Christmas Favorites

With Christmas Day being a week away I wanted to count down my top 5 favorite Christmas presents ever (well thus far..)

5. Broadway Show Tickets

*Most notably:

*In 9th or 10th grade my aunt got me the soundtrack and tickets for January. I hadn't asked to see it, but I was always open for new shows. I am so glad I got introduced to RENT so early and got to become a long time fan, having seen the show 13 times on it's original Broadway run.


*Went with my Dad and my sister the day after Christmas 2006, incidentally the last Christmas I had with my Dad. It was a great show and we all had a great time.

4. Magic Nursery Tiny Wonder Doll







*I got a boy named Christian who I loved! I must have been in 4th or 5th grade, but I vividly remember sneaking to the top of the staircase at like 6am to see what Santa left and seeing two huge toy boxed filled with wrapped presents and 2 babydoll beds on top. As much as I take issue with my parent's parenting abilities, they knew how to do Christmas right when we were little. Those are some of my happier childhood memories.

3. Samantha - the American Girl Doll


*We had asked Santa for the dolls since they were so expensive and Santa has no budget and we asked our parents for doll dresses and accessories. My sister and I begged for these dolls - Samantha for me and Molly for her. Being the little brat I was didn't think it was fair that my sister would get the doll at age 7 when I didn't get one til I was 9 (we're 2.5 years apart). I seriously remember being so excited when the catalogs came in the mail and looking through them meticulously and circling things I wanted.

2. HBB - My Teddy Bear


*I do not have a picture of HBB handy, but I though this picture represented how big HBB seemed to me when I got him. I believe I got him was I was 5 years old and I have slept with him in my bed ever since. It was Christmas Eve at my mom's parent's house, but I'm not sure who exactly gave him to me. HBB is an acronym for his name which only a few people know. My mom have taken to calling him "Ted."

1. New York Knicks Starter Jacket


*In junior high was OBSESSED with the New York Knicks, especially John Starks (his number was 3 and that is the main reason why my favorite number is 3). Well back in 7th grade Starter jackers were all the age and I was DYING for a Knicks Startee jacket, but I wanted the BLACK one, not the blue one which was easy to come by. Well a few weeks before Christmas my family and I were shopping at Gold Coast in Oceanside (does anyone else remember that place it was AMAZING, it was like an indoor flea marker that had a little bit of everything. I have no idea why when closed years ago, I loved that place) and I spotted a ONE men's medium Knicks Starter Jacket in BLACK. I tried it on and it fit like a glove. My parents of course said no, despite me promising to act surprised on Christmas morning. Well Christmas morning came and I went for the biggest box in my pile to open first. Clothes...boo. I opened the next few biggest boxes...no jacket. Finally I came to a square box that looked like it could hold something the size of a volleyball. I opened it up and there it was my BLACK KNICKS STARTER JACKET. My mom has smushed it up to throw me off. I sobbed I was so happy, which made my parents laugh, but also touched them. I loved that jacket and wish I still had it. I actually found those pictures thanks to ebay and am comtemplating putting in an offer for it!

Also that year I asked my aunt for a WHITE John Starks Knicks jersey. You know when wearing NBA gear as a tween you gotta get to "cool stuff" hence why I was so specific in my wants. I actually not only got the jersey, but I got tickets to go with my aunt to see the Knicks plays the Nets at the Garden and OBVIOUSLY I wore my jersey. Our seats were fantastic right behind the basket a few seats up from the court, that is also a vivid memory of mine. God the Knicks in the mid 90s were SIIIIICK. Excellent memories.




I hope you enjoyed reading this post as much as I enjoy writing it and going down memory lane. What are some of your favorite Christmas presents you've gotten over the years? Please share in the comments section.

Fast Forward

How is it already Christmas? Seriously?!? I haven't even blogged much about Thanksgiving break and now I'm getting read to head back out of town this weekend for 2+ weeks. Craziness!

Thanksgiving was lots of fun between Downtown Baltimore, Little Havana, New Moon, Piercings, Car rides, lots of Dunkin Donuts Iced Coffee, Thanksgiving Eve festivities, seeing my fabulous "Yankee" friends", watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (I did't go, but I intend to soon), Iron Bowl in NYC, good pizza, QU Ice Hockey Game, Side Street, and Downtown Stamford to name a few.

The past few weeks have been a blur since I've been back: Christmas parties, AU Singers show, seeing a fantastic student production of "Five Women Wearing the Same Dress", hellos and goodbyes, being crafty, getting my hair did, Christmas shopping, What the Fox?! improv and lots of Christmas movies.

Saturday I leave for my roadtrip home. I'm driving Auburn to Charlotte and spending the night, then Charlotte to Baltimore and spending the night, followed by arriving to New York Monday afternoon. I have lots of ipod playlists made, planning a lot of phone calling and even getting an audiobook to listen to. Should be fun.

Sorry I have been ignoring my blog a little bit, I get distracted by shiny, new things like my tumblr! ::cough http://jjenniac.tumblr.com/ cough:: I promise the last few weeks really haven't been that exciting either, but I'm sure between Christmas break and the start of '010 (oh-ten as I've taken to calling it) I will have plenty to write about.

12 Days of Christmas Auburn Style

My friend wrote a Los Angeles version in his blog, so I was inspired to write an Auburn one.

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

1 Empty ballroom


On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

2 Lane highways


On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

3 Chick-fil-a's in town


On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

4 Haley quadrants


On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

5 Pairs of SHORT shorts on guys or Nike running shorts on girls


On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

6 Dollar potatoes from McAllisters


On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

7 Fratty pledges with terrible bangs


On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

8 Sessions of Camp War Eagle


On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

9 Minute walk to my car from my office


On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

10 Dollar cover at Supper Club


On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

11 Vera Bradley prints


On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

12 Regular season Auburn football games


*Editor's note - I'm still looking for better shorts picture with hopefully 5 people in shorts and also a picture of 7 fratty guys in gameday suits and ties. If you find some send them my way.

Speaking Christmas Auburn Style check out this...
http://www.vimeo.com/8212552

To Infinity and Beyond

I applied for my Passport today! It was my main 2009 resolution and yes I waited to the last second, but I got it done. Paperwork, pictures and payment. I'm very excited and even though I don't exactly have money to be traveling the world at least I can't use the excuse of not having a Passport to keep me from traveling. So if anyone wants to donate to "The Jenniac Heritage Tour Fund" let me know. First stop would be Ireland, followed by Slovakia/Czech Republic, and Italy.

Social Media

This video had some mind blowing stats.
Jump on the social media train kids, because it's not a fad, it's a culture shift.

I'll tumble for you?

I started a tumblr.
Basically it's gonna be music, videos, pictures, quotes, etc.
It's mainly for me - to document the cool stuff I come across online and it's already very addictive.
If you're looking for good music or just to kill time...check it out!
http://jjenniac.tumblr.com/

I'm "That Girl"

We were too cute to not share!

For Your Enjoyment

Quinnipiac Hockey #4 in the country

http://www.insidecollegehockey.com/5Polls/0910/polls_0810.htm
http://www.quinnipiacbobcats.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=17500&ATCLID=204841799

I am obsessed with Bad Romance by Lady Gaga and apparently covers of Bad Romance like this one



Cakewrecks is one of my fav blogs and 2 of my friends got a cake they found submitted, I was insanely excited for them!

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2009/11/whiter-shade-of-pale.html


Complete Turkey Break recap coming soon...

War Damn Iron Bowl

I am currently on the train en route to Penn Station. I am meeting up with my sister and we are going to the NYC Auburn Alumni Iron Bowl watch party at some bar on 3rd Ave. The Iron Bowl for those of you who do not know is the annual Auburn vs. Alabma football game. It is one of the oldest and greatest rivalries in football. The game is at Auburn this year, but I opted to be home (perhaps in 2 years when it is back in *uburn I will come down). Until last year Auburn won 6 straight years against Alabama, however last year we weren't even able to score. This year we have a new coach and we are out for blood. I figured if I couldn't be in Auburn for the game I would do the next best thing. I looked up the NYC Auburn Alumni chapter and founf out they have game watch parties and was invited to attended by the chapter presidents. I'm excited to finally see some Auburn peeps in the north. I hope it's a great game and that we come out victorious!

