2009 - A Year in Review for Starbucks

Starbucks here, hyped and ready to look back on 2009, as per Bambi's wishes. I suppose it will be good to look back...hindsight is 20/20. So here I sit, at the Pokorny's house in Floda SE, listening to terrible pop 'hits' and ready to sum up '09.

I think it would be fair to say 2009 is the most exciting, riveting, eventful, high-energy, most amazing year I've had to date. Senior Prom, Graduation, summer adventures, beginning college...a pretty damned important time in the lives of these twins. So here goes...I hope I don't forget anything.

January was ushered in at a Chapel Hill party hosted by a high school underclassman who bears no importance to the story, really. Beers, some sketchy-looking screwdrivers, an elusive bottle of Southern Comfort, and plenty of green helped unite a big gang of high schoolers keen on ringing in the New Year 'the right way.' By the time the ball dropped, so had most of the drunk, exhausted party guests onto the bare mattresses that littered the floor of the basement, and yours truly didn't even get a kiss at midnight. Marley, my love interest at the time, did call me from a bar downtown to wish me a happy new year. My heart raced...

February was cold and a bit rocky, as I remember. Memories of passed (and miserable) Februaries would frequently come to mind and bring a frown to my brow. Pam was away in South America, and I ached often for her guidance and humor. Marley and I shared a belated V-Day dinner at Oishii...I still remember how delicious my sushi was and how much I enjoyed the experience of that dinner. Bambi and I also got close to David and Early, and enjoyed many a fun time with those two.

It blended rather uneventfully into March, during with our bond with David and Early only strengthened. We all missed Pam like crazy, and found comfort in one another...escapades in the Lincoln, smoking Js by the railroad tracks, guitar, DrewZen. I also remember a particular picnic by the trestles with junk food and 40's...and of course chilly afternoons on the benches at the Weave, trying to soak up the watery sunshine. It was so lovely. Things between Marley and me dwindled while a momentary spark lit between Early and me.

April and May saw sunnier days, warmer weather, and two cabin-fevered high school seniors ready to get out into the world. Bambi and I relished in our lunch hour, complete with off campus privileges. We'd pack sometimes up to 8 people into our Lincoln and ride off where ever our little hearts desired. Weaver Street Market, Blue's apartment, Carr Mill...or we'd just drive around, smoking cigarettes and feeling like a million bucks. April also gave us our first Shakori Hills Music Festival experience, which we enjoyed thoroughly. Bambi really 'partied' for the first time, and had an encounter with high-roller-quick-talkin' Wayne. I spent the festival (only a little bit awkwardly) with Eliot, who was very patient and sweet most of the time. As Jersey and Blue began a somewhat forbidden romance, tensions ran high. Dynamics among our group of friends changed dramatically, and before we knew it Jersey wasn't speaking to us. In other news, I was court ordered to attend TASC classes once a week during the spring, where I supposedly learned the harm and consequence of drug and alcohol use, but mostly just used the time for a chance to socialize and joke. It was there that I met Scotty. We hit it off almost instantly and soon we were an item. He took me to senior prom, which was a memorable experience. Bambi brought her date Vince, and they joined us - in addition to new happy couple Pam and David as well as Heidi and her date - to a dinner at Tandoor. The after party was an /experience/ to say the least. ;D

June brought excitement and warmth and the joys of summer. Bambi and I graduated CHHS, and about 15 friends and family - including aunt, uncle, and cousins from Sweden - flew and drove in to see our commencement ceremony. It was perfect. Even Tequila made it to the graduation and a fun-filled few days afterwards that was only the beginning of our adventures to come. It was great to have her back in our lives. The absence of Jersey was still noticeable in our lives and hearts. We headed to spend the summer in Holden Beach, where we settled quickly into a life of sleeping in, tanning on the deck, dozing on the beach, and of course working at the ice cream parlor. We also attended new students orientation at UNC-W, an exciting and overwhelming experience. I met some amazing people, and left feeling ready to begin my life there.

