Tip of the day: Don’t smash your face!

It's only Wednesday, but I'm pretty sure that I have already summed up my entire fall semester. Of course I haven't had my Liz Bloch-Smith class yet or my nonfiction workshop yet so my tune will probably change by tomorrow, plus I haven't started field hockey, pep band or hockey yet either. Today however, my fall semester looks like it is going to be very nice. I just wish I could get my sleep schedule down to where it needs to be. Lately I've either been having too little sleep pr too much. Last night I fell asleep fairly early (before 11pm) and then woke up promptly at 6am. I tried to fall back to sleep and then almost overslept my class. It's frustrating, but it's better than the usual beginning of the year pregnancy scare (no worries mom, it's always from irrational stress not the other reason).

I'm a couple weeks into P90X now and I am pleased to say that I have successfully made it through all of Phase One's workouts without having to stop and take a break. Now I do have full intensity through all of them. Plyometric definitely kills and by the end I am barely getting off of the floor, but I can get all of the way through it and maintain ballet feet too. Go me. I'm not really sure how school is going to affect my Tony Horton time other than that I know it's going to take a hit. I've been able to manage it with work and weekend fun, but throw in school too and I'm going to struggle. It's all good as we Purnells say or no worries like my Hebrew Friend will tell you.

In other news I am up to twelve pairs of lacies. I know it's a random segue from school to underwear, but these are the things that are on my mind right now. I got three from Hailey while I was at work. After I got them I spent the rest of the shift showing them off (not on) to all of the hostesses and made Take Out Boy watch over them until I was finished waiting tables. The other day I dragged a friend in with me when I picked out another set. He actually came in willingly and then spent most of the time amusing himself with the body sprays. My friend was helpful in picking out colors though, it was very nice of him.

Today's band: The Boxer Rebellion
Today's book: The Portable Dorothy Parker
Today's nail color: Stiletto Red 

I'm just going to come out and say it, you were kind of a prostitute.

I'm finally sleepy tonight at a fairly early hour (early for me) too. As soon as I finish this post I am turning and sleeping in in the morning. Tomorrow was supposed to be the start of classes, but with the storm damage classes have been delayed until Tuesday, yay! So in the meantime I am going to write about the things that make me happy. Just a little something to think about in spite of all of the ickiness outside. So here are five things that make me happy, in no particular order:

1. Seneca apple chips. I love these things, especially the granny smith kind. They're better than the puffed apples that the Amish women make because they are crispier and tart. I love them better than potato chip or corn chips or pretty much any other kind of chip. I always get real excited when I see them in the supermarket and end up buying more than one bag.

2. Greeting cards. I love greeting cards so much. I try to find any occasion to give them out to my friends. I just think that there's still something so poetic about cards, especially the ones that I hand make. One of my friends has her birthday on Valentine's Day and every year I give her a mess of birthday and Valentine's cards as a part of her gift. Greeting cards, well really cards in general, are a great way to brighten up a person's day.

3. My bed. My bed is awesome! It's a full (a little small) with a cast iron bed frame that has been painted antique white. Right now I have cream flannel sheets and six pillows and two comforters. It's great when the air is cold because I will snuggle down underneath the blankets and pillows where it's all soft and fluffy and fall asleep for hours. So much wonderful sleep.

4. Snow days. We don't see as many snow days in Philadelphia as I did up in Vermont, but the ones down here are pretty epic. Last winter we had a couple of good ones where the city was completely crippled by the weather, but everything was all white and sparkly. It was so pretty outside and the best part is that school was canceled. Unfortunately it's hard to find someone to go for walks or make a mess in the snow with me.

5. Matt & Kim. Matt & Kim is the most epic music duo ever. One of my most favorite concerts at the First Unitarian was a Matt & Kim show. My ipod has a smart list dedicated to them and whenever I'm feeling a bit blue or lethargic I put on some Matt & Kim and dance around. They have helped get me up and down between Philadelphia and Vermont when I'm driving late at night. I share them with everyone I meet and everyone loves them too.

Yanti Parazi

It's not true, but maybe if you say it real fast it might be. This weekend is the weekend of all weekends: the last weekend of summer and Irene. It's true, summer is over and I am sad to see it go. I have spent many a lovely day on the beach or with friends and many a night out drinking at the bars. Lucky for be I jumped back on the exercise train early enough that I have not only avoided a beer gut (gross),  but I have also lost some weight (go me!) I am looking forward to fall though. I recently received an email from school notifying me that I have somehow achieved enough credits to have senior status and that I must remember to fill out my intent to graduate form as soon as possible. Let's be real though, I WILL forget.This weekend is also the weekend that hurricane Irene is supposed to ravage the east coast. My mother has already contacted me about leaving Philadelphia and I have already politely declined invitations from relatives to journey further into the state to get away from the storm. If I didn't have to work and the fact that there is an entire state in front of mine to protect me from the watery typhoon I would have gladly accepted. I like LC every now and again. Lucky for me Mary Ann and Lance will be visiting in a few weeks and we can hang out in the LCs then.

I really find it funny that the National Weather Service named a hurricane Irene in the first place. Irene is Greek for peace. I know this because Ms. Knapp's middle name was Irene and during "Ms. Knapp tells a fact" time she told us about how she used to hate her middle name until she learned that it was Greek and meant peace. Kind of like how I used to hate my middle name. I'm not a cookie people! Anyways I'm not worried about weather, because after all it's just weather. It comes and it goes and if there's any damage left in it's wake you clean it up and move on. I'm just worried about parking my car too close to a tree or the power going out for too long and spoiling all of the food that I don't have in in my fridge. If I'm lucky work will be closed and school will be canceled on Monday. I can only wish.

Looks ειρηνικό from space, right?

