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 :)