Top 5 Green Family Christmas Traditions.

1. Picking the Christmas Tree
Every year, my family and I go to the Christmas tree farm together to select the perfect Green Family Christmas Tree! Well...my mom and dad pick it out...while my brother and I play hide and seek. It starts out pretty easy; hiding behind a wall or in a different section of trees, etc. But then it gets intense. One year, my brother buried himself in this pile of around twenty trees! I was SO frustrated because I had NO idea where he was and couldn't find him for the majority of the time we were there. He won that year, but damn was he sticky.



2. New Ornaments
Each of us has our own box of ornaments we've collected over the years. And every year, we get a new ornament that may or may not symbolize something important that has happened to us during that year. I say "may not" because I got a gag one this year. It's a National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation one that sings this song that begins the movie, which I LOVE. I've been singing it ALL BREAK. Other ornaments include: three "Baby's First Christmas" ornaments, none of which have the correct year I was born, a ballerina from when I used to dance, and a wooden snowman my friend got me this year in our ornament exchange!

3. Never Staying in Town

Family Reunion!

We never seem to stick around for the Holidays. My mother's side of our family lives in San Diego, dad's side lives near Sacramento, and we live almost in Central. For those of you know know nothing about the geography of California, they are on opposite ends. These people don't necessarily get along very well, so we're forced to alternate between them. Sometimes it can be a pain, but it's a constant, and a promise that we'll see them both at least once a year, and for that, I'm grateful.

Josh is always so happy. 

4. "Pre-Christmas"
A nice part about spending Christmas somewhere else is that usually on the day we leave our house, we celebrate a Pre-Christmas! Basically, we open our gifts to each other, and our gifts from the side of the family we won't be seeing that year. It's a nice way to spend time with each other before we're surrounded by other family. Last year I got my brother a bunch of gag gifts. I filled a can full of pennies and wrapped it three times with duct tape. That was pretty entertaining. This year he got his ears pierced and asked for earrings. I felt so weird walking out of Claire's with a pair for my brother. A dude. They were cute, too.

5. Midnight Mass & Family Portraits

Midnight mass has always been a big event for us. Everyone gets all dressed up in their holiday best and we spend some time reflecting the true meaning of this holiday. The birth of Christ! Woo! I'm a little uncertain about where I stand with my religious beliefs at present, but it's always a nice reminder of the community I was brought up in and how I was raised. When we get back from mass,  since everyone's looking snazzy, we take family photos to celebrate being with each other at the conclusion of another fabulous year!

All Seven Grandchildren :)

It's Hard to Say Goodbye.

The semester is over, and here I am sitting in an airport getting ready to make my way back to my sunny California (yup, even in the wintertime). Back where my mom’s waiting to watch movies and eat junk-food with me while we unpack my things, where my dad and I will crack jokes night and day, where my brother will be gaming/working/partying 24/7, and where all my high school friends are a drive away.

You’d think I’d be thrilled to be going back here. Well..to an extent, yes, of course I am. I’m excited for spending the Christmas season with people I love. But this transition has its down sides as well. This past semester, a new group of people nuzzled their way into my heart.

I started hanging out with a new group of friends this semester. And I love them. It’s been a while since I’ve made friends who I really care about; who I trust and who I can depend on. Who would let me lounge around their suite until the wee hours of the morning just because I didn’t want to be alone in my room. Who trusted me popping their zits. Who came to see the play almost every night. Who would let me squeeze the bejeezus out of their hands while some girl drove a needle through my nose. Who would offer to give me a ride to the airport and leave a whole hour earlier just so I could make my flight. I mean these people just let me sit with them at lunch out of nowhere. It’s really an irreplaceable feeling to have friends that care about you. I didn’t really have that until this semester, and I found myself super dismayed by the idea of leaving them for home. Especially because one’s leaving for TWO semesters starting in January for London and then going to Chicago in September.

Last night a few of us had a slumber party in the suite and fell asleep to talking about our future kids names like we could any other night,

except that it was Jessica’s last night with us.

My alarm went off in the morning and I hated myself for putting my phone all the way by the window the night before. It was a gloomy, rainy day. I went back to sleep because no one was up yet, and didn’t wake back up until JUST BEFORE Jess left. We all hugged her goodbye, but it’s always harder to see someone walk away than to actually say goodbye to them. Right when the door closed behind her the tears ambushed me. This really took me by surprise. I NEVER CRY. Never for events that happen in real life, anyway. We all ran to the window and knelt there like puppies watching until she drove away with her hand out the window. It’s weird to think about the fact that someone who has become an essential part of my daily routine for the past three months I won’t be seeing much of at all for the next couple years. I'm really gonna miss her a lot. But how exciting does that sound?! A whole eight months somewhere completely different! That takes some serious courage. And the things she's going to learn and experience! I'm really excited for her :)

Well, now I’m back at home, just sort of moping around,

but seriously enjoying doing nothing.

This past semester was just such a stress-fest!

Time to sit back and relax :)

There & Back, Again.

So...I’ve really been putting off writing this entry, could you tell? I feel like once I’ve finished writing it, this crazy wonderful period of my life will be closed. People will no longer feel the same energy they once felt when bursting out into random songs about paradoxes and pirates. The secrets of the show that once connected us have all been revealed, and what’s left? A recording of some college’s performance of The Pirates of Penzance, and a few good memories.

Well, I guess I’d better share those with you then--

This play was a blasty blast if I've ever experienced one. I’ve never felt more strong or powerful or beautiful in my life; which I think is kind of remarkable considering I was a 47-year old nurse-pirate wench.

I made some new friends,

got to wear the most awesome costume ever

(complete with extra boobs and two extra butt pads

which people squeezed for good luck),

had my mother come visit and see me perform,

sang and performed for a full audience in a lead role

(check that off my bucketlist!!),

became a better singer,

and laughed the entire time.

What a great looking bunch of people :)

I think one of the most amazing parts was singing a solo onstage. I can’t even describe the intensity of it. All I can remember is complete silence in the auditorium - except for my own voice - which everyone was there to listen to. Now that is a crazy thought. The stage lights blinding me when I looked into the audience only made it seem that much more surreal. It was such a special moment. But the best part was the fact that there were so many people there; this show meant SO much to me, and the fact that I got to share it with them just made me want to cry, I was so happy. I literally loved every person who came, especially the people who were important to me. One of my friends came and saw it three of the four nights, my choir conductor, who knew I had been working my ass off for this thing, came and said she was blown away, my mother flew out from California to see it, and another friend of mine said he wasn’t going to be able to make it, then surprised me by coming to the last performance. All these people made the show worth doing every night, and I’m more happy to have shared those few nights with them than I would be if I got to spend my whole life onstage.
Here’s one of the recordings -- its the opening of the show. I think the whole first act is online if you've got an extra 45 minutes to spare ;)
It’s funny - Recently, I’ve been asked many times why I perform, and every time I find it an extremely difficult question to answer. Normally, I say I do it for myself, but, I think this production has led me to thoroughly enjoy acting as a means of connecting to people in the audience.Theater has the power to largely impact people; I’m entranced forever and a day by performances I see, here in Chicago (which is why I am so sad not to have seen any theater this whole semester!!). I know exactly how it feels to leave a show and be mesmerized by an actor’s performance, or concepts of the show, or even something as simple as a single line in it. And to be the cause of that mesmerization, to actively stimulate someone’s mind other than by simply stating an obvious truth, I think, is an incredible power.
On the other hand, when I say I perform for myself, I mean that I love it because performing the most awesome way to explore human capacity. Think of all the emotions you’ve ever felt in your life. Now think of all the different ways of expressing those emotions. THERE ARE TRILLIONS! The one regret I would have were I to die this very instant would be that I didn’t know everything I’m capable of doing or experiencing. You’re probably asking, “Well, why don’t you go do the real thing, then?” Truthfully, I’m scared. Who in their right mind thinks it’s easy to tell people how you really feel about them? Or that you get the chance everyday to bitch out the person you loathe? Or to lie straight to someone’s face to get what you want? And who in the hell actually gets to experience love at first sight anyways? Acting gives us the opportunity to explore such rare human emotions, for the most part, without consequences.
Well, now I'm getting side-tracked. Anyways, here’s to the amazing performance, a great cast, and many more memories to come!

Coming Soon.

Do you ever think about how powerful the human mind is? I do. It’s crazy intense. They say we only use 10% of our brain...I don’t know whether to believe this or not, but if it is true, HOW SCARY IS THAT?

I’ve often tried to think of ways the other ninety percent could be used and can honestly think of a time or two when I tried to telepathically ask a friend what answer she put for a test question and/or lift my shampoo in the shower. For some reason, it would seem to me that anyone who could access that unknown 90% of their brains must be either a super genius (in which case that 90% would be used towards gaining and retaining knowledge) or crazy enlightened and be some kind of demi-god (in which case the 90% would be used for some kind of...I don’t know...emotional intelligence?)

Such are the thoughts that plague me in my statistics class today.

