The Final Countdown.

This is my 'to do' list for the rest of the semester.
This stands between me and an amazing 4 months off school.
April 29th at 3:50 pm classes are over and I seriously am so ready.... I'm halfway finished with Graduate School!

I am a bad blogger.

I'm sorry! I'm terrible! I really have missed writing so much, and the more time that passes the more I'm like "meh, I'm not going to post that story, old news now" but no. I'm going to pull it together. I'm in the last week of the semester with tons of papers and crap due. I am underground right now, so, I vow that in my study breaks I will finish and publish the 8+ drafts saved on my computer, as well as update the real deal too.

If I still have any readers, thanks for your patience! and you can that StatelyLady for that final "wtf, why won't you post" comment.... It's the kick in the ass I needed.

more soon. I promise...

Mid term madness

I mentioned earlier that it's midterm time at Columbia. We don't have tests here, exactly... more papers, lab packets, and all around a ton of stuff due. I'm a little pressed, not gonna lie because my school work is one thing, and my work at CAB is overwhelming too. On Tuesday Doug was like "Oh, hay, could you just write me up a reflection of[this meeting he took me too]? you know, 3-4 pages, whatever." Hum... sure Doug. Can't wait to just reflect for 3-4 pages. So, here I am, Thursday night, 9:45. I need to be up at 5:30 and I also need to email Doug my reflection and my process recording before 8am. Can someone PLEASE remind we why I decided to go to grad school? and a hard grad school at that?! Haha, Nah, I wouldn't have it any other way. I am actually overjoyed with where my life is at the moment. I so HAPPY right now. My friends, new and old, are great people, I adore NY and CUSSW. I have a supportive family with parents and siblings who make my world go around. So, as much as a joke and go on and on in my monotone way, bitching and moaning about the weather, the dirt, other people, whatever--- at the end of the day, my gratitude for my life and the blessing I receive every day grows and grows.

In keeping in step with the self-reflective nature of my program and with how my life is shaping up as 2009 draws to an end (Um, it's almost November?) I want to make it a point to consider these kinds of things more....the "who am I?" and "Where am I going" questions that float around in my head from time to time.


As for the outfit, the rain cleared, the sun shone. There is a nice fall breeze in the air and my boots are broken in, and I am having a good time trying out color (SM, are you proud?)



Blouse-- Liz Claiborne
Cardigan-- American Apparel
Jeans--Joes
Boots-- Sam Edelman

Top Weekend

Well, another weekend has come and gone. This was an amazing one because SM was here to visit me! I haven't seen her in over a month and, for us, thats a terrible stretch. We had jam packed days of meeting friends, running around the city, Canal street, Top Shop, braving the rain, and a Drag Show. I had a wonderfully fun weekend and all in all it made me miss home even more. I am so excited to fly down in October for my cousins wedding. The above picture is of SM and I with 3 of my CUSSW friends.

Oh... and yes, SM met the banker. He hung out on Friday night for a long while and again on Saturday. He had nothing but positives to say about her (but who could have anything negative to say?!) and I certainly hope she liked him too, but if she didn't I know she will tell me. Thats the beauty of real friends, you know how big a deal it is to introduce them to a boy because the real friends will keep it funky with you and have no problem saying "Girl don't date that guy" if they get red flags, whether they are superficial or deep rooted problems, your homegirls always know. I'm not sweatin over here though. He has won E's approval and all of my city friends can't get enough of him... so, we'll see, right?

I can't believe it's Monday already... I'm still exhausted from last week :( I'll be back to blogging this week now that I've got myself on an excellent schedule (I think)

What I'm Wearing 09.02.09 and update.

Cardigan: H&M

Dress: Target

Sandals: Kenneth Cole

So far Columbia is exactly what I expected and more. I love the campus, the program is absolutely amazing and my classmates are a lot of fun. The staff is so accomplished and respected in the field, and I've got no doubt that social work is exactly what I want to be doing.

In addition, I'm getting into the swing of NYC more and more each day. It's an easy city to navigate and so far I haven't had really anything negative or scary happen, haha. I just got my field placement this past week. I'll be working in the Northern Bronx with a program that will have me with my own case load of homeless or recently homeless individuals. I will help them get the mental heath, substance abuse, housing, and medical attention they need and get to handle my own case load and all of that! AH! friggin scary/exciting. I don't start til the 21st, so I've got time to prep.

