Sunday, December 21, 2008

Getting in the Christmas spirit!

Sadly, I have to admit that up until this weekend I wasn't really in the Christmas mood. But I guess a weekend consisting of the Coyne Holiday Party, blizzard 2008, NYC in the snow, the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, pictures with Santa, Christmas movies and an abundance of Christmas shopping will put you in the mood whether you want to be or not. Here are some things I learned/realized this weekend:

-I work at the best company ever. I would have never thought that a work holiday party could be that much fun but it was. I am so lucky and grateful to work at this place. Also - Beth Kimmerling is awesome and gives amazingly thoughtful gifts. She's the best. Also, I've made some pretty awesome friends at Coyne and that's something I feel so lucky about.

-Going to see the tree in Rockefeller Center can be kind of depressing. Lila and I trekked into the city in the snow to see the tree (I've never been before) but she had already been in the city so I went in to meet up with her. Before I found her (there are only a million people in Rockefeller Center on the Saturday before Christmas) I was asked to take probably 20 pictures of couples who were all in love and stuff. While that is great for them it just reminds that I am alone this Christmas.

-That being said, while I stood there waiting for Lila and taking countless pictures for strangers, I also took a minute to stand back and just watch things. It was snowing and here i was staring at the tree. What more could you ask for? It was beautiful. And as much as the picture taking annoyed me, I also found it oddly reassuring. It's proof that people do still have some good left in them. Countless strangers do this kind gesture for people they don't even know and will never see again. And all with a smile on their face. So many people told me "happy holidays" etc and it's just nice. Also - how can you be sad after you take a picture with a very good friend and Santa? seriously.




-Going to the mall (or shopping in general) the weekend before Christmas is just DUMB. I had a few last minute things to do and it was just awful. Saturday afternoon I went to the Willowbrook mall. I literally just had to run in and pick up a gift card - as task that should've taken about...20 minutes tops. from the minute i entered that ridiculous parking lot, i should've known. I spent 45 minutes driving around/sitting in traffic trying to find a spot. Then I realized that if I didn't head back to Clifton soon - I'd most likely miss my train to the city. So I left. It was a great afternoon of wasted gas and time. So I trekked back this morning and finally found a spot. While the traffic was just as horrific, I still noticed some very cheerful people which made me smile. People holding doors and letting people pull in front of them in the parking lot, etc. All in all a good day.

-Black ice is a bitch. Annie and I both fell (literally) victim to it this weekend. I feel en route to the Morristown diner after the holiday party and almost faceplanted today in front of our house. Annie, on the other hand, fell right on her butt in our driveway. Also, our steep driveway becomes a mountain when covered with ice.

-Annie just made us some very delicious hot chocolate and now we're watching Serendipity while she's trying to guess what I got her for Christmas. mwhaha. She'll never figure it out.

-I think I bought some pretty awesome gifts this year and I'm excited to see the faces on people when they open them.

-I cannot fill out or even shop for cards without crying. I even told Liz today that I wasn't going to do cards. I should've known that wasn't going to happen. i get carried away. Annie came home while i was filling them out and was like omg what happened? since I had been crying. It's ridiculous. When I get old and retire I want to work for Hallmark. true story.

See - I told you this weekend put me into the holiday mood. Happy Holidays!


Monday, December 15, 2008

We Can't Let This Bank Fail.


More than 35 million Americans, including 12 million children, either live with or are on the verge of hunger. In New Jersey alone, an estimated 250,000 new clients will be seeking sustenance this year from the state's food banks. But recently, as requests for food assistance have risen, food donations are on the decline, leaving food bank shelves almost empty and hungry families waiting for something to eat.

The situation is dire, no more so than at the Community FoodBank of New Jersey (CFBNJ), the largest food bank in the state, where requests for food have gone up 30 percent, but donations are down by 25 percent. Warehouse shelves that are typically stocked with food are bare and supplies have gotten so low that, for the first time in its 25 year history, the food bank is developing a rationing mechanism.

As the state's key distributor of food to local banks – serving more than 500,000 people a year and providing assistance to nearly 1,700 non-profits in the state – the stability of replenishment of the CFBNJ is essential to ensuring that individuals in need have access to food.

If everyone could just do a little, it would help those in need a lot. To help, people can:
-Make a monetary contribution: Visit www.njfoodbank.org .
-Donate food: Drop off a bag of food at your local food pantry. Click here to find a food pantry near you: www.sefan.org .
-Organize a food drive: We can help explain the logistics of starting a food drive. Just call 908-355-FOOD.
-Help "Check Out Hunger:" Look for the "Check Out Hunger" coupons at your local supermarket and donate.

No donation is too small!


Friday, December 12, 2008

I don’t understand why this happens.

I’m sure you’ve all experienced this at one point or another. Say you’re driving home from dinner and all of a sudden you realize you have to pee. You’re fine the whole car ride and casually ask the driver to pull over so you can use the restroom. As you’re walking in to the bathroom, doesn’t it always seem as if you have to pee 20 times worse? It’s as if I wouldn’t physically be able to hold it any longer had we taken another minute to get there. I think that when you know you’re so close it just gets worse.

This is probably a really weird post but I think its so weird how that happens.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Verizon Fios hates us.

Annie was away last week in Disney, when she got back she realized that her tv box wasn’t working. However, the boxes in my room and in the living room were working fine. She decided to call Verizon to see if someone could come out to fix it. They came out last night – we were hoping they would get there and be gone by 7:10 because we wanted to go see Four Christmases. 7:10 came and went. Then around 7:30 he shows up (hardly enough time for him to fix the problem and us make the 8:10 movie but that’s besides the point). The next movie wasn’t until 9:45 so we had some time to kill since our little friend was taking forever. We decided to turn on Intervention on A&E (we may or may not have a small obsession with it…) and our friend (let’s call him Carlos) decided he was finally finished. He came downstairs and plopped his but down and started watching Intervention with us! For at least a good 10 minutes! It was absurd and hilarious all at once. Finally he decides to leave. About 20 mins later, Annie and I are pulling out of our driveway en route to the movie and there he was, SITTING IN HIS VAN OUTSIDE OUR HOUSE.

CREEPY.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

What a Wonderful World...

I'm not sure if it's the same for everyone, but I remained very close to the people I met during my freshman year of college. I lived on the 5th floor of North Boland hall and my entire floor was very tight knit. i lived with desiree and we lived across the hall from 4 boys who were all from South Plainfield, NJ. Jason, Tom, Greg and Rob. They had all gone to high school together and decided they'd stick together at Seton Hall as well. As the year went on, we all got very close because we spent so much of our time together. Between the classes, the silly string fights, the blackouts, the infamous "last night" (where i may or may not have cried hysterically..) they all became some of my very best friends. Here's a picture from the last night of freshmen year. Please excuse how i look. The night involved a lot of goodbyes, alcohol and tears.



Greg played the bass guitar and would bring it out sometimes to entertain us all. At the end of freshman year he told us that he wouldn't be coming back in the fall because this little band asked him to be their bassist. That was in 2005, and now, in 2008, The Jonas Brothers are one of the biggest bands out there.

The other 3 South Plainfield boys stuck it out at Seton Hall, until the middle of the fall semester of senior year when Rob decided to drop out. Turns out, The Jonas Brothers needed a photographer to go on tour with them. Greg, being the great guy that he is, mentioned his friend Rob, Setonian photographer and next thing you know, the two of them are literally traveling around the world with the jonas brothers.

Talk about luck! On Thanksgiving, after stuffing my face with tons of turkey and stuffing, i sat down to watch some football. Next thing you know, it was halftime of the Cowboys game and who do I see? Good old Greg. And this past week when I turned on NBC to catch some of the Christmas Tree Lighting special, who do i see? Greg.



it's crazy! the other day i googled him just for fun and found some CREEPY fan clubs for him. ridiculous.

I think it's true that good things happen to good people. I couldn't be happier for these two guys.

Monday, December 1, 2008

Thanksgiving break was lovely. Coyne had off Thursday and Friday but I used three vacation days and took Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off as well – so I got to go home on Friday the 21st. Home is always great but its so much better when all of my friends are home too. As usual, I was very sad to leave yesterday and, as usual, I made the rounds and started saying goodbye to people. I made sure to stop by the Goehringers to say bye to the kids, gave my brother (and his stupid dog) a hug, kissed my mom on the cheek and gave my dad a hug. Then there was one thing I was forgetting.

Jinx is my 14-year-old Shetland Sheepdog/Lab mix and I love him dearly. He is getting so old – he has horrific breath, decrepit teeth and he has even started to lose is fur. But I love him. And everytime I have to say goodbye to him I get teary – mainly because I know 14 is old for a dog. Living away from home doesn’t make it easy because every time I leave I can’t help but wonder if it’ll be the last time I see him. I know that sounds awful and maybe I’m just a baby but he is the best.




Saturday, November 22, 2008

Birthday Girl: Annie Chatenka

I, without a doubt, have the best roommate ever. I don't know how I lucked out so much, but I can say with 110% certainty, that there are few people in this world that I would enjoy living with as much as I do with Annie. We laugh at the same things, get mad at the same things. We just get each other.

My all-time favorite thing that has happened with Annie and I involves me, Annie and a nun. Senior year, Annie and I lived together in our cozy little Turrell Apartment at Seton Hall. I had been asked to speak in front of this group of big time donors to Seton Hall and explain why I loved SHU, what made me go there, etc. etc. I prepared this whole speech that explained why I chose Seton Hall (because of my grandfather - for those of you who don't know, i'd love to tell you the story) and I asked to practice it in front of Annie. She listened but on the day that I was to make my speech in front of these big time donors AND Monsignor Sheeran (president of SHU) she came with me because she knew how nervous I was. There was nun (I still don't know her name) who was preparing to introduce me to the group. She came up and asked how to pronounce my name and the three of us got to talking. She asked about my major, I told her i was a PR major, and said, "you know who you should talk to?" I asked "Who?" as she was closing her eyes and shaking her head to remember. The thing is, she shook her head with her eyes closed for LITERALLY about 5 minutes. Around minute 2 I started to laugh. And then Annie saw me laughing and she started to laugh. we were both trying to do this silent laugh so the nun wouldn't hear us laughing directly AT her but after the 5 minutes were up, and she finally opened her eyes, we were clearly peeing our pants in this nun's face. It might not sound funny to anyone reading this but it was by far one of the funniest moments in my entire life.

After they introduced me, I walked into the room to begin my speech when the nun invited Annie into the room to join us. I told her to stay out of the room because I knew if I saw her I'd laugh. We have contagious laughs and its one of the things I love most about our friendship.

Here is one of my favorite pictures of us. It was taken at graduation, and yes, I wore an eye patch as I crossed the stage and accepted my diploma and yes, Annie had her dad deliver popcorn to us during graduation. So, Annie, today and always I want you to know how much you mean to me. Happy Birthday, I hope you had an amazing day.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

how could i have forgotten..

I forgot to write about another reason that my mom is the best - my friends love her. seriously. everyone is almost as excited to see her this thanksgiving as they are to see me. phil can't wait for her to make his favorite meal ever - sausage peppers and onions - and even proclaimed so on her facebook wall (yes, my mom has a facebook...) and liz made it a point to call my mom this morning to wish her happy birthday (maybe even before i did...) and annie calls her by her childhood nickname. don't even get me started on tom - there are times he will go to my house solely to see her. she is so much a part of me and the fact that my friends get along so well with my mom is just another testament to how amazing she is.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

If you've read any of the posts I've written since creating this blog, you probably already know that I miss home. And the number one reason I miss home is because I have the best mom ever. I know this is something everyone says, but I swear by it. She is my absolute best friend and knows more about me and my life than most other people. She is there for me when I am sad and crying, when I'm scared or anxious but most importantly she is the cause of the majority of my smiles and laughter. It kills me that I'm not home with my family to celebrate her day but I am beyond excited to go home tomorrow night. I have off all next week, as well, so I'm excited to spend the upcoming 9 days with her. Words cannot describe what she means to me. Happy birthday, Mom, I love you so much and want you to know how lucky I feel to have you in my life.



