Home Sweet (New) Home

My summer vacation ends tomorrow (cue violins).... But thankfully I was able to get one last vacation in before my hectic schedule begins. This past weekend I visited my parents in Nashville.

Well I flew into Nashville, but they live in Gallatin which is about 20 or 30 minutes outside of the city. Because my flight was late taking off, it wasn't until about 11 that we reached the house. This was my first time to my parents' new house so I was really excited. I had already seen some pictures but I hadn't seen it yet with their furniture and all the special touches that make it a home. So when my Dad and I got to the house, he gave me the grand tour. The house is so cozy - I really loved it! The neighborhood is a golf community and our house is right on the golf course so the scenery is also very nice. So that night (Thursday), we just chatted a bit, I loved on Sammy and then it was bedtime.

Friday morning I woke up and my Mom and I walked throughout the neighborhood. It was great exercise because it's rather hilly. But it was great catching up with her and just looking at all the beautiful houses. And of course, a trip to see my parents isn't complete unless my mom and I go shopping. This is what happens when you go in to Michaels just for fun:

Then we ventured to the mall and I used up my Macy's gift card. Speaking of shopping and bargain hunting, I bought a dress from Macy's for $20 that was originally $80. And my Mom and I both got scarves from American Eagle for $3 that were originally $20! I was proud of our purchases if I do say so myself.

That night when my Dad got home from work, we had a yummy dinner and then took Sam on a walk on the golf course. The sunset was amazing and it was fun taking some practice swings. Don't judge my form haha.



This may be a slight tangent but if there was ever such a thing as having a favorite bug, mine would be a firefly. I've never seen one in Orlando and the first time I saw one was in Tallahassee probably about 3 years ago and I was so awestruck by them. They appear during one of my favorite times of the day and I think they are magical. There were so many in the brush between our house and the golf course. It was such a treat for me to just watch them.

Saturday, my Mom and I went on another shopping adventure to a thrift store that a columnist called "Ms. Cheap" wrote about in the Nashville newspaper. They actually had beautiful wedding dresses for only $50. I don't believe I'll be getting married any time soon and I don't know how I feel about getting my wedding dress at a thrift shop, but I was intrigued enough to try one on! It was one of those "beautiful on the hanger, but not on me" types of situations. So I walked away with nothing. But nonetheless, it was fun! :) Then we went and saw The Ugly Truth. A little unnecessarily vulgar, but it was cute and we enjoyed it.

That night we met my Dad at his work and went downtown. What a great place to people watch! Ten times better than the airport haha. I was hoping for a celebrity spotting (according to my mom, Carrie Underwood was seen there the weekend before). But no such luck. Either way, we had a great dinner and a great time walking around and being in the hustle and bustle of downtown night life.


Poor baby...He looked so sad just laying there...



Sunday, I was able to sleep in which was nice. After a yummy breakfast made by my Dad, we all (yes, including Sam) made our way to the Harpeth River State Park. The directions I got weren't all that great but we finally reached our destination. It is spread out over several different places so we were able to get out walk around a bit and then drive a little more to see some other sights. We saw signs for canoeing, hiking, horseback riding, and zip lines so I know this will be a place that I will definitely go back to. It was so much fun spending quality time with my parents, watching Sam swim in the river, and seeing such a beautiful area.





Unfortunately, my visit was coming to an end. We went home and I got ready for my flight. The weekend seemed to go by so quickly but I'm grateful for being able to make the trip and I can't wait to go back!

July 4th

Just a quick post about July 4th :)

It was one of the greatest weekends I've had in Winter Park since I came down a year ago!

My parents and Sammy drove down to visit me for the weekend. They stayed with me in my apartment (which they loved :) and pictures will be coming soon!). For the 4th, we drove to Leesburg for a baseball game between the Leesburg Lighting and the US Military All Stars. The opening ceremony was touching and the game was very entertaining. And believe it or not, the fireworks show after was one of the best shows I've seen. The best thing about the whole day was that I was able to spend it with my parents and Stefano.

Here are a few pictures:

Sammy!

Just thought you would like a glimpse into my life with the best dog ever! :)

With the Good, Comes the Bad

I am having so much fun having my parents in Tallahassee. Last night we ate at Food, Glorious Food - sooo good by the way! I don't know if the people in the restaurant thought we were just plain crazy or just having a really good time. First off, we had Sam with us. We almost got kicked out by someone who I knew by association (huge attitude!). But it was fine because the other waiter chimed in and put him in his place - dogs are allowed! lol. So we sit down and wait for Kyle and Andrea. It was her first time meeting the parents and I think it went really well. The conversation flowed, everyone was cracking up, we were having a great time! This story sounds like it should some embarrassing or bad situation happen and it didn't at all - we all just genuinely were having fun, so it was awesome. It kinda made me forget how nervous I was for today...

I had an interview this morning that was pretty huge. If I get this job, it will be great experience and take a huge load off of the financial burden that comes along with grad school. I don't want to talk about it too much but all I will say is this - I hope I didn't screw it up. I was nervous, and was blabbering and just talking - I'm not even sure I could tell you everything I said. I was really prepared and I had thoroughly thought through the job qualifications and I had great answers in my mind. They asked the questions I was expecting to hear and yet I still was jumbling up words and stuff. But oh well - I'm hoping it came across better than I think it did. I won't know until the end of May - so from now until then I will be nervous - but if there is karma in this world, I hope something goes well for me once. Let's hope...

So now I'm sitting here at work - it's 12:54 and I have absolutely nothing to do. I know I complain a lot to the people around me that I have nothing to do and that's mostly true. But throughout the day, I usually have things going on. Definitely not enough to fill a whole day but enough to spread out throughout the day and get it all done and not be completely bored. Well today is different. The only thing on the agenda is taking the mail bag over at 2:30. Hopefully I can accomplish that without too much difficulty (insert me rolling my eyes).

I'm stuck reliving my interview. Don't worry - my pity party will only go on for today. I will soon enough be okay with how it went. I know that I did everything I could - and they just have to expect that people are going to be a bit nervous...especially when it is a 4-on-1 interview. Okay okay, enough about that...

It is now 12:58...

I should be out looking at houses with my parents - I contemplated asking my boss if I could take the last half of the day off, but I think this is too late of notice. Not that they would really know if I left anyways haha.

Ok - I just took a chance and asked her if I could leave...

She said yes!!!!!!

Gotta go :)