Trashy Television

Today has been a quintessential summer day. I woke up late, put some laundry in the washer, and turned on the TV. The TV theme for the day was New Jersey. I happened to stumble across True Life on MTV while I was flipping through the channels. MTV and VH1 are like train wrecks, you know you shouldn't be watching but you can't look away. True Life: I am a Jersey Shore girl is pretty much the story of my life in relation to some of the people I go to school with. Watching that would give a pretty accurate representation of some of the student body I deal with. Terrifying isn't it? After that ended, I flipped on over to Bravo to watch The Real Housewives of New Jersey for the remainder of the day. This gives a full circle of the two types of Jersey people. It is much more fun to watch these shows now that I can sorta relate them to my life and realize that these people are real. Some of the places they drive, I have driven before. Some of my classmates live in those communities where these shows are shot. I love it because they find the most "Jersey" kinds of people to be on these shows. They are Italian and they are flashy. If there were a show about people in Oklahoma, the people would probably be missing teethe, Indian, and probably a storm chaser. 

Yes, my entire day was consumed by trashy television. I hope to have more exciting things to blog about but I am in the middle of nowhere, I can't make any promises.

Sweet Home Oklahoma

Finally made it home Thursday afternoon. Sorry for the delayed entry, I've been busy, lots to do, lots of people to see. In the short time that I have been back, I have managed to check off a lot of things from my "Things to do in Tahlequah" list. It's so nice to be home though. I've missed everyone here. Not too much has changed except for my house. My mother gets bored and remodels. Every time I come home there is something different about my house. Shirley's latest project has been our backyard. It looks fantastic, she's made it a space that we can actually use. She has her outdoor kitchen that she has always wanted and a nice seating area. She's also putting in a hot tub.

Today Madison had a going away party/TOMS Style Your Sole party. The Mindiola's are finally heading back home up north in Wisconsin for good. They leave Friday. I've been trying to hang out with them as much as possible before they go. It's weird that the only time I will be able to see them in the future will be if I go up to Wisconsin. I will actually be up in Milwaukee later in June for a Concert Management Institute at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. There I will be attending workshops on how to manage a big concert like the one that we have at Wahoo for UIB. I will also get a behind the scenes tour of Summerfest and I get to see Tom Petty perform. The best part about the trip is that it is all expenses paid, courtesy UIB. Another plus is that I get to see Madison! Woah I got off track. So back to the party. Today I decorated a pair of white TOMS. This was a big decision, I just stared at the shoes for a long time. I didn't want to mess them up. I finally just had to dive in and decorate them. I started off with painting a heart and star, then it turned into me writing my name all over one section, then all sorts of greetings and good-byes. It's hard to explain, I'll post a picture of them later. We also tie dyed t-shirts. I am so glad that tie-dye still hasn't gone out of style. It's so fun! After that I headed over to Richard's for my mom's 50th birthday. You heard me right, Shirls is 50. I do have to hand it to her, she ages gracefully, I hope I inherited that gene. This party was the best way to see all of our close family and restaurant friends all at once. Grand China parties always end up being such a melting pot of cultures. Mainly because of Saadia's family being Moroccan and us being Chinese, but it's still a good time. The multiculturalism varies throughout the years, sometimes we have more ethnic employees than other times.

That is pretty much all for now. I hope all of you are enjoying the summer and handling the heat...it's only gonna get worse, Phew, I can't handle the heat well at all, I've been up north too long.

Extended Stay

Tuesday Rae and I drove up to Dallas, the half way mark from San Antonio to Tahlequah. We left SA a little later than expected but we did manage to make it to Arlington to Cowboys Stadium in time for the very last tour. We splurged for the V.I.P tour of the stadium which included a tour guide and access to the almost most exclusive parts of the facility. We sat in the club seats, visited a club house, walked through the Miller Lite Club onto the field (the same route the cowboys take to enter the field), and we saw the players' and cheerleaders' locker rooms. This facility is massive.They say everything is bigger in Texas, and they were right. So many "World's Largests" was put into that. I didn't realize that the Cotton Bowl was there and OSU played at that stadium. That's a big deal. Nobody told me this. I even watched that game on tv. Rae can tell you a lot more about the facility since she did her Facilities Operations term project on it, (raerosen.blogspot.com). 

After we saw the stadium, we ate dinner at Chipotle and went to meet a dear friend of mine, Danell. Danell took care of me when I was a kid. Her family is like my second family. They moved away from my neighborhood right before I started high school and moved to Texas. They are now living in the Dallas area and Rae and I were fortunate enough to stay with them. I am so glad Rae got to meet Danell, they are a lot alike in a few ways I think.

