Things I Said and Meant to Say

betcha didn't think you'd see a post from me on your Google Reader...

2012-01-11T23:20:00.002-05:00

And I didn't think I'd be writing one! Hello friends. I hope you all had wonderful holidays and New Years' and are feeling productive and happy in the beginning of 2012! I've been feeling like something has been "off" for the last 6 months or so, and I think that goes hand-in-hand with my (long!) break from blogging. I wasn't blogging because I wasn't quite feeling like myself (and, uh, who can blog about themselves without really knowing what exactly that means), and in turn I was really missing this creative and supportive outlet in my life!

I still don't think I'll be churning out the posts because, unfortunately, I'm still stuck putting in 11 or 12 hour days at my all-consuming job, but I'd really like to jump back into this, reconnect with all of you (and I've been reading your blogs the entire time and following your wonderful adventures! It's been so fun to read about new engagements, new houses, new babies and fun parties!) and document a little more of my life here in LA. The adjustment has been w-e-i-r-d, to say the least, but I won't be here forever and when I'm gone I might just actually look back and wish I had taken more pictures and written more.

(I just re-read that last line and it sounded like a morbid meditation on life, when I really just mean I won't be in LA forever. Not, you know, on this earthly plane.)

It feels good to be back :)

What I've Been Up To!

2011-09-09T16:01:00.003-04:00

Hey ya'll!

Soo ... it's been awhile! In addition to starting my new job (which has me away from home for 11 hours a day ... meaning I have gone over one week without ever opening my laptop haha!), I've been working on a little side project with L. I don't know yet what it means for this blog, but I am excited about this new project since it's a creative outlet for L. and I to work on together. It's a football blog, which I know some of you ladies could probably care less about haha, but what makes it interesting is that it's going to be from two perspectives, a male and a female. I'm going to be posting gameday receipes, hopefully hosting giveaways, and just writing about my favorite sport from a gal's point of view. So if you want to see what I'm up to, catch up with me over there! =)

Two Point Conversion

And I've still been reading all your blogs faithfully ... sometimes I feel like I enjoy reading about you guys more than writing about myself! =)

working girl

2011-07-26T22:53:00.002-04:00

I know, I disappeared again. L. and I had one of our best friends from college come visit this weekend, and yesterday I started my new job! And I.love.it. Which, hush hush, I actually wasn't sure I would. Of course, it's only the second day, and my duties will change a lot as I move up the ranks (hopefully in the next couple weeks), but the atmosphere is so exciting and interesting, and I'm running around a lot, and I'm rarely bored. I work 10 hour days, so that's saying a lot! Plus, my office is in downtown Beverly Hills, right off Rodeo, so there's lots of pretty places and people to look at!

The only downside? Seven, count 'em, SEVEN water blisters on my feet. OUCH! I'm on them all day, so I don't expect they'll heal soon. At least it's good cardio! =)

don antonio's

2011-07-15T12:55:00.006-04:00

One of the first orders of business upon moving to LA was to find some great Mexican food, which is my absolute favorite. Surprisingly, the best Mexican food I've ever had was in New Hampshire (go figure!), but I knew there had to be somewhere in LA that was on par!

L. and I have already been to Don Antonio's twice. The food is just as good as my favorite restaurant in New Hampshire--or as any Mexican food I've ever eaten--but get this: their huge, cheesy, fill-up-an-entire-plate, I-can-only-finish-half burritos? $5.95. Seriously. And taco truck this is not...it's a really pleasant dining experience. And for two people on a budget, like L. and I are, it just doesn't get much better than that!

Heidi and Spencer frequent Don Antonio's (or used to) (and, I know...), but we haven't seen them in the few times that we've been there. I think they sit in the special "cave" room, which I haven't figured out how to gain access to...yet. Maybe next time...because my mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Hope everyone has a great weekend! L. and I are trying to avoid being the car as much as possible because of Carmageddon, but we are driving over to Santa Monica tonight to see Harry Potter!

fourth of july (better late than never!)

2011-07-13T13:50:00.004-04:00

This post is so ridiculously late, but what are you gonna do? L. and I went to Santa Barbara on Fourth of July weekend for his graduation party on Saturday and wine tasting on Sunday--- the latter deserves its own post (if only for Solvang alone. You'll see.) But then Monday we rushed back to LA (we still haven't had a full weekend in LA without either having guests, aka L.'s parents, or going on a trip!) to see fireworks. We went down to Culver City and it felt delightfully suburban, almost like being back in New Hampshire.

Almost.

(Who knew I would miss New Hampshire so much? Boo.)

Do you like my red, white, and blue floral dress with my blue cardigan? What can I say--- I love America. Happy Belated Birthday!

gainful employment. finally.

2011-07-08T13:03:00.003-04:00

Today is a good day. Today, I am not waking up feeling anxious, with a stomachache, and unwilling/unmotivated to work out or do anything productive that requires energy. That is because today is the first day I've woken up knowing that I have a job!

A few days ago I learned that though I was in the top two for the teaching position I had really wanted, the school had offered it to the other girl. It was a blow, and I really started to feel down in the dumps. I felt a little spoiled-- here I am, in this beautiful apartment in this fantastic city with my wonderful boyfriend, feeling sorry for myself. But I just didn't pack up my life and move across the country, and leave my family, to lay by a pool and run errands and shop all day. I needed to feel like I was doing something meaningful.

Then yesterday, I finally got the call-- the other job for which I had interviewed offered me a position! I start on July 25, which gives me some time to finally relax and get in better shape before I start. I was feeling guilty that L. was at work all day and I was home, so I was running around all over the place, cleaning and grocery shopping and cooking these three-hour meals and doing laundry and getting the car washed, to feel like I was contributing. But now that I only have two weeks left in my last summer vacation ever, I'm going to lay by the pool a little more!

I can't tell you where I'm working (and in this industry, it takes NOTHING to get fired, so I'd rather keep work-related posts, if I write them at all, completely vague). BUT. I will give you one hint, in addition to a hint I gave a couple months ago:

graduation

2011-07-05T14:19:00.014-04:00

So, in part one of this post, I mentioned that I don't do well with change, and I usually dread it before it happens but then move on from it very quickly afterward. The days leading up to graduation were sort of a daze, but I was pretty positive on the day itself I would be an absolute mess.

We lined up and began marching in bright and early, and luckily we were graced with a beautiful (but hot in those gowns!) day.

Most of Williamstown turned out to wish us well along our route.

My best friend (and high school boyfriend of four years) came to see me graduate!

Here's a great one of me and the in-laws ;)

And L. and my family

After all the photo-taking (I ripped my gown off as soon as my high school graduation was over, and so I had to indulge my mom this time around), it was time to pack up and get out. Williams is great, but we all joked about the fact that they put on this amazing senior week and graduation ceremony for us, and then four hours after it's over they kick you out (we were required to be out by 5pm that day). The next couple hours were a whirlwind of packing, and so for the couple moments I felt like a breakdown was coming on I immediately had to focus on something else, and kept pushing it down, and pushing it down. I forced myself not to cry when I said goodbye to my best friend C., who is studying in England for a year.

The one moment that day that got me was when the guys in my suite and I took the following picture. We recreated a cartoon that Andrew had drawn earlier in the year for our newspaper. (The scene is probably some amalgamation of us watching a football game and/or playing video games).

You can't really tell in the real-life picture, thankfully, but I completely lost it at this point. It only lasted about 5 minutes (because I had more packing to do), and then, strangely, I didn't cry for the rest of the day (or at all since). I drove home in my car alone and my dad, mom and brother followed behind, thinking the time to myself would help, but I just felt sad in a quiet way I've rarely experienced. It's definitely been the first time in my life that I haven't over-dreaded the upcoming change and then adapted within a couple days. Maybe it's because I don't have a job yet, and am sort of feeling a little aimless and unsure of what to do with myself. L.'s working now, so I spend the day grocery shopping, working out, cleaning, and exploring the city--which should be a great life! But I think until I start doing something that keeps me as busy and as engaged as Williams did, I'm still going to feel this strange disquietude.

On the upside, I do have a lot of fun posts written about our first couple weeks in LA, and I can't wait to share them with you guys!

senior week and graduation

2011-06-30T13:12:00.014-04:00

It's taken me awhile to post these pictures and write this post, partly because I've been so focused on my move, but also partly because I was afraid posting them would make me very, very sad. I do NOT do well with change--well, sort of. I dread it more than most normal people and work myself up into a mess, but then two or three days later I am usually 100% adjusted, while most people might not get so upset in the first place, but then need more time to move on. Interestingly, that didn't quite happen with graduating--which makes me fear that I just haven't dealt with it correctly and it's going to rear its ugly head at an inopportune time (which it basically already did, in the middle of Arizona, when I started sobbing in the car and told L. I wanted to go back home to Boston and that I felt horrible leaving my parents and moving 3,000 miles away). But still, that was home-specific, not Williams-specific.

I didn't feel teary or apprehensive at all during Senior Week-- it was just tons of fun with my favorite people in the world:

There was the Mt. Hope dinner dance and tent party.

Mt. Hope is a giant mansion the College owns, and every Senior Week a dinner dance and a champagne brunch the following morning are hosted there.

Of course, even though we were on the lawn of an enormous mansion, we had to go pee in port-a-potties hidden in the bushes. Typical.

Later in the week, we had another tent mingling event...

where joyful selfies were necessary.

Friday night, L., the guys in our suite, and I hosted a cookout on our balcony for all of our families. It was the first time my parents and L.'s parents had met!

Bestie Paloma.

One of the cutest pictures ever. My mom is not a huge fan of "pictures on the internet" so we'll see if this one stays!

After the cookout was our last party all together (aptly named Last Chance).

The night before graduation, my dad and my brother took us all out for drinks at the pub and the Red Herring, our two college bars. It was so great to see all my friends bond with my family.

There are so many graduation pictures to sort though that I think those are going to go on a separate post of their own, to follow this one. So, for now, to be continued...

what will i do with my life? (besides, you know, blog...)

2011-06-26T22:49:00.002-04:00

Friday marked one week of us living in LA (it still feels weird to type/say that!) and tomorrow is L.'s first day of work. Since this little bird is still going on interviews and waiting to hear back from a few places, I officially feel like I have no idea what I will do with myself once he's at work all day. I mean, aside from vacuuming the apartment and doing the dishes and the laundry and returning broken things to West Elm and returning jeans to Old Navy and getting a haircut (god do I need one) and cleaning/dusting and getting the car a smog check and registering my license in California and grocery shopping and cooking dinner. Yes, there are all those things to do. But I wonder when my honeymoon with LA is going to wind down and the reality that I moved across the country, am currently unemployed, and have lots of money going out but absolutely zero coming in (for the first time since I was 14, when I got my first job) is going to set in. Am I completely pumped about my new life? Absolutely. Making homemade turkey burgers (recipe soon!), getting Pinkberry at night, basking in sunshine all day and having a pool 30 feet away...it's wonderful. But I'm not sure it will be enough to keep me from getting anxious if I don't start making money or find something meaningful with which to occupy my time soon. At least you guys can expect lots of blog posts from me! Starting with graduation, next.

LA is exhausting!

2011-06-22T01:09:00.003-04:00

Hooray! We just got wireless TODAY, so after being on the road for a week and in the apartment since Friday, I finally have both the time and the wireless connection to write a post! Just a short one for now, but I have tons of pictures to upload and organize from our trip and our first few days in LA. So far we've been to West Elm (three times), Ikea, Bed Bath and Beyond (three times), Z Gallerie, the bank, the power company, the Social Security office, the pharmacy, the grocery store, Living Spaces Furniture, and countless other places. We've gotten a ton of furniture, and I can't wait to share pictures! We've also gotten to try out some local restaurants and I finally cooked my first meal tonight (after not having any food in the refrigerator for four days). We've also had delivery people come to the house literally every.single.day since we've been here.

More soon! I'm alive!

ps- It's been so much easier to catch up with all your blogs on my laptop rather than L.'s iPhone!

graduation week by the numbers

2011-06-03T15:43:00.004-04:00

June 1-June 5: Senior week at Williams.

3: The number of English Department awards I've won, giving me a permanent glow all week.

4: The number of parties we have as part of our Senior Week festivities.

6: The number of dresses I've needed for Senior Week events.

20: The number of family members coming to L.'s and my balcony cookout tonight. (Lots of burgers, lots of hot dogs!)

June 5: Graduation Day!

June 13: L. and I set off, with a very tightly-packed Subaru, on our moving adventure, ending up at our new apartment in Los Angeles!

I know I've been really absent these past few weeks, and I am so sorry. I promise lots of Hilton Head pictures, Senior Week Pictures, and of course graduation pictures next week while L. and I are at my house, packing up and getting ready to embark on our big journey cross country!

in my mind i'm going to carolina...

2011-06-01T16:15:00.003-04:00

We are back from Hilton Head. But I don't want to be. See, in HH, it was also high 80s and incredibly humid most of the time, just like Western Massachusetts, but it was okay because we had an amazing breeze from the ocean, and pools to jump into, and ice cream to cool us off. Oh, and these. Lots and lots of these.

And it looked like this. All day, everyday.

I guess it is sort of nice to be back, though. 20 hour car drives, especially when there are tickets and accidents involved, are.not.fun. (More on that later). And now it's Senior Week at Williams. Last night we drove to Northampton for dinner at the director of the Honors program's house, which was lovely. Today I had lunch with my history prof. Tonight we all take buses to the mansion the College owns, Mt. Hope, for cocktails, dinner, and dancing with our favorite profs. Tomorrow is a champagne brunch, Friday is our final party. There's lots and lots to look forward to.

But a part of me definitely still wishes I were sitting at the beach with one of these. I'm going to try to make my own, now, before we leave for Mt. Hope. It probably won't go well.

highest honors

2011-05-20T09:22:00.002-04:00

Yesterday morning was a lovefest. It started when I got an email from the English department administrative head which contained my thesis evaluation. It was possible to have gotten no honors, honors, or highest honors. I was absolutely shocked and humbled to learn that I had been awarded highest honors on my thesis! Lots of years go by when no one gets this, and so it was truly one of the greatest moments of my academic career. The lovefest came in with the multiple emails and calls from my parents, friends and professors who just made me feel so great and helped me to see that I just absolutely need to go to grad school, because I love this so much! And apparently I'm not too bad at it.

With that happy news, friends, I am off to Hilton Head! We're leaving at 7pm tonight and driving through the night to arrive down there at noon. Sort of scary but there's 8 of us and two cars so I think we'll be okay.

And hey, if the world does end on Saturday...well, I will be on a beach, with all my best friends, having just finished college, with no cares in the world. Not a bad way to have it all go down.

Have a great weekend! Any beach trips in your future? xo

earning my vacation

2011-05-17T17:03:00.004-04:00

I woke up this morning at 9:00am. An hour later than the 8:00am alarm I had set to ensure I got to work on time.

Then I woke up my computer and tried to read my email, to discover that the Williams network had found a few trojans on my brand-new computer, and had quarantined me. No network access, no email, no internet. Oh, and no access to the tons of pdfs, Google books, etc. I need to complete my 25-page research paper due this week. Ran a scan, nothing showed up, but I was still quarantined. Had to bring it to the tech help desk and leave it there.

Blogger has still not restored all my comments.

Ran to my 11:00am meeting with a prof, for which she did not show up.

Went to the library to print a thesis copyright form (so weird that I have copyright over something!) and had my advisor sign it, but had forgotten to print it on the acid-free paper. Will have to scan it in and re-print it.

Brought almost $300 worth of books to the bookstore to sell back; got $43 for them.

It's rainy. It's rained for the last five days.

I am horribly bloated and therefore have no idea if I will fit into my shorts in Hilton Head, even though I've been working hard and dieting.

...The universe is really, really making me work for my vacation!

Challenge accepted. Three days!!

done with college!

2011-05-13T17:13:00.002-04:00

As of today (well, yesterday, officially), I am done with all the undergraduate classes I will ever take. And now I am happily enjoying the most college-y beverage I can think of (Jager and root beer...a no-go if you don't like the taste of licorice) and getting ready to attend L.'s and the Octet's final a cappella concert ever, which may bring a tear or two to my eye.

Also, in one short week we are leaving for Hilton Head.

Finally, I know Blogger has been rull messed up the last couple days, but WHAT happened to all the lovely comments you guys left me on my apartment post?! They were so sweet, and I was so excited about them, and now they are just GONE. And I want answers.

I hope you guys have wonderful weekends, and to all of y'all who are graduating this weekend, congrats! I can't wait to join your ranks on June 5. In the meantime, I'll get back to finishing the last undergraduate paper I will ever write and enjoying decidedly frat boy beverages before I'm not allowed to anymore. <3

our new LA apartment!

2011-05-11T13:37:00.016-04:00

Hi!

I'm still here. In case you were wondering.

The unexpected, impromptu blog break was partially a result of finishing and presenting my thesis, finishing undergraduate classes forever, getting ready for Hilton Head, and other end-of-the-year time demands.But mostly, last week was full of calls, emails, faxes, scans, and finally, celebrations, because L. and I just signed a lease on our very first apartment together!

You have no idea how excited I am about this. See, our great big move to California in June is fairly up in the air at this point. I have not officially accepted a job, though I expect to have two offers by the time we move out there, we haven't finalized our route across the country or where/with whom we're staying, and until last week, we didn't even have an apartment waiting for us when we got there.

If you know anything about me, at all, you know that this lack of a plan= major anxiety for Michelle.But then, L.'s parents so, so generously decided to drive into LA two weekends in a row to scope out some places that we were interested in for us. There was some good, some bad, and some really ugly.

I think this article sums it up pretty well.At first, I was a little bummed that we weren't getting to do the process ourselves. I had always built up the time that I would finally get my first apartment, how I would schedule tons of viewings and run my hand along granite countertops and envision where my white slipcovered sofa would go...

But I realized that having L.'s parents help out was more helpful than I ever could have imagined. L. starts his job on June 27, and we're only arriving in LA less than a week before that. Could we really have found a place--a good, safe place--in that amount of time? Plus, a lot of the complexes book a month or two months in advance. What if we had gotten there in June and there were no openings until August? We thought about subletting, but some questionable Craig's List interactions made us shy away from that. Plus, I was just anxious to have our own place, all ours, right when we got out there.

On their second weekend looking, L.'s parents found the place. THE place. I had spied it online and was really excited about it...but not so much about the rent. It's definitely not cheap. Doable, but not cheap. And when they got inside, it turned out to be everything we wanted, PLUS. It's luxurious--way more luxurious than I ever imagined my first apartment out of college would be. But that's not the reason we were willing to pay a little more. It's in Brentwood, in a super cute, nice, safe, and walkable neighborhood. We have a Whole Food's, a Pinkberry, a Starbucks, a movie theatre, a million restaurants, and everything else we could need no more than a 10 minute walk away. It's only a ten minute drive for L. to work, and if I work at one of the agencies, it's less than a twenty minute drive to Beverly Hills.

And the management is so, so great--we've spoken on the phone with, emailed, and just generally bothered our manager so many times in the last week or so, and she's been so pleasant and lovely the whole time. And unlike some other horror stories I've read (I'm looking at you, Park La Brea), I don't think that she was just putting on a show to get us to sign the lease. I'm really comfortable having her as our manager.But I know what you guys really want. The pictures! Here it is, my shining little baby. (I'm obsessed. Could you tell?)

The lobby. I love that it has a hint of Spanish flair, but it still manages to avoid being tacky.

The courtyard. That fountain lights up at night!

Ahh, friend. You and I are going to have some sunny, lazy days together.

And now the interior! My favorite.

The entryway/living room/dining room. I believe the bedroom would be behind you if you were standing here. I love the open floor plan and the neutral tones. Actually, that accent wall (you'll see it in the bedroom too) is painted by the staff, and you can choose from about 10 different colors. I really like that one, but I'm excited to flip through the options!

I also was dead-set on hardwood floors, because the thought of old carpets that who-knows how many people before us had lived on really grossed me out. Plus, carpet is so '90s. But, they're completely steam-cleaning, if not replacing entirely, the carpet that's in there, so it was a small con on a very, very long list of pros?

Oh, and beyond those sliding glass doors? Our patio. It's almost as big as the bedroom. Swoon. I can't wait to make some yummy meals out there and enjoy them with L. while watching the sunset. Also note the AC. Major plus.

Around that corner on the left, you'll find...

The kitchen! This is what really sealed the deal. for me, at least. And the bathroom too, but we'll get to that. The granite countertops. GRANITE COUNTERTOPS. And the stainless steel appliances! (Well, except the fridge. You can't have it all.) My mouth waters just THINKING of all the gourmet meals I can whip up in there. The brushed nickel hardware makes my knees a little weak, too.

And now the OTHER thing that sealed the deal:

The bathroom! I have never in my life been so excited over a bathroom. Again, the granite countertops and the brushed nickel hardware are so luxe and so contemporary. And even though I'm usually a fan of white cabinetry in kitchens and bathrooms (and dark wood furniture), I really like this birch. It's not as dated as oak and I like that it's not as orange as oak, either.

And finally, we have:

The bedroom. There's that other accent wall, and a closer look at that taupey-gray color I love and think I will request. I love that window; it's large enough to let in lots of light but the design also gives us lots of privacy. I'm also really happy there's a ceiling fan in here, so we can hopefully use the AC less at night.

