It's summertime...

...I can tell school is over because I'm only getting spam in my In Box. I usually get tons of mass e-mails, but these days...just silence.

I knew...

Adam and I are attempting to straighten up our place.

Adam: [flipping through a journal] Listen to this from 2000...blah blah blah!
plasticann: Cool!
Adam: See, I knew I liked you even back then.
plasticann: I should hope so, we were dating in 2000.
Adam: Oh right!

Italian Ice is Good

sayeth Steve

Slush Puppies

Steve: I walked into Davis to get a slush puppy at Store 24 and it's gone.
plasticann: What?
Steve: It's gone.
plasticann: Store 24 disappeared? When did that happen? What replaced it?
Steve: No, the slush puppy machine is gone.
plasticann: Is the store still there?
Steve: Yes, but no slush puppy machine.
plasticann: Oh, thank goodness! Why don't you go to 7-11 to get a slushy there?
Steve: I walked into Davis to get a slush puppy, I don't want to walk home and get in my car and fight traffic to go to 7-11.
plasticann: Why don't you get some Italian Ice.
Steve: Where?
plasticann: At that convenience store next to the park on Holland, I see kids coming out of there all the time with their blue/yellow Italian ice.
Steve: I guess I could venture down there.
plasticann: You'll have to let me know how it is.
Steve: OK! Later!

I felt kinda bad for Steve's loss, but I'm way happier that the Store 24 is still around. If Slush Puppy machine had to go so Store 24 could stay, I'd have to go with Store 24. I told plasticmom she could get her t-pass there this summer and I was really panicked when I initially misunderstood Steve.

"MGDub is coming to town!"

I finished my last final this morning and boy oh boy was my hand cramped after writing for three hours. I celebrated with a bacon/blue cheese burger and coke with my classmates at the Tavern in Central Square, wandered down Mass Ave to Harvard Square where I read chick lit novels at the coop for free. I sampled the peppermint stick ice cream at the new Lizzy's Ice Cream store in Harvard Square and walked over to Porter for some groceries. The ice cream was disappointing. The peppermint stick was really peppermint pellets and the ice cream had a weird curdled consistency that I didn't enjoy. I ended up throwing out half of my cone...I decided the ice cream was not calorie worthy.

Even More Darned Good Chocolate Cake With A Dash Of Nuttiness

I added some almond extract to this chocolate cake from Cake Doctor and it was mighty tasty.

1 box Devil's Food Cake Mix with Pudding
4 Eggs
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup warm water
1 cup sour cream
1-2 teaspoons almond extract (optional)
1.5 cup chocolate chips

Heat Oven to 350
Mix all ingredients (except chocolate chips) on slow for one minute and then on medium for 2-3 minutes.
Stir in chocolate chips
Pour batter into bundt pan (oil and flour the pan before)
Bake for 45-50 minutes

Falafel

I was out to dinner last week with my roommates at Cafe Barada when the following reconstructed conversation occurred between plasticann and the server.

Server: Do you ladies want any dessert tonight?
plasticann: Yes, I would like a piece of falafel for dessert.
Server: [staring blankly] Falafel?
plasticann: Yup, one piece to go.
Carin: ...do you mean Baklava?
plasticann: Baklava? Yes, a piece of Baklava to go. What did I say?
Carin: Falafel!
plasticann: [mighty embarrassed] Oh now, that makes no sense, I meant Baklava.

Bouncy Castles

Year end school celebrations abound even as finals are looming and Friday was no exception. A Texas themed BBQ chowdown for the entire family. Steve and I were eager to take advantage of the last free lunch of the year that we've technically paid for through our tution. I was starving so I ate quite a bit of everything and after lunch Steve suggested checking out the kid's activities, namely the bouncy castle. They made us sign a waiver before we could bounce in the castle and that should have tipped us off. The castle was really quite fun for about a minute. Then, I felt nauseous from bouncing on a full stomach and smelling the icky dank water from the floor that soaked my socks. I had to carry my smelly wet socks all the way home which was really wet and unpleasant. At least Steve had had a beer so he had some semblence of an excuse. I, on the otherhand, should have known better than to sign a waiver in order bounce in a wet smelly castle after lunch.

Baffling

I'm very fortunate that Adam is quite domestic, even more domestic than I am. He cooks more, cleans more and he's just an all around better person to live with than I am. I tend to leave my shoes lying around, neglect washing my baking dishes and I'm often tempted not to refill the toilet paper when I'm lazy and I end up setting a fresh roll on the counter. The toilet paper thing is truely unkind and infuriating so I try not to do that since Adam is a very nice husband and deserves better. The following reconstructed conversation illustrates one strange, but recurring dynamic...Adam not being able to find stuff.

Adam: Where's the soy sauce?
plasticann: In the fridge! [about to yell, "it's on the lower shelf in the door"]
Adam: It's not there, I looked.
plasticann: [frantically trying to remember why it's not in the fridge] Um...I don't know. I'm coming!
plasticann: [plasticann opens the fridge and the soy sauce is in the door on the lower shelf] Uh-hem!
Adam: [turning around] What!
plasticann: The soy sauce! [pointing at the shelf]
Adam: Where?
plasticann: It's right here in the door.
Adam: I looked in there twice, but I didn't see it.
plasticann: [baffled]

My 6th grade teacher, Mrs. Chin, used to tell these amusing stories about how her husband couldn't find anything. He'd look in a closet and say, "I don't see it," and it would be right in his face. Things aren't looking good in this area, but now that we've established where the soy sauce resides, I think it'll get much better.

