(a quick) two-less-than-seven for tuesday

I'm studying for accounting, but all I really want to do is read my Potok and knit. I want it to be Thanksgiving break, and I want midterms to be over. Alas, I won't have time to knit until Sunday, so I'm taking a quick homework break in blogging form since it is less engulfing than working on my new hat.

1. I got the new copy of the Conference Ensign! (The LDS church magazine, which in the latest issue contains the addresses from October's General Conference.) I re-read President Monson's address about serving others, and I can't wait to study the other talks.

2. I've been going hungry-ish on campus for the last couple of days because I'm out of sandwich bags, meaning that I can't pack any of my food for lunch/snacks. My creative problem-solving skills are being tested each morning as I try to figure out how to transport my Goldfish and celery sticks.

3. I need more winter skirts and tights and another pair of sneakers. My wardrobe needs must be tackled one paycheck at a time.

4. 7-Eleven runs for Big Gulps are a regular part of my weeks. Charlotte and I cheated on Raj (our favorite 7-Eleven attendant) today by walking down to the Sinclair station at the base of campus for "Big Swigs." Though pricier than the Big Gulp, the beverage selection was impressive. They even had Coke Zero! I hate that I have to go off-campus to get real cola. (BYU doesn't sell any caffeinated drinks. )

5. I am returning to my accounting endeavors. Wish me luck!

Will you be returning to or beginning any endeavors when you finish commenting on this post?
In what area of your life are you employing creative problem solving right now?

not so stylin

The goose has spoken. Autumn is in full swing in the Physics Department, which means that it's time for an update on the latest trends in decor found in the display cases of the Eyring Science Center.

What would a season change be without a new batch of festive fairies? This fall, our fantastical fairy family is joined by these fanciful friends.

Everybody is getting a piece of the leopard print this season. This pretty lady is sporting the print with pride, even throwing in a little glitter to her ensemble to make the look complete.

Rhianna isn't the only one getting in on the crazy hair-do's this season. This fall fairy is letting her locks fly as free as she does while suspended from fishing line in our Graduate Student display case.
One trend that's catching on faster than plaid this season is the swine flu. We seem to have caught this fairy mid gag as he works his way through a especially bad wave of nausea. (When I expressed the opinion that this particular fellow looked diseased, my boss responded by explaining that his expression actually expresses the joy of fall. Go figure.)

No comment.

And what could be trendier than having all three of these fashionistas in one display, flanked by festive teddy bears?

The other fabulous addition to our display cases this season are what I like to call Porcelain a la Contortion.

To the untrained eye, these figurines may look like victims of vehicular homicide. Never fear. These cute guys are "tumbling scarecrows and turkeys," just dropped from the sky to spread some Thanksgiving cheer. (This isn't supposed to be a link. I don't know how to make it go away.)

plans

I am nothing if not a pro at planning and brainstorming. This current semester has been as full of new plans and projects as those before, containing many flops, failures, and fantastic successes.

-I decided to make time for leisure reading this semester. I read a lot this summer and loved it and was afraid that my classes would push leisure reading out of the picture like it did last year. I decided, however, that school is a pretty stupid reason to give up reading. If I had time to keep up with several tv shows online last year, then I certainly have time to enjoy literature of my choice this year. My reading pace is much slower than over the summer due to my current obligation to watch accounting lessons and practice my Excel Pivot Table skills, but I love the few minutes I find to sit down with Potok. I've been working my way through The Gates of November for the last month or so, and am thoroughly enjoying the fascinating story and compelling historical setting. Some of my favorite on-campus moments this year have involved my finding a sunny spot in between classes to slip into the world of Soviet Russia and spend time with the Slepak family.

-Another activity I have refused to abandon during the school year is knitting. My needles and yarn were some of my favorite companions this summer and I just couldn't say goodbye. Like my leisure reading for the last couple of months, my knitting project productivity has slowed from the summer, but it is equally satisfying. I have discovered some new patterns and projects and need to get going on some Christmas knitting asap. I had grand plans for Halloween knitting projects, but my week took a turn for the crazy, resulting in my sending a pitiful two Halloween washcloths a day before said holiday. It's the thought that counts, right?

Other plans:
-When I'm a billionaire, I plan on donating a system of escalators to BYU to spare the generations that follow me from the painful mornings I spend huffing my way up to campus with heavy bag in tow.
-When I finally get my invitation to Hogwarts, I'm going to have someone teach me how to levitate objects so that I can stop damaging my spinal cord with my sometimes incredibly heavy bag.
-Wish for a camera for Christmas so that I can once more photographically document my life on a regular basis. I hijacked Charlotte's camera for a few days, the fruits of which will be coming soon.
-Work my butt off academically for the next three weeks because I have more than enough tests, papers, and assignments to keep me nicely busy before I head home for Thanksgiving.

third time's (almost) a charm

A couple weekends ago, my friend Brooke and I threw a well-deserved birthday party celebration of Charlotte. As with any plan, party, or project, I was way excited and had grand visions of how it would turn out. A key aspect of my vision involved having a giant cupcake-shaped birthday cake on my aqua cake plate, surrounded by smaller plates of regular-sized cupcakes. It was a beautiful image, but my hopes were shattered as soon as I attempted making it a reality.

