Friday, August 30, 2013

High Five for Friday!!

1. I am officially going to be studying in London in the Spring! I can't believe it! 
2. In preparation for studying abroad, I am getting fit! 
**Note: I did not say trying to get fit because I am actually going to!
3. I love seeing this beautiful building everyday :) 
4. Kelly and I rocking red lipstick!
5. I love how my room is decorated at school! It is so nice and I have room for all of my stuff! 

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Outfit of the day!


Shirt: Urban Outfitters
Jeans: Forever 21
Shoes: Target
Scarf: A gift from London
Accessories: Forever 21

Monday, August 26, 2013

Right now I'm...

wearing: Purple jeans and a gray sweater
listening: "Pressure" by Queen
reading: The syllabus to my next class
watching: Breaking Bad (about to be caught up)
doing: Just finished my lunch
loving: That I only have one more class today
hating: That I have an 8am class tomorrow...
wishing: I heard back from my London program about my acceptance
wanting: My mom's homemade chocolate chip cookies!
thanking: My roommates for letting us keep the apartment freezing!

My thoughts on the VMAs

1) Why did they even bother doing the pre-show...it was so rushed...
2) Katy Perry > Lady Gaga
3) I can't say that I thought Miley Cyrus' performance was appropriate but I still love her :)
4) Why were Selena and Taylor so dressed up? Rihanna and One Direction did it right!



4) Why didn't Ed Sheeran win anything??
5) The fact that 'Same Love' won is amazing! I love Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.

Wow...

Today is a day full of new beginnings!

1) I started my fall semester classes and am all moved into my new apartment!
2) I submitted my London application!

I CANNOT believe that at the end of this semester I will be going to live/work in London!

Here's the link to the program I will hopefully participating in!

Mom, Annie, and me on move-in day <3

Friday, August 16, 2013

I AM GOING TO HAVE A NEPHEW!

I can't wait to:
1. See my sister and brother-in-law hold him
2. Buy him lego sets
3. Take him to Schenley Park
4. Make cookies with him
5. Dress him in hipster clothes
6. Tickle him 
7. Nap takes with him
8. Buy him souvenirs from all the places I travel to/live in
9. Tell him about Papap Joe
10. Take selfies with him 


Sometimes I get so wrapped up in all of my stress that I forget what amazing things I have around me. After my dreadful morning, my mom and I ran some last minute errands before I move back to school and it was perfect. Nothing remarkable or exciting happened, but we just talked and laughed and drove and shopped.

 I like to think she is my soul mate...at least she is one of them.  

I am not going to worry about money (like I did in my last post). Instead, I am going to try and just enjoy what  and who I do have.

Money, money, money...

Almost all of my worries come from money...well, the lack of money. Applying to study abroad is such a stressful process already but once you add loans and part-time jobs it feels almost impossible.

(I would like to file this in the 'study abroad curse' category but the label 'student borrower curse' may be more appropriate.)

All morning I have been on the phone with three different offices at my school. I didn't realize it was going to be so hard to ask about my bill for this semester and my bill for when I go to London...but it's been 2 1/2 hours (I have been on hold for a total of probably two of those hours) and I still am not much closer to getting my questions answered.

I just want this all to go away or at least be sorted out without me having to do all of this work. No one seems to be able to help me understand what I need to do to make sure my loan goes through for London when the time comes....they tell me I just have to wait and see. BUT if I do wait like they say then I know everything will be rushed and late fees will be added to my bill because I didn't start the loan process earlier enough.

UGH.

I thought London was going to be easier because I had already gone through this process for Rome...I guess not.

p.s. I envy all the students out there without loans...your life rocks.

Right now I'm....

wearing: Purple sweatpants and a comfy shirt
listening: The crickets outside
reading: The September Issue of Vogue
watching: Friends
doing: Celebrating working my last shift at Family Video
loving: Spending my last few days at home before I go back to school
hating: That my contacts are itchy...
wishing: I lived in NYC and lived with Monica and Rachel across the hall from Joey and Chandler
wanting: These amazing shoes <3
thanking: My mom and sister for shopping for school stuff all day!!


I got this idea from this blog!

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Black and Red.

Roommates...

Nine months ago, I got a slip in the mail from my program in Rome telling me who my roommates were going to be. As I frantically tried to look them up on Facebook to see if they were 'normal'...I could not find this girl. Needless to say, I was quite nervous walking into my hotel room on January 7th but found her sleeping in bed watching Harry Potter. From that moment on, I knew she was going to be an amazing friend. She rolled one of my 50 pound suitcases all the way around the Trastevere, she closed the shutters every night before bed, she shared her Bueno Bars and wafers with me, and we travelled all around Italy and Prague together..she is the best roommate I could have asked for and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way (bickering included) <3

So...the reason for posting all of that was because she visited me recently! It was one of the best weekends of the summer! I loved showing Pittsburgh to her and can't wait to visit Ohio in the Fall :) 
We loved the murals in Southside!  

She became a Panther in Oakland! 

Her favourite spot was Penn Mac! 
Her Italian finds include: 2 bags of wafers, bueno bars, italian coffee, and fresh buffalo mozzarella. 

We couldn't wait to eat the mozz! 


Looking out from Mt. Washington!


p.s. Coming soon is a post on what to do and where to go if you are taking a weekend trip to Pittsburgh! 

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

REUNITED!


Recently Travis and Janelle came to visit me in Pittsburgh, PA! It was amazing to see them and be together again! Plus, I got to show them my beautiful city <3 Travis was here for about five days and Jan was here for two. We got to do a lot of Pittsburgh activities! We even cooked my family a home-made Italian meal, pasta carbonara (Maria's recipe, of course). I was sad to see them leave, but I know we all will see each other soon! 

p.s. I feel like I have been posting a lot about the curses of study abroad, but here is one of the perks! You get to make friends that live all over the country and then visit them! 


Monday, August 5, 2013

Study Abroad Curse Part ???

So...it's been almost three months since I left Rome. Where has the summer gone? I have been counting down the days until I can move back to school since my plane landed here in May and now it's almost time.

Recently my friend Sophia (my roommate from Rome) visited me. She and I started talking about all the amazing things we did last semester....then we realized how much we actually accomplished. It is ridiculous to think that I traveled Europe and tried so many new things in just four short months. It made me think about what I have done in the three months I have been back.

Yes, I did take two summer classes, worked and visited my friends, but what did I do that I have never done before?? That's what I miss most about Rome...I think. While I was there I did something new everyday. Whether it was walking down a new street, eating a different type of pastry, going into a new shop, or bigger things like traveling to a new city, hearing a different language, or meeting a new friend. I was always pushing myself to new limits and discovering things about not only Rome but about myself.

I have been trying to do the same here in Pittsburgh, but it's a much more difficult task to accomplish in a city that is so familiar to me. That's not to say that there aren't opportunities...I am just used to my usual routine that I forget to push myself.

However, it has been refreshing to show my city to my friends that have visited and made me realize how much I really do love Pittsburgh!

Maybe this isn't a curse after all, but rather a wake-up call! It is difficult to appreciate your day-to-day life at home after you have accomplished amazing things abroad, but I think if we all try then we will live much happier, more exciting lives!

Plus, London is only five short months away!

Outfit of the day!

Nail Polish: Avon Gray Flash 
Rings: Forever 21

The concert I had been waiting over a year for...

So, the day was finally here....I was about to go to the One Direction concert. After a lot of confusion, I asked Kelly to go with me. We drove from Scranton to Hershey early in the morning so we would have all day to wait for the band to get there. After circling around the venue for about an hour trying to find the entrance, we decided to get a quick lunch and then head over to the outlets to do some shopping. 


Everywhere we went was packed! Thousands of people were there not for Hershey Park but for ONE DIRECTION! Around 3:30 pm we went over to the stadium. After we parked, walked to a tram stop, took the tram, waited in line for the bathroom, and went the bathroom, we were ready to head in! At this point we were already pretty tired (it was 90 degrees out!). Then all of a sudden, I heard a voice over the speakers yell, "HELLLOOOO HERSHEY!"....it was Harry Styles at soundcheck! He was only yards away from me! There were walls in between us but it didn't matter, it was so cool to hear their voices live! After soundcheck ended, Kelly and I got in line to get into the stadium so we could find our seats. They weren't too far back but far enough that we couldn't see much. 


During the ENTIRE concert, the girls next to Kelly who were all around 16 cried and shrieked...it was terrible. I know I should have expected this, but I honestly thought that the screaming fans would be quiet while the boys sang. I was wrong. From what I did hear, they sounded A-MAZ-ING live and they were as hilarious and gorgeous as I thought they would be. Next tour I will just have to get seats closer to the stage :)