my long absence, some news, and grilled cheese sandwiches.

There's a lot to catch up on since my last post a hundred years ago. A lot happened. I kept meaning to post. And, I didn't. I guess I have writer's block. Lately, I have been feeling like I don't have anything interesting to post and am unsure the purpose this blog really serves. But, I guess for now, I've resolved to not caring if it's purposeless.

So, with that, on with today.

To kick off the three-day weekend, Josh and I decided to have date night on Thursday night. I have been craving grilled cheese forever, so we thought we'd check out Grilled Cheese Night at Campanille. I snapped a couple pics with my iPhone.

I ordered the Croquet Madame, a grilled ham and Gruyere cheese sandwich with a fried egg on top. It was delicious! The crunchy bread with the velvety egg yolk -- so good! That plus a stellar glass of red wine, I was a happy camper.


Josh ordered the regular grilled cheese with the onions and mustard. He was a little hesitant about adding the onions and mustard to a perfectly good grilled cheese sandwich, but after the first bite, he was converted.


Our sandwiches came with fries. Perfect texture and salty. Very good.


For dessert, we ordered a fruit cobbler. The ice cream was so creamy. It reminded me of the ice cream my Aunt in England used to buy that was all cream -- so rich and good.


Overall, we gave our experience at Campanille a big thumbs up.

In other news, I am on some sort of weird sewing kick all of a sudden. I have been learning to sew and have completed a few small projects. I may not seem like the domestic type (although, you may know that I love to knit), so I was as surprised as anyone with this new hobby. But, it's so fun! It's nice to be creative and make something that's actually useful! So, now you are prepared for some possible sewing posts in the near future.

Saving the best for last, the most exciting news as of lately is that my little sister, Bug, is engaged! Ajax popped the question last week, and my sis is already planning her spring wedding. I'm so thrilled for her and cannot wait for the big day!

With that, I'm out for now. I'll try not to disappear again for so long. ;)

Me Mosaic.

I saw this on Sarah's blog and thought it was pretty neat.

Instructions:
1. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
2. Using only the first page of results, pick one image.

3. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into Big Huge Lab’s Mosaic Maker to create a mosaic of the picture answers.

Questions:

1. What is your first name?

2. What is your favorite food? right now?

3. What high school did you go to?

4. What is your favorite color?

5. Who is your celebrity crush?

6. What is your favourite drink?

7. What is your dream vacation?

8. What is your favorite dessert?

9. What do you want to be when you grow up?

10. What do you love most in life?

11. What is one word that describes you?

12. What is your flickr name?

New Kids on the Block.

A few of my nearest and dearest have started blogs, so I thought I would "introduce" these fabulous ladies to you all:

My lovely friend, Taryn, started up her blog, The Girl With Two First Names, a few weeks ago. Taryn and I were in the same sorority, and after rooming together one quarter, became instant friends. We were both bridesmaids in each other wedding and have seen each other through a lot. Taryn is a huge crack-up, a force to be reckoned with on a dance floor, and has the heartiest, most infectious laugh of anyone I have ever met.

The wild, bachelorette days...

Another sorority sister and roommate in law school, H, started The Gift That I Am a few months ago (playing off Paula Abdul's line). H made Ithaca somewhat bearable for me, and she and I traveled to Brazil together, rivaling all senior citizens tours with how lazy and sober we were while we were there.

H and me on a jungle tour in Brazil

My law school war buddy, Margaret, jumped on the blog wagon, too and just started her blog, Moosings. If it weren't for Margaret, I probably never would have made it through law school. Seriously. Margaret and I were in each other's wedding, and Margaret had to listen to all my crazy Bridezilla rants while we were 3Ls. She is a patient one. Margaret is also in D.C. and was married last year in Portland (recap here).

The (second) happiest day of my life!

A few other friends have revived their blogging, including my sorority sister, Schwee. Sadly, I don't have any pics of us together to complete this post (which is really messing with my OCD). But, word is she is coming to visit in February, so maybe there will be pics then.

Happy Delurking Week.

I learned about this fun Internet holiday from Nanette!

If you are reading my blog and have never commented, please say hello!


