Ja Picu!!!!

Last night I went to go get chinese food. That's right, chinese food... in Italy. Two of my friends in the program are both Chinese citizens so they found a place where we could go and get some Chinese-Italian food. And it was soooooo good! I had shrimp lo mein, spring rolls, vegetable fried rice, and chinese fried ice cream.

My main dish.

Gang and Dan both ordered for us in Mandarin, which is one way of compensating for our lack of knowledge in the Italian language.

Rae and her pineapple chicken and Dan's black bean chicken.

That's not Tripe...

So Dan and Gang Gang invited me over for dinner the other night. It was absolutely delicious. We had pork chops with pasta and tomatoes with scrambled eggs. I may or may not have mistaken the eggs for tripe (we bought some at the grocery store and I just assumed that's what we were having.) but it all turned out fine. I love how everyone here really enjoys cooking. We've all been taking turns inviting different people over.

Also, I'm super jealous of their apartment. So so so nice.

Dinner Date...

Went home this past weekend to celebrate my dad's birthday. Mike and I both have finals all this week, so the weekend was an easier time for us to come out before we are done with the semester...

Got to see Laur's first basketball game. And then went to the diner after with the siblings. Waitress was mad awkward. But really really liked Mike.

My burger.

Dan-O with one of his gifts... 

We tried this new place called LaRosa in Grantville. It was nice, but nothing too noteworthy. Funny thing is it's across the street from Fabios, another restaurant I love that the Zagnits introduced me to.

My meal was the Florentine Gnocchi.

Laur had Ravioli.

Mom had Spinach Linguini.

Dad and Mike had the special: Shrimp and crab scampi. 

But wouldn't let me take a picture of either.

The next day after church we headed to Perkins for breakfast.

Food was sooo good.

Company was even better.

Turkey Day...

Updates from Thanksgiving!!!!!! It was wonderful. The Loys came to eat with us, which was a really nice time to catch up. I was still feeling a little woozy/tired from passing out a few days before... but it was a really nice and much needed break from school.

Dr. Dan. Goin to town on the Turkey.

Ann and Dan. Hard at work in the kitchen, doin' what they do...

Trey. Probably being the worst dog ever after this photo was taken.

Cheese from Italy courtesy of the Loys. Seriously, soooo good.

Little sister and the crab dip that Mrs. Lori made. Delicious.

I just realized she has a Hilton apron on. My mother has never worked at the Hilton...

Brother. (I don't know why he can't just take a nice photo.)

The spread. Seriously bangin.

Fiesta Time!!!!!!!!

Gotta love Spanish dinner nights! I happened to have two in a row! The first one Brielle made me delicious black beans, peppers, and onions over rice with cheesy bread and ice tea. It was soooooo good. A little spicy, but not overpowering.

Next the 1300 gang was treated to a plantain feast when Mercedes decided she'd cook up the 8 plantains she got at Cousins with me a few days ago. 

Which just so happens to be one of the coolest grocery stores ever! It is mostly hispanic and Muslim based so it has a lot of ingredients that you can't find at other grocery markets. And the prices are great! Almost cheap as free! Plus it is a nice 5 minute walk from my apartment, so I'm pretty sure we'll be frequenting there a lot more in the semester. 

"Now I know How Noah Felt..."

That's what my mother said in response to the torrential downpour that plagued Philly today. Gotta love her. 

Tonight was a good night, despite managing to somehow get absolutely no homework accomplished.  Mom, Dad, and Mike came down to visit. Mom and Dad dropped off my bike and some much appreciated goodies. We then headed over to Manyunk where we had dinner at this really nice restaraunt that I can't seem to remember the name to. Mike and mom had the salmon stuffed with crab meat. Dad had steak. And I had seafood verdi. Soooo good. But even better was just being with my family. I missed them a lot. 

I even got to see Mike's new house and play with TREY!!!!! He is getting soooooo big!

Now off to bed so I can hopefully get up early tomorrow.

You'll Find Me with My Face in the Stars...

