Overheard

The highlight of my spring break was the BF and mines trip to the Dunes. This session of "overheard" is a perfect example of a few things. 

1. Why I frustrate people

2. Why the BF is necessary for me to function some days

3. The BF needs me to sometimes bring his logicalness down a level. I didn't think that was a word, but the good ole Mac isn't flagging it so I'm going with it. 

-Climbing up a large pile of rocks to the top of a Dune-

C: Ow! (Illogical Char was not wearing shoes)

A: Babe, maybe you should put your flip flops back on for this... (Logical BF had shoes on)

C: Hmm maybe. 

A: Wait, where are your flip flops? (Stops climbing to investigate)

C: Hmm I dunno, musta left em on the beach. They'll turn up. (Climbs past worried BF)

A: Oh Char. 

15 minutes earlier the same conversation occurred but that time concerning my cell phone...

Exhibit A: BF wearing shoes. Who wears shoes to the lake?

My flip flops in their natural habitat. I had flipped them off to play in the clay apparently...

Substitute Teaching and Spring Break

Oooooh I want this purse. There's something about it that screams preppy-day-in-the-horse-barn to me...

So substitute teaching. Not bad at all. My first day (Monday) wasn't great, but it wasn't because of the kids. I didn't really like that assistant teacher very much and the actual teacher was in and out because she was doing some curriculum stuff and together they just made me very nervous. I felt like they were a little judgey... But who could blame them, no one likes to know that their sub is a first-timer... Day two was with a problem class but I actually enjoyed that more. The lesson plan seemed simple and the assistant was super nice and helpful but not so helpful as to make me feel uncomfortable. 

So my SB was not at all as planned. I wanted lots of free time to read Portrait of a Lady and play with flickr and my blog. Instead I subbed Monday and Friday. I went to visit the BF Tues and left Wednesday. He followed me home and left Thursday evening. And it wasn't like a reaxing 3 days, we were busy the whole time! Later that night I went out with Hermione and an old HS friend (blog on that later). 

And now tomorrow is my cousin's bachelorette party in Chi-Town and I feel that as a reward for my very hectic spring break I deserve to ride in on the train early and jaunt over to F21 and buy my purse... 

Oh The Sweet Sweet Smell

Of success!!! Attempt two went off splendidly! However I learned a few lessons making it. 

-If a recipe calls for fresh herbs it's not going to be a quick one.

-When a recipes calls for you to make your own crust, just screw it and buy pie crust. It's just not worth your time and effort...

Now the bad news is this, I didn't take any pictures of this recipe. The good news is that I took plenty of the other recipe. The preparation of the first was was just so pretty, there were so many pretty green things and good smelling things that I couldn't resist. I wish I'd taken more but the lighting in the kitchen isn't great so I kept carrying things to the window to take pictures of them and quite honestly I got tired of the traveling. 

Fresh chives and not so fresh thyme

Garlic and onions. Can you just imagine the smell? Glorious... 

And then I ate a Clementine. 

Photos By: Char

If At First You Don't Succeed...

Pick yourself up and try again. You can dust your apron off and try again. Try again...

Cooking attempt #2. 

Please hope it turns out like this...

Substitute teaching experience to come later... It's been a very tiring day. I'm going to take a wild guess that as an adult I won't be working all day and cooking all night. Mrs. Cleaver I am not. 

Photo Courtesy Of

Cooking Laments

Why can't I cook? I followed the recipe exactly, and ya know what? Mine doesn't look like this. 

Photo courtesy of Design Sponge

The Sun is Too Good to Be True

Who else thought it was beautiful today? I'm loving spring being here. Last thursday I walked around campus taking pictures and it was wonderful. The pics didn't turn out that great, but it was so sunny and gorgeous so I didn't care. 

Current discussion in the living room: A commercial came on when everybody is yelling for "mom" because they can't find anything. The sister and I are both complaining because whenever we can't find anything and mom tells us where it is and we still can't find, she eventually comes in and it's exactly where she said it was. Dad said he's pretty sure she just carries everything with her and presents it at opportune moments. 

Photos By: Char

Adventures in Michigan City Pt II

So now for Meijers. The biggest thing I was looking forward to for Spring Break was a chance to try out some recipes I had been seeing. I narrowed it down to here, here, here, and here. (I highly recommend that website btw, it's filled with graphic art, diy, and just general eye candy) Want to know how many Meijers associates it takes to find toffee bits? Four, and then only successful one just happened to also be the one looking down my shirt which was fabulous. It takes two to find chives. And three to find crushed almonds. Good times. 

