Tis the season

Alright, so I know it is still a little early to be thinking about Christmas but I have been looking around for a couple Christmas presents for some of my favorite Kappa Kappa Gamma ladies. In my hunt I came across Almost Demure, a great website for all types of sorority gear. I fell in love with some of their Kappa Christmas ornaments.

I most definitely will be picking up some of these amazing ornaments as Christmas presents this year.

Delayed - Days 10, 11, 12, 13 & 14

Ugh. So I feel like such an awful blog challenge participant because I haven’t gotten to update ANYTHING on time. My sister and brother-in-law were in town from Michigan and brought with them some AMAZING new.


I’m going to be an AUNT!

I’m super excited. We haven’t had a baby in the family since my younger sister (who is turning 21 in less than a month). So obviously I have been spending as much time with them as I possibly could while they were in Orlando. My younger sister came into town from Tampa on Friday and we had a strictly family dinner where they told us about the little Peanut. The next day was the UCF Homecoming game (which they had been planning on coming down for since August (pre-baby). So we had a great time at the game…next Homecoming they’ll be coming with baby in tow! My brother-in-law, Adam, and I have a bet going I think it’s going to be a girl, he says boy. We’ll see!

Sooooo onto my attempt at catching up with the challenge!...

Day 10 – Something You’re Afraid Of

I used to have a lot of fears, over time I have definitely gotten over them.

I think my biggest ones are basically anything that stings – bee, wasp, spider, etc. But that isn’t anything epic. My other fear is of being struck by a car that is running a red light. I love driving and have no intense fear of driving, but just about every time I go through a green light at an intersection I think about a car running a red light and my chest like tenses up. It’s weird.

I used o have this epic fear of being alone for the rest of my life. Never falling in love, everyone dying and me being left along, blah blah blah. But I have definitely gotten over that. I’m not entirely sure how I got over that fear because it was definitely something that I thought about all the time but it’s not so much a big deal to me anymore. I’m not even sure if this fear actually makes any sense, or if the way I’m explaining it makes any sense, but whatever.

Day 11 – Favorite TV Shows

I do not have DVR so I feel like my list of TV shows that I consider a MUST WATCH is definitely a lot smaller than those who have DVR because they can basically watch anything. This list also includes some of my absolute favorites from growing up as well. Not in any particular order I kind of tried to go through networks that I watch frequently.

Grey’s Anatomy
Private Practice
Brothers & Sisters
House
South Park
Tosh.0
Boy Meets World
Gilmore Girls
All seasons of Real World (it is a very sick obsession with my roommates and I)
Jersey Shore
All of the Real Housewives (another sick obsession)
Top Chef
GLEE (I am a recent convert on this one. Never watched the first season but am loving the second season right now)
Secret Life of the American Teenager
Make It or Break It
Greek

Day 12 – What You Believe
Recently I have become a firm believer in learning to roll with the punches. You never know what type of balls Life is going to through at you and you just need to learn to live with I, good or bad. Planned or unplanned. You never know what tomorrow is going to have in store for you, and that is what makes life so interesting, the mystery.

Day 13 – Goals

I think my major short term goal right now is to finish my undergrad, which will probably be happening around May 2012, which is exciting and has definitely been something long in the making. Long term would definitely be getting into Grad school somewhere up in the Northeast so I can be closer to my family, and finding a job that allows me to do a lot of traveling. Yes, falling in love would fall in there somewhere, but it’s not necessarily something I have control over, I’ll meet That Guy someday whenever it is right for both him and I.

Day 14 – A Picture You Love

This is a picture of me and all of the active girls of my Kappa Kappa Gamma family. I am a Kappa Alumnae so it was so great to be able to get together with the active girls of the family.

Family 69!

Delayed - Days 7, 8 & 9

Day 7 – Favorite Movies


Ah, I do have quite a list of these ranging the entire gamut of genres.

Mona Lisa Smile
Beauty and the Beast
Across the Universe
Letters to Juliet
The Aviator
The Sound of Music
Ladder 49
Cinderella Man
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory/Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp are awesome!)
Now and Then
Crash
The Lion King
The Social Network
The Count of Monte Cristo
Remember Me
All 3 Jackass movies (the best when watched with the commentary on DVD)

Day 8 – A Place You’ve Traveled To

A lot of my recent travels have been to Washington D.C. which is a city that I have always loved. My older sister moved there like 2 years ago for a Master’s Program at American University so I have spent a lot of time visiting her. In the last few months, since my sisters engagement in December of 2009, I have been up there even more frequently to help with wedding planning and of course the wedding this past July. I always have a blast when I go there. D.C. is definitely a city that is on my list to go for my Master’s Program some day.

