change.

If I could change one thing about myself, I'd like to be more spontaneous -- more crazy -- more spur of the moment.

Unfortunately, we all know that I am a plan-a-holic. So instead, I've decided to change my hair. I've had straight, long, brown hair for my entire life. Literally, since I was born (well, maybe not the long part, but still!) And so in two weeks I am going to cut it all off. Ok, not all of it. But a lot of it!!

So tonight I was over at a friend's and I explained to him my big plan. I showed him this picture to give him an idea of the style I was going for. He, however, was having quite a difficult time envisioning me with such drastically different hair. And so...


psychedelic

Haha, wow.

But seriously -- aside from the crazy background, odd proportions, and mischevious smirk -- what do you think? Could I pull it off? Seriously, I want to know. So speak now or forever hold your peace.

(This means leave a comment. Seriously. Leave one. Just click the link at the end that says 'comment'. It will only take a second and you don't even have to say much... just a 'yay' or 'nay' will do it. And yes, I'm talking to you. You can even make it anonymous if you're afraid I'll think it's weird or stalkerish that you're reading my blog.)

Although, now that I really think about it, I guess this isn't that spontaneous at all. I guess just can't help it! I love to plan!

Some things just never change.

I love elipses.

Not that that's any suprise at all to you. I'm going to try to write an entire post without using them. This might prove to be insanely difficult for me.

So, can I just say that I hate, no LOATHE, the car shop. I have been there at least half a dozen times in the past month. And no, not because my car is a piece of junk. Because the people that work there are incompetent. Seriously lacking in mental capabilities. And those are their good traits! It all started a month or so ago when I took my car their to have the heater fixed. No prob they said. So they fix it all up and a couple hundred dollars later I'm all set to go. Well, I hadn't so much as made it home when I noticed a small crack in my control panel. --sigh-- So back I go. I show them the problem and they apologize profusely and promise to order a new panel for me and install it for free. Sweet. I love new parts. Mine was looking a little dull anyways. So a week goes by and no word. So I call, and as politely as possible, inquire about the situation. Panel? What? Broken? Parts? Sweet. My car mechanic has amnesia. He has no clue what I'm talking about. So, I have to explain the whole story to him. At the end of which he says, ohhh! that part! As if he had just conveniently forgot. Right. So anyways, turns out he hadn't ordered it yet. ugh. so another week goes by. i call again. and once again he has no clue who i am or why i'm calling. i explain the entire story. again. and once i have jogged his memory he suddenly remembers that he ordered the part but it's on back order so it'll be a few more days. AH! needless to say i'm starting to feel slightly frustrated. but hey, no big deal. it's just a part and it's no big deal if i have to wait a little longer. so finally they get the part in and i bring my car down to have them put it in. i'm chilling out in the waiting room since they said it'd take less than an hour and after about ten minutes the guy comes over with this part in his hands. oh no. here we go again. so, he says, here's the new part. but it's chipped. do you still want me to put it in? well at this point i have just about had it. yes i said, just put it in. it's not so noticeable and i really just want to be done with this whole ordeal. so he goes back. and i sit. and sit. and sit. and almost two hours later he finally comes to tell me it's done. phew. finally. so i go to leave. get in car. turn on car. check out fancy new panelling. cringe at chip and scold myself for not waiting for a new part. turn on radio. radio panelling falls off in hand. FALLS OFF IN MY HAND!? what?! luckily i hadn't even left yet so i just walk right back in. this time i speak to a manager. that's right. i mean business. or at least i tried to mean business. right up until i started crying. i just couldn't take it anymore! i didn't want them to touch my car one more time but if i left it would broken until i paid someone else to fix their mistake! so i explain the whole situation to this guy ('cause of course he has no idea who i am or why i'm there) and he goes to look at it. It's broke he says. awesome. wonderful. just great. so he says he'll order me a new one but it'll take a few days. of course, i nod. a few days. right. so i finally leave to go home. and what do you know. about half way home i go to turn on the a/c, but for some reason it's blowing hot air. so i wait. and wait. and wait. and now i'm home. and it's still blowing hot air. there's no cold air. WHAT?! THE WHOLE REASON I WENT TO THE CAR SHOP IN THE FIRST PLACE WAS BECAUSE IT WOULD ONLY BLOW HOT AND NOW IT WILL ONLY BLOW COLD!?! needless to say, i lost it completely at that point. i'm still not sure if i have recovered. i've been back since. and they fixed the heating problem. the stereo's still broken though. who know's if it'll ever get fixed. i'm not keeping my fingers crossed.

.erica.

mmm... sleep.