I had an excellent girls night last night. I went over to a friend's house with Marg and we had dinner and watched a movie and just got caught up on our lives since we had last seen each other. All three of us have been friends since freshman year when we lived in the hotel together and even though there have been times when we have been less close or completely separated by distance, we still try to carve out some time to spend together and be a part of each other's lives.

We watched Something Borrowed last night. It was cute movie about going for it and not letting people get in the way of doing what is right and what you want. It also about making up for missed opportunities. The best part was John Krasinski though. Everyone else love Colin Egglesfield and he Tommy Hilfiger looks and Connecticut waspy-ness, but since I've always been partial to Jim I had to side with John. Overall I liked the movie (I'm a sucker for romantic crap like that), but I am on the fence about reading the book, hopefully it was better than the movie.

Now since it is the weekend and I never get around to blogging after a night of work and drinking, I will leave you with this little gem:

Awesome, I know. Until Monday my fellow school chums. 

And if you feel just like a tourist in the city you were born, then it's time to go and define your destination. There's so many different places to call home.

I had an epic day at the beach today. EPIC DAY! It started off slow because someone forgot to get up this morning. I mean honestly, who forgets the last beach day of the summer? Anyways  once we got on the road and actually got there it was amazing. The sunny was out and there was a strong breeze to keep the heat down. Unfortunately the wind was a little too strong for frisbee, but now that it's school time we can play on the fields. Woo woot. The water was perfect though. After the initial shock of the cold water against my skin I hated to get out. The current was a little too strong for me to be comfortable swimming alone so I had to keep getting out when Yonni did, but eventually I just said fuck it and went in. Apparently the bear's fur is just for aesthetics because he kept getting cold in the water. The trick: just stay below the surface. Afterwards we made a quick stop to the uncle's to return the beach chair that has been living in the back of my car all summer. I get to keep the key though. Coming down we saw White Castle off of 37 and decided to Harold and Kumar it there later. Since Yon is nice and dark I am left to be Harold. Yipee. White Castle is not as good as I remember it being from when I was younger and it's no surprise that Lance hasn't eaten there in thirty years. And to top it off none of the Harold and Kumar movies are instant on Netflix. Despite that small setback and two cups of milky sugary coffee from Dunkin' I had a really nice ride back to the city with Yonni and I'm decently tuckered out that I might get a good night's sleep for a change. I'm sad that there won't be anymore beach days for a while, but I'm glad that I was able to end the summer with a satisfiable bang. Next week classes start.

Sweet potato fries?

After raiding my parent's DVD collection back home I have rediscovered my love of The O.C. What a great show about one of the most pointless places on the planet. Somehow FOX knew that people would be obsessed especially when they're from a small, cold New England town. My entire high school was captivated by this show when it was on the air and since it played on FOX you had no excuse not to watch it. My favorite season was the fourth because there was no Mischa Barton. I know the whole premise of the show revolved around but I couldn't stand Marissa Cooper at all.  I was definitely a Summer girl.  Actually I was a Seth Cohen girl. That character was my dream guy and the peak of Adam Brody perfection. The fourth season was also when Ryan finally got himself a decent and very hot haircut.

I got my first email from the school reminding me to fill out my intent to graduate form and remember to pick up my cap and gown in a few weeks for senior photos. Ugh. This blows, but it also means that the days are finally counting down until when I am done with school and off to see the world somewhere else. I had a mini chat with a friend today about where I would go. I don't think that he is keen about e packing up and leaving because he kept saying that I could stay here and work or go to grad school. Sometimes I think he doesn't know what to do with me. I'm not like a lot of the other people that he can put in a box and know where they're always going to be. I'm more like a caged bunny that rattles around in the box and knocks other stuff down or like a square peg in a round hole. There's not a very good definition out there for me. I need to get out of here for a little while, but for the first time I actually admitted out loud that I wouldn't mind returning to Philadelphia (or the greater area) to go to school or work once I've had an adventure or two. Sometimes I just wish I could pack people up and take them with me. For now though I need to focus on school and remember to fill out my intent to graduate form on time. 

Still awake. Now what?

Rant of the day: Air conditioning makes my nose stuffy and then I have to breathe through my mouth when I go to sleep. I hate air conditioning. As someone who already sleeps with her mouth open it would be nice for me to be able to breathe in through my nostrils so that I'm not choking on the drool that is making my way out of my mouth. Okay rant over.

Classy Sidney.

It's 3am right now and I can't sleep. When I came back from Vermont last month I was falling asleep early and waking up early. Slowly I started going to bed later and later and sleeping in more and more. Funnily one of my friends was staying up late and now he's going to bed much earlier than me and getting good sleep. Some thing's not right here. I decided to use my awake time to watch The Social Network. I will say that it was a good movie, but I'm partial to just about anything Aaron Sorkin. The format was not the way I expected and the clips from the trailers I had seen completely misled me about the characters. I enjoyed the way the movie used the depositions to tell the story of the origin of facebook and the people involved in its creation. The actors also did an exceptional job as well. I was particularly pleased by Andrew Garfield. His character had a sad story line and Garfield did an excellent job as the wounded friend. Now in the real world I love Jesse Eienberg. He and Christopher Mintz-Plasse are my new Michael Cera. They have aged nicely into awkward, but still cool personalities while Cera has become more and more whiny. In this movie though, Eisenberg was on my most hated list. I hate to think how accurate this movie was about Mark Zuckerberg because he was portrayed as a complete asshole. I really enjoyed the end of the movie with Eisenberg's character refreshing a Rooney Mara's character's facebook page in the hopes that she would accept his friend request. 

"You're not an asshole Mark, but you're trying so hard to be."

