Tea Party

Last weekend my good friend Meredith had a tea party...it was so much fun...I am so sad to leave all my friends here! But, I am definitely not sad to leave the cold. It is getting colder by the minute...literally, there is a huge snow storm hours away that is supposed to bring an inch of snow a minute. Oy! I am happy to be leaving this place for nicer weather.

Also, I look very pregnant in this photo. Don't get excited though...sadly, there is nothing I am not telling you.

Graduation Party

Things have been crazy for the past few weeks as I scramble to get everything done so I can FINALLY graduate. Woo hoo! I will be SO excited for no more homework! Yay! And getting paid real money. Yay!

I am doing a dual Masters degree (a Master in Public Health and a Master of Science in Food Policy) and so am graduating in winter instead of in May everyone else. They only give you the "real" graduation ceremony in May, so the other dual degree people and I had a party to celebrate on our own. I think I will be back in Boston May for a doctor appointment and will go through the ceremony, but it is fun to have a party now, too!

Plimoth Plantation, Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower

Since we didn't get to see the Plimoth Plantation on Thansgiving, we went back on the Saturday. I realized I was much more interested in the native people than the English settlers. Basically, the native people act like themselves and show the museum visitors how they make food, clothing, etc, and talk abou their culture in the past and in the present. It was fascinating; I loved it. A few feet away there is a recreation of the English settlement that the colonists lived in. Everybody there is in period clothing and they portray real historical people. I found that part of the museum to be cool but a little weird. It was really crowded so mainly I just listened to other people talk to the characters.

Then we went over to see Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower. It was freezing, as you can tell by my huge puffy coat!



I am glad Matt and I have spent time in New England...there is a lot of interesting stuff here...but it is cold and I don't feel like an New Englander. I guess I already mentally have one foot out the door...I am ready for the next thing! And it is coming up soon, altho0ugh we don't know what it is....we have to be moved out of our apartment on January 15th because new renters are coming in.

And no, we have no idea where we will be going.

Thanksgiving

Matt and I decided to eat Thanksgiving dinner at the Plimoth Plantation this year. It was sort of interesting, but we both agreed that in the end it is way more fun to spend Thanksgiving with friends and family. We haven't been home for Thanksgiving for SO many years...hopefully some day we will make it back.

The day got to sort of an awkward start because we did't leave the house early enough and a 40 minute drive turned into a 2.5 hour drive...and Matt was NOT happy. We didn't get to see any of the Plimoth Plantation and we rshed into the dinner late.

The people at our table were really nice. As usual, we were with elderly people. Haha, seems like we do everything that the seniors do...which makes me wonder what we will do when we are old...haha!

The food was ok, but nothing beats homecooking.

After the dinner, we went over to our friends' house for games and more pumpkin pie. THat was definitely the highlight of the day!

Update

So, I think probably most people that know Matt and I know that we do things late. Everything...we eat late, come to parties late, respond to emails and phone calls late, celebrate holidays late....so, in out usual style, we carved our Halloween pumpkins late (well into November!). Matt said that this was his greatest pumpkin ever, so I felt like I should post a picture to save it for posterity. He also made a "Blair Witch" type tree hanging out of Halloween costume hat. I thought it was pretty funny, but apparently someone didn't, because both our pumpkin an the tree hanging were gone the next morning. Some people are no fun!!

Ya, I realize the lateness thing is pretty rude....I try to not be late in things, but sometimes I get overwhelmed with life and distracted and things just get pushed back. This includes thank you notes and wedding gifts. I am sure a lot of people are irritated by this (I know a few who come right out and say it). Sorry to everyone! Hopefully I will be more punctual after I am out of school.

On to the "update" part of this blog post: So, Matt and I have been going through a very long decision process regarding where we will be moving in January. The choices are: Hong Kong, San Diego, and San Francisco. Our first choice in Hong Kong. I have to say, I am so impressed with Matt...he knew he wanted to move back there, and he worked really hard to position himself at work so that we could be transferred over there. I am amazed that he had that long term goal, back in January, and he succeeded. He would be the first one from his company to be living over there...so it was big success on his part.

So, a few weeks ago we found out that my MS medicine isn't available over there. Matt called the drug company rep, and it definitely isn't available. We are going to try a few things to get it over there for me, but the outlook isn't that great. You never know, though. ANyway, needless to say I feel terrible. Even though I logically know that it isn't my "fault", I feel horrible...no one wants to be a burden or to limit their husband or anyoneelse in their family. Also, I know that it isn't too much of a hardship to be in the US at least once every month...I mean, some people spend their whole lives here without leaving! It's not like I am asking him to change my diapers or something. But still, I am feeling really bad about this. Something could still work out though, it is not a closed book yet.

