and with that...

I'm tired of Blogger and I'm moving to wordpress. You can find me there!!

janieliz19.wordpress.com - check it out ;)

oh hi there.

i'm back!

school is back up and running in full swing, and i've gotta say, it's very weird - but not bad, good, just weird - to be on this side of it. this is the first year since i went to preschool that i'm not a student, and i'm still adjusting to the change in how i see myself. i'm not a student anymore! i have a real job! actually, i have four! (yes, four. my real jobs don't pay well.) it'll hit me at the weirdest times, like driving home and sitting in traffic, just like i have for the past 5 years. it's even weirder because i'm teaching at the same university where i did grad school. i have my own office now, but it's in the same place where i squatted (aka, not my office, but the one where i spent all of my time) for the past few years. it's definitely interesting.

so far, i like it. i am still getting a handle on how to time manage it all, though it's wonderful to not constantly feel like there's some unknown amount of work to do hanging over my head. not that i don't have work to do, but it's my work, and i'm the one setting the deadlines for the most part. i'm a huge fan so far. i like having students, and i like how different the two schools are from each other. i like still seeing the kids i babysit for, and i even don't mind being at the bookstore - that's the only place where i can be less professional! it's fun, for now, though i'd imagine eventually i'll get tired.

as part of this new time management and money management system (we are currently paying for a wedding, after all!) i actually made a meal plan and a grocery list and went shopping for the week on sunday. so far it's working ok, but it's only day 3 and we are already straying from the plan. i don't care about that, though, so long as we aren't going out to eat or getting take out! i took out a bunch of cookbooks from the library, and bought a couple at the Borders going-out-of-business sale, and i'm welcoming other ideas...anyone have any?

in other news, wedding planning is flying along, and i can't believe that this past weekend was 6 months out. it's insanity. i'm also running my first half marathon on saturday, and no, i am probably not prepared. but it's too late for that now. so i'm thinking it'll be fun, it'll be pretty fall New England on the north shore, and i'll finish - and that's all i care about.

so this is long, but it's mostly just a "oh hi! I'm back!" and hopefully i'll be around more now :)

as requested: book reviews! (#1)

Since I've been reading a lot for fun instead of for school, and those who responded said they'd like to see reviews of what I've been reading... I have some reviews for you!

Let's start with the most mindless books I've been reading....

1. The Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris

thanks for the image, amazon

Yes, the books that True Blood is based on, because I can't get enough of that show. Particularly of Eric. Especially new, sweet Eric. Love :) Anyway, the books are supremely entertaining, and so far are similar to the show but not identical, so it's not boring to read them. Quick reads though. I mean, clearly, this is not fancy-pants literature, but it is fun and it's summer, so they're definitely good for reading by the pool or on a beach (or even in your living room, if you're me). I've read the first three so far and have the next two all set to take to Florida on Friday!

2. Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay

also from Amazon

Yes, while I was at it, I started reading the Dexter books in preparation for everyone's favorite serial killer returning to tv shortly!!! no, in all seriousness, I really love both the show Dexter and by association, Michael C. Hall, who plays him. He's adorable. The first Dexter book is close to the first season of the show but not identical, and I was pleasantly surprised by how well written it was! The show takes the screwed up aspects of the book down a notch, and due to my (screwed up?) fascination with that stuff, I loved the book! Looking forward to reading the rest.

So there you have it...the first installment of my fancy book reviews (hey, looks like this Ph.D. is good for something after all!) I promise next time I'll tell you all about books that are slightly more intellectual and less of a beach read than these :) I updated my A-Z Reading Challenge page with all the books I've been reading, so if there are any you'd like to hear about feel free to make a request!

P.S. SHARK WEEK STARTS ON SUNDAY!!!

found on a blog called "a quirky girl" - she also has a polka dot background and loves shark week. maybe we should be friends!

who else is as excited as I am?!?!
(probably no one)

Engagement Photos are here!

