Thursday, September 30, 2010

AYCJ Observation #2: Finding Friends in Unexpected Places

It was around midnight when I was roaming the Bellagio post-catching "O" (The Cirque Show, but more on that later).

I looked to my right and saw a girl with a near empty drink in her hand. I called out to her. Jennifer?

She totally had no idea who I was. That's understandable. Last time she saw me 5 years ago when I looked a wee bit different. 300 lbs, sluggish. You get my drift.

I said, "It's Will, from UCR." She was in shock. The look on her face went from confusion to pure joy. She ran up and gave me a big 'ol hug. We talked in the casino area for about 10 minutes. I then asked if she wanted to grab a drink. We hopped on over to one of the bars in the Bellagio. We sat and chatted for about a half hour. Then her boyfriend (and also my friend/colleague from college) Kevin came and joined us. We decided to roam around the strip and headed to Caesars Palace to gamble and drink some free drinks. ;)

Jennifer and I went to UCR together. We were the same major, had lots of classes and whatnot together as well. We also worked at the school newspaper, The Highlander, together. We also interned at the same place in Washington DC (The US Chamber of Commerce) but at different points for UCDC. We've had a lot of similar experiences but ended up on completely different career paths.

I must admit it was a pleasure catching up with them. They both just purchased a condo in San Diego. They're having a housewarming on Oct. 9th, 2010 to celebrate. They extended an invitation to me, which was super sweet. I'm really happy for them! Jennifer is doing some consulting work for her former company (It's Just Lunch!) as well as working on the ad production side for a local family magazine in San Diego. Kevin is working at the parent company of Red Envelope. They're gonna do dinner at the Wynn tonight and visit the crazy 3 story pool at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Vegas on Friday. Lovely.

It got me thinking. I haven't really ran into anyone in a few years that hasn't seen my physical transformation. It keeps on reminding me of how far I've come these past few years. All I can say is that I started to live life at the age of 23 and I haven't looked back. :)

Kevin W., Jennifer H., & Me

Posted via email from sunset to SUNRISE

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