Wanderworm

Have you ever heard of an ear worm? You know, those songs that are so catchy they involuntarily play over and over again in your head?

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I'm experiencing the wanderlust version of that.

My sister and I leave for Costa Rica in less than a week and the thing dominating my thoughts is the trip. The reservations are made and our itinerary is set, now I just want to be there breathing that wonderful thick air!

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The week leading up to this trip will be bananas. Because our flight is at like one in the morning on the 27th, we'll head out to the airport basically as soon as Vacation Bible School (VBS) ends on Thursday night.

Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that we're launching this adventure on the tail end of an exhausting -- but super fun and incredibly rewarding -- week of jumping around pretending we're children exploring God's weird but awesome creation in the jungle? I don't know how I'll manage this year's VBS. It's the first time ever that I'll be working full time and heading straight from the office to the church to change into costume. I may go all week without a decent dinner!

Anyway, since I inexcusably missed last week's Miserable, Magical Monday, I figured I would give you a quick peek of what the plans are! It just might be the thing to get me to go from paralyzed excitement to packing and preparing.

FYI: the Google doc I created for this trip is titled Pinedas Take Costa Rica, because I thought it was so cool.

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ARENAL

We'll head out to the Volcan Arenal (that actually looks like what you picture a volcano looking like as a child) as soon as we land in Costa Rica. While we're there, Drea and I will take a dip in some hot springs, enjoy dinner at a soda and of course take a hike around the volcano. There's also a waterfall I'm eager to go back to about 20 minutes out of town. I might actually be adventurous this time and swim in the water!

MONTEVERDE

Sadly, we're practically passing through Monteverde. We'll stay at this awesome-looking hostel I found on airbnb. Seriously, that website is so cool. Although  I kind of wish I knew of more to do in the rainforest, we are doing a zip line course and a canopy bridge tour. I for one am praying that we get non-foggy weather on the day of our tours. My only other experience zip lining (in Monteverde) included lots and lots of fog. At one point I seriously felt like I was moving through empty space since all I could see anywhere around me was gray clouds. It was cool, but I'm itching to see the tree tops and wildlife. Also, this time I'll be prepared with my dad's waterproof camera so I won't be shy about snapping photos of my view. After lunch the plan is to explore a forest trail before heading out toward the beach!

MANUEL ANTONIO

The major attraction of Manuel Antonio is the national park, so that's where we'll start. We'll be up nice and early (hopefully) to increase our chances of seeing some wildlife and literally spend the rest of the day lounging on the beach. Before dark we'll head out for dinner and then watch the sunset on the public stretch of beach. The next day is basically wide open. We want to get in on this spice tour I read about on TripAdvisor and tracked down with my interweb skillz, but I haven't had any luck getting a reply from the people who run the farm. Andrea and I might just show up and use our curly-haired, mistaken-for-twins charm to do the tour without a reservation. Honestly, who could say no to this?

PUERTO VIEJO

Puerto Viejo is the only place I spent more than one weekend in (I spent two separate weekends there) when I studied abroad. I loved the relaxed vibes and riding a janky rented beach cruiser uphill in the pouring rain (I'll have to tell that story sometime). Despite spending more time there than other places, I completely missed out on the various rescue centers. I'm not making that mistake again, so Andrea and I are definitely visiting the Jaguar Rescue Center and might even make the drive to the Sloth Rescue Center. We're both animal lovers at heart so I'm seizing this chance to get my naturalist fix. I liked the souvenir shopping in PV and since this is the last stop of our trip before heading to the capital, I see no harm in beginning the stockpile of souvenirs.

SAN JOSE

I couldn't be my sister's tour guide without taking her to the capital city. neither one of us are interested in eating our way around the country, but we'll probably pick up a lunch at either the Mercado Central or Pollo Campero, a childhood favorite from the small amount of time we spent in El Salvador. We'll squeeze in some souvenir shopping at the Mercado Artisenal and grab coffee at the Teatro Nacional, which, fun fact, is a replica of the Opera House in Paris. I also have to take her to get either some Pops ice cream or a Trit (another ice cream treat) because they were central to my Costa Rican dessert experience. The plans for dinner are up in the air; I'd like to swing by Zapote and see my host mom and old stomping grounds, but I don't know if I'll be competent enough to drive the tricky and scary streets of San Jose. Either way, we're planning on staying with a family friend who lives a bit outside of the city.

