Shout out to the dreams you chase. Shout out to the hearts you break.

   Sorry to disappoint but today's blog post will have no important life lesson, take home message, or warm and fuzzy emotional rant. Nope, this one will be all about ME it is MY blog after all, I get tired of entertaining y'all week in and week out anyway My entire life I have been an overachiever, thank you Julie. I have an obsession with school supplies last Christmas I received paper clips in my stocking, yeahhh , applied early and received early acceptance for college, took a rather extended break of four days off between graduating and starting work, and now at the ripe old age of 22 years two months and 20 days have been named a Fall Features Alumni of the University of Tennessee's College of Communication's School of Advertising and Public Relations. I understand people have their opinions about the University of Tennessee, the color orange, and "Communications" majors I would just like to point out, I am NOT one. I have a degree in ADVERTISING and that is perfectly fine. But it definitely gets old when people voice their opinions especially to graduates' parents about how they would never pay for University of Tennessee education for their child. That's interesting because the founder of my agency is a University of Tennessee grad, so is the head of digital marketing for Dell internationally, and Peyton Manning oh yeah, HAD to get that one in there  Yes, I like to wear orange it looks great with my coloring , and yes The Hill and Circle Park mean something special to me, but don't write me off as Cheeto head...the average ACT score of University of Tennessee student is 27 with a 3.87 GPA. So congratulations on paying over $100,000 for your child's small Catholic liberal arts education, how's that job search going? Target isn't hiring btw And here's to MY Fall Features Interview being released and my guest lecture in ADV 490: Social Media to come. that's my best attempt at channeling my inner T.O./Ochocinco I will of course let everyone who cares know when my interview will be released and do a special blog just for the new batch of social media kids. Until then GO VOLS and Joe do your homework. 

". . . Dad's living with Joe when he's old"

If you ever see me with a bagel in my hand, watch out a life event is about to happen. I was eating a bagel when mom went into labor early with Joseph John Pekarsky he crashed my party, 5 weeks early and it was a blueberry bagel when he turned blue for the first time such a dramatic Asthmatic and here I am eating a bagel the day he heads to college. We joke that his birthday is the anniversary of my life being ruined and my sometime lapse in common sense is due to him splitting my head open with a log he threw the length of our yard; but through out all the cheek pinching, door slamming, biting we don't mess around, shower hogging, bickering, and the usual irritated state of being siblings I love my little brother more than anything. We have finally reached the stage of life when we can be more friends than siblings AND because we look nothing alike people are more likely to assume we're dating than brother/sister. I will always remind him at various holidays of how he missed my college graduation while at the same time remembering how he got up at 4am to come yell my mile splits at me during the half marathon and send me the best text ever, yeah I smoked that 10K time Bless his heart, he's taken on the role of what a boyfriend would be to me, this includes but is not limited to: Sonic runs, Friday night movies, after run Smoothie King, going to Target at 8am to get me a signed copy of the new Emily Giffin book, and Emoji heavy texts. I don't need a Dr. Phil special to admit I am overly protective of the younger Pekarsky when it comes to life, but mostly girls and Western Kentucky is NOT that far of a drive, and he knows I'd make it just to mean mug someone it's a talent really And at the same time, he has threatened to drive to Knoxville and defend my honor. Eat your heart out Donny and Marie. 
   So today is a toughie. I left for work and he left for the beginning of the rest of his life. Yes yes I know, I've been in Knoxville for four years and he's only an hour away...but he's my little brother. So Jofus, I will so desperately miss you and your face when mom asks "who was acting like Eyore the other day?" and all those YouTube videos you laugh at by yourself in the dark at the computer and being able to hear your XBOX all the way downstairs no not really actually and hugging you during the Sign of Peace at mass and the ridiculous amount of Powerade in the back fridge and you saying the blessing at dinner every night and yelling good night and I love you down the stairs before bed. No matter how tall or old you get I will always be your Sissi, it's one of my favorite parts of my life. I love you Joe, GO HILLTOPPERS!

L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.

