Not a good blogger

I always forget to update my blog for the 1-2 loyal readers I do have :)  Been a busy few weeks, amidst starting both my internships, driving to the valley for my cousin's wedding, moving apartments, lakehouse for 4th of July, and am currently in Montana with Ramsey for his work conference.  We spent the weekend driving around the area and in Yellowstone, which was GORGEOUS.  Only downside was that we both got pretty sick (so no real hiking or too much outdoorsy stuff) and I DID NOT see a bear or moose!  We did see a lot of bison in Yellowstone though, and some elk/deer and a wolf!  I'm waiting to go to the airport and fly back to Houston so that I can go back to work tomorrow.


No uploaded pictures yet, but this was pretty much our view the entire weekend: 

Ghanafest and my Jellyfish Debacle

So I've been a bad blogger and haven't really updated about my trip in Malta.  While everything I've done has been an experience in itself, this weekend involved Maltese folksinging, Tunisian and Egyptian rock bands, Maltese rappers, tasting rabbit, getting stung by a jellyfish, trying the old wives' tale of having someone pee on my sting, and sightseeing around the island.

First off, on Friday night I went with some people from our group to Ghanafest, a festival that Malta has every year that is meant to revolve around the music of "ghana" (pronounced 'ana'), which is an old cultural type of Maltese folksinging.  HOWEVER, it might be the worst type of music I have ever experienced in my life.  There are 2-4 men on stage typically, with 3 guitarists, and the men are involved in this "duel" sometimes in lyrics or sometimes are just wailing away out of key and uncaring.  It was quite an experience in itself.  However, the festival was fun, there was good Maltese food and little shops set up all around the music where people were selling jams, soaps, art, and all kinds of yummy food!  The highlight of the evening was definitely the Tunisian band that came on later.  They might have been the best band I've ever seen live, and were so entertaining.

My internet is super slow here, so pictures will have to wait to be uploaded.  Anyway, on Saturday I went with Kelly on a sightseeing tour of south Malta which was really fun - we saw Megalithic temples, a cave, the Blue Grotto, and a fishing village.  It was pretty cool, we were on a hop-on hop-off bus so we got to get off wherever we wanted to for an hour. 

Went back to Ghanafest that night to see a Bosnian band and the great Maltese singers once again - I swear they got worse over time. That noise that they produce is unhuman.

Anyway, on Sunday we all went to Comino, which is a tiny island on the west side of Malta.  It took forever to get there because we had to go by bus which altogether probably took 2 hours including waiting for the bus. The bus driver leaves us on the side of the road with this sketchy guy "Joseph from Gozo" who is going to take us to the Comino ferries.  Fortunately, everything was fine with that, and we get to Comino relatively safely, although I thought I would fly out of his little boat.  Comino was the site of several scenes in Troy, and you can tell the minute you get there how beautiful the island is.  You are able to see through most of the water and it sparkles on the surface. So gorgeous.  Anyway, we put our stuff down next to some Canadians and swim across to another side of the island.  We find a cave on this other part that goes straight through until the Mediterranean on the other side.  It was so cool to swim in a cave, despite the tremendous amounts of seaweed and algae on the bottom.  We hung out by some rocks for a while on the other side, and then went back to rejoin the rest of the group. 

It was at that point, when I was aaaalmost to the comfort of the sand that I heard Jeremy say something about tentacles and then the most shocking/stinging/painful sensation I ever felt leeched onto both my legs.  I don't think I directly realized it was a jellyfish, but I sure screamed loud enough so that everyone knew that it was.  I was dragged to shore and my leg was spasming because of all the pain. I admit I am the biggest baby when it comes to pain, but this was a deeply rooted pain that was flashing up and down my leg, swelling it up.  Since I was hysterically crying, everyone thought we should do the best thing we could do at that time: collect pee from someone.  Mike was the only one who volunteered his, so he got a water bottle from other tourists and went off to do his business. After making fun of the bright yellow color of his pee, it had to go directly on my leg, lots of fun for everyone around me, but at that point I no longer cared since it was so painful. 

After a few more minutes, my leg stopped spasming, although still hurt to walk.  Managed to half swim across to the other side again and get back on the bus after getting a beer to calm me down.  My little escapade was the highlight of almost everyone's trip to Comino, although I still have a pretty ugly scar and don't feel entirely back up to par yet.  I still went back to Ghanafest that night though, and saw a really good Egyptian band! I love Ghanafest - it was a good way to experience both Maltese culture and music from a variety of other cultures.  I'm trying to take it easy the rest of the week since it still hurts to walk and I still feel sick from the sting, but today was our last day of classes! Only have a review tomorrow night (plus my project presentation) and then finals on Friday night!

As much as Malta has been a fun trip away from home, I'm anxious to get back to my daily routines, sleep in my own bed, see my furbabies, and Ramsey!

