thanksgiving re-cap.

i hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving!
my break was full of beautiful family and friends,
great food, and lots of rest.

i went black friday shopping with richard and my cousin brianna.
it was stressful, painful,
and i wasn't a fan of the 3:30 am wake-up call.
people are RUDE on black friday!
i forgot how one silly day brings out such ugliness in people.

on a different note, there are only seven more days of school!
SEVEN. count 'em, people!
i could not be more excited,
but i've got four tests and three papers this week. boo.
basically you lovelies won't be seeing much of me,
but starbucks, red bull, mountain dew, and nodoz surely will.

how was your thanksgiving? are you having a nice monday?

p.s. the polas are sights from around town. love this time of year!

happy thanksgiving!

i've been a very, very, VERY busy girl.
and as always, i have neglected this little thing.

i've been sick. moved into new apartment with sister (while sick. boo). end of semester=school is crazy. papers, papers, & more papers. unpacking, decorating, cleaning, cooking, etc.

but i'm leaving in just a few minutes to visit
my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, great grandma, friends,
and my "favorite sister."

words cannot express how excited i am to see them,
and how much i need this break from school
and all the things that go along with my life here.

i truly hope you all have a wonderful thanksgiving,
surrounded by the people you love the most.

nawlins

hello, lovelies!
sorry it has been a while.
school, road trips, and (most importantly) finding my new APARTMENT
have kept me an extremely busy girl.

last weekend i flew down to
new orleans/nawlins/nola/la nouvelle orleans
to hang out with richard.
umm, it has got to be the most diverse city in the country.
it's the only place i know of that combines
the 'hood, history, and typical city life.
the french quarter is beautiful,
but it literally stinks! it's crazy.

my weekend was full of cupcakes (!),
food that i did not like (oysters/mussels/clams, ew),
walking and driving those scary streets,
visiting historical buildings and cemeteries,
seeing the ninth ward (the area hit hardest by hurricane katrina),
speaking to real french people (!!! i was unbelievably excited),
and lots of fun!



photos: st. louis cathedral, bee sweet cupcakes, st. louis cathedral, french quarter home, st. louis cemetery

halloween.

halloween is probably my least favorite holiday,

but each year i try to make the best of it.

this was the first year in so long that i didn't go to a showing of

the rocky horror picture show

or go to a party with friends.

instead, i dressed up as dorothy from the wizard of oz

(complete with toto in a basket!)

and played with my little sisters and their friends!

it was so fun.

we went to a carnival at church and played games,

went trick-or-treating under a beautiful orange sunset

(seriously, it could not have been more halloween-ish),

and stuffed ourselves full of candy.

my sister maci was a birthday girl,

and hali was perry the platypus from one of her favorite cartoons.

they made their own little costumes!

i don't know how they came up with either of those ideas,

but are they not just adorable?!

i also had some spooky fun with my dad, rachel, and my dad's now wife becky.

yes, this was the night before the infamous grocery store wedding.

ghost hunts scare me. i swore i'd never go on another,

and this time i really won't!

how was your halloween? what was your costume?
i heard about lots of lady gagas!

billy mays and bob ross were also pretty popular. hilarious!

love in the grocery store

So I have to take a quick break from summer posts to tell you about something hilarious and ridiculous and unbelievable, etc. etc. etc.

Last night my dad and his new girlfriend Becky were in town. They've been dating for about a month. The two of them, as well as my sister Rachel and I, did fun Halloween stuff all evening. My sister and I dropped them off at their car at the end of the night, and they returned back to their hometown this morning. I knew that they were already discussing marriage, because my dad offered to give me some furniture when they moved in together. They both acted like it wouldn't be soon though, and I jokingly wished that they'd get married very soon so I could get my furniture!

This afternoon I got a call from my other sister who lives in the same town as them. She was wanting to know if I had heard from our dad. I said no, and she informed me that he and Becky had just been married an hour before... IN THE PRODUCE SECTION OF A GROCERY STORE.

I kid you not. Today my father got married in a grocery store.

I'm a sister again! I have two new step siblings... unfortunately, I don't even know them.

Have your family members ever done something crazy like this? Please say yes so I won't feel so weird!

summer part one: jenny lewis!

So I'm finally beginning my promised series of summer posts.

I'm really excited about sharing

and experiencing all over again

one of the best times of my life.

One of my favorite summer memories would have to be
finally seeing my absolute favorite artist,

Jenny Lewis,

in concert at George's Majestic Lounge

with Richard and my friends Jaime and Ben.

(Excuse the poor quality of the photos.
My camera was broken, and I had to borrow my parents'.)

I've been a little more than obsessed with this woman since I was 16,

and her show was honestly even better than I could have imagined.
I don't know how I made it all these years without seeing her live,

but this Jenny show definitely will not be my last.

Jenny's openers were Morgan Nagler from The Whispertown 2000

and Heartless Bastards,

both of which I absolutely loved.
Heartless Bastards really know how to play a great show!

The Next Messiah and Jack Killed Mom from Jenny's Acid Tongue album,
as well as You Are What You Love from Rabbit Fur Coat

were my favorite songs performed

Jenny is the lead singer for my favorite band,

Rilo Kiley,

and she also performed another one of my favorite songs,

Silver Lining from Rilo Kiley's Under the Blacklight.

George's has the perfect atmosphere for smaller shows like this one,

and although it was my first show in such a venue,

it definitely will not be my last.

The concert area was a dark, humid room

with a gigantic tarp in place of a roof,

and while it was so hot that I thought I would faint,

I had so much fun dancing with strangers right up against the stage.

By the time we left, we were all pretty exhausted and sweaty,

so we went over to Common Grounds

for some late night iced coffee and Greek pizza.

Check out Jenny Lewis's music here, Rilo Kiley's here, Heartless Bastards' here, and The Whispertown 2000 here.

sunset point

I know I'm slacking on the summer posts,

but I promise they'll be up eventually.

This summer was too, too, too good not to share!

But first...

Yesterday Richard and I drove up to Mount Nebo,

and while the views from Sunset Point are always beautiful,

they are exceptionally breathtaking at this time of year.

P.S. I downloaded ShakeItPhoto for my iPhone not too long ago,
and if you have an iPhone, you must get it!