The End of the Birthday Bash

For the past four years, I threw myself a birthday party. Nothing fancy: a house party with good food and an excuse to get together, hang out, and play video games and party games. It started, in its initial year, because I was having a hard time adjusting to post-grad life - I missed having my friends as my roommates or a five-minute walk away on campus. So, I put the call out and by some magical stroke of luck, everyone from my college group of friends was able to make it.

After that, it became a tradition. 'Hostess' is my default setting, so it made sense for me to throw myself a party. I made arrangements for food, usually making some of it myself, and did a little decorating. It satisfied my need to party plan and also to see all of my friends; it made for a nice birthday present to myself.

This year, I decided it was time to retire the idea. Getting everyone together is becoming more and more difficult and I didn't want to be disappointed. Instead, I'm working on making plans to do all sorts of fun things (ice skating, seeing Saving Mr. Banks, playing Just Dance, getting a manicure) with each of my friends on their own schedules, which will ensure I see (almost) everyone.

The birthday parties were nice while they lasted, though.

2010

(Note the Super Mario 3 start screen in the background.)

2011

(When Erik played Just Dance and proved to everyone: hey, I really like this girl.)

2012

(My college girls, minus one.) 

2013

(WINE IN A WATERBOTTLE. While playing beer pong with Lyndsay. And wearing a purple boa. I was never going to top that, anyway.)

St. Patty's Day and Unrelated Pictures of Crafting.

This weekend, for St. Patrick's Day, I attended a party at Erik's friend's house. It began with our late arrival and something his circle of friends calls "Feats of Drinking," which entails consuming alcoholic beverages - sometimes via a specific challenge - before you're allowed inside. Ours included a cute poem (which I meant to save, but forgot to bring home!), a shot of whiskey for my beloved, and a Jell-O shot for me. Because they love me. And pick on him. And because I had cupcakes.

The party itself was, well, a typical house party. By which I mean, complete drunken debauchery. There were car bombs, drinking games, poor score keeping, loud singing, and weird-but-amusing male bonding between Erik and his friends. I was the designated driver, so in my family's tradition... I got completely tipsy in the first two hours and then sobered up by the end of the night. True story.

Our night ended with some of our friends going from "okay" to "really not okay get me to the bathroom" in record time, four people in the bathroom at the same time (for bonding, not puking, apparently), and my first legitimate beer pong win. It took three times to get Erik to leave - he gets very chatty and forgetful after a night like this, which meant he kept forgetting my requests to leave and talked the ear off of one of his friends.

Overall, I had a total blast. Considering I once hated the thought of crazy drunken house parties, I'd say I'm becoming comfortable with them (and learning the warning signs of when someone may or may not puke). Unfortunately, I have no pictures to show for my fun Saturday night. I was wearing a cute green garter, too! (I gave the other one to Erik's BFF, who I now want to claim as my BFF.)

Instead, I'll show you the (terrible, taken-with-my-crappy-phone) pictures of the crafts I made with Lyndsay last weekend for her new Little - she was officially revealed on Friday night, so I'm free to share!

A few of my personal bests: off-set purple-and-yellow KD; bright green over-sized clothespin; hand-painted polka-dot E for their family name. I'm particularly proud of the polka dots, it's probably my best work ever.

How was your weekend, friends? Do anything fun for St. Patty's Day?

Birthday/Anniversary Weekend.

You know what happens when your anniversary falls three days before you birthday? You have a weekend jam-packed with amazingness, that’s what.

Festivities started on Thursday with a trip to NYC to go see the New York Rangers play. Had you told me a year ago that I’d be excited for a hockey game, I would’ve laughed in your face. Yet I was so thrilled, actually, that I kept forgetting the reason we were going to the game: to celebrate mine and Erik’s first anniversary, which was also on Thursday.

At least I got to see Lundqvist during warm-ups.

The game was so much fun. My favorite player – goalie Henrik Lundqvist – came out for warm-ups but then we realized he wouldn’t be playing because he’d be playing in a game the following night. I was thoroughly bummed out. But the evening was still exciting; the game went into overtime and the Rangers won it about three minutes in.

So excited!

Friday was mostly a low-key day. We slept in and ran errands for my party (ordering sandwiches and picking up beer and wine). Then, at my request, we decided to go ice skating with our friends at a local outdoor rink. Despite getting tired and dehydrated after an hour, it was still fantastic. I love ice skating because I find it so relaxing, and being on an outdoor rink made it that much better.

After spending a little too long lazily laying in bed Saturday morning, we finally got up and prepped for my party. People started arriving around 5pm and it was an absolute blast. It was so great because almost everyone I’d invited was able to make it; catching up with everyone and playing Wii games with them is always the best.

College girls, minus Danielle who was busy interviewing for residencies!

