PENGUINS!!!!

What a poser!!!!

Last year, my very awesome birthday gift from Eric were two stuffed animal penguins--promptly named Roger (the little one) and Perry (the big one)--bearing a letter from the penguins at the Newport Aquarium. This letter kindly requested that Eric bring me to the aquarium to visit the penguins sometime very soon. It also informed me that Roger and Perry were staying with us, but wouldn't mind visiting either.

Sweet, thoughtful, funny, unique...in other words, a truly amazing gift, right?

RIGHT!!!!!

It took us nearly a full year to visit the penguins, but this past Thursday, we both took the morning off from work and made the trip to the Newport Aquarium. Our thinking was that on a weekday and early in the morning, there would be fewer people there. And we were wrong. But once we dashed past the massive cluster of people in the first two display rooms of the aquarium, we managed to avoid the worst of the scrambling, screeching children and tottering parents and grandparents. Phew! After going through the entire aquarium, lingering awhile at the newly remodeled penguin exhibit (with four different types of penguins and Inca terns) and at the giant shark tank (Eric's favorite and one of the more frightening exhibits to me), we still had a little bit of time before we were scheduled to meet for the Penguin Encounter, when we would actually get up close and personal (well, touch and watch closely) some penguins! I'd also like to note that Eric took far too much delight in trying to make me stand on the transparent floors above fish tanks (both tanks with this terrifying feature had either gators or sharks...eek!). I'd walk across them....but as quickly as possible. I loved how excited Eric was while watching the sharks, though. He's just adorable when he's excited, like a little kid on Christmas morning.





Finally, the penguin keepers came out to get the group of us who had paid the extra money to participate in the penguin encounter. We walked "behind the scenes" past the giant shark tank that Eric so loved; this tank is enormous and behind the scenes, it's entirely open across the top of the tank. Even with protective rails and staying a cautious few feet back from the tank, I still felt more than a little afraid of those sharks. (Side note: I am not someone who loves fish, sea creatures, or being in the water. Actually, I'm downright terrified of being in bodies of water other than chlorinated swimming pools and I hate, hate, hate fishies. But I love penguins. So I tolerated the rest of the aquarium, much of which I enjoyed....except for those horrifying sharks...)

Our group was herded into a glass-walled room containing about 8 South African penguins. They stood no taller than my knee and each wore a different colored band around one of its upper flippers. We were asked to sit on the benches along two of the walls of the room and to please not pet the penguins until we were specifically told. Okay, no problem here, I do not want to upset the dear pengys! I immediately became a paparazzi, snapping photo after photo (flash off!) of the penguins. Meanwhile, the penguin keepers were chatting, telling us the penguins' names and characteristics, how they'd been hand raised (and therefore believed one keeper was their "mama"), how they were transported to and from the room, and why the room stank of penguin poo (it was everywhere, and that's just how these penguins treat their homes. hmm..) Finally one of the keepers cajoled two penguins over to our area and told us we could pet her--two fingers together, stroking with the feathers. Apparently two fingers is roughly the size of a penguin beak, so it was not upsetting to the penguin. Hmm, fun fact.





Our little penguin friends were waddling around and underneath our legs, nipping at our bench neighbor's shoelaces, and being adorable. We both petted her and she was rather soft and sleek, though you could certainly tell it was feathers and not fur. The keeper led the penguin away to the other bench of visitors and we watched the other penguins waddle around. Or one penguins laid on her tummy on some rocks and puffed out. Maybe she was napping?





The keeper eventually brought our penguin friends back and we recommended petting while they danced around our legs. They started to fight a bit with each other, which the keeper explained was fighting between siblings for who was allowed to do something first. hehe, silly penguins! I suppose the inter-sibling rivalry increased their feistiness, because one of the penguins began nipping at Eric's exposed toes, then turned to try to eat my sandal! Ah! The bites didn't hurt, especially in comparison to Fonz's chomps, but felt more link a pinch.



Lastly, the keepers wheeled a fake rock formation in front of each group of visitors, so we could get a picture with a penguin perched on top of the rock with us. Both photos taken of us are slightly blurry, but I think you can see how excited and happy we both were with our penguin encounter!



If only I'd managed to convince some penguins to get inside my purse....then I'd have some penguin friends living with me!


I did purchase a new stuffed animal penguin friend, a rockhopper penguin we christened Otto von Penguin. His hair is crazy, just like mine. And he's living in my apartment, while Roger and Perry continue to live in Eric's apartment.


