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!!!

Books and paper

I'm really tired tonight... tired of outlining and thinking and thinking and thinking. Then I took a look around my apartment and realized that I was surrounded. By books and paper. At first, it sort of frustrated me.  People who know me, know that I like things neat and orderly. As finals start, the piles grow; fortunately, as finals go on, one by one, the piles will be cleared, and the house will be clean again. 

And more importantly, it occurs to me that this mess represents the amount of work I've put in, and that is just for one semester. And it doesn't represent everything i've done this semester. I imagine these piles, times four...four semesters worth of this. that is what my life has been like for two years. At times, I get weighed down under the workload.  But when I look at these pictures, I think about all that I've accomplished.  It is a lot. So...I'm proud of my messy apartment!

This is a stack of work that I haven't yet completed.  Work to do over the summer for the archives project I'm working on.

This is my study headquarters. I've been finishing my outline for administrative law over the past few days. 

My desk, and my computer. I have a close relationship with my computer.

The book, in its almost final form. Now that represents hours upon hours of work!

My recycle pile. It will be much, much larger by the end of the semester!

Contrasts

First of all, I have to say that they don't call New Jersey the Garden State for nothing.  It is a really beautiful state, even if Newark is not its shining crown jewel.  A few of you have commented that Newark is prettier than they thought it would be.  And I admit, the pictures I posted show a different side of Newark.  My hope is that someday, this is the side of Newark everyone will see.  It has a lot of potential because of its past.  There are many amazing buildings.  Still, I think you should see the contrast.  

A picture of a tree I passed by on my way to Branch Brook Park - I think it sits on the Rutgers campus in Newark.

Again, the beautiful cathedral - I believe it's called Sacred Heart

And what I ran into on my walk there.  SAD!!!  And this is what people think of when they think of Newark.

Cherry Blossoms in Newark

So this picture isn't of cherry blossoms - it's a cathedral in Newark...near the park I walked to where I got to see the lovely cherry blossoms.  

I'm really impressed with this cathedral.  The grounds are immaculate and the church is really amazing, inside and out.

Okay, so here are the cherry blossoms....



I didn't get to go to my beloved D.C. to see the cherry blossoms this Spring.  But, I'd heard that Branch Brook park in Newark had some nice trees, so I decided to check it out.  Not the same as D.C. - because the monuments really are something else with all those cherry blossoms.  But, I can't complain.  I guess Newark isn't SO bad! 

a tragedy

I discovered this old Victorian mansion in the neighborhood where I go for my doctor's appointments. I was shocked when I first saw it. I had heard rumors of Newark in her glory days, but I had no idea. This is tragic. I realized just how far Newark had fallen. I wish I could have seen it when it was inhabited. I also wish I had loads of money to fix it up. It would make a nice office, restaurant, design studio...or all of the above. It is massive.

 

sometimes being single is fun...or funny!

So last weekend I was low on food and energy. After putting in about 12-14 hours at school each day, let's face it, one does not feel much like cooking. So I thought I'd order a pizza. The delivery boy showed up around 7:00 p.m. and called my cell phone, which is normal because I live in a secured building and you can't get in without a key. I came down to the lobby feeling rather hungry, looking rather tired...you know the drill. No make-up, pjs on, hair pulled up in a sloppy bun - and not cute and messy - I'm so worn out I really don't care what you think I look like sloppy.

I'm getting my receipt and pizza when the delivery boy asks me out of the blue if I speak French. I say, "Un petit peu...un trop petit peu. Mais mon francais c'est trop mal." (Translation - a little bit...a very little bit but my French is very bad - and sorry to all you Frenchies out there if I didn't spell that right.) He was from an African country that I cannot pronounce (or remember, for that matter). He proceeded to ask me what I do. I told him I was a law student. All I could think was that I really wanted my pizza, so I could go back to cleaning my apartment. (Yes, that is what I was doing folks, cleaning my apartment on a Saturday night. But it hadn't been cleaned it weeks because I hadn't had the time.)

And then much to my delight it happened. The sixteen year old delivery boy asked me when he would see me again.  

"Well," I said, a tiny bit shocked, "um, maybe I'll order another pizza sometime." I laughed and tried to make a joke out of it as I reached for the door. What can I say? I went into escape mode. But apparently we weren't finished with our little conversation.  

"No," he said, rather insistently, "I'm serious.  When can I see you again."

"Listen, I don't give my number out to strangers." (Note - I'm well aware that he had it...after all, he did just call me to come down for the pizza)

He got a bit indignant. "What does that mean?"  

All I could think is that it means what it means. It means you can't call me. "So Newark isn't the safest place," I tried to say as nicely as I could. "So I don't give my number to strangers here."

"I don't get American girls. I don't understand what that means. If you don't want to, just say no."

"Okay, so no," I said, and I walked back through the door. What I wanted to say was, "Look, junior, when I need a date with a minor so that I can go to jail, I'll be the first to call you." Or, "Why don't we call my husband down to see what he thinks."  Yes, friends, being single is funny!