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.

Last week, my friend Lauren informed me that she was driving home (which happens to be 20 minutes from my “home,” aka where my parents live), and asked if I wanted to go with her so she wasn’t sitting in her car alone for 6 hours. After checking with my mom to make sure my parents were going to be home and not off running some half marathon somewhere, which happens more often than you would think, and learning that  my parents were actually going to visit  my sister in NYC for her birthday, I happily agreed to go.

Friday, we embarked on our journey from Boston to the Philadelphia adjacent area (Note: neither of us live in Pennsylvania. The East Coast is weird.) The ride down was fun and pretty normal, except for us spotting the first of many personalized license plates, which read “STOPAIDS”. (“I think that’s the weirdest way you could choose to show your activism.) We did get stuck on the New Jersey turnpike for over 2 hours, but as far as traffic goes, it was pretty par for the course. 

Saturday, my parents informed me that we were leaving at 7:00 to drive to Newark and take the train into Penn Station. Thus, I hurled myself out of bed at 5:45 (!!!) after not falling asleep until after midnight, since my body clock doesn’t usually allow me to sleep until 1AM, only to learn while I was drying my hair at 6:30 that we probably weren’t leaving until 8. (I learned this from my half asleep mom who stumbled downstairs at 6:30 having just woken up.) Thanks, parents! 

After driving and training into NYC, we ended up on Bleeker Street, where I immediately found a shoe store where numerous salesmen quickly learned how easy it is to sell me things. I ended up  buying some adorable new flats to replace the ones I wear all the time to the point that they have developed some attractive holes in the bottom. Stephanie met us there and bought some boots for herself. (I was very close to buying the last pair in the store, but out of sisterly love, I let her have them as birthday present.) We then got some delicious Indian food for lunch, as Steph was appalled my mom and I had never had Indian food. My mom and I decided that while it was good, all Indian food, from the soup to the curry to the rice pudding we got free for dessert, all kind of looks the same.

We then headed out the main attraction, Alter Boyz! The show is an off-broadway musical about a Christian boy band. It was HILARIOUS. Basically the boys – Matthew, Mark, Luke, Juan, and Abraham (who’s Jewish) are on the last leg of their tour, during which they try to save the souls of everyone in the audience through the power of (amazingly catchy) pop music. I’d heard the music before, but the guys who were in it were all adorable and made it seem like new. They also made it seem like a legitimate boy band concert. (I should know, having been to FAR too many boy band concerts.) My favorite had to be Mark, who sings my favorite song, “Epiphany,” a lovely piece about being a Catholic that is actually about Mark’s poorly hidden homosexuality. Fabulous. Some guy (Neil…some, SYTYCD fans are going to yell at me for not appreciating this…) from “So You Think You Can Dance,” who Stephanie and I speculated may have been the only straight guy in the cast (proven by his shout out to his girlfriend in the Playbill) was Luke. I always love a TV tie-in. Anyway, I’d recommend it to anyone. Even my dad liked it. 

After that, we walked around Central Park and got a bite to eat at a diner until we had to head back. It was a fun little jaunt into the city, but like every time I head into New York, I became more convinced that it’s just a place I like to visit and not somewhere I could actually live. I am, however, looking forward to when I’m going back with my friends to see “Title of Show”‘s closing performance in October! 

This morning, I got up at a more reasonable hour and met Lauren to drive back to Boston. We managed to see many MANY more amazing license plates: BRIZZ, I-80, T COACH, T JAY 1, OMSAI (which we didn’t quite understand) JTDC (which Lauren is convinced stands for “Jesus Tap Dancing Christ”), and our personal favorite, a Massachusetts license plate which proudly proclaimed “FROM NJ,” which we we almost took a picture of in a rest area parking lot, but then people came back to their car, and I didn’t want to look crazy. This, of course, prompted us, not to stop trying to take the photo, but to run back to our car, jump in, and FOLLOW THE PEOPLE ONTO THE HIGHWAY. We are actually insane. I did get a picture though…of all of the plates listed above. I might have looked crazy and stalkerish, but these are going to make an amazing facebook album. 

Now I’m back in my apartment, waiting to watch the next episode of Mad Men and dreading the busy week I have ahead. I am happy, though, that I finally got to take advantage of the fact that my parents now live within driving distance of Boston.

