900 Views Later...

So, for a small personal blog, & it being up and running for the past two years...I'm actually kind of surprised to see it had 900 views today. Granted, about 1/2 of those views must have been mine, but it's still sort of cool. Even if you read my entries, kinda stalker-ishly, that's cool. Just please don't cause me any harm. And to my friends who actually read this shit, thanks. Just a quick insight into my mysterious life...lol, yeah, ok.

In other news, for those who haven't kept up, I've spent the last few entries catching up on my missed months of blogging: the remainder of Europe and some summer months. I'm up to the month of August, but really...nothing happened. After a whirlwind of seven months being a busy bee, August was truly boring. The most exciting thing was being able to see Honor Society after a whole month (I'm pathetic) outside Z100 & truly have the greatest conversation with Mike. Then right before school started, went to my first Arthur Ashe Kids day (Honor Society, Justin Bieber, Jordin Sparks).

Now September...

September has always been a love/hate month for me. I love it because it's my birthday month! I hate it because it's when classes begin again. But this September was different. I began one of my first days in September with a response from Island Def Jam Publicity Department about an internship and I got it! I jumped and screamed and knew things were looking up. The minute I got the internship, I knew my life had to turn around. I'd spent most of the year enjoying my youth but now, I realized, I need to come to terms with my future. After a hectic trial of trying to get credit for the internship, I began on a Wednesday.

The IDJ offices are really cool. I can't divulge much, in fear of them finding this and suing me or something, but I'm working in a pretty cool atmosphere. Legends have walked these halls and future legends will work here. People dream of being up in these offices, either working for the company or being signed to the label. I haven't taken that for granted. I'm lucky enough to work under some of the biggest publicists of our day. These people have made the legends and definitely taken the fall for anything bad that's happened. Every time I need to go do something in one of the big offices, my knees go weak. These people have some of the greatest views of Manhattan and I can only dream of working in a room like that. One of the biggest things, in my opinion, that I don't know if I'll get used to in my stay with the label, is simply going up to LA Reid's office, or even walking past him. He's discovered some of the biggest talent out there in popular music today. For instance, yesterday he came up to our department and I was basically starstruck! Call me crazy but a person with that much power and influence is something to be in awe of, whether or not you believe he's done anything substantial (but how could you not?).

With classes and the internship, which have me up and at 'em from 7AM to 10PM four days in a row, I'm always exhausted. I don't really 'hang out' like I did during the summer. My idea of a great day is one where I get to watch a few good movies and eat some delicious food on the comforts of my couch.

But I did pull my ass off my couch to go to Fashion's Night Out 2009, which was, contrary to what people thought, a world event. All participating fashion retailers all over the world basically kept their stores open late for throw a party. Seriously, I walked away with champagne and a cool NYC FNO'09 tee. All proceeds of the t-shirt sale went to the 9/11 Fund. I don't really like candied apples, but they gave some of that away at 7 For All Mankind (they ran out of chocolate covered apples!), some mini hot dogs, LIVE male models (insanely Ken-perfect), performance at Tommy Hilfiger, and a live photo shoot at Marc Jacobs. I loved it.

Then I turned 20 this year, no longer a teen, and I celebrated with the friends that were able to come out at S'Mac (Sarita's Mac and Cheese). It was seriously the bomb. I KNOW good mac and cheese and that was some damn good mac. Then we had dessert at The Lite Choice, LOL & hung out in Uniong Square soaking up the NYC autumn weather. Then the following day I had to take my brother to the hospital where he was treated for a concussion and kept overnight. A very trying weekend for me. My boyfriend was nice enough to take me to Max Brenner's for dessert on Monday after work and we had the s'mores. Delicious! Then on Tuesday, Sept 29, my actual birthday, Dolce Bites (look em up on Facebook) delivered my birthday cupcakes (S'mores, Red Velvet, and Chocolate Molten) and 3 girls basically devoured it (with the later help of 2 guys). It was a really nice birthday and a great way to end the month.

