I'll take you in my backpack

11/6/10 I promise this isn't about how I can see Russia from my house/hotel/corporate housing...Oh no this is far better. Earlier this week I had a conversation with my mom about how I wanted to go to Russia (she went there back in her hippie days...sorry mom I outed you for being a hippie!!) and how fantastic it would be. Fast forward a few days. Russian Lemon Cake I went to the UAF Women's Bazaar (I've never been to so many bazaars in such a short time frame) today. I don't know how many vendors there were, but none of that is important besides the one vendor that will be ensuring I leave Alaska at least 5 sizes larger and bursting out of my clothes. The Russian Baker. I remember seeing her in the summer (aka August) at the Farmer's Market and even purchased some apple bread from her there, but what I discovered today is beyond words. First is the Russian Lemon Cake, an amazing combination of lemon custard filling, powdered sugar top, and some sort of flake...

10/1/10-10/2/10 What a hectic couple of days! I woke up Friday morning. At 2:30 am to some sort of domestic violence occurring in my building. Correction, I woke up to a woman screaming. When I looked outside she was with hotel staff (and her small child) so I figured it was OK for me to sit and watch rather than try to help. I'm pretty sure I would have scared her more running outside in my long underwear, mismatched shirt, and hair that stuck out in every direction! I watched for about an hour. That's right, this whole scene took that long. I couldn't hear everything that was going on, but the general gist of things are that the guy had been drinking and then had become violent with her. In front of the small child who couldn't have been more than 2. The police arrived...did some obligatory questioning. The man became loud and adamantly denied doing what he was accused of. Another hotel guest came out and provided some information to the police that seemed to seal t...