A poem for your thoughts? Good grief.

Hellooooooo everyone! My internet has gone all wonky so I'm not going to post anything too detailed right now. However, I feel the absolute need to post this poem that I wrote about HIM. Don't ask me why, it just feels right. Hahahaha, granted it's lame but it works.

Oh and P.S. @ Jess. Your comment was, without a doubt, one of the NICEST comments I have ever received in my life. Thank you, SO SO SO MUCH for the kind words and I definitely hope to be having little commenting battles back and forth via blogs =D

And now.... the lame-o poem. Enjoy!

There’s nothing you have that I want anymore

Equal perspectives?

Not at all.

I saw love.

You saw friendship.

Only an apple and some lettuce.

10 pages due the next day

Your meticulous blinking and hazel eyes convinced me to help

Not that I needed much convincing

How did I write that?

I never even read the “The Hours”

Always good to have an English major as a friend

7 cups of coffee each and an all-nighter

It got done.

Basking in accomplishment

I didn’t feel used

I felt loved

You hugged me when it was finished

Mrs. Dalloway and Virginia Woolf as the only witnesses

Trapped in a repetitious paperbound cage

Yelling to me

Muffled screaming

It’s all a bunch of lies

He USED you.

It’s OK girls

I know he did

A+

One of the best papers I’ve ever written

Drunk and crying on the bathroom floor

No really, it’s OK for men to cry.

Let it out.

Yes, of course you’re talented.

No, you’re not allowed to drive home.

Yes, we can go to a diner.

I’ll drive.

Pancakes at 5AM

Genuine and impervious

Drunken banter

Mouthful of pancake

You slur

You know I love you, right?

I should’ve spit my coffee in his face

Back home at 6 AM

Bad habits don’t die very easily

Bye bye pancakes.

Typical summer night

Smoking a cigarette and staring at the stars

Waiting for your call like a complete sap

I’m the sap

Admitted.

1 AM you finally call, drunk again

Typical.

A threesome you say?

Not what I wanted to hear

You trust me though

Enough to talk about something like that

Sex details for a good friend

More than willing to kiss and tell

Telling me is nothing out of the ordinary

Oh right

I forgot

We’re just good friends

The fights

Instilled in my heart, permanent to the very last word

I still fixate on them

You ignore every feeble attempt I made to speak

Tagged teamed me

Some sort of intervention

No, I didn’t toss you to the side like a piece of garbage

You’re too important to me

You KNOW I love you.

Ignorance.

Things could be a lot worse

It’s not that bad

I’m not going to die

There is no heroic feat to be done.

Egotistical bastard.

My world does not need saving.

Put your god damn cape away.

What happened to the person I fell in love with?

Gone.

Kind of like the pancakes.

We need a break?

But...

...

A break from what?

No, I don’t need help.

You blink

What did you eat today?

Go fuck yourself.

That’s it.

5 months later.

Concentrated on myself

Therapy, lots of it

Freshman year debachery is all I have left of you

But...

...

My priorities are straightened

My problems are fixed.

No more robotic responses.

You wouldn’t believe me even if we still talked.

For real.

Yes please, I’d love a sandwich.

Turkey Trot recap! I DID IT!!!

Saturday, November 21, I successfully ran my very first 5K and feel the absolute need to recount exactly what happened in all it's glory.

Part of me is still buzzing with happiness from it and another part of me still can't believe it finally happened. After all this time, all the training and all the injuries, I ran and I effin' CONQUERED. I started officially training in June, got injured, stared re-training in September and here I am! 9:30 was the time to register and after I let Mandy take a picture of me, "You're first 5K! Awwwww!" she said to me in a mock-motherly voice.

When I arrived to register I was instantly brought to complete and utter nervousness, the only people that were there were part of the Rider Running Club. When my running obsession had first started, I contemplated joining up with them. However, one day on campus I saw them all running and they are FAST. To save myself the possible embarrassment I decided not to get ahead of myself. Although I knew that finishing was the main goal, my fears about my injuries suddenly kicking in began to get to me. These kids were FAST, we're talking less than 8 minute mile fast and maybe even less.

I was being a weenie and didn't to finish last but just kept reminding myself that just finishing at all is a big enough accomplishment in itself. 10 minutes before we started, Sam, Jen and Mandy were there and just kept telling me that this was what I had been working for. The reiterated what I had been telling myself, finishing was all that mattered. It was true, even if my leg gave out and I fell to the damn ground, I would've crawled through the finish line if I had to. I was determined beyond belief. Don't worry though, I didn't have to do that.

16 of us were running (my number being 12) and after a small introduction we were off. The course was easy to follow; we stayed within the campus the entire time so I always knew where I was. Once we started nearly everyone took off ahead of me but there were a couple people who seemed to be at the same pace as I was. My special playlist "TURKEY TROT!" blared in my ears the entire time, specially made the night before for maximum awesomeness. The miles honestly flew by, I kid you not!

