I miss him sooooo much.

Moshi Moshi

I just got back from my less than 12 hour stay in Chapel Hill with my lady friends Jean and Elisabeth (from camp).  It was such a blast!  I couldn't have asked for better company.  Here was how our time was spent:

1) When they first came to pick me up from Elon, they called my phone as I was in the middle of cleaning the fish tank.  I left the apartment immediately because I was so excited and forgot to turn off the sink (the sink sprayer was filling up a giant bowl with which I was using to refill the fish tank).  When we got back inside, the entire kitchen floor was flooded with water.  :(  After I cleaned it up, we frantically left Elon to get to Moshi Moshi for Jean's hair cut.  We were only a few minutes late.

2) After the cut, Elisabeth and I spent some time having to convince Jean that it was, indeed, a SUPER cute upgrade before entering into Med Deli for dinner.

3) Then we went to a vintage/thrift shop.  Elisabeth and I got matching sweatband sets while Jean settled for suspenders.

4) The rest of the evening was spent at Elisabeth's stylish, high-ceilinged dorm room watching the movie Boys Don't Cry as we made each other beautiful friendship bracelets.  Just as you can't buy true friendship, you can't find these one-of-a-kind hand-made friendship bracelets in the store.  They're staying on our wrists until they fall off or we die (which ever one comes first).

5) Saturday morning, after having a sleepless sleepover in the common parlor area, we brought our hot and tasty breakfasts from Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen to the upstairs lounge of Chill Bubble Tea.  Jean: Mocha, Elisabeth: Avocado, Monica: Taro

6) Oh, and did I forget to mention that we got cool, retro skip-its?  Well...

Vintage BLUE

That's the color of my new, 48 key accordion. It was the cheapest accordion that I could find on ebay, and I bought it the whimmiest of whims, of course. It's just got a couple of uneven keys, but I think you'll agree that it looks pretty pretty.  Now all I have to do is learn to how to play the darned thing of beauty.  

I snagged it from the other bidder just as Amanda, Nichole and her little brother, Bobby, came into the apartment to visit.  I told them that it'd probably be kind of like playing the piano (which I got down).  But, they didn't agree and thought that it'd probably be more like playing a plunger or a folding drying rack.  I think that an accordion has a little place for all three of those "instruments" in its heart.

The rest of the night was full of bliss as we played multiple rounds of Bananagrams and electronic Catchphrase for hours!

And, even after being woken up by the fire alarm for no apparent reason and having to sit outside in my luckily modest pajamas at 5:40 in the morning, I am very, very excited for today to see Elisabeth and Jean (my best friends from camp).  They are coming from Chapel Hill to hang out at Elon for a couple of hours until Jean has to get her hair cut at a Japanese place called Moshi Moshi.  We are also planning on watching movies (sleep over!) and reeking havoc on unsuspecting university monuments and parks as usual.

Love,

Monica

*Actually, I just checked my email and there was a reason for the 5:40 fire alarm.  Look at the note below that was sent to me by my HA:

For those of you around who experienced the 5:30am fire alarm I'm really sorry about that.  It took me by surprise the same it did you.  According to higher authorities there was no sign of a fire in the room where the alarm was sounded.  The only aspect which seemed to be abnormal was excessive perfume.  Apparently the sensors are very sensitive and can react to even perfume (who knew).  Anyway, I just wanted to let y'all know what went on.  Just be careful and aware for the future.

Excessive perfume?  That just made my day.

Last One-A-Day

Day 4

Now I'm off to babysit!

