Alexandra P

Where it's at

Hi!

You may have been skeptical about hearing from me again but, don't worry, I have not deserted you at all. I will be writing in this blog until my graduation--that's for sure. Anyway, I've been on a sort of hiatus due to it being summertime and all and me being out of Connecticut and back in sweet, sweet, Boston suburbia. While it has been thus far a relaxing and somewhat uneventful break, I still feel like I have done so much and enjoyed it all immensely. Even work is pretty fun, this time around. I'm still at General Dynamics in Needham, and I've always liked it here (I say here because, yes, I am currently at work ... shh), but I have always been the youngest member of the H.R. team by far. I still am, but I now have some fabulous intern friends thanks to the ever-awesome Mr. Kerry Reef of Bentley College. The first weekend of summer found me at Kerry's Waltham apartment for his birthday, just hanging out and enjoying my time home. I hadn't even officially finished school because I still had a paper that needed to be written on Monday. But that's beside the point. Anyway, My friend Plugis was talking to a girl and started yelling for me to come over. I went, and found out that the reason for his excitement was that the girl--Rachael, who is sure-to-be-referenced many more times--was a finance intern at General Dynamics! Needless to say, we spent our whole evening talking about work. And now she is my best "little buddy," as my boss calls the interns with whom I lunch, here. So Rachael and I both joined the GDIT gym and we used to go every day after work, but we've recently started going in the mornings. I'm a bit loopy when I roll into the parking lot at 6:30 a.m. but it goes fast because I pretty much sleep through my hour workout. And then I am home free in the evenings! There is also Joanna, who goes to JWU, and Eric, who goes to Providence. Rachael's a Bentley girl and that's how she knows my dear Kerr-bear. Who doesn't read this blog or he'd be extremely disappointed in me for sharing his grandmother's nickname for him with the world.

So that's my work life, but I have also been seeing my friends as much as possible. We've gone to the beach in Gloucester (home to the now-famous pregnancy pact among highschoolers under sixteen) and Salisbury. We've gone into Boston near Fenway where Kerry and Pluge are renting an aparment for the summer and stayed over multiple times. Last weekend. Carolyn and I went in and hung out with the boys and another friend of ours, Bobby. We stayed for most of Sunday and just lolled around watching "Die Hard" on t.v. DEFINITELY a boy movie. Although I like the part where Bruce Willis says "Yippee kay-ay, m-----f-----." I shan't be inappropriate, but it's a pretty clutch scene. We've gone out a lot in Faneuil Hall and near Newbury Street and had a lot of fun on the weekends. We all work so hard during the week that we just want to relax in the sun and explore Boston at night. So far, so good.

I've also seen a bunch of movies, but there are SO many more that I need to get out to. My favorite of the summer, so far, that I've seen, was "Forgetting Sarah Marshall." I LOVE Jason Segel. If you've ever seen "Freaks and Geeks," you love him too. I think "The Pineapple Express," "The Dark Kinght," and "Stepbrothers" are going to be the best movies, though, this break. "Sex & The City" was also good, but boys DEFINITELY won't like it. Which is totally fine because it's not meant for them.

And I guess that's it for the summer, so far. Carolyn being back has been absolutely wonderful. I know she misses Florence but I think I missed her more when she was gone so I'm sooo happy that I have my friend back whom I see almost every day and can laugh at absolutely nothing with me and isn't scared off by my most spectacularly abnormal sense of humor. It's nice to be loved for being exactly myself, you know? Oh, and I forgot to mention that I was randomly standing almost RIGHT next to the lovely blogger Christina T. in a sea of thousands of people at Earthfest a month ago! It was awesome. My phone rang and it was her and I looked up and she was literally in front of me. It was a great show; Cake, as always, played a fantastic set and did all of my favorites of theirs. Oh, and if anyone has Pearl Jam/Ted Leo tickets that they are trying to give away, let me know! :) :) :)

Anyway, later, kids. It's been real and I'll be back soon.
Peace and love,
Alex

Rachael, Bre, Kerry, me, Garrett, Dave, and Reb on Kerry's birthday with the LIMO!