I also will be heading to Boston the first weekend in November! Woo-hoo for traveling!

Day 9 – A Picture of Your Friends

My KKG Key Sister

My Roommates

My KKG Little Sis

My older sister - getting readying for a canoeing adventure!

My younger sister - at Epcot

Fellow KKG Fam69 member and one of my favorites!

Delayed - Days 4, 5 & 6

Day 4 – Your Parents

I absolutely adore my parents. They are the most supportive people that anyone could ever ask to be their parents. The past 2 years have been very rough, and I firmly believe that had I not had the support of my parents then I would never have gotten out of it alive. They seriously have no idea how much respect, admiration, and love I have for them. They are my entire world.

Day 5 – Your Siblings

I am a middle child. I have an older sister and a younger sister. We definitely all have very different personalities and ways of doing things, but in the end I know that they are definitely the people I can always go to for support.



Jordan, Aurora, Me (L - R)

My older sister, Jordan, is awesome. She is recently married to a great guy, Adam (I’ve always wanted an older brother!). I remember when we were both in high school together (me a freshman, her a senior) we had our scuffles. She always wanted to listen to NPR in the morning on the drive to school, I always wanted to listen to hard rock. But once college came around we were completely different. Her freshman year she rushed Kappa Kappa Gamma…my freshman I rushed Kappa Kappa Gamma and we had that instant bond that pulled us together. Since then not only have we been sisters by chance, but sisters by choice as well. Even now, 3 years after her graduation from University of Central Florida I still think about our weekly sushi lunches in the Student Union that we had, every time I walk through the building.

Aurora, my younger sister, is the wild child. But she is so inspiring at the same time. She has such an outgoing personality and makes friends easily to matter where she goes. She is an amazing artist. She is kind of like my in the fact that she has no idea what she wants to do with her life but both her and I realize that it’s a perfectly acceptable thing.

Day 6 – A Picture Of Something That Makes You Happy

Obviously, I could go on and on gushing in yet another post about how much I love my family and about how they make me so happy, and about how they are my entire world, but alas, I shall not.

One of the other things that make me so happy is being outdoors, at the beach, on the water. I love it. It is so peaceful and serene I just wish that I had more time available to do such things.

Photo I took from outside of my parents house in Crisfield, Maryland

Okay, so I'm going to cheat a little a put two pictures. I also like to draw.

GO PHILLIES!

While obviously I want my Philly loves to win tonight so they can bring the NLCS back to Philly, I would be able to accept (and totally not be bitter like I was last year with the Yankees) if the San Fran Giants win.

I totally have a baseball crush on Tim Lincecum (Giants Pitcher). Weird, I know, but I wouldn't mind watching him playing in the World Series. I mean, I hate to say it because it could be costing my Phillies their chance of holding their NLC title, but he is great at what he does.

Oddly enough, I keep wanting to call Tim Lincecum, Tilikum (you know...that whale that drowned a girl a Sea World...) don't ask me why...

But obviously my first choice would be the Phillies winning!

Love is a many splendid thing....

...Love lifts us up where we belong.

Day 3-Your first love


I have never been “in love.”

Sure, I love: my parents, my sisters, my family, my faith, my friends. But the experience of being “in love” is definitely foreign to me.

That being said, I also consider myself a classic romantic at heart. Sure my past has been riddled with minor crushes and insignificant boyfriends, but never love, and I’m okay with that. I used to think that love was all I ever wanted, and I still do, but at this point in my life I have no desire to be in a relationship. I have so many things that I would like to experience in my life and for some reason I have this notion n my head that being in a relationship will hold me back from accomplishing all of these things. I know that shouldn’t be the case, that the person who I am meant to fall in love with will be there not to hold me back, but to stand next to me and help me in accomplishing all of my dreams. But right now, I see so many people around me in relationships instantly sucked into the whole realm of marriage and babies and “adulthood” and I don’t want to be there yet, it scares me. When I hear people around me talking about “oh our next car has to be big so we can fit a bunch of babies in it” it truly scares me. I just want to say to them, you’re only 22 years old, what’s the rush?

