Miserable, Magical Monday

Happy Memorial Day everyone! Today was more of a magical than miserable Monday thanks to having a third day off. However, I spent most of my day morning packing since Brandon and I have spent the last four days merely talking about when we'll pack instead of actually packing. It's very typical of us.

1. I spent Saturday hanging out with my family at the lake. I can't tell you how relaxing and enjoyable it was. I mean, I guess that's the point of mentioning it here, so I should probably try. I legit spent all day napping and tanning and snacking and drinking water. It was glorious. I actually feel rested and refreshed from a weekend. I can't remember the last time I relaxed that much. Gosh, that sounds so basic. Which leads me to...

2. When Barbara was visiting, she and I indulged in a couple of buzzfeed quizzes and articles. One of the quizzes was to see whether or not we were this new form of female called the "basic bitch." Now I had heard of thirsty and extra before thanks to the Bad Girls Club, but basic was so not in my slang vernacular. Barbara and I took it together so I think the answers were a bit skewed, but in the end she and I decided that while we have basic tendencies (like her loving Grey's Anatomy, me owning a pair of Uggs and both of us having a usual drink at Starbucks), we are not actual basic bitches.

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3. I felt particularly motivated this week about life and my overall well being. You know that if you read this post. But I was also under a lot of stress at work, so obviously I coped by literally stuffing my face with chocolate and pretzels. No joke, I'd take a small bite of a dark chocolate egg then proceed to chomp down on like 3 pretzel sticks. Another bite of chocolate, another 3 pretzel sticks in my mouth. I'm shocked no one saw me in this state, but also really glad. I mean, I was a little disgusted with myself. Usually that kind of behavior is isolated to when I'm pmsing and alone at home watching Drake and Josh or Bad Girls Club reruns. But there I was, at work, in the front office, stuffing myself numb with salt and sugar. Thank goodness the FedEx lady and UPS guy had already stopped by. They wouldn't have understood.

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4. Because of the surge of motivation plus the many pretzels and chocolate eggs I consumed during the week, I randomly decided to attempt a Jillian Michaels workout I found on YouTube. Rookie mistake. First of all, I haven't done true cardio in over a year. No running, no jogging, no jumping, not even dancing. Nada. I don't know what possessed me to believe I could complete a 55 minute circuit workout with one of the toughest trainers ever. Of the three circuit routines (??) in the video, I completed two. And my legs were jello by the end of it. Getting down the stairs on the way to the car Friday morning was brutal, and I bet all of my napping on the hard sand Saturday didn't help. I even took Tylenol yesterday morning to ease my pain. Pathetic.

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5. After discovering we had basic tendencies, Barbara and I (I'm sensing a three topic theme to this MMM) kept exploring Buzzfeed articles and found one of those "cheer up" community posts. In it was THE FUNNIEST vine I've ever seen. She and I cracked up so hard watching it to the point that I cried. I can't remember the last time I cried from laughing. Here it is for your enjoyment. 

6. Brandon and I finally visited the new Boudin Bakery restaurant with some friends today. I ate a yummy pesto hickey sandwich and some delicious clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl. Ugh, it was divine. I love clam chowder and I stuffed my face with so much bread. Mmm. Then we watched The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which I've gotta say is an excellent sequel. This movie focuses a lot on story/plot development and it's executed well. I don't like to talk movies up to a point where my friends are then disappointed when they watch it, but like I said, this is a solid sequel. They manage to keep the multiple villains organized which I think is super important. If you haven't seen it, I'd recommend it. X Men: Days of Future Past is next on the list of summer movies to watch.

7. Talking about fantasy universes with Brandon is always super interesting. I was aware of his knowledge of the Marvel universe and that he enjoys fantasy stories that involve magic before we got married. But living together has truly brought out our individual weirdness. We can spend hours talking about the Harry Potter universe and how it differs from the Aragon book series (he hates the film...hates it). It's super nerdy but I love the fact that we don't just watch or read these stories. Like today, he looked up Spider-Man's top 25 villains and we discussed which ones we thought would be included in the franchise and why. Then we got sidetracked with the possibility of an X Men movie that had Apocolypse as the villain. We're still on that subject, in case you were wondering.

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Sorry to write your eyes off (sorry, that's the closest I could get to talk your ear off) with superhero talk, I've picked up some interesting knowledge living with a boy and I love to share the wealth. I hope you had a pleasant magical Monday. I know I'll be using this weekend as a coping mechanism when I'm at the office tomorrow.

♥ A

Personal Day

To say I had a long day on Sunday would be the understatement of my year. I've been tired, I've been hungover, and I've even judged a five-day debate tournament in 2014 and I haven't had as long a day as May 4, 2014. By the end of Sunday, I couldn't remember if I was confusing that morning's shower with one from Saturday.

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Sunday, May 4th, marked one year since I walked across the stage in The Greek as my name was mispronounced to my parent's dismay. One year since the journalism prof whose class I had to drop when I changed my major remembered my name as he and his helper placed a hood on me (funny, I was "hooded" twice in 2013). One year since I've seen the professors who challenged me academically and personally to find what I care about and to never quit pursuing it. One year since I've set foot in San Diego. 

I was feeling so depressed before church started. And watching a sideshow from a San Diego mission trip didn't help. Especially the photo of the Old Town location of Miguel's (a restaurant), where two years ago my friends and I celebrated a roommate's birthday. To everyone else in the congregation, that photo was just a picture of a restaurant. To me (granted in the already super nostalgic mood I was in), it was a picture of a memory and a stark feeling that this city that was so pivotal to my life meant next to nothing to the people I was surrounded by. No joke, I started crying. As in all my attempts to breathe it out and push down the tears failed. It was embarrassing to say the least.

Flash forward through a long conversation I was in no emotional state to handle to Sunday afternoon. Our friends Seth and Julie invited me and Brandon over to watch a WWE program and treated us to a scrumptious spaghetti dinner. We hung out there basically all day and were lucky enough to catch Game of Thrones before the actual air time! It was just the distraction I needed.

Monty the cat sleeping like a cutie.

But come Monday, something was still off. The funk was so strong that all I wanted to do was write, but I stalled every time I tried to. Anyway, my best friend and husband independently suggested I take a day off work to forget my worries and focus on the things I hadn't found time to do in the past couple of weeks. I figured if the two people who know me best in the world thought I needed a day to process my thoughts/feelings, then maybe I should listen. I should mention that the Monday night young adults small group was also a refreshing, much needed dose of community and love. I'm thankful I was there.

That brings us to me on my personal day at home, in my leggings and 2012 Homecoming tee shirt and you, wherever you are. I realize this is a bit of a long-winded post, but I'm a relatively long-winded storyteller. Anyway, I bet by this point you just want me to tell you what the heck I've done all day, right? Well, I hope so, because I'm about to show you.

First, I woke up around 7:30am sans an alarm. That's perfectly ok in my book! Brandon hadn't left for work quite yet so I grabbed Mindy Kaling's book and cuddled up next to him while he played some video game where you're kidnapped in the jungle and trying to escape/find your friends. I don't know much about it, except apparently there's a hefty use of Alice in Wonderland quotes. Once Brandon left for work I made myself a small list (because lists are still important on PDs). It wasn't meant to include everything, just to touch on some main things I wanted to do.

As you can see, I've been quite busy.

As a side note: I'm super excited about starting this new journal. My old one was a gorgeous brown one Brandon gave me for a birthday. But I have a thing for collecting journals, so I bought this one at Barnes and Noble not too long after because I thought it was beautiful. It's made of recycled sari silk and the paper is handmade in Nepal. OH MY GOSH that sounds so pretentious! I fully invite judgement after that sentence.

Are we done judging me? Are we still friends despite my hipster-ish tendencies? Cool. After this I've got my journal with the Eiffel Tower on it (normal lined paper from Target) and my Tom Riddle diary that my sis brought me from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter last Christmas.

After the list, I took the pillows from the couch and made myself a comfy reading nook on my bed. I usually prefer to read on the couch but my living room is so dark it's not even worth it. I (finally) finished the book and then poured my thoughts into my new hipster journal as I sipped my coffee. Since reading Ephron's  I Remember Nothing,  Fey's Bossypants and Kaling's Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns), I've decided I need to read more comedienne memoirs. It night just be tied with distopias as my favorite genre.

The background here is the top of the gorgeous journal.

After a quick lunch I headed out on my balcony to paint my nails. Let me just say that removing pedicure polish is a million times harder than it should be. After consulting the girls (actual people, not a euphemism), I settled on mint toes and blue nails. I read Lauren Conrad's blog every day and it always makes me happy when "Team LC" points out things that are "on trend" that I bought before they were in. Case in point: light blue nail polish. I've spent some time trying to think of why I like this shade of blue so much. I knew it had to do with my childhood. I thought maybe it was the Robin's Egg Blue crayon, but then I noticed that the color reminds me of Aurora's cake in Sleeping Beauty!

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Random, I know.

I snuck in some wonderful yoga with a Yoga With Adriene video in between toes and hands. And that's all I've done so far (not including this post).

I've still got a crafty project to work on that will let me check off another Thing from my 12 Things list. And come to think of it, I can mark that I've completed 1 out of the 6 books I want to read before November! Yesss.

Alright, this post is long enough. I really appreciate you few who read my thoughts and rambles. You guys rock. Don't ever change.

What?

These kids knew what was up.
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♥ A