NYE in San Francisco!

Normally I would do Megan's Sometimes/Always link up today, but I am just so excited to share my NYE with y'all that I just can't wait!

My final day/night of 2011 was spent with two of my absolute best friends in one of my favorite cities. We went in to the weekend knowing two things: 1. We were going to watch the Bruins play Illinois in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. 2. We had a hotel in the city (What up Holiday Inn?!) and therefore our night would be spent out in SF. Everything that happened after that was unexpected and unplanned which made the night so much better. Get ready for quite the photo dump in this post!

Bethany and I decided to take the CalTrain in to the city instead of driving so we packed up our backpacks with our NYE attire and set off for the city. Taking the train ended up being an awesome choice since it dropped us off literally right down the street from AT&T park. I wish I had gotten a pick of us with our back packs since we probably looked like total dorks (especially while sipping Bloody Mary's in an Irish pub while waiting for Jo to get in to the city).

Jo showed up, we ditched our stuff in her car and headed to the stadium. Stopping to get a pic in front of the water in McCovey Cove.

Our seats were in the bleacher section set up in right field. We got in to the stadium just in time to see our new favorite country cutie, Hunter Hayes, sing the national anthem; read we RAN to our seats to catch a glimpse of him on the field.

The Bruins ended up losing the game, but we still had a ton of fun and got to see a bunch of friends from UCLA that we hadn't seen in awhile.

After getting lost multiple times on the way to our hotel (seriously SF- you may only be 40 some square miles but your streets are so confusing!) we finally parked, checked in, and made plans for dinner. Jo is an awesome Yelpper and discovered the just around the corner was a great little diner called Grubstake, which has been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives!

After a quick trip to the liquor store, it was back to the hotel to prepare for our night! We (obviously) played the obligatory "Holidae Inn" by Chingy since we were in fact "chillin at the Holiday Inn." Then it was off to our friend Danielle's apartment to celebrate the New Year and her 23rd birthday!

We rang in the new year at a karaoke bar called Silver Cloud, and then were joined by a couple of friends from UCLA where we closed down the bar and then trekked back to the hotel for some more drinks and conversation (though Jo missed this last part as she fell asleep less than fifteen minutes after returning to the hotel). In the end we said goodbye to our friends and drifted off to sleep around 4:30am. We certainly did not waste a minute of our last hours of 2011 nor our first few hours of 2012.

Pizza for lunch on our first meal of 2012 sealed the weekend, and it was back to Mountain View and then on to Fresno.

If NYE is any indication, 2012 is going to be an amazing year. I can't wait to see what is in store for me, my friends, and our epic adventures together!

2011 In Review

I wasn't sure if I was going to have time to do a 2011 review post, but I figure I'll work on one now while Alex and I sit here watching Justin Bieber's Never Say Never (yes we are 22 years old and we loe the biebs). 2011 was an amazing year that saw a lot of lasts and the beginning of some firsts.

In January I passed the torch as president of the Alpha Chi chapter of Alpha Delta Pi at UCLA. Being president during the year of 2010 was one of the most amazing experiences of my life, so I was a bit sad to pass the torch. But the new president, Brittany, did an amazing job and she is now going to be passing the torch as well- to one of my best friends, the wonderful Katie.

In February, I participated in UCLA's Dance Marathon for the 2nd year in a row. You can see a post about it HERE. DM was an amazing experience and I wish I had done it all four years of college.

In March, our chapter won the most outstanding chapter on our campus which was a huge honor and great testament to the work that my exec board and all the girls in our house did during 2010.

I also took a super fun trip to Disneyland during spring break with Alex and her brother. And I started my first real job with the LA Sparks.

In April, I turned 22! I also went to Stage Coach, which was soooooo much fun! I saw Carrie Underwood, Josh Turner, Kenny Chesney, Darius Rucker, Rascal Flatts, and more! It was AWESOME and I seriously can't wait for Stage Coach 2012!

In May, there were a number of lasts... Last Diamond Ball, Last Bash, touching the Inverted Fountain, last pre finals dinner, Senior Week, etc. Myself and all my senior lovlies made the best of every moment!

We also went to Vegas for Memorial Day weekend which was an absolute blast! Two connected rooms with 10+ girls... As you can imagine, debauchery ensued.

 In June, I GRADUATED!

June, July, August were filled with lots of work and lots of fun. Jack's Mannequin concert, Harry Potter midnight premiere, KNOTBSB concert, trip to the Bay, OC Fair, Blake Shelton concert (as you can see I really like concerts) and more.

Blake Shelton, Jack's Mannequin, Looking like the three blind mice in our Harry Potter 3-D glasses, and my little goat friend at the OC fair.

In August I moved home to Fresno and started my current job. Even since moving, I have had time for quite a few fun trips- Taylor Swift concert, wine tasting in TMec, Trip to Sacramento, Lake Havasu, UCLA Football games, and the list goes on. There are posts about many of those things...

November and December have been all about family and friends with Thanksgiving and Christmas, and now my little beach getaway and New Years Eve plans in SF.

I'm rockin these to ring in 2012!

2012 is going to be full of completely new experiences and opportunities and I can not wait to see what it has in store for me and my friends and family.