Not complaining!

Last night my boyfriend accused me of complaining about everything (and I had been whining pretty badly) when I realized that actually, it had been a pretty great day. Besides the normal good day things, like waking up with my boyfriend and my cat (both adorable), it was the third day of my internship, and the day when things really started getting interesting. I had just been shelving manuscripts and stuff, but yesterday I got started on answering reference questions, which is what I wanted to do, and which is FUN! Also, for one of them I got to use the card catalog, which was awesome!

Later that evening I also had my last cake decorating class, which is always a lot of fun. I'm so glad I took the class, and I am definitely going to miss it. I wish I had time to take the next level. I definitely think I have a lot more I can, and want to, learn. And here is the cake I made in class last night:

Cupcakes! (Again)

I can't remember if I mentioned that I'm taking a cake-decorating class, but I am. And I'm loving it. I don't have a picture of the cake I made last week, but these are the cupcakes from last night.

Stop wallowing in laziness, you bum

I've been a little moody and dissatisfied lately, and I haven't really been able to put my finger on what it is. I'm pretty sure I'm happy with my life, and I don't think it's my relationship, though my job leaves something to be desired. After a little bit of thought, I determined that I might need to set myself some goals. I think part of my problem is that I don't feel like I'm doing much of anything worthwhile, and I don't have much of anything to look forward to. Now, if I had say, and interesting trip to plan and anticipate, that might help. Though, dope that I am, I only just now remembered ALA. It's not an exciting voyage to a foreign country, but at least it's something.

Anyway. Goals. I think I need some goals, and I think I need to make sure I actually try to complete them. So, once I set them, I will try to figure out how to put them in a sidebar on here or something, so they can show up and I can mark them off once I've completed them. I like lists, and I like marking things off lists.

So, I think I need these types of goals:

• Exercise goal - related to running and/or biking. Maybe a distance or speed I want to be able to accomplish? I do poorly with "I will run X number of days" type of goals.
• Baking goal - I am clearly obsessed with baking, so this makes sense. I just need the actual...goal.
• Academic goal - normally this would be a grade, but honestly, I'm good at grades. What I have not been good at lately is actually caring about the work beyond what it takes to get the grade. I want to be more invested in my academic work.
• Job goal - Ditto on the job - I just haven't cared much lately, and I need something to motivate me.
• Reading goal - this isn't really difficult, because I love to read, but I think I could benefit from a goal that gets me to read more nonfiction.
• Fun goal - something that I would like to do, or something new that I would like to try, that I might not otherwise.

So, does anyone have any suggestions? Clearly, I need actual goals and deadlines.

Taste of Syracuse

I'm sitting in my office right now, listening to people talk about Taste of Syracuse, so I thought I'd share my thoughts. The bf and I went on Saturday, because I asked very nicely if we could - I'm a foodie and he's an anti-foodie.

It all seems like a very good idea - lots of booths from local restaurants selling food; each of them required to sell one $1 sample item. I was definitely looking forward to trying samples from several restaurants I hadn't had the chance to visit yet.

Clinton Square was, unfortunately, packed to the gills, and the bf and I have occasionally different approaches to navigating among sardine-packed festival goers. The event planners definitely need to do a better job next year when it comes to the space, because I think a lot of people would have spent more and stayed longer if they had been able to, you know, move around and get to things.

I wish the restaurants had all approached the sample requirement as an opportunity to get people excited about their food. I had one sample that made me not want to ever go to that restuarant, and got out of line at a Greek place when I realized that the sample they were giving out was miniscule and not worth a dollar. Other places I tried the sample and wanted more of the food - which really, should be the point.

I had a sample of chicken wings at a place I can't remember - pretty tasty, with honey garlic sauce. Then I grabbed some chips and guacamole from Papa Gallo, which was NOT tasty - a guacamole disappointment. Then I bought two fried doughs and stopped at another booth that was selling chicken cooked in some special seasoning (I think the seasoning was what was for sale, not restaurant food), which was pretty tasty. After that I grabbed a sample meatball sandwich - tasty meatball - and then beelined as well as I could to the gelato stand, where I got three sample scoops. The gelato was by far the best deal, since gelato is normally expensive anyway, and this stuff was pretty good. I love lemon gelato! (And anything with chocolate, especially chocolate hazelnut!)

Then the bf and I escaped - I could still have tried more things, but I think we had lost our patience with the crowd. Overall, good idea, poor implementation.