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.

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!
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.
the french quarter is beautiful,
but it literally stinks. like really bad.

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, 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.

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!

jenny lewis!

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.

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.

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.

sunset point

I know I'm slacking on the summer posts,

but I promise they'll be up eventually.

This summer was 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!

a few of my favorite summer pictures!

good news!
i've decided to do a (very, very belated) several-post re-cap of this wonderful summer.

my summer was full of concerts,
more road trips than i could count on both hands,
old friends,
cupcakes galore,
roller coasters,
jumping on hotel beds,
exploring new cities,
good food (for which i'm now paying the price),
absolutely nothing productive,
and many wonderful moments with wonderful people.

i could not have asked for a better summer.
the only not-so-good things i can remember are
a) a trip to the emergency room in may after a bout with my asthma/allergies
and b) a wisdom tooth infection which left me drugged up on vicodin for days.
i'm so thankful for the audrey hepburn calendar in my closet
on which i wrote each day's highlights.
i will forever look at that calendar and remember some of the best moments of my life.

here are five of my favorite summer pictures,
and believe me when i say that there are so many more waiting to be posted: