2009: A (Personal) Year in Review

Yeah, yeah.  I know.  Everyone is already over the whole new year thing, and the train has already left the station.  But, suffice to say,  the end of 2009 and start of 2010 has been a bit… less that desirable, and I am running a bit behind here.  December was plagued with no electricity, followed by a plumbing valve issue in which,  no joke, my toilet started spewing soapy water like a geyser (that was a fun one to clean up), and of course, leaving me without water for 2 days while the condo plumbing was searched for problems.  Then, my laptop bit the dust (it had been having problems, so fortunately everything except my Lightroom custom presets were backed up)… and this week, my desktop decided to stop connecting to the internet.  And today was the icing on the cake – received a call from the condo manager that water was leaking from my unit into the basement.  He searched our bathroom and couldn’t find any problems from this end, but tomorrow they are turning off all the water to the building and tearing out drywall to see if they can locate a problem.  Awesome.

So, that said, things are running a little behind.  Here is my belated personal year in review – later this week, I’ll do a lab (lack of) progress year in review!

January 2009:

Every year, the best part about January was attending the Pennsylvania State Farm Show – a giant indoor affair in which farmers from across the state bring their prize livestock, tractors, and produce for competition.  The Farm Show Arena is mere miles from my house, so despite the traditional “Farm Show Blizzard” we would always make the trek to visit the animals and eat the amazing food (personal favorites include fried mushrooms, mushroom soup, vanilla milkshake, and potato doughnuts).  This year, we took Husband for his first farm show!

 

We also braved the crowds and the cold and went to the Inauguration.  When you live in walking distance, how can you not go?

February 2009:

The beginning of February brought the Superbowl… and with it, a sixth Lombardi trophy for the Steelers.  So maybe we didn’t even make the playoffs this year… but at least we are still Sixburgh!  To celebrate the occasion, I threw a big Superbowl party…. complete with the amazing edible stadium.

March 2009:

In March, Husband and I, along with another friend, took a tour of the Naval Observatory.  It had been on my to-do list for quite a while, but tours are only offered a few Monday’s a year, so it’s something that needs to be scheduled far in advance.  We were all far more impressed than we thought we would be, and it was a crystal clear night, so they even broke out the gigantic telescope so we could check out Jupiter.  If you are in the DC area, I highly recommend checking out the Naval Observatory!

   

April 2009:

By the time April rolled around, Preppy Chemist had moved up to D.C. and was settling in, so I offered to take her on a cherry blossom monument tour.   Preppy Chemist moving up to D.C. was definitely one of the highlights of 2009 – someone who started as a casual blogging acquaintance has rapidly turned into one of my closest friends in DC!

May 2009:

In May, Husband and I attended two weddings in one day, on the weekend of our own anniversary.  It was quite a whirlwind, but we were thrilled to be able to attend both weddings!

First up, Husband’s friend from medical school was married in a nearby church and had a reception on a rooftop with a beautiful view of the Capitol!

 

Then in the evening, we attended the reception of our college roommates.  I lived with the bride and Husband lived with the groom the year they started dating, so I feel like I’ve been through their whole relationship, too!

And, of course, we celebrated our first anniversary!  Even though it fell on Memorial Day, we both had to work, but we were able to take some time out to go to a dinner at Bourbon Steak and have a few bites of our wedding cake afterward.

June 2009:

The end of May meant VACATION!  We spent 10 days through May and June traveling to Husband’s uncle’s house in Myrtle Beach, where we relaxed on the beach, took a day trip to Charleston, and visited my best friend on the way down and a good friend of ours from undergrad on the way back up.  The trip was a little bittersweet, though – as soon as we returned, Husband moved to Philadelphia for the rest of his radiology residency.  June was kind of the low point of the year – along with Husband, two of my closest friends from D.C. also moved away, and I was left without my husband and my girlfriends.

   

On the upside, the Penguins won the Stanley Cup and we spent a weekend back in my hometown for the Harrisburg Brewer’s Fest – aka “drinking for charity”!  Every year, downtown Harrisburg sponsors a big festival, closes off a few streets, and dozens and dozens of breweries show up with kegs upon kegs.  The proceeds go to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and we spent the evening drinking lots of beer!  My two best friends from home came as well, and we had a great time.

July 2009:

July was a really uneventful month.  I started the first of what will be many Greyhound disastrous trips to Philadelphia, but mostly I used my newfound free time to crank out more experiments in the lab.

August 2009:

August started out with the family concert – Husband, my Mother-in-Law, my parents, and I all went to the Billy Joel/Elton John concert in Philadelphia.  It was the first time our parents were together since the wedding, and it was nice to have everyone together. 

