SNOW DAY!

So today we had a partial snow day. This means we got to school, got to go to one class, and then got sent home. Yea! But boo. Now the makeup day that we were probably not going to have is definitely happening. And school is closed tomorrow. Most of my classmates are ecstatic, but I asked around and if it gets to the point that we have to make up more days than already allocated rather than push exams back a day, they'll take time out of reading week. I don't know about anyone else, but at this point I need all the time I can get to study. But don't get me wrong, I love that I was able to take a half day off and recharge.

But on a side note, I figured that a snow day was as good a day as ever to be Suzy Homemaker. So I cooked goulash (basic half beef half sausage mixture) and made my first attempt at making pumpkin bread from scratch. And although the bread is still baking I think it turned out pretty damn pumpkin bread like. Once it's done, I'll post pictures and the recipe.

Well, I'm gonna go and eat dinner with my man and to all my classmates, enjoy your snow day to the fullest!

FLIGHT SALE!!!

Southwest is having a sale for the next three days. Not applicable for all days or all times and these prices are for one way, ,but I just got a roundtrip crosscountry (1500 miles each way)ticket for $242.40! Go get 'em!

• $25 for trips 374 miles or less
• $50 375-549 miles
• $75 550-999 miles
• $100 for 1000+ miles

Weekly Recap #10

So another week gone. After some careful examination of a calendar I realized that including this week I have four weeks of class left. Looking at the syllabi for each class, the only class we're on track in is our Lawyering Process. So what does that mean, you ask. It means that every single professor is going to speed up saying to hell (well not really) with your understanding. I need to get this out and you're gonna take it. Now that just doesn't seem fair to me because theoretically we wouldn't be in this position if you didn't take so many "what if's" or tell us that fiftieth war story during our precious class time. I don't think it's fair that as a result of your actions, I must suffer, but that's the way of the world I guess. Some things are coming easier, but it will be that much more difficult when we start learning about damages in two different classes that are worlds apart (torts and contracts) and try to keep them separated.

So another good thing that I learned from looking at the calendar is that in exactly (ok well maybe not exactly cause of the time and everything) one week from now we will get our hour back ladies and gents. That's right! Daylight savings time, otherwise known as the bane of law students existence (how dare you take away an hour when I already don't have enough time to do my work now?!) will come to an end. You'll get that hour back and for a week (if you're lucky) you'll actually feel like you've gotten a good night's sleep...and then it's back to that crammed "can we make a 28 hour day" feeling. But I sure am going to make the most of that week.

So other than the thirteen hour study day I pulled, nothing really to report. Four weeks of class. Six weeks til finals. Eight weeks til winter break. And did I mention that winter break is a whole month?! For me that's amazing because my entire undergrad career I was on a trimester schedule and as a result we got out around the 21st of December and went back around the 3rd of January. Oh I am going to treasure winter break and take that time to do...absolutely nothing (for the first couple of days until I get bored with myself and find something, anything to do). So keep on truckin' fellow 1L's. I can see the beginning of the end of the tunnel and it's a beautiful thing.

HELP!!!

I have a friend's wedding to go to in about two weeks. I have purchased this dress in black. The dress itself is a little more form fitting on me than on the model and stops right in the middle of my knee with a modest slit in the back. My dilemma is how to accessorize? I was thinking maybe adding a patterned tight, black heels (on the higher side) and a red clutch, but I'm feeling that I need something more. What do you think? Please help me!

Weekly Recap #9

So once again I am late with my recap, but better late than never right? I don't know what's been going on with me this week. Scratch that I do. In the first two and a half weeks of October I had midterms and an LP assignment due and I could look forward to something being handed in and getting that feeling of relief of it being done, but now I have nothing. Nothing to look forward to being over until finals start and gosh darn it I am on Apathy Rd. and it's looking like a loooooooooooong stretch of highway to me. Now I'm just looking at it like all I have to do is go to class? You mean, I don't have anything else to look forward to? ow don't worry because I am basically running on autopilot going to class, taking notes, doing my outline, but it's not fun right now. It used to be fun. I want my fun back. GIVE IT BACK! 2L's 3L's BeyondL's how do I get my fun back? (It doesn't help that I sat and thought about it and this is my 18th year in school having had no breaks other than summer and winter and I'm tired.) So I guess that's all for this week. Hopefully next week I'll have a cheerier outlook on everything. I'm not going to quit or anything I just need some help because the relationship between law school and me (I?) is starting to fizzle.

So You've Gotten Your LSAT Score...

