Three more weeks

The race towards graduation is happening so fast I can barely keep up. These last two weeks of school will be super busy (this last week was the worst), finals won't be too bad, then it's just prepping for graduation and my speech(!) and then I am OFF TO NEW YORK. Craziness.

When I have more time I promise I'll have more topic-specific posts, but for now just a quick update of what I've been up to.

I've been attending a lot of concerts lately. Hillary and I went to see our friend Jared's band, Red Orange, for starters.

And then MIKA, whom I absolutely adore. He did all of his songs acoustically, and it was one of the best shows I've been to.

Shiny Toy Guns. I have to say I'll really miss Utah audiences. They get really into it and it's always a blast. 

Cori and I got a pic with the lead singer of Midi Matilda (they were good--check them out!) and he told Cori she should die her hair all the way pink, which was pretty funny.

Last BYU NIT game with Christine. I'm still shocked she didn't caught with that cowbell. 

I attended TEDxBYU, which was amazing and inspiring and basically highlighted everything I wish I could be as a public speaker. 

Yesterday was a Comms awards luncheon, where free food is always appreciated. Here are some of my other awesome PR friends who were honored. I'm gonna miss everyone so much. Gah. Can't think about it yet.

That's basically it. These last few weeks should be more eventful, including my raging graduation party on the 19th!! If anyone knows where to find an empty keg, let me know. It's for root beer, of course :)

I should also mention my April Fool's joke, which I thought was kinda lame since I didn't have much time to think of something better, but everyone still seemed to be fooled. I simply changed my birthday on Facebook to April 1, and everyone kept wishing me happy birthday throughout the day. It was pretty hilarious. Hillary even bought me fudge! Hahaha.

Bye for now.

One Month Down

There's an epidemic that seniors tend to get, this thing called senioritis, and I can assure you it is very real. I'm still dedicated to my jobs and PRSSA and things that pertain to my future, but when it comes to my classes...eh. I think I've opened my textbooks like 3 times.

But you know what, I've already had more fun this first month than I feel like I did my whole last semester. Maybe it's because my bucket list gave me motivation, but I've just been a lot more spontaneous this year. And I love it.

Here's what I've been up to:

1) First item off my bucket list checked: Floated the Provo River. I went on an absolutely gorgeous day, and I'm so bummed that I forgot my camera. But just know that it really did look like this and it was so relaxing (Even though I ran into like 10 fisherman. But don't worry about that.). I definitely want to go again in the spring.

2) Two job promotions! I am now a student supervisor at the ticket office and an account director at the Bradley PR Agency. It's been hard work at times (record-breaking soccer games, for instance) but also a lot of fun. It's nice to see your efforts rewarded once in a while. And I get paid to do the things I love in Bradley, I love everyone I work with, and I get free stuff at soccer games. Win-win-win.

3) Rooftop Concert Series. Second one down on my PBL. The New Electric Sound and Ficitionist played and it was a blast. The scenery was gorgeous and the music was great. Provo really is a pretty cool place when you go beyond campus and the "bubble." Really, go to Center Street sometime and walk around. You'll feel better things. I promise.

Went with my girls Hillary and Cori. Love the mountains in the background.

Fictionist

Also this happened.

4) I got a car! Before Shirley left on her mission (Miss you, girl!) she sold me her 2001 Daewoo Nubira. It's nothing fancy, but it gets me to where I need to be. The best part is that I don't have to bum rides off people anymore. I've hated that I've had to do that for so many years.

His name is Clooney. As in George - older but still reliable.

5) Love/hate relationship with the football season. I always like going to the games, even though the two home games so far have been pretty lame and the away games have been super frustrating. The free food that comes from working at the ticket office doesn't hurt things either. Oh, and hanging out with this girl is always a good time.

6) Speaking of good times with Kristen, we, along with my other friend Brooke, went to see Lonestar at the Utah State Fair. Lonestar was fun and personable and I actually knew more of their songs than I thought I did. Also I guess they played in Salt Lake on Sept. 11, 2001? So it was a special day for them, they said. Before that though, we loaded ourselves with fried food, petted a few goats, and went down a giant slide. Because what else do you do at a state fair?

Yes, that sign on the right does say fried green jello. I was not brave enough to try it.

I was brave enough to try the Twinkie, Oreos, and cheesecake, however. The Oreos were my favorite. And I only felt a little bit sick afterward.

WHEEE

Pretty good-looking country bunch.

Our attempt to get a picture with Lonestar. The ushers were pretty rude and tried to hurry us through, but the band members were good sports. I appreciate the guy behind me at least trying to get in the picture, haha.

7) I've tried to be more social this year by going to various parties and dances. Whether hosted by my ward or by friends, I've done my best to attend and have a good time, whereas last year I'd find ways to get out of it. Probably my favorites so far have been dancing crazy at Mark's wedding (can't believe he's the first of us GMSA crew to tie the knot!) and surprising Kelly for her 22nd birthday. And scaring everyone off with my ghetto moves.

The newly engaged, newly 22, Kelly Lopez!

8) And probably my favorite part of my senior year - my master bedroom. Not only is it huge, it has its own bathroom and is on the top floor of a lovely townhouse that is only about 3 minutes from campus. I am living in style, my friends. Sure, it isn't exactly cheap, but hey, all I did this summer was save money. It's my last year, and I deserve it. Right?