The sun shone and our bodies bronzed and soon the calendar told us it was July. Relishing my one day off work in a week, I made a (possibly) life-changing bike ride to the beach where happenstance introduced me to three amazing folks - Chase, Bleach, and Mo. Nearly the entirety of the rest of the summer was spent with those three at Surfer's Hideaway, sipping rum drinks and smoking cigarettes on the screened in back porch, feeling like life was complete. Crawling out of the window of our second-story bedroom, Bambi and I felt like sexy outlaws to go see Chase and Bleach in the middle of the night.

August was bittersweet, bringing both Chase's departure to Georgia and the beginning of my life at UNC-W. As the days before move-in day passed quickly by, my anxiety about college in general grew, but so did my excitement. After a week spent in CH, Bambi and I drove the Lincoln (now lovingly named Abe) down to Holden to spend our last real night of summer back at Surfer's Hideaway with Bleach and Mo. Move-in day dawned and there I was, a frazzled 19 year-old, body glistening with sweat in the passenger seat, ready to begin my life at the Dub. After lots of tears and a day's worth of setting up my room and meeting my new suitemates, there I was. On my own...or so to speak.

September and October and November seemed to fly by as I found myself having the time -of my life-. I really can't even begin to explain all the wonderful happenings or all the people I met during the autumn months. This very blog describes many of the epic adventures...but I suppose I have to at least sum up a few. I met Eli and we became close almost instantly. I got even closer to Tay, with whom many a good time was had...along of course with Bubbles, Blossom and Buttercup, and the other roomies, KS, Igor, PA, WP, Kim, PI, and countless others. Hazy nights at the Juggling Gypsy, our first experiences with frat parties and keggers and PJ....Wow. Halloween was spent in Chapel Hill with Quentin and Bambi, as well as my roomie and her friends. We began to notice the first signs of fall to UNCW campus, which really consisted mainly of the Autumn Blend coffee at our favorite hangout, Einstein's Bagels, and an occasional cardigan worn in hopes of ushering in the Fall weather, as the weather was sunny and cloudless as ever. Classes were going well for me, and I was still soaking in the freedom and all that comes with it. Another chance encounter gave me the pleasure of meeting Jake...wow. Tall, dark-haired, and devilishly handsome, I must admit I fell pretty hard at first sight. I spent many a night over at his place, heart racing, holding back a smile as I absorbed everything about him and his lifestyle. Magic.

Mid-November brought stress and depression, and before I knew it a few strange occurrences landed me in the Oaks. 49 unforgettable hours later, I walked through the door to see 8 of my closest friends crammed into the lobby with hugs and kisses and well-wishes and promises of cigarettes. I will never forget that moment.

And at long last...December. Colder weather caused us to dig up our pea coats and sweaters and brought Winter Blend to Einstein's. Cramming for finals, we loaded up on caffeine and forwent sleep to study or engage in other, much more fun, activities. One day Bambi and I recieved texts out of the blue from Jersey..! We were wary, but pretty soon, we had talked things out and everything seemed nearly back to normal. Before I knew it, the semester was over and Bambi and I were heading back to Chapel Hill. After a few awesome days with Jersey, Blue, and some others, we were off to Sweden.

And here I sit, and this post has come full circle. Who knows what 2010 will bring...though I know I'm hoping for a few things!

All the best,

5+aRbuck5ss!

Bambi's 2009: THE HIGH POINTS

2009 was a roller coaster, no other way to describe it... so much changed, so much lost, so much gained, torn apart, rearranged, some things untouched, others totally changed, emotions deep, we took a leap, plunged into lives so different, wild, untamed, became new people, yet stayed the same...
here's the highlights...

*working at THE RESTAURANT where i met sooo many great people and learned so much, not just about the business but about life. here i met Snoop, the sexy as hell guy i ended up getting super close to... not to mention a crazy courtship with braxton, a busser and waiter who had it bad for me the whole time we were coworkers.

