A week's (or months) worth of thoughts

Well hello February! where did you come from? I feel like so much and yet so little has happened since I've last posted I don't even know where to begin. I've thought about posting so many times, and frequently will have a post all written out in my head. Then I sit down and bleah..... nothing actually comes out. But tonight I will! or at least i'll make a bullet list of whats gone down. cause really I want this blog to be a place where I can look back and see what's gone on, cause the truth is my memory is not always great. So!

Last weekend I flew out to Ct and met up with two of my very good girlfriends. One is getting married this summer and it was wedding dress shopping time! We spent all day saturday checking out some places and lots upon lots of dresses. AND we found one! I had such a blast with the girls, even after staying up till 5am the night before just because we can! Thank you to her poor fiance who was trying to sleep in the next room, not even 20ft away from us. The next morning he told us we giggle nonstop and it sounds like "pure joy." Which is exactly what it is. When I get with these girls it's like all the troubles fall away and we laugh and laugh and laugh.

Earlier this week I was walking back home from work and I noticed that there was very little snow left in the city. The sidewalks all around me were bare! I woke up the next morning and there were a couple inches on the ground! It was awesome. The walk to work was through a quiet slow-moving city.

now after that love paragraph of snow, I have been in a hell of a no sun depression and it's taken a lot out of me to just keep that at bay. I still believe I am going to have to go somewhere but there are a few options that have been rolling around in my head.

ok.... so I've been working on this post for like a week now and I think I just need to post it cause obviously me and posting is not going together right now. I have just spent the last two hours cleaning my apt (it drastically needed it) and I feel like such a lameo staying in on a friday but tomorrow I'm having brunch with a coworker and then we're going food shopping (trader joe's!) and I desperately need to go jean shopping. And then if I haven't grown exhausted by then I want to check out a bookstore! mmmm fresh sweet books, i've been reading second hand books for awhile and though those are nice to my wallet there is nothing like cracking open a brand new book. After all that awesomeness I will prob be drinking my life away given the superbowl and sat night.... but hey. that's fun!

oh some sadness, my cubby partner got let go today. I left for lunch and when I got back he was gone. No idea whatsoever that this was going to happen, I don't even think he had a clue. The small silver lining out of this (for me, not him unfortunately) is that he was considered an employee of a completely different office than mine so my job is safe right now. It still absolutely sucks though, he kept my sanity while I was working. I work for the international division and there were only 5 of us and now that he's gone I'm left with a lovely chinese woman, but she works like woah! and a korean guy who kind of annoys me. Not the best work situation. BUT I have been pushing myself to keep stepping out and talking to others in my office and there are two other girls my age and we've started to get pretty friendly which is awesome. We are all different departments and semi-quiet people so it's taken some time but I think we've all realized that eating lunch together and getting out of the office sometimes is going to make everything much more bearable so I'm excited! so ups and downs are occuring at work... the actual work this is still pissing me off. I feel like I'm incredibly useless there but I'm also starting to get a good idea of what I need to do. It's just actually pushing myself to become that person, because essentially I am not. BUT I CAN DO IT! and I want to. I want to be good, I want to be proud of myself. I want this new potential opportunity which I haven't talked about at all and won't until it's for real to HAPPEN. I intend for it to happen.

yep, so this turned out much longer than I thought, guess after cleaning the thoughts come out. :)

only 40 texts and a little gaga

so quick wkend recap cause the beginning of it was so awesome! But here is my very blurry pic of lady gaga at the concert! It was amazing and wonderful and soooooo much fun. We just danced our ass off! Luckily we got there early enough to see a bit of Jason Derulo as well who was an unexpected surprise. I don't know much of his stuff but he was a good dancer and it was fun. Then before she actually came on they played a bunch of michael jackson and every danced their butts off as well!


And here we are looking cute. We weren't totally gaga'd out but we tried! haha can't help it that we aren't insanely crazy like her!


