Oh Brother!

wait until you're 21

I want this hat

Goldilocks

and the one bear

oui, oui mon frere

My brother is very silly! On our trip to Disney this summer, his signature pose was the thumbs up with a crazy hat on. He's looking at colleges and maybe he will come to La Salle. I don't know if I want that or not...

Peddler's Village

On this cold day, my mom, sister, and I hiked up to Peddler's Village to walk around and shop. Cute little area. Here are some pictures from our day!

the village

cute, huh?

City Hall, in gingerbread

yum

see the chickens?!?

sisters

Italian Fiasco

This morning I avoided a fiasco. In order to study abroad in Italy, I needed to get a study visa from the Italian consulate. My study abroad director had given me a checklist and the application form. I thought I was all set--just needed to buy my ticket. So I make an appointment for this morning (this was Wednesday) and the consulate sends me an email. It says I must have everything on the list. Wait, what was that? A transcript?!? I didn't have one with me! And it was too late to get one from La Salle. I was freaking out. I was not going to be able to go to Rome. All upset, I print out an unofficial one. My mom tells me not to worry. If we don't have everything, then we will just have to make another appointment.

So this morning I was very nervous. I tripled checked to make sure I had everything. (I did for the one list--not so much for the other). As the time crept closer and closer to 10:45, I was getting more and more nervous. The office was very small and I didn't know where to go to sign in. When it was finally my turn (after some annoying family from Villanova jumped the line!), it went very smoothly! There wasn't a problem, at least that I know of. I was so happy that I avoided an Italian fiasco.

To celebrate, my dad and I went to the mint. It was nicely renovated but none of the machines were working because everyone was off from work! In reality, we got out of the consulate early so my dad wanted to see the mint. When we arrived home, it was time for me to have lunch with my friend Katie. Overall, it was a successful day!

Thanksgiving

 "it is not happy people who are thankful; 

it is thankful people who are happy"

Happy Thanksgiving!! There is obviously many things to be thankful for and I won't bore you with a whole list. Gotcha! I am going to write a huge list because you should be thankful I'm actually posting. Also, I am thankful for this internet access and my freedom of speech to be able to write (for the most part) whatever I want. Here it goes:

my family

honors friends

my track friends

my team

my old team

cousins!

being able to run

my house

living in america

 Well, there might be a part two (this is a lot harder to do than you think). We should be thankful and grateful everyday but Thanksgiving is a day to take a break from our busy lives to actually be thankful. And for that, I am thankful that Thanksgiving is a national holiday and I don't have school. Thank you!!

PR and Fun Run

Yesterday was my last race of the cross country season. It probably will be my last "college" race in 9 months! Going into the race, there was very little pressure. Sure, I wanted to run fast and beat people, but I had nothing at stake if I did not succeed. But it worked out for me.

First, a little setback. Friday night I had gone to bed at 9:30 to be properly rested. My neighbors, however, thought otherwise. I was able to hear their music comfortably, without straining, through our cinder-block wall. At first I decided to count as high as I could. I got to 160 and I think I fell asleep. But then I woke up an hour later to their music. This was not going well at all. I'm afraid of confrontation so I asked my friend Cody to tell them to turn their music down. It worked! They were very nice about it and I am grateful! I slept peacefully for the rest of the night.

Race day--I almost missed the vans! By that I mean I was 3 minutes early. I started to run from Basil's with my big backpack on. Good thing everyone was still sleeping at 7 am. Good news was that I had the whole back seat to myself. We arrived at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. I always love going there and whenever that is, I want to live nearby in the future. We ran the race and I ran my fastest time ever for a 5k cross country course. I was about a minute faster this year than last year. I was excited, but as someone said earlier that day, I am a robot and have no feelings. I know, I know I don't show feelings well--or at all. Leave me be!

This morning I worked the Philly Marathon with my high school cross country team and a few friends. As usual, we didn't have any work after we cleaned up the start/finish area. I decided to take a walk. Then I decided to run. I felt so free by just being able to go for a run, not caring that I had 3 sweatshirts on and that I ran slow. I was enjoying myself. I was running for 13:41 when I saw my boss and co-worker. I stopped to talk to them. Then finally, my dad showed up and we were able to leave. It was such a long morning, yet it was only 11 am. Whew!

PS--Shout out to Chris who overslept and missed working the race. Hate to be the one to say it but you were the one most excited to go! Sorry, next year definitely maybe!

Creep

So two funny stories. Well, at least I think they are funny and worth sharing. One, I was running yesterday alone and as I was coming back from the park, I got stopped at a light. A boy on the team had also stopped there. The light changed and we started running. At this point, on the way back to school, the boys run back one way and the girls another. However, I like to run back the boys' way, to change it up sometimes. This kid on the team probably thought I was following him. I saw that he was stopped at another light so I quickly jumped into the street as to avoid his line of sight (what was I thinking?). I also slowed down to not catch up to him. I was taking all these extreme measures to avoid standing at a light with him. I felt like I was following/creeping on this kid. Oh well.

