Dreamer. Chasing Dreams.

I never used to get manicures. I used to find it a complete waste of money— with very little playtime. I would get a manicure and was lucky if I didn’t smudge it on the way out the door, or chip it within the hour. Then a couple months ago a salon near me asked me a simple question, “gel or shellac?” I was confused— gel was the only option to get nails that lasted longer than a day, but they required fake nails.

“Ummm…what’s Shellac?”

“It’s new. Lasts 14 days. No chipping. See?” (As cute Asian lady shows off her nails.)

Four months later and I’m addicted. Whenever I get the urge to have pretty nails I go to the only Salon that offers it near me and for $10 more than a regular manicure I get UV cured nails that are instantly dry, hard and last up to three weeks! The reason I had to write this post is because recently people are constantly asking me— how often do you get your nails done? Well, I got them done almost a month ago. See? (Taken after 14 days, lots of activity and even playing in the sand with my cousin.)

So, basically— how addicting is that?

As the last bag of puppy chow dwindles down and October sets in I’m constantly reminded that my sweet pup will no longer be a “pup” come Oct. 16. He will officially be an “adult.” But to look at him and think “adult” is virtually impossible. I mean, look at that sweet face:

That photo was taken a few days after I brought him home last December. Don’t worry, I won’t be lame and make him a cake and have a “Dog Party” for him, but you can bet he’s going to get some special treats on his special day :)

You probably know by now that 1 in 5 American households no longer have landlines (or is that never had them?). Well, I’m one of them. I rely on my cell phone for anything for Internet browsing, weather-checking, bill paying, texting, work calls sometimes during the week, and regular calls. And, despite one unfortunate incident last year when I left it in a friend’s car (and had to go to the nearest grocery store to call that person to let them know), I haven’t had much trouble. Well, this weekend, the infamous Carter (also known as “jailbreak”) decided to eat my phone. (ugh!) So, here is my cheap self getting ready to go to the store to get a new phone (already very unhappy about the cost) and low and behold my car.is.dead.

Wonderful.

I am now stranded without a phone to call for help.

Lesson learned. I need a backup.

So, yeah. I had a GREAT weekend.

As we kick off the Fall WAKA Kickball season tonight, I’m happy to say that “Those Guys” are famous! Ok, maybe not “famous,” but we did get a call out in the North Raleigh News this week! With a Polar League Championship, an invitation to Las Vegas to play in the Founders Cup and a Regular Season Summer Championship under our belts, I’m super excited to kick off another season! Let’s just hope the rain stays away!

Quote of the day:

“I’m Catholic and we have a lot of guilt.  I feel that same amount of guilt every time I apply for a patent.”

— Software Developer

The past few weeks of my life have been absolutely crammed and busy. I’ve spent most of my early Fall’s the past two years dedicating time to volunteer as an advisor for NC State’s Epsilon Eta chapter to aid with recruitment and membership. This involves anything from being a mentor, a confidant, a friend, and a trusted “adult.” I put adult in quotations for several reasons, 1) I look like I could still be a college student from time-to-time, 2) I still get just as excited about recruitment as I did in college,3) I still see many of these women as friends first, 4) Sometimes the women that I’m lucky enough to work with teach me more about life, friendships and leadership than I could ever teach myself.

This past recruitment— ending last week— these women had the best recruitment that they’ve ever had as an established chapter. I was a founding sister and the recruitment that we engaged in and what the women engage in today— well, it’s a whole different world— for the better. The friendships are more solid, but the heart of it is still there. This year, I challenged the women to give it all they’ve got and at times I felt like I was being too hard on them or expecting too much, which was a huge internal struggle. How do you become the “adult” of a situation, with individuals who at some point in their lives saw you as a peer? I think I figured it out and I can’t tell you how proud I am to not only be in these women’s lives, but to also call them my sisters— even if college is memory in time now.

