Hanging out in Baltimore at my friend Hope’s house. She’s watching the Ravens game. I’m taking a break from football, since the Steelers are comfortably in the playoffs already.

Last night I slept over at my aunt and uncles house and my cousins and I played a lot of Rock Band. Fun times all around. They, being 16 and 11, were much more fun to play with than my 8 year old cousins.  8 year olds are irrational and don’t like to let their older cousins have turns. They also play the same two songs over and over again, because they have a limited musical knowledge. If I ever here “Eye of the Tiger” again, I’ll scream.

So the Brown family extravaganza was pretty fun. Sort of tiring and sort of gave me a three day headache. Kids are a lot to take. When my one little cousin was saying goodbye, he went to give me a hug, and then slapped me in the face instead. And then laughed. Oooh, children. Heh heh.

Also, because Amanda is gone, I didn’t get a stocking this year.  And everyone else in the family got a Wii except us. Ha.

So I’m going to LA a week from tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll find a job so I can finally have an answer to give people when they ask. I’ve just started making stuff up for people I don’t really know. I’m so sick of explaining my life. When I went to get my haircut last week, I just pretended to be from Delaware and I pretended to have a job. I really just didnt feel like putting forth the effort to explain anything. So sick of it.

I also hate explaining that no, I don’t have a job lined up. You can’t line up jobs in the entertainment industry unless you’re real well connected. Blarg. I’m not an accountant!

Ok, back to pretending to care about the Ravens game. Can’t wait to see Amandini next week.

I feel sad that my post made Amanda cry more. I wish she were here and not sad! I also hope she brings me back an Australian boyfriend.  

We’ll make up for it with the “Amanda gives Steph a tour of LA” fun times we’re gonna have in a week and a half. Ahh! A week and half. That just freaked me out a bit. New life ready go. 

Days 1 and 2 of the festivities were fairly fun. Yesterday didn’t feel too much like Christmas, since I got no stocking or presents, and we didn’t eat ham loaf. But whatevs. Hearing about all my cousins’ presents and friends’ presents was good enough for me. 

Speaking of cousins, my 11 yr old cousin Grace is now almost as tall as me, and my 16 yr old cousin Taylor now towers over me in his tallness. I told them I remember when they were babies. And then I realized that I sounded like one of those old aunts who pinches your cheeks and squeals “OH, how much you’ve grown!”  And that scared me. Being an adult is lame. 

The most amusing part of the night was around the dinner table when we somehow got to talking about weddings, and every family member recounted a funny story from his or her wedding. This made me laugh while also making me feel like an old maid when I realized that all of these stories took place when my relatives/parents were younger than I am now. I’m going to be a cat lady.

The best story was recounted by my 98 year old great grandmother, who got married in 1934 during the Depression. Her wedding was dry, but apparently her photographer showed up wasted. So, all her pictures came out sideways or blurry. Then my dad told us the story of how he got his best friend completely drunk at his bachelor party, and then left him in the basement of the bride-to-be’s parents. Oh Brown family stories. 

This conversation was ended by  Grace asking if “We could please talk about something in this century.”  Ha. 

Now my mom and I are prepping the house for the Hanukkah party tonight. I’m starving myself as long as possible so I have room for all the brisket, latkes and challah that will be inhaled by me later tonight. Off to the grocery store!

I’m just adding my voice to the chorus here on my blog to wish everyone an amazing holiday from down under! I’m missing you guys a ridiculous amount, but have been checking up on my sister and am pleased that she is keeping my blog company.

Her post may or may not have made me cry, since this is the very first Christmas I’ve ever spent away from my family. I thought it would be tough, but I’ve even surprised myself -  I’ve cried about there times already and it’s not even Christmas at home yet. (It’s 11AM Christmas day here though. Crazy time differences!)

Other than the crying fits, my trip has been amazing. I’ve been on steam trains and jet boats. I’ve been in Sydney, Melbourne, and of course, Sarah’s parents beach house (where I am now.) I’ve taken loads of pictures, all of which you will be forced to look at soon. Wish I could write more, but I have to get ready for lunch. Merry Christmas and Happy Channukah everyone!

So my time at home has been fairly pleasant. I’ve been out to eat a few times, gotten a manicure, worked out, been wine tasting, watched some TV, gone shopping. 

Tomorrow starts the four day Brown family Chrismukkah extravaganza. Minus, sadly, Amanda. And Seth Cohen.

This will be very different than last year’s Christmas festivities. Last year was one of the best/lamest Christmas Eve’s we’ve had. We usually go to my grandma’s house for Christmas Eve, but for some reason last year, we decided to stay home. Since we’re Jewish, we didn’t know what to do with ourselves. So, instead of Chinese Food, we decided to get some liquor and play a round of Kings. My parents had never played this drinking game, so we had the pleasure of teaching them. It was pretty awesome slash awkward. Definitely the most entertaining game of King’s I’ve ever played. My mom ended up giggling profusely after about 3 cards were drawn.

