That Really Just Happened

Austin City Limits = New (boy)Friends

2010-10-12T14:22:00.000-07:00

So it seems like everyone and their mom, or more likely their for year old child, was at ACL this weekend. Being the independent woman I am I strolled down to zilker all on my own this weekend to enjoy my first ever ACL experience. Some people might find it weird that I didn't have a designated group to hang with, but in truth most of my close friends were not in attendance this year and honestly I was pretty justified in believing that I would bump into people once I got there. Most importantly, I went for the music and being part of a group means bring subject to the musical tastes of others. I wanted the freedom to see exactly who I wanted to see, no arguments, bo compromise, no judgement. Being me I of course made some new friends in the process. Friday's massive heat lead me to the misters where I came across a trio of music festival junkies from albuquerque. They regaled me with their stories of showering in sinks when they camped out at sasquatch and were happy to inform me that althoughthey were all over thirty, none of them were married as that would require them to give up their freedom to travel to every major festival in the country. I would like to think if I were married I would let my husband take his weekend trips with the guys, but I'm not exactly the standard for girls. I had the pleasure of bumping into an old friend from high school and spent some time at the strokes concert with him and his family. He informed me that my first high school boyfriend is now planning to pop the question to his current lady...weird. But the most important thing that happened this weekend, side from the must concert which was beyond words, is I met someone completely by chance who ended up reminding me what it feels like to have drama free fun with a guy. Strangely enough he is younger than me, but th has more confidence than many older guys I know. He very clearly has a good heart and being around him was just easy. Perhaps even the recent revelation of my ex's sustained relationship with his not so single friend hasn't completely pushed me into old cat lady territory. I guess for every selfish jerk there is in this world there is a gentleman somewhere to balance him out. It's just a bonus when they kiss like rockstars.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.3

I'm on the pursuit of Happiness

2010-04-06T19:26:00.000-07:00

So I am trying to get a little more organized and actually accomplish legitimate tasks every day. Today I spent at least 2 hours trying to figure out how to get Roadrunner to let more than 1 device connect. See the cool ppl at Time Warner only give u on IP address so I was trying all kinds of crazy things to set manual IPs and private network shenanigans. Finally I figured out there is a setting to share one public IP and have the Apple Time Capsule create IPs for all the devices that connect to the internet through it. Presto, legit wireless network. Awesome! Next up, installing JoliCloud on my Dell. Windows XP is just too heavy of an OS to run well on my little netbook. JoliCloud is amazing. I can actually use Hulu Desktop and the feed doesn't stutter, even without the AC adapter plugged in. Needless to say I am impressed. I have also finally consolidated all of my many email addresses, contacts, and calendars under one Gmail account. All in all I would say a pretty successful day.

I recently moved into a new apartment, my first ever living alone situation. I have met a few of my neighbors, all guys, at the pool. Living alone and working with people much older than me is really cramping my social life. Next task...find some cool people to hang out with, side note, get Zac to stop ignoring me since he is someone cool to hang out with.

Made peace with Matt, that feels really great. Still not at 100% obviously, but doing so so much better. No more unnecessary facebook blurts I swear.

New Campaign: Get Jon to UT over Vanderbilt...we will see how that goes.
Finally...I'm going to write a book, gotta pick one of my many story lines to actually commit to so I will let you know which one I pick, or maybe I will pitch some on here and see which one you like.

That's all for now, off to the hot tub with some neighbors.

The truly tragic passing of an old friend

2010-04-01T06:58:00.000-07:00

I was awoken abruptly this morning by a frantic phone call from my mother. She asked me if I had heard about Cameron. I said no and asked what happened, but from the tone of her voice I already knew it couldn't be good. Chances are most of you have already heard or read about the young man who jumped off the empire state building yesterday and that it was 21 year old Cameron Dabaghi, a Junior at Yale University. There are numerous articles, blog posts, and commentaries already out, less than 24 hours after this tragedy. Rather than spend my time posting responses to the insensitive comments thoughtlessly left by people with no connection to Cameron I thought that I would simply make my own contribution here with my own memories of him. I went to school with Cameron starting in preschool and while most of my family and friends will say I am very smart, Cameron was levels above me. He was the smartest of the smart kids at an age when being intelligent didn't usually equate with being popular, even sometimes with teachers. I distinctly remember our fifth grade English teacher constantly having to tell Cameron to put away whatever book he was reading in his lap during class, usually because he already had a firm grasp on whatever lesson she was teaching. He loved to read, he loved to learn, and he wasn't afraid to let people know it. At end of the year award ceremonies we would joke that he might as well just stand up at the front and wait since he was usually the recipient of almost every academic honor, although I think I beat him out for the Spanish award once or twice :) When five of us left our elementary school for a different school in 6th grade, Cameron came along as well and continued to shine. He also developed a great sense of humor that made him an entertaining classmate. I will admit that we were never that close, but it was comforting to have someone around who had always been there, and in many ways Cameron was safety shield for me at a time when I was trying to fit in and was often times embarrassed by being smarter than the kids I wanted to be friends with. Cameron was never embarrassed, not by his intelligence or by his quirky sense of humor, he wasn't afraid to just be himself and I always admired him for that. I can't comment on what he was like more recently, he left our school for Deerfield and aside from the occasional facebook correspondence we lost touch, but his mother and mine would swap updates and it seemed like he was doing well. I obviously now regret the distance that grew between us but I hope that he is in a better place now and that whatever pain caused him to take such drastic action has now been alleviated. I am sincerely sorry for his family and their loss, and for what is really a great loss to the world. I can only hope that the sensational nature of this tragedy will die down and that the online community will allow his family and friends some peace.

Sleepyhead

2010-01-06T19:51:00.001-08:00

Major Life Changes since my last posting…

1. I Graduated from college (sort of)

2. I am no longer single…for real this time…no seriously, for real!

3. I realized that if I am ever going to make a legit life plan for myself I cannot seek advice from my dad since I am already pre-programmed to do whatever he wants me too…fail.

So yeah, I finished my final semester at ND and am now happily, or at least happier, home in Texas. Despite the two months of pneumonia I managed to finish out the semester with better than decent grades, minus that Lit class that had a 25% participation grade component, kinda hard to fulfill that from bed. I believe I will be getting my diploma in the mail any day now when it will likely be framed and hung in dad’s office until I snatch it for myself. I gave up on the immediate law school plan when I realized that I was once again just deferring to what daddy suggested to avoid having to come up with my own plan. The truth is I have no idea what I want to do, but at least I know a few things I don’t want to do. I don’t want to be a sales drone, I don’t want to be stuck in a cubicle doing monkey work, and I don’t want to work at an office where I am surrounded by people I secretly want to stab with my ball point pen. Aside from that, who knows what I will end up doing with my life. Luckily an ‘07 design alum lives in the Austin area and is going to help me figure out if there are any design related careers I might actually enjoy. So here is to hoping I find employment soon even if it isn’t my dream job at least it will be a starting place and something to make me feel less like a lazy bum with failure to launch syndrome.

