Catching Fire

I fell in love with The Hunger Games series on my honeymoon. I brought the first book for a by-the-pool read, and was so engrossed that when I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom (there was a lot of liquid consumed that week haha), I'd sneak a chapter or two before falling back to sleep.

This meant that I finished the first book in a matter of days, and I was DESPERATE to read Catching Fire. Poor Joe had to drive around the island with me looking for a bookstore and, upon finding the book, forked over the cash for a hardcover at full price. There was no waiting for Amazon. I NEEDED to know what happened next, or I was going to go crazy.

Sooooo happy

Also, I may or may not have been drunk during most of the reading of Catching Fire

I finished the second about as quick as the first, but decided that I could be patient and wait until I got home to read Mockingjay.

Anyways, I loved the books so much I became a total fangirl. I was reading and watching all that I could online about the books and the upcoming movies.

When The Hunger Games movie came out, I somehow convinced my department at work to go on opening day as our team offsite of the quarter. I was so pumped that I made headbands and a cake:

But then, during the break between the films, I sorta lost interest. I still loved the books and movie, but I was not a rapid crazy person any longer. I blame it on the 18 MONTHS it took for Catching Fire to come out. I mean, seriously - a gal can only stay excited about something for so long.


When we bought advance tickets for an 8:30 showing of Catching Fire on Thursday (thank goodness our theater does early showings in addition to midnight ones, I'm too old for that haha), Joe could tell I wasn't nearly as excited as I should be. So on Wednesday night he suggested we watch the first movie to get in the mood.

My husband is a smart man.

It totally re-energized me and I was counting down the minutes until 8:30 p.m. the following day. When it was finally time to go, I put on my mockingjay pin and a smile:

The movie was seriously awesome. There were a few gripes I had with the first (though I wouldn't have admitted them at the time, I was too big of a fangirl), but this one was close to perfection. Seriously. Joe loved it too and agreed with me.

I loved the more serious tone and how the movie really showed how awful and dangerous government control is.

And now, of course, I am dying to see Mockingjay. I hope I don't have to wait another 18 months for it! Though, IMDB gives me hope by listing it as having a 2014 opening.

It better. This waiting with bated breath thing stinks ;)

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So are Joe and I Still Doing our Dates or What?

I'm the queen of making grand plans and not following through (especially re: dieting), so it shouldn't surprise me that the date jars I made for Joe have been acquiring dust for the last 6+ weeks.

The original plan was to do one date a week from the jars for the first two years of dental school, which is why I scoured the internet and the dark recesses of my brain for ideas for 104 unique dates. At the time, I felt certain that we could accomplish this feat (much as I do every time I start a diet), so getting exactly 104 dates was critical.

But about 6 weeks ago we started getting really busy with really wonderful things (visitors, Halloween, my new job, etc.) and the official weekly dates stopped.

However, I don't think the dating actually stopped. Looking back, I can't think of a week where we didn't spend quality time together in some way, from going out to dinner when Stacey & Brian visited, to watching Hocus Pocus together on Halloween, to this weekend when we stuffed ourselves full of meat at a Brazilian steakhouse in celebration of my new job.

I'm happy to see that even with how busy dental school is, Joe is making spending time with me a priority. Because of that, I don't need to be a date jar nazi. However, I also don't want to become lax and for this to become a slippery slope.

So Joe and I discussed it, and we are absolutely still going to do the date jar dates - when we don't have other things planned for that week. For example, tomorrow we are going to go see Catching Fire (SQUEAL!) so we are going to postpone our date jar date until next week.

Not only will this prolong the jars (since I honestly don't think I could come up with another date idea even if you put a gun to my head), it will help keep the dates from starting to feel like a chore. Which, they honestly were when we were so busy and still spending time together.

A good compromise I think :)

And for proof we are still dating, here's a pic of us from before our Brazilian steakhouse dinner this weekend:

 

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I Got This

Okay. Allow my to toot my own horn for a minute.

I feel like Superwoman.

Just two days ago I feared that with my new job I wouldn't be able to keep up with the house, my husband, & Buster (a.k.a. the neediest dog that ever lived). But today I have finished my self-imposed somewhat-ambitious work quota by 3:30 p.m.!

Without going into too many details (I can't risk this sweet gig), the writing I am doing for unnamed internet company consists of tasks that take the average writer on the project about 10 minutes.

I am not average.

While I'd like to say I am ABOVE average, when it comes to speed that would be a lie. In truth, I am slower than most people at everything I do (especially running). I am a perfectionist, and so what takes the average person 10 minutes would typically take me 20 to 30. And that was my rate... at first.

Over the last couple days, though, I've become a speed-demon and am completing my tasks at an average of 10 1/2 minutes each (and that includes when Buster jumps on me and looks up at me with his sweet eyes just begging to be pet).

BOOM!

I recently made the comment that I have never felt like my life was more in control, but at the beginning of this week I spent a couple days worrying that working & homemaking would cause me to tumble back into anxiety-land. After today, I feel like I kicked anxiety in the face and told it to leave me alone forever - I got this.

What a great note to end the week on.

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The Work-Wife Balance

I completed training yesterday for my new freelance writing job (more details here), and got the official go-ahead to start working independently this afternoon. Always the overachiever I, of course, way overestimated how quick I thought I'd be and so I am already behind.

Not good.

Based on my production so far, my workdays are going to be about 9-10 hours until I can increase my speed. This should be fine, seeing as how I am a bored dental school wife with a husband who studies or is in class 12-15 hours a day. What I've already realized, though, is that Joe and I have been spoiled by my recently-developed domesticity. I won't lie, the apartment isn't spotless, but I've been keeping up with the laundry, keeping our surroundings presentable, running all errands, and cooking dinner almost every single night.

***Side Note*** Plus, I have a gym membership that expires in 3 weeks and has been used far too little to justify renewing unless I step it up. Then again, if unemployed me couldn't get off her lazy butt to go to the gym, why on earth would I think adding a full-time job would make it any easier? ***End of Side Note***

I'm afraid I won't be able to keep up.

But keep up I'll have to, because I can't expect Joe to pick up any slack. So instead of wondering how I can do it, I'll channel my inner overachiever (who has been in hibernation while unemployed) and repeat:

Here's hoping caffeine and great organizational skills will push me through ;)

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Busy, Busy, Busy

I hate being an erratic blogger, but I can't help it when the Brier sofa-bed is such a popular tourist destination ;)

For the second week in a month, we had a loved one visit. In October it was Stacey (read about her visit here, here, here, & here) and last week it was my youngest brother Brian. Over Thanksgiving, Joe's brother and sister-in-law will be visiting and then the week before Christmas my parents will be here. I'm loving all these visitors!

Since Brian and the rest of my family visited in June (read about their visit here, here, & here), his trip was more about hanging out and less about sightseeing. We did go to Terror Behind the Walls, the Rocky steps, the King of Prussia mall (where I got a great start on Christmas shopping), tried a couple of cheesesteaks, and went out to eat a couple times with our cousin Alex who goes to college nearby, but the rest of the time was pretty much spent just watching Breaking Bad.

Proof we did more than watch TV ;)

Brian is a Breaking Bad newbie and had gotten to the beginning of season 2 which, coincidentally, is where Joe and I were in our re-watch of the series. I love when the stars align like that ;) He liked it, but wasn't obsessed yet. Like everyone else I've ever talked to, it only took a couple of episodes of season 2 before he was absolutely hooked. We blasted through seasons 2 & 3 - and now he's going to start over with my dad. How he could stop mid-show baffles me, but he said it was a great note to leave on and his curiosity will help propel him through seasons 1-3 with my dad. Fair enough.

The week was awesome, and the cherry on top of all that awesomeness is the fact that:

I GOT A JOB!!!

I'm going to be vague because who knows who out in the blogosphere is reading this, but essentially I will be a freelance writer working on a project for a well-known internet company. The job is temporary, but I get to work from home (which Buster loves) and should last at least 3-4 months with the potential for me to be brought on for another project once that's finished. It is an ideal situation.

