I mentioned in my last post (which was like 5 minutes ago...hey, when it rains, it pours over here in blog-land!) that we have had many after-work functions.
Last week, we went to a Yankee game on Tuesday night. While the booze was not free, it was good, as evidenced by the raving reviews of my friends Dudley and Kiernan (and Kiernan not so much for the man walking by!)
This one looks black, but it works, just push play (twice).
Friday, September 28, 2007
Mom called me out - and a turtle
Ok, so my mom has reminded me that I have a blog and need to post, so here goes. I figure I'll just give an update on my recent escapades :)
Ok, so you read all about the wedding. And also that I have moved from 106th to 81st St. That means there have been a coupld weeks unaccounted for in my life. Well, I have basically been occupied with working, after-work parties, and hanging out with friends/Taylor in the New York/New Jersey area.
Starting on September 11, I have had quite a few after-work functions that have been keeping me nice and hydrated (read, drunk for free). For whatever reason, the fall is a time of orientations (it's like the whole worls is on an academic calendar these days), which at Goldman are always followed by free booze. I have enjoyed it, mainly because I have gotten to know my co-workers a lot better :) We not have plenty of inside jokes, which always make for an insteresting work day. I don't know if I've told you lately, but I really love my team at work. We just have a great time together!
In other news, I have finally fallen victim to an addiction that is quite far-flung in our society, though typically not an issue with 20-something females: Fantasy Football. Now, if you know me at all, you know I enjoy football very much. Since college, I feel like I'm an even bigger fan because I just miss school so much and watching college football at a bar really takes me back. Well, college football doesn't have a fantasy edition (that I know of), which is fine, because I don't need artificial "games" against people I don't know to keep me interested in college football. Instead, I have a team composted of NFL players who play on all different teams (if you are a 20-something male reading this, DON'T LAUGH...I have to explain for people like my grandma!). Essentially, the way Fantasy Football works is you draft a fake team made up of people whom you think will play well based on criteria set by the Fantasy Football gods. These gods decide things like: 25 passing yards = 1 point, 1 rushing touchdown = 6 points. Then, the statistics of all of the players on your team in their game for a given week are run through this scoring system and tallied. If you score more "points" than your opponent, you win! Now, I'm 0-3 for this season, so clearly I am no whiz at this game, but I have been having fun with it and it gives me a chance to care about the NFL, something I haven't done since I realized the Lions suck and I feel bad for rooting for any non-Michigan team :)
Ok, one more story before this gets too long!! Taylor and I had an AMAZING and TERRIFYING experience last weekend. We decided to enjoy a beautiful Sunday afternoon with a trip to the Tenafly Nature Center. We started down a trail that Taylor thought led to a pond (featured on website). We found the pond and a little dock and walked out on the dock. We looked down and immediately saw a HUGE snapping turtle sitting in the foot-deep water. The turtle was probably about 30 inches from head to tail, maybe bigger. Well, I've been around wildlife and fish my whole life, but for some reason this snapping turtle, however slow, scared the crap out of me! I stood behind Taylor peeking around him the whole time we were on the dock admiring "Snappy" as we named him.
Well, after a while, we got sick of watching Snappy not move, so we kept walking along the path for a little while. We came back about 15 mintues later and snappy was nowhere in sight. This struck me as odd considering that his pace prior to our departure would have allowed him maybe 5 feet in 15 minutes. Well, I got really scared that Snappy was about to sneak up behind us and kept asking Taylor if we could leave. He assured me that Snappy likes the water, so we stuck around a few more minutes looking for him. While we were standing there, we hear a noise, look up and there's Snappy, about 15 feet down the shore CRAWLING OUT OF THE WATER and up onto the path!!! He was even bigger than he looked in the water!! I promptly ran another 10 feet away while Taylor approached our slow-moving friend to take this picture:
Ok, so you read all about the wedding. And also that I have moved from 106th to 81st St. That means there have been a coupld weeks unaccounted for in my life. Well, I have basically been occupied with working, after-work parties, and hanging out with friends/Taylor in the New York/New Jersey area.