So there you have it. Our new apartment. I am positively giddy about the idea of moving to such a gorgeous place with my wonderful boyfriend. And, as you can imagine, now that we have the place I have been going nuts hunting for furniture, decor, utensils, appliances, etc. etc. etc. online and stashing them in all sorts of bookmarked folders. Since the apartment is already so nice and neutral--the beige floors, the taupey-tan accent walls, the light granite--and since we both really like neutral, anyway, I've been hunting down lots items that will fit in really well with that scheme. I'm thinking lots of metallics--platinum, nickel, silver, charcoal, gold--lots of glass, lots of white, gray, and some pops of yellow and maybe turquoise to liven it up. For wood, I'm thinking cherry or espresso-colored pieces, and for furniture, I am all about the white slipcovers.

Actually, L.'s parents have this huge queen sleeper-sofa that they have generously offered to donate to our cause. The one issue? It's fire-engine, primary red. L. and I aren't really about the bright warm colors, and I suspect his parents aren't, either, so there was this polite back-and-forth about the whole thing for awhile. But finally we realized we're poor, we need somewhere for guests to sleep, and we would be stupid not to take it. I was trying to figure out how we were going to work around a huge red eyesore in the middle of our apartment, but then L.'s parents, who were trying to figure out how to have it shipped to Brentwood for us for the day we move in, found a place that will pick it up and drop it off, but in between, will slipcover it! So as a graduation gift to us they are having it slipcovered white. It's going to look gorgeous and I can't WAIT to see it.

This post is long enough as it is, but I really want to share with you guys what I've been looking at in terms of pillows, furniture, etc. I'll definitely do that soon! In the meantime, I'm going to go drool over our new apartment some more...

at least Harry's still available!

2011-04-29T13:54:00.003-04:00

My best friend C. and I, armed with croissants, lattes, champagne, and raspberries, woke up at 4 am today to watch the Royal Wedding.

C. had already planned her wedding to Prince William in her tween years (sorry C., I had to), so I expected her to be distraught about this "other woman." But it was a happy day, and though the words "Kate looks so pretty I just want to kill her" were uttered, believe us when we say we l-0-v-e that girl.

But who I really love?

I've always preferred Harry to William. When everyone was all, "William William William" I always knew he'd grow up to be the cutest. He's like a mix between Ron Weasley and Matt Czuchry. It doesn't get much more adorable than that. Plus, he's built so much bigger and is always pleasantly ruddy-faced, like he just came from ski patrol in the slopes. Love love love.

So I had no envy watching Kate marry William today, but I was super happy for them. It was especially adorable when Harry whispered to William "she's here now," and William told Kate she looked beautiful. I also thought Pippa looked GORGEOUS, and thought it was hilarious when Lady Eliza (or was it Lady Grace?) scowled and covered her ears when the jets flew over Buckingham Palace. The kiss was l-a-m-e though. I just feel like William is such a cold fish! But I loved how flirty and playful they were.

hilton head style

2011-04-25T16:23:00.000-04:00

In three short weeks (!), I will have finished my last class ever at Williams College.

One week after that, I will be jumping in my car (along with the rest of the senior class, though not all in my car. That would be cramped) and heading down to Hilton Head for a week of sun, fun, and RELAXING.

It will be one of the only times in my life when I won't be a student, I won't be employed, and I really won't be doing much of anything. That's really weird to think about. I'll be taking book recommendations, if you have them.

With Hilton Head fast approaching and my pre-HH diet (or, "operation leafy greens" as my suitemate Steve is hilariously calling it) well underway (I've already lost almost ten pounds! Woo hoo!), I thought it was time to start thinking about what I'm going to wear!

I definitely want to have an effortless selection of clothes: beachy things that I can throw on during the day and cute, but simple, sundresses that I can put on at night to go out. Here are some of the things, which I already own or are planning to buy (or just really, really want!) that I'm packing:

1. My trusty Tommy Bahama coral bathing suit, which I scored for 50% off when it really wasn't on sale at all. I love the bright color (works great for blondes and brunettes), and how the top is kinda retro.

2. My adorable new Express ruffled halter dress, which only just recently came back in stock in my size (thank the lord) and which is going to be perfect for either having lunch/shopping during the day, or can be dressed up to go out at night. It's one of the cheaper dresses they have in stock this season, and, imho, one of the cutest/most versatile. [Update: It's out of stock! So sorry if I sent you lusting after it! They do have them in solids though...] They didn't have the belt in stock, which was a bummer, but they did have:

3. Express quilted wristlet, in coral. It's going to be way too hot--and sandy--to carry around a nice bag, so this wristlet will hold my id, credit card, phone, and Burt's Bees, but I don't have to worry about ruining it. Plus, it will match almost everything else I'm bringing.

4. J. Crew Factory sequined strip boatneck top, in rose. I haven't splurged for this yet (considering that, you know, I just took out a loan to buy a new computer, but more on that later), but I really, really, really want to. Mara rocked it a few posts back, and it looked terrific on her. It's so perfect for a beachy vacation because it's nautical but in a bright color, and it's glam enough to wear out at night with white or black shorts.

5. Last season, Gap had these super cute hemmed linen shorts. I can't find any pictures of them now, and am way too pale to try to take some for you, but I'll be bringing those in raspberry, dark gray, gold, and white. They're chic and effortless and perfect for walking around town or for wearing over a bathing suit (they dry really fast if they get wet!)

6. My ubiquitous H&M striped top which almost every blogger I know seems to have also bought last summer. (That was actually a pretty fun post-- I showed how four different girls in four different parts of the world wore that one darn top. Pretty cool stuff!) I am ob-sessed with stripes, as I mentioned above, and I think nautical tops are always good to have around on a beach vacation. I like to wear mine with the gold Gap shorts, or skinny jeans and red flats, and gold jewelery. (And there's L., looking really cute and indulging me in my requisite nightly summer ice cream. Hi L.!)

7. Jack Rogers Navajo sandal, platinum. Want. Want. Want. I have the Target knockoffs now, but they're ill-made and the base is starting to peel. I just can't justify paying over $90 for sandals. Sigh. Someday...(looks longingly into the distance).

Other beach essentials? My Burt's Bees pomegranate lip balm, a bright beach tote (I use a yellow one with green handles--fun!), cocoa butter and aloe for dehydrated post-sun skin, TONS of water, which should be easy since L. was so sweet and bought me a Nalgene from the university he'll be doing research at for the next two years!, and obviously great books! I need lots of book recommendations--I'm planning to have a second post where I ask you all your opinion on what I should bring! It's been ages since I could read something that wasn't for school. (But who am I kidding? I'm the person who, when she has her choice of what to read, ends up with Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence and Tolstoy's Anna Karenina).

Finally-- halp! I'm not a big hat-wearer or sunglasses-wearer. I know that's really bad! I just feel like both always look weird on my head/face. Does anyone have any recommendations for universally flattering (or round-face/heart-face flattering) brands of either?

I DID IT

2011-04-19T20:09:00.001-04:00

113 pages

9 months

70 books

200+ footnotes

1 meltdown

and I am DONE with my thesis!

...

Now what?

what if i told you...

2011-04-17T00:42:00.004-04:00

...that Ari Gold could potentially be my boss next year?

Okay, so not really Ari Gold, [since, you know, he's not real and all] but I think you can connect the dots and get my general insinuation. I can't really spell it out more than that.

(But if it really were really Ari Gold? How amazing would that be?)

Exciting? Nerve-wracking? Terrifying? Is there enough anti-anxiety medication in the world for this? All of the above?

(I don't actually take anti-anxiety medication, fyi. But as someone who has panic attacks every time she flies, can't sleep in the dark, can't sleep near a mirror, can't sleep with the door open, can't see a spider without crying, and can't be in a room full of people without feeling completely overwhelmed, I wonder if that should be changed.)

(I also can't handle non-verb agreement, misused punctuation, misspelling, and txtspk, but that's another issue. Non-capitalization in informal settings, i.e. AIM messages, used to really get me too, but as you can tell from my post titles I've realized that it can be stylistic even in its severe wrongness.)

Nothing's for sure yet on the job front, but let's just say I'm going to have some tough decisions to make soon.

my thesis

2011-04-12T16:45:00.003-04:00

is due in six days. SIX days. I feel like it was just yesterday when I was like, "I have ten months to work on this project, it'll be fineee."

Luckily, I'm in a little better shape--just editing and clarifying and tightening the 106-or-so pages I have now--than some of my other fellow English honors students, who just started writing their theses over break.

No way. I am wayyy too Type-A for that.

Until I turn it in, here's what I'll be repeating to myself daily in the mirror.

cambria estate winery

2011-04-07T15:06:00.009-04:00

I promise that my spring break trip wasn't all interviews and meetings! (It sure felt like it sometimes, though!) One rainy Saturday, L., his parents and I took a fun trip up north to Santa Maria to go wine tasting at Cambria Estate Winery.

They're known primarily for their Chardonnays and their Pinot Noirs, and honestly I'm not a huge fan of either! (I like citrusy, fruity white wines that are a little less oakey than Chardonnays, and I'm not a HUGE red wine drinker, though I'm working on it!)

Of course, that was the perfect reason to do a tasting, so I could try all sorts of different wines that I wouldn't normally order for fear of wasting them! L.'s parents are members, and besides for getting bottles of wine shipped to their house monthly (jealous), they also get to come tasting anytime and bring guests for free.

Guess we all know what L. and I will be spending our weekends doing once we move to LA!

My favorite by far was the Riesling I tried, and L.'s parents were nice enough to buy me a bottle, which we promptly opened the next night when L.'s mom and I cooked up a delicious Tuscan white bean pureed soup. Mmm. I definitely never fail to eat well when I stay with L.'s family, that's for sure!

Cambria was also recently featured on the Bachelor! Jealous they weren't shooting when we were there...sigh.

[Image 2, Image 3]

diddy riese

2011-04-04T23:34:00.006-04:00

I am in love.

Completely obsessed.

L. and I went to Diddy Riese, in downtown Westwood, last Friday to celebrate his getting the news that he officially has the research job, and my life has since been forever changed.

Mint chocolate chip with white chocolate chip chocolate cookies. Cookie dough with snickerdoodle cookies. Vanilla with peanut butter cookies. The combinations are endless.

Something tells me the fresh home cooking and trips to Whole Foods, and our after-dinner walks in the evenings, aren't going to do too much for L. and me if we are talking those walks to Diddy Riese every night.

Especially since we'll be living basically right next door.

Especially since those beautiful babies are only $1.50 a pop.

At that price, with our budget, I might just be eating these for dinner. Every night.

Summer can't come fast enough.

[Image 1. Image 2. Image 3.]

interviews and more interviews

2011-03-28T15:38:00.002-04:00

A short update: some of you have asked if I already graduated and have moved out here to Ca, but I just wanted to clarify and say I definitely haven't yet! Unfortunately there's SO much I have to get through before graduation, such as finishing my thesis, defending my thesis to the English department and my super-smart peers who will no doubt push me (in a good way!), finishing up my other classes, and preparing to move out here in June--all before the big day on June 5.

There's also a lot of really fun things happening before graduation too. After classes end on May 13 and we finish our papers and our exams, we'll be heading down with the rest of our senior class to Hilton Head for a week, a Williams tradition undoubtedly left over from the time when it was an "old boys' club" college. (We actually didn't admit women until the 70s!) After Hilton Head we go back to Williams for Senior Week, filled with fancy dinners, dancing, champagne brunches, and bonfires. Graduation is on June 5, then L. and I will stay with my parents for about a week while I pack up my room, donate/sell my stuff, and then we'll finally head out here!

So quite awhile to go.

The last week has been all about L. and me trying to nail down jobs before we actually move out, so that we're not, you know, driving across the country and renting an apartment with no income! I had four meetings/interviews: last Saturday (the 19) I attended a job fair of sorts for independent high schools to interview for teaching positions, then Monday I had my long-awaited interview at a big, wonderful publishing company about a half hour outside LA, and last Wednesday I met with two literary agents. One guy was a big-whig talent agent and was a total tool; I'll have to give him a post of his own.

My teaching interview with a great private school in North Hollywood and my interview at the publishing company both went really well, and though I haven't been offered either position yet it seems promising for both. I'll have a big decision to make, since the publishing job, while it would be perfect, would be about a half-hour commute each way depending on traffic, perhaps up to an hour. Teaching would be a short commute but it sort of terrifies me.

L. had such good luck out here! I don't know if I mentioned before, but his initial offer from the UCLA biochemistry research department had a contingency; the person who has the job now had to get into med school to free up the position for L. to take. On Friday L. and I went into Westwood so he could meet with some more people at UCLA (and so I could stuff my face with cookie sandwiches from Diddy Riese), and his boss told him that he officially had the position, no more contingency! Color me HAPPY.

Now that we know where at least one of us is going to be living, the apartment hunt is on. We're hoping to live in Westwood since it's a perfect little mini-city, with enough bars, restaurants, shops, and movie theatres to keep us busy, plus it would be great if L. could walk to work. What I don't want, however, is to get into a situation where we're living in an apartment building with a bunch of UCLA undergrads-- I am SO READY to be out of college and do not want to feel like I'm going back to school in the fall!

When we haven't been interviewing in LA, L. and I have been relaxing in Santa Barbara. We had a fun date night on Saturday that I'll write about in another post. Unfortunately it's been rainy almost the entire week we've been here, which is a huge bummer.

So that's my short update! I'm leaving California tomorrow to spend some time at home with my parents in New Hampshire, and then I go back to Williams for the last time EVER on Sunday to hopefully fly through this last month and a half.

three cities in less than three days

2011-03-20T12:33:00.003-04:00

I've been in LA (slash Newport slash Santa Barbara) for less than 48 hours, and in a way I feel as though I haven't actually slept, that the days have all rolled into one, and that I've been here for a week at the same time. Between frozen bananas on Balboa Island (there's always money in the banana stand!), sunsets on the Newport harbor, a seedy motel in North Hollywood, a day-long independent high school job interview convention that went flooringly well, despite the fact that I only got 5 hours of sleep Thursday night and 6 hours Friday night, dinner and a movie on state street, and finally waking up in L.'s parents' comfy, cozy house in Santa Barbara with the rain falling outside, it has been an absolutely crazy 48 hours.

More details soon, but for now I'm going to disappear into my happy place where I do absolutely no traveling for a whole day.

halp! are you a mac guy(gal)?

2011-03-15T18:14:00.018-04:00

Recently I learned that Williams offers a loan up to $2,000 to purchase a laptop for currently enrolled students, which doesn't need to be paid back until nine months after graduation, and the payments for which will be suspended if the student continues onto grad school.

Here's the 411 on my current laptop:

1. No battery power. NONE. As in, when the adapter falls out of the power plug, my computer stops EVERYTHING it is doing, looks at me like this:

and then rolls around on the floor violently, making gagging and gasping sounds, kicks its legs up in the air a couple times, shudders a violent death rattle, and dies. Without even thinking that MAYBE, before it left this earth, it might be polite to back up some of my work.

Rude.

2. The screen. It has somehow become loose, it weebles and wobbles (but it won't fall down!), and basically it lolls about like a newborn baby without the muscles in its neck to support its head.

3. The N key is completely gone. It's just a lone black key. Good thing I played word typing games LIKE IT WAS MY JOB in 6th grade, so my fingers have memorized where it should be.

4. The DVD player is going, which means that my ability to play the Sims and watch Sex and the City in lieu of writing papers or studying for finals is becoming severely threatened. This would impact my life in catastrophic, inexplicable ways.

5. It's four years old, which is about 80 in computer-years.

6. Norton and MacAffe (however you spell it...I honestly have a panic attack every time it pops up and click violently to get rid of it so I can't be expected to have memorized the spelling) straight up COMPETE with one another to do scans on my computer NOT once a month, NOT once a week, but literally every.god.damn.day, which completely overtakes the system and makes everything else unbearably slow. The whole "we'll just do this in the background so you can keep working while we clean up!" is completely false. And also, they NEVER find anything! So why the persistence?

Clearly, a new computer with this loan program, which has a 5% fixed interest rate, is a wise investment. BUT, in a world overrun by Macs, what is a PC girl to do?

(PS, I know that a lot of people become enraged by the use of "PC" as the contrast to Mac, because Macs are also "Personal Computers," but for the love of god you know what I mean.)

So here are my questions. Do you use a Mac or a PC? If a PC, which kind, and has it treated you nicely or have you been cursing the day you ever got it? I'm thinking of getting the Dell XPS15. Heard good things? Bad things? Lukewarm things?

Do tell!

PS. While we're on the subject of computers, I have a funny story for you. The other day I was in the library, attempting to actually be productive and work on a paper. I had my headphones but my iPod was dead, so I plugged my earbuds into the library desktop computer--surrounded by about 50 others, most of which were taken. It was a quiet, peaceful Friday afternoon. (I know, how lame am I for being in the library on a Friday afternoon?) I'm currently on a movie soundtracks, especially Hans Zimmer, kick, so I pulled up a song from Inception on YouTube and went to town.

But the music sounded really far away. I kept turning the volume up louder and louder but it only got marginally louder in my headphones. I was completely puzzled. Then I looked down.

OOPS, JK THE EARBUDS WEREN'T PLUGGED INTO THE COMPUTER.

It gets funnier.

The song was this one:

And I started turning it up right around 1:35, aka the most ~~badass~~ completely embarrassing part. The entire library got to be privy to a very, very loud Hans Zimmer horn on a lazy Friday afternoon whilst they were trying to write papers and study.

The end.

Friday Night Sushi

2011-03-13T11:49:00.006-04:00

L. and I probably go to Sushi Thai Garden, one of about three restaurants within walking distance of campus (that aren't sandwich/lunch shops...yes, it does get very old, especially when you don't like Indian food, like me!), once a week.

Here's a funny local hint: Students call it Sushi Thai, and professors call it Thai Garden, but nobody calls it "Sushi Thai Garden." It would sound foolish.

I've never been a huge fan of sushi--I don' t like seafood! Have I told you guys that before?--but L. loves to order Dynamite Rolls, and I can actually eat two or three before I start to remember that I'm eating seafood, taste the seafood, and feel sick.

That's progress.

Sorry these pictures aren't great. I always feel really strange using a flash in the middle of a nice restaurant! Oh, the amazing meals I have neglected to share with you guys because of the flash problem.

My chicken dish, which is what I eat when I realize I don't like eating seafood.

This weekend, I bought two incredible trench coats from the Gap outlet. I've been dying for a staple, khaki, long trench for years, and had been stalking $100 versions at Victoria's Secret and Gap. This weekend I decided to make the hour-there, hour-back commute to the outlets to see what they had, and sure enough, amazing trenches in khaki AND black awaited me. PLUS, being the queen of discounts that I am, I got them each for...are you ready? $34. $34!!! That was the discounted outlet price on top of my AAA discount. Do you guys ask for that? If you have a AAA card, lots of outlet chains will honor a 10% discount just for flashing it! Definitely try it.

The coats are a dream. They're stylish, lightweight, and perfect for LA weather! And the night I bought them it was about 50 degrees, with a warm(ish) breeze blowing and the snow melting. Spring was springing. I was so excited that I'd get to wear my new coats almost immediately.

Today, it is snowing. Again. New England FAIL. Thank god I'm leaving for LA on Friday morning...

A Whirlwind Weekend

2011-03-08T17:32:00.010-05:00

Last weekend was almost too much awesomeness packed into three days. Friday night we threw L. a birthday party for his 22nd, Saturday night was Williams' annual senior party, 100 days, marking the 100-day-and-counting mark until graduation (hurry up!), and Sunday was both Oscars day and L.'s actual birthday, for which we went out for Mexican and ate wayy too much cake.

Phew. I'm tired just thinking about it all again...and thinking about all the cake and punch I drank, I am very, VERY sorry to my body, which only wants for spring break the week after next to NOT have to swelter in jeans and sweaters in warm So. Cal. weather. Sorry body.

But I got to wear pretty dresses two nights in a row and actually put on more makeup than just a quick swipe of mascara--hell, I actually wore REAL clothes at all instead of hanging out on the couch in yoga pants and a sweatshirt--so the weekend has to be a win in my book. Here's me and my girl Sara at L.'s party Friday!

L. didn't get dressed up for his party (universal law of boys v. girls--if it's a boy's birthday he DOESN'T HAVE TO get dressed up, whereas if it's a girl's birthday she can no matter what, even if no one else does...except her boyfriend probably has to, too), but he had to get dressed up with me Saturday night for 100 Days! Muahaha.

I didn't get a picture of the Red Velvet cupcakes with which I surprised L. at his party, but I DID manage to snap one of the cake I surprised him with Sunday at our big birthday dinner! BUT it came out badly. So you'll have to take my word for it that it was very pretty.

Poor guy. It's got to get confusing when your girlfriend is yelling at you to go to the gym with her every day, but essentially throwing confectionery goods at you left and right.

But the cake was good.

I also got him the best presents he got from anyone, and I was SO HUMBLE about it too. Not. I'm REALLY into giving presents.

A Danny Woodhead jersey. I think the face says it all.

And an old train stops-inspired print that I made on Photoshop with lots of iconic/places that have meaning to us in LA, which let's face it, is also a gift for me because it's going to look SO pretty in a white frame hung up in our apartment! Here's the .jpeg:

It was super easy to make, and it cost less than $2.00 to print! I'll have to buy a frame, but if I pick up a cheap one from Ikea we will have our first piece of art for our new apartment for around $10 clams. Not too bad!

Needless to say, this past weekend was not NEARLY as eventful. We had a lot of work to catch up on, and I was still trying to purge my system of all the baked goods and punch (vodka, Crystal Light raspberry lemonade, ice, and Sprite...make it! It's SO good) to which I had subjected it, so I enjoyed curling up on the couch in leggings and a hoodie and watching some good movies (we saw The Kids Are All Right for the second time and I liked it even better than the first!)

