the final countdown

Now that we’re back from Thanksgiving and our stomachs are full of turkey and delicious holiday goodies, it’s the final countdown…or crunch time, if you will. We only have one (!!) more week of school and then finals next week…I really can’t believe it. Where did this semester go? I’m already done with three of my classes, so luckily I only have two finals next week. But don’t let that fool you – I’m somehow still stressed out.  Life of a Millsaps student I guess. 

On a happier note, there are so many fun things going on this week (again, to counter the stressful academic life)! SAPS (Socializing Activities and Programs for Students) sponsors different campus activites throughout the school year, but my favorite is Movie Night. Basically, we can go to any showing past 7 PM at the local movie theater for free (music to any college student’s ears). There’s not much out in theaters this week, but I’m sure I’ll find something to watch tomorrow night…plus, it’ll be a great way to celebrate being done with my biochemistry test. On Wednesday, SYE (Senior Year Experience) is holding a Christmas party for the senior class at F.Jones, which is a local blues bar in Jackson, so I’m looking forward to mingling with my friends then.  To cap off the week, I’m going to Old South on Saturday, which is a fraternity formal held each year. With all of these parties, I don’t know when I’m going to get a chance to study….so ready to be on Christmas break!!

On a completely random note, I went to my first LSU game this past weekend over Thanksgiving break – it was so much fun! And such a great game to watch in person as well.  The stadium was absolutely huge, and the crowd ranked as the 2nd largest crowd in the stadium’s history – we missed the attendance record by 21 people. Wow.  Anyways, here’s a pic from the game -

Hope everyone has begun to listen to Christmas music now that it’s officially Christmas season! I know I have been enjoying Pandora radio.

time flies when you’re having fun

I don’t know how it’s possible that there are only 2 weeks of school left (not including finals week).  I have no clue where this semester has gone! It seems that all of the “fun” events happen at the very end of the semester, right when school is really cranking into finals mode.  It does make it difficult to juggle your social and academic lives, but when you get the chance to have fun at parties and formals, it makes studying a little (very little) bit easier.

This past weekend, I went to a fraternity’s Destination Unknown party.  It’s actually a really cool concept – only the social chair and a few key people know where the party will happen…everybody else hops on a bus with no clue where they’re going. We went to Memphis, TN and enjoyed a night on a river boat as it trolled down the MS River, and then we headed home in the wee hours of the morning. Most of the time, the bus ride to the destination is the best part of the night.  This is my bus buddy, Laura and I from the weekend events.

I also got the chance to enjoy some time at home this weekend.  Remember meeting Stella kitty? My, how she has grown! She is so so so cute. Unfortunately, her name did not stick…she is now known as Meow Meow. Leave it to my family to fail at cat names yet again. It suits her personality, though, and she has quickly become a member of our family.

Things to look forward to: Thanksgiving food! my sorority’s fall party, my boyfriend’s fraternity’s “Old South” party, and Christmas break!! (weirdd)

Things not to look forward to: 3 more tests and 2 finals. Boo.

twenty-two

After a stressful couple of weeks, school settled down at the absolute perfect time – my birthday week! I have now entered into the years where there are no “fun” birthdays left, which is pretty crazy. For so long, you look forward to your sweet sixteen, or turning 18 and going to college, and let’s not forget the eagerness to finallyyyyy be 21. I don’t really feel like I’m 22…in my mind, I still feel like I’m 18 and a freshman at Millsaps. Oh well.

Last Wednesday, SYE (Senior Year Experience) presented Drinks at 8.  SYE is a program that was started to enrich the last year of college with educational, service-oriented, and fun events.  Drinks at 8 was held only for the senior class, and it was a great way to mingle and socialize with my friends.

I love birthdays.  Some people don’t really care about them, but I do.  It’s the one that is completely your own…a holiday dedicated to you! (and probably thousands of other people, but that’s beside the point) On Thursday night, I had dinner at La Caz (a local mexican restaurant) with a big group of my closest friends, and I got to blow out 23 (weird!) candles on my delicious homemade cookie cake (thanks zab!!).  It was such a fun night, and I felt so special and loved the entire day.

Today in Biochem, I realized that we only have 3 more full weeks of school until finals.  I have NO clue where this semester has gone, but I know that the time crunch is about to begin again…sometimes it feels like it never ends! That’s why you have to make the most of the free time that you do have

homecoming/halloween

This weekend was So. Much. Fun!

Here’s a rundown according to the days:

Thursday

My sorority held its annual Halloween swap with a certain fraternity on campus. I had a really busy week leading up to this night, so I kind of put the Halloween costume ideas on the back burner. Luckily, my older sister still lives in town, and I asked if she had any costumes from years past. She was so clutch – she and her husband dressed as Adam and Eve a few years ago, so this is me, as Eve, and my old roommate as a parody of a Hooter’s girl -

It’s really not as scandalous as one would think! Please notice the complete flesh-colored body suit that made up the majority of the outfit.  I got plenty of laughs, so it was an overall successful and humorous costume. Here’s a pic of all of my sorority sisters in their outfits before the swap!

