oh hey, nice to see you again!

Wow March and April just f l e w by! MW and I have been busy every single weekend. In fact, this is the first weekend we've been able to just chill out. That said, I've hardly had time to update you on all the happenings, since I last posted about grad school. It's even been so long, that Blogger has been updated and I feel all sorts of lost trying to figure it out again. 

In short, we spent several weekends away visiting Charlotte, Pinehurst, Asheville and even making it to Blacksburg Virginia for a conference that MW had. I like to tag along because it's a free hotel room and I love hotel beds. Most recently, however, we took a quick trip to Atlanta for another MW nerd medical physics conference. 

Last Friday, we left around 6am and drove straight to Atlanta, making it just in time for MW to get to the conference. Meanwhile, I got settled in our room and then felt the grumbling of my tummy. It was a rushed morning and we hadn't eaten. I was in the Miller Danger Zone. 

Not good news. 

To settle my hangry stomach (hungry+angry), I pulled out my trusty iPhone and found a bakery/cafe/deli thing close by and set out to quench my hunger. I took my camera along for the ride. With the conference comes an evening out, this particular evening being a night at the Georgia Aquarium. So obviously I had to prepare my cami. I've never taken pictures at an aquarium before, but I imagined it would be hard, so I put on my learning cap and turned to the internet to guide me. 

As a little background for you, my wonderful dad has been my primary teacher of taking photos with a D-SLR. Since he prefers to shoot in aperture mode, that's what I've always shot in. However, since lighting gets extra tricky in aquariums, I felt I needed to learn a bit about manual shooting. Not to brag, but it definitely paid off!

After playing paparazzi in the cafe for a good hour, I gobbled up my sandwich and soup and ran back to the hotel to get scrubbed up and dressed for our night out. I know, I know, get to the photos! 

The Aquarium was closed for our private group, and we were allotted an hour and a half to explore the exhibits before dinner. 

The Georgia Aquarium is right beside the World of Coca-Cola 

The first exhibit we walked through had jellies! They were so photogenic!

I loved both of these. 

No, I do not know these men. 

But I appreciate their willingness to be in photos unknowingly. 

How can they be so painful but so pretty?

This one's a little darker than I wanted, but I was still working out the kinks. 

(that is MW)

(me, taken by MW on my iPhone)

Beluga whales- one was preggers

Seadragon!

MW loved these little guys

This sea otter swam over and hopped onto land to check me out

Penguins!

If you've noticed that there are few pictures, that's because my camera battery was dying at this point.

Why, you ask? Because I'm the dummy that didn't charge it up before the trip and then continued to drain it for an hour during lunch practicing my "skills."

MW's favorite animal is a penguin. 

Here he had the chance to crawl into tubes under the water to check them out. 

Unfortunately, it was late and they were too sleepy to swim. 

Although we continued to walk around the remaining exhibits, there aren't many pictures. My apologies. Besides, it was time for my stomach to start rumbling again and my mind was on dinner, catered by Wolfgang Puck's catering company. Yes, please!

If you can see it, this is where we had dinner served. Behind me (as I don't pay attention to the photo), is a tank with... 

DOLPHINS! Dolphins as our dinner pals. Can you believe it? Just swimming around!

I have to admit, despite my awe part of me was sad that all they could do was swim around and around and around. 

Speaking of dinner, here's the menu:

Buffet:

Mixed field greens, sundried georgia peaches, tear drop tomatoes, toasted pecan vinaigrette

Fried Green Tomatoes topped with Carolina Goat Cheese, Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Slow Roasted Bourbon and Peach Glazed Pork Loin

Beef Short Ribs with Vidalia Onion Marmalade

Coastal Georgia Baby Shrimp with Apple Wood Smoked Bacon and Cheddar Cheese Grits

Sweet Potato Souffle

Black Pepper Biscuits with Honey Butter

Dessert:

Southern Pecan Pie with fresh Whipped Cream

Traditional Strawberry Shortcake

Banana Cream Pie

Teas and Coffees

Everything was absolutely, incredibly delicious! 

There was also an open bar. We may have hit that up on repeat...

