Just Haven't Met You Yet.

So far so good.
I haven't felt sad/homesick/lonely in about three days.
I think that could be a record.
I'm in such a good mood.
I hope nothing ruins it.

PK quiz results: T for Troll.
I can do better.
I will do better
There is no room for academic failure in my life right now.
I'm trying not to put too much pressure on myself.
But I just can't help it.
I expect so much out of myself.


I had a very interesting conversation with a friend of mine last night.
Basically about who would win in destroying the other socially/emotionally.
I know it sounds terrible, but it was entertaining.
I still stand by my claims in knowing that I could smother this person with drama if I ever wanted too.
But I won't because I'm too kind hearted.
Ha.
It was a very cheery conversation.
Gave me a good laugh when I needed one.
Made me realize why I like being friends with this person.
Moments like that where I feel completely myself and just joking around even if it is through a computer screen.
I hope this person knows that they can be themselves around me too.


I heard the worst news ever on Tuesday.
Irena Chalmers isn't going to be my Gastronomy teacher anymore.
I am very upset about this.
It's not because of the fact that she doesn't give quizzes/tests/exams.
It's simply because I like listening to her.
She has such a wealth of knowledge and horrendous stories about Martha Stewart that I have yet to learn.
I can't wait to take her Food Jobs class in october.

Sunday Mornings

I've had such a good weekend hanging out with Stephie Bear.
But all good things sometimes have their bruises.
I am no exception to this.
I'm trying my hardest to be happy today.
But I can't help that I feel a bit upset.
Some stuff was said between me and a friend of mine last night.
I prepared myself for it, but it still stung.
It was still awkward.
For me at least.
I really do value this person's friendship.
Like all of my friendships.
I'm loyal.
I'm trusting.
And yes, that has come back to bite me in the past.
But I get up and brush myself off.
I forgive, because I feel life is too short to hold a grudge against someone.
That I can find a better use of my time then constantly hating/disliking someone.
Because I prefer to be happy.

People make mistakes.
I make one at least once a day.
So if you are reading this (which I sorta hope you are..)
I don't view Friday night as a mistake.
What happened, happened and I'm not going to waste my time regretting it.
But from what you said to me last night, I have a pretty good idea that you do not feel the same way about what happened.
To each his own, I guess.

But I still stand by what I said.
I don't want this to keep us from being friends.
The end.


p.s. I just made a promise to myself. No more sad posts. They are bumming me out.

Kindred Spirit

It was like these words were taken right from my own head.
I wish I knew who wrote this... I want to credit this person/artist/poet/kindred spirit.
If a guy ever said that to me and meant it, I would be so happy.
<3

I had a pretty good week.
Nothing to out of the ordinary.
Still getting over my little funk I've been in.
But I'm pretty tough.
I'll be okay.

p.s. send me letters.
I'll give you my address if you do...
I have found that in addition to walking, getting letters/cards/packages/love in my mail box makes me very happy.

And I'll Be Happier...

I have to admit something.
I woke up this morning in not the best spirits.
(This was after my 7am gastro class, I came back home to sleep more. So it was the second time I woke up)
Thoughts were zipping through my head like race cars.
Mean thoughts.
Well... not exactly mean.
More like realistic.


Realistic meaning "never-gonna-happen".

It was quite depressing.
I didn't know who I was more sad/mad at.
Myself or the other party.
I still haven't decided.
I was going to smear this person up one side and down the other in complete honesty, but I actually like talking to this person on a regular basis, so I decided not to.

I guess in a way it's my own fault.
When I have friends or I make friends I instantly become very loyal to them.
I treat everyone as nice as possible, because that is ultimately how I wished to be treated.
I have had experiences in the past when my loyalty and friendship have slapped me in the face, but that is a whole other can of worms that I don't wish to rehash because I'm still hurting from those.
But back to the topic at hand:
I should have been more upfront and honest with this person.
But I just couldn't.
I wouldn't let myself be open.
It's a reoccurring problem with me, this loyalty/friendship thing.
I put everyone else's happiness before mine.
And look what has happened now..
I was right to be so guarded.
I didn't want to be right, and that was what I was trying to avoid.

I voiced this all to my friend Chris. (obviously with more detail, but whatever.)
Chris said that this person was a bit of a bum
When I asked if I was nice, he replied "Very nice."
When I asked if I was funny, he replied "Of course."
And I also asked if there was something wrong with me.
He replied "Not at all. I think it's this person who has the problem. You could do much better."

So thanks to Chris... I don't feel all that sad anymore.
In fact, I'm feeling better than I have in days.

