Showing posts with label valentine's day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label valentine's day. Show all posts

Reminder: Love Yourself Today!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Happy Valentine's Day! Take today to love, thank, and give back to yourself and all the people who've supported you along the way. Here's what I'll be doing:

- Posting a silly Facebook status about love
- Drinking tea
- Taking a really intense break
- Contacting several of my close friends and saying "You Rock!" (un-ironically)
- Eating chocolate (courtesy of my father)
- Reading some inspirational poetry from Pablo Neruda and some life advice from Anne Lamott
- Going to Well Woman Game Night!

What about you?

The Hungarian Pastry Shop

Sunday, February 14, 2010


Today was the big V-day, both Valentine's and Vagina Day (or Single Awareness Day, if you feel so inclined) A time of "love" and expensive gifts - as I heard someone behind me remark, it never lives up to the classic expectation.
But, although this day should perhaps be treated like any other, I must admit that I quite enjoyed the calm fabric of this February 14th. It was the day I embarked on another of my adventures.
My newest adventure is to go to "literary places," basically, to write in cafes and other areas around the city so that I can explore and give myself some time to write. Perhaps it has been done before, but it seems that was how the greats got their work going, so I thought I might try it. At least it gets me out of the house.
Anyway, this first endeavor I took occurred today - at the Hungarian Pastry Shop. The following is a literary description of this fantastic place:
After celebrating our vaginas by listening to the the Vagina Monologues performed at Columbia's Roone Arledge Auditorium, reading trashy articles about what V-day gifts "really" mean, and exercising monetary frivolity in the purchase of another hard-backed legal pad, Liberty and I set out on a journey to this quaint little cafe on 111th and Amsterdam.
A short post-dinner walk later, in the brisk cold of Upper West Side Manhattan, we arrived at the doorstep of a smallish cafe that had many beautiful bohemian wall things, low mood lighting, and a stretch of college students munching on delicate cookies and rich pastries. They read their books and made notes, proving that this was still, after all, the Columbia neighborhood. As we approached the counter, two ladies with black curly hair looked up at us with a polite stare, rather than a smile. They were busy, we could see. I stared into the pastry case and was dazzled by the different choices - cookies, tiramisu, chocolate, chocolate, chocolate - and finally decided on an amalgamation of two hazelnut cookies and chocolate mousse. With milk.
I was shocked to find that they delivered it to our table, where Liberty and I were cautiously commenting on the atmosphere and taking out our books to read and write. I found myself lapsing into the balmy atmosphere of the place, listening in on the academic chatter that swirled around us. I was transfixed by the bathroom, with swirling graffitti plastering the walls - all the people who had ever come before. I pumped out a few paragraphs and found that it was a place to return to, perhaps in the daylight with a cup of hot chocolate centered between two palms.
Liberty finished her book and we rose to go, paying at the counter before we left. As a spot for eking out ideas or studying the pages of a book, this place was awfully calming. I will come again.


Read more of my writing in strange places reviews.

Snow Day!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

This was the first blizzard of the year and Barnard didn't close until the afternoon. When everything else was closed early in the morning. Ugh! But once they did close, I was thankful because I got to get all my work done and now I am no longer panicking as I am wont to do.
It was really beautiful, the outdoors today. I woke up in a lethargy and went to work in the mail room where there was - consequently - no mail! The mailmen don't work according to their credo (through hail or sleet or driving snow, etc) anymore... it was snowing and their doors were firmly shut.
You know, there is something peculiar to me or maybe to college. I get overwhelmed and burnt out sometimes, while still enjoying what I'm working on. Maybe that's the good thing about reading challenging books and exciting novels - at the same time, there is a lot of reading to be done! I know that I've said it before, but whenever I feel backed up, I start to get worried (even, sometimes, when I'm right on track!) I just can't imagine putting things off for very long...
Anyway, that's what got me to scheduling. Every time I get overwhelmed, I make a schedule and a to-do list. Therefore, I now have a plan!

Enough of those idle simple thoughts. Now on to the good stuff.
I have been contemplating, through my lists, how to go about getting a summer internship. I wasn't thinking about it a lot before, but then I had this dream. This dream that I was in a video game that I designed (yes, I know that sounds lame, but hang in there with me). The dream made me realize that there are people who aren't programmers working on video games. Why I did not realize this before, I do not know. But it just so happens that by digging around the internet, there are A LOT of indie game studios in Seattle. And that's where I'll be for summer. So if I can land an internship there, I can start looking into how to contract write the storylines for video games. How cool is that?!
And after that, I started to think big. Plans leading to more plans and more and more again, I guess. I started thinking about where I want to do my study abroad. I have always wanted to use my French skills, but I just thought I would end up in France. But with their new laws concerning the burqa, I have been none too happy with the country's conduct. So I started thinking of other francophone countries and up comes... Morocco! Yes, and we do have a program that is related to Morocco. So, therefore, my plans for junior year are going to be involved with trying to go to that North African country for a duration of time. Huzzah! Life plans!
So, those are the two big notions I have been thinking about lately. Aside from that, there is short story and biography writing to do, papers to be written, books to be read, clothes to be worn and shed... all of these works that coalesce into my fabulous life.

Enjoy the beautiful snow everyone, and an early Happy Valentine's Day too!

Oh, how things change. Read more about my ever-changing college experiences.

Everybody Knows - John Legend

Saturday, February 14, 2009


I am in love with the beauty of the universe...
Happy Valentine's Day.

Check out some more posts featuring my photography.