Our alternative is to move back to California...which isn't that bad of an option...it's just that we both got really excited to move back to Hong Kong. Actually, Matt was excited, and I was schizo: One day I would want to go there, and the next day I would be adamantly opposed to anywhere but San Diego. I have to say, I am really proud and happy about Matt...it makes me feel really safe knowing that his opinion stays constant when mine is all over the place. I never know what I really feel, but if Matt has an opinion about something important then I feel like I can trust it. The funny thing is, on most things he is ambivalent...he has no opinion because he doesn't care either way.

Anyway, Matt and I are just hoping at this point that we will come to a conclusion soon. It sucks to be in limbo. The thing that would be unfortunate is that if we move to California, Matt would have to quit his job...and this is not a great time to job searching!

Cooking Club

The theme for the November meeting of my cooking club was "beautiful presentation". And, it just so happened to my my turn to host. Talk about pressure! Of all of us, I am the least well-supplied for hosting a dinner party, despite the fact that I just got married. Matt and I haven't really ever settled in to our place or accumulated muc stuff because we have always had it in our mind that we are moving soon. Hopefully, our next place will be more permanent. Anyway, our cooking club dinner may have been more beautifully presented if it had been at someone else's house, but hey, I tried! Also, I just noticed that my photo of my cooking club looks just like Maria's photos of her "girl's nights"....a bunch of ladies sitting around a table smiling and waiting to eat. Haha!

I made three things: Soup in pumpkin, gado gado, and cheesy spoon bread. I had a really hard time finding things to make that would be "beautiful". In the end, I don't even know if they were beautiful, but luckily they all tasted ok. I am an experimental cook and I usually don't make the same thing twice (unless I love it and Matt seemed willing to eat it again)....so often what I make will not be very good and it definitely won't be beautiful. Anyway, I had a brainstorm session with my mom while I was In San Diego and she suggested that I served soup in a pumpkin. It was a great idea, especially since Matt and I never got around to carving our pumpkins for Halloween. I got the recipe from my favorite cookbook by Mollie Katzen and I think it was pretty good.





I also made Gado Gado. It was also from the Mollie Katzen cookbook....can you tell I am obsessed? I loved this recipe, it was so easy and pretty, and it tasted good and was healthy. Katzen's recipe for peanut sauce is great!



As an afterthought, I also made cheesy spoon bread. It actually looked pretty cool when I took it out of the oven, but it deflated by the time I took the picture. It didn't taste that great to me...it needed more salt or something. If people like really bland things, this might be good. It was very easy...just cornmeal, eggs, cheddar cheese, dried milk and a few other basic things. I bought dried milk for another recipe, and didn't know how to use the rest of the box so I googled dried milk recipes and this came up. I think little kids might like it? Not sure.



Everyone else made delicious, beautiful items also but I didn't get pictures of everything. For me, it was bittersweet because I only have 2 more cooking club dinners left before I move! These were the first people I met when I moved to Boston, before I started school or work or anything, and we have been having the monthly dinners for the whole 2.5 years....I will be sad to leave them! And sadly, if Matt and I move to Hong Kong I will probably never cook at all. Not enough kitchen space and too much socializing and having dinner out...it is fun but the cooking goes by the wayside. Oh well. Hong Kong definitely has other benefits that make up for the lack of cooking.

An Old Friend

Walking Through Harvard Square


A group of Chinese tourists taking photos of Harvard


Matt and Meagan on the Charles River (Notice Matt's pose. He cannot take a normal photo!)

Last weekend we had a visitor: an old friend from Hong Kong who now lives with his wife in England. It was so great to have him with us, although of course, the topic of conversation was primarily Hong Kong! Matt and I are contemplating our next move, and Hong Kong is at the top of our list. So, it was good to sort of hash out and remember all the details with our old friend. Of course, we all commented on how boring our lives are now that we have moved away from Hong Kong! Our friend and his wife are having a baby in December...I am so excited for them! Seeing him made me miss her, because she was my first friend when I moved to Hong Kong.

Halloween

My sister Maya and I have really bonded through text messaging. Now we are in contact like, twice a week rather than twice a year! Anyway, she texted me that I need to post photos of my Halloween costume. So here it is. I was Sarah Palin. Do you think I look like her?



Matt was much more creative than me. He made his costume himself. He is so crafty! Or, maybe he just didn't know what to do with himself while I was in San Diego for the week preceding Halloween. No, seriously, he is super creative.



We went to a party, and someone else dressed like Hillary Clinton. Perfect photo op!

Food

Well, I wouldn't be me if half of my photos from a trip weren't food pictures. So here they are. I love the food in San Diego....lots of Mexican food, frozen yogurt and salad. Mmm! It's all "comfort food" for me because it is so familiar. I have a few places I always go when I visit home.

