Amanda's Birthday

On January 28, one of my best friends, Amanda, turned 20 which means that we had to celebrate, of course!

It has become a tradition for a few of my friends and I to eat at this great Indian restaurant, Nirvana, on Magazine Street (I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it before). Anyways, we were there the weekend before Amanda's birthday per tradition when I looked at the buffet line, and lo and behold, there was someone in the line who looked remarkably like Jennifer Coolidge (think American Pie, Legally Blonde, Best in Show, etc). I turned to my friends (Amanda, Arielle, and Meghan) who also agreed that the woman in line looked like her. Long story short after arguing if it would be rude to ask her or not, Arielle took the initiative to ask if she was Jennifer Coolidge, AND IT WAS! It was really exciting! We told her it was Amanda's birthday (and she wished Amanda a happy birthday) and even took a pictures with us:

Now I can say I've met a celebrity!

For Amanda's actual birthday, though, we went to this restaurant called O'Henry's which serves you a free birthday steak as long as you can show ID that proves it's your birthday. Needless to say, Amanda got her steak:

We just hung out the rest of the night with a bunch of our friends, recalling memories of living in Monroe (6th floor, represent!) and ridiculous hurricane evacuation stories. I think Amanda had a nice 20th!

Audubon Park

I don't know how many of you know this, but Gibson Hall (the original building of Tulane University) is located on St. Charles Street and right across from it is Audubon Park.

Audubon is super pretty, and Tulane (and Loyola) students (as well as locals) use it to run, play golf, or just hang out. Personally, I think it's a great place to study when it's warm or to have a picnic with friends. For my birthday this year, my friends (left to right: Arielle, Hannah, Amanda, and Maeve) we had picnic in Audubon with some food from Whole Foods (I highly recommend the potato salad).

Audubon park is also home to the Audubon Zoo which I haven't been to yet, but a lot of my friends have said that it's really cool. Apparently, they also take the elephants out for walks in the park some days!

If you go through the park and past Magazine Street, you go to this area that's know as "the Fly" which is on the banks of the Mississippi and has a lot of picnic spots. It's just another place to go on the weekend with friends with a frisbee or a soccer ball and some food and just relax. Below is a picture of me, Meghan, and Maxine at the Fly for Maxine's birthday last spring.

I can't wait until the spring again!

First week back

So, I got back to Tulane last Saturday and have been here for a little over a week now.

My classes are really interesting this semester. Of course organic chemistry and physics are still a little too dry for my liking, but both my public health are interesting, and my sociology class is really cool (the professor is really cool!)

Other than that, it's been really nice seeing all of my friends. My roommate, Arielle's, younger sister, Leila, actually was in town for the weekend, so it was great having a third roommate! Leila doesn't want to go to college here she doesn't think (she wants to forge her own path since both her older siblings go to school here), but after visiting it was nice to hear that she will probably apply. Below is a picture of us (Arielle, Leila, me, and Amanda) at a party last night which was fun.

Also yesterday, we had a day of service for the Martin Luther King weekend, and I was a project coordinator which means that I (along with a couple of girls from Xavier University nearby) led a group of about sixty students to City Park and we remulched a path there. It was cool to work with and meet students from Tulane, Loyola, Xavier, and Dillard Universities! After lunch, since we had some extra time, we got a chance to explore the sculpture garden (which is free!) that is at the New Orleans Museum of Art which is also located in city park.

My friend Walt and I had fun posing with the statues:




Well that's that. I am really excited for the inauguration! And also if any of ya'll have applied to Tulane (since I know the deadline just passed), I wish you luck!

New Years

Hey all! Happy New Years!

Yes, I'm still in California, but I get back to New Orleans on Saturday! That's pretty exciting.

So what have I been doing with myself here at home? Well mostly, I've watched a lot of episodes of CSI (did you know that they have marathons practically every day?) and working a little more at the chocolate shop and hanging out with friends from high school.

For New Years, we went up to my aunt's apartment in San Francisco for dinner which was really fun. Below is a picture of three of my cousins (Vivian, Tina, and Kathleen) and me.


Then after I went to a friend's house and hung out and watched the ball drop in Time Square and toasted the New Year and played Scattagories until like two in the morning (I know, we're cool).

Anyways, I can't wait to get back to Tulane and get started with the new semester. I'm taking a lot of classes (organic chemistry, physics, a sociology class, genetics, and a public health class), am still involved with various community service things (I can't wait to get started on volunteering with the Children's Hospital), and seeing all of my friends. I also need to find a job. Suggestions?

Also, my friend just posted this link on my facebook wall:
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/01/mayor_ray_nagin_launches_2009.html
Yes, that's right. Another thing to look forward to this semester? Mardi Gras! (But more on that when it gets closer!)

So, I think next time you hear from me, I'll be in NOLA! 'Till then!