Heads California, Tails Carolina

Weekend Recap

2011-12-19T08:41:00.000-08:00

Just such a fun weekend, have to share:

Friday: Yoga in the morning with a friend who just finished her teacher training. Lots of work holiday parties and lunches. Home to play with the pups and then head out to the master's crew team annual holiday party with Adam (the varsity coach). Mingling with very fit folks. Then off to Thomas's house to hang out with rowers who were back in town for the holidays and his awesome sisters. Home around 1am.

Saturday: Up early to run with Rebecca, Becca (7 months pregnant), and Amanda. I brought Pilot. We did 7 miles in the forest while chatting about everything. Lovely. Home to find Trent replacing all the windows in our bedroom. I help when I can and do tons of laundry and clean house. We head out for lunch in Pittsboro at the General Store. Very cute! Quick stop to find some white elephant gifts and I drop Trent off for a Santa themed pub crawl and I head to a riding lesson in Hillsborough. Fun time riding a giant thoroughbred who was feeling lively (lots of little bucks!), but he had a great canter and it felt great.

Home to shower and play with the pups before getting ready for our dinner out. All of the baby group parents got babysitters (a small miracle!) and we had a nice dinner out at a local thai place. They were so happy to have a night without all the little ones! We met up after dinner at a fancy little bar and all got fancy cocktails (I had a manhattan, Trent had a spiked cider). Fantastic conversations with all the parents, including discussing the commune we will build so we can all live together someday. There is an airstream for visiting guests. It will be awesome.

They headed home and we set off for our last holiday party (one of... 12? there were a lot this year). The third annual Bob Dylan Christmas party. Lots of science friends, dance parties, great conversations. We made it home around 1:30 but sounds like the party continued on for long afterward.

Sunday: Lazier day. Finished trimming the new windows and painting the new trim. Trent went on a run with some friends, I took the dogs to the dog park for a good long play. Groceries, cooking, laundry, napping. Thomas came over and we all headed out to Saxapawhaw to see Chatham County Line (one of my favorite bands) at the Haw River Ballroom. It is this great old mill building they've restored as a venue, very industrial and NC. Amazing show, got to see lots of friends, singing and stomping. They played a cover of a Warren Zevon song that I listened to on repeat while missing Trent when I was in Costa Rica. Home by 11pm and we crashed.

Lovely weekend. We are so fortunate to have so many great friends and opportunities.

I have a phone interview today, we are having friends over for dinner tonight and tomorrow night (whoops!) and we leave for New Orleans Wednesday morning. Exciting week!

More cute baby pictures

2011-12-16T10:53:00.000-08:00

And they aren't even my babies. Oye, I can imagine this blog will be nuts then.

But just had to share a couple cute pictures from last weekend. We all met up for breakfast at Weaver St and then watched the Christmas parade. I wish we'd have gotten one of Porter, who came decked out in his fancy sweater, and enjoyed watching the parade go by with his two year old toddler friends.

Amanda and Maxwell. He was quite pleased with his new puffy coat.

Emma and me. Emma's grandmother made her sweater and cute hat! (She is Paul and Sheila's). She later completely fell asleep on Trent, and I was dying from cute overload.

I love the totally Weaver St. situation in the background. I will miss that place!

Suggestions?

2011-12-13T07:31:00.000-08:00

We leave a week from tomorrow for our trip down to New Orleans for Christmas. We'll head to Atlanta first and spend two nights with friends Jackie and Pierre, then three nights in New Orleans, then back up through Atlanta to see other friends, Patrick and Amanda and their kiddos.

We've never been before, and would feel like failures if we left the South without visiting, but any suggestions would be appreciated!!

Some race pictures...

2011-12-12T13:14:00.000-08:00

I know these aren't the most flattering pictures, but I had to share. People think I am exaggerating when I say the Ironman was really fun, but I think it is hard to argue with this evidence. No bike pictures (for now), I definitely don't look as happy in those. But look at that joy finishing the swim (I love the grumpy looking fellas in front and behind me!).

Those finish pictures (the last two) make me think of that feeling at that instant and... it is an incredible one. So happy it was captured!

Oyster Roast

2011-12-12T12:56:00.000-08:00

I've noticed several instances that make me feel like we should maybe move to Connecticutt instead...

My recent hobbies have included sculling and horseback riding.

Our dogs wear Baker coats.

We both wear Sperry-topsiders. At the boat house. C'mon.

But my favorite New England activity recently was a big, lovely, oyster roast a friend hosted. She brought in crates and crates of oysters from the NC sound and we tossed them in bunches in the fire. Spritzed with fresh lemon and a dash of Old Bay, they were incredible. I ate SO many.

However, there definitely was a NC twist on it... we all drank cider and homebrewed beer out of mason jars, there was a big, fantastic, bonfire, and a huge batch of cornbread made with bacon fat. Ohmygoodness delicious!

Some pictures!

2011-12-09T13:54:00.000-08:00

(becca, rebecca, me, amanda with maxwell, stephen)

Couldn't leave with you with out a few great pictures. This was one of our many Thanksgiving festivities, a brunch at our friends Eric and Rebecca. They are our "grown-up" friends, all with babies and careers and we feel fortunate to be included in their circle. We've learned SO much from them.

(Eaden, Hayden, and Alex)

The boys. There are a gaggle of boys around the same age and it has been so fun to see them grow up and become friends. Two year old boys are awesome.

(Maxwell and Ingrid)

Some of the group are already on round two of babies (Hayden is Ingrid's older brother). Maxwell is younger than Ingrid but already bigger. He's like his dad and a great eater! He's much happier with life now that he can crawl around and do stuff. Ingrid is just a peach, she is so mellow and snuggly.

(Eaden)

I hate to be biased, but sometimes this little fella just steals my heart. He is so loving and so silly. He's gonna be a big brother in just a few months!

Yikes.

2011-12-09T13:36:00.000-08:00

Worst blogger ever?

Yes.

No good explaination, other than life seems to be zooming by and I am starting to get quite anxious about all the changes ahead. I am not great with "transitions" (I even dislike falling asleep). And this year is full of them.

But we are all doing well. Highlights include:

A crazy busy October with trips to San Diego, SLO, and San Francisco. An epic combination of seeing my best friend April in SD, interviewing for post-docs, my rowdy but awesome 10 year high school reunion in SLO, more interviews in the Bay, spending time with my family. It was a whirlwind of being incredibly grown up and professional, and a complete an utter teenie-bopper.

A couple weeks after the crazy trip, I did my first Ironman distance race! And won my age group!! It was the most incredible experience. 11 hours and 39 minutes. And I honestly felt great for 85% of of it and finished strong and happy.

The manuscript is revised and I am so happy with it. And it is currently under revisions again. Fingers crossed. We hope to hear back before Christmas.

We are heading to New Orleans for Christmas! Seeing friends in Atlanta on the way down and other friends on the way back up and spending three days in New Orleans with just the two of us. I am very excited about this break!

Trent starts his last semester of his masters next year. We are abuzz with job planning and constantly talking about life goals and such.

I got the green light to defend my dissertation in May. I had a committee meeting right before my birthday and everyone was on board with my decision. Unreal. SO so so so much to do before then but I am very happy!

We got iPhones! Finally joining the rest of our generation. They are pretty awesome.

We took cheesy family Christmas card pictures with the pups. Expect them in your mail soon!

I am not running or biking or swimming right now. But I am addicted to high intensity interval training. I can be found jumping around the house most nights. It is so much fun.

I am teaching Genetics and Molecular Biology next semester. And super anxious about it! But it will be a nice way to end my time at UNC, with the great students we have here.

We are healthy and happy and enjoying all our friends and experiences as much as we can. Leaving Carrboro is going to be very tough.

Hopefully I will get to posting here more often!!

Jean

Restored

2011-09-19T07:54:00.000-07:00

This weekend, despite my anxieties, was actually a terrific event. It forced me to pick myself up and think about my research again. And I was reminded of a several things:

Awesome Deirdre and two 2nd year students that are just fantastic. Joy just joined our lab.

1. So so so many people get papers rejected. With much harsher reviews than mine. And the journal I chose to send our paper to is apparently very "clique-ish" and "snooty" and some very fancy professors have struggled to have papers accepted there.

It was slightly chilly, so many people opted for the hotel robes to keep warm during the after hours celebrations. It was hilarious how all the folks from CA thought this was a fairly typical beach weekend and were frolicking around in the sea, no problem.

2. The way I present my research in talks and posters is different than how we presented it in the manuscript. Which was probably a big mistake. We have to be excited about this work and sell it. Which is something I am pretty darn good at. Just need to remember that.

My boss-man. We decided for our next submission we will also send this picture. We are very scary, right? And classy, with our 40 oz. beers in paper bags...

3. I have some wonderful scientific colleagues who have been SO helpful. The best part was a frantic/slightly tipsy meeting between my PI and my amazing committee-member (the other Jean). We were all throwing out ideas and getting really excited about the story again. We have one experiment we want to do that is quite high-tech and fancy-pants. I am excited about learning a new technology!

Boss-man and his favorite students. Yes, there is a lot of drinking at this retreat. But also a lot of terrific presentations. The university just hired several folks who study what I am hoping to work on next so I had some great conversations/networking opportunities!

Plus, it was a weekend at the beach with some dear friends and lots of being silly and having a great time. I got a long run in along the ocean which is always good for my soul. This is my last retreat and it was lovely.

Home last night for a lazy day of catching up and then walking down to Panzanella for dinner with Porter. Poor P was shivering already!! Time for dog-jacket searching :) Motivated to get going on the revisions of the manuscript and learning about the new technology. This week is also the "peak" training week for the Ironman, I am exhausted just looking at my schedule. But is all downhill from here!

2011-09-14T09:52:00.000-07:00

Blargh.
A million times blargh.
Paper was rejected.

I have a game plan, I have wonderful committee members and colleagues I am leaning on very hard and I will get through this.

It just stinks.
Off to the beach this weekend for our annual retreat. Fun to hang out with friends and discuss science, even if science and I are not friends right now.

But I did go to a marvelous talk yesterday from a fella who did his post-doc with the same big name that the person I am hoping to join their lab did (same science father). It was interesting and novel and exciting. I am definitely heading in the right direction. And leaving all this nonsense behind.

Updates soon!

reasons to celebrate

2011-09-09T14:28:00.000-07:00

Trent passed his comprehensive exams!!

And I repeated a cool result.

This calls for a celebration.

Happy Friday, have a wonderful weekend. Trent has lots of Rhode Scholarship interviews this weekend so I am heading to Salutation Nation with girlfriends (and post-yoga brunch of course) and then lots of running, biking, and science.

(the picture has nothing to do with anything except Trent and I enjoy sending random pictures back and forth during the day and this was a particular favorite of mine)

beach weekend

2011-09-06T11:08:00.000-07:00

There will be several things about the South that will make me nostalgic for years to come. The beauty of fried chicken in a biscuit, taking time to talk to everyone you pass in your day, abundances of gardenias. But I have to say.. I will always love how people from the South have a beach vacation.

We had a busy morning Saturday, cleaning house and packing. Drove to Atlantic Beach with newlyweds Adam and Corienne and took pictures of the aftermath of Irene. Or "I-rine" as we called her the rest of the trip.

We reached Thomas's family condo and immediately got down to the beach for beers in coozies and conversation as the sun set. My favorite time of day at the beach is around 5pm. We finally walked back to the house for a big dinner of grilled shrimp and other beach goodies.

Then round two. Lots of card games and tropical drinks made with coconut rum. We were absolutely silly and rowdy and it was a blast. We headed down to the beach to go "Ghost-Crabbing," a completely Jean-tastic game where you spot tiny crabs with flashlights and chase them down and pick them up... and then put them down. I couldn't resist a midnight swim and was pleasantly rewarded by bio-luminescent algae!!! It was magical and I yelled enthusiastically enough to get everyone in the sea with me. More playing in the pool and rowdy adventures before crawling into bed in the early morning hours.

Up Sunday feeling pretty good and off for a long swim with Thomas in training for our upcoming Ironman. We did a nice and mellow 45 minute swim along the shore (I only ran into one bluefish!) and then Trent joined us for a 30 minute run. Back home for watermelon for breakfast and then down to the beach. Amazing fried scallop burgers for lunch, and onion rings at 3pm in honor of my grandmother. An intense touch football game for a couple hours (we won! no thanks to me, but still!!).

More lounging on the beach and visiting with other folks in the area. I read New Yorkers a bit, but mostly just listened to stories from friends. I was the last to leave the beach, it was tough to leave (the water was a perfect temperature and absolutely turquoise). Trent and Thomas went to get fresh fish for dinner and I made mashed potatoes and a big salad.

Another lovely dinner with good friends and another rowdy night of highly competitive spoons, beer-ball, Girl-Talk dance parties, and another round of Ghost-Crabbing. The water was too rough for another swim but we did play in the pool for a bit.

Sunday morning was melancholy. The weather was a bit cloudy (Hurricane Lee has been a way bigger deal for us here in the Piedmont than Irene was) so Trent and I took a long walk on the beach before helping clean and pack. Hit the road by noon, home to see the puppers (Heather stayed with them), and lots of laundry and grocery shopping. A wonderful, recuperative, hilarious weekend with dear friends and my sweet fella. Just lovely.

Endless summer

2011-09-02T09:25:00.000-07:00

And we are off. Soaking up the last of summer at Thomas's beach house in Atlantic Beach. Thankfully the hurricane, although it landed in Atlantic beach, didn't do any damage. I am looking forward to reading books, eating potato chips and playing in the ocean. I had a long week of workouts and my body is ready for a break! Happy Labor Day weekend to you all.

This picture is from last year, but same crowd!

Breaking the Fast

2011-09-01T08:03:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to a lovely banquet to celebrate the end of Ramadan. We ate our first mehjool date, and then feasted on a huge assortment of delicious food, hosted by one of Trent's classmates who has been observing the holiday for the past month.

It felt like a good way to break back into blogging. With something sweet and wholesome. There are a million stories to tell from this summer. But for now, here are some pictures. The past month has been filled with love. Two weddings, birthday dance parties, babies born.

It has also been incredible professionally. The paper is submitted and under review (hooray!). The book is published and my chapter sits proudly among them. I have interviews on the horizon. Trent is back in school and already running everything and pitching business proposals. This summer was incredibly inspiring for him, career-wise, and we are both thrilled to see what the year holds for us.

It is going to be a tumultuous year, for sure. In a wonderful way though. I am feeling incredibly fit and ready for my Ironman race at the end of October (!!), I am thrilled to be heading to California to see April and go to our 10 year high school reunion (!!!) and interview for jobs (!!!!). We are heading to New Orleans for Christmas, then Israel in March. Graduating in May, selling the house, quick trip to Europe, wedding in California, somehow getting ourselves and our herd across the country to start our next adventure. There aren't enough exclamation points in the universe to describe it.

So for a start... dancing. Lovely dancing. With my partner in all these adventures. Some wonderful memories associated with these pictures. Many more stories to come.

2011-06-17T06:28:00.000-07:00

Dashed home from lab and was frantically getting my LUNA Chix kit on to make the weekly ride and opening the mail when I found this little treasure from the sweet husband. These weekly little gifts are just delightful. A penny-farthing bike, in honor of our meeting in Davis. So thoughtful!

Carrboro is in full effect, I haven't had a walk with the dogs, run, or bike ride to work without running into about 10 people I know. Love it. Front Porch Friday tonight, then a quick trip to the beach tomorrow with Deirdre and her friend coming to visit from Boston. Babysitting Max tomorrow night and lots of practicing the talk on Sunday!

Happy weekend to you.

2011-06-13T13:38:00.000-07:00

I hate to be mopey, but I had sorta a crummers weekend. It was really the first one I was pretty much alone the entire time (not for lack of trying, but various circumstances prevailed and it was just me and the pups). I did have a lovely Friday afternoon out with friends at the Carolina Inn, and a quick bike ride and bbq with some neighbors, but there was a lot of me time. Which is not my favorite. A boring 10 mile run on a treadmill, because it was so hot outside. Lots of sweaty yard work. Lots of schlepping things. Naughty dogs. Falling down (2) stairs and panicking that if I hurt myself no one would know. Nervous nights with dogs barking at possible intruders (in reality, just dogs barking at party across the street. I tell ya, I have one mean imagination...). Not great.

So today, I am rallying. New day. I am wearing a fun new outfit combination that is sort of ridiculous but mostly awesome. Or so I am telling myself. I am listening to lots of the new Brett Dennen album ("Comeback/That's my Dog" is my mantra song this week). Making lots of plans ahead of time with friends.

Other things that are making me happy:

1) Fireflies. #2 reason I will miss Southern summers. Impossible not to smile when you see them.

2) Gardenias everywhere. #1 reason.

3) Weekly watermelon. See schlepping above. But totally worth it

4) This boat.

5) Planning my visit for my 10 Year High School reunion with April. Which will hopefully also be an interviewing trip. Which makes me slightly terrified... but exciting. And getting excited for Lesley's visit in just a few weeks!!

6) The CSA, while still overwhelming, is at least more diverse these days. Eggplant, squash, potatoes, kale (of course!), onions, cucumbers. Much more fun. And I ate my first tomatoes off my tomato jungle.

7) Hearing about Haley rocking her triathlon relay race. So impressed.

8) Dreaming about Maine and eating lobster everyday. And giving a spectacular presentation (fingers crossed).

9) Video chat with Trent. Makes my day to see his face. And hear all about his sailing adventures.

10) A random but lovely ride to school today from Paul. I was walking to work and he picked me up! Love small towns, and great to get a bit of Alex snuggles to start my day.

Here's to the up and up. This is the midpoint of our summer separation and I am thrilled about our Boston reunion at a friends wedding in July. Just gotta keep my head up.

Friday

2011-06-10T10:18:00.000-07:00

Ready for the weekend. Practice presentation went great, but some combination of nerves, too much coffee, not enough sleep, too hot weather, too many vegetables, wiped me out. Spent yesterday at home with the pups, writing and catching up on sleep.

Getting lots done today including some fun experiments for the project I will be working on the rest of my time here. UV damage is bad news!! Heading to the Carolina Inn for their Front Porch concert series after work, workouts with my "tri-team" tomorrow, bbq and babysitting Maxwell, yoga, writing, cleaning, staying cool. Wish me luck :)

Flowers are going strong. These, combined with finishing the edits on the manuscript and my awesome Gaspard et Lisa calendar are making my day.

So lovely!

2011-06-07T12:00:00.001-07:00

Have to share a photo of the gorgeous flowers I found waiting for me on my (super unorganized-you can tell when I am working on a presentation) desk when I got back from a talk today. FERNS AND GARDENIAS. That boy knows me.

Thank you love!

Plant Madness

2011-06-06T07:59:00.000-07:00

The cute, adorably organized, garden boxes are now unruly jungles. Not that I am not thrilled at the intense vegetation, but dang, it sorta stresses me out to see these tangles of tomatoes, curling cucumber tendrils pulling down delicate herbs, beans taller than I am. The photo above is our tomato monstrosity. There were 6 independent plants in there... now it is just a mass of greenery and fruits. It will be fun to see the different colors emerge.

I've been inventing new things for the cucumbers to climb on... and removed the poor dill that was being strangled.

Wall of beans. Already started harvesting some. Hopefully once they quit growing, as they have run out of space, they'll invest more energy in making delicious pods!

Tomato jungle. The stems on some of the plants are inches in diameter. Overwhelming!

Eaden's birthday pool party. Nothing like a mess of 2 year olds to bring a smile to your face.

Also making me happy:

1) Friday night I spent a lovely evening with some of my favorite NC ladies. Vino verde and stinky cheeses at Weaver Street and discussions all about babies (our lovely neighbor KJ is pregnant! And Amanda and Max came by for a bit for some snuggling), careers, boys, parents. I am so fortunate to have such a pack of educated, ambitious, athletic women in my life. We rallied to see the late showing of Bridesmaid and it was just a wonderful evening.

2) Saturday I was up early to ride to Saxapawhaw with some LUNA ladies. It was a great ride and I felt really strong. Mid-ride breakfast at the General Store, which is definitely in my top 5 favorite restaurants in the area.

3) Lots of good napping this weekend. I'd been up too late and up too early all week, so it felt great to snuggle with the pups and snooze for a bit.

4) Fun BBQ with science friends. The fireflies are out in full force, such a summer treat.

5) Lots of yard work on Sunday (trying to organize the mess shown above). Treated myself to a lazy swim with Deirdre at her apartment pool.

6) A bit of lab work and a lovely visit with Baby Maxwell. He is smiling now and it is just delightful.

7) Laundry, cooking for the week (CSA madness!), evening run with the pups. Frustrating a bit as I got stung by some sort of bug on the run, so long shower, benedryl and to bed.

8) But my house smells A-mazing as one of my gardenia bushes is exploding with blooms. I've been wearing them in my hair, giving them to friends and neighbors, but my favorite use are a couple blooms next to my bed. Perfection.

Busy week, I am giving a practice talk on Wednesday for my upcoming *huge* deal conference. Lots of LUNA events and working out in general. It is hot hot hot here, so swimming is my new best friend. Happy week to all of you.

One Week

2011-05-17T19:26:00.000-07:00

It has been one week since Trent left. I am surviving. I hate to say thriving, but man, I am learning some things. I miss him more than anything, but I am also so keen on taking this opportunity to get to know my self and realize "I've got this" (that was my mantra during the awesome bike portion of the half-Ironman).

This is gonna be rambling, and mushy... apologies ahead of time. To the LIST

1. Frozen food from Trader Joe's is the best thing for a "single gal." That and being forced to eat pounds of kale and collard greens on a daily basis to keep up with the CSA.

2. I am utilizing the two CSA's I will be missing for Hawaii as thank you gifts for rides to the airport (Deirdre) and dog/house-sitting (Heather). I love that in Carrboro veg is a valuable currency!

3. I've been hanging out with a couple stellar undergrads. They remind me of those awesome years and how fun it is to have the entire world ahead of them. One is Heather, a tri friend who we reconnected with during White Lake and lives down the street. She'll be staying here with the pups. We are going to see a show at Johnny's tomorrow.. sounds just delightful.

4. I hope they leave college with all the great memories and the ridiculously awesome friends I lucked out with.

5. As part of LUNA team, Rebecca and I volunteered at a little kid triathlon. If you ever need a huge lift of spirits, try riding your bike around while little-bitties ride their hearts out for 5 miles. It was SO much fun to cheer them on.

6. Speaking of cheering... I had a lovely phone conversation with my nephew Tim yesterday. I probably haven't seen that kid (yes, he is 22 but he is still a kid... otherwise I am old...) in 5 years but we had a very nice chat. So fun to catch up, family is my favorite. Thinking perhaps my darling mother told family to keep in touch with one lonely JeanBean... which is awesome. Otherwise, not sure how we re-connected. But it was great.

7. However, it might have been a little cheezy on my part. In searching for pup vaccine records in our filing cabinet I came across my file of "Things that make me smile." Lovely letters from family and friends, pictures of my childhood, sweet letters from Trent when I was away in La Paz and Costa Rica (and the first birthday card he ever gave me, from the awesome surprise party my roomies threw me, where I managed to light my hair on fire blowing on candles... but he brought me cookies and sorta awkwardly signed the card "love, Trent." Oh if he only knew how true! Anyways, I was riding this incredible reminiscing high right when he called and I was in love with science, school, family, the universe. It was definitely cheeze-ball.. but oh well.

8. I've had some stellar influences in my life. And, my graduate school application essay restored my faith in my love of science.

9. I was also high from a wonderful yoga class. Someday I will tell you all about how yoga changed my life and how Lori quite possibly is responsible... but this post is already cheezy enough.

10. You know what also restored my faith in science? FINISHING THAT AWFUL TRICKY EXPERIMENT. I was in the dark room developing the film and couldn't bring myself to turn the light on to see if it worked. Luckily another grad student walked in, and asked if he could turn the lights on. He did, and I saw the film... and started bawling. Poor fella. But I explained, and he totally understood. It is a community, of total nerds, but such a community. My boss left for Amsterdam today to present my work to some big folks in the field, and now he can tell the complete story!!

11. I also felt accomplished yesterday as I capably bathed both stinky dogs in preparation for their check ups today. Not an easy task. Neither was wrangling them through the appointment. They both passed their exams with flying colors, everyone always comments on how handsome Pilot is, and how sweet and snuggly Porter is. Pilot cried the whole time they were working on Porter. Love my sweet boys. Plus, Porter got the green light to start running with me! Training begins.

12. Speaking of training, Deirdre has enlisted my help as a "personal trainer." This gives me so much joy. We had a great boot-camp style workout this evening, some great endorphins and sweating. Very proud of her and her recent life decisions. I have been doing lots of "pop-ups" in preparation for HAWAII!!! I miss surfing so.

13. I have realized that my TV doppelganger is Rob Lowe's character on "Parks and Recreation." Think about it... post-it notes, chia seeds and crazy teas, slightly maniacal exercising, enthusiasm. I am owning it. I have started saying LITERALLY a lot more.

14. Plus... I've joined the "barefoot running" cohort. Trent and I are both rocking the New Balance Minimus... such a fan. The new generation of shoes realize that my pinkie toe is more of a vestigial organ than anything and does not need its own little toe slot. Plus they are way cuter.

15. I've also... mostly by panicking trying to eat all the eggs and veg from the CSA (plus frozen fish from TJ's) pretty much switched to a paleo-diet. I am not endorsing this.. I can't stomach all that meat, but I definitely think I am gluten-sensitive. Good to know.

And well, since that brings us back around to the beginning, seems like a good place to stop. Plus I have got to go to bed. Still working on that with Trent away. But otherwise.. I am good. Probably helps that I get to see my darling in just a few days, but ya... I am happy. Thanks to all of you for all the joy you give to me.

especially phone calls with my bubs while listening to The Beautiful Girls after a lovely shower with the windows open. "After All This Time" is my jam this summer :) I know you are loving this photobooth stuff.. right?

lovely photo at the top from the gorgeous blog http://aurajoon.blogspot.com/
the teabag says "you must know that you can swim through every tide and change of time" i've got this...

2011-05-11T19:04:00.000-07:00

My prize for being productive and working on the paper instead of feeling sorry for myself...

Leaping Lemurs!! Crazy fancy organic kids cereal. Oh Weaver Street....

But Mom said to give myself special treats, and as an extra bonus it will remind me of my recent visit to the lemur center with April. Win win.

2011-05-11T18:32:00.000-07:00

Monday night: Amazing, last minute, meet up with my awesome friend from high school, Allison, who is out at Duke for a conference. Dog walks in the forest and dinner at the Washington Duke Inn... not too shabby.

Tuesday night: Ridiculously good but hard yoga class. Felt completely noodle-like afterward. Then wine, pineapple, and helping a friend with her eHarmony profile. SO much fun. A little heart-sick thinking of how lucky I am to not have to do this... but still a hilarious time.

Wednesday night: Team run with the pups (slow, still recovering from the race). Avoided being home alone/sad by heading to Weaver Street to write figure legends for the paper (huzzah!), taking awkward photos with Photobooth, and listening to the new Beautiful Girls album (perfect summer music!).

Trent sounds like he is having a totally wonderful time out there. He has nothing but wonderful things to say about the company, his co-workers, his gracious family who is hosting him, and Oakland in general. I am eager to do my best to be super productive and awesome this summer, thanks to a lot of help from friends and pups. But man, I do miss him like crazy...

But, I cannot be too sad... I am going to Hawaii soooooo soon.

Updates

2011-05-06T07:38:00.000-07:00

Public Health Prom Night. We even made corsages!

Sorry for the lack of posting... just trying to soak up all the Trent time I can before he heads out (Monday!!!) for his summer internship in Oakland. He is going to do great out there, I am so proud of him for finding his passion and following his ambitions. I am so excited about all our adventures ahead.

Spring has been great, the dogs are simply wonderful and it is the best garden I've had to date. Trying to keep up on all the veggies from our CSA and playing with all the lovely babies our friends were nice enough to provide for us. Manuscript is tantalizingly close to being done and I am finally starting to be really proud of it. Just one more tricky experiment to finish up and dunzo! I have a new undergraduate starting with me next week, after my previous two just graduated off to big and bright futures (one got a full ride to Eastern Carolina University medical school and one is heading to Princeton for graduate school... good job Mentor Jean!).

Anxious about this summer, but so happy to think of all the lovely friends who will be supporting me and the fabulous vacations ahead.

I am loving being a LUNA Chix!

End of year public health picnic, and Turquoise's birthday!

Porter and his papa. These fellas make me so happy. Pilot is our running buddy, Porter is our social butterfly.

Summer snuggle friend.

Heading to White Lake this afternoon for our big half-Ironman race tomorrow. I have goals... but we'll see how it goes! Excited to spend the entire weekend with some of our best friends and cheering on first time triathletes. Lots of pictures to come! Have a wonderful weekend.

2011-04-17T19:28:00.000-07:00

Introducing.... Porter!

Oh man, we are a two dog family. But it works, as April said, ridiculously well. Here's the story.

We went to the shelter, just to poke around, and immediately saw a little fella named Scamper, who looked literally identical to Pilot, but a tiny Jack Russell. We met him in the play room and... he was sort of a mess. Peeing everywhere, leaping like crazy, never settling down. Last thing we need is more dog energy in this house. So we decided to stroll around and we saw Porter in with another dog, being super playful and lovey.

We decided to meet with him and he was incredible. So sweet and gentle, but very playful. The perfect size (we knew we wanted a small dog, he is 18 pounds now, will probably end up around 25), and 10 months old, so over the true puppy stages. I was pretty smitten, especially with his cuddle-skills.

But we really wanted to get a second to be a friend for Pilot. He absolutely loves other dogs and it was a bit daunting to think of running him every morning and evening to keep him sufficiently tired out without Trent around to help this summer. And he is way less anxious when he has another dog. But we had NO idea how great it would be. We drove back and got Pilot so they could meet on a walk. And they were fantastic. Total buddies. And it was great to see Porter out, not worried about other dogs, grabby toddlers, loud noises. We were pretty convinced to give it a go, but I definitely wanted Trent to meet him. But we found out, there was another person interested in visiting with him, and his kennel-mate had just been adopted. Apparently, Tuesday midday is a big dog adopting day? So we went ahead and put our $2o deposit down, just in case.

