what i wore

so now that i have a place to live and my clothes again i've had a lot of fun getting to mix new clothes in with old and also now that it is getting chilly and all fall i've been able to start wearing different clothes! so here is the most recent edition of what i wore

top: gap fall 2012
pants: gap cords winter 2011
shoes: sperry's

top: gap spring 2010
pants: ann taylor spring 2010
shoes: target fall 2009

sweater: gap fall 2012
pants: fall 2012 - omg i am in love with these pants!
shoes: black pumps nine west fall 2010

top: tank h&m winter 2010
sweater: ann taylor loft summer 2011
skirt: h&m pencil skirt winter 2010
shoes: bandalino winter 2012

shirt: gap winter 2010
cardigan: macy's spring 2010
pants: ann taylor spring 2010
shoes: nine west summer 2011

top: old navy tshirt summer 2012
blazer: ann taylor summer 2011
pants: ann taylor loft summer 2012
shoes: target summer 2011

we have a pretty lax dress code at work - jeans are fine, but i try to only wear them once a week and if i do dress them up with heels or a blazer. but it is great because i can mix and match so many things! i want to try taking these photos with a timer - the lighting isn't the best and they are all coming out blurry!

hope you are having a good week! what is your favorite turning fall clothing?

it really is forever

this weekend was fun and i got to spend some time with my sorority sisters at the annual new jersey zeta day! since i moved back to new jersey i've gotten pretty involved with my sorority and i'm on the executive board for my alumae chapter and i'm also an advisor for a college chapter too. i absolutely love being involved with zeta after college and honestly i like it better now than when i was in college. i had fun in college with zeta, met some amazing people and loved the ritual aspect of it, but i love it as an alum. getting to meet with amazing women from different college chapters, more relaxed and seeing that it isn't just in college is what i love.  so it was a fun friday/saturday. i went down early with a few sisters and had fun catching up with them and dinner with a bunch of zetas. saturday was zeta day and it was good, fun to see everyone and it was cool to hear about the different activities all the chapters do and our national president gave a speech, so it was fun to see keeley who is a part of my alumnae chapter.

and saturday night i went over to m's (i need to think of a good nickname) to hang out with him and his friends. it was a fun night but i can totally see why 4loko's were so controversial. his housemates had a stockpile of it and well i dont remember most of my saturday night after one. i guess the way it hit me - so note to self no caffeine and alcohol together. but it was great to spend time with him and i'll also be going out to dinner with him again tuesday night too! i've really been having fun with him and i'm excited to see where this is going. 

and in other news i went on a major shopping spree at old navy today, almost everything in the store was  30-40% off, so i was able to get a few things at major discounts. the most i paid for anything was $15. i still need to get some more professional type things though so i need to go to jcrew and the loft. 

and i also went to see barb today! soo good to see one of my favorite coworkers from last year. 

so i'm off to dallas on wednesday and excited to go to texas!  super excited for the 80 degree weather and sunshine! 

how was your weekend? 

random

so i joined a gym today. i've been wanting to for a while and decided i need something to do and i miss running (and it is getting cold) so i started looking up gym memberships by my house. i had looked into it last year, but with ski season and not getting home until 7ish i decided to wait. so i really wanted to take classes - when i was in ireland i loved my cardio classes and it was motivation to work out. plus i like the group factor (i blame it on playing group sports my entire life) but the few gyms by my house with classes were $60-80 a month... ummm, a little high. so i was talking to my mom and she suggested the new planet fitness that is about 20 minutes from my house. so i looked them up online and today went in and signed up. it is a little further from my house, but at $20 a month (i went with their premium package, basic is $10 a month) and no contract i decided i'll try it out and see how i like it. they don't have classes and they are a no-frills kinda place. but i know people who love it. and for such a good price. plus i'm excited to start working out again and getting my muscles back. 

i'm also bought a mattress and i'm getting a new phone this week too. i'm getting a queen plush pillowtop (so excited for a big bed) and a wrought iron looking bedframe. when the bed is delivered i'll have to take pictures. i can't wait for it! and i'm finalllly eligible for a new phone. so i'l getting the droid incredible on friday. i'll finally be joining the 21st century! (and after this week i'm on a strict no shopping policy, especially since i'm wanting to go to europe) 

so the last week has been good - pretty quiet. i was doing a major room clean last week. every year i go through my room and clean like everything. and just recycle and trash as much as i can. i was pretty successful. and also went through my clothes and filled a very large garbage bag full to donate. i also bought a new bookshelf. i can't wait for my new bed to be in the room! it was fun going through all the random things - i found the 12 pint glasses i stole from living in ireland, all the old letters from my pen pals and other friends, all my photo albums and everything. so glad it is less cluttered!

and i went and saw harry potter 7 on friday morning with erin! i really had no desire to see it. i didn't see the 6th movie but when we were talking on thursday night she mentioned going and i wasn't working, so why not. i enjoyed it and it was crazy how crowded the theatre was at 10am! 

annnnd i'm seriously planning a eurotrip. for january/february. 4 weeks. ireland/amsterdam/cologne/zurich/vienna/budapest/bratislava/prague. i'm trying to figure out train schedules and what is easier to do. buy direct or do a rail pass. flights from newark/shannon and then prague/newark are $725. i'd love to do the whole thing for about $3000. so that's my goal. i know ireland/amsterdam/zurich are going to be more expensive. but especially traveling alone i won't be spending as much because i won't really be going out as much. so just researching right now. but i want this to happen. i miss traveling so much. and when else am i going to be given time to do this? 

so happy thanksgiving week :)

any fun plans? 

