And he could change the world with his hands behind his back, ohh ♥

Hey, Hey.

Where shall i begin.

I guess i should begin with telling you who i intern with and what we do..because i just realized i never did that.

I intern with a nonprofit organization called Black Women United for Action (yeah i know im missing a requirement). BWUFA is a non-profit community service organization whose mission is to advocate the concerns of women and improve the lives of impoverished, vulnerable families through a self-sufficiency/ empowerment approach. One of BWUFA's biggest projects is the Chantilly-Mews family preservation project and works to enhance community support, as well as mentor, provide parental guidance, and educational enrichment. This comes in many forms such as classes, speakers and working one on one in the community.

I honestly can't believe it took me 4 weeks to explain where i'm interning.. haha. Go me.

Moving on.. lets start with Tuesday because that is where i left off last.
I really need to start being better about blogging more often because i have so much to write about!

Tuesday after work i went to Chantilly with BWUFA's program director. We had a meeting with three women who are interested in mentoring. Before we went to our meeting we stopped at the Mews and two of the girls asked if they could come to the library with us. They're hysterical. If you ever want a good laugh ask them about Rihanna and Chris Brown... one of the girls said that Rihanna is a burp to her. Where do they come up with this stuff? haha. The mentors were really sweet women, who seem really sincere and loving, i think they'll do well.

Wednesday & Thursday i worked on some projects. One of the cooler things I worked on was working on the budget for our domestic violence program that we'll be running in the Mews. I'm excited to see this project all the way through, from the beginning planning to budgeting to the actual classes. It was nice to see the budget process and see what the grant covers and doesn't cover and how to figure out what needs to be purchased and what we need to cut back on.

Friday i went to work and then Audrey, Rachel and I went out to O'Shaughnessy's because if Kate is off in Spain i at least need some type of Shaughnessy in my life. haha. It was a good time, met some locals.. good stuff.

Saturday we woke up bright and early and went to the wax museum. Which if anything gives us many picture opportunities that i can share on facebook and make your newsfeeds entertaining.




Saturday night we went to eye bar in DC. It was a lot of fun. It was mardi gras night so we got some cool masks (k they weren't that cool.. but they were free) and some beads... but don't you worry we didn't have to do anything for them.




Sunday was a wonderful day. Audrey, Sabrina and I walked downtown to a bead store.. which was AMAZING. I wanted to buy the whole store. It made me very inspired to make some cool necklaces. Of course, i always get these ideas and then they sit around for 3 years. I'm still working on my high school scrapbook if that tells you anything. But anyways, I'm sure we will be frequent flyers in that store. Sunday night we went to the National Gallery of Art for their concert Sundays. We saw a piano trio which was AMAZINGGGG. The trio played Beethoven, Schubert and Mendelssohn and they were so moving. All of this was FREE-99, by the way. I think that i will be attending many more of these before the end of my time here.

Today, i didn't have to go to work because i have Mondays off for Washington Center programming. I got up, went to the post office & trader joes.. all before 10:30. WHATTT. And then i came back and did laundry and read for work... Mom would be proud. We had programming at the Department of Interior with some speakers who were talking about global players in the economy (i think.. uh..sorry). After that i had class and this brings me here. Writing down random thoughts on this blog.

Well, i'm off to bed.
Back to the grind tomorrow.

Peace and Love ♥
Steph

Stephanie's music corner:
Download Adele's album right now. She is AMAZING and makes my heart happy and sad at the same time.

Also, the other evening i sang for my roomies. Audrey said that i was better then the singers themselves. Although i don't think this is true, it is still nice to hear. Sabrina said that i should find open mics. I may, i really miss singing. Its weird how things that were so important in your life start to fade in the craziness. I think I'm going to try to sing more once again.

i found god on the corner of first and amistad

Oh my god, i haven't updated in almost a week!
Its been too long my friend.

Well, since my last update i will give you the highlights.
Work has been lovely, i have researched programs to run wit the Kids among many other fun things.

