before i came to college, people would ask if i met my roomate yet and what she was like. well, i always giggled to myself because my roomate and i are actually best friends, and have been since the third grade. her name's allyson lucy reddy, but i've always called her ally.
here is an example of how we interact on a daily basis: yesterday we shared our final decisions about our halloween costumes. when i told her i was being a pin-up girl, she scolded me long and hard. as a woman's study major, she is starting to take feminism quite seriously, and disapproved of my decision to "objectify" myself. as if i would be the only one doing so on the 31st?! she then explained that she didn't have a desire to dress up as anything for halloween. being the spirited, bouncy one out of the two of us, i playfully threatened that i would not let her leave our dorm on halloween without dressing up. i urged her to be rosie the riveter to get back at me. needless to say, i took about 2 minutes for her scold to turn into a smile; off to the mall we went to get pieces for our costumes.
ally and i normally get along like two peas in a pod and have been virtually inseparable for ten years now. when we were young, we were very much alike. we liked the same music, tv shows, movies, clothes, and boys (this held some difficulty in middle school). as for now, we are vastly different than we used to be. we both have boyfriends (you know how that goes), we have different opinions on politics, different tastes in food (ally's vegetarian now), and a different perspective on life. she is more of a home-body, where i dream of traveling and living around the world. as for music and clothes, we still like the same ones!
as much as people frightened me with their "yikes" and "uh ohhh" when i mention to them that i am rooming with my best friend, it's been a blast so far. we are both familiar with each others habits and personalities, so everything goes very smoothly-don't get me wrong, it's certainly not always sunny in paradise. some days i cannot stand her and how much she talks to her boyfriend on the phone, when other days she can't stand my obnoxiously loud laughter while she's trying to study. the claws never stay out for long though, i promise.
i don't believe i could trade ally as a best friend or roomate for anyone else. when she's having a disastrous day and bursts through the door crying, i always jump up and bring her comfort with advice and tissues. and when it's me feeling blue, she never gives up on trying to cheer me up. here in college, where all my family and close friends are far, far away, having a best friend as a roommate is truly a gift.

first off, let me mention that fall break was too short. i wish i had a few more days at home to soak it all in...but alas, it's called reality for a reason. instead of writing out a lengthy list of all of the things i did over fall break, i'll save everyone from emitting drool and focus on one thing i did - which was finally seeing "where the wild things are". i sat down in front of the screen with an open mind about what the movie would be like. i read the book a million times as a kid and absolutely loooved it, but heard that the movie got really mixed reviews by the critics. from the beginning of the movie where max had a fit over his older sister's mean friends, i was emotionally tied to his character. he did such a great job playing the role. his voice, mischevious tantics, and wide-eyed, open mouth look was perfect. not to mention how adorable (and of course terrifying) the wolf costume looked on him. as for the wild things, they all seemed to be unique in their own way, just like in the book. alexander even reminded me of an amusing version of ramses, especially since his eyes were carolina blue. i definitely was not expecting the wild things to have such normal human voices. i figured since they were supposed to be like magical beasts, they would have a grunty or nasaly voice, so that was something i had to get used to...especially KW's voice. i did not expect her to be a girl, or to have such a youthful voice. the textures and images on the screen were all really cool, like when caroll and max are walking through the huge sandy dessert. the contrast between the wild things' man-made appearance of feathers, fur, and horns, along with the setting of a natural ocean shore was really appealing to the eye. overall, i did think the movie was actually really sad. the wild things always fought with each other, even after they had five minutes of happiness in the sleeping pile, so this part was kind of depressing for me. i can' decide if i feel that max brought them the happiness he promised to give them as king. the other thing that i'm still pretty torn up about is that the arcade fire's music never played! the trailer for the movie included their song "wake up", but itnever ever played in the movie. despite its little downfalls, "where the wild things are" is definitely worth seeing. it is a cute movie for kids and adults alike, and will even make some of you teenage boys tear up in the end. let the rumpus begin!

