The place I call home.

I found this neat little video that gives an interesting view of the University of Georgia in Athens, GA. I don't know how many of you are familiar with this campus or town, but it's my adopted home and I absolutely love it here. Enjoy! :)

[FYI...it does take a minute to load, so be patient!]

Georgia from Joseph Stunzi, IENCE on Vimeo.

Discovering Downtown.

I got to see an old friend today that's been away for the summer for an internship. She finally got back in town, and we spent a lovely afternoon shopping and eating in downtown Athens. It was incredibly hot outside today...I know yesterday was the first day of summer, but I don't think you can ever prepare yourself for the heavy, oppressive heat that the South is [unfortunately] known for. But even with the heat, there's nothing like a little girl-talk and retail therapy to brighten your day!

Our first stop today was at East-West Bistro on Broad Street. I've been wanting to try this place forever, and it did not disappoint! I had the chicken carbonara [hold the peas, please!] and it was soooo yummy. The garlic cream sauce was perfect - not too heavy, but full of flavor. And the smoked bacon...mmm, I love bacon. My lunch date, Jourdana, had the Sweet Georgia Brown - I didn't try it, but it looked delicious as well. It was an open-faced sandwich of turkey, ham, cheddar and bacon topped with tomatoes and a spinach and fontina bechamel [basically, a white sauce made with flour and milk]. Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures of anything - we both were starving and dug in before the thought even crossed my mind.

After lunch, we set out to shop! The first store we hit was Cillie's. This store recently got a new owner, so now it is not only filled with gently-used and new clothes, but TONS of amazing jewelry and vintage pieces. There are amazing Louis Vuitton and Chanel bags scattered about the store, as well as Gucci watches, Chanel jewelry, and vintage RayBan sunglasses. It's definitely worth checking out - the prices are great, too! I bought a watch there that was a replica of this $495 Michael Kors watch for under $20, and it's awesome!

On our way to our main destination, we poked our head into Minx, another really unique, local vintage store downtown on Clayton Street. We didn't get to stay nearly as long as we liked in there because our parking meters were running out, and we absolutely had to get to Agora! But, we promised we would make it back very soon!

Our last stop was our goal for the day - Agora! Jourdana, found a great pair of vintage leather Durango cowboy boots for only $40! It was a total steal! I know I just found this place, but I am in love with it and I really think I could shop there every day and find something I had never noticed before.

This brought our shopping to an end, and we parted ways for the day. But I wasn't done exploring downtown just yet. For my Speech Comm class, I had to visit the Lyndon House Arts Center. I've seen it before, but I had no idea what it really was. I was pleasantly surprised! The original house faces Hoyt Street, but when you go around the corner, there is an entire museum added on behind the house. There are all kinds of unique pieces located throughout the museum, as well as art studios and classrooms. But my absolute favorite part of the museum was touring the actual Lyndon House itself. It has been restored as much as possible to it's pre-1900 condition, and it's amazing! It reminded me of the houses you can tour in old cities like Charleston and Savannah. It made me realize that I neglect the fact that Athens has such amazing history that I'm sometimes not aware of just because I live here. When you do go on vacation to places like Charleston, you take full advantage of the neat, touristy things there are to do there that teach you the history of the place. But sometimes when you live in the midst of one of those places, it's very easy to overlook those things. I'm going to try and make it my mission to learn more about this city I've adopted as my home over my last year as a student living here!

Soundtrack to life.

One of the most unique and thoughtful presents I've ever received was for my 18th birthday from my dad. He compiled the song of the year from every year since I was born and put it on a cd for me. Pretty cool, right?

It's a great gift idea to do for anyone at anytime, but particularly for the milestone birthdays or events. It's literally like a sound track to your life.

So, here's my soundtrack. What's yours??

2010: Single Ladies by Beyonce

2009: Viva la Vida by Coldplay

2008: Rehab by Amy Winehouse

2007: Not Ready to Make Nice by Dixie Chicks

2006: Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own by U2

2005: Daughters by John Mayer

2004: Dance with My Father by Luther Vandross

2003: Don't Know Why by Norah Jones

2002: Fallin' by Alicia Keys

2001: Beautiful Day by U2

2000: Smooth by Santana ft. Rob Thomas

1999: My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion

1998: Sunny Came Home by Shawn Colvin

1997: Change the World by Eric Clapton

1996: Kiss from a Rose by Seal

1995: Streets of Philadelphia by Bruce Springsteen

1994: A Whole New Wold by Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle

1993: Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton

1992: Unforgettable by Natalie Cole with Nat King Cole

1991: From a Distance by Bette Midler

1990: Wind Beneath My Wings by Bette Midler

1989: Don't Worry, Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin

1988: Somewhere Out There by Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram

1987: That's What Friends are For by Dionne Warwick and Friends

Vintage.

Today, I found a neat little treasure in downtown Athens! My Speech Communication class...titled the Communication of Collection, gave us the opportunity to head out around town to various locations that house 'collections.' Some people went to Jittery Joe's to see their collection of coffees, some people went to Wuxtry Records to see the collections of records, and some people went to Trappeze Pub to see their collection of beers.

Our group was lucky enough to get to go to Agora, a neat little antique/vintage shop downtown on Clayton Street that I had never been to before. You can find just about anything in that shop...it's amazing!

I took lots of pictures, but unfortunately the camera on my phone is not that great [I think that's what happens when your phone goes swimming :/] so a lot of them turned out pretty blurry. But I'll share the best ones with you.

When you first walk in the store, you're greeted by TONS of beautiful jewelry!!

Lots of shoes...including these vintage Manolos!!

Designer bags were EVERYWHERE! Some were vintage, some were fairly new and at GREAT prices!

My group and I spent quite some time trying to figure out exactly what this spaceship-like contraption was hanging from the ceiling...we never figured out what it was!

Bicycles hanging from the ceiling, dirt bike helmets, and lamps...you really can find anything and everything here!

This picture doesn't do these amazing necklaces justice!

They had stacks and stacks of records, 8-tracks, cassette tapes and cd's!

Next time you're wandering around downtown Athens, I recommend you stop in and check out this neat little treasure...you never know what you're going to find!

Learning new things.

For a Friday, I sure am learning a lot.

Usually by this time on a Friday, my brain has already starting shutting down in preparation for the weekend [especially this weekend, because I don't have to work!!]

Today was different, but good.

This morning, I met with Lori Randall of Social Media Design at 2 Story Coffee House in Five Points. She gave me lots of great advice about Social Media, and how to make myself more marketable to potential employees.

She took this lovely picture of me with my new blog:

I don't think a lot of college students understand how important social media is, and what a great tool it can be. When you're trying to get a job or internship, especially right now with the economy, who you know becomes extremely important. And social media can connect you with so many different people and resources. My fellow college students or recent grads - take advantage of this!

More learning happened today. I started my June-mester class - The Communication of Collection. I think it's going to be harder than I thought, but pretty interesting. We get to take field trips around Athens to view various collections, like the Hargrett Rare Book & Manuscript Library at UGA and the State Botanical Gardens.

As always, advice/ideas for this blog are welcome! I'm still trying to find my voice, so any suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated! :]