My Birthday Weekend

Oh, its been a gooooood weekend. Long weekend, really. Ok, ok. Five days. Not every day was in celebration of my birthday, but I just happened to have five really amazing days in a row... with my birthday thrown in the mix.
Last Thursday, a bunch of friends and I went to a comedy show hosted by the group The Noise Next Door. They are a HILARIOUS group that does improvisation. They remind me a lot of the TV show "Who's Line Is It Anyway". The comedy show was part of the Fringe Festival and it made for a really good night.
On Friday, I was supposed to go out to different clubs with some friends, but that plan fell through and I spent the night in, watching a movie and eating unhealthy food with Caitlin. Before that, I had some long and intense gym workouts which was a nice end to the week. And actually, for the crazy weekend that was about to begin, this low key night was exactly what I needed.
Saturday was filled with epic-ness. First, I went to the Marina and saw two Brighton Festival shows- Trolleys and Push. Both were contemporary, which isn't really my cup of tea, but I enjoyed both a lot.

When the shows were over, I wandered around that area of the Marina. I'd never been to this part before and I had thought I'd seen it all! So that was a nice adventure. I ended up in a cafe to grab some food, but half of the cafe was a mini art gallery so I looked around there as well.

Apparently, I wasn't supposed to take pictures. So after I was told off, I quickly scooted out of there. I then went into town where I wandered down New Road- which has a bunch of random musicians, people in costumes, and people handing out flyers during the Fringe Festival. After some ice cream by the beach, I went off to a pub to watch the Champions League final. Chelsea (a London team) and Bayern Munich (a German team) were playing. First of all, those are my two favorite teams of ALL TIME. Secondly, a London-based team has never won the Champions League. Needless to say, the pub was PACKED (remember, I'm in England and they get more excited about football [soccer] than pretty much anything else... except maybe beer). The game was REALLY good. It went to penalty shoot out and in the end, Chelsea won by one penalty goal. The resulting eruption from the Brits surrounding me was INSANE. There was alcohol, glass, and bodies being thrown everywhere. I'm so happy I got to experience that, it was really awesome to see.
Sunday during the day ended up being a random adventure in Eastbourne- a nearby city that I hadn't been to yet. I walked along the seafront, which was nice because Eastbourne isn't nearly as crowded as Brighton, and there was a band on the beach playing Disney songs. It was awesome, until they stopped playing the Disney songs, so we moved along. I also got to see an art exhibit, which was interesting. What an artsy weekend I've had! Adding a little culture into my life before Sunday night.... when I went out for my birthday. We played pub golf. And instead of writing out how the night went, I'll show you in pictures:

End of round one.

End of round two.

End of round three.

End of round four.

End of game. With a final score of zero! Not too shabby.
Monday was my actual birthday. I worked on my report, but decided that I didn't want to spend the day in the office, so I went into town instead. I hung out at Wai Kika Moo Kau, a vegetarian (and possibly vegan?) restaurant that was on my Brighton bucket list. Not only did I mark that off, AND get good food, but I also hammered out a lot of my report. Before I go further- this past week has been great for my bucket list. I've marked off- Cala and Arrobas (Spanish restaurant), Eastbourne (city), The Basketmakers Arms (pub), and Wai Kika Moo Kau (Vegetarian restaurant). YAY! Ok, so anyway, after a long day of report-writing, I went off for some birthday dinner with a few close friends. But no, the adventure doesn't end there. Thats only four days!
On Tuesday, I learned how to play golf! (kinda) I went to the driving range. And failed miserably. BUT, I did hit the ball pretty far when I managed to actually hit it haha. I also got to spend more time at a marina, and look at boats, which is always a bonus in my book.

...I'm going to leave out the usual gym/food update. The majority of my birthday presents were food related. So... yeah. I'm in a fatty's paradise, but its not great for my waistline! But I DON'T CARE. Why, you ask? Three words- Macaroni and cheese.

BYE!

