Kevin's Sixteenth New Friend: If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends.

Courtney Leibering is in a sorority, but I don't hold it against her.  I love her, and told her so a number of times this weekend.  I got to accompany her to her senior date dash and that means drinking with a bunch of college kids.  Man, I didn't feel that far out of college until I tried to hang.  I did not feel very hot the next day.  Good news though, while recovering, I got to foster my friendship with Courtney's roommate, Andrea Nell.  While enjoying oldies at the bar (oldies as in early 2000s, not Rockin' Robin), we both wished for a Spice Girls song.  I knew then that she earned the honor of being sweet 16 for my blog!  Andrea is originally from North Jersey, Passaic county to be exact.  I shared with her that I'd taken a cartography class in college and one of the maps I made was of the county boundaries in New Jersey so I know exactly where Passaic county is.  (Now that I think about it, that A+ or maybe A- work never got its time on the fridge! I'll have to print it out and hang it up now.)  She now lives in California and goes to the University of Arizona.  I know about the California part because Friday night I insisted that she give me her phone number in case I got lost.  It's a 760.  I think I'll call her next time I'm in Tucson so we can find a DJ who can fulfill a Spice Girls request.

Kevin's Fifteenth New Friend: Hiking Etiquette 101

Kevin's Fourteenth New Friend: A Knight to Remember

Lindsay Davidson ties with Danielle Burr for the nicest person I know.  But, she graduated from St. Mary's and Danielle is a gator so, if I had to choose just one person, I think you know what would make the final say...

Admittedly, Lindsay and I did not meet in 2012.  We went to high school together.  She graduated in 2005 and maybe I had seen her twice since then...that is, until the annual McShane party January 2012.  Lindsay and I decided to become running partners.  AND, we are still running partners! That's right, I have a running partner and we actually run.  NBD.  Every Tuesday and Thursday morning we wake up and run at 7:00am and on the weekend we go hiking.  This week I realized that she has been my biggest friendship of 2012 and is not on my blog so she ran back to the house with me for a picture (well, honestly, I'm done running way before I get to Claremont Street).  

Lindsay introduced me to the Luck of the Irish run out at Westgate.  Now I have done the TurkeyTrot (for thanksgiving) and the Luck of the Irish run (for SPD).  My new favorite thing is organized runs the morning of a holiday.  Being that she is my 14th friend, I would say we have definitely been running together for 10 weeks and always have long conversations every time we are together.  With that said, I could go on forever about her greatness and everything that she does, but I won't.  Trust me though, she is great.

Lindsay is a local of Phoenix and her parents live in my dream neighborhood.  I can't remember whether she was born in St. Joe's or Good Samaritan, but I do know she was born.  She went to St. Thomas and spent summers at her grandparent's lake house.  Now, she lives with a married couple and I don't think her grandparents own the lake house anymore.  She is, like me, a substitute for the diocese of Phoenix and, unlike me, works at Runner's Den on Sundays.  She also babysits and is a caretaker for a woman in Arcadia.  (I'll have to ask her about the woman, she may not work there anymore...funny thing though, the lady's house is down the street from my sister's house).  And she makes cards.  Her cards are mostly (maybe all of them) blank and have a photograph of a flower.  Many of the photos are flowers that she saw while living in Seattle but there are also desert flowers.  Her next step is either grad school or teach.  I'm hoping she teaches so she can stay in Phoenix (but that's me being selfish because I just want to keep my amazing running buddy).

Lindsay is another victim of my love of showing people new places to eat.  So far we have just done The Duce but I know there will be more.  

Lindsay is awesome and if you want to hike with us, let us know because we want to do some overnight hikes and don't have any hiking friends...

Kevin's Thirteenth New Friend: Catholic Gyro

I love Jen Pitera and don't get to see her that often so we set up a dinner date for after mass: Crazy Jim's.  It was her first time.  I love bringing people to new restaurants, probably one of my favorites parts about being alive.  It's about mid morning and Laura McShane asks to join me for Palm Sunday mass.  Yes, please come! But I have a dinner date afterwards.  You can come.  Jen, Laura is coming.  Jordan has been hanging out with Laura all day and wants to come to mass with us too.  Jen, Jordan and Laura are coming to dinner tonight.  I show up to mass and Jen tells me that she has invited all of her teens and Father Matt Henry.  We are not very good at keeping our dates to "a table for two"!

