20110226

Another Day in the Life

This is what I've done today...

Not what I was expecting at all!
Then I broke it down by ethnicity...


Whoa!




Lots of prep work (computing variables, checking out data, etc) today. For on Tuesday I'll be running my multilevel, longitudinal model, including pubertal timing (for the girls) and relationship status in 12th grade, as well as ethnicity. And back to grading papers!

20110225

Twenty-Four Before Twenty-Four

Yesterday, when writing the date on a cheque, I remembered that I hadn't finished listing my twenty-four things to do before my twenty-fourth birthday. I think I've created a pretty awesome list. Two-hundred seventy days to cross 'em off! Any and all help appreciated! :-)

20110223

The End is Near


Stephanie made some adorable (and gluten free!) "sushi" desserts for a birthday at work. So cute!

Things are about to get insane. Tomorrow morning I'm going to go pick up two hundred sexual autobiographies to grade, an estimated 1400 pages of reading. My goal is to get them graded as quickly as possible. If I can have them done by Tuesday, I'll be feeling a little OK about the end of this quarter. I have to tell you all a secret... grading sucks.

So, here's what's left:
  • Big stats project! I'm looking at the development of body dissatisfaction during adolescence, from about age 12-18. Most of the research on body dissatisfaction is cross-sectional, but I've read a few articles that say body dissatisfaction increases for girls through adolescence (as they are taken away from the "ideal" female figure) but decreases for boys (as they grow closer to the "ideal" male figure). So I'm going to see if (1) that's true and (2) if there are ethnic group differences.
  • Big life course theory project! I'm planning to do a little study looking at pubertal timing, father absence, and relationship status in 12th grade, looking at gender differences.
  • 200 papers to grade.
  • A few stats assignments.
  • A little more reading for my life course theory class.
  • Study recruitment and some data analysis.
  • Poster for Montreal.
  • Thesis lit review/introduction finally finished.
  • Thesis committee assembled (currently in progress, cross your fingers for me)!

Yikes! Just gotta take it one day at a time.

20110222

Boundin', Scrambles, and Girls


It's getting to that point in the quarter (the end!) and the semester (midterms!) where I think everyone could use a little Boundin'. 

***
@Sarah, I had a delicious dinner! A Natalie creation: Mediterranean scramble and toast. This was the most delicious scramble I've ever made. A cup of frozen broccoli and bell peppers, steamed and chopped. Heat a medium sized skillet/saute pan on high, coat with non-stick spray, and salt the pan. When the pan is hot, add the vegetables, spread out in a single layer. Pour two beaten eggs over the vegetables. Stir. Add as much feta as you wish. Scramble until eggs are set. Enjoy!

***

So, today the family got some great, wonderful news! My sister and brother-in-law are having a GIRL! and, as we say, the more girls, the merrier! She's healthy and beautiful (I had no idea that ultrasound photos were so... good)! I talked with Emily for a while this evening about how we get to pull out our Barbies and American Girl dolls, have tea parties, and do all sorts of fun, girly things!

I am SO ready to play.

20110221

Faves and Craves


My darling friend, Shahn, did a Faves and Craves post a few weeks ago. I have snagged her idea and am focusing on delicious things!
  • Champagne (and strawberries)! I have come to realize that I could drink champagne everyday for the rest of my life. CRAVE. and fave.
  • Citrus! I've been craving citrus lately and have been eating lots of oranges and minneolas. Tis the season to indulge in citrus and I do, I do indeed.
  • Spinach! Spinach and citrus go together like birds of a feather. Another seasonal fave and crave.
  • Starting to crave summer fruits and vegetables, particularly heirloom tomatoes and rainier cherries. Mmm...
  • Brown rice! I guess I'll put that in the fave category. Nutty and hearty.
  • Brie! At the last First Saturday, Katie baked chicken with brie, apples, and I think almonds. OMG. I have dreams about it! 
  • Goat cheese! Fave. I've been eating lots of salads with spring mixes of lettuce, goat cheese, and a tomato basil dressing. More mmm...ing.
What have y'all been Faving and Craving?

March Travels and Sans-Chicken + Dumplings

I have created two travel maps! One of travel plans next month that are definitely coming to fruition:


And one of plans that I hope come to fruition:


Isn't it exciting? My Sagittarius self can hardly wait. Let's get this quarter out of the way and get packing! Chop chop!

***

My dear neighbor, Sarah, asked if I would let her know what I eat, as she wants new ideas for foodstuffery. It reminds me a bit of that scene from How To Lose a Guy In Ten Days, but never-the-less, I shall share. And why not to the whole blogosphere?
  • Lunch: Brown rice with marinara, carrots and hummus.
  • Dinner: Sans-Chicken and Dumplings. So easy to make. A perfect comfort food. Because chicken is expensive, I just doubled the amount of vegetables. Mmm! Instead of seasoned salt, I used sea salt and TJ's everyday seasoning.
  • Dinner Part II: A little bit more of the chicken and dumplings, most likely, and pineapple.