With such a fun morning, neither Eric nor I wanted to go to work. We had lunch at Claddagh Bar and Grill (my first visit there), then adventured to the Harley Davidson store here in Cincinnati, where we wandered around for quite some time. Eric purchased my birthday gift for this year (in addition to the fancy dinner date I requested as my gift) -- a black HD tank top. hehe! Surprisingly, it is difficult to find HD gear for women without rhinestones or glitter. I wouldn't have imagined that, but it's true.

Eventually we had to leave each other and go back to our dull jobs, where there weren't any penguins to watch and play with. I have to admit, the rest of the day was kinda a drag. All I could think about was how awesome meeting penguins was and how wonderful Eric is. <3 I know I'm truly lucky to be with him. And I can't thank him enough for this experience!

Random Catch Up (numerical style)

One: Eric bought a new car.
A freak hail storm damaged Eric's old car, the faithful and fun Yellow Dart, to the point that it was considered totaled by the insurance company. Eric decided to part with the Dart and acquire a new vehicle. After searching online and putting in due diligence at several dealerships, Eric finally found The One. And on Wednesday, June 22, 2011, he made it his own.


It is a brand spanking new car, straight off the assembly line in the UK and only in the States for a handful of days before meeting Eric. It is a Mini Cooper Clubman S and it's amazing! Dark grey (darker even than the storm cloud grey I love on cars), with black wheels and a black room, this baby is sexy. Inside, there are several of the "mini's idiosyncrasies", which the dealership covered before Eric pulled out of the lot (wow! I was stunned. I don't know what some of the stuff in my car is after 5 years!). There are some very cool interior accent lights, visible at night, which you can change the color and intensity of. The sound system, by Bose, could literally rock your face off. ;) There is a "hidden" compartment that reminds me of James Bond's car. There is a double moonroom. That's right - double! Only the front one opens fully, but the rear one vents too. To add to it all, this car is fast, handles marvelously, and is very fun to drive (sadly, I cannot drive manual, so this is Eric's impression of driving the Mini). While I'm sad to see the Yellow Dart go....I love this new car! In fact, I kinda want a Mini now....






Two: I gave my very first seminar on my work in front of my department.
Since I already blogged about this, I'll spare you the details. But it is a minor accomplishment. I hope for all future seminars or poster presentations, I'll have more and more of my own data to talk about. And eventually I'll have to learn how to create my own figures, probably in Adobe Illustrator or something. Then I'll be so grown up! hehe!
However, I spent almost 2 weeks preparing my presentation and not doing any lab work. I'll still struggling to get back into the groove of doing lab work and getting a lot of work done (aka I haven't stopped being lazy at work yet). Oof. Maybe next week????


Three: I've made a lot (um, too many?) purchases recently.
More clothing, most of which is too nice to wear to work, where I would likely stain or tear it somehow. One of my coworkers shared a website (6pm.com) with me where I found incredible deals on two of my favorite brands, Patagonia and Fossil. I bought 3 dresses, a bracelet and earrings from the website and was thrilled! I also recently acquired: a Fossil KeyPer purse (in a print I've been obsessing over), several more printed sarongs (that I use as scarves), sandals (Target made bright orange and turquoise versions of a Steve Madden sandal I love), slightly longer but still cute Jcrew shorts, flowy Gap tank tops...and some Target tanks and tees that I can wear to work.

More makeup and beauty produces. I probably need to cut myself off in this department for a long time...
I've bought several Bare Escentuals kits, especially since many awesome kits have been on sale recently. I've bought the 3 other Eye Tutorials I didn't have (2 eyeshadows + a brush + step by step instructions showing me how to do a classic Smokey Eye, a silvery Foiled Eye or a glamorous Rocker Chic Eye). A 2 shadow + gloss kit on sale for $10! that has this awesome opalescent sheen I love. A few other shadow kits on sale. Oof. I didn't realize it was quite that much...
I've also dropped some coin in Sephora, like I usually do. Some nailpolishes, a large bottle of Josie Maran Argan Oil, more Ojon hair products, and a few products I haven't even tried yet!!! (those include Urban Decay's All Nighter makeup setting spray - I thought I'd test it out far in advance of Maureen's wedding! - as well as a Tarte lip stain). Yesterday I succumbed to another of their email promotions; I bought an Ojon hair mask online for $30 and received full size bottles of their Damage Reverse shampoo and conditioner for FREE!!!! Considering I wanted to get those anyway (for special occasion uses), I was awfully stoked.
With all these makeup purchases, I've been wearing makeup to work everyday. Something along the lines of being professional....not that my bacteria or proteins care!
I also purchased some new face/skin care products by DermaE. I've been using their Soy & Papaya Enzyme face cleanser for a month or so now and I love it. The fact that the store had the entire DermaE line on sale for 40% off prompted me to pick up some new procuts to try - a Vitamin A pore reducing mask, a fruit enzyme face scrub, a Vitamin A face scrub, a blemish spot treatment and a lip therapy with hyaluronic acid. I'm going to be beautiful!!!!

