International Part-ay!

Tuck holds two international themed parties a year, giving the 30% of international contingent an opportunity to showcase their country's bites and libations (food & beverage). They both take place during big weekends where we welcome bundles of nonTuckies to see the school. This year seemed particularly involved for us as we were both involved in Admitted Students Weekend in the spring and Jamie was one of the 5 co-chairs to put together Tuck's Annual Diversity Conference. 

Ken (scottish) and Gemma (british).

Gemma's only here for an exchange term and we're sad to see her go.

Both weekends help showcase the school, but Diversity Conference is an inclusive event for recruiters to connect with prospective students who are in the process of, or are soon to be, applying to MBA programs. The 5 co-chairs and their committees put together a weekend of student panels, alumni discussion groups, welcoming speeches/talks from inspirational leaders, mock classes with world renown professors, and offered several robust social opportunities in the evenings. But because it's so early in the application process, there are also panels on "How to get into an MBA program" and "What do I need to provide in my application?"

Our blurry friend, Ian. 

He's a dual-degree candidate and is spending this term down in DC, completing his other degree.

Jamie gets super excited when he comes back to visit.

My personal favorite event of this particular weekend is the International Party. I didn't do a great job of taking photos this year, but trust me, it was a bunch of fun!

Edgar is a T'11, a new Tuck alum.

He was up in Hanover to give one of the speeches. 

For photos from previous international events:

• Trish comes to visit our first International Party incorporated into Tuck's Diversity Conference (November '10). 
• International Lunch is incorporated into Admitted Students Weekend (April '11)

Glow on.

'Tis the season for Tuck parties to come on strong. While the first couple of months back have only carried one social event a weekend, we're approaching the frantic 2/weekend before departing for the thanksgiving break.

Last night = Black Light Party.

Note: Jamie's highlighter curly mustache

Glowy things abound.

Simple highlighters + white shirts made for a fun/fun/fun event!

We went with paper shirts for a larger writing surface:

Fun fact = fluorescence was added to paper making in the 60s. 

The purpose was to brighten or whiten the paper, but as we found out last night, it also makes for an awesome black light party outfit!

New Freaking Hampshire goes all worldy.

First we had the Devon+Piper Surprise Ambush Weekend and now I shall share some more recent fun when another visitor came to the Upper Valley!

Trish came all the way to New Freaking Hampshire!!

As if I have to remind you, one of the mainstays of our existence here are the social events at Tuck. While there are truly things going on every single weekend, Trish happened to come in at the end of the school's Diversity Conference. The conference brings in alum and prospective students for a variety of events and seminars during the week, culminating in a HUGE International Party in celebration of all the hard work folks have done!

You'd be proud, Goats.
They thought I was Canadian.

wait....are you REALLY canadian?

Hold up, gotta pause here. About this kickass Canadian hoodie I'm sporting? Well, without mincing any words.....I stole it. Yup, you read that right. I totally stole an article of clothing off of a friend's back. I mean, I gave her some American dollars for it (eventually), but I basically s.t.o.l.e. the thing right off of her....like while she was wearing it.

You can see friend Amanda originally wearing HER hoodie in this photo:

November 6, 2009.

But don't blink, because here's a photo of the other side of the room:

Stolen! Ha!

It's an official Vancouver Olympics red hoodie that I NEEDED to have and one I thought Amanda could easily replace back in Vancouver upon return from our Oklahoma trip together. Turns out....not as easy to replace. It was a huge sigh of relief to find out when she was actually able to do so.

But c'mon, can you blame me? The hoodie clearly makes me SO happy!

Later that November '09.

Ok, enough about the sweatshirt and back to the party.....

Each country & associated students were given a budget to showcase a typical food/drink combination and while some booths went all out with their foods (read: Indian = HOT, fun curry!), most countries seemed to spend their monies on the more celebratory consumables of their country (read: BOOZE). It was super fun!!

Thumbs up to Trish in NH!

Ian, representing NAFTA.

Here's Trish with two people who steal clothing off of others.

(Laura had just taken this Tuck vest from someone)

DJ J.Rivas bumped the euro-trans deep into the late hours.

Trying my hand at blending in with the Japanese booth.

Jose's table served drinks with raw egg....bleagh!!

This is how I choose to represent Canada....all night long. 

The UK table served beverages all prim and proper.

Lots to drink...not as much to eat....
unless you count the chopped up fruit in Sangria/Valencia.

This place is treating us kind....
more trish visit photos to come....

We love the 90s.

We just crawled back home from a typical Saturday night, stronger than yesterday. This time, "Tuck Loves the 90s" Party!

 Lots of flannel, pegged jeans (?), and scrunchies hit us baby, one more time.

I REALLY wanted to do American Gladiators, but Jamie questioned the validity of the AGPower in the 90s (vs 80s) and it's not as easy to pull off when living so far from an American Apparel. I mean, seriously? WHY did we not take full advantage of that store when it was just down the street in SF? Geesh.

 Grunge, sportswear, a bunch of KrisKross-inspired getups.

 Some later 90s inspired Brittanys.

And what was your favorite duo? 

Oh, we had a little fun with this one:

Party on, Wayne.

Party on, Garth.

Schwiing!!

The Wheels on the Bus Go...

 notable alum:  alice waters, kimberly williams, jeri ryan
....seriously? jeri ryan??

It's been almost10 a few years since college, so Peen did an awesome thing of gathering a BUNCH of alpha phi alums to reunite in San Francisco last weekend!  Folks spanning 5-6 years came out from all over and although there were obvious  aging maturities life-changes, I would like to think that we have grown up to become some mighty sophisticated classy refined....um...ladies!  Although, why we decided to stay out so late the night before a b.cancer walk, I'll never understand.  :)

And for the record, we sorely missed all of the out-of-towners who couldn't make it to all festivities this weekend.

peen - me - jen - jocelyn

some ordered mojitos, some ordered martinis. 
i signed up for....NACHOS!!

mmmm...nachos.

we met our cable car operator...
amber promptly renamed this guy "Cher"....  
(the main driver's name was Sonny)

...and hopped on our cable car party bus.

it played fun music and took us to 3 or 4 bars/clubs all over SF!

bus came with a built-in bar.  woohoo!
bartender = worried face all night long.

cheering Peen as she announces remission status!!

jen - andrea* - me - anne - amber

anne - jen - me

protesting bad music at a bad club.

kourtney + tony

these kids are getting married in jamaica next year!

michelle - jen

"this place sucks!"
and i lied when i told you guys i wouldn't post funny pictures of you.

jen - andrea*

"oooh, at least they have good reading material."
*i TOLD you i'd hyperlink the crap out of you! :)

All in all, an absolute terrific time.  

I'm basically the same height as Jen and Michelle who are making zero efforts at squatting like they're supposed to.
Can you tell how hard I'm JUMPING to be in the shot? So.much.effort.

There were so many highlights of this evening and I shall attempt to summarize them in bulleted form:

• Feeling like I hang out with Andrea everyday even though we hadn't seen each other since she graduated a year before me (NINE years ago?).  All because of her awesome blog.  
• Increasing my Facebook friend load by 400%...yesss.
• Singing those lyric-evasive drinking songs that I love so much.  Why did I never learn the words correctly?  Why is Jen the only one of us all that knows them?
• Watching Jocelyn still play the role of "freshman" during our drinking songs.  Poor girl.
• Realizing that I am so lucky to consider myself a part of this amazing group of established women girls.
• Instigating a four-phone-call marathon to Becca who wasn't out with us that night.  Rounding it off with a 3am belligerent text that surely woke her from sweet slumber.  U love us!
  
• Peen rocking her over-the-knee boots.  Can't help but feel like they'd look like upside-down-capri-pants on me (think about it).  She rocked them...hard.
• Reacquainting with some of the older girls who intimidated me so much back in the day with their coolness.  After all, they were wise + twenty-one while I was a newly out of high school 17 year old!  This time around, I felt much more equipped to be on the same page and feel all bondingly and affectionate about these ladies.
• The debauchery accompanying girls+alcohol+needforexposure.  Tee hee. 
• Realizing that there is no improvement to the post-bar slice of pizza you grab on your way home.  Pizza Orgasmica (actual name of actual place with actual pizza). 
• Confirming my invitation to hang out with all the children of my college friends:
• Oh, you live in Monterey??  An ocean view, you say?  Fine, twist my arm.  I'll come stay with you for a few months.  Oh, you cook dinner at home every night?  Fine, twist my arm.  Jamie and I will be there on Monday.
  
