Yesterday was my major Team All Ears fundraiser, a Zumba lesson creatively (ahem) entitled "Cha Cha for Your Ta-Tas." I'm glad to say it was a major hit! Everyone had fun learning new dance moves and having a fabulous workout courtesy of certified instructor Kristin Geraghty and there were drawings for prizes afterwards, courtesy of local businesses and my mom. Overall, this event raised $220 for the team!
In other exciting news, thanks to the overwhelming generosity of my friends, family, and neighbors, I have now raised $540 for Team All Ears! As a runner I was asked to raise $500 by race weekend in January, so I'd say my first-time fundraising efforts have been a smashing success! I hope to raise lots more by the time race weekend actually rolls around!
146 days til the Disney Half!!!
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Sunday, July 24, 2011
If You Like Piña Coladas
... then you will love my cupcakes. Yes, that's right, yesterday I did something domestic (gasp!). Of course, my mother says my lack of domestic skills is one of the reasons I'm still single (eye roll). And despite my trepidation, the results were fabulous!
I got the recipe for these Piña Colada Cupcakes from the blog Glorious Treats. Glorious Treats is a wonderful blog that contains various recipes and tips for entertaining. The cupcakes are a pineapple cupcake with a coconut-rum cream cheese frosting, topped with a sprinkling of toasted coconut. And they are delicious - they taste just like a piña colada!!!
I am not much of a cook; I am far more likely to bake. These cupcakes were easy to make, with clearly written directions and simple ingredients (I may or may not have bought a much larger bottle of rum than what I needed for the frosting hehe). Thanks to their tropical theme, they're perfect for summertime celebrations. I'll be whipping up more batches to bring to work for my birthday and for a cookout I'm hosting after my fundraising.
I got the recipe for these Piña Colada Cupcakes from the blog Glorious Treats. Glorious Treats is a wonderful blog that contains various recipes and tips for entertaining. The cupcakes are a pineapple cupcake with a coconut-rum cream cheese frosting, topped with a sprinkling of toasted coconut. And they are delicious - they taste just like a piña colada!!!
I am not much of a cook; I am far more likely to bake. These cupcakes were easy to make, with clearly written directions and simple ingredients (I may or may not have bought a much larger bottle of rum than what I needed for the frosting hehe). Thanks to their tropical theme, they're perfect for summertime celebrations. I'll be whipping up more batches to bring to work for my birthday and for a cookout I'm hosting after my fundraising.
Getting ready to rum-ble.
Coconut heaven!
Monday, July 18, 2011
Start Spreading the News
I made my first trip to the Big Apple over the weekend. It was a very quick trip - less than 24 hours total, with a side trip to New Jersey, so I didn't have much time to form a full and informed opinion. I will say, however, that without a doubt I absolutely prefer Boston to NYC.
First impressions - it was hot, humid, dirty, and crowded - worse than Disney World on Christmas crowded! The entire area around Times Square was just wall to wall people, mostly tourists. I thought people in New York were supposed to walk fast, but these were your garden variety, Kodak toting, aimlessly wandering tourists. Crossing the streets entailed doing awkward two-step over and over and over because you were just walking into a wall of people.
Don't get me wrong, I love to interact with people from different cultures and backgrounds. But it seemed on every corner in NYC there was a different freak show going on. For instance, while standing at a crosswalk near Times Square (which in reality is an unimpressive bunch of big screen tvs showing ads), the Naked Cowboy was standing right behind me. I don't know about you, but a man strolling the street wearing only his hat, boots, and tighty-whiteys is just not my cup of tea. Boston is just as interesting a city, minus the totally batty people. Add in the disgusting hot, humid weather and I was less than smitten with the city.
Enough whining, onto the fun parts. The real purpose of my trip was to see Paul McCartney, or Sir Paul as I like to call him, at Yankee (blech) Stadium with Andrew, one of my best friends from undergrad. Luckily, two of my old BU roommates who live outside NYC were able to come into the city for the day and meet us for lunch. We had lunch at the Hard Rock (which was good, even if the waitress was a total moonbat who was probably stoned). We spent about two hours catching up and laughing away, picking up right where we left off. Only being able to see friends a few times a year, as opposed to almost every day, is one of the yuckier things about post-grad life.
After lunch, Sam and Bre headed off to get their respective trains so Andrew and I wandered the city some more. We headed up to Central Park, where we saw Sheep Meadow (inside joke) and Strawberry Fields, where the memorial to John Lennon is. The beautiful memorial is part of a larger peace garden and is right near the Dakota Apartments, where John was killed. As Andrew and I are both big Beatles fans, it was a special place to visit before heading to see Sir Paul.
