Back to Reality

Over the last month and a half I have undergone so many transitions and experiences. To start, I've on and off working part-time jobs - some paid some not - trying to keep myself busy and praying for the strength to overcome challenging personalities. All I can say is I don't know what I would've done without my true friends, like Keith. I visited him at the end of August to see his new apartment and catch up. It was a good thing I did because I had to witness for myself his nice digs.

My trip to Philadelphia was much more nostalgic than a casual meeting with an old friend. As it turns out I had alternative motives - guilty as charged - since I was so curious about the lives of other some people I knew back in high school who've continued their passion for music going "on tour." I mean how long has it been since my last basement show? What I found to be refreshing was finally seeing that atmosphere from a more objective perspective rather than a young girl crazed with the idea of getting the attention of a musician. It was a pleasant time laughing, conversing, singing along and most importantly staying in the present.

After that my working life - or lack there of - came to a screeching halt. So what else better to do than beg your friend, who has backstage access to New York Fashion Week, to brighten one's low spirit. Although I did buy a brand new dress for the occassion - since none of the out of date, frumpy and unflattering wardrobe I have would do for a NYFW Venexania show, or any NYFW show for that matter. I'm far too critical because as it turns out there were people wearing articles of clothing that should've never seen the light of day - WTFWYT?!?! Overall, it was great to see my friend Greg and sit in the 2nd row at the show; even got one of those goodie bags :) And of course as my technology curse proceeds me, Greg's phone deleted all the photos from the event...except for the few below. I guess I have to stalk Twitter to find any pictures taken during the Venexania show and see if we're in any of them.

But I did return to Lincoln Center right after the crowds and shows were over to get a make-over at the Allure Glamor Lounge. What an experience: beauty is pain, note to staff - don't allow the hotel you are renting space from use the air conditioner unless you want to deal with leaks in the ceiling and stop to enjoy the moment because life is short. At least I looked really great for the New York Elon Alumni event that evening. Did not expect to walk into a room with over 700+ alumni! PS I am so glad I had the opportunity to have a drink and relax in The Plaza bar. Can you say fancy?

Probably my fo-pa that I was let go at Blimpies. My plan all along was to leave for a week for the Duke University's Continuing Studies Nonprofit Management Certificate program in the middle of September before I took the part-time position but I guess everything happens for a reason. A learning experience none the less but more along the lines of experience with passive-aggressive management and leadership - or lack there of. The same could be said for some other side projects I'm involved with currently but that's a discussion for another day...

It was great going back to North Carolina having no responsibilities to academic work or college life other than what I signed up for with the Nonprofit Management Certificate program. Per usual, I reached out to a few peeps I knew were in the area - Jamie, Alice, etc. Of course there is never enough time to see everyone but I felt good to try because I did benefit especially in regards to reconnecting with Elon Alumni. Saw Jeff (2012) and his crew - Chris (2011), Cody (2012) and Mitch (2012) - at Fullsteam downtown and went to dinner and Locopops with Alice and Kit on Friday. Must say that I never thought about crazy flavored ice cream icicles - flavors like chocolate rosemary, pomegrante cognac and other weird stuff. I had simply salted caramel which was the perfect end to a great reunion.

Music Madness All Weekend Long

Carolina Rebellion & The Airborne Toxic Event

Its a little unsettling that I was sophomore the last time I went to the Carolina Rebellion festival. Granted I was introduced to the festival because of my internship at Deep South Entertainment (Raleigh) and still frequently writing for The Pendulum hence the reason I wanted to go and experience it for myself. In the last month I decided to return as a A&E writer as a last hurrah my second semester as a senior. Additionally I feel really sad I haven't been to many shows with any regularity in the last year and a half. So I went to Carolina Rebellion this Sunday - in the mist of so much chaos with classwork especially ceramics. Despite our excitement and hope to have a great time our expectations were clearly diminished once we got there.

