Weekend Update (no, not the one from SNL)

It's been a while since I've blogged! I've been trying to blog on a regular basis but life gets in the way, of course. And life is definitely more important than blogging. That being said, my life has been pretty good recently. I'm really happy and I feel like my old self. It's been a while since I've been able to truly say that. I owe it to my friends, some new friends, supportive family, good music, continuing to open my mind to new things, choosing to accept others despite their differences, and just being positive every day.

This weekend was a great one. We celebrated my new friend, Sam's 21st birthday. It was so much fun and everyone had a good time. I was invited to her house for a cookout on Saturday afternoon. Her parents are total sweethearts and man, can they cook! After some yummy food and plenty of laughs, I headed back to school to get ready to go out that night. We went out to a sports bar in Raleigh called Hi5 to continue Sam's birthday festivities. I met a few of her friends and there were some Meredith girls there that I already knew. That place was pretty fun and the food was good for a sports bar. Also, Meghan made some amazing cupcakes that I devoured. Haha.

On Sunday, I did some schoolwork and stuff. It was pretty boring, but at least I was productive. Today was pretty long because I had to do my bridal collection for Apparel Design Development. I'm glad it's over with though. Only 2 more collections to go! I'll post a picture of it so you can see. :)

I can't wait for Easter Break to start in 3 days. It's been about 2 weeks since we came back from Spring Break and I'm already in need of another one. I'm also anxiously waiting to hear back from Lilly Pulitzer to see if I got the internship. I hear back on April 5. It's getting close! It's a really competitive internship (supposedly 500 people from each state apply) but I'm staying positive and optimistic. :)

Well, it's off to bed for me. I don't know if anyone reads this, but if you do, thank you for taking the time to read what I have to say. You are a true friend.

Bruises and Blisters

I will start off by saying that today was a very good day. I went to class (I only have one class on Wednesdays) and then I had to do a survey for Statistics class in the dining hall. It didn't take as long as I thought it would. My partner and I just went around and asked 20 girls what class they were in and how many credit hours they were taking for their major this semester. Then, I texted my friend, Katelyn and asked her what she was doing and she told me she was about to go for a walk around Lake Johnson and that I should go. So I decided I would go because I hadn't seen her in a while and I missed her. Well, without thinking, I didn't go back to my room and get any tennis shoes. I just left right away and told her I would meet her at her apartment. On the way to her apartment, I somehow got extremely lost and ended up driving through State's campus when I was supposed to be going down Gorman Street. After about 20 minutes, I found her apartment and we took her brother's dog, Sunny for a walk around the lake. Well, I was expecting this lake to be pretty small. Boy, was I wrong! The thing was HUGE! And I had on Tory Burch flats! Anyway, it was a lovely walk - complete with hills - and I got a pretty decent workout, but I could tell I was going to get blisters later on. We walked about 4 miles. After the walk, we went to Tropical Smoothie Cafe where I enjoyed a smoothie with Splenda (Elise would be so proud haha) and Katelyn enjoyed a smoothie and a sesame chicken salad. We spent about 30 minutes there. It was such a beautiful day today so we sat outside in the sunshine. After that, I met my friend/future roommate, Mary at Oberlin Court. We are hopefully going to be living there next year. We turned in our applications today and we're on the waiting list. Anyway, that took about 30 minutes and then we went back to school where they were having dinner in the courtyard. This is one of my favorite things about school and Spring. We have dinners outside and they are so much fun. Mary and I ended up eating with Sam and her suitemate, Alicia. It was a good time. We stayed out there for about an hour and I inhaled a piece of key lime pie. It was SO good. Then, I came back to my room and did some homework, took a shower, and watched American Idol because Miley performed tonight. I talked to a few people online and my friend, Trey actually came by and picked me up and we went on a short Cookout run. That was fun. And now, I am about to wrap this up and go to bed. I have had a great day that was jam-packed with laughs with friends. I don't think I could ask for anything more. :)

Back to the blisters, I have recently just noticed that they are REALLY bad so I washed them with warm water and soap and put some Neosporin on them. I have been getting hurt a lot recently. Last night, I was wearing my pink bedroom shoes from Target that I always wear around my room. Sometimes, I like to slide around on the hardwood floors in my room and do "Risky Business" moves. And by "sometimes", I mean all the time. I don't know why. I think it's some sort of habit. Anyway, I slid a little too much last night and I ended up falling and hitting my shoulder on my dresser. I don't know how I managed to do that, but I did and I laughed very hard at myself.

