Friday, January 20, 2006

Big P.R. Pimpin' and junk....

I'm lazy...you can read an account of my travels in Puerto Rico at FSPOT and Fait du Chocolat
My thoughts on the trip? Everyone needs to go because it is so awesome. And I got a tan in the middle of the winter...'nough said.
Other news....

Jeff and I are reunited and the plans for the wedding are in full force. The date is set for July 1, 2006. It will be a grand evening wedding with lots of candles and twinkle lights. Jeff brought me back treasures from Israel. A beautiful gold and red pashmina. Greatest Love hits by various famous artists sung by Israeli singers. Chocolate (he knows me so well!). A bottle of wine (Again! he knows me so well!). A beautiful green necklace...and lots of pictures! I think he had fun.

I brought him back from Puerto Rico a bottle of rum, a t-shirt, and a sick and whiney fiance...oops.. I think I got the better deal.

School seems like it might suck if it wasn't for the fact that I only go three days a week. Its gonna be a lot of work this semester especially with all the other things on my plate.

UMMM...yeah.....I don't know what else to write...I'm lazy and boring right now...sorry!

Monday, January 02, 2006

Merry New Year!!!

I'm trying to start the New Year right by posting as often as possible...this post is mainly copied from an email to Jeff but I figured it would get the message across anyway!

I ended up having fun New Year’s Eve even though it was kinda expensive…but oh well! I had talked to Phill of Scotland about hanging out but in the end I wasn’t able to get a hold of him. We were able to meet up with Lindsey and her pose though. Renee and I tried the Austin First Night thing and it was cool. We weren’t able to get a $10 button which would have gotten us into the places to see some of the performers but we decided to stay and watch the parade. It was really cool though and I’m glad we stayed.

We met Lindsey downtown after this long process of trying to park. Take a regular weekend in Downtown Austin and magnify the traffic by three fold. It cost us $10 to park and then Lind's group wanted to go to Apple Bar and so that was another $10 to get in. Once there it was pretty crowded and the music was horribly loud. After having already paid $20 I wasn’t really into drinking too much. It was enjoyable..I just mainly people watched because it was too loud to talk to the other people. At midnight the bar pass out champagne but I wasn’t able to get to it and so couldn’t really toast anyone…it was sad because I do love my champagne. Then Linds talked to this guy from law school who happened to be at a house party so we drove over to Yager lane to hang out at the party. The group was really cool and nice and they had a 2 keg kegorator. The house was inhabited by a group of guys who were in a frat at Southwestern in Georgetown. They were definitely not “frat” type boys though..so I gave my approval to Lindsey. We ended up leaving around 3:30 pm and then headed home. We were all a bit hungry by 3:30am and had a Taco C. welcome into the new year. We did not get to bed until 5am. Then we woke up at 9am to drive back to Dallas…it was fun let me tell you!

We went over to my mom's cousin Noelle’s new house and she’s done an amazing job in renovating the house and decorating it. The table settings were gorgeous. I’m so horribly envious and jealous of her talent. I definitely made up for my lack of champagne on NYE there. I think I had 4 glasses followed by Cocques san Jacques, prime rib (I was given the largest piece and could only eat half), potatoes au gratin, a large assortment of cheeses and a lemon curd tart (tart but very yummy!). Oh and she had some yummy appetizers of lobster and salmon and a frois gros paste of some sort. All very delicious and beat my lunch of Arby's earlier in the day. We got there around 5pm and did not leave until 11:45pm because everyone was having so much fun.

So now the holidays are over and that means the parties with the deliciously fattening foods are done and the diets can start!


The Giant Black Eyed Pea of New Years!

Friday, December 30, 2005

Happy Holidays and more

I thought it was time to post again...it has be a long time now. I'm sure everyone is eagerly awaiting an update to my life! So here it goes!

X-Mas
Good. I ate way too much but I got lucky and was able to spend it with Jeff because he went to Cali the weekend before. Got lots o' presents one of which is a pretty Kate Spade purse. Jeffie bought me some VS panties (none of which were thongs surpisingly) and a really pretty silky nightie. I likey a lot! He also got me a Dane Cook Cd (a hilarious comedian and not bad on the eyes either!) and a David Sedaris Cd. Both of which he thought would be good for me in PR but I tore into them way before and have already listened to both....ooops! I'm more than willing to listen to them again with the PR group! I got Jeff a GPS tracker thing for his laptop. We used it in the car on our trip from Austin to Dallas and it is really cool. Although it isn't really necessary if you know how to get to point A to Point B...but it tells you restaurants and gas stations in the area and that is always a plus! And clothes, you can expect a girl not to get her guy clothes for a holiday..how else are we supposed to dress them?!?

Wedding Stuff:

So, after a discouraging attempt to find a place in Austin. My mom and I decided to look in Dallas. And while we found plenty of places that are available on May 28th, there was always something that we didn't care for too much. At this one place downtown called Marie Gabrielle while it was really pretty we thought the surrounding traffic noise would distract. There was Arlington Hall at Lee Park which much to my blonde headed surprise was an exact replica of Robert E. Lee's house and there was a huge statue of him. I just didn't think that I wanted my wedding at a place that represents a very disturbing time in US history...even though I do have a soft spot for historical buildings. Jeff didn't care for it either and my mom thought it was a bit too gaudy and stuffy. So that left us back to square one. So, now thoughts have turned to a high summer wedding, July or August in Austin and I've gotten approval from Jeff... (Sorry Flaminia for all the changing of the schedule!! and I totally understand if you would not be able to make it since it is your busy season!). We're looking at these two sites and . What does you think? I'm open to suggestions. Positive note for H12, they allow you to bring your own booze....so it would be free flowin'. Positive note for VV, they have space for indoor ceremony...so no sweaty pits!

