A Dream Come True! REALLY!!!!

It happened! I got my dream job, right out of college! The weight has been lifted from my shoulders and it is such a relief to know that I have a job before graduating :) I accepted the role as a cast member for Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings team. This has been my goal for well over 2 years, and all my hard work in school and at my jobs have paid off. I am so lucky to be one of the few seniors who not only has a job lined up, but it was a much easier path than many people will have, and I don't discount that at all. I realize how fortunate I am and appreciate my journey even more. My first day will be January 8th, but my first day at the workplace will be January 13th, which is my brother Tyler's 12th birthday. The end of my college program back in 2012 was my Aunt Sally's birthday, May 18th. It sure makes it easy to remember the important dates! I can't wait to figure out where I'll be living, who I'll be living with, and meeting my new co-workers and supervisors. I'm so anxious to start this journey, but so glad I'll be spending the holidays with my family before I leave. I will be in Florida in 65 days! And I graduate in 39 days. So many countdowns.

I went to Savannah this past week-end with Bernadette, Samantha, and Caren. The weather was absolutely perfect and everything was so wonderful. Me, Bernadette, and Samantha spent the night at Bernadette's Wednesday night and finished up our costumes, and left Thursday morning to head to Kentucky to pick Caren up. We stopped in Ohio and got some Skyline Chili, a place none of us had ever been to before. Our waitress told the manager we had never been there before, and we got a goodie bag filled with Skyline's staple items including a bib, oyster crackers, which are their appetizers, York peppermint patties, apparently they're the biggest distributors or manufacturers of them, and some coupons.


We got to Caren's apartment in Kentucky and drove to Nashville, where we enjoyed dinner at City House. We split some amazing items, which included Frico:Montasio cheese and potato, Ciccoli with white beans, salsa verde and bread crumbs, and pizza with house made belly ham, mozzarella, grana padano, oregano, and chiles.


We left Friday morning for Savannah, and along the way stopped in Atlanta. We went to lunch at a place called TacoMac, and stopped at Starbucks, which was great because I grabbed a mug as a souvenir. We also went to the Monetary Museum at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. We got a bag of shredded money and learned quite a bit of the history of money. We also learned that up to $12,000,000 is shredded daily.

When we got to Savannah, we checked into our hotel and got ready for the night. We dressed up in our minion costumes, and it was great that we decided to wear those outfits first because it was a bit chilly that night. We went on a hearse tour, which was awesome!

After the tour, we headed across the street to the Moon River Brewing Company and Samantha warmed us up with some Fireball shots!

We had some delicious dinner as well with stuffed mushrooms, leeks, and bbq pork.

Next, we headed to a martini bar called Jen's and Friends, which miiiight be my favorite place ever. The ladies were so great, and there were over 300 martinis to choose from. Bernadette got a Rice Krispies martini, with marshmallow fluff and rice krispies on the rim, Samantha got a Swedish Fish, Caren got a Milky Way, and I got a chai tea latte martini.
We then headed to a club, and everyone was loving our costumes! People would yell out, "MINIONS!!!"

We went to a few other bars, including the Jinx, which was entertaining because of a guy who realllly liked Bernadette, and at one point we all looked at each-other and yelled "Run!!!" and the four minions went running out of the bar, down the street and around the corner to the alley. We didn't blend in with our bright yellow and were easily seen by passers by. That night was fantastic.

The next day, we woke up and explored Savannah. We went to The Pirate's House for lunch and had an amazing fried green tomato BLT and some she crab soup.

We split it because we knew we were going to get the buffet for dinner at Lady and Son's, Paula Deen's restaurant. The story behind the Pirate's house is that it is the location where America's first experimental garden was. It is also where the saying "shanghai'd" came from. Pirates would negotiate for seamen who were shorthanded and would knock men out who were drinking and drag them down the underground tunnel onto the ship, where they would wake up in the morning. Here is the link if you'd like to know more about the interesting history behind the Pirate's House.



After some more sightseeing, we headed to our hotel to get dressed up in our ice cream costumes, and went back for our 5:30 pm reservation at Lady and Sons. While we were eating, we heard a very recognizable laugh, and we ran for it. Paula was actually at her restaurant! It was so awesome because every trip we go on, we see someone famous! I mean I knew there was a chance that she could be there, but still, it was so cool!