By the time I wrangled everything together and got home it was 6:00 and all I'd had to eat that day was a bagel and cinnamon cream cheese, I couldn't have cared less about cooking any of those dishes. So I did what any logical girl would do. I watched Confessions of a Shopoholic illegally, ate bacon bits, and drank some very yummy pomegranate and raspberry juice. And of course blogged. 

Adventures in Michigan City Pt I

Michigan City is one of my favorite places when it gets warm. Obviously there is the lake (Lake Michigan for all you non-regioners). But, in these parts, the way you know it's really heading for summer is when Carlson's Root Beer and Hot Dog Stand and Bubble's Ice Cream Shoppe open. Once my friends and I were driving age that is where we headed on the last day of school. They're right across the street from eachother. We would park our cars and the waitresses would bring our food to the bar and then we'd jump out and run across the street to Bubble's after we'd had our fill of the best root beer in creation. 

So today, when I headed out to Michigan City with a long list of chores to get done I was excited.  I headed down 421 and stopped at GoodWill. I needed to find a desk for Hermione and mine's house next year. Hmm no luck. Oh well, onto chore 2, I needed teacher pants and teacher shoes because I'm subbing on monday. That's when I made my first mistake. I went to the lighthouse mall. One a beautiful day. Lighthouse mall. The outlet mall. On a gorgeous day. I hate lighthouse mall on any day. It's confusing and filled with tourists and people that do not say excuse me. But on a beautiful spring day, you cannot imagine the amount of people there! 

I headed to Old Navy and searched and searched but soon remembered just why I never go there. I'm between sizes there so nothing fits. 

So onto 

Hollister. No dress pants there, no surprise really. Then Maurices, just for Hermione. She loves this store, it is her F21. But I hate it, the sizes run big and because of that I don't fit into any of them. They've just skipped me and moved on. And today was so different. So I gave in and went to Aero. I have never liked Aero due to their abnormally high waisted pants. Today however, I found a pair that fit, for sale! So I got two pairs. Because Lord knows I don't ever want to do this again. 

Then I needed shoes. On to Payless. This wasn't so bad. I found two pairs, one for $8 and another for $11. No complaints here, however ask me again Monday after I wear one pair for 8 hours... 

Photo By: Char

Well Hello Mr. Spring

Welcome back dear friend. F21 has been suggesting your arrival for some time now. I have yet to feel completely assured in your staying, I need to fulfill some things first, however I'm starting to feel more comfortable. Please don't let me down. And please bring me all of these dresses in my size, for free. Please and thank you. 

You're the Only Reason I Keep on Coming Home

I briefly mentioned that my cousin Dena got engaged this past year and that her bridal shower was this past saturday but I never got around to actually blogging about it! I just want to say, I love my family. They have their fair share of drama and we are anything but normal, but I love it so much. My dad's side of the family is completely dominated by these strong amazing women with outrageous and fun personalities and when we get together it's like all of these rockets taking off in different directions and occasionally pausing to chat and commiserate but mostly it's just a lot of women telling a lot of stories at the same time and laughing a whole heck of a lot. Dena's bridal shower was filled with her family and the grooms family and their friends. All in all there were 8 tables of people, but no matter what game we were playing or what course we were eating there was one table that wouldn't shut up. That was of course, the aunts, mother of the bride, and grandma table. It was so hilarious. They were rowdy and refused to follow any rules, they flicked the rubber bracelets we were supposed to be competing for across the room and made questionable innuendos the whole time. All in all the absolute best bridal shower I've ever been to, which is a shame because the only other one I've been to was the one I threw for my best friend... More than likely I will be posting some more pics from the shower in upcoming blogs!

I love my family : )

I love that commercial! And the song seemed to fit at least a little...

Photo by Char

Congratulations Are in Order

Hermione and I participated in a "Newlyweds" style friend competition last night. East holds one every year and last year we lost... 

This year we studied. We held a hard core friendship boot camp. 

Favorite food?

Pizza!

Favorite color?

Pink!

If you could be reincarnated into any animal what would it be?

Cow?

We may have cheated slightly, well I don't consider it cheating, but the BF told me he was pretty sure it was. We just made our answers easier to remember. Sure we both like pizza. Maybe it's not my favorite food. But it's easier to remember if we both say it's our favorite. Same thing goes for favorite store, favorite basketball and baseball teams, tv show, and pop...

Anyway we won. We always knew we were the best, not we have a prize to prove it! And if it makes you feel better, we would have easily won even without aligning some of our answers. We are just that good. 

My Honey Bunches of Oats

I was going through my pictures from this last weekend, and I just had to post these. I went home for my cousin's bridal shower and it was so fantastic! But those pics need to be fixed up a bit. However, these wonderful little photos of Wicket and his dirty paws were Blogger-Ready! Enjoy!

This is what my poor mother has to put up with in the springtime... And every time it rains... I love him but he really is like a little dirty mop. 

This is how he spends every moment of his day.

Facts About Me::Inquiring Minds Want to Know!

1. I hate to be restrained. Want to see me freak out? Hold me down or put a blanket over my head and I will be angry in a decidedly not cute or playful way. 

2. I really dislike French Manicures, I think they are outdated. A nice pale pink or beige over the whole nail looks infinitely classier. 

3. I will always be a little in love with Tom Hanks thanks to Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail. 

4. I'm seriously overprotective of my friends and family, or really anyone I like. My friends are known for not telling me about things their boyfriends do for the fear that if they do I'll hate him forever. 

5. I'm super immature and irresponsible, but somehow I end up being like the mommy in most situations. I solve problems, find things, ask questions, it makes no sense but it's what I do. 

6. I cannot drink pop out of a can. Ask the BF, I'm a disaster waiting to happen as soon as you place that aluminum device in my hand...

7. I cannot stand when people leave the water faucet running while they are not actively using the water. Seriously people, did you miss all of third grade? Don't waste water!

8. My pet peeve is judgeyness. I know that is not a word. But you know what I mean. 

9. I really love the smell of my sheets. The BF thinks that this is very odd, but is it my fault that I smell good? No. 

10. I like sheets in general. My future home will have lots of pretty linens. 

11. I love the idea of having a linen closet. I want one. 

12. I need my future home to have obscene amounts of natural light. 

13. I would much rather move into an old home than build my own. I know this goes against all logic. 

14. I usually go against all logic. 

15. I have every intention of living in a large city for a few years before I have kids. I'm taking big city, top 25 in America at least. It used to be Chicago (3) but it's turning into Indy (13). I feel like going from a town of maybe 5000 to Chi-Town might be a bit of a leap. 

16. The Chicago Cubs Rule. 

17. I love M&Ms.

18. Macintosh is better. I do not have the knowledge to fully release the splendor of what my beautiful machine can do but I know it's better than a PC. I just know it. 

19. I really enjoy twinkle lights. 

20. Hearing birds chirping is one of my most favorite things ever. 

21. I firmly believe that what is supposed to happen will happen. I'm always surprised by Hermione's constant future-planning because I think things will just fall in place. However, I'm starting to see that when you hit 20 maybe a little future planning is in order... 

22. Books are my favorite. Big ones, little ones, old ones, new ones, gilded edges, they're beautiful and they smell delightful. 

23. I loooove jewelry. But sometimes I think I like looking at it more than wearing it. 

Pennies From Heaven 3,4,5,6,7,8/298

1. Girl gossip over dinner

2. Watching new relationships bloom

3. Ice cream bar in the union!!

4. Sunshine

5. Free nights!

6. Having a new girl to work with me in the econ dept!

7. Nice managers at CVS that help me find carmex

8. Oxford button down shirts

9. My room smelling like candy

10. Flowers sprouting

11. Getting a chance to correct Dr. Onyeji 

12. Elmers glue

13. A house to finally practice all my DIY projects on!!

14. An excuse to refurbish old furniture, Goodwill here I come!

15. New razors

16. Clean sheets

17. Having all my clothes clean, in the closet, and color-

coordinated! You know I wouldn't have it any other way!

18. Understanding chemistry

19. It's that time of the year that I can pull out the tinted mousturizer and put the foundation away... Feels gooooood

20. Having Stella back!

21. Skipping Hall Council, it's nice to let go and have mondays free! Well, free after class, homework, and preparing RHA stuff...