The boys, with whom I always neglect to take pictures. That's Kyle (Nat's fiance) and Matt (Melissa's fiance) in case the faces don't look familiar. They're both wonderful guys.

Being the birthday girl meant that everyone kept “pressuring” me to drink (it's in quotes because I gladly obliged). Every time my wine glass was low, my friends offered to fill it up – sometimes to the actual brim of the glass. With the exception of three glasses had by Melissa and Natalie, I drank the whole (large) bottle of wine myself. Surprisingly, I didn’t feel that drunk, just really sleepy by the time everyone headed out.

So classy. But really, I drank from a glass for most of the night - this was just for dramatic effect.

I can't say that Sunday morning was particularly fun, but it wasn't too bad. Meaning, there was minimal nausea/stomach upset; instead, I was exhausted and had a headache. The majority of my day was spent laying in bed with Erik, watching TV and just hanging out. He was kind enough to go get Dunkin Donuts for me at my request. We had Chili’s To-Go for dinner with my family (because I was not up for a dinner out, which was the original plan) and cupcakes to celebrate my actual birthday.

This weekend was a perfect kick-off to my year. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday or anniversary celebration; I'm so lucky to have such wonderful people in my life.

How was your weekend?

Birthday Bash.

Hello and happy Friday!

My mind's been all over the place this week, which is why this little space has been quiet. I do, however, want to share with you a few pictures from E's birthday bash last weekend! It ended up being a smaller crowd - mostly his group of friends, since mine couldn't attend (though I did have a lovely dinner with Katie before the party began).

I was grateful for the smaller crowd and also that a few of the guests weren't super into drinking; it lessened the potential for someone to get crazy drunk, sick, or a combination of the two. Still, it was an incredibly fun and relatively crazy party. There was lots of laughter and lighthearted competition. The party started at 8pm and went until around 4am, so you can imagine the state that most of us were in by then.

But enough chatter - onto the pictures!

 The two pictures with E are from the very end of the night, when he kept drunkenly insisting that I kiss him while the picture was taken. I protested; we compromised. The middle picture is of the girls - E's roommate's girlfriend, me, and E's hometown friend's girlfriend.

We were playing Kings, and for those who've never played, just know that someone draws a card every turn and then has to slip it under the tab of a beer - whoever pops the tab has to drink it. E taunted me (and everyone else) the whole game, yet popped the tab all three times. In that last photo, we're laughing hysterically at something E did, though I can't specifically remember what.

 

And then he got a cupcake to the face, as is appropriate.

His birthday actually isn't until Sunday, so I'm taking him on a semi-fancy dinner date Saturday night. This was supposed to be in lieu of gifts, but I picked up a few gifts for him as well (that he already received, because I'm an impatient gift-giver).

Anyway, I hope everyone has a great weekend!

The Wedding.

Because I know it will be forever until the professional photos come in, I'm sharing some pictures from Friday's wedding that I "borrowed" from everyone else who remembered to take their cameras out. But first, a quick recap.

After a week of rain and an overcast morning, the sky cleared and the sun started shining around 10am Friday morning. It was surprising to me because I was so busy getting ready that I didn't notice until I went to pack up my car. I ended up doing my hair, makeup and nails all on my own because it was easier, cheaper, and less stressful. They all came out close to my perfectionist standards, so I was happy.

At Danielle's house, it was pretty quiet and calm. I don't know why I'd expected chaos, but it was the complete opposite. We watched cartoons, snacked, and got ready in plenty of time, then packed into the limo. It was a short ride and I hopped out first to check my phone (which was in the trunk of the limo) to see if E had picked up the marriage license in time; he had and was on his way, but we ended up starting without him because the priest said it was alright.

The ceremony was beautiful. I cried as soon as the bridal chorus queued up, before I even saw her come down the aisle. That was the most emotional part, though I did tear up at all the expected moments (rings, vows, the kiss). After a few family pictures, we headed over to the reception hall.

The place where it was held was amazing. The staff was incredibly attentive - they came out with a tray of ice-cold bottled water for everyone, which I desperately needed - and it was just beautiful. Our bridal suite was kick-ass, with a variety of drinks, hot and cold food, and snacks like candy bars and bags of chips. All the girls kicked off our shoes and relaxed on the sofas until cocktail hour began.

Danielle and her husband (whoa, that's going to take some getting used to) decided to mingle during cocktail hour, so Natalie and I were able to hang out with our dates as well as Melissa and her fiance. The spread was unbelievable - a mashed potato bar, a crab cake station, two carving stations, two hot food stations, and a table with all the cold food you could want. I wasn't particularly hungry, so I mooched off of whatever E put on his plate and sipped at a Cosmo.