Oh, and on Saturday L.'s a cappella group, the Octet, had their mid-semester concert.

Here they are singing "Absolutely (Story of a Girl) by Nine Days."

And here's a little treat for you--their Taylor Swift medley.

It was awesome.

CSN Stores GIVEAWAY!

2011-02-24T11:39:00.013-05:00

Congrats to our lucky winner, Stephany!

Update: Giveaway is closed as of 3/3 at 10:30am. Thanks for playing! Winner will be announced by the end of the day today.

Update: As of Tuesday at 7:30pm, giveaway is still open! It will stay open until I receive the winners' code from CSN, so keep entering! I'll post another update when it closes.

As I promised in my last post, to keep the Valentine's Day-lovin' going a little while longer, I have a giveaway for you guys! CSN Stores contacted me about doing either a giveaway or a review and honestly, with graduation and a big move into our new apartment coming up, I was tempted to score some bedroom furniture, Le Cruset cookware, office desks, or accessories for our new home.

But then I thought, shame on you, Michelle! You love your readers--let them know it!

So, readers who I love, this giveaway is for you. Your choice of anything from CSN Stores with a $15 gift certificate. If it were me who had the chance to win (it's not, get over it Michelle!), here's what I would put those 15 clams toward!

A girl can dream.

So, what you're really waiting for--the juicy details!

Entries will be accepted until Monday, February 28, 11:59pm EST. Here are the ways you can earn entries. Separate comments for each, please!

1. Leave me a comment letting me know what you would buy! (1 entry)

2. Become a follower, or leave me a comment letting me know you're already a follower. (1 entry)

Good luck! I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend! I'm hoping to check in before then, but with L.'s birthday party Friday night, our big senior party Saturday night, and L.'s actual birthday dinner/Oscar party Sunday night, I might be a little swamped this weekend!

L.'s Valentine's Day Present (and a giveaway for you!)

2011-02-20T17:02:00.012-05:00

Partly to combat the people who claim that Valentine's Day is just a "Hallmark holiday," I never buy anything for anyone when I give gifts.* Plus, there are very few avenues in my life in which I get to put my creativity to use, so I get really excited about the opportunity to make something cute and fun for L!

L. ended up pulling out all the stops, taking me out to a romantic (and delicious!) steak dinner at Mezze, one of the nicer restaurants in Williamstown. He also got us a bottle of champagne and a nice hotel room--sometimes, just having the time to spend by ourselves, off-campus, out of the common room with all our suitemates hovering around participating in our relationship, with no reading packets allowed is the most romantic thing we could do!

L.'s favorite cupcakes are Red Velvet, and so I ran with the idea and decided to modify the recipe and make Red Velvet cookies! I decided to make two kinds--a light, crisp butter cookie dipped in white chocolate, and a thick, rich, chewy cake-cookie sandwich with buttercream frosting. (He doesn't like cream cheese!!! So sad, it's one of my favorites.)

Here's how they turned out:

They were SO DELICIOUS.

I'm trying so hard to eat well this week, but it's going to be VERY hard. Friday we're having L.'s birthday party, Saturday is 100 Days, a senior party (celebrating the fact that we have only--!!!--100 days until graduation!) with an open bar and tons of treats, and Sunday is L.'s actual birthday, for which we're having a mexican fiesta and then the Oscars are right after!

SPEAKING of presents, I have one for you guys because I <3 you! Check back either tomorrow or early Thursday for a giveaway post!! xoxo [*One "store-bought" thing I don't really object to is flowers. I don't expect anyone to be cultivating their own roses for Valentine's Day! Also, if you love to buy chocolates and greeting cards for V-day, that's your thing! I'm just talking about my preferences.]

Santa Barbara, LA, and some exciting news, finally!

2011-02-15T22:58:00.028-05:00

At the end of January, L. and I couldn't handle the blizzards, the sub-zero temperatures, and the fact that our ceilings were leaking and about to collapse over here in good old Williamstown, Massachusetts. So we escaped to Santa Barbara for a week!

How much more beautiful can it get?

We had lunches on State St., took walks, L. played golf with his dad, we had some amazing dinners including The Palace Grill which is one of my new all-time favorite restaurants (their jambalaya was to.die.for!), and basically just had a wonderful relaxing time.

One night, we had dinner at the Boathouse.

This was our view.

Can I go back? Please?

One day while L. and his dad played golf, L.'s mom and I took their Standard Poodle, Obi, on a long walk along the coast. We stopped to be nosy/creepy and took some pictures of this (amazing) famous house. Can you guess whose it is?

If you guessed that it is the approx. $22 million 14,000 sq. foot Montecito, Calif. home owned by Beanie Babies creator Ty Warner then yes, you are correct! I wish I had come up with the idea to understuff stuffed animals and make a fortune off unwitting children. Sigh.

But perhaps the best part of our trip was the Wednesday that L. and I took the car and drove down into LA so that L. could interview for a job. I won't say where, but let's just say that it's for a research position at a prestigious university at which he hopes to attend medical school in two years.

Oh, and...HE GOT THE OFFER! Which means, ladies and possible gentleman who may read this blog, we are officially moving to Los Angeles in June!! YAY! You have no idea how relieved I am about this, because for the last three months I've been having anxiety that L. would end up in San Francisco and I would end up in LA, and there's no way I could do that long distance relationship for two years. And then if we couldn't make med school/grad school plans match, we would have waited those two years for nothing. So I am so, so, so happy to be able to say that we're going no matter what. Of course, I don't actually have a job yet, but I've decided that I'm going no matter what. I'm not following a boy across the country, although having a built-in roommate who I really, really love definitely helps; it's just nice to have at least one huge factor of life after college (location) nailed down, and a lot of companies won't take candidates seriously until they live in-state, anyway.

SO, this all means I am even MORE excited to share photos of our wonderful day trip to LA with you!

I had so much fun navigating our future home. Of course, when we went we didn't really know it was going to be our future home, but I was determined to make it happen one way or another. I just get this great feeling from LA. I know it's not a lot of people's (anyone's? so many nay-sayers!) thing, but to me it's amazing--sunny, expansive, relatively easy to navigate, and it doesn't have that run-down look of these old New England towns that have been around since the Revolution in which I've been living the last twelve years of my life.

We had my trusty GPS, a british fellow named Daniel, who was more than helpful. It was especially funny to listen to the strange way he pronounced the streets (Wheel-Shire Boo-lay-vaard).

I had our day all planned out. Thanks to the lovely Mara's help, we decided on Joan's on Third for lunch.

I had absolutely the most delicious sandwich I've ever eaten in my life; fresh mozzarella, basil, tomato and olive oil on a crusty rustic roll. I'm drooling just thinking about it. I need to go back. I'm already fantasizing about doing some of our grocery shopping at Joan's' (weird, making a possessive a possessive) marketplace and making amazing paninis for lunch on the weekends at home...mmmm....

I strategically planned lunch so that right afterward, we could walk across the street and enjoy a scrumptious dessert at Magnolia Bakery. I have to say, I had really high hopes and had heard amazing things about their cupcakes.

The verdict? They were okay. The frosting was really fluffy and just tasted a little strange to me. They were certainly pretty, but in terms of sheer deliciousness, I have to say the cupcakes we had at WhoDidily on State St. were the absolute best. We split the Lolligager, a chocolate cupcake with lime-colored buttercream frosting and a hunk of cookie dough baked into the center. YUM.

One of my favorite parts of the day was when I dropped L. off at his interview and drove over to The Grove for some shopping. I resisted the urge to buy anything, but it was difficult, especially since it was a gorgeous 80-degree day and I was wearing a long black cardigan! Blech!

Before we went home the following Monday, we took a trip down over the weekend to Newport Beach to visit with L.'s grandparents. It is so beautiful down there (plus, there's like three Ikeas on the way!). Being sandwiched between Newport on the one hand and Santa Barbara on the other isn't such a bad place to be...

I am so looking forward to doing some more cupcake-tasting when we get back to LA, as well as trying out all the restaurants I had wanted to hit on our last trip: Ketchup, Don Antonio's, La Brea Bakery, Toast, Diddy Riese, The Foundry and soo many more! I'm also really enjoying beginning our (tentative) apartment search. If you guys know of any great affordable complexes or anyone who is subletting in West LA, let me know!! And now I'm crossing my fingers that one of the job interviews I have lined up in March when I fly back out works out...

Haters gonna hate

2011-02-14T16:02:00.004-05:00

Writing this post is giving me a lot of anxiety because I haven't posted about my California trip yet here I am posting about things in the present and the order is all messed up (does anyone else besides me and Date Girl have that?!), but I couldn't resist putting up a little note on Valentines Day to 1. wish all of my lovely readers a very happy day! and 2. express a small point of irritation.

I'm just going to put it out there and say that the people who are SO militantly against Valentine's Day are oftentimes MORE obnoxious than the happy-go-lucky celebrators who still break out the doilies and glitter glue and send cards to everyone and their mom (literally). And please take note that I did not say "the single people" and "the couples," because it doesn't have to be like that! I'll be the first to say that the holier-than-thou couples who find uncoupled people to be of a lesser humanity are definitely just as annoying as the self-righteous "I don't believe in Valentine's Day because it's only beneficial to the Hallmark company," but guess what?

Don't buy a card from Hallmark then!

I have never once bought a card for anyone to whom I've given something on Valentine's Day; I spent about three hours yesterday making L.'s present (can't share it yet because he'll peek!) and zero percent of it is store-bought. And of course, I show my love for him (and my mum, and my best friends, and my family...etc) every other day of the year, but why not do it today, too? Sure, Valentine's Day may not have the mooshy moony origins that we all were taught it does as kids, about St. Valentine marrying secret couples, or maybe it does, after all. My point is, WHO CARES? That's how we celebrate it today, and we don't need to discount our current holidays based on a history lesson. If we do, might as well toss out the wrapping paper, Christmas trees, and Easter eggs and call it a day. Basically, your resistance doesn't make you "oh-so-cool" and "anti-mainstream." It sort of just makes you annoying and a grinch.

Anyways, by dwelling on the negativity I am giving power to those who for whatever reason like to wage war on the day, and that is not what I want--it's the opposite. So, happy Valentine's Day to all of you, who I love and appreciate every day, and also today.

(I also realize someone could say that writing this from the pov of someone in a loving relationship who is looking forward to celebrating with her significant other later tonight could be a major caveat, but I can assure you I would feel the same way if I were single.)

Have a wonderful day, everyone! Updates with what I made for L., including a hilarious Photoshop card (if I do say so myself) soon!

22nd Birthday Dinner

2011-02-09T15:37:00.006-05:00

The birthday dinner post is just a tad (okay, 2 weeks) late, I know. But for some reason, posting things out of order really stresses me out, so I needed to write this post before I could tell you all about my lovely trip to Santa Barbara and Los Angeles. And Super Bowl excitement and starting classes again got in the way of everything, as well.So, without further ado. My birthday dinner celebration was wonderful, and greatly in part to L., who always goes out of his way to throw the best parties for me. I had my own little birthday throne at the head of our 20 (!) person table, with decorations L. had set up before I got there:

The mastermind party-planner, himself (he wore his glasses just for me, even though he hates to!):

But the best part of the night, which you can sort of see in the picture above, was the surprise Green Bay Packers birthday cake that L. had made for me! It made my entire night, and the pieces our server cut, as you can see, were HUGE. I didn't get to take a picture of the whole thing before they took it away to cut it, but here was my slice (I enlisted the help of four of my friends to finish it):

Best birthday cake ever.

For dinner, I ordered a huge burger with cheddar cheese, sprouts, tomato, lettuce, bacon, avocado, and garlic aioli. It's what I get every time we go to the Purple Pub in Williamstown (when I'm letting myself indulge, at least!) It's DELICIOUS.

Thank you, L. and all my friends, for such a wonderful birthday! A laid-back dinner and a huge piece of green and yellow cake was just what I needed.

GO PACK GO

2011-02-06T11:16:00.003-05:00

Today's menu:

Baked mac and cheese with gorgonzola, parmesan, and Wisconsin white cheddar

Spinach and artichoke dip with alfredo, cream cheese, parmesan, and mozzarella

...notice a theme?*

Also, green and yellow cupcakes.

Let's goPackers!

*(It's cheese!)

UPDATE:

I'm Back!

2011-02-03T12:36:00.007-05:00

L. and I (begrudgingly) left sunny Santa Barbara on Monday and had a nightmare of a travel experience home, including a panic attack (mine) on the flight out (I was so nervous and trying so hard to hold in my tears that I started hyperventilating, and I whispered to L. "I can't breathe," and then then yelled "you can't BREATHE?!" which scared me right out of my panic attack), and flying straight into a blizzard when we reached Albany, NY (the closest airport to Williamstown). Actually, when we got in to Albany around midnight Monday, the snow hadn't started yet, but the drive to Williamstown is over a really scary, high, and treacherous mountain where the guardrails won't help you if you slide, so in case there was black ice we opted to stay in a hotel in Albany Monday night. Of course, when I woke up just after 7 the next morning (4am in my body...yuck), I peeked out the window only to discover that around three inches of snow had already fallen. Fail. So we packed up as quickly as we could and embarked on a terrifying drive home (the normally hour-long drive took almost three), but I was just glad L. got us home safely. (And, props to the Subaru. That thing is better in the snow than my SUV).

We started classes yesterday (though most of them got canceled) and things have just been generally busy, busy, busy over here. I'm running around getting textbooks, trying to squeeze in some hours at my internship, and tackling the 500+ pages of reading I already have due early next week. Too bad Sunday is the most IMPORTANT DAY OF THE YEAR, nay, my life, so if it means starting the semester off massively behind on my work, well then, so be it. I mean, it is senior spring, after all.

I'll post a birthday recap before the end of the week and a Santa Barbara/LA recap (probs two posts) next week, but if the Packers lose on Sunday and you don't hear from me for awhile, assume that I am a. curled up in the fetal position somewhere, crying, and/or b. clutching a bottle of wine and refusing to leave the couch.

Speaking of Superbowl, what are you guys having for snacks?! I have to admit that I am less inclined to cook all day this time, as I normally do for Green Bay games, because I don't want to miss a second of pre-game footage, but we're thinking of ordering out buffalo wings to save me the trouble of dipping a million pieces of chicken in panko crumbs and basting them in Frank's Red Hot. I'm also thinking of making my famous spinach and artichoke dip, and beefy, cheesy nachos. Maybe baked macaroni and cheese balls. And to think, I started doing South Beach again yesterday. Sigh. The things I do for the Packers...

Why we're leaving New England

2011-01-24T17:00:00.005-05:00

By now L. and I are boarding our plane on our way to Santa Barbara, but I wanted to leave you guys with a couple images of what we've had to deal with the last week in Williamstown and why our vacation couldn't come at a more perfect time. We've gotten a LOT of snow in the last month in Williamstown. Like...almost 40 inches a lot. And our roof? Well, it was built in 1901, isn't the sturdiest structure in the world, and isn't as sloped as it should be. So last Saturday night, I walked into my room and noticed the floor was soaking wet. I looked up, and realized that there was a GIANT crack in my ceiling, and water drops had formed along the entire crack and had soaked the floor and the bottom end of my bed. It did NOT look good. It was about 10:00pm on a Saturday night, so facilities wasn't open and I had to call security. They came by, decided it looked very unsafe, and said the on-call architectural tradesman would come by to take a look at it. Luckily, L.'s room with our nice cushy queen sized bed lives down the hall, so I didn't have to worry about sleeping there.

I'm not sure exactly what they did, but when I checked back the next morning and the ceiling, though still cracked, was at least dry. I figured they had chipped the ice off the roof, since the pressure from the build-up was what had caused the leakage in the first place. But THEN, Tuesday afternoon as I was headed into work the leak was back, and it looked worse. I called facilities and they promised to send someone over to fix it. When I got back at 5, I realized they interpreted "fix it" as "use duct tape to tape a giant tarp over the entire crack and try to make it drain over a bucket." My first thoughts were "wow, THAT is going to fill up with water and fall down," and wouldn't you know, two hours later it did just that--spilling water EVERYWHERE, including all over my bed. By now I was more than a little frustrated, so I called AGAIN and asked them to please fix the ceiling, rather than taping a temporary tarp over the problem. Another architectural tradesman came back and, I kid you not, put up ANOTHER tarp that was "better made" than the first, meaning he used a lot more duct tape. They said they wouldn't be able to permanently fix it until spring, when all the ice was off the roof.

By that time it was getting really late and I was sick of dealing with the problem, so I went down the hall to go sleep in L.'s room. I put on my jammies and crawled into his bed...only to discover that it was absolutely.completely.soaking.wet. The ceiling above HIS bed had opened up as well and was leaking steadily all over the bed. At that point, I couldn't take it anymore. It was late and I was exhausted and all I wanted to do was go to sleep in a warm bed. I made L. call security again, at which point they said, "didn't you already call about this?" He had to explain that no, I had called earlier, and now it was happening in his room too. FOUR officers showed up this time, followed by the poor architectural tradesman again, who had had to leave his warm house (on campus, to be fair) for the third time that night. Oh, and the reinforced tarp in my room had fallen yet AGAIN, so he had to fix that too.

By 3am that morning, this was what my ceiling looked like (photo not taken at 3am, as you can tell by the light through the window, and also because at that point I was way too pissed to be taking photos):

And this is what L.'s looked like:

We slept on a futon, got 4 hours of sleep before we had to get up for work, and were very grumpy. And that is one of many reasons why we need to escape to sunny Santa Barbara and sleep in a warm, dry bed.

Only a true fan...

2011-01-23T12:15:00.005-05:00

G O P A C K G O!

Edit: We're going to the Superbowl!!!!!!

Today...

2011-01-21T00:15:00.001-05:00

Four Days...

2011-01-17T14:59:00.004-05:00

...until I turn the big 2-2! Normally I would just wait and do a re-cap post after my birthday, but I couldn't resist sharing my plans for the weekend because I am just so.excited! If you should know anything about me, is that I am absolutely crazy about birthdays, both mine and everyone else's. I wake up and bound out of bed in the morning, no matter the time, and because I'm a total type-A when it comes to planning, I usually have a whole day planned because no one wants to spend time alone on their birthday! This time around, L. is taking me out for a nice lunch on Friday afternoon and then I'm having a huge (18 people!) birthday dinner at the Purple Pub, a super classy-yet-chill Williamstown restaurant/bar. After that, a bunch of friends are meeting us there for drinks.

L. already gave me one of my presents--a Clay Matthews jersey for watching the Packers destroy the Bears this Sunday in the NFC Championships!!!--but my other present comes on Monday, when L. and I hop on a plane and head to Santa Barbara for a week! Wooo hooo! L.'s parents were so generous to pitch in for a plane ticket for my birthday present, and I can't WAIT for a relaxing week of sun, warmth, nice dinners, golfing, knitting, hiking, yoga, concerts, and above all de-stressing before my last-ever semester at Williams. So expect lots of fun updates on that trip! We went around this time last year, too, and it was absolutely divine. I really cannot wait.

It was -2 this morning in Williamstown, so I think a trip to Santa Barbara (where it's 74 today!!) is very much in order.

Blizzard 2011 by the numbers

2011-01-12T16:32:00.005-05:00

Number of times I've left the house today: 0
Number of times I'll be leaving the house today: 0
Episodes of How I Met Your Mother watched: 9
Number of pizzas we're ordering for dinner: 2
Temperature outside: 19°
...Feels like: 7°
Inches of snow already fallen: 16
Inches of snow predicted by the end of the storm: 32

I've got to get out of New England...

All Alone in the Big City

2011-01-07T10:00:00.001-05:00

This afternoon I did something bold, exciting and completely terrifying. See, you guys might remember my having hinted a little that I have an exciting interview coming up in March at a really big, really awesome publishing company outside of LA, and I also have a teaching conference to attend in the same week, where I'll be having many mini-interviews with administrators from private schools throughout the state of California. Orbitz is having amazing deals right now on tickets from Boston to Los Angeles (like, under $300 amazing), and I was getting anxious that if I didn't book soon, I'd miss out on these prices (which, honestly, are all I can really afford). So, I did it. I took the plunge, and booked my ticket out.

The only problem? I have nowhere to stay, hardly any money, and no means of transportation. I'm flying out Friday morning and getting in around noon, and my conference isn't until Saturday morning at 9am. That means I have a couple options. I could leave the airport and walk around/splurge on a cab/do some sightseeing/possibly scope out some apartment complexes in the area for my move in June, but the problem with that is I'll be lugging a giant suitcase since I'm not flying out for 11 days (I'll be heading to Santa Barbara with L. and his parents the following Wednesday). Plus, I wouldn't want to get too far from the airport since I'll most likely be sleeping there (it's free, I'm broke, and I don't know what I would do for transportation from a hotel to the conference location anyway, since it's about an hour from the airport with traffic). I could try to find a cheap hotel, but that again leaves the problem of transportation--I could splurge on a hotel or a cab ride, but probably not both.

Is this crazy? Most likely. I picture it being like a scene in a movie--young about-to-be college graduate ruthlessly pursues job opportunities, at the expense of sleep, showering and overall comfort. I picture myself curling up on the floor of the airport, linking my arm through my baggage so no one steals it while I sleep, and spooning my business suit, which will be laid out to avoid wrinkles.

Luckily I'm not homeless for the entire 11 days. I'll hopefully be staying with a good friend who lives in Palos Verdes for the weekend and then I'll be heading up to Santa Barbara, as I mentioned. But the thought of being homeless and carless for over 24 hours--and having to look professional and presentable the next day--is a little terrifying. But also? Maybe I'm masochistic, but it's really exciting. The things we do for our dreams, right?

