The Good Life: January 2009

I Miss Green

I'm currently riding on the train to South Bend, IN using my sweet new blackberry, named black betty (ram-a-lam), as a modem so I have access to the internet and am not bored on the way in. While looking outside the window I have noticed that my life has gone from colorful to colorless. The three predominant colors left in my life are white, yellow, and brown. So not an uplifting sight. All I see on the ground is white snow. Everywhere. Matching the white sky. It seems like a completely separate world from the one I was in a few days ago. Occasionally, where the grass has grown too high, or someone has trudged a nice path in the snow, you see yellow, stiff grass. Not a pretty sight. And where there are trees there are no leaves, so all that is left are thin, brown, sad looking branches. I know in the springtime color comes back but it's just so depressing when not even 5 days ago I was in Houston and there was grass, flowers and live trees everywhere. I miss green.

The aftermath of Ike, 4 Months Later

On Friday we went down to Surfside to get a nice seafood lunch for my father's birthday. On the way home we decided to drive back via Galveston to check out the progress and were somewhat shocked by what we saw. The main road that runs along the beach connecting Surfside to Galveston was wiped out in certain places, as shown in picture number 2. At one point it was so bad that we drove almost two miles on the slim stretch of beach, right next to the ocean. Along the way I noticed that almost every store built out over the water was gone. The first photo shows the disconnected pier of one such place. Lastly, and most shockingly, is the 3rd picture. I was floored to see a person's life in that top left room. You can see the mattress positioned in front of the tv, with two dressers against the back wall.

Once on the Strand, it was apparent that not much headway had been made there either. Next to no shops were open, including the old timey ice-cream shop that was a favorite of mine growing up. While talking to the owner of a local bookstore, we were informed that Ike had dumped around 7 and 1/2 feet of water in their store and ruined over 500,000 books. I can't even begin to imagine the financial impact that would have on a local bookstore owner.

FINALLY!!!!!

goodbye to the old...

HELLO TO THE NEW!!!!

I got a Blackberry! Woohoo!!! No more sitting around at the bar after flag football or dodgeball games feeling left out while everyone is on their iphones and Blackberries... I am now officially a part of the cool, professional looking crowd!! No worries, same phone number just a new phone.

xoxo!

DUM DUM DA DUM!

This past weekend was a first for me. My first friend's wedding, which also happened to be the first wedding I have ever gone to without my parents. SWEET! Somewhere between watching two AMAZING people say their vows and commit to one another forever, eating tons of food, drinking delicious champagne, dancing the night away, watching adults do the cupid shuffle and soulja boy, and falling in love with Beyonce's Single Ladies all over again I discovered that I absolutely LOVE weddings! Not that this was really a secret to begin with, but I had over-romanticized the idea of them so much in my head that I was worried it wouldn't be as special once I finally went to one. It was. And the bride looked GORGEOUS! Miss Allie Marie Nemesi is now officially Mrs. Allie Marie Perry, crazy!!! Also somewhere between all that champagne and dancing, I ended up between her sister and father for the throwing of the roses and send-away for the newly married couple. I tried to move but good old Chip (Mr. Nemesi) told me to stay put and who is to argue with the father-of-the-bride? Certainly not me. After the wedding most of the younger people headed over to Baker's St. Pub (the main bar in Sugar Land) for a wedding after-party because we were having too much fun and didn't want it to stop. I seriously can't imagine a more fun or perfect wedding. Hope the happy couple is enjoying Jamaica!

the awesome, texas-themed groom's cake

the beautiful bride and longtime friend!

my great photo of the bride and groom leaving thanks to my extra special place in the line

Types of Snow

So far I have learned of 5 types of snow. The best type is the first snow of the season snow which is incredibly light and soft to the touch. It kinda reminds me of cotton candy. Then there is the old windows screen saver snow where it is so big and plentiful that when you are driving through it in your car you feel like you are in a spaceship with tons of stars coming at you. This type can also be referred to as star wars snow as well. Next there is dippin dots snow. It literally looks like tiny little balls of snow, hence its namesake. There is also glitter snow which legit looks like it has glitter in it. It's super sparkly! It is the type that makes the world look magical and me almost like the snow. Lastly there is snowman building snow, although I have yet to see this. Apparently not all snow can be used to build a snowman. Who knew?

There you go, a little snow knowledge for you today.

Happy Holidays!

Christmas break was AWESOME! I accomplished all but one of my goals (Three Brothers Bakery) which will easily happen when I go back to Sugar Land in two weeks for Allie's wedding.

While in Sugar Land I spent time playing wii with my dad and sister, hanging out with Nick, hot tubbing and staying in a sweet hotel with Madison, doing T-Rex style sake bombs with Marjo, Missy, Madison and Cara, and spending lots of quality time with Roxy. OH and I got to see Kim, Latane, Morgan, Kelsey and Jamie (all HS friends) which was really good too.

Austin can be summed up like this: Pluckers, 6th st (starting at Lattitude where 100 jager bombs were ordered), Taco C, Taco Shack, Ranch 616, Pappadeaux, Trudys, New Year's party at Moose and Soda's place, Key Club, Star Bar, Whataburger, Captain Benny's, Flying Saucer, Posse, Crown & Anchor, and Thai Kitchen. Whew. Not a bad lineup.

Going back home really made me appreciate Houston in a new and different way and also miss Austin and all of my wonderful friends there!!! I was worried that it would really upset me coming back to Chicago and it did for about a good 30 minutes until I saw Nick. Then I realized it was all worth it :) I really really hope that someday my path will lead me back to Texas but until then I am grateful for being in a new place, experiencing new things, and having the person that I care about most nearby to be a part of all of it.

Okay enough with that. Hope your holiday was as WONDERFUL as mine was!!! Now time for pictures!