So apparently people who took the most recent LSAT are (or already have) getting their scores back. Some people are going to be ecstatic (exceed expectations), some people are going to be happy (got what they expected), and some people are going to be like me. I got the email, opened it, looked, and cried. Not just cried, I bawled. I scared the crap out of my boyfriend and he really didn't know what to do. I got a score that was below the median and I was convinced that my legal career was over before it had even begun. I moped and I complained and then I got over it. I went and signed up for the December test date and I went and got one-on-one tutoring for the section that I was sure had tanked my score-the dreaded games section. I put my best foot forward and I went and took it again and you know what, I was more prepared, I wasn't as scared as I was the first time around (and it helped that I wasn't schlepped around like cattle with 200 others for an hour and a half) and the night before I had people over for dinner watched a movie with my boyfriend, and went to bed on time.

And you know what, I did better. Not a whole lot, but I did better. And you know what the LSAT isn't the end all be all deciding factor of law school admissions. I had an okay score, a 3.76 GPA, and a good admission essay (pretty good if I do say so myself) and I am sitting here procrastinating on making my torts outline during the first semester of my first year in law school.

So my advice is if you exceed your expectations congratulations. Pat yourself on the back just be careful about flaunting it around others. If you reached your goal congratulations, flaunt it as well but be careful just the same. And if you are not happy with your score go ahead and mope, but realize that it's not the end of the line and get over it. You can take it again (and if you take the December test your scores will still get to your schools on time) and how well you do on the LSAT has not been proven to be an indicator of how well you'll do in law school. You can do it.

Product Review-Levi's 512's, 580's and 590's

So I am what would have been classified as a brick house if I lived in my mom's time and I probably would have had an easier time finding clothes, specifically jeans. But I live in this day and age and my generous hips and smaller (well smaller than my hips) waist make it very difficult to find pants that fit me in both places. More often than not I would go into a store for pants and come out with lots of nice shirts. And if I found a type of pant that fit me correctly I would simply buy multiple pairs and be done with the whole thing until they fell apart (which is often less than a year now because of the crappy quality of materials used nowadays). But somehow whenever I found pants that fit in stores, they would never be jeans. Honestly I haven't had a pair of jeans for about two years now. And up until now I have just accepted the fact that most jeans that are in stores today are not made for people with hips. But not anymore.

Two weeks ago, I got one of my all time fav magazines in the mail (Marie Claire) and I was innocently flipping through admiring all of the pretty clothes I came across this article. It's written by Ashley Falcon. She's an intern at the magazine, but the best part? She's a size 18 with curves galore and damn proud of it. In her inaugural article she discusses how difficult it is for her to find clothes in actual brick and mortar stores, but she doesn't give up, and neither will I. So armed with her suggestions of the best jeans that have worked for her I went out into the world wide web and prepared to do battle. I started at Levi's website and lo and behold, it was my lucky day. Not only were the plus jeans on sale (from $48 to $35), but there was free shipping on every purchase (no minimum purchase). With that type of sign I realized that I was meant to get over my fears and order jeans. So order I did. I ordered one pair (I had to guess my size) of the 512's, 580's, and 590's. So, I received them today and tried each pair on and will now give product reviews for anyone who needs them.

Just as a note I have a 10" difference between my waist and hips with a very large rear end and a semi-defined waist. Also I am 5'8 1/2".

Levi's 512: Perfectly Shaping Boot
99% Cotton, 1% Spandex
I was a little hesitant to order these because of the pocket's. Any girl with a healthy rear end knows that pockets that don't lie flat can make it look bigger (in a bad way). So I tried them on and I could barely get them up. But I shimmied and I shook and up they came, but they were not closing. So I would say that these have a tendency to run true (if not a little smaller) to size. That plus the fact that there is only 1% spandex means that these are not for me. Also, I ordered the regular length because Levi's does not carry the plus jeans in long and I would have been able to wear flats, but not heels. Also, the color that is available is a very dark rinse (basically black) with lots of white undertones. They look good.

Levi's 580 : Defined Waist Bootcut
99% Cotton, 1% Spandex
The pockets lie flat, which is a good thing so already these are better than the 512's. So I ordered these because I did not know if my waist would qualify as a defined waist according to Levi's. So I try them on and realize that this is a good idea in theory. The first problem I had was getting them past my hips. When they say defined, they mean defined and to hell with the fact that in order to get the wonderful waistband to a defined waist, a person would have to get past their generous hips first. So I got them up and these were able to close and then I realized how defined Levi's believes a defined waist is. And I honestly think that if the jeans came up to where they came on the model, my waist would have been defined enough, but since the jeans stopped right where my legs meet the rest of my body (which is NOT the waist) they just created a very unsightly muffin top which no woman wants. So that's another pair nixed. The color is a darker wash (dark blue) with very little white undertone and I would have been able to wear flats, but not heels.

