Summer 2013 – From Adventures to Lazy Cat Days

Hello, Saint Rose Community! I hope your summer has been treating you well! (I know mine has!)

If you are a friend of mine on my social media pages, you probably think the entirety of my summer is hanging out with my cats. And, in some way, you are right; I have been happily cuddling my kittens for a while now, and am LOVING IT. I mean, who doesn’t love cuddling kittens?

But, in all seriousness, I have been having a nice summer and have been working hard in different areas. And, since I know you’re all SO excited to hear about my life, I’m going to tell you all about it now!

Bella and Charlie being adorable.
YAY KITTENS! Photo taken by Genevieve Diller.

The entire month of May, for me, was CRAZY. Every weekend I had something planned – from singing with the Saint Rose Orchestra and performing with the Saint Rose Chamber Choir at Commencement to traveling to Albany after going home to accept my Joel Dolven award from The Mendelssohn Club to traveling to New Jersey to go on my CRUISE TO BERMUDA! If you’ve never been on a cruise, I recommend going on one, because they are AMAZING. You can either do many adventurous things (zip line, mini golf, rock wall climbing) or take the relaxing route (lay out at the pools/hot tubs, see shows, shop). And you can all do this on a giant boat! They also feed you an exorbitant amount of delicious food, and you can have as much of it as you want! I went on a Royal Caribbean Cruise to Bermuda for 5 days and stayed on the Explorer of the Seas. It’s an older ship, but it suited my needs just fine! I enjoyed myself immensely, and was able to really relax for the first time in months (well, really, years). Yay for vacations!

The view of the crystal clear waters from Snorkel Park Beach in Bermuda! Photo taken by Genevieve Diller

Now that I’m back from my cruise, you’re all probably assuming I’m just bumming around in my house, right? Well, that’s half true; for some parts of the day, I do sit on my couch with the kittens and relax. But for the majority of the day, I work hard – that is, I do a lot of house work. Since it’s just me and my mom, I have to do my part around the house and do chores. I’ve cooked the majority of the meals my mom and I have had since we’ve come back from the cruise, and I’ve helped clean the house little by little every day and clean out some of the clutter in my house. On top of housework, I’ve been helping my mom further establish her seamstress business, LMD Creations. She now has a fully functioning Facebook page, and I’ve been helping spread the word through social media about her small yet thriving business. Ever since then, she’s been loaded with clients, and has needed me to keep the kittens busy while she alters and works on the clothes she has to sew.  I’ve also made time to hang out with my friends and chat with my neighbors, who I haven’t really seen in a while. Overall, I’ve been able to keep busy.

LMD Creations – my mom’s seamstress business! If you live on Long Island and need your clothes altered, my mom is the the best person around! 🙂
Flyer made by Genevieve Diller

At the end of June, I begin my work as  Discovery Counselor at USDAN Center for the Creative and Performing Arts! Taken from the website, USDAN is “Usdan Center for the Arts is a not-for-profit summer day school for the performing and visual arts. Now in its 45th Season, the Center is situated on a magnificent 200-acre woodland on Long Island.” As a Discovery Counselor, I will be able to monitor and work with 6 and 7 year old students as they go throughout the camp and participate in art, music, dance, and many other activities. This job promises to be very rewarding, not only in a monetary sense (YAY JOBS!), but in a heart-warming sense. I am so excited to work with these kids, and I promise I will update you all about how great my experience is as soon as I start working full time! 🙂

Me all ready to hang out at the pool in my co-op. Gotta love those summer selfies!

Overall, my summer has a mix of relaxation and hard work, which is what every summer should have. I am so grateful to have this time off so as to prepare for my senior year of Saint Rose! And, since I’m an overachiever by nature, I’m also getting a head start on my graduate school applications. I am leaning towards Saint Rose for a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction, but I am keeping my options open and plan on applying to Yale School of Music (my reach school), Stony Brook University, and NYU Steinhardt.

In the end, though, I’ll always be a rose bud 🙂

Have a happy summer, Saint Rose!