Taking Root

Not to be distracted by wedding planning, the future doctor is certainly maintaining her interest in the academic world. And so, this past weekend, the future doctor ventured on a journey into her past and future.

She returned to Oklahoma. It was a long trip to the airport, fraught with ice and snow banks, but she made it. Her first flight took  her back to Chicago, her native land. Her second flight was delayed for 20 minutes because there was a problem with one of the tires, but then took her uneventfully back to Oklahoma City.

It was a strange emotion, stepping back into that state that she swore she'd never enter again. But, if nothing else, it was warm there. Or, at least, it felt warm compared to the frozen tundra she had left behind in Kentucky. She and her compatriot got into their shuttle and voyaged down to Norman, Oklahoma, where they would be spending the next 36 hours-ish.

Although she had little interest in being in the state, the future doctor was elated to be attending a conference full of activists who all understood the importance and the difficulty of  doing reproductive justice work in red states. It was an inspiring weekend, and she and her travelling companion got the opportunity to present on pregnancy and prisons in the Appalachian/Southern region. It was a fascinating weekend full of interesting people and lots of learning. 

Finally, on Sunday morning, at 7 AM, the two of them boarded the plane, crossing their fingers that they would not be stranded, and made their way back to Kentucky so that they could resume their normal lives on Monday morning. 

Upcoming conferences featuring the future doctor:

EGSO Conference, University of Kentucky- March 13

ALA Conference, Boston- May 29-31

Wedding Dress Adventures

As many are already aware, the future doctor is engaged to be married to her partner in dragon-slaying. She cried when he gave her the most beautiful amethyst ring in the entire world.

And then, the planning began!

Of course, the first task to accomplish was decided on a venue. It was only natural that the future doctor and the charming knight would get married in a castle. Once that was settled, it was on to the part that the future doctor had looked forward to since she was 16 years old- dress shopping!

As of the writing of this post, the future doctor has not yet purchased a dress, although there are contenders, none of which will be pictured on this blog.

She started with the fitted gowns, to make sure she looked at all her options, but quickly moved past them.

There were dresses with large satin skirts...

And dresses with obnoxiously large tulle skirts....

There were dresses with texture throughout the fabric....

And even a dress covered in stripes...

There was one dress that stood out from all the rest. But that one will not be revealed until the moment when the doors open for the future doctor to walk down the aisle to her charming knight.

Plus, she still has to go shopping at Kleinfeld in New York City, so there's that. 4 dress shopping trips down, 1 more to go!

So Many Snow Days

Well, it has been quite the week here. School was cancelled on Monday and Tuesday, and now has been cancelled for Thursday and Friday. There is snow everywhere and I'm a little terrified to leave my apartment, but I'm running out of food, so it may become necessary sooner rather than later. I'm also busily reorganizing my entire semester class schedule to accommodate things. I think we're just going to have to give up one of the lessons I was planning on doing.

On the bright side, it's been a super productive week! I officially made the decision to focus on 19th century children's literature, and I've been making progress with my reading list. I've finished the Peterkin Papers and I have a few academic books to get through.

My nails are also painted a bright color, so that's lovely! And I've had loads of bonding time with Netflix, which is always super enjoyable. I'm working my way through Supernatural, as well as re-watching Doctor Who and Sherlock. If you've got any suggestions, please throw them my way! I'll be trapped inside for at least the next day.

Have a great week, everyone, and I hope the weather is better where you're at!

Renaissance Faire Take 2

The future doctor and the charming knight had a weekend planned to celebrate his impending birthday.

They survived a long, harrowing trek, all the way to Charlotte, North Carolina. Once they arrived, they feasted upon pizza, garlic pretzels, and ice cream, and watched many episodes of house buying shows so that they did not have to leave their room at the inn.

The next morning, however, it was time for them to embark on an adventure...

And they did. There was plenty of dancing, and music, and so much delicious food for them to consume.

There was also time for the future doctor to be pampered. At her last faire, her hair was still too short to be braided in any manner, and so this time, she was determined to take advantage of their short hair offerings.

They witnessed the majestic flight of a variety of birds of prey, and even spent some quality time with a pirate.

No dragons were vanquished that day, but it was probably for the best, as both the future doctor and the charming knight desperately needed a more relaxed weekend. And battling dragons is certainly not a relaxing endeavor.

Time for the Holiday Season!

Now that Halloween is over, and Thanksgiving is approaching soon,I can prepare for my favorite time of year!

Surprisingly, considering how much I hate the cold, I absolutely adore the holiday season. Everything is so sparkly and colorful and happy and fun! And it's the perfect time of year to cuddle with a blanket and a mug of hot chocolate, preferably with marshmallows in fun shapes or colors.

There will be several holiday projects still to come, primarily in the form of office decorations and homemade christmas gifts, but for now, I started with a wreath.

It started with a seemingly endlessly line of strips of fabric, cut to approximately the same size, in varying shades of cream, blue and green. It's what I had lying around and red and green is overdone anyway ;)

But eventually, the strips of fabric were wound around the wreath form, and hot glued in place (memo to self, buy a new hot glue gun). 

Just a sprig of fake holly left to be added and then...

Ready for the Holiday season to commence!

Manicure Monday

In a moment of procrastination from reading, the future doctor decided to switch out her nail polishes from spring/summer to fall/winter. 

Cooler weather is not the future doctor's favorite, but fall is also full of delicious food and deep, rich colors. The bright pastels and neons of summer may have been put away for the next 6 months, but they've been replaced with burgundies and deep purples and golden-browns, full of glitter and shimmer.

For this week's manicure, the future doctor decided to start with a fairly new polish to her collection, a color that she had not yet worn past testing it out before purchasing- Butter London Scuppered. The base is a medium reddish-brown, flecked with glitter in gold, red, and green. 

Fall may not be the best season ever, but it does lend itself to some pretty decent nail polish colors. And now, back to reading!

Fall= Pumpkin-y goodness

Fall is easily my favorite season for food. For one simple reason- pumpkin-flavored everything. Well, and cinnamon, and spices, and warm, homey flavors, but that doesn't work with my title quite as well, so we're going to ignore this whole sentence.

In my quest for pumpkin dishes that I could make at home, I came across a recipe for Pumpkin Maple Macaroni & Cheese. I'm not sure how it sounds to other people, but to me it sounded like the most amazing idea in the world! I love pumpkin. I love maple syrup. I love macaroni & cheese. 

So I gathered my arsenal of ingredients.

(there was also a bottle of Abita Amber than didn't make it into the picture. Sorry!)

The recipe was pretty simple to follow. Eventually, I got to the baking step. This also meant that, for the first time, I got to use my Le Creuset casserole dish that the most awesome mom in the world found for me!

The finished product was everything that I hoped it would be. It was creamy and cheddar-y and pumpkin-y. The perfect fall dish. Plus, it made so much that I will be eating leftovers for daaaays. 

Until next time, have a happy fall everyone!