Meet Carrie

As I mentioned a couple weeks back, I think that in order to know "me," you have to know my friends as they truly are a large part of making me who I am.  And I feel like it's right about time for another one of those friend introductions.  So may I introduce to you....

CARRIE!

Carrie and I have been through it all together...Fish Camp, Dance Arts Society, boyfriends, being roommates, and obviously being best friends.  We've had some crazy times, made some life-long memories, and shared some of our deepest secrets.  Through thick and thin we've stuck together.  Besides being one of the most fun people I know, she is the one person who understands exactly who I am.  On all accounts.  Except for the fact that I don't believe heels go with every outfit.

"If you ever wonder how a girl survives, look who's standing by her side."

How true that quote is for us!  (Thanks for sharing it with me, Carrie!)  Here is a pictorial tribute to our friendship and of all the fabulous things we do together:

We make appearances at Ol Ags Boston Tea Party events together.

We lead Elephant Walk together.

We enjoy drinks at The Corner together.

We love on our Counselor-turned-Co-Chair babies together.

We go out after finals together.

We have slumber parties and cook dinner (err start a grease fire) together.

We travel to New Orleans together.

We experience Mardi Gras together.

We spend SBX in PCB together.

We act really professional in Director meetings together.

We grace Chilifest with our presence together.

We drive around on golf carts at Lakeview together.

We act like 7th grade cheerleaders together.

We travel to, and partake in, the Shiner Beer Tour together.

We live at Lakeview for a month together.

We continue to wear the exact same outfits for a month straight together.

We celebrate surviving our Director year together.

We attend Ol Ags Oktoberfest together.

We continue to have fun at Oktoberfest together.

We tailgate for Aggie football games together.

We pick up our Aggie Alum car decal together.

We graduate from Texas A&M University together.

We say goodbye to College Station together.

We reunite for a weekend of fun in CS together.

Although we're currently separated by about 2,000 miles and half a country, she is still absolutely one of my very best friends.  Being that she will be visiting me in Dallas this weekend, I'm sure many hours of sitting on the floor reading Cosmo, talking about which boys are currently driving us bonkers, and reminiscing on all of the above college memories will be in our near future. 

Love you, Carrie!!

BIG LEAGUE CHEWbacca

So I play on this softball team with a bunch of A&M people.  It's a city league (Dallas Sports and Social) and actually pretty legit.  We're sponsored by a bar on Greenville (shout out to Stan's) which means we get Happy Hour prices all the time for ourselves and all our friends.  Not too shabby.  We have practice once a week and a game on Monday.  In addition to this we have what I like to call "affiliation events."  Events such as these would include last weekend's 'Bacca Brunch' at Villa O and our upcoming Top Golf adventure.  All around its a pretty awesome time.  And I learn something new about myself every week.  For instance, this week I learned....

1) I am really great at fowling balls, hence striking out.

2) I have horrible depth perception with pop ups.

Luckily we're all in it to have a good time and not super stressed about pulling a win.  Although, for the record, we did claim the big 'W' tonight - what up, us!  Another super great thing about our team?  It comes with a team mom, Jamie, who makes us goodies for every game.  Last week was this graham cracker/chocolate/peanut butter bar - yum - and this week was softball cookies and capri suns.  How. Legit. Is. That.

Big League Chewbaccas.  Legit.

Week . End . Re . Cap

I figured I should post on this past weekend before I get lapped by this coming one and the post becomes obsolete.

Friday night we had any intern event which consisted of (as I mentioned in last Friday's food post) dinner at Lonesome Dove and a comedy show in Fort Worth.  Combined with a little 'Idle Rich' to round out the evening, it turned out to be a top night for sure.

Saturday proved to be wonderful as well.  It started off with some brunch at Villa O.  Bottomless mimosas, sfuzzis, bellinis, and bloody marys.  Yum.  They also apparently have a nautical/yacht club theme going on and being that we did not receive this memo and promptly came underdressed, we took patio seats.  No big.  I just drowned in the deliciousness of their drinks, fancy water, and divine food.

deliciousness.

fancy water.

After brunch we headed to my pool for some sun and throwing of the football.  Taylor and I also whipped up some delicious drinks which pretty much consisted of us pouring whatever liquid was in arm's reach in my kitchen into the blender.  Luckily, they turned out to be wonderful.

Once we had exhausted the pool scene, we headed to Twisted Root where, because I was such a good sport about all the Aggie jokes the cashier was throwing out, he gave Taylor and me free food and drinks.  Uhh WHOOP!!  After the burgers, we found ourselves heading to The Library Bar at The Warwick Hotel.  (please note we had not showered, were wearing tshirts, and our hair was still wet from the pool = hot messes)  Amongst many dirty looks and snooty people, we finally ordered what we had made the trek out there for....Ice Cream Cocktails.

we only look decent because its dark

see? not appropriate to be in a classy hotel.

These drinks are just what they sound.  Ice cream, liquor, delicious.  Thank you, National Ice Cream Month, I adore you.  Being that they were ten dollars a pop, we only had one each and peaced out.

Sunday I went to church, bought some fabulous brown boots (which will sadly sit in my closet until it is not  110 degrees outside), purchased a few new work skirts, and ate a late lunch with my family.  That evening Taylor, Steph, and myself went to see Cirque du Soleil: Dralion.  AMAZING.  I caught myself with my mouth hanging open quite a few times.  These people were brilliant, just brilliant!!

Overall a great weekend.  Now to see what this next one shall hold :)  Toot-a-loo!

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens...no, I'm kidding.  Roses are cliche and I hate cats.  However, I do have some notable favorite things:

Favorite Smell:

Freshly mowed grass on a summer day.

Leafing through a really old or brand new book.

Acqua di Gio by Giorgio Armani.

(Most men's cologne in general, actually)

Favorite Sound:

When the movie theatre is quiet in between previews and the feature film and all you can hear is popcorn crunching as people eat it and plastic crackling as they open their candy.

Favorite Feeling:

Dancing.

Being an Aggie.

Favorite Taste:

Sonic Cherry Limeade.

Steak filet and baked potato.

Strawberries.

Favorite Sight:

Wyoming.  Mountains.  Country.  Etc.

Wheel Syndrome

So in looking at my life realistically, I noticed there are quite a few things I'm decent at, and even a couple I'm pretty good at.  But what I'm really, really great at is being the 3rd, 5th, 7th, or 9th wheel.  I call this my "wheel syndrome."  I don't know if it's that I attract friends with a tendency to have significant others or if I repel prospects of my own.  Or potentially a solid mix of both.  But what I do know is that I very often end up as the un-paired, un-coupled, odd ball of the group.  I'm kinda great at being the black swan of the bunch.

But don't get me wrong, I don't really care.  And I'm definitely not asking anyone to feel sorry for me.  I actually kind of like it 95% of the time.  I am free as a bird to do as I please :)  It also helps that I have really awesome friends who, for the most part, do a great job of not making out in front of me (i.e. not making me feel as though I'm keeping them from an otherwise intimate, romantic date of an evening).  I also very much enjoy doing things by myself, on my own time, and in my own way.  I'm fully embracing the single part of my life.

But let me back peddle.  I went to see 'Friends with Benefits' tonight with some girls from work.  Besides highly recommending this to anyone who hasn't already seen it, it got me thinking...

Would I rather continue to be the single girl who has not a care in the world where relationships are concerned or should I make the switch to the girl who has a guy stage a flash mob for her in the middle of Grand Central Station?!  Honestly?  It's a complete toss up.  I'm really good at being single.  I often really suck at relationships.  But that movie really made me see the best of both worlds.  Darn you Mila and JT, I thought I knew what I wanted and you two go and throw a curveball in my plans...a flash mob?  Seriously?!  I could be tempted out of my bachelorette ways with a stunt like that...

Fish Camp '06 Brand New Aggies in the Mix...

Today was the beginning of Fish Camp 2011.  Also the beginning of the first Fish Camp I haven't been super involved in since I started at A&M.  Very bittersweet.

For those of you non-Aggies out there, an intro to Fish Camp will be given in a future post.  Until then, here is a little tribute to some great FC memories...

Fish Camp Freshman Year: Camp Cleaver

My first partner, Jamie.

Cabin Girls - Camp Donnell

DG: Don't Pull My Sock (Camp Donnell)

My second partner, Tony (i.e. perfection...)

Camp McBryde Co-chair, Alex

My Camp McBryde cabin girls!

"we are aqua, we are aqua, we are aqua, you are....NOT"

DG: Don't Take Me To The Woods (Camp McBryde)

My third (and Co-chair) partner, Brad!

Revelation Night!

My perfect counselors - Camp Sharp!

Brad and me at Lakeview!

Our Campfire Speakers.

My beyond wonderful camp.

Directors 2010.

My loves.

Directors at Lakeview.

Fish Camp 2010

Speaking for Camp Lawhorne.

My Session. They were kinda perfect.  Session G represent.

Last day at Lakeview...

Lakeview, I'll never forget you!!

As you can see, I've grown up a lot, I've been involved in several different camps, and I've had experiences that have truly changed me for the better.  I owe a lot to this wonderful organization.

Cleaver. Donnell. McBryde. Sharp. Lawhorne. Session G. Directors 2010.

The Directors 2010 gave a scholarship back to Fish Camp this year in hopes that one freshman, who wouldn't have otherwise had the opportunity to go because of funding, will now have the chance to fall in love with A&M and Fish Camp just like we all did so many years ago!

Here's to you, Fish Camp!  Good luck FCXI, cheers to a great month at camp!