Since I still can't sleep I decided to clean out some boxes of junk and put my book shelves in order. I have two full bookshelves, a shelf on my wall, and a night stand full of books and I have more stacked on the floor. I honestly don't know what to do with them all. I hesitate to buy another bookshelf mostly because I don't know where I would put it. Instead I'm keeping the stacks by the lawn chair in the living room. It looks sort of "white trash chic." I have most definitely created a very nice collection of books for myself this summer and one day when I have a house with built in bookcases I will have a space for all of them. Until then I'm making do with laminet shelving and milk crates. 

Things should pick up when my arranged marriage comes through.

I've been meaning to write (complain) about this for a while, but it's only now that I've remembered to do it. Have you heard the remix for Adele's Rolling in the Deep? It is terrible. Like really really terrible. It's pretty much a slightly discofied version of the original song. If the producers were really thinking they would have brought Nicki Minaj in. Then it would have been a remix. I told one of my friends that the remix blew, but he adores ADORES Adele, no he's not gay, so it was like talking to the wind.

Sucks right?

Okay, bad song aside, its been a decent, but not too exciting weekend. It's been mostly a work weekend. I can back from vacation in Vermont and found out that my restaurant work schedule was completely messed up. I ended up not being able to work a bunch of the shifts that I was scheduled for because I was already at my other job. So I spent this weekend wheeling and dealing to get the shifts I want and ended up making a decent amount of money considering that the summer has been so slow. I gave up fighting about next weekend though and now I'm not working Friday night. Good thing or bad thing?

This weekend I also learned how to play beer roulette, well roulette in general. I didn't know there was such a thing as beer roulette and neither did anyone at work. One girl did get excited when I explained it to her, exclaiming, "Oh I love drinking games!" I got about two words into explaining the game when she said that so still no one at work knows how to play the game. I will say that it is quite fun, especially because I tend to get reckless when I gamble. I was not playing with money, if I had been I would now be behind in a year's worth of rent from losing so much. Fortunately the currency was beer and since I had no intention of sleeping in their oversized apartment I faked taking sips and then peaced out as soon as it got a little too crazy. 

I got out of work earlier than I usually do on Sundays. I opened today so I could get out early and I must say that I don't mind it at all. Losing a few hours in the morning more than makes up for the ones I gain at night. Though now that Neil is gone I have no one to hang out with on Sunday nights :( Instead I used the time to do Yoga Flex from P90X. This workout is a little longer than the others so it helps to have a large chunk of free time so that I'm not rushed and have to cut anything short. I love the yoga on this program because it's fast paced but it's also broken up into two parts: flow and balance. I have decent skill in the flow part because the movements are similar to what I used to do in dance and in skating, but I really excel in the balance poses. Jumping around on thin blades has finally paid off for me. 

Same concept. 

Now that I have all of this free time I almost don't know what to do with myself. I still have another week before school starts, but until then I'm left with my own devices. I told one of my friends that I was around tonight, but I'm not going to push it. If he wants to hang out with me then he'll call, but I'm not going to hold my breath. Neil's leaving has definitely left a hole in Sundays and everyone else is away on vacation or still a work. Poo. 

All images from google.

Anger as soon as fed is dead, tis starving makes it fat.

I got a very rested but very interrupted sleep last night. Last night I worked out and then read for a little while and then when I was trying to fall asleep the girly cramps kicked in full force. Now ladies you know what I'm talking about, the ones that are full body and crippling. The ones that come in waves like labor pains and have put me off childbirth forever and ever. If you're one of the lucky women out there that has no idea what I'm talking about I envy you. While my body was in the throes of agony I chatted up one of my friends. Not the best idea talking to a boy when all you want to do is rip out your uterus. The poor guy tried to be sympathetic, but all I heard was "thank god I'm a boy." Well poo poo on you.

Around 4am I was awakened by something. I'm not sure if it was the storm, the cramps, or something else, but I was up. For some reason I also had the need to check my email, since it hadn't been working earlier and was slightly disturbed by an actually nothing sort of email. In my paranoid state however, I was so freaked out that I couldn't fall back asleep until about 6am. I have problems, I know. Anyways while I was awake I texted a friend about my paranoia over the email and now I'm pretty sure he's ready to commit me to the nut house. I can't help it, I fear confrontation.

In between getting a little more sleep and going to work I decided not to work out (totally regret that now) and instead watch the new episode of Wilfred. Jason Gann is officially going on the potential husband list. Seriously he is brilliant as a man in a dog costume. The show has definitely made me want to get my Siberian husky sooner than later and now I want to play frisbee all of the time. Someone please play frisbee with me!

I just realized that I have start school in ten days which means that I only have one more official week to go to the beach. Total sad face right now. I need to plan this one carefully too because there's so much going on in the office and I don't want to spend the last beach week alone on the beach so I have to make sure my beach buddy is available and all that jazz. SO much planning goes into this, argh!

Lions and tigers and thunderstorms. Oh my!

This morning was a morning of "Let's wake Sidney up" oddisms. It started with my alarm going off a little before 7am. I had no real intention of getting up at 7am, but with school around the next couple of bends I figured it's time to start reminding myself that eventually I will have to get up at 7am. So I woke up, slightly. I noticed that I had an incredible long mass-text message from an unknown number on my phone and after a little sleepy sleuthing and brain racking I remembered that Marissa is leaving for school this morning and that she must have been saying ta-ta to all of us. Just to be sure though I texted her back and she awkwardly admitted that it had been her texting me before the sun had come up. I tentatively fell back asleep and I was only down for about a half hour when the thunderstorm from Hell rolled in and scared the crap out of me. The lightning and thunder were so bright and loud and after a night of reading and watching SVU episodes I was too tired and still a little shocked to do anything but huddle under the ten blankets I've accumulated on my bed from having the air conditioning on too high while I sleep. The storm outside was so wild that car alarms kept going off and I could hear women screaming as they tired to make their way to the Septa stop. I love rainy mornings and I wish that this storm had happened Wednesday morning instead, it would have been a lot nicer and more appreciated then. Around 8am I texted one of my friends who also appreciates insane weather. He must have still been asleep because his response was a bit typoed but I got his point. Eventually the rain bouncing off of every one's air conditioning units lulled me back into unconsciousness until my alarm went off sometime after 10am. By then I was up so I did a little blog reading and finished the rest of the movie that I had left in my laptop.