"Visas"

The following is a reconstructed e-mail conversation between plasticann and plasticmom

plasticmom: I got a letter from Harvard asking whether I was still planning to take the summer class since I hadn't applied for an I-20 Visa or paid my tuition so I paid the tuition today. I wonder if that's why I haven't received any information about my class?
plasticann: [being cute] Maybe you need a visa to travel to the East Coast?
plasticmom: [being even cuter] Yes, I do need a visa for the East coast since I can't carry around a suitcase of cash in order to live in the Republic of New England.

Took me a minute there to get plasticmom's little joke.

Reconstructed Reconstructed Conversation

The ever fabulous MGDub was grilling her [not so] little cousins [the boys] about the latest in orthodontia last weekend.

MGDub: So, is there anything you guys don't eat?
the boys: We eat everything.
MGDub: What about gum?
the boys: Yeah we chew gum.
MGDub: Hmmm...
the boys' mom: Why are you asking them. They do everything wrong.

Mayan Chocolate

Of course I had to run out and buy the new Haagen Daaz Mayan Chocolate Ice Cream right after I saw a print ad in Martha Stewart Living last week. Ben & Jerry's was on sale this week and I wondered whether I should wait to try the full priced Haagen Daaz when it goes on sale, but I decided to be wasteful and buy the Haagen Daaz full price. It's delicious by the way, cinnamon and chocolate.

Odd Couple

MGDub and I were chatting last night when we got on the topic of Little People Big World.

plasticann: Hey, I'm really enjoying LPBW.
MGDub: Isn't it a good show! I really like the dad Matt, he's my favorite.
plasticann: I kinda like the kids and the mom, Amy.
MGDub: I don't like how Amy's a naysayer. I like how Matt's into his farm, it made me so sad when he had to go back to his corporate job.
plasticann: Well, I thought it was a good idea he went back to selling software, he does have a family to support and no health insurance. Plus Amy was stressed out about finances.
MGDub: [defensively] Well, has he ever not provided for his family.
plasticann: [even more defensively] Well, it's stressing amy out.
MGDub: Well, Amy just needs to chill out.
plasticann & MGDub: [laughter]

I don't think I quite appreciate Matt's free spiritness as much as MGDub. I identify with Amy.

Redeeming

Last Sunday, I procrastinated by watching four episodes of "My Super Sweet Sixteen" on MTV. Honestly, the excess is slightly nauseating, but I'm morbidly drawn to it. One reviewer likened the show to eating an entire sheet cake in one sitting and feeling sick afterwards. What gets me is that the kids on the show aren't even happy which mostly makes me feel grateful that I'm not super nor sixteen. When Adam got home last Sunday, I had to confess that I'd procrastinated from studying by watching the show. Initially, he didn't really understand why I felt the need to fess up until I later revealed that I'd watched four episodes and had started to watch Tiara Girls. What's worse is I could have been watching TIVOed episodes of Little People Big World, a vastly more reeming show with extremely likable characters so I was able to eventually revers the effects of watching My Super Sweet Sixteen by watching multiple episodes of Little People Big World.

Cute Or Not

Kittenwar is a "hot or not" version with kittens, "may the cutest kitten win!" My strategy team spent a better part of our meeting checking out the kittens on the site. Winningest kittens is like a hall of fame of kitens who've won a lot of cute kitten battles while the Losingest kittens are so un-cute, you'll want to avert your eyes. Much to cat loving Adam's chagrin, I'm not into the idea of having a cat for the following [very shallow] reasons.

1. My sweater wardrobe helps me survive New England winters and I don't want a kitty to ruin my sweaters.
2. We just got new furniture.
3. [the real reason] I don't want to compete with a kitty and be #2.

A Grande No Whip Akeelah & the Bee

After a tasty dinner at PF Chang's that included [vegetarian] lettace wraps, Wheezy and I saw Akeelah and the Bee, the movie Starbucks has produced and marketing like mad at all of their stores. The movie was awesome and the kids were great...nine thumbs up. To top off a already successful night out, we walked over to Fanueil Hall for some Beard Papa Cream Puffs.

...now the geekier part of this post.

We've been discussing "synergies" in strategy class this week and it has just dawned on me that this whole Starbucks producing a movie and then promoting it in their stores just might be an example of a company expanding into new and seemingly unrelated lines of business. According to my textbook, synergies are achieved when Starbucks somehow makes more money doing both coffee and movies than a movie and coffee company would earn individually. Sort of that mathematically unlogical cliche, "one plus one is more than two." Disney making cartoons, but also featuring those cartoon characters at Disneyland is a brilliant example of how making movies can increase demand and ticket prices for theme parks which in turn increase customer's demand for movies...yada yada yada. Afterall, I know that Mickey lives at Disneyland and by golly I pay big bucks to hang out with him and his gaggle of friends. While I'm very pleased with Starbucks coffee and I'm charmed by Akeelah, I'm not sure if I'm willing to pay more to see a Starbucks made movie or pay more to drink a coffee that's movie related. Maybe they save money by marketing it inhouse...maybe that's the link I'm missing.

Mac & Cheese

I've been intrigued by ABP's Mac & Cheese for some time and I finally got to try it today at lunch. On the whole, the pasta was deliciously cheesy...quite rich. However, I probably could have mixed in a side of plain pasta to cut the cheese sauce.

Still Feels Like Winter

The weather report from Cambridge today, cold, dreary, wet, dank...still feels like winter. My friend Jeff shared his philosophy on where to live, "it can be cold or expensive, but not both." He has an excellent point, Cambridge is both cold and expensive so we're really paying big bucks to freeze our big butts off. Applying Jeff's excellent methodology, we should all move to Alaska (cold and cheap) or Hawaii (expensive and warm). On that note, I must drink some hot tea.