Okay, I'm going to bed now. It's past my bedtime. Goodnight :)

Turning over a new leaf

Today was a pretty productive day. I went to class and I printed out copies of my resume to take to some boutiques around town today. I ended up distributing my resume to 6 different boutiques. I hope I get a "bite" because I would really love to have a job/internship this summer. I don't really care if it's paid or unpaid at this point, but I would just like to gain some experience, if anything. I'm really going to try and push through these next 2 weeks. I'm trying to eat healthier, study harder, manage my time more wisely, and be more active. Also, I'm starting to go to bed at a decent hour. I'm finding that I feel a lot better and I can get more done during the day. Another important thing I'm doing is drinking more water throughout the day. It is really amazing what H20 can do for you if you get enough of it. I didn't make it to the gym today but I'm going to go tomorrow. I was busy with other things today but I won't bore you with the details of my exciting life. I'm finding that this blog is quite therapeutic in some ways. Not that I need therapy or anything, but it's just nice to write some things down and reflect on the day. I finished with my homework pretty early tonight. I just had to read a few pages for Microeconomics and African American Writers.

On another note, I'd like to say that I just recently arrived back at school yesterday from a great and much-needed Spring Break. Can I just say that my parents are super awesome? Seriously, they have no idea how much I love them, but I do. We had a great break together and my mom took off work to hang out with me and my dad didn't play as much tennis as he usually does. I think they have really missed me this semester since I'm not there like I was last semester. Also, Charlotte came home from South Africa and we got to hang out for 2 days. We went to see a movie ("Remember Me", if you haven't seen it, go check it out NOW...not even kidding!) and we got pedicures. I don't know how she did it because she was jet-lagged, but she did. When I got back from Paris, it was all I could do to not fall asleep at random for about 2 weeks after I got back. Jet-lag and I don't get along. Anyway, she had a great time on her trip and I think that she learned a lot. I am so thrilled that my little sister gets to see the world. She is getting the opportunity to broaden her horizons and to open her mind to everything that's around her - good and bad. That is a beautiful thing.

Anyway, I'm done rambling for tonight. Wow, this post was long. If you got through to the very end, you are a true friend indeed. :)

Purple

Today, I noticed something I had never noticed before. I own a lot of things that are the color purple. I'm beginning to think that my favorite color might be changing from green to purple! *gasp* No, actually my favorite color changes a lot. Oddly enough, I first made this observation while I was in the shower tonight. My shampoo and conditioner are purple and they come in purple bottles. Also, my razor is purple. My fingernails and toenails are even purple! When I got out of the shower, I put on my new terrycloth Juicy Couture violet pants. By the way, these are the most comfortable pants EVER. Well worth the investment, if you ask me. Although, my mom does get a discount at Belk, where she works, and I got them at a discounted price. Go Mom! I also noticed that the bag I carry my books in is purple. I know you are wondering "why are you just noticing this?" Well, I find myself not very observant when I need to be and then one day, I all of a sudden start noticing things out of the blue. I do this a lot. I'm not sure if this is a good or a bad thing. Anyway, the point I'm trying to make here is that this can be applied to everyday life. If we don't open our eyes and just stop and look around, we might not notice things that are even the most obvious to us. We should all take a moment each day to reflect on our lives and observe the things that are going on around us. This is something I'm going to start working on. I believe that life is too short to keep on living each day by routine. Mix it up and you might discover something about yourself that you never noticed before. I encourage you all to join me. I'll keep you posted if I discover something that is particularly interesting. It's funny how a little thing, such as a color, can be so big. :)

