· Brandi Jo Bonkowski was born at the Ohio Valley General Hospital, to proud parents Joe and Sue Bonkowski.
· Brandi has one younger sister named Jillian, who recently turned 21.
· In high school, Brandi was a majorette for the Montour Spartans marching band, which as she will tell you, was the cool thing to do at Montour.
· She is a diehard Pittsburgh sports fan – she even wears her Pirates hat to Cubs games (the Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball team, for those who weren’t sure if they had a team anymore).
· Brandi was a very busy girl in college, as she balanced planning social events for her beloved sorority, Chi Omega, with covering three sports for the WVU Sports Communications department. This is also where she met her super-stud fiancée.
· While working for the athletic department, both Brandi and Brady covered the WVU men’s and women’s tennis squads. To demonstrate their affinity for their teams, they decided to square off in a one-on-one tennis match in Morgantown. Brandi played valiantly but in the end, she couldn’t withstand the raw athleticism her future fiancée possessed. After losing the match, Brandi threatened never to date Brady again but, I think we all know how that turned out.
· Following her tenure at WVU, Brandi pulled a Benedict Arnold and took a full-year internship with the Virginia Tech Hokies.
· Brandi has been living and working in Chicago for four years, and has worked for the same public relations firm, Ketchum, for a total of five years (which equals about 25 years in the PR world).
· Miss Bonkowski has many favorite things in life, which include but are not limited to: her cats, Harry Potter, Hello Kitty, scrapbooking, blogging, wedding planning, reading and crafting.
· She dedicates a good amount of time into writing her blog, ShotofBrandi.blogspot.com, although she only has about 10 dedicated readers because she is shy about it. Her fiancée thinks that you should pass this blog along to your friends, so more people can read her insightful tips.
· She forms the second half of the legendary Guitar Hero band, “The Jag-offs” (named after an infamous Pittsburgh saying.
If you REALLY know Brandi, you know that:
· She has an uncanny ability to relate any statement into a full-fledged 5-minute story about something that she’s witnessed in her life. For example: You say – “Michael Phelps is cool.” Brandi would say – “Well, did you know that in high school, my friend Bubba … we’ve been best friends since kindergarten, he sat next to me ... well one time Bubba was at a party and he came out and told everyone he was Mark Spitz and dove into the pool wearing a speedo!”
· She spends hours each week perusing her Google Reader for the most recent trends on fashion, weddings, PR, etc.
· Her grandma Nun used to sneak her to McDonald’s against the wishes of her parents. And if you really know her, you’ve heard that story a minimum of 30 times.
· Brandi broke her finger while playing 16-inch softball – she was pitching and the umpire threw the ball back a little too hard after one pitch, jamming her finger and putting her out of commission for the rest of the season. She did, however, finish the entire rest of the game with her broken finger.
· If you threaten to whoop her butt, she will say, “I’ll tell my dad,” like a little 5-year-old.
· If there is a working jukebox in the bar or restaurant you’re attending with Brandi, there’s a 99.9% chance she will pick out and play at least 2-3 songs.
