My Weekend In Review

This weekend, I went to my sister's house and stayed from Friday afternoon until Sunday morning.  My parents came up on Saturday to meet us and then went on with me to West Virginia for my awards ceremony.  It was such a great weekend.

Since my parents were coming, my sister and I decided we'd do all the cooking, which was really fun.  On Friday night, we did the grocery shopping and put together our appetizer, this brie in crust.

It was soo good!  I made it before, at my sister's bridal shower, but I was so worked up about making sure everything went off without a hitch that I don't remember if I even tried it.  It's a great thing to do because you can make it the night before, put it in the freezer, and then just pop it in the oven 30 minutes or so before your event and its done and delicious!  And so simple too--it's just brie and green onions in there, but you could totally put a bunch of different stuff in there and it would be so delicious when it all melts together.  I love brie.  Love, love, love.

We also made a bunch of other stuff that I didn't take pictures of because I was too busy socializing with my family.  For dinner, I made a roasted red pepper cream sauce that we put over linguine, and my sister made some herb-baked chicken that was pretty awesome, too.  For dessert, we made one of my sister's husband's grandmother's recipes--it's called death by chocolate, and its layers of brownies (soaked in kahlua chocolate syrup), chocolate mousse, (which I made myself and was quite delicious), crushed heath bars, whipped cream, and then each layer over again.  It was pretty good.

It's probably kind of silly, but its nice to do something for my parents for a change.  It was nice to spend the time cooking with my sister, too.  She doesn't love to cook or anything (in fact, she spent most of her time telling us that she would never, ever cook), but we had a really nice time and it was pretty fun.  My parents really appreciated it, and we were able to spend a lot of time together, just talking and hanging out.

On Sunday morning, we got up early and went to breakfast with Sarah and Kyle.  Then my parents came to West Virginia with me.  My poor dad is really uncomfortable at any event where he has to dress up, and this was no exception.  Plus, as I'm sure you can imagine, in a lot of cases there's a lot of pretentiousness in law school and my dad is a bit uncomfortable around it.  Poor dad.  But it was still really cool to have my friends get to meet my parents--they hadn't been to WV since they moved me in.

I got my award for having the highest grade in my health care torts class and got called up for being a class officer and then again for getting an exemplary group award for the family law clinic earlier in the year.  It was nice, and I had a cute outfit too.

It's blurry because I took the picture with my phone, but you get the idea anyway.  Anyway, I hope everyone else had a great weekend, enjoyed the beautiful weather, and spent time with their families, too.  Because there's nothing quite as nice as appreciating, really appreciating, all the blessings that make up your life.

I Feel a Challenge Coming On

Emily, a fellow blogging friend, recently shared something very critical with me: apparently there is a recipe you can make to help entice your boyfriend to propose.  Yes, yes, I was surprised, too.  I thought if anything would do it, it would be my cakes and pies, but no, Glamour magazine insists that it is chicken that will do the trick.  Well, I'm willing to try anything at this point.  I'm on the verge of graduating and am quite ready to think about tying the knot.  I am almost completely done with school and what time is there like now?

Now I'm going to have to try this recipe and I will consider it a challenge. I love a good challenge.  Unfortunately, though, being the type A personality that I am, as much as I love challenge, I hate defeat or losing in any shape or form.  And this is a challenge that, if I fail, the consequences are far graver than if it were, say, a game of Scrabble.  (And, I assure you, I take Scrabble very seriously.)

Still, it's worth a shot.  It does look really yummy and, even if he doesn't drop immediately to one knee and pull a diamond out of his pocket, at least he will be well fed and that could lead to many other good things.  And, as I mentioned before, he does have a birthday coming up and I feel like I have to make it extra special since I have to go to a job interview on the day of his birthday.  Engagement chicken, perhaps? 

If I do serve this, I will have to find a different name to call it.  Lemon and herb chicken?  I think that sounds a little less intimidating to a boy than engagement chicken.  Although we'll all know what it really is and what the purpose is.  But he need not know.  Pair it with some nice wine, some asparagus, and homemade bread (see, that's what I think should entice a man to propose!), and I don't see any reason why he wouldn't be convinced that marriage to me would be a very wonderful thing.  At least he won't starve.  Then I'll whip out dessert (key lime pie is his fave, but he's not too terribly picky) and I will be the most perfect girl in the world.  For a moment or two, at least. 