• Let's teach them "MINE!" and "NO!" and "DAMMITALLTOHELL!!"  It'll help them with their protestation voices in college.  And their political careers.
  
• Then we'll jump on the beds and learn all the wrong sounds for animals.  I'll ask, "what does a cow say?"  Kid will learn to respond, "woof, woof."
  
• Finally, we'll definitely be drawing on the walls with crayons.  You mustn't squash their creativity at such a young age!  Murals are so artsy and I think your kid could be the next Michaelangelo (hey, he painted on walls, didn't he?  ok, fine...ceilings.) or something.
  
• Oh...you're moving?  This weekend?  Bummer.  Maybe next time then.  

Sign me up for next year, ladies.


-- and for those of you following the jamie's "omg, there's too much estrogen in here" saga,  he's healed quite nicely from the week's revelries.  come on back whenever you'd like, friends!  --

More on Oprah...watch it today!

praaaaaaay....

(Tribune photo)
opeeeennnnnn...
(Tribune photo)
turn!!! bend down!!!!
(ripple effect)
(Tribune photo)
and point + hold!
(Tribune photo)

Check out who made the Chicago Tribune!

Stay in Chicago long enough and you too could end up in the Tribune:

Here's the story:

The almighty Oprah decided it'd be cool to shut down three solid blocks of the busiest street in the middle of downtown Chicago for the premier of her show's 24th season. Say what?? A BLOCK PARTY? How freaking awesome, right? Naysayers claimed it impossible, destructive to the week of business, and indicative of too much power given to the television hostess. "If allowed to do this, what will she try next?" they asked incessantly. I say "booooo" to the naysayers (v.loudly, i say booo).

Performers were booked, newscasters came out in throngs, and Chicagoans started lining up at midnight. Supporters enjoyed a level of anticipation and excitement that Harpo Productions created by setting up a HUMONGOUS stage spanning the thoroughfare. Thousands of metal gates were laid out at every street corner. Large screens were set up and speaker wires streamed down the center divide. The entire Chicago Police Department slowly took to their assigned positions. Although downtown was freakishly quiet the day before with curious whispers and silent pointing, the day of the party was simply buzzing.

Choreographers taught 21,000 people moves to "I Gotta Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas in what seemed like a logistical nightmare. The ultimate of all ultimate cool things came about with the announcement that the dance was going to be a surprise for Miss Winfrey! HOLY WHAT? Just because you're the richest woman in the world, doesn't mean you're immune to fun surprises?? Omg, like no other.

The end result was a Totally.Worth.It. guerrilla dance attack on Oprah's eyes.

Filming started, the BEPs began performing, but nobody in the audience moved a muscle. Then, one crazy looking chick and her wild arms started going nuts...all by her lonesome. We waited.waited.waited as the front section joined in, more and more people started dancing away, and then, section by section, the whole audience joined in the BEST DANCE CONCERT I'VE EVER BEEN TO:

farther-away-aerial-view
(music is hard-ish to hear)
-- filmed from an office building overlooking the mob --

doesn't that kick just SO.much.BUTT???

a closer-up-aerial-view
(music is louder + better detail of choreography)
--also filmed from an office building --

We're hoping to have make our television debut today, folks. More details to come soon. In the meantime, set your tivos to record or catch the Oprah's 24th Season KickOff Party episode airing TODAY. Watch it, watch it! Also, check out dev's blog!

xo,
the pink ladies.

Mangia a Italiana! (have no idea if that makes sense)

Annual summer barbeque @ Jocelyn's parents. This year = Italian Mangia Mangia Mangia Party! You know, because they ran off to Italy for the summer and Party Central was off limits for a bit. So why not come back and throw a glorious party in the sticky heat of the east bay! Lots of food, THIRTY bottles of wine, perfect soundtrack, and good times.

Surprise musical guest.
Seriously. He played fun italian music for hours.

jocelyn + her brother.

Me + Poppa Neudecker.

Muffuletta.

Baby Jack and Momma Jen.
Fuzzy Annie + Steph.
Baby Eamon = so.sweet.
97th percentile in head size. fun stat!

lots and lots of babies.

jack chased her around the whole yard = trouble! :)Fun to see the difference in dog-jack relationship from last year!