Just your average Wednesday...

With CREPES and AVATAR!
...."How to Tell If You're a Geek" Handbook, page 4.

Anyway! I went with my mom and sister to a delicious crepe place in Johnson City.

I got nutella and banana, YUM!

Then I met up with Mike for Avatar in 3D!!

This is a pretty accurate photo: I was so excited and Mike was NOT having it. Too cool for Avatar.

Apparently normal 3D glasses just don't cut it anymore? I have to say, I liked the movie a whole lot more than I expected to. It's probably my inner nerd talking, but I definitely recommend seeing it!

Kuttles...a must have

Thank you Ali for this fantastic find!!!!!

https://www.buykuttles.com/

...there is an arm specifically made for hand-holding. I know what I'm buying for Valentine's Day!

Family Recipes

Yesterday, my mom and I attempted to recreate Buscia's (Polish for Grandma) famous pierogi recipe. Overall, I would say we were pretty successful, but nowhere near as good as when Buscia does it! Of course I can't reveal the secret family recipe but here are some pictures from the 3-hour process! First we had to make the dough and refridgerate it overnight...

Roll out the dough and cut it in circles

Add filling

Fold, and voila! Homemade pierogis!

Far above Cayuga's waters...

After a night of reminiscing about highschool, I had a day of reminiscing about college...well, sort of. I went to Ithaca for lunch with my mom, sister, and brother and was sad to see how completely deserted it was!! Cornell and Collegetown were total ghost towns (though I'm sure the -18 degree windchill didn't help) and CTB wasn't even open! Fortunately, Ithaca Bakery was and I was able to fulfill my desire for a breadbowl there...yum! I would say it was good to be back in Ithaca but honestly it made me a little sad, and definitely made me miss Cornell a lot.

I was surprised to see that Ithaca now has an Urban Outfitters...who knew?? I got an adorable new wallet :)



Here are some things I miss about Cornell!...

121 and Professor Blueberry

Cheerleading!

Doing silly and ridiculous things, for no reason (ahem, rephrase: ...lack of responsibility)

Our beautiful campus!!

The Glory Days

Last night I got together with one of my oldest and closest friends, Erin. We were in the same first grade class and grew up 10 houses away from each other. There's nothing like a friend who has been with you through bad haircuts, glasses, braces, perms, poor outfit choices, etc etc...and still likes you!

(Erin is the thug one with the hat on the right, I'm in the middle, and on the left is Domenica, who I'm lucky enough to have in Boston with me!)

After catching up we got to our favorite pastime...reminiscing about the glory days of high school cheerleading. We watched not one, two, or even three old competition videos, but SEVEN. I'd like to think I didn't peak in high school, but being a UE cheerleader was kiiind of a big deal.

Is it weird that I'm 22 years old and sometimes want to go back??

The first of many...

My first food post! While I've been home I've been sneakily taking pictures with my sister Emily's amazing camera, which just so happens (among other things) to take awesome food photos...

This is my most favorite salad... I have it almost every day!

Ingredients:

Fresh spinach

Dried cranberries

Toasted pecans

Herb goat cheese

Dressing:

Olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

Honey

Salt & pepper

So easy and SO delicious!

And, the first recipe I've tried from my (one of many) new cookbook!
Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have to admit, they are just so-so. More like a mini cake than a cookie, but yummy either way!

Christmas with the Fam!

I awoke on Christmas morning to lots of exciting things...

(If you're wondering, yes, I did arrange my presents in a display for a picture. How 9-years-old of me.)

After a delicious breakfast of Lucky

Charms (thanks, Santa!), french toast, and bacon, we got ready and hit the road for Utica to see the extended fam. First stop was Grandma and Grandpa's, then on Saturday
we headed to Buscia's--this is our attempt to get a cousin photo. We are minus one because Casiu refused to pose!

After a yummy lunch and a few too many cookies, we tackled that huge mound of presents.. I couldn't resist the urge to play preschool teacher, and here is me with Santa's adorable little helper, "G"!

After catching up with my mom's side of the family, we headed back out in the gross weather to see some more of my dad's side; namely, Great Grandma, who is a whopping 102 years old and still living on her own in the house my Grandpa built! She's quite the impressive lady, let me tell you!
Our final stop was at my aunt and uncle's house, which included three highlights:
1. A twenty foot (maybe more) tree in the living room! Decorated from top to bottom. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture :(
2. Learning the new workout craze: hula-hooping! My aunt told me that by "hooping" 30 minutes a day, every day, her friend lost 10 pounds! Sounds a little crazy, but also like a lot of fun!
3. see below-

PEANUT BUTTER BALLS. They very well may be my favorite Christmas treat. These little nuggets of goodness are so delicious it's almost wrong. Thanks for the doggy bag, Aunt Chris!

Until next year, Merry Christmas to all,

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

An idea for next year... :)

Wacky family traditions

Every family has some, right? Our family has quite a few at Christmastime! Has anyone ever heard of the Christmas Pickle? I've never really taken the time to get the story behind it, but in our family it basically goes like this: Dad hides the pickle somewhere in the Christmas tree, and Mom times us kids as we take turns looking for it. Peter wins every single time, usually finding it within 2.4 seconds. Emily and I, on the other hand, search for 5 minutes, get 3 hints, still can't find it, and tie for last place. Same story this year, except this time we threw Mike into the mix and Dad was EXTRA tricky!

Usually, it's hidden somewhere in the tree like this. But, as I sadly discovered after 2 minutes and 5 seconds of searching (and a hint).....


It was on top of the tree!










Tricky tricky! Peter saw the second he walked into the room. But, we still all got presents regardless :)

Another wacky (or maybe just Polish) tradition:

Shots?
Ahh yes, with some verrryy interesting Polish potato vodka. Right before we eat Christmas eve dinner, we all cheers "Na zdrowie" (Polish for "to your health") and down it goes! There is something a little strange about taking a shot with your entire family...

These are our "santa sacks". I believe this tradition started when "Santa" got tired of wrapping and labeling a zillion toys, so he (or she) put 0ur presents in these sacks with our names on them. But, 10 years and three almost-adult children later, the sacks remain. And presents are still found inside. Apparently some families just put their presents under the tree...who knew??

And finally, we always watch "It's a Wonderful Life". Not that its wacky, but this version is. Enjoy :)

Small Town, NY

Maybe its because I've grown up here, but I LOVE upstate New York at Christmastime! Especially all the teeny tiny towns... they are just so snowy, adorable, and quiet. So far my trip home has consisted of lots of food, family, and furry friends (see below!)

Mike playing with the doggies

Loves to pose..

I was also pleasantly awoken by a certain miss Cleo, who decided to hop in bed with me at 5AM. Nothing like claws to the chest to get you going in the morning!

I was quite lucky to experience Mike's family tradition of getting a 13-foot tree into a 10 1/2-foot room. Documentation from the 25 hour (roughly) ordeal...

Almost there...

Success!

Now I am home and haven't left the couch in quite some time--except to unwrap a few presents! Namely, this-->
Can't wait to get baking as soon as I'm back from holiday travels!!

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Almost there...!

One day till home, three days till Christmas! I am (slowly but surely) making my way back to the 607 - right now I'm on a bus back to NY (left 30 min early, express bus, free wifi- go Greyhound!) First a quick stop in Albany, then off to Unadilla for the night for Christmas-y things with Mike's family. Then, tomorrow, home sweet home! Here's some things I plan to do:





BAKE.
And eat said baked goods.

Veg.

Watch:

Read:

For book club!

And, attempt:
How cute are they?!

SNOW DAY!!!!!

Well, sort of. Technically I was done on Friday, but seeing this still got me pretty excited! Takes me back to the days of wearing white socks to bed and falling asleep with fingers crossed that I would see snow in the morning. AND, they put this announcement up last night...even better!

On my "snow day", I have so far accomplished two very important things...

One:
I finally joined the gym. Until May. For FREE. I have to thank my fab co-teacher Ali for giving me the coupon that allowed for this great deal! The gym is only a 5-minute walk from my house, or one stop before mine on the T, which is perfect. And, its HUGE. The guy who gave me a tour told me that they have enough cardio machines so that no one ever has to wait. Ever. Pretty awesome right? It was so good to work out, considering my exercise routine for the past few months has been speed-walking the hill to my house and chasing after 4-year-olds. I just hope I can keep up a regular schedule once I get back into the crazy school routine!

And two, I started reading this:

After watching Food, Inc. (highly recommended), I am making a conscious effort to try to purchase and eat more organic food, especially meat. The film was a liiittle disturbing during parts, showing the way chickens, cows, and pigs are treated prior to going to the slaughterhouse, and let me tell you, it's gross.

Anyway, the tough things I've found about buying organic are A.) the cost, and B.) the labels. So when I stumbled across this book for A DOLLAR at the amazing Brookline Booksmith, I knew I had to get it. So far it's done a great job of laying out the fundamentals of what it means to be organic. And what to do about high costs? The book suggests Wal-Mart. Yes, you heard me right. The one and only. Apparently their organic section is legit and they "always seem to find a way to keep rolling back prices". I think I'll check it out when I'm home for break!

I'm loving this day because, for essentially a dollar, I've made two positive changes in my life!

Oh! And, as of 2PM, congrats to Mike for surviving his first semester of law school! You are now 1/6 of a lawyer, woohoo!