Raining

Whenever it rains, I tend get two things:
1- a stuffy nose (from allergies)
2- excited!!

The first is self explanatory, since most people with allergies can relate. The water in the atmosphere brings down all the pollen and dust and stuff that's been in the air and causes all us allergy-ridden folk to become slightly unhappy (yes, I'm trying to sound smart here, idk if it's working but that's my basic understanding...)
As for the second, well I can't put my finger on one reason as to why rain makes me happy, but I can attempt to give you a sort of guess. One big thing is that I really do enjoy thunderstorms as well as times when it rain super hard and we are left with puddles everywhere the next morning. No matter how many times I've watched a thunder and lightening storm, I never really get tired of them, in fact I can usually fall asleep to them quite easily. And no matter how often someone tells me that it's just a reaction in our atmosphere I can't help but feel like it's a magical sort of thing (a little...ok a lot corny, ik, but hey! I'm being honest here!). I know I've also been lucky in that I've never been stuck in a tsunami or hurricane, which I have no doubt would not be fun in any way, shape, or form! But when it comes to being on campus or really anywhere, doesn't matter if I'm inside or outside, I try and always make time to go puddle-hopping with anyone who will come with me! It's also the fact that after a rain, it means that the ground (when spring finally gets here) will look so much brighter and the flowers start looking not so dead. It's like the rain brings the world back to life in some way. I'm not really sure how else to explain it.
And after, a shower and I get to curl up and read a book for the rest of the day, usually something that I enjoy (not homework). For instance this morning I was reading A Sea of Trolls, which is coming along quite nicely! :D
So, that's my little word vomit (for lack of a better term for this) about rain, and in case you were wondering, yes, it did rain this morning, but sadly it has stopped :(. Maybe that means that spring is on its way!
Love,
Sara :)

Jamacian, the 4-Hour Chef, and 'Rise and Shine'

Today was a fun day, I got to sleep in and then after work I headed to the Hideaway with a few friends where I learned to play rummy! Last time I wrote about the Hideaway, I talked a little bit about a drink called a Cubano, which came in a small shot class sized cup. To summarize that was essentially a double shot of expresso with sugar coated in it. Today, I was suggested something different, called a Jamaican, which is a Cubano with a pinch of cinnamon to add some more flavor. Let me tell you that I am much more likely to have a Jamaican than a Cubano, I'm not a big expresso person usually, but they are growing on me I won't lie. Another comment about drinking a Cubano or a Jamaican, I always feel like I should be sitting outside on a spring day with a croissant and a hat reading a good book while drinking one of these...anyone else ever have that feeling?
Speaking of books; I got two books this week that I'm working my way through. The first is called The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer, I'm only about 40 pages through it, but I'm getting there! It's a fantasy and that's about all I've gathered at this point, sorry, but I'll get more into it hopefully within a few weekends of reading time! The other book I got is called The 4-Hour Chef: The simple path to cooking like a pro, learning anything, and living the good life by Timothy Ferriss. It is a different kind of book, one that will definitely take lots of time to get through, but even just looking through it this evening I've already become a bit hooked on it! It seriously has so much in it that I would suggest it to anyone who wants to learn about learning or cooking! :D This is a friend's copy so I may end up buying my own, that or one of his other books that I've heard very good things about!
I also might be painting my toe nails for the first time in a long while, the color is called 'Rise and Shine' (hence the title of my post, I'm going to try and be a bit more creative on these...I've come to realize I'm being a bit boring...apologies!).
Currently listening to: Late Night (check it out mis amigos!).
I hope everyone is having a safe and fun weekend! I promise I'm sober, just coming down off a caffeine rush I think :P
Love,
Sara :)

Fun Facts About Lana Tuerner

Lana Turner was born Julia Jean Turner in Idaho, February 8, 1921. The first tragedy in her life occurred when her family was forced to move to San Francisco, where her parents separated and in December 1930, he father was killed after winning a game of craps. Due to her mother's health, they then moved to Los Angeles for a dryer climate, which is where Lana started her film career. She was first discovered when she was sixteen-years old when she skipped class to buy a coke at a drugstore, and at that point signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, after she was cast in They Won't Forget (1937). This movie got her the nickname "The Sweater Girl" due to the form fitting attire she wore. After graduating from Hollywood High School, she switched her contract to MGM Studios when the studio director for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer believed that she wouldn't amount to anything. After appearing in Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938), the studio became convinced she would become the next Jean Harlow, a sex symbol in film.
Starting off as a glamour girl in the last 1930s and 40s, she quickly gain popularity and hit her peak during World War II, when she became a pin-up girl (a model whose mass-produced photographs see wide appeal as popular culture, similar to Marilyn Monroe). The 1940s were very good to Lana Turner,  and it was during this time that she made the switch from pin-up girl to serious actress with the movie The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946). Her comment on this was:

"I finally got tired of making movies were all I did was walk across the screen and look pretty. I got a big chance to do some real acting in The Postman Always Rings Twice, and I'm not going to slip back if I can help it."

