Covered in Pollen

Spring is, quite literally, in the air.

My car was completely covered in yellow pollen today, and the temperatures were around 90 allllll weekend. Whoa.

Every weekend this month has been spent visiting a friend or with a visitor. In other words, I’m completely baffled that it’s almost May, pumped that the Fam will be here in about one month, and beyond excited that two months from TODAY I’ll be done with the internship.

Oh, happy dayyyy.

I’m suddenly very interested in cooking for myself. No frozen meals this week!! Usually I allow myself  just one, because there’s at least one night where I just don’t feel like making something. A sudden desire to use the stove and oven does Not coincide nicely with stifling heat and no AC.

But! I’m determined to use the 2 lbs of chicken I bought last week (on sale like whoooa!), the extra shredded cheddar I have from breakfast burritos, and the random things in my pantry. For the first time in quite a while, my grocery list was well planned out to provide actual Meals – not just the random weekly necessities. I’m very proud of this accomplishment.

On the menu for this week, a la Kraft Magazine (my first Foodie looove):

Easy Tomato Baked Chicken

(found here –> KRAFT Foods!)

I’ll admit it doesn’t look extremely appetizing, but its “Easy!”, uses a lot of ingredients I already had (also Easy!), and it’s a “Healthy Living” recipe. Yes yes and yessss!

Cheddar, Chicken and Rice Skillet

(also found at KRAFT)

This one stood out because it uses Cheddar, and I need to get rid of some Cheddar! I’m not a big cheese person, so it’s very likely that the shredded stuff will sit in my fridge for the next month and I’ll wonder what to do with it. I’d probably make a quesadilla here and there. But I know it has more potential, sooo, I’m goin’ all out. Again, this is a “healthy living” recipe that incorporated many things I already had. Budget and nutrition, good stuff!

Missed that memo

Apparently people in the office here wear jeans on Fridays.  Nobody told us, the “interns”.  I sit here in black pants, alone.

Ah, life.

I’m heading to “happy hour”  after work with a a few gals.  By 5:30 I’ll have a pitcher of Sangria on the table in front of me. And filling up the glass in my hand. Yumm. 

This morning it was raining, humid, and disgusting. Well, to me the first two words are psynonyms with ‘disgusting’, so that goes without saying.  I wore heels, because if I have flats on the bottom of my pants get soaked.

By lunch, the sun is out to play and it’s suddenly 70 degreees. Which is really how every day should be, obviously. It’s perfection. After a free Pizza lunch (also perfect) I decided to take a walk. Days here without a break are not happening – I take that hour break and use it to breathe in that ‘fresh’ city air. Also to saturate my eyes with window shopping.

I wandered down to Dupont Circle and stopped in a book store. After a little browsing, I found something I wanted to read and took my shoes off. Because remember how I’m wearing heels and I walked to Dupont?! Oops.  I stood there in a  corner of the bookstore (no chairs?! whaaaat?), with my shoes next to my feet, and read for a while. It was a book by the same author who wrote “In Her Shoes”, I read  a chapter and enjoyed it, but now I can’t remember the title. Hmm.

Reluctantly I put my shoes back on and strutted over to the Circle (statue fountain thing in the middle, lots of trees and grass and benches…..it’s cute). For about 5 mintues I plopped down on a bench and took random pictures. Then I walked back and took more random pictures. Then my battery died, and I can’t look at any of said pictures.

Overall – if Ihad inquired about “Casual friday”, I’d be comfortable and sans feet pain with my jeans and flats. If I had received the “crappy morning will turn into a Gorgeous Spring afternoon” memo, I wouldn’t be carrying around my umbrella at the bar or sweating by the time I get there.

Ah well. It’s FRIDAY. I did get that memo.

Recently

I’ve been reading “Are you there Vodka? It’s me, Chelsea“, by Chelsea Handler. It’s Lol – hysterical.
The best part? It was a Mom-recommendation. Love.

I mailed my sister’s birthday package 9 days late. It arrived 10 days after that. This (along with everything else I mail) only continues to reinforce the notion that I cannot mail things on any sort of timeline. Nothing. At all.
But it did get there!

This song has become my obsession – Piano Man (Live version!), by Billy Joel.
Yes, its been around for decades. I, on the other hand, have not.

Thick and creamy yogurt (berry or strawberry) with chocolate syrup has become my favorite night-time addiction treat.

I started three countdowns:
Best-buddy from home in DC – 7 days!
LB in Maryland – 14 days!
Trip to the ‘Burgh’ – 22 days!

My Mom gave me this face lotion, and I’m completely obsessed. I consider it “grown up” lotion; a moisturizer that is actually really good for your skin. Amazing.

I have been trying to figure out why ‘The Police’ keep playing on my Pandora play-list. ??! I’m not complaining.  But I’m also not in agreement that they “sound like” Maroon 5. Or the Counting Crows.

Stress has taken over about 90% of my reactions to small situations. The freak-outs can come to an end anyyyy day now. That would be great.

