Spoiler?

While I saw Water for Elephants over Easter Break with my Mom, I thought I would take a swing at giving you a little blurb on what is now easily one of my favorite films.  While I originally thought I would have time to read the book prior to watching this in theaters, I was sadly too busy with the rest of my life and will have to make it a summer-lake read.

Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon take the lead as main characters of Marlena and Jacob.  While Jacob leaves his hometown due to an untimely accident, Marlena is the wife of the Benzini Brothers Circus owner.  The two meet in quite interesting circumstances and fall madly in love.  While the story takes place right after the Great Depression, I find myself in love with both societal times and the overall feel of the movie.  What was it like to go to the circus back then?  Did the audience really think it was so spectacular?  Ah I wish I was there.

If you have the chance, I highly suggest adding this to an evening or even an afternoon of yours in the near future.  It is perfect for the big screen and a box of popcorn.  While the theater prices seem to be rising steadily, I would say this one is worth your $10 plus a $5 bucket of buttery salty popcorn (and a Coke-a-Cola of course).

Tea and Crumpets.

How could I call myself an elegant young American woman and not find some slight obsession with the Royal Wedding 2011?  Though I have been warned multiple times by a certain man in my life that the Royal Wedding, is simply JUST A WEDDING and that people get married all the time, I will go against my better judgement and make one post.

While I could have focused on the entire ceremony or be absolutely absurd and repeat to you what news station "lip analysts" believed to be whispered by both Kate and Wills, I will turn both my attention, and yours, to her beautiful dress.

Okay, my most sincere apologies go to whoever took these photos, I'm tired and quite honestly don't feel like citing them at the time.  I admit I was not at the wedding and some reporter took these, enough said.

Onto my feelings about this classic and elegant yet quite gorgeous gown.  A spin-off of Grace Kelly some may say, but with a modern twist, I am in love.  I have always been an avid viewer of Say Yes to the Dress and have never seen a sleeved dress look so stunning on a woman.  Sleeves tend to add age while wearing a dress but the designer, Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen, somehow combined "timeless classic" with "chic modern."

Gorgeous.

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.

Double Dutch.

No, not the jump roping kind but the I am going abroad to the Netherlands (Dutchland for all of you have lived under a rock your whole lives) August 26th kind!  I don't believe I have done a post about going abroad yet but as the weather gets increasingly nicer I find myself needing more reasons to procrastinate.

So, as of August 26th I will be flying to Brussels and then taking a train to Maastricht, Netherlands and spending the semester there...until December 23rd to be exact.

See that dot at the very bottom of the map?  Well that is where I will be.  Maastricht is known for its beautiful walled in city that is from Medieval times and still has Roman ruins lurking about.  To say that I'm excited is an understatement, though I will surely miss the comforts of home.

A river runs through the city, which I believe is a bit larger than Buffalo, NY.  I have already scoped out a few marketplaces and events that should be coming fall semester so now all I have to do is (a) have an amazing summer, and (b) fit everything into two LARGE suitcases so I can make it there.

Cupcakery Final.

Here is the final layout for the cupcake project.  I am so happy it is finally done and being printed as we speak!  This project was so interesting and taught me a lot about photoshop--the number of techniques that can be used is ridiculous.  Too bad the program costs a whopping $700...not getting that as a Christmas Present.  

Whats next?  Working on my images for Europe and honing in on some technical skills with my Canon Rebel!

Cupcakery pt.2

The cupcake photos are in the process of manipulation, and my stomach ache from eating them has finally gone away (thank god!), though I still don't think I will be able to indulge in another mini-cake for a while.

I had to toss one of the photos which sort of messes my composition a bit, maybe I will be able to fix it a bit more later but for now it looks awful!  I need 12 images so the next thing to do is figure out how they will all work together...

 

Pink Ribbons.

So I lied...one more quick post.  Since I decided that I physically and mentally could not handle a 1/2 marathon this semester I decide that I am going to do a series of 5k races and possibly a 10k.

The first race will be MAY 8th in Rochester to support my Ice Dancing coach Cheryl.  She cannot run in the race this year and I thought it would be something nice to do for both myself and in support of her.

Cheryl and I at a competition in November, 2008.