Although Father Matt Henry had been to Crazy Jim's before, I still tried to show it off as though I opened the restaurant and he didn't rain on my parade so, thank you.  Matthew Henry grew up in Arcadia, went to St. Theresa's and then Brophy for a year.  Yikes! Don't worry though, he did not like Brophy and switched to a public school.  Redeemed! And, speaking of redeemed, he is now a diocesan priest.  Not only does Father Matt Henry know my good friend, Jen but he went to high school with the 6th grade teacher at the school I work at.  I'll have to mention it to her, maybe she'll want to be a friend on my blog too!

Claire's Thirteenth New Friend: That is what happens when you eat dessert first!

This week I attended my friend Chariti's wedding in Phoenix. I worked at Maggie's Place with this awesome lady, who has been working there for the past 10 years. If you don't know what Maggie's Place is, it is a nonprofit with 3 homes in Phoenix and one in Cleveland for pregnant women who are alone or on the streets. The typical staff member works at Maggie's Place for only about 1 year because you actually live in the house with the women and babies....and you make a stipend. It is definitely a life changing experience. So, as you can imagine, the turnover rate is pretty high, and if you work there for over one year, you get to know a lot of different staff members. Chariti knows pretty much all of the staff who have ever worked there. And a large portion of them were at her wedding.

I was lucky enough to sit with a group of alumnae staff, which is comparable to sitting with a group of alumni from your college or high school who are close in age. Some of us worked in the same house, but at different times, we compared insane and unfortunate baby names, and told horror stories of diaper blow outs and crazy residents. I sat right next to my new friend Kate Raber. She moved from Bremerton, WA to become a staff member at Maggie's Place in 2005. She worked at The Magdalene House in downtown Phoenix, hated the desert and was counting the days until she could move back to lush Washington, untilllll she met the man she was going to marry! Enter Jason Raber, a pastor at Redemption Church in Tempe. Kate and Jason's love story has been passed along from year to year and is what Maggie's Place staff members' dreams are made of. Seven years later, Kate and Jason are married, living in Chandler/Gilbert (aka DESERT!) with 3 beautiful little kiddos. Kate brought her youngest baby, 4 month old Magdalene, with her to the wedding. Man, she is cute!

A little cake was sitting at each of our place settings at the wedding before the food was served. While waiting for the food, Kate and I were getting a little hungry, so we decided to eat the topping on the cake, which was an edible charcoal colored sugar diamond. Well....our mouths turned black. Not just the inside, but it was dripping on to our lips. Good trick Chariti and Joel! Congratulations!!


Photo to come....it is on somebody else's camera.

Claire's Twelfth New Friend: She makes me eat like I live on the Seam in the 12th District

Friends have been on my mind a lot this week. I have really been thinking about how I don't have any!! I have 1 friend (who I do not live with....you guys don't qualify) who lives in Vegas and who is interested in hanging out with me. So that means I have to do a lot of things on my own. I go to the movies, coffee, out to eat, the bar, volunteer, workout, etc by myself. Sometimes I feel a little awkward just sitting and blatantly staring at every other patron who walks in, so I have learned to always carry a book (whether it be so I can pretend to read, but actually still stare at everyone, or actually fit in some reading). This weekend, after seeing all the Facebook posts about the midnight showing of The Hunger Games and then hearing about how it is the top grossing movie ever, I decided I better read it and then see it...obviously, I am not what you would call an early adopter.

After reading the first few pages where they go into great detail about being starving and eating fresh bread, I had to stop reading and eat approximately 8 pieces of garlic bread. Carbo load for the marathon reading sesh!  I am a super, super slow reader, so give me a week. (I can read the words fast, but I won't retain any of it as I will just be thinking about how fast I am reading. I blame my second grade teacher, Mrs. Bean for that one. She put me in the advanced reading group for some reason and we read The Indian in the Cupboard and the other students breezed through it and comprehended it and discussed it. I didn't say much during said discussions. When I watched the movie, it was a whole new story to me, like I had never even read the book! It turned me off from book clubs for years. I think I may be ready for one now.) So, meet my new friend The Hunger Games.....that is, if you have not already met.

Me and my girl Katniss just hanging out.

