So far, so good!

I'm sitting here in my bed, taking some time off from studying and watching Office Space on TV. I couldn't be happier. I've been studying so incredibly hard for finals all week, so it's nice to take some time to relax. My first finals week went pretty well. I started studying for my Calculus I exam on saturday, but ended up sleeping for most of the day. Sunday I really buckled down and studied the entire day. I also had my tutor... for two hours! I was so proud of myself. I was proud of everyone! The whole campus seemed as if it had been turned off, for everyone was quietly studying in his or her own little abode. The LBC (Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life, aka the UC), the quad, the Business School, the library, the common rooms in the residence halls, they were all taken over by studious Tulanians. I was so impressed! It made me realize how serious finals are in college. Some of my finals counted for 50% of my final grade!!

So far, so good, though. I found out my final grades for three of my classes!! Two A's and a B!! I'm waiting to find out what I got in Religion and Politics... my final is on Tuesday... so we will soon see. I'm just excited to be finished with school work for a whole month! I'm excited to get home and see my family and friends, as Thanksgiving Break was way too short. I'm even going to meet up with some Tulanians from the Tri-state area. It's so funny how I traveled all the way down to NOLA just to meet people that live 15 minutes away from me in NJ. That's what I love about Tulane! And as thrilled as I am to be going home, I'm totally going to miss Tulane. It's my home away from home! It's still so warm here. And I'm going to miss my room/roommate. And my friends!! I'm going to miss the great restaurants and The Boot. I might even miss Bruff.

To say the least I'll be ready to return home, I mean ready to return to Tulane, after Winter Break. I'll report back to y'all when I'm in New Jersey!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Weather update!

I forgot to report on the weather!

Despite today (which was mildly brisk... sweatershirt and jeans weather), it has been so warm here. I wore shorts yesterday... in Decemeber. How can you compete with that?! And I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the weather channel is accurate, because it said that Sunday is supposed to be almost 80 degrees!!! I love it.

One Eighth of the Way Done with Collge?!? OH DEAR!

Why hello readers!! As I began to edit my final paper for Writing, it hit me! This semester is almost over. My last day of classes is tomorrow. I cannot believe it. Some of my friends have even started taking their finals! My first semester flew by with a blink of the eye, and now I only have 7 semesters left. I have to tell you, I don't think that's enough time here! Anyway, things have finally died down since my return from Thanksgiving Break. I don't have any more lacrosse paractices or USG meetings until next semester, so I've luckily had a lot of time to focus on my studies and get those last assignments in before finals. It was a little stressful, but I breathing a little more easily now, as I just pressed print on my final paper... phew. I only have three finals: Calculus, Spanish, and Religion and Politics. I'm not too worried, because I have plenty of time to prepare. My finals are spread out, which is really nice.

In other news, this past weekend was really fun.. one of the best. On friday, I had some serious bonding sesh's with people on my floor... it was good to catch up. Then I went to take pictures of my friends before they went to their respective semi-formals. A couple of my friends were going to the Business Fraternity semi (shout out to my friends who just became brothers), and some of my friends were going to a fraternity semi. They all looked so glamorous. I put on my "mommiest" outfit and took lots of pictures like a crazed, yet proud, mom. Afterall, somebody needed to document my friends' hotness. Haha.

Then I went out to dinner with my friend Tyler and our Writing professor and her husband. We went to Fresco's, a place a couple blocks away from campus. They have pizzas, salads, sandwhiches... all delicious. We ended up talking for over two hours and, even though Tyler and I had a party to go to, we could have easily continued talking even longer. It was such a refreshing dinner. And my professor is so much fun. Afterward, I went to a sin city fraternity party. It was such a cool set-up! Right up there with Saturate as one of the coolest parties I have ever been to. They had a huge Vegas sign outside with those big spotlights. And the inside was decorated so well. All the fraternity guys were decked out in costumes. And some of the girls that were there to help out were wearing playboy bunny costumes. It was a riot. I loved it!

Then we went to another party at The Boot: Cowboy Christmas. EVERYBODY was either wearing cowboy/girl apparel, or ugly christmas sweaters and accessories. I felt totally unworthy of being there because I definitely wasn't hardcore enough. Luckily my girlfriends were in the same clueless boat as I, so it was ok! But that was soooo fun too! There was a live band and everything. They played Holiday songs and 80's/90's music.. basically all of my jams! To say the least I rocked the night away.

