i can never think up a proper title for these entries…

anyway, a lot has gone on within the last week! for example, when i said that i’d be wearing my pajamas inside out in hopes of a snow day, i was ultimately victorious. as you might’ve read in joanna’s entry, we had a valentine’s day snow day! at college! do you know how rare a college snow day is? it was certainly a hallowed occasion, and we celebrated with much sleep and laziness. i would peek out of the window now and then, keeping tabs on the accumulations. in the end, we only got about 3 inches (which is noootttthhhiing compared to the snows that i was used to and have missed in the last few years…winters were much colder and snowier when i was younger), but none of it was really shoveled or plowed. it’s still clinging to the sidewalks in most places, turning black and icky. ah well…city snow. i still love what small amounts i can get.

another good aspect of last week that made me smile:

a new pair of vans for 75% off! i paid a mere $15 for these from urban outfitters…and now i’m bragging about it, because i love a good sale. in fact, i pride myself in my skill for finding them. mmm…paying less than i have to for things…comforting.

when the weekend came, it was time for the civil war ball at the union league of philadelphia. the union league building is just about 3-4 blocks north of uarts, and every year they throw a ball in honor of lincoln’s birthday, which is the 12th of february. anyway, i went last year for the first time, and it was crazy…almost everyone dresses up in period dress, cravats, waistcoats, hoop skirts, corsets, braids, ribbons, swags, and lace. everything is true to the civil war period, from the building to the menu, the band to the dances. that’s right! DANCING. i went with my parents and aunt and uncle, and at the very last minute, i brought my roommate (erica) with me to use an extra ticket that we had and also to just share in the sheer craziness of the experience. we had filet mignon, bread pudding, and with gloved hands, we danced the opening march and a virginia reel! it was surprisingly fun, and the whole evening just continued like that. the ball itself is held in the lincoln hall of the union league, which has walls full of dozens and dozens of large portraits. most of them are of union presidents, but the one at the head of the far left wall is special, in that it’s one of the few painted portraits in the world that lincoln himself sat for. story goes that the portrait, commissioned by the union league of philadelphia was so appreciated by lincoln that he asked to have it, and was refused. it is a nice portrait, and a nice little story.
the night was really fun with a hint of random, as we found ourselves given the opportunity to have a private tour of the union league archives, which is full of historic documents (i held one of the 40 copies of the emancipation proclamation signed and distributed to philadelphia by abe lincoln) and various artifacts (swords, rifles, a porthole of the u.s.s maine, and other things like the reigns of the horses that pulled lincoln’s funeral car). i’m probably boring you by now, but believe me, it was exciting.
it also involved getting all dressed up:

this week started off a bit slowly, with a squall of hollywood snow on sunday afternoon…

but it got very busy very quickly. i have so. much. homework to do. a butterfly out of wire, a model of my hand out of plasteline, another composition for 2d, a play to read for writing class, more weaving on my loom…so much! but it’s good, somehow. anyway…to relieve some stress, the boys from my section and i decided to celebrate national pancake day and get our free short stack from ihop. now, ihop is about 3 dangerous miles away from here…and we tried walking half of it, but at a certain point we just had to get a cab. it was totally worth it, as much fun and yumminess did follow.
observe:

words of the week: lincoln and ihop.

this past weekend was my birthday, and i’ve eaten so much cake (3 different sources) that i feel as though i might turn into one. that wouldn’t be a horrible thing, but what if i were to be left out in the rain? *starts singing ‘macarthur park’*
nevermind. i’m in an odd, cake-induced mood.

the past week (or two, maybe?) has been interesting. spurts of business juxtaposed against times of easypeasy relaxation. i’ve done a lot of work and had a lot of fun within these recent times, so let’s start with the fun.

the wednesday before last, my roommate and i went straight from our fibers class to a dinner that was being held at the broad street ministry. it was called a “no barriers” dinner, and it was really nice to see local families, homeless, students, clergy, and just neighbors from around south broad to gather for a meal. apparently they do it every third wednesday of the month, and i really look forward to the next one. free, decent food, and really pleasant company! people seem to magically bond with each other when food is involved.

the next evening, on thursday, i hosted our usual get-together, and it had a french food theme. the section boys came as well, and they brought so much food with them! we had french toast, french fries, french cheeses, french quiche, and what felt like so much more. gaahhhhh, so much food. that week made my stummy happy.

the rest of the following week seemed to be a long string of sweet nothings. despite a bit of mid-week snow and a 5 mile trek in 5 degrees to the art museum (yeah, note to everyone: take a cab if you feel like going in the dead of winter),

the week was remarkably normal. i got a bit tired of it, really, as my tolerance for just sitting and mixing grays from the primary colors was wearing thin. seriously. i love art school and all, but if there’s ever something that could induce the onset of ADD, it’d be “2d design principles”. i just put down my paintbrush and started photographing my surroundings. i even made a still life. heh.





good times.

anyway, then the weekend came and i did the whole turn 19 thing. now another week is upon us, valentine’s day is waiting in the daily queue, and tomorrow brings with it rumors of snow and ice. inside-out pajamas, anybody?

PEACE.