really, it hurts

go cubs go

we came across a little piece of 'home' in the local amherst target this afternoon.

now, can someone give me a history lesson on what used to be just north of the field - ya know where that massive parking lot is now? do those towers say coke?

logo throwbacks

with the over-useage of the swooshes and waves - photoshop filters with explosive colorful swirls and edgy/urban unfinished designs...i'm pleasantly refreshed at all the throwback branding i've seen around lately.

that's why when i find a fun photo set of retro logos, i just need to share.

props to mcd's and pepsi too.

vegas: off the beaten strip

so almost a month ago, i took a highly anticipated 5 day trip to the wonderful city of las vegas with my two traveling sidekicks. we've been lots - so i'm not sure why there was so much hype behind this trip. but there was. damn good thing it lived up to it.

it was an action-packed, dress-wearing, boot-stomping, club-going, cabana-laying, wavepool-riding, food-eating, beer pong-playing, karaoke-singing, circle bar-sitting, bubble-drinking, coaster-riding amazing trip. it also just so happened that several sets of random friends were also in town the same exact days. so instead of the three amigas, most of the time there were at least 6 if not 10 of us. we met the nicest of boys, did all sorts of new things and even ran into a very drunken "mr. big" in the elevator of planet hollywood.

other highlights include passing the original "welcome to las vegas" sign. except...we were leaving the strip. yeahhhh in a cab. and he was blasting old school usher and we were dressed for "the club" but making a pit stop at stoney's a country bar in a strip mall. definitely one of the most hilarious things i've ever experienced while in "vegas." we walk in and its kinda like you're in a haunted house with that narrow hallway entrance. then it opens up into a massive warehouse looking place. luckily, it was "ladies night." ooooh yeah, $1 draft busch light out of a solo cup. mmmm. keepin' it klassy. then we look out on to the dance floor and everyone in the place is doing choreographed line dances moving all over the floor in perfect rhythm. in the corner there was a mechanical bull. and the rest of the place was decked out in massive leather lodge type furniture. excuse me...whaaaaa?

oooooh i could go on and on with the stories...but i think i'll just share some pics.

leaving our traditional first stop and heading to our fave happy hour in town. 

no trip would be complete without free beer seeing G!

post stoney's at jet.  liiiiiiights-lights...

oh the faces in this pic are fantastic

this is what trouble looks like

rides on top of the stratosphere.  yeahhhhh she had every right to be terrified.  we were already 1100 feet in the air BEFORE it shot us up and the whole strip was below us.  yikes!

this couple made me cry. they were the cutest.  makes me so sad that this is practically dead with our generation.  i mean what are we gonna do?  'get low'?

these two were quite the dancing duo.  not sure...was this before or after you got kicked out of studio 54 for trying to go in the secret elevator in the back?  haha.

reunion! still can't believe he was wearing a sweater in that weather, but he's "from there" or something...

2824! some of the nicest boys i know.  SO much fun having them in town with us!

post beer pong/karaoke night

nothing like running into a grade school classmate in vegas for his bachelor party. 

red carpet, 5am

vegas, how i love you.

mayday

i'm here to talk to you about may. yes, i know i've been away for a while - at best posting a pic or writing something without much thought or energy. lame, i know.

so may. may was supposed to be the month i took and break and got my shit together. laid low, got back into a workout schedule, cooked more, slept more...ya know, basically just took care of myself before the summer begins and you can't really help but play with friends, eat fried food and drink in the sunshine. i mean, we've been stuck inside for too many months. we deserve those 3 or 4 months of freedom and heat.

so that was the plan. get back from vegas and then ease into may getting myself all rested up for summer 09.

wanna know what? that hasn't worked. in fact, its been the complete opposite.

work has been insane - condo-hunting entered my life; which has basically took over all my thoughts - and moving out is on the horizon. and i hope we can all agree, moving is THE WORST.

so, i've been stressed. when i'm not dealing with it, i'm trying to sleep - which doesn't work cause my mind is racing. or then the weekend comes and i have all the time in the world to think. and that's even worse. then the sun comes out and so do my friends and next thing i know i've been sitting at vaughn's pub all day drinking. then my weekend is gone and i feel like i got nothing accomplished and its back to work we go. vicious cycle. (that paragraph alone makes my heart race...)

so that's where i've been. in my head, extremely busy, trying to find somewhere to live and not to have a panic attack. needless to say, i've failed my may goals - cause when i'm stressed, i eat and drink. hey we all cope differently. but its really unbelievable how calm just one beer can make me. it worked last night and it worked again tonight. and to be fair, it may have something to do with my company as well.

sure i still have a couple weeks to get things back on track till june 1 arrives and the summer enters our lives...but with the way things are, let's be realistic, that's not gonna happen.

MAY FAIL.

its only a matter of time...

[ via ]

GPOYW

in dayton...
at graduation weekend...
with a solo cup of keg beer...
on a time out from an intense flip cup game...
waiting for mom to come out of the not so clean bathroom.