Hey girls!

Hope everyone is doing well. Whitney I am so so sorry about your dress, but I'm sure that it is going to work out and it will be even more beautiful than you imagined.

Chelsie I am jealous of your spring break. I was just writing a friend from college today about how bummed I am that I don't get one this year. It used to be one of my favorite times and I fully intend on bringing it back next year after this absurd hiatus.

So things here are going well, better all the time. I really like my job. I have a lot of responsibility but I like that. I feel better about it too, after attending/working at the auction my first week, which is the school's biggest fundraiser all year. The school and people really do amazing things and it's nice to eb a part of something that is really making a difference. Only downside is the long hours, which I actually don't mind, more the fact that I can't just take off anytime I feel like it. Welcome to the real world I suppose. And I didn't officially quit CPK either; I chickened out because they were kinda mad so I said I'd still work every other weekend starting next weekend. We'll se how long this lasts, especially since I want to take off the 2nd weekend back to try and go see a certain buddy of mine in Boston!

I have had visitors every weekend since February when my dad came up, which is awesome. A little tiring, but in the best way. My mom was here this past weekend which was wonderful, and now I'm sad she's gone:( I have to say I am more homesick here than I have been anywhere else, even though I am thoroughly enjoying myself. I'm off to Conneticut this weekend to see family, though, so that will be good.

I'm becoming better and better friends with Kim, my roommate, which is nice. We're going out tonight, along with some of her friends, Jenny and them and Josh, my other roommate, to the bar next door for $1 drafts. Just fun to do something all together and to get to know other people.

So that's about it for me. Oh and Michael, aka the bane of my existence that you all know about now thanks to Traeder, keeps calling/emailing/texting me and it won't stop. I hate myself, why can't I find normal guys? On the plus side looks like he's not coming to NY for school so someone must be looknig out for me.

You know I really hope that no one finds out our address for this site. I'd feel kinda bad if Michael tapped into it and saw my rantings. Although if he managed to hack into this, that really would be the last straw.

Love you girls, blog soon.

hey girls! i just got home from spending spring break with brian out in Colorado and at his house in the quad cities. skiing was great - i hate to say it but it was a lot better than switzerland skiing. although it wasn't nearly as funny b/c you all weren't there. hey tara - remember when we looked over and saw whitney and sarah CARRYING their board/skis down the mountain. hahahahaha. good times good times. and i would like to proudly say that i finally was able to finish watching that movie that died on me last time. it was really good...quite shocking i must say. so if you've never seen 'the life of david gale' i would recommend it too. (and yes - i had to rent it from blockbuster) other than that nothing really new going on with me. just relaxing and not working right now. i start back nannying on april 2nd. i get two weeks off which is nice. oh and by the way..just to set the story straight....i DID call Whitney on that day she was supposed to hang out. i called while she was in her cooking class and left a long message and said to call me as soon as she was done and to come hang out with me. i even have brian and other friends as a witness. but she never called back. cool whit. but that's ok - i forgive and forget too. allright...i gotta run. but i love you guys and miss you so much! does anyone have gina's address?
p.s. i'm very addicted to the show grey's anatomy. i spent around seven hours watching the whole first season over the past couple of days. you should watch it

missing you all so much!

hey girls,
i just wanted to type up a quick little note to tell you all that i love you and miss you so much. i'm leaving today for the florida keys with the fam. (my sister will be my saving grace), but i love reading what's going on with everyone. i emailed my fiance's sister last night b/c she's studying for the semester in ireland, and she wanted to know all the places to travel afterwards. she's going to switzerland, so of course i wrote like 5 paragraphs on our amazing time there and like 2 sentences about everywhere else that she's going. it really brought me back and i seriously almost started to cry.
tara, kevin looks like a cutie...keep us posted on that buisness. other than that, i love you girls so much. you are all amazing!
whit

falling together.

Oh, Whitney...I can't tell you how sorry I am about your dress. Although I feel for you completely...you are an excellent story teller and it was a bit humorous. I am thinking about you, though, and am keeping my fingers crossed (and praying a little too...although this isn't a disease or something...it's ok to pray about it). If there's anything I can do to help, you just let little old me know and I'll rip someone's head off for you...I'm actually quite good at it ;-)

So...what's new in my life?? Let's see...