After sending Rae off on the airplane back to SA, I went and spent the day with Danell and the girls that she nannys for. They are so precious and so fun. This is the best job Danell could ever ask for. She also took me to go see the Gaylord Texan, a big hotel and convention center, because I told her I was into stuff like that. After that we went to downtown Grapevine and had a picnic and shopped around before picking up the other little girl from school. After school they always go to the playground near the school and all of her friends are there too. There were a bunch of 9 and 10 year olds running around with cell phones and I thought it was ridiculous until I remembered that I got mine shortly after that age too. It's so funny how when you are 10 you feel SO old...at least I did. Now when I see a 10 year old, they are definitely still children. After the girls were fed, we met their dad at the soccer field and that's where we left them. Danell and I went and got some mexican for dinner and then she took me to a nature preserve, we hiked off our meal for a bit then headed back to her house.  I helped her husband set up a Netflix account that streams through their DVD player...I may have created a monster with that. But he seems pretty excited about it. We watched Air Force One last night. Good movie. Intense. I like Harrison Ford. I apologize if the verb tenses are off on this post, it has taken me two days to finish it.

Lone Star Adventures

The last few days spent in Texas have been fantastic. I've gotten to live vicariously through Stevvi in College Station to fulfill my want for a classic college experience complete with v-necks and Nike running shorts. I have also fulfilled my dream of living in the peak of white suburbia in San Antonio with Rae and her family. It's been so fun to meet everyone in her life in person. It's so crazy how iChatting can make meeting people on a computer screen so real. I feel like I've know Stevvi, Danielle, and Robin forever.

I love froyo. There are so many froyo shops here, I'm so sad that we don't at home. Spoons in College Station is the first self serve froyo place I had ever been too. I got to get however much yogurt I wanted and whatever flavor along with however many toppings I wanted and then I pay per ounce. Definitely something that I couldn't have all the time, that would not be very friendly on my debit card. Orange Cup in SA was really cool too. They had some interesting flavors and a really cute store at the LaCantera Mall. Oh the LaCantera Mall...beautiful and every store I would ever want. I didn't buy anything though...aren't you proud?  Last night Rae, Stevvi, and Danielle took me to the famous Riverwalk in Downtown San Antonio. I have mixed feelings about doing touristy things with locals, I'm not sure if I didn't think it was such a big deal just because it's not a         very big deal or if it would have been a big deal if I went with non-locals.

Well my bags are all packed and I am ready to head out and go back up to Oklahoma. Back to reality. We are making a pit stop in Dallas to see my lovely Danell and take a tour of the Cowboys Stadium. Rae and I are parting ways tomorrow, she is going to fly from Dallas back to SA and I will be driving home. This is gonna be kinda weird, we haven't spent much time apart in several months. It's a blessing from God that we aren't sick of each other yet. Much love, enjoy the warm weather, I'm still adjusting.

When in Texas...

This morning we left Mississippi and hit I-10 West all the way to Texas. The further west we drove, the less scenic it got outside the car window. We started off the morning right in front of the gulf and the coastline for a good 20 miles or so. The closer we got to the Texas gulf coast, the more oil refineries and flat land and highway there was. Also, soon after we passed the Texas border, the trooper was on it. Rae got pulled over for going 78 in a 70. Interesting since we managed to drive through 13 other states on this trip with the occasional speeding because of how sensitive my gas pedal is. Luckily we got off with a written warning, phew. We met with Rae's cousin Shannon and spent some time with her family in Houston before heading to College Station to see Stevvi! 

When we got to Stevvi's place, we hung out for a bit then went to Rudy's for dinner. Rudy's in as Texas as it gets. It's a BBQ restaurant where you buy the smoked meat and sides by the pound, BBQ sauce by the gallon, as much sweet tea you can drink, however many slices of bread to go with all of that meat you just got, and you eat on wax paper not plates. It was delicious. After dinner we headed back and started the long process of getting ready for a night out. Of course, I am the first to be ready. I have this awesome ability to get ready in 40 minutes max time including a shower, hair, make-up, and picking out an outfit. In that time I also blow dried and curled Rae's hair with time to spare. Since we were only gonna be in town for a short time, Stevvi wanted to show us what she does here in College Station and a good time. For the first time, I put on a sun dress with cowboy boots. Not gonna lie, I looked pretty cute. Disregarding the fact that chinese girl is wearing western wear. We went out two-steppin'. We left her apartment at around 11pm and poor College Station is dead when classes are not in session. 

Stevvi took us to this place called Daisy Duke's, a country dance hall. When we first got there, it was practically empty. After some wandering we wound up going back and the place finally started to fill up. It was unusual tonight because it was part country two-steppin' and another part night club. Somehow Rae and I had managed to bring the nightlife in Providence all the way down to College Station. Most girls were in their club ultra outfits, not in their cowboy boots., There also seemed to be a random bachelorette  party or wedding reception, I'm not really sure, I just knew people were unusually dressed up for this place. I learned to two-step. The first few dances were really rough since I was just kinda thrown out there was no lesson prior to, but I did manage to pick it up pretty quickly. I danced with a wide array of guys, some were nice southern gentlemen, others were drunk messes, and others were just a mess. We went to Stevvi's friends house for a "red cup party" afterwards and got to watch all the drunk people while we were sober, the best way to go. While we were there, they taught me a few more country dance steps. Good night/morning. I have had an extremely long day, I have been awake for way to long. That is all for now. Check out raerosen.blogspot.com for her perspective on our adventures.

