"Pittsburgh's Going to the Superbowl...."

Shout out to my mom for building the only Steelers snowman on the block!

(Daniela and I gave her the idea to make the nose from a spoon and to put bird seed in it)

Coolest.mom.ever.

Some Things That I'm Looking Forward To:

1. Getting my voice back!

2. The school week being overrrrr.

3. Getting picked up on friday by mike!

4. The girls' senior night game on friday (they are going to killlll it).

5. Dinner with the girls.

6. And then brunch!

7. Dinner Saturday night!

8. My mom and dad's Superbowl Party on Sunday (no doubt going to be awesome).

9. Late night sheetz run with mike!

10. Sleepover with the girls<3

11. Getting my homework done early so I don't have any this weekend (i can dream...)

12. Ashley, Steph, and Mike's birthdays! 

....its going to be a busy, but totally awesome, weekend home :)

So i feel like this week is going to be pretty lame. Just because the week after a great weekend is allllways lame. But I do have to say, it's really awesome living in the city that's home to the team going to the Superbowl. There is Steelers stuff...EVERYWHERE. And I mean everywhere. And the people? They don't just wear a steelers hat or a sweatshirt...they get compleeetely decked out. Hats, scarves, gloves, sweatshirts, jackets, shoe laces, terrible towels hanging from their belt loops...i'm willing to bet that they have steelers socks and underwear on too :P  But it's pretty awesome. Especially coming from a town that doesn't really have any professional teams. I won't be here for the weekend to see all the (hopefully) celebrating..but i hear it gets pretttyyyy crazy!! 

Who else is going to go crazy? Definitely my mom...I think she's becoming the biggest Steelers fan that i know :P  She even tried to get Trey into the spirit...I don't know if he was actually thrilled about it or not, but I'm sure he put on a smile for her...after all, she gives him the treats ;)

Hopefully I remember to take a billion pictures of my weekend!

Have a good week everybody!

   

"Double Doors!...Dumbledore!??"

We Love Pitt! (can you tell?)

Daniela. Myself. Kimmy.

I seriously don’t think that I could have asked for a better weekend. I’m serious! After being extremely close to death (okay, that’s an exaggeration), but after being extremely sick last week I am feeling much much better and this weekend just made things that much better. So to recap my life lately (yes, I do realize that this would probably be 10x easier to do if I just kept up with my blog everyday but you have to remember that I have turned into an extremely lazy person. Or maybe the thought just didn’t occur to me until now…) I figure that I’ll go through day by day. Starting wiiiiiiith…

Tuesday:

I think Tuesday is officially my “alone day.” I mean, I didn’t deem it “alone day” on purpose…cus I’ll admit, that sounds pretty damn depressing.  It just kind of worked out that way. I mean, I guess everyone just has lotsss of classes on Tuesdays and all at different times. But I sort of enjoy it. I wake up and go to my intro to film class for two hours, grab some brunch, and then take a nap! And then I just do some homework for the rest of the day. But anyway, back to my point. I went to Starbucks, because, let’s face it, I’m a coffee addict, and I brought some homework with me and sat in one of those awkwardly comfortable big chairs. (You know, the kind you look at and think: there’s no way that’s comfortable. But then it just…pleasantly surprises you!) So I was sitting there doing some homework (the place is paaacked by the way) and this little old man walks in. Im talking really old here. With one of those old-fashioned newsie hats on. And a big puffy coat. So he sits down on this bench with a little bag of chips. And I swear, he tried to open this bag of chips for seven straight minutes. Getting all flustered and moving to the edge of his seat and his hands were shaking and everything. And the entire time I was watching him I was tryyyying to decide if I should offer some help! But you never know with old people. pardon me…”older gentlemen” as gram would say ;)  So when I fiiiinally decided that I should help this guy…he gets the bag open! And seriously, the look on that man’s face was priceless. Happiest look I had seen all day. Just so relieved but triumphant at the same time. And then when he ate his first chip…man, the world was his.

So now that you’re probably thinking I’m extremely creepy for watching this old man for so long, I guess I should explain it all. For my creative writing class I have to write a piece in the voice of someone else. And I’m supposed to be challenging myself with things I’ve never done before. So after I snapped out of watching this whole thing happen…it hit me! I am going to write my creative writing piece as if I were this old man. Struggling to open a small bag of chips. And the feeling of finally doing it.   I think it should be fun at least. Or maybe I’m just weird…

Myself. Maggie. Kimmy.

Wednesday:

I gave my music in Africa presentation and KILLLLLED IT. Yeah buddy! Went to Astronomy, where the classroom was, once again, about 100 degrees. And then a whole big group of us went to the Union to see the comedian: Loni Love. She’s on Comedy Central a lot and is featured on Chelsea Lately a lot. And she was…hilarious. Soooooo funny! And we sat front row too! Couldn’t have asked for a better time, really.

twiiiiiiins!

