This past weekend, I endured a 6 hour delay in a train station, in addition to 8 hours actually ON a train to come home and attend two weddings. The first one was Ryan Lane who is an old middle school/high school friend and the other was Matt Orr, a friend that I met in college through other friends. I was really excited to come back to see old friends and to celebrate. I actually cried during Ryan's slide show! That was completely unexpected. It was a traditional wedding with all the works. His bride, Kristin looked goregous. We had lunch, danced our hearts out and then waved them off in a horse-drawn carriage. Matt's wedding was more unconventional; His bride Molly wore a beautiful, shimmery green dress. Dinner was catered by Chipotle (SOOO good). Both weddings were fantastic.
That night a bunch of us old high school friends went out to the bars in Boulder and it was such a blast. We hit Conor's and the Sun Downer. It was the last time many of us were going to be in the same state for probably at least a year, so that alone was enough reason to be together. There's something about being with old friends because since there is such a history and a unique level of comfort...even if we've all changed. Good times! When it was all over and time for me to go back to Nebraska I actually felt pretty emotional. I think it was the combination of a really great weekend coming to an end and the obligation of having to switch back to work in a matter of a train-ride home. The little part of me that yearned for of stability in my life decided to spill over. I got off the train at 6:45am and when my host dad drove me home I showered, got ready and went to work. All is well again as I am now settled back in Nebraska. Bring on Cast A 2008!
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Thursday, January 10, 2008
The Velveteen Rabbit
I'm here in Lincoln, NE now and so far I have been very pleasantly surprised with what this city has to offer. To start off, I am staying with two wonderful host parents and tonight I got the chance to chat with them. They asked me about relationships and I briefly told them about my cynicism towards love. Well, my host dad starts talking and I just wanted to share. It went something like this:
"Have you ever heard of the "Velveteen Rabbit?" It's the story of how a stuffed toy rabbit gets shabbier and shabbier because of how much a boy loves him. His tail starts to fall off, his eyes get all scratched up, his fur starts to come off, but it doesn't matter because the boy still loves him anyway. And isn't it how we all are? We've all been in relationships that have left us shabbier, but when we find that person that loves us no matter what, that is when life is outstanding. And Linette (my host mom and his wife) really does love me like that, even though my own tail and fur is falling off. "
I couldn't help but smile and yes, it did give me a glimmer of hope with this weird thing called relationships...for a second, at least.
"Have you ever heard of the "Velveteen Rabbit?" It's the story of how a stuffed toy rabbit gets shabbier and shabbier because of how much a boy loves him. His tail starts to fall off, his eyes get all scratched up, his fur starts to come off, but it doesn't matter because the boy still loves him anyway. And isn't it how we all are? We've all been in relationships that have left us shabbier, but when we find that person that loves us no matter what, that is when life is outstanding. And Linette (my host mom and his wife) really does love me like that, even though my own tail and fur is falling off. "I couldn't help but smile and yes, it did give me a glimmer of hope with this weird thing called relationships...for a second, at least.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Viva Las Vegas!
What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right? Well, except for the things you brag about of course =). On New Year's day and through the 4th my sister (Helen), her two friends, (Matt and Cat), my best friend (Beth) and I visited Las Vegas for a fun trip. Beth and I stayed at the Flamingo and Helen and her friends stayed at the Monte Carlo. Upon arrival we didn't have many set plans-just to visit the hotels and see Zumanity, a Cirque du Soleil show. We wanted to go clubbing but we knew a cover was around $20-$30 so we didn't have high expectations for it.
Well, we ended up getting a connection that not only got us into one club, but THREE, and with NO cover. It was more than we could've imagined. We were the people that walked in front of the long line and said to the guy with the earpiece "Um, we're on the list." It felt awesome. Okay, enough bragging. These are the clubs we attended. To keep from boring you, I kept the reviews short and sweet:
Tuesday night: Moon and Playboy- These two clubs are located in the Palms Casino. Moon has a very outer-world quality, hence the name, with silver being the dominant color. It is two stories and has outdoor patios on both floors. The crowd was They have a very big central dance floor and the music was great.
Wednesday night: LAX- This club is located in the Luxor casino and is home to Paris Hilton's favorite club in Vegas. In fact, she was even there that night and got on the microphone and said "Hey guys, let's have a great time here in LAX tonight!" This club is very posh with red velvet curtains and black leather furniture. This club also boasts two floors with a HUGE (but still not big enough) dance floor. The crowd was really awesome and friendly, not too uptight. My favorite club of the trip.
Thursday Night: Tao- This club was an experience. It is easily the most popular and talked about club in Vegas and it is not hard to see why. It has a sensual Asian theme and draws a very sophisticated crowd. The go-go dancers and models shocked me with their attire and dance moves. They even have girls that lay on beds and give each other back massages! The dance floor was very small though and I didn't care for the DJ as much.
We also saw Zumanity on Wednesday night and that was fantastic. Yes, the racy, sexually-themed one. To be honest, while it was probably more sexy than your average show, the acts are very stylized, choreographed and calculated that it doesn't arouse the feelings you might imagine. You are just more in awe of the skills and the level of athleticism it takes to do something like bend your body so that you don't hit your head when you dive into a human-sized fishbowl. The audience interaction was HILARIOUS because they would pull people on stage and embarrass the heck out of them. I haven't seen the other Cirque shows, but apparently this one has a much smaller cast and is extensively less acrobatic than the other shows in Vegas. Still, I enjoyed it very much and I highly recommend it!
Back to reality now though and I will be heading out to Nebraska in two days to resume my adventure as a Field Marketing and Operations Manager (we had a title change) for Up With People. I am going to try to blog once a week so if you read this, stay on my case to make sure I do. If anything, it's good for keeping up my writing skills that I feel like I'm rapidly losing. Feel free to comment and keep in touch. Happy 2008 to you all!
Well, we ended up getting a connection that not only got us into one club, but THREE, and with NO cover. It was more than we could've imagined. We were the people that walked in front of the long line and said to the guy with the earpiece "Um, we're on the list." It felt awesome. Okay, enough bragging. These are the clubs we attended. To keep from boring you, I kept the reviews short and sweet:
Tuesday night: Moon and Playboy- These two clubs are located in the Palms Casino. Moon has a very outer-world quality, hence the name, with silver being the dominant color. It is two stories and has outdoor patios on both floors. The crowd was They have a very big central dance floor and the music was great.
Wednesday night: LAX- This club is located in the Luxor casino and is home to Paris Hilton's favorite club in Vegas. In fact, she was even there that night and got on the microphone and said "Hey guys, let's have a great time here in LAX tonight!" This club is very posh with red velvet curtains and black leather furniture. This club also boasts two floors with a HUGE (but still not big enough) dance floor. The crowd was really awesome and friendly, not too uptight. My favorite club of the trip.
Thursday Night: Tao- This club was an experience. It is easily the most popular and talked about club in Vegas and it is not hard to see why. It has a sensual Asian theme and draws a very sophisticated crowd. The go-go dancers and models shocked me with their attire and dance moves. They even have girls that lay on beds and give each other back massages! The dance floor was very small though and I didn't care for the DJ as much.
We also saw Zumanity on Wednesday night and that was fantastic. Yes, the racy, sexually-themed one. To be honest, while it was probably more sexy than your average show, the acts are very stylized, choreographed and calculated that it doesn't arouse the feelings you might imagine. You are just more in awe of the skills and the level of athleticism it takes to do something like bend your body so that you don't hit your head when you dive into a human-sized fishbowl. The audience interaction was HILARIOUS because they would pull people on stage and embarrass the heck out of them. I haven't seen the other Cirque shows, but apparently this one has a much smaller cast and is extensively less acrobatic than the other shows in Vegas. Still, I enjoyed it very much and I highly recommend it!Back to reality now though and I will be heading out to Nebraska in two days to resume my adventure as a Field Marketing and Operations Manager (we had a title change) for Up With People. I am going to try to blog once a week so if you read this, stay on my case to make sure I do. If anything, it's good for keeping up my writing skills that I feel like I'm rapidly losing. Feel free to comment and keep in touch. Happy 2008 to you all!
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