II: Not The Same Boy

Hello everyone! First, an update on my life since I blog so rarely:
I'm working full-time all summer at a super famous publishing company. Although the job is an internship (necessary for grad school!), I don't do any 'intern-like' stuff (i.e. organize other people's stuff, get coffee, make copies). I'm actually the workshop coordinator at the company, which is a job that used to be done by a salaried employee. For some reason, the company decided to make it an internship instead and that's where I'm working.

Also, I'm moving next week! As soon as I'm done with this entry, I'm getting right back to packing (and then buying Super Mario Galaxy 2) ... (and then regretting it when it's time to move and I haven't finished packing). I have an apartment in the beautiful town of Lambertville (NOT named after Adam Lambert, but after Alex Lambert - I miss you Alex!) with Ross and Christie. I'll put up pics of the new place after I move in.

So now! Time for part 2 of my life photo album. See part 1 here.
[click to enlarge!]

Me

Where did we leave off?

Oh yeah! I was birthed, then sprinkled with some water so that I won't be dragged to hell... Obviously, I had no say in this.

I got a little older (about 2 or 3 according to TJ) and started rocking Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pants and a tail.

To the right you can see my sister Gabi in that cute yellow dress with the yellow stockings. We were both so stylish at young ages.

Here's a school picture:

My dad made me and my brother dress up for school pictures. I remember being the ONLY one wearing a suit to picture day (embarrassing!). I think this was 1st or 2nd grade. Notice my big ears. I didn't grow into them until later. People used to call me Dumbo and throw stuff at me.

Here's another school photo (not feat. all my front teeth).

I feel like I look completely different in these two pictures, which were taken only 1 or 2 years apart (2nd or 3rd grade?). I feel like everyone has a picture of them with their front teeth missing. I have a picture with only one missing, and I think it's much less cute.

Here I am on December 10, 1995.

Based on the date (and the rest of the photos), this was probably one of those joint birthday parties I had throughout my life. TJ's birthday is only one day before mine, so we often had shared birthday parties.

Please note how disinterested I look in that card.

And in my gift. Also, please note how happy Gabi looks.

CAPTION TIME: What was I wishing for?

And speaking of apathy...

How much does Pasquale look like he doesn't care at all about Gabi's ring?

Here I am later in December of '95, the day after Christmas.

See that bear I'm holding? That was one of my first teddy bears and I loved that thing. I wish I knew where it was now.

OMG!! Am I... playing sports?!?!

Oh no, I'm just throwing that ball in the garbage 'cause sports are laaaaame.

Random photo:

Wearing a baseball cap?? Random.

Here's a picture of me next to what is still my favorite food:

Cereal!!

Oh look, here I am at my first Pride event! My mom used to go to Pride with her girlfriend and she brought us along sometimes.

Fake horseshoe set: $10
Gabi's billowy white shirt: $15
My cross-legged pose: priceless
(are those jokes too played out? oh well)

Back to Christmas! Here I am on Christmas 1997, looking absolutely thrilled to be alive.

And here are the Bruno kids with my grandfather for that Christmas.

Look at my hair! And TJ is just daydreaming... probably about all the Puerto Ricans.

In that last photo, you'll notice how I wore a button-down shirt open, revealing the white shirt beneath. And both were way too big on me. Well unfortunately, this was the way I dressed all the time in those years.

Ugh sick. That neckline is SO BIG. Nowadays, I would take that off immediately or die.

Here's a picture of the four Bruno kids.

Oh wait, that's just Gabi, Pasquale and me with Paula. This was taken in our apartment in Asbury Park. This couch was a popular place to take pictures.

Aww!

You know how everyone has 'awkward' years? I hope this was me at my most awkward!

Ai-ya! ¡Qué horror!

Here are some pics from my middle school yearbook. Please locate me, laugh out loud, then mock me in the comments.

My hair in the Scarlet Key and Student Council Exec Board photos...... I have no words.

Here I am with my dog Faith.

You wouldn't know it from this picture, but Faith was very loving and kind. What a great dog! Unfortunately, Paula decided it was better to kill her than to have a HUGE dog in a tiny apartment (terrible excuse!) and she was replaced by some nasty thang.

Then I got to high school, and y'all know how that went.

And here I am today (or, last Thursday).

I am certainly a product of the generations who came before me, who instilled in me a love for music, gossip, blogging... Ok, maybe not. Either way, I hope you enjoyed my family photo album.

Let the teasing begin!

I: The Way My Story Goes

I love photographs. Anyone who was my friend in high school knows that as soon as I got my first digital camera, I started taking approx. 3 billion pictures a day. Unfortunately, someone broke my camera and wouldn't admit it, and I never got a new one. (Which is probably good, as it reduced the number of terrible pictures existing in the world by about 3 billion a day...)

So anyway, even more than taking photographs of myself my friends, I love looking at old photographs. From the big box of photographs in my mom's closet, I pulled out some of my favorites to share with the world. Since I found so many, I'm going to do two entries: one with photos of my great-grandparents, grandparents and parents, and one with me and my siblings.

Great-Grandparents

Unfortunately, I only found one photo of my family from three generations back, and it's only of my great-grandfather (sorry great-grandmother!)

This is actually the first and only photo I've seen of my great-grandfather. I asked my mother who was in the photo so I could do this blog entry and she told me who it was. This reminds me that after you die, only a few generations go by before someone in your family can look at a photo of you and not know who you are.

Anyway, here are lots of photos of my grandparents!

Grandparents

Here is a photograph of both of my grandparents.

What a cute couple! Although I don't know too much about their early lives together, there are many pictures of them in front of this house/apt, so I assume they lived here once.

Look! My grandma is playing the cello!

My mom says that this is more of a posed shot than a candid, but I pretend granny loved playing the cello and this somehow influenced me. Whether she really played cello or not, my grandfather's music genes must have been transferred to me! He played guitar (for real).

He was a really good guitar player and I remember seeing him when I was young and he would often play guitar and sing. He even was a famous celebrity played at a radio station.

Guess I'm not the first person in my family to strive for fame....

My favorite picture of my grandfather actually shows him holding a guitar:

When he wasn't playing guitar, he was fighting in wars.

There is a HUGE photo on my living room wall of my grandfather and his five brothers, all in uniform. They went to various wars and all came back safely.

While my grandfather was fighting in wars, my grandmother was getting ready to set sail on the Titanic.

Just kidding. (How awesome would it be to have a photo of my grandmother standing next to the Titanic?)

Well, eventually they started having kids. Here's a photo of my grandparents with one of my aunts.

And here is another, similar photo, except this one features Eric Mabius on the left (?!)

So before we move onto my parents, here is my favorite pictures of my grandparents.


Parents

One day, my mom was born.

Then she went to school (feat. her teacher, Ms. Hernandez)

When I saw this photo for the first time, I pointed out how there was only one black girl in the whole class. And my mom said, "That was my best friend!" Good job embracing all cultures Mom!

Here is my mom's senior picture.

I guess she didn't pass the "taking good senior portraits" gene on to me......

Here's another high school pic. She's about to go to a dance with some dude who apparently became my uncle or something?! Confusing.

The box of photographs I found mostly were very old so there aren't many pics of my parents. Luckily, the small number of pictures is made up with the sheer awesomeness of the one photo I did find, which shows my father is a most glamourous light.

Look at those short-shorts and that modelesque head-tilt! How glam.

So after many years of giving birth to a bunch of brats, my mother finally hit the jackpot and gave birth to me. Here I am during my baptism, being held by my godparents Aunt Susie and Uncle Jimmy.

PART II FORTHCOMING