goodbye for now..

11-12-11

saying 'see ya later' to a rainy 

pittsburgh city today and

hello to my home, my

friends, and my

family.

  

i love this life.

holy crap blogging world, it's been quite a successful weekend if i do say so myself. probably one of the best weekends i've had here in a while. so i'll sum it up for you since i (and my wonderful, wonderful friends) took oh so many pictures this weekend! yay for friends who bring their cameras everywhere we go!

friday night i crossed off a big event on my bucket list: participating in my first-ever flashmob! Our pledge class had to organize a fellowship event in order to become initiated into APO, so we organized this totally badass flashmob dance! it took place in the towers lobby and it was a pretty big hit if i do say so myself ;)

afterwards, my truly amazing pledge class and i got officially initiated into APO. that's right...i'm now officially a brother! pretty cool huh? i'm excited for next semester already!

 my pledge class! i love each

and every one of them!!

 Steph & myself afterwards

 Me and Kaylie!

Me and Laur!

Saturday, we took advantage of the odd warm weather (definitely not complaining...it was absolutely gorgeous outside and i enjoyed every second of it and wish for more days like this in fact!!) and the holiday season and ventured downtown! we saw gingerbread houses made by some very talented individuals, beautiful christmas lights, and we heard some very uplifting christmas music sung/played by even more talented people! We also skated around the huuuuugely decorated christmas tree in PPG square and enjoyed a scrumptious dinner at The Diamond (seriously though, huge burgers. so so good). THEN we randomly ran into a thanksgiving/christmas parade! A hundred horses! Or rather, 99 horses and a donkey ;)

 myself. steph. kaylie. kelsey. lauren. maggie.

this picture is so typical ;)

It was a great day. We relaxed during the night and spent lots of time at Dawson, catching up and telling old stories and laughing the night away just like last year. i loved it so so much. really.

Sunday I showed some family-friends around campus and ate at the famous Primanti Bro's...oh how i love sandwiches with cole slaw and french fries on them!!! yum yum yummm! I did some homework and watched the AMA's and wanna hear something awesome? Well, i'm gonna tell you anyway ;)

So my all-time favorite band ever in the entire world is OneRepublic. I'm not exaggerating when i say that i haven't gone a single day without listening to them for the past year. no, i'm so serious right now. sooooo, when i heard that they were playing at the AMA's OF COURSE i was excited! but wait, it gets better. soooo, they sent out this request to their fans: to send in photos of their "Good Life" moment. They would select some photos to use in their AMA performance of their hit, "Good Life." I submitted two photos:

 the first of the trio: myself, ash, and steph;

infront of the big red door of the cathedral of

learning here at pitt from last year when they visited!

and the second: i like to call this one...

art and music..maybe? Here's your 15 minutes 

of fame mom! showing off your awesome sewing skills! ;)

SO ANYWAY! i sent in these two photos....

AND THEY PICKED THEM! THEY WERE USED IN THEIR AMA PERFORMANCE!!

i literally screamed my lungs out when i saw them on tv. i was so shocked and excited and in awe and well every other amazing emotion that you can feel in a moment like this. it feels so cool to be part of a performance of a band who's music has changed your life; a band who gets you through the ups and downs of every day. really.

you can see the crayon photo at 0:46 seconds behind the drummer (and again at the very end in the upper lefthand corner of the collage) and then you can see the picture of the three of us at 1:04! How cool is that??

Even cooler? Alex was there, sitting third row, and he saw them too!! Super jealous ;)

I finished Sunday up with some homework and got moving on a great Monday of class and friends and even got to spend some quality time with my aunt and my cousin leah. we went thrift store shopping (and laughed a lot might i add!) and had a rather delicious lunch at the cheesecake factory. mmmmm; food coma.

just hangin out with my little buddy...

I'd also like to add, that last thursday, market central treated the students of the pitt campus to our very own thanksgiving meal...and it was superb. yes, the power went out, and yes we did sit in the dark for a good two hours, but it was still awesome. it's the moments where i'm sitting with friends, talking and laughing about absolutely nothing, that i love the most about being here. 

speaking of delicious thanksgiving food...I CAN'T WAIT TO COME HOME TOMORROW!!! i'm excited to see my family and hug my dog and eat lots of food and sleep in my bed and drive a car and work at the movies and SEE movies and have sleepovers with friends and diner trips with my brothers and the list goes on and on and on...ohh the simple things. one more class tomorrow morning and then i've got a long four hour bus ride home and a nice five day break to look forward to!

so here's wishing everyone a blessed

 and happy thanksgiving holiday! :)

  

art appreciation

Last weekend Kaylie, Rebecca, and I took an adventure downtown to the Andy Warhol Museum! Rebecca was visiting Kaylie for the night and I had met her a few weeks prior on her last visit, so I was pretty excited to get to hang out with her again. The day was beautiful. Actually, apart from the last two days of rain, it's been absolutely gorgeous here in Pittsburgh. You would never guess that we're exactly at the halfway point of November if you were to walk outside. And the leaves are beautiful!! I love this time of year.

But anyway!...the day was absolutely beautiful, so we got off at a stop downtown and walked over the Andy Warhol Bridge (where this lovely picture above was taken actually) and made our way into the museum. And can I just bring to attention yet another awesome perk of being a Pitt student?: free museum admission! To almost all of the museums here in Pittsburgh actually! There's no photography allowed in the building, but we did manage to sneakily snap this picture in the 'silver cloud room' shhh!!

(it's really a lot cooler than this picture lets on I promise!)

The museum was amazing. And it was even cooler this time because they had an Alex Ross exhibit set up. He's this incredibly talented comic book artist who really redefined the art. If you're more interested, here's his official site: Alex Ross. I would definitely check it out...or if you find yourself in Pittsburgh in the next few weeks, then I really really realllyyy suggest that you check it out. Especially if you're into the Marvel comics and the Avengers and things like that... It reminded me a lot of seeing all those movies with my dad this past summer and other times in the past :)

What was also really cool was the fact that they had a ton of artwork that he had done from when he was like 4 years old! And 11 and 15 and so on...and these really cute action figures that he made out of construction paper. Talk about a talented kid...wow.

here's just a sample of his work.

image by google.

After getting kicked out at closing time (we still had one more floor to see!) we took advantage of the beautiful weather and walked around downtown...I can't wait for this weekend when they get all of the Christmas lights and decorations up. And the ice rink! Ahhhh so exciting. This time of year is just too perfect.

The week is going well; I'm keeping busy and staying productive. Trying to get as much work done now that I can so that I can fully relax during Thanksgiving Break. Talking to Mike and Jim yesterday on the phone has really gotten me excited to see them :)

So, I hope that you all are doing well! That the holiday season isn't stressing you out TOO MUCH just yet. And if it is, just take a second to breathe and realize that everything will work out; it always does :)

xox

  

image credit: Kaylie!

  

restless.

I'm feeling restless here in Pittsburgh.

I want to go on an adventure.

I'm currently revising a paper for

class about my road trip this past summer;

I think that has something to do with it.

Or maybe I'm just ready to go home

and stuff myself with turkey and mashed

potatoes and stuffing and cranberries with 

my wonderful family that I miss so much :)

  

happy.

November is turning out to be a really really great month so far. Not because of a ton of awesome big things that are happening...but because of the small things. The things that you think about right before you fall asleep and you smile, realizing that, "hey, that really just made my day."

So here are a few things that have really just made me happy lately. Things that have been making me realize just how good I've got it...

APO meetings: I always find myself looking forward to Wednesday nights. To the people: to the sense of belonging to a group of such amazing and driven people. To the laughing...so much laughing.

Random Thursday Activities: This past Thursday, Goop asked me to help him practice giving tours around campus. It was the perfect amount of cold outside and we had a great time. Just making jokes about stupid things and cool ways to remember facts. Not to mention that I learned so much about Pitt that I never knew before! So many more buildings than I thought...  And ending the day in the library.

Razzy: Because who doesn't enjoy frozen yogurt topped with fruit and colorful gummy worms??

Postcards from Hermosa Beach: The best way to start off a long mid-week Wednesday. 

Latenight 'Fuel and Fuddle' with Friends: One of my favorite little restaurants here in Oakland, Fuel and Fuddle has this great deal after 11pm: everything is 50% off. And let me tell you, their brick oven pizzas are THEE best. The 45 minute wait didn't even seem that bad because when you're with people who enjoy life as much as you do, there's never a bad moment.

Three Big Apple Pie and Vanilla Ice Cream Desserts: perfect for six people. so so good. 

Sleeping-In Without Setting An Alarm: one of those little moments that you just don't happen to come by very often anymore ;)

Movies at Dawson: those old movies that everyone (but me of course) has seen but you end up watching anyway. Laughing at all the wrong parts and picking up on every little detail that never made sense anyway. Laughing through all of the sentimental moments...

Saturday Morning Class and Pamela's Afterwards: Having an awesome teacher who looks and sounds eerily similar to Ray Romano; receiving extra credit for attending a super interesting lecture; and then enjoying some coffee with three of my favorite people here at Pitt.

Trips to South Side; The Good Will: Buying big comfy sweaters and basically picking out Daniela's entire wardrobe! Searching the racks and bonding over our hobby of bargain shopping with other people browsing as well...

The Countdown: 10 days til Thanksgiving Break! Home with the family. 

"my teacher asked me what i wanted to be when i grew up. i said happy. she said i didn't understand the question. i said she didn't understand life." 

a happy birthday weekend for my beautiful mother:

This past weekend I had the opportunity to go home to the burg to celebrate my beautiful mom's birthday with her; and I'm so so glad that I did. It was exactly what I needed and I found myself just wanting to stay a few days longer...maybe all the way through Thanksgiving! But...college calls. And teachers like to schedule lots of papers and exams right before (and after for that matter) any sort of break that we have.

But anyway!: it was a great little weekend home. I arrived on the megabus on Friday and my awesome dad picked me up. I spent lots of time with Trey (he was so excited the entire weekend!) and spent the entire weekend with my mom and dad. Friday night we actually went to the mansion where they have the Renaissance Fair every year. We watched the Edgar Allen Poe shows...and it.was.so.cool. All the people stayed in character the entire time and they were all extremely talented individuals. They put on three different stories for us, and it was a very different experience, but a very cool one at that. It sort of brought me back to the days of National History Day! ;)

Saturday I spent most of the day doing some birthday shopping for mom and I also took a trip to one of my favorite places in da burg: Salvo. I love browsing all the racks of clothes and shelves of knick-knacks...just seeing what I can find; the possibility of getting lucky! And I did! I found some awesome clothes there and I'm super excited to wear them!

I also baked a rather delicious (if I do say so myself) birthday cake for my mom! She asked for an angel food cake which I had never made before (super easy...don't let the strange contraption that you have to use fool you!) and told me to choose the topping. I chose cool whip, raspberries, and blackberries. YUMM! We went out to dinner in Hershey that night (again, more yummy food) and then came home to open presents, eat cake, and watch football and hockey. Before I knew it, I was the only one still awake! Mom, Dad, and Trey were all fast asleep on the couch...I guess everyone is just getting a little bit older ;)

Sunday I went to church with my mom and saw how much work they've gotten done on the new church: it's amazing! I feel like I didn't even go to school there for nine years. It's a little sad I guess, but that's all just a part of life...things change but you keep the memories forever :)  Mom and I spent the rest of the day shopping and then we ate lunch at the mall right next to the big Christmas tree...it's kind of a tradition of ours now that I love. 

The megabus was late. I got into Pitt two hours later than I was supposed to. But I had good company on the bus so it didn't bother me so much. I got some work done and enjoyed myself. It's nice when you're not in a rush.

This week has proved to be a rather long one. I think it's because I'm just looking forward to Thanksgiving Break so much...to be back with my family and my friends. I've got one school week down and one to go and lots of exams until I head back to the burg on the 22nd. Hopefully that just means the week will go faster ;)

And I'm looking forward to the ice rink being opened up in PPG next weekend! I'll definitely be making plans to head down there (hopefully more than once) and I'm also looking forward to spending the day with my aunts and cousin, Leah, for a day of thrift-store-shopping! One of my favorite past times! It's nice that they have included me in their pre-Thanksgiving tradition :) 

So I've got a good week and a half coming up I'd say and lots of cool things to look forward to. I've temporarily disabled my facebook! So that means more time for blogging and uhh...school work ;)  And lastlyyyy, I'd like to say that I hope all of my friends in Penn State are staying safe with all of these riots that have broken out around the campus. I don't support the violence, but I hope that you're all staying smart and staying out of it. 

Until next time!

incase you haven't heard...she's 

a "pro" at toilet-papering ;)

Halloweekend!

Happy belated Halloween from the best-lookin' college crayons out there! I know, I know...this post is suuuper late and I've been really lame on the blogging lately and my mom has been buuuuggggingggg me about updating it! So hopefully this holds you all over until later this week (hopefully monday!) when I can tell you allll about my wonderful weekend at home for my wonderful mother's birthday :)

 kaylie & i; let me just say that i am so so happy that

i'm becoming such good friends with kaylie this year;

she's an absolutely amazing person and i'm gonna

be so sad to see her go study abroad next semester!!

 steph & myself

 steph; myself; daniela; maggie

 kaylie!

the laurs :)

the 717 crew: steph, d, laur, & myself!

a big huuge thank you goes out to my extremely talented mom for making these awesome (and super duper warm) costumes for my friends and me! The warmth factor was especially nice considering that we had snow on halloween. crazy. i'd also just like to say that we were the hit of all the parties we went to! so many people asked for our pictures and complimented us on our creativity and how awesome we looked ;) a job well done. i think it's pretty safe to say that we'll be doing themed-costumes for the next two years to come for sure...

 kaylie, steph, & i on ESPN!

Heinz Field

ALSO: wednesday night was the football game! so steph, kaylie, and i decided to go (cus everyone else either had class or bailed...boooo!) and we ended up having the best time ever! The game supported helping fight depression amongst college students so we all waved bright green 'PITT CARES' towels throughout the game. It was also featured on ESPN and a couple people (mike included) saw the three of us dancin' away on tv!! Kaylie's mom was nice enough to send us the top picture: a still-shot of us on ESPN. How cool is that??

Other cool things that happened this week? I saw a flashmob at the Pete! performed by the pharmacy students! And I took another visit to the Children's Institute for another board game night. I also got lots and lots of work done and lots of good grades back so I guess that means all of my hard work is paying off!

I also spent the best weekend ever at home with my mom and dad; and that will be my next post ;)

HAPPY NOVEMBER!

TWO WEEKS UNTIL THANKSGIVING BREAK!

YAYYY!! :)