Memo is DONE!

I officially handed in my memo this morning at 8:30 AM! Woohooo!! Done and done. Now, only three more classes until a much needed THANKSGIVING BREAK! What are you all doing for thanksgiving? Are you cooking? Heading to a family member's house?

I will be at home in Massachusetts with my parents and grandparents. C is going home to New York to see his family. I can't wait until we can finally spend holidays together, but I guess this just makes us that much more excited to come back to each other on Sunday and start putting up our very first Christmas tree :)

Adventures in Domesticity

Last night I made meat loaf and baked potatoes for dinner, and guess what? They came out SO yummy. I had never tried meat loaf until last night (I know!) because my mom and dad were more into introducing their kids to ethnic cuisine and tended to avoid the American staples. That won't be the case for me. Sure, I still want to learn how to make all the delicious Portuguese, Italian and Lebanese food I tried as a kid, but I love the idea of learning all the American comfort food recipes. Meat loaf, baked mac and cheese, shepherd's pie..all the good stuff!



I got the recipe here, but improvised by adding a little red wine to the meat mixture which kept it nice and moist, and little worcestershire sauce spread over the top with the ketchup.

YUM!

Photo via Tammy'sRecipes.com

New Moon Craze..Minus Me

I know many of you are into the Twilight series, and so are almost all of my friends. People I would never expect to be into it are reading these books and seeing the movies!

Well, I read the first 90 or so pages of Twilight and I thought it was just okay. I put it down and never opened it again. I know, I sound like a book snob but I'm really not. I swear! In middle school and into high school (when I was arguably too old to be reading it) I read the Harry Potter books and loved them. So why can't I get into Twilight?

I feel left out!!! Maybe after a little insight from all of you I will make it my winter break goal to give the series a second chance. Why do you love Twilight?

It's Memo Season!

I apologize for my lack of posts! Unfortunately, it's only going to get worse until the semester draws to a close. My graded memo (actually, first graded law school assignment period) is due on November 24th, so I have been and will be working on nothing but that in the upcoming weeks. It's so important to me that I get an A in Legal Writing, and this memo is my only shot! After the memo, my main focus until Christmas break will be outlining and studying for exams. I promise I'll be back to my blog-happy self on December 23rd, though!

For those of you in law school, how much time did you spend on your first graded memo? By the way, I refer to this assignment as my "graded" memo because we have had other memos due this semester that have basically been trial runs. Anyway, in the past I usually spent about 5-6 hours on research and synthesis of the law. This time around, though, I'm a bit worried because I've already clocked about ten hours of research, reading through cases, outlining my ideas, making handy little synthesis charts to keep all the cases straight, etc. I haven't even written a single word of the memo. I guess I'm wondering, is this a good or bad thing? If it helps, I am dealing with two issues. First, civil liability under Iowa's Dram Shop Act, and second, timely notice requirements for bringing a Dram Shop action. Under these issues, I have a few subheadings to deal with, which I think is the reason my research is taking so long. I feel like I'm on the right track, but there are some over-achievers in my section who already done with their memo. Seriously?! I honestly think the people who have already finished have missed something in an effort to be the first person done. I think I'd rather take longer to complete a better memo.

Ah, I hate the uncertainty of law school!!!

The Bare Midriff

Am I the only one who is totally bothered by this new trend of cropped shirts? I remember when I was about 6 years old this was all the rage in the magazines, but is it seriously making a comeback now? It can't be. Do normal people wear things like this?

If you saw last week's episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, then you understand my concern (mixed with amusement) with this trend. Ahh! I will be sticking with full-length shirts, at least for now ;)



Photo via WENN

Vera Bradley on RueLaLa!

Head over to RueLaLa within the next two days to take advantage of their Vera Bradley sale. Some things are on sale for as low as $19! Remember, Christmas shopping is just around the corner :)

Happy Halloween!

These pictures were taken last weekend when C and I went pumpkin picking with another couple we know from law school. Afterwards the men carved the pumpkins while the girls sat around looking cute. Actually I got to carve one of the eyes on our pumpkin, then I got sick of it and promptly handed the knife back to C. It was such a festive fall afternoon!


At Pumpkin Land! This sign made me so excited!


So many to choose from...


Something was obviously veryy funny!


Hard at work :)


The finished products!

Tonight C and I are handing out candy and watching some scary movies! This is the first time we will be handing out candy together, and it's also the first time for each of us as adults. So weird! We are sooo grown up now lol. Since we live in an apartment building we placed balloons on our door to signify that we have halloween treats, and the designated time for trick or treating between 6:00 and 8:30 PM. I hope lots of kids come. I'm very excited for my first ever trick or treating experience!

Bowling Fail

Last night C and I attempted a date night at the bowling alley, but when we got there it was so crowded that we couldn't even get a lane! This annoyed us very much since we had made sure to call ahead and ask what time open bowling would start, and the man over the phone assured us that 8:00 would be okay. When we arrived around 8:00, the man then told us that open bowling wouldn't be available until 9:30. Argh!! Isn't that annoying? I guess we should have known it would be like that, though, since the Phillies/Yankees game was on. I imagine that basically every establishment serving alcohol in the Philadelphia area was overcrowded and crazy all night.



