Christina T

feels like summer's on it's way...

Hello my friends!

I cannot believe I have one class left, then finals, then summer. When did this happen!? I was pretty positive it was just September. It's been a really great year, full of challenges, changes, and good friends. Actually, this year might have been the most fun for me! I think I've grown the most this year than ever before. I truly appreciate my life at SHU. I don't know what I am going to do all summer without the lovely ladies I live with. As much as it is so hard to part with those at home we have grown up with, there is something that bonds a group of kids living together. My friends here are like family to me and I treasure my time with them. I guess I will have to take serious time out of babysitting to visit this summer!

I should mention that you will survive finals when you get to college. It seeems like an ever-intimidating exam week filled with caffeine, textbooks, and tears. Well, close enough. Just kidding :-) First of all, finals are a big reflection of what you've done all semester. If you have gone to class, studied, and done your homework all semester, you will have an easy time reviewing it all for exam time. Some classes mainly grade you by midterm and final whereas others have periodic grades like quizzes, tests, homeworks, etc. As an English major, for example, I have two big papers, and two exams left. There is also a lot of free time come this part of the year, so use it wisely and plan all your studying! There might even be time to enjoy those last few days and hit the beach. I stand by my convictions that though the homework can be a lot, it's never too bad when you're surrounded by your best friends.

Happy almost summer everyone!

are you listening? WOAHH!

Hello friends!

Still loving the weather! I am also personally loving that the weekend is here at last. I had a ton of homework to do this week, so it is high time to relax! Tuesday was a beautiful day so I spent as much of it as I could preparing for my presentation outside. Wednesday I did the same but the sun wanted to prove itself the boss I guess because I got a tear drop sun burn on my back from my shirt AND I made serious typos in my paper because it's extremely difficult to do work outside. Ah well. Thursday I had my last day at my internship! It was really great getting to know the ins and outs of a publishing company. I recommend doing as many paid/unpaid/academic internships as you can. Even when you think you know what you want to do, there is truly no experience like getting right into it. I learned that I want a more dynamic job even though I truly enjoy some aspects of editing and publishing. I also got to know some really fabulous people like my boss and Mary Therese! These are experiences and connections that make up college and you can take through life.

To be honest, none of those things are quite as exciting as JIMMY EAT WORLD AND PARAMORE Thursday night! Caitlin I am infinitely glad you get to see them too! So at 3:15, we headed out for a major adventure: a roadtrip to Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. We passed by Michele's home and even over the Del Water Gap. Needless to say I was quite excited because I love adventures! We got to Bloomsburg U, which is beautiful by the way. Paramore rocked so hard! I wish I was a rockstar like her! I don't listen to much of their stuff but now I want to because they were so fun and great! And she broke out into "Apple bottom jeans, boots with the furrr..." so my night was made. THEN, Jimmy Eat World came out and melted our faces off! They started with "Big Casino" which was so fun and exciting, then went right into "The Sweetness" with "ARE YOU LISTENING?! WOAHH!!" Their whole show followed suit and they ended the encore with "Middle" which was so perfect. The show was so fun and it felt like no time before we were behind the wheel again...We stopped in Jersey for some 24hour Diner lovin and I had my first Disco Fries which you should know are gravy, cheese, and fries. Hi, heart attack. Around 4am, the treck was finished and I had a few hours to sleep before my big Friday began.

Friday started with a lot of homework, a lot of caffeine, and then a poster session! We got to present a poster portraying our fabulous time in the grand state of Kentucky before the award ceremony. We were so proud to represent the English Major and show off our hard work! Then, we were inducted to Sigma Tau Delta officially and I even won two scholarships at the ceremony! I was so happy my family came down for the day to share it with me. It was so rewarding and exciting to be recognized for my hard work :0) It was truly an experience I will not forget as I was able to look at my family and professors so proudly. It was pretty much the perfect ending to the week :) I cannot thank my family enough for coming down to partake with me. I am truly blessed!

