VEGAS.

Of course the first time I go to VEGAS would be 3 weeks before my 21st. Regardless, it was a blast! Our whole sorority made the 5hr trek out there for formal last weekend and it was nothing but funnnn:) Well minus some technical difficulties on Friday night...haa.

We camped Friday at a camp site in Lake Mead (1/2hr from the strip) and then Saturday stayed at CEASAR'S PALACE. Friday was a little bumpy... we got a little lost trying to find the entrance to the camp site. We couldn't use Navi (my usual life saver) because we didn't have an exact address for the site SOOO we ended up driving in circles and all became so punchy it was kind of ridiculous... Jordan and I carpooled with Jackie and Bret (and left Redlands a little later than planned...boys + McDonalds = time crunch) so we ended up not getting there until 845pm. Sunset was a 7pm. And it was windy. So, needless to say, we set up the tent in very dark and windy conditions, with cell phone lights and a headlamp to help us to see what we were doing/where we were. After we set up Jackie and Bret's tent, aka 40min later... we were not in great spirits to repeat the maddening process. So instead, Jordan and I opted to sleep in my car. I never knew you could push back the seats and lay horizontally in my trunk (learn something new every day...) And we were all so starving at this point, if we made the boys wait any longer to go and get food I think they would have just walked back to Redlands from Nevada. Actually I'm pretty sure of it... OH and all the food I brought for dinner could not be cooked because since we got there so late, the fire was about to die and there was no more charcoal for the BBQ's. Mom and I bought yummy mexican at Trader Joe's for dinner so I was annoyed it wasn't going to get eaten.

SO we all piled back in the car in search of fast food. Jackie and I decided upon Jack in the Box... low point for sureee. And the boys wanted to go to the grocery store since they already had McDonalds earlier. So while the boys ran into the store to get food Jackie and I ate our healthy Jack in the Box in the parking lot, food has never tasted so good.

The boys show up 15+ minutes later with two plastic bags; two boxes of cereal and one gallon of milk. I think you can guess what happened. The meal quickly turned into "THE CEREAL BOX CHALLENGE" and both completely finished a box of cereal each.... eating out of red cups.

Jackie and I were equally horrified. Bret was close to spewing LIFE all over the interior of my car. That will be the last CBC (Cereal Box Challenge) I will be holding in my car.

SO Friday night marked the first night I've ever slept in my car. We made it cozy with beach towels, a sleeping bag, sweatshirts, and one pillow (the one I brought...) But against all odds it was pretty cozy if I do say so myself...

Saturday morning we woke up to what I thought was yet another earth quake... but no, it was only Bret shaking the car, letting us know he was awake. It was 7:35am. Thanks, Bret.

After everything was packed up, we hit the Southwest Diner for some breaky. Hilary came to din with us as well. We were all needing some sunshine, the pool, a real bed, and drinks quickly. But the little diner was cute and a nice place to stop.

After some much needed nourishment, we were off to the strip! Ceaser's Palace was incredible, it looked just like the movies!! We couldn't check into our room until later so we took advantage of the pool and laid out, got some yummy drinks, and soaked up the sun. Afterwards, we checked in and started getting ready for the night. We realized around 3pm that we hadn't eaten since 830am so the boys decided we should make use of the carne asada we didn't use last night... I said we don't have any means of cooking it.... They started looking around the room... I said whatever you're thinking, NO.... They grabbed the cooler and the iron (the iron you use to iron clothes...) and they were in the bathroom before I could say more. Once the room started smelling of delicious Mexican food I had to bring my camera in to do some investigating. This is what I found...

So Friday's Dinner turned into Saturday's late-lunch. They did get a few laughs out of us girls and the pictures are pretty priceless...

Saturday night was dinner, drinking, & dancing in the suite Delta rented out for the night... the view was incredible, the music was good, and the atmosphere was perfect. Afterwards we walked the strip... so cool!! :)

oohhhh vegassss...

it's really hard to take a serious picture with him because all he does is make me laugh...

That's my Vegas saga... it was one for the books!

Productive morning: Check!

Well, after an exhausting 24+ hours that I thought would never end... my baby (finally..!) WENT ACTIVE!!

She's not a baby anymore but she's my forever little and I love her!♥ She worked so hard these past 6 weeks and it all paid off. Congrats Molly!!!

Last night we went to dinner with Abbie's parents, they were in town from St. Louis. Holly, Hilary, LJ and I made their usual party of three into a party of seven and it was a blast :) We went to Romano's and had delicious Italian food, hit the spot!

I didn't stay out too last night night because I had a lot to get done today before tonight's fesitivties... GIRL TALK (a band for those who are unfamiliar) is coming to campus for Spring Fest tonight!!! And therefore, "sunday homework night" is non-existent.

