important updates

1. i had a breakthrough yesterday morning. i used ONLY my brush and hairdryer to do my hair.... no straightening iron... and my hair stayed straight allllll daaaay looong!! for too long i have operated under the assumption that i either have to iron those curls out, or use some scrunchie gel and let my hair air dry. this latest discovery is exactly the combination i was searching for: an efficient use of my time, minus the bum-like hair that air-drying produces.

2. did my third night of jillian michaels' 30 day shred. still on level 1, though its getting easier... a little. 

3. just got back from a delicious vietnamese dinner at pho bihn with friends. it's a little hole-in-the-wall place but it will knock your socks off. the lemongrass tofu is breathtaking. and no, i'm not exaggerating.

ok, time to study.

what can i say, really?

i'm buried in work. and study materials. for the last 3 weeks or so - apart from the hour i set aside every night to cook and eat dinner - i have been living and breathing architecture. 


at work, we are in the home stretch for our renovation project. i work 10-11 hour days- definitely not the norm- and do not get paid overtime or collect comp time. a grande pike place from starbucks each morning is my way of coping. at home, i am studying for the first of my architecture registration exams. there are 7 total. i'm not sure exactly when i will take this first exam, since i am waiting on the TN board to approve my application and give me a testing number. my goal is to finish all exams by the beginning of june 2011. we'll see how that goes.


i'm sorry that all this seems to have a "woe is me" vibe to it... i really am surprisingly quite happy and satisfied with the way things are going lately. one thing i have found is that i am about 150% more productive during the week (and weekends for that matter) than i was with my 40-hour work week. somehow i find time to workout and cook dinner every night. if it weren't for those 2 things i think i would go crazy. oh, and the support of my wonderful bf doesn't hurt either. 


even so, i'll be happy when this deadline has passed and i can have time to style my hair in the mornings.


so that's where i am. i do have delicious recipes to post- i still try to cook something new once a week. soon i will post: portabello burgers. yum :) you will LOVE them.


thanks, friends, for continuing to check in. 
miss you all!!