Emuzines

Happiness is…

…spending a night playing games with Nik and some of our oldest friends, in the birthplace of our relationship (the Rhoades household).

…devouring a meal of some of the best Mexican food LA has to offer (Pachanga), balanced on my lap while cruising down PCH and rocking out to KLOS.

…spending a relaxing day knitting with Martha, chatting with Justine, Dad, Nana, and Nonno.

…spontaneously remembering favorite LA food and drink spots, then going to them right away.

…see above…drinking a Coffee Bean vanilla latte during said games.

…coming home to a happy and sleepy Logan greeting me at the door, and following me within an inch of my body around the house until bed.

…knowing that I get to spend the next week and a half with some of my best friends and my family.

…also knowing that I get to go home to Nik, JoJo, and some incredible people who have quickly become the most wonderful friends a girl could ask for.

Just a quick post as I am itching to start a movie all cuddled in bed…

Had a fun day at work today. Sally and I had a writing session together in her office, for 4 hours. Exciting things happen in Sally’s office. I arrived to the conference call about the new DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). It is THE diagnostic tool for mental health, and Sally is on the commitee writing the new version. That’s pretty huge. She’s deciding on the diagnostic criteria for autism and related disorders. Pretty cool. She let me listen in and said that she thought I might enjoy that. I sure did.

Then casually she said, oh, at 2:00 I have a phone interview with the New York Times. ! Just like that. I was very excited, again. She let me stay for that too. The study I work on with her just published some of its initial data and it’s all over the news since we’re the only ones doing intervention with kids so young (wait until we do the babies…). Anyway, it’s here: http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/conditions/11/30/autism.study/ and here: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1943512,00.html and elsewhere. Apparently in the NY Times soon.

As far as Christmas goes, I came home from work and did all my decorating! I figured out that I need a few more decorations…apartment versus house is a pretty big change…but I’m going to go shopping tomorrow to try to fill in some of the gaps. Then when Nik got home he was inspired, so we went to get the tree. We had so much fun. We got a big one! We got it at the Boy Scout lot in town and they were all so eager and helpful and did all the work, and the adults there were very nice. We had a good time, brought it home. JoJo tuck-tail ran about the tree, but seems to be getting used to it. We went out to dinner and the house smelled soooo nice when we came back.

My dad, Martha, Mandi, and Justine came up to visit us this weekend. It was a short visit, but we packed it in and it was really nice. It was their first visit up here since we moved–with the exception of Mandi–so it was fun to show them the house and neighborhood. Yesterday we went out to lunch in downtown Davis, then hung around at home, watched some Friends, talked, and relaxed until it was time to go to dinner in Sacramento–Lucca, yummmmm. Last night we stayed up baking pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, watching more Friends (pastey pants!), and talking. JoJo fell in love with Justine and slept with her part of the night–it’s rare that Jo will even leave my side, so that was big–and she face rubbed and cuddled all over her.

This morning Martha made us all a gigantic and delicious breakfast, and we lazied around in our PJs for most of the morning. We had the football game on in the background–a very Sunday type of morning. Then Mandi, Martha, and I ran over to the Pedrick Produce Stand and bought all kinds of snacks–chocolate toffee almonds, chilli pistacios, chocolate peanut brittle, dried apricots, etc. They just took off and it’s lazy and quiet.

Thanks for everything–the company, dinner, breakfast, and the beautiful gifts!!

I have spent most of the weekend studying for my statistics midterm on Tuesday. It is so different from what I normally do/study/think about, so it has taken some getting used to…but I am understanding it and think I will do well on Tuesday. Now I just need to incorporate this knowledge into my research project and actually use it for the analysis…

I have also been walking almost every day. Usually I take JoJo, but not if I am going at a peak dog-walking time. She just pulls too much and I spend more time tugging back at her than relaxing. But sometimes she can be great, and she sniffs all around and doesn’t pull. There are all kinds of trails around here, and creatures and windy paths. The fall leaves crunch under our feet and the trees are getting very orange. It’s easy to get turned around and lost in the neighborhoods here, because they wind all around and loop back on themselves. I like getting lost in the neighborhoods and checking out everybody’s Halloween decorations and gardening. I have been learning a lot more about the neighborhood, too, and we get lost less…

Nik and I had a “night out on the town” Friday and last night. This is in quotes because Davis is such a small little town, and the downtown consists of a grid with streets 1-4 and A-G. On Friday we went out to Pasta?, an Italian restaurant, for dinner, and last night we went to the movies and then to a late-night dinner at Pluto’s. Both nights we spent some time walking the grid, people-watching, looking in the bookstore and shop windows. Nice fall evenings.

Off I go to help finish making chicken parm for dinner…

Last night’s party was a huge success!! About 30-35 people showed up, and I think everybody had a really great time. It was a welcome party for the first year students in my department, traditionally hosted by us second year students. Traditionally there is some sort of scavenger hunt or activity–while we didn’t do it last year as the guests, we developed an elaborate activity this year as the hosts. After the first years completed their activity, they joined the party at our house. We had some really great appetizers, food, desserts, and drinks. The house was perfect for the party, and lots of people complemented our fall decorations and the adorable house. Lots of burning candles, lit fire pit, and smells of fall.

