Venice is.... well, I Mean, It's VENICE!!

I don't often gush about how awesome my husband is, but I have to sometimes, and this is one of them. Last weekend, for Valentine's Day, he whisked me away to Venice for a long weekend. Yeah, that's right: VENICE!! He found an awesome hotel right on the Grand Canal. Our windows looked right out over it! It was amazing! We saw bus boats, police boats, laundry boats, grocery boats, taxi boats, construction boats, ambulance boats, fire boats, regular people boats (like it was there car), and even a FedEx boat. He had to practically pry me away from the windows because I was so entertained watching the regular everyday goings-on of the canal.

It was Carnivale and everyone was wearing masks and crazy costumes. People were decked out in the full 16th and 17th century regalia: wigs, hats, feathers, dresses (with the giant skirts & corsets); men in knickers, tights, and heels. We actually bought masks and wore them around to get in the spirit of things. It was so much fun.

Can I just say, too, that if you ever get to go to Venice, you must go see the Basilica di San Marco. The entire ceiling is gold mosaic - the ENTIRE ceiling of this huge church is tiny bits of glass covered in gold leaf mixed with different colored glass to creat beautiful pictures. It's mindboggling. They let you go up to the balcony so that you can see part of it up close, and then you can walk outside and look out over the piazza. So very cool.

We also climbed the bell tower, which was scary actually. I'm really afraid of heights, but I still climb a tall tower in every European city I go to: the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, the Westerkirk in Amsterdam, the clocktower in Bruges, etc. This one, though, was really scary because when we were up there, the giant bell over our heads began to swing back and forth and then ring really loudly for like 2 minutes. It shook the whole thing and was so loud. I almost squatted into a fetal position, no joke. Once were back on solid ground (semi-solid, since Venice is sinking), my hubby pointed out how much the tower is leaning and that the foundation is crumbling. We then found out that it collapsed in 1902 without warning, was rebuilt with a wood foundation, the wood is now rotting, and they are trying desperately to fix this so that it doesn't collapse again. Good stuff.

The whole weekend was just really wonderful (the food was out of this world). I feel so lucky that we got to go and see this crazy awesome city. It was so exciting, in fact, that when we got home, we were both so worn out that we got sick! Oh, well, it was totally worth it.

Let's, see, what else is going on.... I'm quitting the gym because it's too far from my house, and I never go. I am now co-chairing the AWC group for gardening (we take care of the garden at the Ronald McDonald House), and I'm also assisting in the community outreach group. Oh, and I went with our NU friend to Laban and we gave each other class. That was hard because I had to come up with phrases right there to do, but fun, too, because we got to do the exercises and phrases that we wanted.

I suppose that's it for now; I hope all is well across the pond. Of course, I would know if only people would blog!!

sunday 2/15

so i FINALLY decided to start packing some boxes, but then i saw a really weird looking bug in the room where i wanted to pack, and it ruined the whole thing! now i can't go in there! i guess packing will have to wait another day.

things are good in montreal. me and will made cioppino (a tomato-based fish stew) for dinner last night, which was excellent. i also made a focaccia that didn't turn out that great since i only had regular flour (it tasted kind of like a big flat biscuit). i also probably did not let the dough rise long enough. and after that i was pretty pissed that weren't any valentine's day movies on. i can't believe that none of the networks were playing a valentine's movie on a saturday night for pete's sake! one movie channel was playing "fight club"...but that is not what i had in mind. someone should have been playing "when harry met sally" or "legends of the fall" -- i don't care what-- but no, it was all regularly scheduled programming.

ugh. i cannot stop thinking about that bug!

you guys might be interested to know that last week i tried a ZUMBA class. it was okay. for those who don't know, it is an aerobics class inspired by latin dancing. the teacher didn't give ANY verbal cues, so i was lucky i had dance experience and could pick it up and anticipate when she was going to change moves. every so often though, she would go "wooooo!" i think i'll go back, though.

i also rented a space this week at a studio so that i can get started on our project. STILL CAN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT THE BUG.

side note: why hasn't anyone written an entry about the fancy dance?

EDIT: will just got home and identified the bug as a FISH HOOK!!!!!!! i can't believe i wrote a whole entry about a horrifying bug that ended up being a fish hook.

Mac and Cheese is delicious!

I think you guys are just the crowd to appreciate this. I made the mac and cheese with leeks recipe from the latest issue of Bon Appetit two nights ago, and it is AWESOME! Better than T's, better than Hopleaf, better than, dare I say it, Kraft! (Though, perhaps not better than Mr. Howinkle's. Wink.) You should check it out. Also, sis, it tastes like Gma's because it is thickened with eggs and not roux.