Valentine's Day Blues

I got a text from a guy who I used to like this past summer and it was him basically saying that he wanted to meet me halfway this weekend. Well, this weekend just so happens to be Valentine's Day weekend. I informed him that I would not be driving anywhere and if he wanted to see me, he could drive here. I'm sorry, but I am sick and tired of guys thinking that I am ~that girl~ who will drop everything and go see them. It's not my fault that you are lonely on Valentine's Day. That's your own damn fault. You could have very well had me back in the year, but you decided to keep on being a douche and talking to other girls. You can't have your cake and eat it too. How about trying to be a man for once and try to date one girl at a time and stop talking to 3 other ones on the side. How hard is that? If you can't do that now, I'm not so sure you're going to be faithful in your marriage. This is why I choose to stay away from you. Any girl who decides to wait for you while you're going through this ~stage~ is a blithering insecure idiot. I can do way better than you anyway. How about stop trying to flirt with me and just be my friend. I don't want to be more than friends. I don't trust you or anything that comes out of your mouth. You only know how to talk to girls through text message anyway. GROW UP.

Spring Awakening

I just want everyone to know that my favorite musical, Spring Awakening, is coming to Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC) on March 2-7. Tickets are on sale now at www.ticketmaster.com. Get your tickets today because they are going fast! It is the winner of 8 Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Score. I have seen it 3 times in New York and I was blown away every time!

Here is a YouTube clip one of my favorite songs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDtc9ZoQLmw

Insomnia

It is now 2:16AM in Paris and I can't sleep. Actually, I'm pretty tired but I'm waiting on my gel face mask to chill in the freezer because it's so freaking HOT in my apartment. Curse you, Europe for not having air conditioning. That is about the only thing I don't like about Europe. I mean, I'm in Paris for crying out loud. If I were complaining, I'd be an idiot.

On a lighter note, we are going to Disneyland Paris tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited. Tomorrow starts our free weekend so I'm looking forward to that. A little break is going to be nice since we've been on the go ever since we got here. Next week, the women's haute couture fashion shows start and we are going to work a few and go to a few. I am sooooo excited. This is a HUGE deal and an amazing opportunity. It's one of the main reasons why I wanted to come on this trip, as a matter of fact. More on that is coming later though.

Today, we started off our day with a fashion seminar at the Paris American Academy, our school here in Paris. It was quite interesting because our teacher didn't really know English, so it was difficult trying to learn the couture technique she was trying to teach us. We eventally got the hang of it though. We had to hand-stitch an invisible dart and I actually did it! Go me!!! Then, Dr. Ellis took us to a quaint little street with shops and restaurants. We ate at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant with amazing quiche. I had a chocolate and banana dessert that was pretty bangin' as well. After that, I went back to my apartment and took a 3 hour long nap. I know what you're thinking. "YOU'RE IN PARIS! WHY ARE YOU TAKING 3 HOUR LONG NAPS?!?" Well, my throat started hurting. AGAIN. And I popped two Extra Strength Tylenol and found out very quickly that they made me drowsy. This explains why I can't really sleep now. Great. Anyway, I woke up and got some things done in the apartment, then we cooked dinner (frozen pizzas, yum!) and we planned on going to the Eiffel Tower at 11 PM to see it sparkle. Well, that plan fell through. We ended up going to a bar on the little street we visited earlier today and that was fun. After that, we made our way back to Rue St. Jacques (the street where we live) and visited the bar directly across the street from our apartment. The bartender got a kick out of my accent and told me I sounded Scottish. Also, there were some really cute French boys there and they seemed to like my accent as well. Shortly after that, we left and went to our apartments because we were getting tired at that point. Since then, I've been messing around on the Internet while I should have been sleeping. Why do I deprive myself from sleep? OH, and I found out tonight that the Harry Potter movie comes out on July 15 (the day I get back from Paris) instead of July 17. Oh well...jetlag will have to wait because I refuse to break my tradition of seeing every Harry Potter movie on the day they come out. Looks like I'm going to have to make myself sleep on the flight home. Anyway, speaking of sleep, I really need to do that, so I'm going to wrap this up. More crazy adventure stories to come tomorrow! :)