Sunday, December 28, 2014

And so it goes...

Murder Mystery @Bube's Brewery
Do NOT touch things you aren't supposed to...whoops

Just like that, the end of an era has crept up. No longer am I a student at XYZ.
Life, man.


It's been a good run, though. Interview in, much fun had in the past 3 1/2 years. Not too much complaining, except that I never did run through the fountain as was on my XYZ student bucket list! I did, however, make a hike over to see the Blue Lagoon, followed by Big Hero 6 at the new revamped cinema that features plush, leather recliners as seats and relatively inexpensive prices!


I have a job. That's scary bananas. I interviewed at two places, but having found out the first was commission-based, eh....no, thank you, good day. The second replied after 3 hours and just like that, I was employed the week after graduating.

The last of the purple locks...
I feel in limbo, however. I technically graduated December 20 and my diploma shall be coming in the mail in a few weeks, yet I have not walked yet, as XYZ only has one ceremony - in the spring. No matter, no matter... I'm walking for my friends and family, and so my Mummy can have pictures to remember this day.


No more Latin, Italian, Spanish, or Global Politics homework....no more handbells practice. First and Last Christmas at the Valley concert. I'm an old Magna Cum Laude fart.


Onto a new chapter...as a brunette this time.

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Ketchup Catch-up Sunday

The last post was a quick overview of the past year...it's cliché, but it's honestly been one hell of a year.

Looking through old posts, I realized how rather vague and almost alarmingly how cheerful it sounded, almost to the point of ditzy with this overly emphasized sense of disingenuous happiness. Yes, I am content and happy, yet feel I have much to improve (that's healthy to want to improve), but although I wrote what was on my mind, looking back, it does not seem so sincere and I feel this has been a disservice to the few readers who may come across this, particularly my older self.



I'm making a conscious effort to not try to be someone I'm not. Life's too short to always play pretend to the public, albeit I do love costumes and such. On my first morning run in weeks, I was thinking of this little blog and how I've taken a vow to myself to change what I do not like about my life (within my power, of course), beginning with getting my lazy (in a physical sense) butt back into shape.

Words...so many words locked up inside, all vying for a chance to escape their hidey-holes and be heard, be proverbially shouted from the viral rooftops, no longer satisfied with merely being thought and forced to hide.

Slowly, but surely, the collection grows...
More are collecting dust at my parents' house. 

I plan on doing an almost reverse-like blog in order to catch up on the wonderful trips I had mentioned in my last posts. Those stories deserve to be shared and I feel my silly self, too focused on writing simplistically, did not nearly do them justice. However, I feel my personal journal has been written more eloquently (and sometimes not so eloquently) about my experiences and wish to share excerpts, raw feelings of what I was going through at that time.

Is this not why we keep personal records of feelings?

For now, here is an adorable Shih Tzu strutting around in a Teddy bear costume, which, in my opinion, makes him look like a formidable Ewok.

Thursday, November 6, 2014

I'm Feeling 22

It's been some time...

I've seen the world (a total of 10% according to Trip Advisor) and yet I've only begun to etch at the surface of the world, stomping down on such an insignificant amount of land in the scheme of things.


I traversed to Paris, alone, full of joy and the utmost lustiness of the vivacious hunger which one may find difficult to understand but for those most stricken with the wanderlust fever. That was how I spent my 21st birthday. Waking up to four men in my hostel that morning was quite the experience...


I was in four countries in roughly 15 hours...Leaving London behind in the morning to see the White Cliffs of Dover before taking the ferry to Calais, France...through Belgium...onto Amsterdam in the Netherlands, taking in sights, giggling and suddenly being transported back to those shy middle school days when friends and I walked among the Red Light District. It was as though the antiquated taboo of females and sex was on my mind; I felt shy for once in a great while.



I saw Bath, Oxford, Edinburgh, the Highlands, Edam, Volendam, Greenwich, Versailles, Wimbledon, and trudged all around London, taking in the sights, falling so miserably in love with the city...until that day arrived. I had to return and devastation took hold. Lovely picked me up and I cried at the sight of him...my former sweetheart picked me up and it was like I had never left, yet I was not who I was.


15lbs heavier from the food (nachos and haggis, mate), delicious beers and ciders, chocolate, and the sorrow of leaving the place which felt like home. One day...I shall return...

Days before returning to university, I was in a wreck which totaled my car and scarred me with a reminder of how sudden death may come. True, my initial thoughts were: Mum is going to kill me. The next thing to cross my mind was: I am going to die.


10 months later (and almost 20lbs lighter than when I left the country)....Lovely and I are no longer together, but remain friends. I've now been to Canada to see Niagara Falls; Winterthur, Gettysburg, Harper's Ferry; several battlefields, a tour through the New England states (16 total states visited and on my way to seeing all 48 continental by the time I'm 30); and met so many wonderful people.


My hair has gone from red to fading red to blonde to purple. I'm ready for the next adventure in life. Less than 5 weeks before graduation.


Hobey Ho, let's go.

Sunday, November 2, 2014

It's my party & I'll cry if I want to

Luckily, no tears had no sad tears shed.