i think it's safe to say that no matter how many forms of communication have been and will develop over my lifetime, snail mail will remain my absolute favorite. i will always act like a little kid, jumping up and down, when i see a letter addressed from a friend in my mailbox. obviously this doesn't happen that often, so i always try to encourage (and innocently threaten) my closest friends and my family to send me things through the mail in order to keep my mail-induced happiness on a healthy level. my boyfriend wrote to me this summer from the camp where he worked, making those my first "love letters". of course, no boy could do it as well as noah in "the notebook", who wrote to his girl every single day of the year while they were apart...*sigh*...nonetheless, every time i read a letter from my realistic boyfriend this summer, glee filled my veins and i would remain in a wonderful, giddy mood until the next one arrived. my family has always traveled a lot growing up, and now that i am at school, i am no longer able to tag along and enjoy free getaways with them. as a way to make up for this, my parents have promised to started sending me postcards from their travel spots. in september i received one from my mom, who wrote from spain. i was super excited when i got it in the mail...although postcards are rather tricky because as much as they are filled with love, they contain a lack of space to update the recipient on their travels, as well as a typically amazing photo on the front that makes you even more jealous and upset that you are not with the sender. either way, it's mail, it's sent, it's special, i love it!! on another note...we all know how incredibly spectacular getting a package in the mail can be. from a small age i developed the insight that a package + my name on it = a present just for me. this rule has never upheld so well as it does now that i am in college. care packages are seriously in the running for one of the best ideas..ever. i have been fortunate enough to receive two already! one was a surprise from my next-door neighbors back home, who compiled a box of things to help me avoid swine flu! i know it might sound funny (and sort of lame) but in the box were abundant amounts of hand sanitizers, anti-bacterial foams, a sleeping mask, and most importantly..cliff bars and candy. i thought that was ridiculously nice of my neighbors to send me that, so like a good mailing citizen, i sent out a thank you card the next day. i've sent my mom and brother birthday cards so far, but i'm looking forward to writing much more! it upsets me that people (at least our age) don't use the postal system as much as they should. if more people logged off of facebook, grabbed a pen and wrote a good ol' letter or card, the united states postal service would be much better funded and the special feeling of receiving a letter or package could be passed on through our generation and all the ones to come. the blue mailboxes around campus are waiting for you...

dear autumn,

first off, you are so beautiful. your name brings the best of thoughts into my head. won't you please come soon? i feel like i have been waiting forever for you to come around. not to be a suck-up...but you are hands-down the best season out of them all. don't tell summer, but personally, i think she is totally overrated. i can't stand her heat and the way she makes my bangs stick to my forehead within three minutes of walking outside. don't get me wrong, summer days at the park can indeed be incredible, but nothing compares an autumn day in the mountains, where you leave me surrounded by leaves of burgundy, yellow, and red-orange, as well as the amazing smell of a crackling bonfire wrapping around my nose. your heavy gusts cool me off perfectly and give me long-awaited relief after september's unpredictable, boiling hot days. it might be a stretch but i'd like to just say that i think i am in love with you. speaking of it, fall love is the best. finally boys start giving up their jackets to their cold girls and offering a non-sweaty palm to hold on to! i thoroughly enjoy the fashion your weather calls for too. jeans, tights, comfy sweaters, and (non-cowboy) boots bring out the class in us dames. now, onto holidays: halloween is SUCH a fun time that you keep us teenagers waiting on the edge of our seats for. i mean who doesn't love dressing up and eating artery-clogging amounts of candy and chocolate? as cady heron says in mean girls, "halloween is the one night a year girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it." i feel like this motto will work well to describe unc's female population that awaited night. on an innocent note - when it comes to family, you are very good at keeping us close. home visits in the fall mean pumpkin carving with dad and baking apple pie with mom, with smells of cinnamon swirling into all rooms under the roof. thanksgiving is obviously a terrific holiday as well. eating lots of delicious food and playing games around the fire with family (aww) has a way of making our hearts feel whole again. and even when it comes near to your end, it's never too bitter because it means that "the most wonderful time of the year" is next! see you SOON, okay?

love,
sara

it took me a total of one day to realize how crazy the squirrels are on campus. i would almost go to categorize them as "legitimately insane". it seems that every time i am in the pit talking to someone, out of the corner of my eye i catch a glimpse of cat crawling across the bricks. and when i say cat, i mean squirrel. i've never seen squirrels crawl so slow in my entire life. stealthy they are, for sure, but slow? never. once i saw a squirrel sitting on a ledge outside of the UL holding a gigantic waffle fry in its mouth. even when a lady came up to take a picture of him with her cell phone, he didn't move an inch. ...aren't squirrels usually terrified of humans? do the ones here all of a sudden want to be our friends and eat the same food we do? are they trying to be us? maybe they seriously think they are humans! i heard a story of a guy who was walking to class when a squirrel pounced on his shoulder and nuzzled his ear until the guy violently shook him off. poor guy.
all of this squirrel observation in the past week lead me to have one of the worst dreams i've had in a while. in my dream, i was asleep in my bed and could feel two squirrels crawling all over me and trying to play with me. they were gentle, and in a way it just made me giggle and feel ticklish. then i opened my eyes (in the dream) and noticed that there was blood marks all over my hands and arms. i sat up and looked around for the squirrels and all of a sudden one of them came charging at my face. it was RAVENOUS. he was foaming at the mouth, cock-eyed, and rabies-infested. before he reached my face in an attempt to tear it up, i awoke from my dream and gave a huge sigh of relief.
the squirrels on campus here are definitely special. it makes sense that their familiarity with humans comes from the fact that thousands of people walk around them every day, unlike in my neighborhood back home where they only see cars. their habits are nothing less than strange though. their close proximity to humans, their glazed-over stares, and their unpredictable climbing patterns altogether don't appeal to me. i almost wonder if they watch all the drunken students stumble back to their dorms on weekend nights and throw acorns at them. judging from my observations, they most likely do. so watch out.