Movie Review: Two for Tuesday

Look, you guys, I am really, really behind on my movie watching, so I hope you'll bear with me. I couldn't really bear to watch the Oscars last weekend because I haven't been to a movie theatre since the release of the last Harry Potter movie last July, so I'm a little behind. The last two weekends, we watched The Wrestler (2010?) and The Italian Job (2003). And you know what? I really, really liked them both. The Wrestler was fascinating because I had no idea there was this whole "world of wrestling" and that it was more of a performance than anything. I thought Mickey Rourke did a phenomenal job acting, and I love, love, love Marisa Tomei. I thought the movie was really interesting and entertaining, although there were a few scenes I just couldn't watch because they were so violent. The movie was also sad, but so well done that it was almost not noticeable? Does that even make sense? I'm not sure how the filmmakers did this one because there was not one particular character I really liked or identified with, it was more a window into another life I never knew about that was so fascinating to me. If you haven't seen this one, it's worth it, I think,
The Italian Job is one of those heist movies. A group of people get together to pull of a big robbery in Venice. This is one of those great movies with a whole ensemble cast (Charlize Theron, Mark Wahlberg, Donald Sutherland, Ed Norton, Seth Green) who travel around the world to pull of exciting heists. The plot begins in Venice with the group pulling off the robbery of a bunch of gold bricks. Things go wrong and one of the group turns out to be a rat. The plot then turns to revenge, with the group trying to get back at the one that turned on them. Overall, I loved this movie. Everyone, even the smaller characters, were phenomenal actors. The storyline was a little slow, but the chase scenes were fun and the action was good. The movie wasn't too violent and the one female lead was a really strong, capable woman, not a damsel in distress. If you haven't seen this one, I'd recommend it for one of those nights you just want some mindless entertainment. It was a good show.

Monday Numbers

• Alex had his first bike race of the season this past weekend. It was at Rutgers in NJ, so he left at 4:30am on Saturday morning to head up there with his friend, Mike. I think they had a good time, but Alex had some bike problems which prevented him from finishing his last race. Continuing on the theme of bike problems, I set out Sunday morning for a trip to TJs when, lo and behold, the whole damn pedal came off my bike! Yeah, so Alex subsequently spent the day in the basement, fixing bikes. It's kinda hard when that's your sole mode of transportation, so it looks like we might be running errands this week after work instead!

• I also watched about 3 movies, one of which I may review later this week. I actually like having something on in the background when I'm working on mindless stuff. Seems to make the mindless stuff a little bit easier.
• I made meatloaf for the first time in a loooong time. I forgot how good that stuff is!
• Alex is trying to set a thesis defense date for sometime in the 5th or 6th month!
• I have about ten billion things to do and I marked one of those things of my list on Saturday.
• Why are weekends never three days instead of two?

Tuesday Numbers

• Sorry it's one day late, guys
• I sold my first thing on Ebay this past weekend! My old Docs that I never wore. I think I might end up putting more stuff up there - woot, woot!
• I'm enduring my second cold of the last three weeks. Seriously, not fun, although it hasn't been that bad. At least I can still semi-function in the brain region.
• I think my paper might actually get published sometime soon. I am awaiting word from my old boss, while working diligently on my work in my current lab, and thinking about the work I will do in my future lab. I am ready to not have my feet in three labs, thank you very much!
• I watched the Oscars, but couldn't last the whole broadcast. Billy Crystal just seemed old, and the schtick was a little outdated. I guess I was mostly irritated when I thought about how much money people had spent to attend the Oscars, and that my husband and I could probably have lived off that money for several months. I'm not hating on rich people, I'm just hating on the disparity. 
• I shoot flames out of both my eyes every time I read about Santorum going up in the polls. That guy would be the absolute worst thing to happen to this country, ever. 
• I think Spring is here, guys. That groundhog had no idea what he was talking about. Although, it did breifly snow for about 30 minutes on Saturday. Go figure.

Craigslist Haiku Friday

Sold my stereo

on craigslist. Free listing, five

days, Thirty Dollars!

***

We accumulate

so much junk. One person, junk

another, treasure.

***

Who knew people still

wanted to play CDs, tapes?