Brie and blueberries

I want desperately to make this.

via modcloth

What you need:

• 1 large wheel of brie
• 1/2 jar of high quality, real fruit, blueberry jam (Barbara suggests Chantaine All Natural Wild Blueberry, but your favorite will do!)
• 1 pie crust (the ready-made kind is easiest, but feel free to make it from scratch!)
• 1 egg (just the white)

What you need to do:

• Preheat the oven to 350.
• Using a large, sharp, flat knife, cut the wheel in half horizontally so that you are left with two round halves (do not remove the rind). Set aside.
• On a non-stick cookie sheet, lay out the pie crust. Trim or roll out the crust so that it is in a circular shape, twice the size of the brie wheel.
• Place one half of the brie wheel in the center of the crust, rind down.
• Spread the jam evenly over the brie.
• Place the remaining half of the brie on top, rind up. It should look like a brie and jam sandwich!
• Carefully fold the crust up over the brie, smoothing out any bubbles and wrinkles. The entire wheel should we covered by crust.
• Once the brie is covered, flip it over so that the smooth side of the crust is facing up.
• Brush the crust all over with a light egg white wash. This will make your crust golden brown. If you’re feeling artistic, class up your appetizer by using the crust trimmings to make grapes, leaves, stars, hearts, letters – whatever you choose! Remember to brush your crust creations with egg white, as well.
• Bake for 20 minutes, or until the crust is golden.
• Serve with fancy crackers, and let the compliments commence.

More One-A-Days

Day 2

Day 3

Hodgepodge post of three unnecessary things

1) This is one (of a tentative four) of the "one-a-day paintings" that I am making for David to hang on the naked white walls in his new dorm room:

2) JFF (just for fun), this is what I would look like with blue eyes (a bit freaky):

3) Me trying to entertain but just being awkward, instead:

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM & DAD (hope this doesn't ruin it)!

Happy Birthday!

Cute video

Biodegradable question mark

Before I begin, I'd like you all to reconsider letting me handle your children.   Because, as you can see in the photo above, I take more of a hands-off approach in my so-called handling.  In this particular case, I decided to let little Carson fall straight into a face-plant while I quietly watched.  I'm just glad there is photographic evidence of this event.

And, yes, to answer your question, those are Thomas the Tank Engine light-up sneakers available for kids, but not for adults.  I checked.

Anyway, to get at what I meant to blog about here:  I bought biodegradable sandals a few days ago and they arrived at my home in MD, just in time for when I got in late last night.  I always worry about buying things online because I never know if it's going to be as good in person as it looks online (but this worry has yet to stop me from buying inordinate loads of unnecessary things).  I am pleased to say, though, that the sandals are very pleasing.  I think they look better against my tanned feet and painted toenails than they did on the pasty mannequin's feet that were online.  Too, they are super light weight and I feel like I'm walking around barefoot (minus the obvious set-backs of actually walking around barefoot)!  And as an added bonus they make me feel hip with an urge to rip pretty flowers out of the ground and put them in my hair.

Today I took them out of their green shoebox and into the real world for a test run.  I went to the movies (I saw District 9* and want to go back immediately).  When it ended, I left the theater in a mad hurry because I was going to be late for a doctor's appointment (follow-up for the wisdom teefers).  So, on my jog through the parking lot to my car, I stepped in some gum.  At the time, it didn't really matter.  It was nothing but annoying because of how my left foot stuck slightly to the sidewalk and picked up things like newly cut grass and toilet paper.  

When I got home, though, I tried to clean it off.  Again, it was not for aesthetics but more for practicality because I didn't want this piece of gum picking up anything else along my journeys (sadly, though, this doesn't prevent me from picking up even more gum).  Whilst I was scrubbing it off with some kind of wet-wipe my mom gave me, I began to wonder exactly how biodegradable my sandal was.  Was the moisture in my wet-wipe going to be enough to assist some kind of microorganism breakdown?  When I consulted the wisdom of the inter-webs I found no definite answer to my definitely silly question.  And, while there is much debate about things termed biodegradable and their degree of biodegradability, the European Union (you may have heard of them) qualifies something as biodegradable if it can break down into carbon dioxide, water and other organic matter...within six months.  Yikes.  I can only hope that the EU doesn't technically call my sandals biodegradable.

To going green,

Monica

*You should go see the movie.  Need some encouragement?  Check out Alexa's praise for District 9 here.

