Back in the saddle again

I seriously can't believe I am already back in NY again after what was suppose to be a long vacation, but actually flew by. It was a great time though, the weather was gorgeous, and I cooked my first Thanksgiving turkey all by myself, yay! Its always so sad to leave home though when you've been there for a while. I think the only thing that stopped my mom from crying was knowing I will be home again in like 17 days. In the meantime, let the two weeks of hell commence. I have my first final on Monday and the rest the following week and I am seriously lacking in motivation.

Also, just when I thought I was going to be internshipless, I now have 2 possibilities with 2 great networks. At first I didnt want to say anything because I thought I would jinx it, but I have come to believe that I make my own luck and if its meant to happen, then it will. Apparently it has been narrowed down to me and this other person for this IT internship at ESPN. The cool thing about that (as if working for ESPN wasn't cool enough) is that its a paid internship- rare in media. On top of that I got an email today from a lady at NBC today requesting an interview with me for a New Media/Web graphics internship for the Spring. This of course has me super excited because I have always wanted to work for NBC, kinda sucks though because its unpaid, but still its an awesome opportunity. I have that interview on Wednesday so keep your fingers crossed-I hope I get at least one of them.

Now time for a rant. I dont know what you people eat, but being on the subway next to you and inhaling some of the skank nasty breath you have is about the worst part of my day. Its 5pm and I am a little sardine heading uptown on the A line, literally smashed up against everyone. There is a lady next to me who smells ever so strongly like deviled ham. For those of you who know me, you know how I feel about ham to start with. To my right there is this older man whose breath smells like egg salad that has been left in a car trunk for 2 months and has the most yellow fingernails I have ever seen. As if that wasn't bad enough, this weird looking dude is pressed up against me and is staring right at my face the whole time with this smirk on this face, like 4 inches away from me. I have become remarkably good at pretending I am oblivious. God bless ipods.

Well its Las Vegas time. I wouldn't want to disappoint Josh Duhamel, he loves me so.

Yay for new computers and holidays!

My computer came in today and I loooooove it. Unfortunately, Im finding it extremely hard to concentrate on anything else.

Has anyone seen that Dell commercial where that guy is suppose to be paying bills, but really he is just having the best time ever playing with his new computer? For some reason I just think that commercial is so hilarious, but I can't find it online, so if one of you finds it, let me know.

Well from this exact minute on, I have 8.5 hours before the airport shuttle picks me up and I still have to finish packing, clean my room, and oh, sleep. I am officially on vacation and have been in my mind for about the past week. I can't wait to get home and start baking amd just hang out. What I am not looking forward to is the humidity and the heat. I'm sure my hair and skin will react ever so nicely.

In extra happy news, seasons 1,2 & 3 of Seinfeld are released tomorrow on dvd!! Woohoo! I have waited soooooo long for this. Oh and I seemed to have missed yet another cool thing in the city today. U2 was apparently at my stop by my school today just 1 hour before I got there playing a free concert and filming a new video. Of course, since they didn't see me there, they decided to drive all over Manhattan playing their music atop some platform thing, and I still managed to miss them. I'm lucky like that.

Well, Im not sure when I will be back on the computer again to post, but just wanted to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving. My Thanksgiving is always a Thanksgiving/Christmas holiday because the day after turkey day we begin decorating. It use to be a one day event, but now it occupies about three because we just keep getting better and better decorations and I loooove decorating. Its funny how we still do all the same things we have done every other year.
Here are some of our traditions:

-wake up early and get all the stuff down from the attic
-I do the tree, my mom does random decorating around the house, Leah helps where needed, my Dad does the outside lights and Lisa lays in the middle of the living room floor watching everyone work
-the "Chipmunk Christmas" cassette (yes cassette) makes its first appearance of the year and by the end of the day you are wishing death upon anything resembling a chipmunk
-for dinner we order Domino's pizza, not any other kind, dont ask me why, I cant recall how it started, but it was definitely way back in the day when like only 3 pizza places existed and Papa Johns wasn't one of them
-the Saturday after Thanksgiving we participate in "The Sister Run". Its a 5k event that benefits Ovarian Cancer. I think this year will be my 5th one, yay!

