So, Daniel's birthday was a hit! It was so much fun to watch him open all of his presents and play a bunch of puppy themed games with him. Eli and his cousin Vin even stopped in for the festivities! Is sure is funny what you can get a bunch of twenty somethings to do when a baby is involved :) We even celebrated Todd and Eli's birthdays, and everyone left with a gift! I must say that my mom is an excellent party planner! Besides all the baby fun, my favorite part of the night was when I received a gift from Ma (thats my grandma, for those of you who don't know). Back home in New Jersey, we have this amazing breakfast food called taylor ham. It's got to be awful for you, but it's basically a NJ staple and something that you can't get in any other state (as far as I know). Anyway, Ma sent me some because she knows how much I love it. The following is the sequence of me getting my gift. (this one's for you Ma).
I got a ham in a box! :)
He's 2!
Today is my little brother Daniel's birthday! He's two!! That's right, two. For all of you who have forgotten, I'm 22! When I really think about it, our age difference is CRAZY. But, despite the some 20 year difference, I feel like Daniel (better known as Baby) and I are very close. He's just about the cutest thing ever, and I feel like I'm always amazied at the new things he can do when I see him. So, since he's two today, my mom is throwing a birthday party that has Daniel written all over it - a puppy party! For some reason, Daniel is obesessed with puppies. I think my mom was thinking of getting him one for a present, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't need one more "kid" to take care of. Anyway, since we couldn't get him a real puppy, Todd and I decided to purchase a musical, singing stuffed animal. It's so cute, and even teaches things like the A,B,C's and colors. The funniest thing about the party though, is the guest list. I'm pretty sure almost everyone is over the age of 21! Guess that's what happens when you have a 22-year-old sister :) So, happy birthday, Baby (for when you're old enough to read this).
Blah
Ugh, I wanna update with something interesting so bad, but I've got nothing :( Nothing new or exciting since yesterday, except for the fact that my weird dizziness is still going strong and I had a random fever last night. I'm going to the doctor tomorrow to hopefully figure it out. Other than that, it's pretty gloomy in SD. There are all these huge rain clouds rolling in, and it's really windy. My mom has to take Kaleigh on her Brownies camping trip this weekend in Julian, and she's pretty worried that it's going to snow and she's either going to get stuck there or have a really hard time driving on the windy roads. Everyone say a quick prayer that the trip is cancelled. Oh, and who else out there has been watching American Idol? Yes, it's another guilty pleasure of mine, but I can't help it - the bad people are SO bad. Tuesday night were auditions in SD, and I must say I was pretty disappointed that most of the people weren't even from here! Anyway, I did see one person I went to high school with, and it was cool to know that the auditions were held in my old town. I'm really looking forward to this season. Last season was pretty bad, so I'm hoping this one is like earlier Idol years. Well, now that I really sound like I have nothing going on in my life, I'm going to go stuff my face at my office party!
Surgery Recap.
More than a week later, I'm back from the sugery table and my mom's recliner, and back to work and emails and articles. I guess I was more scared than I needed to be (what everyone kept telling me), but I'm pretty sure I would be just as freaked out if I had to have surgery again. The morning of the 15th was stressful, to say the least. I think I almost cancelled about a million times, but somehow, I made it through the procedure and back home to rest for a week. My surgery went well, although it did last 4 hours when it was only supposed to be an hour and a half! You can imagine how much my mom was freaking out when the doctors told her "it would be a little longer than expected." All I really remember was talking to a bunch of really nice nurses, being injected with what everyone kept calling a "tequila shot" and waking up some 5 hours later really groggy and confused. The recovery time was rough at points, especially since my doctor ended up working on my septum and didn't prescribe me strong enough meds to cover the pain... but, once that was fixed, I was basically passed out for a week. As annoying as all the nasal rinses were, it was nice to be home and get taken care of. Plus, I had fun spending time with everyone, including Todd, who stayed with us the whole week (after work of course). On Monday, I got the splints that had been living in my nose taken out, which by the way were incredibly large! I couldn't even believe that they could fit in my nose! Once they were out, I felt 10, 000 times better, and I was able to stop taking all the pain meds pretty soon after. Since then, I've been able to breathe out of my nose! It's great slash so strange. I've been feeling better, minus this weird bout of dizziness I've been feeling for the past two days. It's the weirdest feeling - like I'm underwater and off balance. I've been told its "part of the healing process," but I had to leave work early yesterday, and considered staying home today (didn't do that). It's kind of hard to concentrate when my head feels like it's full of who knows what. I'm hoping it goes away soon so I can avoid any more run ins with the dreaded endoscope, ha!
Throughout my week, I felt very blessed and loved - I'm lucky to have so many people around me who are willing to take care of me and who genuinely care about how I'm doing. Thanks to all of you!
And, that's my news for now. Haven't really been doing anything more than that :) Hopefully, things will get exciting soon.
Oh gosh, it's tomorrow.
Well, tomorrow is my surgery. For all of you who are wondering "what the heck happened to Amanda?!"... I'm actually having sinus surgery to hopefully help fix my many breathing/sinus issues. Anyway, I'm more than just a little nervous - I'm full on freaked out! Everyone keeps telling me I'll be fine, but it doesn't help with the fact that I'm terrified of the process. Plus, I've been doing way too much research. You won't even believe all the scary things you can find online about this stuff! My doctor gave me this whole talk about how positive thinking can really change the way you feel. And, while that seemed all fine and dandy while he was going over everything with me, now that's it's tomorrow morning, I'm actually wondering how the heck I'm going to get myself there without having some sort of anxiety attack. Ah! Anyway, thanks to everyone who has been encouraging me and saying they'll be praying for me. I'll be thinking of you all, along with my happy thoughs as they inject me with whatever the heck they're using to make me fall asleep.
So, yeah. That's my post for the day. I'll let you all know how it goes once it's all over.
My Top 50
Take a look at what this twentysomething is blogging about the most...
2008 - Here I Come!!
As I've done for the past two years, I'm continuing my tradition of doing a yearly recap. Looking back on 2007, I think it was the fastest year of my life. The time just flew by! And, while I'm sad to see it go, so many amazing things happened that I can't help but wonder what the heck 2008 has in store for me. Starting from the beginning, here's what happened:
1. I rang in the New Year at a club in New York City with my old roommates. While being in New York was exciting, the night wasn't. I didn't even get to see the ball drop! I was convinced (once again) that NYE was the worst holiday in existance.
2. After recovering from the fateful first night of 2007, Michelle, Brooke and I headed up to Boston to learn some lessons in colonial history (okay, that may have been just me). We walked the Freedom Trail, ice skated in Boston Common, learned how to crack open a lobster, found out that Boston ROCKS and got to love our home away from home in Revere.
3. Once back in California, I began the post-college graduate job search. After plently of career fairs, interviews and a month of pure stress and confusion, I landed my first "real" job.
4. After about a week at the aforementioned job, I realized that maybe it wasn't as great as I had imagined. I spent my days missing college and wondering if PR wasn't really what I wanted to do. In between the endless pitching I made sure to constantly look for new opportunities. And take some vacations.
5. Thanks to Todd's amazing job, I found myself being whisked away to Miami to spend one glorious week relaxing on the beach and dancing the night away on South Beach. The weather, food and trip in general was a great way to escape for a while. I never did get a coconut though.
6. Todd and I brought a little bit of the Latin heat home with us and started taking Salsa lessons. We were pros in no time, and found ourselves spending many Thursday and Friday nights dancing among the best of them at places like Cafe Sevilla and Club Miami.
7. On a whim I decided to apply to USC, and much to my surprise, I got in! While Todd partied it up in Vegas with his bosses (haha), I wondered what to do. Grad school meant moving to LA and leaving everything I loved behind. After much avail and many tears, I decided that I couldn't pass up the opportunity to study public relations in the city of angels.
8. April was a month of birthdays and celebrations. Todd spent Easter at my house, where we were plesently surprised by way too much chocolate. I also got to meet Todd's parents for the first time on their trip to sunny San Diego!
9. As always, I took a three-day weekend to go meet my dad and the rest of the fam in Las Vegas. I was once again forced to stay at Circus Circus, but got to see the Tournament of Kings and visit one too many buffets. At least I didn't lose any money!
10. Once May rolled around, I was nervously counting down the days to grad school and getting ready to officially graduate. My dad and grandparents came to town to help celebrate my accomplishements at SDSU. And, on May 19, I finally had my official college diploma in hand. My friends and I celebrated the end of an era at an amazing beach-side party in Mission Beach.
11. In between the boredom at work, the fear of grad school and the excitement of graduation, I stumbled upon an amazing PR job posting online. I decided to take a chance and see what happened.
12. After two interviews and a writing test, I got a phone call that would change everything. I found out that I had landed the job - a once in a lifetime opportunity to work at one of San Diego's top PR firms. More thinking led me to decide that getting some experience here in San Diego was what I needed to do. Thus, I began my career in public relations.
13. June was a month of weekend getaways and new beginnings. I found out that I really did like PR and that you can still have a fun summer when you're working 40+ hours a week.
14. With tons of baseball games under our belts thanks to our Padre's 12-pack (including a Red Sox and Mets game), Todd and I hopped on a plane yet again to go back east. This time, we landed in Boston, rented a car and drove 6 hours to Ithaca. After meeting the college friends, discovering some gorges and dancing the night away in the Commons, I realized that maybe the hippie lifestlye was for me, afterall.
15. Once our time in Ithaca was up, Todd and I drove back to Boston where we met up with Lin and Todd's parents for dinner in Little Italy. Then, it was off to Hampton and the Camp, and my first look at where Todd grew up! I had tons of fun kyaking on the lake, meeting Todd's family and relaxing in the East coast sun. It was hard to leave and get back into the working mode.
16. The end of July marked my birthday and a great day of celebrating with family and friends. Not only did my dream come true of making a real pizza at a pizza palor (thanks, mom), but I also got to hang out with some of my best friends at Dave and Busters - one of the few places you can truly be a kid and an adult at the same time.
17. After moving out of Fermi, my old roommates and I went our seperate ways. It was weird to be moving out, but also oh, so wonderful to be moving into a new place with my own space. I even got a new roommate and friend, Steph!
18. August was full of work, work, work. I tried to make the most of my last couple weeks of summer hours and headed to the beach directly after work on some Fridays. Todd and I also took a quick trip to Texas, where we spent some ridiculously hot days hanging out with the other side of my family.
19. Before I knew it, it was fall. By the time Halloween rolled around, I was wondering how the past year had gone by so fast!
20. Todd and I celebrated Halloween as a bee and a beekeeper with the kiddies. We went trick-or-treating, ate tons of candy and celebrated the day we met. Two days later, we were on our way to San Francisco for a weekend full of sightseeing.
21. San Fran was amazing, and after touring Alcatraz, eating bread bowls at Pier 39 and riding bikes across the Golden Gate Bridge, we were ready to come back to America's Finest City and just do nothing for a bit.
22. The relaxation ended soon as we were thrust into the holiday season. Thanksgiving was here before we could say gobble, gobble, and my mom and I cooked up a storm to celebrate. Lin came out to join the festivites, as did Todd's roommates Eli and Derrick. It was a Thanksgiving to remember - and to be very thankful for.
23. The weeks continued to fly by and the Christmas parties, cookies and gift-giving needs started to stack up. I really got into the holidays and tried to buy everyone the perfect gifts. Then, all of a sudden, it was Dec. 20, and time for my trip home.
24. After flying all night and landing in snowy Boston at 6 am, Todd and I lugged our suitcases through the freezing cold air to Lin's apartment in East Boston. A few hours of sleep later, I had Todd hurrying through the city on a tour of all of the colonial sites we could fit into one day. I finally made it Bunker Hill and ended the night in Cambridge with a bunch of our favorite east coast people.
25. The next few days were amazing, and oh, so Christmasy. We spend an early Christmas Eve at Todd's aunt's house where I tried some Swedish pickled herring, met some more of the family and ate some of Todd's mom's delicious apple pie. When the celebration was over, we headed to Hampton. The next day, I was off to Jersey.
26. As always, being home was great. I saw all of my family and friends and tried to cram as many New Jersey things as possible into 10 days. It made me happy to be able to see everyone, and even happier to have Todd come and experience some more of where I grew up. Plus, we saw Phantom and ate about every type of east coast food possible. I'm surprised I can still fit into any of my clothes!
27. And, this year, for the first of my "adult" years, New Year's Eve was actually FUN! Todd and I met up with a bunch of friends and truly CELEBRATED! We started off at Puglias eating scrumptious Italian food and wondering when the waiters were going to stop bringing more wine. Once Jorge was finished singing "New York, New York," and our bill was paid, we cabbed it over to PRESSURE, for a night of dancing and picture taking. At about 3 am, the party ended, and we headed home, knowing we had ended the year the best way possible.
So, here we are... in 2008. What will the next 12 months bring? I guess we'll just have to wait and see :)
Some time would be nice
Ahhh!! No time to update again. I hate when my blog dies :( I promise to have a real post soon. I really have been working on my year update... it just takes FOREVER! As for me, I'm off to get a CAT scan in 15 minutes. Yikes! Wish me luck. I have a really hard time lying still for long periods of time - especially when it's inside a big, creepy tube thing.
Back in Action
That's right, I'm back. After an amazingly, wonderful Christmas vacation, I'm back in SoCal and back in the office. I'm exhausted today - running on about 7 hours of sleep in the past two days thanks to New Years and my flight back (which got me home at about 2:30 a.m.) But, I'm not complaining... no way! I had the time of my life. I'm pretty sure this was one of my best trips back. I got to do so many things and see so many people. It was great to hang out in Boston and FINALLY visit Bunker Hill :) Plus, Todd and I stayed with Lin and had a ton of fun avoiding stabbings (haha) at the resturant across the street from her cool apt. while eating empanadas, partying it up in Cambridge and just BEING in Boston. I also was lucky enough to be able to attend Todd's family's Christmas Eve celebration, which was great! I got to meet some more of Todd's family and to spend some time with his parents both there and at their house in Connecticut. Hampton was great - a true wintery wonderland. I had a lot of fun hanging out with the locals (aka Eli and Chan) and even saw a deer and some wild turkey crossing the street, haha! My train ride home was interesting to say the least. After having the train stopped for Todd who was stuck inside, tripping a random man and sitting next to a computer nerd who wanted to upload all of my music on to his computer, I was happy to arrive in NEW JERSEY! I had a great time with my Dad, Rose, the kids, Ma and Pat, and of course my very best friends who I miss oh, so much when I'm out here. By the time Christmas was over and Todd had arrived, we had so much planned that the days just flew by. Let's just say we had the best time ever hanging out in the City, seeing my family and getting together with old friends. Now that I'm back, I'm wondering how it all went by so fast. I'm already having east coast withdrawls and wondering when I can get back there again. Thanks to everyone who made my trip so memorable. It really was perfect!
PS: Stay tuned for my annual year re-cap. It's sure to be a good one!