love, allie

Blog?

2008-10-16T22:16:00.002-05:00

...sitting in my office, bored at 11:15pm. I should be studying, or reading, or at least cleaning my kitchen but I am not.

I'm thinking maybe I'll resurrect this blog and see if anyone still checks it. We'll see.

Updates:

I'm now in grad school Down South, just started in August and it's going well so far.
Finally have my own place, and I'm loving it.
Downside: am now living 900 miles away from bf and most of my friends from college. So that sucks.
But am making many new and awesome friends out here (though they all talk funny, haha).

And that is really all for tonight. If I'm going to get back into this blogging thing I'm going to have to do it slowly. Baby steps, people.

love,
allie

Yes We Can!

2008-02-11T23:19:00.000-06:00

1. Watch this video!

2. Watch this other video!

3. If you live in Wisconsin (or Hawaii), vote for Obama in your primary one week from tomorrow! Hooray!

love, allie

Holy shit! I posted again!

2008-02-05T17:30:00.000-06:00

Sitting in the apartment, listening to the This American Life podcast. Sigh... I love This American Life way more than I should. But hey, someone's gotta do it.

Ok, so... it's been a while since I last posted. Let's see, what have I been up to since then? Well, on Friday I visited Grad School of Choice. It was a good experience, I understand a whole lot more now than I did before about the program, but I still feel kind of lost. Here was the scenario: about half of the prospective students at this open house thing were already affiliated with lab groups, ready to get started on their thesis/dissertation. The other half was like me - wondering around with lost, blank looks on their faces. The thing is, I need to get a professor to agree to be my adviser and take me on into their lab in order for me to gain admission. I feel that I made some great connections, but there are still lots of ifs. I don't really know what those professors thought of me or whether they want to take me on or not. Uggg... applying for graduate school must be the most stressful thing I've ever done.

Oh well, at least classes are easy. Ridiculously easy, in fact. Hooray!

In better news, the lab I TA for went really well today. It's called Biodiversity, but I like to call it Baby Bio. Basically, it's a biology class for non-majors who have been made to sign up for a science class, against their will, in line with the whole liberal arts education. But I love it. It makes me feel like I know a whole lot about biology, even though I only have about 3 years under my belt. I know it's terrible, but I feel so much better about my scientific abilities after this lab than after I talk to my professors. Besides, these kids know they love biology, they just need someone to prod it out of them. You'll see - all these kiddies are going to be science majors soon enough. Anyway, today we were looking at protists under the microscope. They were finding live ones swimming around, and they got so excited! It was really cute.

Well, it seems that's all for today. This weekend should be fun, I'm excited.

love, allie

Back in the States, Part III

2008-01-26T14:03:00.000-06:00

Here I am, sitting at Best Coffee Shop Ever (hence forth referred to as BCSE), where I should be working on lots of things.... graduate school shit, Environmental Chemistry homework... but instead I'm blogging. Just for you!

Before I finish my blogger trilogy of Panama, I'm going to discuss the awesomeness that occurred last night. As CL already documented, there was some drunkenness going on. The night started with me, CL, Charles Shaw, and Brokeback Mountain. CL and I decided to have our own personal tribute to the dearly departed Heath Ledger this weekend. We rented our high school favorite, 10 Things I Hate About You, (watched on Thursday!) and our new favorite, Brokeback Mountain. I hadn't seen it until last night, but wow. That was a beautiful movie. I think we're going to watch it again today. CL only stuck around for the first half of it anyway, then she and MW went over to Local Pub to watch and band and engage in various shenanigans... leaving me alone with a 1/2 bottle of 2-buck Chuck and Heath Ledger. Ooh la la.

After finishing the bottle, I went over to Local Pub to meet up with the crew. Fortunately, the band playing was really popular, meaning a big crowd at the pub and lots of friends and fun. Incriminating pictures posted on facebook: check!

But back to what you came for: more pictures of Panama!

So, here we go. We arrived at Bocas del Toro, and immediately fell in love with it. It's fucking beautiful!!! We stayed on Isla Colon, in the province (or state? I'm not really sure) of Bocas del Toro, which is on the Caribbean side of Panama. We stayed at the Smithsonian field station there, and they took good care of us. It's on the inland side of the island, so the water was clear and calm and all of the shorelines are covered in mangrove trees. You can kind of see that in this picture, it's taken of the dock at the Smithsonian station:

While at Bocas, we went batting with a professor from Florida. We went to La Gruta, a bat cave and also a grotto to Mary (interesting combination, I know). The story goes that a woman was washing her clothes in the stream that comes out of the cave and saw an image of Mary. I say that it is pretty nasty to be washing clothes in a stream full of bat shit, but whatever. Anyway, the area there is absolutely beautiful, too.

And while we were there we saw some really awesome bugs! Stink bugs? Maybe? If anyone knows, speak up!

On the grounds of the station there's this little pond. In the pond lives a few caymans. Here's one of them! They're so cute. Aww.

Back to Gamboa... here's a shot of the rain forest from the back of our truck. Riding in the trucks through the rain forest felt a little bit too much like Jurassic Park... but it was really cool.

Then we went over to Barro Colorado Island. It's a whole island owned by the Smithsonian and used for research. So... it's pretty cool. We went on a hike through the rain forest there, and it was amazing. Even the ferry ride over was cool. We had to get there at some ungodly hour of the morning, but (bonus!) we got to see the sunrise over the Panama Canal. And that, my friends, is fucking awesome.

I had about a million and a half pictures of things I saw on the hike through Barro Colorado. Here's my favorite. That's a big spider!

