Between daring Joe to eat a Secada and getting drunk and going to a fountain at 2 in the morning - I don’t think I could have asked for a better summer.

So, let me summarize my summer for you in a short list:

1. Joe at a Secada on his birthday, and liked it. He finished it off with a bottle of Chianti and some fly-infested meat.

2. Going to visit a fountain at 2 in the morning after getting completely blasted and then waking up the next morning to drive by it only to find out that the fountain is dyed blue from all of the chemicals and not being able to remember if you actually went into said fountain the night before or just watched it from the banks. ‘Nuff said.

3. Buying approximately 392 bottles of lotion/anti-itch cream to find the best solution to get rid of sunburn itch.

4. Getting drunk at a place called “Cubby Bear” on a Thursday night (the hangout of all the interns on Thursday night) and waking up the next morning to everyone telling you that you won 8 straight games in a row of “Bags” (also known as “Corn Hole”)

5. The spin-off from Morgan Stanley to just being Discover - everyone was in high spirits and free food all around!

6. Going to the Taste of Chicago and daring Eric to eat the pickled goat and getting pictures of a booth for a “Boat Ride” that is RIGHT in front of a giant fountain.

7. Conference calls at Discover that involve several of the interns and a lot of laughing.

8. Seeing Harry Potter in Imax

9. Seeing a movie every other weekend with all of the interns.

10. Figuring out that Hot Chocolate is really cheap during the summer at the coffee machine at work. Also along these same lines is going to the Grab ‘N Go in all of the buildings all the time, and visiting Tyler whenever Stuart and I wanted to go to the Grab ‘N Go.

So, what were my favorite parts of this summer? I really liked Parent’s Day - and although my team thought it was somewhat of a joke, I really enjoyed the weekend following parents day - where we went to downtown Chicago, got a little lost, and ended up taking a taxi to the Museum of Science and Industry and then not spending a lot of time at the museum because we walked around so much and going back to the train station in a taxi as well.

My second favorite part of this summer was the Transformers movie which came out July 3. That day was just really fun because at first it was just Zach, Helen, Eric (W), Eric (B), and myself. Then Nick showed up, and then Evan and the other Nick showed up, and pretty soon it was a party where we all sat in the back and watched the trailer to the Transformers movie on Zach’s iPhone as the commercials for Toyota’s and Subway played on the big screen before the movie.

Of course, there is always the fun times I had with Tyler and Stuart. The best was when Tyler acted crazy and sang songs in his “Super Gay Voice”. Then there was the time after we went and saw the Harry Potter movie (my second time - I think I may have a problem, really) and Tyler did his impersonation of a drunken fraternity guy and pretended to throw up all over my car and out the window every minute or so. He also yelled out the window things like “I LOVE IPODS!” to relish the effect at unsuspecting people with their windows down.

Tyler, Stuart, Zach, Helen, Joanette, Ben, Andy, Kyle, Nick, Jeremy, and Eric - Thanks for an awesome summer and a really great internship. I’ll never forget this summer, and although I’m sad to see everyone go their separate ways for their last year at college - I wouldn’t have wanted this summer to go any other way!

Bring on the Senior year!

I can’t believe that I am going on vacation with my family in three days. I can’t believe my internship is over in two days! Where did this summer go? I’m about to go back to ISU for my final year of college.

WOW -

I’m trying not to get nervous - I have a final presentation tomorrow about my internship which will be in front of the VP of our department, as well as my entire team. I hope it won’t be too nerve wracking, but I know that I will be incredibly nervous all day tomorrow right up until I present.

Crap.

In order to vent some of my nerves, I have created a list of things I have learned while living up here in Chicago -

1. There are 3,473 ways to “flip someone the bird”. I’ve committed approximately 3,178 of them during my time in Chicago driving around and saw all 3,473 ways committed.

2. It is possible to eat a double-cheeseburger meal from McDonalds before you even drive 5 miles.

3. It is also possible to be in a McDonald’s drive-thru for more than 5 seconds.

3. Getting drunk and going on a 3AM run to Steak-N-Shake and not being able to find said Steak-N-Shake is fun for all parties involved.

4. There are 27 ways to pronounce my name (Jillian).

5. People SUCK at driving in the suburbs.

6. It can take up to 39 minutes to drive 4 miles.

7. NO talking allowed in ANY stores while waiting in line. Pretty soon no shopping and no looking.

8. Groceries cost double then what you will normally pay.

9. Whatever you are used to paying for gas, also double it.

10. Clapping at the end of a movie in the Movie Theatre is encouraged, and everyone does it.

11. Rush Hour in Chicago is bumper-to-bumper traffic on the EXPRESSWAY (not-so-express-like). You can take a nap for 30 minutes and wake up only to find you haven’t moved yet.

12. Point and laugh at the tourists in downtown Chicago - it’s alright, we were all there at one time.

13. It’s possible for Google Maps to point you to a Family Video, and when you drive there with a bunch of interns, you find that Google Maps told you that said Family Video is in the middle of a newly-constructed pond.