the answer is always yes....

...when someone asks me to help. even if they don't ask for help i manage to get involved in situations. it's in my blood. it's even worse when an animal is in need. i have no breaking point with animals - like the foster cat that repeatedly pooped on my belongings. so when i heard that my neighbor/coworker found a cockatiel on her back porch i ofcourse got involved. last sunday my coworker found this cutie shown above on her porch all puffed out and stressed. her and her husband brought it inside to take care of. they put up posters and info on craigslist to try to connect with the bird's owner. unfortunately they didn't hear anything and even more unfortunately they have a cat so the bird could not be a longterm resident. luckily the bf's mom is a bird expert/lover/whisperer and was willing to help out. she has a bird mansion at home with 4 other feathered friends and was open to adding one more to the gang. on wednesday i had an event for work in the suburbs and was able to grab a proper birdcage for this little guy to keep him at my apartment until sunday when the bf's mom can come pick him up. i dragged the cage full of bird toys, bells and mirrors onto the train, into work, to the chiropractor, on the el and all the way home. i got all sorts of funny glances and questions throughout the day. i got home and was sick of carrying it and for some reason yelled at the bf about it. who knows why. he said well it wasn't his idea to get involved. that shut me up. why the heck did i feel the need to go through so much trouble for this bird? it never crossed my mind to NOT get involved. i'm happy i did go through the trouble because he's super sweet with cute little chirps, cat call whistles and eating habits like me (nonstop chowdown). i know that being helpful is usually considered a good quality to have but i swear in my case its compulsive. someday i'm going to go overboard. but for now i'm going to enjoy my temporary bird friend :)

hunky dory.

top to bottom: the bf's entire fam, lake clare, and the lodge

i spent last week with the bf's family at the hunky dory resort near balsam lake, WI. yes it's actually called hunky dory. last friday we went to bed as early as we could and woke up early to leave at 4am to drive the 8 hours there. yes we woke up around 3am and yes it's an 8 hour drive. it's all SO worth it! this is only the second time i have gone up there. the bfs fam has been going for ages and it's his happy place.

hunky dory is a very unique establishment. it has literally stood still in time. as marvel, the 82 year old owner describes it - it's like camping with a roof over your head. it's very rustic. any animal you can think of lives up there - there are 2 bald eagles that live in trees on the other side of the lake, lots of chipmunks and black squirrels, turtles throughout the lake, beavers live in the bay on the other side of the lake, there was a black bear and wild turkey spotting too! it's like national geographic up there. there are several cabins around the HD campus - with cute names like Robert's Roost, Fisherman's Dream, Beachside and so on. they are definitely rustic but i even i can handle it and enjoy it and i'm quite the princess. you eat all your meals together in the lodge that are homemade by the owner, her family and staff. they ring a bell to let you know when it's ready :) breakfast includes your choice of cereal, oatmeal, eggs, bacon and pancakes or french toast. some of the lunches included homemade soups, sandwiches with leftover ham, beef or turkey, leftovers from the dinner the night before and a dessert like apple crisp. dinners included spaghetti, swedish meatballs, lasagna, ham and mashed potatoes and always more dessert. THEN later in the evening you always get ice cream in their little shop - 50cents gets you a gigantic single scoop. and sometimes we'd even get a pizza from there. you eat SO MUCH. it's great.

there are activities throughout the week - hayride, canoe races, kids games like limbo and sack races, ping pong tournament and a talent show-which i participated in this year. it's like camp for families. in addition to these planned activities we add in some on our own. i get really into doing jigsaw puzzles. everyone works on it in passing throughout the week and it's always great to see the finished puzzle after everyone contributed. we water ski everyday which is fantastic and reminds me of my late uncle who taught me to ski. we canoe and take boat rides. lots of floating in the water and sunbathing takes place. i ofcourse got sunburned on the first day. we play bags which i'm horrible at. and my personal favorite - star gazing. it's like a whole different sky. it gets so dark there it's unreal. me and the bf laid in chairs one night to watch for shooting stars and we saw several and made a wish on one that we saw together. and we wished for the same thing! darling.

hunky dory is also so special because of all the time i get to spend with the bf's family. i usually only get to see everyone all together around christmastime so it's so great to spend so much time together. i absolutely love his aunts who are great story tellers and absolutely hilarious. and his parents are so great. they always make me feel like i'm part of the family. his mom really knows how to take care of me. she remembered to bring a bath towel and a beach towel for me - both of which i forgot. she also got me a special bug repellent thing which was very helpful! i took a walk with her and his sister every morning after breakfast. this was one of my favorite parts of the week. i always love talking to both of them so it was good to get some quality time with each of them everyday. his sister brought me a birthday present all the way from the czech republic where she and her hubby recently visited. my first piece of bohemian crystal!!! i absolutely love it. we also got to spend a lot of time with his brother and his girlfriend - playing lots of games at night and taking boat rides together. i feel so lucky to have all of these extra family members in my life! going to hunky dory seems to make me love the bf even more. and his family. being part of their special place makes me so happy.

i came back missing my text messages, internet, work and my friends but i really miss hunky dory! it's hard to come back from a serene setting to a bustling city. but it's nice because i feel totally recharged and rested. i have been waking up easier in the mornings and more alert at work. it feels good to be back but i can't wait until next year!


oh and there is a theme song that you sing at the end of the week. really.

hunky dory here we come
right back where we started from
where bowers of flowers bloom in the spring
there's fishing and swimming and fun galore for everyone
so pack your bags and don't be late
we'll open up that old camp gate
hurry up dont make us late
hunky dory here we come!

i think that's right...

weekly highlights!

not gonna lie - this week was a tad rough but i can always find a positive side!

FRIDAY: had a free happy hour at a dive bar. i had too much fun. was home and in bed by 11pm. but it was so great to see so many of my favorite people!!

SATURDAY: my dad asked me to treat him to lunch at the zoo for his father's day gift. so on saturday i joined both of my parents there. it was a beautiful day and for some reason we kept getting things for free! the parking attendant just waved us through and they didn't take my guest pass at the gate. we checked out an area that we hadn't visited in years - we checked out the hooved animals, Australian animals and African animals. it was a great day. later that night was my friend's engagement party. it was nice to meet the groom's fam and friends and to spend time with the bride's college friends. can't wait for the wedding next june!

SUNDAY: i was scheduled to help out at the doggie boutique i worked at in college. i worked for a couple of hours but it was a tad slow so they let me off early. my friend met me for some shopping, starfruit and then later a movie. it turned out to be an awesome day!

MONDAY: bingo ofcourse! i hadn't had a chance to sit with my buds for awhile because i led the project last week and the week before that i couldn't go so it was fun to catch up. lee told me all about his work out routine which ofcourse put a big smile on my face.

TUESDAY: i babysat 2 little munchkins. i hadn't babysat in ages so it was fun to race trains with the little boy, watch alvin and the chipmunks and read cloudy with a chance of meatballs for bed time.

WEDNESDAY: most productive evening of the week! i had to shop for a few items after work - found a new swimsuit and a couple of dresses. then i went home made a healthy dinner, threw in some laundry and then ran to the grocery store, took out the laundry, baked cookies and cleaned up the apartment. i love cramming that much into just a few hours.

THURSDAY: my coworker asked me to check in on her kitty while she is out of town. binky was dying for some love when me and my other coworker got there. she was so affectionate. i swear having a furball around is theraputic. also my coworker thanked me with a whole foods gift card! score!

FRIDAY: i leave work early today and head to the burbs to prepare for my week long vaca with the boyfriends family. that will be a whole other blog post in a couple of weeks!

hope everyone had a good week and has a great weekend!

my praha girls.

in vienna celebrating the blonde's bday! then a little bit later after celebrating a bit too much!


studying abroad in prague in 2006 was made even more amazing by the friendships i formed with two special girls. the blonde one is from indiana and she loves diet coke, running and the great outdoors. the brunette is from d.c. and is the most put together, classy woman i know who was never without a strand of pearls and fancy shoes. the brunette was my suitemate and the blonde and i randomly just started hanging out. we are all seriously SO different from one another but we became like the 3 musketeers. we went out for drinks, we ate together, we roomed together on excursions, laughed a lot together and hung out in our free time.

being put in a big group full of people that are completely different than you is really difficult - especially in a foreign country away from home. but luckily i found these two to make the whole experience perfect. becoming friends with two girls that are super different from me helped me learn a lot about myself. i learned what a control freak i am, how sensitive and defensive i can get and how nosy i always am. they taught me a lot about tolerance and understanding/respecting other people's perspectives and backgrounds that a very different than mine. the brunette is a conservative republican - and i'm a very liberal democrat. and the blonde is like a lockbox - she will not disclose personal stuff at all and i'm all about opening up! i'm so lucky to have met these two. i'm so grateful that all of my favorite memories from this trip involve these two wonderful friends. we still keep in touch. we all reconnected in chicago in fall 2006 and in d.c. in spring 2007. and i also got to see the brunette in d.c. on a work trip this past april. hopefully we can all reconnect soon!