Fauschnaught Day

Today Fauschnaught Day (also known as Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday, etc.) and the last day before the Christian season of Lent. The historical basis of the day is to use up the rich foods (fats, dairy products) in your home before Lent, a 40-day period of personal reflection and fasting before Easter, begins.

My family's roots are very German / PA Dutch, so we eat doughnuts in celebration of the day. Fauschnaught Day has taken on new meaning to me in the last few years since my Grandma passed away. It was her tradition to spend the day at home making homemade doughnuts for the family (20+ people). Several of my aunts and cousins would take off work and school to help in this large and messy project. Because my extension of the family lives two hours away from everyone else, Grandma would freeze our allotment - we generally received them Easter weekend. Even when they weren't fresh, they were delicious and unlike any doughnut you could buy in the stores.

I was lucky enough to participate in the doughnut-making festivities the last year Grandma was healthy enough to do it. (I happened to be taking some entry tests at Penn State right before graduating from high school so I could justify the day off school).

As silly as it may sound, this day has become somewhat of a memorial to Grandma since her passing. I always make sure to buy some fauschnaughts for my family in her honor and generally get a little emotional in doing so. But what a sweet tradition she has passed on to us! I can't wait to do it with my own kids some day.

Snow Bummer

As great as it was to ski on fresh powder at the beginning of the storm, it was equally as bad dealing with the remnants of the snow, sleet, and ice two days later. Just wanted to complain in general about the shitty plow job in central pa (with the exception of New Cumberland - kudos to being on top of it!!) and the fact that all our major interstates in the eastern half of the state had to close down. This forced me to miss the much-anticipated weekend revelry in New York with jet-setting Marcia, Jeremy, and Marcia's posse.

Instead, I did a lot of Black Lotus work and drank heavily Saturday night with Dan, Doug, Ben, Aunt Sandy, Uncle Joe, and my 'rents. Fun night, but I really missed my friends and the free Croc pizza in NYC.

Valentine's Day

Sending Valentine's Day love to you all!

My sweetie and I decided to celebrate an untraditional Valentine's Day, brought about by the foot of fresh snow central PA just received. After work on Tuesday, Dan and I donned the ski gear, loaded ourselves into the truck, and headed out to Ski Roundtop! We had a fantastic evening even though it started to sleet mid-way through the session (we were really happy to have our new goggles!!).

We were snowed in Wednesday and both worked from home. Dan cooked me dinner.

Low key, perfect V-Day.

Girls Love Pearls

I haven't posted in a month because I've been really busy working on stuff with Cait and Kim for our new company, Black Lotus Designs. We're importing and selling high-grade pearl jewelry from China, so contact me if you're looking for something special for your Valentine's Day sweetie (guaranteed not to break the bank)!

This past weekend was the 3rd Annual Ski Weekend in the Poconos. I got to hang out with some really awesome friends and get some skiing into my winter. A wonderful time.

The biggest excitement of the day (besides the large winter storm tracking towards Southcentral PA as we speak) is the Police reunion tour!!!!!!!!!!!!! After a kick-ass performance on the Grammy Awards, they're ready to wow the world with a 2007 reunion tour. I'm actually amazed that this actually came together, knowing all the fighting that was synonomous with the band's performances in the 80s. I CAN'T WAIT to grab those tickets.