So we returned home and ended up getting a movie On Demand. We obviously wanted a scary one so we narrowed it down to Friday the 13th (I've never seen it!) and that new movie The Orphan. We ended up going with The Orphan. It was weird and pretty bad, but aren't all scary flicks these days? I wasn't as much scared as I was creeped out throughout the whole thing. It had a strange twist at the end, which bumps it up a few points automatically for me. Love an unexpected twist!

If you're looking for a new scary movie to check out on Halloween, I would say go with this one but don't expect it to be a groundbreaking piece of cinema. Also, you will most likely hate the husband in the film. I sure did!! By the middle of the movie I told C that I actually wished Esther would just kill him. Hahah! He was seriously a jerk though.

What are your favorite scary movies for Halloween? Let's hear em! :)

Autumn Weekend!

We have had the most fabulous fall weekend!!! Friday afternoon C and I went out to Linvilla Orchards to pick ourselves a pumpkin for carving. We also got some locally made apple butter and candy corns!!! Saturday morning we woke up and (after the plunger fiasco) made pancakes and ate them with our yummy apple butter. Then as I told you in the last post we headed out to Bucks County to visit with family. We spent the night at his grandparents house and I had to sleep in the creepiest little room because all the bedrooms were full. I am the smallest so I actually semi-volunteered for the room I had because the bed was made for about a six year old. But I guess when I volunteered it was only to be nice and I had half hoped that someone would respond with a "No, no Danna we wouldn't let you do that!" Sheesh!! Anyhow, I got through the night and only ended up with a slightly stiff back.

This morning we ate a tradition Pennsylvania breakfast: eggs and Scrapple!! Have any of you had Srapple? I think it is the most disgusting food EVER. C's whole family loves it so I usually just end up sucking it up and having some, but it seriously is the worst. A step down from hot dogs. I think it's made from everything that didn't make it into the hot dog. Ew!

After breakfast we visited New Hope, Pennsyvlaniva, a pretty little town right on the Delaware River. The people you see there are absolutely intriguing. Let me paint the picture. The downtown area is filled with gay people and bikers. I am not joking. It is too funny to see the two cultures coexisting in a quaint little downtown area. Half of the boutiques sell hippie sweaters and incense, the other half sell leather pants and chaps. Again, I'm not kidding. We had lunch outside (we had to eat outside because C's grandparents will not travel without their spoiled, overweight yorkie) and we had prime seats for people watching. The highlight of the day was definitely when we saw this man riding his motorcycle with a little side car, and inside the sidecar was his english bulldog riding shotgun!!! But it doesn't end there because the doggie was also wearing motorcycle goggles! Hahaha! It was the cutest thing I have ever seen. And you KNOW my love for english bulldogs! I regret to say we did not get a picture :/

Tomorrow my morning classes are cancelled. I have nothing until 3:40! How sweet is that?

Until then,

Weekend Update

C and I had some friends over for drinks and Apples to Apples last night. I LOVE that game! All went well except that our toilet became clogged (no one seems to know how or why..hmmm) and we came to find out that we do not own a plunger. Oops. Epic first apartment fail.

On top of that, the maintenance people didn't have one either. Call me crazy but I find it incredibly hard to believe that in an apartment building with over a hundred units, a plunger is nowhere to be found. Argggghhh. So C ran out this morning to buy one thank goodness! I promised to clean the bathroom if he would run out to get one. I am having a stay in sweats until well past noon type of Saturday, and heading to CVS to buy a plunger does not fit into my game plan.

This afternoon we head out to Bucks County to visit with C's family. We are having dinner at an Italian BYOB tonight. Yum! Can't wait. By the way, I LOVE that so many places around Philadelphia are BYOB. So convenient and cheap.

Ta ta for now!

Halloween Excitement!

I absolutely LOVE this time of year!

What are you all doing for halloween? Are you dressing up? If you are past the age of drunken costume parties, what are your plans? Please share! :) I love hearing about creative desserts and activities for the season.

C and I have discussed our plans for Halloween night and we decided that we would be most happy staying home and watching a scary movie together. Oh my goodness, are we getting old? Yes. We're both so burnt out that lately it's the small things like quiet, non-work-consumed evenings that we seem to enjoy the most.

We are, however, attending a law school event at one of the local bars on the Thursday before Halloween. I refuse to buy an overpriced, skanky costume from one of those costume stores or websites. That was me in the past, but this year I'm being frugal and conservative! Ha! Imagine that. I was thinking of going with an old stand by, either a "walk of shame" or Tom Cruise in Risky Business. Two of the easiest and most recognized costumes ever.

What do you think? Do you have any other fun (and cheap) costume ideas? I really enjoy any type of social commentary/pop culture costume. I hear Kate Gosselin is going to be a popular costume this year. Poor woman. Imagine people dressing up like you for Halloween? Just terrifying.

Umm....

Classy, Ms. McCain.

It's Time for Rally Caps

We need a serious win today at Fenway. Obviously I am not even remotely a sports blogger so I won't pretend I am, but I'd reaaallyyy like to see the boys pull it off today. You will certainly find me in front of the TV biting my nails all afternoon.

Fingers crossed, Rally caps on!

