coffee

Happy National Coffee Day =)

with love,

Liz

(& Hailey!)

like mom

The last week or so I have been following in my mother's footsteps and living in the radio studio. Tuesday night radio show and practice for my broadcast class recording have kept me quite busy.

It's fun but o so challenging and intimidating. It's almost worth it just for artsy photos like that one ;)

with love,

Liz

recently

A cool breeze sweeps across campus, darkened leaves scatter the ground, hoodies and scarves are brought out from the depths of the closets in which they were hiding, and apple cider is back on the menu at the campus coffee shop; fall is in the air.

Life has been going well lately. My trip back home was so refreshing! No place in the world can replace the love I have for my city.

Anyway, I've been trying to write a fictional story for my creative writing class and my friend Joe told me it was sounding more like a philosophy paper. GAH. Failure is a skill I have mastered. DERP.

I just want to be home baking cookies, watching the Sunday Brown's game with my die-hard fans of relatives, and hit up my favorite coffee shop daily. Alas, one must suffer before he can enter the city of joy ;)

Ramble ramble.

have a wonderful day!
with love,
Liz

swirly skirt

I felt like dressing like a girl today.

 Herp durp.

 *twirl twirl*

 I ordered myself an awesome new ring from Etsy :)

 "and in the dust an dirt, o here/the lilies of his love appear."

That couplet has been stuck in my head today & just needed to share.

Have a wonderful day!

with love, 

Liz

Ingenuity Festival Cleveland

This weekend it was back to the homeland! O Cleveland, my Cleveland, how I had missed thee. It just so happened that this weekend was the Ingenuity festival and this became my first year to go willingly. My dad used to always drag me as a child to show me all of the awesome artsy things going on by locals -- especially Case staff.
I got home and received a text from a friend telling me that he was going and I should check it out too. So I went. As I drove, however, the rain began to fall harder and harder. Once I got over to Chester (a 35 mile per hour road) all of the cars were creeping between 25-30 and I was the peppy little red car out in front. It was going well, the rain made it pretty hard to see but I had driven this road thousands of times before. 
The the gas light came on. Ugh. I passed one gas station and missed it. Panic panic panic. The thought of being stranded in downtown in the pouring rain was not extremely pleasant to say the least. Luckily I came upon a BP, pulled in, darted through the pouring rain, paid 10 bucks on pump 5, darted back, and sat in the car soaking wet as the gas pumped. Whoo. 
So eventually I got the the Ingenuity festival which was held this year in the old warehouses by the lake. Numbers 30 and 32 to be exact. Artsyness at it's finest. The warehouses were filled with music from the bands playing, art hanging the walls, booths with cool technology things and crafts for sale, and my all time favorite coffee shop even had a booth set up. Heaven. As soon as I got in and we met up, I was immediately drawn to an exhibit set up with pews, stain glass windows and photographs of old churches. He said "Haha of course you go to this one first." #catholic nerd. We wandered for awhile and then -- once the rain had subsided -- went outside to buy a funnel cake and eat it next to the lake. It was so nice. 
O Cleveland, my Cleveland...always shall I love thee.

fro-yo

Simple, caring, human interactions -- what a joy to witness. A man from the fro-yo place down the street came into the coffee shop where I sat drinking and writing. He came with a big bowl of fro-yo decked out with all the toppings. 
"A customer wasn't paying attention and made something they didn't want. So we thought we'd bring it to you guys."
"Oh, man, thanks!"
"No problem. If you guys ever want anything, just give us a call and we'll bring it down."
"Thank you, man! I appreciate it."
This was followed by the barista digging into the creamy treat "This is just what I needed."

I love sitting here and observing customers interact with the men behind the counter -- joking, sharing, and having a brief second of human connection before picking up their drink and walking out into the brisk, autumn air. It's the little things. It really is. 

little & big

"There are only two things worth doing in this life: to know the truth and to be in love."

:)

It really is the little things: a nice outfit, lovely weather, good company...

... and the huge things like forgiveness & love.