update

hope everyone had a good labor day weekend. sadly for me this labor day wasn't too different, it marked the end of summer, but i'm not back in my classroom. my first day of school would have been last wednesday if i was teaching this year and it is weird that i'm not. it is finally starting to feel real that i'm not teaching, and i hate it. i loved what i was doing last year and i hate that i probably won't be teaching for a year until next september. i feel like so many of the things i want to do are on hold for a year. without a stable job i can't move out on my own and i hate the fact i'm 25 and i don't have a job and that i'm living at home. but everything happens for a reason, so i'm just waiting to figure out what fun will happen next. i'm probably going to be doing a lot of subbing this year but i'm looking into taking a little trip to europe this spring. i miss ireland like crazy (i can't believe it has been 5 years since i first went there and studied abroad) and there are still a million places i want to go in europe, so i'm thinking about taking a 3ish week trip in feb/march because when else will i have time to go on a multiweek vacation and i'm young and i have nothing holding me back.

the game plan right now. i'm home this week. and pretty busy. hiking in the gap with becca, planning for a college sorority recruitment that i'm the recruitment advisor for and i'm not going to be here for, a date with an awesome guy, doing something fun with erin, and packing and doing a bunch of errands. 

packing... i was hired for a few sessions with the program i worked last summer (2009) in washington dc. so i'll be down there working with high school students on leadership and the us government for a few weeks. i'm kinda upset i was only hired for 2 of the 6 sessions, but whatever. the thing i am excited about is patricia, mj and i will be together! my 2 favs from summer 2009 and i are back working together. sooooo excited for that! we've all kept in pretty good contact, i've seen each of them twice since that summer and went out to kansas to see patricia. so it is going to be kinda redic. i can't wait. so that starts next monday. and then this weekend is my little's bachelorette party in baltimore! yay! so exited for that! 

and i'm also SUPER excited about these boots. omg, drool. they are from lands end and i can't wait to get them! luckily they were on sale (yay 25% off and free shipping) because i am slightly crazy to not have a job but spend $125 on gorgeous boots. what can i say, i love shoes. buuut i have to wait a few weeks because sadly they are on backorder until september 20th.                                                                                             ummm, oh yea. a date this week. since i've been home i've gone out a few times with a really awesome guy. he lives locally (and can i just say how awesome that is, i've never dated anyone who lives 20 minutes away, my last few bf's have lived at least an hour away) so we've hung out a lot since we first met. he's cooked me dinner, i've met his sisters, we've hung out at his house and yesterday with 2 of his friends we went to a scandinavian festival - which was so much fun! so this is something nice in my life right now. but i will say i was gchatting with patricia last week about him and she joked, at least he isn't an only child and i said i've moved on from only children who live in pennsylvania to engineers who own houses. which is funny because ross & matt were both only children who lived in pennsylvania and matt and the new boy are both engineers and have recently bought houses. i apparently like to keep traits in common in guys i like. 

and so still lots of unknowns in my life but i'm dealing with it the best i can. trying to have fun and not be so upset about not having a job. i'm excited about dc and enjoying the coming fall.

how was your weekend?

shopping

it was a rough week. i generally had no energy and was just in a blah mood. i didn't have any fun weekend plans, so nothing to look forward to and just felt like i was going through the motions. which is something i hate, because i'm not that kinda person who just goes through the motions, but with school this week, not my best teaching.

lots have been going on personally and at work and i know that had an impact on my week.

monday afternoon i found out about a really bad car accident sunday night that killed someone i graduated high school with and seriously injured 2 others whom i also graduated with. i hadn't talked to these guys in about 7 years, but it is still a shock. so that had my week starting off in a sad mood.

and everything with work has me in limbo right now. i've mentioned a bit about the nj education issues right now, and well tuesday at the budget vote, our budget was voted down by the voters. so who knows how much money we need to cut, and where the money will be cut from. so for the next month i'm in limbo of will i have a job next year. as a first year teacher i'm first on the chopping block, and of the 5 of us hired this year, i'm the only one not to be let go yet, so just keeping my fingers crossed.

but still keeping a positive outlook on life. everything happens for a reason and so far everything has been going pretty fabulously. annnnd i have some sweet news. i will be returning to connecticut for the summmmmer! so excited. i'll be back up and an alternate director of a sailing camp, so pretty psyched for that. i get to be by all my connecticut loves and working at a camp and being outside all the time and on the water. and it will be a nice change from the school year. yay! i am sad about not going back to dc, because i LOVED last summer and the people i met and teaching but it just wouldn't have worked with my schedule. but connecticut! yay!

and summer is getting closer. so close. friday at work while lesson planning i had a minor freakout when i planned the rest of 4th quarter and realized there are 33 school days until finals. and i still have a ton to teach. but on that note i'm pretty much planned for the rest of the year which is nice.

and may is going to be awesome. i'm up in connecticut this weekend! and then the weekend after i think i'm going to a crew regatta in philly and seeing matt, then i'm down in maryland seeing little & glittle for a little zta family reunion, then i'm in boston watching one of my best friends graduate with her masters and seeing a few other philly friends, and then it is memorial day weekend (which i still need plans for) so crazy and a fabulous month.

and it was a quiet weekend, but i still had fun. like i said earlier i was exhausted, so i slept a lot, which hopefully helped. and i watched a ton of how i met your mother. and history channel. loved the "how the states were created" which was all about geography and how states were formed and it was incredibly interesting and now i'm watching the "history of us" which is also awesome. and i did a lot of shopping.

i've been wanting a bike since last summer and i finally got one! i get to pick her up next week!

i can't wait to go bike riding!

and i also went shopping with erin today... and found some shoes! yay! so with the pair i bought last week and the 4 i bought today, i think i'm good for a while. what can i say i love shoes!

yay shoes!!!

so i spent a ton of money this weekend... i also bought my first pair of skinny jeans and a top and a dress from h&m too. so must stop shopping! oh and watched a lot of hockey this week but my silly devils played horribly and lost to the flyers, so we are out of the playoffs.

how was your weekend?

hockey

ugh, it is sunday night already. weekends go by waaaaaaay too fast! but this weekend was pretty quiet as weekends go for me. and the next month is going to be awesome and i'll be out of town most weekends so maybe a relaxing weekend is a good idea? i'll be in connecticut, maryland and boston different weekends in may! yay!

anyway i'm watching the devils - flyers hockey playoff game. it is game 3 and so far the series is tied 1-1. and this game is tied 2-2 so far at the 2nd intermission. i've always liked the devils - when i was little i would go to games with my dad (who is a big rangers fan) & grandfather. and i remember them winning the stanley cup in 1995 and then again in 2000 and most recently in 2003, when i was able to go to a playoff game. and then college i didn't really follow hockey and then in ireland, nooope. but now that i'm back i've watched enough games this year and wanted to go to a few, but it just didn't happen. but i've watched their 3 playoff games now, and they have been good! friday's game was intense - i watched it with matt, who is a flyers fan, and he played hockey and now coaches hockey. so that was fun. especially since the devils won! and it was a good game too. so goooo devils!
and the stanley cup ads that they keep showing on the playoffs are awesome - especially this one!

so it was a quiet weekend. went to matt's friday night and yesterday once i got home i didn't do anything. it was such a blah day, like no motivation. i did get some tests graded though, but uugh. i put on a movie and totally fell asleep at like 9.30. and today i ran a bunch of errands and attempted to find cute shoes, but failed. and then i went to panera and had a yummy dinner and did work for a few hours. i'm looking for cute brown & black shoes to wear to work. i found these at target, but they aren't exactly what i'm looking for. i'm trying to replace shoes i've had for years that died at the end of last summer, similar to these but more of a thong style than slip on (does that make sense? i'm horrible when it comes to describing shoes)

the ones i got at target today

i love a lot of the cute sandals but most seem to flip-floppy for what i think i can wear to school. and i'd rather not get yelled at for wearing too causal shoes.

i was also looking for some cute springy/summery skirts but again failed. i want some color and cute patterns. i love my black pencil skirts but i want color for the warm weather. any cute ideas? i love a lot of the jcrew ones, but i just can't spend $100 on a skirt.

but one thing i did get today was a body pillow, which i am super excited about... and just what i don't need when trying to get up at 5am. haha!

anyway, not much going on this week. the usual at school and it should be a good week. and then sunday i am with my zta sisters doing the susan g. komen race for the cure. zta has been a sponsor of race for the cure since 1992 and we participate in most of the races for the cures around the country. so i am excited to be doing the event with my sisters and there will be even more volunteering in different aspects of the day. i could use any support so if you are interested in donating here is my link - http://tinyurl.com/erinracecure

anyway, goooo devils! which is now going into overtime and i need to finish some notes on reconstruction for my sophomores.

how was your weekend?

cheating professions

so i was listening to my favorite radio station as i drove home today and the evening person was discussing something and i only heard part of it and what i heard made me laugh. so i had to look it up to see it. they were discussing the top 5 professions that cheat. and well teachers are number 1 on the list for females. here is the rest of the list for those of you who are curious as well.

For Women:

1. Teachers
2. Stay-at-home Moms
3. Nurses
4. Administrative Assistants
5. Real Estate Agents

For Men:
1. Physicians
2. Police Officers
3. Lawyers
4. Real Estate Agents
5. Engineers

what do you think of that? i have to laugh, well because i'm a teacher, dating a engineer. (at least he isn't a doctor) but in all honesty i am 110% against cheating. after the whole marcus incident back in 2005/2006 (seriously i can't believe it was that long ago) where he cheated on me for 5 months after i went back to the states with another american who was studying abroad (her and i became friends after we found out july 2006, i finally met her in april 2008 and we still talk today). so that was a huge learning experience and made me completely hate cheaters and people who cheat. so i will never be one of those teachers.

but the source of the study was kinda sketchy if you read the article. it was ashleymadison - the dating site for married people.... so the whole things just made me laugh.

so i had a good weekend, despite the omg horrible weather that hit the mid-atlantic. we got like 6" of rain (i am SO glad it was not snow) and there was some minor water where i was but nothing too crazy, we didn't loose power either. unlike a lot of new jersey. i went to the crossings my favorite outlet mall in pennsylvania on saturday with erin. and spent waaay too much money, but i needed a few staples, so it was ok and i didn't pay more for any items than i wanted to. i went to my fav ann taylor and got a cute black dress, blue/white stripped linen pants and a black cowl neck shirt. at banana i got black ankle pants, khakis, khaki pencil skirt and black pencil skirt. and at polo i found awesome red ankle pants for $10(i can not wait to wear this) and polo's were on sale for $40. and i also bought underwear for really cheap too (because i don't own enough already). so it was a successful shopping mission. yay! and sunday was another adventure to pennsylvania to see twin. for a state i used to hate, it is now where i'm spending waaay to0 much time. funny how that happens. and i didn't even go to pa to see matt this weekend.

and my glasses finallly came in. i ordered them like 2 weeks ago, and i was so excited to come home and take out my contacts. something i do seconds before i go to bed usually. so hopefully glasses that are a current prescription and not 4 years old and frames i like will make me wear them more. here they are - please excuse the monday night/no makeup/awk lighting.

i have a hard time finding frames i like because i have such a small face and i don't want my glasses to eat my face.

anyway... off to read a bit and get some sleep. i love that it gets dark so late, but the one hour time change really throws me off. and it was sooo dark this morning, didn't help it was pouring. hopefully there will be a gorgeous sunrise tomorrow to make me smile. and the it should be getting up to 60 tomorrow too! oh and thanks for all the awesome comments on my new hair!

best of 09: night out

December 5. Night out. Did you have a night out with friends or a loved one that rocked your world. Who was there? What was the highlight of the night?

