The Road Less Traveled

We made the pie from the apples picked last weekend.  It was absolutely delicious.  Probably the best apple pie I have ever had in my entire life. Not to brag, but it really was!  I’ll post pictures from that adventure later.  

At the moment, I am in the midst of studying for my toxicology midterm.  My head hurts.  My brain is currently swimming in formulas and I am not sure I can differentiate an electrophilic molecule from a nucleophilic one or figure out the half life of acetaminophen, but I’m sure going to try.   

What I do seem to remember from the class is this;

If you want to get a cocaine high, the fastest way is to smoke or snort it.  This will get you high in 8 seconds.  If you take it via injection it takes 30 seconds, and if you happen to eat it…..it takes a whole 20 minutes.  So….the lesson for the day is….smoke that shit!

By the way, I am pretty sure my mom reads this blog.  Mom, if you are reading this, no I am not doing cocaine and no, I am not getting any ideas, but aren’t you glad I am learning something!?

I am so excited for Halloween this year.  The roomies, the homies, and I are going as the Flintstones.  I’m Betty Rubble.  The wig that comes with my costume is absolutely hideous, but I suppose it is all part of the fun.  I promise to post lots of pictures!

Upon moving to Connecticut, I made a promise to myself to make a good faith effort to go out and explore the East Coast.  I have to admit, thus far, I’ve been doing a horrible job.  I did however manage to make it to NYC earlier this month for some much needed shopping!  I also went apple picking for the first time, ever!   

Let’s start with New York, shall we?

New Haven certainly has it’s share of good places to eat.  However being confined within the same 2 mile radius can certainly wear on one’s palate.  Therefore, the first thing Yeeli and I did upon our arrival in the city was to find some amazing Korean bbq to satiate our cravings.

We had a complete Korean meal with all the fixin’s.  

Yeeli was very happy.  

Apparently, so was I.  

With our bellies full, we were prepared to face the throngs of NYC shoppers.  We shopped for a good 5-6 hours until it was time to call it quits.  Our feet were hurting from walking all over the city, and our arms were sore from lugging all of our bags.  At that point what we needed was an old friend and some stiff drinks.  It’s a good thing Thao was around to help us find some sangria!

Yeeli and Thao

Anteaters reunited, all the way in NYC!

After a nice dinner with Thao, it was time to catch the train back to New Haven.  It still feels so surreal that Manhattan is only an hour and a half away from where I live.  In the past, trips to New York were grand adventures that required vacation time, money saving, hotel booking, and plane flying.  Now I can go for the day whenever I want.  A girl could get used to this.

Yeeli with all her bags, showcasing her hard work!

Post New York, it was time to buckle down for midterms.  After being out of school for five years, studying was not something I really remembered how to or cared to do.  I pushed through it though, and survived.  The reward; apple picking!  It may not sound fun, but it was actually extremely refreshing!  The crisp air and the sunshine was just what I needed to relieve my post midterm headache.  

The plan is to bake apple pie with all of the apples we gathered at the orchard.  The only problem is that I am horrible when it comes to anything even remotely culinary.  Let’s hope my roommate and friends can do the baking part.  I will be sure to pull my weight when it comes to the eating.  :)

The leaves are starting to turn colors and its gorgeous.  I’ll post some pictures soon.

As per the usual, Jano, Bee, and I did our birthdays up in style.  This year, my two favorite people decided to make a trip to my new hood.  They flew into NYC on Sept, 26th, and I took the train out from New Haven to meet them.  

The first thing we did was try and find some food.  

Bee trying to navigate our way around the city.

We found out way to the subway, fairly easily.

As per Ann’s recommendation, we ate some of the best ramen I have ever had the pleasure of slurping.

That was some good shit.

Jano enjoying her ramen and beer.

me enjoying spending time with my bee.

Next, it was time to explore NYC.

All that exploring made Bee thirsty, so the three of us, along with Dar, Ann, and Sherlyn decided to get him something to drink.

After that, it was only appropriate to keep the party going.  

We started the next day with a lovely brunch and continued with some shopping in the city.  Then it was time to catch the train to New Haven.  Our evening in New Haven included dinner at Louis Lunch (allegedly the first hamburger joint in the U.S.) followed up by dancing and drinks at Bar.  The highlight of the night was the 2008 Yoko Ono reincarnate.  I didn’t get any pictures, but for sure the image of that man’s hair will be burned in my brain for the rest of my life.  

Day 2 in New Haven started with a tour of the Yale campus.

The two loves of my life got to meet some of the new people in my life.  I was glad to watch as my oldest friends got to interact with some of the new people who are becoming increasingly more important to me.  

After our campus tour we went back to BAR for OctoBARfest (beer sampling and pizza)

Check out the dude in the background.  Seriously, what is up with mens’ hair in New Haven?

The night concluded with a great steak dinner and Steel Magnolias.

The next morning, it was time to take Jano and Bee to the train station so they could catch their flight back home from La Guardia.  Having them out here was fantastic, but much too short lived.  I missed them the second they got on the train.  I know that I am cared about when people will fly all the way across the country to spend time with me for a weekend.  As great as that weekend was, it makes me miss them even more.  Thanksgiving can’t come soon enough!

When I first got into Yale, everyone told me what a crappy, ugly, scary city New Haven is.  In some instances, the warnings are true.  New Haven is the type of city where once a car gets broken into (which happens quite frequently) the shattered glass sits on the sidewalk for months, as a not so friendly reminder not to leave ANYTHING in the car that someone may want to steal.   It’s not safe to walk alone at night, and the crime reports from the chief of police are always filled with shootings, muggings, robberies, etc. These parts of the city are definitely not places that I would photograph and send to my grandmother.   

But then, there are aspects of the city that just take my breath away.  This morning while walking home, I noticed a church.  New Haven is chalk full of churches, but this one stood out from the rest.  It was this sort of old world looking building that you might expect to see in England in the nineteenth century.  The facade was made out of grey stone and the windows looked like frosted panes of sugar.  I have always had this fascination with churches.  Considering I am not in the least bit religious, I’m not sure where this fascination comes from.  Perhaps its the mystique, or perhaps it’s the architecture of the buildings, but regardless, I am drawn to them.  I stood outside this particular church for a good fifteen minutes.  There was a wedding about to occur, and the bridesmaids were gathered around at the top of the stairs, holding their boquets and fussing over the flower girls.  Their dresses were made of brown satin and fell just above the knee.  The cream colored sashes around their waists matched the off white color of the flowers in their hands.  I thought that the chocolate color the bride chose for the dresses was quite appropriate for fall, and I made a mental note not to forget what they looked like in case I have a fall wedding myself.   I wondered about the bride and groom.  Did they meet at Yale, and thus decide to get married in New Haven, or had they grown up in Connecticut all their lives?  What about this church in particular made them want to get married there?  What was their story?  

The crispness in the autumn air, coupled with the slow turning of the leaves on the tree lined street made the church look even more beautiful.  I wanted to stay longer, but I thought it may look a bit creepy if I hung around and stared throughout the entire wedding. As I started to walk away, I realized how thankful I was to be there at that very moment.  I guess New Haven isn’t so bad after all.