Walk the Line

Happy Easter! Hope you were able to celebrate with friends and family.

On Friday afternoon, my Mom flew into Providence to visit for a few days. After I picked her up, we headed to Federal Hill, an Italian neighborhood in Providence. I wanted to take her somewhere nice to eat, but there are an innate number of restaurants, which left me cluelessly as to where to start. Enter Open Table.

Open Table is a website that allows you to look at restaurant reviews, make and cancel reservations online, and earn reward points towards dining at restaurants (not sure how this works yet, but I'll figure it out). Mike, a co-worker of mine who does quite a bit of traveling, swears by Open Table. He uses it whenever he's traveling to find the best spots without doing a bunch of legwork. I guess it's similar to Trip Advisor but focuses merely on food.

After looking at the options, I chose Pane e Vino, which was also recommended by a friend. We were a little early, and it looked a little empty... I get nervous if a restaurant isn't busy on a Friday night because that usually means it isn't very good! Turns out other people just got out to eat later. We had a lovely dinner- I had Caesar salad and Mom had halibut with olive oil, garlic, and cherry tomatoes, accompanied by the Italian version of a giant tater tot. Dessert was a warm apple tart with a small (it looked like they scooped it out with a melon baller... I mean, I know our portions in America are too big, but give me a break!) bit of vanilla ice cream.

We spent all day Saturday and part of Sunday in Boston- more to come on that later. (I know, I still owe you details of my trip with my Dad to Newport.) Tonight we made homemade pepperoni pizza Roth-style (friends of mine that first introduced me to pepperoni pizza with banana peppers- yum!) and watched "Walk the Line," the movie with Reees Witherspoon and Joaquin Phonenix about Johnny Cash. I didn't really know his story, so it was pretty interesting but it was too long- 135 minutes without anything blowing up seems like forever.

Hope you have a great week! Cheers!

I Don't Want to Check My Bags

Hope you had a great weekend! I took one of my last few, precious vacation days on Friday to go home for a long weekend. Nick leaves for China on April 1st, and if I hadn't gone to see him this weekend, it would have been a total of 3 months between visits! I had such a wonderful time with my family and friends- I'm sorry if I didn't catch you! But, I have good news! I will be in Indianapolis for work for an entire week in April! Nick will be in China (boo) but that means you won't have to share me.

Over the weekend I learned how to post on my blog with my phone, so I should be able to write quick updates much more frequently. I'd better get to bed soon- I tried to sleep on the plane, but no matter what, I can never quite get comfortable. I kept bobbing my head and waking myself up (does anyone else remember watching people in class do this?! It is hilarious! Not that I ever did that...).

I bought Marsh brand sugar cookies at the grocery store this morning to share with co-workers tomorrow at a meeting. When other people go on vacation, they always bring back something fun to eat (i.e. Debbie brings bagels from NY). It's hard to do much of anything via plane, so I decided that my sugar cookies would do. However, they are now more like sugar crumbs. Some jerk moved my back after I sat down to try to make his fit. This would have been fine, except for the fact that he kept ramming it in the overhead compartment to make his ridiculously large "carry-on" bag fit (I only put this in quotes because he must have been slipping $20 bills to the attendants to let him keep his bag- no way they would have normally let this thing on board. The whole time I was thinking of Ben Stiller in Meet the Parents on his trip home, refusing to check his bag.) Oh well, I'll have to keep the cookies in my purse next time and have the strength not to eat any of them! Does anyone have any other suggestions for Indiana-only foods?

If you're not familiar with the movie Meet the Parents, here's the dialogue between Ben Stiller and the flight attendant when he is trying to shove his bag into the overhead compartment.

