Jujo and Pretzel get hitched!!

Well over the weekend, one of my favorite couples got married!! Congratulations Julie and Michael!

The wedding was at Independence Grove in Libertyville, IL. We headed out early Saturday morning so that we would make it on time. Being the super anal person that I am, I had a lot of anxiety about getting there on time. I've been late to weddings before and it's super embarrassing! I think it's all the construction that really gets to me too. But somehow we made it there with 10 minutes to spare! I'd like to think it had something to do with the amazing driving skills on my part. :)

The ceremony was a full Catholic mass which I've participated in a few times now. And by participated, I mean follow along in the program and sat silently while everyone else goes up for the snack. I have to say that I don't mind mass because I am always so amazed that all the Catholic people know what to say and when to say it. Kind of reminds me of formal chapter at KKG.

Afte the ceremony we headed to the hotel to hang out for a little bit and then hop on the bus to the reception.  Thanks to the Fijis, the bus ride felt like it was Grand Prix all over again!  Independence Grove is absoultely beautiful! And we got to watch the sun set while we enjoyed delicious appetizers and the champagne kept flowing.

We headed into dinner to watch all the dances and speeches (which were fabulous!). Then it was time to hit the dance floor ourselves which I didn't really leave for the rest of the night! I have to say that I do enjoy dancing at weddings a lot! And they even played the Cupid Shuffle! You would think that after two years, I would get sick of that song but I haven't yet!

Sunday we drove back to Indy and I had dinner with my parents as the Sunday routine goes. And that was it! No wedding this upcoming weekend but I'm sure there will be some fun happening! :)

Labor Day Fundays!

I can't believe Labor Day Weekend is over already!! It was such a good time that I would love to re-live it all over again in exactly the same way!!!

Friday was Papa Sener's birthday so that started off all the fun! Damla, J.B., and I decided to give Daddy his favorite thing--photos. We took family pictures outside in the backyard and had them printed and framed before we all went our seperate ways on Saturday. Daddy also got a little party with family and wonderful birthday cake!! He said the best present of all was that both his daughters were there to celebrate with him! We love our little Daddy!!

Satuday morning after brunch and watching a bit of the U.S. Open, I headed back to my own house to FINALLY decorate my room. I mean, I've lived there for over 3 months now so I thought it was about time. So with the help of my trusty laser level and my tape measure, I have some pictures hung up super straight in my room. Kamm was so proud. Of course, this project made me realize that my next project is to update the pictures that I hung up...I think this is why I avoided hanging anything up to being with!

Saturday night, I went out with friends including Nicole who was in town visiting from Dallas! Yea! It was just like old times and ending the night at 3 am wasn't enough so we continued with an after party at our house until 5 am. Good times!!

Sunday during the day was pretty uneventful. I got some things taken care of around the house, watched some of The Ripple Effect race that takes place in Broad Ripple, and then headed over to my friend Patrick and Mark's house to enjoy yet another night with no work in the morning!

I think the best part of Sunday night was that I met tons of new people and oddly enough, the majority of them were accountants! Not that we actually discussed anything other then where we happened to work but it secretly made me really happy. We spent some time at Patrick's and then decided to venture to Broad Ripple to see if everyone else was enjoying Sunday Funday as well. The bars close at midnight on Sundays which was too early for the fun to stop for us so we headed back to Patrick's afterwards to continue to play! Patrick might be the funniest person I know and his friends give him a good run for his money. The night wasn't complete without a little scavenger hunt for charcoal and I have to say that I was amazed nothing was broken. I was also very happy to hear that Patrick, Mark, and Chris are hopefully moving to Broadripple very soon--potentially as soon as this weekend!

Monday, Gina and I decided to explore Downtown Indy. We took some pictures and walked around downtown, walked around the mall, sneaked around the Conrad Hotel, and the best part--went paddleboating in the canal!! We also were super touristy and ate at the Hard Rock Cafe! And the rain managed to hold off which is good because we were often quite lost and probably would not have been able to find shelter quickly! The only thing we opted not to do was go to Rib Fest. There is just something I don't enjoy about being surrounded by mass quantities of pork.

I think that pretty much wraps up the weekend! Julie and Michael's wedding next weekend!

Hail Hail to Old Purdue!!