Have a good week! Here's some adventure pics!  

come together

Hello my friends! My sincerest apologies for letting way too much time lapse between my blogs of late! Blame it on my being outside in this glorious weather :0)

I hope everyone is doing famously. Last Friday I went to New Jersey with miss Michele as promised. There are MOUNTAINS AND LAKES. I was shocked! We visited a certain fabulous pizzeria and her mom cooked dinner, which was amazing. It was strange being in Yankees/Giants territory-I felt quite overpowered and outnumbered. It was sincerely awesome, though, to spend time with Michele's family and get to know her home life.

The rest of the weekend included a lot of homework as I had a paper due for Shakespeare. To mix things up a bit, Louis, Caitriona, Michele and I went on a bit of a library tour. The work got done and unfortunately, the weekend ended. Monday was pretty standard with classes and workstudy. Tuesday, after the relieving submission of my Shakespeare paper, Michele and I went to see One Jack Move (a great band) do covers and their own stuff at Outpost, which is FLIK at night. It was so nice to go to a show and just hang out for a few hours and I always love to support SHU's music scene. We also promoted TWLOHA and earned street cred for the street team. HOPE YOU CHECKED IT OUT ONLINE!!!! :)

Wednesday I tried to be productive because THURSDAY I went to the Yankees/Red Sox game with James! It was such a blast and rather interesting to see things from the enemy's perspective, haha. We had a great time and could see the whole game perfectly from our seats! I must say that even as a Red Sox fan and proud Bostonian, I had an extremely positive Yankee Stadium experience (:

Yesterday I worked at Accepted Students Day and escorted families around on such a beautiful day! It was amazing to meet so many kids excited about SHU. And what a perfect day to come see the place-the entire student body was outside playing games and laying out. Needless to say, as SOON as Caitriona and I finished work for the day, we all headed for the beach. It was quite awesome to be at the beach in beach appropriate weather! All of Fairfield U and SHU were there, so that made it even more fun! Last night, we went to a friend's house to have a barbeque. What a perfect day!

Today needs to consist of more errands and homework because I have yet another exciting week ahead of me! Michele, Caitriona, and I are journeying to Bloomsburg, PA to see Jimmy Eat World and Paramore! I just have to say that I am so happy with my life here at SHU that I email my mom and thank her all the time.

In the wise lyrics of Jack's Mannequin, read your books but stay out late some nights.  This year is fabulous because I finally found a balance of work, friends, and self time. I absolutely adore SHU, especially in the spring semester. It's so exciting as the weather gets better and everyone is so happy. Here's the proof ;-)

 

root root root for the home team

Go SHU Men's Club Baseball!

Today some of my favorite boys around played University of Bridgeport at the lovely Seaside Park right on the water (right up my alley)! Though UB was winning almost the entire game, SHU came back in the last two innings and won the game! It was so exciting to see the boys all pumped up and making run after run! Caitriona, Meesh, and I had a fabulous time blowing bubbles with bubble gum and watching our boys! Props to Sean M, fellow blogger for his run!

This week has been pretty standard but tomorrow I am goin to the Dirty Jers with Meesh! She is taking me home for a day to prove to me that there is more to Jersey than the stereotypes allow. I get a road trip and free Italian food, so I'm in. I think it's really interesting to go home with the people I get close to at school because you can learn so much more about a person when you see where they are from and how they live there. So yes, I am excited (:

I also wanted to mention one of my more recent discoveries in this wild world. It's a non-profit organization called "To Write Love on Her Arms" abbreviated as TWLOHA. They raise awareness and protection for self mutilating, suicidal, depressed, and drug abusing individuals. What makes them different from other organizations however is that they are musically based. There are specific bands like Jimmy Eat World, Paramore, and The Rocket Summer that actually wear their merch and spread awareness about the cause. Please visit their website at http://www.twloha.com/index.php. Their merch rocks! Buy it! Tell your friends! Just by doing that you are helping their cause enormously. As they say in Wedding Crashers "People helping people it's a beautiful thing!"

Anyway, hope you are all having a nice week and that you got to enjoy the BEAUTIFUL spring weather today. We celebrated it with baseball and ice cream (: Here's the proof.

easy like sunday morning (:

Hi friends! Hope everyone is doing well as this spring weather rolls in!

