Miserable, Magical Monday

EVERYONE! This is the first Miserable, Magical Monday from the new apartment in Davis. Random grins keep creeping up on my face. I'm really, really excited about this new place. It feels like we've hit the restart button. Here's to a truly miserable, magical Monday.

1. I am really bad at checking the mail. Funny enough, so is Brandon. I know it stems from being spoiled by growing up in a house, where mail is basically brought to you. In a complex, though, I actually have to think about going to the mailbox because it's basically on the other side of the grounds, closer to the office. It's out of the way, but I still can't seem to use that as an adequate excuse for only checking my mail about once a month. Anyway, Brandon and I did grab the mail on Wednesday and I had some fun mail waiting for me!! My best friend Barbara had sent my some gifts she'd picked up for me (and forgotten...womp) before she visited! I don't get presents very often since my brithday is only about two months away from Christmas so I was obviously excited about them. PLUS! She totally bought me a journal I'd been fawning over at World Market just last Monday! As in, I didn't know it existed until Monday and she'd already bought and sent it up to me. What a great friend.

The journal I half-begged Brandon to buy for me last week.

Me seriously modeling the Eiffel Tower earrings.

My pretty, new necklace.

2. Along the lines of things I received in the mail, I got my sister Andrea and honorary sister/birthday twin Holly's graduation announcements on Wednesday as well! I started getting a little misty eyed reading their announcements. The accomplishment that is finishing your undergrad isn't lost on me. I can't wait to watch them walk across that stage. I could cry just think about how proud I am of those women!

3. Now that June is here I really have to start thinking about the various special occasions I'll be attending...as well as what I'll be wearing to these occasions. Really, I'm going to use this as an excuse to go shopping. I'm itching for a reason to go one of Buffalo Exchange's Bay Area stores. Maybe I'll even check out some of the more local thrift stores to see what I can find. I need something to wear to a commencement and to two different weddings.

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4. Brandon and I finally got rid of the (nightmare vehicle from hell) Jetta on Saturday, which meant that we finally had the money to purchase my flight for a trip to Costa Rica with my sister. Like I mentioned earlier, she's graduating college this month and her graduation present wish was to go to Costa Rica. She and I are both passionate about conservation and nature so Costa Rica is an excellent fit. It also doesn't hurt that I spent three months living there during my study abroad. Sadly, I didn't take advantage of the nature scene nearly as much as the bar/discoteca scene while I was there, and I missed out on some awesome adventures. Not to mention I'm terribly shy, so I basically planned my weekend around what everyone else I knew was doing. This time will be different. My sister is an excellent travel buddy and she's open to seeing a lot of the nature and random cultural sites that I didn't even bother with when I lived there.

I think what I'm most excited about is the chance to share an international experience with someone I love. I went to Paris without a friend (though I did bond with everyone on the trip) and studied abroad without so much as a rando from my university (but still managed to make a very, very good friend out of it all). So when I came back after having been challenged and fundamentally changed, a usual side effect of international travel, showing my family a slideshow of my photos felt stupid and inadequate. That and lots of people find it boring to listen to you talk about the time you wrestled through a tough situation and how that photo is meaningful to you because that's where you had a major breakthrough, blah, blah, blah. That's what my journal was and is for. Anyway, now I'm just excited for Andrea to know what the country looks like in person and what it smells like when it rains and what the food tastes like and, ultimately, for her to see a living snapshot of a place I lived in. For some reason I think she'll love it just as much as I did. We're even staying in a few of the same hostels I stayed in almost three years ago! I can't wait.

5. Speaking of traveling, I'm going to brag about myself for a little bit. I am a fantastic travel agent. Ask anyone in my family! I find the best deals on flights and hotels and car rentals (except for that one time in Hawaii, but that was my first car rental ever). Andrea and I will be spending less than $200 total on lodging for over a week of travel. Granted, we're staying in hostels, but they're not run-down, crummy ones. We're also taking advantage of the fact that we have a family friend who lives right outside of San Jose (Costa Rica's capital). Honestly, if the internet wasn't a widely accessible thing and if it was still a legit career move, I would totally consider becoming a travel agent. I would offer it all: the cheapest flight without compromising travel schedule, a place to stay within your price range that will actually semi-impress you, and an itinerary to fit your vacation style. I'd book me.

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6. I've been meaning to write about my love for iPhone group messages. I'm the kind of person who despises reply-all perpetrators in email but looooves group messaging. I have two ongoing group conversations right now. One with my sister and friends Holly and Barbara, and another with my cousins Rachel and Lily. I love both of them. I don't get to see any of these girls too often because of distance and busy schedules, so it's nice to be able to keep my friendships. Honestly, these girls are my closest friends, which feels so silly to say because they're all far way. I guess three years of a long distance romantic relationship prepared me for six long distance friendships, ha! The best part about these group messages is we talk almost every single day, not tom mention I get to share my outfits with them. I really feel closer to these women than anyone else I have in my vicinity.

What all long distance feels like lol
PS: 'scuse le francais.

7. I'd prompted myself to write about Starbucks' new espresso frappucino because it's delicious and the greatest frapp to come out out Starbucks' brain in years, but instead I'll end today's MMM with a promise to tell you all about our moving escapade. Naturally, things that wouldn't have gone wrong for anyone else went wrong for me. You're all lucky I'm a sharer. Anyway, now I have to finish unpacking my apartment. Yay!

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♥ 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