Currently Listening The Reminder By Feist 1234 (I have been listening to this song on repeat!!!) see related

Who else remembers Summer Reading Lists?

Many law students have told me that law school completely kills your desire to read for pleasure. You have to read so much for school, that at the end of the day, you would rather throw a book out the window than read it. This deeply saddens me, so in order to prepare for this change, I’m going to do as much reading as I can this summer while I still have the time. Below, I have compiled a potential list of books I plan to tackle. It’s definitely a mix of genres because even though I’m an English major, I still enjoy a trashy beach read as much as the next person.

Tim Gunn: A Guide to Quality, Taste, and Style by Tim Gunn & Kate Moloney—This is the book I am currently reading. I have grown to love this man on project runway, and his witty commentary on style translates easily into book form. I like to think of him as the sophisticated, but snarky gay uncle I never had. He is known for his use of French phrases, big words, and intelligent references, so this book is educational as well as interesting.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini—We’ve all heard about Afghanistan so many times from the news, but this book gives it a human face. I read this book before Tim Gunn’s, and it was great. It is not a hard read, but the depth of the subject matter really makes you think. I cried, and so did my sister when she read it. The author also has a new book called A Thousand Splendid Suns that I will definitely be checking out.

One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding by Rebecca Mead—This is the perfect read for wedding season. It is all about how the wedding industry manipulates our ideas of tradition and how our wedding day is the most important day of our lives to turn a huge profit. The average American wedding costs $30,000, and using this online zipcode calculator thingy, I found out that the average Plano wedding costs $80,000. For a four hour event, that is just plain ridiculous, and this book explains why. I know I’m not getting married soon, but this subject is fascinating to me.

Middlesex: A Novel by Jeffrey Eugenides—Oprah’s book club pick for this month. It tells the story of a “young girl that grows up to be a man.” Now, I don’t know exactly what that means, but I look forward to finding out. And hey, if Oprah recommends it, it’s probably pretty good.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy—another book club pick, but this book has been everywhere, so I couldn’t ignore it. It is post-apocalyptic fiction, which I wouldn’t normally be interested in, but I’ve heard good things. It can’t hurt to give it a try.

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova—recommended by Mary and Linda. A teenage daughter discovers that her father has been searching for Dracula and she gets involved. I don't know alot about this book, but Amazon. com says, "If your pulse flutters at the thought of castle ruins and descents into crypts by moonlight, you will savor every creepy page of Elizabeth Kostova's long but beautifully structured thriller The Historian."

One L: The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School by Scott Turow—the infamous memoir that everyone says not to read b/c it will scare you out of going to law school. I know SMU won’t be as competitive as Harvard, and I’ve already paid my seat deposit and leased an apartment. There is no turning back now, so I’d like to see the worst case scenario of what I’ve gotten myself into.

This is what I've got so far, but I know this list will change and grow in direct proportion to the amount of time I spend online at Amazon.com. I'm also open to suggestions, so please chime in if you have a recommendation!

Currently Listening It Won't Be Soon Before Long By Maroon 5 Can't Stop see related

Home Sweet Home  

After reading everyone else's xanga entries this summer, I've been feeling a little down. I've got friends who are spending their breaks in glamorous places such as LA, New York City, and London. Living at home and working at a boring job were making me feel like a very dull person, but I finally have something interesting to add to my xanga. I got my first apartment today! After living in the dorms and a sorority house with 94 girls for the past 3 years, this is going to be a huge change, but I'm definitely excited. I can't wait to cook my own meals, have my own washer/dryer, and my own bedroom. It sounds like heaven on earth!

My apartment is amazing, and it is in the State-Thomas neighborhood of Uptown Dallas. Everyone that lives around me is young and hip, and I can't wait to spend lazy afternoons sipping a drink at one of the many trendy sidewalk cafes in the area. Here is a picture of my building:

And the pool...

I don't move in until August, but I'm going to spend the next two months accumulating furniture and supplies. I can't believe I'm old enough to be living alone...crazy! Too bad that my idyllic view of life on my own is soon to be disrupted by the harsh reality of law school. At least I'll have a nice apartment to study my life away in!

Currently Reading The Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini see related

Awkard social settings always make for some interesting surprises. With the right mix of people, you just never know where the night will take you. I found myself in this sort of situation on Friday night at a reception we held at our house after my sister's high school graduation. The people that showed up to this shin-dig were an odd mix of old family friends and acquaintances, most of whom I hadn't seen since at least before I went away to college.

The night started out with me trying to hold a conversation with our very ADD realtor who never finishes one sentence before moving on to another. Just as I would figure out what she was talking about and formulate an appropriate response in my head, she was on to another topic. She and her equally-eccentric realtor-partner gave my sister a lap board that has a secret compartment for holding crossword puzzles...yeah, Renee and I had a good laugh about that one.  