The entire day was wet and stormy. Different from the first time when it was extremely hot and dry this time the horrible downpour prevented the festival events and sets to run smoothly. Not only were their delays and cancellations - most annoyingly Rise Against - but even the tents were being cleared out because the staff and other personnel were pissed that crowd of people were standing underneath without buying stuff or participating in contests etc. Although I should say that the artists that did perform Sunday were enthusiastic, energetic and humble to the fans that stuck out in less than favorable conditions to see shows. The bands/artists we saw included American Fangs, Pop Evil, Hollywood Undead, Sevendust and Buckcherry.

Crowd collecting at Jager stage...nothing else better to do since

Nonpoint cancelled 

 Houston's American Fangs kicking off Sunday's lineup

 Vaginas were represented at Carolina Rebellion

 Carolina - one of the main stages

 Crazy members of Buckcherry endured the worst of the entire day's downpour sessions

Gotta love em for sticking it out!

Good thing was that because stupid Rise Against bailed we got to leave and attempt to get dry. More importantly we got to grab a bite to eat since for most of the day we survived on semi-hot $4 hot chocolate. Subs at Firehouse and then we were back on the road heading due North for Elon.

The following night of music definitely made-up for the misery endured the day before. I was pleasantly surprised to walk into Cat's Cradle and hear the end of Kodaline's set (opening band). Also their EP was $5 so you know I just had to get it. As I patiently awaited for The Airborne Toxic Event I was happily hit with nostalgia. Almost five years ago I was introduced to the band during 101.9RXP hosted Xmas Extravagansa. They opened for The Ting Tings...how much things have changed since then. The whole set and their extensive encore set was something to relish in for the remainder of the week. I don't think I've enjoyed a show like that since sophomore year when my colleagues and I went to Cat's Cradle (prior to the drab remodeling of the interior) for a Yeasayer concert.

Lead singer, Mikel Jollet, shaking anyone's hand after the encore

Reunion

While interning at The Washington Center last spring I met a lot of great people. Besides having pretty awesome and culturally diverse set of roommates (Korean, Alaskan, and Mexican) the majority of the population living in the dorm was namely international students. However, I did seem to make some connections with a few American students including my good friend Kristi. Since my last visit to D.C. in August Kristi came to visit Elon this past weekend.

Although I love that I live in the south and overall I've learned a lot from my experiences at Elon I am very realistic about its disadvantages especially if you do not have a car on-campus. Burlington is in the middle of NC map and it takes at least 30mins or more in either direction to the nearest city. Coming from NYC or D.C. its a significant lifestyle change. I did stress this reality to Kristi prior to her visit but she didn't seem to mind at all. I'm sure visiting a place like Burlington that is quite a distance away from an urban environment isn't such a dramatic difference coming from Iowa. Additionally the benefit of being a "homebody" means you don't mind doing nothing.

On the ride home from Durham - Megabus drop off - we ate a feast at Cracker Barrel. After a few hours of studying at Acorn we decided for our first night together we'd go out. We went to Arizona Pete's in Greensboro after a pleasant quiet afternoon lounging around. When we first arrived it was as I expected a true country bar playing hard-core country music, drinking beers, line dancing...even the cha cha slide. Eventually the place was hopping with young 20-somethings turning the dance floor into a club scene. Not feeling the hip-hop sloppy music we decided to ride the mechanical bull. I stayed on longer than I expected but my whole arm was sore for the next few days after.

Saturday was pretty chill. It was a beautiful day outside so I went out a few times to run some errands and later I did get Kristi to walk around campus a bit. Later that evening instead of trying clubbing part 2 we stayed indoors comfy on the couch and watched "One Week" with Joshua Jackson while eating slow cooked pulled pork YUM! It was a good time for us to catch up on life too so I could not complain. I also introduced Kristi to the joy and seduction of a Cookout milkshake.