Her daughter-in-law took our picture, which I didn't know until I asked her if she wanted me to take a picture for her, haha.

After dinner and all that excitement, we met outside the restaurant for our own private tour for just the four of us! Our tour guide, Bonnie, took us to many places and told us some great haunted stories at many locations.

This was an area during the Yellow Fever epidemic where rich people were able to build a tunnel to walk from their homes to the water so that they wouldn't have to breathe the same air as the sick people.

She dropped us off 2 hours later at the Pink House, which was a location for a murder that we heard about on both Bonnie's tour and the hearse tour. It's called the Pink House because the owner had one of the first brick houses, and it was red brick imported from England. He had it painted white, but no matter how many coats were put on, it would always turn out pink. We went downstairs in the tavern and split a bottle of moscato and enjoyed some great company, just relaxing and talking.

After the Pink House, we checked out Lulu's chocolate bar, which was packed! We got a ginger plum tart to share, and it was delicious.

After that, we went to the city market where the night life was exploding! There were so many people in fun costumes. We found a mariachi band, which was one of my favorites that night :)

After Lulu's, of course we had to stop in one last time to Jen's and Friends. The second night I decided on a Mounds martini, and I was not disappointed! It was amazing!

Our last stop was at the Bohemian Inn, which had a rooftop bar. We even met Forrest Gump!

There was such a beautiful view of the water and a bridge, and there was even a really cool chandelier made out of oyster shells!

Our last day, we woke up and gathered our belongings, but before we headed back to Nashville, we decided to take a side trip to Tybee Island. We weren't sure where to go, so we parked on a side street and got out and a guy was getting out of his truck, so I asked him where the lighthouse was and where a good local place to eat lunch was. He gave us directions and we found ourselves at a wonderful patio on the beach. We ordered some yummy plantains with pico de gallo.

For our meals, Bernadette and Caren got fish tacos, I got a crab cake sandwich with sweet potato fries, and Samantha got a roasted veggie sandwich with red beans and rice.

After eating, we took a stroll on the beach and just soaked up the view and relaxed. It was a perfect ending to our trip.

We drove back to Nashville and spent the night, then woke up early to drive to Kentucky so Caren wasn't late for class. We said our good-byes reluctantly and headed back to Michigan. I didn't get home until 8:30pm, and after a long day of driving, I was exhausted, but it was SO worth it. I had a wonderful, relaxing, exciting, and unique trip to a place I had never been with some GREAT friends. I couldn't be happier. Now bring on the rest of the semester. Career Expo is tomorrow and I figure even though I have a job lined up, it can't hurt to network!

The Home Stretch

It's my last semester at Michigan State University, and when a lot of people I know graduated in May, I was so upset, wishing I was graduating in May too and just done with school already. Now, I find myself walking to class on an unseasonably warm October day, and looking at the beautiful campus and irrationally saying in my head, "I love that tree, I love the brick buildings, I love everything about MSU!" and so on. Now that my time is up, I'm starting to relish the things I've been taking for granted. My new roommates have really helped me see my school as if for the first time again, and appreciating everything it has to offer.

My new roommates are so great. Their names are Joan, Su Su, and Gabby. Joan is from South Korea originally, but was living in California for 12 years. Su Su is from China and getting her Masters in PR, but got her Bachelors at SVSU. Gabby is going for her Masters in Social Work and also went to SVSU for her Bachelors degree. So none of them have ever been to MSU and are unfamiliar with it. I took it upon myself to let them know what MSU has to offer, and I've had a great time exploring along with them and doing so many fun activities. My calendar has been filled up ever since I moved in around late August, after the lake house and after my surgery.

Muskegon was great, as usual. I was recuperating from my surgery, so I didn't get to go into the water, but I did enjoy the wonderful weather.
I decided to have the 13 screws and 2 plates removed since my heel is fully healed, and everything was just sitting there, but reacting with my sensitive skin and making it swell up whenever I was on my feet for extended periods of time. Which was always, since I work in the Hospitality industry.

I moved into my new apartment and I finally have my own bathroom, and I love my roommates. For my birthday, they surprised me with a bunch of pink and silver balloons, a beautiful rendition of "Happy Birthday", and Cards Against Humanity, a game I'd wanted for a long time that is similar to Apples to Apples. We had so much fun at my birthday party, and they got to meet so many of my friends. We went out in Lansing, and managed to fit about 20 of us in one van!
It was like a clown car! So many people showed up and I was so grateful for them to take time out of their busy schedules to make room for me. We went to Rum Runners, and a few other bars. The next day, I celebrated with my family at Pizza House for lunch, then back to my apartment for cake and presents. It was a perfect week-end.

Life is so good. We are actually having a pumpkin carving party tomorrow :)

I'm working a lot, and have two fun classes; Casino Industry and Event and Meeting Planning. I have had a chance to have some fun though. Me, Su Su, and Joan went to Frankenmuth on Wednesday and got a chicken dinner, fudge, and Su Su saw guacamole in the cheese haus and had to have some. She had never seen it before. Su Su is so quirky and always catching me off guard with her hilarity. I am so fortunate to have clicked so well with these ladies. There is no drama, they are genuinely nice, and I get along with all of them. I didn't want to go in blind again, but I got really really lucky.

Me, Joan and Gabi did the Color Me Rad run on campus!

I applied for a professional internship at Walt Disney World for after graduation. I applied for the Fairy Tale Weddings Internship. I have been very interested in it way back even when I was doing my Disney College program at the Polynesian and could see the Wedding Pavilion from the hotel. When I got deployed to Chef Mickey's, one of the managers was completing a PI, and that's when I first heard of it. After that, it was always in the back of my mind that when I was in my last semester of college, I would apply for a PI. After a phone interview, and then a panel interview via Skype with 5 women who work various positions in the field, I am now playing the waiting game and keeping my fingers tightly crossed.

In just one week, I will be leaving for Savannah with Bernadette, Samantha, and Caren. This year, we are going to be Despicable Me minions, and also ice cream cones. I think these ideas are very unique and I can't wait to see how we all look together once our costumes are created :) I just bought my overall dress for my minion costume, and tried everything on together today. I think it's sooooo cute! I believe I'm making the most of my last semester of college, and enjoying every minute of it!

Overload

Shoot, it's been more than 2 months since I updated my blog :( Well, there is a lot to catch you up on! Let's get started shall we?

On May 27th, I had a Spartan Signature Catering memorial day bbq shindig at my place. Even though the weather wasn't great, we still had a great time :) A lot of my friends from home came too, so it was a packed apartment!

This summer, although I've been taking classes and working, has been a lot of fun. It has been great getting to know Jackie, who lives across the hall from me, better. Whether we're making summer wreaths with cocktail umbrellas,

or cooking dinner, we have so much fun together. We just get eachother, which is really nice. We like to take midnight bike rides, watch tv shows and movies, cook dinner together and walk in on each other without knocking. We were both alone at our apartments for about a month, so we got to see each-other every day, except for when I went to Bonnaroo, which brings me to the next point.

BONNAROO! This was my favorite time so far. I got to go with two of my best friends, Caren and Jessica. Me and Jess left early so we could go to Nashville and Mammoth Cave National Park before we headed to the festival. Mammoth Cave was so beautiful and we learned so many cool things. Nashville was fun too, of course.

We relaxed by shopping, having drinks and eating dinner at Jack's bbq.

When Caren got out of work, me and Jess left downtown to head over to her house so we could take one last shower and pack everything up. It took us about 4 hours to go 40 miles, which was absolutely insane. On top of all the traffic, there was a semi rolled over that slowed things down considerably. Luckily, we were surrounded by feel good people and witnessed many funny things, including dancing on the highway. Once we finally got to our camp, we were ready to set everything up. Now, camping is not my thing, everyone knows that. We were the first people to start setting up our two person tent...and the last to finish.

We had it as a tee pee at one point and seriously considered calling it good. But we persevered and got it together with a little help from our neighbors. We also realized that we had the best camp lot out of all 98 that were not VIP. We were right by the ferris wheel and music tower, which is just a few steps from the main entrance. My friend Spring and her group were next to the camp I was at a few years ago, which is about a 25 minute one way walk! Yikes. It was great being so close because if we needed to grab a water, some food, or a less used porta potty, we could just walk back to our camp lot. With little sleep, great friends, and amazing music, I managed to see all the bands I wanted to which has never happened any year at Lollapalooza or Bonnaroo before, and we got great tans and lots of relaxation. It was perfection. I took so many pictures, which you can check out on my facebook page if you'd like because there are just way too many to post to this.