So much festival goodness :)

First, before I start attacking the past two weeks, I'd like to post some pictures from way back when.
Remember when I posted about Easter brunch? Well here is a picture, finally! You might be able to see in the background- little Easter eggs where hidden all throughout the restaurant, including on top of some of those picture frames!

This is the beautiful tulip explosion that has happened all throughout campus. We are hitting some rainy/overcast weather currently, but it was beautiful when the sun was out.

Now, on to some updates. The big news of this post is that the Brighton Festival is currently running. As is Brighton Fringe (the non-selective festival). And a three day music festival, called The Great Escape, just ended. My first festival adventure was.... well, not what was expected. We were planning on seeing Barricade, a circus performance on the opening night of the festival. However, it was in the middle of Hove. And being from Falmer, I wasn't quite sure where the exact location was. In the end, we arrived a few minutes after the show had ended. Why, you ask? Because we accidentally took the connecting bus the wrong way. And ended up taking that bus's entire route before ending up in Hove. So while we didn't get to see the performance, we did get to see a part of town that I've never seen before. And I'm ok with that, I always love a little exploration. Now, I want to spend more time in the heart of Hove!
When all three festivals were running at once, Brighton was CRAZY! Especially at night. There were people EVERYWHERE and they were drunk and excited and there was live music outside. It was really nice. I'm happy the city isn't always like that, but the atmosphere was amazing.
I didn't buy tickets to The Great Escape. I thought they were 150 pounds for a 3 day ticket to up-and-coming bands. So that was not something I was going to buy. However, it was only 35 pounds for the cheap tickets, so I want to go next year. Since some of the venues were outside, I did end up seeing one band called Me and The Bees. They are from Spain and the lead singer apologized, saying "I have the broken English". Adorable. Anyway, they were quite good and really solidified my desire to go next year.
Besides that, I haven't done much festival-related stuff. Starting tonight and throughout the entire weekend, I have a lot of festival activities, so on the next post there will be a lot more :).

I've been enjoying lots of time with friends, especially since I'm focusing mostly on this First Year Report so I have nights off. And multiple times within the past two weeks, I've gone to The Mesmerist. I've really got to tell you about it. Its set up like a restaurant with a bar. And the menu looks good, I'd like to go for food sometime. However, at night the tables are cleared away to make room for a dance floor. And the music they play? Big band 50s. Its AMAZING. The decor is... strange. For example, there's a mannequin behind the bar wearing a skeleton pelvis as a mask. But this place is great. You can sit and chat. Or you can dance to great 50s music. And the crowd is always chill.

I've also been able to explore a little bit of the surrounding East Sussex area. It is SO beautiful here. There's a lot to see around the coast line, there are a lot of natural foresty areas, and there are tons of adorable quaint towns. I went to Rye and Camber, where they have sandy beaches!!!!, this past weekend. It was SUCH a good day. I hadn't realized how much I've missed sand beaches. In Brighton, its rock beaches. And that, my friends, doesn't even touch a sand beach. Camber reminded me a little of Monterey, which of course made me nostalgic. Here's a map to figure out where I am. I had to roughly guess with the stars because my English geography still isn't very good. But the green star near Brighton is where I am and the green star near Rye is where I went to.

 Speaking of maps, I found a HILARIOUS Brighton-play on the Tube map. Those who know what the London Underground map looks like should appreciate this:

I know for the past few posts I've been moaning about my abstract and my report. Well, I'm happy to say that my abstract is IN! I'll have to make a poster, but the conference isn't until October, so I have plenty of time for that. I also think I'm pretty ahead of the game for my first year report, but it is taking a lot of time to complete so I try to keep working on it every day. I've been having some failed experiments lately, which has been a downer. My new TEM experiment didn't really answer the question I was hoping it would. And it seems like I might need to use a different form of microscopy to get my answer. Which means more time off to train, because I don't know how to use it. I've also had some trouble with the snails cooperating and with getting the gels to work for me. It's frustrating. And slow. But that's science. On a better note, I have applied to be a tutor for bright, low-income students in East London and have made it through the first round of qualifications! There are two more rounds, so hopefully I can get the job. I'm also hoping to be a tutor (TA in the States) for the University, but this other program will let me create my own program to teach the students.

