Thanksgiving Dinner

We had 2 guests for Thanksgiving dinner: Rowan, and Anne, who was my Head Resident (like an RA) at Smith for 2 years. We all chatted in the kitchen while Rowan was sauteing chard, and then in the living room over goat cheese and white bean hummus. We read poems, as is the tradition in my family. I botched mine up, but everyone else did great. Anne read us a poem in German and in English--she translated it herself! Then we sat down to dinner, saying what we are thankful for.
Rowan, Anne, me.

All of the food turned out excellently! I was very happy. Before pecan pie, to let our food digest, we played a great game of Pictionary Telephone. There was much laughter over difficult-to-decipher pictures (mine) and hard-to-draw sentences (Rowan's).

A few were especially funny.
First Sentence: The grass is always greener on the other side
Last Sentence: One stick figure is scratching my cornea which makes me really sad so I have to go break something and drink a cup of hot tea.
The middle of that sheet involved lice and Jack and Jill.

Another one:
First Sentence: Is this the true face of genius?
Last Sentence: A man with a tugboat on his head hums while imagining his home with a replenishing fruit bowl outside--only there never seems to be any grapes.

The pecan pie was delicious with vanilla ice cream.

Weekend in Northampton: Sunday

Sunday morning we took a walk in the woods, something I have missed while living in Bethesda. The leaves in New England are so much more vivid than they are down here. Before my weekend with Sarah, I thought it looked like fall here. Now the colors on the trees in Virginia seem muddy in comparison. If you don't like photographs that are mostly foliage, scroll down for a while.





Hungry from our walk (ok, I will face it. When are we ever not hungry? This blog is mostly about what I eat), we went to Woodstar for their fabulous bagel sandwiches. Our favorite sandwich is East Meets Woodstar, usually served on their homemade bagels (I had mine on sourdough toast this time). It contains cream cheese, lox, undyed pickled ginger, cukes and wasabi. We also enjoyed an iced latte (me) and an iced chai (Sarah). It was lovely and warm outside, as evidenced by our cold beverages. Ok, by Sarah's cold beverage. I will drink something iced at any time. Also note that empty tic-tac container that had until recently contained my supply of lactaid pills for the weekend. Evidence of a delicious weekend!
After poking around Noho shops some more (yes, the themes of the weekend were eating and poking around), we spotted Rosie and Yael across the street. We joined them in listening to Mount Holyoke's M&Cs (Milk and Cookies). They were excellent musically and had lots of fun singing. Some of the Smith groups take themselves a little seriously, so it was nice to see some levity.
Rosie was wearing her new Old Navy sweater that she claimed to have been wearing ever since she bought it. Yael clarified that she had not slept in it.
Somehow hungry again, we cajoled Rosie and Yael into joining us at the new burger place in town, Local Burger, to try their fried pickles. I think they had counted on each having 1 or 2, but the pickles came like a giant basket of french fries, and their consumption help was necessary, appreciated and enjoyed by all. These pickles were thin dill slices coated in a corn meal-salt-pepper mixture and fried until crispy. The perfect mix of juicy and crunchy. I was instantly addicted.
Overall, it was a wonderful weekend. Basically, we spent most of the weekend eating. Or shopping, or walking around. I love Northampton, and my friends there. I returned feeling loved and satisfied. And very full.

Weekend in Northampton: Saturday: Halloween!

Saturday at Smith started with breakfast in the dining hall--my day starts off best if I eat oatmeal for breakfast. Not because I am some oatmeal aficionado, but because I am a slave to routine.

Saturday was our shopping day. We poked around lots of our favorite shops in Northampton. I bought gorgeous boots at Synergy, tights and mittens at the accessory shot, and many cards at Faces. When I visited Smith as a prospie, older Smithies told me that Faces was the inspiration for Urban Outfitters, combining funky clothes with funky random stuff you convince yourself you need. This was back when Urban Outfitters was funky as opposed to just odd and ripped-looking. I think it is a testament to the playful and alternative element in Northampton that Faces has thrived for about 10 years. This time, they had added some toys near and dear to my heart: Giant Microbes! Normally, the plush pathogens are between 5 and 7 inches, but Faces had an example of one of the new GiganticMicrobes! And in my old friend, E. coli:
They also had something near and dear to my life: H1N1 flu! See, it's supposed to look like a pig...swine flu.
After buying some cards that are so obscenely funny that I can only send them to about 3 people (that would be you, Dane and Nora), we headed to La Veracruzana for lunch. I know that Mexican food does not photograph well, but trust me that it was delicious. I had spinach and cheese enchiladas with tomatillo sauce and my weight in beans. Sarah had enfrijoladas, which she introduced me to.