Gotta put up more!

Confessions Tuesday

I'm going to admit it: I'm a Miley Cyrus fan. I know, I know, a grown woman, liking Miley Cyrus? I must admit I don't know much about her, but I have to admit that when times are tough, when life has me down, her song, "Party in the USA" is on a loop on my iPod. It seems ridiculous, and I'm unsure how I even got that song on my iPod to begin with (I guess I must have purchased it, because I can't imagine having asked a friend for a song from a Miley Cyrus CD!). It all started in November, as I was headed for the Bay Area for three job interviews in three days. I arrived on Tuesday, and attempted to find my way to Palo Alto on the BART/Cal-train, which is no easy feat. When I finally arrived, I found that the campus was MUCH bigger than anticipated - I'm a walker, and I usually just will walk, even if it's a ways, but the walk to my hotel, it just couldn't be done. My hotel was separated from everything, and consistent with CA, was situated for drivers, not people without a car. Getting food was tough, I had to order in, and I was nervous as hell, giving a talk in a place so unfamiliar. The bus/shuttle system saved me, and I headed to campus the next morning, bright and early and ready for my interviews. Each Both Wed and Thurs were looooooong days. I gave a talk on Wed for both labs I was visiting, and then I just hung out. I felt like I hadn't really nailed the talk, and I was super nervous to meet with the lab on Thurs, since I didn't really know the PI very well. On Thurs night, my interviews ended around 7pm, and I had to get to CalTrain to head into SF for my thankfully last interview. I was beat, both mentally and physically, and I just couldn't imagine having yet ANOTHER interview tomorrow. I got to the train station, starved and ready to get to my hotel in SF, but so, so far away. As I arrived, I saw the CalTrain headed to SF pulling out, meaning I had at least another hour to wait. Thankfully, there was a small cafe at the train station, so I grabbed a hot cocoa and a sandwich and settled in for a bit. I found the song "Party in the USA" on my iPod and I started listening to it. Interestingly, I perked up. The song had an effect, making me want to dance a little, giving me a little bit of energy, and telling me I could do this, I could really, really do this! I also liked the song because it talks about her feeling out of place, landing in LA, not knowing how to dress or act. That's totally how I felt. East Coast living has left me a little bit uptight, and a lot impatient. Science living has left me a little awkward, both socially and professionally. So, here I was, with all these Google execs, all these Silicon Valley geniuses, headed to SF. I talked to Alex quite a bit, and he gave me a lot of confidence and boosted my morale. I ended up walking to my awesome hotel right in the heart of touristy downtown, feeling pretty good. I ran through my talk once more, and then I hit the hay. The next morning, I was out for a run around 6am, which felt pretty good. SF felt familiar, and I felt like I was finally settling into this traveling bit. I left early, heading to the UCSF Mission Bay campus (oh my god, what an awesome place!) and I nailed my talk there. Nailed it! I felt great, and I had a fantastic time on my last interview. And I couldn't get out of there fast enough because my parents were heading up to spend the weekend with me. It ended up being a great trip (I even got my folks on the BART and the cable car, which was super cute!), and it ended with two job offers. We're headed to Stanford in the fall, so we're both really excited. But, to a certain extent, I think I might owe some of my success to Miley Cyrus and her ridiculously catchy song :)

 On the BART

 Powell St Cable Car, headed to Fisherman's Wharf

 On top of a ridiculously tall building, at the bar, of course!

 See? I was there too!

 The view was awesome!

 On Stanford's campus, the night I arrived.

The Ferry Building, the morning of my run. 

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Happy Birthday, Dad! I miss you more than you know and I can't wait to be back in the same state as you! I hope you have a WONDERFUL day! xoxo

