It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

checking in

so it turns out grad school is a lot more work than undergrad. huh.. who woulda thunk it? despite all the work, i'm really enjoying everything. well most of it, anyway. thanksgiving was awesome. lots of stories and pictures to post once i'm done with the next 2 weeks of hell. for now i have to get back to my research paper and starbucks. i'm counting down the days til christmas break, and i'm officially in the christmas spirit now that we went tree hunting. here are just a few pictures to get us all through til christmas! can't wait to see everyone again!

my apartment!

As promised, here are some pictures of my awesome, grown-up apartment!

the living room:

the foyer:

the dining room:

the itty-bitty kitchen, taken from the dining room:

my bedroom:

my huge walk-in closet! I still have some organizing to do in here...

next time I go up to the roof I'll take pictures of the view!

nothin' to see here...

what's a good way to get out of reading a few chapters?
pull the fire alarm!
kidding, i didn't pull it, but the alarm really went off today. see?!

all is well. no real fires. back to reading...

first day of school

I went home to Mom and Dad's for an awesome dinner last night (and enjoyed the leftovers again tonight!) and decided to spend the night there. I blamed it on the horrible rain storm but really just wanted the comfort of sleeping in my bed. I love my apartment and it is finally starting to feel like part of the every day routine, but there's nothing like sleeping in my bed at home. I set my alarm to leave East Aurora nice and early, but decided I was in no rush and went back to sleep for a bit. Mom made me some breakfast when I woke up and sent me on my way to get ready for my first day of school. I showered and fixed my hair and make up, but made sure to take my time and relax because I was feeling a bit anxious. College was not always easy, but there weren't many times I felt like it was too much work. (Except that friggan logic class. I'll never forget how much I hated that class.)

My friend came over and we drove to Niagara together with another girl from our program. They are neighbors but I'd never met her before today, so it was nice to get to know someone else I'll be spending the next 3 years with. There are only 10 people in our program, so we'll all get to know each other really well. Six of the 10 students all graduated from Canisius, so I already know most of them. We left super early because we had to pick our books up from the bookstore, but we still ended up having an hour before class started. We sat outside and met up with more people I graduated with, catching up on the summer and dreading the start of classes again.

We went into the classroom and our professor was already there. He's a young guy who seemed just as nervous as us. He assured us he knew how we felt because he was in our place at Niagara not too long ago. I think he calmed all of us down because he told us to call him Kevin and text him if we ever had to miss class or had a question about assignments. I really liked the class too. It's called Perspectives in School Psychology... pretty much school psych 101. Lots and lots of reading, which I expected, but not quite as much work as I thought we'd get for the semester. Oh! And he let us out an hour and a half early too!

Cross your fingers that class tomorrow goes this well!

last week of summer

classes start next week monday. where did the summer go?
i have a super busy week planned of... um, watching the hills tonight. maybe going shopping with mom tomorrow? yeah, not so much planned for my last week of freedom. hopefully i'll get some nice artwork for my empty walls, then i'll post some pictures of my awesome apartment.
i'll probably start posting more once classes start because i'm the queen of procrastination.

i carried a watermelon

You know those kind of movies that you can recite every line by heart? The ones that you can watch over and over and never get sick of it? That's how Dirty Dancing is for me. After my surgery it seems like it was on every movie channel. And I watched it every time. In high school, my friend and I learned some of the dances... so not only can I recite the lines for you, but I can do it while busting a move. This weekend I took my nerdiness to a new low...
I saw it live in Toronto.

I didn't have high expectations because it's like turing a book into a movie, the original is always better. Pretty bad acting, really good dancing (and it was indeed dirty) and okay singing. It was very entertaining though. It was pretty much exactly like the movie with a few added scenes. There were 2 older couples sitting behind us talking before the play started. This was what I heard:

Old Lady 1: Have you ever seen the movie Dirty Dancing?
Old Lady 2: It's a movie?! No, I've never seen it, who's in it?

(me: WHA!?!?)
OL1: Oh I don't know, I've never seen it either. I think John Travolta.

(No. nonono. Who ARE you people?)
OL2: What is the story about?

(um, let's see here. abortion. scandalous love affair between a girl, just out of high school, and an older dancer. girl loses all of her childhood innocence with one look into his hungry eyes (ha! get it?). all on summer vaca with the fam. don't worry old ladies, you'll love it.)
OL1: I'm not sure. It's a love story I think.
(oh.my.god. how have you never seen this CLASSIC? these women are in for quite a surprise.) OL2: (reading through the program) Oh! The play was made after the movie?

(oh my lord. i give up.)

They were very quiet during intermission.

