This is my friend, Erin. She's a little "different."

Because we both had classes that were cancelled today (I only have Media Ethics on TTh), we decided to take a spontaneous trip to New Orleans.

After an interesting (to say the least, as me about it if you want the long version) drive down there, we pulled into the French Quarter amid the groups of families and school buses down in the "Deep South" (as I heard a man from Illinois say- ha!) for Spring Break.

Our first order of business was breakfast at Cafe du Monde (as always).

The beignets were perfect and the au lait was full of chickory. Erin and I had fun people watching. I think my favorite part was when I heard a woman say, "Ah, yes, I think I would like some BEG-NETS, please."

After walking around to our favorite stores such as Urban Outfitters and UAL, we decided to take it uptown to the Garden District on Magazine Street to visit American Apparel.

I went a different way than I have before and we found a more impressive Walmart than the Madison Walmart. (It was brick and so was parts of the parking lot!

After shopping around, we decided to try out Rocky's a couple of blocks down.

Erin got a whole wheat pizza with pepperoni and feta... not my favorite. I think there were so many dominant flavors that I couldn't just focus on one.

I ordered a grilled chicken panini (surprise, suprise). This was huge! I only at half of the panini and boxed up the other half and the salad to take home. I ate the salad as a snack when I got back around 4:30 and then the panini for dinner. It had garlic mayo, carmelized onions, and tomato. Yum!

Afterwards, we headed on home to make sure we were ahead of this next line of storms coming our way. Since we woke up so early to leave, I didn't have time to check the news and I was shocked when I heard about the severe weather near home! I talked to my mom and she said a couple of homes down the street have damage and even a tree in one!

Here's to hoping that this next line of storms isn't severe!

Yoga

Today, Deidre, Erin, and I went to yoga class. I've been inspired lately by the blog Kath Eats Real Food (see link on the right)- Kath does yoga a good number of times of week and is very focused on health and nutrition. I've been reading her blog for a while now and I've really been trying to focus on good food decisions (besides the beach) and changing up my exercise plan. I've done the same routine and I don't seen results and I'm pretty bored with it.

So, my friend Kaycie went to Pilates on Mondays and told me that she really liked it. I remembered back to my freshman year when Jill and I would go to Pilates every week, so I decided it wouldn't hurt to try again. I checked the group exercise schedule, told my cohorts, and away we went to the Payne Center.

The class was actually a lot of fun. It's interesting to see how I can lift (x) number of pounds on a machine, but feel completely different while doing Downward Facing Dog. I think I'll be the good-kind-a-sore tomorrow.

We did a couple of these:

Spring Breakin'

Truffles has gotten so big, she's bigger than Spike. Mind you, she's 3 months old (eek!).

After a few days at home, my aunt, cousin, mom, and I headed down to Gulf Shores for a few days at the beach.In Mobile, we stopped and at Felix's on Battleship Parkway. We got a great table next to the window overlooking the bay.

I got Broiled Crabcakes that were over a fried green tomato. The crab was awesome but the tomato wasn't my favorite (green tomatoes can just be sour).

We got to our condo and were so happy to be there! The place was great and so was the company. After getting settled, we made rotel dip and sat on the balcony. This is the view looking to the right.

This condo was pretty near perfect. Looking over the right side of the railing, you could see the back bay! So, we were able to have two views at once.

See that blue tent on the right? That's ours. We had a little trouble with it (it's been broken and it only got worse) and in the end, had to leave it in the dumpster on the way home.

Cary was excited about Rotel and the beach.

Jan even had her fuzzy socks on (she even took them to the beach in case she got cold).

The next day was perfect. It was warm (but not hot), a slight breeze, and calm. That morning we even saw two groups of dolphins.

For lunch we had chili and all kinds of fixin's. I had a chili/nacho/salad. It was good.

The view of the beach from our balcony.

The condo pool.

After lunch, Jan even brought out spoonfuls of cookie dough... Mmmmm.

After that is all a blur. Wait! Not really... I just got lazy with the camera. We ordered dinner from the Shrimp Basket and picked it up and ate on the balcony. That nights, we watched Leatherheads, a movie my mom brought that she had gotten on Netflix.

