Life in the Fast Layne

For being a relatively small city in the midwest, Ann Arbor has fantastic food. I made it a personal goal for my 4 years here to become an expert on the cuisine so that I can recommend places to other people in future years. I'm well on my way and yesterday definitely pushed me towards my goal. Taste of Ann Arbor is a yearly festival where a bunch of local restaurants come together to let you sample their foods. They close down the streets and you buy tickets to get a taste from the different vendors. From the top left we tried: 1. Caprese salad from Gratzi 2. Lentils and chicken from Blue Nile 3. Mini cupcakes from the Cupcake Station 4. Strawberry Cream Puff from La Dolce Vita 5. Pasta from Argerio's 6. Jerk chicken and plantains from The Jamaican Jerk Pit 7. Truffles from Schkload It was so nice to be able to sample the foods of Ann Arbor and listen to some great local bands. I can't wait to come back again next year! What's your favorite ...

Since I've been doing Wednesday confessions, I haven't really let you know what I've been up to in the month of May. Here's some of the highlights. We started off commissioning the Seniors to be Ensigns and 2nd Lieutenants in the Navy and Marine Corps. All of the rising Juniors minus Rob.  The next day, I went to commencement where the CEO of twitter spoke. Watch his awesome speech here . Putting up the flag for graduation. A few days later we celebrated Meghan's birthday with a nice dinner at Sava's. Happy Birthday Meg! And we went to a Michigan baseball game. And had a bonfire at Aaron's house. Meghan and I went to Cedar Point. Then this past weekend Dolly and Brodie came to visit! And we all went up to Sean's to celebrate Memorial Day on the lake! It's been quite a month. Let's see what June brings us! What was the highlight of your May?

This week is finals week here at U of M. Though I am very against pulling all nighters, I've had quite a few late nights recently. Here are some things that are getting me through the week: 1. The beautiful weather. Campus just comes alive when it's warm out! I can't wait for summer!  2. Pineapple I hate cutting up pineapple but I love eating it. 3. Shopping at the Gap Looking good Milena! 4. Sitting on my porch When it's warm, the porch is like an extra room in our house. The perfect place to enjoy a late dinner. 5. Insomnia Cookies The perfect study snack: fresh out of the oven peanut butter cup cookie. Despite the excess of studying, finals week isn't too bad. What gets you through the end of the summer?

Things here at the University of Michigan are winding down. Given that I am finishing my fourth semester here, I've noticed that for nursing students, the first 2 weeks of the semester are way more stressful than finals week. So, this week I've had plenty of time to relax, watch movies and soak up the sun. Here's what I'm loving this week: 1. Pot Belly's. For those of you who have never been there, it's like a hipster subway, but better. I had never been to one until I came to Ann Arbor but turns out its a chain (there's even one in Baltimore!). Yes, Pot Belly's has delicious food but they also have fantastic service. A few weeks ago I was asking for lettuce and vinaigrette on my sandwich when the man behind the counter just said, "I'll give you whatever you want baby but you have to tell me which sandwich is yours." Gotta love that sass. 2. Adam Scott. But really. How did I never hear of him before?  Well, congratulations Mr....

So I've learned something about myself in the past year or so: I'm really good at baby steps. So, in order to get back into the blogging groove, I decided I'd start by trying to post once a week. So here are some things that I'm really into right now: 1. Silly String- Tuesday night was one of those I can't bear to sit at home nights, so I decided to do a little shopping. I stopped by Five Below and found some silly string, the perfect way to attack my housemates. It worked. Gotcha! 2. Fiber One Pancake Mix- If you didn't know, I tried to give up carbs for like a year. It didn't work that well so lately I've been exploring some healthy carbs. I've missed pancakes and waffles so I was really excited when I found Fiber One Pancake Mix. All you have to do is add water (or milk) and you get delicious high fiber pancakes with a little protein! Carrot Cake Pancakes with a schmear of cream cheese! 3. Healthifying Recipes- Maybe it's jus...

To kick off Spring break this year I flew to New York to visit my friend KC who goes to Fordham. Since Baltimore is only a 3 hour bus ride to the city, I've never spent the night there so this was a treat. Once we finally found each other at LaGuardia we were off to Manhattan to meet her boyfriend Ross at Smac, a restaurant that solely serves mac and cheese. Then Saturday we walked around Manhattan. View of the city from Highline Park. We stopped to warm up in an Italian Bakery. Sunday, we walked around the Bronx and Little Italy a bit. Then it was time to leave. I was proud of myself for getting from Fordham to the Megabus station. Giant pizza from Little Italy.  It was a great weekend full of great friends and great food.

Today is just one of those dreary mondays. The combination of it being 30 degrees, the day after the Oscars and 5 days from Spring break people here are really dragging. And I'm definitely one of them.  There are a few things that are making it a bit more bearable: 1. It's sunny today! Yes, there's snow covering the ground and there's another 6 inches coming tonight, for now it's pretty nice outside.  2. I'm going to New York to see my friend KC this upcoming weekend. I've never actually spent the night in New York so I'm excited to get to spend a significant amount of time there! 2 Bawlmore gals conquering the Big Apple! 3. The Oscars last night were fabulous. Argo. Meryl Streep's dress. Adelle. Anne Hathaway. It was a great night, totally worth staying up late for. She looks absolutely divine.  Has Halle ever looked bad? This is quite a dress but she definitely pulls it off.  Stacey Keibler looks great but, George, ...