Just in time for more snow…

SHUT UP!  This is totally not a post about the weather!  I am SO not writing about the weather, I swear!

Well…okay, I’m writing about the weather a little bit.

After the first few snow falls of the year, I decided that I needed snow boots.  Actual snow boots.  Not cold-weather-only-will-be-totally-soaked-through-in-the-snow boots, aka Uggs.  See, Uggs are fine if you’re just walking to class, or to the car, or even to the subway.  If, however, you plan to spend hours on end shoveling out your car, Uggs are not ideal.

Now let me stop you right here.  I’m not saying that Uggs are a fashion statement.  I’m just saying that they are a good option for the snow and cold of the Northeast.

So as I was saying, I needed good solid snow boots for shoveling, etc.  I haven’t owned real snow boots since, well:

Anyway, it was about time I found a pair.  So I was trolling the Nordstrom Web site and found some awesome boots:

Sorel Tivoli Waterproof Boot in Chili Denim, via Nordstrom.com

Now I was all set and ready to shell out the $94.95 for these boots, after all, good snow boots can last you for 10 years.  And then one morning I woke up, hopped onto Rue La La, and there they were.  For a mere $49.00.  And now, here they are:

Just in time for more snow!

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Also in time for more snow? My Caribbean cruise!  That’s right, for the next week, Boo and I will be cruising around the Caribbean, revisiting our first honeymoon location of Key West, swimming with stingrays, and tanning like the sun will be burning out tomorrow.

Sadly though, while my cruise means you’ll all hate me for being somewhere warm, you’ll also be missing my lovely wit for the next week.

Something tells me you’ll all be most upset about being stuck in the cold though, won’t you?

Well geeze, this is embarrassing

I have nothing to write about today.

Well, that’s not entirely true.  There are additional parking lot shenanigans that I could write about.  There is also the fact that it is raining and that it is going to snow again and that I will LOSE MY MIND if it snows because Boo and I are leaving for a cruise on Sunday.

But, wow, it would be really terrible if I wrote another post about my parking lot or about the weather.  I mean, it’s bad enough that I’ve become a curmudgeony elderly person in real life, but to do it on this here blog?  I just couldn’t live with myself if that happened.

So I’m wondering…is it just me?  I mean, am I the only person who feels compelled day after day to write about their parking lot?  Am I the only person who watches their parking lot hi jinks intently enough that they could in fact write about them on a daily basis?

Did any of the rest of you know that there are actually four ways to spell hi jinks?  (Hi jinx, high jinx, hi jinks, high jinks, for the record).

Oh geeze.  I mean, I know I joked about being one of those losers who stares outside their front window and yells at the kids to stay off their lawn, but now I’m really concerned that I actually may be transforming into said loser more quickly than I thought.

Help me.

THON 2010: Love Belongs Here!

After a year of hard work, fundraising, and preparing, Penn State students spent this past weekend participating in a 46-hour no-sitting, no-sleeping dance marathon called THON.

And the result?

THON 2010 raised $7,838,054.36 for the 4 Diamonds Fund.  $7,838,054.36 for pediatric cancer research.

I have never been so proud to be a Penn State/THON alum!

Countdown to THON: THON IS NOW!!!!!!

THON 2010 STARTS TODAY!!!! I really hope that you guys have enjoyed seeing some of my favorite THON memories and I hope that you guys have checked out thon.org and donated to this seriously amazing cause!!

So for the last day of my countdown I wanted to show you guys my best THON memories.  The THON totals!!!!

THON 2005:

THON 2006:

THON 2007:

THON 2008:

THON 2009:

(pic via Penn State Dance Marathon’s Facebook page)

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Can you see how those numbers have risen?!  It’s incredible and I can’t wait to see what the total for THON 2010 will be!  I really want to encourage you guys, again, to donate!  And I want to encourage you guys to watch THON this weekend as thon.org will be doing a live Web cast ALL WEEKEND LONG!  Of course, there is nothing like seeing THON in person, but really, it’s amazing to check this out and see what THON is all about!

One day we will dance in celebration, until then, we will dance for a cure!

THON ON FOR THE KIDS!!  THON 2010!  LOVE BELONGS HERE!!!

UPDATE: Here is the UStream link for THON Web cast.

Countdown to THON: 1 Day!!!!!

