Brrr, It's Cold Out There...

Today was a double-first. My first run measured in miles, not minutes. And my first run in the snow! Both accomplishments to be proud of. At least, in theory.

Since the start of finals, running has been pushed to the back burner. And by back burner, I mean toaster oven. Or maybe even microwave. In fact, let's just say I put running back in the fridge for a little while. Basically the whole month of December, minus a couple of OMGIHAVETOSTOPSTUDYING runs. And then I was home, and realized I forgot my ipod in St Louis. Whoops. Luckily, I got a new ipod nano for Christmas! Along with some excellent gift certificates, which allowed me to stock up on winter running gear. So, today was my first day out! I ran (slash walked) two miles. TWO. WHOLE. MILES.

It doesn't sound like a lot. This is true. Technically speaking, it's NOT a whole lot of miles. Just a couple. Two little miles. But for me they felt like Two Miles. Capitalized. For effect.

Two miles is the farthest I have ever ran (slash walked). In my entire life. I'm pretty sure. No joke. Ever. See, I have always (read: alwayssss) been a terrible, unenthusiastic runner. Even when I was a tiny child, a raging ball of pure energy, running was pretty much my least favorite activity in the entire world. I did every sport/activity known to girl: ballet! tap! jazz! t-ball! gymnastics! horseback riding! soccer! tennis! cheerleading! lots and lots of cheerleading! rowing! I hit my running peak right around t-ball time, when I was too little to hit the ball off the tee. So either someone would get in (really, really) close and underhand it to me, or my friend D would hit, and I would run. (He was a good hitter and slow. I was a tiny hitter, and fast.) Even in my soccer days I loathed running. When I discovered sports that did not involve running, I was ecstatic.

The point is, I have probably never run (slash walked) two full miles before. I have never even remotely thought about maybe WANTING to run two miles. So the fact that I couldn't wait to put on my new gear and hit the snowy road and struggle and walk and stretch and get inspired and run and dodge cars and call myself crazy for thinking I was going to run 13.1 miles when two little miles was so freaking hard...is amazing to me.

And tomorrow I'm going to do it again. And it will be, I think, a little easier than today because I will already have done it. And I'll run a little more, and walk a little less. And so on and so forth.

I'm going to be heading down to Long Island (or Lawn Guyland) tomorrow for a birthday party/new years celebration/college reunion for five-ish days. My friend K will be there, so I'm not worried about losing motivation to run. Wooo! Time for a hot shower.

Oh Yeah, Still Here!

Ok so when I said law school = time sink, i didn't even know how right I was. It's finals time now...first one tomorrow, then Monday, then Thursday is the last and then DONE!! Wooo!! Followed by some hopefully epic parties, a fabulous road trip home with my original DAB, an equally fabulous christmas (!!!) with the fam, new years with the gypsy clan, nyc day with friends from everywhere, and road trip back to stl with my favorite person. There aren't enough exclamation points to express how I feel about these next few weeks.

Unfortunately, I've been slacking in my running ALMOST as much as I've been slacking in my blogging. The past three-ish weeks I've only been getting in one or two runs per week - lame sauce. BUT I have been upping my minutes, so that's something! I went on a run this morning and it felt great to be moving, pushing myself, and not thinking about the elements of adverse possession (property), mutuality of obligation (contracts) or superseding causes (torts). Oh my.

A couple days ago I took a study break and went to the mall to buy some outdoor running gear because it is officially winter. (Side note - apparently I like snow. And apparently, Albany is rare in that it snows for 5 months of the year. St Louis...not so much. Wah.) Anyway, I got a snazzy black racerback top and an equally snazzy pink long sleeved mock turtleneck with monkey holes (for thumbs). Along with blue microfleece gloves and headband. Needless to say, I felt real profesh. UNTIL I got home and found that the store clerk forgot to take off the security tags. UGHHHH. In a fit of rage, I pried one off of the black shirt, but I'm afraid to do the same with the pink one. And I honestly just do.not.have.the.time. to go back to the mall and have them take it off. Le sigh. Any ideas??

On the bright side, I was warm on my run this morning! Although I do think I should invest in a jacket, since my boathouse rowing jacket was ok, but not as good as it could have been. I smell a Christmas present for myself...ESPECIALLY now that I'm incapable of running on a treadmill. I don't know how I'm going to survive running in NY! But I will. And I'm excited about it. The only thing I'm worried about is that when I run outside, I think I'm wayyyyyy slower than on the treadmill. Maybe I should mix it up a bit. We shall see. For now, just know that a) I'm alive! b) I'm still dedicated to the half-marathon! and c) law school is really effing hard. This is actually the hardest I have ever worked/prepared/studied...but I'm not freaking out (too much). Because what's the point? I'm gonna do what I do. And we'll see what needs to change next semester. Sounds great on paper, just have to keep it in my head. And now, off to the library!

Inspiration

It would be so easy to freak out about how much there is to do right now. Class, 3-4 hours per day. Homework, 5-6 hours per day. Extra work, like a memo, that will take as many hours as you are willing to give. Outlines! Finals! Information/academic skills/whatareyoudoingwithyourlifewhatdoyoumeanyoudon'tknowyet sessions. An apartment to keep clean (ha!), laundry, dishes, taking out the trash...paying bills! getting the car checked out. Also, friends to keep in touch with! Exercise! Potlucks!

Time out.

Breathe.

Ok.

Anyway, like I was saying before I got carried away - there's a lot going on right now. But honestly, there's never going to NOT be a lot going on (if that makes sense). Sure, right now there's more than usual. But everything is going to be ok. I'll get through it. Eventually it will be a faded memory.

So here's a list of things I'm happy about, right now:
1. Gchat
2. Peanut butter bread, especially toasted with butter
3. Irish Breakfast tea
4. Blogs - mine and my friends, and those of people I don't know but that are fascinating and inspirational
5. Library study parties. Because if you HAVE to be at the library on Saturday night, a table full of friends is necessary
6. Running outside!! More on this later
7. The weather in St. Louis right now as compared to Albany
8. Other New York license plates on the road
9. Any activity (within reason) that makes me feel like I'm living out a scene from SATC
10. MIDNIGHT SHOWING OF HARRY POTTER!!

Ok, about this run -
I got out of class at 12 today instead of 3 (a.maz.ing.) so after lunch I headed home to get my run in before heading back to school to spend the rest of my day/night/life in the library. Lo and behold, the gym is CLOSED. Waugh! I text my friend K. What should I do? I know I should and could run outside. After all, its 70-ish degrees. Breezy. Perfect. BUT. My first and only outdoor run was last week, when my shin splints acted up and I had to finish the run on the treadmill. I'm nervous. K says, RUN OUTSIDE!! YOU'LL LOVE IT! So I do. And I do.

I started from my front door and made a 7-minute loop, which I did 3 times. Instead of restricting myself to 3 minutes of rest in between loops, I took however long I needed to stretch out my legs - no use having a shin splint attack. Honestly though, it felt so free and easy and perfect. And I'm sure I was going waaaaaaay slower than I would have if I were on the treadmill, but it doesn't matter. It felt good. Really good.

