warm woolen mittens

it finally reached below 30 this week

time to break out the mitten collection!

www.travelwisconsin.com

airport fashion runway

i've already forgotten what 65/70 degree weather feels like, but i'm trying to do my best as i pack for a last minute trip to california! turns out the payroll department at work has been screwing me over and i just found out that i have 84 hours of PTO that i need to use by the end of december! six days in sanfran here i come! if i had more fashion sense, this is what i would wear to the airport next week, but it'll probably end up being jeans & a T... i promise there will be many pictures and hilariously inappropriate stories of my adventures to come!

#mkewedding

oops! remember when i said i would try to blog once a week... turns out netflix is streaming all 6 seasons of the wonder years soooo... that's where the last 2 weeks have gone.

but back to the important things... #mkewedding! i think it would be rude to say i like some friends better than others, buuuuuuuuuuuut... when you fall in love with their families too, it's hard not to give a couple extra points to these two:

Copyright Anna Page Photography 2011.

on to my shameless love affair with the marks/andreasens... i'm convinced beth and andy have a thousand friends. each. but there is something that makes me feel like i'm their only friend when even their parents know me by name. i think in the estimated 5 years i've known beth i've spent a collective 5 hours in the company of her father, but the minute he saw me he gave me the sweetest hug and said, "it's really good to see you again, emily." beth's mom was no different and insisted i make a pit-stop in omaha on the way to wherever i'm going next to visit and spend the night. she does not have to ask me twice, because turns out 3/5 of her children are still in omaha and i have a huge crush on all of them. her sisters are over the top marvelous and stunning, her brother and sister in law are absolute riots! and i tried really hard to jump in the back of their car on their way home. but no dice. next time.

i am equally infatuated with andy's family. his mom was a good sport while i tried whoring myself out to the rest of her single sons. she indulged my preoccupation with becoming a member of her family like it was a totally normal conversation to have. see, andy is the oldest of 6. he has a younger sister who is a total babe and 4 other charming brothers. of those four, three are of legal age (eh, but don't quote me on that, he's only a senior in high school). point being, i think i have pretty good odds ;) i'll keep you updated. and then there is andy's dad, mr. doug mark... whenever i'm around him i try really hard to keep a straight face and a level head, but inside it's one long sentence that sounds something like this, "omg i think you're so cool.i would totally move to rockford if we can be neighbors.i think everything you say is interesting.please send me a bunch of merchandise when you decide to run for mayor." haha yep, pretty much like that.

if i had sisters, this is what they would look like

and finally i have to tell you all about my new bff, maux (that's a fancy way of saying Mo) she's beth's bombshell cousin on the far left. after i sheepishly introduced myself i word-vomited all over about how awesome i think she is and how i read HER BLOG everyday... we drank, we danced, we judged other people's life choices and we planned my road trip down to austin. bliss.

Copyright Anna Page Photography 2011.

engineering pick up lines

1 month blogging hiatus.... done.

sorry for the long break blogosphere, i took a time out to soak up the end of summer e.g. attending the last of the festivals at the lakefront, fish fry & a flick on the lawn of the art museum, jazz in the park, patio seating, skirt wearing and frozen custard eating!

i've also been busy hanging out with engineers in dive bars in riverwest. no, i'm not becoming a hipster, i've been listening to my brother play the blues with some old buddies from GE. he's pretty amazing, and one of those natural talents that can pick it up after years like he never put it down. maybe it's cause i thought he was the shit, but i never remember him being bad at any musical instrument he dabbled in. i'm sure my parents would disagree while they endured all the reed screeching, horn blowing practices.

also... i'm still trying to process this past weekend's nuptials between two of the greatest people i have even known. serious debriefing is going on over here about: people i haven't seen in 5 years, the trials of pre-adulthood, mind-blowing new friends and running the gamet of emotions in a 48 hour span. the phrase that best describes last weekend:"heart bursting" some things to look forward to in the next post...

i will become part of the andreasen and/or mark family one way or another

rediculously awesome name changes

i danced (it's a big deal)

kidnapping

i'm slowly starting to notice

conversations with friends transition

from blouses

to spouses

to houses

and all too soon we'll be talking about babies

but until then i'll be

stealing children from my coworkers

rrraaaaarrrrrrrr

relax, the dinosaur is just on your face

quick. staring contest. me & you. now.

fish face

he learned some new words that day: antibacterial

shorty was walking way too slow by the end of the day

what i really think about children...

just give me six strings and a half stack

a few things i've gathered from the 2011 VMA's...

i'm beginning too feel too old to be watching the vma's

kevin heart is not funny... not even a little

so nikki minaj is just the hip hop version of gaga, right?

sad my black keys lost, but glad the foo fighters are still kickin' it

adele is spectacularly captivating and i want to be her friend

are we all just sweeping chris brown's past under the rug?

i've never been a huge britney fan... but she's back, bitch

is kanye's taylor swift stunt still funny, cause i think it is

beyonce is knocked up

i've never heard of 'young the giant' before tonight... but i'm in love

i still don't know how to dougie

i think i have a little crush on bruno mars

katie holmes is still adorable, i wish she'd do more movies like 'the romantics'

i have a soft spot for the young money crew (don't tell anyone)

also - i don't care if gaga is in drag, or if she's doing all her theatricality for ratings and album sales, she's pretty amazing and a voice for our younger, unedited, generation who will one day change the world

you just committed up to seven human resources violations in one sentence

hey blogosphere! sorry i've neglected you. i've been wrapped up in work... joining committees, making plans, making a difference, taking notes, taking names. but more importantly enjoying milwaukee happy hours when it's all over. and during those happy hours i've been wrapped up in breaking stereotypes... other peoples, and my own. most recently the following were broken:

1. just because you went to marquette...

does not mean you're a douchbag who drank on her daddy's dime.

2. just because you play world of warcraft...

does not mean you're a loser who lives in his mom's basement)

i've also been wrapped up in amazement at how true the "workplace" category is on someecards. i don't think i fully understood the irony until i became just another lemming lost in the maze of 5ft grey pin cushion walls. with each one i read, i scream, 'that is SO true!" i couldn't pick a favorite or even a top 5 there were just to many great ones so enjoy...