Wednesday 30 January 2013

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo...

It would have been silly to waste a train fare to Washington DC on just collecting N's passport from the Dutch embassy right? So we went to check out the Smithsonian (read: free) National Zoo too! Now being free, and in the middle of the capital city, we weren't expecting a whole lot, and thought we'd be home in the afternoon some time. But it's actually really big, and we managed to spend about three and a half hours wandering around!

Admittedly the trip didn't start out quite as planned. We arrived around 11am in the pouring rain which was freezing on the cold ground to find all of the gates closed. After hitting up a conveniently placed Starbucks for their free WiFi we discovered that due to the inclement weather they weren't going to open until noon. Not being ones to give up (and being nice and warm and dry with our hot milky drinks and free internet) we decided to wait it out, and I'm so glad we did. This is one awesome zoo!

We started out on the Asia trail, where many of the animals were inside due to the cold. The first thing we spotted was a fishing cat:



Closely followed by a sleepy red panda, which I don't think I've ever seen before because the ones at Bristol Zoo never seem to be around:



And this may be one of the highlights of my day, a real life giant panda! (One for you Panda :) )



Then we moved on to the bird house which was pretty awesome. I didn't take any photos because it was inside, but we saw some cool birds, like a tiny burrowing owl, and some cool kingfishers. There were loads of cardinals out and about around the zoo, which really stand out this time of year. Possibly my favourite US bird:



There were also some birds outside, including these crazy flamingos, which were making a lot of noise and running back and forth for no apparent reason:



We also saw bustards from a distance which are pretty massive! Talking of massive things, unfortunately we weren't able to see any elephants.

The North America trail was also cool, with some more animals I've never seen before, including these awesome beavers. We just caught them being fed :)




And a wolf. oooooo



Apparently after lunch I forgot to take photos, but we saw lots more awesome animals, including an eye to eye encounter with an orangutan! And some cheetahs. And a Komodo dragon!

All in all, a fun day!

Monday 21 January 2013

Life is Good

Sometimes it's nice to remind oneself of how the little things can add up over the course of just one week to make you feel happy and contented. It might be something nice someone said to you, an effort made on your own part, or simply retail therapy. Here's why I'm happy right now.



Last weekend N and I headed to a local, highly-rated cafe for lunch in celebration of a minor work triumph. We were told we would have to wait for fifteen minutes and were seated in around five, and even though it was packed our food came out incredibly quickly. And any meal which involves complementary cinnamon buns is fine by me!



Saying that, the portion size was massive and I felt yucky for the rest of the day, catalysing another cool thing about this week: I didn't eat too much, and what I did eat was highly enjoyable (with the exception of one failed stir-fry sauce). I recently subscribed to the BBC Good Food magazine on my tablet, which is totally worth the money. And I have started a love affair with real meat! This week I made this Crispy Chilli Beef, and this Pork and Peanut Thai Curry; and N made these Chicken Teriyaki Meatballs and this Honey Mustard Chicken Pasta, all of which were incredibly tasty, with the exception of the sauce for the beef which I somehow messed up.

Crispy Chilli Beef, photo courtesy of BBC Good Food

Added to this, a week last Thursday I finally joined the gym on campus. It works out really cheap if I actually go regularly (motivation!), and is awesome: everything is included in the price including classes, lockers and a towel service, the gym area is massive, and they have a lovely pool! I went swimming twice last week and tried out water aerobics yesterday which was so much fun!

Pork and Peanut Thai Curry, photo courtesy of BBC Good Food

So with that I'm starting to work towards my goals for this year one step at a time so as not to overwhelm myself. If I did that I would surely achieve nothing at all. In terms of my weight loss goal, I lost 1lb last week, which is perfect. And we've made a step in the right direction with wedding planning this week by finally setting up our savings account, exciting!

Chicken Teriyaki Meatballs, photo courtesy of BBC Good Food

I can't write a post about last week without talking about the amazing bread N made. He did a simple wholemeal loaf from Paul Hollywood's book, "How To Bake", and I think it may have been the best homemade bread I have ever tasted!