Soon enough we were called back to the bridal suite to prepare for our entrance and the start of the reception itself. Our entrance was down a flight of stairs and then we all lined up to form an arch for the newly-wedded couple. After that, it was party time. The table where Natalie and I were seated ended up being right next to the band, so they kept pulling us on the dance floor.

That middle photo is of the flower girl and the maid of honor. Our FG did such a great job and was so fun to be with throughout the day, because she was so excited. Also, our MOH was brilliant, especially for wearing brown loafer slippers at the reception.

The band, the food, and the ambiance of the room was absolute perfection. I cried again during their first dance, the father-daughter dance, and the speeches. My favorite part of the night, aside from all the wedding-related stuff, was getting to dance with E. Prior to this, I'd only ever slow-danced with awkward prom dates; it made me all swoony to dance with someone I actually care about and love. It was clear that everyone was having a fantastic time and I was so happy it went so well. Before long, though, it was time for the party to end.

I had such an incredible time and actually, my anxiety was only a pain in the butt during the drive to the reception. I decided to skip the limo because it was going to be a half-hour drive with about fifteen people squished in, so I had E drive me to the reception hall. (I should also mention that E was such a sweetheart the whole time - he picked up the marriage license, happily drove me to the hall, made sure I was feeling better when he saw me at cocktail hour, and saved all the paper goods from the wedding.)

It still feels surreal, like they're not actually married, but I know it will sink in eventually. I'm just glad that they had a pretty flawless day from start to finish, and that I got to share it with them.

mixed shots, harry potter, and bocce ball.

This past weekend was an absolute whirlwind, and since I haven't really talked much about what I've been up to lately, I decided I'd post a pretty little recap of the weekend's festivities.

During the week, E told me his friends were having a party on Friday night and I decided there'd be no harm in going, since I didn't have any other plans and the hostess lived close by. About a half hour after I arrived, the drinking games began and by the end of the night, I was borderline-drunk (which is as drunk as I allow myself to get). I blame E's friends for being mightily persuasive, but I think I was also trying to show E that I could loosen up and have a good time. (Not that I believe I have to drink to have a good time, it's just that I usually want to drink but tend to worry so much about how much I'm drinking, how I feel, how I'm going to feel, etc., that I don't relax and enjoy myself.)

The party was a lot of fun and I actually enjoyed being almost-drunk -- it really did release the firm grip that my inhibitions and worries have on me. However, when it was time for bed, I started feeling gross. Thankfully laying down and closing my eyes made me feel better, but I couldn't actually fall asleep. First it was because E and I were trying (and completely failing) to share a sofa, then it was because I kept having to pee, and finally it was because I relocated to the loveseat and couldn't stretch my legs. I managed about two hours of sleep overall.

Getting up on Saturday was not fun. At first I thought I was alright, but the combination of not sleeping and having a slight hangover made the drive home unbearable. Luckily a shower and some breakfast helped, then it was off to meet up with Natalie and her friends to see Deathly Hallows Part II. We waited in line for about an hour before they let us in the theater, which wasn't bad at all. The movie was FANTASTIC. I could go on for days, but I'll just say I loved the kiss, I fucking loved Neville, and I cried for the entire second half of the film, especially during the part about Snape. After the movie we went out for dinner then back to Natalie's apartment for a bit before heading home.

On Sunday I drove up to E's town to hang out at his friend's house with his group of friends. I arrived just as the women's World Cup was ending, after which we headed out into the backyard. E and his friends are all about playing yard games, so first they played a few rounds of Kan Jam, then we all played bocce ball before dinner was served. After dinner, a few people had left and it was down to E's core friends, me, and another of the girlfriends. The boys played a short game of Ultimate Frisbee while us girls sat on the sidelines -- I actually brought The Hunger Games to start reading, but I barely got half a chapter in before the boys were done. E and I left soon after, hung out at his place for a few hours, and then it was time for me to go.

It was the first time in a long time that I had so many plans back-to-back, and it was absolutely exhausting. Still, it was completely worth it.

father's day weekend.

Happy Monday!

Okay, no, I'm not actually this cheerful on a Monday. I did have a fantabulous weekend, but this morning I woke up early and left E's house when he left for work instead of sleeping in, got stuck in horrendous traffic for a little while, and generally felt like crap.

Now that I've arrived home, devoured a hazelnut coffee coolatta and cheddar bagel twist from Dunkin Donuts, and showered, I wanted to share a few bits of my weekend with you.

Saturday was my friend Danielle's bridal shower, something I have been looking forward to for a while because it was my very first one. We held a low-key brunch for about thirty people in her backyard, renting a tent and bringing in a wonderful caterer. There was a Belgium waffle station, an omelette station, a variety of fruits and scones, and of course, mimosas. We played a few games, met the rest of our fellow bridesmaids, and made plans for the bachelorette party. It was a really wonderful afternoon, and we were sent home with tons of leftovers.

