And it's Sunday again. The weekends seem to pass more quickly: perhaps because I have more obligations (perceived or otherwise)? This weekend, though, has been exceptionally productive:

1) Friday, the Blue Velvet party went [mostly] as planned. Hook made the cupcakes (delicious!), and instead of watching the movie, we had homemade egg rolls. Later, I picked up H's guitar and played the few things I remembered from when I took lessons, these being three chords + the pentatonic scales. But Hook found the tab for Bach's Bourree in E Minor, which I'm going to learn & which will be my formal reintroduction to guitar playing(!)

2) We finally made it to the MOMA, where we saw the Avedon exhibit, as well as this. The P_Wall reminded us both of Joe Page's work, though Page is way, way better.

3) Last night we went for the first time to the Roller Derby! Our initial lack of comprehension of the rules did not damper our enthusiasm for the sparkly pseudoviolence that transpired. Highlights included the $5 beer + shot value combo (holla for value) and the Rocketdog booth where one could sign up to foster (adorable) homeless dogs. And the derby, of course.

***

This morning had the chilliness of a real fall morning. I'm going to hold off on using my heater until the temperatures drop further.

I did not sign up for this weather package

(and other tales of New England meteorological discontent.)

What a week! What a weekend! Highlights (chronologically, not in order of importance):

1) Thursday, Ali and I made an awesome batch of blueberry muffins. Alright: I did the prep, baking, and cleanup, but Ali kept me company and later taught me the basics of needlepoint, so we're even. I'd be remiss if I didn't include the recipe for said wundermuffins:

Blueberry Oat Muffins
(Yield: 18 muffins)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 2 cups fat-free or low-fat buttermilk
• 1 2/3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 Tbs. vegetable oil
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp. grated orange zest
• 1 1/4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional

1. Combine oats and buttermilk in mixing bowl. Cover; let stand 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray muffin pan cups with nonstick cooking spray or use pleated paper liners.
3. Combine buttermilk mixture, flour, sugar, oil, baking powder, baking soda, salt, eggs and orange zest in second mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth. Fold in blueberries and walnuts. Spoon batter into prepared cups, filling them 3/4 full.
4. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Remove muffins from pans immediately; place on wire rack to cool.

(Recipe taken from Vegetarian Times, January 1, 2005. And yes, we did use walnuts.)

Not only were the muffins ueber-easy to prepare (I grated orange zest and measured the other ingredients while the oats and buttermilk sat, undisturbed), but they're healthy, too - 130 calories each without the nuts, about 155 with. They are also unstoppably delicious.

2) Also on Thursday, I began my first ever cross stitch project: a small hamburger! I only have a few rows of stitching thus far - packing has sort of taken over my life - but I think I can finish the project by the end of the week. Maybe.

3) This weekend, Cecily and Chris got married. The ceremony, held in an orchard at Quonquont Farm, was simple and beautiful. Congratulations, C & C!

4) Today I started a RunningAHEAD account so I can track my runs (and bike rides). I was hesitant to open an account before, mainly because I was running like, 1.5 miles and felt (perhaps inaccurately?) wusstastic. But today I overcame this mental block and joined the site. My name is Garky. If any of you all are on the site, friend me! (If that is an option.)

A small, mid-year goal of mine is to update more frequently, rather than having these giant, dump-truck posts. But when there's so much happening, it's difficult to find the time, yes? Excuses!

I'm making it my goal (or one of my goals: one of my short-term goals) to update every day in November, in honor of National Blog Posting Month. Hopefully, I will not cop out too often by posting pictures of jewelry I covet, but you know. Monday morning. The creative juices aren't flowing just yet. (Aside: isn't this necklace perfectly autumnal? BAUBLES.)

It's a plain fact that I never get as much done on the weekends as I plan to, despite my best time-management efforts. This weekend was no different, but I'm more satisfied with how I used my time since I did a wide variety of things: completed a workshop critique/letter, graded a bunch of student papers, took a mini-shopping trip, got coffee and a sandwich with H., researched possible alternative career paths. Went to the gym (x2). Went out Friday night (w. Sis and Eric) to Fitzwilly's. Went out Saturday evening (w. Sis and Eric) to the Hangar. Read. Baked cookies and watched a movie. Talked to my mom. I'm coming to realize that my sense of productivity isn't shaped as much by how much academic work I get done - else this weekend might have seemed like a failure: oops - but by the variety of things I do. It's all about balance, I guess.