The best part of the game was that  whenever anyone drank, he or she had to stand up, say a quote from a movie/TV show and then spin around. The worst part of the game was that my dad kept drawing the “Never Have I Ever” card and using it to make my sister and I very uncomfortable. 

So this year’s agenda is as follows: 

Wednesday: Drive to Baltimore (where my dad’s fam lives), go to my uncle’s house for dinner then to his church (he’s a pastor) for Christmas Eve services. Sleep over at grandma’s house.

Thursday: Wake up, have breakfast, return to Delaware. Hold off celebrating Christmas ’til Saturday, when everyone will be in town.

Friday: Have a giant Hannukah dinner for my grandparents, three uncles, two aunts, and 6 cousins. Giant cousin Hannukkah sleepover. Complete with Latke bingo. Not a joke.

Saturday: Return to Baltimore to celebrate actual Christmas with presents and lots of food. 

Woot!  So basically, we’re driving back and forth to Maryland and eating a lot of food.

I have officially been watching The West Wing online too much.  Last night I  had a dream that I was actually living in the show and had taken the place of Donna. During my time as Josh’s new assistant,  I had to attend a cabinet meeting in which the president asked me a question I didn’t know the answer to. It had something to do with the differences between Russia and Brooklyn. I looked like an idiot, and also the Pres got mad at Josh for not briefing me before the meeting. 

I need a life. My brain is definitely telling me that.

So New York did not make it easy for me to escape from it. Yesterday it definitely blizzarded all flippin’ day,trapping me in my apartment. I ended up, what else, watching online TV. I also got sucked into Camp Rock, which was cheerful and addicting as most Disney Channel movies are. I think I’m now a fan of the Jonas Brothers. 

This morning I woke up determined to get the hell out of there. This involved digging my car out of 4 feet of snow and ice for a half an hour. This was followed by trying to pack as much as I could into the car and finding that the trunk would not open. This altered my packing plan greatly, and forced me to shove as much as  I could in the tiny backseat of a two door Eclipse. Fun times. 

I finally was ready to go, said goodbye to Rachel, the good roommate.  I ignored Dawson and Ashley while trying to fight the urge to tell them how much I’ve hated living with the two of them for the last four months.  I also wanted to leave a note telling them that they better help Rachel out now that I’m leaving. I’m just happy I don’t have to wash any more of their dirty dishes. Seriously.  I guess it’s hard to clean when you have someone attached to your hip.

::Phew::

Anger gone. I haven’t been so happy to leave a place since I transferred from Tulane my freshman year of college. New York can suck it. Also, digging my car out of the snow has made it so when I get to California, I will not be nostalgic for it. 

In other news, both of my knees are a mess. My right one has a ginormous scary bruise from face planting while ice skating last weekend. My left one has a deceivingly small cut/gash that I managed to get after the TV Festival party Thursday night. Skipping dinner + free booze = bad. I definitely woke up, knee throbbing, clutching my phone, and with a bowl of pasta sitting on my nightstand. Whaa. The day was downhill from there. 

Ok. I will be in a better mood now. I’m excited for the family festivities this week. Christmas and Hanukkah.

Amanda got to Australia safe and sound, after about three straight days of traveling. Apparently the flight was bumpy 75% if the time. Her words to me were, “I don’t think you would have lasted.” She also said she tried not to think about Lost too much. ::shudder:: I’m going to need some pills before I fly to California. 

 In other good news, the deposit check from my new subletter is in my hand. Well, sitting on my desk next to me. 

So, it’s official! I am free of this apartment and ready to get the heck out of New York City. Glee. Sure, its 8 months after I should have been out there in the first place, but whatevski. I’m happy. 

Tonight I will be attending the New York TV Festival Christmas party, as my last official New York social event. Fitting, since my first day of interning for them, I helped set up for and work a cocktail party for them, which was my first official New York social event. Should be fun. I have a supercute new dress to wear. There will be alcohol and people I haven’t seen in awhile. Maybe I can ask them if they have an California hookups. 

I was going to go home tomorrow, but apparently a historic blizzard is going to hit overnight and for the next two days. So maybe I’ll be stranded in this apartment even longer. Goodie. The weather always seems to get in my way.

Three more days of semi-packing and watching The West Wing on Surfthechannel. What could be better? Meh.

So my little sis has asked me to guest blog for her so her ads don’t get mad at her. 

