staples in my shoe

Really, I'm at work, my shoe just broke and I had to staple the strap back on.

Besides the ungodly and inferno-like heat, Austin summer part two, has been relaxing. It's amazing what your brain can do when you're not insanely busy. (i.e. go to the gym, get a twitter, neglect summer school reading, get crafty projects done with C, wonder why Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey broke up?! and realize that eating organically is not practical for college kids like us, thanks to Alicia Silverstone on Oprah today).

As ya know I'm living in the little blue house for a bit, and I'm just loving it. From the shabby chic decor to being able to cook my own meals. C & I made tilapia last night! BTW, B, you have some boy(s) next door potential... C & I saw one good-looking boy yesterday, and I'm sure there are more where he came from. Bake them some cookies when you get back!

I'm definitely looking forward to the fall: helloooo DMB & J.Mayer concert, football season, and of course all our Spirit-filled activities. Please remind me to freak out less, and just go with the flow.

Boo now my foot is asleep. Which is a sign telling me to read my book for class. (only 2 more days left!)

B: Have fun with your fam at the playa! Can't wait to see you
K: LOLed when I read your post. Dying to hear Italian stories. Be safe!
C: I'm proud of us for trying the weight machines at the gym. Count me in for tomorrow

P.S. Oh duh, how can I forget?! I saw the Big O (not Oprah, but OBAMA) on Monday. He gave a speech on higher education at gregory gym, gave me goosebumps. I got a ticket last minute, thanks to my lovely boyfriend Cullen. One word: GREATNESS. <- click for video from CNN. Photos soon!

XXXX
M

drink some brookayese..

so yes brooke and I are horrible at blogging our italian adventure, which as you can imagine the time here is hard to come by to do that, were constantly changing places. so you ladies will definitely hear all about it when we get back but a short and sweet run down of the order of places weve been to

Perugia for the jazz festival, Rimini for the parties, Bologna for the food, Venice for the canals, Milan for the shopping, Como to visit my friend and get a true italian meal from a true italian momma, Cinque Terre to climb cliffs and see blue water, Florence to see David and have good pizza, Sorrento to see the Amalfi coast where we got to visit Positano a town on the hills that was beyond gorgeous, the island of Capri where we jumped off cliffs sipped on champagne and drove around on our very own boat, Rome to see the place where the world began and now were in Siena a quiet cute town for wine tasting and small shopping.

Last night was quite a night but for a little run down, we went exploring found a restaurant where we had a waiter named Mario who loved blondes, chose our meal for us and decided to basically bring us every ounce of alcohol i think they had in the restaurant for us to try and named a drink after us called "brookayese".. we thought it was clever :)

Brooke is going home the 11th to be with her awesome family on the beach and ive actually decided to delay my flight and im staying here until the 24th of august, not quite sure what ill be doing tommorrow BUT i think im going Croatia with the australian boys weve been traveling around with.

weve met so many characters that i cant wait to tell you all about the people, its been amazing. we love you, we took loads of pictures and videos and ive decided we need to do this again with all of us some day in the future.

ciao!

all i have.. a plane ticket! no really..

im trying to pack for italy. I LEAVE TOMMORROW!

at this very moment, i have the whole house to myself because my family is out of town and thank goodness for that because my mom would kill me if she could see what i've done to the living room! my clothes are everywhere.

today: spain won the world cup! woooo! i got to go out on the lake with andrew :] i got to spend time with the whole fam.. which if you can imagine what kind of family i came from .. yes they're crazy! anddd my cousin who is like my sister announced to the family that her and her husband are having a baby! so all in all it was a good day.

i love you ladies!
i'm freaking out about bandjam already!
i cant wait to be in italy!
this summer has been great :]
BUT i cant wait til were all back in austin together!

<3 kayce!

ps. in a few days i'd like you ladies to know that i will be a full on legit grown-up! when i land in italy i will be all on my lonesome to find the transportation to perugia and then spend the day/night their all by myself! woah. gotta put my big girl pants on. not gunna lie i'm a little nervous but i'll be good! and then the next day i'll be reunited with my tall beautiful italian speaking lady ms. leal <3

"i'm feeling like a star, you can't stop my shine" (it's my half-birthday!)

Only 6 months 'til 21!!

I wish I had more to update you all on, but to be honest, my summer has been really simple and I've loved every minute of it. I just finished my finance class on Friday, and because I never do, I'm going to brag right here, right now about my grades. I made a whopping 100 in Business Finance. Turns out I'm not as bad at understanding stocks and bonds as I thought. Or maybe I'm just good at memorizing equations and doing the math.

