It’s not my fault February is unreasonably short…

As usual, I’d like to start out with an apology for not posting more often! Jeez.

My first month of work has totally flown by and I love my job. I’m working on a lot of cool projects and getting into the swing of life at CDC. My main project has been trying to expand the analysis I undertook this summer of schools in close proximity to high volume roads. Another project that’s kept me busy has been helping to get data organized for the Haiti response. Most recently, though, I’ve been putting together some maps for an upcoming Congress for the New Urbanism workshop. The people I work with are amazing and it has been really nice to return to my branch!

I’m starting to feel a lot more comfortable in Atlanta. I went on another great Beltline hike this past weekend. We had great weather for the event and nearly fifty people showed up to explore the rails-to-trails/urban connectivity/renewal project that is underway. At this point the beltline is still far from finished: when we were walking across the old railroad overpass that spans Ponce de Leon, we could see traffic moving through all the holes in the bridge! Egh.

The mundane treasure of this month has definitely been my kitchen. I’ve been reveling in the freedom of having a great place to cook – and of having some good grocery stores nearby. I’m hard-pressed to pick a favorite, but I will say that (Vermont) goat cheese mixed with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, and fresh pepper is basically like heaven incarnated as salad dressing.

The more exotic treasure of this month was my trip to New Orleans! After the Saints won the Super Bowl, some friends and I decided that missing this Mardi Gras just wasn’t an option. We drove down for Mardi Gras weekend and enjoyed just about every lovely, amazing, indulgent thing that glorious city has to offer. When we came back to Bourbon Street on Sunday morning, every street sign for it had been stolen but it was unmistakable because they were using a snowplow to clean up all the bottles and beads.

In other news, I want to congratulate two of my friends for their work at sea. One, Katie Spotz, was a classmate and dorm-mate of mine who is nearly finished with her solo row across the Atlantic to raise money for clean drinking water. The other, Ronnie Anderson, is just starting her sailing journey on this (absolutely unreasonably beautiful) boat:

Kudos to them both!