We then, after some more "meandering" through the park (thank goodness for iPhones, what with their handy internet and compasses) heading up to the Bronx for the show. Though I am a die hard Red Sox fan, I will hand it to the Yankees - they have a very nice stadium. Clean, spacious, modern, and surprisingly orderly. We had nice seats up along the third base line/left field area. The concert was amazing. Andrew and I saw Paul two years ago when he played Fenway Park in Boston, and this show did not disappoint. Billy Joel even came out and sang "When I Saw Her Standing There" during the encore! It was a wonderful night, with wonderful company, wonderful weather, and a wonderful musical legend.
We then headed back to Andrew's house in New Jersey for the night, complete with a commuter rail car full of drunk Joisy people. After a lovely breakfast it was time to head back up to NYC to catch the bus back to Boston. I'm sure New York is a lovely place to visit when the weather is better and there aren't quite as many tourists (perhaps I'd be better off going in the fall), but I'd never want to live there. Boston, you're my home.
First impressions - it was hot, humid, dirty, and crowded - worse than Disney World on Christmas crowded! The entire area around Times Square was just wall to wall people, mostly tourists. I thought people in New York were supposed to walk fast, but these were your garden variety, Kodak toting, aimlessly wandering tourists. Crossing the streets entailed doing awkward two-step over and over and over because you were just walking into a wall of people.
Don't get me wrong, I love to interact with people from different cultures and backgrounds. But it seemed on every corner in NYC there was a different freak show going on. For instance, while standing at a crosswalk near Times Square (which in reality is an unimpressive bunch of big screen tvs showing ads), the Naked Cowboy was standing right behind me. I don't know about you, but a man strolling the street wearing only his hat, boots, and tighty-whiteys is just not my cup of tea. Boston is just as interesting a city, minus the totally batty people. Add in the disgusting hot, humid weather and I was less than smitten with the city.
Enough whining, onto the fun parts. The real purpose of my trip was to see Paul McCartney, or Sir Paul as I like to call him, at Yankee (blech) Stadium with Andrew, one of my best friends from undergrad. Luckily, two of my old BU roommates who live outside NYC were able to come into the city for the day and meet us for lunch. We had lunch at the Hard Rock (which was good, even if the waitress was a total moonbat who was probably stoned). We spent about two hours catching up and laughing away, picking up right where we left off. Only being able to see friends a few times a year, as opposed to almost every day, is one of the yuckier things about post-grad life.
After lunch, Sam and Bre headed off to get their respective trains so Andrew and I wandered the city some more. We headed up to Central Park, where we saw Sheep Meadow (inside joke) and Strawberry Fields, where the memorial to John Lennon is. The beautiful memorial is part of a larger peace garden and is right near the Dakota Apartments, where John was killed. As Andrew and I are both big Beatles fans, it was a special place to visit before heading to see Sir Paul.
We then, after some more "meandering" through the park (thank goodness for iPhones, what with their handy internet and compasses) heading up to the Bronx for the show. Though I am a die hard Red Sox fan, I will hand it to the Yankees - they have a very nice stadium. Clean, spacious, modern, and surprisingly orderly. We had nice seats up along the third base line/left field area. The concert was amazing. Andrew and I saw Paul two years ago when he played Fenway Park in Boston, and this show did not disappoint. Billy Joel even came out and sang "When I Saw Her Standing There" during the encore! It was a wonderful night, with wonderful company, wonderful weather, and a wonderful musical legend.
We then headed back to Andrew's house in New Jersey for the night, complete with a commuter rail car full of drunk Joisy people. After a lovely breakfast it was time to head back up to NYC to catch the bus back to Boston. I'm sure New York is a lovely place to visit when the weather is better and there aren't quite as many tourists (perhaps I'd be better off going in the fall), but I'd never want to live there. Boston, you're my home.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Musings on Dating, in Law School and in General
My fellow classmate and intern, as well as prolific blogger Cato, of Logos Over Pathos recently wrote an insightful piece that nicely sums up the first year law school experience. I won't rehash most of it, as I believe he did a wonderful job. I will expound further on one point he made, though - relationships.
Relationships have never been my forte. I've never had one last longer than a month or two. I have found this is usually due to a "like" imbalance - either I like the guy more than he likes me, or he likes me more than I like him. Opposites may attract, but I think the "like" factor has to be pretty well balanced for a relationship to work out. Add the pressures and time crunch of law school and things get messier.
