Hmmmmm ...

Every single day

(Repeat: every single one of them)
I walk past this clock tower on East Houston Street:

And today,
after 15 months of living here,
I just noticed that it's totally wackadoo!

Funny!

Caitlin's Bridal Shower :)

What a wonderful weekend
with even more wonderful friends ...
Incredibly Lucky = Me :)

Anderson's Rip Roarin' Bday Party :)

Have I ever mentioned that I love theme parties?!? ;)

Nightmare on Clinton Street ;)

I woke up at 4:47am in a cold sweat panic
after dreaming that every single one of my girlfriends
changed their weddings to be on the very same day :(

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh

I wanted to jump into the Hudson,
(or just move to Bora Bora)
the anxiety felt so real!

But thankfully,
it was just a bad dream ...
a very horrible, please-don't-come-back-again, dream

(insert deep sigh here)

My Life In Cliff Notes ...

So I went on a date the other night
(no Mom, I'm still not getting married anytime soon, sorry)
and since I didn't really know the guy all that well
I found myself trying to summarize my life when
he asked me about me and how I ended up in New York

Hmmmm

I blame the beer(s)
but I believe in under three minutes,
this is what came out of my mouth:

Well, umm, I went to the University of Michigan for school and then moved home to Chicago after graduation. At first I lived with my best friend Cody in the absolute best loft! We each paid like $500 in rent and pitched a tent in the living room for our friends to crash in :) Ha! Why did I just tell you that? Ooo-k, let's see, I worked in Advertising for 5 years and loved it but the hours were absurd. But I worked on the launch of Wrigley's New 5 Gum which was awesome, but we were still working around the clock. So we had a print photo shoot in Stockholm that I covered and decided to take the weekend to visit friends in Amsterdam. It was one of those trips that I knew I shouldn't take, but the last time I'd been to Amsterdam was in college and I was slightly baked the whole time so I didn't really get to do everything I wanted to. I've always wanted to see the tulip farms in April! So anyways, that's neither here nor there ... I went and had a freaking blast! Stayed with one of my best friends, Jessica and she introduced me to this super cool girl, Emily who was there visiting her boyfriend that same weekend. This time around I laid off the brownies and got to see the tulip farms which were incredible :) Long story short, I came home super charged to "do something with my life", I just didn't know what yet. So I quit my job, lived off my savings for 6 months, wrote a whole bunch. Ran outta money so I started looking for jobs in Chicago and New York, because I figured if I didn't move now, then I'd never actually do it. And one night in January I called Emily to say hello and wish her a Happy New Year. She said she was busy planning her wedding, had changed jobs, and was working for a start-up out of San Francisco and Seattle but that they were looking to expand to NYC. I thought the company sounded really neat and promising so I asked her if I could apply for the New York position. Interviewed all that week, somehow got the job, and moved exactly 3 weeks later! So I've been in the Zoo now for a little over a year. Just kinda taking every day as an adventure because I have absolutely not one clue as to what happens next. Ha! Sooo, yep, that's pretty much my life in Cliff Notes. I'll stop talking now.

You could hear crickets ...

Seriously,
who put a quarter in the wind-up doll?!?!?

Needless to say, I need a muzzle and I'm so sorry Mom,
but I'll definitely not be getting married any time soon ;)

On the Topic of Tulip Farms ...

Although I would HIGHLY suggest
making the trip in person one day in your life,
here are some "Happy Friday!"
happy pix to share from Keukenhof
aka Heaven :)

Meet My Newest Gnomie :)

Say shalom to Sunny!

My seeeeeeester gave him to me when I was home :)

And now that we're back in Zoo York
he's officially gnome sweet gnome ;)

I think this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship!

Congratulations to the new Mr & Mrs Kavanagh!

Being home this past weekend was just what the doctor ordered :)

My mom turned 60 (craziness)
and Erin Sullivan (aka "Sully") got married ...

Double wammy!

It's always an adjustment
when your girlfriends change their last names,
but I must admit that Erin's will be most difficult to get used to ;)

Reason being, it dawned on me over the weekend
that Sully and I have been friends now for over 20 years!
Wow

That's two-plus decades of giggles ...
From riding Schwin bikes to each others houses
(but first asking my parents if I could cross Lake St by myself ;)
to exchanging "Baby-sitters Club" books
(no joke, Sully had them ALL!)
to the (not so) victorious "Green Slime" AYSO soccer season(s)
Lyons School, Pleasant Ridge, Springman Jr. High
Drivers Ed, Glenbrook South, countless trampoline chats,
High School dances, Gilson Beach sunrises,
Glenview House debauchery, the list goes on ...

I may never have the opportunity to create as many wonderful memories with Mike as I have with his beauuutiful bride, but I am so happy for the two of them to spend the rest of their lives creating a million more together :)

To the new Mr & Mrs (Sully) Kavanagh,
Congraaaatulations again
and thank you soo much for such an awesome night!

PS BTW,
My feet still hurt from dancing ;)

Xoxoxo

Wo!

Where have I been?

A distant evil cousin of the swine flu got the best of me last week
so I had about as much energy as Kirstie Alley (plus 83 pounds),
hence no blogging :(

But I'm all better now!
Just recovering from an absolutely amazing visit home
and an even more ah!mazing wedding :)

See Cliff Notes (in pix) below

More to come on the awesomeness of Erin & Mike later today
Stay tuned!

Happy Mother's Day!

Introducing ... "My Get Rich Fast Plan!"

NYC Googly Goog Glasses :)

Brilliant!

Schwing thinks it's a GREAT idea ;)


As do we ...


Hahahaha

HAPPY FRIDAY FRIENDS!!

Random Thought of the Day

I love my apartment
and absolutely adore the trees outside of it ...
But wouldn't it be so cool to have a house with a tree
inside of it?!

Me Likey :)

Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

Although my dodgeball team is due to take the courts tonight to light-up the playoffs, I fear this Cinco de Mayo will not include my friend "Sun Wha" as it did last year

Speaking of sun,
it's super crappy in NYC today :(
So wherever you're reading this from,
rain or shine, I hope you have a great day
and an even better margarita tonight ;)

Schwing 2008

I Couldn't Agree More :)

Happy "May Day" :)

It's 11:11 ...
Make a wish!

Dear Dunkin Donuts, W.T.F?!?

I'm fully aware that your fried dough goodness
is fat full of calories but ...
YOU DO NOT NEED TO TELL ME EXACTLY HOW MANY!

Dear A-hole who thought of this "brilliant" health clarification,
I was much happier not knowing
that my morning muffin has 510 calories, you d-bag!
You are a bagel-loving munchkin-hater and
(on behalf of me and the Lollipop Guild)
we do not welcome you to Munchkin Land!
Thanks for nothing,
Stacey ;)

"All Secrets Sleep in Winter Clothes"

Admittedly, I am not a very religious person …
I’ve never “seen God” or
been “kissed by an angel” in the middle of the night

But I do believe in spirits and especially in signs …
signs that subtly show up in our lives and provide affirmation
that we are in fact, on "the right track"

Some may call them
“chance”
“coincidence”
or
“a twist of fate”
but I call them signs

Be it good or bad,
today the craziest one happened to me ...

While I was walking down Avenue A,
this particular window caught my eye literally as I
was listening to Neutral Milk Hotel's
"In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" on my iPod


I've always loved the lyrics to that song,
but holy-wow-craziness to see this in the window
while listening to the refrain:
and now we keep where we don't know
all secrets sleep in winter clothes
with one you loved so long ago
now he don't even know his name

How awesomely random!

I haven't the slightest clue what this happening even means,
so I'm just gonna believe life's fine-for-now and run with it :)