Also? That semi-unexpected gift I talked about last Thursday? It was for Danielle, put together by Natalie and me. Since her registry is for her honeymoon and you purchase the gifts online, we decided we also wanted to get her a little something to open at the shower. Our idea was for a "Honeymoon Kit" and, not to toot my own horn, but I think we did a good job - bath stuff, candles, bridal-shower-appropriate lingerie, tics tacs, lip gloss, a homemade door tag, and a tote to put it all in.

On Sunday, I headed out to spend the day with E. This might seem surprising since it was Father's Day, but it isn't really a big to-do in my family. In fact, my dad likes having the house to himself, so I'm sure he actually preferred having one less person running around. I did, however, celebrate with E's family. We (E and I, Natalie and her fiance, and their parents) went to a small out-of-the-way Spanish restaurant where we sipped on sangria and had some really, really good food. As usual, I had a really fabulous time chatting and joking around with their family.

After dinner, E and I started watching Modern Family as per Natalie's recommendation and now we're hooked. We blew through six episodes and really enjoyed the show - I can't wait to watch the rest. I made a last-minute decision to stay over because I was incredibly sleepy from my busy weekend.

Like I said, it was a pretty wonderful weekend. Plus, I have leftover cake and arroz con pollo in the fridge, so I'm a happy camper.

he ran into my knife ten times.

Things that happened this weekend:

• I battled a Mysterious Illness (I tested negative for strep and mono) that made me feel like my throat was being ripped to shreds.
• We celebrated a belated Christmas on my dad's side of the family for my cousin and his girlfriend.
• A new (albeit incredibly second-hand-embarrassing) family joke was developed.
• I traveled to all the drugstores and dollar stores in the area and could not find a police badge for E's costume.
  
• I baked two batches of cookies and a couple dozen red velvet cupcakes.
• Target had colorful tights on clearance and I had to stop myself from buying a pair in every single color.
• Melissa hosted a kick-ass Oscar Watching-slash-Costume Party. See her recap here.
• My hooker boots made their return and were actually appropriate for the occasion - my costume (we had to dress from a previously-awarded Best Picture film):
  
  
  
  One of the six merry murderesses of Cook County Jail (from Chicago).
  {picture stolen from Melissa}
  
  
• I won the ballot contest, which is kind of a miracle because I hadn't seen any of the movies on the list and guessed (pretty hastily) on most things. I also beat E by just one point; he's not happy about it.
• Wine consumption.
• I had the ever-awkward "oh hey I have a blog" conversation with E. Doubly awkward? He'd already been reading without my knowledge. I wanted to melt into the floor.
• E and I stayed up way too late talking, which was good and bad - good because of the conversations we were having, bad because they were happening at four in the morning.

So, how was your weekend?

what i've been up to.

So aside from griping about life, putting off job searching, and doing a whole lot of sleeping... I had a bit a fun mixed in. Since it would create an incredibly long entry to detail each event, I present it to you in picture form! Huzzah!

*

First, I celebrated my last night on campus by taking a dip in the science complex fountain with The Boy.

I promise, I did go in the water. And then had awkwardly semi-wet shorts.























Him posing, under my photographic direction, of course.


















*

Then, I graduated!

First was the college-wide ceremony, which took place on the stadium field. It threatened to rain all morning, but finally the sun peeked out. Unfortunately, that also meant we were all sweating to death. Good thing the ceremony lasted just under an hour.

I had about an hour before my smaller ceremony for the School of Business, where I would receive my diploma [cover!]. That's right, no actual diploma was handed out, since they were still verifying we all passed. Heh. Of course, the majority of that hour was spend running into all my friends (who were scattered, since we all either had a department ceremony or reception to attend) and waiting in line for the bathroom.




One of the people I ran into was Melissa. I was glad, because the day was so chaotic and I wasn't sure I'd see anyone other than the people I planned to meet up with. Also, please notice my adorable pink pumps! It's all about the footwear on graduation day.























After our department ceremony, which took forever to finish up (damn all those finance majors!), I rushed around taking pictures with everyone. By then, almost everyone had cleared out of campus, and it felt a little anticlimactic for the end of the day.

I snapped a few pictures with my fellow accounting majors first. My closest friends and I make up a group of four crazy, hilarious people (one isn't pictured in this shot). We all stuck together because three of us are from the same hometown. I find it really crazy that we all picked the same college AND major. Weird.


















Next I put those pretty pink pumps to work and quickly walked to the Student Center to meet my Lady Lumps, who had waited patiently for me to take pictures.


