Before I knew it, I was approaching the end. Maybe it was a combination of all the training I've been doing and the adrenline of the moment but my leg didn't hurt ONCE and I never really had the urge to slow down. I just kept concentrating on how my body was feeling and the music that was pushing me to continue going.

I had set up my playlist accordingly so that a song from the FAME soundtrack called "Hold Your Dreams" would be playing as I approached the end of the race. Once it came on, I lost all control of my speed and ran like I had never run in my life. Any pain, sweat or tiredness vanished completely; I'm pretty sure that may or may not have been my first runner's high ever. Sam had been sitting on the steps near the library, being my own little cheering sections. She jumped up and started yelling as I reached the finally stretch.

It was one of those times that I honestly think that fate was definitely on my side. I was running the final stretch while the most powerful part of the song was streaming into my ears. Beautiful instrumentals and the following lyrics,

"Hold your dream, don't ever let it go, be yourself and let the world take notice. You'll find strength when people bring you down, they will see, if you would only, only believe"

I hate to sound super cliche about it but it was one of those moments that you would get out a movie.

And then I crossed the finish line. I felt the tears form in my eyes and although I did want to cry, I actually didn't. I've never been more proud of myself than at that moment. I had finally beat the odds, beat ED, beat everything and everyone who thought I couldn't save myself. And I proved them all wrong. I was living proof that recovery IS possible. It was just an amazing moment.

I grabbed some of the free swag (Gatorade, granola bars, tiny waters and energy supplements) and then found out my time.

27:08.

Holy shit.

27:08.

I couldn't believe it. Back in June I was lucky enough to be running 11 minute miles and now? Now I could pump out 9:30 minute miles like they were NOTHING. It was unbelievable.

What has happened since then? I'm still running 5 days a week, slowly pushing myself a little bit more each day. Working my way back to 5 milers and am actually running ANOTHER 5K towards in December. Another thing to look forward to! And who knows, maybe sometime in the future I'll be training for a real marathon. How's that for an accomplishment? =D

Topic, topic, topic, running!

Blogging in the fine arts computer lab. You know, the usual. I've got fifteen minutes until my Publication Design class. I'm just going to touch on a few events but am not going to promise that I extrapolate on them on a later day. Lest we forget, I'm a crap bloggie blogger sometimes.

Topic #1: Halloween! A whole group of us planned on taking NYC by storm (bad joke....) for the second year in a row. There was more of us and because last year was such a success it was only natural that the trip be repeated. However, when Mother Nature wants to rain, she's going to rain. It was a DOWN POUR and it didn't help that we couldn't find where the parade started AND the massive amounts of weenie people freaking out about the rain didn't help. Did that stop the fun though? Hell no. I'm fairly notorious for not letting something like rain ruin my day so I was OK with what had happened. The rest of the night resulted in all of us roaming the streets of NYC (more than 50 blocks). We saw a plethora of bonkers Halloweeny people who were still in chipper spirits and remained as optimist as possible. Granted, it was no village parade, but it was still a good time and there's always next year.

Did I mention that I was sexy Benjamin Franklin and we had Krispy Kreme doughnuts? Oh yeah =P

Topic #2: Peppermint Mocha Latte. OK, so it's not much of a topic. I had it earlier today and well, I don't recommend it. It was just WAY too strong. I don't know if they're all made like that but even though I like the flavor of peppermint this was just too much. Sigh, if they would just have the Pumpkin Spice Latte for ALL of winter this wouldn't be an issue!

Topic #3: Poems. I don't like writing them and had to sit through a class of them today. It wasn't pleasant. I did have to read mine out loud and the professor said, "That was very good." Compliments are always welcome but coming from an art professor? Errrr.......

Topic #4: Running! I was a little stressed about running but everything seems to have fallen back into place. I'm less than 3 weeks away from my 5K and am prouder than ever to announce that I am back to running 4 milers again. My leg? It's been a little iffy but after the first half mile it gets warmed up again and everything has been going quite smoothly. Not going to jinx myself though! I need to be careful either way. This is a topic I PROMISE I will be updating on. =D

Ahh, it's 3:16! I've got to head to class.

Until I blog again my bloggie loves!

Honey Sunshine, rainbows and... Domo? What the hell kind of post is this anyway?

A good one, that's what kind!

OFFICIAL POST! PREPARE YOURSELF BUMPKINS!

Whoa, overly dramatic much? Nevertheless, I'm here to give a proper update as to my life that is Rider University. There's a lot to mention so I'm going to attempt to keep it as entertaining as much as I can!

A rainbow? What a perfect way to begin! You can imagine my excitement when looking out the window and spotting this beautiful creation of Mother Nature just chillin'. You know, being pretttyyyyy. I took thousands of pictures (by that I mean 8) and it brightened my day to no end!