Unfortunately, because I am going to be writing all day for work, I have a feeling this blog is going to become a bit neglected. Not only am I sure to get a bit tired of typing, but my days are going to become pretty monotonous. Hopefully with more guests and the holidays coming up, I'll come up with things to write about :)

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Halloween Re-Cap & Breaking Bad Costume Instructions

Wow - I can't believe it's already November 4. Dental school is flying by!

Our first Halloween in Philly was a lot of fun. Joe's been having a particularly rough couple of weeks at school (his exact words after his exam last Monday were, "I feel like I just got out of a prison shower"), so I wanted to do something a little special for him. He came home from class on Thursday with me making macaroni & cheese gnocchi (recipe here, forgot to take a pic) and this:

The pumpkin was filled with candy, gum, and a monster card game. Oh, and floss ;)

We headed out in search of some pumpkins to carve, but couldn't find any. I had held off buying pumpkins because I wanted Joe to be able to pick his out. Lesson learned? Dental school doesn't leave a whole lot of time for Joe to do things like shopping for the perfect pumpkin.

I was disappointed, but we came back home and had dinner, watched Hocus Pocus, and ate candy. It was really fun :)

***Side Note*** If you love Hocus Pocus, check out this awesome Buzzfeed post ***End of Side Note***

Friday was our chance to wear our Halloween costumes! We LOVE figuring out fun costumes for Halloween. I usually always have the bigger say in what we are, so this year I let Joe pick. He wanted to be Heisenberg from Breaking Bad, so I decided to be a Los Pollos Hermanos worker. Buster, of course, had to join in the fun. He was Jesse (though he couldn't attend the party).

We had fun taking pictures before we left:

Joe had a ton of fun at the party. A lot of people didn't recognize him, and he handed out "meth" to people who were fans of the show. Most people didn't know who the heck I was, which was a pretty good litmus test as to who is actually a fan of Breaking Bad and who is just pretending ;)

If you are curious as to how I made some of the components of the costumes, you can keep reading :)

***Side Note*** If you are planning to be a Los Pollos Hermanos employee and need the images I used for the hat, apron, or name tag - feel free to contact me and I'll send you the files. ***End of Side Note***

METH:

I used two methods to make meth for my fry batter bucket. The first, was crushing some blueberry candy sticks that I picked up from an Amish candy store at Reading Terminal Market while Stacey was visiting. I didn't pick up enough, though, so I also made blue rock candy. It wasn't TOO difficult, but I've never made hard candy before and I made a few mistakes and didn't add flavoring. Joe only handed out the blueberry "meth" packets at the party.

I had no idea where to buy "dime bags", but it turns out Michaels had a ton of sizes. Apparently people need small clear baggies for various bead crafts.

FRY BATTER BUCKET:

The fry batter bucket was made using a plaster of paris bucket that I got from Michaels. I'm sure with all the crafts I do, I'll use plaster of paris eventually. I found pictures online of the Los Pollos Hermanos fry batter bucket and, using Microsoft Paint (yup, too cheap to buy Photoshop), I made the image as close to the real thing as possible. I printed the image and rubber cemented it onto the bucket.

LOS POLLOS HERMANOS HAT, APRON, NAME TAG:
 
I also used Microsoft Paint to make the logo for the hat and name badge. Luckily, I didn't have to do anything special to the logo for the apron.

For adhering the images to the hat and apron, instead of using regular iron on transfers, I used quick fuse fabric sheets that I got at Jo-Anns. I did that because with our Price is Right shirts, anything that was white turned out clear because there isn't white ink (duh). Fabric sheets are white and you print directly on them, so it looks like a silk-screened product when it is done. Plus, the colors are much more vibrant.

The name badge was made by rubber cementing the printed image to a very thin balsa wood strip (for easy cutting with scissors). I then super glued a steel-pin back to it.


Now that celebrating Halloween 2013 is officially finished, it's time to start thinking about costumes for Halloween 2014 ;)

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