   













Let's get one thing straight, despite my groaning, bitching, complaining, eye rolling, comment making, and overall sunny disposition towards young love I am in fact a hopeless romantic. When my best friends I can count them on one hand but they're the best a girl will ever find find their one true love and get engaged and married I will be over the moon for them. And this weekend I got my first of many to come during my 20s I'm sure "WE'RE ENGAGED!" screaming phone calls; I knew something was up when I got a call from my Junior year roommate and one of my very best friends Emily on a Saturday afternoon.... There are very few couples I am truly friends with both people but this is definitely one of them. Brendan and Emily make life fun sometimes interesting and would go to the ends of the Earth for any of us. I am overjoyed for them and their life together. So while they mark a life event off their list, I'm doing the same. Everything's finally starting to click. Work is trucking right along; we're going full speed ahead into Q3/Q4 planning/buying/madness. Had my first round of condo shopping this weekend HUGE thank you to momma for helping/guiding me through all this crazy grown up stuff the Steelers are back on the field minus my love Hines Ward, but Ryan Clark will do birthday dinners are upon us along with all the young college folk heading back to campus. Which brings me to the next big life event in the Pekarsky house....Joe Jofus goes to school on Thursday. But that's a whole other blog post. So for now a HUGE Congratulations to Emily and Brendan, a early Happy Happy Birthday to Morgan the BIG 24 and a shambley post to come sending Joe off to Western Kentucky University properly complete with embarrassing pictures, stories, and emotional rants. So here's to Mondays, never be ashamed to go back for that fourth cup of coffee. 

"Close your eyes"

   I have the memory of an elephant, no joke. I remember dates like my dad remembers the name of the weird looking girl with the annoying mom I was in pre-school with Britney Spanniel. Today is August 15th, 6 years ago it was my one month anniversary with my high school boyfriend, the first boy I ever said "I love you" to. We went bowling, got stuck in the rain, laughed our abs sore, and had the best damn first kiss in the history of high school love Nicholas Sparks would have been jealous/written a book about it that then would have been turned into a movie.  So here's to high school love, letting fate put you in the same group at the Youth Leadership Workshop you didn't want to go to but because of a canceled family vacation did, long kisses in an old red pick up truck, scapulars, and keeping the faith. 

The Heartlines on your Hand

"You didn't get fired in 90 days" lunch with BECCA

   Today celebrates the end of my 90 "trainee" title, to quote Kevin Rudolph "I made it. I made it." I am officially a BOHAN Brand Engagement Specialist or in layman's terms which you non-Advertising people probably still won't understand an assistant media planner/buyer. It finally feels real. All the college kids are leaving my little brother Jofus included, wait...what? the intern is gone, and I now have to leave an extra 10 minutes early to go the back way through the neighborhood to avoid all the Jack Anderson Elementary traffic; hello #postgradproblems. Surreal is how I would classify this feeling, almost like I'm watching myself live the life I talked about/dreamed out/ yearned for for so long. Yesterday I started training for my next half marathon yeah I'm really doing this again and while I was running through the park watching little league soccer and baseball practices, couples walking their dog together hand in hand no I did not shove them off the path and little girls and their mommas walking their baby dolls, I looked back through with the sun streaming through the trees and just took a deep breathe in. I feel complete. I feel strong. After a Smoothie King stop with the little brother complete with me taking my shoes off while waiting for my smoothie because I was convinced the entire instep of my foot was peeling off, welcome back to training and a Office Depot run for binder dividers for the Dollar General Insertion Order binder once again you have no idea what that means, but I do. (It's my job) I finally got to plop on the sofa with mom, dad, and yes, Sophie to watch some HGTV and irritate mom by refusing to change out of my sweaty frat tank I religiously run in.  And as I sat there laughing while also staring at Dad when he would give his commentary on the designers' choices I once again asked God how I became so blessed. I'm a "one song on repeat for weeks" kind of girl and while putting together a stack of IOs the other day I let Spotify do the driving, putting the Billboard 100 playlist on shuffle and thus a new obsession was born. I expect Imagine Dragons to start paying me royalites on this song because I swear they took my feelings/emotions and put them into song form. "Radioactive" Imagine Dragons; listen to it, run to it, love it. So yes, Julie/Mom/BECCA, I will publicly say it... all those nights in the library, and horrible group project meetings, and psychotic roommates, and emotionally draining phone calls were worth it. This is it, my 20s. The decade when I will get married, have babies, grow my career and become the person I've dreamt about since I was little. It's all here, welcome to the new age. 

   "I'm waking up. I feel it in my bones. Love to make my systems go. Welcome to the new age, to the new age."