The Latest Space Updates!

I haven't done a round up in a while of interesting things happening in space and now seems like a good time as there have been a lot of exciting things happening in the last month!  Let's start off with this week's successful launch of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket!  The sixth dragon capsule is headed for the ISS and will berth with the station on Friday morning bringing with it over 4,000 lbs of food and supplies for the astronauts onboard.  This was also SpaceX's second attempt to land the first stage of the Falcon 9 on a barge in order to reuse it in the future.  You'll recall that the first failed attempt back in January created a spectacularly addictive video of the first stage of the rocket ricocheting off the barge.  This time the video isn't quite as amazing as it does look like the first stage lands successfully on the barge after a precarious tipping motion just seconds before touching down.  According to Elon Musk of SpaceX, though, the rocket hit too hard and wound up falling over just moments after the publicly released video cuts out. Go figure.  Still, SpaceX is working hard to improve the technology and cut costs on future rocket missions, which is always admirable!

Speaking of the astronauts who need the supplies from the SpaceX Dragon capsule, there are currently two special astronauts on board the ISS as of March 27. NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russia cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko are going to be the first ISS crew members to live in the orbiting outpost for nearly a full year.  Typical ISS missions are only about 6 months long for an astronaut or cosmonaut due to the health issues that could develop during longer duration spaceflight.  I took a class about this when I was getting my masters degree in FL and it is amazing how fast certain aspects of the body react to a microgravity environment.  One of the more obvious effects is the lack of gravity lessens blood flow to the legs leading to muscle atrophy.  Not to mention longer term radiation exposure.  But NASA's medical community doesn't fully understand all of the effects of long term spaceflight.  Scott Kelly's identical twin brother (and also a former astronaut) Mark Kelly will also be performing some of the same medical experiments on Earth for comparison.  These studies will allow for humans to travel to Mars and beyond in the future!  You can read more about the latest updates on the One Year Mission here.

It doesn't appear to be much to look at, but this is actually a VERY cool picture!  After nine years of hurtling through space on a 3 billion mile journey, NASA's New Horizon's spacecraft is finally getting close enough to it's destination of Pluto to snap a photo!  This is the New Horizon's first color photograph taken of Pluto and it's moon Charon.  The craft is still a whopping 71 million miles away from the dwarf planet (still a little depressed that Pluto got demoted...), but it will make it's closest approach to Pluto in a mere 3 months as it is traveling at an impressive speed of 746,000 miles per day!  Keep in mind that the diameter of Pluto is only about the width of half of the continental United States and Charon is only about the size of Texas, so getting a picture like this from 71 million miles away is pretty cool - just imagine what the close ups will look like in July! 

And finally, United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin responsible for all Delta and Atlas rocket launches, unveiled its new, next generation rocket this week - the Vulcan!  Stemming partially from SpaceX's bold space-saving technology to reuse their first stage as well as the recent issues involving the US ban of Russian made rockets, ULA's new rocket design will boast reuseable components, multiple configurations to allow customization for various medium and heavy lift payloads, and American made rockets.  It has been about 20 years since there has been any major re-design of our workhorse rockets, so the new technology will certainly be welcome.  Vulcan's maiden launch is currently slated for 2019 and ULA is anticipating the rockets will cost about $50 million less than a current Atlas mission.

Exciting stuff!  Hopefully the good news and innovation will continue!

Happy April!

Ok, I totally dropped the ball last week on blog posts - it's been busy around here!  Can you believe it's already 1/3 of the way through April?!?  Let's jump to 2 weekends ago.  S and I packed up the car up on Thursday, March 26 with our weekend bags and a crap load of dog supplies, turned the back seat of my car into a dog bed, and road tripped it to Mississippi to visit my brother D and his fiancee B!  It was Pandora's first big car trip and she was a champ!  She's not really the type of dog that loves being in the car and has her head shoved out the window the whole time, but she doesn't seem to mind it either.  She just hunkered down and napped in the back seat for most of the time.  We had such a fun weekend with D and B.  Lots of tasty food, spending some good quality time together, and we even helped them pick out their wedding venue!

Out for prohibition-style cocktails in a hidden speakeasy

Acting goofy at Target :0)

While the drive to Mississippi isn't horrible, it still added up to 14 hours of driving, so we were pretty exhausted last week after our trip.  On top of that, last week was chock full of meetings at work (S has been super busy lately), Pandora's training classes (she's been to 3 so far), and trying to eat healthy after a weekend of amazing tasting but not exactly good-for-you foods.  On Friday S and I celebrated the start of Passover with a slightly modified version of my grandma's Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls - the soup turned out amazing, the matzo balls not so much though (they were falling apart...)

It's basically memories of Grandma in bowl form...