Kevin's Twelfth New Friend: Sometimes bars don't have windows

Bailey: "Let's go to a dive bar tonight!"
Me: "Yes, please! I always love me a good dive bar."
Bailey: "My friend wants to come out with us but she doesn't have a car.  The Dunes is right next to her house, let's go there."

Enter "The Dunes"

Holy Moley! This bar is on Dunlap ave and 30 something avenue.  GULP! It really delivered on the "dive".  We pull up and the box of a building in the middle of a large parking lot is windowless and says "cocktails" in big cursive letters...We walk in and are greeted by the comfort that only carpeting can provide (but, I decided not to feel the berber between my toes and keep my shoes on).  The two free! pool tables look very inviting but I decide to first head to the bar.  "Hello ma'am! What do you have on tap?" "Bud, Bud Light, Miller Light and Coors" "Anything in a bottle?" "Yes, same selection plus Amber Bock" (I remember that my lenten promise is to not drink and decide these options do not give me a good reason to break my promise) "Coke, please!" Now that my drink has been ordered, I can take care of soaking in the rest of the place: a mirrored wall, formica bar, a dart board, whaaaat?! Karaoke night?! Is that 50 year old white lady singing "My Humps"?! This is wonderful, I never knew I liked you West Dunlap (or East Dunlap...let's just say Dunlap).  The next few hours are taken up by playing pool and watching the locals sing their favorite songs.  I owe all of this to my new friend, Jen.  Jen is a mother, a friend of Bailey's and a regular at The Dunes.  Thank you Jen for introducing me to this wonderful carpeted environment; it really reduced the echoes.

Kevin's Eleventh New Friend: An SPD Artist

It's the greatest day of the year! My Saint Patrick's Day was filled with blasts from my past this year.  I counted, I ran into (unplanned) 12 people that I had not seen in over a year -- and a few that I had seen within the year.  All of these people are old friends though so, no blog for you! Ms. Statt; however, is a friend that I have made this year.  Ashley Statt (yes, of the same Statt family that we know and love) is, of course, a graduate of SSJ and soon Bourgade.  She is an amazing girl who showed me what to do on an 8th grade retreat and will be going to South Africa (the same mission I went on in 2010) this summer! In order to help her raise monies, she was at First Friday Artwalk (I don't know if that should be capitalized and I am almost certain "artwalk" is not one word) selling her art.  Although Britany stole the piece that I really wanted, I was happy to donate to the cause.  I cannot wait to hear about her trip and have stolen her art idea.  I hope she doesn't get mad at me.

The stolen art project

Kevin's Tenth New Friend: SSJ is thicker than blood

We all have birthdays.  This one insisted on making me 23; but, I was not alone.  My friend Britany Statt shares this glorious day with me so I went out with her to celebrate.  And, as always, I met someone that she went to grade school with - Amy Thompson (that's right, as in 1829 Thompson street.  I love you, Philadelphia).  Amy wasn't the only SSJer that we ran into that night but she is my new friend.  Amy, regrettably, found her way to Xavier for high schools.  It's ok though, we all make little mistakes.  She is now at ASU and studying non-profit.  She loves Tempe and ASU and, I'm assuming, Canteen.  I hope to run into her on Mill many more times.

Don't be jealous of our backlighting

Claire's Eleventh Friend: So a nun walks into a bar on St. Patrick's Day.

This weekend I went to a Nunchelorette Party, maybe the first ever in the history of the world. One of my dearest, sweetest friends is becoming a nun! A cloistered nun at that (for those of you who don't know, cloistered means she will never be leaving the convent! She'll be praying for our asses!)! A little sad because we are realizing we only have a limited time to hang out with her and communicate with her on a regular basis, my friends and I knew that this is what she was called to do. Soooo, what else do you do when somebody figures out what they want to do with the rest of their lives? Throw a party. And we did just that.

1 Nunchelorette + 4 single ladies + New Orleans + St. Patrick's Day = Best Party Ever (and at least 10-20 new friends)

On St. Patrick's Day (which is my favorite day of the year....if Gonzaga would just stop losing on that day, it would be even better!) we went to the parade in the Irish Channel (side note: their motto is amazing, America First, Irish Channel Always). Everybody knows at parades in New Orleans you get beads...I never really understood why everybody wants those cheap ass beads until I experienced it. It was a full on competition between you and the other 3000 people on that street to have the most beads hanging off your sweaty neck. I don't know what came over me, but I was ready to throw my elbows in the old lady's face next to me to get those damn beads that were going to stain my skin because I wore too many for too long! But, they are not just throwing out beads, they are throwing out heads of cabbage (pay attention, because that shit hurts when it hits you in the face!), potatoes, jello shots, moon pies, ramen noodles, garter belts, pool noodles and flowers. At the beginning of the parade, a massive amount of men in tuxedos walk by giving out kisses and flowers to all the ladies on the route. Weird, but I loved it!

