Sunday, October 27, 2013

A Quick Trip to Toronto

This week  I headed over to Toronto to get some things done for my trip to Russia, meet with my advisor, and celebrate the launch of the student journal I edited this past year. It was a quick trip, but it was great to see some of my Torontonian friends.


Of course I couldn't resist the opportunity
to drink my favorite coffee from Red Rocket
Coffee every morning during my trip. Yum!

The leaves were beautiful while
I was there. Unfortunately, it 
was quite cold--not great 
weather for a stroll. 

This poor moustached pumpkin
seems to have met a premature end. 
Fortunately, Toronto now has a compost
program, so he won't get thrown into the dump.

More leaf peeping on the University
of Toronto campus!

On my last night in Toronto, my
friend Chris and I got gigantic ice cream
sandwiches from a local bakery (not 
pictured). As if we didn't have enough
sugar in our systems, they also gave us 
free cupcakes! 

The flight home from Toronto was rainy...

But I arrived to blue skies in New York! 

I'm going to be spending the next few weeks hurriedly planning for my trip to Russia, but I hope to keep taking photos and updating you all here on Sundays! 

Sunday, October 20, 2013

A stroll through central park

October has been beautiful up here in New York, and the leave are starting to turn all over the city! This weekend, I took a little stroll through Central Park to enjoy the changing leaves.

I love the crunch of fallen
leaves under my feet! 

The San Remo building surrounded by 
early fall foliage.

 Towering elms along the
Central Park mall. 


The bright red and orange trees
are my favorite in the fall. 

Central Park south

I hope you all are enjoying the fall as much as I am! This week I'll be heading to Toronto for a few days. I'll try to take some photos while I'm there, but the week is already filling up with meetings and events. 

Monday, October 14, 2013

Rich and Kristina go apple picking!

Rich and I had a relaxing weekend in New Jersey the past few days. We got a chance to enjoy some of the best fall things: lots of pumpkin-flavored foods, football, leaves, and of course, apple picking!

It was a gorgeous, breezy, cool day, 
and the apples were ripe for the picking!

We were lucky because the orchard
had one of our favorite varieties 
available, Stayman Winesaps. 

There were so many great looking
apples, we had to make sure not 
to pick too many since we had
to carry them back to the city with us.

In the end we still had about 10lbs
of apples! Good thing they stay
well in the refrigerator! 


Sunday, October 6, 2013

Dr. Richard Karpowicz Jr.!

The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind for Rich and me. On the last Wednesday of September Rich defended his dissertation and officially completed his PhD! This past Wednesday Rich and I were busy moving into a new apartment and getting settled in. We are both still recovering from the craziness of the past couple weeks, but I am so excited and proud of Rich and all that he has accomplished. He has worked so hard over the past 5 years, and it is wonderful that he is finally Dr. Karpowizc! Below are some pictures from his post-defense party.

Opening some champagne for 
a toast! 

Rich and his dad discussing the details of the 
defense. (His dad has his PhD in chemistry too!)

Rich with his sister, Stephanie, and his mom. 

The true emotion post-defense: exhaustion. Rich
with his good friend and lab mate, Teresa. 

An exchange of smiles between Rich and his 
advisor.