I thought about just posting an embarrassing story about Amanda’s childhood every day that she’s in Australia, but decided against it. I know she’d get me back somehow. 

Well, maybe I’ll just tell two stories about her childhood. Two she enjoys telling people in conjunction with each other as a demonstration of how put upon she was as the little sister. 

First, an intro to these two stories:
We used to live in a neighborhood full of kids our age and houses being built, which meant lots of dirt piles and other fun natural playgrounds. Amanda, in kindergarden at the time, liked to tag along with me and my much older and more mature third grade friends. I didn’t always appreciate it. 

Story 1:
One day I decided to exert my oldest-ness and concoct a way to “get” her. I decided that my cool friends and I would convince Amanda she was dead. Don’t ask me how we came up with this plan. It probably had something to do with wanting to use the cool angel wings my friend Jessie had. 

The plan went like this: Amanda was swinging on my friend’s swingset, when said friend came over wearing the angel wings to tell Amanda she had fallen off the swing, died, and gone to Heaven. To demonstrate this fact, two of my other friends ran around the yard calling out Amanda’s name, as if, when she died, she somehow disappeared. Looking back, the plan may have had a few flaws. 

Instead of believing this ruse, Amanda got pissed, ran home crying, and tattled on me.  I was grounded for a few days. 

Story 2:
On another, similar day, we were playing on one of the many dirt piles in our still-being-constructed neighborhood. We were all standing on top of a dirt pile, when I decided to trick Amanda yet again. Obviously I hadn’t learned from the first failed attempt to trick her.  So, I picked up a little bit of the dirt, and told her it was “Fairy Dust” since we had just watched Peter Pan. I then sprinkled it on her and told her she could now fly. Luckily she didn’t take my advice . I don’t quite remember, but this probably also ended with her running home and telling on me. 

We weren’t really pleasant to each other until I was in high school.

My giant suitcase is packed. My to-do list is all checked off. I’m officially ready to get up tomorrow at 4Am to catch my 6:30Am flight to LA and then sit around LAX until 10:30PM when I’ll board my 15 hour flight to Melbourne. Yep, that’s about 36 hours of straight travel, but hopefully I’ll be in a Tylenol PM induced sleep for the better part of that 15 hour flight, and at the end of it, I’ll be able to see Sarah’s lovely, smiling face waiting for me at the airport Love Actually style. (This is for real: Sarah told me the Melbourne Airport has big double doors like at the end of Love Actually. I told her I’d sing God Only Knows to get the full effect.) Plus, most of the sitting around time at LAX will be with Sharon, so we can keep each other excited. 

Don’t worry, though. I’m not leaving you all here high and dry. My sister will be blogging in my place  for the next few weeks. She’s attempted to blog a few times at her own little space, but she is hoping this will motivate her to start doing it regularly. She’s pretty much my twin, so you might not even notice a difference. Right now, she is also in the midst of moving to LA, but to pursue a job in television (just like I used to be doing!) So..yeah, be nice to her.

I may try to post a bit while I’m gone, but I don’t know what my schedule or computer access will be like, so I don’t want to promise anything. Don’t blog too much while I’m gone, or I may  have a google reader related breakdown when I get back! Happy Holidays!

Today, I officially finished college. Well…I had my last class on Thursday, but today I put the finishing touches on my (horrible) plays for playwritting, which I have to mail into my professor tomorrow. Thus, I consider today my last day. And I’m not quite sure how I feel about it.

The last few days have been tough, to say the least. In fact, yesterday, I ended my day by crying for a half an hour at a Mexican restaurant by my parents’ house, after snapping at my dad. I think I had been teetering on the edge of being really sad all day, and him spoiling the season finale of Dexter for me was somehow the final straw.  

Thursday night I had a little party at my apartment with a lot of friends I wanted to say good-bye to, where I drank entirely too much champagne, then headed out to the bars, where I got a nice confidence boost from a very drunk UMass student in the form of ridiculous compliments. 

Friday was spent packing until my parents came to pick me up for dinner with my uncle and cousins. I almost cried twice at dinner thanking them for giving me a place to call home in Boston and basically being my surrogate family for three and a half years. My immediate family has never lived close to my extended family, so getting to see my little cousins regularly for the last few years as really been a treat. Plus, they let me get off campus and have a home-cooked meal without having to fly home. I’m really going to miss my night’s out on the town with my uncle and getting to spend an afternoon playing with my cousins…and I’m going to make myself cry now.  After dinner, I went to Harvard Square with Jillian and Megan for a relaxing last night out at John Harvard’s and Grendal’s. It was nice to have a quite, very Boston, last night out. I, perfectly enough, only ordered Massachusetts local beers. Mmm…

Saturday, my dad came to get all my stuff. I said good-bye to my little sis from the sorority (and one of my best friends), Lynn, and my other favorite sorority gal, Ali. Both are going abroad next semester, so even if I work out staying in Boston next semester (which is looking possible…stay tuned), I won’t be in school with them again. 

