After a ridiculously fun and exciting month away, I’m back! I can’t believe that my trip is over, and I’m still a little jet-lagged, but I want to get everything I can down about the trip before it all starts to slip away. I don’t know how I’m even going to begin to tackle this, but I think it’s all still fresh enough to recount to my satisfaction. And to Sarah’s, as she’s told me she is looking forward to my recap, and I don’t want to disappoint! 

But a quick note before I do: I want to thank my lovely sister, Stephanie, for keeping my blog company while I was gone. She’s currently loving LA and getting closer and closer to getting a job everyday. She’s definitely doing much better than she’d been doing in NYC, so I’m happy for her!

And one more note: I wanted to make this recap complete with amazing pictures, but unfortunately, I’m the forgetful type who leaves cameras and iPods in my sister’s car before getting on plane rides home…so no pictures as they are currently traveling home through the kindness of UPS. Fail. 

So…here we go. 

On Tuesday, December 16th, I left my house at 4AM (painful, I know) and traveled to LA. I ran into my American camp BFF, Sharon’s, arms around 2PM Cali time, and we proceeded to spend a ridiculous EIGHT hours in LAX, waiting for our flight. (My dad wanted to pad my flight time, just in case…they wouldn’t even let us check our bags until 6!) It seemed an endless wait. Finally, at 10PM, we boarded our 15 hour flight (economy seating surrounded by 4, yes FOUR, babies…for 15 hours.) Luckily, I’d been up for about 22 hours at that point, so I fell asleep halfway through Mamma Mia, which I couldn’t even see as in economy, the only screen you get is a giant projection at the front of the section, which short people can’t see. Again, fail. 

But when we got off the plane in Melbourne, it was totally and completely worth it. We walked out of baggage claim, and standing in the middle of a huge crowd of people, was Sarah’s smiling face. She screamed. We all ran to each other and hugged, and I instantly felt somehow at home, halfway around the world. 

That was instantly tested when we got in the car, which if you don’t know, is doing the whole other side of the road thing, which you don’t think will be that weird, but it totally is! Every time Sarah made a quick left turn, I had a heart attack. On the drive, Sarah pointed out some landmarks to us as we drove through the heart of Melbourne, and I could tell how excited she was to tell us about the city. 

Sarah warned us that the first day would seem like a blur, and she was definitely right. I know we got back to Sarah’s apartment in a very posh neighborhood on the cutest street ever, before heading out to explore the city. We walked around one of the big shopping streets then met Sarah’s dad for lunch (who, over the course of the trip, became one of my favorite people ever), but the whole time, I just felt weird. I thought jetlag was just tiredness, but it was really just an off-feeling. It was bizarre. 

That night, I somehow pulled it together enough to make a good first impression on all Sarah’s friends at their favorite pub, the Knott. We (Sharon and I) got a Pot and Parma (pot of beer and chicken parmesan - omg, so delicious!), and met some fabulous people – Anna, Katie, Taryn, Sheeho, Dan, Steve – I didn’t know it then, but many of them, too, would soon become some of my favorite people. I should have expected that Sarah would have amazing friends – I mean, she’s friends with me! – but I was surprised by how welcoming they were and how genuinely excited they were to meet us. Sadly by nine, the jetlag got the best of us, and we had to head home. 