Me and Kerry, probably laughing about one of our inside jokes since we quite literally share a brain.

Sister Stephanie and me in the back of Jody's Saab on the way to Jerry Seinfeld (!).

Jody and mum in the North End, walking to dinner before seeing Jerry.

The spectacularly handsome/loveable Floyd the Basset Hound. My mum took this while waiting for Jody during one of his cycling races last year.

School trip!

Hello, brave and friendly readers!

I write to you today whilst taking time out of my BUSY schedule. I just wanted to say hello and let you know that there are only two weeks left in the semester, and then finals! Wow, that blew by, didnt it? This was a SUPER fun weekend for me, by the way (and expensive, but that's beside the point). I drove home on Thursday aftertoon after my Sociology test--and carted off about half of the crap that I have accumulating here. When I got to Mass that night, I stayed up until three a.m. cleaning out my closet and sorting clothes to give to St. Vincent dePaul. I unpacked evvverything and put it all away, too. I also had Thai food and watched "30 Rock" and "The Office" with my Mum. She's finally coming around to these shows which is good since they are the best hour of television on the air, right now, besides "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report." ... In my opinion, that is. Then, I slept in on Friday and did lots of bank transactions to transfer money to Mum to pay my car insurance and some of my loans. Always a fun time! Friday night was the big night and reason that I went home so close to finals: A NIGHT IN BOSTON!!! Me, my sister Stephanie, my Mum, and Jody (her boyfriend who we LOVE) dressed up and went to dinner in the North End. Jody has great taste and he got us a reservation at a restaurant called Taranta, which mixes Peruvian and Italian (of course) food. There was even a guitarist at the restaurant just walkin' around and playing. We grabbed gelato and cappucinos after dinner and then drove over to the theatre district for the main event: JERRY SEINFELD!!! My Mum had gotten tickets to see him do standup at the Wang Theatre for our Easter presents. It was HILARIOUS and just really rejuvinating to watch. :) Then, I watched "Juno" before falling asleep. I'm really glad that I bought it and Christina T, you should be glad, too! Honest to blog! Anyway, I slept in on Saturday, again, and visited with my Grandma, Nana and Papa, and my friend Andrea who goes to Bentley. Then I drove back to school and hung out at our townhouse with my roommate Devin's friends who were visiting due to Devin's birthday last week. Today, I woke up super early and went to Six Flags: Great Adventure in New Jersey on a school trip. Because my friend Julie and I went with the school, we only had to pay twenty-five dollars for admission and transportation instead of the massive amount it would regularly be. Pictures and details concerning today to come! And that's me, for now. I highly suggest standup comedy and going on school trips. One will make you feel great and the other will save you lots of money.

'Til next time, friends!
Peace,
Alex

My little brother, James, and my little sister, Samantha!

Samantha and my full sister, Stephanie. :)

My Mum, on a hike with Jody. <3

Jody, on the same hike!

A month, a month, a month

Hello all you folks at home! There is one more month left of school, almost to the day! ... Which means reading one hundred pages a day for ten days in a row and writing a whollle lot of papers and articles. But it will all be worth it when its time for summery summer when it's warm and bright out and not windy and cold. This year has flown by so far, though, as my roommate and I were discussing earlier today. We went to sleep earlier all year than we ever did last year; we are no longer nocturnal. Are we becoming old women? We're not sure, but we sure are busy doing work and having a great time at school. Anyway, though, be on the lookout for the spring edition of the Sacred Heart Pioneer Magazine if you're on campus in the next few weeks! It's going to print soon and my story on political inaction is one of the cover stories! I am verrry excited. So I've got some more fun work to do, but more writing will follow later.

Love and kisses, folks.
Peace,
Alex

Here is a picture of me and a few girls that I met on Saturday.
They are all friends of my friend, Julie!