We went shopping on Saturday morning and impressed ourselves with how fast we got through the whole mall. I showed incredible restraint and only bought a pair of shoes and a shirt (and a very over priced Dirty Dancing t-shirt later on...) While we were there we saw a man wearing an interesting outfit...

I think we need a family girls trip to Toronto to see it together... who's in?

happy birthday!!!

Happy Birthday! I've had fun celebrating your birthday season with you!

aren't we pretty?

gulf shores

I know it's been a while since we went to Gulf Shores, but procrastination must run in the family.

Mom got to dip Miles' toes in the ocean, just like she did with Julia:

We got to play in the sand and the water all the time:

We ate tons of fried seafood at LuLu's:
(Julia enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and lounged on Papa...)

We celebrated Papa's birthday:

And then Aunt Esther's birthday... and even set the smoke detector off!!

We enjoyed the views of the beach and from the balcony:

It was a really great trip even though I wish everyone could've been there. Look at Esther's blog soon for more pictures!!

sweet internet

I finally have internet and cable at my new apartment, so I'm sitting here basking in the glow of my giant TV and computer screen. Mikey and I went to Best Buy this morning to buy a router, both a tiny bit hungover from his celebration last night. He just set it up and went on his way so I can catch up on my personal crack and watch some DVRed episodes of Project Runway (man, I hate Stella...)

I'm going home tomorrow for a girls' night while the boys are in NYC for the Yankees game. I'm sure they're gonna be jealous of our night... chinese food and chick flicks! I will post pictures soon of the new apartment and of my glorious vaca to the beach!

The Jerky Hole

I don't think I ever really got into why I had my tonsils out, although I'm sure you all know about the Jerky Hole by now. My tonsils were unusually large, lumpy, and... hole-y. There were big holes and tunnels that food would get caught in. Gross, I know, but reason enough to have them removed in my opinion. The first time I learned about these holes was a few years ago at Esther's house. We were eating beef jerky and a BIG SPLINTER of it got stuck in my throat! Esther and Cecilia did a little surgery of their own, with tweezers, and got the jerky out. Since then, those food traps were renamed the Jerky Holes. End TMI.
I wrote a loooong post about my surgery and recovery, but I must've been on Loritab still because it was a whole mess of run on sentences and unfinished thoughts. So here's a quick recap: The actual surgery was fine and I don't remember a thing after, "OK Mary, we're just going to give you a little something to relax..." Next thing I remember was waking up not being able to breath through my nose (because of all the blood, so said the nurse... yuck) but hurting too bad to breath through my mouth. The surgeon assured my parents that I made the right decision to have the surgery because (TMI alert!) there was A LOT of crap in my jerky holes, showing how infected my tonsils were. I spent a few uncomfortable hours after surgery in the hospital with Mom and Cecilia. Cecilia took a greeeat picture of me that sums up exactly how I felt, I'll have to post it later. Once I was home I was on a pretty regular schedule of drugs every 2 hours. Mom camped out in my room for a few nights to make sure I didn't overdose or anything. I spent a solid week or so on the couch watching Lifetime, communicating with a dry-erase board and eating popsicles. It was actually a nice little break (besides all the PAIN!) I'm finally feeling pretty good, not 100% but almost there.
I'm leaving tomorrow to finish recovering ON THE BEACH!!! Originally we were only supposed to stay until Monday for a long weekend. Unfortunately Dad still has to come home then, but Esther and I will be staying until Wednesday with Julia and Miles. Mom is staying even longer so she can go to her high school reunion and have some more QT with Aunt Esther. I'll be sure to post pictures when we get back, but for now I have to go finish packing!!

Gulf Shores, Alabama!

TWO!

Happy birthday to the sweetest 2 year old I know

i'm baaack!

Hi! Remember me? Sorry for the blogging break, but I've been so busy since graduation. You know, being a grown up and all. HA! Just kidding. I've actually been gloriously un-busy (yes, that is a word) since then. Let me catch you up on life.

