It's been quite a long time...

After having read Lauren's blog, I decided it was about time that I jump back on the blogging bandwagon.

To give you a brief update. I am getting ready to graduate this May. I just received an e-mail today about ordering caps and gowns...aahhhh! I have not really been able to focus on graduation, however, because this year I am the senior Gene Kelly intern for the Pittsburgh CLO. That means I am responsible for planning every detail for the 2010 Gene Kelly Awards. They are happening the weekend after graduation. Which means my life will (hopefully) be smooth sailing after May.

I think that about wraps it up for my life.



Sunday night after Desperate Housewives (which is an entirely different subject; this season is quite disappointing) a preview came on for Jamie's Food Revolution. Jamie Oliver, a chef from the UK, is attempting to start a food revolution in the US. He has already overhauled the food system in the UK school system and is now trying to do the same here. He was met with a lot of obstacles in Huntington, WV, statistically the most unhealthy city in the world, where he was given one week to try and make his system work in an elementary school.

I think it is really interesting. The show premieres this Friday at 8 p.m. EST. I'm considering buying his cookbook for my hope chest :)

2009 Gene Kelly Awards

As some of you might know, since January I have been working with the Pittsburgh CLO as the junior Gene Kelly Intern. The Gene Kelly Awards are similar to the Tony Awards, but they recognize high school musical theater in Allegheny County.

I was responsible for communicating with teachers at the participating high schools, judges and presenters. Basically everything from beginning to end to make this show happen. Above is myself, Patricia Ward Kelly (Gene Kelly's widow) and my amazing senior intern, Bobby.

The awards took place on May 23, 2009 at the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh. Click here to see some highlights from WPXI. Before the awards happened, the Best Actress nominees were featured on Tuesday, May 19 on KDKA's Pittsburgh Today Live. Each of them sang a snipet of from their musicals. They are amazing and you can check them out by clicking here.

While I really should have been posting my progress everyday, that just didn't happen. So you are getting information overload right now... keep up!

Since I was the junior intern this year, I will be responsible for planning the Gene again next year. I have also been hired to work on a new and exciting project, the National High School Musical Theater Awards. There are 16 participating awards programs from 11 states, just like the Gene Kellys, that are sending their Best Actor and Best Actress to NYU to compete for The Jimmy Award. Please check out the link above, that was one of my first responsibilities and have been working the past few weeks on getting that site done! (With the help of Kristin, of course, the communication specialist here at the CLO). It's a fun, interactive site that we're encouraging students to use and upload photos and videos.

The NHS Musical Theater Awards are at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, NYU on June 29, 2009. Events begin on June 25, as students will participate in interviews, master classes and rehearsals. I've been named company manager, so I will be wrangling the students and volunteers!

I know that was a lot... but let it sink in! Hopefully I have some followers out there, it's been awhile since I've blogged. Please feel free to brag about this, we need to get the word out!

I'm Still Kickin'

I'm not sure if there is a soul out there that has not given up on my blog. However, if you're out there, I hope you enjoy this! I just find it so hard to blog when there is no possible way to top England. "Hey guys, today I went to the Beaver Valley Mall"-- that's basically all I got, lol. The closest thing I have to beautiful Europe at this point is our family vacation to New York. Now wait, I don't want you to get the wrong idea. Most of us think of Broadway and the big city when New York is mentioned. Well, forget about that. We camped at three different state parks in the Finger Lake region of New York. Now before you read further, you should know that I did in fact have a wonderful time and saw some beautiful country. When one thinks of vacation (or maybe it's just me), sand, crashing waves and relaxation comes to mind. Well, in between rain drops we hiked every day. I'm not exxagerating! We also enjoyed doing laundry, dishes and making beds... I know you're jealous. However, with a tight budget I'm very grateful to have done what we did.

The pic. to the above was taken at Taughannock Falls, it is 33 feet higher than Niagra Falls! This park was very cool because you were able to walk up the gorge all the way to the falls. It was interesting, however, because the first time we attempted to hike the gorge trail we couldn't becuase there were bison loose from a local farm. Yeah, no big, that is totally normal! I guess they eventually caught one, either way the trail opened later that day.
On our way to Watkin's Glen, we made a pit stop at Buttermilk Falls. It was great, we pulled into the parking lot and the falls were right there... no kiking required. Silly me... I think that was actually the worst hike due to the obscene amount of steps. Regardless, it was of course beautiful.

