Dog Lovin

i do not like movies where dogs die.
period. they're just too sad.
whatever the movie- if there is a dog that plays an important role in the film i end up spending the entire movie worrying about whether the dog is going to die or not. and when i predict it is going to die, then i end up spending the entire rest of the movie waiting for it to happen. and it's just not fun.
sometimes i am better with it and can actually finish the movie despite my worries.
but other times, like while watching I Am Legend, i have enough of it and decide it's too much to watch. not for me. i love dogs too much and don't wanna spend the rest of the day thinking about it.

sometimes telling myself "Virginia, it is just a movie...don't worry - the dog really didn't die" just doesn't do it for me.

----

ohh, how i'd love a dog right about now. my heart aches for my very own.
to love. to talk to. to cuddle and sleep with. to laugh at. to smooch on. to go for walks with.
[a lab, golden retriever, great dane.]
those are a few of the ones i'd gladly choose from.

and my new favorite breed: boston terrier.
just within the last few days i have seen the faces of these pups and they make my heart melt.
lil one looks like a mini Scooby.


how can you resist these faces??
seriously! just looking at these pics makes me so glad.




please oh please oh please.
Lord, can you have a dog waiting just for me within the few years? if not sooner?

First EVER UMass Game

Last week i went to my first ever UMass football game.

You may ask- "But Virginia, didn't you already graduate?"
To that I would respond- "Yupp! so what! i'm a little late! but now i can cross it off my list of To Do's before i [graduate]
leave Amherst."
my id still works so i got in for free!
now if only this were the case for the hockey games!

the game was alright. nothing special. probably why i have never gone in the past.
our school has no school spirit!
Anyways, by the color scheme that us Main Street ladies wore that night- you'd think we have some sort of green team- like the Umass Crocodiles or something.
but nope.
we just like green apparently.

1) Jenn and i pretending we are excited. well Jenn really was excited and kind of bummed the rest of us weren't as enthused as she was! while she and everyone else around us stood up to cheer, me Chels and Kait stayed sitting. Sorry Jenn!
2) just roomie love and smiles
















we like to pose like this. we did this for our "first day of school/preschool" picture too

Yay for piggy-backs! [thanks jenn]

practicing our faces for when we try out for America's Next Top Model.





My two red haired friends!

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here's to Umass and all that it has blessed me with.
and here's to living life in Amherst with great friends.

Prayin Tonight is my Lucky Night

You know what I really love?
Cape Cod Sea Salt And Vinegar Chips.
they are my all-time favorite.
i love them so much that i have to literally make sure i don't eat an entire bag in one day because i am always so tempted! and am totally capable.

One night this summer I was greatly disappointed when I went shopping for a midnight snack while in Pennsylvania attending a friend's wedding.
i walked down the chip aisle 2 times- scanning for the Cape Cod Chip section.
I was so bummed. i had to settle for some Lays Kettle cooked chips or something like that. they're just not the same though.

but it truly never dawned on me.
"Virginia, we're not in Massachusetts. We are in Pennsylvania!" said a friend of mine.
"ohhhh! no way! you mean they really don't sell Cape Cod Chips everywhere? i never even thought of that."
as i'd say: "derrr." i guess that makes sense.
but all i've got to say to that is- bummer!! everyone else is missing out.
i'm thankful to be from MA. even if it were just for these chips alone.

---

but the real motivation for this blog entry is to tell you about the Giveaway i entered about 20 minutes ago. I came across this girl's blog who seems just as much in love with Chris Lambton as i am. and somehow she (well her and Chris actually) are going to be giving away a signed t-shirt for his family's landscaping company.
how sweet, right?

in order to enter you had to leave her a comment with what you'd want Chris to write on your t-shirt.
here's what he will [hopefully] write to me:

"Virginia, you're all that and a bag of Cape Cod Potato Chips :)"

Imagine?! i'd die! well not really.

but man! i'd love to win.
but it's completely ridiculous and silly- i know!

but how could i resist? he's just so stinkin cute!!

shout out to Katy and Kait for your help with your creativity ;)
pray that i win!

well don't really pray. that's too silly. but wish me very wishful thoughts.

You Gotta Try These

Yes, you.
try them- they are delicious.
you will [or should] not be disappointed.
My roomie Jenn brought them home a couple weeks ago.
i tried one and instantly fell in love.
they come in a box with strawberry, orange, blueberry and apple.
NO high fructose corn syrup.
and the texture is the best part of all.

Go out and see for yourself.

Practicing our Moves

Wednesday night in our home means prayer night.
Rach, Kait, Jenn and i gathered around tonight and prayed for each other and what's going on in our lives. it's really special to be able to do that with friends. i'm thankful we've been keeping it up.
(and tonight- we even turned off So You Think You Can Dance - on one of the most intense episodes. it's down to the final 3 and tomorrow America decides who the winner is!)
we are that dedicated.
well not that dedicated. it actually took a lot to turn it off. for me at least.


anyways, it's good to pray.
and what seems to be happening after our prayer night is that we have a lil dance party.
just us girls.
you know- dancing and jumping around to crazy songs. laughing our butts off.
getting all sweaty. taking some clothes off. still being all sweaty.
in fact i'm still all sweaty while i sit here and write this.

but we are all practicing our dance moves for the wedding we have on Sunday.
Ashley and Matt will become Mr. and Mrs. and we will be celebrating with them.
that calls for a DANCE PARTY!!

my goal: to go wild. to dance. to let loose. to have fun. to be silly. to not care what i look like. to have rhythm. to laugh. to make people laugh. to not be insecure. to let my body move!

i do not want to spend another wedding sitting the night out.
weddings are so boring when i do that.
especially when everything within me is SCREAMING to just DANCE!
so Sunday- Sunday will be the day!

it's all coming out on Sunday.
it's in there. my closest friends know it's in there.
i just gotta do it. and with the help of some good friends i think i will be able to
:)

Playing in the RAIN

this was me and Kait on Saturday-
playing/dancing in the rain in the dunkin donuts parking lot.
my parents thought we were crazy.
but we were already wet from being caught in the down-pour as we left Puffers Pond a few minutes earlier.
so when i said something like "gosh, this is the kind of rain i just wanna play in,"
Kait said "let's do it!"

how fun.
the rain was perfect temperature.
we were already in our bathing suits.
and were already wet.
so why not?

i wanna make it a point to do this more often.

week in Revere - Graduation Day [part 2]

this is one last photo of a bunch of us all swimming in my pool before we took the rest of my party to John's boat.
this picture makes me glad because it reminds me of growing up and so many days of the summer spent in my pool.
i was recently looking at old photos the last time i was home and came across a picture just like this one but only it was from when i was probably in middle school.
i remember Disha and Nicole Healy being in the picture. and John with his long lost friends, Josh and another who i cannot even remember his name! that's how old this pic is!
and now.
now, the picture is so recent.
with old people [my mom and John]
some new people [Samm]
and some people who have been around for a while, but not since middle school [Ngozi and Natalia]
and this time i'm 22 (not 12) swimming with family and friends.
too funny.

soon after this picture was taken we got out of the pool and decided to move our little party to PP Yacht Club.
[this is my brother's other home. he spends almost all of his days in Winthrop and many of his nights hanging down the yacht club and plenty of nights even sleeping on his boat.]

so me, John, Kait, Jenn and Samm headed over to Winthrop.
John decided to give us a lil tour of the town.
i just love this place. it's so close to home and just reminds me of the summer and boating.
it's actually the first place i can remember my dad keeping his boat [Crystal Cove Marina] and i love going down to hang with John on his very own boat.
he is too much like my father i can't even describe it.

So off we went- onto the dingy. all 5 of us.


here is a shot of me and Samm.
and behind us is the place i joke about living next year.
though it will never happen unless i become a millionaire in the next 12 months.
we'll see.
if that's the case, i can even get myself a boat while i'm at it.

here we are on the back of John's boat.

this is me and Kait right before we jumped off the top of John's boat into the ocean.
holding hands.
i've always wanted to do something like this! it wasn't a real high jump but a great place to start.
with a great friend.
(i seem to experience a lot of firsts with her- flying on an airplane for the first time ever and now jumping off something into the water)
it was a lot of fun and turned out to be not as scary as i was expecting.
i didn't stay under water for the whole minute i was expecting to.
don't ask me what i was thinking!

the water was so refreshing and salty.
sigh. i really love the ocean.
i'll have to show the video Jenn captured on another post because once me and Kait landed and were above the water- John decided to be a wise ash and zoom over on his jet ski, causing a wave to come crashing toward us. it was great though.
and then i couldn't make my way back up on the dingy because i am a total weakling.
so Jenn and Kait had to pull me up.
too funny.
this is my roomie Jenn. she is great and i love her.she picked it right up.

and so didn't Samm. but i don't have pics of it!
just look at how pretty she looks here though.
Samm may have picked it up the fastest actually.
and then Kait gave it a shot and she picked it up great too.

i'm the only weakling who still has a hard time just pulling myself up enough to kneel on the darn thing!

and here we are just all having a lovely evening.

it was such a blast.
everyone had so much fun trying the jet ski.
they even say it's a little addicting.


and here's to my main-man:
my big brother John.
[or Johnny Pipes as they like to call him down the boat.]

thank you for a night on the water.
thank you for taking me and my friends out on your boat.
thanks for trusting us enough to give a shot at your pride and joy.
thanks for inviting me down the yacht club even though i'm your "little sista."
thanks for pointing at all the old men and telling them not to mess with me.
thanks for being you.
love you.


and that put an end to my graduation party.
actually, that's a lie.
after jet skiing, we went down to Revere Beach to watch some fireworks.
(how perfect could the day have been? perfect weather? fun people? boating? and then fireworks to top it off?!?)
and then back to spend some quality time with just Ngozi and Kait (everyone else from the party left) on the patio sippin on white zinfandel and margaritas.
with the view of Boston in front of us.
and the ocean breeze.
we even got a round of free drinks from my bro's friend Matt.


and that put an end to a wonderful graduation party.