And, I think I might have found a dress but I'm not positive. Its completely different from what I imagined I would wear so I need second opinions but my mom and sister both agree that its great. I would post pics but Jeff reads my blog and I have some old fashion tendancies. So, if anyone is interested and free Monday..I might be able to do a showing for some opinionated people.

Other news:

Jeff lefte for Israel earlier this week so I've been chillin' in D-town with the rents. I've been so lazy not doing anything but reading and playing on the computer. I haven't even been to the gym in a month...it is so sad and I need to get in shape if I want to look good at the wedding! Jeff's been sending me pics of Israel and it looks like he's having fun. I might post a couple of them since I don't have any interesting ones right now of myself...might change once I get to PR.

Looking for things to do in Austin. Renee (of Dallas and formerly of Florida)is coming down with me to Austin and we're gonna try and party it up. Downtown is putting on this thing called First Night and it looks really cool. Lots of performers and artists...my kinda things. If anyone is interested, its $10 to get in from 2pm to midnight. Should be lots of fun! I'm gonna try and meet up with Lindsey but it sounds like she has a lot on her plate while she's in Dallas. If anyone has any other ideas of what to do to ring in the New Year, I'm also up for suggestions in this area too!

Ok, well this has been a book of a post and I will let everyone's eyes rest from staring at the computer so long. Hopefully I will post more often so that I have less to say and the posting isn't so long!

Thursday, December 08, 2005

Only in Texas....

Only in Texas would everything stop going because there is a 1/4 of an inch of ice on the overpasses. Yes, today was an ice day here. Normally, I would be jumping up and down and singing praises of hallalujah(sp?) but because I have two major papers due next week and I have not completed my library research yet....I'm not too joyful. And! Now I have to make up a full day of school on next Tuesday..thats 9:30am to 9:30pm and I was looking forward to that day to finish a paper that's due on Wednesday. I can still do it but it might require some late nights...damn it and my procrastination!

So, school closed at 2pm yesterday as I was in the library trying to find a book. The library is a very scary place after it closes....creepy! I had just found my book when the circulation desk closed making it impossible for me to check out my book...I thought about running with it but I thought I might get tackled by the big security guard....sigh...no book...no research...no paper...blah.

Well on another matter...Wedding update:

My mom is coming up next weekend to look at wedding sites with me. Very exciting...I have to come up with a list of places and make appointments to view the spaces. I hope we find one soon so that we can have all reserved before the end of the year...I hear after the January bridal shows don't even expect to find a place.

The date is so far is officially May 28th barring any unforseeable problems. The only issue is that my cousin graduates from high school that friday but I'm planning on having the Sunday (monday is Memorial Day). I think that should be fine... Another disadvantage to the date (minor but still important) is that I start summer school on the 1st of June which is the following Thursday. I can probably miss the first two days of school but I don't think that I can miss more than that. I know a week of honeymoon is enough but Jeff and I wanted to go very exotic and not on the same continent...which makes it difficult if we only have a week.

Oh something else that could be good is that I might already have a free wedding dress. My aunt was a wedding coordinator and someone who had two dresses and chose to wear the other gave her the unworn one (some people have too much money). She described the dress and it sounds like something I might like so I'm going to go look at it and try it on over Christmas in Dallas. It definitely will have to be altered (damn me being short)! So, fingers crossed and it will fit and I can use that money towards the open bar!!

Other than that not much else going on...just stressing over school!

And thanks to all the congratulations! Jeff and I really appreciate it...although I doubt anyone is going to say anything negative right?!?

Saturday, November 26, 2005

Dummmm...deee...dummmm...Drum Roll Please!!!

I have an announcement to make!

Jeff and I are engaged!

Can you believe it? I hardly can! It was a total surpise to me and I had no idea it was coming. He asked me in the bar where we first met...The Library. It was so sweet. Earlier in the evening he had prepared our first date dinner but I still had no clue that the proposal was coming. At the bar when he went down on one knee I thought he was going to ask me to tie his shoe until I saw the box. Its a beautiful ring, a marquis cut diamond on a thin white gold band. I love it so much and I am so happy right now I can't even express it! I'm also a bit nervous too...

I've been trying to call everyone to tell the great news but the list is so long and gets longer with every call I make. So, if you read this please do not be upset that I didn't call you and tell you myself. I'm getting around to it all!

I think the wedding will be either in late May or sometime in August depending on the venue in Austin. Other than that I do not have much other information planned on but I'm sure that I will be posting the trials and tribulations of planning a wedding while getting your master's degree!

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Stuck

Argghh! I'm stuck up at campus until 5:30 today when my class got out at 2pm. I was originally supposed to pick up a take home exam at 5pm but then the pick up time got changed...very very annoying. Now I'm hungry and bored (I know I have papers to write and research and I could be studying...but where is the fun in that?) and I've got another hour and half to sit here waiting. Blah. Blah. Blah.