The next morning I requested that Kristi make her famous crazy eggs. They were so good especially with the rest of the cibatta bread I bought at Trader Joe's and their roasted tomato soup. Instead of going to the App State game I stayed home to spend time with Kristi. Ate slow cooked Hawaiian chicken over alfredo pasta for dinner and while watching the Oscars we played a drinking game.

Throughout the entire weekend we scanned over hers and my music library sharing songs via Dropbox. I filled it up within a day. Kristi's obsession with techno/house music left the eternal human jukebox (i.e. me) to change genres. In doing so I ended up getting pissed off because I had fixated on a sound I had heard on an Alias episode but didn't know the artist or name of the song. You must understand the magnitude of insanity this brings considering I'm trying to figure out what artist and song it is and the only reference I have is making noises that don't in the slightest bit help me describe or preview the song to someone else for help. I finally figured out randomly - per usual - the name of the song that was stuck in my head the entire weekend. And the winner is...Paul Oakenfold's "Ready, Steady, Go"

Dusk at Elon 

Vaginas, Applying for Jobs, Tackles, Snow, Music, and oh so much more

Pew! What a week its been. I am starting to understand perfectly what my advisor meant last semester when he said "you think fall semester is breezing by just wait until spring. It'll be gone in before you know it." Its true and I've only been back to school for a little over two weeks. I don't have a full schedule and yet I feel so busy and chaotic...there are no brakes from here on in. Time to be in the passenger seat has come and gone. All systems go!

Another element that made this particular week so ridiculously hectic was dress rehearsals for the Vagina Monologues. Each year since my freshman year at Elon Performing Arts majors have taken it upon themselves to direct and produce V-Monologues. The great part of the whole process is that this is one of the few shows at Elon that is fairly open to non-majors and often has more "actors" that are non-majors perform a monologue. Although I didn't get a monologue I was offered the role as Narrator 1. I was pretty sure that the narrators wouldn't be so important but I was SO wrong. Lyndsay Burch, the director, wanted to do things differently, more theatrical. With that she wanted the narrators on-stage the whole performance in front of these three square pieces of wood draped in red & pink cloth. 

As it turns out the narration was the hardest part of the show. Not only were we on-stage the whole hour+ running time of the show but we had dialogue among each other that was very fast-paced, required super energy and risk AND we had to remember intros for the monologues - all different lengths, styles, occurring at different times throughout the show. All in all the two performances on Valentines Day were the best and it was really great working with such a strong group of women. Be sure to check out Eve Ensler's (the author of the show) amazing charity to empower women and raise awareness to the injustices against women called 1 Billion Rising (link HERE). 

The Vagina Monologues cast and crew 2013

Oh and so I also applied for a job this week too. I was so worried about writing a cover letter and fixing my resume while trying to keep myself engaged, alert and energized for classes and the rehearsals. Meeting with Pam in the Career Center was helpful to ease my anxiety but the whole week I felt like I was scrambling. I applied for the Development Coordinator position at the League of Women Voters in D.C. Its a job I would LOVE to have and an organization I truly admire so fingers crossed. 

In addition to the craziness going on during the week EWR (Elon Women's Rugby) had a very early rise to head out for our game in Charlotte. Of course Saturday the day of our game and day of traveling almost the entire state of NC had an advisory report for snow. I will admit that the entire time we were outside at the pitch in Charlotte it was pretty chilly, however, I would never mind being cold over being hot. We played a really great game against a pretty intimidating team - big girls. It was a historical game too being that our scrum captain, Jamie, made a tri (goal) and one of our backline players subbed as a scrum prop and did a phenomenal job - YAY Smurf! Afterwards one of our teammates, Steph and her parents organized a lunch on them for the entire team. We went to a really nice sports-bar type restaurant. The food was amazing as you can see below!

