Wedding Venue!

So we've been looking for a venue, since that (obviously) will influence a lot of other stuff too!

We saw 4 venue options: Yacht club of Sea Isle City, the Golden Inn, the Carriage House in Galloway, and Greate Bay.

We eliminated the Yacht Club because it was significantly more expensive than any other venue we were considering and only marginally nicer. Also, the coordinator wasn't all that accommodating. We also eliminated the Carriage House because it's not close enough to the beach, it's kind of in the middle of nowhere and it's not really us. If we do it in a place like that, we might as well do it in the city somewhere convenient.

We visited the Golden Inn in Avalon, NJ. We really liked it but we haven't heard back from them with a customized menu and quote, even though it's been over a month since our visit. It's still on the list but it's not looking good for them if they don't get back to us.

We also visited Greate Bay. It's really pretty but I think there are better options. However, we were treated really well there! It's still on the list but I have a feeling it won't be the place.

We are visiting a few venues in Cape May in a couple weeks: Grand Hotel, Hotel Macomber and Hotel Alcott. I also emailed the Chalfonte to schedule a visit but I haven't heard back from them.

I am actually really surprised how unresponsive some of these people are! We are willing to spend thousands of dollars there and they can't reply to an email?!

A new blog (sort of)

So I'm a terrible blogger, it's been a year and a half since I've posted. It's because things have been crazy! 

Here's a list of my life, in chronological order: 

got a job a Drexel
decided to pursue a masters in education
bought a house 
found a wonderful man 
quit my Drexel job
started student teaching
completed my Masters degree 
substitute taught for the rest of the year
AND... I got engaged! 

And now I'm planning my wedding! And that's what I'm going to focus on in my blog. I don't know if anyone actually reads this but if so, I'd love feedback, ideas and suggestions. I want opinions and feedback and just somewhere to keep all my ideas and progress. 

So here's what we have so far: 

- May 16, 2015 ( I know it's a while away, but we need to save and 
- colors: Grey, Yellow and blue
- Ceremony on the beach
- Brunch reception (think waffle/omelette station, pasta bar, Benedicts, bloody mary's and mimosas) 
- About 100 people on the guest list
- We are going to use pinwheels as bouquets and boutineers  
- I also think I am going to use a combination of pinwheels, paper flowers, and pomanders for centerpieces in blue glass bottles and vases that we collect over the next 18 months  (looks like I'll be drinking a lot of Riesling!) 
- I want the favors to double as seating cards/assignments. I'm thinking of mini honey or jam and a homemade biscuit or muffin. 
- We want a game table since we love them, just in case people don't want to dance. 
-  I also want to have a basket with pashminas (in case it's cold) and Sunglasses (in case it's sunny) if it's in the budget. 

Cranberry Cream Scones - Sol

I have a bag of Fresh (well Frozen now, but not dried) cranberries in my freezer that I'd like to use in some delicious baked good before the holiday season is all but a memory. Meaning, I have to do it NOW! It's almost mid-January for goodness sake!

Anyway, I've scoured the interwebs and there aren't many fresh cranberry recipes that like. Many use these lovely red berries as simply a supporting player to apples or with chocolate; I want them to be the star of the show! These tart, round, delicious berries deserve it. After all I shoved them in the freezer because I had no clue what to do with them.

I did find one recipe that sounds delicious and I've seen db's raving about it. Normally I'd just "pin it" to my recipe board. But I can't find this recipe with pictures ANYWHERE!

So, since I can't find it anywhere and because I truly love the food/cooking/baking blogs and to eat/cook/bake myself I am going to do my very first baking post!

Sol's Cranberry Cream Scones - I originally found it here posted by marigene (thanks!!) (apparently to die for, i'm getting very excited! Aren't you?)

2 cups unsifted flour, plus flour for dusting

1/3 cup sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup fresh cranberries

1 1/3 cups heavy cream

1 tablespoon each melted butter and confectioners' sugar

- Position the oven rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

- Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix the cranberries into the flour mixture.

- Fold the whipped cream into the dry ingredients, just until it forms a rough, semi-cohesive mass.

- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead gently, only a few times, until the dough holds together. Lightly flour your hands and pat the dough into an 8" circle on a lined baking sheet (I place the dough on a baking stone, lined with parchment). Brush the surface with the butter and sprinkle with the powdered sugar*

- Cut circle into 10 wedges, without detaching them. And bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden.

- Cut into the pre-marked wedges after they're baked.

On the way home today, I'm going to pick up the heavy cream and butter (yay, dairy) and I'll document my adventure tonight!

Hopefully they'll look like this ...

But they'll probably end up something like this ...

THANK YOU!!!

http://holliesquotes.com/lovemisc/notintoyou.htm

WOW! McP, thank you so much for posting this link on your fb page. I was bored in class and perusing fb just looking for something to keep my interest for few minutes while eating disorders were being described by the prof, for the ump-teenth time, when I stubled upon this fabulous page.

This is my new credo! I vow to live by the words on this site, forEVER. I guess i always knew it but seeing it here is black and white, my awful lovelife drama described to a T, illuminates every error of my ways. At first, it really made me feel like a dumbass. I always thought of myself as a strong, respectable, independant women. Although I AM a strong independent woman, I was being played for a fool!
Now, however, I feel empowered. No more will I be so attempt to validate my delusions. Romantically, I will live by the words on this page and enjoy a happy, healthy love life.

I know there are plenty of women out there who are doing the same thing I am, but now there is 1 less! I will always remeber that "he is just not that into [me]"!

Triumph!

More on life...

Hey,

So I have decided to pause and transfer... i'll explain.
I have realized that research is not what I want to do; It just doesn't make me happy, in fact I think that's why I've been so blah. I think that counseling psych would be a better fit for me. So in order to do that I have 2 options: 1 - finish this degree and then apply and start a brand new program elsewhere, 2- stop working on this degree, and transfer my credits to another program. I chose to do the latter for a number of reasons. Most salient being that I will be much more happy in a counseling psych program. Also, I dont think having the extra degree will help me AND i'd be miserable for the next 6 months if I kept going. This way I dont have to finish a thesis, and I can be working towards qualifing to sit for the liscencing exam (which I cant do with a research degree).

Now, I've decided to get a job in the mean time and apply to universities to start in the fall. I've applied to a bunch of jobs, interviewed for one last week and got an offer this morning. Yay. I'll have a salary (woo an income - finally!), health insurance and a secure position. I will be working with kids who have just been released from hospital and require behavior modification but have not been placed with wraparound services yet. Its a perfect position for me and I am really excited to start. One of the perks is that I am starting after the winter term ends, so I dont have to worry about not finish/getting credit for this term. Not to mention, that I am really excited for a change in environment.

Now I just have to worry about burn-out - I was told it is the biggest risk associated with lower lever (as in not PhD-level) mental health professionals.

Hello world! Here I come...

life... I guess

So, life is pretty cool. I am living in a cute apartment, I have a great boyfriend, I am working on my masters, as planned, and generally am doing fine.
Yet, I still feel like there is something missing. I do need a job to pull in some cash, and I do need to work on my thesis in order to be able to finish in June like I plan but those are both doable... that's not it.

Maybe it's passion, I could be stressing out about work so mush so that I no longer feel this sheer interest in learning. In undergrad, and even in HS, I was just good a learning, I understood things very readily, didnt have to work for it. I wanted to learn so I did. Now, I still want to learn but for some reason the sparkle of it all is gone, and I feel like I have to do A TON more work to be as successful as before.

I have always planned to go straight thru and get my PhD and another masters in Art therapy. Now I have toyed with the idea of just stopping. Being a school counselor or being a behavioral specialist. I could do either with just my masters. I am so done with school- I am really not sure what I am doing next. Maybe that's what's wrong... I have lost my internal motivation. I still have ambition and some motivating factors but I really just feel tired, not physically or even mentally really, but more in the bored and need some major change tired.

