Never again

Something about me that I'm NOT proud of - for as long as I can remember, I haven't been able to grow my fingernails very long because I've always picked at them. For the past few years, it's always been when I'm nervous or anxious about something, but unfortunately those kinds of situations come up an awful lot and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop. It was a reflex and I just couldn't help it.

But a few weeks ago, I was attempting to study at the kitchen table in our apartment and I looked at my nails and I was floored at how horrible they looked. Like, really bad. And this sounds silly and trivial, but if I ever meet a boy and we ever decide to get married, I would be ashamed to wear an expensive engagement ring, drawing attention to my ugly fingers. Plus, I'm so jealous of the girls wearing cute, trendy nail polish colors!

So I decided to stop, right then and there. The next morning in my logic class, I don't think I was nervous about anything, but I could not stop thinking about my challenge to myself, and it made the tips of my fingers almost itch! It was so hard to resist but I knew I had to suck it up!

Tomorrow will be three weeks since I stopped and I feel like this is it. I've stopped for good. My fingernails are growing and they look good! I plan to buy some drugstore nail polish soon to do a DIY manicure for kicks. I'm so proud of myself! I know that's kind of sad but I really, really am. I'll now feel a lot less self-conscious when I shake someone's hand and to me that's worth it.

Another weird habit that I'm not exactly proud of but whatever - I play with my bellybutton a lot. Sadly, a habit that used to just happen by myself or around my parents is happening in public! I'm sneaky about it I think and it's pretty rare but still. I think this habit has increased since I stopped picking at my fingernails so I guess it's a trade-off!(?)

I just wanna sit ...

I just wanna sit in my bed, cry and read food blogs.

Actual quote from yours truly as I walked up the steps of my apartment. Haven't shed a tear yet but it might be coming. But don't worry about me -- I need a good cry. Don't we all?

I worry about everything, so it's no surprise that I worry about things such as being a cat lady. Julia, the sweetheart she is, just told me that I wouldn't be. Thank you! But what if I am?? Well if we were playing my new favorite game, the Worse Case Scenario game, then I could cook whatever I wanted for dinner and watch my TV shows ... but I'd much rather fight over the remote than be alone with kitties who can't talk, no matter how adorable they are.

So what is the point of this post? Your author is a bit tipsy (eerbody in the club gettin' tips!!) but I think it's something that's on everybody's minds: I've been a (semi-good) person, I'm not horribly ugly, where's my (for the time-being) significant other? Am I uglier than I thought? That could be it, but I don't think so. I think he is out there. I think I am as awkward as fuck though and he is going to have to think I am awfully special to want to stick around for the awkward crap.

Congrats if you actually read through all this ridiculousness. I love you all. I love my friends. I love chips and salsa. Worst case scenario, I can just read food blogs all night and don't have to worry about what my boyfriend wants to do. Can I get a hellz yeah?!

Thankful

So it's really easy to get caught up in the negatives of life, and dwelling on those things is only natural I guess. But lately I feel like I've been TOO down on myself, and why should I? Life is short and should be celebrated!

Also, last week was Thanksgiving of course, and so in honor here is a list of things I am thankful for. Enjoy!

1. Gchat/Gmail. Not only is my ice cream themed background adorable and always makes me happy, I love to chat and keep up with my friends! In fact, I'm currently snuggled in bed talking with my friend Katie and catching up on life.

2. That I live in America - and that America is not the type of place where (barring hurricanes, etc.) disasters happen all that often. Sure people get sick here, but reading about things like the Cholera outbreak in Haiti recently make me even more thankful to be in this country.

3. Opportunity! So I just applied to law school - SCARY. And obviously, I really want to go and hope I get in! But I'm thankful that a. I have the ability to try for these sorts of things and b. if it doesn't work out - I have the opportunity to do something else ... what else I don't know.

4. Beer. I'm thankful for beer. Doesn't get much more American than that.

5. I'm thankful for my family (I just taught my mom how to do a <3>

6. My jeggings. Go out and buy these. I think your life will change. Mine sure did.

Happy December First! It's a fresh start - but don't forget that so is every single day. Peace out, girl scouts!

What if ...

I don't get into law school?

I'm minorly freaking out, and listening to Glee mash-ups on repeat.

I KNOW there are alternatives to law school. Many of which I have pondered. And I always think OK I can do xyz ... but when I think about not getting in, I still freak out.

Yet, I freak out when I think about applying and the golden handcuffs. When will I not freak out?

But there's no point in freaking out now. I guess I should cross that bridge when I get to it. It's about as useful as freaking out every time I get into my car that I will get into an accident. You can't control who's out there on the roads - you can be careful but there's no guarantees. I can do the best with my applications as I can (and let's face it, the most important parts, GPA and LSATs, are already done with) but I can't make any guarantees after I hit submit.

All I can do is proofread proofread proofread and keep on breathing. And one more listen of Singin' in the Rain/Umbrella mash-up can't hurt.

Mish-mash

1. So I desperately want to finish up my 100 Favorite Things. However, a lot of that involves dragging out the camera to take pictures, and y'all know I'm really lazy. I need to start just taking pictures of everything so I always have a stash, eh?

2. I am recognizing more and more that I have control issues. As in, I prefer greatly when things go my way. I feel like this has developed over time, because I don't remember feeling this way even up til a few years ago. But the main thing is that I've developed control issues over the cleanliness of my apartment. Is that weird? Any tips on dealing with that because sometimes I feel like Francine in that episode of Arthur when she gets so angry that her head just blows off and flies into outer space? Anyone? Couldn't find a visual aid, but I bet the episode is up there on Youtube ... now if only I could remember which one it is.

But I don't want that to happen, even metaphorically. Any tips on how not to lose your head over a dirty apartment??

3. Twitter is only slightly taking over my life. I follow so many people that there is always a constant number of updates! I need to close the tab on my internet browser and only check it periodically. Otherwise I'm constantly looking at it!

4. Thanksgiving break is SO CLOSE. Shout out to my New Orleans homies, yo.

Thanks, Shelby, I stole this from your Facebook. And thanks, Hannah, for so many Thanksgiving memories. All I had to say then, and all I still have to say now is - there are so many arms in this picture!

I can't wait to eat lots of side dishes and pies (because those are my fave parts of the meal) and watch copious amounts of Bravo and read for pleasure! Oh man, I love breaks.

I am moving to Singapore ...

... not really. But if everything else fails (no grad school, no job, no husband [not that I would get one in the next year but whatever]), I will.

Because chewing gum in Singapore is ILLEGAL.

Hallelujah!

See - no joke. Singapore does it right, yo.

I like...

I like apples and peanut butter.
I like chocolate chips and peanut butter.
I guess peanut butter's OK, too.
I like gchat.
I like daydreaming about the future.
I like living in the moment.
I like black coffee.
I like jeggings.
I like to-do lists (and crossing things off!).
I like removing the lint from the dryer.
I like laughing.
I like blogging.
I like you!

I have a lot to do (not to out-busy anyone, but hey, I am a little concerned about my workload this week) and yet I decided to post to you lovelies instead. Because that is how stoopid I am.