Trent came back with April later in the day, with strict instructions to be critical and really only get him if he loved him. And now he is ours.

And it has been ridiculous. Pilot and Porter (we decided not to change his pound name, I mean, what a perfect, alliterative, pair!) are best buddies. They play great, snuggle great (what dogs spoon!?), share toys and meals... everything, right from the start. And Porter is completely potty trained, hasn't chewed a thing, hasn't made a peep, and was terrific with all the toddlers at today's picnic.

And we really think it has already been a great influence on Pilot, as if he somehow knows now to be a big brother. Pilot is learning how to be more gentle while playing (he is about 30 pounds bigger than Porter), and I think he has been jealous of Senor Snuggles being picked up so easily, but he has been just wonderful, so welcoming, and so mellow during the day, just snoozing with his friend.

I woke up in the middle of the night on Tuesday, panicking thinking about our irresponsible decision. And then I looked over to the dog bed and saw two best friends snuggling away and realized that the easiest road isn't always the happiest, and man, I am so happy with them.

Week Recap

2011-04-17T16:21:00.000-07:00

What a lovely bestie-visit/stay-cation week. I can't believe how perfect it all was. Unreal. We did Carrboro right!

Monday night- April arrives at 9pm. We get her luggage and get headed home. Trent makes it back from a group meeting and we all sit around and chat after house-tours and Pilot introductions.

Tuesday morning- Walk to breakfast at Weaver Street, of course. Slightly overcast, so we decide to go antiquing first. Drive up to Hillsborough and explore the cute shops. I get a sweet dog painting and we discuss how we've been thinking about getting a second dog. So... we stop by the pound. And oh my goodness... well, we met someone. Someone very special. So a quick drive back to get Pilot and they hit it off fantastically. We put a deposit down, but wait for Trent to meet him. Carrburritos for a late lunch and take a burrito over to Mama Amanda to meet Maxwell. We sit and chat for a good visit. He is doing great, but a hungry bear and she was having some troubles getting him enough food, but enjoyed some company as Stephen was off at his first practice. Home, and then off to campus to pick up Trent and drop me on campus to take a bus to a mandatory LUNA Chix meeting. They head off to the shelter. Long meeting with no text messages had my heart sunk, but got dropped off at Weaver Street where April and Trent were enjoying a beer after their dinner at the Station and the little fella is there. Next post, I promise. We are just the happiest family now!!

Wednesday: April sleeps in and snuggles with pups as I head to a mandatory lab meeting. Home and out to run a few errands, nursing tank tops for Amanda at Target were an especially fun challenge. Lunch at Foster's Market in Durham and then head to the Duke Lemur Center for our tour. The most enthusiastic guide ever showed us all sorts of lemurs (I am filled with fun facts now). I've always wanted to go, but needed a stay-cation friend to go with! It was a gorgeous day so afterward we headed to Duke Gardens to explore the amazing flowers (lots of pictures to come, T took the good camera to the crew race this weekend). Headed back to Carrboro for another Max snuggle session, and then home to bbq on our patio with a dozen or so of our favorite Carrboro folks, to meet April and the new pup. Poor Trent was at a group meeting but joined us as we were enjoying the fire pit and chatting. Fun to introduce April to my dear friends here!

Thursday: I snuck into lab for a little bit while she slept and then home to go on a long hike in the forest with the pups. It was a gorgeous day and it was just like old times, walking and talking with dogs. We never ran out of things to discuss. Saw a few friends in the forest and the pups did great. Even Mr. Tiny-legs! A quick stop by the creek to play and let them cool off before heading home. We walked down to Panzanella for lunch. We decided to capitalize on the great weather and ride bikes out to Maple View dairy. April opted for my old cruiser and was a total champion for the 12 mile ride. The ice cream and views were stellar, and there was a whole truck load of super "Southern" kids there which was a fun people-watching treat. Home, and then off again for a quick visit with Baby Max and to drop off my Mom's lovely baby gift. Then headed to campus to visit Trent at work where he was hosting a very fancy dinner party for work. We saw his fancy office and admired the fancy table settings before heading to Durham to watch a Durham Bulls minor league baseball game. It was dollar hot dog night and we enjoyed cheap beer and only partially paid attention to the game while reminiscing about high school folks. But a lovely night to be outside and ran into a few friends, which was fun. Long day!

Friday: Poor Trent was up super early and off to (hopefully the last) crew race of the season in Tennessee. Up and off to yoga bright, but not as, early. It was April's first yoga class ever, and perhaps choosing my dear (but challenging) instructor Lori was a poor choice, but she stuck with it and did great! We were feeling wholesome so off to Whole Foods for fresh juices and to get groceries for the day. But we just could not resist the classic Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen for a true Southern experience on our way back. Sat on the sofa, snuggling pups, enjoying our juice and biscuits while looking up everyone on Facebook. Awesome. We made my family's world famous pasta salad which I haven't had in years and it brought back so many memories of trips to the sand spit and 24-hour relays. Lots of playing in the yard and gardening. Off to the dog park (new fella loved it!) and then off to meet science friends, Elizabeth, Erin and Mihal for a glass of wine on the Station's patio. Good to chat, but had to dash to make it to our 8pm Lewis Black show on campus at Memorial Hall. He is a UNC alumni and visits every year, bringing other comedian friends along. Two undergrads won a contest to open for him, and then two SNL writers did their routines, and then Lewis Black. A bit rant-y, but that's his schtick, and we agreed with most of his points. Fun evening, especially since we recognized Lutz from 30 Rock. My smooth move? Walking up and just saying "hey, you're on 30 Rock!" Suave.

Saturday: Up and off to Farmer's Market to get our first CSA box. So much collard and kale! Gotta get cracking. Bought a few more plants (no more, I have NO more room!) and then headed to Elmo's for breakfast. Delicious pancakes on what was becoming a very stormy day (Carrboro was totally fine, and it never was that bad here, but yikes, some parts of the state really got hit). Back home and we decided to make cookies to give to neighbors. Fun baking and decorating cookies (with Facebook stalking sessions in between batches). Quick drive around town to drop them with friends, and one last baby snuggle session, before packing up and heading to the airport. We were worried her flight would be affected by the storm, but everything was fine, and Jimmy Carter and his secret service was on her flight and she got to shake his hand. NC is full of famous people :).

All in all, just an incredible week. I can't believe how much we packed in and how well everything worked out (including our new family member!). It was so lovely to be with my dear friend and talk about everything under the stars. She is doing wonderfully and it is so fun to see how people's lives are changing and growing. I am so lucky to count her among so many lovely people in my life.

Trying to get on track, long run with Pilot in the forest this morning, lab to tend to my neglected flies, and then the park with our new pup to celebrate Sheila's birthday. Lots of babies and friends. Trent gets home late tonight and I cannot wait. I miss that fella. Busy week ahead with lots of work and lots and lots of date nights.

April in April!

2011-04-11T07:45:00.000-07:00

Darling April comes today! We have a week of antiquing, baseball game watching, good food eating, hiking, berry picking, garden walking, and Lewis Black tickets ahead. I am so absolutely thrilled. Plus lots of baby snuggling and photo shoots.

2011-04-09T15:27:00.000-07:00

Sea otters hold hands when they sleep, so they don’t drift away from each other.

happy weekend. stormy weather, snuggly newborn babies (oh max, I am smitten), dates with pilot, lots of gardening adventures tomorrow. but for now, I am just missing my fella. hurry home, love.

Weekend

2011-03-28T09:57:00.001-07:00

Friday night: Watching basketball... first at Alyse and Matt's house before rallying for a walk downtown to watch the Kentucky vs. Ohio State game with lots of friends. Well, really we sorta watched the game while telling funny family stories (my favorite, I love my family) and getting excited for a friend who is moving back to Carrboro after being a traveling nurse for a while.

Saturday: I headed out to Durham to run with Joel and Rebecca (and Eaden) and a few of their friends. I wasn't dying to run so soon, but I really wanted to see these friends. Luckily it was only a 3 mile loop (we did one and half and then walked the rest of the second loop). I was tired! Great to see everyone and catch up.

Back home to find Trent working hard. It was our semi-annual yard working bonanza day. He borrowed his friend Adam's truck and we managed to haul in two loads of mulch and two loads of dirt throughout the day. First lawn-mowing of the year, spreading hay on the lawn (to help with muddy spots that Pilot loves to bring inside), lots of cutting stuff back, re-organizing and cleaning the shed, getting the raised beds ready for the seedlings I am growing inside the house. We worked hard for about 5 hours... I was very impressed with us. Good thing our garden store is just up the street, they knew us by name at the end of the day.

Showered and exhausted, but we managed to head out to a massive returning/exchanging shopping trip. New pillows (not for you Pilot!!) and a few decorative touches for April's visit, lots of returning things that didn't work/fit (so satisfying). We were totally beat after all this so dinner at our favorite Mexican place in Durham before home to Hulu and crash.

Sunday: Trent was fairly out of commission, having caught my cold and hurt his back hauling all that dirt the day before. While he rested and studied, I went on a crazy inside cleaning spree/panic attack. Dust bunnies are my nemesis! And they are everywhere! Donated tons of stuff, Trent is selling a whole other pile of things, trying to pare our stuff down. It felt great to have a sparkling clean house. Cooked a giant pasta with lots of veggies for our lunches for the rest of the week, while watching UNC play Kentucky in the Elite Eight. We had so much heart, I was really impressed, but we didn't prevail. Next year!

Nice phone conversation with Sheila (they just found out baby #2 is a girl, and totally healthy, hooray!!), a quick dash to lab and grocery store and then Stephen and Amanda picked us up for a dinner out. We tried to go to pho, thinking we could make it extra spicy to encourage Baby Frazong, but it was closed so we ended up with Mediterranean. She is feeling good, finally sleeping better and fairly resigned to the fact that baby will come when he is ready, but now Stephen is so anxious and ready! Her official due date is this Friday, doctor's appointment on Wednesday to see if any progress has been made. Exciting.

They dropped us off and we climbed into our super clean bed and slept great.

Busy week ahead, lots of meetings with boss about the manuscript (I overheard him talking about it with "Prof I Came To UNC For" and felt so nervous the entire conversation, even though it was pretty positive. I felt like they were judging my child! This process is going to be stressful for me!), and then I fly out Thursday for the LUNA Chix Summit in San Francisco. It will be great to see sister and hopefully my good friend Stacey, who is just weeks away from meeting her baby boy too!

Happy week to you all.

Lotsa Updates

2011-03-25T13:53:00.001-07:00

Oye, things are busy. Good, but busy. Here's a quick recap-

1) Big-shot scientist was great. The whole visit was wonderful. He was very friendly and loved talking science and everything else. His visits with faculty, lunches with students, presentation to the department, dinner with a few of us students at Acme, watching soccer till the wee hours of the morning at a dive bar in Carrboro, all fantastic.

2) I was SO nervous the entire time he was here. I think I held my breath until I he called to say his flight got in to San Francisco. Then I got a major migraine and had to go home and go to bed. 14 hours of sleep later, I was feeling great.

3) But... he is not the person for my postdoc. And I think we both realized this. He is a great person for PhD training, but not what I need next. Which was sort of awesome to realize, and be so confident in the path I am choosing that I felt comfortable letting this amazing opportunity be just a great time meeting a stellar scientist, as opposed to an interview.

4) I think the universe is telling me to go to Seattle. Amazing PI doing exactly what I want to do, who really wants a post-doc, who is coming to the NIEHS in Raleigh to give a talk soon. I am keeping my options open and have found people in San Francisco area and San Diego, but I keep coming back to this lab.

5) Plus, have you seen how "Jean-tastic" the Seattle soccer team's jerseys are? Seriously... I could not have designed them better myself. Fancy scientist and I cheered for them against LA. He did have a funny comment about living in Seattle, "It is like having a super hot girlfriend who is sick all the time." Hilarious. He moved from a small town in Saskatchewan to San Francisco for his graduate work and has never left. Now lives in Noe Valley, rides his bike to work, loves it.

6) Luckily I had a few days to recover before the big marathon on Sunday!! Trent left Friday morning so it was just Pilot and I for the weekend. We had lots of lazy trips to the dog park and farmers market, and lots of writing... which was cruel since Saturday was gorgeous! Had to rest up though.

7) Lots of fun visits from friends, including the uber-pregs Amanda. Baby any day now, she is ready!

8) Deirdre wins friend of the year for picking me up at 4:45am Sunday morning to drive me to the race. The race was fantastic. I felt trained and prepared and rested and not injured. Plus the weather was perfect, a bit cloudy but not cold. I felt great for 92% of the race and really enjoyed the small venue, running on trails, passing all the half-marathoners, and having lots of people to talk to during the race. Incredibly, I set a new personal record by 5 minutes, 3 hours and 26 minutes. This is under 8 minute miles. Fantastic. Not sure I can go much faster though... I was pushing myself pretty hard. But no big bonk and some fantastic runner's highs. Lovely race. Running makes me SO happy, as evidenced below at mile 18 or so...

9) I went to Whole Foods immediately after for some delicious sandwiches, tons of local chocolate milk and other snacks. Awesome. Not so awesome, having to take an ice bath without Trent around to encourage me. I am glad I did it though.

10) Trent got home Sunday afternoon and then was off to a meeting for school. Busy fella. He had a Skype interview with the company in Oakland he might do his summer internship with. He is very exciting about that prospect, but also has a great position lined up in Raleigh. We'll keep everyone posted!! The team did great at their race, beating Ohio State all across the board.

11) This week has gone well, felt pretty hobbly for the first few days but recovered quickly. I am pretty sure every time I do this, I think afterward, "what in the world was I thinking, I am never going to be able to walk again, this is awful" but then several days later completely forget the pain and start thinking about next races. Similar to how women forget the pain of childbirth?

12) I did pick up an annoying head cold though. Thought it was allergies and missed the "sleep it off" window. But feeling better thanks to Sudafed! And tons and tons of sleep. Should be 100% tomorrow.

13) Draft submitted to the boss!! Still waiting to hear back about the results section (see if there are any more experiments I MUST do... fingers crossed no) but got back other sections so back in editing mode. Must make everything about 50% shorter than it is... yikes!

14) Weather got chilly again... no fun. But I am loving my outfit today. My favorite Joe's Jeans we randomly found at Sam's Club that make me feel like my legs are a mile long, my new Clark sandals with just enough wedge to let me wear these jeans without then dragging on the ground, a comfy American Appearal v-neck shirt and a cute Madewell cardigan. Plus awesome earrings Emily got me from her honeymoon trip!

15) I got a new swim suit in preparation for Hawaii at TJ Maxx. It is sorta silly, but pretty awesome. I can't wait.

16) I head to San Francisco next Thursday for the Luna CHIX summit. Exciting!! Can't wait to see Rob and Emily.

17) April comes to visit the next Monday (April 11th!). We are going to finish up the guestroom and work on the yard lots this weekend in preparation. I am already dreaming of her visit.