So now that my class is over and I can no longer go to Gregory (I swear, the people at the front desk must have thought I was trying to live there this summer...), I am just answering phones for my favorite Real Estate Office ("Habitat Hunters, this is Callie..."), and looking forward to my family trips in July. My Nana and Papa are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary later this month...it'll be such a special time for our family to get together...at the beachhhh!

As you may have read on my facebook, last night I babysat for the most adorable little boy. He didn't want a babysitter though, so his dad told him he was taking me on a date. He wanted to open my doors and everything! It was precious. I forget how upfront and honest children are because on the drive to the movie theater he told me this long story about how he can't drink Diet Coke because it makes his "private parts burn". Haha. We saw Despicable Me, and he laughed out loud through the whole thing, repeating every funny line they said.

And, yes, I just recounted my wonderful date with a 5-year-old, because guys my own age don't seem too interested in taking me out. :) I declared "Ridin' Solo" as my song of the summer, and I'm honestly very thankful that God is blessing me with this time in my life to learn about loving myself, my family, and my friends.

M - I can't wait to see you...this week!! Let me know when you're free :))

K - I had so much fun shopping and discovering the best milkshakes in Austin with you...Have a good flight to Roma!! And be safe!

B - Me and the big blue house miss you dearly! Be safe and have fun on the rest of your journeys!

Love you all!

ice water princess

Ah, water with ice, who knew it was so American?! And now I can have it anytime I want, yay USA!

Oh geez, I know it's an ungodly hour, but my internal clock is all messed up after my flight home and sleeping 14 hours straight. You sleep when you die, right?

Since last time, I've passed through Barcelona, London, Paris, and B took a visit to Santander last weekend. Her visit was definitely the most memorable part of my trip, we lived the "bellafigura" life, Spanish style. Which consisted of looking cute, going to the beach, eating paella/kabobs/helados, chatting in the plazas with the locals (who knew Italian and Spanish were so similar?), drinking vino tinto with lollipops, watching Spain beat Paraguay, dancing to house music, and chilling on the beach til sunrise. It would have been absolutely more perfect if yall (C&K) were with us :( BUT no worries, B & I have already discussed possible reunion ideas when we are all together before school starts. Dinner date at home, and a night out in Austin?! Done, and done.

Overall consensus of my trip:

I'd be lying if I said that I absolutely fell in love with Spain as soon as I landed there six weeks ago. I was off to a rocky start, homesickness, wanting ice water, reliable internet, etc. ha. And it's probably because when I'm home with my rents, I admit, that I'm spoiled a bit. But like with any new change, I became more accustomed to the Spanish life as the weeks progressed. And just looking back on it now, I can't believe that I was able to do it all on my own (and with help from my new sis: Adriana Perez).

If yall ever need help navigating the metro systems in Madrid, Barcelona, London, or Paris, call me pleaseeee. Heck, I even met Joe Jonas in London!? No worries, he's not that impressive looking in real life, nor does he have much of the hyped charismatic charm.

As ridiculously cheesy as this sounds this trip, made me realize how lucky I am to be American. Crazy!! I know, but there are Europeans that do like us. People all want the same things in life regardless of language and borders, and here in the States, we have more opportunity (duh, democracy). So with this experience, I'm not a "study abroad snob" (as Cullen would like to call his peers who venture to Europe and come back all worldly and shit) just more appreciative, blessed, thankful, and wanting to explore more of the things that I love, with the people that I love.

So here's to the next two years of college:

nights in and out, good food, less stress (tranquila!), more exercise (fingers crossed), more live music (hello?! we live in the live music capital of the world, and B has got the goods!!), saying YES, random encounters, inviting new people (it's not creepy), talking about ideas not people, more wine (it's good for your heart), gentlemen for C & B (Sorry K, I adore Andrew too much to grant you more men in your life) ...and the list goes on and on...

Sleep beckons, but I'm in the process of organizing my photos, so they will be up soon via FB, blog, or flickr!

B: I can't thank you enough for showing me the real Spain. That weekend was incredible and I like I've said before, we are going to adopt the bellafigura when you return. Be safe and have a blast backpacking!!

C: I'll be in Austin on Monday for sure, so we are definitely meeting up later in the week. Call, text me!

K: Have safe travels all over Europe! Ahh you and B are going to have a ridiculously fun time backpacking, and I can't wait to hear all about it!

besitos!!
con amor,
M

we no speak americano

Hola Chicas,

I should be watching the Spanish soccer game right now in the "Plaza de Toros" or at some Spanish bar, but I've opted out not only because a) it's cold and rainy but b) Madrid parted me with a gift of a cold. Blasphemous, I know...please don't tell my Spanish house father.

