Month of Macro: Sharpies

We're in the midst of orientation at my job, so my macro photo today was taken at my desk...

Have I mentioned recently how much I love my collection of Sharpies? In fact, I love them so much I keep them in color families on my desk- these are the "warm" ones!

Thanks for visiting- I hope you have a great day!

Rehearsal galore

We're in the midst of tech week for the biggest production of the season, so I haven't had a chance to post in the last few days. But in case you're wondering, I've spent most of my evenings in the theater gazing at this incredible set!
I hope you have a wonderful weekend- see you next week!

Dinner delivered...

Over the course of this blog, I've shared photos of some very fancy and trendy meals...
And while my dinner last night was neither of those things...
This carton of vegetable fried rice and can of Diet Coke delivered to my office was a welcome and tasty end to a very long day!
I hope you're staying warm wherever you are- thanks for visiting!

Finally finished!

I'm not sure if you remember, but a couple of weeks ago I was lamenting over the fact that I still hadn't finished decorating my office. (Here's a link to that post.) And believe it or not, I'm going to make my end-of-the-month-deadline and reveal my finished office! But before you see the final product, I just have to show you what I started with:
I'd forgotten that I'd taken these pictures this summer before I moved into my office. As you can see, it was pretty rough in the beginning, and while I'd made the office functional for the last months, it was still lacking...
Until now!
Not too bad, right? I must admit, I was extremely lucky these past couple of weeks, and almost all of the recent decorating changes were made for free! For example the associate dean moved and gifted her furniture to myself and a couple of other coworkers (which is why I get to have a Pottery Barn rug and quality furniture in my office)... and the Aida poster was a gift from one of my students who thought it would look nice in my office... isn't that sweet?

My desk area also received a bit of rejuvenation, and I'm doing my best to keep things neat and tidy (which is sometimes a little difficult).
And I finally put those shelves to good use by using them for all sorts of storage!
So while it might have taken me a while to make my office "my own"... I'm pretty pleased with the results! What do you think?
Thanks for stopping by- I hope you have a great weekend!

Still more work to do...

In August, I moved into my own office at work.
I had grand plans of decorating it in with photos of my travels...
And other trinkets from my vacations.
Well, 5 long months later, I haven't done much. While I framed a few photos, they're still occupying floor space...
While their paper placeholders have been taped to the wall for months!
Even some of the pretty picture frames I've been given by students and professors sit empty, just waiting to be filled with smiling faces!
FINALLY, I decided yesterday that 5 months is WAY too long to toil in a half-completed office... so I'm sharing my shame with you in an attempt to get in gear and finish decorating! I always work better under a deadline, so I'm giving myself until the end of the month to tackle my tiny alcove of an office... here's hoping I can get it done!

Thanks for visiting- I hope you have a great day!

What has 122 keys but no lock?

Reason #1,427,000 why I like my job:
Yesterday one of my tasks was to take stock photos of a harpsichord...
Isn't that fun?
(And the answer to my very dorky riddle should be pretty obvious by now: a HARPSICHORD- there are 2 keyboards of 61 keys each!)
Thank you for visiting- I hope you have a great day!

I just like to say the word "microfiche"

I sat in front of this baby for a while the other day. And you know what? It was kind of amazing!
Believe it or not, I had to reference something on microfilm for work! Let me fill you in: a month or so ago we heard a rumor that a certain piece of music might be floating about somewhere in the world, and we were eager to check it out. So a couple weeks ago I got a call that the music was in England- but was a microfilm. So using my trusty friend "Inter-library Loan" we requested the film and it finally arrived a few days ago. So I pranced up to the library and thanked my lucky stars that my mom had taught me how to use one of these machines when I was a kid!
But you know what made this whole experience really cool? This music (written by Poulenc) has been altered by Benjamin Britten! Back in 1958 Britten was going to perform this opera, and he worked with another pianist to take the orchestral reduction and flesh it out into two piano parts. And this microfilm is a copy of his entire score:
Isn't that amazing? Hundreds of pages of irreplaceable music, written in Britten's own hand...
Shrunken down to these tiny strips of film and shipped across the Atlantic just for us!
I know I say it a lot- but my job sure is cool!
Thank you for visiting- I hope you have a wonderful day!

America runs on Dunkin'

It was a gross, rainy day here in NYC!
So to brighten the mood around my office, I brought in a box of munchkins for my colleagues.
And you know what I learned? Nothing cheers up a bunch of grumpy, wet people like a bunch of donut holes!
I mean, they sure made my morning great!
Thank you for stopping by- I hope you have a great day!

A little shelf of happiness...

I have a severe weakness for office supplies. Seriously- I could spend hours (and fortunes) at places like Staples. This time of year is especially fun because there are so many great deals to be scored thanks to the "back to school" sales, etc. But after several fruitful trips to various stores, the top drawer of my office desk was quite a mess:
I know- it was bad! So in my quest to clean things up, I visited my local Dollar Store...
Where I walked away with some pretty handy containers.
Once I got them to my office, I promptly filled them with my beloved Sharpies...
In warm and cool tones, just like Bethenny's assistant did in Bethenny Getting Married. (Have I mentioned that I'm a Bravo TV junkie?)
And after a few quick minutes of organizing...
I had this lovely little shelf all ready to go.
I must admit- just looking at these jars sitting on the shelf make me smile, let alone using the wonderful markers that lay inside!
Thank you for stopping by- I hope you have a great day!

Gluten Free Chocolate Cookies

As you know by now, I love baking treats- I especially enjoy bringing cookies and cakes to my friends, family, co-workers and students! However my newest co-worker is gluten free... so over the weekend I decided to attempt a dessert just for her!
After a bit of online research, I adapted this recipe to what was available in my local grocery store.
For example, I was supposed to use almond flour- which I couldn't find anywhere at my neighborhood bodega! So I bought some sliced almonds and ground them in my mini- food processor... and voila- almond flour (of sorts)!
Then I weighed some chocolate chips (I supposed I could have just measured them, but I'll take any excuse to use my kitchen gadgets)...
Before melting them in my double boiler! (Isn't it the coolest double boiler? The ridges on the pan allow it to sit securely in several different sized pans... so handy!)
While the chocolate melted, I turned my attention to the rest of the batter. I cracked the eggs into a mixing bowl...
Added some sugar and turned the mixer on high.
While my KitchenAid worked hard, I stirred some butter into my melting chocolate.
When the egg/sugar mixture was frothy...
I added the chocolate/butter mixture...
And "almond flour"!
Once everything was combined, I put the batter into the fridge for a few hours.
Once it had set a bit, it was time to get to work.
Using the batter scoop, I created uniform balls of dough. After rolling them in my palms, I covered them in sugar...
Before placing them on a parchment lined baking sheet.
And after a bit of time in a 325 degree oven, I had these lovely little cookies- I can't wait to take them to work!

Gluten Free Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients:
8 ounces, weight Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
4 Tablespoons Butter, Softened
2 whole Eggs
⅓ cups Granulated Sugar, Plus For Rolling
¾ cups Finely Ground Almonds Or Almond Flour
Directions:
Melt chocolate in a double boiler before stirring butter into the chocolate. In a separate bowl, beat eggs and add sugar. Continue beating until egg mixture is light/frothy. Gently stir into the chocolate-butter mixture. Add ground almonds, combining well, but gently. Cover and refrigerate for a few hours (at least).Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Form dough into balls and roll in granulated sugar. Place on lined baking sheets, baking for 8-16 minutes.

Thank you for stopping by- I hope you had a wonderful weekend!