18) I am going to a Gordon Conference this summer at the end of June in Maine! And I got the greenlight to put my name in to give a talk. I've always wanted to go to Maine, and now I will be there for a week. Hopefully the paper will be in press so this will be icing on the cake for this story.

19) Busy busy summer already! San Francisco, April's visit, Hawaii, Maine... love it!

20) Trent got a fancy new camera (D700?) for work/life/re-nest purposes. We've taken about a million pictures of Pilot. Baby Frazong needs to get here so we have a new photography subject!!

That's about it, I suppose. Just trekking along with our busy schedules. I am constantly aware of my amazing symbiotic relationship with my husband. We coordinate our schedules like none other, but are still there for each other at the end of the day. I am so fortunate. Gardenias have started blooming and my tulips are about to start. UNC is in the Sweet 16 (hopefully the Elite 8 after tonight) and Duke already lost (hooray!). Lots of work ahead, but I am ready!

Rest of Spring Break (and the weekend) Recap!

2011-03-14T13:40:00.000-07:00

Thursday: Tons of fun seminars. I was on seminar overload last week. But fun. Met up with Trent after work for lifting weights and swimming. Tapering running is the hardest part of marathon training for me! Quick dash to Sandwhich for their hamburger specials, with a side of mac and cheese (eating lots is my favorite part of marathon training!). Trent headed off to a city planning meeting and I went home to hang with Pilot.

Friday: Trent's up and off to Georgia. Nice short run with Pilot before leaving him out of his crate for the day. Not usually a problem. However, today he had some problem with one of the pillows... Naughty. I worked all day on finishing the LAST FIGURE of the paper and emailing frantically with my boss. Also starting to panic about hosting a super fancy scientist this Tuesday. Yikes. Home to find the pillow fiasco, but no time to deal with it as I was off to meet up with the LUNA Chix for dinner. Such a fun mix of women, students, mothers, professionals, it will be a great opportunity. Big Cobb salad for dinner (hooray avocado!) then home to deal with the pillow massacre and play with Pilot.

Wee hours of Saturday morning: Apparently the pillow did not sit well with Pilot's digestion. We were up every two hours for a visit outside. I was happy he woke me up, but man.. I almost feel like I know what a newborn would be like! Of course, each time I woke up I could not fall back asleep due to panicking about all the terribly ways my hosting the scientist could go wrong (mother!). Not the best night, especially with Trent gone.

Saturday: However, managed to get up reasonably early and head out on a bike ride with my LUNA Chix roommate, Nidhi. She is a public health professional in Orange County and it was great to get to know her better and get a lovely ride in. Quick change and off to Deirdre's annual St. Patrick's breakfast. She gets traditional meats shipped in from New York, this is serious business. I brought a pineapple.. I've been obsessed lately. Fun to see lots of science friends and enjoy a delicious breakfast. The day was too nice to be inside, so I headed home and took Pilot to the dog park. Lots of good friends and tons of running, it was just what he needed. Home to clean house before Trent got home around 4pm. They did great at their races, hopefully it will be a good year! We immediately headed over to Rebecca and Eric's house to meet baby Ingrid. She is SO adorable, tiny and mellow. I held her for a couple hours (swoon) while Trent played with Hayden who is a great big brother and we caught up with the parents. Everyone is doing great, they are very happy. I brought a pineapple. Naturally...

Wanted a nice dinner, but did not want to go out to eat again, so we stopped by Tom Robinson, our fish shack, to pick up a big piece of striped bass. Trent grilled, I cooked some asparagus and rice and we caught up on Fringe on Hulu. To bed early, everyone was exhausted!

Sunday: Lazy morning, Pilot and I headed out into the forest for a long easy run. Lots of stops to admire all the plants sprouting, play in the river for a while, and play off leash with friends. It was 70 degrees and just perfect. Black bean and egg tacos for breakfast and then I headed off for a grocery extravaganza. Never send me to Sam's Club by myself. I am in love with fruits and veg, and I can't believe how cheap it is there. We have enough produce now to feed a small army. Lots of big salads this week. Quick stop by Target and Ross and then over to meet up with Trent at the crew boys house to watch the last ACC championship game (we sadly lost.. to Duke! ew). Good thing Katy made delicious cake to soothe everyone. Home, big salads for everyone, quick nap on the lawn in the sun, then lots of work for both of us. Trent took off at 7 for group meeting and wasn't home until 11:30. Yikes.

I am picking up my big shot scientist from the airport tonight. Miraculously, a lot of details fell into place today, so I am feeling much better about his visit now than I was yesterday. It should be lovely. Hope everyone has a great week!

Fancy Spring Break

2011-03-09T06:34:00.000-08:00

This has been a very fancy spring break so far...

Cocktails with Deirdre on Monday night before heading to the Local 506 to see Tennis in concert. Except Tennis was sick so we watched the opening bands and I was (not-so) secretly stoked to be home in bed by 11pm. The Lantern is our favorite place for a swanky drink, I got the special which was fresh grapefruit juice with pine and rosemary infused vodka. Totally inspired to soak some pine needles in liquor now.

Last night, after a brief stop to buy a real bed (Ikea awesomeness) for the guest room (April's visit plus thinking ahead for graduations and all the other people we want to visit) from a girl moving to Seattle to work at Amazon (I am the nosiest Craigslister), we headed to dinner. Acme has something called Recession Special Tuesdays, where all the entrees are $12. Amazing. There was a bit of a wait, but there were very reasonable glasses of wine while we waited. I got an amazing hanger steak with mashed potatoes and asparagus (hooray for iron-loading!) and Trent got a big tuna steak with shitake mushrooms, bok choy and rice. So fancy and delish, for so cheap! And since it was Mardi Gras there were lots of beads and complimentary tiny little beignets fresh from the fryer (I was in love).

Tonight we have a lab happy hour and Trent is off volunteering at the free clinic. I am about to hear a stellar female scientist talk about her career! Happy Wednesday.

Drool

2011-03-07T10:01:00.000-08:00

I am sorta feeling too old to still be wearing my beloved North Face backpack every day, but I carry my laptop, lunch, papers, workout clothes everyday... this could be a sort of grown up compromise?

Or this?

From Etsy store Infusion out of Oregon

Desperate

2011-03-07T09:20:00.000-08:00

It is only a 13 hour drive to New Orleans from here...

Pretty sure this is worth it.

Oh my goodness... dying that I don't live in California right now.

Weekend Recap

2011-03-07T07:50:00.000-08:00

Fantastic weekend. The theme (at least for me) was being open to new adventures, last minute changes, and not planning anything, just going with the flow. And it worked out marvelously.

1) Friday night, last minute meet up with the lab downstairs and other science friends for dinner at Milltown. Deirdre, Trent and I shared two entrees and lots of good conversation. Nice way to finish up a good week.

2) On my way, I got a call from my new running friend Kim. She is ver organized when it comes to running and is training for the Boston Marathon. We ran 18 miles together last weekend at 6am, so I was a little nervous to run with her again (I am not a morning person!) but this time she suggested 13 miles at 8am. Much more reasonable. We went with a few of her running friends and did the last few miles of the marathon I am running in a couple weeks which was great. Running while getting to meet new people, two of my favorite things combined! She dropped me off back home around 10.

3) Big omlette for breakfast and a bit of cleaning before heading to the dog park for a puppy date with Abby and her owner, Alysse. Pilot loved it. Alysse and I discussed how we had not seen a "Kings Speech" so decided to go to the matinee that afternoon. Sure, why not?!

4) During the dog park, got a call from Amanda. Stephen is out of town for crew spring training, and she is due in three weeks, so we are all very anxious. Her parents are up visiting. She wanted to meet up for lunch at Weaver Street (where Trent was studying in between crew practices). Drove over and had a nice lunch on the patio with her and her parents. Also, she realized she had Stephen's basketball tickets, did we want them? It just happened to be the EPIC Carolina vs. Duke game. Of course!! So exciting.

5) Quick walk back home to drop off an exhausted Pilot before Alysse picked me up. We loved the movie, so well done.

6) Dropped off at home and a little more cleaning and a quick nap. Got dressed in our finest Carolina gear before meeting some of Trent's classmates downtown for a pre-game drink. Walked to the Dean Dome and got to be a part of the best game I have ever seen. It was intense, but we won, snagging not only incredible bragging rights, but winning the ACC regular season. And it was senior night, so all the seniors got to play and their parents were there. It was amazing to be a part of. We stayed to watch the team cut down the net (because of winning ACC) and then went down to Franklin Street to be a part of the celebrations. Lots of happy undergraduates.

7) We then met up with some crew folks at a SUPER southern undergrad bar before realizing that was not our scene. We headed to Carrboro with a quick stop at a sandwich truck for a recharge (ohmygoodness, grilled cheese with guacamole sandwich at midnight = heaven). We were with our friends Chris and Katy, who are getting married this summer and both just graduated from UNC. They were lamenting how they used to know everyone but people have left. I was telling them they just had to find their new niche, and how Carrboro was awesome for the "out of undergrad" lifestyle. Lo and behold, Trent and I knew about 80% of the people at the Station, our favorite bar in Carrboro. Professors, scientists, neighbors, our dear friend Patrick who was visiting from DC, bike shop folks... it was almost unreal how many people we saw. I think we impressed Katy and Chris that there are friends outside of undergrad! Lots of dancing until we were finally exhausted in the wee hours of the morning.

8) Up feeling surprisingly good. Pilot and I went on a nice run around the neighborhood before the rain came. Lots of cleaning, working on the manuscript, planning the week. Lovely midday nap as well. Trent had morning and afternoon practices, so was in and out. I helped him get ready for a study group/dinner party he was hosting, then snuck off to the pool for a recuperative swim. Felt great to stretch out. Quick grocery shopping, then back home where the study group was in full swing. I worked for a few more hours and then crashed. But right before we went to bed we got the wonderful news that Rebecca had her baby!! 3:30 am Sunday morning, Ingrid Edith Halverson was born, 7lbs, 11oz. A few days late but the delivery was easy and everyone is doing great. They didn't find out the gender, and I was sure it was a girl, and I was right!! First of the spring babies. Can't wait to meet her.

Nice week ahead, it is spring break, so Trent has a crazier than usual schedule with two practices a day and working full time. At least no classes! There are some amazing scientists coming to give lectures, including Nobel Prize winner, Dr. Steitz and his wife. Can't wait to hear them. I am hoping to turn in my manuscript draft to Bob by Wednesday, unbelievable. Hope everyone has a great week as well!

Ah yes...

2011-03-03T11:00:00.000-08:00

I had forgotten that the universe does not like it when I proclaim my contentment with life.

My punishment this time was Pilot going missing at 10:45 last night. We spent several frantic hours stomping around in the forest and probably annoying the neighbors, then an uncomfortable night's sleep worrying about my poor little bear out in the forest.

Then the morning spent posting flyers all over town and calling every vet and shelter.

However, it was just a warning... I got a call that he'd been dropped off at the shelter (apparently there is a night drop box sort of thing?) and could get claimed at noon. Frantic trips around town to take down all the flyers and call all the nervous vets and he is safe and sound back home.

12 hours of anxiety to remind myself to not get too ahead of myself. I am exhausted.

(He went missing about 20 minutes after making this video, in response to that hilarious slow loris being tickled video that Emily sent me. He was tired and not as cooperative with his acting...)

Antsy

2011-03-02T09:02:00.001-08:00

Spring is so close. We spent a good portion of Sunday working in the yard, cutting back dead plants and planting new darlings. This is the new year for me. All the hope, anticipation, shedding of old layers.

I am in a wonderful place in my life. This summer is going to be epic. Mantra as follows:
I am ready for summer. I am ready to swim in seas and lakes, play in the forest, and drink the wild air. Ready for sun-kissed skin, eating whole watermelons, lots of dancing. I am healthy, loved, strong, and determined. Bring it on.

(gorgeous print I probably have already bought myself from thewheatfield)

Updates

2011-02-25T11:08:00.000-08:00

1) The last time I saw my husband truly awake was Wednesday night. We had a wonderful time watching the UNC vs. State game at Thomas's apartment and then made a late night taco truck run. Then he got up early to go to crew practice, came home while I was at spinning, left before I got home to go to a Public Health department mixer. I got home, ate dinner, and was too exhausted to meet up. He got home after I was asleep... and I left super early to go swimming. We have a dinner date planned tonight, it will be nice to see him finally!

2) He doesn't have ringworm. Phew. Especially since we saw about 20 babies and pregnant people last weekend.

3) We have tickets to Kauai in May!! I am so excited for this family vacation to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries. And we got first class tickets using our airline miles. Fancy pants, I tell ya. On the way there at least...

4) The last figure for this paper is turning into a real pain in the rear. Of course. Frustrating, but I will persevere. And then be DONE!

5) I just went to a talk which was lovely. I went to 4 lectures this week on totally disparate topics. I love lifelong learning. Today's talk was from a professor up in DC who was a graduate student in the lab I came to UNC to join. It was awesome to see someone who has made it and came from my same scenario. Her former PI was beaming the entire time, very cute to see. I think mitochondria are going to become SO important in the next few years, mark my words.

6) April and I have a countdown going until her visit... So excited.

7) I've been making these giant salads with half an avocado, a handful of kalamata olives, big dollop of roasted red pepper hummus, chopped veggies and a balsamic vinagrette dressing. Trent is sick of hearing me exclaim how amazingly good they are. But seriously, the best.

8) Nuun is amazing. The tangerine-ginger is my favorite flavor.

9) I should not listen to the Girl Talk album at work. Because I cannot help but bust out some awesome dance moves while in my imaginary music video in my head.

10) My tulips are poking up. Spring is almost here! 70 today. Awesome.

11) Unsure what it means when my 15 mile long run this weekend seems downright short. But hopefully a great bike ride on Sunday will compensate.

That's about it. Looking forward to another great weekend though it will be hard to top last weekend. Lots of writing, gardening, exercising and dinners with friends. My kind of days.

Hope you all have an excellent weekend.

Valentine's Trip Recap!

2011-02-14T08:09:00.000-08:00

Picked up T from crew practice and hit the road. Roses in the cup holder to get in the spirit!

Pilot was an excellent passenger. Especially since his bed came along for the trip.

Yes, there will be lots of Pilot pictures. We don't have kids... And he is so dang cute.

We drove about 1.5 hours right across the Virginia border to Fairystone State park in the MIDDLE of no-where. Got lost once, grabbed a pizza from a crazy Southern mountain town pizza place, and found our cabin. Pilot approved of the Pilot sized sofa.

We were all thrilled about the fireplace and adorable cottage. Such a great deal and a perfect little getaway.

Hilarious that this cabin's kitchen was bigger than our previous cottage we lived in for 2 years.

We enjoyed our local pizza while reading about Fairystone (there are sparkly mineral deposits that occasionally leave rocks that look like crosses, apparently legend is the fairies cried when they found out Jesus died. Interesting combination of stories!) and the park. There are 40 cabins, all different sizes and fun to read the messages from previous occupants.

Our cabin, with a cute front porch with rocking chairs. It would be great to come back in the summer!

View from our cabin. A few other cabins were occupied with friendly dogs.

