showbiz shelley and t$ take on europe: the prologue.

ok, i suck. it's been a while. reasons for the hiatus: networking, interviews, and too many reruns of real housewives. in any case, i am back (and with a job to boot, go me.) instead of talking about that, however, i would like to address the more pressing issue of my LEAVING FOR EUROPE to visit the baby sis this evening by taking a trip down memory lane and looking at some of our past adventures in anticipation of the the one that is to come.

first time tracey came to visit me at butler for formal. HOT MESS.

NYC trip for teen vogue. we truly were legally blonde.

ft. myers with madre for spring break. i hope we actually got a tan...we look like vampires.

paris trip #1! im hoping to let paris redeem itself with me this time around, cause we were not friends on that first trip. bad weather, everything closed, and sooo lost. at least this time ill have a tour guide.

we actually spent most of the trip doing ridiculouso things and making fun of historical sites as demonstrated below:

then we celebrated thanksgiving 2008 in my home country of espana. mom does it better, let me tell you.

staycation: tourists in our own chitown.

DC2009. this trip was pretty EPIC and has set the bar for johnsen sister excursions from then on.

now i'm off to retrieve the little one and bring her back to:

(this is actually in paris---cause you can never really escape your roots)

...but before the great homecoming we must take care of a bit of unfinished business in a little placed called ATHENS. well tell you all about it at the june 9th tracey return/21st birthday/shelley's new job celebration kegger at the 501. see you there! au revoir!

kitten's modeling debut = epic fail.

soooo thanks to a little help from "the secret," my wishing for a new kitten resulted in one sneaking into my life without any work on my part whatsoever. long story short, the little guy was found by my cousin's wife in the parking lot of the school she teaches at and the gray police had full intentions of "exterminating" it before liz offered to personally take it to the humane society. instead of doing that, i volunteered to take it off her hands. needless to say, mom was pissed.

what's funny about mom is that she really wants to stand her ground and say i can't have the kitten (and i sort of have to comply, i mean i am living in her home rent-free) but the kitty is so freaking cute that she is having a hard time maintaining that tough outer shell. instead of being really pissed about the kitten, she is actually pissed that she likes it. unfortunately for her, it is so well behaved that she is fumbling for excuses to banish it. did i mention it is also so freaking cute???

in an attempt to share the cuteness with the world (mostly tracey), michael and i made the sad discovery that although we now have the cutest kitten ever, it (not sure if its a boy or girl...?) also happens to be the most unphotogenic kitty as well. whenever i tried for a pic it was immediately distracted by the little camera string (or anything else that demonstrated the slightest bit of movement) and went sprinting. this was the best i could go under these circumstances:

red-eye friends.

same color as the floor...already proved problematic.

electrocution waiting to happen.

so the kitty's a gamer...

mom's consistant kitten warning:

"THEY'LL CLIMB UP YOUR LEG!"

is clearly a proven theory.

obviously there are no cat calendars or choice tees in this little guy's future.

10 reasons lagrange park is where its at:

ok, so moving home sucks, let's be real here, but in order to make the process slightly less painful, i've compiled a list of the top ten best parts about my hometown, the good ole LGP.

1) Santiago's. sopapillas, margs, best salsa ever in a pinata wonderland. if you visit LGP, this is a MUST.

2) the lake michigan water from the tap---tastes better than bottled and does nice things for my hair.

3) Rivas. the only place you willingly let indian women who do not speak english rip out lines of your eyebrows with thread for $8. i do not trust the brows to anywhere else.

4) Dunkin Donuts, also fondly referred to as "dunks." BEST COFFEE EVER. hands down. also the site of many a late-night gossip session.

5) LaGrange Theater. ok, so it has been kind of a debbie by raising its prices, but $5.50 is still fucking cheap for a theater movie, and we can walk there.

6) Prasino, my new fav place in town. fresh, organicy fare that somehow remains unpretentious (but still pretentious enough to be impressive/slightly intimidating to first timers---organic vodka, really?) i think about the vegan black bean burger at least once a week, and now i'll probs be consuming it just as often.

7) Trader Joe's within walking distance! not having to drive 20 min to get there like I did in indy is enough reason to move home anyway. plus we can buy booze there any day of the week. you hear that indianapolis---even sunday.