Monday Numbers

• Well, folks, it's Monday again. Not a whole lot happened this weekend. We got about 1 inch of snow on Friday and Saturday, mostly keeping Alex and I inside, working. 
• We spent several hours talking about plans: plans for Alex to graduate, plans to move, how much money we need to save, when to buy a car, where we want to try to go on our trip across the country, etc. It's a lot to talk about an figure out, let me tell you. I can feel a bit of a shift since we've gotten married. We both take a little bit more care to make sure we are both on the same page, since we're in this together forever, right? As it stands now, we are planning on leaving Philadelphia at the end of June. However, we have the option of one more month, so we'll see how that goes. 
• Some of the places we want to try to check out on our way out to CA? Well, the Corn Palace, in Mitchell, SD, of course! We'd also like to see the Adirondacks in upstate NY. We'll stop in Boston to visit some friends, and definitely to the Berkshires to see some family. Also, Wisconsin, Wyoming (Yellowstone again!) and Colorado, of course. The list is now at least 10 states! Should be fun!
• We are headed to a wedding in OH on Memorial Day weekend, which means we need to buy a car before then! I am both really excited and slightly apprehensive to get a car. I think it will be great to have an alternative mode of transport, but I also think it will cost a lot of money to insure, to make car payments and to buy gas (which are all expenses we haven't had before). However, we've already decided on a $10,000 limit for the total cost of the car, so that means a used car, and likely a small one. The good news is that I saw an ad for a little Chevy Aveo (the car my Dad drives, and the one we took to Yosemite for our honeymoon) for around $6000, so hopefully there are some cars in our price range out there.
• I talked to my Mom yesterday for about an hour. She was super cute about the Corn Palace. She said my Grandma loved the Corn Palace so much that they stopped there every time they drove across the country (about 3 times!). Sometimes, I think I got a little bit of my Grandma's personality in me. I love those kitschy things - souvenir shops, ridiculous buildings, ghost tours, caves, etc. So much fun!
• And I can't go without mentioning the death of Whitney Houston this past weekend. What a tragic loss. I absolutely loved her when I was a kid, and it's hard for me to pick a favorite song. She was such a powerhouse and I just wanted to be able to sing like her when I was little (I realize now how impossible that is, but I really, really thought it was true when I was a kid!) Whitney, you will be missed.

Groundhog Haiku Friday

Six week of winter

so says the hibernating

Punxsutawney Phil.

***

Pink implosion this
week; no more support for
the Republican right.

***

Another week of
chaos; can't seem to keep up.
So glad it's Friday.

Money Woes

Alex and I have been undergoing new austerity measures to attempt to pay off the wedding, save up for our move to CA, and save up to buy a car. Problem is? I have no money. Literally, no money. I got paid last Thursday, and today (one week later), my bank account is near the red. I always thought I was pretty good at saving money and not spending it. I'm not a shopaholic. I don't buy random stuff on the internet (usually). I have a soft spot for used books (not even new books, but used books!) and I likely spend a little too much money on groceries, but realistically, I should not be going down to the wire this way every week. It's getting ridiculous. So, last night, I ended all my contributions to my retirement plans. We counted all our change the other night (except the pennies) and I think I'm going to start selling stuff on ebay and craigslist. Most of our stuff will have to be sold or given away anyways, as we can't really afford to move everything we own (and Ikea is not really worth moving, let's be honest). With us struggling like this (and we're supposed to be solid middle class) I can't imagine what is going on in households that make less than we do. Granted, I am sure we can give up our iphones to decrease our cell bills, but honestly, I can't think of much else we could eliminate. The internet is necessary for our jobs, so we can't get rid of that. And electricity and gas are pretty necessary to live. Moo would be really sad to live in a tent, I am pretty sure, so skipping rent is not an option. Honestly, I am really unsure how we are gonna live in CA, as rent is gonna be nearly twice what we're paying now. Guess we might just have to rent a room from someone. Ugh, and I can't even think about taxes. My old job? Yeah, sent my tax form to my old address (where I have NOT lived for 3 years!). Oh, and it has my social on that form. Thanks, Penn! You're a frigging nightmare. Sorry to be such a downer, but it's something we are struggling with on a daily basis and I'm not sure what else we can do. We've been cooking every night, never go out to eat or for a beer or anything. I bring my lunch every day. I have no car, no insurance payment, I ride my bike everywhere (literally, free transport). Gah, what else can we do to get out of the hole?