Finally I took some pictures with The Boy, the most patient of them all. (Note: He definitely looks way too geeky here. He doesn't normally look like that. He does, however, act as geeky as this picture makes him look. And if he's reading this... just kidding babe! He knows I'm joking. I hope.)


















*

The next day was my superawesomefantastic graduation party! It was absolutely amazing, but it flew by way too fast. I had to spend my time rotating from group to group, so I didn't get much time with anyone. I had a blast anyway.

These are my two best friends from dance, who are sisters. We jokingly refer to me as their real third sister, considering they have one who is my age and has my name.
















My entire crew - my freshmen, sophomore, and junior-year roommates and their boyfriends. These are the people who make up pretty much all of my memories from those years.


















Cutting the cake!


















On my dad's side of the family, it's become a tradition for all the kids to sit on the stairs and take pictures. Of course, it worked much better when we were tiny little things. Now we're all at least 5'5", so there's a lot less space. Here we have the ever-popular We're Done Smiling, Let's Take a Silly One picture. For the record, our ages now range from fifteen to twenty-three, so basically this will never get old.
























*

And finally, just a few weeks ago, my baby cousin went to her senior prom! I can't tell you how old I felt just thinking about how long ago my prom was. She looked absolutely gorgeous, I was stunned. I mean, she's always pretty, but she looked so grown up in her dress with her hair and makeup done.

We're pretty much more like sisters than cousins. I was totally directing traffic in terms of making sure her dad was around for every picture she wanted, and to make sure her parents didn't totally embarass her.


















I love this candid I took, because it shows off her amazing dress. Isn't it stunning?























Her and her date, looking adorable. They're just friends though - they've known each other since kindergarten.
























So that's where I've been all this time. Hope you enjoyed!

mish mosh.

So you may (or may not) have wondered where the hell I've been for the past week and a half. Well.

Last week I spent every day either cleaning, making food, creating a scrapbook, or decorating my house. On Friday I graduated college (yay!), and Saturday was my house party. Since then? Um.. I've basically just been sleeping. Staying up late on Saturday night basically just screwed my internal clock right back up. I'm supposed to be job searching, but it's going very slowly.

Anyway, I have two grad parties this weekend and The Boy is staying overnight tonight, but I'm hoping to recap all my crazy party-planning activities, as well as the party itself. With pictures!! Hooray!

Oh yeah, I'm also in the market for a new laptop, which is a tediously slow process, mainly because now I actually research big purchases before making them. What an idea! I'm sick of my current HP, which is four years old, has a 15-inch screen, and weighs something like six and a half pounds. I definitely want thinner and a bit tinier - perhaps a 14 or 13-inch screen? Here are my faves after looking in Best Buy for the kind of size and slimness I want:

Macbook

I'm a little hesitant to go Mac, only because I've always been a PC girl. I have limited experience with using a Mac, but I've heard nothing but good things.

Sony Vaio

A little bigger than what I'd like - it's only a pound lighter than my current laptop. But I can't help fantasizing about having a pink computer. I mean, come on! What screams CAIT more than a pink laptop?!

I would go smaller, but it starts going a little out of my price range.

And as for Dell? I'm still toying around with a ton of different makes and models. They have an XPS that's 13 inches, which is surprisingly reasonably priced. Seeing their Inspiron models in the store, I'm not really a fan, but we'll see.

Any suggestions? Feedback? I would love any opinions you have on your current or past laptops, whether it was a really good experience, or an "oh my GOSH please spare yourself and don't buy that brand/style."

it's my party.

You know what I hate most about being away from my blog for so long? When I finally feel like sitting down and writing an entry, there is so much to talk about that I just can't. If I tried to explain where I've been for the past two weeks-ish, it would be a completely disorganized entry about nothing. So let's you and me pretend I was never gone, okay? Okay, awesome.

I've been planning furiously for a graduation party that my parents decided to let me have. We're having an open-house-type party, and I've just been letting all my creative juices flow. Because let's face it - I love planning and throwing parties. I'm probably going overboard for a simple house party, but what I can I say? I'm a crazy person.

There have been several shopping trips to Party City, Michael's, A.C. Moore, and Target, looking for anything and everything I can use to create the perfect party. Also acquired was The Dress from Forever 21 that I talked about here, as well as a PERFECTLY MATCHING pair of shoes that I bought on clearance at Mandee's. Because I am just that good. Unfortunately the Mandee website doesn't have a convenient little picture for me, so I'll remember to snap a pic of them when I'm home for Easter.