[Greg is trying to fit his large bag into the overhead bin]
Flight Attendant: I'm sorry, sir, you're gonna have to check that.
Greg Focker: I got it.
Flight Attendant: No, I'm sorry, that bag won't fit.
Greg Focker: No, no, I'm not - hey, I'm not checking my bag, okay?
Flight Attendant: There's no need to raise your voice, sir.
Greg Focker: I'm not raising my voice. THIS WOULD BE RAISING MY VOICE TO YOU, okay? I don't want to check my bag, okay? And, by the way, your airline? You SUCK at checking bags, okay, because I already did that once and you lost it, and then I had everything screwed up very badly for me, okay?
Flight Attendant: Well, I can assure you that your bag will be placed safely below deck with the other luggage...
Greg Focker: Oh, yeah? How do you know my bag will be safe below with the other luggage? Huh? Are you physically going to take my bag and put it beneath the plane? Are you going to go right now outside, with the guys with the earmuffs, and go put it in there?
Flight Attendant: No...
Greg Focker: No? Okay, then shut your piehole and listen to me when I say that I am FINISHED with the checking-of-the-bags CONVERSATION.

I wasn't able to find this clip from the movie 0nline quickly, but I'll add it later if I come up with it.

Kiss Me, I'm Irish!

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! Did you remember to wear green today? I can't believe I subconsiously wore a green sweater (I'm usually still half asleep when I'm getting ready for work!)- why can't I train my internal alarm clock the same way I remember holidays?

When I called Nick today, he gave me a pop quiz on the history of St. Patrick. Don't worry, I failed miserably, too. Here is the "This Day In History" for March 17, 2010 from the History Channel:

"On this day in 461 A.D., Saint Patrick, Christian missionary, bishop and apostle of Ireland, dies at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland.

Much of what is known about Patrick's legendary life comes from the Confessio, a book he wrote during his last years. Born in Great Britain, probably in Scotland, to a well-to-do Christian family of Roman citizenship, Patrick was captured and enslaved at age 16 by Irish marauders. For the next six years, he worked as a herder in Ireland, turning to a deepening religious faith for comfort. Following the counsel of a voice he heard in a dream one night, he escaped and found passage on a ship to Britain, where he was eventually reunited with his family.
According to the Confessio, in Britain Patrick had another dream, in which an individual named Victoricus gave him a letter, entitled "The Voice of the Irish." As he read it, Patrick seemed to hear the voices of Irishmen pleading him to return to their country and walk among them once more. After studying for the priesthood, Patrick was ordained a bishop. He arrived in Ireland in 433 and began preaching the Gospel, converting many thousands of Irish and building churches around the country. After 40 years of living in poverty, teaching, traveling and working tirelessly, Patrick died on March 17, 461 in Saul, where he had built his first church.

Since that time, countless legends have grown up around Patrick. Made the patron saint of Ireland, he is said to have baptized hundreds of people on a single day, and to have used a three-leaf clover--the famous shamrock--to describe the Holy Trinity. In art, he is often portrayed trampling on snakes, in accordance with the belief that he drove those reptiles out of Ireland. For thousands of years, the Irish have observed the day of Saint Patrick's death as a religious holiday, attending church in the morning and celebrating with food and drink in the afternoon. The first St. Patrick's Day parade, though, took place not in Ireland, but the United States, when Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched through New York City in 1762. As the years went on, the parades became a show of unity and strength for persecuted Irish-American immigrants, and then a popular celebration of Irish-American heritage. The party went global in 1995, when the Irish government began a large-scale campaign to market St. Patrick's Day as a way of driving tourism and showcasing Ireland's many charms to the rest of the world. Today, March 17 is a day of international celebration, as millions of people around the globe put on their best green clothing to drink beer, watch parades and toast the luck of the Irish. "

Here are a few of my favorite Irish things...

My surname is Irish. Click here to read the history behind it.

Who doesn't love Lucky Charms? I was only allowed to eat cereal like this on special occassions, and when I did, I would save all of the marshmallows for last.

My high school's mascot was a shamrock (I know, really tough, huh?).

Dublin was the last stop on Nick's and my trip to Europe- Here is a picture of the Temple Bar Area in Dublin at sunset.