OK. I am scared. Just putting it out there. I'm scared of the future. I'm scared of tomorrow and a year from now. I'm scared that I'm not good enough, that I'm not smart enough, that I'm too shy, that I cry too easily. I'm scared that I don't know what I want, and if I ever figure it out that I won't get it. I'm scared that I will want the wrong things, if that's even possible. I'm scared that I'll waste potential.

I am SCARED of the Tickler, but who isn't?

But you know, the Tickler can come and touch my leg and that would be terrifying but it doesn't help the fact that I'm scared about more important things, ya know?

I'm scared that I won't cross the things off on my life list. Of which there are like three things, but they're all very important.

I'm scared that no one is reading this. But this is really just for me, anyway.

I'm scared that I'm not a good friend. They do a lot for me, but I'm scared that when they need me (which some of them do) that I'll be scared to tell them I'm here and I'll listen.

I'm scared. But I know that I can do the hard stuff. I've just been slacking, which has got to stop RIGHT THIS INSTANT. Well, right after I finish this mocha, and put my laundry in the dryer.

I would end this with something cheesy but hasn't this been cheese enough? So anyway, this is a picture I found on my computer -- I look stupid but that is my kitty who I adore and whose leg is not going to be removed! Thank goodness, because I would love my three-legged cat but still, it would make me uncomfortable.

Love your cat, love yourself. - Anonymous

I don't know if that's a real quote or not, but I'm going with it here. Peace.

Tonight, I went out to eat thai (holy yum!) with a huge group of people - some I'm good friends with and some I used to be good friends with and have simply drifted from. Anyway that was interesting and I'll get to that in a moment.

But the crux of this story is that in the car ride back, one of the girls said: "Can you believe tomorrow we're going to Proclamation Night as seniors??"

To which I said something to the effect of "Oh my goodness I don't want to think about it."

For those who don't know, Proclamation Night is a tradition for both the freshmen and senior girls. As freshmen, you go, wear white sundresses, write a letter to yourself, sign the honor code, yada yada. Seniors wear their graduation robes (!) and read the letters they wrote to themselves. And everyone sits through a ceremony where the dean speaks, one girl reads her letter, yada yada. Our full is just full of traditions, ain't it?

Anyway, whenever things like this are brought up, I feel like the automatic response is - "Wow, it seems like just yesterday."

But, like Carrie Bradshaw, I got to thinking ... and it really doesn't. Proclamation Night the first time around was THREE years ago. Sure, sophomore year doesn't seem that crazy long ago (probably because I broke up my college years with a semester abroad) but freshmen year, the days of living in first-floor Moore and going to Core class, is long gone. Seems like a lifetime ago.

And I have changed so so much since then. I mean, don't even get me started on my improved fashion sense, I mean c'mon. (I must learn some more modesty, eh?) But I feel like I have. Sometimes, in all honesty, I wonder if I've changed for the better. I feel like 9th grade me would dislike the senior-year-of-college me. I mean, 9th grade Elizabeth would probably see the sorority letters, and the "Richmond" accessories (yes the Jack Rogers and the Longchamps - I truly love them yet could I be a bigger sell-out, eh?) Also, 9th grade me would start lecturing current me on the dangers of binge-drinking ... jeez who is right here?!?

But although I have FINALLY perfected the art of flatironing my hair and actually started talking to boys, I think on the inside I am pretty much the same. Well, maybe this is getting too deep for a blog post, so I may come back to this later. But ya know, I still crack up laughing (when I'm sitting by myself in the library - how sad) about a Scrubs reference or the like. On the inside, I'm still somewhat of a loser so past Elizabeth, take heart.

OK well maybe this post will turn into a two-fer. Because unlike cardigans, well actually like cardigans, this is serious and one most devote serious time to it. But let me leave you with some pics:

OK, check out the hottieeeee. I kid. Look at me, I'm 18 and so proud of my straight hair.

And this is me now (OK, well end of summer but most recent solo picture of moi). I'm dressed as a cavewoman. What. The hell. Yes that is a dog bone in my hair and yes I was on my way to drunksville.

I'm not quite ready to read my letter tomorrow. We'll see how this goes. I will probably cry.

As if I needed further proof...

... that my life is clothes. Yep, that's pretty much it. I mean, minus thinking about what I'm going to eat next, I pretty much just think about clothes.

Last night I anxiously thought of the perfect dress-to-pin outfit that would work for today's forecast, which I of course consulted on weather.com.

And today I was bummed about wandering around X-Lot looking for a truck with Alaskan plates (there was a purpose to that, I swear) and having made the executive decision not to go to the new International Cafe on the off-chance that the rumors are false and that it is not open, and so I would have trudged quite aways for nothing ... when some woman who was probably in her mid-to-late 40s (but I cannot judge age for anything so for all I know she was 12) pointed at me and said, "That's a cute outfit!"

And then I danced happily because well, someone liked the outfit I had put so much thought into, so I have a purpose in life.

And then I went to the post office and my new J.Crew skirt had arrived and I was embarassed so I folded over the package so no one could see the logo.

And yes, I have already picked out my tentative outfit for tomorrow. Whadyagonnadoboutit?!

First day of school thoughts

I'm a senior?!?

I am one of three seniors in this class ... how weird.

Oh god, he's going to call my name soon, will anyone snicker when my last name is said??

I love new notebooks!

My apartment. Is so. Far away.

Yep, the Richmond dress-up-for-class stereotype lives on. (Was I exempt from this? Hell, of course not!)

Hmm, probably the only time all year the libs will be so empty.

Wait, I'm still a senior?

When will I ever go to the gym??!!

I hate walking outside to go to the laundry machines.

I feel so old, but since when have all the underclassmen boys been so cute!!

Yeah seniors, can I get a woop woop?

Greetings, lovelies.

I came to the conclusion today that I have a major concentration problem.

(Insert joke about getting distracted).

I mean, I always kind of knew this. But today I was working on a newspaper story and getting surriously distracted. Not even by anything in particular. My mind just didn't want to concentrate. This is a problem, no?

So one of my school year goals is to stop letting my mind wander quite so much. Also, to stop chewing ice, but since I haven't been using ice in the three days I've lived in my new apartment I think I'm good on that one.

Peace.

Bugz

Wait. The hell. This has just been a day of bugs a plenty and I am SICK OF IT.

First, there was the cricket in our bathroom. Which I managed to trap after it leaped at me, angry bug, but couldn't get the nerve to bring it outside. Oopie. Would snap a pic of the ridiculous situation but my camera is deadddd and I am lazy.

And then there was cricket numero two. Who has since disappeared. But he doesn't like me either, since I threw a sneaker at him. He's probably lurking, ready to sneak attack me.

So later, I'm in my car coming back from the grocery and there is some unidentifable bug (probably a hornet but am not certain), hanging out on the front of the car. He stayed there for awhile - I watched. Thank goodness I didn't get into an accident because I really probably watched him more than I watched the road.

And just now there was a teeny gnat on my shorts. Ewwww.

This isn't counting the big ol' ants in our kitchen. Which I actually can mostly handle, since I only ever see one at a time and then I squish 'em. It's just a hassle, is all.

I HATE BUGS. 'Cept for ladybugs. What I would give for a ladybug infestation right now!

This has been a weird day. Have also had strange encounters with rednecks, among other things. Maybe I'll recount that later.

