...And We're Back!

Well, it’s been awhile since I last posted……..like, a long while. 

The guilt trips from Mae have gotten pretty bad:

Sometimes I just try to confuse Mae so she'll stop being mad at me . 

I warned everyone this would happen. I warned you! 

But now that I’m back (for this one post at least), I feel like I owe an explanation for why it’s been so long since I’ve updated my blog.

It’s not that I’ve gotten busy, although I definitely have.

It’s not that law school has gotten difficult, although that’s true too. (OMG FINALS ARE COMING SOMEONE SAVE ME)

It’s just that…well…let me explain with a hypothetical mental conversation. With myself. No I’m not crazy. Yet.:

Me: study study study study study rah.

Me: Done studying yay! This is exciting. Wait, I should probably keep studying. No, my brain has died. I’m done for now. But am I? Yes I am.

Me: Should I do a blog post? It has been a week two weeks a month ten years since I posted the last one!

Me: but then I would have to upload pictures. People like pictures. Without pictures, reading a blog is boring and hard. And boring.

Me: but where is my uploading cord thingy? I should get a cool camera that’s not just a phone

Me: but I don’t take pictures that often. So I don’t have many awesome photos for my blog that go with interesting anecdotes. Hmmmm. And then I would have to edit text and grammatical errors. And that would take, like, five whole minutes.

Me: Yes, but I only have boring stories for my blog. My life is not that exciting.

Me: THAT’S A LIE MY LIFE IS SO EXCITING.

Me: True. Valid point. But my blog does not reflect that. I need animations or gifs or POLLS. Yes, I’ll make a poll.

Me: but I don’t know how to do any of those things.

Me: hmmmmm, well at least I could let people know how I’m doing….OH WAIT PARKS AND REC IS ON…..

*End of conversation with my self*

So hopefully that’s some sort of explanation.

And since we have a lot of ground to cover, I figured I would just give a few anecdotes about life since I last posted!

1. Daniel’s still pretty cool. He hasn't been too bothered by the fact that I frequently refer to daily activities as "potentially liable" or "tortious." (Law school does odd things to your brain.)

We were a jock and a nerd for halloween!

So far, I have gotten him to eat (and like!) sushi, spicy hummus, and homemade oatmeal. So he’s pretty much gone total Californian. Seriously. The second picture below is from when HE requested sushi.

2. The Great Ant War. 

I have been waging The Great Ant War in my apartment. 

Sometimes I think I’ve conquered the enemy. Then there’s another surge.

It’s been a hard fought, exhausting battle, with emotional losses (on my side) and great loss of life (on theirs). For now, the fields of battle lay silent, with myself as the apparent victor. But I know they just lay in wait, anticipating the first sign of weakness. I remain vigilant.

I didn't have a picture of the ants. Or the ant war in progress. Or my many ant traps/cans of raid.
So here's a picture of a pie I made! You're welcome. 

3. I turned in my first graded assignment: a memo. (DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNNN) 

You don't mess with someone writing their first memo. You just don't.

Basically, everyone in my class wandered around like the tortured souls of the damned for a week or two while we dealt with our writing assignment. Looking back on it now,  we were a tad bit melodramatic. But at the time, it was super depressing/panic-inducing. 

(Also, for those of you - like Mae - under the impression that a Law School Memo involves a one page summary of some subject, you are sorely mistaken. It involves many pages, tons of research, going slowly insane, and excessive use of the word "thus".)

4. I saw Colin Farrell!

I was going to sell this excellent picture of Colin to People Magazine for $50,000.
But then I realized I take photos for the love of my art, not for money.
Duh. 

5. I went to the Walk of Fame with Daniel, and we walked for like 20 minutes  FIVE HOURS to get to Neil Patrick Harris' star. Yes, we're that obsessed with How I Met Your Mother. 

Not pictured: Molly complaining about her feet. 

6. I injured myself with a wine bottle opener. I don't know how. The following picture is not for the faint of heart. 

I didn't even go to the ER because I am very brave. 

7. I got to go home for Thanksgiving!

It was nice to have some family time and see old friends. I'm counting down the days until Christmas Break so I can go back to Dallas and see everyone for an even longer time! 

They stopped on their drive up to Bedlam to see me!

Besties Reunited!

I also got to hang with Mae's kitties!
They, on they other hand, were not so happy about the holidays.

Tailgate for Mitch's SMU football game. Yes this is wine at 10am.

AND I made pie and got to eat way too much Thanksgiving food! Good times.

So to sum up: stuff has happened. I haven't really blogged about it. I'll try to be better? (We shall see...) 

I'm off to watch Modern Family study!

So it's been awhile...

...since I've had a new blog post. I blame this unfortunate fact on three very important reasons:


1) Law school, y'all. It's hardcore.


2) MY PRECIOUS BABY LAPTOP WAS BROKEN AND I WAS IN A SPIRAL OF PANIC!!!!!!! Seriously, the days when my laptop was being repaired at the Apple Store were days of darkness. You may think I'm being hyperbolic...let me assure you I am not. Let's just say that if the world does, in fact, end this December 21, I will be prepared. I've been through worse. (Law school is more than just hardcore without a laptop...it is horrific).

But my baby laptop is back!

And there was much rejoicing!

And mostly fixed, I think...*fingers crossed*

But....the reason that is the most exciting reason at all....


3) DANIEL IS HERE YAY.

He's happy to be hanging out with me, I promise....

I was super excited that Daniel finally was moving out to start grad school at UCLA, and so I decided to make him super delicious cake batter blondies! I've made these before from this recipe, and normally they are absolutely delicious. However...I'm still adjusting to the new oven, so they didn't turn out so well:

What they were supposed to look like:

Source

What they actually looked like:

Less "cake batter," more "cake" 

For those of you who have experienced a baking fail before, you know how tragic it is haha. And so I had to fall back on an oldie but goodie and make some peanut butter cookies! 

Yum. 

Other exciting things I've done recently:

Ate at a California Pizza Kitchen across the street from the Trouble with the Curve premiere! We got there right when Justin Timberlake was walking into the theater. There were a ton of people all around screaming and taking pictures, and I didn't want to be THAT girl standing up in the middle of the restaurant to take a pic of JT, so I just took a stealthy shot of the theater while sitting down that shows nothing cool at all. Whatever, I saw Justin Timberlake. :) 

Stealth. So Stealth. 

 Daniel and I also went to Anaheim to watch the Rangers beat the Angels! It was pretty awesome, and the weather was absolutely glorious. Baseball is so much more fun when you're watching it live.

Another excellent example of photography that shows nothing of importance

I'm sure there are other things I've done, considering it's been about five years since I posted last, but I'm tired of blogging now, and so I'll stop. Fingers crossed I post again before thanksgiving haha.

So I'm basically just waiting for fall television to begin...

.....You may think I'm kidding, but I'm not. At all. Talk to Beebs if you don't believe me, but I may have an unhealthy obsession with certain TV shows. And they don't restart until the end of September. IF NOT MID-OCTOBER!!!

Sorry. That was embarrassing. I'll be calm.

So aside from my slightly pathetic despair over the continued "summer" hiatus of my favorite TV shows (EVEN THOUGH IT'S PAST LABOR DAY, PEOPLE. IT'S TIME FOR FALL), here's what I've been up to:


Obviously, reading, studying, reading, reading, and then I followed that up with some more reading! (I also read a book for fun this weekend, which I attribute to some sort of mental disorder I apparently have. You can throw this fact back in my face when I go blind at the age of 25.)



I did another "LA" thing and attended a free screening of an independent movie! In this case, the movie was Liberal Arts, written, directed, and starring HIMYM's Josh Radnor.

source

 While I'm not sure I'll rush out to buy it the moment it comes out on DVD/Blu-ray/Redbox/etc, I really did enjoy it. It made me think and laugh, and Elizabeth Olsen was great. (Side note, if you don't know about the younger Olsen - IMDB her! She's awesome.) And while it's true that - as my friend who saw it with me noted - Radnor does rest rather heavily on his assumption that he's irresistibly charming, I liked him as the protagonist.

PLUS, there was Zac Efron.
I know - I was as surprised by his appearance in this film as you are I'm sure. But he was actually hilarious. As if I needed another reason to appreciate Zac Efron!

You're welcome. 

 

Let's see, what else....

The Cowboys beat the Giants last Wednesday! And therefore the bet Raymond and I had made concerning the game resulted in this awesomeness:

That post is going to come back to haunt him year after year....

And finally, since today is Sept. 11, I'd like to end with my thoughts of gratitude and prayers for all the brave men and women serving our country in the armed forces.
This evening, I was blessed enough to be able to participate in a clinic that helps homeless veterans obtain the legal information they need to help improve their lives.
 I'm so happy to be attending a law school that will let me be involved in such a wonderful program every month!

Happy Labor Day!

So I think I'm getting into the swing of this law school thing. My life may not be ultra exciting yet, as it mostly consists of reading, cooking, and sleeping, but I'm having a really great time so far!

Some random thoughts this week:

Watching the first OU game against UTEP made me really miss all my sooner friends. Thankfully, some of my craziest (read: most awesome) friends texted/heytelled (heytold?) me about a hundred times during the game, and so I really felt like I was with them :)

I miss these lovely people :)

Something else that has occupied a lot of my time this week?

COMMUNITY SEASON 3

I probably love this show TOO much. I should dial it down...

My boyfriend Daniel was incredibly sweet and sent me this as a surprise. He knew I was trying to be frugal, and so I wasn't going to get season 3 right away, even though I really wanted to. A week or so after our conversation about it, I found this in my mailbox! I'm too lucky.

But seriously, if you haven't seen this show, start watching. I mean it. #Sixseasonsandamovie!






 Another random thought for the week: living by yourself is fun and super nice for introverts like me, but it does pose a problem when your zipper gets stuck and you can't really reach it and you just have to fight with the zipper for awhile and then you finally ruin your dress. Womp Womp.

RIP white dress. Get it? Get it?? I'm punny.

Finally, to take my mind off law school and productivity in general, I've been experimenting with a lot of cooking recently. Two highlights: Idaho sunrise potato and mushroom risotto.

For the Idaho Sunrise potato, you fill a hollowed out potato with toppings you would generally use in omelets (cheese, bacon, onions, and bell peppers), crack an egg on top, and bake it. It was unusual, but very tasty! (And cheap!!)

The remote isn't there because I was obsessively watching season 3 of community...

 And here's the most exciting part of this week's post: THE MUSHROOM RISOTTO. Risotto is absolutely one of my favorite foods, but I've never actually thought to make it myself before this week. I assumed it would be too complicated or expensive or something. But then, since it's labor day weekend and I don't have school tomorrow, I figured - why not?

This was the beyond a doubt one of the most delicious things I've ever made!

You needed wine for the recipe, so I had to somehow find a use for the rest of the bottle. ;)

For those people who haven't been fortunate enough to try risotto, it's a ridiculously creamy rice dish, and what you mix in is up to you. Variations include using veggies or mushrooms or meat. As I found out, the rich, creamy texture comes from stirring in the broth very slowly, bit by bit, as the rice absorbs it. That's how you get the starches in the rice to break down, resulting in amazingness.

The recipe I used is here

It took quite some time, maybe 45 min-60 min, but trust me - it was simple, and it was worth it! 


That's all for now! I hope everyone has a wonderful labor day tomorrow :)

My second post! Within the month! I hope you all are very impressed with me....

So I survived my first week of law school. It was a little overwhelming, and I'm definitely a bit mentally worn out, but overall I enjoyed it! I can tell the work will be time consuming, but it's fun and creative work - at least in terms of the way you have to think. No passive speed reading allowed here! You have to focus, concentrate, analyze, question, and eventually realize you don't know anything and there are no right answers. Sounds awesome, right?!

We'll see if I'm still so cheery about it a few months in :)

 I sometimes feel like I'm Marshall from How I Met Your Mother

(cbs)

The most interesting case so far?
One in which we determined why cannibalism at sea is, in fact, MURDER!
Who knew? 



One exciting thing I discovered about living in LA:
DIDDY RIESE!
It's an amazing cookie shop in Westwood where you can design your own ice cream cookie sandwich. Thus:

So. Much. Awesomeness. (for $1.75!!)

For my first Diddy Riese sandwich, I chose a chocolate chocolate chip cookie (that's right - TWO chocolates), an m&m cookie, and rocky road ice cream. As it turns out, I vastly overestimated my sugar tolerance.
So for anyone who'll be lucky enough to get one of these delicious noms soon, here is my advice: when getting chocolate ice cream, stick with non-chocolate based cookies....or else you'll end up in a sugar coma....just saying.

First Days in LA!

I figured since I would have way too much time on my hands while going to law school, I should write a blog with all my free time!
Actually, I just wanted a way for all my friends from Oklahoma and Texas to be able to keep up with my adventures while I'm 'suffering' though 80 degree august heat here in Los Angeles :) 
I'm sure I'll have about three posts on here, and then I'll totally forget all about it. I don't really have any experience maintaining a blog...but oh well! Here goes nothing:

First adventure: the trip! 

You may note that I wear this hat often. Don't hate! #America'sTeam

I am a very serious driver. 

(Who's trying to keep a straight face while mom takes my picture!)

 

There are many many miles between Dallas, TX and Los Angeles, CA, and I'm not going to lie - mom was the driver for the majority of those miles! But I helped out too, and aside from a brief detour to the Grand Canyon....

It was almost too breathtaking to appreciate after 15 hours of driving!

....we made it with no problems all the way to sunny Los Angeles! Everyone here was freaking out about the heat wave that brought the temperature up to NINETY DEGREES by midday. Mom and I, having escaped the 107 degree heat, loved the weather!

I would have to say, after being here for a week and a half, that the weather is still my favorite thing so far about Los Angeles. 

So in the process of getting ready for law school orientation, mom and I had to:

Enjoy a few hours at the beach (rough life, I know!), and...

Ignore the photo quality - the air was just really blurry at BB&B ;)

...discover an escalator that transports shopping carts at Bed Bath & Beyond!

It was awesome.

So long story short, after much travel and much preparation, I have moved into my beensy studio apartment and am ready for Law School! Well, as ready as I think I can reasonably be.

Law School officially starts tomorrow, and I'm sure I'll have many Legally Blonde moments to let y'all know about soon :)