THE BIG TWO-ONE

Happy Birthdayyyy, Amelia && Kathryn!

I know it's a few hours away but I'm just gunna be early with this post :))

You guys are getting so old! ;) Yay for another year; the world and everyone in it is so lucky that you're celebrating another! I'm so excited to welcome you to the 21+ club! Helloooo bartender!

I hope both of you have amazing days tomorrow and none of your teachers try anything crazy in class.. like making you work hard or giving a quiz. That also goes for your LSAT instructor, Amelia.

I expect full on celebrations for becoming a part of the legal club!

Love you both tons and tons!

Trundle for life!

XOXO, E

Exciting

Today Rihanna announced the addition of J.Cole to her tour this summer! I'm so excited and definitely going to take a trip to Sunrise or ATL to see them.

Spring football practice started today and clearly that means is football season is slowly getting closer :) Okay, I know it's months and months away, but I'm excited. I won't be here for the spring game... which is sad BUT I will be in PCB soakin up the sun and drinkin' the weekend away in 17 days!

One month from today I will be DONE with my undergrad days in college. My mentality has changed and I cannot wait to be done. All that stands in my way is 1 speech, 1 paper, and 4 tests. 

Counting down.... can't wait for a summer without schoolwork!

I hope everyone enjoys their last month of this school year! I know I'm making the most of it.

XOXO, E

FEMME FATALE

Britney's new album is finally here!!!

The new dance album has once again shown it really is Britney, bitch! All the songs are so amazing and have that classic Britney flavor. She's such an amazingly beautiful betch!!!!!

Some of my favorites:
* Till the World Ends
* Inside Out
* Don't Keep Me Waiting
* Seal it with a Kiss
* Selfish
* Gasoline
*I Wanna Go

If Adele and Britney had a tour together it would literally make my year! Ahhhhhh so much talent

Everyone, listen to the new album.. OR ELSE!

XOXO, A

Schools Out for the Summer...

Ok, so maybe it's not out yet.. but it will be in 31 DAYS!

I don't know about the rest of you, but I CANNOT wait for the semester to be over. I'm definitely feeling the out with the old and in with the new mentality when it comes to this semester.

Fall '11 is going to be amazing, I can already tell. But, summer is definitely going to be a much needed break from the usual crap that is the school year.

Hope you're all as excited as I am!

XOXO, A

P.S. anyone been gearing up those bikini bods??? Lol

It's Always Nice to Know You're not Alone

This week starts the final countdown until Relay for Life here at FSU. As most of my friends know, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was in the seventh grade. She fought and beat the breast cancer and then later was diagnosed with a skin cancer. Thankfully, she also fought and beat that. My mother is one of the strongest people I know and I hope that if I were to ever be faced with something as serious and life-threatening as she was, I would be able to be as strong as she has been and continues to be.

Today during chapter, it was inspiring to hear and see how many people have been faced with similar situations I have been faced with. It is touching to know there are other people close to you who have been through similar battles. Everyone says that cancer affects everybody somehow but I don't know how many people realize how true that statement is. Think about it... even if your life hasn't been directly changed by someone close to you having it, chances are your best friend or your boyfriend or girlfriend or your roommate or your good friend was. Know the facts. Know that cancer is a sensitive subject that everyone should be aware of. Understand that it's random and happens to all kinds of people of every race, in every city, state, and country, to people of every social class. Cancer knows no boundaries. Anyone can have it and it can change anyone's life in an instant.

If you're someone at Florida State reading this, I hope that you'll wear purple this week to show your support for those donating and putting in time to funding any research and ultimately a cure, to show your support for those who have lost someone, for those who are honoring someone, and to honor someone yourself - someone who may be fighting the battle now, someone who may have survived their fight, or someone who may have lost their battle.

If you're not at Florida State reading this, I hope you will make an effort to become more aware about the facts of cancer and help spread awareness about this life-altering disease.

To donate please visit this website: Relay at FSU
And if you want to donate personally to me: Donate to Erika

We all Relay for our own reasons. Mine is my mom.

XOXO, E

Stress

Why can't the things you want in life the most be easy? I'm so sick and tired of people saying, "the harder something is the more worthwhile it makes it". Please spare me the Dr. Phil words of wisdom. Busting your butt and having no life in hopes to accomplish something in the foreseeable future sucks.

It is nice to have a close group of friends who are there to support you and to bring a laugh when times get hard. To those of you who have been there, you're awesome! <3 

XOXO, A

Get In the Kitchen!

Tonight for dinner, Kathryn and I decided to make one of our favorite meals, shrimp pizza! Whenever I tell people about it, they usually look at me like I'm crazy and/or disgusting. To all the naysayers out there, I'm going to show you how amazing this pizza really is!! And if seafood isn't your thing, well then make up your own pizza and share your recipe.