Also, I have 3 classes this year, one on Wednesday and two on Thurs (field is Mon, Tues, and Fri).

And.... I have a date on Friday (whhaatttt). It's with the Banker I met last week when I opened my Chase/JPMorgan acct. It's sort of a long story about how he got my number and all of that, but I'll have to share it at another time. Needless to say, I'm very excited. Wish me luck--- y'all know I don't date!

Mini updater

1) no, I did not wear the same pants two days in a row! one pair was brown one pair was black!

2) sorry I've been so distant, friends. things are busy at school with orientation, meeting new people, getting used to the amazing school I now attend and all of that.

3) i had to change my little photo and stuff because I just got my field placement and they are totally gonna google us and facebook us. I'm trying to keep my internet image clean!

I will be back soon!

What I'm Wearing 08.31.09

Button Up-- Target

Cardigan-- Vintage

Slacks-- The Limited

Loafers-- Bandolino

What I'm wearing (what I wore) 08.28.09, 08.29.09 and mini-updater

I have been so excited to post my outfits! I have so much fun picking out clothes, shopping, dressing myself (and others). Even with my more or less strict cut, color, and shape preferences, I still think I try to step out of the box as much as possible. Hopefully posting my outfits will make me 1) not get stuck in the ruts I'm often in, where I will only wear the same outfit-different variation for a week straight, 2) force myself to be more creative and 3) share my fun (hopefully) NYC inspired outfit creations! Hopefully I can enlist E to take my pictures, but for now these makeshift mirror shots will have to do.

So, It rains every all the time here, but not like it rains in the south where it will dump down and then go away. Here it just dumps down. I wore the above outfit to just run so errands, open a bank account, hit up Duane Reed, etc.

Tank and Tee-- C&C

Cardigan-- H&M

Jeans--Seven for all Mankind

Flats-- Tory Burch.

It rained-but-stopped on Friday, so it was humid and cool, but like. hot. I just did errands, again. And then sat in Starbucks, people watching and reading articles off the manditory reading list for orientation ( yup. orientation reading list. way dope.)

Sweater--TwelvebyTweleve

Jeans-- Seven for All Mankind

Flats-- Tory Burch.

Tomorrow is the first day of Orientation for the School of Social Work, which is a 4 day long crash course, 1 part welcome to Columbia and 1 part-- how to be an excellent social worker. The dress code is business casual, so I am thinking slacks/tops/cardigans/flats combinations. On Thursday there is a 4 hour boose cruise riverboat tour of the city, so I wanna get a little spicy for that. Ha what an a-hole phase. Y'all know what I mean. Flashy and Fly in a business casual way.

In other clothing and life related news: I may or may not be attending a totally contrived and pre arranged "drinks" with a boy I met this week. If I decide to put on my big girl pants and not bail like a punk, I will be going on Tuesday.... but, knowing me, it's gona take a lot to get me to "drinks".... we'll see.

116th street stairs.

These are the massive set of stairs I climb to get onto campus. Honestly, there are like 4 sets of a million steps. The 3rd picture is the last set of stairs, and the other 3 pictures are pictures of the other 5 sets (one is missing) It's intense, but it's so gorgeous in the park, so I can't complain. There is a way to get to campus without cutting through the park, which I would do if there was terrible weather, or the sun has set. other than that, welcome to my mandatory twice daily stair workout. My ass and thighs will thank them one day. Although today? I'm sore.

Morning Side Park

This is the beautiful park that I live across the street from. Absolutely divine. There are these beast sets of stairs at each block that you take to get to my train station and up to campus and the shops around there. It's about 5 minute over there. So far I enjoy the little stroll, but maybe because I know the end result will be firm thighs and a cute little booty come Christmas. Treat!

Learning the Map with the help of pop culture.

I literally had to study the map of the Upper West Side for a couple of weeks before I could effectively apartment hunt. Now that the housing is handled and we're all moved in, I really want to learn the areas I have heard so much about. I remember Samantha Jones moving to the Meat Packing District on Sex and the City, or about the tents at fashion week in Bryant park, as seen on Project Runway and in The Devil Wears Prada. I know the Upper East Side from Gossip Girl, Gramercy is where Whitney from The City lives. I could go on and on. So where do I fit? Up at the top of the map, boarding Harlem(in blue) and overlapping with the Upper West Side is Morningside Heights (in red.) It pretty much consists of Columbia, Barnard, Teacher's College and a slew of hospitals ( like St. Lukes) and churches (like St. Johns). What I've learned (and you have too, after reading this obscure geography lesson) is: I live uptown. I live right by the school of social work, and I am seriously a student. Seriously.

Pictures of the New York apartment.

The pictures are of the kitchen, pantry, and living room. We haven't hung any pictures yet (thats for tomorrow) Niether E nor I have touch our rooms yet, so those will come later. I also finished the bathroom yesterday, and will post those pictures a little later. Enjoy these, they are pretty barebones. I can't wait to get back and have the time to really complete it.

They seriously make these.... and I sort of want one.

"In the United States, it's hard to get any more ancient than the Ivy League. Known by insiders as the Ancient Eight, the Ivy League's earliest member, Harvard, was established nearly 150 years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence."

I don't even do school spirit. I own 2 tee-shirts from undergrad. One was free from New Student Orientation, the other was a gift from my high school boyfriend's mother. I boought a hoodie once. Did I mention that I don't wear tee-shirts or hoodies in public? I can't figure out why I am so intrigued by this whole line of clothing... but I have a funny feeling I'm gonna own a shirt or 5 before the first semester ends.

Pros and Cons

this is 1 for the "Con" side....

my undergrad school's fall football schedule:

Sept. 3 vs. South Carolina
Sept. 12 vs. Murray State
Sept. 19 vs. Gardner-Webb
Sept. 26 vs. Pittsburgh
Oct. 3 @ Wake Forest
Oct. 10 vs. Duke
Oct. 17 @ Boston College
Oct. 31 @ Florida State
Nov. 7 vs. Maryland
Nov. 14 vs. Clemson
Nov. 21 @ Virginia Tech
Nov. 28 vs. North Carolina

my grad school's fall football schedule:

9/19	at Fordham
9/26	CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE
10/3	at Princeton
10/10	at Lafayette
10/17	PENN (Homecoming)
10/24	at Dartmouth
10/31	YALE
11/7	HARVARD
11/14	at Cornell
11/21	BROWN

Bigger Ponds

It may sound conceited to call myself a Big Fish. Let me explain. I was raised in Chapel Hill, NC. I went to college in Raleigh NC (30 miles away) I moved to Durham NC (8 miles from Chapel Hill) and I work in Chapel Hill (6 miles from my parents). Needless to say. I know everyone in this town. At the bars I see my Middle School class mates. At the grocery store I see my first grade teacher. At the Psychiatrist office I work at.... well.... I know them all.

It's time to go. The only time I had that "this is for me" feeling was when I was in London the summer after my freshman year of college. I knew no one there, I was 18 years old and the city was bigger than I could fathom.

This blog begins right before I jump into my Big Pond. I am going to graduate school at Columbia University. yup. Columbia... it's in NYC. It's the opposite of NC and I am going to be the biggest fucking fish in the ultimate big pond.

In terms of expectations of me as a blogger here is the scoop.

I'm not cool or funny. I'm probably no more interesting that you are yourself. Any humor you find in me is just a fluke. I don't believe in people who try to be funny. you are or you aren't. When you try, you aren't and even worse? you're also pathetic.

This is what I do know:

1) I'm honest to a fault.

2) I don't do discomfort. I put it out there. you accept it. If you're not too awkwarded out, you don't return.

3) You're going to return because you're going to be obsessed. Thats my most charming quality, driving strangers to inexplicable obsession.

4) I curse. I can use "fuck" as Who-What-When-Where and I will. Even if I probably don't need to. The same goes for the overuse of dashes, dramatic periods, and ellipses.

5) I speak in mostly slang and abbreviations. And I don't translate.

so, with that. see you next time, or not.

-S