My friends, in fact, rule.

Well, well, well, it's already September! Add in a cliche about time moving so quickly, and that will have to suffice for how busy I've been. Two important matters to broach today, however:

First, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BESTIE AMBER!

We've been friends since the 8th grade! We're two similarly-minded ladies who grew up in the military and as of last year, live in the same city together again - something which I cherish and never take for granted. Especially when I want to watch French movies or go to a book swap: she's always there! Three cheers to beauty splurges, bacon arms, and many more years of friendship!

Secondly, it's the end of an era! Erica and I moved into our Brooklyn apartment together FOUR years ago! As of yesterday, she's resettled a borough north in Queens and her new places sounds fabulous. We're both stoked on everything right now - neither of us are those "scared of change" type people. Congratulations to Erica and her new digs, as well as a toast in commemoration of our first years of navigating New York together!

My friends are the best and I am - every day - so honored to have them in my life!

I'll just keep it to myself in the sun.

Another successful weekend. Getting away felt great, though after rounds of bocce, badminton, bag toss, and (wiffle) ball, my muscles are mad at me.

My parents are the best. My friends rule. I think the husband liked the birthday party. And we continue to celebrate...

CHICAGO !

I'm heading to Chicago - walking out the door of my office in 10 minutes!

There I'll be seeing the husband, hanging with friends, meeting up with awesome bloggers, and seeing Motion City Soundtrack play their discography!

Updates to come - though, per usual, on-the-go blogging is much easier via my tumblr!

Pacing floors and opening doors.

It's weird quoting Brad Pitt, but I enjoyed this snippet from his latest interview in Rolling Stone (on newsstands today).

Brad Pitt says his new fantasy drama The Curious Case of Benjamin Button got him thinking about his own mortality.

“Angie and I do not fight anymore,” he says. “What occurred to me on this film, and also with the passing of her mother [actress Marcheline Bertrand in 2007], is that there’s going to come a time when I’m not going to get to be with this person anymore. I’m not going to get to be with my children anymore. Or friends, people I love and respect. And so, if we have a flare-up, it evaporates now.” Adds the actor, 44, “I don’t want to waste time being angry at someone I love.”

Sounds good.

A girl with true ambition.

I've been scouring the internet for a picture from last night's Dragonette show at Mercury Lounge, but I can't find any yet. This is beside the point.

I will tell you, that for me to really and truly fall in love with a band, I need to see their live show and that show needs to be fantastic. My favourite bands put out awesome live shows: No Doubt, Motion City, Monty Are I, etc. Fortunately for Dragonette, THEY BLEW ME AWAY!!!

Seriously, I couldn't believe how awesome they sounded and my hips were shaking the entire show. The best thing is that I get to see them again tonight!

Yay! We'll obviously be re-visiting this subject after tonight.

In other news, I plan on getting a lot of things done this weekend. It's starting to get cooler out, and it might just be the right time to re-evaluate my closet and get rid of things. Also, I just bought the first two seasons of How I Met Your Mother, so we'll see how that goes! Erica and I watched the pilot last night, and it's looking promising.

Sunday is football (and the Emmys!). Obviously. And despite all the alcohol in the last post, I haven't had a drink since. Sometimes the body needs a little refresher. PLUS, next week's my birthday. Celebrayshunz. Speaking of, due to the awesome Dagger-fresh flyer, I want my birthday present to myself to be a sweet Mad Men-inspired dress. Inspired - I don't want to be costume-y. But if I find a sweet and hoopy Betty-like dress, or a slinky number I could see Joan parading in - I'm buying it! Unfortch, just because it's my birthday doesn't mean I have the dinero to buy a designer confection. The good thing is, the show has definitely inspired a lot of fashion trends lately, so I have high hopes to find something cheaper. A lot of magazines have editorials inspired by Joans and Bettys lately...

Okay, that was starting to turn into a ramble. Last thought - I'm really excited for this autumn; it's always my favourite time of year.

(Not so) Groucho.

Jesse and I last night (I am obviously in a post-dancing haze! Oof.)

Now that I've (hopefully) struck your curiosity with that photo, let me explain yesterday. After work I headed to Union Square to find a dress for this weekend, but H&M and a few other stores did not produce anything I liked. I did find some brightly colored tights in Express (a store I used to work at, and I loathe it to my core). Then I decided my last option was Forever 21. But I found two dresses - that sequined little thing from last night and another one perfect for my date this weekend with Jesse. F21 = $40 of my love to you.

