2008 Year in Review

I did this for a message board I'm on, and decided it would be nice to post in my blog.

2008 Year in Review
1. Technically in 2007, but basically got a 'new lease on life' (and my body).
2. Started the New Year with some friends in Raleigh.
3. Went to ATL with some awesome Phi Psi Brothers, met some more awesome Phi Psi Brothers from other chapters around the East Coast.
4. Got an awesome internship with a famous designer, then all of a sudden didn't have it.
5. Got a different, pretty awesome internship with a tiny company.
6. Went to NYC for the first time evar, for the summer.
7. Met a friend from online IRL, spent the summer with her (and we didn't kill each other).
8. Saw "Cry Baby", "The Marriage of Bette and Boo", "Gypsy", "August: Osage County", "Summer in the Park with George" and "Xanadu" on Broadway.
9. My mom, brother and aunt spent the weekend in NYC, brother seeing it for the first time. We got to see some amazing sights.
10. Ate some amazing food while there.
11. Came back to see all my wonderful Raleigh friends for the first time in at least 4-6+ months.
12. I've really really enjoyed and lived up my final semester.
13. Turned 24.
14. GRADUATING!
15. Doubt the job hunt will be complete by 12/31/2008, but I'm trying to stay positive.
16. Oh, and I'm down 100+ lbs.
17. And, music - saw Missy Higgins, and Janelle Monae (and a whole crew of other r&b/hip hop/jazz artists in Central Park) in NYC, N.E.R.D. and Common at NCSU. And comedian Eddie Izzard at Radio City Music Hall.

It's just easier not caring...

---on another note---

I wouldn't normally say anything like this, but it's appropriate now. Lately, I've reallyhad the desire (or something?) to flirt/date/make out/something!

I'm not sure what all it is... well, I've tossed ideas around with Shira, but there's not exactly one thing. I'm just at that point of wanting some attention, ya know? And I know my time to date will come, but I'm tired of waiting. Then again, I don't really know how to do whatever it is I want to do... When I was heavier, I guess I just automatically let me weight not let me care about dating, attention, flirting, etc. And although I still feel pretty fat, I guess I sort of thought coming back to State, there'd be more...attention (from guys).

As the ever-intelligent Sara Yasin said to me one day, "I am invisible to boys too because I am too unfamiliar with the dance." So...anyone wanna teach me the steps?

One year Surgiversary!

Holy shit, it's been one year since I had my surgery. One insane year... and as of lately, I feel like I'm going downhill. My eating this path month has been...well BAD. I'm really trying to get back on track, but wow, struggling still a bit.

I mean, I will NEVER regret or not be grateful for having the surgery, but I wish changing the brain was easier! I also hate feeling this pressure to get to whatever success is. Not that my parents would actually verbalize any sort of pressure, but they paid for the damn thing; I think they're expecting a lot from me. So...wonderful...

Mixed emotions on a pretty major day for me.

Oh, and, as of my lowest weigh-in (which was NOT this week but on 11/5), I'm down 107lbs.

An eventful week!

Last weekend:

Camping at Kerr Lake Friday/Saturday (cut it short).

• Froze my ass off Friday night!
• Watched/listened to Carolina get their asses kicked by State.
• Drank a bit, ate just a bit...Or quite a lot... (Kent rocks at camp cooking) Highlights:
• Baileys mint chocolate + hot cocoa
• Goldschlager + hot cider
• Lindeman's Framboise (raspberry beer)
• Peppermint Paddy shot (chocolate syrup and peppermint schnapps)
  
• Greek chicken and rice
• Mmmm chili
• Low Country Boil (shrimp, sausage, corn, potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, in yummy broth).

Saturday, we (my ride Jenna and I) decided to head back after dinner instead of staying the night. Even though it was warmer and the wind had died down, I think we both realized it was the smart choice.

Oh, and did I mention Saturday afternoon, I found out one of my closest friends is officially engaged? Yeah, ex-fucking-citing day!

Saturday night, I went out with two camping buddies, Hibernian and Stool Pigeons. I'm not used to that whole "I'm paying for all your drinks" things most college females are fairly adjusted to, but that's what that night consisted of. Chris and Jenna wanted to treat me to an awesome birthday. I had 2 ciders at Hibernian, got to see my friend and her fiance (and the freakin amazing ring) for a bit. After they left, we headed to Stool Pigeons, where it continued with a shot - Buttery Nipple. And then 2 Sex on the Beaches. By no means do I drink as much as I did Saturday on a normal basis (I drank during the day camping, and then that night), but I can't deny it was sorta fun being a stereotypical college student for a day. I've never really "gone out" for my birthday, either, so why the hell not now?!

My birthday was Sunday, had Thai food with some friends and then saw "Zack and Miri Make a Porno." (entertaining enough) I did that instead of studying for my test on Monday, but whatever. I have supersenioritis at the moment (or more like for the rest of the semester!).

Monday/Tuesday = school hell. But Tuesday, mom and aunt came up, and we had lunch at Five Guys with Brittany. Mmmm amazing burgers + fun times with friends and family = <3. Wednesday was basically just Thanksgiving prep, and damn Thanksgiving was amazing.

This entry seems sort of food-focused, but dinner was so amazing, I must continue the theme. Our menu:
Brined roast turkey with a pomegranate-port glaze
Homemade baked macaroni and cheese
Beef in Barolo
Creamy polenta
Homemade stuffing with sausage
Kibbe
Sweet potato casserole (with lovely pecan crumble on top)
Green beans in tomatoes (not a casserole)
Homemade cranberry sauce
Honeybaked Ham
Salad
Crescent Rolls

Oh, and the desserts
Chocolate mousse/ganache roulade with mint creme anglaise
Tres Leches cake with lots of whipped cream
Carrot cake with a buttermilk glaze and cream cheese icing

My brother made the turkey, mac and cheese, beef, polenta and chocolate torte thing; my mom made the stuffing and handled the responsibility of buying and baking crescent rolls. She also made her requesite pumpkin pies, but they weren't really brought out for dessert. Aunt Suzie handled the cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, and carrot cake and Aunt Nabila brought the kibbe, green beans, salad, and bought the ham. Oh, and my cousin Maher made the Tres Leches cake... It was technically my birthday request, but everyone had some. It's a damn good cake.

So, yesterday was insane. Fourteen people here to eat, and a few more showed up afterwards. As much as my family drives me insane, I enjoy nights like last night. It's just not something I can do on a regular basis. ;)

Aha, and on another food note, my dad just got home with mahshi that Aunt Violet (Maher's mom) made. Stuffed squash and stuffed grape leaves... mmm mmm!

All of this food and fun is just helping me to delay all the work I have to do for this week. I am DREADING Monday.
My to-do list for Monday:

• Revise 8 pg spanish research paper
• Make 5 min powerpoint on said paper (in spanish, of course)
• TT 331 lab report - 'nuff said
• Knitting at 1pm: possibly resize/remake my file for that
• Work-out log for Weight Training due
• Make portfolio pages for knit project, due Tuesday

Blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh.

Mmmm...soup weather...

I don't like the cold weather, but I do love a good soup or stew.

I did a "Throw whatever is in my pantry in a pot" stew/chili...

1/2 gigantic onion, diced
4-6 cloves garlic, diced fine
~1 tbsp butter
19 oz ground turkey breast
1 yellow bell pepper
1 can (1.75 cups) red kidney beans
1 can (1.75 cups) black beans
1 can (2 cups) Trader Joe's "Salsa" refried beans
~2ish cups low sodium chicken broth
~2ish cups crushed tomatoes
1 tbsp cornstarch
~1/4 cup Trader Joe's Enchilada Sauce
lots of salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and paprika

I threw the onions in with butter, let them cook down quite a bit. Added the garlic, and a minute or two later, added the ground turkey. It was sorta still frozen and I didn't realize that until it was in the pan, so I tried my best to break it up. Added a bit of broth, and spiced it up, and let it go for a few.

Added the diced bell pepper and the black and kidney beans. I then kept eyeballing broth and crushed tomatoes until I felt like it seemed good, added the last of my enchilada sauce from the bottle. And then I mixed in the refried beans to thicken it up a bit. I just let it cook until I felt like it was thick enough (added the cornstarch at the end because I was getting impatient).

