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For those of you who have followed me from my other blog, you'll know that every summer in August, my sister, friend Stephanie, and I go on a trip somewhere. My sister and I started the tradition to remember my Aunt (whose birthday was Aug 4) and Steph has been around for the ride ever since. 

My aunt passed away in July 2010, and in Aug 2010 I just happened to be hiking the Inca Trail on her birthday

Aug 2011 = London (*plus Contiki European Magic Tour)
Aug 2012 = Ireland (* Scotland)
Aug 2013 = Iceland (*Turkey)

(*Steph and I also continued on our own from all those places).

Next summer is going to be my 30th Birthday (SAYYY WHAAAAA) and I have been planning for at least three years now to go on an African Safari for that!! (bucket list much, yall?). So, this summer we thought it would be good to stay close to home, but still go somewhere that not that many people talk about.

Have you figured it out yet??

via

The beautiful Carribbean island of TURKS & CAICOS!

As far as I can tell it looks basically deserted year-round, and at less than a 2 hr flight from Miami, it's perfect. I got a little spoiled floating around on the Turquoise Coast last summer and realized that relaxing vacation = incredible. Last summer was the first time I ever TRULY relaxed on a (part of a) vacation and I could get used to it! Especially after this crazy first year of law school (lol I started to write teaching. #flashbacks).

I used to feel a constant need to be traveling somewhere new,  never content with just sitting still and appreciating what I had going on in my life at that moment. While I absolutely will never stop dreaming about my next trip abroad and all the beautiful and amazing and breathtaking places that I still have to see -- I'm happy that I have also learned to be content in appreciating the here and now as well.

Have you ever been to Turks & Caicos? Anywhere in the Carribbean? What's your favorite type of vacay? Beach/Mountains/City Adventure/Relaxing/A mix (I'm definitely a mix of both types myself!)

Weekend Shenans

I had the best weekend!

My parents came up Saturday and left Sunday. I decided to get domestic and got some flowers (which I didn't have vases for) from club pub. 

 

My moms brought me a housewarming gift of a pretty big canvas pic of times square. I mean, times square is my LEAST favorite place in NYC (rivalled maybeee by China Town) but, it was still really sweet, and I can appreciate times square when I'm not trapped behind a slow-walking tourist who cant stop looking up. 

 

We went out to dinner, then to a bar where my parents made friends with these two guys and proceeded to play pool, darts, and beer pong with them all night. The guys were like, "Your parents are so cool!" and apparently they said to my parents, "I hope I'm still partying when I'm old like you!" hahahaha. But yeah, and then a bunch of my friends met up with us and they were like, yeah your parents are cool. #duh. 

I posted this pic on IG and I knew my moms hand looked wonky but I didn't know people would start texting me, having seen it and mistakenly believed that felipe popped the question, HAH. 

On Sunday we went to ross and bealls and my mom get me an area rug for my living room and helped me pick out stuff to decorate my bathroom! I had been wanting to do my downstairs bathroom beach themed and bealls had the BEST stuff!!

 

I also watched ALL of House Of Cards. I went from Bored - to intrigued - to angry - to intrigued - to bored. I'm sorry people, but it is WAYY OVERRATED. It's like a mix of Scandal and West Wing, but Scandal and West Wing both do it way better. If you want to be crazy conspiracy -- Scandal. If you want to be political -- West Wing. If you want a little bit of both, but not as good -- House of Cards. But, whatevs. I did NOT recognize that Claire was Jenny! And I was totally uncomfortable (TINY SPOILER ALERT) with that weird little threesome with Meechum. Like, is this what people do?? I'm not judgy, but I just can't believe that people are jumping into threesomes like that. 

I also finished editing all the pics of the wedding I photographed a few weeks ago. 

Trust me, I know it's not the best wedding photography you've ever seen, but I only charge $100 for one hours of photos + basic edits + disc with photos mailed to you. Considering I spent close to 7+ hrs editing the photos, I'd say that was a fair price!! I do think I'm getting a little better though. This wedding was tough because although originally I was so excited because it was at 11 and SUNNY, I didn't realize how fucking annoying shadows were going to be!! UGH! But, the bride saw some pics I posted on FB and loved them, sooo... yay!!

How was your weekend??

 

Friday Favorites: Summer Edition

Hey y'all!

 

 I think about once a day I have inspiration for a really great post I want to write. I plan it out in my head, and then when I show up to write it, it just becomes blahhhh. Today I wanted to right about all my thick hair and how much i love laser hair removal but I wrote about a paragraph and then was like, this sucks. So, I'm gonna keep it really simple and link up (for the first time!) with my Friday Favorites! I have a lot of balls in the air right now stressing me out so it's nice to take a moment to reflect on things I appreciate!

