Sunday, November 30, 2014

Thanksgiving Intermission

*Written throughout the week*


*Also thanks to my friend Leena for a lot of the pictures from her lovely amount of beautiful Snapchat story photos*



Thanksgiving Break is like an Intermission, but from school. And it finally is upon us! It may be a week before Thanksgiving, but it feels more like the week before Christmas.



 The shopping is discounted, malls are busy, peppermint drinks are everywhere, there is Santa around every corner, red became the new everything, and Rudolf the red nose Reindeer music never leaves your side. The snow, also did not seem to help. 



The only thing that allows it to feel as if it is still November, is all the turkey talk. Every advertisement and store has ads about how to get a turkey, and you can't forget the beautiful and unique decorations provided.  



    What will my turkey intermission consist of? Well, I thought you would never ask. Let us start with the boring, nobody cares kind of activities. Besides eating all of the food, I will be doing homework like math and writing essays, and cleaning. Now that all of that is out of the way, it is time to bring on the fun! When college starts, your friends and or yourself may leave for their studies. In return, literally, they all and or yourself of course, might go home and that means the reuniting will begin! Even though not everyone will be back, some will, which leads to all of the hanging out and being with some of the best people. This means movie nights (which I can already check off the list), coffee shop visits, shopping adventures, Walmart strolls, and parking lot parties. Although that appears to be the best part of Thanksgiving break, another competes for the first place title. There...is...no...school. After nearly on semester in college, a break from classes is nothing but needed. 

     Wow...well, this break has been quite a wild one. It is now nearly the final day of the week, which is sad but also nice because it means I can go back to college, and finish up the semester in the next three weeks! Christmas break here I come! Lets see now, what have I ended up doing? 
    I started it off with shopping of course. At the mall I bought two shirts, and heels. Yes, me, a tall person bough heels, and I absolutely adore them! As mentioned above, the break started out with a bang! My friends and I, including a few who were away for college went to my friends dorm at Boise State and we had a movie night! We watched 22 Jump Street which was hilarious, and filled with many cringe like moments. Before we started the movie, we went on a car ride to pick people up which pretty much consisted of a lot of dancing and singing! 

    The next event included spending a great amount of time in Starbucks. By myself. I went there and wrote part of this blog post, another one, and planned out the next few months! After a while two of my best guy friends joined me, and before I knew it, we were off to shoot some videos! Here is a clip of what occurred that evening...

Finally, Monday had arrived. This was the day that I finally got to see another one of my best friends ever! A few of us met at her new home, then went to the best sandwich place I have ever been to, Firehouse Subs. After loitering there for quite some time, we moved on to loiter somewhere else...the village. Instead of sitting outside by the fountain and such, we sat inside a lounge area and showed off our crazy weirdness to anyone and everyone who walked by. At the end, I stopped it because important business type people were walking in...












 Later that evening, some of us went home, and myself and another sat wearing Christmas hats, reading random magazines, on the floor of Albertsons until two of our old pals back in town found us. The night continued to be interesting as we stood in the store talking about nothing really...except the amount of gift cards that were by us was quite astonishing. 


 We then made an executive decision to move out to...the parking lot. Where we stood in the cold for about an hour. I guess we didn't just stand there, at one point we walked to see where a subway moved to, and made a circle around the empty dark parking lot. And then...another wonderful decision was made. This time, we actually got in our cars and drove somewhere! Except...that somewhere was to Walmart.  When we got there, we looked through pretty much every CD and DVD they have in those cheep bins. 

 Then, after looking at boxes filled with mysterious things such as "movie night for two", another move was made..this time to a car where we talked for a little, then as someone had to leave, we moved to my car. We sat in my car, including a small quite trip to the candy isle in Walmart, till nearly 3 am... in other words, 3 hours. Honestly...I missed nights like these.



   The next few days I spent doing nothing but watching Netflix of course. One night however, a bunch of my friends went to see a movie, and I went to take pictures at the village, and after we met at McDonalds. After,we watched The Neighbors at someones home and some of us were off to say our goodbyes till Christmas. 