As usual over a meal, we had a serious (in a good way) discussion. We talked about our future plans, the new possibilities opening up to us as we discovered things we love about our current endeavors. When should I go to public health school? What kind of school should she go to? When? What kind of public health should I do? Before we knew it, our lunch was gone and we were very full. But all of that serious conversation did not prevent a silly photo:
After lunch we took to the streets again, revisiting the site of our first date on October 27, 2007. On that date, after our friends agreed to look after the very demanding Hillel guest...presenter?teacher?songstress?wackjob?... and shooed us out the door, Sarah and I headed downtown. For whatever reason, we eschewed the more typical Haymarket and Woodstar and went to The Yellow Sofa, new at the time. There, we sat on the yellow sofa, drank extremely peppery chai, and listened to a very bad guitar player. It was a good date.
Returning to 2009, we had someone take our picture on that same yellow sofa, which is extremely uncomfortable. The experience was made more awkward by the fact that the sofa is now positioned on the stage where bad musicians perform.
This is my favorite intersection in Northampton. Each light cycle, there is only one opportunity for pedestrians to cross the street. It occurs all at once, so people can cross the street in all directions, including diagonally. It makes a noise when it's time to do that, which results in the name of the intersection: The Beep-boop Light.

Halloween in Northampton is a funny thing. At first we just thought that people were dressed, not atypically for Noho, slightly strange. Funny hats, wigs, striped stockings, lots of black, or even like superheroes. After we saw signs on shop doors advertising downtown trick or treating, it occurred to us that these people were probably in costume. We smiled over the fact that this wasn't our immediate thought, as it would have been in Bethesda or DC. From 3-6 on Halloween, most of the stores downtown offerred trick-or-treating to costumed children. It was adorable to watch. So many children of color with 2 white mommies! (nothing wrong with that, just an observation about Northampton). Lots of superheroes, princesses and literary characters. I was quite pleased to see Pippi and Laura Engalls Wilder. We also saw the following sign at essentials, a store that sells nothing that could be vaguely deemed essential. Sarah liked its position over the ribbon.

We had a mid-afternoon coffee at Haymarket. A mocha milkshake for me, which emcompassed everything a blended coffee drink should be and nothing more: espresso, chocolate, and ice cream. No powders, no mixes, no ice. Sarah had a latte in a tall glass and a cookie.

Back at the H-Dub ranch, we read some more on the couch before dressing up for our anniversary dinner at Osaka. This Japanese restaurant has the best sushi on the east coast that I have experienced. It is just really damn good. You should eat there if you are ever in Northampton. We had 3 rolls: one with eel, one with salmon, and one with shrimp and crab and asparagus. Avocado featured heavily, an essential sushi ingredient in my book. They should sell it at that store. We sat in the quieter, more intimate sun-porch area. Such an improvement over our Valentine's Day meal there! (I have learned my lesson about Feb 14: NO going out for dinner!). Our sushi:
After dinner, we weren't so full as to pass up a second round of Herrell's. This time I had a cone of mud pie (coffee ice cream with fudge and oreo pieces) and Sarah had something with hot fudge. Was it mint, Sarah?

As it started to pour, we met up with Rosie and Yael and walked down Prospect Street to see this cool Halloween display. I would like to note that this activity took place under duress for pretty much everyone but Rosie, until it stopped raining and we were all much happier. Apparently every year, this guy makes a lizard?dragon?aligator? out of pumpkins. It was so cool! And worth getting wet for. The first picture shows the lights, and the second shows the pumpkins. We think the scales were drilled with a drill.


The 4 of us followed our Halloween jaunt with a game of Boggle and some Where in the USA is Carmen SanDiego trivia. Rosie also modelled her new, very hip suit with Sarah's heels. I can't believe "my first years" are seniors now!

A very happy Halloween!

Weekend in Northampton: Friday

On Friday morning it was sunny and fairly warm. We woke up on the early side and headed to The Green Bean, a local, mostly vegetarian place that opened up my senior year. They serve awesome breakfast and lunch in a sunny spot.
I had Green Eggs and... which I had with this sort of smoked tempeh that I just love. Don't get me wrong, I usually find tempeh about as appealing as, well, fermented soybeans, but there is something about the Green Bean's that is so tasty! They also use it on their V-BLAT (vegan bacon, lettuce, avocado and tomato sandwich with homemade vegannaise). Anyways, my breakfast was a scramble of chopped up kale, eggs, cheddar cheese and spices. With the tempeh on the side. Sarah got the monumental and delicious huevos green beanos.
It has kale, black beans, homemade salsa, scrambled eggs, tortilla chips, cheddar cheese, and sour cream in a delectable heap. We watched an adorable 2 1/2 year old flirt with the table next to her. We smiled incessantly at eachother, so joyful to be at the same table in the sun.

