THA PLAYLIST...

some may be random...some may be old ...BUT I LIKE IT

david jordan - sun goes down

sad sad city - ghostland observatory

sunday morning (questlove remix) - maroon five

wagon wheel - old crow medicine show

be OK - ingrid michaelson

if i ever leave this world behind - flogging molly

pony (its ok) - erin mccarley

the way i am - ingrid michaelson

another way to die - jack white & alicia keyes

bust your windows - jazmine sullivan

ain't i - yung la

i might be - gucci mane

planes, trains, and automobiles

Hello everyone! I've been a bad blogger lately...but that is probably due to the fact that I am currently located in Brussels, Belgium!  HOWEVER...let me back-track.  On the 18th, I finished up working at Betsey Johnson and flew home to Nashville for the holidays.  Christmas in Nashville was amazing.  I had an entire week and a half of family time which was just what I needed.  I went dove hunting, ate a LOT of comfort food and hung out with Lynny.  However, this year was a different-feeling Christmas. I can't quite put my finger on the reasoning for this but perhaps it was because I was only visiting Nashville as opposed to living there?  Plus, Lauren and Wesley weren't there and Katelyn was gone to Honduras the majority of the time...helping kids or some nonsense? (selfish, really.)  I'm kidding...

aberyswynth!

So where I've been? For Christmas, I asked for a plane ticket.  Well...actually, two plane tickets: one to London, and one from Brussels back to Nashvegas. Here's the current update on my travels: December 26th, I flew to London and arrived at Heathrow at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, the 27th.  I then, took a 2-hour train ride to Cardiff, Wales.  This is where I met up with my friend Chris, and his roommate, Ambler.  From Cardiff, we drove 3 hours to Aberyswynth which is a small university town on the western shore of Wales.  Beautiful, really. I stayed in Aber and Tregaron (an even smaller town outside Aber where my other friend, Dylan, lives) for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.  

chris, me, dylan in aber

Aber/Tregaron were unreal.  Probably two of the prettiest places I've ever seen.  There were sheep EVERYWHERE.  Literally...everywhere.  What I loved about the location of the city is that it had the beauty of the ocean combined with the amazing views of hills. There were random castles everywhere and the city seemed to be growing all the more attractive with age. Besides the views, I had so much fun with the people.  Dylan and Chris were two of my friends I met while they temporarily lived in NYC playing rugby.  I had kept up with them after they left and thought that a brief pit-stop in Wales wouldn't be such a bad idea.  For once, I was the random person with the weird accent...which was interesting.  I could have possibly been the only American for miles.

oliver, andrew, me, james, ambler, sparrow, dylan

On Monday, I rode to London (Wimbledon) with my other friend Oliver Torri.  It was a 5-hour journey and I was exhausted when we reached his flat.  We watched Ricky Gervais' stand-up on tv and then I crashed.  Tuesday morning...I woke up at 5 and caught a 2 hour train to Brussels.  I'm now residing with the Vaca family who have been nice enough to take me in for the next week.  Tune in next time for tales of Brussels, Paris, and Amsterdam with the one and only Stephen Vaca! Hope everyone has a happy new year! Happy Birthday, Diddy!

rock me mama like a wagon wheel

I had a tremendous amount of fun this past weekend.  Friday night we had our Betsey Johnson Christmas party...complete with PINK Christmas trees and champagne.  This past week was my final week with the actual person, Betsey, because she's now on vacation.  Therefore, I took my "last day" picture a week in advance.  The photo pictured above is right after we clunked heads...so we're both about to start laughing.   I love it...and her...a lot.  I'm bittersweet about my internship coming to a close only because I genuinely enjoyed my time there (albeit unpaid).  It's a comforting feeling to finally find something you love doing.  Although I may not design clothing, I do love this industry and I am knowledgeable in it.  Clothing design is an art and to have been afforded the opportunity to see it come to life is something I will be forever grateful for....

Okay...enough with the cheesiness.  Back to the weekend...Jackson and Breeze came into town! [Katie also came into town but was completely hiding out on the Upper East Side (where I refuse to venture)...so we aren't giving her too much credit! i kid i kid...but seriously]  Saturday night...some crazy UVA boys had a fantastic christmas party and needless to say, I had a ball. Jack, I'm glad you came in town! Fun times.  I'm also optimistic about venturing home for a few weeks and not trying to cram my entire life into a tiny weekend.  Gotta love Christmas...Feliz Navidad! YAY BRUXELLES (i'm going there!).

Tripp, Jackson, Myself, and Cardwell

Jackson, Myself, Breezy, and Anna 

random insignificant observations

1) Because I'm a huge fan of people-watching...I have developed a useless skill.  I can remember every person's face when I board a plane.  If I'm in the waiting area for a good ten minutes before boarding and stuck with a seat in the BACK of the plane (which is my typical travelers' luck) then, I usually remember everyone's faces.  Which leads me to my point...when I was in Starbucks this morning, I saw a guy from my flight two weeks ago.  I was laid over in Detroit and He was 6 rows diagonal to me...window seat. Of course this is a) creepy that I remember and b) insane that manhattan is truly that small.  Needless to say, I didn't say hello...haha.

2) Every night, I leave work and take the 1 train to the Houston Street station and walk up downing street to 6th avenue (just in case people were wanting to stalk...haha).  Downing street is adorable because hardly anyone drives down it.  It's mainly residential and has beautiful town homes.  There is one guy that has turned the ground level into a garage complete with garage door.  The unique thing about it is that the garage door is glass.  Inside, there are these clay faces that he, apparently, has made and he arranges them each night into a sort-of scene?  It's gotten to the point where I can't wait to walk by and see the new "set-up" for the day.  Often times, his large orange cat will be sitting inside.  If I ever get the chance of meeting this odd artist...i'm going to inquire about his impromptu art exhibit...

3)  I also found the coolest shop EVER...just around the corner from my place.  It sells ALL vintage toys.  This might sound dweeby...but some of it is rather cool. Especially when there are SMURF FIGURINES for sale! I was quite tempted to say the least...

christmas in nyc

Before I relocated from Nashville to NYC, I was an avid visitor to the city.  This came in handy when I needed to learn the subway and grid systems, for I already had a basic knowledge.  I would, obviously, come during the U.S. Open each year and occasionally other times during the summer.  When I was little, I would also come to watch all the Broadway musicals.

Rockefeller Center

However, I can't remember the last time I was in NY during Christmas.  I believe I was twelve and was attending a few shows with Mom.  Now, finally experiencing it again, I love it.  It's already becoming increasingly more like the NYC I know from movies.  Stores are packed with people, everyone is wearing gigantic coats and hats, and christmas music is everywhere.  It's funny, because it also feels as though the population has doubled in size - which it probably has due to tourists.  The streets are literally packed despite the frigid weather.

Today, I walked around the village, got a coffee, and went to the bookstore to get myself a new book.  At the store, they were having a book drive for the children's ward at St. Vincent's.  You got to pick out your favorite children's book and purchase it for the kids.  I donated Harold and the Purple Crayon.  That made me happy.   

tuesdays are the new wednesdays...

Okay.  So...before Drew and Matt disappeared to the L.E.S. (a.k.a. chinatown, the other side of the universe, etc) we hung out quite regularly. They're probably two of my favorite people ever. However,  now (because of Drew's incessant laziness and Matt's ridiculous work schedule) we occasionally hang out at their apartment. ocassionally.  Which isn't good enough for Jordan.

"I'm not a hugger" -Drew Bottalico

HOWEVER...THIS TUESDAY (twisted tuesday), we kinda met in the middle at Spring Lounge for happy hour.  Anna came and joined us after her night class and, needless to say, it was quite a fun night.  I ended up with a lot of funny pictures on my camera, a half eaten pizza in my purse, and quite the headache the next morning. Good times. 

DIA DE GRASSY ASS

First of all...HAPPY 24th BIRTHDAY LOUGER...you're my favorite (I know I'm a day late but I was sleepy last night and didn't have time to blog. deal with it and quit whining.) Second of all, LOOK WHAT WAS PARKED OUTSIDE MY APARTMENT LAST NIGHT!!!! (it's the cash cab in case you were wondering...) (and NO I didn't try to jump in - only losers would jump into the cash cab by themselves...) (plus it's super illegal...)

On an extremely thankful note, I flew home this past weekend for five days of countrified fun. And boy, was it!  I landed at BNA and was immediately whisked away to Droptine Farm for time with yummy food and deeply-missed family (plus some added phase ten and skeet shooting).  I fell in love with a firearm (16 gauge shotgun with vintage ducks down the side), rode four-wheelers,  and ate lots of turkey.

The remainder of my stay in Nashville was a combination of BA buddies (LU people were outta town) and Lynny+Johnny!  I flew home on Sunday which took approximately 6 1/2 hours ( I could have flown to the UK in that time).  Ridiculous.  Whatever though, I was happy to have been home if only for a while.