Church Food

My favorite event that my church held was the annual OLPH BBQ Fiesta. To raise money for the church, parishioners would donate items to silent auctions and cake walks, buy raffle tickets, and volunteer to work carnival games.

However, the best part of the event were the food stands representing the different backgrounds of church members. There would be Italian sausages and canolis, carne asada and churros, Phillipino grilled meats, Polish pierogies, and a lot more.

Today Alex and I went to a Greek Festival held by Saint Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral in DC. It was really cool to see the different generations of church members in the kitchen to put together Greek favorites like spanikopita and moussaka. There was also a bazaar of interesting Greek paraphernalia and musical performers.

Last year we also went a Russian Orthodox festival at Saint Nicholas Cathedral, which happens to be across the street from the Greek Orthodox Church.

I highly recommend church hopping for good food and community.

I Heart Ruth

Yesterday, I was able to cap off my last day of work by attending the DC Women's Bar Association Annual Awards dinner because my boss, the General Counsel, was being presented with the Woman of the Year award. I was very excited for my boss and became even more giddy when I found out that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was going to be there to receive the other award of the night.

Overall, the night was great. Though it was slightly long and there were some self-proclaimed feminists being hypocritically catty to other women, the Ginsburg's speeches made the night. Justice Ginsburg's husband, "Marty," gave the cutest introduction of his wife with his tax lawyer humor.

Then Justice Ginsburg accepted the award and gave a powerful speech. My summary could not do the speech justice (pun intended), but her stories made me realize how much things have changed in her lifetime. Women only made up 3% of law students when Justice Ginsburg attended, now it is 47% nationwide, and 53% at my law school founded by two women for women who could not attend law school anywhere else.

Justice Ginsburg also talked about the Virginia v. Loving Supreme Court decision that I had blogged about last week. Although I could recite all the facts of the case, Justice Ginburg's words captivated all of us. And when she quoted the decision, "There can be no doubt that restricting the freedom to marry solely because of racial classifications violates the central meaning of the Equal Protection Clause," I think the words were especially meaningful given the California Supreme Court's decision to overrule same-sex marriages bans.

Even though I dressed up like Justice Sandra Day O'Connor for my 3rd grade book report, I want to be like Ruth.

Blueberry Pie Goodbyes

Today was my last day of work at the General Counsel's Office. Out of the many internships, externships, clerkships that I have had over the years, this has by far been the best experience. I always looked forward to coming into the office to work on a diverse array of really interesting cases. You think you know what goes on at college campuses, but you have no idea.

Plus, one of the lawyers baked homemade apple and blueberry pies from scratch so they could have a mini thank you party. They were probably some of the most delicious pies that I have ever had--she even hand-picked the blueberries from Pennsylvania. Truly an office of lawyers after my own heart.

General counsel jobs are difficult to come by because once people obtain these jobs, they never want to leave. But that is a good sign. I am glad that I found a position that is worth aspiring to. Even if I do not find this type of job right out of law school, hopefully I will make my way back to a similar office.

Peanut Butter Time

Apparently May is Peanut Butter Lover's Month. Finding this out made me very happy because I love peanut butter. Although I try not to eat as much of it now since it's not great for you, I used to eat it with everything when I was a kid. Peanut butter and tortilla chips, yum! Peanut butter and apples, still my favorite snack. And I was even more excited when I figured out how to make peanut sauce which I could pour over anything (like my friend Eric).

Since I am busy packing, I will leave you with some peanut butter facts that I discovered:

• According to the USFDA, 90% of peanut butter has to come from peanuts, while the other 10 percent can be seasonings and stabilizers, etc.
• C.H. Sumner first introduced peanut butter to the world at the 1904 St. Louis World Fair.
• It takes approximately 550 peanuts to make a 12-ounce jar of creamy peanut butter.
• According to PeanutButter.com, West Coasters like it chunky, while East Coasters go creamy.
• If you estimate 2 tablespoons per sandwich, Americans eat enought peanut butter to make over 10 BILLION (yes billion!) pb&j sandwiches.

Hat Tricks

I am officially a 3L! Today I turned in my final paper of my 2L year. Though I wanted to finish it last week, my friend pointed out that I still turned it in 10 days early. Turning in the paper was a less climatic than ending with a final, but I am still excited to be completely done.

I had a little incentive to finish by today, as I will be celebrating another three today- my three year anniversary with Alex. We are keeping it low key this year because we just had a big trip last month to San Antonio. I am off to finish packing our picnic.

3L and 3 years together; where does the time go?

Perspective

I was going to complain about the weather like the weak Californian that I am. How it should not be pouring rain, windy, and forty degrees. How I should not have to wear my wool pea coat in the middle of May. How sad I have been for not seeing the sun for days. How I hate getting the bottom of my jeans soaking wet.

But then I read how an earthquake strikes China and kills 10,000 people. And I feel completely ashamed of myself for freaking out about the cold. And even if there was not a natural disaster, I still should know better than complaining. Finals has made me more whiny that I like to be, so it's time to snap back out of that mindset officially starting now.

Happy Mother's Day

To the real Momma Doan