Friday we hit the ground running. We drove about an hour outside Melbourne to hit the first of many elementary field trip-like  attractions we would visit on our trip. Seriously, everyone we told about this outing had the same reaction – Oh  my god! Puffing Billy! I haven’t been there since I was four/three/two! (The age somehow always got younger.) Basically, the Puffing Billy is a historic steam train in the Dandenong Mountains. It’s tradition for kids to sit on the railings with their feet hanging over the side of the train (affectionately know to us later as sitting “Puffing Billy style”) We thought we would go for a half an hour ride (courtesy of Sarah’s dad – a big wig in the tourism industry who, along with Sarah, a force herself in the industry, got us tickets to EVERYTHING.) We got on and enjoyed the ridiculously beautiful views of the countryside. When we got to the first stop, however, we were ready to head back. Unfortunately, we were told we had tickets to the next stop then an hour “layover” of sorts until the train went back the other way. We made the best of things and decided to get lunch at the little snack stand, which we were told was the only place to eat. We ate outside, where Sharon and I had our first sighting of a magpie, a freaky looking bird who got entirely too close to my sausage roll. (I also tried my first bite of meat pie!) We then walked around the area to look at some more animals when we discovered an actual restaurant with indoor seats and non-microwaved food. Thanks Puffing Billy workers for that tidbit of information. Oh well. We had fun. On the way back, we got an indoor “private” car, since it was a bit chilly, and had some…interesting conversations until a couple got in the car behind us and proceeded to make out the entire ride back! 

We then rode back into town to meet Sarah’s work friends for drinks, but not before stopping at her office and taking some ridiculous photos. (They’re coming, I promise!) Sarah’s work friends were lovely, again not surprising, but also not surprising, jet-lag kicked my ass again around 6, and we had to head home before I fell asleep at the bar. 

And, now I have to go get ready to go grocery shopping with my mom. This recap is going to take longer than expected…luckily, nothing interesting is happening to me at all right now, so I feel like I have time to do this trip justice. 

On one more note: class starts today at my college, and for the first time in four years, I’m not there. I’m trying to ignore this fact t0 the best of my ability.

I can’t believe it’s a new year already. 2008 was sorta craptastic, not gonna lie. Sure, there were fun times, but as a whole, not gonna miss this year. 

New Year’s has become one of those holidays that always sounds better in theory than it ends up being in practice. Last year, I spent New Year’s puking and having the flu. 

This year had to be better by comparison. I drove down to Virginia to see my friend Beth who I hadn’t seen since her wedding last summer. My best friend from college, Bonny, also drove down from Pittsburgh. It was nice to see them before I set out west. 

So the New Year’s party took place at Beth and Mike’s apartment and consisted of a bunch of couples and then Bonny and I. It was very Bridget Jones. At the start of the night, Bonny and I sat on the floor by the food and talked about television. We then decided to play Mad Gabs (can you feel the excitement?) This was a fun game, just not New Year’s Eve fun. We decided we’d just do boys verses girls, since that was almost even (we single girls sort of screwed up the balance). Luckily, Beth’s annoying friend Claire decided she was too cool to be on the girls’ team. Maybe she thought we would be less smart. I guess she never paid attention to gender studies, though, because girls are better at language arts. And we kicked serious ass. It was almost embarrassing how much better we were at that game than the guys. 

The game was abruptly stopped short when one last couple showed up with this announcement:
“Sorry we’re late guys, but we were…getting ENGAGED!”

This was met with an eye roll from me to Bonny and from Bonny to me. Then we peaced out of the congratulations circle and went to the kitchen to take pictures of us pretending to stab ourselves with various cutlery.

I then proceeded to drink myself into a stupor and passed out with my clothes on at 12:30. In the middle of the night, I woke up, still drunk, and desperate to wash my face for some reason. This resulted in me dumping out my suitcase trying to find my face wash in the dark. The commotion woke up a very annoyed Bonny. But gosh darn it, I got my face clean.

The next morning I lamented that I didn’t even get to have any champagne. To which Bonny replied. “Um, yeah you did. You had two glasses.”

Goood times.

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!

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.

I don’t usually do weekend recaps, but this one was pretty eventful, so maybe I’ll start. 

Friday I slept in til noon, because I’m lazy and because it’s my only sleep-in day. I made mself some french toast, so obviously, the weekend was off to a winning start. I hung around in my apartment, working on my plays and watching Food Network. (Who’s excited for Thanksgiving week?!) Friday Night, Jillian and I headed to a Senior’s only Hard Hat party at the new dorm/apartment building they’re building next to ours. It’s times like those when I realize how big my school is, because I hadn’t ever seen most of the people there, and supposedly, we’ve been going to school together for four years. Oops. After that, we headed next door to the arena for a basketball game, brining the total number of sporting events I’ve been to at this school to two! (The first being a hockey game freshman year.) I blame this sad situation on the fact that I love the one sport we don’t have here (football) and our teams are generally not great (well, except the hockey team…but I don’t really like hockey so that falls under reason number one.) The game was super fun, though! It didnt take me long to become a rabid fan, so when we tied the game at the last mintes, I was freaking out with everyone else. Sadly, we didn’t win, but I did get to relive my middle school dance team days while watching the dance team out on the b-ball court. Good times. 

Saturday, I dragged myself out of bed to go to work, but afterwards, I headed to Josh’s, where I awkwardly woke  him up (it was 2:30PM, so I didn’t feel that bad), because we’d made plans to see High School Musical 3 again. (Before you judge, the first time, I missed A LOT because of the rabid crowd AND we now know all the songs and could sing along, making the movie infinitely more enjoyable.) Anyhoo, I didn’t want to walk all the way home then back over to his apartment before the movie, so I figured Josh and I could get lunch at the new Chipotle (YUMM!!!) that opened by the theater. I tried calling him, but he didn’t answer, which, I learned when I knocked on his door, was because he was alseep with his phone on silent. Oh well. He got up, and we headed to lunch and then to the movie. I didn’t feel too bad about us seeing the movie again, until I looked at the crowd which consisted of a couple making out in the back, a girl sitting alone eating a large popcorn, and a row of five-year-old girls. Whatevs. The movie was awesome. Again. 

Last night, Jillian and I headed out for sushi at Fugakyu in Coolidge Corner, which was amazingly delicious. I got a roll with eel and tempura sweet potato. It was insane. In a good way. Afterwards, we headed to a bar for my friends 21st birthday. Here, my weekend hit a low point. I had to act as Jillian’s wing woman, but I was too good at it, because about halfway through the night, she started dancing with some guy, leaving me to sit alone in the back of the bar texting my sister, during which, I broke my quasi-new necklace, sending black beads scattering all around me. Coolness Fail. I finally almost left with another friend, but when I went to see if the guy could walk Jillian home later, she decided to leave with me. 

This morning, I, of course, woke up nauseous, but sadly, had to get up early to go to my sorority’s Founder’s Day celebration. Now, I’ve decided in retrospect that my motto for this day was “Really?!” (in the vein of “Really?! With Seth and Amy” on SNL’s Weekend Update.) My little, her roommate who I love, and I headed out around 10:30 to overload on caffine and catch the buses that were supposed to drive us to the other campus around 10:45. Luckily, we got there on time, because when we arrived, we learned that “Buses” really meant “15-passenger vans.” Two of them. For our 80 person sorority. Awesome. We got to be in the first round of riders over, which proved to be almost as bad as going on the second round, as we had to sit for an hour and a half at this other campus waiting for the event to even start. At least it gave us time to eat the packed lunches we were advice to bring. (They couldn’t even feed us? Really?!) I ate my cold bagel from Starbucks, even though I’d just finished a Starbucks breakfast sandwich an hour earlier. It was at this point that I started getting pissed that I’d had to get up at 9AM. Luckily, the girls in my chapter are cool enough that we could entertain eachother. 

Then the event actually started – some woman from the international office came to do a “workshop” with us about living the values of our sorority. She bestowed information on us like, if a girl doesn’t share the same values as her sisters, the chapter may have no choice but to ask her to leave, that is, unless you can conform her to your ways. You should never wear your letters when you look bad, because people will judge you and your sorority, as evidenced by the time she saw some girl on the campus where she works from a rival sorority looking like “garbage poo” (Yes, friends, that’s a direct quote), and she thought it made them all look trashy. No, sweetie, I think that makes you look trashy when you trash talk girls 30 years younger than you. (And my fellow sisters and I were glad SHE wasn’t sporting letters along with her RED PLEATHER VEST. Ick.) We were all so disgrunted by the time we had to question eachother about our values and name adjectives that describe ourselves, that all my little, Lynn, and I could think of to describe ourselves was sarcastic, bitter, and judgemental. All true, but not somehting you want to bring up at a job interview. 

It was at this point that I thanked god for my sisters (the ones in MY chapter, not crazy alumni “sisters”) who all saw most of what this woman said as judgemental bullshit (like most of the things advisors tell us.) One of my sisters actually said, “Really. I thought what mattered was what’s on the inside.” Seriously. At least the girls I know can make me laugh through these ridiculous events. 

After what seemed liked forever, the event ended. As people on the first wave of buses coming up, my family (that is my little, grandlittle, and me) wanted to make sure we were on the first wave of buses out, because I was not spending another hour in suburban Massachuettes with crazy sorority women. Sadly, we headed out the wrong door and feared we’d been left behind. Luckily, after circling the building, we spotted the vans across the parking lot. We literally sprinted down a grassy knoll to push ourselves onto one of the vans, and by the time we were inside, we were laughing so hard at the ridiculousness of our desperation, I couldn’t breathe. We had a fun ride back, talking about so many random things (Vegan restaurants named TJ Piddleywinks, raccoons, The Office) that I was crying laughing at a few points. 

People ask me why I put up with all this sorority crap, which I seem to complain about all the time, and I think the van ride back is reason why I put up with it. Because at the heart of my sorority are girls I really do like and enjoy spending time with. I mean, I hadn’t even met my grandlittle until September, since she pledged while I was in LA, but I clicked with her instantly, because I love  my little and my little loves her. Things like that, you have to admit, are kind of cool  Yes, the bureaucracy and the mandatory events and crazy judgmental alumni make it obnoxious, but when you are stuffed in a 15-person van with 20 other girls and still find yourself laughing until it hurts, that’s not something you can leave easily.

This morning, I was hoping to sleep in until around 11, as Friday is my only day when I have absolutely nothing to do. However, at around 8:15, my phone started ringing. I was mildly annoyed until I answered and heard the voice of one of my best friends, Sarah from Australia! Obviously, she can’t call me often, and the time difference makes it mildly tricky. Despite early morning Amanda being no match for one-in-the-morning Sarah, we had a wonderful conversation about the horror of Nights in Rodanthe and my everyday blogging. Once we hung out up, I realized I should start explaining my friendship with Sarah here, as I’ll be talking about her more and more as my crazy trip to Australia is coming up in about a month! (Commence freak out!)

I first met Sarah in the Summer of 2006 my first summer working at camp. (You can read my ridiculously long ode to camp here.) She was the drama instructor, which was the job I had originally applied for, so I thought we’d get along pretty well, but then, as camp went on, we never really talked. We were always in different villages, and as Sarah had been at camp before, she had friends…wait…no…she was friends with EVERYONE. Seriously, this girl owned camp after one year. Everyone knew her and loved her. I had just gotten there, and I could already see that. She was this amazing presence of positivity and fun. Even though we didn’t really talk, I knew we could be great friends, and I was sad I never got to be a part of her inner circle of pals that first summer. 

My next summer at camp, I was the drama instructor and for some reason, had to get to camp early  to plan for my activity. The only people at camp were specialists and international staff, which included Sarah, who was working as a general counselor for the first time. For some reason, despite our lack of interaction the year before, we gravitated towards each other in the first two days we were there. Maybe I asked her for some drama advice or we both discovered our love for guitar hero, but however it started, by the end of those two days, we were mildly inseparable. We just clicked in a way I don’t think I ever have with anyone else. I couldn’t believe we’d made it through an entire summer without really talking, because I felt like I knew this girl for years. By the time our mutual (awesome) friend, Sharon (who I’ll have to dedicate a separate post to…) got back to camp, our group instantly solidified, and I began one of the best summers of my life. 

