botans + CBA....

Girls!

So it's that time of year again--I'm bustin' out the charcoal gray and reppin' our classy Georgia style with flair up here in Boston (if I do say so myself)! Y'all should paint up, too, and we can have a string of matching finger nails right up the east coast!!

LOVE YOU, CHICASSSSSSSS!
katy

el fuego.

No sooner had I thought, "Mmmm! Someone's got a toasty fire going on this chilly night! Smells so good!"...I looked out my window and saw what was actually producing the cozy, wood-burning scent: the dumpster outside my window caught on fire!! I haven't found out how, but there are busy little firemen out there right now spraying the foamy water stuff to put it out. Kinda scary but kinda hilarious!

...as some of you may know, fire has a tendency to follow me around so I'm not quite as alarmed as I should be (unfortunately).

say grilled cheese,
katy

red sky at night, sailor's delight...

A storm is rollin' in to the Boston area (uh oh!) but look at the fantastic cotton-candy view it provided for a little while...

say cheese,
katy

gobble, gobble!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I hope you all were able to sleep in a bit, watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (and enjoy the lip-syncing that awesomely gets worse every year), eat a small little breakfast to hold you over (our quiche was perfect!), spend the afternoon watching football (go Patriots!), enjoy absurd amounts of food whilst surrounded by your loved ones, relax after the comma-inducing tryptophane took its effect, and then fashioned your Butterball into a fancy late-night sandwich!

I am grateful for each and every one of you, and I thank the Lord for the beautiful faces, love, and world that He surrounds me with everyday. 

God bless and Happy Thanksgiving, from me and my Daddio!

georgia, by way of boston...

Another fabulous day today with my Pops!

He and I got the day started with a walk to the grocery store to pick up the necessities for the required Thanksgiving Day quiche. When I was at the store a few days ago, I searched their bakery and frozen foods section for one that was already prepared but came up empty-handed...when I asked a clerk if they sold them, he responded with, "What's a quiche??" So either they don't eat them here, they don't eat them enough here for most people to know what they are, or I was totally looking in the wrong sections.  Anyway, now we've got the fixin's for a tasty breakfast while we watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!!! <<Definitely my favorite part of the holiday :)

Then I put him to work hanging light bulbs in nearly every room in fixtures that I couldn't even reach standing on a chair, caulking a little sliver of a living room window pane, WD-40'ing, and shaving down part of our front door because it HAD a horrible tendency to stick! I got my Daddy-Do List totally checked off, and I didn't really even have to ask :) He's awesome!

Around 5 o'clock we headed back out to explore! We started at North Station (near the Celtics/Bruins Garden Arena) and made our way toward the part of the harbor we saw yesterday....only....we were freezing!! So we stopped in at the Waterfront Bar and Grille for an antipasti. Then we wrapped back up, headed back out, and walked over to the harbor to see the boats again....and we were freezing...so we went to the Ruth's Chris Steak House in the Old City Hall (beautiful!) for a drink. Then we wrapped back up again and walked toward Emerson so he could see some of the school buildings and my stomping ground....only, we were freezing...so we stopped in to an Emerson-favorite, Sweetwater Tavern, for supper. It was a progressive dinner of sorts tonight through a pretty big chunk of the city! Very fun and totally unplanned, which made it even more fabulous!

Daddy was wearing a UGA jacket this whole time and I can't tell you how many people exclaimed, "Georgia!" at us! People on the street, people in the restaurants, people in the bars, people in the grocery store! We chatted with them about grits and Herschel Walker and sweet tea! Apparently, I need to rep my Georgia stuff even more up here, because I might just make a few extra friends that way!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!! I'm thankful for each and every one of you :)

say cheese (it's an ingredient in quiche),
katy

my daddio is here and i am happy :)

Daddy got here around 10 o'clock this morning, welcomed by a cloudy Boston and a joyous Katy!!

We dropped his stuff at my apartment and walked up Harvard Avenue to Coolidge Corner. We went to Zaftigs where he enjoyed a hugenormous (and probably illegal in some states) New Yorker sandwich and I  had my first falafel with veggies + yogurt sauce.