Happy April, tomorrow

Hey all,

I hope that you're all doing well. I just had a great, relaxing weekend and I wanted to tell you a little bit about it. On Friday, I babysat for three boys in Greenwhich, CT. I work through a service called Nannies as Needed and I pretty much babysit whenever I want. It's great. If you are looking for work when you're at Sacred Heart, I highly recommend it. Then it was siblings weekend and I hung out with one of my apartment mates' twin thirteen year-old brothers who BOTH look like Harry Potter! We played cards and Guitar Hero (highlight of my weekend) and went to the diner in Bridgeport at midnight. That was a real treat for them. :) On Saturday, I hung out and saw "The Other Boleyn Girl" with my friend, Jenna. It was a really great movie and I wasn't expecting much so I was very pleasantly surprised. I hugh out with the twins and my apartment mates again on Saturday night and we watched "Billy Madison" (and quoted the whole thing) on TV even thouh I own it. I got to sleep in every day of the weekend which meant that I was VERY relaxed and happy, because I feel like I always have to get up early for something. Then on Sunday I went to H&M at the Milford Mall with my friend Meagan. We had dinner and then went to church where I lectored. Fun times! Last night, my roomie and I did a "Sex & the City" marathon and watched five or so episodes, then I read. I also wrote an article for the Sacred Heart Spectrum newspaper, last night. Today, I woke up to a "class is cancelled" e-mail from my teacher and went back to bed until eleven-thirty. Then I got Taco Bell for lunch with Marcia and we played some more Guitar Hero. The best part of my whole week comes next! My very close friend, Carolyn, is studying abroad in Florence and was on spring break last week. She just got back yesterday and we Skyped for a long time using our webcams! She even gave me a virtual tour of her apartment and I got to see the view out of her bedroom window.

So, as you can see, I have had a great weekend and Monday.
And I hope that all of you have, as well.

Stay classy 'til next time!
Peace,
Alex

Here's a picture of gorgeous Carolyn and myself at a concert this summer. :)

The final stretch!

Hello all,

I am back again for more Sacred Heart lovin'! I had a wonderful--albeit very busy--spring break and Easter break, as well. I worked full time when I was home both times so I didn't get rested, necessarily, but I still loved being home very much. Since I got back yesterday, I have had choir practice and mentored one of my favorite third graders, Jackie, at Blackham School in Bridgeport. I also got a good grade on my Modern American Novel paper, too! I have to write a magazine article tonight and read about a million pages of The Sound And The Fury and The Looming Tower, but I am watching "America's Next Top Model" right now and am making sure that I have time for "Sex and the City" with my roomie tonight. We have been watching every night and we both had withdrawl over Easter break. Don't worry, though, we're okay. Anyway, there is a fancy schmancy new video of me introducing myself where I kind of look like a tool because a) it was Saint Patrick's Day and I am a Boston Irish Catholic and therefore dressed to the nines, and b) I just always look look like a little bit of a tool on camera because of my unfortunately slightly high voice. Ohhh well, I hope that you enjoy, anyway!

I have been super super busy but I promise that I will step it up and write more! I'm going to post a few pics from my Easter break with my AWESOME Natick friends. :)

Stay classy 'til next time, world.
Peace,
Alex

Andrea and Pluge! My loves.

 

Me and my Erika visited Bentley for a night. :)

 

Andrea, me, our new friend Nick, Erika, and Kerry at Bentley!

Believe it or not, it's already spring break!

Hello again, folks,

I'm very sorry that I haven't written, but I have been extremely, extremely busy with paper and article-writing, reading tons of books, and trying to find time to get a little shut eye. I am holding together okay, though, and, while this will have to be a short post because I have got to run and take a Sociology test, I just wanted to say hello and let you all know that I am doing okay! College can get very busy but you just have to keep plugging away and know that, if you allocate your time wisely, you will always come out on top. Don't let yourself get too stressed out about anything. Always take time to listen to someone encouraging. Whenever I feel like I'm doing badly, I tell my mum and she reminds me that I'm a smart girl and I will get through everything alright. It really does help. So I leave for Natick for spring break this evening and I will be back in a week. Sorry for the short length of this entry, but I will definitely catch you all up when I get back, honest to blog!

Take care and enjoy the snow flurrys.

Peace,
Alex

The grandparents!

He ya,

So today, two of my faaavorite people in the world came to visit: my grandparents! Nana and Papa live about two streets away from me in my hometown and I am very close to them. I actually talk on the phone with them every day if you can believe that! We planned out a little day trip for them before I come home for spring break and chose today to follow through on it. The three of us went to Bertucci's for lunch and then we did some shopping at Anthrolpologie. I even convinced Nana to buy a pair of wide-legged linen pants for herself and she NEVER buys new clothes. It was a VERY big step in the right fashion direction. I am proud of my Nana. :) Then, we went to downtown Fairfield and browsed around a bit. We went to Borders and I bought a book (A Farewell to Arms) that I need to re-read for one of my classes and forgot to order. I also bought The Kiterunner--because I am the only one in the whole world who hasn't read it at this point--and a book by the slain prime minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto. I even finagled a DVD out of my grandparents. Although I don't like Evan Rachel Wood, I still have a special place in my gigantic Beatles fan heart for "Across the Universe." Now it's in my ever-growing collection! Then Nana and Papa took me to Stop & Shop and I stocked up on gluten-free food (I can't eat anything with gluten in it ... which is wheat, barley, and rye) and pasta sauce and the works! I'm all set until spring break and even after that, now. It's been a good day. I chatted with my friends at the townhouse tonight, too. And now I'm going to do work for a little while. There's a slight chance that I might go to the movies tonight. There's a cinema in downtown Fairfield with two screens that plays slightly older movies (they are usually out of the theatre but not on video, yet). It's showing Michael Clayton and is only four dollars so I'm going to try and recruit someone gullible to go see an "Alex movie," which is a non-chick flick. Wish me luck!

Talk to you soon,
Alex

... Peace.

The election fast approaches ...

Dear loving readers,

Do you know what 2008 is? It is election year! If you are eighteen--or will be by November--get out there and register to vote in whichever state you will be on election day. I myself was originally registered in Massachusetts for the 2004 race (I made the voting age by THREE DAYS that year). I re-registered in Connecticut last year to vote in the midterm elections, and I am currently re-registered again in Massachusetts because I wanted to vote in the Massachusetts primary via absentee ballot. For all of you potential incoming Sacred Heart students, definitely consider re-registering in Connecticut if you are originally from out of state! Connecticut is a purple state where your vote really counts for something. Things can always go either way here. I know that I'll be voting in Connecticut in the fall and I highly recommend it--it's a good idea. Sacred Heart campus is alive and bustling with election buzz right now, just like the rest of the nation. If you care to check out the Sacred Heart Spectrum newspaper online (www.sacredheartspectrum.com) I will be writing some articles about the election in upcoming weeks. You should probably check out the Spectrum, anyway, though! It's a great way to see what goes on on campus and what matters to students, here. As you know, we had John McCain last week. I also saw Barack Obama in Hartford which was AWESOME! There were other SHU students there, as well, and it was interesting to see their pictures in contrast to mine because we were sitting in very different areas. Well folks, that's all for now because I have to get to my work/study job, but stay informed and keep tuning in to the old blog! Take care ...

Peace,
Alex

Here's a McCain pic from his rally on campus:

And here's one from the Obama rally in Hartford:

A very sad night

Hello friends, tonight has been a very sad night for me and the rest of New England. As you probably already know, the New England Patriots ended their historic, record-breaking season with a lone loss to the New York Giants and Eli Manning (the little brother of our arch-enemy, Peyton). I watched the game at my friends' apartment and was surrounded by half Giants fans and half Patriots fans. It was a really tough game and could have definitely gone either way. Neither team played nearly their best so it was hard for both sides to watch. But, in the end, although I am a HUGE Pats fan I can admit that the Giants played better and that is why they won. It's definitely exciting to be on a campus like Sacred Heart. We are right in the midst of the biggest sports rivalry in history. Yes folks, I am talking New York versus Boston. We have duked it out between the Yankees and the Red Sox (<3) numerous times since I have been here and each team has won its fair share and lost a few times, as well. In addition to Super Sunday being about the Super Bowl, this morning also entailed a big political event for Sacred Heart. We hosted Republican presidential hopeful (and likely nominated candidate for the party) John McCain. Now, I am a VERY political person; anyone who has ever met me or seen my Volvo can vouch for that. And I do not swing the way of the right. But I was very excited that we were having a presidential candidate on campus, regardless of which side he is on. I was hoping against hope that I would be able to meet and interview him briefly for the Sacred Heart newspaper, the Spectrum, but that honor ended up only going to the editor-in-chief, which is completely understandable. It was a close call, but there were not enough passes for me to get in to McCain's private quarters; not even the scheduled camera man was able to go in with Dario, the editor. I did, however, stand very close to where McCain and Joe Lieberman spoke and took lots of pictures of John and his family. I was very interested to hear what he had to say and I firmly think that it is the most important thing for every person to do to become familiar with all of the candidates. You NEED to vote and you NEED to be educated and pick the candidate that is right for you! Maybe next time we can have a Clinton or Obama on campus to even things out. That would really be a dream come true, for me. Anyway, tomorrow I might be going to an Obama speech in Hartford, so I will be getting my political fill for the week, thats for sure! Also, tomorrow night we are hosting a speaker named Judea Pearl, who is the father of the Wall Street Journal reporter, Daniel Pearl, who was murdered a few years ago in Pakistan. His widow wrote a book about his life and death called A Mighty Heart and a movie was released last summer with the same title and starred Angelina Jolie. Seeing Judea Pearl speak tomorrow night will, to say the least, be a very moving and emotional event. I promise I will still have time to do my homework and reading with all of this excitement going on! 'Til next time, folks ...

... peace.

Here are a couple of my good friends from home at the Patriots' Season Ticket-Holder's Pre-Season Practice. Yes, we are very lucky kids!

Sick but not discouraged

Hello, faithful blog readers! I am back for second semester and better than ever. Today, I had my first class of the second semester and it was absolutely great. It was with my favorite teacher, the one with whom I took the winter course, and we discussed the first assignment. The book that we had to read was not that great but, you know what? The class was because a good teacher can make a class like or, at least, appreciate a book that might not be that enjoyable. I also really love going to my English classes because I love my fellow English majors. One of the other bloggers, Christina, is an English major friend of mine and she is actually in Sentimental Literature, the class that I had today. I didn’t have any classes with her last semester so it’s really nice that we get to see each other this time around. I’m also really excited about the English class that I have on Wednesday: The Modern American Novel. One book that we’ll be reading that I’m sure almost all of you have already read is The Great Gatsby. I read it myself junior year of high school but I’m excited for a refresher because it’s all become a little hazy in my brain and I want to re-read it because I know that I enjoyed it the first time. So folks, you may be wondering why I said that I had my first class, today. The reason for this is because I was sick ALL of last week! It was absolutely horrible. I came down with a nasty virus on the Friday before I was supposed to go back to school and I missed literally the first week of classes. Let me tell you something, though. People here are really great about sick days. I e-mailed all of my teachers and made sure to get a note from my doctor and I’m going to be just fine, both health-wise and academically. My teachers all e-mailed me back and said to feel better. I was able to read book assignments at home for my two English courses and the other teachers I had just told me to wait until the next classes in their subjects met. Don’t be scared about being sick and missing class. If you’re a hard worker, you’ll get through everything without too much trouble as long as you are not just skipping out on classes that might not be the most enticing, to you. Take each class as one step at a time and, if you aren’t feeling well, take care of your body first. Everything will fall back into place after you’re better. You can believe me about all of this because I’m living my advice this week with my make-up work and whatnot. It’s not so bad! Well, I’ve got to go and start some reading right now, but I’ll talk to you all later. Take care and stay well!

Peace,

Alex

... No picture this time, folks, sorry! Next time for sure, though.