Movin' on!

Hello, trusty readers! Did you miss me? More than likely, your answer is no. Nonetheless, I wanted to keep you in the loop!

Last you heard, I was going to Italy. That is still happening - and it's really coming up! I leave on August 28th. I hope you'll consider following on my new blog, Grace Says Smile.

I may shift back to posting here when my stint abroad is over; I may not. Either way, this blog has had a great run. Thanks always for your readership and support!

♥

La vita e bella.

As you may remember, I have committed to spending the Fall Quarter of my Junior year in Italy. I leave in August for a pre-orientation traveling seminar all throughout Greece and then will spend September through most of December living in Florence, Italy.

I've been spoiled by the fact that I chose to go to a university so close to home and Ethan and I happened just by chance to attend the same school. I've never been away from my life as I know it for too long. I guess you could say I'm a bit scared. The good news? My parents are coming to visit in October!

I realized recently I never shared Ethan's amazing birthday present for me on here. When we celebrated my birthday together, he came over looking like a dream with a sweet, sappy card in hand. In an adorable little speech, he told me the great news: he, too, is coming to visit me in Florence in November! I was so surprised and so touched that I threw my arms around him and cried right then and there. :]

For our anniversary, I surprised Ethan be arranging his hotel accommodations. He will be staying at a quaint little place within walking distance of the university I will be attending in Florence.

The outside of a little something I created for Ethan to tell him about my gift to him. Excuse the disproportional luggage tag; I removed his last name from this image. Anyway, one pulls on the handle to reveal a note inside that was far too gushy to post on the internet. ;]

I can't wait to see the people I live in a place that I'll hopefully come to love as well! So, life is beautiful. I'm excited to share my experiences preparing for and going to Italy with you in the coming months!

Mother dear.

This is my adorable momma at age three.

My brother Tucker is an artist of sorts. He is really into installations and street art, but for Mother's Day this year, he pulled out all the stops to recreate my mom's baby picture...

My brother posing with the work. Notice all of the black paint under his fingernails?

He created a stencil out of her photo and then used a combination of black and white paints to recreate its textures.

Pretty cool, huh? ;]

Our anniversary, observed.

I apologize for the lack of activity around here, but life has been flying by. Happenings over the past month have included, but are not limited to, performing in a fantastic production of Eve Ensler's "The Vagina Monologues," preparing for this month's University production of "Thoroughly Modern Millie," finalizing my stay in Italy this Fall, and, not to mention, trying to stay afloat in a flood of schoolwork, as the school year is ending in a few weeks. Crazy!

Thank you all for your sweet well wishes on my post about my anniversary with Ethan! Because our anniversary fell on a Wednesday (I have rehearsals from about 5:30 to 10:30), we celebrated on Saturday. We enjoyed a fabulously massive dinner at Maggiano's Little Italy and made a quick stop at Kara's Cupcakes afterward. Yes, I felt it was necessary.

Love.

I don't know what's going on here.

I only posted this because it is such a novelty: a photo of me that I didn't take myself. In fact, Ethan took it, which is perhaps a miracle.

The most delicious of stuffed mushrooms.

The biggest hunk of lasagna I've ever seen. Mine.

The heaviest bowl of spaghetti in existence. Ethan's.

The tastiest vanilla ice cream.

By far, the best ice lemon cookies. EVER!

I hope you enjoyed that exercise in hyperbole. We had a fun night just spending time together, which is an opportunity hard to come by these days. Ethan is the best. And that's not hyperbole. ;] Sappiness over.

I wish I had more time to blog, but such is life. I've been answering some pretty deep questions over on my Formspring, if you're interested. I promise I'll have more exciting things for you to read within the next couple of weeks. :]

Happy two years to us.

From my Formspring.

Celebrate good times.

I love my friends and family, FYI.

For whatever reason, I have very few photos from my Saturday birthday celebration with friends and my Sunday Easter and birthday celebration with family. I take this as a sign that we were enjoying ourselves just too much to bother with cameras. So here are two snapshots from Sunday.

One of these things is not like the others.

A delicious sacher torte with raspberry filling courtesy of my dearest boyfriend's family.

On Monday I had classes. But on Monday night, my friends from college threw me a party - a throwback to our childhood. We dressed up like our former selves and had fun.

Luckily for me, my best friend Michelle was in town for the event!

Princess and average girl.

I feel like I shouldn't admit this, but I will: I was over half an hour late to my OWN PARTY. Anyway, it was not a surprise party but the party-goers decided to "surprise" me nonetheless. I promise there were more than four people there, by the way.

Birthday hugs from some of my friends!

In an amazing display of brilliance, dedication, and thoughtfulness, my friend Melissa baked about fifty cupcakes. In keeping with the childhood theme, some were multi-colored, frosted in neon, and each had a crazy candle or a little cutout on top. Belle of "Beauty and the Beast" is my favorite princess, so, naturally, that center cupcake is mine. :]

Me, blowing out the candles upon my arrival!

Molly, complete with super hero-status cape and sipping punch through a crazy straw, and me with a delicious cupcake.

Me and Blake!

Ah, yes. The best friends. <3

Overall, an amazing birthday celebrated with people I love. I'm twenty, you guys! :]

Happy Easter!

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." 1 Peter 3.

Birthday weekend.

I turn twenty years old on Monday. The birthday celebrations have already begun.

Yesterday, my friend Monique took me out for a birthday lunch at the Counter. We hit up Starbucks and Kara's Cupcakes all while catching up about most everything.

Last night, my friend Jenny came over to pick me up for dinner. Jenny is a future student at the Culinary Institute of America. So, she's kind of a big deal. To my happiness, she surprised me with a big batch of cupcakes. They're lemon with vanilla buttercream - and absolutely delicious. The best part about them was that about half of them were tailor-made to my interests. Observe.

Jenny used fondant to fashion items that represented things I love. This little DSLR camera is probably my favorite. :]

I'm gonna be twenty! In the background, another camera and some music notes.

Just a glimpse of some other cupcakes - a place-setting, some cupcakes, some snowflakes.

Hearts. Because... I'm lovable? :P

Tonight, a group of friends from high school and I are reuniting for a dinner date. Tomorrow is Easter! But it's also the time my family and I will celebrate my birthday. Friends from school have organized a get-together on Monday night, post-rehearsal. It's little kid themed. Who knows why? But I'm excited. :]

Thanks, everyone, for everything. I guess you could say I'm pretty lucky. So, let the celebration of ME continue! ;]

Chick-Fil-A is for lovers.

While we were down south, we happened upon a little place called Chick-Fil-A. While I'm sure the majority of the people reading this blog (I know you're there!) have probably had the pleasure of visiting one of these establishments at least once in their lives, they are practically nonexistent in Northern California. The closest one to the area where we live is about two hours away. Ridiculous.

Suffice it to say, it was our first time at Chick-Fil-A, under the guidance of our trusty friend Brittany. We laughed, we cried, we ate chicken, and we enjoyed ourselves while doing it. So much so, that we went back the next day as our swan song meal in La Mirada.

The goods.

We're excited because we love greasy chicken!

And we like each other, too.

Brittany, the pretty girl on the left, was one of Ethan's best friends in high school. :]

Now we share the love.

For chicken and waffle fries, as well.

Are we aware of the fact that Chick-Fil-A, like all fast food, is less than nutritious? Yes. Do we care? Not particularly. :]

We miss you, Chick-Fil-A! Thanks for the memories!

Ethan.

Love. And that is all I have to say.