My productive day thus far included: laundry, contraction of a resume (I'm getting old apparently), cleaning, homework, uploading pictures, and blogging. Woo!

Thursday marked a very special day for me... ta-da!

ONE MONTH UNTIL MY 21ST!!!! :)

Which as you can tell I'm kinda excited about...

My familia is in town as well.. well, minus Austin who is in Tahoe with his friend.. booooo. BUT Megan brought Trudy, who I lovveee, so she can be his replacement. They got in yesterday and I'm going down to see them Tuesday for Dad's birthday!! :)

That's all for now... oh! when writing my resume, cover letter, etc. this morning I stumble upon a beautiful quote about writing that I of course, want to share, by James Arthur Baldwin.

"You write in order to change the world, knowing perfectly well that you probably can't, but also knowing that literature is indispensable to the world... The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you alter, even by a millimeter, the way ... people look at reality, then you can change it."

In the works

This is just something I am working on for my poetry class. We were told to write a prose poem and although I am somewhat unfamiliar with the form, I was intrigued by the change in format. Here is what I came up with:

Angels Can’t Bowl

She was a daddy’s girl but never knew it because at three her daddy turned into an angel and at three, children don’t quite understand angels. They are more concerned with Sesame Street and the Zoo. She looks at me with the eyes I gave her, round as blueberries and as deep as sometimes I felt the hole that lives inside me. I try to explain. Angles are like Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny. Her blue eyes get bigger and she seems to understand. In Kindergarten, she comes home with a drawing of Steven: a stick figure with a Santa hat and an Easter basket. I tear up in the carpool lane and when we get home, I put the picture on our fridge. In first grade, my brother goes to Daddy Bowling Night and holds her hand in the concession line. She says she was okay with him coming instead of her dad because she knows angels can’t bowl. In second grade, I go to kiss my sweet girl goodnight and find her under the covers of her bed, fragile limbs squeezing the life out of her stuffed polar bear. I put her in my lap and stroked her hair and make “shhhhh’ing” noises. She says a boy from her class told her Santa wasn’t real, and if Santa wasn’t real, were angels? She asked him, and he laughed and called her a baby for believing in those kinds of things. So if angels weren’t real then that meant her daddy wasn’t an angel, he was just dead. And the breath washes out of me in one quick swoop and I cling to the tattered edge of her blanket and stare into the eyes we share. I haven’t gotten to the chapter in my parenting book that explains how handle this moment. So I just hold her and rock back and forth and after a while when we both stop crying and I think she is asleep, I find my voice. “You were such a daddy’s girl.”

Green Beer and ANDY RODDICK!

This weekend was busy busy, and I am paying for it now: exhaustion has officially set in... BUT I wanted to share some pictures and dish about my latest happenings! Friday was my roommate's Aimee's 22nd birthday and so Friday we celebrated outside in the sun :) Saturday Delta had a car wash to raise money for our Formal in VEGAS!!! I don't know if I've posted about our upcoming festivities in Vegas, have I? Well in two weeks we will be hitting the strip and turning the city upside down with 80 girls ready to make it one for the books. Oh my....

But I've gotten distracted, so we had a car wash Saturday and raised more than $500 and then Saturday night was Green Beer. It's an annual all-school party the Birds throw every March, the weekend after St. Patty's day. They got an amazing DJ from LA this year and it was by far one of the best nights I've had this semester. Our whole pledge class (minus Mary!) pre-partied together and it has been ages since we were all able to be somewhere, all of us at the same time. I love these girls so much and we were all so emotional being back together again, The Token Ten. 2 years ago and we were little freshmen running around figuring out the in's and out's of college and now here we are, just registered for fall classes as SENIORS and I'm looking back on it wondering how the heck time went so fast. Now I kind of get it when everyone says enjoy college, it goes too quickly. I'm just trying to soak it all in and enjoy the rideeee =) Hands down.

salzyy loveee

♥spr. p class 08' 4everr

Without time to recoup, Sunday Jenna and I took off to Palm Springs for the Indian Wells tourney. We were merely yards from Andy Roddick (OMG OMG OMG) who unfortunately lost to Ljubicic (from Croatia) It went into two tie-breaks and was an amazing match but we wanted Andy to own him (& take off his shirt, etc.) haha. And we watched the women's final as well, Jankovic beat Wozniacki pretty easily. Anyways, it was a perfect sunny day and it was so good to catch up with Jenna... we had a blast (hot dogs and kettle corn included!) :)

(jenna wanted people to know she's not naked, she's just wearing a tube top...) :)

♥

YES, I am alive...

it's just junior year thats killing me!