Summer Reading List

OK, so am biggest nerd ever. But I'm OK with that because reading is fun!

This summer one of my goals was to get through part of the big stack o' books sitting in my room. And I think I did a pretty decent job! So now I'm going to show off and tell you all about them. Be jealous. Or not.

1. The Pact: A Love Story by Jodi Picoult

I'd heard good things, and this book did not disapoint. I started it over Beach Week, and I was pretty much entranced until I finished it. Twist ending, if you're into that sort of thing. I also learned some things about law trials, which was kind of cool.

2. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffengger

So this book gained a lot of popularity because of the somewhat recent movie (which I haven't seen), and I know a lot of girls who had read it and enjoyed it (and one who did not but oh well). So I decided to give it a shot! I remember really liking it at the start, and then I felt like it was starting to get old, and I just wanted to hurry up and finish it. But I'm glad that I did, because in the end it was a good read! Not sure if I would want to watch the movie but maybe. Also - time travel is pretty fascinating, albeit confusing!

3. Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner

I've read one other book by her (Good in Bed), which I really liked, so I picked this one up figuring I'd like it. Plus it's been on a bunch of bestseller lists recently, so how could it not be good? I hate the title, but really it was not as cheesy as you would think with a title like that. Also more dramatic than I was counting on, but again it worked.

4. Some Like it Hot (A-List series) by Zoey Dean.

This is a relic from my high school days when I read a lot of Gossip Girl-esque books. You know, very simple, lots of high fashion name-dropping, rich kids, etc. I guess I never got around to reading it because it was in the stack. And you know what? I enjoyed it. Thoroughly. Guess that makes me a simple high schooler but I don't care. It had more heart than I previously remembered from the series. Plus what beats a book you can breeze through and enjoy? Not much.

5. American Beauty (A-List series) by Zoey Dean

See above.

6. Hissy Fit by Mary Kay Andrews

This is an example of Southern chick lit (honestly, so many sub-genres, who would have thought!) And at first I was like bahhh I cannot take so many southern stereotypes. But then I realized that hello I like southern things so I got really into this very long book with the bright yellow and pink cover and I'm glad I did. It was fun. Not very thought-provoking, but fun!

7. Baby Proof by Emily Giffen

LOVED this book. I really, really like this author and I liked this one even more than other things I've read by her. Also totally not as cutesy as the cutesy cover made it out to be, but I read this one relatively quickly. Because I loved it so much. One of those books that you just want to laze around and read until it's over, and then you get upset because the last chapter is quickly coming to a close.

8. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark

This has been sitting around forever, and it's a "classic" or so I believe so I felt compelled to read it. Save yourself the trouble. It's very short but somehow took me awhile to read sadly. I guess I only finished it because I was dying to know who betrayed Miss Brodie, as the back cover hints at. Eh. Not that exciting.

9. Eat, Pray, Love by Liz Gilbert

I feel like such a poser, reading this just because a movie was coming out. I mean, I'd been interested for awhile, but just never got around to it and it was now or never right? And it was just OK. Toward the end some juicy stuff happened. I didn't hate it, far from it, but it wasn't the life-changing book it was made out to be. Will I see the movie? Probably, and I say probably only because I'm at school and rarely make it out to the theater. If I was at home, it would be a definite.

10. One For the Money by Janet Evancovich

First in a long series of books about Stephanie Plum, bounty hunter! Which has intrigued me a lot I admit, so when I saw the first four books at the Tennis Club's "library" I snatched them up. I guess just to show how much I enjoyed it, I started it before Eat, Pray, Love but EPL got finished first. Also, I borrowed that one so had to return it ... but anyway, Stephanie Plum, you weren't as compelling as I hoped! That is, until the very end when things got good. So now the dilemma : do I spend any more time reading these books? I guess I can give the second one a chance. How sad, that I consider this a dilemma.

And the final one (which is still a work in progress so shouldn't technically be on this list but who cares?):
11. I Did (But I Wouldn't Now) by Cara Lockwood

Agreed. Stupid title. But I can't pass up a stupid chick lit book!!! And actually I like the story, stupid as it is (divorced wife of rock star goes to London, craziness ensues ...). My only gripe - how did this book get published?? What is with the grammatical errors? I don't entirely get it. But can't wait to see if she ends up with her best guy friend!

And there you have it, my summer reading list. Can't wait til winter break when I can read more for fun! For now, it'll just be a lot of texting reading ... thrills.

It's a miracle ...

... almost.

At New York Deli with my momma. I don't get carded. Victory for strict Richmond! Three minutes later.

Waiter: (Trying to be cute and sitting down next to my mom on the bench) I'll have to ask to see both of y'all's IDs.

Bahhhhh. So close.

Also, my mom refused to be carded, but chardonnay for all!

In other back-at-school news, I love my handicapped apartment! And no, none of my roommates are handicapped. We're just lucky like that. If you call this lucky. But really, I truly believe that almost anything will work out for the best. At first, I was alll whiny about it because it wasn't the apartment block we wanted to live in. But you know, it's not that far away, and it's bigger.

Vegetarian musings

This whole no meat thing isn't so bad, really. Who needs beef? Not this girl. I'm just a little worried I'm going to end up at a dinner party where someone is cooking chicken and I appear rude when I don't eat it.

I'm also worried that I'm going to drunkenly eat debris fries or something at Bruno's. Because that's the kind of idiot I am. I mean, I guess saving the animals isn't that important to me if I eat pepperoni after drinking a Long Island Iced Tea. Also, I guess I need to figure out my stance on chicken broth and the like. As of yet, I don't really care/think about these kinds of things, but I don't want to be called out on being a "bad" vegetarian. Pescatarian. Mmm shrimp.

Also! News, people. I had an oyster po-boy FINALLY. From Domilise's if you're curious.

Also - I just addressed the people. As if more than three people will ever see this.

And if you want to hear more innane dribble about stuff, follow me on twitter! elizhyman, yo. I got an account way back when (like sophomore year, whoa!) but only tweeted about three times. But as I updated two nights ago - I'm back in the game! And I think everyone should get an account and tweet because I'm not going to lie I think it'd be really fun if we all followed each other and got constant life updates and thoughts!!

Why I am contradicting myself: Vegetarianism

I'm kind of an everything-in-moderation person. I eat meat, but try not to eat too much of it, and instead more natural "real" foods (like what Michael Pollan preaches), even though I have a horrific sweet tooth and really like vodka. Mr. Pollan probably wouldn't approve of the fact that I ate cookie cake for breakfast this morning, but everything in moderation?

So awhile back I wrote about my thoughts on the food industry, vegetarianism, etc. And that's pretty much how I felt up until I read this this afternoon (while eating chicken, no less).

I love animals, how could I not? But I really didn't have a problem with eating meat, because it's just the way life is. But if animals actually have a lot more intellectually going on than we thought, isn't it kind of weird?

I don't know how long this will last, but for now I feel a lil' funny eating meat - except fish and seafood. I refuse to believe that shrimp have thought processes. But maybe science will prove me wrong and eventually shrimp will rise up and take over the planet.

Mom - Avert your eyes

Well, she's going to read this anyway, but seriously, it made ME cringe. My mom would've hated it!

