Tuesday, October 26, 2010

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.

Monday, October 25, 2010

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!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

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!

Friday, October 15, 2010

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.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

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!

Friday, October 8, 2010

#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.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

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 fiancĂ© 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/fiancĂ©) 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.