Blog Every Day in January Day 25: Catching Up

So I think I've put off writing a real entry long enough for things to actually happen...meaning this post will actually have real content!!!!

Wow!!!!!

I'm just going to do this in bullet points, because it's been so long since I've written a real post here that I have literally forgotten how to string together paragraphs. *Shrugs*

• In reference to Thursday's post in which I was blogging from the living room couch in my apartment at school, it turns out that in my room at school, the corner where I sleep has mold growing on the wall. No telling what kind of mold it could be, but it's probably not the kind I should be sleeping next to. Feels good, man. Feels good to be paying rent on an apartment where I literally can not sleep in my own bed for fear that I'll wake up with mold poisoning.
  
• Yesterday I went into the high school where I'm student teaching to observe, and I actually am getting pretty pumped to start!! I've talked about this before, but I'm slowly starting to gain back my motivation as this winter break comes to a close. There's still a bunch of stuff I need to do but I feel a whole lot less overwhelmed by it. I mean...I am still anxious and afraid that I'm just going to be the worst student teacher ever...but I think I've gone into survival mode where it's like OKAY NO TURNING BACK MELANIE JUST GO IN THERE AND STUDENT TEACH LIKE ITS YOUR JOB WHICH IT KIND OF IS ITS LIKE A FULL TIME JOB ONLY YOU'RE PAYING TUITION TO DO IT.
  
• Side note: I have really not been feeling like myself lately! I was talking to one of my roommates about it the other day about how I think I've been having like a bit of seasonal depression. I've really been struggling with blogging every day this month, and with getting myself prepared for student teaching. I also feel like I didn't put much effort into socializing over the holidays, which is so not like me. Maybe it's this crazy weather we're having, or maybe I'm just freaking out over big transitions in my life that are about to happen/are coming up in the near future. Or maybe it's a combination of the two. Regardless, I've been trying to pull myself out of this funk all break and it's been happening--albeit rather slowly. Maybe I just need to see the sun again. IT'S BEEN SO LONG.
  
• I made this flourless chocolate cake as a gluten-free dessert option for a dinner party I went to yesterday, and even though I majorly effed up the recipe due to lack of the proper tools, it was SO GOOD. It was basically like a chocolate truffle in cake form...but it was so rich that only like a sixth of the cake was left and now I have a giant wheel of chocolate sitting in my fridge. Such is life.
  
• The pictures I posted in yesterday's entry was from the same dinner party with the chocolate cake! I actually posted those pictures really quickly while I was at the party, knowing I wouldn't want to write a post when I got home because it was already getting late and I knew I would be too tired. It was super fun, and it felt nice to be social again! Also I gave maybe the worst speech of my life...but also maybe the best speech of my life? I don't know, I guess it depends on how much alcohol you've consumed to determine whether it was good or bad.
  
• I'M GOING TO FRANCE THIS SUMMER!! And potentially other places, but those aren't set in stone and I'm not about to jinx it. But yeah, it's been in the works for a while and I officially found out on Thursday. I am SO PUMPED. I have a feeling that I'll just been talking about it ad nauseum for the next five months, so prepare yourself for that. I CAN'T FREAKING WAITTTT.

I don't remember how to end blog posts. Is this how you end them?? Do I just hit publish now???

Blog Every Day in January Day 20: Getting Ready for Student Teaching

We're twenty days into January and I can't believe that I've been derping around writing posts about candles and pizza cats, when I haven't written a single post about the thing I've been thinking about the most: student teaching.

I feel like I've spent the past month preparing for student teaching by...well...by shopping. Getting the clothes I need, the bag I need, the lunch boxes I need. All the things that yes, I do need, but honestly don't matter as much as the stuff that I've been putting off. I've spent the month feeling really scatterbrained in disorganized, and fully avoiding getting things together. It's not that I don't want to think about that stuff, it's just that I haven't really had an outlet to talk about it, and for me part of the process of getting myself into the right mindset for something new is to talk through it with as many people as possible. I've done a lot of explaining to people, and telling them about my placements and what I have to do, but I haven't had a lot of chances to talk to people about the things I'm genuinely nervous about and genuinely excited for.

