Welcome back to Athens

So I am officially moved into my Lumpkin house and it's seriously awesome!  I cannot describe how much I love my room!  It's big with lots of storage and decorated exactly how I envisioned it.  I love everything about it!  And the house in general is just great.  Front porch with swing, back screened in porch.  Today was the first day I took a shower in the house because the water hadn't been turned on previously, and I can't even complain about the water pressure.  It was just right.  

It's been weird cooking for myself.  I am not the gourmet chef; my culinary experience ranges from mac and cheese to pb&j.  So this is really an experimental stage in my cooking.  And I feel oddly grown up.  So for my very first meal alone, all I was trying to do was heat up some Transmet potato soup in the microwave.  (I know, very top-chef.)  But seriously, how hard can this be.  I've been using the microwave since kindergarten.  Well, the heating-the-soup was complicated because we have no dishware, yet.  I had to heat up the soup in the styrofoam bowl it came in.  Bad decision.  Apparently styrofoam literally melts away when it is too hot.  I picked up the bowl and the bottom no longer existed.  I tried to catch the scalding soup with my hand.  Oops.  So my first cooking (really just heating up) experience in my new kitchen was a crappy experience. 

I am interning at Cine as public relations/publicity/events intern, and I am so excited!  It's such a cool, versatile space, and I am hoping to get experience doing tons of cool things.  So far I've been brainstorming how to attract sororities to the space for things like date nights and formals, and I've also been brainstorming an event for children for this summer.  Check Cine out!  Seriously!

Obsession of the Day: Other Blogs

I have become an avid reader of several blogs since I began writing my own.  I find one that I begin to like, and through one blog I find another, and so on.  

The first blog I discovered was dooce.com.  Check it out!  It's quite funny, and the look of it is just really cool.  I think that dooce is one of the most popular blogs on the web, and I know it beat out Postsecret.com as best American blog site.  dooce is just about a very sarcastic woman, Heather and her family.  Heather is a former Mormon turned atheist, and she has also battled severe depression.  She even had to check herself into an institution in order to save herself right after her daughter was born.

Heather's blog led me to theredneckmommy.com, another blog about a sarcastic mother.  Tannis, the mother, is a little untraditional.  She has tatoos and has posted naked pics of herself on the blog.  She also loves to talk about boobs and sex.  

I then found sarcastica.org, a blog about a 19 year old who just had a baby only a few days ago.  It's really cool how she has handled everything and hear her talking about becoming a brand new mom.  

From sarcastica, I found thespohrsaremultiplying.com.  I began to read this blog by yet another mother and her family when my heart was shattered.  Beautiful little Maddie passed away, and every word of her mother's just drips with unbearable sadness.  

From thespohrsmultiplying.com, I found what I believe to be my FAVE!  Mattlogelin.com.  I found it yesterday, and I spend most of the day reading all of the past posts and SOBBING.  Not just crying a little, not just fully crying, but sobbing.  Matt's story is heartbreaking.  A year ago, his beautiful wife Liz, his high school sweat-heart and the love of his life, gave birth to a little girl named Madeline.  The following day, Liz stood up to go visit her baby and collapsed.  Liz never woke up.  In 27 hours, Matt lost his wife and true love but gained a daughter.  His blog follows him coping with his life and raising a daughter on his own.  He is never sappy or over-dramatic.  He is just completely real, and sometimes his realty is earth-shattering.  

So, apparently I like to read blogs about people raising little children.  I didn't even realize that until just now.  Interesting.  Oh, and I really like to read blogs that make me cry (and laugh), often in the same post.  

"Oh my god look!"

That is what I exclaimed to Nature Boy as I just uploaded my new AWESOME background!  Ahh!

A collage of words

Looong time no see.  Apologies, apologies, apologies.  I've had a lot of things going on lately, which I know of course is no excuse.  Last week, I had 2 presentations, a paper, 2 tests, and a quiz.  And private life stuff, too.  Life has just been throwing me a lot of curve balls recently.  Just have to get through the next two weeks like every other college kid dreading finals, I guess.

This sounds silly, but it's just so nice to be writing on here again.  It makes me have a small giddy feeling in my stomach.  Even though I haven't been writing on you, blog, you are always in my thoughts.  Whenever I get online and do the whole, "gmail, facebook, webct" trio, the next thing I do is search the internet for a pretty background to add to you.  I am kind of obsessed, and nothing I come across seems good enough.

So last night I went to Twilight, a bicycling event in downtown Athens that is just really cool.  It was basically a mix of a bike race, college stumbling with drinks in hand, and families with their children.  Odd combination, but together it just clicked.  I know it was no Tour de France, but the bikes just seemed to go so fast!  When you just looked at the whole street as a whole, the bikers were a complete blur, and instead when you just focused on a single biker himself, the background became really blurry.  That might sound really weird (and I was completely sober, I swear!).  