Malta and Sicily

So I've been in Europe for about 10 days now and it's been a great experience so far.  I was nervous about getting on all the flights by myself, especially since I hadn't flown in so long, but the whole international flight experience was alright (except for my 12 hour layover in the Rome airport which was almost unbearable).  The first weekend we did an orientation for school that showed us a lot of the nearby attractions in Malta, including this beautiful Cathedral, and lots of views of the Mediterranean.  We then went to a nearby island with my roommate's mom which had the most beautiful viewpoint I have ever seen:

I've since been to a couple of beaches around the area, and we went to Sicily this weekend! It was one of the longest day trips of my life (5AM - midnight) but it was well worth it. We took a ferry ride across the Mediterranean and visited a couple of towns in the southern side of Sicily and hiked up Mt. Etna (a volcano)!  This week is going to be pretty busy with activities and school, but we still have this weekend to finish up our tour of Malta before we have to go home next weekend!

Living in the Mediterranean for 3 weeks is wonderful, by the way :)

End of School and Malta

My first year is finally over after many breakdowns, panic attacks, caffeine overdoses (it seems like), and hours of studying. I'm now a 2L (pending my grades)!  My first day off was seemingly boring, but it was nice to have time to actually do all the chores I've needed to do over the past few weeks, and I was able to cook again (made a tasty dish - baked rigatoni with mini meatballs). If you don't know about it already, a blog at smittenkitchen.com has a great selection of recipes, many baked goods, and everything my boyfriend and I have tried has come out great!

I leave for Malta in 5 days, and I'm finally getting over my fear of flying.  I don't think I technically have a fear of flying, but I've just never flown across the ocean, so doing that by myself is a little unnerving.  I'm starting to get excited about being on a Mediterranean island for 3 weeks though:

 There is so much to do on the island that I hope I have time to experience everything! I'm going to try and arrange trips to Italy and maybe Tunisia, but as of now, I'm not sure if I'll be able to (my school is NOT giving us any long weekends to travel).  My next few days will mostly consist of getting packed and ready to go, before I leave my cozy little apartment for an EXTREMELY cozy little dorm room in Malta.

The Media's Warped Views on What's Important

Time for a serious post. I'm pretty upset with the national media and our government right now -- most major news networks have not shown much footage at all of the floodings in Tennessee.  29 people have been killed as a result and many homes are destroyed.  Looking at pictures brings to mind images of New Orleans after Katrina.  Most of the historic downtown area of Nashville remains underwater, including the Grand Ole Opry! Not sure why the nation is choosing to ignore the country capitol of the world, but whatever the cause, it is clearly misguided.

Some news stations are slowly beginning to display coverage and stories about the disaster....nearly a week after the flooding occurred.  More of use need to be aware that a major natural disaster just occurred (the most catastrophic damage we've seen from flooding not associated with a hurricane), which is going to cost the city close to $1 billion.

I understand that there are important things happening right now, including the oil spill in the Gulf (which has affected many Houstonians already), the tornadoes in the South, and the potential terrorist attack in New York, but just don't forget about the people in Nashville.  Many are still attempting to piece their lives back together, returning to find all their belongings completely destroyed by something many of us just considered to be "a little rain".

CNN's story

Ann Taylor 30 % Sale for Students! And Foodie Recommendation

NYC Recessionista Article

Go to that link, print out the 30% off coupon and make sure to bring your student ID! I know I need to stock up on my law school/internship wardrobe, so I might be making my way over there -- it ends May 2nd so try to make it out this weekend!

Good luck studying Kate and Jackie, I'm stuck on Property :(  But we can celebrate in 10 days when we'll be officially done with our 1L year!!!

Foodie tip:

Ramsey and I met for lunch at Wesleyan Cafe, a cute little Sandwich place that's right next to where I'll be interning in the fall -- delicious food and great atmosphere! Highly recommended :) Not crowded at all during lunch time...unlike Luling Cafe where we tried to have lunch.  If you manage to get out to Luling (on Richmond, just inside the Loop), it's amazing BBQ, and much cheaper than Goode Company (which explains the crowds!). 

Tonight I'm supposed to be getting enchiladas -- it's my study-time brain food and Ramsey makes the best enchiladas :)

Other than that, it looks like my weekend will be spent indoors, studying and watching the weekend rain that's already starting. Yay for finals week!

New South Park On, Survey, and Boutique Closing on West Alabama!

For those of you who don't know, South Park is one of my favorite shows EVER...pretty sure I've seen about 95% of the episodes, and I own several seasons.  Today's is no exception....combining TWO of my favorite shows - Intervention AND South Park. Genius. I love Towelie.  Hahah. Anyway, I decided to fill out the survey from Jackie's blog:

A. AGE:24

B. BED SIZE: Queen
C. CHORE YOU HATE: Scrubbing the bathroom, picking up Cal hair, or cleaning wine glasses
D. DOG'S NAME: No dogs, just cats!
E. ESSENTIAL "START THE DAY!" ITEM: Cranapple or Coffee.
F. FAVORITE COLOR: Purple.
G. GOLD OR SILVER: Silver.
H. HEIGHT: 5'1
I. INSTRUMENTS YOU PLAY: Violin, Guitar, and most in the string family...hoping to be in the Houston Civil Orchestra in the fall!
J. JOB: Law student, contract writer, and more recently, "housewife" ;)
K. KIDS: I have two furbabies! Cal and Apple! And my niece and nephew are also my children as well :)
L. LIVING ARRANGEMENTS: Living in sin with the BF
M. MOM'S NAME: Beatrice.
N. NICKNAME: SB, Sarah, Sarita, etc.
O. OVERNIGHT HOSPITAL STAY: Never.
P. PET PEEVE: Almost everyone in the road in Houston. ESPECIALLY those who do not yield when they are supposed to!

Q. QUOTE: "In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different." -  Chanel

R. RIGHTY OR LEFTY?: Righty.
S. SIBLINGS: Just my sister.
T. TIME YOU WAKE UP: Depends on the day. I <3 my sleep.
U. UNDERWEAR: Hanky Pankys!

V. VEGGIE YOU DISLIKE: Uncooked onions

W. WAYS/REASONS YOU ARE LATE: I don't know, lately I'm always late to places when I used to ALWAYS be early! Being early never paid off well anyway.

X. XRAYS YOU'VE HAD: Dentist ones, and when I was little I broke my baby toe!
Y. YUMMY FOOD YOU MAKE: Salmon and Chicken Cordon Bleu :) Enchiladas too, but the BF makes them better than I do now.
Z. ZOO ANIMALS YOU LIKE:RED PANDA!!!!!! It's super cute! I can't wait to go back!

Anyway, I found out through CultureMap (one of my favorite sites) that the boutique Etui is closing within the next few months, which means most of its merchandise is 30% off or more! I'm excited to go check it out soon after finals are over -- it's really close to Lamar, just off of West Alabama and Edloe.  You guys should check it out too!

 Okay, time to watch the last few minutes of South Park and continue some Property studying/cuddling with Apple: 

 

And just for fun, here's another picture of Cal when he was a baby:

 Maybe one day I'll actually have something interesting to post about! Malta in 3 weeks, so there will be pictures of pretty beaches to come!

Procrastination, Lorac Sale, and Zac Posen at Target

Trying to work on my Property outline, and so far am only up to acquisition by gift (not very far, but I keep telling myself that I have a long time to study)....I really don't.  I enjoy property though, and I don't think I"ll have too much trouble studying the problems.

Anyway, Jackie informed me of a great sale at Lorac! Their cheek stamps are only $4.99, down from $22! http://www.loraccosmetics.com/p-25-font-colorcb0000-size1vip-discountfontbrcheek-stamp.aspx

They have some other good sales under their VIP discounts, but I had to go ahead and get the Peachy Coral and Hibiscus shades.

In other news, Zac Posen has hit the Target stores, and I think Target and Target.com ordered much more of this collection than the JPG line.   The two-piece ruffled dress is one that has been highly advertised, and while I don't like the ruffles as much, I think it's fun that you can wear it with or without them!

Back to studying and excited for the LAST DAY of 1L classes tomorrow!!

Last Monday Classes of the Semester!

This weekend was pretty uneventful: Friday Ramsey and I went to Petrol Station because we LOVE that place - awesome beer selection, reasonable prices, and just a great atmosphere. We try new food and drinks every time.  Then we went to the house and hung out with Jay, Mikey, and Haylea to watch some of the Spurs game (GO SPURS!!) :)  Since I get anxious about school anytime I'm not studying close to finals, I made us go home pretty early, but at least I got to see some friends who I hadn't seen in weeks! So that was fun :)

Saturday was a day fullllll of studying Con Law. We really did nothing all day, but went to have dinner with Ramsey's parents at night which was fun. His mom made delicious shrimp and avocado dip! Once again, it was nice to see people I hadn't seen in weeks as well! Just been so busy lately :(  We didn't get home till almost midnight so we just stayed in at that point.

Sunday we finally got to lay out!! I finished my Con Law outline so I read for Property and Torts outside, and wrote some articles for work since I can get internet access by the pool.  Not the most relaxing thing to do by a pool, but it was great to feel sun on me again. After that, we went and had dinner at Brasils, where there were some INCREDIBLY montrose-y people about (I'm talking about those hipster wannabe people and just kinda weirdness in general - guess gentrification hasn't completely kicked them out!).

BUT some good news for the weekend is that I got my JPG for Target dress in the mail and it fits perfectly!! I was apprehensive about the size, because Veronika from Veronika's Blushing said they run pretty small, but the 5 fit me perfectly! I plan to wear it to a wedding in a few weeks, so I'm very happy with my purchase.  

(From the Target website) It's really cute on and perfect to wear to a wedding with a cardigan!

Anyway, this week seems pretty set to be overtaken with Property (I need to work on my outline for that and study some practice problems) - but my last final is in 2 weeks and my first year of law school will officially be over!! 

Although then school starts again when I leave for Malta 9 days later. Oh well, at least it will be on a Mediterranean Island, far away from actual school :)

My little secret

I kind of really miss Burberry.  Absolutely not the people I last worked with, but I loved the knowledge I gained of that realm in the fashion industry.  I worked at the store for two years (ending a year ago today actually) and can still tell you what most of the quilted jackets are made out of, what the accurate price of each item should be (and not the hiked up prices on eBay), and what season something was made.  More than all that, I miss my discount.  Working at a high-end retail store has its perks, but also its many, MANY irritating customers who think they are entitled to the world.  ESPECIALLY in Houston, where we have oil-rich families and older River Oaks families.  Anyway, I wanted to say that I really like their new prorsum Autumn line (it's much better than their "Warrior" phase of 2 years ago):

I also really like that they're using Emma Watson for their campaign now.  I think she's so pretty, and she does not look deathly ill like so many of their other models.  

Anyway, it's doubtful that I'll ever shop at Burberry again unless I really make it big as an attorney in Houston.  That's fine with me anyway, my wardrobe and accessories are pretty stocked with miscellaneous Burberry items (ranging from towels to lingerie to umbrellas, even candles!).  But I still sometimes miss knowing everything about the company and being one of the only people in my store who actually cared enough to learn about the industry.  Maybe I'll go back and be a corporate attorney for them :)

I also know that most people do not enjoy the Burberry print and think it's highly overrated and overpriced (which is entirely true), but its fun to know the background of something. Ask my old roomie, I used to have the Burberry timeline on our refrigerator in college!

Road Rage

According to my boyfriend, almost every day I have a road rage incident because I get so angry about the little things that people do on the road.  For example, today there was some construction on San Felipe, so everyone was in the proper lane, seeing ahead that the right lane was closed off.  We had all been waiting at the light for several minutes, and I finally got to go when some car comes speeeeeeeding down the closed off lane to try and cut me off.  Of course, I had none of that and honked at him when he almost hit me.  He immediately laid on his horn and honked back, closely tailing me the next 2 miles or so.  I hate people like that.  They always make me grumpy and ALWAYS think they were in the right.  People should be forced to take driver's ed continuously every few years....Texas should make a new law about that.

Anyway, I've just been doing the same thing, studying and going to class, although yesterday I picked up some cute cardigans at Forever 21 and a belt.  There's a great Forever 21 downtown that's connected to my parking garage and I had yet to go to it!  While Forever 21 can be pretty hit or miss, I'm really happy with the items I got and am working on expanding my "work clothes" wardrobe slowly but surely! Not every piece of clothing has to be high-end, especially when you can mix and match nicer pieces with items that you saved a ton on.
Okay, well back to:
Constitutional Law: Principles And Policies (Introduction to Law Series)
You're jealous, I know it!

Breaks

In taking a break from reading about enemy combatants and all the ridiculous constitutional violations they are more than likely breaking at Guantanamo, I found out that Samuel Adams (creator of the beer) is John Adams' second cousin (founding father and first Vice President).  While I think that's really cool, it might just be the Con Law talking.  

Don't you see the family resemblance?

Sam:

John

Okay now that I'm done being nerdy, I took the morning off to study and try to work on my outline and have been doing some internet shopping in between :) I love the new JPG line at Target and ordered a new dress from the site since the Target next to my apt didn't have it in stock. Pics when it comes in, if the size is right! 

On another topic, I absolutely love my Ting Tings Pandora station. It's been getting me through the past three hours of Article II of the Constitution!

Fixing Everything Up

Thanks to Stacy Says , I've been able to fix up my blog (once again NOT doing my Con Law outline).  But I'm done fixing for the day, and I'm happy with the results -- it finally looks pretty!  After finals are over, I'll work on this some more, but until then, I have 6-7 more days of class to prepare for, plus 2 outlines to complete...all before May 3!!

First Post Through Blogger

I have a previous blog (eglesb.wordpress.com), but decided that since I follow mostly blogs through googlefriends, I might as well create one here. As per usual, I am incredibly procrastinating in writing my Con Law outline, but I am very pleased with the layout thus far:




If only the entire outline could be this neat and organized! I haven't really progressed as far as I would have liked today, since I went grocery shopping, cleaned the apt a bit, made some dinner, and then Ramsey came home from work! But hopefully I'll get some work done now or early in the morning. I have absolutely no time for procrastination anymore!!