Tipsy and Smurf warming their butts by the fire

The other end of the table 

 From left to right: Backline players Natie, Sam, Koala, and BGraham

 Natie's awesome Cobb salad and mac & cheese side

My delicious BB's Cheddar, Bacon Burger with sweet potato fries and this REALLY

interesting and sweet marshmallow dipping sauce :)

I drove the EWR van back to campus only to find it was pretty snowy at Elon moreso than the whole time we were in Charlotte. After dropping the girls off at the parking lot by the practice field Tipsy and I snapped a few photos of campus in the snow. 

As if my day hadn't been long enough, I had another engagement to go to later in the evening. Instead of working on some things for Monday classes I decided to take a nap for 1 1/2hrs before my friend and I trekked out into the snow to Raleigh to see The Dirty Heads. It was extremely difficult to get out of bed but worth going to the show. The Lincoln Theater is a great venue that I only wish I knew about years before now. I realize how out-of-the-loop I am when it comes to venues in NC which makes me want to investigate more before I graduate. On another blog dedicated to music reviews/show reviews I go into detail about the show, the acts, the atmosphere, and suggested material. Check it out: Cat's Muse

Celebrations and Goodbyes

The last week of J-Term was pretty low-key as far as work and activities but not less fun. It was good to know that I had really learned a lot from my Gender & Communications class. Most of which I attribute thanks to my colleagues and their openness to discuss difficult issues. I only hope they all continue to be aware of issues related to gender (more so humanity) and help others to become aware as well. Also I very much appreciated the guidance and support throughout the course from Dr. Eisner. I hope to continue my relationship with her in my last semester at Elon and in the years to come.

In the morning of my final I went to see a few of my friends perform their scenes for their class: Acting for Nonmajors. One of them did a scene about a couple in the south and issues related to a mutual friend who is in prison and the other scene was about these two friends, who are also factory workers, discussing the issues/histeria that comes with having a baby with someone who is mutual friends with your friends. Both scenes were good. I especially enjoyed the scene about three army vets particularly because it was all out hilarious!

Later that night I pushed my friends to go out to the men's basketball game against Chattanooga instead of going to or watching a movie at the apartment. Live a little is my motto. So they did come and we had a blast. It was an added perk that a lot of the players are cute so.... Alice was there with some friends too. I am so humbled to her for introducing me to Elon's bball team. I wouldn't have gone to any games if it wasn't for her encouragement and enthusiaism for the game. Thursday night was my third game of the season and in my entire college career. It was also an added bonus that we won! Afterwards we decided to go to Fro-yo (despite both of my friends being cold). Having forgotten to eat regularly all day I splurged (as you can see my fro-yo cup below). As entertainment we found a poster on the wall that looks identical to how Jamile looked when she was younger. See for yourself:

My fro-yo cup of madness

Jamile as a little girl

Friday was both a horrific and highly comedic travel day. It started to a rocky start when I couldn't get hold of my friend to pick me up to take me to the airport. Jamile was able to do so which was great. Getting off the train in Raleigh I checked with the ticket agents to see when and where the 100 bus would come. Sitting there for about 20-25mins I decided to ask again. Thankfully I did because the first agent was completely off. I decided to walk to the bus center I was told is where I could get the bus. Cold and snow flurries wouldn't stop a northern geneically hot-hot-hot blooded like me. So 30mins at the station and the bus came on-time. Only problem was the crowded streets near NC State's campus and the highway due to slick road conditions (leave it to NC). Finally getting to the terminals I got off at the wrong one having to get back on a bus to terminal B. Got my ticket but realized my flight was delayed.

View at Burlington Amtrak station at 845am

Waiting, waiting, waiting patiently reading a book the gateagent kept us updated with more delays due to the weather. Once on the place around 415pm (for an original 222pm flight) we waited in the aircraft at the gate to be deiced. Of course being in NC the pilot informed us that due to the power of the deice hose was so strong the main radio antena was broken. Luckily they have two other radios but they also have to fill out paperwork about the broken antenna. With a short window of opportunity to deice, call Newark Liberty, taxi out and take off for NJ the pilot reassured they were doing the best they could. Around 530pm we finally left the gate. At around 730 we arrive at the gate in EWR and I waited amusingly at the baggage claim curbside for my mom. Being so late I was hungry so we ate at my usual and favorite place in JC the Coach House Diner.