And finally, a Paleo update. First off, let me say that this is my favorite diet I've ever been on. And not just because I'm allowed to eat bacon! I recommend it to anyone who's looking to be healthy without frantic calorie counting. My diet has become less strict as the time has gone on. For example, I've incorporated yogurt back into my daily diet. I like it too much to get rid of it and yogurt is pretty good for you. Have I reached the weight I've wanted to reach by the time I wanted to? No, unfortunately. However, since I moved here, I've gotten my BMI under control and have dropped three pant sizes. And I can't be too upset about not obtaining a number when I'm so happy about the other two. Although, buying new clothes doesn't really fit into my budget... but my clothes are getting too big to really be able to wear anymore. ...oh well. I've really done this to be healthy and I think I'm really moving in the right direction for that. Paleo has helped me understand what my body actually wants. Not only can I distinguish between hunger and boredom/craving/whatever for the first time in my life, but I realize specifically what it is my body wants. And when I do have an especially bad day from the diet, I feel awful the next day. Which is even more initiative to really keep the grains and dairy down. I used to have terrible cravings for grains. And while I still get a craving for toast, or would devour cheese manicotti in a heartbeat, I'm not so keen on the everyday grain intake that I used to have. Pasta is pretty boring to me now, unless it has an epic sauce to go with it. And that's a big step for me! Besides feeling better, I think I'm looking better too. And I'm feeling stronger. That's because of the increased exercise I've been doing. I'm on a good routine and I'm actually enjoying working out! The Paleo has helped with my weight lifting- the diet make my muscles feel amazing while I'm lifting, instead of the normal fatigue. I'm not looking to become super strong, but the health benefits of weight bearing exercise are too great to overlook.
Here are some Paleo-friendly recipes I've tried and really enjoyed. They aren't all completely Paleo, but with a few substitutions can easily be made for a strict dieter. However, I'm not that strict. So there wasn't much deviation from the original recipe: Asian Pork Lettuce Wraps- so ridiculously good and easy that I'll probably be making this time and time again. Spinach, Squash, and Zucchini salad: I'm usually not huge into salads. I find most are either too boring or too crazy and over-the-top for my liking. However, this has BACON. And butternut squash. And zucchini. And I used arugula instead of spinach for an extra peppery flavor. But this salad was phenomenal and I'm planning on making it again this week. Lighter Sesame Chicken: This was great. A take on Chinese food, but no grease and way more filling. Chia Seed Pudding: This one might be a little strange for the average individual. But if you LOVE pudding (like me) but need it healthier, then this is a good recipe. It lets me eat chocolate while on a diet while adding fiber. Ummmm, yes please! I've made this at least 3 times so far :)