Actually, we've had them for a while, but we have the entire set of our engagement photos now:)
Help us pick favorites if you'd like! (Click on the picture to view them)

Engagement Pictures!

Five Friday Favorites: 1

Since someone is back to blogging (hi!) and posted Five Friday Favorites, I liked it and decided to steal her idea:) So without further delay, my Five Friday Favorites this week are...

1) Reading. 
As in, for fun.
Since I defended a month ago, I've been reading a lot. I was thinking about reviewing some of the books I read on this blog - thoughts? Anyone interested in that? Recent reads include The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, two of the Sookie Stackhouse books, and Carrots N' Cake.

2. True Blood.

Eric. Amazing. photo credit

Related, I've been reading the Sookie Stackhouse books AND watching True Blood in preparation for the new season starting! I am so. freaking. excited. Who else watches True Blood? If not, you should start. Even aside from the entertaining nature of the show itself, there are some very hot men present. Just saying. I'm on Team Eric at this point.

3) Our CSA.
We started getting our CSA "boxes" (we actually load up reusable bags) from First Root Farm. So far, we have gotten SO much lettuce, all different kinds (yum, arugula, and looking forward to making kale), as well as radishes, turnips, one head of broccoli (not anywhere near enough for me, I eat broccoli like it's my job), and this week a vegetable that legitimately looks like an octopus. It's fun to try new things!

4) my new iPad.
Seriously, I'm obsessed with it. It's bad.

5) Engagement pictures sneak peek!
We got the teaser for our engagement pictures from our wonderful photographer and they are FANTASTIC! made my week. (Seriously, on the off chance that anyone in the Boston area needs a photographer - check him out.)

What were your Five Friday Favorites this week? Anything exciting to share? Fun weekend plans, etc.? :) 

April recap: between weddings

The morning after Lindsay and Joe's wedding, Chris, MegD and I left fairly early to make the drive back to MA so Meg could fly back to Chicago. Drive was uneventful, we ate some Cheetos, and Meg had to go home :( Chris and I went back to our apartment and basically crashed - especially me - I think I slept for a couple of hours!

The next day was Marathon Monday (which, if you are unaware, is better than Christmas :) ) Margo and I met up early and got Starbucks and did some bridesmaid recapping, because she was a bridesmaid that weekend as well, and then watched the wheelchairs and then the elite runners running by in Washington Square. 

We met up with more friends - Carla and Matt, and then eventually found Bobby and his very drunk brother. By far the highlight of my day was when Rob went by - I had been tracking him on my phone all morning, so we camped out until we saw him, and he saw us too! He's speedy so it wasn't too crowded when he went by, plus we knew what he was wearing :)

We spent most of the day at American Craft, which I really liked, plus it was warm enough to have the windows open to the street. After a while my other friend Matt and his friend from home met us, and we took the T down into Boston so that I could meet Chris, Jess, and Rob to get a drink and congratulate Rob on his successful marathon and on qualifying for Boston again!

At that point, the three of us took the worst T ride I have ever taken. We were stuck between Kenmore and Hynes for at least 20 minutes. Two T workers used their keys to open the doors and walked out into the tunnels, and a BC kid across from us said he'd pay them to take him with them to a bathroom. We ended up playing charades with complete strangers. It was absurd.

After the T ride from hell, we got to see my favorite Atlanta residents for a very brief visit, and then we went home to Arlington again, via Brookline where I parked my car. All in all, a successful marathon Monday.

Goals? Nah.

I had originally logged in to post some June goals, but I realized that I am not in the least interested in posting goals this month. After a very long semester, the last thing I want to do is give myself any assignments, so my number one goal for this month is to catch up on everything I've been missing. Blog catchup, cleaning catchup, job applying catchup, exercising and cooking and generally taking care of myself....all valid.