The next evening Dennis and my mom worked on the upstairs bathroom (process of being renovated) all day while I didn't. Later that night mom and I drove down to southern Tom's old neighborhood in Monroe to my mom's Atena associate Sam's house. My mom is the benefits manager for a Taco Bell franchise. Over the last few years she's developed a friendship with her Atena rep Sam. Living in NJ and spilling the beans about cooking Indian food he invited us to come down to party. So we did and it was great. Chicken curry was to die and ladies I'm telling you a guy who can cook and likes to cook is golden! Although Sam is available he's a little too old for me but any takers I'm sure he'd be willing to date.

Leftovers from Indian feast

Sunday mom and I went back to our old church in Montclair, St. John's Episcopal, in honor and celebration of Peter Jackson, the decon. I was amazed when he mentioned during the service that he had been at St. John's for 6 years which is 3 years more than usual. It was also embrassing to start crying in the middle of the service but I remembered how much Peter meant to me and my journey at St. John's. I met him when I was a junior in high school which seems like ages ago now. I will never forget his kindness and openness to people in the congregation and everywhere. It wouldn't have been appropriate to not celebrate with joy, music and a great spread at coffee hour for someone who made such an impact on this community.

Last night I decided to join my mom's trip back to the Montclair area for book club. Carol, my "fairy godmother"and longtime friend through church, was hosting and cooking lasagna for dinner. Most if not all the women in this book club are from our church: Patty, Liz, Priscilla (although not anymore), Terry, Carol, Ellen (who no longer comes since she moved to CA), Lin, and my mom. Having known all of them for nearly a decade they love me and were so happy to hear I wanted to join for a night. The book this month was called "Proof of Heaven". It was a very interesting book to discuss among a predominatly church-goer, faithbased group who have a diverse understanding of God and heaven and what it means to them personally and universally.

A street in my neightborhood

Although I had said that today would be a work day (Tues. Jan 30th) I ended up not doing much of anything. However, I did go out to mail my previous year's taxes, go to the bank and get some produce at a local shop on Central Avenue. Walking back from central Heights I came across some graffiti. It definitely put things into perspective for me because something as in consequental as this to some helped me remember where I live and where I'm from.

Wintery Wonderland! At least for a moment

It goes without saying that I was SUPER happy that it snowed this week. I was particularly pissed off at how "nice" it was outside. Everything someone would say, "Oh the weather has been so nice like spring" I found myself thinking "are you kidding me? It's supposed to be crappy and cold. Its the WINTER people!" However, I am bias considering I do not tolerate hot weather at any degree very well. I sweat on any given occassion even in the winter season when its (well moreso way back in the past less so in the last three years) traditionally colder. Besides my angst I was delighted to experience some snowy weather here at Elon. I haven't seen snow at Elon since freshman year. Of course I expected it to disappear the next day (which it did) so I was definitely going to take the opportunity to walk home in the snow when its clean and beautiful to watch.

 Outside the apt

I wasn't the only one. After the women's basketball game the brick pathways were filled with students. For the most part people were excited about it with the exception of a few who complained on-site. No bother to me. I was so chipper I danced part of the way home with my huge IKEA umbrella. It was fun and reminded me how the littlest things like walking through the first snowfall makes you feel so happy and childlike. Before it started I decided to walk to Lindner (across campus from my apt) for my Burst the Bubble Hip Hop class thinking, "oh, it might end up snowing while I'm in class. That will be nice. I'll get to feel a slight chill on my face." Yeah I'm that weird but really don't you love that feeling? It reminds me of the only time of year always designated towards spending moments with loved ones like at Thanksgiving leading into December, the start of the winter & Christmas season.

Trollinger House...oh how pretty

The unfinished Moseley extension 

Friday morning before most of the snow was already melted I walked to the Moseley to get a package and go to the Lindner to study. As I walked from my apt to central campus I took some snapshots of the area covered in white. I passed a few snowmen and a snow family, a lot of footprints and trees decorated with flakes. I also took a few photos of objects I thought were interesting that you can see below.

  Snowy footprints

 First buds of pre-spring season

Some of my friends were happy about the snow specifically because they were so hopeful that classes would be canceled. What they don't realize is we already get MLK day off so it wouldn't be in the best interest of the school to give us an extra day. Its winter term, we only have 3 weeks of class anyway! Although they didn't get completely off the hook students who had 830am classes got to sleep in another hour or two on Friday thanks to Smitty J's announcement of a delayed opening schedule. But most students, even in my 130pm class, skipped. I went to class having no reason to not come to class and I was glad I did. We presented ads to the class and talked about what we thought these images/videos meant, what they say to mass audiences and how they are relevant to the text/topics we discuss in class.

Mango...yum!

Friday night I went out to La Fiesta for dinner with the girls and had a jumbo margarita. It was delicious, the food not so much but it was nice to get out. We also made a trip out to the liquor store and found some interesting bottles like the one to the right.

Saturday was a chill day waking up around 1130am. Made pancakes and eggs for brunch, went to the gym later with my girlfriends and attempted to play racketball. Later I went to the Alumni gym for a Mellow Mushroom coupon as a promotion to come see the Elon Men's Basketball team play Wofford. I watched with my rugby teammates Rachel and Courtney. It was a very close game but in the end Elon won 68-61. Afterwards Courtney and I went to Kangaroo for some freakin awesome coffee. As I walked home I debated whether or not to go out clubbing since I hadn't eaten dinner yet and was kinda not feeling the club scene.

I ended up going out to Greensboro to a club called Allure. It seemed to have potential but I should've known when I asked the bouncer about the DJ and he said he was new would be a problem. He had potential in the beginning playing throwbacks and old school hip hop but eventually as the night wore on so did our boredom. HOWEVER, I will never forget our experience. I have been to clubs in other cities in the US and I've been to clubs all over the world and NEVER have I seen a ton of guys on the dancefloor groovin to the music, singing the music and waiting there for women to dance with them. In my experience its the opposite: the women dancing and guys come up after there are enough women on the floor to "choose" from. Like I told my girlfriends their looking for the right "meat." I will forever be grateful to Allure for exposing me to something completely different.

Today, Sunday, is another chill day. I ate pancakes and eggs again and did a load of laundry. Later I watched Silver Lining Playbook which was awesome! Now I'm debating when to go to the gym today even though my calves are in pain from the stairs exercise I did yesterday. Also I'm still not sure when or if I should do my readings for class today instead of tomorrow since I have an extra day off. I can't complain life is good :)

1st Weekend of the Last J-Term

Short week to start with, only two days of class so far. Its an afternoon class so I can't complain. Today we watched Iron Jawed Angels a favorite of mine that I was acquainted with back in high school when I was a member of the N.O.W Montclair section. Being a Gender & Communications course our professor Dr. Sharon Eisner thought that this was a great way to start discussion, understanding and background of the struggles of people (in this case women's suffrage) based on ones gender. It already seems to be an interesting class.

J-term for me was always a treat. I loved having one class for a few hours M-F and as a result feel a great sense of freedom to do so much that during a "normal" semester sometimes (most of the time) seems impossible to accomplish (i.e. reading for pleasure -- books I want to read not those assigned for class or work on my languages -- Spanish and Arabic). With that I also vowed to make the very best of my last j-term doing as much "partying" and fun stuff that I will only have the chance to do with some people whose time is limited (graduating early). Tonight I decided to let loose and go out to dinner at Red Bowl (Asian restaurant check it out HERE) with some friends, watched one of my all-time faves Clue (I absolutely LOVE the endings), watching disturbing cat videos on YouTube and went out to the Ke Lo Ke Hookah Lounge in Burlington. The ultimate highlight of the night for me was doing what I wanted to do and feeling happy doing it.

Green Dragon Roll & Eel sashmi YUMMY!!!

Its seemed that in the recent past...no I'd go as far to say most of my past I've allowed people and circumstance get in the way of doing things I want to do. Of course in regards to some things (i.e. my gap year before Elon where I travelled the world alone) I don't let things ruin my "plans" but sometimes  I do. But no more and I get the feeling that some of my collages feel the same way.

The hookah lounge was the most interesting and fun part of the night. It was fascinating to see a hookah lounge become a nightclub, dance competition and strip club at the same time. When we first arrived it was already busy. After we selected and paid for our flavor (vanilla...it was actually really nice and not too sweet) we sat down and people watched. The crowd was incredibly diverse which was comforting. Growing up in Jersey City I miss that but I have to remember how multicultural Burlington and NC in general really is.

The DJ was pretty good giving the customers a variety of music to dance to but I cannot make this up when I tell you that he was horny as f$%@. He came up with a dance competition, NO let me clarify a booty dance competition. Oh, lord is what I have to say to that. I found it hilarious how the men in the "club" packed into a confined area surrounding the few girls who decided to participate. They were herding into them like cattle. Then the next thing I know I see a few women walk by in bikinis and the half of the herd followed them to a stage near the door (aka closer to our table). After about twenty minutes of this we left to return home listening to the Burlesque (the movie) soundtrack. If I were to reflect on the events of tonight I would say at least this was an experience I can share with my class during discussion :) but more importantly that sometimes the best things in life aren't planned.

Moving into the Apt

Overdue post I know but better now than never...
On the weekend of June 8th Mom and I drove through the night to arrive by morning to my new humble abode. I must say that people on the road are unkind to people with out of state license plates. I was so beyond pissed off when we had reached the 70mph stretch of road in Virginia seeing drivers doing the stupidest things. Can we agree that its not the safest thing to 'play games' on the road especially going at least 70+mph? Its so pointless especially when we're all going to the same place anyway.

We finally reached our destination around 10am and decided to eat breakfast at Grill Works, a nice family joint down the road from campus. Great way to start the day with North Carolina's own blueberry pancakes and sweet tea YUM :)

Above is a pic of the mini van we used to move my crap. Originally not happy about the minivan since we were supposed to have gotten a truck but whatevs...Later on we had a snack at Hursey's BBQ on Church St in Burlington which was also delicious.

Our snack. PS Did you know that Land-O-Lakes makes honey butter???? its awesome

the truck I dream to own

Ready to get things started we found that the keys to the apartment that were supposed to be in the safety box weren't there. A call to the super and a visit from the inn's employee to tell us that another tenant had taken the universal key was quite a let down. But we continued to stay positive. A visit to the storage place to load the car up gave us enough time to wait for the super to come open the door. Keys in hand we unloaded the rental car and started putting everything in its rightful place. A trip to Walmart and we finished sooner than later. Rest took up a huge chunk of time in the afternoon. It was nice to relax and sleep. Dinner was an experience to be remembered at Buffalo Wild Wings. We were ambitious and ate the hottest wings. OOOOOOOweee it was intense but I loved every bite!


Mom held out her surprise till Sunday when we went to Seagrove, NC to view the country's oldest pottery town. We also met up with one of my good friends Hillary who lives in Charlotte and recently graduated from UNC Charlotte! It was such a pleasant and inspirational experience to see all the potter's work. Not to mention eating at the Jugtown Cafe, yummiest pie I've ever had (peanut butter chocolate pie, coconut creme pie and banana pudding pie).