After a quick moment of refreshment, we were on our way again for me to show off my city!! We took the T in to the Arlington stop near downtown, and I showed him the public gardens and the Common (of course, what else did you expect?? Basically, if you come visit me, I can guarantee that I will take you there, too, because it's just gorgeous settled into the middle of the city!). We stopped for a drink at Bull + Finch's bar at the Cheer's restaurant, and continued moseying through the city to Faneuil Hall.

It's kind of a ghost-town around here right now because everyone's gone for the holiday (and there are fewer tourists here, too) so it was a little strange to see one of the most popular spots so quiet! But we didn't have to fight for a spot in front of the HUGE Christmas tree that they've put up, which was nice. I LOVE all the holiday cheer, so I'm pumped that all the decorations are finally getting turned on around the city. We walked over to the harbor next because I'd heard that there had been a big Christmas-light ceremony the day before where all the boats show off their decorations....but I guess everyone had already gone home because there was only one little fella left in the whole place with any sort of light on. Boo :(

As we were in the North End, I thought it necessary that I show off some of the best Italian food in the country to my Daddio! We went to Cafe Pompeii to split a pepperoni + mushroom pizza and then we walked over to the world famous Mike's Pastry for my first cannoli! Daddy got a ricotta pistachio and I got a chocolate-mousse! WOWZA! So delicious! It's probably bad that I've now discovered my love for them...

We came back to the apartment after that to eat our cannolis and watch Glee (he'd never seen it and his response was HILARIOUS....oh, the things you'll do for your daughter).

It was a wonderful first day, but I'm a little sad that it's over because that means I've only got two left :(

say cheese,
katy

i spent nearly 10.5 hours at the library today.

It was not fun.

...and then I found $5.

say cheese,
katy

library card!!

Susan, Leah and I spent our day creating/polishing/perfecting our final paper for our theory class about physician-recommended HPV vaccination! Instead of heading to our normal joints, we met at the Honan-Allston library, a branch of the Boston Public Library. It was beautiful! It's relatively new so it's in very good condition, and its hardwood floors still have a pretty heavy cedar smell that was enjoyable throughout the afternoon. We were super productive and rewarded ourselves with diet cokes, per the usual :)

say cheese,
katy

hp 7.1.

HP 7.1. 

Saw it. 

Loved it. 

Nearly cried. 

Totally sad that there's only one more :(

say cheese,
katy

the leg bone's connected to the hip bone...

I woke up this morning after 12—yes, 12—hours of sleeping last night. Needless to say, I was feeling back to my normal self, and maybe a little better than that!! I caught up on the necessary school assignments and then geared up for the chilly evening outside! It was time for class!

Tonight we had our anatomy lab in my Intro to Medicine course. You guys, it was amazing! The guy that came up with this stuff must be a genius :) The way that human anatomy fits so perfectly together…and one thing protects another…and no energy is wasted…and it all (usually) seamlessly runs along, it was great!! Seeing the donors and smelling the formaldehyde definitely took some getting use to, but the med students that talked us through everything were so respectful as they told us each person’s name and reminded us that they wanted their bodies used in this way. It was….humbling? I don’t know if that’s the right word, but it certainly put things into perspective. The two donors that I saw were both female: Zipporah, 98, and Ruth, 89.

We saw the tendons, ligaments, muscles that ran through the arm and leg, and it made me think of all of Mommy’s drawings! She is legit because it really did look like her work!! We saw the ovaries and uterus and all the working of the intestines. I held a lung! And a heart! And a brain in my hands! It was strange but also exhilarating! Such powerful tools just resting in my hand!

It was definintely an interesting experience but not one that I’ll be lining up to do again soon :) No pics for this post, so as to ensure everyone’s computer stays “clean”!

say cheese,

katy

i ate san francisco, part 5.

real mountains!!

…and then five minutes later we rolled out of bed at 3 a.m. to brush our hairs and teeths, catch a cab and head back to the aeroport. We left right on time at 6 o’clock to fly to Salt Lake City for a quick layover. I slept the entirety of that plane ride and woke up as we started our descent over beautiful Utah! GORRRRGEOUS! I thought I saw pretty mountains on the first flight—these were absolutely, 100% breath-taking! As we landed, I swear the captain goofed and was literally landing us in a salt lake, but luckily we hit asphalt (I’m sure you were worried!). We unloaded, grabbed some b’fast, and then reloaded on the next plane out.

caferine :)

I sat next to a Chatty Kathy, unfortunately for me, but he soon understand my “I’m putting my ear phones in to make you shut up” action, fortunately for him :) The entire flight back was quite warm for me as the sun was shining directly THROUGH the plane wall onto my right side. We flew the whole way, it seemed, over big puffy clouds and along a bright blue sky. As we passed through the big white clouds, however, as we get closer to Boston, it was very apparent that what was above (stunning!) was not necessarily below (kinda gross). We were on the ground by 4:30, in the T by 5:15, and at our class (with suitcases) by 6!

It was all that we could do to stay awake during the lecture—even though it was simply wonderful, per usual—but our eye lids had minds of their own!! Three hours and 45 minutes later, we were on our way home at last! Jocelyn and I made a necessary detour afterward, of course, at the movie theater to buy our HP 7.1 tickets, and THEN we were on the T, off the T, in the house and I was happily in the bed :) …and not an air mattress this time! 

say cheese,

katy

i ate san francisco, part 4.

Tuesday was our last full day in San Fran, and Susan and I made it our goal to make the most of it!!

To do that of course, you must be completely rested, so we both hit snooze for a bit and skipped the first conference session….shhh! Don’t tell!! We got all beautified and headed over yonder to downtown. We started our day with some delicious sushi at Sonraku. We shared edamame, a Spider Roll (with soft-shell crab + masago), a Crunch Roll (spicy salmon + tobiko), and a Rainbow Roll (an assortment of everything)! We had a slice of super sweet pineapple for dessert and then we morphed into our sharp, high-class selves as we donned our lanyards to go conference!

I heard two very interesting lectures about cancer communication, and how physicians and patients communicate differently in that realm than in other communities of medicine. One was from New Jersey and the other was from Cali, so it was fascinating to see that they both came up with the same conclusions!! Afterward, an oncologist responded to both of their papers—AWESOME! It was so great to see that the knowledge they were creating (and the traditional forms of medicine/communication that they challenged) was applicable to a man who is in the trenches of it all! His concluding remarks, after stating that their theories should be applied to physicians’ practice, were something to the effect of: “Are the physicians educable??”

speaking of social media,

this building is where Twitter 

is housed--right next to

the loft where we stayed!!

Susan and I both then attended a session about social media use in the field of health communication. Here’s what ya need to know:
1. Social media is considered the easiest (and often cheapest) way to communicate a message with an audience (i.e., H1N1 is here, wash your hands!)
2. The population that is considered the most “ill” are those under the poverty level (and, thus, they don’t own computers, cell phones, etc.)
3. The people who need to hear the social media messages the most (those folks in #2) don’t hear them because they don’t have the means/time by which to read them

and this warehouse is where the wired

digital magazine + facebook live...

right across the street from our front door!

It was definitely a challenging conversation, but the most integral part to take home was that social media is a TOOL. It is NOT the campaign. It cannot act on it’s own. It should be considered supplemental to other schemes.

With a heap of knowledge in our brains but hardly any food in our tummies, we waved so long to the NCA conference and walked a few blocks to a restaurant called Farmhouse. It’s supposed to provide organically grown and raised soul food. And they did! The atmosphere was fun and jazzy and the food was excellent! We split a shrimp + grits app (Susan had never had them and thought my friends, LA and Kyle, were totally brilliant when I told her that they had it served at their wedding) and we both enjoyed fried chicken, mac-n-cheese, collard greens and buttered biscuits for our entrée! Yummo!! 

With totally, embarrassingly full bellies, we bought a few traveling necessities at Walgreens for our day ahead, tidied up the apartment, and poured ourselves into bed after four fabulous days in California!

say cheese,

katy

i ate san francisco, part 3.