So, that's all the awesome biology-licious photos I'm going to post. Then we saw the locks at the Panama Canal. Sure, it was cool, but whatever. Not as cool as huge-ass spiders and monkeys. Seriously. But here she is, in all her glory:

And that wraps up my Panama story. If you want anymore info, go on and e-mail me. Bottom line: it was amazing. Yes, you should go. No, you should not wait. Go on, get up and go! Before even more of the rain forest is cut down (cattle-ranching bastards).

love, allie

Back in the States, Part II; or, Holy Hell! What Easy Classes I Have!

2008-01-23T19:44:00.000-06:00

Dear Blog Reader,

Here comes part 2 of my Panama experience. This edition comes after meeting with the Panama Boys at Local Pub for some drinks and burgers. Yum. Now allie is a bit tipsy. Please forgive her.

So, if I hadn't mentioned it enough in previous entries... Panama was fucking awesome. And Grace is right. I wouldn't be able to explain the full awesomeness of it unless you gave me approximately three hours and bought me a pitcher of Spotted Cow at Local Pub. Until then, thou shalt never know.

But for all you busy-bodies... here's the super condensed, Cliff-Notes version:

We spent most of our time in Gamboa, a small town in the canal zone. From there, we were able to travel into the rain forest quite easily. That's where we saw the howler monkey I showed a picture of in my previous post. Also, we went up into the canopy crane in the Parque Natural Metropolitano. Here's a super-cool picture!!

So, you get in a little basket. This basket is hoisted up the crane, then out to the tippy-tippy end. Then you see awesome stuff! Like this sloth!

That was probably the best thing about Gamboa. Spider sampling was pretty sweet, too. Pictures coming with Part III. After spending about a week, we headed off to Bocas del Toro....

Yeah! That's our plane!

Ok, I'm going to stop tipsy-blogging.

Do not fret. I will have plenty of time to blog these next couple months. I have no homework. Ever. What?

love, allie

PS - I hate Miley Cyrus! Sorry CL, M and Grace!

Back in the States, Part I

2008-01-19T12:07:00.000-06:00

I'm back, y'all!

So, one week at home, two weeks in sunny Panama, one more week at home, and here I am; back from my long absence. Classes started up again on Monday (damn you small liberal arts colleges for not observing Martin Luther King Jr. Day)... I wasn't really ready for it, but that's ok.

Here's the beginning of my recap from my wonderful, wonderful holiday to Panama...

Back story: Lucky me! I was selected to take a travel course to Panama through the Biology/Environmental Science department of my school. It was slightly over two weeks, leaving just after Christmas and returning on Jan. 12th.

Going to Panama was probably the highlight of college for me. The trees, the ocean, the monkeys, the spiders... Panama Cerveza...

Ahhh, the good life.

We were there for a little over 2 weeks, mostly staying at Smithsonian field stations. We got to frolic in the rain forest, listen to howler monkeys, snorkel near coral reefs, catch spiders... You know, normal stuff.

I took a shit-load of pictures while there and my computer is being a little fussy about uploading them. I'll post some in my "Back in the States, Part II" post.

The best part of my trip, I think, was that we got to celebrate New Year's in Panama. We went over to this swanky resort nearby to our field station, drank Panama Cerveza, and danced to Van Halen's "Panama." Haha, a little overkill I guess, but at the time (and after a few cervezas) we thought it was awesome.

My favorite thing we saw in Panama: howler monkeys!

Ok, yes, that's a picture I took. My camera had one crappy zoom for being so new. Camera with a decent zoom = #1 need for next trip to Panama.

Now that I'm back in the States, back in Wisconsin (ugg), I'm having trouble re-adjusting to winter. Especially since the temperatures didn't get above zero for a few days there. Classes have started, too. Good thing most of my classes are easy this semester. It's my last semester as an undergrad; I don't think I could handle another hard one.

On tap for this semester:

Oceanography - biggest. joke. ever. Today we learned that there are 1000 meters in a kilometer. 7th grade anyone?
Art History - fun, awesome professor, and only 1 paper. Hooray!
Environmental Chemistry - my last required class, taught by my advisor. Nice.

That's it! Hooray!

I'll update more about Panama soon, I promise.

love, allie

ps - I'm sorry for not updating for so long. Naughty girl. I missed you guys :)

la la la... no more school, but other stuff. A.K.A longest title to a blog entry ever

2007-12-18T14:01:00.000-06:00

Sitting in the public library at home.

Working, or not, on my essays.

Chatting with grace.

I can't wait for Christmas! Arrgg... being home is not as fun as I would have liked. None of my high school friends have called, but then again I haven't called any of them either. Christmas shopping, Christmas baking, Christmas cleaning! It all needs to be done... but then again all of that is way more fun than school for me right now.

I guess it's up to me to bake for Christmas this year. My mom is an excellent cook - but she doesn't bake. We're having the whole big family over and I've been put in charge of all desserts, cookies, and candy. Eeee!

More updates later! Well, we'll see. My parents still live in the stone age and only have dial-up. Doing anything on the internet can be very frustrating.

Must go! Christmas beckons!

love, allie

I'm done!

2007-12-14T17:01:00.000-06:00

Done with finals!

Done with this stressful semester!

Now I have time to really crack down on those grad school applications... and maybe do a bit of Christmas shopping. Also - get ready for my trip to Panama!

Spending New Year's Eve in Panama is going to be the highlight of my year. It sucks that I'll be out of town, sounds like there's going to be some good parties here, but still... It's New Year's, it's Panama, it doesn't get any better than that.

Everyone's going home for the break, it's a bit bittersweet. Some of my friends are graduating at semester, like Blondie who stayed here the past few days. It's sad because I know it'll never be the same for us. We used to live together, you know? And now it's coming to the end. Yes, this seems a bit like the beginning of the end. I'm scared to graduate, but excited at the same time. It kind of feels like I've finally gotten comfortable here and now it's time to move on again. But at the same time there's a lot of things I wish I'd done differently here, and I'm ready to start a new phase of my life. For instance, I wish I'd made more friends, I wish I'd been more outgoing, I wish I'd taken more pictures, I wish I'd kissed a few more boys (but I do love my bf), I wish I'd spent a little more time hanging out with the girls, I wish I'd gone to Europe, I actually do with I'd spent a little more time studying... the list goes on.

Rrr... no more sentimentality. Must go. Must pack. Must clean. Must go to a movie with CL (yay!).

I'm going home tomorrow, so blog posts will be less frequent. I've got shit to do, people!

love, allie

Pedestrians = friends (not roadkill)

2007-12-13T14:23:00.000-06:00

Holy shit, people of Wisconsin.

There's this law. It says that, while driving, you need to YIELD to PEDESTRIANS in the CROSSWALK. I, as a frequent pedestrian, would greatly appreciate you doing so. The rest of the pedestrians would appreciate that as well. The city realized this, and decided to put a big, fancy, bright yellow sign in the middle of the crosswalk reading "STATE LAW: YIELD TO PEDESTRIANS WITHIN CROSSWALK," in the hopes that the people of this city would obey that sign.

They did not obey the sign.

In fact, they RAN OVER IT.

Yep, that's the sign on my street. Poor sign, all tattered up from being RUN OVER by a careless Wisconsinite driver. I especially like the nice chunk taken out of the picture of the pedestrian by the "incident." Is this what Wisconsin thinks of its pedestrians?

I ask: if a fluorescent yellow sign can sit in the middle of the crosswalk each day, in the same spot, and it gets run over... what will be the fate of me, crossing at that same crosswalk everyday on my way to school?

More than being LAW, isn't it just polite to yield to pedestrians, especially if it is snowing or windy or cold or raining, or otherwise uncomfortable to be outside? Especially since they are not releasing excess amounts of carbon into the atmosphere by walking, but your car does by driving it?

This is my rant for the day. Yield to pedestrians!

love, allie

New haircut, procrastination part II, and an early morning freakout

2007-12-12T13:33:00.000-06:00

My new haircut was... less exciting than expected. I only got a trim, and then a few more layers (for "movement" as my stylist said). But come to think of it, I kind of liked my longer, all-one-length hair better. Oh well, it will grow out soon. I don't hate it, just kind of regretting my decision to get it cut. My stylist styled it funny, too. You know how when you go to the salon and you get your haircut, and the lady blow dries it for you... it just never looks the same as when you do it yourself? I mean, not that I'm the pro here or anything. Just the way she styled it was very... not me. All straight and curled under. I'm more of a wild and wavy type myself.

Yesterday... did not get done what I needed to get done, which equals more stress for today. I was laying in bed at around 1:15 or so this morning, not really sleeping, just running things through my head... when I suddenly freaked out. Let me recap for you:

______________________________________________________

I was somehow totally convinced that Dr. H, my most important reference for grad school, had finished all of his work at school and was leaving early on his way out of the country to visit somewhere tropical (which he has a tendency to do every break - I want this man's lifestyle!). That would mean that I wouldn't be able to use him as a reference and, in my crazy half-sleep, decided that I would never get into grad school and would have to work at McDonald's for the rest of my life.

I jumped straight up in bed, called the bf, made him come over and tell me that it was going to be ok, then yelled at him for just telling me that to calm me down, and that he didn't really know if Dr. H was gone by now or not. Made the bf leave my apartment, still mad at him.

Texted CW, a friend in the environmental science department and cohort on Panama trip, asking him if he knew where Dr. H was and if he was still in town. Finally received text message back from CW at around 1:45 saying that he was "over 90% sure that Dr. H is still around" and something to the fact that Dr. H loves me anyways and would run home from said tropical destination to fill out reference letter for me.

Still not satisfied, I went to my computer, checked the finals schedule, saw that Dr. H still had to administer a final exam this week. Decided life would go on. Went back to sleep.

______________________________________________________

Then today I went over to Dr. H's office, found him there and gave him the materials for references. He was very nice, "Of course I'll fill these out for you - I'm so glad you want to go to grad school! Have a merry Christmas!"

Life is ok now. Must not freak out anymore.

love, allie

Today: like yesterday only newer!

2007-12-11T11:32:00.000-06:00

Today, this is what I will do. Please feel free to check up on me to see if I, in fact, did this things. My procrastination and preoccupation with new networking site is getting the best of me. H'ok, so... list:

get dressed
work on paper for paleobiology
work on personal statement for grad schools
meet with professors so that they can give me references to said grad schools
study for paleobiology exam
study for org. chemistry exam
haircut: 3pm

Please don't be nice to me until these things are done. If I don't get these things done today, I will have been v. naughty girl (te he, naughty is a funny word).

That is all.

love, allie

The day after the day after

2007-12-10T21:12:00.000-06:00

After an awesome party and a day spent recuperating from said awesome party, today was my first real day back at life. But (bonus), no classes or finals or work today... just the whole day to myself to do ~~what I need to do~~ a bunch of stupid crap all day.

My day:

10am - wake up
10:30am - sit on internet, talk to CR (although it was a v. good conversation - ps CR: I need to update you), do some internet shopping
11:30am - make kick-ass breakfast of eggs, toast, and coffee
12:00pm - drive to Wal-greens with CL, pick up anti-preggers meds and check out awesome deals on cosmetics (conditioner for $2! lip balm for $2! yes!)
2:00pm - the bf calls. I think "holy shit! I've been doing nothing all day!" And then the bf comes over for a bit before his exam
2:15pm - back on the computer - I can't even remember what I was doing at this point
3:00pm - "holy shit! it's 3pm!" do first productive thing of day: shower
not sure what happened between 3 and 5.
5:00pm - bf comes over, we make dinner... get distracted...
7:00pm - "oh crap! I told CL I'd be at library at 6!" go to library, but first go pick up lovely package from m&d. oooh! cookies!
9:00pm - get bored at library, but have computer, begin looking around at blogs and such

Holy shit! It's almost 9:30! Must run, lots to do still. Must make up for unproductive day!

love, allie

Sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll

2007-12-07T11:46:00.000-06:00

In response to CL's comment that my blog is too innocent (read: boring!), I have decided to make today's post about sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll, as she requested.

So when I Googled "sex + drugs + rock n roll"... I found the tattoo that I'm totally going to get:

I especially like how the "drugs" girl is invisible, and neither one has a face. Nice. You know, those things aren't important. I hope it's just half finished.

You should get one, too. We can all have matching tattoos of naked chicks on our arms. It will be sweeet.

But you know, if we're all going to get matching tattoos, we should get really pretty ones, with pink sparkles on them. And we should get them where real friends symbolize their love for one another: on our asses. That's exactly what I want on my ass when I'm 70 years old. Then when we're all 70, we can still know that we're pink-sparkley-butt-tattoo best friends. Not just boring regular best friends. Well, that's what these girls wanted I guess. I would suppose that the conversation that preceded this decision went something like this:

"Come on guys, let's all get, like, matching tattoos because we're totally BFFs!!!!!!!"

"Ok, cool... what should we get, LOL?"

"We should get something that's totally, like, going to be soooooo meaningful. Like, forever! Because we're, like, best friends forever!!!!!!!"

"Yeah! OMG! You know what would be, like, sooooooooo cute? Pink sparkely hearts!!! On our butts!!!!!"

"OMG yeah, like totally!!!!! I will sooooooo want that on my ass forever!!!!!"

"And then we can, like, show people!!!!!!!! Oooh! And we could all, like, get matching pink sparkley thongs too! And then people will know that we will be BFFS.... forever!!!!!!!!! OMG we are AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

So, you up for it?
Good. We'll go tomorrow.

love, allie

Weekend plans and a sigh of relief

2007-12-06T16:14:00.000-06:00

CL and I are having a party this weekend. It's going to be great. Ugly Sweater Christmas Party... you get the picture. So far, we've got a good number of people coming - and apparently a box of Franzia! Life is good.

Today was a crazy day. But now my presentation is done and so is my lab practical, and my lab report is handed in. Still tired - I didn't get to sleep until 1am, then got up at 6:30 to keep working. The bf came over, though - he made it all more tolerable. We both had things to do and had to stay up late... so why not do it together? It feels nice to have all of those things off my shoulders and just done. DONE! Now all I have to worry about it finals and grad school applications. ...yeah. Here's the plan for now:

Next week: FINALS
Grad School apps - need to be mailed by Christmas
Christmas shopping... yeah, probably should do that by Christmas, too
PANAMA! ...but I need to get ready for it, buy stuff, pack stuff, etc.
relax? at some point? maybe? nah.

I'm really ready for break. Ready to go home... weird.

love, allie

So f-ing classy

2007-12-06T16:03:00.000-06:00

= Best snack ever... thanks CL!

love, allie
(even though I'm so gauche)

Camel toe?

2007-12-04T21:11:00.000-06:00

Is it just me, or do these sandals look really wrong? Ok, it's great that they're eco-friendly... but seriously? I don't think the camel-toe design is a requisite for eco-friendly accessories. Still, if you're really interested, they're available here, although it is a London-based website. God, I hope these things don't catch on here in the States. Could they possibly be the next Crocs? I think I'll have nightmares tonight.

love, allie

Library = quiet, no?

2007-12-03T12:20:00.000-06:00

Should not be blogging now.

Should be finishing class assignment.

However, all of the people in the library should not be running around chasing each other, screaming like little girls, telling each other how drunk they were this weekend, or who they or their roommates had sex with. Indoor voices people!

Sorry for the rant, that is all.

love, allie

Nachos grande y cinnamon twists!

2007-11-30T16:40:00.001-06:00

Productive day today!

It was a good day:

Went to all two classes I had
Cat-nap in the afternoon
Dishes - done!
Garbage - taken out!
Organic Chem. problems - started!

Having a day like this makes me feel not quite as guilty for being completely out of commission yesterday, although I still have a bit of catching up to do.

Bonus: CR is coming into town tonight! I heart you, CR! Also, CL and I have plans to go to B&N to start planning our trip to Europe this summer. We are going to Europe and we are going to have fun! As a graduation present my parents offered me either Lasik eye surgery or a trip to Europe. I choose Europe, my eyes can stay crappy for the time being. Once I have a fabulous job, I'll pay for my Lasik surgery myself.

-in other news-

I am completely in love with these jackets I saw on the I am Fashion blog the other day! They are the perfect blend of retro and modern. Also, they look a bit like the new Nine West coat I got while in Chicago a few weeks back. Yay for that!

Ok, that's all for now... more weekend updates later!

love, allie

PS - for something else to brighten your day, check out this! It's my favorite (and the extent of my Spanish vocabulary)!

Boring Sunday

2007-11-18T15:18:00.000-06:00

I hate working Sundays, but I always do. Working 7:30am-3:00pm wears me out so much, with the people and the coffee and the quiche (damn quiche). So it always turns out that once I get home I get really tired and lazy and end up spending the rest of the night watching TV and going on the internet.... BLAH.

Also, I'm sorry CR! I was supposed to call you when I got home from work but I was a bad girl and didn't. I still want to hear your story, though! Ah... keep me updated!