I have, for some reason, found it almost impossible to blog about the actual goings on in my life lately. I think I just wanted to soak up what could possibly be my last summer vacation ever (!!) without worrying blogging. (Not that I don’t enjoy writing about myself.) Now that I’m back in Boston once again, about to get into the groove of my last semester of college ever (!!!), I feel I should probably write about this past week, if only for my own memory (and to appease my dad who keeps asking about why I haven’t written about our trip yet.)

So two weeks ago (two weeks? I almost wrote one week, that is how much I’ve lost track of time and my life..) I got on the Plymouth Brockton Bus to Hyannis, MA (that’s in Cape Cod) to meet my parents. My mom attended a fitness conference to get certified to teach fitness classes, while my dad and I explored the town, rating each day on our cleverly devised Awesome Scale. We ate at a British Pub, various seafood joints, a Mediterranean restaurant, and drank wine with the other guests at the little Inn/Bed and Breakfast where we stayed. We took a 20 mile bike ride on the Rails to Trails bike trail, went to see Tropic Thunder, and wandered down to the beach with my mom’s dog, Sookie. We watched Michael Phelps win his 8th gold medal on the only TV in the Inn, located in the dining room in the main building (we were staying in the annex) and talked to the other guests at the Inn, who surprisingly, seemed to love their dogs as much as my mom loves hers, which I later learned stemmed from the fact that this Inn is the only place in town that allows dogs. It was really relaxing and nice to spend more time with my dad than I have, probably, since I left for college. Various pictures taken with my new 35mm camera (purchased for my photography class) can be found here.

Upon arriving back in Wilmington, I set out to get done the things I can’t (or can’t afford to) do in Boston. First up, getting a tetanus shot, as my school registration was blocked when mine expired. (Annoyingly enough, I was not notified of this when it happened and wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t gotten on to change gym classes. I would have just been denied entrance to my apartment when I arrived in Boston! Thanks, university! :/ ) This was sadly more difficult than it would have been for normal people, as I don’t have a doctor, since my parents moved while I was in college, and could not just pop in and out of the office. I, thus, had to go to a walk-in clinic, wait for two hours, be told that they didn’t, in fact, give tetanus shots to non-emergency cases (even though my mom had called and asked the day before and been assured that they DID give tetanus shots to people like me), beg them to give me one because PLEASE I HAVE NO WHERE ELSE TO GO, and then actually get my shot. Success! Kind of…

The next day, I headed to the NJ/Philadelphia area to hang out with some of my best friends from school, two of whom live very close to my parents and three of whom had come down to visit in a miracle of timing. We hung out on South Street and visited the Magic Gardens. I have to say, if you are ever in Philadelphia, GO TO THIS GARDEN. The name sounds crazy, but it really does seem magical. It’s an amazing feet of mosaic making. We had a little too much fun, spending hours taking photos in awkward and oddly serious poses, to the mild discomfort of those around us. (All with my friend Jenn’s new XSI. Me=jealous) After the Magic Garden, we wandered into a comic book store where Jenn, Lauren and I discovered this gem of a comic: It was part of some sort of series about tragic love “ripped from the pages of real life,” basically, romance novel comics. Every cover features at least one woman crying. This one was probably our favorite:

I haven’t laughed so hard in a while. We then went to eat at the deli I went to with my parents in July. I was almost as full as last time. After Philly, and after a midly frightening car ride where we sped a little too fast down curvy, hilly roads with my friend Mike riding in the trunk of the SUV, we got to Lauren’s house and decided to play “Men are From Mars, Woman are from Venus.” Again, I must urge every to play this game. I think it is supposed to stir up controversy between the sexes, but my friends are so awesome, we woud just answer the questions then all talk about how great of an answer everyone gave. We decided the five of us left would make an amazing group couple. Basically, thoughout the day, I realized how much I missed my friends over the summer, because it really was one of the best times I’d had in a while.

The rest of the week was a blur of shopping with my mom, getting my hair cut, vegging out, crying over the end of the Olympics (What will I do during the day now that I can’t flip back and forth between equestrian jumping and rhythmic gymnastics!?) and freaking out over my computer possibly dying. (No worries. The Genius’s at the Mac store fixed it up.)

Tuesday, I left with my dad for Boston. We, of course, spent lots of time discussing politics, as my dad is a mild conservative who likes to act like a staunch conservative to bug the crap out of me. (He made me listen to SEAN HANNITY for THREE HOURS [!!!!!] on the car ride back from Hyannis. If I had heard ONE MORE PERSON call up and say “Sean, you are a great American,” I was going to take my own life. My dad then laughed when I asked how he could listen to that crap, saying “I never listen to that. Are you kidding me?” Funny Dad, really funny…) When we got into Boston, we headed to my summer apartment, loaded up the rest of the my stuff, then headed out to dinner at my favorite restaurant, Picco in the South End, which stands for Pizza and Ice Cream, Co. How could that not be good?