Ok well there is a lot more, but Im not going to type them all. Do you and your family still have any traditions you still uphold? I am a definite kid at heart and when it comes to holidays I will never grow up.

Have a great holiday!

Blahness

T-Minus 1 day until my new arrival. Yea and Im talking computers not babies. Im hoping it arrives after I get out of class or else I can definitely see myself skipping to play with my new toy.

Has anyone else felt very non-productive due to all these good movies on lately? Well I have and this cold rainy weather just gives you all the more reason to stay in. I cant even recall how many movies I watched, but it was a helluva lot.

On Friday night we went to Little Italy because I had been craving Italian food forever and I realized I hadnt been there since I moved here. Well I forgot what an experience this can be for ladies. Girls, if you are ever feeling down, just put on a cute outfit and walk down the row of restaurants in Little Italy...your self esteem will get a nice little boost. Those guys take their restaurant recruiting seriously and will do everything but propose to get you in there. This one guy offered to buy my meal...and now Im wondering why I passed on that. Hmm. Anyways, it ws pretty funny because they are soo much worse than the guys in Italy and a lot more forward. This one guy that easily was older than my dad asked for my number, pretty ballsy if you ask me, I cant even remember what I responded.

Well since this post is going nowhere fast, Im outta here.

Wrong on so many levels

I just finished reading this article on CNN and it really pissed me off. As they so eloquently stated in the article, there is a site being developed that would allow users "to sit at their computers and blast away at animals on a Texas ranch via the Internet". Does that turn anyone else's stomach? I have never agreed with recreational hunting to start with, but now, any lazy ass with a motive to kill a living thing can enjoy that sick pleasure from the comfort of their own home.

The creator of the site, a Texas ranch owner describes how he came up with the idea:
"We were looking at a beautiful white-tail buck and my friend said 'If you just had a gun for that.' A little light bulb went off in my head," he said.

Well isn't that precious? Who doesn't think similar thoughts when they see a little baby? Aww, how cute, now let's think of a creative way to kill it. Ok, so thats a tad extreme, but you know what I mean. I guess recreational hunting is just something I will never understand.

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Not having internet is slowly killing me. I mean sure I have access to it for necessary things thanks to my roommate, but what I never realized is the amount of random stuff that I look up on a daily basis. Random, yet important. It cannot be explained, but those of you who share my same vice know exactly what I mean.

On another note, Adam is a daddy as of last night, hooray!!!

Google 'till the cows come home

Well what a fun time last night was. There is nothing like being on the phone with computer support people for 2 hours just for them to tell you that your computer is dead. Yea, my computer died yesterday and was unable to be revived. Everytime I turned it on, I got this weird error and my keyboard and mouse shut down. So after taking apart the tower and playing with all the dusty goodies inside, I was given a list of all the things I needed to replace, and since I was no longer under warranty I was told to "call my local technician". No way jose, Im not dealing with all that crap. So about a half hour ago I ordered up a new one. It was about time anyways. Its nice though and I got a really good deal. So hopefully sometime on Thursday I will be up and running. Until then, I am semi-computerless, which makes for a very bored and disoriented Laura. It's scary how much new tech stuff excites me.

In other news, this site is getting a facelift. I figured since I am pretty much the only one on the old blogger template style that it was time to go for a sleeker look. Plus, after seeing Dana's site I got motivated. I had my favortite nyc pics incorporated into the layout, so I think it will be more "me" than this site currently is. Stay tuned for the new look, should be sometime today or tomorrow.

Also, Im sure youve noticed the new Google searchbar addition. You need to use that shit up, know why? Well I get paid when you do. Isn't that reason enough?

Seriously, search. Now.

Who needs to party when you can just do simple linear regression?

As you can probably tell, I am already bitter about my stats class again. How he manages to confuse us so quickly I will never know, but the man has a gift for it.

So I spent all day Friday at the Fordham Women In Business Conference and it was actually a very good time. The speakers were amazing and I definitely came away with a lot. Unfortunately, that experience brought forth something I have been realizing for a while that I have a problem with- remembering names. I suck at it, bigtime. I always have. I can seriously meet someone, turn around for 2 seconds, and then turn back around and have NO IDEA what their name was. Ive always known this was a problem, but I find it more critical now being in B-school where keeping contacts and networking is vital. So, in an effort to solve this little problem I am signed up for a Dale Carnegie course on "Remembering Names". I've never been to one of those courses, but I've only heard good things.

This morning Ann, Brian, and I decided to go to the "Home Restaurant" that we live directly next door to. After living here a couple of months I figured we should at least know what the place was like. My room windows overlook their garden seating, so its pretty neat to look out at night because its all lit up and people are having a jolly good time. What isnt neat is when they start setting up out there at what seems like the crack of dawn and I can almost predict now exactly what their routine is all by sounds. First they bring out the tables and set up the chairs, then they pull the canopy down (that is loud as hell) and start unloading the glasses onto the bar out there, etc,etc. Man, I should work there. As I type I am hearing them relay tonights specials. I guess thats kinda cool, depending on my mood. Anyways.......It was a good time, but not necessarily what I was expecting. Their decor suggests "Grandma's Kitchen" cooking, but the actual meals had more of an artsy-french-ish twist to them. The food was good of course, but the portions were very small. Needless to say we cleared out the bread basket. I had the "Chopped Vegetable Salad with Pepper Bacon, Grilled Chicken Sausage, Poached Egg and a Buttermilk Dressing". It was very good, but not really what I was in the mood for I guess. I guess when I think of "Home" I think of "hearty", maybe thats just me. Poor Ann got their Salami plate that sounded and seemed to taste very good, but I swear it was the smallest thing ever. Perhaps we should go back for dinner instead of brunch.

Later on we decided to stroll through Soho where from out of nowhere we started hearing these crazy cheers and all this noise. Well then we see this parade type thing coming down the street, except its not a parade. It had this band in the front and then just regularly dressed random people holding pom-poms and screaming like crazy as they walked. Everyone on the street was thinking the same thing- "what the hell??". Well apparently this was what all the hoopla was for. Some people see movie stars in Soho, I see this crap.

Oh, and this just in- ODB died. Yep, the co-founder of Wu Tang died in a recording studio today, he was only 35. Anyone who reaaaallly knows me knows that I went through a very interesting Wu Tang stage in highschool. Yep, there was nothing like driving around in my mom's minivan blasting those lovely Wu Tang lyrics. Oh dear God, I can only imagine the stages my kids will go through.

I'm off to pop a birth control pill.

Ok Dave, now stop your whining

Well the NY Marathon was awesome and there couldn't have been a more perfect day, weather-wise, in which to hold this event. I knew there would be a lot of people out there, but I wasnt aware that all of NYC would be there. I had always wanted to see the runner's come over the bridge and I did get to see that..well sort of. I got to see them come running down off the bridge. I forgot that I am not 400 feet tall and would never really be able to see them all running on the bridge.

These runners amazed me though. When I saw them, they were on mile 16 and ALL of them were running. I rarely saw anyone stop for a breather at all. I loved the representation of all the different countries too, so much allegiance and pride.

Ok, enough babbling, here are some pics:

I TOOK DOWN THE PICS BC THEY WERE SLOWING DOWN THE PAGE ON SOME COMPUTERS.

The lovely Queensboro Bridge. If you look real close, you can see

the little runner heads on the bridge.

More runners.....

I liked this shot. The runners were pumped coming off that bridge

to all the screaming fans.

Here the runners have made it to 1st Avenue and are on their

way up over to Central Park

Central Park finally, here they are for their last 2 miles.

Crappy shot, but you get the idea. Its sad that these people still had all this energy

afterwards, yet me and my roommate were tired from all the walking. Yea, walking.

In other news, I need your opinions on something...

Here is the "hypothetical dilemma" you are faced with:

Facts:

You are in grad school and have a shitload of loans.

You are not currently working.

You have the possibility of getting a Grad Asst. position with the school next semester which will pay for a good deal of your tuition.

Dilemma:

You also have the possibility of getting an internship next semester with a really well known music company, thanks to a contact you have made. Doesn't sound like a dilemma right? Well, here's the thing, its unpaid. So the dilemma lies in whether you should suck up the loans for another semester and go for the "experience" of the internship...or work for the school, make some money, and look for an internship in the summer (kinda risky since I have this contact). Sure the internship might lead to a job, you never know, but then that throws my whole life off course because I had planned to go to school full-time, not part-time. Ehhh, I dont know, my brain is too jumbled now. Share your wisdom.

It's 10 pm on a saturday night.......

...and I'm in my apartment watching the Lizzy Maguire movie. Yep. And you know what? I'm loving it.

Do you ever just get tired of bars and all that? I mean, dont get me wrong, I like going out, having a few drinks and I loooove dancing, but sometimes it just seems really pointless. Sometimes its just not fun, no matter how good the music is or how cute the clientele. Its weird. I went out last night to this bar on West 3rd. Fun times, good music- just didnt do it for me though. Plus its always a buzzkill realizing how expensive the drinks are here. Yea, I know I should be over it by now, but Im not. What sealed the night was when this drunk guy bashed his face into my nose while trying to give me a kiss on the cheek. Not fun, and yea, it still hurts.

I guess sometimes I would just rather spend a quiet evening in...or somewhere less "I'm looking"...if you know what I mean. Unfortunately, the chance of meeting a nice, cute guy in my apartment or a bookstore around the corner is quite small. The thing is though...Im not even looking, at all. I've found what I want, he just happens to live out of state, and doesn't really know the extent of my feelings. Hooray for love being complicated. What a mess. Where is all the wine when you need it?

Anyways, today my roommate and I walked all over the West Side down by the Hudson River. Geez its so gorgeous here. Then we decided to stroll pretty much all over Chelsea. I ended up at 2 great bakeries, one of which I ate at and the other just admired as the line was crazy long. However, if these cupcakes look even remotely good to you (youre crazy if they don't), then I recommend either Billy's Bakery on 9th or the Magnolia Bakery on Bleecker. Ahh, what I wouldnt do for one of those right now.

Right across the street from the Magnolia bakery was this quaint little bookshop, I dont even remember the name, but man do I love bookstores and this place was great. It was the perfect kind of place that I would love to work at because I bet you meet all kinds of interesting people. Too bad some of the coolest random jobs dont pay too much, or maybe they do and I just haven't found the right one.

Ive heard a lot of people recommend trying to get a job at Starbucks because you get full benefits even if you work part time, which would rock, except for one thing.....I hate coffee and anything related to it. Yes, that includes "iced mocha" anythings. Call me crazy. I also hate donuts.

I'm really excited about tomorrow because Im going to see the NYC marathon. Thats right, to "see", not "run". I think it would be awesome to partake in the event though, maybe next year, when I can train and stuff. Hahhaha, train for a marathon, thats funny stuff. Anyways, Ive always wanted to see the runners come over the Queensboro bridge so that will be cool. Hopefully I'll snap some good shots.

Well its now time to browse Icontrol for something worthy of my limited attention span. Have a good weekend :)

I'm avoiding homework, can you tell?

So two posts in roughly 11 hours of each other....yep, I'm clearly avoiding something. Ever since midterms ended I feel like I am suffering from a severe delusion that I am on vacation or something- like the semester is over. Silly Laura, you are only halfway through. Isn't it crazy to think that the first week of November is almost finished? Time is flying like crazy. Only 19 days until I fly home! I am so excited. I hope its a tad cooler there for Thanksgiving. I would be thrilled if it was like 65, but since today its about 90 there, Im not too sure how it will be in a few weeks.

So for those of you at work who may have missed it, President Bush just had a press conference a while ago. So I am sitting there watching it and they scroll a headline across the screen at the bottom that says that Yasser Arafat is in a coma. So of course that is terrible, but about 2 seconds later, this press guy raises his hand to ask a question and says "Mr. President, I know you dont know this, but Yasser Arafat has just passed away". So everyone is taken aback for a second, including Bush, and I am sitting there wondering how the heck he knows that for sure. So of course Bush adresses that as best he could, but I am still wondering how on earth he could be in a coma and then die one second later and how this guy is privy to such information at this fast of a rate. Well right after the conference, they of course announce that Yasser Arafat is not dead. Hmm. So what happens to this dude that took it upon himself to relay this info to the President on live tv? Do you think he loses his job? I mean it clearly can't be good for his career.

If I didnt have homework to do, it is a perfect day to just snuggle in your bed and watch movies. I got these awesome candles the other day that smell like pumpkin pie...they are dangerously suggestive, but they smell so damn good. Pumpkin anything is a weakness of mine. I cant be around it because I have no self control. Have you ever had a pumpkin muffin from Panera? Yummmm. Another thing I shouldn't be allowed around is orange juice. Sounds stupid, but Im serious. I drink it like a madwoman. Luckily its so freaking expensive here that I rarely buy it. However the past 2 weeks I have bought a quart of it and I finish it within the day pretty much. Back in FL I use to drink about 4 big glasses a day of it....then I had severe acid reflux for a while and they had to put me on like this heart monitor thing because I was having all these chest pains, luckily it wasnt my heart, just too much OJ. You think I would have learned.

Warning: Really big pictures ahead

Well if you guys were expecting an election post, you guessed wrong. No political views today. You all know who I wanted to win, so you know I am pleased.

My roommate and I went down to Rockefeller Center last night to enjoy all the election festivities. It was pretty cool and it looked fantastic at night. We saw Tom Brokaw, Tim Russert, and all the rest of them broadcasting live and the place was swarming with eager and excited voters. The cool thing about it was there was no hostility. Everyone, no matter who they voted for, was excited and happy. Oh yea, and about 10 minutes after I got there I bumped into someone, like literally ran into her. It wasn't until I looked down that I realized it was Dr. Ruth, haha. Man that lady is tiny.

Here are a few pics from election night...

They had the area decked out so nicely. Pretty pretty flags.




Wow, ok so they are really huge. Well I am too lazy to resize them tonight so you will just have to deal with it.

In super terrific news, I found out today that I got an A on my Stats midterm, hell yea! Now if my other 3 midterm grades will follow that lead, everything will be just wonderful.

I also admit that I have a new guilty pleasure, an embarrassing one. Please tell me that there is someone else out there that watches Laguna Beach on MTV. I made fun of it when I first saw it and then after one lazy day of watching all the recent episodes, I am hooked. Sad and pathetic? Most definitely.

I am however very excited/interested in watching the O.C. starting tomorrow night. I watched it like twice and loved it, but I think it conflicted with "Friends" or something so thats all I ever saw. Those 2 episodes that I did watch were really good, so Im sure the rest of it is, especially with all of the diehard fans they seem to have acquired.

Has anyone seen that show on VH1 called "Motormouth"? Its actually pretty funny. People are freaks, especially when they are alone in their car. I would have so been a perfect candidate for that show back when I had a car. I looooved singing to my favorite songs in the car. On the show its not so much the voices that are awful to hear, its definitely the facial expressions that make you cringe.

Ok well seeing as how I cant really stay on one topic for more than 3 sentences, I am off to bed. Sweet dreams of Hugh Grant and Chris Carrabba.

Thank God its almost over!

Well it is finally that much anticipated day...election day. The good folks over at Fordham gave us all the day off of school in an effort to make sure we all have time to vote. How nice. As if that wasn't a nice enough way to start your day, I had a fantastic dream this morning about a guy I met on an airplane....and then of course woke up right in the middle of the best part. The weird thing was he was blonde, which is really not my type...I'm more preferential to the dark featured types. In the dream he was currently living in California working on his Masters at Stanford. The moral of this story? All the hot guys I ever meet will end up living in California. I'm moving.

Ok ok, back to election day stuff. So there is no way I am going to use this post as a way to influence any last minute voters to vote Bush, nor does this mean I want anyone to comment on why they hate him or whatever. I was kind of disappointed for a while because all the people I talked to that were for Kerry could not answer one question....."Without referring to Bush in your answer, please clearly explain to me why you think John Kerry should be the next President." Doesn't sound too difficult right? I didn't think so, but I was amazed at the fact that no one could really answer it without having to contemplate it for a while. Those that did answer it immediately referred to Bush. Hellooooo, listen to the directions people. So anyways, this was somewhat disturbing because here is a candidate in a dead heat with the current president and who has a very good chance of being elected...and some of his most avid supporters that I know or have spoken to can't even tell me why he would be good for our country. Yikes. Well finally I spoke to someone from back in Florida who was able to give me the most intelligent pro-Kerry statement I have heard. What a relief. I can handle a good argument, just not one that is more along the lines of a 3rd grade playground tiff, i.e. "You're views are retarded!". Thanks, good one!

Well hopefully this year's election will go off without a hitch. With Florida's new voting device, we shouldn't have any problems.....

I just can't believe that after tonight this election will be over. It has consumed so much of the past 2 years that I really can't imagine not hearing about it on the news or reading about it on cnn.com. Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled its about to be over. Oh I saw Eminem's new video about Bush the other day. Now I like Eminem, but that whole video just seems gay. I mean, is it suppose to be some big surprise that yet another celebrity backs Kerry? Hop right on the bandwagon, but its getting a little full! The sad thing is that he hasn't even formally declared backing Kerry, which means yet another vote for Kerry because he "isnt Bush", hooray! thats a way to pick a nation's leader! Either way, in my opinion the current president should receive a certain amount of respect. Sure you dont have to vote for him, or even like him, but knowing you are in a position in which the youth of America is going to blindly follow you and then painting such a disapproving picture of someone in a position that we should be teaching our children to respect, well it just doesn't sit well with me. Would I have a problem with it if Eminem's video was about John Kerry? Of course I would and I say that in complete honesty. Freedom of speech is a bitch sometimes.

Well, enough of that. You people know what to do, and any of you that has an opinion on this election has most likely had the same one for the past 2 years. Do what you think is right and may the best man win. Whoever he is, I will support him, as he will be the leader of this great country. I just hope that one thing stays innate to him....keeping our best interests at heart.

Now go out and vote, or else P. Diddy will kill you.

Oh what a night

Well you've got to love a city in which more adults than children dress up for Halloween. The freaks were out last night thats for sure. I feel like all of Manhattan was in my neighborhood. It was craaaazy. You couldnt even walk. And the parade? Forget about being able to see anything, that is unless you were one of the people that start staking out their standing spot 3 hours before the parade. No thanks. We ended up heading over to the Town Taven, a nice little bar off of West 3rd. Got to love $2 drafts. At one point we attempted to go see the parade, but being 5'1 doesnt help too much. I resorted to just holding up my camera and hoping I would capture something neato. The result? Oh about 5 pictures of the KFC sign across the street, random heads in front of me, and not one parade pic. Overall it was a good time though, except for tha fact that I feel like death today. Apparently its not good to drink beer on an empty stomach. After force feeding myself some crackers this morning, we stopped by Pressed Toast, this little hole in the wall place on Macdougal that makes the best sandwiches, and everything there is $4 or less. I highly recommend it if you happen to be in the area.

I feel a little naughty because I am skipping one of my classes today, my first skip this semester. The way I look at it is, I feel like crap, I can easily find out that I missed, and I can use the extra time to study for my midterm tonigh. Thats right ladies and gents, I still have one more midterm to take. Is it me or doesnt it seem like Ive been taking midterms for about a month? Well there were grand plans to party like a rockstar tonight after my test, but at this point the thought of beer is quite disturbing. I always do this. I always drink the night before the night Im reaaallly suppose to go out, and then I dont want to. Make sense?

I only woke up a few hours ago and I already feel the need for a nap. Its amazing how a hangover makes me not able to function the next day. I somehow managed to get hot sauce in my eyeball at lunch. Dont ask, but it wasnt fun. Eating something should have made me feel better, but it hasnt. Perhaps it was Brian trying to make me sick talking about egg yolks this morning....yea, that could be it.

In wonderful terrific news....
My NYC boy called yesterday! It was fantastic talking to him and we are trying to figure out a time to get together in Florida over Christmas when he will be there for a week, yay!

Ok, well all this writing has made me tired. Perhaps its time I start to study. And by study, I mean nap. Ciao.

P.S.- for those of you at work today, bored out of your minds...read this article. I found it very interesting.