The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (You knew it was coming)

Hello, readers. I decided to take an unplanned hiatus from you but I have returned.

I noticed I still haven't written anything about Lithuania. This will happen soon. 

What I will write out is Harry Potter. 

Don't be mad; if anyone knows me or has known me, they know I adore Harry Potter. 

With this information known, it may not surprise you that I attended the midnight premiere of the last three movies and dressed up in full Hogwarts gear for both parts of the Deathly Hallows. 

Still waiting for my invitation to Hogwarts. I am 21 years old. 

Anyway, Harry Potter is a franchise that I have spend half of my life loving and losing major sleep over. Literally. I picked up 'The Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone" when I was 11 years old, despite a great initial dislike to the series. (I didn't like the name Harry and I thought fantasy tried too hard.) If I remember correctly, I'm pretty sure I picked up the book because the film version of the first book had just been released and I had an instant crush on Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter for those of you who have been living under a rock for the last decade). I could not put the book down. I finished it within the time between school ended and night falling. Can you say addict? The rest of the novels came in the form of casual gifts and, eventually as the other books in the series were released, my own personal summer vacation. (They always seemed to be released in the summer months.) I credit the history-making series as one of the main reasons for turning to creative writing as an outlet for my emotions and my expression of self. Before, I was always a bookworm, looking to learn new facts and extend my knowledge outside the classroom. With Harry Potter and the world J.K. Rowling so brilliantly crafted, I realized that you can successfully write fantasy with the ability to keep in touch with those of us who are non-magical, or "Muggles." 

As I've said before, I've grown up with this series. I've grown to feel that Ron, Harry and Hermione were my friends, not just three characters created out of someone's artistically awesome brain. I grew to care about them like real, tangible people. I cried when Sirius, Dobby, Dumblebore and Snape died and I wanted to kill Bellatrix and a handful of others myself. But I digress. At least with the series, I still had the films to look forward to and see this epic world come to life on the big screen. However, as the premiere date for "the Deathly Hallows Part Two" came closer, I realized that this is the end. Like the movie posters read, "it all ends." For the actors, for the wizardry world and for us. But I knew it would be a happy end. 

My luck had it that I work would from 5 to 10 on the night of the premiere. So, you know I busted out of my work as soon as humanly possible to get to the theater in time. I had to go to my friend's, get her boyfriend and pick up a friend of mine before we could make the trek to the Menominee Falls Marcus, the last theater we could get tickets from a week in advance. By the time we arrived, there was no line outside, which meant EVERYBODY was in the theater. I was honestly terrified of not getting a seat and decided, if necessary, I would push. But I didn't. However, our party of four did get separated but Nojus and I chose the lone pair of seats at the top of the smaller theater, so that was lovely. We were granted a broad view of the entire theater.

Alright, enough details about history and getting there. Now, the movie. 

You may have read the reviews this movie is getting and you might have read that they are good, that this installment is the best of out of all. Well, they aren't bullshitting you. It really is. The entire movie is visually captivating and beautiful, even in the darkest moments. Even if you haven't read the books, there are certain scenes (Snape's memory and first time seeing him with real emotion, Dobby's grave, Harry going to the Forbidden Forest for the final confrontation with Voldemort) that will pull at your heartstrings and, possibly, make you cry. Yes, I cried. Sobbed, actually. But I also laughed and cheered ("Not my daughter, you bitch!", Hermione and Ron sharing their first kiss, Crabbe causing his own death, and Neville killing Nagini!!!) and watched in awe as Voldemort crumbled away into nothingness and the light overcame the darkness. There, I almost cried in joy. Of course, I giggled ridiculously at the epilogue scene. Who didn't get a kick out of that? Personally, I think Albus Severus will be put into Slytherin. His initials are ASP after all and we all know what an asp is. And as Platform 3/4 faded away into the inevitable cinematic conclusion, I felt a rise and fall in my chest. It was over. But as I walked out of the theater, I knew that the past ten years of my literary life had been amazing thanks in part to this amazing series. And when I feel the desire to be nostalgic, whether it's alone or with my eventual children and their children, I will bring out the books, explain to them the great memories I had with them and hopefully, just hopefully, the books will touch them like they have touched me. 

