Lisps and Mouthguards

Is anyone else disappointed that Desperate Housewives and Pan Am haven't been on in the past two weeks? I'm getting anxious! But, I was happy to watch Hart of Dixie! Planksgiving! How cute is that? I wish my town had some cool tradition like that!

How cute are they?

They'll get together. I know it

Love this dress!

Anyways.. other than that, it's been a pretty eventful past couple of days! On Monday night at diving practice, I was working on my Inwards 1 and 1/2 on three meter, and I came out early and belly flopped. This resulted in the smacking of my head very hard on the water....which led to a chipped tooth. :( Who knew you could chip a tooth on water? So, I went home yesterday and went to the dentist... who told me that I will have to wear a mouth guard for the remainder of my time as an athlete. I think that I may be the only diver in history who has to wear a mouthguard. It's very awkward and I have a huge lisp when I wear it. 

Other than that, it's a bit stressful with the end of the semester coming up! I have two presentations, three final papers and two finals. I hope to have two presentations and one paper finished by the weekend! The recital is on Sunday and my overnight meet at Wesleyan is this weekend! Ah!

That's all for now! I have to run to class!

Better Late than Never!

Sorry I haven't written in a while! It's been so crazy out here between getting ready for finals, end of semester papers and presentations and of course the holidays! Let's see... where to start!?


For diving, I got an Inwards 1 and 1/2 tuck on one and three meter! It was super exciting! My coach told me to throw my inwards sumi on one meter like I throw my front 1 and 1/2. I did, and it ended up being an inwards 1 and 1/2!!! It was so exciting! Once I did it a few times on one meter, I got to bring it upstairs to three meter! I'm so excited to work on it this week so I can compete it this weekend at the Cardinal Invitational at Wesleyan University! This meet is an overnight! I can't wait! It'll be a bonding experience! Woo!


Last weekend a couple of my girls and I went to out for froyo (frozen yogurt) at Wooberry and Yoway which are relatively new! I had never gotten anything at either place! I ended up having an allergic reaction to the sorbet at Wooberry and was sick for the rest of the weekend and the beginning of the week. :( It was really unfortunate especially because my mom came on Sunday to take me shopping!


I got a super cute jacket at Ann Taylor Loft! It is black and it is a super nice wool material! I absolutely love it! Other than that, I didn't buy anything else. But I did get to use my new credit card! Woohoo! My mom and I went out for lunch at T.G.I. Fridays. That was good! For dinner we went to Panera. Oh! I almost forgot, I did buy something else! As I told you all before, my aunt is adopting a little girl from Russia! For my aunt's birthday which is coming up in a few weeks, I am making her an adoption baby book! I hope it'll be really cute! I can't wait to meet my new cousin! :) When I got back to school that night, I had a HUGE headache and my stomach was killing from the allergic reaction the night before. Agh. I wanted to die. But my roommates were really good.


Monday morning I was going to try to go to class, but my stomach hurt way too much and I just felt like complete crap. :( It sucked. I ended up going home early and missing three classes. I felt really awful about it, but I was sick and I wouldn't have been able to concentrate, so it was probably for the best because now I can get the notes and such when I am in a better state. And, it was the first time I missed class all semester. I ended up going home and my mom took care of me and made me food. I lied on the couch and watched tv. It was great. I went to bed real early and just hung out. On Tuesday morning, my mom left for Texas for Thanksgiving. I was feeling a lot better, so I went out and did some holiday shopping. It was good! My friends and I are doing a secret santa! Once we exchange gifts, I'll let y'all know what everyone gets! I also got some cute underwear for the girl's swim team holiday panty exchange. Yay! Also, The Marshalls and Homegoods in Salem, NH was having a HUGE sale on Vera Bradley items! I bought a coupon holder with a notepad in it in the He Loves Me pattern. It must be a super old item because I can't find it on the website! Strange!


On Wednesday my dad and I drove to Hamden, CT to see my family for Thanksgiving! On the way, we stopped at one of my favorite stores, IKEA!!! It was so great. I love all of the organizational items and the rooms they have set up are always super cute! Here are some of the items we bought!

