Lavender Farm!

Last weekend I spent St. Patrick's day co-leading a Parks & Rec overnight trip to Harrisonburg, VA. What's to see in Harrisonburg, you ask? Well...the White Oak Lavender farm! The farm wasn't as big as I pictured it, but it was still very nice and the weather was gorgeous. There were some animals (horses, goats, cat) that the folks could pet and we just kinda meandered around and enjoyed the beautiful landscape. There was even a pony who was 10 months pregnant. (apparently the gestation period is 11 months- I learned something!) Here are a few pics of the scenery: (those little bush things are the lavender beginning to grow)

and in this "Rabbitat" lived the biggest bunny i have ever seen! sadly I don't have a picture, but it was literally bigger than most cats I have seen. it was huge.

anyways, after the lavender farm we spent the night in a hotel in harrisonburg and it was a great time. for some of the folks it was their first time on an overnight trip and possibly first time in a hotel, so that was really fun. pretty much I just love any chance where I can pretend that I'm like Leslie Knope.

Pattern Challenged

So back in December my Mom asked me what I wanted for my birthday, so I mentioned that I had seen a coat that I liked. She asked me what it looked like, and I did my best to describe the color and pattern. Some of you remember in college when I bought a business jumart and described the pattern as "little circles" (which I guess brings to mind polka dots...) when in fact it was something like "textured." Well, apparently I haven't gotten any better because after struggling to describe it I told her it was red gingham (which I now know is what i call "picnic pattern"). Thankfully she still found the right coat...but then informed me I was nowhere near on the pattern description. Here's the coat:

And a close up of the pattern:

Now I don't remember what it was actually called- houndstooth maybe? Someone recently told me about a pattern "chevron". I don't know. I'm pretty much lost when it gets more complicated than stripes....Anyone know this pattern? Is it in fact houndstooth?

UVA baseball

Today I took one of my former students to a UVA baseball game. Since my brother Matt was my long term sub when I left the school (a fun fact I may not have yet shared), he came along too! It was a lot of fun, but chilly! It has been so warm here the past week (60s & 7os) but unfortunately it did not get above the mid 40s today. They were however giving out free coffee & hot chocolate, so that was a nice bonus! We only made it through 3 innings (although that was about 2 hours!) and then it was time to go. It was a lot of fun though and my student was definitely the best cheerer there. I do enjoy watching baseball (it's very relaxing!) and I think I just may have to go back when it warms up.

I am back

Delicious wine, good conversation, and an iPhone have inspired me. I'm back.

back on track...once again

remember how i was going to blog once a week, or at least once every other week? clearly i still need some work....

so here is a post recapping things i meant to blog about long ago:

1- i've been in the new house for almost two months ago and it is fabulous. when i moved in here i finally cleaned out my old room at my folk's house once and for all. it is now a much more tastefully decorated guest room. but while i was cleaning it out i found a few gems. remember these?

(answer- t-shirt dress that KT & I attempted to make senior year & bamboo ninja stick from freshman year) it was tough for me to get rid of treasures such as these...but even a pack rat such as myself must move on.

2-my sister in law sent me more pictures from our road trip- the Office Scranton sign is in fact now in the Steamtown mall. But don't worry, it has a nature background so it still looks like it is outside. disappointing.

3- the only food i have every truly detested is tofu. well last year my coworker/friend found out about this and was determined to change my mind. she said it's all about what kind of tofu you buy and then how you prepare it.....well she was right and the resulting tofu sandwiches are delicious. last week i bought some for myself and prepared tofu sandwiches a few nights for dinner.

the proof:

and the recipe:

Ingredients:

Twin oaks Italian herb Tofu

Tamari (I used soy sauce)

black pepper

cheddar cheese

Annies- goddess dressing (very key)

wheat bread (a coworker traded me homemade bread pictured above for a ride home....worth it)

lettuce, tomato, onion (as you wish)

Directions:

*slice tofu into slices

*fry in olive oil and tamari untill crispy (put pepper on top while cooking)

*smother in cheese

*put on bread

*add lettuce, tomato, onion, Goddess dressing

*put on other piece of bread

*eat

and if i can be turned towards tofu....anyone can (plus as a bonus it's super cheap!)

ok that's enough updates for now...

tribe. pride. tribe pride (best WM cheer ever)

Tonight the Tribe played UVA in football here in Charlottesville. One of my students knows I went to/love William & Mary and gave me a ticket to the game, and when I was telling her how I was going to go with my Dad, she gave me another one! Awesome!

Although unfortunately we got beat pretty badly (40-3) it was still really fun just to go. As you can see the stadium was represented pretty well with UVA orange, but we brought some tribe pride to our section. Maybe next time tribe...

i've moved!

i've moved! last wed i moved into a house across town with 3 girls that i've met this past year. they all went to UVA and graduated in 2008 as well and are all awesome. the house is sweet as well. it's about a block from the downtown mall and 5 minutes from work. it's very roomy and has a huge backyard. here are pictures of my room-

(that's right- green trim and a blue door- love it)

and you'll just have to come to charlottesville to see the rest of the house! :)