On to the second, yes, new boyfriend. Really, really, really wonderful boyfriend. But human, totally human with totally human faults and stupid little things along with adorable moments and gorgeous smile. He is finally the balanced, realistic, un-fake, non girly man that I was starting to think didn’t exist anymore. Someone I can’t help but be completely honest with who treats me like a princess even when I try to stop him. Who knows that as tough as I act I secretly want and need to let someone else take care of me every now and then. Not to say we haven’t had a hiccup or two, but we stay honest and close even through the nasty moments which further proves the unique quality of our relationship. It has been a little strange the past week spending most of my time with him and his friends, feeling a little overwhelmed for sure, but it’s tough when his friend base is here and mine is all over the country. I have plenty of friends in Austin, but I haven’t really lived here in almost four years so I don’t have a set group like he does. So while I already miss him (he went to the Natl Champ game and Vegas for the week) having some time to myself and to see my friends is definitely going to be good for me.

So that is all for now…tomorrow I get to call and see if there is a job for me at my old work to hold me over while I continue my identity quest

A New Life Plan

2009-10-15T01:53:00.001-07:00

So I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what on earth I want to do with my life and nothing ever seemed to fit. I got to watch tons of friends discover their passions while I was just floating around in a sea of choice with no direction. But I am happy to announce that I found my path (for now) and will be going to law school in the fall. More importantly, however, I will be graduating from ND this semester and spending the next 7 months in Austin working and enjoying not being a student for the first time since I was about 3 years old. Any of you who know me are probably either thinking, law school? That’s PERFECT! or conversely… law school? WTF? Most of you who think it’s a great match, congratulations, you actually know me, pretty well in fact. Those of you who are totally confused are probably being thrown off by the fact that I just spent 2 years becoming a Graphic Design major and are wondering how on earth that led me to law school. Well, news flash, I am no where near talented or dedicated enough to actually become a designer. I am, however, a kick ass public speaker, and generally a pretty persuasive person. I also don’t actually plan on being a lawyer but rather using a law background to go into international relations. That is where my obsession with foreign languages and cultures comes into play, finally those Chinese classes have a purpose! In alignment with this whole getting involved with other countries thing, I am also starting up a website dedicated to providing trustworthy information about current events and issues on the island of Jamaica as well as info about existing charities and volunteer opportunities. I spent a lot of time in Jamaica as a small child and my family has many friends who have either immigrated to the states or are still living there. There are a lot of issues facing the country that most people don’t even know about, since generally the outside world only thinks of Jamaica in terms of awesome beaches and Bob Marley. So be sure to check out my new blog, Jamaica Beyond the Beach, and wish me luck! (Oh if you want to help out or know anyone who might let me know!)

Deep Thoughts

2009-09-29T17:30:00.000-07:00

People often speculate about what causes depression and unhappiness. They seem to think that if they can pinpoint the cause, the exact moment when all the pain began, that they can make all the suffering go away. But the truth is that unhappiness creeps into your life like a black cat in the middle of the night, noticeable only if you are looking at the exact moment the light catches its glowing eyes. Too often you don't realize that unhappiness has settled in until it's too late to banish it with just a simple pick me up. People in our little college bubble like to speculate that they know me, and often times I don't venture to try and correct them. Mostly because I know it would be a waste of breath trying to tell a Notre Dame student they are wrong, but also because showing them how little they know would require me to show them a piece of who I really am, or at least the person I was before I landed here in this tiny little town where the weather is miserable 8 months out of the year and all anyone cares about is keg parties and their GPA. I am also painfully aware that even if I were to take the time to open up and show this part of the world what really goes on inside my head that it wouldn't change a damn thing. The people here aren't the problem. Even the snow and rain and complete lack of sunshine aren't the issue. The greatest burden in my life is that little black cat who crept into my house one night and still won't leave. When people talk about grief, they lay it out in stages. They say things like everyone handles tragedy differently, and that we all go through the stages in our own way. They lie to you and tell you that time will heal all. What they don't tell you is that it is all a bunch of crap. When something so horrific and life changing happens it rips you from everything you know and love and leaves you alone. How do you go on when the friends and family you once felt so at home with suddenly seem like complete strangers? How do you start over after everything in your life changes when the rest of the world has simply continued on as though nothing happened? You don't. You can't. They say there are stages of grieving. They describe it as though going through these stages is some sort of process that can bring things back to normal. It's a lie. Maybe we are all different, but tragedy marks you in a way that surpasses any other difference. It is an experience that cannot be replicated, empathized, or understood. There is no remedy or method of dealing that will ever allow you to return to the group. It makes you forever and always a member of a new group. A group that no one wants to be a part of. They don't have common interests or social gatherings, they don't even relate to one another because who can process or understand any tragedy but their own? There are some things in life that can't be processed or dealt with. Some things just stay with you forever. Like a giant weight strapped to your shoulders. So you cope the best you can even after accepting that nothing will ever really be good enough. Some stay in denial and would have others believe they have moved on. I write. I write because if I don't I think that everything will well up inside me until i literally burst and all the darkness I have tried to hold inside will spill out and destroy everything in its path. So I write to relieve the pressure so that maybe I can attempt to have some kind of life beyond this mess.

MSU weekend

2009-09-27T09:07:00.000-07:00

So the weekend of MSU ND was pretty insane. I missed out on my usual Thursday night at fever since whatever was causing that stupid cough was still refusing to go away. Friday night was originally going to be a girls night in, but I got the call from my buddy Dan who urged my best friend Christine and I to attend the Glee Club Pirate Party. None of us had anything remotely pirate themed to wear, but we figured what the hell. The house ended up getting pretty packed so Christine and I left to hit up Finnys which also turned out to be a full house. The place was so hot it felt like I had gone swimming by the time we left and my hair was frizzed up to about 4 times its normal thickness. Overall it was a less than super exciting night. Saturday, however, started with a search through tailgate land with Christine and Whitney for Christine's coworker's tailgate, which ended up being right in front of us the whole time. The woman had actually drawn a map and we still couldn't find the place without wandering aimlessly for a good 15 minutes. But it ended up being worth it for the delicious mexican food. We also stopped by a few other tailgates to say hey to friends but nothing really worthwhile happened. While walking towards the stadium, we decided to take a break and sit down on one of the empty benches. Some guy apparently sprayed Christine with the beer he was opening which struck up conversation between our two groups. It only took me about three words to realize that these guys were definitely not ND students, and after seeing their Tennessee beer coozies, it was confirmed. I asked them what they were doing at a Notre Dame game, and learned they were actually high school friends with Golden Tate. We spent the rest of our pre-game time trying to help JL, Dylan, and Chris find their lost friend Jay. Eventually after numerous nonsensical phone conversations we were able to track Jay down and not long after the guys actually ended up in a fight with some gross MSU girls. The game itself was intense and I was happy for a win.
Later that night we re united with our new friends at Clover Ridge and made a trip to baseball house to meet up with Golden. Now baseball house has not always been the best place for Christine and I, but strangely enough the guys were really nice and we actually had a pretty great time, minus a brief break in the bathroom while I tried to hide the fact that I was about to cough up a lung. The Tenn boys weren't having such a great time, in fact most of them stayed outside, so we went to CJs. I can't say I remember too much about the place other than realizing the fourth of Jager I had chugged earlier trying to keep up with boys was finally catching up to me. Christine and I made a quick exit and the rest of the night was spent cursing my competitive nature.

