This is one of my favorite bakeries, admittedly for the extremely adorable vibe. I have to be honest about that. This is what I think my house should look like. The treats are also delicious, but I usually can't eat as much I see in the counter and I think that adds an element of (very temporary) sadness. This is Bake. It even has an awesome name and logo. I know, unrelated to taste. They had run out of most treats by the time we got there, which was too bad because I really wanted a chocolate chip-involved cookie.
I did end up getting a Bailey's chocolate cupcake. There was a little too much frosting for me, but that is a problem easily solved by scooping it off my cupcake and giving it to Nitin. The cupcake part was perfect though.
I like the horrifying awkwardness of this picture. My effort to take more pictures, especially of people, is being exhibitioned in a very forced manner. But somehow I like it. We look strange and the positions are awkward but it's very us. And technically it was taken on a table with no one looking through the lens, so I think I will choose to interpret it as having come out shockingly well.
"Jocelyn, I'm wearing my baller sweatshirt today for your blog." And with Nitin's statement, we embarked on our journey to Hoanh Long in North Park. For anybody who is Chicago neighborhood crazy (okay, mostly for myself because I'm a little bit neighborhood crazy), North Park seems to be just slightly northwest of Edgewater. Besides a foray onto Devon Ave, where our ethnic food experiences began, I'm really unfamiliar with the area. You go a few blocks north and you start getting confused about whether you're still in Chicago.
First thing I learned is not as much about the food as it was about us. We are not photogenic. Nitin doesn't look bad in his baller sweatshirt, but I'm including this picture of me and Saad for two reasons, and they are simple ones. A) Observe his shirt. This is possibly my favorite shirt of all time, anywhere. It is rambunctious, and Saad wears it with pride. B) Saad's face in this picture is halfway there to his "consideration" face. When he tests something out and decides it's actually pretty good, he makes this face. It's pretty elusive and its full effect has yet to be captured on camera. I have lofty dreams of getting it someday.
Nitin was the most excited to try pho. He kept making pho jokes like, "Pho sho," and "Pho no!" Saad and I tried, but we were not as talented as we hoped to be (much like medical school and many other functions of daily life). I've had pho before at Pho 777 (I couldn't remember the name of it, which is why we tried this new place and I'm glad we did), but Nitin and Saad had not. I definitely love their willingness to try new things so fearlessly.
The reason I love pho is that it tastes simple and nuanced at the same time. It has so much flavor to experience, but is not overwhelming at all. And the best part about it is that it achieves this flavor without just being a strong salty sodium-esque taste. Nitin thought his was too minty, but I only tasted the subtlest flavor of mint, if at all. Just another indication of Nitin's body shutting down.
We also got this dish. I can't remember the name of it, even though I have had it at Chinese restaurants every weekend I, as a 5-year-old hater of food (especially Chinese food), considered a torturous family friend dinner. The difference was that this dish had short, flat noodles (they are the white things in this picture). I enjoyed it a lot. I definitely applaud this restaurant for its strong flavors that didn't overpower everything else.
These pictures are by David Cartier. He has so many beautiful pictures of the aurora borealis-lit night skies. Honestly, all I could think when I saw this was "Wow." It makes me really excited to travel this summer and eventually cross seeing this in real life off my bucket list.
In an effort to stay caught up these past few weeks for this random school thing I'm doing, I've been neglecting a lot of other stuff. I've also been trying to avoid collapsing into bed without showering. Trying to keep the hygiene together. But I got called out majorly about not blogging in the form of a text from Nitin, "Why u aint blogging our pho experiences son?" Therefore, Nitin, Saad, and my endeavor into Vietnamese cuisine will be up soon.
And since waking up this morning, it has been my favorite kind of day so far. Rainy (intermittently) and cool. I like constant rain if I'm going to be indoors but during the day, it's nice to have the sun peak out and so I have a small window to make a mad rush to wherever I need to go. Today, it's for coffee since I haven't had caffeine in about 48 hours (totally not feeling it). That's neither here nor there.
I realized that I didn't post pictures for Cherita when she sent me flowers for my birthday. I never used to be a flower person but I think getting flowers on your doorstep and then getting to enjoy them and think of the person who sent them to you for the next several days (and these lasted like... 3 weeks at least, crazy longevity), is awesome.
My mom and I started working on this project three years ago. A lot has happened since then, but I thought of it today- probably because I spent the entire day at home trying to be a responsible adult and get chores and studying done. It was not a generally good focusing day for me. I did finish a lecture and get three loads of laundry done. And two dried.
I think I will work on finishing up all the laundry today and do dishes tonight. I still need to make it to the gym and do four lectures. Ideally, I'd like to respond to e-mails too. We'll see how that goes.
I think the spring weather (and yesterday was surely summer) has been making me think about this blanket because of the colors. I think that this will be a good project to work on once school is over in only a month and a half. One of my goals for 2012 is going to be to finally finish this blanket from 2009. I really like it. But there are going to be a few issues because I'm pretty sure I'm going to run out of yarn and it's still going to be too small. Some problem-solving will be happening. This was one of the first projects we ever did. If I were to do it again, I would pick much thicker yarn, even though the colors of Koigu are amazing.
By necessity, March is going to be easier than February. One-third the exams (and easier ones- Neuroanatomy is one thing I'm fairly, okay, deliriously, happy I will never have to experience again). The weather has been beautiful and puts me in a good mood automatically. The sky was a little confusing when I woke up today, but I realized it was probably because I am unaccustomed to seeing such an early morning sky, most likely. Night owl and all. I am determined to get back to exercising again. All good things. But man, there is so much I want to do before April and the craziness that will come with it hits.
Things that should leave me no time to be watching The Bachelorette Women Tell All online today. Really, self? Was everything being said not incredibly predictable? That did not need to happen, especially since I haven't watched the show this season, with the exception of last week I watched a few episodes and felt caught up enough for the whole season. Regardless.
I want to reserve my time only for things that are deeply satisfying for me. Things like trying foods from cultures I hadn't tried before. Checking out and reading lots of books from the library (and I'm still reading Germs, Guns, and Steel). Spending real time with friends, really connecting and understanding. Writing letters. Starting to dream and research travel plans for this summer in earnest. Spending time outdoors, walking and really looking around. Taking pictures and recording moments. Writing down things that were said and important things to remember and ideas. All these things I want to do. But if I could start with keeping up with laundry and doing the dishes, I think I would be satisfied.
Last week, I read a book Dear Old Love, a collection of notes written by people to people they used to love, or like- the ones who got away. There are more notes posted on the blog. Here are some of the ones I liked:
I'm so glad it didn't work out the way I wanted it to.
Mother told me, "Don't buy the first coat you try on." So I broke up with you. But in retrospect, I think she was talking about coats. Sorry.
Yes, we had good sex. I have god sex with everyone. That's me.
When I play air guitar, you're my air audience.
I never tired of looking at you over the tops of menus.
If all I cared about was producing a genetic masterpiece, I would've stayed with you.
Even though we broke up five years ago, I still rate the way I feel about someone new on a scale that goes from Zero to You.
I could live in the same small town my whole life if you were there, too.
You are a gigantic ass. And not the good kind of gigantic ass, like my ass.
I keep trying to get my hair back to exactly the way it was when you loved me.
I hope you didn't go through those hair-removal procedures for me. I like my women mammals.
Every time I drove you home, I prayed for traffic.
I'm over you like Batman is over losing his parents.
Tank tops, on your figure, were truly an implement of war.
I want to save the world just so you can't be the one to do it.
I've got a lot going on, but it's still really hard pretending I don't love you.
Even in this retirement village, I can't retire thoughts of waltzing with you.
I finally found someone who doesn't mind if I wake them up to say goodbye in the morning.
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These are my favorite:
I'll always be jealous of whoever is with you. And I'm
talking all the way to the one pushing you in a wheelchair down the dewy
lawn of your old folks' home.
You have no idea how hard I root for you.
You signed my ninth grade yearbook, "We could've used a girl like you at the Alamo." I've had a thing for you ever sense.
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Somewhat relatedly, I love this scene from When a Man Loves a Woman.
This is one of my favorite bakeries, admittedly for the extremely adorable vibe. I have to be honest about that. This is what I think my house should look like. The treats are also delicious, but I usually can't eat as much I see in the counter and I think that adds an element of (very temporary) sadness. This is Bake. It even has an awesome name and logo. I know, unrelated to taste. They had run out of most treats by the time we got there, which was too bad because I really wanted a chocolate chip-involved cookie. 
My mom and I started working on this project three years ago. A lot has happened since then, but I thought of it today- probably because I spent the entire day at home trying to be a responsible adult and get chores and studying done. It was not a generally good focusing day for me. I did finish a lecture and get three loads of laundry done. And two dried.
