What the Blog?

...And all I want to do is hibernate. No more school? No reason to leave the house, that's what I say. As high temps barely skim 30 degrees (although with the wind chill, we're closer to 15 F), it's a good time to bake, simmer, and generally make hearty meals. Winter cooking is definitely a thing I buy into - as I type, a big pot of vegetarian chili is almost ready, with a little mini-pizza to take the spicy edge off as a side. It's also a reflective time of year, to think back through the years, even if it's just via the Year in Facebook application (I was surprised by my own amount of snow-related posts from the early part of this year). And, as I get closer to finishing law school (July, but who's counting?), a time to think about my career and what I want to accomplish with my education. Lucky for me, I actually have some time to ponder these things for another few weeks. And before I forget this recipe, because it's pretty darned tasty: the veggie chi

PNW = Pacific Northwest. Instead of going home for Thanksgiving, we got out of town. We used a JetBlue pass I had that was about to expire to go as many miles away from home as possible: Portland, OR! It had been on the list of destinations for a while, so this was the perfect chance to see it in its misty, gray, rainy best. We rented a car to drive up I-5 via Seattle, to Vancouver, Canada, wandering small towns on the way and checking out the cities. Portland reminded us both a lot of Austin; small, walkable, affordable, and scenic. It started snowing when the plane landed, and many restaurants closed shop due to 'inclement weather' of about a half-inch of accumulation (sound like Austin yet?), so we found a brewery called DeSchute's serving a greasy late-night dinner menu at the late-night hour of 9:30, and grabbed a bite before going 'home'. For our first 2 nights in PDX and two nights in Vancouver, we stayed through airbnb at apartments within walking or easy

F irst things first: finals are OVER! It's always a victory when I finish exams - this year, with 1 paper, 1 take-home (72-hour), and 2 full-on 3-hour exams, it was no different. I was exhausted for about three solid days after I finished but the beautiful thing is that I only have four more semesters left! And much fewer exams this summer and fall, so a lot of the hard part is over. It feels good. So good that I'm celebrating by baking, and basking in spring. Today, the temps are supposed to hit 70+ degrees. And sun, beautiful sun! We finally got out in the yard and cleaned up the weeds, planted tons of veggies (although I may greedily plant one or two more) and we are hoping for some tasty results soon. We've also been biking around - spent a whole day wandering among the cherry blossoms and masses of tourists on our bikes a few weekends ago. The blossoms had already started to drop but it was still really colorful and fun to explore. With my newfound free time, I'

When I lived in Austin, my roommate and I had lofty plans to write an inspiration-filled travel blog, full of anecdotes of where to go (and where not to go) on our various adventures, be they for one day, one week, or even longer. I loved the idea, but sort of let it drop (aside from my really long Argentina post - see January ), and it's time to revive the concept! As I venture out and about, I'll capture all the details in a post - for personal scrapbooking purposes and to hopefully inspire you! I found a great resource for day trips / weekend escapes on Washingtonian , and by combining ideas from that and other sites, have put together a couple of repeat-worthy day trips around the area. The first was a day spent wandering around lovely Old Town Alexandria. Just a short metro ride away (blue or yellow line to King Street, then either a free trolley or ~1 mile walk to the water), it was a great way to spend the first warm Saturday in spring. We walked from the metro down

My trips back to SF are always far too short and stressed, with catching up on missed classes, reading to keep up with future classes, and oh yeah...working... usually the whole reason that I'm out there. It's hard to squeeze in time with friends, so I actually laid extremely low this time - yet another reason I can't wait to finish law school! I need my social time, I think. This trip was no exception to the busy ones - three full days, with my mom by my side (or on her own, but hanging out with me during my precious hour or two per day of non-busy awake time) - but a good time nonetheless. It's been 3.5 years since I lived there, and I've finally moved away from eating at the old favorites in the interest of trying new cuisine. Oh, and it was wonderful! Blue Bottle Coffee, Frog Hollow Farm coffee + pastries, Le Boulange croissants (ok, those I get every time)... Tommaso's for pizza, Betelnut for a little Asian fusion... I wish I had more time, if only  to keep

Snow. Snow, snow, snow. Well, for the most part, it's over, and at least every other state knows how we feel. Yep, snow in all 50 states at the same time. Amazing! Washington saw snow like the city has never seen before, at least on record. The first day, the pure quiet of seeing empty streets covered in a single white layer was calming. You could walk across Connecticut Avenue, a major artery of a major city, and not see a single vehicle. You might, however, see skiers or snowboarders cruising downhill. We went sledding, turned up the space heater, and reveled in days off class and home from work (sadly, it was the one time where working from home was NOT a benefit). By day 5 of the blizzard though, the once-clean snow turned gray and there was a general slushy disgruntled-ness among us. Still, the break from reality was welcome, and the ability to 'swim' in a pile of snow almost as tall as me was especially fun when followed by more hot chocolate. Some photos below. Our

When it's winter, or even just a Friday night after a long week, sometimes you just want to drive. Sometimes you forget that your destination is a hip 'up and coming' neighborhood that went, in 6 months, from relatively easy to park to a pain-in-the-butt. So, we found ourselves returning home last night 17 minutes too late to our car, to find a $100 parking ticket. $100. It'll be beans-and-rice for the next couple of weeks until our egos and wallets recover from that mistake. I managed to escape parking tickets in every other city I've lived in, but somehow they've found reasons to ticket us at least five times here. Out of those, I'd say only one or two were legit, but fighting tickets is even harder here than in San Francisco. You actually have to pay an extra $10 to fight your ticket, which they supposedly refund IF you win. Sneaky, DC. Very sneaky. Today's post is an exercise in whining. I know it's a new year, and we are definitely working

We're back! And what an amazing trip it was. As much as I love the holidays, right down to what *some people* (cough, cough...sapun...cough cough) call "overdone" music and decor, it was pretty amazing to step away from the advertisements and enjoy a peaceful break. Oh yeah, and warm weather. We spent two weeks in Buenos Aires and Bariloche, Argentina, the first trip either of us had taken to South America and the first stamps on our brand new passports. All those empty pages, so many stamps to get... We left with great memories and a hope to return again (and a new leather jacket:). We also celebrated New Year's Eve on the plane, which much to my dismay, did not include either champagne or a countdown even though we crossed three time zones and thus had multiple opportunities to celebrate! Bummer.  However, we did make it to Houston for a 10-hour layover, where my wonderful parents fed us, drove us around, and dropped us back at the airport, refreshed and ready