In other news, the play is just around the corner! Nine days to opening night, to be exact. Rehearsals are getting to be insanely stressful and demanding. Usually rehearsals are exhausting because you’re pulling up all types of different emotions and trying to make them seem new and normal even though they’re obviously preconceived. But this isn’t the exhausting part of this play. The most exhausting part of this play is that it’s a freaking musical. Don’t get me wrong, that’s my favorite part about it. The songs are so catchy and really hysterical, but they just require SO. MUCH. ENERGY. And the problem is if you get caught up in the energy (which normally you would do in a play because it motivates your character)...you can’t sing! Which is a problem because a musical consists of mostly - you guessed it - songs.

Here is a photo of the menacing pirates!

4ever - The Veronicas

I am ridiculously excited for this show, no doubt. But I’m also scared shitless...we have nights where we’re fantastic, but then there are nights (like tonight) where we crash and burn. You’d think that by rehearsing more we’d be getting lines and actions and dances down a little better, but every rehearsal, I can just feel my energy level plummeting! Do you want to hear the saddest part of all this? I haven't had a sip of coffee in over a week!

(This is the part where you gasp hysterically.)

For you singers out there, I learned last year that coffee is one of the worst things to drink if you're going to be singing.

Rumor Has It - Adele

I’m sure it’ll all come together, but its still terrifying. Oh and because I don’t think you know this yet, my mother is coming out! (AHHHH!) Last year my dad came out to visit me around this time, but this year my mom's making the trip and since I’m in Pirates, she just decided to come out during the weekend of the play and see me in it...which only adds to the terrifyingness of it all!

Sugar, We’re Going Down - Fall Out Boy

It's starting to get a little chilly here, in eastern Illinois...



...and being from California, this is very unusual. Cold days in California are around 60 degrees and usually series of them last no more than a few days. Cold days in Illinois, so far have been 40-something and we're in that weird transition period from WARM 60 degree weather to MEDIOCRE 40 degree weather...



It's been this way long enough for me to realize that the warmth I'm used to probably isn't coming back anytime soon.


As horrible as being cold sounds, and sometimes is, chilly weather has always weirdly enticed me.

It gives people a reason to bundle up and be cozy and comfortable. It gives us a reason to snuggle up with a warm blanket, hot cocoa, and a nice book (when we have time to do this, of course). It gives people a reason to cuddle with a significant other, or if you're like me and single, their moms. For some reason, the cold weather to me has some kind of romantic connotation, not in the lovey-dovey sense, but in the fanciful, adventurous, idealistic sense. It's funny that Fall is only just beginning and here I am talking about the Christmas season, ha. More on that later, I guess.

The Cave - Mumford & Sons

Things that are attempting to keep me motivated in these next few weeks:

Seeing my mom NEXT WEEK!
This is us back in New York

My awesome roommate:

Quickie fact about her -- she’s Mormon and just decided she’s going on her mission for 18 months starting next year when she turns 21!! :)

Sail - AWOLNATION

My adorable dogs waiting for me back home:
This is Lucy and her new favorite toy she carries with her everywhere.

This is Tiger, Mom, and Lucy.

This awesome song. I’m sure you’ve probably heard it, but for the sake of you listening to it now and hopefully being relieved of some pressure as well, here it is. Give it a listen, it may do you just the good you need :)

Inspiration.

Just For Now - Imogen Heap

There are very few thing in this life that I find inspirational. I don't really put much faith in humanity, which I realize is pessimistic. I guess this is why what I find inspirational are revolutionary ideas.

The Dog Days are Over - Florence + The Machine

Whenever I read, whether for a class or for leisure, I feel like I become immersed in each different authors ideas, especially if I agree with them. My favorite kinds of literary compositions to read (once I force myself to start reading them) are generally intellectually challenging ones like Emerson's or Thoreau's old-school essays.

Baby Boomer - Monsters of Folk

Fiction-wise, if you're looking for something philosophically challenging, take a whack at Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being (although I would only recommend this to readers who can buy themselves a ticket to an R-rated movie).

The River of Dreams - Billy Joel

Anyways, whenever I read, if a particular idea or quote strikes me, I've been trying to write them down to remind me of the inspiration the work in general gave me at the time I read it. So, to give you a better idea of my taste in literature and what inspires me, in hopes that these ideas will inspire you as well, I've decided to share with you my personal collection of favorite quotes thus far.