This Tuesday my roommates and I are going through our final walkthrough of our house before we move in mid-May.  It's finally happening, and I'm so excited!  I can't wait to move in, get settled, decorate, and just have fun.  I'm quite obsessed with HGTV, in particular House Hunters and Property Virgins.  I watch both every night, always putting myself in the people's shoes on tv looking for their new home and decorating it.  And now I get to have my very own house (with four other roommates that is!) but still.  After living in a dorm for one year and then a sorority house with almost 60 other girls, I can't wait to have my own place.  It'll be like my very own episode on HGTV.

Dodging a bullet

Today, I dodged a bullet.  You see, I am lactose intolerant, and today I ran out of my lactaid pills. (No. lactaid pills are not for women who are lactating, as a few girls in my sorority have asked me.  They help people who have trouble digesting milk.)  I will spare you, my lovely followers, from the gritty details of my endless stomach issues, but let's just say that taking the lactaid pills significantly help my well-being!  

I was craving some of my left-over Dairy Queen Birthday cake (which is my absolute favorite cake of all time!!!), but I could not decide whether or not eating the ice cream cake sans pills would be worth my certain stomach malaise.  After constantly thinking about the cake through two rather boring classes, I rushed to the drug store and purchased the expensive meds.  And then I could eat my cake!  I know, mind-blowing stuff just know.  It was definitely earth shattering in my world, at lease!

So my 20th birthday was on Monday, and it was such a great birthday!  I went home the weekend right before and had a massage, went to Six Flags, and had a wonderful dinner with the fam and Nature Boy.  On Monday, twelve of my friends and I went to Speakeasy, an adorable Athens restaurant.  The dinner could not have gone better and the food could not have been more delicious!  It was really nice to have all my friends from all the different groups in one place.  And don't get me started on the spinach dip!!

To close this wonderful post, I would like to give a shout out to Nature Boy for the unbelievable gift he gave me!  You see, I am a label girl; I just don't have the means to afford most of it.  Well, the lovely bf went above and beyond what he should have and gave me a Coach satchel.  I have been secretly eyeing this purse for I don't know how long, and somehow he knew!  Merci beaucoup!

Hola

I apologize for the delay between posts.  I was on Spring Break last week and computer-less at the beach.  I am sad to report that I did not get very tan.  Instead, I confused myself with an egg and fried the crap out of my arms and legs.  It has been almost two weeks since that fateful day of burning, and I am still peeling.  Seriously, my arms think they are snakes and that it is necessary to shed a layer of skin.  It's pretty gross but also weirdly fascinating.  

Today one of my besties Taylor is coming to Athens because her professional dance company Project 7 is performing all weekend at the Morton Theatre.  I am so excited!!!  I can't think of the last time we have seen each other, that's how long it has been. I am pretty crappy at keeping in touch with friends because we are all so dispersed in college.  But it's also pretty cool that I have such great friendships that even if we haven't seen each other in a while, once we do it is like not a single day has gone by.  We just pick right up where we left off.  

As the semester is inching closer and closer to the end, I am feeling more and more overwhelmed.  I have tons of major assignments and tests in every class that just keep piling up.  I nearly have a nervous breakdown every time I look at my planner because each day seems to have an infinite number of tasks to accomplish.  Ahhh!!!!  I'll get through it though.  And I'll keep you posted on exactly how I manage to do so.

One fish, two fish

In the past, I was not a huge fan of animals.  Cats, bunnies, reptiles.  You name it, I could spew a long list of why the animal was gross and dirty and definitely harmful.  And then Nature Boy came into my life, and suddenly the animal kingdom seemed much less foreboding.

Three years ago, if you asked me what my biggest fear was, I would have said snakes.  Flash forward to the present.  I actually kind of like snakes, or at least I am willing to hold them.  The first time Nature Boy made me hold one of his snakes, I cried.  Now, I ask to hold them.  I even named one of his snakes Grace Kelley; my theory was that if I named her after the beautiful princess of Monaco, surely this snake would have to live up to her name.  And she has.  And I love her.  

Nature Boy has two large fish tanks full of colorful little suckers and pretty coral.  Little by little, I became fascinated by the fishies, and I decided that I would get one.  (Fish are also the only type of pet that was allowed in the freshman dorms last year.)  I decided on a Beta Fish because they are just so colorful and pretty.  Audrey Hepburn my fish has been in my life for about a year and a half now, and I can honestly say that I love her!  Weird, maybe, but I don't care.  She has helped me through some rough times, and I swear to you that she can recognize my voice!  When I talk to her, she goes crazy in her little bowl adorned with flowers, and I have even taught her how to do tricks.  When she passes away (which I hope will never occur), I will be hysterical.

