it's always sunny in philadelphia

Philadelphia Museum of Art

On Sunday, I took a whirlwind, 24-hour trip to Philadelphia to visit one of my best friends! We walked all over the city so I could see the sights, like the Museum of Art. Look familiar? It's from Rocky #... I forget which one of the bajillion in the series. But I wanted to run up the steps, just like in that famous scene! My parents are huge fans of the original movies (as in, not Rocky Balboa).

With the 'Rocky' statue!

Then we went to the Flyers Carnival! I was finally surrounded by THOUSANDS of people in orange and black Flyers gear. Yes, I know. I live in Boston. With all the Bruins/Celtics/Red Sox/Patriots fans. It's fine. I can deal with the heckling. Anyway, the carnival raises money for charities and non-profits in the Philly region. Fans can pay for autographs and photos from their favorite players - current and alumni! 

I found my people!

My friend and I made a beeline for Sean Couturier's autograph booth. He's my favorite Flyers player, and I came armed with my very own Couturier t-shirt for him to sign. Once it was my turn, I completely panicked and started acting like a 13-year old girl. I giggled, shouted "I LOVE YOU!" at him, and then ran away. Not one of my finer moments, but probably very amusing for everyone else around me. 

Waiting for Coots... 

Philadelphia City Hall

I also got to try my first-ever authentic Philly cheesesteak! It was delicious and greasy and basically everything I'd hoped for. Overall it was an awesome trip! My only regret is that it was so short! I promised my friend that I'd be back for a longer trip during the spring or summer. Next time I want to see the Liberty Bell! 

a second furman grad!

It's official! My brother is now a college grad... as of two weeks ago. I'm really behind on everything right now. I made my way down to Greenville, South Carolina a few weekends ago to see my brother graduate from Furman University (also my undergrad alma mater!). 

Don't let my short dress fool you. It was unnaturally cold for early May (in SC, mind you). And rainy. My brother's graduation ended up being held inside. This is the first time since 2007 that the graduation ceremony had to be moved indoors... which is also coincidentally the year I graduated! Needless to say, my mom was not pleased that she had to watch both her kids graduate college from inside a basketball arena. 

See the family resemblance?

We're legacies now!

I had the honor of presenting my little brother with his special purple-and-white legacy cords before his graduation ceremony at a special Legacy Dinner. That was kind of snazzy. When I graduated, the "regular" graduation dinner was held in the campus dining hall. Not so snazzy. Legacy families have it nice! And now we're one, too!

Sometimes we pretend we're normal...

I feel kind of old now that my brother has graduated college (and is turning 22 this summer)! AND he's going to start working soon! My little brother's going to be teaching English in Japan for a year (possibly two)! He's about 5 steps ahead of where I was when I graduated from college. Maybe that's why my mom calls him "the smart, sensible one". Ha.

Congrats, little brother!

tokyo, japan (2012)

For some reason (laziness), I never posted about the rest of my Great Asian Adventure from last year, when I traveled to Korea, Thailand, China and Japan. Whoops! You can check out my photos from Seoul, Korea (aka the motherland) that I shared last May. Heh. 

Tokyo Sky-Tree - now the tallest tower in Japan!

How cute is this Domo bus?! Wish we had them in Boston!

I have a "Girls Bar" named after me in Tokyo, sorta... haha...

IF YOU DO NOT LIKE LOOKING AT PICTURES OF FISH OR SEAFOOD, STOP HERE.

I had a couple of "bucket list" items for my trip to Tokyo. 

1. CONVEYOR BELT SUSHI - Okay, I've actually done this before back in 2010, when I took an overnight trip to Osaka during my teaching-in-Korea days. But, y'know... IT'S TOKYO. Conveyor belt sushi is so much fun. They charge you per dish, and different-colored dishes are different prices. I had a pretty tall stack of dishes by the end. 

OISHII!

2. MORE SUSHI! Yeah, all I wanted to do in Japan was stuff myself with sushi. I got to try sushi from one of the tiny shops along the famous Tsujiki Fish Market, and have pretty much ruined sushi for myself forever... every time I go out to a sushi place in Boston, I find myself comparing it to the meal I had here. 

Fish on display at the market

I hope I get to go back to Japan soon! My younger brother's actually going to be doing the JET program, so maybe I'll use that as an excuse to visit him. And I may post pictures of China next... or maybe I'll forget until 2014. 

Last meal in Tokyo = the best sushi EVER + egg things

kauai, hawaii

I was in Hawaii a few weeks ago! It was a little disheartening to come back to snow-bombed Boston after a week of pineapple cocktails and constant sunshine. Oh well. I love Boston. It may be a different kind of love than the way I love Hawaii, but it's love nonetheless. B's brother lives out in Kauai (aka paradise), so we got to visit him!

I don't know what this crazy, dragon's egg-looking thing is...

So, we hiked part of the Kalalau Trail. The entire trail is about 11 miles long, but we only covered the first four miles. Oh man, it was INTENSE. I wouldn't recommend it unless you're in good (or great) physical condition, and don't mind hiking some pretty steep (and slippery) hills. The views were so worth it, though, as you can (hopefully) see by my gazillion photos. After hiking 8 miles (4 miles in, 4 miles out), I spent the next day spoiling myself at the spa. My life is so tough sometimes... ha.



I brought a bit of the island back with me! Sunrise shell earrings. They can only be found in Hawaii, and are supposed to be lucky. I haven't worn them yet (whoops...) but I'll let you know if I have an especially lucky day when I do wear them.

turkey day in the turks(&caicos)

B's family invited me to join them for Thanksgiving in the Turks & Caicos, and I was so thrilled to be a part of it. We had a fantastic time swimming and sunbathing and snorkeling... y'know, typical Thanksgiving activities. Of course, there was a traditional Thanksgiving dinner (turkey and all the fixin's) on Thursday. Can't have Thanksgiving without a turkey and mashed potatoes. The only rough part of the whole trip was coming back to work on Monday... man, sitting down in front of my work computer and opening up emails and Excel spreadsheets was such a bummer. 

And I somehow managed to take about 300 pictures over 4 days. Don't worry, I'm not posting them all here... or am I? Okay, no, seriously. That would be such an awful thing for me to do. I'll only rub it in your faces for a little bit. Hehe. 

Gorgeous beaches

Turquoise water - THIS IS NOT PHOTOSHOPPED!

Beautiful villa!

Conch shell

'Tis me!

Toes in the warm sand

post-travel blues

My new friend from Thailand!

The last six weeks of my life were completely crazy due to:

1. Finishing up my first year of business school. 
2. Learning how to use my new camera!!!
3. Taking a month-long trip all over Asia.
4. Catching an insane flu/cold and being sick for three solid days right after setting foot in Boston.
5. Moving to Connecticut for my new internship. 
6. Getting the most random eye infection (yuck). 
7. Starting my new internship in two days (yikes!). 

I think I'm finally ready to really start blogging and taking photos of myself again. I feel it'll be a good way to deal with some of my strange issues that shouldn't be taking us so much space in my brain. 

The Shanghai skyline

seoul, korea

Somewhere in between finals week and packing for my "grand tour" of Asia, I forgot to update this blog. Wherps. I was in Korea for eight days; I'm in Phuket now with B and a few other friends! Anyway, thought I'd share some of my photos from my adventures in Korea (aka the motherland). The little dog is my cousin's, and his name is Michi. Dapper little fellow, no?

I'll be stopping in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing and Tokyo before eventually making my way back to Boston. Ah, the broke jet-setter's life for me.