Shrimp Pizza
* Start by preheating your oven at 450 degrees. If you have a pizza stone, put it in while the oven's preheating so it gets nice and hot. (If you don't have one, a cookie sheet also works)

Ingredients
* One Publix premade pizza dough (you can find it in the bakery)
* 1/2 pound of shrimp
* Spinach (or arugula if you like. If not you can skip this)
* 1/2 of a decent sized yellow onion
*  2 cloves of garlic
* Mozzarella cheese (eye ball it)
* Provolone cheese (eye ball it)

* In a sautee pan, put some olive oil and onions in at a medium high heat
* Once those become translucent, put in shrimp and chopped up garlic.
* After, put some salt, pepper, garlic powder and dried oregano

*When that's finished roll out the pizza dough.

*Put the spinach down, and then put the shrimp mixture on top

*Put as much cheese as you like and then stick it in the oven.
* Keep an eye out on it, the pizza usually cooks around 5 to 8 minutes depending on the oven

Hope you try it out! It's so yummy!

XOXO, A

What's With All the Green?

So today was St. Patrick's day and the sea of green clothing and accessories barfed all over Tallahassee. Maybe it's because I'm not Irish, but I just don't see the point in this holiday. I don't enjoy getting pinched because I refuse to wear green, I don't enjoy seeing drunk people before noon, I don't enjoy the craziness that is DUI checkpoints because people make poor life choices and decide to drink and drive, overall I just don't enjoy this day. Teaches are suggested to give tests so students will think twice about drinking. Well, I wasn't planning on drinking anyways, and as a result I don't not appreciate unwanted tests to correct other peoples foolish behavior.

Don't get me wrong, I really do feel bad for hating on this holiday, but come on... is there really a need for an elaborate celebration? I bet if you went up and asked people randomly what this holiday is actually about that you would probably not get the right answer. People focus too much on the commercialized green beer and less on it's actual significance.

Anyways, that's enough bitching about this topic. Hope everyone who actually enjoys this holiday looked as good as they could in that hideous green and celebrated this day responsibly!

XOXO, A

Time Change

I don't know about you all, but I love when the time changes. Most people bitch because they "lose an hour".  Personally, I don't see the big difference of going ahead one hour. It's so nice for it to be 7pm and still sunny out. Nothing screams "summer/school is almost out" like the time change.

Hope everyone is enjoying it as much as I am. Go lay out and get tan, betches!!!!

XOXO, A

An Afternoon Rant

Hope everyone's Sunday is going well. But what would the day of rest be without a bit of my bitching???

Topic of the day: registering for classes..

Why is it that the lovely FSU thinks its okay to literally offer 12 classes for a major? That is NOT acceptable. Not only are there limited classes to choose from, but then they also have time conflicts. Making the perfect senior year schedule is starting to become annoying and a little scary. Is it so hard to ask for more classes that don't conflict?? I think not.

Hope all of you who are in the registering boat are having more luck than I am!!

XOXO, A

The Beginning of the End

After waking up and seeing a beautiful sunrise over an ocean for a couple of days straight, it's not that exciting to be back in Tally.

I had an amazing time with my girls, Kara, Kelsey, and Taraneh. The hotel we stayed at was amazing and Myrtle Beach was gorgeous. Watching the sunrise I had a few moments where I contemplated life and all it has to offer, haha, and I've decided I can't, because I don't want to, live far from the ocean.

Now that spring break is over, it's sadly time to get back to business. There's only about 6 weeks of classes left and all that means for me is graduation.

You'd think I'd be a little excited about graduating but instead, miserable is a more accurate description. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to be done with classes for a bit but I still have no definite plan as to what's next for me. I also can't grasp the concept of leaving FSU. It's not okay that I don't know where I'll be come football season.

It's crunch time - time to keep those grades up, lose the weight I gained over break, figure out my next step in life, and have an amazing end to my senior year!

I hope everyone had an amazing break from school... such a tease. Hopefully everyone has a great end to the semester. Usually the weeks after spring break fly by.

XOXO, E

21/Femme Fatale

I've been playing Adele and Britney on repeat lately!

Rolling in the Deep, Hold it Against Me, Set Fire to the Rain, Till the World Ends, they are just a few of  the many great songs from these talented ladies.

It's crazy to think that Adele is only 22 and has such a powerful sound filled with so much soul. And need I say anything other than it's Britney, bitch?? She's just a pop star staple.

Adele's new album has been out for about a month now, but finally it's hit number one on the charts, which is much deserved!!! Britney's album is expected to come out March 29th, and I cannot wait!

It's so nice to see such talented beautiful women dominate the charts. Keep up the good work ladies!

XOXO, A&E

Spring Edition of FFUs

Spring time is not officially here until A&E break out our famous FFUs for the season!!

Spring Break is here for some and quickly approaching for others so it's very important to keep some of these fashion don'ts in mind when planning your break trips and adventures.