On a positive note, I got back a paper today and I got an A on it....whoop whoop! In some of my classes I'm kicking butt...in my law class...I'm a sinking ship...go figure.

Saturday, October 29, 2005

Dumb blonde moment...

No offense to the blondes out there especially since that is the color I choose to make my own hair but I'm using the title as a saying...

Ok, so Thursday I'm in my late night class called Preservation Planning and Practice. We were covering in class the idea of the cultural landscape and its preservation. The prof is showing different slides of building, landscapes, monuments, etc and we are discussing its relevance to preservation. So, she pulls up a slide of the Wailing Wall. In the slide there is a man in black and a blue chair. So we are discussing the wall and its cultural significance and I keep on staring at the man trying to figure out what he is wearing. It is really bugging me so right before she changes slides, I ask outloud

"Who is that guy? Is that a matador or just someone with a really fuzzy russian hat?"

A girl in class turns to me with look of disbelief and says..

"That is a Hasidic Jew!"

Then the class laughs and laughs....I was embarassed needless to say! I mummble something about trying to entertain the class and kind of slump down in my chair...yes not one of my finer moments!

Birthday

So, last Saturday I celebrated my 24th Birthday. It was fun and I'll give a recap on what I did but first I must tell about Friday.

Friday - I decided that happy hour would be fun and so Jeff, Renee and I went to Baby A's for a couple of margaritas. Three margaritas later and a truck load of chips we were fully loaded. I had no idea that their ritas were so strong. So, I proceeded to make a fool of myself for the rest of the evening. Supposedly we went to Academy to see if they had any Astro's t-shirts and while Renee was talking to the cashier I went up and swiped her anti-bacterial gel and rub it all over my hands and everyone elses and for some reason it got on my shoulder and I proceeded to rub it all over my arms too! Jeff finally managed to usher me out where we returned back to our apartment and things got wild. Renee and I tried putting our legs over our heads in the kitchen and there was some jumping on people....regular pandamonium and such. I don't remember much after the hypnotic and vodka martini I drank. We were so drunk that everyone passed out around 10pm. I woke up the next morning not feeling my bestest! What a way to start your birthday huh?

So, Jeff took care of me and made me breakfast and lunch and walked around outside with me because I only felt good when walking in the cold air. Then he followed me around the mall all afternoon. It was a very nice day. Later, he took me to eat yummy sushi at Sushi Sake. Its becoming a tradition to eat sushi on my birthday I think...we ate it last year too! Later, we went downtown with friends and I managed to drink somemore...for being as hung over as I was in the morning..I sure didn't have any problems drinking more! Got home and crashed.

Overall very good birthday...and here are the presents I received:

Adobe Creative Suite from Jeff (a very expensive and much needed software program for school)
A longhorn decal for my car from Jeff
Trip to Puerto Rico from my parents (also counts as part of Christmas)
A bottle of nice wine and some money from my Uncle and Aunt
So microwavable cookware from my other Uncle and Aunt
Pizza stone and cutter wheel from my grandparents

So, overall not a bad birthday!!

Lets hope that 24 goes as well as 23!!

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

I'M BACK

I have to apologize for all of those people who read my blog, although it is probably very few now, for not updating in a million years. It has been a very busy couple of months with grad school really kicking my ass! But I thought I would take a few minutes to let you know what is going on in my life and as I promised F, I will update more often.

School:
So, I'm in my third month as a Historic Preservation grad student. I'm taking four classes and I'm totally wiped out. I'm not quite sure how some people are working simultaneously. I really like a couple of my classes but there is my Preservation Law class which continuously leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I'm so glad I never continued down that track! I've just finished my first round of exams and papers, so we'll see how well I'm doing in the classes this week. Other than that, I have my own little schedule set where I go to school, come home and read....that is all I do. On kind of a cool note, there is a project I've been working on, documenting an historic building in Austin. In our last class that I have to do this project for, we explained the state of the building and mine was not in such great shape. Anyway, a girl in the class who volunteers for some historical society in Texas (can't remember which one) told her boss about the building and her boss wants to nominate the building as one of the "Most Endangered" buildings in Texas. So, I'm supposed to send it all this information that I've been gathering about the building so that it can be nominated. Pretty cool huh?

Personal Life:
For those of you who don't know, Jeff and I are living in sin and loving it. I love our apartment. It is so huge and there is a guest room for all of our friends who come to stay the weekend or in many cases gets too drunk to drive home.

I went to Las Vegas for Renee's bachelorette party two weekends ago. That was a very fun trip although a bit stressful because I had two papers due immediately when I got back. Four girls managed to kill 2 bottles of liquor, drink half a normal bottle of vodka, half a 1.75 litre of citrus vodka, and two flasks. We were totally sober the entire time! I swear!! I went to my first male strip show while I was there. It was the American Storm, supposedly these guys were on a show on VH1 to see who was going to be a stripper or something like that. Renee got all of them to sign a poster as a memento of her bachelorette party. I thought it was interesting and amusing but I don't know about the whole thing. I really don't think I want to go to a strip show for my bachelorette party. We managed to stay up till at least 5am every night that we were there. I would call Jeff before I went to bed and he would be getting up to go to work...ooopps! Got back to Austin extremely tired and not ready for two papers.

