I’m lovin’ these new themes for Gmail! I keep changing mine because I like all of them so much that I can’t pick just one. Right now I’m using Tea House. I like how the sky changes according to the time of day (it’s 3:44 now, and the sun is setting on my little tea house). I was using one called Bus Stop the other day, and when it started snowing, it changed the giraffe to a snow man. Sweet! I guess I am easily amused.
Ohh Gossip Girl. Your vapid characters and ridiculously dramatic storylines are not something I would normally feel compelled to watch. But that’s not all you get when you watch GG. There are also hunky boys and foxy ladies and lots and lots of fab designer clothes to make any fashion-conscious girl salivate. I love escaping into my little GG dream world, where money is no object, everyone is beautiful, and scandal abounds. It’s just one of those things where you know it’s not good for you, but that just makes you want it more.
I briefly stopped by U of I again this weekend on my way back to Chicago. This time, the campus was covered in a fresh layer of snow! We didn’t get any snow in St. Louis over Thanksgiving, so it was a pleasant surprise to find the quad all painted in powdery white.
Quad at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana
Engineering Campus at the University of Illinois
Here’s the lovely Laux family Thanksgiving spread. My mom woke up extra early to start cookin’ the bird, and I rolled out of bed just in time to see it coming out of the oven. Forgot to snap a photo of it, though. I think Anna probably has one I can get later…
I brought Anna, my Spanish roommate, home with me so she could experience our wonderfully American traditions over the holiday weekend. I think she got a good taste of small-town American life. We spent a day in Carlyle, IL visiting my dad’s side of the family. She probably thinks I’m a hillbilly now. Most of my dad’s family speaks with a southern-ish kind of drawl. I try my best to suppress it in my own speech, but I still notice it slipping out from time to time.
Anyway! Here is the breakdown of my Thanksgiving meal:
- Turkey, of course
- Mashed Potatoes
- Sweet Potato Casserole (my fave)
- Stuffing
- Carrots
- Strawberry and Cranberry Jell-O
- Rolls
- and some Spanish red wine, a gift from Anna
It was everything I had hoped it would be! I ate the whole thing three times over the weekend. Now it’s time to hit the gym again.
Me and my siblings, Jon, Chelsea and Erika, outside grandma’s house in Carlyle
The very very worst part about dieting, for me, is that I don’t get to eat cheese. I crave cheese even more than chocolate. In tribute to my favorite food, I’m going to list all the cheesy things that I’d love to munch on right now:
- cheese fries - the ultimate munchie
- Cheez-Its
- string cheese
- Cheese & Onion Pringles
- a cheese quesadilla
- a cheese pizza..oh deep dish, it’s been so long……
- Cheetos
- Cheddar & Sour Cream Lays
- nachos
- a soft pretzel with cheese dip
Man it’s a good thing the grocery store is so far from my apartment, or I probably would’ve ran out like halfway through the list. No, only a couple more weeks now…gotta stay strong! Yeah, I’m really losin’ it.
Get out of my life, Flash. I have no time to do anything productive because I can’t stop messing around with this ridiculous program. It’s turning my brain into soup. And it’s so addictive. An addictive, brain-melting program. I’m making a portfolio web site in Flash right now, and I have an epiphany everytime I get something to work. After 2 hours of tinkering, I got one of my navigation links functioning. And it was such a beautiful moment when it happened! Now I crave more successes. And the cycle continues.. Flash doesn’t really suck; I do.
I think if this whole journalism thing doesn’t pan out for me, I might go back to school and learn some more about web design. Then, when I let Flash consume 5 hours of my evening, it wouldn’t be unproductive, it’d just be my job :)
Elvis brought Wheat Thins, and there was no way I was going to be able to resist those. I ate like half the box, so now I owe him one. Unfortunately, that means I have to show up to be an extra in his film project. Ugh filmmakers. And yeah, his name is actually Elvis. He was named after Elvis (pronounced ‘el-vice’), the norse god of wisdom. I was hoping his mom was a crazy Elvis fanatic, but turns out she’s just plain crazy. His sister’s name is Journey, but not after the band either. If Journey had been a boy, she would’ve been named Safari. I’m literally learning this as I type. It’s all new to me. My blog is bringing my coworker and I together. I know so much about him now. And I’ve got some great new ideas for potential baby names.
I don’t listen to any podcasts. Several years ago when I first heard about them I tried subscribing to a few, but they would just pile up in my iTunes, and I rarely got around to listening to them. They were all music-themed, and one I remember in particular was about indie music in Canada. I thought maybe I would discover some cool new bands from listening to Canadian broadcasts. I think maybe I did find some bands I liked, but I got bored with listening to the podcasts and ended up unsubscribing to them all. I don’t even listen to traditional radio unless I’m in the car (which is rare when I’m in Chicago), so seeking out podcasts is not exactly a priority for me. I think the concept is interesting- that anyone can make their own radio show. It’s just not for me.
I’m going to U of I this weekend to visit my family. My brother goes to school there, and my parents and sisters are coming up from St. Louis, I’m coming down, and we’re all going to meet in the middle. I like going there every once in awhile, to see what it’s like being on a real, traditional college campus. It’s so much different from here. I still don’t think I would’ve liked to study there, but sometimes I wish my school had a nice grassy quad to hang out on, and a gym with a swimming pool and a waterslide, and like a million lounges and cafeterias and such. I’m not all about school pride or anything, but the sense of unity there is nice. I guess the trade-off is that I get to live in an awesome city instead of a cornfield.