On Saturday, S spent most of the day enjoying himself at the autocross while I spent most of my day sending texts about bridesmaid dresses.  It is definitely difficult for B to coordinate the dresses for her wedding party when we're all located in different states.  The search for the perfect dress still continues, but I took a break from it on Saturday evening when S and I meet up with my friend R and his girlfriend C for dinner at Green Seed Vegan (food was very good!) and then to see Alton Brown Live!!!

At Alton Brown Live!!!

While I've always enjoyed Alton Brown's (AB's) show Good Eats, he sometimes comes across as somewhat cheesy and kitschy, but it doesn't matter because he knows his food science and that will always keep me coming back.  In his Live show though he is an AMAZING showman!  He rapped (!!!), sang, told hysterical stories about his personal food history, made carbonated chocolate ice cream on stage in 10 seconds with a standard fire extinguisher, cooked pizza in 3 minutes with a mega-easy bake oven made of stage lighting, and cracked numerous jokes about other Food Network personalities that were spot on!  We enjoyed ourselves so much!

On Sunday we went to S's brother's house for a crawfish boil and to spend time with the family.  And on Monday I caught a flight to California for some work travel.  Due to delays in the project, I didn't get back to Houston until 1 am on Wednesday night and so I was, understandably I think, exhausted yesterday.  Today I'm finally back up to speed on things and looking forward to relaxing with S and the pup tonight.  It will be short lived though.  Tomorrow S is heading to Austin for the MotoGP (it's his standard annual guys weekend with some friends) while I will be spending my day trying on more bridesmaid dresses, meeting up with my Aunt for lunch, doing some grocery shopping in town, and helping my friend B decorate the nursery for the upcoming arrival of her twins!  Sunday S and I are throwing a premiere party for season 5 of Game of Thrones, complete with a GoT themed potluck dinner.  So it's a busy weekend coming up too!

Weekend in Review

While it is officially spring according to the calendar, not all areas of the U.S. are feeling it - my friends and family in Chicago just got dumped on by another huge snow storm this past weekend.  Here in Houston, though?  The weather is beautiful!  Well, mostly.  We've had a few strings of heavy rain come through (it was pouring out all day Saturday), but as a result Spring has officially sprung!  Everything is green again and the trees are all flowering and budding (even my little meyer lemon and lime tree have new shoots and pretty little blooms on them - I didn't kill them yet!!!)  My favorite view so far is walking out the door and seeing all of the gorgeous pink buds on the little tree in the front yard (picture above) as it's so beautiful right now!

On Saturday we had a vet appointment to get the last of Pandora's booster shots and afterwards we ran a few errands.  The weather was so crummy, but we made our day better by picking up some Nobi bahn mi sandwiches for lunch and stocking up on more weird beers for S before we headed home.  After we ate lunch and gave the pup some snuggles, we got to work on our to-do lists.  I had a huge stack of onesies that were decorated a few weeks ago at B and J's baby shower that I needed to wash and dry, so I got that done.  I don't think I really reported back on the baby shower yet - it turned out so great!  A bunch of friends helped with food and decorations which both turned out phenomenal (we had guac, tamales, queso, rice, stuffed jalapenos, and salsas for food plus key lime pie and chocolate cupcakes topped with a bacon cream cheese frosting*.  The latter were AMAZING).  B and J got a ton of great gifts that will definitely help with the two little bundles of joy that they're expecting, and we also had a onesie decorating station so everyone could put their own artistic touch on some clothes for the twins.  People were SO creative!  Look at this:

So anyway, back to this weekend.  After I took care of the onesies on Saturday afternoon my super productive streak continued and I cleaned out and organized both the refrigerator and the pantry.  Booyah!  After that I wandered back to the bedroom where I found S and Pandora both in the midst of a rainy day nap (the best), so I joined them for an hour of snuggles and snoozing.  That evening we went to a friend's house for a pot luck dinner (I made rice krispy treats as both rice krispies and marshmallows were unearthed in my pantry overhaul) and to watch Hot Shots! as many of us had seen the sequel but not the original.  General consensus was that while the first one was funny, Part Deux is still better.

On Sunday the weather was GORGEOUS - 70 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, light breeze - officially spring weather.  S spent a good chunk of the day outside doing yard and garage work with Pandora hooked up to a line so she could happily explore the front yard - she definitely loves spending time outside.  I got some fresh air when I took the pup for a long walk, but I was mostly cooped up inside working on my taxes for a majority of the day - boo.  Whatever, they're done and I'm broke.  I am pretty psyched that I got so much accomplished this weekend though.  Our next big adventure?  Pandora's first training class tomorrow night...