I'm back from fall break and let me just say, it was amazing! I promised myself that I would really take the weekend off... I went so far as to only allow myself to do something if I felt like it. That meant no work. No getting up early. No nothing. So, basically I slept, snuggled in my bed, ate lots of good food, slept, hung out with family and friends, slept, shrugged off all forms of responsibility... did I mention that I slept? It was beautiful. I think I slept more over the past 4 days than I did the entire first half of the semester. Ridiculous.

But, honestly, I'm glad to be back! My break was refreshing, enough so to make me ready for the next round. I think I gained a new perspective on things... like, what's really important. No matter what these crazy-psycho engineers say, it's not school. Don't get me wrong, I know that studying and working hard is good (i mean seriously, you didn't expect me to change that much, did you!?) but when I look back on things, am I really going to remember -- let alone care -- if I aced my statistics prelim? No, what'll I remember are the fun times, the crazy times, the stayed-up-all-night-with-friends-even-though-i-had-a-test-the-next-day times. I need more of those.

So that's my goal for the rest of this semester. Care less about school and more about things that matter: friends, family, laughter, love. (and yes, you'll definitely need to remind me of this in two weeks when prelims start up again...)

I'm off to my bed now. I wish it was as comfy as my bed at home... and I wish my mom was here to tuck me in. But it'll do, it'll do.

nighty-night,
erica

right...

Sorry about random pictures of me. I'm not obsessed with myself... really I'm not!! I'm just, at times, technically challenged ;)

I know, I know...

...it's been forever. I'm sorry. I really have no excuse. Honestly, I just forgot!! Well, that is until I was pleasantly reminded the other day the my blog is starting to collect dust!! So, my sincerest apologies. I didn't mean to leave you high and dry. Life's just been a little crazy :)

The first month or so of classes has flown by. I just took my first prelims this week... for those of you who don't know what 'prelim' means, it's Cornell's way of taking a 'midterm' and multiplying it! So, instead of having one big test half-way through the semester, you have two or three big tests and then a final... and Cornell, being so considerate, would hate to have you miss any minute of valuable instruction, so they make them at night... one and a half hour exams at 7:30 pm... and of course, they're on the complete opposite side of campus. Not that I'm bitter or anything. Not at all.

But, that aside, my prelims have gone fairly well. I say that now because I haven't actually gotten my grades back yet. Don't ask me about it next week.

Something else I'm not bitter about: Engineering courses. We go to lecture, sit there for an hour with blank stares on our faces, generally having no clue what the prof is talking about (either because the material is over our heads, or more likely 'cause he doesn't speak english!) and then we go home and read the book... and read the book... and read the book. And then we take prelims, and we all fail. Literally, the mean is below 60. And for some reason we all act like this is ok!?! Am I crazy here? Am I the only person who thinks this is a bit ridiculous!? I find myself not even suprised when I look at my notes from a lecture and have no clue what they mean. And getting a 65 doesn't even phase me. I walk out of prelims and think, 'well, at least I got one problem!' I feel like I'm the only person who feels this way... maybe everyone else is just really smart. Or maybe no one will ever say anthing because nobody else does... stupid competitive engineers. There's enough jobs for everyone!

Anyways, other than that, life is good. Really, it is. I love my new house :) It's so fun... and having a housemate who can cook is a beautiful thing. Megan's a food science major and a food fanatic. The other day after my prelim she made me home-made cinnamon buns. And she tells me things like, reasons why some cheese cracks and others don't and why lettuce goes bad and how to cook just about anything. And she brings home fresh pressed applesauce. And she makes the best cookies ever. And she talks about enzymes and amino acids and other big words. So, if you ever want some gourmet food, you know where to come!! Just bring some good ingredients :)

I also love my house because we have digital cable. TiVo is amazing. I don't even want to watch regular TV anymore. I watch the music video channel (where you pick which songs you want to see!) and then record the shows I like and watch them later... when I can fast forward through the commercials!! Seriously, it's one of the best inventions ever.

Alright, that's all for now. My room looks like a tornado hit it, and if I don't clean it soon the piles of clothes might evolve into monsters that will eat me in my sleep (I always though Darwin was a smart guy!)

I won't forget about you anymore... I'll be back soon :)

...erica

Bye Bye Summer

So, here I am back at good ol' Cornell. Craziness. I have yet to fully grasp the fact that summer is really over. Being here has just been fun so far. Lots of friends to see, a big house to organize and decorate, lots of fun things to do. Even going to classes wasn't so bad! I'm only taking 15 credits this semester, so I'm hoping I'll be able to enjoy it... but let's be real, classes are classes, and mine are all engineering. But on the bright side, I'm in my last semester of engineering math!! I can't even express how excited I am to be done with that.