Fortunately, there are people in my life that are there to ask me real questions about how I'm feeling, and offer advice or let me know that they are feeling the same. I had coffee with my friend Maggie the other day (she starts student teaching tomorrow!!) and talking to her about it was a really great reminder of what I'm about to do--especially because being at home away from school is an easy way for me to disconnect from responsibility, and she kind of brought me back to reality just by being there to talk about her own journey. I've also been preparing some videos for Sisters, Not Twins ahead of time to lighten the load while I student teach, and talking to Melissa about the videos led to the conversation of how worried I was about the workload. She and our friend Lindsay (who has been through student teaching herself) helped me talk through how I'm going to stay on top of my work, and gave me some good advice on keeping up with my portfolio and reminding me to focus on what I will gain from the experience.

So despite all of my anxiety, I've had a lot of support right underneath my nose that I was just not looking towards. My friends at school who are actually about to go through the exact same thing as me are people I've always looked to for advice and support, but there are also friends and family at home who are willing to listen and share. 

Okay, I think this train of thought is going to take more than one entry to cover, so I'm going to end it here and say that tomorrow I will be posting something of a to-do list for myself. I also want to like...actually talk about what I'm excited for and nervous about.

SEE YOU TOMORROW.

Blog Every Day in January Day 12: Fun Drinks for My Friend's Birthday

Today was my friend Victoria's birthday, and since one of our favorite YouTube series is You Deserve a Drink, I figured it would be fun to create some drinks with pun-y names related to Victoria. They turned out pretty good, so I figured I would share the recipes with you!

Victoria Rosé Wine Coolers

The name for this one was easy, since her name is Victoria Rose (she distinguishes her middle name because she knows someone else with the same name). As it turns out, real Rosé wine is a little out of my price range (a lot out), I just used blush wine. Pink moscato probably could have worked, too! This drink was good in concept, but wasn't the most exciting of the three. I think this could have used some more fizz and less wine. I probably won't muddle the strawberries next time, and instead keep them frozen to keep the drink cool. The chunks were a little...grotesque. Also, I used diet strawberry kiwi sparkling water, but I'm listing in the recipe to use peach seltzer because that's what I originally wanted to use but forgot to buy. Hence the diet strawberry kiwi whatever whatever.

Ingredients
-Peach seltzer water
-Frozen Strawberries
-Pink wine of your choice

Instructions
1.) Thaw your strawberries and muddle them at the bottom of your cup OR keep them frozen to use as ice cubes (choose your own adventure!)
2.) Fill your cup about 2/3 (give or take, depending on taste) with peach seltzer
3.) Fill the cup the rest of the way with wine (assuming you have accounted for space at the top so you don't...you know...spill everywhere. How drunk are you?? Jeez.)

IF IT'S YA BIRTHDAY SHAKE SOME NOISE

This drink name is a pun on a very aggressive birthday song. Nevertheless, it was SO FREAKING GOOD. I'm serious, make this. I don't have anything else to say except for YOU SHOULD MAKE THIS.

Ingredients

-2 or more scoops of Vanilla ice cream (depending how you prefer the consistency of your milkshake)
-About a shot of Bailey's Irish Cream (or more if you really love Baileys)
-Milk (JUST A SPLASH AHH)
-About 1 tbsp of Nutella (don't go too heavy on this stuff, a little goes a long way!!)

Instructions
1.) Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend them together.
2.) That's it that's the whole recipe idk what you were expecting it's a milkshake.

Schnapp-era Zinger Shots

She's a voice performance major!!! Do you get it???? GUYS I'M HILARIOUS. Anyways, this shot was RE-DONKULOUS. While I was prepping it, the entire kitchen smelled like lemons and we 100% thought it would be disgusting, but O M G IT WAS SO GOOD. And it was like stupidly easy. We also tried an alternate version, which added orange juice to bulk up the volume and make it more like a cocktail and WOW so good. Try both!!

Ingredients (for 2 shots)

-1 1/2 shots of peach schnapps

-The juice of 1 lemon

-Lemon sugar (mix the zest of 1/2 a lemon with about 1 tbsp of sugar)

-A shaker full of ice

Directions

1.) Use the squeezed out carcass of your lemon to rim the shot glasses, then dip the shot glasses in the lemon sugar. THAT'S RIGHT, YOU'RE BEING FANCY TONIGHT.

2.) Pour the peach schnapps and lemon juice into the shaker and cover it and shake it up like that Florence and the Machine song that everyone is like obsessed with.

