Shenanigans with T and B Val

So far, I have been very lucky to make good friends in my short time on the east coast. Of those good friends are Tracy and Brian Valentine. Recently married and recently nicknamed T-Val and B-Val.  They call me L-Dub, short for Lauren, that cool chick from Wisconsin that hangs out with all the time. 

A couple of weeks ago, we went to the Paramore and Jack's Mannequin concert. 

It was an out-door concert in downtown Philly, and what a beautiful night to be outside listening to good music! Because we are hip, happenin' and hot, we were picked to be poster people for Philadelphia. Ok, maybe it's not quite like that but here we are anyway. http://www.digphilly.com/photos/main.php?cmd=imageview&var1=08_15_08+Paramore%2Fparamore55.jpg

  

We had a great time singing and shakin' it and trying

 REALLY hard not to bump into "silly" people that were taking pictures with new iPhones. 

I swear, we were not obnoxious...at all. 

 Over the last week or so, the Vals and I have been getting ready to sadly part ways for a few months. T-Val is gearin' up to go to work at our parent company in Munich, Germany. No, I'm not jealous. Really. After all, I'm going to Cincinnati, OH for 3 months. That's got to be just as exciting as a beautiful, European country that I would give my first born in order to go back to.

 So in an effort to make the most of our last week together, we have been making dinners for each other, shopping (we weren't good at this), drinking good beer and roasting marshmallows. 

Tracy and Brian had a cook out this week with lots of fun games to include: beer pong,

washers, and the crazy beer-bottle-on-a-poll-with-a-frisbee game. Once it was dark, we got cookin' with gas and cranked up the fire. T-Val and I got a craving for Schmores, yes schmores, not s'mores, and the lot of us began to debate whether or not mallows and beer go together. I say, Absolutely. 

Among other debates, it was decided that Brett Favre will always be the best quarterback EVER, no matter what shade of green he wears. Good night. 

The rest of the week involved me getting through a professional exam (hopefully news of passing will be coming to a blog near you), and amazing cheese fries at this great restaurant in Philly called Chickie's and Pete's Cafe. If any of you should choose to visit, I promise, we will indulge in this goodness. 

 

As you can see here, I might be all the way on the Crazy East Coast, but instantly be close to home by ordering a good WI beer. 

They had Leine's on tap!! Also, they had three specialty beers in which they mix Berry Weiss with each Honey Weiss, Sunset Wheat, and Leine's Original. As a beer snob, I was very hesitant, and even put out a disclaimer that we don't roll that way in WI, but I gave it a whirl. It wasn't bad, but the WI way is better...naturally. 

Well, the adventures of L-Dub, T and B-Val will surely continue. However, sadly, they will be put on a temporary hold for Ohio Shenanigans. Till then, T and B- Val, Peas. 

Turtle got beat up, east coast bully style

After about an hour of sleep, and a headache that is just shy of migraindom, I head off to work. As you  might imagine, the morning is not off to a good start. About two minutes into my drive, I also realize that I have left razzledazzleberrybaby (my phone) at home. Ugggghhh. 

I pull up to a yield sign, looking back and to the left, with traffic as heavy as it is, it's obvious that I will not be getting on the main

 drag for awhile. My car, Turtle, was affectionately named for his shape; however being on the east coast and not having a lot of get-up-and-go, his name has a dual purpose. 

Well, the vehicle behind me must have thought that I was going to go in the two foot space that opened up and started to pull forward. Because I was not moving forward at all, he slammed into me and beat up Turtle.  

Needless to say, this did not help my headache at all. 

I like to run. In pretty places. With nature and stuff and junk.

Today my camera risked life, limb, and sweat to come along on the run with me. I wanted everyone to be able to see the place that routinely kicks my butt. 

You all know that the first thing I do in a new place, is to find a place to run. When I moved here, before I unpacked a box, I went for a run. To meet people, I joined a run group. And the run group brought me here. It's been love ever since. 

There is a five mile loop that takes me through the heart of downtown Princeton, Princeton University and this cool nature preserve. 

This trail can take me all the way to Trenton, NJ (about 10 miles south) or all the way up into NY (about 40 miles north). I don't think I will ever run that far. Who knows; I get bored. 

The part of the trail that I run, there is a river to the left and woods to the right. It also has a hidden path that you have to search out and be lucky to find. As you can see here, if you blink you miss it. What you you're looking at is a little hill into the woods on the right side of the trail. 

From there, you come to a second river...that you have to cross in order to continue on the trail. You cross by way of the fallen tree; no joke. Hope the river isn't high. 
You run through the woods for a ways, twisting and turning, jumping logs and fallen trees. Eventually, you begin to think you're Indiana Jones as you come to the next obstacle, a suspended foot bridge that crosses the second river again at a different bend. 

If you want to keep running, you're gonna have to cross the bridge! And as you can see it is not very wide, and I will tell you from experience, it swings and it bounces. However, the river that is on both sides of it is beautiful. 

