surf's up

This semester has gotten off to a particularly rocky start.

I'm teaching three classes on two different themes this semester, which, in general, I'm very excited about. Two of the classes are themed around women and food, and the third class is about Mad Men. I'd envisioned a pretty enjoyable spring, reading Diana Abu-Jaber and contemplating Peggy and Peter's relationship.

But, due to a series of events outside of my control, I've had to rewrite the syllabus for all two of the classes that I am teaching this semester. Now, for most people, this wouldn't be a problem. But, in our program, we're required to have about ten pages of front matter. This, in combination with my own obsessive-compulsive desire to start every new semester off with a clear sense of my overall trajectory, makes for a fifteen-page syllabus when you add in my detailed calendar. Now, I'm in the process of reworking all my dates to accommodate the demands of "the Others."

When Friday hit, I needed to visit Surfside. This summer, when all was right with the world, we'd go there about once a week. They have all kinds of delicious food and even more delicious margaritas. And, the best part about it is that we can walk with Ella down to Wisconsin Avenue to pick it up. If we call on the way, it's ready when we get there. I ordered the Nevis; Mr. Beeton ordered the Andros. It felt like summer when we ate.

Perhaps all this beginning-of-the-semester stress is compounded by the fact that we began our house hunting yesterday. The most memorable house - the one with the creepy horror movie music coming from upstairs. The quote of the day - from our realtor who said, "I feel like I'm going to get shot," in the same house.

Keep sweeping - especially when you can't see through the dust, Martha

Watched 9 and The Proposal.

new semester, same emotions

organically grown

One of the things that I like best about living in Glover Park is our proximity to the Whole Foods on Wisconsin Avenue. Having grown up in Pennsylvania, I hadn't been into a Whole Food store until I first visited D.C. to apartment search with my then roommate, E. The two of us, completely clueless (we thought Glover-Archibold Park was a body of water when we looked at our D.C. street map) wandered the city, looking at a dank, dark, English garden apartment in Adams Morgan and one sunny studio at 2800 Wisconsin Ave. At the urging of E, I took the studio (E was afraid I would "Plath-out" in the English garden unit), and elated, the two of us walked down the street to see if we could find some food. We passed a bar, the Grog and Tankard, an old haunt of Mr. Beeton's, and I knew I'd made the right decision. And then, when I entered the mecca of Whole Foods, I felt even more sure that I was on the right track. The apple I bought was one of the best I had ever eaten.

Since that day, I've visited the flagship Whole Foods store in Austin, Texas (Mr. Beeton was in graduate school at the University of Texas), but nothing compares to my Wisconsin Avenue Whole Foods. It's one of the things I'll miss the most if we ever move out of this neighborhood... which we just might. Someday.

Tomorrow, we go to see a realtor. Before Christmas, we met with the bank, just to see if it might be possible to own our own place. And, it looks like it might. So, tomorrow, we're off to see what D.C. has to offer us. I'll keep you posted. For now, Mr. Beeton, Ella, and I will curl up in front of our cardboard fireplace and enjoy our "second floor living without a yard."


Keep sweeping, Martha

Watched Night at the Museum 2.

apartment therapy

A friend of ours had her nursery featured on Ohdeedoh. To see the pictures of the adorable room click here.

Keep sweeping, Martha

Watched 500 Days of Summer.

2010

Our travels in the year 2009 are complete. After trekking up to Pennsylvania for the holiday and then out to Virginia for Christmas - Part Two, we are home in the railroad apartment to ring in the New Year. We're staying in to watch 500 Day of Summer, the Jersey Shore (we were battlin'), and Ryan Seacrest. We've got arugula salad with beets and goat cheese, clams, and chicken stuffed with cornbread courtesy of Whole Foods to make. Should be fun.

For Christmas this year, we were much less ambitious with our home-cooked gifts for family. Last year, you'll remember we made all this. This year, we had a grand plan. It involved this instant cocoa (which we succeeded in making), these homemade marshmallows which Martha made with Clare Danes on her show two weeks ago, and this caramel corn. And... a candy thermometer. Which we couldn't find at Whole Foods - the only food store we had access to with all the snow on the ground. And, since we discovered this little problem after the big snowstorm and the day before we intended to leave for Pennsylvania, we needed to shift gears. We ended up making the cocoa, the peanut blossom cookies from last year, and some homemade gingerbread, which turned out really well.

Wishing you and your families all the best in the new year!

Keep sweeping, Martha

P.S. - Mr. Beeton's already a bit disappointed in 2010; he thinks he should have his own robot and a flying car by now.

Watched The Hangover...again.

snow!

Watched Strangers on a Train. Finished reading My Life in France by Julia Child.

A Three-Leaf Clover

Forgive me. I've been remiss in sharing with you our Thanksgiving culinary adventures. I should have written about how we made this delicious cranberry sauce and this delectable sweet potato casserole. Or even how we took our leftovers and made a fabulous, creamy, turkey soup. But instead, I've been recovering from a nasty cold and a case of POISON IVY. The poison is the bad part. The good part is that I'm nearly certain I got the poison while weeding our brand new garden plot - Plot 25!

Technically, we got notice that we were proud plot renters a couple of weeks ago, but with all our previous community garden drama, I hesitated to actually put in writing our success. But, weeks have passed, and no one has taken it away... so I think it's safe to claim it as ours. Below are three pictures. The first two show it at the start - an overgrown mess. The third shows our progress. We have about half of the space dug up and ready to be planted come Spring.

Keep sweeping, Martha

Watched Bedtime Stories, Funny People, New In Town, Observe and Report, Scenes From a Marriage, and Whatever Works.