I hope I can make him feel like his birthday really is a top priority all while successfully interviewing for this job. 

I feel this this is my big break.  Well, maybe I have two big breaks--I've got a marital opportunity with Andy, and an employment opportunity at this firm.  Is there employment chicken I can make, too?

Worst Girlfriend Award

I'm having a bit of a rough day.  Well, it started last night.  The lawyer finally emailed me back and set a date with me for an interview which you would think is 100% good news.  But he scheduled it on Andy's birthday.

I know that, in this economy and with the very, very few opportunities that I've had, a job interview is one of the most important things in the world.  But I also know that it feels really crappy to not be able to be there and do as much for Andy as I would like.  We can pretend that birthdays are less and less important as we get older (and, maybe, in terms of gifts and elaborate parties, its true), but the truth is that its really, really nice to be remembered and have a special day where people really take the time to think about you--just you. 

At first I thought about rescheduling, but I really do think that would be foolish.  This guy is keeping count of every mistake and isn't afraid to remind me of them.  He reminded me of the extra 1/4 page I wrote and asked me what I could do to make up for the prejudice that he had against me because of it.  If I ask to reschedule for personal reasons, I might as well wave a little white flag and surrender right now.  And I can't do that.  This is too great of an opportunity.  I mean, after all, he has spent so much time corresponding with me, and he even told me he's giving me a chance despite the fact that he just hired someone--which suggests to me that he's probably not even interviewing anyone else.  So, really, this is a great (if not a once in a lifetime) opportunity.  I don't think there's any debating that.  And in the grand scheme of things, this job is most important--this job is what will make my life (and Andy's life) possible.

But I still feel like the worst girlfriend in the world and I have to figure out some way to make it up to him.  Maybe I'll make a bunch of different desserts for him.  I was trying to figure out what kind of cake he would like the most, but what he really likes best is key lime pie...  so maybe I should make a couple of those.  I could also take him out to dinner...  And maybe buy tickets to a baseball game...  I already got him a present, but I really feel like I need to go above and beyond now that I won't be there for most of the day.  He always takes off work on his birthday (must be nice, I went to school and then drove home for 6 hours on mine) and I know he wants to go fishing for drum.  Because of this interview, I will miss all of that.

So, I guess what I am saying is...  I'm taking suggestions.  If you have thought of anything to make a birthday really special, please let me know.  I'm all ears, because right now I'm feeling pretty much like the worst girlfriend in the world.  And that sucks. 

I'm really excited about this interview in theory.  It's a great opportunity and an awesome firm with a really, really good reputation.  And this guy has taken a long time to get to know me.  Much better than any other lawyers I've corresponded with.  After all, its harder to turn down someone that you know than it is to turn down someone you barely know at all.  I feel like this may be my chance...and its something I've been obsessing over for weeks and weeks.  It's not like I can turn down the opportunity, but I feel terrible about it.  I have to fix it somehow.  I'm not really sure how, but I have to make it better.

Everyone I've talked to thinks I'm doing the right thing--or, if they think I'm not, they're not telling me.  I hope I'm making the right decision.  Unless I don't get the job, and then I'll probably feel terrible for a long time.  I have to buy some baseball tickets.  That will help assuage my guilt.

I Wanna Be a Producer

It's no secret, I'm a fan of musical theater.  Okay, more than a fan.  I absolutely love it, and I have loved it since I was a kid.  I watched Disney movies, of course, (which are musicals, too), and my mom filled our shelves with VHS tapes of things like the Sound of Music, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, My Fair Lady, South Pacific, Oklahoma!, Meet Me In St. Louis, etc. etc.  I loved it then, and I still love it now.  And since I can't sing or dance, the only thing I can do is enjoy it.

One thing that many producers have been doing lately is making shows that fabricate a story out of all of the songs that a particular singer or musical group produced in their lifetime.  Like Mamma Mia, Movin' Out, and Jersey Boys, to name a few.

