August 31st, 2011 (Day 243)

It is so hard to believe that today is the last day of August. September is tomorrow! Fall is coming. Crazy!

Today was also the first day of the semester...aka the first day of my senior year. It is completely surreal for me to be starting my last year of college. In 8 or so months I will have my Bachelors degree. What!?! I'm pretty excited.


My online classes started today, so I didn't actually have to go to class, but just had to finish a few postings on my online discussion boards for my classes.

Next week is my first actual in person class and also my new internship begins!

August 30th, 2011 (Day 242)

I had therapy this afternoon and on my way back I decided to visit Lauren at work. I hadn't been there in a long time so it was funny to see her working at the place I worked at for 3 years!


I'm glad I stopped in, I got to cuddle the cutest 5 week old dachshund rescue puppy! So cute!


After dinner Annie came over and went with me and Lauren to go shopping for mom's birthday presents! Her birthday is on Thursday.


Can't wait to give her her presents. :)


Later on Annie and I rented Catfish from Redbox. It was so creepy and interesting. I can't believe it is actually a real story! See it if you haven't already.

August 29th, 2011 (Day 241)

Today ended up unexpectedly good! I got to spend a good portion of the day with my oldest friend...Britty Boo!


I went to her apartment to hang out with her and baby Buddha..who really is her baby.


It was her little brother Cam's first day of 6th grade. I remember when he was born! I can't believe he is so big. We took him to Diary Queen to get ice cream.


Then we went back and hung out at their mom's new house in a historic Rochester neighborhood. I had fun sitting on her mom's front porch and analyzing the different styles of houses! So pretty.

Annie ended up visiting later on and we watched some weirdo show on TLC about strange collections. Interesting people, to say the least!

August 28th, 2011 (Day 240)

Epitome of a lazy Sunday!

The highlight of my day was vegging on the couch and watching the VMAs. I don't even like the majority of artists who were nominated for VMAs, nor did I like the performers, but I still watched. Lady Gaga is cool. I liked her acceptance speech and the statement she made.


VMA Sunday!

August 27th, 2011 (Day 239)

I babysat the little girlies across the street again today for 7 hours! So that took up the majority of my day.


My sweet little Nikki falling asleep on the couch before bedtime! I love this kid.


Rachel got a little tipsy so I ended up going to pick her up from the bar after I got done babysitting. We were hungry and neither of us really ate dinner, so we went to IHOP and ate dinner at a pretty late hour. Haha, it was good to have some good adult conversation after all the babysitting I've been doing!

August 26th, 2011 (Day 238)

Today was a nice day! I woke up feeling really tired for some reason, so I just kind of took it easy and watched TV on my laptop while laying on the couch.

Annmarie called me on her way home from work and asked if I wanted to meet up somewhere for dinner. After pondering many restaurant choices, we finally decided on Panera.


Panera never disappoints me. I ALWAYS get the exact same thing, because it is just perfect. You pick two, with cheddar broccoli soup and a bacon turkey bravo sandwhich (tomato bread, gouda cheese, lettuce, tomato, mayo, turkey, and bacon) and a lemonade. Perfection!



After Panera I met up with Annie and Rachel and we played outside. Annie and I rode our bikes while Rachel long boarded.


Later on in the evening, we went back to Annie's house, just the three of us, and had some amazing girl-talk while we got our drink on. I love my friends and they make me proud! I feel like we really just "get" each other and I am so grateful to have such awesome friends!

August 25th, 2011 (Day 237)

Another 3-11 shift at work. Safehaus is literally in a residential neighborhood, on a small little street. It isn't a hospital or a big facility, it is an actual house!


Here is the house.

I feel so lucky that I am an employee here. I really enjoyed my internship. I never dreaded going, I actually looked forward to going to learn about the kids that were there and to hear their stories and to see what kind of (small) impact I could have on them. Now that I am an employee, things really haven't changed. I still have that same interest and curiosity as I walk up to this house every day I work and am about to start my shift. I hope that doesn't ever change!

August 24th, 2011 (Day 236)

Today was another long day! I woke up early to watch the girls across the street again for a couple hours. After that I had to work 3-11 at Safehaus. I hadn't been to Safehaus in a few weeks (they'd been extremely slow) so it was nice to actually go there and work!


The guy who owns the house (Dr. K) is so sweet. He is so caring and always tries to spoil the kids with treats. He brought us all candy and it kind of made my day. Silly how some M&Ms can brighten your day, but they definitely did!

