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It is an exciting time for me. Detroit Tigers are in the World Series (though playing terribly), the election is coming up, and I'm changing jobs (hooray!). I've been really liking the John Mayer song " The Age of Worry ". Here's some of the lyrics: "Don't be scared to walk alone/ Don't be scared to like it  No, your fight is not within/Yours is with your timing Dream your dreams but don't pretend/ Make friends with what you are Give your heart then change your mind/ You're allowed to do it Cause God knows it's been done to you / And somehow you got through it"  This all makes me reflect on the town I've spent the past three years working in. Of course, I was lucky to get a job when the economy was terrible in 2009 in my chosen field - even one that was temporary, grant-funded, and in a different state around a steep and sometimes snowy mountain. It wasn't always easy though, and I am now even luckier to find ...

Hello Internet. I have not typed at you in a while. What have I been up to, you ask? My coworkers and I were in a craft fair . We were proud of our display: My in-laws came to visit, and we checked out Yono's . I thought the food was fabulous, and liked that it felt light in my stomach even though clearly a lot of thought and skill had gone into the preparation. See my amazing lamb with coconut rice:  Husband's red snapper with flageolet beans: We had a great time at the Fresh Grass bluegrass festival at MassMoca where we also really enjoyed the "Oh, Canada" exhibit. We checked out Mezze in Williamstown too, which everyone loved.  I've made use of my bear cake pan I bought at the Confectionery House with my friend Sandy . I made this one for my friend Elizabeth. I went to my cousin's wedding in Michigan, where my sister put the bridesmaid dress she wore for my wedding on me. There was cake we didn't get to eat, and...

My coworkers and I are going to set up a booth and sell some crafts at the North Adams Fall Foliage Festival September 22. I'm hard at work on my projects. Check out what I have made so far!

It is hard to believe we have almost lived here for three years. Anyone who has seen The Five Year Engagement can appreciate how hard the academic job market can be, and how little choice people in those professions often have as to where they end up (what was stupid about that movie was that I spent half my life thinking Ann Arbor was the coolest city in the world, or at least right up there with Paris, but the movie portrayed it like it was North Dakota so that was weird). Three and a half years ago, my now husband and then boyfriend, who lived in a different borough of NYC and who I went out to dinner with a couple nights a week, had a job interview in Meadville, PA. He flew into Pittsburgh, PA, drove over an hour and a half in a rented car. This wasn't an adorable, idyllic college town like Williamstown, MA , it was a decaying milltown with a college in it. The professors at the school said that it didn't matter there wasn't anything to do there, since everything wa...

My friend at work was telling me about the baby animals at Hancock Shaker Village . She also said the cafe was amazing, so I really wanted to go. I loved seeing the baby animals in past years at Indian Ladder Farms , but my husband was not as impressed (though he may deny it now - in his defense it was a cold and rainy day that I wanted him to stand around and listen to me say "look how cute the little baby ducks are!!"). So it was good my friend Elizabeth agreed to go with me. Here is the part where I say to you "Look how cute the animals are!!" Here is the Round Stone Barn that holds the animals:  Then we went to the Village Harvest Cafe. My friend really recommended it, and they grow their own vegetables so it sounded like a great choice. Here is the menu . I had the "Open Faced Roast Beef on Grilled Farmers Bread with Shaker Mushroom Sauce, and Crispy Shallots", and lots of hazelnut coffee that I really enjoyed. The mushroom sauce was ...

This sounds like a really interesting event as part of the Berkshire Women Writer's Festival 2012 . I have plans that evening, and as I have mentioned a few times Ruth Reichl was once sort of rude to me , but I'm sure it will be a great event. 

So I am out here dogsitting , where the kitchen is mostly supplied for making things out of mixes . I've eaten a lot of salads from the salad bar at the local Stop & Shop (there should be more salad bars in the world - in offices, and schools), but I really miss my kitchen, I gotta say. I've eaten things this week I wouldn't normally buy or eat (my friend once told me that bad food doesn't count if you didn't actually buy it yourself). I don't think of myself as a snob . I'm also not crazy about calories or anything but I usually think you can have anything you want if you make it yourself. Like ice cream - it takes a while to make it yourself and you don't want to eat it all at once because it took a lot of effort to make. I do feel like some people my age wouldn't normally eat junk food or low brow foods, but if you change one thing like make the hot dogs out of Wagyu beef all of a sudden it is gourmet and acceptable to eat . One thing I th...

This week I am dogsitting in North Adams, MA. ( Last time I was dogsitting I took myself out to breakfast at the Blue Benn in VT. )  I love the Berkshires, and it is not just because three different museums out here have employed me, compared to none in Albany. I love the Berkshires for a lot of the same reasons I love the Napa Valley . Sure it is very rural, and you often feel like you are in the middle of nowhere, but it is still relatively culturally sophisticated. James Taylor lives here. What is often ranked as the number one liberal arts school in the country is here . Emily Dickinson, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Herman Melville are all from western Massachusetts. The scenery is incredibly beautiful, and yet the one movie playing in town is likely the same artsy movie you saw at the Spectrum last week. Our friends who live in Seattle and Boston talk about how they want to go to MassMoca . People who hear about me having an hour commute always feel really bad for me, but it is ver...

This week my husband is going to Ireland for work, and I am going to pick him up from the Boston's Logan airport on Sunday. Last time he did this we stopped in Great Barrington for dinner on the way back. We found Baba Louie's Wood Fired Organic Sourdough Pizza in our guidebook and thought it sounded tasty. Scott  wanted soup, and I wanted to split a salad, and we agreed to split a salad. Scott: "Does that salad have nuts in it?" Waitress: "No, just greens, balsamic dressing, red onions." Scott: "Ok, we'll have that." Then we each ordered a pizza, and he ordered a beer. Then, the salad came and he had a few bites and all of a sudden his mouth became as big as a football and as red as fire engine. "I think there may have been a nut in there", he said, running to the bathroom. He was in the bathroom throwing up for about half an hour. The waitress asked what was wrong and said "He did not say he was allergic to nuts". ...