It's a bit carby, from the beans, but the turkey (it's actually ground turkey breast) makes it high protein, and low fat for the most part. I sort of estimated it made a good 8 cups of stew, and with that, gives nutritional stats:

An estimation, per cup:
288 calories
3.1g fat
37.5g carbs
10.6g fiber
28.8g protein

I could have thrown some TVP in there to up the protein even more, but I forgot until the end... And the last (only) time I've used TVP, the smell bothered me a bit. But that was in oatmeal, so I don't know how it works in a soup. I figure if I top it with some cheese, that will up the protein and the fat is low enough that cheese won't hurt! It's quite yummy!

Oh...and...I'm going camping this weekend. Birthday weekend. I've never camped before, and let's say that as excited as I am, I'm also... nervous. I'm a wimp, and not so outdoorsy. But it's with Phi Psi, so, hopefully it guarantees fun. :) Wish me luck!

What I honestly wasn't sure America could do...

We did. Last night was an amazing night, and it makes me so happy, so excited. Obama's speech last night gave me goosebumps, and simply took my breath away.

While I never looked at Obama (or ANY politician) as the miracle cure to this country's woes during this election, the fact of the matter is - this is huge. Now, what he does from here, one can only hope for the best. There's a LOT on his plate, but Obama is such an intelligent man. If we need nothing else, I feel like America needs the brains and the calm demeanour right now.

I'm proud of this nation, and I'm looking forward to the future. You can't wipe this shit-eating grin off of my face for a while!

Walking through campus on a Sunday afternoon...

The leaves are changing.
The weather is gorgeous.
Sometimes I forget how nice NC State's campus is.
I also forget how nice it is to be able to walk from my apartment to the library (at a nice, leisurely pace) and not have my body feeling like crap by the time I arrive.

I'm working (trying to) on my research paper for FLS 300, Spanish Literature. This weekend has been unproductive otherwise, so we'll see how today goes.

Friday was Halloween, obviously, and after plans changing many times in the course of the day, I ended up at my friend Misha's party. I would have liked to do some of the Hillsborough Hike and then go to the party, but it had to be an all-or-nothing choice, and in the long run, the party made more sense. It was free, indoors, and just a chill night in general.

For anyone that's interested, I was Alice (in Wonderland).
That picture is a little blurry... This one's a bit better, it's me and my badass roommate Sarah.
If you're curious, Sarah was Molotov Cocktease, from The Venture Bros.

Halloween was fun... a bit too much drinking, but nothing substantial or damaging. And yesterday was completely unproductive as well - I watched The Shining and Borat, both for the first time. My kind of day. :)

VOTE!!!

I forgot.... everyone needs to get out and VOTE!!!

Everyone should already know who I'm supporting (and already went and voted for last Friday).

Fall is here

Which makes me happy. Except I'm not quite ready for the 35° weather...

But Halloween?
My birthday?
Thanksgiving?
Yes please!

This year, for Halloween, I'm putting effort/really "dressing up". It's the first time I've ever really done so, and between the "Haunted Hillsborough Hike" and a friend's Halloween party that sounds like it's going to be pretty awesome, I'm excited. Because I've not really partied much for Halloween.

There was the Design Bash one year, but that was also the same year (actually the same DAY) as Alix's car accident... So I don't really consider that a fun Halloween.

- Speaking of, yesterday was three years to the day that she died. :( -

So, it's an exciting time of the year... And may I mention that I graduate in 1.5 months and that whole job hunt thing? I'm stifled at it. School consumes my life most of the time, so looking for a job is a bit tough. But I need to get on that asap. Especially considering the economy is scaring the crap out of me and everyone else.

That's life for now. Hopefully, I'll get some awesome pictures of the Halloween costume. It's a secret... Not really, but considering Halloween is tomorrow, I'm going to wait to share it with the interweb.

I thought this was cute...

Your result for The Classic Dames Test...

Carole Lombard

You scored 19% grit, 29% wit, 38% flair, and 31% class!

You're a little bit of a fruitcake, but you always act out in style. You have a good sense of humor, are game for almost anything, but you like to have nice things about you and are attracted to the high life. You're stylish and modern, but you've got a few rough edges that keep you from attaining true sophistication. Your leading men include William Powell, Fredric March, and Clark Gable. Watch out for small planes.

Find out what kind of classic leading man you'd make by taking the
Classic Leading Man Test.

Take The Classic Dames Test at HelloQuizzy

A rant caused by me...

So I realize I'm the one that let this happen, but it pisses me off.

I'm tired of being the good daughter, and getting guilt-tripped into stuff by my mom.

So, Saturday I'm working with Phi Psi to raise money by ripping ticket stubs at the football game at NCSU. The game's kickoff is 7:30pm, we have to be at the stadium at 5pm. We won't get out of there till 10:30 or 11pm, if not later.

Sunday, my cousin is having a Christening for his son in Greensboro. It starts at 1, but with my "situation", I'd have to take the 7am Amtrak out of Raleigh, and take the 7pm Amtrak out of Greensboro to get back here to Raleigh around 8:40pm.

So, I find out the kickoff time for the game this weekend, call my mom to talk to her today. She basically gives me the guilt trip "There will be lots of family there you don't normally get to see." and "You can nap on the train and once you get here, it doesn't start till 1." Basically, my mom wants me there, in my opinion, to show me and my weight loss off in all its glory. Which, great, mom, I love you. I love that you support me. But really, I. Don't. Give. A. Fuck. about showing off to this "family" that I really don't care that much about.

There's so much social bullshit to the Arabs and Greeks, and I hate being the "good" daughter and doing it. I mean, I've gotten out of a lot of stuff because of school before, but this weekend, I don't actually have massive amounts of work to do. It's just going to suuuuuuuuuuuuuuck because I'm probably going to be up till midnight Saturday and then have to haul ass to get up and get to the train station by 6:30am Sunday morning.

Waaaah. Can someone give me my (non-existant) balls back?

Ugh...

I truly hate lab reports. I just thought I would share that with you all. Objectives, Methods, Discussions, Results, etc... They can all go to hell.

I can't tell what's looking worse right about now... A very vaguely assigned 4-6 page literary analysis paper (in SPANISH, about a story/stories in spanish) or lab reports...

The Omnivore's Hundred

So, in an effort to procrastinate more and study less for my Textile Technology test Friday, I'm doing a little survey thing I heard about a while ago called The Omnivore's Hundred.

The Omnivore’s Hundred

Here’s a chance for a little interactivity for all the bloggers out there. Below is a list of 100 things that I think every good omnivore should have tried at least once in their life. The list includes fine food, strange food, everyday food and even some pretty bad food - but a good omnivore should really try it all. Don’t worry if you haven’t, mind you; neither have I, though I’ll be sure to work on it. Don’t worry if you don’t recognise everything in the hundred, either; Wikipedia has the answers.

Here’s what I want you to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

Just to add - things I've eaten are bold and blue. Things I think I've eaten but I'm not sure are blue. Things that I really don't ever consider eating are bold and red. :) Be a procrastinator and tell the world what you have or haven't eaten.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB & J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S'mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Life is GOOD.

If it wasn't obvious from the most recent post, I want to reiterate:

LIFE. IS. GOOD.
(except for that whole scary finding a job thing)

Thank you to all that make it so damn good.

Heh..sorry...

Last few weeks of internship + New York City + family being in NYC + moving back to Greensboro + moving back to Raleigh + start of the new semester = an insanely busy Emily.

Some highlights? Well, I'll start with NYC.
Seeing Missy Higgins live
Seeing Janelle Monae, an awesome up-and-coming hip hop artist live. (Along with some other very good jazz and R&B artists.) In Central Park. For free.
Having my family in NYC.
Seeing my aunt for the first time in about 3 years.
Getting a free garment from Indigo Handloom. :)
Being RELEASED by my endocrinologist on August 13th.
Down 100+ lbs! Just weighed today and I'm at 219.6!!!
Having people tell you all-the-friggin-time how good you look. (Seriously, people, it's great. I mean, maybe not 24/7 for the rest of my life, but really...)
Seeing all of my absolutely amazing, fantastic, incredibly lovable Raleigh folks.
Schmoozing with industry people.
Getting a mini-interview at a very well-known, Los Angeles-based fashion design company for tomorrow afternoon. Nothing major, but it's damn well a step in the right direction!

So...life is nice. It's crazy, but nice. How is it that twelve hours of class is kicking my ass just as badly as 16-18 hours used to? (Not that I was ever good at taking more than 15 or 16 hours in a semester.) The only thing I might be missing is a date every once in a while. But I'm starting slowly. I can't necessarily expect to return to Raleigh and have my forever non-existant love life to spring into wealth. ;-)

Where did I go?