The next day was a little more windy and chilly than the day before. We started off by going down to the beach and taking down our tent. Unfortunately, the wind had battered it throughout the night and it had broken beyond what we could do to fix it. So, we broke it down and then just sat in our beach chairs.

However, it was so windy! After about 30 minutes we decided/realized we could have the same experience minus the wind on our balcony because the cement wall on the left side of our balcony would buffer the wind. So, we sunbathed on the balcony and enjoyed the waves.

For lunch, we decided to get ready and eat lunch out. We headed to the Original Oyster House and had some great food. I had popcorn shrimp and crab cakes while others got crab stuffed mushrooms, Mahi Mahi, and shrimp. We ended the meal with some awesome Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Pie. Dee-lish!

We came back and lounged for the rest of the day, some of us (me) sunbathing, reading books and napping. That night we grazed on all kinds of leftovers.

Sadly, it was time to go. After packing, we loaded up and headed home with Bun Rab at the wheel.

Bun Rab?? How'd you get up there?

After driving a couple of hours, we were back in Hattiesburg. We decided on burgers, meeting David at Mugshots. Awesome! After finishing lunch, it was time for Cary and I to say goodbye and our moms to head back to Jackson.

Can't wait for the next adventure!

It's been a long time, hasn't it?

I've been terribly busy right before Spring Break and it's been all down hill since then! I've written a couple of articles for the JFP, as well as done research. It's been going catching up with some friends and hanging out with everyone. I've gone to the eye doctor, gotten my hair cut, and even had lunch with Amanda, Erin, and Katherine. Tomorrow we are headed to the beach, so I'll have more about that when we get back on Sunday!

Major University Announcement

Over the past couple of days, everyone around school has been getting emails that the president of the University would have a major university announcement this morning at 10:30.

As curious little students, Maggie and I decided we needed to go. Granted, we were hoping the major announcement had something to do with a two-week long Spring Break to further cut school costs, but, who's counting?

So, when we arrive, we realize we are just two in a VERY large crowd of people around the Thad Cochran Center. We found a friend of ours and talked about what we thought the announcement is going to be. One thing shrouded in mystery was whatever was propped on an easel and covered with a black cloth.

As Dr. Saunders began to speak, I suspected it had to do with money, considering how she was pointing out board members of the foundation.

Then, she unveiled this puppy:

You know, just a $6,000,000 dollar donation to the university. Apparently, it is the largest cash donation the University has ever had.

Now, I just want want to know who the anonymous donor is!

I hate that I don't blog as much as a used to. Oh well, I guess it is good in a way because I'm busy.

Saturday was a fun day, starting off with Kaycie and I going to PetSmart to go help with the Adoption Team. The funniest dog out there was the dog Kaycie was handling. Cody (the dog) was a Labrador Retriever and BASSET HOUND mix. It was so odd. Here's a picture:

I know this picture doesn't do it justice, but Cody has the face and coloring of a lab, but the shortest legs you have ever seen. He was really scared and didn't like to move, but he did get adopted.

After volunteering for a few hours, we came back, showered, ate lunch, and the went downtown to the park for a couple of hours so that we could "study."

I actually did read all of the assigned reading for Kite Runner, which I'm reading for my Contemporary Literature class. I also started reading about Buddhism for Religion.

The weather outside was amazing, the grass was green, and it was fun people watching. This one mom and her kids came and lounged on a blanket, eating apples. The park is across the street from the railroad tracks, so we watched a very long train go by (and sit idle on the tracks for a good ten minutes, stopping downtown traffic).

Afterward, we grabbed some yummy snow cones and watched Becoming Jane. If you haven't seen that movie, you should. Don't we all wish we had James McAvoy?

It's these little simple things that make a Saturday so much fun. Don't cha think?

I am in love with this artist on Etsy called A Black Apple. Her pictures are so life-like, yet so animated.

Today, I went to her shop, and she had this one, the Button Collector. If I could be drawn, I would want to look like this.