Friday Fun

Yesterday was a good day.

I went out on Thursday night, briefly, to celebrate a friend's 25th birthday. It was a lot of fun, just a small bunch of law students. We ended up staying an hour later than planned because the bar had a dance area on the 2nd floor and obviously, we had to stay and dance. Still, I was in bed by 1am. Also, it was super fun without alcohol (on my part at least, since I was driving).
Yesterday I had my normal 10:30 class and then a make-up of the same class at 1. Not as awful as anticipated, it actually seemed to fly by. I think it was because we were in a different classroom and that changed the atmosphere. Plus we weren't in our assigned seats. Hurray for small changes making the hour and twenty minutes fly by!

After class I headed home and vegged out for a couple hours to catch up on The Office, Bones, and Grey's Anatomy. Then I got my butt out of bed and went for my 3rd run of the week (5 mins running/2.5 mins walking, for 30 minutes). It was cold outside, so I did it on the treadmill.

When I walked into the gym, it was the beginning of a cardio kickboxing class and who did I run into but a girl I went to undergrad with! There are about 5 of us from our small college in upstate NY, class of 09, who made it out to St. Louis - 2 of us in law school, 2 in grad school, and one doing Teach for America. Anyway, she was there for the kickboxing class and invited me to join - it was tempting, but I had had had to get the run in. Maybe next Friday I'll run in the morning and kickbox in the afternoon. Too much?? We'll see.

It was fun to run with the class in the background though because I could watch them in the reflection (the treadmills face a wall of windows, and since the sun had set I could see the class in the reflection on the glass) and take my mind off what I was doing - definitely helpful. Almost as good as running outside, but not quite. I wish it was still warm out!

The run itself went pretty well, probably because of the built-in distraction of the kickboxing class. The first two five-minute intervals felt good. Breathing was great, my body didn't hurt, definitely improvement. The second one was a little harder as I developed a little side stitch. The last one was hard but I always get inspired when I know its the last interval - telling myself there are only 5, 4, 3, 2, minutes, 1 minute left of the WHOLE workout, and I've already DONE 5 minutes three times is really motivating.

After running I headed back out to a potluck dinner! And by potluck I mean, the host cooked and we brought chips and beer. That was super super fun. The friend who hosted it made AMAZINGGGG just-spicy-enough chili and two kinds of cornbread (one with cheese and one without). It was delicious. I had seconds. Totally worth it. I pitched in with a 6-pack of Sam Adams, the brewmaster's mix or whatever, and apparently impressed a couple of people with my good taste in beer. Funny!

When we were all sated with delicious chili (not to mention the absolutely perfect musical selection) we decided to walk to the Loop and check out one of the (pseudo-hood) bars. I had never been there before so it was definitely an experience. Apparently there is usually a DJ but unfortunately, there was not one last night. Instead there was a Street Fighter tournament, but instead of a TV they just projected it against a (whole) wall. Interestingly enough it was pretty entertaining. A couple of the guys in our group ended up playing and the entertainment value was sky-high as they alternately whooped and got whooped by the (pseudo-hood) drunk girls in the bar.

Since we're all law students (read: stressed out and overachieving), we broke it up at 10:30 and everyone headed home. Except for the boys...who went and got food. As they explained: eat, drink, play video games, drink, eat. Which I guess is fair.

So far this morning I've eaten breakfast...trawled facebook...blogged...and added two or three new blogs to my Google Reader (which I am now obsessed with). Any minute now I'm going to get up, go running, shower, take out the trash, sweep the floor, do the dishes, and go to the library. Aaaany minute now.

Running Outside, Cross Training, and The Big Picture

I did part of my run outside yesterday and I LOVED IT! I meant to do the whole thing, but after the first 5 minute segment I was having some highly unfortunate shin splints. So, I did the next two segments at the gym. After being outdoors, banging away at the treadmill was...super boring. But necessary, because it helped the shin splints. Then I got too bored, and did the last 5 minutes outside on my way back to my apartment.

On my way inside, I met one of my neighbors! Exciting because he's the first one I've actually interacted with. He was very nice and had a beautiful black furry dog named Lexis. We chatted about running and I told him I had done my first outdoor run. He told me he runs with his dog every day - that would be so so nice to do. If only I had a dog, instead of a cat who has never been outside. (I would love to let her outside, but we live on the 4th floor. Awkward.) I also kind of feel like a dog is too much responsibility for me to handle without someone else, but that's a tangent. Anywayyyy...

Running outside was great. I'm going to try and see if I can increase the time I spend outside throughout every week without aggravating my shin splints. I've been icing after runs, and stretching before/after (which is harder to do when running outside but MUST BE DONE), and I read that maybe taking ibuprofin before running could help. Neighbor Guy told me that there's some kind of band you wrap around your leg under the knee. We'll see.

On to part 2: Cross Training! I've been doing yoga since early September and I don't know, I thought running and yoga would be completely counter-productive. But now I see that the intense stretching keeps me limber when running tightens me up. And this morning I did kingfisher pose, something I definitely could not do last month (it involves grabbing your foot in a quad stretch, raising the opposite arm, and bending forward). I don't know if the running specifically helped me get better, or if it was just the yoga, or a combination of the two. But I like where things are going.

Spinning off of part 2 comes part 3: The Big Picture. I'm registered to run a half marathon. In addition to running, I need to eat as if I'm in training, and add some cross training in addition to the yoga. I found some good ab work to do, so I will report back on that later. As for food - last night I made broccoli, mashed potatoes (instant I admit) and grilled salmon, with enough leftovers for lunch today. Cooking! I love it. Now I just have to get rid of the vanilla latte's and leftover Halloween candy and everything will be ok. More later!

It's Offish!

Just a quick post to say - I registered for the GO! St. Louis half-marathon in April 2011!! Woo!! Let the games begin. Shit is real.

Minute by Minute

Happy November! I hope everyone had an excellent Halloween and that all the law students out there are ready to sacrifice all the hours of their day on the altar of productivity. I also hope everyone remembered to say 'rabbit, rabbit' first thing this morning for good luck. (Don't give me that look, its a real thing.)

Today's run was 5 minutes running, 2.5 minutes walking. It was harddd. Mostly because it was tacking on 2 minutes and decreasing my rest time. Obvi. Anyway, the first two segments were ok, I got through them feeling pretty good. The third segment was the tough one - my shins started hurting a LOT and I had to pause to rest and stretch them out. Then the motivation was sapped and I was feeling all "can I even do this?" and I even considered just stopping.

BUT.

I stuck it out for another minute, rested again, and then convinced myself that even if I had to take a break every single minute, not finishing was not an option. So I finished the third segment. Then I took my 2.5 minute walk, and was feeling much better by the time the last 5 minutes rolled around. I completed that all in one go - I coxed myself through the last minute by counting out an imaginary power 20 in my head.

And now I feel good! I'm at home, icing my shins with a bag of frozen peas. It's not even 6pm so I've got plenty of time to have dinner and then head back to put some hours in at the library. Eggggsellent.

Trick or Treat!

Today is Halloween! I don't know how many little kids are in my apartment building but I'm going to go out and buy some candy anyway. For them. Obviously.

Friday night was the law school's big halloween party and it was a LOT of fun. The costumes were hilarious and pretty spot-on (including MJ, Whoopi from Sister Act, MK&A, some fabulous law school personalities, the Spice Girls...the list goes on and on). It was open bar (pre-paid but that's fine I guess) so of course everyone was double fisting drinks.

A Quick Guide to Little Gypsy Drunkenness:
Depending on what I'm drinking, it's pretty clear (at least to me) what kind of night is going down.
Gin & Tonic - keeping it classy. Not getting too drunk if at all. Probably driving somewhere later.
Vodka Tonic - a good middle ground. Keeping a buzz going, but nothing out of control.
Tequila of any kind - drunk.
Rum & Coke - fuck it. It's now or never.

So, as I was saying. I started off with some excellent tequila mixture (tequila, sprite, oj) at the law school happy hour and quickly switched to rum & coke as soon as we got to the bar.

Danced.All.Night. My favorite thing to do. In costume. Even.Better. With fabulous new friends. I feel like that's the kind of thing that can only bring people closer.

Because I don't have the time or memory to recap the whole night, here's an abbreviated version:

Drink, dance, laugh, drink, get on a school bus to go from school to the club, drink, dance, dance, drink, laugh, drink, dance, laugh, wander around, flirt, dance, laugh, dance, cab.

I think that's pretty accurate. And I was home by 2am I think. The law school goes hard but STL closes early.

So all that drinking and dancing must have destroyed my run, right? WRONG!

I stayed in bed literally the entire day on Saturday, watching TV on Netflix. At 2pm, I got my butt in gear and went to the gym for my run, dreading it. The weird thing is, the run felt good. It was 3x3 for 30 minutes and the first half felt good. Even easy. I was definitely in The Zone. Unfortunately when I reached for my water bottle I hit the emergency STOP button on the treadmill. And that shattered my Zone. I tried to keep going but I just didn't have the willpower for it. Ugh. My knee started hurting, my hangover came back, and my mentality was all screwed up. Oh well. If I can gather up the courage I want to run outside today. I'm not sure why that scares me but it does! We'll see.

Happy Halloween!

Just a Quick Update

My run yesterday felt good! Definitely hard but in the best way. On another note, you know how it's time to go grocery shopping? When you find yourself eating leftover instant mashed potatoes for breakfast. And using sunscreen because you're out of lotion. And when the huge bottle of laundry detergent is gone. So good thing I'm going to Target today (to finalize and by finalize i mean get the whole thing) my halloween costume!! Which I am BEYOND excited for. Apparently starting November 2 everyone in law school locks themselves away in a cubicle and doesn't come out until after finals, so this is the last night to really really whip my hair back and forth. (Notice that November 1 will be used as a recovery day.)

Other things on my mind:
1. Potentially doing a No-Meat November. Problems with this include my dislike of tofu, and the whole Thanksgiving/turkey thing.
2. How essential is the pony mask to a My Little Pony costume? Could I get away with face paint?
3. So awkward that my alarm didn't go off this morning. I missed yoga (booo!) and have to bounce now to get to school.
4. EventhoughtheYankeesaren'tplayingandsowhoreallycares, go Giants! (That's for you, Wifey.)
5. CANNOT WAIT FOR GYPSY REUNION.

More to come on all these things later.

Law School = Time Sink

So, I've been slacking on my writing. But NOT on my running!

Monday I upped from 2mins running, 4mins walking for 30 minutes to 3x3. I missed a run this weekend due do drunken debauchery, and was pity party-ing until my friend Hali told me, basically, to step my game up. "You have to prioritize...if you really want it."

I DO want it. And so this week I've prioritized. Monday and Wednesday are my longest school days, but they are also running days. So I wrote out a detailed plan for each day, including class time, food time, running time, and the requisite 4+ hours of library time. Oh yeah, plus time spent cleaning my apartment and getting my halloween costume together. Today is only Wednesday but I'm doing well so far.

Monday's run was hard, but good hard. It was exciting to feel like upping my minutes was doable, and I felt like a rockstar at the end of the run. It gave me a boost to realize that however great I feel now, I'm going to feel about a billion times better after running 13.1 miles!

Money In The Bank

I had to make up yesterday's run by doing it today, due to unforeseen circumstances. Well. Not really that unforeseen...I spent three hours watching baseball and then realized I had done no work, so spent four hours in the library. Time management fail. I told this to my friend Kirsten and said I planned to make up the run today. Her response? "YOU NEED TO!" And she was totally right, and I did.

She explained to me the concept that the Vassar Cross-Country team follows: running is like money in the bank. If you don't put it in, you wont have it when you need it. Notwithstanding the fact that I am terrible with money, the girl's got a point. So today, after 3 classes and a short field trip to the school bookstore to buy my first piece of Washington University School of Law apparel, I hit the gym for my run. And I'm glad I did. I feel awesome now. Sidebar: my gym on a Thursday afternoon is dead empty. I was the only person around for the good 45 minutes to an hour I was there, except for the 3 guys who work there. Hilarious. Also, the owner now recognizes me because I'm in there every day. In fact my run was my second time today since I did yoga this morning. We're pretty much best friends.

Aaaanyway. The plan for the next few days? Well right now I'm going to take a well-deserved shower. Then I'm going to hit the library. Potentially go out for a couple hours...depending on my level of productivity. Tomorrow: getting up early to get my run in before class. Then a practice midterm in the afternoon! Baseball at night. Saturday: run, study, clean apartment, potluck dinner. Sunday: brunch, study, study, catch up on TV.

Loving it.

That Monday Feeling

Today's run was good. I felt stronger and it took noticeably longer for me to get tired and wish I was done. Positive! It was also (slash, still is) a busy day for me, so getting the run in felt like an accomplishment. Three classes, a Chinese tutoring session, and a baseball game are no joke.

This week I'm running four times, and doing this:

Run 2 minutes, walk 4 minutes, repeat 5 times (total of 30 mins)

Simple, right? A perfect place to start for someone with nooooo running experience. Especially since I haven't done anything super strenuous since freshman year of college. Five years ago. OMG I'm so old. Panicccccc. Whew. Regroup. Anyway.

I'll be building on that each week and in 10 weeks time, I'll be running 30 minutes solid. When that's accomplished I'll move to the next phase - training in miles, not minutes.

I need to figure out where to run outdoors...I'm pretty sure there's a high school track a few blocks from me. If not, maybe the track at school would be a good idea. I need to invest in an ipod armband.

Happy Monday!

A Crazy Idea

I'm going to run a half-marathon.

There. I said it. Out loud. In print. I chiseled it into a piece of virtual stone.

I decided to do it last week, on a whim. Unrealistic, right? But all my best ideas came from acting on a whim. Seriously, all of them. For example: Join the cheerleading team. Join the rowing team. Apply to Vassar. Apply to Wash U. Go to law school. Be a Yankees fan. See?

