today

I just got the new Dave Barnes CD Chasing Mississippi in the mail yesterday and thus far it is soooooo good. I can't even describe how much I love getting new music...especially good stuff like his.

My life is pretty much consumed w/ planning this H.S. Girls Retreat called Awaken that we have here at LCC this weekend. We expected like 100-125 girls to come, and we now have over 200 total. Need I say more? It's crazy but exciting. Although Chantell is sick and has to get better by, say, tomorrow?

The Bachelor is not all that exciting this season, yet I still watch it at Kate's every week. I'm not a big fan of any of the girls. I am a big fan of him. Not in the way that I think he's amazingly hot, but in the way that he's sooo nice, unlike the past bachelors. He compliments every one of them even though he has a chance to rip them apart. That's nice for a change.

My dad is hilarious. He had some big satellite poker tournament online last night that if he placed in the top 3 they'd have flown him out to L.A. this weekend. I don't think he did this time, but I'm sure he will someday! He cracks me up.

This morning I woke up to Arrested Development's song Mr. Wendell. What a great old song! On the other hand, I usually hear that stupid new Beyonce song in the mornings...don't get me started on her OR the words to that song.

As I've said before, smells remind me of stuff. I'm wearing the perfume Pleasures today and it always reminds me of my freshman year in H.S. So weird.

fact or crap:

The game Fact or Crap sucks: FACT

The company you play it with can actually still make it funny: FACT

The questions in the game are good: CRAP

I got reservations to go to Oprah on February 22nd: FACT

It's easy to call in and get reservations on the day it says to online: CRAP

I slept till 12:30 today and I am still wide awake at 1:30 a.m.: FACT

I may be visiting my friends Matt Wertz and Rob Blackledge at Augustana next Sat.: FACT

I just preordered the new Dave Barnes CD Chasing Mississippi and so should you: FACT

I think I'm going to New Orleans with a Week of E group in March: FACT

You love this blog entry of mine: CRAP

I am going to go to bed now: FACT

dang female cops

Well, my seven-and-a-half-year streak of being ticket-free is over.

I got pulled over last night in Bloomington after stopping at my sister's and then trying to hurry back to Lincoln for something. As soon as I went by the cop her lights immediately went on and there she was behind me!

I just can't get over the fact that I've never been pulled over in almost 8 years of driving, and the first time I can't even get a warning? At least she was nice about it, I suppose. She wasn't a jerky female cop.

Oh well, life goes on. I was just hoping for a life-long record of being a really good cop-spotter and never getting pulled over...er, um....I mean, a life-long record of being a really good driver.

On that note, I'd like to pretend I'm on the radio right now and send a shoutout to Alli and wish her a Happy Birthday! And I'd like to give a shoutout to Amanda and Aubs and say Happy Birthday tomorrow!!! Gosh, lots of birthdays! Have fun and I wish I could see the 3 of you soon!!!

sweet nothings

this just in: i'm not good at blogging anymore. i pretty much suck at it.

i just typed up two entire paragraphs about stuff...twice...and then deleted them. they were stupid. i promise.

one of these days, i tell myself, i will write myself a good little blog entry.

And really, I'm not sure why I have become so lazy as to not even capitalize the first letter of every sentence. If I'm going to use punctuation, I may as well have some continuity with my capitalization just the same. (As if it takes more time and an extreme amount of effort to hit the SHIFT key while typing.)

And I know it's already January 18th and all, but I'm just wondering what this year holds. If I only had my crystal ball...

And, finally, to end on a completely random note...I am officially, unregretfully, and openly addicted to The Bachelor already. It is a weekly event, friends. And yes, I participate in abc.com's The Rose Ceremony game to predict who Travis will pick each week. I am not ashamed. But never, no never, could you pay me money to be one of those girls on the show.

the best year of our lives

In case you didn't know, "the best year of our lives" was the title of our journey to NYC for New Year's as a preface to the actual "best year of our lives" that will be 2006. Let's hope, anyways.

Some pics and words from our adventures...

Faith's humble abode where we slept on 2 air mattresses in the living room. Might not sound like fun, but with the 3 of us it was a blast. We watched Friends every night. It's so fun to watch Friends with friends.

Friday a.m. @ the Met.

some of my faves...Degas and Monet.

scenes from the city

for some reason, i love this pic from the ferry ride to staten island. might i add that we chose the perfect time to take the ferry. On the way there, the sun was shining, then setting behind Lady Lib, or Libby, as I called her, and on the way back it was dark and the city was all lit up. I was all lit up inside. And frozen. See more ferry pics below. (much to my disappointment, the night pics were blurry mcblurrstersons.)

shine on, Lady Lib, shine on.



@ the South Street Seaport
the city in motion
becka's first Times Square experience
St. Patrick's Church
ye ol' Rockefeller tannenbaum
us at SEA, the coolest Thai restaurant ever in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. such a cool place!
Watch closely, I am about to perform magic before your eyes...
And, voila! empty dessert plates. now how did that happen?
and, prepare for the most "perfectly miserable" 8.5 hours of your life. oh wait, that was us. it was quite the rollercoaster of a night, but SO MUCH FUN!!! we had the best spot ever. Look closely at the below picture of Carson Daly's stage, which we were extremely close to and you'll see him. We were right behind that and the Chevy stage where Mary J. Blige performed. I have pics of her kids watching her perform from the steps.


We may or may not have survived the night had they not thrown out these free mittens to all of us. Our gloves were wet and freezing from the previous rain. That's Faith, me, and Becka w/ our new friend Sarah from San Diego. She and her 2 friends were leaving for Israel the next day for a couple weeks. (you get to know a lot about people when you stand practically on top of them for 8 hours without moving.)


anxiously awaiting midnight...

i loved all the confetti falling. However, I still wish it would've come out of the giant Cup O' Noodles below the ball. oh well. Maybe next year they'll take my suggestions.
Happy New Year!!!! We survived!!!! it was so fun!
We tried to go to the Redeemer Church service on New Years Day at this Baptist Church near the Upper West Side, but it was so crowded that people were waiting on the steps to get in and were all turned down. They couldn't fit another soul (haha, no pun intended) into the church building. Actually, a great problem that I wish we'd see more often in the Midwest.

the BEST Billy Joel Tribute band EVER, called Big Shot, at B.B. King's Blues Club & Grill on New Years Day night. as I drank my prickly pear martini and sang along to "New York State of Mind," I said to my friends "this moment couldn't be more New York." I loved it.
me & Becka outside of Felicity's workplace, Dean & Deluca. Breanne Prunty would appreciate this one.
inside St. Patrick's
carry your candle and go light your world, folks.

OK, so this candy store made my night. The candies, shown, are called Satellite Wafers. Pretty much everyone makes fun of me for loving these things b/c they are basically edible styrofoam filled with tiny nonpareil sprinkles. I had been searching for literally years for these and found them there. It made my day. (and much to my surprise, i found them AGAIN today in a gas station in Sandwich, IL!!!! i couldn't believe it! twice in one week, and i've been looking since i was like 7 years old!)

the famous Serendipity 3 Frozen Hot Chocolate. yum. Sorry, Dustin, but I disagree on the overratedness of Serendipity. loved it. i could totally go for one of those right now. However, I would definitely agree on Lombardi's having the best pizza. that was AMAZING!!!

On that note, I must say my top 3 restaurant choices for NYC are these:

1)Lombardi's Pizza

2)Cafeteria (where they go on Sex & the City...I also felt "very New York" there as I drank my Mimosa and ate a yummy 3:00 lunch.)

3)SEA--best Thai restaurant, best atmosphere, best prices.

What a wonderful way to ring in the New Year. It was definitely the best New Years I've ever had and probably ever will for quite some time. We're already planning New Years '07 in Vegas--2nd best place to celebrate New Years Eve.

And by the way, people are SO NICE in NYC! What's with people in the midwest? We pale in comparison. I'm so impressed with the acceptance of people there, or at least from what I experienced. And I so want to move there. I might.

I hear the city calling my name sometimes.

coming soon...

pictures and my favorite moments of "The Best Year of Our Lives" (this is the title of my TRIP to NYC for New Years, just so you know.)

i promise, i'll get some pics and stuff soon. maybe tonight.

fyi: my suitcase is still missing, thanks to United.