Baltimore Beatdown

I just needed to blog, while it is all fresh in my mind. This weekend I was in Baltimore visiting Sara and we had a fantastical time. Saturday night KDunks came down from Amish Country for dinner and a night out on the town with us. We all work in higher ed and have all had a crazy semester (mine last few weeks were especially heinous) and we needed to "slow off some steam." We did exactly that mostly thanks to overly prices martinis and dirty shirleys (shirley temples with vodka). More fabulous QU alums joined us out Saturday night - Drew, Jon and Katie. We had tooooooons of fun. At the end of the night we all wanted pizza and were waiting for pizza when we witnessed a crazy multiperson fight. It was the first time many of us saw (in person) people getting punched in the face - one guy even spit blood. Crazy. Sara and KDunks ended up begging Domino's for a pizza and we walked home to our friend Cindy's downtown to crash.

And crash we did. Sunday was quite the sh*tshow including a hilarious brunch. Despite Saturday night kicking our asses it was well worth it. Later Sunday night Sara and I went to see New Moon - it was decent. It was my least favorite of the 4 books, but the movie was enjoyable. I actually found myself rooting for Jacob in the movie which I never did in the books!

Monday Sara worked part of the day and even put me to work, but I'm a sucker for Student Affairs. Monday afternoon we went into the city to get my cartilage pierced. I had always wanted an industrial piercing (a barbell in your upper cartilage) so the past few weeks I was dead set to get it despite how painful I heard it was. I (of course) had a hot tattoo artist/piercer do it and it really didn't hurt. I WAS SHOCKED. The first whole wasn't bad at all,t he second one stung because all the blood that rushes to your ear, but it throbbed for an hour or two, but really it's been virtually painless and I love it. If you don't know what the piercing it just google "industrial piercing" it will come up.

Tuesday Sara and I headed to the northeast (with Freddie of course). We made great time coming up. We also found out that QU men's hockey is playing Saturday afternoon at the Q and a bunch of us are planning to go!

Home was been pleasant so far. Tonight I'm mostly like going out for Thanksgiving Eve to the bars with my friend Rachel (my oldest friend). Friday I'm going into the city to watch the Iron Bowl at an Auburn Alumni bar watch party. Then Connecticut on Saturday before heading back to 'bama on Sunday.

Speaking of Alabama my David Cook played in Mobile, AL last night and Atlanta the night before - it was very bummed I wasn't there for either/both of the shows, but I'm having a great and well deserved break!

Relieved

Last night I slept so soundly and I attribute to the fact that work has been so busy the past few weeks and I was pretty stressed out about it. Clearly you all know October was busy because of my lack of posts and the only real real November got so many posts was because I wrote them on the plane to and from Cali.

Let's quickly review the past few weeks
Sept 28 - Camp War Eagle Counselor Applications are out
Sept 28 - October 23 Camp Publicity and Info Sessions
Oct 3 - 5 Flew to CT/RI for a fab weekend
Oct 12 - SOS Applications are out
Oct 12 - Nov 9 SOS Publicity and Info Sessions
Oct 17 - 22 Caitlyn comes into town/AU Football game/David Cook concert
Oct 27 - 29 Camp Counselor 1st Round Interviews
Oct 30 - Nov 1 Sara comes to visit/AU Football game
Nov 2 - 4 Camp Counselor 2nd Round Interviews
Nov 5 - Camp Counselor Call outs
Nov 6 - 10 California for NODA Conference
Nov 11 - First ever SOS group interview process
Nov 13 - SOS Transfer Orientation Session
Nov 15 - First Improv Show
Nov 16 - 18 SOS Second Round Interviews
Nov 18 - My Dad's 2nd Anniversary
Nov 19 - SOS Callouts

I can BREATHE...finally. It feels good. I honestly feel very accomplished, I have been thinking about that crazy CWE/NODA/SOS time for months and I'm glad it's not only over,but it all successful. I must add it was such a success due in strong part to my fantastic colleagues. I don't think I've ever been part of a stronger team and working them is truly a joy everyday.

In the end we have 34 new Orientation Leaders and 36 new Camp Counselors which is very exciting and I can't wait to get to know them all.

Tomorrow Freddie and I head out to Baltimore to see Sara for the first part of Thanksgiving break before heading to New York on Tuesday for the rest of break. In addition to seeing Sara my friends Drew and Kelly are also gonna be in Baltimore this weekend which I am really excited about. Thinking about this weekend has kept me going through all the stress. I'm gonna need one helluva drink tomorrow!

If I don't blog before next week...Gobble Gooble to you and yours.

Mashup

What do you get when you mix an awesome band (The Swell Season aka the people from Once) with a HIGH-larious actor from my favorite show (Jason Segel from HIMYM)

THIS!

Second Anniversary

Missing you always Daddy, but especially today.
Rest in peace.
April 25, 1949 - November 18, 2007

Bette Midler - Wind Beneath My Wings
Uploaded by jpdc11. - See the latest featured music videos.

I hope to be truly happy again instead every other emotion with some days less terrible than others.

Freddie's Two

Happy 2nd Birthday to my dear pup Freddie...love you mucho
and yes I've continued the tradition of forcing him to wear a party hat and taking pictures of him in it

What The Fox?!

Last night was my first improv show and it was AWESOME.
Not only was the entire cast on point, but I really felt like I had a good show.
I was funny, phunny, witty and not too filthy, but for sure inappropriate.
On top of that we had 89 freakin people come out. WHAT?!?! Crazy.
Much love to Michelle, Codi, Jim, Ella and John for coming out to support me last night.
There is video of the show on the internet, but I will only grant access with a written request.

This was our cool flyer that one of our cast member's made.

California was Legendary

Dear California,

Thank you for showing me a great time. Beautiful weather, awesome people and fun memories. The trip was off to a good start with getting into town nearly an hour early, plus the fact a colleague from Birmingham was on the flight so we shared a cab and got dinner. I have to admit, Disney really intoxicated me with their magic. I couldn’t help, but smile the whole time I was there. I wasn’t even like a “Disney kid,” but I was hooked on Disney. The Disneyland Resort was a great place for the conference, all the meeting places were super close and we were right next to downtown Disney. My room on the 7th floor overlooked downtown it was excellent, I was able to see the fireworks clearly from my room (I often has the balcony doors open and laid in bed watching the show).

I was superbusy at the conference, having a mentor lunch with grad students (that may have been a conference highlight), leading a session for 2nd year grad students on job searching/interviewing, co-coordinating GOT Skills (an undergraduate leadership workshop), going to all kinds of network meetings (I am co-chair of the undergraduate student network), in addition to going to education sessions, presenting an education session on out of state students, going to speakers, meetings, banquets, etc. I love conferences, as exhausting as they are I get invigorated. This year was my 3rd NODA (National Orientation Directors Association) Conference and I really felt at home. I’ve gotten to meet and work with so many people from across the country and I love reconnecting with them face to face at conferences. I really tried to push myself out of my comfort zone in terms of networking with people as opposed to just sticking with friends.

This year’s conference built in time for us to explore Disney and southern California. Sunday night I headed to Disneyland with 5 other folks and spent 5 hours have a blast. Luckily we were all rollercoaster people so we did exactly that. First stop: Space Mountain, then the teacups (there was no line so Ella, Shasta and I went while John, Bart and Jim took pictures of us), Thunder Road Railroad (I think that is what it was called), Pirates of the Caribbean, The Matterhorn, Indiana Jones, Space Mountain (again), and Star Wars Star Tours. We had very brief waits at everything. We also grabbed a quick dinner in addition to watching the fireworks and Fantasmic show (craziness). Needless to say after a full day of conferencing and 5 hours in the park we were BEAT.