We spent some time poking around a few shops in Northampton. I replaced my rainbow bumper sticker at Pride Connection. The warm colors had faded away on the old, and I was left with green, blue and purple. Pride Connection had done some re-decorating. I like it.
We stopped in CVS for some drugs, and saw this on the pharmacy counter.
Click on the photo to read the list. Apparently this basic surgical mask protects against HIV, Hepatitis (all 3 kinds!), and Ebola, in addition to H1N1 flu. This is nothing short of miraculous, as HIV, Hep and Ebola are NOT spread by droplet or air transmission. Bottom line: don't pay 3 bucks for a surgical mask that makes outrageous anti-infection promises. And go the CDC flu website if you have questions about H1N1 flu.

We had lunch with Rabbi Bruce at KCZ (Kosher Cutter Ziskind. I helped coin this acronym, I might add). Nothing like Michelle's matzah ball soup. Headed to the chapel afterwords and visited with Maureen and Kim, the chapel's wonderful admin staff. Unfortunately, Jennifer was home sick, but I did get to take this photo as we walked back to Wesley.

Also this one, which resulted when I tried one too many times to get a nice photo of Sarah. This is known as the hairy eyeball.

At Chris W-Z's suggestion, we checked out Ford Hall, Smith's brand new (Gorgeous!) science and engineering building.

The biochemistry and molecular biosciences departments/labs moved over there along with the engineering program and computer science. The labs are so nice! Chris has a wonderful new space, with a huge area for RNA work. And the SAW lab (where I did STRIDE for 2 years) has offices for all of its adult staff, as well as a great lab facility. I am so happy for everyone that they now have this updated and spacious facility.

One of the things we did on Friday was admire the fall foliage around Smith campus. We took pictures of eachother, and then Celeste appeared and offered to play photographer.


In lieu of tea in Wesley, Sarah and I sat in Haymarket with lattes and a dark-chocolate chunk cookie. We have our best conversations at a table over food. Sarah told me all about her thesis. I am continually amazed by how good she is at Torah study and critical analysis. It is wonderful to hear how excited she is by this research and writing process.

On our way back to Wesley, Celeste again materialized to photograph us before we changed for Shabbat.I led Shabbat services, from our new and spectacular siddur (Sbolts you rock my socks!) We started making this siddur in the spring of 2006, gathering poems and readings from other siddurim and books of poetry. And now it is real. Leading services in Dewey common room, in the small circle of friends felt like home. I missed the tunes, the willingness to do an alternative reading instead of a mumble-version of a prayer, the laughing and ease. And we even got to sing "Shabbat Feeling." It felt like Shabbat.

It was my first time at the Kosher K (for more than 10 minutes) since I graduated. I felt removed, but not freaked out. It felt really strange to be there without Nora and Sbolts, my constants every Friday for 4 years (Dane, I missed you too).

After dinner, we headed home just as the Haven-Wesley haunted house was wrapping up. We forced Rosie to wash the make-up off her face and ate chocolate mints from Trader Joe's while sitting on the couch by the door. I missed the Haven couches dearly. After Rosie left, Sarah read me Harriet the Spy for ages while I curled up in her lap. It was wonderful.

Weekend in Northampton: Thursday

I spent the past weekend in Northampton, celebrating my 24th birthday and 2 year anniversary. It was a lovely fall weekend.

Thursday, October 29: My birthday! I flew into Northampton in the evening and was picked up at the airport by Sarah, Maggie and Amanda. I hadn't seen Amanda in almost a year, and I was so glad to!! Sarah is in Wesley this year, and it felt strange to drop Amanda at Haven and proceed on to Wesley. Sarah has a great room--a single the size of a double, with views of the pond.

Almost immediately, we met up with Rosalie, Yael, and Jamie for a birthday trip to Herrell's. On your birthday (upon presentation of ID) you receive a free sundae at Northampton's favorite ice cream shop. There is a serious lack of ice cream in DC, so I was psyched. Everyone got what they loved most, from Amanda's sweet cream with gummy bears to Sarah's cookie dough with mint hot fudge. I had Emerald City (green mint ice cream with andies candies and green sprinkles) with hot fudge, non-pareils, and chocolate whipped cream. (Does everyone pronounce it 'whip cream' like I do?).


Rosie and Yael made me cards for my birthday. They said they were inspired by the birthday cards I had sent them. They also bought me a package of digestive biscuits!! I ate these nonstop in London. I promised that I would actually eat them instead of save them until they were rock-hard stale.

It was Northampton High's homecoming weekend, so we got to see the floats and throngs of high schoolers in different costumes. The parade used to go right by Haven, and we would stand on the porch roof and wave. At the parade on Thursday, I ran into Chris White-Ziegler, my adviser! I met her husband and told her a bit about my job. It was really nice to see her.

Back at the house, Sarah gave me my birthday present: a Jewish Vegetarian around-the-world cookbook. It has Jewish recipes from everywhere--Turkey, India, Romania, etc. I am really excited about it. A great birthday.

The Week in Review: Mall, Bethesda and Sqashy Disasters

Last weekend, Rowan asked me to go work clothes shopping. Since Miriam had helped me so much, I figured I would pay it forward. Plus, we had a lot of fun.
Not everything fit. Rowan had the opposite problem with pants--or at least she did until she discovered that "ankle" meant they were short.
She came away with a lovely pair of pants, and then we started searching for something to eat. I couldn't resist taking a picture with this smoothie and yogurt stand. (Sorry, pregnant woman. The other 2 shots had someone with their hand down their pants, so this was the best bet)

Tyson's Corners is a huge mall, with all sorts of odd specialty shops. They even had a Lego store, which sold Legos by the scoop as well as in sets.
After dinner at a diner across the street (and a very attentive waiter) we drove into DC, following the instructions of my GPS. This was a poor choice, as we ended up with a full tour of the district, even managing to drive through Dupont Circle. I am still figuring out how to be smarter than my GPS.

Rowan's house was having a cocktail party, and we were only a little late for it. Emily (far right) was in town, and we spent lots of time laughing over Smith things and catching up. She was a regular at the Kosher K, and we have several mutual friends. I was so glad to get a chance to chat with her. From the left is me, Rowan, Kelsey and Emily.
Sunday, October 25: This was my first unscheduled healthy day in ages. I started it with a tzatziki-feta cheese omelet, which came out quite prettily.
Then I had a slow, lovely walk into Bethesda. The trees are changing here, and many have a mixture of all 3 colors on the same tree. This tree is right next to my apartment building.
There are also these short trees with smooth-edged leaves that are very red right now. It was pleasant out as I walked. It felt good to be quiet inside (although I was queasy from the eggs).
I wanted to capture a common sight in Bethesda: this pizza shop closed. It is still in business, but I rarely see it open.
As I walked past the Burger Joint square, I was struck by all the different sources of red in this scene: the umbrella, the 2 trees, the woman's hair. Surprisingly, she did not even notice when I took about 10 pictures of her.
I passed The Blue House, which has awesome home furnishings. I love these pillows. If I had a white couch (which I should never buy), I would decorate it with brightly colored pillows.
After a lap around downtown Bethesda, and some time sitting in the sun by the empty fountain, I settled in at Quartermaine for a latte and some letter-writing. They serve coffee in real mugs if you ask for it, and that made me feel extremely cozy. I sat at the counter and rocked out to '90s hits like "Don't go chasin' waterfalls," and reminisced about these songs with the male barista who was probably about 5 years older than me. It was a wonderful afternoon.
Once home, I decided to cook up some dinner: spaghetti squash with putanesca sauce (from Trader Joe's), mushrooms, zucchini and veggie crumbles. As I cut into the squash, it did not feel as impenetrably hard as usual. Then, without warning, it crumbled under my knife and oozed all over the counter.
Turned out to be fermented on the inside. And do you know how gross it is to sponge fermented squash juice off of the counter, floor, and cabinets? I just had sauce, veggie crumbles, and vegetables for dinner. In only a day, the fermented smell was gone from my kitchen.

Monday, October 26. I know the date of Monday very well because I told it to about 400 people. I spent the afternoon and evening involved in a public health event. It went quite smoothly, and everyone was quite polite. My gaff of the evening was asking a man to answer an uncompleted question on the Spanish language health screening sheet. After he started laughing and making belly-growing gestures, I realized that the question read, "are you pregnant or nursing?"

Tuesday, October 27. At work I spent some time at one of our clinics, answering phone calls about flu. It was overall a positive experience and gave me the chance to get to know some of the ladies at that clinic a bit better. After work I went grocery shopping. Finally, there are brussel sprouts at Giant. And they look so cheery!
Wednesday, October 28: Today when I arrived at work, J had decorated my desk for my birthday! There was a "Happy Birthday" sign, confetti, a card, and a candy jar with m&m's. Made me smile. I thought everyone was mistaken as to the date of my birthday (it's tomorrow), but turns out they all know it's tomorrow, but decided to celebrate early. Fine by me! The whole group took me out to lunch at a Thai restaurant. There were 8 of us total, and there was much joking and laughing, especially on the walk to and from the restaurant. Much of the morning was spent moving office furniture around and rearranging the space in the offices to get ready for our grand total of 7 people, the last of which will arrive on Monday. I work with some really great people.

Tomorrow is my actual birthday and I am headed to Northampton for the weekend. My plans include Herrells, Osaka, naps on Haven couch, shopping in NoHo, time with Smith friends, and surprise anniversary celebration (2 years!). Basically, I am going to eat and hug people. Very much looking forward to the weekend.