I spent the rest of the night chatting with various people and trying to avoid a former, male neighbor who kissed me TWICE. It was on the hair near my forehead, not my lips, and my mom said he is just like that, but it was still a little creepy. Most people who know me know that I am not touchy-feely, especially with people I don't know well.

The party ended as another former neighbor showed me pictures of her ideas for the wedding shower she is going to throw me. Keep in mind, I do have a serious boyfriend, but we are not engaged. I told her I am going to law school, so it could be a while, but she said that it is good to start thinking about ideas for the wedding. She also informed me that she planned her daughter's entire wedding, and she would be more than happy to plan mine. Needless to say, I think she and I have very different ideas about how my future wedding should go. When everyone finally left, my family stood around and told the funny stories that had happened to us throughout the night, and we agreed to not have another party for a while.

Currently Reading A Moveable Feast By Ernest Hemingway see related

As you can probably tell by recent posts, I am an avid magazine reader. Here's another little goody I found from the April issue of Glamour. I think it's particularly interesting considering all the upcoming election talk.

What if the U.S. House of Representatives were 84% women, instead of 84% men, as it is now?

By Greta Van Susteren

What would that mean?

            -Quick passage of a national health insurance program that protects and covers all?

            -A quick response to natural disasters in a way that meets the needs of all Americans harmed?

            -An end to a government dominated by lobbyists with fast cash? In other words, no more FOR SALE signs on the Capitol lawn?

            -Or how about this: a lasting peace in the Middle East so that violence is not exported here?

            -Or a move from oil dependence to oil independence?

            -And finally: an environmental plan, so your children will have a planet to live on when they grow up?

            If you are excited by this prospect and are jumping up and down answering yes! to all of the above, my question to you is: What are you smoking?

            Because here is the truth: Women are equal to men. In other words—for better or for worse—we are just as capable as men of making both good decisions and bad decisions. Sure, there may have been only a few times in the past when we really made a mess of things, but that’s simply because for most of history, women have been shut out of positions of power.

            What separates the good from the bad in Congress is not gender but intelligence, common sense, heart and a sense of decency. It’s that simple. So vote wisely, not simply by gender.

Currently Listening Dusk and Summer By Dashboard Confessional Stolen see related

Now normally I'm not one to write relationship posts, much less relationship posts that attempt to offer advice, but I read an article the other day that made a good point. I'm not going to reproduce the whole article here, but if you like what you read, it is by Kristina Grish in the May issue of Shape magazine.

Marrying Mr. Wrong: It was only when one woman left her preconceptions behind that she found true love.

When I met my fiance, Scott, three years ago, I have to be honest: I was hardly turned on by his stain-resistant khakis, obsession with baseball, and ability to quote from The Lord of the Rings. He wasn't the coolest kid on the block, at least not in the way I had imagined my future hubby to look like or act. Scott didn't produce indie films or collect vintage wines. In fact, for our first date, he planned a night of romance no-no's: bad food, college-band music, and cheesy stand-up comedy. While the date itself was awful, the man behind it was a breath of fresh air: bright, funny, and incredibly nice. But that last asset was also a problem, since I didn't do "nice," incredible or otherwise. No, Bad Boys- clever, charming rogues who reeked of commitment fears and questionable intentions- were definitely more my speed....

Unlike my well-practiced Bad Boys, Scott was honest, empathetic, and insanely self-aware at the outset. It probably didn't occure to him to play games; he was just doing what came naturally. After a few months...I was finally ready to ditch the superficialities of the kind of man I though I'd be with forever, and appreciate someone who cared about me and my happiness on a deeper level.

Scott and I are busy preparing for our wedding this month, and I couldn't be happier. Our differences have enriched our relationship and helped each of us grow. And because he never gives me a reason to doubt his devotion or expectations, I feel secure and comfortable in my own skin. We're not crashing parties or canoodling in dark corners, but we also don't flee from commitment when our lives could use a little zip. For me, Mr. Wrong turned out to be Mr. So-Very Right. He simply arrived in a different package than I had expected.

It seems to be a common xanga theme to write about how life doesn't always turn out how you expect it to, and I think the same can definitely be said for relationships. Girls have a picture in their head of what kind of guy they want to end up with, but more often than not the reality does not match up with the fantasy. The hot guy who seems charming and perfect at first pales in comparision to the shy one who actually has long-term potential. Just as an example, I'm a fairly tall girl, and I always KNEW I would only fall in love with someone who was at least six feet, yet here I am, in a 2-year relationship, with a guy who is the same height as me on a good day. Yet I love his intelligence, his compassion, and his wit, and I would never trade that for a few extra inches. I'm not saying all of this to sound preachy, I just want to encourage the ladies out there to value substance over style. Bad boys may seem like they offer excitement, but a comfortable relationship with a nice, "boring" guy may be more exciting than you could have ever imagined!