Jesse met me for some Chipotle burritos and we headed home to play pre-party poker with Sean and James. I dominated most of the game, but lost to Jesse in the end. Queens are my besties.

Sean and I headed to the bar, with Jesse straggling because his appearance was to be a surprise.

The reason Jesse is in disguise: last year he made a bet with his friend Neil that he would not enter this bar, Angels & Kings for a year. If Jesse kept to his promise, Neil would pay for roundtrip tickets to Amsterdam, and if he broke it, Jesse would have to pay for them. Well, last night was Kells' birthday and it's the bar where Erica has her weekly party, Trainwreck Tuesday, that she (and Rob Hitt) DJ. So, he came in disguise. Ha.

Sidenote - the photographer that took the pictures last night (besides Jiscilla, who plans to have her pictures up soon!) describes AK: "If the Warped Tour was a bar in New York Angels & Kings would be that bar." That made me laugh, mainly because it's true.

I had SO much fun last night; I saw a lot of friends and we danced into the morning. Seeing Erica's face when she realized Jesse was there was PRICELESS - I wish I had a picture. I liked having him there, and having somebody walk me home. It felt as it should be.

And no hangover! Jesse and I are meeting up with my college friend Rick tonight for dinner, as he's in New York for an interview today. I'm excited! Then it's couch time for me.

Epic Friday.

It went down like this.

Got to leave work early; and so began my three-day weekend. I arrived home to a box of flowers! Pretty, pretty roses with a note - got on video chat and apparently they were the wrong flowers ("you're more than just simple roses") and a day late. Oh well. They are lovely and so is he.

Dags and I met up with Ashley and Gaby at the Crush offices and headed to a bar around the corner. Kelly and Christy met up and we WERE going to go see Definitely, Maybe but then it was sold out and Kelly and I literally scalped our pre-bought tickets. I sold mine to a dude there wanting to see it alone. Weird, am I right?

So then we went back to the bar, drank some more. We decided to leave because the waitress blew. "I'm going to have the $3.50 Sam Adams." I hand her a 20 and get back seven dollars. "UM." She apologizes, hands me another seven, but I don't realize how much I have now. I have to flag her down for the millionth time and get the rest of my money back: NO TIP.

Quote of the night: "I want a boy with plugs so big i can stick my tongue in them and make out with his neck." To each their own.

Move on to PIZZA. YUM YUM NOM NOM NOM.




We bid adieu to Ashley and Gaby and the rest of us go to the Continental - because why wouldn't we?? We are surprised when we look at our watches and it's only 10:30. After watching people make out for some time, we headed to AK for the Angels and Airwaves afterparty or something and just danced, danced. Saw the regs and said HI.

Christy and I had a long (drunken) debate in the subway about the five big Oscar-nominated films. How we do.

Got in beds together and video chatted with Jesse. Hahaha. Best. Thing. Ever.

Then we woke up and watched Pushing Daisies. Let's just say, she's hooked. My diabolical plan to get everyone into the show is going well; Jesse is downloading all the episodes, too. Mwahahahaha!

And now I sit a bit cloudy in the head, but all worth it because hanging with the best people ever never gets old. Today I shall finish cleaning my room!! And probs video chat, OBVIOUSLY.

Things I read today that made me smile.

"Um also, Jack is RIDIC hot, but I haven't watched any of the new season yet b/c I still haven't finished Season 3!! Seriously forget Sawyer though, Jack is the man for me." --e-mail from Amber

"what'd i do in ur dream? take ur picture?" -- Curbside Daily excerpt from Jiscilla

"Also the numbers, sweet sweet numbers... Jack and Hurley’s game of horse at the end... Jack gets H and O and quits. H is the Eighth Letter of the alphabet O is the fifteenth. 8 + 15 = 23... seriously any other show i’d think that stuff like this is a coincidence... with Lost I’m not so sure..." -- Rick's latest blog post

"Bang The Doldrums: Best friends / Ex-friends till the end / Better off as lovers / And not other way around / Racing through the city

OMG! It's like Rob and Lilly's anthem. So touching, so emotional, so vapid. Clearly this is the kind of song Abercrombie & Fitch models want to be hearing on their iPods while giant monsters chase them through urban catacombs." -- Sci-fi blog i09's post about Fall Out Boy's possible influence on Cloverfield (that idea in itself deserves a loud laugh)