Monday afternoon Ella, John and I were headed to the City of Angels. I only took 45 minutes to get from Anaheim to Los Angeles and we got some great views along the way. The whole point of the trip was to go to the set of How I Met Your Mother thanks to my friend George from college who is an assistant writer for HIMYM. It was really exciting pulling into Fox Studios and having my name “be on the list.” As soon as we left the parking garage we were in the midst of studio lots. George gave ridiculously amazing directions and we went to the HIMYM offices. We were trying to keep our cool even though we all are HUGE fans of the show. We get to the reception area and have someone fetch George from a writers meeting. Out of all my friends with cool-ish jobs, George takes the cake. He gives us a brief tour of the office – writers room, cast dressing rooms (I took pic a pic of NPH’s) and then we head down to the set. I really had no idea what to expect. I had been to Jeopardy and Total Request Live, but those aren’t real “shows.” There was stuff EVERYWHERE, the studio seems like Woodshop-sets being built and props galore. George was full of fun facts and I had about 8,000 question and comments. First we saw a set piece being completed for a future episode, but I was sworn to secrecy until the episode airs. Next was Ted’s classroom – George told us they filmed Ted’s “wrong” classroom at UCLA. Then was XXXXXX’s office and XXXXXXXX’S XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX. Finally was Ted’s kitchen and apartment. I can’t get over how small it was and how LOW the red couch is. I took a pic at the piano and one on the red chairs, but they are on Ella’a camera. There was SO much to take in, in the apartment. I was surprised how faux (is that the right word) things were. Everything was very I don’t even know the right word…like dinky. The walls were so thin and it was all about appearances instead of actual quality – which I expected to degree. Finally we made it to MacLaren’s. I think I was most excited about MacLaren’s. The booth, the table, the bar, the mural, too much. Got some sweet pics including George and me in the back corner booth by the mural. It was so interesting to hear all about how the show is made from George. Monday morning the cast does a read through, then the writers so revisions. Tuesday is blocking/rehearsal. Wednesday-Friday they shoot. I asked George about the hours and he was basically like we’re done when it’s funny enough and how we want it. It was cool to see all the casts’ chairs with the names on it. Seriously the whole thing blew my mind. While I was “interviewing” George haha Ella and John got to talking with Chico a set builder and learned some cool stuff too. We were prob on set for 30-40 minutes and in that time they had put all the chairs in Ted’s classroom. John said he noticed a book with pictures and diagrams of where everything goes. Oh and I also saw a script – I took a picture of it (that I can’t post until after it airs). I believe they had just wrapped on the 10th episode and were getting the set together for the 11th. This blog post doesn’t even so justice to how awesome it was to be on set. George had to get back to the meeting, but he directed us down the New York street (it has a real name that I can’t think of at the moment). We took pics on Ted’s stoop and the entry leading down to MacLaren’s. We also saw another part of the block outfitted to be Washington DC for Bones. I don’t watch Bones, but we saw the Founding Fathers Bar and a few other buildings that were impressive. George was such a gracious host and we are so thankful for the experience.


Me and George


On Ted's stoop


So we are driving around on like a HIMYM high trying to figure out what to do next, we so down Rodeo Drive and then we’re on Sunset Blvd at a light and we see a sweet Bentley next to us…all of a sudden Ella goes “Oh sh*t John Travolta.” Sure enough RIGHT NEXT TO US (I was sitting in the back right of our car and John was in the back left of his). John and Kelly Preston were in the chauffeured car all decked out. I was like OMG John Travolta has a movie coming out Old Dogs. It was too late for us to follow the Bentley since we were in a turn lane, but we decide to go to Hollywood Blvd/Walk of Fame area and sure enough half the street is closed for the Old Dogs red carpet. We park and like go to the red carpet area. We end up being by the doors of the theatre (El Capitan) past the red carpet. We were like 5 people in from the railing and I had a good view of the red carpet. The best part was the celebs were coming RIGHT OVER TO US. Travolta did it first and I was too shocked to get my camera. All in all we saw John Travolta, Kelly Preston, Rita Wilson, Tom Hanks, Robin Williams, Jenna Elfman, Dax Shepard, Seth Green, Kevin Nealon, Forest Whitaker, Lori Loughlin, John Voight – I’m sure there were more. The crazy part is we were practically leaning against the windows of a ice cream shop next door to the El Capitan and all of a sudden the entire cast is in the ice cream shop taking pictures. They closed the doors, but the regular people that were in there got to stay and Tom Hanks went and sat with folks because he was not in the movie, but there to support his wife. So crazy. We ended up driving around the Hollywood Hills in an effort to get a good picture of the Hollywood sign. Sadly it doesn’t get lit up at night and it was so dark for pics, but we were literally at the highest point we could get (legally). The view of the sign was sick and the view of LA was enchanting (smog and all…it made the lights twinkle). We had no idea where to eat, so after some phone calls we ended up back on Sunset at a place called Ketchup which was apparently on the Hills. It was very trendy, but good too. We headed back to Anaheim at like 9:30pm and I was actually up looking through my pics and watching a few clips of HIMYM from season 3 that I have on itunes just to solidify the fact that OMG I was just there and it was legend-wait for it…

They Got More Bounce in California

I’ve gotten quite a bit of flack for falling off the face of the earth in terms of blogging, I would feel guilty if it wasn’t for how freaking BUSY I have been lately. I’ll break the past few weeks into a few posts for you guys so it isn’t as intimidating.

I am typing this in a word document in the air about 45 minutes away from landing in Orange County. It’s 7pm my time (central) and I’ve been up since 6:20am after going to bed at 12:30am after callouts. I actually went to work early this morning and worked the morning to get everything set for both me leaving work-wise and conference-wise. I am headed to DISNEYLAND for NODAC – a national orientation conference. I am gonna be jam packed at this conference. I am leading a round table discussion for graduate students on interviewing/job searching, have lunch with a bunch of graduate students as a “mentor”, co-coordinating a 4 hour undergraduate student workshop, presenting an education session on out of state students and going to a bunch of leadership type meetings on top of just “attending the conference.”

*Day one of the conference has been super busy, but also hella fun so I didn't get to post all this until now, I will type up another word doc on my flight home to post then I get back as well!

Selections Like Whoa

On top of all my visitors and other excitement I’ve been HELLA busy preparing for SOS and Camp selections. The past 2 weeks were Camp Counselor round 1 and round 2 interviews. That means I sat in about 80 5 minute first round interviews and 70 12 minute second round interviews. Wednesday night was our selections meeting that started at 4pm and ended and 2:30am – typical. Last night was one of my favorite times of the year. Call outs for Camp Counselors, it is so exciting. Last year I really loved it because I didn’t know what to expect. It’s crazy because it marks the end of one chapter and the beginning of another.

On Monday our SOS orientation leader applications are due and Wednesday is out FIRST EVER round one group interview. Very exciting, but also nerve wracking. Then we have an SOS session next Friday to be followed up the next week with round two interviews and SOS Call outs on the 19th. Meanwhile I’m en route to California for a conference and am blessed to have wonderful colleagues and student leaders to get have thing ready for Wednesday when I get back for first round interviews. Don’t get me wrong I spent a lot of time prepping as much as I could before I left and talking with my colleagues and students so I am not totally bailing on them. I trust them and I feel confident in the work I did prior to leaving.

Jumbotron Punk

Sara came to visit Halloween weekend. Friday afternoon we just kind of hung around and chilled out after crazy work weeks. I also worked on my Halloween costume “Project Runway” style. I pretty dressed up as an edgier version of myself, but I claimed I was a “punk.” I had a Miami Ink Skull t-shirt that I was to shred up. I ended up giving the back of the shirt a laced corset look and make the sleeves drapier (apparently that is not a word). I also added some strategic safety pins to my shirt as well. Friday night we didn’t dress up instead we went to a blockparty downtown where Delicious’s band “Miss Used” was playing. We also did some window shopping before grabbing dinner at Brick Oven – I had never been and always wanted to. By the time we ate it was pretty much time to go out and we were already parked downtown so we headed out for the evening. Interesting times as always and went to bed around 2:30am.

Saturday was a football game against Ole Miss with an 11:21am kick off…yuck. Unfortunately we were running a bit behind and didn’t make it in the stadium for pre-game, but we did see the fighter jets fly over which was pretty cool. I didn’t have high hopes for this game at all. On like the first drive Ole Miss scores…grrrrrreat. Did finally score a few times in the first half, but the highlights of the half were our SOS jumbotron commercial and Sara and I getting SERIOUS jumbotron time. I was in an orange cowboy hat and managed to make eye contact with the camera guy who got a close shot of us that was up for like 30 seconds…out of control. My cell phone was blowing up with texts after that. Just when I thought the game couldn’t get any more exciting it did. The third quarter was the best quarter of football I may have ever seen. Auburn dominated and scored 3 times right in front of us. There were so many great plays. Going into the half the score was 10-7 Auburn and after the third it was like 38-22. No one ended up scoring in the 4th and we have an awesome Auburn victory. Also the rain managed to hold out, it only really sprinkled during the game, but after the game it rained pretty hard.