Monday Numbers

• spent the weekend sick as a dog, coughing, hacking, sneezing, you name it. I went through one whole box of tissues and filled up one trash can. I also managed to blow snot out of my eyeball. Not once but twice. Aren't you happy for that visual?
• I finally finished all 100-ish thank you notes from our wedding. Finally. It will be marvelous to put those suckers in the mail, let me tell you. It's rough having that hanging over your head.
• In other news, I worked about 80 hours last week. Complaining? Nope. However, I'm pretty sure that's why I got sick. On the weekend. Figures. 
• We are moving to CA in about 5 months. Prepare for freak out in 5, 4, 3, 2...
• I have spent the weekend on the couch, watching Netflix streaming. Current favorites? Cake Boss. Those folks are so New Jersey it's painful. I love it.  I think I've watched about 15 episodes.
• I am keeping my New Year's resolution very well. Wanna know what it was? It was to listen to more music. So, now, I listen to Pandora on my iPhone when I'm in the shower. I've already discovered a couple new songs that I like. I also discovered that I should not have said that I liked Miley Cyrus "Party in the USA" because now I get a lot of Disney Pop Princess songs that are just not good. I'm also thinking I need a Pearl Jam station. And perhaps a couple more stations. Just for variety. 
• My goals for this week? To do Jillian Michaels video 3 times and to blog 2 times. Already halfway there!

Random Snippets Monday

• I got a job at Stanford!
• I clearly have the SAD again. I hate the damn winter and I hate that everything I have to do involves me being outside for extended periods of time. Ugh.
• My eyes water when I ride my bike to school and today my tears froze on my face.
• I am teaching myself to crochet.
• I have become addicted to watching TV shows on the Netflix since my TV has decided to go on the fritz. My current favorite is Destination Truth from SciFi or Suyfy or whatever it's called. Pretty adventurous!
• I got Jillian Michaels video workout this weekend. She has kicked my ass, let me tell you.
• I am really, really, really looking forward to moving to CA. Really.

Random Snippets

• I cleaned out my closets this past weekend and came up with 6 bags full of things to discard. Not too shabby. Now, to figure out a way to get those bags to the charity donation box...
• The weather has been real nice lately. By "real nice", I mean, in the 40s and not raining. However, I do miss flip-flops.
• I have been working harder than a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest. And there's no end in sight. 
• I am trying to get a job at Stanford. Keep your fingers crossed. 
• My parents are learning to Skype. My Dad is more technologically advanced that I am. He has the new iPhone. My iPhone is totally, like, 7 iPhones ago. 
• Our TV is broken. It's decided to randomly turn itself off and on while I am viewing it. Sometimes it doesn't even turn on at all. I don't think we'll get a new one, though, since we're moving in 6 months. 
• SIX MONTHS! @&*#$%@(!)!)!@@####
• We finally started on our wedding thank you notes. The final (I think) thing we've got to finish!
• We have now been married longer than Kim Kardashian. Is that a thing? Should we be proud?

This is why I'm glad I'm leaving Philadelphia

I ride my bike everywhere and in my time of riding, I've encountered a lot of problematic drivers. I've seen cars blow through stop signs, really push red lights, exceed the speed limit excessively, swerve, use the bike lane to pass other cars and just about every other infraction you can imagine. However, my experience yesterday took the cake. Alex and I were trying to cross a street (we had the green light) and I was heading into the crosswalk. A woman in an SUV started honking and tried to make a right turn right in front of me. I tried to brake in time, and I came within inches of being hit by her. I was so upset by this interaction, that I was literally starting to cry and I was clutching my chest, unable to process the near miss that had just occurred. She had stopped, and I attempted to waver her past me, telling her to please go. She pulled up in front of me, and rolled down her window. Thinking she might actually ask me if I was OK, I looked at her (she was driving a nice car and looked like she was coming back from church). She proceeded to yell at me and tell me how wrong I was (yeah, for trying to cross IN THE CROSSWALK ON A GREEN LIGHT!), even though I was visibly upset, crying and hyperventilating. She was just mean and malicious and I have no doubt in my mind that she would have hit me if she could have. I am literally shaking as I type this, an entire day after this incident occurred.
Look, I get it. You're in a hurry. That's fine. Most people are. But when you get to the point where you think it's OK to hit someone (someone NOT surrounded by 2 tons of steel) then something's wrong here. Most of the crazy incidents that happen around Philly are just due to stupidity or inept drivers, not ones with malicious intent. This woman had a maliciousness about her that was somehow taken out on me for no apparent reason. That's not OK, and I don't really understand how people can get away with being so rude here. When I first moved here, I thought it was "quaint", but now, honestly, I'm just sick of it. I am really looking forward to our move to CA in a few months. Honestly, it can't come soon enough.