Also, please keep C in your thoughts as he prepares for his first midterm of law school tomorrow. I don't have any midterms, which could end up either working in my favor or working against me. All of my classes are based solely on my final exam grade, which freaks me out a little bit. I've been known to panic and end up somewhere in the high B range. So not okay. Anyway, please wish him good luck on his exam!

xx

Dermatology Adventures

A few weeks ago I was brushing my hair when I felt a deep, sharp pain near my left collar bone. I looked into the mirror and realized my hairbrush had scraped against a mole on my collar bone. Yikes! I've had the mole forever but never thought anything of it until now, really. After inspecting it further I noticed a strange border forming around the rim of the mole. It was an oddly shaped discoloration that I had never noticed before. After WedMDing all the symptoms and signs of melanoma and cancerous moles, I found a dermatologist near my apartment and made an appointment.

Well I just got back from the visit and I am feeling at least somewhat relieved. The doctor removed the mole (I had to get a shot, ewww!) and they are sending it out for a biopsy. I will know in two weeks whether it is cancerous. I was so thrown off by the whole procedure that I sort of had trouble listening to all the details of what's to come, but I know that I will be getting a phone call from the doctor in two weeks with either good or bad news.

Looking back I seriously am SO stupid for never wearing sunscreen and for going fake tanning. Why risk it? I am so freaked out right now that I am definitely going to become one of those women who wears big floppy hats in the sun and constantly reapplies sunscreen. It's the only way to stay safe! In the meantime, please keep your fingers crossed that I get a phone call with only good news!

NFL Supports Breast Cancer Awareness

I am so happy to see that the NFL is doing their part to support Breast Cancer Awareness month! You all know I don't really watch football, but C just happened to inform me that the NFL players, coaches and and referees are all decked out in pink today during all the games!!! And it's happening all month long! Pink ribbons, cleats, armbands, towels on the bench, pink coin toss coins, a ribbon painted on the field. It's all part of the NFL's Breast Cancer Awarensss campaign cleverly titled "A Crucial Catch." Gotta love this amazing effort.





What's even better is that it doesn't end there. All the apparel worn by players and coaches will be auctioned off at the end of the month, with proceeds benefitting the American Cancer Society and individual team charities. The NFL says, "This is an issue that has directly touched the lives of so many in the NFL family, and we are committed to helping make a difference in breast-cancer prevention." Visit NFL.com/pink and Making Strides to learn more about what you can do to help.

As an aside, I thought I'd share that we had a little laugh when I read an article online stating that the "zebras" were also sporting their pink ribbons. "What does a zebra have to do with football?" was my obvious response. C promptly informed me that zebra is a term for the referees! Silly me.....

Images Courtesy of [NFL.com] and [Examiner.com]

Normal or Plus Sized?

In light of my recent body image issues, I would like to thank Ellen for pointing out the hilarity of the fact that anything above a size 6 is now considered "plus" in the modeling industry. I can't embed the video due to copyright issues, but click here to watch a clip from today's show.


Wait, these women are plus sized? I'm the same size as most of them! Regardless of my constant criticism of my own body, i wouldn't really consider myself to be "plus sized." I must admit, this whole thing makes me laugh a bit.

I do, however, commend Glamour's efforts to address the situation at all. Cindi Leive, editor-in-chief ofGlamour has recently said the following of Glamour's goals in regard to the whole plus/normal sized fiasco:

"Glamour is committing to picturing a wide range of body types [and ethnicities] in our pages... Diversity of every type. We just want to say there are a million ways to be beautiful and you don't have to fit that cookie cutter standard. And we're going to celebrate the designers who help us do that."

So maybe there is some sanity left in the world. I just hope Leive means business. Glamour has definitely shown itself to be one of the most down-to-earth publications in terms of body image. It published these photos of 20-year-old "plus sized" model Lizzi Miller showing her belly in its September issue this year:





Hmm... All I see here is a gorgeous woman!

Photos [Gawker.com], [Glamour.com]

30 Day Shred Attempt #2

Have you ever have one of those moments when you just look in the mirror and say to yourself, "What the hell happened?" That's exactly how I feel today. I put on my workout clothes this morning and stood in front of the mirror trying to keep from crying. I must have gained about ten pounds since starting law school last month. Add that to the twenty I gained during college, and you can start to see how I'm feeling about myself. Not to mention the fact that my Wii Fit told me I was overweight. Great!

I do realize, however, that I have no one to blame but myself. I eat junk food and I rarely work out. For the first few weeks of law school I just kept rationalizing that I didn't need to work out. That it was understandable, because I had so much going on. Well, here I am, ten pounds later and feeling terrible about myself. I could have called that one.

Well I can't live like this anymore. It's time for me to make a change, folks! There is a very distinct correlation between my mood and my fitness, and I just can't stand being down in the dumps anymore. So I'm starting Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred today (again!) but this time I'm seriously going to stick with it. C is even going to do it with me!! If that's not love, then what is? :)

For those of you who have never tried the 30 day shred, check out this video clip:

Three Chickadees Is Having a Sale!

I just got an e-mail from Lisa over at Three Chickadees telling me about a FABLOUS sale they have going on right now.

Simply use discount code "Fall" at checkout on any retail order at threechickadees.com, and you'll get 25% off of everything you buy -- even sale items! The sale runs through October 12, 2009.

Here are a few of my favs from Three Chickadees....


Red Polka Dot Ribbon Watch, $26


Georgetown Charm Bourne Traditional Skirt, Was $52, Now only $26!


Yellow Paisley on Pink Key Fob, $10


Navy Polka Dot Ribbon Headband, $14

How great are these preppy deals?! If I were you I would not wait. Head over there today and stock up on the sale items before they're gone. Remember, you only have until Oct. 12th :)

Phi Alpha Delta

Today I joined Phi Alpha Delta, one of the two legal fraternities at my law school. If I'm being honest, I don't really know what it's all about. I do know, however, that it's a fun way to make new friends and participate in fun events during my years here. If it helps with job connections after graduation, that's not so bad either! ;) I didn't have any type of greek life during undergrad, so this is a new exciting chapter for me!

I put my name in to be the new chair of the Philanthropy committee, which is probably getting myself in over my head. We'll see how that goes. It's an appointed position so I might not even get it since I'm a 1L. If I do get it, I'll just have to find the time to do it well. Something I'm learning more and more in law school is that there's no time to sit around and mope that there aren't enough hours in the day. You either do what you have to do to the best of your ability and possibly feel wiped out at the end of the day, or you don't do much at all. I guess I would take being busy and wiped out over being bored, any day.

Are any of you members of PAD at your law school? Do you know members from other schools? I'd love to hear what you have to say about it. Be honest, I want to know what I'm getting involved with here :)

In Honor of Autumn...

Apple picking is for sure one of my favorite fall activities! Here is a picture of C and I last year, apple picking in upstate new york where he lives :)



Have a wonderful day!

Jack Wills, Why Must You Taunt Me So?

Is this not the most perfect toggle coat you have ever laid eyes on? Oh, to be done with law school and onto my real life, where $350 outwear purchases are totally fine and I get so spend more time outside than the 30 seconds it takes to walk from my car to the law school building each morning and afternoon.

Sigh.

Tonight I am catching up on my TV shows from the week. Yes, I am officially an old lady because I just referred to "my" tv shows. I might as well just take the plunge and call them "my programs." Anywayyyy, at 8:00 I have Melrose Place and at 9:00 there's Beautiful Life, the new Mischa Barton show. I haven't yet committed to The Beautiful Life, but we'll see. Did anyone catch it this week?



The real reason I'm excited about TV tonight is the premiere of Curb Your Enthusiasm. That show absolutely cracks me up. If you are a Seinfeld fan you will love Curb. Tonight starts season 7, but if you haven't been watching all along I would definitely recommend buying the DVDs.

We're also checking out HBO's new show Bored to Death with Jason Schwartzman and Zach Galifianakis (the guy from The Hangover!) Not sure what to expect from this one but I'll give it a shot. HBO doesn't usually let me down...

Megan Fox Does it Again...

I don't usually like to post about celebrity gossip and/or ranting about a celebrity that I hate, but today I must make an exception. Just a few months after Megan Fox admitted that she "just stopped eating" in order to lose weight for the Transformers sequel, Fox has made the following brilliant statement in Rolling Stone:

"Yeah," she replied when asked if she's ever cut herself. "But I don't want to elaborate. I would never call myself a cutter. Girls go through different phases when they're growing up, when they're miserable and do different things, whether it's an eating disorder or they dabble in cutting."

Let me just see if I understood her on that one. So it's totally normal to cut yourself occasionally, but not to call yourself a cutter? Makes sense. Does this crazy bitch not realize that there are young girls out there hanging on every word she says? I think she seriously needs to get her hands on a good publicist before she does any more damage. Just for the sake of amusement, let's take a look at a few more gems shared by Megan:

- To Total Film UK, when asked what she would say to Megatron to keep him from destroying the world: “I’d barter with him, and say instead of the entire planet, can you just take out all of the white trash, hillbilly, anti-gay, bible-beating people in Middle America?”

- To Esquire, on her sexuality: "I have no question in my mind about being bisexual. But I'm also a hypocrite. I would never date a girl who was bisexual, because that means they also sleep with men, and men are so dirty that I'd never want to sleep with a girl who had slept with a man."

Photo via Gawker

Adventures at Target

Guess who made two seriously fabulous footwear purchases this weekend at Target?? Check me out:




And not to mention the slippers were only $15! Hello, ridiculously cheap ugg ripoffs :)

Is This Serious?

Guys can be so easily amused. Take for instance the game I stumbled across this morning: Klondike Man Cave. Basically it's a simulation game about this guy Pete who tries to "regain his man card" which he reluctantly turned in upon getting married. Here's a screenshot of one level of the game:



In light of the fact that it's the first football Sunday of the fall, and that I generally have an appreciation for all things manly (including the occasional man cave), I'm going to go ahead and give guys the benefit of the doubt on this one. Probably the only guys who are actually playing this game are the losers who wish they had a woman to "bust" them during those marathon Guitar Hero sessions.

Try again, Klondike.

Images courtesy of Jezebel

Tonight C and I are having a few of our law school friends over to play some card games and have drinks! I am LOVING these non-school moments more and more!

Did anyone watch the new Melrose Place this week? I really want to check it out but I haven't been hearing good things so I'm hesitant. All I know is Gossip Girl starts on Monday and I absolutely CANNOT WAIT. Ahhhhh!!!!

More real updates soon, promise!

xx

A Non-Law School Post (Finally)

This weekend, C and I were out celebrating our four year anniversary (dating, not marriage obviously hehe). As we walked from the car to the restaurant we saw this ADORABLE Lilly Pulitzer Jeep. Obviously C's reaction was, "What is it like, limited edition or something?" Haha...typical boy! It is soooo much more than limited edition!! How fabulous is it? I want, I want!


But on to the real reason for this post: Our anniversary weekend celebration! Friday night we had dinner at A La Maison in Armore (see picture above). We ate outside, which always makes for a romanic dinner. We had escargots and a caprese salad for our appetizers, and of course we both ordered the steak frites for entree. The restaurant is about two miles away from our apartment, in the little downtown area that I have absolutely fallen in love with since moving here! The area is so adorable, with lots of boutiques and bars. Perfect for a fun loving shopaholic like me! There's also Suburban Square, which is a dangerously tempting pedestrian-only shopping area, also located a few blocks from our apartment.

Saturday morning we woke up super early (okay, 8:00) and got ready to head to the Philadelphia Zoo. I have some great pictures from that visit, which I am going to upload in an edit to this post once I can get on C's computer for a bit. The zoo was LOTS of fun! My favorite animals to see were the lions and the gorillas. The gorillas behave so similarly to humans, it's amazing to watch them playing and interacting.

Sunday we continued our eventful weekend with a visit to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It was okay. I won't lie, I didn't love it. When we visited Paris a few years ago I truly LOVED going to the Louvre, but mostly my enjoyment stemmed from the fact that we had learned about all the pieces we were seeing. The Louvre was more historical than anything. I didn't know many of the pieces in the Philadelphia museum, so it wasn't that exciting to see them. I guess I'm not as "into" art as I thought I was! Oh well.

Hope you all had a fabulously relaxing but fun Labor Day weekend. I sure did! I look forward to reading your updates as the week goes on!

xx

Off to the Zoo!

Today we are heading to the Philadelphia Zoo!!!! I can't wait :) I absolutely LOVE animals and being outside in the sun at the zoo on a gorgeous day like today. 85 and sunny in September? I'll take it!

Plus it's going to be sooo good to get away from the stress of school. Posts with pictures later of course. Have a fab saturday!!

xx

Thursday Night...

I just wanted to give you all a glimpse at my lovely Thursday evening:



So much for Thirsty Thursday!!! It's back to Torts for me. By the way, Ed Westwick has a twitter account? Oohh boy....

My Yummy Breakfast

First, I want to thank everyone for all all the lovely comments I've been getting about the stresses of law school over the past week. You have no idea how much it helps me to hear the perspective of others who have been through the same situation and experienced the same emotions of frustration and confusion. So thank you all SO, SO much. You are amazing :)

Next, I want to share something totally random and meaningless: my breakfast this morning!! Usually C and I wake up early and scrambled eggs and toast at the breakfast table together before we start a crazy day of classes, but this morning I just wanted to have some Special K. Mostly because I've been feeling the bulge around my waistline lately, which I suspect is in direct connection to this choice of breakfast food day in and day out. Anyway, take a look at this yummy concoction that I came up with this morning. Actually I just sliced bananas and strawberrys and put them into the Vanilla Almond brand of Speak K.


Looks delicious right? It was!

PS: Are all my posts about food lately? Ahhh. Must. Hit. Gym.

Hello there....

I guess it's just the craze of beginning 1L, but I am seriously finding it so hard to make time for my blog posts. I hope you all forgive me for my lack of attentiveness! In a few months I'm sure things will slow down. Or maybe that's just wishful thinking.

I basically spend every second of my life either reading, in class, eating, sleeping, or wondering why I came to law school in the first place. I have no social life, other than the maybe one night a week I go out to the bars. When I do get a chance to go out to the bars, I just find myself in awe at how lame law students can be. I guess I just have to find a fun group of friends to party with during my down time. At least I have C here with me! We make sure to have dinner together every night so we can wind down at least for a little while and have some normalcy in our lives.

For those of you in law school, do you feel as though it's normal for me to be totally confused right now? I never thought I'd have trouble grasping concepts in law school because I have always done so well in school. But sometimes I seriously find myself sitting there in class wondering how all the other students are coming up with such in depth questions to ask the professor, when I can hardly even follow the reading and not be totally confused. Ahhhhh. I just keep having these feelings that I'm not cut out for this.

Right now I'm off to Target to clear my mind/find retail therapy with my friend E : ) I'll post updates if I find anything cute at Target! Until then, please forgive my lack of fun and interesting post topics. I hardly even have time to watch the news or even read headlines on Yahoo in the morning.

Just gotta get through this one year, then it gets easier, right? TELL ME I'M RIGHT.

Acme Pizza, Random Updates

Today, while at Acme, I decided to pick up a frozen pizza for C and I to have for lunch since we're pretty busy on Sundays. Well, the packaging looked SO promising and tasty. And for $5.99 how could we go wrong? Oh, we went wrong alright. We did NOT get the pizza on the package. Would you LOOK at that sorry excuse for an everything pizza? I see a total of about 6 peppers and maybe 5 onion slices on the entire thing. And don't even get me started on the olives. Not cool, Acme frozen pizza company, NOT COOL! I'm sticking with Digiorno next time I want some greasy frozen pizza lovin'....

ANYHOW, we're just lounging around today reading and prepping for classes to begin again tomorrow. I'm hoping to be done with my work by dinner so we can have our gin & tonics and just relax and play Wii all night!!!

The first week went pretty well and I have to say that I'm already starting to feel less out of place in law school. I'm learning to deal with the fact that most if not all of my time is consumed with reading. It's a lot of work (as so many of you know) but it really is doable if I am just accept the fact that this comes with the territory if I want to be a lawyer! It's only three years of my life and from what I've heard only one real year of hell (1L). I'm just used to being the smart kid in class. In high school and even college I was always the most prepared student for each class. At least in the subjects I really loved and was passionate about, I was always first to raise my hand and give an answer, etc etc. Yes, I was that person. Not so much in law school! People are such overachievers here it's ridiculous. Not to say that I'm not one myself, or that I didn't expect law school to be more challenging than undergrad, but I just wasn't expecting such a concentration of type-A, intelligent people all clamoring to be the smartest kid in the room. I certainly have my work cut out for me if I want to make law review.....

In the upcoming week I'll be posting some pictures of our apartment now that we're finally all settled in (five trips to target/wal-mart later...) I can't wait to show you our new digs!!! I'm in love with this place already :) It feels like home!!!!

Until next time,

First Day of 1L..

Today is our first official day of classes! We have had orientation all week, which has been terrifying to say the least. I really believe they just try to scare the hell out of you before classes start. Maybe they just want to cover all the bases so no one is really that surprised by the difficulty of law school.

But first let's backtrack so I can update you on all the stuff that has happened since my last (very distant) post! I apologize for that, by the way. I have totally been neglecting this blog but I think I have pretty fair reasoning! Here are all the updates:

- We moved to Bryn Mawr on Friday the 21st. The drive down here (from Rhode Island) was hellish, and immediately upon my arrival in the apartment my mother and I went on Travelocity and figured out the best deal on flying back to New England for the holidays. I am not making that drive (especially alone) ever again.

- The actual move in went very well. We live in a large apartment complex so we had a loading dock and free use of the freight elevator from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM that Friday. Thankfully my Dad and C's dad were here to help! I'm not so sure how well it would have gone without them....

- Then we had the whole weekend to unpack our lives into our NEW HOME! We decorated a bit, hit Ikea to spend my $100 gift certificate on all the miscellaneous stuff we needed. We got EVERYTHING we needed and our total was $95.65. How perfect? Of course we had to have Swedish Meatballs after our shopping excursion. Highly recommend the Ikea food court. It's cheap and yummy!

- The biggest problem I've encountered so far is closet space. I ran out of hangers with a few boxes of clothes left to unpack, so I had to locate the closest WalMart (Target SUCKS here, much to my dismay!) and purchase 50 or 60 hangers. And don't worry, because I ran out of those and now I need to make yet another trip to buy more.

- Life with C has been great though. We love living together! It's so fun to enjoy the simple things like drinking coffee together in the morning and going to bed at night. We LOVE dinner time, it's definitely our favorite time of the day. I have been trying to be a good cook, but C always prevails as the obvious expert. It's so fun having a boyfriend who loves to cook!

- That's about all for now, I start my first day of real classes today. I will be sure to stop neglecting you so badly and post my updates as soon as possible!!

Until then,

And the winner is...

Really, this time I mean it! I found a few spare seconds in my hectic move-in weekend to post my giveaway results. The lucky winner of my Donovan Designs Calender giveaway is....

HLB at A Girl and Her Boy blog!!!

Congrats girl!!! And a HUGE thank you to everyone who entered!!! I hope you all, AS USUAL, had a fab weekend. And look for more updates from me in the week to come as I embark on my first week in law school. AHHHH!!!!!

Giveaway Results..

.....will be announced within the next few days, I PROMISE! I am sooo busy with moving in and getting aquatinted with the new apartment. Move in day went well. Just wanted to check in and let all my readers know that I'm still here and will be posting again soon ASAP!!!

xx

My Last Day at the Office..

I just got back from lunch with my boss. It was sooo good!! I'm actually a little bit tipsy as I write this. In the spirit of celebration we kept ordering Amstel Lights with our lunch. Mmmm!! But anyway, we went to Luxe, which is basically a burger place but it's on the more upscale side I suppose. You can even build your own burger!! I went pretty traditional but some of the combinations we saw were just crazy. My boss kept joking about how he said I could pick any restaurant in Providence and I chose a burger place. But I just wanted something laid back, I didn't want anything fancy. When we got back from lunch, the girls in my office had a DELICIOUS Tiramisu cake from Pastiche waiting for me. YUM! The tiramisu was deadly but amazing!!! Here's a pic from my blackberry (excuse the fuzziness, you can thank the 2mp camera for that one!):



It is very bittersweet to be leaving my job and moving out of Rhode Island. I love my job, I love my friends and I really love living in this state. There's so much personality to Rhode Island, I just fell in love with it the secnod I got here. I hope one day I can return here to live and start a family and all that, but we'll see how that goes. I'm trying to just embrace this as my next adventure and stop worrying about exactly what's in store. I'm excited to move in with C and I'm definitely excited to start my next chapter in life. But it's so uncertain and new that I can't help but feel a little anxious. I guess I just need to stop stressing and EMBRACE THE UNCERTAINTY as they say.

HELP: Law School Wardrobe Dilemma

This is a question for all my readers in law school:

What does one typically wear to class in law school?

C and I have been discussing this matter as we pack and get ready for the big move and the beginning of 1L. Obviously in college I rolled to class half asleep at times, wearing the sweats and/or dress/walk of shame outfit I slept in. But what's the protocol here for law school? Are sweatpants frowned upon? What about jeans with rips in them? A friend of mine has to wear business attire to her first day of classes next week! Yikes.

I am in the dark here, and I need some advice from those more experienced than I!!! :) Help me out, girls!

Good Morning!

I went home last night and just went on a MISSION to pack up everything I have in my apartment. I didn't quite pack up everything, but I put a pretty good dent in the job! Actually this morning I was looking for my flat iron and realized I packed it already. I guess I got a little pack-happy!

So remember I told you yesterday my boss invited me to dinner to say goodbye before I move? Well, it turns out he has to make an emergency trip down to his Florida house today. Something about a $35,000 roofing job gone wrong and lots of stress? Anyhow, we have rescheduled to a Wednesday or Thursday afternoon lunch this week! I have to say, I am relieved at that, first because I was stressing over the technicalities involved in a dinner with an older man (lol I'm so immature) and two because WE ALL KNOW WHAT TUESDAY MEANS FOR ME!

WING NIGHT AND BLUE MOON PITCHERS AT THE ABBEY! Duh. So now my Tuesday night is free! I have officially threatened everyone I know in Rhode Island to be present for my farewell dinner/drinks tonight, or lose me as a friend forever! Kidding.

The next few days will be high stress for sure, so drinks and fun with friends tonight is definitely in order....

So Much To Do, So Little Time!

Today I need to hightail it over to U-haul to get lots of moving boxes, then hopefully get most of my stuff (at least everything besides clothes) packed up tonight. I really did put off moving til the last minute. Now here I am, school starts in a week, I'm moving on Friday, and I haven't put a dent in packing or my summer reading assignments.

For my summer reading, I just have to go over a few articles about how to read a court opinion and brief a case, then they want us to take a stab at briefing Arizona v. Gant, which shouldn't be too difficult. I'm sure they are not expecting it to be perfect!

And last but not least, here is my latest dilemma: my boss (50+ years old, divorced) wants to take me out to dinner tomorrow night since I'm leaving basically for good on Friday. I've been his receptionist and then his secretary for about three years now. We have a completely innocent relationship obviously, but is this an okay thing to do? Having dinner with your much older boss? I feel like I'm going to look like a young gold dinner going out to eat with him. He said I can pick any restaurant I want. Ooh the pressure! Things like this make me SO anxious.

Thoughts on this?!

Sunday/Life updates...

-Tomorrow begins my last week of full time work at the law firm.

-I had a wonderful time at my going away cookout yesterday. Lots of people, especially family members, that I have not seen in many years came by to see me off! It was very special to me, but surreal at the same time. It really made me realize that not only am I moving 8 hours away from all of my family and friends, but I'm starting law school in a week. One week. Every time I say that out loud or even think it, I get this strange sensation in the pit of my stomach. I'm getting really emotional about the whole situation. Not to mention things are a little rocky with the boy right now. Everything feels so much more complicated now that we're moving in together. How do you have a fight with someone you're living with? This is so foreign to me. What will happen on friday when we pack up the Uhaul and move all our stuff into the same space? How much do things change at that point?

-I want to cry and laugh and scream at the same time. To say that my life as of late has been an emotional rollercoaster would be a very big understatement. Then I hear myself saying stupid cliche little things like that and I just want to slap myself for being such a drama queen. Argghh.

Party Time!

Hello all :)

I am just sitting here getting ready for a family party today. My parents are having a going away cookout for me since I leave next weekend (ahh!!!)) for Philly. Just wanted to check in and wish everyone a happy Saturday!

xx

It's Thursday...

And I am craving MANY of these! :)

What's In My Bathroom?

Straight from the Kids' Bath section at Target come these funny little bathroom accessories. C and I purchased these for our new apartment!!! Hahaha....we have to maintain some level of silliness during our very serious & challenging law school years don't we?!



Lotion or Soap Dispenser, $9.99


Toothbrush Holder, $9.99


From the towel collection we only bought the hand towel, which is pictured above in blue. We thought the whole set might be a bit much! But if you're feeling extra silly (or have children, like most people who buy these things) the whole set is available here for $24.99.

Mystery Solved...Sort Of!

This is something that has plagued my mind for years. I've tried googling it, I've tried asking friends and family members. NEVER AN ANSWER. I think if it came down to it I may have just gone into a jewelry store and asked the question myself, at the risk of looking like a crazed lunatic.

Why are watches always set to 10:10 in magazines and television ads?

Have you notied that? Well this morning I went to check my blog e-mail and this great article came up on the Yahoo headlines: "Why is 10:10 the Default Setting for Clocks and Watches?" So you can just imagine my excitement when I read that!!!

Well, I was somewhat let down by what I found. The reasoning: aesthetics! Here's what the marketing geniuses at Timex have to say about the matter:

"The standard setting used to be 8:20, but this made the face look like it was frowning. To make the products look “happier,” the setting was flipped into a smile."

Really? I wanted it to be some top secret government conspiracy.

BLACKBERRY CAME!!!!

Yes yes yes yes yes. Already installed a fabulous pink and green wallpaper! And I'm like a fifteen year old girl so I obviously also downloaded a ringtone ASAP. C totally makes fun of me for having ringtones, but I think they're fun!! You see someone walking down the street and you're not really thinking anything of them and then BAM their ringtone is your favorite song. Instant friends.

My ringtone was "Toxic" for a long, long time (reserve your judgements) and then I sort of jumped around from song to song for a while. Today I settled on "Young Folks" by Peter Bjorn and John, which should last me a little while. I have this weird obsession (ya think?) about picking ringtones. It's the same when I am trying to decide what movie to rent. You'd think that movie was going to be the last movie I would EVER watch! I'm so intense about it. It can't just be ANY old movie, it must be thoroughly researched and reviewed before I'll pick it. Same goes with ringtones! I go back and forth, back and forth, "What song do I want?"... A little psychotic really...

And last but not least, I downloaded UberTwitter (rather than the ever popular TwitterBerry!) because I just think it's wayyyy more exciting. I love how it tracks where you are and then shares a little GPS map of your tweet. Come to think of it though, that's perfect for stalkers and serial killers. Maybe I'd better put the kibosh on UberTwitter for now...

The Trickery of UPS

I'm going to absolutely lose it if my blackberry doesn't come through my office door today, tucked safely under the arm of a man wearing a brown and yellow uniform. Here's a little look at how my morning has gone:



AHHH!!!!!!!

We Won Trivia!

Last night I went with C and all the boys (I'm such a guy's girl!)to Spats on Thayer Street for trivia night. This was my first trip to trivia night and I have to say it went really well, I think I will be going back next Monday night. To start off, our team name was Vandelay Industries, and I love anyone who gets that reference!!!

We started off really strong, getting all ten questions right in the the first of five rounds. We continued to build points, lost a few in the geography and history categories, but made up for it with the pop culture/entertainment questions. There was actually a picture round where you had to name different pictures of celebrities. Lucky for us the category was "old school rappers," and my boys were killing the questions!!! So funny.

Anyway we ended up coming in first place, with a grand prize being a $25 gift card to the bar we were at!! Needless to say a round of shots was purchased, and I refrained from taking one...WORK TODAY! ugh.

And in other news, MY BLACKBERRY COMES TODAY!!!! I'll be at my desk all day waiting for UPS in a very giddy manner!

UPDATE @ 2:13 PM: Blackberry no where to be seen yet. I HATE UPS!

Donovan Designs Calender Giveaway!

Holding giveaways is very quickly becoming my favorite blog-related activity!!!! So here we go girls....MY SECOND GIVEAWAY!!! One lucky reader will win this FABULOUSLY pink and green wall calender made by Donovan Designs, courtesy of The Preppy Princess.

Keep track of all your important deadlines and appointments with this adorable wall calender. The calender measures a convenient 8-1/2" x 11".

Turn every month into a colorful celebration!


To Enter, just head over to The Preppy Princess, take a look around their store, then come back here to leave a comment telling me your favorite Preppy Princess item! Entries will be accepted until August 20, 2009 at 5pm.

Extra Entries:
* Follow me on Twitter
* Follow my blog or let me know if you already do
* Blog about this giveaway and link back to this post
* Add my button to your blog

= a total of 5 ENTRIES per person!

PLEASE LEAVE A SEPERATE COMMENT FOR EACH ENTRY! and GOOD LUCK!!! :)

Pray For Noah

This morning I was reading through blogs and I came upon Noah's Road, where I read about baby Noah Whitmer. Noah was shaken by his daycare provider and stayed in the pediatric intensive care unit for months, in and out of comas, until he was finally able to return home to his loving family. However, the Whitmers are inundated with doctors appointments and therapy to make sure Noah heals as quickly and as best as possible. The level of brain damage is not yet determinable, and doctors are saying his eyesight will also be affected from the trauma. I am overcome with sadness reading about Noah's story and his parents' struggle to see him heal.

Erin Whitmer, Noah's mother, posts frequently on her blog about Noah's progress. One of her recent posts was so touching I just had to share a part of it with you:

"What matters is that instead of mourning my baby, I am drunk on this insatiable love I have for him. I am cherishing him more than I ever dreamed possible, which is amazing because before he was shaken, I loved him so much it literally made my heart ache."

The Whitmers are currently dealing with court proceedings, working with a prosecutor to bring the daycare provider to justice. A trail is set to begin some time around Noah's first birthday this November. Everyone please take some time and head over to Noah's Road to send along your thoughts and prayers to the Whitmer family. They need every bit of love they can get through this very difficult time in their lives.