Why (my) guy friends are the best friends

Girls suck.

There, I said it. We are always bitching, always getting in fights, always looking for ways to drop those last few pounds because we're so fat. I have a solid group of girl friends, I'll have you know. But they have gone through Social Darwinism for real. Survival of the fittest. They are the ones that have superior traits!

Getting back to the point of this post, guy friends are the best. I've already told you guys about James, my best friend in the whole entire world. But he is not who I am going to talk about. There's a whole other group of weirdos I need to introduce you to!

I have a core group of friends from college. It is me, 7 guys, and 2 other girls. And it is the best thing in the world. For some reason, this group just works well together. Everyone is pretty different - we have a few of them who majored in classics, some in business, some pre-med. We are all over the place!

All of us (minus 1 of the girls) before a formal event we all went to. FANCY!

But when we hang out, there is no drama. Everyone is just looking to have a good time, not start some kind of bitch fight about the girl across the room wearing the EXACT SAME shirt as them. Even if there are fights, they don't last very long. There was actually this HUGE fight that broke out when we played Beer Olympics. That's the thing about this group, they are very relaxed, but SUPER competitive. Luckily everything was resolved by the next day and everyone jokes about it now. Phew!

3 of the guys from this group are actually moving to NYC soon! And I am SOOOOO excited because I have missed them all so much! I used to go to their house (yes, my 7 best guy friends all lived under the same roof our senior year of school and they managed to survive) every afternoon and just hang out for hours. Yes, that means that I have heard a lot of conversations girls don't typically hear. Yes, that means that I am AMAZING at Nintendo 64.

It makes me incredibly sad that I can't just see all of them any time I want - I don't even know when we will all be in the same room again. UGH.

They seriously are the best!

<3, Charlotte

Drinking in College vs. Drinking in Adulthood

Literally what happens to me. Not okay!

It's time to address something that every person entering the real world needs to know: alcohol tolerance depletion.

I'm definitely not the first person to experience my alcohol tolerance decreasing after graduating from college, but  my tolerance has gotten so low to the point that it is absolutely ABSURD. Now, in school by no means was my tolerance high - I maxed out at about 6-8 drinks a night. Pretty low considering I would go out 4+ nights a week, but I made it work. (And saved a little money while I was at it!)

Post-college, however, is an entirely different story. I get INSANELY DRUNK after 1 beer. ONE, BEER. And I can't have more than 4 drinks in a night. I mean, my finances appreciate it, but it's sometimes a major struggle trying to milk one drink for a long time - it gets warm, there's spillage...basically it can be a disaster!

OH, and the hangovers. (I've actually had a recent talk about this with my 26-year-old cousin.) In school, you drink a lot and get obliterated one night, but then you wake up the next day and make it to class or to practice or to the library to study your brains out. It is an inconvenience during your day, but you get through it.

Now, hangovers are COMPLETELY DEBILITATING. That is partially why I have been stuck having movie marathons with myself on Sundays. I LITERALLY cannot get out of bed or do anything productive. And when that happens after having only 4 drinks MAX the night before, I have to question my existence as a human being.

How is this possible?!

<3, Charlotte

Back to practice...

No explanation necessary for this photo.

I feel like it's the first day of school. In about an hour, I'm going to leave to go to my first practice with this masters swim team I found! My friend Melissa and I are joining and I couldn't be more excited (I actually swam with her my freshman year of college when she was a senior - we're both getting back into it)! Got my suit, goggles, cap, and I'm ready to go. It actually is kinda freaking me out how into this I may become...I looked at some of the national top 10 times for my age group online and they are SOOO slow. I may actually have a chance of being good in this league!

First I need to actually get into shape though.

Oy, I hope I don't drown!!

<3, Charlotte

Back to college for the weekend!

Things didn't get QUITE as crazy as this as the parties I was at.
But how cool would it be if they did?!

Last weekend I went back to college. Except it was a jillion times BETTER. School in DC was very different than a Big 10 school, which is where my work friend Kristy attended college. The school was having an alumni weekend, and I was totally thrilled when she asked me if I wanted to see what a Big 10 school was like. Even though my college friends were FINALLY living in New York for the first time since I've lived here, I couldn't pass up this opportunity.

Was I ever glad that I went! Because we had to work on Friday night, we took an EARLY bus to the school on Saturday morning. And by early, I mean I had to wake up at 4am to start getting ready (hey, a girl's gotta look nice when she's meeting crazy college boys!). Yes, I had to sacrifice my Friday night, but it was WELL WORTH IT.

We got to the school at around noon and IMMEDIATELY started drinking. Between the house parties that were overcrowded with people to everyone getting to the bar by NINE-THIRTY that night, I couldn't believe that some people were smart enough to attend such a fun school! I got to meet Kristy's best friend (they have a relationship similar to mine and James'. Guy besties are the shit, OBVI) and two of his friends were TOTALLY macking on me during one of the house parties we were at. Sidenote: one was a COMPLETE WEIRDO but one was actually really cute and funny. 

The bar we went to that night, as I mentioned before, was super packed super early. And it was amazing. Probably one of the best DJ's I've ever heard - every song was the type of song that the entire room was screaming all the words on the top of their lungs to. Fun fun FUN weekend!

Don't get me wrong, I LOVED the college I went to, plus the education was very good. And I really liked being in the city. But there's just this little part of me that got 4 years of FOMO when I was at the Big 10 school this past weekend. That could have been every weekend of my college career...

Here's to thinking of what could have been,

<3, Charlotte

Packing, packing, packing

I am now being forced to write this with SEVERELY LIMITED internet access, since the internet in my house has been officially shut down in preparation of us all moving out. I am basically bootlegging the little bit of access I get from the campus wifi that is able to get to me. I feel like it's the early 2000's again.

Unfortunately, this image cannot help me in this situation.

Anywaysssss, the past few days have consisted of me packing my entire year, and in some instances my college career, away. And let me tell you – I have a lot of shit! I anticipated having about 5 garbage bags in total to bring to New York with me, but that is now not the case. I find myself with 2 suitcases and 7 garbage bags. I’m not sure if that is too much for just the summer, but I have already sent 8 bags home with my parents. Seriously. I have way too much crap.

Packing my life away. It sure seems like that during this very moment in time. Pictures of friends ranging from high school to those I just met senior year. Gifts from friends I have not talked to since freshman year, and from those I just met a year ago. School t-shirts from all types of occasions to the few business clothes I have managed to acquire at this point in time. I really have no excuse to ever use the phrase “I have NOTHING to wear!” EVER again!

Though all of my college years were very different (I went from being a serious D1 athlete freshman year to ending as a senior who goes out 7 nights a week), I wouldn't do anything differently. I don’t believe in regrets. Why waste time being upset about things that have happened in the past? I like to think of everything that has happened as being experiences that have helped make me who I am today. And for who I have become, I am appreciative of it all.

Here's to no regrets. And to embracing everything that life throws your way.

<3, Charlotte

Graduation

Welp, I can officially say that I did it. I have graduated from college. Saturday was a surreal day. Since I can remember, I have known that my class was the college class of 2013. But when you’re in third grade and it’s 2001, you never really believe that 2013 will actually come. Sitting with my class and listening to the dean talk about what a momentous occasion this was in our lives, everything started to hit me. I was graduating in a business school class of 300, and many of those 300 students were my friends. We were all moving onto the next part of our lives together.

I wasn’t expecting to be overwhelmed with emotion, and I had to fight back tears several times before getting my diploma (well, the fake diploma they give you when you cross the stage and shake all the important peoples’ hands. I feel like that is a deceitful formality!). Sidenote: what is up with the graduation hoods? They just look dumb and no one knows how to wear them. Awksauce.

Getting my "diploma"!

My high school graduation was very formal and strict. My class was a little under 1200 kids so it is understandable why it had to be that way. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this graduation was much more relaxed. I had gotten these cool, bright orange shutter shades from my friend before the graduation, but I was too scared to walk out wearing them. (My friends who gave them to me said they were going to, but I knew they would chicken out anyways) Once I got that “diploma” in my hands and sat down, I became so relieved, I immediately put the shades on and kept them on for the rest of the ceremony. The school photographer even took a picture of me and all my orange glory while we were all seated listening to the final remarks. I definitely ended my college career in a very good mood.

So, yes, though the day was very sad and unbelievable, I found a way to make light of it. And no, I don’t plan on looking at my grades from this past semester. They were probably a disaster and, after all, I graduated, and that is all that matters!

<3, Charlotte

Senior Week

So, this final week at school has been designated as "Senior Week". In other words, the school has set up a bunch of events for us to get drunk at. Though I am very excited to graduate and be in New York (I'm sooooo sick of DC), it's times like this that make me realize how much I'm going to miss this place. 2 nights ago, I had my first senior week cry - I was overcome with emotion when I realized that in a week me and my friends would not be able to hang out and shoot the shit together all the time. SAP ALERT.

What a horrible pour! Still looks cool though.

Biggest accomplishment of senior week so far has been the champagne brunch that was held in our dining hall yesterday. We were each only given 2 drink tickets, but somehow I managed to acquire about 15 throughout the 2 hour event. IT WAS AMAZING. The last time I ever left the dining hall and I don't even remember doing it. After brunch, me and some of my friends participated in this thing called the "Big Hunt", a scavenger hunt spanning all of DC. We ended up just drinking all over the city and accomplished none of the tasks. #winning

As for the apartment search, I don't think the one I went up to go see is going to work out, and I wasn't getting very many bites on my Craigslist emails I would send. So, I re-vamped my introductory "hello" email, and now things are going pretty well! People like looking at my Instagram pics (I put the link to it in the email), so HOPEFULLY I will have something soon.

Well, off to get drunk at more school-sponsored events! C U l8R!

-Charlotte