aloha!

Ah Hawaii, wouldn't that be nice :)... hello, hey, hi there, hiya, how has everybody been?! Forgive me for my unannounced hiatus! It was my week-long stay in Syracuse that kept me so far from the blogosphere. Aside from missing you all so very dearly, I had an absolutely wonderful time reconnecting with friends. Everyone was so surprised! Having a large group of people be that happy to see you is such a great feeling, one of the best. It's so nice to know I wasn't the only one going through withdrawal from my favorite guys and girls, they missed me too!So, yes, catching up was spectacular... which is more than I can say about the weather ;). The city is known for its snow and it certainly wasn't shy about reminding me! I got caught in 2 snowfalls and a few bone-chilling winds and I loved it. Haha. A year from now when I have to get through an entire winter I'm sure I wouldn't be so appreciative but right now it was just what I needed, some real winter holiday spirit!

I'm jumping ahead a bit but I just wanted to give you an idea of how "bad" it was. You know the fake trees they sell in stores during the holiday season, the ones that are encrusted in fake icicles... well, these were very much real and natural and seeing an entire crystalized forest was so beautiful that I couldn't resist taking some pictures on my camera phone. The quality of the pictures is less than stellar but hopefully you can understand a teeny weeny bit better, lol.

Nature is quite the little artist.

As for food, I definitely got my fill! More than, actually, since a lot of my get-togethers with friends revolved around meal times and coffee breaks. Yum :). Above is my first of many, a Thai Chicken Salad. The boyfriend and I went out downtown in the lovely Armory Square. The salad was fresh and light with a little spice and paired nicely with the beer sampler that my 21-year-old sweetheart ordered!

The following night, dinner began with this... :D. The boyfriend, his two roommates and I made a splendid dinner for ourselves and their neighbors. It was so much fun! One roomie took care of most of it, the sauce, sausages, steak and the dough, but it was us, the triple threat threesome, that handled the actual pasta making part of it.

We used a white pasta dough with shredded basil leaves. Just look at us hard at work, isn't it adorable?! With our handy pasta maker we made pounds of homemade spaghetti. I'm still proud of us! It took a little trial and error to get the best method down but once we did, we totally did. My job was to flatten the dough to prepare its spaghetti future. We didn't have a roller, you see, so I had to use my super strength ;).

And after about two hours in the kitchen, dinner was served. Steak, sausages, and pasta in a tomato-vegetable sauce. Trust me when I say that the taste far exceeded the presentation. We're a couple of college students after all... with a make shift dinner table in the middle of the neighbor's living room, what can you expect? Haha, great night.

Sunday night I went out to dinner with my roommates. I obviously don't share a place with them as of now but I've lived within a close vicinity of these 2 amazing girls for 4 semesters and I love them mucho. We went to Friendly's (our unhealthy tradition) and I had a ice cream sundae with peanut butter syrup and fudge (my unhealthy treat of treats). Please don't judge O:). It was delightful. Monday night I made up for it with a true dinner at an Indian restaurant. I began with an incredible Chicken Lentil Soup! Just look at the bright orange color!

Of which I followed with an equally as delicious main dish. I don't recall the name but it was a vegetarian entrée, eggplant in a tomato base with scrumptiousness. We also ordered a regular Naan for the table seeing as it was the boyfriend's first time having Indian and no meal is complete without that glorious flat bread. I was quite full afterwards but it was well worth it. Indian is one of my favorite cuisines and it was shared in such fantastic company.

A large number of meals later, it was dinner on Friday night with the boyfriend. I like how the trip started and ended with just the two of us :). We went out for sushi and sashimi, another first for him, and split a plate after Miso Soup, Edamame, and salad. I was quite happy with it and although we couldn't finish it, I have a feeling he was too. Unless it was just him being proud of not having gotten sick from raw fish. Don't worry, I'm easing him into adventurous eating ;).

He's one good(-looking) sport, no? :) a good host too. I stayed with him at his apartment. I didn't spend the entire time with him... I hung out a good deal at my sorority house (pictured in the previous post in the winter wonderland that is our campus) and at other friend's apartments and he had to study but it was positively fabulous to actually be with him again. I'm telling you, I am one lucky girl :).