website update

Check out my Class Webpage! Much better than before, no?

I finally figured out that I was working with an old version of our web publishing software. The new version is so way easier to work with. Isn't it pretty?

Dear Katie and Garrett,

It's a shame you couldn't make it down to Mexico this week. Not to make you jealous or anything, but it has been way fun. It would be more fun if you were here. Maybe next time.

Love,
Poodle

i love living with a chef

Today Rochelle made cinnamon-swirl bread that gives Great Harvest a run for their money. And she's always more than happy to share. Man, I love her.

camping

I probably had more fun this weekend than I have had in years. Laura (my roommate) came home from California this week and we stayed up until 3 am watching the Olympics and catching up. As crazy as she sometimes is, she adds fun to everything.

Friday, we picked up our neighbors (Ryan and Troy) and headed down to a Brazilian barbecue for lunch. The food was only okay, but it's always fun to try a new place. Then we loaded up the car and headed to Antietam for our campout. The drive was only supposed to be an hour, but with Friday afternoon rush hour traffic, it took about 2 1/2. This would have been a major problem if it weren't for the fact that Troy and Ryan are two of the funniest people I've ever met. And they're even funnier when they get together. Needless to say, the drive was more than enjoyable. We met five of our other friends there, made foil dinners and smores, played cards, annoyed our neighbors, then went to sleep. (By the way - Laura talks in her sleep. A lot.)

Saturday morning we woke up, tried to make breakfast, failed, and went to McDonald's instead. This wasn't exactlythe most "rough" campout I've ever been on. Then we drove to Harper's Ferry and went tubing down the Potomac. We rode the rapids, played water tag, got a little sunburned, and left happy. We had lunch at a little Italian restaurant in town (it was fabulous) and headed home.

Saturday evening, Laura and I went down to Virginia with some of our friends for some shopping. There were some great sales, so I bought my mom lots of clothes, since Mexico doesn't have Ann Taylor or Banana Republic. Now I'm packing up and heading to Mexico for a week of fun.

so much to do

I'm planning another camping trip this weekend. We're camping at Antietam Creek campground, and then heading down to Harper's Ferry to rent tubes for a whitewater tubing adventure. I'm very excited.

Then next Monday, I'm headed down to Mexico City to hang out with my parents. They miss me. I miss them, too.

I also bought tickets to see the Warsaw Philharmonic in October, and to see the Peking Acrobats in February. I really love living here.

I made some Blackberry-lime sorbet this week that is to die for. This ice cream maker I bought was one of the best purchases I've made in a very long time. It was cheap and has been put to very good use this summer. Next up is nectarine sorbet, then maybe another batch of the lemon-buttermilk sherbet that was such a hit.

We are getting a new couch! A nice one! For free! This means that the LuvSacs will finally be banished to the basement. Halleluiah. Rochelle's friend is moving, and in typical DC fashion, her apartment complex charges a fee for moving furniture into the apartment, plus an additional fee if you want to use the freight elevator. (It's a highrise apartment, so NOT using the freight elevator is a little out of the question.) These fees, however, are waived if your furniture is bought new and delivered by the store. So it's cheaper for her to just give the couch away and buy a new one than pay all of the moving fees. We are the lucky winners.

In other news, my roommate lost her job because she thought that it would be okay to email her corporate office telling them how awful her boss is and demanding that they switch her to a different project or find her a new boss. They didn't take that very well. Now she thinks that we should pay her rent for her since she's woefully unemployed. I have one word for that. No. Rochelle had some much more colorful words to share.

mud run

I am entering this team race in September. It's going to be awesome.

the weekend

Friday night, Rochelle and I went to Five Guys, then watched Arsenic and Old Lace. Strange movie.

Saturday, I went up to Baltimore for an Orioles game. They were playing the Rangers. Turns out the Rangers aren't very good.

Sunday, the neighbors came over and we made Japanese gyoza, miso soup, watermelon gingerale sippers, some sort of vegetable salad, and a Japanese dessert that Rochelle calls almond jello. It's way better than regular jello, though.

Rochelle demonstrating the proper gyoza technique:

Sara was very proud of her potsticker:

Mary and Julie hard at work:

We made over 100 potstickers. They were delicious:

The spread:

The drinks were delicous. Watermelon, gingerale, and mint:

Sometimes we got a little distracted by the olympics. Did anybody else see the the freestyle relay last night?

what i'm reading

Out of Africa, by Isak Dinesen

Sarah's Quilt - another story about Sarah Agnes Prine, my hero from These is My Words

On the Road, by Jack Kerouac

The Promise - sequel to The Chosen by Chaim Potok

weekend(s)

The "Emerging Man" statue at the National Harbor:

WWII Monument:

Washington Monument (you can barely see it in the background. Kind of a dark picture. Oops:

Thursday was Julie's birthday, so we took her out for crab cakes:

And then to the symphony:

Then we came home to enjoy the lemon tarts I had made for dessert. They were fantastic!

Friday night, we drove across the Chesapeake Bay to attempt a camping trip:

It got rained out in the morning, so we did a lot of driving for not a lot of camping, but the drive was fun anyway. And we decided to stop at the outlet malls on the way home (since we had already driven all that way.) I found a fantastic skirt on sale at White House Black Market.

this weekend,

i am going camping on the beach. yay! after just a week of freedom, i'm already ready for the first day of school to get here already. however, camping is a good alternative for now.