Get Sprung

The week of rain stopped.
The sun is out and the skies are blue.
The cherry blossoms are in full bloom.
The tourists are out in full force.
Law school prom is tonight.

This all means one thing: Spring is finally here. Finally.

I heart Michelle

My newest guilty pleasure: looking at pictures of Michelle Obama's fashion choices.

I used to be one of those snobby people who hated fluffy news. However, with the stream of depressing news about economic woes and violence, it is nice to have something fun to read.

This week Michelle Obama accompanied her husband to Europe for the G20 Summit. I loved seeing all her outfits, especially her fashion showdown with France's First Lady who was a model. I am in no way a fashionista, but I think that's why I like Michelle Obama; she seems accessible to all of us. The woman who gets fashion designers fighting after her also shops at J. Crew. Thank you to Project Rungay and the Huffington News Style page for all the pictures.

Reading about her stories from the trip was also very uplifting. My favorite was about how she gave a powerful and emotional speech to English schoolgirls about growing up on the Southside of Chicago and the importance of education.

Proud Parent

Over this year, I have been serving as a Note & Comment editor for my law journal. I help writers pick their topics and edit their drafts.

The journal decided to publish one of the first writers I served as an editor for. Some ten months after meeting this writer, the hard copy of his writing came out this week. Even though he is an excellent writer who did not need much help, it was nice to get an acknowledgment in a footnote and be part of the process. And now I can come up in Lexis Nexis two times!

Nevermind, Just Kidding

UC San Diego admissions gaffe dashes students' hopes -- again
All 28,000 applicants who had been rejected received an e-mail congratulating them on their acceptance, only to receive another notification admitting there was a mistake

No, this was not an April Fool's Joke. UCSD really did accidentally send congratulations to thousands of students they actually rejected. The LA Times article reporting this also stated that "[s]chools such as Cornell University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Northwestern University's prestigious Kellogg School of Management have made similar admission notification blunders in the last five years."

They forgot another school . . . Berkeley's Boalt Law School. Oh, it only feels like yesterday when Berkeley's admissions office accidentally sent me, and my other compatriots at the beginning of the alphabet, an email welcoming admitted students only to find out weeks later that I had been rejected. I can empathize with these students about the emotional rollercoaster. The only comfort I can give them is that you will always have this funny story to look back on.

It's the Stupid Economy

Thousands of law students check Above the Law, a website about law school and the legal profession. While it used to be more of a tabloid or gossip column, lately it has felt more like a legal obituary. Everyday the Layoff Watch chronicles hundreds of staff and lawyers losing jobs.

It is very sad, but today it felt like it really hit home. One of my good friends from school got a call yesterday from her firm telling her that they were pretty much rescinding all job offers from graduating law students. I would never wish job-loss on anyone, but I wonder why it had to happen to one of my nicest friends out of all the people at law school.

I still cannot get over the fact that all my friends who thought they had secure jobs are now losing them or having their start dates pushed back. A lot of people are afraid that later start dates will lead to more rescinded offers because it will just be easier to take the next incoming class. Then the Class of 2009 will become the forgotten year. And this does not even include the highly capable people who have had a difficult time getting classes at all. Sigh.

I feel really lucky to have my clerkship next year. *knock on wood*

Eat Your Vegetables

I am one of those cooks who is obsessed with a particular ingredient or cooking style and will cook and eat one way until I get sick of it and then switch to something new.

My current obsession: roasting vegetables. I love how high heat caramelizes the natural sugars in the veggies and crisps up the edges. Anyone who knows me will tell you that sweet and savory, as well as crispies, are the way to my heart.

Today's culinary adventure was roasting cauliflower. I do not remember eating it as a kid but it has been popping up on all of the food blogs lately. It looks so white and bland, but I learned that it is full of nutrients despite its lack of color. (See other food myths busted). The preparation could not be simpler: sprinkle with olive oil and salt and bake it on a tray for 20-30 minutes at 400 degrees. It turned out perfectly.

It makes me wonder why anyone would just boil this vegetable, or any other vegetable really. In the past year I have also compulsively roasted eggplant, brussel sprouts, beets, sweet potatoes, acorn squash, and butternut squash. And to think, I used to be a picky vegetable eater as a kid.

Picture and recipe courtesy of Slashfood via Bon Appetite & Laurel Fan.

Snuggie-mania

Last night I went out with some of my law school friends and saw probably the strangest thing that I have ever seen at a bar. Is that a group of monks? Some kind of DC secret society meeting? A cult? Nope, it was a group of people on a snuggie bar crawl. (Sorry, I really wish I had taken pictures).

It is amazing how these blankets with arms have become a cult phenomenon. One minute it is on an informercial, the next it is on the Today show. Even conservatives and libertarians are started a Snuggie Cult.

As much as I love curling up on the couch with a blanket to read, I think I will have to pass on the Snuggie. Nor do I think they make for good bar-hopping attire: they must be really hot and I kept stepping on them.