Boxes of Things

So basically every thing is packed. The little nitty gritty shitty stuff is left to pack, and I guess most of that is just handfuls of uh, dump that in that sort of not quite full bag over there. There is not so much method to the madness, but rather this method is a byproduct of the madness.  Don't judge me.

None the less, tomorrow I travel north to the great land called Gustavus where I will officially embark on my third year of college (this is the parenthetical where I say something like, "holy shit is that real? third year? Uh.... I'm almost certain they shouldn't have passed me in the first two. I'm likely still a freshman or at the ver least a sophomore.) That being said, I should probably not blink, otherwise I'll be graduating and won't have any idea what I'm supposed to do with my life. Classic.

In other news, I've finished my scrapbook! I think I will bring it with me to the hill where I will allow it to collect dust and I will occasionally force it upon my friends who are sick and tired of listening to me babble about Italy this, and Rome public transportation that. Oh well, it's pretty and I'm fat and sassy. (that one was for you Molly).

Themed Thursday 1: If I were a wall, I would be....

Yes, you heard right. It's Thursday, and that means BLOG FOR YOUR LIFE day. Otherwise known as Themed Thursdays. As you well know, I'm in a fight to the finish known as a blog off with Michelle. And you should read that... Because you're smart enough to read, and you deserve to be amused.

But the point is that today, of all days, is a themed day. This means that we write on the same topic, and you (the people) get to form a more concrete opinion about who should be the winner in this gladiatorial battle to the verbal death.

Today's topic:

What is your ideal living room wall?

Well I'm so glad you asked. Like Michelle, I too love a good splash of color. Something warm, inviting, and comfortable. I also adore the idea of a one wall accent, so naturally, my favorite wall in the living room would be that accent wall-do you follow me? So something warm, fun, and can be a highlight of the room without over powering things. And that for me means red. Red? Why red? Well, I'm a Rothko nut, so something about that... and I think it makes a room feel warmer.  That in conjunction that when I read or knit, I'm bound to end up bundled in a blanket, it's only logical that I give myself at least the benefit of the doubt that it's warmer in the room with a red wall.  Something like... This

But forget the strange stick thing, and replace with fun things like pictures! Lots of pictures. If you know me, you know that I love to scrapbook and make all kinds of memory things. So those should definitely replace the birch theme here. They can be on the wall, in funky frames, around the mantle and such in nifty patterns and designs. The other idea that I love (and I'm not sure how this will all carry out yet) is with my love of words. To have maybe some kind of calligraphy of words on the walls. Not the typical-"Family" or "Love" but actual quotations.  Short and sweet, but it could be very cool if done right. I'm just brain storming. 

I'm also thinking lots of things that are home made. Not overly so (no one wants to feel like they've been out done, or under-creative) but things like books, and end tables, and creative arrangements of things that make a place look lived in and homey. Catch my drift?

I'm thinking of the kind of room where I would love to curl up in an over stuffed chair with a book, or my knitting on a cold winter night and stay for hours. And if you feel like the same kind of evening, you just drop on by. We'll have a dandy time knitting or talking, or just laughing until our abs hurt. 

Michelle and I will be there. And we're cool.

How to pretend like you have friends, and they don't have to be imaginary.

This is a step by step instruction on how to get people to stare at you. To get people to NOT stare at you, you should not do these things. All very reasonable conclusions.

First, you should make sure that you have some kind of, I don't know, mannequin handy. Wait, the mannequin doesn't have to have hands, it just needs to be convenient. You could name it. That'd be fun. I happened to have one just sitting around the apartment, her name is Anne. Step one: Check!

Step two might include being crazy enough to say something kind of funny about going to take pictures with Anne, uh mannequin, in Rome.  Wouldn't that just be a hoot? Oh yeah, you betcha! Step two: Complete.

And then you might want to make sure that your roommate who you mentioned step 2 to (tutu) is both enrolled in several photography classes, and is equally crazy enough to take you up on it. Got to love it. Step 3: That happened.

And then you would precede to then grab Anne by the waist, and walk out the door.  This means taking a life size, hollow, humanoid inanimate object on public transportation, and through crowed streets. Step 4: DONE.

So if you follow these simple steps, you get looked at by people you don't know. If this sounds like your cup o tea, then do it. It's basically a blast. If you don't like these steps, you can also walk a very large dog. That'll work too.

I can tell you all of this because I completed steps 1-4 flawlessly. And consequently, Erica has lots of super snazzy pictures, and I got stared at a lot. Like, more than usual kind of a lot. (Yeah, and it's because I was carrying a mannequin, not because I look funny.) (Even I couldn't keep a straight face after that comment). And let me tell you, after being shoved in a corner and only occasionally mocked or referenced, Anne was loving the camera. Just working it like the inner diva she is. You go girl!