The beginning part of the night was pretty low-key with networking, eating, and chatting–a lot of the guests hadn’t yet met. After the first year students left, though, things got a little more interesting. There was a core group of about 10-12 of us who played all sorts of games late into the night. We’re all exhausted today…but we had such a good time that Nik and I are thinking of instituting a monthly dinner and movie at our house. We’ll cook for everyone–David, Abby, April, Natalie, Maciel, and Kyle (our core friend group)–maybe the first Saturday of each month and hang out, have some drinks, and watch a movie. There was a great response to the idea, so now for the arranging. I’ve found that I love to host. Nik was also great at decorating, cleaning, and hosting. Even JoJo was a good girl and gently and calmly accepted pets from everybody. (She did lick the pumpkin pie and steal a piece of cheese, but that’s all she did that was bad!)

Nik and I hadn’t any plans for today. So this morning after coffee we headed out to Vacaville for some lunch and shopping. Then we came home and I got a good chunk of statistics homework out of the way, and we took Jo for a walk. It is so fall-y here, moreso than it ever seems to be in LA. I’m not used to it and I LOVE IT. The sky is gray and the trees are orange, and it’s windy with leaves billowing all around. There are lots of meerkats and ground-burrowing owls on our trail, hunkered down and adorable. We have gone with the feel of the season and the house shows–pumpkins, mulled cider, etc. We finished the night at Pasta downtown, stuffing ourselves with gnocci and fettucini. Now WE are hunkered down in bed and about to watch some Friends episodes.

Mandi came to visit this weekend, and we had a BLAST as usual. Our weekend was full of our seeking out adventures.

She was in later than expected on Friday, so we went out to have some tapas in downtown Davis. We came home and got snuggly in PJs and watched Friends episodes of our choosing until we fell asleep on the couch (”I want to see the one where Ross says, ‘It tastes like feet!’”)

On Saturday we headed out to the outlets in Vacaville, and did some Banana Republic, Fossil, Coach, etc. shopping and browsing. We both determined we don’t like most sweaters, but we ended up coming away with some good stuff. We justified short sleeves very well. Not surprising given we had given ourselves an out in  our rule (”Don’t let me buy any short sleeves UNLESS it’s a need”). On the way back, we stopped at a produce stand we had seen advertising pumpkin ice cream. We ended up with tons of snacks, including that ice cream. It has flecks of pumpkin in it. It’s delicious. Also on Saturday, we embarked upon our autumn meal extravaganza. We made corn chowder with buttermilk mashed potatoes (served in the same bowl with the chowder), bacon, and scallops. It was yummy. Then we took JoJo on a walk around the neighborhood and it rained on us a little. Again, into PJs and more Friends episodes until we fell asleep on the couch.

On Sunday we had a San Francisco adventure. Several, actually. We started off with brunch at Lime. Lime has a very nightclub atmosphere for 10:30 am, and the place was hopping. It serves unlimited mimosas which made for a very, very fun brunch. I ate a BAKED pancake with blueberries and powdered sugar, and Mandi had steak and eggs. They served the best biscuits in the world. And the best mimosas in the world–did I mention that?

After that, Mandi drove us to Union Square for some shopping. I came away with much more than I expected, sweaters included. Mandi bought some things, too, including a necklace from the street vendors. We then decided to check out Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world. At the last minute I decided to drive it, rather than just look at it, and I turned onto it. It was fun and Mandi was a good photographer. After pulling over at the bottom for more pictures, we were pretty much out of time. We had to fight 49s traffic to get Mandi all the way to the Sacramento airport.

It was a fantastic weekend!

This was written a couple of nights ago. The summary isn’t complete, but I figured I should get it out before I slack off on my blog again. I won’t get to the rest this weekend beceuase Mandi is visiting right now! Yay! Last night was went out for tapas in town, and today we’re heading to the outlets for fall clothes shopping and then coming home to make an autumn meal.

Here is what I owe my blog:

Summer Summary, Part I

I sit here snuggled with Nik under a big soft blanket on an evening that feels very much like fall. The heat of the past months has subsided, and has been replaced with a cool(er), windy evening. The branches outside whip around, and the sky is turning a very Halloweeny orange. I was able to resist putting up my fall decorations under September 1 only, so the house has been covered with pumpkins and fall leaves for almost a month. I further resisted Halloween-specific decorations until tonight, and am now surrounded by witches’ hats and ghosts. Additionally, I have lit my Pumpkin Patch candle, so the house smells very fally.

I have completely neglected writing here all summer. It was a vicious cycle, missing a post on one event, and then not wanting to post on the next until I went back to that. This resulted in no posting, so here is my summer summary. I vow to try very, very hard not to lag on posts in the future.