22. A bf who understands my intense love for spring

23. Hearing from long lost best friends : )

24. Dark nude nail polish, the color of leather ballet slippers

25. F21 putting out spring dresses and bathing suits

26. People helping me carry my luggage up to my floor

27. It's still bright at 8:00 pm

28. Quotes from The City! From the lips of Diane Von Furstenberg,

 (Only the best designer ever! Well after Carolina Herrera...) "Absense is to love, what wind is to fire. If it is a small fire the wind will kill it, if it is a large fire the wind will make it stronger. "

29. Buying $5 tennis shoes at WalMart only to find the exact same pair on F21 a week later. Way to be ahead of the trends! 

30.The new Beyonce song, Halo

The Case of the Missing Roommate...

-Sightings:

   Last seen? Monday, March 2, 2009.

   March 6 R's purse was seen on her bed, gone two hours later. 

   March 9 remote found on R's bed and TV turned to Spongebob. 

-Info from RA's? Nada, either their moral standing is annoyingly high or they don't have any information to offer. Most likely the later. 

-Number of inquiries as to her location to date? 3 RAs and 1 Hall Director.

-Calls placed to R since 03-02-09? 6 at minimum

   1 Answer (03-10-09) and conversation, all others unanswered

-Voice mails? 3

-Calls returned? 0

-Days since last seen? 13

Case status? Unsolved and very intriguing. 

When I was Young, I Never Needed Anyone

This afternoon the BF joined Hermione and I for lunch. I don't know how, and I don't know when, but at some point the discussion turned towards Bridget Jones. H and I love Bridget Jones. I know the conversation really took a turn for the worse when we decided to sing Celine Dion's "All By Myself" as Bridget does in the opening scenes of the first movie. We were fantastic if I do say so myself, but the BF was less than amused and was reaching critical mass for his tolerance of girly movie reenactments. Not that that means anything, he reaches critical mass with me almost every day and I tend to ignore it, I believe that in doing so I'm stretching the amount he can handle. The results aren't quite in yet...

Anyway, after discussing whether the term "wobbley bits" is as attractive coming from a non-british man, we departed for our respective classes. 

Tonight after Grey's Anatomy I returned to my room to find what? Bridget Jones! And at what point in the movie? Just about to sing Celine Dion!! So I ran down the hall (bystanders be damned) and burst into H's room just in time for her to turn it on and get in a few minutes of singing. I think we do it better than Bridget. 

Enjoy!

And I'm Back!

Normal optimistic Char is back with vengeance today! (that's kind of an oxymoron I do think...) This video did it for me. If you don't do anything else all day watch this video. It will be so worth it. 

Ok first, it's in Chicago. Put anything in Chicago and I will fall in love with it. That's all it takes. I'm super easy. Second, anytime I can recognize things I'm a goner. "That's the bean! That's Millennium Park! Wrigley! I've been there! The Art Institute! OMG!" All-it-takes. Third, can I just tell you for a minute how much of a sucker I am for love stories? Hermione and I are notorious for asking how couples met, fell in love, got engaged, got married. First date stories are the best! It's pretty much my favorite thing to do and I always always want to ask people but I do realize that that is not always appropriate so I don't... However I have to say, not one person has looked at Hermione and I reproachfully when we ask, on the contrary, each person's eye (be they man, woman, or professor) has lit up in an excited yet embarrassed way and fully expelled every little detail much to our insane enjoyment. 

Life is good my friends. Life is good. 

This is like the cheating guy in He's Just Not That Into You... It makes me that angry...

I had every intention of doing Pennies From Heaven everyday, but I'm just not feeling it today. My day started out really well. I got a 5/5 on an Onyeji paper, that's always a good start to the day. RHA went reasonably well and afterwards we had a little e-board meeting which is always fun, I love my e-board, even if we are incapable of staying on topic... After RHA though I went with the BF and his friends to the Oaks Cafe. We were sitting there waiting for the line to go down when his friends start ogling this girl. Some random girl, just standing there waiting for her pizza bagel. She had no idea that two guys were sitting there having a conversation about her ass. It just made me so mad. Are you all like that? 

I feel like most of Sociology classes are all just about how hard it sucks to be a girl and how unfair it is, especially Sexuality and Gender. And I was always in the minority, I had this super optimistic view of guys, that they weren't like that. I decided our textbooks were outdated and our generation had turned things around. 