So the house is pretty cool. It's not as sketch as most... very clean and spacious. It acutally feels like a house :) And there's an empty room... so if you need a place to live, let me know!! And if you're here and haven't come over, you should! I love to have visitors!

So, summer ended nicely... here's a picture of me in my pink hard hat on the construction site:

hardhat! 

Yeah, I know you're just about as jealous as all those construction workers.

So, the craziness of life is starting to pick up again. It's funny how busy we let ourselves get... no not let, insist. we crave busyness... we are obssessed with it. When we're not busy, we're bored and 'lazy'. I don't think it's very healthy. But hey, I'm probably the number one culprit, so who am I to talk!? I just chatted with Elizabeth (she says hi to all and she misses everyone here at school!) and she said she was going to work for a while and then travel in the spring. She said she considered going to Israel to live in a commune. Wow. Could you imagine? I kick myself for getting so caught up in the craziness of classes and clubs and all the other craziness... and I never even allow myself to entertain the possibility of doing something different. something unique. something not so in line with the American standard, but what I want. what i love. what i value. something that doesn't necessarily fit into the mold. something maybe not so busy and stressful, but meaningful nonetheless.

so, that's what i've been thinking about. take it or leave it. i'm glad that you at least read it :)

~erica

more pictures!

Yay! I finally got back my pictures from Boston. They're not so great, since they came off of a disposable camera, but they're still cute :) This is Jordan and me at Quincy Market...

quincy market 

And this is me sitting on Boston Common!!

boston common 

Here's Sumner and Jordan in their Red Sox jerseys the day we went to Fenway...


boys 

Anyways, just thought I'd share a few of those :) I'm totally crazed right now with all the last minute 'to-do' items. I'm headed back to Cornell on the 19th!! Man that's soon. It's quite depressing to think that summer is practically over and it's time to get back to work. --sigh-- I guess I always knew that the fun would have to come to an end. But, if I'm really honest, I'm pretty excited to get back into the swing of things. Literally... I miss swing dancing!! And friends and even classes maybe a little. I can even admit that I miss Ithaca weather... what with it being over 100 here with the heat index.... haha just kidding!! I'd take 100 degrees over 2 feet of snow and negative temperatures any day :)

So in approximately 10 days I will be moving into my very first apartment. It's actually more of a house than an apartment, but same-dif. It's kinda wierd to think about. I'm really really going to be on my own now. I'm going to have to pay rent and clean and cook. It's scary... I'm starting to feel mature. Yuck. I still want to be Peter Pan and fly around NeverNeverland and never ever grow up. No sir. Not me!

Lol, anyways... I'll be back on the 19th so if you're in Ithaca come visit me!! It's 118 Blair Street :)

For the rest of you... feel free to come for a weekend!! You know you want to...

I'm off to do some 'work' now ;) 'til we meet again...

...erica

California

I finally got the pictures back from California... although now that seems like forever ago!


Here's ben and I right underneath the Hollywood sign. That's about as close as you can possibly get to it!


hollywood 


This is Balboa Park...


balboa park 

And here's us at the San Diego Zoo!! Behind us is the giant panda that they had there on loan from China!


panda 


Anyways, I just wanted to share those with you :) Eventually I'll get some back from Boston too!

~erica

b-o-r-e-d

I know, I know... where have I been!?

Well, last week I was up at Cornell for engineering camp... super cool I know. But seriously, it was a really fun time. There were fourty high school girls there for the week and i was basically a camp counselor (also pronounced: babysitter) It was an exciting week, lots of activities and good food too :) It was quite wierd being back in Ithaca though. For starters, it was warm. No, not warm, ridiculously hot. It was in the 90's... in Ithaca!! I was very out of sorts. And on top of that, I had absolutely no work and no stress. No classes, no prelims, no essays. Just fun :) So it was quite an interesting week and it definitely made me excited to head back there in the fall.

So, I got back from there late Satuday. And after I had been home for not even a few hours, I had to go to the hospital to see a friend. Yick. I seriously thought I was going to pass out. I had to walk in through the ER, and I half expected to see some stretchers with bloody people on them and needles everywhere and lots of craziness (just like ER!!) but nope. It was pretty quiet. I was still sufficiently freaked out, but I held my own. So I was there until about 2 in the morning, at which point I took my friend home (he's going to be fine luckily) So then, after sleeping all day Sunday, it was back to work on Monday!! There was lots to catch up on after being gone for a week.

