Bethany Beach!

Most of you know I spent Friday-Monday at Bethany Beach in Delaware with John's family (after my minor-to-moderate eff-up of missing the Thursday night bus)--I had a marvelous time.

I met his whole maternal side--the Orsinis (Mrs. J's brother Rick, his wife Karen and their four young'uns: Ricky, twins Cassie and Brianna, and baby Nicky), the Cunninghams (Mrs. J's younger sister Nancy, her husband Ken, and 16-year-old twins Tom and Matt), and the Schmermunds (Mrs. J's older sister Janet, her husband Bob, son Richie and his fiancée Mandee (both 20) and daughter Kat (24) and her cute boyfriend Doug. [Bobby (22) is their brother, but he didn't come.]). BAM. All from memory.

Anyway, my first evening was easy, because we had crabs that night for dinner, and it's hard to be self-conscious while eating crabs. :P

Mandee and Richie arrived that night, and since the two of them are so close in age to John and I, we ended up bonding over the next few days--the next day at the beach was PERFECT weather. Sunny but not too hot, and the water was SO WARM. IT was wonderful, except that John is a killjoy who refuses to swim. Jerk. But we DID have a nice beach walk and talked some stuff out, which reinforced to me that I am not crazy, and when I mean something I'm usually saying it truthfully and accurately. I admit, I was a little vindicated after that conversation--it made me realize that it was more misunderstanding and none of the inadvertent leading-on-of-John it was made out to be.

I only suffered a tiny bit of sunburn on my back (even though I was wearing an SPF 50 sunscreen made for babies! Or "Baby 50" as we dubbed it during the trip). That'll teach me to try and sunscreen my back by myself. Ooops.

That night was the PIRATE MURDER-MYSTERY PARTY. It was so much fun and everyone got into it (save the Orsinis, who left that afternoon)--I was Alice Tremain, "shrewd and intelligent" first mate to 'Saucy' Nancy Martin (John's Aunt Nancy). It was a total blast, and I had a sexy costume and made some pretty amazing costumes for OTHERS on the fly. Even though I wasn't the MOST successful in the game (although there is no clear 'winner'), I had a lot of fun and it made me a lot more comfortable to talk to people I didn't really know (after all, you HAVE to be friends after plotting someone's death/fighting a duel/bargaining for a governor's pardon, right?).

The next day John and I stayed in--I read while he napped, and we went into town in the evening and bought him some sunglasses (I picked them out and he looks fabulous) and books, and a touristy t-shirt for me. :P

We had a big spaghetti dinner that evening, and after the grownups went to bed, Kat, Richie, Mandee, John, Anthony (John's younger brother), and I had a board game fest. We split into two teams (I was with Mandee and Richie) and we played Pictionary, Taboo, and Smart Mouth--it was a lot of laughs and a lot of fun ('TooT", "Dance Dance ___?" "In your Pants-Pants!"). :D

We made it to the beach the next morning and saw a pod of dolphins swimming close to shore. :) John and I shared my towel and read our books while Richie and Mandee played backgammon and Anthony watched. It was just really pleasant and relaxed. Mandee and I bonded about the recent engagement and upcoming wedding (Wooooo!) and over Gossip Girl, but disagree on hockey (boo, Caps!). And Richie attends the Naval Academy and is fun and funny and they're adorable and I'm going to stop gushing now before the cuteness starts coming out of my ears.

Although, I DID get the third degree from John's mom a bit. If you've been following mine and John's tumultuous history (:P), you know that I opened up the lines of communication with him mom when I went to NJ to see Harry Potter. I did this so I could erase the stigma of the flaky impression I'd given her based on my tentativeness towards John. But I was pretty stunned when she basically cornered me Monday morning: "How are you and John? I know you're staying just friends..."

It started out innocently enough; I apologized for the confusion--I hate looking flaky and lame. She was surprisingly abrupt. "I guess I was just wondering--why did you even come here? Did you just come to tell him you didn't want to be with him?"

"Uh, no, of course not. Honestly, I came because I selfishly wanted to meet and be accepted by your family. You're all wonderful."

"Why have you been bringing up Christine so much?" (As you may remember, Christine is John's ex who is pretty obsessed with the idea of getting back together, and is none-too-thrilled about the fact that I was invited to Bethany this year after only three months of a friendship, while she was only invited after four years of a relationship. Ooops.)