Welcome to my humble abode.

Yeah, there's a lot of pink. I had to stick with it. But on the other hand, I'm getting quite proud of my movie collection.

I LOVE having my own bathroom. So, so much.

And that's about it for now! I'm actually really excited for this semester. I'm going home for Thanksgiving for the first time ever, I'm going to San Fransisco for the PRSSA National Conference, I'm going to some awesome concerts, and I'm turning 21 in just a few weeks!

Notice that none of those things included school.

Senioritis. I'm tellin' ya.

F!N@L$ W33K

So instead of studying, I'm blogging, of course.

Although I really only have one actual final. And a project due Wednesday. And I have to be moved out by Friday. I'm the worst.

Obviously, life has been pretty insane lately. So here's just a super quick update of everything:

• The Adobe Summit  was a great experience. It was really enlightening to see just how much planning and effort goes into throwing off a big corporate event like this. It was hard work, but I got paid to see Foster the People (who were really good! Helena Beat is probably my favorite song.) and got free Skullcandy speakers, so I can't complain. 

The sign outside the Salt Palace

Us girls working at the Canyons, where we got to stay for free

• The Hunger Games! I've seen it twice and I loved it. Even more than the books. I know, I know, blasphemy. But I thought that Jennifer Lawrence was amazing, that the added scenes added an emotional layer, and I even loved the cinematography, included the "shaky cam." I thought it showed Katniss's perspective really well, and showed the violence without getting too graphic and glorifying it. Stanley Tucci was another standout. I think the reason I liked the movie so much more was that it showed the themes of the story without all the silly romance stuff getting in the way, and showed how much of a heroine Katniss really was without all the inner monologuing I didn't enjoy in the books. The soundtrack is equally amazing.
• This month in PR: Bradley is officially over! We had our trade show and even though Enough Is Enough didn't win, we still had a great semester and I'm so grateful to the girls on my team. AUDIO-FILES got second place though, which was pretty awesome. If you don't know what AUDIO-FILES is, you need to check it out, especially if you like good music. It's a new show by BYUtv, but it's unlike anything they've done before. The first episode, featuring Imagine Dragons, is stellar. Check out an exclusive music video:

 

• I officially start my internship in a week! I'm actually pretty nervous. I've never really been to Los Angeles and I don't know what to expect. I've been pinning all the things I want to do, though. Basically I just want to be a Hollywood geek tourist and visit all the studios. WB is showing the Harry Potter exhibit at their studio, which I really want to go to. I also have an apartment to myself this summer, so please come and visit me! I'm being dead serious. I'll get lonely.

That's about it for now. I'm going to try to blog more frequently this summer, since I'll actually have time to. Also, starting tomorrow, I'm going to start a new segment, called "This Week in Pop Culture," which will highlight all the pop culture things I'm obsessed with for the week. Hope you enjoy!

Back to Reality, Oops It's Insanity

I hate being back in the real world. All I've been doing this week has been moving out and cleaning... no fun. I also only have about $30 in my bank account... oops. And I just had to order textbooks, and we all know what that means...

Bleh.

At least I get to go to California in two days! Brit, Miranda, and I are driving down to Santa Barbara and staying with her grandparents. I've never actually stayed in Cali before, so I'm really excited! I need some time to relax on the beach, read a novel or two, shop with my nonexistent money...it'll be a blast :) Except that I accidentally packed away my swimsuit. Good thinking there, Chels.

I just realized that I never talked about my visit back home to Ohio! It was really great to see my family and some old friends again. Loveland/Cincy seriously never changes. It's great. Although it was hotter than freaking India over there.(Heat Index of 115. Seriously.)

While I was home, I went to dinner with Anna, Mack, and Sam at the Asian Paradise, caught up with Allie over lunch at Panera, and went to lunch at B-Dubs and Hawaiian Ice with Heather. I love these girls. I also caught up with Rachel (it had been over a year!) at Skyline and it was fantastic. I also went to Kings Island with the sibs, which was fun except that they're both serious wimps and chickened out on the big rides.

Not as cool as the real thing. Sorry, Ohio.

Another fun thing I did was a girls night out on the town with Syd and Katie. We saw a concert on Fountain Square (I can't for the life of me remember the name of the band... Ted and the somethings) as well as getting delish Chinese food and having dance parties in alleyways. I also got to see my Mormon buddy Sarah, hahaha.  (Sorry for the Elders, girl! :)

I love downtown Cincy

we're pretty. that's all.

not scared at all. just dancing.

I also went to the Reds v Giants game (we won) and saw Jessica and Heather! It had been wayyy too long since I'd seen those girls, and it was great to catch up.

I wish I could have seen some more of my old friends, but I was only there for a week :( And the thing is, most of us weren't even there. We're all growing up, getting real world internships or going on study abroads or finishing school... it's kinda scary.

So now I'm back in Provo, living it up at work. And getting a pic with NBA professional Jimmer Fredette. nbd.

it was a good day at work

I also went to see Tim McGraw with Leah and Kristen. I am in love. We managed to get better seats than what we paid for, and it basically made our whole night. Not even the crazy drunk lady we wanted to run over could ruin it.

Love me some Timmy

Also, like I said before, see Crazy, Stupid, Love. It's one of the better romcoms I've seen in a loooong time. And Ryan Gosling... enough said.

this.

Bye for now.