happy birthday blog!

it has been 367 days since alex and i started this little blog and i have enjoyed every minute of it.   however, due to some personal stuff i am going to be taking a break.

hopefully alex can continue to post in my absence. 

wish you all a merry christmas!!!

xoxo
Anne-Marie

winter break!!!

finals are over.  

i am still awaiting my VCLA score, but so far i know i got 88% correct so i'm hoping that's passing!

whats on the list for winter break: staying in bed extra long today with my Hanukkah present from ALEX!  don't you love the new print. 

get it here: room it up

it is doing wonders for me today:

making my first morning of break amazing; next on the list coffee and Cheerios!!!!!

tonight i am seeing Coco Before Chanel at my friendly neighboorhood cinema.   maybe my french skills will kick in and i will not have to read ALL of the subtitles.

perhaps i will bring my knitting project with me!  i'm making alex an infinity scarf!!!

girls weekend

its just me and lisa at home this weekend.  pa-thug and k-dawg have gone camping with the boy scouts.  Poor pa-thug.

tonight we are having buffalo chicken dip.  in college alex and i used to make this on tuesdays and get a 1.5l of sauvignon blanc.  this was not only classy but good on the waist line.

i am currently boiling the chicken and only wish lisa would let me drink a bottle or two of wine... i guess a gimlet will do!!!

recipe for buffalo chicken dip
1 pkg neufchatel cream cheese (low fat cream cheese)
1 can of chunked chicken (this grosses me out to no end so i boil chicken breast and shred them myself)
hot sauce (tonight we are using franks red-hot wing sauce)
cheddar cheese
blue cheese dressing

(if you have ever made sky-line dip (ohio people!!!) or chilli dip the prep will be familar)

decide if you want to cook in the oven or in the microwave (i always choose oven but its up to you!) if you choose oven turn to 350 and pre-heat!

take a glass dish such as a pie dish or a 9x13 (again this is your call) glass dish and spread the cream cheese on the bottom.
poor blue cheese dressing to cover all of the cream cheese
in a bowl put the chicken and put in hot sauce to taste (if you like heat add more!! with all the dairy do not be afraid to coat the chicken well!)
dump the chicken on top of the blue cheese
top generously with shredded cheddar cheese.

place in over and cook for 10 min until all cheese is melted or microwave (covered) for 5 min increments until cheese is melted. eat with chips!!!!

a picture will follow after we are done! (i told you i would add picutres!!)

lazy mornings with good friends...

we all know that i do not have a job and do basically nothing on MWF, so while laying in bed today i was chatting with Alex while she was at work.  this was the highlight of our conversation and pretty much encapsulates our conversation.

hopefully i can get a job soon...

google yourself

i have a very unusual name.  that being said i think it is an utter feat that at the age of 23 years 350 days when i google my name i do not come up.

i spent a few hours pondering this today... does this mean i'm irrelevant???  do i not exist because i do not come up in a good search for me?  or am i an internet genius??  no awkward facebook pictures, no link to my linked-in page, no twitter feed.  then again no race results, running or swimming.  no reviews of my work. 

the people who do come up; are much more interesting than i am?  are they more "real" because they can be googled? should i be jealous of them?

perhaps my time has not come, maybe they have worked hard to be the number 1 amh on the google search.  that is why i'm not in the first 5 pages of the google search?  have i not worked hard enough, achieved enough?

Alex marie is the second entry in a google search of her name.  she actually has alot of entries...

lastly one more question to ponder: why are all the other amh's from england??

room it up

lately alex maire has been super busy at her J.O.B. i decided to bring a bit of her job to the blog!

thus we give Room It UP some love.

you can find them on Twitter: @RoomItUp and on Face Book.

The Room It Up products are amazing! and i have loved being able to watch the company grow and transform over our friendship! the LapDesk is the original product and is a MUST have for anyone with a laptop, in college or prone to doing work in bed!

i really like the train cases! i have a few and used them for a variety of things! as a lunch box, a make up holder, a head band case, and lastly and jewelery holder! i am tres in love with the Merci print but just palced an order for a few pieces (a new train case for mommy!!!) in the fun flower!

my other favorite part about room it up is that practically EVERYTHING is monogram-able!!!

this is one of my train cases:
note the awesome fishtail monogram!

the are your one stop shop for everything back to school i.e. a pencil case that can hold your calculator! and MINE should be arriving any day now!!!

the working life

i am just so proud of alex... here is what she has been up to (probably why she is always absent from the blog!)

ROOM IT UP!

as for me i am getting more and more excited about the post-post college life... i.e. grad school.

7 days until the GRE

i took my first practice test today. (i know all you over achievers out there just winced but its going to be fine i will be prepared)

the results:
while you cannot tell from my lack luster language on the blog i pride myself on having a large vocabulary. its all in vain. apparently i know nothing.

good thing i want to be a math teacher... i scored well in the math!

tour de oxford

For Those of you who did not get to spend 4 (or more) GLORIOUS years at MIAMI.

as Robert Frost put it "The prettiest campus that ever was"King Library where i spent many hours but i never road a bike.

Upham Arch and alex marie. (if you kiss your lover under the arch at midnight you are denstined to become a MIAMI merger

Close up (also i spent alot of time here b.c it used to be the business school before they bulit a new one)

MLF and his house mates. so handsome!

MLF walking in to graduation (i got great seats!)

I am so J. they got to wear red so much better than black, but i guess they are the bicentinnel class.

Also, off my check list Alex Maire, JC and I accomplished skippers, lunch boxes at Steinkellers (no fries tho), fiesta chara, 3 mind probes (no mongolians but thats ok), 1 bloody mary, lots of beers, and FUN TIMES!!!

its COLD

so i know i talk about how cold it is like all the time. but is cold. so cold i have sacrificed fashion in the name of preventing frost bite. its awful.


i just returned from a wonderful tapas dinner with kelly. good times and great to catch up. marked by sadness b.c alex was not present.

second best part. i went to the kiehls store and FINALLY replaced my lipbalm. i don't know how i survived this long. AlSO, at borders i found my fave notepads. the tri-pack of kate spade. i was on my last sheet of pink so its great to have a replacement. AND i don't have to go to the office tomorrow.


well its off to bed i have a big day of apt hunting tomorrow!

bad news, good news

I regret to inform you all (aka Abby Esquire) that my imminent trip to the Chi has been canceled due to inclement below zero temperatures and snow. The CEO of our company (and my loving father) thought this was in my best interest. I, however am extremely upset, as it had been the single thing I had been looking forward to since October. On the bright side (!) I have a voucher that I can use for a future trip to see my bestie (that is if she'll forgive me!)


On another note, said CEO has decided it would be best for me to travel to Toronto for the annual CGTA Spring Gift Show. This is scary for two reasons: 1. I have no directional ability, especially in foreign lands and 2. There has still yet to be a confirmation as to whether or not my iPhone will be accepting Canadian signals. Anyway, as it goes I have gone ahead and made my travel reservations and on January 24th I will be off to the frozen North. Alone. Atleast the exchange rate is in my favor.

'til later, alex-marie

5 days

only five days untill alex comes to vist me in CHI!

i am super excited. she should be so excited for the awesome weather we are going to have... this is before windchill!!


well im off to dig out my car and go to s. bucks. mmmm.

Gossip Girl Tuesday

in honor of our college tradition, wine tuesday. when alex and i would polish off a liter and half of sauvignon blanc and either a dish of bufflo chicken dip or taco dip and watch tv. (its ok it was college and totall acceptable to do things like that, see we have stoped since graduation, and i have lost those unwanted lbs) as well we have decided to devote tuesday to gossip girl.


the obsession continues