Be Carefree and Sparkly in 2012

So, Shoot for the Sun in Twenty-One-One ended up being a really great theme for 2011. The year started off in the most amazing way possible---my incredible boyfriend Eddie told me he loved me at about 1 in the morning on New Year's Day :) (and I said it back since I'd been holding it in too!).



In February I spent the first Valentine's Day I've ever had with a boyfriend (well, with a *real* boyfriend, since the only guy I dated in high school during v-day COMPLETELY ignored it) with my sweetie, and it was super duper fun! We also celebrated Eddie's birthday, and I dug my car out of the snow when the blizzard hit (ugh!).



All the while I was working hard in my classes and shooting for the sun by applying to an internship program at the Library of Congress, never dreaming that I'd get in. Eddie and I also had a BLAST when he took me with him and his friend to go see Monday Night Raw live at the Allstate Arena.....never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would watch WWE wrestling, let alone be seeing it in person, but it was SUPER FUN! :)





Spring finally came, and I again spent my birthday with my incredible friends and boyfriend! I also got some unexpected news: I'd gotten into the Library of Congress internship program! Thanks to the most amazing best friend in the entire world, I was able to go to DC and spend the summer working with some of the most intelligent and professional people I have ever met, learning SO much and seeing some truly remarkable things. I earned my Master's Degree, and right before I left for DC I took a super fun trip to Florida with my family :)



And after Florida and a somewhat tearful goodbye, I set off for DC not knowing what to expect from the Junior Fellows program. I had a BLAST!!! From seeing Abraham Lincoln's draft of the Gettysburg Address to making pigment samples to experiencing my 2nd 4th of July in DC, it was a wonderful summer. Another highlight was definitely getting to show Eddie all my favorite places and spaces when he came to visit for our exhibit at the end of the summer :)



So, shooting for the sun was going pretty well! I had a couple of job interviews and was feeling confident that by the end of the year I'd have a job and be able to reach my goal of starting to pay off my loans and becoming fully financially independent. Then, in September, I experienced one of the most exciting events of my life: the birth of my nephew! Little Judah was born on 9/10/11 (so easy to remember, awesome! lol), and it has been so much fun watching him grow up so far. I can't wait to read him so many stories!!



And then life started hitting me a little hard. I hadn't been getting any job interviews, and so I decided to go back to working at Barnes & Noble. I also had tons of super fun fall times with my man and my bestie, including going apple picking and especially carving pumpkins together!



So, even though I hadn't gotten a "real" job yet, I was surprised and delighted to get a holiday job working at 1 of my favorite stores, Lush! I also LOVED bringing Eddie to Thanksgiving and continuing to get to know his family as he got to know mine. Spending our 1 year anniversary downtown was definitely one of the highlights of my year, as was spending Christmas together :) Finally, for Eddie's Christmas/anniversary gift we got to go see Monday Night Raw AGAIN, making it the 2nd time I've been and the only time Eddie has ever been to see it twice in one year. Score one for my present buying skills! lol.

Overall, I feel that Shoot for the Sun in Twenty-One-One was a success. I learned that no matter how hard things seem, they could always be worse. I learned how to lean on my friends and family during hard times, and to celebrate with them when good things happened (which was a lot!). I somewhat failed at my goal to eat better and to exercise more, but I'm learning a lot about what discipline means in that respect and hope to improve this year. Even though I am not fully financially independent yet, I continue to strive for that goal and feel that I did everything in my power to meet it this year. Like my friend Holly said, shooting for the sun is not about being perfect, it's about doing everything in your power to make good things happen for yourself.

This brings me to our theme for 2012: Be Carefree and Sparkly! I'll leave you all with what Holly said on her blog (http://meatlesswithmia.blogspot.com/) about our theme, because I could not agree with her more!

"I can worry & obsess over my future all I want, but I only have so much power. If something is meant to happen, it will happen. Being carefree and sparkly is about enjoying life for what it is. It's about working hard toward my goals, of course...but it's also about giving myself a break. If my plan B doesn't work out, hey, at least I did everything in my power to get there. And if plan C doesn't work--then I'll come up with something else."