Golden Spoon Frozen Yogurt.


It's the best! And now it's even better because they have tart frozen yogurt. Yum! I forced my sister to come here with me, and then I tortured her by taking her picture.

Now there is a new Frozen yogurt place that I love, but it is only downtown. Pinkberry! I love it. It's not for everyone, because all ofthe flavors are tart. I prefer that because I don't like things that are too sweet. My favorite flavor was green tea.



Souplantation


I know, I know...a chain restaurant...but I really love it because I like salad bars and soup. Matt doesn't like it because one time we went to a Souplantation in Clairmont and everyone was stuffing their faces in a gross way. But the one in Mira Mesa isn't like that...anyway, I try to go here with my family when I can because it is not on the East coast.

I also love Mexican food in San Diego...no other place is as good! My favorite spots are Sombrero and El Indio. My favorite "real" restaurant is Parkhouse Eatery. I LOVE it. The breakfast, the lunch, the dinner...it's all good! I especially love the mussels mariniere. The only problem is that they have remodeled since I lived in SD, and it is just not as cozy and cute as it used to be. They added a bar and Ifeel like that changed the dynamic. I still love it though.

Also, I have to mention my mom's cooking. That is always really good, especially her guacamole and her tuna (not together of course). And her twice baked potatoes. And the general abundance of delicious food that is always in that house. Mmm, now I can't wait for Christmas!

Halloween Fair in San Diego

I got lucky this year for two reasons: 1) The American Public Health Association conference was in San Diego, and 2) I won a ticket from my school to attend the conference and was given a travel grant to help cover the cost of the airfare. WOO HOO! So, I got to spend a week in beautiful San Diego and see all of my old coworkers and my family.

The only sad thing was that I didn't get to see more of my extended family and that my immediate family had just returned from India...so they were still jet lagged and recovering from an illness that they all caught in India. Still, it was a lot of fun. I was SO happy to see my family again, it seemed like it had been forever since I had seen them. The last time I spent time in San Diego was last December during my wedding, but that was so hectic that it didn't really count as family time.

I saw my old coworkers, and that was great. I loved living in San Diego; I loved the weather and my job and all of my coworkers. Why did I ever leave??

I got to go to the Halloween fair at my little sisters' elementary school, which was a lot of fun. I had to take a picture of this "litter box". It is all edible treats but it looks so revolting...perfect for Halloween! (By the way, the person in the photo below is not one of my sisters. She is a random girl from their school.)

Apples!

One of my favorite parts about Fall in New England is APPLE PICKING!!! It is so much fun. I am going to miss it SO much. They taste so much better when you eat them straight off the tree. So crisp, so sweet! And then you get to take them home...LOTS of them. But I like the challenge. How many apples can I eat? How many things can I make out of my 20 pounds of apples? And believe me, Matt doesn't help with either. (Although he does help eat my creations...so I appreciate that!)

I eat a lot of apples year-round, because I have one with my oatmeal everyday. So that sort of relieves the "burden" of having so many apples in the house.

I have had a lot of fun making things with the apples, and I am proud to say that most of my recipes haven't been the old apple stanby's, like apple pie or crisp or applesauce. This is what I have made so far (I still have lots of apples left!):

1. Carrot-apple-yogurt salad from Mollie Katzen's Moosewood Cookbook

This was easy and SO delicious! I brought it to a potluck. I think I liked it more than everybody else because I brought most of it home.

2. Apple bread

I made 2 loaves. The first was an experiment. I made it in my crockpot! THe crockpot lady on this blog made banana bread in the crock pot, so I decided to modify another recipe (not hers) and make it in the crockpot. It worked! It was moist and delicious...even Matt liked it even though it was very healthy. (By the way, I am addicted to the crock pot blog I linked to above...I highly recommend it!)

The second loaf was from an "official" recipe. I followed it exactly. It wasn't half as good as my first "experimental" loaf. The problem is that I didn't write down what I did on the first loaf.

3. Yogurt-apple cinammon dessert thing

This was easy...I just grated the apple and mixed it one cup of plain yogurt, cinnamon and chopped pecans. So sweet! This is also from Mollie Katzen's cookbook. I am addicted to that cookbook!

4. Baked apples in the crockpot

This was luscious and warm...but really I think I like baked apples to be baked in an oven. The texture that resulted form the crockpot method was too mushy. I still ate it though, and forced Matt to eat his. (And no, I don't feel bad about forcing Matt to eat fruit...if I didn't he never would. And I only force him to eat it about twice a year.)