I think I need to get out into the work force, work with people, see and meet people that ARENT college students or doctoral candidates. It's only been 5 years since I've been in this city, and in college but I am done with it.

I want to move and start a real career!But to where? and doing what? I will only have a masters, is that enough to do anything? So there is my dilemma!

I will just focus on my thesis and hope it works itself out... as things tend to do!

off to work on Neuro! hah fuuuuuuun :oP

Oh boooy

So it's not over. Its never over. Hopefully it wont be over, ever. I am happy and, really, I dont want anything to change.

I know that I usually only write when bad things are happening so I wanted to have a positive entry for a change. But I really have nothing to vent about so it will probably bw quite short.

I am almost done classes for the Spring term. I have one exam, one presentation, a project and a paper all of which will be done come Monday evening.

I am so excited about summer coming and being able to spend a bit of time at the beach this summer which will be a nice contrast to last summer when I spent like 0 hours outside.

Yea, so thats pretty much it.

Oh! I have a little joke thing to share:

So a Panda walks into a Restaurant, orders his meal and eats it. Everything is seemingly going well until he shoots the waiter and leaves. So when the Police finally catch up to him they ask him "why?". He replies simply "The dictionary says 'Panda - Eats shoots and leaves".

I thought that was so cute I even made it into a screenprinted comic strip. Anyone interested in purchasing it?

Ok, Im out!

for REAL this time

Haha, life is ridiculously at the moment! So remember a few weeks back ( I dont even know when it was) but I wrote an "over" entry. Well I was mistaken, it WASN'T over (that thing with H) but now it is! It Sooooooo is!
I dont know what's wrong with me for putting up with the cockamamie crap from this boy! We had a well... interesting weekend and then on Sunday he wrote me a letter. It not only broke up with me but also told me that he lost all respect for me and that my words mean nothing to him and that he basically never wants to see me again. And then he proceeded to 'un-friend' me on facebook. Who does that?! I mean people are friends with people they don't even actually KNOW on facebook and yet I get unfriend-ed by someone I have known, been with, and Loved for over 2 years. DAAAAMN, he must really HATE me. This is so surreal to me. I mean i am mostly over the break-up it HAS been a few months coming, but sheesh, to never (yes, NEVER) want to see me again. Does that seem harsh to anyone else?!

Anyway, I was pretty much too busy to even be bothered by this shit until I realized the FB thing. I mean i am taking 20 credits, working at the hospital, working on a masters and trying to maintain a social life. That's a bit tough as is, save doteing over an ex-boyfriend.

So now for REAL I am rolling with it and trying to be the best person I can be (f#*k anyone who thinks I am a bad person - lacking empathy, compassion, or romance - I have all of those qualities and Im be DAMN sure someone will see and appreciate that!)

Ok I am done my little rant.
Thanks now back to work!

roll with it

So these past few months, ive been real stressed about well, everything: My friendships and family relationships, my education and being in it forever, my job, my finances or lack thereof, my body (ahem, my injured body), by siblings and thier lives, my mom, and last but not least my love life.
And after stressing over all of it and trying to fix it, and change it into what or how I thought it should be, it was always just the same hot mess. So, i've decided that whatever life throws at me, I am just going to ROLL WITH IT. I am not saying that I will let myself be trampled on or taken advantage of, but I will let it glide off my back and do everything I can to just accept it for how it is and not stress over it because in the end, its pointless and everything will just be how the universe wants it to be, not how I want it to be. Makes sense, the universe is more powerful than I'll ever be, and I am ok with that.
And that is my point. I am ok. I may not LOVE everything that happens, I may even HATE somethings but I WILL be OK. And maybe not right away, but eventually I think I will even be more than okay with it. Ill accept it and EJNOY it!.

I am Rolling with IT!

uuugh

SO im pretty sure that either im crazy, or im stupid. I dont know which, but more on that later.

OVER

So its been over a year since my last post and a ton has changed.

I've been back in the stated for a year and I miss being abroad terribly! I cant wait to go back, every chance I get I look up flights hoping, in vain, that I will find one that is over break and affordable. I'll keep looking...

School is still in full swing. I have officially been accepted into the masters program at Drexel for Psychology although I haven't handed in the paperwork. I am really excited for my undergrad work to be over. Also I am stressing over the GRE's and firming up what exactly I am going to tackle for my masters thesis. Ugh, a few more things that I want to be over and done with.

My coop in half way over, I am working at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, which is the #1 children's hospital in the country. That fact alone is incredible and it will look phenomenal on my resume, however my job can become a bit tiresome. I am the rehabilitation assistant, and mainly work with brain and spinal cord injured children. However, I do a lot of administrative work and not so much with the patients as I would like. I am working on getting more involved with patient care but there is only so much I can do because I am still a student and not trained in any one thing and also there are a lot of confidentiality laws in place to protect the patients so that makes it even harder to learn more than the preliminary stuff. Although, I am learning a lot and really wouldn't trade this job for any other I wish there was more I can do.

I think this is the final over topic: My boyfriend (lets call him H) and I are totally over. To be completely honest I am totally distraught over this but I am sure I will get over it. H and I took a while to actually break it off and I think that's why I am still hurting over this. Lets go waaaaay back: we started seeing each other in September of '05 and at first it was more of a friend thing but when we realized that we both wanted more it developed rather quickly. There were times in the beginning that i wasn't sure if we were compatible because we had different beliefs and lifestyles but I thought it could really work because he was a great guy and I vowed to not push him away because of our differences.

Fast forward a few moths, I thought we were completely in love but as it turns out I was completely in love. I don't want to sound pathetic or like this damsel that needed saving from the big, bad world because it wasn't like that, but I was going through a lot of personal development and he was this older guy who presented as so sure of himself and that, to me, was so attractive.

Anyway, a little over 6 months into our relationship, things were going well but i was accepted into a study abroad program in London and being an experience of a lifetime, I accepted. Save a few days at the 2, and 4 month mark, we were 3000 miles apart and separated by an ocean for 6 months. It doesn't sound like a hell of a long time but to put it into context, we were just getting to know each other; we spent the same amount of time together as we did apart in the very critical 1st year of our relationship. I often wonder if we should have taken a break or broken up while I was abroad and if this would have helped our relationship at all. While I was away, we did 'break up' but a) it wasn't something I really wanted at the time and b) saying that we were broken up, didn't really change anything between us because being so far apart all we did was talk on the phone and email each other all the time and during the short time we were 'broken up' that didn't change. So we ended up getting back together.

When I returned from London in January, I was definitely a bit different than when i left; I expected that, but I wasn't sure how I would change or how it would effect my life when I returned to it. Anyway, when I got back, suffice it to say it was a bit awkward at first but we did a really good job of getting through that. I thought we were doing really well from February until September. However in that time, looking back I think, we were learning more and more about our different beliefs, life-plans, habits lifestyles as well as learning more about ourselves and what we want. Also, we were arguing a bit more than we should have been and it was getting harder and harder for me to talk to him. And we really didn’t spend a whole lot of time together over the summer, even though I was always around, because I was taking a very heavy course load and was always doing school work. To add fuel to the fire, we have different ways of resolving our problems and I think that was also creating tension between us. Although then, I thought we could get through it and didn’t think it was grounds for a break up because every relationship has rough patches.