Let's just hope I don't get mugged...

Image 1, Image 2

Bling for the New Year

2011-01-05T14:39:00.011-05:00

My mom unintentionally set off a firestorm of a shopping spree when she gave me a gift card to Old Navy for Christmas...which I promptly spent and then some. As you guys know, I'm all about getting amazing, pricey-looking pieces on the super cheap, and I have to say, though I've always felt that Old Navy was hit-or-miss for me, I nearly took out their entire stock last week. Here are just some of the sparkly, blinging, New Year's-inspired pieces I picked up (or desperately wanted to, but they weren't in my size, sniff sniff.)

Women's Sequined Pocket-Cardigan in Marshmallow White, on sale in-store for $10.95!

Women's Embellished Cardigan in Cocoa Powder, on-sale online for $19.97

Women's Facet-Button Cardigan in Peaches and Cream, on-sale in-store for $10.95

Women's Beaded Button-Front Cardigan in Smoky Gray, on-sale online for $19.97

(Okay, can you tell I'm a little cardigan-obsessed?)

Women's Embellished "Swanky Tank" in Heather Gray, on-sale in-store for $5.95!

These tanks are amazing...I also got one in a dark charcoal gray with the neckline of this white one, again for only $5.95! Such a steal!

I also got a really great bead-and-jewel gray and silver necklace...it's sort of hard to explain without the picture, but think of solid gray beaded balls mixed in with sparkly silver jewels, on a silver chain.

Oh, and to wear all these cute new tops with, I got a pair of jeans from my favorite store for jeans ever, Express. If you guys haven't tried jeans from Express...you need to. Like, right now. I got my first and only ever pair of flattering skinny jeans there and just picked up a really flattering pair of boot-cut jeans, as well.

Did anyone else go on any unintentional shopping-sprees over the holidays?

Nesting

2011-01-01T23:00:00.000-05:00

Now that it's officially 2011 and I can finally say I'm graduating this year, I think I'm allowed to start indulging in some apartment online-shopping! Not to say I haven't been doing this for, oh, the past two years while simultaneously bemoaning my restriction to a tiny dorm room, but now I've convinced myself that it's close enough that it's okay. Plus, L.'s mom got him/us a whole bunch of awesome kitchen supplies for Christmas (thanks Judy!), so clearly she gets it.

These are all things I would have to save for probably months (okay, that rug? years) before we could afford them, seeing as we're only taking what can fit in the back of L.'s Subaru and are starting out with very little more than pennies to our names, but a girl can dream, yes? YES.

This is what I'm thinking for the bedroom: dark woods, neutrals (whites, grays, blues), geometric patterns, and some pops of metallics.

West Elm Chunky Wood Floor Mirror in Chocolate

Pottery Barn Valencia II Sleigh Bed, Mahogany Stain (with the same bedding, too--all white!)

West Elm Chunky Tassel Throw in Platinum

Pottery Barn Valencia Tall Dresser in Mahogany Stain

Pottery Barn Addin Leather Armchair in Java

Shades of Light Fretwork Rug, 8'x10', in Smoky Gray and Cream

Shades of Light Jonathan Adler Floor Lamp in Bronze

Z Gallerie Quad Collection de corative plates

This was way, way too much fun, and now I actually have myself convinced I'll be able to get all these pieces for our first apartment...that is, the bedroom of our first apartment, with a kitchen and a living room to furnish. Sigh. Maybe after I land my job L. and I can subsist on Ritz crackers and cream cheese for a few months until we can afford all these things! Ha! I'll post my other dream-rooms sometime soon. We'll have to see what L. thinks about all this...

PS- Happy 1/1/11!!!

2010 in Review

2010-12-30T11:39:00.002-05:00

I can't believe New Year's Eve is tomorrow!

Goodbye, 2010! In the past year, I...

Turned 21!

Went to Santa Barbara with L. as my 21st birthday present.

Celebrated L.'s 21st.

Went to Hawaii for the first time ever! (And have been dying to go back ever since!)

Celebrated my one-year blogging anniversary.

Had an amazing summer in which L. and I officially tested the waters living together and I worked full-time at my wonderful job in publishing (which I'm going to miss so much!) Oh, and hung out with Justin Long too.

Started my senior year at Williams. (In the same year Williams was named the #1 college in America by Forbes! Yay Williams!)

Attended my brother's wedding.

Celebrated L.'s and my two year anniversary.

Went to my first ever NFL game (and first ever Packers game!)

. . .

Looking ahead to 2011, it is going to be a BIG one for me. In it, I will...

Turn 22 (the age to me that seems truly "adult-y")

Finish my thesis! Oh joyful day! (Here's hoping I can keep it under 100 pages...)

Have a fantastic Senior Week, which will include traveling with all my friends to Hilton Head, dinners, parties, champagne brunches, all culminating in the day I...

Graduate from college!!!

Pack everything I own in L.'s Subaru and move across the country/move in together.

Begin working full-time hopefully at the job of my dreams for which I'm interviewing in March (fingers crossed it all works out!)

Adopt a puppy (?!?!)

I can't wait. And I can't wait to share it all with you guys! Things can only get more interesting from here on out...

Reindogs

2010-12-23T12:17:00.012-05:00

Life is good. I'm nestled comfortably at home, sipping on hot chocolate from the Keurig and nibbling a Lindt chocolate sampler, and since I'm feeling just so holly-jolly I thought it was the perfect time to share with you my afternoon a couple weeks ago with the Reindogs, especially since my own little Reindog, Abby, is snoring peacefully at my feet.

What's a Reindog, you ask? Well, obviously it's a dog dressed up like a reindeer. And Williamstown, being the tiny, weird, quirky, Stars Hollow (anyone get the reference? anyone?) town that it is, holds an annual Reindog parade every year, where anyone in town who has a dog can dress him or her up like a reindeer and march in the parade that goes down Spring Street, our only commercial street. There's also little kids, but I don't like them as much, and they definitely weren't as cute as the dogs.

This year, I got to be an elf, which essentially means I got to pass out candy canes to all the little kids along the parade route (well, that and being Santa's right hand man, obvi.), but the best part of the job was getting to judge the Reindogs and pick the winners!

YOU GUYS. There was a red wagon full of tiny Golden Retriever puppies! I think my heart literally exploded. There is NOTHING in this world cuter than a red wagon full of tiny Golden Retriever puppies.

This is who we picked to win for Best Temperament. She was so quiet and sweet! Love her.

All the Reindogs assembled on the steps of Chapin Hall on campus. Can you spot me? Hint: I'm dressed like Santa and wearing fantastic riding boots.

This is Caleb, the defending champion. I thought he should have won again and wanted to give him the prize, but Santa felt like "another dog deserved to win." Needless to say, I was outraged at the politics involved in the Reindog judging. Caleb was CLEARLY the most convincing Reindog. I felt like he was going to take off any minute.

FUTURE DOG ALERT. When we graduate in June, L. and I are getting a yellow Labradoodle. Well, I'M getting a yellow Labradoodle. L. is getting a black Labradoodle or a black Standard Poodle. They're going to be best friends.

I told you I live in Stars Hollow.

I can't even post any more. I am literally dying, they are so cute. There's my other potential future dog, over on the left.

Oh, and all images via iBerkshires.com, in case you couldn't tell by the giant watermarks that clearly indicate "don't steal these pictures and put them on your blog." Oh well.

That time I reinforced gender stereotypes at an NFL game

2010-12-20T23:35:00.037-05:00

I'm sure everyone has heard about how the Green Bay/New England game went last night. I won't even type the four-letter word that begins with "l" and rhymes with "cost." Before I detail the way the night almost ended in disaster, let's talk about how out-of-my-mind I was excited in the hours leading up to the game:

9:00am: Michelle wakes up for some last-minute studying for her 1:30pm Bio exam; cries a little; curses finals; curses college and higher education; wonders if it's too late to go to culinary school.

2:30pm: Michelle finishes Bio exam and, with it, her LAST FALL SEMESTER EVER at Williams College. Cries a little (out of joy); comes home, packs to go home for Christmas.

3:41pm: Michelle takes a silly picture of she and L. wearing their Rodgers/Brady jerseys, posts it on the blog.

4:00pm: Michelle and L. get on the road, stock up on Bugles and embark on the three hour drive to Gillette Stadium.

7:00pm: L. and Michelle decide it will be cheapest to park a mile and a half away from the stadium. They pay $40, which turns out to be a bargain. The following (possibly dramatized) exchange takes place when they get out of the car:

M: Wow, it's not that cold at all!
L: No, it's not, this should be great!
M: It doesn't even feel like winter! It feels like a chilly fall night! I'll definitely be warm with these two sweaters under my Aaron Rodgers jersey! I DON'T EVEN NEED A COAT! (Note: The actual temperature was in the 20s, with wind chill, probably lower.)
Random Guy at the Porter-Potty: Wow, a Green Bay fan and a Patriots fan! Together! In a relationship!
M: YEAH lolz one of us is going to be very upset on the car ride home lolz haha! (I couldn't have known how much I would regret that statement).

7:45pm: We finally get into the stadium and I rush down to the first level to watch the Packers warm up. I couldn't have even anticipated that I would have been that excited. One of the widest, most genuine smiles in my recent memory spreads across my face. I spot Matt Flynn and Clay Matthews and Donald Driver and Greg Jennings (and Tom Brady...I can't lie and say I don't love him) and wonder if this is real life. Can I do this every weekend?

8:20pm: Kickoff. I am dying. With glee and joy and happiness.

Then, PACKERS ONSIDES KICK! RECOVERED! And then Packers are up on the Patriots! And then Matt Flynn is playing better than Tom Brady! And then HOLY CRAP WE MIGHT WIN!

Then I got cocky and got into some arguments with drunk belig New England men. One of them said "You're in New England Sweet-haaat!" Note: Drunk Patriots fans are really good at Geography.

When I wasn't arguing with drunk New Englanders, I was creepily stalking Aaron Rodgers on the sidelines through my binoculars.

Also, we were sitting with a lot of Packers fans and so we were in good company and I made friends.

LOOK AT MATT FLYNN! I LOVE HIM!

This is the last time I would be happy for a long time. I had also finally given in and put on my coat, because I was literally shaking uncontrollably and probably hypothermic.

Then. Then things took a turn for the worse. Suddenly, I wasn't jeering and taunting and screaming and high-fiving with the other cheeseheads and generally being an awesome cool girl whose team rocks at sports. Suddenly, every time the Patriots scored I found myself sitting silently in my seat as a stadium full of 60,000 people jumped up to their feet around me. It kept getting worse; suddenly it was the fourth quarter and the Patriots were up by 4. Suddenly there were only 19 seconds left and we were on the fourth down. I felt myself starting to break down; I couldn't help it. It was my first NFL game, my first Packers game, we had played better football for basically the whole game, I was so proud of/impressed by Matt Flynn and really wanted this for him, and, most of all, even though I can be a rough-and-tumble, trash-talking, hot-dog guzzling sports fan like the best of them...I am an emotional girl at heart, and something really, really bad was about to happen.

I repeated "please please please" about fifty times in the eleven or so seconds that remained. But suddenly, the clock was down to zero, and we were still down by four. The entire stadium jumped to its feet in an uproar; I felt the tears rush forth and I jumped from my seat, struggling to hold back my sobs, and left as quickly as I could. L. ran after me and we walked down the six (!) ramps from our seats in the upper balcony, and I gave myself one of the worst headaches I've ever had from struggling to hold in my tears. I know you guys are probably laughing about this and maybe in a few days I'll get to a place where I can see how it's funny, too, but I just got really emotional about the whole thing. I was absolutely devastated. L. felt awful and couldn't even gloat properly, so while I stood dejectedly in the sea of cheering and congratulating fans, he got an idea.

He went up to one of the vendors and asked him a question, and then came back and led me away from the exit, where the herd was gathering. He took me down a side hallway and out a side door, and we walked around the outside of the stadium, where we found ourselves in front of the Packers' buses. L. asked the security if they would be coming out soon, and they said if we hung around for a half hour or so, we should get to see some of the players. My tears slowed. Then, the security guards whispered that if we headed over to the little grassy patch to our left, where the friends and family usually waited, we might get to see some of THE players. My tears stopped. And thus began our wait: Me, L., a family with a little boy with awesome green and yellow face paint, and actual legitimate players' friends and family. After only about fifteen minutes of waiting, I saw Clay Matthews exit the stadium and get on the bus. Then, I started getting excited again. I was shaking uncontrollably but if Rodgers came out, I wanted him to know I was a true fan, so I took off my coat. L. said I was crazy; I said I was loyal; he said I was stubborn; I said I wasn't.

Then, to our left, all the friends and family ran over to greet Josh Sitton. And then, not longer after that, out came...

MATT FLYNN.

I debated going over to talk to him for about 5 minutes, as L. told me that if I didn't I would regret it forever. Finally, I went over (awkwardly meekly) but, as I was walking, I realized I had no idea what to call him. Matt? Flynn? Mr. Flynn? Matt Flynn? When I finally got up to him and his whole group turned to look at me, I sort of whispered "Matt?" He smiled, and I felt encouraged. "I'm so sorry to interrupt," I said, "but I just wanted you to know that this was my first NFL game at I'm so glad I got to see you start." He smiled and said thank you, and I added, "I mean, I just spent the last 20 minutes sobbing, so my night is really looking up now," at which his mom laughed. He smiled again and laughed and said thank you, and I walked away beaming. The little boy and I hung around a little longer, hoping to see Rodgers (who we didn't see), but we did see Mike McCarthy and Charles Woodson. The night was saved, and we walked around the amazing Patriots Place before (barely) making it back to the car and got home and I fell asleep warm and happy.

(PS: Do you guys like the new header??)

Can love overcome all adversity?

2010-12-19T15:41:00.002-05:00

We'll know by the end of the night. On our way to Gillette Stadium for the Packers/Patriots game! GO PACK GO!

Michelle's Guide to Holiday Movies

2010-12-16T12:00:00.018-05:00

Tonight we're having a Yankee Swap/Holiday Party in my suite, and I've been thinking about what movie we should watch after we swap gifts. To help myself decide, I thought I would compile a list of my ten favorite Holiday movies, trying to cover lots of ground--animated, feel-good, drama, classic, etc. I would love if you guys would give your recommendations for your favorite holiday movies, as well!

Also note that some of these aren't explicitly "holiday movies," they just "happen" to take place around Christmastime...but they still make me happy!

ALSO, all of the Harry Potter movies deserve to be on this list. It's not an oversight.

Finally...this post comes to you in lieu of studying for finals/writing my thesis. Holly jolly.

10. The Polar Express

I haven't seen this movie since I saw it in the theater with my parents, but I walked out permasmiling afterwards. It was beautifully animated and just totally feel-good...even though Tom Hanks' character sort of creeped me out a little (he looked JUST like him). I also had that song about hot chocolate stuck in my head for weeks.

9. The Family Man

This movie strikes a chord really deep within me. I know I'm the type of person to pull a Nicholas Cage and choose work over love...and miss out on a wonderful life. (In fact, the way things are shaping up, I'll have a Nicholas Cage-esque decision looming before me very soon, but that has no place in a holiday movies post and I don't want to think about it, so let's shelf that, shall we?) When he sits in the char on his last night and tries to stay awake? SO SAD. Although, it really sort of bothered me when Jack gets the apartment in New York and Kate freaks out at him and says she refuses to pull the children out of their schools. Like, I get that she's into the suburbs and all, but that's a great example of someone trying to compromise between family life and career ambition, and I think Kate should have been more open-minded about it. That's my PSA for the day.

8. Edward Scissorhands

First of all, this is totally one of those moments when you could say "Okay, Michelle, that is absolutely NOT a Christmas movie." That would be legit, but I DON'T EVEN CARE because this is literally one of my top three favorite movies of all time. It was Tim Burton, before Tim Burton got bad. It was Winona Ryder, before Winona Ryder got bad. And Johnny Depp is absolutely amazing, period. I love that this movie is heartwarming, heartbreaking, fairy-tale, violent/dark, and just absolutely beautiful to watch, all at once. Not to mention, unexpectedly hilarious. The waterbed moment? Priceless.

7. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Rudolph is the most adorably awkward thing I've ever seen, and the stop-action animation only highlights this fact. I LOVE his nasally, awkward voice, and his awkward wobbly-legs, and oh obviously his super-awkward bright red nose. I also really like the abominable snowman. He's probably the most likable enemy in any movie I've ever seen...he's sort of a hot mess and just wanders around bellowing. Yukon Cornelius is just a straight up baller, and I LOVE that his sled-dogs are a random assortment of cuddly pups. Straight-up Christmas classic. (Oh. and Hermie has got to be the greatest name ever).

6. The Family Stone

First off, the sheer amount of star power in this movie is mind-boggling. My girls Rachel McAdams, SJP, and Claire Danes, all in one place? Yes plz! Luke Wilson, the best Wilson brother, Diane "I'm the same person in every movie" Keaton, and Dermot Mulroney? BEST CHRISTMAS EVER. Except it's not, if you're SJP, because you're put in so many unforch, awkward situations that even I, who pride myself on not even getting awkwarded out by The Office, cringe. I was sort of thrown by how this movie glided between comedy, drama and pure grief-stricken sob-fest, all relatively seamlessly. AND SJP's throat tickle/cough noise is the best tick. Finally, the name Ben Stone is taken already, by Seth Rogen's character in Knocked Up (favorite movie of all time). No points for creativity.

5. The Holiday

I might have been the only person on the planet who actually liked this movie. And THAT'S OKAY. Nancy Meyers' houses are reason enough to watch the movie, but if that's not your thing, who could turn down a movie with Kate Winslet and Jude Law? Cameron Diaz is the same as usual, and Jack Black is actually bearable/actually gets relatively serious. And I think the Arthur plot just adds so much to the movie; it elevates it from typical rom-com to an actually really good movie. OH and Mr. NAPKIN-HEAD! Do people actually...do this, though? Swap houses with total strangers, and coordinate the details over what appears to be AIM, I mean?

4. Home Alone

Oh, Macaulay. Look at yourself. LOOK AT YOURSELF. You used to be literally the cutest thing that ever graced the silver screen. Even John Hughes thought, at what--seven? years old--that you could carry an entire movie by yourself. They JUST let Rachel McAdams do that with Morning Glory, and it did not go ne'er so well. But YOU. You had it all. We just sat there for 103 minutes and watched you attempt to shave, eat ice cream, shoot things with BB guns, and you know what. We ATE IT UP. I think one of the best parts of Home Alone is that while Kevin does all the aforementioned activities, he also goes grocery shopping. Adorable. I always love a good cat-and-mouse movie (Catch Me if You Can, anyone? Inside Man?) Too bad after watching this movie I couldn't go into the basement for years. YEARS.

3. How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (Boris Karlof/Animated version, NOT Jim Carrey version)

Apparently the exclamation point is necessary. So, now it's time for me to admit that when I was little, when I found a movie I liked, I watched it over and over and OVER, until I knew the whole thing by heart. (To this day, I can still recite Beauty and the Beast by heart). I also used to have to fall asleep with my tv on when I was little, and still do sometimes. Thus, every Christmas Eve I would get into bed and pop this on, and if I fell asleep in the middle it didn't matter because I knew the whole thing, anyway. This movie is an absolute classic; there's really just nothing else to be said.

2. It's a Wonderful Life

Probably one of the top five best movies of all time, Christmas or not. We watch it every Christmas Eve just before we go to bed, and my mum, who has seen it about 50 times, still gets anxious/upset/cries every.single.time, which is sort of hilarious but also touching. Donna Reed and Jimmy Stuart are just perfect; every single time I watch this movie I forget that I'm, indeed, watching a movie.

1. Love, Actually

I can't figure out which of the storylines in this movie I love the best. It's probably the Colin Firth/Lúcia Moniz one, just because it is so ridiculously cute, and I love that they talk even though they don't understand the language. Laura Linney's plotline is so, so sad--I get that maybe it's supposed to be that she and her brother are the love story in that one, but still. Give the girl SOMETHING! And of course, Sam. His happy face/angry face are completely precious. Even though Hugh Grant is a bumbling fool in every movie he's in, he fits in this one. And I've been told I look just like the girl who plays Natalie, which I guess I'll take since if the President of the United States (oh, Billy Bob...why?) gets after it, that's alright with me. Oh, and I can't forget the wedding scene and the "caroling" scene with Keira Knightley. All in all, it's a good enough movie to win out over IAWL and Home alone--it's clever, hilarious, and just more feel-good than I can handle.

PS. I have a confession to make...I hate A Christmas Story! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I just really can't stand it. I also really hate Elf. It creeps me out! Maybe I should do a follow-up post of Christmas movies I hate...

Finally, I've always felt that the Nightmare Before Christmas is more of a Halloween movie than a Christmas movie. What do you think?

Peppermint Bark!

2010-12-11T16:33:00.004-05:00

I've been craving some Christmas sweets nonstop lately, so yesterday I finally gave into my whims and made a batch of peppermint bark. It was my friend Bianca's 21st, so I made up a little box for her, and the rest I'm planning (trying) to save for the holiday party I'm having with my suitemates on Wednesday, complete with a Yankee Swap, hot chocolate, carols, and Love Actually.

Peppermint bark is SO easy to make! All you'll need is white chocolate chips (I prefer Ghirardelli because they melt so nicely) and some candy canes, and then a double boiler (I just use a glass bowl on top of a saucepan), wax paper, and come cookie sheets!

