Friday, November 29, 2013

Thanksgiving Vacation

How was everyone else's Thanksgiving? Mine was amazing! We started the morning out like we always do. My mom sticks the turkey into the oven and we turn on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Personally, I love the parade. Traditions are my thing and this was the 87th parade this year. Speaking of traditions; dinner was at my house. It pretty typically is except for the year we were re-doing the house and the year my mom went on strike from cooking. Everything was delicious...despite some technical difficulties. We have two ovens in the house; one in the basement and one on the main floor. The basement one decided to act up right when we needed it. It learned this funny trick of turning off the second it heats up to the temperature you need it at. My mom's awesome turkey gravy was giving her trouble as well. It refused to thicken. The turkey...he decided not tell her the right temperature, leading us to believe he was under-cooked. Funny, right? There were four kinds of potatoes: scalloped, mashed, twice baked and sweet potatoes. My grandmother prepared her infamous stuffed mushrooms and acorn squash. Yum! My mom's applesauce was more amazing than ever before and her stuffing was to die for!

Dessert is another story. There was apple pie, cherry pie, pecan pie and birthday cake for all the birthday people. A good portion of my family members celebrate birthdays in the fall. My father, my older sister and my uncle all have Thanksgiving time birthdays so every year, Thanksgiving is also a three-way birthday party. My brother's birthday is December 5th, so this year we threw him into the holiday birthday crowd. He turns 16 this year, which in my opinion is a pretty big birthday! He's growing up so fast. Pretty soon, he will be heading to college. That thought scares me, but I digress.
So, that was my Thanksgiving. Tomorrow, I am going to tell the tale of decorating my house for Christmas. Stay tuned!

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Cliff Notes Version

It's finally here! In a few short hours I will be heading to Pennsylvania and some homemade pumpkin pie. Well...actually, I'm going to my house in West Hempstead, NY, but there will most definitely be homemade pumpkin pie available. My trip back to Long Island will not be as bad today as it normally is. Normally making my way home to Long Island is a journey and a half. Let's talk train rides. Normally it involves one metro north ride, two subway cars from Grand Central Station to 34th street and one or two (depending on the station) Long Island Railroad trains. Sometimes, I even have to switch at Jamaica station. Phew! Just writing all of that was an expedition. Thankfully, today, my aunt is meeting me at Stamford which is half of the ride. It's like a cliff notes version to getting home. Actually, she picks me up quite often and I am so thankful for that. I am not a fan of the long commute somewhere. Once I meet her at Stamford it's only one more hour of travel and then I am home. With all those trains, you start to feel like you have been travelling all day.

So, on Wednesday, we get to have family day. I really hope we get to watch Charlie Brown Thanksgiving tomorrow night because what is a holiday without a Charlie Brown movie? 

Then Thursday is the ultimate family day; Thanksgiving! It will be a day of mass quantities of food, beverages, birthday gifts, birthday cake, pies, bread, loud Italians, card games and football. What would a holiday be without football? There will probably be some yelling and then some laughter, but we all know, at the end of the day, that we love one another.

My favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner is finally revisiting the deliciousness that are my mom's scalloped potatoes. It's three different kinds of potatoes covered in heavy cream and then baked! What is better than that? I can't think of anything! Normally, we make just one tray of them, but this year all the hungry men will be there so I am praying for a second tray. 

Well, I'm going to finish packing and preparing to head home. I will update again soon!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sunday, November 24, 2013

'Twas Four Nights Before Thanksgiving

'Twas four nights before Thanksgiving,
and all through the house,
not a student was stirring,
not even a...

Okay, so it seems that only Clement Clarke Moore can write a great poem in that form. I mean, how many things really rhyme with house and have anything to do with residence hall life. Hmm...I might have to ponder that for a while. I am sure I can come up with something.

Basically, it's the Sunday before Thanksgiving. My vacation begins as of 1:10 pm on Tuesday afternoon. I cannot wait to get home! For now, I am celebrating the end of a very windy, long and semi-boring weekend by watching the Gilmore Girls and doing my laundry. I actually had a very productive Sunday though. I read 3 students' papers that are W requirements for class. I always glad to help out my friends with their assignments. It's great to be a Writing Associate! One of the papers was about the internship that my friend Sharinna is currently in the middle of. It's so cool! She's working with the City of New Haven's Finance Department with the internal auditors and the controller. I cannot wait to work on my first big internship. It's basically like working for that company full-time. She is sitting  in on big meetings, helping with company decisions, gathering paper work from company presidents, etc. Well, any way, I was just really glad to be the Writing Associate who got to read her paper.