Other random things I've bought in the last few months....a paella pan, several books, discontinued body spray, huge candles, fluorescent yellow running shorts, a new pair of running shoes, a running tank top and lots of food.

Yikes! Um, enough talking about that. I feel horribly guilty right now!


Four: I've been working out (sorta) consistently!!!
For the past two weeks, I've actually gone to the gym most nights. And I did at least one workout over the weekend. That's a decent improvement from my previous stint of couch-bound laziness. And the thing is I feel awesome when I get done with my workout. So I'm trying to really stick with it and to not fall off the wagon if I miss a single day (which I have done in the past). This week I even went to a yoga class at lunch time! Hopefully I keep this up!

I also ran two races in one day last weekend. A one mile race in the morning (I ran 8:20-something, which is the fastest I can ever recall running a mile! woot!) and a 5k in the early evening (I ran much slower...). The 5k was followed by plenty of beer and yummy food, since it was a fundraiser for the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery in Dayton. Eric and Manning did this event last year and raved about it, so I made sure to join them this year. I was so proud, too, that they were first and second in the race!


Five: My roommate and I are renewing the lease on our apartment for another year.
Hooray to not moving and cheap rent! Boo to the dogs in the houses/apartments around us that bark non-stop and to the crazy temperature extremes in our place! Hooray to staying with my roomie, who I have much fun with!


Six: I saw X-men: First Class with Eric and thought it was a solidly good movie.

Seven: I signed up to go to the Gibbs conference on thermodynamics in September.
Yup, a nerd convention. But I haven't been to one since before I did my qualifier (so over a year and a half ago). And this will be the first one where I get to present my own poster!!!!! Woohoo! In the grand scheme, it's a small accomplishment, but I'm still excited. It's going to be a very tough conference for me to understand what's being said, though. Thermodynamics is very mathematically based.....and my brain freaks out when it sees numbers.

Eight: There a several events in the near future that promise to be fun and relaxing.
This weekend, a cookout with my mom's side of the family. That means tons of food, good wine, and laughter. Also, my friend Megan will be in town for a few weeks before she moves to Chicago to start her job as a PT!
Next weekend is my birthday, so I'm excited for whatever I do with Eric (I asked to go out to dinner all dressed up) and with my parents. Dad is also having a family reunion, so I'll go to that for a bit and probably recognize a lot of faces I can't put names to.
The following weekend will be a birthday party with friends (well, I'm still planning it, so it's not official yet).
And the weekend after that is slated to be the Summer Beer Olympics, which are hilarious, stressful, and memorable.

I can't wait for the weekend!!!!! Why do I still have to endure Friday!??
(hmm. My boss just called a "mega-meeting" for tomorrow from lunch until whenever. He's buying food and beers, which is awesome. We're going to be talking about what he wants each of us to do in the lab and how to go about it. But the idea of a mega meeting is still intimidating...)

Have a safe and happy Fourth of July!!!!!!,

Speech. Cleaning. Drinks. Disney.

This is how my day unfolded yesterday.
1) Give my first departmental seminar on my own lab work.
2) Clean the apartment with my roommate.
3) Dinner (either fondue or Hot Head Burritos) and large, tasty alcoholic beverage(s) with my roommate while we...
4) Watch a Disney movie!

Not a bad day, eh?

I've been working the past two weeks on creating my seminar presentation. It was the first time I'd talked about any of my lab work outside of the comfort and safety of my lab mates and boss. So I had to figure out what background info to present and how to arrange it to make my data make sense and sound important. Plus I felt very self-conscious and a little ashamed that I have so little data of my very own. Because I spent a year doing the qualifier, I did NOT spend a year in the lab; that lost time definitely reduced the amount of data I generated. I've been plugging away at the short-term project my boss gave me in January and I've generated data...just not that much. Honestly, I've performed the experiment about 40 times. But I only have 3 different results to talk about (because I used 3 different combinations of proteins, so the results were distinctly different from each other). The remaining 37 times I performed the experiment are repetitions of those 3 combinations and that's not something I'm going to talk about ("...so I've done the experiment 40 times but I still haven't perfected it and can only show you these non-statistically significant results...")

