insanely crazy busy day

In the midst of all this chaos (workshop planning, working 2.5 jobs, and trying to manage 2 courses) I was replying to a friend’s post on my Facebook wall and it hit me:

I am talking to a girl who lives in England, who I met over a year ago. A girl who I was best friends with for 4 days in our adorable little hostel in Portland, OR after I took a roadtrip with an almost complete stranger across the USA. A girl who I haven’t seen in almost a year now (more than a year?), who has nothing other than the thread of our shared hostel experience (and bunk beds!) connecting us.

Isn’t that amazing? I am so lucky to meet the people I have so far.

Now back to my reply :).

oh dear

current projects:

• finishing 3 back essays by thursday
• writing an extra credit Language & Culture essay for thursday
• 2 research papers – thursday
• interviews for Language & Culture research paper/senior STS thesis

non-school related current projects!:

• watching criminal minds like it’s my job!
• researching fantastically awesome inspiring people, like matthew gray gubler, mindy kaling, bruce mau, and more
• reading through my pile of books (awesome YA fiction I haven’t kept up with and books like Never Eat Alone, On Writing Well, and Will Write For Food)
• listening to classics on free audiobook while i design
• catching up on spanish – watching CSI: Miami dubbed, Pasapalabra (I MISS IT!), and reading Gabriel García Márquez in spanish
• planning my next travel adventure! deciding on where to go for the summer…midwest roadtrip, northeast roadtrip, or west coast trip again (if i find a cheap ticket!)
• making the perfect iced coffee

whew!

california dreaming

Between all the damage I have been inflicting upon my poor electronics (water spillage, mysterious start up files missing, you name it), I’m lucky to be online at all right now! And after looking back at all of my photos from a recent trip, I’m feeling even more lucky.

I was in LA visiting my little sister a few weekends ago. She’s doing an internship out there – she’s so glamorous! She and I had a fantastic time! And best of all, she is such a chill person, it really got me ready to deal with all of the stress of finishing the last semester of my senior year. Insanity, controlled. (Mostly.)

 

 

and because I have to…

how could I not?! It’s the view from my sister’s window…so cool!

<3

circles

 

       

(reminder to self)

I was in Italy several months ago.

Spain before and after that.

L.A. last weekend.

Sun and sand and family.

Old (and new) friends and fun.

Ok…my life is now back in perspective.

It hasn’t been that long of a semester after all.

happy 2010

Good riddance to 2009 – it was a decent year (I did study abroad after all!) but other than that, it was rough and crummy in my opinion.

Some highlights (the good) from 2009:

• Taking one of the best graphic design courses I’ve taken yet! (Graphic Design for Corporate Identity) and getting my first official design “job” (Opus Igor freelance work)
• Meeting new people – friends of friends, CEA Sevilla, road trip buddies, Portland hostel roommates. It was a good year for new faces.
• Reconnecting with old friends and with family. Studying abroad really made me appreciate how important family and friends are, and I was really lucky to be able to keep up old friendships and talk with family more than ever when I needed it most.
• TRAVEL. Visiting my sister, roommate, and 2 good friends while they all spent the summer in Boston. Then, seeing more of the US on a road trip than most people get to see in their lives. It was fantastic and beautiful, and I hope I get to do something like that many times more in my life. And the last bit of travel in 2009 – Spain. SPAIN. Not to mention all the traveling I did while in Spain, and how lucky I was that my mom and my boyfriend both visited me. It was the best experience I’ve had in my life, and I intend to never forget it!

ROAD TRIP Summer 2009

BOSTON Summer 2009

SPAIN Fall 2009

PORTUGAL September 2009

SWITZERLAND (Interlaken) October 2009

ITALY (Florence & Rome) October/November 2009

Here’s to a happier, healthier, more prosperous new year! :)

I’M HOME!

After getting delayed overnight and finally getting onto a flight that was supposed to go to Chicago but they cancelled that flight for ours…

….and after waiting 5 hours for my luggage at IAD only to finally find out my bags never left Germany…

  ….and after waiting in line for 3 hours while missing 3 connecting flights…

 

 

 

…I got the last seat out of DC to Albany at 10pm last night!!!

Never flying during the holidays again. 48 hours straight of traveling and not knowing if I’ll make it home before Christmas or not….not for me!

Thanks to all of the awesome people on flight UA 933 from Frankfurt for all of the friendship and support. It was a heck of an ordeal but the people I was traveling with made it so much more bearable – we were all in the same boat (well, flight) and bonded over it. It was great meeting everyone and hope everyone got to their final destination!

on way home

Stuck in Germany. Snow on the East Coast. Oy.

At least I get a hotel and meal vouchers! (And internet!)

 

Pros: I get to say I’ve legitimately(ish) been to Germany now. And I’m not stuck in Heathrow till Tuesday, like some of my friends. Eek!

Some post-Spain deep thinking coming soon. Hasta luego!

Goodbye, Italy! Take 2

It’s my second last night in Italy within the past month. I am too freaking lucky. Look at all this great food!

 

Caffe Latte and Pastry at a Cafe at the corner of Via Nazionale and Via Faenza in Florence.

 

Pastries from Il Forno, by the Mercato Centrale.

 

Firenza salad, Mostodolce pizza (tomato, mozzarella, truffle, mushrooms – AMAZING), and the Martellina beer – this restaurant/pizzeria brews their own beer. I tried the honey brew, and WOW. It was so good! I haven’t have house-brewed beer since I left the States, so this was a real treat – very sweet with spicy notes and a just-bitter-enough finish. Perfection!! All from Mostodolce, Via Nazionale in Florence.

Sadly, I didn’t get ANY pictures of our pasta courses we ate out our first night. Extremely disappointing. It was amazing and I forgot my camera. More later.

I am super sad to be leaving Italy.

Goodbye, all you lovely Italian pastries and caffe lattes :(.

I will be back.

last night in italy :(

Not that it’s much of a  “night”….getting up at 4:30am with my mom to catch the bus at 5:20am, fly out of Bergamo, Italy at 6:25am..eek! As soon as we got to Bergamo we both wished we were staying another night here – it’s an adorable, amazing city. Very small, feels safe, and has SUCH a Christmasy hint of winter in the air! I love it! Reminds me of Lake Placid, a lot.

On the train from Florence to Milan with my mom (which was an AWESOME train, way nicer than one I’ve taken before – so cool!), we met a really friendly, CUTE Italian guy sitting next to me/across from my mom. He was born in Sicily, lives in Rome, has a best friend who lives in Sevilla! We also met a shopkeeper in Florence who adores Sevilla, and has many friends there as well. It’s so nice running into people like that “abroad” from Sevilla! Almost the same feeling as running into Americans in Spain…I love it.

 

 

My mom and I are both super sad to be leaving Italy.

Goodbye, all you lovely Italian pastries and caffe lattes :(.

We will be back.

Florence Day 2

(happy with the apartment!)

 

(our view)

 

(rainy Florence)

 

(breakfast)

(just hanging out)

<3