Touring instead of Tour Guiding

This morning Rae and I took at tour of JWU Charlotte. It was pretty interesting being on the other end of a campus tour for the day. The presentation was a tad long but very informative for someone who is not a current Johnson and Wales student. The Charlotte campus is practically brand new. Its doors opened in 2004. The city of Charlotte actually paid for a significant amount for the school to be built there is a want to make Charlotte a destination for trendy restaurants and hotels. The campus is located just outside of uptown Charlotte right outside of the 2nd largest financial district in the country right after NYC. We stayed at the Double Tree Hotel which is owned by the university and just so happens to be right in between the admissions office and academic building. We took a look at the main residence hall and dining hall then continued into the academic building. They have upperclassmen housing call City View Towers which is similar to The Village and The Cove in Providence as well as nice condos and apartments surrounding the area too. The academic building is gorgeous and filled primarily with natural light unlike our John Hazen White Center and Xavier. Charlotte has a professional dress code and all classes are located in mainly one building. We got to take a look at the culinary and baking and pastry labs which can be seen from outside on the street. I was very impressed with the campus, they also offer a few minors at Charlotte unlike Providence. In order to make this transfer work for the fall of 2011, I am going to have to spend some quality time with academic advisors to fit in all of my advertising class this coming year in order to transfer since they don't have an advertising program there. What would happen is I transfer to Charlotte as a Marketing major and take my remainder general classes and marketing classes there for 2 trimesters leaving my 3rd tri for my internship in which I will transfer back to Providence, do my internship where ever I wish, and graduate in Providence with my advertising degree. Complicated, but worth it. Charlotte is an up and coming place full of job opportunities for recent grads. Next year is my opportunity to take full advantage of student life in Providence before moving into a more young professional setting for my JR/SR year of college.

The remainder of the day was spent driving through the rest of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and ending in Mississippi. Things I have noticed about the deep south: baptist churches every mile, Cracker Barrel at every town exit, and lots of interesting license plates. Tomorrow we are headed to Texas! We are leaving bright and early and hopefully getting to College Station in the afternoon. Goodnight all.

P.S. Check out  Rae's perspective of our road trip @ raerosen.blogspot.com

Southbound.

Hello all! It's Joy away from my mini-city, on the road back to Oklahoma. It is our 2nd day on the road and things have been going unusually smooth but fantastic. Yesterday I finished up my finals, loaded up the car, and hit the road. We made our first stop last night in Wilmington, DE at around midnight. Stayed in a Holiday Inn Express, I give it 2 thumbs up. It was fantastic, 2 queen beds, free wi-fi, and free continental breakfast all for just around $100. This morning we left Delaware at 9am and continued down I95 South towards Virginia. We stopped in Fairfax and had lunch with Rae's friend Ashley who goes to George Mason University. We could not have asked for better weather or a better location. The drive through Virginia was absolutely gorgeous. Since we took a detour to Fairfax, the Garmen strayed us from I95, we were skeptical at first but it ended up being a really nice and scenic drive. Along the way we rolled the windows down and listened to Taylor Swift, one of my favorite things to do!

We made it to Charlotte, NC at around 8pm. Figured out that the university owned Double Tree Hotel is directly next door to Johnson and Wales University Charlotte campus. Upon check-in to the Double Tree, we were given warm chocolate chip cookies. Now that is good customer service right there. Any business that hands out warm chocolate cookies is a winner in my book, like Midwest Airlines too. After we got to our hotel room and freshened up a bit, we headed out on the "uptown" to find some dinner. When we walked out, I heard music playing in the distance. I thought I heard Switchfoot. We followed the music, and were still unsure if it was them. Finally I whipped out the iPhone and saw on their website that they were indeed in Charlotte for the night. In excitement, I ran a block over to find a free outdoor concert. What are the chances right?! It was awesome, and being with Rae, we found our way to the near front. During the concert we were admiring the people with the lanyards with the all-access pass. After volunteering at so many events, I really dislike being a spectator anymore. After the concert we followed the herd of people and continued our hunt for dinner. We found the Epicentre which is like this outdoor mall of bars and restaurants. Of course all of them were carding at the door so the one place we could get into was the Enso Asian Bistro and Sushi Bar. The place was not packed with people like the other places. It was very cool inside. We sat at the sushi bar and watched the sushi being prepared in front of us. About mid-way through the meal we saw a group of people who were the all-access pass people come in. We said jokingly, "What if that is Switchfoot's people?" Of course 10 minutes later Switchfoot came walking in! Rae and I freaked out to eachother, but pulled it together and went over to talk to them and show them the pictures that we had with them from their show that was in Providence in November. They remembered and thought it was awesome that we stumbled across their concert by chance and ended up at the same sushi place. We got a fantastic photo with them, it's on Rae's camera, it should be posted soon for you to see. We also mentioned how we hated not being the people with the lanyards and they gave us the all-access lanyard as a momento.

Awesome trip so far. I am still a bit skeptical about maybe transferring to Charlotte the year after next. We're taking a tour of the school in the morning, hopefully I'll have a better idea after. I have heard nothing but great things about Charlotte and the Carolinas. The city is fun and full of young professionals or "yuppies" we call them in consumer behavior. Keep your eye out for more updates on the road trip. That's all for now.