I know this all may make me sound very cynical, but I swear I’m not. I do honestly believe that there is the perfect soul mate out there for everyone, and yes, some day my prince will come. But right now I am completely content being single and not in love.

Day 2 - 30 Day Blog Challenge.

Okay, so I started on this whole Blog Challenge a little late, so here is the post from day 2, and expect a post later today for day 3. Then I'll be all caught up!

Day 2-Meaning behind your blog name


I simply love the fact that I am from New Jersey, I’ve loved ‘the Jersey Shore’ long before there was ever a Guido filled MTV show about it. I have spent many a vacations down at the shore with family, walking the boardwalk with my sisters as my parents and grandparents played in the casinos, laying out on the beaches, but never going into the water because it was way too cold for us Florida gals. I know I can’t consider myself a true Jersey girl, because the minute I moved down south I was listening to country music and talking with a slight southern twang like the best of them, but I do believe that the Jersey in me definitely comes off in my attitude. I ain’t no quite, demure southern belle, I’ll be the first to call people on their bullshit, especially in the workplace, yeah, ask anyone I work with on that one.

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day One

Alrighty, so I’m sitting in my room at 11:30 at night checking emails and catching up on the blogs that I regularly read and I came across this 30 Day Blog Challenge on one of the blogs I read, so I decided to check it out. I’ve never actually done anything like this so I figure now is as good a time as any to try. =)


Day 1-Introduce, recent picture, 15 interesting facts

My name is Mariah, I am 22 years old, and a super senior at the University of Central Florida. I’m studying Art History in my undergrad and I hope to continue my education with a Masters Degree in Architecture. I am a huge sports fan, I love watching any type of sport as long as I’m with a great group of people who also enjoy the game. I have been living in Orlando now for 4 years and will hopefully only be in Orlando for a year and a half more and then I will be off exploring the world. Check this out for a more elaborate introduction =)

My older sister just got married this past July in Washington D.C., the top picture is my family (I'm on the far right) and the bottom is the wedding party.

1 – I love my family. My parents have been the most supportive people in my life and I have no idea where I would be without them in my life.

2 – I am a HUGE caffeine addict. Specifically coffee. You do not want to cross me in the morning with me having had my 2 cups of coffee – yes, 2.

3 – I am sister in Kappa Kappa Gamma. I pledged and was initiated exactly 4 years ago, this weekend. Joining a sorority was one of my best decisions, to date. Sure, there have been ups and downs, but in the end I would not have changed a thing.

4 – I am your stereotypical “middle child” read into that as you may. I absolutely love both of my sisters.

5 – At this very moment I am watching Comedy Central – Nick Swardson’s Pretend Time is the worst show I have ever seen. Seriously.

6 – I’ve recently started a new job. While I loved my old job, specifically the people, even more specific the guys that I worked with in the main kitchen. But it was time to move on. I currently work in an art studio; it is a perfect job for me right now.

7 – I have a tendency to get antsy when I have been in one place for too long. I’ve been in Orlando now for 4 years and I am getting to that point when I know I have to get up and go somewhere.

8 – Art History and Architecture have always been my passion.

9 – My dream job would be to restore historic architecture in Europe (Italy, France, and Spain).

10 – I love to read. I bought a Nook a few months ago and LOVE it. My current reads: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows (for the 3rd time…)

11 – I am a big fan of the classic Disney movies.

12 – I love the idea of being able to cook but I am too impatient. I cheat – hello bread makers and crockpots!

13 – Recently, my roommates got me hooked on GLEE. I’m so in love that I think I might have to go season one on DVD so that I know exactly what is going on.

14 – Go PHILLIES! So glad that they will be playing in the NLCS again this year! Bring home the W, boys! <3

15 - “In life we all have an unspeakable secret, an irreversible regret, an unreachable dream and an unforgettable love.”

Cheers to Day 1 of the 30 Day Blog Challenge with Katie from Katie's Journey!

#1 always in my heart

My parents have never really been big sports people, sure they brought me and my sisters to our softball, swimming, or volleyball games/meets, but when it comes to cheering on some big NFL, MLB, or NBA team they are clueless. I get my love of watching sports from my grandfather (a.k.a Poppy). I remember when I was younger (and still today) whenever I would visit him and my grandmother (a.k.a. Nana) up in Philly, no matter what sport we would always be watching the game. I grew up with GO PHILLIES, GO EAGLES, GO FLYERS, GO 76ERS! It’s just natural.


