Pumpkin butter, King-Anti Midas and an oasis.

Before I get into explaining King Anti-Midas, let me ask you one question:

Are you familiar with the famous Shakespearean tragedy Hamlet?

If not, that’s okay, as “there’s something rotten in the state of Denmark.” (In case you missed it that was a literary reference to Hamlet.) Regardless of the present state of this northern European nation, Hamlet provides a wonderful example of a concept known as comic relief. A brilliant way to “break up” the sometimes-overbearing nature of a tragedy, comic relief provides an “oasis” of humor to the plot of a play. (Or to the nature of a blog.) I’ve always had an appreciation for oases, so this blog does just that. Get ready, ladies and gentlemen, as I’m about to bear my soul.

Here’s the deal. Now, get ready, as I’m about to throw another literary reference your way. I’m like King Midas, except that everything I touch (at least recently) does not turn into gold. Oh, no, no, no: it turns into "broken." (Yes, I am aware that that is incorrect grammar.)

So, if you think about it, I guess that makes me like King Anti-Midas, right? Well, you be the judge.

Rewind to Thursday, January 19^th. I meander over to my lovely refrigerator to open up a nice jar of pumpkin butter, which tastes lovely on a piece of bread. As I open the fridge, the pumpkin butter, which was apparently perched precariously on the top shelf, plummets to the floor below. It shatters. Boom. Pumpkin butter is everywhere. So, there I am, kneeling low to the ground, wiping up my dignity along with the delicious spread that stared at me tauntingly on the floor.

Okay, a day passes and it is now Friday, January 20^th. Before I continue, you must understand that I store food in my room that I don’t use “too” often in a trunk adjacent to the couch. This includes, or rather included, my strawberry syrup. That evening, I opened up the trunk to organize for fun (yes, I am a nerd) with the goal of creating a more proficient special layout. I pick up the strawberry syrup and, apparently, glass bottles are much slicker than they used to be. It slips out of my hand, hitting another glass jar (which I use, or rather, used) to store grains—they both shatter. Syrup flies everywhere, coating the interior of my trunk (and the numerous other food products within) and dousing the floor in front of my wardrobe. Oh, you should have seen my face. It was full of excitement and joy at the prospect of doing even more useless cleaning.

On a related note, did you know that cleaning thick, sticky, molasses-y syrup out of a carpeted floor is nearly impossible? Yeah, I didn’t, but now I do. (I suppose I should mention that it is do-able, but requires everything just short of a miracle.)

Anyways, I was actually relieved afterwards. You see, “bad things always come in threes,” or so I’ve heard. Well, I’d already broken three things and, obviously, this phase had passed. Because, after all, I’d broken three things… right?

Not quite.

So another day passes. It’s now Saturday. I’m in Chloé’s kitchen cooking couscous, the food so nice they named it twice! (If you are unaware, couscous is a small, spherical type of pasta. It’s really, really good.) I’d brought a large glass bottle (filled with Brita-filtered water) to cook with and, after I emptied its contents into the pot, I set it on the counter. Big mistake. As I reach over to the sink, BANG. BANG BANG BANG SHATTER SHATTER. The glass bottle falls, exploding upon contact with the floor. I was mortified. Logically, I proceeded to clean up its contents. Kelsey and Kailey, who were in the room at the time, graciously volunteered to help. (By the way, they are both amazing people and I love both of them for helping King Anti-Midas [myself] over here.)

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the epic saga of Anti-Midas. I hope you enjoyed your oasis.

Happy Holidays!

Hey y’all, its me again, and haaappy holidays!! I know all the high school students reading this are probably headed back to school now, the seniors catching full-fledged senioritis, but the great thing about being in college: I still have another week until I’m back at school! I’ve had a great time at home, but even though it’s great to sleep in your own bed and have your own shower, I cannot WAIT to be back at Charlotte! But anyway, I figured I would share a blog about my holiday season, at Charlotte and in my hometown…my two favorite places (:

Back at school everyone (despite the stress of exams) was getting into holiday spirit! Ugly sweaters, cookies, crisp air, warm coffee…MMM my favorite time of year! My sorority actually had our annual cookie swap with another sorority in Greek Village, where we spent hours decorating the house and cookies! In honor of Alpha Delta Pi and Delta Zeta we had pink and green and blue cookies, and also shaped like lions and diamonds! After all of our preparation we had a great time socializing with other girls and eating our delicious cookies. Later on, some of my guy friends even got into the Christmas Spirit dressing in their festive gear!

My pledge class and me all dressed up in our ugly sweaters!

My two guys friends in their ugly Christmas turtlenecks!

Another super exciting part of the holidays was SOCCER! That’s right, unranked UNC Charlotte was headed to the College Cup Nationals against UNC Chapel Hill. Charlotte actually paid for six buses to drive to Alabama in order for us to have an awesome cheering section for our boys, and all we had to do was pay for our ticket. (I actually stood in line for 3 hours to get my ticket…totally worth it!) Everyone who was going to good ole Bama met the buses at 6 AM for our seven-hour ride. I slept most of the way down, but when we finally got to the game we all rushed out to do some face painting and tail-gating with those who drove down to the game on their own!

Christina painting Chloe's face!

A bunch of my sisters and I before the game!

Once we got into the stadium, it was insane. There was so much Charlotte spirit in the air it was hard to handle! They had posters at the door so we could cheer on our team, and seating wasn’t selected so we could get super close to the field! Charlotte ended up losing to Chapel Hill 1-0 (BUT we did get bad ref calls and should have had two penalty kicks…), but overall it was still a great experience. It was the first time a Charlotte sports team had been to a National Championship, hopefully just setting the precedent for more dates to come! As always, I’m proud to be a part of Niner Nation (:

WHOOO GO CHARLOTTE!

We got to sit SO close to the field!

Some of the signs that were made for the team

After the game, I was done with exams, (lucky me, I only had one! A perk of being an architect major for sure!) so I got to head home. I had an great time over break, as I know everyone did, because lets face it: you get to do nothing! Winter break in college, unlike in high school where you might still have exams, is prime relaxation time because you have absolutely NO work to do. At first I didn’t know what to do with myself! It was awesome to be able to sleep in everyday, see my best friends who go to different schools, decorate my house, and relax with my family…all without worrying about assignments!

I missed my doggy SO much!

Enjoying one of those crazy light shows with a group of friends (you know, the ones that are tuned to the music on the radio...so cool!)

Before dinner celebrating my best friend's 19th birthday!

Then finally, one of the most exciting part of the holidays…THE NEW YEAR! Finally, after 365 days, it’s 2012. For me and my family, I was actually lucky enough to go to Atlanta to watch the Chick-Fil-A bowl to bring in the new year. Me, my brother and my dad (along with my dad’s friends) drove down the day of the game to explore Atlanta, tail-gate, and watch the game. I was cheering for University of Virginia, my dad’s alma mater, and while they lost to Auburn, I’m still wishing everyone a Happy ‘Hoo Year (UVA, go Hoos GO!).

It is called the "Chick-Fil-A Bowl", after all...what would it be without a giant cow?!

My family and I inside the Georgia dome, go Virginia!

I hope everyone enjoyed reading about my holiday experiences as much as they enjoyed their individual times on break with families and friends. Enjoy the beginning of 2012 and bring in the New Year with a big bang!

XOXO Elizabeth