I had been planning all summer to organize my terror of a closet (I neglected to get a before shot, only a mid-way through one, my b!). Today was the day. (Techically I started yesterday but that was only like two small drawers of underthings.)

This:

Please examine the pile o' clothes hanging out by the closet door. As well as the piles that are forming on my bed - the one on the far end is my "lounging/hanging out T-shirts" pile, which I eventually had to form a second stack for. Oy.

Oh my goodness, THE CLOTHES! The PILE of clothes that I created in cleaning out every drawer and shelf. On a side note: Could I HAVE any more T-shirts? Seriously.

Turned into this:

Check out the emtpy drawer and emtpy shelf. Holy cow. Just goes to show what some folding can do for ya.

Will it stay like this? Let's just say it's a good thing I leave for Richmnd in about two weeks...

Final thought: I have some pretty kick-ass clothes, I cannot lie. I need to wear some of those things more often! I had forgotten about my extensive cardigan collection. I die.

Other final thought: I found underwear, from, oh, the 6th grade in a drawer. Somehow that drawer had not been open since the new millenium?? The embarassment. Which I just shared on the world wide web.

21 and a half

So Sunday was my half birthday. And this is how I celebrated:

Watched endless TV, including Freaks and Geeks* on DVD

Source

Made these bad boys, and ate about a zillion of them while watching the aforementioned Freaks and Geeks

Read some of Eat, Pray, Love**

and made this delicious mess for dinner**

Pretty good half birthday I'd say! Wow, 22 is just five months and change away!

*Am now pretty much obsessed/strangely in love with almost every boy on this show. Even Neil. That's not weird, right?

**It's just OK

***Adapted from We Are Not Martha. I made a lot of substitutions, but was inspired by the recipe.

They try to make me go to rehab...

Yesterday, my mom and I went shopping at Perkins Rowe in BR. And at J.Crew, she very generously bought me three new T-shirts. With, you guessed, it, 3d embellishments.

I have a problem. It's getting serious people.

Modeling one of my new bedecked purchases. I'll spare everyone the other two.

There are worse addictions one could have, I suppose. Pray that the rosette doesn't go out of style for a long, long time!

Wahh

Out of all the horrible things that have come out of this oil spill in the Gulf, what I'm most upset about is lack of oyster po-boys.

That's a joke. Kind of. I am really upset about lack of my beloved sandwich, but I am really upset about all the damage that has been done.

I did have oysters this summer! At the Blue Plate Cafe, I had an fried oyster and brie wrap. We asked our waitress, and she said that their supplier still had oysters, but once they were gone ... that was it. You bet I ate every last oyster.

Let's hope all this nonsense is reversed soon. BP did put that cap on, and according to this article, things are looking up.

Sweet Summer

It feels like summer is winding down, even though it's only mid-July. I guess once I realize I have a month left of being at home, things start to get a little scary.

So I guess I have to savor every bit that's left, although a whole month is a long time! I have such an odd concept of time. But I don't want to leave for senior year and think that I didn't appreciate the time off of classes and papers and late nights. But shouldn't I appreciate every day? No matter what?

And I think I do a pretty good job of that. Even if I'm just being lame and watching endless episodes of Scrubs, or browsing brownie recipes online.

Summer is one of my favorite things - but I'm also a little anxious to get back to the Richmond grind! Senior year is going to be interesting.

J. Crew Query

I have a question for the Crew:

How come, for the past 2304980 years, you have had a sale on tortoiseshell hair accessories? Why does no one want them?? Why are you so eager to get rid of them? So many questions!

Also, on two different occasions my shopping partners have accidentally stolen headbands or clips. I swear, it really was an accident!

Also, I was at the mall today, and J. Crew, Banana Republic and Ann Taylor Loft are all pretty much paying you to take the clothes from them. Crazy, crazy reductions. Although, sadly, (but good for my wallet), not all of it was super cute! I guess that's why it was so cheap. But I did buy a new Banana navy blue shirt with rosettes on it. Of course.

The Passage of Time, part 2

Wha??? So when I checked my spidermail this morning, I had an e-mail instructing me to order my gap and gown for graduation!! (and for Proclamation Night, which is in September, so that's not that far off really.)

Crazy. Crazy crazy.

I was going to go off on some, why freshman year Proclamation Night was like yesterday, high school graduation was two days ago ... but those events actually seem like a REALLY long time ago. Not that I don't remember them very well, but still. I have to hand it to the passage of time here. You're doing your job.

What is actually crazy is that it's time for these things. Although, I guess I knew this would have to happen sometime. I was just hoping to extend my time as an undergrad a bit longer, but whatever. Also, I'm scared of wearing a cap and gown a bit. Since I wore a white dress to my Newman graduation, caps and gowns seem very foreign to me.

Weird Fact

Weird fact about myself: From spring of my freshmen year until the beginning of this past semester, I wore a pair of beads around my hips. Ghana beads. With the exception of them falling off for a day sophomore year and me freaking out until I found them in the laundry basket, I never took them off.

Freshmen year, one of my hallmates, Ellis, is a native of Ghana. And after going home for break, she brought back a ton of strings of beads for us to adorn ourselves with. Mine were a maroonish-purple color, if you're interested!

I probably kept mine on the longest, I'm sure. I'll admit, it's pretty weird to wear beads around your hips for an extended period of time.

And one time, a boy asked if I was wearing a chastity belt.

Source

Um. No.

Beer and good friends ...

... is all you need!*

Went to Washington D.C. this weekend:

Ate good pancakes and did a helluva lot of walking,

Watched a parade, and danced and danced,

Slept on a couch that smelled like a wet dog and watched amazing fireworks,

Photo Credit: Shelby Siegel


Melded groups,

Photo Credit: Shelby Siegel


Wore one dollar patriotic hats,

Photo Credit: Shelby Siegel


...and drank a lot of beer with friends.




So American.

*Said my friend Hannah. She is so good with the one-liners!

Ahh, the passage of time...

Happy July 1st! But seriously. Where did June go?!? Seriously, I'm freaking out, because this is basically the last summer ever. And it's slipping away so fast. Let's just pause, watch some bad tv in our pajamas, eat some ice cream, and soak summer in.

A few things that I'm really into right now:

Joy the Baker's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls

I seriously cannot stop thinking about these, they sound that amazing. I love raw cookie dough, and these are egg-free! So no worries of salmonella! In fact, I've even thought of just making the dough portion, and not bothering even freezing it. And eating it for dinner. Is that weird? Don't answer that.

Washington, D.C.


Where I'm going this weekend, with Shelby, to visit Hannah! The Core will be reunited!




Oh yeah, and I also get to see these girls!



It should be pretty awesome.

Also, can't wait to rock my white shorts on the fourth!

I guess these shorts are another thing I'm really into. I swear, everytime I walk by an American Eagle I'm probably going to stop in and see if these shorts are on sale, because I would definitely buy them in more colors. They fit really well, but the fabric also is super nice ... dare I say kind of luxurious?

Have a lovely July 4th! I hope it's full of fireworks and beer!

I love the days when I don't wear underwear. Full commando!

I have two episodes left on my Glee DVD. I'm so sad. I need to figure out when the next DVD set comes out, because I am OBSESSED. However, according to bn.com, it won't be available until September 14th. What?!? Gahh must have it NOW. I guess the next solution is just keep on checking the TV Guide to see where Fox is in the re-runs.