Now, if I were a producer, I would do the same thing.  Only I would do it with Garth Brooks.  He is probably my favorite of all time and, with such a long career, there's a lot of music to work with.  Here's my pitch:

Obviously, it has to be about either a truck driver or a rodeo man.  I'm much more interested in rodeo, so that's what I'd pick.  He's got to have two loves--one that ends dramatically, and one that's a real love.  I think it's probably easier to have the true love first.  Then we can end on a more dramatic note.  This is my basic run down of songs...  Of course, you have to know Garth like I do to really appreciate the beauty of my organization.

Ain't Goin' Down Til the Sun Comes Up
The River
Callin' Baton Rouge
Whatcha Gonna Do with a Cowboy?
Shameless
Somewhere Other Than the Night
Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House
Friends in Low Places
The Dance

Intermission

American Honky Tonk Bar Association
 Much too Young to Feel This Damn Old
Learning to Live Again
Rodeo
Longneck Bottle (meeting other women and partying)
The Thunder Rolls (with lyrics re-written a bit because she's not going to kill him)
The Beaches of Cheyenne
The Dance

I think I probably need some more songs in here, I do have a basic idea.  It's your general cowboy meets girl story, but with a twist.  Because you have to get at least a few angry Garth songs in there.    He's never the same again, but eventually meets another woman.  He thinks she will fill the empty place left by his first wife, but the truth is that she never really replaces her.  He's a pretty lackluster husband, consumed by rodeo dreams.  She, of course, completely adores him, but she's third best--first is the original wife, second is rodeo, and third is poor little wife #2.  All the way through, he dwells on the first wife--and has a bit of trouble with alcohol, some of it more fun-loving bar-type fun and other parts a little bit darker, more consuming and dangerous.  There are other women, too--nobody serious, but he crosses the line a few times.  Eventually we come to the Beaches of Cheyenne.  Cowboy and wife 2 get in a huge fight and he goes off to the rodeo and dies with his boots on.   She haunts a beach, driven mad by grief and jealousy.  The song ends with The Dance, focused on the love he had for his first wife.

I think its genius.  Genius! 

Can you tell I'm tired of doing work?  Well, I am.  This weekend, I've finished my whole to do list (which was to finish reading everything for my classes for the semester, plus do my BTD contract), addressed my graduation announcements, went to the most horrible moot court argument I've ever seen for a class makeup, written ten new cover letters, printed the cover letters and resumes up, cleaned my apartment, packed stuff...  It was a lot. 

Plus I'm not feeling well.  Yesterday it snowed, today it was 50 degrees, and tomorrow its a high of 73.  I think that all the temperatures and barometric pressures changing is what has made me feel really crappy.  So I needed a happy diversion, and that was planning my hypothetical musical.  Maybe nobody else would like it, but if somebody made that musical, I'd totally buy tickets.

You could also make a musical out of Jimmy Buffett songs.....

Graduation Announcements!

Even though the tracking number said that my graduation announcements wouldn't arrive until Monday, when I checked my mail today, lo and behold, they were there!

And they're so beautiful!  The blue stripe is all shiny and beautiful...ahh so exciting!  It's tangible things, like announcements, that really make the fact that I'm graduating seem real. 

And the best part...  MY NAME ON THE INSIDE! 

I also recently got the invitation to the academic awards ceremony, which is kind of a big deal, too.  I've only known a few people to get a CALI (award for highest grade in the class in health care torts), and I'm pretty stoked about it.  The school let me send out invitations to my family and stuff, so I sent them to my parents, my sister and Andy.  Hey, if I can send them, why not?  It makes me feel important.

Much like packing up my apartment, these little finishing touches are the last couple of things I need to do before I leave here and move on to the next chapter of my life. 

It may seem small, but its a pretty neat thing.  I like seeing it written down.  It's almost as cool as the day when I can put , esq. behind my name. 

