Family Graduations

Last weekend I took a quick 48 hour trip to Kentucky for my little sister's college graduation. Unfortunately, Chuck had a class presentation to attend from 9-4 on the same day of the graduation, so he couldn't make the trip with me. So Friday morning, I caught a flight to Louisville for a very short, very busy weekend.

Saturday we were up bright and early for a full day of graduation fun, but not just for my little sis! My cousin Ethan graduated from UofL that morning. My cousin Caitlin graduated from UK (in the same ceremony as Sami!), and Sami's boyfriend Austin graduated with his Master's from UK that morning. So many graduates! So many smart people to celebrate in one day!

We started the day in downtown Louisville at Ethan's graduation. I was so happy it worked out that I could be home for Ethan's graduation too.  I'm so proud of you, Eth! You're da bomb!

There he goes!

Oh and there goes Russdiculous!

Chuckie made it to Kentucky with me, kind of!

 Our bros

Proud parents

Proud girlfriend

Afterwards, we got on the road and headed for Lexington. Once there, we met up with my aunt, uncle, cousins, and their grandma and grandpa for a late lunch/early dinner at a popular steakhouse in Lexington.

The graduation started at 6pm, and ended 1 box of popcorn, a bag of M&M's, 6 dead iPhones and 2.5 hours later.

Sami and Caitlin got to sit together and walk across the stage back to back since they were both graduating from the College of Arts and Sciences.

There they go!

Sami and Cailtin- UK is probably really sad to see you go and the real world is really happy to see you join it. :) I love you both and am so proud of you!

Proud family

Proud parents

Proud sisters

Proud boyfriend

 Oh and we later made Austin put his cap, gown and hood on so we could get some pictures of him and Sami in their gowns together. :)

No big event in the family is complete without the 5 Hagan Girls and Chuckie picture. Not quite the same as having the real Chuckie in the picture but the sentiment is still there. :)

Of course, the celebration didn't end once the graduation ceremony was over. We made a stop at Graeter's for some ice cream, a liquor store for some celebratory drinks and then our parents' hotel room for an after party, before going back to Sami's and crashing from a long and exhausting day.

Uncle Tony carried Chuckie around for a little bit.

Sunday morning we had a Mother's Day breakfast, I helped Sami pack up her car since she was moving out later that day, and then mom drove me straight back to the Louisville airport to head back to Boston. The weekend was short and sweet and tiring as I knew it would be, but I couldn't miss my little sister's college graduation.  I only wish my other half could have made the trip with me. He hated missing all of the graduations but I hope the graduates know he was there in spirit and was thinking about all of you all day! He probably felt like he was there all day too considering all the pictures I was sending him. :)

Chuckie and I head to Louisville again next weekend, Memorial Day, for my other bro, Aaron's, wedding (yay!!!) and some Liz and Shane wedding shower and bachelor/bachelorette party fun! Wedding season is upon us!

"I'm gonna go graduate now. But first? Lemme take a selfie"

Spring Gala

On Saturday, May 3rd we went down to Newport, Rhode Island for the Sloan Spring Gala. Every year, Sloan hosts two formals- Fall Ball and Spring Gala. We haven't made it to any of the other formals, so made a point to get tickets for the Spring Gala this year, our last chance to get all fancy with our Sloan/LGO friends.

We drove down to Newport Saturday morning with our friends Brittany and Marcus. We stopped for lunch and then toured one of the Newport Mansions, The Breakers. If you don't know (which I didn't before doing a lot of research), the Newport Mansions are the former summer homes of some of America's richest families in the late 1800s, early 1900s. Several of them were built and owned by members of the Vanderbilt family. They were all similar to the Biltmore, but smaller.

Still, the mansions were ridiculously huge, especially considering the families only spent 3 months out of the entire year living in them! They didn't allow any pictures inside any the mansions (during tours), and people were watching us like hawks so unfortunately I only have outdoor pictures.

The back of The Breakers

After our tour, we found a liquor store to get the fixins for Mint Juleps, since it was Derby Day in Kentucky after all, then headed to the hotel to watch some Derby coverage and get ready for the Gala.

That evening, it was finally time for the Gala! The Gala was held at the Rosecliff Mansion, and it was beautiful.

Is this real life?

We took a ton of pictures, enjoyed a cocktail hour on the back porch and in the yard, and then had an amazing dinner in big tents on the lawn. I felt like we were at a party in The Great Gatsby, except our party was a lot more tame and not quite as lavish...

After dinner, there was of course dessert, and then a DJ and a dance party. It was packed, really hot, and really fun.