   Finally...it was Thanksgiving! I had some family members over for the day which was a blast! That evening...at midnight I should say was none other then the famous Black Friday. A few of my friends and I were off to the mall until 4 am. Oddly enough, I only bought one beanie. The rest of the morning, till 5 am was spent with my incredible friend and I talking in the car till it was time for our goodbyes for now. 


 On Black Friday, my mom and I also went and walked around some shops in town...but did not buy anything. However, the weather was incredible. It felt like spring and was so nice I wish it did not go away. 

   Saturday, I went and spent my last time with Erica until it was our goodbye time. We went to the usual Starbucks for hours which was so weird...it has been so long since we have done that. We then trekked on to the Village and bought some awesome face masks from Lush. The face mask by the way was pretty cool if I do say so myself. 





Finally, I spent my Sunday, my last day of break doing all of the homework I did not do over the week. Although it wasn't the most exciting day, I did however go to a restaurant I have been wanting to go to for who knows how long, The Counter Burger. Which was delicious by the way! 


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   Enough about me, how has your Intermission or Thanksgiving? If you do not celebrate Thanksgiving, then how was your week? Was it filled with school? friends? work? 


I am blessed to have this blog...and I love you all! Yes, you reading or even skimming this, you are the best! Much love, Ashley. 








Saturday, November 29, 2014

The Village

   
   The Village vibe most definitely is not like a small town village feel as you may imagine. Swarms of people roll in and out to see a movie, eat, drink, or watch sports. Some may even come to socialize by the fire pits and heat lamps. You can't forget the main attraction that is the water light show. And...I guess you can't miss the shopping, but that tends to be more expensive so I usually do not partake in those activities as often. The village is the crazy busy hot spot that is Boise...well...until about 10:00 P.M hits. At that point, silence and peace rolls in. It turns into a place meant for sitting, chatting, relaxing, and listening to the music being played surround sound style. Sounds like paradise in a crazy middle sized city to me. 
       
    Now, Imagine it at Christmas time. It seems as if, nearly overnight, a tree, ice skating rink, and a fake gingerbread house appeared between the fountain and theater. The tree is coated with red, gold, silver, green, and purple bulbs. What I find a bit disappointing is the fact that they have a tree lighting way after its up. I mean tree lighting's are fun and all but I just want to see the tree all pretty and lit and lovely already...is that so hard to ask for? It is as if they declared it to be Christmas without the music and lit tree. Lame...but in their defense it is still November, and as I am writing this (4 days ago), Thanksgiving is two days away. They wait hand have a big event for one tree, and all the other trees in the area are living in white lights all year long. It is a beautiful sight though. Anyway, enough rambling on about it. IF you don't live in the area, here is a chance to see the...partially...Christmasafied so called village that is the Village at Meridian. 


















                                     Is it just me or does this bear look evil?





Thursday, November 20, 2014

The Beginning of a Winter Wonderland

     Last week, a winter storm covered Boise with 8 inches of snow. It turned a fall town filled with colored trees to the beginning of a winter wonderland. Of course, I took out my camera and went on a winter wonderland adventure. Venturing out into the fog and fresh powdered snow. A trip that left me frozen and may be a reason I feel a cold coming on. It was most definitely worth it. Its weird living in a wonderland meant for Christmas time magic, before Thanksgiving even occurred. However the oddness involved, I think this winter...may be the most magical, and a memorable one at that. I hope you enjoy some of the photos I have taken while exploring through a fancy neighborhood.



Sophie adores the snow!
It may be cold....but the vines think otherwise.




I thought it looked like a heart. 



I may have fell in love with this absolutely stunning tree.










I have always learned to be the person who stands out in a crowd, and being yourself is the best way to do that. Here, is fall leaves living beautifully in the midst of a winter wonderland they usually don't belong in.





Trash can's can be stylish too....