I've gone back to being a once-a-week blogger. I guess I've been pretty busy. School is keeping me way too occupied.

Suzie is supposed to go see Rilo Kiley with me on Thursday, but I haven't been able to get ahold of her. CALL ME SUZIE!!!!!!! I will be thrilled to see her and to go to a rock show. I didn't know how much I missed them.

Our roomates are moving in as I type this. Well, maybe not. They're supposed to be moving in sometime today and since I won't be back to the apartment until 9:30ish, they will definitely be there by the time I get back.

*sigh*

Andrea and I had our own rooms for about a week. It was nice. I was even in the big room. She moved her stuff all in yesterday, and it's still all spacious, but it was just really nice to have our own rooms.

The internet at the apartment worked for one night. I need to get on that.

My orientation for Old Navy was cancelled, so hopefully it will still be going on October the 3rd. I get to learn the different kinds of pants and the proper way to fold a shirt. Woowoo!

Wish me luck with the new roomates. I hope I like one of them.

My weekend home was absolutely fantastic. Zach picked me up from the train station and he has never looked cuter, or smelled better for that matter. I think I missed him. Just a bit. =) I also got to see my Chrissy, my Stephy, and all the zoo kiddies. I even got to paint a ninja turtle on Aaron Stanley's face. Random!

One of our new roomates called Andrea today. Her name is Ashley and the other is Allison. See an annoying trend growing here?? They still have a week, but I miss Mariana and Shabaun already.

Speaking of Andrea, we've been awfully chatty lately. Like, asking each other questions and answering them with more than a one-answer response. Conversations, if you will. We still don't have a sense of humor remotely like each others, but you never know. There may be hope for us yet.

I hope that this Ashley is the exact opposite of every Ashley I've ever known. I hope this Allison is exactly like every Allison I've ever known- I've known three and haven't hated any of them. Ashleys on the other hand... I hope that one of them knows who Rilo Kiley is and would LOVE to see them live on September 30th, because they are going to be in Chicago then and I REALLYREALLYREALLY want to see them but don't want to go by myself. It's a Thursday night, so that's why Zach can't see them with me (even though he's coming to visit the next day...woot...). Anyone want to come up then? Anyone?

Didn't think so.

School is fantastic. I got an A on my first Design Foundations project. I drew a very lovely Blexican woman for Drawing Techniques. People ask for my help all the time with things. I feel involved and stuff. I'm going to the first Green Design meeting tomorrow so we'll see how that goes. I heart my school.

I start work on Saturday. I get to learn how to fold pants and whatnot. Oooooh.

Ryan + Renee = looooove...or should anyway. Hmmm.

Alright to everyone's dismay, I took the job at Old Navy.


a) They hired me the day of my interview. What else was I supposed to do? That and the two people who interviewed me were a lot of fun, where as the lady at Barnes & Noble was kind of weird (even though she and I bonded over Chuck Palahniuk).

b) $7.50 an hour, 20-30 hours a week at least. Seriously kiddies. You would sell yourself out too and you know it.

c) I get a discount at not just Old Navy, but at the Gap and Banana Republic as well. I can start buying my "business casual" clothes WITH a discount for my presentations at school now.

d) The red line is right outside Old Navy's door and the stop is a block away from my house. I am A-Ok with that.

e) All of the cute baby clothes in the kid section wooed me. Have you seen the little pink pleated skirts?? Not that I'd need to buy those any time soon, but I could work in that section and fawn over them.

f) I was all set to say at the start of the interview, "I've taken another job" but they had a girl show me around the store first and give me a few tips for the interview, and then they took me downstairs for the real interview. All of their razzle dazzle sold me. I'm easy. What can I say?

g) Most of the employees at B&N, that I noticed, were older. Like, in their 40's older. Old Navy has younger fun employees, and who knows- I might make a friend. *gasp!*

h) It's really close to my school, so if I need to work on a project there before or after school, it'd be a cinch to just go from one to the other.

After all that- I HAVE A JOB!!! VIVA!!!

FuTuRePaStOrGrL: when I was younger i read the boxcar children books...now I have this strange fantasy to like..live in one and go town to town..
pinkandorangefun: you could gather the group of bums that live on my corner and start a boxcar club
pinkandorangefun: i'm sure they'd like it
FuTuRePaStOrGrL: dude!!
FuTuRePaStOrGrL: yes!
FuTuRePaStOrGrL: and I could wear my gloves that have the fingertips missing
pinkandorangefun: awesome!
FuTuRePaStOrGrL: thats so homeless


Reason #2657 why Melissa Keathley is the greatest.

I'm so freaking hireable! I have yet another interview. It's at the enormous Old Navy on State Street.

Help me out here, kids. Which one would you choose??

I'm leaning towards Barnes & Noble because I wouldn't have to deal with clothes all the time and it's only a few blocks from my home. HOWEVER, I will be needing clothes at some point and it would be nice to have that discount. It's also close to my school and the stop for the red line is right outside the door. I can also wear whatever I want, where as at Barnes & Noble I'd have to dress "business casual".

I don't know which one to choose! I guess it comes down to how much I make and how many hours I'd get. It sounds like they are pretty hard up at B&N and I would work a lot, and because I am a sucker, I would probably choose them based on that.

I guess we'll just see after the Old Navy interview. Wowza.

Mini update: Bennigan's just called me to set up an interview but I turned them down. I don't need THAT many options. Come to Chicago to enjoy a variety of job options! w00t.

Yayayayayayayayay!!!

I have a job interview with the Barnes & Noble a few blocks from my apartment tomorrow. It would be so awesome if I got a job there. I could walk to work. I could come home from school, eat, then walk to work. That and it's Barnes & Noble! Woot! Seriously, kiddies, if anyone is hard up for a job, come to Chicago. Every place I went to was hiring. I just turned in my application last week too. Viva!!

I am also coming home on Thursday. I will make a stop at the Scovill Zoo on Friday or Saturday, so Ben- you better be there!! Everyone else, let me know what the dilly is. That means YOU, Mike Hagan.

Today has been so much better than the weekend. I'm so freaking bipolar sometimes.

I also got a few random e-mails from Aaron Stanley and Ben Jacobs so that made my day happy too. Maybe others should randomly e-mail me too. sandy4123@hotmail.com

Holla!
wishmeluck

I'm having a sad, I miss everyone weekend. I'm just not used to not having anything to do. I'm not used to not having friends. I mean, the last time I think I was totally out of luck for friends was my very first semester of college at RCC. I mean Stephy and Jessica were still around and Matt Parnell and I were still pals, so I wasn't that bad off. Also, Chrissy and Suzie were easy to get to. I think the thing that bothers me is that I can't leave so easily. There's a process to getting back home. I miss my car. It was my trusty steed (stead??) that was just so cute. I'll probably hump it when I come back home- for old times sake.
You know what else I'm used to? People who do what they say they'll do. I mean, if someone is like, "Hey, let's go to the movies on Friday" I can count on actually going to the movies on Friday. It seems as though the kiddies around these parts are full of crap. I miss bucket night fo sho.
You know what else I've noticed? I'm an inviter. If I have an event to go to and don't think that someone has something to do, even if they do have something to do, I invite them to come along. It's just the first thing that comes to mind I guess. I stopped with Andrea mostly because she has not once invited me to go anywhere with her when, back to note number one, at the begining she was like, "I was told to not walk alone up here, so if you don't mind going with me sometimes..." Of course I said sure because I'm a nice person. That "sometimes" has never come. I don't expect us to be BFF because we're really different, but still. Sometimes it's just nice to go somewhere with someone other than yourself.
Oh my goodness, speaking of Andrea, I have a rant to go on. Last night she made me suffer through Waiting to Exhale. I agreed because it made me think of 7th grade and how scandalous the movie was at the time. Watching it now made me roll my eyes a whole bunch and heckle, so I did homework while we watched. Then, almost towards the end, Matt called her and that was the end of that. We were bonding for about a second and then a boy called- off she went in a cute skirt and plenty of perfume. I didn't want to be that rude so I left on the effing movie while she got ready, not knowing that Matt would be coming down to our apartment. He came in and that movie was on so I looked like I was actually enjoying the smut. Oy vey.
Then, this one will kill you, this morning I was working some more on my homework and Trading Spaces was on. She was working out for awhile and when she came in, I was in the kitchen, so she was like, "Can I see what else is on?" I say sure because I'm a nice person, and you will not believe what she turned it to. Lifetime. LIFETIME!! Some terribly acted movie was on involving a kidnapping or something. I don't know what it was, but I refused to watch it based entirely on the fact that it was on LIFETIME. I mean, that is the lowest of "women television" networks. I will watch the Oxygen channel, I will watch WE, but Lifetime isn't even worth a pause. Seriously! Needless to say, I took a shower and had to leave the apartment. Who the hell watches Lifetime and enjoys it?? Trading Spaces was on for the love of Pete. Um, we go to Harrington College of Design, not Bad Acting University.

My dad would have been 61 today. It's really hard to imagine my dad being in his 60's. I wonder if he would have had grey hair or wrinkles. I actually almost went to church today to celebrate his birthday. I just had this deep down feeling that if he were still around, Mom would be out of town this weekend, and I would have come home on Friday and he and I would have spent it all together, and then today we would have gone to church together and then out for breakfast. Then Mom would be back in the evening and Tammy would have come home and we all would have gone out for dinner for his birthday. As crappy as it may be, life goes on though, right? Maybe this is why I'm so freaking sad.

That is all I have to say, except that I miss you all like whoa.

I started school yesterday!!!

Yes, I'm really excited about it. I probably won't be by the time this semester is over, but for now- yayayayayay!

I'm in my computer class right now and I just got done with an assignment and have about two more hours until my next class. Unlike good old RCC, we do not have a couch area to hang out at. We have a "student lounge", but it has about nine very pretty, but very uncomfortable chairs that are always occupied. Perhaps I'll make friends with a bum on the corner...offer him my bread crusts from the sandwich I packed because, unlike good old RCC, we do not have a cafeteria where I can get a #5 on wheat with tomatoes every day. Those are the only two things I miss about Richland, well, except for the kiddies, but that's part of the couch package.

Hmmm. I think when I go home tonight I'll make a grilled cheese sandwich. I might even hop over to Jewel to get a tomato. I have fries too. I'll have a "I miss you #5 on wheat with tomatoes" party. It won't be the same though.

So I had to pick up my equipment package before class yesterday. It's two big boxes containing all of the supplies I will need- drafting tools and such. However, I live a good distance away from the school. At first things were swell. I had means to carry them (cords around the boxes with handles). Then, about four blocks from my apartment, the cords on the biggest box broke. I had to carry the effer. I also had to cross a long and busy intersection. That was scary. About a block from my apartment this little old Polish lady with her grandson offered to help me. The grandson was in a little scooter play thing. She picked up the big box and stuck it on the back of the scooter and was like, "let us help you. we put the box on the back. it's ok, he likes it!". What?!? I allowed her help for about a second because the grandson was about 2. At the end of my adventure, I ended up with a massive bruise on the inside of my left arm all the way up to my armpit from the box. I've been getting a lot of bruises since I've been here. Doesn't that mean something? Lack of vitamin A? Protein? I'm gonna get scurvy, y'all!

Mariana and I are getting to be buds. I'm excited about that. I haven't known her that long, but I will miss her when she moves out. She's a blast. I guess the night I went to Tracy's party, she wanted to rent a movie with me, so she was all knocking on my door and saying, "Sandra! Do you wanna go to blockbuster?? Hello?? Sandra, why are you ignoring me? Saaanndraaa!" and then she opened the door and was like, "Oh, she's not even here." That made me giggle. I guess we are going to go see a movie on Friday. Hooray! Also, Shabaun has been an active member of the apartment for the last few days. She's not so mysterious anymore.

That is all. I miss you.

KATRINA FISHER WHERE ARE YOU??????

I went to a party with Tracy Hickman last night. Five of her guy friends live in this amazing apartment that they call "The Dude Ranch". They got a stamp made to brand people and they even have a little bouncy rocking horse named Sprinkles. The guys I'm sure are really fun to hang out with, but I just didn't know anyone and am too shy to do anything about it. They had two kegs so that brought a crowd of more people I didn't know. Then there were the girls that I hate. They talk about themselves all the freaking time. They take things so seriously because that's the way they did it back in second grade. They were playing asshole, and this girl, her name is Sarah, played by different rules and got pissed when they told her she couldn't do something. Not even a joking pissed, an angry pissed. I wanted to poke her in the eye. Everytime I left the room, she seemed to follow me, talking about herself. Not to anyone in particular, just anyone who would listen. That, and everyone there went to Columbia so they were all film majors. They asked me where I went and only one of them had heard of Harrington. Crazy. I got to see Tracy, though, so that was good. Andrew Poppe showed up too, and while we only know each other through other people, it was still someone to chitchat with for a bit. All and all, it got me out of the apartment. Woot.

Shabaun must only be known to the world on the weekends because I saw her all the time. I saw her a little this morning, but alas- it's Monday, I won't see her again until Saturday.

Don't tell my mother, but I've been wandering around Chicago by myself since I got here. I even tried out the buses yesterday. My frist ride was a failure. Apparently when you want to get off at the next stop and no one is waiting at it to get on, you have to pull on a cord that's above you. No one told me that. I ended up getting off five blocks after where I needed to be. I walked back to the place, but I had to go under a scary overpass where bums were sprawled out with flies on them. I hope they weren't dead. Once on my walk, I turned around and this guy was pretty much right behind me. I freaked right out in my head. I think I gasped and the guy heard me. He just gave me a funny look and walked around me. Good thing I didn't whip out my kung fu on his ass. Not that I have kung fu, but if I did- it'd be on. When I finally got back to my stop, I couldn't find how to get from there to where I wanted to be- Target, by the way. Chicago doesn't do Wal-Marts. I shook my fists and got back on the bus going the other direction. Someday, when I make a real friend, we will make a trip to Target and not get shot.

School starts tomorrow. I will get a handy little U-pass so I never have to pay for public transit ever again. Viva la free trasportation. They should have given us the damned thing at orientation so all we had to do was pay $1.75 to get there rather than all the money I've spent the past few days getting around. At least 10 bucks. I'm poor, yo.
Speaking of orientation, I met a boy named John who likes to heckle people like I do (I say like I do because I met some girls who heckle people in a very mean and bitterly rude way. I'm a lot nicer than that...sometimes =) ). I haven't seen him since because he mysteriously vanished before we all went to an architecture show. He lives in my building and his roomates smoke pot all day every day, so he's going to move out soon. Hopefully I will see him again in the future so I can be like, "Hey buddy, let's watch Freaks and Geeks and be BFF". Oh yeah, I also hung out with Matt, the LA boy, for awhile because he came over to our apartment to eat pizza with Andrea. He's boring. He's another person who only talks about himself. While he was in LA, he installed showers and toilets to the stars. Neat. He's nice and all because he always included me, but still- yawn.
I joined a club called The Green Club where they focus on environmental design. I've found my happy medium! Hopefully I'll make some friends out of that. We'll see though. Angry nature girls are everywhere.

ramblerambleramble =)

Guess what boys and girls. My first day in Chicago, I met a famous person. Chris Owen from American Pie and October Sky. He was "the sherminator". Yeah, so his friend is going to my school and he lives in my apartment building. He helped him move in. I gave them my roller cart when I was done moving. Then Zach and I went to Quizno's after a bit and they were there too. His friend introduced himself to me. His name is Matt. I didn't want to ask if his friend was that guy so I didn't. Later, at orientation, Matt was totally macking on my roomate Andrea. She ended up hanging out with them last night and she asked Matt if he was and he said yes. Isn't that craziness? I don't know how long he's staying since he does live in LA, so who knows. I might hang out with a famous person sometime. I doubt it. My roomate kept her whole Matt encounter a secret until this morning. Weird. I have a feeling that we won't hang out much. We're not exactly the same type of people. She's pretty pretty and I am not.

I need to give Tracy a call.

I just met mysterious Shabaun this morning. The encounter was brief. She was leaving as I was getting up. Andrea was in the shower so she didn't see her at all. She seems really nice and she's real cute. I think that I will like her...if I ever see her.

Andrea isn't going to be around this weekend. I will be all alone. I think I'm going to go job hunting and give Tracy a ringy dingy. I need to have friends with a sense of humor. Andrea doesn't have one. At least her's is different. I cracked up at Michael Ian Black and she cracked up at her nephew sticking his finger in her belly button. See what I mean??

Before I left, Melissa Keathley sent me a Chicago survival tip. It was, "If someone give you a hard time, look tough and yell, 'I'm packing heat mutha effa". It made me laugh a good long time. Everyone should leave me on too.

hinthint

I'm here. In Chicago. Yikes.

So far things are ok. Like I knew I would be, I'm friend sick, not home sick. However I really miss my big shower and my car and my comfy bed. This bed is lumpy and I woke up with a headache. Meh.

My roomate Andrea, who I will be living with, is nice and all, but she primped forever last night and then a little more this morning. She doesn't act prissy yet though...yet. The other two girls will be moving Sept. 27th so that means that I get my own room! Viva!!!

I'm using my roomate's, Mariana, computer and it has a posture keyboard. I hate it. She's fun though. Shabaun is mysterious. I have yet to actually see her. I don't know what that's about.

I love you all and miss you bunches.