The marathon debacle

On Sunday, I was supposed to run the Philadelphia Marathon. I had been training for the marathon for a few months leading up to my wedding, but I had slacked off on my training in the past month, mostly out of laziness and boredom. I know it's a silly thing to say, but getting past the wedding was kind of a bummer. I loved our wedding and our honeymoon (and I wanted our vacations to last longer), but it was something that I so looked forward to for so long that having it over and done with (and being put back in the same place I was before the wedding) has been a little bit hard, I must admit. So, I slacked off on my running (and a lot of other things as well) and I just wasn't sure about running the marathon. Then it turned out that Alex was getting job interviews in the Bay Area and he had to leave the day of the marathon (before it even started). I had asked him to run with me for a ways during the race, since I knew my motivation would flag at some point. So, then I just scrapped the whole idea of doing the marathon. I know that I can do it, if I put in the proper training, but I knew that I hadn't trained well enough. Anyways, I decided to show up the day of the marathon and just run the half. That's a distance I knew I could do, so I set out to at least try that. And let me tell you, I struggled from the start. It just wasn't my day. My feet were frozen from standing around for so long - it took me at least a mile to warm up my feet. My pace was too fast. I had to pee at mile 4 (and wait in a line for at least 5 mins). My feet and knees started to hurt pretty early on, around mile 6 or 7, and the hills (tiny ones) on the course were killing me. I ended up being at the back of the pack for most of my run, which is honestly a little demoralizing and totally not motivating at all. I finished the race with a burst of speed, passing by a man who had collapsed with 1/4 mile to go. I'm pretty sure he died. How awful, right?
I had originally signed up for this race as a challenge to myself. I wanted to prove to myself that I could do something so crazy, so long, that I had the stamina and endurance to run a marathon. The truth is that I know I can do it, I just don't know that I want to do it anymore. I like running because it makes me feel good, it relieves my stress and it makes me feel strong and powerful. But I'm not sure I want that goal anymore, the goal of running a marathon. I think I'd like to improve my pace (I'd like to slip below the 10min mile, if I could). And I'd like running to not feel like a chore, like it has felt for a while now. I'd also like to do something else, like strength training and pilates and yoga. So, I think I will change things up this winter. Next winter, when we're in CA, I can train all I want. The cold/ice won't be there to bother me. But for now, I think running is going to be a 3-4 times a week thing, but with less focus on a goal and more focus on happiness. I actually think I learned more from not running the marathon than I did from running it. I need to change it up, refocus and gain back some of that joy from running. That will be my birthday present to myself!

Haiku Friday

Alex leaves early
Sunday morning for job talks
New labs, new prospects

***

The next week I leave
Headed to the same places
Job talks, interviews

***

Here's hoping all goes
Well - moving toward my home state
Family and friends!

Opinion Thursday*

*In an attempt to inspire myself, I thought I would write about my opinions on current events on a weekly basis...here goes!