"Because it's funny." (Seriously! She kept calling!)

And out of NOWHERE, it gets personal: "What about you and Robin? You guys dated but you're still close." I'm not sure what she meant by this--maybe she thinks I'm still holding on to Robin how Christine is holding on to John? Which is NOT the case in the LEAST. Let's make that clear.

"He's my best friend. Yeah, we dated, but that was 1/5 of our time together. We're BEST FRIENDS."

"It just seems to me like you're waiting on someone else. Waiting to text or call someone else."

Now, I told John about Hector--writer of Ink and my current interest--during our beach walk, but he didn't mention that part to his mom. She's good.

"You're good. Yes, there is someone, but I'm not trying to make John hold out for me until it works out/doesn't work out with this other boy." Obviously.

"I'm not trying to be the interfering mom here, but he is my son. But if you guys are cool, I'm cool."

I did understand that, and I was too put-on-the-spot to really process, but later, talking to Jen, I realized that it was an overstep on her part. John and I are both adults. And we are, indeed, 'cool'. So, if a conversation like that happens again (which I doubt it will), I maaay have to be a little more firm.

But overall, the trip was excellent, and it was a great chance for me to meet and get to know new people and get closer to John and his family. :)

For those of you that never saw me in Ink, here's a link to the whole short film--it's about 20 minutes. Enjoy! :D

I'll update when something fun happens--only two weeks left until classes start! Both awesome and nerve-wracking.

Love,

-A.

P.S. I WANT:

LOL

Dave (John's best friend): teach john to swim and you can be the best man at my wedding

:D

I always was more of a Jackie than a Marilyn...

Aside from the people in retail (Jonathan, Liz, Heather, Povilis, Alysia), I've befriended a couple of servers, three in particular: Ahmed, Raul, and Chris.

Ahmed is an American-born Egyptian medical student, and the server who originally set my application aside so I could be interviewed. I apparently owe him coffee. :P

Raul is a super-cute 24-year-old from Maryland who I can actually tolerate an ironic mustache on. He's a very recent ex-hookup of Liz's though, so that would be sticky. I think he attempted a wink at me as I left work, and he definitely touched the small of my back after pre-shift today and told me I did a great job and was "very entertaining". Cutie!

Chris is a 26-year-old surfer-meets-punk who is surprisingly conservative and a Christian and understands the spirit of Christian law and belief, which is so nice to hear (although the letter of the law still escapes so many of us ;P). I found this out while he walked me home last night (a very gentlemanly move, as Baltimore is scary at night), and today, he found me in the stock room (where it's very rare to find a server) and handed me a list of bands he thinks I'll like (thoughtful!). He then stopped by as he was leaving his shift and we exchanged numbers, and he invited me to walk his dog around Patterson Park--which was a bit too out-of-my-way today, but it was a sweet invitation! He also texted me IMMEDIATELY after he left, and started asking me all those clichéd 'get-to-know-you' questions like my favorite food, color, and movie. :P I guess potential romance is never too far from my life. Ha ha.

A funny aside about our walk--a homeless woman asked us for change, but addressed Chris and I as "Jackie O" and "JFK". LOL.

So, yeah, work is going well, on the social level, at least. :P

In other news, Letta is coming to visit from July 1-5! Unfortunately I'll probably be working the 3rd and 5th,and definitely the 4th, but we should still have enough time to chillax. Ben is also going to come down and hang out--partly because I need someone to chill with Letta. :P But he is wonderful and she is wonderful, so I have a good feeling that they'll get along. :)

Also, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is coming to theaters on July 15th, and I am going to John's hometown of Cranford, NJ to meet his friends and to see it! And, because we are the hugest nerds of all time, we are dressing up. There will be photos, I'm sure. :P

Jen and I also made some surprising plans for tomorrow night and will be seeing Up with Mark and his best friend Jie. It's not a double-date, don't worry. :P But it should be a good chance for us to establish the Friend Zone.

I also got a slight bit of good news about my finances--nothing superb, but I feel a bit better about my circumstance. :)

So, good stuff all around! Thank God for that--I swear, once I did my best to let go of financial fears and to embrace making friends, it's been going great. It's nice re-remembering that I have nothing to fear. :)

Hope you're all having a lovely day! (Stay out of the heat!)

Love,

-A.