Let's move to the food situation, my favorite part! On the picture front I'm kind of lacking but I'll do my best to suffice with my eloquent words... or so I say =P

So let me describe Dalys Dining Hall, it's... interesting, I guess you could say. The selection of food is quite vast and it's especially exciting if you're a freshman. However, two months in and there's a chance you'll start getting sick of it. There are certain things that are always at Dalys, no matter what day is. This includes pizza, french fries, grilled chicken, cold cut bar, soups, ice cream, the wok station, bagels, the salad bar, the antipasto bar and the elusive WALL O' CEREAL. This is Dalys in a nutshell.

Personally, I have no problem with the place most of the time. There's always fresh spinach, a good amount of veggies (including whole sweet potatoes!) and a bunch of other things that keep this nutrition savvy girl content. However, it's still a challenge to eat there sometimes, not going to lie, but I've been handling it very well if I do say so myself! I need to start branching out and exploring the possibilities of creating new/fun/healthydeliciousawesome things! Dalys has a lot to offer and I just need to be creative! You know, spinach salads with the fixins is always amazing but I know there's MORE out there!

And as for food reviews, er, I kind of suck but I will say that I received my sample of Kashi Honey Sunshine and fell in love with them!

They sort of reminded me of Cap'n Crunch but with only a hint of sweetness, not at all overpowering and it didn't leave a weird taste in my mouth afterward (sorry Cap'n!!). Along with that, they're also packed with 6g of fiber (WOOT), all natural and only 100 calories per serving. The price is steep, as are all Kashi products, but next time they're on sale I'm definitely buying a box! Thumbs up!

Onto the next, running! So... I'm happy to report that yours truly will be running her first REAL 5K in the beginning of November!!!! I cannot even begin to talk about how excited I am and how much my love for running has grown; it's unbelievable. I started retraining when I first got back to Rider (not knowing about the 5K yet) and started out slow, despite my annoyance with having to build up my endurance all over again. However, it was the best thing I could've done. By limiting myself to 2-2.5 miles for the first few weeks I was able to reintroduce the high impact back to my legs. Now, I'm FINALLY back to 3-3.5 miles with no pain... I couldn't be happier. Even my speed is getting better, which I wasn't expecting. Today I ran a practice 5K in 30:32 with a pace of 9:47!!!!!! Now I know that compared to the other women of the blogworld that's still pretty novice but I've never been in training long enough to get under a 10 minute mile... and I finally did it; I got down to the single digits. I feel so accomplished and so proud of myself and just, so elated. This is only the beginning, it's only up from here!!!

Other random happenings include:

• I ventured to Rutgers to see my girls Liz and Danielle, which was amazing. We saw Streetlight Manifesto, a ska band, and well, there was dancing, people pushing everywhere and it was just a giant sweaty good time! I also had my first bubble tea which was delicious to the 1000th power. Liz ordered it for me (since I had never had it) and she later told me it was sweet yam flavored.
  
  

Is that not the best thing ever?!?!? See the rainbow sitting in the background? Yup, clearly it was meant to be. I want another one. Right now. Hahahaha. Oh dear, I love my G-field crew, so, so much!

• I saw FAME and it was spectacular. We all danced in the aisles... and in Starbucks. ;)
• My classes have been going really well and I'm enjoying every single one of them!
• PHOCUS is also going really well. We just finished up alcohol responsibility week and although I was sick I contributed the best I could.
• Yes, I got sick, AGAIN and it sucked just as much as it did the first time. My throat is still bothering me a little bit but otherwise I'm fine. I'm sick of being sick!
  

Eeeeee, could this be the end already? I think I've covered everything important and as much as I would love to sit here and keep on blogging I must do that thing called homework. Jane Austen is calling my name.... I must attend to her wishes!

Enjoy the rest of the day everyone! =)

Damn it Domo, get out of my pictures!

"I'm dying my hair nylon yellow"....Silly, silly boy.

It's been a long time since I've blogged, guilty as charged, but alas, I have to put it off again on the count of homework that must be catered to. Art paper, front page paper design and I have to finish and tidy up my story for it's debut in the workshop tomorrow! Eek! Everyone seems to be very kind and professional about the constructive criticism so I'm not THAT nervous about it... "that" being the key word in that sentence.

The main reason I'm taking a break from my paper writing is because today is HIS birthday and, because I suck at life, he's been on my mind. I very rarely think about him anymore (Can you believe it?!?!) but certain things spark my memory back up. I mean, I've changed into a completely different person since this time last year and since seen him only once this year, I wonder if he's changed as well. I still do think that he had a huge impact in my recovery and as much as the situation sucked I'm a better person because of it =)

Yeah, sorrrrry for that little, well, whatever that was. People don't seem to like when I talk about him so I don't really mention him that much anymore. Everything is OK now though, just another part of life!

I'm going to try to blog for real later, meaning there will be a bunch of pictures that have yet to grace the blogworld! Until later!