Lenzie Goes Paleo

Paleo, primal, caveman. Whatever you want to call it, that's what I'm working on right now. It started as a desire to quickly get through a plateau that I've hit, but I'm also interested in the aspect of ketosis that it can supposedly lead to. Let me explain- the paleo diet is actually pretty simple; no grain, no dairy, no legumes. Just meat, fruit, veg, and healthy fats. I'm ALL over that, even though I usually try to keep my animal protein consumption low and substitute it with beans, lentils, or other high-protein grains/veg. This is my fourth day and it hasn't been too bad yet. I like the challenge that it brings when it comes to cooking. It has also introduced me to some new health foods- like coconut oil, almond meal, and chia seeds. Plus, from the biological/health aspect, it seems like a pretty sound idea- to eat like our ancestors ate, taking out all of the highly accessible processed foods that are SO unhealthy for us. An added bonus is that it is supposed to reduce bloating, IF you have a minor gluten or lactose intolerance. Gluten, found in many of the grains that we eat, and lactose, found in dairy, are actually intolerances that most people have, if just minorly. This is because of our evolution- after the breast feeding stage in development, mammals don't consume dairy. And grains weren't accessible for consumption (think of how processed our flour and pasta are!) in the same way as they are today. Now, I have no idea if my body is intolerant to either of these, but if it is, the bloat caused by the intolerance will go down. Its worth a shot, right?
But really, after only four days, I haven't noticed much of a difference. I'm thirstier than normal. My hunger is different than what I'm used to... I'm guessing its a craving for either dairy or grains. The nice difference I've noticed is in feeling tired. Usually, I get tired during the day. However, I only feel tired now if I don't get enough sleep the night before. I also feel like my muscles are more willing to cooperate during my work outs. I'm thinking that has to do with the increase in protein being eaten.
If nothing else, its a nice challenge to try out. Will I only eat paleo from now on? Oh HELL no. Will I stick it out for a few more weeks- definitely. Will I incorporate it into my normal diet- most likely.
Most of this blog update is on paleo because, honestly, its taken a lot of my time. To travel out to different grocery stores to get food I can actually eat, to cook all different kinds of recipes so I have every meal covered... Think about it- there is no "fast" or "on-the-go" food you can get that would be paleo friendly. So if I want to eat a meal and not break my diet, I've got to make sure I've got food prepared. Here are some of my favorite paleo recipes:
Rainbow Asian Slaw: If you know me AT ALL, this has my name written all over it. And it is so so so delicious that I will be making it time and time again.
Tomato Soup: I was a little worried about the consistency since there is no cream, but this was DELICIOUS. And, as a side note since I'm on a health food kick, stop eating canned soups. Seriously. Not only do they taste disgusting in comparison to home made soup, but they are FULL of sodium. And that makes your heart sad. Plus, soup is possibly the easiest food to make. And if you have access to a hand blender, your options for different kinds of soup doubles. I'm planning on making a cauliflower soup and a butternut squash soup during this diet as well. Again, cream and cheese free. I'll let you know if its successful.
Lemon Chia Seed Pancakes: I'm most excited to share this recipe with you- simply because this is from my friend Caitlin's blog. Its a play on Lemon Poppyseed, if you hadn't already picked up on that. And you are probably thinking that there is no way to make a pancake paleo-friendly. BUT THERE IS A WAY! Instead of flour, use almond meal. Easy peasy, plus WAY more protein than you would've gotten with regular flour. Bonus. Now, this recipe isn't paleo. But if you sub the butter for oil and leave out the sugar, you've got a paleo pancake. Its missing sweetness, but just top with honey and you're good to go! Or maple, but I don't have maple.
Another attempt I've taken to get over the plateau and also to just add another layer of fitness is some weight lifting. Caitlin is a weight lifter and is showing me the ropes. I can now happily say that I know how to do a barbell squat, bench press, overhead press, deadlift, Romanian deadlift, and assisted chin up/ pull up. My deadlift form is TERRIBLE, but luckily Caitlin knows what she's doing so she corrects me when I mess up.
Besides this new diet, life has slowed down a little bit. Work isn't just racing by, although that might just be because the actual hands on research I'm doing takes less time at the moment. Its also because I got two fantastic results last week and don't even have the opportunity to get results this week. BUT, next week will hopefully bring some interesting electron microscope results so I'm very excited about that. I've finished the abstract for the conference that I'm going to and I'm slowly making my way through an already almost full notebook of research and putting it into a Word document for my first year report. But this writing is just SO boring. Materials and methods section, WHY YOU SO BORING TO WRITE ABOUT!?!?!
Finally, a pub quiz update- I THINK I've mentioned before how my new pub quiz goal is to get third to last place, as opposed to the usual second to last. Last night, a group of us went to a new pub, Duke of Norfolk, and played. And we got third place!!! Too bad there were only four teams. Haha! But I had a record night with not only being about to answer the science questions, but I also knew some of the Literature and Soccer questions. w00t!

PS- Sorry for the lack of pictures. I know word dense entries are getting old for all of you.

Hola Espana!!!