In October, H broke my heart. After 2 years and thousands of miles together, he ended it. He said it was because he wanted to be free to explore job options in other places and that he didn’t truly see a future with me. I was miserable… for the weekend. Not even a week later, we started hanging out and it felt as though things between us hadn’t changed much and I took it as his decision to not follow through with breaking up with me. I was happy and really trying to make ‘us’ work. In hindsight, if we wanted to make it work we should have talked about what happened but we didn’t, I was too afraid that if I brought it up, id hear exactly what I was avoiding: that he Really did want to end things. So I avoided it, but eventually it was necessary, it was probably late November that we had a fight and talked about what was going on between us. He seemed upset that things between us weren’t working out but didn’t really seem to want to be with me as much as I wanted to be with him. We agreed that we should just be friends and not be intimate because it complicates things and hinders the development of a healthy friendship. This time he said that he couldn’t stand the ‘lies’ I told. I just want to say that I don’t lie. I don’t always remember things that happen and I don’t always agree with how HE remembered things; that is what he took as my ‘lying’ to him and this made him unable to trust me. I tried to explain that our memory is lousy and that it’s really always up for interpretation and I couldnt understand how he could get mad at me for not remembering or not remembering exactly how he remembered. I thought it was a lousy excuse but I know it really bothered him.

A few days later, December 7th to be precise, we got a few drinks in us and we kissed; it was wonderful. At that point, I had wanted nothing more than to be with H. Ridiculous I know, I am this strong, independent, intelligent, great woman and all I wanted was a man, ugh could I have been more pathetic?! Way for me to regress about 50 years in the progression of womankind. Anyway, I really saw us as being successful this time. We were happy, arguing less and less, able to discuss our differences without getting worked up and were spending real time together. It was working…

Until a few days before new years eve. This one’s a doozy. I was trying to figure out our plans for the night, we were invited to 2 separate parties and he had to work until 10:30ish. I figured, I could go to the first party alone and meet him later at the next party after he got out of work. I asked him if he wanted me to meet him at his friends and he was so indifferent about it, it really made me feel like he didn’t even care about me. He was like come, don’t come doesn’t matter. And when I asked if he wanted me there he said he didn’t matter to him. Wow, I was so taken aback he didn’t care if I was there?! Great, so essentially I felt that he DIDN’T want me there. I don’t know if that’s the truth but that was certainly my interpretation of things and the fact that he didn’t actively want me there with him, confirmed that idea for me. So around 11pm, I called H and was like hey, just wanted to see where you were at and if you made it to the party and whatnot. Again, I suggested that we meet up later that evening (after midnight, so I wasn’t in a taxi alone when the ball dropped) and he was still totally indifferent to me being there. That hurt like a knife thru the heart. I spent my New Year’s celebration alone and was probably the only person who didn’t have a date for new years. I decided that moment, that I was done with his bull. I couldn’t stand being constantly toyed with.

1/1/08: I was bringing the New Year right! I packed all of his things and dropped them off at his house along with a letter expressing my love and giving him one last chance to make it right between us. He was done too, he didn’t like that I was messy - I am and I knew this bothered him but I thought id get better or he’d get over it, that I ‘lie’ all the time, that we argued all the time – which I recently thought we were getting better at but I guess not in his eyes.

Anyway, we are over for good this time. Honestly, I still love him but I guess sometimes that’s really not enough. I deserve someone who takes me for who I am, a messy vegetarian (another thing I forgot to mention that I am sure bothered H) who’s memory might work a little differently than someone else. I am sure there is someone out there for me!

I know that was long but its all my over stories and that one is now OVER...

Off like a dirty shirt!

As usual, its been a while since my last post. (Ps sorry that its only a sketch of my trip to porto. Someday when im really bored, maybe ill make it sentences and add details.)

Anyway, this will be the last post of my London/ European study abroad experience - I leave on Friday! These past 6 months have been the most exciting, eye-opening, educational growth experience of my life. I feel like I could stay here forever. Ive fallen in love with London as a city and Europe as a lifestyle and I will most certainly be back in the near future.

However, I am very excited to go home and see all my lovlies. I miss everyone so much!
I think the first thing I will do after I hug and kiss everyone that greets me at the Airport is suggest that we grab a pie, from my fave pizzaria in Queens (of course they will oblidge). I cant wait! Then I will call everyone up and announce that I am home and demand that we find something amazing to do and catch up with everyone I havent seen in over 6 months. How exciting this will be! :-D

Ok well I have to finish packing!
xox
Marilys

Porto, Portugal

Porto for weekend
missed last train
waited around London for the right bus to Stansted
Ryan Air Sucks
Arrived in Porto, very little sleep
Cafe = amazing espresso -->Me wired all weekend
Huge fish and rice and beans meal with white Port
River over flowed crazy tourist sitting on a bench with feet up in air drinking port while city drowns... (met some ppl that live by Gloucester and spent time with them in Porto, cool cats)
Port cellers some closed
but open ones have Free tour and port tasting
Tawny is my favorite
Lys walking around un-even cobblestone streets a biit tipsy but very fun
Hostle - met Aussies and went to dinner with them had lots of FOOD including sweet sticky pasta and rice as dessert
Sunday morning:
woke up and had a cafeand pastry for breakfast and then just walked around trying to find the 78 bus to go to the museum.
Got there, smaller than i thought but still very interesting Museum of contemporary art
Then i went to the beach and saw the rocks and cliffs and amazing waves ( I wish I had a camera)
Awesome graffitti
I sent a note in a green glass wine bottle into the sea
Saw people wind-boarding - crazy awesome sport
went back into the center of town
bought shoes for 10 euros
got on the train to the airport
scared about the porto transport police
Train home
Hell at passport check in stansted
babies cut the line
bus to victoria sleep is good
wierd Taxi guy
HOME (temp home)
SLEEP
... late for work

Here in Brussels!

Hey everyone!

Just figured Id post an entry while I am here.

Brussels. Is. BEAUTIFUL! I can absolutly understand why it is often said to have the most beautiful square in Europe and why it is the capital of the EU. I am in love with it.

Yet another reason to move to Europe, for good. Ugh! I seriously could live here - its amazing.
Ok well more details to come!

xox
Marilys

The past week

I should really start posting small posts more often...

Anyway I still havent gotten my ATM card - 3 weeks and counting, that I havent had access to my money. Whack!

Anyway Ill start from last weekend, since that is kind of where I left off. It was a huge mix of feelings...

Friday night the boy and I broke up. I am not really sure why, but I guess it was a number of things including:
-distance
-growing apart
-age difference
-not wanting to wait
-not being ourselves with eachother
-not having been single but rather always in a relationship
-among others that I really dont know atm.

So, I went out to drink to put my mind off of it. It was Kevin, Peter (kevins friend from home/Drexel/France), Lora and I. Lora left and went to see her friend from Paris and Kevin, Peter and I went to Traffik on Old Street. It was good times!

Then Sat, we went to Portobello market which was as awesome as always. We bought a pumpkin and made pumpkin pie for dinner and just hung in for the evening.

Sunday, we went to the speakers corner and listened to some guy preach about how "everything is ok" and that we should meditate on that and bask in our own "supreme ok-ness". Then we saw Borat. I dont know if it was worth $20; it was funny but i was really annoyed at Americans and how stupid they are (I bet they wouldnt even know they are being made fun of). Yet another reason to move to and live in Europe!

Then I worked all week. Tuesday night I went to Gordon's Wine bar, which was amazing. Whenever I read a classic novel which described a tavern, I imagined this cave-like, candle-lit, crowded, and dingy place. That is exactly what Gordon's was! It was GREAT.

Then Wednesday night we watched Adaptation, a Grrrreat movie It was so interesting, a movie about a guy writing the movie that we are watching.

Ok Im out!

xox

So its been forever...

So its been forever but what can I do?! I am in London and working 40 hours a week...

