From Maine to Jersey to New Orleans... I'm back after break and better than ever!

Hey y'all! It feels so great to be back in New Orleans after going up north for spring break. The sun is shining, the flowers are in bloom, and the outdoor social pool is open!! It's definitely spring time down here in NOLA. But let me give y'all a little recap on the past few weeks...

The week before spring break was so chaotic, seeing as I had a Spanish exam, a spanish oral exam, an American Government Exam, and an Evolutionary Biology quiz. YUCK! As you can tell, it was most definitely hell! But I got through it, and it made my spring break so much more enjoyable! I left early friday morning to fly up to Maine to see my sister.

Brrrr... it was so chilly up there; although the snow covered Colby campus was beautiful. This was my first visit to Colby and, after not seeing my sister for over two months, I was overjoyed when we finally reunited. It was really cool to see the life she was living so many miles away from me. I got to see the campus, meet her friends, eat the food, and form great memories with Meredith. And I guess I was there for a big weekend as well, a weekend called Doghead. It's in celebration of St. Patricks Day, where you stay up all night on Friday. It was reallllly fun... but I'm sad to say I couldn't stay up all night. My sister and I took a nap and woke up really early in the morning to join in on the festivities. It was snowing too! I loved it.

I stayed until Sunday and then I went home to New Jersey. I had a really mellow trip, seeing as a lot of my friends had already had their spring breaks and were back at school. Nonetheless, I had the most wonderful time with my mom and dad. My mom and I had quite an adventure one day, when we went to the city (New York City... I guess depending where you live, "the city" could have a different meaning!) to have lunch and see a Broadway show. We went to Virgil's, a barbeque joint very close to Times Square. I live in the South now, and I still think that this restaurant has some of the best barbeque I've ever had! Afterward we went to see one of the newest shows to Broadway: Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein. It was the most hilarious show... and even a little bit vulgar... to say the least, it was a VERY Mel Brooks comedy. It was one of the funniest shows that I've seen, actually! My mom and I also went to see something of a little less quality theater, Step Up II. It wasn't quite as good as the first Step Up, but the dancing was awesome. And don't worry, the leads were still so good looking.

The rest of the week, I just kind of hung out. My sister came home for her spring break on Thursday so I got to spend even more time with her! On Sunday I came back here. The dorms were open throughout all of break, so I had no problem returning early. Since school didn't start until Tuesday, I was able to unpack, get settled, work out and eat at Bruff with Stacey and Joe, and go to the Boot for a bit. It was a very relxing night! The next day I worked out (again!!) and then I had a tour in the afternoon. Later I reunited with my girls... and just in time for ordering in food and watching the Greek season season premiere. It was soooo fun! A bunch of us had work to finish up, so I went to be relatively early.

Tuesday was awesome! I woke up for my 8am and then had appointment after meeting after appointment for most of the day. I even had USG and Pi Phi at night! Somehow, though, I got all of my work done and was able to go out with the girls to the Boot. It was so fun! And I was wearing the most adorable and summery shirt from J. Crew (bargain buy at the outlets! you can never go wrong there). So naturally I was in a good mood because of my outfit and it was a perfect night!

Wednesday my sister came into town!!!!! It was her first NOLA visit. Unfortunately her flight was very very very delayed, and we were unable to go out to a nice dinner. But I did take her to the Crepe stand, which is always delicious. Then she got to meet all of my friends. I was so happy to show her off to everyone, and visa versa. Thursday was awesome. Mere and I woke up early, had a hearty Bruff breakfast, worked out at Reilly, and then laid at the pool until my Bio test at 3:30. To understate it, we got A LOT of color. It was really relaxing.

After my test I had to shower and go to Emerging Leaders. Then Katherine, Christina, Dani, Amanda, Mere and I went to Fresco's for dinner. Always yummy. Then we went to a new place called Philip's. It was ladies night, so of course we had to check it out. We got all dressed up too which was fun. We first went to a ZBT party,... and that was so fun! Mere, Becky, and I dominated flip cup like nobody's business. Yeah baby!! So then we went to Philip's and didn't leave until pretty late. Friday was fun, too. We woke up early and laid out by the pool again. We pretty just hung out on campus all day and then went to Superior Grill for dinner. Another delicious food excrusion!

