ABCs.

Anna Jane of see jane. posted this last week. I thought it was cute and was just waiting for the right moment to share all my secrets.

Age: 23

Bed size: full

Chore you hate: filing bills, papers, and other junk... I put off opening my mail for weeks at a time sometimes...

Dogs: Love them and want one again someday, but for now, I'm all cats.

Essential start to your day: The Today Show.

Favorite color: Pink. Pink everything.

Gold or silver: Mostly gold right now.

Height: 5'9".

Instruments: I have played and quit violin, piano, recorder, French horn, and guitar.

Job title: Publishing assistant.

Kids: None, currently. Someday.

Live: New York, NY.

Mom's name: Kathy.

Nickname: A.J., Jojo, Rogue.

Overnight hospital stays: Once in high school.

Pet peeve: Bad grammar, even in text messages. "Aint" still isn't OK. Even in a text.

Quote from a movie: Two - "Damn the man, save the Empire." -Mark, Empire Records and "Every man has but one destiny." -Don Vito Corleone, The Godfather

Right or left handed: Right.

Siblings: One older brother, R.

Time you wake up: 7 a.m. weekdays, and the kitties usually get me up by 8 a.m. on the weekends to feed them.

Underwear: Usually something pink, no lie.

Vegetables you dislike: Beets. Not so hot on asparagus, but I'll usually eat it. Turnips and some other root veggies.

What makes you run late: Lingering over the Today Show too long, forgetting to pack lunch the night before.

X-rays you've had done: Various. Many of my ankles/knees.

Yummy food you make: I make some pretty baller mac & cheese, adapted from my brother's recipe.

Zoo animal: I like the big cats - lions, tigers, etc. And otters.

The Birthday Weekend of Bad Behavior.

This is a little late, but I was hoping I'd have a chance to upload my pictures from my camera before I wrote this post. But instead, I've been stuck in Minnesota for an extra 3 days due to the outrageous weather in NYC. 2 weekends ago for my 23rd birthday, my best friends from college, Becca & Tamar, came into town to celebrate with my in NYC. It turned into a wild/amazing/super fun birthday weekend and I'm so happy that my friends could make it! So, instead of my own amazing pics, here are some jacked from Tamar's facebook album instead to illustrate the highlights of the weekend...

Laughing hysterically on Friday night after the first Evening of Bad Behavior. It was a long and hilarious night that resulted in basically a tour of all of the East Village and SoHo by way of bars, clubs, and friteries. (me, Becca)

We spent Saturday touring and taking Gossip Girl pictures, like this one at the New York Palace Hotel. (Tamar, me, Becca)

We made a run through Rockefeller Center to see the Christmas tree and skating rink and to fight our way through the hordes of people. It also made me realize how much I hate tourists. (Becca, Tamar, me)

Saturday night started off at the Stumble Inn, joined by my friends from NYU. (Gillian, me, Sara, Laura, Erin, and poor Natalie was cut off!)

This was also at the Stumble Inn... group photos as the night continued were harder and harder to come by! (Becca, Tamar, me)

It was a fantastic weekend, and I intend to share more of my fabulous photos as soon as I get home to NYC and am reunited with my camera cord to upload my photos! Coming up next: The Best of Christmas 2010, What I'm Wearing New Year's Eve, New Year's Resolutions, and The Year in Review. (Hopefully... we'll see what I get done in the next 2 days!)

Countdown to birthday/Christmas/New Year's/freedom.

Being a young professional apparently means being overscheduled.

There's A LOT going on this week: It's the start of finals week of my 3rd semester of grad school, my 23rd birthday is Wednesday, my 3 besties from college are coming Friday morning from Maryland, California, and Montreal for My Big Birthday Weekend of Bad Behavior, and it's Sales Conf at work this week.

For you non-publishing folk out there, that means a week of the pub office (my department) presents 75 books to our Sales & Marketing departments... and repeats in 6 meetings spread over the next 4 days. 75 x 6 = A LOT OF BOOKS/A LOT OF TIME SPENT IN MEETINGS. It also means I will be away from my desk for virtually the entire week, getting none of my other work done, and answering zero incoming emails until Thursday at 3 p.m. when it's all over. AND THEN I am responsible for completing a massive meeting minutes packet & change memo for everything that comes out of Sales Conf.

Which means no chance of doing homework at work this week. (Although, I DID find time to blog during lunch...)

On the bright side, though, Friday-Sunday, I'll be laughing/eating/drinking/shopping/playing NYC tourist with my best friends in the entire world, and then next Wednesday night when finals & work are all wrapped up, I'll be heading home to Mpls for Christmas. I'm excited beyond words for the weekend; I just have to figure out how to survive this week first!

What's better is that every single one of my friends working full-time while in grad school is experiencing the exact same thing right now. It's nice to know I'm not the only one with a crazy schedule... and somehow, we'll all get through it.

Thanksgiving weekend in pictures.

The fridge all packed with groceries, ready to start making Thanksgiving dinner!

The beautiful turkey all slathered with Martha Stewart's herb butter.

The goat cheese stuffed mushrooms all ready for the oven.

My busy little kitchen! Frying the sausage for the stuffing.

Dad doing his all-important job of keeping the kitties out of the kitchen.

A selection of photos from the Macy's Thanksgiving parade.

Santa!

My beautiful Thanksgiving dinner plate, all the essentials: rosemary roll from Agata & Valentina's, Minnesota wild rice, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole with red peppers, Martha Stewart's simple stuffing, lots of gravy, and our beautiful turkey right in the middle! Oh, and a beautiful cranberry champagne cocktail to start things off right!

The Rockettes @ Radio City Music Hall on Friday.

Brunch @ Bar Boulud: butternut squash soup.

Spinach quiche.

And a raspberry clafoutis to top things off!