We went on long hikes around the lake.

Pilot had a blast playing with this waterfall. Trent borrowed some equipment from campus to practice filming, so expect a stunning documentary of this trip soon. Including some epic acting from yours truly.

Gorgeous views on our hike. Wintery Virginia!

All in all it was a lovely weekend just to be together. No phone service, no internet, no TV, just us and lots to read and lots of naps and hikes and conversation. It was the perfect Valentine's getaway!

Cheers to NPR

2011-02-11T12:09:00.000-08:00

Cutest Valentine's Day Card Ever.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-11T10:48:00.000-08:00

My boys and I are heading up to Virginia to stay in a little cabin (with a heater and kitchen!) near a lake and just relax for a couple days.

We've been super busy and social butterflies, but I can count the number of outings that have just been the two of us one one hand. Not complaining, but I am very excited about our little cloistered weekend.

Trent went grocery shopping yesterday and got all my favorite goodies, Mr. Pilot has packed his overnight bag, and I've printed a big stack of papers and charged up the lappy. We are hoping this is our Walden and we get lots of writing done, in between hiking, eating and napping!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend with those you love!

Loving Socca!

2011-02-10T18:26:00.000-08:00

As you've heard, a new (and super fun) past time these days is making sure I am eating enough good fats for all the running and bicycling I am doing. While I would love to eat an avocado a day, they are a) not so great here, and b) darn expensive. So they are an occasional splurge. Like fish.

But I am loving olive oil! And my new favorite vector is socca.

Pretty much hummus pancakes, they are just chickpea flour, water, salt and herbs and spices. Heat up a generous amount of olive oil in a cast iron skillet, but not too hot. Pour in some of the batter and cook on both sides. Especially good right out of the pan, but excellent as a side.

You can also bake it in the oven in your cast iron pan a la Mark Bittman.

Yum!

2011-02-09T13:58:00.000-08:00

Oh dear... then along came the Gin Fizz.

The living room. I love 1960's teak furniture.

The bedroom. My comment to Trent was that we can have the bed and Pilot can have the sofa... perfection!

(yes, I've hit a bit of writer's block on the manuscript. looking at boats in Seattle and dreaming of our lives there is a good bait. As is watching Gray's Anatomy, you know for research)

Donate

2011-02-09T12:03:00.000-08:00

I donated blood yesterday. It was fantastic for a couple reasons.

1. I have been anemic for a while so donating was out of the question. Being anemic was bizarre for someone who eats spinach by the bagful. Turns out I wasn't eating enough healthy fats to actually access all that veggie goodness. More avocados, olive oil, and fish?!? Best prescription I've ever gotten. And it worked.

2. I am still a "baby-donor." So my lovely, iron-filled, O- blood is off saving babies lives. Gotta admit if feels good.

3. I didn't pass out or get dizzy at all. Despite having ridiculously low blood pressure (it was a new admitting nurse and she commented on my low heart rate "do you work out?" I said, "just wait until you see my blood pressure!" She was amazed). I chatted with volunteers, boogied to the music playing, and was done in record time.

4. Trent cooked me delicious turkey burgers covered in avocados for dinner (see #1). Wonderful. I was a total bum and laid around on the sofa. A mandatory break from working out was a pretty nice bonus.

Go donate!

New Front Runner

2011-02-07T17:54:00.001-08:00

I just love Chris Crafts!!

This Year So Far

2011-02-07T10:10:00.000-08:00

Ya, I have fallen off the blogging wagon. I haven't been feeling it, to be honest. And I have been a busy busy bee. But I do love the idea of everyone knowing what is going on over here in C-boro, so I will be updating occasionally. Here is an uber-quick recap of the past month!

1. I am writing. Furiously writing. GLORY BE! It is so satisfying to have the figures done and be working on the story. We are hoping to submit to Genes and Development, I am optimistic but nervous.

2. I applied for a dissertation completion fellowship. Even if I don't get it (which I REALLY hope I do...) it was an awesome exercise in sitting down with my boss and planning my LAST YEAR of graduate school.

3. I definitely feel like I am at the helm more this year. I am not sure what clicked, but I realized that I am absolutely the only one driving this boat (my life) and I need to be the best captain I can be.

4. I also feel like that tiny dog at the dark park who is absolutely not afraid of all the big dogs, but secretly is terrified. I think that is my current "spirit" animal at work these days.

5. I've learned to embrace my confidence. I am not ashamed and no one can make me feel bad about it (talking to you crazy Committee Member professor). This goes back to #4.

6. I am a LUNA CHIX! Oh a total whim, I responded to a friends email suggesting I try out and viola... I am in. This is terrific. I will be in San Francisco for their annual conference from March 31-April 4th (hope to see Em and Rob, and perhaps borrow a bike??). The season is April to October and it will be a great opportunity to meet some fantastic women and give back a bit. Check out our team here (the group picture is from last year, but our individual profiles are updated).

7. We celebrated Alex and Pilot's birthday on the same day. My boys are great.

8. I helped co-host a baby shower for Amanda and Rebecca. Due April 1st and March 15th respectively. A boy and an unknown (I am rooting for a girl). Nothing like a new batch of spring babies!!

9. I am six weeks out from the Tobacco Trail Marathon. I ran 20 miles this weekend, ten by myself without music which was an interesting experience, and then ten with Stephen. We talked about babies, college athletics, and everything in between. It was a wonderful time. I am trying a different training program this time, either speed work or really long runs, not much in between. We'll see how it worked, right now I am just sore all the time.

10. I may have replaced a bad habit with a much less bad habit. But I am so excited to have gotten rid of the first bad habit, I am kind of okay with it.

11. Watching the first season of 30 Rock on Netflix is the best way to get long workouts in on the trainer.

12. Our weather is hilarious. 70 one day, 40 the next. Luckily, we've been getting enough breaks from the cold to make it bearable. And absolutely no snow, so we should thank our lucky stars.

13. We are pretty much set on living on a boat for our next move. It makes it very hard to buy anything new. Which is also pretty awesome.

14. We have some AWESOME friends. I feel so lucky. I love that I can go dancing and to a rowdy bar one night, and then to a quiet Ethiopian dinner the next. Undergrads, scientists, public healthers, bikers, runners, mothers, married and single. I am going to really hate leaving this town.

15. I've started to really appreciate having a super clean house. Why this has taken me 28 years, not sure.

16. I quit buying coffee everyday at work and instead reward myself with flowers every week. Priorities. I am at the helm! (My new mantra?)

17. I got third place at the Little River Trail Run. 10 mile trail run in the snow. I honestly think I ran so fast because I was terrified of slipping!

18. My desktop Gaspard et Lisa calendar makes me smile everyday. Especially the stickers for different occasions. They are eating ice cream sundaes this month. Thank you Emily!!

19. 'Nuff Said.

20. I try to have a smoothie with lots of spinach, frozen berries, yogurt, chia and flax seeds everyday. It is a wonderful thing.

21. April, gorgeous redheaded bridesmaid best friend, is coming to visit this April!! It is the carrot in my life right now. April is going to be the BEST month.

That's about all I can think of. We are doing good. Trent's back in class and trying to plan his summer practicum. Lots of opportunities. I will be so happy to have this manuscript done and am making fun plans for my last year here. Unbelievable!

2011-01-28T11:57:00.000-08:00

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I'll tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese,
high in the clean blue air, are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese,
harsh and exciting-- over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

Alright, 2011... it's on.

(gorgeous painting by my uber-talented friend Allison Horst)

He's even wearing the right outfit...

2010-12-09T14:27:00.001-08:00

Check out my mister getting some PR for his recent documentary that aired on our local PBS station. He's even wearing the DFI uniform... khakis and a blue button up!

Read the story and watch the video here.

It takes a village...

2010-12-08T09:39:00.001-08:00

We just figured out Pilot's care over the break... the boarding place we use was all full up! Lucky fella gets lots of visitors over this Christmas holiday.... we owe lotsa people lotsa favors!!

Trent feed 19th morning, and then leaves...
19th evening-23rd morning: Amanda and Stephen with his friend Jersey
23rd evening-25th morning: Hollie and Brendon (neighbors) with his friends Fancy and Friday
25th evening-27th evening: Duronio Family (my boss and his kids!)
28th morning-29th evening: Matt and Alyse (neighbors) with his friend Abby.
We're back late the 29th!!

Lucky lucky fella. Good thing we have lots of good friends!

For Emily...

2010-12-07T16:12:00.001-08:00

Because she really understands the vast underground dolphin conspiracy....

from Mischief Champion

2010-12-06T13:29:00.000-08:00

We are all listening to Mumford and Sons right?

Cuz we should be. Perfect winter music.

It is our favorite album for our "music sessions." We currently have a full drum set, a guitar, mandolin and trumpet and lady who thinks she can sing. We blast this album at full volume and play/sing our hearts out. SO great we don't have neighbors...

edit: I really mean "thinks" she can sing. I don't actually claim I can sing at all... but I go for it!

nerd alert

2010-12-06T10:27:00.000-08:00

I logged on to Borders.com to pick out my birthday book with my gift card from Aunt Lucie.

And I ended up buying this (thanks also to an awesome 33% off one item coupon code).

What this means:

1) Hint about my future post-doc plans.
2) I am the worlds biggest nerd because I am so excited to read this textbook cover to cover.
3) I am growing more and more sure of this next step decision!!

dog blog

2010-12-06T09:12:00.000-08:00

I am totally that parent, apparently...

Some adorable pictures from the marathon house. It was pretty much the best weekend ever for Pilot as he got to play with his friends, Abby and Sammy, the entire weekend.

A whirlwind of cute red dogs!

2010-12-06T07:08:00.000-08:00

With our vacation just around the corner, it is crunch time around here in terms of finishing up work and getting healthy! Trent has his last three final presentations all this week so he was a maniac of group meetings and powerpoint planning. I am fighting off another cold (geez) which hasn't been incapacitating (except for preventing me from doing all the running I am dying to do) but I was ready to be done with it. I also finished up lots of reviews my boss dumped on me (awesome) and worked on my manuscript. But we did have some fun adventures, Deirdre's annual Bob Dylan Christmas party on Saturday as well as one of Trent's cohorts birthday parties. And it snowed! Which is unbelievable. And I did some lovely yoga and wrote lots of Christmas cards. While drinking hot chocolate, naturally.

T loves J. Even when they don't see each other often because they are so busy.

I swear the Subi is happier when it is in snow. It just feels right. Note the newly installed chicken wire above the fence. Somebody figured out he could easily hop the fence. And that is not gonna happen.

This was Pilot's first snow. He wanted to eat it all. And spaz out and run like crazy.

Running fool. We did have a fun outing to the dog park, which is his absolute favorite place.

Cutie patootie. Me and Mr. P spent lots of time together this weekend. He was my surrogate husb.

Mostly we napped together on the sofa. Pretty much 75% of Sunday was spent doing this. Why do I always look so serious when I am sleeping? Good news is I think I've finally kicked this cold.. fingers crossed.

Giant Mr. P. He is an awesome spooner, however. Makes my heart sing.

Remember when he was this tiny morsel? I can't believe my baby weighs 55 pounds now. But he is so so sweet and I love 'em like crazy. And I love Trent. But I am a opportunistic snuggler.

Birthday Swag

2010-12-03T09:58:00.001-08:00

In addition to our long hike at the Eno River, a swanky brunch at Watts Grocery and an excellent evening out dancing with friends, I also received a lot of very thoughtful gifts! Hooray for birthdays.

Mom snagged the Bridge and Burn jacket I'd been eyeing for weeks and I now wear it nearly every day (our fishmonger asked me where I got it and just got one herself. I love that we have a fishmonger).

Emily upped my fanciness level about 100 points with lovely Tiffany bead earrings.

And Trent recognized that if he wants to ride his bike again, he'd have to find me a matching one. So he is currently building me a CAAD9. I am thrilled. We're going to be that matching cycling couple... awesome. This isn't my bike, but what it will look like when done.

Additionally, I received an Yvette Hill original ceramic bowl (so cool), a generous REI giftcard from the Johnsons, a Borders gift card from Aunt Lucie (can't wait to pick out my airplane book!), and a very sentimental dandelion plate from April. Lots of little goodies from lab-mates and friends here all leaving me feeling very loved. Thanks to everyone!!

2010-12-03T08:38:00.000-08:00

The self is not something ready-made, but something in continuous formation, through choice of action.

- John Dewey

(This quote has been posted up on the wall of the library where I get my morning coffee and has been my mantra of late. Plus, John Dewey is a family favorite)

Print from Etsy artist Tushtush

2010-12-03T06:40:00.001-08:00

It is daunting to come back to blogging after letting time slip away. Do I recap every event? Move on and pretend like I wasn't away? Who knows. Just going to write, see what happens.

The last two weeks before my birthday were pretty symbolic of my last year. Amazing highs... including the awesome marathon and all the support I received from friends and loved ones, four fantastic Thanksgiving dinners that reflected all the different "groups" we are fortunate enough to be associated with, a lovely birthday day spent with my men, Trent and Pilot out hiking in nature and then boogie-ing down until the wee hours of the morning with good friends.

And some pretty rough lows... most prominently the passing of my best friend's mother. Suddenly and all too soon, she lost her fight against cervical cancer. I spent a lot of time on the phone with my friend, but couldn't find the words to say to make it better. I felt like a failure, here I am, a cancer biologist... giving fruit flies tumors. I felt stifled by this never-ending degree I am chasing, terribly homesick being so far away, and just down.

But also, like this year in general, I found my way back to the surface. I leaned hard on some good friends (especially Amanda and the lovely ladies of our first Thanksgiving, Becca, Sheila and Rebecca). I threw myself into cooking for my friends and helping co-host a bachelorette party to much success. I ran a lot. I did a lot of yoga. I worked like a mad man on this paper, being SO close to being done with it and so ready to move on to the next chapter. And I started, as I have noticed I tend to do in response to trying times, to make big life decisions. Including pretty conclusively deciding on my post-doc lab. I am a little hesitant to discuss it right now, as it is a fairly big leap and I don't want to jinx myself, but it feels amazingly right (SO many thanks to my friend Calen for making me think about what I would want to do if I could do ANYTHING... and then going for it). And on Saturday night, moments before heading into the bar to dance my birthday night away, I got to tell these plans to my best friend. And I felt like I finally was doing something to help.

But through it all, as always, I had Trent. Despite being insanely busy (I have no idea how he is managing these days), he was there for me. I am quite an extrovert and get energized by being surrounded by people and crowds. Therefore, I often feel that he doesn't get the best of me. It is after the party is over, after the friends have left, that I tend to fall apart. And that's when he is there for me. To talk, to just sit and be sad, to go on long runs with me... he's always there. I am so fortunate.

So here's to my 28th year. May it be slightly more even keeled than last year, please? I am finished tacking and ready for a broad reach.

In case you don't want to read the recap post...

2010-11-15T17:02:00.000-08:00

This crazy video Trent made should sum up my race experience...

Jean's OBX Marathon 11-14-10 from Trent Johnson on Vimeo.

LOVE IT!