I had a bunch of great nights in 2009. But my favorite would probably be clubs and socs 2009. it was pretty much my unofficial going away party in ireland. it was my last week in ireland and all of my coworkers and mountaineering friends were going, along with brenda and other people i knew so it was a great night of dressing up, lots of free alcohol, a great theme, dancing and laughing. it was my unofficial going away party because all my coworkers were there and i kinda planned when i was going home by this night, because they are always sooo much fun! i was also called up and thanked for my work the last 2 years by the societies which was a huge surprise and was given the most gorgeous bouquet of flowers!

with brenda, one of my good friends

little bit of fun with the coworkers

runners up:

last night with my dc coworkers

amy's birthday

uuuuuughhhhhh. it is snowing, like we have about 2 inches right now. grrrrrr. i've had enough of winter. it can go away now. went christmas shopping with my mom, and pretty much picked out most of my presents. haha. i picked out a new strand of pearls and then gap was having MAJOR sales. all tops and sweaters were buy one get one free.... which is dangerous. so i ended up with 3 sweaters, 2 tops and 3 skirts. so that was fun :) i wanted to show pictures, but gap.com doesn't have a lot of the items, weird.

watching the florida-alabama game and grading. i wanted to get started on christmas cards, but didn't get to target. if you want a christmas card send me an email with your address :)

waaay too much shopping!

things on my mind:

i've got to stop shopping. in the last 2 weeks i've bought

4 pairs of shoes, 1 fleece from old navy, 1 northface softshell, 1 pair of powerstretch (fleece lined spandex for outdoorsy things), multiple sweaters and tops and adorable herringbone pants and a few other random small items. damn you khols and your amazing sales and extra % off and khols cash and old navy 30%. and my favorite outdoor store having amazing sales as well.

a girl has got to have options right? i think my wardrobe is good. and while i was doing laundry i realized something. i have enough underwear to last me over a month. seriously.

and it doesn't help that i'm seriously considering purchasing this dress - from jcrew

it is preeettyyy and i am in love with it. and i got a 20% off online coupon today...

maybe this is why it is bad for me to have an actual salary... instead of saving money i'm shopping? i do better when i don't have money.

and work is fabulous. the usual, nothing too crazy there. my students make me laugh every day. and went out with twin last week and chatted for 3 hours. somehow we live an hour apart and it took us until november to meet up. crazy. last time i saw her was july 2nd.

and how is it already two weeks until december? i was assigning a project today and was like it is due the tuesday after thanksgiving.. and a student said december 1st... ahhhh!

but this weekend i'm headed into the city to see a good high school friend and then to my good college friend's jewlery show and then out for her birthday. so super excited for that. and thanksgiving next week.

so life is amazing and fabulous :)

new laptop!

so first off an AMAZING weekend in philly with my love jclark! much, much more about that later. but in super exciting news - i got a brand new laptop today! a 15"macbook pro! my laptop died this morning, and after the last few months i knew i was going to be needing a new computer. so after when she was doing the same thing she did last month i just said, i'm not dealing with this. and i went to the apple store after work and paid a ton of money, but i am soooooooo happy. i loooove her.

now i just need a name. any good suggestions?

hope everyone had a great weekend!

the usual

so after those lovely snow showers on thursday and then again on saturday the weather has been ok. it was soooooooo cold over the weekend though, like a high of 40. umm not cool. and now it is like 65 in the afternoon today, but like 33 this morning. i hate it because i still need to dress for the arctic because my school is freezing!

but i have some new cute wintry clothes :) the shopping spree with one of my co-workers went fabulously. ny&co had some cute things on sale, and h&m had some cute things and then macy's with my mom on saturday. so i'm enjoying all the new clothes. i still need to get some pants and warmer sweaters. seems like a trip to the outlets is in order soon!

so life is going well :) school is the usual, my students make me laugh on a daily basis, i'm still quirky and dance around the room when i get excited. yesterday one of my juniors asked me, "do you want to go on a double date with another student and our girlfriends to see some movie" i just laughed and said no. but it was pretty funny. and then today he was like we missed you last night. what am i going to do with these guys... the first year teachers went out to dinner tonight and spent two hours talking about students, coworkers and just the funny things at school. it was fabulous :) and i'm also excited, i'm going to be helping out with model congress which we have our first meeting tomorrow and also volunteer coaching for the ski team!

time just seems to be flying!! i can't believe it is the middle of october! this weekend i'm headed to philly to see my college girls row and to meet up with one of my amazing friends, next weekend i'm up to connecticut to see the roomie and all my friends from the spring! but it is halloween, and i need a costume for the party, any good/easy/cheap ideas, so roomie can stop yelling at me? i'm soooo looking forward to the next few weeks and everything!

off to finish grading projects on social security... fun fun!

fall into the gap

so can i mention how much i love the gap?

i've been a big gap fan for a long time, especially their jeans and sweaters.

and while sometimes they can be slightly out of my budget, but sale time i always manage to do well and pick up something. and sometimes it can be hit or miss in what i like, but i love the gap.

so with everyone raaaaving about their updated jeans line and being such a gap jeans fan and realizing i only have 1 pair of jeans and getting a 25% off your purchase if you use your gap card i decided to head to the gap with my mom this evening.

and i knew i was in trouble when the biiiiig signs in the window said - buy one get one free! sweaters, tshirts and long sleeve shirts! annnnd $20 off jeans!

and their fall collection is ammmmazing!

and i am sooo excited that i was able to get 2 pairs of gap jeans for the price of 1!

yes, the amazing gap curvy jeans which i LOVE came out to be $29.50 each. i was giddy in the store when buying them. yay for $20 off each pair and then an additional 25% off! and i was having a conversation with the guy at gap about the jeans because i was saying how excited i was to be getting them for nothing, and he asked if i'd worn them before. and i said yea, i love them. and we were taking about the changes.

and theeeen i also got 2 sweaters, which i'm quite excited about. and 2 of the henleys!

so i was really excited because i spent $120 and got 2 pairs of jeans, 2 sweaters and 2 henleys.

