maryland day! theres nothing quite like revisiting your alma mater for some free food, tasty ice cream and some good old fashioned walking (i forgot how BIG umd's campus was!)

 

totally geeked out at the national science & engineering expo this weekend. after helping out at AUs 'kitchen science' booth all morning, i got to live out my very nerd-like childhood dreams of meeting ms frizzle of the magic school bus fame and bill nye THE science guy. and i got to rock some pretty legit DNA tatts (which i am now incapable of removing). all around stellar day

i know i know, enough with the links already! but some things are just too good to keep to yourself...

is it weird that i can totally picture myself doing something like this (or something a smidge less extravagant)?? that, OR underwater or at the aquarium. duh. 

these little nuggets pretty much sum up my life right now:

when i give advice to undergrads
when i stay in on the weekend to do work
when the person next to me doesnt surf the internet once
how i feel when i walk into a room full of college kids
when i realize its not friday yet


*bonus  MIND BLOWER

right on cue, finals roll around and the junk food cravings hit. hard core. a bit of stress eating, a bit of brain food fueling, a bit of indulgence.
its just been one of those days (weeks)-when school + life + work are overwhelmingly demanding.  when everything on the to do list is equally pressing, time sensitive, and conveniently within the same 72 hour window.
and like any mature adult, i had a good cry about it. on the metro. sometimes you just gotta let it out, no matter where you are *this is hardly the first and unlikely the last time i cry in public. or on public transportation. I'm a big proponent of self expression

feeling a little nostalgic. went on a photo spree after finishing up my LAST lab for the semester/the year/my academic career (forever??)
at least it was the coral reef ecology lab

 
 

this week was all about getting. shit. done.
long overdue haircut *somehow a 'cleanup trim' became 2+ inch hair loss :( / restocking the makeup stash / catching up over some much needed friend time / midnight pancakes (less of a to-do item as it was amazing) / getting my freckles back during some quality outdoor time

now onto that intimidating and unappealing school to-do list. blech.
(4 more weeks, 4 more weeks....)

thinking of home.

so im trying out this new approach to eating. rather than go all out on three main meals throughout the day (and inevitably one guilty indulgence at the end of the day), i'm going to give the 'snack on smaller meals' philosophy a go. every morning ive been loading up on every combination of luna bars, bananas, sunflower seeds,  sandwiches and TJs fiberful bars (an homage to my beloved fruit leathers of yore) to munch on throughout the day. so far so good!

the good: i don't feel like im going to keel over from hunger around 3:00 anymore, and i actually feel continually satisfied. win!
the bad: the real trick will be learning how to adjust my portions for when i go make something more substantial...fighting 25 years of the 'fill my bowl to the brim regardless of my actual nutritional needs' mentality.
the ugly: all that fiber...

wednesday cable & internet outtage survival kit-hunger games 3! / easter treats / sedar dinner of kosher pickles and macaroons / jenna came to visit!! / finally saw the hunger games movie *waited until i finished the series which i think was better ?! than the book / dupont sightseeing

 bayou sandwich.

                    oh THIS sandwich?                  don't mind if i do                              ...yum...?        

(it was delicious)                                                  

its been so pretty around the district lately *cherry blossoms!
but all these flowers and trees --> pollen --> allergies --> UGH
the whole runny nose, sore throat, itchy eyes, headache thing is awful. i've been blowin through my stockpile of throat drops, allegra, hollistic remedies and motrin and i'm still a sniffling mess.
SO not a fan.
to my fellow tissue hoarding, sneezing, allergy sufferers: WE CAN DO THIS

a quick 2 day in-and-out trip to the big apple for some family biz.