After the parade, we wander over to the best block party ever. It was huge and free and there were live bands and men everywhere! While we are trying to understand where we are and how to get drinks in our hands, my new friend Mike Sullivan corners me in the bar. He is in a tux and was one of the guys from the start of the parade! Just as he starts in on his life story, the nunchelorette joins us. He asked me if I was from Uptown, which made me excited because 1. my faux southern accent must be really sounding great these days! 2. I am blending in with the locals! and 3. Uptown sounds like a fancy place....and I am not that fancy.  He forces us to take some sips of his drink he brought from home in his janky water bottle and then lets me in on the little secret about SPD in NOLA, byob. He puts his mixed drinks in janky water bottles and then packs beer and ice in his backpack.....water was literally dripping out of his not so water proof backpack. I decided I was pretty happy with our choice to not wear ice chest back packs. I asked Mike why he was marching in the parade and he answered, "My last name is Sullivan and I paid $130!" Mike's life story and antics kept us entertained for probably close to an hour. Mike was really really in love with our nunchelorette.....he admitted his love for her promptly after he told us how much he loved his fiance, Melissa! Our friend, Hayley, whom he appropriately named Tall Drink of Water, told him he can't love our nunchelorette because she is marrying Jesus, and without missing a beat, Mike said he was changing his name to Jesus and moving to Phoenix for her.

Mike gives us the beads he said every girl at the parade wanted and told us how lucky we were to have them for about 15 minutes and then we went our separate ways. I hope he made it home okay. Thanks for showing us some real Southern Hospitality Mike!

Mike sitting on Tall Drink of Water.

Me cracking up from everything Mike is saying. Janky water bottle front and center.

Claire's Tenth New Friend: He's Bootcamp Tough!

I am a sucker for group fitness Groupons/Living Social Deals/Huge Ass Deals. Group fitness is so great because the trainer is not always focused on you, so you can slack off if you want, or you can really push yourself by trying to beat the hard body granny working out next to you, plus....I hang out with an infant all day, so I need to talk to somebody who will actually talk back. Naturally, I purchased a Groupon for Sin City Waist Trimmers bootcamp. Two weeks ago I started in on my ten sessions. Enter my new friend, Donovan. He is the ultimate bootcamp tough coach/trainer/cheerleader. After the first 5 sessions, I began to dislike Donovan. I was beyond sore. Sitting down on the toilet hurt me. The next week, I already felt stronger and started to like Donovan again. He might even convince me to give up my group fitness Groupon buying ways, settle down and commit to one program. My last session is tomorrow....and I just can't say goodbye! Must keep going (especially since we are friends and all)!!

Claire's Ninth New Friend: Entrepreneurial Spirit

Ever since I was in grade school, I wanted to own my own business. Nothing sounded better than making your own hours and being so damn passionate about your job, that you don't even care that you no longer sleep, workout, or have friends and have replaced all of your meals with coffee and microwave popcorn because you are too busy working. I was especially gun ho about the dream of becoming a business owner in college after taking an entrepreneurial leadership class. The semester long assignment was to develop a business plan with your team. My team of 7 awesome ladies developed a plan for a little business we like to call ucasa.com (University realty website). Our professor loved the plan and really encouraged us to enter the annual business plan competition. So we did. We lost and didn't win the start-up funds. My dreams were a little bit crushed. And do you know who beat us!? My new friend! No hard feelings though Sarah. I promise.

Meet Sarah Wollnick. She went to Gonzaga with me and was another one of those people I knew of, but never really knew or talked to. I met her this weekend because it was the West Coast Conference tournament in Las Vegas, coupled with Young Alumni Weekend. (Three things: 1. The Zags lost to the stupid Gaels. 2. The Gaels got a new mascot. It is a cavemen or something and really disturbing looking. 3. We were the oldest people at Young Alumni Weekend. I guess 25 is no longer young?) Turns out, I was missing out because we have a lot in common besides our mutual friends!
1. We both love business ownership! Okay, I dream about this one and she actually does it. Upon winning the business plan competition, Sarah and her husband, Josh, started their business, GreenCupboards. In fact, they were just featured in the Startup Spotlight on Geek Wire!
2. We were practically wearing the same outfit to the championship game! Right down to our gray Toms...But then again, I guess those basketball fan outfits are pretty standard.
3. We both love alcoholic milkshakes!
4. We both secretly really wanted to sing karaoke at the club. Don't deny it Sarah! Not much sounds better than the sound of Spice Girls music coming out of my mouth!

So glad I got to get to know the lovely Sarah Wollnick this weekend! Looking forward to many a more reunions, either in Vegas or Spokane!

At tha cluuuub with my new friend! Wishing they would stop playing 50 cent and  pop in a Spice Girls cassette. 

Kevin's Ninth New Friend: Don't take it personal Glenn

Last Sunday I was in bed looking at the cars I was "watching" on ebay (I'd gotten in the habit of going to sleep researching cars on my pad) and noticed that there was a CL500 I had been watching.  Weird.  That is clearly out of my budget.  It had already been sold so I went to the dealer's website that had listed it to find out what the price was...no such luck.  BUT, I did stumble upon a listing for a 2006 Saab 9-3 with 50k miles.  They were asking $10,8 and that seemed doable (even though it did not have any pictures).  I'll think about it tomorrow, I'm subbing in the morning and it is time to go to bed.

Monday after school my dad and I drive out to Audi of North Scottsdale and test drive this same car.  A few chips, squishy breaks and a headlight that's out.  Not to mention the price tag is a little high.  Let's think about it...  OK, I've thought about it.  I want it! Make an offer...make another offer.  Walk out the door for $10 and you'll fix my complaints? Sold!

Tuesday I go and get my first auto loan.  My friend there was slow and felt no pressure even though the clock said it was an hour after the bank closed.  I don't think he'd make a good friend for my blog, but thanks for the loan!

Wednesday, February 29, 2012 I buy a new car from Bill Jacobs.  He'd be a great new friend because he sold me my car but we didn't even shake hands after I signed everything and gave him the largest check that I'd ever held so we didn't seem like a good match.  Who does that leave?  Well, although a machine, I will spend numerous hours and travel (hopefully) 100,000 miles with this week's friend: my new car.  I hope my next forty friends get to meet her!

Kevin's Eighth New Friend: ...It's God's Time

Jen asked me to be an adult for the grade school's 8th grade retreat and I said yes.

5:30 am last Friday I am standing in the SSJ parking lot loading up two buses full of 14 year olds.
6:00 am it is time to drive down to Oracle, Arizona (yes, there is such a place) and, it seems that I am the only adult on the second bus (well, I'll allow that the bus driver was of technical "adult" age).  Guess I have to learn how to be grown up: I make them all pray the rosary, like any good Catholic adult.

I get off the bus and there is Wendy Treon.  There was a light breeze in the air that moved the hair across her face and the way the sunlight hit her eyes...wait, no. The air was motionless and I honestly have no clue where Wendy was.  We had met three weeks earlier to discuss my function on the retreat and she seemed so stoic.  But that must have been her in "business" mode.  While the students were working on team building, Wendy and I refined our jokes (our humor is similar and that is all I will say on the subject!)

Mrs. Wendy Treon is the counselor two days a week at the grade school and went to school with Jen.  She has a beautiful family of three and I have every intention of continuing to stalk her on Facebook if we can't hang out in real life.

Claire's Eighth New Friend: Love is in the air!

If we were going to get technical (and we are), I didn't actually meet one of my new friends for the very first time this past week. We actually went to college together and she was one of those people who knew everybody I knew, and then they would always try to act like I knew her.
Mutual Friend: "You know Courtney Conners!"
Me: "No, I actually have no idea what she looks like."
Mutual Friend again: "Yes you do. She is the pageant girl!"
Me: "No, still don't know."
All my lifelong I never knew a single pageant girl, then I went to Gonzaga and met like 5 of them. Crazy. (They should change their motto from Educating People the World Needs Most to Educating Pageant Girls the World Needs Most. You're welcome marketing department.) Anyways, I am getting sidetracked. I finally, officially met Courtney at a mutual friend's birthday party in Boise, Idaho a few years ago. She was awesome! And hello, Miss Idaho, so how could you not like her!? I found out on Saturday night that she was in town (that is the lovely thing about living in Vegas...somebody is always in town!). So I met Courtney and her fiance, Jayson, just minutes after Jayson proposed! So happy I got to be there for their celebration and meet Jayson! Congratulations!! I love planning weddings in my free time, so don't hesitate to call me. Seriously.

Claire's Seventh New Friend: Failing

Please see the first week of 2013 for this friend. They went time traveling so I will not meet them until then. I am pretty sure his name is McFly.

Kevin's Seventh New Friend: Arizona Centennial

What better way to celebrate Arizona's 100th birthday than with an assortment of Arizona beers, wines and chimichangas?! My friend this week, Rose Mofford (drag), couldn't think of a better way.  Rose was our 18th Governor here in Arizona and the first female Secretary of State.  She grew up in Globe, raising the count of people that I know from Globe to two (thanks, Dan Massey).  She played basketball and was recruited to go pro with the All American Red Heads.  She truly loves this state and that is why I knew I had to have her as my friend for the week! Plus, she gave me a flask with the official Arizona Centennial emblem on it...the same one that is on all the signs along the freeways.

Kevin's Sixth New Friend: Thanks Toby Keith

Friday night, yet again...I had plans with 5 different people but ended up hanging out with none of them.  Instead, I drive out to the suburbs (Mesa, Arizona) to meet Britany and Amira and discover a little gem, alright, downright enormous gem of a bar: Toby Keith's I Love This Bar.  There's nothing but country western music and white folks in cowboy hats!! But, it is not the place for me to find my new friend so I mosey on down to Rula Bula and meet a man who has a mallard on the background of his credit card.

"Excuse me sir, is that a mallard?"

"Yes! My name is Travis Miner.  Want to take a picture of me so I can be on your blog?"

OK, admittedly, that's not exactly how things went down but the credit card part is true.  Travis is studying art at ASU and is working on his acting.  He had a big show/audition the following morning (11:00am) that was causing him some concern but not enough since he was at the bar past midnight.  He's from Arizona and works for a contracting company with an awesome website.  Hopefully next time I see him, I'm not DD...

Claire's Sixth New Friend: Celebrating Moms!

In college, one of my best friends, Katie Goodsell, introduced me to one of her friends, Adam Miller. I just referred to him as Katie's friend and then didn't think much about him (Sorry Adam!). Well, turns out, Adam and Katie started dating a year after graduating from college, then, before long they were engaged and now married. I have now spent an insane amount of time with Adam (enjoying every second of course!); celebrating birthdays, weddings, engagements and holidays together and most recently celebrating the life of his amazing mother-in-law, Jill Goodsell, after her long and hard battle with cancer. This weekend as we celebrated Jill's life and passions, I had the opportunity to get to know Adam's mom, Julie Brinson. Julie is a 6, 7 and 8 grade science teacher from Walla Walla, WA and a mother of three great children, two of which are getting married about 12 months apart (this lady can handle stress!). Julie and her husband and their 10 year old daughter drove across the state of Washington to be with Katie and Adam this weekend and support them as they mourned the loss of Jill and celebrated the beautiful things she did with her life. I am really looking forward to seeing Julie and the gang again soon at the next family function (Is it awkward that I go to every Miller/Goodsell family function? Maybe a little.) Julie, thanks for raising such a great man to take care of my best friend! Cheers to mothers!

Julie and I sitting in Jill's beautiful garden in Woodinville, WA this weekend.

Katie and her mom Jill at the Crosby, Stills and Nash concert at Chateau St. Michelle in 2010.

Kevin's Fifth New Friend: Football brings America together

Giants win the super bowl.
I find a new friend.
Sunday was busy.
The Rogers (my sister, Paige and her husband, Brett) had a super bowl party this past Sunday.  Brett's kinda into the Giants.  I love them but was concerned about the junk food that would be involved.  Paige is notorious for serving hummus.  The hummus was there, of course, but hiding behind a bag of pita chips was a stack of chocolate chip cookies...and they appeared to have extra sugar on top.  SOLD! But that was not sugar, some genius had sprinkled (sea) salt on top of the cookies.  Mmmm.  Kristin Powell is the name of this baked good magician (only a step below my true love, the petite four from Barb's Bakery).  Kristin is a Phoenix native and just recently moved into the house that she grew up in - awesome! She went to Horizon and now works at what used to be my grade school hang out, the Esplanade.  She does such glamorous things as fly around in a private jet recruiting doctors (but she claims that all "private" means is you have to go to three different cities for business in one day.  No thanks.)  She enjoys her work but it's not her passion...I'm going to try and talk her into opening a bakery.

Claire's Fifth New Friend: Tyson. Like the chicken.

I met some pretty awesome people this week: the security guards at The Fitz (everyday heroes!), the Las Vegas chapter of the Gonzaga Alumni Association, the nicest cab driver in all of Las Vegas, some cool Texans turning 30, a Guatemalan (who was definitely a stalker), a crap-load of Super Bowl fanatics, and a number of employees from BNBuilders....which brings me to my new friend. Meet Tyson Watson. He is in construction management at BNBuilders in Missoula, Montana (Yes, this is my second new friend from Montana. By the end of the year I might be friends with the whole state...or maybe that is my blog for 2013!). Tyson loves Irish pubs and jitterbugging. He went to Montana Tech in none other than Butte, Montana, or as the natives call it, Butte, America. A few of my besties are from Butte and one of my favorite restaurants is located there, Pork Chop John's. Tyson knows and loves Pork Chop John's. What Tyson doesn't know is my real name. Probably a real bad idea to start out our friendship based on a lie, but when you meet a guy at a bar in Vegas, you really never can tell if he is going to be a creepy stalker (cue Guatemalan I referred to at the beginning of this entry) or your new best friend. I always play it safe and just tell everyone my name is Sarah (I like to think no creepy stalkers ever read this blog). The good news is Tyson passed and now knows my name. Sorry Tyson!

Kevin's Fourth New Friend: Men sometimes wear gowns

So, I admit, this week's friend was very intentional.  I needed to take a picture in my graduation gown with someone who was sharing this honor.  I am sorry Quincy, the editor that I met at the bar on Wednesday, but your awesome name can't sway me.  Please meet Samantha Hakes.  We are both Temple University Graduates! Go Owls!!  Before the ceremony this past Friday, I was in a basement on campus surrounded by fellow Ed majors.  Samantha spent her student teaching experience in a 6th grade classroom full of stinky kids (thank goodness 1st graders are pre-puberty!) Unlike me, she already has a job lined up and will soon be working as a TSS for a male adolescent who claims to hate women.  Wonder how that will turn out...  Congratulations, Samantha on a job well done! I look forward to hearing about your classroom experiences.

Samantha Hakes, Cum Laude

Claire's Fourth New Friend(s): Finding Brotherhood (well, really sisterhood) in the City of Brotherly Love

This weekend my super amazing brother graduated from Temple University. Yay Kevin! The whole fam was able to trek across the country to Philadelphia to witness this milestone and checkout where he has been the last 4.5 years of our lives. I have met a number of his friends over the past 4 years, but for some reason I kept missing these two ladies. Meet Megan Margeson and Nikki Goldstein. These two girls found out about the blog and were fighting to be my next friend! So naturally I had to choose them both. Kevin met these two ladies back in 2007 in his freshman dorm. Megan hails from Lancaster, PA. Her family became Kevin's "Easter Family." As one of his Catholic friends, she made sure that he always had a place to celebrate Easter. I've heard much about her, so I am excited to finally put a face to the name. Nikki hails from Jackson, NJ. Kevin and her started out with the same major and many of the same classes. A solid 50% of the stories that Kevin tells include Nikki. I said it to them a million times when we met, and I will say it again, Come out to the Southwest to visit!!!

Nikki, me, Megan. 

Kevin's Third New Friend: Pennsylvania is everywhere!

Saturday morning I went for a hike with my friend Lindsay and her family.  Lauren Wilke of York, PA joined us.  She's my new friend.  Ever since I decided to move back to Phoenix all I meet are people from Pennsylvania.  I love it!  Lauren is pretty freaking awesome.  She did a 50 mile run this past fall and then did the PF Chang's Half-marathon.  That's exactly 63.1 more miles than me.  She moved to Arizona four years ago and loves the desert.  She is a proud Penn State grad and still tailgates when she gets the chance.  I'm hoping to some day join her for a tailgate (I'm a much better tailgater than I am a runner).

Claire's Third New Friend: The Business of Mud Running

Have you ever heard of a little something called Ragnar?? It is an overnight, 200 mile, relay race. Well, my new friend was a Ragnar race director. That takes serious organization. Meet Carly Raskas. She originally hails from Great Falls, Montana, went to school at the lovely Washington State University (I went to Gonzaga, so we are basically neighbors!), lived in Seattle, and is currently residing in Salt Lake City. I met Carly this weekend out at Red Rocks while we set up and tested some of the obstacles for the upcoming races Terrain Mud Runs is putting on (Coming to a West Coast city near you!!). She is really good at putting obstacles together, scaling 12 foot walls, rock climbing and loooves mini plastic bottles of red wine. 

Kevin's Second New Friend(s): It's A Small World After All...

Friday, yet again, I find myself in need of my new friend.  I just arrived in Los Angeles to meet up with my existing friend, Max Joslyn, and visit everyone's friend, Mickey Mouse at Disneyland!  Mr. Joslyn, a fellow Temple grad (and former roommate), was throwing a good-old-style Burbank house party and I was, of course, in attendance.  Try to keep me away from a house party!  I strike up a conversation with Dave and learn that he is from Pennsylvania.  Cool, cool...I went to school out there.  Look at that, already having things in common!  He recently moved out to LA, lives in Long Beach with his brother and some other guy who is from Phoenix and is working on becoming a certified tennis instructor.  He loves playing tennis and will soon be teaching fools like myself how to play.  I later meet Dan and find out that he is Dave's brother and comes from Yardley, PA.  Yardley, eh?! My freshman year roommate is from Yardley!  What?!?! You went to grade school with my freshman year roommate?!  I can't help but think of the famed ride I'll be going on later that weekend: Disney's "It's A Small World".  Dan works primarily down in San Diego as a Biohazard Technician.  Apparently he commutes but loves the work, the people and his boss.  Dan and Dave Basheda are my new friends this week, I look forward to running into them again the next time I visit LA.

Claire's Second New Friend: One tough Mom!

This evening I had the lovely opportunity of having dinner with some real bad asses. They are all female graduates of the Air Force Academy and mothers of babies and toddlers. It goes without saying, they are tough. Meet Sarah Ziegler. She is a mother of a beautiful little one year old named Anna. Sarah played volleyball with my sister at the Air Force Academy (Go Falcons!). She served in Germany, Iraq, Phoenix and Las Vegas. When Anna grows up, she can truthfully say to other kids, "My mom can beat up your mom!"

Okay, in real life we do not have crazy eyes!

Kevin's First New Friend: Pretty much has my dream job!

Friday, January 6, 2012, I walk into a bar (perhaps one of the greatest bars: the Ice House Tavern) in anticipation of a friend's surprise ice skating party.  Could this perhaps be the evening that I make my first of 52 new friends?! Yes.  Meet Tim James Himebauch II.  He is not a native of Phoenix, but we are still called friends just the same.  Eight years ago he found his way down from Boise, Idaho and six months later, he began working at Costco.  Now, although I've always dreamed of working behind those glass walls and making sandwiches for the loyal Costco patrons, Tim's position as tire salesman is within the confines of the same walls that house those people dressed in white, making dinner for the masses and so, I am jealous of him.  As I sit next to him, looking out at the ice skating rink in anticipation of embarrassing ourselves, we share stories of our lives.  I look forward to hearing (and telling) more stories...and, perhaps, indulging in flautas from Armando's. 

Claire's First New Friend: She is so cool, she poops her pants!

Meet Sabrina Michelle Albiston. She is 4 months old and 14lbs of absolute chubby adorableness. She is the reason I moved to Vegas, and rightfully so, she has earned the title of this week's BFF. While we met back in September, we have really solidified our friendship this past week. She has spent hours being toted in the "front pack" while I clean, shop, eat, do my hair and check my email (seriously, she loves the front pack). We have already logged about 10+ miles in her stroller, cruising the streets of Las Vegas/Henderson and have discovered that the walking demographic around here is basically the two of us and 6 junior high boys. She has helped me discover my talent for remixing pop songs into baby appropriate. She will probably be right on my hip as I meet every new friend this year. Bottles up! Bottles up!

The front pack makes her extra drooly.