(1) Not having to go into my internship until 12 today! 

 

Sleeping in for the win!

(2) THREE DAY WEEKENDS

 

(3) Laser hair removal (truly an amazing thing)

(4) House of Cards 

 

I'm on the fifth episode of season 1 and I am JUST NOW getting into it. Way overhyped but I love Peter and I want him to be OK. 

(5) Air conditioning

 

It's a wonderful thing. Tallahassee has been in the mid 90s this week. And it's MAY. Oy vey. Not sure I'm ready for Florida summers again!!

"Proud to be White," Said the Racist.

YEPPPPPP. 

 

I consider myself very liberal politically. But, I consider myself a REAL liberal in that I'm accepting of other people's (differing) viewpoints. You can keep your gun (just register it / apply for it) and I get if you're not 100% on board with welfare after seeing so many people abuse the system, whatever. 

However, I want to take a second to respond to something I saw posted on Instagram yesterday. I've been thinking about it since I saw it, and I'm so exhausted and I have so many things to do and noone even reads my blogs (but hiiii if you do!) but I just feel so passionately about race-related issues that I have to put my two cents in. 

let's not even get into the eyes drawn on the Asian man ... that's a whole other blog post

On my old blog I talked about how I become so mad that people of color are rarely cast in big movies (it's getting better, but still not there. SO HAPPY that Annie is black!) and in TV shows (e.g. How I Met Your Mother ? Friends? We couldn't have any of the friends that were not white? 

Anyways. 

I also have friends who say things like "Yeah but if we had White Entertainment Television, that'd be considered racist" or "Why don't we have White History Month? It's such a double standard." And I might have asked the same questions once upon a time, but this is what it boils down to: 

You're "racist" if you are proud of being White because "White" isn't a culture. What has white culture done that hasn't sucked? When people talk about "White" culture what is the first thing you think about? White power. KKK. If you want to be proud of something you're proud that you're Irish, or Italian or English - not that you're white. In my humble opinion, if you are proud to be white then all you're saying is that you're proud your skin color is white [because that means it's not black (or any other non-white color)] because the white skin color is the best skin color and better than all the others. On the other hand, if your proud to be black, it's because you're proud of your skin color - YES! - because for how many years were black people taught that there was something to be ashamed of because of the color of their skin - but more than that, you're proud of what the Black Culture has done in this country and you're proud to be a part of that.

Secondly, as if it even needs to be said, there doesn't need to be a WET channel or White History Month because 90% of the channels on TV are all white, all the time (if not more), and 99% of history we learn in school is White history. That's why we need Black Entertainment Television or Black History Month. People of color need to have something or someone to look to and not as a character in White Man's Story. 

And finally, there is a black culture in this country. Black people in this country have something to be proud of. They fought back against oppression (are still fighting), the Civil Rights Movement ... I mean, these are all things that unify this group of people and give them something to be proud of. There's nothing unifying for white people as a whole in this country . . . I'm sorry, but there's not. Even the founding of this country - OK, I wanna be proud I'm English and we came on over, or I'm Spanish and we "discovered" the Americas - but both those WHITE groups of people are responsible for the genocide of THOUSANDS of people of color. Is there something to be proud of in that?

& I can't speak to the Asian thing because I haven't studied it enough and have never explicitly asked my Asian friends . . . but I know they are annoyed to be called Korean when they're actually Chinese and vice versa. I can analogize it to "hispanics" -- I'm willing to bet people are not "proud to be Asian" just like someone is "proud to European" or "proud to South American", more than likely they are proud to be Korean or Chinese or Indian just like a "hispanic*" person is not proud to be hispanic -- they are proud to be Mexican or Cuban or Chilean.

Anyway, this is less than I could say on the subject BY FAR but I hope that maybe one person reading this might start to think about why, yes, we do need things in place that recognize the contributions of other races until a day when racism *actually* does not exist. And actually, YES, it might be racist to be proud of being White - don't just say it because it's "not fair" that other races can be proud of their race, ask yourself if you're really proud of being "WHITE" or you REALLY think we need a White History Month. . . or if you're actually proud of something else?

 

*a made up word by the US government that doesn't mean anything except they wanted to classify a group of people on the basis that they spoke the same language

So You've Survived Your First Year of Law School?

So, no big deal kiddos but I finished my first year of law school on Friday at approximately 3:55pm. 

