Brandy in Boise

Free Blake Shelton Concert

2013-04-07T20:15:00.001-04:00

Well hello there, blog! It’s been quite some time, eh? That is likely because most of my time is spent working and my blog would look like this:

“I went to sporting events.”

Not that I’m complaining about that, because let’s be honest- my job rocks. But I do on occasion like to do things that have nothing to do with sports. Like attend an impromptu Blake Shelton concert on a Thursday night.

About two and a half weeks ago I was driving back from lunch and heard on the radio “Blake Shelton is playing a FREE concert tonight at the Blind Horse Saloon!” No time. No details. I immediately texted my coworker, Julia, and was like “DID YOU HEAR FREE BLAKE SHELTON CONCERT?!?” After a little debate we decided that we should at least TRY to get in- why not?! Fortunately we had the next day off for Spring Break.

Immediately after work we hopped in the car and headed to Greenville, hoping that we weren’t too late. We got there about 5:40pm and the. line. was. huge. The news even had a helicopter flying overhead. After about an hour of waiting in line, we were finally in. And SO excited!

It was crowded, obviously, but not as bad as I expected. It was a decent size bar but there wasn’t really a bad seat in the house! We started out near the back

but slowly got closer

and closer

until we were finally only about 30 feet away.

Blake is a great singer and we loved all of his songs, but what made it so special was that it wasn’t like a concert at all. Blake sang a lot of covers in addition to his own stuff- not everybody gets to see that! And the man took only took one two song break! It was incredible and I’m so glad we decided to go.

Mountains and Fresh Air

2013-01-23T20:16:00.001-05:00

Last week I was admittedly in a funk. I’m not sure if it was due to long hours at work, coming back from Idaho, four days of rain, or any combination of those. The fact of the matter is- I was in a bad mood.

I debated whether or not to go up to the North Carolina mountains this past weekend to visit my family. A selfish part of me wanted to just lay in bed, sleep in, and not go anywhere for my first day off in 3 weeks. Another part of me secretly knew that while that seemed appealing, it probably wasn’t going to help me feel any better.

So I threw some sweats in a bag, put on some boots and a flannel shirt, and headed up to the mountains. It was already gorgeous outside- about 65 degrees when I left Clemson- and it felt so good to turn up the music and roll down the windows.

We spent most of the afternoon just sitting on the porch in the sunshine playing card games. (I lost.) And once the sun went down we moved inside to try out the new game I brought- Quelf. It is the silliest game I’ve ever played but it elicited some much needed belly laughs as we did things like sit with straight arms and legs and yodel with one nostril plugged. I suspect the game would be even more hilarious with adult beverages, but since 3/5ths of our players were under the age of 16 that wasn’t really an option. We had a great time though.

Monday morning I slept until TEN and it was GLORIOUS.

After breakfast I asked if my aunt and cousins wanted to visit the Carl Sandburg Home with me since I had planned on stopping anyway on my way home. It is in Flat Rock, North Carolina- which is seriously one of my most favorite places I’ve ever been.

Since you can’t even see the house from the road I actually had no clue what to expect. I just always see the sign when I drive by! I was thrilled to see that the grounds were beautiful.

There is the house (of course), many walking trails, a pond, and much to my delight- a farm! Apparently Carl Sandburg’s wife was a champion goat breeder and they still breed goats on the property. Since they were doing free tours because it was MLK Jr. Day we did end up touring the house. It was like a little time capsule as when the Sandburg’s moved out they left nearly every single thing there. We were also able to walk all throughout the barn and straight into the goat pasture! The goats were adorable and friendly and I could have stayed there all day playing with them.

The sunshine, the wind in my hair, the fresh air, the farm- I was so happy and completely in my element. I felt refreshed for the first time in weeks.

It was exactly what I needed.

A Whirlwind!

2013-01-02T20:12:00.001-05:00

I flew out of Boise on Sunday. I was obviously emotional from saying goodbye to my family. Right after walking into the terminal and digging my ID out of my purse I hear, “This is the final boarding call for United Flight Whatever to Denver.” Denver? That couldn’t possibly be my flight. My flight was at 6:30 and it was only 5:35. After scrambling to look at my boarding pass my worst fear was confirmed- it WAS my flight. And it was leaving at 5:52. I started booking it toward security and yanked off my boots and coat as fast as I possibly could. I threw all my stuff on the conveyor and bounced impatiently as I waited for them to tell me it was okay to come through. On the other side I threw on my coat, half zipped my boots, and grabbed my laptop. I looked into the machine- where was my bag? All of a sudden I see the TSA agent pull it off the conveyor belt and my heart dropped. My bag had to be searched.

At this point I knew there was no hope for me making my flight. All my sadness immediately turned to stress and anger. I was so mad at myself for not double checking my flight time the night before. I was CERTAIN it was 6:30. Obviously wrong.

The TSA agent who came to search my bag asked if I had any large metal objects in my suitcase. I told her that I didn’t think so! She searched my bag three times before pulling out this:

A cast iron alligator bottle opener I’d received for Christmas. I totally forgot it was in my suitcase. After the TSA agent laughed and then still proceeded to pat me down I was finally able to rush to my gate… just in time to see the plane pull away.

Luckily I was able to get on a flight to Chicago an hour and a half later and then flew to Greenville. It cost me $75 but I was so happy to be home. I was exhausted from all the emotions. In fact, it felt like reverse jetlag. I was ready for bed at 8pm!

The next day I headed down to Atlanta to cheer on Clemson in the Chick-fil-A Bowl! It was the first time I’d ever been to a bowl game or even an away game! It was also the first time I got to watch a football game as a fan instead of working in almost 2 years.

The Chick-fil-A Bowl also had some fun little touches like dropping stuffed cows with parachutes from the ceiling and sending around a cow blimp called “Moo Force 1”.

Though it was a nerve-wracking game, Clemson scored a field goal as the final two seconds of the game ticked by to win it by 1! Talk about a rush! It was by far the most exciting game I’ve ever witnessed in person.

Yay!

By the time we’d watched the trophy ceremony it was nearly 11:30pm. We rushed out of the Georgia Dome and walked back to our hotel to try and make it for New Years. After rushing around the bar so we could the big screen TV we found out that we’d made it with 46 seconds to go. After a good ole Cadence Count we were able to count down the final ten seconds to 2012 surrounded by happy Clemson fans and awesome coworkers!

The party clearly did not stop there because we were all wayyyy too hyped up to sleep. A couple celebratory beverages and some dancing and singing later, I finally crashed at about 4am.

The next morning I rushed back to Clemson to be at a basketball game. Needless to say, I was asleep by 7:30pm.

It was the best New Year’s in a long time. Maybe ever.

Being in Idaho and Being Myself

2012-12-27T01:45:00.001-05:00

Well I’ve been in Idaho for over a week now! And honestly? It feels like I never left.

I seriously feel like maybe South Carolina was a dream. I came back and just dove right in where I left off. It may be in part that my room still has most of my things in it. When I went to South Carolina I didn’t take very many things because 1) it was a temporary job and I didn’t want to move it all again and 2) I couldn’t really afford to. So my bed, my dresser, my nightstand, and even my table lamp are all right where I left them. When I open my closet it still has a ton of my clothes in it. Everything was right where I left it.

I didn’t really realize it until I got back to Boise but I haven’t been much of myself in South Carolina. I can’t even explain how really, but I think I’ve just been less social and less outgoing than normal. It’s nice to be around people who really know me- my friends and my family.

Today I had the pleasure of having coffee with my dear friend Kendra.

[This is us from junior year (pretty sure) of high school. Unfortunately I don’t have an updated photo of us together!]

Kendra is that friend that no matter how long you go without talking, everything is exactly the same when you finally have time to chat. We became friends in 4th grade and though we’ve had our ups and downs throughout the years, I still consider her one of my dearest friends. She is the person that I know will always back up what I’m thinking because we think so much alike. And of all the wonderful people I’ve met in the past decade, nobody clicked with me quite like she does.

I’ve told multiple people this, but being in your 20’s is such a difficult time to meet people and to maintain friendships. People are going through so many life changes during this decade. They could be working, just finishing their masters, just finishing their undergrad, married, married with 2-3 kids! They could still love to party, they can be starting to settle down, or they could have no clue what they really want. And maybe I’m looking in the wrong places, but it is awfully hard to find people who are in the same place as you are. Moving to a new state doesn’t help too much either. :)

But days like today when we can meet for coffee and talk for so long that I forget what time it even is? Those are days that I truly cherish. Because it’s so hard to find those kinds of friends.

After coffee with Kendra I came back home to play in the snow with Riley. That dog just REALLY loves snow.

We had a great time and I know that we will have another really tough goodbye. I can’t even believe that it’s close to time to go back to South Carolina. I’m excited to get back to work and to be in the warm South! I leave here the 30th, will head to Atlanta for the Chick-fil-A Bowl on the 31st, and then back to Clemson to work a basketball game on the 1st! The strangest part of leaving this time is that I don’t really know when I’ll be back. That’s the first time that has ever happened.

Hopefully I’ll have more southern adventures to tell you about in 2013. I’m trying to take advantage of all my time there because who knows where I’ll be next!

My Top Five

2012-12-09T21:04:00.001-05:00

Because I’m watching movies. Because I haven’t written in a while. Just because I feel it…

I’m presenting you with my top 5 favorite movies of all time.

5. Beauty and the Beast

This is my favorite Disney movie ever. (Though Up and Tangled are darn close seconds.) It’s something about Belle… she’s clearly the best Disney princess. She’s smart and stands up for herself. I love that she just tells Gaston where he can shove it. But I’m also a sucker for the plot…seeing beauty on the inside! Aww!

4. Titanic

Like everybody else, I’ve seen this movie sooooo many times. But somehow whenever it’s on I just can’t help but stop in watch. I’m not ashamed that I saw it in 3D when it came out…

3. Elizabethtown

The first time I saw this movie I actually didn’t really know what to think. I mean, it was kind of dark. But for some reason I rented it again and sort of fell in love with it. I think that maybe it’s because each of us all can relate to Drew and somewhere deep down a part of us wants to be like Claire.

2. Finding Neverland

I don’t know about you, but the older I get the more enthralled with the idea of Peter Pan I become. Nothing beats this twist on that classic tale- which actually tells the story of J.M. Barrie!

1. He’s Just Not That Into You

This is truly the one movie I can watch over and over and NEVER get sick of it. Although it’s clearly hyperbole, I think it portrays the dynamics of romantic relationships so well. Plus there’s just something about Ginnifer Goodwin- she’s so adorable.

Honorable Mentions

Stardust, Up, The King’s Speech, Tangled, The Proposal, Mamma Mia, all the Harry Potter movies

What are some movies that you can watch over and over?

Thanksgiving

2012-11-23T21:33:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was the first Thanksgiving I have ever spent away from parents and childhood home. (Ironically enough I have spent Christmas away once when my sister was living in Portland and couldn’t get time off work to come home.) I made the trek up to North Carolina to spend the holiday with some family (my dad’s step-sister and her family).

Sidebar: North Carolina is like a COMPLETELY different state once the leaves fall. Who knew there was all that stuff hiding in the woods?!

I am so so thankful that they welcomed me into their home and shared their meal with me but I did find myself becoming quite homesick throughout the day. I am admittedly a person of habit and sometimes I am a little thrown off when I am not in my element. Trying to cook in someone else’s kitchen is something that threw me off. I found myself a little anxious over it but my aunt had the perfect wine to fix that! (Of course.)

We played games, drank tea and hot apple cider, and obviously ate ourselves into a coma. I tried not to eat too much because I had to drive back to Clemson yesterday so that I could be at work today. Who decided that football rivalry week should be the weekend after Thanksgiving?! It seems like a good idea until you work in college athletics.

Anyhow, after dinner we Skyped with my parents and sister (and Riley)

and then played a game of reverse Apples to Apples, using the nouns to try to describe the adjectives (held the green cards in our hands). It actually was pretty hilarious. Then I had to pack up my car and drive back home.

(Drove by two Walmarts and a Kmart on the way home….HOLY COW.)

I’m glad that my family (also Westerners) at least cooked a meal that was similar to the one I would have had at home. Here is a list of things I’ve learned about a Southern Thanksgiving:

The most food EVER
Turkey AND ham
Sweet potato casserole
Potato salad (isn’t that summer food?)
Macaroni and cheese (or mac and cheese pie, depending on who you ask)
Cornbread stuffing
Stuffing is actually “dressing” (THAT had me confused for a while)

Every single time you think you’re getting acclimated to Southern culture they throw something else weird at you.

Now I’m gearing up for the last home football game of the season! Hopefully I’ll find myself a little more inspired to write. :)

I Wonder

2012-10-30T23:21:00.001-04:00

I’m being strangely reflective tonight. Mostly it’s a lot of “I wonder”s. Not regret- just simple curiosity.

Maybe everyone has moods like this, but I’ve always been a person who’s been keenly aware to what I deemed as “crossroad moments”. Moments like sitting with my fellow marketing majors at graduation, laughing together and reliving all the hours we’d spent together to work toward this goal. And clapping and woohoo-ing for our classmates as they each received their diploma. And when we finally stood up- graduates- and the row ahead of us filed out with a smile and a “See you later!” I knew as I uttered “Yeah, see you later!” that I would probably never see those people again.

Even more drastic- high school graduation. People I had literally spent 13 years of my life with. People I saw every. single. day. Most of them turned into people I never saw again.

Old friends. Ex-boyfriends. Past coworkers. Classmates. What happened to all of those people? I find myself wondering about them every so often when a song, a scent, a photo, a place makes me think of them. Are they happy?

And on nights like tonight I can’t help wonder about other moments. The moment I decided to leave Denver. The moment I decided not to go back. The moment I left that job in the middle of the day because someone was being disrespectful in a way I couldn’t tolerate. The moment I decided to switch my major to marketing. The moment I quit my job to pursue an internship in LA. The moment I packed all my things into a Dodge Stratus and drove across the country.

I don’t regret any of those moments. But what would my life be like if any of those moments were different?

My life certainly didn’t follow my “master plan”. Or even the plan that others had for me. Did all those other people follow their master plan?

I just wonder. I sometimes find myself wanting to reach out to people just to say “Are you okay? I was thinking about you and I just wanted to make sure that you’re okay.” But even if I should, I rarely do.

Instead I think up moody blog posts and contemplate whether I will hit “publish” on this- basically- journal entry. But I just wanted to let you know that you crossed my mind. And I hope you’re okay.

Welcome to Biltmore

2012-10-28T15:21:00.001-04:00

As I mentioned, my dad’s stepsister and her family live just under 2 hours away from me near Asheville, North Carolina. It’s been a huge blessing to have them near because sometimes I just need to get away from this tiny college town and hang out with people who really know me. They’ve provided this relief for me on multiple occasions. :)

Two weekends ago I had a Monday off from work so I decided to head up to the mountains for a little R&R, and for a trip to the Biltmore Estate.

If it isn’t already, you NEED to put “Visit North Carolina in the fall.” on your bucket list.

Breathtaking. And somebody even told me that it wasn’t “peak season”. Whoa.

On Sunday I spent the day with my family. We spent the entire day eating donuts, drinking hot chocolate, and playing board games. Like we didn’t even eat real dinner (oops.). And it was amazing. You have no idea how comforting it is to be around people you know.

After spending the night there I got up bright and early to head to the Biltmore Estate. I’ll be honest- before I moved here I had no idea that this place even existed. In fact, I saw it on our video board at football and was like WHAT IS THAT PLACE?!

Biltmore Estate was the home of George and Edith Vanderbilt. It is the largest private home in the United States. And quite possibly the prettiest.

There are 250 rooms in this place! Since I was alone and it was my first time there, I decided to take the audio tour [Sidebar: How awkward is it to take a self-paced audio tour when you’re in a group?!]. I thought the audio tour was well worth the extra $10 because it provided a lot more insight and stories than the printed house guide did. I listened to every single track for every single room and all in all it took me about an hour and a half to get through the house. I wish I had pictures to show you, but unfortunately pictures are forbidden inside.

I thought the whole place was astounding- I can’t believe there was a time in America in which people lived like this! But it did fulfill some Downton Abbey fantasies I had.

I ended up buying a 12 month season pass because they had an awesome deal going and I’d only have to go twice to pay it off. I’m excited to go back for Christmas and to take some of the other tours they have available.

After touring the house I proceeded out to the gardens. Wow. I could have spent all day just wandering through those!

Seriously stunning. The best part is that you get to drive literally though the middle of it all. I’d have been pleased to just drive from one end of the estate to the other!

After touring the garden I hopped back into my car for the drive over to Antler Hill Village. Obviously this was not part of the original estate, but it was a lovely little addition. There is a winery (with unlimited wine tasting! Though sadly I didn’t like most of their wines. I do recommend the Christmas White and House Red.), many restaurants, a museum exhibit, a creamery, and a little stable/farm. While most things were quite pricy, I did have some delicious fish and chips and a beer.

The whole day took me about six hours. Though I’m sure I could have spent plenty more, I was exhausted and ready to get on the road to home. But I can’t wait to visit Biltmore again!

An Update

2012-10-22T10:19:00.001-04:00

I wish I had some crazy excuse for why I haven’t been posting about my adventures in the South. But the truth of the matter is that I haven’t been writing because every time I sit down to write, the words just don’t come. I’m not sure if that’s because I’m having writer’s block or if it’s because I just don’t know what to say.

I get asked almost daily how I’m liking and adjusting to the South. My usual response is that I like it. I like the people. I like the food. I like their quirky little proper ways. I like that there is so much history and so many things to do that are so close. I like the weather. And most importantly, I like my job.

I like this place. When I walk through Greenville (the closest major “city” to Clemson), I feel like I could love it almost as much as I love Boise. Clemson itself is small. I know MAYBE 30 people and I still run into people I know. And I admittedly don’t explore much around Clemson itself because I feel like every place here is meant for college students. Either that or I just don’t know where to go that ISN’T full of college students. But I’m going to try to make an effort to spend more time exploring Greenville and making connections there.

There are obviously things I miss about Boise. My family. Riley. My favorite restaurants. Snow (and skiing). Going to an event and knowing that I’ll see 50 of my favorite people. Fingersteaks. The Blue turf. And a million other things that could take up an entire blog themselves. A couple days ago marked the longest I have ever been away from Boise.

But the people here are so kind. And my job is so rewarding. And right now I can’t imagine a better place to be.

A Bad Day

2012-09-03T22:52:00.001-04:00

I’m generally a very happy person. In fact, I would venture to say that I rarely have bad days. And most the time my blog is a comedic, hyperbole of my life. But today I had a horrible day and I just feel like complaining. Sorry.

I just want to start by saying that it’s never a good omen when you’re a state employee and you have to work on Labor Day. Hello…national holiday?! I mean, it would have been nice to have it off but what else would I really have done? Watched Netflix and eaten ice cream.

And then I go and lose my cell phone. I am 90% sure that it slipped out of my back pocket while I was driving around campus in a golf cart. And when I try to call my mother (and my own cell) somehow I accidentally (unknowingly) dial 911. And of course the police come to my office. But I wasn’t there because I was out driving around campus trying to find my lost cell phone. Which I obviously haven’t found.

And somewhere between losing my cell phone and getting a call from the police I pinched and bruised my elbow in an a-frame sign.

And then I almost got locked in the football stadium (crisis averted thankfully). And then of course the soccer video board wasn’t working. AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF I spilled pizza all down the front of my white shirt.

Now I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to wake up for work in the morning because when you use your cell phone as an alarm clock and then lose your cell phone you also lose your alarm clock. And your calculator. And your flashlight.

I’m thankful I rarely have bad days.

There was a cockroach IN MY ROOM. Now there is a cockroach in the sewer system.

2012-08-22T20:38:00.001-04:00

Let me preface THIS post by saying today I hate the South.

This morning as I’m lying in my bed I glance over and see a COCKROACH climbing up the wall. A COCKROACH. In my room. This situation is already not funny. Of course I totally freak out because there is a cockroach IN MY ROOM. By my bed. Where it could have crawled on me.

Anybody who’s ever encountered a large, scary bug knows that there is always an internal struggle between getting adequate bug killing supplies and taking your eyes off of the beast. Fortunately I have a fly swatter in my room. Unfortunately that didn’t really seem to help that much.

The first thing you need to know about me is that I don’t even feel that the fly swatter has a long enough handle to properly protect me. And I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to use a fly swatter in a corner or next to a baseboard, but it doesn’t really work all that well. My usual go-to method of getting the bug away from the baseboard is to spray it with hairspray- which is stupid because I use expensive hairspray.

Second thing- cockroaches are dang fast. The good news is that I don’t really have any furniture for them to hide under. Anyhow, I spray the thing with hairspray and basically nothing happens. So I have to attempt to hunt the thing down so I can swat it. It goes FLYING THROUGH THE AIR. Every time I hit it it ricochets off to the swatter. EEK! Finally I daze it enough to scoop it up and flush it down the toilet.

I heard cockroaches like moist places- there you go.

Of course I tell everyone and their neighbor about my experience and my Twitter friends and coworkers take it upon themselves to tell me every horrible thing about cockroaches. Then of course I go google it.

Bad decision.

I’m not sure if it’s worse to google medical symptoms or cockroaches. Google tells me that there must be an entire colony of them living inside my walls. I go to Walmart to buy spray and poison. It’s never good news when many of the cockroach killing products are sold out.

Tonight I have sprayed a no cockroach Raid zone around my bed. I think I will sleep with the lights on.

Thoughts On The South

2012-08-19T18:06:00.001-04:00

I know, I’ve been down here four weeks. Whatever.

Let me preface this post by saying that I LOVE the South. Is it like living in a foreign country? Pretty much. But I still think it’s a pretty great place so far.

Now if you’ve never been in the south eastern United States let me tell you, things are definitely different here.

Things I’m not used to:

Crazy thick trees.
Crazy amounts of rain
Crazy humidity

Things that are just plain weird to a Westerner:

Calling a grocery cart a buggy
Tons of Baptist churches that each have their own graveyard
Eating multiple fried foods in one meal (One day I had chicken strips, fried okra, fried squash, cornbread, and sweet potato casserole FOR LUNCH. Serious-as a heart attack).
Boiled peanuts
Fried corn nuggets (What IS that?!)
Collard greens, turnip greens, AND mustard greens in the produce section at the store
Every town has a water tower
Every town has a sign proclaiming their pride and joy high school (Welcome to Pendleton! Home of Pendleton High School- 3A State Band Champs???)

Some of the things I expected are exactly the same: southern girls, monograms, traditions, fried food. Some things I never thought of throw me off guard: cockroaches, things being basically closed on Sundays, really loud bugs. But despite the culture shock, I really do like it here. I love my job and am so so glad I took the leap to try something new.

Of course there are hard things like living in an apartment complex of loud college kids, finding my way around, and building a new social network from the ground up. And I still find myself homesick- longing to hang out with my family, play with my dog, and eat at all of my favorite restaurants. But how will we ever know where we want to go if we never try anything new? New adventures, new perspectives!

I will try to be better about posting little updates about life in the south!

That One Time When I Was a Groomsman

2012-08-11T15:35:00.001-04:00

My cousin, Dominick, and I have always been really close. So I was totally honored when he asked me to be in his wedding. But I really started to get excited when he asked me to be a groomsman.

You see, I don’t really like like weddings all that much. I don’t like the pomp and circumstance or the old fashioned traditions. But being in the wedding as a guy?! Yes, I could totally do that.

Here are some great things about being the only girl groomsman:

Picking out your own dress and shoes. No worrying. No hating the stuff the bride picked! I actually had the same dress as the bridesmaids but mine was black and white instead of purple.
Hanging out with all the guys.
Getting the bridesmaid’s gift AND the groomsmen’s gift! Okay maybe that was just unique to this situation. My cousin and his wife gave me this cute little monogrammed makeup bag with all sorts of emergency stuff in it! Like a lint roller, chapstick, etc! Then the bride also gave all of us girls a gorgeous necklace to wear in the ceremony. One of the bridesmaids had cute little monogrammed tumblers made AND my cousin gave me the groomsmen’s gift of a flask! Love it!
Waking up at 10:30 to get ready with the guys instead of waking up at 7:30 with the girls.

Here are some sucky things about being the only girl groomsman:

Getting to talk about airplanes for 2 hours before the wedding.
Being asked “Can you put on my tie?”, “Can you tighten my pants/vest/tie?”, or “Can you lint roll my jacket?” every 5 mins. (Team Mom)
Being framed to look like an alcoholic because all the other groomsmen think it would be funny to put all their empty beer bottles in front of you and then you get a talkin’ to by the bride’s mother.
Having to take jumping pictures in wet grass in high heels.
Getting made fun of every time you tear up or cry.

Overall, though, I had a great time! It was really great to share in that special moment with my cousin.

On a side note, look how cute my present turned out!!

I love the versatility of plain brown wrapping paper!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the wedding:

How cute are they?!

[Photographer]

I’ll be back soon with updates on life in the South!

[It’s basically like living in a different country.]

Road Trip [Part Two]

2012-07-30T21:55:00.001-04:00

After leaving our little journey through the Gateway Arch, we headed over to Nashville, Tennessee for a little country! We booked a room at the Nashville Renaissance, which was right downtown! I would highly recommend staying there. We had amazing service and it didn’t hurt that there was a Starbucks in the lobby. We got into town kind of late so we used valet parking to hurry up the process a little.

In case you were wondering it is kind of embarrassing to valet park your 2001 Dodge Stratus with a pink bicycle on the back of it at a really nice hotel.

Then on the recommendation of the bell hop we went for some good ole Southern food at The Southern. Everything we put in our mouths was amazing. I had a delicious prime rib with potato wedges and grilled asparagus!

We then went to check out the bars down Broadway.

We didn’t go inside a single one. Real party animals, you know?

[And we had done a really long drive that day.]

The next morning we got up and at my insistence we headed straight for the Nashville Parthenon. The Nashville Parthenon is a full scale replica of the original Parthenon on the Athens Acropolis. I am a HUGE Greek art buff so I couldn’t possibly leave Nashville without seeing that replica.

Plus I’m pretty sure I was able to prove to my dad that him paying for my college education was completely worth it as I rattled off everything I knew about Greek art and architecture. That never hurts.

Then we meandered over to the pinnacle of Nashville- the Country Music Hall of Fame.

I was really excited to see this because I am a HUGE country music fan. But as we went through it I realized I was more of a Kenny Chesney fan than a Buck Owens fan and spent more time taking pictures of Taylor Swift’s clothes than of telegrams from Merle Haggard.

I’m guess I could have done without that tour. But I think both of my parents enjoyed it a lot.

After filling our minds with Greek history and souls with country music, we got back on the road to continue the final leg of our trip to my aunt and uncle’s house near Asheville, North Carolina. We took some great back roads and I fell. in. love. with Tennessee.

I’ve never seen trees this thick in my life.

We stayed at my aunt and uncle’s place while my parents were here because we wanted to spend time with them and I didn’t even own a bed so staying at my place was kind of not an option. We commuted to Clemson (about an hour and forty-five min drive) twice to sign my lease and buy a bed, hangers, and some cleaning supplies.

Today we reached our final state of the trip, Georgia, when I took my parents to Atlanta to catch a flight back to Boise. :(

So tonight I am sleeping in my new bed in my new apartment with my new roommates for the first time. Tomorrow I will make a mad dash to unpack most of my things, buy groceries, and blog about the wedding. And hopefully SLEEP.

Wednesday is my first day of work!

Road Trip [Part One]

2012-07-29T09:57:00.001-04:00

I’m here! I’m alive! Nobody died from spending 4 days in a car together!

We hit the road about 7:30 MDT on Monday to make the trek to Cheyenne, WY where we would stay with my dad’s friends for the evening. I had a REALLY hard time saying goodbye to Riley. :(

Our first stop was in Brigham City, Utah to buy some of my most favorite scone mix ever. I used to be able to find it at grocery stores in Idaho but for some reason haven’t been able to locate it. Since we were passing through there anyway I figured it wouldn’t hurt to stock up. :)

Then we were off through Wyoming! I don’t know if you’ve ever driven through Wyoming, but it is quite a boring place. Nothing to see for MILES. Fortunately we got caught in a thunderstorm that perked the place up a bit.

Our next stop was Laramie, Wyoming to eat at The Library Sports Grille and Brewery.

It was right across the street from the University of Wyoming and had a distinctly college feel to it. The food was really good and we spent a couple minutes admiring the University of Wyoming campus before jumping back into the car to head to Cheyenne.

After spending the night in Cheyenne, we started to plug our way through Nebraska. From this point on it was new territory for me. And if you thought Wyoming was boring, let me tell you- Nebraska is WORSE. Incredibly boring, lots of corn. I seriously don’t even have a single photo worth showing you. We stopped in Lincoln for lunch and I had my first experience with KFC Buffet. WEIRD. [They are seriously all over the place down here in the South!] They also had sideways stoplights which made me angry.

On to Missouri.

We made a quick jaunt through the corner of Iowa before heading down to Kansas City to spend the night. At the recommendation of a Facebook friend we drove over to the Kansas side of the city (adding to my list of states!!) to eat at Oklahoma Joe’s. I read on Yelp that we would end up waiting in line for 30 mins to an hour to order so I took the tips of many Yelpers and called our order ahead. We then took it back to our hotel room to enjoy where it was quiet. :)

I wanted to eat TRUE Kansas City barbecue while I was there and I have to say that I was a little disappointed. The food was by no means bad, but I was expecting blow your socks off barbecue. I had the brisket sandwich and while their fries and sauce were good, I think that I’ve had equally good brisket at Mickey Ray’s in Boise.

The next morning we got up to drive across Missouri to St. Louis where we made a brief stop to check out the Gateway Arch!

We decided to forego the trip to the top because if you’ve been on one tall structure, you’ve kind of been on them all. I’ve been up the Washington Monument, the Space Needle, and the Eiffel Tower and the only one I can truly say I was thrilled to go up with the Eiffel Tower. I’m glad we didn’t go up the Arch. Inside they have a great museum on the westward expansion of the United States! I loved it and I think I learned more about Lewis and Clark’s journey through Idaho there than I ever have IN Idaho.

I also got my first glimpse of the Mississippi River!

[It’s big.]

I will recap Nashville through arriving in the South tomorrow!

Quick Pre Move Thoughts

2012-07-23T02:12:00.001-04:00

I’m back in Boise and my bed for one quick night before I set off on my new adventure. I’ve logged about 30 hours in the car in the past 4 days and I’m exhausted and emotionally drained from stress, excitement, nervousness, and LIFE.

I had an amazing time at the wedding and I will do a full recap of my time as a groomsman in a week or so when I have time!

Tonight I am so nervous that I feel like I am going to throw up. I oscillate between extreme excitement and sooo many tears. I’m currently snuggled in bed with Riley trying not to cry. I don’t know how I am going to say goodbye to that little dog tomorrow morning. :(

I am mostly thrilled with my decision to move across the country. This is a HUGE opportunity and I feel like it will be an amazing learning experience. Everything about Clemson seems perfect for me- the town, the school, the athletic programs, the people, the food. The only thing that isn’t perfect is that my family and friends won’t be with me.

But I’ve been through this before. And I can do it again.

I will miss you, Idaho.

Almost Two Weeks Worth of Updates!

2012-07-18T00:36:00.001-04:00

Hi there, blog. :) I have been SO crazy busy finishing up work, packing, meeting up with friends, trying to get ready for a wedding, and planning a cross country move that I haven’t really had much time to update my blog! I wish I would have had time to do a post on each of these things but the further behind I got I realized that it just wasn’t gonna happen.

Please accept my apology and this picture of a cute dog:

He will be my hardest goodbye. :(

Bachelor Party

As I mentioned, since I’m a groomsman I was invited to the bachelor camping party! I decided that I would do only one night because I wasn’t sure that I could stomach two. Let me tell you, I was SO disappointed in my first bachelor party!! Normal guys! Having normal fun! Where was my debauchery?! The keg stands?! The giant cake with a Playboy bunny inside???!!? Talk about a let down! We (them) spent a lot of time drinking, boating, playing corn hole, and talking girls, politics, and poop. Which is totally perfect for my cousin- just good ole boys’ time. Ladies, not all your husbands are out doing coke lines off of a stripper at a bachelor party. I promise.

Bridal Shower

The next morning I got up at 5:30am to tear down my tent, pack up my dog, and zoom back to Boise for a 10:30am bridal shower. I even managed to squeeze in a shower and put on a dress beforehand! Mimosas, cake, and banana custard french toast….YUM.

I was a little disappointed in our service for such a nice place. What’s even more awkward is that I KNEW our server.

Nap

Enough said.

Bachelorette Party

My cousin’s fiance brought some of her friends and her mom to town so we headed out that night for some debauchery of our own! Beads, body shots, and bull riding! Plus I had the most amazing gnocchi with arugula and pecan pesto in a blackberry reduction for dinner. Amazing night.

Going Away Party

I met a few of my friends for drinks and appetizers at The Reef rooftop patio. I was a blast and a half since I had eight glasses of ice water and one tequila/something shot from some Asian I don’t know. (Kidding. I totally know him! :)) And then I went home at 8:30pm. I’m obviously tons of fun! South Carolina friends can line up here to my right! But, in all seriousness, it was lovely to see everyone and it made me SO SAD that I am leaving. I’ve spent ages building this professional network that somehow turned into a network of friendships. And I can’t pretend that it’s not intimidating to start all over, but most of them are only a tweet away! My friend Richae gave me this sweet little pot so I can take a piece of Idaho with me!

My friend Karissa also gave me the most darling little Boise State coffee coozie so I can take my dear Broncos to the South! I will get a picture as soon as I have coffee to slip it on!

Car Show/Cruise

Saturday night my parents and I decided to go to a dinner and a car…cruise? Basically just a lot of hotrods cruising up and down Main Street. We had dinner at Flatbread Community Oven, which is a favorite of mine. Mostly because they have wine flights. Our dinner was delish (their tomato basil soup is to die for!). On a whim we decided to order dessert. We ordered sticky buns at the recommendation of our server and dug into them to find BACON! Now I’m not a huge bacon person and had I known that they had bacon in them I probably wouldn’t have ordered them but they were so. damn. good. I didn’t even think to take a picture because I was too busy stuffing my face. We then went outside to enjoy the music and cars. Minus a mini downpour, we had a really great time. This one was my favorite:

I swear I’ve done more stuff in the past two weeks than I have in the past 2 years! Phew!

Travel Plans

I am leaving to go to my cousin’s wedding in Montana Thursday morning. It is a 12.5 hour drive (oy.). I will be there Friday and Saturday (probably running around like crazy! Hoping to snag some time for fun!!) and will leave early Sunday to come back to Idaho. Then my parents and I will turn right around and head to South Carolina!!! We might leave Monday if I’m feeling alright from all my traveling, but if not then we will leave Tuesday as we had originally planned. I just insisted that I have enough time between trips to watch the Bachelorette finale. Because that’s important. Obviously.

Boise, ID —> Cheyenne, WY---> Kansas City, MO –-> Nashville, TN ---> Clemson, SC!

My next update will be from the road!!

Yay Idaho! Yay America!

2012-07-06T00:54:00.001-04:00

This Fourth of July was probably one of the best I’ve had in a really long time. And I was in bed by 8:30pm. Seriously.

My sister and I and a few friends (12 of us total) decided that to celebrate America, we would drive to Council, Idaho (about 2ish hours away from Boise) to watch small town America race wild porcupines. YES.

We met up about 9:30 to begin our journey and ended up taking three cars because there were 12 of us.

We also ceremoniously belted out “Party in the USA” with our hands up over our heads in our red, white, and blue car caravan.

During a quick pee and buy snacks stop in the middle of nowhere we came across THIS.

The premise seems fun enough: eat pie, get drunk. And the stuff was packing a powerful punch at 13.5% alcohol content!

I mean, there was obviously no way we COULDN’T buy it. We had to. It was beckoning to us.

There were approximately 3 seconds between us exiting the gas station and breaking into that baby. The following transpired:

I think you can pretty easily tell how that went. At first it’s like delicious chocolate cream then your palette detects a hint of red wine then the burning hits and you feel like you just drank rubbing alcohol. Bad product, EXCELLENT video and blog content.

After briefly pondering how open container law applied to squeeze cans, we headed along our merry way. And since we failed to give the Canadians any credit on July 1st, we sang Call Me Maybe for a good half hour.

We pulled into Council about 15 minutes before the famed porcupine races and ran over to catch this killer action!!

Hilarious.

Basically in order to participate you have to go catch your own porcupine, take it to the parade, put in a trashcan, then push it down a lawn with a broom, After racing your porcupine you are required to take it back to the exact spot from which you abducted it.

New favorite sport.

You really just can’t beat that kind of fun. We tried though by watching some lawn mower races (holy fast) and eating in the world’s most sketchy diner.

Following lunch we headed to the park to catch some lumberjack competitions before jumping back in our cars to head back to civilization. Great GREAT day.

I’m definitely not going to be able to finish my Boise Bucket List but that experience made up for at least two of them.

Tomorrow I’m headed back up to nearly the same area for a camping bachelor party. I’m a groomsman (yes, for real) in my cousin’s wedding. I think I might be the only girl. I’m scared. I’ve camped with these fellas before.

If you don’t hear from me by Monday please send help!

From a Bronco to a…

2012-07-02T21:33:00.001-04:00

Well…I have big news.

I am going to be a Clemson Tiger!

That’s right. I have accepted a position at Clemson University. Which is in South Carolina. Which is really far away from Idaho. 2,253 miles to be exact.

This position is a one year paid internship. And I am so excited. I had a great internship experience at Boise State and am really looking forward to expanding my skill set at such an iconic institution. Not only will it be a great addition to my resume, I am beyond confident that Clemson is the place for me.

Small town country living
Southern gentlemen with southern accents
Football
Fried chicken
Sweet tea

Need I say more?

I first applied for this job back in March and once I began reading about Clemson I fell. in. love. It’s a small town with a university about the size of Boise State and most importantly the people are SO friendly. Well, that’s what I hear. I’ve yet to actually step foot in the state of South Carolina. But it can’t be much worse than moving to LA to live with strangers, right?

[People in LA are mean.]

I will miss my beloved Blue, but seriously…

HOW COOL IS THAT?!

I am equal parts excited and terrified.

I leave for my cousin’s wedding in Montana on July 14th and immediately upon my return I will begin my cross country journey.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

I need to start practicing my y’alls and my all y’alls. And get something monogrammed. Stat.

Getaway- Redfish Lake

2012-06-27T12:02:00.001-04:00

This past weekend my mom, sister, and I decided to head up to Redfish Lake near beautiful Stanley, ID for a little R&R.

The Sawtooth Mountains are so gorgeous and it was nice to get away. It’s about a 3 hour drive from Boise so we just drove up Saturday morning and went immediately to the horse corrals to take a trail ride!

My horse’s name was Roy and he was almost 17 hands!!! [If you don’t know anything about horse height, just know that is TALL.] The ride was an hour and had great views of the lake and the mountains. I haven’t been on a horse for probably 8 or so years so I was a wee bit saddle sore the next morning. It was worth it though.

After our ride we went to grab some lunch and check into our room at Redfish Lake Lodge. Of course then we had to take a quick nap- what else is vacation for?!

After naps we went down to find my sister on the beach. One of the coolest things (maybe my favorite thing) about the entire trip was that I found this:

I completely forgot that the last time we were there I carved my name into this log.

[Brandy circa 2006 :)]

After that we decided to take a hike to a nearby marsh for some supposedly spectacular views. It was about 2 miles in but we didn’t actually make it because the sun was going down and our feet were wearing out so we headed back to the lodge to eat the most amazing dinner I’ve ever had.

The next morning after breakfast but before leaving town we decided to attempt the same hike again, regardless of our blistered feet and saddle sore legs. It was worth it.

I’ll make you an offer you can’t refuse

2012-06-25T11:17:00.001-04:00

I’m a bad blogger.

A week and a half ago I finally crossed another item off of my Boise Bucket List! Maybe one of my bucket list items should have been “Blog about Bucket List in a timely fashion”.

But better late than never!

One of my friends invited me to see The Godfather- which I had never seen- as part of the Boise Classic Movies series. We decided to meet at Old Chicago for some dinner beforehand. Since I had works at the peds office that is about 30-45 mins from downtown Boise, we decided to meet an hour after I got off of work. Fortunately it didn’t take me as long to get downtown as I anticipated so I decided to take a stroll through Freak Alley and cross that off my list before getting a table.

Freak Alley lies right off of 8th street betweeen Idaho and Bannock in downtown Boise. It is essentially graffiti but you must have permission to paint in the space. I know it started in 2011 but I really am unsure if they change out the art or not.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Freak Alley Gallery

VIEW SLIDE SHOW

DOWNLOAD ALL

The theme there is obviously freedom.

I really liked going through there but I certainly didn’t see anything that I absolutely fell in love with. And I didn’t see any freaks- that was disappointing. I’m glad I took the time to stroll through though!

As far as The Godfather goes? Wellll….I was confused. And a little sleepy. I had some trouble following the storyline because 1) I can’t understand their accents and 2) there were too many Italians that looked alike.

Oh well. You win some, you lose some.

It Just Wouldn’t Be Summer…

2012-05-31T01:44:00.001-04:00

…if my sister and I didn’t stake out a women’s cycling tour so we could catch a glimpse of Patrick Dempsey.

He’s just as dreamy in person. :)

Speedy.

2012-05-25T21:14:00.001-04:00

[This is my 300th blog post!!! WHAT?!]

I’ve always been a busy person. I am VERY good at juggling multiple projects, jobs, and responsibilities. In fact, I thrive on it. I suck at days off.

Today I worked for the first time since graduating and it. was. so. nice.

Now, there’s something you have to know about me. I am either go, go, go! or I enter sloth mode. It’s clear I prefer the prior. There’s something about having no agenda for the day (or worse, several days!) that makes me disinclined to ever leave the couch. Or my sweats. Before yesterday I hadn’t left my house in a week and a half.

I know, right?

I’ve been trying to keep myself busy by teaching myself Photoshop and some JavaScript in order to enhance my resume but it’s just not the same as my super busy schedule. I should pick up a hobby of some sort- suggestions?

Does anyone else have this problem?!

Les Bois

2012-05-16T23:54:00.001-04:00

I love saying Les Bois! It just rolls off of your tongue so smoothly! In French, les bois means the woods. I’m sure it probably has something to do with the fact that Boise is called the City of Trees, despite the fact that it is located in the middle of a desert.

Les Bois Park is the local horseracing track! I had never been until I went a week ago with my sister! In all fairness, it should have been on my Boise Bucket List but for some reason I managed to overlook it.

Wednesday is ladies night so we got in for free and were surprised to find out that most of their food and beer was pretty inexpensive!

I’d just like to say that the best part about going with your sister is that you can look at her immediately after scarfing down a hamburger and guiltlessly admit that you’re still hungry. Then you can eat a hotdog and she won’t judge you. Those with sisters know exactly what I’m talking about.

Of course I’ve always wanted to bet on a horserace! Which turned out to be a slight problem when my sister and I had ZERO clue how to read the program/stats. We finally settled on a horse called Perfect Margarita- not because of his name, but because he had the most money next to his name. We bet across the board so the dang horse just had to place but of course he came in fourth! Oh well. We only lost $6. My sister put it perfectly though, “I can see how this is addicting! I really want to win!!”

We had a great time and I definitely hope to hit at least one more race before the summer ends!

The End. And the Beginning.

2012-05-14T00:43:00.001-04:00

There are some things like nobody tells you. Like how business majors nationwide have to suffer through wearing a tassel that is officially colored “drab”. Or that when there are 1,399 other people waiting to hear their name called, you will be bored out of your mind and glad you brought your cell phone.

It’s taken me 2 schools, 5 total years, 2 years off, and approximately $30,000 to obtain this degree (thanks, Daddy!). I gave up my social life, my time, and frequently my sanity.

But I’m now the proud owner of a Bachelor of Business Administration Marketing degree!

[Isn’t Tamara like the most talented ever?! Check out her site if you’re local and need a photographer!]

And one not so thrilled golden retriever.

[Riley doesn’t like the drab tassel either.]

And the answer is no. I do not yet have a job lined up, but I’m exploring options and when something is official I will announce it here as I usually do. :)

I’m a college graduate!