Friday, April 30, 2010

Whew!

Last day of classes today! Whew! So relieved, but at the same time I'm thinking about how quickly this year went by! It seems like yesterday that my Jackie and I were awkwardly meeting for the first time. And now, if we had any more roommate bonding time, we would fuse together and become one person! haha At this time last year, I was SO nervous for college and sharing a room with someone and leaving my bubble. But this year I can't even believe past Abby! Nervous?! I shouldn't have been! I've been having an absolute blast this year..and have met some of the best people! So, a year review in pictures (a photobiography, if you will. Wold would be SO proud!):

Me and Jeff at graduation
The girls and I at the Bean during orientation (aka party camp)!
Spring Break with my girls! Clue, British accents, the Beach, the pool, movies, and food, food, food!
Our most recent adventure: seeing Swan Lake in BOX SEATS. So classy. Learned a lot about whats appropriate and frowned upon at the ballet. Monster voices? Not so much.
Teacher friends! Can't imagine school without their craziness!


Yay! So good bye one of the best years ever, hello Sophomore year! Can't wait for all the amazing things you'll bring me!!


Thursday, April 29, 2010

La la lalalala.....

Oh, music. It's around me all the time! It basically runs in through my boyfriends veins and my roommate practically pees her pants when she gets some new music for free! How could I NOT have an opinion about it?

I pretty much listen to anything happy!! Old, new, indie, pop, Disney...as long as it makes me smile when I listen to it! Here are a few of my favorites right now (with links to download/listen, too!):


If you can maintain a frown while listening to You Make My Dreams Come True by Hall & Oats, you are a better person than I. Every time I listen to this oldie my famous arm punch dance moves ensue, and occasional bed jumping! The only way I can describe this song is sunshine and rainbows IN A SONG! It's that awesome.


I Just Want to Be Okay is my favorite song right now in my Ingrid Michaelson obsession. Even though I loved me some Ingrid before, when I saw this on a commercial I fell in love! I mean, it was hard not to when that commercial played about 1,000 times during an America's Next Top Model Marathon one weekend...


My favorite Disney song right now (and forever, let's be realistic) is So This Is Love from Cinderella! I'm not usually a mushy gushy person, but hey, just TRY to watch this video and not melt!

My indie songs are always always from my boyfriend, Jeff (he's super duper alt). He just gave me this one the other day; Daisy by Fang Island! Daisies are absolutely my favorite flower (because they're so friendly...You've Got Mail, anyone?) so obviously I love this one! This song is just as happy as the flower. And the album are is of a little kid in a princess costume! I think it was made for me!

Daylight, by Matt and Kim will ALWAYS be a favorite. I saw Matt and Kim at Pitchfork last year and it was probably the best show I've ever been to! The two of them are so energetic and happy! Let me put it this way: if we met, I'm pretty sure we'd be best friends! The show was so funny though because it was all these crazies moshing to this really happy music. If you know me even a little bit, you would know how out of place I am at show with a mosh pit. haha Thank goodness Jeff was there to protect me from the crazies..I had SO much fun! And Matt touched my hand on the way out! (we were in the 2nd row..did I mention that? HEAVEN!)


And finally, my Christmas-time obsession, The Modern Electric! My favorite song is The Anti Sing-Along. They are an awesome Cleveland band who I saw at the Beachland Ballroom's Christmas show! Their Christmas song that they made up was an awesome mix of Cleveland pride and Christmas..almost my two favorite things! Oh, and I'm basically in love with the lead singer...but don't tell anyone! But you try to listen to my other favorite songs of theirs, Where I Belong, and not be in love with him. I dare you.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

ZOO ADVENTURES!

Today I started to think about my adventures a couple of weekends ago...two trips to the Lincoln Park Zoo in a week!! I'm pretty much the luckiest girl alive that I somehow have enough people in my life who are equally excited to act like a 5 year old as I am and make frequent trips to the zoo with me! My second trip was a teacher friends bonding trip, and it was the best adventure ever! As if I don't see these people everyday in class or something! Our activities included: getting lots of free things because of the zoo's Earth Day celebration, calling Allison's boyfriend "Nie Nie" (he loved it), calling dibs on the adorable kids that we're planning on stealing, almost breaking a bench when we tried to take a jumping picture, finding Leslie's 1,000 friends (how you find people you know in a HUGE place like the zoo, I will never figure out), ape imitation, popsicle eating, and general merriment! Although there were no crayons involved, it was still a fantastic day!
































All the teachers with our "school of fish!" hahaha

Kids say the darnedest things..

So, the semester is coming to close which means, sadly, that my tutoring program is ending tomorrow! I love my kids at McCutcheon Elementary and I will miss them so much over the summer! It's kids like them that are the reason I go to Children's Lit class and do things like put on a robber's mask, running around like a crazy person acting out a book my professor is reading and yelling "H-O-T HOT PEPPERS!" at the top of my lungs! (Too bad none of my teacher friends are mean enough to video tape it so everyone can see it! haha) Besides being incredibly awesome, the kids are super funny! Just thought I'd share a couple gems from the semester:

Brian: "and then they all say in unison..." Hey, what does unison mean? Is that when you, like pee on yourself?

No, Brian, that's called urinating...

T: Today we learned how to dance in gym class!
Me: Did you have to dance with girls? Were you nervous?
Brian: I wasn't nervous but my partner was! I could tell because her hands were really sweaty!!

Me: Does anyone know what impulsive means?
Youssef: Isn't that when something is really really gross and you want to throw up?

No, Youssef, that's REpulsive....

And, my favorite. I like to joke around with some of my 5th graders at Swift Elementary and say "liar, liar, pants on fire!" when, say Noel uses a calculator when he's not supposed to and tells me he did it in his head! One day, during a particularly heated game of the matching musical note game, Noel said he could do it in under 5 seconds, to which Paniz replied "Noel, you're pants are on FIRE!" hahaha

You can see why I love them! Hopefully, I'll have some funny stories from nannying this summer too! But during my little kid lull during the beginning of summer, I'll probably just watch this video over and over again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ysqh1uzqGrc

hahahahaha

Yes, I'm still 5...

I started this blog to keep in touch with family and friends and because, as Julie says in the movie Julie & Julia, "I have thoughts!"...and most of them (for me anyway) are happy thoughts! And there's nothing I like to do more than share a giggle with people I love, like just a little bit, or hey, people I don't even know!

That's why, if I were a crayon, I would totally be tickle me pink! Can you color with a tickle me pink crayon and frown? I don't think so! I think it's the exact shade my face gets when I'm laughing because of anything from tickling, to a stupid joke, to absolutely nothing! It's the mark of an optimist! Like Allen Klein says, "Your attitude is like a box of crayons that color your world. Constantly color your picture gray, and your picture will always be bleak. Try adding some bright colors to the picture by including humor, and your picture begins to lighten up."

What more can I say? Tickle me Pink is perfection!