Thankfully, I have a excellent boss and wonderful coworkers who sat through a rough practice presentation last week (sorry!) and they gave me incredible and detailed feedback that helped so much. Basically, they re-ordered my presentation so that it made more sense when I told "the story" (it's funny, we scientists like to tell a story with our work--here's the background and why it's important, here is what was previously done, and here's what I did plus what it means and what I am going to do in the future, the end). They also gave me an very good idea of what to say when I showed my data. I feel like they essentially made my presentation for me. And I really appreciated it, because my seminar went really well. There were a few questions from professors that I couldn't answer; technical details about the technique I didn't know or a question I thought I'd answered but apparently not clearly enough for the professor. Overall, though, it went well and I was relatively satisfied.

With the seminar out of the way, I putzed around work for a few hours. I think I did one thing in the lab that took about 20 minutes. Not a very productive day's work! I hit the gym (two days in a row! woot!), then headed home to hang out and celebrate with my roommate Kayleigh. She'd also given her seminar in front of the department today and she'd been really stressed about it because despite 2+ years of long hours and work, she doesn't have much data either. Her project just doesn't seem to work with any technique, even if it is a technique used by another lab in a published paper that did work. She's thoroughly frustrated (and I completely understand this, because I feel that way often) and her boss has promised to give her a new project by the end of the summer, since nothing seems to be working despite their best efforts. Kayleigh gave a fantastic seminar and answered her plethora of questions well. Both of us were exhausted and ready to relax!

So what did we do to relax? Well....we, like the crazy, out of control party people we are (ha, not!), cleaned the apartment. Betcha didn't see that one coming! With all the recent heat and humidity, mold has sprung up in the bathroom and kitchen, so we tackled those with bleach and scrubbing. Our vacuum cleaner also decided to sound like it was going to explode or at least burst into flames. There's just something about loud clunking noises followed by the smell of something burning and a high-pitched whirring that makes you vacuum the remaining area very quickly and with an eye on the vacuum for flames. Sigh. Oh well, the place was cleaned and smelled lovely, thanks to some new Bath and Body Works candles (strawberry patch and fresh picked cherries!)

We then debated whether to have our favorite fondue for dinner, with toasted baguette slices and steamed cauliflower, or to splurge on delicious Hot Head Burritos. We chose burritos. I've only been there twice, but both times, the burrito has been so amazingly tasty and succulent and spicy....mmmm!!! I guiltily admit I haven't participated in our standard Chipotle Fridays the last few weeks because a Chipotle burrito just doesn't sound nearly as tasty as a Hot Head burrito. Oh, I feel like such a sleaze for not liking Chipotle the most! It's like I'm cheating on them...

With burritos in hand, we each grabbed a chilled adult beverage. I'd recently made a trip to the liquor store for some creme de menthe to make grasshopper brownies and I'd bought a mini bottle of the St Germain elderflower liquor. The bottle is so beautiful and I'd wanted to test a cocktail I'd seen a recipe for, combining vodka, St Germain, and tonic water. Oh man, it was wonderful! Refreshing, light, fizzy. Perfect!

So now we have our seminars done, a clean apartment, delicious dinner, relaxing drinks...what else could we do to make the night a celebration? We could watch a Disney movie and sing along! So we did. We popped Mulan into Kayleigh's recently acquired VCR (yeah, we can watch all the Disney movies we don't have on DVD because they're all so expensive), chowed down on our burritos, and sipped our drinks. When the song "I'll Make A Man Out Of You" came on, we both sang along loudly.

It was perfect.

Mommy, Look What I Did!!!!!!!

So I felt like that last night.

It wasn't a perfectly colored picture from my Scooby Doo coloring book. Yes, I have a Scooby Doo coloring book and crayons in my apartment. And,yes, I am almost 26 years old. Don't judge. Coloring is fun and relaxing (except for when you don't have the color crayon you want).

I didn't learn how to do a backflip. I didn't make a horrible mess. I didn't paint or color onto the walls (though I'd love to add some fun to the monotonous apartment beige).

Instead, I made dinner. And it was awesome!