Tuesday, November 18, 2008

mystery solved: part II

Dear Mernst, I know it’s you.

And really, I should’ve known all along. I do, after all, have excellent stalking skills. Which doesn’t explain why it took until today for me to figure this all out.

Let me start at the beginning.

My roommate, Annie, works at MWW Group and I work at Coyne. Coyne and MWW are apparent ‘rivals’ so some people think its funny that we live together. Apparently, I came up at lunch one day, where Annie mentioned me. Somehow, my business card was brought out and she came home that night to tell me that “everyone in her office wants to prank me.”

From then on, I was on the look out but I never really believed that this group of “strangers” would do anything that good (or anything at all for that matter).

Fast forward to last week, when Annie went into work to tell Studio MWW about how we found this licked cupcake. Cue Mr. Mernst.

Let me explain how I found you. The lovely and talented Melissa Mackey came to my desk today. Since I had told practically my entire office about this mystery, she casually asked if I had ever figured out who it was. I said no and she told me to google “micahwave” so I did. (Why I didn’t think of this before is beyond me). Googling “micahwave” resulted in your twitter page – which had a link to your website – which had a link to your flickr account. After creeping through your pictures, I found a picture of you holding a GIANT check (which Annie had told me about a while back…) which revealed your full name. I then googled your full name, and up popped your facebook account. Since we are clearly not friends, I obviously couldn’t view your profile but I could see 3 friends that we had in common: Frank Filiatrault, Ann Marie Chatenka and the sneaky Mike Petite. That’s when I knew.

What makes this even funnier is that last week I joined Annie, Mike and their friend Adrianna for dinner at the Shannon Rose. Since I was so creeped out by this entire situation, I decided to share it with them. Little did I know, they were holding back laughter because they knew the entire story.

I do owe apologies to my friends that I’ve blamed along the way. To Lila, Crissy, Marissa and most of all Chris – I am sorry for accusing you of licking my cupcake. (However, truth of the matter is that Annie swears she didn’t lick the cupcake, that she just relayed the message to Micah – which means the ACTUAL cupcake licker is still out there OR it was licked while drunk and the licker doesn’t actually remember).

ANYWAY, I tip my hat to you, Micah Ernst for having such gaiety and mernst. And to Annie and Mike for keeping the secret so well. However, I’ll have you know that this is not the end.

It.
Is.
On.

mystery SOLVED.

Dear Mr. Cupcake licker,

I've found you out.

Sincerely,
Shana

Monday, November 17, 2008

bridesmaids dresses

Why is it that bridesmaids dresses are always so hideous?

Seriously.

I'm going to be a bridesmaid for my good friend Jen's wedding in January. I found a few that I like but for the most part they are UGLY.

If you have EVER been IN a wedding or been TO a wedding, where the bridesmaids' dresses were not atrocious please give me some suggestions. Luckily for me, Jen is at least open to suggestions so I'm trying to avoid looking like this, at all costs:

Friday, November 14, 2008

i need your help.

Something very strange has happened to me. Let me explain.

A few weeks ago, my roommate, Annie, brought home a delicious box of Entenmanns’s Halloween cupcakes. We quickly went through them, until there was one lonely cupcake left. I didn’t want to eat the last one, so I left it there. I assume she didn’t want to the last one either because the box sat on top of our refrigerator for a good two weeks. The other night, I glanced up there and realized the lone cupcake was still atop the fridge.

I take it down and get ready to throw it out, when I glance in the box to see this:


Someone has licked our cupcake and left it in the box for us to find! I have no idea who it was (okay maybe a little idea…) but Annie and I just laughed it off and threw it out.

THEN I sit down with my computer and go online to check out my lovely blog. I see that I have a comment on my last post (about sorority sisters) so of course I read it. It says: “on ur fridge eatin ur cupcakes, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.”

Now, I’m confused.

So I decide to write back to this person and ask them who they are. This morning, I see another comment from “micahwave” and it says, “Me? Just a big fan of cupcakes and your blog. I hear you're a Legend!”

What’s even more weird is that when I click on “micahwave”s link to his blog – it leads me to a blog with posts about the show Lost - from February. Which means whoever commented did not just create this blog to toy with me.

What the hell is going on? The combination of cupcake licking and comments has left me with a short list of suspects. You see, it could very well be Lila, Chris or Crissy because they each came over before going to Testa’s party on Halloween. It could VERY easily be a funny joke that my roommate Annie is playing on me. OR it could be my friend Marissa, who stopped by briefly on the Saturday after Halloween.

Please comment to tell me whom you think it is. Any information you may have that could lead to the solving of this case would be greatly appreciated. I’m even offering an award. What is it, you may ask?

A delicious, UNLICKED cupcake.

And to the mysterious cupcake licker, I know you’re reading this. You’d tell me who you are, if you know what’s good for you!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

sorority sisters

I never pledged a sorority while I was in college, however, two of my very best friends are in sororities. Liz is an Alpha Nu Omega at McDaniel and Desi is an Alpha Gamma Delta at Seton Hall. I never even considered pledging but being so close with two people who are in sororities, I get to see the other side of it as well. If I didn't have Liz and Desi in my life, I'd most likely think about what a crazy idea pledging is. You know, the whole idea of "why would you pay for your friends?" etc. But at the same time, it's a crazy bond that not many people could break.