Honey Mustard Chicken Pasta, photo courtesy of BBC Good Food

This weekend was fun too. We went out for pizza on Friday evening, and I did very well with only eating some and taking the rest home. I worked on Saturday morning, but the afternoon involved an impromptu but very successful shopping trip with a friend, resulting in the bargainous purchase of this spectacular pot! I am christening it as we speak, so I will let you know how that turns out.



So that ended up being pretty wordy, but that can only be a good thing, it adds up to a whole lot of happy! What has made you happy this week?

Saturday 12 January 2013

December fun times

Although I'm having a good week at work, it's probably not all that interesting to you (and I don't want to jinx anything by writing it down, although I can tell you about my triumph in getting an ultracentrifuge to work!) So instead I'm going to tell you all about the non-Christmas related fun times we had at the beginning of December when N's friend was visiting from NL.

Studying the extensive beer list at Alewife

Excuse me for still being excited about this, but one of the awesomest things we've ever done was to join the aquarium! I'm so happy we finally went there, and now we can go whenever we want, and it's so close to home. Actually we joke about going in there just for coffee or lunch, and the Saturday before New Year we actually did pop in, which was stupid because it was soooooo busy, but it doesn't matter because we didn't pay extra for it! :-D



There's a waterfall:



And an Australia section with these amazing pig-nosed turtles:



And obviously lots of fish:






And a rainforest bit:




And a temporary jellyfish exhibit:




And a dolphin show! So cool:



Another place I finally made it to was Fort McHenry, the site of a very important and unexpected American defeat against us pesky Brits during the Revolutionary War in 1812. With this and going to the American History Museum in DC, I've really learnt a lot about the battle of 1812 recently, and considering my general disinterest in history, I'm really finding it fascinating. The fact I'm living in the city where the first Stars and Stripes was made, and it flying over the fort during that battle was the inspiration for the American national anthem helps. And probably also the fact that it's not just a part of American history, but of British history too :-)




So here's to more exploration of the local area in 2013! Anywhere local you want to check out this year that you've been meaning to visit for ages, but just never got around to?

Sunday 6 January 2013

Happy New Year!

So 2013 is upon us, first to recap how we spent the end of 2012.

I was waiting to tell about Boxing Day because I left my camera behind at our friend's apartment, but turns out that I didn't take many exciting photos, despite a few inches of snow! Unfortunately we didn't get to play in the snow because it started raining as soon as it stopped snowing, but we did have a lovely day playing with Duplo and board games, and eating leftovers, and of course partaking in the Boxing Day box, a family tradition that I couldn't bring myself to miss!




The time between then and New Year's Eve was spent doing some much needed chillaxing and not a lot else as far as I can remember, although I do recall an overwhelming trip to a massive supermarket which featured a British section, and a separate outing to the (very busy) aquarium and stuffing my face at the Cheesecake Factory!



New Year's Eve involved A LOT of food again, with N and I putting together lots of party bites, most of which I forgot to photograph :( I did capture this one image, which is of the second batch of food to come out of the kitchen! After this there was also dessert. Ah, happy memories.



And now it is January 6th. I don't usually mind taking down the Christmas decorations, but I feel like Christmas came and went before I was ready for it this year. Although I'm keen to get back to the lab (at least I am now that I've recovered from New Year, the first three days back were not fun!), and feel like I've been sitting around at home long enough, our apartment looks pretty bare now that the decorations are down. And we have a very sad looking tree in the corner, that we can't bare to part with. It's been there for over a month and it's barely dropped any needles, and it wasn't exactly cheap, so it seems a shame to throw it out! I was thinking bunting, any other ideas?

:(

So what does 2013 hold for our household. Well for N, it seems a fair amount of travel is in order, at least for the first part of the year. And for me, well I tend to set goals for myself all year round, but I do think this is a good time of year for reassessing and re-focussing. This year, I thought I might share my latest goals, to see if it makes me more accountable:

  • Join Girl Scouts
  • Lose my American souvenir belly
  • Plan our wedding!
  • Stop scratching my face



What are your plans for 2013? Good luck and have a wonderful year!