Another highlight of the weekend was getting read with Sara for Halloween night…good play list, some adults drinks and lots of make up is always a fantastic time. Sara transformed into Wonder Woman with full regalia and a bump it. I transformed into a “punk” with a bright pink faux hawk, a lip ring, black lip stick, my awesome shirt, fishnets, and the best fake eyelashes I’ve ever worn. Fun times Saturday night talking to so many people. The quote of the weekend goes to a guy hollering at Sara being Wonder Woman and saying “I’ve got a wonder in my pants.” HA-LAIR. We were out til like 5am (maybe 6am with the time change).

We pretty much laid on the couch all day Sunday vegging out. Such fun times. I can’t wait until I head down to Baltimore and see her in two weeks!

Sister.Cook.Weagle.Fox.

Going back to Mid-October in 1 weekend I have two visitors, an AU football game, a David Cook concert and improv practice. Seriously October 16-18 was ridiculous. It was a weekend full of going out and late nights in addition to a lot of driving, not to mention that it was freaking FREEZING that weekend too. Plus freaking Auburn lost to Kentucky which was really disappointing, however out Camp War Eagle Jumbotron commercial aired in the 2nd quarter(after some drama) so that was cool.

The best part of the weekend was David Cook. My sister last minute decided to fly down for the game and concert. Like every Dave concert I have been to I’ve had to drive HOURS. He was playing like 2.5 hours away at the Georgia State Fair. I wanted to get there early to try and meet him pre-show…turns out we rolled up to the fair a few minutes before their busses arrived. Clearly we went to the pavilion and stood by the stupid “walls” (fences) around the busses. We were able to see through the joints of the fence and there he was….like less than 5 feet from me. Clearly he was behind a solid 8 foot fence and I couldn’t meet him, but that didn’t stop me from yelling funny comments at him and the rest of the band. I (along with all the other fangirls) were able to take pics through the joints of the wall which look a little stalker-esque, but I don’t care. After a good bit of staring, yelling and picture taking Cait and I explored the fair.

Oh my fairs are….umm…interesting. All different types of people and deep fried things. I had my first official corn dog and deep fried oreos – personally I didn’t think they were worth writing home about or anything, but when in Rome right?

The concert itself was at 4pm…when Dave greeted the group he was like after 130+ shows this is the first time I’d said “good afternoon.” This was their last show before a 2.5 week break and I must say they had a pretty stellar playlist including my jam “Souvenir” as well as “Kiss on the Neck” – with a little “Hotel California” mixed in. I have to say his banter was the highlight of the show. After the show we waiting around by the fences, but they all had flights to catch so of they went as did we.

After like 4-5 hours of sleep by Friday and Saturday in addition to driving round trip to the airport and the fair I went to improv practice. I showed up a little late due to traffic/getting lost. Improv is good times. We have a pretty solid group and our first show is Sunday, November 15. I had an “off” few weeks, but I’ve felt more “on” as of lately…we shall see. Oh and our group’s name is What the Fox?!

Caitlyn ended up staying through Thursday of that week so we just hung around a bunch, which was nice and laughed a lot which was even nicer.

1st Improv Show

What up first improv show November 15th.
We had a great practice last night...I finally felt "on" for the first time in weeks.
We dedided on a group name: What the Fox
The name came about when we were rehearsing outside and a fox like walked right by - I noitced the fox and was like what the and someone else said fox and it kinda turned into What the Fox (WTF).
We set up a facebook event for the show and we are even featured on an Auburn nightlife website http://tigernights.com/features/local-improv-groups-first-show/
Exciting exciting!

Just Breathe

Yes I have a lot to write about - Football, sister, friends, GA Fair, and DAVID COOK, but that will have to wait til later this week because I've been uber busy.

'til then check out this kick ass video for a good cause by Ryan Star



http://www.breathe4jobs.com/

I Miss Autumn

This week at work had been totally crazy busy for many reasons, but most likely because I took Monday off for a trip up North. And oh what a trip it was. I was flying up for my friend's wedding shower and to see my bestie. It turned into quite a travel extravaganza. There were so many little aspects of the trip to plan to make it work that I ended up having to take a 6am flight out of Birmingham which meant I needed to leave my place at 3am - therefore had to wake up at 230am. The night before I forced myself to go to bed at 7pm (I didn't sleep super well, but I got a good bit). The 2 hour drive to Birmingham wasn't much fun, especially thanks to heavy fog and critters.

The travel was worth it in the end because my friend's wedding shower was superb and very elegant. It was so good to see Jenn and celebrate with her.
After the shower Colleen and Kyle picked me up and we drove up to Rhode Island. I love Autumn in New England, the leaves and foliage were beautiful. That night despite having been up since 230am I went out on the town. I was too tired I was delirious and mixing that with some alcohol was a sloppy combination.

The next day Colleen and I went to her family's place outside of Boston to watch the Patriots game which luckily they won. I got to catch up with a bunch of Rhode Island peeps the rest of the night...good times.

Monday we did some shopping and got lunch at Friendly's...yum! I forgot to mention that I drank a TON of Dunkin Donuts Iced Coffee!! The travel home was less fun since I had nearly missed my connection...I got to the gate 10 minutes before we took off-i had that stress, especially since I was in the airport I just got wrapped up in a phone call.

My friend Codi babysat Freddie and they had a glorious time bonding while I was away. Good times had by all!

Since I've been back in Alabama it's been rainy and gross. Boo to the lack of good Autumn weather.

Vistor!

My crazy, but lovable sister decided today to buy a ticket to fly in THIS Saturday. I think I successfully lured her into my David Cook web! Saturday evening there is a home Auburn Football game and Sunday is my David Cook concert/Georgia State Far...PLUS that night I'm gonna take her to improv. She is actually staying this Thursday...and it's gonna be awwwwsome.

I promise a blog about my CT/RI trip will be coming henceforth...work/life has just been SUPER busy.

Well Hello October

Wow September flew by...usually they drag. BUSY BUSY around here. Trying to cut through my to-list at the moment. Tomorrow we are hosting a state-wide orientation conference so I really won't be in the office. Then this weekend I am off to Connecticut & Rhode Island. I'm going to my friend Jenn's wedding shower. I'm not able to go to the wedding, but I really wanted to see her and congratulate her so I'm glad I can attend the shower. Then I'm spending the rest of the weekend with Colleen!

Listen to my crazy travel plans. My flight leaves at 6am on Sunday from Birmingham. 6am that means I am waking up at 2am blah. However with a layover I won't get to CT until Noon which is when I needed to be there. My plan is to go to sleep when I get home from work tomorrow - we'll see how that works out. I did buy the 9th Sookie Stackhouse book to read so I will be all caught up. I also bought the new Dan Brown book, but I don't anticipate starting that til at least next week.My fabulous friend and fellow blogger Codi will be walking and feeding Freddie while I'm away. He really hates the kennel so since it's only 3 days I think he can manage for the most part. Plus I bought him this awesome piece of raw hide that I'm SURE will keep him busy.

After work today I'm getting a haircut. My friend (and also fellow blogger too) Michelle gave me a gift certificate she got for a free haircut/shampoo/blow out because she didn't want to cheat on her hairdresser. I have no problem cheating, plus it's just a cut. I'll go back to my new girl in town for color in November - and since my hair is so dark these days I'm going to have her put in a couple of dark blue pieces which I am really excited about!

I gave my blog a minor facelift to go with the new season. Fall is here - it means hot tea/coffee, soup, sweaters wahoo!

P.S. Last weekend my fabulous friend Natalie aka Natty Lite came to visit from Atlanta and we had a blast catching up, going out (The Velro Pygmies were in town and I managed to catch their attention a time or two ::wink::) and ever scored free tickets to the game (we only stayed til halftime because it was rainy and gross, plus we were killing Ball state).

Cutest Dog Ever

I signed my dog up for a Cutest Dog contest online, but it's for $1 million. Even if Freddie just wins for the week he gets $500 and when I say "he" I mean ME. People stop me ALL THE TIME telling me how cute he is, so I might as well make some money off him haha. I don't think we'll win for this week because his picture isn't approved yet, it takes 24 hours and the voting week runs Sun-Sat (I signed him up today). We shall see though. If you have a blog please add this link to your site http://tinyurl.com/yaphtsz

Oh and I heard about this contest thanks to the dog Stpehen Colbert el dos and his story on CNN.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/09/28/colbert.dog.wins.contest/index.html

Freddie is way cuter!!

