See those two fine ladies?  The girl on the left is one of my closest friends Kara, and the girl on the right (I know- she bears a striking resemblance to me) is my twin sister, Alana.  I just came across this picture of them on Facebook and I was A) in awe of how gorgeous they both look and B) even more jealous that I missed out on Kara's fun 21st birthday affair!

I couldn't help but show off how incredible they both look.  Appropriately enough both of these ladies had big days today, so it's fair to post about them.  Kara just left for Florence for a semester abroad.  I am anxiously awaiting a text from her to hear about her very first hours in Europe.  Alana just started her very first semester at NYU today.  I am also anxiously waiting for her to return my phone call so I can hear every last detail about her first day.  Alana and I have just recently learned how to be separated.  We went to school together all of our lives until just recently. She did her first two years of college with me at Lehigh before she transferred.  I begged my mom to send me a "first day of school" picture of my sister, but I guess when you're 20 you stop taking pictures in front of the front door with a backpack...that's a shame. 

Miss you girls!!!!

I know I shouldn't be posting right now because I've got a decent amount of reading to get done for class tomorrow, but I'm very eager about this post for some reason.  It may be because I'm impressed with my InDesign capabilities today, or because I'm particularly excited for spring, but regardless I'm excited to post. (Professor Littau, if you're reading I know you're smiling on the other side of the screen)

When I can't sleep at night, I tend to peruse countless fashion sites looking for the newest trends that catch my eye.  This definitely doesn't help me sleep.  In fact, I usually end up with a headache from squinting for hours, and I'm usually to excited thinking about my outfit for the next day or things I want to buy to ever fall asleep.  Regardless, I do it anyway.

Last night as I did my perusing, I was happy to see the skinny belt trend making an appearance for spring 2011.  I'm a big advocate of belts, but I can never seem to wear a thick belt appropriately.  For some reason, they don't seem to work on me.  The thin belt however is something I definitely want to start incorporating into my wardrobe.  In fact, I bought two the other day at Forever 21 before I even came across the trend on all of my favorite sites.  Luckily, I have these two now because after seeing the many ways to add them to an outfit I'm pretty eager to throw one on.  I did wear one the other day to class over a flannel as a cinch belt if you will, and it really made the outfit.  Sometimes a little accessory can go a long way. 

The skinny belt will be fun for spring because you'll be able to wear it as a cinch belt or as a regular waist belt.  I think jean shorts and a white t-shirt with a leopard or crimson red skinny belt will absolutely make for a perfect, casual (but still trendy) ensemble.  Or, a skinny belt over a maxi skirt if you're trying to really keep up with the trends -now that is a look I'm excited about.

And now it's back to something not so exciting...63 pages of reading on Meditation and the Martial Arts - wish me luck!

Cozy Days

Perhaps it's because the weather has been so cold up in the mountains of the Lehigh Valley, but I cannot seem to stop lusting after oversized, cozy sweaters.  I know Christmas just passed, but I have to be honest when I say I wouldn't be too devastated if any of these sweaters just so happened to appear on a hanger in my closet.  As I attempt to get dressed every day lately, I only want to throw on a big chunky sweater with some leggings and clunky snow boots.  It very well may be because my walk to class is ten minutes of cold so brutal that I'm actually still shocked I haven't developed a case of frost bite.  But, there's something about a chunky knit that I find incredibly cute. Any girl I see walking campus or studying in the library in a sweater that looks like it is four sizes too big for her is a girl I'm envious of.

1. Topshop Knitted Pale Blue Cotton Cable Jumper
2. NastyGal Aspen Knit Cardi
3. NastyGal Oversized Shawl Sweater
4. Topshop Knitted Navaho Cardigan
5. Topshop Camel Knitted Animal Jacquard Jumper

TGIF

Finally! It's Friday. Week one of the second semester of my junior year is OVER.  Friday is my absolute favorite day of the week so this makes me a relatively happy girl today.  Not to mention, I have no classes on Fridays this semester, so it really makes for the best day.  Today, I woke up late, ate a hearty brunch of egg whites and a smoothie and then headed to the gym for a workout.  Ever since, I've been lounging around catching up on reality t.v- such a guilty pleasure.

Since I don't have much else to say at this point I think I'll make a list of the good and plain silly stuff from the past few days.  I'll try to make this a tradition for every Friday post.  Here goes...

the good: 
-last night, I had cake batter ice cream for dinner
-all of my teachers seem really interesting and intelligent
-my sisters got the apartment they wanted (yay!)
-my workout playlist was very good today
-my mom answered my phone call last night, even though I could definitely tell she was sleeping.
-I received an email from my friends abroad about their adventures thus far: I was given the very interesting details about a casual night out roaming the streets that turned into a very drunken bar adventure for them.

the silly:
-last night, I had cake batter ice cream for dinner :/
-I had to use the elliptical in the gym today, and I am not a very graceful ellipticizer
-I made up the word ellipticizer, yeppp
-I just tried to paint my nails and failed miserably, though the color choice was pretty
-My cell phone decided it doesn't want to make or receive calls anymore.  So if you'd like to get in touch with me I'm limited to texts only now.
-oh, and my cell phone makes a nonstop beeping noise...
-A car alarm kept me up all night on Monday.  I am not kidding people. ALL night. And then I found out it was my friends car alarm, and the university police called him in the middle of the night in a rage about how his car alarm was keeping an entire sorority up. It was miserable.

Back to School

{A skype session with my Barcelona babes}

{Can't wait to visit you girls March 4th!!!}

Well, semester break is over and I'm officially back at Lehigh.  Usually I'm eager to get back to school, but for some reason I really didn't want to leave my family this time.  It was hard to say goodbye to everyone knowing they're all at home together and I'm the one away.  The only thing that made it a bit easier was knowing my sisters are moving to NYC within the next few weeks, so they won't be home too much longer.  I am SO SO excited for them.  They just found an apartment that they're interested in, so I'll be hoping that they get it!  I cannot wait to visit them as my escape from school every now and then.  You can imagine how incredibly jealous I am that they are moving into the glamorous NYC while I live in the, for lack of a better word, dull Bethlehem, PA.

This semester will be a little bit different for me being that some of my closest friends are abroad.  This post is dedicated to them, and I cannot wait for them to stumble across it (I think they are the only readers of this blog anyway haha).  It hasn't quite set in yet how different my semester will be without them, but I'm sure next week I'll be posting sob stories about how I miss them terribly.  I spoke to them just the other day, and they are having a wonderful time (the pictures above are images from our skype session and a photo of them in a club in Spain).  The fact that they are happy and having fun makes me beyond thrilled.  I will be looking forward to March 4th when I board a plane for Barcelona during my Spring break.  Special thanks to my daddy for the best 21st birthday present ever!  My first trip to Europe, WOW.

I only had one class today, so my semester started off fairly easy.  My teacher seemed brilliant, which always excites me.  I also loved her enthusiasm for the course, as that is always a contagious attitude.  I'm a nerd what can I say, but I've always loved being in school.  Tomorrow I've got three classes  back to back from 9-2, so I'm attempting to prepare myself for a longer and much more serious day.  I'm hoping that something exciting will happen throughout the course of the day so I can post about it.  In the meantime, I hope I'm not boring you too much.  I'm enrolled in a religion course, which is a new thing for me, so I'm looking forward to what it has to offer.  I've also got a Psyc course on child development to look forward to and a Communications course about media and communication.

I'm praying for not too much snow in the Lehigh Valley!  It makes getting to class the most arduous and horrible process.  Not to mention, I'll be sliding all over the mountain that my campus just happens to sit on.  Seriously, the inventor of the escalator went to Lehigh and I know he got the idea because he had to walk the mountain all day.  He should do us a favor and install some free escalators all over campus or something because this place is brutal!  Thank God I've got my new Sorel Joan of Arctic snow boots to keep my toes warm!  They're amazing if you're looking for a cute but still functional snow boot btw.

Random Fun

{me at the restaurant}

Today was randomly a lot of fun.  Although I planned to just stay in my room and pack to head back to school, once I had all of my clothes on the bed ready to be packed, I was over it.  Instead, I joined my big sister for a pedicure.  I know I just had a manicure yesterday, but she told me my feet looked like they belonged on a homeless person and I couldn't argue it.  Plus she worked all week in NY and I barely got to see her, so the quality sister time was something I couldn't pass up.

After the pedicure, I met my dad and other sister for a meal at one of our favorite local restaurants.  It's Greek, and I just so happen to work there as a waitress over the summer.  I ordered a Greek salad and some french fries =) yum.  I can't resist Greek fries as they're amazing.  For those of you who don't know what Greek fries are, they've got lemon and oregano sprinkled on top.  Seriously, if you haven't had french fries with that combination then you MUST try it.

After dinner, one of my best friends, Kara came by my house.  We were thinking we'd have a low key night at my house, but it turned out quite differently.  Neither of my sisters were home when we first got here, but they both ended up coming home with company in tow.  We played rounds and rounds of elephant man, more commonly known as thumper.  Seriously, that game is absolutely underrated.  A simple animal symbol goes a long way when it comes to laughter, and the fact that my older sister is incapable of carrying a beat just made everything that much better. Others may argue otherwise, but I know I dominated as the shark.  My sister gave me a good run for my money as the uncoordinated unicorn nonetheless.

Believe it or not, the game playing didn't stop at elephant man.  We continued with a game of Left, Right, Center.  This is an amateur gambler's game and it's actually hilarious.  You have the potential to win through the very last second of the game, which is what makes it so exciting.  Although I was the second to last person in the game, ultimately my twin sister beat me to win the pot of (a whopping) 30 dollars.  It was a tough loss.

A spontaneous day made for a successful one, agreed?

{my lovely Greek salad and Greek fries}

{my big sis enjoying a pedicure}

{me and my daddy}

{alana really loves her half roasted chicken}

{kara, before I crushed her in elephant master ;)}

Busy, Busy

At last, I find the time to write my first post of the new year!

As it turns out, my break has been pretty eventful, which is why I've been having trouble finding time to post.  I just got back from a brief stay in NYC where I celebrated my friend Brittany's 21st birthday.  Her party was a blast!  The picture above is an image from the very end of the night when the bartender brought out some champagne for us.  By that time, there were barely any people left at the party.  I think the image, although blurry, really captures the essence of that moment.  Brittany's sister and best friend is next to her on the left, while Scott and I watch on (me, particularly excited) from the right.

I love any excuse to get to New York because it's without a doubt the best city in the world, but I was happy to come home as my break is quickly coming to a close.  I'll be headed back to school on Sunday so I'm trying to squeeze in as much time with my family as possible.  Today my mommy and I got manicures together and then I went to my dad's house with my twin sister and cooked dinner.  We made a delicious turkey chili that had a great spicy kick to it.  I can't really take any credit for the chili, but the corn bread was all me :)

I don't know what I'll be up to for the weekend but hopefully it will be exciting enough to post about.  And now it's time for me to end this post and watch the tivo'ed episode of tonight's Jersey Shore that is calling my name.  If there's one thing you'll come to learn about me, it's that I LOVE a lot of really bad television - so be it.