Photographic Accompaniment

Not to overload anyone's google reader, but here are a few pictures from Thanksgiving till now.

Me with my Thanksgiving pie.

My brother and me watching some Fightin' Texas Aggie football.

KP and me in front of the giant chicken car.

The snow on our street.

Thanksgiving et al.

Now that we are well into December and Thanksgiving is long gone, I think it pressing I finally post on my Thanksgiving holiday and some very important events that have transpired since then. I’ve put this post off for a while and it’s a bit on the long side, but I’m justifying it with my last post being so short.

First, Thanksgiving. I made the trek home for Thanksgiving via Detroit. Why airlines have me fly north to go south is beyond me. I did eventually make it to Houston and had a wonderful time with family and friends. Thanksgiving was at my parents’ new place this year. The house is considerably smaller than previous homes we have lived in, and there were some concerns about everyone fitting. Fortunately, the weather was beautiful and warm enough for many of us to sit outside. My brother and I along with a few cousins foxund ourselves at the kid table again this year. Twenty-four and still a kid…I guess there are worse things.

The meal itself was fantastic. I love Thanksgiving mainly for the food. We do it potluck style and each year certain foods make an appearance, without which it really wouldn’t be Thanksgiving. My personal favorite is my dad’s cornbread dressing. This year, my dad roasted the turkey (which was amazing, no surprises there), my brother made mashed potatoes, and I baked an apple pie. So American of me. It was nice being here to celebrate with everyone. Last year I was in Toulouse and prepared the entire meal for my host family, a grand total of 10. I loved sharing the holiday with them and wouldn’t have had it any other way, but I confess the whole thing wore me out.

My brother and I skipped out early this year to drive up to College Station for the A&M vs tu game. It was my first game back in Aggieland since I graduated and I was excited to be back. I’ve always been fond of football. It’s really the only sport I understand, having sat through so many seasons in high school and then in college. But there is something truly great about Aggie Football played in Kyle Field and I’ve missed that. So in tribute to the 12^th Man, here’s a little gem of a video I took while at the game:

Other Thanksgiving highlights include attending “Gloworama,” the art car parade in downtown Houston. For those not from Houston, an art car is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a car that’s been creatively decorated. This year’s favorites included a car converted into an opera singer’s head, a car which shot huge flames high into the air, and a giant chicken that clucked as it moved down the street. My mom’s got an in with the art car crowd and we had VIP access the whole night. My first time to be a VIP anywhere and it was at an art car parade. I aim high, ladies and gentlemen.

Since Thanksgiving, there have been a few happenings which demand mention. First, we got our first snow of the season! It was my first time to wake up in my own bed to find snow blanketing the ground. In my opinion, the whole thing was very exciting but my roommates found it less so. Second, I finished my first semester of graduate school with the completion of a 20 page final paper. Currently, I’m bracing myself for next semester – I’m taking classes in Archive Administration, History of the Book (printing presses, print culture, and books’ importance), and France’s first empire (Napoleon). I’m looking forward to the courses, but it will be a lot of work. Third, my dear friend KP is transferring to DC the first week of January. I wrote of her visit in an earlier post but failed to mention part of her visit included a long talk with her company’s Arlington office. Apparently, it went well and they want her there! My plan to slowly convince all my friends to move to DC is taking form!

Pitfalls of Distraction

It is only when I am knee deep in a paper that I decide I should really spend more time memorizing poetry. Or that my blog has been horribly neglected. Or even that the kitchen floor should be scrubbed, and there is no time to waste. I find I have all sorts of convictions and passions, new things to learn, and more books to read when a large assignment is at hand.

Perhaps it's a fault or maybe only natural, but I choose to take it as a sign I should invest my time more wisely. No, not that memorizing John Donne is more important than my paper on gender trends in historiography (even if it might be slightly more interesting), but that there are plenty of things in life that really are a waste (countless hours on facebook, mindless tv watching...) and I can better manage that time.

But at this point, all these new found interests have to go on the back burner until noon on Monday, then I am free to pursue them at will.... oh, and catch up on my facebook, and tv, and... more procrastination, the false friend that it is. Leads you along and stabs you in the back each time. et tu Brute?



PS. Thanksgiving post is on hold until I have squeezed every nuance of gender trends out of my brain, or Monday afternoon hits, either way I'll be finished with my class.

Step Aside Panera, There's a New Baker in Town

I’m feeling rather inspired and decided to write a post on something that inspires me: bread baking. I mentioned on an earlier post that I was taking it up as a new hobby, but haven’t mentioned it since. I confess, I have been much more faithful to that hobby than this one – that is, I bake biweekly whereas my blog posts are admittedly spotty at best.