The Brighter Side

I did get to help Lauren take some initiative with the boy she likes--some older guy at school, I guess. Lauren's never had a boyfriend, and she's always been sensitive about it, especially considering how popular her two best friends are with the boys (I hear you, Lauren, don't worry!). BUT, despite that discomfort, she'd never taken the bull by the horns and ASKED A GUY OUT.

She refused to go to Prom if no one asked her, and just never felt comfortable being the 'asker', and never gave the time of day to the boys that liked her (they were usually friends of hers that she wasn't interesting in dating, and I get that, but ONE DATE).

I've had my own share of experience as the move-maker (remember when I gave my number to Doctor Cutie from JHU in that bar a year ago?), and I advised Lauren to just make the move with this boy (although the big-sister part of me is wondering how old this guy is/what his deal is. Like, is he 20 and saving money at CCAC, or 25 and in community college because he's a dummy?).

SO, she took my advice and wrote him a Facebook message (I know, but it's a start), asking him for a study date. And the next day, she texted me a glad response that he'd called her back (NOT texted, but called--awesome) and was into it. Unfortunately, we haven't heard from him since then (he'd called from a friend's phone--his was broken and that could have something to do with it), and the test they were meant to study for is tomorrow. :/

HOPEFULLY he just decided to ditch the study date and take her out properly. :P But seriously, Lauren is too beautiful to be allowed. WTF?

Mom has been in LA since Tuesday, and will be back late tonight--we're going to Dad's, which might be a little tense as Lauren and Dad got into another fight (similar to the blow up early last summer about Dad being crap at parenting) and this is her first time there in weeks. Great.

KJ's 14th birthday was on Sunday, and I'm so proud of him! I swear, his guitar and drum skills have just shot up since I was gone! It's just so weird to see him as tall as me, and his voice is so deep now! I feel weird that I missed it, and I guess it was cool to see the jump, but I've always been there, and as soon as the biggest changes starting coming, I wasn't.

He's got his Teen Attitude coming out, too--the only thing I don't like! Is every boy that bitchy at that age? Can any male readers give me the answer to that? Man, and they say GIRLS are bad?

I got to talk to Drea on Monday, which was really good--I missed her. I miss all of my girls! Why can't we just find some gorgeous penthouse in NYC and be fabulously rich and carefree and independent together forever? :P I have to say, I'm bummed that we're all separated again this summer. The summer after freshman year was awesome for that--even though I was working two jobs that made me want to cut my own head off, I still had you guys nearby.

I think it's just that fear of change coming out of me again! :) But I'm fine. Like I said in my last entry, once I have my own apartment, boyfriend, and job (banning all the work that goes into getting those things) I'll be all set! :P

Love you guys, and I hope you're having a good week--

-A.

Because I was too distracted and forgot to post this last night.

To-Do:

-Pack, pack, pack.
*clothes/shoes (begun)
*art supplies
*books (begun)
*furniture
-Dinner with my grandparents.
-Go to the bank.
-Target avec Drea and Em.
-Watch Pride and Prejudice/Wizard People, Dear Reader. (Looks like neither will happen--ah well, there's always Christmas.)
-Say my buh-byes.

:(

Okay, new List for the next two days.

To-Do:

-Pack, pack, pack.
*clothes/shoes
*art supplies
*books
*furniture
-Dinner with my grandparents.
-Go to the bank.
-Target avec Drea and Em.
-Watch Pride and Prejudice/Wizard People, Dear Reader.
-Say my buh-byes.

:(

I've said it before, and I'll keep saying it.

I am in love with the US Olympians! Especially our swimmers and gymnasts. :)

Check/Check.

-Dance Party.
-Meteor Show
-Sleepover.
-Wizard People, Dear Reader viewing.
-Gossip Girl viewing (Has begun!)

And THIS is why I watch the Olympics.

Records being broken; trash-talk being completely, well, smashed into the talkers' FACES; cheering; winning; teamwork; grace. It makes it so worthwhile to give of myself emotionally if I can see the looks on those STRANGERS' faces when they win. Is that weird? Well, I don't care--it makes me feel so connected with the human race.

(But, I also watch for the creeparound, which is shown in this photo. :D)

End-of-Summer To-Do List

-Dance Party.
-Meteor Show (This coming Monday, the 11th, to (apparently) Wednesday the 13th).
-Sleepover.
-Wizard People, Dear Reader viewing.
-Gossip Girl viewing (I will get Em hooked!).

