Lou-Who comes to town

(Cindy and Lo, 2003, Freshman dorm at VCU)

Cindy and Lauren came to the city for an art conference and we had a sleep over. 

I should've taken pictures of us driving around my neighborhood at 1AM laugh-crying out of frustration and exhaustion in not finding decent parking, but alas, I did not. So all you get is Cindy and I at Sunday brunch. Sans Lauren.

Cindy-Lou-Who and I were grade school besties and college roommates our freshman year at VCU.

I love her and her sweet family. Time to show them off...

Picture stolen from Cindy's FB page

Her husband, Mat, is the creator and head of VCU RamNation (remember when I ran into him at a bar after our Final Four loss?) and their daughter, Jude, is possibly the most beautiful child on the planet. And Merle is... Well Merle is their dog. Doesn't he just look like a Merle?

And here's us girls (including the beautiful Kate & the famous 'Poppy', formerly known as PoppyDoodle - Cindy's Dad) at Mat & Cindy's wedding in May, 2010. This is to help restore the image you may have of Lauren and Cindy after seeing that Freshman year pic at the top of this post. They HATE that picture.

Lou-Who is the most fun, non-judgmental, free spirited, friend I've ever made. We met in kindergarten and were separated once in 3rd grade due to her "gifted" brains and she finished elementary school somewhere else in a smarty pants program. We were reunited in 6th grade when she was thrust back into our crazy school district. After one year, her parents sent her to a much better private school, separating our social lives yet again, but luckily we continued to live in the same neighbor hood so the sleep overs continued until her family finally moved across town in 9th grade. Some of my best childhood memories took place in the basement of that first house though. After HS we were reunited a 2nd time when we decided to room together at VCU rather than get strangers for a roommates. After graduating in 2007, Cindy took an internship in BK and we were reunited again after a 3yr hiatus. I swear, since freshman year, we've see each other more when we're both in NY than we ever did when we were both living in RIC. It was after her summer here that she decided to head home and start a family with Mat. Then a year and a half later, she married him and that's all she wrote... 

Cindy unknowingly reminds me that life is a blast and that it's okay to loosen up when I get a little uptight. She has no idea how much I look up to her. And of course, I appreciate all of Poppy's unrelenting, yet denied, tomato juice offers over the last 22years, but that's neither here nor there. I was going to list my all time best Cindy memories in this post, but the list got FAR too long. Let's just say, I would've never made it through middle school if not for our sleep over shenanigans. I hope she comes to visit again soon! And maybe brings Jude this time for a girls weekend. Man, that little girl has no idea how funny she's going to seem to her 6th grade best friend! And that friend has no idea how much she's going to LAUGH her 6th grade butt off!

Love,

~Kare*  (or RiRi according to freshman-version-Cindy)

Next year...

Photo source

We took a hard loss last night against Indiana after being up the whole second half and practically the whole game. I had no words afterwards. This morning I woke up and the first thought I had was about how sad I was and I even cried a little. If I wake up emotional about it, I cant imagine how the boys must feel. I must say, I'm so proud of them and all that they accomplished this year. 

We always have next year.

Please don't leave us Shaka. 

Please.

All my love,

~Kare and all the other RamHeads out there.

(RamHead is not an official VCU term, but a title given to me last year by my friend Kent. Feel free to use it. I kinda love it.)

We're dancin'!

Ladies and Gents,

we're dancin'.

View from my seat for the CAA tournament against Drexel.

View from mom and dad (and Anthony and Sakina's) seats.

Ballers.

So we earned our way to the NCAA and up to battle first was Wichita St.

Although it was a NAIL BITER, we won!

Here is a 100% stolen and 100% awesome pic from Allen's FB page of him rocking out (drums) with our award winning pep band in Portland.

We play again tomorrow against Indiana. Scary.

No matter how far we go, I love those boys and I'm so proud!

!Go Rams Go!

Love,

~Kare*

The Curtain

It's official. 

Dad has finally started production on his song, The Curtain, which he wrote almost 3yrs ago. He's been kickin' it with the youngsters and being creative and musical 'til all hours of the night. When he's in the studio, he's brainstorming with Bryce (seriously y'all, I LOVE his album! BUY IT!), Allen (you may recognize him from the VCU games if you've been watching - he's the drummer for our famous, award-winning, pep band), and Trey (the owner of Songwire Studios in Richmond, VA).

It's sounding great and I'm getting the cutest texts/pictures from Dad.

That last picture is a special one. 

That's my Pa-Pa's Guild guitar and in case you didn't know, 

Dad's song is written about his father,

my late Pa-Pa, and his career as a musician.

It's on the track and 

it's the cause of emotion 

 in this convo below...

He's precious sometimes.

I'm going home soon to help put down the vocal harmonies...

as soon as Dad's childhood bestie, Tim, lays down the lead vocals.

They may deeply regret asking me, 

but I'm more than honored to be a part of the project!

"Above all, I believe in music."

Love,

~Kare*

9/11 Memorial

I've been wanting to see the 9/11 memorial since it opened back in September, at the 10yr anniversary of the tragedy. As previously written, I tried to go a few weeks back but was unaware of the "rules." There are closing hours and you have to make reservations. So the week after I learned the hard way, we had a girls day which included the girls, the memorial, and of course, brunch.

We started with brunch, brown sugar cubed coffee, and Crystal (seen here with Diddz).

But then we parted ways and Diddz, Sandra, and I went to the memorial sans Crys.

Summary: 

I HIGHLY recommend it.

As beautiful and serene as the fountains themselves are, standing in the exact place of the World Trade Centers and with their bases made of melted steel from the original buildings/rubble, I think I equally loved the visitors center. Please note, this site is still under construction so maybe my favorite thing will be the museum once it's completed, but for now, I liked the visitors center. Also, the fountains I keep referring to, are technically called "reflective pools." The fountains are beautiful and as I said before, surprisingly somber and serene - especially considering you're standing outside, in a construction zone, in the financial district, of new york city - but there are NO signs to read, no facts, details, particulars or info on what you're looking at... yet anyway. Maybe that's still in the works too. 

The two pools are surrounded by the names of the nearly 3000 victims and there is a way to look up loved ones in order to find where on the fountains they're located.

The Freedom Towers (the buildings that will be replacing the twin towers in function, above) are still works in progress as well, but so far, they are BEAUTIFUL and poetically reflective. You can see them in the background of some of these pictures as well as the soon to be museum which will hold lots of cool artifacts like the famous cross beams that were left standing in the rubble among other things.
Here we are, as Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau from "Grumpy Old Men,"
 trying to peek into the unfinished museum.

What a peaceful way to spend a Sunday in the city!

Cant wait to take the sweet Kern next time she comes to visit. She'll lit like crazy!

Love,

Legs*

I'm a big kid now!

Look out world! Here I come!.....

... as soon as I win the lottery, get a raise, or marry rich.
But then...
THEN...
You better watch out, world!
You've been warned.
Love,
~Kare*

Goodbye party

& photo booth.

I'm friends with a very popular, and might I add good looking, set of twins. One of which is moving away. As Brad ventures out into the scary "non-city" world, it will be both he and twin brother, Brett's, first time living without the other. Can you imagine? Needless to say, Brett's not the only one sad to see his brother go... Last weekend there was a going away party thrown for the famous Brad and naturally, there was a photo booth to boot (I've been saying that in my head a lot lately and I feel good about it). Here are some pics of the twins, my peeps, and I, goofing around. Please forgive the incredibly unflattering men's shirt that I recently purchased at Goodwill and LOVE despite it's tent shape or shall I say shape-less-ness. Unflattering much?

Brad (above, eating his last slice of NY pizza).

Brad and Brett (below, being identical).

Gearing up for our "Cosby" style television show. Mmm Jello Pudding.

Girlfriends.

I'm funny sometimes. But also, not.

And now, "Three's Company."

The boys are now interviewing Judy and I to see if we have what it takes to be "twin replacements".

 Yeah right... Although, it IS a close call.

See you this summer Brad! -No one can resist an NYC summer trip to Long Beach! 

Love,

~Kare*

Sweet 16 in New York

It's official.
Sweet Maquel turned sweet 16 back in January.
To celebrate the milestone, she got a trip to New York... with her mom, Shawna.

I remember when this girl was born and now she's talking about college.

Scary!

Sadly, I had to work 2 out of the 4 days they were here, but luckily they had sweet Kerny here to babysit them and get them around town.

We started the trip sitting around my apt picking a place for supper.

We ultimately decided on a bite to eat at Artichoke (my most fave pizza in the city - hands down)

and had a tour guide moment on our walk home...

(Empire State building in the foggy rain.)

Friday, the girls spent the day at the Statue of Liberty (Lady Liberty went in my place) and Ellis Isle. I wasn't there, but stole these pictures from them.

Friday night Shawna and Maquel had tickets to see Wicked (also part of the birthday celebration) and mom and I went to see Godspell, right next door. The girls forgot to take pictures of themselves at their theater, but Mom and I snuck a picture inside ours. And then we did the Time Square thing.

Some things to note, we won the lottery for Godspell which put you on the floor right along the circular stage, but knowing my Bdway shows, I opted to seat us in some empty spots up higher in the theater. Probably 5 times throughout the show, people in our floor seats were chosen to be on stage and/or splashed with water/confetti. Talk about being "into it." We would've literally been IN the show. No thanks! But we had a GREAT time and Hunter can SANG his A*S off! I almost cried every time he opened his mouth. It was totally unexpected.
Here I am with him, by total chance, after a show back in October.

Saturday started with our typical Flea Market run.
Apple tasting outside...

(even though this picture is mostly of tomatoes)

and treasure hunting inside...

My winning treasure this trip!

I'm still oohing and awing over it.

(P.S. See what a good job I'm doing on my "nail painting" new year's resolution?!)

We had a Shake Shack & cupcake date with Diddy (not pictured)

Then we went to Midtown and did all the touristy stuff that I love to hate. Seriously, that's the best way to describe it. It's a love/hate relationship!

We walked by the temple...

 and then wrapped our day up shopping at TJ Maxx and were shockingly ready for church come morning.

My church is the prettiest church.

We tromped around Central Park all afternoon and then tried to get into the 9/11 memorial that evening, but being very unprepared we made it there only after closing. Fail.

Central Park

My 2nd favorite way to spend a Sunday in Central Park (the first being laying out in Sheeps Meadow)...

Around, but not at, the 9/11 Memorial

(The new twin towers ="The Freedom Towers."
Also, it got dark while we were there.)

Throughout the weekend, we did A LOT of waiting for and riding both the subway and the bus... 

I hope Kelly had a GREAT 16th birthday in the city and I hope it wasn't her last visit!

Now,

for your viewing pleasure,

here is a hilariously embarrassing (for me only) "Through the years" of me and Kel...

Y'welcome!

P.S. When I think of her, all I think of is a blonde, 3yr old toddler, singing in perfect head voice, Ariel's "Part of That Woooooorld." And flaring her nostrils just so on the word, woooorld. So cute. And quite frankly, impressive for a three year old! But also, I think of snuggling her to sleep when she was a wee-thing. It was my most favorite thing in the world.

And that wraps up our President's Day Weekend... Thanks for coming girls!

Love,

~Kare*