I am semi-participating in the Virtual Summer Retreat hosted by the lovely Sarah:

Her blog is one of my top five for sure, and has been for as long as I've been reading it, so I was excited to get even more posts from her for the retreat :) So far, I've been reading the extra posts and making some effort to incorporate things - for instance, the first day you were supposed to do something simple to take better care of yourself, and I focused on drinking more water (something I should be doing anyway, especially since it was one of my New Year's resolutions - speaking of, ugh) - and actually Sarah chose the same :)
I am definitely thinking about the things she posts and reading her links, and I think it's affecting the choices that I make on a daily basis, but I'm not necessarily doing the assignments (see above, where I mention that anything containing "deadlines" is making me twitchy.)

So anyway, while I do have some things in mind for this month (for example: get on those New Year's resolutions, read, relax, run well in my two races, and at the moment, do my toenails because they have that space at the bottom that happens when your pedicure grows out), I refuse to write them down as goals.

Anyone else have any goals this month- formal or otherwise?

Weekend in Review

Hello friends :) This probably should have been posted this morning, but instead, I played online and went grocery shopping. And watched old Grey's episodes on Lifetime...and cooked dinner. Good excuses......right? Now Stan's over and the boys are watching The Other Guys, and I'm blogging because while this movie is fun, it's not intellectually challenging ;)

ANYWAY - we had a very fun weekend up here in MA. Saturday morning, we got our engagement pictures taken!! Super exciting. It was kind of cold, but it was super sunny and beautiful out. We went to Lynch Park, where we probably would have gotten married if we had chosen to wait until the summer. Chris grew up going to camp there and then lifeguarding there, so he knew about it, and it's a beautiful spot. I'm really excited to get our pictures - our photographer is really fun, and I love all the stuff on his website - it'll be cool to see what he gets from us!

After we did pictures, we got amazing breakfast at a diner in Beverly and then went to see First Class (the new X-Men movie). I grew up watching the X-Men cartoon, it was my favorite - to the extent that when I went to sleepaway camp, my brother used to tape it for me! The movie. was. awesome. I really, really loved it. Highly recommended :) Afterwards we got P.F. Chang's takeout, I spent a fortune on tea at Teavana, and we came home and relaxed.

Yesterday, I went for a run in the sunshine and explored (yes, we've lived in Arlington for almost two years and I still explore....) I ran until my iPhone died so I had no more music, and then I ran home. I think that section of the run may be the first time I've run without headphones since high school! For lunch, we went to Fajita's and Ritas with a bunch of Brandeis friends for our friend Matt's birthday. Sunday afternoon margaritas and Mexican food, followed by sitting in Boston Common in the sunshine? works for me :)

How were your weekends? Anything exciting happen?

April recap: Lindsay and Joe's wedding!

OK, going way back to right after I handed in another draft of my dissertation and picked MegD up from the airport....

Lindsay and Joey got married! :) (yes, Linds, I linked to you even though you haven't blogged in a year. It'll be summer soon. You'll be back ;) )

Even though I tried to finish my paper the night before, I ended up emailing it in on Friday morning before Megan and I left for Connecticut (fun fact: I love how you spell that so I like to type it out:) ) After a quick stop at Dunks and Trader Joe's for snacks, the drive was easy. I did really anger one gentleman driver by not going more than 5 over the speed limit right by Lindsay's house, but that was basically the only issue. After we got there, we just hung out at the house until it was time for the rehearsal and dinner.

Meg and I at the rehearsal, stolen from Lindsay's mom (thanks Robin!)

 The rehearsal started a little late, so dinner afterwards started even later, but it was delicious :) The restaurant was amazing about making me food I could eat (hurray for gluten free pasta!), the wine was good, and our bridesmaid's gifts were super cute. After dinner, we all went back to Lindsay's house for essentially a big sleepover.