YAY!

and i'm also reading 2 amazing books right now. the first one is a history of ellis island. and as a person who studies immigration history, my dream job would be working at ellis island and it is one of my favorite places. the book is amazing so far and it makes me want to do research and be all scholarly.

and the second is firefly lane by kristen hannah. i am a huge kristen hannah fan, and this is my favorite of all of her books. i've cried through the last half, with my mom making fun of me. but wow. it is a story of a lifelong friendship between two women and growing up, love, and life. so if you are looking for a great end of summer read, i would recommend it. it came out last summer, but as i was only in the states for a few weeks and i couldn't find her books in ireland. and i went to the library today and put a bunch of my favorite authors books on request, but of course i'm like 40+ back for the new sophie kinsella and jennifer weiner books... so we'll see, i'll probably end up buying them before my name comes up on the list.

i'm super excited to see my best friend from high school tomorrow! i haven't seen her since christmas when we met up for lunch and last summer we met up for dinner when i was home. and then i'm headed to pennsylvania to see the boy, where we might head to philly, depending on the weather...

ohhh, and thanks for all the comments about the pictures the last few posts :) it is one of the reasons why i love hiking, the gorgeous scenery! and it really isn't that bad. it might sound like a lot but 10 miles isn't bad over 5-6 hours!

anyone up to anything fun this weekend?

the crazy things my family says

so one of the best things about being home, is how crazy my family is.
the things that come out of our mouths is just ridiculous.
just in the last 3 hours, i've been told i'm going to old lady camp, it is going to be halloween all summer for me, and watched my sister try to teach my little brother to dance.
and i'm sure i'm forgetting like 4 things as well.

i took a little trip to the outlets after i subbed today as i realized i need a few more professional pieces. as the only suit jacket i have is slightly too small and has only recently been used as halloween costumes. so i had fun shopping and while getting some awesome bargins, spent a little more than i wanted. but i got sooo many things! i absolutely love ann taylor! especially outlet ann taylor, and most things being on clearance and then an additional 40% off! so i can't wait to wear all my new clothes next week!

so i get home and i'm showing my mom all my new clothes, and i'm wearing my skirt suit, and my sister just starts laughing and making fun of my "old lady clothes" and then goes omg, you look like sarah palin. greeeeeeaaaaat! i didn't even think of that. it never crossed my mind, but hello, just pull my hair back and glasses. i made a pretty awesome sarah palin for halloween. and i'll be in the dc area for about 6 weeks this summer, wearing suits...
and my little brother has his 8th grade dance coming up this weekend, which i'm slightly upset i won't get to see him in a suit with his date. and my sister was like you do know how to dance right? well apparently the student council doesn't do middle school dances anymore. they used to be awesome. going with your friends, the girls on one side - boys on the other side of the cafeteria, dancing to nsync, bsb, britney... so my sister was trying to teach him to dance, and i should have videoed it because my mom and i had tears we were laughing so hard!

and in slightly random news. one of my kitty's got attacked last night. pita (aka lily) came home this morning with a few huge gashes and scratches. my mom took her to the vet tonight where she underwent surgery to stitch up her up. apparently they were reallllly deep and worse than he thought. but she is ok and we'll be able to pick her up tomorrow. she will have a cone (i can't wait to giggle at her) and obvi won't be allowed out for a while. they think it was a raccoon... honestly my cats get into the weirdest predicaments. with fatty (clyde) breaking his foot last summer, and ellie and her 2 month long summer vacations, and how all of our cats (i've had 11) except our first one have found us.

and i can't believe the season finale of greek is next week. and it looks like it is going to be goooood! and the bad part about subbing, i don't know if i'm working tomorrow yet. wonder if i'll get woken up by a 5.45am phone call??

i wish i could wear my little black dress everyday

so while amy and i are driving all around killarney national park, chasing sheep and taking a million funny pictures, hopefully making out with hotties with accents and drinking lots of pints- here is a fun trip down memory lane.

so classy in philadelphia inspired me to do this post.

last week she posted about her favourite dresses and it made me think about all the fun dresses i've worn to proms/formals/weddings/birthday ball and other fun dress up occasions.

so lets go back...

back to christmas 1988. you know your mom was like mine and each christmas you got a christmas dress. here is one of my favourites. wasn't i cute?

fast forward through all of the awk middle school years, because well those were painful. here is my freshman year high school semi formal - 2000.
and then junior prom - 2002 - i love this dress!
this dress also makes an apperance at my freshman year birthday ball in college with my berries (2004)

but my favourite dress is my senior prom one - 2003. i LOVE it. i still need to find an occassion to wear it again.


so one of my classic staples is my first little black dress, i got it senior year of high school and i still wear it. this picture is from my fall sorority formal sophomore year - 2004. it was also worn to the senior year fall one in 2006. and i think my freshman spring one in 2004 (i was only at that one for about an hour because of crew) this is with my berries.

now i also LOVE my sophomore year birthday ball dress - 2005. this is with one of my fav sorority sisters also sporting the same dress. (and we were classy drinking strawberry andre right out of the bottle)
and then onto lbd 2. my junior year birthday ball dress. yes, i wore flip flops. with my roomie! this dress has been also worn to both the ucc postgrad and clubs/socs ball in 2008.
this is another favourite, i first wore it to my uncle's wedding in 2004, and then this is from my spring junior formal in 2006, where yet again i was only at formal for about an hour because of crew. it was also worn to my spring formal year sophomore year 2005 (that was an absolutely hilarious evening). i'm with my little and glittle.

now at the end of junior year -2006 - i along with 2 of my loves, roomie and kaity , was invited to a black tie event to celebrate the george washington book prize at mt. vernon. and i love this dress, this is my formal black dress. this was also worn to senior year birthday ball
this is my little red dress, the exact same as my lbd, but red. i love it, and it gets worn all the time. this was senior year at our wine and cheese party, 2006. i'm with my friend em, and we studied abroad together.
so this isn't a real dress, but for an anything goes but clothes, the fab ladies of garrett c made formal dresses. and i'm pretty proud of my project runway skills. 2007


this is my graduation dress - i wore it to both my wac - 2007 and ucc - 2008 graduations. this is from the morning of my wac graduation, popping open the champagne :)

and last but not least is my most recent purchase. this is the dress i wore to coop's wedding in july 2008. i love it! i'm with all the other crewies at her wedding!
so YAY! for dresses.

i absolutely love getting dressed up, and my favourite theme party is lbd wine and cheese because it is an excuse to wear a nice dress.

at last...

