Boston is for Books

Last weekend I drove out to Boston to work the long weekend.. (Boston view from my hotel window:)

another Library recruiting conference. This was by far the best of these conferences (and I've been to four in the past year) that I've worked at. Though I'm not directly involved as a registered participant, I do get to enjoy the perks of the conference as an exhibitor... and by perks, I mean some good swag.

I came home starstruck by speakers like Elizabeth Gilbert and Al Gore, carrying heavy librarian tote bags filled with free books, enthralled by the magical mind of JK Rowling, and exhausted after overeating delicious chowder and north end italian all weekend.

(Al Gore speaking on Our Choice, creative solutions in the climate crisis to a standing-room only crowd of enthusiastic librarians).

Because a bunch of students came out to the conference to help out and do some job searching and networking, my schedule was pretty freed-up. Consequently I visited lots of friends, made a Sunday morning ikea run, and took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Boston Museum of Science, with an SU alumni and museum employee in the Computer Clubhouse. As both an enchanted student and an iSchool employee the museum of science is an outstanding place.

(ABOVE: the main museum exploration area. If you're going make sure you check out Cahner's Computer place and meet the virtual humans, Innovative Engineers and Mapping the World around us, I loved the weather and wind stuff and my mind was boggled in the Mathimatica area. It was really exciting to see yound students learning - and excited about- the STEM disciplines. Hopefully a few of them will be iSchoolers soon. BELOW: Nick my trusty tour guide providing free(!) tickets and an all access pass to everywhere). Also at the MOS right now is "Harry Potter the Exhibition" - drawing large crowds, and creating lots of conversation... as all things Harry Potter always do. As a fan myself, Nick brought me through the exhibition which didn't feel at all like a science museum, but instead was more like being on set at Warner Brothers. (Photo below of me posing with a giant chess piece from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone at the Museum entrance).

All in all, another great weekend.

Winter Wonderland

A few weekends ago (i'm a little behind on my blogging) we drove a few miles southeast of Syracuse to the Fabius/Pompey region to have a Highland Forest park adventure. I've been to Highland before for other things...hiking, horseback riding, a picnic; mostly summer activities, and was pleasantly surprised to find such a dynamic winter atmosphere.

Four of us decided to try our hand at snowshoeing... an upstate NY winter pasttime that I had had yet to experience, and am now, so glad I did. The views were outstanding... all the trees capped with bright white snow, untouched trails... we hiked around the park for about an hour enjoying a great winter workout. There are tons of trails to choose from, and you're even allowed to create your own. But best of all, the price is right... we each paid $3 for the whole deal... admission to the park, and the snoeshoe rental. (Sorry I don't have more photos... right after this one was taken of Elle and Jeff the camera was so cold it wouldn't turn back on).

In the winter season the park also rents cross country skis and has some nicely groomed ski trails, offers a beautiful lodge to help keep warm, and even on the weekends hosts horse-drawn sleigh rides! I definitely give two thumbs up to Highland Forest Park and encourage you to visit for at least a day this winter...

Penn State Wedding Weekend

It was a swirl of orange meeting blue as a Penn State alum married a fellow Syracuse Orange in State College, PA last weekend.

Audrey and Matt (Buck) planned a New Year's weekend wedding in State College, so Binh and I drove down and had so much fun. We learned that off the field, Penn State fans are really much easier to like... and that even though it's located in the middle of nowhere, the campus is really cool with lots of fun areas and traditions to explore.

Julie and Binh on campus with Joe Paterno at the Stadium

It was a cold, cold lion...
We were recommended the Ye Old College Diner for some Cinnamon Stickies... and man, were they delicious... I'd definitely pass on this recommendation whole-heartedly.

Holiday Celebrations

I'm a little behind the times on this one, but I wanted to post some photos of my Christmas and Holiday housewarming party.

This Christmas season was the most relaxing I've had in awhile... It was so nice to have the whole week off to enjoy my new house, and spend some real time with my parents and family. I went to my parents house for a night for our family Christmas and then we went to the grandparents/extended family's in Fredonia for a few nights.

Christmas Eve dinner with my aunt (and my Dad and I in the background...)

Grandma and Grandpa always go first...

We taught Grandma how to write messages on facebook...
My family has lots of kitties... very few seemed to like Brian this Christmas.

On the 27th we came home to Syracuse to celebrate the official housewarming with friends and family. We had about 40 people stop by throughout the day and enjoyed company, conversation, and hosting. A few photos of the friends/party below.

Elle enjoying the company of all the men... and the men enjoying all the food.

Elle, Theresa and her family...

Jeff and Sean, our chefs

Holiday Tranquility

Do you ever feel the tranquility of Christmas? I'd say most believe this word combination to be an oxymoron... but this year I may just have discovered it's essence. It's in the moments before the house wakes up in the morning; those first moments the tree is lit, Amado is purring (happy he's just been fed and I'm awake to play with him), and the house is otherwise silent. Glimpsing through the curtains I can see the soft snow that's fallen overnight, and I feel the chill of the morning. Staring at the twinkle of our tree, smelling the hint of soft pine and cookies, It's magical... it's Christmas.

As many of you have read on twitter, we've had quite the active Holiday Season at my house this year... from the decorating and lights, to cookie making, and you saw the gingerbread house. A few of the shots from the week. Amidst the Chaos, I hope you're also stopping to enjoy your Christmas season.


Amado's form of holiday helping. The ribbon tantilizes him everyday, and the glitter on these pointsettas is just too much... it's a miracle the ribbon is still on the tree and strung throughout the house.
The tranquil (and somewhat tipping Christmas tree, it's really the star that makes the whole tree look like it's tipping).. it's my first tree, and took a lot of effort to get, get the necessary tree items, and was a lot of fun to decorate with Natalie.

We had a night of cookie making this week. We dont have any cookie cutters of course, so we got creative... first we decorated a whole bunch of circles... (we call them our ornament cut-outs)... And then we got fancy, rolling the dough into holiday shapes.

Our friends Kirsten and Amber even stopped by to help with the decorating (along with Binh, Lizzie and all the roommmates, the cookie decorating was a fun and successful night.

Happy Holidays!

Gingerbread Creation

My roommates have been really into this Christmas season, from the decorating, to the lights, to the advent calendars and lots of comparing of family traditions over cocoa... it's been a good season so far.

One of my favorite things we've done as a house so far has been to build this gingerbread house... it took lots of hands, lots of hours, lots of creativity, and lots of patience... We made lots of mistakes (you may notice the big hole in the roof), but we had lots of laughs and ate tons of candy.

Lizzie and Meg and lots of candy.

Elle and Natalie posing with their creations.

The creative crew: Natalie, Julie, Elle, Lizzie and Meg


Putting the walls together-- they were heavy, so they're being held up here with honey wheat pretzels.

Decorating the front yard.

So we learned today (after 3 days of construction) that the roof we decorated was actually the walls, and the walls are actually the roof. Oops... we hear this mistake happens all the time in the real world.

It still looks like a cool gingerbread house to us. Even with the big gap in the roof....

One Month In

Many of my extended family members have been asking to see photos of the new house, beyond the ones posted move-in week, in which admittedly it was very hard to tell what the house actually looks like. The house has come a long way, and I really love being here, as do the roommates I have with me now. We've enjoyed it's warmth, safety and it's larger spaces, and it's really beginning to feel like home now.

While I look around and still see projects that need to be finished up... curtain hanging, painting touch ups, a mirror to hang up, new lampshades to be found... a majority of the big projects are settling, and I'm glad the house feels so much like home and is so welcoming already, just a month in. We've also just begun to decorate for the holidays. Just wanted to share a few photos...

This is the cozy living room, it's been painted (if you remember it was a very bright green) and it's become the hang out place of the house. The fireplace has brought an amazing source of warmth to the house in so many ways.

The other side of the living room, with the big bay window that still needs curtains...

This is the dining room, that had all the crazy wallpaper and the Annie Oakley lamp. It's now been the place of a few birthday and celebratory dinners.


The dining room from the other side, when you walk into the house the dining room's on your left, and the kitchen is accessed through it. (Amado loves to have his photo taken and as you'll see has snuck his way into many of the shots)...
The kitchen still boasts the lime green color the rest of the house has begun to shed, and is up next on the list of things to paint. Though with four girls, we love it's size and it's community space.

Last night my parents were here for the game and a few house projects. It was nice for the first time to make and enjoy dinner for them in my new home. More photos to come soon as more projects wrap up.