LOVE it!! 2012, here we come! :)

Current Obsessions

1. Hot Chocolate from Caribou Coffee



I looooooove Caribou Coffee! I wish there were more of them around here, but luckily there is one very near my awesome boyfriend's house, and so lately I have been going there to hang out on Tuesday afternoons. I leave my house a little early to beat the suburban rush hour traffic, order my DELICIOUS soy half-milk half-dark hot chocolate, sit and read until he gets home, and then we have our TV night. I have come to quite enjoy this Tuesday routine, which I only mention because right now my car won't start and it might mean that I can't do this today :( we'll see what happens...

2. Candy Corn



Part of our Halloween decorations are 2 dishes of candy corn, and I can't stop eating it! I'm so glad fall is here, for many reasons, but I always enjoy the return of candy corn to the candy aisle.

3. RIOT, Paramore's 1st album



I've had this album on my iPod for a long time, but lately I can't stop listening to it! I really like this band, I wish I had their newer albums but the only new-ish songs of theirs I have are the ones from the Twilight soundtrack....lol.

4. How I Met Your Mother



I've always liked this show, but in my opinion seasons 4-6 were pretty crappy. The characters stopped being themselves and started becoming too over the top, and the jokes were just trying way too hard to be cool. But, season 7 just started, and it's been great so far! It's like they finally stopped trying to be cool and started focusing more on the characters actually doing things that their character as a person would do. I can't wait to see more!!

Big Fail...

So for all my good intentions, I have once again failed to regularly update this thing....whoops. I have been busy applying for jobs, which is unfortunately not going well. I finally put in an application at Barnes & Noble (where I've worked on and off for about 7 years), and I'm hoping to hear from them soon! I got totally played at an interview for a "marketing position" which turned out to be a pyramid scheme, so I'm glad to at least be applying to a company I know and trust.

But, despite this, I am SOOOOOO excited to have become an AUNT!!!! My nephew Judah Gavin was born on 9/10/11 (awesome birthday!), and he is SUPER adorable. I am so happy that he is finally here, and I can't wait to see him grow up (and buy him tons of cute stuff!).

In other news, thanks to the most awesome best friend and roommate ever, I now have an iPhone!!! :) It isn't hooked up as a phone yet, since right now I'm still on my mom's family plan (which is free for me and I can't afford my own bill yet), but so far I LOOOOOOVE having it! My favorite apps are Words with Friends, Curls on the Go (which gives me my "frizz forecast" for the day, telling me if I'll be having a good hair day or not, lol), and Instagram. Here are a few pictures I've taken with it so far:

My brother and sister-in-law's dog Taz, he is sad that he's not the baby of the family anymore:


My nephew Judah:


My roommates' dog Noel begging for attention:


Rory!:


Rory again!:


So, in my spare time, I've been doing a lot of thinking and chillaxing. I've especially been enjoying reading the The Pioneer Woman and watching her new show on the Food Network! I've also really enjoyed reading a blog called Katie Cupcake. Her sense of style is really neat, and her posts make me want to go out and buy so many clothes! I've never really had a huge interest in fashion or style, but reading her blog (and watching The Rachel Zoe Project on Bravo) makes me want to think more about my personal style and give my closet a little more "direction." This might be easier once I have a job and know what kinds of clothes I can wear there! Until then, I am going to try to update this thing more, beginning with some of the fun new recipes I've tried lately :)

Almost Home

In honor of today being my second to last full day in D.C., I thought I'd share some things I will miss about my job and this wonderful city!

1. Touching History

I will most definitely miss how close I have come to some of the most interesting books and documents I have ever seen. Today I got to observe the hyperspectral imaging of 2 such documents, both written by Abraham Lincoln. One was his draft of the Emancipation Proclamation (pictured below), and the other was a copy of his first inaugural address that was typed/printed with many handwritten notes/corrections attached that flipped open to reveal the original text below. It was SO COOL to be so close to something that good ol' Abe had ACTUALLY written in his own hand...definitely one of the highlights of my time here! And, of course, there is the gorgeous Ptolemy atlas that I have been working on all summer, as well as many other cool things that some of the other interns found and exhibited.




2. FOOD!

There are some seriously yummy restaurants here! Those of you who know me well know that I tend to get incredibly specific and intense food cravings for a particular dish from a particular restaurant. Unfortunately, the following D.C. institutions are not very easily accessible from Chicago, and so if a craving strikes I will be pretty much screwed....lol. Good Stuff, We The Pizza, and Firehook provided me with some deliciousness that I will definitely miss (especially the milkshakes made from homemade gelato.....soooooo good!)! I will also miss the convenience of Eastern Market, and all of its quirky vendors. I hope to find a farmer's market back home, because Eastern Market's delicious local produce has definitely turned me into a farmer's market devotee!









3. Things to see and do!

One great thing about DC is that you are never too far away from something cool! The free museums and monuments, as well as the events put on by these institutions, provide almost endless entertainment options that are almost always free! Even though Chicago/the suburbs has tons to do as well, I will miss the Botanic Gardens, the National Museum of the American Indian, taking walks around the Capitol Building and down the Mall, and of course the Library of Congress's beautiful Jefferson building and all of its exhibits.

Summer is here!

I finally feel like summer is here! I don't have very many words, and this place was beautiful, so I will let the pictures from my family's recent trip to Florida speak for themselves :)

It may be...

It may be cold-ish here in Illinois...but in less than 2 days I will be enjoying sunny Florida with my family!



It may be hard to choose what to pack to bring to DC, since I am flying and will be carrying my own luggage from the airport to my new apartment...luckily I am good at Tetris, so hopefully I will be able to fit everything I need into my suitcase(s)!



It may NOT be good for me...but I really enjoy eating cookies for breakfast! lol



It may be annoying when she wakes me up, but I still love snuggling with my Rory cat and letting her sleep in my room at night.



It WILL be hard to leave my boyfriend, friends, and family for 2 months...but I know it will be worth it for the amazing experience that is sure to come when I leave for DC in less than 2 weeks!

Wonderful :)

Life lately has been busy but wonderful. I am roughly two weeks away from finishing my master's degree, which blows my mind. I have gotten an amazing internship at the Library of Congress and found out that I will be living smack in the middle of Capitol Hill. I have amazing friends, a great family, and best of all, a super wonderful and supportive boyfriend who made my birthday so special and will take adorable pictures with me like this one:



I haven't crafted anything in awhile, as I've been busy with homework and getting ready to move (again!), but soon I'll be able to post pics of the Shedd Aquarium adventure I had with le boyfriend a few weeks ago! :)

Oh, fun fact, I HAVE been cooking a lot :) I made the Pioneer Woman's recipe for fettuccine alfredo, as well as some homemade bruschetta WITHOUT a recipe, and both turned out really well!! I can't wait to try more new recipes! I'll also post pics of my birthday cake decorating fail.....I wanted to make a cake that looked like it was covered in buttercream hydrangeas, and ended up with something a LITTLE different....lol.

Cake Pops

I went to Starbucks a few days ago and came across this:



Le what?!?! A CAKE POP at Starbucks?! Awesome!! I read a blog called Bakerella, who bakes many things but has recently made cake pops very popular via her website and book. They are supposedly the new cupcakes, although I have also heard that whoopie pies are the new cupcakes, so who knows. lol all I know is that these little cake-lolly pops are delicious, and I can't wait to have more! :)

Spring!

The storms we had last night have given me hope that perhaps spring is finally arriving!! When I think of spring I think of many things, but I especially think of flowers. And when I think of flowers, I think of one place: the United States Botanic Garden.



It is part of the Smithsonian "complex" of museums, and is free to the public. I think it is one of the most under-appreciated museums in D.C., because it is GORGEOUS!! The last time I was there with my roommate, they were doing a large exhibit on orchids that was so beautiful. It is one of my favorite places in D.C.! Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure :)

Busboys & Poets

Due to my massive french toast craving this morning, I thought I'd share with you all a little bit about a cool place that my roommate and I visited the last time I was in DC! This place had delicious french toast. It is called Busboys & Poets, and it's super neat! Here's a picture to give you an idea of the "vibe" of the place:

via The Fab Empire

It was this cool cafe with a little store inside that had tons of books and other fun stuff, like bowls and bracelets and blankets and other things that start with "b", but all of the merchandise in the store was fair-trade and locally sourced. I really liked this place and have not yet found a replacement french toast that I enjoy quite as much....luckily this place can serve as an acceptable substitute for my REAL favorite restaurant in DC, Bread and Chocolate, which is sadly no longer with us :( booooooo!!!

Anyway. I get attached to restaurants :) happy Friday, everyone!!