Birthday Week and Summer Tea

My birthday was Tuesday this week, and I have had so much fun celebrating! 

On my actual birthday, Mark and I picked up donuts from our favorite local place (Stimmel's). Later, while Mark was at work, I went out to lunch with my friend Chad. We had planned to try the new BBQ place in my neighborhood, but they were closed. Instead, he drove us down to Findlay so I could try a Mexican place that he discovered has a New Mexican/Hatch chile section on their menu! We also got ice cream at Dietsch's, a Findlay favorite. Between all of that, I had nice phone calls from Mom, Grandma, and Julie. Later, Mark and I split a burger at Two Foxes in BG...it was a lovely day! This week, I also enjoyed time at the pool with Lucinda one day and Terry another, and I joined the Jordan family for (most of) one of E's baseball games (where he pitched for the first time!). 

And, on Friday, I hosted my annual summer tea. 

To drink, we had: lemon lime infused water, cold brew iced tea (regular black and also coconut oolong), and a new recipe: coconut pecan agua fresca. 

I also served some savory treats: broccoli cheese dip (in the mini crockpot), grilled veggie & cream cheese tea sandwiches, and zucchini egg cups. 

And plenty of sweets: pistachio bread (my Mom's recipe, from Emilie Barnes), sugar cookie bars, dundee cookies (a recipe from Mark's family), chocolate bark (1, 2), and cherry chocolate scones (adapted from this recipe). 

As always, I enjoyed having a day set aside to hang out and catch up with people from all different parts of my life here in BG: work, common meal, Global Connections, etc. And this time, I even remembered to get a couple of group photos! (Though a few people who came at the end aren't pictured; you can see that Mark decided to join us for a bit). 

And, I was tickled that a couple people brought gifts: Chad always brings flowers from his garden (just about the only time I have fresh flowers in the house!), and Wendy brought a quilt square she made--not knowing that green is my favorite color, but it's perfect. 

It's really true what they say about relationships and happiness--it's been a full and very happy week (and month!). 

CGC Summer Institute: Arlington

Last week, I traveled to Arlington (the Washington, DC area) with a colleague to attend my first Consortium on Graduate Communication Summer Institute. The CGC is a relatively new professional association that brings together people working in all areas of graduate communication: writing, writing centers, international teaching assistants, etc. I joined the association last year, but wasn't able to attend the summer institute. Several of my colleagues went, though, and I heard such great things that I wanted to be sure I made it this year. Plus, with the recent changes we've made to our graduate support policies and classes, this seemed like a really important time for me, as program director, to get more plugged in to this community and see how what we're doing compares to what others are doing.

The conference was from Thursday morning to Saturday mid-day, and there were about 130 participants. There were 3 keynotes, plus a variety of other sessions, including my favorite type: works in progress. These were designed to be discussion and feedback oriented, so you bring your idea, project, etc., talk about it for 10 minutes, then have 20-30 minutes for discussion. Fernanda and I gave one of these presentations about our curriculum changes and the writing class she's teaching a new version of in the fall. It was so helpful! In all of these sessions, I was so impressed by how collegial and supportive the group was. It felt like everyone was willing to be vulnerable; no one was pretending to have all the answers--we could all admit our challenges and really learn from each other, sharing what's worked, what hasn't, what ideas we plan to try next. The conference also provided breakfast, lunch, and an afternoon coffee break each day, which was not only convenient and cost-effective, but gave us a chance to sit and chat with each other informally. It was also really fun to be at a smaller conference like this with some big-name people in the field (including Nigel Caplan, who moderated the works-in-progress session that we presented in!). The whole atmosphere of the event made everyone approachable, which was such a benefit for me.

Overall, I'm so glad we went, and I hope to be able to go again next year (though the dates/location are TBD still...). We got really helpful feedback on our session, plus I have fresh ideas for the new grad class I'm teaching in the fall, and some things to consider as I keep working on our offerings at the program level.

Besides all the professional development, I was glad that Fernanda and I had the chance to explore the National Mall after we arrived on Wednesday. I also got to reconnect with Ashley, a friend from Tucson, who now lives in the area (we had dinner, but I totally forgot to take a picture!). After a taste of what DC has to offer, I really hope Mark and I will get a chance to go back together sometime soon.

Here are some pics:

Washington Monument

Washington Monument w/Fernanda

Washington Monument
(from the opposite side)

World War II Memorial fountain

one of the details at the World War II Memorial

World War II Memorial fountain up close

walking toward the Lincoln Memorial

looking back at the Washington Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Lincoln Statue
(it's so much bigger than it looks!)

This one of me with the Lincoln statue
gives a better sense of the scale!

Korean War Memorial

Martin Luther King Memorial
(this one was my favorite)

From the MLK Memorial, a view across the water to the Jefferson Memorial

Eisenhower Executive Office Building

The White House

The FDIC (this one was in Arlington,
between our hotel and the George Mason campus)

Me, at George Mason,
at the end of the day we presented.

Mom & Dad G Visit to BG and Detroit

My parents came to visit for just over a week at the end of May, and we had all kinds of adventures around NW Ohio and in Detroit, MI. On their first full day, we went for proper tea at the Swan House, then spent a couple of hours in NW Ohio's Largest Antique Mall on the way home (which Mom said was a highlight of the trip for her).

