I hope you're as proud of me as my parents are.

Feast your eyes on this, ladies and gentlemen. Perhaps the best meal I've ever made. EVER!





I added the lemons to the picture because I was afraid it might look like I fried some chicken, peed in a plate and tried to pass it off as a delicacy. To prove otherwise, I will also provide evidence of the recipe I worked from:



I scribbled down directions my mom gave me the second I got in the door from a 25 minute walk home. Give me a break.

Mom's Lemon Chicken That Maria Made Successfully So You Can Make It Too:

chicken
olive oil
butter
lemon
white wine

Fry the chicken in olive oil until it turns a little brown on both sides. Then put one tablespoon of butter into the pan. Let melt. Add 1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice, 1/3 cup white wine and a lot of love. Let sit until you can no longer resist the delicious smell.* Share the rest of the wine with the roommates. Indulge.







*Keep in mind these portions are small so make more if you plan on serving more than just yourself in front of the TV.

I'm an intern but don't have to get people coffee. This is the life.

It's Monday. Which means our coffee run was to Primo's. It also means that, despite a possible hangover, Nichole harassed me the entire 4 minute walk there, 9 minutes spent retrieving three unique orders of coffee and 4 minutes back to the office.

Nichole: You should get that cinnamon bun.
Maria: (peers into glass case to find one-month old cinnamon bun with old, gooey, wrinkly, discolored raisins sprinkled over top) Eew. Those raisins scare me.
Nichole: You need to improve your social skills.

It's ok. She gave up sugar (for a good cause.) Now she gets her kicks watching me indulge in sugary goodness.

.....

Here is a pictoral layout of our weekly coffee route, in case you wanted to stalk me.

PRIMO'S- I always have issues with this place. The guy that works there likes to make fun of me and tell me I look "out of it" and that he wishes me good luck outside in the big bad world. Today the girl mumbled. I couldn't hear anything and ended up with Free Trade coffee that tasted like flowers. I'll be leaving Nichole my punch card as a parting gift.



SWEETWATERS, Tuesdays and Thursdays- Love this place. My goal of the summer was to be able to assertively nod at the cashier and be given m y coffee without saying a word, a la Nichole and Damian. I don't foresee that happening in the next two weeks.




ESPRESSO ROYALE, Wednesdays- Two dollar lattes every Wednesday. Not quite as loud as the one in Boston. This is the site of my first large coffee ever.





STARBUCKS, randomly- Sometimes we go here when Nichole wants a muffin or we are feeling brave enough to try the new Vivianno which we have a coupon for so don't feel bad tossing it after a sip because it tastes like crap.

Odds and Ends

Mhhm, girl. Preach.

Scrabulous Update:

The brothers Agarwalla, who created Scrabulous are creating a new game called Wordscraper.

The game includes customizable rules and a different design- probably an effort to avoid future lawsuits. The customizable features of this new game can be used to create boards that resemble the familiar Scrabble/Scrabulous layout.

Sounds too complicated for me. I'll stick to the actual board, thank you.

...

How convenient would this be? I need one of these:

Joan Rivers tells it like it is.

This is a great commercial. One of the better in the series.

It's not me. It's you.

I'm copying you again, Maxie.

5 someecards that fit me perfectly even though I didn't look at them all because there are too many:





... It happens.





...Well I'm not.




...My brothers want to develop a required screening test.




...Because sometimes I just don't feel like talking.




... Mmm. Meat.

RABBIT RABBIT!

I almost missed one of the most important traditions in my life. Some time last year Tara started us on Rabbit Rabbit. When the last day of the month ends, the first thing you say in the new month should be Rabbit Rabbit. For good luck of course.

If you could stop making fun of me I'd appreciate it.

I had a minor freak out on the phone with Katie because I thought I'd missed it. Thankfully I didn't. So far all two days of the month have been pretty good.

The best Rabbit Rabbit moment in my life was at the end of the last school year. Christina, Noelle, Andrea and I were at Estate, a club in Boston, and waited for the clock to turn in the middle of a smoky, laser divided room where techno blared behind us. Some guy started talking so I told him to shut up and that didn't make him happy. Some people just don't get it.

Have a good month!