2010

I was staring at a blank computer screen, racking my brain, trying to figure out what to blog about when Elyse so greatly suggested I blog about the year in review. What a great idea! (Thanks Piece!)

2010 coming to an end is certainly bittersweet to me. For four years I have been defined by “’10”. Jessica Lockwood, Class of 2010. 2010…the year I become a “real person.”  I have never dreaded and anticipated something so much, all at the same time.

Obviously, the first few months of the New Year were spent in Blacksburg. We were second semester seniors, and were determined to live up ever second we had left. Rain, snow, sleet…nothing stopped us. And no Mom and Dad, I do not mean stopped us from studying (though Creative Dance was really tough…).

We were regulars at Big Als, Sharkeys and TOTS… I ordered far too many lemon drops, for far too many people….but most importantly we were having the time of our lives.

I danced the night away at Harrell Street, played forty hands with wine, went sledding on lunch trays, had our last Harrell tailgate, celebrated my last Strawberries and Champagne at the frat house, and so much more.

 

For Spring Break I headed to Miami for a get away with Concetta. This was our first solo trip (besides visiting each others colleges) and the first time we were both single at the same time, in a long time. Obviously, it was going to be a blast! Who would have thought five days would end up changing our lives….or at least hers!

The first night we ventured out in Miami Concetta suggested we get a drink and then go searching for dinner around 7:30. For me, 7:30 was well passed my usual grandma dinner time, but you only live once, right?  During our drink, a group of guys, dressed in Polo and Brooks Brothers, walked passed us. (This was the only set of guys we had seen who did not have a bottle of gel in their hair and more jewelry than the two of us combined…) I saw the look in Concetta’s eyes and immediately knew our plans had changed.  “NO! Concetta! I am starving!” I quickly told her. She went to the bathroom (to plan her attack) and came back out with the best argument I have heard her make in 18 years:

 “Jessica, someone once told me the bathroom is a reflection of the kitchen…. just go to the bathroom and come back in tell me if you want to leave before we order….I am just looking out for us.” I did as she instructed, and grabbed the check before I even reached the table. “We are leaving.” Smooth move Cet, smooth move.

And so, off we went to find our Polo Men.  After seven blocks of perfectly good restaurants and no men in sight I told Concetta I was going to pass out from hunger, she was either going to have to carry me or pick a place. “One more block Ca Ca, I know they are here.”

Ok. Fine. One more block.

Sure enough, one more block and we found them. I have never seen Concetta choose a table so quickly in her life, obviously, right across from the guys. Of course, this was the only table without a heat lamp and now not only was I freezing but I was starving. “We have to move Concetta, I am going to die!” “Please Ca, Please, Please”  “Fine, but you better talk to them.”

After a drink, she quickly made conversation with the guys and we ended up hanging out with them the rest of stay in Miami.  A couple of nights was all it took for Will and Cet to realize their connection, and now they have been dating for about 8 months! At least my suffering went to good use, right Weeem?

After Miami, graduation quickly approached. We decided to make the most of the weeks we had left ending with a round of Sig Ep Bar Golf to send all the seniors out on a good note. Check that one off the bucket list.

Graduation was a whirlwind. Friends, family, ceremonies, parties…only a few days to finally celebrate four years of our lives in Blacksburg.

I think Bill Roth summed it up when he wrote this in an article about our graduation day:

“Yep, no game will be played this Friday, but it will be a special day in the history of Lane Stadium nonetheless.

It will be a day to celebrate tremendous personal achievement for these young men and women and mark the last time they’ll walk into Lane Stadium as Tech students. They’ll walk out as alums who, no doubt, will look back at the past few years as the most special time of their lives.”

And it certainly was that.




After graduation our parents gifted Katie and I each with trip. She was off to Budapest and Austria with Mom, and I was off to Spain with Dad.  Dad and I headed off, walking about 10 miles per day, to make sure we have got in everything we wanted to see. The country was incredible, and it was an awesome way for Dad and I to get to spend some time together. 

The day I returned I started my internship in Richmond. Talk about a quick transition into the real world….

I ended up loving the business, and can now happily say I am employed with the company!

A new job meant a new location, so Richmond it was! After a couple of months living with my Aunt, I moved into my new apartment on Monument. As I have said before, I hit the jackpot. The location, the apartment, and more importantly my roommates and their friends…perfect!

I have had so many adventures since moving here. I have been to Irvington with a group of girlfriends, had a White Party (just call us P-Diddy!), gone skydiving with my sister, spent many nights dancing the night away at Sullivans, been to restaurant week, attended charity auctions, and so much more.



September brought a fairy tale wedding for Katharine and Kyle in Boston. Concetta and I were lucky enough to be bridesmaids and able share the brief trip, and very special occasion, with our parents.

As October approached, I was a little hesitant about spending my birthday in a new city without everyone 5 min away… but it turned out being a wonderful day! It all started when I received a phone call from Cet that morning at work….

“Happy Birthday Ca! I cannot wait until you get what I sent you!” “Please tell me you did not send it to work” “YES! Everyone will love it…it will be so funny! It is a dancer, but don’t worry it’s the kind that keeps their clothes on…call me right after he leaves!”
Holy. Crap. I am going to get fired. Surely she was kidding….right?

About an hour later, the receptionist called my phone “Uh, Jessica….You have something waiting for you at the front desk…”

OMG. CONCETTA! I have never walked so slowly in my whole life.

Imagine my relief when I arrived and saw a bouquet of flowers. Just wait until your birthday Cet….
I received a few more bouquets throughout the day, and headed home to get ready for a dinner with Nelson and Elyse. They took me to the nicest restaurant in Richmond (Accacia) for a wonderful meal, before heading over to Can Can to meet up with some people for dessert. Perfect day.

Of course, this year was not without sadness and hardships. Shortly after my birthday, as I have mentioned in a previous blog, we lost someone very special to many of us. I am continuously amazed by how blessed I am to have such wonderful friends and family, even in the most difficult times.

In November, I headed down to Raleigh for Pauli’s Girls second annual PanCan 5k, to run in Paul’s memory. It was incredible how many people supported our team, and even made the trip down to Raleigh to participate in the race.  

As for the rest of the year, you know how most of that went. While this is only a brief insight into 2010, I know it will forever be the year that defined me. I have learned and grown so much this year, and I cannot wait to see what 2011 brings. So thank you to everyone who stuck it out through the good, bad and ugly, I truly have the most incredible friends in the world.

Here's to another year of memories!

It's the Hap-Happiest Season of All

At 8AM December 25th I jumped out of bed, turned up my stereo (which I had left on 101.3 all night to enjoy the Christmas music), and ran to the hallway window right above where my dad was standing outside. I quickly opened the window and began singing "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year", as loudly as possible, along with the music.

It was here, finally, my favorite day of the year!

I must have been very good this year because Santa was certainly good to me. Not only did I get some incredible presents, but I got to spend the day with so many people I love.

As a tradition, after opening presents in the morning, Katie and I headed out to get our family lunch of....wait for it... Chinese! Beleive it or not, we are almost positive that is the only place you can pick up food on Christmas day...and yes, we were the only people there. The good news is we do have a more traditional Christmas (un-catered!) dinner with the whole Lockwood clan, but the Chinese food certainly is wonderful as well.

After a night filled with family, we went to walk everyone out, and were greeted by snow! On Christmas! We were expecting it to stop shortly after, which it almost always does in Hampton, so you can imagine our suprise when we woke up Sunday morning....

Katie and I enjoying the snow!

 We have over 10 inches, and it is still snowing!

I will have to blog about the rest of the weekend later, its time for another Netflix Documentary! :)

Br-ICE-son Christmas!

This weekend the whole Bryson clan descended upon Hampton, Virginia for a Christmas filled weekend at Nama and Papa's house. Since my cousins from Georgia were arriving on Wednesday, I decided to take some time off to spend some much needed time with the family. Around 9:30 AM Thursday morning, I braved the snow storm and headed down 64.