Ole!
As some of you may already know, I will be going to Madrid this summer :)! I'll be going with a friend from home and it should be amazing! There have been talks of adding on a side trip to Lisbon, Portugal as well and I've been thinking about maybe hitting up some of Spain's other great cities- like Barcelona. But for now, Madrid is definitely happening. And I'm so SO SO EXCITED. I've decided to open up a "Help Lenzie have fun in Spain" fund. Tips on where to go, advice, cash money- all are accepted :) haha.
That is the most exciting thing happening in my life right now. The rest of the post will be playing catch up. Because, AGAIN, I've gotten behind in the posting.
Lab work has kept me busy. I've got three experiments running simultaneously, a first year report that I've barely touched, and an abstract to write that I haven't worked on at all. I'll probably start the abstract today, but I'm having trouble with direction. Especially since I've never written an abstract before... That being said, I'm excited to get the abstract submitted so that I can make a poster for the conference I'll be attending in October. Its the Society for Neuroscience conference, held in New Orleans this year (!) and its one of the biggest global gatherings of neuroscientists. Can you say networking??? I sure can. This is why its so imporant to get the abstract in- so I can make a poster and (hopefully) impress all of the fancy pants neuroscientists who will be there.
One of the three experiments I've been working on is the new electron microscope experiment. And I wish I could go into more details than that because I'm really excited about it. BUT- what I'm not enjoying is the tired eyes and headaches that follow multiple hour long sessions of microscope use. Last week I pummeled my eyes on Thursday and Friday. I'm going to have to start spreading out my TEM times because I'll otherwise ruin my eyes. And that sounds no bueno to me.
Besides being busy (and stressed) with the mountains of work piling up around me, I've been keeping a healthy social life and keeping up with the excercise! Still on track to hitting my goal weight by my birthday which I'm really happy about. Its especially easier now that the gym is back to its normal opening hours and the classes are all running as usual. I tried a new class yesterday- hooping. As in hula hooping. As in I've officially given you permission to make fun of me (or take the mick, as the Brits would say). It was definitely not a good enough work out to be worth doing again, but it was fun to try something new. Although I now have a FAT bruise on my hip and its quite painful. I was looking at it earlier today in the office and a post doc walked by. ...I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm being abused. Shouldn't be a problem unless my PI starts asking why I have bruises on my body haha.
Last week was the first week back after the break. And I happily filled up my calendar with seeing my friends again. Between reuniting with friends, going out to pubs with friends, watching football (soccer), and celebrating birthdays, I kept my week packed. And its been fun :). Work all day, then gym/socialize/both at night- its my favorite kind of day. Well, I prefer when I can just gym/socialize all day. But I do enjoy the work I do, even if it doesn't always come across that way.
This weekend I was actually good about cooking for the week. I often slack off and then regret it during the week. But it has really helped. Not only do I have lunches prepared, but I'm realizing that its WAY better for me to come home and eat something straight away. I usually screw around, not wanting to cook myself anything. And then I get hungrier and hungrier until I eventually cave in and make something quick. But when I get home and already have something good to eat, I eat and am way more productive for the rest of the night. I usually even feel like cooking once I've eaten and regained energy. Weird how laziness is the worst option for me....
Anyway, I hope that will suffice for my lack of posting.

