winter break: day seven

i would like to take this seventh day of winter break to let everyone know how thankful i am for my family. because, really, no other group of people makes me laugh as much as they do. no one else makes me feel as comfortable in my own skin as they do. and no one supports me in everything that i do, like they have.


and let's face it--we do a lot of rad things together. like bake and cook dinners and take walks and eat candy and watch movies and stay up late and tell corny jokes and play apples to apples and try new restaurants and play cornhole in the backyard and go bowling. and well, the list just goes on and on and on....


so today, i am thankful. for being born into a hell of a family. for two parents that love me unconditionally. and for two brothers who are my very best friends. 


happy holidays everybody. tis the season.


  

On the 4th, 5th, and 6th day of winter break...

i...

went out to breakfast with some

old friends and some new friends at

one of the diners here in town. it felt 

really good to catch up with everyone over

my favorite meal of the day. and also

to laugh a whole whole lot about

tiny little things no one

else would understand.

made these tasty (and beautiful might

i add) graham cracker treats with my mom!

the recipe was super easy and all you need

are: graham crackers, chocolate to melt, and

crushed candy canes. i just think they're

so cute! and i'm pretty sure i've snacked

on one every day so far..whoops!

managed to work 21 and a half

hours at the theatre. it was a pretty

slow weekend for movies altogether, but

i actually really enjoyed my time spent there.

looking forward to a busier weekend with a 

lot of good movies coming out! maybe i'll

see some of you there? ;)

had some late night sheetz and a movie

(our idiot brother) with mike! we like

to bond over our similar taste in television 

shows, food, and movies. 

and that pretty much sums up my past

three days! just taking it easy, really :)

happy holidays!

xoxo

   

On the third day of winter break...

mom and i decorated the house for christmas!

we might be a little behind compared to the

rest of the neighborhood...but i'd say

that the place looks pretttyyyy 

classy ;)

celebrated the birthday of the best 

dad in the entiiiiire world! with

presents and cheese dogs and lots

and lots of golf balls!!

celebrated the return of miss carly

norman! oh how i have missed her this past

semester--it's so good to have her back :)

we even ended the night with one of our

traditional hot tub nights; woohoo!!

went to the central dauphin lady rams

game against mcdevitt--they kept the tradition 

alive and made me proud as they ran away with

the victory! they're looking pretty awesome 

this year and it was so much fun cheering on some

of the girls who were on the team with me and

others who i actually helped coach during the 

little lady rams camps!! (crazy, i know. i felt 

so old!!) if you're free tuesday night, you 

should definitely try and make it to their

game vs. trinity at 7:30 at cd and show

some support!! :)

On the second day of winter break...

i...

went shopping with my mom at the mall.

we ate lunch by the big christmas tree

and stalked the table full of old people.

we also bought old man socks and tons of

pittsburgh gear. and we laughed.

a lot.

made italian pretzels for my friends.

and bought cute christmas tins

to put them in. i'm excited

to see their faces when they

open them up. because no one loves

italian pretzels quite like

they do ;)

rode around in my little red

car with my not-so-little dog

in the passenger's seat. because, 

really, he's the best shopping buddy

i'll ever find...he doesn't ever

complain about the music i play...

or if i play a song twice in 

a row...and he gives

wonderful kisses!

ate lasagna with rach.

and her awesome mom and sister. 

and her wonderful boyfriend, virgil.

we were supposed to make it...then we got

sidetracked of course. so we just ate

it instead. and sat around the table

with her mom and sister and talked

about things like where PAM got

its name and what we want

to be when we grow up..

baked yummy brownies with rach and virgil.

okay--i kind of just watched. but still.

double chocolate brownies with

hershey's hugs and hershey's

dark/mint chocolate. ironic

because they both work within

the hershey company ;)

sat at the johnston's house

and talked with ash, her parents,

and steph. they will always feel

like a second set of parents 

to me.

photo cred: rachael miller and myself!

instagram app for iphone.

on the first day of winter break...

so. i'm home for winter break. and i've come to

realize that something i miss oh so very much while

away at school is a very simple thing: the kitchen.

not just being able to open a fridge and see an abundance

of food, but having the ability to cook. or bake. or both.

so. after being home since last evening, i

decided that i needed to take advantage of it all.

thank you so much to the rockstar diaries blog (and beth)

for this wonderful recipe for homemade

apple cinnamon granola!! two words: incredibly

delicious. or: incredibly easy. you take your

pick. 

rachael and i decided to tackle the recipe

this evening after spending a few hours

catching up with some friends over coffee.

we played our christmas music and sang

along and caught up on our end-of-semester

stories. it was a grand time indeed :)

and here are our masterpieces!

i really want to take advantage of

this nice little winter break of mine;

i want to see as many people as i can,

try as many new things as i can, and never

waste a minute! so far so good.

home is where the heart is.