So that might be what my regular readers (all two of you!) are thinking. But it's also what I'm thinking. I just caught myself in the mirror, side angle, and the first thought in my head was "Where the hell did I go?!"

I thought my mother's overly effusive talk of how "tiny" I look was... well, generous. (And it is.) But damn if I'm not doing something right at least some of the time.

I will give a real update within the week, but I just needed to post some rambling thoughts.

Oh...yeah...an update...

Not exactly gonna happen now. Well, I mean, NYC has been awesome. I just forget about blogger. But I wanted to post a new recipe/find.

So I had some boneless chicken thighs from Trader Joe's. I cut them up into chunks, put them in a zip bag, and stuck a paste of garlic, ginger, hot pepper and 2-3 tablespoons of soyaki from Trader Joe's in with them. They marinated for about a day, could definitely go much longer.

Sliced a medium onion thinly, started it in a wok with a bit of sesame oil and veg oil. Once they got a bit caramelized and sauted, I added a clove of garlic. Then I added the chicken, tried to get it as browned and cooked as possible. Once it was near done, I added a small-medium red and yellow bell peppers, diced. After they cooked for a minute, I added this sauce:

1/4 cup soyaki (or just soy sauce)
2 tsp bouillon mix - I added 1 packet of reduced sodium chicken broth concentrate from Trader Joe's. It's not a powder, but similar to the bouillon cubes.
2 packets splenda
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup hot water

(The sauce recipe, and some advice on how to cook my noodles, from Hungry Girl.)

I tried to let it cook down and get as thick as my patience would allow. Then I threw in one bag of shirataki noodles. (scroll down to see) I let it continue to cook, for a few minutes, to keep up the thickening and to allow the noodles to absorb the flavors.

So shirataki noodles are my new find. They're a tofu noodle with very low nutrition information (calories, fat, carbs, protein). Before I threw them in the wok, I rinsed them with hot water and par-boiled them for 3 minutes. I then cut them up a bit. The rinsing and par-boiling are the standard procedure with shirataki noodles, because they're packaged in a funky-smelling water. But once you do these things, that smell is gone. The texture is chewier than regular pasta, but I definitely think they're appropriate for asian dishes. Lo mein, soups, anything!

I'd also make sure to dry them before you throw them in your wok. I didn't do so, and I think it made my sauce a bit watery. It at least took it longer to thicken up.

It's a yummy dish. Definitely needs some green veggies, but onions and bell peppers were the only edible vegetables in my fridge, so I just went with it. If nothing else, I'd top it with some fresh sliced scallions at the end. And I'd throw in fresh garlic (I used the frozen chopped cubes) and ginger in when cooking the onions. But a yummy work-in-progress dish is better than nothing!

A recipe for you!

I'm a fan of beans, so I decided to make a bean salad tonight. Southwestern/latin style, and I thought I'd share the recipe here. :)

Southwestern Bean Salad

1 can kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 can cannellini beans
1 small red bell pepper (pretty small)
1 small orange bell pepper
About 8 oz of roasted fresh corn (you can find this frozen at Trader Joe's, or just use regular corn)
1 red onion

Dressing:
About 1.5 - 2 cups picked cilantro
2 cloves smashed garlic
1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeds and veins removed
Juice of 1 lime
3 tbsp olive oil (probably could have been fine with 2 tbsp
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp Whole Foods chipotle spice mix - cumin, spices, pepper, etc
1/4 tsp black pepper
3 packets Splenda - maybe around 1 tsp?
1 tsp kosher salt

Dice the red onion finely, along with the bell peppers. Mix the beans, corn, peppers and onions. Tomatoes would also be good. The dressing is super easy - Put all of the ingredients into the Magic Bullet or blender and pulse until liquified. Toss together, and let marinate. The longer it sits, the better.

I also calculated the nutrition stats for it, since that's what I'm all about. It's not the most protein-heavy food for us RNYers, but a great side, or it would be wonderful with added cooked meat - rotisserrie chicken, beef, shrimp, etc. It makes a ton of salad, mine was about 51 ounces. And about 2 ounces of the salad has:
Calories: 52
Fat: 2
Carbs: 8 (2 fiber)
Protein: 2

I'm a lightweight!

Yeaaarp, I'm a lightweight. At least when it comes to drinking. :angel:

So yes, drinking post-op is a different ball game. Basically, it hits us faster, and we have a tendency to sober up faster. I haven't really had a drink post-op until tonight. I was feeling the (small) urge, and there's a fabulous beer, Framboise. Raspberry and YUMMY. I unfortunately saw it at a market near work, and picked up a bottle.

So, I cracked it open tonight, Shira and I sharing it (it's a big, fancy bottle). She had never had it before, and it's been a loooong time since I have. It's just bubbly enough to crave my carbonation desires without being so strong it'll bother my stomach. I have an 11 oz glass, and let's just say that one beer is plenty for me! It's a nice buzz. Drinking isn't something I'll be doing too often (hopefully), but it's nice to have my first experience drinking at home, very chilled out. :)

It's the little things...

That help brighten our days!

Since Friday is the Fourth of July, a holiday, Smita and Tina at Indigo Handloom said that they would pay me for Friday (and Saturday), if I don't have plans for the holiday. Of course I don't! (I'm only sort of a loser...) So that covers the cost of buying back my cell phone!

Not that the money was that big of a concern, but life gets expensive around here.

Something not-so-little that's hopefully going to make me happy - going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art today. FINALLY... I meant to leave the house around noon. It's 2 now. Hopefully I'll be out the door in the next 30 minutes...Oops! (I forgot that they close at 5:30, so my time is going to be somewhat limited, for an art geek like myself.)

My Quintessential New York Experience

It's been a while, sorry. I must update from my day yesterday... It's a very long story, so enjoy...

Yesterday, Shira had tickets for the matinee, closing showing of Sunday in the Park with George. Simply stunning show - the scene design was out of this world, and I think I can officially say I'm a big fan of Steven Sondheim. When we were leaving, it was pouring, and of course, my umbrella broke. So Shira and I parted ways and I went looking for a Duane Reade or a vendor or something. A vendor was my first find, so I stopped to buy a $5 umbrella. I'm pretty sure that in the 1 - 2 minutes I had my purse open, to get the cash out and put my change back in, the vendor (or someone else?) stole my phone.

Right before I stopped for the umbrella, I had just talked to someone on Craigslist who had a ticket for the Eddie Izzard show at Radio City Music Hall. I had only heard he was playing in New York on Friday, and of course, all three nights were totally sold out. Everything I had checked out on Craigslist had fallen through, so I had no plans on actually going. Thusly, no one (Shira, my mom, etc) knew I was going. But this woman, Sarah, her other CL buyer fell through, so I decided to go. Since I was already near Times Square, after I heard from Sarah and bought my umbrella, I just decided to walk around Times Square. Around 6:30ish, I went to check something on my phone, and guess what? It's not there!

I ran into a close McDonald's and spread all the contents of my purse on a table. Nothing. At this point, it was about 15-20 min before I was supposed to meet Sarah for Eddie Izzard. I tried calling my phone on a pay phone, tried calling Sarah, left a message. I headed to Radio City, with the intention of telling her "Sorry, I can't really see the show, big emergency." But when we finally met up (it was almost 8pm by the time I found her), she had talked to the guy that "found" my phone. He was coming to Radio City to bring me my phone. So at this point, I decided to see the show and paid her for my ticket. She left me her phone, saying that he said he would call when he got there. She went ahead and got in line and went inside, and I waited outside for this guy. He showed up and basically, in nice terms, forced me to pay him $70 for my phone. He claimed a guy showed up in his pizzeria, selling the phone. He bought it, feeling pretty sketch about it, and realized it was stolen and he should return it. And he told me he took a taxi here and blah blah blah, bullshit, bullshit, bullshit. Basically, I gave him the cash I had on me. Because, to some degree, I didn't have much choice... I realized to some degree that he was full of shit and conning me, but I was in a vulnerable situation.

My phone was to the point of being dead, so I turned it off (not noticing ALL of the dialed/received calls, etc), and went in and watched Eddie Izzard. (Another great show. Not his all-time funniest stuff, but I was really happy to see him live.) As I was on my way to the subway home, I turned the phone on, and noticed he had called home, my mom had called back, he had called Shira and my cousin Ashley. So I text Shira "Hey, I'm okay, on my way home. Have my phone, it's about to die, talk to you soon."  