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SARCHI or CARTAGO

The last destination on the list is a simple day trip to either the rural cultural area of Sarchi, where they famously paint the oxcarts all kinds of gorgeous colors and patterns, or the Cartago ruins, another thing that was maybe half an hour's bus ride away from me the entire time I lived in CR but never went to see. After a few hours we'll head out to the airport to check in for our flight home. 

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Since it's Drea's first time in the country and since I only got to spend a tiny amount of time in these places, we're sticking to the beaten path this go around. Maybe in the future we'll snob up and spend the whole trip getting to know one place. But for this time around, I think a taste of everything Costa Rica has to offer suits us better than one giant meal.

♥ A

Miserable, Magical Monday

Today's MMM comes a little later than normal, but this weekend felt weirdly busy and my week was plagued with writer's block. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!

1. As you all know, Saturday was the seventh. It also happened to be me and Brandon's first weekend in our new place. Since I'm more sentimental than that chick from Mean Girls who just wants to bake a cake with her feelings and since Brandon is a sweet dude, we made a day of strolling around in the downtown heat before retreating back to our apartment for some watermelon and House of Cards watching. Originally, we headed back to our place so we could take a dip in the pool, but then House of Cards happened. Before we knew it, it was nine! Which was when we decided we should probably have dinner.

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2. My mom gifted me this really cute potted aster daisy plant back in February (I think). I tried to keep it alive, but having never cared for a potted flower plant before, it died on me. Not surprising! Still, I kept the plant in all its brown crumbly shame and eventually looked up if you could revive a dead plant on the internet. Turns out you totally can, my plant was just beyond saving. I've been wanting a plant for a while but new home furnishings, including a house plant or soil, just aren't in the budget (have I mentioned how much I hate budgets? They're awful) right now. But I also didn't want to toss a perfectly good pot of soil because, remember, I'm super sentimental. Then it hit me. Brandon and I had an insane amount of daisy seed packets leftover from the wedding! So I hurriedly broke apart the dry soil and wet it until it actually looked like dirt and not clay. I then shallowly planted the daisy seeds from the wedding. The best part: I had teensy weensy sprouts in a week! I was over the moon. The sprouts luckily survived the move and are growing slowly but surely. I'm making sure to give them lots of light because I read daisies need it. Are any of you good gardeners? I'm pretty much flying blind here.

3. My minimal success with my flowers has me wanting to plant all the things! Ha. I think I'll try my hand at fresh herbs next. Trader Joe's totally has a potted basil plant for $2.99. Is this real life? I have dried basil that came with my spice rack and I love it like I love pesto. I can only imagine how good homemade pesto made from the freshest homegrown basil would taste! Mmm!!

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4. So there's this website called Naturally Curly and it has A TON of information about the different kinds of curly hair and other hair properties. I could seriously spend hours doing what I call curly hair research. I've read a lot and now am trying to learn how to properly apply. I'm also pretty sure my hair is a genetic disaster. It's super thick, coarse and dryer than even normal curly hair (which is naturally dryer than straighter hair). So to keep it moisturized I'm supposed to use heavy products, but I'm also really sensitive to protein/product buildup, so I should really use heavy products. In short, my hair's a ghastly mess. (Kudos to anyone who caught the Mary Poppins reference!)

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5. A few weeks ago I went to check out the French classic, Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince) by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry at Solano, my old community college. I figured that since I was already there and it had been ages since I'd walked through the old 700 building, where I fell in love with French, it was about time for me to see if the room had changed in the years since I'd studied French.

I miss this room!

FYI: I sat in the second seat in the second row from the right.

