Storytelling

In an effort to exercise my writing muscle and put down on paper loved memories, I’m starting a new series called storytelling. Here I’ll do my best to transport anyone reading this little blog right into the sights, sounds, and smells of memories I don’t want to forget.  Our minds are amazing but fragile organs, and I feel some of my favorite memories fading with time.  Let’s preserve these bits and pieces of life in the written word.

Feel free to join me! I’d love to hear other people’s favorite memories and how they recreate them to be shared.

We were soaked through to the core. Plastic bags full of hand-made scarves and souveneirs took shelter under layers of dripping wet t-shirts, sweatshirts, and windbreakers. Everyone was miserable. We had taken a small, rickety boat out to the Aran Islands, a collection of three islands, off the west coast of Ireland.

When we set foot on ground, the skies began to pour rain down upon us. We threw up our hoods, opened our umbrellas, and huddled together. We spent the day in a horse drawn carriage touring this beautiful place,where the residents still spoke Irish and our carriage driver blessed himself each time we passed a statue of the Virgin Mary. The Aran Islands were known for their handmade wool sweaters and their adherence to tradition; our 17-year-old tour guide wore his claddagh with the crown facing in, certainly meaning his heart was taken.

The cold and rain bit us sharply, but I felt warm, my heart dancing in my chest. I beamed at my professor that this was, in fact, my favorite part of our month-long stay in Ireland. She waited patiently for a hint of sarcasm but it never came. Everyone wanted to be back in our cozy Dublin apartments but I never wanted to leave.

We boarded the small boat and huddled downstairs to protect ourselves from the wind and rain. In addition to my classmates, other tourists packed in below, shoulder to shoulder, in a small wooden room with a few pews for seats. A tiny round window provided a glimmer of light that cast shadows on everyone’s sullen faces. The humidity in that tiny cabin was unbearable.

As the ship left the dock, we should have expected the waves we would face in the storm. Although pieces of conversations in Russian, Chinese, French, Italian, and English created an unintelligible murmur, our faces clearly communicated fear as our boat sailed on top of a wave and then quickly fell, submerging our small window completely underwater. Before our boat had a moment to settle, we were thrust up and dropped back down again. Up and down, up and down, up and down.

The weak at stomach didn't stand a chance. One by one their heads shot between their legs and into whatever container they could get their hands on. Babies were crying and all of us were scared. 

A sweet girl, with sweat dripping from her forehead, looked up from her hunched over position and apologized for the sound. A selfless thought among this miserable scene. In an effort to conceal the sound and calm the spirits, someone started in, “A long long time ago, I can still remember how that music used to make me smile...”

A few classmates joined in, “And, I knew if I had my chance that I could make those people dance, and maybe they'd be happy for a while...”

Don McLean’s lyrics were a universal language that day; when we hit the chorus the whole boat joined in, “And we were singing, ‘bye bye Miss American Pie...” We all swayed side to side as our boat rode up and down. "Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry..." Spirits were lifted as our impromptu karaoke drowned out the sounds and fears. "Them good ol' boys were drinking whiskey and rye, singing..."

And then, at once, we realized what we had gotten ourselves into. The whole boat burst into laughter and refused to belt out that last lyric as we finally felt the boat coming into the dock.

“This’ll be the day that I die...”

Spring Break

The best part of working in education is the school breaks. I worry that I’m getting too used to having at least a week off for Christmas, and again in the spring; I’ve had this luxury for the last 20 years! Spring break this year was such an amazing change of pace and break in the routine.

I started it off with a trip home to New Jersey to spend time with my parents, brothers, nieces and nephew. I squeezed in time to see friends from NJ and felt like we picked up where we had last left off without skipping a beat. From there, it was back to Baltimore to run some errands, do some spring cleaning and spend time with Scott (and watch Game of Thrones, of course).

From Baltimore, I went to DC to see Scott and go to a National’s game with his parents. We then had dinner at Smoke –n- Barrel, an amazing BBQ place in Adam’s Morgan. They have THE BEST vegan wings I’ve ever tasted (and not to mention a smoked tofu sandwich and vegan spare ribs) so make sure you grab a meal there if you find yourself in DC.

From DC I megabussed my way to Pittsburgh to spend time with Caitlin and Missy who I haven’t seen since right after our graduation last year. This past year has flown by.

Here are a few bits and pieces from my break. Can we please make spring break a mandatory aspect of working life?

Walking around the Inner Harbor. This place is so beautiful in the spring.

 My old home in Pittsburgh! I still miss that tiny beaut with those hardwood floors and SO. much. sunlight.

No trip to Pittsburgh is complete without a stop at Oh Yeah!

