lately.

wow these past few weeks have FLOWN BY!
last week was the pratt show.
sunday = setting up at the manhattan center



tuesday night = professional night = champagne night


[[AOS graphic design kids - minus dana & brandon]]

wednesday night = family & friends night = wine night [[my parents got into town!]]


[[me in front of my 4x4 section]]


[[nancy stam & me!]]


[[my texas girls. allison & susie brought my yellow roses]]


[[the momma and the daddy! in nyc!]]


[[my old roommate kirby, she brought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and was my first guest to arrive :D]]


[[friends from texas livin in nyc! valerie & natalie]]


[[my tgc girls annie, shuffle, and chinae]]


[[2nd night of the show completed! serena, hyeree, me, tuten, elisha and liana]]


thursday = open to the public.
friday = reception for the AOS/AAS programs


[[our portion of the room. serena and her parents, tuten, dana, me, and my momma and daddy]]

saturday = my FIESTA! we had a graduation/goodbye for the summer party. i wanted my ny friends to have a taste of a san antonio fiesta! my mom and i made all the food [[fajitas, enchilada casserole, seven layer dip, spinach dip and queso]] i was in charge of the sangria [it was AMAZING]. and my mom brought ALL the decorations from sa town. she even brought 2 1/2 dozen cascarones! most of my friends had no idea what they were!


[[right before i smashed one on tut's head and forgot to crush it as i did it... um i hurt her on accident!]]


[[my little ada rae, me, donya my persian real life jasmine princess and tuten my turkish delight]]

i have a million more photos from my party [tuten allowed my mom to play paparazzi with her camera.... i will post those when i get the photo cd from tut.]

sunday = family dinner with my parents, uncle rick, cousins rick and andrea and their baby bella. we ate at carmines. it was incredible. took a limo bc we couldn't catch a cab. haha.

monday = graduation at radio city music hall!!
keynote speaker = judy collins (her singing made my mom tear up. nostalgia)
also in attendance, richard serra and tomie depaola!!

i will post all of those photos when im back in texas. for now my mom and i are packing up my apartment. i am heading to DESTIN FLORIDA on friday with my tcu friends for our reunion trip! i am so super excited i cannot even express it!! i will for sure blog about that and post pics when i return as well.

well thats me lately and the madness thast been goin on. i'll try and be a better blogger this summer :D

happy cinco de mayo! (and birthday to my daddddy)

i called my dad this morning to wish him a happy birthday...
he told me that two of his best friends were taking him out to lunch.
they do this for each others birthdays every year.
i asked him where they were taking him...
his answer: hooters!
hmmm. guess the 70th bday calls for something wild.
though he said it's bc they know the cashier... hahaha.
boys will be boys huh?

i had the opportunity, along with some friends, to go to a program for the graduates of new york city's summer search program this evening. our friend, kathleen, is one of the mentors. what an incredible program! check out the site and learn more about it. this is the type of organization i would definitely love to be a part of. props to kathleen and all her hard work and devotion to these kids!!

afterwards, we headed to tequilas for dinner.
we waited about 15 minutes for our "reservation".
then 15 minutes for chips and salsa.
another 15 minutes till we ordered our drinks and food.
a good hour later we got chips refills and FINALLY some water.



when the check came, our friend nate voiced his opinion on how pissed he was that with the amount of time we waited, and how insufficient the service was, a 23% gratuity was still added to our check...
then the waiter came back to our table.
with a tray of tequila shots.
when he brought the credit card slips, he brought another tray.
we went ahead and added the tip back on the tab.
touche senor. touche.



now its back to work.
1 final project, and 3 revised projects are due tomorrow.
this will be another long night/early morning combo.

to sum things up

its been forever. sorry bout that. i have a draft in progress from last weekends exciting adventures... but forgot to publish it. -- ryan came to town, SURPRISE! steven came too! the pics are from the weekend (nates photography). some brief blurbs to sum things up. i will catch up eventually. things are crazy on the homefront. graduation in 16 days, senior show in 10. next week is finals. ahhhh.

FRIDAY NIGHT:
at 'Porch' in the East Village


SEE! I told you steven came to nyc too!
though this picture looks like he's not happy to be here..


Oh you know, just a bunch of asians & a dominican
victors bro, me, mo, victor, and nae


SATURDAY AFTERNOON
Brunch at Blockheads
Unlimited Mimosas - yes, please.


the 'mexican bulldog' that steven & ryan both ordered.
a margarita, with a corona, and a shot of tequila...
spring break 2009??


SHEEPS MEADOW, CENTRAL PARK
madness. think its been a long winter??
us new yorkers are excited for the sun... obviously...

JORTS?
worn by both trevor AND nathan
ooh. if it were anyone else i dont know what i would do


STREET FAIR on 8th AVE
the boys got to experience a nyc street fair.
fresh squeezed lemonade, street meat, cheap sunglasses, etc.


SUNDAY AFTERNOON
BBQing in Victor's courtyard
This is how we bbq in nyc people.


Amazing girls that i absolutely ADORE
mo, nae, amy, me and megan


stuffing our faces.
i got to meet jason castro! i loved him on american idol.
he is so great and totally cool in person.

that was my weekend -- for the most part. i will get pics from steven and ryan and fill in the blanks! im about to hop in the shower, and go to hang out with my alllllli cat and JACQUIE and her FIANCE adam! hooray. jacquie is in town from STL for the weekend and we learned last night that her and adam are engaged! ahhhh.
another one bites the dust :)

m.i.a. - no, not the artist

if you've wondered why i havent written this week -- its because i ahve been INSANELY busy. like, spend all day saturday, half sunday, all day monday, not sleeping monday night, working all day yesterday, sleeping only 3 hours last night type of busy. today i had three projects due. two were major projects taht we have been working on since the beginning of the semester.

by 930 this morning i was a complete wreck. i was unsatisified with one of my projects. i was exhausted and stressed. and i broke down crying probably 3-4 times before it was even midday. jon called me this morning to see how i was doing, the minute he asked i just started bawling. so there went the makeup. he had to let me go so i could get myself together and get out the door to head to school. as i told mo i was leaving, i burst into tears again. SHEEEEESH laouise.

but it's the end of the day. once again, i have made it through the madness. im drinkin a glass of wine and cleaning my room -- our friend ryan is on his way to nyc from san antonio. he is staying with us for the weekend. he's never been to ny before! also, janice will be here this weekend too! craziness.

i have lots of work to continue on this week and even need to get work done some this weekend (sorry ryan! ha) but saturday will be good. we're having brunch at arte pasta (unltd mimosas..yes please), spending the day at central park, then goin to mike mannings 'garden party' (in his backyard, but we're literally bringing stuff to garden.. ha how funny :D )

im gonna go now. just wanted to update yall on my life.

im leaving you with one of my fav youtube videoes. oh how i love this funny girl.
{{again, pause the music. you don't want to miss out on any of her captions}}

double heads!!
we are WINEEE BOTTLES!

simply the best.

my weekend started early... allison had 4 tickets to pat green thursday night... but couldn't go - she offered them to me, mo, bethany and kristen -- we GLADLY accepted. it was my first time seeing pat outside of texas. i still got the warm feeling iny my heart as the beginning notes of some of his classic songs were played... but it wasn't the same as being in texas at cowboys, or floores, or any of those places... bowery ballroom is a really cool venue, but it just wasnt the same without mass amounts of cowboy boots and hats (dont worry, we wore ours). the odd thing was that when pat was playin the new songs - the crowd would go wild, and knew each and every word... while the 4 of us just looked at each other and were like ummm play something we know! and then when he played an old one (3 days, carry on, take me out to the dancehall, texas on my mind, southbound 35, songs about texas, etc...) the four of us would jump up and down and scream and shout with excitement... and the crowd would die down... hardly any one knew the old songs! man. also, it was pretty classic when this random guy turned to mo and said - i think you're the only black person here... SERIOUSLY?! who says that??

anyway. the show was great, and was just the taste of texas i needed for the week. after the show, we went to meet our friend victor who is a stuntman and is currently part of the filming 'the sorcerers apprentice'. we got to see his trailer (that he had been sitting in since like 6pm) and got to see where they were filming - but we saw it from the distance a bit. it was so cool! we even briefly got to say hello to jay baruchel - we also got to meet victors friend, dan, who is jay's stunt double. hands down it was a pretty cool evening in new york city.

friday was spectacular. and sad at the same time. it was our dear friend brad's last night in the city. he is moving back to chicago for a little while, and we are all very sad to see him go, and are urging him to come back to the city ASAP!! to sum up the night in words-- we ate dinner at this mexican place in williamsburg, ventured next door to bamballato where "DUET" (formerly known as the tyler schwartz band) was playing. free vodka from 9-10 pm, ultimate dance party from 11-1am. sweaty little monsters jumping up and down, singing our hearts out and dancing like crazy. then waited for like 30 min for the L train back to manhattan, where we sadly had to say our goodbyes to brad as we parted on the manhattan bound train.... then we all went to donut pub where victor demolished like 4 krulers, i think dan had 2, and nate had 1. i think the girls just indulged in large glasses of ice water due to the fact that all the sweating at the crazy dance party left us dehydrated.

two wonderful nyc nights in a row. i feel so blessed to be part of such an amazing community. fun fun fun friends.

oh - here is the night in photos---
[[photos by brad siefert...and whoever grabbed the camera from him - oh yea, click on the groupings to view them at a bigger size]]

dinner at the mexican place - i forgot the name
[pic of the table, shuffle+nae+kathleen, a toast & cheers to brad!]

the one and only, tyler schwartz, on the saxophone.

at bamballato
[rachel+me, what appears to be brad&nate in a dance off, with rachel as the judge, and me just enjoying the entertainment]

[a megan shuffle+erin conroy combo, tyler+shuffle+nathan+kathleen+brad, the typical 'asian pic'=nate+me+nae+victor, nate+me dancing like maniacs]

the moment we were all waiting for...
[bohemian rhapsody = perfect finale = singing, fist pumping, and lots of dramatic movements]

family photo
[victor, nae, shuffle, patrick, mo, nate, vanessa, ben, sinah, gabe, me, brad, rachel, trevor, gabrielle & girl i dont know...]

AND THAT'S A WRAP.

happy friday & happy spring day!

Happy Friday yall. I found this that I had bookmarked awhile back, and since it's a sunny spring day (AT LAST!) in nyc it is finally time to tend to these tootsies before we start bustin out the sandals!

Summer Shoe Pledge

Please raise your big toes and repeat after me:

As a member of the Cute Girl Sisterhood, I pledge to follow the rules when I wear sandals and other open-toe shoes.

• I promise to always wear sandals that fit.
• My toes will not hang over and touch the ground, nor will my heels spill over the backs. And the sides and tops of my feet will not pudge out between the straps.
• I will go polish-free or vow to keep the polish fresh, intact and chip-free. I will not cheat and just touch up my big toe.
• I will sand down any mounds of skin before they turn hard and yellow.
• I will shave the hairs off my big toe.
• I won't wear pantyhose even if my misinformed girlfriend, coworker, mother, sister tells me the toe seam really will stay under my toes if I tuck it the real good. (NOTE: Sandalfoot pantyhose are acceptable :-))
• If a strap breaks, I won't duct-tape, pin, glue or tuck it back into place hoping it will stay put. I will get my shoe fixed or toss it.
• I will not live in corn denial, rather I will lean on my good friend Dr. Scholls if my feet need him.
• I will resist the urge to buy jelly shoes at Payless for the low, low price of $4.99 even if my feet are small enough to fit into the kids' sizes. This is out of concern for my safety, and the safety of others. No one can walk properly when standing in a pool of sweat and I would hate to take someone down with me as I fall and break my ankle.
• I will take my toe ring off toward the end of the day if my toes swell and begin to look like Vienna sausages.
• If I have been privvy to the magic that is Foot Soup, I will share that knowledge and experience with the non-initiated.
• I will be brutally honest with my girlfriend/sister/coworker when she asks me if her feet are too ugly to wear sandals. Someone has to tell her that her toes are as long as my fingers and no sandal makes creepy feet look good.

This is my summer shoe pledge to you.

---

how sweet it is.

[[annie. amy. chinae]]

[[eric+amy. amy+annie=hosts. nae+brad. shuffle+morgan]]

coloring easter eggs.
[[nathan=working on a master piece. mo+me=bffl.lylas. tyler=sheer genius.]]

the ambience=warm+cozy+delicious+beautiful+love+laughter
[[our eggs. easter brunch. peeps. the bunny cake!]]

'i swear' by all-4-one on itunes = kickoff for the meal
[[tschwartz+shuffle=middle school dance. brad+mo+me=karaoke]]

the after.
[[brad softly playing the guitar as princess bride plays. everyone snuggling for a post-meal nap= perfectly content.]]

photos courtesy of the wonderfully talented, eric anderson

the lost tribes of nyc

found this on my friends blog -- haha i like it. very clever and cute. thanks bethany for such a great find!


The Lost Tribes of New York City from Carolyn London on Vimeo.

amazing easter sunday.

today was so wonderful. i don't think i could express in words how great it was. like i mentioned previously, i was really bummed that i wouldn't be able to spend easter with my family this year. luckily i have been blessed with an amazing group of friends that i was able to to share this day with. we met at amy and annie's apartment for our easter brunch and to begin the celebration. we began the afternoon by coloring our own easter eggs (paper, markers, aaaand annie got carried away with the glitter glue pen...). then while we were waiting for morgan's amazing ham to finish up in the oven, we joined together for scripture readings and for praise&worship. i love that i have friends that are able to sit around a big table, sharing the word and singing together. to wrap things up, eric prayed for us all, for the meal and for the day and then we began the feast! the food was incredible -- everyone's dishes were delicious. our spread consisted of: ham (basted in coca-cola by morgan), salad (accented with candied pecans home-made by kathleen), baked macaroni & cheese (courtesy of melina), fried rice (brought by victor in a large dish that he heavily taped shut to survive the commute), yummy potatoes (made by rachel), a bunny cake (by annie & shuffle), pasta salad (by me) and various of veggies and an awesome assortment of bread and rolls. i actually dont remember who brought what out of everything else. anyway, you get the picture. after the meal we all cozied up to watch the princess bride.... and then we all (give or take a few) fell asleep. it was such a cozy nap. we were woken up abruptly so that we could all gather our things and head out for church. church was absolutely perfect this evening. i wish i was a better writer so that i could truly express how incredible the service was. every song, all the prayer, and the sermon were so wonderful. it was so powerful. being reminded of what this day truly is about (not a mention of bunnies or chocolate eggs... though those are nice too) and being able to reflect on EVERYTHING was so great. there were were tears on my part. typical.

it's so easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of life and the everyday chaos... today was the perfect day to really slow down and reflect.

i am so blessed to have such amazing friends, an amazing family and a loving God.

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE.

p.s. i can't wait till eric and/or brad post some of their pics so i can put them on here... hopefully the photos can express the incredibleness (a word?) of the day better than i can express in words.

texas on my mind.

if anyone noticed, my recent playlist has been bumped down a bit to make room for two new songs (well not new, but new to my playlist) and they're both texas country. i guess you can say i've been thinking of texas a lot lately. partially bc easter is this weekend, and i will be here in nyc - and it's my first time that i won't be with my family for easter. kinda makes me sad, but i know i will be in good company here in the city.

and for the other reason i've been thinking about texas...

if you asked me two weeks ago what i was doing this summer, or after graduation even for that matter, i could only tell you my plans up until may 31st... and that was about that. graduation is may 18th, and may 22nd i head to destin, florida for the reunion trip with my tcu people...after that the plan was to be in sa for about a week before returning to ny to work/intern/freelance.... weeeeelll...

the plan now, for which much thought was put into and several different factors were weighed in, is that i will be in san antonio for the summer -- interning and making some money... then will return to nyc in august. i have mixed emotions about this decision, but i know its best for right now. i was talking to adri about this, and he said - but you LOVE san antonio...and i said, i know, but it wasnt my idea ;) haha. i am super excited to get to be home this summer... its just every time i go home, the longer i stay, the harder it is to leave again :( but hopefully at the end of summer it won't be so hard for me to come back to nyc.... because jon will be coming too!! hooray. jon got into grad school at nyu polytech and will be beginning his grad program this fall!! ex-ex-ex-excellllent!

so there is the story behind my longing for texas (it all goes back to easter being this weekend, in case it's unclear after all my ramblings...) and my plans for the near future.

i am going back to drinking wine that the easter bunny in san antonio shipped to me in my easter box :) [[hey its 6pm... whatevs]] and cleaning the bathroom..and the living room..and kitchen. oh and yea i guess i'll clean my room too. THIS PLACE IS GOING TO SHINE LIKE THE TOP OF THE CHRYSLER BUILDINGGGGG!! [[annie... anyone? anyone?]]

just had to post this convo.

conversation that just happened.

me: you've been really good at blogging you blog head.
mo: it's cause i'm unemployed you blog head.

whoops.
my bad.

my mom told me that she misses my blogs. so i guess i should start it up again soon. but she said 'thats okay, you get your school work done!' - ha.

also, i am in the process of redoing my website... okay, you got me, im not really in the process at the minute - but my old one was just too awful and the work on it was from first semester and was terrible... plus i honestly don't remember how i made it, so its difficult to update. SO. solution = clearing it out and starting new!
but i also have the 'indecisive fever' along with odge, and can't decide on how i am going to brand myself -- currently, my business card is a square with the LH on one side (like on the site) and my info on the back.... but who knows if i will stick to that.
oh yea - here it is.

okay. im out. too much crap to do, and maybe get some sleep. last night i went to bed at 11:30 and woke up at 8:30. it felt glorious. i shall do that more often.

peace out people.

oh also, i have to post this bc it made me laugh.
[[dude, pause my music first]]

im a bad blogger.

sorry to all of you out there in blog land.

march has been a crazy month for me, and i have been very bad at keepin up with my blog! i hope to get caught up soon. share some news, some pics, have some rants, express some excitement.... all in due time.

until then, i am busily working on preparing myself for graduation -- completing my projects, working on my portfolio, and researching design studios in nyc in hopes of applying for a job or finding freelance work and/or internship for when i graduate.

sheesh. where has the time gone? im also about a month behind on my photo a day -- i HAVE the photos (well, like 95% of them) i just havent posted them. maybe this weekend people.

hope all is well in your lives.














peace out
sa town down
low

chicago + st pattys #2 + surprise!

On Friday I travelled to Chicago to surprise Kirby, one of my best friends. Our other best girls were in town -- Kristin, Kimber bean, Hales, and Al and they were all in on the secret. The plan was that I would arrive Friday night, take the train to Kirbys house, and tada! surprise her. BUT my plane was running late, and the girls were heading to a party and kirby was getting antsy and wondering why they hadn't left yet and why everyone insisted on hanging around at her place. I finally got there, after allison insisted I take a cab, and then graciously paid for it for me (i so owe you al)... when i pullled up, kim and allison were outside and my cabbie said -- Look! they are already drinking. hahaha. i mean it was like 10pm. no biggie. even more no biggie that they were drinking the fine wine by carlo de rossi - from the jug. class class class! :D

I walked in the door behind kim and allison and just stood there staring at kirby until she made eye contact with me. ahhhhh!! she finally noticed me and jumped up and we both got so excited! i was so happy that i was able to make it to chicago and surprise her!!

friday night we went to a friend of kirbys for a house party - there were jello shots - which brought me back to tcu parties and/or some family functions (ha. i lvoe my fam). we got to bed early friday night to prep for saturday...

saturday was a loooong day .

we all woke up early. showered, got ready and determined our irish nicknames (your middle name plus your fathers name with a o' or Mc in front of it - hence i was ALLISON O'THOMAS), got decked out with gear from oriental trading - necklaces, buttons, hats, stickers, belts, suspenders, etc. and then let the day begin!

we had such a fun day. hanging out, playing games, playing beer pong, basking in the sun (yes it turned out to be a gorgeous day in chi town). we finished the evening up at plan b where kirby often works at and danced danced danced. i also made a new friend whom i sat on the curb talking to for about 30 min giving him life advice. i felt obligated once i called him a leprachaun to my friend, and then felt the need to tell him of course i didnt mean him and then he proceeded to ask me for advice from a girl point of view.. blah blah. it ended with me telling him that if he ever wants to find a nice girl he really needs to stop being an a-hole and to grow up already. he actually agreed and appreciated my advice. ANYHOW.

we woke up early sunday and said our goodbyes to kris and kim (they were driving back to STL). then we went for lunch at hollywood diner, where we sat in the booth that appeared to be themed with the beatles...and gone with the wind... i had the yuppie joe omelette (what??) but seriously considered getting the gypsy banquet omelette (yes im serious it was called that). then we ventured to wrigley field. took a few pics, bought my dad a tshirt then we headed to sweet mandy b's to satisfy our sweet tooth cravings.

the rest of the afternoon consisted of saying our goodbyes to allison, walking her to the train...hanging around the house, then walking haley to the train. then me kirbs and her roomie andie watched 'the changeling ' with angelina jolie -- it was pretty good. sad and intense, and if you are a mom and you watch it, you WILL cry.

this morning we woke up early, rob (kirbys boyfriend who i was ECSTATIC to finally meet) dropped us at the train station where we said our goodbyes -- i headed for o'hare and kirbs headed to work.

it was SUCH AN AWESOME weekend. i love those girls so very much and i think it is so wonderful that even though we all live in different places that we are able to see each other so often. i miss our days in fort worth when we could be together anytime and all the time - but our reunions are just as sweet and i am always counting down and looking forward to the next time we are together -- DESTIN, FLORIDA -- memorial day 09 -- hooray!!

[[more photos to come... eventually..]]
.. e
all of us girls with sweet reza (one of our tcu boys who also lives in chicago) in the background. -- kimber bean, hales, kris, al pal gal, and kirbs. <3

the theme is green.

[some of my fav pics from our adventures to st pattys parade in hoboken]

tired monster.

hi there friends.
ive been bad at blogging recently. also been bad about updating my 'photo-a-day'. jon just left today. we had such an awesome time during his stay. gah i love being in the same city :) i will have to post some pics from his stay soon. i was sad to see him drive off in the cab this afternoon, but i can smile knowing that i will be back in sa town in FIVE days. ohhh yea. getting a spring break is most definitely one of the perks of still being in school. i shall miss these days. until then i am tiredddd. exhausted. its been such a long day, and i've had so much to make sure i get done before the break begins. thats okay. gotta keep on keeping on and soon and very soon i will be able to RELAX!! hooray. i am excited.
hope everyone made it through wednesday!

xo

conquered hump day.

my melina passed this onto me in an email today that read 'this is you and me kid'... ha i think it's hilarious! shout out to our girlfriends and our wine & technology addictions....

Last night, my friend and I were sitting in the living room,
and i said to her:

'I never want to live in a vegetative state, dependant on some machine and fluids from a bottle. If that ever happens, just pull the plug.'

She got up, unplugged the computer, and threw out my wine.

She's such a bitch.

mr. and mrs. andre

Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered,
it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.

-1 Corinthians 13

weekend getaway success

i am sitting at the airport in sa (dont worry, my flight is delayed to dfw, and i had to get on a different flight to lga, which puts me in during rush hour, which equals an even larger cab fare. excellent). i had a wonderful weekend in san antonio. the andre wedding was beautiful and such a success. i am so happy for timmy and jenna. they are so cute and i am so excited for the two of them and this new life that they are beginning together. it was awesome to see friends that i havent' seen in awhile. i will ahve to post pictures when i get a chance - i didnt get to take as many as iw anted, but i still got a few good ones. and the weather, though colder than i expected, was beautiful. it's bright and sunny out right now, and the sky is clear... i am dreading going back to the cold in ny. there was a snow storm last night - supposed to be the largest of the season. ahhhhh. i am cold just thinking about it.

i have a busy week ahead of me - but i have some motivation to get through it all, and that is the fact that jon is coming to nyc on friday!!! i am SO excited. we have been planning stuff to do, and mostly will justbe hanging out and enjoying the city. hooray. so exciiiiiited.

okay we are boarding now. i am ready to fall asleep and take a nap. i am EXHAUSTED.

bean and cheese count of the weekend = 4.