This is carved into the desk I'm sitting at... I do love when positive messages make appearances in my life at random!

G-field, Rider, back to G-field and back to Rider again. Confused? I would be.

Late night blogging. Got a TON of stuff to say but it's already midnight and I have to get up super early tomorrow to go back to Rider!

"Isn't she at Rider already?" you may ask, well, I ended up coming back to G-field (after only 3 weeks of being gone!) It was a very wedding planning kind of weekend; the main reason I came back was to go wedding dress shopping with Cate, Shan, my niece and my mom. I guess you could say it was something of a surprise for Cate and it's been a pretty good weekend to say the least.

More detailing will come tomorrow for sure. I've got a bunch of food reviews to put up... ahem, someone may or may not have gone to Whole Foods yesterday :P

So yes, tomorrow I shall be back and there shall be lots of good ole' information and PICTURES! You know, because as I've said before, everyone loves pictures! Hahahaha.

It's a Russell Brand doll.... who would've thought eh?

Nighty night everyone =)

Product review! (just like a REAL foodie!)

Bonjour blogworld! Classes are back in action and I think my brain is reentering the "RIDAH U!" mindset.

Purchase review time!!!! A couple days ago, during a group visit to Target I found something that I've been wanting for quite the qwhile.

The Nike+ iPod Sport Kit!!!! I was SO excited to have actually spotted it and bought it on the spot. My pedometer from Walmart had been quite loyal to me for the past month or so but I knew I needed something more. OK, so it wasn't like completely impulsive; I've been reading up on this for 2 weeks. One of the only reasos being because MY Nikes happen to be one of the types compatible for such an attachment.

It's very simple to use. You put the tiny sensor (the size of two nickels laying flat side by side!) in the underlining of the left sneaker (there's a space for it) and then you click in the iPod attachment and you're done! A new section shows up on your iPod and you just navigate it to your preference from there.

So far I've gone through 5 runs with it and I'm extremely pleased. I'm able to upload my runs to Nike.com and it keeps them all nice and organized, something I'm not too exactly awesome at doing. My pace and length of time and all that is included as well. As of now, it's a good investment but for long term purposes? I wouldn't recommend it. The main downside to it is that the battery isn't replaceable in the shoe sensor so it has to be replaced after a certain amount of time. For a college kid, I say this is a good thing to have. If you run a lot of races or just long distance in general, invest in something more durable (Garmin anyone?) For now though, Nike makes me happy!

College kid, hardcore.

As promised, I'm back once again for my better blogging bonanza! (say THAT five times fast)

I'm currently watching all these people unpacking their cars and moving back into the dorms. It's really weird to watch actually, mainly because I never would've expected that I wouldn't be one of them this year. As much as a pain in the ass this week was, it was definitely worth it. My room in Switlik is everything I could want it to be! Want proof? Look no further =D

The pictures are in the wrong order, whatevs. This is my closet... fairly organized and I have my handsome friend Erik to guard all my stuff for me like he's done for the past two years. Hahahaha.

MICROWAVEEEEEEE!! I probably shouldn't be that excited about it but the more I think about it, the possibilities are endless! I already made a bitchin' bowl of oats! Alas though, we can't forget about the fridge, the Brita and Mr. Coffee; they're all very important to the room dynamics as well.

My desk...already covered in stuff. I haven't even started classes yet. Ahem, if you look in the bottom right hand corner you'll spot my new Nikes in their adorable glory.

Hi bed hiiiiiii! I like being by the window, I can creep on everyone who walks by! Er, um, I mean... I can watch the beautiful sky and, uh, trees. Heh.

No, in all seriousness I'm really digging the setup this year. I can't explain it but I just feel so at home... it's kind of like things are slowly falling back into their proper places. That's my optimistic self putting her two sense in.

Random side note, I finally broke out a container of plain chobani. Now, I've never been much of a "plain yogurt" type of person under any circumstances. When I eat yogurt, I like some sort of underlying flavor; vanilla, strawberry, anything! But, like many other things in my life, I have the women of the blogworld to thank for losing my plain yogurt virginity. HAHA. When I made my bitchin' bowl of oats (mentioned earlier) I threw about half the container of plain chobani in it along with half a cut up peach, some Kashi GoLean and almond butter. Verdict?

I loved it! Duhhh, as if there was ever any reason to doubt the blogworld in the first place? I could taste the yogurt itself but it added a really nice creaminess to the oats. I mean, these ladies throw plain greek yogurt all over everything and I was scared to put it in my oatmeal! I'm glad I did though. Now that I know how awesome of an addition it is I think I could work my way up to using it as a replacement for sour cream and many other things in general. The blogworld has saved my life again! They're like a bunch of superheroes.......

I WILL GO TO THE HEALTH LIVING SUMMIT NEXT YEAR. I WILL.

You know, just in case anyone was wondering what one of my goals for the year will be.

