Down By the Bay...

Good Evening,

Alright just for nostalgia purposes anyone ever listen to this crazy dude and think he was the coolest musician ever? 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4mfhb4CjvU
Okay, well I did and I am pretty sure my parents wanted to burn the "Raffi Live in Concert" VHS that I probably melted a hole through sitting and dancing for hours on end mesmerized at the TV watching this man perform.  I don't know if it was his 80s outfits, amazing display of facial hair, or even his musical talent that drew me in but yeah TANGENT the original purpose of this title was because MegTom went to Brewster, Cape Cod again and since the beach house is right near Brewster Bay so the title seemed fitting.

Soooooo where were we?  Oh yes, Senior Week 2.0!  Last time we left off MegTom had to sadly say goodbye and resume our working lives for mediocre wages but we were both very lucky to go to Senior Ball (this is Tom's 5th, yes 5th time attending while this is Meg's 3rd Ball) and have a lovely evening with all of our now Class of 2011 Muhlenberg Alumni!

Senior Ball 2011: Unfortunately there was no photo booth this year so this pic had to do.

Cool Senior Peeps!

Garden House Roomies

Hanging out with the best dressed on the evening.

Before we knew it graduation came and went and MegTom decided it was time to get away and venture once again to Cape Cod for what always seems like a short visit.  We did the usual gorging on sea food, enjoying a Long Island Ice Tea on the beach, watching TV on DVD for hours on end, and of course did three puzzles, one of which we were quite proud of:

We also were able to meet up with our friend Liz, who had just graduated and was staying with a friend.  Nothing makes a fresh sea food meal better than spending it with good company while coloring the restaurant menus.  Win win right there.  Oh and of course we spent a lot of time on Meg's porch viewing the cranberry bog :-)

Thomas enjoying the warm weather down by the bog.

View from the porch...sigh...:-D

Meg's parents also came for a brief visit over the Memorial Day weekend and we had a little BBQ shindig:

Post-beach pic...

Hiding behind the Holly...

Family shot...it was a tad dark out but whatever.

MegTom was having so much fun kicking back at the Cape but unfortunately we had to ultimately head back to reality.  Since then we have braved intense heat without the use of an AC (woot woot for our electric bill) and are on completely opposite work schedules. 

That's really all for now, sorry we aren't more exciting lately.  Stay tuned for our next segment: "The Evolution of the Beardorelli"

Much love,

MegTom

Senior Week 2.0

Hey Everyone,

We must apologize that it has taken us this long to post but it has take FIVE DAYS, yes FIVE, of crappy Internet service for this entry to FINALLY we make its way into the webosphere...so not our fault, mkay?  Here it goes:

So it had been slightly over a month since our last post and of course we are of course late to post in our usual MegTom fashion.  But this time we have been neglectful to post because we have actually been having SOCIAL LIVES!  Whoa, sorry we should have told you to sit down first before we wrote that.  But then again, who reads a blog standing at a computer unless you are at a public computer or perhaps trying to look cool perusing the Internets on your SmartPhone or your i-Pad?  Yeah okay so maybe we should have warned you first.  Anyways, back to the point: it's been a good month spent in good company :-).

Alright so April was mostly working interlaced with Nacho Wine Netflix Marathons and attempting to comb through the stacks of magazines that the two of us promised ourselves to have demolished by the end of the year...  Yeah... all we need now to add to that picture is a couple of cats and afghans and the MegTom blog is basically documentation of two old people stuck in an apartment because they lost their keys and forgot where they parked their cars.  What happened to change this habitually boring, non-interesting lifestyle shared by two college graduates in the Western section of third largest city in the state of Pennsylvania?

The Answer?  No it's not prozac, MDMA, perhaps alcohol, and unfortunately not a super-cool genie that granted us three wishes, one of which being to have a social life.

You really wanna know?  Okay here it goes...

SPRING!!!!!!

