Mrs. G and Me

On Monday, I starred in my very own reality show, entitled "Mrs G. and Me." The premise? Hannah, Matt, Tara, three twenty something young adults who grew up watching The Facts of Life take a four hour car drive from Vermont to Manhattan in a two door Ford Focus with Charlotte.Rae-- also known as Mrs. Garrett. That's right. Mrs. Garrett. WE DROVE WITH MRS. GARRETT!!!

How did this awesome cosmic turn of events come about? Well, this weekend I was in Vermont for Julie and Ben's wedding. Charlotte.Rae is Ben's great aunt. She needed a ride back to Manhattan. We were driving to Manhattan. The stars had aligned.

The night before, the three of us were freaking out a bit. Should we mention that we all loved the Facts of Life? Or should we just be cool and nonchalant about it? Would she want to sit in the front or the back? Did Mrs. Garrett navigate? What happened if Mrs. Garrett snored? These were all burning questions.

So Monday morning we all piled in the car for the drive back. Mrs. Garrett sat in the front, and did not navigate. But it was cool. Because she was awesome. We would be having normal conversation, and she would casually mention how she knew this famous person and that famous person. Aunt Charlotte went to Northwestern back in the day, and told us all about having to go all the way up to Howard to have a beer, because Evanston was dry back then. She talked about some of the theater she did, like Shakespeare in the Park with Martin.Sheen and Sam.Waterston, back in the day. She mentioned that Paul.Haggis, the screenwriter of Million.Dollar.Baby, used to work for the Facts of Life. She also told us she'd like to break into film... an interesting comment from a woman who had to be seventy-eighty years old. It was awesome. She also offered to help aspiring actor Matt our with his career. All in all, a totally nice lady.

But the big pink elephant in the car was the whole Mrs.Garrett thing. We avoided mentioning it the entire time, dancing around that specific topic. Finally, we were about an hour of of Manhatten when I finally blurted out, "Aunt Charlotte, I may never get a chance to say this again, so I just want to tell you that I loved the Facts of Life, and I think you're great." There. I said it, and Matt and Tara quickly agreed with me.

Mrs. Garrrett was soooo nice about it. She told us about the show and how much fun they had making it, and we asked her if she still kept in touch with the girls and stuff. She mentioned the reunion movie (I told her I'd seen it :) and I think she thought it was a little amusing that we had grown up with this show and loved it so much.

After we dropped her off in Manhattan, Matt and I were could not freakin believe what had just happened. It was so surreal. IT WAS SO SURREAL.

And so ends Adventures with Mrs. G. It was fun while it lasted.

Oh yeah! The wedding! Julie and Ben got married! On Saturday I headed up to Vermont to attend Julie and Ben's wedding. I arrived in the afternoon, and found Vermont to be beautiful, green, lush and hotter than hell. The rehearsal dinner was lovely. Afterwards, Ben and Julie's friends partied in the house we were staying out. I made some new friends. It was fun.

Sunday was wedding day. We arrived at the far the wedding was held at 9:30 am for hair and makeup. Julie was an amazingly calm bride, and we had a lot of fun sitting around, being girly and talking.

The wedding started at 2. It was hot and humid, and it was difficult standing out in the sun while my heels were sinking into the grass. However, it was awesome watching two people in love get married. I kept looking at Ben, and the look on his face brought tears to my eyes. He loves Julie so much, and you could tell how in love and how happy he was. This was my first Jewish wedding, which was interesting. A lot of tradition, a lot of Hebrew prayers, a lot of mazel tovs. So, congratulations to Julie and Ben. My friends are married!!!

One wedding down, two to go. Going to spend the next week and a half packing, seeing friends and enjoying DC. Can't believe it's almost over!!

Here are some pictures from some events in the past month-- out Sarah's graduation (stolen from my brother's blog. sorry and thanks phil!), Matt and Grace's wedding, and out little jaunt out to Charlotesville.

Graduation 2005: Three NU alum. Go Cats! Go Sarah! 

Graduation 2005: Sarah is waving at us. She is smart and cool.  

Graduation 2005: Dad, Mom, Sarah and I crossing Michigan Ave. We're laughing because this skateboarder bailed directly into Minsoo oppa.  