Susan and I felt like our normal selves again by Monday, thank goodness! We headed to the conference that morning, rockin' our super cute NCA laniards and repped Emerson with style in our fancy not-planned matching black dresses. Due to my lovely blisters (I hate my feet), we were forced to take a cab to the conference hotel. Our Eminem-wanna-be driver said that I reminded him of a celebrity, to which I responded excitedly, "Oh! Who??"....and he said "Joan Cusack!" Ummm thanks?? Family + friends + strangers, I'm interested in your take on this...

We went to a few sessions and then attended the Health Communication Top Paper session. So fascinating!! The papers were absolutely fantastic and the topics were even better! One did a literature review of thousands of news stories from the media top dogs regarding cancer coverage and how those top dogs portray more uncertainty of the disease than not.....another covered a cyberbullying victimization intervention (so timely!).....another (from Auburn, AL!!) discussed whether organ donation would increase more through "organ shortage" messages or "donation success" messages....and the final topic covered communicating emotion in health care and how those emotions affect prevention decisions. They were wonderful! I wish I had time to transcribe all my notes here for you all--you'd love it, I'm sure ;) We then sat through the HComm business meeting to see if we could get involved at all and then we were off to the presentation of my paper!!

EEK! It was so exciting! Dr. Sweetser, of course, did a spectacular job--so well-spoken, confident, a quiet intelligence! She even fielded questions with perfection (which would be the part that would send me for a tailspin! I can prep until the cows come home, but answering academic questions on the spot like that, no thank you!). She gave me wonderful tips afterward for when I get to present on my own someday (?!?!) on how to do that last part, thank goodness. There was also a respondent in our session who critiqued and commented on all of the presentations. She was so funny because (after singing Dr. Sweeter's praises) she exclaimed that the only reason she didn't like Dr. S was because she wouldn't let her take her research course at UGA (which is where my paper came from). I had to keep myself from laughing out loud because that class was HARD HARD HARD and I could barely imagine someone volunteering for something that!! Ha! It was very apparent at the end of it all that Dr. Sweetser is definitely a respected intellectual in the national public relations community--it's certainly one thing to see the vast amount of respect she gets at UGA but definitely another to see her praised among the PR elite! So proud of her! Hopefully, some of her awesomeness has rubbed off on me and my fellow co'10 PR grads...

After a quick wardrobe change, Susan and I wandered Fisherman's Wharf again (less tourists + much more of a bay view, this time) to find some dinner. We ended up going to a greasy but totally delicious hamburger joint that's apparently only in CA and Arizona--In and Out--and we both enjoyed our fair share of burgers + fries! I even got a cute hat for Jocelyn, because she's in love with that place (but not more than Taco Bell, duh). If our burger/fry combo weren't enough, we next ventured to Bi-Rite Creamery for salted caramel ice cream! HOLY COW!! No, seriously. That ice cream had to come from a holy cow because it was the MOST amazzzzzing thing I've ever put in my mouth! All of you, go buy your plane tix to CA right now because, gosh darn it, that ice cream was waaaaay worth it!!

Of course, we next totally collapsed from all of the amazingly healthy food we'd been eating all day (yea, right) and we caught a few zzzz's before our last full day in CA!!

say cheese,
katy

i ate san francisco, part 2.

stupid new socks.

Sunday morning--after a rejuvenating night's sleep on the comfiest Serta air mattress I've ever experienced--Susan and I were off to the convention bright and early!!

The first session we attended was about controversial health issues in the modern world. We heard about media coverage of illness-inducing cough medicine in Panama, communication from parents + friends to substance-abusing kids, unintended effects of ads against alcohol that actually encouraged use instead of discouraging, and three presentations on HPV. The last few were so interesting to Susan and me because that's our final paper topic, so (of course) we were quickly scribbling away copious notes to (hopefully) incorporate into our own paper!

soon you will understand that we ate our way 

around the world via SF in only four days.

