Things I Like

Listening to: "All That I Want" by The Weepies

Merry Christmas Eve! Being the procrastinator (and broke college student) that I am, I did all of my Christmas shopping today between 3 and 5pm. Amazingly enough, I was successful and managed to survive the rest of the last-minute shoppers as well. (Hi, I'm Brittany, and I am awesome.)

Anyway, since home isn't terribly exciting, I've had plenty of time to discover a bunch of random things that I like, so I thought I'd share. Ah, I love the Internet.

• "Thought of You" by Ryan J Woodward. I love this. Gorgeous animation, one of my favorite songs ("World Spins Madly On" by The Weepies)...what more do you want?
• "How I Go" by Yellowcard. This song isn't new or anything, but I somehow just discovered it. Acoustic guitar, epic strings, and awesome guy/girl harmony. Perfection.
• Jason Lee's Photography. For one thing, his daughters are some of the cutest kids on the planet, and I happen to think cute, creative, and funny makes for a good combination.
• Cool logo designs. I love graphic design!
• Creative business cards. If I ever have my own business, I want my cards to be as cool as these.
• "Timescapes" by Tom Lowe. In a word: Mesmerizing.
• Yeondoo Jung's Photography. He took children's drawings and then turned them into actual scenes. I love it!
• "Virginia is for Lovers" by Mat Kearney. He apparently has a new album in the works, and you can get a free song download if you sign up for his email list!
• Lifehacker. Any random information that makes my life easier is definitely my favorite.

That's all I have for right now. Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! :)

Finals week, fall 2010: Success!

Listening To: "If It's Love" by Train

I think it's safe to say that this finals week was the best yet. The exams weren't exactly my favorite, but I think all the fun stuff in between more than made up for it!

On the 3rd, after a much-needed roomie date to Rembrandt's...

Roommate, coffee, good conversation... Yes.

...I went to see Conrad Anker speak in Chatt. He's led several climbing expeditions, including some to Everest and Antarctica. Pretty sweet. I was originally supposed to go with Mike, but since he had to work, Kristi came along instead. I'm really glad--I've been needing some time with her anyway! After that was over, we walked around downtown a little. We ended up going into this organic grocery store called Greenlife and discovered they had a little café-type thing inside where they sold GELATO. Best. Discovery. Ever. Who cares if it was below freezing outside? Gelato is worth it.

Mango-pineapple gelato. Sooo good.

We always manage to have a good adventure!

The next night, I went with Mike to DJ a middle school dance. That was pretty fun--boyfriend, music, and getting to watch a bunch of kids act ridiculous. Sounds good to me! After we finished there, we went back to his place where a bunch of our friends were finishing up a Christmas/Hanukkah party, so it was fun to hang out with them for awhile.

Next up: Gingerbread houses! Kristi & Jaynese invited Mike, Jon, Will, Chris, and me over for dinner, followed by building and decorating gingerbread houses. I haven't done that in forever, so that was definitely a lot of fun!

This picture is my life.

Our house collapsed :(

The finished product!

After cleaning up, we went to Jon's place to hang out. We had already made plans to stay up all night and go watch the sunrise. We were all pretty exhausted though, so around 3:30am, we all crashed in Jon's living room for an hour. Around 4:45am, Mike, Kristi, Chris, and I headed up to Chilhowee. It was freezing (19 degrees, plus lots of wind), but this made it all worth it:

Good morning, world!

Seriously, most gorgeous sunrise ever. Check out more pictures here, here, and here. I wish I had the motivation to go see more sunrises because I like them just as much as sunsets. I just hate the early morning factor!

After sleeping for a few hours, a group of us went to Chatt for dinner and a movie. We went to Chili's to eat, and then ended up going to see The Town at the dollar theater (I love $1 Wednesdays!). This wasn't really my choice, as I'm not a fan of going to see movies like that without knowing what the heck to expect, but I survived it. It was pretty intense, but a good movie as far as storyline goes.

Friday, I spent the day running errands with Mike, going with him to DJ the Taekwondo awards ceremony/Christmas party (side note: I skipped rank!! I'm officially a level 2 green belt, which is pretty exciting for me. Totally wasn't expecting that), and then going out to Applebee's, courtesy of my parents (they gave him a gift card for his birthday). All in all, definitely a good day.

Saturday was Jaynese's graduation (I'll try to add pictures later, when I get them). So crazy--I can't believe that'll be me in just 3 semesters! Scary thought! After that, going out to eat (again), taking a short nap, and packing, Darren and I headed back to Georgia for break, which is where I am now. 4 weeks of being at home... We'll see how that goes!

Thanksgiving 2010!

Listening to: "Betty" by Brooke Fraser
(If you haven't heard her new album yet, you should. Brooke Fraser is always great, and this is definitely no exception! "Betty" is probably my favorite song, but there are plenty of good ones to choose from. If you get it on Amazon, there's a bonus acoustic version of "Flags." I'm a fan.)

The semester is almost over.

What. The. Heck.

How is that even possible?! It's been an interesting one, that's for sure! For once, a semester isn't ending on a lame note. It's about time! I'm kind of torn between being extremely ready for break (I hate school) and not wanting to leave at all (I love people).

One fun thing I've done of late: Lee Family Thanksgiving! A group of about 20 of my friends got together on Monday and had a big Thanksgiving dinner. Sooo good. We had SO much food, including 2 turkeys that my boyfriend made (stuffed and all!). I vote this becomes a tradition. (Well, you know, for the one year we have left in college...)

Best turkey I've had all year, and that's not an exaggeration.
I was definitely impressed.

Family :)

I spend the majority of my life with these people.

I'm currently on my last day of Thanksgiving break. It's been good, I guess. Between hanging out with my cousins and playing with Lizzie & Emma (cutest. kids. ever. No, really--they are), going to the movies with Zach, Joey, & Rachel, and eating 2 Thanksgiving meals (2 of the 4 I've had this week), I can't really complain!

Like I said. Adorable.

Emma loves playing with my hair.
Lizzie is just awesome & hilarious in general.

Now, I'm ready to get back to school and finish up these last couple of days of classes and finals, then spend an extra few days just hanging out. I'm pretty excited about that. :) Hopefully, there will be plenty of adventures between now and then, so expect another update sometime in the near future!