I'm not going to lie, way back when, when the Times-Picayune TV reviewer was talking about upcoming fall shows, and he mentioned how much he loved Glee, I read the article and I thought, OK, I love music, but this just seems so far-fetched! How could it work?? Well, they made it work.*


Source

Also, am in love with Puck.


*Tim Gunn? Anyone?

So Fresh and So Clean

So it’s going on about five days now. Five days that I have made my bed. You see, I’m not the best at keeping my room tidy. As in, I never make my bed. And I have a tendency to try on half my closet while getting ready to go out, and then neglecting to put the rejects back where they belong. And letting my clean, folded clothes sit around, until they, too become scattered around the room. And gosh, my desk. For once, it’s just my laptop, lamp and other essentials, and not 500 pieces of papers and pens cluttering it up.

And I’m going to try to keep this up. I do feel somewhat calmer without stuff everywhere. And it really is just stuff (although I have such a hard time letting go with any of it!).

However, I cannot vouch for my room at school starting in August. That’s just a whole ‘nother story.

High Skool

Yesterday I had a hankering to find my senior yearbook (mainly to tally up how many girls are in sororities - 21 out of 40, fyi), and then I got distracted looking at our senior candids.

My friends Shelby and Hannah wrote the caption, and they truly deserve an award. If I had a computer scanner I would put it here, but alas I don't. Just picture me, in ugly glasses, as a book nerd. That really is all.

But anyway, what I REALLY wanted to share from high school was this. I was cleaning out my room over the weekend and found a bunch of papers from my senior year Creative Writing class. There were truly some gems. Honestly, I crack myself up! I think this is from the 'free writing' session we'd usually do at the beginning of class.

"Honestly, why is there a tree in the classroom. Next thing you know, another one will pop up; soon after, the whole place will be a forest. We'll be trying to learn with woodland creatures underfoot. And then one of us will be eaten by a bear. It'll probably be me, because I'm slow and have no street smarts. I always though that I would rather die by bear than alligator or crocidile, since I am absolutely terrified by those, But I'd probably die a lot faster. One chomp and you're gone. A beat most likely would rip me to shreds while I'm still alive."

What! Why? Who knows...

And then there was a list of things that was wrong with my life at the moment (gosh I can be such a Negative Nancy). I'll spare you most of the idiocy, but the last item on the list: "I'm wearing an ugly, oversized bowling shirt!"

Hahahaha, glad that was included. Thanks, high school me!

PB & J Cookies

So last Saturday night I got bit by the baking bug. Which was really weird, because I'd just gotten home from eating my weight in lebanese food, but who knows. Actually, I'd spent the better part of my afternoon poking around We Are Not Martha (love this blog!) so guess I was in the creative, baking mood.

So I made these simple Peanut Butter and Jelly cookies, from Joy the Baker. Now, I bookmark a lot of recipes, and rarely do I get around to making them. But ever since I saw these sometime last week, I just couldn't get them off my mind! And there's so few ingredients involved, that I couldn't not make them.

So here's what you need:


From L - R: Raspberry preserves (although you can use any jam, jelly or preserves you want), peanut butter, an egg, sugar and baking power. See? Very simple ingredients.



The peanut butter and sugar are beaten together (which was rather difficult, damn sticky PB).



And then the egg and baking powder was added. Yummm it's starting to look real delish!

So after much licking of the beaters (cue me feeling sick but it was so worth it) I scooped out the dough onto the baking sheet, which was interesting, since the dough was so crumbly and had to be rolled into a lil' ball.



And then I got to stick my finger into it (hence the term thumbpring cookies)...



And spoon on the jelly!



Out of the oven!



And about to go in my mouth...

So that was my Saturday night. Makin' cookies while listening to the Beyonce station on Pandora. Pretty sweet, eh?

"So ... read any good books lately?"

Lame-o line. Don't say this to people at parties, they'll think your lame. Unless it's like a librarian party or something.

BUT. I have read a lot of good books lately! I am so lame, in fact, that I look foward to summer vacation as a time to read for fun! Something I definitely do not do enough of during the school year.

I'm even keeping a summer reading list, just like we would have to do in school! And I'll share it at the end of the summer! So (stupid) cool, right?

Here's a poem that I wrote in the fourth grade. Yes, I have it memorized.

Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high!
Oh, how I love them,
Oh, how I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them.

We can't die tonight, I'm wearing my mother's underwear!

Last night was a good night, my friends. It was the night that I found my Grease 2 DVD!

About a year and half ago, I thought it missing. I was devastated. Couldn't understand, how could I lose such a precious item?? And if someone had stolen it from me - who would take such a bad* movie from me?!

But last night, I got the hankering to watch Heathers. And what do ya know, inside the case is not just the Heathers DVD, but Grease 2!

It's the little things, people. Finding a long lost DVD, that was pretty much the best ever.

*I admit, it's pretty bad

I did it!

source

This afternoon, I bit the bullet ... and I bought the Glee DVD!!

After several drunken promises to buy the DVD the next day so I could get prepared to start off on the right foot next season (including after a particularly moving moment in which Jordan almost got down on her knees in shock after hearing I'd never watched this show*), it took a text from Hannah that John Stamos will be on it sometime next season!


source

Oh, John Stamos, my love. So glad you're working on television again, but let's face it, not everyone gets to go see him on Broadway in 'Bye, Bye, Birdie' (cough, Julia, cough).

So when it arrives in the mail in 2 to 6 business days, I will watch the first episode and discover what all the fuss is about. Can't wait!

*What does this say about me, that everyone is so surprised? I guess the tag of musical theatre freak never truly fades ...

Why?

I'm sick. An unfortunate cough. Made even more unfortunate by the fact that I'm taking the LSAT tomorrow. Why?! I must be being punished for something. Only logical explanation.

Although, this way when I make a not-so-hot score, I'll have the excuse of "Well, I was coughing so painfully that I couldn't possibly concentrate on all those reading passages..." or something like that.

Happy Day of Rest!

Hey, Hey Daddy!

The LSAT is on Monday. I'm kinda sorta freaked out.

I can bring a quart sized ziplock with an assortment of things including my number two pencils, a small snack, and photo id!

Gah. Why did I decide to take this on again?

Go youtube Usher's "Daddy's Home." Classic.

Overusage

So I realized yesterday (with the help of my friend Hannah) that I use the terms "hit or miss" and "a caricature of himself"* over and over again. What can I say? It seems like I keep on encountering people that are hit or miss or just caricatres of themselves!

Maybe I should submit them to urbandictionary.com. Ya know, since I already have an account there and everything. NBD.

In other news, am home alone. By alone, I mean I have these guys here with me:



Doing what he does when he's not meowing for food - sleep.



What a sweet.

What should I do with myself!? I guess study for the LSAT. But I might try to make something fancy for dinner instead of heating up leftovers or whatnot. Ooh, maybe I'll try to actually complete a crossword. I say that every day. But I mean, maybe this time I'll actually put effort into it.

*I had to look up hoow to spell that. How sad.

There is a god!

So yesterday I was in a local grocery store and you know what I saw?!?

Heinz Ketchup without high fructose corn syrup!!!!!

Ahhh best day ever. Told my mom we totes have to buy that when we're finished with our normal bottle.

This is super exciting because yes, organic ketchups exist without the stuff but they be pricey (!). Also, if Heinz rolls this stuff out, maybe eventually (we're talking like five years here) restaurants will have it too!

This just goes to show, maybe we CAN live in a HFCS-free world!

And random, but a warning to all my bare minerals ladies out there: the new twisty packaging. Be careful! A shard of plastic somehow just got stuck in my thumb. Not really super painful (more gross than anything) but still not something you want to happen.

Hmm, maybe I should write to bareminerals and try to get a free sample or something. Happy Friday!

Future

Do you ever get really freaked out about your future? Can't lie, had a major meltdown earlier today. Major.

I'm torn - there's not much I can do about my future right now, right? Better not to freak myself out. On the flipside, I feel like there has to be good and bad effects for everything that happens everyday. Didn't Malcolm Gladwell write a book about that? Must investigate.

But I digress. Is it worth it making myself into a worried frenzy? Over what?

Yes. Maybe. Not sure.

One Year Ago...

One year ago today ...

... I was halfway done with college

... my mom was helping me move out

... I was getting ready to leave for Beach Week

... I was so excited to study abroad

... I couldn't wait to get away from Richmond for a semester

Today ...

... one final stands between me and being a senior

... I moved all my stuff out by myself this morning

... (once again) am getting ready for Beach Week

... I miss studying abroad

... but I now love Richmond, and can't imagine going anywhere else for college

So as not to get too sentimental or anything - one year ago today I still had long hair!! Cutting it short = best decision ever.



My lovely friend Molly and I, who I get to see in a week! And my hurr - there was a lot of it.

I love ...

I was just thinking about the yummy D-Hall dinner I had tonight, which involved CARROT SOUFFLE!

Carrot souffle is one of life's simple pleasures (for me, at least), and it got me thinking about some other little things that made today special:

-The Disney station on Pandora

-reminiscing about Hanson with mah friendz at dinner

-seeing a rainbow (!)

-turning in a paper a day early

OK, maybe that's not such a "simple pleasure" but it freakin' rocks! Now only one paper and one final to take boo-ya!

Hi, Mom! See, I'm updating!

Tomorrow is my last class of my junior year! Crazy, no? At 11:45 tomorrow morning (well, let's face it, 11:48, because the professor always lets us out late) I will be dunzo.

Dunzo with class that is. Still have to write two papers, a final story and take a final.

And then it is Beach Week. What what can't wait! Let's hope I don't repeat the Stripe of Beach Week '09, however. Re-apply, people, re-apply!

(I googled 'sunburn' for pictures to post here to illustrate what I do NOT want to happen. Let's just say they all made me extremely uncomfortable, and so I will leave you with this picture instead:)


Photo Credit: threadbombing.com

Goodnight, I am exhausted, I got 4 1/2 hours of sleep last night. It just hit me.

Epiphany

Life is uncertain, so eat dessert first.

Hence why am eating my red velvet frozen yogurt before I eat my so-called real food. Lovely.

Fun stuff from this weekend:

Alpha Chi Semi-Formal:


Photo Credit: Meghan Johnson

Julia and I showing off the awesome array of food

Seeing "The Last Song"


Photo Credit: mileycyruszone.com

Yes I cried.

Going to bed real early last night. The best.

Have a lovely week! Let's hope that I get to do yoga in the morning!

Meh

I've definitely had worse days, much worse days, to keep this all in perspective. But today was just kind of nuts!

First of all, no yoga!! I know, after my ode to yoga pants yesterday, sheesh. But at least then I was up and about and able to run errands including filling up my gas tank and buying allergy medicine...

Because the pollen is freakin' EVERYWHERE. My car is covered in it (along with everyone else's on campus) and I stood in the girls' room for like ten minutes sneezing constantly. Luckily, the meds kicked in eventually but before that was not too pleasant.

Also - basically realized that between school and Collegian and beginning studying for the LSAT (eek!) I have got to get a tad more dedicated (and I'd like to dedicate more time to blogging as well). All without majorly sacrificing sleep. Hoo-boy ... only four weeks until Beach Week?! Ahhhh.

Also I hate both Visual Journalism and 'Moby Dick.' That is all.


Photo Credit: ephemerist.files.wordpress.com

Stupid white whale full of homoeroticism and many many pages...*

Have a happy Tuesday readers!

*I realize this image of a white Sperm Whale is ha-uge. But stupid Blogger changed the way pictures are uploaded...grr hence I cannot control their size.

Ch-ch-changes?

Listen to that David Bowie song, stat!

But notices any changes? Yes, new bloggy name! How did this come about, you ask?

Well last week in class, I realized that I don't know a lot of the other students very well. And so I imagined us going around and introducing little tidbits of information about ourselves. (Don't worry, class hadn't started yet - hence the daydreaming was not detrimental!)

What would I say?? I wondered. Well, I would say that I'm from New Orleans, I'm a journalism major, I am an Alpha Chi and copy editor for the Collegian ... and I really like country music and cupcakes. There ya go.

Hand me the Geritol

OK, so apparently at the tender age of 21 I am too old to go to the lodges. I've been saying this all semester, and after finally making it last night ... I was right.

"I just wanna daaaaance" basically sums it up. Seriously. All I want to do is dance. With my friends/by myself jumping around like a loon. I do not want to dance with any boys, espeically any freshmen/sophomores (sorry to the boy who looked like he was 14 that I ditched like twice last night. The first time all of a sudden all my gals were gone and so I just sort of ran away. And the second time it was during Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling" and so I literally told him: "This is my jam. I have to jam out to it. By myself." He got the message.)

Maybe this just had to do with the fact that we were at SAE, the only lodge that was open, and I'm not particularly fond of that frat, and the music BLEW. Seriously, Black Eyed Peas was the only good thing in a sea of weird techno. All I wanted was my Rihanna, guys.

Watching guys and girls grinding, watching guys and girls making out ... hmm it was all weird and voyeuristic. Don't think I was drunk enough. Shout-out to the attractive black male who asked me to dance. Yes, he ASKED, instead of being a creeper and just grinding away. I turned him down, because after all, it was my jam, but I appreciated it nonetheless.

Oh, and my feet got really really dirty. Damn lodge floors. Direct quote from me as we are exiting the lodge: "My blister's acting uppp!" See, I sound like a grandma.

SPRING

Not to be cliche ... but Spring has sprung!

Ok, we have a beautiful campus but today it was just gorge! And everyone's breaking out the sundresses and sandals and seriously our school is like a freakin' J.Crew catalogue (and yes I'm inside blogging this I'm a loser, but I can't lie I'm slightly scared to be outside for long periods of time because I'm out of sunscreen).

Speaking of J.Crew - why are you so damn expensive, yet so damn adorable!?!

That's why I'm obsessed with Lands'End Canvas, just as cute, but at a cheaper pricepoint! Just wish it had a physical store but we can't have everything we want, can we?

Things I really really like:



This has a ruffle so I'm basically sold (I'm wearing a J.Crew vneck with ruffles right now what can I say I'm a ruffle fool).



Remember the time when yellow was so hot? Well, I think this dress could bring it back.