I went to Dallas last weekend to see my family and celebrate my birthday which is this upcoming Sat. I enjoyed my weekend although I wasn't able to see a couple of my friends up there. Jeff, me, and my brother went to the State Fair of Texas on Saturday and had fun. I've gotten my fill of fair food which I've been craving since the beginning of September. We looked around at the cars and the different exhibits and of course we did the Midway. My brother won me a little stuffed duckling at one of the booths. It was very sweet of him. I got some nice gifts from my family and my mom said that she would pay for my trip to Puerto Rico in January so I'm so psyched!

Now, I'm back here in Austin not wanting to go to school this week....booo! I need to also get back in my gym routine which I neglected all last week because of Vegas and papers. And this weekend, I'm supposedly going to Houston to see buzz fest except that Jeff and I do not know if the tickets have been purchased or not. So, then again we might not!

So thats whats been up in my life...hopefully I'll be back soon to update!

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

San Francisco!!!

So! I made it back from San Francisco safely and I had a ton of fun! I wasn't sure that I would have any fun from the start of our trip..in fact, I wasn't sure we'd even get to go on the trip and have a repeat of cali trip earlier this year.

Everything seemed fine, we got to the airport with more than enough time to spare. The plane left on time we made good time to DFW to catch our next flight and got the gate just fine but thats where things started to go wrong. First everyone gets on the plane and then the pilot comes in over the speaker and says that there will be some thunderstorm activity over the flight plan for that evening...normally this would not be a problem except their weather radar is not working. So they got a technician in to fix it. They decided it wasn't fixable so they replaced the whole thing delaying us for an hour...yuck. Alas, finally we start going down the runway and then the pilot comes on the loudspeaker again...uh oh indeed!! One of the engines is not properly firing up. Great!!! So he heads back into the airport to have it checked out. After about 30min on the plane, the officials decide it is not something that can be fixed right away and put everyone on another plane. Thank god we got off the doomed plane!!! So now it takes another hour to get everyone on the plane and take off, making us 3 hrs late for our destination. Very nice way to start a trip!

We get into San Fran at around 3am their time and head straight for the hotel. We stayed at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel. It is a very old hotel but overall nice. We woke up early the next day and headed out surveying the area. We stayed mostly in Union square that day looking at all the huge stores. I swear the area is like one giant outdoor mall. We also, went to the San Francisco Modern Art Museum. I enjoyed it a lot. I wish I had been able to go a couple of years ago when I was taking a modern art class and was learning about all the art work I was getting to see first hand. I think Jeff had mixed feelings about the SFMOMA. He got quite angry over Triptych by Rauchenberg. For anyone who is curious, its 3 completely white canvases...I thought he was going to storm out of the museum. Unfortunately, after we were tired and ready to rest did we find the photography exhibit which really interested him but by that time we were ready to leave.

Later we headed out trying to find the San Francisco Brewing Co. We didn't find it but ended up walking into a dive bar whose happy hour had just started. We ended up staying there from like 5-8 drinking tons of beer and then moving on to alcohol...I know wrong order! Jeff and I fell in love with our bartendress. She was nice but totally no nonsense plus she made kick ass drinks. We also met a local named Rob and hung out with him for awhile. By the time happy hour was over, Jeff and I were so smashed that we had to leave or risk never finding the hotel again. Ended up crashing sans dinner and slept through the night.

Next day miraculously there was no headache and we headed down to the Market center for the huge market that goes on every Saturday. Let me just say that I cried it was so beautiful. Fresh fruit and veggies everywhere. Beautiful flowers. Fresh cheeses from Cali and honey from local beekeepers. If I had such a market here in Austin, I would be in heaven!! From there we spent the rest of the day patroling the warf. Pier 39 is over rated is all that I have to say. But I love the sea lions...stinky but cute! We went to the aquarium but it was kinda lame. We also walked around Chinatown which is absolutely huge!

Our last day in San Fran, we rented bicycles and biked across the Golden Gate bridge. Its about a 10mile round trip, most of which is up hill. That was a lot of fun. Just on a side note...San Francisco is cold!!! I froze the entire bike ride. While I was working my ass off biking uphills, I did not break a sweat once! After that we went on a bay cruise and got to see the bridge from underneath and then Alcatraz up close. We did not get to go to Alcatraz though because tickets were sold out fo the entire weekend. The city has limited the number of tickets that are purchased so only I think 300 people get to visit everyday..something like that...I don't remember. Then we decided to try and find the brewery again for the 3rd time. So we asked some people and it seemed like we were never going to find this elusive brewery. Finally we found it in an area were we had been a million times in the last couple of days but never knew that it was there. We tried the beer which is made fresh with less carbonation and served at cellar temp. I really didn't care too much for the beer. I've had much better microbrewery beer here in Austin then there. Jeff thought it was the warm temperature of the beer that he didn't like. I think I agree.

After the brewery, we went back to the hotel and passed out again. Got up at 5:00am to leave for Austin. Came back here and now I have class this afternoon that I've spent all morning reading for.

I'd have to say that the vacation was a success. We didn't get to eat at some of the places I wanted to, but, you know, at the end of the day, I was too damn tired to care!

Thursday, September 01, 2005

Back to School

Hey Everyone! I know its been awhile but not much has been going on in my life...No job, no school...just sitting on my bum surfing the net. But!I have started school. For those of you who don't know, I have gone back to school to get my masters in Historic Preservation in the Univ. of Texas architecture school. Tres fun! I started yesterday and I think I'm going to enjoy it. It is a small group of about 7 people and I'm the youngest! I would feel like such an acheiver except several of them already have one masters degree and are just working on their second.

So my school schedule is too bad because i get Fridays off but Thursdays I'm going to school from 8am - 9pm....not so much fun...but I get Fridays off!!!!

Other things:

Jeff and I celebrate our 1yr anniversary today. I'm very excited! I bought him a watch which in my excitement already gave to him a couple of days ago. Its a Kenneth Cole....I told him in a couple years when I have money I'll upgrade it so it has all those fun dials (but dials cost!!). Jeff, however, went all out on his gift and bought a vacation package to San Fran. we leave tonight and get back Monday afternoon. It is going to be so much fun except I'm having packing dilemas! But I'll definitely give an update when we get back of what we did and all that jazz!

Went tubing last weekend with Jeff, Emily, Miles, Mel, Em's friend Josh, and my sister and her 2 friends. It was Christa's first time to go tubing and I think she had a lot of fun. It was so hot on the river and this time the river was low so it went very slow and everyone kept on getting stuck on rocks. This'll prob. be the last trip of the year and it was definitely worth it. Once again however, we ran out of alcohol before the end of the trip. Still haven't quite learned how to pack accordingly.

Tuesday night, Cory Morrow gave a free concert on 6th street. Erin called and invited me and Jeff and we went even though I'm not a country fan. It was fun.

Jeff finally got the promotion he's been applying for forever...and its here in Austin and not in OK. whoop!! So, he's been really busy with work lately but thats fine b/c I play solitare all day!! Just kidding (not really)!

Well I guess that is all for now!

Friday, August 05, 2005

Puerto Vallarta

I went to Puerto Vallarta last week with the family. Very relaxing vacation except for the vendors on the beach asking you to buy a bolero every 5 minutes...but those aside, a true trip of peace.
Here is a photo diary of the time spent there because I'm too lazy to describe and nothing really horribly interesting occured either.


This is us on the bus to the airport....you can see the excitment in the air between me and my little brother.



Doesn't Jason (my brother) look like he belongs on the beach? You might notice that I'm not in a lot of pics...it is the fate of the camerawoman.


Wait!! Here I am...unfortunately not the most flattering picture since I had to take it of myself but at least that proves that I'm there!!


Here's the family at dinner one night...awww what a beautiful sunset....and multiple sunburns...The food was wonderful at the resort. We ate so much good food however I got to have a reminder of the food from Mexico all this past week. Lets just say that I've spent more time in the bathroom than I care to admit. So I didn't injure my self in Mexico this time..I just came down with a case of food poisoning!


On our last night in Puerto Vallarta, a sea turtle came onto the beach to lay its eggs. It was a pretty cool thing. I got to touch an egg. It looks like a ping pong ball and its hard like a normal chicken egg. This is an illegal picture by the way because supposedly you are not allowed to use flash photography while they lay their eggs....oops! How else do you take a picture of a sea turtle at night?

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

What's up you ask?

Yeah I know I haven't posted in awhile but my excuse is that I've been packing and moving for what seems like forever. Yes friends, for those of you who don't know, Jeff and I have moved in together in a totally kickass apartment. Despite an old and cranky downstairs neighbor, this place totally rocks. Gorgeous pool that is constantly populated by beautiful people, huge apartment, good locations, its the perfect apartment...so far. Jeff bought a projector and made a big screen for the wall so needless to say there will be many movie nights over here at the apartment. And! there is a second bedroom and bathroom, so nice comfy place for all those out of town friends to stay.

I've been unemployed now for 2 1/2 weeks. I'm not sure if I'm adjusting so well to it. I'm used to being busy all day long or at least not having a lot of free time but now I have all this time to do things. I can't seem to get that through my head and so I've been pushing myself with a grueling moving schedule. Oh well! Everything is moved from one place into the other...now comes the task of unpacking. Another drawback about not having a job is the lack of income. Its a little disconcerning to see my bank account getting smaller and smaller and no income coming into it. Yikes!

Spent a really fun, lokey night last Friday at Renee & Ryan's house. It was a potluck dinner so everyone brought food and there was a ton of alcohol and it was all muy bueno. Then we pulled out the Battle of Sexes game. We discovered that our guys can be very gay. The night ended with Jeff passing out and having everyone write on his legs with marker and paint his toe nails. It was a learning lesson...don't fall asleep in a room full of drunk people who have markers. Anyway, we decided to do a potluck at a different person's house/apartment every month. Next month its ours. Should be a lot of fun. We can put that projector to use.

Everything else is pretty boring. I unpack all day, play on the computer, go to the gym and eat....not a real exciting day. However! On Thursday I leave to go to Puerto Vallerta with my family. It is going to be my parents, brother, sister and my sister's boyfriend. While not my ideal situation, no one can really complain about a free vacation to a tropical beach resort. I plan on getting really tan and making my brother learn salsa with me. He's almost as tall as I am now. Hopefully, I'll have lots and lots of pictures to post when I get back.

