let the General Hugfest Series begin...

you know what? i think im going to start trying to blog on a more consistent basis- ive received very positive feedback with my "increased blogging frequency" as of late, and i love doing it, so why NOT update this thing regularly?

unfortunately, my life is not all too exciting, let's be honest here. therefore, if im going to blog at LEAST twice a week, i think one post will be about whatever random shenanigans ive gotten myself into (you know, the usual) and the second post will be devoted to a new favorite person ever. okay, i know that if the "favorite spotlight" is done on a weekly basis, that kind of defeats the whole "favorite" nature of the spotlight, but whatever. im a walking hugfest, what can i say? so much love to share, so little time.

with all that being said, i would like to formally start my General Hugfest Series with the one and only... SUSAN T!!! (obvi, i will not be using last names, since internet discretion is my middle name. hahahaha. how many middle names do i HAVE at this point, given my other blog posts? but i digress.)

sorry to divert. let's get right back on topic. okay, so susan t is only like one of the greatest coworkers ive ever had. and you know what the funny thing is? ive only met her, face-to-face, once! isnt that CRAZY?!?!?! it's really amazing how such a great working relationship (aka friendship aka general team hugfest aka general... well, crazy SISTERHOOD, really) can formulate after one introduction. let's be honest, it wasnt always so... well, lkafdjslkf! (sorry, but that's really the only way i can describe the two of us. hahahah.)

i mean, initially, susan and i only communicated over work email! and man, if i look back to some of our initial email exchanges, i simply cant help but crack UP at how FORMAL they sounded! i mean, who are we KIDDING HERE?

i think the true love formulated around the time we exchanged AOL instant messenger screen names. for those of you who are reading this who are not my coworkers, our work uses AOL instant messenger as a primary mode of communication in order to get things done in a more timely and efficient fashion and... oh, heck, who are we kidding here? for general merriment and entertainment purposes as well. hahahaha. GOD, I LOVE INSTANT MESSENGER AT WORK!!!! it was TOTALLY like a dream come true when i came to this company and realized that it was pretty much mandatory to have instant messenger access. i mean, you do NOT have to tell me TWICE, people! how many of you remember college? who WASN'T obsessed with IM back in the day?! ugh, the neverending barrage of away messages, the constant communication with people about like absolutely NOTHING, the furiously frantic typing speeds which people developed... sigh. those were the days.

anyway, so susan and i initially started communicating on instant messenger about work-related things. i mean, duh. why else would we have exchanged screen names in the first place? but. well. i mean, it was SO apparent right OFF the BAT that we were totally like soul sisters. hahaha. it's really amazing the stories that we've shared over the lovely world that we call AIM. intermixed with our work talk, of course. ugh, it's been glorious, really.

while i know i crack UP at a LOT of things in life (oh, sorry. if you think everytime i type "hahahah" in an online conversation of some sort, you're special and privileged because you are funny... well, you're kind of wrong. i laugh at many a thing in life), susan t is one of those people that oh-so-consistently not only makes me laugh, but actually makes me crack UP so HARD at my computer screen, sometimes to the point that my stomach aches. seriously! i mean, this lady is FUNNY. hahaha.

here is a sample of what a susan t IM conversation could involve (and yes, that IS how her screen name appears on my AOL... per my "instant messenger alias" abilities... can you imagine if that was her ACTUAL screen name?!?!? hahaha):

(3:19:39 PM) SUSANalksdfjlaksjf!!!!: hhahahahahaha just kidding man - are you not wearing your happy panties today???

HAHAHAHAH. i LAUGHED ALOUD just READING that sentence AGAIN. how can you NOT?!?!

but it's CRAZY, right?? to think that we've only met each other ONCE, and yet we're like slightly obsessed with each other. in a good, healthy sense, of course. hahahaha. yeah- i guess that cackly type of "hahahaha" didn't really help in the validity of that statement but whatever.

anyway, i LOVE the friendships that can formulate amongst coworkers. i feel like susan and i come from such different worlds (i live in chicago and am focused on making it through my 20s somewhat intact while she she lives in an cozy, adorable town in missouri and has the most cozy, adorable children and lovely husband... whom i also have never met... but i feel like i SO know simply through susan's wacky stories and... well... who are we kidding here? facebook pictures. haha. OBVI. because you KNOW we became facebook friends like the SECOND we nixed the whole "professional email tone" for, well, the wonderful world of instant messenger, if you will). and yet we have TOTES bonded forEVER. sisterhood and all that. haha.

or just a general hugfest. who are we kidding here. because you KNOW anytime someone from the chicago office goes down to the missouri office for business, i CERTAINLY send along a hug for my dearest susan t. and you better beLIEVE i follow up with said hug messenger to ensure the message (in the form of a ginormous bear hug) has been properly delivered. i mean, hello. i will NOT be tolerating any of this formal, limp noodly huggy-ness. if i know you well enough to trust you with the oh-so-privileged Susan T Hug-o-Gram, i trust you enough to deliver it with the proper christie happiness/merriment/sunshine/well, you get the idea.

so, here's to you, susan t! thanks for making the workplace that much more... well, entertaining, to say the oh so very least. hahaha.