We then made our way to Watkin's Glen, I'm pretty sure it was raining... details. I have to say Watkin's Glen was one of my favorites. Now that may be due to the relatively easy hike or the gorgeous scenery, you can be the judge! If you know me, you know that I love maps. I especially loved the map of Watkins' Glen, because at different parts on the trail it gave some history and some neat tidbits. There was a really neat spot called Cavern Cascade where you walked behind the falls. (The photo is a bit dark.) Tied with that for my favorite spot is Rainbow Falls. You can also walk behind them, but it is more of a trickle. If you go in the late afternoon, there are rainbows!

Our last stop was Letchworth State Park. Which for all of you who plan to go there on your next vacation, know that the park is like 12 miles long. We pulled into the visitor center to ask where to check in and they told us to keep going 7 miles down the road!!! These were the biggest falls that we ran into on this adventure. The downfall (haha, no pun intended) was that we couldn't get close to the falls like in the other parks. The trails were up and back from the water, which was probably good considering the amount of rain we had, the water was moving at a fast pace! So, here's a few shots from there. (Note the first use of sunglasses!) Overall, it was great and I was very lucky. Enjoy! I kind of jumped a barrier to get this shot. After I got out there and looked around, I kind of regretted that life choice. But after I saw the pic., it was totally worth it!

Snow Tubing!

I know you may be concerned... but, I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth! This semester has been absolutely crazy! Be that as it may, I just had an amazing weekend! Today I went snowtubing with over 20 of our camping buddies- it was a blast!!! The weather was gorgeous... the sun was shining and there was a beautiful blue sky. It was kind of toasty though, everyone seemed to shed multiple layers of clothing! Supposedly only up to four tubes were allowed to go down the slopes at a time. Needless to say, we disobeyed several times! I think at one point there were nine of us going down! Diane had a slight mishap.... she slid off her tube midway down the hill. She held on for a bit, but it got too warm from the friction!!!! Our amazing day was completed with dinner at T.G. I. Fridays..... which was of course was amazing!!!! Well, sorry I haven't posted in FOREVER, but I hope you enjoy the pics.!!!

Snow Tubing

Home Sweet Home

Thankfully, both myself and my mom are home safe! Poor mom left a day before me and she got in only an hour before me! She had a rough 48 hours stuck in Boston! She also had a rough tour of Ireland. We did a Shamrocker tour of the West Coast, which means we were on A LOT of bumpy, narrow, winding back roads. This also means that mom got bus sick! She is a trooper though and over-dosed on Dramamine and had a fantastic trip, I think. We didn't have the best of weather for our tour, it was raining the majority of the time. However, there wouldn't be any rainbows without rain! :) I'm currently in the process of uploading all of our pics., so I apologize for being a slacker! On our tour, among many other things, we saw the Cliffs of Moher, Blarney Castle, a whiskey distillery, and the Rock of Cashel. After the tour, we spent a day in Dublin seeing the sights and most importantly, shopping!!! Then we did yet another bus tour of the Wicklow Mountains. It was really neat to see the East coast, it is a completely different landscape than the West! The mountains were gorgeous and surprisingly we had amazing weather! We spent our last day in Dublin and to celebrate my final rendezvous abroad, I got a ..... well I guess you'll just have to look at the pics. :) Although this was yet another AMAZING trip, it was WONDERFUL to be home! I'm in the midst of getting everything ready for Christmas... I'm loving it! Well, I'm going to work on getting these pics. up so you can see beautiful Ireland!!!

Goodbye Oxford :(

Even though it is sad to say, tomorrow is my last day in Oxford. Unfortunately, I have to spend the morning taking finals, but then I'll be on a plane to meet my mom in Dublin!!! This was our last week of classes, so Monday our British prof. took us to the pub! He is such a nice guy and I actually learned a lot of British history from him this semester, and I didn't want to gauge my eyeballs out!!! (That's him with myself and Shannon!) I just can't believe the semester is over, I'm packing to go home, it's crazy! Although I'm ecstatic to come home, I'm definitely going to miss Oxford and my host family. I really need to go study! Goodbye for now, but I will be home in NINE days, so you can come visit me!!!

Getting into the Christmas Spirit!

This weekend was unfortunately my last in Oxford. It was great though, because I spent it being VERY lazy! The weather wasn't that great, so it was great for naps and movies! I also finished up some work that needed to be done and started studying for my finals. As incentive to get my work done, I downloaded tons of Christmas music to get me into the Christmas spirit. These finals are just one more thing keeping me from being home, so I thought by playing some B.E. Taylor and some other classics, my work would go quicker. I guess it kind of worked! Other than all that good stuff, I wanted to share this amazing website with you. While I should have been studying, my host sister, Alice, and myself made this 'interesting' dance. I want all of you to experience it, so click on the link below! I think everyone will enjoy it and will help bring on the Christmas spirit!!!

Elf Dance

P.S. The dance features myself, Alice and Shannon wearing fango seaweed masks!