Honestly though, those guys weren't doing anything wrong really. I just was so disappointed I guess and I don't really know why. I've talked to two people about it and no one seems to get quite what I'm saying so maybe Sexuality and Gender is getting to me. But honestly, it's no wonder why we never feel like we're enough and why women have such problems with how we look. It's no wonder we get insecure in relationships and go crazy at the thought of our significant others running off to frolic in Florida for Spring Break. 

This post was longer and angrier and more explanatory, and just overall better, but as luck would have it I somehow dislodged my ethernet cord in the middle of writing. So when I went to post it and discovered I was without internet I lost the last half. It has not been a good day. I look forward to happier posts tomorrow. 

Pennies From Heaven 2/298

1. The yummy tea the BF and I found this weekend in Ft. Wayne. Strawberries-n-Cream and Blueberry : ) I don't know what this contraption is called, but I do know that it brings yummy flavors into hot water and so I decided it was picture worthy...

2. Lovely dinners with good friends that triumph over yucky union food

3. Thunderstorms

4. Turning in the lease for mine and Hermione's house!

5. Keeping my cool.. Sometimes I annoy others and myself by being too laid back and not getting upset by things that maybe should upset me. However today at the tanning bed watching some random girl freak out because she's had to wait for a bed, made me happy that I am this way. Maybe I don't worry about my grades enough and maybe I let people take advantage, but I bet my blood pressure is a lot lower than most. 

Pennies From Heaven 1/298

New Section stolen from Slice of Pink. Everyday she writes a short list of the small pleasures in life. I think it's a fantastic idea and I'm going to do my best to follow through except I'm going to offer up five daily little pennies from heaven. Clever, eh?

There are 298 days left in the year, so time to have at it!

1. Getting your tax money in the mail : )

2. Pretty prints

3. Photoshop

4. Daphne and Niles getting together in the end

5. Soft green blankets filled with down alternative

Pink Nikes

Here's the deal with the pink Nikes.

I do enjoy running when I am in the mood, besides ballet it is my main exercise of choice. I am also a huge Nike fan. Throughout my years in track and before I always wore Nikes. My senior year of cheerleading we wore Nike cheerleading shoes and I loved them! My old track shoes had seen their last days and so after I graduated I always ran in my cheerleading shoes. Now I know that is not a good idea, and I bore many judgey glances from the BF for it, but my feet and ankles are shot already from ballet so I figured I didn't have much to protect. Well, this year at school, whenever I go running I end up with a big fat water blister on the big toe of my right foot. It's annoying and it takes forever to go away so I decided the time had come to invest in new Nikes. 

On Hermione and mines last shopping trip I decided that I was going to go running shoe shopping. I went to bed the night before well researched from the Nike website and dreaming of that fantastic light springy feeling that comes with new Nikes. One I walked into the first sports store reality set in. I hate athletic shoe shopping. I always have, I totally forgot. I remember trip after trip to MC Sports with my dad in high school, and him desperately picking up shoe after shoe while I turned down each one. 

"Too tight"

"Too loose"

"This makes my feet look fat"

Many many reasons. Shoe shopping is hard. And I haven't the faintest idea of how to size my own foot and what it's supposed to feel like. 

And this is how I ended up with pink Nikes, size 7.5. I gave up, they were cute and the right price and specifically for running and so I gave up. Unfortunately, the more I tried them on the more I realized that I am not a 7.5, nor do I like pink shoes. And so, they were returned to Lady FootLocker last weekend and quite honestly I'm already regretting it. Maybe I should have just tried on a 7 and exchanged them instead of getting my money back... 

I hate athletic shoe shopping. 

Weird Things That Happen On Flickr

I am a huge fan of Flickr. I can spend hours on it and I can't tell you how excited I was when I finally decided a few of my own photos were worthy of making my own account. I get very excited whenever I log in and see how many people have viewed my pics and even more excited with the occasional comment. Today I logged in to a little surprise though... Someone had added me as a friend! That almost never happens- I excitedly clicked on their name and linked through to their pictures to find... Shoes. Pink shoes. A man in pink shoes and purple roller blades and baby blue nikes. Hmm... So I looked at his profile to get a little more info, sometimes I don't catch on to artsy things, maybe this was art? Nope, not art. He just liked to wear women's shoes.   He belonged to tons of groups about men wearing women's shoes and about men who love female bondage. Needless to say I blocked him immediately. 

Weird people on the internet... Weird people. 

