Bonjour!

On Wednesday evening I was accepted into the Atlantis Study Abroad Program with 12 other individuals from DePaul. I almost can't believe I'll be spending my junior year in France & Sweden, but I'm looking forward to it. Guess it's time to start learning some French!

I'm debating about what platform I should use for blogging while I'm in Europe. Should I create a new Posterous or blogger? Should I hold off on my Tumblr account until I go? Or should I just continue doing what I'm doing? Oh the decisions of a techie...

I'm also considering getting an E-reader, mainly for when I go over seas. Prolly won't be able to find many English books over there and reading helps pass the time on flights & trains. I also won't have to lug books around. Right now I'm leaning towards the Nook because you can get magazines. I need to investiage to see if the kindle has this feature. I know the Kindle came out first, but I know people who have chosen the Nook and like it. Looks like I may be utilizing my dad's Consumer Reports magazines when I go home for Spring Break next month :-)

Posted via email from Carrie Emge

February, where did you go?

OMG tomorrow is the last day of February! I swear, for being a short month, it is the most jam-packed. This was the 1st weekend of February where I didn't have any real commitments. It felt good =) Next week I go out to Hartford & NYC for the Big East basketball tournaments with pep band. I'm really looking forward to it!

Today I ventured to Lincoln Perk Cafe. I would have taken pictures, but when I left, it was raining and I just wanted to go home. I was hoping they'd have smoothies, but sadly, they did not. I got a hot chocolate instead, but in all honesty, it wasn't that good. The lady who worked there was nice, but they closed at 4 and I was hoping to stay a little longer to get work done. It sure is a tiny place. With about 8 tables, it's quirky, but in a good way. It's kind of a walk from my apartment so I probably won't come back, but I'm glad I stoped by. When I left I stopped by Austrian Bakery and OMG I LOVE THAT PLACE. Red Velvet cookies w/ white chocolate chip cookies. So good. It's almost a good thing I don't live closer because I would probably go there every day. Speaking of cookies, Yesterday on my way to Dominick's I stumbled upon a Girl Scout selling cookies. I couldn't be anymore excited about this. Cookies in general are my weakness, but Girl Scout cookies? I can't say no. Not because they're delicious, but because I was once a girl scout. That's right, for about 5 years when I was little, I sold them for $3 a box (now they're $4!). I always like to support the Girl Scouts because it was a big part of my childhood & is a good program.

 

Posted via email from Carrie Emge

Did you go out & vote today?

Today I voted in my first Chicago election! In November I voted absentee because I cared about the issues at home. I wanted to vote for the new mayor of Chicago so I changed my voter registration in early December. Since I plan on living here for a while, I might as well uphold my civil duty as a Chicago citizen & cast my vote for who I think would be Daley's best successor

[Source: The Red Eye]

I'm not going to tell you who I voted for, but I am a little miffed I didn't get an "I Voted" sticker at the polling place. Luckily I did not have to wait in line since I went after my afternoon class ended. I did treat myself to a raspberry bar from Sweet Mandy B's after I voted though =)

Posted via email from Carrie Emge

Goal #11

On my "goals for the next 30 days" post, I forgot to add that I wanted to get all the questions correct on a reading quiz for my Intro to Mass Communication class. I would always get one wrong and it was frustrating.

Well, today I finally got them all correct!! Hooray!

The weather was really nice today, but it's still pretty wet. Not good for flats or my Toms though. It's been a while since the sparkles of my shoes have been seen in Lincoln Park. I'm going home this weekend, but it won't be much warmer as I hoped it would be. Stupid weather. It's above freezing though, so I guess I can't complain too much.

One thing I would like to discuss real quick is the art of being on time. "If you're 5 minutes early, you're on time" is a phrase I've heard a lot. It's sort of my motto. It seems as if no one is ever on time anymore. Why is that? It's rude. I freak out if I'm late (this is probably due to the volleyball bus incident of 2005) and I am almost always the first one on time. Even if I'm five minutes late, everyone else is later than me. Yes, we are all busy. But if you were busy, wouldn't you respect others' time by not making them wait? Is this something that happens in the "real world" where people have jobs and important meetings?

That's about all for this post. I better start gathering my things for the journey home!

Posted via email from Carrie Emge

Arts Power Chicago

Chicago will elect a new mayor for the first time in 22 years. Tell the candidates the arts matter - www.artspowerchicago.com/sign-petition.

Posted via email from Carrie Emge

"Day 29"-Goals for the Next 30 Days

So this was one of the 30 day challenge posts that I wrote in my screenwriting journal. It didn't fill up a lot of space, but I thought I'd post it because I do not want to work on my paper.

30 Days from now will be March 16 and it will be finals week (that's hard to believe!). So, here are things I want to have accomplished by then

1. Have Big Comic Locked Down
2. Have idea of what I'm doing as After Hours FEST assistant
3. Have an A in all my classes going into finals
4. Know what I'm doing next school year. I am really caught in between studying abroad & running for E-board of DAB. I just wish a voice from above  would tell me what to do because I have no clue where I want to go in my life.
5. Have applied for at least 2 summer internships. Hopefully Gorilla Chicago will have an internship posted by then as well because I'd really like to intern there.
6. Try a new recipe (cooking wise, but baking will suffice)
7. Have laughed every day
8. Talk to someone I haven't talked to in a while
9. Finish the site (Champagne Jelly) I started on for Aaron and Chase
10. Because I wanted to have 10...[it's a nice number for things like these) Lose 5 pounds (why not I say?)

I'll report back when finals are over to tell you if I have accomplished these

Posted via email from Carrie Emge

Happy 1st birthday Blog!