But as you all remember, my feet are forever and always turning against me...so after that session we had to grab another pair of socks for me so that my stupid shoes wouldn't rub a stupid hole into my stupid heels. Sigh. My new $9 pair of Calvin Klein socks worked like a charm, though, so we were (luckily) in the clear!

We grabbed a quick brunch at a cute restaurant near the conference hotels (whose name is escaping me at the moment). I had the Belgian waffles and Susan had pancakes, and we both totally inhaled our java and chicken + apple sausage. Delicious!! Then we were off to more afternoon NCA sessions!

I attended a session covering communication factors that influence lifestyle change, including behaviors like exercise, healthier eating and smoking cessation. The most interesting of these presentations was about Christians and exercise. The presenter informed us that some 78% of the US calls themselves "Christian" and yet more than 50% of that group is obese (not just overweight). Her study showed that the Christians she interviewed struggled with either thinking they were "selfish" for taking care of themselves if they exercised (and thus spending time focused on themselves and not the Lord) and/or being considered glutenous if they did not exercise. Her discussion suggested that since the Christian church already has established forms of communication, a shared belief system and trusted leaders, that a campaign that encouraged healthy behaviors by framing them as responsible, spiritual and humbling could be successful soon! I found it fascinating and definitely a subject that could influence my future career!

Next, Susan and I met up with my favorite undergrad professor, Dr. Kaye Sweetser, for a quick hello and catch up time! She was at the conference to present the paper I co-authored and others from her undergrad courses. It was wonderful to see her, of course, and even more fabulous to see a fellow Georgian!! It was so easy, it felt like coming home :) ...the only bad thing is that she is now the size of a toothpick--an even smaller toothpick than before--so I am (obviously) obliged to hate her.

HOMEMADE grape soda, 

complete with whole grapes! 

Insanely good.

Susan and I went to one final session, and then to a conference-wide inaugural speech about the state of our (communication) discipline. We were exhausted and starving by this point, so we caught a quick Muni bus (the SF transport name) over to Pizzeria Delfina, a highly-rated pizza joint of the SF-area! Oh. My. Gah. It was sooooo good! Susan killed a broccoli rabe pizza and I topped off the classic Margherita pizza and--this was SANFRANtastic--homemade grape soda! Yum!!

We collapsed into a cab and made our way home after another wonderful day! Seriously loved it. More soon!


say cheese,
katy

PS-- Did I mention that it was about 78* + gorgeous out all day, so we had to drag ourselves through an entire day subjected to that kind of weather?!?! Ugh. The nerve!

i ate san francisco, part 1.

4 a.m.

crissy park at the bridge!

Hello beloved family and friends that I have been totally missing!! Sorry for the crazy big--and totally inexcusable--gap in posts! My life has been a little loco! ...but I think there's something to be said about living it and not just writing about it, right?? That's my excuse, anyway :)

So, why the heck the loco life, Katy? Wellllll, I went clear across the nation to San Francisco, CA!!! Insofar as heading west, I'd only been to Texas + Minnesota, so I was beyond stoked to head out that way! I went to the National Communication Association's annual conference, where I also had an academic paper presented that I co-wrote at UGA. I was with a fellow H'Commer, Susan, who is from Sacremento and knows some fabulous boys                                                          in SF with an even more fabulous loft in SOMA that they shared with us!

We flew out of Logan bright and early on Saturday around 6 a.m. and had a direct flight into SF. (Larry, I saw the most beautiful sunrise right as we were taking off that made me think of you--I wanted to take a pic but I didn't want to get thrown out for having an electronic device on!) The plane ride over was spectacular! This is embarrassing to admit, but my most recent trips (even to Boston) have been when I've flown over water...so when we got up 36,000 feet in the air, I was surprised at how much you could see down there! I guess I was expecting it to be blue....like the ocean! Anyway, it was gorgeous! I saw my first big "real" mountain with snow on it (since apparently all the mountains in Georgia, according to Weiser, are not real) and Lake Tahoe! It was stunning!! I don't love flying, so that definitely kept me distracted and actually helped me enjoy it a little bit!

no fog!!

