springtime in Baltimore

I have spent all day today driving home, running errands, restocking my sad neglected refrigerator and trying to put some order in my life and get back into the swing of things after a beautiful beautiful amazing weekend that included

-delicious Greektown dining (pretty much obsessed with Greek food)

-Panera work marathon

-runs in the hot sun

-randomly running (literally) into a Privateer Festival complete with pirates, ships, and cannons in the harbor

-Saturday night homemade pizza and wine tradition

-GELATO!! 

Baltimore is only a three hour drive south from me, but it is seriously in a completely different climate zone. The MOMENT you leave Pennsylvania, the sun emerges, the temperature spikes up at least 10 degrees, and the trees all have their leaves already.

Proof: scenes from the park

sunset is my favorite time of day when it is warm and green out

awesome old twisty tree

the last daffodils clinging to life in the summery heat

fun paint-by-numbers sycamore bark

 

Cherry blossoms EVERYWHERE!

When I have a yard I want to plant it full of cherry trees.

Ben makes me run super fast and then overheat.

but I still love him because he is cute and buys me food.

CAUGHT YA! hehe.

Ships!

 Now it is time for a Reality Check for Anna.

Back to the school grind. Tomorrow.

happy friday !

It has been a looooong week.

After school I am headed down to Baltimore to see Ben for the weekend and I am so excited.

I need some hugs and gelato in between the endless reading for my term papers. 

He is finally nearing the end of his two year Teach for America experience. And wow, it has been an experience. I would NEVER be able to handle what he deals with on a daily basis!!

It's hard to believe I'll only visit him in the city a couple more times before he moves closer to me!

It seemed like the end of these two years would never come.

And now that it's so close, I am realizing that I will maybe miss the endless restaurants, brick streets, and waterfront of Baltimore.

Strawberry Shortcake Oats: part 2 in a series

Strawberry Shortcake Oats

These are pretty self-explanatory.

Now let's see if I can remember what I put into them...

-1/2 cup oats

-1/2 cup water

-1/2 cup milk

-dash of salt

-cinnamon

-nutmeg

-vanilla

-sugar and almonds for topping

-chopped strawberries, frozen or fresh

Bring the water, milk, and dash of salt to a boil. Add oats, lots of cinnamon, a dash of nutmeg, and cook for 2-3 minutes.  Add the strawberries and finish cooking the oats.  Stir in about 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and top with sugar, almonds, and milk.

I've been buying bags of frozen organic strawberries because they go on sale quite frequently, and are cheaper than fresh, for now.