Winter's back

Sigh. Winter came back to Denver. It's 17 degrees and snowing.

Shabbat Shalom!

A day in the life

Things are so good right now, I feel a little freakish walking around smiling all the time. Good freakish. Happy freakish. Here's what things look like...

Monday.

5 a.m. Wake up and run 10 miles. Fresh legs. Listen to NPR and catch up on the news. See hardly anyone. Get home before the sun rises.

7 a.m. Stop off for coffee and happen to know the barista, who is incredibly kind and gives me his discount.

7:30 a.m. - 10 a.m. Prep for being "on call" in Evidence. Surprise Hypo and my argument as defense counsel for an evidentiary issue up on appeal. Right. What does that even mean? Don't these people know I'm totally out of my element and unqualified for these sorts of shenanigans?

10 a.m. - 12 p.m. Evidence Class. I realize my understanding of "informal" is a tad on the casual side, but smile and keep it together. Attempt to make eye contact with my "jury of peers" (Hm. Literally and figuratively.), but realize no one is even paying attention to me and eyes are glued to computers. Feel relieved. Resolve to make eye contact with my professor all semester long, even if that's the most I get out of Evidence class, that I paid attention and made the professor feel as if one student was engaged. Raise typical, idealistic Carrie comments about how my hypothetical client didn't obstruct the Plaintiff's fundamental rights and access to justice.

12 p.m. - 5 p.m. Do my work developing a database of bilateral trade agreements. I'm a paid Research Assistant (and Project Manager (oooh, ahhh)) for a young, hot-shot Latin American professor at the grad school. After I make this database thing I'll start coding, testing hypotheses, and looking for things like clusters and patterns. Exciting! Joined by the lovely KS. Fine! Sheesh, people, I admit it - had another cup of coffee.

5 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Book the squash court at the gym and practice my serve until my forearm hurts and my fingers are shaky. Approximately half an hour. Shower.

6:30 - 7:30 p.m. Scarf down dinner brought from home, attempting to save money. Ate delicious Trader Joe's indian fare an east coast friend shipped in a care package. (Hint Hint to all you loyal bloggie readers!)

7:30 p.m. - 9 p.m. Int'l Business Transactions class. Figure out how I can multi-task and use my time wisely while listening in class.

9 - 11:30 p.m. Meet les amies GC and KS for a drinkie-drink at a dive bar. What are the chances -- it's karaoke night! Some people just have all the luck. Eat delicious nachos and sweet potato fries. Talk about boys (naturally) and school. Make plans to go dancing.

11:30 p.m. - 12:00 a.m. Walk home feeling ridiculously happy with my life right now.

12:00 - 12:30 a.m. Characteristic dicking around because I can never go straight to sleep when I get home.

12:30 a.m. The moment I've been waiting for, glorious sleep.

Pre-cap of the semester

This semester will be fabulous --

3 classes (Evidence, International Business Transactions, Community Economic Development)
1 Journal (for credit)
1 Research Assistant Position (paid!)
1 bike trip from SF to LA (incl. beautiful train ride from Denver to SF)
1 Colorado Century Ride (TBD, all are welcome!)
1 First Annual Cousin Vacation (NYC, February)
1 Weekend-o-fun in Vail (this weekend!)
[Many] trail run, bike ride, Shabbat dinners, Symphony concerts, delicious bites, books to be read, friends to see, salsa dances to be had, etc.
2 graduations (okay, I'm actually not going to the ceremonies, but I will be done with the degrees!)
1 drive across the country (haven't picked the route yet -- but definitely through the South!)

Now's your last chance, suckers. Better book your ticket to come play in Denver before yours truly gets a rollin' ...

Happy 2011!

I have been bad with le bloggie. I'm back! This is just a teaser... but break was fantastic. As were my few days here in Denver before class started. I'm off to my first class - starts in 10 minutes and I'm excited for the new semester. My last semester! I'm taking Evidence, International Business Transactions, and Community Economic Development. I have a job as a research assistant ... and plan to have a fantastic life (running, biking, reading, mountain-ing, dancing, eating, cooking, seeing friends, etc.). Visitors and co-conspirators welcome!