This past weekend I visited Liz at her school for their Homecoming. As I mentioned before, I'm literally obsessed with quotes and when Liz was pledging, she needed a bunch of friendship quotes for something - and fast. I, of course, sent her a document like 20 pages long and needless to say, her entire pledge class loves me because of that. After she was done pledging I visited for a weekend and they were all so nice to me. So now, whenever I visit, they all take me under their wing and we always have so much fun.

Same goes for Desi. Because I lived with Desi while she was pledging, her and our other friend Amanda, would call me whenever they needed something. My favorite was when they needed to be dressed in black for something. they had to run back to the dorm and get it so they call ed me on their way and I had it ready for them when they got back. After that, whenever I'd be at cryans and meet a gam that I knew OF through Desi, I'd introduce myself. This happened so often that i slowly but surely got to know most of them. A few weeks ago, Desi invited me to Hoboken for this kids birthday, and it was just her and her sisters mainly but I went and had so much fun with them.

I just think it's funny to see the other side of "greek life" and sometimes it makes me wonder if I'd have done things differently knowing what I know now.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

22 years is a long time.

This past weekend I went to a good friend's birthday/Halloween party. Everyone was having fun, drinking, socializing, the whole nine. As the night went on we stumbled upon the topic of friendships. Everyone began naming which friend they've had the longest and for how long.

I didn't have to think twice - when I was asked who and how long, I responded "Adrian - 22 years."

Yes, I'm 22 years old. And honestly, if I could say MORE than 22 years I would. It's actually a bit ridiculous that I've made 20-something posts on this blog and have yet to mention Adrian. You see, Adrian's a year older than me and our parents were friends and neighbors before either of us were ever even thought of. After Adrian was born, in 1985, my parents began to babysit, etc. Then my mom became pregnant and almost a year later, I was born. Needless to say, we've literally been together from day 1.

Growing up, her mom would watch us before school everyday. There's so many things about my childhood that would never ever be the same if I didn't have her to remember them with. The countless New Year's Eves where our parents would get together and we'd sneak out to steal snacks when they thought we were asleep. The millions of Saved By the Bell episodes we watched - back when they were new. The Dolphin game and the Sonic the Hedgehog wars we had. New years at her Dad's apartment when we got older. Yelling Jason's name out the window to see if he'd find us (Age - on a completely different note, he's getting married!) The bus stop wars with an unnamed individual down the road. Literally being chased on our bikes by another freak down the road. The bike rides. We would always think we were so cool, and we'd always switch bikes. One day, Adrian decided to get herself hit by a car! And ruined my bike! and lost the tip of her finger (okay, so maybe she didn't LOSE it, but she had to get a ton of stitches).

Basically, Adrian has made me the person I am. A few years back (oh my god has it really been..4 years?) she moved to Omaha, Nebraska from New Jersey. Obviously, I haven't seen her nearly as much as I did when we were growing up, but she is one of those lifelong friends that will always be there when it counts.

For example: Her and our other good friend Ashley sat through the pouring rain at my high school graduation. Then when it came time for my graduation from Seton Hall, Adrian made sure she was there. Even a 22 hour drive from Omaha, Nebraska to East Rutherford, NJ cannot separate us. It's one of the best feelings in the world and I am beyond grateful to have someone like her in my life.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Election time.

I'm pretty positive that these kids know more about Tuesday's election than I do. Take a few minutes to watch this (click on more info for the lyrics).



I think this is amazing and their teacher should win some type of award. Check out Ron Clark Academy on YouTube for more videos. There's an interview session on there where these kids show off how well spoken they are and impress the hell out of me as well.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

I love the Phillies!


Okay so I might not be a die hard Phillies fan like this guy but as you know by now, I was born and raised in South Jersey, a mere half an hour away from the city of brotherly love. Because of that, I happen to love all Philadelphia sports. I even interned for the Philadelphia Flyers, Sixers and Soul for a semester doing design work. (I do have a special, undying love for the Philadelphia Flyers, however. Ask my family/friends and they can tell you numerous stories about all of the signings, etc. I forced my parents to drive me to during high school).

ANYWAY, I am ecstatic the Phillies won the World Series. About damn time someone in Philly won it all, isn’t it? What city deserves it more? Seriously.

But what I hate hate HATE, is when people (particularly NON-Phillies fans) make ridiculous, sarcastic comments like, “Funny how many Phillies fans are popping up,” or anyone who calls any Phillies fan a front-runner, etc.

WHO CARES?

Who cares if so and so from down the street is all of a sudden in love with the Phillies? If you don’t like the Phillies because you’re say a..Mets or Yankee fan then so be it. Why do you care who Joe the Schmoe down the road likes? And vice versus: if you are a Phillies fan, who cares if there are some front-runners? You’re team is NUMBER ONE. And really, that’s all that matters. As long as you know you’re love of your team is true then go on and celebrate!

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

I'm an Alumna?

Last year, I was president of PRSSA at Seton Hall. Therefore, when the current president emailed me to invite me to the annual Alumni Panel Discussion for PRSSA, I knew I'd be attending.

It is so weird to sit in front of a classroom of young, oblivious, naive students and talk about what you do. Not only what you do - but how you got there, who you knew, and how they can be like you. Not to mention that I WAS one of those young, oblivious, naive students at this time last year. I remember running this very same event last year. I remember that when I left I thought, "wow...so and so was really negative. I'm sure the working world isn't that bad. I'm sure its not that hard to get a job."

Tonight, someone asked the panel, "How important do you think networking is in finding a job/internship?" I bluntly replied, "You need to know people - if not, you're screwed." (Maybe I should reevaluate my bluntness, but that's for another post entirely...)

I didn't mean to scare the people but it's the truth. After telling everyone that they're screwed, I tried to reword it by explaining how important it is to get out there and meet people. You really just need to take every opportunity you have to show people how smart you are.

Another topic that came up had to do with the economy and how hard it is to find a job, etc. Rennie (the best teacher alive) stepped in and said that "Every single person on this panel is here because they worked their asses off while they were in school, and I'm sure they still are." And not to pat myself on the back, but she's right. I tried to chime in and explain that they need to start working their asses off now to get ahead.