After that the wkend was just eh. We did manage to get out and check out some of the smaller boutiques on broadway which was nice since I keep walking past them but never go in! I found a couple pairs of cute earrings! not new for me, I have a jewelry problem. haha

Now on to some awesome texts that I have gotten in the past week or so....

• From one of my good friends from college whom I haven't seen (except for like 4 hours) in months " I think i'm wearing a pair of your underwear."

haha yep, I got that at like 9 in the morning and it cracked me up for the whole day. I followed it up with "what the hell do I make with that?"

• And earlier this week from the roomie... "I was so spacey I actually bought a homeless person a coffee, that would never happen on a normal day!"

Have to love both of them, they kept me smiling throughout the whole day! I'm documenting them becuase my silly ghetto phone can only hold 40 texts and that for me is like a normal day. so sadly I have to delete them :(

Happy Tuesday Everyone! It's trivia night tonight! Loooooovvvvve it!

Guys can suck

my roommate got a call tonight from her "boyfriend" who is Australian but has been living in London for the past few years. Anyway he had gone home for the holidays and today and he called and said that he was staying in Australia. Now they have had a rocky relationship and add the long distance to it and it's complicated BUT he made this decision without talking to her or anything like that.

I guess where I am is I have no idea what to even think, and she wants some advice but what do you do with something like that? I first met the roomie 3 months ago and though we are close and I know most of the details, I have never met the guy and I only know her side of the story, bout everything. But my first instinct is, this guy has chosen to move from a country that's a 6 hour plane ride to a 24 hour plane ride away without even consulting her. And I know she loves him and they've talked about a future so I don't want to say you should end this becuase that's a big decision but I also don't want to say you should try to talk this out. Cause this guy obviously has problems and is extremely selfish.

This is an extremely strong and independent woman who falls apart when he is inconsiderate or mean to her. But when she talks about him she is happy. I get frustrated that guys can do this girls and we really don't have any power over it. Cause I seriously think she loves him and wants to spend the rest of her life with him, but he..... is impulsive and selfish and something...

so what does a roomie do? I brought her home and we're getting drunk but it doesn't really solve anything. It's a bandaid for a situation that is just going to be painful and sad. Are there any comforting words I can give her? anything that will make her forget that the man she loves is being a complete asshole!

oh and did I mention he called her on his way to work! so that they couldn't have more than a 15 minute conversation! right now I want to smack the guy!

Lady Gaga & Wisdom Teeth

Tonight I will be seeing this!

yep... that's right. Awesome roomie and I are going to be checking out this fabulous concert all decked out in Gagaish outfits! We are so excited! Thank the lord that she changed venues and put more tickets on sale!

Then tomorrow morning I have something not so fun.. finally getting my wisdom teeth out after many many years of being told i should. Which means that I will be laid up for the rest of the weekend on a liquid diet. Which in my world means that I get to load up on mucho food tonight and then smoothies and ice cream!!! trying to look on the bright side of things here cuase I'm truthfully very nervous. I hate things like this!

Happy weekend everyone! I'll be busting out my dance moves tonight and can NOT wait!!!!

Xmas in Pics

I'm busy still recuperating from the holiday season but here are a few great pics from the whirlwind!

Our pretty christmas tree. It was so big compared to my personal little one for the apt. Though I did love them both and can't quite get rid of mine yet :) Luckily I have a understanding roommate.

My sister likes to think she is the ghettoist girl living the "thug life."

How to get rowdy siblings to quiet down! Have them build gingerbread houses! Of course a competition is formed out of it, see the M on the door.

My mother being annoyed with my picture taking! We had had a long day by then filled with champagne, wine, cooking, and cleaning! exhausting!

NEW YORK!

my sister likes to believe she's taller than me.... she's totally not!

And here we are being nice.

Most of the NYC crew. SAdly my mom was taking the pic, but aren't we all cute! It was such a gorgeous day to walk around the city! loved it. A fantastic indian lunch followed as well..mmmm

Loved this in the city, they are trees on top of a building. SO COOL!