It's a slow day at work today but I am pleased to announce that I have become an aunt. Amazing I know since my only sister is probably the last person on the planet to give birth out of wedlock. Well rest assured mom and all you other Christian crusaders my sister did not give birth. I just an aunt in name. One of the ladies I work with brought her grandchildren into the office today and to introduce us to all of them she adds aunt to our names and calls us all her work family. It's cute especially since I don't actually have to participate in anything past the introductions. It's an incredibly slow day today which is good because it's given me time to work on this and get a little reading done. I've started read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. I wish I could stop time and read all day because I can't put this book down. Unfortunately I have things to do and I keep getting interrupted. When I finish I'll let you know what I think, so far it's amazing. My friend over at My Everyday Discoveries is OBSESSED with the movies and the series and he even has a poll going about who makes a better Lisbeth Salander. You can share your opinion here.

After work I have to work out and then I think I'm going to head over to IKEA and pick up a few things and then go to Home Depot. I need spray paint to finish up my the stuff in my apartment and then I will be satisfied with any home improvements I've got going on for a little while. Somewhere in there I also have to clean up my kicthen.

They let me go early! I won 'Most Cooperative Inmate' four months running

Right now I am on the road. I'm probably in New York, but at the rate that I get up in the mornings there's still a strong chance that I'm only in Vermont still. Plus if I stopped to visit my mother in Berlin then yeah, I'm still in Vermont. It's been a good trip so far, here's hoping I make it home without a ticket or a flat tire.

I got my new license yesterday. Since I won't be home in September when my license expires and I needed to update my pictured, I ventured into the DMV. The DMV in Vermont may be small, but it is still the same as anywhere else: a big joke. I had to wait in line to get a ticket to wait in another line. I did meet a nice guy while I was waiting for my turn. He lives in a small town and works in the woods. If I had been home for the summer I would have considered asking for his number, but I'm also trying to move away from that type of guy no matter how nice and charming there are. I'm not going to settle for just good looks and a good body. I want more and I will wait impatiently until I meet that person. But anyways I now have a grownup license! Woot!

I look the same, but now I'm horizontal! Haha.

Yesterday at the book store I found the greatest thing ever. I'm sure most of you are familiar with the children's book Pat the Bunny. It's a cute peach colored book about a bunny and textures that the child can feel while they read the book. At the book store I saw a parody of it called, Pat the Zombie. As a lover of all things zombie, instantly I was thrilled and sent a picture of the book to my friend who is writing a zombie survival guide. (Yonni my 22nd birthday is in almost a month and I would love a first draft :) JK take your time and don't rush your art). If anyone finds any other cool zombie things please send them to me.

It needs brains! Zombie bunny brains!

By the time you've finished this I have hopefully made it to I-87 and am cruising my way on down to the Thruway. What an evil evil road the Thruway is. Almost as bad as the expressway in rush hour. Goodbye empty Vermont highway, hello six lane traffic. It's been fun but Philadelphia needs me.

True fact: This is what a Vermont interstate highway looks like and there are only two of them. 

P.S. Please think good thoughts for my Hebrew Friend. He hasn't been feeling very well lately.

Hey that last guy was at least a six.

I haven't written in a few days because A: I'm on vacation, B: I didn't want to and C: I'm on vacation. The problem with not writing though is that I have all of these awesome things happening to/around me that I end up having too much to say and so my posts become super long (and a little boring) and I forget half the stuff that I wanted to write about in the first place. So I've decided to write now instead of waiting until I get home tomorrow night. I'm in Vermont right now for those of you aren't Cynthia! or Yon or missed the fact that I typed vacation twice in a sentence (see above). I have so much energy from all of the thoughts zooming through my head right now I keep getting distracted by the episodes of M*A*S*H that I'm watching right now and all of the cool stuff that I keep finding on the internet (because there is so much cool stuff out there besides the porn), it's hard to focus and put this all down.

Alright I'll just start. Today I bought more books. I had the car in Burlington while my mom was at an appointment and since it was raining I did the obvious thing, go to Barnes and Noble. I have purchased so many books this summer I could open up my own bookstore, hey there is a space available in Wynnewood so you never know. Actually I do know, I don't like to share my books with most people, a trait I've inherited from Lance. So I went in and it seriously is the book Mecca of Vermont. There has never been a better Barnes and Noble than the one in South Burlington. It is the best corporate bookstore around. Two stories of book bliss. While I was there I purchased the second Flappers book, I have an unabashed addiction to YA literature, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, my Hebrew Friend has been telling everyone to read this book and since Lance doesn't lend his books to anyone I had to buy my own, and a copy of One Day. I've been seeing this book everywhere and when I went to see The Help with my mom the trailer for One Day played and the movie looks amazing so I'm hoping that the book is as well.

I also went to the Good Will today too. I've become obsessed with finding thrifty things to decorate my apartment with. I started at the car show flea market this weekend looking for empty frames to paint and hang on my wall. I saw the idea of hanging empty frames at art pieces in an article on Hello Giggles and now I have to do it to my own walls. I painted three that I found at the car show white and then I found three more at the Good Will for .99 cents each. I was excited and I think I'm going to paint these one a couple of different colors and hang them on the purple wall in my living room. I'm only in the apartment for nine more months but I think that's still plenty of time to make the apartment cool and pretty. I've also become obsessed with spray painting things. I have a couple of lamps that need to be painted when I get back to the city and them I'm going over to IKEA to get cheap lampshades and a small area rug if I can find one.

