My apartment rated an 83 out of 100 on this nifty site. How about where you live?
And speaking of nifty sites, Mike and I are putting together our wedding website at http://bakerandnigh.weddings.com. So far we've got our work cut out for us filling in the details, but we are having fun with a round-robin semi-fictionalized account on the "Our Story" page. Check it out!
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
So much! Vacation, work, and wedding planning!
First things first, California was wonderful... and action-packed. (All of the pictures have been uploaded to my Shutterfly albums.) I flew out with my friend Amrita on Tuesday afternoon (the 10th), and despite threats of delays from the start we managed to arrive in a timely fashion. It was a looooong day; adding 2 hours from Central time made rental car complexity, driving direction issues, and the lateness of dinner disproportionately frustrating, but Wednesday was much better.
We got up "early" (still later than I'm up for work, Chicago time) and headed to SeaWorld for our big adventure in the "wild arctic" exhibit. Feeding seals and walruses and looking at polar bears from "backstage" was only the warmup for our plunge into icy salt water to see beluga whales up close and personal. The trainers told us about the behavioral training tactics used with the animals and showed off some of their best "tricks," including, of course, the ones where they squirt, splash, and otherwise drench the hapless observers. We were in the water for a total of about 25 minutes, which was certainly long enough at 50 degrees farenheit!
We stayed at the park exploring exhibits and rides until the afternoon, when we took a lunch break downtown in San Diego's historic gaslamp district at a Mexican restaurant Amrita recommended. It seemed like a trendy little part of town, with plenty of food, shops and boutiques. As evening approached we made plans to travel to LaJolla and find a beach where we could bum around. Instead of the traditional sandy coastline, we inadvertently stumbled into an area with surf-worn sandstone cliffs, overhangs, and rugged shores full of tide pools, where we stayed until sunset.
On Thursday morning we set out for old town San Diego, to check out gold-rush era buildings... and shop after shop of kitschy old-time souvenirs. Actually, we started off by taking a walking trail to the Presidio site, a fortress/mission that marks the earliest Spanish colonial presence in the area. We stayed in old town for lunch, and finished the day by heading back to SeaWorld to take in more exhibits and shows.
On Friday I set off bright and early on my own to catch a flight to Sacramento, where I met up with Gilberto, a very good friend from Kenyon. We dropped of my luggage and spent a little time with his family at his parents' house before taking off to see old town Sacramento, a nice little shopping district in authentic old-west buildings.
We caught up over a snack at a local restaurant called BJ's, and then headed back to his folks' house for a fantastic dinner made by his dad: fresh salad with avocado, a delicious seasoned salmon dish, and a fantastic shrimp ragout. I don't cook often with shrimp, but I regret that I didn't ask for the recipe then an there! We went out to catch the 5th Harry Potter movie after dinner, although unfortunately I was still on Central time and I zonked out right around the Weasley twins' raucous withdrawal from Hogwarts. I'll have to catch it again to see the second half!
On Saturday morning I went out in Beto's neighborhood for a short run while he ran some errands. We had decided to go back to Oldtown to check out the Railroad Museum and buy some souvenirs. I got to meet his friend Rashad, and then we went home to eat the leftovers from the previous night's fabulous dinner before setting off on the 2 hour drive to San Francisco. We arrived after dark and had a great view of the skyline, though unfortunately my pictures were too blurry to save.
Sunday morning we set off early after a hearty breakfast at a diner near Beto's apartment. We went to Mission Dolores, the oldest church in California. With perfect timing, the Basilica next door to the original church was having Mass when we finished exploring the museum.
We drove to Castro, the historic gay neighborhood in San Francisco, and then made our way to the de Young museum in Golden Gate park, which had spectacular collections of modern art. We travelled to Haight street, hippie central, to get lunch, and I bought myself an absolutely ridiculous pair of earrings.
As repayment for our visit to Ted Drewes' Frozen Custard in St. Louis the previous summer, we went to Mitchell's for the best ice cream in San Francisco. If you ever have the opportunity, I recommend the passionfruit sorbet! We also went to Ocean Beach so I could dip my feet in the Pacific, and then we made plans to go to dinner with Beto's Aunt Kim and her four highly energetic kids, which was loads of fun. I slept well after a busy day!
On Monday, we went back to Golden Gate park to visit the Japanese Tea Garden, which was very serene before the packs of visitors arrived.
We spent the rest of the day at notable SF landmarks, including Lombard street, the world's crookedest road:
Coit Tower, with its fantastic view of the city and the bay:
And Little Italy, where we found a great café for lunch. Then it was on to the Golden Gate Bridge, which was a bit foggy but cleared up on the half that we walked:
We briefly visited Fisherman's Wharf to check out the souvenir stands, where Beto saw this and had to take a picture for my sister:
We ended the day with a visit to Beto's younger sister Ariel and her boyfriend, where we played some Mario Party on the Nintendo Wii and then went out for dinner at an authentic Mexican restaurant:
Tuesday was spent riding roller coasters, eating gross fair food, and singing Karaoke at Great America amusement park. We tired ourselves out pretty thorougly, so we left a bit early, visited with Beto's Aunt Maria before attempting the drive back to Sacramento.