Ladies,

* Don't wear heels in the sand. Year after year I see this and don't understand the point of seeing women tirelessly try to tread through the sand. Heels are mean for pavement, not the sand!

* Bras and underwear do NOT equal bathing suits. Keep those for under your clothes ladies, not the main show at the beach. Yeah your underwear might look cute now, but go check out what it looks like once it gets wet. I'll give you a hint.. it's not cute.

* Thong bikinis... hmmm. Don't get me wrong, I too am a woman and love my body, but you seriously need to be confident as hell and have one amazing ass to pull this off. I'm going to leave it at that.

* Don't cake on the make up. There's nothing worse than seeing a girl at the beach melt her face off. Give your face a break and show everyone your natural beauty.

Gentlemen,

* Save some mystery for the ladies, don't feel the need to break out the speedo on the beach....

* Socks with your sandals not only makes you look like a 65 year old, it's also a great way to get a horrible tan line.

* The classic Hawaiian shirt. Unless you're actually in Hawaii, those can be left at home.

* Don't be too hairy. Yeah, I said it. Men expect women to be groomed and guess what men, same goes for you! Sure some women like a little hair (and I'm not saying to get too carried away). But nothing is nastier than a slimy hairy back laying out on the beach.

Hope everyone is staying fashionably fierce!!

XOXO, A&E

Just What the Doctor Ordered!

While I've been soaking up bronchitis instead of the sun this Spring Break, it occurred to me.. Yeah, the 5 different types of medicine my doctor given me has helped me get on my way back to health, but there are some other things that have also been doing the job. FOOD! Even though this might not have been my ideal way to spend my break, I have gotten to spend time with family, friends, and eat lots of good food.

This morning, Kathryn made french toast! Two words to describe it: AMAZINGLY YUMMY! Challah bread really does make the biggest difference. There are so many ways people like to make french toast, but over at the A household, we really like making it with candied pecans. For any of you who want to be adventuresome, heres the recipe.

For the french toast bater:
* 2 eggs and 1 egg yolk
* Eyeball a nice amount of cinnamon
* Teaspoon of vanilla extract
* 3 rounded tablespoons of brown sugar
* 2 to 3 tablespoons of milk (heavy cream or half and half can also be used)
This cooks up 5 to 6 pieces of challah bread

For the candied nuts:
* 3 tablespoons of butter
* 6 tablespoons of brown sugar
* A splash of cinnamon
* When the sugar comes to a boil, add the nuts. Stir and reduce the heat
* Keep on a low heat until ready to serve

Hope you all try this out!! Let me know what ya think :)

XOXO, A&E

305 Till I Die?

For those of you who know me well enough, you probably know how I have a love hate relationship with Miami. Being born and raised in Miami, I see the appeal that many have when first coming here to visit or on vacation. But living here 24/7 for 18 years shows you the good, the bad, and the extremely ugly. Don't get me wrong, I know a lot of people feel like this when it comes to their hometowns (or so I would think).

Miami might consist of beautiful people, appealing beaches, exciting night life, and much more. But when you live here you also see the horrible driving, the extremely rude people, and the humidity 24/7, just to name a few.

After spending some time with my friend Frankie (who is from Palm Bay) in Miami, I realized that while I complain constantly about being from here, I couldn't imagine growing up anywhere else.

I've had the opportunity to witness a city with so many cultures, beautiful surroundings, and most importantly live near most of my family. So while I might not rep the phrase "305 Till I Die" I will start appreciating the city that given me so much.

XOXO, A

Safety First!

For everyone traveling anywhere for the break, be safe!

We all know how important our text messages are.. but the best thing to do (no matter how hard) is to not read them while we're going 70+ on an interstate. Please, please, please try your hardest to stay undistracted as your making your ways home or wherever you're going. It would be very unfortunate for you to read a message and then it be irrelevant because you're lying in a ditch somewhere.... blunt but let's face it, that's a possibility... or you've sent someone else into a ditch because you've lost control of the wheel.

Be safe! Drive at a reasonable speed! We all know the cops are going to be out like it's nobody's business trying to ticket as many people as they can. Also, more people die - or are injured - from car accidents than you can even imagine. Pleeeease don't let that be you!

Come back in one piece :) Enjoy the school-less, work-less (for some) week! Have a blast; get drunk, soak in the sun, buy new clothes, eat yummy food, laugh all night, see old friends, ENJOY!

Love you all.

XOXO, A&E

Dear Teachers

YOU SUCK for giving three tests on pre-spring break week!

You know everyone is already getting in the spring break mentality, and for you to schedule a test is just down right RUDE.

I know it may have been a while, but you too were once a student and basked in your breaks from classes. Don't be bitter and sympathize with us... afterall you have a job because of US, so you might want to make us happy from time to time!

That's all... and with that, Good Luck to anyone with midterms!

And, for everyone traveling for break, be safe and have lots of fun!

XOXO, A&E