Living the day

To the women out there-I think many of us have this problem.

OR...I am just special. To be determined.

I think I was born with a to-do list in mind. I was supposed to be born on Valentine's Day, but I arrived a week early. Not shocking. I'm an early bird, after all.

I remember keeping a to-do list at six.

At ten.

Every single day for the past seven years, at least.

Now that's a little frightening.

You'd think something like that would get worse with age. Like I'd have to control every facet of every day.

Well...I do. BUT. While everyone around me seems to be panicking about jobs, money, etc., I've realized that life is absolutely what we make it.

And every day deserves a moment for reflection and friendship. Or chocolate cake. Pick your poison.

We all know things are changing. Things are uncertain. The unemployment rate sucks. Odds of college graduates getting jobs are on the (really) low end. The water we drink could give us cancer. The earth could be swallowed whole by a super volcano any day now.

And guess what? None of that matters. If finding a job is tough, I'll work at McDonald's until I figure it out. If someone, or me, gets sick, we will get through it. And if the earth gets swallowed whole, well, I want to know that I lived until the day I died.

Plans are great. They keep life in order. But sometimes veering off the 20-item to-do list is just what your soul needs to remember it's part of a living, breathing being who's time here is limited. 

Laughing with friends, springtime thunder storms, holding a sleeping baby and taking weekend excursions are what makes a life lived. I think. I'm 21, people, what do I really know.

Bucket list item 24: See a mountaintop sunrise.

Side note: I've never planned love. If I had, I would have forbade dating until after college, moved to Ireland and open a coffee shop. (Probably.)

But I've got something much better. A boy who I truly love, plain and simple, and friends and family who I will continue to live in the same country with.

That's what I call perfection.

<3

Farewell, my sweets.

So it has been confirmed (kind of) that sugar is not okay for me to consume. 

AKA, chances are I've got hypoglycemia. Which means I need to go heavy on the protein and veggies, light on sugar and carbs.

Out with the old...

Oh cake. Sweet, sweet cake. We can only meet in passing fancies now.


In with the good.

Gluten-free cupcakes, sugar-free frosting? Eh, I'll give it a shot.


So since I have to be extra healthy, I'll try to make it fun by posting about my adventures with  my glycemic index cookbook.

It could be interesting. I can't cook for the life of me, so I might make like my neighbor and set off all the fire alarms. Who knows.

Stay tuned.

So long red velvet, you minx.

Weekend Tales

Thank god for the weekend.

We're not even halfway through the semester yet and I'm already itching for some summer sunshine. Or at least for leaves to grow back.

My cousin, my bro and me partying in the Dominican Republic. Sweet moves are in our DNA.


Anyway, this weekend was a lot of fun. Tom and I trekked off to the farm to visit my family and get out of Peoria for the night.

We ate really good food. And slept. It was a dream come true.

In that picture behind him, we found four deer hidden in it! In case you needed to know. Like Where's Waldo with deer.

And then Katie wanted to see this band play called Wedding Banned, and they were pretty hilarious. They were at this bar right by campus, and it was my first time really experiencing the bar scene.

All I know is that the girls were wearing dresses entirely too tiny for winter, and the guys really loved "Come on, Eileen."

                                    

                                               Thank you to the creepy man who kept following Kara for taking this photo.

As for today, there's a lot to be done. But at some point I will be curling up with a Nora Roberts book. Excited.

Last night's song:

Happy Sunday!

The deal with the owls

A little background info on me-I have a lot of owls.

Like, it's becoming a thing.

And I couldn't tell you when it truly began.

They're everywhere now. On my furniture, in my hair, on my hands. Maybe it's because they're cute, or because they make me feel like Harry Potter. But either way, I'm glad to have them and their bulgy eyes and razor-sharp talons as my constant companions.

I love that one-my Valentine's day present from Tom for our first Valentine's together! The boy even got that locket from my favorite jewelry brand (Fossil) without even knowing what it is. Good work, boyfriend. Good work.

And this is Merlin, my adopted baby from my roommates for my birthday! Look how precioussss.

I told Tom we need to head to the Linkin Park Zoo for our one year in May to go say hi to him. My roommates are the best.

Also, since when is it Tuesday?! Insanity. But I'll be out in the boonies this weekend for some good old-fashioned fun...more on THAT later.

Happy Fat Tuesday!

Boston, Part 2: The tale of the scary creatures

So I'm like a week or so late with this, but there's many more posts to come today/tomorrow, so enjoy!

Anyway, here is the rest of our Boston excursion.

Our Saturday started out with a morning trip back to Salem to hit up the shops we didn't see before. But, as luck would have it, they didn't open until 11. So we didn't really see the shops.

But we did have some pretty sweet lattes.

And saw the cutest little puppy ever.

And saw an ice sculpture pirate ship.

But the real fun...ohhh that came later...

How great is Boston? I seriously think I need to go back in the summer when there's flowers and all that. It has to be so beautiful.

Now about the scary creatures.

So we get on this train. And there are these HUGE, terrifying dogs with spiky collars. Granted, they may have been the sweetest dogs ever. I have no idea. Regardless, they were pit bulls. And when the conductor came by and hit a roll of quarters near their seat, they were not pleased.

They barked. And one jumped down.

So the lady behind them was like, "Don't let those dogs down, that's not right."

So then this massive, scary man starts threatening that lady! He's all "Leave those dogs alone or I'll slit your threat. I'll shoot you." And that was laced with various expletives.

That went on for half an hour. Then we had a cab driver who enjoyed going 60 in a 25 around tight bends. 

Fun? Debatable. 

Memorable? Oh yes.

The next morning we stayed in, got some rest, and then trekked home.

And then came the week, which was pretty interesting in itself. As for tonight, I've got some work to do, then shutting in for the night with the boy and a movie.

+

= Just what I need.

Have a good week!

Boston: Part 1

Since there was a bunch of things all happening at once, I've got a whole lotta posts to toss out there in the next few days. Be ready!

So we will just start from the beginning.

Thursday night I headed on home to leave for Boston bright and early Friday morning with my mom and my aunt.

My mom's pretty excited I'm 21, you see. For example, we get on the plane (at like...9 a.m.) And she promptly asks the flight attendant for a mimosa. 

Which apparently, you can only get in first class...so it continued like this:

Me: "I'm good with regular orange juice."

Mom: "But it's her 21st birthday!"

*Flight attendant leaves, brings us orange juice*

Attendant: "Drink that slowly, I will be right back..."

Me: "Um?"

*Flight attendant returns, hands us unmarked bag with two bottles of champagne.*

Attendant: "Now just don't do what I did on my 21st! I went out to this bar and drank a bunch of shots and ended up on the floor, these guys had to carry me out."

Me: "Oh..."

There's my mom, adding a little bubbly life to our orange juice before noon. At 30,000 feet.

So we land, head to our hotel and then hit the road to Salem. The windy, woody, 

Dunkin' Donuts-infested road.

Ooh yes, those people love them some Dunkin'.

Anywho, first stop Salem!

We stopped at a psychic, visited a witch museum, had some wine, some more wine, and some Irish coffee (personal favorite!) And then we were off to bed at 9. For real. It was heaven.

Update 2 to come soon! And by the way, happy {almost} Valentine's Day.

:)

Stress, with a side of sugar.

It's Wednesday night. I have spent the day in leggings and a giant sweater. At work (and class.) I don't even care anymore. I'm the boss, I can walk around in my socks if I want! Right? 

I am also packing for Boston this weekend (YES!) and eating cookies (Tummy ache.)

Anywho, some things.

1. The very first drink I ever ordered myself! Too bad the lady didn't card me...

It tasted like summer, which was ideal because it was snowing.

2. My boyfriend reads my blog (Hi Thomas!), but I'll say it anyway. I have never been in a long-term relationship on Valentine's Day, and I have no idea what to do! I'm thinking some kind of food is sort of necessary. I like picnics, but seeing as it's February, we'd have to get creative. I'm all for an indoor picnic. And I need to know what to give my roommates and close friends, too. (Hi Katie!) Some pinterest inspiration:

So this last one was my favorite Valentine's Day book as a little kid. I may or may not have ordered it on Amazon a couple days ago.

I needed reading material for the plane ride Friday morning, of course.

Anyway, back to laundry. Happy midweek!

P.S. My favorite poem. I've been writing it all over everything lately.