The fact that I made food is really unremarkable. I cook. A lot. And I love cooking. I've actually been deeply interested in all things cooking (as long as it doesn't involve fish) since I was 9 years old. That's when I started watching the Food Network, seeing Emeril before he started his catchphrase "BAM!". These fine Food Network chefs introduced me to an entirely new and beautiful world, where I could take simple, individual ingredients and magically combine them together to create a fantastic dish. This food that I made could evoke memories of the past or transport me to another continent. All with food! It was a revelation and quickly became an obsession. I watched Food Network non-stop. I printed out recipes from that new-fangled interweb thingy (seriously, it's when it started becoming an everyday thing in our lives). [Side note: you'd be impressed by how far Food Network's website has come. I stumbled across some of the original recipes I printed out and they're about 3 pages long, in a hard to read format. Now, most recipes are one page and formatted for easy viewing.]

And my love of cooking has continued to this day. If you visited my apartment, you'd find a floor to ceiling cabinet full of dry food and industrial metal shelving holding all types of cookware. My roommate even asked if she could have my extensive spice collection in the event of an accident. :) I'd be okay with that; she'd take excellent care of my precious herbs & spices. My mom and my Aunt Norma and Uncle Rick foster my passion with gifts of cookbooks, interesting ingredients, or new items of cookware. I secretly desire to be the next Alton Brown, combining science and cooking in fun and memorable ways. That's my dream job. Oh, wait, my other dream job is to have my own brewery or winery, complete with cafe. See, both dream jobs revolve around food. I love food.

So why was the dinner I made last night so impressive to myself?
Because it was one of my first few forays into the realm of Indian cooking.
Because I made it WITHOUT following any recipe. (Most of my cooking - not baking - doesn't follow recipes. But I don't think I'd feel confident in trying Indian cooking without a guiding recipe.)
Because it was so incredibly delicious, which is not the way I've felt about the last dozen dishes I've made using beans. Yay!

I know, you're positively bursting with curiousity, right?
I made "Punjab chickpeas" - so chickpeas cooked with spices and onions in a tomato sauce. Here's what I did:

Saute diced onion in olive oil for a few minutes, then add garlic & ginger. Immediately add spices (garam masala, cayenne pepper, curry powder) and stir to coat onions. When you start coughing from the heated capsaicin entering your airways (or maybe just before this happens....I wasn't quick enough!), dump in a can of rinsed chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans) and a can of fire roasted tomatoes. Stir to combine. Make about 2 cups of chicken stock from that fantastic Better than Bullion jar, though I usually make mine a little stronger than they suggest. Add the chicken stock and stir to combine. Reduce until the tomato sauce is thick, but not as thick as a paste. Turn off the heat, add a hefty dash of apple cider vinegar for zing. Serve over leftover basmati rice. (Sorry there isn't a picture of my lovely dish. I didn't have my camera in my apartment.)

I was so darn proud of myself, because it was cooked perfectly. The chickpeas weren't too hard or too crumbly. The tomato sauce was reduced so that it was thick but not dry. The spices were just right, adding flavor and heat without any one element overwhelming the flavor. And it was delicious!

I wrote my roommate a note that she had to try this whenever she had a chance. She has an addiction to hummus and most things chickpea, so I thought this would be right up her alley. Hopefully she is as pleased as I was!

My success here makes me want to test out the dozens of other recipes I have my eye on...right now!

A Happy Tired

Hello! I hope you like the updated look of my humble little blog! I've been wanting to change the background and spiff it up for awhile, but I haven't because - I admit this is pathetic - I was afraid the background watercolor I loved so much would disappear from my options. I figured, what's the point of having all these lovely options if you never take advantage of them? And I made the change! I also was overexcited by seeing my best friend Moe's blog awesome new look :) As usual, she inspires me.

Well, I'm exhausted and just dragging. I'm near the end of my workday, but that's mainly because I decided to push a few items off until tomorrow. (Oops! I'm still striving to be a better worker...) Why am I so tired, you ask? Because my weekend was awesome! Here's the highlights:

Friday night, Eric was still out of town (at his brother's graduation from NYU with his MBA), so I went to the outlet mall en route to Dayton. My mom joined me for awhile, then we made the remaining trip home, where we had dinner with my dad at a tasty Mexican restaurant. I ordered carnitas and they were so deliciously tender, falling apart at the slightest touch from my fork. And they came with a spicy yet refreshing tomatillo salsa. Mmmm! I stuffed myself then flipped through a few magazines before bed. Since I usually spend my weekends at Eric's apartment, it was strange to sleep at home, in my small, uncomfortable bed. Plus I'd forgotten just how loud my parents leave the tv's when they fall asleep. Oof.

Saturday, I putzed around in the morning, even sitting outside in the glorious sunlight with my book, and just as I was about to get a shower before getting Eric from the airport, my relatives from Kentucky stop by. They were in town because my uncle and my cousin are making custom cabinets for my other aunt and uncle's remodeled kitchen (it's going to be incredible, a dream kitchen). So I hung out with them for a bit, had a rushed shower, and picked Eric up from the airport. For the first time ever, there was an airport security fellow who walked up and down the curb outside the doors to the airport, telling people they were not allowed to be stopped at the curb unless their party was visible outside. Um, okay, whatever. I made 5 circuits of the airport, all at an excruciating 15 mph. Actually the slow speed made it hilarious when other cars were also circling - a parody of a car race, all of us jockeying for position in slow motion. Ha!

For the remainder of Saturday, Eric and I just relaxed. He even napped, despite his aversion to calling it a nap. Silly! We made a rather fabulous dinner on the grill - barbecued chicken breast, oven roasted potatoes & onions, and - wait for it! - cornbread! Mmmm! Sadly, the cornbread tasted a bit soapy. I wasn't sure if the mix had gone a bit rancid or if it was just some off-tasting wheat flour (my first few bites of wheat flour products often taste soapy). Regardless, I ate more than a few pieces of that cornbread over the next few days! Manning came over, we played Wii Bowling, and called it a night early on.

Sunday, I helped Eric prepare the store for a running form clinic. It was one of the first major, non-school associated events he's held in the store, and he said it went really well. There are even videos and pictures of people at the clinic on their Fbook page.

Sunday night, Eric and I trekked to Columbus for Rock on the Range, a two-day rock festival held in Columbus Crew Stadium. This event marked the first time A Perfect Circle performed live in several years. A Perfect Circle is a musical collaboration between several top artists, but what brought Eric, and in turn myself, to the band was the singer - James Maynard Keenan. He's the singer for Tool and for his more recent project, Puscifer. All three acts have tremendously different and incredibly awesome sounds. We've also seen Tool and Puscifer in the past 2 years, so we were awfully psyched for the chance to see A Perfect Circle! After enduring a band neither of us really cared for and a 40 minute stage change...A Perfect Circle came on. Ohhhhh man, I was so excited! Oddly, though, A Perfect Circle didn't allow the jumbotron screens to show their performance. Nor did they have any visual elements other than a backdrop banner (their circular logo in black on a plain banner), various colored lights, and a little bit of smoke. It's an enormous departure from the stunning visual elements of Tool and Puscifer. I was disappointed...then I realized I was so focused on the band, straining to see Maynard's outline (he doesn't like to be front and center like most singers. he typically hangs out in a back corner. but even his stance his so compelling, you're focused in on him without trying) or watching Josh Freese, the drummer, swing his arms high overhead, almost like Animal from The Muppets. It didn't matter that they didn't have movies and theatrics - they were there, they were performing, and it was awesome. So many people left during the early part of their show; obviously other people didn't feel the way I did. Probably because they hadn't come to Rock on the Range specifically for A Perfect Circle. Probably because the other bands used all sorts of visual elements - movies/images on huge screens, playing on the jumbotron screens, even shooting bursts of fire (ooo! aaaa!). Those people didn't know what they were missing! After the show, Eric performed magic. We made it out of the parking lot in about 5 minutes and were on the highway within 10 minutes. Seriously, that's magic!

With the late show in Columbus, I'd decided to take Monday morning off. I had intended to go into work in the afternoon, but, upon hearing that the owner of Red Carpet had saved us 3 spots for Monday night's special event (an extremely popular singer who could imitate numerous other artists, like Elvis or Frank Sinatra), I decided to take the whole day off. Wooooo! Sweet, sweet freedom! I spent most of the day baking things I hadn't had the chance to make last week, and spent a little bit of time outside in the sun (I have a very lobster-ish coloring to my chest, stomach and arms!). Then we fell into our usual Monday night routine - pick up Manning, go to Red Carpet, and quickly put in an order for wings and tall mugs of ice cold PBR. Mmmm! Life is good! The owner had reserved our seats with 3 nametags that all said "PBR". Apparently, we're known as PBR. And I like it! Just as the singer started his second song, the power in the entire bar went out! Severe winds and thunderstorms were sweeping across the area, remnants of the horrible storms that had caused tornadoes in Missouri earlier. The singer, who was blind, immediately quipped "Now you know what I feel like!" Ah! Hilarious and somewhat scandalous. Obviously he was comfortable with his blindness, because he kept making jokes. Let me tell you, I was so glad we had so many people in the bar with us, more than the average Monday night. Tea candles were set around the bar and the taps still worked, so we drank our PBR by candlelight in companionable darkness. :) A rare experience, but an awesome one! After 30 minutes, the power returned and the night went on. We were there until 12:30! Ah, way too late for this girl, who has to wake up at 6am to make it back to Cincy before traffic gets too crazy. It wasn't too late, though, to give Eric a surprise - I'd found cupcakes at DLM with Batman decorations! He was so excited and we both fell asleep quickly, full of PBR and happiness.

So I'm tired today, but it was from such a good weekend, I won't even think of complaining about my tiredness!

I'm Trying to Lure Spring Back to Ohio

Is it spring?

Last week, I thought it was. Plenty of sun, some breezes, bright blue skies with puffy white clouds scudding across, brilliantly green grass, a full complement of verdant green leaves on trees, little poofballs of baby ducks and geese crossing the street en route to the pond, and bursts of rain. Spring was here! And especially welcome after a particularly chilly spell the previous week.

I think Spring went a little overboard, though. The humidity shot up, so that even draped in front of a fan, I was still sweating...without even moving. Blurgh. But far more welcome than any winter weather behavior. The rain bursts morphed into monsoon season, and several days went by under entirely gray and wet skies. Blurgh again. What was Spring doing??? It's supposed to be mild, warm and sunny with a little bit of rain. Definitely not this.

Spring must have gone off to sulk, because winter came back with a vengeance. The low temps felt even colder after those few days of sun and warmth and even humidity. No sun, just rain and gray skies and oh-so-cold temps all day and night. I became a human popsicle. We don't control heat in our apartment, and it had been turned off for the year, so our apartment felt like an igloo. Probably colder. Our heater (aka the gas oven) barely helped. This was NOT spring!

The dramatic changes in season have wrecked havoc on my appetite. I'm craving my warm weather foods - fruits and vegetables at their peak, herbs, ice cream. Okay, I crave ice cream regardless of season. (speaking of ice cream, Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams has a new seasonal set out, called Ohio Loves You. I can't wait to try the Rockmill Ale + Apricots and the Rhubarb + Lime Cardamom!) I'd even filled planters with basic herbs - cilantro (for salsa and thai), mint (for fruit and thai and, if I feel brave, peas and pasta), basil (for tomatoes and thai)as well as a mini tomato plant (salsa and bruschetta) and a jalapeno plant (salsa again). Cold weather changed my tastes back to ooey-gooey cheesey dishes.

Today it's a tiny bit warmer and, at this moment, there is no rain. It's almost sunny (just get out from behind those clouds, sun!). I think Spring is returning. And hopefully it's here to stay. Because I want my herbs and fruits and veggies. I want my sun and my warmth back. I don't want to be a popsicle anymore!

To celebrate the possible return of Spring, I am making a new cookie tonight: Strawberry Shortcake Cookies from the magnificent Martha Stewart. They incorporate fresh strawberries and cream together, along with some of the fantastic and highly addictive crunchy sugar crystals on top. Mmmm! I also have a strong desire to make another batch of Alton Brown's Peach and Rhubarb Cobbler. There's tons of lime zest in the biscuit part and it just sings Spring in your mouth... And to really make my point, I'll be enjoying Rivertown Brewery's Spring Wit Beer - orange, coriander, and unfiltered wheat beer. Ahhh, perfection. Come back Spring, I'm making all your favorites!

But why is all the rum gone????

The name of this blog is Hops, in reference to hopping through the ups and downs of life. We hop from one thing to the next. We hop up hills and down hills. And as you've heard, I don't like running...so I'll hop along (ha!)

Okay, to be honest, I did have something along this train of thought in mind when I named my blog. Something about the ups and downs of life. But I also wanted to be light-hearted and simple. The word popped in to my head and stuck.

I also had a vague notion of talking fairly regularly about beer. Or wine. Or cocktails. Whatever drink struck my fancy. This was also around the time I was contemplating becoming a homebrewer of beer. My coworkers and I brew beer, and I'd really enjoyed it. I wanted to develop a new hobby or two and thought homebrewing was an excellent choice - I could brew AND drink AND share my brew! Fun all around! Sadly, I never purchased the requisite equipment and I'm still looking for a place I'm allowed to brew and ferment. Maybe one day I'll find it.

So the name Hops came from a philosophical approach to life and a desire to talk about beer.

And you know what? I haven't talked about beer!