As we left, MW snapped this goody of downtown ATL

The next morning, MW was up and off to his conference early. Since I can no longer sleep in (thanks grown-up job) I crawled out of bed and meandered down to the fitness room. I admit, I love hotel gyms. Why? Because they're always clean and there's never anyone there. I can look like an idiot and play my music loudly and I won't feel embarrassed. Oh, until the hotel staff come in to check the towels or something. But the embarrassment is fleeting. 

Check out was noon and MW finished his conference just in time. We checked out and headed home!

I told you it was a quick trip. 

Since I have transportation narcolepsy (probably a real thing), I slept a large portion of the ride home. Poor MW. Then when I was conscious, I was trying to read a book. It wasn't until we got onto I-26 West that I thought that something fishy was up. 

"West?" I thought to myself. "Atlanta is... west of Winston-Salem. Why would we go further west?"

Not wanting to hurt his pride, I didn't question MW or his GPS guidance and returned to reading my book, certain that I was in good hands. And of course I was. 

We pulled into Downtown Inn and Suites in Asheville just after 4pm. I was so delighted and surprised! A whole night in Asheville that I hadn't even known about. We checked in to our hotel and then ran out to get food at one of our favorite lunch spots: Clingman Cafe. We both got The Odyssey this time (I had it last time we went and MW was jealous). 

"Oh, hey! I think Aziz was here last night doing stand up." I said

"Really?"

"Er," I said checking my phone, "he's actually here tonight!! Maybe we could get tickets on a whim?"

"Yeah, we can think about it."

Since MW is so smart, we got it to go and took it over to Wedge Brewing Co. I have to admit that MW finally got me drinking IPA's after having their Iron Rail IPA. It's glorious and hoppy. 

(Wedge- taken over St. Patty's day weekend, which was also spent in Asheville)

The Wedge is just a small brew pub with a big yard that everyone hangs out in. Lots of locals come by for some brew and to play corn hole or enjoy the weather. This day it was a little breezy and overcast, but that was fine by me. Because I had a sandwich, an IPA and my boyfriend who was full of surprises. 

"Well, tickets are $30 and that's more than I'm willing to spend on a whim right now." I said (cheaply)

"Since you won't let it go, here. It wasn't more than I was willing to spend" MW said as he TOSSED AZIZ ANSARI TICKETS TO ME!

I know, you're jealous now, right? 

(PS sorry for all the words and not a lot of pictures in this part)

Another surprise: our friend J was in town for the show as well! So we met up with him and his friends at Wedge and spent an hour relaxing before making our way to the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium. 

Aziz was hilarious. If you are an admirer of his work, you definitely need to see him in action. 

He, also, is an admirer of food, and I admire that. 

We ended the night at Asheville Brewing Co, wolfing down some delicious made-to-order pizza slices before collapsing into bed. If you're reading this and thinking "wow that must have been kind of an early night for a Saturday" you are not wrong in that opinion. I, however, am of the opinion that anything later than 10pm is a late night. 

The next morning we leisurely got prepared for the day and packed. MW planned to go to Sunny Point Cafe, which I've posted about before, but I can't say enough about. Although the wait is always long on a Sunday morning, it's so worth it I can't even convey how worth it it is. I made sure to have a small morning snack, since it would be a while until lunch. 

Our wait was about an hour and a half. We spent part of it sitting in the chill morning/early afternoon air before MW ran to get the car (parked far away) and moved it closer to a newly free spot in the small lot at Sunny Point. Now in the car, we cozied up and watched most of a Game of Thrones episode. And before we knew it, we were seated at a table and food was in front of us!

chipotle cheese grits, eggs perfectly over medium, local pork sausage, biscuit with sugar on top

yes, yes, please!

BTW this is probably the best sausage I've ever had. Go, now.

He's a happy clam with his breakfast, complete with mimosa's!

So, I have to admit I'm one lucky girl. What a nice surprise trip to give us a mini vacation! We've been bustling about so much that it was great to have a weekend away with just us. 

PS- since we last talked, Henry has passed on. Goodbye Henry, you will always be my first.

In memoriam.

New Directions

I am excited to finally announce that....

I'm officially a Graduate Student!!

I have been accepted to the Master's program in Occupational Therapy for the Fall of 2012 at Winston-Salem State University. I'm very excited and relieved after receiving the admissions letter Saturday, the day after my birthday.

As for my birthday, I started the day with a new bootcamp class at the gym and was thrilled to get back to doing some strength training. I carpooled with MW to work and was treated to a wonderful lunch with my two friends/co-workers. I picked The Basil Leaf, a new Thai place near our office. I was not disappointed and neither were my friends. I was happy to have introduced them to a new lunch spot.

After work, MW picked me up and we went to Haute Chocolate to pick out my birthday truffles. I picked the Earl Grey Tea truffle (a house specialty) and a Chipotle Cherry truffle.

(Earl Grey was gone at this point. MW's are on the top: 

Creme Brulee and White Raspberry Truffle)

 From there, we ran into City Beverage to pick out a beer for the weekend, but found out that the credit card machine wasn't working. We decided to run over to First Street Draught House to get a beer before grabbing cash and returning to City Bev. However, as we ordered our beer I heard a yell from across the bar

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEEANN!"

Bewildered, I looked across and saw our friend (and MW's former NY neighbor) Heather. We hadn't seen Heather since the summer, so we made our way over and started chatting. She invited us to stay and meet her friends, so we did. Several hours later, any plans of salmon and city bev had been tossed aside, without hesitation or dismay. We had a great time catching up with Heather and making new friends. Salmon can always wait. 

Despite getting home around 9:30pm, I was pooped after a long day of exercise, work, and beer. I did, however, manage to eat my Earl Grey Tea truffle, completely savoring each bite before drifting off to pleasant sleep. It was smooth but also gritty in surprisingly enjoyable way. Needless to say, I'm excited to have my second truffle, possibly with a Hopslam and new Walking Dead episode. 

Saturday we woke up and MW made me a famous MW breakfast. I grabbed some hot sage sausage at the local farm market and made little sausage patties. MW also re-upped our bagel stash for my birthday, which was a welcome surprise. We are some bagel lovers in this house. Thanks to Joseph, we had awesome eggs to dunk the bagels in and the sausage completed the whole meal. Best birthday breakfast ever. I ate it so fast, pictures didn't even stand a chance.

We had planned to go to my parents' house in Charlotte Saturday in order to see them for dinner and return my mom's car (which I had borrowed). I wanted to clean up a bit before we left, so I took the trash out and grabbed our mail key just to check for coupons or magazines. And surprisingly enough, there was a package from WSSU admissions. Our mail actually comes later in the afternoon, so it must have been delivered on Friday. I tore it open on the spot like a high school senior and nearly busted my face running up the apartment steps to show MW. He was, of course, ecstatic. What a great birthday gift!

I was so happy to be able to go down and tell my parents in person, especially since we were having a nice steak dinner. It gave us even more reason to celebrate. It was the best way to share the news: Dad's steaks are the best and the wine was phenomenal! I am so lucky to have my parents close by for exciting events like this.

Steak, roasted potatoes, steamed broccoli

Dad the photographer

My beautiful mommy!

MW posing

Unfortunately, the best I could do was Facetime with my sister, but at least I got to see her reaction. I also was able to show off the new Ugg slippers she got me for my birthday.
(which I love, love, love and am currently wearing)

Gus smells Riley on my new slippers

Zoe watches from a safe distance

After being chided about my lack of photos, I've quickly remedied the error of my ways.
My apologies, loyal followers. Thanks for all the encouraging responses!!

Keeping my balance

Goodbye February, Hello March! 

I enjoy March for some pretty obvious reasons: my birthday, official first day of spring, warm weather, march madness. Daylight Savings Time can get lost, though. I'm glad February is over. How did you spend your leap day? I didn't do anything exciting but after watching all our favorite shows, I feel like I was supposed to use the extra day in a fun way! Next time, I guess. 

Usually, it is MW who reminds me that I'm slacking on my blogging duties. This time, however, it was my own mother. I know, I'm embarrassed to admit it. But I'm happy that she checks regularly enough to know there hasn't been a post recently!

Since my last post, I've been quite successful in my no-sugar diet. I admit to eating sweets 3 times during the whole experiment. I'm actually surprised I was able to hold out when times were tough. Especially since this time has included Valentine's day, for which my dad always sends me and my sister the Godiva Valentine's day bear complete with chocolate. I haven't touched a single one! I'm starting my 9th week and it's only been getting easier. From what I read, most people get over cravings during week 3 or 4, but honestly, I didn't stop craving until week 6 or 7. It took a long time, ya'll. I was that enmeshed with sugar. For the first 6 weeks, I would crave it during stressful days (which there have been), rainy days, tired days and almost everyday at 3pm. It got rough at times. But I pulled through with  hot tea, fruit, and other tactics I found useful. 