Then Wednesday I went down to the ocean with my family... it was so nice... sunny and beautiful. Funny story though... so i'm out in the ocean boogey-boarding, you know riding the waves and such. Well next thing I know I'm pretty far out in the water, practically behind where the waves are crashing. So I start to try and head towards shore. But of course, I'm not nearly strong enough to make it there anytime soon. I wasn't panicked, just ready to go back to the beach! Well then all of a sudden, this head pops out of the water right next to me and says "HI"! It scared me half to death because i didn't see anyone coming! So it's this kid, about my age, beach blonde hair... actually kinda cute ;)... but i couldn't think about that because i was too busy being sketched out. There was absolutely no one any where near us in the water, and all i could think was, "oh no..." But then, in that moment i saw that he was sporting a red bathing suit and i realized, it's the lifeguard! So I say, "hi!??" and he says, "um, do you mind swimming a little bit over there... you're kinda in the middle of a rip tide" Oh great. So here I am, totally oblivious, being dragged out to sea. So anyways, he wants to swim in with me to make sure that i'm ok, but he's so close to me that i keep kicking him!! Wow... talk about embarassing. He must have been blowing his wistle at me for several minutes before he finally dived in the water and ran out to "save" me. nice erica, nice.

So anyways, that was wednesday and the past two days i've been answering phones at the church office. So, that's why i'm extremely bored. Because nobody calls on fridays, especially not after lunchtime. So here i sit. Waiting for the phone to ring. At least I'm getting paid!

Welp, that's all that's new here...

erica

more summer craziness...

i LOVE boston!

last weekend i visited the city for the first time ever, and it was really incredible. everything is so old... not old in a gross way, but in an intriguingly historic way. i left Friday morning on a 6am Greyhound bus. i must say, i was definitely a little sketched out by the whole bus ordeal, but i made it to NYC alive. i spent the afternoon there... window shopping in greenwich, acting bohemian in soho, haggling in chinatown, and wandering through times square. justin met us (p.s. did i mention my sumner came with!? oops!) for lunch and took us to a delicious bbq place. yumm. and then it was off to boston! the weekend was filled with adventures, including a game and tour at fenway, sitting in the shade on boston common and walking around harvard yard... or yahd as a true bostonian would say ;)

i got back late sunday night, and well... i'm gone again. this time i'm back up at school. in fact, i'm currently posting this from the computer in the lab at the student center. it's pretty wierd to be on campus, especially with everything being so empty. i'm here to work at an engineering camp... that's right, a week-long high school girl's engineering camp. call me a nerd, but i think it's actually gonna be pretty fun! right now it's just the program assistants who are here, but the girls will get here tomorrow afternoon. so tonight i've got a date with my book and my bed :)

i'll be back late saturday!

'til then...

...erica

home sweet home

i'm suprised to see that you came back after that last one...

but it's nice to know that ya'll care about me :)

so, i'm home from California now. it was a fun trip...

we saw LA - watched some movie stars walk down the red carpet, drove through ritzy neighborhoods, saw the kodak theatre where the academy awards are, and drove up to the Hollywood sign.

we stayed closer to San Diego - we ventured to the beach a few times, although i was never really impressed. they're pretty much small and smelly! i'd take the atlantic anyday over that! but it was cool to "swim in the pacific" and i loved watching the surfer boys. we finally were able to watch the sunset... instead of having to get up ridiculously early to watch the sunrise! we went kayaking too, in the caves of La Holla. And we went to the zoo!! it didn't quite live up to all the praise it's given, but i had fun....i really liked the gorillas :)

we spent a day in mexico... um, that was interesting. we got out of the car in what seemed to be spring break central. we couldn't get away from the excruciatingly loud music and wherever we went we were attacked by street vendors. we must have looked ridiculous. mr. and mrs. tourist with their two kiddos... here for the partay! right. so that didn't really last long. but it was fun to say we went!

on saturday we went to disney. again, not really as cool as the east coast, but still fun. i got to see lots of princesses and we saw a production of aladdin!

benji and i took the red eye home sunday night, but the 'rents are still out there. i think i'm finally over that whole jet lag thing, but i still feel a little out of things.

it's fun being home alone, although way too much work. when we first got home i realized that we had absolutely no food. so i went to the store to get groceries, what with the $13 my parents left me for the week. right. so, we got bread and milk and other necessities. i've been raiding the freezer every night to scrounge up dinner. tonight i made bacon potato chowder with frozen potatoes and canned broth. yum. haha, and ben of course is no help. yesterday he told me i had to make him a sandwich because he didn't know how. ugh... brothers.

it's storming pretty badly outside... lots of thunder and lightening! kinda scary being home alone and all. ::shudder::

alrighty, that's all for now... the brownies are almost done!! it was nice chatting... i'd love to hear how you're doing, since now you know all about my travels!!

always,

erica

right now i just don't...