If you can get past all of the swearing, it's a great movie. *Love* that it takes place in Boston!

And last but not least, one of my favorite quotes...

May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind always be at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face,and rains fall soft upon your fields.

And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

We Survived the M.B.T.A.: a Weekend with My Mom

I'm sorry it's been so long since my last post! Last week I was busy with what I call "maintaining the facade." My mom was on her way to visit for the weekend, so I was "staging my apartment" and making it as clean as possible!

My mom flew into Providence on Thursday afternoon. We went back to my apartment to relax for a bit, and then went to North Providence for dinner. For my birthday, Lisa gave me gift certificates to restaurants in Providence and Boston (a fabulous gift, by the way!). We used one of the gift certificates at an Italian restaurant, Pizzico. The atmosphere was warm and inviting, and the food was delicious. I had barbecue chicken pizza, and my mom had risotto with mushrooms.

I took a vacation day on Friday, but we did go into work so that Mom could meet the people I spend the most time with at work. She got to meet Deb, Troy, Mike, and Alma; I also showed her a few of the things I've been working on, including my research project and some clinical reviews for our merchandising team.

After our tour, we headed down to Newport. The drive from my house to the southern part of Rhode Island was gorgeous. All of the trees are at their peak for changing colors... every shade of yellow, orange, red, and purple you can imagine. (Too hard to take a picture while you're in the car, though. It doesn't quite have the same effect.) It was a little on the cool side when we got there, but we are more of a cold weather family, so my mom and I didn't mind wearing a sweater (much better than being hot and sweaty!). We ate lunch at the Clam Jumper and walked around downtown Newport. My mom got me the cutest pair of cat eye sunglasses! (See below) I think I am going to wear them with a black dress to work on Friday in celebration of Halloween.

Aren't these adorable?

Cute idea: the Clam Jumper had Christmas lights in traps used to catch seafood

We also visited Aardvark Antiques, a unique salvage shop at the bottom of the ramp that you take to get to downtown Newport. I've always wanted to visit but never actually stopped. It is similar to White River Salvage in Indy, but they have a much larger selection of outdoor ornaments. They had every kind of statue you could imagine... animals (dolphins, bears, an alligator, birds to name a few), people (small children playing, jockeys, Roman goddesses), and ornament urns, columns, and vases.

They have all shapes and sizes of metal gates- I would love to use these in my house (well, I don't have a house yet, but when I do)

If I could have chosen one thing, this fountain would have definitely been it- I'm obsessed with lions

Here's Mom standing by a horse statue- it was beautiful and larger than life (literally)

There was a family of elephants (Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and baby bears)- I'm standing next to the Mama elephant

In the late afternoon, we went to tour the Breakers, one of the mansions on Newport. The Breakers was owned by the Vanderbilt family and used as a summer home up until the 1970's; it was sold to the Historical Preservation Society. The house is 138,000 square feet, has 70 rooms and 20 bathrooms, and the most beautiful sculptures, chandeliers, and marble tiling I have ever seen. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the house, but again, I'm not sure my photography would do it justice. A couple of my favorite parts of the house included the monogrammed navy and gold china, the marble walls in the game room, and the giant staircase. My mom liked Mrs. Vanderbilt's room and the chandeliers in the dining room. Another very unique feature was the open air living room on the second floor that overlooks the ocean- it was used for entertaining.

A light post outside the Breakers

A view of the back of the mansion

This is the view from the mansion looking out to the sea

Friday night we rented the movie Slumdog Millionaire. Neither of us had been able to watch it when it first came out, and I am so glad that we picked that movie. The story was amazing- really makes you realize how lucky you are. If you haven't seen it yet, watch it tonight! I'm also thinking about getting the soundtrack, but I'll listen to song clips on iTunes before I buy it.