I Need - Ben Sollee

"No life is a waste. The only time we waste is the time we spend thinking we are alone." - Mitch Albom

"Embosomed for a season in nature, whose floods of life stream around and through us...why should we grope among the dry bones of the past, or put the living generation into the masquerade out of its faded wardrobe? The sun shines today also...To the attentive eye, each moment of the year has its own beauty and in the same field, it beholds every hour, a picture which was never seen before, and which shall never be seen again." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

World At Our Feet - Joe Brooks

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and to be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion." - Henry David Thoreau

Why Do You Let Me Stay Here - She & Him

"To see and hear people lie and to be called a fool yourself for putting up with the lie; to endure insults, humiliations, not daring to say openly that you're on the side of the honest, free people, and to have to lie yourself, to smile, and all that for a crust of bread, a warm corner, some little rank that's not worth a penny--no, it is impossible to live like that any longer!" - Anton Chekhov

"Society is commonly too cheap. We meet at very short intervals, not having had time to acquire any new value for each other. We meet at meals three times a day, and give each other a new taste of that old musty cheese that we are. We have had to agree on a certain set of rules, called etiquette and politeness, to make this frequent meeting tolerable, and that we need not come to open war. We meet at a post office, and at the sociable, and about the fireside every night; we live thick and are in each other's way and stumble over one another, and I think that we thus lose some respect for one another. Certainly less frequency would suffice for all important hearty communications." - Henry David Thoreau

Rest - Parts & Labor

"Life should be portrayed not the way it is and not the way it's supposed to be--but the way it appears in dreams." - Anton Chekhov

"Union is only possible to those who are units...A profound thinker has said 'no married woman can represent the female world, for she belongs to her husband. The idea of a woman must be represented by a virgin.' But this is the very fault of marriage, and of the present relation between the sexes, that the woman does belong to the man, instead of forming a whole with him." - Margaret Fuller

Hero/Heroine - Boys Like Girls

"The human heart has hidden treasures, in secret kept in silence sealed; the thoughts, the hopes, the dreams, the pleasures whose charms were broken if revealed." - Charlotte Bronte

"Interpretation is the revenge of intellect upon art...in place of a hermeneutics we need an erotics of art." - Susan Sontag

"You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body. - C.S. Lewis

"If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it was, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see? - Lewis Carroll

There's Hope - India.Arie

I'm Looking for God Everywhere.

For those who can still ride an airplane for the first time : Anis Mojgani.

I'm thirty years old, and I'm trying to figure out most days what being a man means.
I don’t drink, fight or love but these days I find myself wanting to do all three,
And I don’t really have a favorite color anymore, but I did when I was a kid.
And back then that color was blue, and back then I wanted to be an astronaut, I wanted to be an architect, an artist, a secret agent, a ranger for the World Wildlife Fund, and a hobo.
And when I was six years old I used to always throw my clothes into my blue and yellow, plastic and vinyl, hot wheels car-carrying suitcase and run away to beneath the dining room table.
I’ve made out with more girls than I wish I’ve had and not nearly as many as I’d like to.
I’ve been in love four or five times so I doubt I’m going to try that much more often.
And I spend most days making pictures or thinking about making pictures or masturbating or thinking about masturbating.
And I dream too much and I don't write enough,
And I’m trying to find God everywhere. Trying to figure this thing he made called a man.
And the television, it tells me that that's bare-knuckled bombing,
And if I drove a tank or was a movie star my penis would be huge.
And thats what I want because thats what being a man means, or at least thats what they keep telling me.
My pops, he takes care of us.
He puts the garbage out twice a week.
He drives forty-five minutes just to water flowers.
I'm sitting on the bus when a seven year-old boy carrying a book of Robin Hood, he sits down next to me he and asks me my name.
“Anis.” That’s a nice name.
“Thank you, what’s yours?” Quentin.
Anis, do you want to read with me?
So tell me what my fists keep writing.
My fingers, they open up like gates when I write and the wind is swinging in the wake.
I lift bridges with poems and forests grow in my mother’s eyes.
“I am looking for God, Quentin.”
While this world tries to forget you for trying.
For Quentin, this world hates your eyes,
For they are small and pure.
And Quentin, this world hates your fingers, little like the stems of flowers.
For not being able to pick up the things you have left behind, simply because you are still learning to do so.
I don’t drink, fight, or fuck but these days, Quentin, it’s only two out of those three that I don’t do.
And I fall in love six, seven, eight, nine, ten times, Quentin, so I don’t want to want to, but I still do.
And I want to find God in the morning, in the tired hands of dusk. At the mouth of the river, and down by its feet,
But, instead, I drive sixty through residential streets, praying to hit a child so that they may stay forever an angel, and stay forever of night and life and crayons and simple outstretched limbs
..Trying to pick up way too much way too fast, forgetting what it means to be a person.
In a world where egos are measured with tabloids, where automobiles double for morals, where beliefs are like naps; you leave them behind when somebody touches you.
And in a place where oil always takes precedence over life,
I find myself sitting on a bus, watching a small boy float down like fresh waterCarrying a book that I used to, asking if I want to see what he sees if only for a little while, and I do.
Then asks if I want to give to him what I see if only for a little while, and I read to him.
And then says to me he’s going to show me the world.
And starts reading the sentences himself, his hands dancing back and forth across the pages, stumbling over words, skipping over lines because his fingers are moving faster and with the showing of his eyes,
I wanna tell him, “Slow down, Quentin. Slow down, Quentin.You don't have to touch go.
You can see it all if your finger whispers on one word.
Slow down and hold what you see just a little while longer.”
For in a world of fast faces, I’m looking for God everywhere, trying to figure out a little better this little thing he made called a man.”

