sun sun sun

The sun has been out for a whole week now. I can still barely stand to stay inside even though I'm getting used to waking up to sunshine. Seattle is totally making up for the terrible, terrible winter/spring we had last year - where the sun did not come out until after I left for CA for the summer. I love the sun. love love love it.You may not believe me, as I'm still whiter than white - but I'm a firm believer in sunscreen and will not go outside for long without it. I learned my lesson last summer when I went biking sans sunscreen on my legs. I'm pretty sure I'll never get rid of my bike shorts tan line. ever.

 

{I've spent lots of quality time with books and napping in the park near my house lately}

{my sister and I went biking! I'm really bad at self-portraits - clearly I missed the myspace training in middle / high school.
uhh - I just noticed the guy in the background. we framed that pretty nicely...}

  
friends and tacos and sunshine - what a great cinco de mayo!}

I will admit, it feels a bit weird to be staying here all summer and not planning to take my finals early, pack up my stuff and drive (or coast, rather, in my giant buick) down to Ames for the summer. I'm kind of sad that I won't get to see all my friends in that one place - not sure when I'll actually get to see them again at all :/ I've got a bit of wanderlust in my bones now, staying in Seattle for a year might be more challenging than I'm expecting (anyone want to have me visit? I love flying places...). I do find it amazing that of the 6+ internships I applied for and dozen companies I contacted via email, only one company actually responded about an internship (they said 'thanks, but no') and one company emailed back (though the 'careers' email was answered by the CEO of the company....definitely a startup in the middle of OR...).

Right now, it's looking like I'm going to have to pay to do research for my PI this summer, so I'm hoping that my research starts picking up quickly. Making a new material is not a trivial exercise and so far research has been going slowly. It has been affirming (in some ways) that I'm finding that I'd rather be frustrated, but working in lab on research, than doing my homework, going to class, or doing my TA responsibilities - don't worry, I haven't really shirked anything, just thought about it. Frequently. This last two weeks were the busiest I've been all quarter - grading midterms for both my classes, doing my own assignment, and making an extremely detailed dress. I can't show you the dress now, but I should have great pictures after the weekend. It's going to be headed down a runway on a really tiny model (have I ever mentioned how hard it is for me to make things that will not fit me? It's really really hard - good indicator that fashion should not be my career :) ) during this event called Locavore, with the Kirkland Arts Center. If anyone who reads this is local and wants to come this Saturday, here are the details. But we did take sweet pictures last weekend, so those will pop up soon on my other blog!

On another, somewhat unrelated note, one of my best friends is back from India! She wasn't here in Seattle for long, but at least I can go visit her in CA for the next few years.

 I had really good biscuits and gravy! Oh, and the company was fantastic :D

And this is totally not related to anything except that I love cats/my cat. I went home for mother's day and this is a picture of my cat, acting weird and wrapping herself around the planter.

 

That's all, in case you were wondering where I disappeared to for the last bit of time :)

Research Reality

So, I was going to write a text-heavy post about how I had forgotten in the past few months how hard research really it. I had spent two quarters reading and building up to getting in the lab, and now that I'm finally getting to try things, everything that makes research difficult has appeared. I recently found this tumblr called whatshouldwecallgradschool that explains everything with gifs....

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When I try a protocol for the first time: 

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Lab cleaning day: 

(at least once a quarter for my lab)

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Coming home after a day of failed experiments:

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Trying to reduce my to-do list:

But don't worry, I still enjoy my research :)

Fellowships! Yes - that's plural!

Long story short - last Friday I was awarded a second fellowship, this time from NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist. It's a newer fellowship, as the first class of fellows was selected last year. Now I had a choice between NASA and NSF for my PhD funding - which is a position I was thankful to be in - not many people get offered one fellowship, let alone two! Here are the fellowship stats:

NSF:
30k/yr stipend
All my tuition covered
Health Insurance
3 year duration

NASA
36k/yr stipend
$10,000 towards tuition
$1,000 towards health insurance
$9,000 for research supplies
$10,000 for relocation and housing while at a NASA center or other government lab during the summers
4 year duration

What to choose?! After some long email chains and lots of short-term stress, I think the university will cover the remainder of my NASA tuition, like they would if I had taken NSF. Monetary issues aside, the NASA Fellowship is doubly great because it has the summer opportunities built in - basically I have extra funding to go to each place I already wanted to go: NREL, Sweden and a NASA center. With NSF, I would have had to find more funding to get to NREL or Sweden and probably would not have gotten back to a NASA Center. While it was a surprisingly nerve-wracking choice in the end and I didn't tell NSF 'no' until the very last minute, I'm excited to say that I'm staying in the NASA Education Pipeline and am now one of the NASA Space Technology Research Fellows!

