Day 158: Apizza

New Haven is famous for its pizza, which is called apizza. The two most famous apizza places in town are Pepe's and Sally's, but Modern comes in a very close third. The nice thing about Modern is that it's in my neighborhood! I'm still a Chicagoan at heart when it comes to pizza, so I've not become a fan just yet. Give me a Chicago-style deep dish any day. But Modern's was pretty good, I must say.

Day 157: Dancing postcards

Since I started swing dancing, I've been picking up these postcards at various classes and dances in London, Scotland, Chicago, etc. I usually put them up at my desk at work. These two are for classes in Chicago and a workshop in Portland...not that I'm going to attend any of them, but it's nice to have the cards as decorations.

Day 156: Baking disaster

I have had it in my head to make a pineapple upside down cake for a while now, and today I finally decided to go for it. All the recipes I found online looked too complicated, or took too long, so I settled on one that seemed easy and quick. Mistake! I shouldn't have tried to take the short cuts, because it just didn't turn out very well. Must try again soon.

Day 155: Snowstorm

We had a huge snow and ice storm starting very early in the morning, and although it was lovely to look at from inside, it was a real pain to travel through. This was from the shuttle on my way to work. I should have counted my blessings, though, because it turned into a wet mess by the time I left work and into ice the next day!

Day 154: A surprise

I received this lovely bottle of wine from one of my old colleagues and friends as a 'welcome back to the US' present. What a pleasant surprise!

Day 153: Unexpected dinner out

I was on the shuttle on the way home after work and got an unexpected call telling me to get off the shuttle and head over to Thali Too for dinner on the department. Um, okay! This is one of the displays of lentils they have in the entrance...I didn't have much time to snap a photo so apologies for the picture quality.

Day 152: Burns Supper

Today was the 250th anniversary of Robert Burns' birthday, and although I'm no longer in Scotland, I wanted to mark the day with Burns Supper. Last year, we were always able to get Macsween's lovely vegetarian haggis, but sadly they are not sold here. So I had to make my own. And it was a success! Although there wasn't any whiskey, I felt happy to be keeping a little bit of my Scotland experience alive here in New Haven.

Day 151: Vintage mirror

The arrival of my things from the UK inspired me to finally start hanging things on the walls. I bought this mirror from an antique shop long back in September, but it's been sitting on the floor all this time. Until today! This is in my bedroom.

Day 150: The Solomon Douglas Trio

After being in New Haven for over a month now, I decided I couldn't very well call myself a swing dancer for much longer if I didn't make it out to an event. Tonight the Yale group put on a dance with live music right on campus, so I really had no excuse not to attend. I didn't stay for too long but it was nice to see dancing and I found out later that one of the guys who asked me to dance actually lives right down the road and was having an after-party at his place. I'm hoping that's a good omen to start getting to know dancers here.

Day 149: The counterpart to Day 49

Guess what arrived today? The boxes that were packed up and taken away on Day 49! All of my things from the UK were delivered. This is only a small fraction of the things in my spare room. I'm so happy to have my things again!!

Day 148: 11:33 PM EST...

...is when I realised I hadn't taken a photo all day! This is the retroish clock I have in my kitchen.

Day 147: A day to celebrate

We went to the pub to watch the inauguration and toasted President Obama (wow, it's nice to type that!).

Day 146: A gift from my mom

My mom gave me this little nesting doll a long while ago, and somehow it ended up being one of the things I didn't pack and instead brought along with me in my hand luggage when I moved back last November. I opened it up today and thought there were four dolls, but actually there were five! I was so happy when I opened the fourth and saw the tiny chicken inside. (Yes, I am easily amused.)

Day 145: My first crockpot dinner

I decided to try out the crockpot today for the first time. I found a recipe for vegetarian chili that was different than the one I usually make, so I gave it a go. Success!

Day 144: Reading on a Saturday

Although I did laundry, went grocery shopping and attended a dinner party on Saturday, I spent a fair amount of the day reading this. Thanks to H for the recommendation!

Day 143: Welcome

I have been waiting to take a shot of this Yale welcome sign since I arrived. This was taken from the shuttle bus that I take to work, at around 7:50 AM or so.

Day 142: 30 Rock

I forgot what fun it is to go to meetings in the city. Except when it's freezing cold, of course.

Day 141: My office

For my parents, who were very interested to see what my new office looks like.

Day 140: Tea in Boston

My first business trip today was to Boston. It was a long trip and there were a few cups of tea involved. The last one was in a cafe while we were waiting for our last meeting of the day. I'd asked for black tea, and when I looked at the label, I was quite surprised to see it was one of my favourites: Bewley's in Dublin. I have a box of it at home that I'm making my way through, courtesy of the trip to Ireland I took in October with P.

Day 139: My desk is already messy

My Wonder Woman cup looks right at home in my new office. Which, as you can see, is already a bit of a tip. Or at least this part of it is.

Day 138: Snow and ice

We had a big snow storm last night, and this morning it all glistened in the sunlight. Although this looks like you could sink your hand right into the powder, it is actually frozen over. On the walk to campus, I kept breaking into sheets of it on fences and brick walls along the sidewalk.

Day 137: Another present from my sis

I told my family I wanted a crockpot (slow cooker) for Christmas and my sister got me one, but I couldn't carry it back with me on the plane home. So I returned it in Chicago and bought another one here online which we just received yesterday. Here it is! I'm really looking forward to using it soon. Thanks, sister!

Day 136: Lunch at Claire's

It was terribly cold today, but I went out to look at the shops for clothes for work (our shipment of things from the UK is not coming any time soon!) and I stopped to meet S at Claire's for lunch. Claire's is a well-known vegetarian restaurant in New Haven, and happily today they were serving plenty of hot soups. I had the mushroom barley pictured above.

Day 135: What the heck?!

I was reaching into my bag tonight to get my camera to take a photo and my cell phone rang. There are only three people who call me and this was an unknown number, so I was totally confused. I thought it must have been a wrong number but it was my baby niece! She now has a cell phone!!! I couldn't believe it but I guess it's true. Sigh...they grow up so fast.

Day 134: Ice storm 2.0 - East coast version

Today was my first day of work in my department, and I was all set to post a photo of my lovely office to commemorate the day. But sadly, I forgot until I had walked out for the day, and I couldn't be bothered to go back. Luckily I had already taken a photo in the morning, which is also quite representative of today. We had an ice storm with freezing rain all morning, and I had to walk fifteen minutes outside to and from my appointment with HR. I was not pleased. But I did see this mitten frozen on to this sign when I was trudging back to the office, and I stopped despite the pouring rain and sleet to snap a few photos. I touched it because I was wondering if it was sopping wet or actually iced over. It was all icy.

Day 133: My Mon-keys

My sister and I were at a bookstore a couple days after Christmas so she could get a few last minute presents and I spied these brilliant key covers. I had wanted some anyway because for some reason I have FOUR housekeys, and I am slow and can't keep them straight. But when I saw these, I had to have them. So I made her buy them for me. There are six in all. I like the grey one the best.

Day 132: My first day of work

My first day in my new job was spent in orientation, hence the view that you see above. I spent the day in an auditorium with about 80 other new employees learning all about my new employer. I was one of only a handful who will not be working directly in the hospital and thus a lot of the training was centered on health and safety, service standards, and patient care. I learned many interesting things about hand washing and how to use a fire extinguisher (that was a sincere comment, as sarcastic as it may sound).

Day 131: We'll have Manhattan...

...the Bronx and Staten Island, too
It's lovely going through
The zoo

It's very fancy
On old Delancy
Street, you know
The subway charms are so
When balmy breezes blow
To and fro

And tell me what street
Compares with Mott Street
In July
Sweet pushcarts gently gli-
-Ding by

The great big city's a wondrous toy
Just made for a girl and boy
We'll turn Manhattan
Into an isle of joy

-Manhattan, Rogers and Hart

Day 130: A walk up East Rock

We live in a neighborhood called East Rock, which is named after the traprock ridge located just north of us. Today, we hiked up to the summit, which is over 350 feet from the base. It was a bit of a trek for someone as out of shape as me, but I survived. There are lovely views from the top as well, such as this one of Mill River.

Day 129: Christmas on the Green

On our way back from dinner, we saw the Christmas tree lit up on the Green, so we stopped to take a few photos. It looks very pretty at night; I especially like the blue lights.

Day 128: The Obamas' future home

Following the blizzard we left behind in Connecticut, it was a crisp and sunny day today in DC. We took a short walk round the back of the White House just to check it out. It's really nice to realise that some fellow Chicagoans will be moving in shortly!