I think you know what I'm getting at
I find it so upsetting that
the memories that you select
you keep the bad but the good you just forget

And even though I'm angry I can still say
I know my heart will break the day
when you peel out and drive away
I can't believe this happened

And all this time I never thought that all we had would be all for not...

No, I don't hate you
don't want to fight you
know I'll always love you
but right now I just don't like you
No, I don't hate you
don't want to fight you
know I'll always love you
but right now I just don't like you
cause you took this too far

Make your decision and don't you dare think twice
go with your instincts along with some bad advice
this didn't turn out the way I thought it would at all
you blame me but some of this is still your fault

I tried to move you, but you just wouldn't budge
I tried to hold your hand but you'd rather hold your grudge
I think you know what I'm getting at
you said goodbye and I just don't want you regretting that

No, I don't hate you
don't want to fight you
know I'll always love you
but right now I just don't like you
No, I don't hate you
don't want to fight you
know I'll always love you
but right now I just don't like you


'cause you took this too far...



"Which to Bury; Us or the Hatchet" ~Relient K

sigh.

I'm leaving for San Diego in the morning. Maybe it will be good for me... to get away and sort through all of this... stuff.

I'll be back in a week.

'til then,

erica

phew!

That's about all I can say!! I'm exhausted! This weekend was absolutely wonderful :)

So, I'll start where I last left off. The bachelorette party :) It was really fun... but no strippers, Jordan! We all met for pina coladas at the maid of honor's house...

party-time 


...and we made diane get all dolled up!!

bachelorette 


And of course we decorated the car...

honk! 


...and then we were on our way! We went downtown to Baltimore for dinner at a nice cuban restaurant, and then to a club for a little dancing :) Diane had fun with a bouqet of blow-pops which she carried around and asked random men, "suck for a buck?" She actually made quite a bit of money selling those lollipops!! Dancing was very fun... and of course everyone wanted to dance with the bride-to-be (or at least buy her a drink!!) Here's Di and I at the club...

sisters 


After we left, we met up with the boys (who were having their own bachelor par-tay) around 3am for some donuts and a few laughs. When I finally got to bed it was almost 4 and then I was up early in the morning for even more wedding hoop-la! We had a bridesmaids luncheon Thursday... Di took us to the easter shore for a boat ride...

boat 


...and then crabs for lunch!! Man, were they were delicious... and not to mention gi-normous!! And after that Di and I came home to celbrate my daddy's birthday... with steak!! Haha, I was sooo full, but you know me, never one to pass up on some good food ;) Then Friday was the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner. A little stressful, but fun to be with family and friends. And then the wedding!! It was beautiful. Just like a fairy-tale... We tried to keep Di from being nervous or stressed and it was nice because we had about 45 minutes to just relax and the church before the ceremony. Everything was going smoothly, but then right as I was about to walk into the church to proceed to the front, one of the roses fell off my bouquet. YIKES! I didn't know what to do because if I turned around or said anything, Diane would see and freak out... and so, in my panic, I threw it in a nearby closet!! Lol, oh well. Besides that, everything went without a problem. Here's me and my cousin Brianna, the flower girl...

flower girl 


...she was adorable. Here's the newlyweds :) That kiss must've lasted a good minute! At least long enough to get several pictures!!

kiss 


Awww, cute, I know. Here's the whole wedding party...

wedding party 


And the reception was extraordinary. The food was marvelous... salad, champagne, filet, bread, champagne, cake, asparagus, champagne, cake... lol, all my favorites. Did I mention there was champagne? ;) And a tasty little drink called a "lemon-drop martini" yum. I think I might have liked those even more than the champagne! Haha, but there really wasn't much time for drinking because we were all WAY too busy dancing. The reception was under a tent, right on the chesapeake bay, but man was it hot. I was really sweaty...

dancing 
...but having way too much fun to care! It all went by soo fast, and pretty soon we were sending J and Di off with sparklers :) It was a little emotional, saying good-bye to my big brother... but fun to see him so incredibly happy and in love.

So here I sit. Can you see now why I might be a tad exhausted?? We've had family in all weekend, but now things are finally quieting down. It has been fun, but I must say... I'm relieved. Things have been really stressful around here, and I'm ready for some real summer relaxation. Ben will be done school in a few days and then our family --minus jason of course :*( -- will be off to San Diego for vacation. I'm working on convincing my mom that we need to go to the spa and on my dad that we should bring some champagne ;)

Lol, so I'm off to bed. It's back to work tomorrow...

nighty-night,

erica

craziness...

