300th post? Also, Loyola

I was under the impression that this was going to be the 300th post, but it might be the 301st. Either way, we'll pretend to celebrate 300 entries of emotion and excitement and the cities that I love.

First of all, I would like to make a comment on the way that Chicago has changed me. Mustard. I love mustard now. Chicago is not a ketchup city. Of course, we eat it here, but the Chicago-style hot dog is covered in mustard. And if it can be eaten with mustard, it is. It must be a Midwest thing, but mustard is a staple here.

I've also noticed that my taste in foods is changing as I age. Right now, I'm all about tomatoes. Seriously love tomatoes. I want them on everything. I was eating stewed tomatoes out of the can the other day. And maybe that's not all bad. I've always loved to eat fruit, but I'm also really getting into vegetables. Not just salad, but the pure tastes of all vegetables.

I made breaded pork chops last night. I really don't like pork, but I was excited to have a chance to bread some meat. I love to bread things, but I'm still learning. Egg. It's all about the egg. That was a new addition to my repertoire, Hunter's roommate Adrian taught me the other night when we made meatballs.

I had made some cranberry sauce (cranberries are on sale right now and I'm buying them up and freezing them!) to put on my pork chops, which made them mostly edible. We also had red potatoes that I smashed with butter and a little bit of whole milk, then salted and peppered. Yum.

I'm dyeing my hair tonight! Dark dark brown. I'll post pictures.

Don't make airline reservations yet! Loyola seems to have lost my application for graduation. There's an email into the School of Communication, so we'll see what they say. My credits do all line up for walking in May and for receiving my degree in August. Ugh. Not the best news to receive on a Friday night. But...I double checked in October and it said- there's already a valid graduation application in. So, here's hoping that it will all get worked out.

I'm going out with Maddie and Katie and Anna tonight--even though I've not been doing enough lately to prepare for finals (I seem to have completely lost my motivation)---I'm going tonight to relax and just go out and be. Tomorrow noon will see me ensconced in the library working on my Monday final.

The cold has landed. Hopefully there will be pictures from the evening.