Guess what happened to me yesterday...

Oh, ya know. Got engaged... No big deal. :)

Red-headed step-child

In a conversation about the baby Jesus, and the reason for the season, the following statement came out of Ryan's mouth tonight at Target...

"I bet Joseph spanked Jesus... 'You're not my real dad!'"
(Lauren: hysterical laughter...)

Ten Years Ago...

..........................10 years ago..........................

1.) How old were you? 16.
2.) Where did you go to school? Austin High School

3.) Where did you work? Decatur Country Club
4.) Where did you live? Decatur, AL

5.) Where did you hang out? My house, Books-a-Million, Waffle House.

6.) Did you wear glasses? Sometimes.
7.) Who was your best friend(s)? Erin, Sarah and Cristi, Cliff and Randall, Leslie...
8.) How many tattoos did you have? None.
9.) How many piercings did you have? Ears.
10.) What car did you drive? Daphne, the 1983 Volvo 240
11.) Had you been to a real party? No.
12.) Had your heart broken? Not yet.
13.) Single/Taken/Married/Divorced/Bitter: There was always somebody...

-------------------5 years ago-------------------
1.) How old were you? 21.

 2.) Where did you go to school? University of Wisconsin-Stout.

3.) Where did you work? Barkers Bar & Grill in Hudson.
4.)Where did you live? Menomonie, WI.
5.) Where did you hang out? This was my busiest semester of school, I didn't really hang out anywhere except my boyfriend's house... and the bar...

6.) Did you wear glasses? Sometimes.
7.) Who was your best friend(s)? Kim Arth, Phil of QFP, Jason.
8.) Who was your crush? Jason.
9.) How many tattoos did you have? None.

10.) How many piercings did you have? Ears.

11.) What car did you drive? 1992 Ford Ranger. LOVED IT!
12.) Had you had your heart broken? Yes, yes I had.
13.) Single/Taken/Married/Divorced/Bitter: Taken.

****************December 2009******************

1.) How old are you? 26.

2.) Where do you work? I'm livin' the dream.
3.) Where do you live? Saint Paul, MN
4.) Where do you hang out? My place or Ryan's, the Muddy Pig.

5.) Do you wear glasses? Yes.
5.) Who is your best friend? Ryan, Jean, Erin.
6.) Do you talk to your old friends? Not many, but the good ones seem to be reappearing.
7.) How many piercings do you have? Ears.
8.) How many tattoos? None.
9.) What kind of car do you have? 2000-something Pontiac Sunfire.
10.) Has your heart been broken? I'm pretty sure I've endured my last one. It's a nice thought...
11.) Single/Taken/Married/Divorced/Bitter? Very happily taken.

Dear Aforementioned New Coworker...

I'm sorry you got fired this week.Even with this tough economy your sparkling personality should have you in a new gig in no time!

Best of luck,
--Lauren

Dear Mom,

How's that? ;)

--Lauren

East Coast Extravaganza

A few weeks ago I went to Baltimore to visit my friend Heather. We spent some time in Baltimore, and then headed to NYC, as well as Philadelphia and Atlantic City. Enjoy the pictures!

Baltimore was fun. Ate some crab. Saw Charm City Cakes (home of Ace of Cakes) which was fun. Saw a roll of toilet paper on the antenna of a car. Not too much else to report.

First thing we ate when we got to NYC was cupcakes from the Street Sweets truck. See the people near the truck in the background? The guy was from a TV show and had a camera crew with him!

Obviously, this is Radio City Music Hall with the Christmas tree lit up!

This is the John Lennon tribute in Central Park.

From here Heather told me every statue we saw was of John Lennon.

We went to Carnegie Deli where you can get a deli sandwich that's 2 feet tall! We ate a regular pastrami sandwich, and it was delicious. They bring you pickles in a bowl for an appetizer!

This is me in Times Square. We sat here for a while before we went to see "Bye Bye Birdie" with John Stamos.

"John Stamos spit on me, and it was the best day of my life!" --Heather

Chelsea Market is home of the Food Network Kitchens.

"You can eat a pound of meat, but you can't eat a damn cupckae??" --Heather

These photos are of Ground Zero...

The Statue of Liberty from shore...

This is me on the Brooklyn Bridge, when I made Heather walk to Brooklyn for pizza. I will say, it might be the best pizza I've ever eaten...

This is all of Philadelphia... Cheesesteaks. I will go on record saying this sandwich made it into the Top 3 Best Sandwiches Ever. Thank you, Pat's Steaks.

Then we went to Atlantic City. This is Zotar, the guy that make Tom Hanks big in "Big." He didn't really do anything for me...

This is on the boardwalk and the shore. Notice that Heather and I are all bundled up, and that's a surfer.

We picked Trump's Taj Mahal because it was the sparkliest. Needless to say it didn't help us win.

New Jersey appears to be pretty much a waste of a state. I can't think of any reason to ever go back there. And the quote of the state was, "Seriously. Nobody here is attractive." --Heather

That's it! From Atlantic City we went back to Baltimore and ate more Crab Pretzles. Trust me, you wish you were eating one right now. And then in the morning I flew back to Minnesota.

Thanks for an awesome time, Heather!!