Susie's birthday

Today was Susie's birthday, so the Community Life team planned a surprise lunch for her! I blindfolded her in her office, and led her around campus so she would be confused as to where she was going. We ended up in Alex's apartment, and ate garlic rice with thai chicken sauce, a salad, and carrot cake. It was fun to eat and talk together about something other than work! Happy birthday Susie!

Getting ready to leave the office

Group shot

L-R: Levi, Olena, Alex, Susie and me

Susie is holding the flowers and card that we gave her

RA retreat

Last night we had our RA retreat - I planned the evening's activities. I spent Saturday getting my apartment ready - I changed the furniture around and brought in pillows and mattresses to make it comfy and a bit more special. And I made sure to say once they got there that we were NOT going to talk about school during the evening! Our first activity was a short photo shoot done by another LCC student. I had gathered some props that we used, and the pictures turned out SO GOOD!!!! I can't wait for you to see them, so I'll put them in right now - aren't they all so beautiful?!?!?!

In front of LCC's sign

Neumann (our dorm) is in the background on the left

being silly!

After the photo shoot, (my RAs had requested foods including peanut butter and fruit), we ate homemade peanut butter granola with yogurt, milk and fruit. It was good, but took a long time to chew. :) Then we played several different games, including Dutch Blitz (one of our favorites), and another one in which we drew pictures, analyzed them, and answered some "life" questions based on the pictures to get to know each other better. Then we talked for a while about many different things. I didn't want the evening to end!

SPICY!!!!

Last night Susie and I had planned to spend time together again, and we knew we wanted to cook something, but we were at the store with no list.... We bought a few things and went home to look at recipes, and made something totally awesome!!!! It was SPICY (both our mouths were burning) and yet so good! That evening we also watched a movie together and played "Ticket to Ride" with Susie's upstairs neighbors (also our friends and colleagues from LCC).

on the left: spicy chicken and peppers (oranges, soy sauce, garlic and green onions still waiting to be added) and on the right: spicy peanut butter and cilantro pasta

Susie showing off her new apron from her spring break trip to Barcelona

Spiritual Life Week

This week is Spiritual Life week on campus, and the Spiritual Life team is organizing an event each evening! Last night we had a coffeehouse, which was really awesome, and tonight there was both women's and men's events. The women's event served homemade desserts, and we had a speaker who talked about fashion and image. We also had a second-hand fashion show! Myself and two other staff members entered the contest - we only spent 14 litas on clothing at a thrift store and made two outfits - one every day and one evening. We didn't win, but it was still fun to participate and have the challenge to create outfits with such a small budget and almost all second hand.

Alex and Olena (staff team) receiving a participation prize

Having our picture taken before the event

Thai!

Tonight I went out for dinner with two friends and LCC staff - Bethany and Kristen. We went to a restaurant called "Thai Fun" and had yellow curry and pad thai. I've been to this restaurant before, and really enjoyed it once again tonight! We had a fun time walking, talking and laughing together. After dinner, Bethany and I went back to her place, did a little work, watched some episodes of Psych and made chili chocolate brownies! All in all, it's been a very relaxing Saturday!

 my meal - yellow curry (chicken, bamboo, tomatoes, potatoes and fresh basil) with rice and bananas on the side - it looked so pretty!

Bethany and Kristen

AND the recipe we used for chili chocolate brownies - they were awesome!

http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipes/rachael-ray-magazine-recipe-search/dessert-recipes/subtly-spicy-chocolate-chili-brownies

Saturday with Susie

I have had a tradition of Sundays with Susie for the past few years - spending Sunday afternoons with my friend and now boss, Susie. We often cook, talk, watch movies and just hang out. We've have had quite a few experiences in the past as well! After a long week of work we went to a mall called "Big" today. Even though it's a Saturday, we can still spend time together! We window shopped, ate lunch at a fancy Chinese restaurant and talked. It was a relaxing time away from campus.

 fancy tea cup

I bought a pair of amber earrings for myself from a Lithuanian muge (homemade goods market). Amber is a popular stone here because it can be found on the beach close by.

And we found a store that had a bunch of random things in it, and so of course we had to try these on....

pancakes

Yesterday one of the RAs on duty organized an event that offered pancakes to students who were on campus for break. She and I cooked the pancakes together (we made American and Russian-style) and then enjoyed the company that came to join us! It felt like a big family around the table!

pajama party

I was invited to a pajama party with some girls who are also staying on campus over spring break. We had fun (yes, even me!) painting nails, doing face masks, talking, and eating snacks. It was a relaxing way to spend the evening!

Ina putting on my clay face mask

waiting for the masks to dry

all of us

(L-R) Dasha, Nastya, Dana, Ina, me and Viktoria

a new recipe

Last night I had a movie night at my place (we're on spring break now, but I'm still planning events!) and I invited one student over to teach me a new cookie recipe. Olesya is from Ukraine, but her mom works in Slovakia and the recipe is from there. It's one of those recipes where it just has to look/feel right, so our measurements were not exact, but hopefully I can recreate it myself again! There are only 5 ingredients - butter, flour, sour cream and salt, and right after they come out of the oven they get rolled in powdered sugar. We had fun talking and laughing while making the cookies, and although she couldn't stay for the movie, we still got a few pictures.

before baking - the round donut looking ones are the ones to bake

I didn't eat all of them - I promise!