In Which Bronwen Figures Out How to Post Videos

So I know that -- being from Southern California and all -- I'm supposed to probably hate the snow and complain about it a lot... or make snide comments like "what's all this white stuff" and such... but I just can't.

I'm in love!

I love how pretty everything looks when it snows. And yes, it does turn ugly and slushy and gross, but it feels so peaceful when the snow is falling and everything is so white and pristine*. Like this:

So I'm a huge dope and didn't turn my iPhone the right way... but I'm glad to see that Blogger has turned it right side up for me (they post half of my photos sideways, so I'm amazed they got this one right). Turn up your sound... you can hear the snow hitting my umbrella!

And speaking of the cold, here's another little gem for you all. If you're friends with me on Facebook (or Gchat) sorry this is a duplicate. It also bears mention that my mother sent this to me.

*What does that say about me? Maybe I'm racist?

Ugly Snow

Remember how we talked about my beautiful winter wonderland the other day?

It looked kind of like this:

And it still does, until you look down.

Brown snow and slush... not so much. I just have to remember to look up!

More snow in the forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday. I'm looking forward to a fresh dusting to make everything pristine again! :)

Back to Boston

Since I'd been gone for three whole weeks, Mother Nature decided to welcome me back to Boston with a HUGE snowstorm, my first since moving to the East!

On Monday, they pre-emptively called a Snow Day for today (Wednesday). And it was bad. It finally let up a little while ago, and I was able to jump out and take a few photos before it got dark. We got about 2 feet today.

The street looks like a Winter Wonderland.

Thank goodness Santa brought Snow Boots this year!

Vacation

So it's been a while. I know, I know. I pretty much shut down over finals, and then we had Integrated Project, then I flew home to Long Beach... and pretty much went incommunicado for the next few weeks.

The first semester of b-school wrapped up pretty nicely. I turned in pretty decent grades, with a few surprises (hell-o B+ in finance!), and well above the range for academic probation. Once I found out that I was indeed not going to be kicked out of school, I settled in for a relaxing (and rainy) holiday and break, filled with family and friends.... and food.

It was nice being back in the LBC, and back in my parents' house. In many ways, it felt like I'd never left. The old house was mostly the same.

Except for one really huge difference.

No, my parents have not rented out there home to be a location for the next season of "Dexter" (though that would be awesome), and no my Dad is not a serial killer now. They're just redoing the kitchen. The remodel is in full throes right now, which caused some pretty creative improvisation when it came to Christmas dinner (and every other dinner consumed in my parents' house for that matter).

Prime Rib on the BBQ rotisserie, and roasted potatoes

Potatoes, carrots, peas, and brussels sprouts on the camp stoves in the garage.

My mother is a saint, people. A SAINT! She's been living like this since September, and puts a hot, cooked meal on the table every night. She then does the dishes by hand - either in a 8.5" x 11" bar sink or in the work sink in the garage. A SAINT!

My dad's not bad either. He's doing a beautiful job on the kitchen, and he's doing it all himself. His retirement hobby so far has been cabinet-making, and he's actually quite good at it. And, as of yesterday, has three top cabinets installed. It's going to be lovely when it's done, and I can't wait to see it. 

Anyway, these are pretty much the only pictures I took over break. Pretty much because I was doing a lot of reading and sleeping on the couch. Glenn was kind enough to snap this one:

Happy New Year everyone!

Project 365: 117/365

Last month, Amy hosted a bunch of us at her house for a girl's night, where we sampled "Fox-a-ritas" and gorged on guac and salsa. I offered to host a holiday-themed girl's night, complete with spiced cider and a Christmas Cookie decorating contest.

Our reluctant judge, Jamie, with the three finalists.

Caitlin, the big winner with her prize - "A Christmas Story" mug!

Project 365: 116/365

Mom's been wanting me to get a picture of myself in front of the "BU Sign" for her Christmas card. Problem is, BU has such an urban campus, there isn't really a sign per se. There's a big granite monstrosity in the center of Commonwealth Ave., however, so that had to do.

I sprinted across 4 lanes to get to this location, and then Jackie (who was wedged between two parked cars) would snap 3-4 pictures every time there was a break in traffic. At a few points (when I was sitting on top of the sign, mostly) I got some honks as well. What's more, it was about 30 degrees outside - and that granite was cold!

Project 365: 119/365

Frequently we see really ridiculously expensive cars parked outside of SMG - the kind you'd see on Top Gear.

However, for the last two days, we've seen this parked outside:

Meg & Fillbelly's

I can't decide if I want it to actually be a chicken and waffles truck, or if I'd feel better if it was some sort of FBI/CIA surveillance van. Wow, I watch too much TV!

Project 365: 114/365

Today I thought I'd share with you something I see every day.

This is the globe-like statue inside SMG. Not my best effort today, I know, but it's finals after all!

Project 365: 113/365

I have to say that, by far, one of my favorite things right now is the fact that I can stream Netflix though my Wii onto the TV! Especially since it is too cold to walk to the Redbox!

Project 365: 112/365

It was only a matter of time...

...before the coloring book from Mom...

...and the crayons from Karla...

...converged into an awesome procrastination technique.

I wonder if I turn it in with my QM paper... will I get extra points for staying in the lines?

Project 365: 111/365

I'm taking advantage of the fact that Diana and I seem to be the only people in the building this holiday weekend and I'm catching up on my laundry.

Laundry is an extreme sport here on Littell Road. Take one step too far backwards, and you'll fall down the scary stairs.

I don't think this picture conveys just how frightening they are. My foot slipped onto the top step the other day, and I swear I had my first heart attack. I had to sit down and wait for my heart rate to come back down.

If anyone hasn't seen me for a few days, look at the bottom of these stairs. You'll probably find my dead, broken body there, under a pile of socks.

Project 365: 110/365

Dear Orchid -

Is it something that I said? Something I did? I watered you and kept you out of direct sunlight like the directions told me to.

Please let me know if there is anything we can do to salvage this relationship.

xoxo,
Bron

Help a Grad Student Out

We need people to participate in our market research survey for our Integrated Project.

Since I love you all so much... could you take a minute and fill it out? I'd be very grateful!

Cracker Survey!

xoxo,
B

Thanksgiving

If you asked me about Turkey Day about a month ago, I would have told you that Diana and I were planning on getting sushi and/or Indian food and watching stupid movies on the couch. That all changed a couple of weeks ago, when we decided to cook for a few friends. That group grew and grew, and we ended up having a (quite large) group of 7 people for Turkey Day.

This was my first attempt at actually cooking a bird, and a whole meal of this magnitude for that matter. I'd always casually helped make the stuffing, etc. at home, but never actually stuck my hand in the cavity and pulled. It was a little gross, but I found that if you just suck it up and don't think about what you are actually doing, it goes just fine.

I did the turkey in one of those Oven Bags... and I think it definitely stopped the meat from drying out! It was literally falling off of the bone! Other than the sage & onion stuffing I stuffed into poor Tommy's cavity, I also rubbed the outside with olive oil, season salt, sage, thyme and rosemary before laying him in the bag on a bed of onion and celery. It also made for some pretty tasty gravy (which, in the absence of Bisto, actually turned out pretty good).

By far the best part of the evening was having four men do all the dishes. ALL the dishes. Diana and I got to relax and drink wine while they finished things up.

We were then joined by some more friends for dessert, drinks, Apples to Apples, and Wii. Things didn't wrap up until about 2 a.m... in all a successful Thanksgiving, I'd say!

Project 365: 109/365

Can't bring myself to take down the Thanksgiving decorations yet... even though we're currently playing Christmas tunes...

Project 365: 108/365

It's beginning to smell a lot like Thanksgiving here... I got really ambitious this year and decided to make a Pumpkin Cheesecake. Let's hope it tastes as good as it smells!

Project 365: 107/365

Perfect pre-Thanksgiving meal... $1.86 thanks to Groupon!

Project 365: 106/365

The one upside to all this cold weather? Finally getting to wear all of the boots and tights I've accumulated over the years!

Project 365: 105/365

PharmaSim's over! Let's just say that "comfortable" position quickly went awry today... we won't know our final results until tomorrow... but the last ranking my team got was 10/13.

Celebrating in true MBA fashion...

Project 365: 104/365

For anyone who has tried to contact me in the last few days, I thought I'd show you why I haven't been very responsive...

PharmaSim is an intense marketing simulation that a lot of business schools subject their MBA students to. In a nutshell, you are the brand manager for a cold medicine for 9 "periods" that happen over the course of 2-3 days. You're responsible for everything - sales force, marketing, promotion - for that brand and whatever other products you launch during the simulation. After you submit each decision, you get back instant feedback on how you did - in the form of an income statement, stock price, etc. And then you have 90 mins to make the decision for the next period. For this next one, we have the whole weekend.

We ended day #1 in a pretty good position... so here's hoping we finish strong! Our class ranking figures into our grade after all...