  

some appreciation for da burgh...

My last week in Pittsburgh before I left for home, I came to realize that sometimes I don't take enough time to appreciate the wonderful little things about this city. The small things I overlook every day...like the beautiful view from my window each morning and night, the fact that I have so many of my best friends so close each day, or even just the fact that I have the luxury to call any of them up and meet for coffee or dinner. Or how about the fact that I live in one of the most beautiful cities EVER!? I mean seriously, how much luckier can I get? So, this past week, I really took the time to appreciate this wonderful place that I get to live in for these four crazy years of life. Here are a few other things I love about being here:

christmas in the cathedral; they decorate it

so beautifully here. christmas lights everywhere.

christmas trees at every door. and christmas presents

under every tree. not to mention, that they also keep the

fireplaces lit and the whole place smells like freshly burning

wood for the entire day...its wonderful. and by the number of

students you'll see sitting in the common room every day,

you can tell that everyone else appreciates it too :)

dark chocolate kisses at 2 in the morning

with my wonderful friends in the library.

probably the only great thing about finals week

is that everyone is going through it together...meaning

lots of late nights in the library studying. but mostly

just doing anything EXCEPT studying! we're college 

students...that's what we do!

getting to model as "lazy students" for

a friend's project and ordering the most

delicious thing you could find on the coldstone

menu! mmmmmm. enough said.

 having family in the area--this is something

that i definitely don't take advantage of enough...

this past weekend, my dad came to pick me up, and while

he was here, we celebrated my mimi's (and his!) birthday!

we ate at monteray bay at the top of mount washington, and 

had lots and lots of wonderful sea food. it was delicious.

and the view was absolutely outstanding. i couldn't stop looking

out the window...

and here is that wonderful view! i really

want to make it a goal of mine to visit mount

washington more once the weather gets nicer..it 

really puts into perspective how great this place is.

 trying new restaurants with friends! it

seems like the oakland area is just crawling

with new places to eat lately! and i think that

we're also just discovering a lot of new places--i 

love it! i love trying new places and new foods!

 birthday desserts--for dad and mimi :)

 having awesome spontaneous friends who seem

to be up for just about anything! and very 

generous friends at that! my friend mat took me and 

another friend, ryan, to De Lucas Diner in the Strip District this past Saturday on a whim! (and paid for the entire meal

might i add..what a gentleman!) It was even cooler because 

every saturday the strip district has a huuuge market with tons

of vendors selling yummy food or vintage-y clothes and

lots and lots of steelers gear. I ordered a nutella,

chocolate, and banana crepe. it was wonderful.

finding an apartment with kaylie!!!

it's official--we're going to be the proud 

new owners..er, renters..of a cute little apartment

in panther hollow next august! we're super excited

to move in and become roommates and do cool new-roommate

things! be on the lookout for a joint-blog that we'll

be creating, recounting all of our adventures, successes,

and failures of being on a whole new level of adult-ness...

we can't wait to keep you updated on our new adventure!

i also got to enjoy a nice ride home last night with my

dad. it was probably the fastest ride ever, but i had a

great time getting to bond with him :)

it feels good to be home for a few weeks

without any school work to think about!!

and on that note--finals went well and i think i've 

managed to pull all A's and B's this semester! yay!

good luck to all of my friends still in da burgh

studying away and taking tests; you can do it!

hang in there everybody!! 

time.

oh life has been busy lately...

it's that awkward two weeks between thanksgiving and christmas break and it seems as if students everywhere are fighting for tables in the library to cram for finals.

luckily for me, ive really enjoyed all of my classes this semester so studying hasn't been too hard. but otherwise; i've been writing essay after essay, and i've been loving it! and i just love my little table in the cathedral of learning--right next to all of the christmas trees! i do enjoy this time of the year :)

i've enjoyed lots of wonderful friend time this past week/weekend with endless lunch and dinner dates, ice cream outings, christmas parties, and study sessions but i'm definitely ready to spend some time at home.

so here's to wishing everyone a non-stressful finals week! and if you're not taking finals--then here's to wishing you a non-stressful holiday season!

safe travels everyone!