So all in all: August was thumbs down, September was THUMBS WAY UP! October just began and I'm hoping for just as good month. I need to work on not being as stressed and tired and find time to work out.

Hope blogger world is holding up ok, too.

blink & you miss it.

July. Oh, July.

I can't remember half the things I did but it was the busiest month since Europe all summer. I did more exciting things in July than I did in June and August combined.

I went down to Virginia, possibly for the last time (for a while), for vacation. My cousin asked us why Virginia for vacation? Well, to put it simply, my cousin's house is like a freakin resort house. A huge backyard with a pool, an outdoor fireplace, tons of seating, a coy river/pond, & volleyball net. Inside has a billion rooms, all majestic in their own right & it's away from the hustle of Virginia Beach, literally tucked away in the middle of nowhere just minutes away from the North Carolina border.

i have gotten really attached to my family down there so it's always a big reunion when we go down there. the only family i have in new york city is my auntie & uncle. that's all. but when we're down there it's a huge group! i love it. & my aunt (the rich one) LOVES to shop & has great style, so i always enjoy whenever she takes me to the mall. we went to the big one in virginia beach, then went to the actual beach around night time (missed that), & spent tons of time with my little cuzzo, Camille. I miss that crazy girl! we went to waterland usa? fuck, i dont remember the name...but yeah, went there. went to this place called 'cool stuff' and had a ton of ..you guessed it, cool stuff. buncha dvd's i love & my bro scored some videos games.

one day we went to ocracoke, north carolina. now that was an adventure. imagine being in a car looking at coastline or brush for like 5 hours...=[. but it's actually a quaint little town in north carolina. very nice. & then we went to my, now uncle-in law's, beachhouse. he's some kinda millionare...collecting vintage cars and shit. but i didnt get to go to the wedding =(. anyways, then we celebrated my brother's birthday in a mexican restaurant! haha, we always eating my mexican.hm, damnit, what else...then we went to a plant nursery & bought some plants & then had dinner at my uncle's place. he made some KILLLLER tortilla chips & salsa. he's an authentic mexican chef. love it.

after leaving mexico. i mean, virginia, we stopped by Sonic (only my 2nd time ever having it) & i loved it. i wish we had some sonic in new york. a few days later i hung out with Anj&Aud in soho and bumped into the gossip girl set & totally said 'love you' to penn badgley. but i'll admit, i realy only loved penn in john tucker must die.

a ton of honor society stuff happened in the month of july. i reunited with marie in long island to see our guys perform at the crazy donkey. it was epic. during the meet & greet, i made sure they remembered us from the summer previous, & thankfully, they did. alexander makes us laugh. the next day we went out to a verizon in-store event & they remembered us again, & even told us to check out special news from them on twitter. an acoustic set with the boys in union square. unfortunately, it being marie's last day on the right coast, we could not go. so after sadly saying goodbye to marie, i went home to queens.

the next day i was exhausted but then BAM, i find out i won tickets to the Jonas Brother's concert that evening. marie & i cried over the fact that she couldn't make it because of her flight so i contacted my dear friend Paula. it's funny how fate works. rie & i were trying to buy tix earlier in the year but since of my time difference in europe & just not really being that big a fan anymore, we didnt put a lot of effort. & then it was like joe saying, "coomeee on! ill give you free tix!". actually, i won the tickets because i entered a contest for honor society. rotfl for irony.

i went to the show early & actually accidentally snuck into soundcheck. that was awesome because you have to pay up to i think 400 bucks to get into soundcheck. then i watched honor society rock the FUCK out of nassau col. i was the ONLY one dancing & screaming the lyrics in my section. then we rushed off to the honor socety meet & greet & the guys welcomed us with hugs even though they were not allowed. we watched the rest of the concert from our amzing seats & then got skeeted on by joe & kevin. go on & ask. the one thing i hate about nassau col is that it's in the middle of nowhere & getting back to the city is a bitch.