*For the bacon cream cheese frosting, I omitted the bourbon in the recipe and used 1 Tb of vanilla extract instead.  I also candied my bacon before incorporating it in the frosting.  Just preheat oven to 350 degrees then place 8 strips of bacon on to a foil lined baking sheet.  Sprinkle brown sugar over the bacon until the it is covered with a consistent layer and pat down.  Bake in the oven for about 25-30 minutes or until the bacon is cooked and crispy. 

Spring 2015 Wish List

Clockwise from top left: Dress | Starburst Ring | Ankle Boot | Cropped Jeans | Tassel Mid Heels | Lacy Top | Sneakers | Gold Choker | Midi Skirt | Turquoise Ring | Tassel Sandals | Embroidered Tunic

It definitely seems like I'm craving a more bohemian aesthetic for spring this year, which I guess isn't that far off from the 70's trend that's been deemed the "it" look of the season.  When I was younger I always used to claim I was born in the wrong decade that I should have been a child of the 60s not the 80s and I think I'm veering back into some vintage obsessions again (not that I every really stopped fully...), although I like to think they're a bit more sophisticated this time around.  I confess that I already bought a pair of the purple and black suede mid heels with the turquoise tassels as a little present to myself with my work bonus this year, but I had to include them in this list because they were by far my biggest fashion craving for spring.  That red print dress is pretty much my ideal beach cover up so I'm thinking that will definitely find its way into my wardrobe this year too.  And that ring is not even close to being in my budget, but I've been obsessed with that style ever since Cameron Diaz's character wore a similar one in the move The Sweetest Thing (the ring was probably the best thing about the entire film...).  One day.  With an upcoming trips to vising my brother in Mississippi and to NYC with my friend R, most of these items will probably remain relegated to the wish list though.  I always love a new shoe or bauble, but I'd much rather spend my time traveling and being with friends and family!

Have a Fantastic Weekend!

Did you see the absolutely amazing Zoolander 2 annoucment made at the Valentino Paris Fashion Week show?!?!?  It made my day and my week.  Every time I see a post or picture about it I smile.  Just awesome!  I posted the video below for your viewing enjoyment, as well as the video where they actually play their characters in a meet up with Anna Wintour (the editor in chief at Vogue) before the show.  So good. Can you believe it's been almost 15 years since the first movie???

In other movie news, the little girl in me is so excited to see the new Cinderella movie.  The logical adult side of me kind of hates the story of Cinderella, the girl who doesn't do anything to save herself but sits by idly waiting for her fairy godmother and prince to rescue her.  But from the previews it looks like the new Cinderella has at least a little spunk.

Weekend plans include a pedicure, onesie decorating, and dinner with my friend B tonight.  Tomorrow we're going to an Escape the Room event with a group of friends.  Have you heard of them?  You get locked into a room filled with clues for an hour and have to try to answer all of the clues to find keys and more clues, etc in order to escape.  We're pretty excited!  And on Sunday we're tackling the backyard to try to make it dog-ready (we're missing a fence on one side, need to fill a hole under the fence, and there is some overgrown landscaping that needs to be scaled back).  Do you have any fun plans this weekend?

Here's the Valentino show (you only really need to watch the first minute):

And here's the backstage interview with Anna Wintour:

 

So good...

And a few more fun links for your weekend:

• What happens when you put away your cell phone for a week (it's good!)
• Have you heard about this effort to put a woman's face on U.S. currency?  Think about it - all of those important men being recognized but not one woman.  And Susan B. Anthony doesn't really count since her coin is no longer minted and is rarely used.  Let's put a woman on our $20 bills!  Go to the site to vote on your top 3 contenders from their list!
• There's a Back to the Future documentary in the works that looks really cool!  Just in time for the 30 year (!!!  anyone else feeling old?!?) anniversary!

(top image from here)

Have a Wonderful Weekend!

Sorry I've been silent all week, but I've been miserably sick with a nasty sinus infection since Tuesday.  Bleh.  It came on super fast - I woke up Tuesday morning with a sore throat and by 2 pm I was full on sick.  I took Wednesday off of work, but with an active doggie in the house rest wasn't really super easy to come by.  I got acupuncture on Wednesday to help with the intense swelling in my sinuses and since then I've been loading up on Airborne, Tylenol Sinus, and some herbal pills that my acupuncturist recommended called "Breathe Natural".  Don't know how much the herbal stuff is actually helping, but I will say that as of about 30 minutes ago I can finally breathe through my nose again.  So that's something.  I'm hopefully I'll be back to nearly normal by tomorrow since I'm throwing a baby shower for my friends J and B!

