Throw cares away.

Christmastime will recede back into the calendar in a few mere hours. This year, a pleasant day was filled with gift exchanges, family phone calls and mass texts from friends, and a trip to the movies.

In order, let’s begin with the gift exchanges. This morning my step sister and her children came over for breakfast and presents. Generally, everyone was pleased with their holiday treasures. Items of note that I received: an iPod Nano , a handful of gift cards, a blazer jacket, and a bracelet.

Dad called of course, as did my cousins, some with whom I haven’t spoken in quite sometime. It made me reminisce about years ago when I was considerably younger. The holidays are a particularly emotional time for me; I suppose that’s my mother in me. I also spoke with a few dear friends to compare holidays and gifts, and left voicemails with those who were busy with their own families. A couple of texts from friends at school also brightened my day, knowing that people were thinking about me even in between semesters.

My brother made the mistake of venturing into the cinematic world and watching Black Christmas. Though, in all fairness, what could we expect? Aside from the flawed storyline and unnecessary graphic content, it was not a total waste of money, especially since we attended the matinee. The movie was somewhat tongue-in-cheek and was completely self-aware of its cliche. It is not completely impossible that that last observation is just not a large oversight on my part, however.

Also, and I realize that I am completely behind the times with this news item, but I have recently discovered (RED). I have known what it was for awhile now, but have only in the past weeks or so become involved. One of my relatives, after watching Oprah no less, decided to purchase all of her Christmas gifts from (RED) vendors. So, though Christmas is now over, and is gift-giving, I have vowed to make a conscious effort to purchase (RED) items when available- such as clothing, and whatnot.

I guess every little bit helps.

technorati: (red), black christmas, oprah, ipod nano

Home for the Holidays

Last week I finished Fall Semester 2006 (made all A’s), packed up all of my dirty clothes, and hit the highway for home. This semester, as I’m sure I’ve implied before, has been nothing short of tumultuous, nearly unbearable. I now have the next month to enjoy the comforts of lounging and no, or at least minimal, responsibility.

Since I’ve been home my days have included, well, not much of anything really. I wake up mid-morning, throw in the some laundry, catch whatever daytime TV show may be on. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. It’s been a fairly peaceful regimen so far, and I’m looking forward to it continuing in this fashion.

Christmas shopping, though, has not gone so smoothly. This is primarily due to the fact that I’m tapped on both cash and gift-giving inspiration. Normally, I consider myself to be a fairly intuitive gift-giver (if you disagree, please keep that information to yourself so as not to spoil my blissful ignorance), but this year the Fate’s, as it were, just aren’t speaking to me. As a result of my budget, I’ve tried to keep my list to a minimum- you know, the standard parents, siblings, and close friends. Hopefully, I’m only one more Target trip away from finishing my list.

Tomorrow, I leave for the great NYC for a 5 day stint. Visiting friends, possibly catching a Broadway show, and then depressing myself at the expensive reality that it is to live in a big city. With any luck, I will be able to avoid a lot of Holiday Travelers.

As far as my summer-hunt for a fantastic internship is concerned, I’m still at a standstill. I’ve emailed a few offices and made a couple of new contacts. The process itself is much more tedious and slow-moving than I ever expected. I have, though, made the discovery that I will more than likely (about 99% sure here) have to end up in LA, at least this summer. It doesn’t appear that I have friends that are anticipating available rooms in NYC, and other than that, my option is the NYU dorms, which are very, very expensive.

Hopefully, this situation will improve in the coming weeks. When I come back from the Big Apple, and naturally after the holidays have settled, I will be working extra-super-hard, sending out resumes, cover letters and the like faster than ever.