There are way too many memories from that summer to recount. Making “Hazzah” t-shirts at my house over intercession. Hanging out by the fire in Noar Village each night. Running to Wendy’s on night’s out. Running to each other across the village after a day off. Laying on the Ohalim Rec together thinking about the craziness of camp and our friendship. Saying good-bye to each other in Times Square and trying not to cry as I descended into the subway. Sarah made me laugh, made me feel welcomed, and yes, made me develop a thick skin by constantly making fun of me with Sharon. 

When Sharon and I started discussing going to Australia to visit Sarah, it seemed like one of those amazing things that would never actually happen, but then something weird happened. All our parents said yes. All the dates lined up, and we booked some plane tickets. And now it’s only a month away. After showing Sarah around my country, she gets to show me and Sharon around hers. It’s hard to believe that I only really knew Sarah for 8 weeks and that I haven’t seen her in over a year, because I feel closer to friends who live down the street from me. Whenever she emails me or calls me, it makes my day. Whenever she tells me about her accomplishments at work, I feel so proud. She’s halfway around the world, but she’s one of my closest friends, and I cannot WAIT to walk out of that airport terminal to see her smiling face waiting for me and Sharon. 

While I have yet to really accept that I am graduating in December, sometimes I suddenly feel like an adult. Tonight, I walked through Somerville, a much more neighborhood-y area of Boston/Cambridge, to my friends, Megan and Paul’s apartment for a Thanksgiving type dinner. I walked there with a platter of corn casserole and tupperware filled with oatmeal cookies I made last night. I saw a woman cross the street with her daughters, and for some reason, in that moment, I felt like I had become this image I have of my mom, walking to friends’ houses, casserole dish in hand, for a dinner party. I felt like an adult, and I realized I’m about to feel like an adult for a long, long time. 

Freaky.

Sadly, as I was getting off the T later with the half-filled casserole dish, bag of cookies, and giant purse, I pushed and clawed my way through the crowd only to have the doors almost close on my arms as I scrambled off, and suddenly, I felt like an embarrassed 12 year old who had fallen in the street (which, let’s face it, I almost did…) It doesn’t take much to knock me off my almost-adult pedestal.

Last night, I vowed never again to wait in line to get into a bar. Now, I’ve never been a fan of bars with lines, as I find them pretentious and over-hyped. I also think there is a special place in hell for bouncers who think that being able to open and close a velvet rope somehow makes them equal to the gods. Last night, however, was the final straw on my ever friends being able to drag me to these bars against my will ever again.

Jillian invited me to go out for her friend’s birthday at Alibi in the Liberty Hotel. She’d heard it was a cool bar, as the hotel used to be a prison and the bar is decorated with prison bars and mug shots and such. I was planning on staying in and doing some homework, since I had to get up kind of early this morning, but Jillian urged me to come out. I’ll never be so maleable again.

 Jillian was a little upset that we didn’t get the call to head out until 10, as she’d figured you needed to get there early to avoid lines. By the time we got out the door, it was 10:30. I didn’t bring a jacket, since I didn’t have one that matched my shirt, idiotically putting fashion before comfort. BAD DECISION. Apparently, in the last two days, winter has come over Boston and it was FREEZING. I then had to wait for the T without a jacket for THIRTY FIVE MINUTES. In that time, a T passed, giving us a momentary glimmer of hope,  but then passed, giving us a giant EFF YOU, because the T rocks like that. /end sarcasm. 

Once we finally got on the T (for our half an hour ride across town. Blerg.), I was so sick of waiting. I needed this bar to be awesome to justify putting on tight pants instead of pajamas. When we got to the bar, we found Jillian’s friend and walked over. There were two lines outside (Not inside like I had been told. Thus, the shivering continued…) and we didn’t know which was for Alibi and which was for the other bar inside, Clink. (Note the period is part of the name of the bar, as in “Clink.” because punctuating the name allows them to charge another three dollars for a vodka tonic.) Anyway, Jillian went and asked which line was which, and one (of about seven) bouncer told us it was the one on the left, and that the wait would be about 25 minutes. Awesome. I figured I could suck it up for twenty-five minutes.

So we waited. And waited. The line moved every half hour until we were only one person from the front of the line. Success! I then looked over to another sad, cold bar hopper talking to a bouncer whow was informed that the line of the RIGHT was for Alibi. Uh oh. I realized we’d been waiting in the WRONG LINE for over thirty minutes. Of course, at this moment, bouncer came over and proceeded to let everyone in the Alibi line into the bar! (Even people who got there well after us.) I asked him if that was, in fact, the Alibi line, and he said yes, so we hoped over into that line (and became the only ones in the line) and HE CLOSED THE ROPE ON US! After he saw that we’d been in the wrong line (at the FRONT of the wrong line, obviously having been there for a while.) We seethed, but figured we couldn’t wait that much longer at the front of this new line. We were wrong. We waited another 25 minutes, before getting so angry we called the original (lying) bouncer over to us to explain the situation. He was unsympathetic, doubting he even told us the wrong line in the first place. Douche. 

This whole time, HUNDREDS of people were pouring out of the bar, and creepy slutty street walkers flirted with the bouncers and walked right in. Adding to the fun, while Jillian scolded the bouncer, the girls behind us clearly had our backs, muttering “Great, now we aren’t going to get in, becuase he hates them!”

Cut to 20 mintues later when said girl reached our level of frustration and left the line to go yell at the boucers about how she’d never been treated so poorly. (“I’ve been waiting here behind three people for an HOUR while hundreds of people have come out! I’ve never seen such TERRIBLE customer service in my life!” Clearly, all she needed was 20 more minutes in the cold to feel our pain.) 

Finally, at 10 til 1AM (we got there at 11:30 and the bar closes at 2), Jillian’s friend calmly approached the bouncer who’d closed the rope on us to calmly and kindly explain that she’d spent that last hour and a half of her birthday in the line, shivering, after being given faulty information by one of their bouncers. Couldn’t he just let us into the hotel so we could get a drink, not even in Ablibi, just anywhere, rather than standing outside until taking a cab home at 2. He agreed and let us in. 

We walked into and quickly out of Alibi as it was loud, crowded, and none of us wanted to give the bar any money by buying drinks at that point. We ended up wandering around the hotel, (which was SUPER COOL, much to my chagrin) looking for a fancy bathroom, and stealing towels from said bathroom. Clearly, we are classy. And vindictive. We had to restrain Jillian from yelling at the original bouncer on the way out. 

In conclusion, don’t go to exclusive clubs. Or, as we were condescendingly told by the bouncer, get there early. Or just don’t go at all, save ourself some money, buy a giant handle of vodka, plug in your iPod, and have your own awesome dance party. You can put a velvet rope outside your door to feed your need for exclusivity. Plus, you could wear pajamas. Who wouldn’t want to party in pajamas?

I’ve learned in the past two weeks that I am bad at being busy and blogging. I’ve been so caught up in getting back into the swing of having an actual life in all senses: a social life, a school life, a work life. I can never say no to things, and thus, I have been running around from event to event, meeting to meeting, not stopping to look around enough to have anything to actually write about. 

The things that have been taking up the bulk of my time can be divided into four categories: classes, work, Bay State and friends. Let’s take them one by one, so as not to knock me over with the sheer amount of things I have to split my focus between. 

Classes: Have been good. Really good. I got into an Advanced playwriting class I applied to early in the summer as a back-up to my ever changing schedule. It’s taught by a guy who, among other writerly things, runs an organization to lobby for the arts in Massachusetts, a subject very near and dear to my heart. (In fact, when asked to talk in my acting class for 1 to 3 minutes about a subject I am passionate about, I spoke about the arts in education.) I think it will be nice to go back to a subject that was so important to me in high school. (Background side note: I was in a Performing Arts magnet program my last two years of high school, causing me to take playwriting for two years with my amazingly amazing drama teacher.)

