"Woo! Spring break!" - SWAIM

I hate to pull a Rebecca Black here, but today is Sunday, Sunday. Me, me, me, so excited. Me so excited.

Why? Because Spring Break 2012 starts in 5 days! I'm really happy to be going home to see my parents, my babies, my Beeksies, and my other buddies! I have been preparing for Spring Break like crazy: packing, figuring out transportation to and from the airport (I fear for Lucius being left alone in a car park with his alarm system all messed up), and buying appropriate footwear for the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo.

"Ur so Jelly. Ur like, Jelly Clarkson." - SD

Seriously, how cute are those boots?! My parents were making fun of me yesterday for wearing them around my room and breaking them in. Claire and I went to Grapevine Mills for a Girl's Shopping Day yesterday, and we had the best time. I was looking for boots and gave up until she suggested going into a store that looked a little... how do I say this without sounding like a pretentious ass? "Beneath me"? Shit. ANYWAYS, it wasn't a reputable shoe store, no brand name chain, but they did have a great assortment of brands like Nike, Steve Madden, Iron Fist... so I found these for the low-low price of $64 (with taxes). The other boots were closer to $200, so I was really glad to have found these. More details on the boots on the other blog in case you're interested :)

After we got Claire some yoga pants and a new belt for me, we ventured to Chili's Too and had a delicious meal before heading out. Claire's boyfriend was coming in at 1:30, and we were seated close to 12:30. Thankfully the airport was literally 10 minutes away, giving us more time to eat and socialize before we parted for the day. At participating Chili's in and around the DFW metroplex, there's a game called the Dallas Mavenger Hunt where you scan QR codes with your cell phone and enter for a chance to win season courtside tickets to the Dallas Mavericks. There was also a kiosk sponsored by the Mavs outside the Marshall's holding a raffle for two courtside tickets for the game against the Utah Jazz. I felt lucky entering as I was wearing my beautiful Mavs top that Liz gave me for my birthday; it was definitely a Mavs kind of day! All in all we had a great day at the mall, and we had plenty of fun and laughs. I am seriously regretting not vlogging at all yesterday as there were some hilarious moments... like the squirrel undies, the leash kid, Jack Hannah and the racy commercials... oh but we did document a moment with the majestic HOVER DOGGIE!

"I don't think I'll get my hair to do the same as the dog."
"That's okay, just pose."
"Alrighty."

Well, I'll keep you posted on my preparations for Spring Break, any developments regarding my health, and the countdown to my Biostatistics test/Spring Break. I will also be trying to upload new posts every day of Spring Break to give you Narvaezes the scoop. Much love!

<3 Ally

Valentine's Weekend

As promised, I'll let you in on my Valentine's Weekend with Claire :)

So, I woke up, cleaned my room, took a shower, then had a call from Miss Claire that she would arrive in 1.5 hours. Then we left for the mall. Oh my word it was crazy! So many people were bustling about the mall, buying things... we arrived around 1:30 and we didn't leave until about 7:30.

My lovely new coat from Forever21

Claire waits for dinner @ Maggiano's

We went shopping at Forever 21, Urban Outfitters, H&M, the Dallas Mavericks Store, Gap, Williams-Sonoma, and the Nike store. Finally we went to dinner at the Maggiano's Little Italy located in Northpark, and we ate the most delicious Italian meal ever. I had been greatly looking forward to the dinner as I had been craving Italian food for about a week before. We enjoyed our candlelight dinner then headed off to Whole Foods Market to buy ourselves personal bottles of champagne and some Valentine's desserts. We tried unsuccessfully at the nearby Best Buy to find a regular dvd copy of Paranormal Activity 3, then we went back to the dorm. Still determined to have a good scare, we went to Walmart and bought a 3pack of the Paranormal Activity series. Claire bought me my Phantom: 25th Anniversary Performance dvd and I paid her back when we arrived home. Finally, we watched the third installment of the series, and it did not disappoint. It was so scary! We were screaming and shrieking and I'm certain the girls in the dorm thought we were being brutally murdered. It was so intense. After the movie, we chatted then Claire returned home. We had a lovely time and I look forward to seeing her again after I get better. More on that at a later time.

Well, time to get down to researching for Dr. Slaughter. Have a great day :)

<3 Ally

"Wouldn't a more appropriate celebration of the evening be taking one's steady gal to witness a brutal murder?" - Sheldon Lee Cooper

Today was Valentine's Day... and it was much better than last year!

Over the weekend, I got myself some flowers, a 4 pack of wine, some candies, a romantic Italian dinner from the frozen food section of Tom Thumb, and an adorable giraffe I have been coveting for quite some time now. Today, I got to enjoy them all.

It's time for everyone's favorite game:
NAME THE ANIMAL!!!
Seriously, he has no name, and needs one.