& then my final honor society day ended with an emotional bang. the boys sold out irving plaza & i watched from the back while all the screaming fans went crazy for 'em. the lights blinded me, mike's voice made me smile, & the energy was ridonk. their dream had come true. & i was lucky enough to know em even just a little bit before they blew up. when i read that they shed some tears after the show, i shed some, too. they're amazing men & i wished only the best for 'em. so i gotta thank the JB for that. that was the only day i didn't get to see the guys, but they had a few hundred other fans to see...i knew i needed to share 'em & so i did.

i can't remember much of july from that point on...

the adjusment period.

my room turned pink. immediately upon arrival, my parents showed me that they had taken the time to fix up my room. the floor was no longer this nasty maroon colored carpet but a pretty bamboo wood and they painted the walls...pink. lol, extremely sweet gesture but it took some getting used to.

the week following my return was spent catching up with friends. literally, i tried to see EVERYONE in one week. i couldn't believe i was finally back in the arms of my beloved friends. but i knew i was becoming a broken and annoying record.

"oh, in europe...."
"in europe they...."
europe this. europe that. i couldn't stop talking about it. although, by this time, many of my friends read my blog and looked at my pictures on facebook so they knew most of what i was talking about but i couldn't stop blabbering on. for instance, the united states needs to learn how to be more eco-friendly. i paid extra money in all three countries for plastic/paper bags whenever i went shopping. and food? i'd forgotten how insanely unhealthy the US was and esp. ny jam-packed was with fast-food places.

truthfully, i knew i was becoming a snob & i did try to hold back as much as i could. to the point that when i was asked about my trip, i'd only reply that 'it was fun'.

eventually the questions dwindled and i fell into an extremely boring schedule. my job hunting was proving to be difficult and since many of my friends were finishing up classes, i sat on my ass at home...doing nothing. gah, i wanted to shoot myself. the boredom was killing. i decided to bike ride.a lot. (LIKE IN EUROPE, i had to say it) but then good ol' june came and it rained 22 of all the days in the month. lucky bored me.

but actually, june wasn't too bad. i saw taylor swift with harold, dave matthews band with my dear AZ friend marie, and got into a free JB show with paula (fate's return). harold threw a 21st bday bash which was really cool. & fota performed a few shows. a crappy weather month but i did have some good days.

it was july that took me by storm...

one of the easiest & hardest goodbyes i've ever had to make.

the last few weeks spent in dublin were the hardest. you can ask my two closest friends on the trip how i'd basically fallen off the radar. i was spiraling into a dark hole. i had gotten a taste of home when harold visited me and now i missed it more than ever. i cried for days . i spent almost all my time in my room watching movies. i'd even skipped out on days of biking (which i told myself not to do) because i was just so down.

first weekend back from spring break, i spent every night dancing. with some good unmentionable juice in me, i spent hours just dancing into the wee hours of dublin's night. the funniest memory i had was getting on the bus, completely glassy-eyed , going to a bar, going to one club, then running over to another club in the heaviest rain i'd been in, & then dancing to an empty dancefloor. thinking about it, i had more fun doing that than when people actually came. some of those irish guys are too much. then we ran to mcdonalds (which i absolutely DESPISE) and bought food, caught a cab, sat in complete silence, get to my friend's room and sat on the floor eating. lmao. it might not seem funny now, but man...the next day, we were crackin up. we spent 3 nights in a row doing that.

then, for a change, we went to go watch some Gaelic Football. now, what the fuck...that game was intense. i wasn't exactly sure what was going on but basically everything that you couldn't do in regular football (soccer to us), you COULD do in gaelic football. man, those men were beasts.

later that week, we had a 'beauty night' with the nuns who lived below us. it was so cute: manicures, massages, goddess card readings. my goddess card reading was so dead on it scared me. then practically all of the stj girls went into one room, piled all of our make-up into a huge pile and gave each other make-overs.