I work 7 days per week at at least one of my 5 jobs...so that's fun. Actually, I don't really mind...just as long as the moolah keeps flowing in.

Last Friday (St. Pat's) I went on a double decker bus pub crawl...a blast!!! We decided that we were going to be on a "team" (even though it wasn't a team event) and had t-shirts made and everything...it definitely took me back to the good old days at the Uof I. Anyway while I was out that night, I kind of started having some more than friends feelings for my friend of like 10 years, Kevin. So....I'm not really sure where that is headed, but we'll see. He's cute and funny and sarcastic...so pretty much we have stuff to talk about. We'll see. Other than that, I had a great night hanging out with my big Brother and his new girlfriend Katie (who seriously I LOVE...and as weird as this sounds...I wouldn't mind if she became my sister-in-law...yikes!!). Added are some pics of the wild night (Left side, my brother Jason & Katie) (Left side, me and Kevin):



Other than that...wow...not much has changed around here. I'm trying to live each day to the fullest and appreciate the time I have with my family while living at home...although it is miserably hard to remember this sometimes.

Oh, girls...let's have a reunion at the thermal pools!!! PLEASE!!!

Love and miss miss miss...muah xoxo

p.s. did you know that if you just type www.gryon.com, you get the website for Chalet Martin?? Awesome huh!?

p.p.s. All of you need to send me pics of when we were in Switzerland because my memory card broke and I lost all of mine...especially Chelsie from when we were skiing!!! :-D

worst thing ever....

ok, so now that we've all got our cute little save the dates, i shall reveal the worst crisis of the wedding planning yet....drumroll please. so, on monday the bridal store calls to let me know that my dress finally came in. let me remind you all that i ordered my dress in august ( i believe if my calculations are correct, that is about 7 months ago). so, i'm obviously telling everyone what it looks like (as i have all of you) and i was so excited about it and i have this picture of perfection in my head. so, how excited am i to go try on my dress on tuesday and pick out a veil? VERY EXCITED! well, in the meantime, i'm up in mn with michael and i was supposed to come home on monday. well, in minnesota there's a lot of snow (and i hate it...nothing personal g), so i can't drive home. anyway, my dad has to fly me home on tuesday morning so i can make it to my veiling appointment and just because i'm kinda behind on wedding stuff. so, i get to the store with my mom and they have my dress haning in this big dressing room. they finally tell my mom and me to come back into the dressing room to see the dress. well, you know what was waiting for me?!?!?!?!? A PINK WEDDING DRESS!!!!!!!!! i'm not even kidding here. i stopped dead in my tracks and my mom started crying. you guys, i honestly cannot tell you what was going through my mind. i really think that God uses me as his comical relief which is fine for the most part (like on monday night when both my eyes dialated so much that i got asked if i had a glass eye...another story for another time), but let me tell you God, this is not a funny joke. so obviously i'm freaking out. what happened is that they ordered the right color (shade), but there's a different dye lot now (i don't even know what the heck that means), so the color is a lot different. basically to make a long story short, my top and my sash are great, but the skirt is literally pink. let me remind you it took them 7 months to get my dress to me. how many months until i get married? 4!!!!!!!! i called chelsie right away and i think i'm still in shock. so, now my options consist of losing a ton of money and ordering another skirt in a different shade (who's to guarantee that won't come in blue or something), or take the sick butt store sample that's been used for 2 years and is black at the bottom from dirt not to mentioned ripped (should i offer them my red bandana to patch it up)? i honestly don't know why i'm really surprised, but i am. anyway, i'm trying to push on and not think about it until i have to. the store is having the sample dry cleaned and then they're going to call me on monday. until then, i can't do much. i honestly can't believe this.
so, that's been the most eventful thing of the week. oh, i got my legs and bikini waxed tonight. oh good lord, it hurt like nothing i've ever felt before. i wanted to murder myself right there on the little table. not to mention you're just lying there, butt naked. that's comfortable. i also went to a cooking class tonight called favorites from france. it was amazing and i was totally thinking of all of you because i wanted to gorge myself but unfortunately i had to be polite and let the other people in the class have some food as well. we had steak and salad and tarte de tartin:) my fav. then i was supposed to hang out with chelsie, but she never called me....cool. it's ok, i forgive and still love.
anyway, it's been so good reading the posts and hearing how you guys are doing. sarah, good luck with michael...that's an amazing story. tara, thank you for making that known to us. gina, why do you hate us and never write? chels, you have to finish that movie. it's one of my favorites...i think that i might have told gina about it. you get your rear in gear and go to blockbuster. ok, i love you girls so much and can't wait to hear more about all that's going on. sorry this was so long!
whit

