Getting Situated

"I'm going to a friend's beach house in Jersey"

"... the Jersey Shore?"

"Yep."

"Are you going to be on TV?"

So this past weekend I was lucky enough to venture to the Jersey Shore after a whirlwind work trip to LA. My friend and colleague Lauren grew up with a house at the shore, and still goes back from time to time to relax and get away from the city. Considering the summer has flown by and I have barely even had time for day trips to Long Island, I jumped at the opportunity to escape the miserable heat of the city for a couple days at the beach.

I'll admit, I had some preconceived notions about "the Shore," even though Lauren insisted we weren't going anywhere near Seaside Heights. Although there were a few questionable characters out in the local beach bars on Saturday night, I'm pleased to report (okay maybe secretly a little disappointed) that Snookie and The Situation were nowhere to be found. Unlike what MTV will have you believe, there are nice parts of the Jersey Shore - and Longport is definitely one of them. We stayed at Lauren's friend's beautiful beach house, ate amazing seafood, and got to sleep in later than I can ever remember sleeping in. Oh, and we soaked up as much sun as possible during the short trip.

Thanks Lauren and Ashley for a fab weekend away, and for dispelling bad rumors about the Jersey Shore :)

It's Great to be a Georgia Bulldog!

Yep, it's almost that time again, my favorite time of the year. College football season is (finally) right around the corner! UGA's football season starts at home on September 4 against Louisiana-Lafayette (is that even a real school? where do they find these openers?). Okay... I know I graduated well over a year ago, but I still (and will always) get so excited about football season starting back up - and it helps me deal with the fact that summer is coming to a close (didn't summer JUST start??).

Oh, and I just booked a flight to ATL for the UGA/Arkansas game with two of my favorite NYC friends who also happen to be UGA alums. It's hard to believe this will be my second season as an alum, but fortunately I'll be at atleast one game (maybe two - fingers crossed GA/FL will work out). I got the chance to go back for one game last year, LSU (which we lost in the last 41 seconds.. brutal) and now that I've made arrangements for a game this year I'm literally counting the minutes until my flight lands in Atlanta on September 16th (good thing my boss understands how important football is and what a valid reason that is to take off work on a Friday).

It'll be interesting to see how different it is to go back now vs. just a few months after I'd graduated. Being the party/football school that it is (sorry Michael Adams, but it's the truth), many people go for the 4 and a half or 5 year plans, so quite a few of my friends were still in school when I went back last year - or at least right around the corner in Atlanta so they came back for it. Many of them are still in Atlanta, and I'm sure those that have graduated will still come back for the home games but it's weird to be more and more removed from my college experience... I can't even imagine how much has changed since I was there last. Georgia Theater is in the rebuilding process after the fire last summer, many of my favorite bars and restaurants have closed and there are strangers renting out my house that was the scene of so many memories from my sophomore to senior years. But while it'll be sad not to see so many familiar sites and faces, I know parts of Athens will never change and that sweet little town will always have a special place in my heart. I have a feeling the minute we merge onto the loop from 316 I'll forget I ever left...

The Never Ending Birthday Comes to a Close

There's nothing I love more than birthdays. Not just mine, I love all birthdays because they're a reason to be excited about life and to celebrate. Okay fine I'll have to admit, I do love being treated like a princess for a day on my birthday, and it didn't hurt this year that it was preceded by a week of vacation and followed by a short week at work because my office was closed on the big day.

Being that my birthday is July 5th, it somehow gets wrapped up with celebrations for the 4th and turns into a full weekend of celebrating - but this year it just seemed to never end...

celebration night #1: big group dinner...

... followed by out for rooftop fun - complete with incredible views

celebration night #2: 4th of July...

fireworks!

...watching fireworks with my favorites

celebration day #3: birthday lunch with my faves...

... birthday cupcakes, round 1.

celebration day #4: office birthday = flowers and more cupcakes, followed by another bday dinner

celebration night #5: I know, this is getting ridiculous. work bday dinner, cava and yummy desserts

So I guess it has to end at some point... although I did still get to do some birthday shopping over the weekend, and still have a birthday massage to schedule so I suppose it's still going! Thank you to my amaaaazing friends, family and colleagues for treating me like a princess for the best extended birthday ever :) xo

Highlights from BA

Figured since pictures speak louder than words I could recap Buenos Aires better this way...

First few days staying at a hostel in Palermo Soho, exploring the city and hanging with little bro:

outside the hostel

hostel common area

my room

going out with little bro & his study abroad group

San Telmo Market

watching soccer! Argentina vs. Mexico

Casa Rosada, their "White House"

Family arrives! Moved into their nice apartment in Palermo Hollywood for the rest of the trip:

apartment

view from the balcony

soccer watching party... all this crowd and it wasn't even an Argentina game!

Plaza San Martin

amaaaazing tango show at Faena Hotel

La Boca

little bro, the pro tango dancer

Recoleta Cemetary