15 minutes

There are so many times when I have trouble focusing on one task. I sit down to work and it typically goes like this: Ok, here we go. Actually, let me go to the bathroom first and while I'm up I think I'll get a cup of coffee and a glass of water so I can really focus. Ok, water - check. Coffee - check. I should check my mail first. Let me respond to this one. Ok, done that. I should get to work. Let me give myself a mental break first. What blogs have been updated? I love this blog. I wonder if she has posted anything on twitter lately. OK. Stop procrastinating. I'll definitely focus if I have snack. OK. Snack. Sip of coffee. Work. I should go the grocery store tonight. Let me just jot down a quick list. Oh! I just thought of an e-mail I need to send. Shoot; I should do that first. And so on and so on.

Sometimes it is SO hard to quiet my mind, decrease my desire to indulge in every possible distraction, and focus on whatever task is at hand.

Recently, I had a huge pile of paperwork standing between me and my spring break from work. I found myself in that same mental battle trying so hard to focus but really not wanting to and not succeeding.

Then, I tried timers. This is a simple but solid gold strategy. I set my phone or an online timer for 15 minutes and made a pact with myself that I would work for 15 minutes straight before giving in to any distraction. It worked so well! I found I often worked past the timer to finish a task or a portion of a task. I then let myself check twitter, read my e-mail, or allow myself a short break before setting the timer again. This strategy also allowed me to figure out how long each task was taking me, so I could set reasonable goals for how much I could get done over a period of time.

15 minutes worked extremely well for the task I was completing, but 10 minutes or a half hour, or some other chunk of time may work better for a different task or different person. I was amazed by how much I was able to accomplish.

Do timers work for you? Have you ever tried this? If you try this out, let me know if it works for you!

Brunette

I did it! After years of being a blonde, I took a huge leap into the dark side, and I’m loving it. I don’t think I’ll stay brunette forever, but I love this color for a change in the mean time. When I took the plunge, my hairdresser and I laughed over the identity crisis I was about to undergo. Luckily, it wasn’t that dramatic, but I still feel like a blonde from time-to-time. Do you feel like a certain hair color regardless of the hair color on your head? Am I totally crazy (probably)?

Building Sand Castles with Words

"You are lucky to be one of those people who wishes to build sand castles with words, who is willing to create a place where your imagination can wander. We build this place with the sand of memories; these castles are our memories and inventiveness made tangible. So part of us believes that when the tide starts coming in, we won't really have lost anything, because actually, only a symbol of it was there in the sand. Another part of us thinks we'll figure out a way to divert the ocean. This is what separates artists from people: the belief, deep in our hearts, that if we build our castles well enough, somehow the ocean won't wash them away. I think this is a wonderful kind of person to be."

- Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

I just finished this book by Anne Lamott and I am in love with every word that woman put down on paper. Whether you write or not, this author has some beautiful and real insight on life that I think anyone could relate to. 

Images from Pinterest and Amazon.

25

I turned 25 just over two weeks ago. Scott and I celebrated with breakfast at Milk and Honey (try the "vegan" on an everything bagel!), a trip to the Baltimore Museum of Art, a visit to The Book Thing, a vanilla latte from Spro, fried avocado sandwiches at Golden West Cafe, plenty of time outdoors enjoying the weather, a walk along  West 36th Street in Hampden, dinner at Meet 27, and a birthday wish made in a carrot cake cupcake. It was a perfect start to 25.

Its going to be a good year.

Photo by Scott

St. Patrick's Day & Vegan Irish Potatoes

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I'll spare you all my gushing over how much I love Ireland and miss it there, or how many family traditions surrounding St. Patrick's Day I can rattle off. Instead, I'll boil it down to just one tradition. This is, quite possibly, the Philadelphia area's best kept secret - Irish potatoes.

Irish potatoes are a small creamy coconut candy covered in cinnamon. They get their name from their resemblance to potatoes. Aside from their appearance, there is nothing potatoey or particularly Irish about them! They are super easy and quick to make, and absurdly addictive. If you do nothing else this St. Patrick's Day, whip up a batch of these! Your friends and family will thank you (if you decide to share)!

Vegan Irish Potatoes

4 ounces cream cheese (I used Tofutti brand)
1/4 cup vegan butter, softened (I used Earth Balance brand)
3 3/4 cup confectioner sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 bag flaked coconut (14 oz)
Cinnamon

1. Beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth.
2. Add confectioner sugar and vanilla extract and beat until well combined.
3. Add in the coconut and mix well.
4. Roll approximately 1-2TBSP of mixture into small "potatoes" and roll in cinnamon until covered.
5. Place in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to chill.

Please let me know if you try these! I'd love to hear your thoughts!

I hope everyone has a very happy St. Patrick's Day! Here a few pictures from the St. Patrick's Day parade last Sunday in Mt. Vernon, Baltimore to get you in the spirit!