First hungover at work, not the best way to start the day.
Last night was fun though.
I haven't been out in a while, so it was a funny night out with the girls from work.
We made kinda last minute plans to go out for a pint, now I was just expecting 2 pints.
5 pints later....
Kinda explains the hangover.
Had fun talking about office gossip, catching me up on the ridiculousness of the Christmas party which I missed because I was home, trying to create office scandal, and just general merriment.
I don't miss being hungover at work, last January almost every Friday was like this when Kara and I went out and had some crazy adventures...

So the inauguration yesterday... there are no words.
I felt so proud to be an American yesterday.
We had it streaming online on the tv at work. Around 3.30 I put it on and we watched the coverage and I was trying to answer all the questions about everything and all the random questions about American politics. Good thing I'm a history major and like politics!
So once it started, I was just giddy.
His swearing in, was so cute. I love that he slightly fumbled, he is human. And it is super scary taking oaths like that, seriously it is almost impossible to not mess up. Believe me from all the times I've seen oaths from sorority stuff, inside your head its like omg, pay attention. remember the order of the words, fuck! what comes after that, when they say - say your name, say my name, don't repeat say your name....
And his speech, wow. I don't even know what to say. I read it this morning and he is just such an amazing speaker.
Some of my favourite lines:

*At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebearers, and true to our founding documents.
*Time and again, these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.
*For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

and I LOVE that he quoted GW. Because I LOVE George Washington. I guess that's what happens when you go to a school that is named after the guy and we celebrate him and pretty much love him.

And then I didn't get to see Michelle's dress until this morning, but OMG! LOVES IT! She is just absolutely gorgeous and I love her. She just seems like an amazing role model, a mom, a career woman, an amazing relationship with her husband, she is powerful, elegant, classy, fabulous style, hardworking and just omg, i love her. And the girls, so precious. I just love the family. And I looove that their first dance was to 'At Last' so fitting, and how he started out with "How good looking is my wife"....

Anyway, finally starting to feel unhungover. And maybe I won't die at the gym tonigh in aerobics... hopefully...

i'm so lucky

Thanks for all the love yesterday. I was just having one of those days,  I have them every once in a while and they just make me realize how lucky I really am to be living over here.  I mean, I wanted this SO BAD for the year and a half I was back in the States after studying abroad. And living (not just the 4 months) abroad was always something I wanted to do, and I'm able to do it.  I've been over here for almost a year and a half. I've gotten to do some amazing things, I've met amazing people, I worked my butt off for my Masters. I am so lucky to have the opportunity to do what I am doing. 

 Yesterday I went back and read from my old journal the entries from around that time when I found out I was accepted to UCC. I was in Florida with the crew team on spring break senior year. It was Friday, our last full day, and it was our lunch break. The underclassmen had just launched their surprise attack after the morning practice so all the seniors were thrown in the water (it usually happened Saturday) and we were all just hanging out/napping after lunch. So I checked my email on Jeanne's computer and I saw the acceptance email in my inbox and I just started jumping up and down screaming, tears streaming down my face I was sooooooooo excited! I woke up the girls sleeping, but I was on cloud 9. It was the 16th of March, and though we couldn't celebrate St. Patrick's Day on Saturday, on Sunday when we got back into Chestertown, we had a hilarious crewie party, where it ended with the seniors all going to O'Connors to celebrate. So just remembering that, and how excited I was in September 2007 when I hopped on the plane to move back, I am so thankful for this experience. And I wouldn't trade it for anything. 

Today was a much better day. I slept in and heard the raindrops and the winds against the house. After being slightly lazy and enjoying a few cups of tea, I headed into town where I went to my favourite coffee shop and had lunch and more tea and people watched and read Sense and Sensibility. I'm in my Jane Austen kick right now :) It was fabulous to just relax, read and not be at home. Then on my way to Tesco, I popped in a music/dvd/bookstore that might be closing? Not really sure, what the story is.. but they were having sales.. So I found Breakfast at Tiffany's and the newish Candace Bushnell - One Fifth Avenue and I got them both for 12 euro! So that was exciting! So on my walk home it was raining and it felt refreshing. I wasn't using my umbrella as it was too windy, and it felt great to get wet, have the rain in my face...  

Silly Giants, I was keeping an eye on the game while reading. I'm not a Giants fan, I'm a JETS fan. But I did want the Giants to win today ( hello Eli Manning!! and the cute running back who farms by my house)  so that was disappointing. But the Ravens are still in, so I'm cheering for them. So off to watch some classic Audrey Hepburn :) 

i'm lost without my computer

so i haven't had my computer for a week, while they are fixing it and it is driving me insane! i am so dependent on my laptop, especially while living abroad. it is my communication with friends and family, my news, my music, what i use to watch movies, but especially my communication. i am always emailing, gchatting and i use it to call as well. and with it being september and my thesis is due in 3 weeks, so the actual academic uses. gaaaaah.

luckily i have access to a computer at work, so emailing and the usual stuff is great. plus it is usually quiet enough at work, so i've been able to edit my thesis. so fishing up the editing this week, and i want to get it bound early next week!

