NIKKI COMES TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!

Well hello my friends….

So yesterday, HAPPY St. PAT’s Day, a day late. Hopefully everyone celebrated it right with toasts to Pat Hogan of course. I cannot believe it’s already been a year. I remember it like it was yesterday! L Love you Hogan family!

Well, what did I do yesterday on my first day of spring break besides count the days and hours till Nikki Austin will be in Florence with me J! Woke up and then went and worked out with Alexa and then came home and showered. It is getting so ridiculously nicer out! I love it. And then went to school to work on a few things and download some Golden Girl’s episodes and finally found a way to download Divine Secret’s of the YaYa Sisterhood! Can’t wait to watch it tonight before bed!

Then I went home and got ready to go out to dinner and margs with the girls to celebrate St. PAT’s Day and 150 years of Italian Independence Day! Peach margaritas.. that’s what everyone wanted and so did I. Whoopsies on not getting the regular since they’re the closest to green!

Stupid me didn’t bring any green clothes with me, def. going to have to stock up on that in Dublin in 2 weeks J! But I had a headband on and wore an orange shirt and then Haleigh gave me her shirt that had green in it! I hope my fam had fun in the parade yesterday.. From photos, I can tell my Uncle Ron had a nice time. Haha! Next year St. Pat’s Day is on a Saturday….. I will be legal.. It’s going to be AMAZING.

Then we all went out to a few bars and then I came home. Definitely not a good morning, but it wouldn’t be the day after St. Pat’s Day without a hangover right!? Haha! I’m legal, I can say it! Haha!

Pretty much everyone left for Spring Break today. Alexa, my roommate, left for the Canary Islands and Barcelona and Bess, our other roommate, left for Spain. Haleigh, Ainsley, and Briana are all going to Greece and Amy is with her family in Venice and other places. Then Sam and Chris are going to Barcelona and DUBLIN J!

What am I doing? Aaaaaaa. NIKKI WILL BE HERE and we will cook together, eat on my balcony, go get my gelato (probs every day), shop, explore, go to every bakery imaginable, take 500 more photos of Tabacchi stores we’ll see around every corner for Terri, and lots more. I am soooo excited! She is on her way to Chicago now and leaving at 8pm!

Soo after a rough morning, stupid me went and worked out. Then I went to the market, and like I texted Alexa, I bought an unhealthy amount of dried fruit that I must resist eating all the time. Then I came home and did laundry and went to sit on my balcony J.

I am so happy the weather held up, I skyped everyone at work and it made my day! SO sad AMY had to miss it (she never listens to me when I say she needs to work till 5) and I missed Sandy too, and others! This has been such a terrible week and between skyping them, Nicole after, Nikki coming, and skyping my fam tomorrow, it definitely made me feel so much better. I absolutely loved hearing their voices and seeing their faces instead of just texting and emailing! Such a big difference. I wanted to cry, but I was too smiley. I got to show them all the view from my balcony to help them feel like they were here J! Haha! Definitely will have to do that again sometime soon, especially after Dublin and Sicily.

Then I finally got to skype with Nicole for once!! SOO happy to hear her voice and see her face too! Def. some good catch up time and cannot wait for St. Pat’s Day next year already!!

Then I made my dinner of fresh ravioli J! Now I am updating this.

I am saving the cleaning for tomorrow morning before I go meet Nikki at the airport J.

Tomorrow night I get to skype my entire family while they are at my Papa’s 91^st birthday party J! I cannot wait to SEE my papa now! I got to hear his voice Tuesday and now I get to see him J! YAY! And I cannot wait to see the rest of the fam as well!

Well what else is new in my life?

Well, I am glad this week is over.

My knee is not doing so good and I am awaiting that doctor appointment when I get home. Probably a slight surgery awaiting me. At least it’s not my foot. HAHA!

I have wanted to add this in here for a while but especially after today I am def. adding it now.

Today before I skyped with work, I looked out over my balcony and was like is this my life? Honestly, I am literally speechless. I was like I am sitting here, on a balcony overlooking all of Florence, am I dreaming cause this cannot be my life? I go to school practically less than 3 days a week and almost have a 5-day weekend and I am living in freeking Florence, Italy for 4 months. Plus I will get to spend a whole week in Florence with my best friend. What the heck did I ever do to deserve this opportunity is beyond me, literally. Nikki being here next week and walking around Florence is going to be so weird. That’s like a dream I can’t believe is reality. Traveling in a foreign country with friends is like something you just dream of, but never happens…. But I get to live that dream for a whole week. I cannot stop thinking about how 3? years ago when studying abroad got into my head that it was a dream that would probably never come true. Not many people really believed I was ever going to go through with it, part of me is shocked I did too and not many people thought I’d even go through with it even though I was accepted and already paid the $800 acceptance fee, but here I am going through with it. I am so beyond happy and pleased that I did go through with it. I remember on the flight here when I got on the plane to Madrid from Miami sending the last mass text of I’m on my way, miss and love youuuu because after I sent that I was like get me off this plane I am going back to STL! One in particular text I will never forget from that day is the one I sent Carol at work because when I texted her Boarding in 10, I’m crying, that was the biggest understatement of my life. I was balling in the Miami airport when I got on that plane because I didn’t know if I was doing the right thing by coming here. But here I am today to say, I would have hated myself for not coming here. I will never regret this. I do miss the heck out of America, but living in Florence for 4 months? I can handle it without a doubt. It may be horrible to pay this off, but along with my blackberry, car, and MacBook, it will be the best thing I ever paid for.

Also, random thought. I don’t have one bit of a clue what I would do without internet and my macbook. Seriously, without Yahoo texting, Skype, and Facebook, my life would be horrible. Going from having everyone in constant availability to talk to/always around to not having anyone here that I know in a foreign country is not the best feeling. I am so thankful for technology it’s not even funny!!!!!

Anyways, with Nikki being here next week I do not know when I will update this thing, but I will if I can! Can’t wait to share all the stories of our adventures!!

Love and miss! Have a good weekend and week ahead! DUBLIN in 2 weeks and getting to see TRICIA J! SICILY with Sam, canoli for breakfast, lunch, and dinner in 3! I’m ready.