This picture is crazy. Our friends Jan and Orion are partially disappearing from the picture Back To The Future-style! (They're glasses and hats were green, so disappeared with the green screen behind them.)

 The LGOs at Spring Gala!

The next day, we slept in a little and then went to a late brunch, accidentally happened upon a parade, and then toured one more mansion, Marblehead, before heading back to Boston.

The mansions were incredible and the self-guided tours were great. I wish we had more time to go back to Newport and do more tours or spend more time exploring the town. It seemed like a really fun place with a lot more to see and do! It was also fun to learn some history and Chuck and I may or may not have developed a small obsession with the Vanderbilt family and watched a documentary on the family and read a ton of Wikipedia later after we got home.

The Last C-Function: USA! USA!

I've written about C-Functions on the blog before but in case you forgot- these are the "Cultural Functions" held on Thursdays throughout the school year for Sloan students by Sloan students. A different club or group hosts each one and picks the theme (Korean, Brazilian, Chinese, etc) and then plans entertainment, food, music, etc. for the evening. We've been to some pretty great C-Functions in the past 2 years, but last week's was BY FAR the best. It was USA themed and hosted by the one and only LGO!

The LGOs did an amazing job with the night. The food, the decorations, the entertainment, and the music were all perfect. Everyone dressed in their best patriotic outfits and wore their MIT USA swag that was sold throughout the week.... We ate, we drank, we danced, and then we went out for an after party and closed down a bar even though many of us had to be at work the next morning or some, on an airplane at 7am, because... YOLO?

My favorite part of the evening was when the Rolling Sloans performed a few songs. The band was SO good and I'm not just saying that because my husband happened to be the bass player... :) 

Here are the pictures. They mostly speak for themselves.

Ana takes themes very seriously.

Our hosts for the evening- Andrew and JS

At one point there was a push up contest- first the women and then the men. It should be noted that the man in the French Fries costume won the men's competition. And yes, he did his push-ups while wearing the costume.

MIT's undergrad breakdancing club performed.

The band!

My dude.

I took a selfie with him. While he was playing.

LGO FOREVER

Chuck and Captain America AKA Dan at the after party.

If you couldn't tell... a good time was had by all.

Boston Marathon 2014

On the Monday Pat was here visiting, Chuck and I both had off from work/school because it was Marathon Monday. For my Kentucky friends: imagine Oaks Day in Louisville. That is kind of like Marathon Monday here. Schools are closed, most people have off work (and if they don't, they're probably "sick" that day) and everyone is out doing SOMETHING, whether they are at the main event or not.

Boston's weather hasn't really gotten nice yet, but on Marathon Monday this year, it was perfect. High 60s and sunny all day. As you'll see from my pictures in a second, Boston was really showing off. We couldn't have wished for better weather to be outside in all day. Chuckie, Pat and I got up early and walked from our apartment over the bridge into Boston to find a spot on the race route. We tried to time it so we would get to the route before the elite runners ran past, and we timed it perfectly. We found a not-so-busy spot on the route right at the "1K to go!" point.

We saw all of the elite runners come past except for the wheelchair leaders who had already passed. First were the women.

Rita Jeptoo- who set the course record for women with her win!

Meb Keflezighi (yes I had to  look up that last name)- the winner of the men's race and also the first American to win since 1983! USA! USA!

 

We stuck around a little while longer, tried to find some friends we knew were nearby but failed, and then decided to walk towards the finish line. Once we got through the checkpoint to get on Newbury Street (the road parallel to Boylston/Finish Line), we found that the area around the Finish Line had reached capacity, so they weren't letting anyone else in that area. So we walked Newbury Street, got a cupcake at Georgetown Cupcake, and then continued all the way to the Boston Public Garden to start the search for a lunch spot.

We cut through the Common which we found was also runner headquarters. Hundreds of runners who had finished the race at that point were all over the grass in the Common. They all looked exhausted and most of them had their shoes and socks off, just letting their feet breathe. I wanted to congratulate every single one of them but then we never would have had lunch, so I resisted.

We walked and walked and walked, and eventually ended up at the Hard Rock Cafe near Faneuil Hall because there was no wait and we could sit outside.

It was so awesome to see thousands of people limping all over the city throughout the day with their medals hanging proudly from their necks. I seriously admire anyone who can run a marathon, or even a mini marathon for that matter. I can barely run 1 mile, so to run 26.2 and still be out walking around, eating lunch, shopping... well that's just amazing to me.

The Marathon was basically perfect this year which is what I think everyone needed and hoped for after last year. It was awesome to get to be a part of it and witness something that is such a big part of Boston's history and culture!