When I get home, I realize how truly sketchy/con-artisty this guy was. I called home, and my mom tells me that she had been talking to Shira all evening. Basically, my phone randomly called the house number. Thank god the key lock wasn't on... Somehow while the phone was in this guy's pocket, it called the house. My mom said that when she picked up, she heard all of this spanish conversation. She stayed on the phone for a good 2 minutes and my mom keeps saying "Hello? Hello?!" So she talks to him, then realizes the only person she knows to call right now is Shira. She talks to Shira, and obviously Shira doesn't know exactly where I am. She calls my Aunt Nabila, who happens to be visiting NYC this week, no answer. She calls Aunt Susie, to get Ashley, Nabila's daughter's cell phone number, Ashley picks up, and no, of course I'm not with them today. My mom keeps calling my phone back, and talking to this man, Alex. She tells him that he can leave the phone with the concierge at the Westin Hotel Times Square, under Michael Brown. My aunt had offered to bring my phone to me in Astoria on Monday, so that could work. But no, he doesn't want to "leave" the phone anywhere. He claims he's leaving town tonight, blah blah blah. Then he tells my mom that "one of my friends is going to meet him at Radio City to get the phone". That was Sarah, the Craigslist girl. BUT, Shira ended up going to Radio City at like 8:30 (AFTER I had already gotten the phone), waiting, him not showing up, obviously, and just concerned about WTF had happened.

On my way home, I turned my phone on temporarily, and sent Shira a "I'm fine, got my phone, it's almost dead, TTYSoon" type of text. She, being the angel she is, called and updated my mom. Seriously, after talking to my mom (for almost three hours last night), it makes me so thankful to have the family and friends I do have. Without all the crap phone events of the day, Sunday was pretty spectacular. But I was just a bit flustered at the mid-day happenings.

Errr...Uh...Sorry!

I swore I had updated this thing!

So, I've been in NYC for almost 3 (!!!) weeks now, and it's been crazy and great. A few quick updates.

Indigo Handloom asked me to work on Saturdays for pay. Last Saturday was my first day, today's my second. I get a good rate per hour and 3% commission, I work from 12-7. It's perfect, because I don't feel so guilty for not working 4 days a week. (But those 4 days always go by SO fast!)

I saw Gypsy last night with Shira and WOW. I realize why so many people are theatre junkies. Patti Lupone = amazing. The show was spectacular.

Shira and I are still getting along well. I'm pleased to say that I have no desire to kill her and I'm pretty sure she doesn't want to kill me. (Yet!)

Speaking of killing her, she had bronchitis caused by a "knock-off" flu virus. After the bronchitis was gone, the virus stuck around. So she's been surprisingly inactive this past week. There's a small likelihood that I may get the virus, so if I feel sicky in the next few days, I'll have someone to blame and moan to.

Otherwise, heat wave hit last weekend. 100+ degree weather for four days, then back to 80's and 90's. I'll take spring/fall, thanks!

First Two Days of the Internship

Hey everyone, gonna give a quick update on my internship. :) 

My first day was Thursday. I got over to Brooklyn, and chilled out in front of Bridge Fresh, the market next door. I was a bit early. I walked in a few minutes before 11, and the store is really nice. Gorgeous clothes! I didn't realize the company was so small - the owner Smita, Tina who does the designs and patternmaking, and 4 interns, including myself. But there will only be at most 2 interns working one day. This week it was just me on Thursday and Friday.

Thursday, after meeting Smita, Tina wanted to take me into Manhattan to show me some of the points of interest. We went to the 34th St station, and headed towards 68th Ave. We went and bought lots of buttons and stopped to get covered buttons ordered/bought next door. A few doors down, there's a button hole place that we stopped at - we were carrying six garments, two for button holes and four for costing. The button hole place was very busy, so we had to wait for a while. Then, literally next door (practically), we went in to a building that has the factory Indigo Handloom uses. We went up to the 11th floor, and to the correct office/room (it was numbered akin apartments). June, the woman in charge, wasn't there. One of the ladies that worked there said she was out to lunch and would be back in about 30 minutes. It was a really small room, maybe 4 employees total (from what Tina told me). But, we actually ran into June in the lobby, so we headed back up and she costed the six garments (fall designs) for us.

After we got back to Indigo Handloom, Tina and I went and ate lunch at this cute little park by the bridge and water. After we got back, Smita wanted me to deliver some scarves that they got in the mail earlier that day. I had to take them to Eileen Fisher, on 5th Avenue. So we packed them up in bags and Smita and Tina gave me pretty great directions on how to figure everything out. I did okay with getting there, but by the time I was walking back to the subway, my feet were KILLING me. I had bought some Clarks the day before, but they're obviously not sufficient in the balls of my feet. I think the width is sorta off or something, I don't know.

Once I got back, I did some alterations on blouses, but it was slow-going because the thread was acting funny. Before I knew it, it was 6pm! YAY!

Friday, I was scheduled for 1pm-7pm, because Tina and Smita were going to check out a store in SOHO and said I could join them or come in at 1. I was honest in that I'm not familiar with SOHO yet, so yeah... Friday was much more low-key but still mentally tiring. Basically, all six hours was on Photoshop resizing and doing small alterations for photos of their clothes for the website. So my brain was sort of worn out but I was relieved for the lack of errands. :)

I'm going to see CRY-BABY!!!!!

At the Marquis Theatre tonight!!!! Eeeeee! I always had a feeling I might be a theatre geek. I guess I'll find out tonight. 

But yeah, Shira's friend and OH buddy Teresa had an extra ticket and Shira's in class tonight. So I got the invite. Super exciting. Now let's see how I feel at the end of the night (hiking a few blocks from Teresa's job to dinner to the theatre...)

So...the subways...

Those suckers are a bit confusing. To get to work, I have to take the N train to 34th st/Herald Square and transfer to the F train southbound to Brooklyn. But when I got to Herald Square and went to find the F train, I must have gone the wrong direction. Every F train that came was going northbound, but I didn't figure this out till I rode one a few stops down. Hah...

So hopefully, today I can figure out how much time it actually takes to get from home to work without screwing up! I did find Indigo Handloom, but that was fun too. I somehow missed my original stop and got out at Jay St and Borough Hall (or something). I was in the 400s block of Jay St and had to go to 68 Jay St. Ehehe, that included walking under the Manhattan Bridge and figuring out that Jay St. ended at one spot and picked back up around the corner.

BUT if I had gotten off on the right stop, it's only a block from Indigo Handloom. So, I took the F train back to 34th st/Herald Square. Either that or the 42nd St/Bryant Park are the closest to the Garment District. I wandered around the world's largest Macy's (because, oh yeah, the strap to my bag broke in Brooklyn). Everything was too pricy there, so I wandered through H&M and Forever 21. I finally settled on a bag, but it's pretty meh. I'd like to have one a bit smaller than this one, bigger than the purse I have. Whatever.

I hung out in one of the little squares between the roads at Herald Square where there were bistro tables and lots of people. I had my greek yogurt and blueberries. :) Then I walked down um maybe Sixth Avenue? No, that probably wasn't it, but whatever. I ended up on 33rd st, at Madison Square Garden. Wandered through the Borders there and found some NYC guide books and a book of panoramic postcards. Settled on a small pocket guide with maps and my postcard book, and chilled out.

I learned that the Sketchers I wore the day before for the trip to Astoria Park Shira and I made blistered my heel, and thusly my Nikes got SUPER uncomfortable. I really wanted to walk up to Times Square, but I decided to come back to Astoria and attempt to switch shoes. I had to meet Shira at Whole Foods at Union Square at 7pm, so I left and got over there around 6:15ish. Looked through a small shoe store, then just chilled outside of Whole Foods and people-watched. That was FUN.

Trip to Whole Foods for YUMMY, expensive icelandic yogurt, Siggis. Then walked down to Trader Joe's. It was my first trip to TJ's and I loved it. Crazy busy but awesome. We hung out in Union Square for a bit after that and got home after dark last night.

Right now, I've made lunch and I'm trying to motivate myself to get in the shower so I can get moving again for the day. :)

I'm in NEW YORK!

Yesterday afternoon, I arrived in New York City! I am sooo excited!

I am staying with my loverly buddy and soon-to-be partner in crime Shira. I have to say, OH is a wonderful thing. I've met a lot of friends on there, and without it, I honestly don't know if I would have come this far post-op.

