The Blog is Back, Alright!

In 2012, I wrote 14 blog posts. 

In 2013, I wrote 11 blog posts. 

In 2014, I wrote 6 blog posts. 

And I haven't blogged since July. 

Guys – this makes me sad. It certainly isn't that I haven't had anything to write about. 2014 was an amazing year of engagements, weddings, vacations, friends, family, a big move, and a new job! It was fun – and you'll have to trust me, because 6 blogs hardly did the year justice. 

This year, I am going to try and document all of the things that happen to me in 2015: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly (because sometimes selfies are not my best angle). I can feel the excitement from you readers growing as I type this. "OMG she is back!!" Look out blogger community! 

So what will my first blog be about? Such suspense! Well, no need to anticipate the content – you are reading it right now. This is my first blog back. Get with it. 

But soon there will be new, wonderful, witty blogs for you to enjoy. In the meantime, I will leave you with a few pics from 2014…enjoy! 

What's My Age Again?

This weekend I celebrated by 30th birthday. That's 3-0. And it was amazing. 

With all the Facebook posts and text messages, I realized how lucky and #blessed I am to have such amazing people in my life. Year after year, I bring in my birthday with some of my favorite people - near and far. Most of us have been friends with for over 10 years, and we somehow made it through our 20's together. 

This video is dedicated to all of you.

I was having issues posting this video (I don't think it will play from phones/tablets) so let me know if it does not work!!

 If you cannot play the video, try clicking HERE from an actual computer.

Living in the moment, Living my life, Easy and breezy with peace in my mind

This past weekend kicked off the 2014 wedding season, starting in Atlanta for the wedding of Stephen Coxen and Jennifer Serafin.

I remember meeting Serafin (sorry, I don’t think I can ever call you Jennifer!) on the bus ride to Pi Phi before we even became sisters, and she talked about her great shoes and the care package her mom made for her. While we came to laugh about that later, I must say some things come full circle….At the wedding, Serafin was a stunning bride and she again was sporting some AMAZING shoes. Not to mention that her mom could not have been more full of love and pride for the woman she has become. The ceremony was beautiful – very intimate and personal, and the reception was a blast! I cried, per the us, but it was really special to see her marry someone that made her so happy.

Before the wedding, some of the girls (and Jeff) got to talking about how technology is changing the way people celebrate. The #weddinghashtags have replaced disposable cameras, giving the bride and groom a chance to see the fun candids throughout the night without having to miss any part of their celebration. Plus, who doesn’t love a good hashtag? #themorehashtagsthebetter

Some couples take a different approach, restricting the amount of social media used at their wedding. Their thought is: we are paying for photographers and videographers to capture the night so that you can relax, enjoy yourself, and just live in the moment! Plus, no one wants to look back at the pictures of the ceremony and see a bunch of arms in the air holding iPhones, with guests watching you through the screen.

Since I have never planned a wedding, I am unsure which side I would take…

#whoamikidding #teamhashtags 

But there is definitely something to be said for being present in the moment, and not relying on digital communication for your entertainment (this coming from someone that works for a digital company #theregoesmyjob). This week I was at a conference and they played this video to show how technology is changing the world. Watch it - it's good. 

To be honest, this made me realize how much time I spend on my phone. It. Is. Sad. On Sunday, I hadn’t seen Chad in a week and we were almost late for our dinner reservation because I was playing a game on my phone (2048 is addicting). Yikes. 

So today, I am going to vow in front of all 8 of you to try and live more in the moment. Now, I love a great post on The Facebook and Insta more than anyone – I will keep up with my #100happydays and will still take great pictures with the people I love. But I do not want to live with my head down in my phone. So if I am with you and playing too much on my phone, slap me. Or maybe just say, “Hey, Carrie. Pay attention.” That will work too. 

NOTE: This post is about practicing Moderation. Hope I don't lose any followers over this. 

