family time is the best time.

My beloved Grandpa Nick passed away in February, and in May my mom received news that her mother was sick with leukemia. The prognosis wasn't good, but the doctors gave her a few months.

When I left for France, I wasn't sure I would see her again. But with some prayers and determination, my grandma Jane is doing very well! She and her husband George took a spontaneous trip to San Francisco last week, and since we're all so close to the city, we had lunch.

The photo above is a (low quality iPhone) shot of George, my sister Paige, my beautiful grandma, me, and my cousin Tyler (my parents were also there). Isn't my grandma beautiful? I was expecting her to look sick or at least tired, but she looks as gorgeous as I remember. She's so strong, determined, and sure of her self. I admire her tremendously and am so happy to have shared the perfect afternoon with her.

We had lunch at Kuleto's in Union Square, which most definitely deserves a post of its own.

Family time is the best time, don't you think?

Happy Wednesday! The week is almost over

:)

in the land of rain and starbucks

My sister Kendall is a freshman at the University of Washington.

This past weekend her Huskies took on my Golden Bears

at Husky Stadium in Seattle.

Most unfortunately, my Bears were defeated

but I had such a nice weekend with my fam and sorority little sis Katie.

Seattle is so pretty!

I can't wait to visit again and see more of the city.

On Friday, we all arrived, had lunch, and walked around campus.

Kendall in front of her sorority house

Katie and I took a tour of our sorority chapter at UW. so gorg.

We had dinner at the Ram

(I had a crab and shrimp melt sandwich. to die for.)

and enjoyed each other's company.

Saturday was Game Day

(my favorite holiday).

It was especially fantastic because

we got to go on the field before the game started!

My dad's childhood best friend is the UW baseball coach

so we got the royal treatment.

I was literally steps away from my school's football team.

one of the highlights of my life, for sure.

For dinner we had Maggiano's family style.

I probably gained about 30 pounds but it was so much fun.

Good food, good company.

What more can you ask for?

Thanks for showing us around Kendall!

Cannot wait to come visit again.

sunday blues

Something about Sundays always bums me out a little.

I think it's that the weekend is over

and that I actually have to do schoolwork.

But there are so many things I like about Sundays too.

Like having 150 facebook friends online at once

(because they're all procrastinating, just like me, duh)

and looking at all my new tagged photos

and making my weekly to do list

and catching up with my friends about their weekends.

Most of all, though, I love wearing my pjs all day

and sitting on the couch,

lazing the day away

thinking about how much I have to be grateful for.

What are you grateful for today?

Happy Sunday!

i still suck at blogging

but i thought this was really funny and needed to be shared.

can i get an amen on #24?

back to normal blogging next week.

but don't quote me on that.

the night that never happened.

My friend Kate and I went abroad together this summer. Since I wasn't 21 yet, it was my first opportunity to buy alcohol and consume it legally. So we did it. A lot. By the end of the trip, we had a huge frat life collection of bottles.

This pattern of behavior has only gotten worse since we've been back at school. We keep saying that our senior year is the year most people have as freshmen. Sorry we're not sorry.

Anyway, on Saturday nights our sorority doesn't serve dinner, so my friends and I always go out somewhere together. On this past Saturday, Kate and I decided to head to Filippo's on College in Berkeley (so.freakin.good), enticed by the promises of full tummies and bottomless wine.

So Kate and I ordered our wine and drank. and drank. and drank. I guess neither of us realized how much we had consumed, because by the time we got home we were drunk drunk drunk. It was approximately 8 PM. We had all these fun plans for the night. And guess what we did instead? Went to bed. Because we were far too drunk to go anywhere else.

Moral of the story? Bottomless wine shouldn't be bottomless.

Next time I'll stick with one glass, thanks.

never forget.

I remember that day ten years ago so vividly. I remember what I ate for breakfast, where I sat in class, what shoes I wore.

Hard to believe it's already been 10 years. I guess I'm the right age to be considered part of the "9/11 Generation," which oddly enough instills me with a tremendous sense of pride. Yes, that day was unspeakably tragic, horrifying, and terrible, but it also brought our country together. Out of the sorrows came a feeling of togetherness.

I pray for the victims and their families everyday, and still get goosebumps when I think about what happened. But today, I am joyful. Ten years have come and gone, and we are stronger for it.

God Bless America.

why i'm a bad blogger

for the past month or so i've been the worst at keeping up with my blog.

(my friends always tease me because i always think things are the worst or the best... no in between. i live in extremes and don't believe in gray areas)

i've been such a busy, busy little bee

so the blog has been put on the back burner.

but now i'm back in action!

today i offer you all some snippets of what i've been up to lately!

sorority recruitment literally consumed my life for about two weeks. but now i'm done! and we recruited 44 amazingly incredible new members. couldn't be happier we got them, and couldn't be happier that recruitment is over! tonight my escapades commence once again! though i am a little bit sad that i am forever done with the chanting, stomping, and bumping. my sorority and the friends i've made mean so much to me and i'll certainly be sad to take alum status at the end of the year.

aside from recruitment, i've been trying (largely unsuccessfully) to keep up with school. oh well, that's what weekdays are for, right? i've also been running a lot, and am looking to start training for a 5k or 10k. i think i need to give myself a concrete goal to work toward. with recruitment and school starting at the same time, i haven't really had the chance to relax or anything, so this weekend i plan on catching up on jersey shore and true blood and gettin' my dance on, of course.

i love love love three day weekends! what are you all up to?