Saturday was glorious! I slept in until 11... I guess I really needed sleep. Then I watched Blue Crush and Notting Hill on TV. What classics?! Then I just hung out with my friends until an early bird special Bruff dinner around 4:30. Then I went back to my room, napped, and woke up in time to watch Sex and the City with the girls and order Dough Bowl Pizza. I was way too tired to go out by this point, so I ended up going to bed a little after 12. It was the most relaxing, non-stressful day I have had in weeks. It was incredibly needed. Unfortunately it left me with oodles of work on Sunday, but it was worth it.

I'll keep y'all posted about finals!

Happy Holidays.

And thanks, Mom, for all of the awesome decorations for the room... Katherine and I are looking festive as well!

Reporting to you live from the Jerz

Thanksgivnig break has finally arrived... and after 3 months of being away from home, and about 4 days of being away from school, I'm already missing Tulane!! Especially the warmer weather... IT'S SO COLD HERE!! Still, it's really nice to be with family and old friends. It's been soooo hectic since I returned from NOLA. I landed around 12:30 Monday night. My mom and I had one of those cliche movie embraces at baggage claim (very emotional for about 5 seconds) and then we came home and stayed up talking in my kitchen until 3 a.m. I guess you could say it was nice to reunite!! It didn't feel weird coming home at all. I thought I was going to feel so foreign in my own home, but it was just like coming back from vacation. I took my suitcase upstairs and crawled into my cozy bed! The next day my twin came home. Now THAT was emotional. I have not seen my twin since I left for NOLA, so seeing her was quite a treat. On Wednesday I got to see all of my friends from highschool at the 2nd Annual Mountain Lakes High School Graduate and Senior Luncheon. It was so fun to see everyone back in the cafeteria where we had spent so much time as seniors. There was a lot of delicious food, and I got to rep Tulane and recruit a bunch of fellow Lakers. I also got to see a bunch of my teachers, many of whom I wanted to thank for preparing me so well for Tulane.


And then yesterday was Thanksgiving. I always spend it with my family (Mere, my mom, and me in the photo on the left), and our family friends (shout out to the Kennedy's for always hosting the craziest, most delicious Thanksgiving ever!). Otherwise... there's not much else to report. I am, however, looking forward to the Kennedy's daughter's wedding on Saturday! It's gonna be a party.

In other news:

The Tulane woman's Club Lacrosse team did very well this past weekend at Emory's Play Day Tournament. I believe we only lost one or two games out of five. Our team is so much fun!! We had to drive to Emory, which is about 7 hours, but the girls made the ride go by so quickly. And we met some pretty cool teams once we got to Emory as well. We set up a lot of games for next semester, as well as recruited some more teams to come to the New Orleans Mardi Gras tournament. I'm really psyched for that. But for any of you guys interested in lacrosse, Tulane has an awesome club program. Our mens and womens teams practice and travel year round. The good news, though, is that the commitment is what you make of it. We just want as many people to come out and play as possible.

That's it for now! But I hope y'all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Officially Saturated

This past weekend was so much fun!! For the very first time since August, I saw a fellow Laker (person from Mountain Lakes)! And, even better... I saw her in NOLA!! She is one of a handful of prospective students from my area who came to check out Tulane. Ali came into town on Wednesday... and it was so exciting when she finally called me and said she was on campus, and in awe of it! Her enthusiasm resonated through the phone and, hearing her, I felt like I was a prospective student again, curious and enticed by the unknown. I remember that my first steps onto campus were ones of possibility, were steps into a world of what could be, or rather, what should absolutely be. I think so many prospectives get that same feeling when they first see the campus. The next day was a little crazy. Ali and her dad went to the French Quarter. I went to my classes, worked out, gave a tour, and then finally met up with my Laker Prospie and her dad! We walked around campus for awhile and then they took me out to dinner. I, of course, recommened Jacques-Imos (see ealier post for restaurant detail). On friday I invited Ali to join me for my last class... Religion and Politics. It's a pretty small discussion based class... so I think she got a really good feel for a normal class at Tulane.

After class we went back to Monroe (my residence hall), where Ali got to meet a lot of my friends and other students at Tulane. She was so wrapped up in conversation with everyone that I went to go do my laundry and hair while she learned more about Tulane. We both got ready together and then we went to the Boot for her to meet more people. Everyone embrassed her so warmly! It was so nice to see her so comfortable with students. Afterward Ali came with me and my friends to Fresco's, a restaurant within walking distance from campus. We went back to the Boot afterward... and then to a couple fraternity parties. We made it an early night, though, as Tulane's Campus Preview Day started in the morning and was an all-day event. Tulane's Campus Preview Days are hosted by Green Wave Ambassadors, and are days for prospective students to learn all about the school. On CPD's, we have lunches, tours, and panels. I love, love, love mingling with all of the prospective students and parents!! It's so much fun. Everyone is really eager to learn about the school... just as the GWA's are eager to inform people about the school and NOLA.

My last tour didn't end until 5:45. I was so tired. But I had to get energized because there were two huge parties at night. The first party I went to was a party called Saturate. It is an annual fraternity party that is actually ranked nationally as one of the best college parties of the year. It was by far the most unreal event I have ever seen. As a registered party, there was a lot of security. But once I got inside, it was like a whole different world. Every single room was painted and decorated to a tee. The themes were Hook, Casino, 007, cocktail, Beerfest, Studio 54, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and Willy Wonka. And all the fraternity brothers were dressed up for their assigned room. For Hook, one of the guys actually dressed up as Tinker Bell. It was hilarious!! Then we went to another fraternity party down the street. They had a huge stage with an band that played old 80's cover songs. It was so cool and I descirbed to my sister as the exact scene from Animal House when the band is playing in the basement and EVERYONE is dancing/singing to the music. That's the only way I can described the second party. It was so much fun. Not to mention that it was a gorgeous saturday night... not a cloud in the sky and the perfect temperature for a short sleeve dress... in NOVEMBER. I love Tulane!!!

Riding the Homecoming Tidal Wave...

A lot has happened at Tulane since my last post! Last saturday concluded our week long Homecoming celebration... and it was amazing. Tulane knows how to celebrate, so, unlike many other schools, Tulane doesn't just squeeze all of the excitement of Homecoming into one day... we have an entire week of events sponsered by USG and the Homecoming Tidal Wave Committee.

It all started on October 21st with a lighting ceromony and an introduction of the Homecoming Court. We also got to see step show performances (just like in Stomp the Yard). The rest of the week consisted of lots of free food and entertainment. I of course was eating it up (no pun intended)! Thursday there was a Tidal Wave Homecoming Music Festival: Hullabalooza. Groovesect, Sister Hazel, and Sugarcult each played for an hour or so... right on the LBC (Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life) Quad. It was unreal. On Friday we had a huge parade with the marching band, cheerleaders, and Homecoming Court. They all marched down McAlister Drive (it's like Tulane's Boulevard... dorms and Bruff and the LBC are all along McAlister). The Court members were throwing out Tulane Mardi Gras beads to all the students in the crowd. Then there was a pep rally and fire works. It got me so pumped for the Homecoming game the next day!

The game started at 2, but, like I said, Tulane knows how to celebrate, and students and parents and faculty and alumni started to arrive to the Superdome around 11 for the Tailgate. There were so many organizations with tents that Tulane actuaully took up two whole parking lot levels for the tailgate. Like always there was a live band (they play such good music... ie oldies, the Tulane fight song, Louisisana line dances, the Cupid's shuffle). The live music and the free food really amp everybody up for the game. So after eating some more free food... we all went into the Dome. It was such a good game! We played Memphis and were doing really well in the first half. Unfortunately, we lost by one; however, it did make for an exiciting game!! At half time the Court was presented and the queen and king were crowned. I was really excited because the President and Vice President of GWA were announced the 2007 Homecoming king and queen... yay for Green Wave Ambassadors!! So the game concluded our long week of Homecoming. It was so fun. And the gorgeous weather made it all the more enjoyable (it was 75 and sunny on saturday, after an atypical week of low 60's!).