I have enjoyed learning to bake bread, and have had much success thanks to my new friend*:

His name in Honoré (after the patron Saint of the Boulanger…judge if you dare, just know it might keep you from a delicious, fresh baked loaf). He is my live starter and I grew him from scratch. Call it a maternal bond, but I’m rather fond of him. I feed him weekly and he gives me delicious bread in return. It’s a lovely relationship we have. **

Together, we’ve made mostly loaves of bread like this one…

And this one…

But I’m expanding my horizons and venturing into other baked goods…like English Muffins!

I’m rather proud of these, and think they turned out very well. When I was cooking them, my roommate MS looked at them then at the recipe I was using and exclaimed “It looks just like the picture!” It was a proud moment for Honoré and me.

We still have a lot to learn, but are seeing steady improvements in the meantime.

*Translation of the lid: “My name is Honoré (and I LOVE making bread!!)” When I showed my roommate, she expressed anxiety over introducing her friends to me…

**Here and here are a few websites that go into further detail on making and baking with a starter.

The Things Memories are Made of

I realize it’s been far too long since my last post, but in my defense I’m a regular blogger for my grad class.* Excuses aside, this update has been long in coming, and I know there would be consequences should I neglect this post. And so, without further ado…

This past weekend may have been cold, may have been rainy, and may have had (diluted) hurricane force winds, but none of that seemed to matter because my dear friend, KP, came up for a visit. KP helped me move in back in August, which means she braved countless hours on the road with me and my family, some more than dubious hotel rooms, and a smorgasbord of culinary treats. That’s true friendship. And perhaps even more impressive, it didn’t put her off! She still chose to visit me.

There is something so very comforting about spending time with people who know you well. It’s grounding and reminds you of who you are and where you come from. There’s no hiding strange quirks from good friends either, which I find liberating. I think it is safe to say, this weekend was much needed on both our parts.

And so, in tribute to a wonderful weekend spent with a dear friend, here is a short list of my top things that happened while she was here:

1. Visiting the monuments at night. We drove to the Iwo Jima Memorial, Korea, Vietnam, and Lincoln on Friday night. I had been to a few before, but never at night. There is something really powerful in visiting these sites at night.


2. Our capitol tour. My friend EG works for a congressman and gave us a private capitol tour Friday morning. He knew what he was getting into when he agreed to take two history nerds on a tour, and humored our questions, comments, and lame jokes well.

3. Macaroni and Cheese at Bullfeathers. So good. That’s all.

4. Getting caught having a “party” on the second floor of a home goods store. Saturday, LG and AD joined us in Old Town Alexandria for the day. We ducked into a store overflowing with inspiring decorating pieces. Added perk: they were offering ginger cookies and mulled wine. We soon found ourselves upstairs “testing” out the living room set with our wine and cookies. Just when we were on the brink of pronouncing our assessment of the chairs’ quality, a sales lady came upstairs and asked if we were having a “party.” Busted.

5. Watching the Salvation Army bell ringer in front of Starbucks. After a day in the elements, KP and I decided to duck into a Starbucks and wait for her uncle to meet us for dinner. Our seats afforded us the best possible view of a very energetic bell ringer. A personal favorite of mine was when he ran across the street to ring his bell at the people stopped at the light. If you have the ability to dismiss the Salvation Army guy after he ran into traffic to single you out, you might consider consulting a cardiologist because your heart may actually be two sizes too small…

6. Spending hours laughing and talking with KP. Yes, this is the mandatory sentimental memory, but that does not mean it’s any less valid for it. Good times with friends are irreplaceable.

*Since I know how anxious you must be, here’s a link to my class blog.

Carrie's Thoughts on Life: an insider's perspective

These past few days were filled with speaking to friends, parents, and roommates about some big decisions. Not huge decisions, but important ones involving the “What now?” question. Last night, a friend shared something she had heard at a recent talk: she said there is a generational shift among women today from the “modern” woman to the “post-modern” woman. “Modern” women take things as they come, knowing that life is a process while “post-modern” women have a much harder time accepting the uncertainties of life. We want to know the end before we finish the beginning. We want to know, Will this relationship work out? Will I be successful in this job? Where should I live? Where should I go to school?

Sounds crazy, but it’s true. There are many things in life that the uncertainty of strikes fear deep into my heart. The strangest part is that I disagree entirely with the principle of this outlook. I don’t think it’s a good thing to know how things are going to turn out. If I knew how middle school would turn out, do you think I would do it? Probably not. But I’m glad I went through it now because I learned a lot during that time. And really, it isn’t like I adhere to the Harry Burns philosophy of book reading: “When I buy a new book, I read the last page first. That way, in case I die before I finish, I know how it ends.” So why then, do I expect to know how things will end up in my life before I read its first page?

I have to remind myself that while life is short, there is ample time (God willing) to figure things out. We don’t have one shot, right? Well, one shot at life, but not one shot at the things it has to offer.

So having said that, here are a few of life’s offerings that I want to make sure I don’t miss. They are only the first to have leaped from my mind to this page and do not represent anything well thought out, but I don’t think things like this should always be products of self-searching and deep reflection.

1. Finish grad school, but enjoy it while it lasts. A Master’s Degree is considerably shorter than a Bachelor’s, so you can’t get burned out, right? WRONG. It’s intense, but it devotes much more time to your actual interests. I’m enjoying my program, and am only beginning to see the opportunities it offers.

2. Begin reading all 6 short listed novels for the Man Booker Prize each year. This one isn’t exactly feasible right now (see this semester’s reading list depicted below), but once the grad school readings cease, I hope to have more time for pleasure reading.


3. Make a career of a profession I find captivating. I think it’s hard to remember that we work to live and not the other way around. This doesn’t mean that we have to hate what we do for a living. Sure we work to put food on the table, but I’m determined to enjoy myself in every aspect of life.

4. Have a thriving vegetable garden. I guess flowers can grow there two, but I want to grow my own produce. The problem: have to learn how to garden. My mom’s a wonderful and very talented gardener and has turned each home we have lived in into an oasis. Here’s her current masterpiece:


5. Leave the country at least once a year. I think it’s important to be pushed outside of our comfort zones on a regular basis. It helps us grow as people and constantly reminds us of things we take for granted.

Because it’s good to think about these things and because I suspect I have readers out there (even if only a hand full), let me know a few of your “not to be missed” items. It will reassure me that you’re out there and will satisfy my own curiosity!

A few pictures from my time here

At the Hillsbrough Vineyards

AD and LG behind the lens

I love vineyards!

A beautiful sunset in the middle of the city.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, the fearless, the magnificent AD!

The Onslaught of Fall

The temperature has dropped, the leaves have begun to change from deep green to all shades of gold and fire red, and we are undoubtedly knee deep into fall. Fall is unquestionably my favorite season with only one exception: like clockwork, I get sick. Like groundhogs mark the end of winter, my health marks the beginning of fall. In Texas, I was confronted with a mere cold that faded away within a few days, but if last year is the model for colder climates, I will be doing epic battle against this cold for weeks.


Last year was my first “real” fall. I was in Toulouse, France and sometime in early November it began to rain and didn’t stop. I caught the “gripe,” and it was as bad as it sounds. This year’s my health witnessed a slow descent into scratchy throat, watery eyes, and sinus woes. My teeth even ache, if you can believe it. And so currently, I’m feeling a bit like death personified.

All this is compounded by our current house temperature. Having to turn on the gas for heat is an entirely new concept for me. Growing up, we just flipped a switch and presto! Instant heat. Not so here. Our landlord’s son has to come to the house and turn it on for us. That means our house fluctuates between the low 50s at night to the low 60s during the day. I suppose it could be worse, at least it’s warmer inside than out, where it is currently 45 and raining. It pains me to even think of it.

According to my roommates, my room is the coldest in the house, which makes it an arctic wonderland at night. I’ve adapted to my new sleeping environment with plannel (plaid flannel) pajama pants, a long sleeve thermal shirt over my tee shirt, wool socks, and a total of five blankets over my usual sheets. Only when I am buried under all these layers am I truly warm. The problem is, I feel a bit suffocated.

A small price to pay for warmth.

My kind of an Adventure

I think it high time I reassess my life’s trajectory. Friday night, as I was sitting in my room doing absolutely nothing worth writing about, I received a phone call from LG and AD inviting me on their latest adventure: an expedition into Virginia wine country. Who am I to say no to such an offer?

Saturday morning, armed with our cameras and fashion forward sunglasses, we drove about an hour north through the picturesque Virginia countryside (red barns, silos, and rolling hills included) to Purcellville, VA where we began our wine tastings at Breaux Vineyards.

We arrived just after 11:00, which perhaps under normal circumstances is a little early to break out the bottle. Fortunately for us, these were no normal circumstances. Breaux Vineyards is among the more well known wineries in the area, and perhaps rightfully so. It was the perfect picture of a georgic setting (yes, I did just use “georgic” in a sentence…stop rolling your eyes, it’s a good descriptor), with rustic beams, stone walls, and picnickers snacking and enjoying their wine under the large branches of shade trees.

After leaving Breaux, we moved down the street to a restaurant located in the middle of a farm. It was a beautiful day and we unanimously decided a small table outside and in direct sunlight was preferable to experiencing our beautiful surroundings from the inside looking out. Eating a farm fresh lunch only confirmed my not-so-secret ambitions of one day growing my own vegetables.

We then slowly made out way to Hillsbouroug Vineyards. This was definitely my favorite of the two, partly because we got to frolic amongst the vines and partly because I preferred their wines to the other.

It goes without saying that it didn’t take us long to adopt this day trip as a tradition. In fact, we’ve hatched an ingenious plan involving all of us quitting our jobs/school, purchasing some land, starting a vineyard, and then having a movie made after our adventures. It will be called Under the Virginian Sun. I’ll begin drafting our film proposal this week, and I expect filming to begin soon after.

Pictures courtesy of AD and her mad-photography skills.

Food for Thought

It isn’t a very well kept secret that at times I wish I were French, or at least living in France. Provence, actually. I am a city girl at heart, but these is something utopian about living in an old Provincial town with enough land to grow my own produce and, well, essentially cook all day. I know nothing about farming, but I think I could learn. Cooking on the other hand, well, that’s different. Those closest to me know that if given the option to eat out or stay at home and prepare a 5 hour meal, I would stay at home every time. Crazy, I know, but there is something beautiful about preparing a wonderful meal and sharing it with people you care about.

So yes, I confess, I’m a bit of a foodie as well. It’s not just about preparing food, but preparing good food. I know this makes me a big of a food snob, but I haven’t heard anyone complain yet (except when I go on anti-fast-food rants). What I mean to say is cooking will take up its fare share of entries, but I don't mean to be labeled a “cooking blog.” With this caveat in place, I would like to introduce my new project.



Grad school reading and job applications can only take up so much of my life before I go mad. So to balance my life, I’ve added a new dimension to cooking. I’ve decided to try my hand at bread baking. I love to cook but I’m not much of a baker, and as some of you may know, I have turned out a number of unsuccessful loaves of bread in my time. I tell you those days are numbered! I’ve more time on my hands than ever before, and as fate would have it, it is more economical to bake your own bread than purchase it at a store (that is, it’s unemployment friendly). I made my first loaves this past weekend and they are not bad, but could improve. So after scouring numerous cooking blogs and websites for tips and recipes, I found this little gem. I left out the rosemary and lemon to make a standard loaf (baby steps, ladies and gentlemen, baby steps). I think this could be the start of something beautiful.

My next project will involve acquiring (by any means necessary) a starter, which is essentially a live, active, thriving and happy yeast colony. You actually have to feed it weekly to keep it alive. Don’t worry, it isn’t carnivorous. I have a few recipes for making my own, but I thought that I would try to bum some off a bakery. Can you imagine how that conversation is going to go?

Um…yes, I was wondering, could I have some of your starter? Yes, I know that’s how you make your living, but I just think you have the most amazing bread – the best I’ve had since returning from France – and I would love to learn from the best [insert other gushing compliments].

It doesn’t hurt to ask, right?

A Welcome

I've been getting this itch recently. Not the kind that makes you pick up your phone and call your doctor, but more of an inkling, really. I began my first blog when studying in France. I enjoyed documenting daily (if not necessarily abnormal) adventures, and loved how it kept my friends and family in tune with my life. Since then, I haven't exactly been good about keeping up with my blogging. Case in point: I had every intention of beginning a new blog once I returned home called "Life on the Home Front." I created it and everything...only, I didn't post. Not once.

Is September too late for New Year's Resolutions?

Assuming it isn't, I've resolved to begin a chronicle of my life here in Washington DC Metro Area (I'm learning that's the cool way to say it when you are not actually living in the District). I moved to the area just over a month ago, and have begun settling. It is still very different, and I continue to make new discoveries daily, so I suppose it is never too late to begin.

A note on the title. I must give credit where credit is due. My original idea for this blog was "The Politics of Change." I mentioned this to my dear friend JS and without skipping a beat, he threw out "Change you can Believe in." Touche sir. And so there it is, Change you can Believe in. I'll just have to get over the dangling preposition...even English majors are allowed them sometimes. Right?

I hope you enjoy, and maybe even more so, that this resolution does not go down the same, dark path of defeat my others have.