Bygel wire basket, silver color

Bygel rail, silver color

Grunka 4 piece kitchen utensil set, stainless steel

Bygel S-hook, silver color

Droppar 3 piece oil and vinegar set, frosted glass and stainless steel

Droppar spice jars, frosted glass and stainless steel

When we got to my Aunt's house, my cousins were there! My cousin has twins who are three and one half! One boy and one girl. They whined and screamed a lot, but they are sooooo cute! That night, I went out with a couple friends from school and one of their home friends. It was fun! We went to the Starbucks in Stratford! On Thanksgiving, my dad and I went to go see one of our family friends. Her daughter was home on leave from the Navy! It was so nice to see them because I haven't seen them in over a year! It was so crazy! We took lots of pictures! Once she sends them to me, I'll have to put them up! Thanksgiving with my family was great. Lots of delicious food! We had stuffed steak! Yum! There was also Cohen stuffing (Ritz crackers), sweet potatoes with marshmallows and pecan pie. ah. yes. That night my dad and I went to our cousins house for dessert and drinks. I played board games with some of my cousins and their friends.....it's tradition!

On Friday my dad and I went to a few stores. Nothing too crazy and we didn't get up early! haha. I did that a couple years ago with my mom and that was enough for me! Especially because there is sales tax in Connecticut! We went to Bon Ton where my dad got a couple pairs of sweat pants and I got a set of Pyrex mixing bowls with lids for $10! Then we went to Staples where my dad got a new monitor for his computer. Lastly we went to Best Buy. Surprisingly, it was not that crowded! I got two seasons of friends! It was very exciting! Seasons 3 and 4. Now I'm just missing season 5-8. I LOVE Friends. I was introduced to it by my now ex-boyfriend B and my best friend at school M. It's just so wonderful and timeless! After shopping we said our goodbyes to my family and we headed back to Mass! I just hung out and at night I went to my friend H's for a bonfire with her family and then headed to Andover for a bonfire at S's. It was so nice to see people! On Saturday I went to the library and attempted to do some work, but failed miserably! The town Santa Parade was going on down town right outside the library, so I decided to go do a few errands before lunch with H, E and P at Panera! The sports store in town, Thunder, is going out of business so everything is 70% off! I got a pair of sneakers, speedo bathing suit, green red-sox hat and athletic knee socks for $24.95. It was SO good. E met me there. I went and did a few errands with her and then we had lunch with H and P. On my way home I stopped at my neighbor's house. She just had a baby on Nov. 6. He is super adorable! Ah! I got to hold him and it was the most precious thing ever! 

That night I went out to a bar in town, Jamie's. It was my first time there. It was really nice! I saw some teachers from my high school there, so that was a little weird, but it was alright. E, P, and S were there watching the Bruin's game. Woo!!! Then a bunch of our friends came and met up. It was so fun! I also saw the boys that live next door there! It was great! One of the guys at the bar was trying way to hard to get my friend S. We were like... "Bro. What are you doing?" Oy. I hate that haha, but I guess I can't hate a guy for trying! Afterwards we went to J's house for a bonfire and by the time we got there, there were already a bunch of people! It was great! It's always nice to see people and catch up when you haven't seen them in a while! I didn't get in until 1:30 or so. It was a late night for being in NA!

Today I came back to school for practice at 2 and then I ate dinner and watched Sister Wives with my roommate! I went to the library and finished a rough draft of my art history paper! It's so nice to finally have that done! And I just checked my planner and I don't have my three hour class tomorrow!!!! YIPPIE!!!! More time for homework haha. 

Well everyone! I hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving and weekend! 