Well, that's the dryer. Time to go fold some laundry.

Until next time!

Friday, November 22, 2013

Writer Hard at Work

Well, you might be wondering where I ran off to for past week or so. Honestly, I have been working long hours and late nights on a short story. I started it during my freshman year of college for creative writing class with Professor Wallman. It started out on a small, yellow napkin from a birthday dinner in Canada. Now, it is seven small paragraphs long. It's something that I am hoping will turn into a short novel or novelette. What's the difference, you ask? A novel has 40,000 words and up and a novelette is only about 7,500 - 17,500 words, according to the Science Fiction Writers of America.

I want to share a small excerpt from my story with all of you. I like hearing opinions and suggestions. What do you like about it? What do you not like about it? Please do not be afraid to send me comments! As a writer, I am used to criticism.

Here we go! Here is section number 6. I have dropped you into the middle of my story. It is right after my main characters have collided with one another.

The ride down all seventeen stories of the office building was completely silent, except for the speedy clicking of the blackberry keyboard. She stands there, afraid to move and contemplating starting a conversation with him, but has no idea what to say to him. He clearly is not interested in speaking, so she forgets about it. The ground floor icon lights up and they part ways. She raises her arm and hails a cab to head on home. He is now imprinted in her mind and there is nothing she can do to forget about him.

So? What did you think? Send me constructive criticisms please! I appreciate any help I can get with this! 

Sunday, November 10, 2013

I Was Raised by a Television

In my 20 years of existence, there have been two constants; a television set and a series to watch on it. It is a part of everything I do and in a lot of instances, it ends up dictating how I schedule my extracurricular activities and my social life. When I was in the 4th grade, my homework had to be done by 9pm so I could watch Angel with my older sister. Angel (1999-2004) was a spinoff of the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer(1996-2003) and my first obsession. Angel is a vampire with a soul, living in Los Angeles and saves innocents from evil people as a way of redeeming a lifetime of bad deeds. Well, anyway, Angel came on on Monday nights. Monday's at 9 from 1999 until 2005, I was not to be disturbed. That show ended only to be replaced by two more: Bones (2005) and Supernatural (2005) on Tuesday nights at 8 and 9pm. Both of these shows are still a major part of my life, but they are not my obsession as much as they used to be. Now, my life is all about The Vampire Diaries and Once Upon a Time.

I started 6th grade and suddenly my Tuesday nights were packed with action on the television screen. Supernatural and Bones both started up and both continue to be amazing shows as they roll through their 9th seasons this year! Bones, for those who may never have seen any of it, is about Temperance Brennan, a Cultural Anthropologist and Special FBI Agent Seeley Booth and their adventures. It's funny every week and the action is definitely a plus, but the draw for me is the romantic aspect between Booth and Brennan. It's amazing and I highly recommend it. I have to be honest. The only reason I started watching originally was because David Boreanaz (Angel) was going to be in the show. Now, I just love it! Supernatural is all about the lives of two brothers and their journey across America at least ten times over now as they fight against the paranormal. We have gone from fighting ghosts and urban legends to fighting against Lucifer, the king of Hell and angels. It is all pretty intense and after nine seasons, it has not lost its spunk!


The Vampire Diaries (2009 - ) is the story of a young girl named Elena Gilbert who meets the handsome vampire brothers Stefan and Damon Salvatore. She falls in love with Stefan, but has a crush on Damon. Basically, the whole series is about the love triangle and how Elena looks exactly like the brothers' ex-girlfriend Katherine. She is the dreaded "D" word...Doppelganger! I mostly watch the show because all of the actors are these gorgeous, amazing human beings. They are beautiful on the outside, yes, but beautiful on the inside as well. I think that the producers could not have found better people to pose as these characters week after week. It's one of the millions of reasons the show is so successful. We are seven episodes into our 5th season and this past weekend the cast celebrated the end of filming their 100th episode! I am so proud of them!


Last year, I started watching the show Once Upon a Time (2011- ). It is truly amazing! First and foremost, Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White is perfect. Her real life and on screen Prince Charming aka James aka David is also perfect. Picture this; a small town called Storybrooke that is home to all of your favorite fairy tale characters. Be warned though; these are not the sweet Disney story book characters. No, these are made of the true stories, the Hans Christian Andersen and Grimms Brothers stories. We are currently in season 3 have been trapped in Neverland with Peter Pan and the Lost Boys since episode 1 of this season. Neverland is definitely nowhere that anyone wants to be. It is a pretty terrifying place to be if you ask me. Captain Hook aka Killian Jones, is my favorite character because he is actually not evil. He really is very good, but has been hurt and is confused as to his role in the grand scheme of things. The evil villains throughout this series so far have been: the Evil Queen, Rumpelstiltskin and now Peter Pan.

