Monday, June 25, 2007

They're coming to America...

Well, I finally left good old Townsville after staying up all night on Tuesday night, the 12th. Thanks to Maren, Kaz, Ben, Betty, and Jaime for coming over to hang out, and especially to Jaime who stayed all night! I handed in my thesis at about 5pm and then pretty much packed all night. It was pretty hectic and also super exciting to finally be done and making my way back home.


This was taken from the plane leaving Sydney I think. One of the four planes I took anyways.



30 hours later, driving to Boulder. The amazing view of the mountains.



A nice view of the flatirons from downtown Boulder



Thursday night Eric and I went out to a nice celebratory dinner at Mateo. I had the veggie risotto which was pretty good, and Eric had the lamb which, I must admit, was pretty damn tasty. Yes, I actually tried a bite. After dinner, and my shock that it was still light out at 9pm, we headed to one of my favorite Boulder bars - the Catacombs, for "Geeks who Drink" - pub trivia. So fun!


We joined a random team and ended up winning! Hell yeah!



More pictures of the flatirons.



A busker on the Pearl Street Mall



Random outdoor cafe



The Dushanbe Teahouse. This place is awesome and has some really great peanut noodles.

Bret, Eric and I were sitting at the Mountain Sun when all of a sudden we saw a crowd of naked bicyclists ride by. By the time I got my camera out I was only able to snap a pic of the naked unicyclist. Definitely one of those "only in Boulder" moments.



Back in Syracuse a few days later. Met my dad for some beers at Coleman's Irish pub. This is the leprechaun door.


And of course the leprechaun telephone. Hey, we don't need leprechauns driving home drunk!



Especially when we have street lights like this.



After the beers, headed to a ball field to watch my cousin win his little league championship.



The oldest Wegmans in Syracuse. Old school.



Went shopping for a bridesmaid dress for my sister's wedding. All the dresses were a size 8, so they were about 3-4 sizes too big. That is my mom crouching behind me holding my dress tight so that it doesn't fall off. I have to say, having a camera is very handy for dress shopping.



30+ dresses later this is the one I finally picked. It is going to be a dark chocolate brown. And it will also be in my size so that it fits. You can get an idea of how it will look when it's actually the right size by looking at the pic below. It's the one on the left. I love it and can't wait to try the right sized one on. It takes 4 months to come in, so that won't be 'til I'm back for Christmas probably. Ah well.

So, my mission in Boulder was partly successful. Still no job, but I did find a place to live. It's in a house where a bunch of my friends have lived in the past, and my friend Mary lives there still. It's 2 blocks from the hiking trails, and walking distance to the Fox and to downtown. It also has a backyard and Mary is into gardening too so that will rock. Can't wait to move back at the end of July! Til then, I am working on getting a catering job or something similarly temporary that pays decent, and also just hanging out with my family and relaxing for once. If your anywhere near Syracuse, give me a call!!

I'll keep updating with pics and whatnot, but it probably won't be as often since there's not much going on at the moment.


Casino Night

One last night out with Kaz, Ben and Betty...



I borrowed a dress from Kaz....guess frilly pink isn't me...



Much better.




First we went out for Thai food...



We got adventurous and ordered the Flying Horse appetizer...It was supposed to have pork and shrimp on it... and we thought it would be served warm. We were apparently wrong on all accounts. It wasn't bad, but it was rather interesting tasting...



Very interesting...




Karen and Ben discussing Flying Horse



At the casino cafe enjoying a hot cocoa and amaretto



A view of the casino from the cafe



We couldn't take any pics in the casino, but I won $20 at roulette so that was fun.







The evil pose



It was cold out



Palm tree gnomes!!

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Farewell Party

Sorry for the lack of updates lately, but not that much has been going on. Unless you count 12hour shifts in the computer lab working on my thesis. And running a billion errands to get ready to move countries. It's like everything I did last summer but in reverse. Cancel cell phone, close bank account, etc. Tomorrow (Monday) I will be completing my final corrections and submitting my final thesis on Tuesday. Then leaving on Wednesday morning at about 5am! Crazy! I am SO SO SO excited to go back to Boulder and to go home too. And to be done with my Masters program!! Woohoo!

So last weekend we had a little farewell party for me. Drank a bit at my house then went to the good ole bowling alley. I've already posted a ton of pictures of bowling, so I'll spare you most of them and just post a few.



The rainbow behind my house before the party.



The end of the rainbow!!



We ordered a ton of pizzas! They are cheap here!



Waitin for the cab.



Nice group shot. Karen, Jaime, Betty, Ben and me.



Lacin up my clown shoes!



OK, so the laces were a bit long! I thought this look was in style!! hehe