Wonderful Weekend

i had a fantastic weekend spent in new jersey and new york. i left amherst saturday morning and had a nice drive down, which a quick stop in manchester, ct at david's bridal to pick up my bridesmaid dress for amanda's wedding on july 28th. i didn't hit any traffic until i had to cross the george washington bridge in the bronx...and even that wasn't too dreadful. i made to the jersey sky blue office in beminster, nj by 3pm and started helping nat with some final things before the game (i.e. i counted tickets and helped her lug heavy boxes from the basement into the van :)). we arrived at the field only to find that NONE of her volunteer interns were there! so, i ended up being her sidekick for the rest of the day - selling tickets, being the away team liason, heping her with on-field promotions during hafltime, and throwing shirts into the crowd. it was tedious, but a lot of fun and i was glad that i could help her out :) the sky blue ended up losing to the washington freedom 3-2, but it was a good game ( even though i'm not a huge fan of soccer!).

we woke up and went do breakfast at this great diner and then i hit the road north to new york. i drove through staten island for the first time, which was pretty cool and even got to drive across the verrazano bridge (see left) ! i love bridges and this one is pretty sweet, so it was great for me :) i hit quite a bit of traffic crossing the bridge and into brooklyn - the beach traffic i was told. i made it to west hempstead finally to my old stomping grounds and the house of my "new york family". it is always wonderful to see them and spend time with them :) we had an amazing dinner of london broil (which kevin always makes so perfectly!), roasted chicken, salad with fresh feta, almonds and a cranberry almond vinagrette, and liz's amazing black bean dish. SO GOOD! then fresh brownies with vanillla ice cream for dessert... they treat me so well, haha. a bit later i went to sunny and court's place to visit for a bit then went back and watched the 2007 world series of pop culture with the boys.

monday i woke up early and hit up long beach (see right) - i got there at about 10am and stayed until after 2pm. camille joined me - she is dating michael, the youngest of liz's (mother of the house i lived in while i lived in ny) 3 sons. we had a great time then went to lunch at this cute restaurant with patio seating and a view of the water. we went home, i showered and got dressed then met stacy, my old boss, for drinks. we caught up, talked about all sorts of things and it was really a nice time. then i headed back up to amherst. all in all, a wonderful weekend indeed!

Oh, and my parentals fly in on saturday morning!!! that will be so much fun, lots of travelling and i will post more then :)



current musical obsession: "REHAB" - AMY WINEHOUSE

happy 4th of july

wishing everyone a splendid independance day! i'm spending mine cleaning and doing laundry. awesome, eh?

looking forward to spending this weekend down in new york city/long island/new jersey. going to get some beach time in, friends time in as well as attend one of my friend natalie's soccer games - she works for a semi-pro team in jersey. should be good times :)

current musical obsession: "THE WOMAN WITH THE TATTOOED HANDS" - ATMOSPHERE

the pink papaya

so if you know me, you know that my favourite colour is pink. i love it. adore it actually. and as well if you know me, you will know that i am a bridesmaid at the end of this month in my friend amanda's wedding. well, turns out, we're getting our hair and makeup done at a salon in fayetteville, arkansas (the location of the wedding) called the pink papaya. can you guess how excited i was when i found this out?! oh, and not to mention, our dresses are pink too :) here is an image of it (on the left) just imagine it as a pastel pink.


the weather has been beautiful lately. the humidity has ceased and the warmth of the mid-day sun seaps through the window to the left of my desk in boyden 248a and i get a slight flirtation of what it would be like if i were to be outside basking in the complete amazingness of what the sun has to offer on days such as these. for now, though, i will sit in my air conditioned office (finally got it to work after a year of being here and it not working!) and dream of the outside. and of other things, such as what is happening in london right now, other than wimbledon, of course :)


current musical obsession: "DREAM OUT LOUD" - THE HIGHWAY BEAUTIFUL

the beauty of best friends

so i don't know about the rest of you, but i love my friends. i love all of my friends, those that i've known for a few weeks to a few years. however, in this group of friends that i love so much, there are a special group that i hold the closest to my heart. i know a lot of people who moved around a lot as children and did not have the opportunity to develop friendships that would last a lifetime - or at least several years. having been born and raised in the same place i have been lucky enough to have this. i have 5 friends that i've known and been close to for at least 17 years. it baffles me in such a incredible way!!

we've each gone our own separate ways throughout the years, especially since all graduating high school back in 2001. but the best part about these amazing friends of mine is that, despite going away to different colleges, careers, states and cities - each and every time i get together with these girls it's like no time has passed at all and we are just as close, if not closer, than ever before. although we've each grown up, changed our beliefs and opinions, gone through stesses, heartbreaks, marriages, pregnancies, loves, losses and much more, we still have each other and can, no matter what, count on one another always.

i recently stumbled across a short poem that rings so true to me when i think of these 6 incredible friends of mine, who i have had the privledge of watching grow up from wild and crazy children to beautiful and successful young women:

"make new friends, but keep the old.
one is silver and the other gold"

i love each of them so dearly and cherish each of them so much and know that, no matter what happens in life, i can count on them to be right next to me, loving me, supporting me and believing in me. i know that when we are in our 60's we are going to be able to sit down and laugh, smile and talk about all of the crazy things we did when we were 8 years old, 16 years old and beyond. i don't know what i would do without them! and as much as i adore all of the firends i have made since in my many places in life, it's hard to hold a candle to these girls who will forever hold a place in my heart.


current musical obsession: "MY NUMBER" - TEGAN AND SARA