Birthday Weekend: DAY TWOOO

Before going out for some real karaoke fun, Jamie and I went and got some sweet manicures. It was snowing and the streets weren't exactly safe, but we made it and I got my nails "minxed"! I don't think the girl that did them had done them very often nor did she do them correctly, but they looked cool regardless. Then we went to one of our favorite places in Philly for karaoke, the Elephant and the Castle. Some friends I hadn't seen in QUITE sometime came out and there was great joy and great sadness all mixed together! There was also singing. Oh yes. But did I win the gift certificate at the end of the night? NOOO!! Whatever!

Watch this... if you dare. It's not really all that great, honestly.

My 27th Birthday Weekend!

I don't know if I should say that I've had 27 birthday weekends, but I've definitely had 27 birthdays now. That's pretty crazy. I don't feel much different than when I was 17. Except I have noticed it's getting harder and harder for me to get up with any amount of grace after sitting indian style on the floor for awhile.

Although I may have decrepit knee joints, I have great friends and the start to the celebrations were quite awesome. There was some hiccups in the beginning. Iron Moto rolled my sushi "wrong", the hibachi chef had a battle of wills with me (I WON!), and they lied about karaoke. After that mess, we went to a better location for partying and lots of dancing was had. At least by me and Steve. Another thing I had a lot of was drinks. I would say I probably shouldn't have had that many, but at least I didn't puke in the car or anywhere else inappropriate. 

The birth of a very excited star

I live near this amusement park. Maybe I'll get a job here and I'll meet someone from a foreign country and I'll become close friends with them and fly across the globe to attend their wedding. Nah, that'd NEVER happen. ;)

Happy Birthday, Weezy! xxoo

There's worse things in life than rain

I give people the best gifts.

Happy Days!

Yay! I have a record player!

It's me against the time zone

Being out til about 5am definitely is not helping me adjust to East Coast time! It's so bad that I don't even hear my alarm in the morning whatsoever. Actually, I think maybe it does wake me and I just don't remember it waking me. I'll wake up at 2 and I'll see my lap top is closed and I always go to sleep with a movie playing on my lap top so I must have woke up at some point and closed it. I'm so mad at my sleeping self. Wake up! Get back in the zone! We keep missing all the sun!

Pehce out, 2010

2010. At points it seemed like it would never end and now that it's over I can't believe it already is! I definitely can't say that 2010 has been one of my favorite years. When this year began, I still lived at home and commuted over an hour to class three or four times a week. There was a whole mess of snow and a whole lot of driving. I nearly burnt myself completely out this year! My parents moved to California and Andrew moved into the house. I gained friendships and lost friendships and lost friendships and got them back. I went on one date this year that lead to nothing but headaches and confusion. But good things happened too! I went to a lot of weddings and I received Best of Quarter for the first (and possibly only) time. Road tripped to Florida with Jamie again. Recorded a demo that's still yet to be finished. Went to some great shows like Sia, Taylor Hawkins, Good Charlotte, Marina and the Diamonds, Tegan & Sara, Lady Gaga, Jimmy Eat World, and the amazing, incredible Sir Paul McCartney. Saw Back to the Future and Princess Bride in the theater. I worked out what seemed to be an impossible hurdle and sorted out my student loans in order to get my own apartment with my little Mo. We went to a dog park and flew in a plane! We spent Christmas in California and got the most awesome blanket in the lands! So, it wasn't the worst year of my life, but it definitely wasn't the best. It was a year pretty much completely dedicated to AiPH. The low point was definitely when my mother moved 3000 miles away, but I'm lucky to have great friends and the best dog ever and I'm going to somehow make it through 2011 as well. I expect it will be just that much harder without being able to escape to Millville and hang out with my mom. Huge bummer. But if I can live through that, I think it'll make me just that much stronger. But my farewell to 2010 was good! Had a yummy dinner at Uno before going to Zane street for some drinks and Dick Clark watchin. I accidentally became a smoker. Go figure. My New Years Resolution? Quit smoking! As long as I stay away from that electronic cigarette, I think I can do it!!!!

One Step Closer to Heaven, 2011!

Last minute Christmas

Since I pretty much left for California right after finishing school, I didn't get to do my last minute Christmas shopping until, well, today. But I'm proud to say that I finished it all up AND got a $78 dress from Urban Outfitters for $14.99!! Amazing! Didn't intend to buy anything for myself but I do have a birthday coming up and now I have something beautiful to wear! Hopefully there will be somewhere to wear it to!

I blame the TSA.

Casualties of travel! I'm going to try to do some intensive emergency surgery to save it. I got some super glue, but I don't know how it's going to go. Fingers crossed! Other than unpacking, I didn't do much. I felt like crap and was trying to take it easy. Did some painting, some movie watching, and some cooking. That's about it! these lazy days are going to FLY by and I'll be back at school in the blink of an eye. boo hiss.

Day Nine: Farewell Long Beach, We'll Miss You!

Very sad morning. 
Lots of tears and sad goodbyes. 
I'm still pretty sad about it!

Day Eight: California Christmas

Last day in Long Beach. It was probably the nicest, warmest day of the entire trip. Since there's not much to do in the apartment, Gizmo and I took a walk out of the neighborhood. The area is really pretty with the mountains off in the distance and all the palm trees all over the place. I must have looked like I knew where I was going because some girl asked me for directions! Unfortunately, I could not help her. So much for being a local. After my mom got done work, we went out to eat as a last hurrah. We ate at this place called "Polly's" which is kind of an oddly decorated, home cooking sort of diner situation. Be that as it may, I had a yummy turkey burger with mac and cheese on the side and I got a free piece of pie. Can't beat that! When we got home, I finished up packing and we all went to bed early due to the fact that we had to leave for the airport at 6am.

Day Seven: California Christmas!

It's the day after Christmas and what does that mean? It's Gizmo's Birthday! Although it was his birthday, I got a few wishes of my own. My mother and I went to the Aquarium on the Pacific in Long Beach. Not only did I really want to go there, I really wanted to have a day out with just her. Quality time is better spent when it's just one on one. And it was a really fun day and I'm glad we were able to do it. I took a lot more video than anything else, but I did get a few pictures. It's not easy, though. Fish move a lot! haha I just have one complaint about that aquarium. No penguins! Camden has so many penguins! It's hard to believe the Camden aquarium has something this aquarium didn't! Shocking! Ah well. It was really awesome nonetheless! After we got back, I wound up having to change my flight plans due to the storm brewing on the east. I was supposed to leave the following day, but now my plans were all pushed back by one day. Stupid snow was trying to fuck shit up! But my mother was pretty happy about it!

Day Six: California Christmas

Christmas! My first Christmas in Long Beach and it started out early, but no where near as early as the ones in the past in Millville. After I was showered and dressed, we hung around waiting for our guests to arrive. Once Wilder and Barb got here and settled in we got to the business of the presents. I think the gifts I gave were a hit and the gifts I received were quite lovely. Definitely made out pretty good this year. haha After wards, my mother made some gingerbread pancakes that I brought out. So yum! Then my brother hooked up my parents new blu-ray player and we watched "The Last Starfighter" and then the most recent Star Trek film. After Wilder and Barb left, my mother and I curled up on the couch and watched Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. I had never seen it so my mother basically just went to sleep. But I'm used to that kind of thing so it didn't bother me. It was nice to have some one on one time. Really nice way to end my Christmas :)

Day Five: California Christmas

Christmas Eve! Since my mother didn't have to work, we decided to take advantage of the returning nice weather and head down to the beach. It was really pretty and really sad at the same time. Due to the storm, there was so much trash on the beach. Lots of balls and shoes and bottles and junk. So, we just walked down and back. Wasn't any shopping areas down there like there is at the Venice Beach. I kind of hoped there would be, but there wasn't. So much for last minute Christmas shopping! Later on, my brother, Wilder, and his girlfriend, Barb, came over for dinner and to bake some sugar cookies. After everyone left, Gizmo and I got ready for bed and got ready for Santa to come!!

Day Four: California Christmas

After an extremely annoying and long day, my mom got home from work and we departed to have an evening at Downtown Disney. Although the temperature wasn't crazy warm, it had finally stopped raining! In fact, as soon as we left Long Beach and we got closer to Anaheim, the sun came out for a bit. It was the first bit of sun I'd seen since I landed. I'm not saying I was getting S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder), but all that rain did not make for a great beginning to my Christmas vacation. Luckily, it wasn't too crowded and we had a really delicious Mexican dinner. It was good times. And it's really not far from where my parents live. I hope we can take advantage of that in the future!!

Day Three: California Christmas

Another day of rain. Every vacation I go on is like this. I go where the record breaking weather is happening. But never record breaking in a good way. It's never like, "the hottest winter on record." It's always the "coldest summer" or something like that. Naturally the week I'm in Southern California is when they're experiencing "the most rain they've had on record". So, we went the day in the house watching it rain and instant netflix instant movies. After my mother got done work, we went out to eat at a restaurant called "Claim Jumper". It was a pretty themey restaurant, but the food was yummy and it was nice to be out of that apartment! It was also fun to see all the different styles people were rocking in Long Beach during what they consider to be "winter".