***

I think that's about it! Happy President's Day!

20110220

Onnellinen!


Last night, after watching the finale of Pushing Daisies, I decided to hang a new piece of fabric on my huge white wall. I love it, much improved! It's Marimekko's Onnellinen, which I picked up this summer at the Crate & Barrel Outlet in Berkeley. Onnellinen is "happy" in Finnish, which I think is a perfect description (and my decorating scheme for my apartment). I also think it's a scosh dramaattinen.

Now, back to work figuring out my final projects for the quarter. It's Week 8. Things are starting to get real!

20110219

Out with the Old, In with the New!

i'm so vain. I know this song is about me.
scarf + softy pink shirt = unusually feminine
Several items of business!

(1) How did the mixdisc swap go?

(2) I'm officially visiting that school in Alabama in March! Now that I'm in, I suppose I can start dropping the name. Auburn. I'm going with lots of preconceived notions about Alabama, and the South in general. I know that's wrong to do and maybe Alabama is the place to be. Besides, I already have a new blog title in mind should I do my doctoral work in Alabama! An Auburn Belle at Auburn University. 

(3) I feel super official and professional (and sexy) when I think about doing "doctoral" work.

(4) I registered for graduation! Pretty soon I'm going to be a Mistress of Science. Science and I will finally tie the knot on June 9 and henceforth there will be no more of this Bachelorette business.

(5) I zipped over to the Vacaville Premium Outlets this evening. I had two items on my shopping list. Jeans and a wallet. I ended up with jeans, a wallet, a skinny, shiny belt, a ponytail scarf, a keyring, and an umbrella. All of these purchases completely justified in my book.

(6) I've decided it's time to change my way of living. I get tired of myself about every six months, it seems, so I am due for these thoughts. Last time it involved deleting everyone from my high school on Facebook and subsequently blocking them so as to appear to disappear. I needed a break. This time it won't be as dramatic.

(7) Out with the old, in with the new. To mark this much needed change in my way of thinking, I decided to get a new keyring. I've had this charming one since my sixteenth birthday:


For those of you who've known me for quite some time, you'll remember that I wore only pink during sophomore year of high school. Hence, the pink dog. But this is a bit more Natalie:


Reminds me of my T.W.R. (The White Rabbit), a huge angora from my childhood.

And, on that note, happy weekend!

20110218

How Do You See Davis?

I am deciding what to enter for the "How Do You See Davis?" photo contest. I went through all the photographs I've taken in Davis since March 2009 and have narrowed my selection down to the following seven. So, help me out and vote for your favorite! Muchas gracias!

1
Dancing at the Wednesday Farmer's Market

2
Skateboarding at SP Depot

3
Classic Davis

4
Bicycles... and More Bicycles!

5
Pig Day 2009

6
Getting Some Practice In

7
Peppers at the Saturday Farmer's Market

20110216

A Day in the Life

Babies are fun to shop for!
Today was a lovely day. A little crazy but enjoyable none-the-less. I had a record number of students at office hours. FOUR! Four whole students

Then my research lab got our study running... meaning, we're collecting data! We started recruitment this morning and we've had a decent number of students respond. "YAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!" wrote my professor in an email tonight. It's very exciting. I've loved being involved from the ground-up in this project. I can't wait to start analyzing!

This evening, I spent a good amount of time in the baby clothing area, as seen above. Emily and I have been posting our choices for adorable baby clothes of the day on each others' Facebook walls. The above are my choices for today!

Fun Fact: Did you know Armani makes suits for babies? These are things I have recently learned.
Happy Tuesday!

20110214

Happy Valentine's Day!

A Favorite: Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss by Antonio Canova. Photograph from here.
Happy Valentine's Day, friends, family, and blog followers!

And, of course, a special shout out to my fellow single people.

Love, love, love.

20110212

Spring! and Recruitment!


Recruitment weekend here is officially over. Oy, it was a lot of fun. Kyle called what I got to do "double dipping" -- I got to be a recruit and a recruiter. My favorite question from my fellow recruits were "So, are you planning to stay or go elsewhere?" I... I can't answer that question.

There were a number of seriously fantastic moments, several of them are not family-friendly. Haha. One of the best was when one of my professors came over to me and two other faculty members and told them that I am an information learning machine, especially when it comes to statistics and methodology. Do you know what kind of compliment that is? The finest.

Another great moment was at the student party last night. We had oodles of fun (Katie and Nik are amazing at entertaining) and I had oodles of wine, and was my normal slightly intoxicated, giggly, hilarious self (at least that's how I feel) talking to a couple of people when Caitlin came over to let the recruits know that we really do work hard. Haha. It is rare, unfortunately, to have leg wrestling and grad student pyramids. Most unfortunate.