Off to class... and so it begins! Here we go! :)

the city

Been in the city a couple days, visiting Dr. Baby Brother. I feel like I should have been taking advantage of the city, but I haven't felt like doing much. I have fond memories of winter and Christmas time in the city. It seems a world away, now.

I feel a little sickie after all semester and the kiddos down in Philly. I've gone for runs around Central Park. I read a book last night. I took a nap. I cooked a lot for the skinny brother (three kinds of cookies, lasagna, veggies, salads, breakfasts, etc.). It's kind of nice to have anonymity and nothingness. Wish I could have seen more of the brother, the city, and other friends. I am seeing a friend tomorrow morning, so that will be lovely, before heading up (finally) to Boston.

Happy Winter Solstice!

Au milieu de l'hiver, j'ai découvert en moi un invincible été.

Autumn fades into winter

The puff coat has come out!

It's been below freezing and we had our first hail-snow yesterday. The first frost was on my car this morning and I had to pull out the scraper. Que loco! I do love fall, and there are still hints of leaves changing, but it looks like winter is coming. It's shocking how after even just the first flurries or overnight frost, fall somehow fades away. The trees look sparse, the leaves are no longer vibrant colors. No more frozen yogurt stops on the way home from school. Now I just want a cup of hot tea with a splash of milk.

I'm excited for scarves, mittens, and hats. I can't wait for anonymous runs in the crisp, dark night and that feeling of fresh legs during a brisk winter run. Then, with rosy cheeks, I get to make (and eat!) thick, creamy soups like pumpkin or butternut squash.

Ooo, and it's almost time for those festive balls of light in Rittenhouse Square (Philly) -- that, to me, is the epitome of winter. I even get to see them this year when I'm back east in December!


It's true my favorite season is ending, but my second favorite seasons is arriving!

Winter

Au milieu de l'hiver, j'ai découvert en moi un invincible été.
(In the depths of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.)

-Albert Camus

I find that there is something special about people who hold winter are their favorite season. Winter is hard. Winter is bitterly cold. It freezes your boogers and turns your (my) fingers and toes white. It's dark at 5 a.m., still dark at 6 a.m., and somehow still dark at 7 a.m. Your bed seems much harder to get out of and the sun-shiny day ends before you leave work, should you be lucky enough to have a sunny day in winter. There are fewer colors in nature, fewer varieties of fruits or vegetables to eat, and life in general is undeniably a bit harder to love. All this to say, I have much respect for people who like winter. They seem to have strong will power, self-generated energy and admirable adaptability.

For me, today was a test: Monday morning. Dark, icy and 8 degrees, I dragged myself out of bed for my run at 5 a.m. I packed my hot pink tights in my gym bag because they brighten up winter days and give me a little perk. I am already considering a second cup of coffee this afternoon, the bribe I made to myself this morning. If you get yourself out of bed to go running, Carrie, then you can have a second cup of coffee as a reward this afternoon.

And, so, fall is still my favorite season. But, winter has always been my second favorite. It's a challenge that makes me stronger. I'm still learning its ways and my ways of being happy during it. Winter makes me a little more creative by forcing me to search for the beautiful hidden gems and traditions that lie within it.

Week in review

Wow, I can't believe the last time I wrote was Monday! And here we are, Friday already. *Shakes head.* I've been thinking of meaningful posts I want to do, but now I'll just write a post about the week...

I turned in a bunch of assignments this week: an editing and citing assignment, a midterm, a draft outline and bibliography. The midterm was actually fun to write! It was about how states are the principle implementers and enforcers of human rights.

