First Time Down South

Hi Everyone!  I know I haven't updated in a long time but I thought I'd fill you all in on a trip I took last month.  I went to North and South Carolina to visit a friend I met while I was studying in England last summer and it was so much fun!  My friend lives in a small college town not far from Charlotte, so I spent a day there and I also got to go down to Charleston for a day.  

First thing we did was go to the beach!  It was amazing to get to spend a few days in the sun after the past few months of freezing weather.  It was in the high 60's and 70's for most of the weekend...not quite warm enough to swim but perfect for walking on the beach.

After that we went into downtown Charleston.  Most of the houses and buildings in Charleston are very old and unique looking.  The whole city had a kind of European feel and I loved walking around the cobblestone streets and exploring.  I can't wait to go back and get to spend more time there.

My friend and I went on a carriage ride around the historic part of the city.  We started at the old slave market which was interesting to see.  We then went by various old houses, city hall, and some historic sites from the Civil War.

The slave market.

A random rooster wandering the streets...

One of the best parts of my trip was the food!  I was introduced to all sorts of Southern cuisine like biscuits, hushpuppies, grits, authentic BBQ, collard greens, sweet tea, mac 'n cheese.  It was all so delicious but if I lived there and ate like that everyday I think I would gain 100 pounds!  

It was amazing how different Charleston was than any other city I have been to in the United States.  At times the South felt like a totally different country.  I wasn't sure what I would think of it but Charleston really was one of the most beautiful cities I've seen and everyone I met there was so friendly and welcoming.  

On my last day we went back to Rock Hill, SC where my friend goes to school at Winthrop University.  I ran around campus a bit and explored.  It was fairly small but a pretty campus.

Overall, it was such a fun trip!  If my count is right, I've now been to 22 of the 50 states...almost halfway to my goal of visiting them all.  It was hard coming back to freezing NYC after the warm weekend away but the weather is starting to warm up...although it did snow last week!  So much for spring.  I do have visits from my cousin, my friend from SC and my dad coming up though so those are all things to look forward to.  

I hope to do more posts soon about things I've been up to in the city since I've been back, including a visit from my mom!  Thanks for reading!

Snow Filled City

So I got back to New York from my winter break in Portland just over a week ago and I've quickly had to get used to a lot of snow.  There was still snow left over from the big storm that happened while I was back at home and then another big wave came through last week.  It canceled school, which was great, but it also makes for cold and wet commutes to and from campus.  It's getting a bit old...but it sure is pretty.  Here are a few pictures I've taken in the past few days.  Some of them are from near my dorm and the campus area that I just took while walking to and from classes, and some of them are from Central Park.

     Hope you all like the pictures.  It snowed more last night but not enough to cancel school, unfortunately.  I've also managed to get sick already so I'm sending you this from my bed as I try to catch up on the mountain of reading I already have.  I'll hopefully have another update in a few days if I am feeling better!

The Garden

Hi all!  It's the start of the weekend so that's good...even though I have a lot of work to do for the finals and papers I have coming up.  Yuck.  While all of my Oregon friends are starting their winter breaks right now, I have to wait almost two more weeks until the 23rd.  But it will last a whole month! Woohoo!  Can't come fast enough.

So this week has been fairly average.  I wanted to post my Hannukah pictures for you all however, my roommate still hasn't uploaded them...so for now I will share my other adventures with you.

Last weekend I decided to go to Midtown and wander around on Saturday afternoon.  Before I left I didn't really think about how crowded it would be...which was stupid of me because a) it's Midtown (aka Tourist Central) and b) it's X-mas time, which apparently a lot of people come to NYC for.  So I dealt with shoulder to shoulder sidewalks and stores for a little while.  Some of the crosswalks even had to be manned by police officers holding caution tape to keep the crowds of people from crossing when it wasn't their turn and blocking traffic.  Even though it was crowded it was still fun to experience the hustle and bustle of NYC at this time of the year.  There were also some gorgeous decorations in the department stores.

This is an awful picture because I was scared at getting yelled at for
taking a picture but the inside of Bergdorf's was drop dead gorgeous.

Saks was beautiful as well.

You can't really tell from the picture but the lights on this
store looked like they were dripping icicles.  So cool.

The rest of the weekend was uneventful...well except for the fact that the Ducks won and are headed to the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!! I watched most of the game while running on the treadmill at the gym...the people around me probably thought it was strange that I was cheering to myself while running...but that doesn't matter because I'll be cheering on the Ducks in GLENDALE next month!  I'm so excited.  Thanks for the tickets parents!!!

Watching the Ducks in action was pretty amazing, but it's still pretty fun to go to a live game as well, especially at Madison Square Garden.  I had never been before and my Dad told me that I just had to go to "the Garden," so when NYU was selling tickets for the Knicks v Minnesota Timberwolves game I jumped at the chance.  My roommate and I went together this past Monday night.

THE GARDEN!

Once I realized that Luke Ridnour (a former Oregon Duck) was on the Timberwolves, I wasn't exactly sure who to root for.  I decided I didn't exactly care who won...even though I did get a super cute Knicks t-shirt (I had to...I'm a New Yorker now!) but in the end the Knicks won.  It was a fun outing for a Monday night and we are already planning on going again after winter break.

The rest of this week has been spent doing homework, going to class, working out, hanging out and nothing super exciting.  Except that I did decide to sign up for the Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Marathon!  Aghhhh!  I'm so scared and not sure if I can do it but for now, I want to try.  I'll already be trained for the Shamrock 1/2 marathon in March so the current plan is to keep running and building up my endurance until the Seattle race in June.  It's a ways away but I'm already nervous/excited.  

This weekend will be spent writing my final papers, starting to study for my finals, and doing boring chores.  The fun part will be ice skating which I've been waiting for the holiday time to do!  Don't worry, I'll have pictures of the outing next week!  

I will leave you with this countdown I made while I was really bored (in class) the other day.

I now have approximately:

12 days until winter break.

99 days to my 1/2 marathon.

157 days until summer.

196 days until the marathon.

257 days until I go to Las Vegas with my best friend (hopefully).

269 days until my senior year of college starts.

523 days until I graduate college.

I know people say you shouldn't countdown to things and instead you should live in the moment.  While I try to do that, I also like to have things to look forward to.  Even if some of these things seem sooo far away.  Well, have a lovely weekend!  Comment or call me if you feel like it...it'll probably be a boring study weekend.  

<3 from NYC

Winter's Here

Hello again!  I am back in the city after a lovely Thanksgiving break.  I got to do a lot over the break but it felt so short!  While in Portland I...

Took embarassing pictures of my Dad.

 Had a delicious Thanksgiving meal with my family.  It was a great night.

Saw the Ducks beat Arizona at Autzen Stadium.  Go Ducks!

Got to see my dog, Lucy, who I miss so much at school!

  I also did some running, some Barre3 classes, shopping, and more.  It was so nice to be home.  Can't wait for winter break in less than 3 weeks!

  But then it was back to NYC.  I took a redeye on Sunday night so I could optimize my time at home.  But the flights back and the connection in Chicago at about 4 AM was rough.  At the airport though I got to use the cute Hannukah present Jenna made me.  Thanks Jenna!

Can you guys make out Dennis Dixon on there?

 Once back I was starving and wanted to grab lunch before class.  The local market had sweet potatoes with marshmellows.  I tried them but they were pretty disgusting compared to my mom's!

 I also walked by Lululemon!  I wish I could be running with the Bridgeport lulu group today!

Since Thanksgiving is over, the Christmas decorations are up in full force.  I think it's hilarious that they sell Christmas trees on the sidewalks from stands here.  It's like walking through a mini forest every few blocks. But you can tell they definitely sell a lot more tiny trees here because of the ridiculously small size of most people's apartments here in this expensive city.

My RA's had this sign up outside their door.  A good reminder, right?

  But then it was back to class.  Hard to smile about that.  I sat through another politics class that felt like a math course.  Look at these notes!

And now it is the first few days of Hannukah!  I put up my little menorah, and laid out some gelt and dreidels.  My roommate also put up a cute little tiny Christmas tree.  I decided to have a Hannukah party last night and it was quite fun.  Pictures of the party to come in the next post.

Shhh...don't report me for lighting candles in the dorm.

Since I have been here I've also gone on some runs and tried out my mom's super cool garmin.  It uses satellites to track your location, distance, pace, etc.  I did a 5k on Thursday and 5 miles on the treadmill watching the Ducks beat the Beavers today!  Woohoo!  We're going to Arizona baby!

I also had a little incident involving my phone...let's just say dropping your iPhone is not a good thing to do.  

So now it's Saturday night.  I just got done cooking giant batches of veggie soup and chili to eat throughout the week.  Not very exciting.  Sorry for the super random post.  Hope everyone is having a good weekend! See you all soon!

<3 from NYC