He loves. He pursues and He fights for me. Lover of lovers, Champion, Conquerer, Sacred Heart of my Beloved Crucified, have mercy on me, a fool.

mmhmm

Sometimes it's just one of those days where you need to pour yourself a cup of tea, unwrap some chocolate, pop open the ol' iTunes, just chill out...

...and hold on till the weekend.

:]

With Love,

Liz

Selfies & Beartooth

I don't have an iPhone. I steal other people's iPhones. I take selfies. 

 I also wanted to show off my new shirt:

 It's for the band Beartooth. Go look them up now. Do it. Scratch that, I'll just link a video in this post.

"So this is my reward? A barely beating heart. But I still lie to myself I always lie to myself. My hands are in the air and God I hope you're there. Cuz I can't make it myself, I'll never make it myself." 

with Love,
Liz

long time no post

Well, long time no post...heh heh.
This week has been decently uneventful due to my fever made worse by my inability to properly hydrate thanks to a coffee addiction. **ssshhh, don't tell nobody!** I tried to study like a good student but -HAH- like that'll ever happen. I have a big ol rough draft, a Broadcast & Electronic Media exam, and Latin homework all due tomorrow. I, the ever productive, spent my time well by taking selfies. Go, me, go. 

Melissa and I have many an overlapping class after which we either sit across from each other, ear buds in, blogging or taking photos of the other for said blogs. 
It's finally getting cold outside (a fact unappreciated by me, the fever having one. I was burning all day) but I used it as an excuse to break out the long skirt and boots. whooooo!

 With love,
Liz

birthday weekend

Saturday:
There was a low Mass on campus that I went to (which was gorgeous) and then Joe invited me impromptu to his house with Joe and Rocco. So the rest of the day was spent relaxing at Joe's house with good conversation ending in an evening relaxing on his porch with wine for all and cigars for the guys enjoying each other's company after which we walked the property praying a rosary for peace in Syria. It is one of my favorite things to pray with friends -- it is such a bonding experience. By this point we were all pretty worn out and so we went to bed -- the boys in the living room and I in a real bed. Having chivalrous guy friends is the best :P
Sunday:
I woke up to Joe's adorable little kitten crawling all over me and finally falling asleep across my neck. I got up, saw the guys were still asleep, and went outside to get some homework done. After everybody had woken up and had a sufficient amount of coffee (4 cups in my case) we went to Mass. Afterwards we ran into Joe's old friend who invited us over to her coffee shop and gave up coffee and pastries. It was really nice because the shop was closed so it was just the four of us and her. The rest of the afternoon was spent studying, reading and playing some catch.
As soon as we were back on campus Joe, Joe and Rocco kept shouting from the car "It's Liz's birthday!!" Then I got back to my dorm where Becca and Melissa dragged me in, balloon and cake in hand, to see my decorated dorm room and my loverly roomie Molly =] (they also commented that I smelled like smoke and man.)

I'm so blessed to have people who are so so sweet to me.