The next morning, we got up bright and early to get our nails done (and drink champagne, clearly), then go back to Lindsay's for our cars, drive to the hotel and check in, get ready, and go back to Lindsay's to head to the wedding! After solving a minor disaster (aka, the sash on my dress being far too short... Melissa and her kit to the rescue!) it was time to head to the venue. Lisa (bravely) drove the giant SUV, and we got there at the same time as the boys did by accident, so they had to hide while we got the bride inside. Then it was time for pictures and champagne in the bridal area, and then... the wedding and reception!

goofy, again from Robin

right before the first dance, stolen from Ellen I believe

After the wedding ceremony, we did some more photos and then went to join the rest of the crowd at the cocktail hour and reception. We had a great table full of our BU friends, and there was lots of yummy food, dancing, and photo taking before the bus ride back to the hotel. At that point, I crashed after a very long day, and we drove back home in the morning. It was a very pretty wedding and I was very excited to be a part of it :)

I'll leave you with a couple more photos, all stolen from AJ:)

oh hi, I'm back :)

Oops.

I accidentally disappeared.

(again).

But I'm back now!

To be honest, after I did my dissertation defense, there was no way I felt like blogging or doing much of anything. I defended, went to a birthday party, worked the entire next week, got sick, ran 2 races in 4 days, did a graduation weekend, and went back to Arizona for Chris's cousin's wedding and to see my friends/family. Whirlwind! We got back Sunday night, celebrated Chris's birthday on Monday, and yesterday was the first day I was just home. (I wasn't supposed to be, but I unexpectedly didn't even have to babysit!) Last night, I went to the Red Sox game with Margo and Erin, and then today I should be being productive....but so far, I've been playing with my new iPad (yay graduation gift! it came yesterday!) and watching TV (Easy A came on...how could I resist?)

But now I'm back. And the blog is back! Get excited. Lots of recaps from mid April on are on the way....

For now, I leave you with this picture from the Sox game last night. In case you were wondering, they played the Chicago White Sox and they lost - though they apparently made a valiant effort in the end (not gonna lie, left during the 8th inning). So much for my one game this year. And there was a BALLOON on the field. Seriously? At least beforehand we stopped at Cornwalls (cider + portobello mushroom salad = yum).

see that big spot? a balloon!

5 years in the making.

I can't even believe it, but yesterday I gave a presentation much like lots of other presentations I've given in the last five years (though it was MUCH longer, seriously, just over 2 hours). And this time, after I was done, they gave me a Ph.D.!

I went to the same post-defense celebration in the conference room that we always have, but this time it was for me. So surreal. I'm sure it will sink in more soon, but for now I'm just kind of sleepy! It was great to have so many people come yesterday, both to the defense and to hang out after. Pictures (the few I have) to follow, but for now I'm watching a movie and then going to a birthday party, neither of which involve me actually uploading pictures from my camera :)

Be excited - now I'll be back to blogging! and reading and commenting on blogs! and reading books FOR FUN! (side note, somebody asked me yesterday what I was the most excited for, and I seriously said reading for fun. I'm such a nerd.) And I'm DOUBLY excited that next weekend my family is coming, and I'm walking at graduation with my friends.

Oh, and if you want to call me Dr. Jane now, that's totally cool :) it's not jinxing it anymore!!

and ps, I need to change the header on my blog. I'm not a graduate student anymore really (well definitely not past August, when I officially get my degree). Any ideas for what to use instead?

The slowest guy ever.

I owe whoever is still reading this some awesome wedding recap posts (2 in fact!) but before I do that, checking in from my phone with this quick story.

Earlier it was really sunny but it was supposed to start raining, so Chris left on his motorcycle to get it inspected and I eventually convinced myself to go on a run. I did this by running into Arlington with my Dunkin Donuts card and library card on me so I could go to the library and then get iced coffee. Perfect plan, right? Well while I was out, the clouds started rolling in.... I gave up on the library seeing as I had no bag for my books if it did indeed rain, and just went to Dunks. Where I encountered.... The slowest guy ever.

The line was already long, and there was this group of middle school girls there decked out in full 80s gear (not sure what that was about), and the guy in front of me was with his wife and 2 kids. It literally took him over 5 minutes to order, and then he kept changing it! Adding and subtracting bagels, changing coffee types, etc. The girl behind the counter was trying not to laugh, so it wasn't just me. And to top it off, the entire time I'm looking out the window as the sky is getting darker and darker... If you've seen Love Actually, where he's trying to buy a gift from Mr. Bean at the jewelry counter- it was just like that.

I made it home after it started sprinkling but before any serious rain. Chris isn't here yet though, and I hear thunder.... Guess he'll be drenched when he gets here!

check it out:)

Just a quick note, because I'm trying to finish up some dissertation revisions and turn them in this evening so I can pick up MegD very late tonight and head out for Lindsay's wedding weekend tomorrow with NO WORK to do (!!) but check it out:

I replied to Heather (@HangryPants) on twitter about hidden gluten in food and now I'm on her blog today! (I'm @janieliz19, in case you didn't know. And if you didn't, you should follow me on twitter. I'm not necessarily insightful but I do share interesting tidbits from time to time.)

Heather's blog (Hangry Pants) is awesome, so you should check it out anyway. Particularly due to the word "hangry" Genius!

PS: it's SPRING BREAK at Brandeis! last spring break ever as a student.

I missed it!

Yesterday was the one year anniversary of when I started my blog.
I even looked it up and noticed ahead of time!
And then, yesterday... I forgot to post.

SO, this is the happy one-year-and-one-day anniversary to this little corner of the Internet!!

and obviously, keep living every week like it's shark week.

(on a somewhat related note - if you didn't catch the Mythbusters on the Colbert Report the other night, you should definitely check it out!!!)

adventures with gizzy

I spent most of my weekend in a hotel by Logan Airport doing interviews as part of my committee work for something I'm doing at Brandeis. It's been a really interesting process, and I feel like I've learned a lot that I may be able to use in the interview process as I apply for jobs - but let's be honest, it doesn't make good blog post content. I got to have dinner with Ang (and her brother and Chris) last night (!) and then we had an impromptu sleepover, but I didn't take any pictures.

So instead, because I haven't yet, I bring you...our adventures with Gizzy!

in case you don't know, Gizzy (like Gizmo the gremlin) is Chris's parents' dog, but we babysit for her sometimes, like we did a couple of weeks ago for 10 days.

it's Gizzy!

We gave her a bath

Chris put on his wolf suit (thanks for sending those, Rach...) and Giz was intrigued

then they played

She also came to babysit with me and played with Penny

Oh, and this is what she did to my sunglasses while I was in the shower. She ripped the arm off. Little brat.

exciting!!

Inspired by Cheryl, and because I too am UNBELIEVABLY excited for Anna and Ben's wedding weekend (which begins for me in 21 days!! 3 weeks!! but who's counting) and reuniting with my favorite deltas, I started looking at pictures. And while Cheryl's post gave us classy wedding pictures, I give you pictures over the years.....

AJ and Joe's rehearsal dinner, summer 2009

the night before Cheryl and Ross's wedding, October 2009

sitting in AJ's backyard last summer (2010)

Jess and Rob's wedding (2010)

BU Pub, probably 2007?

definitely 2007.

I believe this was in NYC, summer 2007

Anna's birthday in D.C., 2008?

Boston, 2008

also in D.C.

Val and Kristin's, I think it's Emal's bday weekend 2007

formal, when I was "chaperone" (so 2007)

Barbados!!! 2006

And finally, with Ben on the very bar crawl where he and Anna started dating, 2007

Blogging on my phone?

I found a free app that would let me blog straight from my iPhone so I decided to try it and see what I think. There's a paid version/upgrade too, if I wanted to get fancy...

