snow: 4 days after...

This picture was taken sunday, imagine what it was like thursday/friday...

Negative: you have to dig your car out of that mess

Positive: Serves as protection from bad parkers!

take time to enjoy the simple things in life..

this one is for you mom!

So we've been hit with a solid two days of snow.. I've been trying to explain it to my mom and words just don't do it justice... here are some pictures that I thought might help show what I mean..

This is the entry way to a terrace building.  I just want to add that this is what Ithaca College expects us to walk around it.  The entire campus was like this for hours.  I'm not saying that they didn't do a good job cleaning everything off, it was just too much snow to clean in an hour.  We got a text in the morning from the school saying school was delayed and would be opening at 10 am.  This picture was well into the afternoon, you do the math.

 

parking lot

the amount of snow we got the first NIGHT alone...more came throughout the day

snow banks in my apartment building parking lot

this is Ithaca College's idea of plowing the parking lots.. have fun digging those cars out!

winter wonderland

the snow is back! I swear the weather hasn't been able to make up its mind for the past month and finally has stuck with something.  Unlike the world around me, I thoroughly enjoy the snow.  However with this snow comes messy roads, angry students and wet pants.. but if people were to slow down and take a look around they'd see beautiful scenarios like i do.  Here are a few I took around campus (disregard the quality, they are taken with my phone -- once it stops snowing I'll be out there with my Xsi!)

To my fellow off campus students - I feel your pain -- 2 to 3 inches of snowfall per hour does make cleaning the roads a bit difficult.  This is 96, a road that usually has a total of 4 lanes.  On my way to sign language tonight, there was barely one lane dry enough not to slip all over.  (disclaimer... there was not another person on the road near me and I was completely stopped (yes at a green light but that's besides the point) when I took this snapshot -- I promise I was careful mom!)  :-)

 This is my favorite picture of the day.  I was cleaning off my car at school and noticed the bright red berries, I took a closer look and whipped out my camera.  The simple things in life make me so happy -- like this picture.

oh George

When it comes to eating, george is anything but subtle.  

At least he's able to tell me when he's hungry!   

Please feed me!

best dad take 2

I love that my dad does business over at Cornell because it allows me to see him randomly :-)   today he called me when I was at the gym (I had been forewarned that he may be calling today to see me so I brought my phone with me) and I jumped right off my bike, into the shower and he picked me up outside the gym!  Talk about service :-)   We decided to try out a diner right off campus that we had tried to eat at before but it was closed - thankfully it was open!

Dad had a philly cheese-steak and I had a chicken parm sandwich, lunch was delicious!!  I even had leftovers so I don't have to cook tonight!  Thank you Sunset Grill. So glad I got to see my dad :-) 

ps. notice the stache? For some reason he is growing a mustache and it totally threw me off.  I kept on giggling, I felt like I should be addressing him as Mr. Brown not dad.

love you padre 

just dance, it'll be ok

I've been out of the states for two reasons.  1. when I went to Mexico when I was in high school (this was mainly by default, thanks to my sister ;-) ) and 2. to go to Canada, but that really shouldn't count (i've been to Canada countless times, I'm from Buffalo what do you expect?).  Don't get me wrong, I've been to lots of different places in the states Florida, California, Maine, Michigan, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Nevada and have loved every minute of it but I want more.  I'm annoyed with having all of these great ideas of places to travel to and not being able to.  I feel stuck, almost helpless and it drives me crazy.  i want to go places and do different things.  I want to experience everything that I can while I'm young and not tied down to a job or a apartment/house or anything. 

I'm tired of restrictions, I'm annoyed with being told no.  I'm anxious for what lies before me, I am so thankful for what I've been able to do but I just can't shake this feeling - it's like I'm trapped.  I want to make my own adventures.

now that's a bike.

This picture threw me off so much, I had to look twice.  Not going to lie, it's a pretty sweet ride.

My ideal desk

this would be awesome.  anything that allows me to have some kind of pet at work -- I'm there!

Not fun.

Hey it might be cold in ithaca, but at least my car doesn't look like this every morning!

Seriously, this would stink.

Domino Effect Commercial

Just do it - domino effect -- check out this cool commercial for Nike

Hallmark Holiday

"Hallmark holiday" is a disparaging term, used predominantly in the United States, to describe a holiday that is perceived to exist primarily for commercial purposes, rather than to commemorate a traditionally significant religious or secular event.  Gift givers often feel pressured to give a gift on those days as told by advertisers or society that one is expected. Men are heavily marketed too near Valentine's Day by jewelry, chocolate, and other companies to give their products as gifts to the women in their life. (thanks wikipedia)

While I am one of the firm non believers in this holiday, my dad has always made a special effort to get me something, always opening my eyes to how lucky I am to have him in my life.  This year was no different, flowers were the special surprise this year...

and beautiful flowers I might add!!  