So I finished all my classes and have started a job but between the 2 a lot happened ... Now, for the whirlwind update (PS. you have to imagine me saying this VERY quickly without pausing even to breath, like I do sometimes when I am excited):

After classes ended, all the people from the summer term, except my roomie and I, went home. We were pathetically bored with ourselves but we got through it alive. Haha
Hector came to visit me and we went to Barcelona together - it was AMAZING! We stayed with Tia Pepita and that was great until, like, the last day(which was my birthday) but its ok, I think we left on a good note.
We then proceeded to spend hours in the airport, again this is my birthday, doing absolutly Nooothing!
But when I finally did get home I found a cake that Lora had made me for my b-day but she was sleeping so I didnt get sung to :-( First time ever . SO now i am 20 but it doesnt feel any different, but then again I guess it never really does.
Im not allowed to have overnight guests so we tried to stay out ll night but we ended up going back and trying to hang out in the lobby but i got written up, so we ened up just going to my room and sleeping there. I figure I cant get written up 2x in one night.
The next day, Hector was supposed to catch a plane home but missed it had to pay mad $ to take the plane the next day. I had an interview for a job, so I had to leave him alone in London for a few hours and the we met up by big ben. He couldnt find a Hostel so we snuck him into my room and just slept early and woke up early to catch the plane. He went home and I cried.
After that, I spent all my time searching and searching for a job and interviewing up the wazoo.
I went to Amsterdam, too. Lora was supposed to come too but on the way to the airport she fainted and like couldnt breath and stuff. So we got off the tube and got an ambulance for her. She went to the hospital and I went to Amsterdam. I got in at like 11:30 b/c of heavy delays and by the time I got to the campsite, yes we were camping, it was like 12:30-1-ish. I met up with John who had pitched the tent and all I wanted to do was sleep. But he wanted to go to a coffeeshop so we walked for like an hour trying to find one, but they were all closed. UGH. So we got back to the site and I went to go to sleep but the tent was pitched ALL WRONG. There was no Bottem!! I was like what happened? And he was like, oh well, its just the type of tent it is. I was like ugh noooo your just an idiot. And then since i was exaused and it was pitch dark, i just went to sleep with my blanket and a tarp.
The next morning.. err, afternoon I woke up and fixed the tent - yes he was wrong, I pitch my part correctly and it had a bottom and even its own little zipper and window. Yea, Im awesome :-). Then we went to explore. We rented bikes cycled all over the city, along the canals and even ended up in Amstel (an entirely different town), we ate, drank, danced, went to the red light district (where I freaked out and demanded to leave). Then we went to a bunch of different coffeeshops and then back to the campsite. I slept like a baby. The next day we got up and took down the tent and carried our luggage around with us, as we did the last minute sights of Amsterdam including Anne Franks house, the flower market, and the hemp museaum. It was awesome.
When I got back to london it was all about landing the job for good. Not too long after that I did. I started the second week of October, just in time for the Co-op office not to require anything extra from me, and to get coop credit. Yay!
Since then I've been working 40 hours a week and just chilling when i get home.
Last weekend tho, I went to Ministry of Sound for a Gatecrashers event/Trance night. We got in for free with VIP wristbands, Courtesy of this guy Matt. IT was AMAZIIIING!
More work. Not really anything else except for some Drama with the bank. An ATM ate my bank card so they are in the process of FED-EX-ing me a new one Shouldnt take long but in the mean time I am COMPLETELY broke - Not fun. The ironic part is that i have 2 fairly large checks that I'd liek to deposit/cash but since I dont have an English account I cant and since I dont have proof of address because I dont pay utilitites since I am in UNI-housing I cant open on. SO i have to post the checks home which I really dont feel comfortable doing but I guess that like the only option and then have my mom deposit them and send my the Card. Annoying but kind of my only option :-/.
Anyway that kind of brings you up to date.

Sorry it was a really long post but its been a while and I lead quite an exciting life (yeah, right :-P)

Out like a light!
xox

Marilys

Work!

So I have been traveling for the past 3 weekends and I have had an amazing time. However, I have not had any time to do work and now I am behind - not a good situation.

I have 2 classes , each of which are 4.5 credits each and a TON of work.

Tomorrow(Friday) I have a 15oo word paper due on Twelfth Night the Shakespearean play. I really liked the play but to write 1500 words on it seems a bit excessive - I can write that much I am just not sure how interesting it will be, but then again the teacher DID ask for it. :-/ For that class I also have to write 2 Journals (2 pages each) on our walking tour field trips around London, and a Theater review of either Titus Andronicus or Comedy of Errors - who am I to review a play, what do I know about theater production, hopefully that will turn out ok.

For the design class we have 2 projects. The first is a group project which was to create an entirely original service or product, make up 3-5 AD's for it, do a powerpoint on it, design a store for it, set up a budget for it, and write up an IMC (Integrated Marketing Communication) Plan for it, and do a website for it. Our Idea for a service is GREAT (I am not going to share cuz I don't want it stolen) but the work is intense. The 2nd project is a journal on Marketing and trends I have noticed. We have to write 8-10, 3-page entries some on specific stuff (The V&A museum, the Blue Water Mall, The Markets here in London, Product Placement in movies, and our trip to QVC) and the others are on what ever we want (sounds easy, but I have not a clue what to write about).

I am SO overwhelmed with work that I don't even think that I will be able to leave my room other than to eat.

Wish me Luck!!
Marilys

Prague Is Amazing!

Hey everyone!

Sorry I am slacking on the posting, I have been so busy - taking 18 credits, traveling and working is hard to do! :-P

So I got back from Prague on Monday. It. IS. AMAZING.

I can not describe how beautiful it is. The buildings, the cathedrals, even the cobblestone streets, were all incredible.

The first night we went to Old Town Square, ate dinner and watched the astrological clock do its thing. The clock was so pretty but the indication of the hour was a bit disappointing considering the crowd that was drawn to watch it. IT was just a bunch of wooden figures moving around in a circle ::Shrug:: nothing spectacular.

The next day, Neha and I walked around the city and saw the foot bridge, from which the views were great, the cathedral and the castle, which was more like a palace, and ate at a cute little cafe. A great afternoon. Then we met up with Aurilia and Anthony "under the horses arse" (apparently a popular meeting place) and went for a traditional Czech meal - very interesting. Then we went out for hookah. A great night!

The next day I bicycled all around Prague- it is really not that big about the size of Philly, napped in the park and went to the Prague market. I bought a couple of crystal necklaces (Prague is famous for its crystal and its Garnet).

I LOVED PRAGUE - everything was gorgeous, and everyone relaxed. Hopefully, I will be back there soon.

Terrorists, right here in London

OH MAN!!!

I can NOT believe the whole terrorist plot to get on Planes from LONDON to the States and blow them up using sports drink-like liquids and Ipod-like detinators!
I am so glad that they were caught but it does not make me feel safe that the terrorists made it all the way to the plane, past all the security and everything. They succeeded - I am terrified!

All liquids and remote-like electronics are banned from cary-on luggage including toothpaste, shampoo, water, soda, car alarm devices, ipods, tv remotes, cellphones. EVERYTHING! PLUS, I have been hearing that you have to carry everything on in a clear plastic bag, you are not allowed to even had books, the flight attendants wouldnt give the passangers the headsets to watch the movie or TV, 1/3 of flights are cancelled, almost all are delayed and top it off every flight is taking like 3 times as long as it should. I've been told that a flight from London to Philly took 17/18 hours. INSANE!

I am glad they got caught but its nuts here!

PS I am flying to Prague on Thursday and A) I am scared and B) I am annoyed that it will probably take forEVER to get thru security and to Prague--- GReeeeat!

Ok Im done.

G'night all!

States and Paris!

So it has only been 10 days but SOOOO much has happened!