I had a feeling things would be good between me and Shira, but they've really clicked even better than expected. Yeah, it's only 24 hours into it (literally... I got to her apartment at like 12:15pm Sunday), but I'm feeling good about things.

The city is amazing (and I haven't barely seen ANY of it). It's definitely big and daunting, but I LOVE the convenience factor and just allllllllllll the options of stores and things to do. Weeeee! I'm very excited. Hopefully, today will be a bit more of learning about the subway and the buses, so I can figure stuff out on my own.

Yesterday, I bought my Metrocard and we rode the subway. (My first time...cherry is popped!) We went to Bed, Bath & Beyond and spent way too much money on me (well, Shira spent way too much money on me. Because she's sweet like that). We got a rolling storage/closet thing for all my clothes and shoes and stuff, and kitcheny stuff (yay popsicle molds!) and just a lot of general stuff. And then we went to Food Emporium, a very nice grocery store where we picked up some foods.

We cabbed it back home since our BB&B stuff was big and heavy. We started putting the closet thing together...that was a trip. Why do we need instructions when we can figure it out ourselves? Oh, that's right, because we'll take it apart and have to put it back together a number of different times. Hahaha.

After setting that up and the Aerobed and stuff, we headed back out and just explored a bit of Astoria. Checked out the $0.99 store, walked around. We came back, and had originally planned on cooking. But after a while, carbing out was decided instead. Oh, and fatting out. We ordered some greasy diner delivery and watched History of the World Part I. I knew I loved Mel Brooks, but this was friggin hilarious. :)

Today, I think we're going to do some more exploring, past the east side. But it's been a lazy day so far. Wish me luck, there's a LOT to learn, but I'm excited!

So.........Guess what?!

I had my interview with Indigo Handloom on Friday instead of Wednesday (a mix-up on their part). And yesterday, I got an email from my contact saying they want me as an intern!!! Woo hoo!!!

It's only two days a week, on Thursdays and Fridays, but I am super excited. Tentatively, they want me to start next week, so, yeah, craziness! I'm looking at plane (and Amtrak) tickets right now, I don't know which is best. Especially since all these airlines are charging $25-$50 per extra bag, and it's sort of difficult to pack for three months in NYC with ONE bag.

I only wish my dad had been a bit more excited/happy about the prospects. Last night, he was just sort of like "Well, if that's what you want to do...". No big "Congrats" (or more likely "Mabrook" (arabic)). So I'm definitely feeling guilty, because I know this is a big financial strain... But I don't think it would make a difference to him if I attempted to explain how much the experience will make a difference on my resume in the long run.

So, I'm happy, excited, anxious, and a bit guiltful for all of this. I have no idea how to pack for these three months - Indigo Handloom has no real 'dress code', my contact just said to dress comfortably. But still... three months in NYC? How does one prepare for that?!

Summer progress...?

I have a phone interview with Indigo Handloom tomorrow at 3:45 pm. They have a design internship available for the summer, and I'd LOVE to work there. Gorgeous, gorgeous stuff...

Ooooh and I just got an email from a company, Nimli, who would like me to come in for an interview sometime between May 27th-30th. I applied for a buying internship with them through Craigslist. I don't know if I'd specifically go up for an interview with them, but if Indigo Handloom wants me to work for them, I'd go apply at Nimli just to see. IH only needs an intern 2 days a week, so, hey, instead of 1 internship on the resume, 2 would be awesome!

But I'm getting ahead of myself... Pray/think positive/do whatever you do for me tomorrow!



P. S. Can someone, ANYONE stop my nibbles? Seriously, it's getting bad. Yet another reason I really need this summer away from home. I need to get all the crappy food choices away from me ASAP. :(

blah.

After having (or shall I be PC and say "thinking I had"?) the Vera Wang internship and then having it taken away, that whole dream of spending the summer in NYC with a fashion internship is just sorta gone. I still *REALLY* want to go, really want to get an internship, but I've been sending out resumes and cover letters like mad, with only one company responding. They're quite cool, (Indigo Handloom), but I feel like it's a total waste of money to go up to New York for a week for one interview.

And even the idea of going around, passing out resumes, seems sort of bleh. When I first thought about it, seemed pretty easy. But I'm sort of realizing that it's not so easy to just go find companies and go "door-to-door" passing out resumes, hoping for interviews.

I've always realized this industry is tough to break into, but I'm just at the point of "blah"-dom with it. I guess I'm just wanting something that takes a lot of work and I'm not putting enough work into it.

Still...blah. Advice?

Five Months (!!!)

One more month gone, and I still can't believe how fast it's going... The time and the pounds! (And inches!)

As of last Friday, April 25th, I was down to 251.8 lbs, which is 71 lbs lost since December 3rd! I'm also down another 9 inches in a month and a half.

Life has been crazy, I think, this month. And I've definitely been letting too much sugar creep back into my life. Fuck temptation, and honestly, I cannot WAIT till I'm not at home. I mean, I know temptation is EVERYWHERE, but when your brother makes two cakes and a chocolate tart in about a 3 week timespan, I want to just get out of the house. For good. April was my father's birthday and the Orthodox easter, so that explains one cake and the tart. The other cake was made the week before my dad's birthday, because he wanted to make it (and forgot dad's birthday was coming up).

So, even though the weight has been melting off, I still worry like hell that when the "honeymoon phase" is over (8-9 months, I think? or maybe it's anywhere between 6-8 months), I'll be screwed like hell. >.< I mean, I know that "in general", I'm doing well with my eating. But I snack too much and let things creep in. Blah.

Oh, and a few wows. So those pink pants, that I posted about at one point? They're my "Before and After" pants, and before surgery, I could get them on, yes. But it was not very comfortable. About two weeks ago, I tried them on, and WOW.

Those suckers are HUGE on me! You know, I was hoping to possibly wear these comfortably for the summer (pre-op). But now, they're only going to be my before/after pants. Because they're way too big to be worn. :-D And then last night, going through my closet, I tried on a suit jacket I bought in April 2007 (for an internship interview). It's from Avenue, size 32, only worn once, and I tell you, I felt like a kid in his father's suit jacket! I was honestly shocked at how BIG that jacket was. And it felt soooooooo good!

In other news...searching for a summer internship. Lots of fun there! So, this'll be a long story, but oh well. I am looking at some internships, especially in NYC. I have housing there already (yay for friends), and my family can sorta afford it. Well, it depends, but anyway.

So my brother's friend met a girl last summer at an internship in NJ. She now works in Human Resources at Vera Wang, and he told me this. He said she was in charge of hiring Production interns (a bit like product development), and gave me her email. I emailed her in March, she responded, gave me some more info, etc. I followed up in April (MorLove stuff consumed my time otherwise). She told me that she would "love to bring me on". She sent me an application they needed, and I filled it out and sent it back. This was on a Monday. On Wednesday, we talked on the phone - it was confirmed. She said there was no need to come up for an interview because I was so far away. She claimed she had talked to the Production teams, both RTW and Bridal, and that they could use another intern. We discussed definite dates, and she told me if I wanted to come up the week before it started, to come down to the VW office, just for me to let her know. And she told me she needed a transcript (unofficial or official, it didn't matter).

(Senior Vice Pres, I think...) and she would get back to me. So later that afternoon, my brother's friend called me and said he had just gotten a text from his friend (they still talk and such) saying something to the degree of "I just got majorly chewed out by my boss for hiring someone without an interview." So I was nervous, but slowly accepted the fact that I might have to go up for an interview. But then Thursday, I got an email from her basically saying that she 'hired' me without really knowing if they needed me. (That they may not need another intern...WTF?) She said she would have to talk to a higher up in Production Well, a week went by without a word from her. I called her (probably too much, but c'mon!!!). She has never actually called me - the one time I talked to her on the phone, I called her. Otherwise, I've only heard from her via email. Anyway, I finally got something from her on Tuesday, a week and a half after her last email. Basically, the person she needs to talk to has been in China, but she's "pretty sure" they're not hiring another intern. But she offered to forward my resume to a HR manager she knows at Aeropostale, and encouraged me to keep looking for stuff, etc.

So. Yeah. I'm still pissed about the whole situation. But I don't really know if I have any "recourse". Anyway, I've been emailing out my resume and cover letter to a lot of companies, I've heard back from one or two (but NOTHING like VW), we shall see. I'm trying to go up to NYC next week, like May 10th-17th or something, and just schlep around and pass out my resume and stuff. Maybe that would work? It's frustrating...BLAH.

Yeah, that's been my life for the past 2-3 weeks. <3 y'all that actually care. :)

Summer Internship WOW!

So yesterday I was offered an unpaid summer internship with Vera Wang. It's in their Production category, which is like product development. I am so excited and really blown away, but at the moment, the biggest issue is monetary. I still have not talked to my father about it, but the first thing my mom mentioned is the money. She's like "That sounds great, but I just don't know if we can afford it."

As of right now, the early financial numbers are:
$1000+ for rent (sharing a studio apt with my friend Shira - she's AWESOME!)
$225 for plane ticket
$90 for taxi to and from JFK
$240 for 3 months of bus passes
$55 for laundry
$100/week for food - $1200 total
$50/week for entertainment - $600 total

That's $3,360 for 2.5 months in NYC... Expensive! But not as bad as I expected. Are my numbers appropriate, for food and entertaining? I realize I probably won't be doing a *LOT* of stuff out and about, but I'd like to have the option.

PLUS food, living, just *life* in general. I want to get a part-time job once I'm in NYC, depending on the hours Vera Wang wants me. It's a freakin dream come true, and the fact that I even had an internship offered to me is amazing. The past three years, I've applied to SO MANY internships and nothing has come through for me. I've been talking to my mom more today, and she's much more positive about it. She's still worried about the finances, and mainly about her little ole EmBee being in such a big city.

I can't say I'm not scared either, but it's a freakin chance of a lifetime! So, yeah, I called the HR woman at Vera Wang today and left a message, trying to let her know that I'm very serious about wanting the position. Her last email yesterday wasn't definitive in the "Yes, you HAVE the job." So, I'm a bit nervous.

So...la la la...I am excited! But nervous...Don't really even know how to approach my father about this.

But, I will do something that I feel is very tacky but I need the help. Someone told me about this website, and considering that my parents don't have $3500 just sitting around for someone to use, I'm looking for any and all donations possible. :-* I love you all!

Grant me my wish!

A greek/arab YUMMMMMMMMMM!!!

So, today I made a very yummy recipe and I must share. I took this directly from my Sparkrecipes page, just to, you know, advertise the greatness.

Kofte & Feta Crustless Quiches

Ingredients

My measurements are the exact for the nutritional information, but feel free to do what you please. It on average takes 5 eggs. 1 cup/5 oz crumbled cooked kofte patties - ground beef with onions, garlic and parsley. 4.25 egg beaters with added yolk 1 egg white 0.5 cup/3.75 oz crumbled feta cheese 0.25 cup/1.45 oz small dice provolone cheese 0.25 cup grated parmes an cheese 3 cloves garlic, diced 1 small hot pepper, diced 1/2 white onion, diced 3 green onions, sliced 1 tsp olive oil 1/3 cup diced tomatoes (I used stewed tomatoes) Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Saute onions in olive oil. Once translucent, add garlic and pepper. Season these veggies with salt and pepper while cooking. Set these aside to cool (I put them in the refrigerator).

In blender or magic bullet, combine the egg beaters, egg white, tomatoes and salt and pepper quickly. This was to make the tomatoes sli ghtly less chunky and to whip the eggs.

Mix well crumbled beef, feta , provolone, and cooled vegetables together. Add the egg and tomato mixture. Scoop this into a well greased mini muffin pan. This makes a little more than 24 mini quiches (meaning mine spilled over the edges). Try not to overfill the cups. :)

Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes, and then flip out gently onto a cooling rack. Number of Servings: 24

So what is kofte, exactly? It's a greek/arab beef dish. They're basically what I consider a Mediterranean burger. Gro und beef, parsley, onion, garlic and hot pepper and combined and made into small patt ies. They can be done as kabobs, on skewers and grilled, or just sauted on the stove top. Often the kabobs are eaten more like sandwiches, while the stovetop version is usually made with a chunky tomato sauce and served over rice.

We had some leftover kofte from a few nights ago, along with the tomato sauce. So I took the crustless mini quiche recipes from Eggface, her "bites", and went with it. You don't have to make kofte, though, to m ake these. If you brown ground beef and add onions, garlic and parsley to it, voila!

They're a little higher in fat than I usually prefer, but I used full-fat cheese and ground beef, so, oh well!

Some pics!
A cooked kofte patty pre-crumbling:


The pretty (not so much) pre-cooked mixture of egg, meat, cheeses and veggies:

The cooked bites:

Seriously good eats! Thanks again to Eggface for her many inspirational bite recipes!

It's been a long time...

Sorry ladies and gents, I have been meaning to make another post every week, and it gets put on the backburner.

I have a bit of a headache tonight (I'm getting over a cold from last week), so I just wanted to do a short update.

I finally did my measurements for 3.5 months...So I didn't lose as many inches this past month, but I realize things are going to slow down. Last weight at the gym was 266lbs, and that's with my sneakers on!

Another non-RNY update, and the main reason I've been so friggin busy that I've ignored my blog, is that I've been working on stuff for MorLove. Basically, MorLove is a group of NC State students, some that design and some that do logistics and other things. The designers refashion donated fabrics and garments into new apparel, jewelry, and home wares. We had a fashion show this past weekend in Raleigh. I made/altered 4 garments - a skirt and 3 dresses - for the show.

So yeah, that's consumed my life for a while now...And by the day of the show, I had no voice. Thursday I woke up with a runny nose, and it went downhill from there. Today, I'm just now feeling decent. But still not 100%

On the bright side, from our show on Saturday, MorLove raised $1350 for the Amani Baby Cottage in Jinja, Uganda!!! That's our charity/focus for MorLove, and all the items made are for sale after the show and at Beleza (fair trade boutique in Raleigh, NC). My model, Sarah Jane, loved her blue and white dress so much, she bought it. The other items are still up for sale. ;) We had over 300 people at the show, and it was simply fantastic. So I am so insanely happy to let MorLove consume a few weeks of my life. It's a wonderful cause and the girl that started it is just... it's her heart and soul, and all I've wanted to see from its creation (two years ago) was success.

God do I still miss her sooooo much...

Two and a half years later, and my tears still haven't dried up for her.



Sorry for a this very emo entry...sappy music + late night boredom = a sabotaging mind.

Hotlanta this weekend!

WARNING: VERY LONG and descriptive post. Thank you to those who actually read it!

So this weekend, Thursday-Sunday, I went to Atlanta with Phi Psi. It was lots of fun, of course, seeing some people I knew pretty well, getting to know other NC State Phi Psi brothers, and meeting others from Clemson, Georgia Tech, Southern Polytechnic University (Marietta, GA), and Philadelphia University. (except those chicks weren't very friendly at all...oh well...that's there loss!)

Thursday morning, I left from Greensboro with Kent and Brandon... it was three of us in a 15 passenger van. Pretty hilarious, but oh well, it was still fun. Oh, if you're ever bored on the road, play radio roulette. Every 30 minutes, one of us would pick a number from #1-15. Whatever number we chose, you press the "Seek" button that many times. We had to listen to the station it lands on for those 30 minutes. It wasn't bad most of the time, but I'd have to say the worst/most boring result we got was the prayer request/Bible station. It also gave us the most hilarious moment of the day. One of the prayer requests was (paraphrased by me) " to help end the multiple/long-term urinary tract infections resulting from his perverted lifestyle and drug use".

When we got to Atlanta, after a trip to Gary's BBQ in China Grove (Brandon's stomping grounds and damn good bbq), it was sort of a clusterfuck. The hotel had given us 6 rooms with king size beds. Yeah, greaaaaaaaaaaat, Marriot, 3-4 people to a room is gonna work for king-size beds. They ended up finding us 1 double room, gave us 2 suites, and the king rooms had pull-out couches. Anyway, we went over to GA Tech to check in and have a supposed pool party. Check in people weren't there, me and Brandon waited around forever, finally got things situated, and ended up spending 1.5 hours outside for a cookout. In the cold. Because the GA Tech people didn't realize they were having an NCAA swimming competition the same weekend of convention. So I wasted $60 on a bathing suit I didn't need.

Oh well! That night, I did actually end up using my suit...Our hotel had a whirlpool, and a bunch of us State folks decided to have a hot tub party. Then, some of the Clemson guys ran into us in the lobby, and joined us in a few. It was like 10-12 of us in there at one time... Sausage fest like woah - 4 or 5 girls I think, at the most? It's fun, the Clemson guys are so chill and um...anti-professional? (Even when we're not drinking in the evenings...)