Homecoming week was also special/so chaotic because my mom and grandma came to visit for Parent's Weekend. We had such a blast!! I hadn't seen either of them since August, so it was such a thrill to be able to reunite in my all time favorite city, New Orleans. We went to such good restaurants (Jacques-Imos, Cafe Amelie, Brennan's, LA Pizza Kitchen), and we went shopping downtown and on Magazine Street... i got some really cute clothes!! My mom and grandma also got to meet a lot of my friends! My mom even tailgated/went to the game with us. It was the perfect weekend.

Quite the Ruckus

I went to eat dinner at Bruff with my friends and then we headed over to McAlister Auditorium to hear Ann Coulter, a conservative columnist, commentator, and author. She is very controversial in her views, which is why I think so many people attened her speech tonight. I'm pretty sure there were more people there to hear Anne Coulter than there were for Lil Wayne. Ann Coulter came to speak at Tulane on behalf of the College Republicans and a couple other campus organizations. Regardless of one's political views, everyone was curious as to what she was going to say. And it's a pretty big deal to have someone as well known as Ann Coulter come to our school. I don't think she received the warmest welcome, however, as her polarizing and ultra-conservative views offended many students and community members. Nonetheless, it was quite an experience. And it was awesome to see how involved the TU students were with current issues and politics.

Long Time No Chat

I am so sorry I left y'all hanging for soooo long! I've been so bogged down with school and midterms and extra-curriculars. Luckily I have some time now to catch you up on everything that has been happening in my life and at Tulane. First of all... just a little weather forecast update: It has been raining all day long... but finally starting to clear up a little bit! I swear it wasn't just raining cats and dogs; It was raining elephants grizley bears as well. I've never seen such a downpour. The bright side to all of that is that you can wear really cute rainboots and accessorize with a cute umbrella. Sometimes it rains so hard that people don't even bother and and slosh through the rain in their flip flops and without an umbrella... subsequently becoming drenched from head to toe. It's a pretty funny sight when everyone is running to and from their classes.

Anyway... so much has been going on here. Two weeks ago I started my GWA (Green Wave Ambassadors) training. The people of GWA are the people who y'all will get to interact with the most when you come and visit. We work in admissions, give tours, and talk to y'all about how amazing Tulane really is. It's such a fun job because now not only do I get to write about Tulane, I get to show people Tulane! So I had my training two weeks ago, and since then I have been participating in Preview Days. Preview Days occur throughout the months of October and Novemeber and allow students to look at the school really early on in the college application process. It's a lot of fun and they also have some realllly good food. This past weekend I flew solo on my first campus tour. It was sooo much! I saw so many of my friends along the tour, which made it entertaining... they yelled out to the people in my group "COME TO TULANE," "ROLL GREEN WAVE," OR "LAUREN IS THE BEST TOURGUIDE EVER." It was pretty hilarious... they added some life to the tour. But I loved my group and I think that a lot of the prospective students got really excited about the idea of attening Tulane. Y'all should definitely come for a tour. The best way to get a feel for any campus is to visit.

Two weeks ago was also really exciting for me because I got to meet up with my family friend Will and go out to dinner. As much as I LOVE Bruff (the main dining hall on campus), it is nice to get out on the weekend and have a slightly more upscale experience. So my family friend, all the way from Ohio, is in the Public Health and Tropical Medicine graduate program, which has its school located in downtown New Orleans. He came uptown to pick me up and we went to a place not too far off campus: Jacques-Imos. Seriously, y'all, if you like Louisiana cuisine, this is the restaurant for you. It's a little off the beaten path... which adds so much character to it. They've always got oldies music playing... like the Beatles and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, and the ambiance is chaotic, but not too loud or crowded. The food is literally TO DIE FOR! They have things like jamalaya and shrimp creole... and something really crazy on the menu: aligator cheesecake. This place is a must-go-to! Jacques-Imos is well known for the pick-up truck that sits in front of the restuantant. It has a table for two in the back of the truck... and guess who got to eat there. ME! Such a hilarious experience. Everyone in line who was waiting for a table was talking to us. A little awkward, but an unforgetable experience.