*senior year --- hands down best year of high school. danced my ass off with Jersey in our dance class, my fourth year of it at school, by which time the class had become like a family. also, being the TA for the dance 1 class was an experience. we put on a great end of year show with a lot of pieces i was super proud of! plus the lunch group - the crazy motely crew of us that piled into our lincoln at lunch to go get food, loiter at the Weave, smoke at the park, etc, etc...

*Shakori Hills spring '09 - epic outdoor music festival --- hooked up with J, smoked weed for the first time, stayed up practically all night by the campfire... pretty much signaled the start of my partying! tehe

*prom '09 - got asked by a big dealer at our school, vince, to everyone's surprise... plus snoop agreed to go with me but i didnt realize he was serious till at work the day of prom he said he'd gotten my corsage and rented a tux! but id promised vince id go with him! oops!

*graduation - sooo amazing! WE MADE IT!!! our family came from sweden plus lots of old family friends i hadn't seen in forever and we had an awesome party at our house and tons of ppl stopped by for food, pics, and reminiscing... best of all, Tequila came up to be there with us, even tho it meant missing her own graduation! oh what a weekend...! ;-)

*summer 2009 -- hands down the best summer of my life! worked at the ice cream place as usual, had some great parties with coworkers, sooo many late nights at waffle house with various brunswick county kids, clubbing for the first time in myrtle beach, meeting chaz, mo, and bleach and all the epic experiences with them...

*starting college at the greatest university everrr!!!!!!!! it's already been such a great experience and the time of life. thanks to those of you made it such...

*Jack...enough said... jk but honestly it was a great experience and we had sooo many good, crazy times, plus i learned a lot.. and grew up a lot.

Bambi looks back: News Years 2009

So i can't really remember a year in which so much happened or so much changed, a year in which doors closed and new ones opened, in which so many new friends were made or life circumstances changed forever... before there was always some sort of constant, but this year all that changed...

where was i around this time last year, the beginning of 2009? I'd just gotten back from a wonderful christmas trip to New York with the family. things were crazy with my on again off again long time bf Nate, but at that point, to Nate's dismay, currently off. I had a huge thing for one of my co-workers, gorgeous, sweet talking, funny Snoop - boss's grandson. We'd bonded pretty soon after i started working at the restaurant in the fall of 2008, but at that time things were still good with Nate and I, not to mention that Snoop was still seeing his long-time girl. However, has 2008 drew to a close, things were rocky in my relationship and Snoop's as well. Still, i was surprised when he invited me to a hotel new years party he was throwing. Nate was dying to spend news years with me and came to my house causing drama and while i loved him, i wanted space and of course to see where things were headed with Snoop. I blew Nate off and headed to my friend Pam's house where we went on an alcohol run with her cousin and Jersey came over. We took shots and chilled and when Snoop still hadn't called around 11 Jersey, Starbucks, and i took an offer to head to party Jersey's then-bf Mikey, was at. At that time i wasn't a big partier (crazy right???) so the throngs of kids from my high school drinking and smoking and generally throwing down scandalized me. I felt a tad out of place, but with starbucks, jersey, mikey, and blue all there, i was happy. I was a bit drunk for the first time in my life, the drive back to Pam's place to sleepover a blur, the room spinning as i lay in bed. I cursed the fact that i had work in the morning, News Years Day, the restaurant's all time busiest day, where'd id work a 13 hour shift and no doubt have to face Snoop.

The next day at work was crazier than id even anticipated. i didn't get a moment to breath, the rush was constant, the place ridiculously crowded, a long waiting list all day. I was almost thankful for this as it gave me no time to think about Snoop, though i caught his eye multiple times as he prepared salads and desserts not 20 feet from me. When the night was finally over, i slipped out the back kitchen door after clocking out. The cooks, Snoop among them, had to stay to clean up and i was almost to my car when i heard Snoop call my name. He said he was sorry about the night before, he'd gotten super wasted and made a mistake. he said he wanted to make it up to me and hang out soon, then kissed me for the first time.

snoop came over to my house the next night and played a board game with Pam, starbucks, my little sisters, and i and yes, we did hook up a little, but strangely nothing major would go down between us till summer...

anyway, it was a pretty great new years and a great year... more on that later.