Tap-itude

Every once in a while I get a burst of blog envy, and come crawling back here to indulge. This week I am feeling inspired on a variety of levels. I was severely suffering from a creative slump. I started looking back through my choreography from my OU Tap Cats days and forgot how truly bad ass it was. See here. Or here.
Good stuff.
Anyway. I felt like I needed somewhere where I could take class for me and challenge myself again. As fate would have it, It appears I moved (I moved, yes) in the exact neighborhood of a very prestigious tap studio where many of the greats are known to drop in and teach when in town. SO I decided to drop in and finally felt a challenge and a renewed sense of self. It would be easy to let that part of my life slide, but it is important to keep it going. A huge part of my up bringing and personal culture. I am hoping to attend as many as I can and carry over my energy to my students. I have a long way to go with them this year!
DC TapFest anyone?

After reading through the below I also find it exciting that I have actively accomplished most of what I had hoped to after my last post.  I mentioned moving which I did, granted I am not sure I improved my circumstances much, as I now have an hour commute to work each morning...YIKES. At least my house is awesome and new and mice-free.Visitors?
Isaac is also attending Law School at Catholic University, hence the move, which is awesome...and awesomely challenging for both of us. That's for another post.
Meanwhile, I am working on achieving MAJOR goals in my career. One being earning my CMP as well as a few other things in the pipeline that arent ready for publication. I will be sure to update. 4 years in the city and it feels like yesterday.

Halloween in the District this weekend. Its funny how only a few years change things so drastically. Usually I am AMPED for this holiday and have several costumes and ideas ready to go. This year, I am yet again, uninspired and stressed. What are you guys dressing up as for Halloween? I have 2 days to get something together! I found these ideas to be pretty hilarious. I love when things literal.

On that note I leave you... xo

"March Madness" in Charlotte

Charlotte, is where I call "home" this week for our latest event taking over the Hyatt House Center City. I am quite honestly blown away. Charlotte has really stepped up their game. We are surrounded by a clean and safe downtown area full of great places to eat and hang out. Chic bowling alley (yes, that exists),  Movie Dinner/Theaters and high end stores line the "center city" area.  The hotel has also surpassed my expectations. What a great move for the Hyatt brand. Very sleek and modern with a purple theme (which I love obviously!) and fantastic artwork throughout. If you are having a small meeting, 80 or less, I would reccomend this in an instant. Or even for personal travel, the amenities and food are really just fantastic.

After a wonderful lunch out at VIDA Cantina, where yes, I am happy to report that it was Margarita Monday, we were able to explore the area a little and have some fun.
Heist Brewery was our next stop as we continued to eat our way through Charlotte. Ryan, a dear friend of mine from home lives in Charlotte and took us to this fun new and up and coming spot in the NODA area of Charlotte, similar to the Arts District. I must say that if you are in town you should give this restaurant a try! A great beer selection and unique menu really set this brewery apart from many I have tried. Where else can you get wasabi flavored cotton candy over a shrimp skewer and a raspberry chipotle duck quesadilla while drinking a beer? SO fantastic! A definite must try!

Tonight I am off to the Charlotte Bobcats game... I guess when in Charlotte... who knows.

Stay tuned, for more travel adventures!

Bienvenido a Miami

I am declaring myself a business traveler so its only fair to share my travels. I have to say that while sitting in the airport I am overcome by the amount of people who are in the same position as I, but look stressed, annoyed, and overly entitled. I will never be burdened my my work travel, I mean after all, these are experiences I will never have on my own. How often can I stay at the FontaineBleau resort and drop 325.00 a night? Never.
Anyway, as I steer my blog towards the travel recap I want  it to be perhaps I need to focus on my experience and not on the apparently passe theme of "appreciation" for travel these days.

The hotel was obviously beautiful and very very large.  As soon as I got there I parked it in the hotel lobby bar hoping to run into the likes of Kim Kardashian or maybe Gaga, you know, recovering from cancelling her tour by drinking whiskey on South beach? Not so much, but it was still a worth while experience. I have never seen such high heels and outfits 100% composed of sequins, clearly, my type of town. Here is where the catch comes, I was here for a board meeting so my socializing came to an abrupt halt for the duration of the trip. I can vouch for their catering and outlets. Super tasty. But please make sure you have room on your CC because this will come at a premium.

Luckily, my last day before my flight I got to take the trek out to the beach. BEAUTIFUL. See below.















I was the first out to the beach as the sun was coming up. I can only hope to be back here someday to really soak up the sun. There are somethings you just cant pass up, so if I got a little sun burnt before It was time to head to the airport so be it. Everyone needs to come here and soak up the sun, but maybe the courtyard by Marriott down the road is more in your realm.

Many adventures await up so stay tuned!

New Year... New Post.

It's 2013? Weird. Oddly enough, I stumbled on my blog by accident today while reading up on a few others, and while reading over it, it is really interesting, to me anyway. Kind of an insight to the person I used to be. But while my life is not NEARLY interesting enough to keep up with this on a regular basis, I'll give it a shot today.
I wish I could say that there has been more change. But really 2012 provided me a lot of the same. I have been stuck in this god forsaken apartment the entire time I have lived here, which I think is my main source of resentment for this area. I can't believe this has been a three year ordeal. I have had Isaac on my side for the entire time, who saw that coming? I did not. Not to say there haven't been severe up and downs, but here we are.
I spend half my time traveling for work and looking forward to expanding my career and network every day. I spend the other half supporting and pouring my self in to Isaac's future. I pray that he gets in to Law School. Thank god for the Marine Corps and their guidance, support, development, training, and overall structure but I want him to be happy and that leaves us on pins and needles until this spring when the acceptance letters come in. Where will that put us? ::MillionDollarQuestion::

SO what does 2013 bring? After having a nostalgic Christmas vacation and trying my way back through One Tree Hill from the beginning, I think I have learned that making predictions for the year head are usually pointless, but hey. Oh, and that 2006 had FANTASTIC tunes.