• I moved home (so long, ghetto) and have gotten into a great routine of being an old lady. I eat a nice dinner with the parents, watch some inside edition, catch up on the daily gossip blogs, and I'm in bed by 9. (Seriously, I go to bed that early some nights). I've seen some friends from high school which has been fun, but most nights I'm perfectly content with my early bed time.
• We had that awesome grad party. It seems like it was months ago! Got lots of awesome and generous gifts! People are too nice.
• I got an apartment! After a few days of hunting, my roommate (one that I've lived with the past 2 years) and I found the perfect one. It's not huge, but it's big enough for us. There's gated parking, which is awesome (because I still can't parallel park...). There's ugly green carpeting in it, but they've already started taking it up so we'll have refinished hard wood floors. And get this, there's a roof top patio with an awesome view of the city and the lake! And it's only a few minutes from downtown, so it looks like my days as an old lady are numbered!
• I saw this. Twice. Was a little disappointed the first time around, but after hours of replaying it over and over in my head and debating with friends, I liked it much better the second time. Man, I really do have too much time on my hands.
• I wrote a 10 page paper on the role of leadership in school psychology. I dislike grad school already.
• I've been catching up on this blog. Tear. Get your tissues ready.
• I had my last day of work last week at the Boys & Girls Club. I teared up a bit when I left because I know I'll probably never see any of those kids again. One girl, Cynthia, is a refugee from Africa (her dad is still there, "missing".. so sad), the oldest of 4 kids, and one of the hardest workers I know. She just graduated from 8th grade and got a full scholarship to Nardin!! I used to help her type her physics labs, which I didn't even understand. I'm sure someday I'll see her on the news for doing something amazing.
• I went to the Corning Museum of Glass yesterday with Mom, Mimi, and Grandma. It's one of those places I've always wanted to go see and so we took our first free day and went! We met Aunt Barb there and she got me the most beautiful tall, glass flowers as a graduation gift. (I'll post pictures of them soon!) As we were leaving, she handed me another gift and said, "every garden needs one of these!" It's a beautiful glass butterfly! They'll be great decorations for my new grown-up apartment!
• I went out for ice cream with Esther, John, Julia and Miles the other night. We ordered our cones and had the tiny shop pretty much to ourselves. I was sitting next to Julia and sharing my piece of cake ice cream with her (along with her chocolate with sprinkles...) when a man walked in. I noticed he had a big... uh, thing on his nose. A tumor? Perhaps preparing for a role in a Disney movie? (go ahead and google "nose tumor" and you'll get a good idea). Anyway, I was not the only one who noticed, apparently. Sweet little Julia shouts out, "HAHAHA LOOK AT THAT MAN! HE HAS A BIG NO..." as I slapped my hand over her mouth. I'm pretty sure I bit a hole in my tongue, I was trying so hard not to laugh. I picked Julia up and started asking her about school, her ice cream, anything to distract her. She leans into me and whispers, "But Mooey, isn't that so silly?!?!" Ah yes, it was quite silly. He walks by and again, "LOOK, THERE'S THE MAN WITH THE BIG NOSE!" John and I planned how to get her out so she didn't point and laugh at the poor guy.
• I took my friend out for her 21st birthday last night. My 21st birthday was on a Monday too, so I know you can't just bar hop on Chippewa. I took her to the classy local bars instead. Apparently I did a good job though, because I got a text this morning (er, afternoon) that said, "I slept on the bathroom floor last night." I'm so proud :)
• I get my tonsils out in one week. blah. NOT looking forward to the pain. I AM looking forward to ice cream and slushies. And lots and lots of cheesy movies. Maybe I'll update before then, but most likely not!

and i'm done

I graduated yesterday! It's very bittersweet. I've been saying for months that I'm ready to be done, ready to move out, and ready to move on to grad school. I'm done living in a house of five girls among the mess and the drama. I am (almost) done with closing the bar down in the most uncomfortable heels I own. I really loved college but believe it or not, I think I am actually ready to grow up.

Last night was our last night out to celebrate with everyone before we all head our separate ways. I really shouldn't worry too much about not seeing my friends because a very large portion of Canisius students are from Buffalo. I'll keep in touch with the people I really care about and the rest, well I know I'll run into some them once in a while. We started the night at a friends house. Someone brought a couple bottles of (very cheap) champagne and we all toasted each other. We headed downtown for a few hours but ended the night at "our" bar, just like every other Saturday for the last 4 years. As our friends started to leave, people started to cry. Here we were, a group of drunk college graduates crying in a bar to "Livin' on a Prayer"... how appropriate.

the bff

Some of my "class friends" (the one on the left is going to Niagara with me in the fall)

two of my roommates

Mikey's done too!

I am so smrt

PSY 303 Abnormal Psychology A-
PSY 384 Child Psychopathology A-
PSY 406 Selected Topic Psy: Misperceptions A
PSY 498 Psychology Practicum School Psychology A


Undergraduate Summary
GPA
Current Term: 3.85
Overall: 3.48

Damn, SOOO close to my goal of 3.5 overall!

Happy Birthday!

Not much time to post because it's senior week. Just got back from a wine tour, headed out to Coles (not school sponsored...) But I just wanted to say...

Happy Birthday, Cecilia!!