Bad news: just found out that I'll need to get 5 shots before going to Panama. Eww. Pfft, I ain't gonna get no typhoid fever, or yellow fever, or Hep. A, or tetanus, or the flu... I'm fine. I can fight it off... I think. Thoughts on exotic diseases? Like that maybe I should try to not contract them?

love, allie

damn greedy writers

2007-11-16T16:17:00.000-06:00

Ok, the WGA strike officially stopped being just annoying and is now pissing me off. According to (the ever-so-accurate) Wikipedia, The Office has the following status:

"Production stopped, last new episode aired November 15, 2007."

More bad news from Wiki on Scrubs:

"12 out of 18 episodes have been completed. Series finale episode could possibly not be produced or broadcast..."

I miss Jim and JD already.

Jim: "Don't cancel my show! I haven't even gotten a sex scene with Pam yet!"

JD: "Ah! Stop striking, writers, and let my show had a series finale!"

If this thing doesn't clear up soon, I think I will cry. Can't we all just get along?

love, allie

$@#!!$@! It's winter!

2007-11-16T12:52:00.000-06:00

It snowed today! Really it was just a tiny bit, but it was there. It started to feel like Christmas time to me today, also. I was running across the street to get some food from the sandwich shop when it started snowing. The wreaths were up on the light poles. And when I walked into the store, they were playing "Deck the Halls" on the stereo in that old-fashioned, full orchestra style. It all felt a bit out of place, seeing as how it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but it still gave me that nice, warm, Christmas-y feeling.

No plans for tonight yet. A couple people said we should go out, but nothing for sure. Surprisingly, the bf wants to go to the jazz concert at school tonight. I know it's because one of his roommates is playing, but I'll take what I can get. After that, I might go out to the bars with the girls. Should be a good time.

Short post today, I should make my Friday afternoon a productive one.

love, allie

No classes today!

2007-11-14T15:27:00.001-06:00

Yay, no classes. Good thing I'm being productive and watching Dr. Phil while blogging. I love me. So far I have accomplished 3 things today: I went to work (at 6:30am, so give me a break!), I went to the bank, and I picked up my bridesmaid dress for KV's wedding.

Here it is... yay! There's a little problem, though. I think it's one size too small. There's still time before the wedding. The problem was that when trying on sample dresses, the small one was of the wrong brand. That one fit me but this one doesn't. Now it's all a big hassle.

While looking on the internet for information on bridesmaid dress sizing, I came across a lovely website: uglydresses.com. Basically, it just showcases all of the things my bridesmaid dress could have been, had KV had terrible taste. My personal favorite:

Ok y'all. If you're in my wedding, that is so what you're wearing. It's gonna be awesome. If you look closely, you can see the real fashion statement: the subtle black tights worn under the (as they call it) "pole dancer pink" dress.

In other, completely different news, can I just say how much I hate the writers' strike right now? Yes, you should get credit for the shows that you write, even if they're on the internet... but I want to see my shows, damnit! Shit is going to go down when The Office stops showing new episodes. And I know that's coming soon. Oh Jim Halpert, what will I do without you? I know what I'll do. I'll just watch re-runs on TVlinks, so no one gets any money for it when I watch! Besides, how much more money do those writers really need? Seriously. If you guys could just keep writing for The Office that would be ok. Just one show? Ok? Thanks.

That is all.

love, allie

Back home...

2007-11-12T22:45:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm back from Chicago... I have to say I really had a good time with my mom. Here's a quick recap in pictures:

Friday:

After a very traffic-jammed drive to Chicago, my mom and I first hit up Pegasus restaurant. They say it's the best Greek restaurant in Chicago, and they are right.

After dinner and a little rest back at the hotel room, we down to Rush Street and caught a jazz show at the Backroom

I'm pretty sure that was the swankiest place I've ever been to. If you're in the area, check it out. They have shows every night... but it's a bit pricey.

Saturday:

The morning didn't really start for us until about 10am after being out late. But we went out to Michigan Avenue as soon as we got going. That place was crowded, as usual. But it's fun to be all touristy sometimes. Besides, I made some great purchases, such as...

...earmuffs from j.crew...

...perfume from Sephora...

...and a sweater from the Limited, a shirt from United Colors of Benetton, boots and a coat from Nine West, a clutch from j.crew. Yes, I did good.

Saturday night we were exhausted from shopping, so we had an amazing dinner at Smith and Wollensky steakhouse downtown. Unfortunately, we couldn't get dinner reservations until 8:45. Fortunately, we went over to Dominic's grocery before hand and got some cheese, bread, and a bottle of wine.

Finally we got to the restaurant. Their food was excellent. Mmmm... my dinner consisted of French onion soup, some zinfandel, a 10oz. filet mignon, some steamed asparagus with hollandaise sauce, and coconut sorbet for dessert. Go there. It's great.

Sunday:

Again, didn't wake up until late morning. This time, we traveled out of the city to Woodfield Mall. We did just a bit more shopping, before it was time to head home.

So that was my trip.

Now I'm back at school.

The rest of my week:

Classes. Work.

Boo.

love, allie

Limbo

2007-11-07T11:07:00.000-06:00

I feel like everyone is in a state of limbo right now. School is almost done, but no one knows where they'll be or what they'll do next year. I would say that is the number one most asked question of me right now: "So, what are you doing next year?" And I never have an answer. I try to laugh it off: "Haha, we'll see!" I wish I could answer them, I really do, but I guess I just have to wait for a while.

Last night I had car troubles... boo. That's not supposed to happen, that's why I have a new(ish) car! My battery died - turns out I had a light on in the back, which is weird, since I've never turned that light on myself. Must have been that stupid ghost, damn him. Luckily, the bf's (future) brother-in-law, BJ came over to jump it for me. It was all fixed in less than 5 minutes. I really wish I could have taken care of that myself, but cars are just something that I know absolutely nothing about.

In better news, I'm meeting my mom this weekend in Chicago for a fun shopping trip. It's going to be fun, I'm so excited. Let's just hope that my car works for my trip. I think it'll be ok.

That's all for now, boring post, I know.

love, allie

Good Day

2007-11-05T19:28:00.000-06:00

Today was a good day.

To begin with, I dropped my most awful class: Physics. It's not really the physics that I had the problem with in this class... it was the professor. If he would just teach physics in the way physics was meant to be taught (with equations and numbers and whatnot) I would have no problem. However, he chose to teach it in the most convoluted way possible, all conceptual, no numbers, wtf. But it's ok now, I don't have to deal with that anymore. Unfortunately, my poor bf does. He was in that class with me... well, he is still in that class, I am not. Yay for me.

Then, to make my day even better, my dear daddy sent me flowers!

It was so funny, because he had them sent to my apartment, but of course I wasn't there. I never am during the day, so instead he had them sent to the coffee shop where I work... and where I am during every spare moment of my day. So of course I got them there. I walked in today and saw them on the back table, but I didn't even read the card because I had no idea they were for me. After I went back to my place, I got a call from LH, my friend who works there with me asking me why I didn't pick up my flowers when I came in. Cute.

Then, tomorrow there are no classes... so I'll have some time to get my life together a bit. I plan on working hard core on my grad school applications, something I've been slacking off on lately. In other good news, I got an email back from #1 choice school - that's encouraging!

Oh, and this weekend's shindig was a hit. Y tu mamá también was sexy, the sangria was strong, and life was good. Up for tonight: $2 pints at the pub! You should come!

love, allie

Sexy Time!

2007-11-02T18:51:00.000-05:00

Plans for tonight: watching Y Tu Mamá También with the girls and getting drunk off of sangria! Updates to follow.

= Friday night fun with the girls!

love, allie

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T12:41:00.000-05:00

So... that's just about all the Halloween spirit I have. CL and I are invited to a party tonight, I'm not sure yet if we're going or not. It's at CK's apartment. I love CK, but I'm not such a big fan of her roommate and her roommate's boyfriend, and I think they're the main ones throwing this party. I guess I'll see if CL is going to go. If she is, then I'll go with her. Otherwise I think I'll just stay home and watch scary movies. It looks like there's some good stuff lined up on PBS for anyone that's interested. Here's the schedule tonight:

8 pm Masterpiece Theatre: Dracula
9:28 pm: Carrie

Yes, they're actually showing Carrie on PBS... that's why I love them. Speaking of PBS, CL and I watched a pretty awesome documentary on Charles Schultz last night. It made us cry. It was that good. And yes, I realize I'm a huge nerd. It's ok.

Well, I have some serious stuff to get done this afternoon before Chem. lab. Here's to productivity!

love, allie

On blogging

2007-10-29T21:05:00.000-05:00

I've been spending much of my precious procrastination time (which takes up about 10% of my waking hours, I'd estimate) checking out new blogs, reading old ones, etc. I'm not sure what it is, but all of a sudden, I'm completely enthralled by all of the wonderful things I can read about on other people's blogs. It also makes me want to make my own blog f-ing awesome so that everyone wants to read it... but I'm not sure how to do that. Any ideas?

For any of you that are curious, here are some of the blogs I've been looking at lately:

While writing this, I'm currently watching the Packers-Broncos game on Monday night football. I'm not really a huge football fan, to be honest, I really just have it on for the background noise. Besides, I bet the bf $5 that the Packers would lose. I thought he would almost break up with me when I bet against his team, haha... so cute. In reality I hope that the Packers do win today, it will just make my life so much easier.

I think I've become so into reading the blogs of others because my own life is so stressful right now. Between classes, grad school applications, my two jobs... where do I really have time to relax? I guess that's why I'm creating time to, but that time is taken away from other things I should be doing right now. Maybe cleaning the apartment... CL has been very patient with my huge mess, but I can tell that's it's starting to get to her. I'm sorry CL, if you're reading this!

Ok, time to close this up. I'm going to try to do the dishes before CL comes home from the library. Then maybe I'll make myself some tea and read the newspaper. Yes, that would be nice.

love, allie

All I need in life

2007-10-25T19:34:00.000-05:00

Well, I took the GRE yesterday*. The weird thing about the GRE is that, since it's entirely computer-based, you receive your scores instantly. I know, it's so convenient, and you don't have to worry that you won't get your scores in time, but for me that was the scariest part of the whole damn thing. Turns out I did... ok. Yep, just ok. To clarify - for me, "ok" means that I don't have to worry about not getting into grad school based on these scores... but they're not as high as I'd like. Maybe it has to do with my bringing up. I'm simply not satisfied with being merely average. Check that. I'm not satisfied with being merely above average. I need to work on this pesky perfectionist complex. Damn it.

Now I've just got the rest of the application process for grad schools ahead of me. And that's quite a task in itself. Any suggestions?

In other news, the bf was extremely nice to me all day yesterday even when I freaked out about my merely above-average score. What a nice guy. Plus, I figured out all it takes to make me happy! Here's the short list:

pizza (preferably Papa Murphy's... mmm, home-baked)
beer - andI got the good stuff, Hoegaarden (which, I learned recently is pronounced "who-garden" not "hoe-garden", FYI)
chocolate truffles
caramel apple

love, allie

______________________________________________________

*"yesterday" in the section above actually refers to Wednesday, not actually yesterday yesterday. Finishing the post took longer than I thought. oops!

drinking games

2007-10-21T20:39:00.001-05:00

tonight, instead of homework or other general productivity, caro, the bf and i played drinking games while watching tv shows. awesome sunday night! we started with the antiques roadshow drinking game (find it here), which is apparently inspired by frasier? let me know if you know anything about that one. then we changed the channel to abc (yes, no cable for us!) and started watching extreme makeover: home edition... probably the cheesiest television show ever made. That made us decided that it would make an excellent drinking game. bear with us, these rules may seem kind of mean, especially since most of the people on the show are terminally ill... but come on, if they didn't want people to make fun of it they shouldn't make it so damn cheesy!

here are the official rules for the extreme makeover: home edition drinking game:

drink every time ty uses that annoying megaphone
drink every time anyone says that something or someone is "special" or "inspirational"
drink every time anyone hugs anyone else
drink every time anyone cries - if they audibly squeak or make another weird noise, chug the rest of your beer

in an hour-long episode, you should make it through at least 2-3 beers. this game will get you significantly drunker than will the antiques roadshow drinking game, and is therefore much better.

in other news... the dreaded gre is coming up this week. i'm taking the test on wednesday and dreading it more than i have anything in a long time. i haven't really studied much, so i'll just have to hope for a good score. i figure, i didn't really study for the act and i did pretty good, so why should the gre be any different? i know, that's probably pretty awful reasoning, and my vocabulary is apparently shit, as far as my stupid gre study books have shown me. so for now, i'm just hoping that other people do worse than i do. also mean - i'm in a mean mood tonight, aren't i?

oh well, i should go soon. more stuff to do tonight that's not drinking or blogging (sad!). such is life.

love, allie

yay!

2007-10-18T21:02:00.000-05:00

i'm so excited for panama!

...that's all.

love, allie

friends and lovers

2007-10-16T22:30:00.000-05:00

what a weekend! CR was up here, and we had an awesome time as usual whenever she's in town. sitting at luna, lingerie shopping, cosmos, and football... does it get any better than this? yes it does, because she got me the bestest birthday gift ever - pretty tea! see, there it is! isn't it pretty? haha, CR - i've had two of them already and they're not only pretty, they're damn good, too! yay!

speaking of good, those cosmos we made were amazing! triple sec and limes make every drink taste like heaven. for the record, here is the best cosmopolitan recipe you will ever have:

2 oz. vodka
1 oz. triple sec
3 oz. cranberry juice
1/2 oz. fresh lime juice

shake with ice and pour into your best excuse for a martini glass! seriously, once you have this recipe you will never want to drink anything else. ever. ok, so we didn't have fancy glassware like that (yeah, they were in wine glasses), but they still tasted awesome!

oh yeah, and the football game was awesome, too. there's nothing like pbr at 10am. mmm... better than coffee. what a great way to have girl time before miss meg leaves the country! by the way, that is coming up way faster than i'd expected. wow. we'll miss her so much!

in other news, the bf and i were invited but not invited to a wedding this friday - and we finally received the invitation a few days ago. confusing, i know. good news: i just bought awesome shoes and a sweater to go with my dress, so i'll look pretty! bad news: i didn't realize that the wedding was going to be so early (3pm on a friday - wtf?)... and i still haven't found anyone to work for me. i'm supposed to be closing that night (i.e. working until 6:30, which clearly won't work). ah, i know they get pissed at me when i ask off work so much, but i can't help it. i'm a busy girl. if worst comes to worst, i'll just find someone to close for me and i'll skip out on the ceremony and just meet rob at the reception. that's not in bad taste... is it? i hope not. i mean, if they can't get a wedding invite out to me more than a week before the wedding i can't be expected to be at their beck and call.

enough.

other crappy news: our wireless connection is being snooty and not letting me on. hmph. oh wireless, you think you're too good for me. well you're not. i disconnect you!

ok, i've done nothing with my night except try on pretty dresses and stalk people on facebook... oh yeah, and write this lovely post. i should try to at least get something done now that's it's almost 11pm.

love, allie

it's grey in l.a. (or is it gray in l.a.?)

2007-10-08T16:58:00.000-05:00

when it's grey in l.a. i sure like it that way
'cause there's way too much sunshine 'round here
i don't know about you,
i get so sick of blue skies wherever they always appear.

and i sure love the sound of the rain pouring down
on my carport roof made out of tin
if there's a flood then there's gonna be mudslides
we all have to pay for our sins

and i suppose that they'll close canyon roads
and the freeways will all start to clog
and the waters will rise and you won't be surprised
when your whole house smells like a wet dog

yay, i love loudon wainwright... almost as much as i love rufus wainwright. today made me think of that song because it actually was grey/ay here for about 5 minutes, and i was loving it... now it's all sunny and 80 degrees and crappy again. boo. seriously, it needs to be about 45but degrees and overcast. then i can wear my brand new vest from the gap that i got for my birthday. see - that's the one!

speaking of my birthday, i'm so f-ing old now. i can't believe i'm 22 already. i know, i know, later in life i'll realize how not old 22 is... but that time isn't now. pretty soon the bf will be 22 also, and then he'll be able to commiserate with me. until then, he just keeps calling me old. it's not helping.

in other news, good news - i'm going to panama! i got accepted, and i'll be there for two weeks between december and january. i'm still very sad that rob won't be going with me, but i don't know what i can do about it. he says i should just bring him back a monkey that can fetch him beer whenever he wants it. i guess that'll have to do. so far on my to-do list for panama:

take lots of pictures
find a beer-fetching monkey and get him back to the u.s. for the bf

will do!

i guess that's about it. i have to go do some serious laundry tonight. you know when you haven't done laundry in about a month and there's only the clothes you hate left in your closet and they don't even match each other. yeah, that's where we're at.

h'ok so... laundry.

love, allie

1, 2, 3, 4, tell me that you love me more

2007-10-03T23:39:00.000-05:00

yay ipod commercials! haha, everytime the bf sees that one now he's like "hey, i have one of those." yes, my boyfriend is the most spoiled guy in the whole world because for our anniversary (3 years... scary) i bought him the new ipod nano. in black. the manly color (as he says). and yeah, it's pretty awesome, but i personally think that the song on the commercials is really the best part. it's my new favorite song... just like apple wants it to be. boo.

so the good news is that i finished my environmental science thesis project (finally) today. the bad news is that all the e.s. profs felt the need to completely grill me on everything i've learned in science these past few years... and i left without having a clue how i did. they made me leave before them, saying that they needed to discuss a few things. i hate it when people in authority feel that they need to "discuss things" - because it's never good things! oh well, hopefully i did alright and hopefully it doesn't affect whether or not i'll be able to go to panama... but we'll see. i just wish it was easier to tell with these kinds of things. stupid professors and their stupid "classify the largemouth bass" questions. wtf. seriously. wtf. whatever - what's done is done.

that's about all for now, the 'rents are coming up to visit tomorrow and the place is still kind of a mess. but maybe i should just go to bed and do it in the morning. we'll see.

the end.

love, allie

i love jim

2007-09-24T21:40:00.000-05:00

so, this thursday. office party. my place. it's gonna fucking rock. but whatever, the office season premiere is on thursday, which is amazing. i'm way too in love with jim halpert for my (or my boyfriend's) own good. too bad i hope he gets with pam! awkward, but cool. it all works out in my head.

right now - should be studying. i got my paleo lab done, so that's a plus. what i really need to be working on, though is my application for the panama trip. see, the bio department is finally taking a field course in panama, but only 3 people get to go. who makes these rules? they are really mean. i need to write an essay saying why i should go instead of those other losers (like my boyfriend... oops). i feel like this is creating tension in the bio department right now among the seniors, though. i mean, of course we all want to go - it's panama (yeah, see that awesome pic... that's panama, and that's where i want to spend my january). but our direct competition isn't some nameless person - it's each other. so i can't help rob with his essay, he's my competition. but i don't want to be chosen over him. and i certainly don't want him to be chosen over me. in allie's perfect world, me and the bf and CW would be chosen and we would go have a wonderful time in panama. yay. let's shoot for that, ok? ok.

in other news... studying for the gre still sucks, i still don't know where i want to go to grad school (any suggestions?), and i still have too much homework but am motivated to do none of it. yay!

ok, must get back to work. i hate being back in school.

love, allie

friday night i crashed your party...

2007-09-14T20:02:00.000-05:00

hmm, friday night, 8pm, what to do? finally it's the weekend. this week's been a long one. but now that it's the weekend i have to find something to do with myself. it's too early to go out still, but too late to do anything like go to the store. oh well, waiting for a couple people to call back and the night is still young.

bonus: CL made us an awesome dinner tonight of chicken and mashed potatoes! i love it when my roommate gets all homemaker-y. i was too tired after i got home from work to do anything but sit on my ass and watch stupid game shows anyway. this weekend my goal is to be productive. and i must accomplish it... or face a nasty week ahead. two test monday, one friday and a thesis paper due in between. who do these people think i am - a girl with nothing to do but study, well, i guess so.

in other news, the new season of the office is coming up in a couple weeks. and that means that we can all be graced with the view of jim halpert, also known as john krasinski, also known as the love of my life (sorry bf!). yeah, CL and i are in love with this guy, but i'm still hoping he and pam end up together. they have to, as i figure, because in t.v. world things like this are always bound to happen. i've watched all of seasons 1 & 2 on d.v.d., but i'm still a little rusty on season 3. i'll have to catch up before september 27th!

my other favorite show, scrubs, is very mean and won't be premiering until october 25th. i'll just have to be happy with the office and scrubs on d.v.d. until then.

ok, must go. must find out what the hell i'm doing tonight. i'm on a mission now. updates later. until then, i love you jim halpert!

love, allie

a little time...

2007-09-13T13:13:00.000-05:00

right now i have a little break between my classes and work. but not work work, i'm the botany t.a. this semester, which means that i go along on labs and help out, and this week we're going to frolic in the woods. no really.

anyway, i promised myself that i'd get one thing done on my overly-optimistic to-do list i made yesterday before 3:00 comes and i have to go run around in the forest. but first, i'm going to post on my brand new baby blog and give it a little more volume.

at the same time, i'm listening to "this american life" on podcast. yes, it's good. yes, you should listen to it. yes, i might be a huge dork for listening to it every week, but you have to understand my undying love for all things public broadcasting.

it's true. one day public broadcasting and i will probably run away to mexico together, but until then i'll just have to listen faithfully to their podcasts.

i still need to come up with something good to do this weekend. i need something to look forward to, you know? last week CL and i went to the wine bar across the bridge. and it was really good - but pretty expensive. i'm looking back at my credit card statement in disbelief because i spend $19 on just two glasses of wine. oh well, i considerate that money well spent towards mental health. everyone needs a little mental health worked into their budget.

ok, time to be productive. here goes some work.

love, allie

not-homework

2007-09-12T19:07:00.000-05:00

blogging, a.k.a. not-homework, is what i will be working on for a while until i can put myself under enough stress to actually get something done. see, i tend to be pretty good at working under pressure... too good in fact. this leads to the problem of me putting myself under undue stress even to get small tasks accomplished. oh well, so goes college.

my productivity for the evening so far has been to drink a double espresso and make myself an over-optimistic to-do list. hopefully before the night is through something worthwhile gets done.

well, that's all for now, time to start thinking about maybe getting something done.

love, allie