Melt down your chocolate chips in the double boiler, stirring constantly until smooth. Crush up the candy canes in a bag and add them--more or less depending on how chunky you want your bark--to the chocolate. Using a rubber spatula, distribute the chocolate evenly and not too thickly over a wax paper-covered cookie sheet, pop in the fridge (or freezer, but watch it closely!) for 15 minutes, break it up into small pieces, and you're done!

I've seen some recipes that call for doing this exactly, but then spreading some melted dark chocolate on top of your bark, and then another layer of the white chocolate with candy canes. That could be delicious, but I love this for its simplicity--it only takes about 20 minutes, hardening time included! And I have a LOT of fans now, including my boyfriend, who absolutely loves it (I've already had to promise to make him some every year from now on).

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! I ended class on Friday and am officially done with my fall semester (the last one I'll ever have at Williams), so after one exam this week and some thesis work I'll be heading home. I'm taking this weekend to relax a little; L. and I are going out for beef and broccoli tonight and then going to snuggle up and watch Inception. I've always actually sort of liked finals week because there's so much more free time--even if you have to spend it studying--to hang out in sweatpants and watch way too much tv. Masochistic? Maybe.

What do you do...

2010-12-07T21:50:00.002-05:00

when your thesis advisor has you re-write your introduction three times? THREE. That means that the first twenty pages I wrote are useless, and the second twenty pages I wrote are useless, so that I've written forty pages of thesis, and yet somehow have zero.

I, for one, don't know what you do in that situation, which is why, among many other reasons, I am just saying adieu to this semester. As in, peace out, it's been real, I WILL NOT MISS YOU.

Forty pages of thesis, ten pages on Henry James and a Bio exam are all that stand between me and Christmas break. More specifically, they are all that stand between me and officially being DONE with exams on December 19, at which point L. and I will jump in my car and drive to Foxborough, Mass., where we will watch the PATRIOTS v. the PACKERS!

L.'s favorite team is the Patriots.

My favorite team is the Packers.

Someone is going to be very unhappy on that car ride home at approximately midnight....

Back from Break, and C.'s Birthday!

2010-12-01T22:21:00.008-05:00

Well, as you can tell, I certainly enjoyed my break to the utmost--not only did I take an unintentional break from blogging, but I didn't get any work on my thesis done. That was not okay! I had tons of fun though.

Before we went away, however, we celebrated C.'s birthday a couple weeks ago! I got her The Poisonwood Bible and a pretty pair of mixed metal earrings, which I knew she would just love. To celebrate, we drove an hour away to our archrival, Amherst, to attend the last football game of the season at their homecoming. It was basically Homecoming, part two!

C.'s mom made the most delicious spiced bourbon cider...unfortunately (or fortunately, actually), it was about 75 degrees outside--in the middle of November!--and we were actually all sweating so much in the sun that we could barely watch the game from the bleachers!

For awhile, the game was a nail-biter...but we finally pulled ahead and won, meaning that we finished our season undefeated! It was so exciting to be there for such a great first endcap to our Williams experience--we even got to rush the field, which is something I have always wanted to do, although it was absolutely terrifying. I was sure we were going to get trampled.

After the game, we went to Northampton to a super nice Asian-fusion restaurant.

I know many people would kill to be 22 again, but for me it's the first age that really squares us away in adulthood. 21 has all the wild, partying connotations with it, so it seems that 22 is the first serious, life-starting age, what with graduating college, being comfortably settled into your twenties, etc. I'm feeling a little apprehensive about mine next month!

Sleep, Rupert, and Vacation

2010-11-21T22:29:00.002-05:00

Ever since I went to the midnight premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1 on Thursday, my sleep schedule has been all kinds of thrown off. It probably doesn't help that, as I go to bed at midnight on the dot pretty much every night and wake up around 8 or 8:30am every morning, I a. didn't even get HOME until 4am Friday morning, and b. guzzled with L. a giant VESSEL of diet coke at midnight. Couple that with the ill-fated nap I attempted to take Thursday night before the movie, and, well, I've been positively loopy ever since.

I do have to admit something. Hi, I'm Michelle, and I think Rupert Grint it totally hot. I don't even know WHY; I understand that actually, he's pretty much got nothing going for him, with the goofiness and the freckles and the red hair and the gawkiness. But I don't know--something about the "goofy" thing really does it for me. My other celebrity crushes include Seth Rogen and Michael Phelps, who have got a whole lot of the goofy to offer.

I've been trying to get everything in order so I can go HOME on Tuesday for Thanksgiving, but I'm excited to have some (read: too much) downtime to put up some posts I've begun to write over the last week. I mostly just can't wait to RELAX. I'm feeling a lot of pressure this semester; I have no idea what for, and no idea from where, but I'm feeling it. Big time. I need to go home, shop and get manicures with my mum, and plop face down in my bed with my golden retriever, Abby, and sleep for a day. Sounds wonderful.

Spinach and Artichoke Dip Recipe

2010-11-16T21:24:00.008-05:00

A few of you said you'd be interested in getting the deetz on how I made my "Applebee's quality" spinach and artichoke dip I mentioned in my Homecoming post (and also puppy chow, but that's another story/post!), so I thought I'd fill you in.

Disclaimer: I am not an exact cook. At all. I just wing it, taste it, add things if it needs it, sometimes awkwardly try to subtract things (trying to pour hot excess butter out of a frying pan mid-dish? Really hard!), and I never really measure how much of anything I'm putting in. So, I can tell you WHAT I used to make this delicious dip, but I can't really tell you how much!

You will need:

Chopped spinach (I used frozen, it was much easier!)
Artichoke hearts
Garlic
8 oz. of cream cheese (but I think I ended up using 12 oz.)
Alfredo sauce
Mozzarella cheese
And ignore the onions- those were actually for the spicy buffalo chicken dip!

And here's what I did:

1. Coat a pan with vegetable oil and set to medium-low on the stove. Peel as many cloves of garlic as you think you'll like (I used two cloves), press down on them with the flat edge of your knife to release the flavor, and toss them in the pan.

2. Once the garlic is browned and smells delicious, drain your artichoke hearts, separate them, and toss them in the pan.

3. Thaw your frozen spinach (I just zapped mine in the microwave for a few seconds), and break it up, then add to the artichoke hearts.

By now, your pan should look something like this:

4. Soften your cream cheese so that it's easily spreadable, and grab a foil baking pan. Pour the jar of alfredo sauce in and spread it out to fill the bottom of the pan, then add in your cream cheese, and mix it all up. Now, add in about a quarter of the bag of mozzarella.

5. When your spinach and artichoke mixture is warmed through and evenly mixed, add in a handful of mozzarella cheese, and then dump your entire pan mixture into the foil pan with the cheeses.

6. Pop the dip in the oven (I set mine to 350 degrees), and let it bake for about ten minutes, or until it starts to bubble, the cheese melts, and everything is evenly distributed.

7. If you're going to serve the dip immediately, do the following step after about ten minutes. Otherwise, you can do what I did and take the dip out of the oven now, refrigerate it, and do the following step in the morning. Distribute the rest of the bag of mozzarella cheese across the top of the dip, and do not stir! Bake for as long as it takes for the mozzarella cheese to turn a slight golden brown and form a very light "crust" on top of the dip. Note that I did this step the morning after (and was prevented from taking a final picture due to throngs of hungry boys), so my picture doesn't have the mozzarella cheese crust.

Enjoy! The boys are begging me to make this and puppy chow this weekend. Anyone else planning on enjoying some dip, perhaps along with a football game? I love warm comfort food in the fall!

Homecoming!

2010-11-10T17:30:00.014-05:00

My favorite weekend of the (school) year (obviously Christmas is first!) has come and gone. Homecoming is always the best weekend at Williams for many reasons:

-You can eat as many hot dogs as you want
-You're allowed to partake in...traditional beverages...before 9am.
-You literally see every single person you know (including alums!) and it's wonderful.
-FOOTBALL.

The list goes on and on.

Friday night before Homecoming I hunkered down in the kitchen to cook enough food to feed an army...or L.'s a cappella group. They're basically the same thing. On the menu were:

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Buffalo Chicken Dip (Appropriately named "Crack Dip")

Spicy Queso Dip (the picture came out looking really gross...trust me on this. It also involves a shot of Velveeta in a pan full of butter. Not sure you guys need that.)

Puppy Chow

If you haven't had puppy chow...we can't be friends. But really. It's only the best and easiest to make treat you will ever find. EVER. All it takes? Chex mix, chocolate, peanut butter, and powdered sugar. That's IT.

If you guys are interested in how I made these scrumptious treats, I'll post some recipes and instructions next week. They all came out DELICIOUS, if I do say so myself, based on the glowing reviews I got from throngs of hungry boys the next day.

Homecoming morning is like Christmas morning. The feeling of absolute excitement is in the air, you're actually excited to spring out of bed at 8am, and it's totally appropriate to eat and drink everything you want, as early as you want. I got up super early and played Homecoming Santa, aka drove to Dunkin' Donuts and bought food, coffee and hot chocolate for my suitemates (who were also a group of hungry boys...I guess I like to mother.)

We had some delicious homecoming morning beverages, including Bailey's and Hot Chocolate, Amaretto Coffee, and Vodka Cider.

After we were full, warm, and happy, we headed down to the tailgate. The tailgate is quite possibly the best part of Homecoming (as if you could only pick just one).

We ended up pummeling Wesleyan, with a final score of 45-7.

As fun as the day was, instead of being as in the moment as I thought I would be, it only served to further drive home the fact that in seven mere months, I'll be leaving Williamstown and moving across the country. There will be many, many more Homecomings in my future, but I don't know that they'll be as special as the ones I've had actually going here. And, though you'd think my senior year Homecoming would take the cake for best one ever, nothing could beat freshman year, when ESPN College Gameday came to cover the Williams-Amherst game, "one of the biggest least-known rivalries in college football."

We got to shoot a commercial for Gillette and everything! Oh, the glory days.

Do you still go to your college's Homecomings? Are they not as big a deal as they are here at Williams? (Unless you went to, you know, Ohio or Michigan. In which case, you're laughing at my definition of "a big deal.)

Halloween...Mario Party Style!

2010-11-03T21:28:00.004-04:00

You never know who your true friends are until you all agree to dress up as a themed group for Halloween. Really, it's true! L. and our friend Zeb had decided they wanted to be Mario and Luigi (which actually makes a lot of sense, if you know them), and so Momo decided he wanted to be in on the fun, and be Yoshi. Except Momo didn't want to spend a lot of money to order a costume online. Enter me.

I constructed only what could be described as the best Yoshi costume ever made. It had three-dimensional orange spikes coming out of the back of a green sweatsuit, with yoshi-googly-eyed visor. I was incredibly proud of my handiwork. In fact, I was so proud that when I saw the three boys all dressed up Saturday night, I wanted to be in on the fun too, so I quickly impromptu-ed a Princess Peach costume. And thus, Mario Party was complete!

Is Momo not the cutest Yoshi you've ever seen? I'm sad we didn't get any pictures of the orange spikes! And if Zeb looks indignant, it's probably because we didn't find a Princess Daisy for him. Poor Luigi is always playing third wheel!

Prior to getting dressed up and going out (and by "going out" I mean we stood outside the party waiting to get in for about two hours and never actually got in), we all decided to order pizza and cuddle up and watch a scary movie. Momo and I are HORRIBLE with scary movies...like, if we watch them, we can't sleep for days. But it was Halloween and the occasion totally called for it, so we all agreed to watch Paranormal Activity. Funnily enough, even though that's considered one of the scariest movies in recent years, I wasn't all too affected! Momo, on the other hand, did not fare so well...

Staying in and watching movies was so much more fun than waiting around in the cold to go to a party. I'm beginning to really enjoy staying in weekend nights and just hanging out with my suitemates, or maybe going to the bar and getting a drink. The party scene just feels really young to me. I guess ::sniff sniff:: I really am ready to be leaving in seven months!

This upcoming weekend is Homecoming, aka only my FAVORITE DAY OF THE YEAR. Besides Christmas. Morning "traditional beverages," hot dogs, football...some of my favorite things!

Happy Two-Year Anniversary, L.!

2010-11-01T00:00:00.001-04:00

I can't wait to post my Halloween re-cap tomorrow, but today is devoted to wishing my wonderful boyfriend of two years a very happy anniversary!

L.--

You've been my very best friend in all the time we've known each other, and it's only relatively recently in that time I've been lucky enough to know you that you've also grown to be the greatest boyfriend I ever could have hoped for. Before then, you sat with me while I cried about my first big breakup, you watched me rebound with people you knew were terrible for me--but you never judged--and you cuddled with me when none of those other guys would have cared. It seemed for awhile that we would never quite get our timing right, and sometimes it's scary to think how close we came to missing out on what has become two of the most exciting, challenging, growth-filled years of my life. You make me feel loved each and every day with the tiny things you do for me, such as getting me surprise small presents like my Aaron Rodgers jersey (even though you're a Patriots fan!), pretty rings from Etsy, flowers, and dvds of my favorite shows. Sometimes you go all out, like planning surprise birthday parties or flying me to Santa Barbara with you for my 21st. I think our relationship is best summed up by the impromptu, spontaneous, and very crazy trip I took from New Hampshire to Santa Barbara to be with you for New Year's only two months after we had started dating. No one could understand why after only two months I needed to fly 3,000 miles to spend a few days together, but you and I both knew from the beginning--even though we agreed to "take it slow" and "keep it quiet" that now that we had finally gotten our timing right, we were in it for the long haul. And now we're planning our cross-country move together in only seven months! I can't wait to pack up my childhood room, throw some things in your Subaru, and embark on our next new great adventure together. I'm sure life in a new city and a new (our first!) apartment will include some downsides (and possibly some cockroaches?), but I can't wait to experience it with you.

I love you Lucas!

xoxo,
Michelle

Dancing the Night Away

2010-10-25T22:56:00.009-04:00

First Chance ended up turning into a weekend-long event. Friday night L. and our friend Steve and I drove an hour to Albany to go dress-and-suit shopping (Albany is our nearest big mall...we really are in the middle of nowhere!) When we stopped at dinner, I accidentally locked my keys in the car (I do this ALL THE TIME...three times in the last three months), so once we arrived at the mall around 7:30 (it closed at 9:30), the rush was on.

I had a pretty exact idea of a dress I wanted in mind already (royal blue, beaded neckline, knee-length, not too fitted) so it was definitely a challenge to meet all my criteria. I had originally wanted to live-blog the dress shopping experience and ask for your opinions on the ones I was finding, but I had SO LITTLE time as it was that I just rushed through. I whizzed through Burlington Coat Factory, JC Penney, Forever 21, Banana Republic, J. Crew, Express, Ann Taylor, and STILL hadn't found a dress that I liked! By this point it was 9:15, and I was convinced that I would be leaving the trip dressless. I dashed into Macy's for one last try, and finally found a dress that I liked...in both purple and black! I rushed up to the counter at 9:29 to buy it, but I found out that though the mall itself closed at 9:30, Macy's was open until ten. So I got to have L. come by and check out my selection. When I walked out of the fitting room and he said "wow," I knew it was a good dress.

It had the EXACT neckline I was looking for, and though I wasn't expecting to wear purple, I was really happy with it in the end.

Saturday afternoon I had to run out AGAIN to buy silver heels, which I've been needing for quite awhile. And then I finally got to relax with my free trim and blowout from my stylist! Some of you guys wanted the scoop on how I scored that...at my salon, every hair color treatment (did you notice it was darker? I hope it stays this way--this is closest to my natural color. I hate brassy brown!) comes with a free trim. During my coloring a couple weeks ago, my stylist ended up running late--partially because she gave me a free polish change while we waited for my hair to set (isn't she the best?) Since she had some clients waiting, I told her not to worry about the free trim. She was so grateful she said I could schedule it for any other day and she'd do it, for free! I had wanted a blowout before First Chance anyway, so it worked perfectly. Plus, while she cut my hair, she gave me the tester bottle of polish to touch up my nails. So basically, I got a cut, blowout/style, manicure, and eyebrow wax for a grand total of...$12! Not too shabby.

Moyukh (Momo) went with Rachel, even though she doesn't go to Williams. It was so fun to have a mini "summer crew" reunion. Also--she made her dress! How amazing is that?

Also, please ignore the decidedly unclassy beirut activity in the background of the otherwise-classy pictures.

Sara predicted this one would make it onto the blog. (Hi Sara!)

L. and I didn't coordinate our outfits at all. Do the purple and blue look awful? I loved my dress so much I just didn't care!

Ariel and I lived together freshman year. I can't believe that we're already seniors!

The party itself was super fun...until I sprained my ankle and limped home to put ice on it. But all in all, it was a worthy casualty for a perfect inauguration to senior year!

And of course, the perfect end to a perfect weekend was last night's win against the Vikings. Momo and I are diehard fans, and it was so fun to watch the game together and yell/throw things. But the sweet taste of victory was almost ruined for me by just feeling overwhelmingly sad for Favre.

...Just almost.

First Chance Dresses

2010-10-20T11:13:00.003-04:00

This upcoming Saturday, we're having our first Senior event of the year- First Chance! We all dress up in formal attire, relish in a cash bar that's cheaper than the bars in-town, and get a chance to start our senior year by spending time with current friends and possibly making some new ones.

I ALSO managed to score a free trim and blowout from my stylist the afternoon of the party. I'm so glad I don't have to worry about blowing out my hair, because honestly I'm terrible at it and can never do it well!

Of course, now comes the universal problem of senior year. With so many class events...I need more dresses! What should I wear?

I could do something simple, sexy, and formal like this black strapless dress from Zara.

Or I could so something sweet, frilly, and feminine like this J.Crew ruffled cotton dress.

Royal blue is one of my favorite colors for dresses, and I LOVE the neckline of this Banana Republic piece. I wouldn't even need jewelery!

Sequins and belted waists are super big right now, and I've always wanted to try a one-shoulder dress, like this one from Forever 21. But maybe the fact that it looks like two separate pieces is too casual for a formal party?

I don't know if I could be bold enough to don this slinky cutout halter from Arden B. It looks super sexy, but is it too much?

I'm heading to the outlets this weekend, to look for dresses like each of the different types I've listed above: simple LBD, feminine and flirty, statement necklines, sequins or one-shoulder, and cutouts. What kinds do you guys like best? I promise pictures of the winner!

The Recipe to a Perfect Fall Day:

2010-10-14T22:53:00.007-04:00

1. Wake up and realize that it's sunny and warm! The elusive perfect New England fall day.

2. Go for a walk and take pictures of burgeoning foliage on your pretty campus.

3. Convince your boyfriend to wear his glasses for the whole day, because he looks the cutest in them, and it makes you want to snuggle more, which is a bonus for him.

2. Get yummy wraps to-go and bring them to Weston Field, where you will promptly watch Williams football beat their wussy Hamilton opponents.

4. Go out for a yummy dinner, which your boyfriend treats you to, because he was raised in the Midwest and thinks that a gentleman always pays on a date, even after two years.

5. Get a drink at your friendly neighborhood pub.

6. Meet up with your good friend Zeb and giggle when he and your boyfriend do really bad Zoolander impressions.

7. Go to bed happy and cozy, and pray that winter doesn't come for a very, very long time...

When One Door Closes...

2010-10-11T14:54:00.002-04:00

Last week, I posted about how I got rejected from Teach for America. You guys were all super supportive and immediately responded that something great would be waiting for me just around the corner.

Boy, you guys are good. The DAY AFTER I received my rejection letter from Teach for America, I received an acceptance letter...from Carney, Sandoe & Associates! They are a teacher placement service that acts as a representative of students looking for teaching positions in Independent schools across the country. They only select candidates whom they feel they can successfully place...and they selected me! This opportunity feels so right to me, which makes me feel that something, though I didn't care to admit it, was missing throughout my Teach for America application process. Carney Sandoe has been SO supportive and helpful in the less-than-a-week I've been working with them, and my placement counselors are fantastic. I am completely excited for this opportunity...and also anxiously awaiting the day when they send me my first referral! The way it works is that if a school that matches my criteria (English teaching position, preferably high school, in California) has a position open up, CS&A will send me a referral informing me of the position. If I am interested, I follow up with the school, who CS&A, in turn, has notified about me, and sent my file to. If the school is likewise interested, they contact me for an interview, and that's where CS&A has to step back and let me shine (or fail, but let's hope not.)

Thank you all so much for saying that another opportunity would open up for me...it totally did, and I feel so good about this one. Now, let the referrals start coming!

My Brother's Wedding: Pictures! Finally!

2010-10-07T11:01:00.026-04:00

This bee has been a wee bit busy (do you like the rhyme/alliteration I used there?) but finally I have a spare second to put up the pictures from my brother's wedding that I traveled to San Diego for two weekends ago!

It was a lightning-fast trip...I left at 5am Friday morning and got back at 8pm Sunday night, and did MOUNTAINS of homework on the plane, but of course it was worth it to see my brother marry (finally!) For awhile there we were getting a little worried (all my brothers are in their thirties and he is the first to take the plunge. Our joke is that I'll be next, before either of my other two brothers).Let's back up. I was *supposed* to leave on a 6:45am flight Friday morning. I got to the airport at 5:30am, plentyyy of time to get through security, even though I spied the line and for some reason, at 5:30am Albany airport was a zoo. But nonetheless, I was confident it would be enough time. But when I got to the ticketing counter, an employee rushed over to me and said that the flight from Albany to Newark wasn't leaving until 9:50am, even though my connection to San Diego in Newark was leaving at 8:50. Crap. So they rushed me over to the counter and put me on a 6:08am flight. I protested, saying that there was NO way I would make it through security in twenty minutes, but they rushed me off. Frazzled, I decided to just carry-on my bag, since it was small(ish), but I forgot that I had packed full-size (and rather nice/expensive) toiletries. I finally got to the security scan at about 5:55. Yeah, my plane had already begun boarding, and I hadn't even screened my bag yet. I asked them to move to the front of the line, since my flight was leaving in 15 minutes, and they just said "everyone is in the same situation." Um, no, no they were not, since I was forced against my will onto an earlier flight, and had I known I was going to be on a 6:08am flight, I would have gotten to the airport at 4:45am.