I'm also taking home the extra power drill in the garage. I have to hang up the frames and and some shelves to hold up all of the new books that I've bought recently. I picked up a few Faulkner's at the library book sale this weekend for the price of: on the house (that was for you Kyle). Since my book shelves are completely filled I have to put them somewhere else. I love old books so the ones that don't fit in the cases and shelves I am going to use as part of the decor I have going on: mumbly jumbly.

The best thing about this weekend was the visit to the Matterhorn. The greatest little ski bar at the base of Mountain Mansfield. It was first opened by my Latin teacher Ms. Knapp back in the 80s and has since changed hands many times, but it is now a super cool bar where you can get the greatest sushi. I always get the soft shell crab roll, it has the legs and claws sticking out of the ends of the roll. I also went with the spicy tuna martini this time too. It's segments of raw tuna and seaweed tossed in a spicy Thai sauce, topped with caviar and served in a martini glass. So yummy! And of course to accompany this I also had one of Jesse mai tais. 

A delicious drink that smells like coconut rum. 

My sushi. There is next to no real lighting and my phone doesn't have a flash :(

Check back tomorrow. I'll be in transit but there will be a post sometime tomorrow afternoon. 

Next time you're in Upper Darby you better let me know. I'm about to get laid off and I live with my mom.

The heartland of Uzbekistan is the Fergana Valley. Located across most of the country, this valley is extremely fertile and protected by mountains at the north and at the south. Two rivers run through the valley supplying life to area. Once part of the Northern Silk Road, it sustains the country's silk industry. It is a beautiful part of a often overlooked country in western Asia. I want to go to Uzbekistan and see the Fergana Valley. I want to stay in a yurt and hike through the mountains and travel along the rivers.

Fergana Valley

I just got back recently from a trip to Ocean City, NJ with my Hebrew Friend to see some friends who are staying at the shore for the week. It was the perfect day for the shore. Completely flawless skies and just the right amount of waves to go swimming and body surfing. We left the city early and were able to have a full rich day in Jersey. The shore was not too crowded, kind of like going to the Park on a weekend when the state park is too full to get into. We were all able to swim (those of us that actually like water), read, rest, and play Frisbee. Hebrew Friend taught me to play football though I still need some help with my catching and aim. He and I are going to have to go throw a ball around when I get back from Vermont (I'm not terribly excited about driving home alone tomorrow evening). Mini golf and pizza concluded our day and I did get a chance to see Chem Anna in action at the coffee shop. On the way home I nearly fell asleep, but then had a extremely enlightening experience with a friend. 

Yes I was with this person and yes he wore socks and shoes on the beach.

This time last year Chem Anna began her senior freak out. She would unexpectedly cry and fret about the idea of leaving school and getting into grad school. She had a hard time letting go of her safety net and preparing for the scariness of the real world. I though she and my other senior friends were crazy for crying about leaving school. They were only nine months away from no more homework. I thought that they should be celebrating and not mourning. Now that it's my turn, I feel even less prepared and successful than Chem Anna and some of my other friends who recently graduated. I just cry and cry at unexpected moments about school and the paths I've taken and how my life is going to turn out at the end of the next nine months. I'm scared about graduating especially since I will only have been working at my chosen major for three semesters. I don't have enough material for a portfolio to send to graduate schools and I haven't started studying for the GREs. I'm also terrified about leaving because I don't know where I'm going and I know I can't go home. I also don't want to leave my best friend. For the first time I have someone that I am unconditionally close to and I'm not quite prepared to put any distance between us. When I was in Vermont last time Lance said some very sage words to me: "Most choices aren't wrong, they're just not right." The decisions that I've made may not have been the best or the wisest for me but they've led me to finding a passion or two and to Yonni and to new skills. I'm just waiting for when I can start making the right choices the first time around. 

All dads like what their sons get them.

Last night I had dinner out with a friend and I can't believe how much I've missed just having a nice dinner with good company. Too often I'm just at the bar with friends and it's too loud to actually spend any quality time, and someone always leaves too early, and of course someone always drinks too much. It just gets old too after a while and it becomes more like people drinking in the same place than friends spending any real time together. Having dinner with my friend tonight was nice. We went out which I haven't done in a while and got to catch up and be together. I prefer doing dinner at home because I like to be in charge of the food I'm eating and I like cooking with other people and it's infinitely cheaper to cook at home for me. But the point of all this is that I need spend less time at the bars and more time in with friends.

 "All this over a book? I have cousins who shot each other, and they got over it."

I watched Peep World when I got home form dinner. It was an interesting and funny movie about a son who wrote a thinly veiled tell-all about his family and has gone off to make a ton of money and a movie about his family's dirty secrets. The movie takes place the day of his father's 70th birthday and how the family reacts about coming together for the first time since the publication of the book, Peep World. It's fantastic and completely true for everyone, we all have dysfunctional families, some more than others. The casting was prefect for this movie too. It starred Ben Schwartz as the youngest brother who wrote the book depicting his siblings, played by Michael C. Hall, Sarah Silverman, and Rainn Wilson, in bad lights. The acting by these people was phenomenal and very different from the roles that you usually see them in. The supporting cast of Judy Greer, Kate Mara, and Taraji P. Henson was also outstanding. And nothing is better than Lewis Black as the narrator. 

