Numbers Monday

• On Friday, we attended our first dance party at our dance studio. It's so different to try to dance the dances you've been practicing with lots and lots of people around. The studio was all decked out with festive decorations, and there was even a live band, which was great! We've gotten to the point where we can recognize the dance that goes with the song and we can do a few moves for most of the dances. I think we danced the Foxtrot, Swing, Hustle, and Rhumba. We even tried our hand at Salsa, but that one we're a little bit rusty on. It was a lot of fun, and luckily, we took the bus down there, since my feet were killing me by the end of the dance. Altogether, it was a blast and I hope I can convince Alex to go to more of the Friday night dances at the studio!
• Saturday became a lazy day for a bit for us. We had gone out 5 nights in a row last week, so by the time Saturday rolled around, we were pretty beat. It was lovely to sleep in, read the newspaper, enjoy the coffee and just generally veg out. It's a rare occasion when that happens. We headed into work in the afternoon and then we headed into Center City, which is always a treat this time of year. We parked the bikes and took a walk around. Luckily, the weather was relatively mild (for us) and we walked through the stores and down the streets, enjoying the holiday shows. We finished our Christmas shopping last weekend, so this weekend was lovely to chill out and not worry about the madness that is shopping. 
• We hit up the Christmas Village at City Hall, and tried out their mulled wine. For $7, a commemorative mug and some terrible mulled wine. Mental note: PA does not grow the right kind of grapes to make good wine. Never again.
• We ended up at Nodding Head, a great little pub on Sansom between 15th and 16th. They brew their own beer, and right now are making one called SledHammer (haha! get it?) which weighs in at a pretty high 7% alcohol. It was so tasty and delicious that we had 2 each! Plus, they have the best entree ever there: the steak salad: a nice tasty peppered steak over some spring greens with some tasty vinaigrette and a side of fries! I hardly ever go there, but their fries are so good (Belgian, crisp on the outside, melty and warm on the inside, with a bit of spice to them and some yummy jalapeno-dip like stuff to go with them - wow!) 
• Sunday was the chore day. I headed into work early to get that out of the way. Back at home, I did about 6 loads of laundry, baked and decorated about 2 dozen cookies and made a pot of Baked Potato Soup. After the 6th load of laundry was in, the washing machine died (which has been a common theme in our house for some time. I then had to hand wash the clothes that were actually in the machine - man! the water is so fricken cold! I had to wear some gloves just to try to keep my hands warm. What a chore! I realized that I am very glad I was born after the invention of the washing machine, and not before!
• Today, it's a rather mellow day. I've got some thesis-writing to do, but most of my actual things to do at lab have been accomplished. Now, I am just hoping to make several figures and get through two outlines. Wish me luck!