Dismantling of Occupy Wall Street
I have to admit, I was unaware of the Occupy movement until maybe about a month ago. I the rush up to the wedding, I didn't really pay much attention to the news. I returned from my honeymoon to the growing media coverage of the Occupy movement and I was curious. The media portrayal of the movement has not always been positive, so I sought some answers from the Occupy movement themselves. There is an Occupy site here in Philly, and I've inadvertently been a part of their demonstrations (I'm everywhere, people). I've also read a bit of their tumblr site and the Occupy site. I must admit, I do support the Occupy movement. I've struggled a lot financially, and I think that my generation and the generations to come after us are going to have a harder time that my parents' generation ever did. By the time my parents were my age, they had both owned homes individually, and had bought the house I grew up in. Granted, I chose a different path, but Alex and I are nowhere near close enough to buying a home. In fact, we still owe tens of thousands of dollars in student loans. I understand that it was my choice to attend school and to take out student loans. I am not saying that I don't want to pay my loans myself, I am just saying that my generation is in so much debt (as compared to income) I cannot imagine us collectively pulling ourselves out of it. I also see the job market failing, the absence of jobs (for all ages) in smaller towns and cities, and the shipping of jobs overseas. I see health insurance and benefits being slashed (in a really short period of time, too). I also see an enormous lack of health care in all walks of life, even people with jobs. Granted, Alex and I are the intellectually elite, so we should have no problems finding the jobs we want at the institutions we want to work for. But I see other people struggle immensely. Most of my friends do not own homes. My friends that do own homes either live someplace really cheap to live or had some help buying their home, either from family or from buying at the right time. I don't think that Alex and I live extravagantly, yet we struggle paycheck to paycheck. The bills we have are rent, electric, gas, internet and cell phone service. We don't belong to the gym, we don't have a car. I can't remember the last time I went shopping for new clothes. The wedding hit us pretty hard, and we are struggling with credit card debt as well. We've been cooking at home more often, making large meals we can eat for a few days. I'm not complaining, these things are our reality. I see people way worse off than us, without health insurance, struggling to live. Unable to move up or down, left or right. I think the Occupy movement has brought all this to the forefront. I think people are talking about it more. I think we have a lot more awareness that policies that bail out big business hurt our own people. I think the regular person needs some bailing out, every once in a while. If not monetarily, then with some policies that help people get affordable healthcare, housing, or some necessities, like food or gas. I think we need some policies in place that protect the regular citizen, as opposed to protecting Wall St and big companies. I also think that the richer 1% should pay more taxes.
I can honestly say that I was really, really disappointed with the reaction to the Occupy movements. I mean, these are movements occurring not just in the US, but all over the world. This is a movement that encourages non-violent protest as a form of civil disobedience. I agree with that. I also believe wholeheartedly in the First Amendment to the Constitution:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
We have the right to assemble, and the right to protest. This idea alone is what bothers me the most. Even if this was a protest I did not agree with, I understand their right to carry it out. Peaceable assembly should not require permits. Assembly in a public space (I don't care that it's privately owned - it's a public space for all to enjoy). It concerns me that cops and mayors can make decisions to stifle this essential right. It concerns me. It concerns me a lot. And I don't think it's right.

Penn State Debacle
This will be shorter, I promise. I work with and know a lot of people who attended Penn State. It's a good school, with a good academic reputation. The football team and the coaches really concern me. The fact that a child would be raped on campus, in front of someone and the cops weren't called? That's a red flag. The fact that this behavior was ignored is so disturbing to me. Why weren't the authorities called? Why did the person who saw the act go home and make an appointment with Joe Pa for the next morning? What? These things are not OK, and it suggest a culture of insulation, a culture of, "protect football at any and all costs". Well, it cost you, all right. And you deserve it, Joe Paterno and everyone else involved. You deserve to lose your job. I don't think the football season should be cancelled, but I do believe that people need to remember that this is a sport. And that the kids at Penn State are rioting over the loss of a game, a sport. Think about it. It just aint' right.