Oh, the bathroom crisis. It's not really that big of a deal but it SUCKED none-the-less. Yesterday, I got up nice and early, ran an easy two miles on the treadmill (with NO PAIN!!!) did some more leg strengthening and was all set to take a nice shower when I got back to Switlik. So I go to put the code in and... it doesn't work? Hmm, maybe I didn't do it right. Try again. Still doesn't work. OK, I'll come back. Came back 5 minutes later, tried 10 more times... still didn't work. Basically, repeat that process 3 more times. Needless to say, I WAS NOT HAPPY. I had to go to PHOCUS in a short time so I didn't have time to run all over the building looking for an RA. Thank God for Wet Wipes. Yes, like a true, true college student I used Wet Wipes instead of a taking a shower.

Gross, I'm aware. Luckily one of my fellow PHOCUS members is an RA in Switlik so I got him to find out the new code for me. And it wasn't until later that night did MY RA decide to come by and be like, "Oh, the codes changed be-tee-dubs." THANKS. Either way, I know the code now, I helped out some girls that didn't know the code and life is content.

I'm heading out now to do some STUFF shopping with Kat and Laura. Hopefully I'll get some fun stuffs!

"Your mother is aardvark!"

Tomorrow morning there will be a full on update of my Rider life, PHOCUS and everything associated (even my mini-bathroom crisis!) I'm too tired to do it now though, just finished watching Labyrinth with some of the ladies and I will say this. It was HYSTERICAL.

Um, need I explain more? =D

I bid thee good night, let this guy wander around in your dreams!

I did manage to enjoy myself. Amazing!

Sigh, I'm still sick. Obviously I wasn't thinking I was going to get better overnight but excuse me for being a big whiny face about the whole thing. Granted, I do feel a bit better but not by much. Sleeping from 9PM to 10AM wasn't a horrible thing though ;)


Oooh, my ear just popped and it was nice. Hahahaha. TMI perhaps but everyone must agree that when your ears are clogged you just WANT them to pop.


Brief ADD moment. Forgive me. The rest of yesterday ended well, or at least as well as a day full of being sick could end! I ended up getting out of rehearsal at 6:50 which was quite lovely. Went back to my room (?) and just tried to ignore the fact that I felt like complete crap. I had bought the latest issues of "Women's Health" so I read that from cover to cover, listening to my iPod, munched on an apple I threw into my bag and began crocheting my next HP scarf. It was chill but once 9 o'clock hit it was "GOODNIGHT!" for me.


I had a kick ass salad for dinner last night though! I decided to take a cue from the previous post featuring the "immune system boosters". On my plate I had mixed greens, chickpeas, green peppers, roasted red peppers (I never knew how GOOD they were!), mushrooms, cucumbers and a Rider burger, all topped with a bit of balsalmic dressing. OK, so I have my doubts as to the "lean-ness" of the Rider burger but zinc is still zinc! Haha, or at least I'm trying to tell myself that.


Oh, AND I also finished up my meal by having a some green tea with lemon which DID make my throat feel better! SUCCESS!


Right now I'm a hungry, hungry hippo but I'm waiting for Kat to finish up all her errands and then it's Dalys land once again!




And for the record, it appears that because Switlik had all the air conditioners put in and such that we're all going to be able to have MICROWAVES. CAN WE JUST TALK ABOUT HOW AMAZING THAT WOULD BE?!?!?!? I still need to ask around to officially confirm it but let me tell you, I've got my fingers crossed!

...at least I have my crocheting.

Blogging in the Rider library? Now THAT'S snazzy. Not really snazzy if you know the entire backstory as to why I'm sitting here typing while listening to a bunch of incoming freshmen attempting to figure out how to work the printer. It's a funny story.


And by funny, I mean NOT AT ALL.


One of the privalages of being a member of PHOCUS is the right to move in early. This is kind of a big deal if you've ever had to move basically everything you own into a room along with over 1000 other people. Let's just say it's a HUGE pain in the ass. So Sunday night I packed up everything I could find, he 'rents and I loaded up the truck and Monday morning I arrived at my homeland! Sounds simple right? Yeah, no.


I'm fairly annoyed with the whole thing so I'll just summarize it. I can't move into my actual room until Wednesday night so my parents had to take EVERYTHING back home in the truck. I have nothing with me (laptop, books, food) so I'm just trying to pass the time as quickly as possible until Wednesday. If it is true that I'm allowed to move in then my parents are coming BACK at 7 PM.


The other annoying factor about this? Apparently I wasn't on the list of "early arrival students" and had to wait until, surprise surprise, 7 PM for a room to live in it. I'm just hoping that this is a true fact and by Thursday I'll be settled, content and full of happiness!


For the record though, it doesn't help that I mysteriously got SICK upon arrival here! Anyone who knows me can vouch for me when I say that I NEVER GET SICK. EVER. Over the course of last year, as I began exercising more and eating well, my immune system seemed to boost itself. However, my exercising has decreased (flashback to the millions upon millions of leg problems I've had) so perhaps I just have to build it back up?


