CULINARY SUCCESS!!!

I made dinner last night! My mom had this recipe for chicken bruschetta pasta and it was SOOOOO good! I also bought tomato and herb provincial bread from Pardon my French (aka the most magically delicious cafe in the south metro) to go along with it and it was delicious. Mom put the recipe in grandma's recipe box, and hopefully by the time I move out it will be full of tasty things that I will have mastered in the kitchen.

I checked out a set of Italian language CD's from the library a few days, but I have yet to listen to one of them. Oh, well. Baby steps. I'll load them onto my itunes tonight. I don't even know why I'm bothering, because I have no idea when I'll be able to visit Italy again, but at least I'll be prepared when I do.

Katie's wedding is this weekend. I need to make sure my bra (STRAPLESS BRAS SEND ME INTO FITS OF RAGE)is covered by the dress. The bachelorette party was last weekend and we had a lot of fun, but I discovered that I can't drink as much as I could when I was in school. I've only been out of school for about a month and a half and I'm already a lightweight. Oh, well. At least I'll spend less money on drinks, and it's probably a good thing that I can't disinigrate my liver by consuming massive amounts of alcohol.

Eh. Not much else to say. I'll probably update next week.

an update

1. JOB
Nothing too new, really, since I don't start until the end of the month. I did find out that I'll be earning a little more than I expected because I'm on the bilingual team, which is pretty sweet, and if I don't use their health insurance I can make even more. Since I'm covered by my parents' insurance (which is actually better than what the health insurance company I'll be working for is offering me...weird...) until I'm twenty-six, I may as well take the extra money for the next three years. Moneymoneymoooney...MOOONEH. Sorry. I'm a dork.

2. WRITING
I've started working on a short story for a Halloween contest I stumbled upon. The prize is a thirty-dollar gift card for Amazon, but I'm more concerned with the experience. If I can impress this website, maybe I can impress a literary agent.

I've also started writing down the dreams I have every night. I haven't been sleeping well because I've had some weird dreams lately. Some of them are just stupid and the result of watching too much TV (like being on a cruise with the characters from The Big Bang Theory...what? Leonard is CUTE!) but some of them are unusual and kind of creepy. A lot of the time I can't remember much about them by the time I'm fully awake, but I always feel kind of unsettled for the rest of the day. I figure writing them down as soon as I wake up might help me remember them better, and maybe some of them will provide inspiration for future stories. I might even start posting my dream journal on another blog after a while.

PRACTICE SPANISH
Um...I read the Spanish instructions on the back of a package of Tollhouse Cookies tonight. Does that count?

START LEARNING ITALIAN
Ha, yeah, right. If I haven't been keeping up with my Spanish do you honestly think I've started studying a completely new language?

COOK
I COOKED SOMETHING! I made this super unhealthy (but unbelievabely delicious) dip for Katie's bridal shower last week. It has spicy ground beef, cream cheese, tomatoes, chilis, and cilantro. Everyone really seemed to like it, and it tasted like it does when my mom makes it, so I'd call that a success.

EXPLORE THE CITIES
I haven't been downtown since I went to the Jungle Theater, but hopefully I can change that soon. I really wanted to go to the Guthrie and see Much Ado About Nothing but I don't know if I'll have a free weekend before its run ends.

EXERCISE MORE
...I fail. This is one reason I miss Winona. I walked EVERYWHERE. I didn't have a car, so I didn't have any other option. Eagan is not quite as walk-able.

Almost forgot I had this...

I've been out of school for a little over a month, so I suppose it's time for a quick update on how my post-grad goals are going.

1. GET A JOB
Check! I was recently hired by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota as a bilingual health guide (which is just a nice title for call center employee, but still, it's an improvement on Mackin!). I'm a little nervous, because being on the phone for eight hours a day doesn't sound fun, but there are tons of pros: it pays significantly better than my current job, meaning I can afford my own apartment soon; it's right in Eagan, so I won't be wasting the massive amounts of gas I do commuting between home and Burnsville; I'm on the bilingual team so I get to put my Spanish degree to use; it's a health insurance company so I get some pretty good benefits; and it's a big company so there's lots of possibilities for mobility, which is great because I'd really rather not work in a call center forever.

2. START WRITING SOMETHING
Um...still motivating myself on this one. I bought this lovely notebook from Barnes an Noble-it's got a dark purple cover with a black floral pattern- where I can make notes and outlines and character sketches for story ideas, but so far it's empty. I just never feel like writing when I get home from work. Starting next week, though, I plan on spending a lot of time at the library, which I think might be a little more conducive to writing than my parents' house is.

3. PRACTICE SPANISH
Again...not so much. Bad Laura! I did a little before I took my Spanish assessment test for my Blue Cross job (which I aced, thank God), but I should probably practice it in instances when I'm not preparing for an exam.

4. START LEARNING ITALIAN
...Okay, I suck at following through on my goals. But hey, I've only been home for a month! I have PLENTY of time to start. I know the library has language-learning CD's, so I think the next time I'm there I'll pick up some Italian ones and put them on my iTunes. My sister and I are thinking of looking into an English teaching program in Italy too, so that's definitely an impetus to start learning the language.

5. COOK
Okay, to be fair, I haven't had much of an opportunity to do this. My mom meal plans about a week in advance and dinner's usually started by the time I get home. I've been collecting a bunch of yummy-looking recipes, though(YAY stumbleupon!), so I'm going to try out a few of them soon. Once I move out I'll have more of a chance to cook on my own, too.

6. EXPLORE THE CITIES
I've already been to one show in Minneapolis, so I'm off to a good start. My friend Sam and I saw Hamlet at the Jungle Theater, this gorgeous, tiny theater on Lyndale and had a great time. The show was fantastic and we had perfect seats, front and center.

7. EXERCISE MORE
Eh...I've walked to the park a couple times, but that's about it. Now that it's a bit cooler outside, though, I'll probably go a lot more often.

Anyway, besides my goals, life is going pretty well. I've been working at Mackin for about a month, and while it's not a dream job (and I get paper/plastic cuts almost every day), I'm happy to have something that keeps me from being completely broke until I start at Blue Cross. My first day there isn't until Halloween, so I've still got a few weeks left of wrapping books, but it's really not too bad. I'm ALWAYS busy there, so time goes pretty quickly, and the two older ladies that I sit with are both really nice. One of them actually wants me to tutor her twelve-year-old daughter in Spanish when she starts the class next month (she takes online classes and their electives don't start right away) so it'll be nice to make a little extra money and tutor again.

My friend Katie is getting married in a few weeks and I'm a bridesmaid, so I'm pretty excited about that. We've been friends since kindergarten so it's pretty crazy thinking that she's getting married. We're supposed to get together today go get bridesmaid shoes, but I haven't heard from her at all this morning so I'm not sure if that's going to happen. I got the dress a few months ago an it's REALLY pretty-floor length, strapless, navy blue with a ruched top.

I'm taking the week off before I start the new job and I'm either going to Chicago to visit my friend Holly or going to Winona to reunite with my friends there; I'm still not sure yet.

Aaaaand that's about it. We'll see if I update this more regularly than every other month.

UPDATE:
Katie texted and said we aren't shoe shopping after all because she forgot she and her fiance have a wedding to go to. I'm actually okay with this because now I can go deposit my last paycheck, go shopping for work clothes at Old Navy and TJ Maxx, get coffee/something to satiate my sweet tooth, and take my notebook to the park by my house. Man, it's nice being back in Eagan.

things to do before the end of the year

I am officially done with college. Well, that might not be true. I could end up going back for my Masters. Still, I'm done with my undergrad, which should feel like more of a big deal. Instead, I just feel kind of aimless. For the past seventeen years I've had a purpose: Do well in school. I wouldn't say I was the shining example of a star student, but I did pretty well. I got decent grades, I didn't piss off any teachers (at least, not that I know of), I even excelled in a couple subjects. I was a student from the age of five to the age of twenty-two, and I was good at it.

Now I'm moving back in with my parents. Don't get me wrong-I'm not upset about that. I'm looking forward to spending time with my family and not having to worry about rent or tuition. It just feels like I'm taking one giant step backward; I'm going to be living at home, not going to school, unemployed (as of right now). It feels weird, and until I have a job I don't know what I'm going to do with myself. That's why I'm making this list.

1. GET A JOB
Ideally, I will work somewhere where I can apply my skills as an English and/or Spanish major, but I'm starting to get nervous that I won't find anything and will resort to applying to McDonalds or TJ Maxx-anywhere that will offer me some form of monetary compensation so I don't have to mooch off of my parents. Okay, maybe I'm not THAT desperate, but I'm not going to be picky either. I want to be employed. I want to be able to pay for things without relying on my parents.

2. START WRITING SOMETHING TO BE PUBLISHED
I want to focus on a specific project. I don't know if it will be a collection of short stories or an actual novel, but I want to write something that might actually go somewhere-not just fun scribbling or poetry posted on deviantart, but something that I would actually try to get published.

3. PRACTICE MY SPANISH
I haven't taken a Spanish class in over a year and I can already tell that I'm pretty rusty. I will write in Spanish, talk with my Spanish major friends, watch Univision-anything to keep Spanish in my life (assuming I don't find a job where I use it regularly).

4. START LEARNING ITALIAN
I tried to do this in high school but always got distracted. Now though, I'll have a good amount of free time to focus on the language. I know it's kind of impractical, but being able to say I'm fluent in three languages would still look good on a resume, and it would be cool to go back to Italy and actually be able to respond in Italian when someone asks me something. I used to have an Italian grammar book that I threw out last year because I only did two or three exercises in the five years I owned it, and now I'm kicking myself for not keeping it. Oh, well. I'm pretty sure I can find something online.

5. COOK
If I'm going to be living at home, I should at least contribute something (although I think my mom will just be happy if I keep my room somewhat tidy). I also feel like I should practice cooking more, since I didn't really do that while I was in school. I made Dad's tomato spaghetti soup once, but otherwise pretty much everything I made was microwaveable. It's just no fun cooking for yourself, so I figure I can try out new recipes on Mom and Dad. Maybe I can make dinner a few times a week or something.

6. EXPLORE THE CITIES
Considering I've lived so close to St. Paul and Minneapolis all my life, I've never really taken advantage of everything they have to offer. I want to go to plays and concerts and galleries and find cute little stores and restaurants and bars. If I do end up living downtown it would be nice to be familiar with the area.

7. EXERCISE MORE
I didn't really work out much while I was in school. I walked everywhere, which kept me at least somewhat active, but Winona is a very walk-able city. Eagan is not. I want so badly to keep off the weight I lost in Spain (and lose some more) so I'm going to really have to discipline myself once I'm home.

Ugh. I hate ending lists on odd numbers, but I really can't think of anything else right now. I'll try to update this blog more than I have my other ones, although I don't know that anyone will actually read this. It might just end up being my own personal journal, floating around the Internet.