Panning for Gold : Ben Sollee

I saw God by the river

Panning for gold

I saw God by the river

Weary and old

He said; Son,

I used to know where I put things,

I used to know.

I saw God in the forest

Teaching Tai Chi to the trees

In the wind

And bowing to the sea.

He said; Son,

I used to know where I put things,

I used to know.

I saw God on a mountain

Tearing at the sky

I saw God on a mountain

With tears in His eyes.

He said; Son,

I used to know where I put things

I used to know

I could have shown you all the beauty in the world,

But now I need you to show me.

Yes, show me.

The Beginning of a New Year.

Well, summer is over, and here I am sitting in a dorm room again. I knew it had to end sometime, but dang I was surprised at how quickly it snuck up on me. You'd think that four months would be more than enough time to be with family and friends back home. But when you think about it longer, what is four months a year compared to the twelve I used to live there? But thinking about it that way just depresses me, so I guess I'll just have to be grateful for what time I did have at home.

Before it ended, though I managed to get a few last thrills in, the best of which included my last day at Johnny Rockets!! The worst of which included my best friend and I getting caught by her parents at a party at my house while my parents were hiking the grand canyon. I didn't actually get into trouble, my parents are pretty understanding and are aware that my brother and I drink; they were basically expecting us to use the house. Katie's parents on the other hand were pretty strict with her (she couldn't come to my house without parental supervision for the rest of the summer), but I think they got over it eventually.

I don't even understand why parents are so surprised or disappointed when they discover that their kids drink-at least, not when they're around 17 or 18. If it is legal at some point in a person's life, what decides when a person is old/responsible enough to do it. It makes me mad when parents get mad at their children for drinking at home when they've been at college unsupervised for at least a year. I feel that my parents rules about drinking are pretty fair- don't drink and drive, don't make an idiot of yourself, and make sure the house is cleaner than when they left it. The only one I don't understand is they don't normally let us drink in their presence, even if we're not going anywhere. It's like they don't want to know it's going on...even when they do. Whatever, it's an issue I'll never really understand, especially here in America, where basically everywhere else in the world, it's legal at 18.

Anyways, moving on. The only other thing worth noting was a quick road trip to San Diego with a few friends which was a blast.

Four days of crazy driving, by yours truly,

ahhh the fresh mountain air!

coffee houses, drunken confessionals, ladies nights out,

shopping sprees and sunset hikes,

exploring the forest of my grandmother's backyard

atomic bingo, getting bad tans and sun-highlights,

catching up on some reading,

and all without managing to kill each other!

...well maybe not.

;)

It was a nice way to end out the summer. And now I'm back! (from outer space. hah.) I have so much stuff going on I'm surprised I'm still functioning so well. New classes, new roommate, new clubs, new job, new responsibilities, new perspective, new year.

I need to go soon (damn homework), but let me just explain that everything that's going on this year is due to this new outlook I have; my new perspective. Any my perspective is this:

Courage is not the absence of fear; but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear.

And yes, I realize this is straight out of The Princess Diaries, but I was watching it last night and I decided it summed up my new view perfectly. There is no reason to be scared to do something. I value experience over comfortability which is why this year it seems so much more important to me to make the best of every moment of it. What does it matter if everything works out okay, but there are periods in life where you are alone with nothing to do but wish you were doing more? Periods of time wasted on the internet or watching TV alone in your room because you're too afraid that you'll look like an idiot doing it alone in the lobby? Walking to the library on your own to get some work done, just so you can feel like you did something with your day, and secretly envying the group playing frisbee on the quad. Thus, the life of my Freshman year. I've decided to put an end to this wishful thinking and put it into action. Without further ado, I give you the list of activities I plan to stay committed to this school year:

-Working at the Writing Center

-Concert Choir

-Chamber Singers (if I qualify)

-Pirates of Penzance (the musical)

-Pride

-Garrick Players (another theater group on campus)

all that and keeping my grades up is going to be a doozy, but I WILL do it. As mentioned in my last blog post, I have the most reliable companion. Coffee.

GOODNIGHT.

Ode to Coffee.

I concluded today, I'm addicted to Coffee.

Nothing compares, not ice cream, not toffee.

For when we are together, the world actually spins,

and I find that my day almost always begins

to improve in a way that seems fun and productive.

So you taunt me this night, sitting oh, so seductive.

Oh coffee, if only wed we could be.

You're already the only one my eyes wish to see

upon waking, as smelling you lures me from dreams,

whether they'd ended in smiles or screams.

You then jump-start my heart, both with zeal and romance

so the blood pumps with passion as if it were chance

that reincarnated the zombie of flesh

I once was. Now stunned, I stand here afresh.

Can't you just take the place of a significant other?

For you are reliable, don't question or smother!

I guess though, for now, you will remain just a drink,

but thank you for forcing me to rethink

what I thought I wanted in a relationship, gay.

I guess every one is a Coffee kind of day.

I Give Up.

Okay, I've pretty much given up on this day-by-day-play-by-play thing. Besides, the next day is the day my camera died so there aren't really anymore pictures :( The only other cool thing worth noting is that I got to go to the Harry Potter Exhibition which was literally the coolest thing of my life. Like I almost started crying, that's how excited I was..okay now that just makes me sound like some kind of die-hard harry potter FREAK, but really I'm not...I mean it's not like I bought my Harry Potter 7 - The Deathly Hallows Part 2 tickets more than a week ago and am going to a double premier of the first and second ones that starts at 830pm and am dressing up as Harry Potter or anything like that..I mean seriously. But for reals, my whole group of friends are going and dressing up too, aaaaaand my best friend is going to be the snitch. Don't you wish yours was that cool?

I love my group of friends. In high school, your "group" was defined by the people you sat with at lunch, so everyone's friend group was called their "table." For instance, "I went to see the Moorpark fireworks on July 3rd with my table"...it doesn't make as much sense now that I'm no longer in high school, haha. Anyways, here we all are :)

Going clockwise from the girl in the blue hat, that's Caitlyn, Kaitlynne, Katie, Julia, Christina, and me in the red shirt and slanket. You may be thinking to yourself, "What the hell is a slanket? Probably some kind of knock-off version of a snuggie, amiright?" No, no. I shall tell you. It is the infinitely more awesome and attractive equivalent of a snuggie. It has a sweatshirt and foot pocket. Katie got it for me as a going away gift since I was going back to the icy wasteland of Chicago. This actually isn't all of our table, but it's pretty close. Check us out. Catholic school girls making a Jewish star. We turned out so well :)

Here we are watching the fireworks. I don't know why I've never watched them laying down before, it's ingenious, I was trippin.

oooooooohhh...

aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh....

ohhhhhhhhhhhhh.....

:)

Hope you all had a wonderful Independence Day!

NYC Day 4

Day 4 - Saturday

If you were to know anything about the Babauta Family (my mom's side), it's that we are a thrifty bunch of people. All the cousins, who are all a year apart except one, would meet up at grandma's house in San Diego once every few years and despite any other fun things we had planned, there were two destinations that always made the list: Amvets and the Swap Meet. Amvets is the best thrift store ever--I once got a giant tropical fan there that I used for decorating my room for $5. The swap meet in our family is a huge deal. It's like a gigantic flea market-it has a bunch of seriously marked down clothing places, funky gadget places, cute toy tents, $1 only spaces, food venders, surf and longboard shops, instrument shops, fresh plants, fruits and veggies, mexican candy places, and of course garage sale vendors selling all sorts of interesting valuable gadgets at incredibly reasonable prices. Since all the Babauta grandkids have been going here since they were toddlers, we are practically pro bargainers fasho.

This was the reason why my mom, Auntie Linda, and Grandma got up so early today: to hit up the flea markets. The cousins and Aunt Elaine slept in since we knew they'd be going on until at least 2pm.

Here's Auntie Linda at one of the early morning sales.

The rest of us got up late, got some bagels and sat in times square to people watch for a bit. Then we made our way to a flea market of our own. We were supposed to meet up with the others there, but it took them forever to get there, and by the time they arrived, we were pretty much done looking. This market we went to though, it had some prime stuff. It had a lot of vintage stuff, a lot of hand-crafted trinkets, and a lot of foreign ornaments - all of which are usually really expensive, but I managed to get this gorgeous vintage ring for ten bucks!

Here's the locket I was able to knock $5 bucks off of.

Aaaaaaaand the back. Its so pretty!!

Well, after the flea markets, we walked back to the hotel in times square. It was ridiculously hot out so the air conditioned room felt amazing. I'm pretty sure I was about to start my period because damn. As soon as we got back to the hotel, everything starting pissing me off like no other. People couldn't decide what they were going to do or if they even wanted to see a show that night, or who was going to use the bathroom first, and frankly I was getting tired of everybody telling me MY options because unlike everybody else, I knew what I wanted to do: I wanted to go see Master Class by Terrance McNally on broadway.

In high school, I was super involved in speech and debate. Two of my best friends (who did Duo) and I (who did Dramatic Interp) were the best on the team, and as such, the best was expected of us by our coach, who was basically our second mom. My junior year, she got it into her head that we were all going to be State champs and so she gave me this absolutely phenomenal speech about the opera extraordinaire Maria Callas; a woman who at one point dominated the operatic world.

This quest for greatness, however, cost her her emotional stability, and allowed all her fears of failure to invade and eventually conquer her mind at which time she lost her voice. They say those who can no longer do, teach; and so she held open master classes at Juilliard to which many stars of the time came to watch the renowned opera star work her magic on up and coming students. These classes, though she tried as hard as she could to focus on the task at hand, always seemed to revolve around her obsession with her own fame. These classes eventually became her path to reconciliation with the fact that she was but no longer is the best. Now imagine embodying this character at 16 years of age. This role tore me apart. I'm not kidding, I have been scarred by this woman's emotional tragedy. So when I heard that the play from which the speech I won 5th in state with was cut was back on broadway, I felt it was essential that I see it. I went back out to times square to stand in line for tickets with my aunt, who fortunately wasn't driving me crazy at that time, and got 2 tickets: one for me, and one for my other aunt who was in the mood for something we hadn't seen before; everyone else wanted to see Sister Act because it's all of our favorite movie.

I think we chose the better show ;) It was sooooo fascinating watching Tyne Daly reciting the same lines I recited just a few years ago, and comparing/contrasting our views on Callas through the decisions we made in interpreting the role. I thought she did an absolutely fantastic job. Her repartee with the audience just made the show. We were all exhausted after the shows, so we all pretty much crashed within the hour. It was a good day :D

Oh yeah--and here are my shot glasses. Keepin' it classy ;p

NYC Day 3

Day 3 - Friday

The day started out somewhat late, lovely enough. Barely caught complimentary breakfast at 930 in our pjs and came back upstairs to get ready. Thankfully everyone was in “chill mode” and not yelling at each other to get ready faster (the person being yelled at was usually me, so yes, I was relatively grateful this was not going on).

Here we are reveling in the fact that it was, indeed FRIDAY. My cousin’s roommate did a project in which she had people do the song Friday in sign language, and here she is teaching it to us:

The one to the left of Alexis is my Aunt Elaine, and the one sitting on the far bed is my Auntie Linda, Alexis' mom. You can just see the arm of my mom to the right sometimes, haha.

When we were finally ready to get out, we headed to China Town where we were bombarded by short asian women wandering around the sidewalk mumbling under their breath and staring at us intently. If you actually listened close enough, you could make out, "Gucci, Coach, Prada, Louis Vuitton, etc. etc." I found this totally SKETCH. They used to have hidden rooms in the back of their stores in which they would hide these fake purses, but the NYPD cracked down on China Town pretty hard since the last time I was there, and now you have to go through this whole elaborate, sketchy process of looking through ratty catalogues, having them phone their partners telling them in rapid and angry Chinese which purse to bring out and that they needed it now, and waiting in a random store, not around them while it's brought to you. Not that I've done it or anything..haha. But really, I didn't. We sat at a Starbucks and people watched for a long time. It was a prime spot for them to interrogate and tempt greedy tourists.

Anywho, I got a pocket watch necklace that I managed to bargain down $5 cheaper, a few shot glasses since, and I can't believe this is true, I had none! They were 3 for $10 at this cute grocery store :) I'll take a picture of them later. I wanted to get a purse, but I can never find one that I absolutely love. Not there, anyways.

China Town is right next to Little Italy, so we went there for lunch. Its funny, every time we were looking for someplace to eat, everyone would whip out their phones and yelp good places nearby. Then we would go on a long hunt for it, and sometimes the place wouldn't even be there anymore. That's what happened for lunch today. The place wasn't there, and a host for another place nearby started beckoning us into his restaurant, telling us how beautiful we were, and what great prices he had, and the like. Some of us thought this would be a good place too, but a few of us, including my mother still had our phones out researching where the original place we were going to eat at had moved to. I started telling the man that we were 7 total, and he started to get menus together, but then our group started walking away. I turned to the man and said, "Oops, I guess not..." and followed my mom. The man followed, too--to the streetlight. I told the guy no, and he followed us out to the STREET! He started talking to my mom, still diligently looking over her phone saying, "What's it gonna be ladies, seven for lunch or no?" He was getting impatient. My mom looks up from her phone straight into his eyes and says, "Can you just leave us alone? Please? I'd just REALLY appreciate that." He said, "I'll leave you alone if you get away from my menus," (he had big menus for people to look at outside the restaurant)...WE WERE ABOUT TO CROSS THE STREET. Nowhere near his menus. Jerk.

Anyways, we found the original place, and it was deliiiicious. I had a fettucini alfredo :) When we were getting ready to leave the restaurant, it started to rain. Hard. At one point it got really sunny, and it was one of the most beautiful sights I'd ever seen! These pictures couldn't possibly do it justice.

After a very wet sprint home, we got all nice and dressed up for....baaaabadababababaaaaaaa!

THE LION KING

And it. was. phenomenal. I wanted to cry just from the opening song. It was hard for some of the actors to keep the funny parts in the movie still funny sometimes, but the actor who played Scar never missed a beat. He embodied the character, he was Scar, Scar was he. In my point of view, he stole the show. But the technical aspect of it overwhelmed me the most. From the mechanical animal costumes to the perfect displays of colors for sunrises, to the entrancing african dances, it was definitely and experience. I would for sure see it again :)

We were kind of starving afterwards, so we hit up this awesome diner called Jeremy's right across the street from our hotel, at which I got a beef brisket sandwich :) nom nom nom.

NYC Day 2

Day 2 - Thursday

Up and about early today, well rested from the night before! My aunt is a rewards member at the hotel we stayed at so we got complimentary breakfast, too--an excellent bonus for New York on a Budget. I’m not usually a huge fan of hotel complimentary breakfasts...and I especially don’t trust people other than my family making my eggs. It’s weird, I know, but still. However at this breakfast buffet I couldn’t resist. Everyday for breakfast I’d get eggs, a couple sausages and a croissant and fashion myself a scrumptious breakfast sandwich. No joke it was fabulous.

Being our first full day in the city, we decided it was time to get some exercise. Translation: BIKE RIDE THRU CENTRAL PARK! I was super stoked because not only do I love scenic places, I’m also a pretty pro bike-rider...which is more than I can say for my cousins and grandmother, haha. With some trouble from jerks who tell you what a good deal you’re gettin when actually, they’re scamming you, we managed to get one of those cool tour bikes for grandma at a reasonable price. I was going to do a tandem bike with my cousin which would have been awesome, but they didn’t have any at the place we rented them. Nonetheless, the ride was fantastic!! There were all sorts of people on the trails: moms running with their newborns in strollers, hard core bicyclists, nasty sweaty hairy old men trying to keep in shape, high school besties planning their summer over a casual stroll, and of course, dinky tourists with their slick rental mountain bikes and backpacks.

Here we are! My cousin Alexis, and my madre in the red :)

Alexis having trouble with her bike...hehe.

Grandma and her incredibly decent-looking bicyclist ;)

John Lennon Memorial

After the ride, we ate at this adorable french restaurant--my salad was gorgeous and delicious-

mmmmmmm. nom nom nom.

Then we split up: Aunt Elaine went with grandma to get the ballet tickets for that night, and the rest of us (me, mom, Auntie Linda, Alexis, and Nicole) went to a couple designer sample sales. At the J Crew one, I got the cutest v-neck navy shirt with ruffles down the front and a thin oversized pale-pink sweater. An adorable combo at a NYoaB price ;)

Came back to the hotel to eat and wash up, and then the cousins and Aunt Elaine and Grandma went to the ballet! It was called Coppelia-about a girl whose lover falls for another girl...but then he discovers that she’s a doll and he goes back to loving the first girl. It was INCREDIBLE. I’d never been to the ballet before...I was ridiculously underdressed, haha. The male lead of the ballet was just phenomenal. He had a solo near the end in which he did these tremendous jumps-one after the other, for like 10 min straight. He was probably 6 feet something, and I swear he got up to 10 in the air. He literally stole the show, the audience was in AWE.

American Ballet Theater!

The stage was HUGE!

Here's the cast :)

The female lead is holding the violet flowers and the male lead is to her right.

The cousins :)

Left to Right: Alexis, me, Nicole

After the show, we caught a cab to meet up with mom and Auntie Linda at this place called the Shake Shack. They are famous for their frozen custard which they use instead of ice cream for all their desserts. They also had burgers--I ate mine so fast I don’t even remember eating it. The shake was delectable, but it was a little much for me--really rich. But hey, who am I to complain? :)