Monday, January 24, 2011

Why we're leaving New England

By now L. and I are boarding our plane on our way to Santa Barbara, but I wanted to leave you guys with a couple images of what we've had to deal with the last week in Williamstown and why our vacation couldn't come at a more perfect time. We've gotten a LOT of snow in the last month in Williamstown. Like...almost 40 inches a lot. And our roof? Well, it was built in 1901, isn't the sturdiest structure in the world, and isn't as sloped as it should be. So last Saturday night, I walked into my room and noticed the floor was soaking wet. I looked up, and realized that there was a GIANT crack in my ceiling, and water drops had formed along the entire crack and had soaked the floor and the bottom end of my bed. It did NOT look good. It was about 10:00pm on a Saturday night, so facilities wasn't open and I had to call security. They came by, decided it looked very unsafe, and said the on-call architectural tradesman would come by to take a look at it. Luckily, L.'s room with our nice cushy queen sized bed lives down the hall, so I didn't have to worry about sleeping there.

I'm not sure exactly what they did, but when I checked back the next morning and the ceiling, though still cracked, was at least dry. I figured they had chipped the ice off the roof, since the pressure from the build-up was what had caused the leakage in the first place. But THEN, Tuesday afternoon as I was headed into work the leak was back, and it looked worse. I called facilities and they promised to send someone over to fix it. When I got back at 5, I realized they interpreted "fix it" as "use duct tape to tape a giant tarp over the entire crack and try to make it drain over a bucket." My first thoughts were "wow, THAT is going to fill up with water and fall down," and wouldn't you know, two hours later it did just that--spilling water EVERYWHERE, including all over my bed. By now I was more than a little frustrated, so I called AGAIN and asked them to please fix the ceiling, rather than taping a temporary tarp over the problem. Another architectural tradesman came back and, I kid you not, put up ANOTHER tarp that was "better made" than the first, meaning he used a lot more duct tape. They said they wouldn't be able to permanently fix it until spring, when all the ice was off the roof.

By that time it was getting really late and I was sick of dealing with the problem, so I went down the hall to go sleep in L.'s room. I put on my jammies and crawled into his bed...only to discover that it was absolutely.completely.soaking.wet. The ceiling above HIS bed had opened up as well and was leaking steadily all over the bed. At that point, I couldn't take it anymore. It was late and I was exhausted and all I wanted to do was go to sleep in a warm bed. I made L. call security again, at which point they said, "didn't you already call about this?" He had to explain that no, I had called earlier, and now it was happening in his room too. FOUR officers showed up this time, followed by the poor architectural tradesman again, who had had to leave his warm house (on campus, to be fair) for the third time that night. Oh, and the reinforced tarp in my room had fallen yet AGAIN, so he had to fix that too.

By 3am that morning, this was what my ceiling looked like (photo not taken at 3am, as you can tell by the light through the window, and also because at that point I was way too pissed to be taking photos):


And this is what L.'s looked like:


We slept on a futon, got 4 hours of sleep before we had to get up for work, and were very grumpy. And that is one of many reasons why we need to escape to sunny Santa Barbara and sleep in a warm, dry bed.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Only a true fan...




G O P A C K G O!

Edit: We're going to the Superbowl!!!!!!

Friday, January 21, 2011

Today...










Monday, January 17, 2011

Four Days...

...until I turn the big 2-2! Normally I would just wait and do a re-cap post after my birthday, but I couldn't resist sharing my plans for the weekend because I am just so.excited! If you should know anything about me, is that I am absolutely crazy about birthdays, both mine and everyone else's. I wake up and bound out of bed in the morning, no matter the time, and because I'm a total type-A when it comes to planning, I usually have a whole day planned because no one wants to spend time alone on their birthday! This time around, L. is taking me out for a nice lunch on Friday afternoon and then I'm having a huge (18 people!) birthday dinner at the Purple Pub, a super classy-yet-chill Williamstown restaurant/bar. After that, a bunch of friends are meeting us there for drinks.

L. already gave me one of my presents--a Clay Matthews jersey for watching the Packers destroy the Bears this Sunday in the NFC Championships!!!--but my other present comes on Monday, when L. and I hop on a plane and head to Santa Barbara for a week! Wooo hooo! L.'s parents were so generous to pitch in for a plane ticket for my birthday present, and I can't WAIT for a relaxing week of sun, warmth, nice dinners, golfing, knitting, hiking, yoga, concerts, and above all de-stressing before my last-ever semester at Williams. So expect lots of fun updates on that trip! We went around this time last year, too, and it was absolutely divine. I really cannot wait.

It was -2 this morning in Williamstown, so I think a trip to Santa Barbara (where it's 74 today!!) is very much in order.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Blizzard 2011 by the numbers


Number of times I've left the house today: 0
Number of times I'll be leaving the house today: 0
Episodes of How I Met Your Mother watched: 9
Number of pizzas we're ordering for dinner: 2
Temperature outside: 19°
...Feels like:
Inches of snow already fallen: 16
Inches of snow predicted by the end of the storm: 32

I've got to get out of New England...

Friday, January 7, 2011

All Alone in the Big City

This afternoon I did something bold, exciting and completely terrifying. See, you guys might remember my having hinted a little that I have an exciting interview coming up in March at a really big, really awesome publishing company outside of LA, and I also have a teaching conference to attend in the same week, where I'll be having many mini-interviews with administrators from private schools throughout the state of California. Orbitz is having amazing deals right now on tickets from Boston to Los Angeles (like, under $300 amazing), and I was getting anxious that if I didn't book soon, I'd miss out on these prices (which, honestly, are all I can really afford). So, I did it. I took the plunge, and booked my ticket out.