I kickstarted my birthday with a concert to see the beautiful and talented Christina Perri!! Having bought the tickets months ago, I was very much looking forward to this evening. Some girls buy themselves flowers, chocolates, a trip to the spa...this big girl bought herself a ticket to see some singing babes and a nice beer along with it.




In the lineup was MKTO and Bea Miller. Demi Lovato closed the show. It was okay. Demi rocked and we were total twinsies with our colored hair, but Christina stole the show.




I have decided to begin learning Swedish do to this hunky Swedish native, but it has proven quite difficult. With no more True Blood, where shall I get my vampire fix?? Obviously Twilight won't do for these sophisticated raging hormones (ha!). In all seriousness, I would love to speak Swedish to read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in its original tongue and visit the beautiful country.




I rang in my birthday at midnight by watching True Blood. No regrets. The opening song along is enough to entice me.


Calories don't count on one's birthday

Halloween is my favorite holiday, along with any at incorporate a lot of food. Tree and I went as Katy Perry and Kitty Perry. Katy and Russell Brand broke it off quite some time ago, so that would be awkward to go as the duo....and also Lovely and I had done that couple's costume when I was 18 - almost symbolic, no?



I may also be partial to Halloween as it is near my birthday. Trick-or-Treat baby for the win! Good night spent with some good people ^_^



Last semester of undergraduate studies going fairly well. A few hiccups, but that's life. One needs a little rain to make a rainbow.


Happy reunion with Jules at her Renaissance Faire gig!

Last activities fair for last ValleyFest year
Things are changing, as life goes, but we're all going to be A-o-freakin-kay.

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Summertime Sadness and Many Shattered Glasses

Summer passed fairly quickly despite the full-time and working part-time.
Paid summer internships are a gift from the career heavens.



Tree had many gigs and I many banquets to serve, fake smiles to crack at lushes and their idiotic jokes. Sirs, I know funny and that is something you are not...money cannot buy wit.



A stolen purse incident at what had been a most wonderful night... Silly banters and inappropriate advances from a colleague during a night of after-shift drinks. The mundane and extraordinary combining to make another interesting summer - never a dull moment. This whole "adult" thing is a slow process...



I made it home for the good ol' county fair and saw friends I had not seen in a while, as well as made a few new acquaintances.



Summer has been a transitional time for the past two years - a full-time internship + a part-time job and balancing the social life most young adults in their early 20's crave. I don't feel like a "real" adult just yet. What is a real adult? For starters, they have their own health insurance...



This past year has certainly been one of change. I'm 20lbs lighter than when I came home from London, no small accomplishment. It's not just the physical that has changed, though...mentally, psychologically, emotionally...I'm not that frightened little girl. I know what I want, even if I've been the only thing holding me back at times.
As Lovely told me, "It's going to be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end.



My senior year is going to be a calendar year, and not the typical fiscal school year, the fiscal part coming from loans and tuition. I have a single room waiting for me for my last few months as an undergraduate and it's exciting and scary at the same time. I'm ready to face the crazy, the only crazy I'll be putting up with being my hair.



Je suis une blonde maintenant.



Monday, July 21, 2014

History Buffs can be both impressive and annoying

My Fajer has bestowed upon me his love of history and its significance on the world, with particular interest in the Civil War and World War II. Coming from a partial military background, this comes as no surprise. My Granddad was one of the few to survive from the 32nd Airborne, my uncle went to Vietnam, and my Fajer went all over Europe as a surveyor with special knowledge that kept him from going into Berlin, a place we hope to visit together within the next two years. My Gramps served during WWII as well.


Genealogy has always been quite fascinating...do you know from whence you came? The tales of those who braved the ship to come to this crazy land?


Harper's Ferry was the first stop - and such a beautiful day for it. I was not quite sure what to expect, but it was just a field. That is what I came to...I'm not sure why I expected some grandiose display, but in looking back, I'm glad there was not. I've heard of places that lose their historical significance when combined with people trying to get a profit from it. Leave the spirits free to roam their land.

I'm sorry, that's not a ghost, but a blog on my iPhone 5's camera
Traveling off the beaten path, I found
a lovely place to journal down yonder
A brief pitstop for a restroom [HURRAY for America's free public toilets!] revealed a few more gems. Passings of Civil War brigades, where quarrels and squatters' quarters were had.




The Antietam Battlefields were vast. Naturally, there was a visitor's center and of course, one is supposed to pay to visit the battlefields. I may have perhaps overlooked this and scampered off, intimidated by tourists as I am...


Again, not ghosts...camera.
I also attempted to find the house from the Blair Witch Project movie, but alas, a local told me it does not actually exist...ugh. I did find a Topless Maid service in Towson, Maryland, though.




The Winterthur Museum in Winterthur, Delaware was hosting a special Downton Abbey Exhibit. Being a fan of the show, I knew I simply had to see it with my own eyes and appreciate the delicate work that went into each and every costume. So intricately researched, designed, and assembled...a few of my favorite pieces:





I don't want these adventures to end... It just goes to show one of all the things to explore, even closeby. Despite my longing for Europe, I'm content with exploring what these parts still have to offer.