Wintertime Funtime

Stephanie the Body Zanati journeyed through a crazy blizzard to visit us last weekend! She came bearing gifts! You guessed it: a delicious cheese ball from Current Cuisine in Yellow Springs! Not jealous yet? Just wait, you will be. That's right, she also made your favorite and mine, matzo ball soup!!!! One of my absolute top 2 in soups (and that should mean a lot if you know how much I love soup)!! Here she is, matzo ballin' it up!



Mmmmmmmm, matzo balls...

If you're not salivating now, you're just crazy and we should probably have a serious talk if our friendship is going to continue...

Don't forget, this entry is called Wintertime Funtime, and no wintertime funtime is complete without making gingerbreah houses from scratch! We went to the candy store and bought oodles of confections, then returned, baked up our gingerbread and created our, ahem, masterpieces... It was harder than we thought it would be, okay?! I couldn't get a roof to stand up so I made a gingerbread trailer. Stephanie decided to do away with the whole 3-D aspect altogether! Anyway, here's my trailer, complete with Necco roofing, taffy windows, cowtail pillars, an Andes mints yard, a chocolate marshmallow tree, and a Nerds-filled walkway.

Here are all three of our creations together. Stephanie's is in the middle and Amanda's little woodland cottage is on the right! I'd definitely be neighbors to these two ladies!

More funtime to come this week, as we are to be visited by two more holiday spirits... The ghost of Allie Manker tomorrow and the ghost of Jesse Varga on Friday! Then I head home for the holidays next week!

Feasty Roast Beasty (Thanksgiving and beyond...)

So, I believe I left off with the fabulous Spain reunion party. Next up: Thanksgiving! Dora graced us with her presence and made up the most fabulous Bulgarian dish, banitza, which is made with layers of filo dough, eggs, and feta cheese. We snacked our way through it all day before the big feast at dinner. YUM!


We certainly had a lot to be thankful for this year! Among MANY other things, I am very thankful this year for my amazing friends. I'm convinced that nobody has friends who are as wonderful as mine. They make me laugh, are generous, thoughtful, kind, and are always there when I need them. Food-wise, we had A LOT!

I made a little pumpkin pie.

Clockwise from left: croissant, fake turkey with gravy, stuffing, broccoli casserole, banitza, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, maple glazed brussels sprouts and black olives. (There was also turkey and cranberry jelly. Yeesh!) Two words: Food. Coma.

Mandarin and T-dizzle (aka Mandy and Trevor) came to town. Here is our sweet family portrait.

Speaking of family portrait... This is what happens when Hope and I hang out together. Haha. My sentiments exactly.

I made some animal costume stuff for our winter exhibit at the Nature Center. Kids are supposed to put on the costume pieces and then walk or move like that specific animal. Here is one of the deer hooves. I also made squirrel tails, mouse tails and rabbit tails.

We had a big volunteer holiday party at CNC. At the end we split up into groups and the volunteers dressed up a staff member to represent a winter solstice spirit. They also wrote a story or song to go along. I was the spirit of snow or something... Can't quite remember.

Here are all of us dressed up... Pretty ridiculous. I must say, I think a good time was had by all. :)

Timmy came to visit! He, Amanda and I went to Cafe Mediterranean to get some falafel. We had never been before and it was so hilarious- the guy came by and put our napkins on our laps! HAAAHAHAHAHA! Swanky...

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! Ah yes, Amanda and I revisited the wigea that we built months ago.

Hiking around with Timmy. I heart winter!

And the beat goes on...

Weeks are flying by. The end of November is drawing near. The good times just keep on coming! Amanda's birthday was right after we got back from Chicago. The whole gang got together at work to celebrate! Doesn't she look festive in her party hat! Jason's just jealous, obviously!



We also went out for dinner at Andy's Mediterranean Grill. It was delightful. Hummus and falafel abounded. Olive oil flowed like a river, and the tabouli was divine! Andy himself came out to sing happy birthday, and brought Amanda "the world's best creampuff." Apparently it was not, but it's the thought that counts, right?