I went to the states (its crazy, I know). I had to get home for a family reunion and memorial of sorts. It was AMAZING! It was so great to see everyone and just be back on the home turf if only for a few days (6). It was odd tho, because I found myself looking the wrong way to cross the street, ad saying words like lift and flat. Its cuz if i say apartment and elevator here in London people are like wierd American so ihave adapted and dont even think about it anymore. I am sure once i am home for good I will lose the british terms, not to worry.

When I got back to London I had 1 day of classes and then hopped a train to 'Gay Paris' (as Michael calls it). That was awesome too! But i was exausted the entire 1st day there: I ended up falling asleep on a bench in front of the Arch De Triumph hahaha. But it was great. We did all the touristy stuff: Notre Dame, Luvre, Sacre Couer, the Siene river, crepes, Musse de Orsay, and of course the Eiffel tour (in the rain at night - so romatic, Made me miss my lovely). PS I had an intense bonding time with the girls I went with, Cait and Neha. Wonderful city!

So thats been the hecticness of the past 2 weeks!

Im out!

Exams, tourisy London, and a new bed in Philly!

My finals are OVER!! Yaaaay! and I have the rest of the week off to do WHATEVER. So sweet. but i am sure a lot of the time will be spent on much needed sleep! But its good to be free, if only for a little while. We start again on Monday. :-/ but it should be easy.

My tia and my uncle are here in London and are taking me around to all the sights i havent seen yet. Which is awesome. So today we went to big ben (yes yes, i have been there but they havent so it was cool) and tomorrow we are going to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham palace and then doign the London Eye. I am STOKED!

Oh and I was talkign to the BF and he just got a new bed! Yay! No more squeeky, coils-that-dig-into-your-bad, totally uncomfy bed when I go back there (I mean its not for a little while but who cares) I m happy for that tooooo!



Ok well ima pass out!
Gnight moon!

What to do in Wal-Mart

Ok... so I would never actually suggest that one dooooo these things, but they did make me laugh so hard that I started to tear. Read them all, some are better than others but they are in no specific order.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

What to do in Wal-Mart

1. Take shopping carts for the express purpose of filling them and stranding them at strategic locations.
2. Get boxes of condoms & randomly put them in peoples' carts when they aren't looking.
3. Set all the alarm clocks to go off at 10-minute intervals.
4. Make a trail of orange juice on the floor to the rest rooms.
5. When two or three people are walking ahead of you, run between them, yelling, "Red Rover!"
6. Make up nonsense products and ask newly hired employees if there are any in stock, i.e., "Do you have any Shnerples here?"
7. Walk up to an employee and tell him/her in an official tone, "I think we have a code 3 in housewares," and see what happens.
8. Put some M&M's on lay away.
9. Contaminate the entire auto department by sampling all the spray air fresheners.
10. Challenge other customers to duels with tubes of gift wrap.
11. Leave cryptic messages on the typewriters.
12. Re-dress the mannequins as you see fit.
13. Tune all the radios to a polka station; then turn them all off and turn the volumes to "10".
14. Walk up to complete strangers and say, "Hi! I haven't seen you in so long!..." etc. See if they play along to avoid embarrassment.
15. Move CAUTION WET FLOOR signs to carpet areas.
16. Ride a display bicycle through the store; claim you're taking it for a "test drive."
17. Follow people through the aisles, always staying about five feet away. Continue to do this until they leave the department.
18. Play soccer with a group of friends, using the entire store as your playing field.
19. As the cashier runs your purchases over the scanner, look mesmerized and say, "Wow. Magic!"
20. Test the fishing rods and see what you can "catch" from the other aisles.
21. Ask other customers if they have any Grey Poupon.
22. Drape a blanket around your shoulders and run around saying, "...I'm Batman. Come, Robin--to the Batcave!"
23. TP as much of the store as possible.
24. Randomly throw things over into neighboring aisles.
25. Play with the calculators so that they all spell "hello" upside down.
26. Set up a tent in the camping department, tell others you'll only invite them in if they bring pillows from the bedding department.
27. When someone asks if they can help you, begin to cry and ask, "Why won't you people leave me alone."
28. Look right into the security camera and use it as a mirror while you pick your nose.
29. Dart around suspiciously while humming the theme from 'Mission Impossible.'
30. While handling guns in the hunting department ask the clerk if he knows where the anti-depressants are. Act as spastic as possible.
31. In the auto department practice your Madonna look using different size funnels.
32. Hide in the clothing rack and when people browse through whisper "PICK ME! PICK ME!!!!!"
33. When an announcement comes over the loud speaker assume the fetal position and scream "NO! NO! It's those voices again!"
34. Go to the fitting room and yell real loud....."Hey we're out of toilet paper in here!"
35. Attempt to fit into very large gym bags.
36. Attempt to fit others into very large gym bags.
37. Say things like, "Would you be so kind as to direct me to your Twinkies?"
38. Set up a "Valet Parking" sign in front of the store.
39. Two words: "Marco Polo."
40. Leave Cheerios in Lawn and Garden, pillows in the pet food aisle, etc.
41. "Re-alphabetize" the CD's in Electronics.
42. When someone steps away from their cart to look at something, quickly make off with it without saying a word.
43. Relax in the patio furniture until you get kicked out.
44. Pay off layaways fifty cents at a time i.e. those M&M's
45. Drag a lounge chair on display over to the magazines and relax. If the store has a food court, buy a soft drink; explain that you don't get out much, and ask if they can put a little umbrella in it.

So sorry it has been forever since i have posted! I have been so busy.

So I will start with last weekend: I went to Barcelona!

I went to visit family and it was soo amazing. I got real home-cooking for the first time in a month and it was delish. We had arroz con candules (rice and beans, for all you non-spanish folks), fish, and bread with tomato and oil (my tias speciality). Yum!

So the city is absolutly, the most gorgous place I've ever been. I have been there 2 times before, but I always seem to forget how much I love it there. I got in on Friday and spent the day just hanging out with everyone and we watched a movie called violeteras, it was a cute classic spanish movie.

On sat we woke up early and spent the day in a pretty little beach town called Sitges and got all tan and took pretty pictures.It was a nice switch from the cold, rainy weather here in London.

Unfortunately the trip was too short to do any of the touristy stuff, but its no big deal cuz ive done it already and it gives me an excuse to go back again :-)

When I came back to London, I was thrown into class work and had very little time to do much of anything. But it was nice because at least it was warmer than when i left. In fact, London is experiencing a heat wave and Wednesday was the hottest day since 1914 hitting 97/98 F. It was wonderful! :-)

But yesterday today was fun! We went on a class trip to Brighton - its a suburb of London where all the rich folks vacation. They say its like atlantic city but its not (even though I've never been to atlantic city i knoooow its not the same). It was a tiny town, with a beach of rocks, not sand, and a short pier with an arcade and about 4 rides. Other than that there was the Rayol Pavillion and a design museum. The pavillion was a really pretty,extremely lavish house built for one of the Henry's. The museum failed - it was small and had nothing of signifacance in it - mainly portaits of people that no one knows. Wierd. But we did spend a good amount of time enjoying the sun on the pier and the rocks, so it was a nice relaxing trip out of the city for a bit.

Ok well I was told to keep it short so I think I'm going to get some more work done!

Hope everyone is enjoying thier summer!

Luv ya!

Roomie, Wales, WC, Nikki and Joe! ... Good weekend

Heeey all!

I’m not really sure where I left off but I'll start with the tale of Friday. Oh man! So I haven't really mentioned my roommate at all but I have to tell a story. So my roommate is 21, a communication major and for the most part really kewl. I didn't know her before I left other than a random encounter at a friends fake birthday party completely by coincidence. As it turns out we are the only 2 people here that are doing the 6-months classes and co-op deal, so we were paired together as roommates. She is pretty chill and easy-going. She also has bf and we compare stories and get on really well.