After a quick six-hour flight, we got into CA around 9 a.m. and Susan's friend Paul picked us up. We dropped our stuff at their gorgeous loft, picked up Greg, and we were off to find breakfast! We ate omelets and fruit and large quantities of coffee to get our energy flowing again and then Susan and I began our wonderful day of exploration!!

I would like you to know that when I left Boston, it was about 30* out and super cloudy. So when I was able to walk around in nearly 80* weather under clear skies and a beautiful sun, I almost cried (and I'm not even kidding)! We started at the Golden Gate Bridge--which was stunning on such a gorgeous day--passed Alcatraz, and wandered our way to Fisherman's Wharf (touristy, yes, but I had to check it off the list). Susan was the best tour guide ever because she hired all these actors to surround us the whole afternoon--some were playing frisbee, football, and running while others ran with their poodles or under waving kites! All of this, mind you, as the perfect wind blew and the sun beamed down. It was so picturesque--Susan is so thoughtful that way :)

everywhere you look (everywhere) there's
a face of somebody who needs you!!

After such a long walk, we needed an afternoon snack, of course. We stopped at the original Ghirardelli's chocolate factory for some ice cream sundaes where our taste buds inevitably fell in love and our afternoon comma began to settle in. It was beyond delicious!! Next we were off to find the oober cute houses on a hill from the Full House TV show. To be honest, we were kinda dragging at this point--we'd been awake for about 12 hours so we'd really already experienced a full day! But lucky for us, our super awesome (and totally my favorite part) ride on a famous San Francisco cable car woke us right up and got us ready to face the rest of the day! Speeding up and down hills while hanging off the side of a moving vehicle can do that to a girl...

dear boston, THIS is mexican food.

get to know each other.

We found the Painted Ladies (aka the Full House houses) right as the sun was starting to go down, so the shadows on the houses and its accompanying park were beautiful! Oh, and I swear I saw Bob Saget and Mary Kate + Ashley. Swear. Susan's best friend, Loren, picked us up afterward and we were off for a quick wardrobe change and dinner! We ate REAL Mexican food (which, I've found, Boston knows very little of) and margaritas at Tommy's restaurant...and then totally collapsed when we got home. I don't think a blowup mattress could have been more comfortable than that night.

say cheese,
katy

informative + beneficial...or just plain scary?

My health comm teacher/graduate director, Dr. Edgar, shared with our class tonight that he was interviewed by ABC this afternoon about the new FDA-mandated graphic images to be placed on cigarette packaging by 2012. Here's the article link, just in case ya haven't heard about it yet: CLICK HERE :)

A lot of what we've been learning about lately in our theory class is about fear appeals and how they don't work unless they're done juuuust right. Without getting too deep into the theories...basically, a brilliant health communicator can create a message that shows the target audience a few things: that the risk involved in continuing a poor behavior is a big deal (i.e., they could die) and that the bad effects of this poor behavior are likely to happen to them. With both of those in place, the communicator would then show the audience both how they can be successful and that changing the poor behavior will end the risk. [Whew! I hope you're still with me!] If both of those items aren't in a message, the appeal in the fear appeal is totally lost, money is wasted, the campaign fails, yada yada yada. If it's just the BAM! shock factor and little more, the terrified audience a) just thinks it scary, b) thinks it's scary but not likely, or c) has no where to turn to figure out how to avoid the horror. Get it?? Anyway...

I'm curious what your thoughts are on the cigarette pack pics. According to what we've been learning (and Dr. Edgar's comments in the article), the graphic images alone on the pack won't work. The severity is obviously there, but there's no information included that would make the smoker exclaim, "Oh, that could be me!" <<I say this because I feel confident stating that every American knows there's a danger, and yet new smokers have the packs flying off the shelves each day. There's also no information paired with the picture to show the smoker how they can quit, what support groups are available, or that they can actually be successful in cessation attempts. It's like Little Red Riding Hood with just the pretty pictures and no narration--the severity/susceptibility is implied, but there are no words to tell her that Grandma is actually the horrifying wolf!