It's amazing what a change in weather can do for a change in lifestyle.  Like spontaneously attacking the grassy mecca known as the Muhlenberg front lawn, cashing in all of our saved Java Joe's cards for the most expensive coffee items one could aquire from a Starbucks branch, and lounging outside for hours on end and spontaneously procuring social events on the grass.  Yet sadly along with beautiful, warmer weather comes the end of an era...or at least the end of a semester, leaving MegTom having to say goodbye to our many senior friends (at the time of this posting now alumni!) at Muhlenberg.  But we weren't going to let this happen without a final bang.  Nat uh.  This thus culminated into an little week-long shindig MegTom likes to call: Senior Week 2.0.

What is Senior Week 2.0 you ask?  Well, it's kind of like Senior Week except without the pressure of finals, the tantalizing writing of theses, or pressure associated with having to move your stuff yet again for the 1842878834673th time.  Are we perhaps living vicariously through our senior friends?  Duh!  But who in their right mind says no to a week long social extravaganza?

Senior Week 2.0 started the arrival of our really good friend Elia, who was able to take a little time off from her PhD pursuits.  Her arrival resulted in a celebratory meal of...you guessed it, WANGS:

Enjoying a few good baskets of wings at Stooges.

Saturday we took it up a notch, by visiting a historic landmark (okay, maybe not officially historic but for us it is) deep in the heart of Amish Country: SHADY MAPLE.

For those of you who don't know what Shady Maple is, words really cannot describe.  In essence Shady Maple is a megacomplex of featuring among other things an RV store, farmer's market, and Gargantuan (yes it needs to be capitalized) gift shop.  But what Shady Maple is notably famous for is its SMORGASBORD.  You will not be able to comprehend the 200 feet of buffet, 4 grills, at least 7 seating sections of this mind-bottling Costco-sized restaurant until you actually go.  Last year many of our friends went on this mecca journey...except for Tom, who decided that a Bach concert was cooler than his friends.  So in order to make things right MegTom set out with our good friends Elia and Liz back to the Maple to once again glutinize (uh huh that's now a word) our bodies and bombard our vascular systems with wholesome Lancaster County cooking.  Although it's about and hour and a half from Allentown, it was definitely worth the trek:

You know you have arrived at Shady Maple when you see this.

Thomas feeling overwhelmed after seeing the Smorgasbord for the first time.

Aaahhh the blissful feeling associated with Lancaster County cookin'.

Wait, we still have a steak to eat?

Exploring the MASSIVE gift shop downstairs.

The food coma begins to set in.

The crew in the Smorgasbord lobby.

Red Bull may give you wings, but Shady Maple lets you SOAR.

Jumping for Joy...kind of.

Shady happenings going down.

After fighting off the innate urge to want to enter a food coma (we combated sedation by forcing ourselves to walk around the complex) we some how made it back to Allentown.  Unfortunately we had to bid farewell to Liz at the bus stop and after an emotional goodbye, MegTom and Elia headed back to the Compound to prepare for our evening event: a YOUTUBE SENSATION PARTY! 

What is a YOUTUBE SENSATION PARTY you ask?  Well, it was an idea crafted by ever-so-intellectual Elia several months ago but of course, we had to wait for her adventure back to Allentown to bring this beautiful cerebral creation to fruition.  The objectives are: 1) To dress as a viral video youtube sensation and 2) Have a good time.  A relatively simple yet highly entertaining social event.  It was also a perfect time to throw this shindig, as it was the Saturday after finals ended so our friends had no excuse but to attend.  What were our "characters" you ask?  Meg was the woman from the smash hit "Sunny D and Rum" song (), while Elia and Tom both surprised each other by being the Amatuer Sketch from the "Leprechaun in Mobile, Alabama" video ().  Other Sensations at our social engagement included hits such as "Keyboard Kitty," "Joe Jonas Dances to Single Ladies," "Anchorwoman has potential stroke on air," "Miss South Carolina," and "Double Rainbows."  See facebook for a complete documentation of the event, but here are a few highlights below:

Amateur Leprechauns + Sunny D and Rum = a good time.

Miss South Carolina and a real life Leprechaun.

DOUBLE RAINBOWS!

Group Leprechaun shot.

Joe Jonas, Anchorwoman, Leprechaun, and Keyboard Kitty.

Biddies <3

After taking Sunday to recuperate from Saturday's festivities, MegTom and Elia took Monday to have an amazing lunch with a favorite professor, enjoy the warmer weather, and spend some time with our senior friends at a BBQ at the Garden House.  It was a pretty impressive potluck, so we of course stuffed our faces with good food and drank.

Nu Sigma Beta Class of 2010.

Some of you may be asking, "What the deuce are those letters for?"  Well, we'd love to tell you...in person over a nice cold beverage.  For some of you Muhlenberg folk, you may have a hypothesis haha.

We'd love to tell you more about Senior Week 2.0 but this post is getting quite lengthy.  Plus MegTom is currently at Cape Cod and the sun is FINALLY out so we're gonna peace out for now.  More to come soon.  Enjoy the long weekend loyal readers.

Until later,

MegTom

Are you there, Internet? It's us, MegTom!

Hello Friends,

Well, it is now April 18 and for the past two months or so this is what you have heard from us,

"..." 

You know it is bad when your friends tell you that your own blog is looking pretty sad.  Not because your subject matter sucks, or that you lack pretty pictures, or can't write to save your life, career, or justify your newly acquired bachelor's degree.  Nope it's worse than that.  MegTom has basically committed blog neglect.  Why do you ask?  Well, February was cold and icky.  March?  About the same, and we really have no excuse for the first few weeks of April.  Perhaps we can attribute our lack of exciting lives to the weather convincing us that it was better to stay inside and indulge in our form of crack: NetFlix.  But really we have fallen into that experience of daily living that we all dread of matriculating into after college: working at times long hours for mediocre pay, getting stuck in a routine of monotony, integrating the phrase "When I was in college..." into our vernacular, all the while attempting to await patiently for the next exciting phase of our lives to occur.

Now we promise that we aren't going to pull out our violin and guitar and start playing you a sad song.  (Although that would be pretty cool because despite the fact that we both were music majors, we never performed together...well unless you count those sight-singing tests in Music Theory II when we vocally harmonized about neurotransmitters in order to study for our psychology test and work on our music exam at the same time...but it is probably best to keep that serenade off the history books).  In fact this is precisely why MegTom decided to take this year off in the first place, to spoon feed our bodies and minds with overwhelming portions of free time so that we were ready to delve into our next adventure. 

The bottom line is, we realize that we are incredibly lucky.  Lucky to have supportive friends and family; lucky to live in a fantastic apartment that we can truly call home; lucky to have jobs, food, and reside in a country that despite its definitive problems allows us to pursue and exercise our political, religious, and personal freedoms without fear of persecution.  The list could go on and on.  And perhaps the most significant gift is that we have each other to exist in this shared experience. 

So you might say that amidst these past few months MegTom has taken the time to seize little moments.  Such moments include the ability to savor half price wings at Stooges on our designated Wing Wangsdays by smearing our faces in wing sauce and blue cheese in the company of friends;

Wangs.

enjoying the convenience of being able to meet friends at The Tavern for half-priced pizza and novelty beers on the spur of the moment; founding Nat-Cho Wine night, which consists of eating easily two pounds of nachos in sweat pants, while marathoning one of our favorite TV shows on the Netflix while consuming, you guessed it, a few bottles of wine.  Do you notice all of these events involve food?  Yeah, we like food.  Oh and by the way we have a question for all of you out there:

What the deuce is up with potato chip companies thinking that they can sell you half bags of chips?

Note: Bag is only filled to ------------^ bottom of the bottom the tortilla image.