I didn't realize until a few days ago that I've had this blog for a year now! Woo hoo!

Week 6 highlights

Wow, this week was absolutely nuts! After being spoiled with a super long weekend, I had to hit the books to prepare for my midterms that were supposed to be the week before. I officially survived my first Chicago blizzard! But now our bathroom faucet isn't working very well. Luckily the maintenance man is coming over tomorrow to fix it.

Today was extremely cold, but it's supposed to get to the 30 range this weekend, so that's something to look forward to. I wore the sleeping bag coat all week. I decided that when I unzip it & walk down the hall I feel like Severus Snape =) Luckily I only had to give 1 tour this week (everyone else was smart & decided not to tour DePaul when it's 5 degrees). This weekend is the DAB retreat. Friday (tomorrow) we are doing activities with general board and...

IF I SEE ANOTHER AD FOR JUST GO WITH IT I AM GOING TO STRANGLE SOMEONE.

Sorry, back to DAB. On Saturday, E-board & the coordinators are doing some team building. I think it will help DAB grow and become even better. All of my Winter Quarter events have happened so I am in the process of planning Spring quarter. I am looking forward to these events as well as the Big Comic event. I have been thinking about running for the Exec Board (VP of Internal Administration to be exact). The applications go out next week. Speaking of applications, I submitted my SIGGRAPH Student Volunteer application yesterday! I think it would be a really great experience & I've never been to Vancouver before. I wish I knew someone else going, but hopefully I'll make some new friends (that is, if I get accepted. I'll find out in April). April seems so far away, but I'm starting to get spring fever, a much as I love wearing sweaters. I registered for spring quarter classes which is hard to believe I am about 2/3 done with sophomore year. I'm still enjoying my classes this quarter. There are none that I absolutely hate. I hope I'll be able to handle the early morning classes next quarter, but maybe I'll be able to be more productive... and maybe I'll be drinking more caffeine.

Other highlights of today included picking up my painted bowl from glazed expressions!

I can't wait to use it! I also baked my apple cherry stuffed chicken from Whole Foods today! It was about the size of my 2 fists, but soo good! I have about 3/4 left so I won't have to cook for a while (I may be sick of Chicken by the end though haha). I absolutely love the meats from Whole Foods. All I have to do is put them in the oven & have a delicious meal!!

Well, I've rambled a lot. I need to go clean up my desk a little...

 

Posted via email from Carrie Emge

Ode to Downtown Belleville

The above picture was taken from the Kaskaskia Engineering Group web site (http://www.kaskaskiaeng.com/). I did a lot image resizing and other small tasks related to the website at my internship this summer at AKA. Anyway, it kind of reminds me a little bit of Armitage, which I blogged about a little while back. D-town Belleville has been a big part of my life since I was a child. I took dance lessons at Belleville School of Ballet for about 6 years. The Pasta House (when it was still there) was a frequent dining place, as well as Bread Co. I had my 13th birthday party at Pasta House. It was a dinner party for my whole class. When I would get toted around with my dad on his errands, Marvin's Camera was usually a stop. I don't know what the source is, but it smells. so. good.

The Lincoln Theater is always nice. It's the closest and the cheapest. The snacks are cheap & if you bring your cup, you get a cheap refill! Everyone knows someone who has Lincoln cups. I am the person who has the cups in my group of friends :-) [pic taken from website]
Other fabulous places include Curt Smith, B&G Music, Blanquart's, Bracelts & More, and Ben Franklin. I have gotten a couple Vera products from Ben's. :-)

D-town Belleville also has Art on the Square! In May it has one of the most nationally known art shows in teh country. It's where my mom got the most beautiful floral photograph after my grandpa died. Usually we just go and look around, and don't end up buying anything. But that particular photograph grabbed my mom. This was taken by my friend Mike last year:

So yea, D-town Belleville has kind of "been there" for me and is a big part of who I am. I tried my first gyro at Acropolis. Cedar Leaf is on the outskirts which is where I had my senior pics. They are the company that did my parents' engagement & wedding photos as well. Next to Cedar Leaf is Maxwell's which is my absolute favorite restaurant. Makes me hungry just thinking about it. It's got a helluva variety on their menu (everything's delish), the owner is always around & they send out b-day anniversary coupons. I would often go there w/ my friend Amy because it was her fav place too. We've almost know each other too well.

Even though I live in Chi now and plan on living here for a long time, I still love my hometown area. Belleville is not my home, but it's the next town over and was a place for fun in high school. SoIL will always have a place in my heart <3

Message from my Dad

Eeee! Just noticed I have 2 followers! Yay =)

With all of the severe weather we have been having this winter,
the Department of Transportation issued a travel warning. They
suggest that anyone traveling in the current icy conditions should
have the following:

ShovelWinter
Blankets or sleeping bag
Extra clothing including coats, hats and gloves
24 hours worth of food
De-icer
Rock salt
Flashlight and spare batteries
Road flares or reflective triangles
Empty gas can
Booster cables

I looked like an idiot on the bus this morning.

Tumblr Account Coming Soon

Spring Break 2011

Posted via email from Carrie Emge

SNOWPOCALYPSE

So a snowstorm has hit the midwest and has earned the name "SNOWPOCALYPSE." The whole university shut down this afternoon. Classes were canceled, buildings closed and tomorrow is closed as well. Everyone here at DePaul is in a great mood & so excited to have a snow day (which rarely come around). This evening my roommates & I braved the winds and snow and journeyed to our friends' apartment for a delicious dinner of lasagna. I don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow, but the rest of the night will be spent bonding w/ my roomies & Netflix.

See the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from Carrie Emge