Today, my animal family has grown.  My friends Kerry and Melanie decided that fish parenting just wasn't for them, so I gladly took on the role.  And now, I am the mommy of two lovely fish.  Leia is her name.  Hopefully she will bring me just as much happiness as Audrey has!

Reader, in case you were wondering, yes I did just blog about my obsession with my Beta Fish.  And I am proud of it!

Obsession of the Day

It has been a few days since my last post because I have been sick.  I was fortunate enough to get sick on a weekend that became a three day weekend because of snow.  In March!  I felt really weak and drained, so I decided that the only thing for me to do was watch tv.  And oh boy, did I ever.

I ended up watching seasons 1 and 2 of Entourage, only the coolest show ever!  I seriously could not get enough!  My favorite characters are Eric (he seems the most "real" and level-headed), Ari (he is ruthless with heart) and Lloyd (flamboyantly gay Asian).  The show makes me wonder if LA really is like how it is portrayed in the show; it seems like girls must be over 5'10 and under 100 pounds.  And the girls NEVER wear tops.  Ever!  I don't think I could fit in.  I am 5'2, and I prefer clothes thank you very much.

If you haven't seen it, watch the show!  It took me about 2 episodes to get hooked, but once it got me, it got me good!

Sigh

Today I can breathe a sigh of relief.  A nice, long, drawn-out sigh.  Because today I found out that I got accepted into the Public Relations program in UGA's Grady School of Journalism and Mass Comm.  Many long nights of studying, stress-induced tears, and hard work have led to this day.  

I've always thought it was weird that once you are in college, you then have to apply to get into your major.  They definitely don't tell you that in high school when you are applying to college.  You get into the university you wanted, and then that's it, right?  Wrong!  You have to go through another arduous application process just to study what you want to study.  It just does not make sense to me.  If you are paying to go to college, then why can't you pay to study exactly what you want to study?  

Well, I might not understand the logic behind the whole process, but it doesn't really matter anymore.  Because I did it!  And now I get to change my blogger profile from "intended PR major" to simply "PR major."  Yippee!

I present to you Nature Boy

Blogosphere, I would like to introduce you to Nature Boy, my boyfriend of almost two years.  (1 year, ten months, and nineteen days, to be exact).  I figure, if I am going to write about my life, and he is such a big part of my life, then I need to give him a proper introduction like I gave myself.  

• First, on an explanatory note, I will give you some background on the name "Nature Boy."  Well, basically I am in a relationship with the Dog Whisperer.  That is what my mom calls him.  He just has this special ability to relate to any animal and to comfort them.  My dogs, which hate me for some reason, literally melt into pools of love when they see Nature Boy.  Literally.  It's pretty aggravating when they pretend that I don't exist.  Nature Boy is king of animals, and he has, at one point, owned pretty much any pet imaginable.  When he was younger, he had a duck that followed him around everywhere and thought Nature Boy was his mother!  Nature Boy would probably live in the woods if he could, surviving Bear Grylls-style, hence the fish, boat, and ocean pic.  (I, in contrast, consider sleeping in a motel roughing it.  Camping is out of the question.  You could say we are opposites.)
• He is an amazing drawer, and his ability to draw, along with his love of nature, has led him to pursue a degree in Landscape Architecture.
• He is very mellow and easygoing, so he nicely balances my craziness.
• He is a very manly man.  He can build anything (such as a perfect Nimbus 2000 circa Harry Potter! For Christmas) and repair anything, and he loves things like fishing and sports.  I, in case you were wondering, am quite a girly girl.
• He eats in record speed.  I am not kidding. I have never seen anyone east so quickly.

Hopefully this has been a pleasant intro and not too sappy.  I hate sappy!

Obsession of the Day

My obsession of the day is Chelsea Handler the host of Chelsea Lately on E!, a stand-up comic, and an all-around badass!  I can't get enough of her show.  I've recently read her book "My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One Night Stands," and I thought I would share a small blurb from the book that had me cracking up. "Seeing your mother naked is not something you easily recover from.  Seeing your mother naked and jumping form one side of a king-sized bed to the other with a nurse's hat on while your father, who is also naked, is chasing her with a bandanna around his neck, is reason to put yourself up for adoption."

My new favorite movie (besides Titanic, of course!)

This weekend was Mother-Daughter weekend for my sorority.  On Wednesday my mom and I dined along with sorority friends and their moms.  And then, we made our way over to Cine to watch The Reader.  