I am so excited for this party mainly because I don't have many opportunities to go a little crazy with decorating and planning. Now I have the opportunity to print my own invitiations, come up with cute and sophisticated flower displays, buy matching-color decorations, make some awesome little give-aways, and plan all sorts of other little surprises. Who knows if anyone will truly appreciate it all in its entirety - I mean obviously different details will be noticed by different people - but I will have come away with a sense of accomplishment and self-indulgence, which is basically the point. I know people are going to have fun at my party regardless of the details, but those details along with the fun will make for my idea of a perfect party.

run down

I just typed "blooger.com" into my address bar instead of "blogger.com." I'M TIRED. And apparently very sick, too. Why don't I seem phased by that? Well.. I don't feel particularly ill, except for my awful sore throat. It started bothering me on Tuesday night but hasn't really worsened day by day. Otherwise, I'm fine and dandy for a girl who's staying up until 4am doing homework for a class at 10am the same day. Seriously though? My throat looks really, really scary. There are red spots on the roof of my mouth and some sort of sores on my tonsils... blechhh. I really hope it's just strep so I can get some meds and be on my way to feeling better.

School is trying to kick my ass, but I'm fighting back hard. It's not uncommon when The Boy and I study together to hear ME telling HIM to focus. Crazy, right?! I don't know what's come over me. I'm actually reading. And learning. And answering problems.. CORRECTLY! It's doing wonderful things for my ego, but unfortunately I haven't gotten the time management down yet. Like how I still have another problem to tackle for my class at 10am today. Which is in seven hours. And I have to sleep.

I'm hoping to fall more gracefully into my school schedule now that there are no more three-day weekends to fill with activities and throw off my sleeping. Labor Day was absolutely fantastic, as I spent most of the weekend dancing, eating, or sleeping. Friday was a trip to the mall with Lynds, where I bought a cute Going Out to Tha' Club dress and a top that we both picked out to try on without consulting each other. I'm convinced we're the same person.

Saturday was a block party at Lynds's shore house, where I was tempted to get my drink on but couldn't because I was driving two hours home at the end of the night. Boo. Because they totally had Jell-O shots around eight. BOO I SAY. I had a ton of fun anyway - the theme was Christimas so Lynds, her friend Erin, and I were all walking around together in matching red-and-white outfits (unintentionally, I swear). Everyone is so friendly down there. I went down earlier this summer and was the palest girl on the beach, so when I was at the party, one of the neighbors kept referring to me as Sunburn Girl. BAHAHA I love it. Anyway, I danced the night away, sweating from every pore because the party was outside in the humidity. I totally did not care - I was dancing so hard.. sort of as a last hurrah to what was probably one of the best (if not THE best) summers of my life.

The rest of the weekend was uneventful. I slept. A lot. And yet I guess not enough seeing as my throat is rebelling against me.

This week has been tiresome and it went by super fast. I can't believe it's Friday already, but I am so glad it's the weekend. Now I can actually catch up and, oh my goodness, maybe even get ahead in my schoolwork! And sleep a lot. Can't forget the sleeping. Mmm, my favorite.

whirlwind weekends

This past weekend was the last of my crazy tendency to plan outings on consecutive days.

My four-day weekend of madness started Thursday night. I saw Sara Bareilles, Maroon 5, and Counting Crows in concert. Yeah.. we headed out before Counting Crows had set up because we were tired and starving, and not willing to spend our life savings on food from the venue. Anyway. We arrived just in time to see Sara Bareilles finish her set. She sang Gravity, which is my absolute favorite song of hers. Then Maroon 5 came out and THEY WERE AMAZING. Adam Levine is a tasty looking man, especially when he's really sweaty. Mmmm. They really mixed up their set a lot, doing songs from their old album as well as the new one. I was happy.


We had a pretty decent view from our lawn seats, but my camera is crap so this is the best picture I have.

The following day was spent running around like a crazy person for my friend Barb's surprise going-away party, since she's moving to Las Vegas in a mere ten days. The party was fun, but in some respects, not worth all the stress I put into it. However, she absolutely adored the scrapbook we made for her (that was one of the secret projects I mentioned here).

Saturday was little miss Isabella's third birthday party! When I went to get her gift a few weeks ago, I realized how easy it is to shop for little kids. All I had to do was walk into a store, look for anything covered in Disney princesses, The Little Mermaid, or Hannah Montana, and I was set. I ended up getting her a huge Disney princess coloring book, new crayons, and some Disney stickers. She got a ton of adorable clothes, which she kept throwing on the ground after opening. I forgot how boring clothes are for little kids. And of course, there was the oh-so-expected moment where Isabella and her 5-year-old cousin, Daniel, were tearing wrapping paper from a box of clothes. As soon as the paper was off, Daniel held it thoughtfully for a moment before proclaiming, "oh, it's just a box." I absolutely remember that sentiment as a child. I would look up at my parents and go, really? A box? How thoughtful of you. Oh, there are CLOTHES inside. ...I still don't care.