This past saturday, one of the fraternities on campus hosted "party buses" at night. Basically there were five buses that took students to a few venues throughout New Orleans. It's kind of like a big caravanning extravaganza. We started off at The Boot, where my friends and I got some food and waited for the buses. The Boot has a pizza place attached to it called the Dough Bowl. For anyone from New York or New Jersey, your pizza standards are probably pretty high. I know I miss that thin, crispy crusted New York/New Jersey pizza. But the Dough Bowl is the closest thing to it. And, let me tell you, it delicious. And the slices are HUGE. Definitely satisfies my craving. Then we (freshman, fraternity brothers, sorority sisters) hopped on the buses that lined the street and we went to the next venue, Tucker's. Tucker's was so much fun. They have a courtyard in the back that is filled with sand for a beach volleyball court. It is so cool!! And almost no one judged me when I tried to show off my skill and served the volleyball into the back of one of my teammate's heads. Ooops. I'll definitely be picked last for teams next time. Haha. Then we went to another place called the Frat House. Then the buses took us all home. It was a really fun night. And definitely nice to mix it up and go to different places, rather than the same old, same old. That is why I love New Orleans. There are always new places to go, new people to meet, new things to do!

I'll write back soon, as Ann Coulter is coming to speak on campus tonight... should be interesting.

Fireman Comin...

This past week was pretty crazy. School began to kick in at full speed, lacrosse practice started, ASB (Associated Student Body) and USG (Undergraduate Student Government) assembled for their first official meeting, Lil Wayne came to perform (YES, Weezy), and I inevitably caught a cold and made my first journey to Student Health Center.

Monday was the first practice that I had attended for Tulane Club Lacrosse. There was a practice the week before, but I couldn’t go because I was too consumed with my campaign (hehe). So I went this past Monday… and I had so much fun! Every girl is there to just play around and have a good time. We warmed up with some drills, but quickly moved into more fun things like “steal the bacon” (aka keep away). It was a blast. And Amanda, the captain, signed us up for two tournaments this semester! We are going to play at Clemson and Emory. I cannot wait! Afterward I came home and watched RENT with a bunch of girls on my floor. Then I went on youtube.com with my roommate, as we made our best attempt to learn the Soulja Boy dance (it was a very sloppy scene). But seriously y’all, definitely learn that dance, as well as the Cupid’s Shuffle before you come to Tulane!! I can always teach you when you come down to visit.

Tuesday was the first official meeting for ASB and USG. The meeting took place in one of the upstairs conference rooms of the LBC (Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life). The meeting started at 7, but they provided dinner for us beforehand, so naturally I arrived early. It was so delicious… Grilled shrimp, bruchetta, jambalaya, and the most scrumptious of all, bananas foster. Bananas Foster is NOLA delicacy. It is a desert made with bananas (obviously), cinnamon, banana liquor, rum, and ice cream. I highly recommend ordering it for desert the next time you go out to a NOLA restaurant. Anyway… As I said previously, the meetings are very official. I am always supposed to wear business attire, and I must refer to myself, and others as “Senator (official title)” (example: “Senator Aronson, Freshman Senator”). Afterward I went back to the dorms and studied for Spanish until I went to bed. It was a long night.

Thursday rolled around, but I was way too sick to do anything! And I wanted to rest up for the Lil Wayne concert on Friday. Yes, you may need to do a double take, but I am, indeed, talking about THE Lil Wayne. TUCP (Tulane University Campus Programming) hires entertainment for the students. It is a student run organization and they are able to get so many cool bands/song artists. They’ve also had performers like Ludacris, Guster, and Juvenile. So Friday was a busy day. I went to Student Health in the morning. The doctors and nurses there were so accommodating. I felt like I was at my doctor’s office from home. Then I went to my 9 o’clock class, then to my Spanish class for a test at 10. I think I aced it, but I don’t want to jinx anything. I had a nice break until 2 o’clock, so I picked up my dry cleaning, ate some lunch, made a birthday card for my friend, Blakely (shout out to her for 18… YAY), and then I went back to class. I got out at 3 and went back to the dorms to shower and get ready. I met up with my friends at the Boot around 6 and a little after that we walked to McAlister Auditorium for the concert. It was so much fun! I would have never thought that a rap concert in my school auditorium would have been that amazing, but it was! Unfortunately my late Friday night caused me to become even sicker. And, subsequently, the rest of my weekend was pretty dull. I did, however, watch a lot of the OC season 1 this weekend! But, I better go start my homework, for I often use this blog as an excuse to procrastinate… and now I’m finished!