Starting on September 11, I have had quite a few after-work functions that have been keeping me nice and hydrated (read, drunk for free). For whatever reason, the fall is a time of orientations (it's like the whole worls is on an academic calendar these days), which at Goldman are always followed by free booze. I have enjoyed it, mainly because I have gotten to know my co-workers a lot better :) We not have plenty of inside jokes, which always make for an insteresting work day. I don't know if I've told you lately, but I really love my team at work. We just have a great time together!
In other news, I have finally fallen victim to an addiction that is quite far-flung in our society, though typically not an issue with 20-something females: Fantasy Football. Now, if you know me at all, you know I enjoy football very much. Since college, I feel like I'm an even bigger fan because I just miss school so much and watching college football at a bar really takes me back. Well, college football doesn't have a fantasy edition (that I know of), which is fine, because I don't need artificial "games" against people I don't know to keep me interested in college football. Instead, I have a team composted of NFL players who play on all different teams (if you are a 20-something male reading this, DON'T LAUGH...I have to explain for people like my grandma!). Essentially, the way Fantasy Football works is you draft a fake team made up of people whom you think will play well based on criteria set by the Fantasy Football gods. These gods decide things like: 25 passing yards = 1 point, 1 rushing touchdown = 6 points. Then, the statistics of all of the players on your team in their game for a given week are run through this scoring system and tallied. If you score more "points" than your opponent, you win! Now, I'm 0-3 for this season, so clearly I am no whiz at this game, but I have been having fun with it and it gives me a chance to care about the NFL, something I haven't done since I realized the Lions suck and I feel bad for rooting for any non-Michigan team :)
Ok, one more story before this gets too long!! Taylor and I had an AMAZING and TERRIFYING experience last weekend. We decided to enjoy a beautiful Sunday afternoon with a trip to the Tenafly Nature Center. We started down a trail that Taylor thought led to a pond (featured on website). We found the pond and a little dock and walked out on the dock. We looked down and immediately saw a HUGE snapping turtle sitting in the foot-deep water. The turtle was probably about 30 inches from head to tail, maybe bigger. Well, I've been around wildlife and fish my whole life, but for some reason this snapping turtle, however slow, scared the crap out of me! I stood behind Taylor peeking around him the whole time we were on the dock admiring "Snappy" as we named him.
Well, after a while, we got sick of watching Snappy not move, so we kept walking along the path for a little while. We came back about 15 mintues later and snappy was nowhere in sight. This struck me as odd considering that his pace prior to our departure would have allowed him maybe 5 feet in 15 minutes. Well, I got really scared that Snappy was about to sneak up behind us and kept asking Taylor if we could leave. He assured me that Snappy likes the water, so we stuck around a few more minutes looking for him. While we were standing there, we hear a noise, look up and there's Snappy, about 15 feet down the shore CRAWLING OUT OF THE WATER and up onto the path!!! He was even bigger than he looked in the water!! I promptly ran another 10 feet away while Taylor approached our slow-moving friend to take this picture:
FRIGHTENING, AM I WRONG?!!?!?
Well, that's pretty much the conclusion of the Snappy story, but I do have to admit, I had nightmares that night that a giant snapping turtle was preventing me from arriving at work on time...if only me excuses were always that good!
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Goodbye 106, hello 81
A couple of weeks ago, I moved to a new apartment. I am ashamed that not only have I not posted about my new place, but my room is not set up enough for me to even provide good photos. I keep meaning to get everything in its proper place, but somehow I never find the time! Regardless, I figured I should post this update before it gets ridiculous.
Well fo start out, here are some comparative stats:
Old Rent: $800/month + utilities New Rent: $1,200/month flat rate
Old Street: West 106th St. New Street: West 81st St.
Old distance from Central Park: .13 miles
New distance from Central Park: .09 miles
Old Entrance:
New Entrance*:
* Image is a slight embellishment. I do have a doorman, but I do not have a photo of him :-)
Essentially, I have relocated from the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, which is nice and affordable, but not altogether fancy neighborhood to the Upper West Side proper. My new apartment is much nicer than the old one. For one, it overlooks the Museum of Natural History. So basically I'm spoiled because that means I walk out of my apartment building and instead of seeing more apartments on the other side, I see the Hayden Planetarium and general foliage.
Another cool thing about my new apartment is that I live right around the corner from the Beresford. Famous residents (from what I've heard) include: John McEnroe, Glenn Close, and Jerry Seinfeld. I haven't seen any of these people yet, but it's pretty cool!
I share my new apartment with my roommate Melaney, who has lived there for 17 years. She has two children who are grown, so I rent my room from her. The room is MUCH bigger than my old one!! I also have my own bathroom and then we share a large living room and kitchen. We even have a dishwasher and laundry in the basement!!
Here's a picture of my old room, which was pretty much entirely taken up by the bed:
And here's my new room, which actually holds two beds, my queen (straight ahead) and a twin bed (to the right, purple sheets):
I promise to put a new picture up once I get the room settled. I bought a new printer, so I need to hook that up, finish putting everything away, and I should be all set.
All in all I am very happy in my new place. And the last good thing about it is I have plenty of room for visitors, so please feel free to come visit!!!
Well fo start out, here are some comparative stats:
Old Rent: $800/month + utilities New Rent: $1,200/month flat rate
Old Street: West 106th St. New Street: West 81st St.
Old distance from Central Park: .13 miles
New distance from Central Park: .09 miles
Old Entrance:
New Entrance*:
* Image is a slight embellishment. I do have a doorman, but I do not have a photo of him :-)Essentially, I have relocated from the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, which is nice and affordable, but not altogether fancy neighborhood to the Upper West Side proper. My new apartment is much nicer than the old one. For one, it overlooks the Museum of Natural History. So basically I'm spoiled because that means I walk out of my apartment building and instead of seeing more apartments on the other side, I see the Hayden Planetarium and general foliage.
Another cool thing about my new apartment is that I live right around the corner from the Beresford. Famous residents (from what I've heard) include: John McEnroe, Glenn Close, and Jerry Seinfeld. I haven't seen any of these people yet, but it's pretty cool!
I share my new apartment with my roommate Melaney, who has lived there for 17 years. She has two children who are grown, so I rent my room from her. The room is MUCH bigger than my old one!! I also have my own bathroom and then we share a large living room and kitchen. We even have a dishwasher and laundry in the basement!!
Here's a picture of my old room, which was pretty much entirely taken up by the bed:
And here's my new room, which actually holds two beds, my queen (straight ahead) and a twin bed (to the right, purple sheets):I promise to put a new picture up once I get the room settled. I bought a new printer, so I need to hook that up, finish putting everything away, and I should be all set.All in all I am very happy in my new place. And the last good thing about it is I have plenty of room for visitors, so please feel free to come visit!!!
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Wedding Weekend!
I’m back, with a vengeance!! This post is gonna be long!
This weekend, my best friend Kim married her college sweetheart (and also my good friend) Will in a beautiful ceremony in Nashville. I was fortunate enough to be a bridesmaid in the wedding and it was a great time! I guess the best way to do it is via play-by-play. So here goes (pictures included so you aren’t bored to death!).
Thursday, September 6
Taylor and I flew to Nashville together on Thursday night. I had plans with the girls for a mini bachelorette party, so after a shockingly uneventful and on-time trip from LaGuardia to Nashville, we gathered out bags and Taylor’s aunt dropped me off at the Doubletree hotel in Nashville to meet the other bridesmaids. Thursday night was basically a trip around Nashville visiting all of our favorite bars and restaurants one last time (before Kim’s wedding, at least). Here we are leaving the hotel to head out.
From left to right that’s Jill, Kim’s sister and the maid of honor Charissa (same pronunciation as my name), Kim (the bride), me, and Brittany.
Our first stop of the evening was the Tin Roof, an old favorite, but our favorite band, Henry and the Seahawks, weren’t playing, so we didn’t stick around too long. I did manage to get a Jagermeister blinky pin.
This weekend, my best friend Kim married her college sweetheart (and also my good friend) Will in a beautiful ceremony in Nashville. I was fortunate enough to be a bridesmaid in the wedding and it was a great time! I guess the best way to do it is via play-by-play. So here goes (pictures included so you aren’t bored to death!).
Thursday, September 6
Taylor and I flew to Nashville together on Thursday night. I had plans with the girls for a mini bachelorette party, so after a shockingly uneventful and on-time trip from LaGuardia to Nashville, we gathered out bags and Taylor’s aunt dropped me off at the Doubletree hotel in Nashville to meet the other bridesmaids. Thursday night was basically a trip around Nashville visiting all of our favorite bars and restaurants one last time (before Kim’s wedding, at least). Here we are leaving the hotel to head out.
From left to right that’s Jill, Kim’s sister and the maid of honor Charissa (same pronunciation as my name), Kim (the bride), me, and Brittany. Our first stop of the evening was the Tin Roof, an old favorite, but our favorite band, Henry and the Seahawks, weren’t playing, so we didn’t stick around too long. I did manage to get a Jagermeister blinky pin.
Me and the Bride with out paraphanelia...I think she has a Jager hat.
We also acquired a bit of a fan club, which will factor into the rest of the evening. Here’s a little glimpse of part of our fan club, Cleveland, prior to our departure from Tin Roof. 
Cleveland and Jill...little did we know how many more times we would see them...
Our next stop was Sunset Grill for some of their famous late-night nachos. Before we left Tin Roof, we had mentioned to some boys that we were headed to Sunset, and they seemed like they might come with us (which we were fine with, because it meant they would pay for the cab), then they changed their mind. So we got to Sunset and ordered our nachos and drinks. About 5 minutes later, the boys from Tin Roof walked in and joined us at our table. There were 3 of them and five of us. We had a good time there. One of them had a girlfriend. Another was interested in my friend Jill. The third sat next to me and seemed somewhat interested, but I used my patented “Why are you talking to me look.” And managed to give him the hint. However, this boy was pretty persistent and eventually I was forced to at least be friendly. Well, this kid was a talker, let me tell you. Pretty much the entire rest of the time at Sunset he was talking my ear off about pretty much everything. At one point, in an effort to shut him up, I tried to take a picture of the two of us for posterity. Well, I had a little trouble getting us both in the picture, to which he replied “You’re so conceited, you can’t even fit me into your life.” Well, I think he was being overly sensitive, but I’ll let you be the judge.
Ok, so maybe my aim was off, but I had no problem getting his right eye in there! After Sunset, we again left the boys behind (I think they were just cheap and didn’t want to pick up the cabs) and headed for another favorite place, The Stage. Sure enough, 5 minutes later the boys showed up in hot pursuit. Unfortunately I didn’t get to see much of the rest of the night because I have learned about myself recently that I have a somewhat unusual drunk habit…I go to bed. That’s right, when I’ve had a few drinks, I tend to bail out of the party unusually early. Surprisingly, I think this activity gets me in more trouble than other potential activities, like say flashing people or telling secrets. My friends aren’t typically too happy with me for bailing early, but hey, it’s my style! So I headed back to the doubletree at about 1:30am and hit the sack.
Friday, September 7
Friday morning, we woke up at a fairly reasonable hour in order to get to Kim’s bridesmaid luncheon at noon. We had the luncheon at a nice place in Nashville called the Standard. The restaurant is in the only remaining original townhouse in Nashville and it was a very classy place to have a luncheon. We had a great time and Kim gave us our necklaces for the wedding.
After the lunch, we all headed out to Green Hills mall and everyone but me got manicures and pedicures for the wedding (I’d gotten mine the weekend before when my friend Amber was visiting New York. Manicures and pedicures are about the only thing that’s cheaper in New York than elsewhere!). While they did that, Taylor and I went and visited a friend in his apartment nearby. Then, we went and bought supplies to wrap the wedding gifts before heading back to Taylor’s aunt’s house (where I stayed for the rest of the weekend) to get ready for the rehearsal dinner.
