Regional convention, Inside Out, and Arcade Games

"God tell us the reason youth is wasted on the young..."

~Lost Stars, Keira Knightley (Begin Again)

Hello!

It's been a while since the blog here was updated, so here we go with some life updates! 

I'm going to start by talking about the Phi Theta Kappa Illinois Regional Convention! This was a convention that was similar to the International Convention in April, except a lot smaller and only including community colleges in Illinois. It took place in the middle of nowhere Mt. Vernon, Illinois and a tiny college that was about 45 minutes from our hotel (it was truly the middle of nowhere...that was the closest hotel to the school!). We left on Friday, June 5 for our 5 hour drive in our little coach bus driven by our advisor. There were only 3 students who could go (me, Adrian, and Kayla), but it was pretty fun with such a small group! I feel a lot closer to them after this trip!

Kayla, me, and Adrian on our way to regional Convention!

Fun story from the way there: While we were driving, about 25 minutes into the drive, this man in a little white car zoomed in front of us while making frantic gestures, and we all assumed he was flipping us off! Our advisor, Heidi, waved to him, thinking he was just being a jerk. Later down the road, we saw the same guy pulled over on the side of the road, and as we passed, he continued with the crazy gestures! The four of us complained, wondering why he was picking us out! However, even later, the same guy was driving alongside us, gesturing for Heidi to roll down the window... when she did, he yelled, "Your back door is open!"

...We were all shocked. He wasn't trying to be rude to us. It was quite the opposite...he had followed us for so long to tell us the back cargo door was open. Heidi flipped out, pulled over, and checked the back. Everything looked okay, except Adrian's luggage had fallen out of the bus! We didn't know exactly what to do; the only thing we thought of was to turn around and see if we could find the luggage on the road.

However! Right as we were pulled over discussing what to do, I started getting a call from Adrian's brother Andrew. Andrew told me that some guy had called their house saying he found Adrian's luggage in the road! We were so relieved! The guy (whose name was Curt) picked up the luggage and met Andrew at our college, declined a money reward, and went on his way to work. What a great guy! It's nice to know that there are such caring people out there who are willing to go out of their way for others (I mean, he could have just swerved around the luggage like everyone else on the road...but he stopped!). After we heard that, we turned around and met Andrew and their mom at a nearby McDonald's to get the luggage back. What a relief! This situation could have been A LOT worse.

Of course, the whole thing was documented on Snapchat...

Just chillin in a random McDonald's parking lot.

After that whole fiasco, we got back on the road. Five hours later, we arrived at our hotel and got ready for the first general session. All of the chapters met in the hotel banquet hall for a speaker who spoke about success and did some magic tricks. It was pretty entertaining!

First day of the convention!

When you look terrifying af, but you're really just drawing a house on your head.

That night, the three of us chilled in mine and Kayla's hotel room for a bit and I played a bit of uke (Kayla thought I had been playing for a long time...it's only been about a few weeks! How sweet!).

Saturday was the big day of the convention. We got up early for breakfast and then headed to the school that the educational forums would be held at.

Selfie with Adrian in this warehouse that was actually a school...

We started with another general session where one of the old International Officers gave a great speech with some great advice. We then went to our educational forums (I went to one about social media and another about conflict resolution...they weren't that exciting, but they could have been a lot worse!). We then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the banquet and award ceremonies that night! This was the best part because we got to dress all classy!

Aren't we a classy bunch?? Gotta love the cute clothes and shoes you can find at thrift stores!

The banquet was pretty tasty, and we shared a table with some people from another chapter and they were all really nice! 

After we ate, the award ceremony was held, and our chapter got quite a few awards! Although Adrian, Kayla, and I are new in the group, we got to accept the awards because we were the only people from our chapter in attendance.

Our beautiful, shiny awards!

The festivities after the awards were pretty much just a dance, but it really looked lame and small, so we decided to opt out. Instead, we met up with the three girls from our banquet table along with two others from another school who also thought the dance looked lame, and we all played cards! I taught them all how to play Mau, and then we brought out Quelf and played that. It was a ton of fun! We all later added each other on Facebook and took a cute elevator selfie (with most of them, not everyone)

weird sign hanging in the hotel hallway...there were some weirdos there.

The next day, we just ate some breakfast, ended the convention, and headed back home. Thankfully we made it back without losing anyone's luggage! Also, something really weird happened on Yik Yak! At international in April, someone had posted about PTK, and I, along with a few other strangers, commented on it, and ever since then, we've all been commenting on it and conversing! Another person said they were going to the Illinois regional convention, and we decided we'd try to find each other. Unfortunately, we didn't get to meet in person because their chapter left early, but I later found out that the mysterious person was the International officer that gave the speech on Saturday! I was so surprised because I actually knew who he was and thought his presentation was amazing! Too bad we didn't get to meet in person, but now we do chat on snapchat occasionally. 

My lovely friend Brittney at her grad party

Some other things occurring in my life: Tis the season for graduation parties! A lot of my friends graduated from high school and college, so I've been to quite a few grad parties, and have more coming up. Also, I've been seeing a lot of my friends this summer and spending time with them at every opportunity! I got to see Cecilia for a bit before she left for her job, and we got to pet puppies again, so that was fun!

Cecilia and cute dachshund puppy!

Partying with Erika at Target

Been playing tons of video games lately

Honors in Action meeting for PTK, featuring Kayla, Adrian, and JT's hand

Other than that, I've been spending my time practicing ukulele and working. I really love having the uke because I've really missed playing music. I played flute for ten years, and dropped it this past school year because our school's band program is actually terrible. Also, I love my job at Bath and Body Works! Right now is the Semi-annual sale, so we've been kind of busy, but I really love working with people and my coworkers are all really cool! I feel really lucky to have landed such an amazing part-time job!

Playin uke in mysterious snapchat

First day of work selfie!

ALSO! This past Tuesday, I went to see Inside Out! I've been waiting for this movie for about a year, and it's finally here! I went with my friends Marli and Rami to this Insider Access thing where we got to see the film three days before it opened, and we got lanyards and quality posters, and got to see a tour of Pixar studios, as well as an interview with Amy Poehler and Pete Docter! It was absolutely amazing, and there were very few people there, so it was even better, and because the interview part had some technical difficulties (the video wasn't working, but the audio was...), we each got two readmission tickets for sticking through it! Anyway, besides that great experience, the movie itself as absolutely beautiful! Pixar never disappoints, and Inside Out really proved that once again. Such a cute, emotional film in which everything is just so clever! I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll just say that everything is so clever and it's adorable and relatable, and the music is phenomenal!

my drawing of the emotions in the film

One last thing in this insanely long post! This past Thursday was my dad's birthday, and we went to Level 257 to celebrate. Level 257 is a restaurant owned by Namco, so everything is Pac-Man themed! We didn't eat there, but there is a large arcade with old video games in it, and we spent a long time there just playing games. I love that place and the whole atmosphere! They have 80s memorabilia all around and play 80s music, and the arcade games are amazing, of course. My mom got mad at me because I beat her Galaga high score twice! My second score was unbeatable by everyone in my family who played after me though ;)

Dig Dug!

Versing my mom in Donkey Kong

 

Versing my sister in Pengo

Well yeah! Sorry this post is so long, but I just haven't updated in a while! I'll try to get back on it! Here's to a great Father's day and rest of June!

With love,

Olivia

Goodbye CL- see you in August

Well, the time has come for me to embark on my summer job as a camp counselor. It's been a fun, challenging and important month at home. I've had the chance to spend time with people I love, and go on many adventures. I can say with all the confidence in the world that I am beyond blessed in the way of friends and family. I think this snapchat of my brother at one of my fav restaraunts sums up the family part well.

Along with this, I'm very lucky to have such great friends still here at home. This particular one and I exchanged early birthday presents...since we have the same birthday and can't celebrate it the day of this year since I'll be away...and gave each other essentially the same thing! 

Of course, I can't forget about my baby doge here. My other dog denied my request to appear in this blog because he's quite honesty sick of me trying to take photos with him....

But I convinced him later on that it was worth it :)

I had to throw in a picture of my girl Olivia and I. I'm so proud of us, and very glad we've remained friends despite me being gone a lot. As my mom would say, she's a good egg.

Another important adventure besides just hanging out in the good ol' CL was my recent trip to California. I got to see my relatives, family friends, and even a few friends from school! It was actually my first time riding in a plane alone...which was a little scary! But I was okay :)

I really liked this photo I took on the plane.

My friend worked at an outdoor mall in San Diego, so naturally I had to take a selfie with the sears. I always do this because my job at Sears made me very loyal to the store and one way I show this is by taking selfies at various ones acroS the county. Yes, I'm weird.

My friends from college and I at downtown Disney!! It was so nice to see our friend (far left) who recently graduated and is working there now! We had so much fun seeing all the sights!

I just HAD to get a cake pop from the candy store! It was delicious!

I made a new bird friend too, so...there's that!

Unfortunately our trip to Rainforest Cafe (which is generally a favorite of mine) was a bit of a disappointment. My friend's food tasted bad, and the service was super slow. I did, however, say I was celebrating my birthday early (it's not till July but I never claimed to be a perfect person) and as a result got a cupcake and a song!

Another highlight of my trip was going to see LA and while I was there... I met a minion! He was pretty cool & let me take this photo with him.

The beaches in California were beautiful. I thought this photo had somewhat of an artsy element to it. Also, I hate being barefoot so I was probably miserable.

My FAVORITE spot however, had to be Ocean Beach in San Diego. It was so beautiful there, and it was also really quaint. You could walk up to the pier where they had this cute cafe overlooking  the ocean, and my friend and I took tons of photos there! If I go back to SD, I'll definitely have to return to that area in particular!

These are a few pictures that turned out really nice! I always feel more confident wearing a cute dress and this new headband I just got from Icing! :)

California was great. I hope to return to it someday. I came back a few days ago, said my goodbyes, and I'm heading to Michigan tomorrow.

I can't wait to see what camp brings.

I can't wait to work with children.

I'm so so excited for what is ahead.

I'll try to update as much as I can while I'm there!

All the love in the world,

Cecilia 

Nautical, Work, and Fun Facts!

"I want you to know, I had to let go, I'm falling in love again"

~Land of Opportunity, A Great Big World

Hey!

The past couple days have been pretty busy for me. I've been doing nothing but working, which is fine because it passes the time, but I wanna see my friends and have all those big summer adventures we planned on having! Well, another way to keep the days interesting is to put together interesting outfits, and I particularly liked today's which felt pretty nautical, and I love it!

thrifted top • shorts from Ross • thrifted shoes • Charlotte Russe sunglasses

Other than that, I don't have much else to say, so I thought it'd be fun to do one of these fun fact quiz things! I'm sure it won't be the most interesting thing to read, so I apologize, but I think it'll be fun for me at least! And if anyone was interested in my life, here ya go!

1. If you could live anywhere, where would it be? 

This one's a toss up. See I wanna live in California because a) it's absolutely beautiful there, and b) that's where Disney and Pixar are! But at the same time, I wanna live in Europe because of all of the culture and beauty there! Ugh, I don't know!

2. What is your biggest fear?

I have a few, but I think the biggest would have to be growing old and dying all alone...I know many people think this about themselves, but it really does scare me! I hope to live a good enough life no matter what happens though!

3. What really makes you angry?

Ohhhhh a few things really make me angry. One would have to be people copying me (this has always made me mad!), and of course the little things like when they don't put enough cheese on my sandwich at Jimmy John's or if I can't remember where I parked.

4. What was the last movie you went to? What did you think?

I saw Pitch Perfect 2 with my friends for my friend Marli's birthday, and to be completely honest, I thought it was terrible! It had no real plot, a lot of stuff was just kinda thrown in there for no reason, and it was kinda boring...

5. What did you want to be when you were small?

When I was a kid, I wanted to be an author! I really liked writing, but as I got older, I shifted more towards art!

6. Do you have any nicknames?

Yes! A few of my friends call me Olive, which I think is adorable!

7. Where do you see yourself in five years?

Generic question, yeah, but it is interesting... I actually haven't thought it totally through. I have plans I'd like to do, but who knows if they'll actually happen or if I'll go down a different path! In five years, I'll be 24 (yikes...) and if everything goes according to plan, I will have graduated from DePaul University with a Masters in Animation, and will be planning my move out to California and job search in the film and animation field! 

8. Have you ever had a secret admirer?

Yes, and it eventually became not a secret and was quite awkward. I never know what to do in those situations!

9. What is your favorite movie?

Lame question, but my favorite movie will always be Monsters, Inc! It's absolutely perfect and adorable and I can't wait to work for Pixar someday! Some of my other top favorites are Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Moonrise Kingdom, and Moulin Rouge.

10. Does your family have a "motto" - spoken or unspoken?

Haha, my family and I have a couple things we like to say to each other, or things my parents have said multiple times. Whenever we're out going to do something, we like to say "Don't misbehave" or "Don't do stupid". However, my favorite is the motto we use at work (at the family business), which is "DFIU", which stands for "Don't Fuck It Up". Every so often, I'll spill something or mess something up and my mom will shake her head and simply say "DFIU, Olivia".

Firsts:

Surgery: When I was 13, I had my appendix removed. The surgery was definitely one of the hardest things I've ever had to go through in my life.

Piercing: I got my ears pierced in January of 2014! I thought that after I turned 18, it was about time for me to finally get my ears pierced!

Best friend: My first best friend was Rachel, and she and I are still best friends to this day!

Sport: When I was a kid I did Tae Kwon Do for a few years, then decided that I should not sport and should stick to theater.

Pet: A while ago, I got a fish whom I named Kiki. I was extremely excited about it because I had never had a pet before, even though it was just a fish!

Vacation: I think it was to Arizona? My family likes taking road trips, especially out west, so I've been out there a lot!

Concert: My parents used to take us to lots of concerts because my dad worked with a lot of bands, and I think my first one was to see Collective Soul.

Crush: When I was in kindergarten, I had a crush on my brother's best friend, who was also the brother of one of my friends. When I think about it now, it kinda makes me cringe!

Right now:

Eating: I just ate a s'mores Pop tart! Yesterday during my break from work, I walked over to the grocery store and bought a big box of them just for the Hell of it. Best decision ever!

Drinking: Water. I'm so lame, I know!

Listening to: First Class by Everybody Else. This band is amazing and not very well known. Check them out, I'm really into them! Also, I literally always have music on when I'm in my room (Spotify premium is truly a blessing.), so I've always got something playing!

Waiting for: Hm.. nothing in particular!

Last person:

You touched: I really don't know... Maybe I brushed my mom in passing or something?

You hugged: I think it was my friend Erika? Maybe? I don't know there was a lot of hugging when I went to see the Dramatic Lit play at the high school on Wednesday!

You kissed: My friend Juli got a lil crazy a while ago and kissed me...does that count?!

You texted: Cecilia! She's in California right now and I miss her tons!

You Facebook Messaged: Uh... let me check? It was a group chat with Cecilia, Adrian, Andrew, and Rami!

All right, well that was fun, a little long and boring to read, but whatever! Here's to a good weekend!

With love,

Olivia

Bloglovin??

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Thought I'd try this out. That's all for now have a good day!

With love,
Olivia