strange moment of the day

I was walking to the T this morning, on my way to work, and I spotted a nice shiny quarter laying right there on the side walk! Smack in front of me!

What did I do......... I kept walking.

One part of me was thinking, "Harmony, you could have used that quarter, you idiot!" and another part of me was thinking, "You don't need that quarter and someone who really needs will be the one who finds it." But why am I still thinking about that moment? Maybe its because I hardly ever see a quarter on the ground?

I don't know....it was a strange moment.

You want to do WHAT?

Within the past year, I have realized that there are so many things that I want to do in my lifetime. Some of them include typical things like get married and have kids, start a business, etc. But more importantly, I want to do things that people don't {typically}do.

First and foremost, I want to become a certified skydiver. This means that I will be able to complete solo jumps out of an airplane without being attached to a professional. There are so many pros to becoming certified, besides the fact that I can jump alone. If I were to be certified, every solo jump would only cost around $20 instead of $200! So not only would it be cheaper, but I also could go so much more frequently. 

So, after I become certified to do solo jumps I want to......... SKYDIVE MT. EVEREST! Yes, this is a new thrill-seeking adventure where you jump out of an airplane at 29,000 ft {with an oxygen tank} and landing at the highest drop zone in the world... Are you kidding me? No, and I am going to do this before I turn 30.

After I get skydive certified, the next thing on my list is my Scuba certification. Ever since I was a kid I had a love for the ocean and sea life. I have always wanted to go to Australia and Scuba dive at the Great Barrier Reef. It seems like such a surreal experience to be able to see all of the colors and exotic fish the live in these truly unique habitats.

Another reason why I want to be Scuba certified is because I am {dying} to swim with the Great White Sharks off of the coast of South Africa, AND I recently learned that you must be certified in order to do this. Supposedly these Sharks are the size of cars... {Side note: I know its Shark Week, but that didn't necessarily influence me to write this post}. Lets be real, how amazing would it be to see a shark the size of a car swimming around you with layer upon layers of sharp teeth. #surreal

I have officially added both of these certifications and experiences to my Bucket List. Do you think I am crazy?

my love for the city, my love for the burbs

I {love} living in the city. Everything that you would possibly want, is right at your doorstep. There are amazing restaurants, museums, bars, people, places to go, and things to do. However, living in the city for the past few months has made me crave fresh air and open space!

This was a very eventful weekend that I spent outside of the city. I went from Boston to Babson to bumf**k nowhere, and loved every single minute of it! On my way to Babson to grab my car, I was walking from the train  back to campus, through Wellesley enjoying the trees, {not in a hippie way}, and  I got to buy lemonade from these little kids who had a lemonade and brownie stand. These would normally be things that I wouldn't be able to stand, {walking that long distance from the train and kids who want my money}. But this time I actually enjoyed it.

Later that night I journeyed out to the country with one of my friends to rather, "house/dog/cat sit/eat a LOT of good food". It was wonderful. On Saturday we played mini golf, ate veggie burgers, got mani/pedis, played with adorable dogs, and watched Secretariat {which was the only stressful part of the whole weekend}.

On Saturday night I ventured back into the city to make sure my lovely boyfriend was sane enough for our .... {Skydiving}.... adventure the next day. Poor guy had a really bad weekend. Everything he was doing was going wrong and he was so stressed.. boy did I feel like a bitch making him jump out of an airplane after having a rough weekend. But I think he ended up really enjoying it and I know we will enjoy these photos forever...

Love these photos! You are welcome for not putting up the embarrassing ones.

So, overall this was a successful weekend. I spent time in the middle of nowhere with one of my best friends, and jumped out of an airplane with my boyfriend. And now... its back to work for another 2 weeks!

a new obsession

So I decided yesterday that I was going to right about books or movies on Wednesdays. I am still going to write about them, but I never found a cool consistent name, so I figured I would just make up title's as I go along..

As books go, I LOVE science fiction, fantasy, and I suppose "young adult", even though I would never say that out loud. I will never forget when I went to Barnes and Noble to look for a book in a series I was reading, and I could not find it anywhere! I looked in the sci-fi, fantasy, and fiction sections and it was nowhere to be found. I eventually found the series in the "Young Adult" section next to books with animations.. sad.. but the series is AWESOME.. {I will be sure to write a review about them later}.

My new obsession is with The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. If you have not read this yet, then you are completely missing out! This trilogy is considered young adult, however after reading it 5 times straight, I don't think it should be read by 12 year old pre-teens. I am 21 and it still freaks me out.

The Hunger Games Trilogy is truly a futuristic gladiator story. It takes place in what was left over of the United States after years of civil war. The US becomes dominated by a ruling caste who live in the luxurious capital while the rest of the country lives in separate poverty stricken districts. In order for the capital to maintain control over all of the districts, they force each of them to choose, by lottery, two children who will participate in the Hunger Games. These games are essentially a reality show in which the children fight until death, while the entire country watches...