I had no red shirts to wear (I don't intend on getting killed first... any Star Trek fans out there?), and the weather in the morning was too cold for the red dress I wore for my date with Clurr. That being said, I wore my black "Broken Hearts Club" shirt from Forever21, my newest shoes, and my beautiful red coat. I even wore a fun Valentine's bow in my hair, complete with beads and ribbons and plushy hearts. I distributed Star Wars valentine's in my dorm and got a few in return. I also handed out candy to the people in Dr. Slaughter's office. Just now, I received a Valentine's gift from Jesse. The gift of Oprah Voice & Shoulders! Apparently I sound like Oprah giving away things when I'm excited... the shoulders were an added bonus when he made fun of me for it. He told me he was going to take a shower in the Oprah Voice and did Shoulders along with it, then says:

That's my valentine's gift to you!

Oprah Voice & Shoulders?! I'm the luckiest girl in the world!

Yeah, you are.

I hope y'all got plenty of Valentine's gifts and candies and hugs and kisses :)



Until next time...

<3 Ally

"Well her purse was stolen. And when I decided to return it to her..."

Today is Mommy & Daddy's wedding anniversary! So, Happy Anniversary, y'all :) Let's commence the anniversary slide show, shall we?

I've never gotten a clear answer on how they met, all I know is that it was at work or something, but we asked Daddy once and he said that Mommy's purse was stolen. Then he returned it to her. Implying he was the one who stole the purse. It's definitely not true, but it's still funny to think about. So, family and friends reading this, please make it a point to call or write to them today on their anniversary and send them your best wishes. Here's to many more years as the Narvaez Family :)

<3 Ally

Tonight, I'm Gonna Have Myself A Real Good Time: GROUNDHOG 2012

HAPPY SUPERB OWL SUNDAY!!!

May the Superb Owl bestow his superb blessings upon each and every one of you :)

The Superb Owl began blessing the students of UD on Thursday by giving us fairly awesome Groundhog Weekend weather. Yes, it was cold, and by the end of Saturday night, I couldn't feel my hands, but at least we were all dry.

After the Biostatistics studying, I showered, fixed my hair, and attempted a makeup look appropriate for an outdoor winter festival. As the start of Groundhog approached, Denise arrived at O'Connell with a bag of chocolate covered pretzels and I took out the bottle of wine I had been saving. By the time we reached the bus, we were pretty happy. Our happiness faded when we were faced with an hour wait to get onto the busses. It was cold and loud and people were cutting... it was horrible. We finally arrived at the parking lot and again, we had to wait for the hay rides. I honestly do not know what time we arrived in the woods, but we missed most of Paul Spring's set. That really upset me.

The line for the beer was confusing. There seemed to be people in line, but they were clustered a few feet away from the line socializing, so I just got in front of them, got my beer, and looked for Denise in the food line. I ended up with a double cheeseburger on account of them being seared together by the flames. No problem, though. According to Denise, if one can't remember having eaten the burger, then the calories don't count. I agreed with that logic until I saw a picture of myself with the burger... it was all too real. As I sat there eating my burger, I saw my friend Alison from Houston. We proceeded to have a lovely conversation and from what I can remember, her oldest brother got married and had a baby... well his wife had the baby but regardless, I was really happy to hear that she was doing well and that her family was doing great. Hopefully I'll see more of her this semester as I don't have many friends to socialize with.

Later, I fulfilled the Jesse Dare and then the boys brought out the cigars. I am pleased to announce that I smoked my first cigar last night. I felt really cool and I looked cool. Definitely a once a year... no. More like a once a decade thing. Maybe a once every two decades thing. Yep. You only live once, am I right? Well, after Groundhog, we assembled and waited for the hayride/bus ride back to campus. When I got home, I uploaded my photos, removed my makeup, and quickly logged into Facebook (happy birthday, FB, by the way...) and updated my status: GROUNDHOG = SUCCESS!

Pictures... of course:
CLICK the photo for a larger version... use arrow keys to flip through:

Look at Lance... trying to act like he's not happy
to see me.

Me & my 30Rock buddy, Brandon!
"AHH! MY PERIOD! YOU'RE ALL FIRED!!"

WOOOO GROUNDHOG TGIT!!!

Nisi & my eye. This ALWAYS happens!

Waiting in line for the busses. SO COLD!
But we were happy to be together,
so it didn't matter :)

Me with Alison and Nisi :)
Yep... that's definitely a burger in my lap.
Crap on a cracker...

Lance, we all know you love me.
Cut it out.

Okay, Lance looks like a serial killer in this one.
It's disturbing...

Me with Ricky Wiegel (Wiegel Bagel)
and Rachel... Healy? Whatever...