classes were finishing up & as the last few days rolled around, corners in my heart brightened up. i no longer had a massive paper to do, all my classes were registered for the next fall, a majority of my last few nights were spent packing. i was ready to jump into a plane right then and there. i was DONE with europe.

but on my last full day in dublin, i went to hoath, which is a short train ride from dublin and a small fishing village. i remember the day perfectly. it was sunny with slight wind but still fairly warm. coming out of the train station and finally reaching the wharf, we turned around and looked at the beautiful little bright houses perched up on the mountainous green terrain. the waves danced with the wind and families walked their dogs and old couples sat on the benches overlooking the picturesque view.

i stood there realizing what an epic journey i'd been on. how many other people can say they lived and studied in Europe and not just 1 country but three and all of this in a matter of almost 4 months. 4 MONTHS!? it's still unbelievable to me. i knew God brought me to Hoath on the most beautiful day in Ireland for me to reflect on the gift i was given. i cannot thank Him enough.

that night, we threw a surprise thank-you dinner for our Ireland 'mother', Ann, who was completely in shock. she thought she was just going out for a quiet Friday family dinner. but she said, 'we were family now' and that's just how it went. the night was spent in laughter and a RIDICULOUS amount of food. i mean, hell, it was our last night in dublin! we ate and drank to our hearts desires that by the end of the night, the only thing we could do was sleep and hope to never wake up from this dream come true.

on departure day, it rained as i tried to sell back my bike. the man wasn't there but i wasn't disappointed. i left my bike as a gift for future STJ DTW Dubliners. i hope they enjoy it. we brought down our belongings and i said an almost tearful goodbye to my beautiful room. i hugged camay goodbye, who was getting in a later flight, and crammed into a minibus with 1/2 of the dtw crew. i wanted to cry some more when they began singing 'Molly Malone'. it was the song that began Dublin for us. we unpacked our over-stuffed suitcases from the van and checked in. saying good-bye to our den sister, Claire and Ireland mother, Ann was extremely difficult. it really meant that i was leaving. leaving Ireland for good, leaving EUROPE for good, & leaving the dream behind.

the group sat there knowing that in less than 12 hours we'd be home. our real homes. but also that we'd be leaving a home, too. for someone that had been counting down the days till her return home in such vigor, i was the one who tried not to cry the most (well, as far as i could tell). we boarded the plane and in an hour later, we landed in heathrow and met up with all the rest of the DTW people from the other cohorts. it was really nice seeing people i hadn't seen in 6 weeks and hearing their stories. but almost as quickly, we boarded the plane and the rest is history.

----


approximately 9PM, NYC
JFK International Airport

we touched down and it was the sweetest feeling in the world. everyone on the plane clapped but little did we know the terror had just begun.

we got off the plane and was greeted by an hour-long Customs line. almost as instantly as I was glad to be back, I wanted to be back in Ireland. NYC, i love you...but i don't miss this shit. other foreigners came in Swine-Flu masks, which we never had to deal with before. The whole Swine-Flu thing had all of us scared because we were entering 'sick' territory. but after going through customs & retrieving my two suitcases (which felt like they had gained weight since i last saw em in Dublin), i dragged myself to the gate and saw all the crowd and people hugging and screaming and welcomg back and signs. the most important to me wa seeing my parent's face when they saw me. i felt like crying when my mom and dad hugged me. it had been the longest time EVER that i was away from the both of them. my brother just said 'hey', that was our kinda relationship, lol. the last person from DTW that i actually got to say good-bye to was Alice, and from then...the drive home was almost surreal.

the feeling of being back in NYC was great. seeing my dog, Manny and cuddling with him on the couch that night was wonderful. sharing stories with my parents made me proud. if you asked me if i wanted to do it all over again, i would say FUCK YEAH. but i wouldn't change anything. i have no regrets.