- Leading a healthier life style and not cringe when I see my weight. Cliche. But no one likes       Cellulite. #amen

- Continue to grow and adopt new projects at work, and rock them out.

- MOVE


xo

Its been awhile.

Sighing as I hit this two year mark that signifies so many things. Leaving college, Ohio, life as I knew it. Moving to DC, starting my first "real" job at the Hotel (insert guttural sound here), meeting my boyfriend. Moving in to my apartment, killing pests on my own, and trying to make new friends. I am extremely overwhelmed by everything that I have been through in these short 24 months. It was a whirlwind that's for sure. Three jobs later, 100 friend transitions later, and an infinite amount of mistakes, I write to you from a changed mind.
I'm not going to regale you with lessons learned and acquired wisdom. More so just lay it all out there for anyone who is interested in a few minutes of witty rhetoric. One thing that does strike me as ironic is that I had to lay this blog to rest for sometime as it was "frowned upon" by my last employer and oddly enough due to my current employer that I bring it back to life.  So here it goes.

I guess you could say that I have done what I'd set out to do. I wanted to be an "event planner".  I wanted to be the woman walking down the busy city street carrying a coffee and an expensive bag. I wanted the hussle and bussle, the honking, and the in your face sink or swim mentality. Well I've got all of that covered and it is what it is. It takes it's toll on you. I've hardened and I've learned. Now the focus is on finding myself underneath it all again.
Luckily, my new position is a breath of fresh air. I am doing what I want to do and beginning to settle in to a more comfortable life style. I am experiencing more of a life balance, while traveling and meeting new people. I am able to start incorporating old friends back in to my life and work on my relationships that took a hit along the way. I have learned that no matter how many things are on your plate, you have to take things ONE item at a time and slowly check off down the list and always remember to take a deep breath and wait 5 minutes before sending an email. So take that for what it's worth and go on with you day.
I'm excited to share more elements of my world with you--so check back and see whats going on in my neck of the woods?

xo

Lessons: Part 1.

I just need say that I have been having quite a few laughs at work this week with one of our groups. First of all, I was introduced into my new favorite blog, I suggest you all spend your free time readying... http://www.27bslash6.com/matthewsparty.html so great.

I learned several things this week already. First, it is never necessary to pull over in front of a Taco Bell when you think you may have a potential propane tank leak, run in to the Taco Bell to evacuate the poor families feeding their children, all just to realize you have not securely tightened the tank. I swear. That was not me. Second, going to the grocery store at night (like 9:30) around here is a poor choice. There are a lot of scary characters hanging out in the parking lot at this time. And when was the last time YOU saw 9 police cars in a store parking lot on a regular basis just in case? That is probably to ensure my safety, but really it just draws to my attention that I am probably going to be attacked some day. Third, I am still not completely happy with the parking situation at work. I find that parking my car is actually the most stressful part of my entire day. That seems a bit ridiculous for my heart and blood pressure. But it takes a lot of thought and strategy to get my car in the right place so I wont (a) be blocked in by 3 cars that I have to move, thus setting off the alarm in the garage, when I try to leave or (b) hit a pillar as I back into a space. Stress.

Tonight, I am cooking my first real meal since I have been here. I have a guest for this occasion... so that should be interesting. I am not doubting my abilities as a cook, or a host... just saying. I am making stromboli, with homemade bread. I feel as though that deserves points right there, coming home to my kitchen after work and seeing a beautiful pile of dough rising really made me feel domestic and somewhat like Martha Stewart. Some may think that is a bad thing, but dough really does something for the aroma in your apartment. Anyway, I have had a lot of trouble with this oven. It has burned everything I have put in it so far. Muffins, cookies, etc. So I think i am going to cook at 200 because that seems to be about the only temperature it can handle. Wish me luck-

Heading home this weekend for Missy's Wedding that should be a grand time. When I return however I hear I may be going to Virginia Beach, that would be very lovely... Ill keep you posted

until then

Homeless in DC

Sweet baby jesus. I am stressed out! I have now been living in the hotel for a week and am still trying to figure out my moving arrangements. No matter what I do nothing seems to work out. I only have until Tuesday to figure something out. This whole situation is a catch 22. I need my car to be able to leave the hotel... but I cant have my car until I have somewhere to live. Do you see the problem here? Things were almost solved when I was sitting moments away fro signing a lease until my credit check came back and showed that I have no credit built up. I am 22!!!! Then they wouldn't allow me to have a co signer. AWESOME. So scratch that plan. The girl I was planning to sub lease from is on a vacation until wednesday... so there is still potential but not soon enough to meet my Tuesday deadline. Ah I literally have not had any peace since coming here. I cant wait until I can sit down in something that I am paying for and finally start to adapt to my surroundings. 

On another note, I am really liking my job! The people I work with are so great, young, and fun! I can tell that the entire hotel staff really is a close family! I have been welcomed in so openly and everyone makes it a point to talk with me even when I am here as just a customer! If it wasn't for the seemingly great future with this company I would scrap all of this apartment searching nonsense and high tail it back to the 419. Liking my job is what matters though, and I am happy to report that it is PERFECT!

Next, I know you have all been wondering. I finally had my first night out on the town last night. Phew. I made it back alive...i am so proud. I went out with an old friend from Athens and I think he was literally trying to kill me. It was a lot of fun though and it really helped to get out of the hotel for a night! I don't think that it has really sunk in that I live in here now. I feel like I am just on a weird vacation. It's rather comical to me that I am living in the hotel. When I leave work everyday I just get on the elevator and go up a few floors. When I get dinner, the people I work with are the ones bringing it to my door. All very strange. I really just cant wait for next weekend because that will mean that I have survived and am actually living somewhere! And as luck would have it, the hotel is closing all of the following week for renovations and I have a week off work to explore my new city!

So I am just going to say. I need 2 weeks to adjust and then I neeeeeeddd everyone to start booking when they would like to come visit me :) I cant be alone here forever!

Cheers to a good week and a prosperous apartment search...