3.) Pour the shots into the shot glasses and enjoy!

I'm pretty impressed with myself for making these up. Like I ain't no bartender, but WHATEVER. MAYBE I SHOULD BE.

...Uhh.

Make these drinks and let me know how they turned out for you! 

Blog Every Day in January Day 4: My Saturday in Photos

September in October: A Stop in Kennett Square

So this technically happened in October, but I'm recapping the whole hiatus so I'm gonna say this counts!!

Anyways, I recently completed my high school choral practicum, which is when I went into a high school once a week and taught chorus (...that may not have needed an explanation). My placement for this practicum was at Unionville High School in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania and something that I did not realize until driving up to this practicum was that Kennett Square is a beautiful town!

We (my practicum partner Heather and I) drove right past the main road on our way to practicum, and we caught a glimpse of some of the stores and eateries. The very first time we saw it, we knew we would have to have a "ditch day" (stay in school, kids) and stop into town for lunch and window shopping. Kennett Square is a lot like Haddonfield, in the way that it looks like it has some history, a lot of local business, and tons of character.

The perfect opportunity to explore Kennett Square came a couple of weeks ago. I had just had a really rough time in practicum, and was feeling really down about myself and about my teaching. Heather suggested that since the weather was so perfect that we push our ditch day a week earlier than planned to blow off some steam, since my spirits were still down by the time we left the school. It turns out that this was a fortuitous decision, since the next week it rained on our originally planned day!

We walked up and down the main road to see where we wanted to stop for lunch, and wound up walking into Byrsa Bistro, which had a pretty impressive lunch menu. I have a feeling that if we had shown up a little later in the day we would have cringed at the prices, but the lunch menu price was just right!

We browsed the menu, and weighed our options...

Already the duck flatbread had caught my eye, and Heather was feeling pretty adventurous so we both wound up getting the same meal.

We were both really excited about it, as you can see. And I think that our excitement was pretty justified...

Oh. My. God.

This flatbread was literally to DIE FOR. I WOULD DIE FOR THIS FLATBREAD. Duck? FAVE. Gorgonzola?? FAVE. Balsamic vinegar???? !!!!!! AND FIGS AHHHHH.

It was an emotional roller coaster to say the least.

Also I ate every last bite of that salad and the rosemary potatoes. Ahmazing.

When I bit into that flatbread, it was almost as though my entire day had been erased and I had a clean state to begin again. THIS FLATBREAD WAS A SPIRITUAL REBIRTH.

....sorry, that was intense.

We spent the rest of our time window shopping, which I didn't manage to get a picture of, save one thing:

Man, people really love their roosters.

We stopped into a store that sold home furnishings and I almost splurged on $30 glass tupperware. I'm a little tempted to go back one day and get it...but I resisted this time around! I did buy ten dollars worth of fancy tea bags from the tea shop, though. So delicious!

Plus, I let my good friend Miss Delaware, otherwise known among friends as Becca, know that we were in her hometown and thinking of her! She told us to stop into Talula's for dessert, which we promptly obeyed. Another great suggestion, as I wound up buying two different desserts at once.

The minute I saw that they had macarons I snatched them up. The lady asked me what flavor I wanted and I looked at her and said "Both." like..."duh". I mean business when it comes to my macarons. These are lemon basil and lemon meringue. I also bought a pear and almond tart, which was delicious for breakfast two days in a row! 

The tart was flaky and sweet, and the pear added a nice light touch while the almond gave it an awesome nutty flavor. I'm surprised that I managed to split it into two pieces and pace myself over the course of two days...because honestly, I was tempted to eat it whole. But I don't think those macarons made it through the night...I am seriously obsessed.

It was such a lovely day to take a spontaneous trip! I mean...I don't endorse skipping class to get lunch or anything (STAY IN SCHOOL, KIDS), but this was a decision that I did not regret. Sometimes you just need to decide to have a little fun! Especially when you feel that you've been emotionally attacked by disengaged high school boys that don't understand that I CAN SEE YOU ROLLING YOUR EYES IN THE SECOND ROW but THAT'S ANOTHER POST FOR ANOTHER DAY.

Deep breaths. Duck breaths. Duck bread. Duck flatbread. Yes. Duck flatbread. That is the solution to every problem.