Levi's 590: Fuller Waist Bootcut
99% Cotton, 1% Spandex
So once again, the pockets lie flat. Next I tried them on and they went up very smoothly, no shimmying needed. And once I got them up they closed with no problem and created no muffin top whatsoever. These are great because they stop in the same place as the 580's, but the waist is the same width as the hips. The one problem that I had with these when I first put them on is instead of getting wider at the knee they seemed to get a little slimmer and caress my calves more than I liked, but as I sit here in my normal computer position I can feel them loosening so problem averted. The color is a very dark wash (but dark blue, not black) with no white undertones and I tried on my highest heels (4 1/2") and they were almost completely covered.

So that's it. Three pairs tried, one pair found and a coupon for 30% off all regular and sale priced jeans for their friend's and family days that are coming up so I think I will return the two pairs that don't work to a Levi's store in my area and then go back to the website and get some more 590's. I hope this helps anyone who is in the same predicament that I was for a while and good luck in your search.

Tip: When you go to try pairs to see how they fit like I did here, sign up for the mailing list and get a code for free shipping first, that way if you need to return any you can do it at a store (if you send them back through the mail they will deduct $7 from your refund) and get a full refund because you didn't pay shipping in the first place (they won't refund shipping in the stores, but they also won't take money away from your refund).

Don't Be Surprised...

If you get eight weeks into law school and feel like you know less than your first day.

Weekly Recap #8

So...it's Wednesday morning and I am just now getting the recap for the week in. Sad you say? Well I say midterms. I had one on Thursday and one on Monday and they were both in their own special way brutal and amazing all in one. First the one on Thursday was my first knock down, drag out IRAC exam. Open book, open notes. I had the information down, but I didn't trust myself so I spent too much time outlining my answer and could only get the minimum information on my actual test paper. Oh I started shaking, I was crying after it was over (yes I was that person who brokedown in front of my entire section), but I dealt (had some ice cream), cried more, slept, and woke up and got over it. I mean I had another midterm to think about plus that particular one is only worth 20%. Every test counts, but I realized that even if I bomb that one my next one (worth 70%) is weighed far more and as long as I do well I will balance out and come out with a decent grade.

Now the next midterm, 60+ cases, over a month of classes, F.R.C.P., parts of Article III of the Constitution, all wrapped up in one 14 question (28 once you factored in the multi-part questions) short answer (an oxymoron really because you have to explain so it's sort of hard to keep things short) test that needed to be completed in 1 hour and 15 minutes. One person finished with 8 minutes to spare, one with five, and the rest were furiously writing until the proctor called time. Not such a good sign, but we knew it was going to be hard. There was a lot of material and very little time. So I complained for a minute, but now I'm like get over it, move on. Everyone had some issues so we'll just have to wait until we get the tests back to see how that curve affects us. But we knew it was coming. Listening to other people I'm getting a little frustrated because it feels like they don't want to take responsibility. They want to blame everything on the professor, but she was just doing her job.

One thing that was pointed out to me by a friend is although law school tests are supposed to test how we work under pressure, when, as an actually attorney, will we ever be given that breadth of information and told we have an hour to do as much as we can? If you have some war stories that can answer that please let me know. Well now I have to get back to the work for the classes that I have been neglecting for the past week so until next week...

P.S.

And how sad is this story?

Weekly Recap #7

So these recaps are getting later and later in the weekend each week. It's an amazing thing to look at because I think it's a direct correlation to (a) how much work I'm receiving and (b) my ultimate comprehension. The primary reason that the recap is so drastically late this week is because I have midterms coming up and I have been pulling eight hour days this entire weekend. It's crazy for me because I have never had to study like this. School (except for math) has always come fairly easy to me. All through undergrad my best papers have come from all-nighters, but luckily I realized before I got here that I can't do that anymore. But to be spending eight hours a day just studying is bananas to me. But I do it because I have to. Now understand I don't study for eight hours straight because I would at some point burn out and stop retaining what I'm reading and that would be so counterproductive. So what I do is I take little breaks and watch some shows that I want to watch during the week, but can't. The list includes:

• FlashForward
• The View
• Bones
• Dollhouse
• Smallville

I figured that if I take two one hour breaks for each eight hour study period, I can stay up on my shows and my schoolwork. Cause law school is all about compromise. So I'm compromising by not watching my shows until the weekend. It was a hard decision, but it had to be made. :-D

Now before I wrap things up I have a question for those who have been in my position. I have my outlines started and they are coming along, but when it comes to the actual application it's harder. I want to do hypos and I have received some from the professor, but they are section specific meaning they just focus on one thing say offer and acceptance so I don't have to look to any other part of my outline to make sure that it's good. Now my first thought would be to go to the professors old exams, but there are none available. So what do I do? Please help me.

Well that's it for the week and all you other 1L's keep on truckin'.