 

Friday

Normally, my sorority only holds one date party in the fall, but this year we set aside enough funds to have TWO fall parties! This party was a little more casual, and it had a really cute idea behind it.  It’s called “All Tied Up” – this is how it works.  You ask your friends (or best friend) to pick a date for you and they bring you his tie – before the party, we all met up in front of our lodge and your date comes to find you because you are wearing his tie! It’s a fun way to keep dates a surprise…unfortunately, I couldn’t really keep it a surprise for my boyfriend, so I just told him to wear a tie haha (oops).

Saturday

We couldn’t have had a more beautiful day to celebrate Homecoming on campus.  The weather was absolutely perfect!  It’s always fun to walk around the plaza to partake in the Tasting of the Tents and visit with alums who are back for the weekend. Tasting of the Tents is a relatively new event where different organizations (greek and non-greek) set up a tent in the plaza and provide a dish of their choice for people to taste and the winner receives a monetary award to go towards the philanthropy of their choice.  Here’s a pic of two of my best friends (Madeleine and Elizabeth) and myself in the plaza:

Saturday night, my boyfriend Drew played in his last soccer game of the season.  It was fun to watch, but it was COLD. I froze in those metal bleachers and had to thaw out the rest of the night. I don’t know how people were able to dress up in Halloween costumes that night for parties at the fraternity houses! I should have dressed as an Eskimo.

Overall, I’d say it was a successful weekend.  After a fun three days, I had to buckle down to finish a Management paper due that Monday but it’s over with, and I’ve got my 22nd birthday to look forward to this week!!! (why am i getting old?)

meet stella!

I would like for y’all to meet the newest addition to the Giurintano family – Stella kitty!

She was a stray kitten who wandered up to our house, and my mom took her in (much to my dad’s demise). We now have three stray cats in our family…never would I have imagined the day. We never actually intended on keeping the first two, so one’s name is Keyen  (weird, i know, but it’s a form of kitten, but with the tt –> y) and the other one’s name is Other. Not a joke. So this time I was determined to actually name the kitten something…anything really because she was not going to be known as the “new kitty.”  I NEVER considered myself a cat person before, but I am starting to change my mind…my poor Buckwheat looks at me as if I’m a traitor

We had been keeping Stella in our sunroom (we didn’t want her to be rough-housed by the 3 other animals), but this past weekend we’ve been letting her out to slowly become accustomed to her new surroundings.  She is my kitty, and I am in love.

In other news, Homecoming is this weekend!! So exiting.  The weekend is made even bigger with an anuual Halloween swap between my sorority and another faternity on campus AND my sorority’s “All Tied Up” crush party on Friday! It should be a really fun weekend, but I need to step up my game on halloween costumes…I can’t think of anythingggg. Hopefully I’ll come up with something, though, so look forward to pictures from this weekend

P.S. I might be slightly obsessed with my pets (maybe). Please don’t judge.

would you like that fried?

I normally try to steer clear of eating too much fried food, but I make a special and purposeful exception to this rule once a year for the Mississippi State Fair.  The fair is  a 2 week affair in October and is held each year at the state fairgrounds, which are conveniently located about 5 minutes from campus. This past week, the seniors in my sorority invited the new members to go to the fair one night with us. The Band Perry played in the outdoor tent (way too packed to even attempt to get a spot inside) but we still got to listen to some of their tunes while we walked around the fairgrounds. 

While some eagerly anticpate the fair for the numerous rides and spinning contraptions that make you dizzy (can you tell I’m not very big into fair rides?), I look forward to the fair for a far superior reason. FOOD. I’m not even tempted by the carnie shouting at me to shoot the basketball into the oval hoop (my friend Maggie tried…it just doesn’t physically work). Instead, I head straight for the food aisle. We heard rumors of fried kool-aid making an appearance this year, but alas, we found none. It’s okay, though, because there were plenty of other goodies to be had – roasted corn, turkey legs, funnel cakes, taffy, candied apples, lemonade, etc. –  but I’ll give you a review of my top 3 choices…all fried, of course.

Well, this isn’t a top 3, but it is one of my favorite things to get.  There’s always a stand that gives out free homemade biscuits with some special syrup …I think it might be some kind of honey butter, but I don’t care – it’s good.

3. Funnel Cake

A fair staple, nothing can beat this random configuration of fried doughy goodness with a slight (or hefty) sprinkle of powdered sugar. Some may opt for the flavored cakes – chocolate, apple cinnamon, cream cheese – but I prefer the classic, simple funnel.

2. Fried Oreos

One word – RICH.  It is essential to split these with a friend because I’m only able to stomach 2 max. The oreo is fried in the same dough used to make the funnel cakes and once you take a bite, it is chocolate heaven.  I like to relate fried oreos to chocolate beignets (if they made those). So tasty.

1. Penn’s Chicken on a Stick

It’s funny that this is my number 1 fair food because Penn’s is a local restaurant…I could technically drive over and get chicken on a stick at my convenience, but I refuse because this is engrained in my memory as a fair food…thus, I can ONLY eat it at the fair. It’s fried chicken nuggets, fried pickles, and fried onions all on a stick, which makes it slightly messy to eat, but all the more fun. Writing about it actually tempts me to break tradition and go to Penn’s soon and indulge (I doubt it would taste as good, though).

These foods probably aren’t that special, some might even find them to be disgusting, but the fair makes them special to me.  The anticipation and memories wrap up into each bite of the fried treat of choice to remind me why I love this time of the year.  Even though the fair lasts for 2 weeks, I normally go for only one night. Trust me, one night is enough.