Savannah Katie: December 2010

Living in Savannah, I don't get to see many college buddies that often. My parents are no longer in Virginia and many of my good friends from college ended up in North Carolina. We are all busy with life...work, family and everything in between, but you know a good friend when it can be a couple years when you saw each other last but when you get together it seems like just yesterday.

I went to Raleigh last weekend to stay with my friend Maggie. We were random roommates our first year at UVA in 1996 and since we met for the first time at the American Cafe in Tysons Corner (that would be Tysons I, not the Galleria) the summer before our first year, I knew we would get along famously. Hard to believe that 14 years have passed since that day I got the letter in the mail from Residence Life at UVA with the name and address (no email back then folks!) of Margaret Piczak. I thought her name was Margaret "Pick-zak." She was from a big town...I was from a small town. I wrote her a letter the day I got her info in the mail...a little over-eager? I was just excited. I was hoping so much that we would be friends. And we were and still are. And she goes by Maggie and her last name WAS pronounced PEE-ZAK. She is now married and as much as she loved Piczak, it was dropped in favor of her husbands fun Italian name.

Fourteen years...a long time. It had been almost two years since we had seen each other last. So that was one and half babies ago. That would be one baby for me (Cecilia) and a half baby for Maggie (Baby Carlisi due in April). So obviously in those fourteen years a lot has happened. Marriages, grad school (maggie finishing, me starting), teaching (Maggie), SCAD (me) and a whole lot of other stuff. Still, it was just so much fun to be together again. Sure, our Friday and Saturday nights this past weekend ended when they would have started 14 years ago, but this new phase in our lives is just as fun and exciting.

Another great highlight to the weekend was my college buddy, Robby's annual Christmas party. He hosts an annual progressive party in downtown Raleigh with two other friends. While the idea of progressive has changed from upside down apple pie shooters at one house and Jaeger bombs at the next, to the more refined fancy cocktails and yummy hor'dourves, it was so fun to see Robby. I don't know what I liked best about his FABULOUS condo downtown. The views of the Capitol, his double wine fridges, the Waterford ornament tree or the Wedgewood tree OR the fact that he lives on the 26th floor and works on the 13th. It is so nice to see your friends happy, successful and healthy.

I wish I had taken more pictures, but didn't want to lug my camera around from place to place so here are a few:

Maggie, Robby and Me in front of the Waterford tree!

Me and Maggie

Maggie and her husband Jim:

Okay, I can't lie, this post got me a little nostalgic. So I put on a Christmas show I DVR'ed for Jimmy so I could run to the attic to see if I could find any quick pictures to post from our first year at UVA. Oddly enough, I really couldn't find many pics of just me and Maggie. I must have been taking all the pics with my awesome point and shoot 35 MM camera and once I took all of my 24 (or 36) pictures, I would take the roll the bookstore and hope that I got at least a few decent pics. I would pay with my student charge (ie: send the bill to my parents please) and then put them into an album, which 14 years later, is now falling apart. No Creative Memories then to teach me how to preserve my memories. Scanning will have to do for now.

Humphreys hallmates and Mustard Cottage roomies getting ready for Zeta's "Three's Company"

Our dorm, 305 Humphreys:

Take a closer look at this picture and you will know it is from the 90's
-CD tower, not ipod.
- Halogen lamp. Great idea...then fire hazard, now banned.
-dry erase board on the door to leave messages for friends. No cell phones then, and if you did have one it was "FOR EMERGENCIES only!" or you were some oil prince like one of our dormmates and he talked on the cell phone like it was his job.

Our kitchenette:

You know it is the 90's...
-blank VHS tapes so we could tape our shows, especially General Hospital and Days. No DVR! Although, Maggie did have the timer mastered on the VHS mastered and not surprisingly she can use the DVR in ways I could never.
-12 pack of Diet coke 96 BFP...that would be Before Fridge Pack
-the new "Baked" chips. Who knew low fat did not mean low carbs or low cal. No wonder I gained 15 pounds (okay maybe 20) my first year.
-curling iron. flat iron now please.