Taylor and I got ready for the rehearsal dinner, wrapped the gifts, and headed downtown to First Baptist Nashville for the 6:30pm rehearsal dinner. Ok, we didn’t quite get there RIGHT at 6:30pm and actually ended up locked outside the church trying to get someone to come out and let us in. Once we got inside, the rehearsal went very smoothly. We left there at about 7:30pm to head to the rehearsal dinner at Monnell’s. Monnell’s is a homestyle restaurant in Nashville. Basically, you show up and they bring the food out in dishes just like someone would at home. You don’t get to order your own meal, but the food is so good, no one ever complains! It was an absolutely perfect dinner. We all mingled outside before dinner and had some drinks and then headed inside for the meal.
Here’s Taylor and I with our nametags. 
We're so cute and cheesy!
At the end of the dinner, Will’s dad gave a fabulous speech and we all got our bridesmaid/groomsman gifts. Kim got us all coach wristlets!! I love it!
After the dinner, we headed out to another favorite spot, The Flying Saucer. Everyone who was in town for the wedding was invited and we had a great time playing darts, drinking beers, and catching up. We went home at around 1:30am to get some beauty rest before the big day!
Saturday, September 8 - THE BIG DAY!
Well, Saturday morning started out with a series of texts from Kwak, Kim and Mom. Kwak is a friend who wanted to know what color the bridesmaids dresses were. I told him black and he proceeded to wear lavender ;-). Kim wanted to see if I would come keep her company while she got her hair done. Well of course I obliged and hurried over to Fruition hair salon to catch the bride getting beautiful. Here are some photos. Oh, and my mom wanted to give me some last minute words of wisdom for Kim (thanks Mom!). Here are some pretty shots from the salon.
Just getting started...
I swear, it will turn out just fine!
THERE WE GO!!
After Kim got her hair done, we headed over to the church to begin getting ready with the other bridesmaids. Our friend Jessi was there to do all of our hair and Brittany did our makeup (she’s AMAZING with makeup!). While all of this was going on, Taylor was at the Vanderbilt vs. Alabama football game. Since I couldn’t be there, I insisted on having a radio with the game on in the bridal quarters (haha) and I also got my hair and makeup done first so that I could go to the bar down the street to watch the third quarter of the game (yeah, I know, I’m a bad bridesmaid). I stayed at the bar for about an hour with Jessi’s boyfriend Dave, then headed back to get into my dress. Unfortunately, when I started to head back it started POURING rain…so yeah, I arrived at the church about 30 minutes before the photos started with soaking wet hair and had to re-do it really fast! I think it looked ok anyway.
The ceremony is a total blur. Suffice to say it was absolutely perfect and Kim and Will looked exceptionally happy the entire time. Luckily, the rain cleared up and they were able to exit the church amid cheers and bubbles and hop in a horse and carriage to head to the reception.
The reception was a cocktail style affair with several food stands and a dance floor. The bridal party met the bride and groom outside when they arrived and we all had a shot in the bar of the restaurant before heading up to the function room with the other guests. Why they chose Jack Daniels for the shot, I have no idea, but I of course participated!
The reception was a great time. We all had time to catch up with old friends, drink some wine and enjoy a little time on the dance floor. The bride and groom had a great time dancing the night away with us and truly showed us all that they will continue to have a great time for many years to come! Here are just a couple shots.
We watched a slide show that Kim’s dad put together which, of course, made me cry. It was just series of shots of them both as children and then photos of Kim and Will together throughout their relationship. They stuck around until about 11pm before we all saw them off in their (lewdly) decorated car with sparklers and a toast!
After the bride and groom went off to celebrate their wedding night, we all headed back downtown to the stage to keep the party going. Once again, though, I bailed early to take a nap in Taylor’s aunt’s car, which they were kind enough to let us borrow for the weekend, and didn’t return until everyone else had already paired off and headed home. We got home at about 2am, but not without a little drama. About halfway home, we got pulled over by a Vanderbilt police officer for not having out headlights on! We were more than sober enough to be driving, so the office let us go with a warning, but it was a little nerve-wracking!
Sunday, September 9
This morning, I got up and went to breakfast with a friend from Vanderbilt, whose wedding I am in in May. Tracy and I ate at Panera and had a great time catching up.
After breakfast, I went back to Taylor’s aunts house to relax and pack up my things before we left for the airport to catch another uneventful, on-time flight back to New York!
WHEW, what a great weekend!!!
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