If you weren’t Greek in college, in can be super hard to understand why esteemed, motivated, intelligent women would join a largely social organization. And, while I can’t address it all in a couple sentences, I can say that our chapter has raised more than $50,000 (and counting!) for the children at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and these same women are the ones who are leading what is essentially a small business while also pursuing Chemical Engineering degrees with 4.0’s. Like I said, it’s something to be proud of. Here’s a video that the chapter used during recruitment this year. I hope you find the joy in it, or remember your college days as well.

I guess I should be embarrassed for how long I left my blog sitting idle in the blogosphere of blogs that found early deaths, but I really was just that busy.

And, I believe in resurrected blogs. So, for starters let me give you a quick update on what has been awesome these past couple months! (P.S. So sorry for the poor formatting.)

Shereen came to visit in April and it was truly awesome. Five days of fun and no sleep.

Highlights:

- Martinis at the Cheesecake Factory during tornadoes that we knew nothing about at the time

- Beach trip to Ocean Isle to visit some friends for the night

- Good food all over the Triangle including Sugarland and Tylers

- Jimmy Buffet concert with friends!

Miss her and can’t wait to see her in Boston in October!

   I made it to Europe for the first time!

10 days with my aunt and cousin across Italy and Paris!

Highlights:

- Great food and LOCAL wine every night!

- Horseback riding wine tour across Tuscany

- Eiffel Tower

- Train ride from Florence to Italy with amazing views (the room, notsomuch)

- Testing out hostel life

- Amazing shopping

- Great memories including taxi rides, birthdays, stairs and more stairs….

—— Oh, and we saw Jersey Shore.

   In June, my company celebrated its Centennial! As a result, I had the opportunity to volunteer at my old Girl Scout camp for the day to teach photography and science!

Highlights:

- Running into a fellow Tri Delta alum, above, the Camp Director!

- Crazy hat day lunch in the mess hall

- Meeting some very bright young women

- Canoeing, s’mores, and swimming. Yes- it was awesome.

               For July Fourth, Taylor and I headed up to Boone, NC to celebrate with his nephew (pictured left) and picnic with family for the kiddo’s second birthday. Isn’t he a cutie?

Highlights:

- Amazing views and fun conversations with Taylor’s family

- River swimming, fun walks with beautiful scenery

- Seeing the kiddo open his presents— always fun to see their reactions!

    I celebrated by 24th Birthday on July 20 with some amazing friends, thanks to some amazing planning by Taylor! It was a great evening that included dinner at Gravy, drinks at the Flying Saucer and dancing.

I also celebrated with my family earlier in the week and it was so much fun! Complete with an amazing Strawberry Cake!

Highlights:

- Cake and candles

- Seeing friends and family

- Dance off. That’s a story for another day, my friends.

This summer has also been enjoyed at Durham Bulls baseball games, kickball (of course!), softball with fellow coworkers, Carter’s puppy fun (he got another bad haircut—oy), beach trip with the family, and fun nights with friends! Also known as super busy and fun. This weekend we’re off to Boone for the beer festival and tubing down a river with friends. We’re staying at Taylor’s sister’s cabin— so so so sweet of them to let us stay there! We can’t wait!

UPDATE: Forbes has now corrected the article.

Dear Forbes.com,

I recently read the Forbes.com list regarding the Top Cities for Business and Careers, and was happy to see that Raleigh-Durham topped the list. However, I was somewhat shocked to see that the writers considered Wake Forest University (located 1 1/2 hours away) to be an “elite university in the area.” As a successful graduate of North Carolina State University, I would like to point out that, unlike Wake Forest University, NC State is situated in the center of the Capital city and is a staple contributor to the economy, at large.

Not only is NC State the top research university in the state, it is also a top research university for Engineering and Textiles in the country. To add to my point, NC State is home to several cutting edge companies like ABB, Inc. and Red Hat, Inc, and its graduates have founded companies like WebAssign, Biolex, Agile Sciences and, most notably, SAS. This does not include the countless others that actively contribute to the economy in the Raleigh-Durham area- providing jobs and technologies that will benefit the world to come. I invite you to read more about the startup companies founded by NC State Graduates in the Raleigh-Durham area here. And in the future, please be sure to accurately reflect the talent and universities of the Raleigh-Durham area.

Sincerely,

Melissa