Marathon Recap

2010-11-15T16:25:00.000-08:00

Oh goodness.. what a great weekend. We headed out with our friend Alyse snuggled in between Abby and Pilot. I was worried they'd want to play the whole ride, but they quickly fell asleep. Easy drive and we made it to the house around 9pm.

The house.. was awesome. Trent coordinated a bunch of friends to stay together so we got an enormous three story beach house, complete with an elevator and 12 rooms. We were on the top floor, which was also the big living room and kitchen. The second floor was all bedrooms, each with its own bathroom, and the first floor was a smaller kitchen/living room and several more rooms.

There were three dogs total, all cute little red puppies. They had SUCH a blast playing all weekend long, Pilot was in heaven. We quickly headed out to the grocery store as folks started arriving. We ended up being about 20 people total but the house was so big it never felt crowded.

Saturday was lovely and lazy. Lots of catching up on cheezy TV, reading, lunch at a local brewery. We picked up our packets and Trent and I had fun being the resident experts on this race (this is the 4th time I have run this race, we know the area!). Home and more lounging and then everyone made their pre-race dinner. Lotsa pasta! I was pretty nervous the night before... with the injury and my busy week I had NO idea how the race would go.

Up early early early to start eating peanut butter toast and coffee. Dressed and out the door by 6:30am. We drove over with a new friend, a MD who works in infectious diseases in Durham. He did the Peace Corps and it was a nice distraction to chat with him on the way over.

And then before you know it... time to run. I had no idea what pacing I should do or was planning on doing, but then dang.. you could set a clock to my miles per hour. 8 minutes per mile, mile after mile after mile. The weather was great, I felt fast, I felt happy. I had an epic runners high at mile 14 and again at mile 20. Usually I start to fade around mile 18, but for some reason, I felt great. I was so happy to see 8:00 pop up on my watch at each mile flag.

And then, mile 23. Blargh. The only hill on the course, and then mile 24 is along a busy road. Demoralizing. But I was really proud of myself. After a little mental math, I knew exactly what I needed to do to get a qualifying time for Boston. And I wanted it. So I dug deep and put one foot in front of the other. I thought of all the wonderful people in my life who have done MUCH harder things than simply running. A girl I used to give riding lessons to decided to have deep brain stimulation to help with jerky motions. Recently she's been posting the most uplifting pictures and comments on facebook. It looks so scary, but her smile is always radiant. I thought a lot about Jana in those last miles.

And then, it was over. I even kicked in the finish! 3:37 final time. 8:17 minute miles for 26.2 miles. I felt pretty rough. Luckily I immediately ran into Alyse (who did a great job with her first half-marathon) who took care of me. I'd seen Trent several times along the course, but he couldn't make it to the finish on time. She helped me hobble along and get wrapped up in my space blanket. Soon Trent showed up and we hung out waiting for other finishers. Everyone finished the race and felt, well... as good as they could for running 26.2 miles for the first time.

Back to the house (where I was SO happy for the elevator) and a quick ice bath (oh man, I was not a happy camper) and a long hot shower. Trent picked up pizzas and we chowed down. Naps for everyone and some people took off in the afternoon. Six of us headed to a cute restaurant for celebratory beers and dinner. Quick house clean up and a great night's sleep. Trent had to be at class at 9am so up early to hit the road... I just slept (best husband ever). I hobbled around at lab for most of the day and have been enjoying the sofa for the evening.

In recap... this race was great. Maybe taking the week completely off due to my injury really helped? Maybe I am just learning how far my body can take me? I honestly enjoyed 22 miles of it. I felt so capable and strong and alive. Runner's highs are amazing, I was dancing and smiling like a fool. And then the last 4.2... they were hard. But I think that is the part of the race that really tests you, when the going isn't so easy and you have to find something inside yourself that wants it. And I was happy I could. Kinda like life, no?

Hobbling around today like crazy, but nothing too significant. Big mistake wearing new shorts for the first time to run 26.2 miles (chafe-age!!) but I should be 100% soon. And I am going to take some time off running to let my body reset itself. Though I am excited about Tobacco Trail in March....

2010-11-15T16:20:00.000-08:00

Trent is taking a documentary film class...

So now he is making terrific, dramatic, movies of our lives.

Enjoy our anniversary trip epic preview...

Trent and Jean's Anniversary Adventure from Trent Johnson on Vimeo.

Link here: http://www.vimeo.com/16866367 if the blog cuts off the edges.

2010-11-12T08:58:00.000-08:00

HUGE congratulations go out to our dear friends Ben and Stacey who are expecting their first baby in April. We are thrilled for them and can't wait to see them this Christmas. Hooray Davis baby!! It is sure to have some fantastic dance moves and triathlon skills.

2010-11-12T07:38:00.000-08:00

Whew. Yesterday was intense. But it ended up being fine. My talk went well, lots of great feedback from my science/life mentor Jean (coincidental name, eh?). It was a fun challenge to present on the fly, but I really enjoyed that I was speaking to a group of people who knew all the background and I could really dig into some data. Sat around and talked science afterward with my boss and Jean, then back to lab, quick bike ride home, grab the Mr. P and drive over to get our first fish CSA pick up.

A) Pilot LOVES riding in the car. He'll get lots of practice with that today, but it is awesome, he gets all snuggled down into his seat and looks out the window, it is too cute.

B) Fish CSA's are terrific. We got 2 pounds of seafood (flounder and shrimp) that were caught yesterday, and then the girl who was running it (who is also in Trent's public health program) gave us some extra soft shell crabs! I've never cooked them before, but am looking forward to it.

Quick drive home to drop of Mr. P and the fish before booking it back to campus to go to a talk. The professor I came here for (and then realized I would not work well with at all) teaches a first year undergraduate seminar about public health, and invited a speaker from Partners in Health to give a lecture. Trent and some of his classmates came along and it was a very interesting, and very sobering, lecture. They are doing amazing work down in Haiti though, despite all the hardships.

We headed back home discussing global politics to grab Mr. P again. We headed over to Amanda and Stephen's for a lovely dinner. Stephen roasted a chicken and made a big pot of pasta to help me carbo load. Pilot and Jersey played like crazy and it was fun to be with our dear friends. They find out today about the gender of this little one, and are SO excited. I am wagering girl, Trent called boy... so one of us will be right! I can't wait to meet this little person!

Finally home and exhausted. Finally got to watch this weeks' Glee and pack for the race. My leg is feeling better, although a little touchy still. I am going to take it minute by minute. I feel like I have done a really good job preparing for this race and would be bummed if it was for nothing, but I do understand that three months of suffering while I heal is not worth three hours of running on Sunday. So we'll see... and I signed up for the Tobacco Trail Marathon in March so if I do drop out, I will have that to look forward to!!

Anyways.. we are leaving this afternoon and I am looking forward to a weekend spent with friends in a great house on the beach. I really really hope I can run (I LOVE RUNNING) but will be responsible about that decision.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. It is a blindingly perfect Fall day here today... the leaves are changing on campus, but it is still warm and crisp. Wearing my JCrew navy corduroy blazer and feeling all sorts of academic. Nerd alert. Oh well.

Here are some pictures from our anniversary trip up to Asheville!

Our hot tub in Hot Springs, North Carolina. Awesome.

Blue Ridge Mountains

Our cabin in Hot Springs. So cute... I want one.

Gorgeous fall colors on a hike

On one of our hikes we found this trickle of a waterfall to play in. I'll have to post the video of Trent getting soaked... he was brave, it was freezing!

"Look at these colors!" An example of me every 10 minutes on our hikes.

Stressed...

2010-11-10T10:31:00.001-08:00

for two reasons.

1) Found out today that the talk I was 100% convinced was NEXT Thursday, where I hoped to present this new experiment I am nearly done with and get all sorts of good input from, is tomorrow. TOMORROW. I am not nervous about giving a talk (that seems to be all I am doing these days) but I am pretty bummed to have to present the same story over again. I am now planning on discussing what I am working on instead of presenting data. Maybe I will get some suggestions that will help me make this experiment even more awesome? Oye, tonight is gonna be rough.

2) My piriformis is acting up. I never get injured and now this weird nerve/muscle situation in my hip/glut is bugging me. I've emailed three awesome ladies with various amounts of physical therapy knowledge and am meeting up with a professional PT friend tomorrow, so hopefully she'll have some good suggestions. I think I'll be fine for the race (it seems to get better when I am running, and worse when I am sitting around) but am nervous about doing some real damage. Not fun... Oh yes, reminder... I am doing the OBX marathon on Sunday.

Back to work, just needed to vent for a second. Sorta glad to be getting this talk over with instead of worrying about this weekend at the beach. Busy girl!

Two things...

2010-11-08T09:57:00.000-08:00

that are making me ridiculously happy today.

1) There is a new muppets movie in the works. With Zack Galafakakis (or however you spell his name). Oh man, if he shares any scenes with the King Prawn, my head might explode.

2) This boat. Check it... Chris Craft Constellation, perfect size, great shape, reasonable price, with a liveaboard slip in WEST LAKE UNION, which is near both downtown and The Hutch? Where do I sign. 100 bonus points for that most gorgeous PILOT HOUSE. It is meant to be...

Just, you know, have to graduate, have the husband graduate, and move across the country. No big deal. All while being really sad about leaving Carrboro and our lives here.

BUT YOU CAN ALL COME STAY WITH US ON THE BOAT... Carrboro-ians.

Enough with the caps, I know, but seriously, I am jazzed.

hello dear friend...

2010-11-06T19:22:00.001-07:00

The internet is an amazing thing. Thinking of my dear friend and was so happy to get to hear his voice. Even more lovely to hear him talking about his critical roles in establishing my beloved alma mater.

Slighty more grown up...

2010-11-05T12:07:00.000-07:00

Check out my fancy new stationary Emily got us for our anniversary. Mrs. Jean Johnson. Craziness. And so pretty!

Love the fern design and our address on the envelope.

I've been trying to write more letters recently (I feel now I should say "I am trying to keep up on my correspondences), this is great motivation.

(before I am DR. Johnson and move!)

Thanks Emily!!

Friday Thought

2010-11-05T07:41:00.000-07:00

Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it in tact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.

--C.S. Lewis

screenprint from Etsy store Blancucha.

Life Aquatic

2010-11-04T11:27:00.000-07:00

It is a gray, rainy, day today. This, combined with Trent sending me endless Craigslist boats in Seattle, has me dreaming of life in the Pacific Northwest.

Where I'd live on this boat...

Play this song over and over....

Wear these boots...

To my job curing cancer here....

Sounds like a plan?!

I am not a grown up (it is a good thing I am married to one)

2010-11-04T11:23:00.000-07:00

7:21 PM me: i just took some medicine i found in my drawer

not sure what it was

7:22 PM pretty sure cold medicine

just fyi

Trent: hmok

"she took the medicine in the drawer in her biology lab that she THINKS was cold medicine"

awesome

7:25 PM me: ya, i know

lame

just had to share that nugget. no worries, mom, I was not at lab at 7:25 pm. my google account refuses to be the correct time ever....

Day 25

2010-11-03T15:43:00.000-07:00

Better day. Had a lazy morning but did manage to make it to work. Got a few things done (thank goodness for my assistant Sunny, who is seriously this guy. Which makes me Jack Donaghy, which I am kind of okay with).

Feeling slightly overwhelmed with how much work I have looming ahead of me finishing up this paper, but happy about the upcoming holidays and the idea that I am actually finishing this paper!!

A few things I am thankful for today:

Getting the new XX cd in the mail from blogger Lovely Morning. Not only does she have an adorable baby, she has great taste in music and is super generous to host a giveaway for some new tunes! Thank you Kristina!!

Still amazed by my new commuter. I am now realizing how exhausting my 500 pound Pinnacle was. Plus, she is gorgeous. And that little Petey Pablo in the front is pretty darn fun to come home to.

Wearing my new birthday scarf and gorgeous copper bracelet from the Naliboffs trip to Israel. The color of the scarf could not be more me and the bracelet is just lovely. Thank you!

How Pilot enjoys watching the world walk by. He could easily jump over this gate, but much prefers to just stand up here and watch families walk by to the park. I can't believe how big he is!

A hot cup of cocoa in my awesome New Hampshire mug. Perfect post-bike ride home drink! I love thinking of the sweet potter who made this.

In hindsight...

2010-11-03T15:40:00.000-07:00

I look less like a rockstar...

And more like a kicky, young, version of Liza Minnelli. Oh well...

26 day

2010-11-02T12:13:00.000-07:00

Slightly less stellar today. And yesterday was stellar. Lots of kudos from random faculty about my talk on Friday and winning the coveted "Best Lab Buddy" award for November (our lab manager is a mom, and knows how winning candy/gift cards can be an excellent motivator for doing chores!). And I even got my first birthday present in the mail yesterday, thanks Naliboffs!!

But as the day progressed, I felt yuckier and yuckier. Went home early and slept/wandered/was restless for the rest of the evening. Finally got some cold meds and slept until 11am today. Called in sick. Boo.

But, in a positive note, taking the day off meant I got to go vote at my leisure and I even ran into our US Senate candidate, Elaine Marshall, at Weaver Street were I was getting some chicken soup.

Feels like an accomplished day. Now back to bed...

Here are some cute baby pictures from the Halloween block party for your enjoyment.

Eaden and his adorable friend. I love that guy, such a little bruiser. He was a gorilla.

Alex the treefrog. Too too too cute.

2010-11-01T12:41:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness... this just gave me goosebumps. Obama, Bill Nye, Science? Best birthday month present.

27 last days of 27

2010-11-01T09:56:00.000-07:00

So, lovelies... today is the 1st of November. So I officially have 27 days left of being 27! Craziness.

I plan on embracing this and celebrating something small everyday.

For today, riding my brand new, absolutely gorgeous, bike to work. Trent bought me two frames for our anniversary, a CAAD7 to be my new road bike (since I fell in love with his CAAD9) and this awesome, handmade, MicheleAntonio frame for my new commuter. He worked hard on it all weekend at the shop (so handy!) and scrounged parts from old bikes and used parts at the shop. Today was it's inaugural ride, and it was epic! I love it.

Pictures to come soon. And I am realizing this is my 4th commuter in 4.5 years of graduate school. Definitely the best one. By far!

(and I had hot chocolate for breakfast. that is a stellar way to start the day).

Dual Lives

2010-11-01T07:49:00.000-07:00

Friday: I give a big talk to my department and celebrate afterward with beers with my boss then dinner with some lovely lovely friends. The talk went great, I was thrilled... but exhausted!

Saturday: Bike shop most of the day. Then a whirlwind costume creation. Resulting in this madness...

We rowdy'd it up at several parties... many more pictures to come. Love that Trent is rocking my jean shorts and we switched wigs from the criminal party. I love that he is so game to dress up!

Sunday: Long run with Pilot and breakfast at Weaver with Trent. Bike shop for a bit and helped a friend pick out a new bike. Lots of bike updates to come soon... my new commuter is gorgeous!

Quick throwing together a more family appropriate costume and a dish for the pot luck and we headed over to Paul and Sheila's Halloween block party...

I am his parrot! And apparently parrots do something like this with their arms/wings. I love that I just happened to have random neon pipecleaners around and that my love of bright clothes paid off.