I have behaved exceptionally well in the budget-area. I blame this on time spent commuting (therefore taken away from boredom) and homework-ing. I also blame it on the cold weather; I don’t want any more winter clothes.

Weather.com has basically become my home-page. The 10-day forecast is my morning read. I wonder if the temperature will read – “60 and Sunny. Just for you, Heather.” – if I stare at it long enough.
No luck so far.

I’ve been working in a Children’s hospital (just for two weeks). I absolutely LOVE it.

Coffee has made it’s way into my morning routine. Right along with the morning News.
I knew this day would come…..

I haven’t had anything too exciting to blog about. So, you got this instead.

*happy fridayyyy*

Now it’s comin

Compared to the lovely center of PA, this state has spoiled me. We were still having temps in the 60s up to this weekend. A torrential downpour isn’t commonplace, and I haven’t had to scrape ice off of my car…yet.

Well, the 10-day forecast has told me that those days are over.

For the first time since living here, I’m getting sick. Maybe it’s the sudden um, 10 degree, drop in outside temp? Maybe it’s the fact that my room is frigid, for some reason the heat skips it and moves on to the bathroom. (I even bought a space-heater thing, but it blows a fuse if we turn one more thing on. Eh, Not good.) Or maybe, it’s the fact that I’m no longer in goin-out-shape. Two nights in a row of actually leaving the apt and socializing, with a football game stuck in the middle, is a little much for this chick.

Gah, sad day.

But! I’m hoping that last weekend was just a prep for this weekend. Like a short run before the race. And I’m getting sick now so that I’ll be better by Thanksgiving. Right? Right. It’s just a little heads up to the body….’Suck it up. Next weekend we’re doin it again. K? Nice talk, see ya out there.’

On another note. Thanks to those of you who cheered for my Lions (didn’t you???), we’re back on track! I’m squirming in my seat right now just thinking about standing outside of Beaver Stadium on Saturday. Tailgate, roommates, food, and Nittany Lions. That’s good stuff.

While things are still alive

I’m going to take pictures of them. And use them as an excuse to cease homework-doing for the afternoon.

The roomie and I took a little walk on Sunday because it was 55º, sunny, and goooorgeous. There’s no way I can let a day like that slip by, so I did this instead…..

Soo, I might finally love that this is where I live. I mean, just for now. Yuppp.

Just a few rain drops

I’ve been home for over a month, and today…for the first time…it rained.

The night sky has been a dark grey for the past week or so, teasing us with the smell of rain, but never delivering. I thought after four years of Pennsylvania weather, I would never care if I felt rain again. I forgot what the desert can do to you…..

Just the smell made me wish it would just start spontaneously pouring. As much as I actually hate when it does that (what if you’re out?! what if you forgot your umbrella and you get soaked?! what iiiiif? ugh.), I do miss the rain.

I spent most of the morning sitting on our deck with my crossword and my new book. It was a clear blue sky and a verryyyy warm 100 degrees. Around three o’clock the clouds started rolling in from the North. I could smell it. Fresh rain, on its way. The lightning was going, the wind started up–everything in the mix for the perfect summer storm.

This is what makes the desert so different. It was like two completely different days. Morning-hot desert sun, no wind and not a cloud in sight. Then….all of a sudden, it’s there.

My Mom and I decided to go for a walk, hoping (actually, assuming) it wouldn’t rain. Since, uh, it never does.

As we finished and started walking up the hill to our house, I was a little disappointed. I thought maaaybe, just maybe, we would get at least a few drops. And I said “I’m kinda sad it never rained…”.

Cue: HUGE rain drops. Falling. On me. Yesssssss.

It started dripping, and then actually raining. Huge, huuge rain drops. Coming straight down and dotting the sidewalk. It was beautiful. In perfect desert fashion, it lasted about 2 minutes, and stopped. But, oh, did it feel good.

Indoor Icicles

I had no idea this was possible, but be assured, it is.

As you may know, our apartment flooded last week, and the damage continues. In the last week we have had de-humidifiers, commercial-strength fans, a corner of our living room carpet pulled up (and not replaced), and our carpets cleaned and “sterilized”. We walked around in slippers and flip-flops for the week to avoid soaking our feet in dirty carpet-water (ewwww), and burned numerous candles to the wick because our apartment smelled like a wet dog.

Out of all this, one de-humidifier remains. It’s hangin’ out in our bathroom, not doing too much. There have been a few times where the condensation on the windows has indicated it’s getting too humid from the still semi-damp carpet, so we turn it on. We were blessed with somewhat “decent” weather on Sunday and Monday, so we could finally open a window and let some of the air circulate without getting frostbite.

Last night it was approximately 5º outside and I could see the water droplets forming all over my window. I opened it a little bit to test it out, because bringing a de-humidifier into a small bedroom and shutting the door for 10 hours really does nothing. However, the blast of cold air I was hit with quickly changed my mind, and I slammed it shut. Covered in condensation. Hello, I’m dumb.

