the one on saturday.

saturdays. for college students, its a day for relaxation or stress. sometimes we use it to catch up on our sleep and other times we use for the couple extra hours of study time. within those awesome hours of saturday.. we have the option to encounter multiple things. watching tv. eat breakfast. watch anatomy lectures online. we clean our room.. maybe some laundry too. we sleep in.. and then take a 3 hour nap at 2:00. get lunch/coffee with friends. run/exercise. hangout with the bf/gf. go to someplace you haven't been. etc, etc, etc...needless to say we have options.

yesterday.. my saturday involved a lot. and it was pretty awesome. prepare for a story!

my saturday started off by the annoying sound of the alarm clock, which of course i hit snooze.. multiple times. eventually (around 8am) i turned the annoying buzz off for good and dragged myself out of bed. sarah, my roommate, and i both met each other at our common mirror for us to throw on some fresh clothes and erase the makeup from under our eyes. as we slowly got our get up together we texted our friend, mary beth, and heading downstairs to the car.

when mary beth got into the car, we took off to dunkin donuts for some hot coffee,

& headed towards downtown.

where were we headed to downtown so early on a saturday morning?

the one and only RALEIGH CHRISTMAS PARADE!!

rita (my bstudy leader) told me about this parade last week at our morning coffee dates.

and i had. to. go. i mean "its the biggest parade between washington d.c. & atlanta".

it was awesome. there was floats galore, several high school marching bands, dance teams, different organizations and associations, jason michael carroll, & all local news teams.

we were blown away by how crowded it was. and how long it was....

2 & 1/2 hours long. crazinesssss. but the time flew by.

mary beth, sarah and i reminisced on days of going to our own hometown parades when we were younger. and we beamed all morning due to the little kids everywhere getting so excited over the characters and handfuls of candy being tossed.

it was like an uber condensed macy's day parade.

it was the best first raleigh christmas parade experience possible.

so after the parade was over we walked the crowded streets back to our car and head back towards campus... only to make a pit stop of one of my absolute favorite places in raleigh...

the flea market!

i love, love, love the raleigh flea market. it's huge. i have a huge thing about making things twice new. and it is the perfect place to do it. my sole reason in going to the flea market this time was to get some elements for some of my christmas projects. i was even cut a deal.. ahhh. :) so exciting.

sarah even found some pink induced john lennon glasses.

she didn't buy. but could not leave without trying them on.

these are my friends.. holding my purchases. :)

so we packed up my purchases, head back towards campus to make one more pit stop to cookout to grab some lunch. we finally arrive back on campus, just in time to watch the state/carolina football game. this was a huge and it was such an intense game. mary beth, sarah and i got comfortable on the futon, devoured our food and screamed like couch-potato men at the tv, until state ended up on top. it was so great. as soon.. i mean as soon as the game ended everyone on west campus was going crazy. screaming "WOLLLFFFFPAAACCCKKK" back and forth between dorms. it was such a sense of school spirit.

and no, my awesome saturday does not end here.

have you ever heard of the clef hangers? if not, you are missing out a true musical delight. the clef hangers are unc's oldest men's a cappella group. they are a.ma.zing.

their signature and one of my favorite songs by them is "carolina in my mind" by james taylor.

i found this video on youtube to show you how awesome they are..

(even though the video itself does not do these boys justice)

enjoy.

so about a month ago i bought tickets to see them. because honestly, im in love with them. sam and i got all dolled up and headed to chapel hill to meet one my best friend's from high school, thomas (who goes to unc). we met at mccallister's on franklin street and then strolled through the gorgeous campus to end up at the stunning memorial hall.

overall, the clef hangers never disappoint. and neither do great times with awesome people.

during the intermission i even bought myself a christmas gift.

the clef hangers are debuting their christmas album "carols from the hill".

and sam i listened to it all the way home.

when sam and i arrived back on campus.. we settled down in his room by watching the shawshank redemption (one of my faves).

eventually, after a packed full day, i laid my head on my pillow, replaying the day in my head.. and being completely satisfied by the way i spent it.

today was blessed with great times and beautiful people.