Katie's 99 in 999 (currently 55 in 555!)

I'm realizing now that I have a LOT of posts to catch up on--I'm nearly halfway done with my list (!!) and don't have near enough posts to show for it.  So here's an old one: Last November, my awesome friend and former roommate Elizabeth met Ricky and I in Sarasota for their annual chalk festival (think 3D street art and such), and then she came to spend the weekend with us in our apartment.  She's the first person to sleep on our couch!  (That doesn't sound like as big of a deal as it feels in my head.)  Anyway, while she was visiting, I told her about my lasagna goal, and she waved her hand dismissively like the pro she is and said she could help me whip something up.  (She was actually was more supportive and enthusiastic about it, but I like the mental imagery of Lizbeth scoffing sophisticatedly at my cooking peasantries.)  So we went to the store!  And we cooked things! I hope it counts even if I didn't make the noodles from scratch, but who e...

DAY 5 - FRIDAY, MAY 18TH Friday began slowly and painfully.  Somehow we made it off the bus and managed to stagger all the way to the metro terminal opening before collapsing on the floor.  No, seriously.  I didn't get any pictures of it, but there were people sleeping up against the walls/pillars waiting for buses and trains, and since it was 5:30 and Ricky looked like a character from The Walking Dead , we staked a claim on one of the huge pillars and took a nap.  Ricky's nap was deliberate--I had every intention of staying awake, but I eventually dozed off and was woken up by a concerned man who pointed out that my iPod had fallen on the floor and might get stolen.  Whoever said New Yorkers aren't considerate was lying. Around 6:30, after Ricky had sufficiently power napped on the floor of a bus terminal (we're super classy, guys), we took the metro to 5th Ave. for early-morning mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral .  But first, Starbucks: It was fr...

Wow.  I am incredibly bad at keeping to a blogging schedule.  Well, any schedule, really.  I keep trying to trick myself into routines and they never stick.  (Bring it on, future babies!  Who needs sleep?) Speaking of no sleep--Ricky and I stayed up to watch the Curiosity (Mars rover) landing last Monday, and it was amazing.  Sure, it was 1:30 a.m., which meant we didn't get to bed until 3:00, but it was so worth it!  The most astounding part was that we had images (from SPACE) only 14 minutes after the rover touched down.  That's faster than NBC could show the Olympics happening in another country, people. We were watching on the NASA TV channel on our Roku, and when the rover touched down, the whole control room in Pasadena went nuts.  Awkward scientist high-fives?  Tearful hugs--real ones, not the back-slapping bro ones?  Yes and yes.  Ricky and I cheered and high-fived from the distant comfort of our living room, becau...