Then this morning I met one of the recruits who I already adore at the farmer's market. We perused the produce and ate popsicles, and walked around Downtown Davis, finding ourselves at Mikuni for sushi and cocktails. We talked about Mormons and guys, my two favorite topics, then chatting about the program with frozen yoghourt. It's just perfect weather for strolling and frozen treats. Anyway, so much fun, and, well, I think she should come here.

It's been nice to be so social. I've been feeling a little cooped up lately, so it's been nice to get out and see the world around me a bit, and to think about how much I like living here. It's amazing that it's already spring! In February! Ah, California.

Anyway, I hope your mixdiscs are wrapping up well! Monday is the deadline!

20110209

Sunny Days and Midterms!

Sunny, lovely weather on Monday!
How I spent my Monday!
Organizing 500 exams is just as much fun as it sounds.
But it's all good when you have a Caitlin around!
Just a quick blog post to say I am still alive. It's been sunny and lovely this week but unfortunately, I haven't really gotten to enjoy it much, aside from running around on campus. I've fallen behind on pretty much everything but I have faith that it will all come together at the end. It won't be pretty, but it'll happen.

Happy Wednesday, fools!

20110207

Cecilia, Groovy Things, & California

Hope y'all are having lots of fun mixdiscing! I was listening to Paul Simon and Simon & Garfunkel yesterday and realized that poor Paul and Art have clearly been victims of a maneater.

Enter Cecilia...


And this groovy song...


I have to say I love songs about women leaving men. (Maybe I am avoidant, Tahoe Caitlin?) And I pretend to know that they aren't returning. This explains my love for Heels Over Head...


She's not leaving California for you. :-)

20110206

Taffy

That's me, in pink.
I am about to leave campus after being here for ten hours. I graded two hundred anatomy sheets today. After about thirty, I had the order memorized, so grading was... speedy. But it took like seven hours.

mons veneris - clitoral hood - clitoris - vestibule - perineum - anus - labia majora - labia minora - urinary opening - introitus - fallopian tube - fimbriae - ovary - uterus - bladder - pubic bone - clitoris - urinary opening - introitus - rectum - cervix - vagina - anus - perineum - bartholin's gland - seminal vesicle - rectum - ejaculatory duct - prostate gland - cowper's gland - anus - root of penis - ureter - bladder - vas deferens - urethra - glans penis - urethra opening - epididymis - testis - scrotum

I just typed that from memory.

Grading took a long time and I started to get rather lonely during the process. Sometimes students put the most random things. Every quarter I've TAed this class, I've seen students get brain and reproductive anatomy confused. Perhaps it's because lots of these people think with that region of their body. Get it? Oh yeah, I'm funny.

Anyway, back to the whole taffy thing. I feel spread very thin. I've got so much on my plate and I love all of it but I am getting frustrated with the lack of my ability to get quality time with my thesis. I've been trying to work on it all weekend but other things have popped up. So tonight... it's just me and my thesis until I can't see straight anymore.

Grad school is fun. Especially if you're into masochism.

So I'm taking two classes with final papers, writing my thesis, coordinating a study, getting ready to go to Montreal, awaiting rejection, er, acceptance letters from other programs, and TAing. And I'm trying to stay social. While I was grading these projects got larger and larger in my mind. I am getting used to being overwhelmed all the time. But oy, it's still exhausting.

I just need some caffeine.

20110204

Baby!

So, wonderful, lovely, happy news!! My lovely, beautiful, amazing older (and wiser) sister is a mama-to-be! I am so excited for them and the sweet baby! Emily has always been like a second mother to me, so responsible and lovable. And Taylor... well, Taylor has papa written all over him -- he loves kids, is fun, and playful. I just think the two of them are going to be amazing parents. I already know, that baby is going to have one amazing sense of humor and be totally brilliant.

AND... I am SO excited to be an aunt! I cannot wait to meet this little one and watch and help her/him grow! Indeed, I've been so excited about it, I've been reading and chatting with Emily about various pregnancy, birth, and newborn topics, popping into toy stores to look at various infant-toddler toys, checking out BPA-free bottles, pacifiers, and other items, poking around Pottery Barn Kids, and walking around the Baby Gap and other shops, heart-near-explosion at how awfully adorable baby clothes are.

I have already bought the cutie pie one onesie...

And your aunt <3s you!!
Yay for Emily and Taylor!!

20110203

My Life is NOT Fantastic

This is not ok.
I've been running on little sleep and have been barely keeping the balancing act that is grad school in check. All of this, though, does not get me down. You know what does?

No. Diet. Coke. On. Campus.

So, three times now, I have resorted to drinking Coca-Cola Cherry Zero. The cherry does mask the Zero taste, but it is a still a terrible beverage.

I hope you retrieved your tiny violin.

But honestly, aside from the lack of my preferred administration of caffeine and sleep, things have been going very well. I wish I had more time to read all the reading I have (it really is fascinating) and digest all of the stats I'm learning... but c'est la vie.

Happy Thursday, y'all! Hope your mixdiscs are coming along swimmingly!