(I took Wan's advice and stole this pic from here , in case any of you are looking for other delurking graphics!)

Memememememememe

I have been memetagged by my favorite Monkey. I never participate in those "50 things about me" email chain letters, but whaddathehell...I can try this...So, eight facts about me...

1. When I was 14, I moved to Alaska from Southern California. In fact, we arrived in Alaska less than a week before I started high school. I had never seen snow, so it was quite a shock. I lived in a small town called Kenai for all four years of high school. Despite some of the background, family drama that resulted, I ended up having a really good high school experience. Since there is nothing else to do in Kenai, I joined every activity and organization under the sun and made a lot of close friends. I also met Josh in high school. My mom and step-dad still live there, and although I look forward to visiting (it really is a gorgeous place), I cannot imagine ever moving back. Ever.

2. I went to private, Catholic school for eight years. Yeah, eight years. I met some of my very best friends there, and overall, I would say it was a good experience. I did, however, have a couple craaazy nun teachers in fourth and sixth grade. Sister Anita (4th grade) was especially rotten.

3. I have held some pretty terrible jobs. I gutted salmon in a cannery in Alaska for a summer. Basically, that means I stood by a conveyor belt in a room as cold as a refrigerator, dressed head-to-toe in rubber, and used a metal spoon that spewed water to gut fish as they passed by on the belt. (I couldn't eat fish for years after.) I also spent the summer after my freshman year of college as a roustabout on the paint crew of an oil rig in Alaska. I would take a helicopter out to the rig Monday morning and live out on the rig until my 'copter ride home Friday evening. There was only one other girl on the rig, and my crew and I spent the day painting every part of the rig you can imagine -- from the engine room to the heliport -- for twelve to fourteen hours. I even hung in a "man basket" far above the ocean to paint the exterior of the rig. The good news: it was great money for a college kid! I also held a bunch of server jobs and was a sales assistant at a low-end department store and a kiosk in a mall. I guess it ended up being good experience considering the type of law I now practice. :)

4. I was a Homecoming Princess in high school and college (yes, from oil rigs to rhinestone tiaras). I swear, I did it for the college money. :) Being in the Homecoming Court at the UW was actually pretty cool because we got to stand on the 50-yard line during halftime. It was kind of a rush.

5. I love to travel. I have studied abroad in Rome, Paris, and the Greek Isles and have seen a lot of Western Europe (England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, France). My grandma took me on my first European trip when I was 12, and I have been hooked ever since. A couple years ago, I went to Turkey, and I would love to go back and spend some time in Istanbul. Last year, I went to Brazil with Heather. I really want to go to South Africa next. Or India. Or China. Hmmm. So many amazing places left to see!

6. I have two dogs, Woody and Ella. Woody is a wire fox terrier, and my grandma adopted him from a rescue in 2002. She passed away in 2003, and he has been my companion ever since. He was with me for all three years of law school and even drove cross-country with me as my little navigator when I moved back to L.A. Ella is a Yorkie and is nine months old. She is a little devil, but her puppy energy keeps our little old man young and playful. :)

7. I have a magazine addiction. I don't really even read them very closely, but I just keep buying and subscribing to more and more magazines. I never even make it through all of them, cover-to-cover. Josh is always after me to throw them away, but I can't. I may want to read them someday. :)

8. When I was little, I spent all my summers in Ontario, Canada where my family had a little cottage on a lake. My sister and I would catch frogs and swim all day and then hang out with my grandma and family in the evening. The cottage was nothing fancy, but I think it was the most wonderful place on the planet.

Now, I have to tag more victims: Sarah, Heather, Mrs. Shorty Cake... you have all been tagged. So there. :)

Hi.

I never thought I would be the blogging type -- after all, my life is (sadly) pretty dull lately -- but, I recently began to reconsider. I have a few friends who are avid bloggers, and, although I was initially skeptical about posting my everythings on the Internet, I have been enjoying reading their blogs so much I decided to continue the trend. Now that I am an old lady, with a husband and a grown-up job, I am not as diligent about keeping in touch as I used to be. Hopefully, this will help. And, hey, maybe some of you blog skeptics will reconsider so I can add to my daily work procrastination and read about your fabulous lives.