MSU vs Tennessee Yo Mama

2009-09-22T13:32:00.001-07:00

So This is a hilarious video of our new friends from Tennessee defending themselves against some less than classy MSU girls. Sadly I didn't get the entire fight on tape but at one point on of the girls actually tried to punch Jay and another one knocked his beer out of his hand. After the girls ran away several other MSU fans actually came up and tried to apologize for their bad behavior. As one witnessing ND alum said "This is like a real life version of that show Yo Mama!"

Apologies, apologies

2009-09-08T11:51:00.000-07:00

Hey kids, sorry for the extremely long absence, getting settled at school has been taking up a lot of time. I promise soon I will sit down and fill you all in on the craziness of club Fever and the awesomeness of ND's first big football win. Overall it has been an intense few weeks and I look forward to sharing it with you all so stay tuned!

Philly Part 2

2009-08-15T15:42:00.003-07:00

So Wednesday morning, we made thr drive into downtown Philly and I met up with my cousin, Jessica, and her friends at the Marathon Grill across from her apartment. Jess had to get to class so her friend, McKellar, offered to hang out with me and wander around town. Apparently the girls had been out late the night before, because McKellar was clearly hung over so it took awhile before we came up with any sort of game plan. McKellar lives in NYC so she wasn’t much more informed about what to do than I was, so we ended up calling Jessica’s new bf, Dan, and seeing what he was up to. Luckily, he had a break from work so we took a cab to Center City and met up with him. He took us to get some “greasy pizza” which McKellar insisted was going to cure her hangover and prepare her for the nights drinking. Then we stopped into an Irish bar that Dan frequented and I tried out a new brew called the Golden Monkey. I was impressed with how friendly Dan was and how well he handled McKellar’s craziness and my teasing. This was my first time meeting the new beau and I was pleasantly surprised to find out he was much better than my cousin’s previous mate (Sorry Bill). This wasn’t too surprising considering the last time I had been in the same place as ex-bf Bill, I had almost punched him in the face for telling Jess to shut up and mind her own business. Bill was a bit of a competitive freak and was being absurd about the rules to some backyard beer game and when I politely asked him to take a chill pill, he felt the appropriate response was to begin cussing me out. Of course Jess stepped in trying to stop Bill from making himself look like a bigger jackass but instead he turned his rage on her. Luckily there was a few yards difference between me and him when he yelled at her otherwise he would have ended his tirade with a bloody nose. So one could understand why I (and most everyone who loves my cousin, aka most everyone who knows her) was thrilled at how fun and laid back Dan seemed.

Dan had to head back to work so McKellar and I decided to wander around and do some shopping until everyone got done with work and classes for Happy Hour. We made a brief stop in a Radio Shack like store so she could see if they had a charger for her camera. The stereotypically middle eastern gentleman at the counter told her than without the battery he couldn’t sell her a charger specific to her camera. McKellar asked him, “So then you don’t have one that would work?” His response was, “No. But I do have a universal charger that will work for any Sony camera.” Now the average individual would probably say something like, ok, or ask if it was more expensive, or any number of normal responses. McKellar, however, responded with, “Umm well I don’t want other camera’s in my charger that’s just dirty so no thanks.” And walked out of the store as though her previous statement was completely reasonable. I threw an apologetic glance towards the salesman when he tried to tell me, “No, there will be no other cameras in your charger!” and scooted out of the store behind McKellar giggling under my breath.

After spending a little more time loitering in other stores, we met up with Wilson outside the Comcast building. Wilson is British and crazy, honestly I am not sure how else to describe him. We sat outside the building and had a drink, all of us catching up since it had been awhile since we had all been in the same city, Wilson and McKellar both went to high school with Jess, but McKellar had been in NYC most of the summer and I hadn’t seen Wilson since my visit last summer for my elder cousin’s wedding. After finishing out drinks, we spend a good 30 minutes waiting for our server to return so we could pay and head out, Eventually, Wilson got up and went to look for her to pay. When he found her she brushed him off and said she would come by our table in “just a minute.” Fifteen minutes later we cut out since we were already late to meet some more friends at a bar a few blocks away. I’m not sure how I feel about skipping out on our tab but in our defense we spent twice as long trying to pay as we did actually enjoying our drinks.

I used my phone’s GPS to find directions to the next bar where we enjoyed the Wednesday happy hour special called “Center City Sips.” Apparently, every Wednesday after work during the summer all the bars in the center city area have extra awesome happy hour specials. The place we went was incredibly packed, worse than a freshman dorm party, and very loud. Jess took the subway from campus and met us there, and we also ran into some of her friends from undergrad and Pitt. I think the strangest coincidence was that I met a guy who goes to Cornell who actually knows a guy from my high school, Sam Lincoln. Small World. After enjoying my Blue Moon and some interesting conversation, our foursome headed out to catch the subway back to Jessica’s apartment.

We were soon joined by the rest of the pack, Stitz and Kom drove down from NYC and McKellar & Sally picked Jenn Sieps up at the train station. We headed up to the balcony lounge to pregame and enjoy the awesome view of downtown Philly. While enjoying our drinks and some good tunes, we also got to see a great antic from Wilson. Apparently Kom had bet him $10 that he wouldn’t drop his pants, tuck his junk, and shimmy down the windowed hallway facing the balcony. Well, as I said before, Wilson is beyond words so of course he made 10 bucks and I saw far more of him than I ever wished too. Almost as good was the about 10 seconds after he got his pants back up and group of Asian kids walked in with books to study. Of course we all burst out in laughter and Kom expressed his disappointment at that particular missed opportunity.

We finally made it out to the bar, Cavanaugh’s, where it was college night. $5 cover got us 75 cent drinks and free pizza until midnight, which made everyone happy. The pizza was surprisingly good and the bar was full of college kids. One end of the bar was host to a cluster of Jersey frat boys which we avoided like the plague, and I will admit that while hitting the dance floor I had to brush of a random stranger attempted to get his groove on a little to far inside my personal space, but overall the night was a success. Dan joined us mid-evening and it was good to see how much everyone liked him, including Jess. I got caught up in an intense conversation with some carpenters from UPenn, one of whom was clearly married and clearly trying to hit on me. Luckily I had no issue with commenting on his wedding ring and asking him what his wife would thing about the way he was speaking to me. His friend thought that was hilarious and was smart enough to take the hint and drag the drunk creeper away. I think the funniest part of the night was when I took a dance break to grab some water (it was HOT!) and the guy next to me ended up giving me some very interesting advice about grad school. His company had just taken over all the meal services at UPenn. He had apparently brought some of his younger employees to the bar and stuck around to people watch. He gave me his business card (insisting that he was not in any way hitting on me) and wished me luck in my future. If I ever need advice on the food industry, I guess I now know who to call.