Dear Erica,
I can see that today might not be the best day to mention it; however, i have noticed that your extremely entertaining blog site has hit a slight plateau. Not wishing to add any pressure, but your fun commentary on life in general has been missed :-P. Perhaps we could institute a little note informing your admiring public audience of when an update has been made? Hope your summer is going really well, and you are having bunches of fun!

Barry Blogreader

My sincerest apologies for taking so long in updating... I hope you can all forgive me :)

Life has been crazy!! My wisdom teeth were successfully extracted (thanks for all the encouragement and prayers!) and after a few drug-induced, chipmunk days, I'm fully recovered... well except for the gaping holes in the back of my mouth that keep stealing all my food!! (yuck, i know!)

Last week I started my summer internship. It's a pretty sweet deal: I'm volunteering for my church, specifically my dad who is the "building expansion pastor", helping manage the buidling of our church's first facility. The cool part is that I'm being paid by Cornell (since my church is a non-profit and I'm volunteering) So, I have an all-expenses-paid summer (including all the ice-cream I can eat!!) and "expected summer income replacement". Nice, huh? So these past two weeks I've just been following my dad around and trying to get a handle on everything that's happening. I've got to walk through the building, which is in the middle of construction. They broke ground in the last summer and are supposed to finish in late November. It's a fun job... lots of lunch meetings (and occasionaly breakfast and dinner too!) and I get to wear a hard-hat!! In fact I think I'm going to have to order my own hard-hat soon ;)

So... my brother is getting married on Saturday. THIS saturday. It's pretty crazy, but of course exciting as well. These past few weeks have been filled with wedding craziness. Last week we finally finished the programs... I must have spent 5 or more hours helping Diane (my brother's fiance) and she even did more work on her own!! Nobody better even dare throw them away after the ceremony. They should be taken home and framed. Lol, but they really are very classy, as the rest of the wedding will surely be. I'm mostly excited for the reception... jumbo shrimp, crab cakes, filet mignon, and CAKE! Yum. And lots of dancing too... and hopefully champagne!!

So anyways, that's pretty much what's new in my life. The other night the girls and I decided to get all dolled up in our prom dresses for a night on the town:

prom - take2! 

prom - take2! 

prom - take2! 

prom - take2! 

It was fun... and so crazy to think that an entire year has passed since prom. It feels like yesterday!

Alright, I must go get ready... the bachelorette party is in an hour!! I promise I'll write more as soon as all of this wedding hoop-la has passed, but this will have to do for now!

~erica

trying to sleep...

I can't sleep.

I'm getting my wisdom teeth out tomorrow morning at 8am and I am scared beyond belief. Not for the pain.... that would make sense. For the IV. I'm petrified. In fact, I feel gross just thinking about it right now. The mere thought of a needle makes my arms feel wobbly. I HATE needles. I told the doctor that I wanted him to numb my arm first so I wouldn't feel the prick... he told me to grow up. Some doctor, huh? My mom keeps telling me I just need to think about something else, but that's easier said then done. But I'm trying...

Being home has been nice. I mostly enjoy sleeping in and having absolutely nothing to do. Not that I've done nothing, I've actually been quite busy. But I haven't HAD to do anything. And it's been wonderful to see friends from high school. Although, I must admit, things just aren't the same. Everyone's gone off to different places and had vastly different experiences. It's weird because, as much as I want to, you just can't pick up where you left off. I'm not the same girl I was a year ago. Not that I never changed in high school -- of course I did. It's just that before, we all changed together. We went through the same things, and we went through them together. But now it's all changed. The ways that I grew and changed at Cornell are nothing compared to the ways in which my friends did. Not that that ruins our friendship, it doesn't at all. It just means that we need to take things a little slower... not take things for granted so much... not assume that everything will be just as it always was. It's weird when I have to get to know my best friend all over again. I'm sure things will be wonderful in a few weeks, it just takes time I guess.

So, my brother gradutated on Sunday. He and his fiance. Who are getting married in about three weeks. Talk about craziness! He's only 2 1/2 years older than me!! I'm quite excited for the wedding :) It's going to be lovely... quite classy. And hopefully there'll be lots of champagne --wink-wink--

Alright, my laundry just buzzed. I should go fold that and get some sleep. Pray for me tomorrow... and feel free to come visit and bring me lots of yummy treats!! (well, anything that can be slurped that is!)

Nighty night,

erica

3... more... days...

Three days 'til home. Unfortunately, there are two exams in the way.

So I saw this bumper sticker today:

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." -Aristotle

I like that. A lot. I think we all, myself included... especially included, could do that a little more. A lot more.

