Fundraising

There are 269 days left until the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.  As much as I love the actual walk, I love the fundraising aspect of it as well.  It makes me think creatively, and it brings friends together.  Lately I have been doing some thinking of events I would like to hold.  Of course I am going to have my BBQ sometime at the end of the summer/beginning of fall.  Below are a few ideas I have come up with.  Enjoy!

1. Cook Off- Someone was telling about how they attended a mac & cheese cook off.  This sounds like such an AMAZING idea.  I was thinking that people can volunteer to make either mac & cheese, meatballs, or something else that everyone loves (and of course dessert), and we can see which one is the best.  Everyone who attends the party will receive tickets, and they will put a ticket in what they think is their favorite.  I promise to get a little award for the winner!

2. March Madness- Not going to lie, I know NOTHING about March Madness...but I still thought doing something for it might be fun.  Most people know how the brackets work, so I am not going to go into it.  The basics are: pay in $20, fill out bracket, winner gets half.  Watch out for posts on Facebook looking for people to participate!

3. Guest Bartend- I found out that many bars allow people to guest bartend, teaching them a few things beforehand.  You're able to keep whatever tips you make, which is great!  The only thing is you have to make sure enough people attend the event.  Hopefully enough of you will come watch me (attempt) to make drinks!

Indecisive at it's Worst

It's 11:45, and I'm exhausted but I can't fall asleep.  Tonight I told my mom that I started an application to be certified to teach in California.  Ever since I was little I have wanted to move to California.  I thought the perfect time to go would be during college, but my mom had a rule that we were not allowed to apply to school super far away (we can all thank my uncle for that).  So instead I went to Rhode Island and had an amazing time.  But 6 years later and I still want to move out there.  I thought maybe I would move out there for only a few years.  Meet new people, live a different lifestyle, go back to school for another masters (or two).  I'm ready for something new and different.  While discussing my mom brought up some good points that I hadn't thought about.  She reminded me that I need health insurance if I can't find a job.  I can always get my own, but it's a lot of money.  She also said that I should try to live on my own somewhere near home, before moving 3,000 miles away and live alone, not knowing many people.

Now that I'm lying in bed, thinking about everything, I can't help but think maybe I should put it off for a year.  I originally told myself that I would move to a different state (somewhere warm all year around) by August 2013.  Then all of a sudden I decided I wanted to move earlier, like August 2012.  A lot of my friends are in serious relationships, engaged and married.  I feel as if everyone's life is evolving and mine is not.  Which I have no problem with, because I don't want any of those responsibilities, and I like being selfish and only thinking about myself and no one else.  But it makes it harder to make plans with friends.  Why should I stay around here when everyone else has such busy lives?  

Now comes the indecisive part.  I also really want to move into New York City (at least for a few years).  I have my life set up in New York City.  I have my sports, friends from all periods of my life, now trapeze and silk ropes.  It's my home more than New Jersey.  Ask any one of my college friends, and they will tell you that I had such Jersey pride during school.  Now that Jersey pride has disappeared.  I don't belong here.  I love going to the malls, but I love going to the actual stores in NYC better.  I hate having a car and having to drive everywhere.  I would love to be able to walk to any destination during the summer, and hop onto a subway during the winter.  I keep thinking about the episode of Sex and the City where Carrie goes out on a date with NYC.  That's how I feel every time I'm in the city.  So many possibilities, and so many things excite me there.  I know that's where I really belong.

I'm not afraid of a big move or not knowing people.  What I am afraid of is falling in love with where ever I move to, and never wanting to leave that place.  I have my whole life ahead of me, and I want to explore the world.  Live in different cities, different states, different countries.  I'm terrified that if I move to San Diego or NYC I'm going to fall in love (with the city) and not ever leave.

The last option is to keep living at home, and saving my money to travel.  This option I have considered almost daily.  I just finished planning a trip to Costa Rica, and I had such a high while planning.  I could see myself planning trips like this four or five times a year.  It gets expensive, and I def. don't make enough money teaching.  Living at home would save me a lot of money (as long as I cut down on the shopping ).  I don't have to worry about buying things for my place like paper towels, or cable or heat, or whatever people pay for.  But I am always in NY.  It doesn't make sense for me to live at home and drive into Bronx five days a week, and then go into the city 4 or 5 days a week.  I spend so much money on tolls, and trains, and buses.  

Being indecisive is the worst possible thing ever.

52 Weeks of Trying Something New

I can't believe I haven't blogged since I was away in Italy and Spain.  Guess my life hasn't been very exciting the past 4 months. But now I am back and I am ready to blog!

I hope everyone had a wonderful new years!  I got to celebrate the evening with some amazing friends in the amazing city of New York.  I am very excited to see what 2012 has in store for me.  I can already feel it, this year is going to be amazing.  When I turned 24, I finally admitted to myself that I was a coward.  I was always scared to do things, and I would talk myself out of having fun.  Once I turned 24, something changed in me.  I started to realize that life is for living.  Not working, but having fun and trying new things.  I've realized that I enjoy doing so many different things, and I never would have learned if I didn't try.  For example, going to Europe with one friend and one backpack was one of the scariest things I have ever done!  When we first started discussing it, I kept thinking, "am I really going to go through with this?".  But I did, and I had the time of my life.  I can't wait to travel again to anywhere. 

Starting the new year, I did not have any resolutions.  I thought it was pointless to come up with a list because I always end up abandoning them within a few days.  So instead of starting the year off with disappointment that I can't commit to something, I decided to not commit at all.   And then I started thinking about how I want to try new things this year, and live adventurously.  All of a sudden I started thinking about the Friends episode where Ross decides his new years resolution will be to try something new every day (minus the leather pants).  While trying something new EVERY day might be a bit much for me, I was thinking maybe I can try something new every week.  The only problem is I can't come up with 52 new things to try.  So far I have two things new things that I will be trying: playing on a football team (even though I don't know how to play football), and attempting the silk ropes (like in the circus).  

This is where you come in.  Is there anything you've been dying to try but have no one to do it with?  Do you have any hobbies/interests that are unique or just super fun that I might want to try.  I'm open to anything.  This will be the year of being a daredevil.  I am always so freaked out about trying new things, but once I try them, I usually fall in love with whatever it is.  So please give me ideas!

Oh, and what are your resolutions?  It's day 3 of January, have you kept them??  If you're looking for some resolutions, I thought this list was pretty awesome: 20 New Years Resolutions.

Madrid - Day 2

Our last day in Madrid was very relaxing.  We originally wanted to leave the city of Madrid and find some wineries near by, but we didn't have any luck finding any.  It also didn't help that we couldn't speak any Spanish, and had trouble when we called different places. 

Instead of going to a winery, we found a bike rental shop near our hostel, and decided to rent a bike for five or six hours.  Since we were staying in Plaza del Sol, it was very difficult to ride our bikes.  There were so many people around, we had to walk our bike until we got away from the craziness.  In the middle of the big highway type road, there was a sidewalk type path, and it was pretty empty.  We managed to escape the JMJ people, and were able to ride our bikes freely.  We went about half a mile, and then realized that we had no idea where we were, and did not know what was around.  We explored a few blocks, and then decided to turn around.  We btoh brought our books, so we headed back towards the large park.  When we first got there, we thought the park was really small, because we could only find the part that we walked around in the day before. 

Since it was so hot out, Robin and I got some ice cream and found some benches to sit on.  We read for about 45 minutes, and then decided to go exploring.  We found out the park was HUGE!!  We found this really cool building that was made mostly of glass.  There was also a nice pond with a fountain in it, and turtles and swans!!  We enjoyed watching the turtles crawl around.  After taking pictures, we got back on our bikes, and started riding around some more. 

When we were done exploring the park, it was time to find some lunch. Of course we decided to get lunch during Siesta time, so it was a challenge to find where to eat.  After hiking up huge hills, we found a little bohemian place.  Robin and I both got a tomato type kind of soup, but it was a little different.  The soup was really good!  And it was cold, perfect for a super hot day.

After getting lost, and finally returning our bikes, Robin and I wanted to find the Royal Palace.  We didn't realize how difficult it would be to walk to the palace.  There were so many JMJ people, we were literally squeezing through on the sidewalks.  Once we found the Palace, we were very impressed.  The building was gorgeous.  We would have loved to gone inside, but the line was incredibly long!  We did not feel like waiting for hours, so we took a few pictures, and then headed back.  En route, we stopped at really cute wood store.  They had all these amazing toys made out of wood, as well as fans.

Across the street from the wood store was an amazing market.  We walked in, and the first thing we see is a dessert display.  Everything looked so good.  There were fountains of chocolate and different pastries.  Before deciding on anything, we wanted to walk around and see what there was.  We found coffee stands, wine stands, meats, cheeses, sushi, and bread.  Everything looked so good, but we knew we wanted dessert (considering we've already had so much cheese and meats).  And of course to go with our dessert, we had to get some wine.  America needs to have these markets.  They are so relaxed.  People can get whatever food they want, and just hang out, drink and talk.  Maybe I have found my new calling?  Opening a market?