It's funny because towards the end of the night we all realized how scary we made "the real world" sound to these kids. So we made sure to tell them how much fun we have too. We work our asses off, but we have fun. Isn't that how it's supposed to be?

After the event was over, a bunch of people just stood around and some people came up to talk to me. They asked me how I like my job and I simply said, "I couldn't be happier." And that's the truth.

It's crazy how much things change in a year.

Monday, October 27, 2008

I need a weekend to recover from this weekend.

Here I am on a Monday night, at 9:35p, and I'm ready for bed. To be honest, if it weren't for the Phillies playing Game 5 of the World Series, I'm pretty sure I'd have already passed out.

This weekend was nonstop craziness. In case you're interested, here it goes:

Friday
5:30p - Left work
7:30p - arrived in Ewing, NJ to meet up with Tom for dinner at IHOP (a favorite of ours) and then met up with Nick and Carl from high school. Friday was Vern's 23rd birthday - we've all been friends since...7th grade. His girlfriend planned this surprise so that she would bring him in and he'd see us. He was so surprised. It was such a good night with old good friends.

Saturday
3:00a - finally go to sleep after a long night at the bar and some french onion soup at the diner.
6:45a - wake up after my mom called (I was silently cursing her)
7:00a - left Ewing
8:10a - arrived in Fairfield, NJ for Joe Perri's 5K.
1:00p - passed out on my bed
7:00p - woke up from my nap/coma
8:15p - met up with Desiree, my roommate/best friend from freshman year at SHU in Hoboken for an open bar

Sunday
2:00a - find myself en route to South Orange unexpectedly with Desi & Co.
4:00a - pass out
9:00a - wake up because I am slowly but surely turning into my mother (she wakes up at 4a daily, even though she doesn't have to be at work until 7a)
1:00p - drive back to Clifton
2:00p - drive to Nutley to see Ally G's dance competition (I'm their good luck charm - they won first!)

I'm tired from just rehashing it all. Now, I'm off to watch the Phillies hopefully win the World Series!

Friday, October 24, 2008

That will be me.

Over the past few days, there have been 4, yes FOUR, different accounts on which I recall someone reading my mind. I don’t know if this just means I’m predictable or if “all great minds think alike” but it’s getting to the point where I just laugh when it happens again. And then the new mind reader is left wondering “what’s so funny?”

On a much more important note: I am OBSESSED with Wheel of Fortune. I know it’s nerdy and old lady-ish but I can’t help it. I am SO good at it. I’ve applied to be on the show about 25 times. I’ve yet to be called back but when I do get on the show, I can only hope to be as lucky as this girl:



Let me explain how hard it was to even win that. Here are the steps she had to go through:
• Land on the million dollar wedge
• Win that puzzle
• Avoid bankrupts
• Go to the bonus round
• Land on million dollar envelope
• Solve bonus puzzle

For those of you not obsessed with WOF, you might not understand how hard that is but when I first heard about the million-dollar prize I was like PSH no one will EVER win that. Well, WOF, if your plan was to make it too hard for someone to ever win, sorry. And watch out, because I’ll be million-dollar winner number 2 if you ever call me back (perhaps they already know this and that’s why I haven’t gotten the call…)

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

room update.

Since I know so many of you were waiting on the edge of your seat to find out what ever happened with the whole room situation with my brother at my parents house (ok so no one cares, but whatever, it gives me something to write about..)

As you may or may not know, I went home to south jersey this weekend. After spending a couple hours over the Goehringers (yes, i went to visit the kids before I even went home - and called my family to meet me over there) I finally got home to see my "new" bedroom around 7p. I walked upstairs and...dun dun dun..I didn't even scream! Believe it or not, my mom and Denna (my godson's mom) fit my lovely lovely queen sized bed into my "new" mini room.

This new layout/room/everything made me realize some things:
  • A queen sized bed is HUGE, especially went it takes up most of your bedroom.
  • I have kept A LOT of useless shit throughout the years that will soon be thrown out in upcoming trips home. In my big bedroom, it didn't really matter because I had a TON of room. But trying to fit a bunch of useless crap into a small room is not working well.
  • My mom and denna love me very much because they knew how upset I was about the possibility of having to sleep on my brothers dirty, small, twin sized bed (because lets be serious...God only knows what that thing is contaminated with...)
And now...time to go watch the rest of game 1 of the World Series - Go Phillies! (Yes, I know I'm "from" North Jersey but I'm a South Jersey girl at heart, remember? Therefore, I'm clearly a Philly fan for life).

Monday, October 20, 2008

what to do, what to do.


I need advice. My ipod died. Not just the battery. The whole thing. I'm very upset about this. I listen to my ipod nonstop. In the car. At work. After work. All the time. I had a 20 GB 4th generation ipod - it was soo old.

I need to buy a new one. I just don't know which one. I have approximately 10GB of music right now. Here are my options:




1. A green ipod nano, 16 GB, $200

2. A black ipod Classic, 120 GB, $250

3. White Iphone, 16GB, $300
So many options, I just don't know which to pick. (or if maybe I should wait it out til Christmas to see if Santa brings me any of these three!)

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Homebody at heart.

Let me just start out by saying that I had NO intentions of ever moving to north jersey. yes, i chose to go to school up here, but I was very adamant about moving back home after graduation.

Every time I go home for a weekend, I find myself wondering why I ever left. I have everything I could ever want there. I have friends that are like family, not to mention a pretty amazing biological family. I have my dogs, my kids, everything. It's just home. And while I've lived in Clifton for almost four months now, South Jersey will always be home. And when I start the trek from Exit 4 on the Turnpike to Exit 16W, I literally cry every single time for a good five minutes. Every time. Without fail.