So, in preparation of my upcoming oral surgery (may 26th!) I've started a list of movies I must see. Feel free to help add to the list! And if you're going to be around SP, feel free to come watch with me (and bring ice cream too!!)

• Collateral
  
• Finding Neverland
  
• Garden State
  
• I Heart Huckabees
  
• Love Actually
  
• Meet The Fockers
  
• Million Dollar Baby
  
• Sixteen Candles
  
• When Harry Met Sally

So my friend is absolutely obsessed with the late Mitch Hedburg. I like Mitch a lot. But I'm pretty sold on Brian Regan. I go back and forth. So, in light of my recent debate over who I like better, I thought I'd host a little face-off with some of my favorite quotes...

Mitch: "I got to write these jokes. So, I sit at the hotel at night and I think of something that's funny. Or, If the pen is too far away, I have to convince myself that what I thought of wasn't funny."

Brian: "I'm just trying to go through life without looking stupid... it's not working out too well..."

"Rice is great when you're hungry and want 2,000 of something."

"I don't know when to say the 'you too' phrase... i can't handle it. I never learn, you know... like a waitress will bring my meal: 'hey, enjoy your meal!' 'you too!!... oh, you don't have one do you? I'm a doofus! If you do have one, enjoy it when you eat it, if you have a break or something... later... if you get an opportunity... that's all I'm trying to say! That's all that I'm driving at. Really. If you think about it. That's all.'"

"I went to a restaurant and I ordered a chicken sandwich, but I don't think the waitress heard me 'cause she asked how I'd like my eggs. So I tried answering her anyways. "INCUBATED! Then hatched, then raised, then beheaded, then plucked, then cut up, then put onto a grill, then put onto a bun. Dang, it's gonna take a while. I don't have the time. Scrambled!"

"You ever start to say something and then in the middle of what you're saying you decide to say something else completely? You know there's already words out there? ...These friends were leaving the other day and I started to say 'Hey, take care!' and I decided to say 'good luck' instead like halfway through, you know? So it came out neither. 'See you later, take... luck... take luck and care... take care of the luck... good luck taking care of the luck that you might have... if you have luck, take it... care for it... TAKE LUCK CARE OF IN IT WHEN YOU TAKE CARE...' ...you're sure to see them again."

"I bought a doughnut and they gave me a receipt for the doughnut. I don't need a receipt for the doughnut - I'll just give you money and you give me the doughnut. End of transaction. We don't need to bring ink and paper into this. I can't imagine a scenario in which I would need to prove that I bought a doughnut. Some skeptical friend? "Don’t even act like I didn't buy a doughnut, I've got the documentation right here. Oh wait, it's back home in the file... under 'D', for doughnut."

"I'm always putting my foot in my mouth. I don't stop to think. It's just like 'oh no, words are coming out!' ...Like I met this woman the other day and I could have sworn she was preganant. Let me tell you... --ooohhs from the audience-- I know now! I think the rule is don't guess at that ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever evereverevereverever... something like that. I didn't have enough 'evers' memorized. So I said, 'hey, when's that baaaby due?' You ever feel a word coming out but it's too late to stop it? It's coming out loud: 'Hey when's that BABY due... BAAABBBY' 'What baby?' --gasps-- 'At the zoo! The pandas! I heard they're trying to have one... I just um, you know, thought we'd talk about it.'

"Whenever I walk, people try to hand me out flyers. And when someone tries to hand me out a flyer, it's kinda like they're saying, 'Here — you throw this away.'"

"Have you ever guessed somebody's gender wrong? There's no recovering from that. You just gotta move on, 'cause you ain't wriggling out of nothing. 'Excuse me sir? MAAM. Ok, ok, bye! Bye human... bye person... nice to meet you individual!'"

"I don't have a girlfriend. I just know this lady who'd be really mad if she heard me say that."

That last one's my personal favorite :) I just don't know. They both make me laugh so hard it hurts!! What do you think?

Oh right... I just remembered... I'm suppossed to be studying!!

ciao!
-erica

Oh dad...

So my dad has been emailing back and forth with Elizabeth's dad in order to arrange a ride for Elizabeth next week. I checked my email last night, and there was a copy of this message that my dad sent Mr. Eichling:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Brian Mallare
To: Peter Eichling
Subject: The Company We Keep

Dear Pete...

Really! Can't you talk some sense into your daughter about the
boy she's seeing? This guy is such a pig!

...A Concerned Dad

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Haha. Oh dad, what am I ever going to do with you :)

it's beginning to smell a lot like... SPRING!