Ok, so Friday night rolls around and I didn’t go out for long because I had to wake up maaaaad early for the trip to Wales (bus departed at 7). So im chilling in the room, cleaning, packing and whatnot and she rolls in a little trippy around 12 midnight and grabs the wine from our fridge and is just chillin outside out building in the park (cuz your allowed to drink in public); totally fine.

A little later I call my Bf to say goodnight and all that Jazz and hop into bed. [Aside: I Miss him sooooo much it is almost UNBAREABLE!]. About 20 minutes later my ma calls - its cool b/c I wasn’t sleeping yet and I had been waiting for her call earlier. So I talk to her about how everything is going, let her know I am alive and what I have been up to and what trips I have been planning and how much the pound is Raping me (I wont go there). Then I hop back into bed and fall asleep around 2-ish. A bit late but still enough sleep to be ok on Sat.

About an hour later just as I had fallen into a nice comfy sleep my roomie comes in. Totally pissed and crying. She turns on the light and proceeded to give me the disclaimer "only a minute. Calling boyfriend". She managed to dial the calling card number, the pin code, and the 10-digit number to call her bf. She proceeded to drop all her stuff on the floor, lie down and cry to her bf for like an hour. Now, I am all about talking to one's significant other, but honestly with the light on in the room when someone else is trying to sleep? :-/ Not too cool. Now i really like my roommate and I do understand that she was pissed and misses her bf and is sad - i feel the same way. I thought it was annoying then but its kind of entertaining now.

I woke up Sat morning; needless to say I was running late. But my roommate was still on the floor, in front of the door, fully clothed, with shoes and all. Wow. So I left and went to catch my 7:00am bus to Wales with Neha, Cait and Kim.

Those girls are Awesome! Sat was pretty nice out (at least no rain). The trip up to Wales wasn’t too bad. Although it took a good 3 hours, Neha and I claimed the big back seat and slept the entire drive up there. So since Sat was nice and Sunday was expecting rain, we flipped the itinerary, and went horseback riding along the country. It was BEAUTIFUL and I would have taken a million pictures but they would let us take anything on the horses. They claimed that it was too much of a risk – if I were to fall off, the object would hurt me. (I thought: as if the fall wouldn’t hurt me and I signed a waiver, I’d like to risk it.) But I paid good money so I wasn’t going to waste it and not get to go riding. Mental pictures all the way – but unfortunately I can’t share :-/. So after horseback riding we went into this town called Hay on Wye for lunch.

Story of Hay on Wye (as told by Iva the Driver): In this town, there was once a man who owned a furniture store. He wasn’t selling anything so he decided to make it look cozier so he set it up like a living room and added books to the book shelves. People would go in and sit on the chairs and couches he was trying to sell and read the books on the shelves. He never sold any furniture but soon sold the first few books and so he put many more out the next time – they also sold immediately. So, he took out all the furniture and lined the store with shelves and found a very lucrative business. One-by-one he bought all the stores in the town and turned them into bookstores. He continued to buy the gas station, the market, clothing stores and any property he could until he owned the entire town and it was all bookstores. When he passed away, he left the town to his son, who coincidently has no interest in books at all (personally, I think I would be ecstatic). The son sold off most of the stores to the people who were working in them and managing them. It is still a town FULL of books! AMAZING – I loved it!

So, after 20 minutes in this town I had discovered a bookstore in which all of the books were 1pound (less than $2). I left with 4 books and a HUGE smile – I was happy!

After Hay on Wye, we hit up the hotel. We enjoyed a dip in the pool, the sauna, the steam room (but left shortly b/c it smelled) and then the hot tub, which barely felt lukewarm after the sauna. But it was nice. We then got ready for our 3-course dinner. IT was a flop! Honesty, I am not sure how one messes up steamed vegetables and pasta, but it CAN be done. I would have been hungry if it weren’t for the raspberry torte (which wasn’t even good – just edible).

Later that night after a glass of wine and some chocolate and the discovery of pouring rain, we took a taxi into “town” which was a collection of 4 bars and clubs. Neha and I had a drink and a few dances while Cait and Kim looked as though they would die of boredom. Once we all agreed that we wanted strangle the DJ for conjoining MJ and milkshake if we stayed any longer we decided to bounce. We attempted to check out another place just half a block up the road by running thru the rain, only to discover that there was a cover change (we weren’t down with paying). So we taxi’d back to the hotel and got in around 12 (we are so lame, but in our defense, it was POURING).

I wasn’t tired at ALL, so I stayed awake a read one of the books I had bought which was… interesting. It’s about an Indian lesbian and her adventures in NY, yes interesting. I attempted to call my love but he was in the movies (I think). I went to bed without saying goodnight to him for the 1^st time since I’ve been gone. L

Breakfast was supposed to be at 8:30 the next morning – we woke up at 8:30 and got down there at like 8:45 (not too bad) ate another awful meal. It consisted of undercooked scrambled eggs, deep fried bread, cold tea, wanna-be hash browns, and sausage (which I don’t eat, being a veg), sour orange juice, and cereal. So I had tea, and cereal with water.

We started our day on the coach at 9:00am and drove to Cardiff. Cardiff was ok. The main reason for stopping was the castle but since I am not really that INTO castles I went to the mall in search of a rain jacket. Everyone looked at me like I had 5 heads. But I did get a pair of jeans and 2 skirts for less than $30 (yes dollars).

After that we went down to Cardiff bay – that was really pretty but it would have been a lot better if it wasn’t sooo rainy and muggy. :shrug: I guess that’s just the UK for you.

So after that we stopped in another town for another castle. (Castles are pretty but I really don’t feel like paying 4 pounds to be rushed thru). So I went to the pub and got a cider, and kiddie order of Fish and chips (gooood stuff!).

I read on the way home and we got in just as the football game was starting. So I stayed in and watched the game with my neighbors. Wow what a crazy game – to win a WC game in OT with Penalty shots – I just cant like that. But it was really intense – especially the head butt – what was he thinking?!?!

So that was my weekend. Today I woke up late and got to my business class juust on time and was pretty tired all day. After an hour of business our professor let us out because of a field trip we had for our British Culture class; we went to Parliament. That was really pretty. Yet another place that I wasn’t allowed to take pictures though. Very uncool! When we got back to British culture we had a mid-term- We’ve been here 2 and a half weeks, and we had a midterm. It wasn’t too bad but I felt very rushed because we only had an hour to write 2 short essays and answer like 15 questions. Intense. I’ll let you know how I did.

Then tonight, I heard from Joe and Nikki. They are 2 of my friends from home who have been traveling around Europe for almost 3 weeks. We went to a pub for dinner and just walked around Covent Garden, Trafalgar and Piccadilly Circus. They told me about their travels, museums, parks, churches, cathedrals, and other sights and showed me a bunch of pictures. Very awesome! They are leaving tomorrow afternoon, so I won’t get to see them again but it was a nice piece of home. ( I miss everyone so much). But I guess it’s not really that long in the grand scheme of things. I’ll be home before Christmas.

tales in London!

So, the last few days have been interesting!

Yesterday, my roommate left to go to Prague and will be gone until Sat night or Sunday morning. Awesome for her!
When I woke up I did a job search for my co-op/internship online. It looks like I will be working in the Social Work sector here in London. There are a lot of jobs available, but first I need to get my C.V. prepared. A C.V. is a Curriculum vitae or the course of ones life, in this case professional life. So in other words a C.V. is a resume and cover letter.

Then a lot of the Drexel FIE people and I went to go see stomp ( we were given free tickets from FIE). It was A W E S O M E! I thoroughly enjoyed and would recommend it to almost anyone.