With that being said, I leave you with GO PHILLIES, as they are taking on the Cincinnati Reds in Game 2 of the NLDS! Have a great weekend!

Completely unrelated:

...Beauty and the Beast was released from the Disney Vault October 5th. I just bought it today, and they gave me free Beauty and the Beast silly bands.

...I have yet to see the 6th Harry Potter movie (epic failure of a Harry Potter fan) I went out and purchased it today. Now I'm having a tought time deciding if I want to watch Harry Potter or Beauty and the Beast when the Phillies game is over.

MRS. Degree

Sooooo I'm sitting in the dining room of the house that I share with two of my sorority sisters...my dinner is in the microwave (rice, beans, and steak leftover from some Argentinean restaurant we went to last night); my roommate is cooking dinner for herself as well an her fiancé too. She is in there, apron on, recipe book in hand, cooking away while her “significant other” is playing video games. I walk in after getting home from the supermarket with all of my fixings to make homed salsa to go with my dinner and she is in the kitchen whipping around making a plethora of things (to freeze she says). I’m sorry but that doesn’t sound fun to me.

To me it seems too much like June Cleaver. I’m not a fan.

I used to think that was all that I really wanted. To go to college, meet my man, and settle down with a family (the epitome of a MRS). And now I’m totally, for the most part against it. I don’t see how people can do it. It seems super boring. I have so much that I would like to do with the rest of my life, so many places to go and I don’t want to be held back by anything.

The thing that gets me the most is that I know they give me looks of pity because I’m not in a relationship, and nowhere near the “stage” of life that they are. Sometimes I feel like they look down on me when they (both of my roommates and their boyfriend/fiancé) are planning “couples” stuff. I’ll talk about my love of foreign food, languages, and my passion for traveling and they look at me like I’m stupid for having all these things I find interesting.

There's no need to rush

I realized something today while driving to Target with a group of my friends.

I am in no rush to grow up.

I sat in the car listening to to everyone talking about life after graduation and I realized I don't want to do it just yet. I realized how relieved I am that I did get set back with my college education because had I not I would have graduated this past spring and been forced into the "real world" with everyone else I know...and I'm just not ready for it.

I feel like it's something that everyone still expects. You grow up, move out of your parents home to go to college, graduate, get a rockin' job, get married, and have children.

But my question is, what's the rush?

I sat in this little Honda Civic with three of my friends talking about marriage, student loans being paid off, and salary jobs. All of which I am in no hurry to have to deal with.

For some people, that's just how they see their life going, ironically enough I used to think that was how I wanted my life to go. But it's like I had a huge break through, and epiphany, all in the span of a few hours.

It's as if my panic attack inducing fear of being alone for the rest of my life is *poof* gone.

We live and we learn to take

One step at a time

There's no need to rush

It's like learning to fly

Or falling in love

It's gonna happen when it's

Supposed to happen and we

Find the reasons why

One step at a time

My life...for the time being...

So basically this song ('Boy Like Me' by Jessica Harp) is my life. In a nutshell. At this moment. Well, for the most part. Weird. I know.

You're the kind of boy who likes the kind of girls
That like to fool around with the boys on the first date

I'm the kind of girl who ain't supposed to like those boys

But I kinda like those boys that like those kind of girls

Well maybe its fate we should meet up for a date so

We can sit around and talk about

Those things we just cant talk about

like making love and drinkin till the sun comes up

Well hallelujah I finally found a boy like me

Lord have mercy I think Im in a fantasy

You may talk alot of stuff sayin what you gonna do and what do

you want to do with me

Well Hallelujah I finally found a boy like me

You're the kind of boy my daddy used to warn

would walk into my life and lead me down the wrong way

I'm the kind of girl who tried hard to ignore

those things that daddy warned about those kinda boys

Well whats a girl to do with a big ole' boy like you

when we sit around and talk those we can just talk about

like making love and drinkin until the sun comes up

Well hallelujah I finally found a boy like me

Lord have mercy I think I'm in a fantasy

You may talk alot of stuff sayin you gonna do what and

what Do you want to do with me

Well Hallelujah I finally found a boy like me

We sit around talkin about those things we can just talk about

like making love and drinkin until the sun comes up

Well hallelujah I finally found a boy like me

Lord have mercy I think Im in a fantasy

You may talk alot of stuff sayin what you gonna do what and what

Do you want to do with me

Well Hallelujah Lord have mercy

Hallelujah I finally found a boy like me

Yay ya

Like me

Music is what feelings sound like.