There was one point where Anne and I were leaning against a building while Erica was across the busy street taking pictures and there were tons of people walking by. And, due to Erica's artistic direction, I was kind of talking to Anne (bitch gave me the silent treatment) and people began to stop and look. Not just slow down to watch the crazy chick talk to her apparently traveling mannequin, but really stop.  Granted, most of the time it was only for a few seconds, but it was more than enough to send me into a fit of laughter. So those were good times.

And other than that little escapade, I've been completely unproductive. LIES, I booked tickets to Edinburgh and Dublin. So Vanessa, Claire, Ava, and (pretty please, I'll have your first born) Kaitlin--Here we come!  Well, in a few weeks. But still so close!  Yay!

And that concludes the adventures that occur on All Saint's Day. No school, but you can make a fool of yourself in public instead. And tomorrow's going to feel like a Monday-round two.

How Dare You Play That Song!

40 pages of Italian high Renaissance reading later, I am dying for a decent light, or a super nifty piece of technology that allows me to zoom in on details and appreciate the actual colors. But alas, the rest of this might have to wait until morning.

Speaking of morning (what a snazzy transition), Erica and I had an early one today. We decided that because we were both in photography classes, we would take a trip up a hill to catch dawn shining on the city of Rome.  So 5:15 comes, and I manage to roll myself out of bed, grab breakfast, and putz around facebook until Erica needed to "rise and greet the day" (that's a Kate phrase, incase you didn't recognize it).  So by 6 am we were strolling out the door, cameras in hand, and rubbing sleep from our eyes. Honestly, the last time I think I was up that early was at a speech tournament....  NFA? Anyone? Of course there, we hadn't actually gone to bed, considering we were driving....  details. But we managed to hike all the way up the hill, noticed some of the early morning life of Rome (buses and trams still running and fairly full, vendors getting newspapers, taxis looking at us strangely-the usual). This was actually the hill crowned by the Tempietto and San Pietro in Montorio.  Both of the places were things my Italian High Renaissance class visited on Wednesday.  And although the view of Rome is relatively extensive, there are these things called 'trees' that have a strange tendency to get in the way.  Secondarily, there are similar things called 'shrubs' that we short people have issues seeing over as well. And no, I do not want a shrubbery. NI! Moving on. So we took what pictures we could, walked back to the apartment and promptly went back to sleep.

Zs-ville.

Now for those of you who know me well enough to realize how much I enjoy sleeping will not be shocked to know that we got home at 7, and I slept soundly until 11. The trouble is that I could have slept until about 2 or 3pm without another thought. But alas, I felt some sort of remorse that the rest of my roommates were most assuredly awake by this time. So I dragged my poor sleepy body out of bed for the second time today to investigate what the crew was up to.

By this point, plans were being tossed around discussing an afternoon of shopping. Shopping? But Kelsey always ends up finding the funny things to look at and try one.  And today was no different. I did end up trying on a lovely antiqued gold blazer-but Kate said I looked like Elvis.  Thank you, thank you, thank you very much. I thought it was lovely. We wandered around Rome, me pointing at beautiful things like feathered dresses, and reflective pants, but Erica and Kate didn't like them. For shame. We also managed to eat Chinese food on this little extravaganza.  If you would like a culture shock, please consider the following: Chinese food, in Italy, listening to an accordion player play "La vie en Rose" and "Yesterday" (yes, the Beatles version)(side note, he also played 'That's Amore' which cheapened the entire situation. Really dude? You're going to be 'That' guy, playing 'That' song? Boo. Hiss.), and speaking in English. Enjoy every aspect of that would you? It was beautiful.

We shopped for a while, looking here, looking there. Found that magical grapefruit gelato again, saw the Disney store (This one is for Phil-miss you!!!)

Eventually, we made our way over to the GAP store in Rome. If this isn't on your "to do list" in Rome, you're just not Kate, and otherwise you are perfectly normal. For being a new store there were many confusing aspects, like the return policy. Now I won't go into all of the nitty-gritty details and just suffice to say that while in the Gap, I managed to read the following books while waiting for this little fiasco to go down: The Allure of Women in Hollywood, the Allure of Men in Hollywood (which was significantly worse than the female version, I recognized maybe 4 people in that entire 250 page book), The Fashion of Dogs (not enough real dogs in sweaters pictures. Disappointment), Rebel Style, American Style (this was was an interesting one), and the T-Shirt book.  Consider me well read.

We then made it all the way home, only recognizing this guy I met in my Philosophy class on the tram (awkward encounter: 1), and eventually ate dinner. And that, is a wrap.