Finally, it came time to say good-bye to Jillian. Even though I know I’ll see her soon, I was still in tears. With moving so much, I don’t keep friends (physically) close for very long, so knowing Jillian for over three years and living with her for two and a half is quite a feet. (We met in writing class and at Bay State freshman year, lived together sophomore year, went to LA together junior year, and shared an apartment this year.) She was truly the perfect roommate. We’ve never fought. We both clean like crazy, and she’s unbelievably considerate. She’s an amazing friend who makes me do things, even when I don’t want to, that turn out to be super fun. She listens when I complain. We hate all the same people, and she’s the only reason I know what’s up in the world of celebrity gossip. I don’t know how I’m going to survive in LA without her, because the only reason I ever knew about good restaurants and cool bars was because of her. It’ll be tough to adjust to living with anyone else. She says I have to add Pop Sugar to my daily routine to even attempt to replace her. 

I really can’t believe I’m done with college. I can’t quite process it yet. I want to write a wrap-up of everything I’ve learned in college, but I don’t have enough space from it to do it now. The problem is if I wait until I get back from Australia, that’s obviously all I’m going to talk about. Maybe I’ll attempt it tomorrow. Luckily for my sanity,  it’s looking like I might not have to mourn leaving Boston just yet. My uncle has offered to let me stay at his house next semester, which isn’t going to replace living on campus, but it’s SO much better than being in Wilmington, friendless save for my parents and pets. (My parents moved here my sophomore year of college, so I don’t know anyone but them. So staying at “home” is not the ideal living situation for the next four months.) The details would still need to be worked out in January, so I don’t want to say it’s definite, but I really want it to be. 

So…now onto the next thing. AUSTRALIA! IN TWO DAYS! Yep, now I can actually be excited about it without thinking about all the stuff I have to do before I go. Sarah called me last night, and all I could say was so “Oh my god, I’m so excited!” Tomorrow I’m officially packing, so wish me luck! I’ll say a proper good-bye tomorrow.

I really fell off the NaBloPoMo wagon quickly, didn’t I? I blame me wanting to soak up every last moment of my last week of college. I’ve done pretty well so far. Saturday, we had a special Saturday taping of “Bay Sate” followed by a read-through slash viewing party that ended with Jillian, Josh, and I singing “I Kissed A Girl” at one of our favorite bars. Sunday, I had my last sorority chapter then headed out to Megan’s to finally eat at a diner featured on our favorite show, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Monday, I had my last photography class (and found out I got an A!), then had a final Gossip Girl viewing party with Jillian, complete with delicious fro-yo from our favorite fro-yo joint (even though it was about 15 degrees when we went to get said frozen yogurt.) Yesterday was my final acting class, followed by a trip to our school’s pub with one of my best school friends who I rarely get to hang out with, then over to my final Bay State taping, after which, I, of course, gave a minor speech and cried. We then had to go to our traditional post-Bay State dinner spot, Sunset Cantina, for drinks, nachos, and curly fries. Mmmm. Josh, Jillian, Megan and I ended our night doing karaoke (I did some amazing renditions of “Come on Over” and “See You Again.” Me=cool. Clearly.) and toasting to future drinks in LA. 

I think the final Bay State has been the hardest thing yet. I’ve been working on that show since the first month of my freshman year, and I’ve climbed through the ranks, starting as a PA and ending as a Co-Executive Producer. All my best friends are now from there, and it has definitely been the biggest constant, besides sorority stuff, in my college life. It still hasn’t hit me that I won’t be back. In fact, it hasn’t hit me that I only have one more college class left, and that at this time next year, I’ll be in charge of my own class. 

The only thing keeping me sane is not thinking about leaving here and instead thinking about going to Australia. I’m leaving next Tuesday, so its unbelievably close. I got an email from the lovely Sarah asking me if I was ok spending New Year’s Eve at her beach house with some friends. Um..is that even a question? When I wrote back, I had to note that last year, I rang in the new year in Israel, and I’ll be ringing out the year in Australia. In between, I’ve lived in two major cities (LA and Boston), and shifted my entire life plan. That makes my life sound much more exciting than it is…or maybe I just don’t realize how exciting my life is. 

Anyway, it looks like my sister will be guest-posting while I’m gone, so that should keep you all entertained. Look forward to that and an emotional breakdown type post come Saturday when I’m in my parent’s car with everything I’ve accumulated through the last 3 and a half years of my life piled around me, driving away from Boston, the closest thing to a hometown I’ve had in a while.