I'm driving slow on Sunday morning, and I never want to leave.

Sundays are often a day of rest.  People call it the Sabbath, and by people, I mean my dad. There are several songs about relaxing on Sundays…and even a song about using the day to clip coupons.  It is a great day.

I should probably be embarrassed to say that about 80% of Sundays I am a little hungover.  That statistic is based on the fact that I have been slightly hungover three of the past four Sundays, and I will likely be hungover again this week.  4/5 = 80%.  I am good at math.  NBD.  

Now, anyone who knows me when I am hungover knows that I usually wake up early, hungry and craving lettuce.  After eating, I will go back to bed where I will sleep until at least noon.  Take it or leave it, that’s Carrie Keller at her finest.  This Sunday was no different.  But I guess first I should fill you in on my Saturday that preceded it.

Humidity is not only a friend to Summer,
but also a friend to Carreen.
Check out those amazing curls!! #jeal

Three weeks ago Summer finally decided to stop by Chicago for a visit, and this week her (yes, Summer is a girl) friend humidity came along for the ride.  So what do Chicagoans do when Summer finally arrives?  We go to the beach.  Now, I know that I have at least three Floridians reading this thinking a beach in Chicago is ludacrous, and you know what I say to that?  I say, “No, Ludacris is a talented rapper from Atlanta…a beach in Chicago is GLORIOUS!”  So Saturday, Chad and I headed to the beach with a half a bag of pretzels and three extra-large, extra-strong, lukewarm vodka and green teas.  Yum!  After catching a nice buzz, and a little snooze, we continued our day by meeting up with Carreen and Ed at BurgerFest.  BurgerFest, while known for their burgers, proved not to disappoint due to the cold 312, and most importantly, a performance by Sister Hazel!  The 90s classic “All For You” and the fact they are from G-Ville make them one of my faves.

After BurgerFest, we went to meet up with Chad’s best friend Chris and his girlfriend Bernadette at Galaway Bay, a bar with free popcorn, old-school Nintendo and $2 PBRs.  Not mad.  I heard stories of Chad’s younger years, got to know them better, and we finally got home and to sleep around 3:30am.

It's hard to say what it is I see in you. Wonder if I'll always be with you.
Words can't say, and I can't do enough to prove that it's all for you.

When I popped up at 7:30am, you can guess that Chad didn’t want to wake up.  So I stayed in bed for a bit too…texting with friends about how much I wanted lettuce.  More specifically, how much I wanted BLTs.  I even made the mistake of Google searching BLTs and you should see the yummy images that came up.  So I rolled out of bed, still rocking a small buzz from the night before, and walked to the grocery to start my Sunday.

As we all know, a BLT should really be called a BBLTM: Bread, Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato, Mayo.  That way, when you go to the grocery store to make a BBLTM, you know EVERY ingredient you need to get.  In my case, I was only after the BBLT, because, for those of us who have not yet met, “I am Carrie and I love mayo.”  Never a shortage of it in my house.

So off to the store I go in search of the missing four ingredients.  Along the way, I picked up some fruit, some olives, and some new salad dressing to make a little side salad with all the lettuce I was planning to buy.  Did I mention how I crave lettuce?  Upon checking out, I reviewed my basket, and seeing all 4 necessary ingredients, I checked out salivating.

I started first by cooking the bacon.  Actually, no, I started first by taking a few delicious pictures, and then proceeded with the bacon.  I figured that the bacon could cook while I cut the veggies, plus, I really thought that smell would wake up Chad without me having to go in and jump on him.  Spoiler alert: It didn’t.  I had to jump on him.

D-Lish. And actually the makings for a BBCTM.

While slicing up the veggies, I noticed that something seemed off.  What is with this lettuce?  I never buy iceberg lettuce, but I have eaten enough to know that it is not usually so rubbery.  And then it dawned on me.  I had bought the ingredients for a BBCTM.  CABBAGE.  It looked just like lettuce!  You can see my confusion…its little things like this that historically have made me uneasy around identical twins.  They look the same on the outside, but really, they are different!  Guess this was God’s way of bracing me for the new little twins about to enter my life – more to come on that in future blogs.