Two, I was in the library yesterday night and I peeked from atop my cubicle and this kid is looking at me. Not like a quick glance but a full on minute staring. "Who are you?!?!" I thought to myself. Only after we were leaving and I walked by him did I realize who it was. I hate when that happens: either I can't see who you are or you suddenly appear and I am taken by surprise so I don't say hello. Awkward...

Homecoming

So yesterday was such a busy day! In the morning, I administered a high school admissions test. Let me say that it was easy and hard. I had step-by-step directions on what to say. But, I was extremely bored during. And I didn't know what to say to the kids! None of them spoke to me! I forgot to introduce myself even!

Our Homecoming game was in the afternoon. As my roommate and I were walking over to the game, somehow I lost my ticket. We proceeded to walk all the back to our room with no luck. I called my dad so he could buy me one but luckily he got a free one for me. I was very upset but the game was exciting and they won. During the second half, I reached to pull my sweatshirt down in the back and I found my "lost" ticket! I felt so bad for making my roommate late to the game and for my dad buying a ticket.

Last night I worked the event "Green Screen Photos and Breakfast Food." 95 people came! I was able to get my picture taken in front of the Taj Mahal and my friends and I fired Donald Trump. It was very long but fun. I crashed once I got to my room. Oh, I forgot! I took back with me a huge thing of home-fries. What am I supposed to do with all them?!?

I'm not much of a football player...

Do you like my new sweatshirt?!?!

New York

With New York devastated by the storm, I thought it would be uplifting to look at pictures of New York from the past that I found on Life/Time website. On a similar note, school is providing a $5 trip to Ellis Island in a week or so. I definitely want to go!!

brooklyn bridge (life.com)

gets me excited for Christmas! (from life.com)

central park (from life.com)

obviously the statue of liberty (life.com)

Bingo

Tonight, Chris, Kristen, and I went to a Late Night event---BINGO!! I was a little excited because I had helped pick out the prizes. But I get competitive and nervous playing Bingo--like I get into the game so much. Anyway, after a dry spell in the beginning of the first round, and after some kid took my most coveted prize (a USA map puzzles that turned into a poster), I won twice in the first round!! YAY! My luck continued throughout the five rounds. The total number of times you could win was 9 times. I won 8 prizes! It was amazing and exciting! Here is a list of what I got. Everyone is welcome to come by and share!

• Limited Edition Swiss Miss Marshmallow
• Five gum
• Laundry basket
• Frosted animal cookies
• Chewy variety pack
• 9 pack of toilet paper--came with a hidden $25 Visa giftcard!
• Yoga mat for Kristen
• Glow-in-the-dark bat and baseball

I'm so happy!! (pic courtesy of Amanda)

It was probably one of the best days of my life (if I ever kept a list...)!!!!

Calder

As I was reading my Time magazine in the math tutor room, I was reminded of a young-adult kid book series that I absolutely adore. The third book is The Calder Game. It is a mystery/art/great book. The main focus of the book is a missing Calder sculpture and a missing character named Calder (confusing and very coincidental, I know). Anyway, one of the best pieces of art made by Calder are his hanging mobiles. I've actively noticed two of them--one in DC and the other at the Philadelphia Art Musuem.

Washington, DC (from calder.com)

Philadelphia (from artintheage.com)

The mobiles are so pretty to look at. They are constantly changing--simple, yet so complex. Goodness, I could sit and enjoy them all day! It is definitely one of my highlights when I go to the art musuem. Click here for more information about Calder or to see his works.

Recap

For some reason, my room smells like Sprite. But anyway, let's play catch-up.

• Monday, obviously, was the hurricane. It wasn't too bad here--just lots of wind. I woke up to run but as I ran to my friend's dorm, I just didn't feel like running. It was cold and rainy and windy so we went to fitness lofts. I wouldn't even count anything I did as exercise. Oh well. 
• Monday night, we went out into the storm. It was very windy and I was a little bit afraid of getting hurt by some flying thing. However, what I was most afraid of was getting in trouble by security for being outside. Go figure, I'm a worrywart.
• Tuesday was clear. I went for a run by the river. The water was higher than usual but nothing on a flood level. It was nice having two days off from school but I don't think I would trade two school days for all the destruction that occured.
• Wednesday, back to the grind. I finally told my coach I am studying abroad. He seemed supportive and that is all that I wanted. Oh yeah, and yesterday was Halloween. I really wanted to wear my coon skin hat so I did--not for long though. It was an early night for me, especially celebrating Halloween on Saturday just dragged the holiday out for me. 
•  Today was busy, per usual Thursday. Class, practice, weight-room, and tutoring. I just went to one of our Late Night La Salle events that my roommate is working. Got me some fajitas. Yes!

 Well there is a recap from my week. Heading home tomorrow to watch my brother's cross country race. Going be a good time!