So, maybe since I have a lot more time on my hands, I might post more. Of course now that I'm not doing anything, I really don't have much to talk about.

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

Faye's Wedding & a 4th to Sleep on

So this past weekend I headed down to that bustling coastal town known as Port Lavaca. No offense to all you Port Lavaca fans and lovers out there but your town is awful. I guess in my years of living in large cities has tainted my taste for small towns but I just don't know if I could ever enjoy a place where the biggest news was that the SuperWalmart just opened up. Despite my enthusiasm for the place, I can see its appeal. I thought it was kinda neat that everyone knows everyone. People are more relaxed and laid back and not so anxious and crazy as they are in a big city. I just think you could make a small town a little more attractive and still have the friendly atmosphere.

Anyway! On to Faye's Wedding.... Jeff and I got to PL around 3:30 for the 4pm rehearsal at the church. Jeff discovered that we forgot to pack his shoes and all he had with him were flip flops so while I was learning how to correctly walk down the aisle and bow at the alter, he went on a search for dress shoes (this is where that new super Walmart comes in handy!!). We finished up with minimal complications (we were short a bridesmaid and a couple of groomsmen)and headed over to the rehearsal dinner. Dinner was a nice arrangement of fried shrimp and fish with some sides...not a great way to stay on your diet but hey its your good friends wedding so you eat! We finished up there and then a bunch of the bridesmaids (Jeff and me included) headed over to the super Walmart to check things out (hey! this is small town america!). Then we went to the local bar & grill (?) to have a couple of beers before calling it a night. The place was totally hopping...no not really. It closed at 10pm but we kept it open to 11pm....oohhh. I really didn't mind b/c I was tired and I had to get up early to get my hair done for the wedding.

The wedding: Faye looked beautiful and it was really touching to see her and Danny together. I know that they will be good for each other. The wedding went really smoothly and the pictures didn't take long at all. We all went over to the reception after that. Food was served and then the music started. They began the dancing with something called the "Grand March". Now, I've been to many a Texas wedding and a few of them were quite country/old school but I have never heard of the Grand March. What it ended up being was kind of a line of couples that follows each other until in the end it forms a circle around the wedding couple. I thought it was a great way to get the dancing started but I don't think I would necessarily put it in my wedding. Anyway dancing and a ton of cake eating ensued followed by the couple leaving around 10:30. Jeff and I headed out and went to an after party at one of the bridesmaids in-laws house. Drinking, socializing, etc. Jeff and I left PL early the next morning so that we could go out on the lake that afternoon.

The lake was fun except for the incredibly crazy girls that were on the boat. They were high, drunk and insane. If I had been not so tired...I probably would have tolerated them more. I was glad when we finally moored at around 7pm.

The 4th of July was pretty uneventful. I didn't even go and watch fireworks. We did go see War of the Worlds which I liked but Jeff didn't care that much for it. Then we went to a party for a couple of hours. We headed home and just kinda hung out for the rest of the night....a relaxing way to celebrate the aging of our country.

Thursday, June 23, 2005

Jeffer's B-day Party and other events.

So Sunday was Jeff's 23rd Birthday. Yes, I am older BUT I at least look younger and still get carded at every place we go. Anyway, being the amazing girlfriend that I am I decided to throw him a big birthday party. So, I sent out the evites, planned the party, bought and cooked a ton of food, and ordered a keg. I was going crazy all weekend making sure all the plans were in order. I wanted to make sure that Jeff's birthday was a totally success since for the past 10 months I've been hearing how his last birthday sucked.

Well the party was a success! Even though NXNW gave us the wrong keg of beer and several people who said they were coming didn't, the party was still a lot of fun and Jeff got really trashed. I would just like to tell all the single girls who were invited to the party but didn't show up...you missed out on a big sausage fest of single guys. Your loss, my fun!! I like having all the guy attention on me I've decided. The party lasted out by the pool until around 10:30 when the big fat rent-a-cop told us we had to move so that people wouldn't complain about noise. Now I know why cars keep on getting broken into at my complex. The fat rent-a-cop is too busy policing parties and not paying attention to the cars(What he is paid to do!!!).

So the party moved to my apartment and keg out onto the porch. I think that we annoyed the upstairs neighbor but thats ok because her dogs peed on my herbs! We might have annoyed the downstairs neighbor when Tony's friend Mike puked off the railing but I'm not sure the neighbor noticed till the next day. Then around 1:30 everyone started passing out and I ended up with 4 guys passed out in my living room. At least they were too drunk to notice how uncomfortable they were. I'm just glad that I didn't wake up to one of them jumping in bed with me and Jeff like the last time one of his friend's stayed over.

Overall the party was a ton of fun. On Sunday after cleaning mounds of dishes Jeff and I went to meet his family in Giddings. We ate at a pizza joint named Reba's. It had pretty good pizza and his family is so sweet and cute. All his little sisters made gifts to give him. On our way back we picked up my gift to Jeff which was a monogramed flask and shot glass. I unfortunately was unable to give him my original gift which was getting his amp and subwoofer installed due to complications. Oh well! I think he liked it anyway. Then I took him to Austin Land & Cattle Co. for dinner. It was muy bueno. So I think that Jeff had a good birthday.

I also decided to stay an extra week at The Castilian because then I can get a paid holiday for the 4th of July. I figured I could use the extra money. I still haven't bought a ticket for europe. I'm kinda nervous about having enough money to go there and then live on until I receive financial aid. Also, I'll be moving right before I go so there are additional expenses before I go. I don't know!!! ARRRGGHH...I'm talking myself out of it once again I think.


Jeff and Tony water wrestling


Me and the Birthday boy


Some of the party people!!

Tuesday, June 07, 2005



This doesn't quite do our Vegas hotel room justice. But believe me...it was totally cool!!!

Sunday, June 05, 2005

Vegas Baby!!!

So last week was a ton of fun. Jeff and I went to Vegas Monday night and stayed through till Wednesday night. I booked us a room at the MGM Grand and the room totally rocked! It was uber-modern and streamlined. It looked really cool. I'll try to remember to post a pic later. Anyway we did a lot of gambling and a whole hell of a lot of walking. I think I can be dubbed the walking Nazi after forcing Jeff to walk miles and miles in flipflops. His toes are still bruised. I guess all those torturous shoes I've worn for years have deadened all the feeling in my feet....oops.

While we didn't win any money, I have discovered an enjoyment in gambling. Before it scared the bejesus out of me and I would cringe at the thought of loosing my hard earned money. Jeff, however, described in a way that made me feel better about it. If you are playing at the low stakes tables or at the cheap slots, you are putting in $20 for an hour or two of entertainment. You pay the same thing for going to see a movie and the movie doesn't provide you with free drinks!!!

We also tried out the new monorail system. Ehh....I guess if you are going really long distances like from one end of the strip to the other it works well. But, if you are going a couple of casinos down, you walk just as much through the casinos to get to the monorail and in the same time you could have walked down the blvd. to the next one. And you have to wait anywhere from 5 min to 9 min. depending on the time of day you are traveling.

For all those Food Network fans out there, we ate lunch Wednesday at Bobby Flay's restaurant. Our meals were good but my plate was the perfect example of an upscale restaurant dining. Jeff had a nice filling pork tenderloin sandwich with seasoned fries. My meal of crab/cod cakes however, consisted of two 1 1/2 inch diamater cakes with about a 1/8 of a cup of red cabbage slaw. It was good but definitely not filling. I think that the most filling meal I had the entire trip was my breakfast at Denny's! Oh well!

We also went to Studio 54 Tuesday night. It was a lot of fun but we were already super exhausted to really get our boogie on. I do want to say that I wish that there was a law against certain people dancing. It really is frightening what some people will do when drunk and in Vegas.

I came back to work on Thursday...snore. But Saturday we went toobing. It was a blast but towards the end it got really cold because the sun had gone behind the trees. I realized while floating down the river that I was supposed to be somewhere either on Saturday and Sunday. When I got home from toobing I looked and found out that I missed one of Faye's Bridal Showers....eeks!!! I feel so horrible. I need to start putting a reminder on my phone for all these events! I need to call now and offer all of my apologies. I'm a horrible bridesmaid!

So now its Sunday and I'm back to work. June 30th can't come fast enough!

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Fun in the sun!!!!

Well this weekend was definitely busy and a ton of fun.

Friday I went and had lunch with Jeff at this Japanese restaurant. Lunch came in benzo boxes and it was soo yummy and delish! I ate way too much and had to be rolled to the grocery store in order to shop for Faye's party on Saturday. After shopping and buying waaaaayyyy toooo much food, I met up with Lisa and Kelly for a going away/birthday drinks/dinner at El Mercado. I must admit that their big ass magarita is muy bueno. Then I went over to Hickory Street Bar and Cafe to meet Jeff to have drinks for Tony's birthday. I held off because I knew that I'd be spending the rest of the night cooking....although $2 ritas and beer is sooooo tempting! Went home and started making food for Saturday night.

Saturday I got up early and started cooking. I made penis shaped cookies for the party and a frozen white chocolate raspberry torte. It was delicious. Then I met Jeff and his mom and little sister Erica at Manuels for lunch. Then I went back home to cook some more. I made the mexican seafood cocktail and the cheese platter and veggie tray. More cooking and chopping and then Jeff and the fam came over to swim. Took a little break from slaving over the stove for a little relaxation. Then shower and more cooking. The girls started arriving at 7:00pm for the lingerie/"slumberparty". The lady who did the demonstrations was a little disappointing but everyone had a lot of fun and the penis cookies were a big hit!! Lots of food was eaten but it you know me...I had more food than 10 girls could eat and there was tons leftover. When the party was done and purchases had been made, we headed downtown. Lots of drinking ensued and I did not get to bed until 4am.

Before I say anything about Sunday....I have to give credit to my friend F for introducing me to some of her friends in Austin. So, even though she's moved away and living large in Rome, some of them still keep in contact with me. On Friday afternoon, I talked to Philip of Scotland online and he invited me to join in on his wild weekend. Mainly they were partying all weekend going tubing and then boating on sunday. Well of course I couldn't do anything Friday or Saturday but Sunday seemed tempting. So, I ended up calling *cough, cough* sick to work and Jeff, Emily and I went boating with Phil and like 20 of his other closest friends. It was such a blast. Even though we waited at Carlos & Charlies for like 2hrs before the boats arrived, it was still a ton of fun and EVERYONE was sooooo great and nice. We all had a ton of fun and it kicked ass! Then one of the boat owners ended up paying for everyone's dinner. I couldn't believe it...he plopped down his boat, time, and gas money and then went and paid for dinner!!! Well we didn't get home until 10:30 or so and it was a bitch to get up for work the next day. Ohh! and God got me back for lying and calling in sick. I now have oddly splotched sunburns on my hands and 2 spots on my face. The burns on my hands are really bad and painful and have blisters. The ones on my face are dry and itchy. Payback sucks! and sunblock can be misleading!

Thursday, May 05, 2005

By Popular Demand....

So I guess everyone is wondering what has happened since the last post....well I guess I've kept you in suspense long enough.

I found out last week on Wednesday after contacting the professor in charge of the historic preservation department at UT that I am admitted. Basically, they had recently changed directors and my application and notice fell between the cracks. So, now I had decisions to make...

Friday morning before my flight to D.C. and visit to NYC, I decided upon reviewing the cost of one year at Pratt (45,000), that UT might be a more economical and more prudent decision. With that decision made I took off to visit the school I will not be attending!! Travel was an all day affair. Got off the plane and took a train to meet Kate in downtown DC. Ate yummy dumplings in Chinatown, saw the White House, and as Kate so nicely put it - George Washington's Penis! We headed back to her place in Virginia so we could make the 7:30 am bus to New York. I must admit that the subway is a nice and convenient way to travel and despite some slight turn arounds, Kate know's how to navigate quite well.

Saturday morning we get up and catch the 8:30 bus to NYC after missing the 7:30 and the 8am was too full. The 3 1/2 hr drive turned into over 5 hrs because of traffic. I think I would have gone crazy had it not been for Kate and I making fun of everyone on the bus. Once off the bus, we took the subway to Brooklyn and walked over to Pratt. It is a really small campus but really cool b/c they have outdoor sculptures done by students everywhere! We snooped around but pretty much everything was closed and under construction. It would be cool to go there but not worth the money needed.

Spent the rest of the day walking around the sights and sounds of NYC. Saw Central Park and Times Square and then walked down 5th Avenue. Stopped in the infamous H&M...I'm now in love and will be deprived of the store till my next East Coast adventure. OHHH!!! I forgot to mention that it is raining the entire time we are in NYC. Kate and I luckily brought umbrellas but our pants are drenched from the calves down.

We decided to take the 7:30 bus back to Washington. Got in around 12:30 but had no energy to do anything else but shower and sleep b/c I had to get up at the buttcrack of dawn to catch my plane.

So on Sunday mornings, the metro/train/subway system does not work early enough for me to catch my flight so I had to take a taxi from Kate's place in Virginia to BWI. It was an $80 cab fare. This did not sit pretty with me. Flight was long and uncomfortable and I was so tired from drunk boyfriend calling at 3am and waking me up. Got back into Austin to pay a $27 parking lot fee and make it in time for work.

Overall the trip was fun but too fast paced to really absorb and enjoy. I wish I had more time and a cheaper cab ride....it kinda ruined my last day. So yea!! I'm going to UT in the fall...again.

On a more current note...Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone! Any suggestions of how to celebrate?

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Still Waiting...

So still no word from UT. I was told to contact the professor in charge of the program since he refuses to give any information to the graduate coordinator. Yes my friends, a big pile of suckage! I leave on Friday to go to NYC. This might become my home for 2 years if I don't get any answer from UT. Arrrrggggghhhh!!!!

Anyway, Jeff and I went camping last weekend. It was a lot of fun if no slightly uncomfortable at night. Did you know that you have to reserve campsites at least a week in advance in order to get a site where you want? I found that out. I eventually reserved a site at Palmetto State Park outside of Gonzalez. Its supposed to be about an hour outside of Austin on 183 but....Jeff and I took the long way around and made it an 1 1/2 hr drive...ooops. The park was nice but very manicured and extremely family oriented with tons of playgrounds and paddle boats. It was nice but I usually prefer campsites in parks with trails that are longer than a mile and a quarter. Next time though!!! We ended up eating in Shiner on Saturday night. We thought we could visit the brewery and maybe sample some beer but it was closed. Instead we went to one of the only restaurants open... Werner's Steak and Seafood. From my understanding, they really don't get many strangers in the restaurant. I think we were the youngest of the clients but we were treated with great service. The food was really good and very reasonable too!! Don't worry we did the campfire food too!! S'mores were made and the next day Jeff grilled hamburgers and baked potatoes over the fire for lunch...it was muy bueno!!! The weather was kinda crappy on Sunday so we left by 1pm and headed back to Austin. Overall, a good weekend.

This week seems dragging but hopefully it'll pick up. I know its b/c I'm stressed about UT. OOOHHH and Jeff and I bought tickets to go to Vegas. We are staying at MGM in one of their fun new suites. It should be a blast.

I need to throw a party...Jeff bought a ton of alcohol yesterday and now it barely fits on my drink cart. Hmmm...keep your ears open!!