This morning around ten, I looked uber classy as I left the Embassy Suites in my PJs and crossed the street back to the Hyatt parking lot, dress in tow, a bottle of Maker's Mark sticking out of my backpack.

Hotel after-parties are brilliant though. After everyone left, I was actually able to get about four hours of sleep before heading to rehearsal for a gazillion hours. Still here. Guess who's exhausted. Yeah.

Every once in a while, my default user pic matches the subject line perfectly. Mwahahaha.



While I had way more voters this year than I remember having last year, it has also become clear that the 1L class provides me with a bulk of my readership each year. But I don't mind handing out awards to peeps I don't know. Adds to the fun of things. I'm still gathering "presenters" and figuring out order of awards and stuff, but I think I'll be able to start awarding tomorrow with the Oscars. Yay for multi-tasking!



I love Barack Obama. He gets me excited about the future and about possibilities and stuff. Maybe it was just the thrill of attending my first big political event. Maybe the rain gave me a head cold. Maybe I was just persuaded by awesome song lyrics about chicken in the back. Or maybe I just think he's kinda hot. Whatever the reason, I'm pretty firmly on Team Obama.



Casino Night promises to be interesting. Last year I spent most of the night mingling and dancing. This year I hope to get a lot of mingling done during my 45 minutes of taking tickets and stuff, and I'm hoping to get some time in at the craps table before drunkenly making my way to the dance floor. My diet, however, has turned me into a really cheap drunk, so I'll probably be on the dance floor way earlier than I expect. (Note to self: I should probably refrain from drinking a whole lot until AFTER I've worked my shift which requires me to handle more money than I like to think about.) (Of course "a whole lot" these days = a lot less than it used to.)

I hope to see all of YOU there. This is my last Casino Night, and I plan to make it count. Count for what, I have no idea. But count nonetheless.

I never realized exactly how often I have access to free food until I could no longer partake in it. Two weeks ago, I'd arrive at the mentor office, hoping for bagels or some other form of freeness. But now, I have to be sure to eat my fiber-rich, barely sweetened cereal with skim milk and bananas before I leave the house only to shun the scrumptious Einstein Bros. when I arrive at school. And it's SOOOO hard. One of the other mentors even had the pumpkin schmear, which is my favorite. So sad. So sad. And that doesn't even count the myriad of breakfast tacos and Valentine's Day candy, in pretty pink wrappers. And pizza. Oh, the pizza. It feels so sad to say no, too. But I've already lost a few pounds, thank goodness, because without some encouragement, it'd be even harder to say no to ham and pineapple from Papa John's.

On the bright side, I'll look fabulous in my Casino Night dress, which I only found after two painstaking days of shopping, one spent with my aunt in San Marcos, and I hate that outlet mall more than I can express. It's a far drive, there's so much traffic trying to get in, all the surrounding restaurants are chain restaurants with no flare or originality, and I can never find what I'm looking for, while simultaneously feeling obligated to look through tons and tons of shit that I don't need or want. We spent several hours there on Saturday, going into at least 15 stores. I left with a candle that my aunt bought me. And no dress. Sunday yielded better results, and I'm happy with my selection (mostly because of its lovely sale price), but damn! Finding a dress shouldn't be so hard. I mourn the loss of my favorite store: the Jessica McClintock outlet in El Paso. I swear I haven't paid more than $10 for the past few formals I've purchased, including the dress I wore to Casino Night last year and the one I wore to 80s Journal Prom before that. Prices were $10, and $8 respectively. But it closed down. Alas. *mourn*

The Lioness beat me to the punch, re: a Casino Night post. This year promises to be the best for several reasons. (1) It's my last, so... duh. (2) I'm working the door during the first shift, meaning I get to talk to and see a majority of people as they come in. (3) I'm working the first shift, so there's no need to be sober after 10:45. (4) I know enough people that I'm pretty certain I can convince several to grab me a drink while they're in line. MWAHAHAHAHA! (Note to self: I'd better not let anyone discover that plan, though, or they may feel like I'm just taking advantage of our friendship.)

I've also seen/heard some mumblings that SBA should announce Casino Night soon, since it's...soon. And we're working on that, trust me. I blame the week of school we missed. Damned weather (although the past two days have been beautiful as if to make up for January--Punxsutawney Phil was spot on).