other than that is has been a quiet week. working lots and really just relaxing, i'm sooo glad i'm not stressing out about the thesis! i need to get a hobby or something though. i'm not used to free time. like i'm going to join the gym at the end of the month when my student membership expires and so i'll work out a few times a week, go climbing as well... but i don't like having so much free time! so any ideas? like i'll still be hiking on sunday's and go climbing with the club monday/wednesdays... but i just want more. went out to mahon point on saturday to go shopping. picked up a few sweaters at zara :) one of my favourite shops over here, classic simple designs and plain colours, so i like it. and i also found jeans that fit me at next for only €30. which is pretty exciting. yay! we were going to go hiking on sunday, but the forecast was calling for a miserable day, so we decided to wait, in a few weeks we'll be hiking in any weather, so for now we'll be picky....

sooo that's all in the super exiting life of erin. ohhh, did you see the snl palin/clinton sketch? watched it this morning and just kept laughing, one of the funniest things i have seen in a LONG time. tina fey's impersonation is just fabulous! happy monday!

drowned rat

It is pouring out today!!
But that didn't stop us from going on an adventure.
I saw on tv that Debenhams and BT were having summer sales, and I wanted to try to find a new dress for Coop's wedding, so I asked Kara if she wanted to go into town and go shopping last night, she said she was thinking about going to Mahon Point (a small mall on the outskirts of the city) so I figured why not. So woke up to it pouring this morning, gaaaah! So around 11.30 headed over to Kara's to meet up with them and we headed into the city to catch the bus. So that was uneventful, except it was the annoying misty rain. So part of the reason we were headed to Mahon Point was because Steph saw there was a Ben & Jerry's giveaway, so she thought it was in the mall, but it turns out it was in the outer mall area, outside one of the DIY stores. So we go back out in the rain, and walk over there, and we got our samples of the new B&J flavour. It was pretty funny, especially with all the rain.
So then we headed back into the mall and I found a dress in Debenhams :) and it was on sale! YAY! So I am pretty excited, its kinda differnt from other dresses I normally wear, but I really like it. It is yellow, brown and black, thick straps and right below the knee. So I'm now I'm even more excited about her wedding, I love dress shopping. Then we shopped some more and everyone was having their huge summer sales, so in Zara I found a cute black shrug cardigan to wear with the dress, a white crew neck summer sweater and then a black cartigan, because I miss my old one. So they were all on super sale as well. So I was pretty happy with my shopping. So of course it was POURING when we left the mall. Luckily we didn't have to wait long for the bus, and it pretty much slowed down, until we got off the bus and had to walk home. I was completely soaked, it was pretty funny. Nothing a change into comfy pants and a cup of tea can't fix.

The end of this week was pretty uneventful. Wednesday afternoon I hid in bed with tea and the a Jodi Picoult book - 19 minutes, I recommend it. I love her books and this one was really interesting and made me think a lot about high school, friendships and life - it is the school shooting one. Then Brenda and I watched movies and hung out. Thursday I had the day off and I was super productive, ok for half the day. I didn't do anything in the morning, but in the afternoon I wrote another 1500 words of the thesis :) yay! I'm now just over 9,000 words. Chapter 1 needs like 500 more words, chapter 2 is done and I'm planning on working on 3 tonight/tomorrow. Friday I worked in the morning, and we had a workshop on accommodation and dealing with the legal aspects of everything, tenant's/landlord rights and all that. It was interesting and I felt I learned will be good because we have sooo many questions on deposits and such. Then all morning my allergies were killing me, my eyes were itching and my contacts gave me a fight going in but I wore them, so by mid-morning they were reallly bothering me, and one wasn't in right, and I put it back in but it didn't help. So my vision wasn't all there, so it gave me a massive headache, as soon as I got home from work I put my glasses one and tried to watch tv, but it was such a bad headache I took a nap, and then watched movies with Brenda. So I didn't get anything done. grrr. oh well.

So now I'm off to thesis for a bit, I want to write another 2500 words before Monday. What a fun Saturday night...

just another monday at work

monday's at work are quite random. i never know what is going to happen. well really any day at work, but i feel like there have been quite a few random things happen today.

so i check and reply to the email every morning, it is quite easy and most of it i forward upstairs to trish, because it is about international students. so i opened up the email and had to laugh, i had an american student emailing me in cork, to ask about accommodation in dublin for the summer. it is a 4 hour drive away. it just made me laugh.

then i had a cute little asian women come in and ask if i could call her friend, she was trying to get to her friends house and was lost, so i rang her and she came and picked her up.

and then i get a girl asking where the education department is. its not like it is the office next to us or anything. it is across campus.

as well as 3 phone calls asking to speak to random offices on campus, so i attempt to look them up and transfer the calls.

seriously i think we are the office of answers, like people get sent to our office because we know the answers for anything or we'll look it up. i swear about a quarter of the stuff i do doesn't pertain to accommodation or student societies. oh well.

had a pretty productive weekend for once. friday after work i met up with kara and we went into the city, i needed to get a few new tops, so we had fun doing that and shopping, which i hadn't done in a while, and luckily everything was on sale so for 40 euro i ended up with 6 short sleeved tops all in fun colours and a super comfy grey scoop neck long sleeve. friday night i wasn't feeling too good so i just read for fun and watched some dvd's.

saturday morning i finished putting together the thesis notes binder. yay! it is done with as many notes as i have now, and when i get new sources i'll have to add to it, but it is seriously like 250 pages of typed notes which will make my thesis. yay, so now i just need to take alllll those notes and make some sense out of it. then i watched some quality tv and cut up the other set of notes into individual sources so when i write i can easily quote things and cite. whoohoo. then i called my mom to wish her a happy birthday and we talked for a while and after that i just relaxed and hung out with kara.

sunday i was kinda lazy, but the weather was just so dreary, it was a cup of tea and bed day. i met up with kara for the gym (so i was semi productive) and then spent most of the afternoon in bed with a book, imed with amy for a while and then started to write the thesis. go me!