Ironically enough I had just bought my own pink Nikes (and subsequently returned them yesterday...) and posted this pic on my Flickr, I can only guess that this is how that odd little man found me... 

Lesson learned. I don't know what lesson, but lesson definitely learned. 

Tulip Sprouts

Many people who know me think that winter is my favorite time of year. As soon as those flakes start falling I turn into the happiest of happy and start singing carols to absolutely everyone who will listen. And they're right, I do love winter. But spring is my time of year. If one day the president said that we had to vote on one season and that would be the only one that we could have I would totally rig that ballot and spring would win. There is just something about the way the breeze smells and feels on my finally bare arms. My whole body is relived to make it to spring. I love the noises, the weed wackers, the lawn mowers, the birds, the breezes, the rains. I love that I can hear what's going on in the parking lot below my window because it means the windows are open. When I'm at home during spring I spend every single day outside on the big swing on the back deck with Wicket and Boomer cuddled next to my legs and Jane Austen or Henry James (I'm forever trying to finish Portrait of a Lady) in my hands, the breeze hitting me and making me feel as though I'm really in that garden with Mr. Nightly and Emma. When I'm at school I'm often at a lose for what to do. There are so many things. If the sun was out I'd be outside taking pictures, but it's not. And if I was motivated I'd go for a jog, but I'm not. If I could focus I'd be reading a novel, but I can't. I'm absolutely filled with this restless energy and it peaks every time I feel the breeze float through my window and land on my cheek. Spring is always when I'm at my most creative as well, in fact this blog was born in spring. So instead of doing anything productive, I'm sitting on my bed, blogging and listening to spring. 

Stories of Europe... Crazy Long

I've decided that every time my brain randomly calls up a memory of my time in Europe I will post about it. This way, when it feels as though it never happened and so very much impossible to achieve again, I can look here and see that it happened once and that it can happen again. 

Now I want to give a brief description of our hotels, mostly because I have time to. 

Hotel 1 > Outside of Heidelberg > This was our first hotel, and thank goodness because it left our standards low for all of the following. It was very much of the 70s era and I remember distinctly that the bathroom was covered in dark olive green tile and was missing a blow dryer... I think one wall was orange and perhaps the other was a rather busy wallpaper? This was also my first rendezvous with a duvet cover. However, I at least knew what it was. I went to say good night to the BF on our first evening only to discover that the boys thought they were sleeping bags and had crawled inside of theirs. Now that was a fantastic moment... 

Hotel 2 > Munich > This hotel was oh so beautiful compared to the last. It had an elevator for one and a blow dryer! The bath tub was ginormous (and actually the only bathtub of the trip I think) and my lovably determined little Mac was able to steal wireless internet from the lobby at a distance impossible for a PC. These were good nights. Plus Munich was one of my absolute favorite cities : )

Hotel 3 > Vienna > This hotel sucked. We had just spent an hour lost in the red light district of Vienna so our impression of the city thus far had not been favorable. Eventually we found our restaurant and then were off to the hotel. I remember driving far outside of the city and suddenly there being a giant factory producing smoke from a thousand different orifices on our right, it was all lit up and looked a little like a city, like a skyline almost. It looked cool, but it didn't look like a place for a hotel... Eventually we found it, an airport hotel. The rooms were decorated with red and the sink was outside the bathroom kind of next to the TV. There was not a blow dryer. I remember thinking that the red board running along one wall acting as a headboard to the two beds was somewhat clever and decor savvy, before I realized it was unfinished plywood shellacked with red paint. When I went to the lobby to get a code for the wireless I had to wait for Peter to get the attention of the couple behind the desk sitting on each other's laps and canoodling because they wouldn't come help me. Figured their internet didn't work anyway...

Hotel 4 > Budapest > This is where we all learned that four stars in America is not equivalent to four stars in Hungary. This hotel was circular, which was weird, and the rooms were smaller than my dorm room. It was a nice hotel though, few complaints about it. There was some odd artwork on the walls though, it made me think of a doctor's office. Whenever I go see Dr. Shively I wonder why there are horses in this exam room and a cottage with flowers in the other or some such thing. I wonder who picks them, they seem to be chosen with abandon. Anyway. This is the hotel that we walked from to a bar in town on my second evening there. I remember worrying about losing my kidneys on the walk...