I'm also curious about your thoughts regarding the FDA mandating that such gruesome pictures be printed on the side of a pack....where any young child or PTSD victim could see them on the shelves, too. I think that continuing to encourage smoking cessation is always a good idea, as it benefits smokers...non-smokers...the Earth!!...but I think this campaign has a little bit more growing to do before it can truly be as effective as the FDA and American Cancer Society want it to be. They're taking opinions through January 2011--which is awesome--and I think it's important that we all share how we see the campaign becoming even more of an impact! Let me (and the FDA) know your thoughts...

say cheese,
katy

a+

I got to sign up for classes today!! Whoo hoo! This will definitely sound odd, but as a poor little graduate student, I got the same excited sensation when I was picking out my classes as I usually get when I go shopping! Ha! Totally lame but totally true.

What I'll be taking:
Media Strategies for the Health Professional (Emerson)
Epidemiology/Biostatistics (Tufts)
Public Health and Health Care: Politics, Policies and Programs (Tufts)

I'm most excited about the last one, and can't wait to share with you guys everything that I learn!!

say cheese,
katy

poppa.

gaygle, willy boy + poppa from a few years ago...

I hope this doesn't delve too much into others' privacy, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention the fella who has been on my heart today...

Poppa, aka "P" on my blog posts, is my wonderful grandfather! My mom's dad, he's absolutely the biggest Georgia Tech fan in the world (God bless him) and the sweetest teddy bear you'll ever know!! I remember telling him last summer that he's the best husband I've ever seen, and it's so so true. He is amazingly attentive and selfless as he tends to his wife (who would deny she ever needs tending to) of 50+ years, Gayle. He'll tell you the truth when you need to hear it and gives awesome hugs when you need one of those, too. He's the odd man out in our family because he doesn't waste words--I have no clue how my mother and I are related to him :) -- but the man can still tell a mean story! He's wonderfully organized, the best list-maker I've ever seen (that's where I see the genetic connection) and the man is seriously brilliant (civil engineer, thank ya very much)!! He absolutely loves his five children and eleven grandchildren and never misses his daily e-mail correspondence that really does keep us all tied together. I truly couldn't respect or love him more. (Well, maybe I could respect him a smidge more if he'd ever call the dawgs!! Ha! That'd be the day!)

I don't have that many details, so I can't share too many, but please be in prayer for my Poppa. He is in the hospital in Atlanta tonight. He's got some pretty awesome ladies (my mom, Aunt Katy and, of course, Gaygle) surrounding him, and he calls the Lord his own -- so he is in good hands right now. The doctors seem optimistic but it's still a scary situation. Please remember Gayle especially as she sits next to her boyfriend for the next few days. They really are the darndest couple...

say prayers,
katy

go crimson!!

picture courtesy of cassaundra smith!

This afternoon Jocelyn and I caught the 66 bus to go to the Harvard vs. Columbia football game! We met up with fellow HComm'ers Joanna, Jackie and Cassaundra and froze our little bottoms off to cheer on the Harvard Crimson!

A few fun facts from the afternoon:
- Harvard does not have a mascot
- Their band was semi-legit but was definitely WAY better than whatever those Columbia folks with instruments were

Harvard H ... their "mascot"

- The band also likes to create + throw confetti, plays charades a lot, wears aluminum foil on their heads in the shape of unihorns/Mickey Mouse ears/devil horns, and plays Lada Gaga's "Bad Romance" surprisingly well...they were definitely in their own world for the duration of the game and paid little attention to the field action
- Apparently you wear a suit + tie to the football games if you're a student
- I need a cute winter hat....otherwise, I'm totally left out. Uncool.
- The concrete seats are not heated
- The rivalry may have been as intense as others that I've seen, but the actual playing was not quite up to the SEC par (so it was kinda hilarious!!)
- Harvard does not give sports scholarships (according to Jocelyn's boyfriend and what we saw today)
- Several Harvard students were seen studying on their laptops, reading what appeared to be journal articles, and working on their stock portfolios during the game...I guess when ya go to Harvard, studying during the third quarter is considered cool
- I'm not going to make it through the winter

say cheese,
katy

raw.

I don't remember all of their names, but included here: 

lady in red, spicy mango + shrimp, crazy roll, alaska roll, and idaho sweet potato!! 

I'M DROOLING.

After I got off work at the health center tonight, I met up with Susan and Leah (fellow HComm'ers) for some Friday night fun -- aka sushi + studying!! We shared a ton of sushi--I think six different kinds--at a restaurant called Gari Fusion (so gooooood!) and ended the evening at my apartment to work on our final theory paper. Sorta classy but then sorta boring....but definitely productive (and yummy)!

say sushi,
katy

GBL: for jocelyn

I didn't take this picture, 

and I have no clue who did, but it's not mine!

Unfortunately, coffee-house lighting does not make 

for good Verizon-phone camera shots...

Gingerbread lattes are back in season at Starbucks and my roommate is going crazy for them! She SERIOUSLY called our local Starbucks the other day to see when they were coming out...she's totally in love...and for good reason! I hadn't had one before, until yesterday that is, and I must say: they're pretty darn tasty! So the next time you scrounge up $4 (and decide that your pile of laundry can wait) go grab one, because they totally taste like Christmas!! 

does anyone else remember the arthur song about a library card??

Today I was out of the house by 9 a.m., at the Emerson library by 9:45, researching my fingers off until 11:28 and then meeting with my research professor, Dr. West, by 11:30. He has me working on what I think are some great projects--researching different types of family narratives, the student/teacher dynamic + what classroom techniques lead to positive/negative memories of a teacher, the six different family types + how they are reflected in America--so he's kept me plenty busy and I'm really enjoying soaking up all of his knowledge!!

After our meeting, I was off to a meeting at Tufts that discussed maintaining a professional reputation within social media. I think I may be a bit ahead of the curve on this one--as half my undergrad revolved around it and my favorite professor, Dr. Sweetser, was in love with it--but it was definitely reassuring to hear that what I was told is professional down in Athens is also considered professional up here! Gotta love that confirmation. I am actually watching the election night results as I type this, and I've gotta tell ya: CNN has got it going on insofar as using social media! Jocelyn can attest that their progressive + impressive use of it really gets me excited!! ....and I know that not all of my readers will appreciate my channel selection, but I hope that you'll at least consider that their social media is pretty top notch (even if you don't agree that anything else is....)

I ventured back to the library after the meeting to knock out a few things on the ole to-do list. The Emerson library (versus that of Tufts) has wonderful windows that look out onto the Common. So as I was studying, I got to read whilst sitting in the sun and looking at the beautiful changing leaves!! I tried to take a pic, but it was so sunny (yay!) that it didn't turn out so well (boo!). Instead, I grabbed a shot of the Will + Grace set which is snuggly situated right in the middle of one of the library floors. I think the producer of the show was a graduate from Emerson and after the show ended, he gave the original set back to the school. It's pretty neat and definitely more interesting to look at than the normal outdated floral paintings that usually line library walls.

Afterward, I went to work at the Health Center from 4-8 (which I'm loving by the way!), and then back to the library (I just realized I was there three times today! Geez! Ha!) for a meeting with two girls from class regarding our next/last/other-50% paper for my theory course. Fun fact: Boys can get cancer from HPV, too, so if ya have a young fella in your house over the age of 9, get him vaccinated!! It's not cheap, but it's definitely worth it in the end...don't ya think??

Now, I'm finally back home--after toting a hugenormous bag all around downtown Boston all day --so I'm settling in with a cup of my favorite Earl Grey tea and getting ready to catch up on some zzzzz's!

say cheezzzze,
katy

monday monday!!

After 70* (pamper and spoil me) weather all last week, I was seriously surprised when a shiver ran down my back this morning as I was waiting for the T at 7:45 in the morning!! A beautiful New England fall is upon us, and my nifty new gloves and favorite scarves are ready to play their part! I gotta admit....I don't LOVE the cold, but I'm a huge fan of any type of cute accessory :)

say cheese,
katy