Friday was the company tour day... we left the Marriot at 7:45am in one of those huge coach buses...We drove 1.5 hours to Ethicon in Cornelia, GA. They supplied breakfast for us - they had mini quiches! I had already eaten some stupid oatmeal bar on the bus up, so I didn't eat much, but I was impressed there was even SOME protein. They did medical textiles - sutures and stuff like Dermabond (how cool, considering Dermabond is what my doc used to seal me up after surgery! No stitches or staples!) They also have some stuff that's almost like duct tape for the inner body. We toured the company - saw how they made the needles doctors use to sew us up, and all the different suture materials - degradable and nondegradable materials for stitching bodies up. They also served us lunch after a very long tour, and we left. It was 4 hours of Johnson & Johnson (they own Ethicon).

45 minutes later, we got to Tencate. Yay for nonwovens! (major eye roll) Basically, they make geotextiles - materials for putting underneath new roads to keep them stable, putting in big construction (like energy-creating windmills out on the west coast), etc etc. They also make stuff like artificial grass and uh, lots of things. We got to see a really freakin loud factory, making nonwovens. Stuff I pretty much see at NC State but at a MUCH LARGER scale. Shiny polypropylene threads, crimping, needle punching, etc. Yeah, blah-de-freakin-blah.

After another 45 minute drive back into Atlanta, we got to our hotel. As a group, the Raleigh people decided to go to dinner at Gordon Biersch, a brewery/restaurant in downtown Atlanta. (we spent about 30 minutes looking through a guide GA Tech made and a magazine/guide about ATL in our convention packets.) The restaurant is a franchise/has lots of locations, and I'd suggest it to anyone! Two NCSU/Phi Psi alums joined us at dinner, because they live and work in Atlanta. It was cool to see them again and hear about ATL and how much they love it(especially Julie. She's finishing her second year of Teach for America in Atlanta). They have pretty good beers and drinks, from the other 19 people I was with, and great food. Our table got appetizers of garlic fries, fried calamari and crab artichoke dip. I did try a little of all three, since our wait was long. (and they were all good, unfortunately!) I got sesame seared tuna with peanut udon noodles and miso vinaigrette... It was GOOOOOOOOOD. The tuna was still rare inside, of course, and I tried a few noodles - they were good. Everyone else's food looked delicious, and I wish I could have taken the other half of my tuna back with me, but it was tuna and I didn't have an easily accessible fridge. But it was still worth the money ($23 was the menu price).

Saturday morning was the Phi Psi business meeting. One piece of advice - do NOT chug room temperature protein drinks!!! We didn't have a fridge in our room, and I forgot to stick the can on ice Friday night, so Saturday morning, my breakfast was room temp. It stayed down, three gags later, thankfully. I wore my pretty brownish tan suit, brown shirt, and bronze bow wedge shoes, spring green belted rain coat. :D But the shoes killed my feet. I suck in heels, period. Gotta get better at that. Anyway, the business meeting went well - each chapter gave their oral presentation of the past year, and we talked about general happenings with all of Phi Psi. Also discussed, in small groups, the future of Phi Psi as a whole. Very cool.

Saturday afternoon was hell, partially. Some of us wanted to go to the Aquarium, but we found out GA Tech had reserved and paid for tickets to the World of Coca Cola. And we were walking there...from GA Tech. After a change to comfy clothes and shoes, as a 'group' we walked almost 2 miles. Yeeep, take a look!



I started lagging behind the other 40-50 people, and got left when they crossed the street and the light turned before I could make it. So, I was pissed...then Kent (my advisor) and one of the Tech alum, who were lagging, came up next to me. They kept pace with me, which I appreciated, as I huffed and puffed until I felt like my lungs were falling out. We were going to the CNN Center first for lunch, and leaving from there at 1:15. Heh, by the time we got in there, we had maybe 20-30 minutes for lunch (and there were so many cool shops I wanted to check out! They had a Cartoon Network shop. :( ) We walked through the Centennial Park - very cool, except that the drought in Georgia meant all the awesome fountains were drained. Then, the Coke tour. It was pretty cool, I loved seeing all the ads and art and stuff from all over the world. Graphic design might be a job option for me, because I love looking at that stuff! But I felt so sickly sticky sweet by the end of the tour - the very end is the tasting room - 63 flavors of Coke products from Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa and North America. It's insanity, that's all I can say. But I got my mom a Coke polar bear and small Coke bottle salt and pepper shakes and a small stuffed penguin keychain for my aunt.

Since Kent is awesome, as is Gary, the Clemson advisor, they offered to take a taxi back to our conversion vans, drive the vans back to Coke and pick us up. YAY THANK GOD NOT ANOTHER 2 MILES!!! Seriously, it was already 3:30 when I finished at Coke at we had to leave for the banquet at 5:45. So, around 4ish, we all got back to the hotel. I ate a bit, and stupidly fell asleep without setting my alarm. Alicia, the awesome chick who was rooming with me, was relaxing too, and around 5:20, she woke me up, not realizing what time it already was. In the course of 25 minutes, I showered, put on pantyhose, dried my hair, put on makeup, switched purses, and did all the other necessary things. It was crazy, and I couldn't believe it. Off to the banquet!!!

The banquet/dance was on GA Tech campus, and it was quite pretty. A good dinner (mushroom chicken, some pasta, salad with caesar dressing on the side, cubes of cheddar, pepper jack and swiss cheese, and some undercooked veggies), and a speaker from Exxon Mobile. She talked about energy, and things like paper vs plastic. It sort of sounded like pro-Exxon bullshit, but she also had some really cool points (like how paper grocery bags take much longer to degrade and take more energy to make...she talked about other things too, but they've slipped my mind). After she was done, the awards started. All the reports have certain requirements in order to be judged and placed. First was the oral report - usually it's a full treasury report from the NCSU chapter along with a formal write up of the events of the past year. NCSU won first!!! Yeah Eta Chapter!!! (that's us, fyi) Next was the photographic archive. It's somewhat like a professional scrapbook, also of the past year's official events. All pics have to be properly labeled and every brother pictured must be identified. I did it last year (and won first) - usually it's done on Photoshop. Eta Chapter won first place again!!! The third award is the oral report - basically a combination of the written report and the archive. You do a formal presentation, with a powerpoint, of what is in the written report. Once again, first place went to NCSU! :D The final award is a new one - I think this is the second year of it. It's Best All-Around Chapter. The advisors judge you on the convention weekend - professionalism, interacting with the other chapters, everything. And guess who swept the freakin award ceremony Saturday night? Damn right the Eta Chapter did!

So, yeah, Saturday night was a fun one. After the awards, we took some group pictures and then the DJ started the fun stuff. Corny white people dancing! Yay! This went on till about 9:30, and then everyone started clearing out. We all headed back to the hotel. After getting out of my fancy clothes quite quickly, I headed up to 802, the party suite. They already had Clemson's beer pong table set up and the room was packed. It didn't take long. :) I will admit I drank a little bit - some rose wine and a sip of a bad drink combo - sailor jerry rum and flattened coke. But, uh, I had food in my stomach and I was good in general to stay away from everything else... There was LOTS of beer, Sailor Jerry, vodka, etc etc etc. I stayed up the latest that night, till about 2am, I think.

Sunday, I got up around 8am, as my roommate Alicia was getting up and ready to leave. There was a van leaving at 9am and another one going sometime between noon and 2pm. I had opted to go later, since I wanted more time in ATL and I didn't need to get home anytime soon. I packed all my shit up (geez did I take a lot), and showered, and met downstairs in the lobby around 10. A group of us had decided to do brunch - it was me, Kelly, Brandon, Andrew, Justin and Jenna and her friend Morgan (she came up the night before from Auburn and had recommended this restaurant). It's called Sun In My Belly, and boooooy was it DELICIOUS! It was a bit of a drive away, and we got a little lost, but Andrew and Justin (who were following) took over...since Andrew has a Tom Tom GPS thing. But, yeah, brunch = AMAZING. I got the Kirkland Breakfast - soft scrambled eggs with herbed Boursin cheese, honey glazed bacon (it was very barbeque-y) and a buttermilk biscuit. I will admit I ate the biscuit, after getting an appropriate amount of protein. It was just....ugh, too good to pass up. I had a teeny bite of challah french toast with a bite of berries (it came w/fresh berries). Yeah, brunch was so yummy. But, Sun in My Belly is NOT a place to go when you're in a rush. For a group of seven, it took about 30 minutes for them to ring everyone up. It's one of those places I want to just go and lounge my Sunday away. Artsy awesome is all I can say. :)

After brunch and making our way back to the hotel, we picked up Peter, who was driving back with us. Jenna wanted to get a t-shirt from the Hard Rock Cafe, so we made our way down town. Of course, there was tons of construction going on, and the main inaccessible block of Peachtree was the one with Hard Rock on it. So we drove around for a while trying to find parking... Well, most of downtown Atlanta doesn't allow parking on the streets. Great for driving, horrible for quick trips. Also, every parking garage we came across had cielings too low for our van. So, we found an open lot place that offered $8 all-day parking. Realizing that there was only a machine you paid at, not a real living person, I volunteered to stay in the van while the group made the quick trip up to HR. If someone came up and bothered me about not paying, sure, I could go pay.