But I digress.My bag went off in security due to my full-size shampoo, body wash, and eye makeup remover, but by this point I was so anxiety-ridden about making my flight that I just told them to toss whatever they needed to toss. They did, but then announced they'd have to RE-scan my bag! I ran to my gate and got there around 6:07, and indeed, the guy was literally JUST closing the door. I had missed my flight. This was the point where I sort of just lost it. I dropped my bags and burst into tears and told them I needed to get on the next flight to San Diego or I would miss my brother's wedding. (White lie. I would definitely have missed the rehearsal dinner).After much crying and much ado, and after they told me they would NOT be able to even GET ME to San Diego by that night, I finally switched airlines and was put on a 10:30am flight to San Diego. For someone who already has a LOT of anxiety about flying, this all certainly did not help.

But, most importantly, I made it. In time for the rehearsal dinner, and the wedding. And it was beautiful and wonderful, and we all agreed I won the award for worst travel to get there.
The rehearsal dinner:

Getting ready the next morning in Tiffany's suite:

(Adorable champagne bottles!)

The ceremony:

(My brother Brad is the best man, the first groomsman from the left. My brother Scott is next to him, second groomsman from the left.)

Then we took some family/wedding party photos:

The reception: (I did not catch the bouquet. Much to my chagrin.)

(My parents when they got married! They were my age!)

(Brad thought the Best Man's speech was actually a stand-up comedy routine. Case-in-point: During the speech, he called out one of my brothers' friends for apparently attempting to hit on me all night. I was so involved in taking pictures I apparently didn't even notice!)

Thanks for looking! Weren't her colors beautiful? And I LOVE the reception hall...it was very modern-lodge.

Teach for America, Part II

2010-10-06T19:50:00.002-04:00

Well, I found out today that I wasn't selected for the final round interviews for Teach for America. I'm definitely a little disappointed, since I invested a lot of time and energy in the initial application, preparation for the phone interview, the phone interview itself, and the post-interview activities. But in a sense, I'm glad that I was let go at this stage in the interviews if I was definitely going to be rejected; If I had traveled an hour both ways to Albany for my in-person, day-long final interview and then been rejected I definitely would have been more upset.

I think that what Maureen said as a comment on my last Teach for America post was really great; that it's most likely a blessing in disguise, because I probably have a better-suited-for-me opportunity coming up somewhere down the line. And honestly, I'm excited to see what that is, but I'm so impatient! I'm terrible at not having things squared away or planned out...it just makes me anxious not to know what my next step is going to be!

Luckily, I have an amazing friend named Juliana who grew up and attended high school in L.A. who pointed me toward a lot of private schools to look into, since for many private and independent schools you don't need more than a B.A. to teach. And her mom, who is equally awesome, got me set up with two teacher recruitment services: Cal/West and Carney Sandoe. I've been super impressed with how attentive and responsive Cal/West has been--I've already been contacted for a phone interview after applying just yesterday!--and I'm really excited to see where this path is going to go. Since I am SO highly specialized in American Literature, and am doing an honors thesis on nineteenth century American Lit, I think it could be really exciting to teach that period in high school. Hoping this all works out! And if not, of course I always have publishing and advertising jobs to apply for in the spring...if I can wait that long!

To everyone who wrote such encouraging and kind comments last week on my first Teach for America post, thank you so much! Even though I didn't get accepted, I'd be happy to answer any questions anyone has about the process!

Teach For America

2010-09-28T11:21:00.003-04:00

I mentioned last week that I had applied to my first "real" job. Well...it was at TFA! Thursday, right before I left for the airport to go to my brother's wedding, I found out that I had made it past the first round and had been accepted for a phone interview. Then, it was a whirlwind of activity to try to book my phone interview time, fly out, prepare, fly back, and finally have it last night at 8:30 (which, by the way, happened to be RIGHT in the middle of the Packers/Bears game. Sigh.)

I think it went pretty well! I didn't want to post about the job until I had at least gotten past the first round and had my phone interview. They have a confidentiality policy so I can't share too much, but I know a lot of people have questions about Teach for America (I still do!), like what the acceptance rate is, how the phone interview and the final interview are scheduled, what the application is like, and I'm sure tons more. So if you got to this post by googling those things, I'd be happy to answer all the questions I can...though I won't say too much, for fear of breaching the policy. I'll keep everyone updated on if I get invited to a final interview, but for now, I can say that my regions of choice right now are Los Angeles and the Bay Area, and I *think* my grade of choice would be third or fourth, but I don't know for sure. I do think high school could be really rewarding...but I'm sort of terrified.

Have any of you ever applied for, wanted to do, or actually done TFA? Have you had friends who have? What did they say about their experience?

I'm so excited/nervous/terrified all at once! (ALSO, if I do get it, I'll know what I'm doing next year by the beginning of November! CRAZY.)

Wedding Bells are Ringing...

2010-09-23T12:15:00.003-04:00

Well, friends, tonight after class I'm heading to Albany for the night, where L. and I will go out to dinner and stay in a hotel so that I can wake up at 4am tomorrow and get on a plane to San Diego!

Why San Diego, you ask?

Because Saturday is my brother's wedding!

It's definitely a rushed trip for me, as I'm leaving Friday morning and then leaving San Diego Sunday morning, but I'm so so happy for my brother and his beautiful fiancee. Full wedding post next week, I promise!

Congratulations Brian and Tiffany! I love you!

And speaking of congratulations and weddings, a HUGE congratulations to Mara and Matthew for their recent engagement, and Date Girl for her recent marriage! xoxo

The Beginning

2010-09-20T14:24:00.005-04:00

Well, it's come.

Senior Year.

It's only the beginning now, but soon enough, it will be the middle.

And the middle, will turn into the end.

But I don't want to think about that right now.

For now all I want to think about is fun times with friends...

Homecoming...

Senior events! (First Chance, 100 Days, Last Chance, Hilton Head trip, and Senior Week, from now until May)...

Concerts...

Great conversations at the bar...

House parties...

Football games in the common room...

My thesis (inevitably)...

and having fun!

Job searching will just have to wait.

(Even though I just applied for my first job...a post on that coming soon!)

Return of the Abscess

2010-09-14T15:54:00.003-04:00

Over the weekend, I had planned to write about all the fun, cute things I've done since moving back in to my senior-year dorm and beginning my classes and thesis, which I of course find fascinating and hope you will too.

But then, I went to the Emergency Room instead.

See, two weeks ago when I developed that nasty abscess I posted about, I got a 10-day round of Penicillin to ideally clear it all out. And when I confessed to my primary physician that I was terrified we'd have to drain it, she essentially laughed at me and sent me on my merry way.

Well, the Penicillin ran out last Thursday, and I thought all was dandy, and that my horrible painful infection was over. Oh, but I was wrong.

Saturday morning I woke up with a faint sore throat, and at first didn't even attribute it to the abscess. I had gone out Friday night and thought maybe it was just a nasty remnant of a late night. But by dinnertime, I knew that it had come back. The same tell-tale lump only near my right tonsil had returned, along with the aches, pains, and fever that had accompanied it the first time. Annoyed, I told L. that I was going to run down to the health center and ask for a second round of antibiotics to be prescribed to me. I thought it would only take ten minutes, and then I would come back and we could go to dinner.

Again, I was wrong.

The nurse found that I had a fever of almost 100, and when I explained my symptoms to her, she progressively looked slightly worried. This, in turn, worried ME, because nurses are usually pretty good at keeping it together. She asked me to look all the way up, and then tilt my chin down to my chest. My neck was so stiff and my abscess was so tender that I couldn't touch my chin to my chest, and without missing a beat, the nurse said "Michelle, I would like to you to go the ER right now. I want you to get tested for Meningitis."

The next half hour was a blur of everyone, including L., who came to pick me up, and my dad, who I called, saying that everything was fine but looking absolutely scared shitless, which clearly made me scared shitless, and subsequently by the time I got to the ER I was all kinds of panic-stricken. Luckily, when I saw the doctor he said he thought my symptoms were from my abscess and not meningitis...but then he said something that, for me, was almost just as bad: that he wanted to drain it. With a GIANT NEEDLE. He said if we didn't do it then I could go to the ear, nose, and throat doctor, who would then do it with a SCALPEL, and asked me how I felt about it. "Well," I said, "I feel like I'm going to pass out just talking about it!"

Ultimately, the doctor pushed for wanting to drain it that night, since he didn't feel that another round of antibiotics would effectively get rid of it. So I asked for L. to be allowed to come in the room, since I am absolutely, deathly afraid of needles, and he squeezed my hand as the doctor numbed my mouth and throat and PREMATURE tears, just expecting the pain, began to roll down my cheeks. The doctor said that when he said so, to close my eyes and no matter what NOT open them, because he knew I would freak out if I saw the size of the needle. Then, when he stabbed it into my throat, I was awkwardly sobbing from the pain, but my mouth was numb and my tongue was depressed so really it was a series of strange-sounding guttural throat noises and tears running down my face.

Guys. It hurt worse than ANYTHING in recent memory has ever hurt. I don't exactly have the highest threshold for pain, but take my word for it. But it was relatively quick. After it was over, I trembled/shook for a few hours for the sheer trauma of the event (not even kidding), and could barely talk for awhile. L. ordered some lo mein noodles for me, since we had missed dinner, and we spent the evening on the couch, which passed relatively pleasurably after I took my painkillers! It definitely still hurts, even four days later, but I'm just hoping this whole miserable experience will be over soon. Being drugged up on narcotics all day definitely isn't conducive to getting schoolwork done, although the prospect of hours of work hasn't been nearly as depressing, ha! But more pleasant posts soon to come, as soon as I start feeling better.

Before and After

2010-09-09T18:57:00.005-04:00

Last week I mentioned that I was doing something to alter my appearance. Specifically, my hair color went from this...

to this...

Believe it or not, the second, deeper brunette color is actually much closer to my natural color than the first one. Unfortunately, four years ago I was a silly college freshman who had just broken up with her boyfriend of four years and needed a dramatic change; the result was me thinking I could dye my hair blonde from a box (d'oh!) and ending up with an orangey/auburn hue; that, I tried to turn blonde the correct way by highlighting it, but realized how much money and maintenance being a blonde is, and so tried to cover it back up with that same darker color you see in the second picture. In two years, it's faded to the color of the first picture. What I've learned from all this? DON'T TRY TO CHANGE YOUR NATURAL COLOR! I'm terrified mine may never come back, and this whole saga has been literally one of my biggest regrets. It's so melodramatic it's laughable.

So anyways, I LOVE the new color, even though it's already faded quite a bit. What do you think?? Have you ever had a hair-dyeing nightmare?

Hectic, Hectic, Hectic

2010-09-07T13:12:00.003-04:00

Well. To say that my life has been a madhouse for the last few days would be an understatement. Thursday night, L. and our friend Andrew flew into NH, and Friday we had the perfect New Hampshire day. Saturday we packed up the cars and drove back to Williams, and I spent the weekend moving in. Classes officially start tomorrow, but tonight I have a couple organizational meetings, and today is also my first day back to work at the museum. There's lots of fun things to write about, but since I'm strapped for time and want to distract you, Melissa from Duoly Noted tagged me in her 8 Questions post, so I'm going to take this time to answer those. More substantial/less fluff-filled posts on the way soon!

1. If you could have an unlimited shoe budget or purse budget which one would you pick?

Oh, this is easy. Though I don't really consider myself much of a shoe girl or a bag girl (as you all read, I only just bought my first "real" bag last week!), I think definitely shoes. I use one bag and only one bag until it is literally usable-no-more. At least different types of activities actually require different types of shoes.

2. If you could change lives with one person for a day who would it be?

I would really love to see what a day in the life of Ree Drummond, aka the Pioneer Woman, is really like. Her lifestyle is diametrically opposed to mine, and while that alone would make it a super fun experience for a day, I really want to see if her life is as perfect as it seems.

3. What is the one place you haven't been that you want to visit before you die?

Aside from England, I've never been to Europe. (!) I don't think my answer to this question can be as broad as "Europe," but I'd love to go to Italy or Spain. Or Greece. Or France. Or Russia. ...

4. What is your most unrealistic fear?

Pretty much every single fear I have is unrealistic, but I have them in excessive, panic-attack inducing quantities. I'm terrified of spiders, flying, the dark, mirrors facing me when I sleep, and probably tons more. Out of those, it's either spiders or flying that are the worst. Both make me burst into tears and shake when I'm in the proximity of either.

5. If you could compete in one Olympic sport, which one would you pick?

Slalom. It looks SO FUN.

6. What was the last book you read and did you like it?

The last book I completed was A Reliable Wife, and it was probably the best book I've read for pleasure in a really long time. It's totally Wuthering Heights-esque, and since that's one of my favorite books of all time, I was sold from the beginning. Read it! You'll see.

7. What song best describes how you are feeling this moment?

I think the song that will best describe how I'm feeling for basically the next nine months is "A Jagged Gorgeous Winter" by The Main Drag. It's basically about change, both seasonally, as winter comes and changes the way people see/think about things, but also about running out of time, and the potential end of possibility. I know the lines "Huddling against the walls/Shrinking college trends/With the days living faster now/We cast our make pretends" is going to make me lose it more than once as senior year goes on.

8. Who is your rolemodel?

This is a tough one. I'm not sure that there's any one person that has every quality I admire, but I like to think all the people who are important to me have some essential quality that I respect or aspire to have. L. is the most generous person I've ever known, right up there with my mum. C. is incredibly focused and dedicated. My dad always takes time out of his day to help me with anything I ask him, even if it's as silly as killing a spider, or as time-consuming as taking my car to get fixed.

I think I'm supposed to pose 8 questions and tag people now, but I'll just pose the questions, and anyone who wants to participate is tagged!

1. What is one food you cannot/will never eat?
2. You can only ever have five dogs or five babies. If you have five dogs, you don't get any babies. If you have five babies, you don't get any dogs. Which do you choose?
3. If money and location weren't issues, what is the job you would do anything to have?
4. Do you wish you had majored in something different in college?
5. What's your go-to site of choice to waste time? (Mine's Sporcle.)
6. If you could only ever again watch ESPN or Lifetime on tv, and those were your only two channels, which would you choose? Or would you give up tv altogether? (Watching Lifetime for the rest of my life would probably be enough to make me give up tv!)
7. Have you ever/would you ever consider being a vegetarian? What about a vegan?
8. What's one, if any, allergy you have that interrupts the way you would otherwise want live your life? (You can't eat chocolate when you want, you can't enjoy Spring days due to ragweed, etc.)

My First Coach!!!

2010-09-01T11:56:00.006-04:00

It's a little difficult to have buyer's remorse when you buy something and all the sales girls clap for you and give you pretty tissue paper and a hug. And that, my friends, is exactly what happened last friday, when I purchased my very first Coach bag!!!

I am a poor college student, it's true. But when I really want something, I save for it. (Besides, you know, my future. 'Cause I really want that too.) Recently I've been figuring it was due time that I got myeslf a "big-girl bag." I'll be going on super important job interviews soon and will obviously be buying a new suit, but will I look polished in a new suit, new heels, and a knock-off bag that I bought at a flea market two years ago that's falling apart? Mmm, not so much. See, I'm not a typical "bag" girl. I get one, I use it 'til it literally explodes/dies, and then I get another. Well, instead of buying cheap bags every year or two, why not get a really nice bag that will last for years, and look professional, and, I'll admit it, just be generally fabulous?

But don't worry, I didn't go to an actual Coach store. That would be hilarious. Because I have bills. I went to the Coach outlet with my mum last Friday, after we got glammed up with mani/pedis (I got OPI's Siberian Nights on both...it's SO fall!) and got a light lunch of salad, soup (NO BREADSTICKS) and a glass of wine at Olive Garden.

Then we hit the outlets for some serious fall spending...and that's when my mum steered me into the Coach store and said, "You've been talking about getting a bag, and I think you should. Do it."

I had been really eyeing the Madison Maggie in Saffron for a long time...but alas, at $348.00, I just couldn't justify it. WELL. I found Maggie's identical twin at the outlets for less than half that price...and it's still GORGEOUS:

I really love it. The color is exactly what I wanted, and the oversize buckle is just so sassy.

OH. And I took these pictures on my new Canon Powershot SD1300 IS! Which I'm completely obsessed with. Too bad I can't take a picture of it! Ha!

And I got this adorable Vera Bradley case to keep it safe, with my two favorite colors: chartreuse and turquoise!

(And yes. I've been engaging in some serious retail therapy while I've been home. It's the only way I can cope with senior year.)

An Abscess and an Absence

2010-08-31T09:03:00.002-04:00

My short, one-and-a-half week at home was supposed to be a storm of productivity. Dentist appointment, doctor's appointment, hair appointment, clothes shopping, Goodwill-donating, tailor-visiting, laundry, unpacking, re-packing, gym, gym, yoga, gym.

Not that that all hasn't happened, but there's been a slight damper on my chirpy spirit, which has taken most of its toll on my gym-going: my Peritonsillar abscess.

I'm as befuddled as you are. It started out last Monday, after I left the dentist. I felt the beginnings of a sore throat, but it was a strange one in that it wasn't the back of my throat that felt badly, it was sort of off to the side. I took a cough drop and didn't think much of it, but last Wednesday, when I sat in the cold drizzle at the Red Sox game for four hours (and haven't posted pictures of it yet--bad little blogger!), I came home feeling all kinds of achy and generally flu-like. My neck was stiff, my throat was tight, and I had a pulsating headache.

Then, I felt the lump. On the right side of my throat, near my right tonsil. It started growing, and growing, and growing. Saturday we went to the beach and I came home a bit sunburned, and went to bed feeling a little warm. I woke up completely drenched in sweat (I just spent the entire summer sharing a teeny room with L. sleeping without air conditioning in 90 degree heat...I don't sweat that much when I sleep!), and knew I had had a fever. Plus, Saturday night I woke up and my difficulty swallowing was so painful that I cried every time I had to swallow. My body woke me up throughout the night because my saliva would pool at my throat and I would choke.

Basically, I knew something was bad news bears, indeed. This wasn't your normal sore throat.

I Web MDed it, because obviously I was looking to give myself a panic attack, and boy did I get one. I had every single symptom for a Peritonsillar abscess, which are the following, in case you're actually interested in my tonsils:

Progressively worsening sore throat
Difficulty swallowing
Headache
Fever
"Hot potato voice" (this is sort of funny, if it wasn't so painful)
Neck pain
Tender, swollen lymph nodes--usually only on one side (mine was on the right)
Lump in the throat, usually only on one side.
Ear pain on the same side as the infection
Uvula is shoved/stuck away from the side of the infection (mine was sticking to my right side)

While I diagnosed myself with having this, I read the treatment, and learned that in many cases the abscess has to be surgically removed by making a slice with a scalpel and draining it. Naturally, being the strong and sturdy person that I am, I cried for a good half-hour just thinking about it.

Why didn't I go to the doctor, you might be wondering? Well, I had a physical appointment scheduled for Monday, and I just kept saying that I would wait until then to see what was wrong. In retrospect, I do wish I had gone earlier, and if I had needed surgery, I definitely would have wished I had, since L. and Andrew fly in on Thursday night.

But, as you read, I did not need surgery! I did, however, correctly diagnose myself. The doctor confirmed the abscess and prescribed antibiotics to treat it. Even after one day, I feel SO much better.

Oh, and the "absence" part of this title? I got weighed when I got my physical, and asked them to compare it to my last two years' weights (so, two years ago would be before I lost any weight, and last year would be after my first summer of doing South Beach.) For some reason she couldn't pull up the data on two years ago, but I know it was anywhere from 155-158. I was 5'4 (well, still am) and a size 10. Last year, I weighed 149, which is surprising because I thought I lost so much weight last summer, and a size 8. This year? 138, and a size 6! Woo hoo! That was enough good news to make me temporarily forget about the abscess.

Oh, and PS: I'm doing something tonight to alter my appearance...I'll post before and after pictures after it's done!

Sometimes...

2010-08-26T12:35:00.005-04:00

Bloggy friend Meghan over at The Perfect Compilation Tape did a really great post last week about the indulgent, fun, and generally awesome things she does, only "sometimes." I liked the idea so much that I warned her I might share my own "sometimes"-ses. Here are mine:

Sometimes...

...I stare at L. from across the room when he doesn't know I'm watching, and can't believe he's mine.

...I even pretend, when we're browsing through different aisles of a book store or at different ends of a party, that we haven't met yet, and try to think of what I would say if I just walked up to him and "introduced myself."

...I don't want to get dressed up and go out on a Friday or Saturday night.

...That's right, I'd rather stay in and read Portrait of a Lady for ENGL 447.

...I fill up countless virtual shopping bags, carts, and baskets online but leave the items in them, hoping the store will send me a coupon. Then I'll actually buy them.

...I don't do my makeup at home before I go out, and then I stop at the nearest Sephora and do it there, using super expensive products, for free.

...I look in the mirror and really, really like what I see. I'm so grateful to be a pretty, curvy, freckled, size 6 brunette with big brown eyes and a small nose.