Such a fun weekend!! So good to see SO many friends and dress up with my favorite costume-d caper.

Inspired: Fall

2010-10-26T12:22:00.000-07:00

Our trip up to the mountains was awesome. I sounded like a parrot, chirping "Look at those leaves!" every two minutes. But seriously, they were amazing. We had a blast hiking, soaking in the mineral tubs, and mingling with every person from Florida on vacation.

Fall finally feels like it is here, despite the high 70's today. I am thinking lots of skinny jeans, lots of button up shirts and oversized sweaters, lots of boots, and this coat...

So cute!!

(perhaps a birthday idea... perhaps?)

And we're off!

2010-10-21T10:15:00.000-07:00

Yet another weekend getaway, this one starting on a Thursday to boot! October definitely has been a fun month for us. We are driving up to Asheville to stay at the fancy lodge tonight (and have a lovely dinner at the hotel, thanks to parents!). Tomorrow we will do lots of hiking and enjoying the fall foliage and then check into our rustic cabin and soak away the evening in the mineral hot springs. A bit more hiking and time exploring Asheville and then home Saturday evening.

Mr. Pilot is off with his uncle Jerz again (best friends ever), looking forward to some quiet time alone with my husband!

Happy weekend!

Newest Family Member

2010-10-18T10:48:00.000-07:00

Big "welcome to this world" to my great-nephew (is that right?) Karsen Earl Traudt.

Born yesterday afternoon, 7lbs 7oz.
(I'll always remember his birthday!)

Weekend Recap

2010-10-18T07:45:00.000-07:00

So we promised each other that despite the date, this was not going to be our anniversary celebration weekend. We justified it by deciding that since our wedding fell on Fall Break last year, it is only appropriate to celebrate on Fall Break this year. So we get an extra long weekend to celebrate.

And he had a crew race. But we had a lovely, and adventurous, weekend still!

Friday night: Exhausted from a long week. I made homemade pizza and we shared a bottle of vino verde while catching up on Hulu.

Saturday: Both up early, I was off to do a local UNC 5k race with the crew team and Trent was off to work on his 10 page paper about Bandura's social cognitive theory and its applications on school based interventions on childhood obesity. Fun times. The race was great, very mellow and a nice way to force myself to do a bit of speed work. Rode my bike there and back home where I felt a little under the weather so had a lovely long, snuggly, nap with Mr. Pilot. He is mellowing and SUCH a nice dog. Up to finally shower and then meet up with Trent at Weaver Street for lunch. We made sandwiches with fresh salami and cheese and set to working. I was chosen to give the student talk at the biology retreat coming up so needed to get going on that. Lovely few hours typing away and drinking tea.

However, an idea was sneaking into my head. Trent was planning on going up with the crew team boys on the bus, at 3:30am, while the other coaches left Saturday night, hauling the boats, and spent a night in a hotel. He wanted to spend Saturday night with me. A couple of phone calls later, and we decided to head up that evening with them. We went home and did a massive house cleaning (so nice to come home to a clean house) and then dropped Pilot off with Amanda and Jersey for the night. We went to the boat house and watched the team load the massive boats on to the trailer, and then hit the road around 6pm. It was the second weekend in a row where we sat in the back of a big truck and didn't have to worry about driving or lodging, love it!

Easy drive up north and we arrived in Fredricksberg around 10:30 pm. We all bunked down in a very nice hotel room and crashed.

Sunday: Up fairly early to drive the rest of the way to the course. We arrived right as the team did. The race was on the Occoquan River, just south of Alexandria in Northern Virginia. Beautiful!! Corienne, the head coach's girlfriend, and I stayed in the truck chatting for a while until it warmed up and then I headed out for my long run. The change of scenery was great, I found a path along the river and ran for hours. This scenery is some of my favorite, the trees and the river and all the public parks. Love this area.

Back to the race to enjoy some of their snacks and then my dear friend Calen picked me up for lunch. He lives in DC and works for the Union of Concerned Scientists and rented a Zipcar to come visit. We were besties during our time abroad in Costa Rica and I am pretty sure we are long lost twins. I have so many great memories of stomping through the forest singing 1950's show tunes and Peter Paul and Mary songs with him. He absolutely loves science and really helped me own a lot of my quirky traits. Unfortunately he's had a rough couple years, but is really starting to find his way again and DC is the perfect place for him. We had a nice lunch on the river in the historical town of Occoquan (so cute) and it was fantastic to catch up with an old friend.

Back to the race and Calen and I puttered around and tried to not get hit in the head by any boats. He left around 4pm, fantastic parents brought a big pasta dinner for all the rowers (and us), and we were back on the road by 6pm. Long drive home, not as fun as the team didn't do as well as they had hoped, but Trent and I spent a lot of time working on his paper that was due today and napping. Home around 11pm, to find Mr. Pilot home and exhausted from his weekend getaway. We all slept very well. And he is spending his first day outside of his crate (in the office with all the chewable things removed), fingers crossed!!

I am very much looking forward to our romantic getaway weekend coming up, but in some ways I feel this weekend really reflects what I love so much about our relationship. We compliment and support each other but each have our own lives and hobbies. We are definitely better together, but not too shabby on our own. And any time we get to spend together is fantastic. Even though he was so busy, he definitely made me feel special and a welcome part of the weekend, and I am glad I had got to explore a new area. I am so lucky to have such a perfect partner in this adventure!

Anniversary Memories: Wedding Flowers

2010-10-13T13:33:00.000-07:00

My wedding flowers are still some of my favorite flower arrangements I've ever seen... Thanks to my awesome sister Emily for soooo understanding me. Chili peppers, equisitum, thistles, and ferns?!? You can't do better...

I loved the boys' boutineers and the ring pillow flowers tying in so well. Ferns!!

Science

2010-10-13T13:28:00.000-07:00

Oh goodness... things are humming along with my project. Which is REALLY exciting, there is lots of underground talk of graduating next summer and doing a mini-postdoc while Trent graduates, but it is also exhausting. Underground as I've been discussing this with many folks in the lab, Trent, even Pilot.. but not my boss yet. Someday....

I am happy to report today I completed my first quantitative reverse transcription PCR reaction. This is the closest to robotics I will get in a while and there was SO much math involved to set it up, but it worked! Hooray.

Dissecting tons of eye discs, my undergrad is setting up a 50 reaction PCR to screen for a recombinant fly that will give us tumors, things are moving along.

Votes for where we should go next?

Thinking of MO

2010-10-11T13:29:00.000-07:00

Loving these pictures of April and her mom at our wedding last year. MO, as we called her growing up, played such a special part of my teenage years. We'd often get ready for dances and such at her house and we'd always get a pre-outing speech from her. We were the nerdiest, most gawky, most wonderfully naive little girls, but she'd always tell us we were beautiful and confident and that someday the perfect boy would come knocking down our doors.

And she was right. April and I both have wonderful husbands and stuck together at those awkward dances and made music videos instead. She's dealing with some health issues now and I am sending her all my love and best wishes.

Anniversary!

2010-10-11T12:57:00.000-07:00

Trent is planning our mountain getaway for our anniversary. The fall colors should be perfect. In "Trent and Jean" style we are spending one fancy night here and one night camping. I can't wait!

Weekend Recap

2010-10-11T06:31:00.000-07:00

Remember when I said summer was over? I was wrong. Fall in the South is fantastic. This weekends highlights include:

1. Cooking a fantastic dinner for Stephen and Amanda on Friday. I was feeling like being indulgent and showering friends with love after a rough week, so after work I headed to Weaver Street and got all sorts of delicious things to cook. I made twice baked potatoes with broccoli and bleu cheese, a big green salad with pumpkin seeds, pecans and dried cranberries, and steak rubbed with herbs from the garden that Trent grilled. For dessert I made a big pear and cranberry crumble that we ate with local organic vanilla ice cream. Everything was delicious and it was lovely to spend time with good friends eating good food.

2. Up later than I had hoped on Saturday. Trent headed out for Parent's Weekend for the crew team (taking parents out in boats, showing them around, etc) and I laced up for my long run. First an hour in the forest with Pilot, seeing lots of friends along the way, then a quick stop at home for hydration/food and I headed out to Maple View Dairy. Ended up running 2 hours and 45 minutes, so I am thinking about 18 miles? It was a great marathon training run and a lovely day to be out running.

3. Home and just a quick nap before we decided to head to the beach! Thomas, Alecia and Emily were heading out and invited us. I was pretty sure we weren't going, after Trent's incredibly busy week (midterms and filming his documentary) and an emotional rollercoaster of a week for me, but I am SO happy we did go. They planned everything, we just brought clothes and Mr. P. Carolina Beach lets you drive right on the beach and camp, and after October 1st, dogs are allowed off leash. Perfection. We all crammed into one truck (with Pilot in his crate in the back of the truck, big brave boy) and left around 1pm. The weather was perfect, we played in the ocean, read lots of good books (I am reading Nick Hornby's "Juliet, Naked" a perfect beach read), played games, made lots of doggie friends, grilled hotdogs for dinner and had s'mores and sparklers for dessert. Pilot loved all the socialization and got braver and braver with the waves (especially when other dogs were playing). I took him for an early morning walk on Sunday and we watched the sun rise over the ocean, which still seems wrong to me! But gorgeous. Tons of pelicans and beautiful boats, lovely to just relax and think nice thoughts. We stayed until about 1pm on Sunday and then drove home.

4. Home and unpacked the car, and then Pilot's friend Abbey came over. They played for a while, but I could tell he was exhausted. Then lots of studying, long talks with good friends, leftovers for dinner and a sleeeeepy pup. We decided to take advantage of his exhaustion and he spent his first nice sleeping outside of his crate. Big boy!

Productive (hopefully) weekend ahead. It is our anniversary this weekend, but we are going up to the mountains the following weekend to celebrate (just worked out better for our schedules). Hoping to get some experiments checked off the list, write a lot more, be there for friends, and enjoy this AMAZING fall weather. It couldn't be a more perfect temperature right now.

Thanks New Yorker

2010-10-07T13:23:00.000-07:00

A perfect poem on my bus ride to work. We all give, and take, so much from those we love. Our worlds are so much richer for all our "sisters." By Brenda Shaughnessy.

I wish I had more sisters,
enough to fight with and still
have plenty more to confess to,
embellishing the fight so that I
look like I'm right and then turn
all my sisters, one by one, against
my sister. One sister will be so bad
the rest of us will have a purpose
in bringing her back to where
it's good (with us) and we'll feel
useful, and she will feel loved.

Then another sister
will have a tragedy, and again
we will unite in our grief, judging
her much less that we did the bad
sister. This time it was not
our sister's fault. This time
it could have happened to any
of us and in a way it did. We'll
know she wasn't the only
sister to suffer. We all suffer
with our choices, and we
all have our choice of sisters.

My sisters will seem like a bunch
of alternate me's, all the ways
I could have gone. I could see
how things pan out without
having to do the things myself.
The abortions, the divorces,
the arson, swindles, poison jelly.
But who could say they weren't
myself, we are so close. I mean,
who can tell the difference?

I could choose to be a fisherman's
wife, since I'd be able to visit
my sister in her mansion, sipping
bubbly for once, braying
to the others, who weren't invited.
I could be a traveller, a seer,
a poet, a potter, a flyswatter.
None of those choices would be
as desperate as they seem now.
My life would be like one finger
on a hand, a beautiful, usable, ringed,
wrung, piano-and-dishpan hand.

There would be both more and less
of me to have to bear. None of us
would be forced to be stronger
than we could be. Each of us could
be all of us. The pretty one.
The smart one. The bitter one.
The unaccountably-happy-
for-no-reason one. I could be,
for example, the hopeless
one, and the next day my sister
would take my place, and I would
hold her up until my arms gave way

and another sister would relieve me.

Front Page...

2010-10-07T10:44:00.000-07:00

Of the Chapel Hill weekly paper... doing my 10k thing. Fun to have all the profs in my department coming up to me with copies of the paper. Guess the photographer was a fan!

Cape Cod

2010-10-06T18:30:00.001-07:00

I never got around to posting pictures of my vacation this summer to Cape Cod. We went after New Hampshire to visit our dear friend Norma Simon. It was an absolutely lovely time. I am so lucky.

October

2010-10-04T07:14:00.000-07:00

This last week was half "Trent's birthday week," half "Anniversary Month" celebrations. Perfection! Events included:

1. Dinner Thursday night at Margaret's Cantina. We've been meaning to go there forever, really healthy, organic, authentic Mexican?! We meant to go last weekend, but were not feeling fully recovered from the crime spree party until later in the week. Delicious!

2. Trent surprised me with Ozomatli tickets for Friday night. One of my favorite bands. The venue wasn't optimal (on campus at our fancy Memorial Hall) but I still got to dance like crazy in my little area and ran into lots of folks we knew from campus. Debated meeting up with rowers afterward, but instead walked home, stopping in bars along the way to wave/hug friends, but kept moving.

3. Up early for a Carrboro 10k race. Met up with Paul and Sheila, and baby Alex, and Rebecca and Erik and their baby Hayden. The boys pushed the babies in their strollers, Amanda came and joined Rebecca (both are 3.5-4 months pregnant, adorable) and Sheila and I raced! I was happy with my 7:24/mile average, especially after taking a couple weeks off for health stuff. Lots of mingling afterward with the awesome Carrboro running community, including my boss! Trent and Pilot had a blast playing with all the kiddos too.

4. Home to shower and then meet up with Paul and Sheila, Amanda and our neighbor Alyse who also ran the race for breakfast at Weaver St. Lovely time chatting and eating with good friends.

5. Lots of grocery shopping, then home for a quick nap before massive house cleaning.

6. Hosting lab potluck! We are social butterflies. Good thing we have a great patio. My entire lab came over and we grilled and chatted. It was a lovely fall day, perfect weather for sitting around the fire pit and roasting marshmellos. My boss's 6 year old daughter LOVED it. As did Pilot (he loves company). Everyone went home around 9:30, we watched Hulu and crashed.

7. Up for a lovely long run with Pilot in the forest. Ran into ALL sorts of dog and people friends. Trent headed to a cafe to work on his 10 page paper on Social Cognitive Theory (hooray Bandura!). Home and then off with Amanda to help pick out counter top and tile for their upcoming kitchen remodel. New cabinets, floors, counters, sink, the works! So exciting for them, also made me realize it was kind of nice being broke when we did our kitchen as there are SO many options out there if you aren't just scouring Craigslist and the "scratch and dent" section!

8. Home briefly and then off to lab for a quick visit with my flies. Met up with Trent who was taking a study break with his fellow student Clayton at the Orange County Social Club's block party. Fun bands, lots of hipster babies, free pulled pork. Perfect fall weather. Hung out for a bit then home where I finally crashed and watched some movie on Jesse James starring Brad Pitt and Trent worked on his paper.

Lovely weekend. Makes us realize it will be SO hard to leave this town, we have so many great connections and friends here.

Summer

2010-10-01T12:54:00.000-07:00

It is the first of October so I am officially calling this summer. It has been a long one, but great. Here are some of my favorite photos of the summer, set to a Kid Cudi collaboration song I've been obsessed with.

Enjoy!

