The Weekend in my Phone

These are the most exciting and eventful few weeks of my entire year.  My entire year, I tell you!!!  Pat and I celebrated two years together this past Friday, my birthday is this coming Thursday, I start a new job Feb 1, and Valentine's day is but a mere two weeks off!  Hooray for the most wonderful time of the year!

This past weekend I thought I would end up a pathetic studying hermit, but in actuality I managed to power through, and have some spare time left for celebrations.  As usual, my iPhone bore witness to it all.

Absolutely beautiful roses Pat surprised me with for our anniversary!

I surprised him with Bruins tickets (we won!)

A little shopping in an early birthday present I bought for myself!

(It's vintage!! I didn't kill anything I swear!)

Some friends and I went out dancing to celebrate my birthday!

Even in the worst of weather Boston is so beautiful!

Spicy Tomato Bisque and Grilled Cheese

My best friend Jess and I have a relationship that borders on unhealthy.  We met as dorm next door neighbors our sophmore year of college, and by the end of our senior year we were literally spending 72 hours at a time together.  I'm talking sleeping over at each other's houses like 4 year olds, eating lunch together, going shopping together, joined-at-the-hip-weirdo friends.  Of course since college we've been forced to cut the umbilical cord a little bit (I'm sure neither her nor my boyfriend would be thrilled with exclusively double dates), but we still try to get together as much as possible.  This weekend we had the rare opportunity to spend more than 24 hours together again and it. was. glorious. All of Sunday was essentially devoted to a law and order SVU marathon, coupled with the creation of epically delicious comfort food.  I headed up the soup project, Jess took control of the grilled cheese, and then we ate everything in sight.  This soup is pretty spicy (cut back on the red pepper flakes for less burn), but paired perfectly with our more mild grilled cheese.  Jess made the grilled cheese on a caramelized onion focaccia, and used both sharp cheddar and mozzarella to get the perfect degree of ooey-gooey-goodness.  Seriously so good.

(recipes and more photos after the jump)

Breathe. Take a walk. Get a coffee.

In my short professional career I’ve worked at exactly one place.  I started as an intern way back in 2009, and I haven’t budged from my lab bench since.  I love my boss, I’ve created incredible friendships with some of my coworkers, and I’ve become a published scientist.  In short, I love my job.  This is why it’s so bittersweet for me to leave.  A few weeks ago a friend offered me a job at a new company that could not be a more perfect fit.  I am SO excited to start there this February, but it breaks my heart to leave this lab behind.

Beyond all of this, was the realization that I have exactly three and a half weeks to wrap up three and a half years of work.  I have people to train, notebooks to index, boxes to catalog, people to meet with, and a to-do list that seems infinitely long.  Who knew quitting was so stressful??  When I feel overwhelmed, the only thing that saves my sanity is a mantra I’ve adopted from my mentor at the lab:

“Breathe. Take a walk.  Get a coffee.”


Sometimes the best way to finish a to-do list is to forget about it for a few minutes and get a coffee. Do absolutely nothing while you wait for the drink to cool, completely relax, and come back to work a few minutes later more focused.

Thank you, coffee, for existing.  I love you, I love you, I love you.

Bye Bye, Facebook

When I graduated from high school to head out into the big world you were soooo cooooool.  You promised me I could stay in touch with my high school friends, make new friends in college, and document my life all along the way.  We evolved together.  You watched me grow up and go to graduate school, and I watched you become a publicly traded company.  I'm happy for you, facebook, really I am, but it's time for us to part ways.  I waste so much time hanging out with you that it's easy to forget to nurture my friendships in real life.  You use my photos, interests, and "likes" for profit, but I never wanted them to be for sale.  It's been real, facebook. Thanks for the good times.  My pictures and thoughts belong to me now. 

Adios.