A Graduation & Vacation

Congrats to this guy for graduating from Colgate University last weekend! 4 years of friends, fun and lots of visits from me, I couldn't be more proud of him.   I spent graduation weekend with Brendan and his family with a huge picnic, ceremonies and one last night with his friends. I had the most amazing time and am so happy to have met so many amazing people through Brendan at Colgate. 

Next up was a trip to Montreal, my gift to Brendan for graduation.  I had been keeping this trip a secret for so long and then accidentally told him the week before (oops!). The drive, a longish 6 hours, was filled with many coffee breaks and breakfast sandwiches and ended with some serious traffic to get to our hotel.  We had the most amazing time perusing Montreal, exploring restaurants and the typical touristy sites and even got caught in the middle of a huge protest.

After going to London and wearing my classic sperry's around the city ALL DAY I learned my lesson and went with some sneakers.  All day I continually mentioned how touristy we looked with our sneakers and camera bag but it was fun and I made quite a few jokes about it.

We went to a few markets for cheese and baguettes, the Biodome (because you're never too old for the zoo), famous restaurants that were suggested by Anthony Bourdain himself (Dominion Square Tavern, Beauty's Lucheonette, and St. Viteur's Bagels)...YUM!

Congratulations Brendan!!

Coming Home.

In reading this blog you have been aware that Brendan, my boyfriend, spent the semester abroad in London, England.  I spent spring break visiting him and traveling both London and Paris, how breathtaking! He himself took multiple trips as well including a two week whirlwind adventure through Scotland (his homeland) with his brother, Patrick.

Tomorrow he finally comes home with his best friend Jake, their relationship is really closer than "best friend" status but all in all their both great.  While they're both sad to be leaving Europe after a trip to Germany and pub crawling London, I am busy planning their arrival (so typical me!)  Plan for a few posts on the next two days just because I'm too excited for words and simply have to fulfill my role as a emotional female.

Here's a few random pictures from my trip to London:

 Brendan fighting with a goose in a park near Buckingham Palace.  So confrontational.

 One of my favorite images.  The natural lighting was gorgeous out that day.

 Roman took this of us on the metro in Paris.  Meeting up with him at a local pub was so much fun!

 Brendan in a very touristy photo, something he dreads.

Last night in London on the Eye :)

So Close, Summer 2011.

As finals draw near and I realize the multitude of things I have yet to complete this semester, I have recently found myself day-dreaming away of this coming summer.  This summer is going to be amazing and I have quite a few things to look forward to.

(1) Brendan finally comes home, though I am so happy for him to be in Europe I would love to go on dates and just relax by the lake with him.

(2) my best friends in the world, Mandy Cara & Kristen, will also be home this summer and we have already made some amazing plans

(3) Abbotts, i love my job, scooping ice cream brings such joy to people's lives!

(4) relaxation.

(5) exploring new things like baking, cooking, local traveling etc.

(6) photography!

Summer 2010.

Spring Break| The Yummy Part

Let me give you one some insight into one of the more exciting parts of Spring Break.  

A brief background may be required for this so here we go: For the past two years my meals have consisted of white meat only (chicken and turkey), little to no seafood and LOTS of veggies.  Thats right, no ham, sausage, beef, pork etc.

Over break I promised myself I would try lots of foods and so that is exactly what Brendan and I did.  I have posted a few pictures of our favorites except that we didn't take pictures of the Snails in Paris, or the Bouf Bourignon which I clearly just tried because Julia Child makes a great recipe.  We also had Veal (baby Moo cow) and the following:

Cute little triangle tea sandwiches and Iced Chocolate at this restaurant called Cilantro.  I was absolutely splendid both for the meal and price!  Located right near the shopping district of London I was very happy to find such a yummy place.

Here is the Ostrich dinner we made, yes Ostrich as in the big bird!  We bought the steaks and wild mushrooms at Borough Market, please if you ever go to London, go to this market.  We also added a great Creme Fraise sauce to go with it.

The Ye Old Chesire Cheese, known for being one of the oldest running pubs in London serves up some great Fish and Chips.  I must say its not half bad especially since it is a dish known to England and the UK.  Their draft beers weren't half bad either!

I love cheese.  Mostly very sharp cheddars and Brie but we decided to explore this amazingly huge cheese shop and ended up with a Stilton (VERY strong blue cheese) and some soft goat cheese that had some bite to it.  The people were really friendly and let us sample anything we wanted!

