Birthday Blog Recap!

Friday, April 13th was my 22nd birthday! I don't feel much different now than I did at 21, and I'd like to think I'm right where I'd like to be: I've already graduated college, I'm working now, and in 4 months I'll be living halfway around the world.

Anyways, I think I celebrated 22 the right way. Max and I went to the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium! It was amazing; I missed the zoo, and Max had never been there! My family used to have a membership when I was growing up, so nostalgia probably influenced my decision to go there, but it was such a wonderful decision!

Me with the elephants!!!

Max with his favorite animal-lemurs!

I was very disappointed when I saw that the Komodo dragon had died, as he was one of my favorite animals! But I very much enjoyed the elephants (of course I did!), and the baby gorilla was delightful!  The aquarium is always a wonderful place too, with all the colorful beauty that exists underwater! 

Max and I side-by-side with the polar bear statue outside the aquarium.

After getting some cookies and cream Dippin' Dots ice cream on the way back to the car, we went home and baked a Romanian sweet bread for my internship showing of a Romanian film entitled Best Intentions the next day. The bread smelled delicious, but alas we did not get to try any of it! :( But all was well, as we didn't spoil our appetite for dinner!

For dinner, we ventured over to the North Side for Thai food at Nicky's Thai Kitchen. It was some of the most incredible Thai food I've ever had!! Major thanks to my co-worker who suggested it!  We got the spiciest Tom Yum soup ever, and it was AMAZING! I also got spicy basil fried rice with lump crab meat, and it was phenomenal.  I'd definitely go back ASAP.

After dinner, we went back to the house to dress-up and get ready to go to Static Nightclub in the Strip District to dance the night away! I had a brand new dress from Forever 21 that I had been waiting to wear to Static. We got a private table, and we got to see all of our friends who weren't attending beforehand, when they came over to our house to help us pregame! It was a great night, even though my feet killed me afterwards!

Toni and I in our birthday dresses before Static!

 22 is bound to be a great year, and I can't wait to see what will unfold!

Dancing My Way Into a New Job

I feel like a lot has happened since I've last posted, and I keep wanting to post to catch up on everything, but instead, something else major happens. Which not only pushes back me posting, but also leave me with a lot more to post about!! I barely know where to start.

Max moved back to Pittsburgh and is currently living in my room with Autumn and I. It's really nice to have him around, even just for the stupid little things, like having lunch together or falling asleep watching a movie on the couch. He's starting his own company designing websites, and I can't wait to see where it goes from here!

Max arrived back in Pittsburgh January 28th, so on the 29th, we decided to have an adventure! Jess, Anna, Javid, and Andres joined us as we galavanted through Scheneley Park, colored beautiful artwork, and watched an epic snowstorm roll in from the vantage point of Javid's roof.

In the photos below, Anna and the boys have a conversation overlooking the pond in Scheneley. It was such a beautiful day, and although cold, we managed to all stay warm and happy together! Below that, you can see more of our adventures through photos. Jess had a yo-yo that she loved, and she also brought a bubble wand which I danced around with as we watched the bubbles land on the surface of the lake and float off far into the distance.

Andres moved to Delaware to start his new job about a week after that, so it was a nice goodbye sort of thing.

A little over a week after our big adventure, on February 8th, a group of us went to a Rusko concert in the Strip District at Club Zoo, which is right next to Static, an awesome dance club and bar. Jess, Max, Javid, Sveta, Intaek, his girl Julia, and myself went and had such a blast! We danced the night away and even got the whole way to the front!

I seriously love this picture of Jess and I, with our sweet glow sticks! It was so hard for us to stop dancing long enough to get a picture together!!

The boys, all sweaty and happy, at the show during Rusko's performance!

And the man himself:

The next day, I had an interview with Adventure Teaching, and at the end of the interview, I got offered a position teaching English in South Korea for a year! I am almost positive I am going to go, as it is a dream come true, and I would definitely regret it if I didn't! Anna also got the position, and we are trying to live together over there so we can travel and explore Asia together!!

Other than that, it has just been work and hanging out with friends. Andres came back this weekend, and we all had a great time going out with him!

Oh, and Happy Mardi Gras!! :)