The Royal Wedding

the couple's first kiss, on the palace balcony

            I know this is a little off topic, but I feel like I have to say something about the royal wedding. I have dreamed of being a princess for as long as I can remember, and I was thrilled when I found out that Prince William was marrying an ordinary girl, Kate Middleton. Although I was initially upset that William was marrying someone besides me, I quickly got over it after learning how smart and independent she is.

Kate's top secret wedding dress, designed by Sarah  Burton

            I actually read a book a few months ago called Someday My Prince Will Come, written by Jerramy Fine. The book was a memoir chronicling her obsession, which was far greater than mine, with the royal family of England. She was absolutely enthralled by everything royalty-related that happened in England, so much so that she moved there immediately after graduating from college. Never giving up her hope of becoming a princess, she searched for Peter Philip, one of the heirs to the British throne, and eventually got the chance to meet him. Even though they talked for several hours, their relationship never worked out, but she is still a huge inspiration for me. She cared about being intelligent and independent more than anything, which are the qualities that I see in Kate.

The newlyweds taking a spin in Prince Charles' Aston Martin

My parents don’t take my obsession with royalty at all seriously, but they were obliging enough to let my best friend, Klaudia, sleep over last night, even though it was a school night, so we could get up at 4 in the morning to watch the wedding. Our phone alarms didn’t go off, so we didn’t really wake up until around 5, and had scones and tea for breakfast. We watched the entire ceremony, while getting ready for school during the boring parts, and arrived at school a little late. It was worth it—I go to school everyday, but how often does a prince get married?

              I thought the wedding was absolutely beautiful. Although William looked pretty nervous, Kate looked beautiful and everything seemed to go really smoothly. A lot of people don’t take the British monarchy seriously, but I think the fact that William married an ordinary girl proved that the values of the royal family have changed over the years, and I am happy that he was able to marry someone that he loves. I am confident that their marriage will be far more successful than his father’s was to the beautiful princess Diana, and watching the newlyweds ride away in the carriage after the ceremony was something I’ll never forget.

A Walk to Market Basket

A few days ago, my high school writing class, “241 High”, went on a walk to the local grocery store, which also happens to be my workplace. I jump at any opportunity to miss school, so I was pretty excited about getting to leave for two hours. The purpose of the trip was to look at marketing, specifically for spelling and grammar mistakes. One of the focuses of the class is being able to write for the ‘real world’, so we have focused a little bit on brand marketing in class, especially for food.

 The supermarket, Market Basket, is pretty large, but I was able to find an error on a bag of my favorite chips, and we discovered that a sign printed by the store had mistakes as well. These seemed like careless mistakes, but I realized that something as small as a capital letter in the middle of a sentence could bring down the perceived intelligence level of a company.

For some reason, the school would not allow us to drive ourselves/each other to Market Basket, and no form of transportation other than walking was made available to us. It wasn’t a long walk, but the weather was kind of gross and we had to eat our lunch (sandwiches from D’Angelo) while walking back to school.

It was definitely one of the more unique field trips I’ve taken, second only to being taken in a bus, blindfolded, to a state park and trying to “survive” on our own in seventh grade, an experience that was supposed to relate to Lord of the Flies. Anyway, going to Market Basket was definitely a one-of-a-kind experience, and I hope that there will be more trips like this before I graduate. 

New York

downtown ithaca, ny

 Over February vacation, my mom, sister, and I packed ourselves into my car to embark on a three-day trip to upstate New York. I have been sporadically looking at various colleges in the area, but the bulk of schools I want to go to are in New York, both in the city and upstate. My mom had asked me to make a ‘short list’ of schools I was seriously considering, but even after re-researching every college I had any kind of interest in, my list still had dozens of schools on it. We decided that it would be a good idea to go to the schools to see where they were and what they looked like before scheduling formal visits and interviews.

williams college, ma

Before going upstate, we drove to western Massachusetts to look at schools in the Amherst area. I didn’t particularly like any of them, but my mom did. (Going to school somewhere in-state would mean she could drive to visit me every weekend—one of the main reasons I want to go to NY.) My dad also likes the appeal of colleges in Western Mass., especially Smith and Mt. Holyoke—both are women’s colleges. The New York leg of our little excursion felt incredibly long. The GPS in my car was faulty, often taking us down narrow dirt roads instead of highways, and we seemed to be lost for the entire trip.

vassar college, poughkeepsie, ny

 Thinking back, all of the schools blur together—I think we went to nearly every college in New York, and I’m glad I took plenty of pictures at each school.

I think location is incredibly important when choosing a college; you spend four (maybe even more) years of your life there, and it should be somewhere that you want to be. New York City is one of my favorite places, and even though most of the schools I looked at were outside of the city, I would be closer than I am now. I can’t even explain what the attraction of the city is—I guess that after living in a small town for most of my life, I want to go somewhere that is always awake, always alive, brimming with people and excitement. Of course, a lot of that is probably just my blindness to the fact that New York isn’t as magical as I have convinced myself it is. Still, it’s something different, something new.

bath houses in saratoga springs, ny

The three of us often go on short road trips, overnights, and day trips, usually to New York City for shopping, more for a change of scenery than anything. It’s a lot easier to travel without my dad, especially when we go to NYC, because he grew up there and there’s nothing new and exciting for him to do when we go. Also, his vacant seat in the car is sometimes allowed to be offered to a friend.

where we went

View Full Size Travel Map at Travellerspoint

Hopes of Italy

a keepsake box i love, available on etsy.com

I got an exciting email the other day. It was from my dad, who had been stationed in Korea with the military. He had gotten orders to go to Naples, Italy for a month, four days after returning from Korea. He will be there during my April vacation, so my sister and I will hopefully fly out to meet him. I originally had plans to make formal college visits during break, but going to Italy definitely takes precedence.

I have been once before, when I was 11, and have always regretted that my parents chose to take us there when Diana and I were so little. We spent the bulk of that vacation crowded into a car that was several sizes too small, trying to drive across the entire country. This time, I want to go to Italy not as a tourist; I don’t want to worry about seeing every tourist attraction, about getting in line early to see Michelangelo’s David.

a photo of my grandfather at the trevi fountain in rome,
in the 1980s. this picture has become loved by my family,
and has been replicated by my dad and my sister.

One of the things I’m the most excited about is the food. You have to try really hard to find a bad meal in Italy—hands down, the best food I have ever had while traveling was in Italy. I have also been promised a day trip to Capri, and a few days in Milan, both places we didn’t get to the last time.

Diana and I usually stick together on family vacations, and it’s actually really nice having someone so close in age to travel with. We are pros at manipulating my parents to drive us to obscure, remote outlets/shopping centers instead of visiting historic sites and sketchy tourist spots (i.e. “South of the Border,” “Wall Drug”), and together we speed ahead of the parents on hikes, through museums, and when I’m allowed to drive. (Something I will definitely not be permitted to do if we rent a car in Italy, although I am determined to ride a Vespa).

view from the duomo in florence, taken by me at age 11.

I am looking forward to exploring Italy with my little sister. We are both so much more grown up now than we were six years ago. We have way better attitudes, personalities, and clothes. (Sorry, Dad, no more Teva sandals for us). Diana and I have definitely bonded in the backseats of strange-smelling rental cars and in hotel rooms with questionable stains on the walls. As soon as she turns 21, we’re going on the Amazing Race—neon clothing and fanny packs included. And we will definitely be adding plenty of drama to get lots of camera time.