Winter 2010

I'm going to be a little lazy and just throw all of my winter activities into one post to get this ball rolling for 2011 blogging!

November was apparently a boring month, because I have not one picture to show for it. I was really busy at my internship at Cars.com, which I started in October and ended just before Christmas. It was such a great experience and allowed me to dive into an industry that wasn't fashion focused. I was really excited to broaden my resume and hopefully open up more opportunities for myself in the future. It is a great company to work for and I met a lot of awesome people as well!

I went home for Thanksgiving to hang with the family, eat some food, and watch some football (of course!). We have a tradition of seeing a movie on Thanksgiving, so we saw Burlesque, which was good -- minus Christina's acting and some copied story lines. The musical numbers were BA-NA-NAS! Seriously.

The beginning of December brought TBOX 2010 aka The Twelve Bars of X-mas! This is a pub crawl in Wrigleyville here in Chicago that is Christmas themed, and everyone wears ugly Christmas sweaters and crazy outfits. I went with a group of friends from school, and we had a lot of fun! I only lasted through 4 of the 12 bars, but it was a good time nonetheless.

FINALLY, winter break came along, and I got to go home for an extended period. Joe drove up from Florida to be with his family as well, and I hadn't seen him since my birthday, so it was really exciting! It was a pretty low key break. I saw all my friends, lounged around, spent family time, watched football, shopped, etc.

We went up to Wisco for Christmas, which was so awesome to see our extended fam! We spent Christmas day with the Dahlke side of the family and on Sunday we went to the Ekern side. It was so nice to see everyone since we aren't up there very often! Highlight: Finn telling me that "Aunt GG has a baby in her tummy!"

New Year's Eve was pretty low key. Joe and I went ice skating with one of my bffs- Blair. Then, we went down to Meghan's neighborhood and went out with her friends to a bar/bowling alley! Blair's boyfriend came down and we all hung out and bowled. It was a nice way to end a great year! :)

It's my party, and I'll wine if I want to.

My birthday lasted almost a month as I needed to celebrate with everyone I know the greatest gift: The gift of legal drinking. I took a trip home a couple weeks after my real birthday to hang out with my girls. We went with my family to one of our favorite STL spots, Sascha's Wine Bar. It was a ton of fun, and as you can see, it could have been a three year old's birthday party. My friends got me a crown and sash, and wrapped my presents in princess bags with matching balloons! We had a great bar tender (who we tried boldly to get my sister to date).

      

The best part was when our friends Amy and Carl showed up!! They are family friends, and they surprised me. I was so happy because I hadn't seen them since May!

Amy and I after she arrived!

Carl taught us how to make "Canadian Car Bombs" which turned out to be the EXACT SAME DRINK as my mother's "Italian Kiss," except you drink it like a bomb (duh).

Lombardi was pooped after a long day drinking wine.

Meghan and I with Amy and Carl!!

After the classy joint we had to just eat good in the neighborhood, so the fam headed over to Applebee's for a "White Trash Dinner". Is Applebee's really white trash? Maybe not, but after you've been at a wine bar -- yes, yes it is. The weekend was short, but a great extension to my already fabulous 21st birthday!

Applebee's...Enough Said.

Birth-o-Ween 2010!

I'M OFFICIALLY 21!!

I could really end this post there because this has been the moment EVERYONE in my personal and social life has been waiting for. But I won't deprive you of the pictures from this life-changing event.

Joe came up on Wednesday, my mom came up on Thursday, and then my dad and sister came up on Friday and Saturday. We took it easy on friday to prepare for the upcoming shenanigans. On Saturday, we started the night by going to a yummy Italian restaurant in my area called Carmine's.

From there, we went home and got our costumes on.
At midnight, when I officially turned 21, we met some of my friends out at a bar to begin the night. Mom and dad made it til 3 am that night and then we all went home because we had another day planned of fun!

      

        On Sunday morning we headed to our good old Packer bar, The Spot. I had my first trip to the amazing bloody mary bar as a 21 year old. They gave me a special desert, gave me free packer bombs, and sang me happy birthday. And it all ended with a Packer win!!! (Note the sweet 21/Halloween sash that my mother made).
















We came home to open presents and I got tons of good stuff! The fam planned 21 presents all falling under a "bow" theme because I love all things with bows!

Sunday night was the best of all when we did a family pub crawl to the bars in my neighborhood. EVERYONE there was dressed up and they went ALL OUT! There was free champagne, costume contests, free drinks, etc just the way a 21st birthday should be!

             On Monday, the family left and I took Joe to my favorite restaurant of all time, The Melting Pot. It was a great weekend, and it will be an even better year now that I can order ANYTHING I want on the menu from a water with lemon to a Singapore Sling.