A Little Bit in Love

Today was a good day, a little stressful, but overall, pretty good. It started off with my 9am vocal warm up because today we had our formal workshop in the music department! The formal workshop is where we preform one or two of the pieces that we have been working on all semester! Today I only had to sing one piece, which was super relieving because I'm not totally confident with the words for 'Die Forelle,' by Schubert. The song that I sang today was 'A Little Bit in Love' from the musical 'A Wonderful Town,' by Leonard Bernstein. I'm in love with this song. I was feeling a mix of confidence and nervousness! In addition to loving the song, I also loved the outfit I was wearing! I wore one of my favorite 3/4 length sleeved black dresses from the Gap with a gold headband and a braid. I had on black heals (and boots from Old Navy for the museum) and a necklace my mom gave me that is gold and it says 'War is not healthy for children and other living things.' I messed up the words and went a little sharp during the performance, but I pushed through and finished wonderfully. Although I was beating myself up about messing up, I feel really good about what I did today. I have made so much progress over the past year. I'm very happy. I was a little flustered because the workshop started at 11:30 and I usually have class until 11:40, but obviously today was the day that my professor had us go to the museum and we didn't leave until 11:50. So I rushed to get back and as soon as I walked in the door, they were like, "You're up next!" AH! I was soooo nervous. 
Afterwards, I had lunch with my friend Ben. He's a character. Then I basically went to the science library and finished my lab and started to work on the second draft of my research paper on Celiac Disease for my Kitchen Chemistry course. While I was working on my paper, my voice teacher texted me and told me that I made it into the formal recital, which is an honor to get in to because it is invitation only. I literally let out a little squeal! I can't wait. I invited my parents and my acapella teacher from high school! Hopefully they will be able to come! Then, at diving practice tonight, I got 2 new dives on the three meter board, in addition to the new position I got yesterday on 1 meter and the new dive I got on Tuesday on 1 meter! On Tuesday I got an inwards somersault on 1 meter. Yesterday I changed my inwards dive on 1 meter from tuck to pike position (go to :53 seconds). Today I did a reverse dive straight and front 1 1/2 tuck on 3 meter! It was such a great day!

I love this bow. I think I'll wear this hairstyle tomorrow! :)

Fabulous Kitchens

Everyone knows that the kitchen sells a house. I'm not sold on a white kitchen...especially because it will get dirty so quickly! The kitchen is the most used room in a house and I definitely think that a darker wood is a better fit for a kitchen, but I'm always open to new ideas! My dream kitchen must have a breakfast bar and double wall ovens, hard wood floors, and of course a gas stove top! I'm also a HUGE fan of cabinets that have glass. The kitchen MUST have lots of natural light! Not only does the natural light give the kitchen a good atmosphere, but studies show that natural sunlight improves happiness and cheeriness!


Below are some of the kitchens that I absolutely LOVE! 

Natural light and the hidden spice rack next to the stove top/ovens!

I love the fact that there is a lot of counter space and room to move around in this kitchen. The glass panels in the cabinets are a huge plus because if you have nice glassware, which i plan to, you need to be able to show it off! The white dishes are also really great because they help make the food 'pop.' The color of food is illuminated on white dishes.

The shape of this breakfast bar compliments the shape of the kitchen very nicely. It closes it off in a way that still gives it an open and contained feel. 

Again, lots of counter space. I also like the skylight in the middle of the kitchen. Natural light is always a positive thing in a kitchen. I also like the way that the refrigerator blends in to the rest of the cabinets. 

LOVE the hanging pots above the stove top. The sealed wooden surface of the bar is so nice and classy. 

I love all of the window panes that allow everyone to see the gorgeous glassware.

I like the double sinks and silver appliances!

There are soooo many great things about this photo! First off, the wine cooler. THIS IS A MUST! I love wine (both for drinking and for cooking!) The double wall ovens, and a built in TV to watch all of my favorite shows. Not to mention, it's perfect for the holidays because you can just flip it on and watch all of the cooking shows!

I love the natural light from all of the windows. I especially love the fact that it looks out into the backyard and that there is a lot of counter space and double wall ovens!

That's it for today! I'm getting really excited to go home for Thanksgiving! In upcoming days make sure to look for my post on delicious Thanksgiving desserts!

Great closets and storage!

Just downloaded the new Blake Shelton album.... Red River Blue. It's really good! I'm learning all the songs because he is coming to Worcester in February and I want to be ready! Today was filled with Art History Final Review and finishing my Kitchen Chem. Lab! I'm almost done! I'll be home one week from tomorrow night! 


I love clothes. and shoes. and hats. and jewelry. and arts & crafts. and organization! This calls for a lot of storage! Although I prefer closets to dressers, I'd take either! Below are some of the closets and rooms that I adore and wouldn't mind having! :) I"m brainstorming for my apartment next year! :)







Art History Presentation
Kitchen Chemistry Research Paper
2 batches of doughnuts
Kitchen Chemistry Presentation
Photography Final
Art History Final Paper
Kitchen Chemistry Lab
Jewish Popular Culture Final Paper
Art HIstory Final 
Kitchen Chemistry Take Home Final 

Hart of Dixie

While babysitting over the weekend, I discovered the show Hart of Dixie. It's about a young doctor, Zoey Hart (Rachel Bilson) who thinks she has her whole life figured out, only to discover that she doesn't. She moves from New York City, New York to Bluebell Alabama. 