Gold Coins

"Every mistake earns you a gold coin. By the time you leave school you will have a wealth of knowledge and you'll be able to take a gold coin out of your pocket and give it to someone by sharing your knowledge with them."
- Chef Elizabeth Briggs

Chef Briggs is my Product Knowledge professor.
I felt more at ease when she said that to us yesterday.
She is also a native of New Hampshire.
And I can tell that she too, along with all of my other professors, knows what she is talking about.
This is something she showed us that I found pretty interesting:
The CIA Annual Consumption.
Apples - 20,000 lbs.
Bananas - 30,000 lbs.
Celery - 16,000 bunches
Corn on the Cob - 1,900 ears
Lemons - 80,000 lbs.
Butter - 92,000 lbs.

My math teacher is Professor Dreesen, who is also very nice.
But it's math.
So for those who know me, they know I really could care less for the subject.
Hopefully this class will go quick.

My Writing teacher is Professor McMillan.
I love English.
I love writing.
I really love books.
I think I get this kind of appreciation from my mother.
This class isn't going to feel like a waste of time for me, which is nice
And I have it for 15 weeks!
I'm kinda excited.
But I hope she leans more in the creative direction with this and its not research paper after research paper.


In other news, I feel a little better then I did earlier.
I have nothing against being average, it's just that.... it's average.
I have found that going on walks, even just to check my mail, to be very therapeutic.

I want to see my parents tomorrow.
But I don't want to see them leave.

Dust In The Wind.

It's times like these when I wish I had a different life.
..Well let me rephrase that.
It's times like these when I wish I was more than what I am.
My entire life I have always been the nice girl.
The sweet girl
The too caring girl
The sometimes funny girl.
The middle girl.
Average.
Always average.

Not the pretty girl.
Not the party girl.
Not the outgoing girl.
Not the girl everyone focuses on.
Just average.
Just Ally.
Always just Ally.
Never enough.
At least thats what I always feels like.

I hate that when I want to be around people, I find myself alone.
And when I'm around people, I just want to be alone.

I don't even know what I'm trying saying anymore with this post.
I guess I just feel a little sad right now for some reason.

p.s. Thanks for caring and singing Dust in the Wind to me. I haven't heard that song in awhile. It made me feel better...

Gastronomy and Food Safety.

So today was my first day of Gastronomy and Food Safety.

My Gastronomy teacher is Irena Chalmers.
She is from England and probably one of the funniest and warmest teachers I've every had, even after one day.
She spoke very briefly to us during orientation a few weeks ago, so I was really excited to learn that she would be my Gastronomy teacher.
The thing about her is that she is honestly funny.
Apparently she has horrendous stories about Martha Stewart, which I'm sure she will eventually tell us.
She doesn't believe in exams, tests or quizzes. Just that we take notes and pass them in at the end.
She has assigned us a project today of researching a famous chef.
Guess who I chose?
Gordon Ramsay, of course.

She will also go off on a tangent about any subject on food and can talk for hours upon hours about it.
Like one of the things she taught us today was on the benefits of breast milk:

1. It is always at the right temperature.
2. The cat can't get at it.
3. It comes in nice packages.

Yes.
That is my teacher for the next six weeks.
Be jealous.

I'm also going to take her Food Jobs class at the next opportunity I get.
Which will be in October sometime.
Here is a link to her Wikipedia page if you would like to read up on her, she is fantastic:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irena_Chalmers


For Food Safety my teacher is Professor Richard Vergili.
That man is funny.
And a tad bit eccentric.
(But aren't we all?)
But after listening to him talk for a few hours, it's apparent that he really knows his stuff.
As a self proclaimed "Tree Hugger", he is all about locally grown food.
He took the time to get to know us in his own way and by doing that, made his classroom a very welcoming environment.
Did you know that about 76 million people get a food borne illness every year? and those are just the people who report it and who also knew that they had a food borne illness to begin with.


I know that I'm about to learn a lot from these two teachers.
Hopefully I'll continue being lucky tomorrow when I meet the rest of my professors.

Banquet tonight.
I'm hoping for Creme Brulee for dessert!

On A Clear Day.

Yesterday, nine years ago, my life changed.
September 11, 2001.
It was this singular event in history that has led me to today.
This is something I have only told a few people, but I thought I might share it now.

I was nine years old and a 4th grader at Weston Elementary School.
It was a Tuesday.
I actually remember watching the Weather Channel that morning, before I left for the bus stop, and looked out the front window in my living room.
It was so beautiful and clear out.
Sunny, with puffy white clouds.
My favorite type of weather at the time.
It was a normal day.
So normal I don't remember anything of importance that happened that day at school.
After all, it was a just another Tuesday.
No, what I remember was coming home.

