Here's to a fabulous 2011!

Two thousand Ten

I feel like this day last year was only yesterday and I can remember it perfectly. I remember a quote perfectly that was said, "This year is going to be a good year, I just know it." Boy, was it false and boy, was it ROUGH. I think I learned more about life this year than my whole 19 years of living through all the experiences that was dealt with. In which... I have never been so glad and thankful to have experienced them. Good or bad experiences, I am here, now feeling stronger and wiser than ever and anxiously waiting to get back to reality -but this time, playing by my rules.

I read an article in the The Lyre, a magazine that all Alpha Chi Omega sister's nationwide get, and there was a story titled, Winter Renewal, by Cheri O'Neill (Ball State University alumni). She wrote how her favorite season is winter, simply because it is like nature is giving you a clean slate. All the color is gone from the trees and the snow blankets the ground. There is a new, blank canvas awaiting for you to write in. Now call it quiencidence but right before I left for home, I kept going on, telling people that I felt like Im ending a chapter of my life for some reason and when everything returns it will be a new adventure and asking everyone if there feeling the same. It's only winter break and I have a whole semester left until Im halfway done with college! (wow scary thought right there). It might have to do with the insane-ness of my last three weeks of school. Or maybe it is because its Recruitment week once we get back and we are going to get our new baby Alpha Chi's! In which I've never been so excited for anything! Well, whatever the reson, Im glad there are signs everywhere that I am thinking in the right path (this includes quotes in Dove chocolate wrappers! I know I am so taking this all literally but hey what can I say). Excited for the new year and I am looking foward to what 2011 has to offer!I hope you are too -Happy New Year! xx

take me here

words cannot describe how much I would love to be here right now, right this second...

black swan

I saw this movie with my AXO sister's as a study break during finals week. After slowly stumbling out of the theater, confused and messed up, I was emotionless and literally no words could come out of my mouth. Now that I think back on it, personally, I really did NOT like it. But I know a ton of people who have been raving about this pyscho thriller that mentally messes you up so I think I should say its a Love or Hate film. The psychological emotions and mental state of being a perfect ballerina turns Nina into being a dancer that I hope I never see in anyone I know. Sadly, I do know there are probably people out there who think the way character Nina does and of course, some aspects of her characteristics I get and can see why she acts the way she does. But I think most dancer's would think the same. So overall, I was not the biggest fan of this movie. But I was a very big fan of the casting and how accurate the character parts were and not to mention -their costumes! Natalie Portman sold me into believing her portrayal of a perfectionist and in that young innocent state of mind of a dancer who wants to be perfect even though she was older than she acted and looked. The mom was a typical stage mom but grown up so now she's psycho "lets baby my daughter and make sure she gets what I, myself wanted but couldn't become" mother.
I could go on about how great each character was but I really wanted to mention how great the costumes were too! I love the scene when Natalie Portman (Nina) wore the light pink yumiko with a white trim and Mila Kunis (Lily) wore the same yumiko but in black and a white trim. And my fav part ...guess who made the ballet costumes? Rodarte! Of course they did because they were absolutely gorgeous and they had beautiful detailing! Here are sketches I found by Kate, one of the designers of Rodarte
Click them to see larger in detail

chocolate gingerbread men

It's an all time tradition for my mom to make homeade gingerbread cookies and for me to make the icing and decorate them for Christmas dessert! This year my mom was a little distracted by the new dishes she wanted to test out for this festive dinner and we forgot to get confectionary sugar aka the main ingredient for icing. So before the guests arrived, my cousin and I searched high and low for anything that would taste good with gingerbread and we found chocolate chips! So we melted the chocolated chips and shook some random green sprinkles to it give some festivness and wahlah!...
Now these were our test decorations and we didn't have much time to think about our chocolate "art" but you can think of so many different ways to decorate and it looks so chic as well as yummy! Actually, I think I prefer with the chocolate than icing now!

Olivia Palermo for Vogue Spain

Still a little on the stiff side to me but way better than her ad for Mango with her delicious boyfriend Johannes. She looks like she's having fun this time

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas!

Today, in my on-going quest to find a new job around here and struggling with the whole seasonal "Yes I am in college, But ill be back!" line, I heard from a friend that the Paper Source store in our quaint little town center needed seasonal workers. I quickly stopped by and asked a sales associate if they were hiring and if I could fill an application. The lady said that she thinks they have filled all their spots but just in case they might need someone during these next few weeks, she gave one to me. About three-fourths of finishing the 4 page application, writing in the best handwriting I have ever written in, the manager comes out and introduces herself. About 2 seconds after she asks who I was, she goes off about how they don't need anymore people and doesn't know when she wants to "re-organize" her staff again, "But you can finish that application if you want too", she adds. OK great, let me go waste some more tree bark, just so you can feel good about how many people want to apply to your store. I quickly finished the application as my handwriting became less readable throughout the end and said "Thank you, Have a great Christmas."
I walked across the street to a Starbucks just to stand for a couple seconds because I didn't want to walk all the way back to my car in the blistering cold. I guess I looked pretty down and a boy working asked if I was alright and how its Christmas Eve, nobody should be looking blue. Usually I would just say yes Im alright, laugh a little, and then blame it on the weather but instead I told him a short version of the story and how I am in desperate need of just a normal job. He chuckled a little and said, "Guess that's life for us people around here", and then gave me a coffee on the house! It totally made up for what just happened and made me realize its Christmas, go home!
Driving back home drinking my coffee then realizing, if I drink coffee past a certain time of the day, I DONT SLEEP! I got home to my mom in the kitchen yelling throughout the house, when of course everyone was just standing right next to her, that we are going to two churches and going through two masses tonight (because my stepdad is Methodist and we are Catholic). 3 hours of the Nativity story and counting how many Poinsetta Plants are on the altar!? Good thing I drank this coffee! ...MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!

