The Blonde Excuse: May 2008 Archives

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May 30, 2008

Český Krumlov - Part 1

My Český Krumlov entry has so many pictures that I decided to break it up into a few separate, more manageable entries. While Brent and I were in Prague, we decided to take a day trip to Český Krumlov, a Medieval town about three hours south of Prague. Český Krumlov was recently made famous by the movies Hostel and Hostel 2, both of which took place there. What better place to visit than a town where two of the most gruesome horror movies ever about American tourists were filmed? Hostel 2 hit even closer to home, in that it was about American art students studying in Rome who traveled to Český Krumlov afterwards (just like Brent and me!). Unlike the movies, no one kidnapped, tortured, and killed us though, so maybe we didn't get the full experience.

Brent and I took a bus from Prague to Český Krumlov, which was an adventure in and of itself. We were sitting in front of a woman and her seventeen small children, who were all sharing two seats. One of them was particularly fond of reaching around the back of my seat to pull my hair and pinch my clothes, which was really bringing out the germ-a-phobe in me, because I'm fairly certain he hadn't been washed in years.

While I was trying to stay calm and resist the urge to "accidentally" elbow the offending child in the nose, I managed to snap a few shots of the scenery out the window. The pictures aren't great because we were moving, but I wanted to show everyone how open the land in the Czech Republic is. It was actually quite beautiful, and these photos really don't do it justice:

The bus driver who tried to murder us several times:

Český Krumlov is widely considered to be the best preserved Medieval town in the entire world, and I can see why. It truly is stunning:

This is a totally immature picture to take, but I couldn't resist:

Isn't it gorgeous?

Brent and Me:

Old stuff:

Doesn't this look like a miniature version of Prague's Old Town?

The pillar you see in this picture is actually a "plague pillar," which was erected to ward off any future plagues and to thank God for saving the people who survived it:

I have so many more pictures to share, but I have to get to bed now so I'll work on that tomorrow.

Goodnight!

-Lauren

Posted by lauren at 12:03 AM | Comments (3)

May 28, 2008

Prague - Old Town

I last left off the Europe entries with Jazz Club in Paris. After Paris, we flew off to Prague in the Czech Republic. Brent and I are huge dorks and had a lot of fun with phrases like, "Czech it out" and "Czech yourself" and "Czech please!" Jokes like that never get old, right?

The Marionette Opera near our hostel:

Beautiful building:

Prague's "Old Town" is definitely my favorite part of the city. All the buildings are so old and so beautiful. Brent's and my hostel actually had an amazing location right behind the Charles Bridge, so we were also in the Old Town with all the best stuff. Also, our room was huge and had its own kitchen! If anyone wants to travel cheap to Prague, let me know and I'll find the information for you!

In the Old Town:

Just amazing... look at that old car heading towards us!

Franz Kafka:

Have you ever seen a city square this beautiful?

Cartier in a fabulous building:

Brent and Me (this picture was taken only a little under a year ago, but I already feel like we look so much older than this!):

Literally everywhere you look, there's something beautiful:

Brent, underneath Prague's famous Astronomical Clock:

Tattoo, piercing, and... branding? How classy:

At lunch:

Sort of an awkward translation:

A street market:

Reflection - Old vs. New:

Looking at the map:

This is a café!

Wenceslas Square:

The Dancing House (isn't this a crazy building?):

Across the Vltava River:

Cobblestone streets:

Swan:

I love how colorful the buildings are:

The Dancing House again... doesn't it look like there's a giant nest on the roof?

In all our walking, Brent and I found a mall! It was actually a really nice mall too, with an English-language movie theater. I know it might seem like on vacation in Europe we have no business going to English movies and hanging out in a mall, but by the time we were in Prague, we had been traveling for five weeks and desperately needed a little flavor of America.

In Prague, the escalators are actually just moving inclined ramps:

Also in the mall, there was a kiosk with all sorts of inappropriate baked goods. If you're easily offended, scroll past the next couple pictures:

That night, Brent and I returned to the Old Town, where we saw some interesting art:

Poor piggie!