Friday i went out with my Braddock Station neighbors to King St. which is the local downtown and it is a pretty happening place here in Alexandria. We had a good time, and coincidentally i went out with 2 Western Mass kids. Rachel is from Springfield and she is the very first person i met when moving in. Glenn is also from the 413 and wows the women with his dance moves. I have met alot of Mass people while down here. All of the other kids are great but i had to discuss my w-mass kids. I knew Brendan was cool when i saw him with a Boston hat. Here is a group pic:

While i was on the shuttle bus of doom the other day, i was chatting with a Women because i make friends on public transit and while i was talking about where i was from, another couple asked where i was from. When i told them the Berkshires (sorry N.A. but people don't know about you) they told me they were from Pittsfield. Small world kids, small world.

You may be asking yourself "Steph what is the shuttle of doom?". Well, lemme tell ya. They decided to do track maintenance this week on the blue and yellow lines. Now you may also be asking yourself "Steph, why didn't you use another line?" Well, lemme tell ya... the blue and yellow are the only ones that come into Virginia where i live. When my roomies and I went into the city we had to take the metro to a certain stop, get off take a shuttle and then hop back on the shuttle. 3 days of this was enough.
Here a picture of one of my roommates Sabrina in anger at the shuttle situation:


Carrying on with my weekend..Saturday we went to the Smithsonian American Indian museum, African American art and Asian art. They were fantastic, we went to eat in the Mitsitam cafe in the American Indian cafe and it was sooo good. They have a bunch of different dishes from different parts of the Americas and its cafeteria style so you can get whatever you'd like. Its kind of pricey though, so bring some cash. But it was gooooood. Then Saturday evening we hung out with our Braddock neighborly friends and had some laughs. Here are some of my faves from Saturday:





Sunday i went to Pentagon City mall with Sabrina. It is a very dangerous thing that i know where a mall is now. Then that night we met up with Audrey & Fransisco in the city to have dinner at an Italian place called Luigi's. It was a nice and relaxing day.

Monday i did homework (lameee), went to best buy to get ink because i didn't feel like a metro/shuttle ride to deal with staples rewards lady. Then we held a dinner party for our new friends in the apartment. It was really nice to get everyone together to enjoy some food and laughs. It was a good day off. But i would have expected President's Day to be a bigger deal here, since ya know the President lives here. But ohh well.


Well i'm verrrry tired. Because of the long weekend i had class tonight after work.
Peace & Love
♥ Steph

We don't have no time to stop, the day, that day was a wonderful day <3

Hi :)

Today was a pretty fantastic day, so i figured I would blog about it, as a good blogger should.

So today i was at work, per usual. I made a cool poster for our latest adult program.. called recipe for a healthy living. It is a class paired with cooking classes, domestic violence talk and self esteem workshops. Anyways, while i was there Ms. Coates asked if i wanted to go to a meeting with her for a Woman's organization, that is really important to BWUFA. I was excited, because one of the things i want to experience and learn more about while in D.C. is advocacy. Well, long story in short, the meeting was yesterday instead of today. But Ms. Coates called the director and our graduate intern Natalie and I are going to have lunch with her next week, to talk about their younger woman's group and learn how to get involved with that. Afterward Ms Coates took me around D.C. and then we stopped by her house where i got to meet her wonderful family. We went out to dinner with her Mom, who is an extremely sweet and smart women. It was good to sit down with Ms. Coates and talk to her about Chantilly Mews and her vision for the future. She also seems like she genuinely cares about me getting the most experience from this program and having me involved in many different things. Including running programs for the kids, which i am very, very interested in. I had so much fun with them. Tonight was a really great night, and I'm really glad that I am blessed to have a boss like Ms. Coates who will sit down with her intern and talk to me and make sure I get the most out of this. I'm very grateful already.

Peace and Love,
♥ Steph

Stephanie's ranting corner:
One of my biggest pet peeves in life is when people don't do their job. That really is all i ask. If you decide to take a job, then do it. If you don't want to do it, then quit. Find another job, go back to school, live in the jungle. I don't careee, just don't let you not doing your job affect me.

So, remember in last post.. how i spoke of that women in staples who was rude? Lets call her Staples rewards women... Yeah, well staples reward women just went even lower on the list. I went in, and didn't know what ink i was supposed to get. Okay, this is my fault.. i understand this. But going into an OFFICE SUPPLY store, i would assume that they would know about OFFICE SUPPLIES, such as ink. I figured, once i go to the store.. i would look in the little ink book of love that is ALWAYS near the ink. When i go into the store, i see that the ink is placed behind the counter (because if i was to steal anything from staples, of course it would be 20 dollar ink.. because they don't have cameras and computers hanging out or anything). Anywaysss, i go to staples rewards card lady, and i ask her for the ink for my printer. She looks in said book, and says that it is the right ink. I ask again, and she says yes.. so why would i think she is wrong? She looked in the magical ink book of goodness, So i come home, do the readings for class, and go to print out the things i need.. and when i go to print, i get this awful pop-up that says ink is not compatible with this printer. WHATTTT! ughhhh! If i had an easy button i would NOT be pushing it. grrr. staples... gr.


p.s. Chris Brown.. why are you beating up on Rihanna?! Seriously. You fail. Sabrina and i are mad at you and you broke our heart. WAY. TO. GO.
Sabrina pointed out that Rihanna has been crying out for help in her latest songs.. such as 'Hate That I Love You'...'SOS'...'Rehab'...'Disturbia. I think she has a good point.

I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together

Hey,

I don't even know where to start. This week has been crazy.

Monday: I started my internship. The whole metro/bus thing wasn't that bad...which is a miracle because i'm known to end up in random towns because i can't get on the right bus (Kate Shaughnessy.. i love you and the B43! haha) I work mostly with BWUFA's program director Teresa, who made me feel at home at the office. She also has been helping me to get involved in the programs and allowing me many opportunities. On Monday i looked up some Community Service Learning programs for the children of Chantilly Mews. Chantilly Mews is a low-income, federally subsidized housing development that BWUFA runs the Chantilly Mews Family Preservation Project. After my first day of work, i went to class at the Washington Center. I'm taking a nonprofit leadership class.


Tuesday: I worked on finding international programs to donate to. I didn't realize that there are African nonprofits, maybe it was my own ignorance but in the U.S. i feel like we look at Africa as a place that can't help themselves, and we have to rush in and help them. But it was really cool to look up these agencies that have started from the ground up within Africa. We had a staff meeting where i got to meet Ms. Coates, who is the creator of BWUFA. We discussed updating our website and doing some more public relations type things. After work we went to Chantilly Mews and hosted Girls Club, which is run every 1st and 3rd tuesday of each month, and gives the girls a place to hang out and learn about self-esteem, manners, self-confidence, and decision making skills. I had so much fun.. all of the girls were so funny and cute. I look forward to the next girls club.

Wednesday: I worked on looking up programs in Northern Virginia/ D.C. for the mentoring program. I also looked up federal grants for our programs. When i came home i just sat down.. haha. Working 9 to 5 is no joke, especially with classes and the after work programs in Chantilly.

Thursday: My 21st birthday!!! I went to work and wrapped up some of the projects i was working on. Then i came home and got ready and my amazing roommates and i went to Old Ebbits Grille, i tried to see if Obama wanted to come with us because the white house is right next door, but i guess he was busy. I have the best friends in the world, just so you guys are aware. <3

Friday: I went to work, naturally. Then i went to dinner at Buca di Beppo with Papa Bose! :) It was sooo good, Fettucine Supremo and a Proschiutto and Gorgonzola salad...which i highly recommend. Then we went to Murphys in Alexandria for some sweet creamy beige Baileys! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApGIl6dul_w) ;). I'm so glad he came up for my birthday. I pretty much have the best parents around.


Saturday: Pops and me went to breakfast and then he headed back to the baystate. I went to whole foods.. which im pretty sure i'll never do again because it is SO expensive. I really like it there, but i'm poor. It was sooooooo nice out. Its already spring down here, its crazy. I'm used to having snow storms. Saturday night i went to the package store (yeah okay, liquor store whateverr) and it was the sketchiest moment of my life. We had to order at a counter because people weren't allowed in, and they didn't have beer... they told me to go to the supermarket. What? Virginia confuses me.