Hotel 5 > Prague > Prague was beautiful so it was only fitting that this hotel was quite splendid. It was very tall and in the thick of the city! This was where Luna and I got stuck in the elevator. We did no realize that there was a spot in the elevator where one was supposed to swipe one's key. If one doesn't swipe one's key the elevator goes to the floor you chose and hovers between it and the one below it. We were quite worried we were trapped for awhile but eventually we figured it out. This place had the best breakfast too, it was completely fantastic. Luna and I had our own room this time too which we felt was very cool. We took the opportunity to take out every single item we had bought thus far and lay them out on our beds so we could look at em. Our beds were totally covered. The BF knocked on the door at some point and I let him in but I remember Luna and I had very guilty looks on our faces, like we were little kids caught making a mess in our room, he just rolled his eyes, I don't think the things I do surprise him anymore : )

Hotel 6 > Berlin > This was the hostel. I hated the hostel. I hated it as soon as the proprietor sat us all down in the lobby and told us the house rules. House rules? Really? They weren't bad rules, but college kids don't like rules regardless. No blow dryer. Very nice and modern decorations, but it was about half the size of my dorm room with two bunk beds for the four of us. Not the ideal place to end our trip since we all needed to do a bit of repacking and reorganizing. That was quite the challenge. We literally couldn't all open our suitcases at the same time!

Spring Checklist

A few things must happen before I seriously  consider it spring. However, generally as soon I feel a little balm I start skipping and singing that spring is finally come...

1. It must feel like spring (smell, temperature, etc)

2. I must have a unique encounter with a robin

3. I must wake up to birds

4. I must fall asleep to crickets

1 and 3 have been completed...

Relax Max! Your nerves are just like jumping jacks max!

I want to wear this tomorrow. 

Today's weather was just way too perfect for me. I would choose this weather in August, in October, and in March. 60 to 70 is ideal for me and I cannot tell you how excited I am that the weather is supposed to stay that way for the weekend. I am so psyched for the BF and mine's first warm date!! J Pointe here we come!!

Quotes of the Night

Grey's Anatomy? Rerun.

Alternate plans? The Brewhouse for ladies night and free pizza. Don't get any ideas, we were all back in our dorm rooms by 10:15. Not exactly night owls...

Hannah, Hermione, and I set out at about 9:00 with determinedly empty tummies, each of us having had skipped dinner. Our tab for the night included:

3 pizzas

6 amaretto sours

1 large pepsi

Grand total? $6

Ladies night is the best night of the week. As the driver I indulged in 1 drink, 6 pieces of pizza, and 1 grande pepsi. Personal total? $1.

Quote of the night?

"Now Hermione, you've had three amaretto sours, that means you need to think three times before you text."

There were others but I forgot them, I should really keep a notepad with me at all times...

There's Something Unnatural About Me in a Chemistry Class...

On most occasions, I agree wholeheartedly on the benefits of going to a liberal arts school. What's the point of college if you don't leave with at least a little culture? However, this "wholehearted agreement" ends when it forces a history major into a chemistry class. 

This evening at 7:00 I will take my first chemistry test in four years. Wish me luck...

On a brighter note, I'm starting to feel spring. Last year, on April 3rd, I had an encounter with a robin. My theory is that each robin is assigned a person to whom he is to announce spring. I haven't met my robin yet this spring, but I did see my first robin of the year and that's got to count for something. 

Jason Mesnick Probably Caused Global Warming

I have spent a good portion of today cloistered in my room, and trust me, it's in everybody's best interest. Today is one of those days, one of those cranky, curl-up-in-the-fetal-position days. I'm inexplicably angry with the world. I suspect Jason Mesnick is behind it. 

-Pause of 2.5 hours-

The BF just left. I'm still cranky but much less so, and he has been removed from the list of inexplicable anger (although I don't recall there being a reason for him being on it in the first place...). 

I am excited that weather.com reports a full forty-four degrees for tomorrow, it is helping me ease out of the fetal position. Forty-four degrees is weather where one can wear flip flops and not incur odd looks. 

And so if I had the Forever 21 warehouse at my disposel, this would be my outfit of choice for tomorrow. It's not exactly fashionable, but it is springy and it's exactly the kind of clothes that I miss being able to wear! Although, 44 degrees is probably still too cold for this, but I don't care. 

Under Construction for a Bit...

Bare with me as I try and make a new header... Photoshop and I are just newly acquainted and we are trying to work it out.