feelin' rich

my anniversary was this week and my boyfriend surprised me by taking me to the new york yacht club for dinner. his friend chris is the chef there, so we got to dress fancy and use a lot of silverware. john gave chris all of the ingredients i love, and he made the most amazing 7 course meal I've ever had in my entire life. it was such a cool experience and i loved every minute of it. i've always been more of a casual girl, but it's fun to experience things like this! many thanks to chris for the wonderful meal and the time he put in, and to my amazing love for being so thoughtful!

one world, separate lives.

it is amazing to me how different the world looks from other parts of the globe. i've spent my entire college and graduate career studying other cultures and places different than my own, but nothing compares to going into another place and experiencing it. i can't even say that i had enough time to really even begin to understand any other culture than my own, but i could see stark differences. 

everything just seems so petty right now. i guess going into social work we are schooled in that. when you see huge world problems, smaller issues seem pretty insignificant, even though we know they're not. i always refer to my favorite quote from the perks:

i think that if i ever have kids and they are upset, i won't tell them that people are starving in china or anything like that because it wouldn't change the fact that they are upset. and even if somebody else has it much worse, that doesn't really change the fact that you have what you have. 

                 
i mean, this quote holds a lot of truths. but after seeing some of the sights i've seen, and hearing some of the stories i heard, i feel conflicted. i think my issue lies not in the fact that people have personal issues that make them upset, even though they have a roof over their heads and clothes on their backs, but rather the lack of compassion i see everyday for those around them. it's easy to get wrapped up in your own issues, who hasn't? but the state of the world is a clear indicator of people only caring about those who look and think like themselves. how would the world be different if colonization didn't occur? i've heard people blame religion & barbarity but the roots have to be stronger than that. is it better to just try and do the best we can with the current system, or really try and change the system? to think it's impossible is foolish, but to think it will be easy is naive.   

return to normalcy?

whatever bego. awesome surf teacher & human

my tips became purple

first friend in bali. his burger joint was inspired from his time spent in california. if you're ever in bali, check out "five monkeys." DELICIOUS!

temple on a cliff.

i'm back from my 3 week long excursion to south east asia. it was such an unbelievable trip. i saw & learnt so many things about myself, other cultures and other people. i met people i will probably never run into again in my entire life, but the things they taught me will never leave. my phone (and camera source) got stolen in bali, so i do not have a lot of photos to post. once my friends get theirs up i will share more. 

do you remember...

just found this awesome list of summer to-do's from LAKES (my high school crew)
hilarious shit, though probably only to me:

numero uno: i'll leave this raunchy yet important one out
2. lisa MUST eat rice pudding
3. lisa MUST drink alcohol & get buzzed
4. splish splash we will be taking a bath
5. camping
6. senior cut day relived
7. six flags
8. scavenger hunt
9. hang out with african photographer aka john gooley (not too sure about that one)
10. go to a show at the crazy donkey (rip)
11. LAKES invades la citta...canal street (hahaha)
12. shopping at woodbury commons
13. SEX museum!
14. see joe play in virginia (nah)
15. visit tennessee (certainly did that one enough)
16. camping in lisa's back yard (best)
17. make smores (adventurous)
18. work on alyssa going to FLA
19. 4th of july mets game
20. just the mets game
21. meet someone famous (duh)
22. pass bio (lisa)
23. georgia rule (?)
24. outback (that got crossed out quickly)
25. walk on boardwalk
26. go to lisa's cabana...A LOT!
27. get a massage
28. 5.31 !!!
29. operation cone & garbage can
30. get 21 id's (YES)
31. go to arby's....yummmmm
32. sonic.
33. DQ
34. IHOP!


ambitious folk.

mark zuckerberg...

...disabled my account. ok, not really him, but someone in facebook land. it would be cool though. apparently if your facebook account gets disabled and they do not give you a warning it's for very severe activity. can't wait to find out what i did! this is actually a good thing though since i'll now be forced to upload my blog to stay in contact with the outside world through my south east asia adventure. but now, it's time for bed, considering i was at a concert in PA last night and at work at 7 am. oh and by the way, incubus was absolutely unreal. i'll post some pictures and a video when i have energy. <3 

spontaneity.

a little incubus never hurt anyone. apparently the use of "YOLO" is tainted. sorry drake, i had it first. 
incubus concert in PA tonight. tickets bought: 4 hours ago. random decisions define my life. 

spinach, turkey sausage and goat cheese bowl

this is a really easy recipe that i made up. mainly because it doesn't require any real thinking or culinary ability. it takes about 15 minutes to prepare and happened after i came home from school late at night and wanted to have something healthy but filling before the gym. searching around in my fridge spawned this:

i'm going to be completely honest. this looks nasty. but it's 2 links of turkey sausage cut up, and oh so delish!

i have a garlic addiction

sautee an entire bag of spinach in garlic and cooking spray (spinach gets compact quickly)

add your goat cheese

SUPER HEALTHY, FILLING AND DELICIOUS!
I WANT IT RIGHT NOW.