This is a list of the bands that were here this year:

This time saying goodbye to Caren wasn't so bad because I knew that she would be joining me in a few short weeks for Taste of Chicago!!!

A few days after getting back from Bonnaroo, apparently I wasn't "musiced" out because I went to see Fitz and the Tantrums with Jenny, Mandy and Greg at Saint Andrews Hall in Detroit. I love that band and even better, their new album just came out recently so we had a 3 hour dance party!

My 4th of July was great this year, as well. I got to spend the whole day on Higgins Lake with Mallory, Laura, Amber, and Jess! We got to catch up, catch some rays, and I even caught up on some sleep! We went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast, and I got the most delicious blackberry pancakes.

Once we got to the beach, we staked out a spot and relaxed. We went out into the water for a bit to see the boats and partiers, but came back to grill our dinner and hang out with each-other.

My best friends are all so beautiful!!!
When we got back to Jessica's house, we had a little fun with the sparklers :)

Every week-end this summer has been filled with working at the B&B and working weddings at the stadium, so the week-end of the 13th was special because I got to go to Chicago with my Aunt Sally, my Grandma, Caren, Bernadette, and Samantha.
Caren came up on Tuesday to hang out with me and it was fantastic. I got to show her MSU's beautiful campus,

my work, and we took bike rides

and just generally relaxed.

On Friday though, we went to Detroit for the day and met up with Bernadette. We saw Comerica Park,

checked out Campus Martius which was cool because there was a beach party going on

We then met up with Katherine and checked out more of the city. We saw the set for Transformers that they were building outside, went inside the beautiful Guardian building, and went to the Detroit river and waved to Canada. After going inside the Renaissance center, and so much walking, we went to Sugar House for drinks

and then Slows for some yummy barbeque!!!

. After dinner, Katherine dropped us off at Greektown and we decided to go to the casino because Caren had never been to a casino before! We didn't want to miss that opportunity, and Caren came out ahead!! She's a natural :)

The next morning, Megan drove us all to the train station so we could catch the mega bus. We left from East Lansing on Saturday morning and got to our hotel in Chicago around 3. We stayed at the W on Adams and it was absolutely beautiful.

The elevators even had 3-D art so it was trippy! It looked like a club in there!

Once we got settled, we headed over to Taste of Chicago!

We ate sooo much food. We got to meet up with Rhiannon and her son, Adama for a bit too which was great. My favorite thing was the rainbow cone. It was so refreshing and a unique concept.

Once we were full, we headed to the shore to look at beautiful Lake Michigan and let everything settle.

We headed to Milennium park to go see Cloud Gate and be tourists ;) Then we decided to go to Garrett's popcorn, because we are gluttons for punishment!!!

We parted ways with Rhiannon and Adama so we could go to our hotel and get ready for the night! We met up with Sally and Gram at the bar on the 97th floor of the Hancock tower for drinks and it was definitely a great view!

It was great company and a perfect beginning to our night. Once we parted with Sally and Gram, we headed over to Wrigleyville to see Amber, Mallory, Laura, and Jess. So many girls! I saw my roommate from my Disney College Program too! Sarah lives in Chicago so I contacted her so we could see each-other since it has been over a year already! We met at the Cubby Bear and danced the night away. I didn't get back to my hotel room until around 3:30am.

The next morning, I didn't have a voice. At all. It was like the scene from The Little Mermaid when she goes to speak and freaks when nothing comes out. Imagine that being surrounded by everyone at Brunch the next morning! My wonderful cousin Jessica met up with us at Mercat for brunch. The two of us had stumbled upon it last summer and loved it, so I knew we had to go back on this vacation. No one was disappointed! It was a 6 course meal fit for queens :)

We were all on the verge of death at the end, I think. I was so glad Rhiannon and Adama could join us for that, as well. It was so nice catching up with everyone! Believe it or not, we headed back to the Taste of Chicago when we were done with brunch to use up the rest of our tickets and I got ice cream again. And I got to try a delicious mango, lime and ginger popsicle. The weather was beyond perfect, and we got to do so much in literally 24 hours! I have the best friends anyone could ever have!

I have enjoyed summer and trips but now it's time to buckle down and save up money for when I graduate, and apply for lots and lots of jobs. My next trip will be to Savannah, Georgia with Caren, Bernadette and Katherine. This year, we better not get stuck in a hurricane!!!