It's official!! Lynnie G. and Todd Rodibaugh are Mr. and Mrs. Rodibaugh! Craziness!!!

Over the weekend I went up to Purdue for the wedding. Of course, it's not everyday we have an excuse to go back to Purdue so we decided to head up there Friday night just to stretch out the fun.

Saucy, Stacey, Kathryn and I started off the evening with Pitcher and a Pie at Boiler Market which was just as delicious as I remembered it to be. Then it was off to Harry's!!! Harry's Chocolate Shop is my favorite bar at Purdue...especially now that Stacks is closed. :( We hung out at Harry's and slowly more and more familiar faces trickled in. It seems like a lot of wedding guests had the same idea we did and decided to come in the night before!
We decided to end the night the traditional way with breadsticks and spicy cheese from Hot Box Pizza. It's weird that even though there is a Hot Box down the street from me, I only want to go when I'm at Purdue. This was an especially important trip because Ryan had never had it before! What he did his 4 years at Purdue, I have no idea. It's a shame Natalie didn't get to see the joyous look in her hubby's eyes when he popped that first bite!!

Saturday we started our day at Einstein's (duh) and then headed to University Spirit where I wished wearing Purdue gear was allowed at work because I love it so much! After touching almost everything in the store we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding!

The wedding was in Fowler, IN and along the way we drove by all the windmills in the wind farm on IN-52. Crazy how many of those they put up but they sure did make a cute engagement picture background for Lynn and Todd!

The wedding was beautiful and so colorful! The bouquets were filled with flowers of almost every color to match all the girls shoes!! Lynn looked amazing and I cried (of course) but only a little bit! Congrats Lynnie G!!
Afterwards it was back to Harry's until it was time for the reception! The reception was so fun and it's great when you know friends of both the bride and the groom! I didn't take any pictures (which is weird b/c I had my camera fully charged for the event) but I stole some others off of Facebook so that you could see the fun!
To continue pretending like we were still in school by going to Scotty's for lunch. Then it was time to get back to reality and head back to Indy. Though it was sad to say good-bye to everyone I still love the fact that I don't have to drive 5 or 6 hours back to Michigan after every wedding! And the good news is that most of us are going to be at Julie and Prassels wedding in a couple weeks for another reunion!

A Sooo College Weekend

Summer is rapidly coming to an end but it seems like my life is just getting busier and busier! But, I'm not complaining because it's really just filling up with fun weekend plans.

Friday, Kamm and I both had the day off work so we hit up the Indiana State Fair for the second time this year! The first time was on Tuesday when we went to the Jason Mraz and G-love and Special Sauce concert. I have to say that while Jason Mraz was slightly disappointing, G-love put on an EXCELLENT show! I only got a few pictures because when you buy your tickets the day of the concert, for some reason, they don't give you front row seats. Weird.

So Friday, we walked around the whole fair scoping out things we wanted to do...or eat, really. We stumbled upon a Chinese acrobatics show. We saw vegetables and things built from tomato cans. We taste tested fried cookie dough (best thing ever invented) and fried oreos! We took our picture with farm equipment and giant pumpkins. I mean, if you don't think the fair is fun then you should probably start hanging out with me and my friends.

Saturday morning we got up SUPER early and drove to Wisconsin. Kamm, Titus, and I were representing the Indy girls while Julie, Sauce and Stacey represented Chicago. Of course, Kylie is our sole representative of Wisconsin which is who we went to visit!! Milwaukee is a super cute city and Kylie's apartment is in a great location! It's a really cute apartment and I wish I had taken a picture of it. I do have a few pictures of us in it so I guess that counts.

The weekend included a lot of snacking, Oreo Balls, push up competitions, a boat ride on the Milwuakee River and Lake Michigan, walking on the River Walk, checking out some weird stores with super unfriendly employees, constant talk of burritos and mini corn dogs, pretending people can't see us when we're dancing, lots of laughing, a delicious new drink called Jerimiah Weed Sweet Tea, dominating at Euchre, and just an overall good time which is only expected when that many of us get together.
The ride home was super long unfortunately due to lots of traffic but thankfully, no conversation was exhausted so we made it home with minimal amounts of boredom. I rounded off the weekend with a delicious family dinner with my parents, aunt, uncle, and cousin. The only thing better would have been if I could have eaten while sleeping.