So here's a few fun facts about me and beer...
*When I first began drinking, beer was not all that tasty to me. I preferred the highly carbonated and highly sugared Smirnoff Ice Triple Black (absolutely disgusting to me now) or a mixed drink (coke and vodka or rum). Before long, though, I actually began to like beer. Now I love beer. And my appreciation for different flavors of beer is constantly improving - for example, I didn't like IPAs or other hoppy beers when I initially acquired a taste for beer (cite: the inability to drink a single bottle of Stone's Arrogant Bastard between Moe and I, despite much determination to do so!)....but now I do!

*I love trying new brands and new types of beer. Especially if it's made by one of my favorite breweries (My roommate Kayleigh realized she and I continually buy different types of beer from our favorite breweries much more than other breweries. She loves Brooklyn Brewery, I love Dogfish Head, Bells, and, more recently, Rivertown Brewing Co. from Cincinnati). Sometimes I discover an awesome flavor. Other times....well, it takes awhile to drink them. On a very rare occasion, I have given my beer to someone else to finish for me or - the horror! - have thrown it out (I recall a particularly bad batch of Brooklyn Brewery's Black Imperial Stout. It was flat and metallic and absolutely abhorrent).

*Brewing is a ton of fun. Similar to cooking and baking, I really enjoy making something I can enjoy and I can share with others. It's like my personal form of magic :) Except I don't think we've brewed any beer that is magically delicious....but we might! Don't give up hope yet!

*I am NOT a beer snob, despite what Eric says. I will drink and, more importantly, enjoy and crave an icy cold PBR. I will try different beers, though, and get excited about some of them. It's not my fault if some of them are microbrews and more expensive. :) Seriously, though, I do enjoy all types of beer - microbrew, homebrew, national brewery, international...


Now, to talk about beer I've been drinking...

Yuengling Lager: Oh, the sweet glory of Yuengling! Our recent trip to Tennessee afforded Eric and I the opportunity to purchase some Yuengling and smuggle it back into Ohio, where it isn't available. I savor each and every can (sorry, I bought cans because I could get more cans for the buck), holding a mini-debate in my head to decide if the day or meal is worthy of the Yuengling. It's so perfect for summer and fall....but I'd drink it anytime! Amber colored, light, crisp, but a distinct flavor, compared to traditional American lagers like Bud Light. Add in the fact that its not available in Ohio and you understand the obsession I share with hundreds, if not thousands, of Ohioans. Rumor is that Yuengling may be sold in Ohio by 2012!!!! Of course, variants of this rumor have existed for years, but apparently there are actual news stories supporting the credibility of this momentous occasion. I can't wait! Hopefully my love for Yuengling doesn't diminish with increased availability.

Rivertown Brewery, Wit Ale: Rivertown is a local Cincy brewery (apparently we have a rich tradition - Morlein, Hudepohl, now Rivertown) that I only began seeing in stores within the last year. I tried their Brown Ale last fall and enjoyed it. So I tried their Winter Ale and loved it (which did not seem to be the shared opinion. Most people did not like it because of the strong molasses and cinnamon flavor. I think it's perfect for a winter ale.). Then I bought the sampler pack and am working my way through it (Hefewizen was too sour for my taste, but the Hop Bomber was a marvelously balanced hop and ale flavor...mmm!) Anyway, the Wit Ale is a Belgian-style white ale with orange and coriander. It made me think of Sam Adams similar type (sorry, I can't be sure of the name, but I know they have one). It's got a little heft/body to it, but not too much. That in addition to the citrus flavor make it an excellent spring beer. I think it'd be a little heavy in my stomach during the hot summer months.

21st Amendment Brewery, Bitter American: Let me tell you, I am in love with 21st Amendment brewery! I thought they could do no wrong...until I had their Fireside Chat winter ale (not my favorite...it was donated to a fellow beer aficionado). Aside from that one beer, I have thoroughly enjoyed anything else they produced. I'm incredibly eager for their summer beer (Watermelon Wheat) to come out - it's PERFECT! The Bitter American is one of their short term offerings, available for only a few weeks. It's a twist on an American Pale Ale, so its hoppy. But it also has more spices and malt than typical APA, so it has a distinctively different taste. Not spicy, not sweet, not hoppy...but a refreshing blend of all three things. It's got a little more body/heft than the Rivertown Wit Ale and I'd say it's more body than the typical APA, but it remains lighter than a dark beer. It's another good spring beer.

When I've sampled some new beers, I'll let you know! Don't say I haven't written about beer!

Oh, and as a clever ending... Bottoms Up! ;)