I Blame Jane.

Ok, so lately I've become a little obsessed with Jane Austen. How you might ask, can *I* get any more obsessed with Jane Austen? Well, I think it might have something to do with the new rash of movies coming out about her (check out "Becoming Jane") and her works (see the 3 new movies in "The Jane Austen Season"). I seriously can't wait to see "Becoming Jane". I've heard it's soooo good. But even though it's out in the UK, it's not opening here until August! Can you believe it?! I will know the fate of Harry Potter by that time!! Ah, sometimes I think I might die from the anticipation this summer is going to bring. The end of Harry Potter (double whammy of movie and BOOK 7!), "Becoming Jane" (did I mentioned she's played by Anne Hathaway?), oh and of course how could I forget a new niece and nephew! :) Well, it will be exciting no doubt. So to curb my appetite for now, I've been binging on videos on YouTube. Who knew there were people more obsessed than me with Jane Austen? So obsessed they will make music videos with clips from movie adaptations. All I have to say is I'm very lucky there are people like that out there. So if you'll excuse me, I have some "Northanger Abbey" to go watch! Enjoy! Oh, and if you get hooked on these as well, the only person to blame is Jane!



Here's another worthy video which you might want to watch after checking out the new "Northanger Abbey".

Presidents, Pligrims and Plymouth

Since it was a holiday on Monday, I didn't have work and my friend (and fellow history-enthusiast) Ben didn't have school. What a great chance to check out some history! Ben and I have been slowly working our way through the area's great historical sites (I'll post some pictures soon from some of our other adventures) and so after much deliberation about where to go and what to see we finally decided on Plymouth. I'd never been, so Ben acted as tour guide. It was a ton of fun, the only draw back to the day was that it was freaking freezing!! Like zero degrees! But it was still fun to learn about Plymouth and the Pilgrims. Check out what we were up to until my camera died:

We first headed up to "Burial Hill" where we saw some of the oldest Puritan graves in New England and the site of the first fort. As you can see from all the pictures, the day was beautiful, sunny, no clouds, which, of course, made it freezing. The wind was blowing a lot too, and being so close to the water, didn't help. But it does make for some beautiful pictures!
Ben poses by the "point-of-interest" sign, the First Fort, built in 1621 sat on the top of this hill, which is now a cemetery.

This is the grave of William Bradford, Governor of Plymouth Colony! He arrived on the Mayflower. Crazy!

Gorgeous view from the top of the hill (which is probably why they built the first fort here, great views).

This was a really interesting grave stone in the cemetery, check out the awesome skull and crossbones!

We then headed down to the water to see Plymouth Rock, but on the way went through this beautiful park which had a little stream with lots of bridges and a memorial to the Pilgrim Women. We saw some ducks and swans too.


Here is Plymouth Rock! OK, so I have to confess, so many people told me that it was really anti-climatic seeing the rock that I was expecting something even smaller, so I was pleasantly surprised when I could actually identify which rock it was! You can see they engraved the date 1620 on the rock. Also, an interesting tid-bit we learned later: during the revolution in 1775, the patriots wanted to move the rock to the town square as a symbol of liberty, but while trying to move it, they broke the rock in half, so now, it's smaller than it used to be. Kinda sad huh?

This is the building they put over the rock, so you can see it, plus it makes it seem more important and imposing than it really is. Isn't that what history's all about?

Here's a recreation of the Mayflower, frozen into the Harbor. We didn't get to go on, but it was a lot smaller than you would think. I can't imagine being stuck on a boat like that for so long!

I snapped this picture right before my batteries on my camera died. Ben climbed out onto some ice chunks that were floating in front of the Mayflower. Luckily he didn't go in, cause you can bet I wouldn't be jumping in after him to save him all too quick!! Brrrr!

After seeing all that, we were pretty much frozen solid, like the ice on the ocean, so we decided to head up to the museum. We stopped in some of the cute little shops along the way, then spent a good amount of time at the museum, which was pretty good for such a small town. I'd really like to help them out with their book displays though. They didn't have them resting in the most "conservation friendly" way ever... I'm such a book nerd.

After the museum, it was off for some lunch and then back to Boston! We took the scenic route back and saw all the quaint little old houses and towns along the coast. Seriously, if I can love Boston even in -5 degree weather, you know I've found a great place...

Chinese New Year: Year of the Boar

So, what else is there to do on a freezing cold February Day? How about celebrate the Chinese New Year? This was my brilliant roommate Lora's idea and it turned out great if I don't say so myself! We decorated with some construction paper lanterns, a Chinese Dragon and info about the Chinese Zodiac , had a great time eating Pot Stickers and Fortune Cookies (plus, some pigs-in-a-blanket, since it IS the year of the Pig...) and played some fun Chinese Games, like Chinese checkers, Uno, Mancala and Scrabble. OK, so maybe those last ones aren't exactly Chinese, but you get the picture. And just in case you don't, here's some I took at the party! Thanks to everyone who came and made it a blast!!

Playing some Chinese Checkers: Dave, Tara, Michael, Estevan and Liz.

Here's a view of the food and lanterns.

Playing Mancala in the background with Laura exercising her mad chopstick-skills!

Natalie and Kylee were impressed with our Chinese Dragon.

Wearing red is good luck, don't you know? (L-R: Jake, Ben, Estevan, Me, Michael, Liz & Lora)

A Very Merry Un-Birthday to You!

My friends Blair, Leah, Laura and Amber, who live just around the corner from me, threw a really great party last Saturday. The theme was the Mad Hatter's Un-Birthday Party from Alice in Wonderland, which encompased dressing in your craziest outfit, crazy food, and tons of fun games, plus wathcing the movie, for those so inclined. And how can I forget, singing Happy Birthday to everyone else and blowing out a candle! So, of course, when Blair suggested that I dress up as Alice, how could I not?


I think my look turned out rather well, I wore the blue dress I had made for the Christmas Gala in December (I didn't think I'd get to wear it again anytime soon) and I whipped up and apron right before out of a pillow case, since I couldn't find an "Alice-esque" apron in time. We had a lot of fun playing games and later sitting around singing songs with my friends Ben and Jared who are both excelent guitar players (and have great taste in music, namely mine, if I might add). It really was just too much fun. These girls really know how to throw a party. I just hope the party my roommates and I are planing for the Chinese New Year turns out half so well! Unfortunately I forgot my camera (again), so these are a mixture of Blair and Laura's photos. Thanks gals for a fantastic evening!

Blair, Me and Robin. These two gals are too cute!


Nicole, Lora (my roommate) and Laura, looking "clashy"!

Everybody singing Happy Birthday and making a wish while blowing out a candle!

Playing card games. I learned some new ones!

Michelle, Laura and Ben.


The Hostesses with the Mostesses! (OK, that sounds better when you say it out loud...) Blair, Amber, Leah and Laura. What a fun house, I'm glad they're all my friends.

Stay tuned for more blogging... I promise I'm going to try to be better!!