This weekend we're heading up to West Lafayette to watch Lynnie G and Todd get married! I can't wait to see all the out of state girls who are flying in for the wedding!

Straying from the Top 40

So while normally I am your pretty typical music listener who likes all the catchy stuff I hear on radio stations that play the same 40 songs on repeat all day long, I have recently tried to branch out a little bit. This is mainly due to the fact that I just put the Pandora application on my iPhone.

During my drive to Midland, I left Pandora on and I have to say I was pleasently surprised. I thought I'd share some of my new discoveries.

1. The Blow--I have only heard a few songs but I have liked them all. Particularly Hey Boy and True Affection.

2. Miniature Tigers--Tell it to the Volcano is the name of the CD that pops up and the name of one of their songs I like. I can't remember the others but I liked them all.

3. Jem--I'm not sure if this is the same Jem from the 80s cartoon but some of her songs do sound familiar.

4. Leona Naess --or something like that.

I was driving so I didn't always remember to reach down and actually look at what the songs were called. Occasionally I would also like songs by Metric and Submarines though they were more hit and miss then the others.

Also, just as a little FYI, my Pandora station that I was using was sent to Chairlift who sings the Bruises song from one of the Apple commercials. They have some other enjoyable songs as well.

On another musical note, feel free to check out Brett Mitchell band. He's a local from the tri-city area and can be heard on Pandora. I actually went to go see him twice when I still lived in Midland and even got my picture taken with him! He's a pretty good looking guy...and he sounds good too!

Great lakes, great times!

This past weekend I went back to Midland to visit my friends who made the last 3 years of my life as entertaining as it was. It was these friends in Midland that made Saucy comment that my life up there was like a tv show. I arrived in Midland Thursday night just as the first volleyball game was finishing up. I timed it perfectly because I don't actually watch the games...I just like the social time in between! It was so great to see everyone and catch up on what was happening! After volleyball we headed to BW3s which made it feel just like old times. It's amazing how I used to go there at least once a week and have only been to the one here twice in the last 3 months.

Friday I had some errands to take care of like closing my bank account at the credit union, going to visit my old co-workers, get a little bit of work done, and of course, get a pedicure which I didn't have time to do before I left. I had lunch with one of my old roommates, Zack, and then we went to visit another old roommate, Nikki, at work at The Cupcake Shoppe! After lunch there was just enough time for a quick run before it was back to Erin's house (where I was staying) to prepare for the BBQ! I made oreo balls which was interesting and I can't say that this is my favorite dessert to make. I was supposed to make them for wisconsin this coming weekend but I might have to make something else...

Erin had prepared shish kabobs and dips and cookies and had plenty of beverages to go around. Plus I took my corn hole set down so along with great conversation and delicious food, we had that as well!

After stuffing ourselves and playing a couple rounds of Apples to Apples (one of the best games ever) we headed to Oscar's which hasn't changed one bit. We only stayed for a little bit but I was glad I got to go back while I was in town. We also played P&A and someone decided to make the rule that if you call someone by their first name, you have to put your head on the table until someone else makes the mistake. Guess who broke the rule about 3 seconds after it was made?

Saturday morning I had PLANNED on going to cheer on Doug and my old intern Daniel in the Sanford and Sun Triathlon but waking up at 7am on a Saturday morning can be quite difficult and I didn't actually make it. I did however still make it to lunch with Don at Cafe Zinc! Afterwards we walked around downtown Midland just enjoying the beautiful day. We also took some pictures at The Tridge which is one of my favorite things in Midland. The Tridge is a bridge with 3 legs and is actually something you can get on your credit card from some of the banks in Midland.

After lunch I had coffee with Daniel, my old intern. He came to Dow in 2007 and we have kept in touch ever since even though he only interned in my department once. It was good to see him!!

I decided that after lunch and coffee, it might be a good idea to take a little run so I went on the Midland version of the Monon Trail which is called the Pere Marquette Rail Trail. It's pretty much just like the Monon.

Then it was back home to shower and get ready for dinner with Donovan and Steve! We went and had delicious Mexican food at Entres Amigos (the Mexican restaurant in Midland) and then headed over to Kyle's where we all hung out for the rest of the night.

Sunday morning I went for a little walk (since I still haven't mastered sleeping in past 9) and then packed up and headed home!!!

