Grad School Woes

I am so fickle. One day I love the masters program, the next day I hate it. Think of it as an oscillatory function, and right now I am in the negative. Negative thought bog. Last week of school. Two papers due (OK they are mostly done), two presentations (One complete, one not yet begun), three residual homework's to finish (two easy, one really really really hard, but most likely graded on a sliding scale, the harder the homework the easier the grading), and one final quiz (no problem here). Classes finished up by Wednesday, I think I'll go climbing Thursday morning, and then. And then I need to "buckle down" and do some real research. Some build a reactor, deposit a thermal plasma film, interpret the data research. I have not at all been looking forward to this, but the time is now. On the upside I have absolutely no money right now so there is nothing tempting me away from all of this work. Like that's a good thing.

Mak and Kate!

Weee! Mak and Kate came to town and met Jill and Me for dinner. Well that's really only true if you consider strawberry margaritas dinner.

Mmmmmmmm

So I had what turned out to be a great date last night. I was a little skeptical when he asked me to tea... It turned out to be one of those Bubble Tea places filled with high school kids and board games. We played chess, rummy, and connect four. He was a really good sport about all these pictures, even when I insisted on snapping this shot immediately after beating him at connect four (I was red). In all fairness I won one game to his ten.

Damned Potholes

Not what I want to see first thing in the morning.

Fiesta

Amanda came to visit last weekend from Chicago. Her friend met us for drinks at the Rio. Then we met up with the friend, and her boyfriend at the Rock Bar. We got a little loopy and danced our asses off.

On Saturday I took Murph to the vet and had dinner with my mom.

Maybe you have noticed, but I decided yo do a little spring cleaning here at The Maiden Metallurgist.

Rock Bar

My new favorite bar. OK, it was a little too hipster-y but the music was awesome, and you can walk to Suzie's after a long night of hard drinking. I look forward to getting my Rock on again at some point in the future. Pics from Friday night with Amanda to follow.

Flip Night... Again

These boys were really pimps... just ask them. They were 21 years old, and out for a friends 21st birthday. One dudes glasses said Gabanna in huge letters all down the side. Cool cats abound. Amateur night.

Flip Night...Again

An old flame of Jill's met us out at The Front Porch. We hadn't seen him in a few years, and I'm not sure, but the years haven't been to good to him. He's looking a little "weathered". Is that too mean? Well those aren't all my words, I only bear half the blame. This guy was awesome. Rockin' the Ferrari fleece jacket. Hahahahahahaha. Our friend Tyler, mixing up some drinks. This guy in the red hat was ordering like 20 drinks at a time, and winning all of his flips. I have never heard anyone bitch so much about making such simple cocktails. No mixing, no straining, just some bubbly and a splash of cran. Mmmm hibiscus. And I love this guy in the background of this photo.

Lovely Ladies

Lovely Ladies

I love me some Jill. OK, I love me some Tanya too. I wish this picture of Jill was more clear, she looks beautiful. Pretty Sara!

Lovely Ladies

All I can see when I look at this cute picture of Sara and Me is this enormous zit on my chin! The Gorgeous Sameera. The ever-lovely Suzie. (Who doesn't think she takes a good picture... crazy!)

If this picture was on America's Next Top Model Tanya and I would be reamed by the Judges because all you can see is Sameera, she steals the show.

Lovely Ladies

We had quite the turnout for Flip night this week. A little post-ballet, post-yoga cocktail time.

Ahh The Food...

duo Restaurant (lower case duo). So Jill and I got really excited about the artichokes, but were a little disappointed to be honest. The 'chokes were kind of bland and the meyer lemon creme could have packed a little more of a punch. That said, the barley and quinoa salad was nutty and gorgeous. The gnocchi was great, like last time, at duo it was tender and well made, but I much preferred the mushroom ragu to the pesto and favas. Personal preference, I'm sure if I were a pesto person I would have loved it. The grilled cheese with prosciutto and fig jam was even better than it sounds. The best of all was Sara's sourdough breaded fried free-range chicken breast. It was so good, it even tasted good for you. Mmmm.....

A Friend in Need

So I was mired in my (albeit misplaced) sadness, I had just mixed myself a gigantic cocktail, and hunkered down in my chair on the deck with a book (Harry Potter, OP), when Suzie called. She had corralled the ladies and made a reservation at Duo for supper. Sara brought her boyfriend, and Jill came out from her parents house and we converged in the Highlands. It was great catching up and just what I needed to snap me out of it.

Tomorrows post, the food...