Louella

An ode to my Alma Mater: Once a Bobcat ALWAYS a Bobcat

Well, I graduated. I am going to be honest, I am devastated in a way. I feel like I just went through a terrible break up and there is no getting back together. I am severely lacking a social outlet right now so this is going to be a long winded post. Turn on Ingrid Michaelson Pandora and let it out... go!

I will say that the Graduation in its self was exhilarating and I was overwhelmed with pride, honor, happiness, and also a feeling of liberation. I sat there with some of my closest senior friends, those who know what we have been working towards for so long but were in no rush to get there, those who I met as a mere baby and have grown with over the past four years, and those who I hope in another 4 years will still be growing as adults with me. The speeches droned on and I was getting extremely anxious to get it over with already, but I remember sitting there thinking "I will sit here forever if that means that I do not have to actually admit it's all over". Soon enough I was handing the caller my name card, explaining how to pronounce my middle name, and doing a "Yeah I did it" fist pump across the stage. When I walked outside, I walked out a changed person. The way that Athens, and Ohio University have influenced me are extreme and irreversible. I have passion, determination, and purpose now. I have figured out so much about myself in these 4 lightning fast years and for that I am unbelievable grateful. I only hope that I can go out and do amazing things with the lessons I have learned. I know that I made the absolute most out of these years. I will never forget as we were taking pictures after the ceremony, a good friend told my mom "You should be proud of her, she is way to involved in this school to have grades like those" and he was right. There were days, hundreds actually, when I would leave for class in the morning at 9 am and have back to back class, meetings, throw in a tap cats practice, and back to meetings until 10 at night. Luckily, I surrounded myself ::forthemostpart:: with others like this, so it was just an accepted life style and we never thought twice about it... even though my roommates had no concept for this. I wish I could explain to you the impact that UPC has played in my life, but even for as creative as I am, I could not do the explanation justice. Please just know that if you have come into my life through UPC, Baker Center, or really OU in general I am grateful and you have left an imprint on my life.

I have changed for the better and matured in the past 4 years. I feel that all of my life lessons were taught "tripping on the bricks of Athens". I made mistakes, a lot actually. I fell in love, my heart broke ::afewtimes::, I learned to be a bad ass bartender, I raised an organization from the ground up and loved my tap cats with all that I had, I threw a few parties, I dropped everything and moved to Chicago to pursue my dream, I ran 3 of the most successful events OU has ever seen, or ever will see, along side one of the best girls I know, Miss Aimee Rance Pants ::i would never have survived with out her::, I learned to love onions and peppers and Mexican food, lost a few pairs of shoes and a few credit cards, met the most incredible people on this earth, ran my inbox to roughly 700 emails, took a few shots, slept in some awkward places, tap danced on court street at 2 am, experienced the happiest of times and the saddest of the sad. Cried in public, fell up the escalators, wore a lanyard, and SO many other things. Would I change anything? No. I have learned who I am inside and out and it is because of the trips, slips, and mistakes that showed me who I really am.

Thank you Ohio University. I am going to make you proud, and in 40 years, I will be speaking at commencement. Mark my words here and now. My ambitions set me apart from the rest, and I will do what it takes to make myself happy and hope ::desperately:: that I will find someone that can come along for the ride, because it would be a damn shame to do it alone. As for the immediate future, I am going to an interview on Thursday and hoping for the best, but yet looking forward to a potentially carefree summer in Athens for the last time. ever.

Peace, love, and Athens Happens yo-

Louella

Walking in Circles

Well guys, its been a year since my magical summer in the city and I am writing to you as a frustrated, stressed, overly determined, and eager ALMOST graduate. I feel like everything I have been working for for so long is just not happening. So obviously, I handle this by doing what I do best, reflect through whitty commentary on my blog.

I'm not moving to Chicago right away as I had planned because I have no secure job despite basically throwing myself at about 807, thats right ::eighthundredandseven:: companies. So what does a smart, sassy, gal do? Stay in Athens and wither away slinging beers to the children of youth that will inhabit this beautiful hole in the earth this summer. Ok. Fair. But really, I am just prolonging the inevitable I know this. I find my self yelling, quite literally in fact, I AM NOT READY TO LEAVE. So, i'm not. Everyone says "You will be fine" "No one has a job" "Its a bad economy". To these comments I think, F you. I AM PREPARED. But I digress.

So no job exactly, so its back to the brick working the tank top to pay the bills, I never thought this would be me. College has taught me a lot of things, but some of the most valuable life lessons have been learned in that tank top. At least I know how to NOT act in public. Though, I have tested these limits on several occasions as I am sure several of you reading can attest to. Either way, it will be the first time in my life where I really have no socially constructed path pushing down on me. As of June 12, there is no "path", only a thick forest that has yet to be cleared by me.

I am also a lone ranger, it's this new thing I am trying. People love to judge me, always questioning my relationship choices and telling me how I am. Well folks, I am on my own and perfectly fine, so from now I will be controlling my own happiness. I have wonderful friends and have had one of the most crazy years of my life. I have been at the happiest of happy and the saddest of sad and not to mention the stress I am experiencing this year is chart topping. But I am great, I am perfectly happy with my choices and look forward to what is to come in my life. I have made unreal accomplishments personally and professionally. I look forward to the day when others will see this, until then, I continue to search for my place in this world.

Naturally, this wouldn't be a complete blog entry if I did not leave you with a few lessons, since I no longer have Anthony supplying me with his daily lessons on how to survive chicago, I will give you some I have gathered on my own, just to plain survive. Its a bit sappy for my taste, I know. But I am becoming a big kid, I have to embrace it.

1. Make the hard decisions, the ones that fulfill your personal happiness first.
2. Go after your passions and get rid of any ONE or any THING that is standing in the way.
3. Post-it notes are not an acceptable form of confrontation, sorry.
4. Turn the music up really loud and just dance it out sometime
5. Laugh it off, its not going to matter next week.
6. Oh, and no matter what, even 4 years later... heels STILL are a bad idea on court street.

xoxo,

Louella.

See you soon Red Couch. An Ode to Liven it Up!

Big Sigh. I can not believe it's all over. Unbelievable, but I suppose  I can take this time to enlighten you with a inspiring reflection of my summer in the City. 

I was fortunate to end the summer with one last Liven It Up event. A wedding at the Evanston Women's Club, one last wedding working with the catering staff I have grown to have so much fun with and one last wedding (well for the summer) with my boss that I love so very much. I am really happy I got to do one last event with this specific catering staff because we have had some seriously hilarious/drama filled times this summer. This wedding was really pretty, it was slightly more conventional than we usually do, but the room turned out beautifully and there were no major crises to speak of. It was nice for me because I was basically responsible for the set up of the reception hall, I was able to delegate to the staff where things needed to go, how we were setting the table, where different stations needed to be set and watch everything come together. I also successfully learned to open champagne for the first time, without inuring myself or the ceiling (whoops). There is video documentation of this.... stay tuned! The wedding went smoothly, once again we worked with our bartender friends... haha how I will miss those boys. They are something else. The band at this wedding was also excellent! It was fun to listen to them and see random members of the bridal party come up to sing songs! Things went pretty smoothly and we got things cleaned up and out of there with out much time wasted. How sad... my last wedding as a intern. Tear. 

This summer has honestly been life changing for me. I learned so much about myself, what career path I want to go down and explore, what my goals are for the future, and how excited I am to get started. Wedding planning is a tough business, I was fortunate to work under the best there is and watch everything happen up close. I gained so much experience through shadowing around 15 events in one summer! I learned equally as much about the city and how much I love it. I really feel as though I am meant to live here and can not wait to get back here next summer. I would recommend University of Dreams to anyone, but with the advice that the program is completely what you make it. I watched one too many "Dreamers" suffer through a miserable internship but feel that while I was VERY lucky to have gotten the job I did, you can utilize any opportunity you are given. Not to mention, the speakers and the trips we went on were worth it in itself for those who are passionate about moving to chicago. I met great great new friends, where I was also SUPER lucky because many of them go to OU and I can not wait to get back to school and have our Dreamer Shuffle!! I got to celebrate my birthday in style and have every essential chicago experience that I wanted. ( I COULD HAVE DONE WITH OUT THE KAYAKING....just saying) 

I figured I should end with a Lessons of the Summer paragraph rather than a list. My internship was fabulous we know. I learned everything I have ever questioned in the business. Every single day a new issue came up and I got to watch it unfold. From what happens if the bride and groom break up, What to do if the guests show up an hour early because that is what was printed on the invite, what to do when your rentals are not picked up on time, who is responsible if you smoke out the kitchen and you are not allowed to have a fan. How many servers does it take to do a simple task. Never..EVER mix poly linens with satin. Alternating shades of beige is a nice idea but really unnecessary. Cupcakes, not cake, And use fake layers. Never forget matches, a wine key, camera, tissues, stain stick, LED lights, and a sewing kit... basically the perfect oh shit bag for weddings. I could probably go on forever, but I don't want to give away all of my secrets.

So, I suppose this is me signing out for the time being. I thank you all for reading and hope that this enabled you to live vicariously through me because I had the coolest summer ever. 

I will be back though, Chicago can not get rid of me for long. 

love, louella

Hurry, grab another roll!

Dreamer dinner Cruise. Ridiculous! What a fun night. We all got ready around three o-clock to get us to the boat by 6. I thought it was going to be a lot different than it was. It was a buffet style dinner...and drinks were TOOO expensive. Some 100 dollar ticket... Good thing we were friends with an employee who could help us out all night haha. When the dancing started things got crazy however. We met so many people in our program that we hadn't talked to yet and LOVED them. This always happens in situations such as this. I really wish we would have done this in the beginning. It went by way to fast and was so fun! When we docked it took us about a half hour to decide where we were going, if we were taking a taxi or a limo, and who all was going with us. Finally, about 6 of us piled in to a taxi in which I had to ride on Leslie's lap the whole way.. yikes! Sorry! And we headed to a bar. Unfortunately, we were only there for a bout 3 minutes before we realized that all the dreamers were across town. I had been DYING to go out with the dreamer staff since the beginning so we quickly drank our drinks and headed to the dreamer bar. It was quite a journey....heels for that long, its no wonder the word heel is so close to hell, because I wanted to die, from excruciating pain. They say that drinking numbs the pain... but it does not. Anywho. So we were all dancing and having a great time and although my roommates abandoned me I was able to meet a lot of new people. I really hate that NOW the program has to come to an end. I even met a random guy at the bar who works at the Cats Eye in Athens... now that folks, is a small world! Eventually, I just couldn't take it any more and had to take my shoes off. Luckily I wasn't the only one, gross I know, but you couldn't even begin to understand my pain. Probably the best idea I had all night seeing as how even now today I still have no feeling in my toes... I hope I don't have to amputate them! This also included walking home from the bar with no shoes on at 3 am in Chicago... equally poor decision but hey, I was DYING.  

This morning I woke up in a panic when I realized I had yet to pack anything and that I had to work today...and I couldn't feel my toes. Soon enough my boss called me to let me know that we would not be doing the event tonight and as much as I was looking forward to it, I was slightly relieved since I hadn't packed anything or even showered, clutch. Tonight is probably another night on the town... because really after tonight, it's all over. And that really sucks. I have had the best summer ever, and I can not believe it went this fast. I have had some amazing experiences and stories to last a lifetime. I will save the sappy post for later...  but if you are a fellow dreamer reading thank you for the fun times and I hope you had as great of an experience as I did :) 

Oh, Happy Birthday Ryan!

How about 455 Briar Street?

My days are numbered. Really, well in Chicago at least. But lets not dwell on that just yet because quite frankly it sends me to a dark and unhappy place. 

Last night I had the pleasure of dining in Baumhart for my last time. It is most unfortunate that it never really came full circle and redeem its quality through out the program like I thought it might. But no, we ended on mystery meat and some "orangish sauce" as stated by the cafeteria worker when trying to convince someone to take a piece. Yummy. After dinner we all headed over to the Dreamer finale. We had anxiously been awaiting the debut of this slideshow our dreamer police had been so diligently working on and scouring our facebooks to complete. God only knew what they were going to pick to put on the show but I actually made a debut several times. Way to represent the coolest birthday girl ever in the slideshow. Loved it. After a sentimental evening we ended with a toast (with sparkling apple juice OF COURSE) and people could randomly shout out something to toast too. I considered several, "Cheers to the very lovely front desk personnel outfitted in bullet proof vests", "Cheers to Pippens", "Cheers to the 151 bus for successfully making me late almost every day", andddd just maybe "Cheers to Taco". But thats just me. 

Lindsay and I have been so carefully holding on to our $25 gift cards to Martini Park since the beginning of July for the perfect moment. That moment was last night. Luckily for us, we happened to stumble across this magnificent bar on their 2 year anniversary for which all drinks were $3 off , no cover, and a Live karaoke band. Usually I cringe at the thought of karaoke, but this was the first time actual people with talent have taken the stage. We got to try several martinis with our lovely gift certificates and I decided the mango martini was my favorite. Surprise surprise. We had the best time and deemed this our favorite bar... well not quite. On the way home I HAD to stop at Pippins, the bartender would have been crushed had I left Chi town without a proper good bye, at least this is what I like to think in my head. Naturally, I walked in bearing no ID and sat down right in front of him and asked him if he had missed me. EHH not really, he claimed, a natural response for my salty bar tending friend. Lindsay went to the bathroom and I decided to let him know this was my last night in Chicago, and he began to ask me questions and I explained I had a year left in school but not to fret because I will be moving back soon enough. He laughed, the first happy emotion I have ever seen this man conjure, and gave me a high five and wished me luck. We are in love, I'm telling you!

Today was my last day for the beach so I went to lay out for a bit until I reached bacon status, stopped to get my last Jamba Juice fix and now I am home preparing myself for the Dreamer dinner/dance/lets get crazy cruise. I can not wait. I have a sassy new dress, yeah I know ANOTHER one... lets not talk about my shopping problem. That will be covered in my new blog, "Home, Broke, and Sad... but still Sassy". Clever right?

Stay tuned, the end is near... but let me leave you with some final lessons.

1. Confidence, you will never be carded once you are actually 21, bummer.

2. All drama comes full circle. Always. 

3. Once it goes stale you CAN NOT re freshen it. Throw it out. (a metaphor)

4. Help us save Taco, Alex's domesticated seal... it is NOT sushi.

5. Baumhart hall room 805 will forever have a kiwi stain on the wall... whoops. 

dreamer love.

Two Words: Madonna Rama.

Well friends, this summer of mine is winding to a most unfortunate end. But please do not worry, this post will be chalk full of fabulously entertaining text, because as usual this weekend was a doozie. 

Friday Night is where I left you...so that is where I will begin.

FINALLY a night out on the town with Joshua. This had been much anticipated. We all had a good time getting ready and hydrated at the lovely Baumhart. Special shout out to Ryan and Ashlei for bringing us homemade ice cream. You guys really rock, but obviously you know this. We decided to finally embark on our first night out at a dance club, another thing we had been wanting to do since we got here. We went to CroBar, So freaking sweet. I will be sad in Athens never being about to go out to cool places but I suppose I will save a ton of money

. It was such a fun time... a little  promiscuous (I think I only used that word because Promiscuous Girl by Nelly Furtado is playing on my computer right now haha) but anyway.  It was definitely an experience to say the least, and we ended our night with some fabulous pizza. 

Did I mention the fellow from the Ukraine? 

Saturday: Wedding at the Marmon Grand, Chicago IL... Or was it Nigeria? Im not really sure. We arrived at a really spacious venue and began to pull the linens out of the box... yellow, champagne, purple, green... um what theme are we going for here exactly? Soon 

enough everything was set up and we could see the room really come together. The florist/centerpiece designer, if you will, came in with candles galore and centerpieces made of lemons and limes. To make it look much more cohesive. No one really knew what we were in store for when guests started to arrive in elaborate african dresses (for lack of culturally correct term) and extremely large and bright headdresses. This was for sure the most unique we had done so far this summer. Between the tribal dances and prayers in various languages I was really unsure what to think, but it turned out to be one of our favorite weddings. Not to mention, Janet, the venue owner and I are now besties. She loved me. This wedding took is good oletime to wrap its self up and we got out of there around 1:30.  Probably because all of the guests were too preoccupied with stuffing the lemons and limes from the centerpieces in their purses...Really. 2 am and turned right around to be ready to start the wedding on Sunday. 

Sunday: Another wedding at A New Leaf. This was pretty hands off for us because they brought in Heart Boys Catering, which im not sure if you are aware but yes they have a TV show on the Food Network. So Meagan and I's role was rather small, but we did make one hell of a pine cone arrangement in the basement cellar which we made our home for the night. This wedding was our first Jewish wedding complete with a Chuppah, glass breaking, and of course Mazel tov!! The food was excellent, I LOVED it, but really when haven't I loved something that I have eaten here, it's disgusting really. Once again I was on grooms duty for this wedding, unfortunately they weren't really in to joking around with me like usual. So it was less fun for me but none the less it was a really pretty wedding. This wedding ended around 11, with a nice tip out for me... YES! I would love to tell you that this is where we got into the car to go home, however that is not exactly where the night took us. It just so happened that we all ended up waiting in line to get in to Berlin for Madonna Rama. My first gay bar, and sure to be one hell of an experience. I really wish I was creative enough to phrase the night in a way that would accurately describe it but that is beyond my rhetorical abilities. All I am going to say is this. Bartenders in T shirts and briefs, Drag queens, fabulosity at its finest, Derek, and Madonna straight until (cough) 5 am. Literally, I am sitting here laughing to myself at how speechless I am. But it was SO much fun. Off the clock... of course...

Monday Morning: Still speechless....

Monday Night: I traveled to Evanston to finally visit Joshua in his land. I got to see the Loyola campus, so so beautiful. If I had known that was out there back in the day, I would have never settled for going to school in Ohio. I kick my self everyday because I know I was meant for the city at an early age. But I suppose, I will be a city girl soon enough. Anyway, we met up with his girlfriend and headed to dinner. This was a fun dinner! I love hanging out with both of them, we had a good time discussing our excessive drinking patterns over a few drinks. And then we headed back home. Now, the train ride to the city from Evanston is roughly (very roughly) 40 minutes. We had the pleasure of sitting next to a strapping young fellow from Northwestern who was headed downtown, as he explained to us so very eloquently, to meet up with some Irish girls he met out last night to go to a Jazz club. Those Northwestern boys are high rollers, I am still hoping to find my self one. A jazz club, really? Please help me get out of Athens... the best we can do is go to Broney's on Wednesday for Karaoke. However, Josh and Michele got off the train a good 30 minutes before I did so I had the pleasure of chatting with him the whole way home. Those from Evanston live differently than most, but I think if I ever go boyfriend shopping that will be my first stop. It was lovely.

So now that I have made your eyes bleed with all of this non sense, I will leave you. Only 5 days left. Miserable. But they are stuffed with exciting activities which are sure to produce fascinating blog entries... so until next time..

happy planning... :)

Sorry, You just can't take us anywhere.

Today was one of our last official days in the "office", it was rather.... different. We started out the day with a script of the Vagina Monologues to retype and prepare for a bachelorette party that we have coming up. That was interesting, I did not think that was the direction my morning was going in when I woke up, but hey if your vagina is angry... it's angry. After we finished that we decided we should go on a walk to get lunch and then take it to the conference room to eat...oh and by conference room I might mean sitting pool side on the roof of my boss's building. However, we realized on our walk that we needed some form of binder like object for this bachelorette party. Luckily for us, we were in Boystown and had uh, quite the assortment of shops to look in. I made my first trip to "gay-mart" today. This is an actual fact... the gay version of k-mart. And from there an assortment of other "dirty" stores. I thought it was hilarious and eye opening, however I think it was a bit much for Meagan to handle. Sigh, I laugh just thinking about it.  Next, we went for lunch. We went to a little diner that was perfect. While waiting for our food for what seemed like an eternity... we noticed a mom with a few small children walking by the patio where we were eating... I didn't think much of it until I heard the mom running back down the side walk yelling at her son. Sure enough this woman's little boy had reached over the rail and grabbed a handful of fries off of some mans plate!!! My child will never do such things. But it was pretty hysterical.

After lunch, we  still had not found the binder we had set off on our journey for so we continued walking around the area looking. This ended up at Urban Outfitters... where jackets and dresses were almost purchased, but hey we were on the job haha! FINALLY after making a scene at various shops and embarrassing our boss more than likely, we found a plain binder at Walgreens. Who would have thought. The back to school special at Walgreens, was a pack of ping pong balls. That is my kind of place... haha, for a moment I thought that I was in athens. But soon enough I will be, and I am not really looking forward to it that much. 

Finally, we headed back to the "office" and had our conference by the pool. It was really sad because it was our last time. We have two weddings this weekend and then it's essentially over. I am really sad and I do not want to get sentimental just yet, but I am about to go into depression. I never want to leave this city and dream internship that I love so much. He sent us on our way not allowing us to get sad just yet. Little did we know that we were about to have the WORST bus ride ever. The bus did not come for a half hour, which is the LONGEST I have ever had to wait in my life. Once on the bus, we were crammed into a bus for an hour with a bitching old lady consistently referencing how "those young girls over there" (us) should get up for others to sit down. EARTH TO OLD BITCH LADY we had no where to move too. We could not stand, breath, or even blink on this bus it was so full. God I wanted to hit her! Anywayyy... it was a terrible bus ride...

Tonight marks my first real legal night out on the town. Wish me luck, i can not wait.

Stay tuned for a more detailed post

dreamer love.   

Sass in a Sash...

So my birthday was fantastic. I woke up in the morning and got on bus 22 with Meagan to go pick up some shoes we had on hold at Nine West... yes plural it was a great sale! My mom's train was running a little late so we had plenty of time. We got our shoes and headed back to the apartment but were stuck on the bus with the most annoying woman of all time. She loved telling her life story to any one who would listen, however it would have been much easier to understand her if only she would have had teeth. But anyway... my mom arrived and we quickly left to meet Anthony for birthday lunch at Lux Bar. I had wanted to eat there for some time so I was excited for a reason to go! It was a fabulous lunch, my mom had been DYING to meet Anthony so I was glad we could all sit down and lunch and chat... so fun. After we parted ways I wanted to stop in Anthropologie, you know just to look. Unfortunately, for my savings account at least, this ended with me deciding it was a great idea to buy this PERFECT dress that was WAY out side of my means all in the name of my birthday. But I have been eyeing it for weeks so that has to count for something right? After this is was time for my Birthday surprise... Tiffanys!!!! My mom had told me a few weeks back that I could pick something out so I had been trying to decide forever and I was having the hardest time, however when I got in to the store I realized that they had something I had specifically been looking for that I didn't think existed and I instantly fell and love and we were in and out in about 20 minutes. RECORD decision making time for this girl. 

Shopping spree behind us, and feeling rather poor we headed to check in to the hotel. This hotel was seriously the cutest "boutique" hotel I have ever seen. The guy at the counter was giving my mom hell, until he realized it was my 21st, and then we ended up with an upgrade (of a room that "didn't exist" 5 minutes before) and a bottle of wine. Perfect. We got into the room and it was soo stinking cute. Orange, green, purple, beachy, and fun fabrics... I was in love. At this point my mom pulled out a bag of presents that I was not expecting at all. My grandparents and uncles had sent. My mom also bought me the birthday girl wine glass that I had been wanting for ever. ANDDD I got a kick ass birthday crown and sash to wear out to the bars... oh you know I did. We decided that it was time for a drink so we headed to the hotel bar where I proceeded to give the bartender hell for not having the bar ready on my birthday, he looked like a fun joking kind of guy, but he wasn't and just ended up hating me... whoops. 