[...But other times, I look in the mirror and all I want in the world is to be a tall, leggy, size 2 blonde with a small waist and even smaller pores.]

...I feel flattered, even validated, when other guys hit on me at the bar. I shouldn't need it, but I do.

...I want to receive my BA in English with Honors, smile that I did it, and then do something that doesn't even require it, like open my own cupcakery or dog adoption center.

...I'm terrified that I'll hate L.A. Or that L. and I will move there together next summer, break up, and I'll promptly be left alone and unable to make any friends.

...I write "to-do" lists but include things I've already done on them, just to get the satisfaction of crossing them off.

...Going to the gym is my favorite part of the day. I need to be alone and know I'm doing something good, just for me.

...I wonder if I would have been happier at a different college, perhaps one in the city, not in the absolute middle of nowhere.

[...But other times, I wonder with a strike of horror and panic how different my life would have been if I hadn't gone to Williams, and met L., C., countless other friends, and discovered my true academic passions in life.]

...I wish my parents had gone to college so they would have a better understanding of how hard it is for me.

...I get simultaneously terrified and quietly awe-stricken that L. might be "it" for me.

...All I want, in the entire world, is just to eat a carb. Any white, processed, sugary carb.

[...and sometimes, I do.]

...I stop and think, when I'm upset with another flaky friend, if I'm placing the blame in the wrong place, and if I'm really the one who let the friendship fall off.

...I love nothing more than to be one of the boys. A perfect day sometimes consists only of a football game and eating copious amounts of meat, all topped off with a few hours of obscenity-ridden, competitive video game playing.

...I love nothing more than to be the girliest of girly. A perfect day sometimes consists only of getting a pedicure and eating nothing but salad, all topped off with a few hours of oh-so-happily watching The Hills.

...I like my blog friends better than my real-life friends.

...I'd rather hang out with my boyfriend than my girlfriends. I'm sorry, girls, if that breaks some sort of unspoken "rule" or "code." But it's true. Because sometimes, he's much easier to relax around than you.

...I'd rather hang out with my girlfriends than my boyfriend. I'm sorry, L., if that breaks some sort of unspoken "rule" or "code." But it's true. Because sometimes, I need to vent/gush/talk about you, and you can't be around for that!

...I really think your show/play/game was boring. But I'll always go, and support you, and be waiting to hug you afterward.

...I'd rather go out with my mum than my friends, because she's drama-free and sometimes even pays for my dinner/pedicure/clothes.

...There's nothing better than getting out of the shower, swaddling myself in towels, and getting into bed and doing absolutely nothing.

...I'd rather blog than write a paper. And I do.

...but only sometimes.

What are your "sometimes" like? Are they guilty? Indulgent? Too shocking to put in print?
[But seriously. Spill!]

Creepy, Random, or Otherwise Notable Keyword Searches

2010-08-25T10:17:00.000-04:00

I've seen other people do posts in which they list all the strange and sometimes gross keywords that people apparently use to get to their blogs. Although, I suppose the weirder the things you blog about, the weirder the people that find their way to it. My keywords aren't particularly weird or gross, but some of them are amusing, and I've been wanting to do a post like this for awhile and so cultivating my keyword list, waiting for the right moment.

Oh, and if you got here using these keywords...well, welcome!

...

Okay, here we go! Please note that I've kept all spacing, punctuation, and capitalization (LEARN TO USE IT, INTERNET BROWSERS!) completely intact.

1. "things i said land meant tos ay"

This is not the name of my blog. Maybe in the Netherlands?

2. "aim: michellewthonel"

Okay, well, that is indeed my aim screenname, but I'm not going to lie, kind of creepy! I don't know what searching aim screennames really turns up, but I hope you found what you were looking for?

I guess now you guys can all chat me up on aim...

3. "'hanging out' nick friday chelsea -handler -clegg -clir"

I won't lie...I have NO IDEA what this means. Let's try to figure it out. Clearly this person wanted the phrase "hanging out" to remain together, because god forbid his or her search result turned up "hanging chelsea handler" or "out nick friday" or any other combination. It's also possible that this individual is skeptical of the "hanging out." Maybe, his or her friend Nick said that he was "hanging out" with Chelsea Handler on Friday, and this individual wanted to find web authentication of that. But I'm not really sure, then, what "clegg clir" means. And what are those hypens? I know people with the last name "Clegg." But no Nicks.

Any ideas?

4. "i met justin long"

Yes, I did.

5. "justin long old forge"

This one may seem cryptic, but it's not. The Olde Forge is only the most awesome wing-and-beer place in the world, and we go there a lot. Once, we went with Justin Long. And it was awesome.

I'd also like to take this moment to thank Justin (JLo, as my friend Rachel hilariously took to calling him) for bringing so much traffic to the ol' blog.

6. "things to make a fraternity house room awesome"

Well, to be fair, I did post about how I am going to live in a great row house next year, but it is NOT part of a fraternity. We actually don't have any, nor sororities. "Puh. We look down our nose at Greek life." (That was the Williams Administration. Not me.) But I am going to live in a row house, which I suppose was once-upon-a-time a frat house, and I'll definitely be posting on things to make a fraternity house room awesome. Maybe not in the way this gentleman is thinking, though...

7. "what is meant by 'social life?'"

Oh dear. If you don't know the answer to this one...I'm not really sure how to help you. I'm also not really sure my blog is the place to find the answer?

8. "what is meant by 'things?'"

Clearly this person is going through some sort of existential crisis. And honestly, I'm not even really sure what is meant by "things." That's one of the first rules they teach us in English college-- don't use the word. It doesn't mean anything. So I guess that's your answer?

(And I obvi. use the word. It's in my blog title, for pete's sake. Bad English major.)

(Who is Pete? I've always wondered that.)

(Just googled. Pete is St. Peter. How inapprops.)

9. "romantic airport"

I love this. I have sort of a thing about romantic airport reunions. In fact, it is one of my favorite things. I think airports are simultaneously the happiest and saddest places in the world, second only to hospitals.

10. "video of when Dwight says im ravenous after an Night of love makng"

Aside from this horrific spelling, can this person please just email me? And be my friend? Because I love you.

Oh, and I did post about the Office wedding, obviously. So this isn't as random as it seems.

11. "things to say at a family reunion"

Oh, Google-searcher. How I feel your awkwardness. Unfortunately, as you might have found in my posts on the subject, I am so awkward at family reunions, and tend to cling to my mother all night. So I don't think I'm the authority you're looking for here.

12. "things the groom is meant to say"

With this one, I can't be sure if the groom himself is doing the Google-searching, or if a wary bride is fearing that her man will muck up her special day. All I can say is this: say "love" and "forever" a lot and I think things will run pretty smoothly.

So, there they are. I think this is so much fun, so as long as people keep being weird (please do), I'll try to keep doing them.

Or maybe I have to post about some more weird things in my blog to rake in the gems. Umm. We'll see about that.

Sunset Hike on Mt. Greylock

2010-08-23T11:29:00.008-04:00

I've just begun to eye the mountain of luggage and laundry that needs to be done upon moving back home last weekend, and I have about a million doctor's, dentist, hair, and other appointments. But this morning, I'm putting all that on hold and looking forward to catching up with everyone's blogs and sharing some pretty pictures we took last week on Mt. Greylock, the tallest peak in Massachusetts, on a sunset hike.

Growing up near the White Mountains in New Hampshire, I've become an avid lover of hiking. In high school, I would go twice a week during the summer, and sometimes on weekends. (If you're interested, some of the mountains I've hiked include Tuckerman Ravine, Mt. Washington (6,288'), Mt. Cardigan (3,121'), Mt. Moosilauke (4,802'), Mount Crawford (3,119'), The Flume (waterfall), Mount Major, Mount Tecumseh, and lots of others that I can't remember right now and would have to ask Big Relationship, who was my hiking-buddy.)

Unfortunately, once I left for college my free time to hike decreased dramatically. But I was not going to begin my senior year at Williams having never hiked Mt. Greylock!

L., Zeb and I packed up a bag and took a short-ish hike to the summit of Mt. Greylock, as we didn't get going until almost 5:30 and we were racing the 7:50 sunset.

First, we took the Money Brook Trail to the falls. Unfortunately, we've had the driest summer I can ever remember, so there wasn't much water to speak of.

The sun was setting fast, so we rushed to the top to make it in time to enjoy the sunset.

The Lodge on top of the summit. The top of Mt. Greylock doesn't even feel like Massachusetts to me. It has a very Pacific Northwest feel to it.

Now you can see why Williamstown is in the "Purple Valley." At night, all the mountains and the sky surrounding Williams become this deep shade of purple.

When the sky became more purple and blue than red and orange and the moon was finally out, we left the freezing winds on top of the summit (don't worry, we had driven a car up before the hike--we didn't want to hike down in the dark!) and got some warm, yummy food at Moonlight Diner, Williamstown's resident 1950s style restaurant. My only complaint was that we didn't have enough time to hike! I'm looking forward to doing a difficult, whole-day hike some Saturday this fall when we're back at Williams.

A [Tiny] Change of Heart

2010-08-20T10:38:00.005-04:00

It's not really a secret that (at least, necessary disclaimer, at this point and time in my life) I'm not that into kids. I know that will probably change after I'm married and at the ripe old age of 50 (kidding), but at least at this point in my life, I can honestly see myself being happy and fulfilled with getting married, traveling, buying a house, getting my Ph.D., and finding my dream tenure-track job, all of which will keep me plenty busy well into my mid 30s.

BUT. The other night, something (small, albeit very small) clicked on inside me. While all of the above still remains true, I may have had a glimpse into the world of children-lovers. My boss asked me to babysit his two boys Wednesday night. Cameron is 5 and Alexander is 7. I usually sit for little girls, who are sort of a handful. They're super clingy, their attitude and mood can turn on a dime, and they can definitely fall deep into the I-know-more-than-you-and-I'm-not-afraid-to-challenge-everything-you-say kind of phase. (Granted, this is only representative of the girls for whom I've sat, but it seems to be an accurate portrayal of little-girl-hood.)

Anyways. My boss' boys are completely different. They're so sweet, and so smart. From the moment I walked in, they were clamoring to show me their field guides and encyclopedias and tell me all about their favorite animals. And when we sat down to eat dinner, they wanted to eat the mushrooms off their pizza more than the brownies they had baked that day for dessert! (Not going to lie, I just wanted the brownies.)

I think the sweetest thing about them was how much they love to read. I mean, it makes sense--my boss works in editing and publishing, and was an English major in college like me, so naturally his children would be exposed to that. But they really, REALLY love to read. Like, after dinner I expected they'd want to play a bit before we got ready for bed, so I announced that we'd play for 15 minutes and then start getting washed up for bed.

"Can we go now?" Alexander asked, bringing his plate to the dishwasher. "We really want to read."

It warmed my heart SO MUCH to see two little boys forgo playing in the yard to snuggle into bed with me and be read to. If all little boys could be like this, I'd have two right now! (Again, kidding.)

One of the sweetest moments of the night was when Alexander and I were waiting outside Cameron's bedroom for him to get changed. (He didn't want me to see.) I hand my hands folded on the balcony of the staircase, which was just at Alexander's eye level, and he was resting his chin on the banister. I don't think he thought I noticed, but he inched his mouth close to my hand and gave me the softest little kiss, thinking he was being secretive. I didn't do anything to spoil his cover, but I smiled the widest smile to myself.

After the boys got washed up, we all squeezed into Alexander's teeny bed and I read the boys a few chapters from a copy of Old Mother West Wind that was my boss' when he was growing up. (Too cute!) But after we were done reading and it was time to go to bed, the boys got very quiet and serious. See, they had gone on vacation in Florida last week, and had cable tv in their hotel room, which they don't get at home. They found a special on the Discovery Channel about the Chupacabra, which they are convinced is real, and lives in Texas. All night they had been nervously asking me questions about the Chupacabra, wondering if he could get upstairs into the bedrooms. I explained to them that the downstairs door was locked and anyway, I would be downstairs so if any Chupcabras wanted in, they'd have to go through me first. And anyways, I told them, we are nowhere near Texas. The sweetest, albeit saddest, moment was when Cameron looked at me with very large eyes, and said, "Michelle? Can Chupacabras get plane tickets to come here?"

I tried very hard to conceal my laughter as I said that there was no way that Chupacabras could get plane tickets, and that "they don't even let some people on planes." The joke, I'm sad to say, was lost on them.

I sat on the floor next to Cameron's bed in the dark as he went to sleep, and we whispered about airplanes and dinosaurs. After the boys were sound asleep and hopefully not dreaming about Chupacabras, I went downstairs to watch tv, and honestly? I felt a little pang of sadness that the boys were in bed! That has really never happened; usually, when the kids are in bed or the parents come home, I breathe a huge sigh of relief. Babysitting is a handful! But I was genuinely disappointed when the boys went to sleep, and my warm and fuzzy feeling I got from them stuck around all night. (Everyone has joked that L. has some competition, since I haven't stopped talking about them since.)

Today is sort of, kind of the last day of my internship. What I mean by "sort of, kind of" is that I started this internship last June and was supposed to be done last August. Then, my bosses (who I love) asked me to stay on through the fall. That turned into the entire school year, which then culminated in a second summer internship. That is technically supposed to end today, but I've been asked to stay on for a second fall to continue working on my project, so of course I said yes. I'll be heading home to New Hampshire for a couple weeks tomorrow and L. will be going home to Santa Barbara, and then on September 2 he and our friend Andrew will fly back and that Saturday, we'll be moving into our lovely little dorm for senior year. (!) I'm still pinching myself.

I don't really blog about work a lot (I work in an office of publishing and IT people--they're really good at the internet), but I really do love it. I'm really hoping that this internship helps me find a job in publishing, maybe even in another art museum, after graduation.

SPEAKING of which, L. recently found out that he's virtually guaranteed a research position in a lab in the Bay Area next summer, and my boss recently said he's got a great contact for me in San Francisco. I'm not going to lie, I'll be crushed if we don't move to LA. And since I grew up in the Bay Area with my biological parents, I have some great and not-so-great memories/associations. But I guess it would be an adventure...

Real or Fake?

2010-08-18T09:00:00.001-04:00

Let me begin this post by saying that, at least until college, I had never once owned a designer label in my life. And actually...I don't really think I do, still, since the espresso-colored faux leather "Dolce and Gabbana" bag I carry around was purchased for a whopping $20 at a knock-off flea market. I've certainly splurged for the nicer things that I couldn't live without, like my bandolino boots. And my North Face fleece is warm, cozy, and honestly sort of par for the course for a New England liberal arts college campus. But usually the only times I splurge for things are when there isn't a satisfactory knock-off around. I don't believe you should have to have a lot of money to own great fashion. That's why I even devote a lot of my blog time finding cheap look-a-likes to the season's biggest fashion trends from pricier places.

HOWEVER. This is all not to say that I have something against labels, or that I'm an anti-capitalist who thinks that consumer culture is disgusting and going to be the decline of our society. Honestly? If I had the money? I would certainly treat myself to a pair of really nice shoes or a really nice bag. (I'm dying over the solid acorn Madison Maggie.) And even though my H&M one fits and looks just fine, who honestly would not want a Burberry trench coat? I mean, look, all I'm saying is if someone offered it to you for free, you wouldn't turn it down!

I don't really think there's anything wrong with rewarding yourself for working hard and feeling your best. Having a wealthy older gentleman caller or having your parents pay for these things? Different story. I can usually feel my best in an ensemble purchased from Old Navy and flip flops, but that doesn't mean that slipping something eye-catching and somewhat coveted doesn't give me a little thrill.

(Of course, high school Michelle would have none of this, and would probably slap present-day Michelle in the head.)

But I'm a woman, I've grown up, and I'm going to be starting my career soon. So why not put my best self out there? Why not make my outer self be as competitive and well put-together as my resume?

Anyways, that's a bit of a digression from what I wanted to talk about today. Which is shoes. More importantly, Jack Rogers sandals.

This should be proof of how rarely I covet major labels: until last weekend in Cape Cod, I had no idea what Jack Rogers were! Honestly! I'd always noticed and admired C.'s pair, but that's because I LIVE in sandals, hardly ever wear anything else, and they were metallic and looked sturdy and well-made. Which is sort of essential if you wear flip flops every day of the year, at least from March through November, and hate wasting money when they fall apart after a month. (I'm looking at you, Ciao Bella silver strappy sandals.)

This last weekend, however, Jack Rogers basically vomited all over my life. C., her mom, her mom's friend Trish, and their friend were all wearing Jack Rogers at dinner one night. I started feeling the itch. I had no idea that they were a major label, or how pricey they were. So I did a little research and found out I was totally under a rock, and that they were a big deal. More importantly, that the pair I wanted, the Hamptons Navajo in platinum, would run me $96.00. At least I could get them with free shipping on Piperlime, but still. Not cheap.This began a dilemma of sorts. I knew I would wear them all the time. I knew they looked great. And honestly? A little part of me liked that they would be recognized and well-appreciated at my somewhat elitist school, and that I'd be recognized for my put-togetherness by virtually any girl I walk by. Is that shallow? Maybe. Is it the hidden truth at elite colleges everywhere? Definitely.

But then, my good sense saved me. In that I found th ese. For only $19.99. A comparison:
Jack Rogers Hamptons Navajo flat sandals in platinum. $96.00.
Target Merona Enid Whipstitch Flat Sandals in gold. $19.99

I really struggled. My biggest fear was that the Target knock-offs wouldn't hold up, and I'd have to purchase three or four of them to get the same life that I would have gotten out of one pair of Jack Rogers, thus making the money saved irrelevant. But the reviews said they were super comfy and long-lasting--some people even said they were more comfortable than the real deal! And in trying on C.'s Jack Rogers, I've noticed that they're extremely slippery, and since I have a penchant for being clumsy, I didn't want to go flying down any carpeted staircases. Plus, I wanted the platinum color so that I'd be able to wear them with both silver and gold, and in reading the reviews I found that the knock-off "gold" version is really closer to a platinum color.

So, clearly, I went with the knock-offs. I feel good about saving the money, but I'm still apprehensive as to what the quality will be like. So perhaps a pair of real-deal Jack Rogers isn't far off for me.

Do you guys treat yourselves a lot more than I apparently do? Or do you also like finding cheap look-a-likes and saving money along the way?

A Nod to Cape Cod

2010-08-16T11:26:00.029-04:00

Considering I hadn't been to the beach ONCE this entire summer, to say that I was dying to get to Cape Cod last Thursday night is an understatement. My poor pale skin was crying out to drink up some warm sun...not to mention my sinuses and overall health were begging for a long weekend away from the basement dungeon dorm that L. and I have had to live in this summer. So when C.'s family invited us for home cooked meals, sun and salt air, and a big, beautiful, straight-out-of-Pottery-Barn (and clean!) house, I decided that L. and I deserved a weekend away to get some color and enjoy our last week of summer together. (I'll be going home to New Hampshire on Saturday and I'll be bringing him to the airport so he can fly home to Santa Barbara for a week and a half, and then we'll be driving back to Williamstown for our senior year.)

After work Thursday, L. and I hurriedly threw some weekend things together, packed the car, and commenced the five hour drive to the Cape. We stopped at McDonald's on the highway to save time and money, and once we got into Chatham, stopped at the grocery store so I could pick up a bouquet of flowers for C.'s parents. Finally, we got in just before 10pm, and C. and her brother Chris walked over to the house to meet us, since C.'s family had been at a dinner party down the street.

This house...you guys. It literally was straight out of a PB catalog. I didn't get to snap many photos of it, but luckily, it's for sale! So here are some stock photos from the realtor. Sorry about the poor quality...I should have taken them myself!

When everyone got back home Thursday night, L. and I brought our things to our room. We were staying in one of the bedrooms that was clearly made for children. L. was basically like a giant walking around the room; he was too big for the bed, his head almost reached the angled ceilings, and he was about a foot taller than the closet doors. It was hilarious to watch! Here was our little kids' room in the upper-right. The kitchen was literally straight out of my future-house-design dreams. White cabinetry, brushed nickel (or maybe chrome) hardware, contrasting granite islands and countertops...sigh. I was in love. And C.'s favorite part of the house (mine too, I think) were the TWO giant window seats overrun by blue pillows, surrounded by four or five built-in bookcases that were, get this--color coded. It's so neat to use books as a design element, although I think finding my copy of Anna Karenina mixed in with the Hemingways would probably drive me a little nuts. But perhaps the room that got the most action in the house, though, was the open living room/dining room, or, site of our straight-out-of-a-movie dinner party Friday night.

But now that you've seen the house (well, probably about a quarter of it), you probably want to know what we actually did in it! When everyone got back Thursday night it was about 11pm, so we all sat and had a glass of white wine and caught up a bit. C. and L. and I had planned to take a bottle of wine down to the beach (which was about a 5 minute walk from the house!) and watch the Perseid meteor shower around midnight, but we were so exhausted that we opted to just call it a night and go to bed. Looking back on it, I really wish we had gone! The sky was so clear and it's so dark on the beach--perfect for viewing. Maybe we'll get another chance.

On Friday, L. humored C. and me by walking around town and poking into shops with us, and then in the early afternoon C.'s childhood friend who is also named Caroline (yes, it does get confusing) arrived and L., me, and the Carolines went down to the beach for the day. I was so absorbed in Anna Karenina and L. was so absorbed in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (I know, where have we both been?) that we lost track of time and sunscreen and before we knew it, we were r-e-d red. (Well, L. was bright red. I was more of a bronze.) But in any case, we were both pretty sore, and still are.