Anything to add? Suggestions are, naturally, embraced.

E'n'P was fun tonight. Ab-Fab, get out here! How's the new place, by the way? And the roomie?

As most of you are aware, I let Lacie know that I needed a significant break from her. This has been a long time coming, and I'm glad I did it. I feel relieved, and more relaxed than I have been all summer. But I might also attribute this to Em and Drea's homecoming. :))))))

Anyhoo, keep those suggestions coming!

Muah,

Lyss

Friday the Thirteenth, 2008

-Get my driver's permit renewed. Well, I'm halfway there. I sent in the request.
-Take my driver's test.
-Talk to Mom about applying to SACI. Make final plans.
-Apply to SACI by November.
-Getting my passport.
-Call MICA about withdrawing for a leave of absence in order to go to Florence.

The MICA people have this policy where students can only transfer abroad credits if they go through MICA. At least, that's what I've been lead to believe. So it looks like I'll be taking the MICA avenue to get to SACI (Studio Art Center International, because I don't think I specified), and at this point, I am going to Florence in January of 2009. Whoa.

I talked to my mom about SACI this morning, and she had this way about her that sort of said 'Why are you asking me? As long as you can afford it, you can do whatever you want.' In fact, she may have said those words.

I guess I'm not used to not asking for things, or at least running them by authority for the OK. I was brought up in a house where I feared, not necessarily punishment, but my mom's disappointment, and I knew I had to ask to do anything, out of respect and a need for approval. This is where Lauren and I differ GREATLY. She doesn't ask. She just does.

Or doesn't, in the case of her college plans. Meh.

So, I'm going to SACI, and taking Illustration, Painting, Art Conservation (yippee!), and I may even put my new-old camera to good use and take a photo class. And Italian I, of course. :)

Eep! This is actually happening! :D

So, to update the lurvely Emily about the Sewickley life while she and Bri gallivant around in Europe: Drea, Nick, Dan, and I had a sort-of double date thing last night. It was SO fun, in the most mundane and small-town teenager way--we hung out at the SA playground, then went to Giant Eagle and bought ice cream and Oreos, and just played with Drea's dog, Tucker, and talked. And then, we all went up to Bell Acres baseball field, climbed onto the dugout, and watched the stars for a couple hours. (And, of course, I missed the big, gorgeous shooting star that apparently streaked past.) It was one of the nicest nights. :) I've had a lot of nice nights lately.

As far as Dan and I go (and I know this has been a ridiculous saga, so I apologize! :P) we are just going to stay how we are. I'm comfortable and he seems comfortable (and who wouldn't be? Nothing too official, just having a good time together and smooching from time to time.), and if he wants to bring up something more serious he can. My apprehension (well, there are a couple, but, well...) is that, okay, let's say we make it official, get serious about each other in the coming summer months. At the end of the summer, we're in two different states. And even if we decided to do the long-distance thing (which I'm not really interested in) I would be headed to Florence in January. And, I mean, come on. I think you all know what I'm saying.

;)

Work was slow today, so less tips, but more time to talk to Brandon, my co-worker Sara Beth's boyfriend. I think they're both really funny and smart, and they're really fun to talk to. I'm pretty dissimilar from them (and the majority of the world :P) in the sense of morals, religion, and politics, but we're all respectful and open, and it's a pleasure to air out my ideas with them.

Have I rambled enough?! I'm off to text Drea and help her set up HER blog, darnit!

Love you,

Alyssa

Le Premier.

I should probably be posting that title in Italian due to my pending trip to Florence for next spring, but this is in honor of the lovely Emily, who is being glamorous en Paris maintenent avec sa mere pour le semaine, et pour une classe.

I have to:

-Get my driver's permit renewed.
-Take my driver's test.
-Talk to Mom about applying to SACI. Make final plans.
-Apply to SACI by November.
-Getting my passport.
-Call MICA about withdrawing for a leave of absence in order to go to Florence.

For those of you who are reading this (aka, Em, and maybe Drea :P), I transferred-sort-of from Livejournal to start this blog, so, here's the one I've used for 4 years. Get acquainted. :P http://blahblahcakes64.livejournal.com/

I'll make a more informational post later, but for the time being: I have to sleep, Drea has to get a blog, and Emily has to respond to my comment. So there. :P

Love you,

Alyssa