5. Next recipe....Curried Apple Soup from Mollie Katzen's cookbook. It sounds strange but I have total faith in Mollie Katzen. After the soup recipe, I will only have about 5 or six apples left. So sad...I don't want apple season to end!

Glorious Fall

Fall in New England is glorious. Sometimes I complain about New England...it is cold...people work to hard...but despite these things, it is truly a gorgeous place, and I am happy to have had the opportunity to experience it.


Usually we go up to New Hampshire and Vermont to hike in the Fall leaves, but this year, with all the mayhem of Matt's parents being here and Matt having just returned from Hong Kong, we decided to enjoy the Fall with little day trips. Plus, it saved lots of money on gas and hotels! We did a little hike on a nearby "mountain". It wa an easy, crowded hike, but the views were great and the fall leaves were so pretty!



On the way home, we went to a pumpkin patch and and a cornfield labyrinth. It was fun! I am sad....this is my last Fall in New England! Sigh....



By the way, Matt told me to stop posting pictures of him. But if he would stop doing silly poses like in the picture above, he wouldn't have to worry about it!

Red Sox

Everyone knows that if you live in Boston you have to become a Red Sox fan. People here love it...it's a city-wide obsession. Well, I guess I am not a "true" Bostonian because I never became obsessed (or even mildly interested!) in the Red Sox. If I am going to cheer for any baseball team, I would still go for the Padres. I guess I am a San Diego girl at heart, even though I have been away for so long (over 12 years! gasp!) because no team will ever be better to me than the Chargers or the Padres.

Anyway, since this is my last summer in Boston, I figured it was now or never...so Matt got some tickets and we headed to the game with our friends, Kevin and Christine. They are real sports fans and they keep track of the stats and everything. We played in a fantasy football league with them this summer but neither Matt nor I paid much attention to it. I tried to get into it, but then I headed to India and it seemed like a world away, so I lost track. I ended up in the middle of the league, woo hoo! And poor Matt was at the bottom. Oh well. He is a soccer guy, anyway.


Kevin and Christine

I kept hearing about the "Green Monster" at Fenway Park...I thought it was going to be something really cool and amazing...but then it was just a green wall that people sat on. I was like....Oh...Ok. And the game was...just like every other baseball game I have been to. Not that that's bad, but I think I had it built up in my mind, like because the city is so obsessed with the team and everyone talks about them All. Day. Long. that the game would be an extraordinary experience. I built it up in my mind too much! But, it was fun, because baseball games are fun...And any time you can sit outdoors comfortably in nice weather in Boston is wonderful. And the Red Sox won, woo hoo! Yay team.


The Green Monster


Kevin, Meagan and Matt

Demolition Derby

After I got back from India, I had a little bit of time to enjoy the end of the Boston summer. Summer in New England is glorious! I am sad that I missed most of it, since I will probably never live here again. I got a good dose of Americana at a country fair south of Boston. It was a lot of fun, and I got to see my first Demolition Derby. I was really excited to see the derby, but it was sort of anticlimactic....it is boring to watch after a few minutes because allof the cars seem to get stuck in gridlock! Maybe other d-derbys are more exciting...There were also a lot of fun rides there, but I couldn't even look at them. After I got back from India (and while I was in India) I was very sick...even looking at the rides made me feel queasy.

I'm Scared of Monkeys

While I was in Mamallapuram, this monkey came out of no where and stole my bag of fried chickpeas. Naughty monkey!

Pictures from the Villages

The beach in Mamallapuram.



This is me with some very, very cute kids and my translator.



This is how people get their water. It comes twice a day, and they collect enough in pots to meet all their needs.



This Muslim family lost everything during the tsunami and they were relocated to a new village by the government. They are standing in front of their new home, which was built by an NGO. Many of the people that lost homes to the tsunami are now living for the first time in concrete, permanent shelters rather than in thatched huts, cardboard shanties, or on the streets. They seemed very happy. The new hoes had bathrooms, fans, and electricity. One man described it as "a dream". I can only imagine how great it must have been to go from living on the streets to living in a house with electricity and a fan. These Muslim ladies are a minority in the village, which is composed of over 3000 people that lost everything after the tsunami and were relocated to the new village. The new village is extremely diverse, but most of the people are so happy to be in their safe, new homes that no one seems to mind living in close proximity to other castes and cultures that previously they would not associate with. The only exception is the tribal groups...sadly, the other villagers say they don't want to associate with the "tribals".



Here I am speaking with a farmer. I guess I am a giant with bright orange hair, haha! No wonder I got stared at so much while I was there. Haha!

Making Henna

I have had my hands decorated with henna many times, but I had never seen it made before. I would have never suspected that the henna is green...it makes your hands and hair red or black, depending on how long you let it sit! Here is e on oa previous trip with my hands decorated: