Stink Shield

Last night I went to the Found vs. PostSecret Charity event at the Man Bites Dog Theatre in downtown Durham. I had only purchased one ticket so when I arrived and saw that it was a lounge-type thing I started to not go in. How could I possibly survive the evening all alone? After circling the block I came to my senses, parked my car, and went inside. I had been looking forward to this for a while. The lounge turned out to just be a waiting area and we sat in an actual theatre. I wasn't as familiar with FOUND magazine, but now I am very interested.

Here are some of the things that I enjoyed at the PostSecret vs. Found event...

Seat 29E

and

Kowabunga!

I was a last-minute, home made Donatello from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for Halloween! I visited the family and then went to Franklin St. with Jessica.




Gracie was a fairy!


Jamie started out being a cat but I thought she looked more like a long-eared rabbit so I determined that she was a cat/rabbit hybrid


Ghostbusters on Franklin St.


These guys were my favorite. They would not shut up talking about their respective cell phone plans.


There were a lot of dick-in-a-box costumes. There were also a lot of ipods


Cavemen


Everyone was chasing after McLovin from Superbad

New York City

I saw so many diamonds this weekend it was sick! I visited NY and Julie and covered the entire island of Manhattan like a pro. Well, actually, I wasn’t the pro. I followed Julie’s lead and never once had to experience that “Where the heck am I?” state of confusion that normal tourists have to deal with. It was great!

Julie met me at the airport and we went back to her and Matt’s cute apartment on the east side of Manhattan. Patsy flipped out because she was so happy to see me. We ate lunch at this place called Prime Burger, which was really cute and kind of stuck in the 1950’s. The men that worked there wore white coats and they had big pies and stuff. So then I saw Park Ave. and 5th Ave. We went inside Chanel and Fendi and in one of those stores I felt the softest patent leather I’ve ever touched. It was a really cute pink wallet and I wanted it but that’s impossible right now. So then we went to Tiffany’s and I tried on a $15,600 engagement ring. It was only one carat so it was wild to me that it was so expensive! The lighting in there made everything bling. Julie knew a cute person who works on the engagement ring floor so we talked to him for a bit. He was showing us a $300,000 necklace when the manager came over and took it right out of the case while we were admiring it. He put in a blue book that said “Tiffany & Co.” on the front and it never came back. He knew we couldn’t afford that shit. I got these cute little ear ring pouches from Julie’s friend.



So then we went to Canal St. and it was nothing like I expected. I expected more bags laid out on the street and less people trying to get you to follow them down a dark ally. Right when we came up from the subway there was a lady there with a piece of paper showing the bags she had. There were lots of stores with really cheap random shit and it all started looking the same to me. Afterwards we went to Magnolia Bakery and got really cute cupcakes. We ate them later and Julie’s apartment and all agreed that the icing is what makes them so special. Magnolia Bakery is the bakery that they visited on Sex and the City. There was a line that looked kind of long but it moved fast because the people that work there have worked that shit out. You can’t order anything else once you make it to the register. There’s no going back.

At night we ate dinner at a really good pizza place in Grand Central Station and went to Times Square. Times Square was like the state fair of NY.



I wish I had taken more pictures on Friday but it was raining like hell all day and I was wet and messy.

So that was Friday. There is absolutely NO WAY AT ALL I would have been able to conquer all of that on my own. Julie is awesome.

Saturday we stopped by a thrift store on our walk from Julie’s apartment. She got a cute mint green leather skirt and some other things. I got a cute little black Puma bag. We got ice cream from Pinkberry’s. I was a little hesitant hearing that it was “kind of sour creamy, but good” but after tasting it I understood. It IS kind of sour creamy but you pick three different fruits and it’s soooo good! I’m going to want that in December, I know it! Then we got manicures and I went to see the Blue Man Group. It was really good.


The flash from my camera made me blink, which NEVER happens! So my eyes are halfway closed. I would see them again in the future.



Then we went to the Patricia Field store where Julie works and there were so many cool things in there. I was happy to see normal prices again. We ate sushi for dinner.

On Sunday we walked over to the river walk near Julie’s apartment. The view was very nice.



Then went to the Grace Kelly exhibit and I freaked out over her 10.47 carat engagement ring that was on display. There were so many dresses, and tiaras with loads of diamonds. I think those things are being auctioned off this week and I really need to know how much certain things sold for. The people that were there were fun to watch. It was mostly old rich ladies and they didn’t understand that they couldn’t just BUY a ticket and get in. They actually had to wait in the line that went around the building and that pissed them off. After that we went to see the Statue of Liberty and I saw Ellis Island from a distance.