All Weekend and No Internet Makes Lenzie a Sad Girl

Might a make a slight adjustment to that statement- All (6-day long, due to the Easter holiday, and thus no IT to fix the issue) Weekend. That's a long time to go without internet. A long, boring, and forced-productivity weekend. That being said, the forced-productivity worked in my favor and I am now WAY less stressed about my first year report. And as this week slips away, I'm certain the feeling of security will flee. BUT- I'm going to relish feeling on top of my work for as long as it'll last.
This past week has been a strange one- the 6 day closure period really threw me off as far as work goes and the majority of my friends have left to go home, while the remaining are panic-writing essays. And then there's me. Hmmmm. Besides just this past week, the whole month has been "off"- no farmer's market on Tuesdays, limited gym opening times and classes, empty campus. I'm ready for life to go back to normal now please!
This past week was the Brighton and Hove Food Festival. And.... I didn't take advantage at all. I'm sure if Jenna were here, I would've done something for it every day! The one Food Festival event I did go to was the Big Sussex Market. And it was amazing. A HUGE gathering of food stalls, outside in the sunshine. Amazing and delicious!!! I also picked up some great pantry items- A whiskey/mustard salad dressing, garlic and tomato Indian chutney, and fresh baked bread. The bread has been devoured by now, mostly because I gave up bread for Lent and DESTROYED the loaf within a few days of being able to eat bread again. I still have a ton of epic sandwich stuff and some great homemade tapenade leftover, but I'm not so sure that buying bread is the best idea haha. ...Maybe I'll stick with wraps....
Speaking of Lent, lets talk Easter. I gave up bread, peanut butter, and cereal for Lent. I like the personal challenge that Lent offers and since I was developing some seriously bad habits with those three items, I decided to remove them from my diet for awhile. And honestly, it was quite easy. I had one moment of weakness with the bread, but I'm not too upset with myself over that- I didn't have food for lunch and the only place open on campus was Falmer Bar. That day, their gas supply was gone, so all they could offer were cold sandwiches. Oh, might I mention that I got into work at 9 that day and was going straight to the gym at 6 pm for an hour of brutal exercise? Yeah, I needed to eat. Plus, that sandwich was amazing. So, meh. We all have our moments haha. I still haven't bought cereal or peanut butter and am going to try and keep bread out of my place. I'll break down and buy peanut butter, but until I can get my hands on American peanut butter, I'm not too bothered to go out and get it right away. Or, as the Brits say, "I can't be arsed". (Love it)
Easter turned out to be a really nice day, although I was bummed that I couldn't skype with the family because of the lack of internet. But I was able to go to brunch with a few friends who crawled out of their essay-writing caves for some great food. AND I spent part of my Easter evening looking at baby cows. What's better than cute baby animals, really? Well, maybe chocolate. But I didn't have chocolate, so baby cows were the next best (accessible) thing. Now that I've gone off on a tangent, let's go back to brunch- we went to Sam's of Brighton. Which happened to be on my Brighton bucket list! I asked for a side of bacon with my breakfast (which I would NEVER do in the States, but since the bacon here is just about the most delicious thing ever, it had to be done) and the waitress said "Where are you from?". I said "America" and she said "You're from California, aren't you?". She was from Cali too, but I think it's pretty amazing that she knew I was Californian because of my side order of bacon. And by amazing, I mean that I'm also slightly distressed that I'm fitting an American stereotype. Although, since she was Californian too, maybe it was just some California bond... I'll go with that...
Work has been weird. I feel like I've stayed home to work on my writing for a long time now... but I'm looking back at last week and I really only took last Friday off (and this Monday and Tuesday). So I guess I've actually done a lot of work... simply because I worked on Thursday and that was during the closure period. I'll be moving into my new TEM experiment and starting on my molecular stuff! I also have my first year report due in May and an abstract to write for the Society for Neuroscience conference that's also due in May. My moments of panic-writing will be right around my birthday- awesomeeeeeeeee. I also took a class on the statistics program that we use... and I'm still terrible at it. I spent a good portion of last Thursday trying to figure it out. And couldn't. Why why why do I fail so terribly with technology?
Finally, I've been able to cross off two more bucket list items- To try Marwoods and Talk of Tea (both cafes). Both are great, but Talk of Tea has the best scones I've ever eaten. Ever. So depending on if I'm in the mood for coffee or tea (or scones), I'll make an appropriate decision. Some of you might be wondering why all of my bucket list items are centered around food. And to that, I say- do you know me at all? But really, even in Santa Cruz I had a lot of cafes on my list. This is simply because I like trying new places, and if I can find a place where I can also study- bonus.
I'll get some pictures up once I've gotten them from friends :)

Alzheimer's Research UK

The sun has been shining, my skin has regained some of its pigment, and I am LOVING this weather. However, it looks like we are getting back into overcast weather. I'm really not used to this wishy-washy weather!!!
The big event of this past week was the Alzheimer's Research UK conference in Birmingham that I went to from Monday-Wednesday. The conference was interesting and has given me some interesting career prospective (like working with IPS cells or looking at the epigenetic effects). But it was SO hard to be inside all day when the sun was shining outside.