I just got home after being at the bar alone and I feel kind of pathetic. Overall I had  successful work day and am jazzed that I found someone to work for me tomorrow so that I can everything that I have to do tomorrow done before I go to the shore on Wednesday and then Vermont on Thursday. I honestly thought that tonight was going to be an easy night. We had an early rush and then it just about died. Everyone but the closers got cut and then immediately after around 9:30pm we had a rush. I had a so may people in my section that I had to have people sat in other sections, the same with the other closer, Ant. For an hour it was total bedlam and since I don't smoke I almost lost it and started crying. I am a Purnell though, so instead I sucked it up, stabbed an idiot employee in the hand with a fork and carried on. (I didn't do that middle part, but I really wanted to). It only lasted an hour and I even had the pain in the ass old ladies out and their table cleared before 11pm. While at work I got a call from Produce Junction that someone had found my keys and that I could pick them up tomorrow. I was so elated that I literally ran around the dining room screaming. So now tomorrow I will potentially have my keys. Awesome, pure awesomeness.

When I finally got out of work it was raining. I love the rain. I remember watch the Heath Ledger movie Casanova and one character talked about happiness good weather and how people have different versions of good weather. I've found that I love the rain and that as much I love the sun and warmth, rain and snow storms are my good weather. I literally sat in the rain while I called a friend who told me to call after I got out of work. Instead of hanging out he decided that he needed a night in alone (his version of happiness). I was going to go home, but then at the last minute I decided to go to the bar. I was hoping that my one friend was working, but it seems like everyone else I know is away on vacation. I stayed and had a beer and then decided to head home. I was home before midnight and that beer was just the right amount of whatever I needed. I sang really loud to "Cheers" on my way home and I don't even like that song.

Black Sheep, Tommy Boy? Does it really matter. 

Tomorrow I don;t have to go into work but I do have a bunch of school work that I have to finish tomorrow. I'm going to try and find something away from my apartment to work so  that I don't get distracted easily and quit before I'm done. I hoping to finish by late afternoon so that I can spend some time with some friends, though my self-esteem took a hit tonight so I may have to hole up in my bedroom like everyone else I know. My contacts are nasty and I want to get some sleep. I'll let you know how it goes when I get there.



Moral of the story: Even when your friends don't want to hang out with you at least you have someone to find your keys for you. 

I don't like thick things in my mouth.*

What a crazy day! Sort of. I had brunch this morning with my friends and there were two happy additions to the group today. First was Kyle who is almost never available to dine with us Friday mornings and then there was my Hebrew Friend's mother. Sometimes we see in her in the mornings but she has never joined us. It was nice to have the two new additions this morning. I also brought flowers to breakfast. Pink carnations, nothing too exciting. I bought the flowers because for one thing it adds something nice to the table early in the day and also because Cynthia has finished working at one of her jobs. I'm glad I brought the flowers because I found that more than just Cynthia enjoyed them. If I had known that they were appreciated I would have gotten a better bouquet, but there's something nice and simple about carnations especially when they are fully bloomed and look like big ruffled buttons.

The second crazy part of the morning was that I lost my keys. It sucks but I'm actually surprised that I hadn't lost them earlier in my time here in Philadelphia. I do stuff like that, but fortunately I didn't loose any important keys and the ones that I did I have back ups of until I can get a new set made. It also means that I have to get a new key chain, preferably a grosgrain ribbon one or one with little anchors on it. I'm also really appreciative to the nice Mexicans at Produce Junction who broke into my car for me so I could grab my spare and get to brunch in time.

First job was also crazy busy. We were handing out books for next semester to the students. I had to organize fifty bundles of business books for the students and make sure that they were all labeled appropriately. It would have been fine if I had known who got what and whether or not we were missing anything before I got the task underway. Thank god for P90X, it helped with lifting and moving all of the boxes and bags of text books all over the office.

Second job was perfect. I worked on a party all night with two other women and we successfully sold over $500 of alcohol to them. We just got a shipment of new wine in and we ended up selling all of the bottles in stock to the party. It was amazing how much money a father was willing to throw down for his daughter's rehearsal dinner. It was great that I made over $100 on one table, which is way more than I've made on a Friday night in months, but it sucked that I didn't get out past 11:30pm, long after the closers. I was going to go to the bar after work but when I sat down in my car I was so sweaty that all I wanted to do was take a shower and then once I got out of the shower I didn't want to leave my apartment. I was going to invite a friend over to watch movies, but since I'm so tired now and I have to be up at 7am for work it just wouldn't be fair to them to watch movies while I'm sleep/drool on the side of the sofa.

*The things that happen at work just slay me. 

I need to get better at my vacation days.

Tibby died! And now I know why Anna wouldn't tell me what happened when she read the book earlier in the summer. I was so not expecting a sister to die that I spent the first half of my day reading in bed and crying because there would no longer be anymore Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants because one of the sisters had died, and in Greece! I feel in love with these books when I was in high school. They tell a beautiful story about four close friends and their summers during high school, college, and then the summer before their 30th birthdays. I always felt that the movies were really stupid and offered no really validity of what the books were about, so you really have to read the books to understand what I'm talking about. Each of the four girls had extremely different and vibrant personalities with their own problems on love and life issues. Despite all of their differences they still managed to stay close and best friends. And while I am still shocked that Ann Brashares offed Tibby, I will agree that if she had to do it it's best that it was Tibby. It's not like she could kill Carmen or Bee or Lena. Especially not Lena because then she and Kostos would never have had a chance to be together. That is officially my favorite literature romance ever, but after Anne and Gilbert and Elizabeth and Darcy. Kostos and Lena had to wait ten years for everything in their life to work out and to realize that they were meant to be together. Sigh.

I've been reading a lot lately. I go in spurts. Usually my peak is during school breaks and vacation and my lows are during the school year when I am too consumed with other things to read that I usually put off anyways. This past week I've read five books, not an all time high but still respectable. Books are not the only thing that I've been reading this week. One of my best friends sent me the world's greatest facebook message that I will always treasure, at least while I have a facebook account (my friend I will cherish for always). If I get my friend's permission, I will share it with you all because it's really part of a much larger story that is both incredibly funny and incredibly creepy. 