Me & Cesar! I caught his jacket during his
Male Auction striptease to Enrique Iglesias...
We'll have that special bond forever.

Like. A. BAWSE.

Our group that evening...
the best memories are made around a
bonfire in the middle of the woods.

Me, Mira, Dan (Mira's BF), and Nisi <3

Mira, Me, & Nisi... brings back memories of
Groundhogs past.

Me & Matt Hull. He was in the
grade above me at Strake Jesuit.
Here, we are waiting for the hay ride back...

Well, that's about all I've got... Happy Superb Owl Sunday! May the Superb Owl continue to bless and keep us forever and ever amen.

<3 ally

SPOOOOOOOOONS!!!! Pt. 2

So, I may have mentioned that before leaving to Dallas, Becky and I were going to see The Room.
Well, we did and we had a very fun time. All the crazy people were there with their spoons, their footballs, and their red roses. Needless to say, we enjoyed ourselves.

Before the movie, however, we went out to celebrate Jesse's 26th birthday! Earlier in the day, we had been discussing where to eat dinner and while at Costco, he messaged me that were were to dine at a place called 'Pupusa Buffet'. Mommy literally LOLed at that because she didn't think that a white boy like Jesse would know what pupusas were. He didn't. He just read the reviews on Yelp! and decided to give it a try.

The night began when Becky arrived at the house and we devoured a huge slice of King's Cake. Dinner wasn't until 7:30, almost 8, so we were definitely hungry. We then got ready and left. The restaurant... well, I'll show you a picture:

Becky: There are bars on the windows... 

There were bars on the windows. This roused suspicion in Beeks that were weren't in the best of neighborhoods. I called Jesse, told him to come take a look, then we went in once his friends Vi and Chris arrived. Safety in numbers. The food was actually pretty delicious. The buffet was a reasonable price and you got to eat as many as you could possibly manage. Becky and I each ate 2. Jesse, Chris, Joseph, Vincent, and James probably ate up to about 8 each. It was quite disgusting to watch. After a respectable number of pupusas, they all complained about their insides wanting to die from (1) the amount of cheese ingested, and (2) the quantity of pupusas eaten. I hate to say it, but they brought it on themselves. Jesse had an impressive food baby by the time he finished eating... but he exaggerated it by extending his belly as far as he could. It looked bizzarre considering his thin frame:

Ally: Aww when are you due?
Joseph: I FELT IT KICK!

Following the Pupusa Buffet, we ventured out into the night... only to find ourselves back at the Marquis II for drinks and conversation. When the night out with friends was over, we got in the car and drove to River Oaks Theatre for the midnight screening of The Room. We must've waited FOREVER outside since Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy was playing in the main theatre and was taking a while to wrap up. Once we got inside, we armed ourselves with spoons and enjoyed the movie. After the movie, we got our usual post-Room meal at Wendy's and sat in my room on the floor having a picnic, watching Gentleman's Rants on YouTube. Then we went to bed. It was a fun night, indeed :)

Becky had a rum'n'coke at my suggestion. Delicioso!

I don't even know what was happening here. Looks like
an intense, intellectual conversation.

Well, off to take that shower I've been meaning to for the past 30 minutes... talk to you later!

<3 Ally

Let's Raise Hell In The Streets, Drink Beer, And Get Into Trouble: GROUNDHOG 2012

SO... the annual tradition of Groundhog is upon us. Today was the 5k fun run, but I stayed in and worked on Biostatistics. Just as I type this, people are passing my window, returning from the PowderPuff football game. Again, I stayed inside to work on Biostatistics and color my hair.

Thursday was another story.
I went Groundhog TGIT and it was so much fun!!! I went with the intention of visiting with my friend Denise and hanging out with her, but she left early. After she left, I was bombarded with greetings from friends that graduated in May. There were so many people there from '11. I was really happy because I had missed them so much! I hung out the rest of the time with my Mexicans and then I returned home. What I didn't expect was the hellish hangover that lasted all of Friday. I did manage to attend Biostats class and turn in homework. I did get teased by Dr. Brown-Marsden for my dead expression but she did complement my willingness to be in class, also my ability to pay attention and perform well despite the circumstances. She's so funny :)

Tonight is Groundhog's Party in the Park and YES it will be in the old UD Groundhog Park now that Tom Braniff is open! I am looking forward to Denise coming over and pre-gaming with me, the hay ride, the free beer and food/s'mores, and of course, the music! I will definitely be taking plenty of photos and video, so I should probably be charging my camera battery right now...

Well, I think it's time to start getting ready and wash my hair. I've also got to finish reading and eat something for lunch, so the early shower should give my hair time to air-dry that way I can get ready for the party faster! I'll be sure to update you guys on the evening's festivities tomorrow :)

Until later,
Ally <3

Title from "Heavy Metal Lover" by Lady Gaga