Some pictures just need to be taken in black and white:

Brent amidst the hustle and bustle:

Rooftops outside our window:

The Charles Bridge:

The next day, Brent and I hopped on a bus to Český Krumlov, so I'll be posting pictures of that next!

-Lauren

Posted by lauren at 03:31 PM | Comments (3)

Martha's Vineyard

This past weekend, I went to Brent's family's house in Martha's Vineyard with them. The weather was beautiful and I had a fantastic time:

We went to Alchemy for dinner one night where I had one of the best salmon dinners of my life, and we spent a lot of time at Brent's family's new golf club, Vineyard Golf Club.

Other than that, we went for a bike ride, a long walk, oh... and my hands and feet turned dark blue and I spent a night in the hospital with Brent. It turns out my hands were blue for some inexplicable reason that didn't seem too serious, so I finally got to go home, only after Brent got some really flattering photos of me in an oxygen mask (which you will never see on The Blonde Excuse).

A wild rabbit in Brent's driveway (it's blurry because I took the picture through a screen):

Beautiful view along our walk:

The roads have very few cars on them, so Brent and his dad threw around a football while we were all walking:

A dog shaking off after getting his stick in the ocean:

East Chop Drive:

More football:

This is Skinny's Fat Sandwiches, where I ate dinner all by myself and then went to see a romantic comedy alone at the local movie theater. That was a couple years ago when my boat was delayed four hours and Brent had to go to work. I don't think there's anything sadder than being the girl sitting all alone in the back of the movie theater seeing Must Love Dogs.

If this looks at all familiar to you, it's because it was filmed for some of the outdoor scenes in the television phenomenon that was "Dawson's Creek."

Also, the movie Jaws was filmed on Brent's street! I certainly won't be going in the water any time soon.

Black Dog, where Brent used to work:

After a lovely weekend with Brent and his family, I got on the Rhode Island Fast Ferry to get home. Little did I know, I was about to embark on the worst two hours of my life.

The ride started out fairly normal. An adorable dog came over to my seat and sat on my feet, which I absolutely loved. Things were going great, until the waters started getting choppy. The once cute dog sitting on my feet began projectile vomiting all over. The water got so bad, that the entire boat (a very large boat, I might add) was lifting up off the water and slamming back down. I actually had to grab on to my seat just to stay in it! Everyone on the entire boat started throwing up ALL OVER and those of us who don't get seasick had to listen to people vomiting and smell it for the entire rest of the trip! I have never been so disgusted in my entire life.

When I finally got off the boat, I then had a five hour drive home because of the Memorial Day traffic. It wasn't an easy day, but it was made much better by coming home to Shadow and Rocky sleeping together on the couch. They're best friends now!

Shadow and Frisky (not best friends):

Frisky napping:

Next up... more Europe pictures! Come back for Prague really soon!

-Lauren

Posted by lauren at 02:32 PM | Comments (2)

May 27, 2008

I'm Back

I just thought I'd write a quick entry to explain my absence recently. I spent this past weekend in Martha's Vineyard with Brent and his parents and now that I'm back home, I'm really not feeling great so I haven't had the energy to do a real blog entry.

I'll be posting again really soon though, I promise!

-Lauren

Posted by lauren at 02:48 PM | Comments (0)

May 21, 2008

My 22nd Birthday

May 19th was my 22nd birthday! Brent came down to visit for the night and we all went out to Palomino, a new restaurant none of us had been to before.

Before going out, we had presents and champagne at my house. Here's Brent and Me:

Rocky:

Dad, Me, and Brent:

Aww:

One of the sexy silk thongs from my grandparents:

Opening more presents!

Mom and Dad at Palomino:

Brent and Me:

Truffle macaroni and cheese appetizer...yum!

Happy Birthday to me!

Back home, we had this gigantic cake!

