year in review

in 2011

i returned to Tallahassee for my first semester back from London.

i had a semester full of post-London depression/nostalgia, evidenced by my room, pictured below:

(that's a canvas of a london phone booth, a london skyline wall decal, a british flag pillow, 

and a picture mobile full of london postcards, all in one corner)

however, the semester was full of wonderful times with the friends i made in London, which did a great job of distracting me from the pain of missing it. but, i may have spent most/all of my class time using the satellite gps on my iphone to zoom in on my pretty city.

i also got reacquainted with the things i missed while in London, such as having a cell phone ^ , ordering sumo sabi delivery, and driving alone with the radio on full blast (this was very dangerous the first week. constantly riding in vehicles on the left side of the road somehow made me forget how to drive on the right).

but best of all, i reunited with this cute boy:

we celebrated spring together by going to springs, kayaking, having picnics and picking wildflowers.

i spent spring break in Denver, Colorado, with the best cousin on the planet. we hung out on rooftops and watched french movies. he made me a fort to sleep in, like when we were kids. we went to art museums, thrift shops, the mountains and even a parade!
 seriously, he's hard to beat.

in May, i went to London for 8 crazy days with my beautiful friends, Christine and Sarah.

i had an amazing time showing them my favorite parts of the city that i love so much, including camden market, covent garden, eve's cafe, the court, and even the FSU study center! we also ventured to places i stubbornly didn't make time for when i lived there because it was either too touristy or too pricey for my very strict study abroad budget, including the tower of london, the tate modern, and the tippy top of saint paul's cathedral (i'm still kicking myself for not doing that before).

i think they love London as much as i do now (well, almost). 

after London, we all flew to Paris, where we spent a weekend in a beautiful hotel, seeing the major sights, eating fancy french cuisine, and making friends with the locals, like Laurant from la pinte!

my adventurous and spontaneous mom decided to meet us out there too :)

my mom and I then spent over two weeks in the south of France, exploring Provence, the Luberon Valley, the French Alps, and the French Riviera. we saw the land of Cezanne, played in chateaus, had lunch where A Good Year was filmed, drove on the track of the Grand Prix, and made friends from around the world.

we then went back to Paris (my 3rd time) for one last weekend before the stress of summer classes would ensue in the states. i had a day to explore Paris by myself, to see things i hadn't yet seen. i fell in love with the Luxemburg Gardens and Shakespeare and Co. and decided that i'll live there one day.

when i arrived back in the states, my flight home filled up and i conveniently got stuck
in Philadelphia, where Peter and his family happened to be visiting his sister for her graduation.

back in florida, i went skydiving for the first time with peter (his 2nd time)
for his sister Elizabeth's birthday

over the summer, i took a poetry class and an american literature class. 

in other words, i fell in love with allen ginsberg and realized i'm a terrible poet.

and then i turned 21 on the 4th of july!!
that weekend was almost perfect: i hung out in vip at my first rave. peter and i spent a perfect afternoon in the now deceased Border's (he bought me books). we saw pretty things with pretty friends at the art park. peter surprised me and took me to a real life organic farm (i want to be a farmer now). rain ruined our firework plans. and oncoming strep throat ruined my bar hopping plans.

in july,

i moved into a house with my best friend Amber and three other lovely ladies. 

it's the first house i've lived in since i was 15 and it's beautiful.

at the end of july, Sarah and I saw Bon Iver in Atlanta

(yes, that's bon iver's set list)

in August i flew to Vegas to visit family and had a fabulous time

my friend Teresa got us free VIP tickets to see death cab for cutie at this unreal venue on the strip:

i flew to Colorado again to see cousin Steven and fell in love with Denver just a little bit more

maybe it had something to do with seeing death cab again, nestled between red rocks and mountains

here is a little video of my trips to vegas and denver to see my cousins

fall semester began and i enjoyed Tallahassee and roomies and tailgating and bulls.

i also visited gainesville to see loverboy on ocassion. 

He made time to see me even though he was busy studying for the dreaded LSAT.

(i love him so much i wore orange, even though i think it's an awful color.)

in september, i convinced 4 brave girls to go skydiving with me again. it was even better the 2nd time. maybe it had something to do with seeing the coast and making a rainbow with my shadow on a cloud.

in october, i started cocktail waitressing at a sports bar called pockets pool and pub.

i also carved my first pumpkin, bought my first onesie and saw my first protest.

in november, i hosted thanksgiving for my family at my house. normally ryan and i drive to ohio to see mom, but i had to work thanksgiving night. i'm so grateful that they came to see me.

in december, i finished my second to last semester of classes

and finished the year with a trip that included gainesville, deland, ohio, and vegas.

thanks 2011,

you were a whirlwind of fun.

but i have a feeling 2012 will be even better.