More soon…

Freshman year in college is way better than freshman year in high school!

This past week flew by and Thursday was here before I knew it! Not only the start to the best weekend, Thursday was also the day that the election results were posted. I was elected Freshman Senator for USG!! And the great news is that four of my other friends (all pre-orientation NOLA folk) were elected as well. I am so psyched. I didn’t go out on Thursday… again, but I still had such a good night. A couple of friends and I stayed in my room and watched Dawson’s Creek season 3 for awhile as we “studied,” or rather, had our books in front of us to create the illusion of studying. On friday I woke up so well rested and really ready for the weekend. I went to my classes, grabbed some delicious food from Bruff Commons (the dining hall) and went to my first USG meeting. It lasted a little over four hours… it was kind of intense, but I loved it. The meetings are really official. We use Parliamentary proceedures and we write a lot of legislation. I am going to learn so much and, as a total dork, I am really excited about that too. After the meeting a lot of people came back to my room so we could celebrate the victory of the new Freshman Senators. Then we went out to a fraternity party. I always have a great time at those parties because I meet so many interesting people. And everyone is mingling with everyone. The upperclassmen love getting to know freshman. It’s a really nice feeling.


Saturday was another really relaxing day. I went to get a manicure and pedicure. It was so luxurious! And then I napped for a couple hours, which was, indeed, refreshing. Then I studied for my Intro to Politics class (the title is “religion and politics”; it is such an interesting class). Then I went to Bruff for sushi night. The sushi was sooo yummy. After dinner I went back to my dorm to get ready for my first ever “Little Sister” Party. Basically, this is a way for freshman girls to meet each other, as well as the fine gentlemen of the hosting fraternity. And just to reiterate this point: the party was only for freshman girls and the fraternity brothers. The party was such a nice gesture!! Every girl that I spoke with last night was having a blast. Plus it was semi-formal attire, so we got to get all dressed up (I had to have my mom ship my fancier dresses down here! So I’m giving a shout out to her since she always reads this blog… love you, mom!! Thank you!). So anyway, it was a really classy event and I had a lot of fun. I had a really good hair night too, which always makes me happy. Unfortunately, however, my hair was ruined when I decided to go swimming later that night (sigh). Oh well, it was worth it!

Roll Green Wave... and Turtle Soup

Hey y’all! I, of course, have had another absolutely amazing week. This weekend, though, to be totally cliche, really put the cherry on top of my sundae. Thursday night marks the first of the weekend here at Tulane, as it probably does at any school that isn’t considered totally boring. But, alas, I had homework to do… so I stayed in and worked for awhile/went on facebook for an unnecessarily long time. Finally I decided my time would be best spent sidewalk-chalking the areas around the freshman dorms and the dining hall, Bruff (which, by the way, is delicious AND unlimited). And as cool as I am to sidewalk-chalk on a weekend night, I actually had a good excuse: my campaign. I’m running for one of five Freshman Senator positions in the USG (Undergraduate Student Gov.), and the competition is getting pretty intense. I’m not sure how my campaign is going… but it was really fun to sidewalk-chalk. Waking up to see that it had rained in the morning, however, was not so fun!

Anyway… friday was a blast. I campaigned for awhile after my classes and then ate dinner in Bruff with a bunch of my friends (we like to eat when the senior citizens do… around 5 o’clock). Around 10 people came over to mine and Katherine (my roommate!)’s room. We all got ready to go out together. I borrowed one of my friend’s dresses… very hot… very psychodelic (Girls, you’ll tend to borrow dresses a lot here, as, no sane teenager has enough dresses to wear a new one daily).

I woke up early saturday to get ready for the first football game of the year!!! ROLL GREEN WAVE. All decked out in Tulane apparel, my friends and I arrived at the tailgate 3 whole hours before the game even started. It was sooooo much fun. There was a big stage on a rooftop parking lot with a crrrrazzzy band that played all the Louisiana favorites. Everyone was dancing and singing and having the best time. Some Tulanians didn’t even go into the game on time because the tailgate was way too much fun. I definitely didn’t want to miss the game, though… so I went in at 6. Let me tell y’all, THE SUPERDOME IS SO COOL. I had such a blast. The first half was awesome. We were tied with Mississippi State at halftime. Unfortunately Mississippi State pulled away in the 3rd quarter and we lost, but, nonetheless, it was a really good game.