So that brings my to today! Mere just left and I'm definitely a little sad. I miss her already! Luckily I have lots to look forward to this weekend... including initiation. I cannot wait! I'll keep y'all posted.

Until next time, stay classy, readers, stay classy.

Oh, to Be Seen in Green!

Hey, hey, hey!! So much has happened this past week! I cannot wait to fill y'all in! I'm just gonna do bullet points because there's just so much to cover.

-I just joined Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity! Basically it is a chapter of an organization that does community service projects all over New Orleans. Since it's a fraternity and there aren't as many members as some of the bigger organizations, it's a lot more intimate and allows people to become a lot more involved. Last sunday we went to New Orleans Animal Shelter, where we walked dogs and took care of the other animals. It was really great to help out because the NO Animal Shelter was founded as a non-profit organization to protect and find homes for all of the animals after Katrina. It's a great cause and it was really fun to be around animals since I miss my puppies so much!

-On monday it rained pretty much all day... and at night there was an awful thunderstorm! But around 11:30 I received a mass text message from a Pi Phi senior saying that my New Member class was expected to be on the Monroe Quad in 15 minutes for some mud football. AH!!! I didn't know what to do... it was so stormy! Luckily it cleared up, and my friends and I ran onto the quad with our game faces on. I'm sure it must have been absolutely hysterical to watch this as an outsider: A bunch of sorority girls trying to play football in the mud and rain... sliding everywhere and running in the opposite direction of their respective teams end zone. I'm laughing just looking back on it. And I loved the spontaneity of it all. It should definitely be a Pi Phi tradition. Afterward I was pooped (seeing as I worked so hard out there? or something), and needless to say I slept like a baby that night.

-Tuesday was the start of Green Week, with free snowballs and t-shirts. It was a huge success. It definitely made all of the stress of planning it worth it. And on Tuesday there was a great turnout for the baseball game as well. It was awesome. It set the tone for the rest of the week, as so many Tulanians came out to all of our events. It was awesome. ROLL WAVE!

-Thursday was unbelievable! On tuesday, wednesday, and thursday I had been receiving tons of Pi Phi goodies from my mystery Big Sis! All three days I came back to my dorm with tons of goodies all over my side of the room: Pi Phi key chain, pins, umbrella, fleece throw, t-shirts, sweatshirt, cups and coffee mug, ice chest and chair, and candy and a fun fetti cake. How ridiculous?!?!? It was so special. So, since thursday was the last day of goodies, it also meant that later that day we would have Big/Lil' reveal. I put on one of my new shirts and headed over to the house with a bunch of my very antsy and anxious Pi Phi ladies. We all had to close our eyes and then the older girls placed in front of our Big Sisters. I opened my eyes and I couldn't have been happier when I saw that Lindsey was my Big Sis! And Vanessa, my twin. It was very exciting. Then my entire Pi Phi family went out to a new sushi restaurant. It was sooooo delicious!!! Afterward we went to the Boot for the Sig Ep Pledge Auction. It was so hilarious. I didn't buy any boy, though. Afterall, I'm on a college kid budget... and those Sig Eps, they're no cheap dates!

-The week flew by! I gave a tour in the morning on friday and then went to class. Later I had a random craving for crawfish, and opted to treat my friend to a crawfish picnic dinner in the Monroe 8 common room. 12 pounds of crawfish, corn and potatoes later, our craving had certainly been slaked. Ahhh, what an amazing dinner! Then we went to PhiStock, Pi Phi's Woodstock themed date party. From the left: Me, Brittany, Blakely, Stacey, Lynleigh, Christina. We look so fab. in our hippie attire, I know. This was also my first date party as a Pi Phi!!! It was soooo fun. Everyone was so dressed up and hippie-ish and happy! I swear the costumes threw us right back to the good ole days of 1969. There I am again (below)! With my date, Blakely, and Blakely's Big Sis, Alison.

-After the date party I was to Der Ratskellar, a restaurant in the LBC that's open from 8pm to 8am, and got some delicious cheese fries! Then I went to hang out with some SAE's that couldn't make it to our date party. To wrap up my night I went back to the Boot, just to see if just maybe something else was going on. I quickly decided that I had done enough party hopping for the night and should probably go to bed. All and all, though, it was an extremely awesome night!! So awesome, in fact, that I felt no need to go out on Saturday. Which means I made up for all of the sleep that I didn't get on Friday. Mission accomplished, for sho!!