Jason's birthday happened to be a few days after Amanda's, so we wanted to celebrate in style. We decorated his office accordingly.

Our last school group for the season was on Wednesday, so now we have time to work on other projects. Like going on epic hikes. Like I said, it's a rough life. While hiking, we happened upon the following: a pecan tree tracked down with GPS coordinates, abandoned camp cabins, an old barn and a rusty milking parlor, a letterbox cache, a beautiful old stone house with slate shingles, and a poop tree (see below). Yep, that's a lot of poop.

Let it be known: Amanda's favorite tree is the American Beech! (Mine is the Sycamore!)

Jesse finally came to visit! We played a swashbuckling boardgame about pirates, had cocktails at MJ's on Main, had mass amounts of brunch the next morning at First Watch, and went on a hike at the Nature Center. Four friends who began at the Glen- standing by the lake. :) He also taught me how to play Magic. Haha. I'm certainly not very good.

Now I'm home in Springfield for Thanksgiving. We had a Spain reunion party in Decatur! Everyone brought tapas and sangria, and we onjoyed slideshows of pictures that people took. It was nice to relive the memories. Charlene couldn't come (although she sent great tapas and sangria with Rod), and Tom and Heather didn't make it, but everyone else showed up! Rod, Eve, AG, Dad, Aunt Kathy, Carol, Patrick, Mom, Hope, Uncle Bert, and Pete.

Gearing up for Thanksgiving on Thursday!!!

Two Weekends in IL

Amanda and I usuall keep pretty busy, and the last 2 weeks have been no exception. We went to Illinois both of the past two weekends! The Friday before Halloween we had a staff costume party. Please note: Doug in the camo (tech stuff), Tom sitting down (head of maintenance), Diana in the bear hat (director's admin asst), Janice as Martha Stewart- she had gardening tools, baking supplies and handcuffs, haha (gift shop), me as corn on the cob, Bill as... some kind of Asian guy with a long mustache? (head naturalist- has worked here for 37 years), Jon as a guy from the '50s (outdoor play specialist), Amanda as a sweet dragonfly (wifey), Kim as a fox (front desk naturalist), and Sarah as a butterfly (volunteer coordinator). I put their work titles for some of you who hear about these people but didn't have a face to put with a name... I guess this didn't help all that much... :)


Headed home to Springfield Friday night, and dressed up for Halloween Saturday night. Although unplanned, Hope's costume went perfectly with mine!

Went out with the rest of the gang! Alex and Megan went as... I forget. Some sassy characters from Greece, I think. Nicole was a ladybug and Missy was an alien. :) At midnight we went to the Rocky Horror Picture Show, live at the Hoogland! It was great!

Aaaaaaaand then a week passed. That week was filled to the brim with activites such as clay class and going to Rocky Horror (again) with everyone from work. That was slightly awkward. Haha. Thhhhhen on Friday we took off work and went to Chicago! It was awesome! After braving all the traffic we headed straight to get some pretzel bread, or bretzel, sandwiches at Hahhah's Bretzels. Possibly the most delicious sandwich I've ever had. Mine had marinated portabellas and red peppers, goat cheese, arugula, and rosemary infused asparagus. Dee-lic-ious! I'm not sure what was on Amanda's, but you can see she's enjoing it!

We got to go to a Ben Folds concert unexpectedly with Maria. Look, I am so close his sweat is almost getting on me and I could see his little sneakers. Gross. It was good times, although I haven't listen to Ben Folds since high school, so I only knew 2 songs.

After a night of celebrating and zipping around on the L, we got up the next morning to enjoy some fabulous weather and some Whole Foods. This Whole Foods on N. Halsted is phenomenal. We had some gelato and perused allllll of the merchandise. Cheeses and olives galore. There were even a bunch of little baby octopi. I couldn't look away from their minute tentacles. Amazingly, I excited the store having bought only some gelato and shampoo... (I sadly left the giant wheel of parmesan cheese behind...)