Ink Blots

Some of you may find it odd that I'm posting about my new tattoo before posting about Lithuania.
Although Lithuania was amazing, some drama occurred upon my return from said country so I will document my adventures when I'm emotionally stable enough to do so.
Enough of that awkwardness.
On Saturday, my mother made it clear she wanted a tattoo to pay tribute to her mother, my late grandmother. I knew this for awhile but didn't know she'd be alright with taking the dive back into permanent ink. Well, shows how much I know.
After much convincing, we went to the East Side and to my go-to tattoo shop, Gothic Body, which is where my go-to tattoo guy, John Hill, works. We were able to reserve a spot and picked out the matching design we wanted to get. With the design decided, colors chosen and balls ready for some pain, I was able to look in the mirror an hour later at this:

No, not my atrocious tan line. The swallow!
It's bright green, purple and yellow, which is my grandmother's favorite color so it seemed only right to have a splash of sunshine in there. I was more than satisfied with the new artwork on me. John even snapped a photo of it so, hopefully, I'll see it on the shop wall the next time I come in! He even offered to touch up my Oscar Wilde script, which I thought was so kind.
Of course, I want more now. Ah, ink addictions.

Fabolous Friday

Gotta get down on Friday?
I really do not like Rebecca Black, so let's just pretend that didn't happen.
Awesome. So I leave for Lithuania in TWO DAYS (that's on Sunday) and I'm super excited. I haven't even started to pack yet. And it's TWO AND A HALF WEEK TRIP. Instead of packing, I'm going to post things.

Today, I got my hair cut. I walked into my salon thinking I would just get a simple trim, but that didn't happen. I think this is a perfect segway to my attire for the day so you can get a view of what happened to my head.

So I just downloaded Shape Collage because I got bored of just posting photos.
In the top left corner is my makeup for the day. :
Glo Minerals concealer
Urban Decay eyeshadow in Flash
Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in Binge
Make Up For Ever Aqua Liner in 6
Almay One Coat Nourishing Mascara
Necklace: from a regular at work named Judy.

Upper right:
Dress: from Lulus.com
Coat: Macy's
Hair: Phases Hair Designer's Inc. by Julie

Bottom:
Shoes: Rocket Dog (TJ Maxx)

More College

For those of you who do not know, I graduate from Cardinal Stritch University next May. For those of you who don't know the level of my ambition, I'm going to graduate school for my M.F.A., preferably in creative writing and publishing and then go on and get a job at a publishing company. There are a handful of schools I have in mind and, if you're interested in browsing Poets & Writers list of top 50 graduate programs, you can go here.

Also, these schools are in no particular order. Except maybe Iowa. Which is funny because it's home to the number one writing program in the country...

Yes, Hawkeye country also houses the best creative writing program in the United States. However, locations means a lot to me and I don't know if I can stay in the Midwest, regardless of how happy that would make my mother, who is moving to Des Moines after I graduate from Stritch. But the faculty and alum are hard to ignore.

University of North Carolina-Wilmington. One of my mentors, Dr. Laura Misco, went to graduate school there, along with author Brad Land (Goat) and loved it. They also have a publishing laboratory, which as the name implies, helps the students get a better understanding of what happens when a book is good enough to hit the shelves. This school is also in the top 50 in the country and the location, for me, is ideal; East Coast enough, but southern enough to be warm and suitable for my preferences.

New York University. The above picture is of Greenwich Village, which is where the Creative Writing program bought a building for their students only. My own personal studying space in the Village? Can I get a hell yes? Although New York has horrible winters like Wisconsin and the traffic is hell, I loved New York when I visited and NYU's reputation is amazing. So many talented people have graced its halls and I would love to have the chance to be taken under the wings of amazing people.

University of Texas-Austin. Yes, Texas. Initially, I was uncertain about the number three program in the country but, after talking with one of my good friends who went to Austin for South by Southwest this past Spring, I started to reconsider Austin. It's art-friendly, fun, cultural and filled with people from all over the country and world. The university itself is home to THIRTEEN libraries. The nightlife is amazing and there seems to be no shortage of things to do.

And, of course, I have to consider the West Coast...

Mills College, located in Oakland, California. The undergraduate program is all-girls only, but the graduate program is co-ed and it is the first in the country to have a Book Art and Creative Writing program, which is what caught my eye. The program seems made for me. My fear is location; Oakland is commonly known as a dangerous place, but it's something I'd have to think about if I went there.

There is no photo of my next possibility but it's California College of the Arts, San Francisco. There is another campus, located in Oakland, but I think I'd feel right at home in San Francisco. There is so much to do. Plus, Dave Eggers writes out of San Francisco and the first 826 Valencia is housed there, too. When I saw Dave speak in Pittsburgh, I was inspired by the work he does. I would love to contribute to something like that.

That's UC-Irvine. My poetry mentor, Dr. Abby Gambrel, is an alum of this place and is also top ranked. Although it is "in the middle of nowhere," as she told me, the curriculum was great and, I can tell you from experience, Abby knows her stuff. This is one of my lower-ranked choices, but it is still one of them and I'm still considering it.

Now, let's go abroad...

National University of Ireland, Galway. I've always dreamed of going overseas to study. The ultimate way to stimulate my imagination and my writing.

