Beefy

I made beef tenderloin for our Christmas dinner.  I was soooo excited because making something that cost an arm and a leg makes me feel grown up.  Weird?  Probably.  So while Gary was at work I seared the meat on all sides, then stuck it in the oven at 425 degrees for 10 minutes.  At that point, I threw on some shallots and let the tenderloin cook for 30 minutes more.  While it was in the oven I attempted to be really crafty and make roasted garlic chedder biscuits (because Gary LOVES them, almost more than he loves me).  I think using a bag of mix rather than my own didn't work out so well.  Or perhaps it was the chicken broth I used.  Who knows, but they were definitely subpar.  When the tenderloin was done in the oven I let it rest while I made the realllllly good mustard sauce (and it was super easy!).  Using the beef pan with the shallots, I added chicken broth, balsamic vinegar, grainy mustard and dijon mustard.  When that was hot, bon appetit!  Sadly, the beef tenderloin was suuuuuper rare.  But at that point, everything was done, so we just stuck it in the microwave.  By the third day (of leftovers), the beef tenderloin was perfect.  We'll Definitely try this again!

While I was working yesterday, I asked the chef if he knew why my tenderloin wasn't done.  He suggested I get this awesome thermometer that can stick outside the oven so you don't have to open the door.  AWESOME!.

Oh and I burned my hand like an idiot.   I had to wrap my hand in ice for the entire night.  

 

 

Pre-Microwave don't worry...

Tootles!

The best Chicago Trip EVER!

Soooo I'm engaged....(OMG I KNOW!)

Gary and I finally traveled to Chicago, our favorite vacation city (however, if we ever make it to Canada, I'm sure that will take the cake).  Actually getting on the road was a bit troublesome as we had errands up the wazzoo to take care of: send our Chegg books back, get my present from Admissions, check our mail, get dolla billz, and sadly say tootles to Kendra and Andrew.  Once we made it to Chicago we had to find our Hotel, the Residence Inn in downtown Chicago.  The hotel was amazingly adorable.  It had a full kitchen and a walk-in shower.  Gotta love Marriott :)  Thursday night we headed to Second City which was funny once again.  Our seats weren't as good as last time but thank god we didn't try to walk the 20+ blocks.  We were smart enough to take the CTA...

Friday was the big day for plenty of reasons.  To me: we were going to watch Avatar in 3-D and go to Lawry's.  For Gary: Avatar and proposing.  Avatar was AMAZING!  I was a wee bit nervous that I'd get motion sickness but surprisingly, I managed the 2.5 hours just fine.  After the movie, we went back to the hotel to relax and get ready for Lawry's.  While watching Wheel of Fortune and finishing my make-up, I overheard Gary counting, but being preoccupied, it didn't really phase me.  Once I was finished, Gary wanted to take a picture.  Of course I thought it was because we looked really nice, but for Gary he reallly wanted to pull out the box when the timer went off.  But he got scared.  So then after the picture we hugged and he began saying sweet things (that I can no longer remember).  The moment I knew he was going to ask me was when I tried to put my arms around his side, but his left hand wouldn't move out of his pocket.  At that moment, Gary went down on one knee and then I started balling.  Of course I said yes.  and the ring is breathtakingly beautiful.  To this day I can't stop staring.  Then we went to Lawry's (SO GOOD).  To finish the night, we celebrated with a bottle of wine that took us literally 10 minutes to open.  Stupid cork wouldn't move.

Saturday was our day to shop, shop, shop.  I bought some dresses and he bought some comics.  It was perfect. Then we went to Harry Carey's for dinner.  Yum Yum.  Then we booked it to the theatre to watch Up in the Air which is super good too.

This trip will never be forgotten.  I love Gary so much and I can't wait to marry him.

Here are some pics from the trip:

Avatar Glasses.  We didn't get to keep them....

right after :-D

 

 

 

 Harry Carey's!

Snap Yo Fangas

WOW. The past few days (and the weekend) have gone by sooooo fast, yet so very slowly at the same time.  Guess what that means.....FINALS!

This weekend was SO much fun I can hardly even stand it.  The fab four reunited for our last trip to Minneapolis aka: Mall of America.  We had a bit of car trouble so we didn't leave until 11, but it did not affect our trip one bit.  For the 2.5 hours there we rocked it to basically every single song imaginable and by the time we got to MOA, I was already sleepy.  However, that did not stop both Kendra and I shopping up a storm.  By the time Andrew and Spencer hit 2 store, we'd already been to 5 or 6.  We left the mall at close to 5 so that we could eat and be back for PARTY time by 9.  Somehow, we were able to get into Applebees without so much as a wait and sitting at the bar got us our food fast.  Our bartender was awesome and kept laughing at our jokes.  Yes, I even asked him what he thought a butterface was.  Zak probably cried when we left.  If you can imagine it, we rocked EVEN more on the way home and let me tell you, I was so excited to go out.  5 or so beers, a secret dance spot and some crazy pictures later, Finals and all that glory was knocking at my door.

And of course, I was so unprepared which means I had sooo much to pack into three days that I wanted to die.  Somehow I made it through and I am anxiously awaiting my trip to Chicago.  I am so beyond excited!  It will be aaaammmmaaaaazzzzziiiiiinnnnnnggggggggggggggggg.

arguably THE best night of my college career

One night during sophomore year Kendra and I were studying for an accounting test.  Put more precisely, we were not studying for the so-called "accounting" test.  So to be more productive, we decided to play a prank on our friends Andrew and Spencer, who never locked their room at night.  Kendra and I decided to dress in all black and attempt to place an opened can of tuna in their room.  The prank didn't actually go over so well as Kendra couldn't stop giggling.  However, this is not the reason why this night is arguably the best night of my college career.  No, it was the fashion show we had prior...

Enjoy :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Blizzard Rant

"More than a foot of snow was expected in parts of Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa, where the National Weather Service warned of "extremely dangerous blizzard conditions" and near whiteout driving conditions. Wind gusts of up to 50 mph could build snow drifts between 8 and 15 feet tall."


Yes, the weather man has said this wonderful snowy weather is a monster, but is it reeeeeaaaallllly that bad? NO!  Let's all just be thankful that we are still alive and are able to walk and can still function.  Sure, most of the parking lots and even some of the sidewalks on campus have not been plowed, but what's the problem?  SNOWSUIT UP and walk to class or work or wherever else it is you absolutely have to be during this frosty tundra blizzard we are encountering.  And let us all remember that YOU (most of you) are not doing the work so let's just keep our mouths shut.  If you could do a better job, please, be my guest and do the plowing of the entire city yourself.

Disclaimer: 
Sorry to those that I may offend, especially to my friends who may really hate the plowers right now.  I bid you good luck with getting to work and I hope you get there safely.

Having worked in the hospitality industry for a few years now, I understand how hard it is to keep EVERYONE happy.  It simply does not work.

PS:
"snowsuit up" comes from my favorite show: How I Met Your Mother or HIMYM.  Watch it.

Trip down memory lane

I came across something that I am especially proud of, something that was created way back in 2006 when I was on the Summer Housing Staff.  We had to spend 7 or so hours of complete boredom in Farwell and on one fateful shift I created a masterpiece.  Enjoy :)

sharing the joy

Here's the link to the song I've been listening to ALL morning:

Body Language.

SNOW!

I LOVE SNOW!  Correction: I love falling snow.  Once it's here, I could live without it.  But nevertheless, it's SNOWING!!!  What a great way to start my day.

So I'm sitting here in my apartment listening to "Body Language" by Jesse McCartney over and over and over and can't seem to get the motivation to shower and go to class.  I would much rather go to Scoe's.  Too bad it's 9am on a Tuesday morning.

This weekend should be fun though.  The Fab Four reunites again!  Way back during freshman year, Andrew, Spencer, Kendra and I headed to the Mall of America one of the first weekends of school.  We haven't been able to do it since (as the Fab Four) BUT we are making the infamous trip once again on Saturday, granted we can actually get there through all the snow.  I do remember cranking Backstreet Boys and N*Sync practically the entire way last time.  Let's hope we can be a bit more creative than that--Body Language anyone?  YES PLEASE.

Lastly, only 9 days, 1 hour, 53 minutes and 50 seconds until Gary and I leave for Chicago.  I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO EXCITED!  We have a date with Second City on Thursday night, then Avatar in 3D on Friday and shoppage on Saturday.  Again, hopefully the snow will let us get there since we already paid for our room....

I Seriously Have No Life

Over all of my headaches and meltdowns of having too much school work and too much work to do, I LOVE my life.  I like being able to work a lot every week because I value every single dollar I make.  However, sometimes it can be a bit much.

Like today:
8:30am-1:30pm - Work in Admissions
1:30pm-1:35pm - Change for Hotel Work
1:35pm-1:40pm - Drive to Hotel
1:45pm-2:30pm - Prep back of the house for Alberts
2:30pm-4:30pm - Re-Set upstairs banquet rooms
4:30pm-7:00pm - Go back downstairs to work in Alberts
7:00pm-9:30pm - Go back upstairs for Banquet dinner service
9:30pm-11:00pm - Go back downstairs for Alberts closing duties
11:00pm-???? - Go back upstairs for Banquet closing duties

Oh dear...

New senior paper???

I've been mulling over this for days it seems but I think I finally figured out what I want my next attempt at a senior paper to be: The EXTREME important of personal finance education in HS/College.  I could even perform some of my own research which I have actually wanted to do for years because I'm a serious dork.  I really think this is an important topic and I wish I could have had a handle on this sooner.

Let me know if you agree!

Recap of Thanksgiving weekend:
1.  Gary and I went to Strawberry Village on Saturday to visit the parents.  We finally got to see Bridget and Drew's house, but sadly, they were moving.  We and mom and dad and Debbie helped them to move into a smaller house.  My only complaint is that there is no room to have a baby :(
2.  I FINALLY dejunked my things.  Mom and dad are going to love the fact that I will need to bring a lot of stuff from Luther back home for awhile when I am in Chicago...don't worry though, I will do some serious dejunking of that too....
3.  STEAK!
4.  Oelrich Christmas Party
5. I got a new phone!  I was sooooo surprised but I love it I love it I love it.  It's nice to have the internet now to so I can check my email more than I already do.  (It's an LG Tritan)
6. Gary got sick. I'm sorry honey bear. :(

Lazy days

shutterfly, HIMYM, top chef.

What an amazing way to spend my first day of thanksgiving break.  I thought about doing some homework, but.........and that's as far as that idea went.

I've been pretty bitter about school for the past few days considering everyone was able to turn in their completed senior papers yesterday and I was able to take my completed senior paper and throw it down the drain.  POOPY PANTIES.  I am soooooooooo pissed but you know what, I will just have to work my ass off next semester to prove to chuckers that I Do write well.

(Screw you.)

However, given how my day has gone, everything will be just fine.  I slept in, updated my shutterfly photo books, watched the first two disks of how i met your mother S1, bought my babe's christmas present AND to top it off, i'm having a top chef viewing marathon.  awesome.

mwah.