The night ended with a giant slumber party at Jessica’s apartment where I actually ended up on the floor rather than risk being squeezed to death on the couch by Kom in his sleep. Next up, Part 3, Cape May, my awful sunburn, and how we fit 7 people a dog and our luggage in a 5 person car.

Trip to Philly Part 1

2009-08-15T15:42:00.001-07:00

So I figured I would break up my ten day vacation to visit my cousin into sections so all of you don’t get too overwhelmed by all the excitement ok? So the trip began with yet another early arrival to the airport. I am honestly becoming concerned with the percentage of my summer I have spent hanging out in the food court of the Austin airport. I mean it’s a bad sign when George the Amy’s ice cream guy remembers you right? I am just hoping that maybe George has a photographic memory, or maybe no life…Anyways. After spending some QT listening to an obnoxious group of Ivy Leaguers complain about various political issues, it was finally time to board our flight to Philly. We made a quick stop in Houston, but overall the flight itself was relatively uneventful. did not, however, stop my mom from behaving as though she were about to give birth to a gazillion cows as she struggled to deal with her ridiculous amount of luggage and acted like a chicken with her head cut off instead of simply following the signs directing her towards baggage claim. (End of farm animal references). We made it to my aunts car without any complete melt downs and settled in for the 45 minute drive out to the suburbs of Bucks County. It was late when we arrived so i pretty much headed straight for bed.

My cousin is nearing the end of her first six weeks as a grad student at UPenn so she was at her apartment in downtown Philly. Luckily, I know a few of her friends and one of them, Dave, had just gotten home for the summer from Northwestern. He graciously rescued me from a day of unwanted bonding with my aunt and mother and took me down to the adorable little town that is New Hope. We started off with some ice cream which quickly ended up melting all over Dave’s hand and somehow ending up in my hair. We also took a brief detour into the “Witch Shop” where I informed Dave of the hilarious rumor that circulates at ND about me being a witch. Apparently New Hope is home to many Wiccans and the Witch Shop does pretty good business. Too bad more of those folks don’t send their kids off to Notre Dame. The real kicker of our afternoon ended up being the trip to Karla’s for martinis. Now I am not much of a day drinker, but I figured one martini would be ok. It was already 4:30 and I knew dinner wouldn’t be too far behind. I was not expecting the martini to be about 90% gin and 10% olive brine. Needless to say I was feeling the effects by the time Dave took me home for dinner. He had to take off for a family dinner with his great uncle, so I was on my own trying to keep my sober face on in front of my mom and aunt. I think I would have been fine except that the second I walked into the room my aunt asked me to go with her to the apple store to help pick out my cousin’s new computer. Rather than try to stumble around (both physically and verbally) I confessed that the martini had been a little more than I could handle. Instead of scolding me, my mom just laughed and handed me a piece of gum. We still went to the apple store and both of them commented on how impressed they were with my ability to talk tech with the salesperson despite my temporary handicap. Ultimately, I recommended my aunt buy the computer online through the apple store.

Dave came back later that night and we went to a local bar with a live band. Most of our conversation consisted of debating the necessity of the bands keyboard player who seemed to simply be mimicking the bassist and throwing in a random sound affect here and there (despite having three sets of keys and way too many foot pedals). The band had a few originals that had unique samples from some great classical pieces, I of course felt like a huge dork for recognizing said samples until I realized that Dave was in fact just as nerdy. After a couple songs we took a walk down to the Triumph Brewery to have cokes and partake in some trivia. I was definitely 2 for 10 :( but looked extra smart for knowing the question about the Roman Empire. We made it home at a reasonable hour and before going to bed I completed by annual ritual of watching the movie Stick It! in the basement. Those of you judging me right now have clearly never participated in serious gymnastics otherwise you would understand how truly awesome that movie is. Granted, no one expected Missy Peregrym to win an Oscar, but for a late night laugh, its classic.

Check out Part 2 for my adventure in Center City with McKellar and a night out in downtown Philly with my cousin and her friends

2009-07-31T16:16:00.000-07:00

So once again I have been MIA...my bad. I think it took me a few days to recover from the ridiculosity of Pluckers Wing Off 2009. That's right, my brother and the other crazies at the office actually convinced me that it would be a good idea to binge on wings and compete against a bunch of dudes twice my size. Of course being the overly competitive freak that I am, and still suffering from the shame of my embarassing 8-20 Dave and Busters free throw shoot out loss, I agreed. In my defense, the ultimate champion ended up being a co-workers girlfriend who demolished us all at 44 wings. I stayed strong at 23 (beating previously mentioned smack talking co-worker by 1 wing). Of course he tried to make excuses about how he was on a diet etc. etc. but we all know he was ashamed at having to have his girlfriend carry his weakness. Overall it was a fun event although I still haven't worked up the nerve to eat chicken again...it might be awhile.

In other news, I am happy to report that I will be spared the annual father-daughter road trip up to Notre Dame this year since my dad has decided to wait an extra week and drive my car up to school for the first football game rather than buying an extra plane ticket. Instead I get to by myself said plane ticket and attempt to pack everything I will need for the first two weeks of school into two less than 50lb suitcases...rough. More word on how that works out later.

Also, those of you up on my twitter will have noticed my migraine update...to any of you who are frequent migraine sufferers wow I admire you for even getting out of bed in the morning. I have had a few minor aches since the big one last weekend which keep me popping excedrin and drinking caffeine like my life depended on it. Truly I am terrified of another incapacitating headache.

Finally, a little more back to school shopping, but not the fun kind. Text books....ew. Anyways Barnes and Nobles has some pretty good deals on text books if you are looking for an alternative to the generally high priced university book stores. Click the link or there is also an add under the back to school section on the side bar. Also check out the new jeans from BEBE they are super cute!! Or for another denim option Victoria's Secret has some new denim for their PINK line (i bought the skinnys they are GREAT!) Plus they have different lengths so those of us who usually have to get their pants shortened (annoying) can actually find a pair that wont double as socks :).

Thats pretty much it for now sorry my life is sadly boring but hopefully that means someone else's out there has been a little more interesting lately

The Dash Clock

2009-07-23T06:01:00.001-07:00

Wisdom Teeth

2009-07-21T10:27:00.001-07:00

So boyfriend is getting his wisdom teeth taken out today and apparently everyone and their mother has been sharing their wisdom teeth funny/horror stories with him. This of course reminded me of my horrid WT experience where the genius intern failed to give me the cleaning syringes and never instructed me to wash out my sockets with salt water. This error combined with the fact that I heal crazy fast caused my sockets to close up with all kinds of yuck in them. Thus I had the fun experience of getting them cut back open a week later and my dentist described my condition as "having a dirty fish tank" in my mouth...GROSS! So does anyone else have a ridiculous WT or other dentist/orthodontist related stories? Post away!