Hmm, according to a Google search I just did, five foods that increase the immune system include:

• Lean beef
• Orange vegetables (carrots, sweet potatoes, etc.)
• Black/green tea
• Yogurt
• Mushrooms

Well, now THAT would explain a lot. No wonder I was never sick! I think once I re-adjust to my "healthy Rider self!" everything will be fine.


I'm off to Dalys because I have rehearsal at 5:30! Rehearsal from 1 to 4 just wasn't enough apparently. Ohhhh, Rider, you're lucky I like you =)

Time is runninggggg out

What better why to title a blog entry than with a Muse song!?! There are probably better ways but it speaks the truth donchakno. I have officially THREE days before I head back to my homeland that is Rider U. Nervous? Nah. Excited? You bet your face I am! Granted, this summer was a hell of a lot better than last summer (like I've said before) and even though I'm going to miss my family, the g-field crew and MAXWELL I can't help but I just love everything about Rider. That place has captured my heart =)


I think now is a good time to do that "looking back at summer '09" thing. This may be posted tomorrow, or even the next day, because my new laptop is going bonkers and I'm currently on the old one which has NONE of my summer pictures what-so-ever. I've got my fingers crossed that I don't lose everything on the new one... I don't think I could deal with that happening again!


My stories (or recaps, if you will) tend to become very long-winded for no apparent reason so I'll probably just use the bullets to list things that I remember as I go. Explanations will probably go along with them and hopefully pictures will be provided as well!

• I went to Edgewater with Liz and Danielle and saw the amazing New York City skyline
• We all decided that we're going to live in those apartments one day
• I participated in an "HARRY POTTER MARATHON" which involved watching all of the first five HP movies and then proceeding to go the midnight opening of the NEW HP movie that same night. Slept maybe two hours at most? It was AWESOME though. HPFANHARDXCORE.
  
• I actually saw a lot more movies than I expected to throughout the summer. These included Wolverine, Inglorious Basterds, The Hangover, District 9, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Angels and Demons, Bruno and Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. There actually may have been more but either way, I'm pleasantly surprised with myself!
• My social life, as a whole, was interesting to say the least. When I wanted to go out, I usually got to. Few new surprises this summer though to say the least.
• By the above statement I mean that I went on my first date EVER (actually, this happened only two weeks ago) and that was something within itself. I had a really great time with the guy and it was a nice change for once. That's about as much as I can say on the topic... mainly because that's all there is to say. Haven't really spoken to him since so it's like, "Oh, OK, just a one time thing......." That's life though right? I'm just trying hard to be optimistic. Haha, boys make me nervousssss. :p
  
• My relationship with running was taken to a whole new level. Despite the fact that I seemed to have ran a considerable amount, because of my constant injuries it was nowhere near the amount I wanted. Initially, I had wanted to train through all of June and complete my first 5K in the end of July. However, I must have been pushing myself too hard; my right calf/achilles tendon had other plans. I didn't run for TWO WEEKS which discouraged me to the point that I had basically forgotten about my newly developing love. The fact that I've been trying so hard to be healthy only to be kicked back down wasn't exactly encouraging.
  
• Slowly but surely, the love is coming back. With my new compression socks and new Nikes, the love is growing again. I'm welcoming it with open arms and plan on continuing my "runner's madness!" =)

• After getting bloodwork done I received the unfortunate news that I have an allergy to peanuts. (SIGH) Some sort of cruel, cruel fate decided that my FAVORITE FOOD IN THE ENTIRE WORLD was now to be my enemy. If I eat it, my legs go crazy with the itchies and painful red bumps.

• If that's not enough, I also have slight allergies to wheat and soy as well. Cripes.
  
• I decided that I was sick of being a redhead and wanted to go back to blonde... and blonde I certainly went. It's the slightest it's ever been in my life and I kind of love it. Haha.
  

• Work was decent. It wasn't as plentiful as last summer but I managed to make a considerable amount of money. Naturally, I'm thankful for the Green Onion!

That's kindddd of my summer in a nutshell (BOO NUT JOKES AREN'T FUNNY ANYMORE).... for now anyway. I'm almost positive that other random memories will be creeping into my brain so until then!


Oh, and tomorrow there will definitely be pictures of the cake that I'm creating for my niece's birthday as well as a recap of my runs from the past few days. It's almost midnight so if I want to get up by 7:30 I need to hit the hay NOW!


Nighty nighty!

You know I flow it and show, you know that Bo know it , yo your lawn I mow it and grow cause he's a sho' poet...

...yo my rims be spinnin' and winnin', like Adam I be sinnin', potato skinnin' and knittin' and separatin' those linens. And in my eyes you see flies and though you people try just to disguise all your lies? Baby I be wise. Know I did it and shit it, your brothas couldn't hit it then you tried to rid it, too late! I already spit it.