I left Wednesday morning to make the long flight back to St. Louis, landing in the early evening. I was expecting a fairly relaxing weekend at home, but that was not to be. Dr. G, my current advisor, had left a message on my phone while I was in transit, informing me that the committee for a training grant in aging and dementia would accept a proposal from me even though I haven't had my qualifying exam. They wanted to see what I could write, and possibly hold a position for me on the grant for my third and fourth years in the program. This was huge news, because Dr. G and I have been hard at work ever since I started in his lab, trying to find a source of funding to allow me to stay and do my thesis research as his advisee. The catch, of course, was that the committee was convening to read applications on the following Monday.
So much for my calm weekend at home, especially when I quickly realized that one of my pieces of luggage - the one containing my notes and important lab papers - had not arrived with me in St. Louis. I had to fill out a claim at the airport and hope against hope that it would come in sufficient time to get my proposal written. I probably hadn't worked under a similarly hectic deadline since senior year at Kenyon, but luckily things came together; I tracked down rec letters, worked on updating my CV, and with the delivery of my missing bag I had a first draft emailed by Friday night... and rewrote about 5 more times before Monday, including on the road with Mike on Sunday. It was actually a good exercise just to write a proposal and organize my ideas, since the project I came up with could actually make up the bulk of my thesis if I stay in the lab. So, yay!
Between all of that, Mike and my mom and I actually did find time to visit reception hall possibilities for the wedding, and come to some decisions. There are still plenty of details left to work out, but we've reserved a date at my home church and at the parish hall for the reception: Saturday, August 23rd, 2008. Official save-the-date mailings will hopefully commence shortly, as will wedding party and music organization. (Hint to friends and family with musical inclination... Mike is composing a choral setting for the Mass, so we'll definitely need a couple of singers on each voice part and probably someone to act as musical director as well!)
Now to decide what to do for our pre-niversary! When I asked my dad what he and mom decided to do to celebrate the date a year before the wedding, he said that he asked her why they couldn't have just gotten it done that year... Still, having a date more than a year away is much preferred to no date at all. Here's the countdown:
Wahoo!!!
We got up "early" (still later than I'm up for work, Chicago time) and headed to SeaWorld for our big adventure in the "wild arctic" exhibit. Feeding seals and walruses and looking at polar bears from "backstage" was only the warmup for our plunge into icy salt water to see beluga whales up close and personal. The trainers told us about the behavioral training tactics used with the animals and showed off some of their best "tricks," including, of course, the ones where they squirt, splash, and otherwise drench the hapless observers. We were in the water for a total of about 25 minutes, which was certainly long enough at 50 degrees farenheit!
We stayed at the park exploring exhibits and rides until the afternoon, when we took a lunch break downtown in San Diego's historic gaslamp district at a Mexican restaurant Amrita recommended. It seemed like a trendy little part of town, with plenty of food, shops and boutiques. As evening approached we made plans to travel to LaJolla and find a beach where we could bum around. Instead of the traditional sandy coastline, we inadvertently stumbled into an area with surf-worn sandstone cliffs, overhangs, and rugged shores full of tide pools, where we stayed until sunset.
On Thursday morning we set out for old town San Diego, to check out gold-rush era buildings... and shop after shop of kitschy old-time souvenirs. Actually, we started off by taking a walking trail to the Presidio site, a fortress/mission that marks the earliest Spanish colonial presence in the area. We stayed in old town for lunch, and finished the day by heading back to SeaWorld to take in more exhibits and shows.
On Friday I set off bright and early on my own to catch a flight to Sacramento, where I met up with Gilberto, a very good friend from Kenyon. We dropped of my luggage and spent a little time with his family at his parents' house before taking off to see old town Sacramento, a nice little shopping district in authentic old-west buildings.
We caught up over a snack at a local restaurant called BJ's, and then headed back to his folks' house for a fantastic dinner made by his dad: fresh salad with avocado, a delicious seasoned salmon dish, and a fantastic shrimp ragout. I don't cook often with shrimp, but I regret that I didn't ask for the recipe then an there! We went out to catch the 5th Harry Potter movie after dinner, although unfortunately I was still on Central time and I zonked out right around the Weasley twins' raucous withdrawal from Hogwarts. I'll have to catch it again to see the second half!