The birthday girl, eating her cake.


The birthday girl and myself with her new coloring book, after tearfully insisting that we go inside and paint instead of just using crayons. Well, it's her party and she'll cry if she wants to.

Sunday was way more laid back. I slept in and went to see Lyndsay in the late afternoon. We played DDR, packed for her Disney cruise, watched the Olympics, and witnessed the most ridiculous (yet hilarious!) stuff on YouTube.

So that was my last OMGIdon'thavetimetobreathe weekend. I've done a pretty good job of spreading out the rest of my social calendar over the next two weeks, so I should be able to get back to sleeping normal hours. That is, if I ever get out of the habit of blogging at 4am.

Oh, and the haircut is scheduled for this week, so be prepared for either my Elated Hair Success Story or my Panicky Ultimate FAIL Hair Story. Let's hope for the former, shall we?

everything looks perfect from far away

Well hello there!

Yes, I've been neglecting this poor little blog. Unfortunately, I don't even have anything very exciting as an excuse.

Now that dance is over, my days lack a schedule and a general purpose. I get up whenever, do whatever, then go to bed whenever. It gets very dull very quickly. So I've been trying to set up opportunities to hang out with people whenever possible.

Last weekend was pretty fun. On Friday my grandparents came over a took us out to lunch. At night, I went to this diner-like restaurant for my dance friend Dacia's birthday, followed by a late-night swim in her heated pool. I decided that once I have a bajillion (or so) dollars, I'm getting one of those installed.

Saturday was my cousin's eighth grade graduation party, which was held at my aunt and uncle's shore house. I had a total blast, mostly because I got to have alcohol. Yay, margaritas! The night ended on a sour note, because I had planned to spend the night there to have some quality time with Lynds, but The Boy had called me on Friday inviting me to his sister's graduation party on Sunday. After debating it all day, I decided to go see The Boy because I didn't know how often I'd see him this summer, whereas I knew I'd see Lynds a whole bunch. Unfortunately, she got really pissed off about it, and is actually still pushing me away. I should kinda get on that.

Sunday was one of the best days of my life. I was feeling sick all morning, but eventually that faded and I made it to The Boy's house. I spent a little bit of time getting introduced to his family, and his cousins were so sweet. Then we got away from the party for about three hours, just to walk around this wooded area near his house and talk and stuff. And by stuff, I mean kiss. And when I say kiss.. that includes my very first one, ever. It was amazing and awkward and just.. everything a first kiss is supposed to be. Anyway, we headed back to the party when we realized we'd been gone for three hours, but then we ended up in his room on his bed just laying there and talking.

[Side note: Before I continue describing my social excursions, let's bring the truth out in the open - even after an amazing time on Sunday, The Boy and I are now on a break. It's been a crazy week, with an intense discussion on religion. It was really putting a strain on us, because to sum it up, he's very strong in his faith and I'm really not. Ultimately I decided it was better for me to learn and grow on my own, without the pressure of wanting to do it for our relationship. So right now, we're somewhere between going out and being friends. And it really sucks, bee-tee-dubbs.]

Anyway. My latest outing was with my lovely Lady Lumps, Danielle and Natalie - we decided last-minute to go to Natalie's and have a sleepover. Danielle picked me up around four on Wednesday afternoon, and we drove up to Natalie's house in the middle of nowhere. After grabbing dinner at Panera's, Natalie dropped us off at her friend's house, then abandoned us for a staff meeting at Sam's Club. When she was done, we went to Applebee's, which was packed because there's very little to do in Natalie's town. Back at Natalie's, we talked to The Boy on the phone (yes, I said we.. hey, he wanted to!), watched Step Mom (Dani cried through the whole thing), ate chocolate covered pretzels, and fell asleep. The next morning we stayed in bed and watched Sister Sister until Dani and I had to leave.

Thursday afternoon was Emily's graduation party, which was really fun and also depressing because the kids I used to babysit were there. And they're OLD. I sat for them when the oldest was in fifth grade, and now the oldest is going to be a sophomore in high school. The middle girl? HAS A CELLPHONE NOW. The last time I saw her she was a little third-grader! Jeez. It makes me feel extremely old.

So that sums up where I've been for the past two weeks. What a roller coaster, right? I still need to talk to Lyndsay and hopefully get her to understand why I picked The Boy over her. And, I need to figure out the whole thing with The Boy, too. Sigh. Life's complicated.

to tide you over

Hello, temporarily-abandoned bloglings. Sorry to have disappeared, but my dance recital is this coming Tuesday, and the week before recital is always the craziest. I'm planning to blog about it later tonight, but until then, a couple of pictures from Katrina's 21st birthday and, ou!, a reader-participation section.


