Jack & Guns

Friday I made a little trip to see the boyfriend. There was some celebrating to be done….

…Two years ago…

He came to visit me while I was on my internship. He was my first official visitor, and I wanted to show him around. I didn’t know what to expect because we had never really been alone before, always with a group.

I got time off, planned out the week and picked him up from the airport. We spent 5 days exploring the parks, going on dinner dates, watching fireworks, and talking until the sun came up. It was the kind of vacation you think you’d spend with someone you’ve been dating for months, maybe years. We weren’t even “officially” dating……yet.

I hated saying good-bye, knowing the next time I’d see him was at least 3 months away. It would turn out to be the story of our lives, but at the time, it seemed crazy. When he did come back, it was time to drive back on up to PA with me. Road trip! The route took us all the way up the east coast, FL-to-PA. We had one stop to make: his family reunion in North Carolina at a beach house, for 3 days. He introduced me as his “girlfriend”.

He calls me “Guns”, because of my (lack of) bulging arm muscles. Yes, that’s a joke.
I call him “Jack” because its his pseudo-nickname.

We have spent two years traveling back and forth; my school & his school, Pittsburgh & Northport, my home-the Southwest & his-the Northeast. It’s hard, so we joke about winning the lottery or just becoming the next “Bonnie & Clyde”. We could totally pull it off.

We Are…Steppin’ it Up

Last Fall, the ratings came out; PSU had dropped to the #6 “Party School” in the country. There was an article about it in the campus paper, and one student was quoted saying…..

“I think everyone just needs to step it up.”

Oh, how right you are my friend. And that is exactly what we are doin’ around here. Don’t you worry!

The realization came last week; this semester has flown by, and will be over so very soon. This is not good! We have yet to officially taken our seat at the senior table. Instead, we have been reserving nights “out” for the weekends, and being productive during the week. Clearly this is why PSU is dropping in the ranks.

So, Mr. Penn State, this week we took some action. Last night (wednesday) the executive decision was made; We’re going Out. There was absolutely no reason not to. All semester the goal has been to start going out on weeknights, just because we can should. Obviously we have classes and things to do on Thursday, but why should that stop us? We’re SENIORS. This is our LAST semester to do stupid college things!!

Lucky for us the weather has been beautiful the last few days, so we went to the “Café”, where you can sit outside and people-watch and enjoy your drinks. And that’s just what we did. It was the perfect temp for jeans and a light jacket, and we sat there for hours sipping, chatting, laughing, and wondering why we hadn’t done this sooner. We headed back around midnight (I know. we’re Crazy) and basked in the buzz of a few good drinks and good friends.

Today, we took things one step further.

It was a gorgeous (and sunnyyyy!!!) 65° outside and everyone was floating around on a spring high. I was at work in the lab when I got a text from Em:

Café at 2:30.

See, the agreement all semester has been this-The first day it’s nice outside, drop everything and meet at a bar where we can sit outside (there are a few). No matter what. No excuses.

Well of course the first day it’s nice, my only class is mandatory. I must compromise. I reply that I’ll be there ASAP. At 3:30 I called, and since the Cafe was completely packed (no surprise), they had a table at “Pickles” on the patio. Yesssss.

We sat, and sipped, and talked, and people-watched again alllll afternoon. And it was everything we hoped it would be; a nice afternoon buzz from beer & sunshine. No, this is not the craziest thing any of us have ever done. But it is something we have all wanted to do since Freshman year, after passing these bar patios day after day and longing for our IDs to read “21″.

LB kept the trend going and headed out tonight. As much as I would have loved to join her, I have weekend plans that require me to be on the road & driving by 8 a.m. Not the best mix.

Not to worry, next week I’ll be all refreshed and ready to go again.

Happy weekending readers!! I hope that you too, are stepping it up!

Hi, I’m _____ & I “blog” because…

Last summer LB had a job working with these two fine people, M & M. They “blog”. She came to visit me for a weekend and let me in a little secret….she started blogging. My initial reaction was…..surprised? I thought it was pretty cool, but not something I could ever do. I’m not a “blogger”. I mean, it’s like ‘personal’ right? Like an online “journal” or something? What if people you know read it? What if you reveal too much about yourself?

Well, I started reading her blog, and I really liked it.

*wheels start turning…*

I had always said I wanted to be a “writer”. Not as in short stories and novels, not as in flowery fiction romantic whatevers, and not as in memoirs or biographies. I wanted to be a writer as in, I Love this website and I want to write stuff like THAT! And it hit me, if I want to write for a website, why not start by writing for my own??

That’s basically what these blogs are, right? This is MY page. My website. This is Me, now. I put whatever I want on this little thing. I control how it looks (ummmm…to an extent. Hi, I have no idea how to write a CSS code, but I would LOVE to know) and I make it purple, because I like purple. Sure, it’s not going to show up if you put my full name into a “google” search, but it’s here and it’s mine. Some people who know me know about it, but I’m not passing out fliers to advertise it.

I will admit, it took me a while to actually do it. It scared me that my writing would be accessible to the public. It’s here for all to see, which also means it’s here for all to criticize or to love. But that’s the reality of writing, is it not? If I want to have opportunities to do it in the future, I have to have something to show for it, right? I have to know that I’m okay with knowing that anybody can see these words. That’s the point of having websites and magazine in the first place. You want people to read them!!

So this was born. It started off a little rough, but I’ve gotten more used to writing about the ‘everyday’ things and the ‘cooking’ things and the ‘little weird things about me’. I don’t go too in depth about anything personal, and probably never will. I’m not sure why, maybe it’ll come at some time.

