Memorial Day weekend was a whirlwind of travel and adventure as David and I hit the road to New England for Anna's wedding. And so, on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Londonderry, NH...
The lovely bride and groom, Anna and Garrett Yurza Warfield!
Anna's shoes (as always) were awesome :)
On Saturday, we stopped in Westborough to hang out with Brian and Jane, and Jane fulfilled her duties as best man by helping David pick these shoes out to go with his tuxedo. David decided to start breaking them in by wearing them around the apartment on Monday evening. I think the funniest part of seeing him break in the shoes was that he made sure to put dress socks on first.
We were pleasantly greeted by a lobster sale at TOPS for $5.99/lb upon our return to Ithaca on Monday! What better way to end a trip to New England than to have lobster for dinner? We bought three and had ourselves a feast.
These are our lobsters before we cooked them...
Here is David, enjoying his lobster. 
The lobster shells were the thickest I have ever seen! Despite the fact that we were armed with the awesome new lobster crackers that Victoria bought me as a shower gift, they were almost no match for these seemingly indestructible creatures. David actually had to hammer one of the lobster's claws in order to free the meat!
As always, being back in the Boston area among friends and familiar places continues to remind me of my desire to return there someday and have a home of my own. Until then, I will have to settle for returning there in a week or so for the Gordon Research Conference on Molecular and Cellular Bioenergetics, which will be held at Proctor Academy in Andover, NH.
After Kris' AWESOME performance of one of my favorite Kanye songs, I do not see how Danny could make it into the final two over Kris!
I have a confession to make - I am totally addicted to American Idol this season. In past seasons, I only tuned in for the final three or four contestants, but this season I have been faithfully watching since Hollywood week. Since it has been a weekly fixture in my life this year, I would like to dedicate this blog post to my opinions on this year's finalists:
1. Adam Lambert: I think I am the only person watching American Idol that is not a huge Adam fan. Don't get me wrong - I do think he's compelling. Also, he's great for the show because I think most of us are tuning in each week in part to see what the hell he is going to do next. He has a confidence as a performer that is thrilling to watch, and a musicianship that not a lot of the other Idol hopefuls have had. (He is also consistently gracious towards the band and singers that accompany him, which I think is nice.) The problem I have with him winning? I just don't enjoy listening to him sing! Ring of Fire? Disturbing, to say the least. If he were the new American Idol, I would understand America's decision, but I wouldn't be listening to his songs on the radio or buying his album.
2. Danny Gokey: At the beginning of the season, I was a huge Danny fan. I loved the way his raspy voice made you think that you were feeling the same pain he felt when his wife passed away. I loved the fact that he was goofy. And then...something happened midway through the season. Maybe it's because he started to seem a little less humble and a little more comfortable with all of his newfound fame and success. Maybe it was that I started to forget his personal story and began to focus a little more on that raspy voice which was...SCREAMING...ALL THE TIME. And maybe it's because of that note he (didn't) hit last week. Whatever happened, it did, and I now firmly believe that he only survived into the top three because Vote for the Worst kept him alive. Poor Alison. She was so good, too...
3. Kris Allen: I heart Kris Allen. And yes, part of it is definitely because he is cute as a button. And sure, part of it is because his style of music is just like other artists that I really like (John Mayer called, and I think he wants his music back). But mostly, I love that he has been the contestant most consistently ignored by the judges week after week, and instead of getting frustrated, he just comes back the next week with another solid performance. I don't think he has the rock star quality to win this year's Idol, but unless something drastic happens, he sure has my final vote.
I can't believe it is season finale time in the land of TV...this summer I will continue to watch Mad Men and Boston Legal on DVD while regular TV is on hiatus. Also, I will get back to reading! All these shows (Grey's Anatomy, Idol, The Office, Desperate Housewives) have distracted me from the pile of books on my bookshelf that demand to be read. First up: The Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao...
Although no one else would know but me, CNN linked to one of my Science Cheerleader posts! If you go to this page and scroll down to the post about citizen science projects, my article is the one about fireflies!
Hooray! Validation that someone, somewhere is reading my work, even if they don't know it...
I promised myself when I got engaged that I would limit the number of blog posts about the wedding. Something about talking about getting married all the time didn't jive with the portion of my personality that made a $100 bet with my dad that I wouldn't get married before I was 30. (Yes, Dad, I am aware I have to pay you before we walk down the aisle in June...) However, I am getting so excited!! The wedding is SO soon!
This sunk in during my bridal shower. I have been to so many showers over the years, and so it was almost surreal when I walked into mine on Saturday. It really is MY turn to be doing all of this! I am grateful to everyone for such a wonderful shower. I got some serious swag (thank you all!), but the best part was really that the shower was so small that I could actually spend time talking with everyone there.
One funny thing that happened during the shower was my Aunt LuAnn gave me a beautiful cake pan that had a personalized lid with "From the kitchen of Sarah Hokanson" engraved on it. Now I own something with my new name on it! It was so strange at first to see it in print! I have jokingly referred to myself as "Mrs. Hokanson" before, but now I really WILL be. I think it will take some getting used to, particularly because my first name has really been various versions of Chobot for so many years. (Yes, post-wedding I will still answer to the following: Chobo, Chobo da ho, Chobotron, Chobotski, Chochobo.)
(Also, while I'm on the subject, the following names are unacceptable nicknames post-wedding: Hokie, Hoko, Hokabo, Hokanbot.)
I also got fitted for my dress yesterday after all of the alterations were made, and it fits PERFECTLY. It is kind of magical how seamstresses can do that. I had heard this myth that after the measurements were taken and the pins were placed, everything would fit like a glove (and this was the case for all of my friends too), but I was skeptical until I put the dress on and saw it for myself. I actually pull this whole bride persona off quite well! :)
Only 53 days to go!
The lovely bride and groom, Anna and Garrett Yurza Warfield!
Anna's shoes (as always) were awesome :)
We were pleasantly greeted by a lobster sale at TOPS for $5.99/lb upon our return to Ithaca on Monday! What better way to end a trip to New England than to have lobster for dinner? We bought three and had ourselves a feast.
These are our lobsters before we cooked them...
Here is David, enjoying his lobster. 
The lobster shells were the thickest I have ever seen! Despite the fact that we were armed with the awesome new lobster crackers that Victoria bought me as a shower gift, they were almost no match for these seemingly indestructible creatures. David actually had to hammer one of the lobster's claws in order to free the meat!