Party Barn

Tuesday night I went to my first Presidential shindig. I was invited to a Student Leader Reception since SO many of our students were being honored. I've only seen President Gogue from afar so I was pretty excited to be invited. So we arrive at the President's mansion and get to parking in their huge horseshoe driveway. We get greeted by the President and his wife at once we walk in. The mansion was beautifully decorated. We also walked through the mansion to their new reception area that is just outside...aka a party barn. We were like one of the first groups in there, they had not even completely finished landscaping. My goodness the party barn was beautiful! It was great to see so many students that have come through our office in leadership positions being recognized. I'd say about 60 students were there and about half of them had worked in our office at one point or another.The food was yummy and they served soda in little glass bottles - it so cute. The President said as few words as well as our new Vice President for Student Affairs. It was a very classy event and I know the students felt really honored. I'm really happy President Gogue held this event and I also felt pretty special since I got to go as well!

I got a group shot of 2009-2010 FYE Student Staff with the President.

The President told Rachel to stand in front of his to "hide his pot belly." - too funny!

This also led to like a 10 minute photoshoot with people with the President in smaller groups. Oh how I wish I had a picture with Quinnipiac's President Lahey - maybe at Alumni Weekend this year!

I Don't Remember Growing Older

I often find myself thinking the the song "Sunrise, Sunset" from Fiddler on the Roof when I think about aging. Those of you unfamiliar here is a excerpt:

Is this the little girl I carried?
Is this the little boy at play?

I don't remember growing older
When did they?

When did she get to be a beauty?
When did he grow to be so tall?

Wasn't it yesterday
When they were small?

Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly flow the days
Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers
Blossoming even as we gaze

Seriously. I taught my freshmen seminar class this morning and I still pinch myself that I'm old enough to teach. Actually on this week's How I Met Your Mother...it's Ted's first day teaching at Columbia and he debates about he wants to introduce himself to the class as "cool young Ted" or as "Stuffy Professor Mosby." Check out the first minute of this clip about a nightmate he has about the first day



It's crazy to think that I'm about the same age as the characters of How I Met Your Mother or Friends when the shows were in it's early seasons. They all seem like such grown ups...while I do not.

I swear I think I have a quarterlife catharsis weekly if not daily.

Photo Op

The black cloud of doom 30min before scheduled kickoff


Sheets of rain


Alexander Skarsgard. Why? Because why, not. I saw it come up on twitter and really I'm posting it here for my enjoyment rather than yours

TiVo and TV

So I FINALLY subscribed to TiVo this weekend. I had my dad's old TV box and once looked into setting it up, but there was some drama so I waited. Well now with the new TV season in full swing I decided I no longer want to be a slave to television schedules. It took some time and a lot of cursing on my part, but I got it set up Friday. So far so good.

I am currently watching the Emmy's (yes live, I am recording it too, but improv was cancelled so I got to watch it). NPH or Neil Patrick Harris is hosting. He opened with a fab song and I'm looking forward to the rumored Dr. Horrible skit. Sadly NPH didn't win best supporting actor for a comedy, but he's fabulous and he knows it.

Tomorrow I fully plan on blogging about the insane AU v. WV game and how ridiculous it is they didn't get ranked.

Kelly's Visit

Better late than never right? I am currently typing along to Muse's new record that came out yesterday (it streaming for free on their website - glorious).

Let's travel back to Friday September 4. We had an awesome work tailgate that afternoon which was fun and kept me distracted enough from my overwhelming excitement to see Kelly. At like 4:40 (5 minutes early) I leave work jet to my car, run home real quick to walk Freddie and then head off the Atlanta Airport. It is about 90 minutes to the airport from Auburn so I was going to get to the airport at the perfect time. Kelly's flight was coming in at 7:30 eastern/6:30 central (I really loathe the time zone changes). I stopped in Newnan, GA for Dunkin Donuts Iced Coffee - I actually held off drinking anything in the car until then. Well Newnan is like 25 minutes from the airport. I drive a few more miles and then I see brake lights, lots of brake lights. SERIOUSLY. For the sake of me getting re-frustrated I will say that due to an apparent accident I sat in traffic for an HOUR. At one point I had the car off and was standing next to my car. Aggravated! Needless to say about an hour and 20 minutes later than I had hoped I made it to the Airport and picked up Kelly!

We stopped and got a bite to eat in Newnan on the way back because I was hungry, had to pee and was sick of the car. Let's just say that was a crazy random dinner and I like barely ate because I was too busy talking.

We FINALLY get to Auburn at like 10:30pm central. Kelly FINALLY got to meet Freddie and it was love at first sight. Gave her the apartment tour and we were both awake and up for a mini Auburn tour and beverage. I showed her some of the tailgating fields and we drove past all the fraternity houses (and hundreds of drunk students). Then we went to Momma G's for a pitcher of their crack beer. Lots of fun people watching, except we had 2 creeks from California who were like posing as southerns be rude to us because we were from the north. Kelly was shocked to be discriminated against. They were ugly jerks, but it's funny in hindsight. We went to bed at like 3am after giggling and slumber party like chatting in bed.

Well the excitement of football season caused me to wake up at 7:30am!?!?! Really?!?! I know crazy, but I was too excited to sleep. We had breakfast at home, hung around got ready (aka decked Kelly out is tons of orange stuff), went to McAllisters for lunch and then headed to campus. Oh the sea of orange. I loved watching Kelly's reaction to game day in Auburn. We tailgated hopped for a bit, went to tiger walk, drank beer out of the bottle in public thanks to no drinking rules on gameday (Kelly especially loved that...as do I). Before the game we got some Chick-Fil-A, Kelly's first time having it, we drank our beers and ate our chicken it was magical.

So 30 minutes before the game we head to the Stadium (I love have tickets, no need to get to the game hours before it starts for seats!). Umm my seats are KICKASS. Endzone 20 rows up and have a great angle of the field. The eagle, the band, aubie, 87,000 people in orange and an Auburn victory it was awesome! Sadly we didn't get on the jumbotron - HOWEVER at this past week's game I was on it TWICE thanks for my friend Michelle's awesome 1st row endzone seats! I kept getting texts from people who saw me. The first time I was on it was super up close and I even looked up to the jumbotron and saw me on it..creepy, but cool.

So we won and went to Roll Toomer's Corner good times. We headed home to shower and relax for a bit. Then we headed back out on the town...mainly for the people watching. Again I love watching my other Yankee friends observe southerners - especially their fashion. Sadly we didn't make it to Supper Club, but good times none the less.

Sunday we slept in a bit before having breakfast and getting sucked into a SVU marathon. We made it out to the pool for a few hours then got ready and I gave Kelly the grand tour of Auburn's campus and she took pictures of various things mainly because of how redonk they are (the fraternity houses, poultry science building etc). Then we headed to Niffers for dinner and their infamous corn nuggets which Kelly loved (I'm not gonna lie I do judge the people who don't love them ahemCaitlynahem). I even saw the fabulous Ms. Codi and Jim out with her parents are Niffers. I like seeing people out that I know. Then we went to the movies to see 500 Days of Summer. I'm not a huge movie goer, but I really wanted to see it - I had heard such great things about it. At the movies I actually ran into like 6 people I knew. As I'm sure you read from an earlier blog we LOVED the movie. We seriously went to Starbucks after the movie to like "process" it. I had the pleasure of getting a pumpkin spice latte served by one of my students I teach actually and miraculously I knew her name (on my 2nd try). Again somehow we were up til like 2am that night giggling over dumb things on the internet oh and me forcing her to watching David Cook's SNL performances.

Monday we were up bright and early because her flight was at 1:30pm eastern which somehow meant we had to be on the road at 9am with all the time changes and getting to the aiport early. Since I was going to be in Atlanta so early I made a day of it. My friend Michelle came with us so her and I could go shopping after. Before we headed out of town I had to take Kelly to her first Sonic. Then we were on the road - I've said it before, but it's amazing how fast a car ride can go with passengers. Clearly I stopped in Newnan for DD coffee. We dropped Kelly off which was sad, but we had good times and I'm planning on visiting her and the Amish in the Spring. Michelle and I headed to IKEA which was magical. I had not been to the one in Atlanta and it was bumpin. Luckily I got everything I wanted and spent under $200 which was my "budget." Then we went to some outdoor shopping place nextdoor which was cool. We had a yummy lunch at Doc Greens and did some shopping. I got 2 pairs of sandals. Then we lot hella lost getting to the Lenox Mall. Serious it was like 5 minutes from where we were, but we took the wrong highway and went like 30 min out of the way. Sadly the mall didn't have a NY & Co which I thought it did, but goodtimes nonetheless. Lastly we went to Traders Joes and got some yummys (including 2 buck chuck aka cheap wine). Someone it was like 7pm and we headed home again with a DD stop. I was BEYOND exhausted after a marathon shopping day and action packed weekend overall. All of last week I was a zombie, but it was worth it!