University of the Arts, London. Oh, I'd just be in the heart of London. No big deal. Only a dream come true. I'm having a difficult time finding additional program information, but I have some time to browse.

That, my friends, is my list of possible places to continue my education.

tea time (long time, no post?)

For the few followers I have, I offer my most sincere apologies for not updating in quite some time. I haven't taken any photographs from my personal camera to show you what I've done since school as wrapped up. However, I do have my handy Evo camera phone, so I can show you my excursions from today that I had with my mother at Macy's.

Allow me to back track.

As of late, my mother and I have become connoisseurs of tea, so we frequent Teavana and [my mother] visits Harney & Son's online quite often. In a surprise move, my mother got rid of her beloved traditional coffee maker and replaced it with an automatic water boiler that can heat your water at three different temperatures (185, 195, 208 Fahrenheit), rotates and has a timer on it so, if you're too lazy to wait for the water to boil when you awaken, you can set it so it is boiled and ready to use when you wake up! Perfect for any tea lover's early morning, unless you are into using the over-top stove and teapot to boil your water. But the modern technology lover, this is an amazing buy. :

Anyway, connoisseurs of tea. Today we drove out to Mayfair Mall to go to Teavana because we had two empty, vacuum-locked tea canisters and were craving new tea because, apparently, Mom bought some tea she "hated." Okay, Mom. For those who haven't been to Teavana, they typically have at least 2-4 kinds of tea that they sample, usually hot but sometimes iced ones, as well. Since we are pretty open to new tastes, we got to the tea wall/counter right away and talked with one of the self-titled "teaologists." The tea wall is amazing; it is literally a shelving unit that is stocked with tea after tea, from blacks to whites to oolongs to chais and others. In order for you to get an idea of how the tea will taste, the teaologists take the huge lids and waft the teas at you. More often than not, the end result is quite pleasant. For the record, I haven't had a bad experience there yet. Today, Mom and I got four kinds of tea.:

The one on the upper left corner is a blend of four kinds of nutrient-filled teas, which if you put them together, make for an essential super tea blend. Two of the flavors tasted amazing iced, so I'm guessing with the other two, they will be amazing as well. The Youthberry is a white tea mixed with acai berry and tropical fruit, while the Blueberry Bliss has MORE superfruit (blueberries, obviously & black currants). The pineapple adds a nice, sweet and tropical flavor to the mix, while the Imperial Acai Blueberry adds, you guessed it, more superfruit.
The awesome Romanian teaologist drinks the next tea with Jasmine Pearls, but my mom opted to get it alone. It's Honeybush Vanilla and is packed with vitamins and antioxidants.
In the next photo is the coffee-esque blend, made from JavaVana Mate and Golden Monkey. Mate teas help stimulate the mind and body and boost energy, but do not leave you feeling jittery and lethargic. JavaVana is ideal for people who love coffee/want to wean off of it. The Golden Monkey is smooth and also has mocha overtones similar to the JavaVana. Yum!
Finally, we bought the Zingiber Ginger Coconut/White Ayurvedic Chai blend. The white chai is not your traditional chai; it has red and white pepper in it and is supplemented with coconut and lemongrass, which blends nice with the ginger COCONUT. The ginger coconut is a rooibos tea, which helps combat allergies, cold relief and settle the stomach, ideal for those who have acid reflux or the pain-in-the-ass upset stomach.

That, my friends, is your tea lesson.

Tune in next time for what the hell I'm reading this summer.
(It's a lot. What else do you think I'll do on a 16-hour plan ride?)
Oh, and coming later... (end of June later)
LITHUANIA.

TUESDAY BLUESDAY

Only labeled Bluesday because it's been alternating between being rainy and being blue (as in the sky). I didn't feel like being Springy or Summery. Actually, that's a lie; I wanted to wear my new jewelry that the Easter Bunny got me (a.k.a. Kathy a.k.a. my mom).

Here's a photo:

Sarah, you might recognize these pieces. Both of them are from Kohl's, specifically from Vera Wang's collection. I like them for their metallic feel and how they accentuate the jewels on my shirt. So, to review...
Bracelet & necklace: Vera Wang collection (Kohl's)
Shirt: Express
You can't see my face, so don't worry about it. There's a cat to my left, though!

Also, today at JCPenney's, I bought a pair of earrings from a brand called Color Craze. The website's selection can be found here.

April Showers & Winter Mixes

So far, the end of April has been one big clusterfuck of snow, rain and sleet. Not the most productive weather for creativity, but you have to take what you get.
Oh, say hello!

Today's outfit:
Oversized blue & brown rose shirt from H&M
Blue & turquoise earrings & peacock necklace from Juke in Pittsburgh
Brown heeled boots

That's all you need to know.
I figured I needed some color to brighten up the day.

ALSO.
Break starts today at 4.