This week we got a lot of midterm grades back which was pretty encouraging! We are also beginning to plan for next year's housing and courses. I guess it's an exciting part of the semester! Registering for classes can seem pretty stressful but on the whole, SHU makes it a fairly smooth process. Everybody is assigned an advisor when they enroll at SHU. Once they declare a major, they are switched to an advisor within their department. Before registering, everybody meets with their advisor to discuss which classes to take. My advisor is one of my favorite professors here at SHU and I have had him since I got here! Anyway, freshman year, teachers explain how to use WebAdvisor to register online. When the time comes (everybody is assigned a time and date), you select your decided courses and hit register. If a class is full, people usually already have back up plans or get on the wait list. All in all, it can be stressful but if you are organized and stay on top of the courses, it does turn out okay :)

Housing is interesting too! It's important to remember to stay true to your character, cheesey as that seems. All SHU housing is nice, so don't worry if you miss out on the dorm everybody seemed to want that year. It's more important that you live with your friends than cutting people down just for the bigger room. Housing goes by lottery numbers randomly assigned, while Juniors and Seniors have a shot at GPA specialized housing at Oakwood. Again, I don't know anyone who detests their dorm-so everyone will be okay! ResLife also offers an open house so everyone can get a feel of where they'll be living. SHU has it pretty well figured out, so don't worry too much. Even if it seems like people are all over the map, these things work themselves out by May.

Pretty eventful week for this girl, so I didn't write till the end. After my regular schedule of classes, internship, and workstudy, I was able to go see my friends from home play in a show with my roommate, Michele. It was really fun to introduce my roomie to all of my wonderful home friends, and to see the music scene back home again (: I also got a chance to see TWO shooting stars at the beach, so I am pretty lucky. Did I mention I love being 10 minutes from the beach? What a wonderful way to clear one's head after a day of milling around campus or studying. I did a LOT of homework this week, so yesterday I did NOTHING all day and it was the best thing ever. I caught up on some good Pixar movies with miss Michele :-)

Here are pictures of my home world meeting my school roomie!! Peace easy, loves. First is the happy couple you have previously met, Marissa and Holt. Next is ME WITH GREG which is amazing because hs is home from Buffalo finally! Then, Marissa and her two best men, Michael and Peter. Michele and I are rocking the black hoodies before we enter the show to have our wrists stamped haha. Finally, a picture of us with my lovely best friend Matthew as my worlds collide!  The show was awesome, good job boys and thanks for driving Meesh :0)  

peace love recycle

I hope you all celebrated Earth Hour Saturday at 8pm! Around the world, people shut off their lights from 8-9: GO GREEN! In honor of Earth Hour, we had a glow in the dark get-together at my apartment! Complete with glowing decor and dancing :)

This past week was pretty easy since we only had classes Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Wednesday was class, Thursday was the internship, and Friday was homework and hanging around the apartment. Friday night, we saw 21 with the beautiful Jim Sturgess. The movie was based off of the book, "Brining Down the House" about the MIT students who counted cards at a casino and literally, brought down the house. The movie was a little bit long - two hours and fifteen minutes! The Vegas scenes were awesome but I think the love story was a little bit unrealistic. I'm not sure: worth 10 dollars but not the best and nowhere near as great as Oceans 11. Post your thoughts if you saw it!

Saturday we spent the day preparing for our Earthly celebration which the pictures will reveal: preparations and the fun. Sunday Meesh and I were sleepy but we went to work anyway and Sunday night my beautiful roomie and her boyfriend cooked us a WONDERFUL dinner! They made baked macaroni and cheese and green bean casserole-so yum! Unfortunately, homework had to ensue for the rest of the evening but we were full and happy :)

This week began wonderfully-my Monday 9:30-12:15 was cancelled so I just had CLA hours and now workstudy : ) Gotta write a paper after work but until then I am with my lovelies. Talk to you at the end of the week!

Reduce Reuse Recycle ;-)  

chocolate overload

I think I forgot the true meaning of Easter. Somehow I got my holidays and their deep meanings mixed up and I spent my Easter solely focused on making up for lost chocolate eating. Woops.