I talked to a few friends about it last week - a childhood friend who coerced me into running track in high school (and by running track i mean doing shot put and discus and struggling through the 2 lap warm up/cool downs). a college friend who was the captain of the cross-country team and recently came in 3rd out of 500 women in a 5k race. and a (new!) law school friend who was recently sidelined from her marathon training by an achilles tendon with an attitude problem. Of course all three of them were super supportive. Then again, all of them can also run a mile. Not me.

I'm pretty much the anti-runner. But that's part of the reason I want to actually accomplish this. I don't like the idea that there is something out there that I cant do. I'm not saying my next step is going to be the NBA or that I'm going to quit law school and sign up to be an astronaut. I just think that 13.1 miles sounds just out-of-reach enough to make me want to do it.

Also...law school is hard. It's stressful. It takes up a lot of time, and a LOT of thought. I need a hobby, something to take my mind off school. And while I love my yoga class, its more of a relaxing stress reliever. I need something that's going to kick my ass.

I've made a few forays into running before, most recently this summer. I invested in a sweet pair of Brooks running shoes and some hawt running socks. My plans went well for a month or so, then it was time to move to St. Louis and in all the excitement, running fell by the wayside.Before this summer, I did a 10-week running plan in college. I made it 9 weeks...and then went home for winter break and running fell by the wayside.

This time I'm doing a few things differently. First of all, I have a goal that's not just "be a runner"...its "run 13.1 miles without dying". Second, I've told people about it. Not everyone, but enough people that I am always just a phone call away from encouragement. Or a stern talking-to. Whatever. As I progress and get more comfortable I'll tell more people. It will come up in conversation. Whatevz. I have a weird paranoia that if I talk about things I want too much, they wont happen. So. We'll see.

The half-marathon I want to run is in April, so I have six months to train. Six months to go from zero to 13.1. I scoured the Runnersworld website and found a 10-week program to get me from 0 to 30 minutes of running. Then, there's a 14 week program to go from there to a half marathon. I've got about a week of cushion time built in there. I showed it to my three runnerfriends and they all approved, so that's good.

I started officially on Thursday, and I ran again today (Saturday). Two runs down, 108 to go! I'm going to use the blog to keep track of myself from now on, partly for anyone who reads it (if anyone reads it) but mostly for myself. Whew. More later!

Life is for Happiness

Things are going really well for a lot of people close to me, and it makes me happy in my soul. In honor of that, I want to post about some of the things that are making me happy right this second.

Things I Like (in no particular order):
1. Making lists
2. Sunday study sessions at Starbucks
3. Sunshine, sunshine, sunshine
4. Seasonal food and drink
5. Hearing how happy friends are
6. Sunshine, sunshine, sunshine
7. Yankee's sweeping the Twins
8. Gchat
9. Free concerts (even when I'm sober because it never occurred to me that an undergraduate institution would not serve alcohol...thanks Vassar for screwing with my perception of acceptable behavior.)
10. Verizon picking up the iphone (according to the nytimes. lets hope its true.)
11. Feeling content because of other people's happiness

I Heart NY...

Yankees!!

I love baseball, and I love it most when it involved the New York Yankees.

My love for the Yanks started when I was in middle school. I had always watched baseball with my dad, it was his favorite sport, and he taught me all about it. In seventh grade I decided I needed to pick a team for myself.

But how to choose?

First of all, I lived in upstate New York, so clearly I had to pick a New York team.

Now, Mets or Yankees?

At the time, I knew nothing about the teams themselves. My dad wasn't a Yankees fan, in fact he had disliked the Yankees ever since they beat the Braves about a hundred years ago.

What I did know was that the Mets hats were ugly as sin. The Yankees clearly had/have the better uniform...

And so I became a Yankees fan.

This has since turned into deep affection and proud affiliation. I'm not the most thorough fan - I usually only get to one or two games a season, and I don't start getting super excited until the post-season. BUT I proudly rep the Yankees wherever I go.

Including here in St. Louis. Today I am wearing a Yankees shirt (Texy!) in honor of us making it to the playoffs. Three people have already expressed dislike. But you know what? Fuck 'em. I don't care if people don't like the Yankees. I do. That's what matters to me. (Actually, I do dislike when people hate the Yankees for no reason other than 'they are the Yankees', and I do hate when people bash the Yankees so much they forget to CHEER FOR THEIR OWN TEAM. But I digress.)

The point is, with autumn comes baseball, and part of the reason I love this season is because its New York time.

I heart NYY.

Yum Yum!

Tonight I made stuffed mushrooms for a class potluck tomorrow. They look super delicious. I tasted one and they TASTE super delicious. I'm so excited. I love my St. Louis kitchen, and I hope to do a lot of cooking over the course of this year. Mmmmm!

Nostalgia

The change in the seasons, coupled with my change of scenery, has got me feeling nostalgic. And because I like lists, I'm going to make a list of the things i miss most. Disclaimer - this is in no particular order.

1. Sunrise on the Hudson River. Rowing in general is something that I miss with a permanent ache. But the crisp September mornings, the promise of a new season, the bright foliage on the banks of the Hudson, and the mist rising off the water as the sun comes up...inexplicable. I miss rowing every single day. the feel of fiberglass under my hands. The distinct shape of a coxswain seat. The blue NK headband strapped tight around my head, hearing my voice echo through the microphone. Working the cox box. Speedcoaches. The clunk...clunk of eight oars in sync. Paying attention to innumerable details, simultaneously. Being part motivational speaker, part instruction manual, and part raging, furious water sprite. Being freezing and miserable, choking on waves of Hudson water. And being absolutely elated when the last power 20 pulls the boat past our rival. Screaming 'bowball!' and knowing how it makes everyone feel inside.

2. Paris. My favorite place in the world, the place I know I will live someday for more than 5 months. Just waking up every morning and knowing I was in Paris made my study abroad experience better than it could have been anywhere else. I love the city. The architecture, the history, the vélibs. The metro. The euro. The food, the wine, the people. (Yes, the people too - on my first day in France several very nice people helped me carry my two HUGE suitcases up various flights of stairs in the metro.) The clothes. Exploring, walking, my neighborhood. Being able to say 'my neighborhood'. Knowing the snail like the back of my hand. My tiny room under the roof and its spectacular view. Speaking French. Getting chased by bums (ok that part maybe I don't miss so much). Living my dream.

3. My best friends from high school. Because we had a comfort level that was through the roof. There are four of us, but one bed? Not a problem. You want some gum? Here's some...out of my mouth. Surprise! We are going to show up at your job and attempt to kidnap you and bring you on a day trip. Speaking of day trips, lets get in the car and go and see what we can find. A Russian orthodox Church? A graveyard? Let's explore. I miss the comfort of being able to wrap myself around them, walk into their houses unannounced, call their moms 'mom', treat their siblings like my siblings, and be as comfortable in their space as they were in mine.

4. My childhood home. The house I grew up in was the spot where all the kids hung out. My mom provided endless ice-pops in the summer and baked goods in the winter. It was only a couple blocks from my high school, and a hub for all my friends who lived a few blocks away in various locations. There was a tree in the backyard that was perfect for climbing and sitting in for hours. My bedroom even had a balcony that would have come in quite handy for sneaking out, had we not moved before I started going to parties.