Kelly I hope this blog did your trip justice...feel free to comment is you have anything to add!

DC's my TWEETheart

I still need to blog about Kelly's visit...hopefully tomorrow, but while I'm still in ecstasy I need to blog about what just happened an hour ago. David Cook joined twitter like a month ago and since then he's had like 2 Twitter Q&A's (not parties because parties have punch and this does not - his words not mine) anyway I've submitted questions to him via twitter and he never got to them which was sad, but at the same time it was exciting to be on twitter whilst he was on twitter. So today I was hope at lunch and logged on twitter to see he was in the middle of a twitter Q&A he only does them for like 20-30min at a time. I've submitted a wide range of questions, but the first one that came to mind was "@thedavidcook have a new tattoo planned?" and then I submitted two others. Well I go and look on his twitter page and right at the top only moments after I submitted my question I see:

RT jjenniac@thedavidcook have a new tattoo planned? I've got like four planned.

RT = Re Tweet aka he copied and pasted my question and then just answered his. I've learned so much twitter lingo in the past 2 months.

Umm I love that he has four planned because I have two planned. He's totally a planner, not someone who just decides to get a tattoo. I've had tattoos (both my future ones and his current ones).

Actually his answer was vI've got like four planned. A TYPO. He rarely has typos. Maybe my little pic was so beautiful that it distracted him. Regardless still magical and I've "edited" his typo in all my many repostings, but it's nice to know he isn't perfect. I love his imperfection actually. Agh and I heard a really cute radio interview with him today from last week. Like NO JOKE him and I would really be compatible. Yes, I lust after him, but I would settle for being his friend because I know we'd be awesome friends.

Regardless today is the beginning. Contact has been made. I'm seeing him in concert in a little over a month at the Georgia State Fair. The possibilities are endless. I may have to delete this blog if I ever have the pleasure of knowing him - too much evidence of my obsession.

~JJ

Courageous Despite Fear

Every year I get sucked into September 11th news coverage. I still can't believe it happened and the fact that somehow New York bounced back. On days like today I am so proud to be a New Yorker and it makes my heart hurt a little bit that I've never spent a September 11th in NYC since it happened.

God bless those who lost their lives and those who gave their lives that day.

I'll leave you with this picture I found a few years ago online and have made my profile picture every year since '07.



Never Forget.

500 Days of Summer

This weekend was FANTASTIC and I promise to blog all about it later this week since I am super busy at work. HOWEVER I do want to share this with you. Do yourself a favor and click on "Videos" to see the trailor.



We saw 500 Days of Summer on Sunday and LOVED it. I loved how real this movie was - it's not your typical romantic comedy. It was so different and fresh and original. No wonder there was so much buzz about it at the Sundance film festival.I already bought the soundtrack and have been quoting it nonstop (i.e. Just because she's likes the same bizzaro crap you do doesn't mean she's your soul mate). Plus it had a dance sequence to Hall and Oates "You Make My Dreams Come True" - see video at bottom. I have a new found love for Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Here are some more favorite quotes:

Tom: What happens when you fall in love?
Summer: You believe in that?
Tom: It's love, it's not Santa Claus.

Tom: People don't realize this, but loneliness is underrated

Tom: Darling...I don't know how to tell you this, but... there's a Chinese family in our bathroom.

Summer: I woke up one morning and I just knew.
Tom: Knew what?
Summer: What I was never sure of with you.

Tom: She took a giant shit on my face. Literally.
Alison: Literally?
Tom: Well, no, not literally. That's disgusting.

Rachel: Better that you find this out now before you come home and find her in bed with Lars from Norway.
Tom: Who's Lars from Norway?
Rachel: He's some guy she met at the gym with Brad Pitt's face and Jesus' abs.

Tom: Paul, seriously...
Paul: Did you bang her?
Tom: No!
Paul: Blow job?
Tom: No!
Paul: Hand job?
Tom: No, Paul, no jobs. I'm still unemployed. We just kissed.

You Make My Dreams Come True Scene (After Tom sleeps with Summer)

Friday, Friends & Football

As I am typing this post I am listened to Hootie and the Blowfish on Grooveshark. Oh Hootie I enjoyed your tunes and maybe explore your new country stuff...maybe. Speaking of country I heart Carrie Underwood's new single. I might be hooked. I like some of her songs and LOVED her "Go Your Own Way" Fleetwood Mac duet with David Cook, so we shall see.

But let's get down to business.

It's Friday. It's Friday before Auburn's first home football game of the season. It's the Friday of a 3 day weekend. It's Friday and Kelly flies in this afternoon!

I really think it was April when my friend Kelly (avid blog reader and commentor) booked her flight to come down. I always tell my friends I would love to have them down, especially during football season. However I know very well how much plane tickets cost and have exhausting traveling can be so I am always THRILLED when people decide to come. I always like to show folks a great time when they are in town (and I've always been success...well except when Caitlyn came in January mid-week). Plus Kelly just wrapped up Fall Orientation (yes a majority of my besties work in higher ed) which is her busiest time of the year so I know she's looking forward to lots of fun and blowing off steam. I haven't seen Kelly since November when we were at a Conference in Boston. Trust me we had a damn good time, but nearly 10 months is too long. As soon as I leave work I'm headed to Atlanta to pick her up (and Dunkin Donuts Iced coffee or two along the way).

We have lots to do while she is here. The highlight of the weekend is Auburn Football's home opener. Everyone here keeps comparing today to Christmas Eve. Jordan Hare is going to be BURSTING with energy tomorrow. I'm excited for me because I love to rush of being at games, but I am also excited to see Kelly witness all of this. The history, the traditions, all the ORANGE!!! I'll also take her to some choice food and adult beverage establishments in town that are uniquely Auburn. Plus the weather is supposed to be glorious this weekend so I am pumped.

War Damn Gameday!

Wink

Apparently this blog is taking a rant detour as of lately, but I hope you all enjoy the ride regardless. Has annyone one else noticed the REDONK amount of text/im/email smiley faces guys write - especially when they are "trying" to flirt. It's toooo much.
Bad :)
Worse ;)
TERRIBLE ;O)
Devil? - does anyone do this anymore...I vaguely remember it from back in THE DAY ;O)~>

I was recently looking through a text "convo" with someone and I did a count of smileys...out of control.

And it's not only the 20something guys...my friend has been emailing with a 30something guy and same thing smileys out the whoo-haa.

A smiley here and there is fine...but 2 per text or something calm down. Use your words or better yet ACTIONS to flirt. Good Lord. Relationships and technology are going to be the death of me.

P.S. they really need to create a sarcasm font...I'm on board for that!

What's the Rush?

Okay I am by no means a wedding expert. Scratch that I have very little to no interest in weddings. However due to Facebook I constantly see in the newsfeed tons of wedding talk. First off I don't understand why people pick their wedding date within hours of getting engaged. Umm you JUST decided to MARRY someone, give it a few days to marinate before you commit to a day. If I get married I really don't want to get divorced, but I also don't want to have a shitty marriage and stay together "for the kids" or someone garbage excuse.

And does something magically happen when people get engaged that they don't need to sleep because all of a sudden they have websites and registries and have picked out all their stuff. Don't you have a job? When the eff do you have time to do this crap? Another reason not to rush.

What really KILLS me are the bridezillas who then have the audacity to COMPLAIN about the wedding and wedding planning (especially on Facebook). Dude it's YOUR wedding do what you want. You are the only one making it complicated. If you don't want to deal with having a big wedding then guess what DON'T HAVE ONE.

I still don't understand the concept of these child brides. I actually saw someone who got married out of college say (via blog) that it was smart to get married out of college because they got to make their big furniture purchases together and got to register for all the stuff they needed for their place. WHAT?!?! If you are getting married at 22 for the ECONOMIC benefit than you clearly shouldn't be getting married. You should be traveling or living alone or embracing one of life's challenges. Don't get married until your 30 and know who you are. Or more importantly when the person you are marrying knows who they are.

Okay I'm done. My "wedding" or just party with my fiance (because I may never want to actually "get married" and I like the word fiance better than husband/wife anyway) is gonna be fun and drama-free. You should start getting excited for the future invite now!

I also find it ironic that I am posting his above a post called "My future husband" haha. That guy totally does sound like cup of tea who would want a fun, chill wedding.

My Future Husband?

Eye Candy Like Whoa

No Words (click here)

Also...


*Sidenote: In True Blood vampire's cry blood

Life

Life is good. The past few weeks have been some of the best in recent memory. My time in New York was fantastic and life here has been a pleasant surprise. I have had a crazy busy few weeks with classes starting up again and a new school year gearing up, but for the first time in a long time don't feel lost. I feel confident and comfortable. I attribute it to having started my second year at Auburn. The first year of anything is SUCH a learning process and really - haven't gotten to be a "sophomore" since college. Yes my grad school program was two years, but my second year I was working in a new area of campus with a new staff and supervisor so I still faced quite a learning curve. Now I know my job and what to expect, plus people know me and what I am capable of. I just feel so confident and sure which is how I operate best. I love having relationships with students who make sure to come visit me or we get to catch up if we run into eachother on campus. I have been waiting to be a seasoned sophomore in the workplace for quite sometime. I am thrilled and excited about the year ahead.

Speaking of being seasoned today is exactly 8 years since I moved into college freshman year. WHAT?!?!?! I know crazy. Sometimes it feels like yesterday I can picture it all so clearly. At the same time it feels like a lifetime ago. Quinnipiac I love you!

Well let me get back to reading one of my Sookie Stackhouse books since I'm writing this post on my blackberry poolside!

Hot for Teacher

Today I taught my first class at Auburn! Granted it's a 1 credit freshmen seminar called "The Auburn Experience" I am still excited about it. I am team teaching it with one of our grad assistants and a peer instructor. We have 25 unsuspecting first semester freshmen...love it.

I think today was a mix of scaring them and making them think where did they find these people...which I think is always good. As much as I love my student leaders I haven't had as much continuious freshmen interaction as I would like so I am really pumped at watching them grow into their own this semester.

Speaking of growing into their own...last night was my Auburn directorial debut. I worked with 3 fabulous actresses - 2 of which had never acted before, but they were fantastic and picked it up very quickly. I directed a scene from Alan Ball's Fine Women Wearing the Same Dress. The scene was a part of Auburn Community Theatre's Sceneworks 2009. In total there were 8 scene all from American Playwrights and most of the scenes were very contemporary. I was very impressed with all the local talent and especially my actors. I had so much fun rehearsing with them this summer. I really did enjoy directing and hope to do it again in the future in addition to act! One positive aspect of the play being over is that I can get back and focus on the gym. I am going tomorrow for the first time tomorrow since who knows when. As much as I like the unexpected I realyl do thrive when I have a routine.

My "Famous" Friend

One of my best friends is FAMOUS and even gives me a suble should out towards the end. LOVE IT I'm so proud, plus I know this will embarass her more than she already way!

http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/241043

He sucks. In a good way...

I read a 300 page Sookie Stackhouse AKA True Blood book this weekend in one day and anxiously wait to watch the True Blood online on Mondays. This is the main reason...





1,000 year old Vampire Sheriff Eric Northman...played by Sweden's own Alex Skarsgard.

Let the drooling commence.

Thank you.

P.S. Yes I will be buying this calendar and it will forever be January in my office...

Fan Girl

SO Friday night I went to Supper Club with some friends to see Delicious (formerly of the Velcro Pygmies and the Delicious Band) in the band MissUsed - http://missused.net/. I have to say I was disapointed that the Delicious Band was no longer because Delicious was not only lead guitar, but lead vocals which I loved. Well MissUsed is more punk in their style, but still do 80s/90s covers. I still don't understand the 80s coverband craze down here, but I'm not complaining. Sadly the place wasn't packed, I love was Supper Club is full to capacity. Regardless MissUsed was pretty good. During their intermission I was determined to be a full on fain girl and talk to Delicious so after sitting outside with my friends for a bit I went in to go look for him. He was over at one of the bars with another band member Bullet and some girl. So I like half joined in to conversation and then in a lull I played my "Yankee card" and said something about being a special fan because I was from the North. Whatever it was lame, but it got them talking. It was a pretty fun/random conversation between me, Bullet and Delicious. Well Bullet and I just kept on talking and I must say I was half saddened to find out he didn't dress punkrock in real life and that I wouldn't believe the amount of time it took to get ready for a show. I mean yes I figured he didn't wear stage clothes like that out in public or his hair that redonkulous, but at the same time I told him that if he was fratty in real life I was going to leave right then and there. He laughed and we had a odd, but entertaining conversation which was alright by me. The rest of the set was good, random times.

God I love music, especially live music regardless if it's a small town country 80s/punk coverband. I really need more musical people in my life...I really don't have many musical friends, but those that are I love talking music with (yes Drew I mean you especially). Well a new band I will share with you is Hot Chelle Rae - http://www.myspace.com/hotchellerae - they opened for David Cook in Jersey and I really liked them live. Their record hasn't come out yet, but they a bunch of songs on their myspace so check them out. They are good to rock out to - I think I'll really enjoy listening to them at the gym.

So speaking of my guy Dave - this video surfaced on youtube and as creepy as it is, I also find it adorable or aDORKable as some of the super fangirls say. I swear I'm not as "bad" in the fangirl love as some ladies out there.

Wait for it...

WOW...the past 2 weeks have been insane, but I am here to give you a bulleted version of my whirlwind 2 weeks.

Wednesday July 29
*Worked a half day
*Almost forgot to pack my concert tickets
*Drove to the airport
*Flight got delayed
*Delayed more
*Delayed even more
*Finally my 4:05pm flight was cancelled at 9pm due to weather in New York
*Flight rebooked for 8:20am
*Get a hotel for the night
*Only have my carry on and Freddie
*Get to hotel, luckily it wasn't sketchy
*Had nothing of worth in my carry on so had to sleep in the clothes I was wearing
*Didn't sleep well...main due to stress and fear of oversleeping

Thursday July 30
*Get up at 6:15am
*Get to the airport
*My flight takes off on time
*I finish reading one of my Sookie Stackhouse books on the plane
*Got a FANTASTIC view of NYC and the Status of Liberty as we approached our landing
*Flight Landed around 11
*Met my mom and she didn't recognize me (I had shorter darker hair this time, but she never recognizes me until I am like standing a foot away from her)
*Somehow my luggage beat me to NY so we just grabbed it and headed out
*Dropped stuff and Freddie off at home - Freddie was such a great travel buddy and he kept me sane
*Had lunch at "the Panty" aka the Pantry Diner...yum
*Picked my sister up at the train station
*Got my first of MANY Dunkin Donuts Iced Coffees
*Picked up my rental car - I wasn't a yellow VW Bug (bahaha), but I some some KIA SUV that my mom insisted on
*Drove over 2 hours to New Jersey with Caitlyn to go see David Cook
*Paid $11 to cross the Verazano Bridge and another $8 to cross some other bridge WTF
*Got lost towards the end of our adventure and had a mild fight with Caitlyn
*Ate GROSS pizza and then saw a street called Cheesequake that broke the tension between Cait and I which lead to mass hysteria
*Screamed like a school girl for David Cook - we made it to about 10 people from the stage dead center, David looked DELICIOUS (got lovely views of all his tattoos)
*Drove home 2 hours in a David Cook trance...
Drove right under the Brooklyn Bridge and saw some fantastic views of the city on the BQE en route to dropping Cait off in Queens
*Came home at Midnight and fought with my mom ...big surprise
*Went to bed at like 3am completely drained

Friday July 31
*Woke up at like 11am
*Colleen came around noon
*Had a yummy yet sketchy lunch at Friendlys
*Drove to Queens to get my wallet I left in Cait's bag
*Planned on going to the beach since it didn't rain, but by the time we were about to go it rained
*Dropped off my rental car
*Watched like 4 episodes of Cash Cab with Colleen and my mom while drinking DD Iced Coffee
*Met Irene for dinner at Fridays
*Drove all the way to Long Beach for it to be lame
*Drove to RVC and went to Churchills which was lame
*Went next door to a place called LongHorns that I had never been to, but had a "band" aka 2 guys on guitar playing
*Drank beer out of mason jars at LongHorns
*Enjoyed the band and then went outback during their break
*Talk to this fun, random guy from Texas for a while until Colleen heard the band play "Use Somebody" and we ran back inside
*Talked with the crazy bar owner who loved his life and walked on the bar, drank beer out of his shoes, mooned his bartenders and was hitting a cowbell with a wooden spoon
*I also got to hit the cowbell a few times and then the bar owner told Colleen told her she had a short skirt on!
*Went home at last call and directly to bed