Matt and Grace's wedding: With Keris, the cutest flower girl ever. Who cares if she burst into tears while walking down the aisle? She's still freakin' cute.  

Matt and Grace's wedding: The bride and groom! 

Matt and Grace's wedding: CKim, Minj, CSung and I with the lovely bride  

CKim, CSung and I at UVA 

It's been a long and busy week, and I finally have time to sit, drink a cup of coffee and reflect.

Last Wednesday was my last day of work! It was an interesting day, and an end to this phase of my post-college life. I will always look back fondly on my ABA days. It's the best post college job I could have hoped for. I met great people, learned a lot and had a great time. I was reading some of my old blog posts, and one from the summer after I graduated said something to the effect of my goal is to be employed by September 1, or else I'll move back home. Lucky for me, I started work at the ABA on Sept. 1. I really think it was God's will to have me work there, and then lead me towards law school. So thank God for the past two years.

On Thursday I left for Evanston for Sarah's gradumacation. Yup, baby Sarah is all growns up. It was fun hanging out with the family, eating, laughing, laughing and eating. It was also fun to be back in Evanston, seeing what's changed and what hasn't. It's funny how the little things that change stick out so much. No more McDonalds! No more Osco! No more Sherman Restuarant (not like I ever ate there anyway.) And man, I love NU campus. It is still so gorgeous. Another good thing: Sarah graduated from SESP, which meant a waaaay shorter convocation ceremony, much shorter than my marathon CAS one. Mom and dad were proud, big brother and big sister were proud-- congratulations Sarah, you did it!

Highlights of the trip: Seeing Sarah graduate, hanging out with the fam, meeting SJMerc sports columnist MarkPurdy, food (Evanston Chipotle, Giordano's, Garden Buffet, Thai Sook Dee, Buff Joe's, Merle's, drinks at 1800!).

Lowlights: Cold freaky Chicago weather, John McCain's speech sucked, Sarah's door creaked a lot.

Headed back to DC on Sunday, then picked up MelMcG on Monday. Been hanging out with her for the past couple days. Tuesday we went to museums, and then ate pizza and got beer at brickske11ers in Dupont. Yesterday we lounged, and then lounged by the pool, and then had tapas with Michelle, kerri, Jarva and Pam- a mini DZ reunion. Man, I love Mel McG. Everyone needs a friend like her--someone who's passionate and intelligent, who makes you want to be a better person and do more to effect change, and who challenges your beliefs and ideals.

Today is a relax day. Might head to old town to buy a dress. If it's still there, then it's meant to be. If not, then it wasn't. And then tomorrow I'm headed to NYC, Saturday to Vermont, Monday back to NYC, Tuesday back to DC. I'm all over the eastern seaboard this week!

20 days till I leave dc!

Yesterday was my last day of work! Ahhhh, blessed freedom. More about that later.

Headed off to Chicago in a couple hours for Sarah's gradumacation. I love visiting Chicago, and I love my alma mater. In a matter of days, we'll have four NU alum in my family. Crazy. I'm excited about hanging out with the fam for one last hurrah before Minsoo oppa gets married. I'm also excited about eating BuffJoe's. Suicide wings here I come!!

Dancing Through Life

The other day I was on the metro coming home from work. I was looking out the window at the Pentagon City metro stop when I noticed a lady on the opposite platform. She had her headphones on, and she was dancing. Not standing there bobbing her head, but getting down-feeling it in her soul-dancing. She didn't give a crap about what people thought about her. She was just dancing and listening and smiling. It made me smile.

A little perspective, a lot of love

This weekend was Pastor Matt and Grace's wedding. It was lovely, and I feel blessed that I was able to attend. Going into it, I was a little preoccupied with othr things. We had spent all week working on decorations, and we got to the church at 10AM to help set up. It was a freakin' hot day, and then we got caught in traffic on the way back to the church.

But then... the wedding. Matt and Grace had to plan their wedding in six weeks, because his mom is dying. About two weeks ago the doctors said she had about a week left. But by the grace of God, prayers, and his mom's will to see her son get married, she made it. It was so touching to see this woman in a wheelchair and with breathing tubes in her nose, wearing her hanbok and looking so happy. Everyone was so glad she was there. And at some point during the ceremony, I realized again how amazing weddings are, and how beautiful it is to see two people whom God has chosen for each other come together in marriage.