And an update on pup - she's doing great!  The kitties have finally stopped hiding all the time.  They're hardly BFFs with Pandora yet, but they mostly tolerate each other.  We took Pandora to the vet last weekend and learned that she's probably closer to about 1.5 years old than 2, which explains all of the puppy energy she still has.  We've been taking her to the dog park every few days to help work some of it off and get her socialized with other dogs.  When I didn't have the energy to take her for a walk on Wednesday because I was feeling crappy, I took her to the dog park instead and she made a new friend who taught her how to roll in mud puddles, so that was fun.  She's been pretty good about listening and learning new commands, but we've decided to sign her up for training classes that start at the end of the month too.  I grew up with impeccably trained dogs and am hoping to get Pandora to that point eventually too. She is also a total snuggle bug (see picture above).  She loves to sit next to us and will frequently just plop her butt down on my lap when I'm sitting on the floor.  Such a sweetheart!  We're definitely loving the new addition to our little family!

This weekend during the baby shower we're planning to take her to S's parents' house for a sleepover with their dog Mojo.  Last weekend she did squeeze out the front door when I opened it and took a happy little jaunt down the street.  Only reason I got her back in the house is a couple of kids on bicycles freaked her out and then the neighbor helped me corner her.   I was not thrilled.  So with baby shower guests coming in and out of the house all day on Saturday, we didn't want to chance her sneaking out the door again.  We are planning to ask S's parent's to watch her in the future when we go on trips anyway, so this is a good test day.  They have a huge yard for Pandora to run around and play in along with a dog of their own to keep her company, so we're hoping she enjoys the little vacation.

Baby shower activities are going to take up my entire day tomorrow (it's going to be so much fun!), so Sunday is going to just be a clean up and relax day.  Especially since I've been sick all week, I could definitely use some low-key recovery time.  I'm definitely looking forward to a fun weekend!

(top image from here)

Meet Pandora!

We got a dog!!!  Meet Pandora!  She's a 2-ish year old lab mix that we brought home from the shelter this past weekend!  We'd been talking about getting a dog for a while, but it was never really practical when we were going back and forth from my place to his.  And when I moved in with S in August we wanted to let the kitties have time to adjust to their new home and then it was the holidays.  Once February rolled around we decided it was time.  We started looking Valentine's weekend and thought we'd found the right dog, but that adoption fell through.  So this past weekend we spent pretty much all day Saturday going to adoption events and shelters.  On our sixth stop we found Pandora and we took her home the next day!

She's SUCH a well behaved girl already - she has a playful side and lots of puppy energy but she's also so smart and definitely a lover.  She is house broken and knows "sit", "down" and "kennel".  We're working with her on other commands and her leash skills, but around the house she's a dream!  She's reached an uneasy truce with the cats (she had cats in her previous home and so she's respectful and wary of them).  Dante had a standoff with her when they first met and they just stared at each other for a few minutes from about a foot apart and then walked away, so it definitely could have been worse.  Since then Dante has taken to baiting Pandora by hiding under the bench in the bedroom and then hissing and swatting at her.  But Pandora really handles it well.  Zoe is curious and yet indifferent, but she's been pretty good too.  I think they'll learn to coexist fairly quickly, which is such a relief as the dog-cat interaction was really my only concern in bringing her home.

We're so excited to have this pretty girl as a new member of our household!

The Weekend In Review and Fun Links

We really didn't have much to do this weekend and it was amazing.  We rented a few movies from Redbox, spent some time with S's family, slept in, ran errands, and I cooked up a few yummy meals.  In general it was pretty low key and exactly what we needed.

Since I don't have much to report from the weekend, I figured I'd amuse you with a few funny/interesting that links I've found recently:

• Have you heard of the Mars One mission?  It is a plan for a mission to colonize Mars (one way trip there only) and the plan is to fund it by packaging the whole process up as a reality TV series.  The project received over 200,000 resumes from people who want to be the first humans to walk on Mars and the organizers just narrowed down the applicant pool to only 100 people, 50 men and 50 women.  Only 24 people will actually go, but of course back ups will need to be trained as well.  The coolest part?  I actually KNOW one of the top 100 finalists!!!  George and I were friends back at KSC and he was recently interviewed by MSNBC about reaching the top 100.  You can watch the video above to see the interview.
•  Do you use Amazon?  Did you know about all of these 20 secret tips?  #3 kind of blew my mind!
• The Cathy Comic of the 90's meets the Louis CK rants of today and it's brilliant: http://thecathyckpage.tumblr.com 
• This video about confronting sexual harassers on the streets of Lima, Peru made my day!
•  You can't fight logic against someone who refuses to be logical...http://io9.com/8-logical-fallacies-that-fuel-anti-science-sentiments-1679442426
• And while I'm talking nerdy science stuff, have you heard that my favorite astrophysicist (yes, I have a favorite, doesn't everyone???) is getting his own late night talk show?!

(top image from here)