relaxation

At Florida State we are lucky enough to have a beautiful lakefront park that is free for student use, the FSU Reservation. Or, as the cool kids call it, The Rez.

The park is great and there are so many activities students can do for FREE! 

You know us college kids love the word FREE!

Since starting grad. school, my friends and I have made it a habit to go kayaking as much as possible, usually every weekend. It is the perfect thing for getting some relaxation in. Leisurely paddling through the water and pushing all the work and reading that needs to be done out of your mind is the best!

One part of the lake is full of cypress trees and the water flows through them like a road. 

So beautiful and quiet.

The best part is when you stop paddling and just float, lean back, and enjoy the sun.

If you've never gone kayaking I highly recommend it! So relaxing and a great work out to boot!

the choir

I have an new TV obsession.

The Choir on BBC America.

I recently saw The Choir on my On Demand menu and was curios. What choir? Who's choir?

Well it's Gareth Malone's choir and the show is great!

Gareth Malone is a choir master that travels England and creates choirs from nothing. He turns these groups of people into amazing choirs within only a few months. In the episodes I have seen so far, he creates a boys choir at a school that is obsessed with sports and a community choir in a down and out town that needs something to bring them together.

The show touches on some individual stories within the choirs and is very touching. It is amazing to see what he does with these seemingly ordinary people that never ever thought of singing. 

Check out the video below for The Choir!

plugging along

My life is plugging along. And that is all. Plugging. Work. School. Work. School

There is some sprinkling of fun during the weekend but that is in between writing papers and creating PowerPoint presentations. Exciting and riveting right? Didn't think so.

I have done some fun things lately. And by lately I mean within the last month. 'Cause remember that whole I vow to post more thing.... yeah it's not really happening. 

Help! Grad. school is swallowing my life!

Now...some fun things....

• I saw The Town. Great movie! Boston bank robbers says it all. Ben Affleck stars in it and he wrote and directed it. He did a great job! By the end of the movie you are rooting for the bad guys. Pretty funny too, even if it wasn't meant to be. 

• I also saw The Social Network. Another pretty good one. Although, it does make Mark Zuckerberg (creator of Facebook) look like a completely egotistical jerk. He pretty much abandons his  best friend and business partner and follows the money. Not nice, Mark, not nice at all. 

• Last weekend was the Experience Asia Festival here in Tallahassee. Basically, I go for the food! I hadn't had Indian food in a very, very long time so I was definitely excited to get my hands on some chicken tika masala and naan bread. It was glorious! I could probably eat chicken tika all day everyday and never get tired of it.

•  I registered for spring semester and am excited to only have class one day a week! Woo hoo! I can now (in January) come home from work and not have to rush back out to go to class three days a week. Much less hectic! I like it! And, bonus, I can start going to the gym more. I was going everyday until school took over my life.

• Super exciting is the fact that Florida State is playing some great football this year! And, to top it off, the Gators LOST! TWICE! As you know, a Florida State fan roots for anyone playing the Gators.

Ok, for real this time, I promise to post more. Maybe. We'll see. 

back from the dead

I am back from the dead! 

So we just won't talk about the fact that I took a big 'ol giant break from blogging.

I am back and I missed writing so I am excited to get back at it.

So, since I last graced you with my presence I have of course come back from NYC. 

I so wish I had still been in New York this whole time! 

Sadly I have not. I have started grad. school! 

And I landed a full time job! Hence the world's longest bloggy break. 

Needless to say my life has been a little crazy and busy!

I am really loving grad. school so far. I'm working towards my degree in the international education development field. Basically we are learning to save the world one child at a time. My degree will eventually include a 2-year stint in the Peace Corps. As a matter of fact I turned in my application for the Peace Corps last week! Exciting!

Goodness it feels good to be back!

i don't want to brag but....

I've been too busy to blog because I'm hanging out  here.

And eating these.

I'll have a full recap of the week over the weekend. 

decisions.....decisions.....

In a few weeks I am moving back to Tallahassee for graduate school.

This means that I need to decorate my room!

I love decorating but I'm really bad about making decisions and visualizing.

I already bought my furniture.

It is a simple, white, wood bed with matching white night stands and white desk and chair.

It is on the cusp of shabby chic without the sanding. 

I love the simplicity of white and the versatility that it can provide.

I am now in search of bedding.

I think I have narrowed it down to three choices.

This is from Target in the Liberty of London Collection.

I enjoy the whimsical-ness of this I just don't know about the orange.

Another option is

This is also from Target in the Dwell Studio Collection.

This is my favorite. I love the flower patterns and I think it will look great with white furniture.

My last choice is

This is from Pottery Barn and it is on sale.

I don't know about the pattern. Is it too busy? It is bright which I like.

And to throw more options in the mix I bought this wall decal to put in the room.

Talk amongst yourselves :)

heart break

UPDATE!
We found Sophie! 
She is now safe and sound!

I came home last night and my dog is missing.

I am heartbroken.