Met up with Maria and Jenni at the Chicago Diner, a fine vegtarian establishment. I had been waiting to go there for weeks!!! Our lunch was wonderful, and the clear winner was, surprisingly, those little brown strips- which were the best "chicken wings" I've ever tasted. Try them. Immediately.

Sooooo we were going to go to the Second City, but they were sold out. Amanda and I compensated by getting deep dish pizza at Giordano's and then going out for fancy cocktails at the Gage, pinkies held high all night. You know, because we're swanky and stuff.

OMGGGGGGGGG! The next morning we walked to the Field Museum and nerded out for hours!! We still only got to see a small portion of the ehxibits we wanted to check out. Oh well, I guess we'll have to plan another vacation!

At the Nature Center we do a skit for the students where Amanda and I just went back in time in our time machine... and we found backgrounds of both of the time periods we go to! Picture time!! Here's me swimming in the Ordovician Sea. (Or Silurian, close enough.) I mostly just cared that I was swimming next to a giant trilobite, the Ohio state fossil. Woo!

Soooo cold during the ice age! Mammoths and saber tooths and sloths, oh my!

Oh heeeeey Charles Darwin. According to the chocolate festival we went to a few months ago, you're in hell. For using the e-word.

We went to the most amazing tapas restaurant- Ba Ba Reeba! We stuffed ourselves silly and proceeded to drive back to Ohio. Certainly one of the best weekends ever.

Pranks and more pranks!

Okay, so didn't get as much done last weekend as I had hoped. Got a little bit done on the application and not much more on the costume... But Saturday morning I had to help some people who ran out of gas on my road, and as a reward I treated myself to a cupcake. There is a rival cupcakery to the one I went to with Mom and Dad, so I tried that one. Also delicious, as it turns out. Peanut butter & jelly and white chocolate raspberry are tasty delights.


Then headed to Yellow Springs to meet up with the gang. We hung out at Ye Olde Gulch and celebrated my friend Ingrid (left) taking the GRE and Stephanie (middle) being awesome.

Monday morning Amanda and I pranked Jason! We bought a computer mouse at Goodwill and set it in jello, then replaced the mouse in his office with this jello-y one. I could not keep a straight face. He was trying to figure out who did it, and told me to look at him. I told him that it was impossible for me to look at him at that time... Enough said.

Our friend Aly's boyfriend Nate stopped by. He showed us his whisker biscuit... on the bow... Who knew?

We did some exploring in the attic! Snakeskins abound. I say, make yourselves comfortable. Eat some mice, even...

This morning was rough at work. Amanda and I had to go on a delightful hike in beautiful weather... Sigh. Life is just hard sometimes. This is a tough job, but clearly someone has to do it... You're welcome. We were on a mission, checking geocaching sites, searching for scat & other animal signs for the winter exhibits, and looking for kingnut hickory nuts. Dee-light-fulllllll!

I decided I'd try to walk out on this log, because Amanda did it and it looked so easy... Bad choice. This is a picture of me actually frozen a few feet in. I couldn't even turn my head back to look while Amanda snapped the shot. She had to walk out there and come get me. Ridiculous.

Score! Found the shellbark hickory and all its tasty nutmeats!

This little bro was hippity hopping around. Amanda heard him scooting around in the crunchy leaves.

Aaaaaaaand while Amanda and I were out hiking around... Jason was busy getting me back for Monday's prank. I came into my office to find my keyboard broken in half! AHHH! He got me. Well played, sir.

Finally finished my costume tonight and can't wait to get corny in Springfield this weekend!

Date Night

Whew! What a week! Glad it's finally the weekend. We had 5th graders all week and they were pretty sassy, but luckily my group on Friday was awesome so I ended on a high note. Always nice to begin a weekend on a high note. I have grand plans for the weekend to actually get some stuff done... I'll post an update later to see what actually goes down. Grand plans include: working on grad school application, finishing Halloween costume (see below for progress), carving a pumpkin, making jelly, laundry, tidying my room, part one of baking a cushaw pie, working on clay projects... But I'll be lucky if I get 1 or 2 of those things done, because I have serious plans to rock out with Stephanie Zanati later today!