On Sunday I woke up early… again (You’ll see that there are so many fun things to do, so it is hard to sleep the day away). I woke up early for brunch with some of my closest friends. We got all dressed up! The guys even wore sport coats! So there we were… three handsome lads and three fine young ladies out to brunch at a very fancy place called Commander’s Palace. This place was amazing!!! I have never had such good food, ever. It was very classy and full of Southern charm. It radiated New Orleans’ traditions: a jazz band, balloons, Turtle Soup, Bread Pudding Souffle, gentlemen waiters at your service, and the company of close friends. It reminded me not to sweat the small stuff, like having too much homework, or not knowing what to wear, or getting involved with silly gossip… because I am here with the most incredible people, attending the most incredible school, in the most incredible city ever! Definitely check out Commander’s Palace (particularly if you are accompanied by your parents…’s wallets hehe), and definitely check out Tulane/New Orleans.

Write again soon!!

Tulane Completes Me!

I’ve only been here for two weeks, but it seriously feels like I’ve been here for months. Already, I’ve met the most eclectic people, dined at the most delicious New Orleans restaurants, and lived in what I now consider to be the greatest city in America. Tulane is, hands down, the hottest place to be attending school right now. To give y’all a little background of what I have been up to:

Some of you may be wondering why I have been here for two weeks, as Move-in Day was on the 25th. Don’t worry, I wasn’t THAT excited to come to college that I decided to move down a week early and creepily meander around campus. I actually moved down here early for a pre-orientation program called NOLA (a picture of my group is above). The best way to explain it is this: a crash course in getting to New Orleans and Tulane. Let me tell you guys right now, I am the biggest NOLA advocate! I encourage every single prospective to look into it. NOLA has something for everyone. I actually got the oppertunity to write for The Hullabaloo, Tulane’s college newspaper! There are four other tracks as well. All of them include a two day camping trip (one trip more extreme than the other), lots of delectable food, bowling/dancing, and so many memories with NOLA friends.

Since NOLA, I’ve not only gone through Orientation, but I’ve also had my first week of classes. Move-in on the 25th was so crazy! Ladies, just a heads up, don’t try to do your hair for Move-in Day… it will get ruined and you will be sad that you wasted your time doing it. I know I was sad (note the photo with the wavy/attempted to be straightened hair... I'm in front of Monroe the day before move-in). Haha. Otherwise Move-in day is soooo fun. Convocation was amazing; there was a Jazz band that came in and played, the cheerleaders were there, and freshman got free shirts (I’ve gotten about 8 free shirts since I have been here). Another highlight of Orientation was definitely Reily Rocks. Basically, it was another oppertunity for free food and shirts, while being able to network with freshman and upperclassmen alike. Who would pass that up?!? Reily is the Athletic Center by the way. IT IS GORGEOUS. I would definitely advise y’all to look up Reily on Tulane’s website. The facility is so nice that it will absolutely motivate you to work out!!

Classes were sooo much fun. I sound like a huge loser, but the classes at Tulane are so much better than high school classes. I love my classes. And I am really lucky because my classes are also small so everyone feels really at ease and comfortable. The environment is inviting. You will want to go to class when you come here. At the end of the day on Friday we had the Activities Expo. Talk about more insanity! Everyone was running around checking out the different activites. I was all over it. I signed up for A LOT!!! Honestly y’all, you could be interested in the most obscure hobby, and Tulane will probably have some kind of club for it. If not, you can start a club.

On Saturday it was my birthday… and it was probably the best birthday I have ever had. It is so hard to believe that so many people (people who I have only known for a matter of days) cared about my birthday!! There were about 45 of us that went out to dinner. We went to the coolest little pizza place, not too far off campus, on Magazine Street (amazing shopping and food!!!). Afterwards we had cake and present opening! I got the craziest gifts. I loved it. Then we went out to a local hang out, one which happens to be a personal favorite of mine: The Boot. For the best college nightlife (dancing, eating, socializing, etc.) this is the place to be. It was such a great night.

That’s it for now everyone! More soon.