232nd Day

I may not be able to see out of the window after one more trip to the library...

231st Day

Blast! Another day of food - today was sort of like roommate bonding day.

Kate, Hep, and I had the day off and we had pancakes for breakfast! 

Swice was off keeping the world running.

We gathered together at The Purple Pig after Swice got off work.  My favorite part of the meal: fried brussel sprouts {note: they were not at all what I was expecting or had pictured in my mind!}

Day 231

Dear postcards circa 1920, how should I use you in one of my crazy craft projects? Any ideas?

230th Day

Today was a day of food. 

Brunch with the boys. 

And home made pizza with the gang.

Pure gluttony. 

I'm going to have to go on a diet after this weekend of food. Ugh.

Day 230

Eating breakfast for dinner on a relaxing Sunday evening -- what could be better? Especially now that I finally made it to the store and have milk and coffee creamer.

P.S. I am extremely proud of my math skills in dividing a recipe that makes 12-18 pancakes into one that makes three! Cooking for one is more difficult than imagined.

Day 229

First official grad school acceptance letter...on the fridge. Will I be living in Bloomington, Indiana this time next year?

229th Day

For Christmas I gave Gavin a ticket to see the Chicago Bulls play the Miami Heat.  His friend Scott joined us and 23,000 other fans to watch an extremely close game. Thankfully the Bulls managed to hold off the Heat and we got to see a win!  What a fun night!

228th Day

Flowers and champagne are a fantastic house-warming gift!

Day 228 {Friday Flashback}

Grenada has been on my heart a lot recently, so I decided to flashback almost seven years to show you some photographs from the time I spent there. Being the western most island in the Windward Islands, less than 90 miles off the coast of Venezuela in the Caribbean Sea, of course it is beautiful. But the island's true beauty is in its people. This is the place where I have found the most happiness. Hopefully I'll go back soon...this summer perhaps?

227th Day

I generally begin my Monday mornings at work listening to the podcast of Saturday's episode of NPR's news quiz game show Wait, wait... don't tell me!  But! Tonight, I got to be in with the cool crowd of 500 audience members at the taping of the show at the Chase Bank auditorium in downtown Chicago.  It was honestly the most I've laughed in a good while. {Note: my co-workers usually find me sitting at my desk laughing to myself and have finally caught on that I'm just listening to Wait, wait.}  Peter Sagal was back from a cruise and Korva Coleman filled in for Carl Kassel.  Mo Rocca, Amy Dickinson, and Maz Jobrani were the panelists.  Find out when your local public radio station airs Wait, wait and tune in! It was a great show {AND you may just hear my laugh in the audience!}

Yes, I got some autographs. My roommates indulged my moment of geek. 

The adorable Amy Dickinson -
 we chatted about our mutual love of dresses.

Oh, Peter Sagal, how your awkwardness makes me laugh.

Day 227

I have a somewhat odd affinity for campaign buttons, so this was pretty much the best (after) Christmas gift ever! Thanks to Scott and his awesome dad my collection has grown by leaps and bounds and now includes buttons to represent the elusive Barry Goldwater among many others!

226th Day

Tonight I had dinner with a dear friend from camp.  The Chicago Diner is all vegetarian and totally cool.

Day 226

All of my books for class don't fit on my bookshelf, so I keep them here by my big creepy underground window. Today might just have been the best first day of school ever -- from philosophy to religion, from Sherlock Holmes to WWI -- I love them all! It's going to be a great semester for reading!

225th Day

 I awoke to a winter wonderland. I've been so wrapped up in books that completely forgot it was going to snow today!

The tundra.

Day 225

A wonderful winter afternoon on the under-utilized Wallace lawn building a snow creature complete with a banana peel hat. We had high hopes for our creature, but he turned out (more than a little) smaller than we had hoped.

224th Day

The Pike County weekly newspaper never ceases to make me smile.  Today's headline, however, was sad.  Mr. Seiler will be missed; he was quite the rabble-rouser and a very honest man. 

Day 224

I had been back at Monmouth for less than three hours when I made my first trip to the library. Then it was off to make the rounds to catch up with friends -- whether it be just hanging out in our apartments, eating Mexican food, or taking in a Fighting Scots women's basketball game. What a wonderful first day back!

223rd Day

I make a mean guacamole.

Day 223

In our house, it's Coke...never ever Pepsi.

222nd Day

I don't know what most people keep under their beds, but in my small apartment books were housed under mine.  Tonight I did some spring cleaning a bit early and sorted through my books I've acquired in three semesters of graduate courses. 

There was a second pile behind those.

Now they are in neat, orderly piles - some to sell, some to give away, some to keep, and some to use for my exams.

Day 222

Getting crafty on a Saturday night. I've been wanting to do this project forever! Tonight, I painted a canvas, cut up a vintage copy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and Mod Podge-ed it to the canvas. Here's hoping it turns out!

221st Day

 Almost exactly six months ago it was blue skies, 90 degrees and an absolutely perfect day at the beach with two of my most favorite women in the whole world.  Tonight, in spite of the unexpected snow, we three met up again for a night of food, wine, and laughter. It was a much needed gathering.

Day 221

"Then this is how you should pray:

Our Father in Heaven,

hallowed be Your name,

Your kingdom come,

Your will be done,

on earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

as we also forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." Matthew 6:9-14

I'm forgiving you.

Day 220

My sister's basketball game was so stressful...

...my mom and I had to come home and have a glass of wine.

220th Day

It is said that it took the Magi twelve days to reach the new born Jesus and his parents.

It only took Jimmy a short five minute walk from the library. 

219th Day

I'm usually more of a chocolate fan and prefer chocolate syrup, but vanilla with chocolate chips will suffice for dessert.

Day 219

It's hard to believe that I arrived in Washington, DC a year ago today. Oh, bittersweet nostalgia. I miss Dupont Circle, Eastern Market, the museums on the Mall, the Metro, movies in Chinatown, walking to class down a Nebraska Avenue lined with cherry trees, and so much more. Here's to hoping I call DC home again soon!

218th Day

One beer bottle lamp. Just for Paul's birthday. Happy Birthday to the guy with the BEST laugh around!

Day 218

Happy 115th Birthday to Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen!

Since today is the anniversary of my favorite Republican's birth, I thought I'd stop by his statue that stands just down the road from where I was born. This man's life has taught me so much over the past four years -- about politics, the 1960s, writing history, and above all, bipartisanship.

217th Day

I liked that the tree was taller than the Sears, I mean, Willis Tower.

Day 217

Four words: I love kettle corn.

Day 216

I'm nothing but a bare-footed crime novel addict.

216th Day

 I love having a roommate who loves to bake.

My first venture outdoors in 2011: shopping!

Day 215

1.1.11.

The year I've been anticipating since I can remember is finally here -- I'm going to graduate from college! And apparently today is the anniversary of Haitian independence (according to my new this-day-in-history calendar). L'Union Fait La Force!

215th Day

Day 214 {NYE}

NYE with the family at our new favorite dive on the banks of the Illinois. And yes, those are napkins taped to the walls. Awesome, awesome food though!