I was in a relationship at the beginning of law school. It was a fledgling relationship, and I ended it about three weeks after school started. No, not because all my free time was being eaten up by studying, reading, and outlining. In fact, I'm pretty good at balancing my time and responsibilities, especially if something is high-priority. Rather, the more I got to know this person, whom I shall call Jealous, the more I realized he was, wait for it, jealous, and even a bit paranoid. I remember going to a baseball game with a (male) friend from college (that I had planned long before I was dating Jealous) and receiving numerous texts from Jealous inquiring as to my whereabouts, etc. I am far too independent to be with someone so insecure and untrusting that he feels he had to check up on me during a three hour Red Sox game.
Anywho, fast forward a bit. I will admit, I got sucked into the vortex of school and work and didn't socialize with many people outside of my study group. I am guilty of having massive crushes on guys and then not acting on them out of fear of rejection. I tend to be very much an introvert when I'm first getting to know people (until I get to know them well, then I never shut up) and tend to not make first moves. In addition, my mother is harping on me to find a boyfriend ("Is it that hard to find a nice Irish Catholic boy at law school in Boston?"), like it's as easy as going to Target to buy a bottle of pretty new nail polish, is not helping.
But they say one of the best ways to find a significant other is to pour your time and energy into... yourself. Numerousmagazines very scientific sources I've flipped through on the elliptical read say that you need to be comfortable with yourself before you can be comfortable with someone else. And they can't all be wrong (well, maybe Cosmo's not that trustworthy, but surely Oprah can be believed). So I've been pouring my energy into things that make me happy, such as reading and my newfound hobby of running, and basically trying to stop thinking about my single-ness altogether (although it's hard every time I see a cute ADA in court...)
Several of my friends survived 1L year with their relationships intact, so it can be done. That being said, I probably won't start actively looking anytime soon. What will be will be. I'm not even 23 yet, so there's plenty of time ahead of me.
Relationships have never been my forte. I've never had one last longer than a month or two. I have found this is usually due to a "like" imbalance - either I like the guy more than he likes me, or he likes me more than I like him. Opposites may attract, but I think the "like" factor has to be pretty well balanced for a relationship to work out. Add the pressures and time crunch of law school and things get messier.
I was in a relationship at the beginning of law school. It was a fledgling relationship, and I ended it about three weeks after school started. No, not because all my free time was being eaten up by studying, reading, and outlining. In fact, I'm pretty good at balancing my time and responsibilities, especially if something is high-priority. Rather, the more I got to know this person, whom I shall call Jealous, the more I realized he was, wait for it, jealous, and even a bit paranoid. I remember going to a baseball game with a (male) friend from college (that I had planned long before I was dating Jealous) and receiving numerous texts from Jealous inquiring as to my whereabouts, etc. I am far too independent to be with someone so insecure and untrusting that he feels he had to check up on me during a three hour Red Sox game.
Anywho, fast forward a bit. I will admit, I got sucked into the vortex of school and work and didn't socialize with many people outside of my study group. I am guilty of having massive crushes on guys and then not acting on them out of fear of rejection. I tend to be very much an introvert when I'm first getting to know people (until I get to know them well, then I never shut up) and tend to not make first moves. In addition, my mother is harping on me to find a boyfriend ("Is it that hard to find a nice Irish Catholic boy at law school in Boston?"), like it's as easy as going to Target to buy a bottle of pretty new nail polish, is not helping.
But they say one of the best ways to find a significant other is to pour your time and energy into... yourself. Numerous
Several of my friends survived 1L year with their relationships intact, so it can be done. That being said, I probably won't start actively looking anytime soon. What will be will be. I'm not even 23 yet, so there's plenty of time ahead of me.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Hump Day
Ah, Wednesday, also affectionately known as Hump Day. If you've made it to Wednesday you've crested the hill of the workweek and can now begin the wonderful descent into the weekend. It's also an excellent day for productivity, as you're neither as bitter as you were on Monday nor as lackadaisical as you'll be on Friday.
Since my week is split into three days interning in court and two days working at school, I am mostly immune to the Hump Day effect. If I can figure out which job I'm going to and what way to drive in the morning it's a good day. Recently, however, I discovered the hump day effect on running.
Running has been an uphill battle for me. Training for the last three months has been arduous, and even a little painful at times. I have always been (and probably always will be) slow. But after completing my first race, and joining some of my teammates for a group run the next day, I came to a delicious realization... I can do this. My huffing and puffing for the last three months has paid off, and the thing that was holding me back was that little voice inside my head. I assumed I would never run for 30, 20, even 10 minutes at a time, but I can. It's not fast, and I'm sure I look like a sweaty penguin, but I can. I don't think I've ever been in shape, and will soon weigh less than I did when I started high school.