Evolv your style

2009-07-19T14:54:00.001-07:00

With all my shopping craze, I nearly forgot the fill you guy’s in on another fabulous new find. My childhood boy-next-door, Dustin, has a super cute girlfriend, Vanessa, who has her own Fashion Consulting business, Evolv Your Style. She does everything from closet makeovers to personal shopping and has excellent taste for both fashion and function. Also check out her blog, The Designer Dish, for the latest fashion updates.

I Love Lindsay Wells

2009-07-19T14:46:00.001-07:00

So I got a chance this weekend to catch up with my fabulous friend, Lindsay. During the day, Lindsay works at the Chanel counter at the Hill Country Galleria. I often stop by and play make over guinea pig so Lindsay can play with new products. But by night, Lindsay is a world class singing sensation! If you like good music, check out her myspace and if you ever need a super cute make over stop by Chanel and ask for Lindsay!

http://www.myspace.com/lindsaywells

Retail Therapy…some fabulous suggestions

2009-07-19T14:42:00.001-07:00

So after a rough week of seperation anxiety and some certain persons at work being extra grumpy, I was in seriousl need of some serious shop therapy. There are a few great places that I hit up and I wanted to share the love with you guys so you can also enjoy.

First Stop – Apricot Lane

Apricot Lane- Bee Cave
12800 Hill Country Blvd.
Bee Cave, Texas 78738

http://www.apricotlaneusa.com/page/home.html

This place is AMAZING!! Apricot Lane is owned by a mother-daughter team and staffed by the sweetest girls who make you feel like you are shopping with your girlfriends instead of being pressured by sales people. The store has clothes and accessories from all price ranges so you are guaranteed to find something no water what your budget. The store also hosts fashion parties for designers & customers so if you need a unique spot for your next girl’s night out, baby shower, birthday party, give them a call.

Second Stop – Silver Papery

3300 Bee Caves Road, Suite 240, Austin, TX 78746

http://www.silverpapery.com

Is your schedule ridiculous? Not a huge fan of electronic planners? My Agenda is the best planner of all time. Originally the Mom Agenda, this planner was so popular among non-moms that the company started making a version for everyone. There are desktop versions and mini-planners and they are all super cute! If you are in Austin, grab yours at Silver Papery, otherwise check out the Mom Agenda website and either order online or find a store near you that carries them.

Third Stop – JPK @ Nordstroms

http;//www.jpkhandbags.com

So some of you may have heard about my car getting broken into at the beginning of the summer. Sadly, the jerks also stole my Dooney & Bourke Purse and I have been on the hunt for a replacement ever since. My dreams came true yesterday when, while browsing the Nordstroms Sale, I came across the perfect bag made by a designer I had never heard of, JPK. The sales woman explained to me that they are a UK designer that has yet to become a household name here in the U.S. The bag was the perfect size and just the right balance of practical and adorable, something I felt confident would go well with any outfit and could function as my new every day all purpose purse. Plus it was a total steal for only $130 (normally it sells for around $210).

This is what we talk about at work....

2009-07-17T10:59:00.000-07:00

lvaughn ‎(6/5/2009 9:33 AM):
hey did you ever watch buffy
Kri$topher ‎(6/5/2009 9:33 AM):
back in 98, i knew this cool mexican raver girl that lived down the road from me and we hung out and she watched like a religion
lvaughn ‎(6/5/2009 9:34 AM):
haha
Kri$topher ‎(6/5/2009 9:34 AM):
but not really that much
lvaughn ‎(6/5/2009 9:34 AM):
i never realized how stupid buffy actually i
lvaughn ‎(6/5/2009 9:34 AM):
is*
Kri$topher ‎(6/5/2009 9:35 AM):
still not as bad as charmed, my best friends wife watches that all the time. that show is super dumb
lvaughn ‎(6/5/2009 9:35 AM):
OMG

lvaughn ‎(6/5/2009 9:35 AM):
LOVE THAT SHOW

lvaughn ‎(6/9/2009 9:03 AM):
im SO tired
Kri$topher ‎(6/9/2009 9:03 AM):
hey hey hey now
lvaughn ‎(6/9/2009 9:03 AM):
like i could fall asleep with my eyes open right now
Kri$topher ‎(6/9/2009 9:03 AM):
lilac sugarslap never gets tired
Kri$topher ‎(6/9/2009 9:04 AM):
lol go get some coffee
lvaughn ‎(6/9/2009 9:04 AM):
haha that will just make my stomach hurt
Kri$topher ‎(6/9/2009 9:04 AM):
ah, i see.
Kri$topher ‎(6/9/2009 9:04 AM):
at least you had a good time, so it kind of balances out being here all tired
lvaughn ‎(6/9/2009 9:05 AM):
yes that is true
lvaughn ‎(6/9/2009 9:05 AM):
still tired tho
Kri$topher ‎(6/9/2009 9:05 AM):
=
lvaughn ‎(6/9/2009 9:06 AM):
i just smashed my finger owwww
Kri$topher ‎(6/9/2009 9:06 AM):
lol maybe this is all one big sleep walk
lvaughn ‎(6/9/2009 9:06 AM):
that would be awesome
lvaughn ‎(6/9/2009 9:07 AM):
that would mean i could sleep
Kri$topher ‎(6/9/2009 9:07 AM):
that would be trippy
Kri$topher ‎(6/9/2009 9:07 AM):
since were chatting, that means i'm sleep walking also, and our sleep walking psyches met up somehow
Kri$topher ‎(6/9/2009 9:07 AM):
whoa!
Kri$topher ‎(6/9/2009 9:07 AM):
deep

Kri$topher ‎(6/12/2009 1:05 PM):
lol i want to show jd the picture of me with blue/leopard hair
lvaughn ‎(6/12/2009 1:05 PM):
haha
Kri$topher ‎(6/12/2009 1:05 PM):
he wont know what to make of that
lvaughn ‎(6/12/2009 1:06 PM):
yeah he is square
Kri$topher ‎(6/12/2009 1:07 PM):
lol
lvaughn ‎(6/12/2009 1:07 PM):
but that works for him
Kri$topher ‎(6/12/2009 1:07 PM):
yeah
Kri$topher ‎(6/12/2009 1:08 PM):
everyone has the right, ya know
lvaughn ‎(6/12/2009 1:08 PM):
yep
lvaughn ‎(6/12/2009 1:08 PM):
he wouldnt be JD if he wasnt a little square
Kri$topher ‎(6/12/2009 1:08 PM):
[]
Kri$topher ‎(6/12/2009 1:09 PM):
well that's more rectangle
Kri$topher ‎(6/12/2009 1:09 PM):
but then again he is tall
Kri$topher ‎(6/12/2009 1:09 PM):
lol
lvaughn ‎(6/12/2009 1:09 PM):
haha true that
lvaughn ‎(6/12/2009 1:09 PM):
he is right angled
lvaughn ‎(6/12/2009 1:09 PM):
thats all that matters
Kri$topher ‎(6/12/2009 1:09 PM):
exactly

Kri$topher ‎(12:58 PM):
you are
if you were in a bank
and the bank got robbed and the robber shot you
lvaughn ‎(12:58 PM):
?
Kri$topher ‎(12:58 PM):
the bullets would bounce off the awesome

Think Kris is funny? Check out his site
http://www.smokingstar.com

A weekend with the Casadaclan

2009-07-17T10:38:00.001-07:00

So I suppose it’s about time to update you all on my wonderful weekend in New Orleans with Jesse. I won’t lie, it was a bit of a rough start with the extended hours in the Austin airport and the delayed flight from Houston, but things picked up pretty quickly once I was done with the actual travelling. It was immediately apparent that Jesse had yet to fill in his family that we had decided to take a break from dating during the summer, mostly because he will be spending next semester in London and I had previously been planning on graduating in December before he came back to school. I was a bit miffed at first, but didn’t want to embarass him in front of his whole family by filling them in. This soon ceased to be a problem, however, as the longer I was around him, the more I remembered why I loved Jesse so much in the first place. Luckily, his feelings for me hadn’t changed much despite my stutter at the long distance gate, and by Saturday morning we had officially gotten back together. Feeling like I was suddenly whole again, I couldn’t wait for the wedding and the chance to meet even more of Jesse’s awesome family.

Most of you have probably taken a peek at the collage I posted Tuesday and have seen some of the great photos from the wedding and other events. I think some of the highlights were Hays, the adorable little boy who couldn’t bear to stay quiet during the ceremony, and Grandma breaking it down on the dance floor with all of the cousins. Im sure most of the Casadabans would say the same thing about seeing Jesse on the dance floor. The poor boy is notorious for his lack of rhythm and apparently has “never” been seen dancing. When I finally drug him out on the dance floor I felt like we were being stalked by paparazzi because there were so many relatives dying to capture the rare occasion. Even better was watching the photo slide show back at home on the big screen the next day and hearing Jesse’s dad, Emile, comment in surprise over and over at each photo of Jesse actually smiling while dancing.

At the wedding I also discovered that a cajun style bloody mary includes pickled beans and a lemon instead of olives and a lime. I tried to sneak some beans home in my suitcase but airport security snagged them since I didn’t want to deal with the hassle of checking a bag. I also had my first experience with beignets, which for those of you who don’t know, are delicious donut like creations primarily eaten at Cafe du Monde. Unfortunately we pulled the short straw and had to wait almost an hour to get service since apparently the waiters there only work when they feel like it. There were at least 5 of them sitting around taking smoke breaks but no one would serve us. Ultimately we ended up with a foreign waiter who brought us hot chocolate instead of chocolate milk. It was a bit rough and most of us were losing our patience (except for Jesse’s little sister Jamie) but the food was good so in the end it worked out ok.

In between the wedding excitement and family events, there was a lot of Wii mario kart (which I suck at). We took Jesse’s bad advice and did rainbow road as our third track. If any of you have played the Wii version of MK then you know this track is RIDICULOUS and has no walls. I am pretty sure I went flying of the track in the exact same place about 6 times in a row, it was miserable. But eventually I got the hang of it (kind of) and got up to a skill level where I could at least not get lapped every time.

The weekend ended with a tour of Jesse’s high school, Brother Martin, and some delicious seafood at Don’s. Oh yeah, I may have also smoothly whacked myself in the face with a bathroom cabinet door, still have a sweet bump from that one. I was heartbroken at having to leave, especially knowing I had to report to work at 8am the next morning, but I was glad I got to spend some quality time with one of my favorite people on earth. All in all I would say the weekend was an overwhelming success.

2009-07-17T09:29:00.001-07:00

Yes it really says 122...ridiculous

Vacation Collage

2009-07-14T10:20:00.001-07:00

Terminal

2009-07-10T16:54:00.001-07:00

So due to some miscommunication/poor planning i have landed myself in the Austin airport three hours before my flight to New Orleans. I figure now is as good a time as any to catch up on some blogging. I will go ahead and apologize for my absence, my mom passed me some wonderful 24 hr. bug and I have been too exhausted/busy all week to catch up. I suppose I should start with my 4th. Hope everyone else had a great time. Robby and I watched the downtown fireworks from a parking garage off Barton Skyway. The show was pretty cool, almost as exciting as our conversation. Some how family came up and it turns out Robby is adopted. That wasn’t too shocking until he explained that the people who had adopted him turned out to be the aunt and uncle of his birth mother. So while he had known his whole life that he was adopted, he wasn’t aware that the woman he believed to be his cousin was actually his mother until he turned 21, and oh yeah, the entire family had known the whole time.. The happy ending is that when he finally met his birth father he found out that they shared a passion for dance.

After the rooftop pyrotechnics and deep conversation, we headed downtown for a little independence day celebration. As is my habit, we started of the night at Firehouse. I was surprised not to see Jonathan since he is usually in his bar every night unless he takes the Dj’s out for dinner. I shot him a text seeing what he was up to which instigated a semi-awkward interplay of confusing texts. He responded by saying he was a dinner with his girlfriend. Just a brief back story, as far as I know, Jonathan and said girlfriend broke up over a month ago, but still live together. How true that really is, who knows. So I assumed the text meant they were working things out. I was happy to hear this since despite his assurances that he is fine, its obvious Jonathan wasn’t too happy about the breakup. I asked him if they had gotten back together and he simply responded with “we live together, call u next week.” Still confused, I told him to have a good fourth and went back to watching Robby break it down in the middle of the empty dance floor (he also pointed out to me that the other girls at the bar were forming a “fan club”). Just before we finished our drinks and got ready to leave, Jonathan showed up behind the bar and greeted me with an overly formal, “How are you doing this evening?” Not interested in whatever weirdness was going on with him, I was more than happy to follow Robby out the door to his hangout club, Plush.

Plush was not exactly what I had been expecting when Robby described a sweet dance club. It was very low key, kinda grungy, and honestly not my scene. Robby seemed to know everyone and their mother and of course started dancing almost immediatly. He was joined by a few bboys and they were having a pretty good jam session. One of the other guys was trying to teach his friend a move that I wanted to pick up, but Robby shut me down with some nonsense about how they would get “offended".” So I spent most of the night holding up the wall in the corner watching Robby do his thing. Overall the evening was a wash, Robby’s ego erasing any points he had won by being sweet on the rooftop.

We had one final date Wednesday night where I confirmed that he and I are not on the same track at the current moment. I think it may have been when he fell to the floor in a puddle of giggles and tears that was the final straw. Sorry to say there will be no more funny Robby stories, although my co-worker, Kris, gave me a funny book on alien conspiracies that might yield some good material. By the way, according to Robby’s sources, the U.S. government invented HIV to control the black population and administered it in vaccines…real winner there folks.

So there is the update, hopefully I will have some good stories/photos from my trip to New Orleans

My radio comments on the Perez/Will.i.am controversy

2009-07-10T10:47:00.000-07:00

Take a listen to my super intelligent input on my favorite morning radio show JB and Sandy! (im around 6:45)

2009-07-10T08:54:00.001-07:00

Office Doodle

Enterprise, they pick you up!