Is it a good or a bad thing that I've memorized almost every single one of Bo Burnham's songs by heart?


..........................................


Good thing it is then. For the record, Bo Burnham is just another one of those "things" that I knew about before everyone else did. BEFORE he started nationally touring and BEFORE he had his own comedy central special, I was a good little fan having her life completely brightened by his amazingly clever songs (not to mention his adorable face and instrumental talent!) Just like Lady Gaga and 3OH3!, I'm an original fan. So there. :P



Sir, it most certainly does not suck to be you. *cough AVENUE Q SHIRT cough*


Recap of yesterday? I definitely had to work hard but I toughed it out and completely managed! Tired, yes, but at least I wasn't the only one. The chef that was working was clearly a tad sleepy as well. As a result the two of us roamed around the kitchen not too enthusiastically with our iPods on and purposely ignored each other. Not on purpose mind you; the day before we gossiped many a times and had a grand ole' work environment. However, we were tired kids so there was a mutual "let's-just-do-what-we-have-to-do-here-and-get-out-as-soon-as-possible" agreement going on.


That fella only had to be there 4 hours. I, on the other hand, had the pleasure of being there for about 9 hours. Boy howdy was I cranky right before I left. How bad? One of the texts I sent to Edi (after being there 7 hours) read as so:


"I haven't had more than six hours of sleep in the last two days, I'm working in humidity with no air conditioning, I'm clearly some sort of boy repellent and I haven't eaten since NINE THIS MORNING."


Granted, it was pretty hilarious then and still is so. Either way, I'm content with my hours. My money in my pocket and the Green Onion loves me even more now because that kitchen was SPOTLESS when I left. Bitchinnnnn'!


View from the kitchen? It was raining... but look at the lovely trashcan! Hahahahaha.


I think I may just head to sleep in a little bit. My to-do list has grown rather immensely and I have to actually write any of it down. Perhaps buying a planner is should be at the top of that list for tomorrow? That might be a good idea! One major thing is my experimentation with making FONDANT. Now that's going to be interesting. Sleeping on it is the best pre-preparation though I'm sure so nighty night!

Sleeeepy, sleepy, sleepy, sleepy.

This would describe me fairly well I think. Double D and I are both VERY tired individuals. Granted I didn't build a small scale model of the Golden Gate Bridge using only toothpicks; I was productive in a different manner! He wins though, that smarty pants!


Despite the fact that I was nearly falling down from my sleepiness I ended up traveling to a "Cupcakes & Cocktails" party. I was greatly tempted to pass out instead but I figured that since the summer is dwindling to a close, I could do survive. There were also two motivating factors:

1. The party was being thrown by my one of my closest friends that I've known since 3rd grade.
2. RAINBOW CUPCAKES. OH YEAH.

I haven't been able to make them since January so I was QUITE excited! Upon realizing that I didn't have enough time to make the batter completely from scratch I had no choice but opt for the box-o-cake. Mistake. Turns out the damn box was a downsized version of normal cake mix... the mix only made 12 cupcakes at the most! OK, so it's not a catastrophe but when it comes to RAINBOW CUPCAKES, I go big (AKA I make as many as a possibly can so I can share the wealth!).


Pressed onward either way and only managed to yield 8 cupcakes. Boo. But they were not at all disappointing. Yay!

Group photo! No pictures with them fully clothed though I'm afraid. Nothing but nakedness ;)

This was the loner that had to have a bit of a dissection. Brave little fella.


I wish MY insides were that pretty. But in all cupcake seriousness (?!?) I'm much happier with how they came out this time. The actual lines of rainbow are a lot more proportionate than the first time I made them. I think I put more effort into equally distributing all the colors. Next time I'm going to add more purple, it seems to be lacking here. Either way, I'm slowly but surely mastering the art of RAINBOW CUPCAKES.


Oh, and we can't forget about this guy


I dub thee, Mr. Remnants! He's the lovechild of the six batters (the elusive 9th cupcake!) AND he totes has a face. Check out that smile :)


All in all it was a great success! The party was a good time consisting of chocolate martinis, cupcakes galore and candy everywhere! Needless to say on my return home I gladly welcome 4 bottles of water and some toast with almond butter, bananas and a peach. I think my body is slowly realizing that too many sugar filled foods is just not good. Like I said, I don't get hungover but I've got a sugar headache like no one's business. Does that mean I'm slowly turning into a REAL foodie?!?!? I hope so!


And the reason I'm blogging rather early is because I have to go tough it out through another 8 or 9 hours at the Onion despite my borderline fatigue-y-ness. Wish me luck! Hopefully I don't pass out in a sink whilst washing dishes. Hahahahaha. We'll see.

One tequila, two tequila, three tequila....

...floor?