We went to Plough and the Stars for restaurant week last Thursday. It is this really great Irish-influenced place. Mike told me he's gone to their bar before and he really enjoyed it too. First of all, it's in Old City, which I love and should visit more. Second of all, the food was sooooo delicious! The staff was incredibly friendly and my friends were excellent company.

First Course: Seafood Gratin

Second Course: Tilapia topped with shrimp. Green bean and vegetable risotto. 

Corrie and Alex's Meal: Roasted Free Range Spring Chicken. 

Caitlin's Meal: Guiness Casserole.

Third Course: Homemade whipped cream and strawberries. Guinness Infused Brownie, Creme Brule. 

(Overall... a major SUCCESS! I like these little traditions my Temple friends and I have started.)

Temple Does Rockband...

This is what happens when Mary brings Rockband to school with her.

Also had dinner with Sarah Scholl today which was way overdue. I hadn't seen her in sooo long. I forgot how much she makes me laugh. And the lines were soooo short at J/H because everyone went to the football game!!!!

Live Long and Prosper...

Had my first 3D class of the semester... I actually really enjoyed my professor. She is the head of the sculpture department at Tyler and lives in Brooklyn. I think I just really like that she uses the words "awesome", "sweet", and "yeah man" all the time.

After class I went to the SAC with Corrie, Keiran, Mercedes, Mary, and Julie. A few of us went downstairs to the Reel afterwards and watched Star Trek. It was SOOO good. 

Like seriously held my attention the entire time good.

Pot Lucks and Piercings...

So a few things happened today:

A few of us went exploring. Our destination... South Street. 

I met Jill.

Dee got her back pierced.

Caught up with Chelsea and Rob.

We got some delicious yogurt. Best flavor: NY Cheesecake.

Some shenanigans went down... 

Liz and I caught up outside an African Episcopal church...

Then we went back to 1300 to see everyone's apartments.

Caitlin's room seriously looks as though she just moved her room from last year and transplanted it on the 4th floor....

Then we had a dinner party that consisted of pasta, rice, salad...

Black bean Chili, gummi bears, cookies...

And some pretty awesome music.

All in all-- a success. 

Now off to bed. 1st day of class tomorrow...

Mikado...

My mom decided to take me out for sushi tonight at Mikado. I had never really gotten sushi with my mom before so it was nice being able to explain some things to her. The food was delicious and we got to catch up and plan her trip to Temple. 

Photo courtesy my mom's lovely camera phone.

Team Red

Had a loverly dinner with Sarah at Okini. We ate the Tempura Roll, Alaska Roll, Salmon Skin Roll, and Spicy Tuna (not pictured) Roll. The staff kept coming up and making references to us being a married couple. Sar and I just went with it... 

We then headed over to the Cocoa Perk coffee shop to see Matt Barry. He made us smoothies and Caitlin showed up to talk a little too. We may need to start up our own super hero squad, seeing as we all ended up wearing red shirts... unplanned of course. TEAM RED...UNITE!

In other news: I need a hair cut... baddddd.

Past, Present, and Future...

Two days ago I met up with my friends, (and fellow bloggers), Jen and Caitlin. We went to the Neato Burito in New Cumberland. It has this really neat thrift store (Checkered Past) above it and a ridiculous Buffalo head on the wall. Stuffed of course. 

Anyways... Jen brought her wonderful adorable too cute to describe so I have pictures baby girl, Audrey. She is so well behaved. She gave me a lot of questionable looks... which Cait reveled in... but eventually settled down and just slept the whole time.

Cait, Jen, and I talked about how Jen was doing since having Audrey and being home and all the important things. We talked about our love for any and all babies. Babies and their dads in public. And even various reality TV shows... most of which centered around TLC and their "I didn't even know I was pregnant" or "medical marvels" shows. It was just like old times at Temple.  I really have missed talking to Jen. She is seriously one of the most positive people I have ever had the pleasure to meet. And what's even more impressive is that she doesn't make excuses... Jen takes everything in stride. Accepts it. Fixes it if it's worth fixing. And moves on...

Seriously though... this baby is going to be such a heartbreaker. And they both laughed at me when I told them I had a feeling she was going to be one of those edgy toddlers that all the other kids want to be friends with... 

Seriously... adorable.