I cry and cry until I realize everything that I'm going back to. While Atco/South Jersey is full of memory after memory, Clifton/North Jersey is full of potential memory to come after potential memory to come. I might not have my family up here, but I do have plenty of other things. First and foremost, I have an unbelievable job, which is the sole reason I moved up here in the first place. I have an amazing roommate and crazy fun friends who are slowly but surely making me love the weekends I spend up here as much as I love the ones I spend in South Jersey.

I'm still trying to find out how I got this lucky. It's just crazy to me because I still feel like the 18 year old girl who just wants to have fun. Yet here I am living on my own like a grown up. When did this happen??

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Pros and Cons about today.

Cons:
-I worked til 7:30p tonight.
-Work was very stressful.
-I didn't get to eat lunch.
-Or do my laundry.

Pros:
-Today was Boss' Day - and I have the best boss out there (and I swear I'm not just writing that because I know you'll read it)
-I got to meet up with Kayleigh and Annie at Carinos (and got my favorite thing ever: Italian Nachos)
-PR Week Awards are DONE!
-I got to watch Grey's with Kayleigh and Annie, just like old times.
-I get to go home tomorrow (!!!!!)
-Tom Coyne cried (a good cry) because of our Boss' Day gift.
-The Phillies are going to the World Series (first time since 1993!)
-I have amazing friends.

Lately I've realized that no matter how many cons there are in a day, I can somehow always manage to find more pros. =)

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

I love Jake.

As I've mentioned before, Jake is my godson. My parents were having dinner over the Goehringer's house and my mom called me because she had a story she HAD to tell me. The story was a conversation between her and Jake. Here's how it went down:

My Mom: Jacob, what am I going to even get you for Christmas?? You guys have every toy out there!
Jake: I KNOW! Buy me a shark. I really like sharks.
My Mom: But where would you put it?
Jake: In the pool!

Then Jake ran off to play with Luke and Madison. About 5 minutes later he rushed back to my mom and goes:

Jake: MAURA! We can't put the shark in the pool!
Mom: Why not?!
Jake: Don't you remember that Shana loves to swim in our pool? Don't worry though. I have a great idea! Cisco (my dad) and me will dig a hole to make a lake for the shark - so still buy it for me.

I seriously love that little boy.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Do I run like Phoebe?

For the past few nights I've been making it a point to go running after getting home from work. Ok...so maybe 'running' is a little misleading. I do more of a walk then run then walk thing. To be honest, I haven't ran on a consistent basis since high school (4 years ago!). But I'm getting back into the swing of it - I really need to. I really want to just join a gym but they're all so expensive. So I'm just making due with my little dumbbells and my legs. (I'll have you know that I'm currently winning a 'weight loss challenge' with some people at work!!).

So tonight I went for my walk/run and during a running portion I couldn't help but wonder....Do I run like Phoebe Buffay? I sure hope not but like I said, I haven't run on a regular basis in such a long time so sometimes I wonder. I'm not sure if this is because my walk/run routine has been giving me much more time to just think about things or if its because I am a Friends freak.

I am obsessed with it. It's a little absurd but who cares. Just in case you've been living under a rock for the past 14 years, here's a clip of what I'm talking about. Honestly, I find myself constantly comparing my life to a Friends episode - and when I say constantly, I mean multiple times a day. In fact, just today I remember making a Friends reference during lunch with two of my friends (although I cannot, for the life of me, remember what it was...)

I'm not sure what to make of this but I do know one thing - I can always count on Friends to make me laugh. (the tv show AND my real ones).

Monday, October 13, 2008

I miss Atco.

I know this might make me sound like I'm a baby - but I miss Atco.

As I mentioned in a previous post (or as you may already know if you know me at all), I grew up in Atco, NJ and just recently moved to Clifton after graduation. Clifton is amazing - don't get me wrong. But there's nothing like the town you grew up in. I'll be 70 years old and I'll still profess my love of Atco.

I haven't been home since September 26th, when I stopped at home for literally 10 minutes en route to Philly for a girls weekend with some friends. The last time I actually spent the weekend in Atco was Sept. 20, the week before - which in reality isn't all that long ago but it sure feels like it.

I miss my family. I know I'm playing this grown-up person role being a recent college graduate that actually has a (wonderful) full-time job. But sometimes a girl just misses her mom and dad (and brother for that matter). Last time I was home my brother was fresh off a break up and now he has a new girlfriend. What is going on???

I miss my kids. Relax, I don't have any children of my own, but there are three kids that live in Atco that might as well be mine. The amount of love I have for the three of them is insane. When I picture my future life and my future children, I know I'm going to love them a lot. But the amount of love I have for these three goes above and beyond that. In high school, I worked at Wawa for three years. On the day of my high school graduation, I quit for various reasons. Desperately needing a summer job before going away for my first year of college, I got lucky. My brother had a friend, Nick, who he often shared rides to and from school/football practice with. Nick just happened to have a younger sister, Madison, who was 2 at the time and a baby brother, Jake, who was only 5 months old. and they just happened to need a babysitter. Enter me. I babysat them in between going to school for three years. In the midst of all that, Denna (their mom) had another son, Luke. Last summer, my brother and I became Jake's godparents and over time our two families have meshed into one.

Last time I was home, their family was in Hershey Park for the weekend, so I haven't actually seen them in almost two months. Two months is a long time in little kid years. Madison's cast has come off her broken (now healed) arm, she's started first grade (!!!!), Jake's started preschool and Luke has gotten even cuter (I know I haven't seen him in 2 months, but I'm positive of this one). Whenever my mom is over their house, she'll put one of them one the phone. They still have trouble comprehending that I'm not right down the road anymore. When I talked to Jake on Sunday he said "Hey shan, what are you doing?" I said, "I'm just at the mall." He replied with, "well I have a great idea. why don't you go home and pick up Oscar (our puppy) and come to my house?" What's not to love about these kids? I am beyond excited to see them this weekend.