While she never game up her glamourous image, she did end up staring in movies that did not have her dolled-up, such as Green Dolphin Street (1947). She was commonly paired with actor Clark Gabel, and the two were named "the team that generates steam". She continued her success in the late 1940s, including staring across from Gene Kelly in her first technicolor movie, The Three Musketeers (1948). By 1948, Turner was MGM's biggest star and one of the ten best paid women in the United States.
However, the 1950s were not so kind to Turner. She ended up staring in several flops and due to the increase in the popularity of Television instead of movies, MGM did not renew her contract in 1956. However, Lana Turner was not knocked down for long, she got more attention when she stared in the 1957 film adaptation of Peyton Place, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, but did not win. However, when news of her daughter's killing of Stompanato (Lana's lover at the time) got out, her career was nearly fully derailed. Lana did continue acting in movies until 1966, with big hits like Imitation of Life (1959), Portrait in Black (1960), Bachelor in Paradise (1961) her final film with MGM, and Madame X (1966) her last leading role.
From 1969 through the 1980s she did some work in film, but none of it was as memorable as her work in films.
Turner was well known for her personal life and a few of her movies were said to have reflected it. She dated often and switched partners frequently, was married eight times to seven different men and had one child: Cheryl Crane. Cheryl was the daughter of her second/third marriage to Steve Crane, and wrote a book about her mother's life called Detour: A Hollywood Story. About her marriages, Turner was later quoted as saying:

"My goal was to have one husband and seven children, but it turned out to be the other way around."

As mentioned earlier, she had many relationships, many lovers, one of whom was Johnny Stopanato, who met Turner in 1957, not long after her fifth marriage fell apart. It turned out that Stopanato had connections to the gangster Mickey Cohen, and Turner tried to break things off when she discovered this, only to be forced into an abusive and unhappy relationship with Stopanato. In April 1958, the two had a violent argument at Turner's home in Beverly Hills, and Turner's daughter, fearing for her mother's safety grabbed a kitchen knife and proceeded to stab Stopanato, killing him. While this was later deemed to be an act of self-defense, it still took its toll on Lana's career.

Lana Turner was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1992, and proceeded to stop her long-time smoking habit, becoming cancer free a year later. However, in 1994 the cancer returned and she died June 29, 1995 at the age of 74 at her home in Los Angeles.

I hope that you guys enjoy this info! Happy Friday!!

Love,

Sara :)

Musica Monday

Return of the Musica Monday! So, I have been quite lucky as far as my new car since my accident this past December. With my new car, I was lucky enough to get a 'used' car, which turned out to simply be a pre-owned (dealer owned), meaning I get free satellite radio for a while :D, super exciting!! Over the past few months I have experimented with different Sirius radio stations, and have collected the names of several new songs that I find awesome (or funny!). This is an example of a more funny song. It is by Thomas Dolby, and is called "She Blinded Me With Science". I'm not exactly sure why I like this song so much, I think it is possibly because it is so random :P Anyways, here it is! I hope you enjoy!

Not an exciting video sorry, but I hope you all appreciate it!
Shout out to Matt! It's his birthday today!! :D Happy Birthday!!
And now I'm off to bed, good night all you lovely people.
Love,
Sara :)

NYC Day 5

I am currently laying on my bed (with a new bedspread and now green walls!) back in my hometown/parents' house. After spending five days in New York, I have been reminded about how much I want to travel, not just the world, but also the USA, which I still have much of to explore. Needless to say, we got home safely.
Anywho, our last day in New York was a bit slower but still just as much fun. We got up a bit earlier than normal in order to get in line at the SONY Wonder Technology Lab. We ended up getting in without a problem, even though they do say that you are supposed to call over a week in advance, it seems like most people who lined up in the morning at least today. The pictures below are from the Lab, it was really neat and I do highly recommend it to anyone interested in computers, digital art/media, robots, even digital surgery! All of these and more were shown here at the SONY Wonder Technology Lab.

We spent a few hours at the Lab, and had a great time there! We had a video of a 'news broadcast' we did, but unfortunately my recording on my phone of a playback of our recording is less than stellar :(. So no videos here today, maybe when I better figure out my videos...
After the Lab, we headed back to Central Park, following a craving for those delicious Belgian Waffles before we left New York for home. We did, and they were delicious, and I took a picture of the stand so that I could pass on the goodness to those of you who have not had the wonderfulness of a Belgian Waffles from a Waffles&Dingys stand (this one located by Central Park). Anyone who goes to New York should seek out one of these stands, it's worth the calories I'm sure come with these.
Speaking of which, something interesting that I noticed in New York was that many restaurants and cafes put a helpful number next to their dishes indicating the number of calories. I do believe that I have seen this before in London, but never in the States to my recollection. Correct me if I am wrong, but this seems to be a new thing that could really catch on!