The lab also went berry picking at a local farm, kicking off an entire week of blackberry related recipes.  Mmmm…

September 2009:

September was also a relatively unremarkable month, mostly due to two weeks with swine flu.  I also had a biopsy done on a “totally healthy, normal mole” which I thought was the end of the story.  I did, however, return home over Labor Day, and was able to hang out with two of my favorite people!

October 2009:

Husband and I took a trip up to NYC to visit an old high school friend of his.  We spent the morning walking around Chelsea Market (home of the Food Network!) and Central Park, and then met his friend at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

I also received news that the biopsy returned as melanoma in situ and would have to undergo more surgery to try to remove all the cancer cells before they spread.  26 years of avoiding the sun and always applying sunscreen… and my reward is melanoma.  Harumph.

November 2009:

November was the busiest month of the year… in a great way!  I was barely in lab (two thumbs up) because I spent 10 days in the Caribbean, came home for a night to do laundry, and was then off to Boston for my first conference (details to come).

  

December 2009:

The month started off with my melanoma surgery, and even now, 5 weeks later, my foot STILL has not healed.  In fact, just yesterday I had to return to have the wound cauterized, since the stitches dissolved.. and my foot is still bleeding through two gauze pads and my sock.  But, the pathology result did come back with clear margins, so even if takes another 5 weeks to heal, it will be worth it to be cancer-free!

We had our yearly Chrismukkah party in the beginning of December… maybe even our last Chrismukkah in DC!

And lastly, I rung in 2010 fun and low key… a couple friends, lots of classic board games, and a plethora of alcohol.  I think we had way too much to drink by the time Life rolled around, because there were lots of “drunk driving” accidents!

So… what will 2010 bring?  Who knows, but I’m up for the adventure.  Hopefully, however… it will include a Ph.D.!  Disgruntled Julie, Ph.D. has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?

Vacation – All I Ever Wanted!

Back in November, I snuck out of the lab for a whole 10 days on vacation. In a long and complicated story, Husband and I decided to go on a family vacation (yes, I know… I see my mother in law at least once a month, sometimes multiple weekends in a row, and I still thought it would be enjoyable to travel with her). Because of limitations of his mother, we decided a cruise would be the best option at satisfying all involved… but then, at the last minute, she wasn’t able to attend. So, off we went with my own parents, who love to travel as well.

We specifically picked the cruise because it left out of Baltimore, meaning an easy drive and no flights necessary. Husband came down from Philly, I came up from D.C., and my parents came southeast from Harrisburg, and we were on our way! (Click on links of city names for more pictures from each location!)

After two days at sea consisting of lots of relaxing, reading, games of UNO and Scrabble, and a somewhat ridiculous amount of alcohol, we arrived in the first port: San Juan, Puerto Rico. We spent our time in San Juan exploring Old San Juan and Fort San Cristóbal… and of course, stopped for an afternoon drink. (Alcohol consumption is an absolutely essential part of vacationing according to my parents.)

Our next port of call was St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. St. Thomas is one of my favorite islands in the Caribbean (after Aruba, where I used to spend time every January before graduate school sucked all the fun out of life, and Grand Cayman, because of the scuba diving). We spent the morning at our favorite beach, Magen’s Bay. The day was mostly overcast and the waves were gigantic compared to previous visits, due to the tropical storm brewing further north. I had been hoping to go scuba diving over on St. John that day, but all the beaches and water were closed due to the waves! After a morning on the beach, we went to my favorite little synagogue ever, St. Thomas Synagogue (insert witty joke from my father regarding naming synagogues after saints). It is a tiny little building atop a big hill (aptly named Synagogue Hill) and comes complete with a sand floor. Perfect!

Next up, we visited Samana, Dominican Republic. It was the first time for all of us going to the DR, but instead of exploring, we were all ready for a nice, relaxing beach day. It was a gorgeous, sunny day, and we spent it swimming, snorkeling (the off-the-beach snorkeling had a better reef than some of my deep scuba dives!), and my father and I took out an ocean kayak and paddled our way up and down the coast for a few hours.

Last but not least, we found ourselves in Labadee, Haiti. The day was absolutely beautiful, but the sand was covered with coral and broken shells, which made it a bit tricky getting in and out of the water!

On the way back to Baltimore, our vacation was extended by a day, courtesy of Tropical Storm Ida. The Coast Guard closed the Chesapeake Bay, so we were unable to enter until it was reopened a day later. There are certainly worse things in life than getting an extra unexpected day of vacation… though Husband may disagree, as the rough waters made him rather seasick!

Hmm… I’m ready for another vacation! Where to next, Husband?!

