11 more days...

Yup, that's right. I'm leaving, and I'm leaving SOON. I don't really have anything to say right now--except that I'm typing this while at work. Tehe. I like that the store is so slow that I can sit and update my blogspot as I'm being paid. So that's it. I'm at work. But I'm playing on the computer. I'm gonna go "bond" with good ol' John now.

18 Days...

...and counting. Been saying some goodbyes already. No fun. Got quite a few to go, not to mention a buttload of packing and organizing and just plain working to take care of. Oh, and I should probably try to nail down some semblance of a plan for Italy...or I could just throw some clothes in a bag and try to figure it all out once the plane lands...

...yes, that sounds quite appealing to me at the moment. Preparedness is overrated, anyway--right?

...are you kidding me?

So, I'm beat, and getting ready to turn in for the night. Before I do that, though, I'm going to take this opportunity to say that I've return from a blissful few days at the beach in Hilton Head only to be smacked upside the...heart? with the realization that I'll only see each of my best friends (home and Berry) one more time before I leave for Paris. I'm sure anyone who knows me is sick of hearing me go on about this upcoming year. I admit, I get to feeling that way about myself from time to time. Nevertheless...how did this summer fly right through me? Even before I left, I saw going to Hilton Head as a marker of the end of my denial period. I knew that once I got back home, I wouldn't be able to buy into the delusion that this summer would never end, that just perhaps all might become once again homeful and perfect in the summertime, and that I wasn't headed into one of the scariest endeavors I have ever considered involving myself in.

You tell me that I got myself into it, and I can't refute that. I know I did. And the sensible part of me, the adventurous part, is still ready and excited. But as much as I'd like to feel otherwise, tonight I'm terrified. Wait, I've overused that word "terrified" lately. Tonight, I'm just plain old sad about leaving the people and life that I love here.Yes, I know it's not even going to be a year. And I know that it is an amazing opportunity. That my friends will still be here when I come home. That I'll learn th language. That I'll love it. There are lots of things I know. I also know that I'm fighting tears of dread at the moment. Call me ungrateful, I will agree with you. I am sure no one reading this could approve of my runaway emotions right now--I certainly do not. Yes, I'm excruciatingly aware that I'm being melodramatic, a girl, a sissy. But there it is. And at this point in time, there's not much I can do about it.

:::Disclaimer::: I'm very excited about this trip, I promise. It's just a bit of a Jekyl and Hyde thing, I think, that allows me to be simultaneously eager and frightened. I just happen to be the frightened one tonight. Don't think I don't want to go.

i love me some summer pictures!

So, due to the fact that it seems (key word "seems") approximately 83% easier to post pictures on blogspot, I've decided to make this my main blog--which means leaving poor, sad xanga in the dust. So now is the time when I try out this whole picture thing, and in the process show you some fun summer images.

However, a few "housekeeping" notes (hm...somehow that term "housekeeping notes" has a new meaning for me...):

I'm experimenting with the way I want my site to look. Blogspot doesn't give quite as much leeway in choosing colors and such, so for the moment I'm enjoying the simplicity of this nice black and white page. I figure my pictures should spice it up enough.

Note number two: you will have noticed (I assume) the previous four entries. They are not in English. This is because I set this site up originally as part of a French project last semester. If you're interested in sitting around trying to figure out what I managed to ramble about en francais, then by all means enjoy yourself. Otherwise, just don't worry about them. so...

Pictures!!



So this was waayyy back at the beginning of the summer, when we were all full of grand plans and giddy with the prospect of uninterrupted study-free months (mostly). Grand plan number one? Have dinner parties all the time, with food from different areas each time and a movie to accompany. Grand total of dinner parties had? One. But it was a good one! This is Ann and Jordan pulling our appetizer out of the oven--just before we set up the table and enjoyed a French meal of pissaladière, cheese fondue, bread, etc. We had so much fun cooking everything and just being stupid in the process.


The best part of the meal was by far the "bombe"--an ice cream creation with layers of strawberry ice cream, rasperry and mango sorbet. Here it is--not quite as beautiful as we'd planned, but still quite tasty:

Ok, well, I've practiced putting up pictures, even if they aren't very very exciting ones. Perhaps I'll have fun remembering fun summer stuff and put up more pictures for you. If not, then--certainly you should expect pictures once I fly away on September 10! (A date which is, incidentally, 35 days away. *panicked giddiness*)