i'm dreaming of an o-house christmas

pre-preface:

i want everyone to know that this blog post was written days ago. i've tried posting it multiple times, but my technological incompetencies have gotten the best of me. and so i'm making one more attempt as i sit alone at the o-house, missing my roommates and hoping that landlord dave doesn't burst through the door and see me without pants on.

preface:

i’d like to clear up some confusion caused by the last post. becca melvin’s ex-boyfriend “stu” is not a real person. stu is short for studio, where becca spends 97% of her time. hence the joke- "oh becca, are you going to hang out with stu again?" this was explained in an early post, which apparently not everyone read. my apologies to becca and everyone who thought that she was really dating someone named stu (which is an awful name. more of a thick soup than a name, really).

making Christmas lists has been all the rage at the o-house recently. i’m not going to post everyone’s list, obviously. but if you’re shopping for abby, just look at your grandma’s list and buy something from that. if however you’d like to save time/money and buy something for the house as a whole, please check out our collective list:

1. stairs that don't creak, a driveway that doesn't suck and a heated kitchen floor.

2. new house crushes. it's been awhile.

3. a studio so that becca can work from home, a library for abby and keira and a swimming pool for everyone else.

4. a remote for the dvd player. or batteries for the old one.

5. an alarm system: something really complicated with codes to push in and fingerprint scanners and a direct line to the riley county police department.

6. tickets to see oprah. duh.

7. a basement heater of which anthony fox and all of our dads approve. unlike his little guy:

8. permanent custody of toby.

9. shacker beds for everyone!

10. cooking lessons, or even better- a personal chef. here's why:

well, there ya go. merry christmas to all. see you next semester!

previously at the o-house

just wanted to catch you up on the latest happenings at the o-house:

on saturday, we had surprise party for distinguished o-house alum bethany brabec. there was some difficulty, as at the last minute bethany went rogue and tried to plan her own party. as sydney put it, “planning a surprise party for bethany is like planning a wedding for a wedding planner.” but by some miracle, she was actually surprised. side note: the o-house offers its condolences to nick brown on nebraska's loss in the big 12 championship, and apologizes for a certain roommate's complete lack of football knowledge. "why did they do the exact same thing again?"- referring to the instant replay.

at bethany’s request, party guests wore green t-shirts. i decided to take it a step further and dress completely like bethany, which led to the realization that i cannot pull off a side ponytail. please check out the face on katie pooler:



okay, here's a better one:



all this leads me to some exciting news:
coming soon- the bethany brabec blog post. whether you know bethany or not, you should be excited. because she is the most popular girl in manhattan, probably in the state of Kansas, and possibly in the entire Midwest. i could probably write an entire blog series on bethany. she’s THAT FUNNY.

more exciting news:
attention gentlemen- it’s official, becca melvin and stu have broken up. now’s the time to make your move. she’s still vulnerable and looking for a shoulder to cry on. and there’s a very strong possibility they could get back together next semester, so time is of the essence.


sydney miller’s super-edgy banana republic coat finally arrived, just in time for the blizzard.




jennie hull has made a new years’ resolution to spend more time upstairs. wooo hooo! we can take more hot pics like this:



news that is scary, not exciting:
the “sydney miller attempt at burning down the o-house” tally is at five. seriously, do not let her in your kitchen unless you’re standing nearby with a fire extinguisher. and abby can testify that even that is not a guarantee of your safety.

news that is neither scary or exciting:

syd and i have started an unofficial competition to see who can get locked out of the o-house the most times. so far, i’d say it’s pretty even. this problem could be eliminated if someone would let us hide a key outside (ahem, keira). but i don’t see that happening anytime soon… or ever, really.

finals week is next week! this tends to be the most eventful week of the year at the o-house, so prepare yourself for some great upcoming stories.

spotlight on: abby trammel

well after a two-week hiatus, it is time to announce the o-house member of the week. this week’s lovely winner is none other than abby trammel. now there are lots and lots of reasons that abby is the o-house member of the week, but for the sake of time i’m just going to list ten, sort of david letterman style, if you will.

10. abby has the best nails of any girl i know.

9. abby trammel is very generous in giving her roommates manis/pedis, even when their (our) nails are totally disgusting. bethany brabec, i’m talking about you.