Good-bye 2009, Hello 2010

2009, a year of many endings and new beginnings. a year of completely new experiences and travels that I will remember my entire life.

• I finished my Masters program and now have a Masters degree in Fire Protection Engineering. It was a very long schoolward journey and I loved most of it, once I hit high school that is. But I am very happy to be done and using my brains for something real, rather than fake school projects.
• I spent a month roadtripping around the southern half of the US with one of my best friends. We saw so many cool places, beautiful landscapes, met numerous interesting people, hiked impossible trails, and had a few drunken nights in the cities that called for it. Las Vegas, woot woot! And after it all I was completely unsatisfied with the short time we were able to experience it all. I now have a never-ending itch to do the same in the north part and repeat the south! Someday!
• I spent quality time with the family and remembered what it was like to really live in NH and enjoy its beauty and peace. Though I do not want to be living there full time I do love the state. It was awesome to also connect with my family again as I hadn’t really lived at home for 4+ years and probably won’t again?!?! Scary but I can’t even think the next time I will be back in NH in this next year, so not improbable.
• I accepted a full-time position with the company I interned for a year with. Though things with the economy, etc hasn’t picked up and I am still rather bored here I am thankful for a job and for the few opportunities that come my way. I will continue to do my best and learn everything I can so that when things pick up or a new job opportunity comes my way I will be prepared and useful.

• I moved out of my first Chicago apt. I had a wonderful time with my roommate there but I was also excited to move on. She and I led very different lives and I realized that I got very frustrated living with a person who had a completely different schedule than me.
  
• Following that, I moved into my second Chicago apt in a new section of the city with two new roommates who I found off of Craigslist. It was a huge leap of faith in myself that I would be able to live with two completely new people and I’m very happy with how it has turned out. I have found a great new friend in one of them and while the other isn’t as such a good friend, she is pleasant and fine to hang out with. Plus the apt is gorgeous and amazing and finally a grown up place. Though I am still waiting for the grownup furniture, mainly a couch. But hey, maybe in 2010
  
• I read 30 books this year. Definetly on the lower side for me but my life was really just all go, go, go and I find when I don’t have set times to read (like on the way to work or something) that I will sit down and turn the tv on rather than pick up a book. I’d like to make a goal to hit right around 35-40 for 2010.
  
• I traveled to Macau, China and spent a month doing a section of my work field that I loved.

Though I know 2009 has been a rough year for many, for me it’s been a huge growing year. I have enjoyed so many new things and learned so much about no matter how much things change, certain things, the relationships and friendships that get you through, don’t deep down. And really it’s the friendships that we all want right? Love, laughter, happiness. I had an incredible amount of it all this year and only hope that 2010 brings the same amount if not more! Good wishes to all. I’m bout ready to head out of this here office and go party my pants into 2010!!!!

After the gym and a carb-loaded dinner of course. Have to have a base for all that booze. Oh and a trip to the store for champagne! Can’t forget that.

See ya next year!

2000-2009 An Era of Time: My Life in Snippits

2000: I was in 8th grade and I made a decision this year that changed my entire life. I chose to apply to a nearby private highschool because I wasn’t happy I in my current public one. I wanted the chance to remake myself and man did I get the chance! I spent that summer preparing myself for a new environment. I participated in the schools orientation and was amazed when I actually enjoyed camping and hiking while carrying everything on my back! It would later prompt me to make what my family saw as an insane decision a few years later.

2001: I was halfway through my freshman year at highschool in a completely new school. I was still figuring out my new love of theatre and singing by doing the musical Cabaret. I had my first real attraction towards a guy and my “heartbreak” when he got kicked out of school. J love the bad boys. I believe I spent the summer nannying my younger brother and sister which meant that I got paid to go hang out at our lake house and doing pretty much nothing. I turned 14 years old and enjoyed still being carefree.