When we were done enjoying our fabulous food, we went back to our hostel to pack up and get ready for our trip back to America.  We couldn't decide where to go for dinner, so Robin and I decided to start walking in a certain direction, and see what we could find.  When we walked out of our hostel, we ended up in the middle of a huge protest.  It was insane.  Apparently people in Spain are starting a revolution since they are not happy with the president.  People were also protesting against the Pope.  People created signs fighting for abortion, and equal rights for homosexuals.  They were also getting into fights with the JMJ people.  Apparently the president spent 50,000 euros to host the event, rather than using the money for people with Autism.  While walking to dinner, the police were starting to shut down streets.  Luckily we found a restaurant and enjoyed one last meal.  On our way back to the hostel, police had closed off the plaza we needed, so we had to walk a different way.  Luckily we were able to find our way back.  

And that was our trip in a nutshell.  It went by way to quickly.  I am ready to start planning my next trip for next summer.  Two weeks away, hopefully in Greece.  I am happy I have found a new tradition!

Sammy xoxo

Madrid Day 1

I am going to skip writing a complete blog post over our day in Valencia.  We arrived at around 10 AM and spent most of the day at the beach.  Since we were there on August 15, everything was shut down due to the holiday, Feast of the Assumption Feast of the Assumption.  It has something to do with the Virgin Mary.  Robin and I basically roasted on the beach for a while, had dinner, and then took the train to Madrid.  It was a relaxing day, and we enjoyed hanging out the beach. 

Let me preface by saying I feel really bad about Madrid.  Robin and I barely planned out our days in advance, we couldn't figure out what to pack for our days there, and we had no desire to buy souveniers from the city, wanting to buy gifts from the rest of the cities we visited.  For some reason, Madrid did not live up to our standards before we even got there.  And to be completely honest, I don't think it lived up to our standards after we visited as well.  Before arriving in Madrid, we heard from a few people that it was a lot like New York City.  "Great" we thought.  "We traveled across the world to end up in a city just like New York". And the first night we arrived, we weren't proven wrong.  As we exited the metro, the first thing we saw was a KFC, just what everyone wants to eat when visiting a foreign country.  To add to the excitment of the KFC, our directions to the hostel told us to keep walking until we saw a Starbucks.  Yes you read that  correctly.  Our hostel was right next door to a Starbucks.  It took a lot of will power, but I kept myself from buying a carmel frappacino.

While we were in Madrid, there was a huge event called "World Youth Day".  It is a big event celebrated every three years.  The people who go on this pilgrimage celebrate Jesus and get to encounter the Pope.  Over 1 million people were expected to attend.  The city was CRAWLING with these people.  Most were under the age of 18, chanting and making music.  It would have been fine if they didn't literally invade Madrid.  Every where we went, we saw JMJ shirts, and heard their singing.  It was hard to walk anywhere.  Since it was so crazy, our first day was spent hanging out at the large park.  It is kind of like their Central Park.  There are little places to get ice cream all over the place.  There is also a pond near the front of the park. You can rent paddle boats and go around the pond for a little while.  That was fun, but it was so hot!  When we were done, Robin and I got ice cream and sat near a stream.  We were able to put our feet in the water, and cool off a bit. 

After hanging out at the park for a bit, we decided to start walking back to the Hostel.  We wanted to relax a little before getting ready for dinner and a flamenco show.  On our way back to the Hostel, we tried to go into a few different souvenier stores.  It was kind of impossible because there were so many people stuffed in!!!  We still managed to get a few gifts.

For dinner, Robin and I went to this place called Museo de Jamon.  It's basically a big meat place, but they also serve food.  For 2 Euros, we got a sandwich, place of paella and a glass of wine.  Not going to lie, after that meal both Robin and I were a little tired of paella and sandwichs.  That's all we were really eating while away.  When we were done with dinner, we decided to walk around a little bit, wanting to get dessert.  We managed to find a large square filled with restaurants.  We walked around until we found a place that served cheesecake, which is what I really wanted. 

Done with dessert, we went to go watch our Flamenco dance.  Let me tell you how awsome the show was!!  The dancing was so amazing, and the music they make with their hands and feet.  It felt like I was watching the Spanish version of an Alvin Ailey show.  Each dance had a story to it.  I also really loved how the music was performed live, on stage.  I wonder if they have any flamenco shows in NYC. I would love to see one.

That was our first day in Madrid.  I still can't believe I've been home for almost a week already.  I am ready to go away again.  Now I just have to figure out where to!

Sammy xoxo