8. abby is also great at hair, make-up and fashion consultation. she’s probably the reason everyone else in the house is so pretty and why boys are always trying to date us.

7. abby is always willing to watch reality television with you. always.

6. abby has THE cutest niece ever. and she is nice enough to show us pictures on a regular basis.

5. abby really likes the following: kool-aid, lunchables, bagel bites, and dr. pepper. attention third graders everywhere: hide your lunches from abby.

4. abby shares the title of “co-MVP of o-house kitchen clean-up” with keira masters. sidenote: rounding out the top three vote getters was andrew crandall.

3. abby just got a car this year and loves driving everywhere. and the other o-house girls love being driven around, especially to class.

2. abby trammel has a commanding lead in the unofficial (okay, official) o-house race to the altar. and i do mean a commanding lead. some of us haven’t even left the starting blocks.

1. abby’s birthday was last Sunday. the o-house celebrated in style with a slight twist on our traditional surprise birthday party, meaning that we met her at huhot rather than waiting around the o-house for hours with blankets on our heads. abby’s was possibly the FIRST successful surprise party that we have thrown, in the sense that she was genuinely surprised.

keira's title suggestion was too bad to use

confession: i used to hate thanksgiving. i’m not really sure why… some weird childhood thing. i think it had something to do with dressing up like a pilgrim at school or being forced to eat leftover turkey for a week straight. and i had this theory that thanksgiving was just like Christmas, minus all the good stuff about Christmas, i.e. presents, candy canes and mistletoe.

but at some point, i saw thanksgiving for what it really is: a three day break from school and possibly the one day of the year you get pumpkin pie. and while i (and all the other o-house girls) had a lovely thanksgiving this year at home with our families, i would be remiss if i didn’t blog about our second annual o-house thanksgiving, which was awesome as usual.

the idea was simple and brilliant and thought up by sydney miller. the o-house provides the turkey, and everyone else brings their favorite thanksgiving food. and then we spread out tablecloths on the floor and feast. now past experience tells us that some of the o-house girls are not domestically gifted. (namely me) and so this plan is sheer genius because syd takes care of the turkey and all we have to do is contribute some money and show up. and the turkey that she made turned out absolutely beautiful:

now of course, becca Melvin contributed some homemade stuffing that was absolutely delicious, and probably handed down by generations of melvins. and then jessie briggs brought these little guys that were almost too cute to eat:

and there are tons of pictures of all the food (see syd’s Facebook album), but what really made the party were all the hot party-goers. see here:

and here:

the evening was an overwhelming success, and the o-house realized all the things we have to be thankful for: amazing friends, incredible food, little sisters, crocheting, each other, and of course you- our blog readers. we love you all…. unless damry is reading this.

O no no no

well i was all set to reveal this week’s o-house member of the week. jennie hull almost claimed the prize after she was the first roommate to compliment my new haircut, which is the most direct route to winning my favor. but then before i could piece together a rough draft in my head… a dark cloud settled over the o-house and i had a trauma-induced case of writer's block.

i can’t say it. you’ll just have to read it for yourself:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/11/19/oprah.ends.show/index.html

the o-house had a little meeting last night in which i revealed the news. there was some shock, a few near tears, and lots of pondering as to what we will do everyday at 4:00.

the news brought to the forefront a long-standing o-house goal: attend a taping of the oprah show. let me assure you, we’re working on it.

and so, it is with heavy hearts that we announce this week’s (honorary) o-house member of the week: oprah winfrey. she is the namesake of our home, our dream boss, our role model, and the blood within our veins… metaphorically speaking.

we love you, oprah. we love you so, so much.

