The Rally to Restore Sanity/Fear (or not!)

Most of you out there who watch the Daily Show or the Colbert Report would know of the recent "Rally to Restore Sanity" and "March to Keep Fear Alive" (They later joined forces because Colbert couldn't get the licensing for his march - or so he says.) Anyways, about a week before the rally, we were walking back from the Indian restaurant Jeremy mentioned in his latest guest post when we ran into an acquaintance of his. We got to talking and the subject of the rally came up. Then and there, Jeremy made the decision to come with me to the event.

Sure enough, a week later, I was greeting my sweetie at Union Station and taking him to my school for the first time. When we got there, I introduced him to my roommates Ashley and MJ before we went for pancakes at the late night 50's themed diner Ike's that is on my campus.

The next morning, my father picked us up as he was going to the rally too and we drove to the metro station. Lo and behold, the station was so packed with people, we all basically said "Forget this." and we went to have burgers at Fuddrucker's instead. Fuddrucker's is another one of those 50's-esque diners but more kid friendly and much bigger. My family have been going there since I was a little kid. My brother and I loved the cookies and milkshakes. They hand dip the milkshakes and serve you whatever is leftover in a metal pint glass. It's the only way to enjoy a milkshake. Yummy yummy milkshake yum.

After burgers of deliciousness, we picked up a few things at Walmart: a 24 pack of Mountain Dew and a laser pointer if I recall correctly. College essentials. We bid farewell to my father and went for dinner at the cafeteria at my school. I forget what we had but as per the norm for most cafeteria food, it was mediocre. The next morning, we went back to the cafeteria and had waffles from the waffle iron. I accidentally put cream cheese on them. It seriously looked like whipped butter! Luckily, the odd combination was quite good. Jeremy recently told me he had it again when having waffles at his school. A NEW WAFFLE TOPPING IS BORN.

What's your favorite thing to put on waffles?

Cafe Spice: Great Indian Food in Towson Guest Post by Jeremy

A couple of weeks back, Kyra and I went to Cafe Spice in Towson, near my college. We brought along the infamous Ben. Hi Ben!

Cafe Spice starts off every meal with homemade papadums, an Indian bread made out of lentils. At this particular restaurant, I've sampled goat, lamb, and various other delectable delectables.

Cafe Spice: Menu



It was quite the meal to remember. The decor there was quaint and cosmopolitan, furnished with various depictions of Indian gods, but also consisting of modern wood paneling.To be honest, I didn't really take the time to look at the scenery; I was too busy looking at Kyra. She happens to be really pretty.

To finish off the meal of meals, near the front sits a bowl of sweet fennel seeds, the Cafe Spice rendition of after dinner mints. It made me wish that my pockets were made of aluminum foil so that I could have kept eating the delicious fennel seeds all the way back to my school.

Wednesday Awesome: In the spirit of Thanksgiving.

Behold! Thanksgiving cake made from stuffing, turkey, cranberry sauce, potatoes both mashed and sweet with a marshmallow topping.

Link to recipe

The Zoo

One of the things I've always loved about the Washington DC area are the Smithsonian exhibits. I've fallen in love with Norman Rockwell's art at the exhibition currently at the museum of American art, I've gazed in reverence at the original ruby slippers Judy Garland wore in the Wizard of Oz at the museum of American history and just a few weeks ago, I went to the national zoo with Jeremy.

'Twas a wonderful day out. I met him at the Au Bon Pain in Union Station and we took the metro to get to where the only pandas in DC live (I think). Note for all you acrophobics like myself, the escalator from the station up to the main level is GIANT! On our way back down, Jeremy had to hold my hand and sing to me about beady eyed Canadians so that I wouldn't break down crying of fear in the middle of the stopped escalator. I really am the luckiest girl in the world.

"Oh those Canadians, with their beady eyes, oh their beady eyes, oh those beady eyed Canadians..."

Although there were a myriad of spectacular animals there including an emu we deemed to be emo as it was violently attacking its cage and gorgeous red pandas, being the odd couple we are, the squirrels we saw randomly around the park and on our way there were our favorites. Every time we passed one, we'd stop and say hello to it. We went to a pizza place near the zoo. The pizza was alright, kind of mediocre though.

At 3 O’Clock, they were doing an Octopus feeding, so we went to check it out. They named the Octopus Octavius, which Jeremy says is a stupid name for an Octopus, because it was a girl Octopus. Both he and I thought the girl feeding Octavius was kind of cute though. As we left, we stopped to look at the spiders and almost fainted when they turned out not to be behind glass which resulted in a hasty exit from the building through what was in fact the entrance.

All in all, this was a most successful date. Due to time constraints, aching feet that required a massage and the facts I owe my roomies a trip into DC, we only visited half the zoo to see the rest on another day. I particularly look forward to the small mammal house.

Tell me: What's your favorite thing to do with your friends or loved ones?

Quidditch, Bacon and Squirrels (or New York, New York!)

This past weekend was THE weekend. Probably one of the most important events in any person's dating life. It was the weekend I .... MET HIS PARENTS. Because of the fact we met on the internet and my parents wanted to make sure I wasn't dating a psycho killer with a chainsaw and a hook, Jeremy met my parents on our second date and luckily, all went well. Needless to say, I was pretty nervous about meeting his. We'd been planning this trip for weeks after being invited to the Quidditch World Cup by one of Jeremy's old friends. I'd take the Amtrak up to Baltimore-Penn station as per normal, we'd take a 3.5 hour long bus up to New York and then take the train to New Jersey where his parents live. Despite all this planning, I was still nervous as all hell.

When I arrived at Penn Station, gave Jeremy a big hug with running start and nuzzles, we had some time to spare before we had to leave to catch the bus. So as most normal couples do, we sat in there in Penn Station and fixed my computer. Poor Locab (Lots Of Crying And Begging, my trusty Macbook Pro) had had trouble with his left fan for months and this was the time to fix it. The operation was successful and took about 40 minutes, leaving us just enough time to get to the bus station. On our journey to NYC, we stopped at a rest stop at which Jeremy won me a stuffed lion cub we dubbed Simba at a claw machine. An onlooker was astounded that someone actually won at that game.

We arrived late at night so there wasn't much time for a proper introduction. Just a simple hello before retiring to sleep after pumpkin pie. Yum, pie.

The next day (after a delectable lunch at Nathan's Hot Dogs where I tried and loved my first knish) was the Quidditch World Cup, a haven for Harry Potter fans to come and watch an intercollegiate tournament based on the sport from the books. It was AWESOME! I supported the Badassilisks from NYU. One of the matches between two other teams dragged on forever because the track runner who was the Golden Snitch for that game had run into Subway and was eating a sandwich while the players were tackling and wrestling each other. As Jeremy was dressed for the occasion in a wizard robe, a newscaster from France interviewed him and hopefully, we shall be appearing on French TV. YAYYYY!


We decided not to stay for the entire tournament as there was much left of NYC to explore. First stop was Washington Square Park. Jeremy took a nap on my lap while I watched the big fat squirrels scurry and play. By God, they could have eaten most other squirrels and yet they still retained their agility and flexibility.

After squirrel watching, we wandered throughout SoHo, window shopping at curiosity shops. When dinner time came around, Jeremy took me to what he calls "the best unknown restaurant in New York City". The restaurant is a lovely little Greek place by the name of Snack. We had stuffed grape leaves, braised lamb stifado and a cheese dish called saganaki all for $40. It was absolutely delicious. After this marvelous repast, we went to an Italian gelato place called Dante's where we split a Zuppe Ingles. I can't quite remember what was in it but it was really good. My boyfriend knows all the best places to eat in New York City. =)

The next day was time to say goodbye to New Jersey and New York City. I left Jeremy's home, hopefully leaving a good impression on his parents. Before catching the bus to Baltimore, we bought lunch at one of the stalls New York is famous for. Note, aromatic food bought from a stall does not travel well on a bus or sit well in your stomach. Another note, I saw rainbows in the clouds. They were beautiful.

Yeah, it was kind of like that.

When we arrived in Baltimore and headed back to the station, we happened to pass by Sofi's Crepes where I saw a sign outside advertising their special, The Hog's Heaven - a warm crepe filled with bacon and chocolate. At the time, we were rushing to make sure the frightened high schooler we were with got to a taxi safely. Once she left, our eyes met the clock. We had 45 minutes left before my train even started boarding. Upon the utterance of this realization, we started running back towards the crepe place where we ordered one Hog's Heaven to split. As luck would have it, I had exact change in my pocket. Hurriedly, we walked back to the station letting the crepe warm our hands and the smell of bacon fill our nostrils thereby making the wait to chow down ridiculously unbearable. Our will was strong enough that we didn't take a single bite until we sat down inside and oh how gloriously we were rewarded! Heaven was a fitting name for the chocolatey-bacony goodness that was in our hands and we ate ravenously amongst joyous cries of "Oh God, we are such fatties!"

A perfect ending to a perfect date.

Tell me: what was it like when you met your significant other's parents?

Wednesday Awesome: I have some kind of crepe dependency problem.

Guest Post by Jeremy

The two of them entered Baltimore Penn Station in a haze. The weekend had been incredible, full of food and the kind of magic that can only be experienced, or even remembered by those young and in love. As they looked at the clock, there were 45 minutes until her train. The same thought was on both of their minds, but neither wanted to be the first to verbalize it. She did. "We have forty five minutes." The both of them started sprinting towards the exit, frantically rushing to the crepe store up the street. This was no ordinary crepe store, as they served crepes full of bacon and chocolate, savory and sweet, heaven and a half. Even though there was plenty of time, the two tacitly agreed that it would be more fun to rush there, flustered, out of breath, ordering amidst laughter and joy. She had exact change.