I have always been a realy lover of music. So, here for your viewing (and listening pleasure) are a few of my current favorite songs. No particular order...just spreading the love.

1. Hey, Soul Sister by Train. "Just in time, I'm so glad you have a one-track mind like me. You gave my life direction, a game show love connection we can't deny."
2. Billionaire by Travis McCoy. "Oh every time I close my eyes I see my name in shining lights. A different city every night oh. I swear the world better prepare for when I’m a billionaire."
3. This Ain't No Love Song by Trace Adkins. "And the earth didn't move when you first said my name. I didn't feel a thing, no not me, my heart didn't skip a beat."
4. Wild Ponies by Kellie Pickler. "Cause wild ponies are born to run. Don't you know wild ponies don't belong to no one."
5. Love Like Crazy by Lee Brice. "Be a best friend, tell the truth, and overuse 'I love you.' Go to work, do your best, don't outsmart your common sense. Never let your prayin' knees get lazy. And love like crazy."
6. Makin' Me Fall In Love Again by Kellie Pickler. "Baby sometimes you can say the craziest things, I love how you don't care what nobody thinks. You're highly original, totally in-typical, never change, all I gotta do is look at your smiling face. There you go makin' me fall in love again."
7. Perfectly Lonely by John Mayer. "Nothing to do, nowhere to be, a simple little kind of free. Nothing to do, no one but me and that's all I need. I'm perfectly lonely. 'Cause I don't belong to anyone, nobody belongs to me."
8. Airplanes by B.o.B. "Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars? I could really use a wish right now. Wish right now." "And when your plans unravel in the sand what would you wish for if you had one chance?"
9. Lotta Boot Left To Fill by Eric Church. "You say you're the real deal, but you play what, nobody feels. You sing about Johnny Cash, the man in black would have whipped your ass! I don't think Waylon done' it that way, and if he was here he'd say: 'Hoss neither did Hank.' I ain't doggin what you're doin' but boys come on lets get real. You still got a lot of boot left to fill."
10. Boys In The Summer by Jessie James. "Summer only lasts so long and there's nothing wrong with having some fun, yeah. No need to apologize, just close your eyes and kiss on me tonight."
    

If one dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces, never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up and begin again.

I feel like I've been given a second chance. The opportunity to start over with my college life at UCF.

Granted, I know that's not entirely true, but in a way it is. When I failed out of UCF my entire life fell apart, I had no idea what I would do, if I could still live where I had been planning to live, if I would be able to afford to stay in Orlando. Those were just the beginning of my frantic fears of leaving UCF.

Over time I pulled things together. I spent the entire summer after I left UCF planning out my community college education and preparing to take classes that fall. I gradually picked up all the pieces of my shattered future and patiently took the time the put everything back together.

Now, two years later I have finally created a masterpiece out of the thousands of pieces of my then "future."

Getting the letter from UCF saying that I was allowed to return to classes for Fall 2010. I. Was. Ecstatic. For me, that had been the best moment of my life.

I am very anxious to get back into the swing of things at UCF, classes, football games, homecoming, parents weekends...the whole nine yards. But, there will be something missing...

I know for a fact I will not be returning to being an active sister in my sorority. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore my sorority, but when I joined I was a whole other person. I've come a long way in the past two years. While I am upset that my participation in Greek like was so short lived, I am looking forward to being able to get involved in other aspects of campus life. I am beyond excited to get to have the opportunity to walk onto this campus and start fresh.

It's exhilarating.

“No mistake or failure is as bad as to stop and not try again.”

It’s the love. Sex is a marvelous way to communicate love sharing all dimensions of our selves: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.

I’m dumb and completely oblivious when it comes to boys. Ask any one, I am just clueless. I have so many questions about them (boys) than any 22 year old should ever have. All those things that girls tend to learn in high school are complete mysteries to me.
I get thrown into the “friend zone” and never given a second look.

I’m not bad looking, I’m happy with who I am, but still…

I. Am. Clueless.

Recently I have had such random run-ins with boys. Seriously. Random. And I don’t really know what to do about it. I blame it all on my own awkward-ness….I think that’s the charm in me. Someday I’ll find someone who balances out my random ass awkward-ness.

Anywho, back to my frantic, mass confusion. What’s with the whole “being a whore thing?” I was talking with one of my guy friends from work, we somehow got on the topic of sex (pretty much anything that you can fit under that topic heading was discussed). He told me that he has slept with 33 women.

My jaw legit just dropped. I by no means am a prude. Conservative, yes; but prude, definitely not. I think that sex is very important in a relationship and you don’t necessarily have to wait until marriage. I personally cannot see myself getting engaged and married before having sex with someone. And that by no means makes me a whore. But 33? That just sounds astronomical to me. I ideally would like to keep my number on one hand…I think sex should be something shared between two people in a serious relationship. It just blows my mind that you can be so disconnected from something that you don’t even feel and acknowledge the relationship between two people having sex.

And don’t get me wrong, I know it’s not just the guys out there. Women are experiencing more sexual freedom now than they ever have in the past. Women, not only are dominating the workplace, but the bedroom as well. I brought the whole man-whore thing up with one of my sorority sisters and she said that a best friend from back home, at last count, had slept with 60 men. Once again, my mind was blown.

The Botticelli Secret

I am definitly a HUGE bookworm. I like buying books, I like reading books, I like collecting books. My favorite Disney movie is Beauty & The Beast purely for the fact that I love the library the Beast shows Belle. I know...soooo weird. Plus, I love the fact that she is always twirling around and singing with a book in her hand.

I'll be spending a lot of time reading this summer since I'm not taking classes until August and all I'll be doing is work. My first book review will be on The Botticelli Secret...I finished it a few days ago.

The Botticelli Secret by Marina Fiorato. US release March 30, 2010. In this exhilarating cross between The Da Vinci Code and The Birth of Venus, an irrepressible young woman in 15th-century Italy must flee for her life after stumbling upon a deadly secret when she serves as a model for Botticelli... When part-time model and full-time prostitute Luciana Vetra is asked by one of her most exalted clients to pose for a painter friend, she doesn't mind serving as the model for the central figure of Flora in Sandro Botticelli's masterpiece "Primavera." But when the artist dismisses her without payment, Luciana impulsively steals an unfinished version of the painting--only to find that somone is ready to kill her to get it back. What could possibly be so valuable about the picture? As friends and clients are slaughtered around her, Luciana turns to the one man who has never desired her beauty, novice librarian Brother Guido. Fleeing Venice together, Luciana and Guido race through the nine cities of Renaissance Italy, pursued by ruthless foes who are determined to keep them from decoding the painting's secrets. Gloriously fresh and vivid, with a deliciously irreverent heroine, The Botticelli Secret is an irresistible blend of history, wit, and suspense.

La Primavera, Sandro Botticelli

I picked this book out from Target because I needed a seemingly easy read on the plane to Philly anything involving art and Italian history is an easy read because I love it all so much, plus I'm a huge fan of Botticelli.

All of that being said, I did not like this book at all. The characters were well put together and they were very interesting but that was about it - while they were a random group (a monk and a whore). It was very much an attempt at riding the Da Vinci Code wave of popularity but I don't think it really hit the spot. Without giving to much away, the way Brother Guido and Luciana went about discovering the clues was just lame. They would kind of pick out a random figure in the painting and find some type of clue in it to lead them to a city. Through half the book I just sat there and was kind of like "where the heck did THAT come from!?!"

The ending was entirely to predictable. I won't give it away, but I could have told you the entire ending before I even got halfway through the book. Basically, I don't recommend it to anyone, and it will definitly be one of the books I am adding to my stack to go in my next yard sale.

Currently Reading:

...The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini

On My List:

...Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert

...Sweet Tea At Sunrise, by Sherryl Woods.

...I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell, by Tucker Max

...The Lucky One, by Nicholas Sparks

...How the Other Half Hamptons, by Jasmin Rosemberg

...The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein

Anyone have any other suggestions for good summer reading?

Bridal shower fun!