Not a lot to share here that I'm willing to share here on the interwebs. I turn in what is hopefully the final final draft of my dissertation tomorrow afternoon (hurray for a short extension!) I feel pretty confident about it, but if they approve it I'm defending in a WEEK from today. Yes, one week. That came up quick.

Other than that, lots of meetings and grading and a Brandeis presidential inauguration (the new president kissed me on the cheek!) Thinking about the wedding, but no real planning. Happy that I planned ahead for this by doing several things early. Excited about the 2 weddings happening later this month, especially the trip to SC where I'll be reunited with so many of my loves :) It snowed on April Fools Day, which was not amusing in the slightest. Ran a 5 mile race on Sunday and did well for me. Ready for more. I think
I'm addicted (I blame Margo)(even though Anna is the one that made us do the 10K). Looking at fall half marathons to do pre-Disney.... crazy? Maybe.

So those are the not-so-exciting things happening in this corner of the world. Oh, and we babysat Gizzy the pup again last week. Hilarious photos to follow from my real laptop.

E.T. is on, so I'm going to watch it/go to sleep. (side note- when I was little, I thought ET threw me out of bed when I was sleeping! I was so scared of him I used to hide the stuffed one my mom bought.)

Night all!

P.S. Margo--- start a blog!!!!
(this is only the beginning of my campaign)

New desk!

Remember when Jess tried to put furniture together because what if she wasn't married and didn't have Rob to do it for her?

Jess, I thought of you today, because I did something similar:)

I decided it was time to buy a desk a few days ago. I was stalking them online, but hadn't decided for sure yet, and then I was at Target earlier and I found a desk that I liked! And it was on sale! So I decided to get it. I debated for a few minutes going back with Chris, because he'd have an easier time getting it into the cart, from the cart into the car, into the apartment... but then I thought "Jane, that's ridiculous. You lived alone for a year and a half! And you and AJ are masters of putting together furniture, you put together all sorts of furniture at 14A, you can do it!" (side note --- yes, AJ, I linked to your blog that you last updated in October. It's cool, you have a baby.)

I got that desk (and a cute lampshade for my old lamp from college to put on top, and a yummy candle) into the cart with some assistance from a Target worker, but then got it into my trunk and into my house alone. I also built it, and now it's sitting in our dining room all cute with my new lamp and candle on it. I haven't put anything in it yet, but that's in case we need to move it around the apartment. 

but yes.. I have a new desk! and I built it all by myself!

Alright, that's enough procrastinating. I built a desk, I'm sitting here in running clothes so I can go to the gym for the first time in a week, and then I need to come back and get back to dissertation revisions. Again. 

At least I can sit at my cute new desk:)

pre-versary!

This'll be a quick one, but just wanted to share that........

OUR WEDDING IS EXACTLY ONE YEAR FROM TODAY.

At this time next year, we'll be married already, post-cocktail hour, and at the beginning of the reception.
Insane!!

That's all for now, since the weather is gorgeous and I'm going to head outside while I can.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!:)

brief updates

• I updated the Running tab at the top if you'd like to check it out:)
• I also updated my A-Z Reading Challenge list. I'm not quite where I should be to read 52 new books this year, but after March 21 I won't be writing my dissertation anymore, and that's gotta help with the amount of time available to read.

If you are reading this soon after posting, I am running a 5K right now!! 

Check back later to see how it went.

new blog to check out: The wonderful Am has a new gluten free Boston blog! Go see it!

fun fact of the day: I really, really HATE this part of Daylight Savings. I love that it's light out after I get home, so I can run outside, or Chris and I can go for walks, and it's just easier to do anything after a day out of the house. But I HATE jumping the clocks forward an hour. Blah.

hope you are all enjoying your Sunday morning/early afternoons!
fun fact #2: even though it's been years since I've had sorority meetings on Sundays, I still feel like free Sunday afternoons and evenings are a treat. Guess 3.5 years of weekly meetings stick with you.

.... but I'd trade a free Sunday for getting to see everyone! Good thing someone's wedding will be here soon.