Baby Pandas

Did you know that this is what a baby panda looks like?

Is it not the cutest thing in the world? Honestly I am always shocked when things look so differently then how they are going to turn out. Human babies pretty much look like a little human (not the smartest of phrases I have ever written but you get the idea)...nothing about this little guy says that he will be a huge black and white furry ball of love later in life. I could look at this picture all day! His little paws, closed eyes, silly furry body. Maybe I should ask B if we can have a pet baby panda!

Az!

As said before, Brett, Lauren and I will be traveling to Arizona for my brother’s wedding. Sedona is a beautiful place filled with red rocks, great hiking trails, beautiful creeks and crazy people. In anticipation of our leaving, I decided to “paint” a beautiful picture to capture our trip.



If you will notice Brett is wearing a mint green leisure suit. I hope that he will actually be able to find and wear one just like it while we are in Arizona. I know how he loves any color that matches our dining room walls. My hair is also quite sassy…I know…and Lauren’s outfit is quite spectacular!

Just so we are clear, I love nothing more then daytime drinking. Our apartment is currently filled with empty cases of beer, vodka bottles and about 7 bottle of champagne. Glorious. I will post more about the weekend later as I actually have work to do!

Minda, I swear it will be clean before you get there this weekend!

da dum dum dum

In one week I leave for my brother’s wedding in Arizona. His wedding isn’t actually until August 19th, but I will be spending 10 days there with my family and friends. On Saturday morning my Mom, Step-father, Aunt and I leave from O’Hare and will subsequently meet up with my bestie Laur at the Phoenix airport to travel up to our Vaca in Sedona. I am excited as Brett will meet us later in the week and my entire family and some very close friends will be there to celebrate!

I am incredibly pleased that my brother and his fiancé (a dear friend of mine since we were kids, actually) have found each other. They will make a wonderful couple and not only will their wedding be a blast, but their life together will be fun as well. They are as perfect together as two people can be and I am sure their future holds good things.

It still freaks me out a little though!

My brother Sean is 29…old enough to get married and ready for it. He is responsible, kind, smart and fair…he has a good job and a life he likes. The same can be said about Tariina, his fiancé. But this is my brother?! When I think of Sean, I see him in varying degrees of ages of our childhood. Never do I picture him as an adult. That is certainly not indicative of him or his current life…it is just what I have in my head. Often older adults say that they have an age that they perpetually think of themselves as being…whether it be 21 or 25 or 30. A time in their past that they feel they have never quite left behind. That is how I feel about Sean. I want to scream “NOOOO he’s just a kid!” I picture him playing wiffle ball in the street or skateboarding down the block. To me still plays baseball on Friday nights at Bowen Park. He isn’t old enough to get married because in my mind he is still 15.

I guess it all seems like such adult things. That once one of us (“us” being my brothers and me) breaks the mold of childhood, inevitably the others will have to follow. Getting married…it is what our aunts and uncles do…not us. We are supposed to be the flower girls and ring bearers, nothing more. When did we get old enough? When did this generation of our family become the ones to celebrate weddings, and soon enough, babies? I’m not ready to be that generation. I’m not ready for that change…I still like relying on the “elders” for everything (mainly b/c it keeps me from having to cook Thanksgiving dinner) but really…they are the core and I am not quite sure I am ready for that shift to begin. But it seems that Sean is…and I applaud that.

So, on August 19th at 4pm my brother will be married. He will be the beginning of 23 first-cousins in our generation. The oldest grandchild, at 29, will walk down the aisle not as a ring bearer or junior groomsmen, but as the Groom. He will set the wheels in motion for our generation and those wheels will continue to churn until the youngest of the cousins-currently age 8-does the same thing some 20 years from now. In our shared joy and happiness of this occasion, Sean will make us all a little more adult and will change a part of the family dynamic forever. Certainly not for worse…most assuredly for the better and a new addition to an already huge family is always looked upon so excitedly!

With that said, his wedding with been fantastic, his bride will be beautiful, and his family and friends will gather to celebrate a truly special marriage. Life will be good for Sean and Tariina and I cannot wait to welcome them into the family as a married couple. Keep them in your thoughts and prayers. Such a celebration is truly magical!

Cheers!

Apple of my Eye

If you can imagine, I am literally one of the last people in Chicago that did not have an I-Pod. Hard to believe as you see throngs of people on the train everyday, with their white headphones streaming out of their bags connected to their ears. Everywhere you turn…the Jewel, the gym, the lakefront, the El, the bus, the street…if there are people in transit; they seem to have an I-Pod.

I had an MP3 player but it was just not doing the job. Call me a child of consumerism, but I wanted a shiny I-Pod. I adore all things Apple, so it is only natural that I would love their little music players. It seemed, though that there were a hundred other things in life that needed my money more then an I-Pod. It seemed a bit indulgent for me to spend cash-o-la on a new MP3 player when I had wedding gifts to buy, car payments to make and student loans to pay off…but I had been secretly harboring a desire for a black Nano, hoping that Santa Claus would hear my little wish and bring me one as an early Christmas gift.

My gift came not in the form of Jolly Old St. Nick, but in the form of a Jolly Old Muslim Man! My boss, as a thank you for taking on a HUGE task, gave me a gift card to Apple. Knowing that I did not have an I-Pod of my own and that I wanted one badly, he came through with a lovely gift card and my I-Pod was a reality!

Today it arrived. It is beautiful, little, shiny and black (all of the qualities I love in people and things). The packaging is sleek and every bit as divine as I thought it would be. Apple sent me an I-Tunes gift card and a “thank you” for becoming a customer. Once again, Apple’s genius marketing department has me hooked. I want to read about my little Nano all day and go home and put my tunes on it…but alas…a day of work is necessary. I will dream of playing with the little Nano upon my arrival home, and that will get me through the day!

As this is a new toy, I need to name my I-Pod, so I am taking name suggestions. What do you think?

Nephew alert!

The little guy came to visit a couple of weeks ago with my sister and brother-in-law (like he just hopped on a plane by on his own?). It was fantastic to see him and hang out with his little perfect and happy baby self! Jen (my sister) is doing an amazing job. I cannot imagine how she functions day to day as her sleep deprivation has to be at record-breaking levels, but she is the most amazing mom. She is the same girl she used to be but now with an added bonus! Preston is the happiest baby in the world and laughs and smiles all day! Ryan and I found it difficult to keep up with the little guy and our entertaining spouts usually ended with Ryan and I on the floor laughing as Preston looked on certainly thinking “I cannot believe I am related to these guys”. There isn’t much to this, only to say that I am super proud of being an aunt to the most amazing little boy in the world and incredibly proud to be the sister and sister-in-law to his wonderful parents!

Weekend Recap!

This past weekend started with some very bad (yet ever so fun) decisions that I made while I was home visiting my parents on Friday night. The bad decisions continued as I welcomed Melinda, Josh and Adam (better known as the BFF-In-Law and BFF) into our apartment for Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

With Brett out of town we were left to our own devices and found ourselves drunk and disorderly pretty much the entire weekend. Saturday, upon their arrival, we went to the 7-11 to find something good to drink. My absolute favorite part of the weekend was when Adam grabbed a 12 pack of Miller and started to go up to the check-out counter…in classic Melinda form we hear a “only 12?” made with a face that I could not even begin to describe, but if you know the fabulous Melinda you know what I am talking about. Adam went straight back to the freezer and picked up another 12 pack. Thank the lord we have Mel around because the 4 of us finished the 24 bottles of Miller and then some that night before we went out!

Our night took us around to a couple of places, but we were pretty tired. So we hit Johnny O’blahblahblahs (both Brett and Jeff just yelled at me there), the Blarney Stone and Moxie. Mel and I were pretty exhausted so we headed home while the boys met up with some friends at the Blarney Stone and ended up rolling in a little later in the evening.

The next day was filled with fun as we ventured out into the day looking for apartments for the BFF and the BFF-in-Law. The disgusting heat was enough to kill a small donkey and the shopping/apt. hunting extravaganza was hindered by the sweat dripping off our bodies. Melinda and I came prepared with a jug of mimosas. We so elegantly said “these bitches are the ones looking for apartments, we can be drrrunk!” And we tee-tottered around until it was time for the CUBS GAME!! At 3pm we headed over to Sluggers to meet up with Frank and Jeff for a little Cubs action. A few extra tall Old Styles and a trip to the Full Shilling later, we headed over to WRIGLEY to watch the Cubs lose a game to the Mets. (or watch the guy in the England shirt look really amazingly hot all afternoon)

As you might imagine the beers were flowing and we found ourselves BACK at the Shilling where we all proceeded to get incredibly intoxicated and wild at 7pm on a Sunday afternoon. As Adam, Melinda and I were all taking the day off the next day, it took us about 7.2 seconds to convince Frank that he too should call in and have Monday off…we could not convince the hard working Jeff, but he managed to have just as much fun, we think. We parted ways with Mr. “I have to work in the morning” Jeff and moved back to our house to meet up with a sober Brett and Ben. Unforch, the night pretty much stops there for Melinda and I as we were so drunk that passing out was an almost immediate need. I do remember another 12 pack and some “Circle of Death”, but as the boys went out in boystown to celebrate the Gay Games Mel and I decided that there wasn’t a gay boy in sight that could drag us away from the apartment.

There isn’t much to say about Monday other then THE BFF AND THE BFF-IN-LAW found an APARTMENT really close to us and move in on Aug. 1st AND the BFF-in-Law FOUND A JOB!! (Plug for Joshua who is an amazing stylist…he will begin working on Aug. 1st in Chicago so if you need a change-and want it to look great-let me know) We pretty much were all hung-over and tired. After the Champaign 3-some packed up and left, Brett and I lounged around the house avoiding cleaning like the plague and watch TV all afternoon.

The weekend was a success and quite fun…so that is my little update.