Ok, it was amazing!!!  Definitely one of my favorite movies of all time.  It was so different from any movie I have seen in a long time, probably different from any movie I have ever seen.  It was gut-wrenching.  I sat through the entire movie with my mouth in a huge "O," my right hand clutching my chest.  I'll give you a little plot synopsis:  In post WWII Germany, a fifteen year-old boy has an affair with a much older woman, Hanna, (played by Kate Winslet).  It is his first time ever being with a woman, and he falls head over heels in love with her.  She disappears, and he goes on to law school.  As part of a special seminar, he gets to sit in on the trial of Nazi S.S. guards... and Hanna is one of them!

Don't go to this movie if you want to see something uplifting and happy.  Go if you want to see life, in all its grittiness.  And just a heads up, there is A LOT of nudity in this movie.  I'm talking full-frontal of both sexes, along with nipples galore.  Seriously, a lot of nipples.  But I promise you, you will not be disappointed with this movie.  Also, make sure you check out Cine, the local downtown Athens movie theater.  Right now it's playing all the Oscar movies, and it is the coolest movie theater ever!  Cine has a full bar, and you can bring in any alcoholic drink into the theater with you.  The lady next to me had some tropical fruity drink with an orange peel garnish.  In a movie theater!

Obsession of the Day

Today, my obsession is my Juicy Couture glasses.  I think they are really cute, and the pink case is pretty adorable too.  So here is why I really like the glasses.  They help me see.  I know, crazy right?  Until this past year, I had perfect eyes.  I used to make fun of my friends who had to deal with contacts or glasses, thinking, "Sucks for them!"  Well, sadly, I had to get glasses this past Christmas break.  And in the span of almost two months, my eyes have deteriorated exponentially.  Seriously.

When I first got my glasses, I could barely tell a difference between my vision solo versus my vision with them.  And just yesterday, after I took them off when I was leaving class, I had a mini panic attack in my head.  Everything went blurry!  I mean really blurry!  What the hell?  How can my eyes go from perfect to Crappy McCrap Eyes in two months?  I thought the eyes' sole purpose was to SEE?!  Unlike my butt which is just there to look pretty.   Just kidding.  But seriously, step it up eyes!

Oh, and P.S.: I am not the coolest of glass-wearers, either.  I spray them with cleaning solution every time I pull them out.  Yes, I'm that cool.  Oh well, at least they're pretty.

And so it begins...

Hello to anyone that is reading.  If anyone ever reads this blog.  Well, just in case someone stumbles across the blog, I want to give you a glimpse of who I am.  I think the best way to really get to know me is in a bulleted format.  Easy on the eyes, quick and concise.  So, without further ado:

• I am a worrier, always striving for perfection, but as the title states, perfection somehow seems to allude me.  I like to have my day, and frankly my life, planned out in neat little bullet points.  And then when something even slightly out of the ordinary happens, I have minor, make that MAJOR freak outs. 
• I love tv.  LOVE IT!  I always want it on, even just for background noise.  TV makes me happy.  I once took a quiz in middle school about how much tv I watched, and my results were typical of an obese person.  In case you were wondering, I am definitely not obese.  Obsessed with television?  Now that I am.
• Shopping makes me so happy.  I love clothes!  Dresses are my favorite.  For some reason, I never caught on to the whole shoe craze though.  I don’t quite understand why girls are obsessed with shoes.  They usually just give me blisters anyway.
• I have an odd relationship with food.  Every meal, I get an intense craving, and then I need to eat  exactly what I have been craving.  I’m not kidding.  I have shed many a tear because I wanted Chinese and my dad only wanted Taco Mac.  He always wants Taco Mac.  I am not proud of these meltdowns, and I wish they did not exist, but somehow they always make an appearance.  Also, my favorite food is soup.  Yes, soup.  I don’t have a specific favorite, but I especially enjoy the cream-based ones.  Clam chowder, baked potato and cheese, broccoli cheese.  You get the idea.
• Reading is a passion of mine.  Harry Potter is, and probably always will be, my favorite books.  I have read each one about four times, give or take.  If I was given the chance to move to Hogwarts today, I’d take it without any hesitation.  I just really, really want to drink the butterbeer.  I just know it would be delicious!
• I love the French language and culture.  French is one of my majors, the other being Public Relations (that is, if I get into UGA’s PR Program).  Not a day goes by that I don’t dream of traveling to France.  It is one of my lifelong goals, along with being in the stands at a World Cup Soccer game (I have played soccer my whole life), attending a Justin Timberlake concert (judge me, I don’t care), and attending a Celine Dion concert (Titanic is my favorite movie; “My Heart Will Go On” changed me forever).
• Oh, and I have pretty amazing friends, family, and loved ones.  You will most likely hear about them in upcoming posts!