The Symphony & Canoeing

Last weekend was wonderful! On Friday night, Lauren and Chris brought over some delicious cheese that we enjoyed with a little red wine before heading to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was being performed and it was absolutely amazing - I even got goosebumps when the chorus joined the orchestra! Afterward, we went to Red Maple - a bar/lounge serving tapas (4-5 serving appetizers). We were able to enjoy a great variety, and they were all yummy - thanks to Chris and Lauren for picking up the tab! :)

On Saturday, we met up with them again to go canoeing at Loch Raven Reservoir. A canoe rental is $14 for the whole day - so a pretty great deal! We had fun exploring the Reservoir and its great landscape. We packed picnic lunches and enjoyed a few beers while spending time on the water and soaking up the sun - Evan's ideal situation! Evan and I enjoyed canoeing so much that we even went back out there yesterday afternoon, and it was just as fun the second time around!

As for employment news - I picked up a temporary position filling in as an administrative assistant for a construction company. It's just for 8 days, but at least I'm getting out of the apartment and making a little extra cash. The job search is going well, and I'm definitely making progress. Hopefully I'll be able to share some exciting news soon - I'm just so ready to work full-time - I'm sure my parents can't even believe I just said that! :)

Loch Raven, Chi Omega & Bird Poop

Last Saturday, Chris and Lauren invited us to go for a run at Loch Raven Reservoir. This huge reservoir is north of Baltimore in Baltimore County, and it is beautiful up there! We enjoyed running on the trails and enjoying time outside of the city. They packed a picnic lunch for all of us, and it was great to spend more time with them. Although, my legs were pretty sore for the next couple of days!

Last Sunday, we attended a Chi Omega BBQ for Baltimore-area alums. It was so nice to meet new people, and even better that they were fellow Chi Omegas! The couple who hosted the BBQ actually invited us to a Jason Mraz concert, but we already had plans. We are going to have brunch with them in a couple weeks, and we're excited to get to know them better!

Now for a change of pace...our apartment complex has a 24-hour fitness center, and it's great to be able to work out when we want. We have to cross the courtyard to enter the fitness center, and Evan and I had been noticing a lot of bird poop on the sidewalk. Not even 2 days after talking about it, the incident happened. After leaving the fitness center on Wednesday night, bird poop struck my arm and leg! Of course I started screaming because I thought some wild insect had attacked me. But, no...just bird poop! Evan rushed me back into the fitness to clean me off, while I was hysterical. I just couldn't believe that it actually happened! I mean, it's one of those things that you hear about but don't experience. Oh, well...makes for a good story! :)

Haircut!

Thursday was the day - I chopped off my hair. I had been growing it out for the wedding, so the time had come! I wanted to do it right when we got here, but searching for a salon in a new city is definitely harder than it sounds. In Baltimore (and greater Baltimore), there are so many different neighborhoods, and we've learned quickly that each neighborhood is quite different from the next. I wanted to make sure that I found a salon in a good area. So after speaking with some people and Google-ing a LOT of different salons, I found one that looked like it might work. Studio 1612 is located in the Mt. Washington village district, and it was absolutely perfect! The village is a secluded neighborhood that is filled with some great little shops, so I had fun walking around there before my appointment.

Funny story about when I called to schedule a time: the owner actually answered and wanted to know where the 402 area code was from, so I said "Nebraska." She was so excited that I picked her salon, so when I was paying for the haircut, I heard this lady start yelling across the salon, wondering where the "Nebraska girl" was because she wanted to meet me! She was very kind and happy that I enjoyed my time there - I'll definitely be going back! I haven't taken any pictures of the new 'do yet, but I'll be sure to soon! Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

Ice Cream...Finally!

Last Saturday was spent sleeping in...always a plus! That afternoon we went up to Towson - they have a really great (and huge!) mall, mainly filled with stores that we can't afford! It was still a lot of fun and very relaxing just to walk around and look. Evan actually found a really nice watch, and although it was on sale, it was still somewhat pricey (and we're trying really hard to save money!). So we put it on hold to let him think about it. We ended going back home and taking nap, and when we woke up, he decided he wanted it! So we were off again to Towson around 8:30 that night. He got the watch, and then I decided I needed something, so of course I chose ice cream! We looked...and looked, and still NO ice cream. Evan was talking to his mom after another defeated try and happened to mention our troubles. After he hung up, we looked to the right of the street and found an OPEN ice cream shop! YAY! I couldn't stop telling the workers how excited I was to find their place - and they gave us HUGE servings. Absolutely divine. It wasn't just a store for ice cream, though. They also sold donuts - gourmet donuts! You can even get a "hole-in-one," which consists of a donut with ice cream on it. We're definitely going back, so we can try the donuts next time!

Here is the menu for the donuts: the store is called Fractured Prune.

Little Havana, a Film Festival & Wine

Evan has been fortunate enough to have time during the weekends to just relax and not worry about class work or hospital rotations...so we always look forward to Fridays! Last Friday was no exception, and we had a great night enjoying time with friends. We had a few people over for drinks before heading to dinner at Little Havana, a bar/restaurant. Seafood was definitely the restaurant's forte, but of course I went with meat - still not so sure about things from the ocean! Evan's trying really hard to get me to like fish, and I did try his dinner, so that's progress! After Little Havana with the group, we went with Chris and Lauren to a film festival inside an art gallery. And...it was an experience! Maybe I just don't "get" art, but the short films were odd and interesting. One included a middle-aged, half-naked man acting as a cow in his basement. Not sure why that's classified as art! We then found this great wine shop, bought a bottle and went back to our apartment. It was very relaxing and a great chance for us to get to know Chris and Lauren a little bit better!

That was just the beginning of our great weekend, though! More to come, including...drum roll...ICE CREAM. Yes, we found an ice cream place, so you can all stop worrying about me! :)

Yahtzee!

Who would have thought that 2 people playing Yahtzee could be so fun!? I haven't laughed that hard in a while. Last night after a failed attempt of trying to find an ice cream place around us (there are supposed to be quite a few, but parking on a Thursday night in downtown Baltimore is quite the task), we came back to the apartment empty-handed. Luckily, we had enough store-bought ice cream for one person (me! - Evan so graciously insisted!), so I was able to satisfy my need. We then decided to bust out one of the board games that we received for the wedding and challenge each other to an intense game of Yahtzee. I blame my two losses on Evan - when he sees all of the dice after being rolled, whether it's his turn or mine, he immediately starts explaining what combination should be sought. So here I am trying to analyze my scorecard and the dice that I rolled, and I have Evan blurting out what he thinks would be the easiest points to get - based on odds. It was too much; I just couldn't concentrate, and he was making me nervous. So I lost...both games...149-229 and 210-238. I called it quits after that, but I definitely want to play him again soon, it was just too darn funny watching how excited he became after each roll! Tonight we're heading to an art exhibition at Maryland Art Place, and then to the Gallery Imperato Film Festival afterward. It should be fun!

Fourth of July in D.C.

Happy Holiday Weekend

Evan and I had a great holiday weekend!! On Wednesday night, we were able to video chat with Evan's mom and sister, Kira. It was so great to see them, even if it was only on a computer! Then on Thursday, we were able to video chat with my parents, Ashley, Nathan and Tomaz (their cat!). They were in Eagle for the weekend, so it worked out great that we could see them via computer! Friday was spent sleeping in - Evan deserved it so much after the hours that he's been putting in these past few weeks. That afternoon we had a barbecue with his program on Johns' Hopkins' main campus. The weather was beautiful - we even got to play some more Bocce Ball. AND...we made a blueberry-peach cobbler, and it was a hit!

Saturday, the 4th, we headed to D.C. It was so much fun! We drove part of the way, and then parked at a metro station and rode the metro the rest of the way. It worked out well - we didn't have to fight traffic in downtown D.C. We did a lot of sightseeing and took a lot of pictures. We met up with Kristin (who lives there) in the afternoon. She was a great hostess and treated us to the Red Velvet Cupcakery, which is only a few blocks from where she lives. DELICIOUS. Michaela also joined us later in the day. So fun to be able to spend more time with them! We were able to watch the fireworks from Kristin's apartment's rooftop. We had a great view of the Capitol and the Washington Monument. We were so honored to be invited! A few other people from Nebraska were there - Laine Norton, Claire Althouse, Matt Schaefer and Camilo Ramirez. It was so great to see more familiar faces! We hope everyone had a lovely and safe holiday weekend!