stopped.

do you ever have those moments that, when thinking back on them, stop you in your tracks?

last night, after a particularly meaningful, deep conversation, we were saying our goodbyes. he put his hand on my cheek, looked at me, and leaned in to kiss me goodnight.

today, just the thought of that moment is melting away the 13-page policy brief i have to read and design a press campaign for, it's melting away the argument with a friend, the desire to be outside on this beautiful fall day, the anxiety of starting a new job..... i'm stopped in my tracks.

cheeseball that i am.

hethie becomes a johnson.

such a beautiful bride! and so far from stella's.....

over the weekend, abby and i made the trek from minneapolis to sioux falls, sodak to watch our heather marry the man she loves. a beautiful ceremony, wonderful company and a night full of dancing and celebration– it doesn't get much better.....

....but then it does. i returned home monday to a job offer! in three weeks, i will be coming on to the marketing team of a financial firm downtown st. paul. i couldn't be more excited, more scared, and more sure that this is exactly the right move for me.

champagne all around!

update.

date #1 with the rocker tonight....
and reason #368 why i need to be letting these straight men take me out more often.

(ps i love you, josh.)

NKOTB

i was totally jordan's girl at nine...

sometimes i can't ever believe i was so enamored with these five boys at nine years old. (seriously. think t-shirts, sleeping bags, pillowcases, hats, SUSPENDERS... you name it, i had it in NKOTB.)

but the boys have grown into men, and man, were we swooning!

and, almost TWENTY years later, the experience of rocking out to "hangin tough" live is one i'll not soon forget. (and one that my nine-year-old self is extremely proud of my 26-year-old self for partaking in.) an awesome and slightly surreal night. abby, lisa and i survived it all with but a few injuries.

no, really. thanks to some lady fainting two rows above us, lisa took a tumble as the lady took her with for a ride down a row. super scary, especially since we were high above ground in the nosebleeds, but after all was said and done and everyone was safe and sound, the three of us couldn't contain our giggles about lisa getting injured at a new kids on the block concert.

all par for the course, i guess.....

by the end of the night, the three of us were fighting over donnie wahlberg... who woulda thought? jordan's girl has turned into donnie's woman!

the hills: minneapolis

last night, during dinner (and before the hills), my roommate and i were discussing the latest drama in our lives. (what can i say, the hills just gets us all hot and bothered for this kind of conversation.) not surprisingly for two single girls such as ourselves, most drama in our lives revolves around men.

case and point:
on saturday night, just as i was blissfully falling asleep after a fabulous night spent uptown, the new potential in my life; a rocker covered in tattoos– edgy, but with an incredibly sweet and engaging personality; texted me. up until that point, our relationship had been completely platonic. but after numerous flirtatious texts between us, it became quite obvious we were stepping it up to the next level. we made tentative plans for sunday night and around 3am, i finally fell asleep, with a huge smile across my face.

enter sunday morning, and work at 9am. after a week spent moving and a weekend spent working early and staying out late, i was ready to crash by 4pm. i sent rocker a brief text explaining my situation (i.e. my needing to be in bed watching E! by 6pm) and asked if i could take a raincheck.

his response?

"i suppose. just let me know what works for you and i will see what i can do."

my gut reaction?

what the hell is with the ice? and why in the world is he acting so cold over a cancellation of tentative plans made over buzzed texts at 2am on saturday?

in other words– why the DRAMA?

which prompted my roommate to make a profound observation.

while in our society, women are made out to be the more dramatic of the sexes, it seems as though we are always dealing with dramatic men in one way or another in our lives. true, we hang out with a lot of gay men, but the majority of this drama comes from the men we are either romantically involved with, or on our way to becoming romantically involved with.

why is this? is it because straight men don't have each other to be dramatic with, therefore they take it out on their poor, unsuspecting romantic counterparts? is it because they think drama is something women are attracted to? or are they just secretly watching episodes of the hills late at night in bed?

either way, i'm not counting him out just yet (i can't help it, a man with half-sleeves and an acoustic guitar just gets to me), but he does get a few brownie points knocked off.

all settled... for now.

the past week has been a complete whirlwind. everything is still blurry, but what is clear is that the new place (a mere two blocks from the old place) is adorable, cozy and all put together. after a hectic moving day, my roommate and i got to work making a home out of our living space, and i think we did a pretty good job.

and now... the whirlwind continues. an interview here, a concert there, a wedding in sioux falls, halloween in minneapolis, perhaps a date (or two), and work, work, work. all leading up to gluing myself to CNN on november 4th.

that's the thing about life– it never stops spinning. but at least i have a cute little place to come home to every night.

moving day.

wish us luck.......