Monday Numbers

• Well, it wasn't that eventful of a weekend, but it sure feels like it! On Friday, I was fortunate enough to meet up with one of my college roomies and her husband, kids, sister, brother-in-law and brother-in-law's mom for a fun afternoon of historic tourism in Philly. I had such a great time. I don't always realize it, but it's so nice to see people you know and who know you. It's great to catch up, and chill out. It was a pretty cold day, but they were troopers! And I really couldn't think of another way to spend 11.11.11!
• One of my friends had her baby on 11.11.11! A little boy - so cute! Enrique...I think I might call him Ricky-cito :)
• I spent most of the weekend around the house, doing errands and cleaning up. I think it's literally the first weekend I've been home in months and honestly, it felt great to be a little lazy, just hang out and do nothing. 
• We're on a cooking kick. We're a bit in debt from the whole wedding thing, so we've decided ot cut back on eating out, and cook more at home. With our busy schedules, the best bet for us is to cook something pretty big and then eat that for a few days. This week, it was lasagna, which turned out amazing. We made two batches, and we should be able to feast off it for a few days, at least. I also made two pumpkin breads, a double batch of hummus, and I am attempting a sourdough starter. I hope it works!
• We also used a Groupon that I bought for a "Ghost Tour" of Philadelphia with a group called the "Spirits of 76". Get it? Haha, right? So, in case you didn't know, I am into ghost stuff. I don't know that I am a "believer", but I love ghost stories and spooky things, just like when I was a kid. (Although, as an aside, I don't really love "ghost movies" unless they're really well done. I loved The Sixth Sense, but the Paranormal Activity movies? Not so much. I do, however, love Ghost Adventures, which I know is a completely stupid and useless reality TV show. I can't get enough! I realize I have a problem!). When I went to Scotland with my parents over ten years ago, we took a ghost tour of the Edinburgh vaults, these regions of the city that are literally a city underneath the city. Yeah, Ghost Adventures went there - they caught some amazing stuff on camera, which I love. Anyways, we had this amazing tour guide - a really spooky man who totally acted the part. They took us into the vaults and we heard sounds (a child, specifically) and I felt something brush up against me (a dog, I thought at the time). They had candles, and shut them off in the middle of the tour, making it pitch dark. Edinburgh is full of spooky, haunted tales, so it was a wonderfully spine tingling tour! Fast forward to Philly, 7:30pm in Old City. We get this bubbly, cheery young woman as our tour guide. She tells us tales that are "really sad, right?" and she expresses emotion about the ghosts. I'm a firm believer that once you start to think of ghosts as real people with real stories, that's when the "ghost story effect" ends. Of course, someone catching on fire on her wedding day (an subsequently burning the whole damn building down) is really sad, but I want to hear more about the ghostly tales - chairs dragged around, unexplained sounds, eerie footsteps, that kind of stuff. Instead, I hear about historic stories of the buildings, with little or no emphasis on "ghostly encounters". I hear about "a lot of bodies buried here", but nothing of any encounters or anything interesting. A big disappointment. The one thing that I thought was funny was as we were standing in front of Independence Hall, a light kept flickering on and off, over and over again. I'm unsure if someone was playing a joke on the security guard at the door, or whether the wiring at the Hall is pretty faulty, but I thought it was pretty funny. I would imagine Benjamin Franklin would find "elecktricity" quite interesting - perhaps he stopped by to play?

Monday Numbers

• This weekend was a doozy, folks! We had our first ever Showcase Performance for our dance school. We danced a tango to the number from Chicago "He had it coming". It was a lot of fun! We performed at this school auditorium, which brought me back to my days at Hueneme Christian School, when we did our Christmas plays at the Oxnard Auditorium. Yeah, I was big way back then :)
• We also rented a car and drove all over the area to run some errands. One day, I would like to rent a car to do something fun, not just run errands. We drove around Northeast Philly - not much there,  people. It's like an area that was built before there was the idea of strip malls, so nothing is coherent or makes sense. There are also lots and lots of row homes, which, for some reason, reminds me of housing on the base. However, for all our driving around, we only went through less than four gallons of gas. Not too shabby!
• On Sunday, we hit up Wegman's, my new favorite grocery store. It's kinda like Trader Joe's, Whole Foods and Vons all rolled into one. It's got the cheaper store brand foods that are really good (and generally organic or healthier) plus a specialty store with good cheeses and breads (if you're into that stuff). They also carry all those brand name things, so you can get your Ragu or whatever you might be looking for. Love it! They even give double coupons! Oh yeah, I'm eighty.
• I also spent an exorbitant amount of time at Bed, Bath and Beyond. That place is sometimes the armpit of hell. I circled the store approximately three times. I went to try to get some of the remaining things off our registry, as well as use up some of the gift cards we got for our wedding. I had a cart full of things (mostly bulky items, not really heavy items - like two pillows, an ironing board, etc.) and I tried to take it down the escalator (they had an escalator thingy for the cart) and that bitch stopped! What? So, I had to carry all my stuff by hand - I looked like a total fool, with these huge bags dragging on the floor. Oh lordy. Oh well, don't think I will be back there again for a while at least. Next time, maybe I can go to a BBB that is not on the second floor of a building (for no apparent reason).
• I next went to Macy's to try to return a gift and to use some of my gift cards. It took me forever to find the store. When I did, I thought it might be a nice store. It was at least six stories high, and seemed to be pretty old, which was kinda cool. However, they completely lack a home store. How can a Macy's be 6 stories high without a home store? The one in Philly is only 3 stories high and has a ton of home stuff. Guess that's where I'm headed next.
• Today, we returned the car and ended up driving through Philly to drop off the car. It made me glad that I commute by bike. Even though I was really warm and toasty on the way to the rental car place, it made me appreciate that I don't have to deal with all the silly traffic and idiot drivers in the middle of the city on a daily basis. Thankful for my little 10 speed.

A Mouse in my House

I have a lot of catching up to do with this here blog, and I guess there's no time like the present to get started on that! Since I love to regale you with stories of my ever exciting life, I thought I'd tell you a tale of one of the first days we came home after the honeymoon. I went upstairs after a questionable long day at work, looking for my wonderful LL Bean slippers. I took off my shoes and slipped my bare feet into my lovely slippers and there was something warm and furry in my shoe. Thinking that Moo had somehow showed her toy in there, I looked in my shoe to pull it out. Nope, two little beady eyes staring right back at me. A mouse! In my shoe! I had my bare foot against it! Where was my cat? Why did she not do anything about said mouse? I screamed my head off and Alex came rushing upstairs to see what was wrong. He laughed a bit, said I had given the mouse a good scare, and promptly took the little thing outside to "let it free". It took me a while to get over my heart attack at finding a mouse in my shoe. I have to say I am quite glad that it didn't bite my toes - that would have really made me mad! So, then, of course, I had to clean out the kitchen to find places to put all of our wedding presents. I found evidence of a little mouse freeway in one of our kitchen cabinets (the one where we keep pots and pans, not any of our cabinets with food). I am unsure if the mice moved in because we were gone for a couple weeks (and so was Moo), or if we've had mice all along and our cat should no longer be called a cat anymore (perhaps just a pet?). I've always prided myself on being mouse-free, especially in a city where mice and rats are rampant and most of my friends have had significant mouse problems. It also made me miss Kitty, my other cat we had to put to sleep nearly two years ago. She was a phenomenal mouser, and oh so proud to bring you the leftovers. As Alex says, perhaps it's time for a "cat upgrade"! Haha!

Monday Numbers!

• Crazy weekend, you guys! On Friday, I headed to a meeting, then a happy hour, and then a dance lesson. I saw several of my friends who I haven't seen for a while. We ended the night with some time on the dance floor, practicing. Next week, we do our practice wedding dance for the whole studio! Yikes!
• On Saturday, I hit up my 9am pilates class, then booked it to get to my 2nd bridal shower! Wow! I am spoiled, let me tell you! We hung out at Cafe con Chocolate, which was an awesome little place in South Philly. There were 9 of us total, and we just chilled out, ate brunch, drank cafe con leche and churros and played some silly games. We got some lovely, amazing gifts, and our friends brought their new baby, Conor, who is just adorable! The boys hung around outside, while figuring out what to do during the shower. They ended up with cheesesteaks, beer, and a baby in a bar (in a baby bjorn too, which made me think of the Hangover!). 
• On Sunday, I ran 13.1 miles in the Philly Rock N' Roll Half Marathon. The first 10 miles were pretty easy, but the last 3 were fairly hard. I guess it's not that bad! I finished in 2:22, which was a pretty solid 11 minute mile. I bested my 10 mile PR by 7 minutes, which is awesome! I'm pretty proud that I finished it, but I'm not sure I'm ready for a full marathon. I can't imagine running twice that distance, especially since miles 10-13 were pretty hard - what happens if those miles are hard in a marathon too? Ugh - I guess I'll just continue my training and see where that gets me!
• The rest of Sunday was spent with a two hour nap, a large bowl of ice cream, and a couple hours of TV. I couldn't move very well, and I didn't sleep well Saturday night, so I feel like it was a good thing. However, I didn't get the things done I needed to, like laundry, house cleaning, etc. I think the house might just be messy until after the wedding. That's ok, right?