Anyways, I returned to the store, picked up some actual lettuce (you almost got me again, cabbage!) and I have to tell you that my BBLTM and side salad were as amazing as I imagined.  So crispy and salty – I want one right now!  I then turned down for my usual 2 hour post-food nap, and started my day around 12:30pm with some QT at the pool with some faves (thanks, Mike and Jen!).

Man, I love Sundays.   

Kiss me, I'm Irish (and German and Portuguese)

St. Patrick’s Day makes me think of Lucky Charms cereal, Dropkick Murphy’s, Irish Car Bombs, Green Beer, Shamrock Shakes and light-up flair. All my faves.

It also makes me think of luck, and right now, I feel pretty lucky in life. Cue braggy blog post…



I am an aunt to two very smart kids.
Well - they would be smarter if they liked me back. 



I met this guy, and he is pretty great.



I have a very brave and nimble turtle.



I have had a very successful career...thus far.
I have only been in my new gig for a month.
There is still plenty of time for me to screw it up. 



I have an amazing family that all live within a 5hr drive.



I have been on some people's dream vacations.



I LOVE my friends. Period.


Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Totally Awesome RBVs and going Balls Deep

Since I am being supes honest with you readers, I am going to admit to something else I am not good at. And this one may come as a surprise to some of you…well, probably none of you.

When I say, “I am so good at playing kickball,” I am lying. If I claim to ever be good at any sports that involve a ball, I am lying.

“My Plastic Surgeon doesn’t want me doing any activities where balls fly at my nose.” 

“Well there goes your social life.”

Just like most kiddos, my kickball experience started young. We played in gym class and at recess (between friendship bracelet sales and sticker trading) and I often took my usual spot in the outfield. FYI, that is where you go when you don’t really want to play, but have major FOMO if you don’t participate.  If you know what I looked like between the ages of 8-12, you will understand why I was never that into the game. Let’s just say, I wasn’t athletic.

Anyways, in the spring of 2007, my 3 friends and I were looking to branch out and meet new people. Obviously we were looking for something that involved booze and boys, and joining a kickball league seemed to fit both requirements quite nicely. We joined a team called “Totally Awesome” and played OTP after work on Thursdays, followed by boozing at American Pie, a bar with Christmas lights, Palm Trees and Karaoke. My type of establishment. Needless to say, we made friends and the playoffs. Success.

By the 2009/2010 we had all moved ITP and had enough friends for our own kickball team….barely. Being that we had some boys on our team, we thought we were due for a good season. We realized quickly that their athletic ability was highly questionable…that is if they even showed up for the games. Regardless, we formed a team called Red Balls and Vodka (RBV) and started boozing before/during the game, rather than after. This made for some great laughs, some not-so-great plays, and some not so happy refs. I believe we won 5 games between the 2 seasons.

Red Balls and Vodka Costume Contest

I think I joined another kickball league with the Jens somewhere in there – maybe in 2008? I attended 2 games and got some cool knee-socks. That’s about all I remember about that.

Back on track…When I moved to Chicago, I thought my kickball days were over. But sadly luckily, my friends here wanted to play on a league, and due to the FOMO, I accepted. And so began the team “Balls Deep.” One thing to note here: Balls Deep is serious. Sure, we would have some drinks during the games, but there are guys on our team who are actually athletic. There were girls on our team who were actually athletic. And more than that, everyone was actually competitive. Needless to say, no one seemed to complain when I would sit an inning out because I didn’t necessarily add much to the team.

Proof at my stellar athletic skills. See the ball? See my lack of forward motion? 

