Bratwurst and the Beach

matt and i are spending good portions of our afternoons working on grant proposals (submission dates are coming up!), but just to reinforce how ridiculously different our lives are sometimes, i wanted to show you that this was his morning:

and this was my morning:

these are the kinds of things that still make it seem pretty ridiculous that we ever found one another at all. . .

three things

three things. none that constitutes its own blog post, but all of which are at least a little bit interesting.

1. did i tell you that matt and i saw the DeLorean? not A DeLorean, but THE DeLorean. complete with mr. fusion and everything. it was actually on the way back from iowa after my grandma's funeral. it just hasn't found its way into a posting since then. it's pretty awesome, though, right?

2. i finally found a recipe for a baked tofu sandwich that i like. i don't have the fancy tool that she references in her post, so i still need to perfect pressing and marinading. hopefully this will make the leftovers better. BUT the freshly made sandwich was pretty darn good.

3. i got this picture in a text from ohio the other day. while we were talking, a turtle was just off of matt's back patio, digging a hole. and then a few minutes later, it was laying eggs. so, in several more weeks there is apparently going to be an exodus of baby turtles from matt's backyard.

wait, one more!!
4. these things are insanely delicious. seriously, i picked them up on a whim and now i want to eat them all the time (except for the last few days, during which i've become obsessed with peaches). yum.

okay, not exactly the trifecta of blog posts, but i bet there wasn't one of those that didn't make you at least *think*, "hmmmmm." so, totally worth it.

here is where it all ends/begins

did i really get a diploma last year? somehow that seems like forever ago. though somehow this weekend i realized that receiving my high school degree still feels like it might just have been yesterday.

the gym has been repainted with a beautiful mural. the benches are different. the setup has been turned a full 90 degrees to the north. but somehow, there were a lot of things that still felt the same. and it didn't seem like it was all that long ago that i was trying, for the first time, to figure out how one keeps a mortar board cap pinned solidly into your hair in a way that looks at least semi-fashionable (though, of course, effortless).

it is a different feeling of pride when you get to watch someone you love succeed. i felt it this weekend to be sure. i got to watch someone who i know has had some easy and some hard paths; some pretty strong academic loves and hates; some better and some worse years. watch what, you ask? watch her finish a long journey of hard work and perseverance with all of the grace and pride such an accomplishment should entail. i couldn't be more proud. and i couldn't be more excited to see just what comes next.

A Life Extraordinary

Matt and I are keeping a running list of songs that we think would be good for different portions of the wedding (e.g., ceremony, dinner, dancing, etc.). I had totally forgotten about this, but I think it just might be perfect for the cocktail hour. . .

Tomato Basil Pasta

Yummy, yummy, yummy dinner recipe tonight from the Rachael Ray cookbook that Dy gave me a couple of Christmases ago. I couldn't wait to share it. Easy? check. Delicious? check. Leftovers for the rest of the week? check.

I had a RR recipe that didn't work for me earlier in the week. This one totally made up for it. So much so that I couldn't wait to post it.

adapted from 365: No Repeats. A Year of Deliciously Different Dinners by Rachael Ray

coarse salt
1 pound angel hair pasta
2 Tbsp EVOO
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes (I got the ones with the Italian seasoning. . . yum!)
20 fresh basil leaves, shredded or torn
3 rounded Tbsp prepared pesto sauce
1 C grated Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta al dente.

While for the pasta is boiling, begin the sauce by heating a large, deep skillet over medium heat (make sure you use a big one). Add EVOO and garlic. Saute until garlic is browned.

Stir in tomatoes and heat through. Season with salt and pepper. Wilt the basil and turn off the heat. Stir in pesto sauce.

Drain pasta and add to the sauce. Toss in the pan to distribute. Sprinkle in cheese, tossing to combine. Rachael Ray recommends shaping the final product from this into nests, but I promise it is delicious even if you don't!

public transit & the windy city

walking back from dinner in downtown Chicago

thanks to UW, my free bus pass means i don't actually drive my car every day now. i recognize how wonderful this is - especially when i go to the gas pumps to fill up (typically for a longer, out-of-town-ish trip). so, as i planned a trip to chicago a couple of weeks ago, imagine my delight when i found that i could avoid the pumps all together (along with ridiculous parking fees) and get myself a ride on the megabus for $16 each way. factor in another $7 for a weekend pass on the trains and *bingo,* i've taken a trip from madison to downtown chicago to elmhurst back to downtown and back to madison for less than $50. bonuses: i lose less work time and i feel like an amazingly smart shopper. i find all of this to be incredibly rewarding.

jimmy hendrix floor of the hard rock

why a chicago trip, you ask? well, because matt and i are in different areas of psychology, a lot of the work we do, people we know, and conferences that we attend don't actually cross paths.  moreover, because we were only in graduate school together for that single year, i've never actually seen matt give a talk about his work. not only that, but i'm not sure when i would actually get to do so. it may not surprise you, then, that when matt got invited to give a talk at the MPA conference this year in Chicago, my mental math told me that this might be a good opportunity to take advantage of. better yet, when the conference hotel was all booked up, matt got us a room at the hard rock hotel. this made things really feel 50% work and 50% vacation.

matt gave his talk friday morning. and it won't surprise you that by the time that talk was over (he was wonderful, by the way), matt already had a restaurant selected and reservations made for a date night friday evening. he did quite a good job, too. i keep wanting to describe carnivale as a latin fusion place, but it is actually even more eclectic than that. the atmosphere, the service, and the food were all incredible. i would definitely go back and i would totally recommend it to anyone who plans on being in the area.

millenium park

and because i'm a good kid, i even got up and did my run on saturday morning. it didn't hurt that we were just down the block from millenium park, an inviting running opportunity. then we took the train out to elmhurst to spend derby day/cinco de mayo with dj and laura. sunday i took the train back in, hopped the megabus, and was home by dinner. if i had it in me to sleep on busses, the tip would've round it out as perfectly as it went down.

honestly, though, given all of our opportunities to get lost or miss our relative buss/plane/train rides, i'd say that things went down pretty seamlessly. we must be getting good at this traveling stuff. it had to happen eventually.

this week has been the last week of classes as UW. as a part of that, the undergraduate that i've been supervising this semester presented a poster of the findings of her independent project. she did wonderfully. i wanted to snap a picture, but there were about a million people in a teeny, tiny room, so i'm not even sure if i could have fit her and her poster in the same frame. bummer. you know what i did get, though? these amazing chocolate covered blueberries at trader joe's, which was just down the street. i also got some yummy trail mix (the possibly perfect blend of dried fruit and nuts) - but that didn't make it into a photo.

i'm getting antsy for summer. i'm itching to be outside - either running or by the lake with a good book. i have visions that i'll both be able to do this and also get a whole bunch of work done. and after kassi's graduation, nick and sarah's wedding, the dam to dam 5k, the icis conference, submitting my grant, and stats camp, i'm sure that will totally happen. . . right?

we're starting long and longer runs for during practices for our running program. i find myself getting a little anxious for the runs that seem like they might be daunting, but then eventually finding myself easing into things. it's pretty uplifting, actually, to find yourself going from thinking, "i don't know if i can do this" to "i think i've got this under control." it's kind of a weird time and place to have a moment of gratification, but welcomed nonetheless.

happy day before mother's day, everyone. and have a wonderful week!

mud run, anyone?

*woot woot* 

although i'm going to whine if my run tonight is in the rain, i just added this to my august schedule: