reunion no. 2

The second reunion in the last few weeks was with an old friend, Amy J. LeeAnne and I met Amy at the meet-and-greet part of the service at Redeemer (not the cookie room, but the part where you shake hands with those around you for 15 seconds! yes, quite unbelievable that we became such instant friends.) during our first summer internships over five years ago. When we told her we were from Alabama she said, "Woww. That's REALLY southern!"

Amy came for a quick visit last week, and Katherine and I met up with her for a Shake Shack dinner. We realized that we've only all lived in the same place for a total of 3 months, but we became quick friends that summer as we all shared the very new experiences of the working world + life in a big city. Amy please don't be such a stranger! Come back and visit soon...even if it means taking another 20 hour bus ride from the Carolinas, AmyJ-style.

reunion no. 1

I had a good span running for about a week where I had several reunions in a row with several long-lost friends. (I suppose not "long-lost" per se, perhaps ones I'd just like to see much more often.) The first one was with my good buddy from elementary school, junior high, and high school. We go waaay back. All the way to the pencil sharpener episode in Mrs. Dockery's 3rd grade class, in fact. (Ask me for the story on that some time, it's a good one.) Of course, it was a blast catching up.

chicago bound.

I am Chicago bound tonight! I'll be hopping on a plane with LeeAnne for a short, fun-filled weekend in Chicago to visit an NYC friend transplanted there for law school. If you have any suggestions on what I should see & do there, please share. It's my first time! I apologize in advance for the 500 pictures I'm sure to take at The Bean in Millenium Park.

goodbyes

"Why can't we get all the people together in the world that we really like and then just stay together? I guess that wouldn't work. Someone would leave. Someone always leaves. Then we would have to say good-bye. I hate good-byes. I know what I need. I need more hellos."

-Charles M. Schulz

month of June: what I did

Here are the Top 10 (ish) photos of things I did in June. Blogging got away from me. Better late than never.

I mentioned this before, but I went to Salt Lake City. This pillow was on my bed in my hotel room. How adorable. Look at that salt shaker.

I visited the Mormon temple. Actually I didn't go IN, but I did a few loops around. It has beautiful architecture, interesting place.

Then I migrated to the South - 'the loveliest village on the plains' south. I went for another Four Friends wedding, and this time I took Brendan with me.

As you can tell, he's very happy to be on the Plains for the first time! (Although I may have been the happier one that he was finally getting to experience Auburn...)

I'm not sure why but I really love this candid shot. Thought I would add it for good measure.

Reunited again! The second time in just 3 months. We could get used to this... Rose I guess the pressure is on for you!

I found out that Rose had never climbed the Auburn sign to take a picture! That changed quickly when I learned that. We made our way up there with the beautiful Samford Hall in the background!

And then to make Brendan feel like a true Auburn-er, I made him climb up to take a picture too. He could pass for an Auburn grad!

The beautiful bride before the wedding.

Backstage waiting for the big event. (I forgot to mention: Rose and I were candle lighters in the wedding! We had to really focus or else a small mishap could have burned down the church and ruined Rachel's big day. We made it through successfully-whew!)

At the Greystone Mansion for the reception.

Tyler and Rose

Trying to catch the bouquet (I get competitive with this stuff at every wedding.)

Still waiting... and probably encouraging Rachel to throw it to me.

Even after all of my theatrics, I still didn't catch it.

So naturally I made Brendan go for the garter (you can see him in the far right of this picture above).

He didn't try very hard... and he didn't catch it.

Our wonderful hostess and the sweet Roberts girls.

I think Brendan was saying here "Please take my picture again!" So I obliged. (That's actually probably the exact opposite of what he was saying.) I like the picture though!

Goodbye to the newlyweds!

After the wedding, we headed back to Tuscaloosa. I spent the day on Sunday with my family and at the lake. I couldn't ask for anything more fun!

I'm pretty certain this was way over 10-ish photos. Too much to commemorate, I suppose.

and, celebrate we did!

Last Friday night (June 3rd) I mentioned that a celebration was in order. And, boy, did we celebrate! We went to only the best Mexican restaurant I've visited in the city yet. That says a lot because I've tried a lot of them... After we accidentally intruded on a private rehearsal dinner party for Candace and Cameron (or so the chocolate said) that was nearing its conclusion, we went up to the counter of Tacombi and bought tickets for our tacos.

Then we chose between one of two food trucks where we picked the taco combination(s) we wanted and watched as it was prepared right in front of us.

I sadly only got two tacos... I wanted more. And another grape soda because it was the best I've had. But, I held strong and saved room for dessert. It was a good thing since we quickly migrated to the Billy's Bakery across the street after dinner.

To add to the delicious food and anniversary event, we chatted about our most memorable (for better, or for worse...) times in the city over the past 1, 3 and 4 years (Kat, me, LA & Pamela, respectively). If only we could do this every Friday night...

june 3rd

Today is June 3rd and that's a special day in my mind. I have a brief recap of the providential meeting [here] that I wrote about last year. 4 years ago TODAY I met Katherine and Pamela in Central Park. Then I went to my first Redeemer church service that night. Then... well, the rest is history.

This picture is circa 2007 when we were just 5 interns making our way in the big city. Now fast forward 4 years. We are (almost) all back in the city. Amy J hasn't returned yet, but we're all still holding out and hoping. So, "How are we going to celebrate this monumental anniversary?", you may ask. At an indoor taco truck in Nolita! How else?

war cam eagle

Sadly, it's been a while since I've been in the "true" football spirit. (Sorry, Rose!) People get excited about football in New York, but not like they do in the south, especially for the Iron Bowl! As an added bonus of getting to go home for Thanksgiving, the Iron Bowl was a mere 15 minute ride from home this year. Even more ironically, several good friends from Auburn migrated west after college and now call T-town home so I was able to spend the day cheering on the Auburn Tigers with college friends! I've never been so frazzled watching a game and so ecstatic all in the same moment, but I was this year for the 28-27 victory! It felt good to be back in the spirit!!

And I can't forget, even though they were wearing crimson and houndstooth, it was also great to catch up with some old friends from high school!

But, still, War Eagle!!!

FG thanksgiving feast, 4th annual

This tradition was started 4 years ago by my dear friend, Carrie, who has since (very sadly!) moved to Charlotte. But her legacy lives on... On the Saturday before Thanksgiving all of the sister groups of Aaron Bjerke's "original FG" gathered together for one huge feast! Katherine and I made our first turkey, actually Kat did most of the work and I just watched, and people came in droves. I think we peaked at around 75 people in our tiny 3-br New York City apartment (hence the reason you see us sitting on the ledges of our bathroom in the hallway to eat). I did my fair share of panicking when I found out how many people were coming, but we made it, and it was full of great food, good fellowship and old (and new) friends.

Carrie, thanks for starting this tradition! And please plan to come back one year... 5 sure is a good number to celebrate!

color invasion this year

You might remember me attending an event last year that was right up my alley, called Color Invasion? Can you possibly think of an event name that I'd be more excited about?! And I've been lucky enough to attend Color Invasion, one of the biggest interior design industry-wide events in New York City, for the past 3 years now! Last Thursday night I met up with LA and some old coworkers and enjoyed one of the most fun parties of the year. The theme this year was nurse & doctor, so I opted out of costume the part. But I did wear scrubs-green.

Meg, me and LeeAnne reuniting.

I have more pictures, from the official Color Invasion photographer, to post later but I was made to promise that I wouldn't post them anywhere yet. More to come.

kat's welcome back party!

She's back, and we spent Saturday night celebrating her return here at her new casa! It was fun to hang out and catch up with the old fellowship group. Who knew three years could fly by so fast?!

one week!

That's right, folks. It's only one week from today until this girl moves back to the Big Apple. Ironically, Katherine and I met in Central Park in June 2007 when we were both interning here, and we have all maintained our friendship over the past several years, even with many miles in between. Now she's finally moving back to New York City, and we can't wait!!