So, you are probably wondering why I just gave you a walk-through of all my television shows, right? I have a good reason. That reason is because I am trying to make the point that we all have those go to shows. We all have that show that we have to watch each week otherwise our week is just shot. It's so crazy to think back to my first show and how inaccessible television used to be. Now, if we miss an episode of anything, you can find it online or in the i-tunes store if you feel like paying. We have DVR's and Tivo and whatever else people use to record shows. Most networks have the episodes available on their websites within 24 hours of it airing. That's pretty amazing if you ask me. Things like Netflix and Hulu make it possible for television addicts like myself to re watch their favorite moments over and over again, on numerous different devices, no matter where we are, for just a small fee. If I had Netflix as a kid, I never would have seen the sun.


Saturday, November 9, 2013

Open House; Open Memories.

Today, November 9th, was the college's annual Fall Open House. I am always excited to be a part of it.
It is a day to show off all the amazing clubs, gorgeous mansion residence halls, the beautiful Rosary Hall and we get the see all the brilliant students that could potentially become future Albertus students; future Falcons!
I love meeting the perspective students because it brings me back to days not that far back in my life. I have experienced all the emotions you could possibly feel when you are in high school and looking at colleges. Everywhere I look during open house, I see my mom and I as we walked around the campus for the first time four years ago. Wow...has it truly been that long?

Picture this if you can; four years ago, a high school sophomore, shy and nervous, silently hiding behind her mother and her younger sister. She slowly and carefully takes a peek around the campus all while making sure not to stray too far from her two buffers. Her mom holds the Q&A sessions and gathers flyers of information at every table they moved to. Her younger sister takes part in the raffles going on and nudges her older sister to play the game; win a prize. English club table, the Writing Center, English majors table, Residential Life, etc; it was all too much to take in, but wonderful all at the same time.

Ah, memories. That was the very first time I came to see what Albertus Magnus College was all about. I mean, who would not like it here? The campus is gorgeous, especially in the fall; when all the leaves turn colors. Well, I wore two hats during the Student Activities portion of open house today; Student Alumni Association and representing Breakwater, the literary magazine that I am a co-president of with Annemarie Tompsen. SUBMIT TO BREAKWATER NOW through FEBRUARY 14TH! EMAIL US AT breakwater.amc@gmail.com.



Friday, November 8, 2013

Been A Long Week

So, you are probably wondering where I wandered off to. Well, let me tell you that things at school have been so crazy. The last two weeks have been like one giant, annoying flash mob. By definition, a flash mob is a small gathering of people that come to one specific place at a specific time and perform an action and then disappear. “In like a lion, out like a lamb,” as they say. Where should I begin?
My Halloween was quite mellow. I was on duty in McAuliffe Hall that night, but I did have a lovely floor function. There was pumpkin painting and tons of candy and cookies to be had. It was delicious. Between the chocolate bars and Vampire Diaries, my night was exactly what I asked for. 
On Saturday night, last week, I helped to co-chair the Falcon League event with some of my co- RA's. It was a little discombobulated at the start, but once we got the games started, the night ran smoothly.


Falcon League was a night of obstacles; some hard and some easier, but the name of the game was to overcome the tougher challenges and become a legend. We had three rounds with three stages in each round. The first stage of the first round was to place a cookie on your forehead and try to eat it without using your hands. Next, the contestants had to build a pyramid out of cups and then un-stack it. The final stage for that round was to answer 3 out of 5 trivia questions. The trivia questions were all about the residential life staff. Some people definitely need to brush up on who is a part of the residential staff. It was all fun and games anyway, so, no big deal. Some of the other rounds included: push-ups, jumping jacks (while reciting the alphabet), dizzy bat, paddle balancing, and card matching. 

Our three winners; Falcon Legend, Falcon Warrior and Falcon Survivor were awarded with cash prizes and three gorgeous blue sashes created by myself and RA Mimi. It was definitely a successful night and I was glad to be a part of it!

The morning after...Sunday, I hopped on a Metro-North train to Stamford where my aunt picked me up and we drove an hour back to Long Island. Why would I go home for less than 24 hours? Well, we were celebrating my sister's 19th birthday and my grandmother's 72nd birthday. It was one of the best Sundays I have had in a while. I am so glad I made the decision to go home for the day. 

Now, I am back at school and the work is just being tossed at me from every direction. I have two tests this coming Monday and a paper due sometime this week. Crazy stuff. The semester is definitely winding down though. I can feel it. Until next time!