Now here I am, seven months later, and I “blog” because…..

::I have moved on to step 2! I was contacted by a fabulous person and now I write for this site once a week, about my life now & over the next year or so. Graduating, job-searching, baking, working, shopping, running…..the things I learn & want to pass on in the process.

::Now I am addicted to writing and reading a lot of other great blogs!

::It allows me to meet some pretty fabulous people, like this girl. And exchange fabulous e-mails! Because really, who isn’t addicted to e-mail? Don’t lie. And someone else who gave me tips while I was training and loves Stacy & Clinton as much as I do!

::Umm…I’m really entertained by the random things people type into a Google search. Seriously, weird. For instance, today I saw “adding chili to brownie mix”. What are you doing adding CHILI to BROWNIE mix?!?! Please stop now!! Because, ew, that’s not right. Chili to cornbread maybe? Chocolate to brownie mix?? What are you trying to do?? Agh, I’m so confused.

Anyway. Hi, I’m Heather. I’m totally a blogger.

Out of Hibernation

We are finally starting to see (a little bit of) warm weather!! This means one thing…..

The spring clothes get to come out of hiberation! Yay!!

I am a sucker for shorts. I love khaki, plaid, white, denim, black (more for “dressy”)….the list goes on. I Love them All. Except the kind that barely stop short of showing, um, too much. As Stacy & Clinton would say, those are not “age appropriate”. Or any kind of appropriate.

I think the Bermuda short is growing on me. Largely thanks to the fact that J Crew can make anything grow on me….but really, they can be cute.

These are risky…..

These are Classy…..

I’m also getting into bold prints. I want skirts, and I want them flowy and beautiful and full of print.
Like this…..

And I’m on the search for spring/summer shoes. I have just decided that I like wedges (yes, I’m behind the times. But ya know what, I like what I like). Correction: Love them. Want to own lots of them. I want to wear them with said skirts, and cute shorts, and cropped pants. And with some help from this girl I also love the “gladiator” style that’s coming in. I also need to restock the flip-flop collection, as these tend to wear out in season. Which is fine, since I might pay $2 (hi Target, I love you!) or I might pay $15 (fine AE, I’ll step it up).

In my opinion, the best thing about the warm seasons is shedding the coat!! Yes, Stacy & Clinton, we know-a structured jacket is the key to everything. But what about the cute top that it covers up?! And what about when the cute top needs to stand alone and be admired?! And what about how I’m tired of carrying my jacket around in bars because it’s hot once you’re inside??? In comes warmth to the rescue. *breathe*

Oh, Spring, I am soooo ready for you.

Back to School….

Last Tuesday night I decided I was ‘quitting’ school for the week. I had been at work all afternoon, and could Not focus on a single thing. Not one. All afternoon. I had an online test that night right after my shift was over, so I was trying to look over the notes. I would read about 2 sentences and start doing something else. Check e-mail. Look around on Facebook. Target. E-mail. Aghhhhhh.

So after a few minutes of deep thought, because apparently that’s all I could handle, I came to a realization. I was Excited! I didn’t want to do work. My buddies were going to be there in less than a day, and then I got to be in “weekend mode” until Sunday!

I took my stupid test (actually did pretty well, surprisingly), headed back to the apartment and made an executive decision right away. As of around 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday evening, I was “done” with school for the week. Oooh, good stuff. Instead of studying for my quiz the next morning, I made sure everything was ready to go, cleaned up, and I made a birthday card for my Dad (arts & crafts, always the solution).

After my Wednesday morning class I headed off to pick up the girls at the airport, and was officially in weekend-mode for the next 5 days. I went to 2 out of the 3 classes I had on Thursday and Friday, and quite frankly, consider that pretty impressive.

It was definitely a successful weekend. Starting Wednesday night with drinks & a trip down ‘memory lane’, laughing about stories from high school and catching up. Thursday & Friday were spent around campus and downtown, going out, movies, and eating. Saturday was our day to relax, recoup, and watch KU beat UNC!!! And this morning we were up and on the road by 5:30 a.m. I drove there & back, six hours total, walked straight to my bed and crashed for the next 3 hours.

And now the weekend is over, and it’s back to school….

Airport Role Reversal

I’ve only had one role at the PIT International Airport: fly home.

I am usually dropped off graciously by Em. At six in the morning. Which, by the way, is before any Starbucks in the area is open, despite my continuous promises that I’ll at least buy her a coffee for the road. Ehhhhh.  But she’s amazing, and she takes me anyway. I get there just in time, because apparently everybody has flights that depart at 8 a.m., and the lines are ridiculous. I know the routine: shoes off, jackets off, everything in a plastic tub, walk slowly through, always have ID and boarding pass. Seriously, I’m a pro.

Today my role is reversed! The tables have turned. I’m not flying anywhere. In fact, I’ll even be parking the car. And patiently waiting at the baggage claim. Picking up two of my best friends from home!

We’re heading straight back to PSU for a full 4 days. Luckily the weather is supposed to be sunny and ‘warm’, so they’ll be fooled (at least for a day) into thinking that we’ve caught up with the rest of the world and ventured into the Spring season. I can only hope that it doesn’t pour down rain for the next 3 days, but uh, well, you just never know. We won’t get our hopes up here in central PA……

Like I said earlier, I can’t wait to show off this beautiful campus. Warm/sunny/spring weather or not, this place is Awesome. And I love it. And I know they will too!