On Saturday we drove to Boston to shop at our one of our favorite stores- Paper Source! I had written down some addresses and information on which subway lines to take. However, I didn't write down directions on how exactly to get to our number one destination. I was planning on using my phone to get last minute directions but that is a little hard if you leave your phone at home! I was happily surprised when we made it with little trouble. (Don't be fooled, though- I did get us turned around more than once when we were walking around the city- oops! Sorry Mom!)

Even though we had never been an actual store, we have been shopping online at Paper Source's website for more than a year. They have absolutely adorable gifts, craft kits, and the one of the best selections in color and size of paper for making your own invitations. (Right now my mom is making invitations for Tammy's son's wedding, which will be next August. My mom is so creative and talented! I think she should start her own business, but we can save that for another post.) We had so much fun looking at everything in the store- we spent almost 2 hours there! I got a couple sets of cards and invitations to personalize, along with these "expression notes" I've been eyeing for some time now.

After lunch we went to another stationary store in Boston, Rugg Road, and looked at their speciality papers and invitations for ideas. We got on the subway to head north, but right after the doors closed, the signs changed to "Out of Service." We ended up having to get off at the next stop and wait for another train, which we only took one stop further. It didn't seem like it was worth it, but I'm sure we went farther than what it felt like. After the subway experience, we went into the North End for a cannoli at Mike's Pastries.

Their cannolis are amazing!

We also visited Kitchen Arts on Newbury Street and found unique cookie cutters and small fondue dipping stations (I'm not sure what the correct term is, but I know this isn't right. It is almost like a birdbath on top and a tea light goes underneath to keep the fondue warm. I am so excited to use it!)

On Saturday night I made dinner for my Mom at home- Greek salads, red pepper hummus with toasted Wheat Thins, and fruit salad with dates. Nothing to write home about, but I think we were still full from the cannolis! We also looked through a book we got in Boston- Paperie for Inspired Living. The author makes absolutely gorgeous invitations, but the best feature of the book is all of the practical tips she gives.

On Sunday morning, we slept in (worn out from our day in Boston!), and then I made chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. We did a little bit of shopping in Nordstrom's at Providence Place Mall. If you are ever looking for nicer hair clips, barrettes, or headbands, they have a great selection. Although they cost just a bit more, the quality and designs make it worth the cost. After a late lunch, I took my Mom to the airport.

I am very thankful that I have such a great relationship with my Mom. It was so nice to spend time together, just the two of us, to catch up in person. We talk several times a week on the phone but that isn't the same as face-to-face. It did make me feel like more of an adult- it was my Mom's first overnight stay at one of her adult children's apartments/houses.

Thanks for a great weekend, Mom!

Hanging Tough, Staying Hungry

A few weeks ago I was in the car on the way home from lunch with Debbie and a rotation student, Sean, just chatting and listening to the radio. I don't remember what the song was, but somehow we ended up talking about personal theme songs. Without even the slightest of hestiation, I told them that my theme song has always been "Eye of the Tiger," one of the songs from Rocky. (Also, gotta love "Gonna Fly Now"). No matter what kind of mood I'm in, hearing that song always gets me pumped up.

Who doesn't want to run/train/exercise after seeing this?

Background: Every year before the fall semester starts at Purdue, freshman have the option of going back a week early to participate in an orientation week called Boiler Gold Rush. All week there are different events, including shows, social activities, and opportunities to meet people from all over campus. (I'm not really doing it justice, but you get the idea.) Different residence halls (aka dorm) pair up and fight against other pairs to be the most spirited, creative, and enthusiastic team on campus. As you can imagine, this was right up my ally. (So much so that I got involved and was a leader of a group of freshman the next year.) Every group generally comes up with a theme to rally around for the whole week. Shreve and Earhart's theme in the fall of 2003 was.... (wait for it)..... Rocky. I ran around singing the theme song and punching the air for an entire week, and it was the time of my life. I was so excited to be at Purdue and be on my own... I was ready to take on the world. I had never been so excited to be anywhere in my life. (Not that I've changed much in six years, but if you were there, you know what I mean.)