We walked by ground zero and there were people selling knock off bags and watches from a briefcase and I felt uncomfortable with that. I think they should have to take that elsewhere. There was even men selling pictures of the towers on fire in front of the memorial and I thought that was weird and disrespectful. I mean, pictures of the towers themselves would have been more understandable. The empty lot of ground zero looked small to me and it wasn’t until we flew over Manhattan on my flight back that I realized how big that space is. It was weird to see it from the sky. So after that we went to the top of the Empire State building. The small line outside made me think this was going to be a quick and easy adventure but it turned out to be quite an ordeal. We waited in a lot of lines and there were men shouting about upgrading your package to the one that includes that little audio thing. The people that work there were so funny to me. I wouldn’t last one hour on that job having to deal with all those tourists. We got to the top before sunset so we saw NYC during the daylight. Then after sunset it was so pretty and cool with all the lights! I was amazed.









We ate dinner at Rai Rai Ken, a small but very good Japanese restaurant. We had ice cream from Pinkberry’s again and took a taxi back.

Monday morning we ate breakfast outside and had very cute sugar waffles before going to the airport.

So, in summary… Julie is amazing! I saw pretty much everything! The food in NY is awesome! And I had a really cool time! When I’m back there in December for 2 days it will be much colder but I think I should take more pictures then.

I can't believe it's Septiembre

I'm not used to having weekends off so I totally wasted this one by being way too lazy. With my new job I don't have to work weekends, with the exception of every other Saturday. I've never experienced this hardly ever in my life since I began working. I did have to work this Saturday and it was for ten hours. I am going to have to take me a suitcase of shit to do next time because it is BORING. I took two textbooks... Anatomy and Animal Science. I did okay with Anatomy for about 3 hours and then I couldn't take it any more. I was way too optimistic about my studying abilities. Next time I will take some magazines too. Or maybe I'll take my laptop.

I resolved my car issues.. I HOPE. God, I hope! I bought my cousin's car because she got a new one... a silver mustang. It's a Ford Focus and I like it. I've never had a car that didn't sound like a meat grinder or make grunting sounds so I'm pretty excited over this. Well, there was the time I spent with Syed's camry. We got along pretty well until it starting requiring me to spend all my money. The Focus is dark red with tinted windows so I'm all ghettofab in my drives around Duhram. I hooked it up with a Carolina window decal and I'm getting me a COEXIST bumper magnet this week.

Tomorrow I am going to the Bodies Exhibition at Southpoint. I have been aching to go since it opened but I couldn't fathom spending $30 for some small little museum type thing... but I have been informed that it's waaaaay worth it and I'll definitely be missing out if I don't go. I know I am going to appreciate it.

DC last weekend

Last weekend I went on a very touristy trip to Washington, DC with my mom, cousin Jessica, and Geoff. Jessica and Geoff had never been before so we had to go look at the monuments and all that stuff. I had fun, and I loved the fact that there was a Starbucks in our hotel and free internet. I took my first trip to H&M and there was a crazy line that I wasn't sure if I was willing to endure. I did, though, for two shirts. I also met the really awesome little lady who has been living in front of the white house since 1981. She was wearing crocs... She's anti-War & Bush so I loved her. I don't know about the crocs, though.


I read on wikipedia that the postsecret site is not being updated anymore?! This can't be happening so soon. I know that there are books but the website is part of my Sunday morning routine. Wake up. Get coffee. Check Email. Look at the new secrets.








This is Concepcion's little camp in front of the white house

An Organized Mess

I need to paint and clean and pack and remove myself from Rock Creek. I can't wait to be up out of this place. However, I have a Spanish exam Monday and a really lame full-time part-time job that has been taking up all of my time. So with that, here are some photos from Jamie's graduation last night. Jamie, whom I love dearly, recieved a Bachelors of Science degree from the School of Communication at ECU and 20 pounds in just 4 years!! (That's what she says but I can't tell).

And just for Tabbatha... The neigbors of Jamie's current "residence" had this plaid couch sitting on the balcony. It was obviously a very special gift someone recieved a good 90 years ago and has passed through Good Will after Good Will and ended up in Greenville,NC catching Jamie's ass every other day.

Squirrels are just rats with cuter outfits!!

So much has happened over the past couple of weeks and I have been too busy/lazy to write about any of it. This is the last week of the semester and then exams, which means I'm only a couple of weeks away from leaving Spanish in the dust. Hasta luego!

It seems like babies are everywhere. The manager at work is out on her maternity leave and one of the other girls is pregnant as well. Kelsey, my beautiful little neice, was born on April 6. She's pretty laid back and quite possibly the cutest baby I have ever seen. I'm also biased. She just throws up gang signs and tries to eat my nose.

This weekend I'm going camping with Syed's family. I've never been camping before so this will be a new adventure for me. I'm in the process of making sure we go white water rafting. This MUST take place.

My apartment is in the process of being repainted since I'm moving at the end of May. I'm going to miss my checkered wall. That was hard work!