It hadn't changed at all! Madame's left-handed cursive was still visible on the white board despite the fact that it had been erased. It brought back some really cool, fun memories to stand in the doorway like a creep, hoping no one would see me and ask me what I was doing. I even walked past Madame's office to see if she was around (she wasn't). It was probably for the best. I get weird stage fright when it comes time to speak French with native/native level speakers. Either way, I'm glad I stopped by. It was nice to quietly enjoy my memories from five years ago.

6. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned the fact that my glasses are broken. Nothing irreparable, but enough that I can't wear them in place of my contacts anymore. I completely slacked on purchasing vision insurance for myself this year which has left me in a pickle. I need new glasses but need a new prescription before I can get them. Add to the mix me running out of fresh contacts about a month and a half ago. Yes, friends. This is my reality. I'm wearing contacts that should have been tossed a month ago and have no glasses to relieve my poor eyes. Just last week I noticed that my contacts were tearing. Tearing! At that point I knew there was no more stalling. So I called Costco up and set up an appointment. The older I get (WOW that made me feel way older than I am), the more scared I get of the doctor. Any doctor. But it'll feel so nice to see clearly and to not have torn plastic on my eyelids.

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7. Remember how my sister and I are going to Costa Rica this month? Yeah, as in 17 days?! That's insane. What's more insane is the fact that both of us need to get our passports. I'm pretty sure she just needs to renew hers, but not me. I changed my name when I got married so although I totally have a valid passport, the name on it is wrong. Anyway, I'll be expediting my process (I don't really have a choice haha) and get to make a tiny trip into San Francisco in a week. I'm planning on taking BART to save gas and parking money and I have to admit, I'm excited about it. BART isn't exactly the classiest form of public transit but it's familiar and easy. It reminds me of the time I got to go to Bring Your Child To Work Day with my mom, who has been riding BART to work for something like 15 years. Yes, every time I get on BART I think of that memory. But I'm also weirdly romantic about public transit (I'm pretty sure I romanticize the absolute strangest things). I might even score some Blue Bottle while I'm out there. That will make everything completely worth it!

Thanks for reading!
♥ A

The Move

Brandon and I moved last weekend. It was definitely an exciting experience for me since this was the first legitimate time he and I moved somewhere together.

See, I'd moved to San Diego and back three times before we got married. After graduation, I scoured for apartments we could probably afford (he was working part time and I was barely about to start working a temp job). We found one that wasn't in the most glamorous part of town but that fit our maybe-budget and Brandon moved in last July. His parents, some friends and I helped him move in. He lived there alone until September, when I rapidly shoved my things wherever I could. It was not fabulous.

To tell the truth, that apartment didn't feel like home. Something about not living there from the get-go made it feel like the place wasn't fully mine even after the wedding. Just to be clear, Brandon never once did anything to make me feel like that apartment wasn't mine, I'm just an odd bird who thinks about those kind of things. So you can imagine my delight at getting to be so invested in the packing and organization and directing and all the other hustle and bustle that comes with moving.

Until it came to actually packing. That is seriously the worst.

Anyway, I promised you all the story. So here it is.

FRIDAY

Brandon had his parents (who had just come back from a vacation in Hawaii), his boss/friend and our friend come over to load up the trailer. I left work early, presumably to have time to finish packing, and came home to my kitchen and bedroom practically empty. All I had to pack away were my clothes hanging in my closet. And I used that Pinterest hack of just putting it all in trash bags, so that took almost no time. It was really trippy to see the place I'd lived in for eight months so empty.

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Brandon and I had also been trying to get our nightmare Jetta sold and towed away for about a week. Friday was the day they were supposed to come pick it up. The pick up was supposed ot happen sometime between 8 am and noon, but by 4:30pm, we'd still heard nothing about a pick up. Of course, half an hour later, we got a call from the tow truck. Right as we were sitting down for a greasy delicious pizza dinner. Luckily, the towing guys were friendly enough and waited for us. Before I knew it, the demon car was gone.

We had some friends over to enjoy one last night in the apartment later on. We sat on the floor and caught up on our weeks and weekend, like always. One of my buds is graduating in two weeks with a freaking math degree! As someone who has known this guy since high school, it's been pretty cool to see his knowledge deepen and his ability to crush my math spirits grow.

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SATURDAY

Cleaning day. I woke up around 6am and could not fall back asleep. But I was not about to start cleaning at 6am. That's just too much. So I did about an hour of yoga because it had been days since I'd had any time to think about something other than cleaning and packing and schedules. Plus in my brain, moving is always supposed to be a big dramatic, exciting but sad moment in your life like it is on TV. You have good times but then you move on. I don't know. I like to linger in those moments when life feels a little like a movie.

I cleaned that apartment basically by myself in something like five hours while the guys moved the last of the boxes. Who knows if we'll get the deposit back (I'm praying we do, we need it) but either way, I left that place in great condition.

weirdly empty

Ready for that moment when things go horribly wrong for me? It's coming.

Things you need to know:

• I was solely responsible for watching my (parents') dogs while the family was at a cabin for the weekend

Saturday evening, Brandon and I headed out to Vacaville to celebrate an old (debate) teammate's birthday...after having some grilled tri-tip, chicken, corn and fruit salad as an extremely overdue lunch/early dinner. Of course I knew the food would be delicious at Josh's house, so summoned my rarely used hobbit tendencies and prepared for second dinner. Josh's family eats clean and local. His mom was completely into what is now-trendy food (seasonal, local, organic, natural) wayyy before us commoners had any clue that kale existed. Seriously! I tried kale for the first time at Josh's house. His mom had made some kale chips and I tried one to be polite. A year ago I didn't really like kale all that much, but something tells me I would feel super cool eating them now (pathetic, I know). Anyway, after the delicious dinner I got to try the national Australian dessert, pavlova (I forgot to mention, Josh's mom is Australian). It's a meringue "crust" covered in whipped cream and strawberries. I guess usually there's passion fruit drizzled over it, but Josh's mom said that the passion fruit at the market (or farm or wherever she sources her food) was overpriced. I don't know what passion fruit tastes like, anyway, so I didn't miss it. But good grief that pavlova was so good. Even picky-eater-Brandon devoured it!

Not the one we ate, but close!
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After lots of laughter and fabulous TV/movie/superhero conversation, it was time for Brandon and I to call it a night and go let my pups in from the backyard of my parent's house. I had had such a great day thus far and I was pretty excited to catch up on Game of Thrones since I was two weeks behind.

We got to my parents' house...and I couldn't find the house key.

I'd let Brandon borrow it the day before so he could wait for the Jetta to get picked up. He'd given it back to me and I'd been successful of keeping track of the lose key for a day and a half. I even had it when we left the house. I double checked my pocket. It was there.

Except now it wasn't. And my parents hadn't left a spare with anyone. Mine is was an unofficial spare since I just kept my house key even after moving out. We were stuck. I called Josh to ask him to do a quick sweep of the ground for the key. Nothing. I even hopped the fence into the backyard to see if I could break in to the house. I couldn't. So we headed back to Brandon's parents' house to do our own sweep. Also nothing. The couch was lifted and we walked around outside with flashlights (it was after 10pm by this point), but all we found were two black widows.

I felt so embarrassed and stupid. I had ONE JOB and completely failed at it. Luckily, Brandon's old room is now the guest room and my parents were totally cool about the whole thing. They would be back the next morning, anyway. So really, the only people I harmed were my poor pups. It still makes me sad to think about it.

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SUNDAY

Brandon and I were lucky enough to have several friends help us unload the trailer after church. It literally took less than an hour to get everything we own into the new place. My moms and sister even helped unpack the kitchen! It was a humongous help and seriously the least stressful move I've ever experienced. I'd even say a little anti-climactic after the previous night's escapades.

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MONDAY

I took the day off work to get a solid chunk of unpacking and organizing done. Brandon and I also spontaneously decided to host some friends for a post-dinner game night, which is probably the only reason we actually opened boxes and put things away. Without the pressure, we might still be living out of suitcases! We went to dinner at a place called Jack's Urban Eats, which is legit less than five minutes from our apartment and pretty good. I had chicken fingers because I was dying for some old school chicken fingers like the ones I used to order at Lyons on free kid meal Tuesday with my mom. They did not disappoint. Though next time, I'll make sure to try something I can't also get at Denny's. After some Yogurtland, we all came back to the new place and played a solid, awesome game of Cards Against Humanity. It was a pretty good unofficial housewarming thing.