August 23rd, 2011 (Day 235)

Today I thought I was just going to be babysitting for a "few" hours for the little girls across the street. A few hours ended up being from 9-4, basically. I went home to relax and maybe take a little nap, and then my other neighbor texted me asking if I could watch her two little girls next door while they go out to dinner! So I ended up babysitting 5:45-9:30 for them too.


Playing outside with the girls!

After all that babysitting, I ended up going to the movies with friends to see The Help. It was really good. It was heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time. I will definitely buy it when it comes out on DVD!

August 22nd, 2011 (Day 234)

Errands, errands, errands! I had an appointment early this afternoon that I went to. Traffic was so bad on the way there and even worse on the way back! Garfield was a mess because MCC started classes up today and it was just insanely packed with cars. Not to mention all the construction on Hall, ugh, just horrible. As I was stuck in traffic, not moving an inch, I noticed this a couple cars in front of me. It made me smile and I had to take a picture of it!



After I got home, Rachel picked me up and I ran more errands and hung out with her. :) I My phone got all frozen and weird and in trying to fix it, I deleted all my contacts. Not fun!

August 21st, 2011 (Day 233)

I ran errands during the day and then went to my grandparent's house for dinner.


We celebrated my Papa Ray's 65th birthday with pizza, salad, and a delicious Coldstone ice cream cake!


Later on we had girls night! Rachel was a great host. We had lots of yummy food/snacks/desserts to munch on...and yummy drinks to consume! We had a bonfire and it was the perfect night for it. It was breezy and a little chilly, perfect night for a fire! I had a blast with my girlfriends :) This was the best pic of the entire night...haha...oops.

August 20th, 2011 (Day 232)

This afternoon I got my hair cut!


Then Annmarie and I went to the Armada fair...you can see the rain clouds rolling in..scary sky!


We hoped the rain would pass over quickly, in reality we got stuck in the goat tent for over an hour.

It rained for a long time! When it finally let up a bit, we decided to venture out, but still got soaking wet in the process. We saw lots of cute animals and walked around and explored. We decided to leave and met up with Lauren and Ross at Mexican Village for dinner. Yum!

August 19th, 2011 (Day 231)

Today was a pretty day outside! Annmarie came over and we went on a bike ride around the neighborhood. We rode up to 711 and it made me a little sad and nostalgic. I remember when all of these new houses was "the woods". There was a bike path and we would ride through the woods to get the 711 when we were younger. Now there is a busy street and houses lined along it. Urban sprawl is lame!



After the bike ride, Annmarie and I watched a movie (Red Riding Hood). It was ok. Annie joined us later on. I swear the three of us are not obsessed with each other or anything... :P

August 18th, 2011 (Day 230)

Today was my last day of dog sitting! I finally got to go home, which was nice. I don't mind dog sitting, but not sleeping in my own bed for a week is kind of hard! After I left the dogs, I went to visit my mom at her house. After the visit I hung out and got ready to go downtown with Annie to visit Jess at her new place.

Her new place is really awesome! I love the neighborhood and the building is really gorgeous. Gabi and Cody were down there too, so it was a nice little evening with friends!


Jess' new room...very neat and organized as usual ;)


Awesome big balcony porch!


Candid shot...yeah, not. Weirdos!

August 17th, 2011 (Day 229)

I had to take the dogs to the vet earlier today which was quite an ordeal, they are a handful! Luckily my mom came and helped me deal with them.

Annmarie came over to hang out with me for a bit during the evening. She was feeling lame and didn't want to hang out at Annie's when Annie got off work. I ended up going to Annie's and surprise! Rachel joined us. We had a lot of fun and got some good belly laughs in, it was a really funny night. I'm glad we got together spur of the moment.


We left a message in a bottle for Annie's mom to find the next morning.


And we made finger puppets on our fingers...the big bad wolf and little red riding hood. No, we were not sober, don't worry. :P

August 16th, 2011 (Day 228)

Loved today!

Lunch dates resumed with Annmarie...since she is down to part time at her big girl job since school is about to start. We got to have our lunch date at our favorite, PF Changs. Yum yum egg drop soup and crispy honey chicken! After we had lunch we went back to Annmarie's house and laid out in the sun and then laid on rafts in the pool and tried to take advantage of the sunny day, since we realized August is half over already and the summer is about to end!


I had two fortunes in my ONE fortune cookie today at lunch, I thought it must be my lucky day. :)

After dinner Annmarie rode her bike over to my dad's and Britt met us over there too! We went through a nice evening bike ride through the neighborhood and caught up. It was so good to see Britt, it had been a while since I saw her!



Britt came back over to hang out with me and the dogs at night. So glad we got to catch up lady :)

August 15th, 2011 (Day 227)

I painted my nails with some Delia's nail polish their 12 year old daughter had at the house I'm staying at this week...even though they're kind of juvenile I kind of love them. :P


Annmarie and Annie came to visit and hang out with me and the pups!


Scrappy loves Annie :)

Today was an average day but nice to spend time relaxing with friends!

August 14th, 2011 (Day 226)

Today was kind was a busy day. I ended dog sitting in Grosse Pointe this afternoon and had to rush out to Macomb to start dog sitting for another family! I got back to the new house and just relaxed. Annie ended up coming over to visit later in the evening and brought delicious La Saj carry out (she got a new job doing carry-outs at a delicious Lebanese restaurant). We just hung out at the house with the cute little dogs I'm watching.


Zoe and my new house for the week.


Crazy Scrappy.


These jumbo blow pops also made my night.

August 13th, 2011 (Day 225)

Today was such a good day! Gabi came home from Poland last night and we got together with a bunch of friends tonight. We went out to Pizza Papalis in Greektown and then went back to Cody and Joe's apartment and then out to a couple bars in Midtown (The Bronx and Third Street Bar) for drinks!


Drinks


Amazing pizza


Friends

What else is needed for a perfect night out?

(Annie we missed you!)

August 12th, 2011 (Day 224)

Today was an incredible lazy day. I had a Skype meeting with my advisor and got some good news! A policy changed and I don't have to take the last elective/pre-requisite class that I thought I had to take! So next semester I have an opening in my schedule and will be able to take a grad level class for my Masters degree and pay undergrad tuition prices! YAY! I started house-sitting in Grosse Pointe again this weekend, so I got over here, ran some errands, and then had the laziest evening. I basically watched the entire season of Real World Las Vegas online because I had nothing else to do!


It was entertaining at least.

August 11th, 2011 (Day 223)

Today was a little busy running errands and getting stuff done! I got to see Laura who was in town for a couple days. We went to Rachel's house and ate a delicious Lebanese smorgasbord of things. We parted ways and I hung out with Annmarie and Fiona for a while! We went to Patridge Creek to visit Corinne at work and to visit Rachel at her new store, Charming Charlies. Then Laura came back over to hang out some more! It was a day full of seeing friends. :P


Yummy creations in the Haddad Kitchen! Rachel made me a wrap with hummus and falafel and homemade pickles..it was super delish!

August 10th, 2011 (Day 222)

Today was another early morning! I had to watch the little girls across the street again. Afterwards I hung out with my mom for a bit, took a nap, hung out with Cody, made brownies, and then went to Annie's for a patio party with the friends. :)


Adorable baby Claire eating her breakfast this morning with her funky morning hair. :P


Cody and Annie!


Girls

Tonight was pretty awesome..I love these summer nights with friends. Bonus that it was actually a little bit chilly outside (hence the hoodies!)

August 9th, 2011 (Day 221)

Today was a full day! I had to get up early to babysit the cuties across the street.


Natalie (5) and Nicole (2).


Baby Claire! (14 months)

After I watched the girls, Lauren and Ross and I went out to lunch. After lunch I took a little nap. When I woke up I was hanging out with Lauren...and then Annmarie joined us. We decided to go to the movies and saw Crazy, Stupid, Love. I liked it, it was a pretty good movie!

August 8th, 2011 (Day 220)

It was just one of those lazy Mondays!

August 7th, 2011 (Day 219)

You can just call me Martha Stewart!

I made a photo board for my room today for free! I re-purposed some fabric from curtains and found the rest of the supplies around the house. Including the top of an Ugg shoe box used for the actual board itself! I felt pretty crafty.


Finished product.


All pictured-up and hanging in my room. :)


And later on I made some yummy PB&J muffins. Really a Martha kind of day.

August 6th, 2011 (Day 218)

Today was awesome. I had a very lazy start to my day and a very fun end to it! Annie and Annmarie came down to GP and from there we drove to Detroit to get some delicious Shangri La for dinner. They have my absolute favorite red curry with chicken that I am obsessed with. After dinner we stalked Jess' new house (in Woodbridge) and then got ice cream. We went back to GP and watched a movie. I had fun with An-cubed!


Little tourist in Detroit


2/3 of the An-cubed


I thought my fortune was a good one :)