Now as promised it you follow me on twitter, here is a sample of a short story that I wrote for one of my creative writing classes. As always please feel free to contact me with any thoughts or criticisms about the piece, I need all of the help I can get.

An excerpt from Sauce Story:

Late at night after work, and dinner with his family, after all of the dirty dishes were cleaned and put away my father would get out his largest stockpot and all of the ingredients to make his marinara sauce. It was a recipe brought over from Naples that became lost in translation as each generation made it to their own taste.  My father would start by dicing onions and letting them slowly sauté in the olive oil that he would pour from the large canister kept under the Catering Kitchen table. Before my mother would shoo me up to bed I would spy my father sorting the various cans of diced tomatoes that he would later use and pull out the necessary spices. Salt, pepper, garlic, onion, basil, and oregano would all be lined up ready to be used later to taste.

I was in middle school before my mother relented and allowed me to stay up past my regular bedtime. I was watching television when I heard the clanking of the pot being brought out onto the stove and cans of diced and crushed tomatoes stacked together on the butcher blocker countertop. I sauntered out to see what was going on, barely able to hide my eagerness at being able to stay up to watch the wondrous process that had been handed down through our family’s generations. My father noticed me and told me to stir the onion, browning in the bottom of the pot. I had to be careful not to burn the onion and ruin the sauce. When it was time, he helped me add the tomatoes and taught me how to add spices to taste. He showed me when it was the best time to add something new and that a cup of water to the mixture could correct most taste mistakes. With everything slowly simmering away over low heat my father sent me to bed while he read a book in the living room until it was time to take the sauce off of the flame and let it sit.

If you want the full version of the story just send me an email, unless you're my Hebrew Friend and you've already read it a hundred times.

In conversations we want him to read our mind and in bed we want him to read our vagina’s mind.

Yesterday I went to the beach. It wasn't anything special because the waves were nearly dead and I was by myself, but the water was warm and I was able to finish a book and start another. It was great though because it was extremely hot out, but on the beach there was a nice breeze that kept things even and helped keep me in the sun longer. Don't worry Mom I wore my sunscreen. I also wore my polka dot one piece. I bought the bathing suit last summer when I was at the peak of my weight gain and couldn't face myself in a two piece but didn't want to look like I was eleven or my mom in my lap suit. I like the suit because it has a cutout in the back and it can be worn strapless or with a halter-type strap. It's already a bit loose, but I can still get away with it for the rest of the summer. It's my last one in it though because I don't intend to ever get that fat again unless there is a baby in my belly. I just don't think that this suit will still be in style in ten years.

No waves. Sad panda.

I've finished the Hunger Games. That's ALL I'm going to say since I already almost screamed at my friend about how I felt about the series conclusion and I can't relive that here. 

I actually put effort into making something for dinner or at least put the effort into assembling things on the same plate to make a meal since it's summer and it's too hot to actually cook anything in my apartment. It was brilliant and now I feel very full and content and will soon fall asleep from food happiness. I went to the store with the intention of picking very specific things up because I thought I was in the mood for something very specific, but once I got there I discovered that I was really in the mood for something else and brought home goat cheese, tomatoes, and pita chips. I also purchased a personal favorite from my childhood for dessert. 

Dinner for me was a full head of romaine. Actually I picked off the the tops because I don't like the soft dark green parts of the lettuce. I usually just do oil, vinegar, and cinnamon, but I wanted something different so I mixed olive oil, lemon juice, spices, and tarragon and tossed that with the lettuce. I added a tomato and some goat cheese for extra awesomeness. The tomato was slightly under-ripe, but what can you expect from anything outside of Lancaster County. The goat cheese was what really made the salad. The tangy cheese combined with the salty lemony dressing made fireworks in my mouth. 

I love goat cheese so much that I ate almost most of it with pita chips on the side of the salad. I've become more and more a fan of pita chip over potato or corn chips. They are just more filling without actually eating more of them. The Sandy's kind that I get also come in a bunch of yummy flavors. My favorite is the Naked kind with just a little salt, but I also love the cinnamon sugar kind. They are just the right amount of sweetness. 

Dessert is something most people wouldn't touch if they've ever had the real thing, but I didn't want to bake in the heat so I bought the stale cake cups that are sold next to the fruit for strawberry shortcake. I love strawberry shortcake with whipped cream. If I had been serious about the dessert I would have soaked the packaged cakes in raspberry liqueur to soften them and give the dessert added flavor. Instead I just piled the cakes with layers of strawberries and whipped cream until the little mounds could no longer stand. The heat from my apartment melted the whipped cream a little and the cream helped soften the cakes which was an unexpected bonus. I almost never eat these, in fact the last time I did was two years ago when I was living in the house, but I miss this even if the real thing is so much better. 

*The title comes from article I read over at Hello Giggles. 

I'm going to the shore tomorrow. I'm planning on leaving fairly earlier, or at least earlier than I usually do. It's supposed to rain again like it did today so I want to make sure that I get enough beach time in. I plan on being back tomorrow evening so that I can tell you all how it went. Pray for some hot and sunny weather!

A walk by definition has no destination. Even a cat knows that.

Second round.

I'm in an office right now doing absolutely nothing and I'm unsupervised and if I were doing this four or five years ago this would have been a very bad thing. For example (and mind you I still do this) whenever I am in one of my parents' offices I tend to find things to amuse myself even if it means disturbing their papers. I can definitely say that one has a better collection of junk than the other. Anyways instead of being my usual moderately destructive self, and because I already know where everything is in here, I am blogging, which is way more productive than anything that I would be doing anywhere else. Run ons ;)

Friday a successfully busy morning/day for me. I started in Jersey and now I'm in Philadelphia. Along the way I have handed in my portfolio for my nonfiction shorts class, sorted a ridiculous amount of text books and watched leftover clips from old Chelsea Lately shows. Okay maybe it hasn't been entirely too busy, but I do have a busy night of work ahead of me. Hopefully. I feel extremely proud of myself for completing my portfolio on time and was particularly impressed at my own personal effort to actually make multiple drafts of a piece before handing the portfolio in. It was a little tricky for me this time to get everything organized and together because it had to be handed in one long single word document. Usually each piece gets printed out and I can sort through it all and make sure that I have everything. This time I had to keep scrolling up and down the document and do a lot of cutting a pasting. The portfolio ended up being 35 pages so I had to be extra careful about sorting and layout. I also became particularly paranoid about not saving enough and probably messed up the word program with all my command+s-ing. Either way I am proud that I finished it. My writing has greatly evolved because of it and I owe a lot to my Hebrew Friend for pushing me and making me write properly and for an audience. He's very good at pushing me to make a piece that  much better and if I ever get something published he is definitely getting at least a footnote.

This weekend I read the first two books of The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. I only really decided to start reading them because two of my friends are excited about the movie coming out and talk about it all of the time and I wanted to be able to participate instead of blankly sitting there listening to them talk. I first heard about these books when I was a freshman in college. I used to follow a Twilight podcast that was more of a book club than a fan site. After the podcast people finished the Twilight books they moved on to The Hunger Games books and of course I was still aboard the romantic vampire train and stopped listening to the podcast and forgot all about The Hunger Games. Three years later I could kick myself because these books are awesome. I read the first one on Thursday at the beach and then purchased the second one on Friday and finished it at work on Saturday. The bookstore near me in currently out of the third one so right now I am debating on whether or I want to drive to find it after work so that I can take it to the beach tomorrow.

I seriously need this book, now!

This is kind of a weird scheduling week for me because I have two days off from work instead of my usual one. Last week a friend said that they wanted to go to the beach this week so I took tomorrow off of work to go. I love the place that I go because I have a yearly pass so I don't have to pay for parking and pay a separate admission fee to lie in the sand for a couple of hours. The place where I go is also a state park so the land is protected and natural. There aren't any beach combers tearing apart the beach and rebuilding it all of the time. It's really cool that way because nature controls it which means that each time I go it's a little bit different looking. I've also found that as much as I love being alone on the beach I also like to have someone there to go swimming with and to talk to just to break up the monotony. It's get too to have someone to ride down with and inexpensive too. All you really need is to stop at a store a pick up some cheap eats for the beach and that's it. Besides gas in the car that I already have and the $4 toll coming back, thank you EZ Pass for making me not worry about routing around foI'm in an office right now doing absolutely nothing and I'm unsupervised and if I were doing this four or five years ago this would have been a very bad thing. For example (and mind you I still do this) whenever I am in one of my parents' offices I tend to find things to amuse myself even if it means disturbing their papers. I can definitely say that one has a better collection of junk than the other. Anyways instead of being my usual moderately destructive self, and because I already know where everything is in here, I am blogging, which is way more productive than anything that I would be doing anywhere else. Run ons ;)

Friday a successfully busy morning/day for me. I started in Jersey and now I'm in Philadelphia. Along the way I have handed in my portfolio for my nonfiction shorts class, sorted a ridiculous amount of text books and watched leftover clips from old Chelsea Lately shows. Okay maybe it hasn't been entirely too busy, but I do have a busy night of work ahead of me. Hopefully. I feel extremely proud of myself for completing my portfolio on time and was particularly impressed at my own personal effort to actually make multiple drafts of a piece before handing the portfolio in. It was a little tricky for me this time to get everything organized and together because it had to be handed in one long single word document. Usually each piece gets printed out and I can sort through it all and make sure that I have everything. This time I had to keep scrolling up and down the document and do a lot of cutting a pasting. The portfolio ended up being 35 pages so I had to be extra careful about sorting and layout. I also became particularly paranoid about not saving enough and probably messed up the word program with all my command+s-ing. Either way I am proud that I finished it. My writing has greatly evolved because of it and I owe a lot to my Hebrew Friend for pushing me and making me write properly and for an audience. He's very good at pushing me to make a piece that  much better and if I ever get something published he is definitely getting at least a footnote.

This weekend I read the first two books of The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. I only really decided to start reading them because two of my friends are excited about the movie coming out and talk about it all of the time and I wanted to be able to participate instead of blankly sitting there listening to them talk. I first heard about these books when I was a freshman in college. I used to follow a Twilight podcast that was more of a book club than a fan site. After the podcast people finished the Twilight books they moved on to The Hunger Games books and of course I was still aboard the romantic vampire train and stopped listening to the podcast and forgot all about The Hunger Games. Three years later I could kick myself because these books are awesome. I read the first one on Thursday at the beach and then purchased the second one on Friday and finished it at work on Saturday. The bookstore near me in currently out of the third one so right now I am debating on whether or I want to drive to find it after work so that I can take it to the beach tomorrow.

I seriously need this book, now!

I love the beach.

So anyways to end this, I have a friend who is going through a rough patch right now and as frustrating and annoying it is to be around them when they are acting this way, I love my friend and I want them to be happy. It's just very frustrating because there isn't a whole lot I can do for them right now because they have a lot going on in the inside that they need to sort out first. The best I can do is just listen and be supportive as best as I can. Really though I just want to do what I do when Max crashes into something a little hard: pick them up, squeeze them tight and watch the adult equivalent of Thomas the Tank Engine episodes. Too bad I'm only a five foot girl with the inability to lift anyone other than Max.

PS. The title is a wonderful line from my favorite dog Wilfred.
r change, it literally costs less than $10 dollars to go to the beach with me :)