 

But besides food, we have also taken some time to be social and attend social events with our friends still at 'Berg and even hosted our own Ugly Sweater Party.

In twenty years, our children will hate us for this photo.

We even attempted to get out of the apartment by taking a day to explore Bethlehem (which was very pretty despite the fact that it was wicked cold...nonetheless a nice diversion from Allentown), and were honored to come back as alumni at Muhlenberg to host (Meg) and serve as executive chef (Tom) for S.I.N.'s 5th Annual Pancake Palooza.

The crazy-large crowd at Pancake Palooza 2011

Oh and we celebrated Thomas's 23rd birthday by surprising him with an ice cream cake.  Meg is not so sure if Tom has ever been surprised before.  Note anxious facial expression coupled with assumed fetal position on couch:

Tom Cake.

Tom scared and/or scarred for his life.

Tom no longer scared for his life :-).

Tom's Really Awesome Cool gift from Christy...HORSE SHOE (yep caps necessary)!

Okay, so perhaps we have some things we should have shared with you sooner rather than later (as in now) but yep now you are pretty much caught up.  If you want more details, well then you need to be cool and come visit us :-).

As one of our dearest friends put it, right now our lives (not just for MegTom but for others as well!) are analogous to being at an amusement park.  We just finished the thrilling rollercoaster of college, which certainly has its ups and downs and now well, we've gotten off the ride and are waiting in line for the next one.  But while we await our next thrill we might as well have a good time, celebrate our freedoms, and do so in the company of the people we love.  So, cheers to utilizing the season of spring as a time of beginnings and renewals, embracing life, seizing opportunity, and living in the moment while taking the time to cherish the past and embracing our futures, etc. etc. etc.

In the meantime, we hope to continue to share some of our adventures (perhaps the rest of our Colombian one as well as new ones) and rants with those of you who are kind enough to read.

Until then,

MegTom

Colombiaaahhh! (Parte Uno)

Hello Everyone,

So this whole New Years resolution thing is very difficult to keep.  We were attempting to post before our trip out of the country but yeah we ran out of time.  Packing always takes longer than one can imagine.  So we shall hold off on Meg's titillating problem until we find ourselves to be boring again...

Alright so finally MegTom did something exciting and left the country!  Fo real, fo real.  Okay so why Colombia?  Well, for one on a post-graduate budget the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the Colombian peso is ideal...and number two it was an excuse to not only get away but visit our very dear friend T$ (Time Dollah), the student formerly known as Sarah.  Our friend is currently on a well-deserved scholarship teaching English at a prestigious university in Manizales, Colombia for one year.  As a result we were very very very berry cherry larry uber lucky to have a floor to crash on for ten days.

After a delicious dinner at Tom's house in Long Island, we headed to JFK for our departing 2AM flight.  Yep that's right 2AM, at least the fare was cheap.  The best surprise was that the plane was only about 1/6 full.  You know what that means?  Three seats for Meg, and three seats for Tom.  Nothing like flying the friendly skies while sleeping in the fetal position while on a five-hour flight across from your best buddy.  Now that's friendship right there!

Once in Bogota at a chipper time of 7:30 AM, MegTom made their way through customs and then had to recheck in for a domestic flight to a city called Pereira, where they would meet Sarah and then take the bus to Manizales.  All was going well until MegTom was directed to the wrong gate for the connecting flight.  Now let's back up here, Meg can speak mediocre Spanish and communicate enough to get her way around South America (kind of), but she has yet to master listening to the beautiful cadence of fluent speakers...so it may have been a gate change or directed to the wrong site, but nonetheless nothing beats saying goodbye to your connecting flight as it rolls away from the gate and the apathetic Aires employee tells you it's now your problem.  While that may be true, how are two gringos supposed to get to Manizales and find a way to communicate with T$ so she isn't stuck at the other airport? 

Well the good news was that there were several other angry passengers who also missed the flight and after some bargaining and translation, we were able to fly directly into Manizales.  Thank goodness T$ is one of the most patient beings we know and also checked her e-mail just in time to learn of our flight changes.

So in case you didn't know, Colombia is a extremely diverse country, not only geographically but also demographically and politically.  Perhaps we are biased when we make this statement but Manizales albeit smaller was one of the most scenic places we visited.  Not only is the average temperature an ideal 75 degrees Fahrenheit but the views are beautiful (it is nestled right in the mountains) as well as the kindness and consideration of its people.  It was great to meet several of Sarah's friends, taste local fare, and get adopted by a Colombian mother.  While staying with Sarah in Manizales we were able to make several day trips and excursions, some of which we will detail in this post and others we will wait to write about in the next one.

Ah, so one slight glitch with our change in flights was that although we did not make our flight to Pereira, our luggage did.  So, for a day and a half MegTom had to wander temperate Colombia in sweatpants, sneakers, and yeah that's about it.  Luckily the airline was awesome enough to drop our bag off but rest assured a shower, change of clothes, and teethbrushing never felt so good.  Colombians are very clean and well dressed people so you can only imagine what two whiteys in need of showering and donning sweats looked like wandering the streets. 

So we shall leave it at that for now.  This gives us further motivation to post more frequently to detail our trip and recall our visit.  Pictures to come very soon as well.

Until then, we are grateful for a heated apartment as the blizzard of 2011 ascends upon Allentown.

Cheers y'all.

Manizales (or at least part of it).

Manizales, Pop. ~455,000 nestled right in the mountains.

The weary travelers (complete in sweats) and T$ enjoying the first full day in the city by visiting T$'s friends for lunch.  The rooftop view was a very nice bonus!

Well, You See Wha Ha Happened Was...

Greetings Followers,

Happy New Year!  Wishing all the best in 2011.  So we are starting the new year off right by trying to post right away to make up for our delinquency for the past ohhhhhh month and a half.  See the problem is that the period from Thanksgiving until right about Christmas we were well, absolutely boring.  Yes, that's right all we did was eat a lot, do a lot of coach potatoeing, and yes, worked on those damn applications.  But do not fret, we are off to a fresh start here but don't get your hopes up too high because we just signed up for NetFlix.  Example A: we may have watched three episodes of Glee before carefully crafting this post.  The good news is, Meghan has been application free for about a month now and Thomas, poor dear Thomas, is just one submit button away from freedom.

But enough about our exciting lives, how about you?  Hmm, that's good...  Oh I had no idea she was pregnant.  Aaaaaannnnnddddd back to us.

Okay actually we did have a little bit of a social life right before the holidays.  Meghan, unable to withstand another antisocial weekend ran screaming out of the apartment and sprinted all the way to Philly.  She forgot her keys so Tom caught up with her on 476 South so he had no choice but to join her.  Translation we finally escaped to the city to join many of our 'Berg alumni (whoaaaaaa that is so strange to type) for a weekend rendezvous.  Activities included throwing a leftovers-from-the-MegTom-fridge party in our friend's apartment, wine tasting, traveling to Manayunk, sipping Martini's and hitting on the wait staff (long story, inquire for details), pajama partying, and snobbishly sipping quality caffeinated beverages while gossiping in cafes.  It was so amazing and so wonderful to see our friends: Liz, Ben, Kendra, Steph, Brad, Tim, skype-beta version Kyle, and Arie.  We are also thankful to have made a new friend as well.  Shout out to Liz and Allie for your hospitality.

Long story short: it was great to be social and with people we love.  Not in that way,  perverts.  We intend on making many more frequent visits, so Alana, Kaitlin, Kim, and whoever else we know who is remotely near the greater Philly area we better see you next time or we are gonna find you!

Photos of the (partial) crew shown below:

Getting ready to head out for the evening.

This is such a Muhlenberg website photo...

At Continental Martini Bar making trouble.

Proving that you are never too old for a PJ party :-).