Wedded Bliss

Holy Holy Moley...Whitney...your save the date is SOOOOOO adorable.

I seriously had to do a triple take on the photo...I was like...who is this??? I mean...you didn't have a greasy ponytail, overgrown body hair, weren't wearing a mismatched outfit of 7 different pieces of clothing, OR have a giant growth of a backpack hanging from your back...I just didn't recognize you ;-)

Beautiful.

p.s. Michael looks hot!!

Whitney you look so beautiful in your Save the Date card!! You and Michael are so cute! I got it last night and made me sad because I really miss you and all you girls:( But you looked so happy in that picture, and you guys are a perfect couple. I mean, I know I don't actually know Michael, but still, I know. I am so sos so happy for you two! I always was, but for some reason, the card made it really official to me:)

And on a different note, Chelsie, I am sorry the movie didn't work out, but it made for great entertainment for the rest of us. It was like reading one of yoru euro-malis. hahaha

Talk to y'all soon!

i'm really annoyed right now

so i went to the "gold coast movies" rental store the other day...only i don't understand why it is called the gold coast movie store at all because it is right around the corner from me and i dont live in or near the gold coast at all. i actually live in quite the opposite part of town...about a mile away from cabrini green :) let's talk about a housing project gone bad - but that's a whole other subject. so i went in to the movie store and rented "the life of david gale" on the recommendation of gina. don't worry g - i didn't forget. so i rented it and sat down tonight to watch it and was really excited because in europe gina told me how this movie was so amazing. so everything's fine the movie's about half over and the FREAKING DVD IS ALL SCRATCHED and it WON'T WORK!! so now, I have NO IDEA HOW THE MOVIE ENDS...AND IT'S KILLING ME!! if that dumb store was open right now i would march right over there and start screaming. i'm so frustrated at this stupid movie. you know..i thought i was being a good wicker park local by giving the local store business so that it will actually stay in business...but now...i am going to have to resort back to blockbuster. i was trying to support the little guy and not go for the big chain store but ya know....AT LEAST BLOCKBUSTER HAS MOVIES THAT WORK!! anyways...it's ok that i can't watch the movie because i am even more entertained reading your blogs. thanks to whitney for making sarah and tara give their addresses! G - i need your address too!! whit - come down and play with me :) and gina - i got your package the other day with the pics/prayer list/quotes! THANK YOU SO MUCH! i was laughing so hard reading those quotes again. HAHAHAHAHA i'm laughing out loud so hard right now... oh my goodness. HAHAHA ok, i keep thinking of "get your big fat curly hair off my pillow!" HAHAHAHAHA..i don't know why that's sooo funny to me. allright ladies...i'm off to bed. i miss all of you so much. we need a reunion pronto....because i have no other friends. goodnight! sweet dreams of gelato and pizza and then more gelato! oooh..and that steak from the swiss alps. yum.

This One Is Called...

Tara's gonna die. That is so not funny to even joke about!!

That would be Michael, the guy we met in Paris who came to my birthday dinner with us. An unfortunate move on my part for inviting him, because it led him to believe that I wanted him to fly to London to hang out with me for the weekend following the week where you all ditched me to come back to the US...so you see, this is really all of you guys' fault. He just so happened to be in NYC the first night I moved up here and he came out with me and my friends, and when we were at the bar, he just lunged at me and started kissing me. So I dubbed him Michael, aka THE WORST KISSER IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. Ew he makes me want to vomit. Needless to say I tried to avoid him the rest of the weekend, but he apparently was staying here all weekend to hang out with me. I'm glad he likes to consult me with these ludicrous plans. (For the record though, he was up ehre looking at Colombia Law School on Friday, so I was not the reason he was here to begin with.) Anyway to try and wrap up this long story, he calls all the time and I can't get rid of him.

So there you have the 'dirty little secret'. Thanks Traeder for making me relive the nightmare.

LOVE YOU GIRLS

short on time

hey girls,
i'll write more later. i'm in mn with the boy! woo hoo! anyway, just wanted to comment on that dirty little secret post that tara put up. hummmm...sarah, i believe you have some explaining to do in your next post.
tara, my advice to you is to continue in your spiritual search:) and is this guy the pastor of your whole church or a 20's something group? how is he so young? anyway, maybe your next post should include a picture with you next to him:)
g and chels, call me back jerks! i love you all so much!
whit

I'll Keep You My Dirty Little Secret...

Actually, It's Sarah's Dirty Little Secret...

and the secret is that she is IN LOVE with the man pictured below...

hee hee hee ;-)

Loud and Clear, Good Buddy

Whit...I am seriously not a good listener...well, I heard you, I guess I just wasn't listening.

Here's where you can find me:

4417 Hampton Lane
Quincy, IL 62305

Oh, girls....Things are good here in Q-town...just sort of cruising along. I must admit, I have a big 'ol crush on my...pastor. Is that normal?? He is smokin' hot and 25...funny, smart...did I mention HOT??!!! I think that would probably interfere with my spiritual search that I'm undertaking at the moment, though.

Ok...tomorrow, I am headed to Austin Texas for one of my best friends from high school's wedding!!!! It actually just hit me about an hour ago that I am going to her wedding and am a bridesmaid. That is a huge life event...I can't believe that is going to happen this weekend!!??? Wow. I am seriously tripping about this, seriously.

Ok..it's 10:36pm...I'm not even close to being ready and my girl Gina (a different, but not better one ;-) is picking me up at 7am to head to the airport...so...PEACE OUT!!!

LOVE YOU!!!!!

Address!!

Sorry Whitney!! It's 229 E 87th Street, Apt 3E, New York, NY, 10128 The Big Apple!! Ok so that's not part of it I just sometimes can't beleive I live here!

So just posted so not a whole lot else going on, but keeping busy! Been having lots of guests so that's aways nice and now down to my last 3 days at the hellacious Californa Pizza Kitchen. I love the people, but it's so slow there and I'm not making any money so I'm glad to get out of there.

So that's about it with me, I'll keep you guys posted. I love having this! And Gina I want to hear about how things are going with Mark. And Chelsie, where the hell are ya? Hope you girls are doing well, I love you!!

Address!!

Sorry Whitney!! It's 229 E 87th Street, Apt 3E, New York, NY, 10128 The Big Apple!! Ok so that's not part of it I just sometimes can't beleive I live here!

So just posted so not a whole lot else going on, but keeping busy! Been having lots of guests so that's aways nice and now down to my last 3 days at the hellacious Californa Pizza Kitchen. I love the people, but it's so slow there and I'm not making any money so I'm glad to get out of there.

So that's about it with me, I'll keep you guys posted. I love having this! And Gina I want to hear about how things are going with Mark. And Chelsie, where the hell are ya? Hope you girls are doing well, I love you!!

sarah and tara...listen to directions!

ok girls, first of all sarah and tara need to listen to directions and post their addresses on our blog. i have something to send, but no address, no send. second of all, i subbed today at a middle school in my city. let me just tell you that i think i must have a huge sign across my forehead that says, "sucker." so, i was an aide for this girl with disabilities (which was fine....she was really cool). then, i was only supposed to work half day because her real aide was coming back, but they asked me to sub. for a "reading class." reading class my butt. i was in a closet with three special ed. students. now, we all know that i have no problem with the special ed. students because my brother is the most special ed. of them all, but these kids were not special ed. they were behavior ed. i walk into the closet (literally...i'm not even joking...it was the smallest room ever where all the teachers hung their coats) and the first kids yells at me, "i hate subs." well, ok, to make a long story short that's pretty much how the whole class went with a bit of fist pounding and name-calling thrown in there.
third of all, wedding plans are going a bit better. i just had a meeting with my florist tonight. i feel pretty proud of myself for that. and, i totally had a break down last week because our guest list was out of control and i started to look for new venues, but luckily papa jack handled the situation and the country club is working things out (how, i don't know, but i don't really care). so, again a reminder to the two forgetfuls, i need your addresses asap! otherwise, everyone keep posting because i absolutely love this now that i finally got it figured out.
gina, tell us all how your weekend went with marky poo. chelsie, stop babysitting and hang out with me, dangit. sarah, i might cry if you can't come to my wedding and congrats on the job. i'm so proud of you. tara, good for you to quit your overworked and underpaid job:) go ruby tuesday's! i love you girls so much! mwah!
whit

Wishy Washy

Oh girls...I don't even know where to begin!

First of all, what is wrong with me...seriously.

3 weeks ago (as you all know becuase I was telling you how I only wanted to work 4 days per week) I began a job at the newspaper selling advertisements...well...old girl here didn't really think things through completely...and decided that the whole commission only paycheck wasn't really going to work for her...so I quit. Damn, I hate that word...but technically, I guess that's what I did.

So...now I have four (sometimes more) jobs and am running frantically around this little town everyday.

My jobs at the moment are:
1. ugh..Ruby Tuesday...ugh
2. My dad's company designing flyers and ads for him.
3. Market research for a legal publishing company in California
4. Miller Lite girl- basically going to bars and getting people to drink miller lite...my favorite of all the jobs.
(5. babysitting)

To make things just a little more complicated, I have an interview to be a trainer at the YMCA tomorrow morning...so, yeah...things are just going to get busier.

But, anyway, not much else is going on here. I'm going to a wedding this weekend in Texas...one of my best high school girl friends is getting married...so that will be fun. St. Patricks day, me, and some friends are going on a double decker bus pub crawl around quincy, so I'm really looking forward to that. then the weekend after I almost positive I'll be in Boston with one Sarah Elizabeth Zimmerman. YEAH!!!! That's the BIG, important weekend plan...I'm so excited to see you Sarah!!

So, Whitney...I need to you focus on the wedding, because I'm going want to come...and if there isn't going to be one...it's going to suck.

Nothing much else is new...but by the way...I literally laugh out loud when I read you all's posts...they crack me up...and I can just picture us all sitting around in our Hostel room at the Generator telling your stories and laughing until my stomach hurt.

You are crazy, wonderful, beautiful friends and I LOVE YOU!!!

Settling in to the Big Apple

Hi girls! Whitney you are so funny. Everytime I read the posts I hear whose ever's one I'm reading in their voice and can picture you saying it and it makes me laugh...

So exciting news, I got a job!!! I interviewed on Wednesday and was offered the position on the spot. I went into it telling myself to really think it over and not take it (if offered) just because it's not CPK. But I loved the people and I think it's going to be a great fit for me so I took it! I'm working in a development office for a private school. To begin with I'm going to be doing boring computer crap, but once I get a handle on it, I'll be doing fundraising, writing letters, working with the community service, etc. When I moved up here and was applying to all of these non profit jobs, they all kept saying I needed 1-2 years expereience doing this exact type work before I could get the job I really wanted. So I'm excited I think this will lead to good opportunities for me. And I get 6 weeks vacation and lots of sick/personal days so yay!

So my friends from home moved up here this week and what a weekend we had! I haven't had such a crazy time in a long time. We ended up at this bar/club where you are supposed to pay $200 to get in then but a $100 bottle of liquor, but we didn't know this, got in free then met some guys that gave us free drinks all night! It was fun, btu I am so tired today. HAve a friend from high school coming in tomorrow for the week, interviewing and visiting, she's hoping to move up here in the summer. SO things are starting to fall into place and I'm starting to really enjoy myself here.

Whitney hope the wedding plans are coming along, but don't stress too much because I know it is going to be spectacular. It will all come together and be the best wedding ever!! I have a terrible feeling though that my family trip to Italy/England that my Dad planned in December (it was a surprise for the family) is overlapping with your wedding week. It was occuring to me today when he emailed me some more info about the trip. I'm not sure though and god knows I hope it is not the same time, because I want nothing more than to come to your wedding.

I hope you all are doing well, and I wish we were all together at the Swiss Chalet. Hell, I'd even settle for the Generator:)

I love you all.