Well, if I thought I was creeping myself out Thursday night, I clearly did not know what I was in for come Friday evening. We were supposed to have a movie night at Peter's house because he just got a movie theater screen in his basement. However, I had to be super brat and demand we go star gazing on a freezing windy evening in Boston. Intelligent. Long story short, we were at a park that once belonged to a guy whose mansion burnt down. Well, everything except the BALLROOM FLOOR. How creepy Panic! at the Disco is that?! Well, the stars, city lights, and ghost stories made for an interesting evening of course. I just love that I have friends that entertain my far out ideas (:

I also got to see my little cousins that I babysit all summer that day which was fabulous because I miss them when I'm at school! They're the greatest two little girls ever and I always think I wish I could press pause so that they stop growing up and stay adorable, but every year they get cooler! We have the best of times and I am pretty sure that babysitting is the greatest job on the planet. For instance, Saturday evening was spent making Jasmine and Buzz Lightyear with Play Doh. I think I have a hidden talent. Who needs law school?!  After that I was able to join my friends in their Easter get-together. A good amount of my friends were home which is always glorious (: Made me quite excited for summer! Matthew and I indulged in serious amounts of chocolate at midnight as we had given it up for lent. Thanks Marissa!

Sunday was a lovely Easter spent at a restaurant overlooking Ye Old Boston's prized dirty water with my mom and brother (: My five year old cousin was FURIOUS to think I slept so close to noon on a morning as exciting as one which the Bunny had visited. Oh the magic of being young! Today I babysat a bit and it was weird to realize the next time I saw these kids, I'd be on summer break! Oh man, four months of summer. I love college! This evening I will hang out with the last of the kids at home and my family. Tomorrow I head back to SHU with my beloved fellow blogger Miss Alex P! Only after I brave the mountains of laundry that have surfaced in my room...oops.

Back to the lovely apartment and beautiful roomies tomorrow-can't wait! Talk to you from workstudy Thursday(: Picshas of Buzz, Matt, and Boston watah. I kind of look like a creep in my pic with Matt. We compared it to the sister in Wedding Crashers-"never leave me! cause I'd find you! haha...ha" Nice.

hippity hop hop

The bunny is coming to town! Greetings from Easter Break in MA my friends!

It's quite nice to be home again, especially post-midterms. I can relax a little bit and see everyone I didn't get to over Spring Break. Celebrating Saint Paddy's at school was a good time and as you saw from my last pictures, I tend to get decked out : ) The journey home was fabulous, I mean who doesn't love a good 2.5 hours on I 95? It was amazing to sit down with Mom and adventure with Nick of course! Did anyone see Miley Cyrus on Oprah? She is totally fabulous and I wish I was her when I was 14! Anyways, it was particularly exciting for Lauren the best friend to come over! She ditched dinner at home for me which is seriously meaningful! Realizing what little there was to do until our other friends were around, we shopped at Target and ate ice cream from Stop&Shop like the wicked cool kids we are. It was fabulous to later meet up with some more of the gang. I have a really fabulous group of friends from high school that reminds me of the Jack's Mannequin song "Made for Each Other". Actually just the chorus (: I've mentioned before the boys are in a band. Check them out on Purevolume or Myspace as The Northwood. They are in studios recording as we speak (: Today I adventured a bit with miss Lauren, which is exactly why we are best friends. Instead of exercising at a gym or track, we "hiked" around a natural reservation for an hour. We got lost, frustrated, cold, and wet, but we had a good time! Tonight a few of us just hung out and watched Lost which I do not understand at all. Amanda and I went outside to check out the stars which is always a good time. That's my favorite part about living in the suburbs outside Boston as opposed to in it-the sky is so clear. Yes, we are exciting kids. Stupidly, we exchanged creepy ghost stories which made driving home horrendous because I do live in the suburbs and it's totally creepalish! Tomorrow I am babysitting and visiting my lovely cousins! Saturday night my WHOLE extended group of amazing friends is reuniting which is particularly exciting. Sunday is Easter so I get to spend time with my awesome fam! Sacred Heart ROCKS and we have Monday and Tuesday off from school as well, so I get to work and linger at home a little longer than most. Chicka chicka yea!

Anyway, so that's the latest on Spring Break II. Already missing my SHU loves! Here's some pics. Ugly faces with Amanda, Target with Lauren, and Saint Paddy's with Louis. Hope the bunny is good to those that celebrate (:

you (sham)ROCK my world

Happy Saint Paddy's Day, friends!

This week is fabulous because it is only two days! Easter Break starts Wednesday. This weekend was a grand ole time. Friday we celebrated Meg's birthday-Happy 21st babe! We ate at a restaurant in Fairfield center called Bravo's-so good! Saturday was apparently the real Saint Patrick's Day because the Catholic Church would not recognize a saint's day during Holy Week. Realistically, we just get two Saint Patrick's Days! So, since I am NOT from New Jersey and NOT normally a Nets fan, I was decked out Irish style at the game! Sitting courtside at the game was AMAZING! I am now, a Nets fan. It was that easy! Those ballers are enormous! The Nets won by 2 in the last 15 seconds-it was ridiculous! I kept an eye out for celebs but alas, twas in vain. However, we were probably on TV and we had such a great time watching the game and performances. Major thanks to the roomie for taking us!

Sunday was a bit more realistic-homework&work. However, Caitriona's mom sent her back to SHU with tons of authentic Irish food to continue celebrating the holiday : ) Today I am again decked out in the Irish gear as you will see in my pics. I decided I LOVE Mondays, not to mention Saint Patrick's Day! After lit class with Lou, Caitriona and I do homework until we meet up with Frank and Caroline for work. Tonight we are at workstudy and TOMORROW I get to pack up for home! I can't wait to see all my home loves :0)

Happy Easter everyone, talk to you from Boston! Here are some pics from the game!

workin' for the weekend

Hey friends! I just posted a video as to why you should read my blog so...thanks for coming in!

Well, having a basketball game to go to was definitely a fun way to end a week of midterms! Louis and I sprinted up the hill from our last midterm to join our friends at the game. WE WERE A WHITE OUT! All SHUdents were in white Pioneer tees (free, how cool is SHU, I mean come on!) with white rags to wave! The spirits were up, the band was rockin' out, and the fans looked amazing! The team played a great game, but alas, Mount Saint Mary's took the win. Needless to say, the game was very exciting! It was a blast to see everyone there: all grades, faculty, admissions counselors screaming their lungs out. After some serious ice cream eating, it was time to get ready for being a "profesh" the next day at my internship.

Work was pretty snazzy today. I got to do some real publishing work like contacting authors! I also really like the people I work with. One is a friend from Fairfield University (see, we do coexist peacefully) and my boss is awesome too. I am enjoying getting to know them :0) If you haven't noticed, I just totally love meeting people and getting to know them! Now I am at workstudy with my admissions loves. Tonight I have deemed a movie night as a serious break from the mountains of homework I have been braving. This weekend is the celebration of Saint Paddy's Day and I have the COOLEST Charlie Brown tee. Snoopy is kissing Peppermint Patty and it says "smack!" (at the kiss) and obviously, it says "Kiss me I'm Irish". Thanks, Delias! I will ALSO be attending the New Jersey Nets game with my fabulous roomie this weekend. (Courtside! Ballin'!) Work on Sunday, real Saint Paddy's Monday...and then HOME for Easter Break. I know it seems like we were just there, but I am excited to see my family again and celebrate some of my Easter tradition with brother (which is eating our weight in chocolate and possibly going to a CANDY MANSION up in MA). My brother is my favorite partner in crime. He is the funniest person I know and there is something about siblings-they just get you. Needless to say, we will inevitably have an Easter adventure. It will be great to be at home with Mom and Nick and to catch up with the friends that were and weren't home over Spring Break. Of those fine friends, I should mention the wonderful, the awesome, the best friend Lauren. She has been my best friend since we were 12 trying out for volleyball in middle school. She rocks and no matter how far away we are as college and life takes us down our paths, we are there for each other. I'm sure we will be coloring Easter eggs like we do, and I will post pictures she took because she's the Photography one. She's also the even-tempered, cute, Italian one. I guess I'm the dork because if we were Cory and Sean from Boy Meets World I'd be Cory and she'd be Sean. But yes, she's great. We complement each other and I can't wait to see her - it's been since CHRISTMAS COME ON!

Anyway, that's the plan for the near future - here's some pics of the immediate past ;-)