EUROPE, j'aime, ti amo, Gráím thú !
GRAZIE, MERCI, 'TANKS, & THANK YOU.
i cannot wait for the day when i can get off the plane and breathe in your air again.

knock knock, london's calling.

do you remember, when you were a little kid, all the times you watched a movie and that funny foreign accent had you absolutely intrigued you? now, don't laugh, but the movie that provided that intriguing accent for me was james bond. yes, Mr. double-oh-seven. something about him being a bad-ass international spy with a sexy UK accent. what's even funnier was that the first one i ever saw was 1964's Goldfinger starring Sean Connery. so yes, blame Sir Sean Connery for my love for all things UK.

now my point for bringing that up was that after that film, my head would always turn towards the direction of a scottish/irish/british accent. as if i could really tell the difference at my young, tender age. then harry potter rolled around & bam, instantly in love. all things british became my obsession. my best friend anj & i had our moms planning an actual trip to london together when we got out of high school as a graduation present because we couldn't stop talking about. i was actually going to go but God had other plans for me.

then this opportunity came: going to europe with Camay for an entire semester. this OF COURSE meant i was going to London. if anything had been planned, it was this specific side trip. i had booked tickets way before i was even on a plane to my first city, Rome. Camay's uncle was so kind enough, and i mean like, an unnecessary super kind, to buy our round trip plane tickets to London for our Spring Break. it would be 10 days of absolute GLORY (insert very obnoxious Hallelujah!) so it was settled. way before i even knew what the hell else i was doing in europe, i KNEW i was going to london.

fast-forward to the end of february & in complete secret, harold's sister bought a plane ticket for Harold to come visit me IN LONDON for his 21st birthday. it was hard enough talking to harold because this whole long-distance thing was killing me and putting a serious strain on our relationship, but then to keep this ENORMOUS secret from him was unbearable. when i finally got to share the good news with him, it all seemed to be falling into place. i was going to the country of my childhood dreams, where i could meet rupert grint and we'd fall in love and live happily ever after in a cottage not too far from hogwarts. well, since harold was coming, that last bit couldn't happen but going was such a blessing.

the days leading up to spring break were killer. classes dragged on, i was a lazy bore watching movies when i was tired of exploring for the day, and i realized i was spending way too much money at Penny's (for anyone planning on going to the UK, penny's is the PLACE TO BE for cute, cheap, UK fashion. the brand to look for is 'primark'). but the day it came for me to leave for the airport, my excitement level was non-existant. hah, it's like my body turned the off switch for it.
people saw me dragging my enormous suitcase down the hall wondering where i was going and when i replied, 'London' they were like, 'Oh hey, cool, I'm going with so&so next week. How long you stayin?' I couldn't help but smile and say 'Next Saturday.' Camay and I were the only ones going away for the entire Spring Break.

i blinked and suddenly i was in the glass airport called Heathrow and it was around 11pm. i vaguely remember the moments leading up to seeing Harold outside my gate, but i do remember that i was suddenly nervous. i don't dress up for flights. i never have. but i was kicking myself this time for not putting some effort into my appearance. i mean, helllooo, it's been months since i've seen my own boyfriend! but everything disappeared after that. all thoughts went into happy mode when we walked out of the gate doors and there's my awkward boyfriend holding a sign that said my name. i mean, there was only like 30 people on this flight and only 20 people outside the gate greeting other passengers, but it was the cutest thing.

the rest of the stay was the epitome of relaxation and adventure. harold's hotel was in an area of north london, 30euro/night (SUPER CHEAP). i recommend that if you want to save a buttload of money to get a hotel outside central london and just buy an oystercard (like an even more expensive metrocard because you pay per zone you enter) to travel. the first night we found our way around london with my little london map from my tourist book and headed to see SPRING AWAKENING. met up with camay & stephanie (from DTW Spain). seriously, UKSA changed my life. i don't think i could've appreciated the USSA as much as I did the UK version. even stephanie (who's seen SA over 50 times in different countries) thought the UK cast was the best. we went around after the show & met with some of the actors. & hey! even met someone from harry potter. unfortunately, not rupert grint.