8) Oakbrook mall. this is just about the only mall i have any desire to ever go to because it is outdoors and beautiful (even in the dead of christmas shopping when you will legit get frostbite, right tracey?)

9) ridiculous town/school events: the pet parade, the red sled, the goombay smash, party in the park---really great excuses to drink and make fun of your surroundings. (that is an official invitation for everyone to booze with us before the pet parade at chiltons....)

10) Palmer's. created of my annual end-of-summer blue moon baby aka the weight i gain from too many pitchers and stumbles home from this lovely establishment.

*11) the people. the friends, the fam, the fam of the friends---people from this area are the greatest ever. seriously all of the above this are enhanced exponentially by the company of the LGP peeps.

if you guys want to add to this list, drop me a comment---i would love a memory refresher of all the other great LGP things i missed/don't know about!

stick a fork in me, i'm done.

sooo...i'm a college graduate now. time to be a real person.

here's how it went down:

the weekend started with the dad-side dinner at st. elmo's, indy's resident swanky steakhouse (slightly late thanks to a delayed flight which resulted in a minor meltdown by me)

...i ended up having a bite of jen's steak, the first red meat i've eaten in 3 years (except for a questionable tangine in morocco, god knows what kind of meat that was), but when in rome right?

it was soooo windy, i lost my cap for a second---we could not stop laughing.

then i forced my roomates to take a pic and pretty much had to hold a gun to michelle's head since she didn't graduate (pharmacy=two more years of butler fun)

and the two true berkley house grads:

we then proceeded to suzy's for our mini grad party---which also happened to occur on hunter's prom night. sucked to be him and his date when a bunch of drunk people jumped all over them and pretty much started drooling over how fabulous they looked (which they did)

then zac and i went to prom.

kidding. we wish.

later that night we met the group for drinks at a mexican place where mom made me speak spanish to all the waiters while everyone just gawked. funny.

miguel, mi amigo nuevo, also made our guac barside.

the evening's circle of trust:

the blondes,

and the brunettes.

after all was said and done, it was a great end to a great week to a great semester to a great year to a great college career. cheers butler, thanks for the laughs, the tears, the knowledge and the awesome basketball season. sorry i still came out really cubstyle.

informal poll on a future act of deviance.

ok, so today i was thinking that because i am now a free bird and can live whereever i want--beginning back at home with my fav roommates mom and michael, that i REALLY want to buy a kitten. i'm thinking about just getting one and bringing it home and letting its cuteness do the talking. ideally the cuteness will counteract the wrath of linda. i mean, tiger could really use a friend, or at least a victim to bully. thoughts?

how could anyone say no to this face? we always need another drinking buddy.

who wants a double down? the kentucky oaks and derby in photos.

i know it's been a while (FINALS!) but this weekend was the beginning of the great graduation celebration:

heading to the oaks to kickoff to the weekend with jen and the td ameritrade gals! happy hats!

the oaks lily was the drink of the day: vodka, cosmo mix, sour mix. lollipop in a glass.

it was soooo windy we had to literally hold on to our hats.

check out the name of this philly! we had a field day with that one. too bad twelve pack did not come through for me on the track. that's $6 i'll never see again.

father-daughter betting tagteam.

after too many lilys jen and i were playing with the binoculars/my new sunglasses.

in true kentucky spirit we got picked up by our driver in the kfc parking lot, home of the now infamous "double down": bacon and cheese sandwiched between two pieces of fried chicken. needless to say i ate several over the course of the weekend.

derby day chic: it was POURING, but we did not let that stop us.

what a good looking group.

fun at the ice bar. christmas story anyone?

breakfast of champions in the suite: bloody marys that matched the color scheme for the day.

life long bros. this is what its all about.

having rain-free fun sans hats with our buddy the champagne bottle. we can only be expected to pose pretty for so long before we crack.

harry potter strategizing his bets. i did a british accent for a good five minutes after taking this pic.

as sucky as the weather was, it did have a few bright moments that we took full advantage of on the suite patio.

daddy's girl.

after everything was said and done, we ended up in our favorite place again.

kentucky probably still doesn't know what hit it.