So yesterday when I walked out my front door, I smelled spring!! You know... that smell when the air is warm, the sun is shining, the flowers are blooming and the grass is green! It was incredible. Spring finally made it to Ithaca! Of course now, just because I said this, the high for tomorrow is forcasted to be just above 50. Of course. Well, it was nice for the two days it lasted. It really is unfortunate that the nicest weather in Ithaca comes during the summer when school's out. Who's idea was that!?

I saw these pretty flowers while I was walking on campus today :)


flowers 

They really are beautiful... and they're everywhere too! However, the flowers and I are not exactly on good terms right now. Mainly because they are making my life miserable :*( My spring allergies are just about as horrible as they could possibly be. (I shouldn't have said that... now I've really done myself in...) Today I completely gave up and laid on my bed for a good hour with a wash cloth on my face as I cried to my mom over the phone. She, on the other hand, was lying on the beach in South Carolina. Somehow my pleas for her to come here and take care of me weren't exactly effective.

--sigh--

I hate this whole growing up thing. Sometimes you just need your mom, you know? It's like that book... "I'll Love You Forever"... you know, the one that every mom buys for their kid 'cause it makes them cry... yeah, that one. I just need my mom to crawl in my window right now and sit by my bed and rock me to sleep...

only a few more days.

I'm off to bed... Goodnight all... sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite :)

e~marie

pink!

Have I ever told you that I love the color pink? Well, I do :)

A friend of mine showed me these barbie usb drives! I gotta get me one of those. I really think they're on to something there... no seriously! I mean, technology in general isn't very attractive to women. It's a very sexist industry. Honestly, I think I'd be more likely to buy any sort of technological gadget if it were pretty (and especially if it were pink :) ) Take this laptop for example. I mean, it's a little over the top, but still, very cute. So you see, there is a whole market here that no one has tapped in to! Someday (when I'm working for google ;) ) I'll become rich and famous by creating a new line of technological products designed especially for women.

So I figured out the other day that I can post audio clips on my blog via cellphone. That's pretty much incredible. I can't think of when I'd ever really need it... well maybe if I was being attacked and needed to be rescued I could call and post a help message and, since there are so many of you who check this blog religiously, someone would undoubtedly come to help me within seconds. But other than that, I'm not so sure if I'll ever use it. But just for fun, I'll show you how it works...you'll have to turn the volume up to hear it since it's not great quality:

The first time I heard that song I was at a key elements a cappella concert. I loved it so I of course went home and downloaded it. And then, in true erica fashion, I listened to it incessantly for weeks on end. So then, just a few weeks ago, my friend amanda and I were at a dance concert and one of the numbers was to this song. Long story short, after much discussion, Amanda informed me that this song is really all about sex. Now I know you're all probably like, 'duh!' but I seriously had no idea! I always thought it was about the color pink! No seriously, I really did!

So what I want to know is why everyone finds it so necessary (and possibly even amusing) to taint me. For example, just last week I was told that Maroon 5's song 'This Love' is really all about sex too. I honestly thought they meant 'come back' as in 'to return'. Think about it... they might have meant that!




Ok fine. I loose. You know what other song they ruined for me? Crash. By Dave Matthews Band. I always thought that it is about souls colliding. But no. It's all about sex they say.

--sigh--

What is this world coming to.

Alright, I'm off to bed. My neighbor just im-ed me to say "What are you still doing up!? It's way past your bedtime!!" Lol... sadly true.

'til we meet again,

erica

Happy Slope Day!

We made it!! Finally all done with classes :)

Today was wonderful... the Cornell weather machine was right on schedule... warm and sunny for slope day! It was really beautiful outside, but i must say, if this weather keeps up this whole 'studying' thing is not going to go over well!

So, this afternoon I went to a pig roast! Mmmmmm.

pig 

Elizabeth was especially fond of the little piggie :)

After that we headed down to the slope for the festivites. Man was that crazy!

slope 

Kinda reminiscent of the creation music festival (well, not as big or as amazing, but still cool!) We were trying to guess how many people were there... 5,000 maybe? I especially enjoyed the free 'vanizzle shizzle' ice cream in honor of snoop :) Elizabeth & I got free tatoos too...

tatoos 

...scandalous, I know! :-o

We were also trying to guess the percentage of intoxicated persons on the slope. I said 75% but everyone else said 90%... well they were also all 'crunked' at the time, so who knows... i thought maybe that'd prove me right, but i realize now that maybe that just proves them right!

Anyways, it was really quite enjoyable! Although I still only know one Snoop Dogg song though! (and that's only from hearing Julie sing it!)

So now to complete this celebration, I've ordered DP Dough for dinner! Yum. A true Cornell tradition ;)

'til next time...

...e