Erin, Steve, Courtney, Sarah, Kyle, Tyler, Zack, Nikki, Doug, Ashley, Donovan, Chris, Allison, and Lisa, it was so good to see all of you!

I had a great time in Midland over the weekend. My only regret is that I never made it to Great Lakes Ice Cream!! I also attempted to take some pictures of the road trip. You can barely see it in the picture below but it's the Welcome to Indiana sign and I was so excited to see it!! Back to Sweet Home Indiana!!

Brides and babies...

Over the weekend Stef, Gina, and I drove up to Munster, IN to attend Holly's bridal shower! Saucy and Stacey came down from Chicago so the Kappas were representing well. The invitation stated that it was at the Mediterranean Room at a Greek Orthodox Church. So, being the avid church go-er that I am I automatically assumed that it was a restaurant attached to a church. Apparently this isn't a common thing or something anyone has actually ever known to exist but I swear I've seen one in Chicago and when I find it, you better bet there will be a picture on this blog.

Anyway, so apparently there was not a restaurant attached to the church but rather a banquet room with a kitchen attached. Regardless of those details the shower was wonderful. To start things off, there was a delicious and cute cookie at every spot. If I hadn't gobbled it up in 3 seconds, I would have taken a picture of it. And Holly, if you're wondering where the other 3 cookies at our table went, Colleen and I took those as parting gifts.

I also have to give props to Holly for being the most efficient gift opener I've ever seen. She breezed through those things while still acknowledging everything and everyone. One day when I have a bridal shower, I hope Holly can give me a little lesson on her secrets.

Also, I managed to take zero pictures during the shower even though my camera was sitting on the table the entire time. I'm quite bummed.

After the shower, Gina and I went down to Crown Point to extend our trip in the Region. In our search for Colleen's house, we managed to give ourselves an unscheduled tour of Crown Point...and by tour I mean we drove around the square about 17 times because we didn't know which road to take and neither one of us can read a map (which is strange because I love maps). The trip included seeing the newest member of the Drasga family, Baby Oscar the Wiener Dog, dinner at Fiesta Mexico, riding around in Colleen's convertible top down screaming out "money ain't a thang" (or Cheetah Girls), and just an all in all good time. CP, two thumbs up.

As though one shower wasn't enough, we also threw Kelly Poole Wallace a baby shower!! Baby Brooklyn is due in just a few weeks!! After some roommate brainstorming we chose to have the shower at Petite Chou in Carmel (at Clay Terrace). I thought it was appropriate since petite means small and babies are small. We also ordered cupcakes from the Flying Cupcake. Kamm and Farley introduced me to this place and thank goodness I don't ever have to drive by it because we all know my lack of will power when it comes to sweets--if not, refer to cookie story above.

Kelly is such a cute mommy to be who still looks fabulous and just has a cute little baby belly. We're all so happy for her and can't wait until Baby Brooklyn gets here so we can play with her! And we'll be happy to have back a Kelly who can go out! ;)
Another new place I discovered is Thai Papaya which is a restaurant at 96th and Michigan. I like to think that ordering the same thing at every Thai restaurant I go to helps me to compare them better since I'm really comparing apples to apples (or in this case Red Curry to Red Curry) but really, I order it all the time because I know I like it and why change it if you already know you like it? This place was decent but Thai Smile 2 still ranks as my favorite Thai place in Indy with Thai Cafe in 2nd place.

In other news, Mommy's birthday was Monday! We celebrated at my aunt's house complete with an ice cream cake! Here is a picture of Mommy enjoying her special day and her personal cake (that she so kindly shared with everyone!). The only thing that could have made the day better was if her gift had actually arrived on time but it should be here Thursday! I recently downloaded Pandora Radio to my iPhone which at first I was really excited about because I think I've already listened to all the music on my iPod about 100 times. Unfortunately, I get the feeling that Pandora Radio is just repeating the same songs over and over again. I don't know if this is because I don't ever give the songs a thumbs up or down or because it's more limited when it's an iPhone application. But it's background noise so I'm not too worried about it.

Upcoming exciting things: Midland this weekend!! I haven't been back to Midland since I moved it will be SO GOOD to see everyone again! After that, a mini-reunion in Wisconsin to visit Kylie and the weekend after that is Lynn's wedding at Purdue!! It's a busy month but full of really fun things!!