Blowing out the candles:

Rocky got jealous and wanted to help:

Brent, Me, and Shadow:

Dad and Rocky:

He's such a cute little dog:

Frisky and Me:

Shadow:

Frisky:

And last but not least, here's Brent the next day with the biggest piece of cake ever:

Thanks everyone for the amazing birthday!

-Lauren

Posted by lauren at 12:28 PM | Comments (3)

Shadow and Frisky

I think the title explains it all.

Shadow:

Frisky:

-Lauren

Posted by lauren at 12:25 PM | Comments (0)

Trinity College Graduation

Sunday morning I graduated from Trinity College! I can't believe I'm done with school forever! I'm definitely going to miss Trinity, but I'm sure Brent and I will go back to visit at some point.

Anyway, all these pictures were taken by my parents and Jocelyn, so thanks to the three of them for this entry!

Bagpipers:

Here's Poppy and Grandma waiting for the ceremony to start:

All of us walking in together:

Waving:

Our president speaking:

Jocelyn, Dad, and Me after I graduated:

Brent and Me:

Mom, Me, and Dad:

Jocelyn, Me, and Jessica:

"Tent City" (graduation parties on the quad):

After graduation, we all went out to Peppercorn's Grill for my graduation dinner!

Dad, Mom, and Grandma:

Uncle David, Aunt Sarah, and Poppy:

Jessica, Jocelyn, and Me:

It was a fantastic graduation weekend followed by an amazing birthday (coming up next!)

-Lauren

Posted by lauren at 01:51 AM | Comments (4)

May 20, 2008

Last Night

My last night before my college graduation, my family went out to dinner with Brent's family at Max's Downtown, which is the nicest restaurant in Hartford. Brent recommended to us the bone-in filet mignon and it was fantastic. I've never had such a delicious steak in my life.

It was a great way to celebrate, everyone out together, for Brent's and my very last night as college students!

Brent and his dad:

Brent's mom, Grandma, Jessica, and Jocelyn:

Brent and Me:

Poppy:

Mom and Dad:

Posted by lauren at 10:17 PM | Comments (2)

May 19, 2008

22

Just now, at 11:20am, I turned 22! Happy Birthday to me!

Posted by lauren at 11:20 AM | Comments (5)

May 18, 2008

Commencement Ball

Thursday night was our Commencement Ball, which was out on one of our fields in a huge tent. The ball was definitely one of the most fun parties Trinity has ever thrown, and it made me realize how much I'm going to miss it here.

Brent and Me before the party:

The tent:

At the party:

Brent and Torben:

Brent and Brian:

Jon and Brent:

Really funny picture of Brian and Juli dancing:

Brent and Hexx:

Hexx and Me:

Brent and Hubbard:

Isn't Brent such a wonderful boyfriend to match his tie to my dress?

The party:

We spent the night drinking champagne and dancing until our feet couldn't take it anymore. It was a great way to end our time here at Trinity.

And here, last but not least, is the rose Brent got me at the ball:

-Lauren

Posted by lauren at 01:02 AM | Comments (3)

Fun In The Sun

Another of Trinity's Senior Week events was "Fun In The Sun," which involved all sorts of outdoor activities, beer, and BBQing:

Jon and Andrew in the gladiator thing (I actually have no idea what it is, I just heard Brent call it some sort of gladiator game):

Brent and Andrew:

Matt climbing out of the dunk tank:

I might have time to do another quick entry soon, but I graduate tomorrow morning! How crazy is that? Wish me luck in the real world....

-Lauren

Posted by lauren at 12:13 AM | Comments (1)

May 16, 2008

Casino Night

As part of our Senior Week, we had a Casino Night where our entire senior class went to Mohegan Sun together. Everyone got really dressed up and we were definitely the best looking bunch there. I guess that's at least partly due to the fact that the only people going to the casino in Connecticut on a Tuesday night are the bus-loads of 75 year olds, but that's all right.