Shoot! I'm forgetting my new timezone, so this is a bit late to have it on Friday, but that's when we had our last day in New York. I will get back into it in a bit. I have a fashion post coming up (an "If Only..." that is) and hopefully some food ones within the next few months!

I also want it to be known that I have been listening to music, in fact, I am currently listening to Ben Folds!

Love,

Sara :)

NYC Day 4

The fourth day of our New York trip was quite busy, and involved lots of pictures being taken and a bit of frustration, and a fair amount of walking (though not quite as much as yesterday I feel). We slept in a bit but then headed to the Rockefeller Center in order to catch a tour bus to take us to the 9/11 Memorial which was on the route. The trip itself was nice, the top four pictures are taken from our view on top of the tour bus. It was so high up that the taller people did have to duck when we came too close to stop lights or signs hanging above the roads.

The pictures below are from the 9/11 Memorial. The memorial itself is almost done, but I think that it will be even more moving when the museum itself is done, which should be 2014. It was a really neat place, although for any who plan on going there, the security is quick but extensive for a free ticket. I would suggest going there. The pictures below are of the pools that have the names around them of those who died and gave their lives on that historic day.

The big drama of the day happened when we tried to come back on the same bus, which was supposed to stop by every 30 minutes, and we waited for over an hour and by the time it got there, they didn't have any room left to take those of us left, so my mom, sister, and I just ended up walking the 50-ish blocks back to the hotel. It was actually a pretty nice walk and I'm glad that we did walk because we got our exercise in for the day that way as well. :)
For dinner, we went to Potbelly, where I got their loaded baked potato soup, and then we headed to the Rockefeller Tower which we climbed at 8:30 pm. The pictures below are of the Rockefeller Building and the view from the top, which was pretty incredible!

I've also come up with the idea of getting a group of friends together this summer and us heading to Chicago and doing some parkour/free running along with our touring, just for fun. Any suggestions for this?
Have a great night friends! It is our last night in NYC :( I will miss the city, but look forward to going home and getting ready for graduation in May.
Love,
Sara :)

NYC Day 3

Our third day in NYC (well technically we are in Manhattan all week, but NYC sounds cooler :P), was pretty long and we actually spent time planning out some of it! We got up pretty early and had breakfast at the same place as yesterday (eggs and cheese on a bun) from the street vender who remembered us, which was pretty neat. We then headed out to the Guggenheim Museum, which was a little over a three mile walk (I understand why New Yorkers are all in such good shape, they walk everywhere! Another good reason to live in the city). The pictures below are from the museum, the first being the museum itself from the outside (pretty awesome looking right?!), the second is a part of a large canvas on which all guests could color on with crayons, so of corse I did! :P The third and fourth are inside the museum, pretty sweet! I would recommend this museum even if it is just to look at the architecture of it!

We then headed back to central park for something we had been craving since yesterday: Belgian Waffles. I think that the picture below speaks for itself. THEY WERE DELICIOUS!!!

We were pressed for time in a way since we had a musical to go to that afternoon: 'The Phantom of the Opera', which none of us had seen on stage (I've seen the movie, but the play was definitely better!). We walked through Times Square on our way which is where this first picture comes from. The play itself was amazing! I loved it, even if the people behind us were complaining about the singing (that there was too much singing.....it is a broadway MUSICAL about an OPERA....silly people!), and would be more than willing to see it again! We even got some souvenirs, including a t-shirt that I plan on wearing on Friday for the trip home.

We went out to dinner and ate at T.G.I.Friday's, which was another place where we hadn't been before. I am glad that I eat fish (even as a vegetarian) because otherwise I would not have found much (as would be expected). It was good food, but they were understaffed and really busy so the service was slow, but worth it. Afterwords, we headed back to Times Square and wandered around in the dark for a while, finding our way into the M&M store, Toys R Us, and the Hersey's store. It was a good night! I even ran into Luigi, and got a picture after having to tip him (weird...).

I've noticed a lot of Jazz being sold around here, as well as French and Italian music around, and am thinking of increasing my collection of these musics due to how popular they are and how much I like them! Also, going to the musical tonight has rekindled my interest in my music and I am looking forward to continuing playing in summer pit orchestras, maybe someday getting to play with a traveling broadway show O.O that'd be super crazy! :P
Well, another day come and gone, have a great night, dear readers! Gwnite!
Love,
Sara :)