After our stint in Philly, MegTom hurried back to A-Town only to pack up and leave for the holidays.  Although we had intended to have a huge fantastical Wheatunion (Wheat Family Reunion) in New York City, it of course was snowed out.  Boooo.  This only means an epic blog post in the future when we are able to reconvene.


Okay, so yes kind of exciting that MegTom is slowly coming back into the social world, we apologize for being so lame.  But not to fear, many exciting, exhilarating posts are to come.  Because we are going to see our really awesome friend Sarah in.........

COLOMBIA!!!!  Woot woot! 

Buuuuuttttt until we leave the states, we'll leave you with this MegTom exchange from the other day.  It was funny to us, we hope you get a decent chuckle (or chortle, whichever you prefer...we just like that word) out of it too.

While discussing dinner plans:
Meg (at desk sitting in chair doing something vitally important): I have an Herb and Cheese mix that we can use.

Tom (lying on Meg's bed): What-is the cheese going to take me into an alley and beat me up?

Meg: Ummmmm... (slowly cranes neck towards Tom).

Tom: Oh you said HERB and cheese, not URBAN cheese.

THE END (Of Act I Scene I, 2011)

Until our next post we shall keep you waiting by previewing our next topic...tune in next time when we discuss Meghan's new-found expertise!  It'll be titillating!

Fallin'

Okay so we need EVERYONE's help with this one.  Yes, that includes you sitting at your computer minding your own business because this is  VERY important.  The following clip corresponds to our post title but we need help dicephering the chorus.  Here's what we have narrowed it down to: ballin', fallin', stallin', callin', maulin'.  You can be the judge though!  Here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HL548cHH3OY

With that pressing issue laid out let's get down to business.  Believe it or not, this is our first post where we will finally align our blog with the current events of our lives starting with Halloween!  Okay maybe not so current but we are getting there.

Being on a post-graduate budget, Bertolson decided to go the home grown route when making costumes.  Meghan achieved a lifelong dream of being a bunch of grapes (an idea inspired from the tender age of 8 when she saw someone pull this off on her street) and paying tribute to one of her favorite beverages: wine (and of course grapes and raisins too....please think of the wonderful health benefits!)  It was a relatively cheap costume to compose (only $32 if you include the wine) but a tad bulky at packed parties.  Nonetheless created  a nice buffer between herself and the drunk people.  Thomas won the prize of frugality though at $20 using a "dual" costume.  From one angle. he was Antoine Dodson (please see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y54yESyq6Io for reference) and from the other was the face of blaxsploitation.  See photos for details below.  Overall a pleasant Halloween shared with good friends and afforded the perfect people watching opportunity at overcrowded social events.

The making of fruit...

Waiting for the festivities to start.

The finished product!

Doesn't this say it all?

If this isn't enough evidence that Thomas should get a PhD in sociology, then you need to provide a better example!

On the way to the social event...Don't be tardy for the party (Woah uh oh whoa-oh)!

Our friend as a moose!  She's from Maine, get it?

Moose + Karissa explains it all.  Bringing back the classic Nickelodeon!

Meeting our friends down the block before heading out for the evening.

Alright so now for our most recent update.  Are you ready for this?  You sure?  Okay, here is goes:

...

So there you go!  Well okay maybe it's slightly more exciting.  As of late, Bertolson has experienced a life of semi-separation. *GASP* yes we know very upsetting.  Thomas, when not getting buffed up at the gym or working long evenings at the symphony, spends the majority of his time hanging out with his computer while Meghan when not caught in EMS training or driving between PA and CT  remains married to her laptop as well.  Whoa that was an illuminating summation of our lives.  However the end is in sight!  No, we are not getting desperate and tempting to jump off the 15th street bridge.  Instead applications should be done by the end of the month and we can start getting into some trouble.

Up next for our post, hopefully an exciting adventure or two and the announcement of upcoming travel plans.

Until then, cheers!

Bertolson