Katrina and her entourage, before heading out to the city. She's the one in the red dress; I'm to the right of her. The other girls are her before-high-school best friends.


Katrina, about two hours after arriving and just about five minutes before getting sick, passing out, falling asleep in the bathroom, and getting kicked out. She got exactly the kind of 21st birthday she wanted.

And now, dear readers, a question for you! For my aforementioned recital, I've got a solo to perform. The song is "Keep Breathing" by Ingrid Michaelson, and can be heard here. I decided early on that I probably wanted to wear a dress for the performance, and so during my costume-hunting mall trip yesterday, I picked up the following two dresses. They're both easy to dance in, so basically I'm just asking you, which one do you like better?


Dress Number One!


Dress Number Two!

Even if you're just an occasional reader, new reader, or any other type of blog-lurker, if you're reading this and have an opinon, please respond with your favorite! And may I remind my non-blogging friends (I'm looking at you, Dani and Nat) that you too can comment. Still feeling shy? You can even reply anonymously, if you'd like. So have at it! I'm off to assist my studio director with the non-dancing aspects of the recital.

it's africa hot

Summer is my favorite season. I love laying out at the beach or going in my pool, and I'm a sucker for bathing suits, sunglasses, and flip flops. However. I do not approve of heat waves. Whenever those pop up, I complain along with everyone else and strongly deny ever liking the summer.

Here in the northeast we're in the middle of a heat wave right now. So what did I do today? Went to the New Jersey-New York High School All-Star football game. And sat in the sun. For three hours. See, Lynds was chosen for the New Jersey cheerleading squad, so I decided it would be really fun to go see her. That was a month ago. When I found out the temperatures would be in the high nineties today.. the word "fun" turned into "torturous."

It really wasn't all that bad. The first hour was rough - the sun was beating down on us from behind, and all of our clothes were drenched with sweat. After the sun moved behind the stadium, though, it was a little more tolerable. I just can't believe how the football players and the cheerleaders got through it. Nobody passed out though, which was surprising.

The frustrating part? I didn't get any color. At all. Damn me and my paleness.

*

Friday night went off without a hitch, by the way. We started our night at Katrina's, where we kicked everything off with a little pre-party toast to her and us. The car ride included a little more pre-party celebrating, which may or may not have been legal. As soon as we got in the club, we unleashed all that energy and hit the dance floor. At midnight the festivities began, and by one thirty, Katrina was on her way home. Of course, she got just what she wanted - midway between officially turning twenty-one and falling asleep in the bathroom, she was dancing on everyone and everything, not having a care in the world. Plus, she looked adorable. I'll have to post a photo blog sometime tomorrow with some from the party and other various things.

*

I have a very long to-do list that I have to start tackling tomorrow. It's time to get my butt in gear and stop sleeping past noon, eating junk food into all hours of the night, and putting off my responsibilities. Yay, motivation!

memorial day weekend

It's the kickoff to summer, one of the best weekends of the year. The sun is shining, it's a glorious seventy-six degrees outside - perfect barbeque weather. Families everywhere are blasting music, sitting around the backyard in shorts, tank tops, and sunglasses, eating plateful after plateful of grilled food and potato salad.

And where am I? In bed.

After realizing I was sick on Friday, I tried to take it easy. The Boy quickly gave me all sorts of advice after diagnosing me over AIM (he's pre-med, and once again, is coming in pretty handy) and I made sure to drink a lot of liquids. I even felt relatively better on Saturday, and proceeded to go shopping and clean the house.

Then yesterday happened. I didn't feel too terrible when I got up, after sleeping for a good eight hours. I went to church and to Party City for last minute decorations. (Where, by the way, the fire alarm went off, leaving a group of angry customers outside for a half hour until the fire department finally turned it off.) I got home later than planned, which resulted in my getting out of the shower just before company arrived. My Martha Stewart side was throwing a tantrum in my head, angry that I had no choice but to put up the rest of the decorations while everyone watched. By the time I ran back upstairs to do my hair and makeup and got back to the party, I was exhausted. And that feeling never really wore off.

After everyone left - which was early, around seven - I cleaned up, put on pajamas, and curled up in bed. I didn't sleep until eleven, because Good Will Hunting was on and I'd never seen it before, but as soon as it was over, I was out. I slept until two this afternoon, so hopefully I gave my body the rest it wanted.

As much as I'm thoroughly enjoying my air-conditioned room and sitting in my PJs all day, I'm envious that other people are out taking advantage of this beautiful day. I was supposed to see The Boy today, but we nixed that plan since I was feeling so gross. The only benefit of staying in today is that I'm finally getting my butt in gear in terms of finding a job/internship. I've found a few possibilities, so I decided to polish up my resume and start applying. Here's hoping something works out, cause I need experience and money, especially the money.