Studying

This was my big summer activity. It hurts just to think about it even now. I had my preliminary exam for school last week. This was a three-day exam covering infancy/early childhood, middle childhood/adolescence, and adulthood/aging. Within these areas I needed to know details of biological, socioemotional, and cognitive development. In addition to the details, author names and article or chapter years. I had about 200 articles memorized, most with multiple author names. Hundreds—thousands—of facts floated and, luckily, solidified in my head through endless hours of studying. Ugh, enough on that. A painful experience, but worth it.

LA

I made three trips to LA over the summer. Always a great time. The first served as a break between the end of classes and the beginning of the previously-described activity. I fit in visits to my dad, Martha, and Justine (dinner and a night stroll in Long Beach), Mark (coffee in Redondo Beach), Kimberly, Zena, and Grady (incredible new dinner place in Long Beach), and spent lots of time with Mandi and my mom (and Logan!).

The second trip was for the Fourth of July. JoJo came on this trip, so there was lots of playful chaos. I went to a party at Danny’s, like last year, and played games and set off fireworks with them. We also went to what is my favorite Hollywood Bowl trip so far—to see John Fogarty. My mom, Mandi, and I go for this holiday every year, not caring who is playing. We didn’t even know who John Fogarty was before going, but almost every song was recognizable. He put on a fantastic show. Lots of good food again, as always, too.

The third trip was just last month. This was a whirlwind of activity: celebration of Mandi’s birthday at Café Sevilla, Maddy and Mike’s wedding, Foti and Sarah’s engagement party, a surprise visit to my dad, Justine, Martha, and her side of the family at my step-uncle and –aunt’s anniversary party, taco truck adventures at 2 am, and more. Many of these occurred in one night, leaving me hardly able to move the next day. Luckily, Nik just drove me home and Jo and I slept!

North Carolina

What can I say about North Carolina, my annual weekend of extreme fun?!? My NC trip deserves its very own summary.

-Raleigh Melting Pot (“1, 2, 3, FONDUUUUUUE!”)

-Games, games, games

-Boating

-Water skiing

-Tubing

-Driving the jet ski (“OH MY GOD, 52!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”)…that’s how fast I got. I screamed

-Table for 12 at hibachi

-Balls of rice in my eye

-Flashlight tag

-Pool

-Fried pickles

-Shopping

-Coffee and Apples to Apples break

-Microwaved s-mores

-Golden Cheesemuffs

Mandi and I always love, love, love our North Carolina trips. Sharon, Paul, and Sara (Ryan was out of town, but let me sleep in his room!) are always great hosts.I frequently look through my old NC pictures just for fun. I wish I could get out there more than once a year!

I love living in the house!  Spring has definitely arrived in Davis, and the neighborhood literally smells like flowers.  I got out of the car after work today and it smelled delicious.  My backyard also smells especially nice.  There’s a tree that we thought was some sort of fruit tree…but is suddenly blooming thousands of white flowers.  I’m pretty sure that’s what’s perfuming the backyard (and maybe the neighborhood…), but I also stuck my nose to all our other flowers and they smelled nice, too.  I can’t wait to have a BBQ and patio set back there.  I do spend as much time as I can out there, gardening or playing ball with Jo.  She LOVES being out there, although the other day is was very windy and she thought a rose was attacking her, and she was scared.  The rose now lays on the ground, bit in half.

Everything here is great.  We have purchased everything for the guest bedroom, and actually are having our first guest here Sunday night, just for the night.  Nik’s friend Liz from college.  But I don’t know if the bedroom stuff will be ready on time…  But then Mandi and my mom (and Logan) come on Friday!!  Yay!!!  It’ll definitely be ready by then!

Nik hung our pictures yesterday and it’s looking very homey.  Not much more to do to set up, except figure out where all of my smaller decorations go and do the guest stuff. 

I had a long day of many meetings at work and am pretty tired.  But I have to prepare for a presentation on Monday, so I better go get working on that…

We are all moved in and it is lovely!  So comfortable and pretty and…perfect!  I don’t have time to post pictures or elaborate, because I need to finish packing for Denver and Abby is picking me up in 3 1/2 hours, but I will later on.  JoJo has been a champion although she is confused about why we aren’t leaving the house.  She LOVES her backyard and keeps bringing me rosebush branches that I left out there in the planter.  Ouch.  Just now, she looked up at my desk hutch, where I usually keep pictures but now have my school and work bags.  She sat down, and cried.  The final straw…”‘Why is everything different?!’”

But we’re so happy!  Can’t wait to finish setting it all up.

We’ve sort of been haphazardly packing the last few days.  We are moving the furniture (via movers) on Tuesday, and we’ve been bringing things over, and are going to bring more things over tomorrow.  It’s been kind of tough to pack what we won’t need before Tuesday, plus what I won’t need for Denver, which is Wednesday.  Denver is difficult timing–should I pack for it before I pack for moving, before we move, after??  With classes starting up on Monday, too, kind of busy and disorganized around here.  Jo has been quite amused about it all, chewing on box corners whenever possible, and ninja sneakily sneaking onto the bed when packing activities leave the bedroom door open.  She made sure that we wouldn’t forget her squirrel toy: