Fall Festivus!

Gosh, it's been a whirlwind of fun (this is why I haven't had time to settle into my apartment)! This past weekend, my friend, Allison, hosted her annual Fall Festivus down in CT, which involves the girls going apple picking, pumpkin patching, and making a feast of all things apple, all while drinking hot apple cider with ginger brandy (ginger hot toddys might be the official name). The highlight of our day, possibly even our year was the "Cool Bus" (defintely a framer). It was an aboslutely perfect day - warm and sunny with the fall foilage at its peak.

The significant others joined in on the feast, we sang Happy Birthday to Shrn (Sharon, but we like to pronounce it "Shurn"...along with "Ern" and "Dern" for myself and Darren), and then everyone got into a rousing game of Cranium while watching the Red Sox win Game 6 against the Indians!

Fun in Puh-hoe-nix!

So it seems like most people get to a point where all of their friends get married in/around a 2-year span. Somehow mine have been spread out over the years, but two of my best friends, my cousin, Jaymee, and my college roommate, Emma, are getting married in the next year. Emma's wedding is this coming New Years, so we had her bridal shower and bachelorette party down in Phoenix this past weekend. Here's the bridal party (minus Abby) including her brother, RJ, who is the "best bro" or "bridesman"...I think the jury's still out on his official title. Running away as fast as she can is Emma's adorable neice, Katherine, who easily steals the show in any room.

Some of the girls out for the night (including Abby on the left)

Dancing queens! (nevermind the weird guy off to the right)

And of course we had hike Camelback! We've done it everytime we're in Phoenix, and it's one of the things I love about Emma - we're always out running, hiking, or doing something active.

How you d'ern, how you d'ern??

One of my friends from business school, Pete Stern, is headed to Hong Kong for work, so he had a big going away party in NYC complete with sunglasses (his trademark) and sushi on a rooftop bar. TONS of fun to see everyone now that we're all settling into work and the post-school real world (Pete's the one just to the left of me in the pic).

Last May, Pete suggested that I link up with his sis, Lauren, once I got up to Boston. He thought we'd probably get along pretty well, and he was totally right. She's become my favorite partner-in-crime up here, and his party was our first opportunity to "dress slutty" in NYC together!

Back in action!

There's been a lot of commentary on my "hey guys, i have a blog!" email and the fact that I've only posted twice. Well, it's a big week, friends, because I just got internet! Not only that, but as I mentioned before, I lost my camera during the weekend with Jaymee and Jeff. $300 later, I have a replacement and some fun pics coming up.

So I finally moved into my own apartment September 9th after subleasing via craigslist for the past 2 months. It's great to finally have a place to call home, but I haven't been around for a full weekend yet, so I have yet to completely settle in. There have been a lot of quick runs to pick up and return things rather than getting them all done in one fell swoop - this is me on a recent lunch run, testing out the new camera, and tired of the whole moving process.