September in October: THE MAGIC OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RENAISSANCE FAIRE

Back in September I went to Lancaster with my sister and her husband and some of our friends, and we all went to my favorite fall activity...

THE PENNSYLVANIA RENAISSANCE FAIRE!!

I did a lil' vlog about it, so y'all enjoy:



We went during the Celtic Fling weekend, so there were lots of men in kilts and tons of plaid, and we also watched some very underwhelming highland games. I didn't manage to get that on camera, but I'm sure you can use your imagination...

SELFIES FOR DAYS

Overall I would give this outing 4.5 turkey legs. It would have received the full 5 if not for the rain.

My Weekend in Photos

I had a really busy weekend, but it was super fun and I am exhausted! I think if I get lucky, I might manage to go to bed before midnight tonight. I'll just let these pictures speak for themselves.

LIVE BLOGGING: THE RACE FOR ED SHEERAN TICKETS

So this blog post is a little late, and it's going to continue into tomorrow because there are Ed Sheeran tickets going on sale at 8 AM and the first one hundred people in line get entered in a raffle to meet him and WHAT IF I MEET ED SHEERAN AND WE GET MARRIED OR AT THE VERY LEAST BECOME REALLY GOOD FRIENDS OR MAYBE JUST PEN PALS.

Anyways, I'm already anticipating the experience to be an interesting and exciting and potentially delirious experience. So I'm live blogging, a la my Harry Potter Marathon liveblog a couple of weeks ago.

We're gathering our things to leave soon, because we want to get there around midnight. I swear to god if I have to fight bitches for my spot in line I WILL FIGHT BITCHES.


I'm a little tired.

Anyways, we're gathering up some blankets and snacks, and things to keep us entertained. Maybe we'll make some friends to play games and watch movies with us...or MAYBE WE'LL JUST KEEP OUR FUN THINGS TO OURSELVES BECAUSE BITCHES ARE GOING DOWN.

Sorry. Here's something to soothe the moment:



CHECK BACK FOR UPDATES!!

UPDATE: 12:06 AM

We have made it to the Bob and it looks like we are in the first 100. I consider this a small victory.

I haven't decided if I'm here to make friends or not. It looks promising...but things could change at the drop of a hat.

GUYS I'M SO TIRED.

UPDATE: 12:39 AM

I'm all situated and its time for nap #1.

Good night friends.

UPDATE: 1:22 AM

Couldn't sleep so now we're watching a Cinderella Story!!

UPDATE: 2:12 AM

We have all moved underneath the pavilion at the sight of potential rain clouds. The line is looking a little squashed...but we are operating on the honor system. I SWEAR TO GOD IF ONE OF THESE BITCHES CUTS US IN LINE THEY ARE GOING DOWN.

Lizzy wants you all to know that she drank a monster.

To pass the time we started making rainbow loom bracelets.

GETTIN A LITTLE LOOPY NOW.

UPDATE: 2:46 AM

Just finished A Cinderella Story and made some new friends. Now it's community nap time zzzzzzzzZZZZ.

UPDATE: 3:43 AM

Napping didn't work out too well since there were some people who weren't exactly on the same page as the rest of us and couldn't get a handle on the giggling. Hmm.

I also couldn't sleep because I really had to pee. I had originally planned on not going at all during this whole thing because UGH port-a-potties are gross. But I sucked it up and went anyways and now I feel like I need a shower.

Most people are still sleeping. Very eventful stuff happening right now.

UPDATE: 5:47 AM

I managed to sleep on and off for about an hour, and somehow when I woke up it was so much colder. Maybe the rain cleared away the heat wave we've been having, which is fine by me...but I forgot to bring a sweatshirt! 

Some lady came to unlock the doors to the building and struggled to get in because of all the people blocking the doors. I'm hoping that they will start encouraging people to move back to the line we started with since I'm getting a little antsy about keeping my number in line! I want my free shirt, yo.

Also I used a port-a-potty for the second time in less than six hours and my bladder is glad but the rest of me died a little on the inside. Woof.

UPDATE: 6:20 AM

The sun is back. Why am I awake.

UPDATE: 7:19 AM

Oh shit. Some girls just confronted people for cutting.

AND NOW THE LINE HAS BEEN RECONCILED. ALL IS RIGHT IN GHE WORLD.

UPDATE: 8:25 AM

Mission accomplished. 

TIME FOR BED YAY