Christmas Exhaustion, Over....

SOOOOOOOOOO Christmas is over. After hours of hellish traveling delays, I finally made it to the Lou for some X-mas activities. Everything went well, I got all my gifts (phew) and fun was had. I'm only posting this because Katie requested pics, however, I don't really have too many. I would say so far the prize for the best (errr worst) gift goes to Angie with a Paper Shredder...anyone got something worse (err better)? Also, I'm in the super bowl this week for both my fantasy leagues. Awesome? I think so.

So this is Christmas......

Okay, So I have finally excepted the fact that it is winter/Christmas, however, that does not mean I have actually taken any action. So far, I have one Christmas gift. That's right, count it, add it up, it comes out to 1. I probably need to buy about 20? So things are looking promising. Hmm...I think I was forced to accept the cold weather when I walked out to the car on Tuesday and my locks were frozen shut on both car doors. After about 10 minutes of throwing all my weight into it (we are talking foot up, muscles straining) I have to give up. How shall I get into my car to get to my crappy job? Hmmm...why not crawl through the trunk. Who doesn't want to do that at 7 in the morning. So after that little excursion, I have accepted winter (well that an the 14 inches of snow we have). Now I just need to get into action......uck.

Let it snow Let it snow Let it snow..(errr....)

And we had our first snow here. Sigh. So instead of playing in it and being happy, I am posting this picture of where I would like to be instead (hint: Mexico). Is anyone else freezy yet? We need to get an X-mas tree soon, which is exciting, but I also have ZERO x-mas presents, which is not quite as exciting. As I continue looking at this picture, why does Angie look black compared to us!? Besides that, we have some upcoming tacky christmas sweater parties which I am looking forward too, but really that's it. Boring boring winter.....someone asked me today what my favorite flower was and I realized I don't actually know, so I will go ahead and let you guys pick for me..what should my favorite flower be?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Oh dear. It's all over.....THANK GOD. The Thanksgiving Dinner we threw on Thursday night went pretty well. The concern of fitting 20 people into our apartment were unfounded (well not really, but no one cared after some wine!) So 23 people and 29 pounds of turkey later (right?! i thought that was too much!) everyone was well fed and had a good time. I took a bunch of pictures, but I will just give you a small photo essay below (because you are o so concerned) And now I get to have Thanksgiving # 2 on Thursday. Luckily, not hosting! Any thoughts on ANTM picks this week?



Setting the ambiance......(or something)

THE TURKEY!! (I heard it was delicious...)

I themed it Cowboys vs Indians on the e-vite as a joke and a few people actually went for it...here is Tina with her feather and below is Angie (stealing a hat from one of the guys...) we didn't have a traditional throwdown after dinner because everyone was too full........

And finally, we ended the night with some fun games. Here is Mehta trying to sculpt a gummy bear. You could pick between charades, drawing, sculpting or humming to get your word across, and it pretty much led to the funniest quote of the night. Kevin chose sculpt and tried to sculpt air jordan's by making a tennis shoe with a wing on it, and NO ONE could get it...(it was bad...) Kevin felt bad and Tina politely said "Don't be too hard on yourself, it's not like you could have chose to draw a pair of shoes with a 23 on them" We should have more game nights..what other games do people have fun playing?

MYLEE JAYNE

Here is the newest addition to the family, Mylee Jayne Costa! Born on Saturday November 10, 2007. Isn't she beautiful!?!?!? And congratulations to Bridget and Brian, the new parents. I can't wait to go home and play with the babies at Thanksgiving...This weekend was crazy..work bowling thing, chicago trip for Laura's bday, and Modest Mouse concert. Thank god I have the day off for Veteran's Day (suckers...) Okay, back to laying around and catching back up from the weekend.....

Milawaukeh..As the Algonquin's Say...

This weekend was pretty fun! Linda and Mike Horan came up to Milwaukee to visit (a.k.a. Mom and Dad). They came up Thursday and stayed all the way until Sunday! Of course, I couldn't quite get off work, so on Friday they took a little tour of Milwaukee and headed down to our beautiful Art Museum we were able to walk around the city. The stay also included approximately 5 lbs of weight gainage! We went to approximately 100 restaurants, but all in all it was a good trip, and I'm glad they made it up north! Soon to be organized...Thanksgiving dinner. Eeek. Updates on that craziness to come......that's all for now. Oh yes, did I mention, 1st place in my fantasy football league? Thought so!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN (one day late)

Just wanted to make sure I said Happy Halloween!! At work, Jess had a scarecrow contest, where they had to create their own scare crow for cash prizes (she works at an old concert hall) so we spent (mostly Jess) time creating this in the Apartment. Twisted right?! She won second prize. Hope everyone had a good Halloween!

The BIG 80...quite a mark.....

So many pictures, so much to say! I went home to STL this weekend for my grandpa's 80th birthday. 80! That is just insanity. So Happy Birthday to him, he is looking pretty spiffy I must say. (we didn't make him blow out 80 candles..) I also got to visit with the new addition to the family, little Daniel Patrick, pictured above. He is only 3 weeks old and has a FULL head of hair! Very very cute. And then we got to go to a Halloween Party with all the cuz's. We didn't quite have costumes, but we came up with these masks. My cousin Anna was actually an astronaut with a diaper on, which was hilarious. I haven't really seen any other good costumes..has anyone?! Also, the parents are coming to visit this weekend..any ideas on where to go in the greater Milwaukee area? I'm definitely stuck...

Fantasy ANTM...it is here.....

So I pretty much saw this picture of Palla and I had to post it, just for the sheer hilarity. Clearly she was in the South when she came across this little pearl of wisdom. Seriously?! Has anyone else ever seen this? Anywhos..so my sister, Ashley, her sister and I have just started a rousing round of America's Next Top Model Fantasy League, which I only mention because I am actually super excited for this game and I want to dominate this game!!! So far, Ash Bash is off to a slow start, one of her top 3 got booted :-( But it should be fun. Anyone want to give me advice on who is getting kicked off next week? I need the points! We went to New Pornographers last night, and it was pretty good, and this weekend should be pretty uneventful (always the worst thing.........)

I assasin down the avenue....

So I'm just going to go ahead and dedicate this whole post to the Wilco show on Tuesday night, because it was by far and away one of the best shows I've seen all year (and we see a good number of shows...) First, thanks to Jessie Bear who got us the balcony seats so we could see everything and sit! That worked out nicely for us! Mostly, the set list was pretty great..all the Yankee songs I wanted to hear, plus all the Sky Blue Sky sounded really good. JJ really wanted to hear Casino Queen and that was for sure a highlight of the awesome awesome 40 minute finale (plus the acoustic was nice!) Okay, I never post blogs about show but this one was great and everyone should go. see. wilco. this tour. It's pretty great...Okay, I'm off to the beach for football and beer and Tina's birthday! And say congrats to Matt and Stephanie who had a beautiful baby girl..Maura! More on that later...

I do actually miss the troll house...(never thought i would say that!)

Ahhhhhhh.....so if you ever saw my house in college, you would not IMAGINE someone ever missing it (mikey describes it as one step above a house/room you see on COPS, and my brother in law who actually lived in a frat house in college said our house was worse..yeek) but this weekend some of the ladies I lived with in the Troll House (939) were up from Chicago and we had a good time. 6 out of 11..almost half all at once! Besides that, not much going on. I can't seem to shake this cold/sore throat I've had for the last two weeks. I even tried airborn! So I'm up for any further suggestions. And also to tell you that I am indeed having a small party today to celebrate Christopher Columbus day! What a great man..to shut down the markets years later. I really owe him one. haha to the suckers at work!! P.S. It is 90 here. in Wisconsin. In October. Twilight Zone.

BABY TIME!

CONGRATULATIONS to my cousin Jake and his wife Jenny who had a baby this week! Daniel Patrick came out at 9 lbs 10 oz (ouch!) Now that the baby is here, Jenny can join Jake with his drinking here! Everyone is healthy and I will try to get a picture up soon!

Football Sunday+Cardinals Game+Ryan Adams show+Throwing Baby Shower+Mason Jennings Show+Tom's Going Away Party/Brewery Tour + Wedding in Chicago=Death

And that was just the last six days of my life. I may literally crumble from exhaustion, but I have so much to say. I even had to miss a few events if you can believe it. Very Depressing. We can start with the baseball. We got to go to a Cards Game (compliments of Kerry Foods Tickets..thank you very much!) and the Cardinals got PUMMELED. But I was okay with it, because I thought the Brewers still had a chance and I did NOT want the Cubs to win. Sigh. I'll have to settle for watching them get a beat down in the first round vs Zona. Next, the concerts. Ryan Adams. Not so great. Song selection sucked and the set wasn't very long at all. But that was made up for at Mason Jennings, which was AMAZING. It was a really good show, and I recommend everyone have his music and go see him. He sort of rules live. And thanks to Jess for sneaking us in freebie style! Let's see, what more. My boss recently had a baby and we threw a baby shower, which I think went very nicely! (when did i have time to bake?!). Sadly, Tom is moving back to Chicago for a great job, so congrats to him! But sad for us. Of course that means Lakefront tour very necessary on Friday. That was lots of fun. Then wake up early the next day for a wedding in Chicago. I may die of exhaustion soon. Finally, for the things I missed. I did not get to see Mo, who was in from Minneapolis this weekend, but hopefully she will come back soon. And finally, the worst, I missed Miss Ashley Little's going away/Birthday Party. I am sad I missed it, but will survive, because in her own words:

"I hope to see you guys, but not in a passive-aggressive, "I'm subtly telling you that you need to come or I'll be sad sort of way." It's more in a "I like hanging out with you, but I understand if you can't make it" sort of way. My emotions are pretty complicated like that. Most of what I feel requires a compound-complex sentence. "

So HAPPY 24th Birthday to Miss Ashley. And everyone wish her luck and farewell. I'm sad she is gone, but now I have a reason to vaca in L.A! Although, I will miss our days at the country club...

Howdy Happy Birthday...

HOWDY HAPPY BIRTHDAY

THIS IS YOUR SPECIAL DAY

WE'RE GLAD YOU CAME TO LONESTAR

TO HELP YOU CELEBRATE

WE HOPE YOU HAVE A GOOD TIME

WE'RE REALLY GLAD YOU'RE HERE

SO HOWDY HAPPY BIRTHDAY

THIS IS YOUR SPECIAL YEAR

HEY!

Yes, thank you for asking, I did have to sing this song NUMEROUS times when I waitressed. Bug please say happy birthday to my brother in law Karl! Don't worry, those kids are detachable...I have been RIDICULOUSLY busy every night and I may fall over from exhaustion soon..more on that later....for now, birthday fun!

Fake Empire.....

Welp. I am officially probably losing my mind. We have so much to do in the next two weeks, that I've actually started mixing up days. I was getting ready for a concert tonight that we have tickets for on Tuesday. Hmmmm..... Anyways, let's see. On Thursday we had our company Summer Event and it was very nice. And free. On Friday we went to see The National which I thought was pretty good. They sounded pretty great live if anyone likes them, I recommend. Lots of things going on this week...and "there's no time..there's never any time....." Maybe I should get hooked on the Nodo's Jessie Spano style.....

Wait, is it St. Patrick's Day?!

So Miss Ashley Little came up this weekend to have some fun before she moves to L.A. L.A.!! So it was a sad weekend, but alot of fun as well! Every year at St. Pat's Day, Ashley and I try to take a pic, in which we have our legs wrapped up around each other (i'll spare you these) and every year, without fail, we fall and look stupid (come on, it's st.pats!) and that is what we were trying to re-enact here. As you can see, still not working! Also, today, Ali started her new big kid job, so say congrats to her! And Mom and Dad Horan made it home safely from Vegas (apparently Mom won a bit of money..let me know if you want her number for sharing!) And finally, I am getting sick and dying, and we have a BUNCH of stuff to do in the next two weeks. Anyone have any suggestions to kick this death/flu before it sinks in? I will try ANYTHING!

My Friends are Kenyans.....

Who would NOT look at these two stellar ladies and think, "I bet they would be good at marathons." Okay, Just Kidding, but everyone should wish Angie and Ali good luck because they are doing the Chicago half marathon today, which is QUITE impressive. Especially because it is opening week for football! So those are my plans..watch football and feel inadequate next to my Kenyans!

Celebrating Laborers

So for Labor Day, we of course had to celebrate Laborers. And we thought it appropriate to celebrate the people who worked long and hard on this thing (seriously, wtf is this?!)

And of course, the man who made this lovely metal disk. Just a great effort all around.

Okay, so these pictures were taken after a Labor Day BBQ, so we can be excused. But I mean, what is this stuff?! Just hanging out in Milwaukee. Across from the bar. Well we definitely celebrated the laborers and such (hence the pics) Anywhos, going back to work always sucks but so it is. Tina (featured in these photos) did a bunch of design work for Urban Playground this weekend (http://urbanplayground.info/) well, she did the print adds (like http://www.shepherd-express.com/1homebody.lasso on the right hand side) and such in the papers, so everyone should come have fun! Seacrest out.

2 Years: The Cotton is in the Mail

Okay, OKay. I have been neglectful. Everyone say Happy Belated Anniversary to my sister. It has been two whole years. Crazy Kids. Apparently, the traditional two year gift is cotton (good thing they live in the south...) They get to be in NY for their anniversary, which is no fair, but I am sure they are having lots of the fun! And also happy labor day, yeah for days off!

the US, uh, should help South Africa, it should help the Iraq and the Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future, for us...

I have found two things of great importance on the Internet this weekend. First: you HAVE to be f-ing joking me. Please watch the video below, from the genius we put onstage at a Pageant for SCHOLARSHIPS. What is wrong with America?! Now, I have never been to South Carolina, but REALLY?! This is what you have to offer??! What do you think? Nervous? or Mildly retarded?

In an all redeeming bit of news from the America front..guess what show is back and I could not be more excited for..















That's right. If you guessed American Gladiators, you would be correct! (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117970702.html?categoryid=14&cs=1&nid=2563) Now, my favorite was Nitro, and I am hoping he comes back for the show. He was always flexing at all times and his socks were so high and sexy...you just can't get enough! Who do you think they should bring back and why? Our cast of main characters is:

Gemini
Laser
Blaze
Diamond
Lace
Gold
Thunder
Ice
Turbo
Malibu
Sky

Oh how I love gladiators..

Miss Teen South Carolina

Please. Help our country. Quickly

dun nuh nuh dun nuh nuh...(this is sporcenter)

Fantasy Football Draft 2007. Wednesday. 7 p.m. Seein as there are only two girls in the league, goal this year: kick the boys asses. So in the spirit of girls rule, or just maybe Jenny rules (i'm comfortable either way) who has suggestions for who I should take? I'm open to suggestion..and will perhaps share some of my winnings. ;-)

Going to the Chapel.......

Congratulations to my lil cousin Christopher Robin and his new beautiful bride Melissa Crum!!! The wedding in St. Louis was BEAUTIFUL, (even though, my flight was 2 hours late and I only got to the wedding for the homily on......I seriously hate American Airlines......) We got to have lots of fun times and welcome Melissa into the crazy Cronin family! The lighting wasn't the best so all my pics didn't turn out..but we managed to get a few cute ones before the open bar kicked in!


Mr and Mrs. Christopher Crum!!

Me and my lil cousin! One tear....

how many people title their first post: "FIRST POST"

ok this is not jennifer but her much smarter and omnipotent older sister who created this fantastic new corner of the internet SO PEOPLE KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING IN JENNY's LIFE... er... is that specific enough? we just love her. yes we do. NOW UPDATE.

and she has a digital camera so NO EXCUSES for the non picture posting. except for the fact that she must give explicit approval to all pictures of herself - it took like 800 pictures before she would approve any for the header!