On Saturday morning I went out in Beto's neighborhood for a short run while he ran some errands. We had decided to go back to Oldtown to check out the Railroad Museum and buy some souvenirs. I got to meet his friend Rashad, and then we went home to eat the leftovers from the previous night's fabulous dinner before setting off on the 2 hour drive to San Francisco. We arrived after dark and had a great view of the skyline, though unfortunately my pictures were too blurry to save.
Sunday morning we set off early after a hearty breakfast at a diner near Beto's apartment. We went to Mission Dolores, the oldest church in California. With perfect timing, the Basilica next door to the original church was having Mass when we finished exploring the museum.
We drove to Castro, the historic gay neighborhood in San Francisco, and then made our way to the de Young museum in Golden Gate park, which had spectacular collections of modern art. We travelled to Haight street, hippie central, to get lunch, and I bought myself an absolutely ridiculous pair of earrings.
As repayment for our visit to Ted Drewes' Frozen Custard in St. Louis the previous summer, we went to Mitchell's for the best ice cream in San Francisco. If you ever have the opportunity, I recommend the passionfruit sorbet! We also went to Ocean Beach so I could dip my feet in the Pacific, and then we made plans to go to dinner with Beto's Aunt Kim and her four highly energetic kids, which was loads of fun. I slept well after a busy day!
On Monday, we went back to Golden Gate park to visit the Japanese Tea Garden, which was very serene before the packs of visitors arrived.
We spent the rest of the day at notable SF landmarks, including Lombard street, the world's crookedest road:
Coit Tower, with its fantastic view of the city and the bay:
And Little Italy, where we found a great café for lunch. Then it was on to the Golden Gate Bridge, which was a bit foggy but cleared up on the half that we walked:
We briefly visited Fisherman's Wharf to check out the souvenir stands, where Beto saw this and had to take a picture for my sister:
We ended the day with a visit to Beto's younger sister Ariel and her boyfriend, where we played some Mario Party on the Nintendo Wii and then went out for dinner at an authentic Mexican restaurant:
Tuesday was spent riding roller coasters, eating gross fair food, and singing Karaoke at Great America amusement park. We tired ourselves out pretty thorougly, so we left a bit early, visited with Beto's Aunt Maria before attempting the drive back to Sacramento.
I left Wednesday morning to make the long flight back to St. Louis, landing in the early evening. I was expecting a fairly relaxing weekend at home, but that was not to be. Dr. G, my current advisor, had left a message on my phone while I was in transit, informing me that the committee for a training grant in aging and dementia would accept a proposal from me even though I haven't had my qualifying exam. They wanted to see what I could write, and possibly hold a position for me on the grant for my third and fourth years in the program. This was huge news, because Dr. G and I have been hard at work ever since I started in his lab, trying to find a source of funding to allow me to stay and do my thesis research as his advisee. The catch, of course, was that the committee was convening to read applications on the following Monday.
So much for my calm weekend at home, especially when I quickly realized that one of my pieces of luggage - the one containing my notes and important lab papers - had not arrived with me in St. Louis. I had to fill out a claim at the airport and hope against hope that it would come in sufficient time to get my proposal written. I probably hadn't worked under a similarly hectic deadline since senior year at Kenyon, but luckily things came together; I tracked down rec letters, worked on updating my CV, and with the delivery of my missing bag I had a first draft emailed by Friday night... and rewrote about 5 more times before Monday, including on the road with Mike on Sunday. It was actually a good exercise just to write a proposal and organize my ideas, since the project I came up with could actually make up the bulk of my thesis if I stay in the lab. So, yay!
Between all of that, Mike and my mom and I actually did find time to visit reception hall possibilities for the wedding, and come to some decisions. There are still plenty of details left to work out, but we've reserved a date at my home church and at the parish hall for the reception: Saturday, August 23rd, 2008. Official save-the-date mailings will hopefully commence shortly, as will wedding party and music organization. (Hint to friends and family with musical inclination... Mike is composing a choral setting for the Mass, so we'll definitely need a couple of singers on each voice part and probably someone to act as musical director as well!)
Now to decide what to do for our pre-niversary! When I asked my dad what he and mom decided to do to celebrate the date a year before the wedding, he said that he asked her why they couldn't have just gotten it done that year... Still, having a date more than a year away is much preferred to no date at all. Here's the countdown:
Wahoo!!!
Monday, July 09, 2007
Vacation!
I'm leaving Tuesday night, going to California for a little more than a week... including what is already shaping up to be a fabulous visit with Gilbert and his family. We had a great time over his trip to St. Louis last summer, and I can't wait to pick up where that left off, except with beaches this time! Photos to come on my return!
After that, I'm flying back home for a long weekend of a portentous nature... looking at reception halls and setting a wedding date. Eek! For reals!
Should be mad updatez when I get back...
After that, I'm flying back home for a long weekend of a portentous nature... looking at reception halls and setting a wedding date. Eek! For reals!
Should be mad updatez when I get back...
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