Houston for a few days

Hello everyone!

Snowmageddon is here in Boston!  BU has cancelled school for this evening and all of tomorrow, and everyone is prepping for 2-3 feet of snow and hurricane speed winds.  I have never experienced a blizzard before, so while I know that it's extremely dangerous, I'm also rather giddy to see a completely white world tomorrow when I wake up!  

outside my window a few days ago  =)

Being stuck at home for a full day and a half also gives me time to catch up on my blog!  I know it's been awhile, but since I got to Boston, I've been so swamped with school and my new job as an orchestra manager that it's been difficult to even find time to eat sometimes.  Needless to say, this snow day could not have come at a better time.  I'm looking forward to baking cookies, maybe drinking some hot chocolate, catching up on some homework, practicing, and just enjoying this God-send day off.

Now, to catch up on a few events before my life became incredibly hectic...
I spent a few days in Houston before school started, and though I couldn't see everyone I wanted to see due to lack of time, I still got to pack in a few adventures  =)

The first one, of course, (I mean, it's David and I haha) was going dancing!  We used to love going to Second Saturday Dances put on by USA Dance, and my visit coincided with the Second Saturday Dance for January, so we got to go!

It was before school started in Houston, so we didn't see all of the Rice dancers, but we did see a few of our old Rice friends + an adopted U of H dancer   haha.  They had a little 'photo booth' there, so obviously, we had to take the awkward dance family photo  ;)

Then, our old apartment reunited!!!!  

If you've been following my blog for awhile, you would be familiar with seeing Amulet around here since we were roommates for 2 years!  

it was really great to catch up, have some lunch, and some coffee to warm up in the frigid(?) Houston weather (little did I know what I would be facing in Boston)

Later, for tradition's sake, the double daters got together for some game night!  We used to do this so much, and Chris (Amulet's bf) has quite an extensive collection of board games, so we had to get together again while I was visiting  =)

We played a Polish game (I forget what it's called since it was in Polish) that was a cross between the game 'Dixit' and 'Clue' that got us all warmed up for a night of non-stop laughter.

we were joined by our favorite four-legged friend, Houdini!!  such a charmer this one  =)

After two rounds of the first game, we proceeded to build our castles with the game 'Castles of Mad King Ludwig' which was so much fun!  Chris built the fattest castle, Amulet had the most well-balanced castle, I had the sleepiest one, and David had the creepiest, strangest castle full of dungeons and other questionable underground rooms  haha

It was so good to be back hanging out and catching up with our favorite double date couple, and I hope that we get to do it more as we visit each other in our respective cities  =)

If you are in the New England area chillin with the blizzard Juno, I hope that you will stay warm and safe, and if you are enjoying the balmy weather in the 50's (like in Houston), then... well...  harumph.  haha  =)  

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great week!

--Janny

Wonderful Weekend =)

Hello everyone,

Happy Columbus Day and I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

We had a really great weekend (funny how much you enjoy everything more when you're less stressed! haha)  Though we still worked some throughout the weekend, having today and tomorrow off really took a lot of pressure off of my shoulders, and man. this weekend was such a relaxing and happy one  =)

We started off the weened by watching Gravity in 3D.  We tried to go to.. 9:30 pm showing I think? but when we got there, it was all sold out!  Thankfully, we were a little late (per usual) so we only had 25 minutes or so until the next show, which ended up being only about half way full!  And since we were the first ones there, (a phenomenon we have never experienced before.. we usually get there right as the movie starts and we miss most of the previews) we got to pick the best seats in the house!  

And guys, if you haven't seen Gravity, you totally should!  Apparently IMAX 3D is the way to go, but even just watching it in 3D was such a visual feast!  They did an amazing job of creating the piece.  The story line was not something we talked about over and over after the movie, but the visual effects? Man, the visuals were beautiful.  and really quite amazing how they managed to capture outer space and incorporate the CG and the camera work so flawlessly.

Next day, we made our (almost) weekly run to H Mart to get some lunch and groceries.  I was strangely craving the Korean fried chicken, Tong Dak, which is soo sooo good.. well, not very good for you, but such a comfort food for me, so that's what we ended up having for lunch!  =)  I'm obviously so excited haha

And then, as we were shopping, an announcement came over the intercom saying that there's a traditional rice cake making exhibition happening at the prepared-foods corner!  so of course, we had to check it out!

This is how they used to make rice cakes folks!

And then, they asked if anyone in the audience wanted to try, so naturally, I stepped up to the plate to try my hand at swinging the hammer looking contraption.  How hard could it be? right?

well,,, let's just say that the hammer thing was much much heavier than I had anticipated.

me struggling.  especially in the last photo because the about-to-be-rice-cake mixture is super sticky!
but then we got to try the freshly made rice cakes, and that made everything all worth it.  so. good.  yum!

Later that night, we attended Houston chapter of USA Dance's social dance party, Second Saturday dance.  The theme of the night was the Masquerade, so I happily got my hands 'gluey' getting some crafts on  =p

David didn't want any bling on his mask for some reason, so I had to be content with just glueing some decorations on mine  haha

For a $2 and 5 minute project, I was pretty happy with how they turned out  =)

about to dance the night away~

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend as well!

Thanks for stopping by!

--Janny