As I near the end of the trial (which I extended by 2 weeks) -and my birthday- I've been thinking about how I want to continue this and in what fashion. I recently decided that I would have a sweet treat for my birthday and took some time to figure out what I wanted. A local truffle shop opened in April of last year and I've never had a chance to make it there. I thought, if I'm going to break my sugar-free streak I want it to be on something out of this world delicious and positively decadent. What better way than truffles? So this Friday, I will be heading over to Haute Chocolate to pick a truffle for my birthday treat after work. I've already decided to make salmon for dinner, so the whole evening will be savory and wonderful!

Afterwards, however, I plan to continue being mostly (refined) sugar-free. I am going to add some honey in as a natural sweetener, though now most foods taste naturally sweet. But also because the granola bars I make are nice to have when I'm out and about and in need of energy reserves and they use honey to glue them together. I also plan to partake in small amounts of ice cream (since I love it) but desserts will mainly be for special occasions. I still won't be mindlessly eating chocolate at the office. I may decide to tweak this later, and either add or subtract more sugary foods, but for the most part I've felt great. I have fewer headaches and less shaky moments of low blood sugar. I eat regularly and fill up on veggies and fruit and whole grains, just as I think we were meant to. Like I said, this year is about balance, and I plan to use that as a guide as I eat. 

Speaking of eating, check out these awesome lunch boxes I got for MW and myself:

They have two 1-cup containers and an ice pack, with extra space on top (or bottom, depending where you put the small containers). Last week I started meal planning, and these little buggers made it extra simple. Each night I would pack our super fresh and healthy lunches. This particular day we had a turkey, veggie, hummus wrap; salt and vinegar chips; grapes and almonds; and veggie sticks with hummus. I'm a hungry girl, so I always include a morning and afternoon snack. I'd rather eat a little bit often than a large amount two or three times a day. 

One day for lunch, I made Sweet Potato Quinoa Cakes, which were great for packing. I found the recipe  here on a blog I enjoy reading. They're an awesome vegetarian meal and are extremely tasty. I froze the extras, wrapping each individually. 

One night I ate them plain with some apple slices, but the next day I took one to work on a bed of spinach. It was perfect!

Zoe continues to adapt to our new little family. She chases Gus all over the house, he hasn't slept so well since he was a kitten! She also continues to wake up at 5am and demand food by chasing our feet in the blankets. 

They've been pretty lazy beans this weekend. 

Last weekend we had the opportunity to go visit our friend Joseph and new baby Jobi and feed them for a night. Unfortunately, Miranda was sick and we're sad we missed out on time with her. But now we'll have to go back and feed her as well. 

Joseph lives near a goat farm and I want to steal them (and give one to Miranda). But he says they aren't milk goats, they are eating goats and I don't like that. This one has a wee baby underneath drinking milk!

Baby Jobi and dad!! 

I just love his dinosaur outfit. 

Joseph had been taking care of Jobi for a few days solo, so I was happy to step in and give him a reprieve, including one free diaper change. I love babies, so I was thrilled to have a whole day with one. 

We took our pasta maker and made Joseph a double batch of spaghetti. 

...then we ate some. 

Porter was happy to get the pieces that fell

We love visiting Joseph and Miranda. Theirs is pretty much the life we want to live someday. Joseph has chickens that we visited when they were itty bitty guys roaming around. Or, I guess they're mostly girls.

These are from last fall when we first saw them. 

This is the mack daddy of the coup

Porter thinks he is a chicken

MW feeds some hungry ladies

Miranda with a chickadee, precious.

Now they're all big and grown and laying eggs. Delicious, fresh, nutrient rich eggs.

Check these guys out!! Luckily for us, Joseph likes us enough to provide a generous stream of fresh eggs. 

You don't get eggs with yolks this rich from the store. 

They make for a super tasty breakfast, like the one MW cooked me this morning:

Thanks Joseph and Miranda!