These are pretty much identical to the ones that J.Crew had last summer that I really wanted but couldn't justify spending so much money on them ... OK so these may not be any cheaper but I digress. They cute!

All images from Lands'End Canvas Web site

I definitely wore some Lands'End back in the day. I want to bring it back!

Back to the grind...

Well I'm back at Richmond after an awesome break at home!

Highlights: Watching the Oscars with Molly (I have a lot to say about the Oscars...but I won't. Except that they way they presented Best Picture was very very off).

Going on my first ghost tour in the French Quarter!

My first run on the neutral ground!

Lots of yummy yummy food (including oyster po-boys and my mother's crawfish etoufee!)

Lots of going out! Wahoos! I love Tulane bars! Especially The Boot Happy Hour, which I had brinner before, duh.

Just being home. I love home.

And I feel good about this second half of the semester. Lots of good things coming up! And I'm going to try and and stay on top of my work but check back with me in like a week and half...

Food?

So this morning I watched a DVR-d episode of Oprah about, well, food. She was inspired by the documentary Food, Inc. (which I have not seen and don't plan on it because A. I read Fast Food Nation and B. I can do without seeing more of the footage they showed on the show, thankyouverymuch).

But it seriously raises A LOT of ideas about food. And I flirt with this idea all the time. Usually after seeing footage of baby chicks but whatever.

So my new thing is eating real food. Like, as unprocessed as possible. Which is a ridiculous goal, I know, and I fail at it a lot but for instance, I try to eat carrots instead of potato chips with my sandwich at lunch. Carrots - unprocessed! Woo!

And I tend to eat meat only once a day (failed at this yesterday. My mom made me brinner and I was dying for some bacon with it, after having eaten some steak at lunch. My b.)

I don't think I could ever go fully vegetarian, because I like meat. And I think this is OK, because I don't love it. I'm perfectly fine eating a really good cheeseburger every once in awhile than eating red meat all the time. And I can justify this because I do think humans were meant to eat meat. Not the way it's being handled in the farms right now, sadly, but humans have been eating meat since the hungry Asians chased the wooly mammoths across the ice bridge and started North America. Seriously. And I think if chickens and pigs were treated more ethically, than they would definitely fall under the title of "real food."

Michael Pollan, an author who writes about food and was featured on this Oprah episode, has been gaining a lot of buzz lately with his new book "Food Rules" and his mantra: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Ima try to follow this.

The Price for Eating Yogurt

So I buy a yogurt today while at Target doing some shopping, as part of my airport lunchie.

Hmmm. No spoon. Can't get through security with it. So I start asking around the food places before security, to see if I can't just have a plastic spoon.

No, apparently I can't. I had to pay 16 cents at Applebee's.

Good yogurt though!

Funny story

So long time no update, readers. I feel bad, but I am BURIED under schoolwork and midterms. But that's OK, because spring break is the light at the end of the tunnel! But I just wanted to share one funny story.

So I stayed up late Wednesday night, working on a paper (didn't finish, no big deal). And didn't put on make-up this Thursday morning (or this morning either for that matter), so it is dark circle central up in here.

The scene: Me, walking to the Pier. It is really really sunny out, so can't really see anything either.

Kevin Grayson, football player/coolest person ever is walking toward me. Little do I know that a teammate of his is behind me. So yes, it's sunny, it looks like K-Gray is looking RIGHT at me. He asks, "How late did you stay up last night?"

And I was like OH MY GOD ARE MY DARK CIRCLES THAT BAD?!? So I say "Wait, are you talking to me?!?"

He laughs and I realized that there was another guy behind me. So I laugh it off and say "Because I was up really, really late!"

Anyway: need to remember my sunglasses. need to not slack on sleep. and Kevin Grayson is awesome!!

And now it's offically Spring Break!! Ow ow NOLA here I come! Am drinking wine and doing laundry - great night!

Debbie Downer? Realistic Rhonda?

I just made Realistic Rhonda up. In case you were curious.

Ok so this may be a bit Debbie Downer, and I don't want to create a self-fulfilling prophecy or what not, but I thought I had figured out what the difference between high school and college is. And it's not co-ed bathrooms.*

Anyway, I have always thought that I could do/get pretty much whatever I wanted, just by working hard. I wanted to join a sorority, so I did. I wanted to work on the newspaper, so I applied. I wanted to learn to run, and I stuck with that (although those blisters are killer). I wanted to make friends at college, and finally, as a second-semester junior, I feel that I finally fit in here.

And at the end of my sophomore year of high school, I realized that I wanted to get into a really good college. And that I wanted to improve my grades, so I did, just by studying harder than I ever had before. And I did it. Sure, I didn't get into some good universities, but they accept like .1 percent of applicants. But I did get in here, and not to toot the school's horn or anything, but academically, it's hot shit.

But, I've lately started to think about this difference between high school and college. In high school, working hard = high grades. In college, it's smartness = high grades. I feel like no matter how much effort I put into a story, or how closely I do the reading, I just can't make it work. As if, as if I'm just not smart enough.

Anyway, this lead to major breakdown, which my suitemate Ellen helped me out of. Basically, she said some things that did make a lot of sense. One of which is that it is midterms time and I think I am just beyond stressed thinking about everything that has to be completed before Spring Break.

Sudden thought: Why do I care about grades so much? Yes, I need a good transcript to get into Law School, but I'm not even sure I'd do well there. After all, I really don't think I'm smart enough (evidenced by the fact that I literally understand nothing a professor says until like 5 minutes later). But maybe I just don't want to go? Good grades, show what? Show that I'm smart? That I've worked hard? Both? So what do bad grades show? That I'm stupid and didn't put in enough effort? Basically. Did I burn out after high school? I've never been smart, I am positive of this. I'm just a hard worker. So what am I cut out for in life? I'd like to think that the real world is another high school - that if I put in the hard work, I'll rise to the top. But to the top of what? We've been put in this ridiculous rat race, and I can't shake it. It's all one big contest, even more so than high school. A contest on who can say the more insiteful crap about feminism in Emerson's work (and honestly, who wants to sound that conceited? English majors, pull yours head out of your asses and talk in laymen terms please (I'm only a minor, a self-proclaimed stupid one at that, so I'm allowed to say this)).

I think I know what I like to do. I like working in a group environment (hello, Collegian and Alpha Chi exec!) and I like being creative (this blog). Ok, future solved.

*Well we don't have those. But I was thinking of the fiction Pembroke of 'Boy Meets World'. Anyway.

Friendly Faces, Everywhere

Ok, I don't know what the title of that is. Kind of cheesy I know. But it's true! Ok, sometimes I do hate on my school, because some girls are kinda bitchy/aloof.

But the ones I do know and are my friends are pretty effin awesome! And this post goes out to some general awesome people here:

- Dean Landphair: You are cool, you are from NOLA, and your son is adorable. Basically. And it's clear that you really enjoy your job! Woo Westhampton College!

- Emily and Liz: Yes it was just the three of us at our table during Westhampton Council dinner, but you guys were awesome and it was a pleasure talking to you two!

- Lady at the Pier who I don't know your name but you are so adorable: Thanks for being friendly, and always telling me what variety of bagels are available. I always try to go to your cash register!

So just a shout-out to those awesome people, even though they do not read this blog. And everyone, just be awesome because it makes my life more fun!

Random thought

Not that I don't have a fulfilling life, because I think that I definitely do. But sometimes something just feels a bit off.

And just now I realized. It's because when I'm at school I never read for fun!

When I'm on break, I go through so many books. But it seriously falls by the wayside at school and I'm not sure why.

Maybe this is something that I have to accept, and know that my post-college years will be filled with lots of reading. But I will try to make an effort to sneak some more pleasurable reading in there.

And I am a nerd. The End.

Happy Fat Tuesday!

Ok, Richmond much better today! Thank you Shelby for being concerned about me!

Good thing about today: I just ran almost two miles without stopping! I have NEVER run that far without stopping!! I can do anything now! Pretty much.

AND in other fitness news, I did my first chaturanga yesterday in yoga.

It looks a little something like this:


Photo Credit: saddleback.edu

I am sure I did not look that good, but the closest I have ever made it.

Any suggestions on what I should do for Spring Break? I am at a loss.

Rant

Maybe it's a little extreme to be posting this on a public forum, but this isn't quite nearly as public as something like my Facebook status, so whatever.

I'm sick of Richmond. Basically. I feel like I'll never fit in, no matter how hard I try. I honestly do wish I was still abroad. I mean, yes, Richmond is much better now than it was freshman, sophomore year but honestly I will be relieved when college is over and done.

But, I can think of maybe one time where I did not feel a million times better the next day. I do think it's kind of a funk.

It's just upsetting that these times do have to happen and I feel like I'll never not be miserable.

Update #1: No one is reading this, so I don't know why I bother updating.

Update #2: I am dramatic. Hence all the moaning and groaning I just did over painting a mug with polka dots. Oy.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I spent a nice little chunk of my Valentine's Day weekend in the car ... but that's OK because I spent it with Hannah at Wake Forest!

We had a lovely time (seeing as we could not be at Mardi Gras grrr), drinking and eating lots of bad-for-you-food.

Case in Point: I had my first KFC Bowl. Gross but good. Ideal hangover food really.


Photo Credit: 2.bp.blogspot.com

Sadly, does not look that nice in reality. But it. Was. Good.

Also got Cookout yay!! Besides the company, really the main reason I visit her.

I made lots of grumbles about boys whilst drinking, there was chocolate and ice cream involved - truly the best and proper way to spend a Valentine's Day I believe!

Thank you for a great weekend Hannah!

Snow! Snow?

Today we had our first snow day of the year! Exciting, that it was.

But I'm almost ready to get back to normal.

1. I do well with a schedule. Free time is nice, but sometimes I feel overwhelmed.

2. My dad pays a lot of money for me to go here. As much as not having to listen to my grizzled war vet of a professor talk about photography was lovely, it still almost pains me to think about wasted money on my education. (Can you tell I'm Jewish??)

3. All the food places close early. Obviously, the people who work at the Pier and in D-Hall are AMAZING coming to work with the dangerous conditions, and during the past two snowy weekends they even spent the night oncampus. However, I just wish the snow would go away for our sake and theirs. D-Hall gets crazy crowded because they close it at 7!!

C'mon spring!! I want to wear flip-flops!

Ring Dance Recap

Friday:

My parents get in. It's snowing. But they make it! We eat at Can Can, for my daddy's birthday (which is the following day). So freakin' delicious. I get a salmon yummm. And we see some fellow Who Dats there. Who woulda thought?


Interior of restaurant. Very cute, although not very good picture.

I get tips off wine, no big deal.

Saturday:

It's still snowing. My dad wants to go drive around? The southern fool. We eventually make it out to eat the Village Diner, featured on Triple D. It's delicious, and in the cool VCU area, which I should totally hang out in more often.

THEN RING DANCE TIME!!!

Get to wear my dress for the second time! My dad wears a gold bowtie for the saints! and my mom all over gold!



We walk down the stairs - which is totes not as as stressful as I thought it would be. Us girls line up in the shape of a W, for Westhampton. Not as stupid as I thought it would be.

Then it was party time!!

Sunday:

Am hungover, but luckily it dissipates in time for me to take pictues of maitenance men shoveling snow.

AND THEN BLACK AND GOLD SUPERBOWL. WHO DAT.


Photo Credit: http://assets.nydailynews.com

Drew Brees and his son. So freakin' cute.

Yep. Best. Weekend. Ever.

Meep

Writing cover letters is a hard work. Anyone wanna just give me a paid internship??

Cursed

Ok, apologies to my fellow junior class women: but my dress is cursed.

Case A: I am re-wearing my high school graduation dress for Ring Dance. The day of graduation, it poured buckets. It was ridiculous. We hd to take the traditional picture instead inside of outside. Tragedy I know, but it really was!! It also seems to rain on every important day of my life (at least in high school, as it rained on our last day offical day of senior year, which was also the day of the Cum Laude ceremony).

Case B: This weekend, if it doesn't snow, there will be wintry mix and a lotta rain. I mean, at least we'll be inside at the Jeff, but my Dad is a snow-phobe (he and I are a lot a lot alike).

Keep your fingers crossed that meteorologists are wrong!!

A Night of Firsts

So guess who doesn't want to read Merchant of Venice? That's right, moi. So let's talk about this night of firsts!

Ok, so starting Saturday, Richmond has been blanketed in snow. My poor Rav4 (which has recently been recalled, natch), was exposed to snow for the first time. So thank you, Katie! For helping me dust off all the snow and ice, and for being in the car with me the first time I tried to drive it in the inclement weather! Scariest. Moment. Ever.

But then we had fun times, and we went to dinner at Joe's Market! I had never been before, and it was goooood. I had a sandwich with roasted veggies and hummus on it and it was YUMMY. Demolished that sucker. I would totes go back to Joe's Market (and I intend to!) since there were also lots of fun groceries, like Australian Licorice mmm. Great another place to spend money offcampus woo!

Ima start bringing my point 'n' shoot with me more often so I couldve taken sweet pictures of the car and my sandwich.

Oh. Andddd it's supposed to snow again tomorrow. Like what. The. Fuck. It better not be snowing this weekend for Ring Dance, is all I'm sayin'.

Navy Cupcakes

So I'm playing around with different blog titles, and I'm feelin' Navy Cupcakes, because, well I love the color navy blue and I love cupcakes.


Sweet flower cupcake that my parents sent me

Catchy, right?

So I wrote a post in 100 Favorite Things about HFCS, but I just wanted to call attention to it again. It. Is. EVERYWHERE. Ok, I mean I was expecting to find it in the Caramel Bugles, but it was still a letdown. And it's in Heinz Ketchup. The holy grail of ketchup. Yes I can buy an organic ketchup, but I feel like the majority of my ketchup consumption happens in restaurants. And part of my rationale of HFCS is that if I can rule it out in products that I (well my mom when I'm at home on break) buy, I can stand to have it when I'm out. But I feel weird knowing that it's there. Am I being irrational?*

Everyone, please write all the food corporations asking them to just use sugar.

*Yes.

Makin' a comeback

Yo! So I've decided my adventures don't have to stop just because I'm not abroad, eh?

So this blog is making a comeback!

My fingers are still thawing from being in the snow, taking pictures for class, so I can type very little.

Ideas for new blog title?