I owe a big thank you to my mentor, Michelle, whose support has been unwavering, especially when I had a bad week or a flare-up of shin splints. Her belief in me, even when I thought I was crazy and in far too deep over my head, has made me realize that I can do this. I may never be able to run a four minute mile, but I can complete a 5K without coming in last place. And I'm looking forward to running my first half-marathon in September with my wonderful teammates, who have taught me that runners come in all shapes, sizes, and paces.
Happy Hump Day - wog on.
Since my week is split into three days interning in court and two days working at school, I am mostly immune to the Hump Day effect. If I can figure out which job I'm going to and what way to drive in the morning it's a good day. Recently, however, I discovered the hump day effect on running.
Running has been an uphill battle for me. Training for the last three months has been arduous, and even a little painful at times. I have always been (and probably always will be) slow. But after completing my first race, and joining some of my teammates for a group run the next day, I came to a delicious realization... I can do this. My huffing and puffing for the last three months has paid off, and the thing that was holding me back was that little voice inside my head. I assumed I would never run for 30, 20, even 10 minutes at a time, but I can. It's not fast, and I'm sure I look like a sweaty penguin, but I can. I don't think I've ever been in shape, and will soon weigh less than I did when I started high school.
I owe a big thank you to my mentor, Michelle, whose support has been unwavering, especially when I had a bad week or a flare-up of shin splints. Her belief in me, even when I thought I was crazy and in far too deep over my head, has made me realize that I can do this. I may never be able to run a four minute mile, but I can complete a 5K without coming in last place. And I'm looking forward to running my first half-marathon in September with my wonderful teammates, who have taught me that runners come in all shapes, sizes, and paces.
Happy Hump Day - wog on.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
First Race!
Well, I did it... I officially completed a 5K without dying, crawling, or coming in last. And I'm hooked! Which is good, seeing as I have a half marathon in 6 months. Thankfully I'm one of those people who thrives under pressure, so the crowd and music got me really going and I turned in some of my fastest mile splits yet.
The race was the Steven Hussey Memorial Walk/Run. It was the inaugural year, and considering it was organized by Steve's daughter's college-age friends, I would say things went very smoothly. There were raffles, music, food (didn't stick around for that, had to make it over to the Farmer's Market at the Town Green before noon to get some Renaissance Cooking garlic dill pickles!), etc. and a hearty crowd. I also liked the course... not too hilly, but definitely more challenging than my flat neighborhood. Part of the course was on the street I lived on until I was five, which was cool.
The race was actually a little longer than a 5K, about 3.3 miles, and I was taking it slow out of fear of a plantar fasciitis flareup, but I'm really happy with it. The next race planned is the Plymouth Rock 5K in September, but I'd love to find a local race next month.
Happy wogging!
The race was the Steven Hussey Memorial Walk/Run. It was the inaugural year, and considering it was organized by Steve's daughter's college-age friends, I would say things went very smoothly. There were raffles, music, food (didn't stick around for that, had to make it over to the Farmer's Market at the Town Green before noon to get some Renaissance Cooking garlic dill pickles!), etc. and a hearty crowd. I also liked the course... not too hilly, but definitely more challenging than my flat neighborhood. Part of the course was on the street I lived on until I was five, which was cool.
The race was actually a little longer than a 5K, about 3.3 miles, and I was taking it slow out of fear of a plantar fasciitis flareup, but I'm really happy with it. The next race planned is the Plymouth Rock 5K in September, but I'd love to find a local race next month.
Happy wogging!
Monday, June 20, 2011
Winnie the Pooh and Law Review Too
I made Suffolk's Transnational Law Review! Woohoooooo! Those two weeks of feverishly researching, writing, and editing were worth it after all! We were actually supposed to hear back yesterday, but I didn't hear anything and was a bit disappointed. But I got the call from the editor first thing this morning... as it turns out he was on vacation and didn't have cell service!
So now to celebrate, I am going to Disney World tomorrow. No, really - we've had the trip planned for months - six days at the Boardwalk Villas is just what the doctor prescribed to relax from the stress I've been under since classes started last... August. And now I really have something to celebrate! I wonder if Disney has "I'm Celebrating Making Law Review" buttons...
So now to celebrate, I am going to Disney World tomorrow. No, really - we've had the trip planned for months - six days at the Boardwalk Villas is just what the doctor prescribed to relax from the stress I've been under since classes started last... August. And now I really have something to celebrate! I wonder if Disney has "I'm Celebrating Making Law Review" buttons...
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