Boredom

This is what I did in the wee hours of the morning when I was extremely bored and indecisive:

From right to left and left to right, colors: Indian River Ruby, Glitter Pink, Aventura Azalea, Tamiami Tulip and Bikini Pink

Snails finished*

So, today I was asked to babysit Carson and his big sister for a couple of hours.  It was easy as pie as usual and I had lots of fun.  The coolest part was that their fish tank was overcrowded due to a recent explosion of fertility amongst momma guppy and momma snail (there were tens and tens and tens of baby snails and baby guppies frantically swimming about the tank, searching for an uncrowded corner in which to swim).  And while I was pleaded with to take lots of both species, I did not want any guppies for my fish tank.  I did, however, agree to take as many snails as they (the daughter and her father) wanted me to.  Consequently, I left the house with a sandwich-sized ziplock baggie containing about 8 or 9 aquatic snails.  And, oh, how I was excitedly thrilled to put the snails in my fish tank as the latest accessory (I've recently started putting bamboo plants in the tank and find that I absolutely love furnishing the place)!  

I dumped them right in, watching carefully where they landed.  I think the water change confused them a bit, and they did not immediately suction themselves onto the glass in the tank or onto any plants.  And I wasn't really nervous about the koi's reaction to the snails (for I have seen them cohabiting at various pet stores).  However, it only took me stepping away to the bathroom, to come back to an empty tank.  For, THE SNAILS HAD EATEN THE FISH!

Just kidding.  But, seriously guys:  In accordance to one of my fears I had not given much thought (it was fear in the siberia of my mind, with some cobwebs around the edges) the koi had greedily gobbled up the snails, leaving no sign or trace that they had ever been there. 

And, oh, how I felt terrible for promising the little girl that her snails would have a good home in my fish tank.  I had no idea that I would be bringing them to a dinner in which they were the main course!  I should stop feeling guilty, though.  How was I supposed to know that this would happen?  I was just trying to do a good thing.  My fish are the ones really to blame.  I believe that Karma will work its way around to them as I suspect the hard shells on the snails will do nasty wonders to the fishies' digestive systems...

*finished: obviously, the snails were finished.  But I also put the word there because, while I was babysitting, I found myself reverting back to behavioral strategies I used at camp.  Carson is not with Autism, but I noticed that I used those strategies from camp to solve problems this afternoon [I guess it's going to be a while before I forget all that I've learned the past 2 months (which is a good thing!)].  For example, when Carson, who is 3 years old, kept trying to brush his teeth over and over again just so that he could eat his toothpaste (Thomas the tank engine toothpaste, another little shout-out to Autism), the first thing out of my mouth was "Brush teeth finished" and not only did I say that in a stern way, but I also signed it without thinking.  Whether or not it was appropriate, my message was heard loud and clear by Carson and it, well, worked.

Camp Royall Talent Show

Here are two goofy pieces and one less goofy piece that Jean and I did for the staff talent show a couple weeks ago (in original order):

And, yes, I realize how dreadfully obnoxious I get when I am super nervous on stage.

9.58

My hero, lightening bolt in human form

The Human Tetris 6 (Dec 20, Japan) (warm water)

A good, good day in pictures

First we hung out downtown and shared the panini special at a cute, petite Italian deli.

In the late afternoon, we walked to the LaMancha goats.

She's my favorite, you know.

I fed them mushy blueberries but, also, fresh cherry tomatoes from my mom's garden.

Have you ever wanted to give a farm animal a breath mint?

After eating all the fruits and vegetables I brought, they turned to the hard-to-reach, out-of-bounds, possibly-poisonous plant.

David helped them reach it.

Then we went to Lighthouse Tofu with my parents and got bubble tea for dessert.  That's honeydew (left) and taro (right).

When we got home, I made homemade ice cream to cope with my nostalgia for camp.  Tomorrow, after I get my wisdom teeth pulled, I could probably eat this stuff too!

Mmm- Ah went the Little Green Frog

Last night, when my mom was getting the guest bedroom ready for David, she found a frog in one of the mouse traps.  How?

Memories

Today was the very last day of camp*.  Here are some snapshots of week 10, one of the best weeks of my life!

*I cried so much today and made others cry at the sight of my crying.  What a wonderful place I'm going to have to leave tomorrow.  :(