Brent and Me:

We started the night off by getting dinner in the casino and then started gambling. Brent and Charlie gambling:

Brent:

Inside Mohegan Sun:

After a little gambling, we headed up to the club that Trinity rented out in the casino to get some drinks.

Brent:

Brent and Me:

Back out to the slot machines:

A blurry picture of Brent at the roulette table:

It was not a successful night for either of us so we decided to get doughnuts on the way out to make ourselves feel better. We got free Krispy Kreme hats there so that we wouldn't go home empty handed. Here we are wearing them the next day:

Casino Night was amazingly fun, and make sure to check back for the rest of our Senior Week events!

-Lauren

Posted by lauren at 11:49 AM | Comments (5)

May 15, 2008

2.5 Kids And A Dog Named Spot

For the start of our Senior Week (this week) we had a movie out on the quad. We all brought beach towels, blankets, and snacks and watched Superbad on a big projection screen:

It was freezing out, so even though Brent and I had sweatshirts and a huge blanket, we ended up leaving half way through because we were so cold. Our next Senior Week event was the Superlatives Brunch. We all got dressed up and headed over to the Vernon Social Center (which is attached to my dorm) for mimosas and to find out who won what award for our senior class. Brent and I were nominated for "Best Couple" and "Most Likely to Have 2.5 Kids and a Dog Named Spot." We didn't win "Best Couple," because it went to Reggie and Hexx, who throw all the parties at our local bar, The Tap, together. They aren't a real couple, but that's ok, it was still funny. Brent did get a 2.5 Kids and a Dog Named Spot award though:

That's a 2.5 kids and a dog named Spot face if I ever saw one. After the Superlatives Brunch, Brent and I went outside to fly our kite together:

Neither of us is very good at the whole kite flying thing, so when we nearly killed someone with our flying pirate flag, we decided to call it a day:

Next up on the Senior Week agenda was the Guitar Show, where Damn the Torpedoes had their last ever performance:

We'll miss you guys!

More pictures coming up soon of Casino Night and our Fun In The Sun BBQ!

-Lauren

Posted by lauren at 07:51 PM | Comments (0)

Mother's Day

Sunday was Mother's Day, so of course I came home to spend it with my mom. We all went out to Mackenzie's for a delicious brunch.

Jessica and Grandma:

Jocelyn and Mom:

Dad, Me, and Poppy:

Grandma and Mom opening Mother's Day presents:

Grandma:

Mom, with the very unusual umbrella my grandma got her:

I got my mom a new crosswords game for her Nintendo DS:

That's all, Happy Mother's Day!

-Lauren

Posted by lauren at 02:21 PM | Comments (2)

Rocky and Winston

After my dad's birthday, Brent and I stuck around in Greenwich for a little while because we both had job interviews in the area. Brent brought his Wii to my house, and it turns out my dad is amazing at Mario Kart! We spent the majority of the weekend relaxing in preparation for the upcoming week of exams. Also, Brent had a chance to bond with Rocky, who is now completely in love with him.

Here are Brent and Rocky sitting together with Brent's Guitar Hero guitar:

Brent and I took Rocky for a walk in the park at the bottom of the street, where he found something disgusting on the ground to roll in. Of course he had to have a bath when we got back home:

Poor little guy:

After Rocky's walk, of course we had to take Winston out, too. George got to go for a walk last time, so it was Winston's turn to explore the lawn this time:

Winston was not exactly thrilled to be getting his feet dirty. He spent most of his "walk" lying in the grass in a complete panic:

At least we tried:

That's it for now, but soon I'll be all caught up and can move on to my next set of Europe pictures - Prague!

-Lauren

Posted by lauren at 01:40 AM | Comments (2)

May 14, 2008

Dad's Birthday

I know this is overdue, but a couple weeks ago was my dad's birthday. Brent and I drove down to Greenwich and Jocelyn came out from the city to join my parents and my grandparents for the occasion.