After that we decided to go out for Aurila's birthday (sorry if I spelled that wrong :-/). So we went to TGI Fridays and got a MASSIVE drink and chocolate cake for her. They made her stand on top or the counter and got the ENTIRE restaurant to sing happy birthday to her it was incredible. The we went to this place called "the sports bar" it was totally American style which was great because there was dancing, and reaaaally cheap food and drink (L1 as opposed to 3 all the rest of the pubs around) sweet deal. So we danced, and had a drink and then danced some more. And we had a great time.

Around 2:30 we started to leave got everyone together and went to the bus stop. Since the underground tube closes at 12 we have to take the Night bus 9 back to our flats (hehe). But when we tried to get on the bus driver told us that we couldnt because we are supposed to get tickets before boarding. Now 3 things are wrong with this!
1) we have taken the night bus before and never did we have to have a ticket- we usually just paid with cash/coins.
2) The ticket machine at the stop was broken sooo we couldnt have gotten tickets if we wanted to.
And 3) If we had had our oyster passes upon arrival from FIE like AAAAALL the other universities here, we wouldnt have had any problems.

So we were upset walking home FROM PICCADILLY circus! NOT A GOOD IDEA. The walk took us like and hour and 45 minutes and when we were only like 6/7 blocks away we saw the 9 again and decided to get on because we werent sure we were going in the right direction and how much further we were. We got off at the next stop. What a waste. I curled up in bed and fell asleep like a baby.

When I woke up this morning, I spoke to my Uncle Lou. He and 3 of my cousins are here in London for a little while, then they are going to hit up Madrid and then Barcelona. And they want me to go with them! Woot that would be very kewl well have to see because I dooo have class.

A little later Neha and I went to STA travel and booked our 1st trip; we are going to Whales. Only L99 for 2 days 1 night, transport there and back and 2 meals. It was a heck of a deal and we couldnt pass it up. A little later, we got together and looked into a trip to Prague, that is going to be awesome and we will probably book that before the end of the week as well. So soon you'll be reading about my travels. Good times!

Then showered and got dressed and all ready to go to dinner with my uncle. I took the tube down there and met up with in in Bayswater. Nice area that I had yet to explore. It looks like that is a good place to hit up a few affordable retail shops. We ended up going out to a great Thai place. Delish. Aaaand I accidently took home all the leftovers... but they are mine now hahah. (Lunh and dinner the next few days). We also made plans to meet up for a picnic lunch in the park tomorrow by the Alber statue before I have to go to class. Yay for family!

I got back a little while ago and spoke to my mom, sister and James on the phone a bit and told them all my tales. How i miss them but how I am having a great time tooo.

Now I am listening to classical music and have to read 2 newspaper articles for my British culture and media class tomorrow. Whew. I am definately going to need a cup of coffee when i wake tomorrow to beable to function. I dotn know what it is but I am just not tired yet. I guess my body isnt fully used to the time change... I have to get used to it pretty quick or ill be falling asleep during my classes! NOT GOOD!

Ok well im off to do my work.

Luv ya!

Marilys ~ Lys

London Report!

Hey everyone!

I'm finally here in London and all settled in. My flight went well, the first part of it was really sad; my boyfriend, mom, and sister took me to the airport and saying goodbye to them was really hard. I still cant believe I am not going to see them for 6 MONTHS!
But then I realized Im going to be in LONDON!!!

I am Loving it here, its really awesome. I am in a really posh area of the city - South Kensington riiight by Hyde park if you know the city at all. And if you don't it is like living waaaay up-town in NY like Madison Ave or 5th Ave - Very ritzy and expensive. The cars are awesome though, Porche's, ferarri's and Merc's everywhere and I have seen 2 Lotus' already. Whew, they are awesome (I love cars if you couldnt tell).

The city is awesome but it is also too expensive, everything is like double the price it is in the states. L1= $2 and something that would cost $5 in the states would be like L5 here in London. Its Nuts! And Some stuff is even more than that, for example a SMALL bottle of water, say Avion or a brand name like that, which could cost about $1-2 costs like L3 (which is like $6).Crazyness! I dont know how I am going to afford to live here for 6 months - but I will be working so hopefully I'll be making good money! Woot Money hahaha.

So once I got settled in and got my class schedule and all the important but boring paperwork stuff done I had the weekend to myself to explore my new surroundings. Friday night a bunch of people and I went to Piccadilly Circus an area comparible to times square, only a bit smaller and went to a club there and danced all night - that was fun. Sat I woke up later in the day around 12 and went to Oxford Circus and explored all the shopping areas and popular stores such as Topshop, H&M, and TG Mexx. I got to know the Tube/ Underground REALLY well. P.S. I think I saw Elizabeth Hurley wearing a red button down dress with tiny white polkadots with a red headband and a white belt. It could have been a really good look alike because she was a little shorter than I thought she would be but it could have been her! Then Sat night, I just walked around my area with a few people. It was good to get to know the area. Today (Sunday) I woke up and went to Camden Market. There was a lot of clothes for sale and they were mostly Punk, gothish and ligerie and it was more expensive than I expected it to be and definately more that I can afford to spend. But I did get a bag, and a pair of thai fisherman pants (that I still have to figure out how to wear) for L5 each. I also got lunch which consisted of a fried plantain and a fried dough pattie with veggies in it, each 50p so it was L1 ($2) it was good. Then when I got back it was like 4:00, I took a short nap, went to the Bar across the street to watch the footbal game (England Won, yay!) and then took another short nap, ate dinner showered and am going to bed soon.

Tomorrow is my 1st day of classes... I am not sure how thats going to be. I am in class ALL DAY from 9:00 til 5:30 with a half hour break -- that might be hell. I will report back and let you know.

Ok well I am tired and have to wake up tomorrow so Im out!

Peace, love and hair grease.


Lys

Good-byes

So finals are over, I have cleaned and packed up most of my apartment and got most of my To Do list done (woot)... now its time for the hardest part : the good-byes. I had a 'going away' party this past Friday and I got to see a lot of people and party it up with them, but there are still REAL good-byes left. Last night I was talking to Hector about all the things that I am worried and scared about and I realized that more than either of those feelings, I am sad. I am sad because I am going to Miss home, my friends, and my family. Blorg. I jsut keep thinking how exciting tis going to be and all the great experiences that I am going to have. That gets me pumped. and plus it is only 6 months- then I will be back and I'll see everyone and it'll be just like it was before i left... hopefully.

Ok well i gg back to work.

Out like a light!

Marilys ~ Lys

wow...

WOw... sorry it has been so long since i;ve posted. I have been soooo busy!
Spring term has come and gone with a lot of work and a lot accomplished:

Big news: I am going to London for summer term to study abroad and Fall term to co-op abroad. I am so stoooked! I cant even verbalize how excited I am.

Other news: This weekend was awesome. Thursday night I went to Cosi with Hector for free with the gift certificates that I won at the Drexel Latino Gala sponsored by Drexel SHPE - Society of Hispanic Engineers. Then we went to the Dance Ensamble show with Elissa. Good times except that it started to POUR when I got home so I couldnt go out after that but I got work done so thats ok. Friday I went to the Honors graduation dinner as Hectors date - good food, boring speeches. Then we napped for about an hour and then went to Dana's awesome party in Crossings - Great times! Sat, I went to Vikki's son Eli's 5th birthday party and was left to deal with all the kids -- eek that was tiring but fun. Then I went to Hector's and played tile board games - Settlers and Carrassonne with Hector, Joe, Mario and Nikki. Mario won everytime- Jerk. Haha j/k.
And today i have done NOTHING productive. I woke up made breakfast for Hector and I and then watched Empire Falls pt1 and revised a paper( OK so i was a little productive) and thats it.

I have so much other work to do.

TO DO LIST
- Social Paper (Monday)
- Methods section for Social Psyc (Monday Night)
- Presentation for I/O Psyc (Tuesday)
- English article and how it relates to Culture of sales in relation to DOAS (Tuesday)
- Dance paper (Thursday)
- Counseling Psyc Journals (Thursday)
- Econ Final (Next Monday)
- Pack (ALWAYS)
- Going away party (June 10th)
- Kickball game w/ Ambassadors (June 11th)
- Hector's Graduation Present(June 17th)
- FLY to LONDON (20th)

...I think thats everything

So much to doo and so little tiiiime.
Wish me Luck!

Marilys

Love the Holidays

Happy Holidays Everyone!

I was so upset because I thought that I wasnt going to be able to go home, because of work, and the Strike in NY and all these seperate factors. I mean i wasnt going to spend the holidays alone, i was invited to Join Mike's family which was so nice and so generous of Michelle but its not Myyyy family, you know? So i was kind of bumming. But JUST before the end of the day I foud out that the strike was over, and workers will go back to work starting tomorrow! Wooo! So that means that I can go home and see my family. So awesome, really a GREAT Christmas gift!

I still have to send out Christmas cards, they take about 2 days so i HAVEEE to send them out first thing tomorrow, and even then, they probably wont get there until Monday, but its the thought that counts, right?

I also already have a list of people that I have to send thank you's to. And its growing. Constantly!

So now im going to go watch another episode of LOST (1st season) and write out Christmas Cards :-) ...then Im off to sleep!

Again, Happy Holidays everyone!

So now that im all with this new guy and being happy, an old flame decides to talk...
Ok so i called him up today, cuz its been a while and i havent heard from him and i just wanted to make sure he was alive and all. So we talked for almost an hour and he said some pretty insane things. First off he goes and apologizes to me for treating me poorly before our relationship actually took-off. Then he goes and says sometihng to the effect of him dying and he was like if i was gonna what would you say to me and i was like "i love yaaa" and he goes, "I love you tooo" - UGH! Then he goes and talks about how great and unmatchable we were. THEN, he says that we were so compatable that he probably wont love someone like he loved me for a really long time, if ever.

AND THEEEEN, to top it all off, he says that he broke up with me because he could see himself settling down with me. I mean im not ready for that either and wont be for a while!... but it that reaaaaally a reason to break up with someone?!?! uuugh! i truly dislike men! I cant believe he said that to me! NOW?! what am i dooooing!? Better yet, what is heeee doing?!? I mean jeeze, couldnt he have told methis jazz befooooore 6 months later. He lost his chance, I have a BF, and I really like this BF.

I've gone this long repressing my feelings for him and now its freaking pointless! I mean, ive tried to shake it, and convince myself that i can love again and that he really means nothing. N now, i did love again, and i hid it the feelings for him and shook it as best i could and i again learn that hes not nothing, hes still there and what the hell and I supposed to do now?!

Right now, i am just going to be wit and Like the New boy, And as far as Heee is concerned, I think i might have to avoid any alone time, otherwise i might do something ill regret. Ugh!

Wish me luck!

my night! awesome

Folks! I think ive found a good one... boy/guy that is. We got tickets to the Opera for last night - and of course like the people we are, we decided to dress up for the opera. So he arrives looking soo spiffy - tuxedo pants, tie, vest, the whole 9 as far as dressy-ness goes; and on top of that he brought me flowers! I wanted to die happy! It was the best start to a date that ive had in a looong time(except for the fact that i was running late and wasnt ready) ! He is soo sweet; such a good guy! And after the opera, I went to James and Mikes house for a party, and i mean it iiis my x's house/party, so i totally would have understood if he was upset that i was dpping and going there but he was awesome about it! He was like, yea u need some friend time, and i know hes ur friend - go. He even offered to walk to me when i was ready to leave and offered me a place to crash. I was like ugh! I really like you! I cant believe he like me, i mean hes sooo good!

Oh man and the party was awesooome! Great times - i cant believe how many ppl hit on me lol. But it was awesome - B was there, hes always so cool ... until he threw up in the diner - ew, yuck! Another B was there with his GF A, who got really trashed and felt up my breasts and commented "perfect, not too soft, not too firm"... haha too funny. And James and his GF are awesome and sooo cute together! I really like his GF, soo cute!

Ok well that was my great night!

Now im going with the boy to see Ahab - I really like the fact that we dooo stuff, and dont juuust sit around. Speaking of doing stuff - i am going to get tix to Rent and Take the boy around christmas/ New years! Good tiiiiimes!

ok well Ahab is at 8 and we are gonna eat first so im gona get ready (so im not late this time) ...

off like a dirty shirt!

~ M

Today was a good day! There were so many things that happend today (or in the last few days) that really made me so happy:-D ...If you ever want to make me happy reference below!

Things that make me happy::

1. Letters and Cards (especially for no reason)
2. New Music
3. Pictures (taking, getting, and looking at)
4. Flowers
5. packages at my door
6. Plants (that stay alive)
7. Kittens (playful ones, of course)
8. People giving me things (for no reason, really)
9. people telling me i am pretty/funny/sweet/cute (anything complimentary)
10. Laughing :-D

... and of course tattoos!

1st's and most's

wow! so as anticipated this weekend was awesome! Not only was I at a number of parties but i had a lot of 1st and best expereinces.
This weekend 1st:

1. 1st All you can eat sushi (ever)
2. 1st drink of eggnog (of the year)
3. 1st Murder Mystery party-both attended and host/planned (ever)
4. 1st halloween I got crunked
5. 1st time I dressed as a Fallen Angel
6. 1st time I played beer pong with a girl partner (we lost)
7. 1st time walking across the Spring Garden Bridge after dark
8. 1st time I was kissed in a Gzebo
9. 1st time I was kissed near a river
10. 1st time I was a boat in the Schuykill (and they were fishing, ewww)

Bests of the weekend:

1. Best/Most romantic Kiss Location (in a Gzebo, at night, above the river ... great!)
2. Best sushi Assortment
3. Best Halloween partes (2 in one night- i tihnk thats part of the reason they were so great)
4. Best Morning that lasted aaaall afternoon
5. Best random walk with a great friend
6. (almost) best Movie discovery to add to my collection - Tuesdays with Morrie

... so if you couldnt tell my weekend was awesome!

I did so much... Friday I partied with Hector and then with Mike and James. Then, Sat. I had my murder Mystery- great success, in my opinion. Then, I stayed in with awesome company, and woke up the next morning and jut mozy-ed around all afternoon after making pancakes(yum!) and then I met up with Mike and we walked around the city and ended up at B&N i got 2 movies and so did he. It was great. Then I met up with a Bunch of people and ate sooooo much Sushi, and then fried Ice cream - it was soooooo good! Then i came home and went to sleep and worked this morning and took half a day. I am going into NY to see my Tia Pepita, Mom, sister, and uncle - should be fun, i am just dreading the travel. Travel is so tiring, but its worth it.

Ok well now that ive raved about great my weekend was, its time to get the week started. ^^

Byeeeee .... Luuv!

getting thru the week...

grrr... so i wrote an entire entry and it disappeared! So here i write it again...

Sunday, My Uncle Louie, Tia pepita and cousins are coming to Philly to visit me :-D. I havent seen my tia in ages- she lives in Barcelona. I was so sad cuz i wasnt able to get home to see her, but shes coming to me. Yaaay!

Friday night, also is the halloween party- i still need to get my costme together.
And Sat is the Murder Myster party! Soooo excited!

This weekend is going to awesome!
... I just have to get thru this week :-/