5. Being in love. This has the potential to be super cheesy, but its true. I'm not talking about having a crush, or sexual tension, or a flirtation, or a random hook-up in a bar in Dublin, or a friend-with-benefits who visits every once in a while. I mean real, heart wrenching love. Where you know the person better than anyone else. You can finish each others sentences. Full conversations are had via eye contact. When you want to constantly be in contact with them, physical or otherwise. Now, my attitude toward love right now is kind of laissez-faire, whatever happens happens. But I do remember the feeling.

6. High school football games. More specifically, cheerleading at high school football games. The chill in the air, the uncomfortable long-sleeved leotards under the uniforms. The shiny, toothbrush-clean sneakers. The feeling of the gravel crunching beneath my feet. Cheering for my friends (and high school boyfriend) out on the field. Stunts. Calling cheers. Bright lights, big crowds, laughter.

Whew...I think that's enough of the nostalgia. I love where I am in my life right now. I love my friends, what I'm doing, where I'm living and how I'm living. There are very few things I would change, and there aren't very many things that I regret. But with change comes the chance to look back and remember.

Shavasana

I recently took up yoga. And by recently, I mean Tuesday. I had my second class this morning, and I'm still feeling the peace. I am hooked. This class is excellent for a few reasons.

First, I am the only one in the class. So I pretty much get a one-on-one yoga class twice a week. Pretty sweet deal.

Second, the studio is right around the corner from my apartment. I can literally see the building from my window. That is super convenient. It's also inside a gym (which I joined, obviously) so I have access to cardio, weights, and a whole range of kickboxing and other classes. Which I will take advantage of...eventually.

Third, the class is at the perfect time. Its 7:30-8:30am and my first class is at 9. So I can just pick up from class and drive straight to class. And since its a pretty gentle class I'm not disgusting and sweaty.

Fourth, the instructor is excellent. She is attentive, kind, and a genuinely nice person. And she drops nice tidbits of yoga information along with the practice.

All in all, I'm loving it. I've already started dreaming of the day I teach my own yoga class. But I'll keep it slow for now. And as Ashley, my instructor says: "Each breath is a new opportunity to become present." Music to my ears. Om.

Lets Go Cardinals?

This past Friday, the law school organized a group outing to a baseball game. As a lifelong baseball fan I was pretty hyped to go. The only thing is, we are in St. Louis and not New York. So the team everyone was cheering for was the Cardinals...not the Yankees. I didn't expect it to make as big a difference as it did.

When the Yankees play, I am all about it. Engaged, happy, heartbroken, interested. With the Cards, not so much. I'm not emotionally invested in them at all. Yes, Albert Pujols seems pretty cool but that's where my involvement ends.

Now, since I like baseball anyway it wasn't a chore to sit and watch. But when my friends suggested leaving after the 7th inning I was all about it, something that would never happen at a Yanks game. This makes me seriously question how I'm going to cope in life if I am not in New York or the surrounding area. It could become a problem.

On the upside, being a Yankees fan in the Midwest means that other Yankees fans are on the lookout. I've already bonded with a couple of people over a mutual love of the bronx bombers. So I guess the moral of the story is that every cloud has a silver lining. At least I'm not surrounded by Mets fans.

New Beginnings

I'm Baaaack!!

I was away for a looong time. Since my last post I went on vacation with my college roommates to San Diego, California and had an AMAZING time. I quit my job (!!!). I moved 1/3 of the way across the country from Upstate New York to St. Louis, Missouri. And last but not least, I started law school.

As of today I am 2 1/2 days into law school here at Washington University in St. Louis.

And. I. Love. It.

I cant really explain why. There is a ton of work. I plan to spend at least six hours in the library tonight. If someone even suggested such a thing during my undergrad years I would have laughed in their face. Six hours in the library during the first week of class? Nonono. The library was lucky to even SEE me before midterms. But now things are different. The material calls to me. 'Understand me,' it whispers, 'read me again!' and so I do. It's funny because I can see as I'm reading that any normal person would be bored out of their skull. WHO CARES if, in 1911, someone breached their contract to sell wheat at $1.03 per bushel?

I care. I really do. Which is great because a (substantial) part of me was worried I was making a HUGE mistake coming to law school. It was pretty much a spur-of-the-moment decision. I decided on a whim, researched and applied, got in, got a great scholarship, and decided it didn't make sense to back out. Clearly someone thought I would be good at law school. Plus I'd spent a grand on a Kaplan course and that was too much money to just flake out.

So here I am, in the Midwest - somewhere I never ever in a million years thought I would be. (I will discuss the fact that everything I vow to never do ends up happening in a later post.) I have a great studio apartment, I'm enjoying my classes, at least so far. I'm meeting tons of interesting new people from all over the place with all kinds of backgrounds and perspectives on life. And we are all connected by this inexplicable draw to understand "the law". I guess I'm pretty lucky.

Going Going, Back Back to Cali Cali...

I'm going on vacation today! My four college roommates and I are about to spend a glorious week together in San Diego. Plans include: beach, zoo, beach, hollywood, beach, baseball game, beach, beach.

I once heard a story about a group of college friends that made a point to vacation together every year and had been doing it for over thirty years. This is my goal. How easy would it be to just say, 'oh I can't make it this year' and then have that spiral into never seeing each other? I would hate that. So this vacation is the first of many, and even though we are fresh (ish) out of college and have all kinds of milestones to look forward to that will make yearly get-togethers hard to impossible, such as law school, med school, grad school, jobs, relationships, etc, I have faith in our ability to keep doing it.

But on a less emotional note -

I AM SO EXCITED FOR CALIFORNIA!

I'll be leaving my house in about 20 minutes, and I should get there by 6:30. Hurray! I'm hyper with excitement. The only downside is that my cat is displeased to be spending the week at my moms house, where her (bigger, territorial) brother lives. Whoops. Hopefully she will forgive me.

The Littlest Gypsy is about to be reunited with the Fastest, Blushiest, Singiest, and Sleepiest Gypsies! Love.

Resurrection

Oh hayyy...it's been a while.

Well, my computer broke. Then my phone died. (Breakdown!) Then I got distracted, as is wont to happen.

But!

I'm back in action. Geared up for the summer. The weather is hawt and I lurve it.

Congratulations to Vassar Class of 2010! They had a beautiful graduation with alum Lisa Kudrow as a terrific, funny, insightful speaker.

With summer comes the following -
late nights
iced tea
sitting on the porch
wantonness
nail polish that looks like m&ms
open windows
a countdown until I quit my job

...so many glorious things. More to come...

Happy Summer!

Breakdown, Build Up

Last week my computer died. It had a series of small strokes (aka shutting itself down) that got worse and worse until finally it just wouldnt turn on at all. I took it to the apple store where they said I could either replace the logic board for SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS, or buy a new computer. Obviously, I got a new computer. I was going to get one anyway in a few months when I go away for law school, so it just came early. (Thanks mom! No need to get me a birthday present.)