Not killing me in a bad way, just in a crazy/busy/hectic way. Today was the first day I really felt like summer (or may term for that matter...) cannot come soon enough. It is gorgeous out and I got a sunburn from just eating my lunch outside. I hope the sun is here to stay because I can never get enough :)

Updates:

-mom and Jen and Shannon just left from a weekend in Palm Springs watching the tennis touney. Jenna and I are headed down there this sunday to watch the finals (for the second yr in a row) and I am so excited to spend some good quality time with her! San Diego is too far away for me to see her as much as I want...

-last Friday our pledges put on a date night for us... Beach Blanket Babylon. It was so much fun!

LJ, Holly and I

Jackie!

big ♥ little

Jordan and I ...yes I made us matching cups :)

-Saturday we had PRESENTS! This is a big day for the pledges... they get in black dresses and we go to the park to take pictures, have dinner, and then they put on a dance in front of all of Greek Life...

Molly!!!

big ♥ little

family :)

and of course, two girls I absolutely could not live without...

AFterGlOw was Saturday night... another festivity in and of its self. In a nut shell its been a busy week! I was the chair (along with Alyssa) of Presents so we had to plan the whole dinner, make the bouquets, (I found I have quite the green thumb... haha) and make sure everything ran smoothly.

I am excited for this weekend, St.Patrick's Day "Green Beer" that the Birds put on. And if this sun stays just as beautiful then I might become a very bad student and be forced to play hooky.... we'll see ;)

I knew this was going to happen...

Our last night in Salzburg we all sat around and tried to wrap our heads around the fact that the countdown to real life had officially become real. Countless train rides, treks down the Monchsberg, hours spent on our trusty charter buses showing us everything Greece and Italy had to offer. Class periods, concerts, and "Ava lunches." Zimmer 3, skiing in Switzerland, and wine with the Eiffel Tower as our backdrop. And now it is all left to pictures and our memories to rehash the months and adventures that seem more and more surreal upon on arrival home.

This reminiscing started when I found my bag of every ticket stub, postcard, concert program, coaster, and funny drawing I collected along the way. It will all eventually make its way into a scrapbook (one of my many summer projects.) Maybe once it's all organized and laid out on pages it won't all seem so messy and hard to recall the small details. That is the part that scares me the most. The forgetting part. I had so many firsts in Salzburg. I met so many people that have somehow managed to weave their lives into mine even after we closed our Europe chapter. I know I appreciated Europe when I was there, I know that. I can't say I didn't, I have too many posts that say 'I know this won't last forever, so I have no choice but to soak it all up.' But my mind plays tricks that I can't help and I find myself second guessing how much I truly understood what last semester gave me. Independence. Perspective. A new relationship. Best Friends. Understanding. Self-confidence.

Maybe just for me, sending this out into the cyber abyss, reassures me that it was all real and it wasn't just some crazy dream.

dear salzburg, i miss you ♥

March, where did you come from?

It is officially March and I am home. A great feeling really. The clouds are so comforting, I just want them to wrap me up like a blanket and let me take them back to school with me :) Yesterday was a surprisingly sunny day. Not warm, but sunny. I don't know what it is about the sun in Washington but every time it makes an appearance in these usually dreary months, it feels like a gift. You make not see it for a few weeks so you better make the most of it, kinda thing. Even though I enjoy the sun on a more regular basis down south, I don't thank the sun for granted here.

I got to see Anna yesterday who was in town from New York! I was very excited because my spring break never overlaps with anyone else's so it was nice to catch her on a weekend home! We walked chambers in the sunshine and I was actually getting hot in pants and t-shirt!

Today Mom, Hank and I hung out. We took Hank to the dog park over the weekend and it was hilarious to see him jumping and running around with the other doggies. He is a ball of energy thats for sure. No wonder Mom talks about him like he's a fourth child, he is!

Last night the Kaiser's came over for dinner and I was so excited because I hadn't seen them since AUGUST!!!! And I'm so glad we found the perfect night to catch up =) those kids are growing up wayyyy too fast! :(

Today Mom, Kristy, and I walked to Starbucks... yes, we made it. But it was pretty scary out there in ghetto Lake-hood. No sidewalks and blind corners. Hmmmmm. Tonight Jackie is coming over and we're watching the season finale of the Bachelor. If he picks Vienna I don't even know what I'll do....

On the agenda:

-haircut!

-the hunt for a stellar formal dress...

-printing out abroad pictures for (still-blank) walls

-Thursday: Kelley/Iverson FRENCH dinner, yes pleaseee =)

-shopping for boring things like shampoo/razors/etc.

-seeing ronette!

-bubble bath... mmmm

-quality familyyyy time ♥