2002: As a sophomore in highschool I was still deep into the theatre and singing scene. I played Maria in West Side Story and it was one of the proudest moments of my life. That summer I still nannyed. Ugh When Sept 11th happened I had just entered junior year and can remember being called out to our school’s soccer field and told the news. I was so confused that something like that could happen. I ended the year with the start of one of the most incredible experiences of my life, Mountain Classroom. I had a blast in my math and science classes not only because of the fellow students but also because of the teachers.

2003: As stated I was partaking in Mountain Classroom through the beginning of this year. It was the first time I had ever dogsledded, rock-climbed, backpacked/camped, and many other things. I forged a great friendship with 11 other people and changed many mentalities that I had had up to that point in my life. This summer I took my first real job lifeguarding, took drivers ed and got my license, and still enjoyed hanging out at our lake house. Right around here was also when I probably started sneaking out of my grandparents house, on my mothers orders, because the 10pm curfew I had was just not cutting it! This year I got even closer to one of my still good friends and we decided to direct the senior play together the next year.

2004: My senior year! I spent the winter directing Up the Down Staircase with my good friend. It was an incredible experience with lots of hands-on learning and mistakes. Our cast was huge and it took lots of patience and late nights from both of us to turn out a success. The spring was spent with the musical The Fiddler on the Roof and my senior project which left me with lots of free time to hang out and enjoy my last few months. Oh and I got accepted to college. Haha. I worked that summer lifeguarding and serving ice cream at the Quack Shack. Had a fantastic last summer! I entered college and couldn’t have been more excited.

2005: I was in the middle of my first year being on a Varsity Swim Team and taking numerous math and science classes plus having to choose a major. I fell in love with a great guy who would turn out to be my boyfriend for the next 4 years or so. I had a fantastic freshman year, went out lots, met a ton of new people, and had a generally fantastic time. My roommates, we were in a triple, turned out to be my best friends yet and the girl who lived next door became our 4th roomie. I spent that summer at home bummed because I wasn’t with the boy and bored with the slow life that is NH. I waitressed at a local country club with one of my friends.

2006: Sophmore year of college, started doing actual civil courses that I enjoyed. I was living with my two freshman roommates in an off-campus apt and loving it. My boyfriend was living in a dirty frat house and we had lots of fights because of all the stupid frat things he had to do. Swimming was great and it ended up being one of my best seasons. That summer I stayed in Worcester and had a great time waitressing down there. I watched one of my good friend s graduate but convinced her to come back for a grad year! Wahoo!

2007: Junior year at college I was now in the slightly more intense civil courses. I was captain of my swim team and had also taken on a job in our campus bookstore. Still in the same apt with a better 4th roommate. That spring I traveled to London for school and had a fabulous time. I fell in love with traveling as I also visited Ireland, Amsterdam, and Scotland. I spent that summer in Worcester as well missing my boyfriend who spent 2 months in China. It was a rough period where we fluctuated back and forth between being together because we basically spent 6 months apart! My fellow swimmer/roomy and I also convinced our other friend to join the diving team! Made swim meets WAY more fun.

2008: Senior year! Had to choose between going for a grad year and finishing up my masters or taking a one year internship. Opted for the one year internship after I got offered a position in Chicago and who could pass that up. I was busy with my graduate courses, swim team, campus bookstore, and helping my boyfriend who potentially couldn’t graduate navigate that. That spring after everything had quieted down I spent my mornings sleeping and my afternoons drinking in my backyard while calling everyone and convincing them to skip their classes and come drink with me! Graduation was absolutely insane and a complete mix of emotions. I spent a solid month hanging out with family and the boy before we road-tripped me to Chicago and moved me in. I started my internship which was not too fun. I later broke up with the boy in November because it was too exhausting living in two different cities.

2009: Now to this year, a year of mainly Chicago with multiple locations thrown in. These will be discussed in a future post to come tomorrow hopefully.