I'm Obsessed!: Pop-Secret Homestyle

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Popcorn!!!! I feel like my entire life, I've been looking for the perfect microwavable popcorn. Something that blended the right amount of butter, salt, and crispness. See, I don't like sweet popcorn unless it's kettle corn at a fair because Orville just makes me sick. I'm definitely one of those girls who prefers the salty to the sweet. By luck, my mother picked up a box of this because it was on sale and I've been hooked ever since. Since I came up to New England, I've been telling anyone who will listen and stuff this gloriousness down their throat if they don't believe me. This popcorn has the right amount of salt so that you can taste it, but It doesn't feel like your tongue's being burned off from the NaCl. Not gonna lie, there have been many times (including today) that instead of bracing the cold and getting out to get food, I've eaten a bag of this as a meal. When Amanda and I get together, we will go through bags of this at a time (our record has been 4 in one sitting). Seriously, go out there and get your hands on this. Just make sure it's Homestyle, or you may be disappointed.

A Love Letter to Neil Patrick Harris

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Dear Neil,

It is no secret that a majority of the world population is in love with you, but I cannot watch back-to-back episodes of How I Met Your Mother without expressing my gratitude. In simplistic terms, it comes down to your face and sense of humor. No one in their right mind would ever say no to those eyes! Whenever my aged parents refer to you as Dougie Houser I quickly defend your right as an individualized and grown up human being. It seems like you've always been there, although it's relatively recent that you majorly resurfaced in Hollywood. Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog will make you laugh and cry, and his role in the Harold and Kumar movies is just awe-inspiring. It is your role as Barney Stinson that puts you on the top of my list. You're just the simply brosky with a heart of gold that makes every episode legen(wait for it)dary. While being this believable character, you still manage to have the cutest family ever. I'm sure you've seen their Halloween Portrait from this year already, but it's too adorable to only see once. It is so obvious that you and your husband are so happy with your children. Instead of feeling disdain towards you for not being of the same orientation as me so that we will never be together, I'm just happy for you. Keep up the tremendous work, and never change who you are.

Love,
Carly

P.S.- And if we ever meet in person, I would like to apologize if I call you NPH instead of Neil or Neil Patrick Harris, but I'm sure you'll understand.

Update: I know, I know...

Hey guys! I know it's been like two months since my last post, but I guess you now know how my procrastination tends to runaway with me. There's been a lot of stuff going on in my life which I'll talk about more when there's actual time to update everything. But here's a little list of what's going down.

1. My first semester of junior year is coming to an end! Monday is my last day of classes and I only have an art history paper and final before I'm home free! I should be studying/writing/cleaning, but I figured a little me time on this here blog is well deserved.
2. The Holidays are right around the corner. I'm lucky enough to be a part of a family where half celebrates Christmas and the other half celebrates Hanukkah. I'm really excited because for the last two years, Hanukkah has been while I was still in school, 340 miles away from home. My friends here have been great and for all eight nights we would gather in my room where we "light" an LED Menorah I bought and sing the prayers before I open a little present sent from my family. It's been a nice little tradition, and I'm more than ecstatic to share a something culturally different (although my friend Simona is also Jewish). But there's really nothing like lighting the candles with your family and eating your body weight in latkes and brisket. Then there's the magic of Christmas! My mom's home right now decorating our tree with the ornaments from our childhood and I'm so excited to just bask in its awesomeness. I also know some of the gifts I'm getting and I am very excited for them.
3. Lastly is probably the biggest thing going on in my life right now. Next semester I will be studying abroad in LONDON!!!!!!!!! It gets closer and closer with each passing day and I just get more stressed/excited. I've never been to the UK and getting the chance to live and intern over there is something that I couldn't have imagined. It's been a very stressful roller coaster of applying for the program, getting in, and recently having to lay down a large amount of dough for a visa. My loverly friend Amanda is joining me on this adventure and we are going to tear it up. Besides living and working in the city across the pond (yeah cliches!), but we're also hopefully taking 20 days after the semesters done to travel to Paris and all around Italy. I'm currently looking for deals on a trans-European pass so if anyone out there knows about any student deals and would like to share that information that would be great

     

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Lots of really exciting things happening over here at Camp Babione and I promise to be a little more up on my posting, especially when I'm abroad. Wish me luck!

Hey Guys, I Read a Book for Pleasure!

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It feels like while at school, there is very little time to do simple things like reading for pleasure. If I"m going to read something, it usually is for a class and is not something that I always enjoy. This past week however, I actually spent an entire Saturday afternoon starting and finishing a book. It was so enjoyable and really nice just to be fully absorbed in a story.

In case you couldn't tell, I read the much talked about novel Room by Emma Donoghue. If you know what novels are out there right now, I"m sure you've heard about this. My English-major friend Austin (who is now in Scotland studying abroad so I'm going to pass her book around to my friends until she gets back) gave this to me to reading just by saying, "Carly, you have to read this. I read it in like four hours and it was amazing." We sort of like to think of ourselves as book-loving folk so I tend to listen to her suggestions. This. Book. Is. A. Ma. Zing!!!

I'm not going to spoil anything, but I'll give you the premise. The entire novel is told from the perspective of a five year-old boy, Jack, who lives with his mother in a single locked room. It's the only home he's ever known, but as his curiosity grows (and his mother grows less sane) he starts to wonder about the rest of the world. This book is such a quick read and sucks you in immediately. Jack's innocence and the world he creates around him pulls at your heart. This is probably the best book that I've read in a while. So go get your hands on a copy, snuggle under covers, grab a cup of tea, and enjoy.

Does anyone else have the same problem with having time to read? What are you reading now? I'm always very interested in suggestions from the real people out there.

Let's Get Inspired: Cool Weather

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I'm thinking about starting this new segment on  Framed Personality. If we open our eyes to the world around us, we'll find a whole host of things that inspire us. To me Inspiration comes in many shapes and sizes. I could be inspired to bake a pie, hem some jeans, read, a book. That's the beauty of it.

This week's inspirational theme is Cool Weather (and yes I'm going to capitalize it). It is now officially October which means Fall should be in full swing. These past couple of weeks in New England have been pretty warm and very humid. I'm so looking forward to the cool breeze outside and what I like to call Sweater Weather. I recently bought a bunch of cardigans on sale at my J. Crew outlet so I've been itching to wear them out, but it's been too stinking hot to do so! Bring on the cool.

Cool Weather inspires a lot of things in me. I'm not really into Spring Cleaning, instead I wait until this time of year to get my room/life in order. This weekend, the temperature dropped and I actually vacuumed my dorm room much to the surprise of my mother. I also don't really like coffee during the warmer months, but once the mercury goes down, I start my little Keurig and get the coffee brewing. The Fall also inspires a sort of polarity in me. I love taking brisk walks outside, and then coming into the warm and curling up under my duvet with a good book. I like the idea of both outside and inside within a small time span.

I also really just love looking out of m window onto the quad while the leaves change colors and start to fall. I just hope that the transition into Fall in Worcester is smooth. It's been really rainy and grey here. Bring on the clear blue skies and the subtle breeze and let's wear those cardis!

So what does the Cool Weather inspire you to do? Any other inspirations out there this week?