with love,
Liz

Coffee, broken laptops & Pitt

Today was one of those days when stresses lead to joys and I look back on myself and amusedly shake my head for having been so worried.
My laptop wasn't working and I was told that the hard-drive was broken, I would need to go to the Apple store to get it fixed and I would probably lose all of my data. [ugh] Que stress attack. Luckily that night some of my friends were planning to go out to the Pittsburgh area for dinner so I asked Rocco if he would drive me out ahead of time to get my computer checked out by the Genius Bar cool kids at Apple. He agreed and we left for a 6pm appointment (...we arrived at 6:30pm) He could obviously tell I was highly stressed about this whole situation so he rolled downed the windows, told me I could plug in my iPod and blasted music for the whole of the 45 min drive. I couldn't help but relax into the seat, smile, close my eyes and sing along. Glorious. 
Once we got into the Pittsburgh area I was shocked at what I found. Being a die-hard Clevelander I had a bad mental image of Pittsburgh but once we got into the college town area, I fell in love (almost forgetting it was Steelers' territory) Streets lined with tiny shops and stores surrounded by brick apartments is definitely my kind of setting. As Rocco and I walked from the car to the Apple store we passed a coffee shop and a book store, making a mental note that we needed to stop there on the way back. 
Long story short, my computer was fixed. They did, however, need some time to fix it which gave Rocco and I a good opportunity to check out the above mentioned coffee shop and bookstore. Rocco must have been highly amused because when I walked into this little store I transformed into a little kid in a candy shop: books, tea, mugs, literary t-shirts, cards, stationary, calendars and useless adorable knick-knacks lined the walls and shelves. It was perfect. To top it all off Rocco bought me a mug as a birthday present. Goodness.
We next walked to the coffee shop and ordered one medium coffee, one medium iced coffee and two cinnamon almond chocolate dipped biscotti, sat down in a corner, drank, talked and ate. It was my idea way to pass the time with a friend. So much good.
We then picked up my laptop and drove to the restaurant, Burgatory, and met up with our friends there. After getting back to campus we decided to drive down to the river bank where Rocco, Joe, John, Kiran and I sat, talked, threw rocks, and just enjoyed eachother's company for a good almost 2 hours. Back to campus we then went where the guys smoked and talked for another good 2 hours and I had yet another good conversation with Joe. 
It's the little things: espresso, conversation, sunsets, books, coffee, Genius-Bar-geniuses, music and car rides. I am so very grateful for the amazing people I've been given in my life and all of the incredible conversations had with them. God is so good.

derp.

Merp. Today.
Cons: Stressful conversations, waking up late for class again, not knowing how to write my short story, and just general stresses that I, a high-stressed kid, have daily. /\__/\
Pros: Good, brilliant conversations with amazing people, coffee, Christ, sharing my blog with people who really like it, blasting music, sweatpants, the art of writing, funny friends, tough love, Mamma Mary, not falling into my usual pain-escapes and just getting stronger and learning daily. 
It's going to be okay. It's all worth it :)

artsyness

Curled up on Melissa's bed wearing her comfy, artsy denim shirt, drinking coffee from her artsy, glass mug and listening to awesome new music with a book on my lap is a pretty pleasant way to spend the time as hours slip away into night.

The rest of the day previous this relaxing time was spent going to class, hanging out with the ever wonderful Becca and Melissa, downloading music, drinking coffee, eating lunch with the ever funny Joe, Rocco and Joe, going to a radio DJ meeting (and signing up for a slot), and having yet another good conversation with Rocco and John. The day began very well because I woke up at 7am and was able to shower, pray and have breakfast with Melissa before my 9:30am class. All in all, a pretty good day.

with love,
Liz

#faveflower

I adore sunflowers. They're bright, lovely and just scream joy! 

There are so many little gifts in our silly world that leave me incapable of doing anything but smile.

:)

media,confession,tea&chilling

I've been thinking about what I'd like to do with a degree in Multi-Media and I keep coming back to words: lyrics, poems, prayers and the like. I think it would be so wonderful to get to design band merch with lyrics to help showcase the beauty and power of their words. I cannot wait to master these skills of design and be able to use them for beauty and goodness.
Later that night I went to confession -- my goodness. I wrote about it on my other blog and will link it for ya'll here:  http://thisistheairibreathe.blogspot.com/2013/09/freer-of-souls.html I have needed to go so very badly. It's funny how greatly He rewards us for taking care of ourselves. :)
The night was ended o so peacefully by hanging out with my roommate and her friends listening to music with nice lighting, cups of tea and nail painting. I don't often hang out with girls but whenever I do, I end up loving it. It's just so second nature for them to do nice things for themselves: make a nice setting, do their nails, put effort into themselves and it all flows from a basic self respect that I greatly admire. I will definitely push myself to treat myself to these pleasant evenings more often.

=)

/\__/\

Latin low mass followed by lunch with friends is a pretty good way to spend a Sunday, me thinks. Our company included Joe, Carissa, John, Joe and Rocco who are friends from high school and make for a funny little Italian/New Yorker duo. Most of the highlights of today were the great conversations had with these two guys. Also, I successfully watched a scary movie without being terrified to exist afterwards. Yuussss.
Short little post for today but I'm half asleep and have homework awaiting :) ...night!