Modern Love

I read once that in a blog, you should create, not curate. I loved this piece of advice because of the play on words and mild alliteration. I'm a sucker for alliteration.

BUT, I think there are some things that are too good not to share, so I make frequent exceptions to this rule.

Have you ever read the New York Times Modern Love column? Totally made up of reader submissions (although often professional writers), each column tells a unique story of love in the 21st century. They're alternately heartwarming and heartbreaking, charmingly quirky and scathingly honest.

I love this recent one, but check them all out here, if you'd like.

Back back, to Cali, Cali

I'm back in the states! And realizing that uploading photos from my iPhone tends not to have the desired effect. There still might have been more similarly disorganized posts from Europe, but sadly my phone was stolen in Barcelona. I also seem to have contracted a delightful sinus infection whilst away, so today will be full of doctors appointments and getting a new phone rather than comatose on the couch watching the Olympics in the full-on Olympic outfit I may or may not have purchased in the London airport as planned.

I hope to share some of my 1000 or so photos once I get them uploaded, but til then I'm off to enjoy my first real shower in about 5 weeks! HURRAY!

Hello from Dublin!

Hello, friends!

Blogging has been pretty difficult lately with the whirlwind of moving out of SLO/going to Vegas/getting ready for Europe, but I am finally across the pond! We started in London and are now in Dublin... Both of which, it turns out, are cold. And cloudy. And rainy. BUT they are also both full of beautiful sights and tons of history and while I'm excited to (hopefully) see the sun soon, I'm trying to work around the jet lag and lack of sleep that comes with hostels to enjoy everything I can about these cities.

I've been taking most of my pictures on my actual camera rather than phone, so I can't share much til I get home, but I'll post a few as I can.

So far we've spent time in museums, seen Jersey Boys in London's West End, to Stonehenge, toured the old Jameson Distillery, and so much more. The days are packed, which is unsurprising given my inability to understand how many hours are actually in the day, but I'm hoping at some point we'll find the time to relax a little. Tomorrow we're going on a tour to the Cliffs of Moher and I can't wait to see some other parts of Ireland!

Rereading: yes or no?

Do you like to reread books? I love it, but it always makes me feel vaguely guilty, like I should be enriching my mind with new material. Especially when I reread something cheesy and chick-lit-y, which I can justify the first time, but when I come back for seconds and thirds, I always have that nagging voice in the back of my mind saying "Really? Gossip Girl again? What about how much you 'looove' Hemingway? Or how much you've 'always wanted' to read The Sound and the Fury?"

Fortunately, I've become an expert at silencing that voice (but please don't doubt my love for Hemingway, and I swear I'm going to get to a Faulkner novel sometime!). So, when looking for something to occupy the small amount of free time I've had lately, I turned back to The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan, a paperback I picked up for 50 cents at a used book sale before going to Hawaii last summer.

I pick up a lot of books this way, based mainly on the covers (oops. Another trait of mine that brings my nagging inner voice to the surface), and never really know what I'm going to get. But this book blew me away. A memoir about cancer, Kelly (I feel like we're friends now, so I can call her by her first name) somehow manages to make a book about a tragic subject feel as though it's brimming with life and hilarity. And a sincerity that almost takes you by surprise every few pages -- as I read, I find myself taken aback by the realness of her prose.

This is the kind of book you want to read again and again. I'm lucky enough to write a book column for bask Magazine (check it out if you want!), and I immediately slated this book into the next issue. Which led to the first and only time a publisher has sent me a signed copy when I request a review copy (Thanks, Hyperion! It made my day. Ok, at least week).

Long story short: if you want a book that will absorb you (I read the whole thing on the plane to Maui), make you feel as if you're doing something worthwhile by reading it, but still feels light enough not to tax an already overworked mind, I can't recommend this one enough.

Do you have any books you could read over and over? Or do you only like to read a novel once and be done with it?

The graduate

I am a college graduate! I'm still trying to wrap my head around this idea. I can't say it's going very well. 

I was lucky enough to have family come from all over the country to support me, and even though it's been an emotional roller coaster, it was a wonderful weekend. 

One thing people don't tell you about graduating? It's exhausting. I'm completely drained from the preparation to the seemingly endless day itself. But, I'm also extremely grateful for all the people who helped make it so special, and looking forward to what the future holds. Which, right now, I'm really hoping is ice cream. If only I can convince myself to budge from the couch. 

Back again :)

Hello, loves!

Sorry for the unexpected, unscheduled hiatus. There has been a lot going on over here the past few weeks, and blogging somehow just fell by the wayside.

But, I am back! Or at least, I'm trying to be.

As I mentioned, there have been quite a few recent events. I went to STAGECOACH! I took my senior pictures with a super talented, lovely lady in my sorority. I also had my last Theta formal -- such a weird feeling! My best friend from home (who I'm moving to LA with in August! Yay!) came to visit SLO for the first time. My parents came up and spent a night in Morro Bay at the cutest little hotel. I had my first big-girl, post-grad job interview. I finished planning my trip to Europe with another of my best friends. And now it's Memorial Day weekend!

Pictures will be to follow on (almost) all of the above mentioned events. Til then, I hope everyone has a beautiful, sun-filled long weekend!

Goodbyes

I am not good at endings. I'm pretty sure no one likes goodbyes, but I sometimes feel I have an unnatural aversion to anything ending. Even when I'm leaving for a trip I'm really excited about, I get slightly panicky about leaving home. So, my rapidly impending graduation and all that comes with it is causing me more than a little anxiety.

Everyone tells you how fast college goes, but I never quite wrapped my head around it. Saying that the idea of moving out of this town, leaving my sorority, my roommates, my best friends, favorite restaurants, weekend routines, cushy job, and everything else is just scary would be an understatement. Suffice to say, things have felt a little funny lately. Even the idea of not seeing the people in my classes, not walking home from class and admiring the mountains, or driving downtown past all the cute storefronts is adding to this hard-to-describe tension I'm feeling.

Does anyone else share this anxiety? I have this feeling anytime something is coming to a close -- I even get sad at the end of movies just because they're over, sometimes. So far, every ending I've had has led to an even better beginning of something else, but somehow that knowledge does nothing to assuage my fears. I've been on an emotional roller coaster lately -- finishing the last Friends DVD last night practically had me in tears (but then, you'd have to be a monster not to be a little sad when the gang leaves their apartment for the last time. Right?).

Anyway. Today is sunny and lovely, and tonight I'm making my favorite homemade macaroni and cheese with some work friends, then going on a senior bar crawl with my sorority. It's shaping up to be a beautiful weekend, and I want to make the most of every moment I have left in SLO!