Wednesday, I moved in, hung out with my uncle and cousins, said good-bye to my dad, then went out for my friend Jackie’s birthday with some friends from my sorority and Birthright. Again, it was nice to see everyone who I missed over the summer.

Thursday was intense apartment shopping day, at the end of which, I got to relax with Jenn and Josh while watching “High School Musical” (which Jenn had never seen!) and Obama’s speech: the ultimate awesome combination. (My favorite moment from the night may have been the text from my sister telling me she was drinking an Obamapolitan on the Baracks. Amazing. These are the reasons he should be president…)

Today, I’m back at work. I had my interview for the job. The actual interview went well, but there may be a sang with the whole me going to Australia for three weeks at one of the busiest times of the year thing, which obviously, is a non-negotiable situation. No job is worth me missing the chance to go to Australia with two of my best friends. I’m only young once, right? (MUCH more is coming on this topic, as it is getting SO CLOSE I CAN TASTE IT!) As I said before though, the interview went well enough, and the HR rep said she likes promoting from within, and that there are definitely ways to work around my schedule. As ever, I really have no preference for which was this goes. If I get it, it will be hard to do the job and classes and EVERYTHING, but it will ensure me having a job come January. If it don’t, I’m going to have an amazing last semester of college, and hopefully, I’ll find a job eventually. I guess fate will decide for me. I kind of prefer it that way.

And now that my hands are numb from typing, I feel like I can now continue posting at a regular pace (and legnth…) Up next, a meme sent to me from the lovely Melissa (my mom sent your brownies yesterday! Sadly, sans note, because I am the loser who forgot to write one before I left…), and details of my upcoming journey down under (aka to Australia…if that wasn’t obvious…ok, I’ll shut up now.)

This weekend, I took a trip to a place that caused me to vow never again to complain about the amount of gay men in the city of Boston, as I had found a placed that trumped it 10 times over. That place is a little beach town on the tip of Cape Cod called Provincetown. It’s adorable, ecclectic, fun, and populated by exactly 5 straight men, most of them married with children. 

I’m not complaining. I had a wonderful time. I just went to more gay clubs this weekend than I have in my entire life up until this point. (My favorite part: the playlists! Artists heard on our first night out included Janet, Paula Abdul, Madonna, the cats of Mamma Mia!, Rhianna, and of course, a Whitney medley!)  I guess I asked for it as I traveled there with four girls and four gay guys. The girls didn’t stand much of a chance. 

We headed out on Friday afternoon, taking the “fast ferry” to Provincetown, which we did not fully appreciate until we doubled our travel time on the way back by taking the “slow ferry.” 

We had a little too much fun jumping on the outer deck to see if we would move backwards on the boat as it moved forward and taking contemplative pictures in the setting sun. When we got into town, we quickly found dinner at a cute little restaurant, where the host offered to store my suitcase while we ate, but not before joking about stealing it and/or selling it to the highest bidder. Ah, small town charm. 

The next day, we walked out of our hotel to find this view while waiting for the shuttle to the beach: 

Needless to say, it was a welcomed change from city life. While at the beach, I managed to get myself into the water and give myself a wicked sunburn. (Damn you, lack of sunscreen! I’m still recovering.) My friends and I also managed to witness FISH MURDER! It started out innocently enough.

Oo, look! Pelicans! Cool! Aw, look at them swimming. Hey, they caught a fish! Nature is so cool. Wait…what is it…ew…ok, that pecking is mildly disturbing. OMG! HIS BEAK IS COVERED IN BLOOD! Did you see that? He just ripped the fish in two…and, wait, what is that bird doing? HE SWALLOWED IT WHOLE! Ah! I HATE NATURE!

Needless to say, I’m scarred for life and will now find the pelicans shounting “Mine!” in Finding Nemo horrifyingly terrifying. I will provide pictures (if anyone actually wants to see them) once my friends upload them onto facebook, but I’m sure the mental image painted above is enough. Despite this unfortunate act of nature, it proved to be a much more positive beach outing than my California beach outing. 

The rest of the weekend is a blur of eating way to much fried food, seeing far too many unattractive shirtless men, listening to endless amounts of dance music, and making a slew of new friends. All in all, it was a wonderful trip out of the city, but I’m always happy to be back in Boston.