My dad opening his presents:

I gave him House Season 2, which is one of his new favorite shows (I got him started on it by giving him Season 1 for Christmas):

Opening a very distinctive orange box:

Jocelyn got him a new Hermès tie!

For dinner, my mom made delicious filet:

A flower - part of the centerpiece:

Jocelyn bringing out Dad's mocha cake (his favorite):

He's so happy to have mocha. He tries to get mocha for everyone's birthdays and we don't let him, so he's always excited to get it on his own birthday:

Our Lynch Bages wine that my dad picked out for the evening:

And last but certainly not least, here's my beautiful little Frisky:

Happy (Belated) Birthday, Dad!

Posted by lauren at 11:06 PM | Comments (0)

May 11, 2008

Poli Sci After Party

A couple weekends ago was the Political Science dinner for all the Political Science majors graduating from Trinity this year. The dinner consisted of free food and wine, and afterwards, we all went to the Sidewalk Café for more drinks.

Brent and Me before leaving with Torben, Juli, and Brian (can you tell Brent had been drinking?):

While we were all waiting in Torben's dorm for the cab to come, I had to use the men's bathroom because it was the only one open. Of course the boys would put something vulgar like this up on the wall (The bottom sign is a take-off on the top one, which is our help guide for if our electronic door locks aren't working properly):

If you can't read it, click on the picture and view the larger size.

Torben and Brent:

At the bar:

Brian and Brent:

Joe and Brent:

Torben and Brent:

Torben, Juli, and Brian:

Irish Car Bombs:

Juli and Me:

Yum:

I wonder what's so funny:

Joe, Torben, Juli, Brian, and Brent:

Brent and Me:

I can't take him anywhere:

We don't know whose birthday it was, but these things were everywhere:

Torben caught me taking "candid shots":

Brent and Torben:

Who, me?

Brian, Juli, and Brent:

Torben bought Heinekens for everyone:

Brian, Juli, Torben, and Me:

I have no idea how we got this:

Anyway, it was a really fun night that I hope we'll repeat sometime in our last week together at Trinity! I graduate exactly one week from today, isn't that crazy?

-Lauren

Posted by lauren at 04:53 PM | Comments (4)

May 09, 2008

Jack's Mannequin, Common, and Zee Santiago

After Damn the Torpedoes and Cave Mary performed at Spring Weekend, Jack's Mannequin took the stage. I had never heard of Jack's Mannequin before, but Molly tells me they're a fairly popular band. Here they are!

Jack's Mannequin:

Playing the harmonica:

Next up was Common:

Brent and Me:

DJ:

After a little while, Trinity's Zee Santiago took the stage with Common and they freestyle rapped together:

And lastly... here's the inside of a frozen bottle of water I had in my room:

That's it for now!

-Lauren

Posted by lauren at 02:08 PM | Comments (3)

Damn the Torpedoes and Cave Mary

On the Sunday of Spring Weekend, Brent and I got up bright and early at noon, made some mimosas, and then walked across campus to the concert, where we were forced unjustly to chug the aforementioned mimosas before entering. That's all right though, we still had a great time.

The first two opening bands were Damn the Torpedoes and Cave Mary, both comprised of Trinity students who won in the Battle of the Bands.

Damn the Torpedoes came on first. Here's Tim:

Jon:

John and Tim:

Dave:

Action figures on the speakers:

Damn the Torpedoes put on a fantastic show, as always. Here's Brent and Me enjoying ourselves from the good music, and probably also from the buzz of chugging two full Solo cups' worth of mimosa each:

Next up was Cave Mary, named after the most infamous food service worker here at Trinity. As you might have guessed, her name is Mary and she works at The Cave, one of our dining options.

Will:

Bobby:

Unfortunately, I don't know the names of the other people in the band:

Cave Mary played all original songs, and I know everyone was very impressed. After Cave Mary was Jack's Mannequin followed by Common, who performed with Zee, a Trinity student (who was also won Battle of the Bands), so make sure you come back to check that out soon!