I miss my dogs. I have a 14 year old Sheltie/Lab mix, named Jinx, that is my best friend. This might make me sound like a real girly girl but I literally get teary whenever I have to leave him. Also, two days before I moved to Clifton, my brother bought a long-hair dachshund, Oscar, that is unbelievably cute. It took me a bit to like him to be honest. I think it was really just my brother's way of coping with me moving out, but I felt like Oscar was replacing me (I know, I'm crazy..) and not to mention Oscar's puppy genes mean that he constantly wants to play with Jinx. Being 14 years old (or 98 in dog years...) Jinx is not a fan of constant playing. He's more of a fan of sleeping. Oscar picked on Jinx and I didn't like it. But now they get along and everyone's living happily.

To make a long story short (or not...) I'm unbelievably excited to go home this weekend.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

IT'S A MIRACLE!!!!!!!!

Ok so I know this is my third post today but this is completely warranted.

Tonight Annie and I were sitting in our living room, just hanging out. I had some clothes in the dryer and all of a sudden I started hearing something clanking around in there. I looked at Annie and said, "what if that noise is my necklace?!?!" I laughed at myself because, as you know, the necklace has been MIA for about a week now. Then I got up to go check what it actually was and lo and behold, IT WAS MY NECKLACE. I literally jumped up and down with excitement. I know that makes me sound like a four year old but it's entirely true.

I don't know if this means I'm psychic or if it just reaffirms my belief that I am actually one of the luckiest people alive.

you will love this too.

Annie and I went to see this Friday night and we are both obsessed. It is officially one of my favorite movies ever, not to mention the soundtrack was unbelievable. So unbelievable that Annie and I made sure to pick it up yesterday when we went to Garden State Plaza. I haven't stopped listening to it and I'm pretty sure you should pick it up, put it in, and drive somewhere with your windows down. It's that kind of day.

All in the family

This is one of the best feelings in the world (and even though last night ended horribly, this was a great way to start it...)

As I was walking to the PATH with Annie and Lila, I get a text from Nicole - who is home from Ohio for the weekend. Liz is also on fall break and home for the weekend and it's very unusual that they're home and I'm not. Since I technically live pretty close to home (under two hours) whenever I find out someone is coming home I make it a point to be home too. However, it was Kayleigh's birthday party in NYC and I couldn't miss it. But needless to say, I was sad I was going to miss hanging out with my lobsters.

Nicole's text said, "we're meeting at your house, i miss you." after speaking to my mom this morning, I found out that Liz and my mom were hanging out for a little bit during the day, Liz was trying to help fix the whole room fiasco that is currently happening at my house, then Liz and my mom went for dinner. Tom and Nicole were calling to meet up with Liz so she told them to just come by my house. My mom sounded so excited because they all hung out there for about an hour before heading out for the night. Tom even left his car there. In a way this makes me sad and makes me miss them even more, but it in a completely different way it makes me so incredibly happy. This is what I mean when I say they are my family.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

kicked out.

This afternoon my roommate and I went to the mall. While she was in the dressing room at Old Navy, I decided to call my mom, say hi, see how she was. She also mentioned helping me out with my halloween costume (and my teams halloween costume for that matter...) so I just wanted to touch base about that.

However, when I called home, my brother answered. I asked what he was doing and he said "nothing I'm just upstairs." I asked, "where's mom?" he said "upstairs." so he puts my mom on the phone and come to find out they're upstairs reorganizing "my" room.

let me explain. at my parents house, there are two bedrooms on the second floor. Being the older sibling, I naturally got the larger bedroom. When I moved in July (and even before that) my brother had been talking about how he was going to switch rooms when I left. It took me a while to be okay with that but I really had no right to have the larger bedroom when I'm only there one or two weekends a month. I gave in and told him he could switch the rooms, but I made it very clear that I didn't want him to just throw all of my stuff into his old room. There had to be some order to it so that when I finally go home again for a relaxing weekend, I won't have to sit and sort through things the entire time. I don't think I was being unfair, and frankly I didn't really care because after all, I was the one giving him the larger bedroom.

Then today when I was on the phone, I found out that not only is my brother taking my room, but all of sudden they think my queen sized bed won't fit into the smaller room. SO now he isn't just stealing my room - but my bed too. My lovely lovely bed that is only a few years old. I don't know why but this really pissed me off. It's my bed. not his. and there's no way that I want to go home and sleep in his dirty old twin sized bed.

But you want to know the best part? A few years ago when my dad redid the larger bedroom for me, he let me paint it whatever color I wanted. Being obsessed with green, my obvious choice was a very bright green. I even got these awesome green and white polka dot curtains and comforter/sheet set. I hope he has an awesome time trying to mack it with his girly green walls. That's all I have to say about that.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

superstitious fool.


I'm still trying to decide if this is a good or bad thing, but I'm pretty positive that I'm the most superstitious person I know.

In May 2005, at the end of my freshman year at Seton Hall, Nicole and I drove to Elmira, NY to visit Liz at school. Liz's school ran on trimesters or something different that made her stay at school for a few weeks after everyone else. The first or second weekend in May is called "May Days" and that happened to be going on when we were up there. There were crazy games and things like that for us to do. I can't even remember what game we played but one of the things we won were these cheesy, sliding knot friendship bracelets, circa 1995. We each took one and I distinctly remember grabbing one for Tom (my boyfriend at the time) too. I must've thought that we'd all actually wear our friendship bracelets and live in one big happy world.

When Nicole and I got home from that weekend, I remember showing Tom his (red and white) friendship bracelet and being so excited that we would all have these matching bracelets (looking back, I sound like such a nerd). Tom refused to wear his so I put his in my car, around my gear shifter, figuring I'd get rid of it sooner or later. I never really saw Liz or Nicole wear theirs either but for some reason I put my black and white sliding knot friendship bracelet around my left ankle. I figured I'd be much more likely to leave it there for a while as opposed to my wrist.

And I was right. The bracelet turned anklet stayed on my left ankle all through that summer. and my sophomore year of college. and junior. and senior. you get the point.

