Portlandia

For the last four days, I've been spending my time across the country in Portland, Oregon. My best friend for 12 years invited me to visit her so I jumped at the opportunity to GTFO of Philly for a few days. This is the first time I've been out west and I have loved every second of it. Sadly it has rained every day, except for today, but the rain is definitely manageable here.


Let's recap how the last few days have gone...

Saturday: I arrived in Portland around 7:30pm and was ready to party. Kimberly picked me up from the airport and we headed to her apartment. After a quick makeover and a change of clothes, we headed to one of the country bars in Milwaukie. The bar was fairly dead, but one of her friends was playing in the band so we hung out there for an hour or so. People out west have a very particular image of what country is, but it seems to me there is a disconnect between their idea and the reality. After a while, we decided that this bar was not the place for us to stay, mostly because of some weird sugar daddy situations we watched unfold.

Around 11, we headed to McQuillans, a local dive bar that had karaoke. As soon as we sat down, we ran into one of Kimberly's friends, who seemed to know almost everyone in the bar. The seat I grabbed was next to a cute guy who Kimberly swears looks like Edward Cullen. (Fitting of course because the scenery looks damn near identical to the Twilight movies.) Any way, it wasn't long before I got a free drink and I was sweet talking the locals about hockey and soccer. Since it was karaoke night, I decided to rock out to What's My Age Again with the cute guy I was sitting next to. Before I knew it, I was pretty drunk and was dancing with everyone. It was awesome.

Saturday into Sunday marked the end of Daylight Savings Time, which was incredibly disorienting for me coming from the East Coast, three hours ahead of the Pacific North West. After bar hopping again, we wound up at a house party. When all was said and done, I crashed on Kimberly's couch around 6AM. As exhausted as I was, I think I was more drunk so it didn't bother me in the slightest.

Tyron Creek Park

Sunday: After sleeping in until about noon, we headed to Tyron Creek Park to take some pictures. It rained the entire time, but the view was gorgeous. Everything is so green in Oregon... something you don't see very often in Philly.

Later in the evening, we headed to a dispensary. In Oregon, medicinal and recreational use of marijuana is legal, if you are over 21. Coming from a state where weed is illegal, I wanted to see what it was like to purchase weed. Basically, the dispensary is like a giant vape shop, but instead of juice for your vape, there is a TON of different strains of weed. I couldn't take any pictures of the dispensary, but I was able to take a picture of the container the weed comes in. (Super exciting, I know.) That's about all I will be sharing about this experience, but if you're a close friend, I don't mind sharing more with you privately.

(Side note: for any of my fellow reslifers, I am curious on how you think the legalization of recreational marijuana would impact our role on campus, but that's a conversation for another day...)

Cannon Beach

Monday: Another rainy day, but we visited Cannon Beach. This beach is where the ending scene of the Goonies was filmed and the town right next to it, Astoria, was where the rest of the movie was filmed. Obviously, I had to take a picture with the rocks in the water before departing. (Just in the nick of time too because it started to torrential downpour not soon after the picture was taken.)

It was weird how normal it felt to be at Cannon Beach. Even though I had never been there before, it felt almost like home. The beach town was so similar to Camps Bay in Cape Town that I had such a feeling of nostalgia the moment we arrived. It was so surreal, but comforting.

After nearly missing the rain, we made it back to Milwaukie to drink some wine and watch movies.

Tuesday: We headed into the city of Portland for the day. Again it was rainy, but I didn't mind it much. We couldn't decide what to do so we settled for a beer tasting at Hair of the Dog brewery. We had to walk across the Morrison Bridge to get there, but the view of the city was wonderful. After our beer tasting, we headed to a dive bar called Embers across town. I was meeting up with the Edward Cullen looking fellow around 5:30 to go out to dinner. (Who knew I'd score a date while traveling?)
 
Kimberly and I parted ways around 4:30 so I had about an hour to kill before my date. I decided to just stay at the dive bar and continue to drink before meeting up with 'Edward'. It was probably not the best idea, but it wasn't the worst. By the time we met up, I wasn't really hungry, but instead a bit tipsy... maybe even borderline drunk. I was no longer nervous so it worked out, but I probably was a giant goofball (more so than usual).


After grabbing a drink at a local hipster bar called Momo's, we headed to Shigaze, a Japanese restaurant, for dinner. Anyone who knows me will be surprised to hear that I tried a few things I've never eaten before including seaweed salad and real ramen, both delicious! Aside from trying out new cuisine, I also was introduced to the usage of chopsticks and sitting on the floor to eat. It was a great experience and I hope to try out a Japanese restaurant in Philly when I get back. (If anyone is interested in tagging along or has recommendations, let me know.)

My night ended at another karaoke bar where I made friends with a young woman named April. She was super awesome and we wound up singing Cee-Lo Green's Fuck You together. It was a blast!

Multnomah Falls

Enjoying the view

Wednesday: My last day in Portland was beautiful. I was sad that the weather had been kind of awful the whole time, but it paid off for today. We went to Multnomah Falls, Oregon's largest waterfall, and I was able to take some lovely pictures. We also checked out Vista House where you can see Washington from the top. Aside from that adventure, the day has been fairly chill. Kimberly and I are heading to another dive bar tonight so wish me luck in waking up for my 7AM flight tomorrow. 

This trip to Portland has been wonderful. I am so thankful that I have such an amazing friend who put up with me on her couch for 5 nights and has taken me all around. I'm looking forward to heading back out this way after I finish my grad program, hopefully to stay. 

Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind

I've been thinking a lot lately about how much easier things would be if I could lose some of my memories, mainly those consisting of the wolf. I find myself remembering the good times together, which is incredibly frustrating. If only life were like Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind. I could go and have all memories of the wolf removed and it would be as if it never happened. I could sleep at night without remembering his touch, his sweet voice, and the wonderful lies he told me. But it's not and I'm stuck with the memories, as much as I wish I could forget. The worst part is that as badly as I want to hate him, I don't. I can't. I find myself becoming more and more frustrated with myself because I was the one who believed that things would be different and that everything was going to be okay. I was the one who fell, hard, and let myself tell him things I never wanted to share with anyone else. He made everything so easy and I loved it, until now. I know one day things will get easier, but until then I'll continue to wrack my brain for all the reasons why I wasn't good enough.

A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

What is love but a four letter lie I so desperately wanted to believe? You really had me going too. It was almost as if you wanted me to become so naked, so vulnerable in an effort to tear me apart. You let me tell you things I've never wanted to tell anyone else, but you made it so easy. So easy to fall in love with you. And where did that get me? Here. Alone. In my bed. On Valentine's Day. Stuck with the words swimming in my head I've been dying to say to you, but haven't had the chance. You see, I really thought things were going to be different this time, but you proved me wrong, just as everyone has done before you. I want to thank you for disguising yourself, for making me believe you were in my corner, because without that, I would've never realized that I should guard my heart. I let my walls down, but thanks to you that won't be happening again. Thanks for the memories, my dear. I'm done. 

S.O.B.

After a ten day hiatus, I've decided to blog again. I've been thinking a lot about what I've talked about in my blog. It's been brought to my attention that some people may not appreciate what I've had to say so to avoid any (further)  issues arising, I will no longer be talking about my work life at all anymore. Instead, I'll just blog about whatever (non work related)  the hell comes to my mind

Bonding with my bestie

I could blog about today, for example. I went to the Radio 104.5 Winter Jam at XFINITY Live! and had an amazing time. Here's a few things I learned from this experience:

1) You most likely will get a contact high at any concert event in Philly

2) Drunk people are assholes, even more so when you aren't drunk at all

3) People are rude and will push you out of the way to get where they want to go when you're in a pit

4) Day drinking is a blast, but you have to keep it up or else you start to get really sleepy 

5) Drunk people love crowd surfing and taking videos on snapchat as they are falling into the crowd

6) It's harder than it looks to climb onto a giant lounger 

7) Elle King is hilarious and is a drunken asshole like everyone else (but the good kind)

8) Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats are some talented S.O.B.s

9) Andrew Mcmahon loves crowd surfing almost as much as drunk Philadelphians (see below)

10) Philly knows how to throw a fucking a concert

That's all I've got for today, but I'm sure I'll be blogging about some more random shit sooner or later.

Happy as a Clam

Today, my laptop decided it didn't want to turn on. Then once it turned on, it decided to freeze every time I tried to do something. Now it is working for the next few minutes so I've decided to blog while I have the chance.

This weekend has been wonderful, aside from the slow and painful death my laptop is currently facing. On Friday, I spent time with some of my favorite people at Mad River. (Yes, I am aware that Mad River is trashy, but I love dancing so I will continue to go there until I find another close bar to dance at on my off weekends.) After a fantastic night out and some heart to hearts, I woke up the next day as if I hadn't gone out the night before. I woke up to a wonderful human being cuddled up next to me in my bed and I took some time to reflect on how lucky I am. 

The last few months have been tough. I've been beaten down by life more times than I could count, but each time I've stood back up (sometimes limping) and continued pushing on. Despite the awful luck I've continued to have, surprisingly the universe has surrounded me with some amazing people and good opportunities. I know I've blogged about this before, but I just wanted to say "thank you" to the wonderfully amazing people who continue to keep me around, even when I am miserable. You all know who you are and I can't thank you enough for being my support system. I love you all dearly. 

Recently, one particular person has made me happier than I've been in a while, which is what prompted my reflection on my luck. For some reason, this amazing guy waltzed (typed?) his way into my life and hasn't run away screaming (yet). I'm so lucky to have such a lovely gentleman in my life who has a miraculous way of calming the storm that is always in my head. Thank you for being so damn wonderful, Steve. You have no idea how much it means to me. Also, thanks for prompting my internal (and slightly external) reflection on life. Despite the hurdles I keep getting tossed, I'm still smiling and it's because of you. 

<3

True Life: I'm Dating an Alien

Now that I have your attention, I'd like to take a minute to apologize for my lack of posts as of late. Life has been wonderful and busy and I just haven't taken the time to write anything down. I spent my winter break at home for three weeks, sleeping on my parents' couch, spending time with amazing people, going ice skating, seeing Star Wars (three times), and then returned to campus last week. The last few days have been consumed by RA training and students returning to campus. It's been chaotic, but definitely productive.

Not so awful ID picture

Aside from the PhilaU chaos, yesterday I started my first ever grad class at Temple University. Before that I had never even set foot on Temple's campus (unless you count the times I went to the Pearl Theater or the Liacouras Center). Despite me being directionally impaired, I made it to the train station in East Falls and then to the building where my class was held, with minor GPS usage. After speaking to a few kind students on campus, I was able to find out where to get my ID and actually took a decent picture. (Thank goodness I was actually prepared, unlike when I took my picture for Arcadia and PhilaU...) After doing all of this, I still had a half hour to kill before class. I made my way to my classroom, sat down, and waited for everyone else to arrive.

Grad school notebook

Overall, class was a success. It was basically a syllabus day (which I thought ceased to exist after undergrad), but with a few notes. I quickly learned that I will probably be the only person in my classes taking notes the traditional way: with pen and paper. This might change over the course of the semester, but in an effort to avoid pissing off everyone in class with my laptop who likes to sing everyone the song of its people, I'm going to stick with paper for as long as possible.

After class was over, I called a friend to keep me company on the phone until my train came an hour later. (This would usually be the part where I tell you all about how wonderful this person is and that I've been talking to him for a while and that he is such a gentleman and I really enjoy his company and blah blah blah, but he and I have an image to keep up so I will spare you the details (for now...). All you need to know is that he makes me happy and I have these weird things called "feelings" for him. Gross, I know. Oh, and he is an alien. That's another important thing.)  My wonderful parents offered to drive about a half hour to the East Falls Station to pick me up and drop me off on campus so I didn't have to walk at night in the cold. I told my mom it was because they missed me, but she insisted that she just wanted to keep me safe. (She just doesn't want to admit that she misses having me around the house...)
Thursday is my next grad class, which is actually going to be challenging because it is an accelerated course. Fingers crossed it goes as well as my class on Monday.

After a long and somewhat stressful few days of RA training filled with printer issues, staff conflicts, and meetings, I get to spend time with my fellow RCs by going to dinner in Manayunk followed by a night of catching up with one of my absolute best friends who is in town from Portland. To say I am excited for this evening is an understatement.

Here's to a wonderful evening and productive week!

Hangovers: The Only Way to Kick Off a New Year

2015 was one hell of a year and I definitely ended on a high note. (However, it did result in me feeling awful for most of the first day of the year.)

Here's a recap of my 2015: I fell in love (twice), strengthened relationships with friends (old and new), held a new position at one of the greatest summer jobs ever, met incredible people, started a new job I absolutely love, was accepted to grad school, was dumped on facebook messenger, realized my self worth, and moved out of my parents' house. Through the good, the bad, and the ugly, I made it through the year I thought was never going to end.

I've been thinking a lot about what I want out of 2016 for myself, but I'm never any good at making resolutions (and sticking to them). This year I've decided that instead of making resolutions, I am just going to focus on being the best person I can be. I'll be starting grad school and working pretty much full-time so I want to make sure I am doing what I need to do for myself (for once). Typically, I am focused on helping everyone around me instead of taking care of myself. While it is important to play nice with others, it is also incredibly important to practice self care. Since I have not had the best track record with that, I am going to work hard at taking time for myself. How can I help lift others up if I am constantly dragging my feet on myself? I have to practice what I preach, right?

This is not going to be easy, but I am determined to at least try. Lucky for me, I have some wonderful people in my life who will definitely hold me accountable for this.

•                           •                           •                           •

Thanks to everyone who has stuck by me in 2015 and has dealt with my bitching. 

Cheers to happy, healthy, and exciting adventures in 2016.