Tricks and Treats.

Tricks:

...I went home for the weekend, and had to leave today. :(

...My train was 45 minutes late, so it took me a grand total of 6 1/2 hours to get back from my trip home. Driving, it would only have taken 3 hours!

...My allergies have been acting up like crazy. My nose is like a leaking faucet, with a constant slow drip.

Treats:

...I got to relax at home and see my family for the first time in three months! Wahoo!

...When my alarm goes off early tomorrow morning, it won't feel as early because we turned the clocks back. An extra hour of sleep!

...I brought back my winter clothes from home. I finally have all my fuzzy socks and cozy sweaters!

Happy Halloween!

Thursday awesome.

Today's awesome: this scene from Love Actually.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05nXkNxKkW4

Cooking for one

So, I'm still having trouble with this cooking for one business. I come from a huge family where I'm both the oldest and the "junior mom", which roughly translates to She Who Settles Arguments And Bakes Cookies When Mom's Not Around in your tongue. When I cook and bake at home (which I do, a lot), I cook or bake for at least 10 people. So it's been very hard for me to figure out how much just one person can eat. How much spaghetti should I cook just for myself? Can I eat that whole package of chicken before it goes bad?

However, there are some definite benefits to cooking for myself, which I have compiled into a handy list in case anyone cares!

-I can use the same spoon to taste sauces over and over - nobody else will get my germs!

-If I'm feeling particularly ravenous, I can polish off a whole batch of whatever without having to share.

-I can eat my patented Super Random Meals whenever I want! Today I had spaghetti and meatballs with applesauce for dinner. Normal people might pair pasta with a salad and garlic bread, but I DEFY CONVENTION! And defiance tastes good!

-There are no vegetarians or food allergies to worry about, so I can cross-contaminate things whenever I want.

-No picky eaters to accommodate except for moi!

So even though I miss my family and I miss my big, well-supplied kitchen at home...I guess this is not so bad after all. :)

a beautiful weekend

View out my window on Columbus Day

It was a beautiful long weekend here in New England! My Very Best Friend In The Whole Wide World came to visit, and we had the apartment to ourselves, as both my roommates went away. It's the very peak of leaf-peeping season, and all three days were sunny, blue-skied and slightly chilly.

Saturday we went into the city to meet up with another college friend. I had Vietnamese food for the first time and I vote it yummy! We went to see Julie & Julia, which I've been wanting to see for forever, and sat in a theater full of extremely old people. One particularly charming old man fell asleep during the movie and proceeded to let out earth-shaking snores periodically. Clearly, this demographic identified more with Julia Child's 1950's story than modern, disillusioned twenty-something Julie. The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering around window-shopping, and we ended up in an extremely high-end mall. Although we were slightly afraid of being kicked out for wearing jeans and sneakers, we browsed, snickered behind our hands and planned out what our lives would be like if we had gobs of money to blow. Do you realize that there are sheet sets at Bloomingdales that cost $3000???

Sunday was another gorgeous blustery fall day. My Very Best Friend In The Whole Wide World (MVBFITWWW? Let's just call her Z) and I grabbed lunch at our very favorite adorable cafe/sandwich shop and went apple picking. The orchard was swarming with people, mostly families with kids - some of the adorable variety, some more the obnoxious and poorly supervised type. We had fun, but the best part was really the drive there and back - we got to see several quaint old New England towns, and some truly spectacular foliage (at one point, the trees arched all the way over the road like a red and orange tunnel).

It was so nice to see college friends this weekend. Both of these two are very much like me in that most people would consider us "boring". We all knit, drink tea, love babies, go to bed early, read lots and love to cook. I think we're pretty cool people, but it was fabulous to have an entire weekend to remind us!

Hope your long weekend was wonderful, too!

A dose of AWESOME

Here's a little awesome for your Thursday!

I have been completely addicted to this song for awhile now. It's perky, cheerful, gets stuck in your head, and is about a suicidal vampire. Really!

Blue Sunny Day by Jonathan Coulton

And, in case that wasn't enough awesome for you, his work is Creative Commons licensed, meaning most of it is free and un-copyrighted. Enjoy!