I woke up this morning and couldn’t even see outside because of all the watery-ness. I thought: Since I’ll be gone all day, I guess it’s just better to open this up a little bit and deal with the fact that it’ll be a little cold when I get back. At least it will let out some of the humidity right?

I tried to open my window. I pulled reeeallyy hard. I locked it and unlocked it. Then pulled again. I can’t be that weak, I can open this damn window. The window will not beat me.

Ehhhh. No, but the ICE that has formed in droplets and mini icicles along the window-sill….they beat me. My window is actually frozen shut. Oh.My.Gosh. I have icicles IN MY ROOM. Wow. End of story.

Weather Confusion

I go to school in Pennsylvania. It’s supposed to be cold there. During the winter it is usually about 10 degrees outside and it snows a lot.  That’s just how it is.

I live in the desert of the Southwest. Close enough to Colorado to get some cold weather during the winter and beautiful temperatures and sunshine during the Fall, Spring and Summer.

During January, it should not be 60 degrees in Pennsylvania and 20 degrees here.  It should not be sunny in State College while the sky is dumping 3 inches of snow in the southwest!  Something is definitely not right here. The weather got confused. I am not amused.

I have spent all day inside, with the exception of half an hour this afternoon when I got to shovel snow off our driveway. I’m not really complaining about this, days like that can be nice; curling up in a blanket and reading or watching TV and movies “The Office”.

I guess I should enjoy this now, since we start the Spring semester exactly one week from today.  From then on, when it snows, I’ll be pulling on some boots and layers of clothes and trekking to classes all day instead.  Ehhhhh.

A Nice Cuppa’ Tea

It’s that time of the year again. Outside it may be cold, windy, raining, snowing or all of the above. But inside, I am cuddled up with a nice warm cuppa’ tea.

My relationship with tea began approximately 3 years ago. Upon moving to the East Coast I learned a lot of things; it rains constantly, it gets cold in October, the sun may not show its face for days at a time, it snows until April, the game of football…the list goes on. Many of the people around me drank coffee and tea consistently during the cold winter months, but I’m not a coffee-drinker and I associated tea with old British women wearing hats and eating scones.

Along with many other things, I was willing to give this warm beverage a chance. Anything that can take my mind off the fact that it is approximately 10 degrees outside will do, thanks.

My mom bought me an electronic tea kettle (these things are magic!) and my first box of peppermint flavored tea. Mmmmmm. It took me a while to adjust to the steeping process. After a few initial tongue burns due to impatience and trial & error, I got it down. Let the tea bag do its thing for about 5 minutes, be patient while the water cools down a little bit and….viola! You have, in your hands, a beverage with the power to warm and soothe. Perfect!

It took me a while to get used to drinking plain “black” tea, since I started with the strong peppermint flavor. I soon learned that I also enjoy orange and peach flavored teas, Green tea, black tea, tea with sugar, tea without sugar, tea with lemon, Chai tea, all kinds of tea! Except Earl Grey. I don’t what it is, but we don’t agree with each other.

I also love trying all the seasonal flavors that come out around Christmas. Not only do they taste like the holidays, but they smell so good!

Now that the cold has come (out of nowhere, by the way), our tea supply is all stocked up and the teapot is ready to go!

Welcoming Fall…

…with open (arms?) Toe-d shoes!

It is officially the Fall season. We are in school, the first round midterms have come and gone, Football is in full bloom….and it’s still 80 degrees!!!

On this beautiful “fall” day I left the apartment in shorts, a t-shirt and flip-flops. Not typical clothing for the 4th day of October in central Pennsylvania! I have worn jeans twice since starting school, and on the handful of days that a jacket has accompanied me, it has ended up stuffed in a bag by noon. As much as I love warm weather, being a desert native, I will admit that the hot & humid days combined with classes is a little “much”.

We, as Penn-Staters, are somewhat thrown-off. Usually by this time of the year we are switching to jeans and hoodies, and we are preparing ourselves to pull out the heavy-duty winter gear. Approximately one year ago I was spending the weekend in D.C. with some classy ladies, having to wear the jacket-gloves-scarf ensemble that screams “fall is here”! I vividly remember leaving the Museum of Natural History and grabbing a toasty hot-chocolate on our walk over to the (new, gorgeous) World War II memorial.

That seems like a distant memory as I get ready for this weekend; tackling Beaver Stadium in 80 degree sunshine once again, cheering our team to another Home victory.

In reference to fashion faux pas; as long as the weather is ignoring that it’s Fall, I will too. I will continue to wear my shorts, tanks, dresses, sunglasses, and open-toed shoes. However, I do plan on embracing the colors of the season. I love the shades of black, brown, burgundy and maroon that are filling the pages of clothing sites like Banana Republic. I also love the boots and coats, but they will just have to wait…

For the time being, I’m going to enjoy these warm, sunny days.