Cake #1: The first cake I mixed up was a chocolate pound cake using this recipe that came with my giant cupcake pan. (I leave out the coffee grounds and chocolate chips, though) It's a delicious cake, and I was so so so excited to make it all on my own with all my new kitchen supplies. The batter seemed a little off while I was mixing it, but I passed it off, thinking that maybe the different elevation made it a little different than at home, and that it would still turn out okay. False. I realized there was a problem when I smelled the smoke. Opening up the over revealed that a good deal of the batter had exploded out of the pan and landed on the bottom of the over, where it continued baking and burning. "Explode!" you say? "Cake can't actually explode." Well, I'm here to testify that some of the batter was indeed projected from the pan. The cake batter crater is visible in the photograph below.

As one who aspires to have a bakery someday, you can imagine how discouraging this was for me. It was only when the pathetic cake cooled enough for me to inspect it that I realized what I had done. While measuring out the butter in the initial stages of mixing, I had been on the phone with my Grandma, asking about the leavening. The house-brand butter I had purchased for my cake-baking came in the form of one-pound bricks, and was marked accordingly in 1/4 pound increments. I really did know that 1/4 lb butter is equal to 1/2 cup, but my brain couldn't handle the conversation and conversion at the same time, and instead of putting in 1 1/2 cups (or 3/4 lb) I put in 1 1/2 pounds. of. butter. Yes, POUNDS. !*#@&@!*$*#* The cake was greasy to the touch. It was disgusting. It was a failure.

Cake #2: I started mixing up the batter for my cupcakes right after Cake #1 hit the oven, and everything went smoothly until started beating in the eggs, which is when I was forced to attend to the disaster happening in my oven. I spent a good deal of time beating smoke away from the smoke alarm, opening windows, and scraping burned batter off the bottom of the oven before I could return to my cupcakes. By the time I was able to distribute the batter into cupcake pans and get them into my neighbors' oven, (because anytime my I heated mine, smoke would pour from all openings) the leavening had been active for too long, and the cupcakes fell. !@#@*#$&@&%@#&*&*$!

This is how I felt. If you can see past the blurry quality of the photo, you can see the green mixing bowl full of slowly dying cupcake batter and the black fan I pointed at the oven opening to clear the smoke. (Fashion detour: note the Susan cast-off necklace, cardigan, and earrings. Cast-offs make my heart soar, even while beating smoke away from a greasy cake.)

Above you can see the burnt crumbs I scraped from the oven bottom. Is that a wisp of smoke I see?

Cake #3: When I realized my buttery mistake, I had just enough time before a date to mix up one last cake. The batter was delicious, it baked perfectly, and I left my apartment at 8 feeling excited to have at least one decent cake for Charlotte's party the next day. However (yes, after all this tragedy, there is still a "however") since the cake was too hot to take out of the pan before I left, it ended up sitting in the pan for too long and came out in more pieces than it should have. At this point, I was totally dejected. It was 11:30 at night, I was splattered with cake batter, the kitchen was splattered with cake batter, I had a sink full of dishes to to, I was hungry because the only food I'd had time to eat all afternoon was licked off a spatula or drunk out of a chilled aluminum can, and my last attempt at birthday cake greatness didn't want to come out of the pan. *&%$#@*#$&@!#!@%&%$@$#&@&#!!&%@#

In the end, it all worked out. I froze Cake #3 in four pieces (as opposed to the two it should be in) and reconstructed it with the help of some delicious, yellow-tinted powdered sugar frosting. It served nicely and was enjoyed by all, and I have learned my lesson to never converse and measure butter simultaneously.

Have you ever blown up anything?
Do you have a hard time letting go of your plans and visions?

fashion victim

I'm a sucker for a trend. If it's cute and stylish, I will adapt the look and love it. That's just the way I am. Fabulous flats and high high heels are just a couple of the trends I happily embrace, though I often have to apply the "no pain, no gain" motto. Breaking in a new pair of flats can be extremely painful owing to the necessity of building up callouses where the tops of the shoes rub. This normally entails one or two slightly painful days, complete with moderate limping and use of band-aids. I learned last week, however, that level of pain required to break in flats is almost directly proportional to the level of shoe fabulous-ness.

Exhibit A: The flats I have been dreaming of my whole life.


I have been yearning for yellow flats for a while now, and this pair found me at TJMaxx the week before I came out to Provo. Something about them speaks to my heart. Maybe it's the perfect yellow color, the patten-leather-like shine, or the cream and gold buckle, but I. Love. These. Flats.

Upon wearing them for the first time last Tuesday, I quickly learned that they were going to test my true devotion to style. After wearing them for a day on campus, I was sporting purple, painful blisters. Throughout the next day, the state of my feet only worsened, so that by the time I woke up on Thursday, my feet were stiff and extremely sore. I could barely walk, a fact to which Charlotte can expertly testify. (She kept trying to get me to trade her my flats for her flip flops, but the flip flops didn't go with my ensemble at all.) I had her meet me early to walk up to campus for our 9:00 class because my movement was reduced to a slow and painful hobble, which takes significantly more time than pain-free striding. By the time we were up on campus, I was full-out limping. My feet throbbed so much that I had to take three ibuprofen so that I could be mobile for the remainder of the day. I was pathetic, though not because I was hobbling and wincing around campus, but because my devotion to my yellow flats was not deterred in the slightest.

(the blisters were way worse a few days ago, but this pic still gives the size and general painful quality of my battle wounds. Note the culprit shoes in the background.)

With the help of my roommate (who's training for a marathon and knows a fair bit about blister care) and the wearing of sandals all day Saturday, I can happily report that my blisters are healing and that I wore my yellow flats today with no limping or throbbing. I passed the test, and now I look forward to a very rewarding relationship with my yellow flats. You comfort-shoe-supporters can keep your Crocs, because I will let nothing come between me and the perfect accessory. No pain, no fabulous gain.