The only problem? I have nowhere to stay, hardly any money, and no means of transportation. I'm flying out Friday morning and getting in around noon, and my conference isn't until Saturday morning at 9am. That means I have a couple options. I could leave the airport and walk around/splurge on a cab/do some sightseeing/possibly scope out some apartment complexes in the area for my move in June, but the problem with that is I'll be lugging a giant suitcase since I'm not flying out for 11 days (I'll be heading to Santa Barbara with L. and his parents the following Wednesday). Plus, I wouldn't want to get too far from the airport since I'll most likely be sleeping there (it's free, I'm broke, and I don't know what I would do for transportation from a hotel to the conference location anyway, since it's about an hour from the airport with traffic). I could try to find a cheap hotel, but that again leaves the problem of transportation--I could splurge on a hotel or a cab ride, but probably not both.

Is this crazy? Most likely. I picture it being like a scene in a movie--young about-to-be college graduate ruthlessly pursues job opportunities, at the expense of sleep, showering and overall comfort. I picture myself curling up on the floor of the airport, linking my arm through my baggage so no one steals it while I sleep, and spooning my business suit, which will be laid out to avoid wrinkles.

Luckily I'm not homeless for the entire 11 days. I'll hopefully be staying with a good friend who lives in Palos Verdes for the weekend and then I'll be heading up to Santa Barbara, as I mentioned. But the thought of being homeless and carless for over 24 hours--and having to look professional and presentable the next day--is a little terrifying. But also? Maybe I'm masochistic, but it's really exciting. The things we do for our dreams, right?

Let's just hope I don't get mugged...


Image 1, Image 2

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Bling for the New Year

My mom unintentionally set off a firestorm of a shopping spree when she gave me a gift card to Old Navy for Christmas...which I promptly spent and then some. As you guys know, I'm all about getting amazing, pricey-looking pieces on the super cheap, and I have to say, though I've always felt that Old Navy was hit-or-miss for me, I nearly took out their entire stock last week. Here are just some of the sparkly, blinging, New Year's-inspired pieces I picked up (or desperately wanted to, but they weren't in my size, sniff sniff.)

Women's Sequined Pocket-Cardigan in Marshmallow White, on sale in-store for $10.95!


Women's Embellished Cardigan in Cocoa Powder, on-sale online for $19.97


Women's Facet-Button Cardigan in Peaches and Cream, on-sale in-store for $10.95




Women's Beaded Button-Front Cardigan in Smoky Gray, on-sale online for $19.97



(Okay, can you tell I'm a little cardigan-obsessed?)

Women's Embellished "Swanky Tank" in Heather Gray, on-sale in-store for $5.95!


These tanks are amazing...I also got one in a dark charcoal gray with the neckline of this white one, again for only $5.95! Such a steal!



I also got a really great bead-and-jewel gray and silver necklace...it's sort of hard to explain without the picture, but think of solid gray beaded balls mixed in with sparkly silver jewels, on a silver chain.

Oh, and to wear all these cute new tops with, I got a pair of jeans from my favorite store for jeans ever, Express. If you guys haven't tried jeans from Express...you need to. Like, right now. I got my first and only ever pair of flattering skinny jeans there and just picked up a really flattering pair of boot-cut jeans, as well.

Did anyone else go on any unintentional shopping-sprees over the holidays?

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Nesting

Now that it's officially 2011 and I can finally say I'm graduating this year, I think I'm allowed to start indulging in some apartment online-shopping! Not to say I haven't been doing this for, oh, the past two years while simultaneously bemoaning my restriction to a tiny dorm room, but now I've convinced myself that it's close enough that it's okay. Plus, L.'s mom got him/us a whole bunch of awesome kitchen supplies for Christmas (thanks Judy!), so clearly she gets it.

These are all things I would have to save for probably months (okay, that rug? years) before we could afford them, seeing as we're only taking what can fit in the back of L.'s Subaru and are starting out with very little more than pennies to our names, but a girl can dream, yes? YES.

This is what I'm thinking for the bedroom: dark woods, neutrals (whites, grays, blues), geometric patterns, and some pops of metallics.

West Elm Chunky Wood Floor Mirror in Chocolate


Pottery Barn Valencia II Sleigh Bed, Mahogany Stain (with the same bedding, too--all white!)


West Elm Chunky Tassel Throw in Platinum


Pottery Barn Valencia Tall Dresser in Mahogany Stain


Pottery Barn Addin Leather Armchair in Java


Shades of Light Fretwork Rug, 8'x10', in Smoky Gray and Cream


Shades of Light Jonathan Adler Floor Lamp in Bronze


Z Gallerie Quad Collection decorative plates


This was way, way too much fun, and now I actually have myself convinced I'll be able to get all these pieces for our first apartment...that is, the bedroom of our first apartment, with a kitchen and a living room to furnish. Sigh. Maybe after I land my job L. and I can subsist on Ritz crackers and cream cheese for a few months until we can afford all these things! Ha! I'll post my other dream-rooms sometime soon. We'll have to see what L. thinks about all this...

PS- Happy 1/1/11!!!