Today, my only outing was to Staples to get ink. I had to go into D.C. to get it and the women harassed me about not having a staples card. She told me that i should get one so i can get 3 dollars for an ink catridge. When i said no she said "oh so you're just going to throw them away?" and then rolled her eyes. Uh, excuse me? So as always, i just smiled and said yes because it annoys people.

Well i'm off to homework and such.
Peace & Love
Steph ♥

p.s. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/02/07/beacon_hill_goes_digital___lol/?page=2

Just live your life, no tellin' where it will take ya ♥

I'm here! :)
I can't believe it.
I've never been this far away from home, or have lived away from home for a long period of time.. its crazy!
It seems like just yesterday i was sitting on my couch in Amherst talking to Miss Katherine "Funk" Lundy about whether or not to apply.
On the eve of my first day of my internship I'm excited and nervous. I can already feel that I'm going to get much more out of this experience then just an internship and a class (although they should be an AMAZING experience). I feel that the people i meet are going to teach me a alot.
I am really happy and blessed with my roommates. We all get along and come from different experiences.

Since I've gotten here we have already learned a lot about D.C. and true apartment living.

My Dad and me drove down from Massachusetts on Tuesday because of the snow storm. When we reached Maryland it started to snow/slush and it was funny because the whole highway slowed down...they aren't really snow experts like us i guess. After arriving in Alexandria VA (where I'm living) we got a hotel room and went down to Old Alexandria to walk around. We went to the Hard Times Cafe which has amazing chilli, which is kind of there staple. If you ever come down to Virginia or Maryland i recommend stopping in. I don't even really like chilli and i thought it was good, so that must stand for something.
Wednesday i checked into my apartment! Which is niiiice. We have a large living room, two large bedrooms, two bathrooms and a small kitchen (hey, you can't get it all). We also have a washing machine and a dish washer....pretty snazzy. After that Pops and i went to D.C. and found a nice Irish restaurant (we're from Massachusetts..what do you expect?).

Our apartment is jinxed. We kid around that the apartment doesn't want us to live here because it keeps doing things to make us leave. On move in day, our power went out. We thought that that was weird, but we went to the breaker and fixed the problem. The next morning we woke up and we had no power again, and we couldn't fix it. Eventually we found out that one light was hurting the system. Since then, we have found that our heater wasn't heating our water correctly, our cable wasn't receiving all of the channels it was supposed to receive, we need a splitter for the TV to receive internet or we have to shut off one or the other, our shelf fell out of our freezer, and our washer wasn't hooked up. This last one was the worst. Our washer flooded our whole carpet in the walkway, it went down two floors before it got fixed. But ya know what.. its all been okay. We've just kind of laughed about it and fixed it. 904 doesn't love us, i guess that's the bottom line. Oh, and the maintenance people are so unbelieveably kind. I need to bake them cookies.

My apartment is in Alexandria VA, which is only a handful of metro stops away from D.C. When you look out of our window we can see the Washington monument and the Capitol building.
Lately has been a whirlwind of exploring and getting settled into living in the city. Yesterday one of my roommates Sabrina and I went sight seeing. I didn't really feel like I lived in D.C. until we walked around and saw the sights. It made me really excited to be here and I felt really cool when someone asked US for directions... and WE could give them!

Tomorrow i start my internship. Its pretty crazy getting there for me. I have to take the metro and then a bus. I'm interning in another town in Virginia, i'm not interning in the district. But it should be good. I'm still here in the D.C. area and it should be interesting to see our interaction with D.C. The internship was exactly what i was looking for so it doesn't matter that it isn't directly there. I'll be there enough for programming, class and exploring! I also start my class tomorrow night. I'm taking a class about leadership and running a nonprofit organization. I think it should be really helpful in learning more about nonprofits and something i wouldn't have been able to find at UMass.

Well, time to get some sleep for the big day tomorrow!
Peace & Love
♥ Steph Bose