today was the usual monday, work from 9-5, met with kara for lunch and then i've been kinda blah, watched home and away and i just have nooo motivation right now to do work.

but i move next tuesday!!!!

yay! i just talked to my new landlord and i can move in next tuesday! so i'm excited to pack and go through my stuff and figure out what i can get rid of and take some clothes down to the charity shops so that makes me excited, plus a new place to live! as of right now it is only me and another girl in a 4 bedroom house, so i'm hoping to use one of the extra bedrooms as a study where i can write my thesis. yay! soooo excited to move and to get out of this house!!

ok, time to do something productive today!

thanksgiving already...

busy, busy, busy.

at work now and its been pretty quiet today, i know just because i am writing that things will get crazy.
last week was good, didn't do anything too exciting.
worked all day monday, it is so sad that when i leave work at 5pm it is dark :(
i was completely wrecked from dingle, bruised and sore,tired and emotionally drained, so i was slightly loopy at work.
then of course i went climbing because well, i can't get enough of climbing. i was very proud of myself because i made it to the top of the overhang attempting to do the grey's but i cheated about halfway up and used any colour. but it was the first time i made it to the top on the overhang! so yay! after that i was completely wrecked, so i met up with kara for our monday pint at costigans. it was great and i love our monday night chats, so relaxing and its funny to see what people wear to the bar on a monday night.

tuesday i worked in the morning, then class. then just dinner at kara's and relaxing and joking around with her flatmates. its weird but sometime i feel more at home in her house than my own, maybe its just because most of the girls were friends moving in, and not 7 girls who didn't know each other? wednesday i had my diaspora class and it was good, i wish we met more than once a week or something, its so weird to only have class four hours a week. but it was a good discussion and i didn't really know much about the irish in canada, new zealand, aussie or s. africa. so after class kara wanted to go looking for something to wear to a party, with the guy she is kinda seeing. so we went into the city centre and had a great afternoon. i ended up getting a top and a cute dress in awear and a skirt in mango. yay for sales :) and she eventually found a dress. it was a fun afternoon complete with a yummy lunch of veg soup and tea, like we always do.

wednesday night was funny, it was a quiet night at the wall, and pretty quiet at the pub as well. i didn't really climb much, just attempted the purples along the overhang, but got stuck about 2/3 up and then the silly greens on the wall as well, but i did get higher than last time, so yay for that. then the pub, there was a good amount of people at tom barry's, nothing too eventful, just talking. it was pretty funny though talking about racks, nuts, friends, jugs, cracks, finger jams... if you had overheard our conversation and not been a climber you would have been like wtf?

thursday worked in the morning and then met up with kara for lunch and tea while watching home and away. i've become slightly addicted to this fab aussie soap, its pretty good and its addictive and its on at 1.30 and 6.30, so its pretty hard to miss and episode. then we were lazy and instead of doing work we watched the last 4 episodes of sex and the city, i love those 4 episodes. and i was going to be good on thursday night and stay in and do work, after i cooked an amazing dinner. but kara texted me asking if i wanted to go out with her flatmates, so i decided why not. so i watched ugly betty, ok my beef with rte is you show ugly betty only a week behind, but grey's you are half a season behind, and i don't know when they are going to start season 4... grrrr.

so anyway, i wore my cute new top from awear and went over and i felt old. kara and i are much more of the sit and relax at pub kinda people and her flatmates are far from it, they are also only 2nd years, and i know i drank a lot differently then, but they were crazy. so after some drinking in her flat we head out to a club, and it reminded me i don't like clubbing too much. so kara and i stayed until about 1 and then went to the chipper and walked home. it was a fun night, but i was just tired. i worked all day friday and then kara and i went to costigans for a pint and then i got a text from dave, a few people from the club were going to the oval, so kara and i met them there. it was a fun, relaxing and low key night, just as i like them.

saturday i slept in, yay for sleep. i hadn't been able to sleep in for 2 weeks. then i got ready and packed up a weekend bag, because it was grainne's 21st party in killarney. her friend aoife and cian were picking me up and i was going with them, so i could avoid the bus. it poured on the way up and was an icky rainy day. had a great afternoon, relaxing, getting stuffed by her mom and talking with her family. wore my cute new dress from awear and had a great time first at the hotel where she had friends from home, college and everywhere there as well as some family. then we went out in killarney, which was fun, but going clubbing for the 2nd night in a week when i don't really enjoy it. but it was still a savage night. it was pouring, and after we got home, we stayed up talking and laughing until 4.30. sunday slept in and relaxed at her house, had an amazing lunch and the drove back to cork. i was lazy when i got home and read a marion keyes book, instead of one about irish women and relaxed.

yesterday, i worked all day and went climbing :) i was very excited when i climbed up the left side of the exposed part of the wall. i was completely wrecked but so excited to finally do it. i can't wait to get the right side, and now i'm going to work on colours on the hard ones, i do it so i can climb it, then i go for a certain route. so that was fun. then just went over to kara's and relaxed because it was cold and rainy.

at work now, just about done, have to run to the city centre before class at 3, then class and then kara and i are doing our thanksgiving dinner, going out to eat at scuzzi's and then watching some friends thanksgiving episodes. then tomorrow morning before class is the international thanksgiving breakfast, then class and then i'm hoping on a plane to london where i am going to see meg for thanksgiving!

so yay for everything and i can't believe its thanksgiving already, seriously.

oh funny story, so friday at work a U2 song was on the radio, i said i like U2 and dave (my boss) was like yea, bono is at ucc today. i just laughed and was like whatever dave. so saturday i'm looking at the paper at grainne's and front page photo, bono at ucc for hunger conference... seriously so i thought it was pretty funny. i did apologise to dave at work yesterday just because i thought he was taking the piss out of me. so thats my funny story of the week.