Madrid turned out to be the chic and more modern city that I hoped for. It was super clean and had a good balance of both US and European tastes. In age, the US is a wittle tiny baby compared to to the rest of the world, and it has become so apparent to me when I travel to different cities here. We did all the tourist-y Madrid things and what not (Prado Museum, Palacio, etc.) , but oh my, our hotel was way too sexy for me. Ha, you'll see what I mean when I show yall photos. There were 5 girls in one room with 3 beds... but hey that doesn't even compare to Spring Break when K, B, and myself shared one!

The last night we were there we went to a dicoteca called El Kapital. It had 7 dance floors all with different types of music and bars. It also had one HUGE main dance floor with go go dancers on the stage, and every 2 minutes they would blow this nitrogen gas on us, everything turned white and it felt so awesome. AND then, balloons fell from the ceiling while they continued to play this one song called "we no speak americano" Oh goodness, from what I remember of that night, it was like one of those teen movies from the '90s with Freddie Prince Jr when they all have their prom at this big dance club. Best 20 euros I've spent so far. Right after, we hopped on the plane back to Santander, and I'm very pleased to find that besides my good health, that I didn't leave anything behind in Madrid ;)

Back to reality news:

School is school, as always. I still wear t-shirts (but I promised myself that I will dress like a Spaniard during the last week of class). I swear my lit teacher is Penelope Cruz, she is stunning, dresses well, and when I become fluent in Spanish I want to talk like her.

Oh, and I also received a package in the mail from my family. They sent me candy (already ate them all) and clothes, and sweet love letters. It made me really happy :)

Other exciting news: Adriana and I taught our little Spanish Sister how to do the Hook 'Em sign last night at dinner. It was precious, hopefully I can get a photoof her doing it.

This weekend, as in tomorrow, I'm heading to Barcelona. Hopefully, another lovely Spanish city. And then most importantly, I'll be on my way to London and Paris in exactly one week! Ahh, I can't believe it. Oh goodness, I honestly won't believe it actually, until I'm physically there, staring at the Eiffel Tower and Big Ben.

Photos! At the end of my trip I'll upload all of them to flickr. But for now I'll give you a sneak peak right here and on Facebook.

C-You know that I'm not a big country girl, but I can't wait for you to teach me how to two-step. I'm so glad you're doing that!

K- Bless your heart, I took stats last summer, but I know you're going to do way better than I did! Oh, and I saw some backpackers today on my way to school and it reminded me of you and B. Lemme know where yall are planning to go!

B- where are you?? Ha kidding, I know you're living the dream in Italy, and classes abroad aren't the easiest. Can't wait to hear some stories!

con amor-M

two-steppin' my way through summer...

I've got another thing to add to my "perfect man" list. He must be able to two-step and swing me around the dance floor!

Since I'm spending my entire summer in Austin, I figured I might as well embrace my inner Texan and take a country-western dance class. I'm steppin' out of my comfort zone y'all! What I did tonight definitely took guts...I went to a dance class all alone! I didn't know anyone there, and I definitely didn't know what to expect. However, I grew up watching my parents dance to George Strait in our living room, and I figured that if I'm going to do that someday, I better start practicing now.

When I first walked into the Union there were only old couples waiting outside the room, and I seriously considered leaving. Where were the tall, handsome, college-aged, country men looking to meet a sweet college girl just looking to dance?! Beats me. After paying $51, though, there was no way I was skipping out on this one. I actually ended up having lots of fun, even though I danced with an awkward 5 foot tall asian guy, a 30-something man whose breath reeeeeked of alcohol, and an 80 year old man who could barely move. We initially had to choose someone to partner up with, but we formed a circle around the room and ended up switching just enough times to dance with everyone. I never realized how much responsibility the guy has in partner dancing...really all the girl has to do is follow the lead and look pretty!

Enough about that...this weekend was so great! My mom, memaw, and little brother, Christian came and stayed with me in Austin. We did lots of fun things like buying me a new dresser. (If you ever saw my old one, you'd be proud that I've got a big girl dresser now). We bought it at IKEA, so my mom and I had a wonderful experience building the whole thing together. I tried to see the bats come out, but supposedly in June, they come out way after dark when you can't even see them flying...so we unfortunately waited an hour and a half to be disappointed. I'll have to try again sometime. There are still many things I need to check off of my Austin to-do list this summer!

Love you all! Can't wait to hear more about more summer adventures!