Monthly Archives: February 2013

Mom’s visit

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My mom just left yesterday from a four-day visit, allowing me to get to do a lot of the things I normally wouldn’t, like eating at Friends Sushi and seeing Book of Mormon! And, of course, I got to spend time with my mom and pretend like I didn’t have a ton of work to get done… Work that I should be doing right now…

Anyways here’s a rundown of some of the stuff we did:

Day 1: Downtown

Pretty much the second mom got here, we headed downtown to eat at our all-time favorite restaurant, Friends Sushi. If you haven’t been there before, you haven’t been living. Their fusion sushi rolls are extremely creative and flavorful. The first time I had their Friends Maki, I tasted a familiar yet mysterious tartness only to realize that there was thinly sliced green apple in it. Hopefully that gives you an idea of the kind of sushi you can expect to enjoy here. 

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We tried the Fire Cracker appetizer, which were basically Asian-fusion nachos. Raw tuna and salmon, avocado, red tobiko (fish eggs), and creamy wasabi sauce on shrimp crackers. Also known as RIDICULOUS.

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We ordered the Fujiyama Maki for the first and definitely not last time. Crab meat, imitation crab, shrimp, and spicy mayo topped with king crab, red tobiko, and tempura crumbs. Totally decadent.

We made our way to go shopping, because what else is there to do downtown when it’s freezing? Oh yeah – I forgot to mention that after a nice, 50° Monday, it decided to drop to 15° when mom came. So of course she vowed never to come back in February. It’s definitely the month in Chicago to skip if there is one. The stores had some good sales, but it didn’t take a lot of un-layering and relayering and carrying huge coats around before we were ready to head back to Evanston.

We grabbed a quick bite to eat and then went to see Argo, which was as good as I expected it to be. Ben Affleck was snubbed from the Oscar nom AND WE ALL KNOW IT!

Day 2: BOOK OF MORMON

I had class all day on Wednesday, so we were only able to grab breakfast at Le Peep during the day. After class ended, mom and I headed downtown again to see Book of Mormon. I made my mom take the el there and back so she would see how we cheap college students do it (and save like $100). 

Book of Mormon was the best musical I have ever seen (well maybe tied with Avenue Q). I was thrashing with laughter the entire time. It was so funny that halfway through the first act, I stopped laughing because literally everything was funny. I’d actually become habituated to the humor – and then it got funnier. Performances, script, and production were all top notch. Definitely go see it. It’s a blast.

Day 3: Pajama Game

Mom and I had lunch at Bat 17 before I went off to class until 5. We had dinner at Bravo and then went to see Jonny’s show, The Pajama Game. I’m always so impressed with how talented the students at our school are!

Day 4: Saying goodbye

Friday was short and sweet. We had lunch at Chipotle and then said our goodbyes. I’m hopefully going home in April to visit again and see everyone, because I probably won’t get to go home this summer. It’s always nice to see my mom, but it was time for me to get back to work – homework and more internship applications are on the horizon!

Smooth(ie) moves

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I had two midterms yesterday, so the entire last five days have actually consisted of nothing but me studying. I’ve never studied so much in my life, but it was definitely worth it. Gotta keep up that GPA if I wanna go to grad school!

Aside from studying, well, I haven’t done really anything outside of my normal routine. So I’m gonna talk about part of that!

I make at least one smoothie every day because 1. they’re delicious and 2. they’re cheap and 3. they make me feel healthy. So here are some pictures of one of them. This one has frozen mango, frozen berry blend, a banana, and yogurt. I also really like one with OJ, banana, and frozen mango in it. You don’t ever have to add ice, just buy frozen fruit (or freeze your own). I use a hand blender because it’s easy to clean and really quick.

Experimenting with new flavors is always fun too. Woo!

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Putting in the fruit.

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Adding in some yogurt.

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My favorite college purchase – a Cuisinart hand blender!

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Pure deliciousness.

Those people you don’t know but probably met once

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So I’m sitting in Norris trying to come up with something to blog about (there’s been a lack of excitement in my life just studying and trying to stay warm) when I see this girl sit down a few tables away from me. Now she can’t see me — huddled behind a large support pillar at my two-top — which is probably good because she’d probably find it weird that I’m writing this.

This girl is one of those people. 

I see this girl at least three times a week. We have classes together; we both frequent Norris. Even though our paths cross often, under normal circumstances I probably wouldn’t have any idea who she was — except for the fact that at the beginning of the quarter, as she walked past my seat in class, she gave me a recognizing wave and a “Hey! How ya doing?”

Oh no.

Who was this girl? I knew immediately that I was supposed to know who she was, but I didn’t. Had we met at a party? Was she a friend of a friend? Had I met her sometime last year and the eight months away from NU made me forget?

It’s one of the most shameful, awkward moments you can have as a college student. You try desperately to act normal and pretend that you totally know who that person is. You feel like a total jerk because you’re obviously so self-obsessed that you forgot another human being. Like totally forgot them. But it’s also just a flaw of the human memory — blame psychology, right?

Now, after a month of seeing her so often, I’m often the one initiating the smile, the wave, and the “Hey! How ya doing?” She’s become a regular presence in my life, and even if I have no clue who she is, I actually enjoy running into her. She’s got a contagious smile — and she’s not some ass hole that forgets people she should know…

I think we all have one of these people, or more than one, and after a while it feels like you do know them — that they’re not so much strangers anymore. It’s these people that encourage us to at least try harder to take the time to recognize each other, and not just each other’s faces. I think you probably get what I mean.