An abbreviated description of a very busy December!

I have been a terribly negligent blogger! Life moves very quickly these days- and hopefully soon it'll slow down enough that I will have time to update this more frequently. This December has been one of the busiest times of my life! To start, I went to Savannah to say goodbye to my apartment and to bring all of the things I've accumulated over the last four years home to Florida. It was really sad to say goodbye to Savannah- a city that I've really grown to adore. I'll definitely miss its unique character and look forward to any chance I have to return in the future. And as for my apartment- I am going to miss it HORRIBLY. It was such a wonderful space and really more of a home than a student apartment. I'm going to miss having all of my belongings in their proper place and the way the sun filled my living room every morning. Also- I'm realizing that I may be 40 before I have another place as nice as this one... I guess it will serve as great motivation.

Just as I was packing up my apartment, I got a phone call from Coach. I had applied for a job and apprenticeship with the company- and to my surprise, they called me back for an interview. I realized very quickly that they prefer to do it in person and began to plan for a trip the following week to NYC. I left my bare apartment on a Sunday and drove to Florida with the remainder of my belongings- then left the very next day on a flight to New York with my Dad.

Flying in was fun and very exciting! I got to see the Statue of Liberty and Empire State Building pass beneath my window. We took a cab from the airport to our hotel on the South side of Times Square. The city was busy and festive for the holidays! I had never been to New York at Christmas time, so I found the crowds, lights, and energy more charming than usual. We ate lunch in Times Square then roamed the city. I got to see the giant tree at Rockefeller Center. And we ventured into Saks, Tiffany's, and Van Cleef & Arpels. It was a lot of fun.

The next day, I woke up early to prepare for my interview. We walked to the buildings that I had interviews in- which were on the water facing Jersey. All seemed to go very well. I left feeling tentatively optimistic about it! Now the hard part is sitting and waiting for the results. But next week I'll know for sure. I'm still accepting good vibes, good luck charms, crossed fingers, prayers, or anything else that may help me land this job if you're willing! They seem like a really great company to work for... so hopefully...they'll think I'm a good fit!

Later that night, Dad and I went to go meet a guy looking for a third roommate! He was a Tallahassee connection around my age. And sure enough, it worked out to be a perfect situation- so I now have a place to live once I get to NYC! I'm really excited to move in and to begin my new adventure there.

I came home from New York and was in a panic that Christmas was practically here. But I accomplished all of my shopping and managed to finish gallery hanging a wall for my mom in the few days before Christmas! It was a relief for all of that to come together. Christmas was perfect. We had Christmas Eve dinner at the Messer's house. I had a blast catching up, enjoying the great food, and (as annual tradition requires) drinking a little too much red wine! Christmas day was wonderful as well. I enjoyed spending the time with my family and we all got some great goodies as well! I am the proud new owner of an ipad 2! Which means I can blog on the go--- so maybe in the new year, I will be better about consistently updating this rant about my life!

Since Christmas, I have enjoyed the company of my family and friends. It is so nice to all be in the same place for a while. And I'm trying to enjoy as much togetherness as possible before we all scatter again- to New York, Denver, Boston, Italy, Africa, Savannah, and wherever else 2012 takes us all. I've had several great dinners and fun outings with my family. I went to St. Teresa with Peter, Patrick, and Jordan to enjoy a day and evening of beach time with friends. It has been a wonderful Winter break.

While down at the beach, I received a call from Tiffany & Co. They received my resume and have a job opening currently for a design position. So they asked me to send my portfolio! It is such an amazing feeling to be recognized... or even called by such an iconic name in the industry. I'm not sure where all of this will end up leading. But I am really eager and enthusiastic for 2012 to start- and hope that I can make the most of New York and of any opportunities that cross my path!

Tomorrow, I am driving to beautiful Destin to see my boyfriend! I'm excited to spend New Years with him and to see him before he goes back to school and I leave for New York. It's weird to think that I won't be traveling back to Savannah with him and all of my friends in a week or so.

That is about all of the updates that I have for now! I hope everyone has enjoyed the holidays. And here are some pictures of my December!


-Megan

Vegas!

So sorry that I slacked on keeping up my blog! We were only in Vegas for two days, and we kept very busy, so I had very little time to be on the computer. But- the trip was awesome. It was great to visit Vegas for the first time. We did some sight-seeing the first night that we were there. The second day that we were there, I went to the Hoover Dam with Mom and Emily while Dad was in meetings. The dam was incredible! I'm so glad we went. We got to go inside to see the turbines, which was really cool. And the overflow tunnels were awesome. The tunnel opening was 50ft in diameter and plummeted downward for 600 ft. It was terrifying and mesmerizing at the same time. The dam itself was so much larger and monumental in person than I ever imagined. There is also a giant arch bridge that bypasses the dam that is super impressive. Its the longest concrete arch bridge in the Western Hemisphere. After returning from the dam, we did some window browsing at Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, and de Grisogono. (So many sparkles!) That night, Dad joined us and we all went to Love, the cirque du soleil show featuring music from the Beetles. The show was amazing! The stunts were pretty ridiculous- I wish I could do something acrobatic and impressive! Ha!

