rivsgivsmeshivs

A volte, voglio parlare solamente in italiano. Voglio andare in aereo, arrivare in Italia e passare tutto il giorno alla spiaggia con un bicchiere di vino nella mia mano e il sole sulla mia faccia. E, a notte, camminerei intorno la piazza con un gelato e ascoltare il suono della citta. Non penserei di ADP o le clienti irritabili o i soldi o le calorie o George Bush.

(So che, probabilmente, nessuno di voi capirete questa annotazione di diario e che questa grammatica non e' perfetto, ma ho avuto bisogno di scriverlo.)

Also, I like dogs now. What?

Well, except for the face licking...that's still gross.

Work suddenly got very difficult. That, actually, is really amazing, since I've been getting stupider every day since being done with college. Now that I'm no longer racking my brain to analyze intricate poems written in Italian, trying to demystify the legal ins and outs of the Uniform Commercial Commercial Code, or standing up to the highest standards of Dr. Deena Weinstein, I find that my brain is melting.

So, it feels good to push myself again!! I'm not one for coasting. I think I might also take a test in the fall to become a PHR (Professional in Human Resources), which would get me a little salary bump and some "badass" initials behind my name.

Work is good, Steve is good, weather is gooood. Feelin' pretty fine over here and savin' my dollahs in order to quickly get myself into a place of my own. I miss my DePaul friends, which sucks, especially since I'm sure everyone will be all over in all different places during the summer. But, meh, now that it's warmer out, I'm sure I'll be heading there soon, and much more often! Another nice thing about the warm weather: tank tops. And having boobs small enough to tank top sans bra, without looking porny.

Saw the 'Sex and the City' movie today and liked it. It wasn't any display of cinematographic genius, but it was nice for a Sunday afternoon and it was pretty fun(ny) to share the theater with a bunch of other girls that 'ooh'ed and 'ahh'ed at all the shoes and fashions and lovey stuff. Steve declined to see the movie with me, which I believe is the first time he's ever said no to me for anything (haha). I am so glad he did, as he likely would've been overcome by the estrogen and required some kind of complicated medical / psychological processes to bring him back to life. Though, I will admit, I wouldn't have minded if he gained some sort of appreciation for shoes. Ah, boys just don't understand.

In my effort to get more involved at work, I started joining a bunch of committees (old habits die hard).

And an event for the Diversity Committee is something called the Chicago Cares Serve-a-thon. I'm actually really, really excited about it. I guess for a day, you and your group go out and fix up schools around Chicago. Lately, I've been feeling so self-involved and underappreciating how lucky I am, so I think this will be really good for me. :) Another big thing is that I signed up for it by myself -- I'm sick of holding back on things just because no one else will 'do it with me'

...that's what she said.

Here's the link to my page, feel free to donate or just learn more about it the event, and the Chicago Cares organization, because they both sound really great



I also signed up for a night of 'crazy bowling,' which sounds both frightening and amazing.  Those ADP Associates better get ready to be pwned.

TWO CASUAL DAYS THIS WEEK?! AWESOME, GUYS!


(A cautionary tale for you, college friends. Enjoy beer pong while it lasts.)



(Kidding, mostly. Job is good!)

In a late-night moment of panic, I hurriedly logged on to Campus Connection to check, or re-check, some number and, there, under 'Course History', I saw it:

"Completion of Program: 03/28/08"

I am a college graduate.

I...am a college graduate? It's very weird.

I am, in short, a big crazy mess of emotions. I'm excited to be done and have a job and start making lots of money, worried that I won't like it or that it'll last forever and I'll never really find my purpose, and just generally bummed to be done with college. Admittedly, I didn't always love the ol' DePaul, but I made amazing friends and started the Italian Club and had a radio show and drank for the first time and tried weed for the first time and lived on my own for the first time and got actually kissed for the first time...and all kinds of other first times. It's hard to distance myself from the place with which I've associated all these memories. I've never been a big fan of change and, hey, this is a big one.

Seeing "Avenue Q" actually addressed a lot of this issues. Perfect timing, actually. Princeton, like myself, expressed his desperation to "find his purpose." But at the end of the show, was reminded that every thing that sucks is "only for now"...which helped assuage my fears a teensy bit. Puppets, who woulda thought? / For anyone who was wondering: it was awesome.


I was looking through freshman year pictures and feel like a totally different person. I'm boyfriend'd, I'm thinner, I'm comfortable giving presentations in front of big groups, I'm honest, I don't get stepped on and I'm not anyone's sidekick. While my college education didn't include fabulous trips abroad that 'helped me find myself,' I feel like I settled into a person that I can really like and be proud of, while staying right here. :)

Every now and then, when I'm up far too late working on a paper that I put off far too long, I'm struck with the epiphany that "everything is wonderful! life is just so amazing!" and absolutely must, at that moment, tell everyone just how much I love them. It is, yes, refreshing, but also sad that such optimism rarely shines through without help from a half gallon of Diet Mountain Dew and serious sleep deprivation. And said optimism is usually met with a cautious "...are you drunk?".

I've been kind of a hermit lately, which can probably be blamed on most, if not all of these things:
- commuting
- school
- my natural homebody tendencies
- the appearance of "guitar hero" in my house
- general winter blues?

Neither here nor there, but: I love John Mayer.
I remember when I first bought his cd, I listened to it over and over and something about his voice just gave me chills. I've been listening to "Continuum" a lot lately and, whenever I tell people about it, I say that it "makes me sad, but in a beautiful way."

This quarter, I'm taking a Sociology of Rock class, which is amazing, but also makes me realize how different I am from that music-obsessed 14 year old who would pick her friends by their favorite albums and begged and cried until her parents let her go downtown with her friends to go to concerts. I think those first few shows were some of the greatest moments of freedom I've ever felt. I was in "the city" without my mom and dad, seeing my favorite bands and getting carried away by their music. Oh man.


I don't know what caused this post or what point I was getting at, so I think that's more than enough for tonight.

This had me lolin' : http://xkcd.com/335/

So I bought this tight, leopard print dress today.

Now I wish I were crunk. Just sayin'.

oh, stef