Gratitude

Thanks for the anniversary well-wishes. Lots of people asked how we celebrated, but it was pretty low-key. I had clinicals until 7pm and Ross had class in Lawrence and didn't get home until after 9pm. So Thursday, we headed out to Cafe Gratitude. It has a special place in our heart after this summer, AND I can eat anything off of the dessert menu. Win-win.

Best potatoes ever

Warming ginger drink

The view from our table!

We have much to be grateful for.

In-laws in town

Tuesday evening, Ross' mom, dad, and sister drove up from Texas to visit Kansas City for the first time! Wednesday morning, we went to Village Inn for breakfast and then spent all morning walking around the Plaza in the sticky heat. We ended up at Blanc Burgers for lunch and then came back to the apartment to chill in the AC for a while.

Around 5pm, we drove out to Lawrence so they could see KU.


We walked around campus for about 40 minutes.

Ross and Emily

Ross and me standing beneath the campanile

KU's Sigma Kappa house from a distance

Such a pretty campus

Around 7pm, we headed to one of my favorite Lawrence eateries: Wheatfields (not related to the Omaha chain)! It's a bakery serving sandwiches on fresh-baked bread and they try to use mostly local ingredients. They also have a killer dessert case.

Loved this painting by a local artist

Painted mailbox. They don't call it "The People's Republic of Lawrence" for nothing!

That's all for now, but we're headed out to Amish country tomorrow!

The Big 2-5

It's my birthday!

When you are very young, you have all the time in the world... And you keep wondering: Dear God, when is life ever going to start? Then you hit the age of 25 and you realize that your days are numbered, so to speak. You begin to understand that time is no longer infinitely elastic. And why did nobody warn you that you would be spending 30 percent of your time on things that are really tedious or difficult, like trying to find a rental apartment you can afford. This is a terrible time of life, the mid-20s, because you still don't know what real adulthood looks like. And since you probably don't have children yet, you can devote entire afternoons to questions like "Who am I?" which rarely lead down a pretty path.

-from an article in the the May 2010 edition of Real Simple

I was all set to write a melancholy post today. I remember panicking before ballet class when I was little because I was turning 6 the next week and I wanted to stay 5! I have anxiety issues. Ever since then, I've looked forward to my birthday with a combination of trepidation (turning one year older) and anticipation (a day to celebrate). Needless to say, my 10th (leaving the single-digits) and 20th (leaving the teens) birthdays also provoked anxiety.

I was expecting the same with the big 2-5. After all, now I'm in my mid-20s. I know I'll look back at this someday and laugh, but man I feel old! High school was just yesterday, right? Time flies way too quickly. (Except during a 12-hour night shift).

But really when you think about it, we get a day older each day. It's not like you suddenly age an entire year on your birthday. I say I'm 25, but it means I've actually just completed my 25th trip around the sun. Luckily, I've been too busy lately to contemplate this thought.

I woke up to a gorgeous sunny day today, which always improves my mood! In 8th grade, there was 100% chance of rain on my birthday and it poured from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to bed. I obviously still haven't recovered.

I grew a strawberry!

Great view from our balcony

Ross got me an awesome hummingbird feeder for my birthday. Now we just need to find out what to put inside...

April 14, 2010 ended up being a good day! Ross and I went to blanc burgers + bottles on the Plaza for lunch. His mom sent us some money to go to a birthday dinner, so it was actually a dual celebration of our April birthdays.

Lunch was awesome and I already want to go back!

Sweet potato fries as an appetizer. We inhaled these.

Of course, Ross needed his own tray of dipping sauce after I cross-contaminated the chipotle aioli and homemade ketchup (!)

Ross with his bison burger (with meat from a local farm) and onion rings

Spicy lentil burger and salad (it tasted better than it looks). I'd read a review in which the writer raved about this burger. It certainly was good, but not as spicy as I'd hoped. I'll be trying a different burger next time.

Trying to keep all the yummyawesome veggies in

How old do I look?!

After our great lunch, I had to go home and take a nap because I had to work that night.
And speaking of late nights, Ross brought a Baskin Robbins turtle pie to work when he got back from his night class! When I was little, there used to be a Baskin Robbins in Dundee and we'd walk there after dinner every now and then to get a cool treat on a warm summer night. I remember Tommy always getting bubble gum ice cream (gross) and I think it was my dad who started getting turtle pie. One bite and I was hooked! I haven't had it in years and it was just as good as I remembered.

Cookie-crumb crust, praline ice cream, and carmel on top. What's not to love?!

Thanks to everyone who sent birthday wishes! I know I'm bad at keeping touch, but it's nice to know that out of sight isn't out of mind.

I've grown a lot in 25 years!

Yummy

Thanks to facebook postings, I had a craving for Piranha Sushi today. Problem is, it's 12 hours away in downtown Cowtown. However, thanks to some KC contacts I got wind of Nara Sushi in the Crossroads District of KC. It's not Piranha, of course, but it's a close second and I'm very excited we found it!
In other news, still nothing from KU. You'd think a graduate school program would be more on top of things.
Last week I blogged about how much I love sunshine, and it's been raining ever since. Until today. Yay!
I go back to work tomorrow and I feel like I have had way too many days off. Yet I didn't enjoy them because I can't fall asleep before 2am now and don't sleep well. I'm so over night shift.