Speaking of high school, I am also returning to an acting class for the first time since senior year in Acting for Writers and Directors. It’s so cool to look at acting from a different viewpoint, while still being the actor yourself in class. I think it’s going to really  help with my playwriting class. 

My last class is photography, which I am BEYOND excited about. (Stupid sidenote: I had to pick up prints today from Ritz Camera for work. While I waited, I, of course, had to ask if I could look at the D90 I knew they had to have just gotten in. I think I impressed the camera sales boys.) We went into the darkroom at the end of class, and I got all tingly. I can’t wait to get started on my first assignment, which is a very good thing during your last semester of college. Most people are just trying to push their ways to the end. 

Next up…WORK: Could be going better. For one thing, after interviewing for the infamous job and being told they wanted to make a quick decision, I have heard absolutely NOTHING. At this point, I’m going on the assumption that I didn’t get it, but is it too much to want to know for sure? I just feel like I need to start gearing myself up for the reality that I have to look for a job in five months and having this possibility of getting out of it hanging over my head is wildly unhelpful. Plus, they seem to want me to act like I have the position (i.e.: working more) without actually hiring me, which is wildly unfair to me. I’m not going to give up my life to work unless I’m being paid salary, thankyouverymuch. 

Which leads me to the reason for not wanting to work more, which is BAY STATE: the campus TV show I am Co-Executive Producing this semester. I’ve worked on the show, which, by the way, is America’s longest running college soap opera, since freshman year, and it has always been my goal to Executive Produce. Actually doing the job is kind of surreal. I’m sharing Executive Producer responsibilities with my friend Josh, who you may remember from my numerous summer outings to his apartment, who is SUPER serious about the show, and thus, likes to have conversations and meetings about it basically every day. This is great for the show and for the quality, which we are always trying to ramp up, but it is a little hard on my sanity when I am dealing with lots of other things. 

And lastly FRIENDS: who I am SO HAPPY to have back in my life after my summer of two friends. I’ve basically been out with people every night, whether singing “Oops I did it Again” with Jillian at Karaoke Tuesdays at our favorite bar (after some drunk hoes sang “See you Again” by our best friend Miley Cyrus  before we got a chance!) or playing Mario Kart (and sucking majorly) with Jenn, Lauren and Alex. It is just nice to have somewhere to go every night and to have people to call when I’m bored. I feel like I need to soak all this up now before I possibly move somewhere with no friends and work so much I never want to leave my apartment. Boo to the future. 

So that is where I’ve been. There are so many stories I wish I could tell in full, like traveling out to Porter Square with Jillian and Alex to visit Megan (one of my two summer friends) and her boyfriend Paul to see their new grown-up apartment and realizing that I could live there after graduation (for SO MUCH CHEAPER than staying around campus) and be pretty happy. Or about my work day from hell, which I only survived with constant texting (including riddles from Alex) and a Quiznos sub. Or about my new wish to live in Europe for a year due to a combination of reading and loving My Life in France by Julia Child (who I now want to be) and seeing and loving Vicky Christina Barcelona (does Woody Allen EVER disappoint?). 

Luckily, every time I write here, I remember why I like writing here. Hopefully, I’ll catch up on the blog world once I’ve caught up on my life a little bit more. I’ve been neglecting commenting, and I don’t like it. So, is anyone else having trouble getting back into the swing of things?

The title of this post represents my desire to make all my posts begin with lyrics to Miley Cyrus Songs, even when they don’t really accurately describe the contents of my post, besides sharing a number.

Anyway, to the task at hand: Melissa tagged me to this 7 random facts about me survey, so here goes!

