Bakeries!

I have finally decided that it is time to explore Charlottesville.  On the top of the list, bakeries and ice cream shops!  I am starting with bakeries.  First, I visited Sweethaus.  Here, I tried three different cupcakes.  This place seems most similar to My Delight Cupcakery in Claremont, CA because of their wide variety of cupcake flavors.  It was pretty good, very sweet (which is fine by me); however their cakes were just a bit dry.  I would definitely go back, just not every week.

Top: double chocolate

lower left: salted caramel

lower right: cookie dough

Next, I heard about a place called MarieBette Cafe & Bakery where I tried une pain au chocolate.  Their croissants are supposed to as good as Europe's.  Now, it has been a lot of years since I've tried a chocolate croissant but it was really good.  In fact, there was a warmish, gooey chocolate center.  Definitely worth going back to.  In fact, I think I want to bring my college friends here when they come to visit!

Whelp, that's all for now! Until next time...

The River James

Hi everyone,

I went tubing on The River James yesterday with other people from my program.  We spent about 3.5 hours on the river.  It was a good bonding experience.  From tubing down the river with two women I have been hanging out with, paddling out of the seaweed, up stream and to the other side of the river to laze with the rest of the group, to connecting almost all of our 36 tubes together, to scraping against and trying to go around all the rocks.  I could not have asked for a better bonding experience!

Smiles

Hi!

A blog post to update you on my weekend.

I went to the DMV.  I got there at 7:45 am and left an hour later.  I was amazed at how fast I got out.  I did not have to take the written test as I had a valid California license (yeah!).  Since I was done early, I was second in line to get my car wash at the dealer and was in and out in 15 minutes.  Next, I went to Costco.  Costco just opened on Thursday; I am happy it is here but wish it was here a month ago.  I bought 2 large cheese pizzas, salad, chicken breasts, chicken broth, etc.

Last night, a group of people came over from my program.  We had so much fun!  We spent a lot of time laughing and talking.  It was different hanging out with a group of people who are all research scientists; it was great because we laughed at each others jokes and noticed little things about the Prince & Me (the movie we watched) that nobody else would have noticed.  I hope that we all get to hang out again soon.

By the way, these are the cupcakes I served.  You can see the process of frosting them, moving clockwise from 11 to 10 o'clock.

Today, I tried my crockpot for the first time.  The lentils came out perfectly, but the chicken breasts were a bit dry.  It will take some time learn how to use it properly.

Additionally, I went to a Pure Barre class today.  It worked all of my muscles.  I can't wait to see how I feel tomorrow (and no, that is not sarcastic).  I liked it enough that I bought a 10 pack.  As I am not sure what my spending looks like, I am going to try and go once a week until I get on my feet.

This week is going to be very busy, I am attending a Cardiovascular conference!  My first one as a graduate student.

That's all for now! More to come soon.