2010-09-29T14:08:00.000-07:00

Trent's party was a roaring success. So much so that our heads were still ringing wayy into Sunday. Finally recovered and it was well worth it. Fun to be rowdy and celebrate the awesome fella. Plus, people really got into our criminal theme and there were some great costumes.

Love that we finally have the house together enough to have people over (the patio makes all the difference... although I am starting to wonder if we will ever have kitchen cabinets)

Love that Pilot had such a good time, especially with his buddy Abby. Love the social pup.

So ya, it stinks to have been burglarized, but I am glad it made us get to know our neighbors, throw a fantastic party, and realize what is really important!

2010-09-23T11:21:00.000-07:00

Oh man... Pilot has some work to do. This made me very happy!

Trent's B-Day!

2010-09-23T08:53:00.001-07:00

Trent's 29th birthday is this Sunday. To celebrate we are inviting everyone we know over to our house to dress up as criminals. I can't wait to see what people come up with. And you know that Pilot has a fantastic costume...

Any game suggestions? Snacks? We are getting a keg of local beer, lighting a fire in the fire pit and roasting the memories of our break-in and celebrating all the joy ahead.

Trent's thoughts

2010-09-14T08:15:00.000-07:00

Trent wrote a great article for Re-Nest about our recent burglar-ing. I've been blown away by people's concern, sympathy, and increased looking out for us. Thank you. We are definitely on the road to recovery!

Happiness

2010-09-10T07:24:00.000-07:00

Enough. I am done mourning. Thanks to Amazon, Trent has a new backpack, new textbooks, and a new lappy on the way. We have our insurance claim ready to send in and I am ready to put this behind me.

Things that have been making me happy:

1. Getting ready for my presentation at the Genetics Retreat. 200+ scientists better be ready for some awesome science.

2. My fall garden is sprouting. Hooray for finally being cool enough to grow lettuce, brocolli and collard greens!

3. Good friends. We cooked up wayyyy to much food last night and one text message later had our dear friends Stephen and Amanda joining us.

4. Planning parties. Mr. T's birthday is right around the corner and we have a pretty awesome shindig planned. Details soon.

5. Wearing 3" shorts in September. Oh South.. I do kind of love you. The weather is so amazing right now.. makes you immediately forget the hottest summer ever.

6. Fall clothes. My search for new boots has started again. Every year... maybe this will be my lucky one?! Kind of excited about wearing pants again, I have to admit.

7. Since our time together is so short, I've been loving that it has been more special. Cooking dinners together, walking the dog. We might only have an hour a day uninterrupted, but we'll sure make the best of it.

8. Big old long run tomorrow. Thinking 15 miles. Wahooo....

9. KID Collective and other blogs that have awesome mix tapes (man, I love mix tapes) that make running 15 miles sound reasonable.

10. Zumba. Deirdre and I have made a weekly date of it. I think it is so important to be able to shake and jump and clap and be silly and relaxed. Best therapy ever :)

Happy Weekend!

Happy Ending...

2010-09-09T07:09:00.000-07:00

Not to our break-in, unfortunately. Still no updates on that. Our neighbors were also robbed at the same time and the two fellas that live there dedicating lots of time and effort to tracking the crooks down (a little vigilante justice style) but T and I have too much on our plates already to be sneaking around in bushes in the middle of the night. Fingers crossed someone plugs in our computers soon!

But, there is a nice resolution from this crazy weekend. Trent went out for drinks last night with a scholarship coordinator who was down from New York to do interviews. She called and said she was at a bar chatting up a very nice MPH student who was the hostess.

When Trent arrived... it was the girl who we found passed out on the street Sunday morning! She didn't remember anything about lying on the street, or us, or the EMTs, but started to remember things once she was at the hospital. Scary!! She is a first year MPH student in the Maternal and Child Health section and originally from California. She'd had a seizure before, but many years ago. She is having all sorts of tests done but hopefully will be okay. Trent told her all about Road ID's and the plenty of people in Chapel Hill/Carrboro/UNC that would be happy to run with her. So happy she was okay, what a small world!

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

2010-09-07T08:40:00.000-07:00

Oye. Great weekend with a bummer ending. Let me elaborate:

Friday morning: Ran 13 miles with a new friend who is training for her first marathon. Had to leave at 6:30 am to make it to work on time. It was good to get a long run in, but not what I was expecting to do Friday morning. Glad to help a new runner out though.

Friday evening: Hosted a puppy play party with new friends from Trent's program and our puppy class friends Matt and Alyse. Nice evening watching the pups getting exhausted and eating snacks. Then helped Alyse tune up her bike.

Saturday morning: At 5am a friend showed up with her sister. This is a girl who I met when I was a "Future World Leader" at a Presidential Classroom trip to DC in high school. She was one of 4 other Americans who got assigned to the Sri Lankian cohort. We haven't seen each other since, but have kept in touch via email and such. She was driving down from New Jersey with her sister to meet her brother who was driving up from Jacksonville, Florida, with her sister's kids who had been spending the summer with him. They needed a place to meet halfway and she asked if they could rendezvous at our house. They slept in while Trent and I snuck out for farmer's market and breakfast at Neal's bakery. Trent went to the boat house and I worked in the yard (got my fall garden planted!) to let them rest. They finally woke up around 11:30am and we had a nice breakfast of goodies from farmer's market and lots of chatting to catch up. Fun to hear about my Sri Lankian friends doing amazing things in the world. Her brother arrived around 1pm and we hosted an impromptu family reunion. I love things like this and had a blast meeting all the cute kiddies and taking lots of pictures. They left around 2pm.

Saturday afternoon: Late lunch with Deirdre and Trent at our favorite mexican restaurant and then a venture out to the newly opened Nordstrom's Rack. It was craziness... wayy too busy to be functional but I did score some new Calvin Klein bras for a great price, and ran into a professor from my department while I was carrying around these bras. Classy. Quick visit to Cost Plus and then home. By then I was socialized out, but my attempts to crash on the sofa in my jammies was distrupted by our friend who just got married and used our mailing address to have presents delivered who came by to pick up the piles and piles of packages. Then neighbors who've been admiring Pilot (he is turning into a very handsome dog) came over with their two dogs to play, so we sat and chatted with them. Finally, I came inside, got into jammies, and Trent and I watched tons of Mad Men episodes while sipping port. Lovely.

Sunday morning: Up and packed to head to Thomas's lake house. Stopped by Whole Foods on the way out of town, but had to make an emergency stop on Franklin St when we spotted a runner laying on the sidewalk. I nearly got run over myself trying to run and help. She was having a seizure so we called 911 (so many people just drove by, boo Chapel Hill) and stayed with her until she came around. She was so confused and disoriented, but apparently was a freshman. We stayed until the EMTs showed up and she was much more coherent. Poor thing. Quick trip to Whole Foods and hit the road. Scary. Wear a Road-ID!

Sunday afternoon: Got up to the lake to meet up with Thomas, another crew boy Chris, Thomas's co-worker Alecia and her two roommates Darcy and Emily. We cooked up our Whole Food goodies, ate lunch, lounged on the dock in the sun, napping and jumping in the lake. Perfection. Went out in the boat and Trent and I were SO much better at water-skiing. I love it!! Though man, I am still soooo sore. It is hard work. More napping, and epic trip with the four girls in the the tube behind the boat with some pretty stellar falling out, more water-skiing and then Thomas's parents came and we all cooked dinner and made homemade ice cream. Perfect end to summer. Trent and I left so we could get home to Pilot but everyone else spent the night.

Monday morning: Great sleep in. Pretty lazy day. Lots of laundry (dried on the line, the weather is gorgeous), gardening, and cleaning. Finally rallied to go to lab and grocery shopping to host Amanda's parents for dinner. Got SO many groceries and was thrilled to cook. Even made "No Knead" bread so we'd have fresh bread with dinner. Trent went out on a mellow bike ride with his classmates about 40 minutes before I got home. He left at 5pm, I got home at 5:40. At 5:30, somebody broke into our house...

I came home and brought in groceries, let Pilot out of his crate, all the usual, before I noticed our desktop computer was missing. I called Trent, occasionally he uses it for work, but nope. I immediately called 911 and then proceeded to panic when they asked if I was sure the people had left (I wasn't). Hung out in the yard until the officer showed up. He was SO lame. Pretty much blamed us, didn't notice the crowbar marks on the window sills, reprimanded me for letting Pilot out and walking in the house. Boo. Trent got home right as he was leaving. In the end, they took our desktop, Trent's brand new netbook (with his notes for school), his new backpack from New Hampshire with a new textbook, his wallet, and our jar of loose change. SO SO SO lame. They rifled around in my drawers and jewelry box but didn't take anything. We had to cancel dinner (bummer) and spent the evening canceling credit cards and being bummed out. Stephen and Amanda sweetly brought over dessert and chatted. Lesson? Be careful, write down serial numbers for electronics, back up your music and pictures, and apparently don't be a good Samaritan.

Enough feeling sorry for ourselves... we are fine, I am very happy that I didn't come home 10 minutes earlier and interrupt them, nothing sentimental was taken and we have good home owner's insurance. We will be fine. We are still so fortunate. And we just spoke with a detective who is working on our case. He said that there has been a recent spree of this really quick, electronics thievery, and they have some leads. And Trent had a remote desktop program on so if they turn on the computer and there is internet around, it will automatically update with the IP address.. so hopefully we can help catch this bad folks. Fingers crossed!

Do Fun Stuff!

2010-08-30T12:56:00.000-07:00

I've been loving the blog Pacing the Panic Room for a while. Caught on during the adorable pregnancy series and stuck around for his amazing insights on parenting and dealing with the changes that come along with it. And mostly for his staunch opinion on being the best parent he can for his step-son who was recently diagnosed with Smith Magenis Syndrome, including busting his tail to put together a great cd of "parent friendly kid music." If you have some kiddos in your life, and are sick of the same old kiddy stuff, check it out!

      Sorry, your browser does not support iframes.

Weekend

2010-08-30T09:57:00.000-07:00

Last week was the first week of school. New backpacks, books, and schedules. It is a bit melancholy for me, usually, as I am trucking along at the same and same, envious of the optimism and freshness a new year brings. I've said it before, but my first year of college was one of the best years of my life.

But this year is different. Trent is back to school. He started his Masters in Public Health, emphasis in Health Education and Health Behavior (they are called HeBe for short). He had orientations, welcome potlucks, incredible amounts of socialization, new schedules to remember, and classes to find. I've been living vicariously through his first few days and enjoying the intensity that happens when 30 people who all have the same interest finally find each other. I remember it fondly.

He is taking 3 classes, one being a Science Film and TV class, in which he will make a 7 minute documentary on renewable resources. He has lots of reading and group projects already. He will still be working at UNC for the Honors department, helping students apply to scholarships, and will have an assistant coach role with the men's crew team. Busy fella. It's going to be a change in our lives for sure.

But I am trying to capitalize on the new year and the changes in our day to day. For me, September, far beyond a cold night in January, feels like the time for resolutions. I'll be highlighting some of mine this week. This weekend was a great start, including:

1. A very rowdy Saturday night with good friends, playing silly games and dancing in the street.

2. Deciding on Friday night that I didn't really feel like being rowdy, and going to bed early while Trent played with his new friends.

3. Running early Saturday morning, first at 7:30 with the Trailheads, a local running group, and Paul and Trent, and then again with Alyse who I am helping train for her first half-marathon. Almost two hours in the trails... lovely!

4. Biking with my lovely group of girls Sunday morning. Sheila, Becca, Amanda, and a newcomer, Aditi. I feel so fortunate to have these girls in my life. They are truly mentors and I feel like I am storing up so many good ideas about families and babies and careers from them. Plus, they are stellar cyclists and keep me pushing myself in something I am not naturally that great at.

5. Lovely bbq with Sheila, Paul and their adorable Mr. Alex, Becca and her hilarious Eaden (toddlers and our yard/puppy was the best!!), Stephen with his two broken arms (that's a story) and Amanda with her precious cargo, and our neighbor Dave. Good food, fun conversations, finally cool enough to eat on the patio again.

6. A ridiculously great nap postbike ride on Sunday. Followed by an epic back to school shopping trip (thanks parents!) to Old Navy, Marshalls, and Walmart. Straight classy, I tell ya. We washed it all off with lunch at Whole Foods :)

7. Being a supportive spouse at Trent's department cookout. I mingled like crazy and was so happy to be able to support Trent after all the biology events he's gone to. They are a really interesting and diverse group of people, I had a blast.

8. Lovely chat with my dear Hales. She makes me smile.

Busy busy weekend and a full week ahead. We are hoping to sneak to the beach this weekend with Thomas and his beach house to relax before we get too swamped. I am *this* close to finishing this paper... and of course nothing is cooperating. Just gotta keep trucking.

Playing with iMovie...

2010-08-23T14:00:00.000-07:00

...making a cute movie of Pilot and his puppy class friend Abby roughhousing in the backyard.

Filming Trip with the Family

2010-08-20T07:22:00.001-07:00

Some pictures from our "working" portion of our trip. We flew to Boston, spent the night in Cambridge and then drove up to Chocorua, New Hampshire to film. This is Lake Chocorua, which we finally managed to swim in our last day there. We were busy filming assistants!

We spent the better part of one day filming our "talent" reading his lines and doing all the voice-overs. We were in a great 1910 house that was originally built for Smith College's faculty retreat, but is currently owned by a lovely, sassy, lady. Brought back lots of memories, holding cue cards and wiring microphones.

Lunch with the crew, the talent, the host of the house and her sweet dog.

We spent a morning filming a local potter, who was so nice. Definitely inspired to take a pottery class! Beautiful scenery, and blissfully cool weather!

The potter's shop. It was a converted barn. So awesome. And we came home with two great mugs!

Trent was a champ, being filmed "waking up" and putting on his pants to use as images representing how routines make our lives so much easier and let us focus on more important things. This picture is hilarious. What a trooper.

Trent "waking up." He has a future in acting!

Brief time out at Lake Chocorua on one of our many drives from our lodge to town and back.

More filming, love the action shot.

Cool covered bridge. Trent and I snuck away most mornings for hikes in the mountains and swims in the river. Exhausting, but gorgeous!

I love this picture showing how similar my mom and I are. Look at our matching outfits and inability to keep our shirts right!

Greg, our camera man. I've known this guy forever, he is practically family. Fun to hang out with him during our sparing free time.

Father and daughter watching the filming of the potter. Love it.

Mom as producer extraordinaire. She was SO busy this trip, managing everyone, keeping us on schedule, wrangling some fairly crazy folks. I was so impressed and so happy Trent and I got to help her out.

Next up... Cape Cod!

I'm sorry...

2010-08-03T10:38:00.001-07:00

These animal prints from Sharon Montrose are too cute. And my new standby baby present.

Also making Baby Zipp some onsies with appliqued ties... a la this etsy inspiration. Garrett was the most grown up person I knew in college... I bet his little mister is going to take after him, so he should dress appropriately!

2010-08-02T10:28:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the world Mr. Gavin Troy Zipp.

I can't believe my dearest G has had two kids already.

7lbs, 11oz. Everyone is doing great. Can't wait to meet this fella.