A One, A Two, A Helluva Hullabaloo!

Hey y'all!! As usual, Tulane has left me with not a single dull moment to blog! Between GWA and USG (Undergraduate Student Government) and Pi Beta Phi and the start of baseball season and hanging out with friends it's been nonstop action. It's exhausting just recounting it all. But don't worry, my lovely readers, I have not left you hanging!

Pi Phi has been such a blast!! I love my sorority so much... especially my insanely awesome pledge class. I never thought that it could be done, but somehow all 52 have bonded in such a unique way. We have all become so close. It's so cool that I have another whole outlet of friends. And we've had some awesome parties. We had our first date party two weeks ago. Except, instead of bring our own dates, we brought a whole fraternity instead. We went to the Red Eye Grille. It was a blast. The theme was "America." Ambiguous, right?!? Well... girls in our sorority like to think outside the box anyway... so there were all kinds of costumes!! Some people dressed up like white trash, some just wore American flags somehow (I wore an American flag dress), my friend Blakely dressed up as Barbie, and Christina as an Indian. It was such a crazy fun time. And an awesome way to get to know another fraternity (SAE). I loved it!!

The following weekend we had mixer with Pike. It was a little classier, as we all had to wear cocktail attire. I was so psyched because I had just gotten a new dress that had not yet made its Tulane debut. After that mixer, I decided I was hungry, so I went to the Boot to see who was around, and then quickly went next door to the Crepe stand, and had the most delicious crepe EVER... at one in the morning! Only at Tulane, only in New Orleans!

That same weekend was also the opening weekend of the Tulane Baseball season... and the grand opening of Turchin Stadium, our brand new, GORGEOUS baseball stadium. It was so fun!! There were fireworks and a bunch of alumni came to throw pitches for the first inning of the first game on Greer Field. It was really exciting. I went to the game with one of my friends who, as a local, had been going to Tulane games since he was a little kid. His family was there too. It was really cute. There are so many families that come to the games: little kids in Tulane baseball caps with their old siblings, parents, and grandparents. The sense tradition radiated throughout the stadium as Tulane scored a home-run and ROLL-WAVE-ROLL-WAVE roared from the stands. I was never really a baseball fan in high school... I just went to watch my cute friends as seniors! But now, I love it... and I'm so excited to be a part of this Tulane tradition.

To let you guys in on the tradition, I'm gonna post the Hullabaloo lyrics... the song that the crowd always sings after every home-run.

A one, a two, a helluva hullabaloo!
A hullabaloo ray, ray
Hullabaloo ray, ray
Hooray, hooray
Varsa-, Varsa- tee-ay
Tee-a, tee-ay
Varsa-, varsa- tee-ay
Tulane!

Now that you know it... there's no reason why you can't come check out a game and sing along!

And Tulane spirit has even been pouring over into USG. Lots of stuff has been going on with USG. I'm the committee chair for Green Week, a kind of spirit week that Tulane has in the spring to show our support for Basketball at the end of its season while getting students psyched about the upcoming Baseball season. We have so many events planned for this week I can't wait. And of course, like always, Tulane is giving out tons of free stuff. We're giving out the coolest "Be Seen in Green" t-shirts, food (Raising Cane's Chicken, Lucky Dogs, cotton candy, and snowballs), and awesome raffle prizes like Tulane Baseball jerseys.

Sorry y'all! I was too busy Mardi Gras Mambo-ing to blog!!

I am so sorry that it's taken me this long to blog... especially since there has been so much worth blogging about!! To go in chronological order...