Thanks daddy!

Not only did I get flowers from my dad as a surprise, Marc ended up nothing being about to go visit his brother in Virginia so he spent his break from school with me! He came up on Saturday and left Tuesday afternoon.  It was a nice change being able to have a face to face conversation with him about my day instead of having to talk on the phone or ichat.  I could really get used to it!  To bad is break is over, and it's back to reality for us :-(  But it was fun while it lasted!

fisheye lens

my next paycheck (well at least $40) will be going towards an Opteka .35x HD2 Super Wide Angle Panoramic Macro Fisheye Lens.. so I can take pictures like this...

Bikram Yoga = calorie burning/sweat box

This morning was the first time I have ever done yoga, let alone yoga in an incredibly hot room.  Swink and I have been work out buddies for the past few weeks and have really been trying to do different things and just have fun with it.  We had heard of a deal at a local Bikram Yoga facility -- 10 straight days for $20.  Even if we only went twice it would totally be worth it, we figured.  ( a normal session costs on average $15-$20 per visit).  So we set our alarms, grabbed towels, filled up our water bottles and headed out for our 6:45 AM class.  Bikram Yoga was well .... an experience.


Bikram Yoga is named after its founder - Bikram Choudhury, who studied Yoga with Bishnu Ghosh.  It is a specific sequence of 26 yoga poses performed in a room with temperature of at least 105 degrees Fahrenheit which allows muscles to get warmed up quickly, enabling deeper stretching which lessens the chance of injury. Each Yoga Pose was performed twice and held for a certain period of time.  It’s the amount of calories burned in Bikram Yoga that makes this type of yoga so popular though.  I entered in some information about my weight and the length of time we exercised... in just 90 minutes, I burned just under 900 calories.  I couldn't believe it.  Bikram yoga is thought to be one of the best ways to clense you bodies of toxins.  Your skin is one of the best waste disposal systems in nature.  While it is different from your waste-extraction organs like kidneys or livers, your skin is an equally effective organ for removing waster, especially toxic wastes.  It does this through sweat -- that's why Bikram Yoga provides the perfect way for 'detoxification' to happen. 


The class was intimidating.  I was placed between two, what I would call 'advanced' yoga goers and was shown up on EVERY single pose.  I couldn't believe how hot it was, how much I was sweating, I could barely understand what the instructor was yelling at us, how thirsty I was oh and did I mention how hot it was?  I noticed that the instructor would open the door for a quick second, or crack the window just a bit to let some cooler air in but never once did I get any of that air my way.  Next time.. I'm plopping myself right next to the door.  You could tell we were beginners but I didn't feel judged at all.  If I wasn't doing something right, our instructor would come over and help me get the correct form.


Sometimes I couldn't really understand our instructor, he talked really quickly.  It was kind of funny when he kept picking on the two of us.. telling swink ' I see you are not as flexible as your friend Katie' and telling me things like 'us skinny people ((did i mention he was probably about 80 pounds at most?)) us skinny people, we make our hands touch -- now touch!' I pushed my physical boundaries further than I have in a long time and it was cool to see what my body could do - especially under such extremes.


Lessons for next time:  I will bring more (possible frozen) water, bring another towel, strategically place myself next to a door and drink more water the night before.  All in all, my first session was a good experience and something I'm looking forward to doing again, if not for the sweat then for all the calories I'll be burning!

Super Bowl XLIV Commercials

I had work last night from 6-10 so I was unable to watch ANY of the game... not that it really mattered to me because a. the bills weren't playing and b. because I only really like the commercials anyways  (this would be a completely different story if I liked either team/if the Bills were in the playoffs -- one day. one day)


So my quest for the featured commercials had begun.  So far, Fanhouse has been the best site to watch the top ads.  Just wanted to share this link with others, like myself who may have missed a few commercials (or all of them) during the game.  Enjoy!!!!  

let's face it...

We all know that the Super Bowl is known for the high-profile advertisements that air during during breaks of the game and that some of the viewers aren't watch just for the game but for the commercials instead.  The game itself typically ranks very highly in the Nielsen ratings, reaching more than 90 million viewers.  Prices for advertising space can typically cost millions of dollars; 30 seconds of advertising time during the 2010 telecast is expected to cost US $3.01 million.  The high price tag of the commercials all but promises that they will be spectacular and innovative.  The commercials are often highly anticipated, generating much buzz even before the game is played usually because of their innovation or sense of humor.  Each year, viewers vote to rank their favorite commercials.  By Monday, dozens of websites will feature most if not all of the commercials from the day before, just in case you missed any.

Thanks to msnbc, you can now view all commercials in bracket format resulting in your ultimate favorite ad from the game.. so for those of you who have bad memory (like me) or just happen to miss a few commercials, check out Ad Showdown.  While this particular 'showdown' is from last year, expect to see something very similar on Monday....   enjoy!