Falling in Love:

THON 2007.  This was right after Boo gave me the very first piece of jewelry he ever gave me–that Ring Pop on my finger!  He also hooked me up with that killer war paint!  This is one of my favorite pictures of us too :)  This was the weekend that my parents met Boo for the first time and for them, it was love at first sight.  It was early Sunday morning, around 5am, and my parents were on the floor with me.  Boo came over while we were talking.  Since we were just standing still, I was starting to feel the pressure in my knees so I asked my dad if he could hold my leg up.  It’s a trick I learned from my friend Tabbi–you stand like the Captain (yes, I mean Captain Morgan) and have someone hold your leg up for a few minutes.  It gets the pressure off of that leg for a bit and then you switch.  So while my dad was holding my leg up, Boo asked if I wanted him to rub my feet.  I obviously agreed and he knelt down (while still keeping his knees off the ground…it’s a THON thing) and he took of my shoes and rubbed my feet.  That was when my parents fell in love.  It was such a Biblical thing and an amazingly genuine gesture that they both started thinking “why the heck isn’t she dating a nice guy like him?!”  My mother took the liberty of sharing that sentiment with me a little bit later.  We were in the locker room so she could help me wash my hair (in a locker room sink, after being awake for over 36 hours, this is seriously a task that requires help) and she asked why I wasn’t dating Boo.  My answer?  “Yeah, I don’t know…maybe I should re-think that!”

The next day I asked him to come over and watch a movie with me.  We’ve been together ever since (which, by the way, will be 3 years tomorrow).

Part of why this is such a cool thing is that I always wanted a THON boyfriend.  That’s not uncommon.  A girl on my Morale team junior year was a THON baby–her parents met at THON–and all the girls on the team swooned when she told us that!

There IS such a thing as parking lot etiquette

Parking lot etiquette exists.  Unfortunately, no one has told my neighbors that.  I am inclined to cut them the teeny tiniest bit of slack ever because it has never snowed like this in Philly.  But I am only just barely inclined.  And here’s why:

We have some of the rudest people ever co-parking with us in this lot.  (Like I haven’t mentioned this enough recently).

The most frustrating thing about the snow is that not everyone takes the time to properly shovel out their car.  They assume that because we live in a complex that has a cleaning crew, someone will come and shovel them out.  This isn’t entirely true.  Yes, the guys come by with the snow blower, but they can’t shovel every single resident out of their parking spots.  Especially because most people don’t know how to park so they end up just inches away from other cars.

The first person to really screw the parking lot for the rest of us was the Mommy Volvo.  During part 2 of the blizzard last week, MV brushed off part of her SUV, enough to see, I’m assuming, and left everything else.  Then, to ensure that she’d be able to pull out of her parking spot, she pulled in and out of the spot to harden the snow.

Are you kidding me?!

Harden snow, if you’ve never encountered such a thing before, turns into ice.  Now maybe she thought that this would be  a sure fire way to ensure that no one would take her spot but there is no such guarantee, especially in the aftermath of snow.  As it turned out, a Honda beat her back to the parking lot.  And the poor guy ended up parked over 2 inches of ice.  At least.  The ice was so thick I could see it from my apartment.

And the Volvo?  Oh she pulled into Boo’s perfectly clean spot.  The one he and I spent 2 hours digging out.  The one SHE SAW US SPEND 2 HOURS DIGGING OUT.  She of course pulled right in.

And then there was the bizarre Saab convertible.  The Saab showed up at the end of the first snow storm.  There was a very bizarre musical chairs situation happening in the parking lot.  A Lexus SUV was in the spot next to me until the Saab pulled up, got out of the car and started pointing to that spot.  And stayed there until the Lexus pulled out of the spot and the Saab pulled in.

What the what?!

Anyway, the Saab stayed there all throughout the second round of the blizzard.  And never ONCE brushed off the car.  Did I mention that it was a convertible?  Yeah, I can’t imagine that’s good for the car.

Let me pause here to show you the picture I’ve just painted:

Yup, you can see where the Volvo was and where the Saab is.  And also, White Mustang Guy (but he’s been surprisingly well behaved lately!).

So the Saab has been in that same spot, with 18+ inches of snow on the car, since last Wednesday.  A full week.  Not once during that week did they brush off the car, including during yesterday’s snow fall.

And then today, I woke up and what did I see?

Yup.  Pulled right out of the spot.  Threw all the snow from THEIR car next to MY car.

I’m so over it.  It’s unbelievable to me how inconsiderate some people can be.  The drivers of the Volvo and the Saab would be the type of people who would throw massive hissyfits if they pulled into the parking lot and the only spots available were filled with someone else’s snow! GASP!  And ice?!  Heaven forbid Mommy Dearest has to force her children to walk on ice.

Wait, what’s that?  You think it’s just so rude that someone left all that snow there?  You don’t say!

In conclusion?  I’m starting to think that shelling out the $80 a month for a parking spot is worth it.  If for no reason other than to stop myself from going insane watching this ridiculous week after week.

Countdown to THON: 2 Days!!!!

Taking a load off:

THON 2007.  This guy (Kulp) is the guy who introduced me and Boo at THON 2k6.  It’s really hard to say what point in the weekend this was.  I want to say it was early Sunday morning…or maybe late Saturday night?  I really have no idea.  That sort of happens at THON.  Which is a good thing, b/c if you figure out what time it is, it can kind of mess you up.  The best thing about being a tiny dancer (oh yes, I’m fully aware of the pun I just made there, I did it on purpose) is that guys can easily lift you up and hold you up for awhile.  Actually, chicks can too–I had both a former roommate and former morale team member hold me up for awhile during the weekend.  After you’ve been standing for hours and days on end, this is an extremely good thing.  So Kulp definitely stood there acting like a make-shift table for awhile and let me lay on his back and I was super thankful.  (As a note, when Boo would hold me up like this, he would rub my calf muscles too–talk about a heavenly feeling!)

I didn’t think there was such a thing as bad pesto

I was wrong.  There is such a thing as bad pesto.  I guess that’s what I get for grabbing the first pesto I found while sprinting through the Genuardi’s yesterday.

Thankfully though, it didn’t totally wreck our dinner.

After hearing a lot of excitement from you guys last week when I shared that souper (oh my gosh of COURSE I would make that pun!!!) recipe for Rachael Ray’s tortellini soup, I thought that maybe I would start posting easy recipes over here.  The basic stuff that Boo and I eat on a regular basis, our go-to dinners.

That being said, here is what I made with the not-so-tasty pesto.

Italian Quesadillas (on a bun!)

This recipe is actually an adaptation of one of my staple dinners from college, hence the name.  But, to make it a little more filling, we used kaiser rolls instead of tortillas.

Ingredients:

Chicken breast (we used 1 breast for both of us)

Roasted red pepper strips

Shredded mozzarella

Pesto

Mayonnaise

Kaiser rolls

Directions:

Grill/saute the chicken breast (We sauteed last night because the pan was already out, we’re that lazy.  But yes, the grill pan will work just as well for this sammie).

While chicken is cooking, cover the bottom bun with the shredded cheese and place under the broiler (oven or toaster oven, whichever you have) until the cheese starts to melt.

Spoon some mayo into a bowl (about 3 tablespoons) and then add about 1 tablespoon of pesto.  Mix together.

That’s it for prep.  The cheese should be melted before the chicken is done so pull the bottom bun out from under the broiler and plate.  Then spread the pesto mayo on the top bun.  When the chicken is done, shred it up into bite-sized pieces.

Stack onto the bottom bun and (if you’re fat kids like me and Boo) sprinkle more shredded cheese onto the chicken.

Top with roasted red pepper strips and enjoy!

Now, if you like a little green on your sandwich, fresh spinach would be a perfect addition to this sandwich.

If you want the lighter version of this, you can assemble it on a tortilla the way I used to in college.

Sprinkle the cheese and chicken onto one half of the tortilla and put under the broiler.  When the cheese is melted, pull the tortilla out and spread the pesto mayo on the other half of the tortilla and fold in half.  Put back under the broiler for a few more minutes (but not too long because hot mayo is just grosssssss!)

Countdown to THON: 3 Days!!!

Alpha Phi Omega’s THON child, Haley:

THON 2006.  This picture is of the APO dancer’s with our THON child, Haley.  This was Haley’s first THON and we did everything we could to make this a really exciting THON for her.  What people don’t necessarily realize about THON is that this is a vacation for these kids.  They come down to PSU and spend the weekend playing games, visiting with their THON organizations, meeting the PSU athletes, the Nittany Lion, and basically having a great time.  They get to forget about cancer and treatments for a weekend and just be kids.  And it is so special to get to know these amazing kids.  We called ourselves Haley’s Heroes that year, but really, she is our hero.

Countdown to THON: 4 Days!!

THON is in 4 days you guys, can you believe it?!

For those of you who don’t know what THON is, I want to encourage you to click the link above.  But, if you don’t want to click it, let me give you the quick version, from the THON Web site:

In 1973, a small group of dedicated Penn State students held our first Dance Marathon. That year, 34 dancers participated and raised $2,000. Since then, THON’s presence in the Penn State community has grown exponentially. THON now has 15,000 student volunteers, 700 dancers, and has raised more than $61 million, benefiting The Four Diamonds Fund at Penn State Children’s Hospital.

THON is now a year-long effort that raises funds and awareness for the fight against pediatric cancer. With the support of students from all across the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and THON Alumni all around the world, we continue to make great strides towards finding a cure for all childhood cancers!

Thank you for your interest in learning more about THON. Together, we’ll make a difference in the life of a child.

“When they say, ‘We Are Penn State,’ this is what they are talking about.” – Joe Paterno

So in honor of this being THON week, I am going to countdown some of my favorite THON memories and post them (with pictures, because I am SO camera-obsessed during THON weekend!) here for you guys.  I’m hoping that you guys will donate to this absolutely amazing cause!!

Meeting Ian Rosenberger (aka Ian from Survivor):

THON 2005.  Ian’s season, Survivor: Palau had just aired (or was currently airing, I don’t quite remember) and I was super excited to be meeting Ian, a Penn State alum.  But this really isn’t the best picture from when I met Ian.

This is:

Giddy much?