Good Friends

I am so lucky to have such good friends. I write this as I sit eating cookies that one such friend delivered because she knew I had a rough day. Another friend spent hours this week talking to me because I really needed to get some things off my chest, even though she goes to bed early, and has kids, and it was super late. I have friends at work that motivate me to run, even though I whine and complain the entire time. And a friend that will fly all the way from Texas to see me. And friends that will let me boss them around on shopping trips. And friends that text or call just to chat. And friends that share their beautiful babies and children with me. I'm truly blessed.

Kumquat and Trixie's DC Adventures, Day 1

I picked Trixie and her husband at the airport Tuesday night. I *might* have squealed with joy when I saw her (and her HOT pink pants!!). After dropping them off at their DC hotel, getting stuck in the DuPont traffic circle, I headed home to try and sleep - but I was too excited :)

The next morning, I picked Trixie up at the Metro and we headed to Reston Town Center, one of my favorite places. Trixie had to return her broken iPad, and I knew some of her favorite stores were there, so it was a perfect place to spend the day shopping. We hit up J.Crew and got matching sparkle headbands, looked unsuccessfully for these TOMS, drooled over everything in anthropologie, and got the iPad replaced for only $50 (thank you Apple care!). By the time we finished all that, we were STARVING and Trixie wanted some Thai. We saw a place as we were parking, and set out to find it. Instead of turning right, we went left around the block. After making it the entire way around the block, we pulled out our phones to see what went wrong. While we BOTH stood, phone in hand, looking for this restaurant, I happened to glance up - we were standing right in front of it! Laughing, we went inside and had some of the best Thai food EVER. Oh my gosh. It was amazing.

After we left Reston, we headed to the mall near my house and spent some time in Forever 21 making fun of the ridiculousness that it can be.

We then went to Wegmans, a favorite of both Trixie and I. When we lived in Syracuse, I would often go with Trixie. It brought back many good memories and we also got her husband some of the granola he loves :)

The day went by too quickly but it was great.

9/11 Thoughts

Yesterday at work, I spent a lot of time thinking about 9/11. 9/11 is now a national day of service, and since I work at a volunteer center, we focused on how people could remember those who lost their lives on that day through service. It was nice. It really helped me deal with the emotions of the day by focusing on good that could be done.

Then, I got in my car to head home, I heard a news clip from Romney, about how, as president, he would work to increase our military size and strength so that no one would dare attack us. And its not that he is a Republican that I am saying this (I would have the same comment if Obama was the one making such a statement) but we had a strong military, and we were attacked. While I was too naive at the time, I have come to think differently about 9/11 and what it means about America's standing in the world. While at George Mason, I had a professor, Richard Rubenstein, who was interviewed the day after the attacks because he was an expert on the Middle East and terrorism. The interviewer asked, in a very confused and angry tone, what kind of people would commit such a cowardly act. He response is what no one expected to hear:

The al-Qaeda attacks were motivated not just by malice and fanaticism, but also by opposition to the U.S. policies in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Israel/Palestine. Usama bin Laden had made that clear in his public statements. We certainly needed to bring the perpetrators to justice, but we also need to think about why our policies in the Muslim nations were generating so much hatred and anger... Many people still perceive the terrorists who perpetrated the attacks as devils, which removes them from the universe of historical causes and effects. (From: Reasons to Kill: Why Americans Choose War)

The University's phones lit up almost immediately, calling for him to be fired, but because of the academic protections that enable the exploration of ideas and research, he was fine. But his point, that while hard to hear, and even harder to understand in the midst of such trauma is an important one, I feel. And we have not yet learned the lesson. As Romney uses the anniversary of 9/11 to demonstrate why we need a strong military, I would propose a different lesson: We learn the lessons of history, understand the actions taken on behalf of the United States leading to the attacks, understand the liberties we have sacrificed since 9/11, honor those who have died on all sides, and commit to do better.

Trixie and Kumquat - reunited in 24 hours!

I am so excited I get to see Trixie in approximately 24 hours!!! So much has changed since we last saw each other over 3 years ago, but some thing stay the same. I am grateful for  special friends. We will pick up where we left off and have a great time shopping, talking, and eating :)

 

World's Best Chocolate Cake

I discovered a recipe for an amazing chocolate cake. I've shared it with friends in Virginia and made it for my dads's birthday and now, I feel obligated to share it with the rest of the world. I can't take credit for it - I found it on Allrecipes. If you need an easy but AMAZING chocolate cake try this one :)

ngredients

• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened


• 3 cups white sugar


• 5 eggs


• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract


• 2 teaspoons instant coffee granules dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water


• 1 cup buttermilk


• 2 cups all-purpose flour


• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder


• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder


• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan. Mix together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.


2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the dissolved coffee and buttermilk. Pour batter into prepared pan.


3. Bake in the preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 20 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Some notes: I didn't use coffee, I just added 2 extra teaspoons of cocoa and mixed it into the boiling water. I also used the Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa (LOVE this stuff - seriously, never buy the regular again). I have a policy of not buying buttermilk since half the container goes to waste, so I use regular milk with a tablespoon of lemon juice - let it sit for 5 minutes. I found that it has to bake for 70 minutes in my oven - I made 2 under baked cakes back to back (I'm also the only person alive who doesn't like slightly under baked cake). Also, I had trouble getting it out of the pan when I used regular cooking spray but the baking cooking spray is amazing stuff. You can dress it up with mini chocolate chips in the batter or raspberries in the center. Or just dust with powdered sugar and eat :) This cake would not have been possible without my amazing sister Danielle giving me a bunt pan one year for Christmas or my friend Pheobe asking for a chocolate pound cake for her birthday - so thanks ladies!

Fears

Yesterday, I faced one of my fears. In order of most scary to least, my top five fears are as follows:

1. Spiders


2. Childbirth (to a lesser extent, pregnancy)


3. The dentist


4. Being horrible maimed in an accident (mostly the pain involved - in case you can't tell, I'm kind of weak)


5. Not having a good book to read (mostly a joke, but being without a book is kinda a big deal to me)

Yesterday, I faced one of my fears - the dentist. The news was not good - how could it be when I haven't gone to the dentist in YEARS and I eat candy like its my job?? And while it will be a small fortune to fix my cavities/have a root canal/get my wisdom teeth removed, I'm hoping that I'm able to keep my fears in check and keep going to the dentist for regular checkups. And a shout out to my new friend, nitrous oxide - dang, it was awesome being high as a kite!

I have no plans to conquer my fear of spiders anytime soon, just FYI or childbirth (trying to come up with a different plan for that since I hear I can't be on drugs for the nine months leading up to it).