Other going-ons this week? I had fun at my internship and worked on a project in Colombia. A Colorado company who makes prosthetic limbs wants to export there, so I was trying to figure out how to do that. What are the local laws, customs, duties, registrations and tariffs? Is there a potential market and who are the competitors? With whom might they work as a local middle-man? Pretty interesting and I was happy with the report I put together. I went to lunch at a new Thai restaurant with two other girls who work at the WTC with me - fun!

I work at the tallest building on the left.

I also had a killer run that night at Niketown. I was psyched - kept up with the guys. Their fancy Garmin watches said we were cruising along at a 6:20 pace. Woo! I was definitely hurting the next day. I also went to a Penn alumni fundraiser event last night. It was at the Ritz Carleton downtown with nice nibbles, cheese, and wine. It was all pretty posh, I got dressed up and had a good time. I'm reading (slowly) Dubliners by Joyce. Good writing and good stories about people accepting - choosing? - the inevitability of their place in society. Another thing that strikes me as I reflect on the week is all the beautiful sunrises and sunsets I have seen. There is something about the snow, the mountains and the dry air in winter here that reflects the sun in such beautiful ways. It's one of my favorite things about living here.

One last thing - I love puns. I heard a cool news piece about bilingual puns. Brilliant! The puns were in the context of restaurant names. Pho-Shizzle, Juan in a Million, Mmmmpanadas. Ha! I think it's great. I know, I'm a dork.

Happy 2010!

Happy New Year!

Break has been wonderful! Spent some time on the Cape. I saw some high school friends, but mainly just spent time with the family. Had a few days back in Denver, then up to Montana for a skiing New Years with college friend and her family. Loved it! I feel so lucky to be where I am right now and to have such loving friends and family.

I am not a huge fan of new years resolutions because I like to work on things continuously or make the conscious effort at the time, whenever I figure out something new I want to work on. But, that said, a few things I want to work on this year are...

(1) give Denver another shot. I think I have fallen into a pessimistic view of it and I am changing that around to be more optimistic. I will explore new areas, talk to more people, and do the things I moved here to do. That is, I will try to live a more balanced life taking advantage of the things the Rockies have to offer.
(2) learn more about Judaism and do something (buy a challah bread, light the candles, cook a nice dinner, go to services) to celebrate Shabbat each week. I hope I can find a temple I feel comfortable attending and I want to be learning more about Judaism as a way of life.
(3) read more novels, even as little as 1 page a night before crashing. I love reading and devour books. It has been so hard when I get to bed late, exhausted and I have already spent all day reading and looking at the computer screen. But I miss falling in love with characters, having good stories spinning around my head and good writing.
(4) Volunteer! I get to attend legal nights again this semester. I work as a volunteer translator for lawyers who don't speak Spanish at a free legal clinic. I couldn't go last semester because I always had class. I'm also getting involved in this cool organization that teaches human rights to high school kids. There is going to be a Youth Conference for the kids in April and I'm helping to plan the curriculum and the event. I'm really, really looking forward to this!

Some photos to enjoy --

Me with DK at the lodge at Big Sky in Montana
The trips.
The bridge on Keveney Lane, just down the hill from my parents' house

Lindsey, Andy, Louis, me, Mom, Diana. Notice the immature bunny ears ruining a perfectly nice photo.
The cute grandparents!

me!

Oh, shush

All these East Coasters have gchat messages about how it feels like winter there. I checked the weather in JP, Cape Cod, NY, Philly, Indiana (honorary east-coaster!) and it is nothing to talk about! You want winter? Try this on for size:

It hasn't gotten warmer than the single digits for about 4 days. It hasn't gotten up to freezing point for at least a week. Snow every day for the past week. There's ice inside my windows and my loofah froze after my shower. I went outside last night (to take out the trash) and truly felt what 0 degrees is like. Hurts your throat on the first breath in. Your boogers freeze instantly. It was -6 (actual temperature) when I left the house this morning, and that was even with the sun out today. It's now warmed up to 5 degrees.

It's supposed to be 30s this weekend. 30s!? That's practically bikinis in Wash Park weather!