Thursday:

Classes. Starbucks date with Daniela. Jersey Shore Party. Dance party in the hallway. Worked out at the gym at midnight (Daniela and I have been motivating each other to go everyday…we’ve been so good :D ). And then came back to this little surprise….

 Thank you!...Zoe. Kimmy. Amy. and Caroline!!!!! Our floor started this new recycling thing, so they thought it would be funny to barricade our door while we were working out! And okay...I'll admit, it was actually really funny :P.  We spent the rest of the night hanging out in the hallway talking about school and home and how our lives should be made into a reality show...

Friday:

We went to the movies!! It was a girls night :) So first Daniela, Kimmy, Kim, Maggie, and I went to Market to have dinner together and then we ventured over to the Waterfront to see No Strings Attached. I, personally, recommend it. It was pretty adorable. We then waited outside in the snowwww for the bus to arrive. So, naturally, we thought it was the perfect opportunity to take some pictures. We're girls. It happens. 

Daniela. Myself. Kim. Kimmy.

Maggie and meeee :)

 Outside the Waterfront.

Saturday:

Basically spent the day just hanging out. I know it probably doesn't sound like much...or at least doesn't sound very exciting, but I don't know. It was just, fun. It seemed like everyone stayed at school this weekend, when normally a couple people from our floor are usually gone, and it was just...really apparent that everyone was here. We had our door open allll weekend long and the girls were just in and out all day every day. It was pretty cool. We just had lots of random conversations and sooo much laughing and random lunch and dinner dates. It was cool. Saturday niiight though, we ventured over to Lothrop  (where Maggie and Amy live) to hang out with all of our friends (lots of new friends made too!) to hang out. And it eventually just turned into one big dance party :)  Definitely adding this night to one of my favorites here at Pitt. Love these people. Every single one of them.

Dance Party!

 Myself. Caroline (sooo great to have her here 

this weekend) and Amy!

 Some new friends we met this weekend!

Ben and Amy.

Maggie. Kevin. and Myself.

(Proof of our new-found best friendship)

Amy. Ruben. and Myself.

I'm being completely serious when I say this:

probably two of the most positive people I have

ever ever everrrrr met. So great.

Sunday:

I officially deem Sundays as: Lazy Sundays. If you do something incredibly productive on Sunday...something is just wrong with you. I'm sorry. Those are just the rules of Pitt. But anyway, we woke up and went to breakfast at Market (looove breakfast!) with Caroline and Alyssa and ended up running into Goop and Ruben so we stayed even longer and talked to them. Then we came back to the room and just worked on some homework (this doesn't break the "lazy sunday" rule strictly due to the fact that, yes we may do homework, but we are not working diligently on it). And once again we just had a billionnnn and one people come in our room to talk. Sadly, Amy's loyal (and my best friend, considering I pet-sat him for a weekend) pet fish, James, died today :( It was a sad moment. But I think she'll get through ;)  D, Kimmy, and I went to church together and then met up with everyone once again for a splendid dinner and conversation at Market. What a way to end the night. And a perfect weekend.

Some more pictures from the weekend...

D curled my hair with her "magic wand" 

curling iron...i loooved it! I may have to

invest in on...

Myself. Maggie. and Kimmy.

These two make me laugh. Nonstop. 

I am really really blessed to have such beautiful and amazing friends. All of them. They're all incredibly unique and hilarious. They make me laugh every single day of every single week, and I really think that it doesn't get any better than that. I know we were just joking around about it, but I really think we would be an awesome reality show. Or maybe not...just because there's no drama and we're all way too nice :P but still...it'd be pretty cool! But really, I just can't get over how lucky I got with the people I live around and the people I met just that first week of school. I know a lot of the events during the first week of freshman year are (seriously) extremely corny, but if I had to give advice to anyone going into college, it would be to go to those events anyway. Cus even though it's awkward and (sometimes) boring and you probably think you're "too cool" to go...you have to remember that everyone else is in the same exact position that you're in. And that the people you meet there could really turn out to be some of your best friends...

Daniela. Kimmy. Myself. Kim. Maggie.

And one last note (because I know this post is getting to be ridiculously long):

Holland 3rd Floor won the Smoothie Competition! Basically meaning, we're all fatties who love ice cream and eat it way too much! Hahaha kiddinggg of course! It just means that we beat all of the other freshman floors on campus in buying the most smoothies/ice cream/milkshakes/etc. Soooo what does that mean? Well first of all, it means that we get this snazzy trophy!:

and secondly, it means that, on Tuesday night, the ice cream place is coming TO US (thats right, we don't even have to get out of our PJ's) for a smoothie/milkshake party!! Wooooo!!! Doesn't get much better than that...

Sleep Sleep!

Where did the mamma chicken put her baby chicks once they got home from a long day?

               - to "sleep sleep!"

                (dedicated to none other than my awesome dad)

I think I'm switching around my entire sleep schedule...

Instead of going to sleep at, let's say 3am,

I've been going at 11:30!

And I've been waking up entirely on my own, without the aid of an alarm clock, before 11am!

I'm loving it!

Furthermore,

I've been having the deepest sleeps everrrr

(you can even ask lauren and d).

And the result?

the weirdest dreams of my life.

I should start keeping a dream journal or something,

this stuff could be made into movies.

Maybe some really weird kind of movies tho...

like Tim Burton stuff.

Sounds good.

In other news:

1. SO MUCH OF THIS GROSS SNOW/RAIN STUFF HERE IN THE BURGH!

2. I gave a successful "music in africa" presentation today.

3. I've had so many random breakfasts and dinners with friends :)

4. I'm seeing a comedian tonight!

5. I am feeling almost completely better :)

  

Catching up...after catching the flu???

So here are some pictures from my weekend at Penn State! I apologize for them being so late, I got suuuuper sick during the week and it continued on through the weekend, but now I am back in action :) But anyway, I had an amazing time at Penn State and I cannot wait to go back, whenever that will be! My friends and I did lotsssss of exciting things, including, but definitely not limited to:

 hanging out in the freezing cold with ash

 enjoying the BEST panini i have EVER had 

(peanut butter, nutella, and banana) with rach & ash!

 being reunited with the lovely steph barrick

 waiting out in the cold for 

Penn State buses

 enjoying some awesomeee chinese food

at this cute little restaurant

 enjoying a surprise visit from hunter!

 combining friends from Pitt, Harrisburg, and Penn State!

 lookin like complete BOSS'S.

 enjoying more good food.

and a "grudge-like" child sitting next to us (creepy)

 meeting the birthday girl and becoming VIP's 

to her birthday party!

 late night food at mcdonaldsssss

 ...and more late night food at mcdonalds...

 venturing out in the cold with Goop and Ruben!

 creating new friendships among the guys :)

 sleeping on old, next to the road, mattresses

(really, i don't recommend this)

 swinging on random swings

hanging from random trees

 snapping lots of completely random, and

totally blinding pictures from numerous

disposable cameras.

 exploring with the birthday girl, gabby!

 and once again, creating more new friendships...

 exploring the endless hallways of PSU dorm life..

 spending time with some of rach's best friends :)

 being sung to by Jeff and Deli!

 spending time finally in the warm :)

and a megabus trip with two of the best

travel buddies ever :)

Seriously, the weekend could not have gotten any better. But now that I am back in Pitt....and healthy once again...I am definitely glad to be back.  I'm enjoying my classes and I'm enjoying the time that I get to spend with my friends even more! Hopefully this weekend to come brings some more exciting stories :)

But in the meantime, some of the things that have made my day since being back at school:

1. Wednesday lunches with, seriously, all of our friends.

2. Taking a trip to Target with Lauren Lacey!

3. Watching our basketball team do WORK!

4. Watching the Steelers kill it, while feelings the Pittsburgh Pride.

5. Receiving a package from my mom with lots and lots of Valentines decorations.

and definitely more to come!

Can't Stop!

Just a few clips from three of my favorite places: Pitt, Penn State, and Harrisburg.

With all of my favorite people :)

Varying from Thanksgiving Break til yesterday...

Adventures from my time in The Happy Valley to come!!

Enjoy!

See You on Sunday Pittsburgh!

I cannot believe that it's already been two weeks since we've been back at Pittsburgh. The time has seriously flownnn. It's really great too because I absolutely love my classes this semester, especially my creative writing class. The people in there are seriously just hilarious. And everyone writes SO well! From really serious poems to insanely sarcastic pieces...about corduroy. I think I laugh more in that 2.5 hours of class than I do all Thursday long. And then I come back to the room for Jersey Shore Party Night...could my week end any better? It's going to be a great last semester to my freshman year :)

But other than that...I am officially leaving for Penn State in 35 minutes! I am SO PUMPED! I'm even riding the megabus with Goop and Ruben. They're meeting their friends there and I'm meeting all of mine. And my awesome cousin, Leah! I'll be sure to take LOTS of pictures and fill everyone in on all of our crazy adventures. Cus, let's face it, something crazy allllwayssss happens when I'm with Ash, Rach, and Steph. Welp, I gotta get going! I'll be back on Sunday!

My last visit to Penn State with Ash and Rach :)

Have a wonderful weekend everybody!!

Our First Weekend Back in the Burgh!