My roomies, Meagan, Mother, and I all headed to the Cheesecake Factory next. We were personally escorted to our table by our actual waiter who picked us out of the crowd to seat us... strange, but I mean it could have been the bright shiny silver birthday sash, who knows. He was so excited to have us haha as he should have been. We all had great food, and we took wonderful photos. I never ordered a drink and he couldn't stand it so he brought me one anyway... my game plan the entire time. He wanted to be the first person to card me, I didn't have the heart to tell him he wasn't. Even though we were all too full, we got cheesecake. They sang to me and made a scene which I love and is always my favorite part of my birthday (surprise surprise I know). After a three hour ordeal of dinner, a little long if you ask us, we headed back to the room for my crown and then to head out. We found a great little bar with half priced drinks and every one loved the birthday girl all night long. It was karaoke night so the tunes were a litttttlee off but other than that I had a great time. It was actually one of my more tame nights of my life which is ironic... but I had fun regardless. I am glad momma dear came out and that some of my friends made it as well even though every one had work in the morning. Clearly, not everyone can have a boss as cool as mine who arranges my work schedule around important things such as birthdays. Duh. 

Overall, one of my favorite birthdays ever. Which is funny because I shared it with entirely new people, but I think that is what I needed. A fresh start that is. 

Friday. Clubbing. I'll Keep you posted this should be something elseeeee.

YAY 21!!! Look out 

Lessons of the Week:

1. Free drinks if you tell every bartender on your birthday its your first drink!

2. If you get frustrated, about 8 seconds before you completely loose it everything will clear up.

3. Wear birthday crowns and sashes often... after all, why not!?

4. I love avocado.

5. Time really does fly when your having the best time of your life. Damn. 

Back to "Reality" in a week. ughh

Its Birthday Time

ITSSSSSSSSS MYYYYYYYY BIRTTTTHHHDDDAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

YAYYYYYYYY...

ill post later :)

The Calm Before The Storm

I just want to apologize now for those of you dining in Baumhart tomorrow, you may find an absence of Ketchup cups...just sayin.

So today I didn't have to work, and since I didn't get to sleep until 4 am I was thankful for the chance to sleep in until...uh noon. Don't judge me. I finally bit the bullet and decided it was time for laundry. Yes Week 7 and I decided to do laundry. It was a miserable process, first I had to borrow a laundry card from Meagan because I absolutely refused to pay 5 dollars towards a card I am only going to use once, check. Then I had to figure out this futuristic laundry machine and how to put money on it, I configured all of my loads to realize that I would need 8 dollars, only to find that the machine only took $5 bills. REALLY. This led me back to my room to search for ANYTHING other than a one dollar bill, pathetic, but welcome to Chicago. Nothing, so i had to go out in to town to buy something so I could make my ones in to fives. Annoyed as all hell, I went back to the laundry facility to realize that by submitting two $5's I would inevitably be loosing three dollars. All in the name of laundry, whatever... when it was all said and done this process had taken me 3 and a half hour and needless to say wasted my entire day give that I woke up at noon. Cool. 

Next up, time to shop for a birthday dress. I walked over to Water Tower looking like a for real piece of trash. I really didn't have any clothes and I hadn't showered of course. But I went into Akira anyway assuming that I would be asked to leave due to my appearance. But instead one of the workers was like "birthday dress shopping?" I was kinda surprised and was like "Yes actually I am, yay 21!!!" So she went nuts and pulled me like 20 dresses to try on, usually this is so annoying to me, but today I was actually grateful, I probably would have never picked up half of the things she pulled for me but I ended up being in my dressing room for like an hour because I loved everything!!! I finally found the PERFECT dress, I am so excited to wear it. I had my usual spending anxiety and had to call my mom and Lindsay to see if i should buy it. I went a step further and made Lindsay come straight from work to see if she approved. She did, I bought it, and I love it. Horah! Now what are my birthday plans you ask? I do not even know, all I know is that my mother is coming in to town on Wednesday for a day of celebration so everyone should be ready. If you are interested here is the tentative schedule...

Tuesday at Midnight, we will be venturing out to have my first legal beverage. But just a few

Wednesday, Lunch with my  momma and my boss, Dinner with all my friennnnds... yes YOU! Any one who is interested is welcome.. Cheesecake Factory 7 p.m. be there or be square. From there we will be proceeding to the bars, probably Wicker Park but I am open for suggestions...

Friday, going to a club for the reallll celebration! Wooo Wooo!! 

**I am in desperate need of a Birthday Sash. Please be on the look out, we have looked everywhere and can not find one. So if you happen to see one let me know! Haha

Stay tuned... you won't want to miss out.

If we had more money...

Tonight's event was AWESOME. The Shedd Aquarium hired Anthony along with a floral designer and a lighting designer to transform their Aquarium into an amazing space for their annual fundraiser. They utilized 5 different spaces and each one had its own feel and was equally astonishing. We worked mostly on the VIP lounge which ended up being so amazing. I knew I was going to love it to begin with because we were working with royal blue, lime green, and hott pink. As I have said before... I love when we get to work with fun vibrant colors!! The lighting designer totally rocked this place out. The VIP lounge was already a glass room over looking the lake, and seeing how it was Venetian Night, the guests could over look the lake watching the boat parade and the Amazing Fireworks show up close and personal... and so could I. The perks tied to this job of mine are fantastic... just wait. Anyway from out side you could see the VIP room and the glass was emitting pink and green light and it was so beautiful! Downstairs we set up the "Welcome Center" it was set up with several Chicago Vendors and sponsored by Hennessy.  This room was more or less the dessert room and had so many YUMMY treats and drinks to go around! The lounge area and the lighting in this room was just so cool! After this room we transformed the out side terrace and "food court" in to several stations for the various 15 some Chicago based restaurants to set up. Kettle One Vodka was by far the coolest station. They made their entire bar out of Ice and had 4 people sized bottles of vodka made out of ice sitting on top of the bar to use as Ice luges. This is like the kind of thing you see on TV. SO so cool. I ate some of the most amazing food last night, I was extremely full and in pain. But I consider it justifiable seeing as how each person attending paid hundreds of dollars to be there and I was there for free! But really, Capital Grill, Wildfire, and Vanille, top three and so freaking good.

Now, lets move out side, the terrace was under a lighted tent and a green and pink wash of light covered the tent. This was absolutely gorgeous. You could over look the downstairs bar and dance floor and also over look the lake. I really can not describe how great this event really looked. Lastly, the downstairs club lounge was the finale of the event. This space was so incredible, it was entirely draped and lighted to look like a dance club and no one would ever know that they were actually standing in a food court. Sprite was a sponsor downstairs and the production team and DJ from Beyonce's most recent album was providing the sweet beats. It was pretty much the closest thing to a day in the life of Lauren Conrad as I will get.  My new ambition in life is to become a "sprite girl" they were so cool!  It kind of 

reminded me of the "fantanas", only sophisticated, and in some fierce heels. I could probably go on about this event for days because it was my favorite thing we have done thus far but until I upload some pictures you will just have to trust me. At the end of the night I got to take home a box of cupcakes from Swirlz. They rock. 

Cubbies Game in the AM. Cannnnttt wait!!!!!!

Birthday. Wednesday. Holla.

When I was a little girl I dreamed of Lake Michigan... or something like that.

Ah, the satisfaction of a refreshing day. I woke up this morning and went on a run thinking it would be cooler in the early afternoon then the peak of the day. I was very wrong. It was soooo unbearably hot. This led me to believe that I should hurry home switch in to my swim suit and go lay out at the beach. By the time I got ready and headed back to the beach, it was overcast and cloudy. This however did not deter me from laying out for awhile. After all, I would much rather be at the beach than in my recently renovated love nest of an apartment. So I stayed for an hour or two before the rain sent me back home against my will. 

We had the executive producer of the Oprah show come today to speak to us. This was seriously one of my favorite moments of the program thus far. She was SO successful, outgoing, and confident about herself. All of the things that I strive to be. I wish she was in the industry that I was in so that I could use her as a resource or at least learn her ways. Not saying that I wouldn't drop everything to be Oprah's personal assistant any given day... but you know what I mean. She was really inspirational though, and gave me a boost of confidence to go after what I really want. Cheesy, I know... but true. I also came to the realization that despite my really developed resume I still need to work on gaining more experience. This summer has been so amazing and I have already learned so much it just makes me crave even more experience. I am almost dreading going back to school because I am going to feel like I am just waiting for the summer so I can get back to Chicago and start my real life. Still looking for roommates, who would be more fun to live with in Chicago than me? Good question. 

Anyway, we(three of us) are currently all in one little room avoiding the Love shack babbbyyy, that has become our apartment.  Sorry there is nothing too exciting to write about today. Except that this weekend and week is going to be the BEST! Why you ask?

1. Working a cool fundraiser event at the SHEDD Aquarium

2. Cubs Game. Wrigleyville!!!!! YES the moment we have all been waiting for since we have been here.

3. Shopping for my birthday outfit. 

4. Oh, and MY BIRTHDAY WEDNESDAY!!!!!!!

I will be accepting Birthday Wishes, Presents, Flowers, Cakes, etc.  at...

Molly Hoyt

26 E. Pearson 

Baumhart Hall Rm 806 A

Chicago IL, 60611

Peace out dreamers. 

Aaron's Party...Hot dang Im in trouble!!

I really love my friend Josh. I think he is really the only one who provides me with uplifting no bull shit wisdom. Just Saying. Proof that decent human beings do exist, refreshing really.

I have had a roller coaster of a day. We went to work this morning, Tuesday's are always my favorite days of work during the week because it is the day we get to recap the weekends events. This week however it had significantly less to do with the "events" themselves and more about my personal events haha. Lets just say when our show does appear on Bravo this weekend will comprise an Episode starring yours truly and my shenanigans. But really, if you know me this should not surprise you too much. Today, we also went on a venue visit, that was interesting to say the least. I got a lesson in how to handle difficult mother's of the bride/ difficult venue coordinators. Also, a lesson in Communication 101. When language is not your first language things are automatically more difficult. Hopefully things will be cleared up, QUICKLY. The wedding is next Saturday and we found out today the guest count moved from 150 to 215, you know... just a slight adjustment. This changes the catering, linen order, rental order, servers needed, amount of alcohol, and PRICE... which they were in no hurry to adjust their budget. Really, just a tense meeting. Im sure that it will get worked out, bending over backwards for our clients is after all our job. 

After this we went home, I was getting really frustrated with some of the news I had been receiving from home/school so I felt the need to go on a good run. I really do love to run, I wish I could be as dedicated as I used to be. But in Chicago it is the best. I live close enough that I can run down lake shore drive along the beach.  I am surrounded by beautiful people, beaches full of people playing night time volleyball, the Chicago Skyline... and the homeless. Its sad really, they should populate the areas of Chicago that have the capacity to feel empathy. The gold coast is not that place, luckily they make a killing off of the tourists. They are tricky. Grateful, however that I hopefully will never have to walk a day in their shoes. 

 

Lessons of the Day- Your Favorite Part I know

1. Meagan and I have stalking abilities that surpass anyone I have ever known... fo sho. 

2. Hotel Room Service-Pitbull. Summer Anthem

3. Baumhart food still sucks, I give up on optimism... it's not going to improve.

4. Anthony doesn't actually have a friend that lives on 18th and Michigan... its called improvising

5. Some people do have the ability to surprise you...I'm kind of impressed with you. 

8 days until my Birthday! I am so freaking excited....

Anddd Lindsay and I are spending the rest of our night listening to all of the NOWs ever made, please don't interrupt us. Haha!!

love you, dedicated readers of mine.