Over the weekend, I was down at Vassar enjoying the sun and drinking copious amounts of alcohol with all my 09 lovahs for founders day. It was my first founders day, so that made it even more special. Unfortunately, someone (read: me) spilled a shot of jaegermeister on my cell phone. Whoops. It dried in such a way that the phone was totally fine...except the keyboard didn't work. I could turn it on and see that i had nine new messages, but couldn't click any keys to open messages, dial numbers, or pick up calls. Awk. Ward.

This left me with a few days where I was both computerless and phoneless. Also, one of those days the power went out at my job...bizarre, no? Maybe it was me? I dont know. Anyway, when I first realized I had no phone AND no computer (it took a little while, since I had been drinking continuously since 10am and it was approximately 7pm) I was convinced my life was crumbling to the ground. I was sure that when I got home my cat would have run away, my apartment building would have burned down, and my car would have been stolen.

Luckily, none of these things happened. I also realized that it's kind of liberating to be totally out of reach. Untouchable. I could go anywhere and nobody could track me down. I couldn't even get online to check my email or facebook to find out they were looking for me. I realized that that was the way I lived my life up until age 14, when I got my first cell phone (and shared it with my mom...the only person I ever needed to call). Actually, I was even more connected at 14 than now, since we had a house phone and a house computer. So if I wanted to hang out with my best friend I didn't need to facebook her or bbm her or text her or gchat her...I could just dial her home phone, ask for her when someone answered, and chat.

But at 22, in 2010, with no cell phone or computer...I felt like I had gone rogue. Especially while driving. The freedom of driving your own car, without the attachment of a cell phone that also gets email. A little bit sublime.

Also I got a lot more reading done than I would have otherwise. And that's something that I miss a lot...just sitting down with a book because thats what I would like to do more than anything else. Part of me wishes my priorities hadn't changed. But hey, that's life. I still love books and even if I put one down briefly to watch the newest episode of Glee or Grey's Anatomy, I'll come back to it.

The moral of this story is, it can feel life-destroying when all your technology craps out at once. But savor the feeling, because once your phone starts buzzing and you have the internet at your fingertips, there's no escaping your connections.

Hey Baby, What's Your Sign?

I know a lot of people are skeptical about astrology, but I am not one of them. I am the kind of person who will say, "oh, you're a Libra? I should have guessed," and be completely serious about it. That might be because I see a lot of myself reflected in my own sign. Whatever. I don't think everyone has to take it seriously, I just think its an interesting topic that speaks strongly to me personally. For example -

I am a Leo. Not just a Leo, but a LEO. Bossy, stubborn, and unyielding. Also loyal, generous, and enthusiastic. I tend to succeed. (Please don't let that be a phase.) I will do just about anything to help my friends. I need to be needed, and it hurts when I'm not, but I don't want to talk about it. I will never say no to attention or being admired, and I have big dreams. Those are all Leo traits. Would I still be this way if I was born in December? Maybe, maybe not. Who can really know? I cant. Let's go with it.

Once you see yourself in your sign, it's easy to spot others acting out in stereotypical ways. My friend E is a Cancer. She loves to cook, values her home and family, and she can get moody and emotional. (I love you E!) Some people would say, 'slow down girl, anyone could be like that! It doesn't matter that she's a Cancer!' but that's the fun part - the maybes, the ifs, the coincidences.

I have another friend who is a Capricorn. She is so ambitious. So steady. She works, and works, and works, and has a very clear path from where she is to where she's going. She has anywhere between two and four jobs at any given time and saves money like whoa. She is rational and a deep, deep thinker, but she also lives at extremes - work hard, play hard. Create hard. Think hard.

I could probably give an example for every sign of the zodiac. Aquarius, individualistic and free-spirited, yet unyielding when they think they are right. Pisces, sensitive and mysterious (sometimes for no reason) but the most understanding and giving of friends. Sagittarius, blunt to the point of brutality but also creative, and a lot of fun to be around. If anyone is recognizing themselves...yeah.

Another thing that strikes me is this: I tend to be attracted to the same signs over and over. A lot of my close friends share signs. Every guy I've loved has been a Taurus. Granted, that's not very many people (one and a half) but still. Pattern? I hope not because Leo + Taurus = possibly the most stubborn couple imaginable, who will stay together out of stubbornness for way too long. That sounds familiar. Awkward.

Anyway, the point of this rambling post is that I'm really interested in the zodiac. I think its cool when people characterize their signs. I will admit I know people who are nothing like their sign (at least at first), but nothing is for everyone. As for this Leo, I think I know where I stand.

76 Rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs

This was my address when I lived in my favorite city in the world - Paris. Right at the bottom of the 6th arrondissement, between the Boulevard Montparnasse and the Jardin de Luxembourg, a five-minute walk from the formidable, if not exactly beautiful, Tour Montparnasse. Closest to the Vavin metro stop, but also convenient to Edgar Quinet. With a view of the roof of the Sorbonne from my eighth-floor one-room garret apartment. Bliss.

For the four and a half months I lived in Paris, I was completely euphoric. When we first arrived I learned that our semi-psychotic housing 'director' had taken my request to live a) with a family, b) within walking distance of our school, and c) in the middle of the city and thrown it out like last weeks compost. I was with a single, middle aged woman, on the outskirts of the city, a 30-minute metro ride to class. The only friend I had on the program? On the complete opposite side of the city. We could not have been farther apart. So, I took matters into my own hands. I found an ad for a room for rent, called the woman, met her, and rented it.

My new host mother, Francoise, was an English teacher with two children around my age, both off at college. She lived in an absolutely beautiful apartment that had been in her family for years, and came complete with maids quarters on the top floor. This is where I was in luck - her son had been living in the maids quarters, but was going off to school, therefore she was looking to rent it out. She showed me the room. rectangular, not very large, with a built in shower stall, sink, and mirror. (The toilet, shared by the 10 or so people that lived there, was in the hall. No worries, it was spotlessly clean.) There was a door/window that opened onto a sweet little balcony. A desk, dresser, nightstand, and hot plate completed the ensemble, and the price was right. I moved in the next day.

I quickly became one with my new neighborhood. I went to the bakery around the corner every day. "Bonjour madame!" I would greet her cheerfully. "Bonjour!" She would smile back. The deceptively small but delicious restaurant down the street began to recognize me, and at one point asked a classmate where I was when she came in without me. The discovery of a bagel shop that served different bagel sandwiches named after cities in the United States brought me closer to my adopted home. The surly waiters at the restaurant we went to for steak frites gradually loosened up and began to joke with us. We had cracked the snail's shell, and I melted into my Parisian life like Nutella in a curbside crepe.

Living in Paris had been my childhood dream - I started learning French in kindergarten and never looked back. The city calls to me, those four and a half months remain vivid in my memory in a way my trips to China and Brazil have not. A map of the City of Lights hangs above my bed, where I can almost see myself walking its streets. I can smell the air, feel the breeze, recall the exact hue of the sunlight on the Haussmannien buildings and luxurious boulevards. I'm not saying Paris is perfect, I'm just saying it's where I belong.

The More Things Change, The More Things Stay The Same

Before I can post about my impending move to St Louis, MO, I have to upload the pictures I took when I visited. And to upload the pictures, I have to put new batteries in my camera. Unfortunately, the batteries are on the living room table. The camera is on the floor next to my bed. Conundrummmm. In the meantime, I'll just talk about something that's been on my mind a lot lately - friendship.

I think I am extremely lucky in the friendship department. I have friends from elementary, middle, and high school that I love dearly, and friends from college that I couldn't imagine my life without. They cover the whole spectrum and they are my second family. Some are the kind that I can go for weeks or months without talking to, and then we sit down for coffee, or dinner, or whatever it is, and its like nothing has changed. We slide right back into our warm, comfortable friendships. Others I talk to often - we text, bbm, gchat, email, travel together, travel to each other, live together, work together, eat, drink, and play together. These are the friends that I will think of if I see something funny, or ridiculous. They are the ones I call if I am sad, lonely, happy, nervous, or bored.

High school friends know each other in a way that college friends cannot. High school friends have watched you grow from awkward fourteen year old to graceful adult. These are the friends that are in your first grade class picture. They are the ones who can tell you the exact moment you met on the first day of middle school. The ones who say, "I was walking past our old bus stop today, do you remember when..." and the ones who can communicate an inside joke with one sidelong glance.

College friends are the friends who watched, and helped, as you took control of your life. They watched you decide your future, they gave advice or they supported you silently. These friends shape you in a different way than childhood friends, but in a way that is just as important.

I am personally a pretty contact-oriented person. I have no problem hugging, kissing, cuddling, spooning, sharing beds with, piggybacking, being picked up by, or snuggling with my friends, male or female. Some people are not like that, and I respect that. But I wont think twice about throwing my arms around a friend I haven't seen in a year and a half. I'm pretty much the perfect size to curl up in someone's lap. Being picked up and carried off doesn't faze me. For me, its normal for people who love each other to want to be close to each other, and I love my friends.

This said, I am not great at keeping in touch with friends. I think about them often, even ones I haven't spoken to or seen in years. Once someone has taken up space in my heart, that space is open for them. (With very few exceptions.) Basically, I think my friends are critically important and a huge part of my life. Being apart from friends is probably the thing I worry about most. For example, I'm moving to St Louis in August, and I am sooo relieved that one of my college friends will be there with me. But I can already feel how much I'm going to miss my friends from home, my college friends, my roommate...everyone. One of my friends is going to Tokyo next week, for two years. Every time I see him, I feel like it might be the last time and I want to hug him forever.

But the great part about friendship is that it can be flexible. Maybe I wont see this friend for two years, but I will definitely see him again. My college roommates and I are committed to vacationing together at least once a year. There are high school and college reunions. And the internet! So, I guess the moral of the story is - keep your friends close.

April Showers Bring...

Law school decisions! And I made a big one last weekend. I'm officially moving to ST LOUIS, MISSOURI to attend Washington University in St. Louis for law school. Since I've lived in New York State my entire life (except one four-month stint in Paris), this decision is a huge one for me. More to come!

Yuck.

I hate being sick.

That's all.

Sunrise

This morning I got up super early. 6am on a Saturday is no joke. But my plan for today is to drive down to Poughkeepsie, take the train to the city (metro north, $25 round trip, yes please!) and visit two of my lovely friends, S and K. So I dragged myself out of bed and I'm all ready to go, just finishing my coffee. I looked out the window just now and saw the sunrise! It's just peeking over the rooftops and coming through the trees. So beautiful. It has a kind of hazy, glowing quality that makes me want to keep looking at it even though I'm already seeing spots. It made getting up early worth it.

On another note, I'm so excited to go to the city! First of all the drive to Poughkeepsie is very pretty. Then I get to spend a few hours on the train, either writing or reading Romeo and Juliet, oooor watching Sex and the City. Hmm, tough choices. And last but not least, I get to see two of the girls that I spent last year living with. Pretty much the best weekend ever, especially as K and I are planning a spa day! It might turn into a fail because we have yet to actually book anything, but walk ins will be welcome, right?

Anyway, time for me to hit the road. I've got coffee, music, gas, and great weather. I cant find my sunglasses, but I guess that means I'll just have to buy some in the city!

Surprise!

Just a quick post before i run off to work to say - SPRING IS HERE! I am so excited about this. Yesterday after work my dear friend H and I went for a walk! Got dinner at an excellent Mexican place, and then WALKED again from my house to hers, watched a sweet movie, and had a generally perfect night. I love spring. Almost as much as I love summer. I don't know how I'm going to keep going to work and sitting inside all day. I might have to quit my job. (Just kidding...probably.) Maybe I'll win the lottery so I can just relax and enjoy my life in the warmth until the fall. It's going to be 65 on Friday. It will be 67 in St. Louis, but why I know that is a whole different story. More later!

Excuse me, Time? Where do you think you're going?

The theme of this weekend, which I'm just realizing now, is TIME. On Saturday I drove from Albany to Plattsburgh (and back, ew) to attend my cousin Trisha's bridal shower. What does this have to do with time? Well, six hours in the car with two ipod enabled teenagers is a really, really long time. But that's not all.

My cousin Trish is younger than I am. I'm twenty-two, she's twenty. She has three sisters, Julia (24 I think), Terra (22) and Kelly (17). Julia is also engaged, Terra is married and has the most beautiful baby girl (Hailee) in the world, and Kelly has a sweet boyfriend. This got me thinking. I am 22...should I be engaged? Married? No...right? Then I started thinking, who else do I know that is married?

An old friend from my cheerleading days is married and living in Key West. A once-best-friend is married and has a six month old baby boy. A friend from elementary school is engaged. But then again, the vast majority of my friends are still single, dating, etc. Most people are in that in-between stage. We've finished undergrad, now grad/law/med school is the next thing on the agenda. And after that, we'll see. But I don't feel like an anomaly at least. At first it was hard to get used to people my age settling down and actually procreating. After all, I knew these girls when they were in elementary, middle, and high school. Swallowing bees by accident. Streaking. Cutting up frogs. That kind of thing. So for them to be moving to a stage in life that is so far away from where I am was hard to wrap my head around at first.

But then, if they are happy, then I am happy for them. Not everyone matures at the same rate, or even in the same ways, or wants the same things from life. But time marches steadily on, and we figure things out. We've got years and years to grow and think and plan and laugh. And love.

Romeo and Juliet

I will admit it. When we read Romeo and Juliet in middle school or high school or whenever it was we read it...I skimmed. Partially it was because at 16 I was so over poetry/anything rhyming. Partly it was because I had recently discovered that I didn't need to read the books, I just needed to argue with EVERYTHING the teacher said and she would take that as a sign that I was thinking outside the box. Thanks Mrs. Bentley! She made me read aloud from Beowulf once, I think, and that's when my grudge against her (slash against reading for her class) solidified. And I had her for two years in a row. A lot of literature got skimmed.

Thankfully last week I picked up a book by Robin Maxwell called 'O, Juliet', which is a retelling of Shakespeare's classic, set in Florence in the time of the Medici. After devouring her book, I got on Netflix and watched Baz Luhrmann's 1996 (OMG SO LONG AGO) version of Romeo + Juliet. Oh, Leo. Oh, Clare. I'm pretty sure we watched this movie in the aforementioned English class, after we read the play. But this was the first time I'd seen it since, and it was absolutely beautiful. Eight years later I can truly appreciate the movie. Leo and Clare seem so incredibly young - a fact that didn't come through the first time, since I was just as young, if not younger. But this time I see the sweet innocence in Leo's smile, the wonder in Clare Danes' big, green eyes. It made all the difference to me.

So now I appreciate Romeo and Juliet. Their plight, their love, their story. R+J now rank up their with my other favorite couple, Tristan and Isolde. Star-crossed lovers who sacrifice everything for each other. Love at first sight. Knowing that the one thing you want is the one thing you cant have. The feeling you get when your heart belongs not to you but to another, and how delicate and fragile it makes you feel, especially when you know you carry their heart inside your own body. Unrequited love.

The only question I have is this: Romeo, Romeo...wherefore art thou, Romeo?

Car Talk

I don't know why, but my best friends from high school and I always do our serious talking in the car. My friend E and I used to sit in the car outside her house and talk for hours. Maybe it was because as 16 year olds we couldn't really be guaranteed privacy in her house or in mine? There were always siblings or parents who wanted to 'just ask one thing', or 'just see what you girls are up to'.

To escape this, we would go out for a meal or grab hot chocolate (before my induction into the coffee-loving world). We would chat, and it always seemed like the really important discussions would start up just as we got in the car to go home. We talked about boys, of course. School, our plans for college, friends, family, religion, race, the future, our dreams...every topic under the sun would be discussed in my born-the-same-year-as-I-was red Volvo sedan with leather seats and working sunroof. (My first car, I still miss it.)

Five years later, even though I no longer live with my parents, my friend H and I found ourselves in this exact same position last night. Different car, hers this time. We had decided to go to dinner on a whim, found a cute, tiny restaurant in Albany where the only other patrons were a couple in their mid-twenties, a pair of ten year old boys who were pretty much cuter than words, playing grown ups in this classy little place, and seven or eight cops...off duty perhaps? Maybe not? Who knows.

After dinner, we drove the .9 miles back to my apartment. And then spent an hour and a half sitting in H's car, listening to an sex-themed hip-hop/r&b Wednesday-night college radio show. (Check out Cypress Hill feat. Pitbull & Marc Anthony - Armada Latina.) And we just talked. About boys, of course. School, our plans for grad/law school, friends, family, religion, race, the future, our dreams...

So maybe the car is the best place for deep conversations. Or maybe its just that once you really get on a role, it doesn't matter where you are. But car talk with my dearest friends is something I always look forward to.

Travel Bug

I. Love. To. Travel.

I love road trips - whether I'm driving or not. Sitting in the car, watching the road unfold ahead. Making the perfect playlist, or being pleasantly surprised when shuffle seems to know exactly what you want to hear. Group road rage, ogling the cuties in the next car, running out of gas on a back road in a strange town the morning of the first day of classes.

I love train trips - the slow rumble as the train gets started. Men helping little old ladies push their oversize suitcases into the overhead racks. Watching the scenery fly by to the rhythm of the turning wheels. Ticket punchers and the clothes the conductors wear.

I love plane trips - passport stamps. Butterflies in my stomach as the plane takes off. Flight attendants giving us knowing looks as we order gin and tonics, and telling us to take it easy. The moment when you step outside the airport and are officially in a whole new world.

I love bus trips - three friends crowded together on uncomfortable seats, but happy just to be together. Sprinting across lanes of traffic to arrive, gasping, at the last minute before the bus leaves. "You people from Albany be getting lucky," says the bus driver, grinning.

I want to say I love boat trips but I've never taken one, unless the 18 minute trip from one end of the Head of the Charles course to the other end counts.

Travel is clearly my favorite thing. I don't care if its driving from Albany to Boston, taking the Metro North from Poughkeepsie to New York, or Flying from JFK to Paris, Brazil, or China. I love everything about it, even the obnoxious lines at airports, uncooperative bus attendants, and unforeseen car problems that even stump the two state troopers who pull over to see what the hell is going on.

In my 22 years of live I've been to Salvador da Bahia, Brazil; Qingdao, Beijing, and Shanghai, China; Paris, France; Dublin, Ireland; Florence, Italy; Montreal, Canada (four times in one month...an excessive number of middle school field trips); Tijuana, Mexico, and several of the united states. I also transferred planes in a German airport once. I love all the places I've been and am thankful I got to experience them because they have changed me and molded me in ways I cant even explain. I know things about myself that I wouldnt know otherwise. For example, I am a city girl. I need to live in a city, full stop. I also know that if I can figure things out in a city where i a) know nobody, b) have zero language skills, or c) all of the above, I will be fine anywhere. It's a real confidence boost.

There will absolutely be more to come on this topic, but for now...

Sweet Tooth Blues

I decided last night to give up sugar. Not permanently, just to see what life is like without it. I'm so used to sprinkling the sweet white flakes into beverages and onto food, its become a reflex. The sugar canister is never empty. I put at least one (heaping) teaspoon of sugar in each of my morning cups of coffee. I love cookies and chocolate and pretty much any kind of sugar coated sugar dipped in sugar. I eat so much sugar that my teeth have been passing around a petition. So, to give my pearly whites a break, and to test my own willpower, I'm giving up the white powder for an indefinite period of time. Now, I'm not one to go cold turkey. I've never really been addicted to anything except books...and coffee...and, uh, sugar...um. But I think a series of cutbacks is best. For example, starting this morning - no sugar in my coffee. I think this was by far the biggest hurdle. Before this morning I had never even TASTED coffee without sugar. It's not bad. I think it'll grow on me. So this weeks task is to not ADD sugar to anything. I'm also trying to calm down with the sugary beverages (I'm looking at you, soda) and staying farrrr away from splenda, aspartame, etc. Yick.

How fast do the sugar cravings stop? Well at lunch, I was eating a banana, and it tasted sweeter than usual. Deliciously sweet. Because there was no sweet competition, except my snapple (I couldn't bring myself to pay two dollars for a bottle of water. This is Albany, not Manhattan.) the banana was better. I like it. Let's keep it going. I looked at our box of kettle corn...zero sugar. Miracle? Also this vodka tonic. Well done, vodka. Well done, tonic water.

That's all for now. Just trying to make my dentist proud!

The World Is Too Much with Us

I think I'll start this fresh, brand new blog with a poem. Not being a 'poetry person' I recently picked up a book called "The 100 Best Poems Of All Time" - I like it because of its ballsy title. The editor, Leslie Pockell, keeps it real by telling us that she is not the last word on best poems, obviously, and that everyone has their own opinion. Anyway here is my current favorite, by William Wordsworth.

The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
The Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not.-Great God! I'd rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.

I read this poem on my lunch break, and then read it again, and then a third time. This is unusual for me - poetry tends to make me roll my eyes. Or maybe just high school English class poetry made me roll my eyes? I know I breezed through it in college. But something made me pick up this book of poetry and I like where it's taking me.