Anyway, I was in working on some projects at the clay studio and Missy, my instructor, gave me a bunch of green tomatoes. I figured it was high time I tried some fried green tomatoes, what with how much I love the movie and all. So I fried some up. Here are the result. (We decided they were better with ranch.)



Working away, slowly but surely, on my Halloween costume. The sewing maching broke so it is much slower going than originally expected. Can you guess what the costume is? Did I say it in an earlier post? Who could say?

Yesterday after work Amanda and I got our fall on! We went to an orchard and picked up some apple cider, and then we went to a pumpkin patch! I hope I make time to carve it this weekend!

After we left ye olde pumpkin patch, we were trying to find a cupcakery so we could compare it with the other cupcakery in Milford, an accidentally made an illegal turn in front of a cop. The funny part was that we saw the no-turn sign and had just been talking about how we didn't know why you couldn't turn at the next street up... But, it was really for where we were turning. Ooooops. So of course the copper turned on his lights... but he was pretty nice about it, told me welcome to the neighborhood, and gave me the directions to the cupcakery. Haha. We did find the cupcakery, and went in, and they had just sold out of cupcakes 15 minutes earlier. Oh well. Maybe I'll find time to try it this weekend.

Date time! Amanda and I have been wanting to go to this Japanese restaurant, Ichiban, for quite sometime. http://www.ichibancinci.com/ It was wonderful! We got some fancy cocktails: Amanda had a pomegranate martini, and I had a cucumber mint martini. We went for the sushi, but also got some fried tofu and Amanda had some little duck skewers. :) Yum!

Aaaaaaaaanyway, I simply must get to work....... Have a good weekend!!

Megaloo comes to town

You heard it right, folks! One of my friends finally made the long trek out here to Ohio to visit. Megan arrived with bells on in the evening on Friday. We had a gay old time! We hit up the Hofbräuhaus for some delicious fried pickles and then gossiped and girl-talked late into the night! Saturday we ventured to Yellow Springs to see some friends and explore at Glen Helen. We went on a hike with Stephanie (see below) to the rare springs, the yellow springs, way down in Glen Helen, oh! It was, possibly, weather-wise, the best day ever in life (once again, see pic below). Saturday night we gathered up the gang and headed to Mr. Lee's for some delicious sushi! Shenanigans ensued as a kid projectile vomited all over the floor right behing my chair, our waitress almost barfed, a man played a saxaphone for us and honked my nose, Jess made me tell the story about when I got water down the wrong pipe and tried not to cough and ended up making an absurd noise (involuntarily), and then the sax player mournfully played Taps for the bachelorette party at the table next to us... Good times were had by all. Then it was off to the Gulch for some good old reminiscing and cheap drinks. On Sunday, I begged Megan not to leave and even threatened to lock her in the basement, but she talked me out of it and made her way back to Illinois. :( But it was a great weekend!



Unfortunately, the other intern, Aurora, isn't really into environmental ed so she quit to get another job. Fortunately, we got a new intern today: Dusty Fox. As you can see, he was already hard at work with the old highlighter. We expect a lot of good things from him.

Today was Amanda's last baking class. :( She brought home a snazzy chocolate cake with blackberry filling. She decorated it herself!! It was scrumptious. I think I may have neglected to say that last week she brought home truffles and chocolate-covered strawberries! They didn't last long enough to get a picture...

Finally! I've been taking a clay class for 6 weeks and I finally got a finished product back! Check it out! An owl, sitting in a dead tree...

But that's not all! They're really salt & pepper shakers! Weeehoohooo! So cute.

I have a whole bunch of other ceramic projects that I'm finishing up, but I was so glad to finally get this one back!! :)