Thursday, August 20, 2009

Vegas, Baby, Vegas (or How I Spent My Summer Part II)

So I promised I'd post again soon, and here I am writing a new post! Aren't you all proud of me???

So I went to Utah for a month. It was great! I had such a great time with the family and friends. Here are some highlights from the first leg of the trip. And sorry...no pictures. I'm the worst when it comes to taking pictures!
  • Weds. July 15: Mom and Peyton pick me up from the airport, and right away, Peyton is ready to go swimming. Never mind my fatigue! How can I say no to him??? So we went swimming!
  • Thurs. July 16: Tyler wanted to go shopping for some new shoes, and he asked me to go with him! I didn't want to embarrass him by getting super excited, but on the inside, I was so happy and flattered he asked. Of course, I ended up buying shirts, but Ty didn't buy anything. We even went to Cafe Rio after. YUM!
  • I spent the next week or so working on a project for Professor Denbeaux. Not so fun. But at least most of it is complete! What a relief.
  • Sat. July 25: Went to my high school reunion. I admit that I had to be talked into it. But I had a great time! Thanks to Jamie, the great social planner, and all the married couples from our graduating class, for putting it all together.
  • Sun. July 26: Headed to Vegas to see Lauren and Jamie. I spent the night at Lauren's (my old place). We talked until about midnight. It was great to catch up. I've missed her!
  • Mon. July 27: Headed to see Jamie. We took off for California and good times in Disneyland!!! I LOVE DISNEYLAND!!! We laughed and laughed on the way down. I cannot believe how much we talked. Hardly a moment of silence. I love having such great girlfriends who will take off and go to Disneyland on the spur of the moment! When we to there, we got some yummy food and watched the Bachelorette (no shame here!).
  • Tues. July 28: On to Disney. I had so much fun. I think my favorite was the Tower of Terror. But old school Disney is still the best. Peter Pan, Pirates of the Caribbean, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, The Haunted House and It's a Small World. LOVED IT!!!! We were so worn out by the time it was over. Totally worth it.
  • Wed. July 29: Headed back to Vegas. We listed to great music and again laughed and talked. We even stopped at the state line to ride the roller coaster at Buffalo Bills. Love the roller coasters! Then back to Lauren's place. More great conversation and a little So You Think You Can Dance! How can you not enjoy that??? I had some In and Out Burger! YUM!
  • Thurs. July 30: Lauren and I went to Capriotti's - the yummiest sandwich shop ever - for some lunch. And then I was off again to Utah.
I'll post more later. But thanks to my dear mother for letting me take off in her car for five days. And thanks to Lauren and Jamie for being such great friends and wanting to hang out with me! I may not love Vegas - but I love and miss you girls so much!!!

Bloggers Who Don't Blog (or How I Spent My Summer Vacay Part I)

Yep! I've become that blogger...a blogger who does not blog. Sorry folks. I know it's been over three months. No excuses. Just haven't felt much like blogging these days.

So, I thought maybe I should talk about my summer a bit. My last final was on May 16th. After that, I made a beeline for the Newark Public Library. Thanks to a great tip from a fellow classmate, Adam, I discovered one thing I love about Newark. The library here is AWESOME. It's housed in a beautiful old building near a park. I walk over there about once a week. I can check out all sorts of goodies, including new movies. I think I'm done w/my subscription to Netflix. Why pay when you can get movies for free?!?! :).

But of course my favorite part about the library is that the stacks feel sort of old and musty - like a library should feel. I'm so nerdy. And of course, I've been reading like a mad woman. I've rediscovered how much I love books, so I think I've read about fifteen books this summer. LOVE LOVE LOVE to read. I can't believe how much I've missed reading. I won't give you all the titles, but here are a few faves.
  • Time Traveler's Wife (Audrey Niffenegger) - AMAZING! Not for conservative readers, however.
  • The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Mary Ann Shaffer) - EXCELLENT!
  • The Thirteenth Tale (Diane Setterfield) - throw back to the Gothic romance - really fun.
  • The Peacegiver (James L. Ferrell) - inspiring and uplifiting.
  • Oh, and I really liked Revelation (CJ Sansom) - part of my renewed obsession with the Henry VIII time period.

Here are a few things I've been reading/plan on reading. Just finished Fairest. It was definitely for young readers. I think I might have enjoyed it when I was eight. But I didn't love it. Devlin Diary just looked interesting. I haven't started it yet. Friends recommended Memoirs of a Geisha. And Something Wicked This Way Comes is mine. I've wanted to read it for a long time.

Movies: Brideshead Revisited was okay. Not nearly as good as Atonement. I've seen Breach before, but I loved it, so I wanted to rewatch it. And I rented the Tudors - a tv series on Showtime. I have to fast forward a lot. But I'm sort of obsessed with Henry VIII, so I really like it. So much intrigue and double dealing. I would have hated to be a woman in that time period.

I'll post some more highlights soon! PROMISE!!!