend it. Sometimes Picoult's books are just a little too heavy on the courtroom scenes (which is pretty much what she is known for), but this book had a good balance. Also, the book is being made into a movie - I believe it comes out in June. The trailer looks pretty good - I am a big Abigail Breslin fan, and she plays Anna. I'm a bit suprised that they cast Cameron Diaz as the mom... I don't have anything against her, but she doesn't match the person I envisioned in my head. If I had the chance to cast the mom, I'd choose Toni Collette. Maybe I will be pleasantly surprised by Diaz, though. We'll see.

Oh, and I am still doing well on the 'not buying books' thing. I resisted the urge to buy this book and instead borrowed it from a friend from school. That's major progress for me!!!

Julia Child's Life in France

Yep, I am still on my France book kick. I think this is the last unread France-based book on my bookshelves, and since I am taking a break from book buying, I probably won't be reading anything set in France for a while... Aside from blogs written by people in France, of course!



I really liked Julia Child's book, "My Life in France." She is one interesting lady. I have vague memories of watching her tv show, "The French Chef" on PBS when I was pretty young. I just remember that she had the most peculiar voice. And she used a heck of alot of butter. Maybe even more than Paula Dean? I think I need to add her shows to my Netflix list to see if my memories of the show match up with what it was really like!

I was surprised to learn that Julia didn't learn to cook until she moved to France around the age of 36. I read this & thought to myself: 'maybe there is hope for me!' I'd like to be good at cooking, but it's really not my forte. But if Julia Child can go from a total flop in the kitchen to a master, then maybe I can learn a thing or two from her!

I was also surprised to learn that Julia didn't meet/marry her husband until she was in her 30's. In the 1940's, I imagine she married well above the average age. So once again, I thought - 'Again, maybe there is hope for me.' (side note: I'm not hopeless about meeting Mr. Right but do appreciate reading about people who get married in their 30s... It makes me feel like less of an old maid...)

Julia & Paul Child were definitely an interesting and unique couple... The best example of this is a Valentine's card that they sent out one year. They stripped down & took a picture in a bathtub w/ 'strategically placed bubbles' and a caption that read, "Wish you were here!" I tried to find a picture of this postcard to post (there is one in the book), but was unsuccessful. So you'll have to take my word on this one - it was downright odd!

I was actually inspired to read this book since the movie "Julie & Julia," which is based on the book by Julie Powell, opens nationwide this summer. I can't wait to see it. Julia Child will be played by Meryl Streep! I feel very prepared to watch this show after reading about both Julie Powell & Julia Child's lives. I just wonder if they will feature the dish that I was inspired to try while in France...


Yes, that is a bone. No, I did not enjoy it - the bone marrow was really greasy... but I am really glad that I tried it!

Anyways, back to the book at hand... If you have any interest in the life of Julia Child and how her legendary cookbook, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" was developed, I recommend checking out this book. It was a quick, easy read. At the end of the book, Julia concludes the book by saying that no one is born a chef. It's something you work at. It's a muscle you develop.

With all the extra time I have now that I am done w/ school, I intend to work that muscle!!

MBA Commencement

It's official - I have my masters degree. :)

I guess I needed to don a cap & gown for one final time so that it would feel official. I finished up my course work 2 weeks ago but, until today, it didn't really feel like I was 'done'.

The ceremony was this morning at 9. We really lucked out on the weather. It was sunny & gorgeous - which is sort of a rarity these days in my neck of the woods. Before I headed over to line up, my parents & I snapped a few pictures.

Dad & I

Mom & I

I lucked out & sat next to a girl that I studied abroad in Lyon with so I had someone to chat with during lulls in the ceremony. The keynote speaker was actually really good - she was one of Time magazine's people of the year in 2002 (I think?). She was one of the whistle-blowers at Enron so gave a great speech about Ethics in the workplace.

After the ceremony, I met up with my parents for some post-commencement photos and was suprised to see my aunt & uncle, Barb & Paul, walking towards me with my parents!!! They totally surprised me - I had no idea they were coming! So we snapped a few more photos before heading off to lunch.

My brother, sister-in-law, their 2 boys, and my cousin Suzanne joined us for lunch. It was nice celebrating with my family - especially my 2 nephews! I tried to get a picture with the 2 of them, but that is a bit of a tall order since they are 1 & 4!

I did manage to get a great picture with Andrew - he's doing a great "ta da" pose with his arms. What can I say - he loves the camera!!

Getting my MBA has been a wonderful challenge. As much as I have complained from time to time, I learned a lot and met a lot of really great people.

But I am definitely happy to close the book on this chapter of my life!!