Restaurant Week'ing

For our third year in a row, my law school friends and our significant others headed out to Restaurant Week (RW). I think it is one of our favorite DC traditions. We went to Neyla on Monday, a Mediterranean restaurant, and Tosca today, a Northern Italian restaurant. Both were excellent, though Alex and I ordered small plates at Neyla instead of their RW menu because we were not as hungry and the small plates looked delicious.

One of my favorite parts about RW is that we get to go try out fancy restaurants that we would never regularly go to. If you choose correctly, you can find a restaurant where the RW 3 course dinner will cost less than a normally priced entree at that establishment, but the quality is still there. Tosca was a great example of this.

It was also fun to go out with friends, who all happen to be self-proclaimed foodies and Top Chef fans, and try food we only see on TV. Between my meal, Alex's, and my four other dining companions, here were some new things I got to try at Tosca:

• Pancetta roasted pheasant in a foie gras sauce with swiss chard and garlic roasted mashed potatoes
  
• Veal and spinach ravioli in a red wine reduction
• Pasta filled with olive oil poached swordfish, baby capers, olives, and summer tomato preserve sauce
• Roasted red snapper with olive oil mashed potatoes, braised artichokes, fresh marjoram and white wine sauce
• Pistachio flavored panna cotta with blood orange sauce
• Chocolate semifreddo with Marscapone cheese mousse and grated coffee flakes

I usually do not go out for Italian food because I feel like I can make most of it at home, but this was no Olive Garden. Far from it; everything was fresh and filling but not heavy. And before you think I am a glutton, let me reiterate again that this was not all my meal! I am just lucky to have a boyfriend and friends who are not afraid to share. Luckily too, fine dining has realistic portions (translate: not Claim Jumpers size) and RW only occurs twice a year.

3L

Everyone always asks if I am coasting through my last semester because I am only taking two classes and I have a job after graduation. Not surprising to most people, I am just as busy this year but with other things like a social life.

The Bad of 3L:

• Preparing logistics for the bar exam (character and moral fitness, hotel reservations, bar registration, bar classes, etc)
• Paying for everything listed above
• Finding jobs, hoping the economy does not take away your offer, or watching friends go through both
  

The Good of 3L:

• FREE TIME
• Part-time schedule = 2 classes (which relates to the point above) + 2 jobs (which equals spending money)
  
• More fun events with friends
• For myself, knowing what I am doing after graduation and being excited about my job and the prospect of finally earning an income
• Planning a bar trip
  

Morality Police

I just submitted my 20 page moral and character fitness application with a $400+ filing fee. This is of course after taking my ethics exam and before taking a 3 day bar exam. And let's not forget having to go through 3 years of law school.

Now my question is, with all these hoops that we have to jump through, how come there are still so many bad lawyers?

The Replacements

Two weeks ago I sat in a room for fifteen hours with my journal's exec and editorial board to choose our successors.* Today I sent out the announcement to hire the Dean's Fellows to take my place. The process is always a little difficult because, in addition to being protective of your role, finding a replacement means that you are almost done and that it is time to move on.Where has this year gone? Where have the past three years gone?

The judge's current clerk told me it is even crazier in the courts, because by the time you start your clerkship, people are already sending in applications to replace you. I wonder when I will finally be in the point in my life where I am not writing cover letters and resumes or reviewing them.

*(This was one of those memorable experiences I would have blogged about had I had my laptop at the time)

All Fired Up

Last weekend for Valentine's Day, Alex and I went to All Fired Up, a pottery place down the road, and painted each other jumbo cappuccino mugs. Super cheesy, I know, but this gave me an excuse to go to a place that I have always wanted to go.

Even though my brother got the superior artistic genes (our house is covered with his paintings and photography), I love all kinds of arts and crafts. Compared to briefing cases and writing memoranda, listening to music and painting felt so therapeutic. I would seriously consider coming back every week if I could afford it on my student wages.

I cannot wait to have a permanent abode and disposable income so that I can have a sewing machine and craft closet filled with paint and glue guns. You just feel so productive when you can make things yourself.

Coincidentally, my brother asked me for art supplies for his birthday. It must run in the family.

Back and Better

Apologies for the sudden blogging hiatus, and thanks to everyone who checked in to see if I was okay. Before I sent in my laptop to the Dell doctor, I had not contemplated that I would not be able to update without a computer at home.

While my laptop was being fixed, I put in a request for a school laptop, but they were all checked out. I thought not having a laptop would be horrible, but it actually turned out to be a great experience. Here's what I learned in the week and a half without my laptop:

-Class is a lot more interesting and goes by faster without a computer. People do not believe me, but I swear it's true. I have actually been enjoying my classes (even Business Associations) a lot more, and have participated in all my classes (which is shocking if you know me). Everyone thinks they would die of boredom or would not be able to get notes down fast enough without a laptop, but this amazing thing happens with pen and paper. You actually listen and write down what is important rather than transcribe notes inbetween web browsing. And you realize your professor is actually pretty funny. Even though I got my laptop back this weekend, I think I am going to forgo to bringing it to class for the rest of the semester.

-I carry around five plus pounds for no good reason a lot of the time. I have gotten so used to carrying around my laptop, that it naturally goes in my bag wherever I go. Half of the time I do not actually need it or there is a computer around if I need it for things like email.

-Websites do not update as frequently as I usually check them. Without a laptop, I only visited my usual websites once a day instead of ten times. I realized that I was not really missing out on anything except for breaking news, which is usually not even that noteworthy (though I did feel behind when I didn't know about the sad Chris Brown/Rhianna story).

-I work so much faster without a laptop around. I have a horrible tendency to check my mail or browse the internet every five or ten minutes while I am reading. Now I have just been cranking it out when I have nothing I can use to procrastinate.

-Outside of academics, not having a laptop does slow down productivity in other areas. Not having a laptop was a pain when I needed to do editing for journal or administrative work for my Dean's Fellow position. I like to do this at home instead of staying at school all day. So I am not completely shunning my computer; just leaving it at home more.

I like how I am making all of these academic revelations just a few months before graduation, but better late than never. Also, I do not know if I would have been so willing to ween off of my computer during my first or second year in law school. Hopefully I have regained some good study habits in time for bar studying.