We sang praise songs instead of hymns, songs chosen by Matt and Grace and just so reflective of them. They said their vows and exchanged rings, with such conviction and love. And then they hugged their parents. The look on Grace's face when she hugged her mom and then her dad brought tears to my eyes.When she leaned over and hugged Matt's mom, you could hear his mom murmuring to her. And when Matt leaned over to hug his mom, she wouldn't let go, and then in a clear voice she said, "I love you, my son."

Now if you know me, you know I always cry at the honoring the parents portion of weddings. But when Matt's mom said that... I pretty much wept. And so did everyone else around me. You could just hear the love in her voice, and the strength. It made me so happy that she was there, but broke my heart that she wouldn't be there to share in their lives together. It was such a beautiful moment of love and devotion, of a mother's love for her son.

As the wedding ended, it encouraged me so much to see two people so obedient to God's will, and joyfully submitting to God and each other. And then they walked down the eye to the strains of "Eye of the Tiger." What better way to end a ceremony.

Another thing I loved about this wedding was the way that so many people pitched in help Matt and Grace have a wonderful day. So many people from church got their early to set up, and so many people stayed to clean up. At one point I looked down the food line, and all of the food servers were my church members. It rocked. I go to an awesome church.

I have three more weddings to go to this summer and I think my attitude towards them has changed. Instead of looking at them as places I need to go to and big money sucking parties, I'm trying to remember that they are beautiful occasions and that I should be honored my friends and family want me to share this day with them. I love weddings.

I'm quitting work a week from today, and let me tell you, it cannot come fast enough! But first, going to Baltimore for a conference tomorrow, plus I need to clean like crazy. I feel like I'm in elementary school again, itching for the last day of school, always looking at the clock, dreaming of summer.

Last weekend I went to Charlottesville with some church buddies. We went to Monticello, Jefferson Vineyard and stopped by UVA. It was a lovely day, and that area is really beautiful. When I went to UVA, I realized that if someone from UVA visited NU, they would probably be shocked by how schizophrenic the architechture is there. At UVA, all the building architecture is uniform, and really really gorgeous. The whole campus is gorgeous. One funny thing: they have this big lawn in the middle of campus, and along the sides of the lawn they have a row of student housing, all singles. Apparently, seniors get asked to live in these singles, and it's a huge honor to be asked. Personally, I think it's a big con. First of all, these rooms are tiny, and second of all-- you have to walk outside, down the row, to get to the bathrooms. No thank you. Anyways, the weekend was great, and it was awesome getting to spend time with CSung, CKim, and Bernard. I'm really going to miss my church friends!!

Sunday afternoon, me, CSung and CKim watched "Sisterhoodofthe TravelingPants." Now if you know me at all, you know this is my kind of movie. :) Of course, I loved it. I mean, it was cheesy, but it was also really good. It was sweet, but not too sweet, and I think it showed a bunch of teenagers who weren't perfect, but weren't awful-- just normal teenagers. I loved the relationship with the girls, because it reminded me of my lifelong girlfriends. There were a lot of funny moments, a lot of sweet moments, and some sad moments. Plus, the JoanofArcadia chick , Rory from Gilmore, and the Latino chick were all reaaaaally good. Yay for chick flicks. I'm such a sucker.

Back to work! Busy busy busy!!

Last night I watched "Hit Me Baby One More Time." It was pretty awful-- those 80s rock stars have not aged well. But it was great to see Arrested Development sing Tennessee, and I thought they really deserved to win. The real thrill of the night for me however was Tiffany singing "I Think We're Alone Now." Now admittedly, she was pretty awful. But man o man, i love that song. "Children behaaaaave, that's what they say when we're together... Running just as fast as we caaan, holding onto one another's hands (hands hands hands) Trying to get away, into the night and then you put your arms around me and we tumble to the ground and then we say, I think we're alone now, Doesn't seem to be anyone arouuuuund." Great song.

How dorky am I that I really want to watch "Sisterhood ofthe Traveling Pants"?

OK. Enough blogging for the day.

Now that I've written my TV reviews, I think I'll write my book reviews.

Books I've read recently:
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. I loved this book. I really loved this book. Have I mentioned I loved this book? It was beautifully written, compelling, and was a wonderful story. It also really resonated with me. The family may have been Bengali and not Korean, but I really connected with the parents and the children's stories. I got really emotional reading it, especially when I was reading about the parents, and imagining my parents as new immigrants. Read this book. It kicks ass.

The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler. I really liked this book, although I would only recommend it you're familiar with Austen. If you're not, you might get a little lost. I thought it was a sweet book, and interesting in the way it connected Austen's stories with the character's lives.

Transforming Grace by Jerry Bridges. A really well written book, that had some awesome things to say about grace. The thing is for me, as I was reading it I realized that the concept of grace is something so huge and foreign to me, the more I think about the less I can grasp it. I feel like I need to re-read it, because I just can't understand how it's possible. God is crazy like that.

Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. Uhhh... Some people's lives were transformed reading this. Mine-- not so much. I guess I just didn't connect with this book. Does that make me a bad Christian?

On my must finish list:
Reading Lolita in Tehran
The Impossible Will take a Little While
God's Politics

On my to read list:
Truman
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell
The Corrections

Books I love (the short list):
Pride and Prejudice
Little Women
Me Talk Pretty One Day
Animal Dreams
Life of Pi
The Three Musketeers
Harry Potter (all of them. Except for maybe the second one)

Books I didn't love/thought were overrated:
Anna Karenina
Empire Falls
Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
Five People You Meet in Heaven
Purpose Driven Life
Jane Eyre

For those of you who know me, you know I'm a big TV person. Some people are into movies, some people are into... other stuff... I'm into TV. So now that this season is over, here are my favorite shows from this season.

Must See TV:
1. 24. I started watching this season, and holy crap, I'm hooked. After they played the first four hours two nights in a row, I became addicted. First of all, it's edge of your seat stress you out intense. Second, the characters rock. From Kiefer Sutherland to the awesome chick who plays Chloe, even the smaller characters kick ass. They have no qualms about killing people, writing people off, making them traitors. Makes for very intense TV. Also, I now have the HUGEST crush on Carlos Bernard (his saving the day moment was the most ass-kicking). Tony & Michelle 4-Ever! Even though the dialogue sometimes suck and the whole real time thing can make things unbelievable (how the heck did they plan the jack dying thing so quickly???), I loved this show this season.
2. Alias. I gotta say, I'm really glad they started the show in January, cause it was awesome not having repeats. This show stresses me out, but in a different way than 24. More of a fun, cover your eyes kind of way. It was great this season, and the last couple episodes especially kicked ass. Love all the Derevko sisters, and LOVE Jack Bristow. VictorGarber is my man.
3. Scrubs. A show that has me laughing out loud. Loudly. All the time. I heart Zach Braff.
4. Gilmore Girls. Dropped a little on my list, but it was still great this season. Not a huge Lorelei/Luke fan (I'm a Christopher girl), and not a huge Rory/Logan fan. But the witty banter on this show is always great, and the show is just so smarty written and well acted.

Shows I like but don't always make a point to watch:
CSI. The original one is the best, because it has the best cast. Kinda gross and nasty, but I think it's a smart, cool show. In particular, I think the season finale was excellent.
Without a Trace. Great show, great cast, interesting stories.

Show I think you should watch on repeats this summer:
Veronica Mars! The premise sounds dorky, but I swear this is a GREAT show. On the same time as Scrubs, so it was hard to catch. But when I did, I loved it. Smart, funny writing, great acting, good mystery-- overall, a really fun show. Plus, VeronicaMars is hot, LoganEcholls is hot and funny, and DuncanKane is an NU alum!

Guilty pleasure:
One Tree Hill. So cheesy, so soapy, so over the top... but I still love it. The boys in it are cute, the girls in it are hot, the adults are crazy- what more could you want? Plus, it has good music.


So that's my TV manifesto. Yeah, I know I watch too much TV. But I also read a lot. So there. Next year, TV watching will be DRAMATICALLY cut. Will probably have to adopt Phil and Messy's GhetTiVo system. Ah well.