It's about time...

So, I finally made a new layout. It's simple, but I love LOVE the new pictures. They're outtakes from an upcoming issue of InStyle Magazine, and needless to say, I will definitely be owning that magazine. My favorite picture by far is this one:

The others are good, though, as well. I've noticed Rob Pattinson has gotten better at taking photos...in the beginning I didn't think he was very photogenic, but as more and more stuff comes out, he looks better and just more relaxed in photos.

Tomorrow I'm going to Kansas City! Woot! Let's see...today I cleaned my room, which was much needed. I'm finally allowing people to come into my room now, haha. My Twilight wall has been growing, with a few wonderful additions from the newest Entertainment Weekly, with two photos of Rob. Laura flipped over one picture because the shirt he's wearing has  small polka-dots on it, and she's obsessed with polka-dots. I'll probably post some pictures soon of any new additions I've made to my room. Surprisingly enough, I haven't moved the furniture around yet...but I've been dying to. It's just so hard with a small room, but I feel like I want to do something different with it...I just don't know what yet.

Well, things have really been changing for me lately. I've made some really good friends outside of the suite, which means I've been spending less time there. I feel so much happier now, because spending all my time in the suite wasn't a good thing. My personality and the things I look for in friends...I just wasn't finding that in the suite. I was feeling tense all the time, and I just felt like there was something I was missing. I've become really good friends with Laura (a freshman who lives in Nebraska suite) and Virginia (freshman, Seaboard suite), and I've been hanging out with Taylor (Arizona freshman, Cal-Weller suite) a lot more. I feel so much better...they are the kind of friends I need.

With these girls, we hug each other, we high-five each other, we tickle each other...we're just genuine friends. By hanging out with only my suitemates for so long, whenever someone would give me a hug I kind of didn't know what to do at first. There's like no physical interaction between us, and our only verbal interaction is usually us making fun of each other. It kind of wears on the spirit, if that makes sense--you can only take so much teasing. I need that affectionate, loving interaction among my friends, and I most certainly was not getting that from my suitemates. Now, though, with Laura, Virginia and Taylor, I'm feeling like my old self again. And when I go back home and I get to spend time with the family and with Kristyna, I think I'll feel even better. But, yes, this was a new lesson I learned this semester: I need both emotional and physical affection from my friends. Without it, I'm just not myself and it tends to put me into a negative attitude. Affection = happiness for me, and luckily I have found friends at college that feel the same way. I think it's funny, however, that my good friends here at Cottey are all freshmen...and I was worried about losing all my friends after the seniors graduated!

Speaking of seniors, however, my senior from last year Katie visited! I was so excited to see her, I think I could have kissed her! I was laying down to take a nap, and my phone rang. This was the conversation:

Me: (groggily) Hello?

Katie: Whatchya doin'?

Me: Laying in bed.

Katie: Well, what are you doing that for!?

Me: Taking a nap...

Katie: I think you should get up.

Me: Eh...what?

Katie: Why are you in bed? You should get up!

(At this point I hear the suite door open, and I can hear Katie talking into her phone before I actually hear it over the phone)

Me: But I'm tired.

Katie: You should get up, Gwenie! Do it!

Me: (already out of bed and unlocking my door) KATIE!

Katie: You bum! Your door was locked...I was going to come in and wake you up!

Anywhos, I got a lovely surprise from Katie, and I can't believe how much I missed her. Granted, we texted and talked quite a bit over the summer and during this semester, but there's nothing like seeing someone you've missed in person. I gave her the biggest hug ever! It's kind of odd to think back to last year, and see how at the beginning I didn't really like her...well, actually, I didn't really know her, because she was never in the suite. But second semester the whole suite got really close, and by graduation I was sobbing at the idea of not seeing Katie everyday. But anyways, it was really amazing to see her! I'm taking her to Kansas City with Laura and I so she can get to her motel. She's staying the night up in KC, then flying out Monday.

Also, another surprise this weekend: I found out Diana, my suitemate from last year who didn't come back this year, is actually coming back at semester. I was...surprised, to say the least. To say the most, I was pretty upset. I mean, she didn't get along with any of us last year, so there's nothing really to make me believe it'll be different this year. Not only that, but this year there's a lot stronger personalities in the suite than last year...and I know for a fact that Diana will not like Marina and Tiffany. Tiffany is too loud for Diana, and Marina is too...bluntly honest. She says whatever she thinks or feels and doesn't really think of how her words affect others. Diana is a very--fragile person, I guess you could say, and sometimes in dealing with Diana you have to soften things, if that makes sense. Well, trust me, Marina does not soften things, and she hates it when others do. So, yeah, it's going to be very awkward next semester. I'm just glad that I've made friends outside of the suite...Laura kept saying that her extra bed (she has a double-single) is always open. I have a feeling I might be spending some quality time up there next semester.

Also, speaking of next semester (man, I'm on a roll!) I got my options for modules for the Italy trip. For those who don't know, modules are basically like little programs the faculty sets up, so there's some actual learning going on during our trip. We have to attend at least one module for each city (so one in Rome and one in Florence), and these are the ones I'm looking at:

Moda Italiana: The Politics and Influence of Fashion in Defining Glamour and Modernity (Florence, Italy)

Cost: $12

Summary: Italy, where unforms of the police are designed by Armani, has always played a moajor role in international fashion. It was the wedding of Italian born Catherine de Medici in 1533 whith the Duke of Orleans in France that brought high heels in vogue for women. It is rumored that Leonardo di Vinci invented the high heel. Historians and archaeologists suggest the bikini has been around since the beginning of the Roman Empire. How does fashion affect popular culture? What is the significance or meaning of fashion? What influence do male designers have on both fashion and perfumes? Does fashion itself affect body image, or does the media's protrayal of fashion have a separate influence? Does fashion define modernity? Is fashion too frivolous for feminists?

Walking Tour to include the following points of interest related to module materials:

• Start at the Pitti Palace, and go to the Costume Museum (history of fashion in Italy), and the Silver and Porcelain Museums
• Walk through part of the Bobuli Gardens, and go to Ponte Vecchio (1345 Bridge) which Corridorio Casariano designed to keep the wealthy Medici family from shopping with the masses. Observe leather goods such as purses, custom glovemakers.
• Observe the trendy Ferragamo Hotels, a block from the Bridge: Hotel Lungarno featuring bellboys with pillbox hats, Gallery Hotel Art, designed by Christian Liaigre, and the Continentale-very 1950s white formica and Pucci-pink wools
• Walk by the Museo Salvatore Ferragamo (1898-1960)-closed on Tuesdays but students may return Wednesday to tour
• Go to the Palazzo Strozzi and walk around the free areas. They have a Centre for Contemporary Culture. It is another palace that has been transformed into a museum.
• Proceed to Versace, Armani, Bulgari, Prada, Gucci stores on Via de' Tornabuoni, and to Louis Vuitton, and Dolce and Gabbana by Palazzo Strozzi
• See the Officina Profumo Farmeceutia di Santa Maria Novella--oldest perfumery, originally by Dominican friars in the 13th century
• End at the Mercato Centrale (1874)--large Italian outdoor market with Italian delicacies

And the module I'm looking at for Rome is the Coliseum. I really want to take a module that gives a walking tour of the Forum and Palatine Hill, and I want to do the Underground Rome tour, but those are both during the Coiseum session that I want to go on. I figured I'd better do the Coliseum with Cottey, because otherwise it might be quite difficult to get in to on my own.

Well, I didn't think this entry was going to be so long, but alas, it is. Oh well...y'all can deal with it! =] Kidding...

LOVE EVERYONE AND MISS YOU ALL! BIG HUGS!