I absolutely adore the clothes in this show! 

How cute is Rachel Bilson? I can't wait until monday night!

Suits for Puerto Rico

So....in January, the swimming and diving team is going to Puerto Rico for our training trip! I'm really excited! I've never been there! Everyone told me that it is such a good time! As tradition, the diving team always gets new suits for the trip! Because it is usually warm and sunny, we get two piece suits! These are our options! The top two are my favorites!

First Post!

This week has been the most wonderful week! So many excellent things have happened! I don't know where to begin! Let's see.... On Monday I found out that I'm going to have a new cousin! My aunt is adopting her from Russia!!! She is three years old and her new name is going to be Janea-Rose. I am so excited to meet her! My aunt is going to Russia for her final interview tonight!!! My thoughts are with her. She is going to make such an excellent mother!

On Tuesday my swim and dive team did our fourth annual, Hour of Power. This is a program with the motto "Leave it in the Pool." It raises money and awareness for Sarcoma research. Sarcoma is a rare soft-tissue cancer. More than 7,200 swimmers and divers participates this year! Not only did it feel so rewarding to participate in this memorial for Ted Mullin, but the program motto gave my team inspiration for improving! Read more about what the Clark Cougars did here. After the hour of power, it was a successful day for all of the divers, Clark and WPI alike! I got three new dives! On 3m and 1m, I finally got my reverse somersault. The reverse on 3m was the final dive that I needed to officially compete 3m at our meet against Wellesley College and Roger Williams University yesterday! The third dive I got was a back somersault off of 3m.

I also had an interview for an internship! I was really nervous because I think that there were other people applying as well. I applied to intern at Sweet Dessert Bar. The head chef and owner is super nice! And.....I got the internship! I will be working on dessert plating and cake decorating! Ah! I'm so excited! Now, I need to submit my application for a fifth course and internship proposal.

Lastly, I signed a lease for an apartment for senior year! It'll be me and four of my girlfriends, M, A, H and D! Our landlord is so nice. He told us that we could paint the apartment any color that we wanted! I'm thinking this pattern in a bright color! Maybe purple? or yellow? What are your thoughts?

Wednesday was a relatively low key day. I did some homework and had some classes. In my kitchen chemistry course, I'm currently writing a research paper on Celiac Disease. I'm really interested and hopefully I'll do well on the paper! I also had my voice studio. K and I were the only one's that showed up. That's okay because we got to discuss pieces for next semester and I had my lesson Wednesday afternoon instead of Thursday morning! After the lesson, I had to go see the Sports Medicine Fellow to look at my right knee and hip. They have been bothering me lately and although I don't think it's anything serious, the trainers wanted to have them looked at because of my surgeries in the past. The fellow said that she didn't think it was anything serious either, so I just have to do some therapy with the trainers! Thank goodness! Wednesday night I had my photo class. My professor finally liked some of my work. Its super difficult because she and I like very different types of photography.

Thursday morning my roommate J and I went out to Crystal Park and did some photo shoots in the fog. It was really fun and hopefully we got some great shots! Thursday Afternoon my friend L and I went to the WAM (Worcester Art Museum) and Holy Cross library to checkout some books for our art history research papers. I'm writing about Alex Katz and "Ada with Sunglasses." When I got back from the museum I had diving practice, where I got another new dive, Back Somersault 1/2 twist on 1m! Such a good day!

On Friday I went to class, cleaned the apartment and babysat! Pretty boring day! Oh! I did start watching Hart of Dixie. Does anyone watch it? I'm really enjoying it so far. I love Rachel Bilson, and there are lots of cute boys!

Today I competed 3m springboard diving for the first time, which was really exciting! I did really well and I got a new high score on 1m! I also didn't come in last on 1m for the first time! Yay! I think that everyone would have done better if the judges (Wellesley coach and RWU coach) were judging fairly. The RWU coach was diving the RWU divers higher scores than everyone else. It was super ridiculous, but it's alright, I was really happy with my performance. I just got back to Shrewsbury to continue babysitting and I'm really tired. But alas, I must go work on my art history paper while I wait for one of the kids to come home from Boston!