Of course not! At this point in my life I definitely know what my drinking limitations are; I'll stay standing upright KTNX. But yes, I did have the pleasure of enjoying my favorite alcoholic beverage the other night. Tequila (da na na na na na na na!) is my poison of choice, despite the fact that it apparently gives people extremely bad hangovers; I have yet to get one. Teeheeeeeee. Actually, I've never been one to get hangovers, unless it Watermelon vodka. That got me once. Whoops!


Ugh.


Ahem, for the record... all above statements are completely false! I'm a good girl ;)




Work was a killer today but then again, what should I expect working in a kitchen without air conditioning of any kind? I should expect to be a very, very sweaty kitchen girl and that's EXACTLY what I was. 7 hours of nonstop dishing washing/tray making/anything else they needed me to do!


I had been wanting to wear my pedometer to work for some time now and finally remembered to today. Starting out at 8 AM and ending at about 3 PM I apparently traveled 5 miles collectively. Wow! I stand the entire time during work and am constantly going up othering and down stairs, as well as running from one side of the kitchen to the other. Granted, I wouldn't normally use this as my main source of exercise on most days but for today it's acceptable. My left ankle started bothering me yesterday so I decided to take yet another day off. So 5 miles at work? Not too shabby... although I MAY have eaten a homemade scone that our hostess made. :P


NEWSFLASH!!

PINEAPPLE CHOBANI LIVES!!!!


I would have taken a picture of my actual container but instead I INHALED it (with a bit of Kashi Honey Almond Flax cereal!) Without a doubt, this is my new favorite Chobani flavor. As a full fledged lover of the wonderous pineapple, it's actually not surprising that I would have fallen so deeply in love with this.


There were very tiny slivers of pineapple in it and the actual pineapple flavor was a lovely balance to the greek yogurt. It was still tangy (as per usual) but still full of pineapple goodness. Unfortunately, the Chobani sale at Shoprite ends TODAY and I'm seriously considering making one more trip back there to stock up on whatever I can get.


Crazy for yogurt? Damn straight, and I'm proud =)




Oh, and apparently there some kind of problem when it comes to leaving comments for my posts. I'm in the works of trying to fix it but for now comments can be posted by clicking of the "0 comments" link and there should be some sort of indication on how to leave a comment from there. Complicated I know, I'll fix it though.... somehow.

Look! Pictures of actually food! (and a puppy)

I should really start taking more pictures of, well, EVERYTHING! After reading food blogs for a good 6 months now it's become very clear that the pictures are a cardinal rule of keeping a blog. That goes for any subject, type or size of the blog in question! Haha, could that be considered a quantity not quality sort of thing?? Sounds like I've got it backwardsssss.

In the words of Kat, "He's got his laserz on"... hahahaha. He's a lot cuter than this normally, although now that I look at it he looks abnormally fuzzy in this one. Aww. Maxwell <3

I just recently found out that I shall be heading back to the homeland (AKA Ridaaaaah U) in only 11 days!! I honestly can't believe this entire summer has come and gone in, what seems to be, the milli-blink of an eye. In a couple days I'm going to write a post that will basically be my "looking back the summer". All in all, the summer has been better than last summer in every way, shape and form. Not "BEST SUMMER EVER" material but definitely a summer that kept me happy.

How about some more pictures?? I've actually been attempting to act like a real foodie and took some pictures of my standout meals. There's only a few but cut me some slack! The idea of taking pictures of EVERYTHING I eat is a way of life that I don't think I'm entirely ready for. The women of the food blog world have every bit of respect that I possess in my body.

*bows*

Fiber one mix waffles with cut up peaches, blueberries and strawberries topped with some blueberry yogurt! Isn't it pretty?!?! It was quite delicious if I do say so myself. However, I have discovered that once my Fiber mix runs out I'll probably be a happy girl. There's no sustenance to the mix what-so-ever which is why I never make pancakes with it. It comes out very flimsy and not at all filling, well, unless I eat every pancake that I made. The waffles are a bit better except I have to put the waffles in the toaster almost immediately after coming out of the waffle machine. Next time I'm going to add apple and cinnamon to hopefully bulk them up a bit! Fiber one mix? Not for me, I mean, unless I just wasn't doing something right. I'll do it the old fashioned way from now on (but with whole wheat flour hopefully!)

Only two pictures... I said I was tryinggg! Here we have a chocolate orange cupcake that Miss Danielle and I decided to experiment with. Physically they're beautiful (please note the orange zest on top, fancy fancy!) but inside they're a bit more interesting. They were tasty, don't get me wrong, just not in a "cupcake" way. Somehow, unbeknown st to either of us to date, the cupcakes ended up tasting more like chocolate orange muffins. The recipe seemed to be a typical cake one so it's kind of a mystery! Either way, we have established ourselves as Mr. and Mrs. Upcake, bakers extraordinaire! Haha, we already have another event that we need to bake for and everything. HardXcore cupcake college student. =)