Today, I was at work doing normal work things, actually getting ready to go home for the night. I had an itch around my left ankle so I reached down to itch it. I assume you'll understand my horror when my black and white sliding knot friendship bracelet literally disintegrated before my eyes. I tried to revive the poor thing but it's gone. It's too short to just retie around my ankle (I tried).

However, being the ridiculously superstitious person I am, (and having already lost a very important necklace earlier this week) I really, really, really didn't want to throw the raggedy, 3 and a half year old bracelet away. I just couldn't do it. I know some weird part of me would feel as if I were 'jinxing' myself or my friendships, even though NONE of my friends have worn theirs nearly as long, if at all. I was trying to think of what to do with it when I came up with the perfect place for the very short broken bracelet. I left the office, walked to my car, and tied the ratty piece of bracelet around my gear shifter. Right above the pretty, 3 and a half year old red and white one - where they can stay together for a very long time. =)

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

I love lobsters


There are few things I love more in this world than these four people.

Liz, Nicole, Tom and Phil are my four best friends. We've all been friends for over 10 years now (a DECADE! that makes me feel so old). and I can honestly say that I don't know where I'd be without them. This past summer was monumental for us though. I moved from Atco to Clifton, Tom moved to Manayunk (outside of Philly), Phil moved to Maryland and Liz and Nicole both went back for another semester of school. Liz to Maryland and Nicole to Ohio.

When I hear friends from school talk about their friends from home, I realize how truly lucky I am. I've always known I lucked out in the friend category (I'll fight to the death that mine are the best), but here's the difference: most people are like "wow I'm so excited to hang out with so and so on Friday!" When I go home to "meet up" with my friends, I usually don't spend much time withOUT them. That is one of the things I love most about them. Not only are they my best friends, they are literally my family. When we're all home for a weekend, it is not unusual for us to spend both nights together, sleep at the same place, and wake up saturday AND sunday mornings to recap the nights before.

This picture was taken during one of the best weekends of my summer. Nicole had come home from ohio for a week or so and we all made sure to come back so we could hang out. It was one of those weekends where we spent practically the entire weekend together. I even remember going back to work the following Monday and talking to Tom (via text) about what an amazing weekend it was.

A couple of years ago, I was watching the tv show, Friends (another obsession of mine) and I was watching the episode with the prom video. Any other Friends freak probably knows exactly what I'm talking about, but for those of you who don't, there's a scene where Phoebe explains to Ross, Chandler and Monica the following: "Come on, you guys, it's a known fact that lobsters fall in love and mate for life. You know what, you can actually see old lobster couples walking around their tank, you know, holding claws…" Now I know we're not couples but we're definitely together for life so from that night on, we've referred to ourselves as lobsters.

Like I wrote before, you give me any situation and I'll find the perfect quote for you. Here is the perfect quote for me and my lobsters: and even though we've changed and we're all finding our own place in the world, we all know that when the tears fall or the smile spreads across our face, we'll come to each other because no matter where this crazy world takes us, nothing will ever change so much to the point where we're not all still friends.

i love you guys.

R.I.P.


Something very tragic happened to me this past week.

I have a necklace that I've worn practically every day for the past four years. It's a diamond heart necklace and my ex-boyfriend gave it to me for Christmas. I know a lot of people get rid of all jewelry from exes but for some reason I kept it. Perhaps because it was very nice but probably because my ex and I are still very close. While I highly doubt we will ever get back together, it's safe to say that we are absolutely still best friends - even after everything we've been through.

Last Wednesday, I went to Target to look for a necklace to match a certain outfit I have (looking back, a diamond heart matches anything). I had the necklace on but took it off so I could try on a bunch of different ones. I distinctly remember putting it in my pocket, NOT even finding a necklace at Target, and coming home. I completely forgot about the necklace until SUNDAY morning when I woke up and realized my neck felt naked. I literally tore through my room looking for it. Then I realized that I had just done ALL of my laundry on Saturday. I'd bet money that my beautiful necklace is lost in the abyss of my washing machine.

So, for that, I dedicate this post to my lovely heart necklace. May you Rest In Peace. (or turn up very soon...)

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Queen of Quotes

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I have an absurd collection/obsession with quotes.

I collect quotes about anything. love, heartbreak, friendship, family, luck, hope, and life in general. you get the picture. people rarely believe me when I tell them about the quote document I have on my laptop - it's currently up to 87 pages (and that's with size 10 font...) I agree that sometimes it's a little out of hand but give me a situation and I'll find you the perfect quote.

Last year, I had an awesome RA. He was just a genuinely good guy. There was this one time he needed to post "inspirational quotes" (or something like that) on the bulletin board in our hallway so he randomly asked me - and struck gold. I sent him my entire document, which was only 50-something pages at the time, but still very helpful. From that day on, he would always ask me to send him my quote document so he could see the new quotes I added. A few weeks ago, while drunkenly walking the streets of Hoboken with my friends, I ran into him. One of the first things he asked me was, "Can you send it to me?????" I just laughed because I knew exactly what he meant.

I don't think it'd be right to write an entry about quotes without including a quote - so I figure, why not share one of my all time favorites?
"every glorious minute you waste thinking is a minute you could be drinking, loving, fighting or dancing. think about that. but not for too long.... "

And so it begins...

Let me preface this entire blog by stating that I've never done this before. I've been thinking about starting a blog for a while now, but really had no reason to.

I'm 22 years old and a recent grad of Seton Hall University. I majored in public relations and minored in graphic design and was lucky enough to get a job at Coyne PR after graduation. I've been there for a few months and today we had one of our monthly staff meetings. Tom Coyne, the CEO, told everyone that he wants all of us to start a blog. Hence why I'm here. I figure - what do I have to lose? Tom even encouraged us to write on our blogs during the workday, so it doesn't interfere with our lives outside of work. I guess the reason I haven't already done this is because I'm little afraid of coming off the wrong way. But the more I think about it, the more I actually have to say.