2009-07-06T11:42:00.001-07:00

About a month ago my car was broken into downtown and my wonderful insurance company that shall remain nameless has taken their dear sweet time handling my claim. First the wonderful agent Jessica sent the glass man out to replace my broken window. Things seemed to be going smoothly until over a week later I hadn’t heard a word about repairing the damage to my front fender. A few weeks of phone tag and handing me back and forth from one agent to another and they tried to send me to some whack body shop I had never heard of despite the fact that my family has and always will take all of our cars to Don’s Body Shop on 12th and Lamar. My mom was kind enough to take my car to Don’s for an estimate, which the insurance company of course said “seemed a little high.” So a month after my original claim and after being told an adjuster would not need to come to my house, they told me that I would in fact need an adjustor to look at the car, but sorry he can’t come for 3 more days. So after all this, I finally get it worked out to take my car into Don’s this morning after over a month of driving around looking like an idiotic blonde who can’t park.

I am a little stressed about trying to get to work at least semi-on time, so I stop at Enterprise first to make sure that they really are going to pick me up. Lucky me, Patrick the gorgeous Enterprise man was more than happy to help me out. Cursing myself for choosing today to not give a crap about my hair, makeup, etc. I tried to focus on the words coming out of his mouth instead of his pretty face as he explained to me all the usual rental car stuff. He told me to take my car over to Don’s and that someone would be by to pick me up soon.

I actually arrived at Don’s just as our friend Rick was pulling in to open up shop. I waited around for about 15 minutes until I saw the Enterprise car pull up and was delighted to see Patrick behind the wheel. He immediately apologized for the dirty state of the car he was picking me up in and for the wait, I of course couldn’t have cared less and informed him that the longer he took the less time I would have to spend bored in front of my computer at work. This led to some wonderful small talk and when he heard I went to Notre Dame he mentioned that he had actually considered playing baseball for them at one time. We arrived back at Enterprise all too soon but it took another 15 minutes before the rental was ready. During this time I was trying to think of a clever way to snag a photo of Patrick for ya’ll without seeming totally creepy, but I was unable to think on my feet. When we went out to do the walk around I tried not to squeal when I saw a giant grasshopper stuck under the hood. Not wanting to seem too squeemish I pointed it out to Patrick who actually freaked out more than I did. He said he would make sure they cleaned of the car first so I had to wait another 10 minutes inside before the car was finally ready. Sad to be leaving my new crush and returning to work, I hopped inside the silver PT Cruiser and was extra careful not to bump into anything on my way out of the lot. The rest of the day has been work as usual.

I promise I really am going to tell you about my 4th…soon.

A night out with the boys

2009-07-05T18:23:00.001-07:00

So I kicked off my 4th of july weekend with an evening at the pool with Zac and his little brother and friend. Earlier that afternoon, I had awoken from my nap to a somewhat frightening text from Zac, informing me that his recent visit to a cardiologist had discovered that three of the valves in his heart are leaking. Not being a medical professional, the concept of leaking valves totally freaked me out. Zac eventually responded to my frantic “WHHATTT??!!” text and explained the situation wasn’t life or death and that medication could mostly solve the problem. Despite his assurance, I knew he was probably less than pleased at the news, knowing that the thought of having a cold for a few days is usually enough to have him cursing his body for being weak. I had some sketchy plans to hang out with Robby that night, but I was hardly in the mood for bar hopping downtown and I felt like a hangout night was just what Zac and I both needed.

After taking entirely too long getting out of my house (curse you Hulu) I made it over to Zac’s around 8:30 to find him laying on the trunk of his car. I could already tell he was worked up since he called me to see where I was only a few seconds before I turned onto his street. He decided to let me drive (only man who has EVER done that) and Drew and Matt followed us to the apartment complex where Zac’s mom now lives. We hung around in the pool where Zac kindly tried to drown me and eventually we moved to the hot tub where I filled the guys in on my exciting date from earlier in the week. I was handling the giggles just fine until Drew made the comment, “Wow you seriously have the weirdest date stories.” Loving that I had just been shut down by a 16-year-old, I was more than happy when everyone got out of the hot tub and headed back to the pool. It wasn’t long, however, before the rotund security guard came to kick us rowdy hooligans out of the pool. I think Matt put it best when he said, “He is probably just pissy because he is too fat to pass the fitness test to be a real cop.”

The night ended with a trip to Taco Cabana for Zac’s third quesadilla of the day, how he isnt 200 lbs I don’t know. The evening itself was somewhat unremarkable, but after the week I had endured a little peace and quiet with good friends turned out to be exactly what I needed.

Up next, Robby and I go on our second date for 4th of July fireworks and a little dance battle at Plush. Also an awkward encounter with my bar owner friend Jonathan.

First Date Fabulous or Freaky?

2009-07-04T15:51:00.000-07:00

So originally Robby had invited me to a fashion show downtown in which he and his friends were performing. When the night finally arrived, however, I ended up spending the evening in bed with a dreadful headache. He texted me later to let me know that I hadn’t missed much, apparently the show itself wasn’t all that exciting. Regardless, I was bummed about missing a potential first date. Therefore I was delighted to get a mid-day text from him on Tuesday asking if I wanted to grab food sometime.

We decided to meet at Mangierri’s pizza on Wednesday, Robby was nice enough to offer to drive out to my hood since I was getting off work later. I had never been there before so I told him that I would be judging him based on how good our food was. He seemed rather confident that I would be satisfied. I was uncharacteristically late due to a minor emotional melt down by my mother, and when I arrived Robby had just finished a beer at the bar. We got a table and I let him order since he was the pizza expert. We split a Capo, which is essentially a meat lover’s, and I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious it was. The conversation was a little slow to start, I was a little worried that Robby might be thinking I was attached at the hip to my mother, and he was a little shy. Eventually we got the ball rolling and before I knew it, the conversation had taken some strange turns and was speeding down the conspiracy theory highway.

We started off with a brief history of the dance plagiarism of the recently deceased Michael Jackson. According to Robby, the moonwalk and much of the famous choreography from Michael’s videos had been stolen from other notorious poppers of the time. I myself know little about the history of dance so I declined to offer my opinion on the subject, feeling it was in poor taste to bad talk the recently departed.

We made a brief stop at the “Bush/Cheney are evil” station, but quickly moved right into Robby’s true passion, UFOs. Humans are scientific experiments created by aliens who settled on Earth at Atlantis thousands of years ago. The Lyrians combined their DNA with that of the native Earth inhabitants and thus created humans. Some crazy inter-alien battles raged and eventually Atlantis was lost and the other alien colonies were dissolved into oblivion.

Also, when we die, our spirits travel to the seven outer rings and eventually are put back into another body. So when you see one of those people you want to hand an idiot sign, try and go easy on them because in reality they are simply a new soul.

This is a brief, and I mean brief, overview of the in depth conversation that took place on our first date. While some of you might be wondering why I didn’t immediately fake a family emergency and bolt, I like to think we all have thoughts about things that other people might find a little crazy, and I was impressed that Robby was willing to really put himself out there. We will have to see how intense he really is about these theories.

Next up, a night out with my good friend Zac and his little brother Drew.

2009-07-04T13:17:00.001-07:00

The contents of my mothers trunk...and there are still hundreds in the living room

Let the journey begin!

2009-07-03T17:31:00.001-07:00

So today begins the first day of my new blog with the birth of my new best friend, my Dell Mini netbook.

I have been craving this little guy ever since my good friend Andrew bought his a few months ago and infected me with some serious tech-envy. I finally broke down and bought mine when I saw that Dell was having a sale for their Summer Deal Days. After waiting two weeks for the custom build and delivery, by the way I am so NOT a patient person, my baby has finally arrived and I couldn’t be more pleased. But enough about my latest technological obsession, there are much more absurd things to update you on.

So the focus of this blog is going to be documenting all of the interesting and true events of my life. A few of my friends have argued over which one of them gets the rights to the TV show of my life and I have more than once been told that I should write a book so we will see if my experiences really are that interesting or if my friends lives are just that extra boring.

I will start with a brief profile of myself. I am a newly 21-year-old female, born and raised in Austin, TX and enjoying the summer before my last year in college at the University of Notre Dame. I have gone to private school my entire life, but my family is not wealthy. I just got lucky that my parents put my education as priority #1. I am majoring in Graphic Design, but who knows what I will actually end up doing with my life. I love almost every sport, especially volleyball, and am known to have music of all genres constantly playing wherever I am. My favorite books are the Sherlock Holmes stories (btw the movie so far off character) and I watch the CW, USA, and TNT pretty obsessively. That should be enough for now, I am sure if you continue reading you will learn more about me than anyone ever really wanted to know.

Now what you have all been waiting for, the first installment of the ridiculousity (I demand this become a real word) of my life. So I am home in Austin for the summer, single, and newly 21. This of course means that I have recently discovered the joys of 6th street. I have made a few new friends, mostly bartenders, bouncers, and bar owners, and am starting to whittle down the list of my favorite bars and clubs. So the weekend of June 20, my wonderful mother invited me to dinner downtown with her old friend Sarah. She assures me that she simply wants to go grab dinner and get home early since and needs me to come along so that party-girl Sarah does not force her to stay out all night. Being the nice person that I am, I agree to go, thinking to myself what poor college kid turns down a free meal? We meet Sarah and her friend Dare at the Driskill hotel bar and walk a block over to Louis on 6th. I can tell I am in for an interesting night when conversation moves from the usual old friends catching up to my mom confessing her new years eve pot smoking, last year. Things continued down hill from there and reached an all time low in the pit of awkwardness when Sarah took a photo of me on her Blackberry only to send it to her 22-year-old son Jeff with a message saying, “my friends daughter is a hottie!” Luckily Jeff is used to his mom’s crazy antics and was kind enough not to blame me for the embarrassing photo-op. He actually started texting me at the table and became my long distance support for the rest of the ridiculous dinner conversation, assuring me that he had heard it all before and apologizing for his mother’s awkwardness.

I wish I could say that was the end of that night, but despite her promises of an early return to our house, my mom was talked into hitting up the bars “just for a few drinks.” As if hanging on 6th with my mom and her friends wasn’t traumatic enough, my mom picked that night to actually remember the name of the bar I love to frequent. Just my luck, the Firehouse Lounge happens to be directly across the street from the Driskill Hotel. To make things even better, my bar owner friend Jonathan let us in even though technically the Firehouse wasn’t even open for the night yet so my mom and her friends had the attention of every one in the house when they started doing shots and eventually moved to the dance floor. I thought watching awkward college kids grind on each other was disturbing, but nothing can touch seeing your mother getting down while everyone cheers. Jonathan decided to add insult to injury by making the comment, “Now I know where you get it from.” The bar eventually filled up a little more and I managed to put some distance between myself and the three women I realized I would be babysitting for the rest of the night. I thought the night was getting a little better when I cute rugby player from Corpus started talking to me at the bar, but realized all hope was lost as I saw my mom sneaking up behind him to make an excellent embarrassing comment. Finally resigned to accept my duties as Sober Sally for the night, I joined the ladies on the dance floor for one last jam before exiting the Firehouse for the night. Alas, the night was still young and Dare made the executive decision of directing the group to a place that she heard about called the “Beauty Bar.” Having never heard of the joint, I wasn’t too hopeful, but the Driskill valet hailed us a cab and off we were on part 2 of our downtown adventure.

Once again searching for someone in my age bracket to talk to, I struck up a conversation with one of the bouncers outside beauty bar. I noticed that he had several tattoos and decided to ask him about them. I myself have none, but I find that most people have really great stories behind them and I was in desperate need of distraction from the destruction of my Saturday night. Unfortunately, Mr. Bouncer chose to deny me any good stories and instead fed me with a lecture about how most people’s tattoos are extremely personal and since I was a complete stranger he did not wish to discuss them with me. My psyche still stinging from the rejection slap, I wandered my way inside to find the most ridiculous looking bar I have ever seen. The inside was pink, there was a disco ball, a checkered dance floor, and oh yeah…no one dancing. I found my three new responsibilities huddled together in the lounge area having a drunken giggle about something and was immediately tasked with getting everyone drinks. Cash in hand, I headed to the bar where I had the only positive experience of the evening. While ordering drinks I rubbed elbows with an extremely cute guy which sparked some meaningless conversation. He asked me if I came to the Beauty Bar often and when I explained my situation he offered his condolences and helped me carry the drinks back to my mom and her friends. Happy to have a new friend I continued to hang with Robby at the bar and soon learned that not only was he super cute, but an awesome dancer. Since going to Notre Dame I have joined a dance crew by the name of Project Fresh, and have been learning all kinds of new styles like hip-hop, popping, locking, break dancing, and krumping. I was thrilled to find someone in Austin who could pop like Robby and he was happy to hear that I was also a dancer, although not exactly up to his expert skill level. We swapped numbers just as my phone was dying and he headed out with his friend to meet up with some other dancers at a different club. Feeling like maybe the night hadn’t been a total waste I went to sit at a table outside and wait for the girls to wrap up their night. It was around midnight when we all stumbled our way back to the hotel and I got my mom’s car from the valet. The icing on the cake was the Austin Police Department officer on duty at the Driskill who tried to hit me with the “You look really familiar, where do you work?” His attempt was so blatant it even earned him a dirty look from my intoxicated mother and he immediately tried to back track with the ever so smooth, “I’m not hitting on you or anything…” Luckily our car arrived in the knick of time and after explaining to mother that no she would not be driving us home, we packed into the mazda and called it a night.

That’s all for now but stay tuned for a play by play of Robby and I’s first date at Mangierri’s pizza. Just so you know it will be good, google Billy Meier to see one of our topics of conversation.