TBT, Europe Style

I'm really just feeling how NOT in Europe I am this semester, and I'm struggling with the idea that it's been almost a year. But my favorite comparison:


This is me, sitting in the Newark airport being terrified to get on the plane. Pre-ANYTHING, I always feel like this is my "before life got awesome" picture.



And then this, which is not a very flattering picture of me, but it's the moment I realized how comfortable I was with everything. We found this underground comedy club in the middle of London, and it was perfect. British comedy, drinks, and totally authentic and un-tourist-ified. They basically just slammed Americans the whole time, but that just made it feel even more real. At the end of the trip, this is my "after I grew up" picture.


So here's to finding $7,000 and getting me back there.

Can't Stop Laughing...

At these ridiculous goat videos. I think this one is my favorite, though.

Dance Marthon, 2013

I am not a huge fan of dancing, and even less of a fan of being forced to spend a long period of time with a lot of people I don't know. Generally anything that has a morale team I stray away from. But my roommate was the director, and I wanted to experience it at least once, even if I was sure I would hate my life during it.

WRONG.

I had the most incredible experience. The first 5 hours were the hardest for me- I wasn't into the experience, and as much as I tried to be open to it, I hated learning the group dances. But at some point, I turned into 7th  grade, extroverted, super peppy and involved Paige.

I didn't know she still existed. She's been hiding under thick eyeliner and self declared angst for so long, I thought I'd killed her completely. But there I was, dancing around with my sisters and complete strangers, trying to keep everyone's spirits up the last 3 hours.



I was also SO proud of my sisters, who were so involved with the event- not only did we have the most representation of participants, but we had sisters coming to visit every hour to bring us snacks and hold up signs and leave notes. Zetas are not known for being incredibly outgoing, and its a big deal when they leave their comfort zone (ie, the section) to support their sisters. It really meant a lot. Even Deeg, who hates almost any positive social gathering, came to see Becca and I!




We ended up raisiong over 37,000 for pediatric aids, which is AWESOME for such a small campus. Even after we were done at midnight, I couldn't fall asleep because I was just so jazzed up about everything. In the end, I have Becca to thank for the experience, because without her I never would have put myself out there, and I'm SO glad I did.

I believe in dancing for a cure.

In the Land of Women

I just love this quote so much. The movie really isn't all that special, and I don't care for Kristen Stewart, but Adam Brody has a special place in my heart, and I love this line-

"There's a big fucking world out there. It's messy, 

and it's chaotic, and it's never, it's never ever the 

thing you'd expect. It's ok to be scared but you 

cannot allow your fears to turn you into an asshole, 

not when it comes to the people that really love you, 

the people that need you." 

Hey, I wrote this.

I'm going to be honest; my success is not coming from my writing, but rather from my boss giving me some really great opportunities with some really great stories. Which, I guess in some ways is a result of her trusting me to write them well.

But it was a very cool day when facebook said that 5 of my friends had shared a link, and it was something I had written.

You can see my Beatles article here.

I believe in working your way to the top.

Throwback Thursday

I believe in crazy spontaneous adventures.

Books!

I've been doing a poor job of keeping up with what books I've read this year, and an even poorer job with staying on track with my goal. I don't have time to post all the quotes I liked, but just to keep track:

[1] The Paris Wife -Paula McClain
[2] Ruth Hall  -Fanny Fern
[3] Behind a Mask  -Louisa May Alcott

I'm not including Bared to You, because it wasn't a real book as much as a way for me to discover how truly shitty something can be, and still get published. So disheartening. Also, there were two more books for a class that I didn't finish, so hopefully I'll get back to them. And a bunch of poetry from the romantic era, but obviously that doesn't count either.

Now I'm just making excuses. I'll have to focus a little more if I want to make it to 50. I'll make up a lot over the summer. But I'd really like to get to at least 10 before spring break.

I'm back to Pride and Prejudice, but I just started over rather than return to where I was last time I stopped reading. My priorities are out of wack. At some point, I'm just going to have to commit to my "Books I Should have Read Before Coming to College" list, so I can work on the "Books I Should have Read in College" list, which I'm realistically much closer to completing.

I believing in commitments to leisurely reading.