one Easter Sunday, we got in our Easter Sunday best and walked over to the Catholic church nearby for mass then decided to go to Westminster Abbey for their celebration. what an honor. there were hundreds of parishioners packed like sardines inside this church. i did not stay the whole service because i knew Harold was getting restless. but now he can say, 'I celebrated Easter Sunday at Westminster Abbey!' Mind you, hes's not even a practicing Christian and I'm Catholic but God does not discriminate! (Lemme know if I talk about God too much, ok?) Big Ben is pretty awesome. The whole Parliament itself is an architectural insanity. The details of that building is ridonk.

we went to go see the 'famous' & big letdown called London Bridge. The Verrazano is prettier looking than that thing. But it's the Tower Bridge you see in all the pictures. we walked along the beautiful river then came to the Tower Of London, London's most haunted place. Now that was pretty cool. i love old buildings because you walk back into another era when you're inside 'em and this place was no different. Sure, the refreshment stands and little kids running around picking their wedgies only screamed TOURIST but I couldn't leave London without doing it! Then around Sunset we crossed the Tower Bridge. This was where I learned that Harold was afraid of heights, haha.

Buckingham Palace is beautiful! Changing of the Guards was pretty epic but they're not kidding when they say get there early. I mean, you need to camp out there for hours to be in front of those legendary gates for the ceremony.But really? It's just the guards walking back and forth and shaking hands or something to officially 'switch'. It was cool though. Then we walked through the famous St. James Park, so cute. We found our way to Trafalgar Square and climbed up to the lion and whispered my secret to him so that he could hold it forever in London <3. style="font-style: italic;">Broadway (and I've seen a lot of Broadway) West End seems to put on better productions. we had dinner that night with her and her mom and parted ways. it's so cool to be in another country just 'meeting up with friends'. my boyfriend was kinda amazed by it. after another night around the Leicester Square area, I met James McAvoy (Wanted) who was doing a show, as well. what a sweet man. &then spent another day at a vintage magazine shop. that was heaven.

& who could forget Abbey Road! A must for those Beatles fans! We, ironically, got off at the metro stop called St. John's Wood , and walked around till we found the street. To the naked eye, it's obviously just another crosswalk but wow! You knew instantly what it was if you were prepared. Others were taking photos and cars politely waited. I'm sure the smarter drives found ways around Abbey Road to avoid the constant hold-up my rabid fans. Abbey Studios is quite a wonder, too. Many people scribbled love notes, lyrics, and praise for Mr. Lennon & the fellow Beatles. So many countries, so many people. Music reaches all souls.

harold & i couldn't pass up an opportunity to watch some live music in London so we went to this band's (forgot the name at the moment) CD single release show. it was pretty damn cool. it's the same club where coldplay used to play and it's rinky-dink atmosphere showed london at it's super-trendy best. & of course, the London Eye. we ended our trip by going up for a sunset-night ride on this enormous ferris wheel. the entire ride is about 30 minutes and it casts a wonderful view over the Thames river. we ended our last full day together going on this super romantic egg-ride. afterwards, we walked along the river, next to Salvador Dali replicas & the stringed lights turned on, casting a shadow on the river. it was the most amazing trip of my entire life (& harold's too! it was his fist time out of the country).

i know this entry is ridiculous but it's mostly for me. i know i've still forgotten A LOT of things, but i cannot bear it if i forgot it all. so to round up the trip, some other little notes are that fish&chips are amazing, the tube is too expensive, the red phone booths are disgusting, & despite it being a busy BUSY city, it was so romantic.

saying goodbye to Harold was tough, but getting back on the plane to Dublin meant I only had 3 more weeks left. I had to live it up.