(literal) COLD case

while keira was in florida for the weekend, no doubt lounging at the beach and hanging out with her soccer star boyfriend, the rest of the o-house was huddled around their space heaters. the Kansas weather was being very typical this weekend, meaning that the temperature plummeted without warning. the o-house was a very uncomfortable 62 degrees, and had reached the point where people could no longer hang out here without electric blankets and extra socks. usually at this point, the o-house girls (sans sydney) hold a secret meeting and plot how to turn on the heat without her noticing. but this time i went completely against my usually passive/compliant personality and turned it on without consulting anyone else.

syd: i’m sorry. but not really.

other roommates: you’re welcome.

everyone else: come on over to the o-house. the threat of hypothermia has been eliminated. and while you’re here, help us solve our latest mystery:

the second unsolved case of the year is not one of romance, gifts, or grandmas. no, this time our mystery is a vicious hate crime. on Friday night, October 30 at approximately 9:30 p.m., abby trammel, o-house attic resident, left manhattan for the weekend. upon returning Sunday evening, she found this: (viewer discretion advised)

the perpetrator of this seemingly perfect crime made one grave mistake. amongst the shreddings there was an only partially shredded paper that said MANHATTAN CHRISTIAN COLLEGE all over it. this leads us to believe:

a. it was an mcc student.

b. it was an mcc staff member… most likely larry sullivan.

c. it was someone who is not an mcc student or staff member, but who had the capabilities to devise an elaborate plan to throw us off track, as well as access to the mcc dumpsters.

we’re putting our money on choice a. but since abby knows very few people from mcc, and even fewer who would have a motive to do such a detestable act, we are without suspects.

any information leading to an arrest will be rewarded with some sort of food prepared by ms. trammel herself. hope you like bagel bites.

spotlight on: becca melvin

i was having difficulty deciding who to spotlight first. and then one day, syd came rushing up the stairs proclaiming, “i have something for the blog! you have to put this on there!” the incident in question turned out to be a great becca Melvin story, which i will now share:

background:

becca hails from seattle, which means that she’s way cooler than everyone else. she’s super artsy, and is going to be really rich because she’s a landscape architecture major. she spends about 25 hours a day at studio, which you may think is impossible given the laws of space and time, but becca finds a way to do it.

becca can go weeks at a time without sleep and still manage to look totally hot. and she’s domestic. the other morning she whipped up a salmon pepper frittata for breakfast. i don’t even know what the hell that is, but it sounds (and looks) delicious:

at this point, our male readers should be asking, “does she have a boyfriend?” and the shocking answer to that question is, “no, although the o-house likes to make jokes about her pretend bf ‘stu’.” (short for studio, get it?)

becca’s dad is from England. both of her parents are geniuses. and although i’ve never been to the Melvin household, i’m guessing that it was a fascinating place to grow up. they probably had tea and crumpets every afternoon and bought fresh fish from the market and took weekly trips to the space needle. and i know for a fact that they have an herb garden.

now back to the story:

all of this would lead me to believe that the melvins didn’t consume a lot of little debbie snack cakes. which is why, when becca was presented with the gift of an oatmeal cream pie, she had no idea what it was. well, she had an idea… a very wrong idea that it was an ICE CREAM SANDWICH, and so she put it in the freezer. enter sydney miller, lots of laughing and the classic picture posted above.

i told you: hot, half-British and completely oblivious to the existence of junk food.

these are just a few of the qualities that make becca Melvin the o-house MEMBER OF THE WEEK!!! check back next week when we spotlight another member/share a semi-embarrassing story about them.

welcome to the o-house.

After months of trying to get our own reality tv show and entertain all of america, the o-house has decided to do the next best thing: blog. And in this debut blog entry, we would like to acquaint you with the girls of 1638, as well as provide a brief history of the o-house.

The o-house derives its name two ways:

1. It’s on Osage Street.

2.We love Oprah. A lot.

The o-house is composed of six college girls and their canine BFF, Toby. Two live in the basement: Becca and Jennie. Four live upstairs: Sydney, Abby, Keira and Sarah. In the coming weeks we will spotlight each o-house member, but in the meantime, here is a quick rundown:

Jennie- sweet, likes to enter through the side door

Becca- artsy, likes ditching the o-house to hang out with stu

Sydney- edgy, likes "chill nights" on the couch

Abby- feisty, likes the kitchen to be clean

Keira- efficient, likes the door to be locked

Sarah- sexy (this is not a joke), likes writing the house blog

the o-house enjoys a relatively low-drama existence. but don't be fooled. this doesn't mean that the o-house is without excitement or blog-worthy material. we have an entire dry-erase board on our fridge filled with ideas for future blog entries.