Despite loving the whole underdog theme of the series, I have never actually seen any of the Rocky movies. So when Balboa came on the tv tonight, even though I was planning on going to bed early, I couldn't say no. (Note: I actually cancelled my cable over a month ago. The cable company's customer service is just so good that they decided to giving me cable tv for free.) People say the first movie was the best, so I'll have to watch that one sometime in the near future.

Either I need to be a pro with my camera's timer or have someone help me, but I definitely need a picture of myself doing this, dont you think?

I am writing this while watching it (only during commercials, of course), and they've been having a few facts before some of the parts of the movie. Sylvester Stallone, at 60 years of age, actually did most of the fighting himself. (Click here for some trivia on the 1976 Rocky movie.) While I was watching the part of the movie where he is training, I seriously contemplated going for a run, but since it was already almost midnight, I decided that probably wasn't the best idea.

If you're like me, you love to sing at the top of your lungs with the windows down on the highway. When you are doing this, it doesn't matter if you don't know all of the words. (I usually mumble through some of them on quite a few songs. I mean, it can be really hard to tell what they are saying!) However, for your sake (and mine), I''ll include the lyrics to Eye of the Tiger.

Until tomorrow, don't trade your passion for glory.

Eye of the Tiger

Risin' up, back on the street

Did my time, took my chances

Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet

Just a man and his will to survive

So many times, it happens too fast

You trade your passion for glory

Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past

You must fight just to keep them alive

Chorus:

It's the eye of the tiger, it's the thrill of the fight

Risin' up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night
And he's watchin' us all with the eye of the tiger

Face to face, out in the heat

Hangin' tough, stayin' hungry

They stack the odds 'til we take to the street

For the kill with the skill to survive

Chorus

Risin' up, straight to the top

Had the guts, got the glory

Went the distance, now I'm not gonna stop
Just a man and his will to survive

Chorus

The eye of the tiger...

Ready... Camera... Action!

If I told you that I was at a store shooting a training video on my second day, would you believe me? Neither would I... I acted as "Nikki Clement," a patient at both drop-off and pick-up. If you are wondering, I made up the name, but not in regards to anyone in particular. :)

They were shooting the video to highlight some of the added features of our new computer system that is going be rolled out company-wide by the end of the year (if all goes well!). I never realized how much work goes into making a production. We had to do each scene from several different angles, all of which were repeated as well. So, in the end, 7 hours of footage = one, 3-minute video. Isn't that incredible?! I forgot my camera's battery, but Deb snuck a couple of pictures at the end. I'll pass them along when she sends them to me.

This experience ALMOST counts towards one of the items on my list of "Things to Do Before I Die," which is "to be a commercial." I'm still hoping that the makers of Diet Coke reach out to me to be a spokeswoman, but I don't think I'm quite qualified enough at the moment. If you didn't already know, I am a HUGE fan of lists. I've got them everywhere... in folders, stored on my phone, and on my yellow legal pad. It would take up a lot of space to list everything I want to do, but here are a few highlights:

• Own a sailboat and live on the ocean
• Surprise a deserving waitress with $100 tip
• Run a mini-marathon
• Be a contestant on a game show
• Take my parents on a special vacation
• Start a scholarship fund
• Build a treehouse

I also have lists of places to visist, bands/artists to see in concert, personal qualities to have, budgets/expenses, goals, blah blah blah. Right now I'm in the process of making a couple of lists that I need YOUR help to create! I have been out of the movie and book scene for basically the last 6 years (pharmacy school does that to you!). I did manage to finish The DaVinci Code during our trip and The Kite Runner just over the past week. I'm really going to try to make an effort to read a book every 1-2 weeks as soon as I'm done studying for my boards. What are some of your all-time favorite books and movies? In your opinion, what are some classics that I should read/watch/etc during the next year? Thanks in advance for your help!