These books are very well written, with vivid details that make you feel like you are there in middle of the games. All three of them are on the New York Times Bestseller list and are the top downloaded books on Kindle. They are amazing, and they are even making a high-budget Hollywood movie of the first book, and I am sure each of the others. I encourage you to read them before the first movie comes out in March 2012!

oh what to write about...

I have just come to the consensus that the reason that I don't post articles as much as I should is because I can never decide what to write about. I love art, food, books, movies, travel, adventure, etc. but would it be too awkward for me to just randomly post about one of those topics?

After I kept thinking about this oh so serious issue, I decided that each day of the week I should write about a different topic or theme. So starting tomorrow, Wednesday, the topic will be books/movies {I am still trying to think of a clever name for Wednesdays, so check back tomorrow and see what I decide}.

Until then, look at pictures of tree houses!

I will have a tree house..... someday.

blog, i have failed you.... but I am back!

I am completely embarrassed by how many posts that I have written since I started this blog over a year ago. A year ago, my goal was to post at least two articles a week, allowing me enough time to have a life, be a student, work hard and party harder. But clearly I worked {partied} too hard and didn't focus on writing hardly anything about my "life, love, and art".

So, my goal for this next year is to start posting two articles a week and to actually keep up with it! So much has happened within the past year, some things I have written about and all of the others I haven't. To make it easier, I am not going to try to update my blog about the last 6 months, but simple move forward and document what happens in the future.

Living in Boston has been wonderful! This is the first time I have lived in a big city, been able to drink legally, and had to pay rent... I have grown to love Boston {in the summer} and can see myself living here for the next few-several years. I have been interning at Gemvara for over a month now {i love it} and I have realized that YES I want to start my own business, be my own boss, and have an exciting life not working in a cubicle. However, I have also decided that I do not want to be unemployed when I graduate and therefore have already started looking for jobs. Too premature? I don't think so.

My goals for the next 6 months are to....

-Research one of my new venture ideas and write a business plan by December 25th.
-Have many job opportunities/ a job offer by October, if possible! I know marketing doesn't usually hire until Spring semester though, so if I don't have a job by February of 2012, I am going to start freaking out...
-Post on my blog two times a week.
-Enjoy my last Fall semester of college.
-Skydive with my lovely boyfriend {countdown: 1 week}

I know that if I stay focused I can achieve these goals. I don't think they are too ambitious... I tried to be reasonable... Right?!

Bamboo

In order to get credit for going to Ghana and teaching students about business, each one of us has to write a paper/ independent study on a topic of  choice. Prior to our trip to Ghana, I had decided to write a simple case study or two on local entrepreneurs. However, while we were in Ghana I participated in a project that we called the McVety project, named after our mentor, Chris McVety, who was essentially organizing and helping us with the project. The objective of the project was to consult with local artisans based out of the fishing villages who were being impacted by the decline in the fishing industry. We were helping them to think through and write out their business plans and to essentially expand and grow their businesses. While developing these plans we were also trying to get them to think about their environment and eco-tourism in their communities. What  sustainable form of livelihood are they going to have once the fishing industry collapses? We were there to help them solve this problem. I personally worked with a very talented artist who  painted, made clothing and designed fishing boats for the fishermen. We walked through his business plan and I helped him change his cost structure in order to expand his business. I learned so much from him and I hope he learned a little bit from me.

Throughout the week and after many discussions with our mentors, Chris and Glenn, we came up with a research topic that might actually have a direct impact on the livelihoods of Ghanaian people. Bamboo is an extremely abundant and untapped resource in Ghana. It is used in simple everyday life, for constructions and home furnishing purposes, however, it in no way manufactured or produced as an income for the people. That is where we come in. There are two other students working on the Bamboo project. One member of my group is writing about the history of Bamboo is Ghana, how it was brought from Asia, for what purposes, and what species are currently in the country. Another member is doing a current industry analysis of bamboo in the world and in the western region of Africa, and then specifically in Ghana. And that leaves me. I am writing about the future of Bamboo in Ghana. What opportunities do the Ghanaian people have in the Bamboo industry? How can Ghanaians take bamboo and create sustainable forms of livelihood? What can they make? What can they produce?  These are all questions that I have been trying to answer when writing my paper.So our goal for our research paper, it to do a complete analysis on the Bamboo industry in Ghana, past, present, and future. Hopefully we can make at least a microscopic impact, right?

So if your wondering what I have been learning about this weekend, other than Entrepreneurial Finance and Biotechnology, it is Bamboo. I have enjoyed learning about Bamboo, but I am sure that when 2 months is up, I am going to be completely sick of reading and thinking about Bamboo... (But of course, I could never get sick of learning about Africa and talking about E-ship :) ) 

Check out the new and innovative, "green" Bamboo Bicycle... 

Bamboo framed bicycles are lighter and stronger than steel-framed bikes, adaptable to difficult road conditions and can be easily modified for different needs, such as carrying farm loads, passengers, food, and water. They also are environmentally friendly for all of you "Green" folk.