Mom and me--ready for tea!

Swan House May Menu

The delicious food!

Dad, Mark, Mom, and me

This antique mall really is big...

The next day, we took a walk in BG's Wintergarden Preserve (and, unfortunately discovered that the mosquitoes this season are worse then we've ever had here...at least from then on, we were prepared). After lunch, we went to the Wildwood Manor House in Toledo for a tour, followed by a visit to the Glass Pavilion at the Toledo Museum of Art. Locals--if you haven't been to Wildwood, it's worth checking out!

Wildwood Manor House

They use this room for piano concerts

The study...with wood paneling brought over from Europe

An elegant dining room

Mom & I loved this ladder in the kitchen!

symmetrical gardens to match the house

at the Glass Pavilion

Mom, Dad, and I went to Oak Openings for some more outdoor exploring and a picnic lunch the following day, while Mark stayed home to get some rest (poor guy got a nasty cold just a couple days before Mom & Dad came). That afternoon, we went out for ice cream and a BGSU campus tour.

Mom & Dad at Oak Openings

out on the trail...

it looks beautiful, but there
sure were a lot of mosquitoes!

On our last day in the BG area, we went up to Toledo to see the Our Lady Queen of the Holy Rosary Cathedral and explore the Old West End neighborhood. There were definitely some interesting houses to see (and all the architecture out here is pretty different from what we see out west). Then we had lunch and walked on the beach at Maumee Bay State Park, along the Lake Erie coast. That afternoon, we visited Snook's Dream Cars and Downtown BG.

the Cathedral

a few homes in the Old West End

at Maumee Bay State Park

panoramic view of Lake Erie

Snook's Dream Cars

It was also fun for me to have the chance to cook some dinners for my parents, including taquitos, homemade pizza, and Sweedish pancakes.

For the last part of the visit, we went up to Detroit for a few days. The main attraction was the Henry Ford Museum, along with the Rouge Factory tour and Greenfield Village. I had done a bit of research on the website, mostly to see about tickets and parking, but it was pretty different from what I expected--not nearly as car-focused (though there were cool cars). Greenfield Village is full of historic buildings and homes (some recreations, but most are original buildings that Henry Ford bought and relocated--wild, right!?). Really, I thought if you couldn't find something of interest, you're just not curious enough! So if you're ever in the area, it's worth checking out (and, if you want to do both the museum and the village, you need two days!).

The visiting Star Trek exhibit at The Henry Ford 

Next Generation costumes

Enterprise model

This cool display shows
the assembly of the Model T

a HUGE train engine

I'd never seen an elephant hood ornament before!

plane/helicopter

I found this display of tools very appealing...
so orderly (but also beautiful)

view of the green roof at the factory (they assemble F-150s here)

enjoyed seeing a few Mustangs here and there!

making the most of Greenfield Village despite some light rain

notice the dragon weather vane

impressive pulley system

Most homes had staff/volunteers inside to tell us
about the history of the house and the items inside.

a plantation home

an English cottage (wall and building were disassembled
in England, shipped, and reassembled here--amazing!)

Mom and Dad had tea in the garden

we saw lots of interesting old wallpaper!

a beautiful garden--it's hard to tell,
but several planters are heart-shaped

working on the railroad...

glass blowing demo

tin crafting demo

printing demo

pottery demo

weaving demo

On our last day, we'd planned to visit Belle Isle. But the morning before, we learned that they were hosting a Grand Prix race that weekend, so the place would be totally overrun with race fans. I'm so glad we heard about it before we went, at least, so we could make an alternate plan. Instead, we visited the downtown Detroit River walk, where we got a nice view of the river and Windsor, Canada on the other side. We took a tour of the GM Renaissance Center building and walked around to see a couple historic buildings in the area. Then we toured the Ford Piquitte Avenue plant, which is a National Historic Monument (and turned out to be one of my favorite outings--it was very cool to see the cars displayed in the building they were actually made! Plus, our tour guide was really good). 

on the river walk

that's the Detroit River and Canada on the other side

inside the GM RenCen

truck made entirely of Legos

part of our tour

our tour guide

historic church

inside the Guardian building

Model T at the Piquette Ave Plant

One of my favorite details: the fire doors (which close automatically
when a little piece of metal melts from the heat and releases the rope)

they happened to be setting up for a wedding reception--looks cool, right!?

They created this display due to visitor requests to see how
the cars were actually assembled here. This plant was used
before Ford started using the moving assembly line. 

I think this was Mark's favorite car on display here.

We also enjoyed some good food in Detroit: Detroit style pizza at Buddy's, fun car theming at Ford's Garage, and the Shatila Bakery (I love an excuse to go there!).

Buddy's Pizza

Burgers & Fries at Ford's Garage

Shatila Bakery 

How beautiful are these French pastries?!
(They have Middle-Eastern ones too; I didn't get a picture)

We were there during Ramadan,
so they had some cute decorations up. 

Mom and Dad's last visit to BG was November 2013, so we enjoyed having them out this way again. And we certainly saw/did some things that Mark and I wouldn't have on our own, so that was fun, too. It was a good start to summer! Thanks, Mom & Dad!