{side note: I love all of these prints from the who-knows-what-they-actually-are website Wander}

spring in seattle

This last weekend is what keeps people living in Seattle. There is, in my humble opinon, no better place to live than in Seattle when it's sunny. If you haven't been here on a sunny day - you'll have to trust me on this one - and come visit sometime soon :) You can see the mountains, hear the water, and smell every single flowering plant. I love it.

I think spent ~80% of my waking hours this weekend outside. Yesterday, I spent all morning outside at the Tulip Festival and then came home and took a nap in the park by my home. Don't worry, I'm liberally applying sunscreen. Not that I'll ever get rid of my bike shorts line from last summer, but hopefully my ears stay a normal color! Today, I biked 13 miles around Mercer Island (though we didn't stop, so no pictures to share), played a game of Ultimate - where we pulled out a win after being down 7-2 at halftime - and went to church in a very sun-filled building.

I love the sun. It's a good thing I want a career in solar energy :)

apparently, I've been to Tulip Town before - when I was maybe 6? You can't tell, but that is a Minnie Mouse sweater underneath that awesome hot pink jacket. and don't forget the floral blue and pink pants with matching bow! Pretty sure my mom made those for me :)

Clearly, I am now significantly taller than the tulips. And it is awkward to try to stand amongst the tulips. (photo credit: Stephanie Rubesh)

Yep. Definitely the same Tulip Town. I have a pic somewhere of my parents and me with this same sign.

the moon is out

{ via }

"Where are the people?" resumed the little prince at last. "It's a little lonely in the desert..."

- The Little Prince

dream design

I've always been a fan of a modern, minimalist design when it can be acheived without losing warmth in a home. Recently I found one of my favorite spaces via a roommate's house sitting job, but as a 2.5 million dollar house is out of the question, I'll have to settle for creating my own space someday. Another friend passed along the following space (found on Apartment Therapy, but apparently she's met one of the people who live there, maybe)

I'm not a fan of the cluttered cottage look (though I'll be the first to admit that my personal room is perpetually messy) so this space was just beautiful to me. The warm woods, floor-to-celling bookcases, and the fantastic artwork - especially the origami tessellations - are some of my favorite aspects.

{more pictures here}

#tallgirlproblems

oh, how I love the internet. found this entire tumblr supporting tall women. granted, many of those who write in to the tumblr are shorter than I am, I completely identify with so many of the stories and 'tall girl problems'.

Ironically, I've always wanted to be 6', yet it has taken me a little while to be totally comfortable with my height. I'm sure that some of my height issues were compounded when I found out that I was passed over for a lead role in a ballet near the end of high school because there was no guy tall enough to partner me. (Kali - my dance history may be part of the reason I'm not willing to date guys shorter than me?)

 

between 6th and 7th grade, I had giant growth spurt - but first my feet grew from a 9-11. lets just say that the local shoe store did not have girls sketchers in my size. 

yep. done. 

story of last week. I really wanted a pair of the close-fitting, cropped running pants, yet every pair hit mid-knee, not below my knee :(

every. single. time. I visit NYC. so glad I live in a city where natives don't use umbrellas.

I wouldn't say I have no athletic capabilities...but yeah. hand-eye coordination is not my thing.

tights save everything / I make my own clothing that fits. 

true story: family road trip consisted of 62 hours in the back seat of a suburban and I messed up my right knee enough to require two sessions of PT.

unless I wear my awesome new heels that force me to walk in slow motion. It's a very strange sensation.

it's happend. more than once. this one is newer though, so I'm still not as used to it.

this one happens more than I'd like - it's one of my least favorite aspects of being tall / wearing heels.

and the exit row seats don't recline. #firstworldproblem for sure.

I could go on and on and on - so many appropriate #tallgirlproblems :)