Pre-Boston Preparations

This past week, I've been on a mission to eat healthy for my upcoming weekend in Boston (I leave tomorrow morning at 6am! Or, in about 6.5 hours); however, I think the universe wants me on the plumpier side. Let me demonstrate:

Monday
Packed: Greek-style quinoa salad.
Actually ate: Angelo's pumpkin pancakes. I forgot about lunch plans I had made with a friend.
Thoughts: Lovely lunch (obviously because of the company), but food guilt for rest of day. Also, the pancakes were overwhelmingly nutmeg-y.

Tuesday
Packed: same quinoa salad.
Actually ate: quinoa salad... plus a slice of a pumpkin-roll cake a co-worker brought in.
Thoughts: Lunch success, free snack fail. Cake was so good, though, that it was probably worth it.

Wednesday
Packed: Oatmeal with 1 tablespoon of crunchy organic peanut butter and an apple.
Actually ate: Angelo's Farmer's Omelet with half of a slice of wheat toast with my boss who made it too awkward for me to decline going to lunch with him... And a coconut-glazed bakery donut (cakey and non-yeasted) that another co-worker brought in.
Thoughts: Lunch fail and snack super-fail. Disgrace and awkwardness to be back in only 2 days to the same establishment. Prefer the omelet to the pancakes. Budding conspiracy theories about my co-workers working together to fatten up the newest hire to eat for Thanksgiving.

Thursday
Packed: Same oatmeal and apple from Wednesday.
Actually ate [Round 1]: 2 full plates of Indian buffet foods and 1 dessert plate because of the surprise realization that it was yet another co-worker's birthday today so we treated her to lunch.
Actually ate [Round 2]: Went out to dinner with Tiffany at our favorite Ann Arbor sushi place where we proceeded to order 3 rolls of sushi (we're both on "diets" - usually it's 4) and a spicy fish bowl and then subsequently finish nearly all of it.
Thoughts: Delicious lunch - I need to recommend this new place to my friends who love Indian, but also, MY COWORKERS ARE TRYING TO KILL ME. Of course, dinner was food-coma-inducing perfection, as usual.

Oh well. Better luck next time. I  have no false pretenses about keeping myself in line while in Boston. I'm a firm believer in vacations being food free-for-alls. Perhaps that's why I'm even in this predicament to begin with....

(Second photo from Flickr)

Brace Yourselves, Great-Lakes-Midwest

Oh Michigan weather, how you toy with us. Has everyone seen this? It is reportedly the largest wind storm in the past 70 years.

Of course, this is extremely puzzling because it's gorgeous outside my window and...

EDITED AT 11:30 TO ADD: Comforting emails from work:

SEVERE WEATHER WARNING -- the National Weather Service has issued a warning for a high risk of 80mph winds and tornadoes for most of lower Michigan until 6pm. This includes the Ann Arbor area. Prepare to shelter and secure outdoor equipment and property. Updates on TV and weather channels.

Yay.

EDITED AGAIN AT 3:15 TO ADD: More emails from work:

The Tornado Watched issued earlier today has been canceled.

Yay! For real!! But seriously, weather, let's get it together...

Grateful Monday

In efforts to make this week better than last week, here's a list of things that I'm grateful for on this dreary Monday morning. In no particular order:

• All the students are on Fall Break, meaning more free parking and my sister is home
• Halloween plans in Boston and my booked plane ticket
• The song "Animal" by the Neon Trees and commercial free pop radio during my drive today
• Around 31 hours of sleep this weekend
• My forgiving family... and my mom's birthday today!
• I made an apple-butter spice cake and I have plenty for sharing. Any takers?
• My Yankees are playing at home tonight. For a win.
• My chartreuse corduroy skirt that I'm wearing at work today with tall brown boots

Hope your Monday is as full as mine.

(photo by Leo Patrone)

Teen Angst

Being back in Ann Arbor has inspired both a hazy nostalgia and a desire to critically examine myself juxtaposed to the girl I was when I first came to know this town. Though often surrounded by dense undergraduate crowds, my daily walk to work through campus in all of its collegiate splendor framed by vibrant foliage, is usually the second best part of my day - the first being lunch (of course).

I kind of couldn't resist this when I came across it. How overly emotional and perfectly angsty is this? I have to admit that I never overwhelmingly felt a great chasm between my expectations and realities ever in my life. This is due in large part to the fact that I intentionally try not to have grandiose expectations. In fact, I tend to have very low expectations so that reality can pleasantly surprise. However, the combination of these two lists pretty much sums up my entire college experience. I wonder what it means that I'm only reflecting on it now?

On another note, doesn't this list remind you so much of this? I loved this particular scene...

(list by (Speak) via Satellite Heart, photo via weheartit)

Barbra and Judy, 1963

For those who caught the end of last night's episode of Glee: this is the original from The Judy Garland Show in 1963. Barbra's and Judy's voices are so perfect and achingly beautiful. Embarassingly, sometimes when the conditions are just right, the ending makes me cry.