It was still sunny.
So after climbing of the bus, I skipped up our driveway.
Still completely ignorant of what had happened in New York that morning.
That is until my sister came running out the front door, yelling to me:
"Ally! Ally! Did you hear what happen!? The Twin Towers have been hit by airplanes!"
In disbelief I quickly went inside and to our t.v. in the living room.
It was on reruns of planes crashing into the towers.
Again and Again.
Always the second plane.
It didn't matter which station you were on.
That's all they showed.
Those planes crashing again and again.

Then it would switch over to the destruction of the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia right outside of Washington D.C.
Then to the 4th plane, which crashed in a field somewhere near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Then it would show the towers collapsing.
Again and Again.
All those people.
Gone.

In the weeks few weeks after the attacks, we spent more time with family.
A lot of love and patriotism resulted from this.
But probably the thing that I remember the most was the food that resulted from it.
Comfort.
Food made my family happy.
It took away the bad thoughts and replaced them, if only for a few minutes, with great tasting food.

My thought and action process went as followed:
I want to make people happy.
Food seems to make people happy.
If I learn to cook, then I can make people happy.
And make myself happy, because cooking is a lot of fun.
I want to be a chef.

And here I am.
Nine years later.
What was a catastrophic event in the eyes of America and our Allies, gave me a passion and a dream that I am living out today.

Yesterday, on September 11, 2010 Stephanie and I took a train in Poughkeepsie, NY to Grand Central Terminal in New York City, NY.
It was a clear day.
Just like nine years ago.
But unlike nine years ago, the energy of the City was tangible.
They haven't forgotten.
Neither have I.

Grand Central Terminal, just like the movies:

Time Square:

Entering Hell's Kitchen

I spy with my little eye, The Empire State Building!

Bryant Park!

The Chrysler Building

On the train back home. I told you it was a beautiful day.

Stephanie and Ally's trip to New York, complete.

The End.

Home Is Wherever I'm With You.

This week has gone by fast and slow at the same time.
I'm glad it's the weekend.
I have a five day break this weekend because for me, my block doesn't start until the 16th.
(I was going to go home, but I thought with my father's election and making sure I was here just in case something went wrong with my schedule, I would just stay put.)
This is because a new class is coming in.
I don't know how many people know this, but here at CIA, the entry dates are rolling dates, so basically every three weeks a class (of about 90 students) graduate and enter school.
Today was a graduation day.
Yesterday was the Grand Buffet.
Which is like a last hoorah for the current graduating class.
They have the Grand Buffet every three weeks for both lunch and dinner.

Oh. My. Goodness.
Now I can finally see why they call it the "Freshman 45"
And may I just say how delicious it was:

This is a large loaf of bread I oh so cleverly stole:

The Aftermath: 7 plates

And because I still can't get over how pretty Farquharson Hall is:

In other worldly news, I tried on my chef whites yesterday!!

The BPS means that I'm in the Bachelor's Degree program. The embroidery, which is green, signifies that I'm in the Culinary Arts program. If I was in the Baking & Pastries program it would be gold.

p.s. These are my beautiful peacock earrings. You have permission to bask in their awesomeness.

Peacock Feathers

So I walk into math today, happy as a clam.
What do I see?
Two girls quickly look away from me, as I put my bag down, look at each other and giggle.
Wanna know why?
Because I was wearing the most beautiful peacock feather earrings.
Yeah.
They laughed.
At me.
Like we were in fucking high school.
I'm sorry, excuse my terrible french
But really.
It made me so mad.
And a little bit put out, because the earrings in my opinion, are so cool looking.
And all it took was two mean girls to giggle.
Seriously they are earrings.
I thought I left all this crap back at high school.
Apparently not.
Oh the things I could say about them.
But I wont.
Because this is college.
Not high school.
This is why I don't like chicks.
Such pettiness.
It is so unnecessary.

So I sat down and got my work out.
And literally thought to myself why they laughed at me.
And I came to the conclusion that they were jealous.
Because I had the courage to go into a room full of people with my head held high and a big smile on my face wearing the best earrings I have ever bought.
Because they wouldn't have the balls to wear them because they care about what people think of them.
Yup.
Jealous because I was wearing them and they weren't.
I guarantee that they will be wearing some type of "fun earrings" by Thursday.

I will take a picture and show how awesomely epic my peacock feather earrings are.

A Sunday Sundae

It was a sunday today.
But there was hardly a sun.
No tanning time for Steph and I.
Ugh.

But on the bright side we have done a lot this weekend.
We went to the Poughkeepsie Galleria and shopped until we dropped.
I kid you not, my feet were so sore.

When we got back, we had arts and crafts time and decorated our door.

Today we slept in like the college bums we are.
And then walked on the Walkway Over the Hudson tonight.
It was so beautiful.
Don't believe me?
Here's some proof...

Tomorrow is also a day off (Thanks Labor Day!)
I wonder what the new day will bring...