Navigating motherhood in an intercultural and interfaith family.
I finished Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee weeks ago, and I've struggled with what I would write about here since the moment I read the last word on the last page. Truthfully, since about halfway through the book.
Read MoreLast weekend, we went on a day sail in Newport, Rhode Island. Our captain was excellent at catching the wind and we were swarmed a few times by hoards of loud and fast speedboats (and the turbulent wake they left behind), so many of my pictures turned out wobbly while I tried to keep balance. I'm going to cheat a bit and fill in with two of my favorite boat pictures from a few summers ago, when we took a day trip to Maine.
Read MoreWe've gone from one full week of unpacking and "nothing" to one full week of Yale SOM Orientation events.
What have I learned this week?
Since moving in at the beginning of the month, we've gotten to know our new neighborhood via several trips to Home Depot (have you ever seen a ton of something for sale before?), a few impromptu gatherings with other new New Haveners with the incoming Class of 2017, and a few restaurants walking-distance from our apartment, including two desserts located dangerously close to home (cannoli and tiramisu at Nica's Market around the corner). We went to the Pie on 9 Pie Contest and Block Party as our inaugural community activity, and boy was it a sweet, sticky, a la mode elcome to the city.
Read MoreWe've been living in New Haven for one week, today, and so far, we've given one local pizza place a try, gone on a few walks to get to know the neighborhood, stocked the fridge and pantry, unpacked enough to live off of, and relaxed through the hottest parts of the day (in our top-floor apartment) with Season 1 of House on Netflix--I'm dreaming in diagnostics.
In a week-and-a-half, orientation begins and our calendar will be full every night until eight or nine in the evening, including weekends, so I keep reminding myself that relaxing for the time being is a good thing. I also have enough clean shirts to avoid unpacking the boxes and suitcases that surround me while I sleep for the next few days.
In the spirit of prolonged relaxation (read: procrastination), I though I'd share some photos from my favorite unscheduled stop on our California road trip two years ago. Someone gave us a tip to stop and see the sea lions, and we are so glad we did!
Read MoreWe're down to our last few days of living in Boston, which means that packing-mode has just about taken over. I thought I would take a few minutes to revel in a bit of last-minute denial of the fact that the hall closet is still full of jackets and shoes, not to mention the untouched plates, bowls, and spoons in the kitchen cabinets, and update our Boston Bucket List.
Read MoreI learned my love for butterflies from my grandmother, who happily passed on her appreciation for the pretty, winged creatures through the stained-glass miniatures hanging from her kitchen window, trips to Callaway Gardens, and her stories.
Read MoreThe weather here has been getting gradually and consistently warmer, and I think we will crest into the low nineties sometime early next week. While this may sound pleasant to those of you in Georgia, please remember that we don't have the luxury of a/c in our apartment--two weeks of temperatures in the mid-eighties outside means that we're hovering in the low eighties inside our apartment as well! Many sunny afternoons, I find myself parked in front of the oscillating fan thinking cool, breezy thoughts, like this one...
Read MoreOne of the few ways my mother spoiled us growing up was with homemade frosting. Every cupcake, every birthday cake, every Sunday "I just wanted dessert" cake that I can remember was covered in sweet, from-scratch, homemade chocolate, vanilla, or cream cheese frosting. I didn't know what canned frosting tasted like except for the occasional gingerbread house-making class party in Elementary school. And I must say that homemade frosting, well, it takes the cake.
And yet, the simple, sweet satisfaction of homemade vanilla frosting atop a chocolate cupcake eluded me for years. My mother made it look so simple: softened butter, powdered sugar, a splash of vanilla and a splash of milk swirled together with a beater, or even a spoon. And yet, I encountered disaster after disaster while trying to whip up a batch myself.
Read MoreMy "Summer Vacation" began when this (the amount of of grading that I needed to complete per day to finish on time and without a weekend-long grading marathon)--
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