Oh my gosh, I can't believe how long it's been since I've written anything here! I have all these ideas for blog posts in my head (trust me, they're good). Inevitably I have tons of energy and dream of writing witty and entertaining stories during the day, then I get home from work and am too tired to even think about typing. That makes me sad. I really enjoy writing, but hopefully one of these days I'll have more time (or more energy in the time that I do have). In the meantime, though, here's a quick update.
I made lasagne for the first time this week. The spinach is definitely my favorite part, and this one proved to be delicious... other than the top layer of noodle and sauce that always gets crunchy and I just hate that. But other than the spinach, the best part is that it's a ready-made lunch and dinner that will last for an entire week or more!
And then Colin showed me up in the cooking department and suggested we make spanakopita for dinner. I (being the lazy chef that I am) suggested substituting crescent rolls for filo dough since filo dough sounds super intimidating. It was a brilliant idea, if I do say so myself. And it only took half an hour or so to make! Who knew fancy cooking could be so easy.
And here's my desk partner, Violet!
Doesn't she look beautiful?! It's the same flower that was a favor from my good friend Aaron's wedding last September (2012), and it flowered almost exactly one year after her wedding. I took that as a sign that the universe approved of her marriage, so I texted her a quick photo letting her know she was doing okay in Mother Nature's eyes. I think Violet also really likes her new window seat in my cubicle. But here's a quick question for all you green thumbs out there: is it normal for African violet leaves to turn brown and translucent? It only happens to one or two leaves at a time, and they're always the ones on the bottom, and it's been going on for months. That all makes me think that it's just the plant's way of shedding to make room for the new leaves, but I have no idea. I only water her in her saucer and don't water her very often, so I don't think it's an over-watering thing. I just know nothing about plants, and Google didn't seem to be very helpful on this one.
What else is new in my life? Well, sailing/kayaking/paddleboarding season is over (I actually have a bunch more photos of my last couple trips, but that's another post...). It's not quite wintry yet, so I've been enjoying my last few weeks of running outdoors. I've been trying to do one loop around Fresh Pond each week plus a run to the river or somewhere else on the weekends. It makes me so sad to think of how soon it will be too cold for running... so I've been considering joining a gym for a few months. A couple friends from work go, and they have a million (that's not much of an exaggeration, actually) class offerings, so it would be fun. The gym is between home and work so I would be more likely to go than if I had to make a special trip out in the bitter winter cold. I just don't know... gyms are so expensive... sometimes I miss all the perks of being a student!
Oh, and in other news, tonight was IEc's biannual trivia night. The company provides pizza and drinks and brings in a trivia leader, and the winning team gets a happy hour paid for by the company. It doesn't seem quite fair, but the team that has always won before consists of the company president and an invitation-only, select group of senior staff. (On the other hand, maybe it is fair. I certainly hope the company president is smarter than all the rest of us.) Well, guess who defeated the undefeated tonight??? That's right. Yours truly and her team of not-usually-good-at-trivia, who-else-wants-to-play-with-us junior staff. We had six associates and one RA; two Brown alums; two SNRE alums; and we were all between the ages of 21 and 29.
It was actually quite a nail-biter. We were trailing for a few rounds (although we only missed three questions the entire night), but by the last round we were within one point of the leaders (which, incidentally, was not the president's team). For the last round, there were two questions: one on U.S. history, which happens to be my worst subject ever, and one on music, which is a close second. For each question, you could wager between 2 and 10 points. The first question: which U.S. President made the most famous White House telephone call ever, to the man on the moon? Well, that was way before the lifetime of any of my team members, but luckily I know that Neil Armstrong stepped foot on the moon on my birthday in 1969. My teammates knew their presidential history better than me, so they listed all the presidents back in order and we counted down the years until we got to Nixon in 1969. Wager: 10 points.
But the leading team got it right, too, and we were still trailing by one point! Last chance: which musician released Brainwashed, his final album, in 2002 and was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in 2004, and was also inducted as part of a group? We weren't entirely sure about this one, but thank goodness we paid some attention to pop culture in the 90s. George Harrison? Wager: 10, because, well, go big or go home. We were one of only two teams to get that one right, and the leading team missed it--and you know what that means!! Winners! Sweet, sweet victory of the underdogs. And best of all, our team happened to be an awesome group of people that I am thrilled to get to share a happy hour with.
So, yeah, it was a pretty cool night. :)
I made lasagne for the first time this week. The spinach is definitely my favorite part, and this one proved to be delicious... other than the top layer of noodle and sauce that always gets crunchy and I just hate that. But other than the spinach, the best part is that it's a ready-made lunch and dinner that will last for an entire week or more!
 |
| New recipe alert! I'm expanding my repertoire to include spinach lasagne. |
And then Colin showed me up in the cooking department and suggested we make spanakopita for dinner. I (being the lazy chef that I am) suggested substituting crescent rolls for filo dough since filo dough sounds super intimidating. It was a brilliant idea, if I do say so myself. And it only took half an hour or so to make! Who knew fancy cooking could be so easy.
 |
| Colin taught me to make spanakopita. It was a super duper easy dinner. |
 |
| They were delicious. I was only sad that the leftovers got soggy so quickly. |
And here's my desk partner, Violet!
 |
| Check out my violet! She just exploded with flowers over the last couple months. |
What else is new in my life? Well, sailing/kayaking/paddleboarding season is over (I actually have a bunch more photos of my last couple trips, but that's another post...). It's not quite wintry yet, so I've been enjoying my last few weeks of running outdoors. I've been trying to do one loop around Fresh Pond each week plus a run to the river or somewhere else on the weekends. It makes me so sad to think of how soon it will be too cold for running... so I've been considering joining a gym for a few months. A couple friends from work go, and they have a million (that's not much of an exaggeration, actually) class offerings, so it would be fun. The gym is between home and work so I would be more likely to go than if I had to make a special trip out in the bitter winter cold. I just don't know... gyms are so expensive... sometimes I miss all the perks of being a student!
Oh, and in other news, tonight was IEc's biannual trivia night. The company provides pizza and drinks and brings in a trivia leader, and the winning team gets a happy hour paid for by the company. It doesn't seem quite fair, but the team that has always won before consists of the company president and an invitation-only, select group of senior staff. (On the other hand, maybe it is fair. I certainly hope the company president is smarter than all the rest of us.) Well, guess who defeated the undefeated tonight??? That's right. Yours truly and her team of not-usually-good-at-trivia, who-else-wants-to-play-with-us junior staff. We had six associates and one RA; two Brown alums; two SNRE alums; and we were all between the ages of 21 and 29.
It was actually quite a nail-biter. We were trailing for a few rounds (although we only missed three questions the entire night), but by the last round we were within one point of the leaders (which, incidentally, was not the president's team). For the last round, there were two questions: one on U.S. history, which happens to be my worst subject ever, and one on music, which is a close second. For each question, you could wager between 2 and 10 points. The first question: which U.S. President made the most famous White House telephone call ever, to the man on the moon? Well, that was way before the lifetime of any of my team members, but luckily I know that Neil Armstrong stepped foot on the moon on my birthday in 1969. My teammates knew their presidential history better than me, so they listed all the presidents back in order and we counted down the years until we got to Nixon in 1969. Wager: 10 points.
But the leading team got it right, too, and we were still trailing by one point! Last chance: which musician released Brainwashed, his final album, in 2002 and was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in 2004, and was also inducted as part of a group? We weren't entirely sure about this one, but thank goodness we paid some attention to pop culture in the 90s. George Harrison? Wager: 10, because, well, go big or go home. We were one of only two teams to get that one right, and the leading team missed it--and you know what that means!! Winners! Sweet, sweet victory of the underdogs. And best of all, our team happened to be an awesome group of people that I am thrilled to get to share a happy hour with.
So, yeah, it was a pretty cool night. :)
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