I AM BACK IN PITTSBURGH AND LOVING IT!!!

It hasn't even been a week since we've been back from Winter Break, but I don't think I can even put into words how much I've missed my friends here...SOOOOO MUCH! And I'd say we've definitely taken advantage of being back and being together. We started class on Wednesday, and since I only have classes Tuesday through Thursday, that meant only two days of classes for meeee! So I'll sum them up for you.

Bennett. Myself. Suds. Katie!!!

Surprise visit to my room!!

African Music:

 I have this class with Lauren. And our teacher is straaaightttt from Africa. Only, he's the bomb. Seriously, he's awesome. He told us that this is a class where EVERYONE will get involved. It was our first day and we were already clapping out beats and listening to him sing African music. We have it once a week...which I appreciate since its kind of a trek to get there. And having a class with laur is great..we just sit back and laugh at all the funny things that happen. And since our teacher has such a thick accent, it really makes me have to pay close attention to what he says, which really..is a very good thing!

Astronomy:

I have thiiiiis class with D! Ironic that the two classes I have on Wednesday are both with one of my roommates? I'd say its pretty awesome. It's a long class. But again, once a week. And we talked to this boy in front of us who had him before who said this about the teacher: "he's not TOO hard..just boring." But having a boring teacher and having a boring teacher with one of your best friends is a totally different scenario. I'm not too worried about it. I mean, I'm not a huge science fan to begin with...but astronomy is some pretty interesting stuff in the long run!

Intro to Film:

Twice a week. 9am til 11am. 9am = struggle. But, you know what? I think that I'm realllly going to enjoy this class. We spend about half an hour a day discussing articles that we've been assigned to read. And then the remainder of the class is watching a film. We write a paper every week...which I really don't mind at all. I really actually enjoy writing once I get started on it. And I love love loooove watching movies! So, really, this class is pretty much perfect for me. 

Creative Writing:

Once a week. I think this class surprised me the most. My actual teacher won't be here for all of the beginning classes, which I find to be kind of weird..maybe not so much of a good thing...but ohwell.  I loved the first class! We were given a list of 15 words and we had to pick 12 of them and write about a place that has changed our life. Some of the stories that kids were telling..it was some crazy stuff. I think I liked this class the most though because I did get to know people. We played a name game and everyone hadddd to read their piece out loud. It was all very hands on and open and I just really enjoyed it to put it simply. I mean..it's what I like to do the most. I'm pretty pumped to see what the rest of the semester has in store.

English Composition:

No idea yet. First class starts Tuesday night! Wish me luck...this should be my hardest class :/

 Skating at the PPG downtown!

Amy and Myself alll bundled up (so many

 layers!) and ready to face the cold!

So other than classes, it's been the weekend!! And to start it off awesomely...my friend Suds showed up from back at home!! He surprised one of his friends here (I even got to be part of the surprise!) and stopped in on Thursday (while I was in the dead of sleep of a nap I might add) to say hello!! What a way to start off my weekend :) Friday a huuuuge group of us met up and caught a bus to the Waterfront to see Black Swan. What.a.crazy.movie. Crazy...but good. It kind of messed with your head. But there were a bunch of us who went...we all got in with no problems this time! And we had a great time. Then we came back to campus, all had dinner together at Market, and hung out for the rest of the night. Saturday we slept in and had lunch and then Laur, D, Kimmy, Amy, and I went downtown to ice skate at the PPG! It was BEAUTIFUL!! Cold, but beautiful! They turn the fountain into a rink and you pay 10 bucks for as long as you want to skate. And Lauren was the only one who fell!! They have Christmas lights up everyyyywhere and in the center is a HUGE Christmas tree all decorated, and they play music, and there's horse-drawn carriages all around, and blinking lights, and everyone is just in the best mood of their lives I feel like.  It's pretty awesome. We skated for about an hour..until we couldn't feel our feet...and then we sat in Starbucks to warm up with some coffee and lots of stories. It was really a good time. We called it "floor bonding." Then we stayed in and watched The Town (another great movie!) It's so nice to have different groups of friends who like to do different things. And Suuuunday, Laur, D, and I got lunch, met Ruben and Goop at the library to work on some homework, and then the three of us met up with Kimmy and Maggie and we all went to church together. It was a really good way to end such a busy, fun, awesome weekend. For them at least...no monday classes for meeee!!! I'll be meeting with my advisor to work things out about my major and then I'll be reading for my African Music class and revising an essay which I have JUST finished....feels good to have such a long weekend and an extra day to finish up homework..and (hopefully) do laundry!!!

 Lauren. Myself. Amy. Daniela. Kimmy.

Downtown!

Myself. Daniela. Kimmy. And Amy.

Infront of the big Christmas tree on the ice!

Wishing everyone a happy week!