Roads on the Way Home

The treacherous drive was, of course, worth it and I arrived to Hampton an hour and a half later. That night the women of the family were supposed to go see the Lion King. At this point the snow had stopped falling but the threat of black ice was all over the news and weather channels. After much debate and a little hesitation, we decided to try and make the journey. 

Before we headed out, we stopped by my house to switch cars with my father. Since I had gone straight to my grandparents that morning, this was the first time I had been home since Thanksgiving. Imagine my surprise when we pulled up to find a vast array of flashing and colored lights filling our yard and lining the house! For years we have had the same Christmas decorations, two light up reindeer and lights on the bushes and in the tree. Now, after all those emails to my parents about the Tacky Light Tours in Richmond, we had our very own version at home! I was, obviously, in love with the display and am so happy my dad decided to surprise us!

After a few minutes admiring the lights, we finished loading the car and headed to Norfolk. The Lion King is my absolute favorite Broadway show and, no matter how many times I see it (this was my 3rd), I always find myself in complete awe of the performance. The show was the perfect way to start a perfect weekend.

The Lion King

I love spending time with my family, probably as much as I love Christmas, and when the two of them combine I am in heaven. :) Our family has grown so much over the past year (with great grandchildren, boyfriends, fiancees, etc.), so it is wonderful to have a chance to get together and enjoy each other's company. Not to mention being spoiled by Papa's amazing cooking skills (fried shrimp for Christmas dinner?! Heck yes!) and Nama's traditional contributions of Christmas cookies and Vodka slush (YUM).  Have I said I love this time of the year?

To continue with my holiday cooking kick, Chinda taught me how to make his corn pudding recipe for our Christmas dinner, which ended up being every bit as delicious as I remembered it being last year.  Watch out Paula Dean, here I come!

After an amazing dinner we headed to the living room to open our gifts. They were all, once again, incredible but the highlight was definitely from Nama. My grandmother gave each of her daughters and granddaughters a piece of jewelry from her own collection. It was such a extraordinary suprise, and something we all will surely cherish for many years to come. 

Once all the presents had been opened, and the parents had gone to bed, the grandchildren spent the remainder of Saturday night staying up to visit, which led to far more laughter than talking. It was the perfect end to our "White (icy) Christmas".

Everyone headed home on Sunday and I headed over to see the other side of the family for a "Christmas Surprise" orchestrated by Marsha and Shelby.  I had two instructions: dress decent and show up at 4:30. When I arrived Shelby whisked me away to their church for a special musical performance called "Voices of Christmas" where Brayden was playing the piano. The performance was wonderful, and I was very curious about what the rest of the night would bring.

We left the church and drove down a street filled with Christmas lights. Each house was more spectacular than the next, but nothing like what Shel and I had seen in Richmond. That is until we reached a house on the right side of the road. I immediately said "Wow! Shelby look at that one!" and she informed me that is where we were going. Where we were going? Inside? Yep.

Aunt Marsha and Brayden met us at the front of the house and we climbed the stairs to, what turned out to be, the most incredible, Christmas-related, amazing, thing I have ever seen in my whole life. It was SANTA'S HOUSE. Really. Santa. 

Unfortunately, Santa had come the night before and was unable to greet us, however, we were welcomed into the house and told spend as much time as we wanted wandering around. The owners of the house welcome the less fortunate children into their home once a year to meet and receive a present from Santa, as well as tour his house. To really prove it was Santa-worthy, the house had 51 Christmas trees and every room boasted a different Christmas theme (Nutcrackers, Disney, Santa's Room to greet children, etc). It was the most beautifully done Christmas tribute I had ever seen and I was speechless, which rarely happens during Christmas related events.




Room Where Santa Greets the Children



These Pictures Do Not Come Close To Doing The House Justice

Only 5 more days!!

In Loving Memory

A few days ago I received an email from the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network saying "with your help we raised over $100,000 dollars." What a wonderful Christmas present! As many of you know, Paul Wilson passed away from this disease on October 16, 2010. Paul was not only my best friend's father, but he also known as a "second dad" to me, or Uncle Monster, as well.

Here is the email I sent thanking my friends and family for their generous donations to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network 5K in Paul's Memory:

I just wanted to say thank you SO much for donating to the Purplestride 5k and Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. Pauli's Girls ended up being the #1 fundraising team, raising OVER $14,300 dollars, and Concetta was the #1 fundraiser. The events fundraising goal was $25,000 and they ended up raising over $90,000! Overall, I would say it was a HUGE success!!

I honestly can not express how much your generosity means, not only to me, but also to the Wilsons. Paul was a huge part of my life, and I can confidently say that yesterday he was there with us as we accepted our awards and ran in his memory. As I said at the burial, in my graduation card Mr. Wilson wrote "Yelts, You will always be my Supergirl. May you have many adventures to Afriganistan." If you read my fundraising page, you know what the Afriganistan was about; but as far as the Supergirl goes, you all helped me reach that status. Having raised over $700 dollars, I am awestruck by the amazing generosity of the people I know and love.

Now, as I continue aiming to reach Supergirl status in other aspects of my life, I hope we all remember Paul for the incredible husband, father, and friend he was. The race may be over, but my love for Mr. Wilson and the Wilson family, will continue for the rest of my life.

I will leave you with one last thought: As most of you know, Mr. Wilson's bedtime stories always began "in the deepest darkest jungles of Afriganistan" where Concetta and I faced a some sort of hardship, no matter how humorous it was, but ultimately always prevailed. He has left her and I, along with everyone else he knew, with the capability to prevail. Even in the face of the greatest adversity, he found the absolute best in life. You all showed me a glemse of that through your generosity, and I hope I continue to show people that as I continue to grow into the person he knew we could all become. Thank you again for your amazing support  over the past month, hopefully we will be able to prevent other families, friends, and complete strangers from facing this horrible disease.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart,
Jessica


I believe that sums up the race and shows you a glimpse of the importance of it. However, it does not sum up the true resilience of  Concetta, her brother, George and their mother Christie. They have continued to amaze me throughout the past three months, and have acted with more grace, bravery and generosity than many in their situation can even imagine.

As for Uncle Monster, he was everything you could hope to find in a person. He spent every hot summer afternoon tossing us around in the pool, and every dark scary night chasing us around the house playing "Monster" or telling us stories of our favorite make-believe land, Afriganistan. He wrote us songs for our graduations, called on every birthday, and always tried to make the best of every situation. And most importantly he never, ever, gave up.

And so to Uncle Monster: I, like many, miss you everyday.  And to the Wilson's: I love you all so much. You have shown us that even in the most difficult times we can all prevail.

Christie, Paul, Me and Concetta on My Graduation Day

Daddy Where's the Rest of It?!!?

What a Christmas filled weekend!

It all started Friday when, as I was going to lunch, I stumbled upon a group of carolers in our lobby from the Southside Baptist Christian School. Let me tell you, they were A-Mazing! Listening to them, of course, reminded me of when I was in the 5th grade I decided to join my Nanny Marie's Baptist choir. At the time, I was positive I had the voice of Celine and the looks of Posh Spice. However, as Concetta will be more than happy to tell you, I have weighed about the same weight since 5th grade, growing about a foot and a half (if not more) since then. Needless to say, I was a closer resemblance to the Pillsbury Dough Boy than to Posh. I was no Celine either but, ever since my stint as a Baptist Choir super star, I have loved the choirs ever since.

The Choir in Our Lobby!

Saturday led to even more Christmas cheer! I convinced Shelby to brave the rain and join me at Nordstrom Cafe for dinner. Most Richmonders have heard of the Tacky Light Tour, and being new to the city, I knew these houses would be right up my alley! So I of course, dragged Shelby and her roommate Sara on an impromptu tour of some of the houses in the West End. A million Christmas Lights on one house? This city knows the way to my heart. I was in love (and blasting Christmas music the whole time)!

One of MY FAVORITE houses

To top it all off Julie and I decided to have a little date day today, once again heading to the West End to run some errands and grab Whole Foods for lunch. We started out at American Family Fitness, and then headed over to Kroger. Julie had deemed today a "baking day" and was going to make dinner AND dessert (yes, I know, I hit the roommate jackpot). As we were searching Kroger for Chinese 5 Spice and Pork Shoulder (yes, Pork Shoulder) I came across a little boy and his father at the seafood section. The little boy was inquiring about one of the items in the case and his father told him it was a lobster tail. Not more than 2 seconds later the little boy screamed "BUT DADDY! WHERES THE REST OF IT!??!!?" I could not help but burst out laughing and run to tell Julie. HOW CUTE.

Anyways after finding everything we needed we headed over to Whole Foods in search of Ginger and some delicious lunch. For those of you who have not been to the Whole Foods here, they have a wonderful wine section where you can taste/drink wine and eat your meal. Julie decided to go for a more traditional bbq lunch, while I had sushi and a cup of chicken noodle soup (I am weird..I know). We both enjoyed trying a number of wines during our romantic meal (haha), and even bought a bottle we loved!

Half Way Through Our Whole Foods Meal

After driving home in a torrential downpour, we began to prepare our dinner. I was in charge of the spices and dry ingredients, while Julie was in charge of the big stuff (she knows my cooking skills..). We immediately turned on the Christmas Pandora station and had a concert as we cooked. After four hours in a slow cooker we had a wonderful meal ready! Kara and Anna came to join us for dinner, which was of course amazing, followed by a chocolate wine cake Julie made....SO GOOD.

After we cleaned up and our guests left, Julie and I decided to make Rice Krispy houses. We once again turned up the Christmas music and got to work.

Our Houses!

Have I mentioned I love this time of year?? The next two weeks will bring so many good things, including my cousins from Atlanta who I love getting to see! Don't worry...it is all destined to bring some very interesting blogs!

I Get It From My Momma

Last night I went to a SCAN holiday gift drive/happy hour, at Sullivans, with Erin and Julie.  It had been a while since we had all been out so we were catching up on the holiday stories, travels, and everything else along the way.  Erin was mid story, talking about her mother's three days of preparation for their Thanksgiving dinner, when I realized I had never told her about my holiday dinners.

If we were in a movie right now some sad slow song would start playing.

Our holiday meals are catered- yes, catered. Now I know some of you are visualizing handsome men in black suits carrying silver trays to deliver our delicious meal. Ok, I am visualizing it. Unfortunately that is not the case. Instead we order the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, greens, and gravy from a local restaurant in Hampton (yes, Hampton...no, Michael Vick does not go there).

To my mother's credit, I would do the exact same thing as her. We still make a few casseroles (remember?!) but we do not have to spend a huge amount of time on the meal. We usually give her a hard time for doing, however, this year I realized she was simply ahead of the trend! After hours of PerezHilton searching I realized the celebrities like to eat out for Thanksgiving too. Granted they probably have the handsome men in suits.....


Anyways, while we are on the subject, another interesting this happened over Thanksgiving. Though my mother tells me I am wrong, I was sure we always had Thanksgiving "dinner" around 2 o'clock.  Planning for a big meal, I decided not to eat that morning before driving down to Hampton. Imagine my surprise when I show up, starving, and my mother informs me dinner is now at 5.

Two thoughts pop into my head: 1. who eats Thanksgiving "dinner" at an actual dinner time, and 2. I am going to starve.

So I immediately run into my kitchen to find one microwavable pepperoni pizza (Gross Dad) and about 3 cans of peanuts. My parents had just returned from a 2 week vacation in the Middle East, which explains why we did not have more (microwaveable) options. Holy Cow, now I am really going to starve. And so an adventure ensues.

I convince my sister to go search for food with me. She was sick, and I had just arrived from Richmond, so naturally we were both in sweatpants, our hair was a mess and we did not have an ounce of make-up on. After about 30 minutes of searching we determined we had two options: 1. 7-11 or 2. Farm Fresh, and so we choose Farm Fresh.

We walk in, grab 3 smartones and head for the checkout counter. Microwavable dinners in hand, looking like we had just run through a wind tunnel, and my sister and her runny nose. Katie was a little embarrassed, but I thought it was entertaining. Not to mention everyone was in a great mood! Countless people had come up to us and said "we hope you have a blessed holiday" and looked at us very lovingly even though we were disheveled messes.

As we were checking out I decided to purchase Katie a balloon for her birthday. It was a giant cow that said "Holy Cow, Another Birthday?!" At this point Katie was about to pass out from starvation and sickness so I gave her the keys to sit in the car.

The man waiting on me asked me what the occasion was and without thinking I replied "I just wanted my sister to have something fun to sit next to her tonight during our Thanksgiving dinner (trying to explain why I chose a cow and not a normal balloon)" As he was looking at my bag of smartones I realized I had unintentionally confirmed his, and every person we encountered, thoughts. Yep, we were definitely orphans. No wonder they were all so nice!

Now that I have gotten off on a very long tangent, my point was pretty simple: I am never going to be a great chef, but as my future Uncle says "when in doubt, hire it out."

New York, New York

When I was seven years old my mother started taking me to New York, the first weekend of December, every year. However, once I reached college, New York was out and Blacksburg was in.  I quickly realized that one advantage of the real world is no exams...good bye venti americanos and Newman library, hello champagne and Bergdorf!

And so we quickly picked up were we left off, heading straight to New York last weekend. This was my mothers 26th year going that same weekend (she continued to go with her friends, while I studied), staying in the exact same hotel room that they always stay in.



I have always had a place in my heart for New York, partially because of my aforementioned Christmas obsession. Let me tell you, NO ONE does Christmas like New York City....the lights, Rockefeller center, the shows, the windows...it is a Christmas lovers dream. Not to mention the shopping! Sure you could get trampled any second...but hey who cares? you're in New York City.



One of my absolute favorite parts of NYC in December



While we were there we hit all the big stores, ate at wonderful restaurants, saw a show, and enjoyed two nights out on the town. Basically we jam-packed everything I wanted to do into two days, and my mom was graciously along for the ride since she was staying the whole week (her girlfriends were joining her when I left).

It was a fast but wonderful weekend with my mother and our good friends, Carrie and Dawn.

However, here is where the imperfection theme comes in...

Picture this: I am in a cab on the way to the airport when I receive a phone call from my mom. Of course, I believe she is simply calling to see if I have reached the airport yet, tell me how much she misses me, while I spend every second of the phone call wishing I could turn around and stay longer. Man was I wrong. It turns out she was calling to tell me I had left my car keys in the safe. Smart move Jessica. After a good 15 min of panic with  images of myself standing outside the airport with no ride, no keys to my apartment, and no way to get things out of my car, flashing through my head we came up with a plan. I rented a car and mom overnighted the keys (which I just received today!)- crisis semi-averted!

Luckily my roommate Julie was arriving to the Richmond Airport from Paris at exactly the same time, so we took my hot new car for a spin and headed for Stuzzis. After a delicious meal, and plenty of stories from our travels, we called it a night (and I, luckily, was not locked out in the cold!-I know you were worried).

Not even a semi-dramatic ending could ruin my perfect weekend in the Big Apple.

While I was off shopping and taking in the gorgeous Christmas scenery, my beloved Hokies were in Charlotte taking on the Seminoles. Of course, Tyrod (my hero) and the entire team pulled through and the Hokies are once again the ACC champions!! Now I am absolutely determined to go to the Orange Bowl, who is coming with me?!?

Lets Go, Hokies!!

Heres to the most wonderful time of the year (and the Hokies!)!

So Many Reasons to be Happy

Thanksgiving has never been my favorite. Sure, I have a lot of things to be thankful for, but why do we need turkey and casseroles to celebrate that? As I told my grandfather, I would be much happier with shrimp and corn on the cob. However, this year seemed to be different.

With it being my first Thanksgiving as a “real person,” I decided I was going to show up with a casserole (it’s what the grown-ups would do, right?)! Those of you who know me, know I am an excellent chef….if the preparation involves a frozen meal and a microwave…. However, I did recently just discover how to make my first baked dish: butternut squash! It was love at first bite and, ever since that fateful August day, I have been making the wonderful creation about once a week. Now, I knew that showing up with a simple bowl of butternut squash would not impress anyone, so I decided to be inventive and create my own casserole! A bag of rehydrated craisins and pecans later (thank you Chopped for the inspiration!), I had created a delicious side. The shock on my families face was well worth the 3 hours of preparation.

My Casserole Creation!

Not only did I show up with a casserole in hand, but I also had another surprise in store for my Mom and Dad. After years of receiving everyone elses holiday cards, I decided it was time we had our own. I used Snapfish and created a card for my family to send out, as well as a card for Concetta.  I am so happy with the way they turned out! Snapfish is a great site, and so easy to use!







Merry Christmas from the Lockwoods!

 


Concetta's Card



As for another thing that was not always my favorite...haha just kidding Katie! Thanksgiving was also special this year because it was my baby sister’s birthday. Granted, at 19 years old, she is not really a baby anymore...oh well. We had a two day celebration complete with balloons, cupcakes, presents, Harry Potter, and so much more! It seemed to be the perfect way to celebrate.



Birthday Girl!



In other exciting news, my good friends Ryan and Gina just got engaged! They are my first set of college friends to take the plunge, and absolutely the perfect ones to do so. Ironically, Gina and I met freshman year in our Comm Skills class, but did not become good friends until Will (luckily!) moved into Clay St. junior year, and I guess the rest is history. I am so happy for both of them and cannot wait to see them in person and congratulate them!

Since it is December 1^st, I must also mention CHRISTMAS! I am absolutely the most Christmas obsessed person in the entire world. Lights, music, Santa, EVERYTHING….I love it. 

To really ring in the season, I convinced Shelby to go with me to Christmas Town last weekend (you are judging me, I know), and it was a great way to get into the spirit! 2 million lights, a few rides, and two twinkling Christmas hats later we began the trek home, both sure it was well worth the $40 some dollars we spent.



My Favorite Part of Christmas Town was the Snowflakes and Blue Trees at the Beginning of the Park



I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and is looking forward to the next holiday as much as I am. I cannot wait to spend the next 3 weeks enjoying every minute of this season.

Real World? No Thanks

Like many, I was not ready for what the real world had in store. I spent every minute, of my last few weeks in Blacksburg, trying to determine what I could possibly do to stay one more year.

I was not a Hokie from birth. In fact, my favorite outfit growing up was a Virginia cheerleading uniform. However, after countless days of "college shopping" with my parents, we arrived in Blacksburg.  After taking my first few steps on the campus, I knew everything about this school "felt right." Had someone told me then how much one gut feeling and an instition could affect my life, I would not have beleived them. The sheer happiness, pride, loyalty, resilience and sense of community I felt in Blacksburg are something I would never take for granted.

While I credit Virginia Tech as a whole for my wonderful college experience, it would not have been nearly as incredible without the people I met along the way. Somehow I was fortunate enough to find a group of people that always stuck it out for the good and the bad.




My 21st Birthday in Las Vegas with the Girls

 


Sig Ep

Brandy, Gina, Me and Sarah

 
Within my first months in the real world, it was hard to adjust to a setting where the majority of your friends were not a five minute walk away. Luckily, I have once again hit the jackpot making some incredible friends (new and old) in Richmond.

Speaking of incredible friends, most of you who know me also know my best friend Concetta. She is my stronger and funnier other half. For a majority of younger years I was sure she and I would make the perfect enemies, that is until we locked ourselves in my den at 10 years old and promised to "never fight again" (pretty mature for ten!). Ever since our Lockwood-Wilson Peace Summit, we have been pretty unstoppable.

Concetta and I

After seeing Concetta's blog, I decided I would write this to not only keep all of my friends updated, but also as a creative outlet after long days at work.

While I would probably still give an arm or leg to go back to Virginia Tech (with all my friends), I am also learning to appreciate being a "real person." There has been no shortage of trials and tribulations, however, I belive I am finally ready for the challenge.