 

And I DO mean that no big deal thing. I don't get why people are all - "Ohmerrgawwdd we survived 1L!!" What was the other option? You'd DIE? Unlikely. You'd drop out? Maybe. But, when you've been thinking about law school for as long as I have and then finally go, there's really no room to die. Also, just for the record, NO WHERE EVEN REMOTELY CLOSE TO AS CHALLENGING AS TEACHING. NO.WHERE.CLOSE. Especially not your first year as a teacher. All you have to do as a law student is go to class, read (a lot) of cases, and if you want to be top of your class, ask questions. Oh, and study like crazy the three weeks around finals. 

 

But, this semester was definitely more of a challenge for me. They pick your whole first year schedule for you so this semester we had 16 credits in five classes and it was just too much. Especially because one of the classes, Leg Reg, is just evil. I may have complained about it a time or two. 

 

But anyways, no rest for the weary and I'm heading out in about 10 minutes for my first summer class. 

 

Yep. It sucks. But, on the up side, at least I'm still in the school groove. I'm taking two classes plus doing an externship at the State Attorney's Office so, whoop. Busy Busy! But I just wrote down my schedule for the fall and I have no classes on Monday or Friday, and I'm done by noon on Wednesdays. #iamgenius. 

So, this weekend, how did I celebrate? 

#1. Went out for a girls-only drinks + desserts meet up on Friday night. 

 

THAT CAKE WAS EVERYTHING

#2. Saw Spiderman

- If you've seen it, I <3 Andrew Garfield + Emma Stone. Felipe hates Emma Stone so sometimes his dislike of her seeps into my brain, but they are SO CUTE and I love them together. 

- Whoever played Harry Osborn was like the perfect cute but totally evil looking kid to play him but I was like EWWWWW when he turned into the Green Goblin. Like, at least let him be cute!!

 

 #3. Read a bunch & Napped!

new futon folds up and down two different ways! I love this way!!

Currently reading: Sycamore Row, which is obviously a legal thriller that I actually told Felipe I was into because it's talking about a will contest. WHO AM I??

#4. Bragged to my sister about my Kate Spade planner. 

eBay, fools!

#5. Once Upon A Time & Revenge Finales!!!

SOOOOO GOOD!!! 

If you follow me on le twitter you know I cant stop/wont stop with live tweeting AND I DONT CARE IF IT HAS A SPOILER, STAY OFF TWITTER THEN. #sorrynotsorry (and I like to engage in a debate about this, because I DO NOT for the life of me understand how people can possible be upset about spoilers on twitter. Facebook I get, but still, no one is forcing you on FB). 

I almost gave up on Once Upon A Time but I'm glad I didn't because after the mid-season finale it got EXPONENTIALLY better!! Although there are so many plot holes and unexplained reemergences of thought-to-be-defunct magic, but whatevs. I'll suspend disbelief. 

And Revenge. OMG. I won't spoil it but if you've seen it can we commiserate together?? 

So, overall, a really great, relaxing weekend!!! Of course, the best part was spending it all with my boo!!!

Have a great week, y'all!

 

Do You Even Read, Bro?

I found out about this reading challenge from Breenah, and it came at just the right time because with the end of the semester coming up, all I'm dreaming about is having the time to read REAL BOOKS! Not law books! I also think law school has made me an even faster reader which means, mo' books!

I usually reread all of harry potter during the summer, but it will be fun to switch it up and read some new books.

If you are interested, the rules with all the different books you have to read are here. 

I'm in the midst of finals stress right now, so I haven't decided on all my books, but here are the books I've chosen so far:

The Catcher in the Rye

The Book Thief

Where the Red Fern Grows

The Goldfinch

The House of the Spirits

The Good Earth

Dark Places

 The Diary of a Young Girl

I am literally starting class again on Tuesday, so I have NO break, but I'm hoping that I at least can squeeze in some reading for fun at some point! 

I will be done with summer classes on July 16 (my birthday! happy bday to mee!) and I plan to spend the month I have off editing the book I wrote in November as part of NaNoWriMo. 

 

Also, I'm getting a library card today which is pretty much, the best!!

 

What's your favorite book??

Riding the Curve

Today I went and took pictures at a wedding, it was fun (BUT SO HOT) but I find that whenever I do something creative it really just gets my creative juices flowing and then all I want to do is be creative all day. 

Unfortunately, I have to study for my last final (WHOOOHOO!) which is on Thursday (and then classes start again on Tuesday). 

