Punxy Wedding

Remember how I was telling you guys about my friend’s “destination” wedding in Punxsutawney? It was this past weekend, and it was definitely the best wedding I’ve ever been to. Not that I’m an experienced wedding-goer or anything, but it was so perfect. Beautiful bride? Check. Great food? Check. Open bar? Check. Doing the Macarena and body surfing to Nirvana? Check and Check! We also ended out the night doing a bar crawl and trying to crash an exclusive party with some of the groom’s friends. So. Much. Fun.

RIP

I always get frustrated about getting so sad when a celebrity I love dies, since people think you're stupid to care about someone you never met. But I must say, I am pretty upset about Michael Jackson. He was such a big part of my childhood, all my siblings and I were obsessed. I didn't really think my childhood idol would die until we were both much older. It's a really sad shocking thing. But you know, I just want to say, there was really no one cooler. I hope now people will remember him in a good light.

Back home

Just so you know, Williamsburg is really awesome. I never realized how much there is to do down there though- too bad we only stayed two days. I still had a great time though, and got to see the two main parks that I wanted to. At Busch Gardens, we went on all the roller coasters, including the Griffon, the one with two 90 degree drops. I think that might be the perfect roller coaster- you totally feel like you're flying! We also saw the old colonial part of town, I learned a ton, and we ate at a really nice old-fashioned tavern that was open even back then. It was too cool. I want to decorate my house like some of the houses there- beautiful canopy beds with curtains, studded leather chairs, and they were definitely not afraid of bright beautiful color and patterns! The weather was great too, and I managed to keep my food/gas/souvenir expenses under 100 bucks like I wanted. Overall a great success!

Tomorrow I’ll be in Virginia!

Remember how this summer is my summer of travel? Well I already went to Longwood Gardens last month and checked that place off my list (ps- I highly recommend it if you are in SE PA). This weekend I’m going down to Williamsburg, VA with a girlfriend from college. It’s awesome because I’ve been wanting to go down there since I was in high school, but never really got around to it before now. I’m also excited because the weather’s going to be great, it’s near the coast, and it’s in VA. Virginia just appeals to me for some reason, even if I’ve only been there once before.

As far as budget goes, I did some research about the parks (Colonial Williamsburg and Busch Gardens), and the day tickets are super expensive. So I found a website that does vacation packages, and got us a pretty good deal! Two nights in a hotel right in the city center, parking permits for the parks, and bounce pass that will let us go multiple times to both parks (if we need it) for only $188 a person! I expect to spend only about $100 or so on food and gas on top of that, so overall my budget is under $300 for the weekend. Let’s see how it goes… can’t wait!

Apartment Deposit

Yay! I got my security deposit back from my old apartment. It’s only $100, but that’s still really good since that’s the entire deposit that I paid originally. And it's my first full security deposit that I ever got back. You know how landlords can always find something to charge you for. I’m going to use this money and put it towards my student loan!

Great Weekend :-)

The last few nights have been amazing... my summer is off to a great start! Thursday night I went to the No Doubt concert in Philly, which was insanely awesome. I've been in love with them since I first heard of them (back when I was in 6th grade... can you believe it?!), and it was pretty much a dream come true to see them live. My mom and I went, and we had tickets right up front in the pit, so I was literally about 30 ft away from Gwen Stefani!! Seriously the best concert of my life. The tickets were hella expensive, but my mom offered to cover mine too. I know I steer away from grown kids taking handouts from their parents, but it is nice to let her pick up the tab once in awhile.

Then, since one of my best friends from college is getting married in only 2 weeks, we had her bachelorette party on Saturday night. We all traveled out to to the Dub C to go bar hopping, and didn't even go to bed until the sun came up (haven't done that in years)! I was a little bit worried budget-wise, but I bought the first round of drinks for everyone and after that didn't pay for a single drink of my own. Sometimes that can be a nice system, as long as people don't all request expensive drinks! The party was awesome though, and I feel like the wedding is going to be just as cool and crazy (although minus the cross-dressing German we found in E's closet at 5am).

Steal!

Now, it's not like I'm a super-loyal customer of JcPenney, but for some reason, they love to treat me like one. :-) They send me $10 off coupons all the time. I hardly ever go there, but when I need something and they send me one of those coupons, it's off to the mall I go. Today I went, armed with my coupon, in search of some new bath towels. My set of peach ones are ruined from one too many hair dye jobs, so I wanted something new (and something lighter to wash along with my whites). I got these beautiful cream towels for $6 each, which means after the coupon I only paid TWO dollars for them!! Excellent bargain shopping, if I do say so myself. I'm very excited to use them, they are so soft and such a pretty color!

I'm ready for my Check-up, Mr. DeMille

Well folks, the year's half over (how does it always go so fast?), so it's time for the dreaded check-up!

Goal 1. Learn to live within my grad student budget: It was super tough these last few months, but I did much better than the fall semester. And this one I think is going to be just fine! Next semester my rent expenses will be cut in half, so I’ll have a ton more money each month as a buffer.
Goal 2. Add an extra $1,000 to my Travel Fund: Well, so far I haven’t added any money at all. To make things worse, I took out a bunch of money to pay for my new laptop because my emergency fund was ridiculously low. Next semester I’m going to try to put more money in, but I’m not sure I can promise $1,000. Boo.
Goal 3. Bring my New Car Fund up to $3,000: Pretty much the same story as above, although I have managed to put some tiny savings into this one, about $125 in total. So, meh.
Goal 4. Refund my Emergency Fund: Our department gives us a summer stipend of $2,800 each year. We haven't gotten it yet, and this year they were hinting that it will be less. Apparently our department is running out of money just like everyone else. I hope it’s at least $2,000 though, because I intend to put that much towards my EF and flush it back out.

So... yeah. Basically, not much has been accomplished thus far when I really think about it. This kind of sucks. But I guess I can't really do much more than the best that I can. We'll see where I get.

Sooo mad!!

I missed the pre-sale registration for season tickets!!! I completely forgot about it until just now, and now I won't be able to get season tickets for Penn State at all! I know it's just football, but I'm kind of fighting the urge to cry. I was so completely excited for the upcoming season and going to every game with all my friends at school. I'm just mad because the pre-sale ended yesterday, which is just like salt in the wound. I wrote all the dates in my daily planner, but I haven't even cracked that sucker open since school ended. So I forgot, and now I guess I'll only be going to one or two games since I can't afford it when people jack the prices up. Seriously bummed.