Recipe:
1/4 cup butter
5 cups chopped leeks (white and light green parts only)
1/4 cup all purpose flour
3 1/2 cups whole milk
1 lb. extra sharp raw-milk cheddar (about 4 cups)
1 tbs. Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
2 large eggs
1 lb. penne pasta (or whatever kind you want--I used elbow)

• Lightly butter 15x10x2-inch baking dish. Melt 1/4 cup butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add leeks; stir to coat. Cover saucepan and cook until leeks are tender, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes (do not brown). Uncover saucepan; add flour. Stir 2 minutes. Add milk; bring to simmer, stirring often. Add cheese, mustard, and pepper sauce. Stir until cheese melts. Remove from heat. Season cheese sauce to taste with salt.
• Whisk eggs in medium bowl. Gradually whisk in 1 cup cheese sauce. Stir egg mixture into cheese sauce in saucepan.
• Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain. Return to pot.
• Stir cheese sauce into pasta in pot. Transfer to prepared baking dish. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.
• Preheat oven to 400°F. Bake pasta until cheese sauce is bubbling around edges and some ends of pasta are golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes.
• Let stand 15 minutes. Serve hot.

Guatemala

I don't know if you guys all know this, but I got to spend the holidays in Guatemala, which, aside from the digestive issues, is AWESOME. We were there for my friends L & O's wedding on 12/28 and then for New Years. I'm definitely going to learn to speak Spanish and go back someday. Here are some pics. All of the Mayan kids there called me Barbie. I think "hippie travellin' Barbie" is a bit more accurate.

Snow, Class, and Whatnot

Well, as many of you may have heard, it snowed this week in London. Not a ton, but a decent amount. And guess what the city did? It stopped, and then waited for the snow to melt in its own sweet time. Stores were closed and public transportation was all wacky for several days. Being from the south, I understand that if a city isn't prepared for snow, it can really mess things up. But, I thought it snowed here; I thought London would have a better method than 'wait and see'. Oh, well. We got to have a few nice snow days where we cuddled inside and played in the snow in the park - which everyone in Clapham did. I've never seen so many people out playing, building snowmen, igloos, forts, and walls, and having huge 30 person snowball fights. I got hit by an errant snowball, but it was still fun.

In other news, we went to a soccer game last week, which was a lot of fun. The fans sing great songs like, "You're Getting Sacked in the Morning," and something like "When the Whites Come Marching, Oy, Oy, Oy!" (I feel I should mention that we went to a Fulham Football Club game, and they are the Whites, so we kept chanting, "Come on you Whites!" I thought it was kinda weird, especially since that chant sounded just like Sloth from Goonies saying "Hey you guys!").

Ahh, and now my big news: I finally went to class! Yay! I could hardly walk the next day! Yay! Actually, it was a lot of fun, and I didn't suck nearly as much as I thought I would. That was my biggest fear: that I would have lost my dancing abilities. And that I would seriously injure myself. Both, happily, did not come to pass. I went with our friend from NU who has just finished her PhD, and I think we're going to make a regular go of it on Mondays. BTW, she got an awesome job at U of Michigan as a Fellow in the Michigan Society of Fellows and Assistant Professor in the Dance and German Departments. I'm really excited for her, but sad that she'll be moving back to the US soon. Oh, well, at least we can start dancing together before she goes. Now I'll be ready for Agent Thumb's grand experiment and may even have someone to dance with. Booyah!

I know that I've done more since my last post, but I can't think of it. My husband is making me a full English breakfast, and the yummy smells are clouding my ability to think straight.

little idea

hey guys! i just had this funny little idea-- what if i posted some choreography and each of you did your interpretation of it, filmed it, and sent it to me? it would all be to the same piece of music, and i would try to make the written instructions as clear as possible. but you could do whatever interpretations you want-- costumes, number of dancers, the space you choose, even the style of dance (alexis, YES, you could do it on pointe, i knew you would ask. wait, does alexis even read this?).

actually, do you think it should all be to the same piece of music? or should we just have counts, and then we could create music for it afterward?

i'm not sure what we would do with it when we are done, but i think there could be a lot of cool options. we could make a film out of it, or even just have it on record so that the next time we're all together, we could put it together into a little live performance. it's kind of just a lame little composition 101 exercise, but it could be cool just for a start, to try out long distance collaboration and see what happens.

also, i think we should communicate over the blog if we have any questions during the process (assuming you guys want to do this). or would it be more fun to communicate privately, which would maybe allow for more variation in each final product? i am curious to hear your thoughts.

-thumbs

She Works Hard for the Money

That's right! I finally started working for real! Yay! I'm a substitute teaching assistant. I started today in a preschool; it was really intense. Lots and lots of children who spoke a ton of different languages (none of which was English). They were really cute, though, so it was fun. Tiring, but fun.

In other news, I went to the Opera on Friday. It was Turandot, and it was really cool. The music was great, but I especially enjoyed the scenery and costumes. And, then, there was the dancing. For the most part, it sucked. It was full of slow attitude promenades and grand plies in fourth. However, every now and then, they would throw in these great gestures and moves that totally reminded me of enfab. I wished that they would have run with that instead of psuedo Chinese dancing (the Opera took place in 17th century China, btw).

I got to take an indepth tour of Westminster Abbey. We got to hear behind the scenes stories about the lives of previous monarchs and their tombs. We also learned about the history of the Abbey (like why it's an abbey and not a cathedral - no bishop with his official cathedra/chair = no cathedral) Why do I love British History so? Wow, I'm sorta dorky, but we all knew that, didn't we.