Although I never was very instrumental to the games, there were the few times I made some game-changing catches (no one was more surprised than me), but most of the time, I was making memories. If I were creating a highlight reel, here are some scenes that would make the cut:

• Kate missing the game-winning catch during the “Totally Awesome” playoffs due to excessive margarita intake, and seeing the disappointment in our new friends’ faces while we laughed hysterically.
• Drinking gross bloodys and Jell-O shots to give you some liquid athleticism.
• Hoger falling down the hill on the way to pee, breaking her tailbone, and letting it all go.
• Drawing the design for the Balls Deep t-shirts and the big debate – hair or no hair?  
• At-bat songs and team warm ups.
• Having crushes on “the blue team” and playing them in Flip Cup until we blacked out.
• Dressing up as Hot Dogs, only to come in second in the costume contest to the Prom Team.
• Mike’s wicked curve ball and 3^rd base coaching….and of course his frustration if he couldn’t strike out the other team.
• Watching the “Save a Horse” guys doing their choreographed karaoke at American Pie.   
• Threatening Kate, Maggie and Josh that the game is starting without them….all while sitting at the bar with Jen Zei 20 minutes late for the game myself.
• Waking up on Sunday mornings and playing a game still drunk.

You can tell from the above descriptions that there is a lot of alcohol intake during these games, so those are all the memories I can think of for now. But if you have any other gems that I am forgetting, leave a comment below! 

I'm So Much Cooler Online

Hi Friends! I have been a very bad blogger lately, which I am sure has resulted in some serious NotInMod withdrawals. I am sorry, and will contribute to all necessary therapy sessions.  But between Christmas shopping, Strep Throat, celebrating with the fam, a very contagious stomach flu, and a potential end of the world, I have been a little crazy the past few weeks. But I am back, and better than ever! Yay!

I mentioned in my last post that I often claim that I am really good at stuff that in reality, I am not very good at. For example, I do recall saying on more than one occasion that I was “really good at dating.”

News Flash: I am not. And looking back at every time I made that claim, I don’t think I was ever actually dating anyone, so clearly...not that good at it.  

Now, I am not at all embarrassed to say that I joined eHarmony in the Spring in hopes of finding a +1 that wasn’t Carreen (sorry, Rooms) and to meet that someone special. Plus, it actually sounded like fun: Meet all these great people! Try new things! Make new friends! Learn about yourself and others at the same time! The people in the commercials seemed so happy, plus that Natalie Cole song just really makes you want to get out there and find that Everlasting Love.

In filling out my eHarms survey, I thought about what was important to me. Someone who was sociable, funny, had good hygiene, not a racist, not a drug addict, and not rude. So pretty much I ruled out the bums in my alley, and some of the questionable people I have met at Tais ‘til 4.

I spent a few weeks filtering through my matches, perfecting my profile, and reading some of their super helpful and encouraging articles, like this gem. Eventually, I had my first date, and I was pumped to show off my stellar dating skills.

To start off the night, the guy was 15 minutes late. Now that might throw some people off, but since I was a self-proclaimed pro, I didn’t let that ruin my game….until about 3 minutes in when it became very evident that I had nothing to talk to this guy about. He was obsessed with his iPhone, liked R Kelley, and thought Costa Rica was “practically Mexico.” That’s when I realized it…I hate dating.

My eHarms dating experience continues to go downhill from there. A few tips for any single guys reading this blog (which I trust there are not any):

• Plan the date. No girl wants to ask herself on a date.
• Show up on time. Seriously, why must I even say this?
• Don’t act like you’re better than her.
• Put up pictures on your profile that look like you so that she knows who you are when you meet.
• Don’t have a unibrow.

I wish I was still tan. 

After a few months of terrible dates, I realized that I hated dating, and I hated dating terrible people. And so I was ready to give up on dating – it was the worst, and apparently I was really bad at it. *SHOCK – I am admitting I am bad at something*

Now most of you know where this story takes us…right when I was ready to give up, I got a call from what seemed like a decent guy and thought, “Ok, fine…one last date. But I am not giving up a weekend night for this dude.” We went out on a Monday and it all kind of came together. THIS is what dating is supposed to be like. He was smart, a planner, clean, witty, polite, respectful, funny, cute, drug-free…ok, I’ll stop.

But the thing is…he made me feel like suddenly I was good at dating. And I realized that dating is really easy when you are on a date with the right guy. Plus he ordered bacon-wrapped dates. Automatic second-date material. 

I'm a schizophrenic, and so am I.

There are many different faces to the Carrie you all know and (usually) love.

This is Ahoy Carrie. 

There is Comedian Carrie, who laughs at her own jokes before she gets them out (and repeats them louder if no one laughs the first time).

There is Freakishly Positive Carrie, who believes everything happens for a reason and tries to help you see the silver lining in any situation (admittedly, she can be pretty annoying). 

There is Justify Carrie, who thinks you should do things that make you happy and can justify any bad decision from skipping a work out, drinking on a weekday or buying those new jeans you can’t afford (her law of division is genius).

There is Family Carrie, who is best friends with her sisters no matter how mean they are to her (she has a mental block on the years 1993-1997 and a strange hatred for Michael Bolton).

There is Social ADD Carrie, who typically starts a conversation at a party and leaves before the thought is complete to move onto another party-goer (she is clearly an offspring of Bob Keller).

This is Gator Fan Carrie. 

There is OCD Carrie, who only really comes out if something on her shelves is not in perfect order (Carreen somehow stayed friends with her throughout many redecorating disasters).

There is People Pleasing Carrie, who tries to do little things to help her friends and family just to try and make everyone happy (she likes when people are happy – what is wrong with that?).

There is Party-Hosting Carrie, who is really just Social ADD, OCD and People Pleasing Carrie combined (she often gives up and just turns into Drunk Carrie).

There is Drunk Carrie, who loves Chorizo Nachos and Cheetos, takes too many Red Stagg and Rumpy shots, falls asleep at the bar and begs for more meatball subs (her eyes apparently roll from time to time).

There is Hungry Carrie, who quite frankly is just a bitch.

There is Lazy Carrie, who hates washing her hair on Sundays, loves napping, and is really good at ordering in food (see her prior nap post).

Which leads us to I am really good at *fill in the blank* Carrie. This has ranged from kickball, interviewing, funneling beer, doing the Cupid Shuffle, and dating.  If you know her, you know she is actually not good at any of these things (Stay tuned for future posts for proof on some of these claims).  

Who is your favorite "Carrie?" Which ones have I missed? 

Wait...obviously I have missed Narcissistic Carrie, who writes an entire blog about herself and asks people to post. But seriously, please post. 

You know what makes me stop whining? Wine.

This week there have been a few tough moments: I have been sick, one of my BFs is going through a tough breakup, my power went out this morning while I was getting ready, my friend had her wallet stolen and Super Storm Sandy bitch-slapped the east coast. So today I would like to focus on the top 10 good things happening this week. In no particular order...  

1. I changed my Modern Family calendar from October to November.
2. My friend, Michelle, is scheduled to have her baby ANY DAY NOW.
3. My sister, Kim, opened her first account at work.
4. My friend in NYC, Kate, survived Sandy without losing power, hope, or her mind.
5. I get to spend the weekend in Tinley Park cuddling by a fire with my beau, an Autumn ale, and my new Michael Kors sweater.
6. Halloween is over which means no more pictures of people carving pumpkins on Facebook.
7. I ran 2.5 miles yesterday.
8. I got my keypad to the Rogue fixed so I get to experience the joy of key-less entry again.  
9. Bob Keller is on vacation for the next week, which means I may be able to avoid a phone call on Tuesday asking me if I have voted for Romney yet.
10. I did not do ANY online shopping this week – miracle.

See? What a great week. I already have a good feeling about November!