All that's known

Yesterday was probably my ideal day. What started out sad-ish (saying goodbye to friends moving out for the summer) turned into delightful (shopping adventures) and ended wonderfully (Spring Awakening and ensuing adventures).

Mor, Marla and I took our chances on student rush for Spring Awakening (playing until the end of May at Boston's Colonial Theater) and it was well worth it. $25 got us front row seats, close enough to make eye contact with the cast during parts of the show (which we did, by the way). The show itself was phenomenal, I really recommend you see it... the music's great, the cast has huge energy, and it's fun to watch. Plus, they're all really young - mostly all around my age, which kind of makes you want to be best friends with all of them.

Because I have some stalker skills left over from my concert days, we met up with some of the cast after the show at the stage door...

Kyle Riabko, male lead

Us with half the cast/orchestra

Pretty girls.

... and then we ended up on the T home with them. Kind of uncomfortable (seem stalker/creeper-like? yea..) but kind of delightful.

Friday, I'm in love

Things I love today:

- The sunshine
- Finally getting a job
- Remembering I have all weekend to do work, why stress now?
- OPI nail polish, especially in Got the Blues for Red
- Wearing dress pants and feeling like a grown up
- Checking things off of my to-do list
- My roommate's black scarf
- The Mongolian Grill that I had for lunch in Warren Towers
- This article that recently resurfaced while I was looking for examples of good writing
- Board games
- Seeing everyone I know in one spot on campus
- Finding lots of good vegetarian/Thai restaurants around Boston
- Surprising songs that come up on my iTunes shuffle

Singing in the Rain...

... except not really, because I'm less than thrilled with this raining situation. For "America's Walking City," Boston seems to be particularly terrible and maintaining its walkability in the winter months in the face of snow, rain and, my favorite, "wintry mix." Today was a wintry mix day - what started out snowing became sleet and then rain. Tragic, really. I didn't go home between the end of class and my meetings because it sucked too much outside for me to walk home. As a result, I sat in Hillel all day and accomplished approximately nothing. But when I did inevitably walk home, at 9:00 pm after a day of class and work, it was horrible. The ground was slippery from the snow and frozen rain, it was cold, and it was still raining, so I was rocking the raincoat under my peacoat and an umbrella. And apparently all rainboots aren't necessarily waterproof when you're walking through a lake because mine leaked. Tragic all around. It could have been worse though - when I got home, two pairs of really sad looking Uggs sat drenched outside the room. Poor roommates. Poor shoes.

Rest in peace

I've been neglecting this. What was so simple and enjoyable when I was on my couch in snowy Minnesota seems to have faded along with all of my free time once I returned to my Boston brownstone. Nevertheless, I really want to keep this up - and I'm working on it! It's just... there are so many distractions! Yea, there's school - this semester has more busy work than I've had probably since my senior year of high school. It's kind of ridiculous, I actually have weekly assignments for the first time in two years. On top of trying to keep up with all of the readings. Thoroughly unpleasant.

As if I didn't waste enough of my time on classwork and extracurriculars (along with jobs/internships I'm desperately trying to find), I happen to have had a slight incident with the Twilight series. Nothing too serious, I promise. Sam was reading it and then finished it just in time for me to start when I was waiting for my printer to install. It's just... addicting. I've got two down, two to go, and I just don't know what to do with myself.

I'll be honest, I'm a little ashamed. I never really intended to get into them, just to read them for the experience. And it's not like I'm obsessed with them. I swear. Eugh. There's just some quality about them that hooks you in and creates this intense need to know what's going to happen. Even if you know, deep down, the way it'll end. It's the same thing with chick flicks and trashy romance novels, which I've also been known to give myself over to. And really, I think that's what Twilight is to me, basically. The vampires don't really make a difference - if I want those, I'll stick with Buffy and Spike, thank you. One friend of mine noted that Twilight fell short in her opinion because it tried to make it seem incredibly plausible that vampires were living next door and that you may fall in love with one at any second. This as opposed to the world created in Harry Potter where you knew you wouldn't be involved in any wizards. But I'm not sure that that's what pulls people into this phenomenon. Harry Potter hit everyone across age and gender barriers. I'm pretty sure that those afflicted by Twilight are mostly teen/young adult girls and those others susceptible to a tragic love story (ie. me, sap that I am). And really, I think afflicted is the right word - it's like having a 24 hour bug. And you can finish the books in that amount of time, if you're driven enough. But, as all teen obsessions do, many get transfixed for longer. In fact, my friend's 15-year-old sister told her that "any fiction other than Twilight just wasn't worthwhile." Eek! I wouldn't go that far at all, but it's certainly engaging... like a toned-down trashy romance novel. Only more dangerous. Kind of.

Beauty school drop-out

I'm in desperate need of a haircut. As in I haven't had one since August. And my split ends actually have split ends. It's tragic, really. And mostly my fault - I haven't made an effort to find a hairdresser in Boston and even if I did, I'd much rather wait to come home where my parents will pay for my haircut. What can I say? I'm a poor college student. But when I wanted to get one over Thanksgiving, I was told that the person I had gone to pretty much forever was no longer working. Why? She decided not to renew her license until the salon owner found out and now she's back at beauty school! Good for her, tragic for me - I'm out a hairdresser. But desperate times... so this afternoon I've got an appointment with Peach at the Jon English Salon. She's been screened by my slightly neurotic aunt - a sign of word of mouth in the works - and I'm hopeful. If nothing else, at least my split ends will be gone!