The next day, we returned home to Tallahassee. Since being home, I've been cleaning out my room to prepare for all of the stuff I'll be bringing home from Savannah. We also decorated the house for Christmas. And I've been working on some DIY projects that I'll post pictures of once I finish!

Here are my Vegas pics!

Last Days in CO!

It has been another great couple of days in Colorado! It really is perpetually sunny here- which is good, because I don't think I could deal with the cold weather otherwise! We've had a bunch of beautiful days lately- clear and crisp! We drove up to Boulder one day. While there, we looked around the shops at Pearl Street- and more importantly, I had one of the most amazing lunches of my life at The Kitchen. It was braised chicken over Israeli cous cous with chorizo, kale, and carrots. I'm really disappointed that it didn't occur to me that I should take a picture of the dish until after I had completely devoured it. But it really was the most flawless autumn dish and definitely made the list of the top 5 lunches of my life. (This list doesn't actually exist... but now I'm thinking it should).

We went to two DU hockey games. They were really fun to watch! I'm a little envious that Emily gets to go to hockey games for her school. I think I can count on one hand how many SCAD athletic events I experienced. Artists and athletics don't really have much overlap! But maybe I can find some hockey games in or around New York to go to.

Yesterday, I went to Winter Park with my family to go snowmobiling. It was a ton of fun! I had never been around so much snow before. The drive was really beautiful. Snow was hanging on the branches of the evergreen trees and the snow had started to crystalize on the ground and was super shimmery! The snowmobiles were just like fourwheelers and really easy to drive. The trail that we rode on was awesome! We got a lot of great pictures of the scenery!

Tomorrow we leave for Vegas. I'm really excited to see the city for the first time. I also convinced my family to take a trip to the Hoover Dam- which I'm really looking forward to! I'll have some pictures posted of that in the next few days! Hope everyone is having a great week so far!

Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is about to come to a close- but before I crawled in bed to sleep off my food coma I thought I would make a little blog post in the spirit of Thanksgiving! Today, I am thankful for many, many things:

- I am thankful for my family of course and all of the love and support that they have given me! I'm really thankful that they encourage me to be who I am and to follow my dreams.

- I am thankful for all of my friends: the ones who I have grown up with and the ones who came into my life in Savannah.  I'm thankful for the laughs, the company, and all of the memories.

- I am thankful for my education, my soon-to-arrive diploma, and the opportunity to find a career doing what I love. Actually loving your studies and your job, I realize is a rarity. I feel really privileged to be able pursue something that I am so passionate about.

- I am thankful for my boyfriend Ross, who has been my best friend for over two years now=] 

- I am thankful for the past 3 1/2 years in Savannah- a beautiful town that I will miss tremendously.

-I am thankful for this new chapter of my life and the possibilities that it holds.

-AND OBVIOUSLY, like the crazy cat lady that I am- I am thankful for my cats, Simba and Mango. If you have had the pleasure of knowing them, I'm sure you are thankful too=] Haha! 

(Ross, if you read this, please don't judge me... AND notice that I put you above the cats)

My first week as a SCAD Grad!

 My first week since the end of the quarter has been quite eventful. I spent Friday packing up my apartment, lunching with my friend Allie, and (like every other girl between 15 & 35) seeing the new Twilight movie. We had puppy playtime at lunch- it was a great way to get over the stress of finals and packing. And the Twilight movie was (as usual) awful and wonderful at the same time. I left Savannah early Saturday morning. It was a little sad to see my gutted closet. Its been a great apartment- and I'll definitely miss it when I leave. I took a little homage picture of my apartment when I left so that I can wistfully look back when I'm in a teensy NY apartment.

When I arrived back in Tallahassee, my family took me out to Kool Beanz, my favorite restaurant! The next two days I hunted down cold weather clothes, got to catch up with my grandparents, and worked on unpacking from Savannah and repacking for Colorado. Yesterday we arrived in Colorado to spend Thanksgiving in Denver with my sister. I'm definitely more of a warm weather person, but it has been nice to get some use out of my scarves, gloves, and boots! My parents had surprised us with tickets to see the Lion King broadway musical, so we went to that last night. It was SO good. It is hard not to get a little sniffly actually knowing the wonder that is East Africa. Watching Lion King makes me wish I was back in Tanzania so badly.

This morning we drove to Estes Park. The drive was really lovely. I love day trip adventures and the quick transition from plains to mountains here. It makes for really interesting scenic drives! Our drive today led us to lots of snow and hundreds of Elk! The snow covered mountains were very beautiful (though it was nice knowing that I could turn around and go back to Denver and not worry with the snow there). The elk were incredible! There were so many of them and they were really rather unphased by the tons of people following them around to watch and take pictures. I got some good ones on my phone and on my Nikon. But the Nikon photos will have to wait- as I forgot my card reader. So here are some iphone snapshots of my day!