Yesterday we had my older sister’s bridal shower at Springfield Country Club. Some of the highlights:

…The venue was absolutely beautiful. The grounds for the golf course were a perfect backdrop for photographs, and the staff that worked out event was phenomenal. The food was delicious. I wish I could have gotten to go inside their kitchen though. Since I work at a country club in Orlando in the dining room and banquet departments, I simply love seeing how other kitchens are designed and run. The tables looked exactly as I had hoped, and our own little touches of potted plants and cupcake dishes in the center fit in great. We got many complements on what a perfect bridal shower it was.

…I loved getting to so much of the family that lives up here since I never get to see them, being so far away in Florida. My grandmother got to see her older sister whom she rarely sees – they both cried upon seeing each other. It was priceless. Speaking of family, we all got to meet AGN (sister’s fiancé) parents for the first time. They were absolutely amazing.

…The weather was amazing. We could not have asked for a more perfect day. Breezy, in the 80’s, with a light sprinkling of clouds in the sky. This astounded me, seeing as the day that we arrived in Philly it was in the 50’s midday (pretty much freezing for all us Floridians). Today, I woke up and it was back in the 50’s again. I definitely didn’t pack for that type of weather.

…Most importantly, the surprise aspect of the whole bridal shower was successful! I was so sure that JAH (sister) would get suspicious of something and start begging her fiancé for information but he said that the entire time she had no idea. My baby sister, the two other bridesmaids, and myself all pegged that she was going to cry, which she did.

The golf course

The table setting. With homemade flower pot party favors and cupcake centerpiece.

The bride (middle) with her 4 bridesmaids.

Close up of the party favors and cupcakes.

Me (right), my mom, and my sisters.

We're all grown up but still giggling with glee. As we gather to honor the sweet bride-to-be.

Currently on a flight to Philadelphia, PA for my older sisters surprise bridal shower at the Springfield Country Club. Will most definitely be posting pictures on my return to Orlando! Hope ya’ll have a wonderful weekend.

Let me introduce myself...

I like to consider myself a regular when it comes to blogging. Blogger, LiveJournal, Teen Open Diary (yeah, way old school…seriously if you remember it mad props to you), you name it, I’ve had one. I’ve grown up and always had a passion for writing, why I never thought about making it some type of career, I have no idea. My most recent excursion into the blogging world didn’t necessarily fail, but I got tired of getting so much flack from people about what I wrote (typically personal things) that I just ended up blocking it from everyone. I still keep up my personal blog for myself – you know, diary style – but I am the only person who will ever see it. That being said, I have missed writing for an audience to see, read, and relate to my emotions and opinions, so I’m venturing back into the public world of blogging with Southern Belle With A Jersey Girl Attitude, in hopes that it will satisfy my love of writing for an audience.


Now, what better way to start off the beginning of a new blog with a proper introduction…

I’m not your typical 22 year old, I have had many ups and downs in my life that not many people have had to experience, and I am happy to say that I am finally finding the path that I am meant to be traveling in this life. Born just outside of Atlantic City, NJ, and moved to Fort Lauderdale, FL when I was 4 years old, I currently reside in Orlando, FL for college but hope to be moving back up north within the next 3 years.

I simply love the fact that I am from New Jersey, I’ve loved ‘the Jersey Shore’ long before there was ever a Guido filled MTV show about it. I have spent many a vacations down at the shore with family, walking the boardwalk with my sisters as my parents and grandparents played in the casinos, laying out on the beaches, but never going into the water because it was way too cold for us Florida gals. I know I can’t consider myself a true Jersey girl, because the minute I moved down south I was listening to country music and talking with a slight southern twang like the best of them, but I do believe that the Jersey in me definitely comes off in my attitude. I ain’t no quite, demure southern belle, I’ll be the first to call people on their bullshit, especially in the workplace, yeah, ask anyone I work with on that one.

There are a few things that I am very passionate about, God, my family, my friends, traveling, art, and the ocean. Specifically, in that order. The first three are pretty self explanatory; I am very loyal to my faith, family, and friends. I am currently an Art History major and looking to graduate with my Bachelor’s degree in December of 2012. On completion of my Bachelor’s I plan on studying Architecture for my Master’s degree. If there is one thing I could pick to do for the rest of my life it would be studying and restoring historic architecture and art (leaning mostly towards architecture) all around the world. Now, the ocean, random I know. I have grown up always being by the water. My dad loves boats, and naturally that has rubbed off on me – after all, when I was born I was brought home from the hospital to a sailboat – it’s only fitting that I love anything involving the ocean.