Birmingham was nice- I really only stayed in the Victoria Square area (and didn't venture out much further than that). And I was in heaven in my hotel room. The bed was HUGE, there was a bath tub, and no noisy upstairs neighbor to keep me awake at night!

Besides that, I've been working hard on experiments and having fun with friends. Not too much to say on that end, except I went into Preston Park for the first time (which is an area around Brighton). The actual park, which I didn't know even existed, is a nice and big open area with lots of space to enjoy the summer time! I can definitely see myself spending more time there :)
The next post promises to be better- With the Brighton and Hove Food Festival coming up, you can bet that I will be ALL over that! So hopefully I'll have a lot to say next time.

Oh Reindeer! Dominik goes back to Germany

This is Dominik:

And it is the most epic picture of him I could find. Notice the intense excitement about the food in front of him!
If you remember from my past post, I met Dominik at the International Trivia Night that was put on by the University at the beginning of the school year. Our friendship grew off of an interest in trivia and each others country's politics.You may also remember me writing about my first consumption of Reindeer, and Domi was one of the people I went with. He's been a good friend throughout these past two terms and I'm sad to see him head back to Germany. But with me being here for 4 years and Oktoberfest being in Munich, I have a feeling we will be able to hang out again!
We went out to Northern Lights (which serves reindeer) on Tuesday, the night before Domi left to go back home. It was a fun (and delicious) night, although sad. I had WAY too many Rekorderlig, which is a DELICIOUS Swedish cider that I've just discovered. However, its super sweet so drinking too many made me over-sugared out. Between a few of those and some German ginger cookies, I was dying of too much sugar.
Another memorable (but in a sad way) moment of the week was last night- my neighbor Chad's last night before moving to another housing accommodation. With all of the housing issues we've had, I'm really not surprised that he's leaving. However, its so sad! Our little community here is great and he's an important piece of it. Luckily, he's not leaving to return to Canada (yet) so we will still have good times.
With friends leaving and moving, I'm coming to a very sad realization- By September, the majority of my friends will have returned to their countries of origin. The majority of the people I know here are Master's students or study abroad students and all of their programs will have finished by the next school year. However, there is still lots of time (lots of SUNNY time) before they leave, so I'll try to not think about it if I can help it!
Speaking of the sun- let's chat about how sunny and amazing its been recently! There are daffodils EVERYWHERE, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and my productivity is taking a nose-dive. On Wednesday, I took a midday break with a few of my peers to sit out and enjoy the sun. We shared a pitcher of Pimms (which is very British) and I must say it is quite good! Also, after being outside for only two hours, I got a sunburn. Let me explain the irony. FIRST, I got so ridiculously pale from the lack of sun, that when it came out I burned right away. SECONDLY, (and mostly by my British peers' observance) I am from California and really shouldn't have burned... and I was the first person to get sunburned that I know of haha. Good news- my burn turned into a tan. WIN. Maybe I'll be able to recapture some of my pigment by my birthday!
I tried a new gym class on Friday- Step Aerobics. Its not offered during the school year, but since there is a month of Spring Break the classes are seriously slashed, which makes room for them to add the Step class. I really enjoy it but it was SO intense. My cardio isn't great at the moment, so an hour of Step was crazy. However, I really like it and would recommend it to any one looking to up their cardio. Also, there's a bonus of a good ab and leg work-out!
Today, I had to work (boo). But before that,  I went to see The Hunger Games movie. It was good! Now, I always have issues when books that I REALLY like are turned into movies... But it was still pretty good. It mostly just made me even more want to read the next two books in the trilogy. It also made me miss Mary (who you may know as one of my friends from water polo and the person I lived with in my senior year at Santa Cruz).
I have pictures from this past week and when I get them up, I'll upload them :)