1. I save every fortune I get in a fortune cookie. Sometimes, I take ones other people have gotten. I have quite a collection in my wallet that I love to bring out when there is nothing else to talk about. I have found that there are few that would actually be classified as fortunes. Some gems of my collection include:

“Smile if you like this fortune cookie.”
“Life is full of little decisions, like white or brown rice.” (How oddly appropriate…)
“Keep on Keeping On.”
“Draw up on a budget and figure out how to cut down on your debt.” (This isn’t really a fortune so much as financial advising…)
“You need to forgive that person today. Just believe me.” (What?!)
“Today you are wiser than usual, and also less anxious.” (I don’t know why, but I always hear Dwight Schrute saying this one.)
“It’s one of those low-key days you’d rather just spend chilling.” (What am I do to with this kind of information?)
“What makes an apple fall to the ground?” (Um…gravity?)

The best fortune missing from the collection: one opened by my sister’s (female) best friend which she later told me about to my immense amusement. It read, “You and your wife will be very happy together.” Amazing. I love the assumption that she is both male (or a lesbian in California or Massachusetts) AND married. I don’t know which is more offensive.

2. I have had two pets named after television characters. I’m sure I’ll have more in the future. The first was my beloved cat, Chandler, who sadly died my freshman year. The second is actually my mom’s dog, but I got to name her. I picked the name Sookie. I think both sound appropriately enough like pet names. We almost named my other cat Phoebe, but we felt that bordered on obsessive, so we went with Chloe instead.

3. I’ve never gone through a rebellious, “I hate my parents” stage. Maybe I was just a great teenager, or maybe my parents are just the best parents ever, but even when I was mad or mildly bratty in my younger years, I’ve never wanted to rebel against or stop talking to my parents. In fact, I talk to my mom almost every day, and in high school, we spent a ridiculous amount of time together (as my sister was in college and my dad was gone a lot for work.) Last week, I spent an entire weekend with just my dad, and we had a great time. I try not to take for granted how close and amazing my family is. (Hi, parents!)

4. I’ve seen every episode of “Friends” multiple times. I can almost quote each episode right along with it; some i could perform as a one woman show without the aid of the show playing behind me. I also watched all but the first four episodes when they originally aired, which does mean that, yes, I started watching Friends when I was in 2nd grade. I was a very mature 8 year old. It also means that when I started watching reruns, I understood about 50% of the jokes for the first time. I had a very similar viewing/reviewing experience with both “Clueless” and “Dirty Dancing.”

5. The only thing that will prevent me from ever having a dog, despite wanting one, is the fact that I refuse to pick up dog poop. I just can’t do it. I’m getting all grossed out just thinking about it. This is also why I flatly refuse to be a helpful daughter and take my mom’s dog out when I’m at home.

6. I really miss dancing. I started taking ballet, tap, and jazz  when I was in first grade and continued with all until senior year and continued tap up until my sophomore year of college. I was on dance team for three years in middle school and took dance class every day at my performing arts high school. Now I’m in severe withdrawal. No other work out is ever as fun. No other work out clothes are ever as pretty. Sometimes in my room, I find myself standing in fifth position with my arms out in second about to tondue front or shuffle flapping through the kitchen ending with a little ball change once I’ve reached my destination. I really need to find some sort of outlet for this.

7. Sometimes, I feel like like I have too many friends. For real. More than half of my friends on facebook (over 500) are actual, real-life friends. It’s really bi-product of moving so much and having multiple groups of friends from everywhere I’ve lived. Let’s see: there are my neighborhood friends from Pittsburgh, my Jewish friends from Pittsburgh, my school friends from Pittsburgh, my school friends from Alabama (including dance team friends, theater friends, bestest friends), my Jewish friends from Alabama, my New Albany High School friends (all three of them…), my Reynoldsburg High School friends (Hi, Kaitlin!), my PA (that’s the Eastland Performing Arts Program) friends, my Syracuse Summer College friends, my camp friends, my college friends (including sorority friends, freshman year dorm friends, Bay State friends, class friends, LA program friends) and every other random person I’ve met along the way. This makes keeping track of and keeping in touch with people VERY difficult and makes it especially annoying with my mom goes “So how is random friend X doing these day?”

So there you go. Anyone else do/feel/think any of these things? Anyone? *crickets*