I Love Lexis, Too

With just 29 days to go until I leave West Virginia (and law school) forever, I have a few things that need to be wrapped up. I'm packing up my apartment and have a great big pile of a number of different boxes, some of which I will give to my parents to take home when they come to visit next weekend for the academic awards ceremony, and some of which I will take home when I go for Andy's birthday the weekend of April 15th. The rest I will need my parents to come move when its a little closer to the end--I can sleep on the floor for a couple of days, of course, but I'd rather not sleep on the floor for a solid month.

I also recently got a list of things that needed to be cleaned in order to get my full security deposit back from my landlord, and I am taking that very seriously, too. I'm trying to clean everything on that list as a preliminary exercise and then I'll re-clean it just before I leave. I want that whole security deposit back! In college I never had to worry much about this stuff, but leaving an apartment is a big deal!

Goals for this weekend:
1. Clean bathroom (partially completed)
2. Empty laundry room of superfluous crap
3. Empty linen closet

I've also worked on packing up a lot of the clothes in my room. How much do I need, anyway?

And one of the last things I have to do--is redeem my points on Lexis. Just the other day I redeemed my Westlaw ones, but I was hoping to get a few more on Lexis before the end of the semester so I waited a bit. I was able to redeem my points on Lexis for $175 in gift cards that can be spent all over the place--pretty sweet deal. I plan to use it for a couple new outfits to wear to take the bar (in Virginia we have to dress up!). I'm pretty excited. I'm a big believer that the outfit is at least half the battle. And I intend to be prepared.

Law school is expensive, but some of the perks are pretty okay, too.

On a side note, number 1 thing I won't miss from West Virginia--snow storm in April. No snow is definitely, definitely preferable. The snow today has some of the biggest flakes I have ever seen! It's building up on the roads a little--I hope it doesn't really accumulate, though. I really do hate snow.

Still, 29 days. 29 short, short days.

Moscato, My Love

I thought that I liked wines of most varieties. I used to prefer reds to whites, but, as I have aged, my tastes have evolved. I won't say matured, because I'm not sure that white is a more mature choice. In high school one time, my two best friends Laura and Brittany got into a huge fight over whether red or white wine was a more feminine choice. If I remember correctly, Brittany really liked red and Laura was trying to tell her that was not an appropriate choice. Well, whatever. I don't care if it's more masculine or feminine, I like what I like. And until recently, I thought I liked wine of any kind.

Well, I do like wine. And I like wine of most kinds. But I love, love, love Moscato.  At Saturday dinner my birthday weekend, my mom pulled out a bottle of this--which instantly became my favorite and the most delicious thing I had ever put in my mouth.  Oh.my.god. Perfection in wine form.  Better than perfection--its a deliciously sweet bubbly and oh so delightfully tasty beverage that I can't imagine anyone not loving.  Even my sister, a devoted Gewurztraminer fan, said that she may have been too hasty in her decision.  Delightful, just delightful.  And I'm not exaggerating.

But, being poor, I can't afford wine of the $15 a bottle variety just yet unless its a special occasion.  And while that may seem inexpensive to you, to me it is unnecessary when there are generally many different (and quite tasty) varieties that cost $10 or less.  Still, this will be my dream wine, my go-to wine for any special occasion.  And another good thing?  Andy doesn't like it (it's sweet), so its a whole bottle for me.  Mmmmm.

But now I am experimenting with other kinds of Moscato to determine if I may have a cheaper alternative.  My mom had a kind last weekend at home that I liked a lot (though not as much as the beautiful blue bottle).  I don't remember what it was called, but it had a label with red flowers on it.  Still delish.

So, today, when I went shopping, I decided to continue my quest for another perfect moscato.  I bought a very, very cheap one--here's the label. 

At $5 a bottle, it's much more my style.  And hopefully very yummy.

Is it bad to buy wine with no intention of sharing it with anyone else?  Well, I intend to drink it all myself, for better or for worse.  Though I WILL make one small concession: I will not drink it tonight, since I am babysitting for a professor.  I think that might reflect poorly on my judgment.

Well, the new moscato is in the fridge and will still be there tomorrow, when I am not responsible for any minor children.  I am looking forward to it, and will be prepared to share the results.  I have a feeling that nothing will replace the blue bottle in my heart, though.  It's hard to top sheer perfection.