It's crazy that in a week and a half I will be in Ukraine! This summer has both dragged and flown by, but now it's over and I will be gone for two whole years. I've never been away from home for that long. When I come back will I feel like this is still home, or will I feel like I've left my real home behind in the land of onion-domed castles and the Cyrillic alphabet? I don't know, but I can't wait to start on this adventure!

My best friend, Hannah, and I got matching tattoos last week. Mine is still pretty red, so this is a picture of hers, but they are the same design. I love it.

Ah, here is an interesting story that happened recently. Last Wednesday was my last day of working at Angelo's (the family Italian restaurant that I've worked at since high school--5 years, to be exact), and at the end of the shift we had brownies and ice cream as a kind of  goodbye party. There were a lot of extra people there, and this girl, Ashley, had them all gather around me and her. Then she took both of my hands in hers and gave a really sweet speech about how much she loved me and was going to miss me, and then she kissed me. On the mouth. In front of everyone. And Amy videoed the whole thing. haha

A Little Update

Wowzer, it's been quite a while since I last posted on here, and SO much has been happening in my life. First of all, I have officially graduated college. In fact, the day of my university's graduation ceremony, I was on a plane to Italy where I spent two indescribable weeks with my aunt and uncle. Here are a few pictures dal mio viaggio in Italia:

 Two weeks after returning from Italy, I went to Philadelphia, PA, to visit my cousin, Jenni, and her family. I didn't take any pictures, but we saw and did some pretty stellar things. I got to see Edgar Allan Poe's house (which was awesome, considering my English major status), Betsy Ross's house, Independence Hall, and we got authentic Philly steak and cheese subs from Toni Luke's (voted the best place in Philadelphia to get said food item by the Food Network). All in all, another fantastic trip to add to my summer repertoire.

Oh yes, and the coolest news yet: I got the job with the Peace Corps and will be spending two years teaching high school English in the Ukraine. How crazy is that!? I'm leaving in early September, so I have a lot of things to buy before then, and a lot of materials to read up on. I'm so excited!

Café Crème

     “How do you like your coffee?” He asked her.
“Just cream, please.” She replied.
     “Oh? How come?”
“Sugar makes it too sweet. I want to taste it pure.”
     “Then why not just drink it black?” His elbow was now on the counter, and his chin was in his hand.
“I need the color the cream gives it. That’s how I know it’s coffee.”
     “But of course it’s coffee. You just ordered it and saw me make it.”
She tapped one finger three times on the tip of her nose. “Yes, that’s true, but my mind needs to know it’s coffee.”
     “What?” He was standing straight now.
She laughed, and it sounded like music. “When coffee’s black, it looks like it could be anything: a cup of Coca Cola, plain hot tea, car oil. But when coffee’s got creamer in it, there’s no mistaking it for anything else, and my mind is satisfied.”
     He nodded his head as he thought about what she’d said. “It could be hot tea with milk,” he said after a moment’s pondering.
     “Ah!” She raised one finger in the air, like a mother reprimanding a child. “Hot tea with milk has a more watery consistency. My brain isn’t fooled by your little tricks, Mr. Barista.”
     “Uh, it’s Trent, actually,” he pointed to his nametag, “and I think your mind could use a little less coffee.” He smiled so she’d know he bore her no ill will.
     “Perhaps,” she smiled, “But I’m going to give it all the coffee it wants. Forever and ever, as long as we both shall live.” And with that, she flipped her hair and sashayed out the door.

Little shit

In a rare moment of sisterly compassion, I gave in to my 5-year-old half-brother's request to play "sword fight" with him. They were only plastic swords, so i figured "What the hell," right? Wrong.

Everything was going well. I was whooping his ass with my superior sword-fighting skills and added height advantage, when the little shit hit me in the mouth with his sword. What even.

Now my bottom lip is the size of a cherry tomato, and I'm scared to leave the house because people will see it and think I'm infected with a deadly disease or something. See if I play with you again, little 5-year-old.

Yes and Yes and Hmm and What

Please let me just explain all the awesome things in my life right now:

1) Hannah is home for a visit!

2) The Euros for my trip to Italy next month came in the mail!

3) I ran 3 miles today (and by "run," I actually mean walk/run).

4) I am graduating from college in 3 weeks.

5) I'm going dancing tonight with some of my favorite people.

6) It's gorgeous outside!

7) I have hardly any homework I have to do this weekend.

Happy Holi, Y'all! (. . .One week late)

Oops

I have not had much luck at work recently.

First of all, I broke the sink. I was watering lettuce and had turned on the cold water faucet to do so. However, when I tried to turn it off, the handle just kept turning and wouldn't stop the water. If anything, it came out faster. The lettuce overflowed, then the sink overflowed, then Angelo's almost overflowed (but not really). Finally, one of the dishwashers was clever enough to turn the water off at the wall. The sink handle was stripped, apparently, and now Angelo's has one less sink. Oops.

The second disaster I created involved a fire in the microwave. I took some pita pockets out of the freezer and stuck them in said microwave to defrost them. We were really busy at the time, so I continued about my work on the deli. About 30 seconds later, I started to smell something funny and looked around for the source of said smell. My eye happened to pass the microwave, and there were flames inside it! I was like, "OH MY GOD THE MICROWAVE'S ON FIRE! NOBODY PANIC!" and ran over to put out the fire. My boss runs around the corner at about the same time, holding a huge pitcher of water (which I assume was to quench the flames, not her thirst). Apparently, I had forgotten to take the twisty-tie off the pita pocket bag, and it must've had metal in the tie. Oops.

The most recent disaster was probably the most embarrassing. I was all alone on the deli one afternoon, so I had to take out the food to the tables as well as make it. I was carrying two large chicken salads with 4 oz. cups of ranch sitting on the sides of the plates. When I got to the table, one of the plates started to wobble. I set one of them down successfully, but the other one, not so much. The salad was fine, but the ranch dressing spilled: all over my pants, all in the man's drink, and also on his lap. I reacted with an, "Oh shit!" Then realizing I had just cursed at a customer, proceeded to apologize profusely for my lack of professionalism. Also, there were children in the dining room. . . Needless to say, I hid in the back of the restaurant until the man had left. Oops.