Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Jersey Girl, forever and always


I lived in New Jersey for the first 24 years of my life, and I will always consider Jersey my home. I stayed in New Jersey for college and my heart takes flight when I see my alma mater's colors or hear the fight song (RU! rah! rah!). I plan on living in South Carolina for a loooong time - perhaps for the rest of my life - but I'll always be a Jersey girl at heart.
Here are some of the wonderful things I love about my home state:
• Quick access to two of the greatest cities in the nation. Of course, I grew up closer to New York City, and I'm quick to tell people that I think NYC is the greatest city in the world. But Philly has its wonderful attributes, too. Both cities are full of culture and history and there's no pizza like a delicious, thincrust NYC pizza made by real Italians, and definitely no cheesesteak like a greasy Philly cheesesteak that you had to stand in line outside to wait for.
• Did I mention how much I love NYC? The museums, restaurants, THEATER - it's just amazing. I completely took the city for granted when I was growing up. We were always taking field trips to see Broadway plays, or taking our annual Morrison family Christmas trek into Manhattan to look at the display windows and lights. How wonderful!
• My fun and loving extended family still lives in New Jersey, so there's definitely a piece of my heart that's still there. It's not really going home, unless there's family there to greet you, right?
• My friends are there. All of my best girlfriends from college are still in New Jersey. That's actually the reason I'm headed north this weekend - my BFF Trishann is getting married! Yay, Trish! I've been lucky enough to visit about once a year for weddings and other celebrations since I moved to SC. This is the last wedding, but I won't let that stop me from visiting; I'll just have to find another excuse.
• Rutgers! Again, I spent 4 blissful years at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. I loved every second of it. I met the most wonderful people in my life; I worked at The Daily Targum, honing my skills as a blossoming journalist; I lived on my own for the first time. It was the most amazing college experience. It was also great that I was just 45 minutes from home, so I could go home for a weekend if I so chose. And yes, I still cheer for the Scarlet Knights. One of these days, the cheering will pay off!
• NJ - The Garden State. I don't really know where everyone gets their bad impression of New Jersey, but I have a sneaking suspicion it's a sad road commonly called the Turnpike. I-95 is not a nice place ANYWHERE, but in NJ it's kind of... stinky. But remember - New Jersey's nickname is the Garden State for a reason! There are beautiful sprawling parks and gardens all over the state. And even though it's not the nicest area, whenever I land in Newark, I take a deep breath and I LOVE the Jersey air that fills my lungs. Yes, it smells good to me.
• Memories... I have all of these amazing memories of growing up in wonderful New Jersey. My parents lived there and they have stories that I love to listen to. I think about when me and my sister and brother were all kids and we played in the backyard or would swing on the vines down the street. It probably sounds idyllic (as all childhood memories should, right?) but I just loved my childhood, and the setting played a big role in that.

So I'll head up north to New Jersey this weekend, take in a deep breath of that New Jersey air when I step off the plane at Newark, and I'll rush to embrace my friends. Hello, New Jersey!

Monday, July 13, 2009

You say "Po-Tah-To"....

I was just discussing my love of accents with Jennie, and she suggested I write a blog. What a great idea, Jennie! Or, as my father would say, "What a great, idear!"
I know that I have some sort of an accent, now that I live in the south. Even in NJ, southern Jersey people would talk about my New York accent (it's .... not. But they're south Jersey, so what do they know?). Greenville is kind of a melting pot sort of mish-mash of accents, which is kind of nice.
But, I really really love foreign accents. So much so that I would move to a foreign country in a heartbeat if my family would relocate with me. In no particular order, here are some of my "idears" on foreign accents.
Russian = randomly attractive.
German = scary. Stop yelling at me!
French = yes. Thank you. Merci. Oui. Hot.
Australian = surfer dude hot.
Irish = you might beat me up, or meet me for tea. It's a toss up.
English = there are a million different English accents so this one's hard to tell. But I really enjoy listening to anyone with an English accent. Random trivia: every Sue I work with is British. Every British woman I work with is named Sue.
Scottish = True story: I lived with a guy from Edinborough for like 2 months, and I barely understood a word he said the entire time. But we had a mutual love of M&Ms that needs no language.
Finnish = again with the yelling. Heini, who was my roommate in Oz told me that if I heard her speaking in her language to someone (which, I did), I would always think she was arguing with them (which, I did), because they don't have the inflection or fluctuation in their tones like we have. Very interesting.
That's all I can think of right now. I also enjoy the Canadian accent (Toronto), but I think they might think I'm making fun of them because I tend to repeat words they pronounce differently. "Sorry" Degrassi. That is all.

Monday, July 6, 2009

10 Reasons I love my Real Estate Agent

Some of you know that I am currently House Hunting.....I have found a few places I like, but House Hunting wouldn't be fun without my REAL ESTATE AGENT.

Ten Reasons I love my Real Estate Agent
1.She refers to all of her clients as “friends”. At first I thought they really were her friends, until EVERY client she talked about was her “friend.”
2.When referring to my monthly mortgage payments, she lets me know that every “thousand dollas” will add “sixty dollas” to my monthly payment.
3.She immediately asked me where I was from, because “I didn't have an accent like her.”
4.She is honest with me. Direct Quote: “I don't like this place, it doesn't show well AT ALL. I am not supposed to say that, but if I am being honest...”
5.Her email replies to me are always four words. “Will be in touch.”
6.She has three names. True Southerner.
7.She complains about her touch phone and how annoying it is.
8.She smiles. A LOT.
9.She is very laid back, like me!
10.I remind her of her daughter, who is “around your same age.”