We also had fun trying to spot the little seals' heads popping up in all different parts of the water. But we didn't see ANY sharks!!! I was quite crushed, obviously, but I was still sort of excited knowing that if the seals were around the sharks probably weren't far off...

Around 5, C.'s parents, her brother, Chris, and her parents' friends Trish and Richard came down to the beach for some pre-dinner champagne and chips and guac, which was delicious.

You can sort of see my mandarin-colored Tommy Bahama bathing suit that I scored for half price at Mohegan Sun. And there's that trusty H&M shirt that everyone seems to have, which was perfectly nautical for the beach.

Then we all headed back to the house and got ready for what turned into quite an epic dinner party. As we were having pre-dinner cocktails, we all discussed what the college term "pre-gaming" was called when the adults were in college. Our Williams professors used to call it "getting primed," which I thought was pretty funny. Caroline said that while she was spending time in South Africa, they called it "getting on the jowl train," which was hysterical. But we all agreed that Trish and Richard's British (they're from London) version, "frontloading," was the absolute winner. We're hoping it catches on at Williams.

So, here we are, um, frontloading before dinner, courtesy of C.'s homemade Cosmos...

Then we proceeded to gorge ourselves on lobster and gourmet hamburgers...(and lots of white wine...)

And then...and then...things got sort of silly. This is the part of the evening that I said belonged in the credits of a romantic comedy, as we all danced to songs such as "My First, My Last, My Everything" and "Sugar Pie Honey Bunch" while doing the dishes and cleaning up...

Spotted: silliness.

After the dishes were done, we had conga-lined all throughout the house (I'm not kidding), and we had sufficiently pooped out the adults, the Carolines and L. and I headed into town to get ice cream at the famous Buffy's and then to get drinks at the Squire, which was surprisingly and sort of delightfully trashy for Chatham's standards.

Saturday morning we had to tear ourselves away from the house and pack up to go home. C.'s family went ahead while we stayed in town for awhile to get lunch and stock up on fudge before we left. We also couldn't resist a little drive on which we picked out our future houses...

C. and I both picked this one out as ours, and I didn't realize when I got a fleeting picture of it at the time, but it's the famed Hydrangea House of Shore Rd. Apparently artists periodically stop by to paint it, but they're more interested in the mounds of hydrangeas that line the walkway.

L. and I stayed over in Connecticut with C.'s family Saturday night and saw Eat, Pray, Love, which I thought was excellent, if a little slow. I thoroughly enjoyed the "Eat" segment the most...it also reminded me that after this vacation, I need to maybe cut back on that a bit! Maybe it was because we had just gotten back from a beautiful trip, but Eat, Pray, Love definitely gave L. and I the travel bug. Maybe in the next year or so I'll have some cities and places abroad to include in my travel recaps! We'd love to visit Italy and Spain, if mostly for the food!

[Most images are by me but some are also by C.]

Alpha Ring Giveaway WINNER!

2010-08-15T20:49:00.009-04:00

Well, I'm back from my absolutely lovely Cape Cod weekend, and while I'm slowly coming to terms with the fact that I'm sitting at my desk and not on the beach, I thought I'd distract myself with some exciting news...our giveaway winner!

I used random.org to determine which comment in our 19 entries would come out on top. Random.org selected lucky number 10, which turned out to be...

Congratulations, Emily Ann! I'll be emailing you soon with the details. I think we'd all love to know what kind of ring you're going to choose! Copper with a big E? Silver with a small e?

Emily Ann's blog is adorable so if you haven't checked her out, definitely take a second to do so! It will brighten up your morning...especially if, like me, you can't quite embrace the workweek yet.

I'm working on the Cape Cod recap but we crammed a lot into those few days so we'll see when I finish that. Plus, this is my last week of work (for the summer, anyway; I'll be continuing my internship in the fall), so I actually--gasp--have a lot to do! Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!

Last Summer Vacation, First Beach Outing

2010-08-13T12:00:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, L. and I are taking a little trip this weekend! It involves lighthouses, beaches, and ice cream. Can you guys believe that I have not been to the beach this entire summer?! I had planned on going when we went to San Diego, but hello, 60 degrees and cloudy!

Thankfully, C. and her family have a beach house in Chatham, MA (or Cape Cod, for those who need the umbrella term), and have invited L. and me up for the weekend! So off we go, hopefully to get at least a little bit of color before the summer ends! Would that be too much to ask?

I can't wait for a relaxing weekend of beach reading, tanning, great meals, great company, and of course seeing the bff who I haven't seen in over two months!! I love C.'s family almost as much as my own. They're seriously the best.

Plus, I get to take a 6-hour road trip each way with L., and guess what? The radio in his car is broken. I just know he must be so excited for our distraction-free bonding!

(Seriously, though? We have the best road trips.)

Also...guys? Don't think I'm a crazy person, but like four Great White sharks have been spotted off the coast of Chatham in the last week. If you know anything at all about me, know this: I am completely and utterly obsessed with sharks. And not, may I add, only during shark week. I am a proud shark-lover 52 weeks of the year. So the fact that the beaches I will be going to will probably be closed due to shark sightings? It's like Christmas morning up in here for me. Wish me luck on a sighting!

(Plus, wouldn't that make for an awesome recap?)

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

(Oh, and ps? Yesterday I texted C. to ask for the address of the house at 11:40. I got a text from her with the address at 11:40. I checked my phone, and my text to her hadn't actually been sent until 11:41. Which means she sent me what I asked for before knowing I asked for it. This is why it's a tragedy that it's been so long since we've seen each other--although apparently our psychic-communication abilities increase while we're apart.)

The Times, They Are A' Changin'

2010-08-12T14:12:00.008-04:00

I guess that my blog-improvement updates are becoming a bit of a monthly thing, huh? I'm so sorry for those of you who don't like constant change, but my mind--it's a sponge!--and I can't help but want to both showcase all the fun stuff I'm teaching myself about the blogging world, and make things more fun to read and easy to navigate for you guys on the site!

My two most recent improvements involve photos and a new feature-type idea. Firstly, photos. I'm every day learning as much as my stuffed mind has room left over for about css and Photoshop, and I've finally learned how to upload my photos so that they're consistently large without losing any quality. Now that I've learned that, I'm going to make the effort to take better photos (with the new Canon I'm getting this month!) and maybe even--gasp--edit them before posting them! I was inspired to do this by the quality and size of the photos in a few of my favorite daily reads like M Loves M, The Pioneer Woman, Cupcakes and Cashmere, and Young House Love, because I noticed the overall professional feel that clear, crisp, large photos gave to their sites, and I recognized how much having big, beautiful images really improved the reading experience of their blogs. Naturally, I wanted that too!

I also came up with an idea for a new feature that hopefully you guys will find fun, and that sort of goes hand-in-hand with photos. Though my blog is sort of all over the place (but that's why you love me...right?), I sat down and tried to think about what my favorite posts to write were. Above all, I realized that what I look forward to writing the most are posts recapping trips that I've taken and things that I've done, such as going to new restaurants, plays, out for drinks with friends, etc. Things that really reflect how I spend my day-to-day, and above all lend themselves to sharing photos. So, with that in mind, I created a new area in my sidebar called "Where You Can Find Me." Do you see it? In that section, I've listed all the cities I've traveled to, P.B. (post-blog; I didn't want to stretch it too far back!), and then assigned respective tags to all the posts having to do with those cities. I thought it might be a fun way to keep track of all my travel posts--after all, they are my favorite to write! (ps--My blog is a year old, and I'm boggled at how many cities I've been to in a year! That's a lot of flying for someone who is certifiably terrified of it!)

You might also notice that some of the cities listed don't have links yet, specifically, Cincinnati, Niagara Falls, and St. Louis. Those were three cities that L. and I stayed in during our cross-1/2-country road trip (we ended in St. Louis, his hometown) last summer, a trip that occurred right before I started this blog, so I'm technically including it in the time frame of "P.B." I'm going to write after-the-fact recaps of our visits to each of those cities sometime in the near future, and add those links to the list. Hope you're as excited to read them as I am to write them!

Oh, and as of tomorrow, I'll have another place to add to the list, since L. and I are leaving tonight and going away this weekend for one last summer mini-vacation. I have a post all lined up for tomorrow to let you know where! I hope everyone enjoys their last few weeks of summer. I'm personally looking forward to orange leaves, hot chocolate, and football, though!

I won AGAIN!

2010-08-12T08:00:00.002-04:00

(Don't forget to enter the Alpha Ring giveaway before tomorrow at 5pm!)

Clearly my karma is building up a pretty nasty practical joke for me.

It will let me have all sorts of great things now, like finding $10 on the ground of the lobby of the movie theatre and winning the L'Amour dress in the lovely Freckles Chick's giveaway, but soon enough it will turn on me, and I'll be crossing the street under ladders with black cats while stepping on mirrors.

Huh?

To add to this pile of cosmic back luck heading my way, I recently won yet ANOTHER giveaway!

See what I mean? It's too good to be true.

I won the Alex Keller necklace in the Bon Bon Rose Girls' Sizzlin' Summer Giveaway Week! That was a pretty awesome week, ladies. All my online-shopping urges were cured just by oogling the cute things you ladies were giving away.

The necklace is beautiful. I am so, so excited about it. It just arrived in the mail a few days ago.

Funnily enough, I was already planning on wearing gold strappy sandals and gold jewelery with my new L'Amour dress. Now I've essentially won my entire rehearsal dinner outfit for my brother's wedding!

Now if only I could win some gold shoes...

[Images via Alex Keller, Shabby Apple, Nine West]

What do you think of the green and gold combination?

Guest Post on Date Girl Diaries: The Bridal Shower Recap

2010-08-11T11:14:00.005-04:00

(Don't forget to enter the Alpha Ring Giveaway! It will close at 5pm on Friday. Good luck!)

Remember in my last San Diego recap how I said that I would skip over the bridal shower details? That's because all the bridal shower goodness is in my guest post for today over on Date Girl's blog. She and her fiance are on a vacation in Carmel (color me envious!) so I agreed to do a guest post for her, and thought a bridal shower post would be perfect since she posted hers not too long ago.

So, if you'd like to see some awesome bridal shower ideas, tons of culinary-related loot, and the near-disaster that my present to my sister-in-law almost became due to bumpy shipping, head over to Date Girl Diaries and check it out!

Alpha Ring GIVEAWAY!

2010-08-10T08:00:00.017-04:00

[Update: this giveaway has closed. Congrats to winner Emily Ann and thanks for playing!]

Remember when I posted about how I was wanting these adorable and stylish rings in a bad way, and then not long after L. was sweet enou g h to order one for me?

In your comments, you guys seemed to be really into the rings, and I had joked that I should contact Amy from Little Green Room and see if she would be interested in doing a giveaway for you guys.
Remember?

Well, surprise! Not so much a joke! I did contact Amy, who is possibly the nicest woman on the planet, and she was thrilled about the idea of a giveaway. Which means one of you will win your very own alpha ring, with your choice of metal and custom initial!
The rings can come with an uppercase or lowercase initial...

and the disc can come in your choice of copper or sterling silver.

So, here's what you can do to win!

Leave a comment below with your email address. (Please take a second to visit Little Green Room, too!) Bonus entry if you're a follower (or become a follower) of Things I Said and Meant to Say! (Please leave a separate comment for each if you qualify for both.)

I'm dying to know, if you won, what kind of ring would you choose? Would you be like me and choose your boyfriend or fiancé's or husband's initial? Or, if the thought of wearing your significant other's initial creeps you out or if you're celebrating/spoiling yourself, would you get your own initial? In copper and lowercase? In sterling silver and uppercase? So many possibilities!

The giveaway will close at 5:00pm on Friday, August 13, and the winner will be announced on Monday morning.

Good luck!

[First image via me, second and third images via Little Green Room]

My True Story on Yes and Yes

2010-08-09T08:00:00.000-04:00

Do you guys read Yes and Yes? I think Sarah Von is extraordinary and her blog is a huge inspiration to a large community of people. (So, in short, you should!)

Sarah does a series called True Story, which she describes like this:

"This is one of my True Story interviews in which we talk to people who have experienced interesting/challenging/amazing things."

Well, not to label myself interesting or amazing, but Sarah posted awhile back about some topics she'd like to do interviews on for her series. Two of the topics asked for someone who had either been in the foster care system or adopted. I have been/am both of those things, and so I emailed Sarah and we did an interview, which she posted today. I do have to say, since things are usually relatively light around here, it's definitely a little bit on the heavier side. But if you'd like to learn a little more about me than what I usually write about, feel free to stop by and take a look.

San Diego Trip, Part III, or, TITANIC Disaster

2010-08-06T07:00:00.002-04:00

[If you missed parts I and II of my trip recap, you can read them here and here, respectively!]

First of all, good job to those of you who tried to guess the mystery city in which we're having our next reunion in two years. It was...CHICAGO! Woo hoo! I've never been to Chicago but always, always wanted to go.

Now, Saturday, the third and final day of our reunion, was by far the most eventful. And by eventful I mean exhausting and terrifying, with more than a few familial spats. I won't lie, day three of a 24-hours-a-day reunion can get some nerves on edge!

The day at least started out beautifully, when we all traveled about 45 minutes to Vista, California, to Tiffany's mom's house, for her bridal shower. I won't post about that now, since I actually wrote about it as a guest post on Date Girl's blog for next week (I'll link to it then so you can all check it out!), but I won't leave you hanging without at least a picture of all the loot:

After the bridal shower, however, we were all feeling pretty pooped out from the exciting day and from possibly a few too many glasses of champagne. However, my brothers had planned for us all to board a San Diego harbor cruise from the Catamaran Hotel that night, as a good-bye sort of thing, and though I and most of the other girls would have loved nothing more than to stay home, throw on some sweatpants, and watch tv, we had to go.
The boat tour my brothers chose was on the boat called the Bahia Belle out of the Bahia resort, but we docked at the opposite side of the bay, at the Catamaran Hotel. The deal is that you get on on either side of the bay, and the boat runs continuously back and forth between the two hotels all night, taking about a half hour each way. You can stay on as long as you'd like.

Do you guys know the episode of the Office, Booze Cruise? Remember the boat they go on in that episode? Guys. I kid you not. We were on the SAME BOAT. Down to the hokey dance floor and live music and EVERYTHING.

The night actually didn't start out too badly. It was absolutely beautiful outside, even though it WAS freezing and all I had on were shorts, a tshirt, and a cardigan.

However, pretty much as soon as we got on the boat and pulled away from shore, things started going downhill. Neither Tiffany, Christine, nor I felt much like having a drink because of our long afternoon, and while that was fine, have you ever been the person not having a drink on a booze cruise? The loud, raucous people really started to wear on me and my poor headache not soon into the ride. Moreover, a big reason why we had gone on the boat was to see the fireworks at Sea World from the middle of the bay. However, we boarded the boat at 8:00pm. The fireworks didn't start until 9:50.

My mum and I cozied up on a bench on the top deck of the boat around 9:30 or so and I told her that I was exhausted and would really like to get off the next time the boat reached our shore. At that time, we were docking at the Bahia shore, and all those guests were waiting to get on. I had hoped that we could catch the fireworks on our way back to the Catamaran, and then unload there and head home, where I could crawl into bed. At this point it was probably about 55 degrees outside, and I was in shorts and sandals, but didn't want to go below deck because of all the drunk people and booming music.

And right at that moment, disaster struck.

While the Bahia guests had been waiting on the dock to board the boat, the boat officials had had them all line up on one side of the dock, making it easier for the passengers leaving the boat to unload. Well, all that weight on one side of the dock, combined with no doubt faulty maintenance, caused something very, very bad to happen.

Suddenly, everyone on the top deck of the boat was screaming and running to the railings. Then, they started yelling, "the dock collapsed! The dock collapsed!"

The dock had just given out, causing about 60 people all in dresses and nice clothes to fall about ten feet into the freezing bay. The outside air was about 55 so I can't even imagine how cold that water was--I know I was numb just standing on the boat. At very first, people sort of chuckled--you could possibly see how it could be funny, like that scene in It's a Wonderful Life where they all fall into the swimming pool under the gym floor.

Except, it really wasn't funny. People actually got hurt--one man broke his nose, another his arm, and countless others got bumps, bruises, and scrapes. Not to mention, they were all soaking wet and didn't have anything warm to change into. It didn't take long for the ambulances, fire trucks, and even search helicopters to start showing up. One particularly drunk, fratty boy started shouting rude things about the tax dollars and helicopters, and I really wanted to say, "Excuse me, but if you thought you had a little kid lost in that water, you'd want a search helicopter too."

The situation quickly became dire. The boat captain, who sounded aghast, came over the intercom to announce that we wouldn't be going anywhere for the time being. We were stuck on the boat for at least an hour, if not more. The fireworks did start going off, but they just felt so inappropriate. Then, we all had to remain exactly where we were standing so they could conduct a head count, which meant I had to stand in the freezing cold night air for another hour.

Finally, when the situation was under control, we started heading back to the other shore--at which point the boat turned the music and dance floor lights back on. Ugh! Christine, Tiffany and I agreed that it was so distasteful. People were shocked, tired, and freezing, and just wanted to go home, not dance and drink.

I was sort of bummed that a mini-diaster occured the last night of our reunion, because as good as it was, something like that can't help but put a damper on the festivities. But then we all got to talking and realized that there have been disasters almost every year in the last decade or two that we've held a reunion. Last year in Rome, NY, a tornado (!) touched down right near the hotel and caused the power to go out. Two years before that, a giant thunderstorm also caused the power to go out, leaving everyone stranded at someone's house. And two years before that, there was another tornado incident. Isn't that absurd! I hope we don't have any tornadoes in Chicago in two years!

By Sunday, I was sort of ready for a vacation from my vacation. Family reunions are exhausting! I'm totally looking forward to Chicago, but it was awfully nice to get off the plane, get back to L. , and even go back to work. Which is nice, because I think I managed to counteract the post-vacation blues! That's why, even though we were invited to a massive birthday celebration in New York City this weekend, I think L. and I are happy to have a relaxing weekend in. (Plus, the party is for the same guy who threw the New Jersey Pool Party, and I could not survive another day like that one) .

Hope you guys have fun (or not/relaxing!) things planned this weekend! I have a lot of fun posts planned for next week (including a GIVEAWAY!!!), so get excited!

Part II of the Family Reunion

2010-08-05T13:00:00.004-04:00

[If you missed Part I, you can read it here!]

On our first morning in San Diego my dad woke up early to go play golf with some of the men, and my mum and I were left wondering what we were going to do on a cloudy, cool day with no car. Luckily, my brother Brad saved the day by calling us and asking if we wanted to go shopping with him at Seaport Village, a super cute coastal cluster of shops and restaurants arranged like, well, a village.

We were pretty shocked that Brad wanted to take us shopping. Neither he nor any of the other men in my family have much "patience" when it comes to it. (Which makes me so grateful for L.!)

But, we should have known there was a catch. Sure, we were going shopping--but he really needed our help picking out prizes to give out at the giant reunion dinner that night. Ha! We should have seen it coming.

I suggested that we find fun, handmade things that hail from San Diego, as sort of a neat souvenir for our family, who hail from all over the country from places such as Upstate New York, Florida, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Chicago, and Colorado, and put them together in themed baskets. Brad really wasn't very helpful with this, and we couldn't find any baskets, so I ended up getting some cute ribbon from a hat shop (which I suspect is where all the girls go when they're going to Del Mar racetrack), and tied little bundles of like-things together. We ended up with a San Diego coffee mug stuffed with San Diego-made coffee, a mexican cookbook bundled with homemade San Diego hot sauce, and this really nice hand-painted San Diego tile.

At our dinner, which happened at 6pm that night, we handed out the gifts to the oldest relative, the relative who had contributed the youngest generation to the family (my cousin Leigh with her baby Kinsley won that), and the family member who traveled from furthest away (this might have been us, but we didn't want it to look rigged.)

But before the dinner, my mum and I got back to the room after our "shopping" outing and
got lunch at the Blue Wave Bar and Grill, the restaurant at the resort. We got to sit by the window and stare out at the harbor and all the yachts, which was really nice. Plus, I had the most delicious Cobb salad of my life, so I was a pretty happy camper.

After lunch, we decided to go in the hot tub. On Friday it was approximately 62 degrees in San Diego and cloudy--just an awful day. But we had fun relaxing in the hot tub and then I huddled, shivering, in a towel while my mum went swimming in the pool. She's crazy! (Okay, okay, it was actually heated to 80 degrees).

My mum and I got dressed and headed to the dinner, which was being held in the resort's Sunset Room, a gorgeous function room overlooking the harbor, to help set up. I offered to be the name-tag giver-outer and the money-collector, since the all-you-can-eat Italian buffet was running people a pretty penny. I joked that no one was going to talk to me the whole night for taking all their money!

Here was the view out the window, which you can see behind Scott, his girlfriend Angie, and Brian and Tiffany.

I think this photo of my mum and me at dinner is so sweet. Don't you love my dorky nametag? She refused to wear hers! What a rebel.

We had about 60 people at the dinner, and after everyone finished eating, each table had to stand up and explain which branch of the family they were from. It sort of took forever, but it was nice to be able to trace the line all the way back. And then, the big moment of truth:

Who was going to host the reunion in two years?
Drum roll...

In two years, I'll be going to:

!!!

I'll let you guys try to figure it out. It would be tricky for me, but those of you more familiar with the city will probably get it. It's somewhere that L. and I have been dying to go and even considered moving after graduation, and we were planning on making a big stop there on our cross-country road trip next summer when we move to California. But now we'll be going in two years, so we don't have to! (Which means more time in Vegas!!!)