Saturday August 1
*Woke up around 9am
*Got another DD Iced Coffee
*Collena and took the train to NYC
*Went to TKTS to get cheap Broadway show tickets, but it was all so expensive
*Went to the box office at In The Heights, but they didn't have any cheat sheets
*Went to the Avenue Q box office and got rear mezzanine tickets
*Took a cab to our hotel which was in an AWESOME location and not shady at all
*Struggled for about 10 minutes to figure out the air conditioner including calling the front desk, but we figured it...stupid switch.
*Grabbed sandwiches at a nearby deli and ate out yummy sandwiches on a bench in the park behind the Museum of Natural History
*Took a cab to the theatre for Avenue Q...we kept looking out for the Cash Cab
*Got bumped up to 2nd row mezzanine
*We both loved the show and laughed the whole time
*Took a touristy picture outside of the theatre and sang songs the entire cab ride home
*Got ready and hung around our sweet room
*Christine came to the hotel as we finished getting ready
*Headed a few blocks over the Silk Road Palace AKA the Chinese place with free white wine
*Waited an hour for our table and all of our friends to get here, but drank free wine the entire time we waited
*Finally got our table for 10
*Got throwback Michael Jackson trading cards from Caitlyn as a "gift" and passed them out as "favors" - hilarity ensued
*Sara gave me an awesome ring from San Fran made out of a fork
*Ate, Drank and were Merry
*Had a waitress take a standard group picture that turned out hilarious with the lonely drunk old lady and random guys giving the thumbs up
*Went to a bar across the street and played beer pong while some people went to the hotel to finish getting ready
*Then went uptown to this awesome rooftop bar except Jeff couldn't get in because he had shorts and sneakers on (which later led to a funny "mad libs" type game about what Jeff was wearing)
*A bunch of up still went to the rooftop bar which has SPECTACULAR views, but $14 drinks
*My friend Rachel from high school met up with us there
*After a while we headed to another bar across town where some Quinnipiac people were
*The night gets a little blurry from here on out
*Rachel and I stopped by another bar where one of her friends was having a birthday party
*We head back to the bar with the Quinnipiac people and are there well past 3am
*We load into cabs and drank friends to come back to the hotel because they were in no shape to take the train home - at this point I think I lost my blackberry case :(
*Drop half the group at the hotel while the rest of us get pizza which took FOREVER and cost a million dollars
*Came back to the room to see Christine and Rachel PASSED out
*East HOT pizza too fast and burn our mouths off
*Collapse and fall asleep sometime after 4am

Sunday August 2
*Woke up around 10 something and have post night out recap and giggles
*Colleen drinks the $2.50 bottle of water in the room
*Slowly start to function
*Rachel and Kristyn go and get us drinks
*Christine FINALLY wakes up despite the fact the rest of us were so loud
*Take the subway to Penn Station hung over
*JUST make our train
*Get back home and it's raining
*Colleen gets on the road back to Rhode Island - bless her heart, meanwhile Sara took a bus back to Baltimore...yuck!
*Lay on the couch and watch a marathon of The Next Food Network Star for houuuuuurs
*Go pick up some stuff/junk for dinner including a Carvel Ice Cream Birthday Cake!
*DD for an Iced Coffee
*Watch the Season Finale of The Next Foot Network Star
*Pass out due to sheer exhaustion

Monday August 3
*Had lunch with my Aunt at one of our favorite Chinese restaurants
*Starbucks Iced coffee - I know, but mom was paying
*Shopped 'til I dropped with my mom at the mall for HOURSSSSS
*Had one of our favorite meals at the Cheesecake Factory
*Rented and watched Twilight with my mom at like midnight since she read all the books and she actually really liked the movie
*Bed at like 3am

Tuesday August 4 - MY BIRTHDAY
*put my phone on silent due to all the texts, facebook alerts, emails and calls I was getting starting at like 6am
*Once I finally woke up at like Noon I unsilenced my phone
*Got a DD Iced Coffee
*Got a fabulous NY bagel
*Went down to the beach to soak in all of its sights, smells and sun
*Checked all my fabulous facebook messages, texts etc - I felt pretty loved
*Christine came to get me and then we took the train to NYC
*Officially turned 26 at 4:58pm EST
*Met up with Rachel downtown and had dinner and drinks
*Christine and I met my friend Jeannine at Radio City Music Hall for our Incubus Concert
*Seriously we have never seen SO many duded in one place before
*The show was great...we all sang and bopped to the music
*Brandon Boyd was looking tasty as ever
*Walked to Penn Station
*Had interesting train ride home involving falling onto guys, spoons and being a big deal
*Bed

Wednesday August 5
*Slept in
*Packed
*Watched some Full House
*Got a DD Iced Coffee
*Went to Nathans for a fabulously famous hot dog
*Went to the airport
*Got stopped like every 5 people by people who thought Freddie was SOOO cute - which he is
*Flight was delayed an hour
*Got my FINAL Dunkin Donuts Iced Coffee of the trip (#7 I believe)
*Started reading Julie and Julia at the airport and on the flight
*Got to ATL and remarkably got my luggage and to my car in record time
*Drove and got home around 10pm
*Unpacked and did laundry
*Pass out after Midnight

Thursday August 6
*Came back to 70+ emails
*Met with staff to talk about the year ahead
*Went to a University 1000 instructor training
*Worked on getting caught up on emails, voicemails etc.
*Had rehearsal with my wonderful actresses who were off book!!
*Cleaned my apartment
*Pass out

Friday August 7
*More work
*Meetings across campus
*Mini "reunion" at the AUSC
*Expected and unexpected visitors
*Sarah aka Mrs. Stenlake arrived in Auburn just as I was leaving work
*Major catching up session with Sarah
*Niffers for dinner
*Bodega for drinks
*Supper Club for bad decisions haha
*Drag Sarah's drunk ass home and go to bed at like 4:30am

Saturday August 8
*Sarah can't find her purse...crisis ensues
*Meet peeps for lunch at Toomers including my fabulously amazing friend Star (I figured she wouldn't be happy if I didn't write that)
*Sarah goes back to my apartment to rip it apart looking for her purse
*Take Star and Travis on the best/worst golf cart tour of campus
*Get SnoBiz
*Chill out at home with Sarah
*Briefly catch up with Sara (not the Sarah that was visiting)
*Go to Star and Travis's shower at the Armstrongs
*Introduce Sarah to the first season of How I Met Your Mother
*Head to bed early

Sunday August 9
*Sleep in a bit
*Brunch at IHOP
*Give Sarah a mini campus driving tour
*Sarah heads home
*Lay out poolside all afternoon
*Catch up with Natty Light
*Go to improv which was again superfun

Monday August 10
*Lots of prep work for SOS - Transfer Orientation
*Rehearsal with my cast
*Finally catch up with Colleen

Tuesday August 11
*More office/work craziness
*Briefing meeting with my Orientation Leaders
*Bed early

Wednesday August 12
*Wake up at 5:30am for SOS
*Campus by 6:15am
*SOS all day which was both fun and hectic
*Met with new Professional Development Work Group I am a part of
*Got Colleen a pep talk
*Went to bed earrrrly

Thursday Aug 13
*Went into work late because I wasn't feeling well - perhaps because I have has an insane 2 weeks!
*More work prepping for Welcome Week and an out of state student social
*Announced HCCs and HPCs!
*Even started half this blog post yesterday
*Squealed over some exciting news with Colleen
*Had rehearsal with my cast - our performance is on Wednesday and it's gonna be awesome I can't wait
*After rehearsal we all went out for dinner and drinks to bond and just hang out which was good times

Friday August 14
*Department meeting this morning
*Met with one of our new Grad Assistants about some projects he'll be working on
*Finished up this blog
*I'm about to head to lunch at the moment
*PERHAPS Supper Club tonight to see Delicious's new band, but I'd NEED a nap before then, if not bed early tonight
*Either way I hope to get LOTS of sleep this weekend and sun poolside as well

I hope you all enjoyed this...in summary it was a fantastic 2 weeks and this blog could never do it justice anyway. I would definitely say I have started of being 26 with quite a bang!