The first weekend back at school marked the kick-off of Spring Sorority Recruitment. It was so intense!! Since our class is so large (approximately 1,400 students), we also had an incredibly large amount of girls rushing sororities (almost 450). Overtime some girls drop out, though, so there weren't THAT many girls joining our six sororities on campus at the end of the whole process. The entire Recruitment Schedule panned out over two weekends... and, just my luck, I caught the flu and was in bed the week between Rush weekends. It was awful to be that sick! Luckily, though, my friends helped out and took such good care of me! Some of them shared class notes, some brought me food/drove me to get food and medicine, and some just kept me company. It was really nice. The final weekend of Rush I still had a very, very unattractive cough, but was otherwise feeling okay. And thank goodness I was feeling better because I would have been so sad had I missed that weekend. It was a blast. On sunday we piled into McAlister Auditorium and got our bids from houses... and I became a Pi Beta Phi!!!! I was so excited. I knew a lot of girls in my pledge class, but there were also a lot of girls that I didn't know. The Pi Phi girls took us out to lunch to celebrate, though, and I quickly learned who my new sisters were. It was so exciting!!! I love my Pi Phi sisters so much.

Then, without even a little break, Mardi Gras rolled around. As the biggest celebration of the year, and in the heart of New Orleans, Mardi Gras became every student's priority. And I can now, after experiencing it all, see why. The tradition and culture is totally unparalleled, the sense of community and togetherness unreal! 24 hours a day there was something going on, whether it be concerts with groups like the Soul Rebels and Galactic, or parades like Muses and Orpheus, some kind of event continued to attract Tulanians, New Orleanians, and tourists alike. I loved the parades because I got so much free stuff... beads, cups, bags, cup holders, stuffed animals (I lost my teddy bear, bob. It was sooooooo sad), crowns, even coconuts. It was amazing.

All the parades that I went to ran right down St. Charles and into the French Quarter. A lot of the fraternities had tents or trucks (with couches set up!) all along the street. So I became a nomad and trekked up and down St. Charles visiting my guys friends who have become newly dubbed "frat boys." My friends and I had a blast. I got to hang out with a lot of my new sorority sisters too. Pi Phi even organized two mixer-type events with two different fraternities... such great times! Mardi Gras was without a doubt the time of my life. I enjoyed it so much that I actually stayed up for the Lundi Gras night/Mardi Gras morning. Basically since Tulane students get "Carnival Break" I was able to go out on a Monday night and stay awake until the parades the next morning on Mardi Gras (THE Fat Tuesday). I'm already ready for next year to come around for my second Mardi Gras!

And just when you think Tulane couldn't get any better after Mardi Gras, it does!! Barack Obama came to visit right here on campus!!! He spoke in Fogleman Arena on Thursday. It was incredible!!! I cannot believe that I was in the presence of the potential next President. How thrilling? His speech was wonderful and very motivating for Tulane students and New Orleanians (a lot of people even came from outside New Orleans to hear him speak). The line was sooooo long to get in. People that arrived over an hour early didn't even make it into the arena because it was so packed. Some of my friends woke up at SIX AM to get in line. It was truly an experience... and definitely another indication of how much Tulane students want to involve themselves in politics and the world. I was so impressed. This was a lot more fun than when Ann Coulter came to visit.

And the very next day, my dad came to visit!! It was so much fun I took him to the Boot and then we went to K-Pauls Louisiana Kitchen (DELICIOUS food). That brings me to today. My dad and I just got back from the Tulane Men's Basketball game. We played Houston. It was such a good game and we were even winning for a long while! We ended up losing in the end, but not by much!! After all, no matter what... the Green Wave rolls on!!

Home sweet home!

It feels so great to be back at school!! Everything pretty much picked up from right where it left off. Except instead of everyone looking tired and run-down from finals, everyone is refreshed and totally full of life again. I think that our break gave everyone the down time they needed to get back to the swing of things again. I, for one, dove right back in. I even gave a tour to transfer students on first day dorms were open. It was really fun and a great oppertunity to get to know some new faces. And the weather was perfect. low 70's and sunny! I'm sure the transfer students must have been thinking, "Phew... I made the right choice. My tourguide is able to wear a skirt and t-shirt in january!" I know that's what I was thinking.

So I was able to unpack before my tour and really get organized. I even went to the bookstore and got my books/school supplies for the semester. It was such a productive morning. After my tour I laid in my bed, trying to take a nap, but really just basking in the fact that I was back in my room. My roommate and I had a good bonding sesh too! Meanwhile everyone on my floor was coming back... very exciting to reunite Mo8! Later on I went to Bruff. I actually missed it while I was gone so my early bird special/very late lunch was very delicious! Bruff was repainted and everything. It looks so revamped. AND, among other things, there is a new pannini maker (adds a little something special to your average turkey sandwich!).

After lounging around some more, my friends and I got together for our very postponed secret santa. It was very fun... and for the most part we were all very secretive and sneaky about our gifts. I loved my gift!! I got a gorgeous silk top from J. Crew (very stylish) and the cutest black headband with a bow on it. My secret santa nailed it! It was the perfect gift. Afterward all of us secret santas went out to the Boot to see everyone else who had just arrived back in the NO (New Orleans). It was so fun to catch up with everyone and hear how their breaks had gone. It was a very relaxing night.

The next day I had class. And I have to tell y'all... I LOVE all of my classes. I got so lucky with my teachers. But I picked up an extra class (International Relations... so interesting) and dropped British Literature II (I'm sad, but no one signed up for it this semester so I'm going to take it next semester) which means I have one class on friday. Still, not too shabby of a schedule if I do say so myself. And my professors are awesome. All full of energy, all passionate about their subject matters. My political science professors are awesome because they are also very much involved in the field (outside of teaching). My American Government professor actually works for NOPD. It's really interesting.

So that is how my first week is going. Tomorrow is the Spring Activities Expo. I'm really psyched for that as well.

Some other things to look forward to: Mardi Gras lacrosse tournament, Sorority Rush, and, last but most definitely not least, MARDI GRAS!

Stay tuned!

Break Flew By...

I feel like it was just yesterday that I took my last final (Religion and Politics) and hailed a cab to take me to the airport. And now I have less than a week left until classes begin! And as sad as I am to leave my friends and family, I could not be more excited to get back to Tulane. I miss everything about school and I miss everything about New Orleans! Basically, the break was timed perfectly... I enjoyed every minute of it... and I'm ready from break to end. I actually even miss studying and doing school work. TRUST ME when I say that I loathed having work on my vacations on through high shcool, but not having any kind of academic worry or care in the world for a whole month is too much to handle. I'm going crazy!

Anyway... a quick update on the events of my life. Mountain Lakes has been pretty low key... lots of sleeping, watching movies, shopping, and working out. VERY EXCITING. I went to Cincinnati for Christmas to visit my grandma, aunt, uncle, and cousin... a very tradition... always fun. I came back a few days before New Years and I got to see Stacey from Tulane... she lives about 30 minutes away. It was so fun to see her. We had a slumber party. We're such party animals.

On New Years I went to see my friend Jackie.. who I have known since the summer we met in 6th grade at Camp Birch Hill. She also lives really, really close to Mountain Lakes. It was so refreshing to see her. We don't get to talk as much as I would like, but it's nice to know that we can always pick back up right where we left off when we get together.



A few days later I went to Florida for my sister's basketball tournament (Mere that goes to Colby. She plays basketball there and is, if I do say so myself, AMAZING!). Florida was so much fun! We had such a large family clan down there. We represented quite well. To the right is a picture of some of my family and some of Meredith's team out to dinner on the first night. Notice... I am not tan because the weather was so crumby! Of course on the day that we leave, it's 80 and sunny. Just my luck! Nonetheless it was so wonderful to see my sister play basketball. I haven't seen her play since last season!! I miss her so much because she's back at school and I'm here in Jersey (boring!).

This is Meredith (Blue). She is going to hate me for putting this picture up... but I had to. I'm her biggest fan. And I just learned how to put pictures on my blog... so I'm going a little picture crazy. Mere made that shot, by the way. No big deal.

In other news, my roommate, Katherine, came over to my house last night after a long afternoon of shopping at The Mall at Short Hills, or what I like to call, the mecca of all shopping places. It was so good to see her and she got me so excited for this coming weekend... when we reunite at Tulane!!!!

I'll let you guys how my first week is back at school. I'm anticipating a very, very busy return. Still, I'm so psyched for my classes. I'm taking American Government, Brit Lit II, E. Bio (not too happy about that.. but at least I'm getting my lab science requirement out of the way), and Spanish. And I love my schedule too. I don't have class on fridays... which means a relaxing 3 day weekend. Am I lucky or what?

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season! Happy 2008.

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!!!