15 minutes of chillin later (with the doors locked and the windows up), Jenna, Kelly, Peter and Brandon returned. No one had bothered me, so yay for free 15 minute parking. On our way out of downtown, trying to get back to 85, we got a bit lost... We turned the wrong way down 10th Ave and ended up down at Piedmont Park. Yeah, that was busy as hell, because it was a gorgeous day Sunday. There was about 30 minutes of getting lost downtown/near the park, then we finally got back near 85. Well, then we couldn't find the right entrance for 85N... Another 15 minutes of driving, and well, we got on the road before 2pm.

The trip was a long one... we stopped about 45 minutes outside of Atlanta at a gas station to get snacks since we didn't have time for lunch. (I got a Lunchables. :) Me, a kid?) Then, maybe twoish hours later, the gas tank was on E...So we made an $80 fill up of the 12 passenger van. Oh, and this was also lotto ticket time, in South Carolina. Peter and the crew he road down with bought lots of lottery tickets on the way down and lost every time, so he bought $1 tickets for the whole van. When I saw that, I decided to buy a $2 and a $3 ticket. Everyone's $1 tickets lost, and so did my $2 ticket, but I made $15 on the $3 ticket! Saweeeeet. So, we kept on the road, and around Concord Mills, decided to stop for dinner (it was around 6 by then, I think). We drove around, in plans to go to Wendy's. Well, we saw this "Cinco De Mayo Grill", and all went "Oooh, mexican!"... But they were "opening soon". And then Brandon, who was familiar with that area, said he knew of a good mexican place a few exits down. So we got BACK on 85, to traffic jams, and ended up down at Casa Grande. I got beef fajitas, very good.

Finally, after dinner, we headed on to Greensboro. It was almost 8pm before we made it to Greensboro, and my mom picked me up at an Exxon right off of 85. Jenna and the van still had another hour+ of driving, along with returning the van to the Motor Pool. Poor gang!

Overall, I had an AWESOME time in Atlanta...I definitely ate some of the wrong wrong things, but I got enough protein in daily to not feel so horrible about my choices... I learned that when food is supplied for you, you often give in to temptation...Or I do. Let's just say all those habits there pre-op are still there, unfortunately. I'm still a sugar monster, and just need to avoid that stuff like the plague. But, otherwise, life is good.

Two Weeks Later...

Updates!

1. Dentist went well! I had decalcification but no cavities, thank the lord. So I'm using Prevident nightly. You're not supposed to rinse after using it, so it helps restore flouride on the teeth while sleeping. Well, I've probably used twice as much of this stuff as normal because I keep forgetting. I rinse, go "OH FUCK!" and rebrush my teeth. Ehe

2. Haircut. <3 <3 <3
I went for short. And I love it. And I hope you all love it too. But if you don't, I don't care. :D I didn't have the balls to go short when my mom and I went 2ish weeks ago to get our hair cut. But I didn't love what I ended up getting, and my stylist is the man, so I called him for a redo. I went for short, today, and I'm so happy.

Now lets just hope that dreaded three month hair loss doesn't hit too hard!

3. Trip to Atlanta this weekend!!!!

I'm going to the Phi Psi National Convention this Thursday-Sunday, and fuck, I'm stoked. (I'm such a dork) I've spent waaaaaay too much money on new clothes - needed a business suit and other good looking stuff, along with shoes. Oh and a bathing suit. Yeah, I wasted $60 for a suit I MIGHT wear a few times, because the "social" event Thursday night is an indoor pool party.

But it'll be nice, to get away, spend some time with people I know in Phi Psi and meet some other people. I don't really think a *lot* of my fave PPers are going, but there are a few. The others are cool, I just don't hang out with them much. But anyway, no biggie. I need to break that shyness anyway. I'm not shy once I know someone, but if you're new/a stranger, it's not so easy for me to just blab away.

So wish me luck on the social aspect and on the eating. I'm taking beef jerky, dry-roasted wasabi edamame (omg my new addiction), South Beach bars, and probably protein drinks (although I don't want them. They're meh.) Oh, and Lunchables Jrs. Soooo cute - little containers that have turkey, mozz and ritz bits or ham, cheddar and ritz bits. Protein and enough carbs to satiate my carb monster, but only 9g of carbs, along with 9g of protein.

Anyway, I've been meaning to update for a while. And I had 2 month measurements that I've lost since last week. So maybe I'll actually take timely 3 month measurements...You know, instead of taking them 2 weeks later.

I'm rambling, but that's fine. I think it's from my general happiness at the awesome new haircut. But this is just a chill update for those who ask. (Thanks Christine! :-*)

I think I'm having an anxiety attack...

No, not about eating or weight (surprising, heh?), but about something
far, far worse...

Teeth. Specifically the dentist.

I have an appointment with my dentist on Monday, for a cleaning. And I
am so freaking stressed out!

A little history... I got braces in...uh middle school or early high
school (I don't remember specifics). But I do remember that I was the
dumbest braces-wearing chick around. Basically, I did a shit job of
taking care of my teeth whilst braced. Not to mention I was and always
have been a sugar fiend!

So, by the time the braces came off, I had a ton of hidden cavities.
The braces revealed some horror of a mouth (maybe not visually but
every other way).

Ever since then, my teeth are pretty much fucked. No matter what I do
to them, every time I get drug in for a cleaning, there's more damage.
Sometimes a little, sometimes a LOT.

May was my last cleaning and they found enough cavities to turn my
parents into boiling tea kettles.

The past two nights, I've been looking at my teeth, and I swear I see
bad shit...3 small black dots on the top of one tooth, along with what
looks like darkish shadows along some of my back molars.

I know I may be over-reacting, and I also know that the sooner teeth
problems are taken care of, the better it is for your mouth. But I
honestly wish I could avoid the dentist until I graduate. Even though
I doubt I could afford those costs with whatever the salary of my
first job is, I've already cost my parents SOOO much money - dentist,
orthodontist, doctors, and then thks surgery.

I am just freaking out, completely. And I feel like such a child right
now - scheming up ways to be "sick" on Monday. :-( I'm so immature
sometimes.

--
Emily Hanhan

Tzatziki!

For those of you stumped by my title, this entry is dedicated to an absolutely yummy sauce/dip I am quite familiar with. Tzatziki is a yogurt, cucumber and mint condiment. It can either be thick (my preference - a great dip!) or thinner, what you sometimes find in Greek restaurants. Shira asked if I had a good recipe for tzatziki, so I thought I'd just do a little blog entry. I have to say, I feel a lot like Eggface with this post.


So, this recipe is just from Byblos, a great greek cookbook that I think is no longer in print. Tzatziki is definitely something that's easily adjustable - if you like more garlic, go for it...if you like it with a little heat, my dad sometimes adds just a teeny bit of pepper (serrano, etc) chopped up very fine to the mix.

2 cups Laban or Yogurt*
1/2 cup chopped cucumber
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried leaf mint or 1/2 tbsp fresh mint, chopped**
1 clove garlic, crushed

Combine all ingredients, blending well!

*Laban is thickened yogurt. A lot like Fage, which is what I'd recommend using if you can't find laban. Also, Fage is higher in protein than laban or regular yogurt.
** I prefer fresh mint...And, FYI, 1 tsp of dried herbs equals 1 tbsp of fresh herbs.

Oh, and if anyone else is a fan of Greek and Arabic foods, the Byblos cookbook is a great resource, as is Sahtein.