There are fish in the river and the current isn't very strong. I love this run, and I will be sad to leave it when I go to Cincinnati. But you know I will find some other trail to write to y'all about and I'm sure I'll be equally excited about that trail as I am about this trail. Want to come run with me? Shout out to Val, Becca, and Vance; you guys would love this place. Ah, the life of a runner. We are always happy if we are running. 

Birthday in the Cittaaaayy!!

Hello family, friends, and other random readers that happen to glance!

The birthday this year was an awesome one. At 12:00:01, the phone calls started with a beautiful rendition of Happy Birthday on the sax from Richard. From then on, I fully believe I was conspired against because the calls came on

 the hour along with the texts and the emails. I LOVED them all! 

Strolling into work, I'm confident that you could see my cube from space.

 Sarah decked out my cube with all kinds of balloons and streamers and more balloons and candy and balloons. It was incredible. Not to mention, there was a beautiful pink tiara just for me, and wouldn't you know, I too was head to toe pink already. 

Boskey (a.k.a. Melissa) was kind enough to bring me coffee, which I fully needed after my night of answering birthday wishes. She also brought me Munchkins. What the heck are Munchkins, my midwestern friends might ask??? They are doughnut holes. I sent Boskey into shock when she found out I had no idea what they were. Scrumptious, delicious, doughnut holes. Yummy. 

After work, we scidaddled home quickly to get beauti-fied and dolled up for a night in Philly. It took Boskey and I awhile to navigate in the city, but eventually, after 4 loops passed the restaurant we made it. 

However before dinner, we had to run to Urban Outfitters (clothing store) to return this hideous shirt that I bought on a whim on a lonely Saturday night...yikes! Lonely Lady Buyers Beware. Anyhow, we ran in, stood in line, and arrived at the counter. He asked me how much I paid for it, to which I honestly replied, "$25" and he proceeded to explain that the prices paid on line are different than paid in the store, and he needed a code to rectify the situation. After two more minutes, he hung and decided to give it to me for "full price" which I thought would be the $25 that I paid for it, but NO. He 

gave me $48 back...the original full price. YAY Happy Birthday to ME!

We hit up Maggianos for dinner. After two appetizers, two salads, two pastas, two meats, two desserts, and wine that floweth plenty, they rolled us out of the restaurant. There is only one other time I have been as full as I was that night, and I it took me several hours to feel right again. 

Post-food coma, we headed to the IMax where we enjoyed The Dark Knight. I loved it the first time I saw it, I loved it the second time I saw it (Jumbo-tron style with the Christian Bale's

head being approximately 14 feet tall at times), and I will love it the next time I see it. Good birthday movie choice. 

At 3am, I finally made it to bed. After 45 facebook messages, 37 text messages, 15 phone calls, balloons, and flowers, I was exhausted, but I know that I am loved.

It Begins

Hello family and friends!

I have always wanted to start a blog, and because of the popularity of last summer's "Life as an Intern" I have decided that now is the time. Here you go, Grandma; I know you've waited a long time for this!

So for those of you that are completely OUT of the loop, I have moved. To the east coast. Yes, it was a big leap, but I was offered an awesome job at Munich Re America in Princeton, NJ. So, I packed up all of my things, and moved to my personal unchartered territory. Coming out this way, I didn't know anyone within 800 miles, and I didn't know the area at all. I had only been in NJ for the 8 hours of my interview. I hadn't even seen my apartment before I got out here. I'm crazy. 

Since then, I have gotten to know the area a little better, and the beauty of the east coast is that everything is SO close. Philly is a 45 minute drive. Downtown NYC is a 50 minute train ride. The beach is 30 minutes around the corner. Shopping and eating are plentiful, and the Princeton University campus is beautiful. 

Work has provided challenges to say the least. I was hired into the Risk Analyst Rotational Program. For 2.5 years, I will be trained from the bottom up to be a corporate underwriter for reinsurance contracts. Reinsurance is insurance for insurance companies. A typical work day for me consists of 4 hours of reading in the morning. 4 hours of classroom training in the afternoon. I read A LOT. And at the end of the program, I will be a lean, mean, reinsurance underwriting machine. 

I'm almost done with the first stint of classroom training and then I will be moving to the beautiful city of Cincinnati, OH. While there, I will work with a primary insurance company, (like American Family, General Casualty) called Midland Insurance Co. I will be going throughout the company applying what I have learned in the classroom and really get some hands on experience of the primary market before I start on the crazy world of reinsurance (insuring the primary market). 

My coworkers are good, fun people. Tracy just got married at a vineyard yesterday, and I was honored to be invited to the wedding. I enjoyed spending time with coworkers that I'm sure will become good friends. Names to remember for future blogs: Tracy, Brian (Tracy's husband), Duff, Melissa Boskey (a.k.a. Boskey), and Steve. We all got our boogie on at the wedding and had a great time. Tracy looked amazing and I will be posting pics soon! 

I live close to a great cafe, It's a Grind (referred to by moi as the Grind) where I study and do things other than studying, like blogging. I drink coffee, chat with other people on line, text, blog, just about anything other than studying. Just kidding, I'm about to get back to it now. I just wanted to make sure that I got the word out there, and kept all of my favorite peeps informed. (Grandma, that means you.) 

I miss all of you!