Also unfortunately, I totally BOMBED my leg-reg final yesterday. BOMBED with not just a capital B but with every letter capitalized!! I have NEVER in my life of school (and consider the fact that I majored in Spanish AND got my master's in Spanish and had to answer a comprehensive essay to get my master's) felt so lost while taking a final. It was 4 hours to complete two questions. It was open book. (only in law school is the fact that something is open book not really that much of a benefit) and I wanted to cry, rip up my test booklet and just give up and leave. The only thing that kept my butt in that chair is the fact that law school exams are graded on a curve. Now, in my past life, a curve was a good thing - whoever got the highest grade, that was top grade and then everyone else's grades got bumped up accordingly. Not so in law school. In law school there can be 5% of the class who gets an A, 5% who gets a D/F (which is failing) and everyone else gets B&C ("riding the curve"). This is annoying sometimes because we're all so close together in grades but people are forced down into low Bs, Cs, because of the curve. Perfect example: A girl I know WOULD HAVE gotten an 89 on her Civ Pro final, but there was only an 11-point spread from the highest to the lowest grade and because she was the lowest with her 89, she got a D in the class and had to retake it. (OHMYGOD!). I mean, just beside the point that how awful would it be to have to RETAKE A CLASS, but I just really really really hated leg reg and I am praying/hoping/wishing that I got a 70! 

Anyways, this wedding today - so beautiful! There are so many pretty places in Tallahassee that I never even knew about! 

A little peek: 

(so annoyed that this turned out blurry!) 

Update 7/24/14: I got an 80 on my LegReg final. Okay, so not BOMBED but still a Bombed for me . . . my lowest grade in law school so far (and hopefully, forever!)

Friday night rambling

I'm feeling pretty fancy because I FINALLY got disqus for my comments! i don't know why i never did it before? i think I thought it was only for wordpress? who knows. I guess it's not REALLY that much different than blogger's regular commenting system, I can comment on what people say anyways, but I dunno, Disqus just looks better doesn't it? I like it when people respond to comments in-post because I think it just adds to the convo. Orrrr (more likely) I'm just a nosy B and I like to see what the blogger said back to the commenter. Yeah, that. I think Disqus is better than blogger in that respect because it emails the commenter to let them know there's been a response and if you do it through blogger you never know if you got a response unless you go back and obsessively stalk a blog. 

Now, I need to share this with you: 

 

Barefoot Summer Red wine. Now, I'm not sure, this might just be like a wine cooler. I've never had a wine cooler so I really couldn't say. But, this is delicious. I just thought it was going to be a "light" red wine (btw, I drink red wine now, who am I?) that you refrigerate (I guess *technically* you could refrigerate red wine if you want) but when I started drinking it it's like champagne red wine. Definitely sparkling. It doesn't even taste like I'm drinking wine, to be honest. It's definitely SWEET though so I wouldn't recommend downing a whole bottle (what, you don't down whole bottles?) but it's a sweet switch up. 

In other news, I wrote on Tuesday that I'm trying to get on that morning workout train. I did my first morning class yesterday -- at 9:15. LOL. Do you just hate me. I realize this isn't typically what people complain about when they complain about morning workouts, but, baby steps peeps. I AM working at an externship this summer so I will have to do 6am workouts in order to make it on type so I figured what better way to EEEASSSEE into then to do 8-9 am classes this last week during finals. Unfortunately I thought it would be a good idea to eat cheerios with milk about 45 minutes before the class started (a real-ryde spin class) and about half way through I had to go to the bathroom because I thought I was going to throw up/pass out/have a panic attacks (three things that are linked for my "panic episodes" -- a different post for a different day). I did finish the class, but REALLY lamely. I didn't have any resistance on my bike. Then again, I always KILL myself when I do work out classes -- to the point that the last time I went to this fitness studio I literally DID think I was dying and went to urgent care because I thought I was having a stroke (I guess also another story for another day). Where was I going with this?? 

Oh yeah, morning workouts. Hard. Well, I read this post on Always Ashten and I thought it was so great! I gotta get me a harry potter alarm and also I really liked the idea of putting it in your calendar, and ESPECIALLY the idea of snapchatting gym pics! So, who snapchats and wants to be in a workout support group?? Anyone? Bueller? (I may or may not just want an excuse to snapchat). 

Otherwise, all I'm doing tonight is dateline, pizza, wine, studying. In order of priorities. The problem is I just killed myself studying for my contracts exam and now I don't care anymore -- and I have two exams left! oops!!! I like everything about law school EXCEPT the whole your final is your only grade thang. And it's graded on a curve. Those two things suck. Otherwise, bueno. 

Happy weekend y'all!