Holiday Mix

Christmas is my favorite time of year because of the cozy, warm, happy mood it puts people in. Drinking hot beverages while walking in the snow or smelling warm cookies in a room filled with festive lights and people is just so magical for me. Whether your at a party, having quality family time, or even by yourself, the music in the background is really what makes all the magic happen. These are my favorites that put me in the best mood whether im all alone drinking my marshmellow filled hot cocoa or in a room filled with warm people :)

-"Let it Snow" -Ella Fitzgerald
-"Last Christmas" -GLEE's version
-"The Christmas Song" -Nat King Cole
-"Happy Holidays" -Andy Williams
-"Santa Baby" -Eartha Kitt
-"Have yourself a merry little Christmas" -Frank Sinatra/ Ella Fitzgerald
-"Jingle Bells" -Ella Fitzgerald
-"Chesnuts roasting in an open fire" -Michael Buble
-"Sleigh Ride" -Boston Pops
-"Silver Bells" -Stevie Wonder
-"All I want for Christmas is you" -Mariah Carey

the adventure

HOME in VIRGINIA! Not really sure if I am extremely happy that I am because I do miss Butler already, but im sure loving no work and no deadlines!

So getting here from Butler was pretty much the most epic life changing learning experience ever, I can't even explain in words how our 16 HOUR ROAD TRIP home was. My friend and I left Butler at 4a.m to beat the snow storm that was going to hit Indy but when we walked outside it had already started. About to leave, we saw a boy coming from his car who just came from the airport, which in quincidence knew where he came from and who he dropped off because he is a friend of a friend of ours, said we should wait till morning because its pretty bad out there. Well the determined and brave people we are (not really we just wanted to go), decided to suck it and leave. We drive through Indiana really well considering the EXTREME SNOW and ICE conditions out there and make it to Ohio!! We do a little victory dance at a rest stop and then keep driving through this very long state, in pitch black darkness.

Were driving through Ohio and wait for daylight to come and we are soo close in reaching Columbus ...WE GET A FLAT TIRE!, right in front of the Columbus 11mile sign. We call AAA to put her spare tire on and drive to the closests tire store. My friend being super upset because she just got a flat tire two days ago and MADE sure all the other tires were good to go for this trip, we wait for 2 hours to get it fixed. While waiting, the positive side is that there was a Target next to the tire store and we went shopping to get our needed extra socks, coffee, and did our Christmas shopping there! We finally get back on the road putting us 3 hours behind. Still driving through Ohio we pass by parts of Cleveland which was really pretty! Looking at the cute houses and neighborhoods from a higher ground while listening to old school Christmas songs, we thought we were in a Christmas story book. Which is a lot better in the fact that, when we were driving thru Indiana's snow storm listening to old school 90's music we thought we were in a movie, kind of like Dumb and Dumber.

We go through Pennsylvania pretty well and then West Virginia which had beautiful mountains. We get a text from our friend and my mom to be careful because the roads are really bad in Maryland and back home. After going through just getting out of Butler, we hoped it wasn't as bad and we thought we were prepared for anything after that. Driving through West Virginia for about an hour or two, there were times when we didn't even know where we were because there was no signs, any life forms, or anyTHING around but somehow we finally got to Maryland!

Seeing that Welcome to Maryland sign was the biggest relief but little did we know it was going to seem the longest ride ever from there on. We drove along the mountains and curvy roads while it started to sleet, snow, i dont even know, from the sky. Although it was really pretty, everytime I took a picture of something pretty I kept on missing and then my PHONE DIED. Then 10 minutes later ...my FRIENDS PHONE DIED!! So now we have no connection with the outside world and hoping that nothing wrong happens because if so, we were screwed. Getting deeper into Maryland, the roads are getting scarier along with the stuff coming from the sky, hitting our really fogged up window. We saw a car in every ditch we saw and a GIGANTIC truck on the other side of the road on its SIDE, facing the other side of traffic, with its front side smashed and going down the mountain, and rangers on the street looking for missing pieces of the truck. We were scared but the brave selves we were, kept driving cautiously and just said, wow you know when your on the east coast when you see all this and people are bitches on the road. It's getting dark and I guess this part of Maryland thought they shouldn't put any highway lights around as we drove in pitch black darkness ...again. During this hour of the trip, the roads were getting really icy and there was fog coming from the ground -kind of like this year in the beginning of Act 2 of our Nutcracker when the angels come out and then when they would slip on stage, every performance. Because we really did not know where we were in the country, it actually looked like we were in outer space. But lo and behold, we see from our front window a huge mountain of LIGHTS -CIVILIZATION! It was a HUGE city of Maryland but it wasn't Baltimore, so we really did not know what it was -maybe it was just an illusion because after that it went back to the outer space thing again.

We finally get onto I-270 and 495, highways that we actually know and see signs for WASHINGTON/ NORTHERN VIRGINIA! We knew we were almost home by the ridiculous construction and the mean drivers that cut you off then drive slower once they are in front of your or tailgate you with their high beams on. THIS IS GREAT! We saw the landmark Tysons Corner and the huge buildings and its distractions it brings to the highway and we SCREAMED alleluia!! We got off on our exit and the rest is history...



Not once did we get lost due to my awesome directional skills or died! It was a pretty great story/ experience to top off my last three weeks of the semester and its ridiculousness of what we had to go through. Now it's time to be fun again and enjoy this holiday!