WANT

I don’t typically discuss purchases (or things I would like to purchase), but I cannot stop lusting over these brand new, just released camera bags by Kelly Moore.  I have been looking for what seems like ages for a camera bag that meets my particular set of requirements: styleish – aka, doesn’t scream “I’M A CAMERA BAG!”, something which actually holds my camera body unlike the Shootsac, something with the option to wear across my body messenger-style for when I am actually taking pictures, and extra room so that it can be my only bag and not require a purse as well.  I have considered the Built NY bag, but well… it looks like a giant lunchbox.   I’ve been eyeing up the Jill-E line, but I never loved the look or the straps (I find that if I wear a bag just over the shoulder, it tends to slip down if I am trying to move around).  And I know I am not the only one who has had problems finding a functional, yet stylish, camera bag (so maybe this will help some of you, too!).  Considering the amount of time which I travel since we are in a long-distance marriage, a camera bag has been moving further and further up on my list of serious wants, since I typically wind up literally throwing my camera into my suitcase, and only traveling with my cheapest lens, lest something happen with my very unsecure packing method.

And then, this weekend, Kelly Moore opened up her bag shop and it’s like she could read my mind!  It fits both the camera and multiple lenses, plus other random accessories (both photography related and personal), has outside pockets for easy access, is water resistant, and can be worn either over-the-shoulder or messenger style.  And it doesn’t look like a camera bag!  (I, personally, am lusting after the grey color – goes with everything so I can take it anywhere).

Since it was literally just released, I cannot vouch for it personally, but for those of us looking for a stylish “non-camera bag” camera bag, it seems like the ideal choice!  Unfortunately for me, I do not expect that I will be picking one up any time soon, given my limited graduate student income and Husband’s massive medical school loans.  We just received very generous Hanukkah checks from my parents, who instructed us to use on something fun and enjoyable and not for paying off loans, but Husband has already decided that all the money will go straight into savings because he is boring and practical and otherwise known as Dr. Debt from his medical school endeavors. :(  (Had I known about this bag before this weekend, I would have just asked my parents for it directly rather than the check, thus bypassing our savings account altogether!)

I do, however, think it will make a delightful gift-to-self whenever I finally get a first author paper, no?  Teehee.

Mourning

I intended to (finally) write about my recent vacation (escape from the lab! woo!) this evening, but instead managed to find a secret streaming internet station showing the Steelers game.

The game in which the Steelers kissed their season goodbye.  Bye bye, defending Superbowl champions.

Clearly, I am now too depressed and mopey to think about things like vacation pictures.  Instead, I am going to look at the pictures my parents took of the six Lombardi trophies they saw on display when they were at Heinz Field for the Pitt homecoming game and try to make myself feel better.

As for the vacation pictures?  Maybe I’ll be feeling it tomorrow.  Or maybe I’ll still be mourning the fact that three days before my mega-Chrismukkah party, with all the food preparation to do, my no-longer-produced size built-in microwave started sparking and filled with smoke.  Perfect timing.  Or the fact that my foot, which had been healing well, suddenly started bleeding all over this evening.  I think I may have accidentally ripped out one of the deeper stitches.

FML.

I think this calls for sleeping in tomorrow.  Don’t tell my PI.

Holiday Cards

Since I am stuck on the couch, foot up, following surgery*, I figured I may as well use the time to get some work done on my holiday cards… especially considering that Hanukkah is just a week a way (I know, I can’t believe it either). 

Every year, I hand make my holiday cards.  I used to do intricate, hand-cut cards, but once Husband and I became engaged, and our holiday card list for our combined family and friends stretched to over 60, I just didn’t have the time anymore.  Instead, I now screen print my holiday cards using my Gocco. 

Husband and I are Jewish, but we have many friends and some family who are not, so I always go for a generic holiday/Chrismukkah/non-denominational themed cards so as not to offend anyone.

  
2007 Holiday Cards

2008 Holiday Cards

What’s in store for this year?  Well, I’m not entirely sure yet, but Husband suggested a theme which highlights each of our respective cities.  I’m not sure if it’s a fun highlight, or depressing to send everyone a card saying “hey! look! we live in different cities!”, but it’s the first time he’s ever expressed an opinion one way or another about cards, so I think I’m going to go with it.

Since I seem to have so much more contact with many of my blog friends than my real life friends, it only seemed fair to include you on my holiday card list.  So, if you would like to be added to my holiday card list, send me an email (see that “Contact” link up there on the menu bar?  Click away!) with your address, and a card you will receive.

*Outpatient foot surgery, but I have direct orders to keep my foot up and stay off my feet, lest I rip out my deep stitches.  Details to follow.