Posted by lauren at 01:51 AM | Comments (3)

May 07, 2008

Done With School

I know I've been really bad about posting lately, but that's because I've been finishing up the semester, turning in all my papers, etc., and somehow trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I am done with school forever. I've been a student since I was three years old (two, if you count the toddler school I got expelled from because I wanted my mom to be enrolled too). This is the first time in my life that I have to do something other than go to classes. Wow.

Anyway, now that I've finished all my classes and my finals, I have a week and a half of bumming around campus for "Senior Week" until my graduation on the 18th. Don't bother asking what I'm doing after that, I have no idea.

I don't have any pictures ready to be posted yet (even though I have about 2,000 that I still need to upload), so I guess I'll tell a cool story from this past weekend. Brent and I were studying for finals at my house after celebrating my dad's birthday, and we decided to take Rocky for a walk one evening and we had one of the most interesting experiences, like something straight out of a dream. We were walking around my block and there was a deer at the top of the hill on the street that runs parallel to mine. It stood and watched us approach for a long time, and then ran around the corner to my street and stood in a yard there, waiting for us. It then walked right in front of us all the way down my street, wagging its tail back and forth like a little dog (I didn't know they did that) and stopping every few feet to look back at us and make sure we were there. Rocky, the yappiest little dog in America, didn't even bark, he was too mesmerized. The deer was absolutely beautiful with such friendly eyes and the brightest white tail, and I wish I could have taken a picture to show you. Anyway, it led us down to the bottom of the hill, where my house is, and then it looked back one more time, flicked its tail at us, and walked down a driveway and down someone's patio steps, then off into the trees.

Living in Connecticut, I've seen plenty of deer, but I've never had one actually interact with me like that and it was amazing. I hope that deer comes back. Maybe I'll start leaving snacks in the front yard, my dad would love that.

I'll be posting again soon, and sorry for how bad I've been about it recently. I'm done with classes now, though, and have no excuse!

-Lauren

Posted by lauren at 08:47 AM | Comments (7)

May 04, 2008

Vernon Viperssssss

This spring, Brent and I joined our dorm's intramural softball team and have had such an awesome time. Our team is the "Vernon Vipers" and, obviously, we're amazing.

Vernon Vipers in action (yes, that's a "Croc" shoe for first base):

Brent:

The other team's dog that really wanted to play:

Colin and Brent in the field:

We had so many people show up for this particular game that we rotated who was in the field. Here's Hubbard, Brent, Dave, and Gustave sitting out this inning:

Here's Simba, who started our team:

During this game, Simba actually dove backwards over that fence to catch a ball!

Spencer, Simba, and Colin:

Hubbard or, "LL Cool H" - Ladies Love Cool Hubbard - as his shirt will tell you:

Dave:

Brent:

Gustave:

After the game (which involved team margaritas and lots of beer) we went to BBQ on one of the quads with the squash team (which Simba is captain of). Trinity has the best squash team in the country, if not the world, and a number of them are on our softball team as well, meaning that even though we're always drunk for our games, we still have some of the world's best athletes playing for us. One of my favorite softball stories is when Shaun, on of our outfielders and probably the fastest person I've ever met, ran all the way from right field to left field to catch a fly ball. Brent and I were playing left field and left-center field and as we were racing top speed for the ball, all we hear is "I got it!" off in the distance and suddenly Shaun pops up in front of us, ball in hand.

Lauren, Shaun, and Brent at the BBQ (Lauren and Shaun are probably the only other couple at Trinity who have been dating since Freshman year):

Also, by an enormous coincidence, Simba and Shaun are both from Zimbabwe and were best friends since they were six years old, and now play together on Trinity's squash team and the Vernon Vipers. How unlikely is that?

Manek, Simba... and some other people:

Simba and Manek:

After the BBQ, we went to the Spring Weekend Luau for snacks and more drinks. Here's Brent and "Mike" (if that really is his name). Mike was a very... interesting character, who shared his homemade wine with us: