Blog Every Day in January Day 25: Catching Up

So I think I've put off writing a real entry long enough for things to actually happen...meaning this post will actually have real content!!!!

Wow!!!!!

I'm just going to do this in bullet points, because it's been so long since I've written a real post here that I have literally forgotten how to string together paragraphs. *Shrugs*

• In reference to Thursday's post in which I was blogging from the living room couch in my apartment at school, it turns out that in my room at school, the corner where I sleep has mold growing on the wall. No telling what kind of mold it could be, but it's probably not the kind I should be sleeping next to. Feels good, man. Feels good to be paying rent on an apartment where I literally can not sleep in my own bed for fear that I'll wake up with mold poisoning.
  
• Yesterday I went into the high school where I'm student teaching to observe, and I actually am getting pretty pumped to start!! I've talked about this before, but I'm slowly starting to gain back my motivation as this winter break comes to a close. There's still a bunch of stuff I need to do but I feel a whole lot less overwhelmed by it. I mean...I am still anxious and afraid that I'm just going to be the worst student teacher ever...but I think I've gone into survival mode where it's like OKAY NO TURNING BACK MELANIE JUST GO IN THERE AND STUDENT TEACH LIKE ITS YOUR JOB WHICH IT KIND OF IS ITS LIKE A FULL TIME JOB ONLY YOU'RE PAYING TUITION TO DO IT.
  
• Side note: I have really not been feeling like myself lately! I was talking to one of my roommates about it the other day about how I think I've been having like a bit of seasonal depression. I've really been struggling with blogging every day this month, and with getting myself prepared for student teaching. I also feel like I didn't put much effort into socializing over the holidays, which is so not like me. Maybe it's this crazy weather we're having, or maybe I'm just freaking out over big transitions in my life that are about to happen/are coming up in the near future. Or maybe it's a combination of the two. Regardless, I've been trying to pull myself out of this funk all break and it's been happening--albeit rather slowly. Maybe I just need to see the sun again. IT'S BEEN SO LONG.
  
• I made this flourless chocolate cake as a gluten-free dessert option for a dinner party I went to yesterday, and even though I majorly effed up the recipe due to lack of the proper tools, it was SO GOOD. It was basically like a chocolate truffle in cake form...but it was so rich that only like a sixth of the cake was left and now I have a giant wheel of chocolate sitting in my fridge. Such is life.
  
• The pictures I posted in yesterday's entry was from the same dinner party with the chocolate cake! I actually posted those pictures really quickly while I was at the party, knowing I wouldn't want to write a post when I got home because it was already getting late and I knew I would be too tired. It was super fun, and it felt nice to be social again! Also I gave maybe the worst speech of my life...but also maybe the best speech of my life? I don't know, I guess it depends on how much alcohol you've consumed to determine whether it was good or bad.
  
• I'M GOING TO FRANCE THIS SUMMER!! And potentially other places, but those aren't set in stone and I'm not about to jinx it. But yeah, it's been in the works for a while and I officially found out on Thursday. I am SO PUMPED. I have a feeling that I'll just been talking about it ad nauseum for the next five months, so prepare yourself for that. I CAN'T FREAKING WAITTTT.

I don't remember how to end blog posts. Is this how you end them?? Do I just hit publish now???

Blog Every Day in January Day 9: RIDING THE TRAIN WITH MY BIG GIRL PANTS

My current source of anxiety is currently this trip that I'm taking to New York tomorrow for a class I took last semester. As much as I enjoy having alone time, the idea of navigating to and through an area that I'm not particularly familiar with by myself just does not sound like something that I personally can realistically do. Which is a little ridiculous, because I know a lot of people that would totally thrive in that situation and I just don't understand how you do that. Like how do you just show up in New York City fresh off a greyhound bus and start walking around like you own the place and taking the subway like its no big deal?? I am one hundred percent sure that I will be walking with my phone in my face trying to understand the googlemaps app while bumping into every disgruntled New Yorker (I imagine all New Yorkers are at least a little disgruntled--right?? RIGHT?? DO I FIT IN YET???).

Fortunately my friend Alexis, who is a beautiful peach blossom that blooms early in the morning while the sun slowly rises, has agreed to come with me. It's actually a pretty exciting trip, and we're seeing some cool exhibits at the MoMA and watching performances and stuff, which is like the whole reason why Alexis agreed to come, but I've had very little information and very little time to plan. Which would drive me nuts enough if I was in like Newark, Delaware or Cherry Hill, New Jersey, but having to semi wing it in NYC has given me ulcers I'M SURE OF IT. While I'm glad I won't be alone in this EXERCISE IN IMPROVISATION (ALEXIS YOU SMELL LIKE KITTENS THAT BATHED IN RAINBOWS), I am also a little nervous that I will somehow mess something up so badly that I will end up stranded in New York with no shoes and teeth missing. My imagination sometimes runs wild.

OKAY YEAH SO THAT'S IT FOR TODAY'S ENTRY! I don't actually know if I'll manage to get a post up tomorrow...I would consider live blogging, but I want to make sure my phone has as much batter as possible lest I accidentally wake up in a ditch on the outskirts of Manhattan. Does that happen to anyone? Do those things get reported??

Let me know if you have had any similar experiences in travel-related anxiety! Ooh remind me to tell you about the time I took the train into Philly by myself and walked past the same homeless man three times trying to figure out which direction to walk. Seriously, who am I??

September in October: A Stop in Kennett Square

So this technically happened in October, but I'm recapping the whole hiatus so I'm gonna say this counts!!

Anyways, I recently completed my high school choral practicum, which is when I went into a high school once a week and taught chorus (...that may not have needed an explanation). My placement for this practicum was at Unionville High School in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania and something that I did not realize until driving up to this practicum was that Kennett Square is a beautiful town!

We (my practicum partner Heather and I) drove right past the main road on our way to practicum, and we caught a glimpse of some of the stores and eateries. The very first time we saw it, we knew we would have to have a "ditch day" (stay in school, kids) and stop into town for lunch and window shopping. Kennett Square is a lot like Haddonfield, in the way that it looks like it has some history, a lot of local business, and tons of character.

The perfect opportunity to explore Kennett Square came a couple of weeks ago. I had just had a really rough time in practicum, and was feeling really down about myself and about my teaching. Heather suggested that since the weather was so perfect that we push our ditch day a week earlier than planned to blow off some steam, since my spirits were still down by the time we left the school. It turns out that this was a fortuitous decision, since the next week it rained on our originally planned day!

We walked up and down the main road to see where we wanted to stop for lunch, and wound up walking into Byrsa Bistro, which had a pretty impressive lunch menu. I have a feeling that if we had shown up a little later in the day we would have cringed at the prices, but the lunch menu price was just right!

We browsed the menu, and weighed our options...

Already the duck flatbread had caught my eye, and Heather was feeling pretty adventurous so we both wound up getting the same meal.

We were both really excited about it, as you can see. And I think that our excitement was pretty justified...

Oh. My. God.

This flatbread was literally to DIE FOR. I WOULD DIE FOR THIS FLATBREAD. Duck? FAVE. Gorgonzola?? FAVE. Balsamic vinegar???? !!!!!! AND FIGS AHHHHH.

It was an emotional roller coaster to say the least.

Also I ate every last bite of that salad and the rosemary potatoes. Ahmazing.

When I bit into that flatbread, it was almost as though my entire day had been erased and I had a clean state to begin again. THIS FLATBREAD WAS A SPIRITUAL REBIRTH.

....sorry, that was intense.

We spent the rest of our time window shopping, which I didn't manage to get a picture of, save one thing:

Man, people really love their roosters.

We stopped into a store that sold home furnishings and I almost splurged on $30 glass tupperware. I'm a little tempted to go back one day and get it...but I resisted this time around! I did buy ten dollars worth of fancy tea bags from the tea shop, though. So delicious!

Plus, I let my good friend Miss Delaware, otherwise known among friends as Becca, know that we were in her hometown and thinking of her! She told us to stop into Talula's for dessert, which we promptly obeyed. Another great suggestion, as I wound up buying two different desserts at once.

The minute I saw that they had macarons I snatched them up. The lady asked me what flavor I wanted and I looked at her and said "Both." like..."duh". I mean business when it comes to my macarons. These are lemon basil and lemon meringue. I also bought a pear and almond tart, which was delicious for breakfast two days in a row! 

The tart was flaky and sweet, and the pear added a nice light touch while the almond gave it an awesome nutty flavor. I'm surprised that I managed to split it into two pieces and pace myself over the course of two days...because honestly, I was tempted to eat it whole. But I don't think those macarons made it through the night...I am seriously obsessed.

It was such a lovely day to take a spontaneous trip! I mean...I don't endorse skipping class to get lunch or anything (STAY IN SCHOOL, KIDS), but this was a decision that I did not regret. Sometimes you just need to decide to have a little fun! Especially when you feel that you've been emotionally attacked by disengaged high school boys that don't understand that I CAN SEE YOU ROLLING YOUR EYES IN THE SECOND ROW but THAT'S ANOTHER POST FOR ANOTHER DAY.

Deep breaths. Duck breaths. Duck bread. Duck flatbread. Yes. Duck flatbread. That is the solution to every problem.