It's been two days of commuting from Davis to Cordelia and so far I'm loving it. The traffic isn't half bad, but I do miss being able to go home over my lunch break. But hey, whatever. I'll take a quiet apartment where I haven't heard a siren yet to the constant traffic and sirens that would wake me up at the old place.


♥ A

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

SBL

I look through my Bloglovin feed every morning in bed. It's not as productive as coffee with a side of the morning paper, but it's what I do. Anyway, How Sweet It Is posted a summer bucket list about two weeks ago and it got me thinking of what I'd include on my SBL.

I'm no newb to the world of list making. In fact, I make lists pretty impulsively...and I'm trying to curb the amount of lists I post on the blog. Lists are cool but they're not that cool.

Without further ado, here are the things I'd like to do this summer.

TAKE A DAY TRIP

The travel bug is strong with this one me. I'd really like to go to Yosemite or Half Moon Bay. Or Santa Cruz. I have an unexplained obsession with the Boardwalk during summer. I think it stems from those commercials I grew up watching. Plus I've never had a bad experience at the Boardwalk. And really, day trips are basically mini road trips, which are just an excuse to do this:

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GO TO A CONCERT 

It's been too long since I've enjoyed a summer concert.  Getting to hang out on the lawn with a concert blanket (and perhaps a spiked drink) sounds so appealing. The Killers will be playing in Golden Gate Park this summer for some festival. I'm pretty sure tickets are sold out by now, so maybe I'll have to figure out another way to hear them play live. Either way, it's an excuse to go into SF.

GO TO A BASEBALL GAME

A's, Giants, I don't care. Just take me out to the a ballgame. I'm dying to eat a hot dog.

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MAKE ICE CREAM

The AC is fixed in our apartment and the new apartment also has AC, but I'm still on this kick. I'll make coffee ice cream for sure. Maybe I'll convince Brandon to help by also making cookies and cream (his favorite). Sorbet seems like homemade ice cream's much easier cousin, so I might start with that.

WATCH I WISH I WAS HERE

Zach Braff wrote and directed and stars in another movie that looks equally as wonderful as Garden State. GS is one of my top five movies and I think I've already spotted an allusion to it in the new trailer. Either that or I'm totally fangirling and reading way too much into it. But if I'm right, then I'll be so proud. 

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SPEND A WHOLE DAY EATING FRUIT

I recognize this is a bit strange. But my whole life my dad, aunts and uncles would reminisce about their summers growing up in El Salvador. They'd go camping on the beach and sleep in tents made of driftwood and bed sheets. During the day they'd would row out to islands covered in wild fruit trees. And they'd pick and eat as many mangoes and papayas and whatever else they could get their hands on all day. Then for dinner they'd have fresh seafood soup and hang out around the fire. I'm not exaggerating. This is my dad's go-to story about summertime. Naturally, this epic story makes me want to eat fruit all day and seafood all night. But since I don't have an unpopulated island and this isn't the 60's, this little task will have to do. I think it would work best on a Saturday or Sunday, but my goal is to buy a ton of local fruit and then eat.it.all.day (while tanning, because I have basic tendencies) before whipping up a refreshing seafood feast for dinner. #thedream

HAVE AN AT-HOME SPA DAY

Hashtag sooo basic. But whatevs, bring on the avocado and honey and yogurt and mayo and sugar and get it on my face/body/hair. I'm super interested to see what works and what just stinks. In my dream world, I wouldn't do this alone. But so we're clear, the lack of girls who are willing to rub mayonnaise on their face or hair will not stop me from doing it on my own. I've done olive oil "treatments" in my hair before and might have to bring that back. My hair has been brittle and fried-feeling ever since I spent the day at the lake.

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Obviously, the likelihood of me actually doing these things is slim thanks to my full time job. But whatever, a girl can dream. That's what the weekend's for, right?

How I feel about working during summer.
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♥ A

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

On Caffeine

My dear friend James has this saying "Guys, I'm on caffeine." What he means is he's had more coffee than usual and is feeling the rush. Barbara always replied,  "James, you say that like it's a thing. It isn't a thing." And I always found it funny, so I try to use the phrase as much as possible.

Because I'm a lightweight when it comes to everything, I've experienced "being on caffeine" before. But it's always been in the context of writing a paper or studying for finals. Wednesday was a tad different. I had my usual morning cup of coffee PLUS the coffee I'd brewed Tuesday during lunch and had completely forgotten at home before going back to work. It was also something like 87 degrees on Wednesday so iced coffee (or at the very least, cold coffee) felt like a necessity. So I pulled out my jar o' coffee and sipped while I took lunch in the trunk of my Outback. You may have seen it on instagram...

Suddenly I felt it. My heart started pumping a little faster, my eyes felt wider, my mind clearer. I was on caffeine.

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Quick tangent: During an academic counseling session back in college, my professor asked me what my post-grad plans were. At this point I wasn't engaged and only nebulously thinking about marriage, but grad school was already on the radar. So I told him I was interested in studying environmental policy more in depth. Being a good mentor, he prodded further, asking what exactly I wanted to study. I couldn't quite answer. He didn't let up, "Okay, well, who are your favorite environmental policy authors?" I was stumped.

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I couldn't answer because at that point, I hadn't realized that grad school is 100% different from undergrad. And I hadn't actually put any thought into what I'd submit as a research proposal.

Flash forward to Wednesday when the caffeine high rush hits. I've been lugging around this feeling of purposelessness for about eight months and haven't been able to shake it or think of a way to improve my life. All of a sudden I knew what I needed to do with my life! I started writing in that hipster journal I told you all about. It was a frenzy. I couldn't get my words down fast enough. I ended up just making a list of broad areas I want to work on/broad goals I have. Among the goals is finding an answer to Rosco's question from two years ago. I can't simply dream about going back to school and romanticize the process. It will be work, hard work. I'll need to have a specific idea of what I want to research and focus on, and I'm never going to get there if I stay ignorant.

So I took to Google and Amazon in search of some books because I love lists (obvi). Here are the titles of some--yes, there are more--of the environmental policy books that stuck out to me (keep in mind while still high on caffeine).

• The Environmental Case: Translating Values Into Policy
• Ecosystem-Based Management for the Oceans
• The National Wildlife Refuges: Coordinating a Conservation System Through Law
• The Environmental Policy Paradox
• The Shaping of Environmental Policy in France

Ahh, sounds thrilling and fulfilling. As in: my heart is currently swelling with granola joy just thinking about reading these books.

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Luckily, I have a starting off point with The Environmental Case thanks to my public policy class last year. Unfortunately, the bookcase was the first (and is the only) thing we've packed up in preparation for our move, so I'll have to wait about two weeks before I can crack out the book.

Not only did I have an epiphany about grad school, I also had a surge of motivation to get my act together. I want to build stronger habits like making my bed every morning, getting back into my yoga practice and setting aside time throughout my day to read and write. I spend so much time in front of a screen (honestly, who doesn't these days?) at work and then my breaks on my phone and then watching TV when I get home. But I'm 24, slowly but surely creeping my way to 25, and I feel like this is my prime and I need to take advantage of it. I have anywhere from five to seven years before I want to have kids, and I want to push every last crazy minute to it's full potential. That first means organizing my life in some capacity.

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Since I'm a lister, I'll also give you the titles of other books on my Amazon wishlist.

• A Year of Biblical Womanhood
• Reclaiming Eve: The Identity and Calling of Women in the Kingdom of God
• Restless: Because You Were Made For More
• Heartburn
• Don't Worry, It's Gets Worse: One Twentysomething's (Mostly Failed) Attempts at Adulthood
• Historical Capitalism and Capitalist Civilization
• Someday, Someday, Maybe

Now, I have to remind you, this is a recap of the thoughts that fired off in my brain within a 45 minute time period. FORTY FIVE MINUTES of intense thinking and processing, all thanks to an extra cup of coffee.

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Until Monday,

♥ A