Last but not least, Katzenjammers or as I would like to call it "Kittys and Jammies."  A nice little basement German Pub that serves some awesome German beers in seriously large quantities (well large for me).  This pint was so heavy but we had a great time sipping away while enjoying traditional German Pretzels.  We also met some fun Russians who sat next to us and were arguing over whether or not to see Greece the Musical!

All in all, the food in London/Paris was AMAZING.  I couldn't have enjoyed my newfound love for something besides chicken anymore.

Spring Break 2011| The Best Break Ever

Here, I'll give you a little hint at how my spring break went...It was AMAZING.  Needless to say, after a rather misfortunate return flight home I am just returning to school this morning.  What does that mean?  I have been super busy and unable to blog about my trip!  Hopefully in the next few days, more likely it will come this weekend, I will post numerous blogs about my trips to London & Paris, and all the glorious foods I tried with Brendan :)

Stay tuned.....

J'taime.

A quick update on my plans for spring break.  Not only will I be going to London but we will also be going to PARIS, FRANCE! How exciting right?  I may or may not be too excited to describe the break I am about to experience in exactly 1 week.

While taking a break from the stacks and stacks of never ending homework I was able to look up some great hotels and airfare.  Thank god I have a friend, Jillian, who has lived in Paris for the past few summers.  She was a great and helped me settle on a Hotel in St. Michel.

The Grand Hotel St. Michel.   It's great because its right in the heart of a fun section in Paris and we can easily get to the Metro to see all the touristy sites.  I cannot wait to have a Baguette fight along the Seine, how fun?!

I cannot wait to post pictures that I take while in Europe, and simply can't wait to step off the plane in Heathrow next Saturday night.  As for now I am nursing myself back to health from an upset stomach and severe case of being drastically overtired.  I decided to stay in and work on getting better so I don't end up sick by next weekend.

Hope you all have a great night!

Bangerrrrr.

For those of you unfamiliar with music talk so to speak, a "banger" is a song that you find to be absolutely amazing or just out of this world.  We wouldn't refer to a country song by Rascal Flatts to be a banger because of its genre (don't get me wrong, I am addicted to Rascal Flatts), but think of a great party/driving/pre-game song that everyone knows and screams while raising their glasses of champy.

I present to you, my newest favorite BANGER.  Brendan remixed this song, so he definitely deserves all the credit for when it goes viral.  Let me put it to you lightly, he is a monster with music--not only with discovering the hottest up and coming artists (which most people learn of months later from the radio), but he also makes great beats. 

Please do you and your ears a favor.  Click, Download, Blast.

MUST DOWNLOAD: Lose Control ft. Nelly (drb Remix)

He even made some album art for your itunes, ipod, ipad or whatever you blast your ears with.  Give the guy some credit, he really rocked this one and I'm so excited for him!!

Countdown.

I am officially starting my countdown to spring break, which is bound to be quite one of the best experiences of my life!  Not only will I be seeing Brendan for the first time in 9 weeks I will also be in London.  I have seriously been waiting to officially start this mental countdown since the day he left but I figured that it was too many days a way and a bit obsessive.  So here we are...

14 days!

No, don't worry I will not do a daily countdown on the blog, but be excited because most everyone's Spring Breaks are around the same time...Start your own countdown folks, get excited for adventures and relaxing away from school.  Are you going anywhere exciting or staying home with family and friends?  Either way, its a sign that spring is coming sooo sooo soon!

Be Mine.

Though the multitude of Valentines Day Blog posts is most likely reaching around a billion, I figured I would join the trend and wish Brendan a Happy V-day from the U.S.A. :)  I was pleasantly surprised when I received a voicemail during my 9am class saying I had flowers to pick up in the student center and fidgeted all morning until I was able to pick them up! We usually have this "rule" of not giving gifts and instead spending time with each other and having a nice dinner but this year since we're apart I insisted that we do something!  So my v-day surprise should be arriving in London via USPS somewhat soon and while he waits, I get to enjoy my beautiful bouquet!

I miss and love you Brendan, See you Soon!

Saratoga Springs.

I should first introduce Brendan before I go to far.  

Brendan is my boyfriend of almost two and a half years who is will be studying abroad in London this semester.  For Christmas we decided to spend the day together and chose Saratoga Springs.  I was skeptical at first because I thought it was mainly a summer attraction, but to my surprise, it was still gorgeous in the winter!

We went on a day without snow and it was bitter cold but the town was much like Canandaigua and the State Park was amazing.

A few photo's from the day: