{Now, From the Beginning}

Summer began as soon as I put down my pen at the end of my last final.

It was finally time for summer, oh glorious summertime.

Us girls in B528 decided earlier that week to have one last girls night out that Thursday. It was more of a girls evening out, as we had to be back in Westwood later for prior engagements...

Allison took us to Lemonade, one of her favorite restaurants on Abbot Kinney in Venice. {I love, love, love Abbot Kinney- the shops, the atmosphere and the vibe.... I would like to live there one day if I was to stay in L.A.}

Going through all my photos, one will notice that I have some sort of weird obsession with taking photos while driving somewhere.... and with alleys. 

I don't know where these two obsessions sprout from, 

but one day I will have to do some posts about them so the world can try and understand... 

and maybe it will help me understand why I just have to take photos of 

cars and art in alleys. 

Mural in the parking alley behind Abbot Kinney

Lemonade is all about picnic foods- yum. 

{the kale salad and the  truffle mac and cheese were delicious!!!}

and of course, different types of lemonade... 

like blood orange lemonade and ginger pear lemonade. 

Coconut Cake and Lemon Meringue Tart

When we got back from Lemonade, we all quickly dispersed to our other activities.... but later that night Allison and I {Anjali was still out at this point} decided to start taking down our decorations together- we wanted to make it a fun, rather than a sad, experience. 

I loved our room so much- I loved my roommates and I love the atmosphere we created in our tiny dorm room. 

{Tea time, anyone?}

I remember when I first walked into B528- 

I was the last to arrive and both Allison and Anjali had already unpacked and set up shop- I saw Allison's tea set and turned to my mom and said 

"there's tea, I'll be okay! This will be a good year." 

Below are a few pictures taken of our room throughout the year... 

I collect way too many things... but I love every single one of them and I couldn't
imagine my life without my semi-organized clutter!

The tea set. 

Allison taking down her poster.

Allison and I decided to leave up the lights until the morning, it would have been too sad to take them down. 

So, we kept them on and lo and behold- our friends started coming over 

to celebrate the end of the year with us. 

At one point every surface was occupied-

 everyone was so merry, eating, drinking, laughing. 

It was a very magical way 

{sounds so cheesy, I know...} 

to end our time on Birch 5.  

Photo's a bit blurry... but we all were in a state of blurriness... haha.

The lights stayed on and the impromptu party didn't break up until sunrise. 

Then it was Friday and time for us all to leave. 

The year was over. 

The closets were cleaned out. 

The walls back to bare white.

And the room was left empty. 

The last school year went by so fast, I could hardly believe it!

I had such a good time spending time with friends from Freshman year and

getting to know more friends throughout last year. 

Thanks to everyone who made last year amazing and I wish you a great upcoming year

and I will see you all again the following year! 

{Where to Start?}

My goal for the summer was to post more often-

to chronicle all the fun things that summer is all about... 

but of course I was busy doing all those fun things and not at my computer typing away! Well, now is the time to catch up while I have a bit of time before my next big adventure. 

Where to start? 

I suppose I should start at the beginning of the summer, but I feel that I should really start at this moment, actually, yesterday seems like a good place to start. 

Then I will work my way through to the start of summer, 

a bit out of order, but oh well. 

Stay tuned! 

...

Yesterday morning, literally at the crack of dawn, 

Mom and Dad {and Dash, too!} sent me off from SFO. 

I flew to Washington D.C. so I can visit our beloved Aunt Mary for a few days, 

then I am off to Lyon, France for the year. 

for. the. year.

I can't believe it! 

I have so many emotions about the whole thing rolling around in me that I don't know how to sort through them to really understand how I am feeling. 

I really don't like change, so of course I am a bit anxious about 

everything that comes with change: 

change of scenery, meeting new people, a new university, etc. 

I was also so sad to have to say goodbye to my family- the longest I have been away from home and my family was about 9 weeks! 

Having to say goodbye to André the night before, and to my parents at the airport as I rushed through security early yesterday morning was hard. 

But I did it. 

And of course I am so excited for the things/adventures/opportunities to come! 

I get to meet new people, see and learn new things, have new experiences!

Preparing for my Junior year abroad has been in the works for the last year: 

deciding where to go, 

applying {twice...Vito, the advisor, getting angry with me...

that's a whole other story! yikes!}, 

and then all the paper work- including applying for my 12-month visa. 

{I did have a great conversation with the Congolese guard of the French Consulate, he gave me a brief history lesson about Arabic and Swahili!} 

But really I have to admit that this whole thing really has been in the works for years: 

I grew up with stories of my mom's Junior year abroad in France and Germany and I always felt that it was a mandatory step for my personal education and growth, my dad grew up living in Paris and going to school in Switzerland and ever since living in Paris for a year of high school, I have been anxious to move back to France.

So in a way I have been expecting this for a while now, 

but it seems crazy that the day has now come 

and  here I am on the eve of my next great adventure: 

living in Lyon!

Thought I would share my collection of passport photos...haha.

Now, I hope that I can squeeze in posts about what I have been up to this summer before I head off to France!

{Memorial Day Weekend 2012: Part Dos}

On Sunday we headed over to A.G. and wandered the Strawberry Festival. 

We ate a lot, drank homemade root beer and got toe rings.

I found this postcard in one of the shops in the village.

Later that afternoon Tyler took us all to his family's ranch where we cut our own lettuce, shot guns and picked our own avocados. 

Lettuce and pellets. 

Aubrey's photo of the Gang hanging out at the Ranch in the afternoon

I was sooo excited about picking our own avocados.... I mean R.E.A.L.L.Y excited....
I can't wait for them to ripen!

Alex took this photo of Christine, Michelle and me with our bag of avocados 

Tyler drove us on Monday to Santa Barbara so we could hop the train to L.A.

It was ridiculously stressful getting there {we almost missed it...} and we

had to make a mad dash from the car to the train.

But once on the train, it was smooth sailing and we hunkered down to do homework

while we watched the beach goers enjoy their Memorial Day holiday from the windows. 

Overall, it was a superb weekend...

filled with lots of laughs, strawberries and great memories.

{Memorial Day Weekend 2012: Part Uno}

Last year Aubrey invited us up to Arroyo Grande, right next to San Luis Obispo for Memorial Day Weekend festivities. 

Her home town of Arroyo Grande holds a Strawberry Festival every year to start off strawberry season. 

{last year I even participated in the Strawberry Stampede 5K....haha, fun times...} 

and this year the annual party grew, and so did the fun! 

On Friday I hitched a ride with Aly and Christine... 

Friday evening, we all met up at Avila for their Friday night farmer's market before having dinner with Aubrey's family. 

Saturday morning we went to Avila Valley Farm and we all piled onto the hayfilled trailer and took a tractor ride through the ranch. 

We also bought their homemade fudge from their little Sweet Shoppe. 

the family portrait of the trip

Then we headed off to the SLAM-JAM, hosted by some of the local longboarders for some windy entertainment. 

transportation up the hill 

 We stumbled upon some kind of Native American tribute/fire pit... 

it included a cow skull and painted tree stumps. 

It was so cold and windy we had to grab a sleeping bag from Tyler's car to keep us warm.

While we were bundled in our sleeping bag trying not to freeze, we noticed this goat

 {there was also a baby goat that would come up every once in a while} 

on the side of the hill.

It had a collar and a leash... later we saw the owner appear and it looked like they were just on their morning walk...

It reminded us of the Arroyo Grande police blotter that we read they night before...

apparently two goats were found roaming the beach while their owner 

went for her morning run. 

Only in AG.