we love Baltimore

(For more conventional views of this sculpture, see my photos here and here.)

Saturday night we celebrated the start of a lovely weekend 

with dinner at Ruth's Chris, we love any excuse to eat there. 

It was scrumptious and we were delighted, as always. 

Also, randomly, Sina and our waiter recognized each other's Iranian heritage and spoke Farsi to one another! They were both so excited, it was cute. 

After dinner it was still light out and gorgeous, so we decided 

to make use of the pretty evening and head over to one of my favorite spots, 

the Federal Hill side of the Inner Harbor 

(by the American Visionary Art Museum and the park) 

for some walking and exploring. 

On Sunday we visited our favorite farmers' market,

 (the one on Holliday Street under the Jones Falls Expressway)

and ate exceptionally well.

As some of you may already know, it's my birthday in a few days. 

(Me and Dad, circa 1991)

I'm going to be twenty! I will no longer be a teenager. 

I can't believe it. (Honestly, I'm kind of in denial.)

The festivities start tonight 

with a nice little night on the town 

and a fancy dinner with Sina.

Then on Monday,

Andrew Bird just happens 

to be performing at Merriweather

on (read: for) my actual birthday.

We're going. I'm excited!

(Another photo, same birthday, circa 1991)

Sina is a genius

I just wanted to drop by and share some exciting news. 

Back in April we stumbled across this super exciting, selective, and prestigious summer program being held in Washington, D.C. that looked perfect for Sina, and yesterday we learned that he was accepted! (One of only thirty, mostly graduate, students to be admitted!) 

(Sina in front of Rosecliff in Newport, Rhode Island last summer)

I am so excited for him and so proud of what he has accomplished! 

Sina, you're a genius!

We decided to go visit my Oma and Opa in Delaware over the long weekend, and on our trip we also stopped by Ocean City, Rehoboth, and Bethany Beach. 

We took this photo booth strip on the Ocean City boardwalk. 

I only know of a handful of places in the state that still have real photo booths, and the majority of the black and white ones are scattered throughout arcades on the boardwalk. It's really not fair, but I'm happy they're at least still out there. 

We had a really nice time visiting with my grandparents and the Lees. Sina found a new best friend in my six-year-old cousin Seamus, and we all finally had a chance to sit down with Oma and learn how to play Mahjong. She even gave me my very own set to take home. Any takers?

Thanks for the delightful weekend, Sina and family! I love you all!

worth the price of admission

(My favorite shot of the night, Coldplay at Nissan Pavilion, May 21st)

We celebrated the end of the school year

 by going to see Coldplay in concert. 

They are fantastic entertainers, 

their performance was just the right thing to usher in the summer. 

They even passed out free CDs at the end of the show!

(The wall of a furniture store in Old Ellicott City,  April 2009)

The semester is coming to an end and getting all stressful, I need a distraction!

I've been thinking a lot about what I'm going to miss (and if I'm being really honest, a few things I won't miss) about life here when I'm abroad. 

Of course there are a few things that practically go without saying: I'm going to miss my family (and Sina!) so much I don't know how I'll stand it. Not being able to bother my mom a dozen times a day is going to be a stretch for me (thank goodness for Skype). I'm also really going to miss visiting with my extended family, so I've resolved to make my rounds and spend some quality time with everyone over the summer. 

I'd also say I'm really going to miss my friends, but everyone's so busy and spread out over the country (and the world!) that going abroad for a few months shouldn't add much of a noticeable break. On a related note, I'd like to mention how excited I am that Katharine, the love of my life, will be in the same time zone as me while I'm abroad, studying in Prague! 

Some of the non-human aspects of home that I'll miss surprised me. Although some days it can be a pain, there are a few things about driving to school everyday that I will miss, like listening to audiobooks in the car and taking the long way home through old Ellicott City. Although I'm also really looking forward to using the vast amount of public transportation in Germany (especially trains). 

I'm really going to miss my car. I thought about it just sitting in the driveway by itself, and it made me sad. I am not going to miss parking at UMBC, all the stop signs on the loop, or all the parking meters I routinely feed my change to. 

I am probably going to miss all the convenience of life in the United States, like going to CVS really late at night for some basic grocery items, at least at first. However, I'm really excited to spend some time in a country where 24-hour groceries are not as much of a priority as ensuring that clerks don't have to work that miserable late night shift. I also hear that I'm going to miss some basic things we take for granted in the U.S., like complimentary water and ice in sodas. 

I will probably miss catching up with American TV shows on the internet, but I'll get over it. I've decided that I'm blocking Hulu and all related sites for the duration of my stay abroad-- it would be such a waste to spend my limited time overseas tethered to my laptop!

That's all for now, I'm sure I forgot some things. Feel free to chime in. 

Here are a few reasons that I'm looking forward to Germany today:

1. Christmas Markets! (Weihnachtsmarkts) 

I can't wait to buy lots of little goodies to bring home and share. 

source for above

source

2. Spaghetti Eis 

I'd never even heard of it before watching this Germany vs USA video. I actually can't believe we don't have this here. Anyway, what it is (obviously), is ice cream made to look like spaghetti. So clever! They funnel the ice cream into thin tubes to look like pasta, then top it with strawberry sauce to simulate tomato sauce, and even add shredded white chocolate on top to look like parmesan cheese. 

source

Yeah, this is a short list for the moment, there are many more things I'm looking forward to-- I promise!